Around the world adventure

Phuket

We got to Phuket in the evening and it was raining. We decided to go and stay in Phuket Backpackers in the town rather than the tacky beach resort places which are expensive and full of pervy old men trying to get themselves a new young Thai Bride. The backpackers had a wicked common room with hundreds of dvds so we stayed in a watched role models (once again) and found a cheap little resturants to get paid thai. After being in Laos the land of baguettes and Vietnam where they loved packet noddles I was so glad to have good food again. The next day it was raining aswell so we couldn't be bothered to go to the beach so we walked around the town for a little bit and came back to watch Dear John. In the evening there was a free cooking class so we went into the resturant next door and learnt to cook Thai green curry. It was nice but too hot for moomz. We were still hungry because you only got a taster so we got pad thai again in the same resturant around the corner. We decided to book a return boat to Phi Phi for the next morning. We were worried it was going to rain in Phi Phi too because the weather forecast looked awful.

Phi Phi

We got a mini bus to the port where we got on the ferry in the morning. The boat only took a couple of hours and at this point it was nice and hot. I broke the pole on the boat stopping me from going into the water and got told off by one of the ferry men. Nice and safe. We got to Phi Phi around half 10 and walked up the main street. We found a little guesthouse 2 minutes form the beach and close enough to the bars you could walk home easily. We bumped into the lads Billy etc we had met in Laos tubing, they were staying next door to us. Em had also decided not to go to Cambodia and come to the islands too. She was staying with her friends on the other side of the island (which isn't really that far). We met one of Billys friends called Laura, who was also from Birmingham and we knew some of the same people which was a little weird. We went out to the beach bars in the evening with Laura and her friend. We danced on the beach bars and I had to keep saving Mares from weirdos grabbing her. We also bumped into diggle a friend from Laos aswell and all of his lad mates.

Lesson 14- The best thing about Phi Phi is you don't need to buy any drinks. You just get given free tokens for buckets and shots and end up drinking them. It's suprisingly cheap. However Thai whiskey is rank.

We had a lie in the next day and went to grab some lunch at Dojo bar. We decided as it wasn't raining that we would go chill on the beach but it began raining on and off so instead we just wandered around. Later on we went to dinner at Papayas with Billy, Laura etc. Good food and cheap. Phi Phi is alot more expensive that northern Thailand. When we got back to the guesthouse we met Em and went to banana bar with her so she could get some food. We also went via paddys bar to meet her mates and then checked out her posh accomodation. Mares and Em didn't want to go out so it ended up being a quite night, and we had booked a tour for the next day.

We got up at about 7.30am and met Em to go on a half day tour of the Ko Don and Phi Phi. We went snorkelling around Ko Don and a man on our boat fed the fish pringles and bananas. I had snorkelling so I just stuck my face in the water and held my breath. We visited Maya beach where the film The Beach was filmed. It was chokka block full of tourists. Kind of a disappointed in some ways but it was good to see at the same time just to say you have been there. That evening after a nap, we met Billy etc next door and played ring of fire with them and two Irish girls Billy also knew. Billy literally knew everyone on the island. Once again we headed to the beach bars and we bumped into Mark, Jamie and Nick (3 of the 13 boys from Vietnam). Later on we found Mark by himself and had to walk him back to his guesthouse. The other lads had locked him out so me and Mares ended up sharing a single bed and Mark took Marys. Mary loved it she was waiting for an opportunity like this to cuddle me.

On the sunday it was the King Birthday, which meant you weren't allowed to drink. Not a rule that was particularly enforced. We went up to the view point with Billy, Dee and Katherine (Irish girls) and then went and chilled on the beach. We went to get food in Cosmic and then met Aaron etc in Banana bar. The lads decided to get tattoos so we went along to watch. Jamie got a bamboo tattoo on his arm, while Mary fed him smirnoff ices to control the pain. Nick was next and got a quote from Friday Night Lights on his ribs. For some reason Alex felt left out in the tatt crew so asked for them to tattoo a dot on his thumb. The other lads followed him like a sheep so when people ask them whether they have a tatt they can show them their thumbs. They paid the man in beer.

We left Phi Phi to head back to Phuket. I could of easily stayed longer but the budget was destroyed. We went for a big breaky with Mark and Nick to watch the ashes. Then got the boat back to Phuket, where we went back to the hostel and watched more films. The next day we booked a night boat to Koh Tao. The weather in Phuket was crap again and around the area so our night boat got cancelled. We spent the night in a hotel in a random town.

