Flights, Friends, Food and Fun

First, apologies for the lack of photos. Haven't had a chance to upload them yet.

The rest of my journey to Vietnam was fairly uneventful (if incredibly long and dull) apart from somehow managing to misplace my phone. I spent most of the time stuck in airport departure halls trying to get a bit of sleep (and mostly failing) but eventually I managed to complete the epic trip and arrived in Hanoi on Thursday morning. Once I had acquired my visa (which turned out to be a remarkably simple procedure), I discovered my lack of phone, and so once I had finished clearing immigration and had retrieved my bag I went off in search of the Tiger Airways office. Except being a budget airline and sod's law contrived to make me discover after (a very sweaty) hour of looking that they don't actually have an office in Hanoi. So I gave up with this futile endeavour and grabbed a minibus into the city followed by a motorbike taxi to where I was planning on staying (Hanoi Backpackers Hostel).

I didn't have very long in Hanoi and definitely wasn't feeling in a hugely great mode when I reached the hostel, but after checking in and sorting my life out (including emails to Changi airport and Tiger Airways) I headed up to the rooftop bar, where my mood definitely improved after 2 happy hours of 2 for 1 beer and a burger. The atmosphere was great and I met some cool people, but since I hadn't had much sleep I ended up crashing out reasonably early.

I ended up spending most of the next morning sleeping and lounging around, but around midday I headed out to try and see some of the city. This didn't begin so well after I headed out with a group of girls to try and find a police station to get a stamp for their crime reports (stolen bags the night before) since it turns out the Vietnam police are not the most helpful and for whatever reason were less than keen to provide said stamp. After a half-hour of hanging around I decided to leave them to it and headed out by myself to explore some of the Old Quarter of the city. It ended up being quite a good afternoon and I managed to visit the lake, the Womens' Museum and the Prison Museum which were all pretty good. Then it was back to the hostel to pack and head out to the train station to catch a night train south to Hue to meet up with Soph and Smithy.

The train itself was reasonably comfortable and I managed to get some sleep, but it did end up taking all of 16 hours to reach our destination, by which time I was well and truly bored. I had managed to read an entire book and had very little else to do by the time we got there, but it was a nice way to see some of the Vietnamese countryside. When I eventually arrived in Hue I grabbed a taxi and headed over to Hue Backpackers Hostel (part of the same chain as the one in Hanoi). It was quite surreal when I arrived to see Sophie sitting there reading her book and Smithy at a computer. After a month or so of travelling on my own it was really peculiar to see someone so familiar in such an unfamiliar place.

Solo travelling is great and all but sometimes I did find myself wishing I had a friend to share it with. There are moments like when you want to crack an inappropriate joke or have a day of doing absolutely nothing but you don't feel you can with people you've only just met. Instead you're always a little bit cautious about what you do and what you say and can't quite relax in the same way you might do with good friends.

Since Soph and Smithy had already been in Hue for a couple of days, we weren't there for long. After I had checked in we went and grabbed some food at a local cafe/eatery place. I then decided to head off on my own over the river to the old citadel which the others had already visited and recommended. After a nice relaxing couple of hours wandering around the old city and purchasing a phone and SIM card to tide me over I headed back to the hostel for some free beer provided by the hostel. That evening Soph, Smithy and I headed round the corner to a nice restaurant/bar place for some grub. After having eaten we went downstairs and met some people who Sophie and Smithy had met at Halong Bay, Lisa and Dave from Derbyshire. We ended up making a night of it, and what a night it was. I think it was close to the best night I've had since starting travelling. We had some tasty cocktails, played pool and met some interesting Vietnamese people. The music was good, the company was great and all in all it was a pretty epic night, with Sophie showing off her dance moves with an Argentinian man and Smithy trying in vain to have a proper conversation with a Vietnamese man who clearly didn't have the foggiest about what he was saying. It was all rounded off by Sophie and I driving a pair of cyclos (bikes with big seats on the front) back down the road to the hostel.

Being the sensible Cambridge graduates we are, we of course had booked early morning (8am...) bus tickets before going out and ending up reasonably sozzled, so we were slightly tender in the morning as we boarded the bus down to Hoi An. Although, having said that, I have become a bit of a morning person while travelling, often waking up around 6am of my own accord! Scary.

