Incheon - South Korea

I am not sure about other travelers but for us we liked to travel on the cheap which means getting budget airlines and the longest waiting time, and this is exactly what we did when traveling to South Korea, we had a 4 hour await at the hotel before heading to the airport, then a 4 hour await at the airport. We flew to Kuala Lumpur which took an hour but as we had booked two seperate flights we had to collect our bags and re-check in which was a long process (we left 3 hours between flights but the check in at Kuala Lumpur and border control takes a while) so we just made it to the gate in time to board. The the flight from Kuala Lumpar to Incheon airport took around 6 hours. On arriving at Incheon airport we bought tickets just outside the exit doors for the limousine bus to Songdo which cost 8,000 Won each (today's exchange rate £5.45 each) and you want to get off at The Korean Coast Guard stop and this will be in the centre of Songdo. Alternatively you can get the public bus 303 and get off at the same stop. This cost 2,500 Won each. (today's exchange rate £1.70 each).

When we arrived we met with your house sit at Starbucks and walked to her apartment. Songdo seems a bit daunting when you first arrive but it is really easy to navigate, all you have to remember is the main street which runs down the middle of Songdo has loads of flags all the way along.

This house sit we were in an apartment looking after 2 cats, Kimchi and Taco. We were told there were other house sitters in the area at the same time as us. Our sit as with most was 6 weeks long. On thing to note about South Korea is that there are very few people who speak English and not a lot of signs or restaurants are in English, which can be a struggle if you get lost or want to buy things at the supermarket. We did get suck with the bus once and someone jumped off to help us out which was lovely so you might be lucky to find one.

I think a week would be long enough in South Korea if I'm honest as it isn't very tourist friendly. The bus drivers didn't acknowledge or speak any English and there isn't many attractions to see.

Attractions:

• Seoul - The Capital of South Korea is really nice as far as cities go. The streets are clean and very easy to get around with plenty of beauty shops and clothes shop but the city center lacks gadget shops and gaming shops. We are gamer's and thought we could pick up some cheap PlayStation games but we were disappointed, we got the train to Sinyongsan and there are plenty of game shops around that area inside the Mall and also if you walk under the under pass you will see indoor markets with lots of games in various shops.

• War Memorial - We didn't go to the war memorial as after reading reviews and Trip advisor we learnt that although they have war planes outside there isn't much inside, large rooms with a few objects in and a lot of writing on the walls. If this is your thing don't be put off but we watch a documentary on North Korea called "Propaganda Game" and found this more informative.

• North Korea Tour - There are a few tours which run up to the North Korean border, our house sit advised us to go with DMZ tours if we were to do one, but they didn't really enjoy it, and after again reading reviews i felt it was a 'tourist trap' and most of the day was driving, a couple of opportunities to take pictures because remember North Korea like their privacy and the look out point you need binoculars to see North Korea so your pretty far away from it. lol.

• Central Park - This is in Songdo and lovely to walk around as the sun is setting. You can rent canoe's or pedal boats and go around the lake which is in the middle of the park. 

• Korean BBQ - Korean BBQ's are very popular and most restaurants offer them, but the one you NEED to try is Dino Meats Grill in Songdo as it is all you can eat for 9,000 Won each (today's exchange rate £6.14 each) and is delicious.

 

• Night Flea Markets - The night flea markets and Korean street food can be found near to the Hongik University and you can find some great bargains here.

There is only 1 large supermarket in Songdo called Lotto which is opposite central park and a small mart close to the allotments in the middle of Songdo.

All in all its a place we never planned on visiting but thanks to Trusted House Sits it gave us the opportunity to see somewhere new, if your thinking of going just bear in mind a week would be long enough.

Thank you for reading we shall be back in a few weeks with out adventures in Dubai.

Kata Beach - Phuket, Thailand.

After our house sit in New Zealand had finished we could not find another house to fill a 12 day gap, so we looked into Hong Kong and Japan. As we have grown accustom to house sitting, it wasn't that easy parting with the cash on a hotel. We searched for nearly 2 weeks straight looking for hotels in both area's but non of them seemed value for money. The best prices we could find (for what we wanted) was £500 and this was only for one week. This I guess is what you pay for a city, but the size of a room was tiny compared to what we have paid else where in the world. So after a long thought we decided neither place is where we wanted to go so we settled on going back to Thailand where we knew we can get value for money and food is cheap.