Hue

Once again we arrived really early and headed straight to Hue backpackers, which was owned by the same people as Hanoi Backpackers. We spent the day having a looking around the city, where we visited the Citadel and walked 3.5km to see a pegoda. We soon realised that a day was enough. Luckily the backpackers had a free beer hour where you could have as much as you liked. Heather took full advantage of this opportunity and got wasted. Me, Alice and Mares watched the Arsenal vs Spurs game. Enough said about that one. Free shots came out after that for every goal scored, thsi meant Alice and Canada ended up hammered too. They were in bed by 8.30pm.

Hoi An

Me, Alice and Mares decided to get he bus to Hoi An but everyone else decided to ride scooters and do the top gear tour. Glad I didn't do it because loads of people ended up injured and one girl ended up in hospital. We met at a hotel in Hoi An and blagged really nice rooms for under $3 each a night. That evening we went to grab some food and wander around town and Miss Earth was on. When we got back to the hostel we got the Heather and Em to give us massages because we were in pain from all the night buses, and some random man walked in and seemed shocked and ran straight back out again.

The next day it was raining so we grabbed some breakfast, which literally took hours to make. We split up for the day and did our own thing. Me and Mares just wandered around looking in the little shops and I got an dress made. I had to tell the lady what I wanted then she measured me and I had to come back to next day to try it all on once it was finished for any final adjustments. Hoi An is an amazing place, you can have anything made for really cheap and within the matter of hours. In the afternoon we went Em and Alice and went to meet Joe and Phil, two lads from the Isle of Man. They had brought bikes in Hanoi and were driving the whole way down the country. They were reliving the top gear program and had brought each other presents aswell. Joe got a boat and Phil got suits made for them both. Joes was bright pink which green shoes and a blue shirt and Phils was equally as impressive. In the evening we all meet up again and headed to the beach. I popped to the toilet and the next minute when I came back Alice, Canada and Heather were skinny dipping. Obv I took their clothes, but then I just saw a figured leaping out of the water, and Canada came chasing after me fully naked. I dropped the clothes and ran for my life. If you knew Canada you would know how scary this experience is. She is called Canada (Natasha) because she is what I would imagine a real Canada to be like, she hunts bears, she is a mountain rescue person, she wrestles boy in Laos, she is one hard women.

The next day the other got up early and went to watch the sunrise. We had lost Emma the night before with Phil and Joe. So this meant me and Mares had to carry all the bags out of the room and to the reception. When they got back I popped to sort my dress out and then we visited Gaz who had fallen off his bike during the top gear tour and ended up in hospital. We then got another night bus towards Nha Trang.

Nha Trang

Lesson 13: You will get robbed in Nha Trang! Don't take out anything, hide your money, don't take your camera with you. Don't trust the locals especially women on bikes. They will come up to you and rob you and you won't even know. Basically don't get too drunk and this defo puts a downer on Nha Trang.

12 hours later we reached Nha Trang. It's basically a seaside resort with nice beaches. We went to the backpackers and bumped into Caitlin, Aaron and the lads. Caitlin decided to stay with us but we headed to a hotel which was loads cheaper. It was called Nice hotel and it was glorious. The 1st day we went and chilled on the beach, and everyone got burnt. Alice burnt her arse massively and spent the whole of the evening lying on her front applying aloe vera. Later on we went for some food and after we to Guava Bar, Why not bar ans sailor bar. We bumped into our friends who were on the Halong Bay tour with us. Em didn't come out because she was dying from her previous late nights. In Why not bar Canada was chatted up by a local man, who tired to re-inact dirty dancing with her, then in Sailor Bar she got told off by the bouncers for trying to go in the sea. But when we needed our fire stoking Canada was our women. On our way home from Sailors Canada got slapped by a local lady who was trying to rob a lad and Canada started shouting at her. Heather had to go over and hold her hand the entire way home.

After about 5 hours sleep we grabbed some food then spent the whole day in our hotel room watching movies eating blocks of cheese. Alice and Natasha were hungover. We watched Law Abiding Citizen, Something About Mary, some Christmas films. We then went and got more food, but Em wouldn't venture outside because she has a coldsaw. Came back and watched more films, the House Bunny, Role Models and the Terminator.

On friday we decided to do something different and watch another film, Bruce Jigalo. We then checked out of the hotel and had lunch. It was raining again so there wasn't much to do. We all just wasted the day doing bits and bobs before our night bus to Saigon. We were meant to go to the waterpark but because of the rain no one fancied it.

Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)

We arrived in the morning and went to find somewhere to stay. We ended up staying in a dive but it was cheap so that was the most important thing. We headed out for the day with the whole gang and visited the War Musuem, which showed some horrific pictures and imformation about the Vietnam War. I'm sure it was pretty bias but at he same time pictures tell a thousand words. We also walked around the city when it started pissing it down. We got soaked and all the locals were laughing at us as we waded through the puddles to get back. In the evening we went to watch the new Harry Potter and after went and watched a performance in the park. It was children doing circus skills, at one point 2 little toddles got on stage and began to hula hoop. They were too small to do it properly so when it dropped they were told to stand there swinging their hips and smiling.

On the monday we went to the Cu Chi Tunnels, where the people of Vietnam used to hide during the War. We paid 5 quid for a tour, and our tour guide called us the 'spice girls'. You could go inside the tunnel, but I hate small spaces and worms so it was my worst nightmare. Mares and Alice called themselves babes in a tunnel and Jason bet Heather that he would last longer in there than her. Jason had ago at shooting guns at the gun range, to say they have no health and safety would be an understatement. When we got back form the tunnels we had a nap and then got ready to go out. We drank in the hotel room for abit and played some games. We also straightened our hair for the 1st time in months. At the start of the night it was pretty quite. We were sitting in a bar and a little girl came up to us trying to sell us cigarettes. Caitlin had warned us about her and said that if you don't buy from her she swears at you and grabs your boobs to try and hurt you. Thats exactly what happened, luckily I was out of reach for her. The night started to pick up a little and we went to a club. I argued with a bar man for free drinks because he had offered us them, he ended up just giving us water. Cailtin went to bed early, and Jason ended up going off. When we were dancing a group of men started to try and chat everyone up, it was gross but funny when it wasn't happening to you. Eventually we had to leave because it was creepy.

The next day Heather, Canada and Alice were heading to Cambodia so we all just spend the day doing nothing again. We went for a goodbye dinner of all you can eat pizza. Then on the Tuesday me and Mares were off to Phuket. We flew from Saigon to Bangkok where we had to wait 5 hours for our next flight to Phuket. We spent the day eating and spotting airport lady boys.

Goodbye Vietnam

After Halong Bay my body was pretty much destroyed, and because of the rain in the south we decided to head northwest to Sapa. To describe sapa I'm just going to quote Lonely Planet " Clinging to the hillside, Sapa overlooks a plunging valley of cascasding rice terraces with mountains towering above." Me and moomz thought it probably was time for abit of culture. Heather and Natasha left their foursome (Aaron and Caitlin), along with Jason and Alice. We got the night bus there, and arrived early in the morning. We headed to a local hostel where we booked a trek and overnight stay in a homestay. We thought we had booked a 8km trek but somehow we had booked a 26km walk. Not going to lie, I thought I was going to die. Heather and Jason went on a different tour. Our guide was a young girl called Mu from a local village. Her mum and friends followed us the whole trek and helped us up and down the mountains which in bits were covered in water. We stopped off in the 1st village where they were spit roasting a dog who had no eyes left, we also joined in with a PE lesson in a school. The women were dressed in the traditional village outfits and made us items out of leaves etc such as horses. They asked you to buy homemade jewellery at the end which I didn't mind doing because it cost me about 3 quid for 3 things.

After lunch we carried on walking and headed through the empty rice terraces. We walked past another school where they invited us to sit down to watch the pupils complete in a talent contest against other village schools. You notice that all the children even the 4 year olds walk to and from school by themselves. All the children would shout and wave at us because we were doing a trek which was off the beaten track. We reached the homestay before dark and we all helped Mu cook dinner. We made spring rolls, noddles and other typical dishes. It was Mu's 19th birthday so was sang her happy birthday and drank rice wine. I didn't have any because my throat was really bad. She made us bracelets out of berries. I had to sleep in the bed with Mares, Mares was little spoon and I was on spider watch.

For breakfast we had pancakes and fruit which was then followed by a 2 hour walk. This wasn't that bad because we begged her to cut it down. We headed to the waterfalls 1st and over some very dodgy bridges. In the afternoon we had some more noodles, and then got the bus back to the hostel in Sapa itselfs. Once back into Sapa the weather was still very foggy and wet. We had showers and headed to the bus stop but because the fog was so bad we couldn't actually see where we were going. We got the night bus from Sapa back to Hanoi. Local people were lying on the floor because the bus was over crowded.

When we got back to Hanoi, we went back to the backpackers and chilled out watching Dvd's. We had another night bus to Hue which would be our 3rd night bus in 4 days. It took 14 hours to get to Hue.