After a brief stop in a rather swish-looking service station we arrived in Hoi An. It is a lovely place to be, not too busy, a fair amount of culture and good food and drink. On stepping off the bus our first challenge was to find somewhere to stay, so we headed off down the road with our backpacks looking like proper travellers while motorcycle taxi drivers tried in vain to convince us that the hotel we were aiming for was too far away. However, after about 5-10 mins of walking in the not insignificant heat we decided we were rather hungry and happened upon an Indian restaurant which looked perfect. It was definitely one of the best Indian meals I've ever had and so we of course had far too much to eat, which made the 20mins or so of walking to the hotel slightly less than comfortable, but once we got there we decided it had been worth it. It was quite a refreshing change to stay in a hotel rather than a hostel, especially one with a pool (where we have spent a fair amount of time lounging).

Now I was always expecting Hoi An to be a slightly more expensive stay than most but I wasn't really prepared for the amount I would end up spending. It all began that first afternoon when Soph and I (Smithy was having a snooze) decided to go for a bit of an explore. Hoi An is famous for the number of tailors there are and we were all considering maybe getting something made since it would be considerably cheaper than doing the same back home so Sophie and I planned to just go round and have a bit of a recon mission to see if we could find somewhere we might want to get clothes made. However, we ended up getting a bit carried away and both got measured up for shoes. We weren't planning on anything else but the owner of one of the shoe shops has a sister who runs a clothes shop as well so we went to have a look, and of course once there we ended up getting measured up and I ordered a suit and Sophie got a couple of dresses. This turned out to be somewhat of a theme for our stay here. Over the 4 days we've been here I've ended up getting 2 pairs of shoes, 3 shirts and a 3-piece suit, most of which were posted back to the UK (apart from a pair of shoes and a shirt) this morning. Smithy and Sophie ended up with similar amounts (Soph managed 5 pairs of shoes) but I somehow managed to spend the most. It was worth it though, all the clothes were made to measure and cost a fraction of the price I would have to pay back home. In fact all 3 of us managed to get some amazing clothes, and bar a few alterations here and there we had no issues, everything we bought fitted almost perfectly and looks incredible, all for a fraction of the cost we would normally have to pay! Even the job of posting most of it back was painless, it just took a couple of men with boxes and a few forms and the whole job was done in under half an hour.

We haven't spent our entire time shopping and being fitted though (although it has sometimes felt like it), the morning after our first night we went on a cookery course where we started by going to the market to get some fresh ingredients. The market itself is a fun experience with an incredible range of foods and smells and it's also very entertaining to watch taller people (i.e. Smithy) struggling to duck under all the awnings. Once we had the ingredients we went on a nice boat trip down the river to an island where they have an open-air kitchen. We first had to go and collect a few other ingredients from on the island itself and have a go at threshing the rice to make the rice batter for later. The cooking itself was amazing and the food we made was absolutely delicious. We made everything from spring rolls, to Pho, to pork and shrimp pancakes, all accompanied by free-flowing passionfruit juice. We also got copies of the recipies, so I will definitely be trying them out at home. The trip was completed with a visit to the 'Magic Spinning Table' which was another experience, with people putting their hands on this old-looking wooden table, saying which direction we wanted the table to spin and sort of chanting before the table started spinning, apparently of it's own accord. I have a feeling it's one of those psychological things that everyone is kind of expecting the table to turn in one direction so ends up pushing it that way round. Very odd.

Other than that we haven't done a lot else other than lounging around and walking through the old town. It's a really nice place to be although it does get a bit trying when there are ALWAYS people trying to sell you things, even when your sitting in a cafe trying to have a meal. The food and drink here is phenomenal though! And cheap! You can have a glass of beer for as cheap as 3000VND which is somewhere in the region of 8p! And it tastes good! The local food is awesome and there are plenty of places to eat cheaply (and this has of course led to me eating far too much) and I really love it here, it just seems to have a really nice vibe.

Last night was awesome as well, we decided that we fancied going back to the same Indian we went to when we first arrived, and as we were walking up from the river towards it, we met none other than Lisa and Dave who had also come here from Hue! They came with us to the Indian, where we had a proper feast of delicious curry and stellar conversation. Afterwards we headed back down in the direction of the river where we came across a very popular-looking bar that seemed really nice. We ended up making a proper night of it like last time (although due to some inconsiderate people the pool was nowhere the level of our previous night together) with cocktails, beer and tequilas galore. It was a pretty cool bar and a really fun night, although it was a touch disconcerting getting back to the hotel in the dark to find it completely locked up. Fortunately there was a little man in a tent in the lobby who let me in.

We've decided that rather than follow the standard route down the coast to Nha Trang we are instead going to head inland to the highlands and a place called Kon Tum on the night bus this evening. Hoi An is a lovely place and it is really hard to leave (but then I've said that about almost everywhere I've been) but I think that if I was to spend much longer here I would end up spending all my money.

Pictures to come soon.