Now we have been to Phuket twice already on this trip and both times we have stayed in Patong, but this time we wanted somewhere a little quieter to enjoy more of a holiday experience, because any traveler will know its hard work!!! lol. My sister and her husband had just been to Karon beach and loved it (please read her blog if you haven't already www.stylespeakslouder.com) so we looked into this area and also Kata Beach, which are in walking distance from each other.

We finally settled on Kata beach and we were not disappointed. We didn't want the busy streets that are in Patong and we are not clubbers so that scene did not matter we just wanted a quiet relaxing hotel. I don't know about you but when I read reviews on TripAdvisor I am always left more confused then when i started because everyone is different and some people just nit pick. (I too am one of those people at times). We found a hotel called Chanalia Flora Resort and on reading reviews I learn that there are too many stairs to climb, there isn't enough choice at breakfast and the pools were small. So I was a little dubious of what to expect when we got there, but from the moment we stepped out of the car the staff were fantastic. They could not do enough for us, and with it being low season there was maintenance going on around the hotel, the first room they put us in had no view and they were chopping trees down outside our window so we asked to move rooms and the did this immediately. We were given a top floor room with a sea view and it was perfect. (We did ask ourselves why they gave us the first room when the hotel was quiet??) There were stairs to climb to reach the lifts to the rooms but there was about 15 steps at the most so who ever complained about the stairs is just lazy. The breakfast had loads to offer from toast, noodles, pancakes, eggs, rice, cereal and fruit so there is enough to have something different each day.

Now to the pools, there was 2 pools a top and bottom, the top was one depth all the way along but had seats so you could sit in the water and bubbles and the bottom pool was deep at one end with a water fall, both of which we enjoyed. The thing that made this hotel greet to us was it was my birthday while we were there and without any prompting they sang me happy birthday and bought me a cake which i felt was lovely. I would definitely stay here again.




Kata area itself was just what we wanted, a lovely clean and not over crowded beach, plenty of shops to look at, night markets and restaurants everywhere. Our favourite and an absolute MUST is Danny's Bar Restaurant 44, the food here is a good price and the duck dishes they do are to die for. This became our local for the 12 days and we ate there every lunch and dinner it was delicious.

While in Kata we found another house sit in South Korea, which we are currently at hence the delay in blogging as I don't want to catch up with myself. So off we go to Incheon, stay tuned for my blog on 2 cats and an apartment.

Hotels we stayed in are:
Chanalia Flora Resort, £202 for 12 nights. We booked the room through their own site as we got free fruit platter on arrival, 15% off drinks and 15% off food in their restaurant and also breakfast was included in the price. Its the first time Booking.com was more expensive. The rooms were big and modern with a large shower room and large wardrobe space. TV reception was good and we WIFI was OK a little spotty now and then but the hotel dealt with this when informed.

One of the most memorable places - Phnom Penh, Cambodia

We arrived in Phnom Penh at night time and had no clue as to where we were or which direction the hotel was in so we jumped in a Tuk Tuk to make things easy.

We were greeted with cool towels and fresh drinks while we checked in. The hotel had made a mistake and pout us in a double room as apposed to the superior room we booked but this was immediately corrected and we changed rooms. This hotel had only opened a month prior and was in very good condition with new amenities, it was busy but only had 13 rooms with a lovely pool to jump in on a hot day.

We arrived in Cambodia in Feb/March time and it was extremely hot around 40 degrees Celsius every day, which sometimes was unbearable to go out so we stayed in our room with the air-con on.

We were situated very near to the Independence monument which sits in the centre of the traffic circle so if you get lost this is a good point to head back to as your only 5 minutes away from The Royal Place and shopping area.




Phnom Penh is full of history and this can be seen within the buildings around the city, if you hire a Tuk Tuk for the day they will take you round the city to see different temples. The main attractions of course are the Choeung Ek Killing Fields, the S-21 Prison and The Royal Palace. There is deep history in these places so show respect and really listen to the story's told, some can be quite moving. It pains me to think of the terror and torture that occurred in such a beautiful country.

Attractions:
We hired a Tuk Tuk for the day to take us round the attractions, they are cheap but of course you have to barter for the right price but the drivers get lunch at each stop if they take someone so better to use them than a corporate company that may rip you off. 