Vietnamese Currency= Dong
1GBP= 30, 000 Dong - makes us billionaires

We decided that to maximise our time in each place we would fly to Hanoi from Laos. It only took an hour which was a better option than the 24 hour bus journey. We booked to stay at Hanoi Backpackers in the Old Quarter which was a perfect choice. Aaron, Tasha, Heather and Caitlin were already there when we arrived. The first thing you notice is how many motorbikes there are.

Lesson number 11- When crossing the road its best just to go with the flow and just face the on coming traffic like a man, they don't stop for lights, they don't let you cross but they will try and dodge you. If not, just place yourself the side of Mary that the traffic isn't coming, then if they do hit you, Mares will take the full hit 1st.

Lesson 12- If you go to Hanoi- you have to stay at Hanoi Backpackers you get a free breakfast. We also booked the 3 day Halong Bay tour- 53 people, one booze cruise, one night on the jolly roger boat, and one night a beach.

The 1st day Aaron (the map reader), Heather, Emma, Caitlin and I took a look around town while Mares and Tasha went camera shopping. What we saw :

• Hoa Lo Prison Musuem- the remains of a former prison. It was pretty interesting, and showed the Vietnamese struggle for independence against the French, and about holding the US pilots during the Vietnam War.

• A temple- not much to say about that it can just be added to the long list of things you're meant to go and see but you don't really enjoy.

• Hoam Kiem Lake- its in the middle of the old quarter, and really pretty at night. We joined in with the local people exercise classes. An old man cycled past, got off his bike and got his phone out to take pictures of us. Then Julia (new friend from Canada) ran up to him with her phone taking pictures of him shouting 'how do you like it huh!' I think he was scared at 1st but then he got it was a joke and cycled off.

Halong Bay Tour

52 people - 2 nights - one boat - one castaway island - $130 later

So we were part of a record number tour and there were defo more boys than girls too. Our 'tour leader' was Dan, who was fab. He looked like one of the dudes from 118 118. We took a bus from Hanoi backpackers- which is definately the best place to meet people in Hanoi. As well as Julia we meet Lindsay (Scotland), Jason, and Alice (Stoke) who also decided to come on the tour with us. We got to Halong City then transfered to a boat in the bay. It was like a pirate ship, made of wood, upstairs they had a deck, downstairs a bar. Me, Mary and Alice got the best room, we told everyone we had a jacuzzi in our bathroom which wasn't quite true but we did have the nicest room.

There was a gang of 13 lads, who Aaron and crew has met on the bus to Vietnam. They were nice but all together on the 1st night were so annoying. All they kept saying was 'if it weren't for us this would be shit'. I just thought well I survived without you so far so I think I'd manage to enjoy myself without you going on about how amazing you are. They also stripped off and jumped naked off the boat- the girls stole their clothes. Heather and Caitlin did a topless jump too (this was just the start of Heathers naked phase).

We went kayaking around Halong bay, which was amazing. We stopped off and climbed a mountain and carried on. By this point it was dark, on the way back we lost Emma, Alice, Bobby, and Nick who had capsized. Nick decided to down a bottle of vodka while trying to get back because he thought he was going to die.

Everyone started playing ring of fire- some of my favourite rules

• Stephen Hawkings- you have to tap the table when you want a drink and someone will fed it to you.

• Troll- you sit under the table to get people to give you their drinks.

I ended up dancing by myself alot of the night as a good 30 people disappeared in pairs throughout the night, thanks Alice, Em and Mares.

The second day we got up at 7.30, which was painful, and I don't know how most people managed. We got some breaky then swapped onto a little boat which took us to 'Castaway Island' in Cat Ba National Park. It was amazing!! A long beach with little huts to sleep and party, a beach volleyball net on the shore, kayaks in a line, and a background of mountains and the water.

Most of us just chilled out all day, some went rock climbing. People were shocked at how bad my volleyball skills were considering I did sport at uni, along which my poor badminton skills. The boat was broken so we couldn't do the water sports. Me and mares opened a massage parlour, Mares provided the tickle, I provided the pain. Heather and Emma actually gave the massages. The evening was sooo much fun, the lads were in their own little click so me, Alice and Mares started to play twister soon followed by flipcup and got everyone else involved. I was the flipcup champ!! After we did relay races, you had to drink you're drink and run and twist around the broom. I was just standing their and got KO'ed by one of the lads. Heather got really drunk, got naked, climbed up a tree then fell out into a group of people.

