Travel with Me: Day 13

Today we went on a really fun tour. At first we weren't sure what it would be like because it was literally us two, a tour guide and a driver. It was kinda awkward. The tour guide asked us if we were married hahahaha. He said that to be together for 3 years and not be married at our age is strange in Vietnam.

The tour started at the Marble Mountains. These are mountains, made out of marble, which are named after the elements. The mountains have lots of things to see such as small shrines, caves and beautiful smaller temples. There are monks that live on the mountain too. The mountain honestly had some really beautiful things to see. I'll let the pictures do the talking.

When we got to the top you could see the other mountains and the rest of Da Nang. It looks pretty beautiful if I say so myself. 

Once we were done at the mountains we headed to the Goddess of Mercy. This is a giant statue of the Goddess of Mercy and there are also some smaller temples here. Again I'll just show you the photos. 

So even though we thought today was going to be fairly awkward at the beginning it actually turned out to be a great day. We saw some really amazing things and our tour guide was great!

Travel with Me: Day 12

As I type this we are now in Da Nang.

My first impressions of Da Nang are that there really isn't much to do here. We only have two days here so its not a problem. They have a beach and we have a tour booked for tomorrow which means we don't have to be doing nothing.

This evening we just went out for a meal. We went to a place called My Casa. It was food that you'd eat at home like spaghetti bolognese which is of course what I had, because I'm incredibly fussy. We also had a few drinks which were delicious.

Sorry I don't have much to say yet but tomorrow I'm sure I'll have a few pictures from our tour.

Travel with Me: Day 11

Today we've had a slightly more chill day. We hadn't gone out properly around Hanoi and there were a few restaurants that I wanted to go and try so we decided to just wander around Hanoi and eat food! Yep its as fun as it sounds.

I really wanted to go to 'Note Coffee', its the place where you stick notes on the wall- you might have heard of it before. So I was on a mission to find this place. To be honest, it was a bit of a challenge as didn't have google maps, only a REAL LIFE map. In the end we actually gave up and just went and walked round the Hoan Kiem Lake (Sword Lake is what most tourists know it as.) In the middle of the lake is a temple called Temple of the Jade Mountain which is a beautiful temple. Unfortunately we couldn't go in as we didn't have enough money. But it was still just as beautiful to look at from the outside.

Luckily right by the temple was a waffle place which I also wanted to go to, wannawaffle. Although the service in here was a little slow, the waffles really made up for it. I mean, look how yummy they looked. And, I can assure they really did taste as good as they look.

After failing to find the Note Coffee in the morning we decided to try again after refueling on waffles. And we were in luck! This place is the best place I have ever been. Like waayyyyy better than Starbucks. Just because of the atmosphere. All the sticky notes are so fun to read and to see other peoples stories. I also got to try the famous egg coffee. Which woah, its amazing. I can't even describe it you just have to taste it for yourself.

After eating food all day we're now back at the hotel getting ready to go and eat some more food. HOORRAAAYYY.

Travel with Me: Day 10

I'm super tired right now, we just got back from the longest journey ever. BUT, it was such a great day. We went to Halong Bay which from Hanoi is like 6 hours of travelling. In a way the 3 hour journey there was good because we got to sleep on the coach woooo. It was honestly like being back at school on a school trip HAHA. The journey also wasn't all that bad because I had the funniest American family sitting behind me and listening to their conversation for 3 hours was great. I honestly know all their families names now, and they all begin with D. That must be like, a 'thing' in America, like the Kardashians.

Anyway, when we got to Halong Bay we went on this boat to take us around and had lunch. I was slight disappointed because it was such a gloomy day. Oh well. Anyway, the lunch was really good, there was rice, chicken, fish, vegetables etc. However about half way in I found a hair in my chicken which obvs put me off it but whatever.

We firstly visited this floating village. All the people here live on Halong Bay which is literally the craziest thing to me. Although theres not many of them, I don't know how people can live here! I think they were all one giant family so I guess they all want to stay together. The people that live here run bamboo boating trips so of course we did this.

When the boating was over we went back to our bigger boat and started our journey to some caves that are in the bay. The caves were really cool and of course had a story behind them. Something about a princess but I wasn't listening that well tbh.

And once that was over we had to head back to our boat for another 3 hour journey back *yawn*. The journey was so worth it though, the bay is as beautiful as it looks in all the pictures.

Travel with Me: Day 9

Guess who's in Vietnam? Me, YAY! We made it to Hanoi.