• Choeung Ek Killing Fields:

Here you are given an audio headset to listen too as you walk around, it is in sections and you just press play when you move into each new section, which means you can walk round at your own pace and really listen to the stories. The cost to get in is $6 US Dollars (today's exchange rate £4.20)




Between the years of 1975 and 1978 around 17,000 men, women and children were brought to the killing fields from the over crowed S-21 prison. A lot were tortured to death so not to waste bullets. There is estimated 8985 peoples remains were exhumed from the killing fields in mass graves, some of the human remains and clothing are still present in the fields. While on the tour you will here stories from the victims who survived the Khmer Rouge and from Him Huy who was a guard and executioner at the fields.

A Memorial Stupa of clear glass was erected in 1988 to house bone fragments and skulls all arranged by sex, age and how they killed.

•   S-17 Prison also known as Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum:

Admission is around $2 US Dollars (today's exchange rate £3) there is no audio around the prison but facts and pictures on walls. You can have a guided tour for $6 US Dollars (today's exchange rate £4.20)

This was not always a prison, it started off as a high school before Pol Potts took over in 1975 and it soon became the largest centre for detention and torture in the country.






The leaders kept detailed logs of each prison who walked through the gates  by taking their photograph, name and where they came from. Most of the photographs you see in the prison today are of people who were later killed. When the Phnom Penh was liberated in 1979 only 7 prisoners were found alive, they had used their skills in photograph and painting to do this.

• The Royal Palace:

(This is a small section of the Palace)
Admission here is $10 US Dollars (today's exchange rate £7)
NOTE: you MUST cover your shoulders and forearms. A scarf or shawl will not do it must be a t-shirt or jumper, we did not actually visit the Palace as i had my shoulders exposed.


 
There are many more attractions and temples to see around Phnom Penh, like the Independence Monument I described earlier, the Cambodia-Vietnam Friendship Monument (picture) which is in between the Palace and the Independence Monument and the large markets in the centre of town. Be careful at these markets as they are very tightly packed and very busy so there are a few pick pockets around. It all depends on how long you are staying in Phnom Penh as to what you see, also it was extremely hot when we were here so doing a little is tiring.



Hotel we stayed in was booked through booking.com.
The Sam Boutique Hotel: $302.40 US Dollars (today's exchange rate £ ) for 7 nights including breakfast. Although the cooked breakfast wasn't that great as it was very small, you could also have cereal. Very clean bright hotel, great swimming pool and the rooms were very clean and modern. i would definitely stay here again as the staff were brilliant and it was in a good location with lots of eateries around to choose from.

Moving onto Sihanoukville we booked a 12:30pm Giant Ibis minibus from their head office in Phnom Penh (street 106) which is situated in the night market and cost $10 US Dollars (today's exchange rate £7). It took 4 hours with stops along the way to Sihanoukville. When we booked the bus we asked to be picked up from the hotel but as this was a new hotel they didn't know where it was so we had to give the name of the hotel next door which they were fine with. There are only 2 bus companies that run to Sihanoukville these are Sorya and Capitol Tours, they are classed as typical Cambodian bus companies which are cheap but only good for short trips, and then there are 2 minibus companies called Giant Ibis and Mekong Express

NOTE: We did a lot of research on TripAdvisor to see which is the best company to go with, and Giant Ibis had the best reviews. It was comfy big seat in only a 16 seater minibus. (Sorya company tend to break down often and have falling apart buses, which make the trip longer.)

BEWARE: Please be aware the roads in Cambodia are not all finished in lovely tarmac, so if you are getting a bus please get a day time bus and NOT a night bus around Cambodia. If you have ever been before you will know what I'm talking about and if you haven't well, hold on to your seats your in for a treat. The roads are sometimes narrow, or have huge holes in them so through the day at least the driver can see where he is going at night he can not. The night buses are also most prone to accidents. See this link (Night Bus) for 5 reasons you should not get night buses.

Hoi An to Nha Trang

The train took 9 hours from Da Nang to Nha Trang which left at 11:41am and arrived at 8:41pm The station is not in the centre of Nha Trang so i would get a taxi when you arrive to take you to your hotel.

I don't think there is a main area of Nha Trang to stay in as there are many shops on every street. The hotel we stayed in was very popular and only a 10 minute walk to the beach.

Nha Trang is very busy and very popular and there are lots of lovely places to eat on every street. We just used Trip Adviser to see which restaurants were rated the best.