The next day most people were dying once again. We had to get the boat back to the Jolly Roger where we had lunch then we got the bus back to the hostel. I was knackered and ill. We went to the shop with Caitlin. I couldn't talk, so I went to bed. Aaron decided the leave us and go travelling with the lads so it was the last night of the awesome foursome.

In the morning we had to check out of the hostel at 10am- I was still rough as hell. It was literally the worst day of my life. I sat on the floor in the backpackers and fell asleep untill we caught our bus to Sapa in the evening. Alice, Canada, Em, Heather, Jason and myself went to Sapa together. Caitlin went off with the lads.

The journey from Huay Xai was horrific but when we got to Luang Prabang early wednesday morning we headed straight to Luang Prabang backpackers. It seemed good enough and we just hit the sack. After a good lie in we meet Jules (OZ) and Christina (Canada), who were in our dorm with us. We all took a wonder along the river and around the town, the whole place still has a French feel, from back in the day. 1st thing you notice is that they love to make sandwiches, I actually think that the cuisine of Laos may well be a chicken baguette. We went to a bar called Utopia where we chilled on cushions overlooking the river at night. It was really nice. We got up to leave and I couldn't find my flip flops anywhere, some git had nicked them. These were really nice REAL havaianas, not only that, they didn't even leave me their flip flops to walk home in. I had to bear foot and hop along the ally, over a bridge back to the hostel. It was a bad day for my feet.

On thursday morning we decided to be cultured and get up at 5am to go see the Monks giving alms, they walked around the streets and the locals and tourists gave them rice. It's an endless parade of orange. After an hour it was time to go back to bed. Eventually we took a tuk tuk to a near by waterfall called Kuang Si. It was amazing, it had mint green pools you could swim in with a rope swing, and a huge drop at the top. It was well worth a visit, and so much fun. We popped to the night market in the evening, it wasn't as good as the one in Chiang Mai, but for about 1.50 you could get a huge plate of different noodles and other dishes. Pukka! At this point we met up with Aaron, Heather, Natasha and Caitlin and went to Lao Lao bar for drinks. Our aim for friday morning was to get up early again and go see sunrise at the temple, needless to say that didn't happen.

On the friday we took a mini bus to Vang Vieng. We nearly missed our bus because it took the bar we went for breaky an hour to cook rice soup. The journey was horrific once again. the roads were long, bumpy and windy, I literally didn't think I'd make it without being sick. On the way our driver stopped by a local family who were on the side of the road, and grabbed a dead baby leopard to show us. The family had killed it to sell the fur. Lovely. We got to Vang Vieng and headed to Spciy Laos Hostel, it was awesome. Kind of like staying in a tree house, it was basic with outsdoor showers etc but really kool and was really lively. The 1st night we just chilled, and our 'gang' had now joined to be me, Mares, Christina, Jules and Emma aswell as Aaron, Natasha, Heather and Caitlin.

TUBING

Words can not describe how amazing tubing is, and it may even beat going to risa in freshers. YES that good ! Everyone headed out about half 11 and got to the tubing place, you grab a tube, sign your life away and jump in a tuk tuk about 3km up stream. The next 7 hours involved the following:

• 1st bar- get a bucket, go on the slide, spray yourself in toxic paint

• Grab a tube- float 20m to the next bar

• 2nd bar- get a bucket, dance a little, spray yourself in toxic paint

• Grab a tube, float 20m, try and pull yourself into the bar without losing your flipflops

• 3rd/4th bar- F!*K it get a bucket, convince Mary to go on the rope swing, more paint.

• Grab a tube- float a little further

• 5th bar- no more buckets, mud volleyball

• More floating

• 6th bar- huge slide, hold everyones stuff

• Float to the end, get a tuk tuk, enjoy a chicken sandwich from Ed.

Theres only one lesson here - DO NOT USE THE BLUE SLIDE !

...........and then in continues..... Go to bucket bar at 9.30 get a free bucket, go to Q bar at 10pm get a free bucket (we missed it). Dance the night away at bucket bar, move to limbo bar and avoid the burining limbo pole, go back to spicy and stay up till 5am.

Get up, have a chicken sandwich, go tubing again. We realised that we didn't need to hire a tube so we got a tuk tuk down and ''borrowed'' a tube. The night continued pretty much the same. I know the lads at home cough cough Joe Breslin won't believe it but I was massively hardcore.

We left monday morning to Vientiane, it's more expensive, there's not much to do apart from go bowling. But we had to get our Vietnam visa's so the next 3 days involved, doing washing, writing my blogs (finally caught up), skyping and just chilling which hasn't been to bad.

Thurs 11th - Vietnam times!!!! Hello Hanoi