My first impressions of Hanoi are 'wow it is so crazy busy here' but I think I kind of like it. I probably won't after a day or so but at the moment I actually like how hectic it is for some strange reason...Our hotel isn't great which is kind of stressing me out lol. I read online reviews of there being cockroaches so now thats all I can think about. There also is no window :O But we aren't here to just sit in a room so I'll try not to complain too much.

We went out for dinner tonight because we were sooooo tired when we first arrived so we needed to nap. We went to a place called Gastro which was so cheap, even cheaper than restaurants we went to in Thailand, and it was really good food. So as always, if you are in Hanoi, check it out!

We're going to Halong Bay tomorrow which will be the longest day ever so were trying to get an early night which is why this blog hasn't been incredibly interesting.

I'll be posting tomorrow as always so stay tuned!

Travel with Me: Day 8

Well well well it has been a week since we began our adventure. As I type this I am back in Bangkok but in the same chain of hotel- the Amari. It's literally connected to the airport which is why we are staying here (we have to get up at 6am).

We went out to get some food from the airport and got soooo lost trying to find somewhere to eat, not sure how. In the end we got McDonalds which is always so great, its like a taste of home. We've also now just got room service and we're watching The Office which is nice as well as we can just chill in our room before our flight tomorrow.

Anyway, tomorrow we get to Vietnam and I'm not sure what to expect but we will find out what it's like soon. I also made a YouTube video about our time in Bangkok and Phuket so go and take a look at that!

Speak tomorrow xo

ps The Office (US) is amazing and if you haven't already you should watch it.

Travel with Me: Day 7

Well todays blog is going to be so boring..soz..We literally have been chilling round the pool all day which has been really nice since I feel like we haven't had a day to relax yet. Ive been getting my tan on ;)

I'm quite sad though because tomorrow we have to leave to go back to Bangkok. We're only going for the night as our flight into Vietnam is from Don Mueang Airport soooooo we kinda need to be there.

Sorry todays blog has been sooooo boring but there are more fun times ahead, I promise xox

Travel with Me: Day 6

oh my gosh... I had the most incredible day. This morning I went to visit some elephants. I feel like this is something that everyone should get to do as elephants are so amazing.

We started by getting to know one little elephant and learnt some terminology such as what Mahouts were (the people that train the elephants) and even learnt some Thai. Then we got to go and have a ride on their backs. We went and saw some amazing sites from the elephants back which was so incredible. Honestly the journey was really bumpy (unsurprisingly) so it was kind of hard to take good pictures but I got a few for you guys to look at.

When we were done here they even took us back to the hotel free of charge. Lol not the elephants, the people that run the place. So if you want to visit this place its called Siam Safari. Seriously, if you are visiting Phuket its a must.

Dinner was not planned for tonight which kind of stressed me out but I luckily found somewhere on trip advisor that seemed good. We went to a place called Higher and guys it was really really great. They even gave me a free cocktail for booking online- just a little tip ;). The food was great, I had lasagne, classic fussy eater.

 Oh btw, we are staying in Patong. My thoughts on Patong is that its not really a place you would go with your family, especially not at night. Its quite the party place so if you're not into that either perhaps here isn't the best place.

Anyway, I'm off to sleep as its 2am and yep I'm still trying to get out of being jet lagged!

Travel with Me: Day 5

Helllooooooo!!!!

I've been super excited all day because we are now in Phuket!!! Even though we had to get up so early in the morning I am so so happy right now. We are honestly in paradise.

The hotel we are staying in is so beautiful. Its called the Amari Phuket. Honestly the view from our room is incredible....LOOK!!!

We didn't do much today as we just got here but tomorrow we are going to see some elephants so I'm major excited for that as its something thats on my bucket list.

Well, we are going to grab dinner now at the hotel. This post has been so short but really nothing interesting has happened thats worth writing about.

Travel with Me: Day 4

Hi guysss! So today we went to the Temple of the Reclining Buddha (Wat Pho) but first, we went on a boat. Tbh the boat ride was all a bit dodgy. In Bangkok the tuk tuk drivers try and make connections with other 'companies' so they both can make more money out of tourists and we ended up having to go on a boat trip.

Ok from the story from the beginning is, we went out of our hotel to find a tuk tuk and I knew we weren't meant to get someone that was standing right outside the hotel, (they're normally looking for naive people to con) but we did this anyway. On the way to Wat Pho he firstly makes us go into a cloth shop. Clearly we were not going to buy anything so it was kind of scary being in there in fact I kinda thought they were going to rob us or something, lol. Anyway thats just one example of how they all work together to try and get money so if you're going, beware of this. 