Sun, sea, sand and sunsets

It was hard to leave Sagada, there's so much you can do there and I really loved the chilled out vibe. But leave I did, and caught a 6 hour bus in the morning to Baguio which apparently used be quite like Sagada but has now bloomed into a much bigger town. Jason and I didn't spend long there and most of the time was spent in the bus terminal waiting for the night bus to Manila. We decided to splash out and go for the 'deluxe' bus which was more spacious and comfortable but still arctic. Apparently the aircon is tied directly to the engine and so the drivers can't turn it down, but I think they just like making us suffer.

We arrived back in Manila in the (very) early hours and again didn't really spend long there, we got a taxi to the airport and spent a few hours there waiting for our flight to Puerto Princesa. Eventually our flight time came around and we smoothly progressed to Palawan. We only had one night in Puerto, but it was long enough to appreciate that as far as provincial towns go it is quite pleasant. We stayed in a lovely little guesthouse with a view of the bay, and after Jason had sorted out his visa extension (he's staying in the Philippines for a while longer) we went for a walk down to the pier. All in all it was a nice relaxing day and we finished it off with dinner in a nice restaurant, eating some fresh seafood and a drink in a fairly lively bar before heading back for some sleep.

It was another early start the next day as we wanted to be able to properly appreciate our next stop, Sabang. It was another simple journey, a short tricycle ride to the bus terminal and a 2 1/2 hour van ride up Palawan to Sabang. The main attraction in Sabang is the world's longest navigable underground river, but instead of just taking the 10 minute boat ride down the coast to the river we decided to be really keen and do the 5.3km trek through the jungle. It wasn't a particularly challenging trek but it was good fun to see all the karst formations and feel like you were just out in the wild. The river itself consists of a 45 minute round trip into the cave on a paddleboat, it wasn't quite as spectacular as I had maybe anticipated but it was still remarkable. Since it was after 3pm after we had been up the river, we couldn't make the trek back so we just sat on the beach until we found a group with a couple of spaces on their boat (we didn't feel like spending the money on one to ourselves) and headed back round to Sabang. We didn't stay on the beach itself, but instead in a nice little cottage with a porch metres from the water. After a walk on the beach I had a couple of drinks on the beach before joining Jason for some more lovely, fresh seafood for dinner. We saw the night out with drinks and chatting to the people who run the place we were staying... at least until the power went. In the more rural areas of the Philippines the power often isn't very reliable and normally only on for up to half the day so we took that as our cue to retire for the night.

We were again on the move early the next morning. Having turned down the offer of a very expensive private van to take us on to El Nido, we decided to do it how the locals do. We had an hours ride on top of a jeepney and then a 7-8 hour journey on top of a bus (they were both packed). Riding on the roof is actually great fun, apart from the fact you have to be very awake and aware, otherwise you get hit by tree branches and low-hanging telephone cables (as I found out). It also seemed as though we had picked the hottest day of the year to make the trip, so by the time we finally made it to El Nido we were pretty damn baked (and a little sunburnt). El Nido is a small town on the coast from where you can look out to the Bacuit archipelago (think Halong Bay but smaller) with fantastic views, fabulous food and plenty of things to do (or you can just lie on the beach). We found out from the manager of the guesthouse we stayed at (which was really nice with a great restaurant) that El Nido used to be much smaller, quieter and less touristy but it has really picked up in the last few years. Thankfully it turned out we were there right at the end of high season, but enough before Holy Week, so it was actually incredibly quiet most of the time. Apart from a day island-hopping tour out to some of the islands to do some snorkelling and the suchlike, I didn't really do a huge amount. I ate, drank, swam and slept and was incredibly relaxed by the end of it. It also turned out that we were there at the end of an Arts festival so on one night we went to a charity concert which was so incredibly hippy and treehugger-esque! The music was pretty damn good though. I met some cool people there and enjoyed just soaking in the Filipino vibe.

I again found it almost impossible to leave (which may or may not have had something to do with the night before) but I bid farewell to Jason and caught a van all the way back to Puerto Princesa to the same place we had stayed before. After dumping my stuff I went and printed off my Vietnam visa information and went to a grill and bar for dinner. Up until this point I hadn't really experienced any kind of bad weather in the Philippines, but this was corrected when, shortly after starting eating, the heavens opened. Being quite an outdoorsy place to eat everyone was scrambling around trying to put up umbrellas and move tables. It was quite entertaining. Once I had finished eating and the rain had stopped I walked back and got a reasonably early night before getting up bright and early to catch a flight to Manila. Rather than bother going into the city, I spent the entire day stuck at the airport and will be catching a flight to Singapore followed by one to Hanoi shortly. I decided to splash out and pay to use the lounge, which is where I'm writing this.

