Looking back at Vietnam

So I've been back in England for just over a week now. Time has gone so quick! Really nice being back but at the same time I miss South East Asia so much. I didn't get a chance to write about my time in Vietnam so thought I'd do a quick overview with plenty of pics.

I went to 3 places over there: Ho Chi Minh, Nha Trang and Hanoi. Nha Trang is on the coast with good beaches and the other two are great cities. Vietnam is such a gorgeous country and there's always something interesting happening wherever you go.

The only negative part of my time there which is funny to look back on is a 29 hour train journey from Nha Trang to Hanoi. How to describe it? Imagine a cramped cabin with hard beds, poor air conditioning, no one who speaks English, impossible to order food, screaming babies and some friendly cockroaches in your bed.....heaven.

The highlight of my time there was visiting Ha Long Bay. Thousands of stunning limestone cliffs in the water with amazing caves to discover. It really is amazing and sitting on the top of the boat looking at the scenery is very special.

South East Asia is truly an unforgettable experience and a must for anyone who is keen for adventure and to explore the world. One day in the future I'll be going back there and I'm already looking forward to it

S x

Early morning Ho Chi Minh

On your marks...

Up to no good as usual

Causing mayhem

I love street food

Sleeper bus

Walk to the beach

Gorgeous beach in Nha Trang

Best meal I had. Duck and deep fried prawns, yom

Off to do some snorkeling

On the way to have lunch

Choosing your lunch! 

Someone's home

Fishing - attempting and failing

Time to cool off

Private resort

Enjoying the sun

Little piece of paradise

Just by the lake in Hanoi

Lake

Typical street with lots of cool restaurants

Ha Long Bay!

Walk through the cave

Over 2500 limestone cliffs in Ha Long Bay

Loving life

Rowing boat around the bay

Such a great experience

That stone building on a boat is actually a school!

Amazing

Journey back

Great day

Cambodia!

I spent around a week in Cambodia and it was great to visit another country. It would have been a shame not to try out other parts of South East Asia so I forgot about my overdraft/being financially ruined upon my return to the shores of England and just went for it!

My first stop was Siem Reap. This is where the famous Angkor Wat temple is and if that's too cultural then you have Pub Street with many bars and clubs! It was a nice to see the temples and also experience the nightlife as too much culture can send you to sleep.

Cambodian sunset

Best place for drinks

Ridiculously cheap drinks

Great advertising

Yummy

A bar down pub street

Outside my hotel

Made the most of these cheap cocktails

Wish I tried this!

Bloody love ice cream

The best tuk-tuk ever!

Some nutter cycling with a table attached to his bike

Angkor Wat

Reflection pool outside Angkor Wat

Some monks causing trouble

Trees growing out of the temple

Nose to nose!

Tour guide having a laugh

Elephant!

Next I went to the capital of Cambodia which is Phnom Penh. Mixed feelings about this place mainly because I caught tonsillitis and was confined to my bed for most of it! However I did drag myself out of bed to visit the Killing Fields and S-21 prison. Before I arrived to Asia I'd never heard of the genocide that took place in the 70's in Cambodia and I find it pretty shocking that we're not taught it in school in the UK. 3 million out of the 8 million people who lived in Cambodia were murdered and the torture that took place is unbelievable. The monument at the Killing Fields has a tall glass tower inside which contains over 8000 human skulls dug up from the area. Seems a pretty gruesome thing to display but it really gets the point across.

Human bone on the walk around the killing fields

Newly discovered human remains

Over 8000 skulls

Hard to believe

Great restaurant name!

On to something more positive. The beach! My final stop was Sihanoukville which is on the south coast. Not much of party place as I'd hoped but it was good to chill there and Otres beach is gorgeous. 

Massive Lion balls. Whoever designed this is having a good laugh now!

Chilling

Gorgeous beach

After my quick tour of Cambodia I got my Vietnam visa sorted and went to Ho Chi Minh City and then on to Nha Trang. I'll be blogging about Vietnam soon! I'm off fishing and snorkeling in the morning which I'm looking forward to. Sadly after that I have a 28 hour train journey up north to Hanoi tomorrow night! Going to be hell but looking forward to getting there!

S x