Then the tuk tuk driver dropped us off specifically at a boat trip to get to Wat Pho. Once we were here and he had left we basically had no other option but to get this boat and I'm telling you, this trip was not cheap. After trying to get a lower price and kind of failing we just decided to get on the boat and go on this trip despite not really having enough money for it....oh well. 

Once we were on the boat it was actually a really good trip. We got to see how people lived along the Chao Phraya river which is honestly crazy to see. There were kids playing in the river and waved at us as we passed by. At first I felt sad that they were not as fortunate at us but then saw how happy they were, and thats all that really matters. 

Once we got to the temples we only had the option of going to Wat Pho as the others were shut by the time we got there- we overslept. This temple is so amazing- I mean, just look at the pictures!!!! 

 

After we had a look around the rest of the temple we decided to head back but this time on the cheap boat, lol.

Today showed me how important happiness really is and you don't have to have the best things in life to be happy :)))))) 

Goodnight xo

Travel with Me: Day 3

Hey guys!! So its currently 1AM here in Bangkok- jet lag is a killer!!!

Today we went to walk around Bangkok and went to the Lumpini Park. It was honestly so beautiful (as you can see from the picture bellow). Its so cool as well, they have a gym inside the park. Although not sure I'd like to work out in this heat (its 38 degrees). We went on the cutest pedalo boats which were shaped like swans and we even saw turtles in the lake!

The walk back to the hotel was quite long, especially as we are in foreign country and neither of us are that great with maps. I don't know why we didn't just get a tuk tuk but at least know we kind of know where our hotel is.

Since I had done so much research on where to eat near our hotel, (this was essential- I'm fussy and worried about getting sick) I knew exactly where we would eat- Dexter Cafe. It was literally only a 5 minute walk from our hotel and it had pizza- something that I wouldn't be fussy over.

Dexter's did not disappoint. Look how cute the cocktails were!!! The food was incredible as well- I had pizza. The staff were so sweet and even gave us some money off. Seriously if you are ever in Bangkok and fancy a home cooked meal you must visit here.

After that amazing meal we wanted to go exploring and I wanted to go shopping. So that's what we did. I knew that there was a night market near by so we went to take a look. 

The night market is such a crazy place. On one side the things they are selling are so pretty and traditional but on the other hand there are so many people shouting at you to buy stuff or, go into their sex shops. This can get sooooo annoying, especially when there is another person every metre but it was so worth it and just part of the experience. FYI I had done my research and knew you should never go with those guys so if you are going travelling, don't be fooled, this is normally a scam! 

Anyway, whilst we were there I bought 4 pairs of elephant pants because they looked so comfy and so cute, I mean, why not? They were also about £2 each, so crazy. I also made a huge decision to buy my sister a fake Louis Vuitton bag on the second night.. which I would come to regret but what can ya do. 

After spending most of our money we walked back to the hotel and now I am here telling you all about my day. Tomorrow we are going to the Temple of the Reclining Buddha so that will be good, stay tuned! 

To keep up with my travels follow my instagram: amberlouiserebecca

Travel with me: Day 2

Hi guys! We got to Bangkok at about 5am and managed to check into the hotel early- thank god! I am sooooo tired after a 15 hour journey so we just decided to take a nap. I had done extensive research about what to do/ where to eat near our hotel so we didn't have to plan much.

Once we had a nap- which lasted until 7pm..ooops..we went to grab some food. Because it was the first night we decided just to grab something from 7/11, one of the main shops here in Bangkok. It was quite difficult to choose what to get since everything was written in Thai. In the end we got some sort of bacon noodles but kind of failed at making them since we didn't actually have a kettle in our hotel room.

Anyway hopefully tomorrow won't be as boring and I'll have some cool photos to post here!

To follow my travels follow my instagram: amberlouiserebecca

Travel with Me: Day 1

So today me and my boyfriend are off to Asia to travel round Thailand, Vietnam and Bali. We will be gone for 5 weeks and I've NEVER been away from home for more than a week!!!!! Never been so nervous in my whole life. Anyway, my mum is taking us to the airport then we are going from Heathrow-Dubai-Bangkok. Crazy to think that tomorrow we will be in Thailand. AHHHHH!


To keep up with me and my travels/ pictures follow my Instagram: amberlouiserebecca