I wasn't really sure what to expect from the Philippines when I first arrived, but I've had a great time, seen awesome sights, met great people, and had some very interesting local food (such as Pinikpikan, Halo-halo and Sisig). I think I will definitely have to make a return visit at some point to explore more of this wonderful country.

But for now I'm off, next stop, Vietnam.

Rice, Mountains and Trekking

So it's been a week since I last posted and what a week it's been...

It began with me taking an overnight bus journey from Manila to a town called Banaue up in the Cordillera mountains. I was warned it would be cold and yes it was utterly freezing, I have no idea why they have it at such arctic temperatures but they do. The bus journey north was uneventful, with most of the seats being taken up by a fairly large group of Californian high-school students (they seem to go to some new-age school where such trips are the norm). I ended up sitting next to Jason, a marine scientist from Hawaii, and after we started chatting we soon discovered that we had similar plans, so we ended up travelling around together.

After spending 8 hours or so trying to sleep on the journey, we reached Banaue in the early hours of the

morning. As soon as I got off the bus I could tell that this was going to be a far more pleasant experience than I had had in Manila. The landscape was just stunning, with towering mountains and rice terraces as far as the eye could see. That morning we decided to head out

straight away to Hapao to walk through the rice terraces to a hot spring. It was a wonderful experience walking through small villages along 2000-year-old terraces

with some truly spectacular views. After relaxing for a little while in the hot spring we headed back through the terraces just as the sun came out and were treated to yet more amazing views.

After returning to where we were staying in Banaue we decided to spend the rest of the day relaxing and catching up on sleep since we were pretty darn tired after the bus journey and hike. Next day we got up bright and early for more hiking. We first hiked 4 hours up into the mountains to a small village called Cambulo where we stopped for a delicious lunch of local rice and

vegetables. Lolita, our guide, often brings tourists here

and a fair number spend the night, so when we arrived some of the local children were quite excited thinking we would be staying. It turns out that when people do stay, all the children perform a little show including singing. The tourists are then expected to sing a song in return, followed by the guides. Jason and I agreed that if we had known more about Cambulo in advance then we would probably have opted to spend the night there. Leaving Cambulo we hiked through the rice terraces around the village to another slightly larger village of Batad with equally impressive view

s and a waterfall where we were to spend the night. After a visit to the falls we were completely shattered, but elated with what we'd seen. After a dinner of Adobo (a local dish of rice and a meat, soy sauce and onion stew) we headed off to bed.

The next morning we woke up to what has to be one of

the most impressive views to wake up to. As the sun rose above the mountains the shadows across the rice fields were incredible.

It was another early start as we hiked back up to the

main road to get a lift back to Banaue. After a late

breakfast we bid farewell to Lolita, retrieved our luggage which we'd left there and caught the bus on towards Bontoc.

All was going well until we encountered a minor problem, a HUGE landslide blocking the road. But it was OK, after some of it had been cleared we walked around it and jumped into another jeepney to Bontoc. In Bontoc we needed to change jeepneys for one to Sagada but unfortunately the next one was full. We were not deterred however, and did like the locals and climbed onto the roof for an exciting 1 hour journey up to Sagada. It wasn't the most comfortable of rides but the views were truly epic.

Sagada has to be one of my favourite places ever (I even managed to accidentally plan to be here another night). It's a fairly small town up in the mountains and because it's not on the main tourist trail it is remarkably quiet and peaceful (and the locals want to keep it that way). The views are spectacular and there's a ridiculous number of things you can do, from hiking

to camping to caving to rock climbing. Or, if you aren't feeling particularly energetic you can just chill out with some of the local mountain tea and a good book. The ambience is great and the food in most of the cafes and restaurants is very tasty. Apparently it used to be only adventurous western backpackers who would come here, but since the roads have been improved most tourists seem to be from Manila.

Over the four nights we've been here I've been caving, hiked to a waterfall for a swim and got up at silly o'clock to see the sunrise from on top of a mountain. In between I've indulged in food prepared by a French Chef, had

copious amounts of fresh yoghurt and met some really cool people. There's so much to do here yet it's so laid back, definitely making it somewhere I'd like to come back to at some point.

This morning we are packing up again to head back to Manila to get a flight to Puerto Princesa on Palawan for some coast-based action (it turns out that although Jason and I booked flights separately we're on the same one so we're going to keep travelling together for now). Can't wait.

Hot, Loud and Smelly

Four days later and I'm still in Manila, but leaving tonight (thankfully).

It's not a great city. It's loud, hot, smelly and expensive (compared to the rest of the country). There isn't even a huge amount worth seeing, so four days is quite a long time to be here. That said, I've still had a great time, even if I have been here too long. This is mainly due to the people I've met at the guesthouse I'm staying at. The guesthouse itself has a nice balcony area which is perfect for a few drinks in the evening and sharing stories with other travellers about where we've been and where we'd like to go. People from all over seem to make a stop here, everywhere from America and the UK to China, Taiwan, Australia, the

Netherlands and Israel. It's been good but I am glad that I'm moving on to a nicer, quieter part of the country.

I didn't do a lot on the first night here, I just checked in to my (very spartan) room and went out to find a bite to eat. Afterwards I came back to the guesthouse for a few beers before having my first experience of trying to sleep in Manila (earplugs are a godsend). It does quieten down a bit in the middle of the night but there

seems to always be something happening out on the street (everything from singing at 6:30am to late night parties or traffic jams). You get used to it though (mostly).

On Saturday I went for a walk and headed up to Rizal Park which is named after a hero of the country who was a doctor and a revolutionary who ended up being imprisoned and executed for disagreeing with the government. This was followed by a ride in a horse and cart around Intramuros (the old Spanish walled city

) and a look in the cathedral and a museum before heading back to where I was staying. That evening there was free food and drink at the guesthouse! A great chance to get to know some of the other people staying before trying out a bit of the Manila nightlife!

The next day I headed out with some people I'd met the night before and we wandered the city for a bit, heading back to Intramuros (which is shockingly quiet on a Sunday) and taking in Fort Santiago where Rizal was imprisoned.

Other than that I haven't done a huge amount apart from relax and get to know people, and I'm really looking forward to getting out of the city and experiencing a more interesting side of the country. Tonight I'm off on an 8-9 hour bus journey (which is apparently FREEZING) into the Cordillera to see the countryside and do a bit of hiking and exploring. I still haven't planned very far ahead and am considering extending my stay in the Philippines by another week or so to allow me to properly enjoy the north before heading out to one of the islands (most likely Palawan, which is supposed to be spectacular), but I have a whole bus journey ahead in which to make that decision.

14 Men Chase a Ball Around

Well it's been just over a week since I last posted on here, and it has been a great week.

Last Thursday I started off by going to see the Noon-Day Gun, which is an old Naval gun that is fired at precisely 12pm every day. The story goes that there used to be a pair of guns that were fired every time the Jardines arrived in Hong Kong. There was one British Senior Naval Officer who got annoyed with this practice because he didn't understand it so he declared that as punishment they would have to fire it as a timekeeping shot every day at 12pm. Being a Naval gun it is quite loud, you can feel the force of it through the air.

After finding some lunch I spent the afternoon up on

the Peak. Fortunately this time the air was clearer so I could actually see the city below. I decided to walk around the peak along a trail which has a surprisingly rural feel (apart from the background rumble of the

city). Unfortunately it was still fairly overcast so the views weren't quite as spectacular as they might have been, but it was an enjoyable walk.

Then came the main event. The Rugby 7s.

As it turned out, the weather wasn't great (surprise, surprise...), which is apparently unusual for the 7s, but it was awesome nonetheless. It wasn't quite as busy on the Friday evening, but by the Sunday there was definitely a real buzz around the stadium. It helped that England made it all the way to the final, but almost every match was epic (as is the nature of rugby 7s), with teams like Australia and France getting booed, and Hong Kong getting the biggest cheers. The rugby was phenomenal, and although England were beaten at the last by New Zealand I still loved it. It's definitely something I'd like to do again, maybe with a big group of friends next time.

Throughout the event they had things like crowd sing-alongs and some of the costumes that people had come up with were truly inspired. The event concluded with a spectacular firework display and performance by some of the military bands, as well as the NZ team getting half-naked and performing the haka.

The rest of the week has been fairly relaxed and I have been fortunate enough to be taken out for meals at both the Foreign Correspondents Club and the Golf Club. I also made a trip out to the New Territories to spend a night at the home of Guy, who was at Cambridge with my father, aunt and uncle. That was quite different as he lives on the doorstep of a country park and right down on the waterside. I didn't spend very long there, but a walk with the dogs was definitely enough to be able to see a different side of Hong Kong.

Unfortunately my Hong Kong experience came to an end yesterday when I boarded a flight to Manila. The journey was pretty much uneventful (apart from getting fleeced by a taxi driver) and I am now writing this on the terrace in the hostel where I'm staying (which happens to be called Friendly's Guesthouse). I haven't really planned out what I'm going to do while here in the Philippines, but I'll probably be in Manila for a few days before heading north into the Cordillera.