Not far from the hotel is a lovely stretch of white sandy beach that you can do a number of water sports on from kite surfing, jet ski's and banana boating. There are lots of bars long the beach which have seat actually on the beach so you don't have to go far.
There is also an outside swimming pool/lazy river which is open to the public, with sunbeds around the edges although you do have to pay for these.


You can get your hair cut and a shave on the street in Nha Trang as local people set up stalls with mirror attached to trees. You can also get your ears cleaned.

While in Nha Trang there are many different activities you can do but as we were only here for a few days we only did the Egg Mud Baths which cost about $12 (Today's exchange rate £9) These are egg shaped pods filled with natural hot mud you bath in for 30 minutes and there are hydro pools and swimming pools to relax in. Although this sounds a nice novel thing to do I wouldn't do it again, as it is not worth the money and was a small complex. Within our ticket we could eat in the restaurant which we were the only people in and the food wasn't that great.














We were here for valentines day so went out for a lovely sushi meal which again we found on trip adviser and went to the cinema which is very small but quiet and cheap. This is about a 20 minute walk from the beach in the direction of the train station.

We booked a night bus from Nha Trang which picked us up from our hotel to Ho Chi Minh City which took 10 hours and cost around $24 (Today's exchange £17 each) there are two that leave a day either 8am or 8pm. We took the 8pm bus. The bus will arrive at Ho Chi Minh City but the bus station is not in town so you will have to get a local bus into town. Ask a local for directions and they will tell you what bus to use they are very helpful. Once we arrived in the city we went straight into a travel agents and booked the next bus to Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

NOTE: You can not book a bus in Nha Trang all the way to Cambodia you will have to book them separately as we did above.

Hotel we stayed in was booked through booking.com:
The Summer Hotel, $103 (Us dollars). (Todays exchange rate £72) for 4 nights. This included a buffet breakfast which was very nice, but a lot of the rooms don't have window and is so very dark and smells musky. We were a floor above the kitchen and you can hear everything and they start early in the morning so be warned. There is a roof top pool but its small and has about 8 sunbed so in high season you will struggle to get a bed. The hotel was ok but there were points that let it down. Not a hotel to stay in for long periods of time.

Hanoi to Hoi An

Thank you for coming back and reading our travel blog. Today we are talking about moving from Hanoi to Hoi An and the attractions around Hoi An.

We booked our flight to Hoi An via a travel agency for around £25 each excluding baggage. We flew into Da Nang as this is the closest airport to Hoi An, where we were picked up by the hotel which we had pre-booked via Booking.com.

Our hotel was about 30 minute walk from the old town which is the centre of Hoi An but it was very peaceful right on the river front. The nice thing about our hotel was it was only a month old so had brand new amenities and the staff were excellent. They invited us to join them for evening tea which was free and throughout our 2 week stay offered us to join the family for dinner and all the guesting within the hotel. It is only a small hotel but that's great for us, we don't like a lot of people.

Most of the hotels in Hoi An offer free bicycles to use as it is very flat and the town is about 15 minute bike ride and the beach is about 20 minutes from our hotel.







The Old Town:
The Old Town has a maze of cobbled streets all winding down towards the river and only walking or biking is allowed, no cars which is great. We loved pedaling through the streets is was very peaceful and lots of things to look at. There are plenty of dress shops for the ladies to choose from if you wanted a handmade dress. They all vary in price so ask around and there are so many i couldn't suggest which is best.
Other than dress shops you will find leather shops, souvenir shop, cafes, restaurants and lantern shops.

The lanterns are all hand made and look amazing at night when they are all lite up.

If you cross over the red bridge there are more restaurants and night markets. On the bridge at night you can buy small lanterns to let off down the river and it is a lovely atmosphere.



Attractions

• The main attractions in Hoi An are to rent motorbikes which we didn't do because we like the skin on our legs and not on the roads.

• You can join push bike tours which take you round Hoi An but it is a small place you can do it yourself its very easy and hard to get lost.

• On the river in the old town there are small boats which the locals offer to take you in down the river and to where the locals do their fishing with massive nets.

All attractions can be booked through your hotel or travel agencies.

We had our clothes washed through our hotel which they did at a reasonable price, within competition with shops offering it in town. A little bribery for a good review on TripAdvisor helped to reduce the price. (Little tip there they always want good reviews)

Hoi An was a place we absolutely loved and surprised at the amount out tourist we met that never went. The whole place is calm and easy to access and the locals are some of the nicest people we have met. The food here was also some of the best food we had throughout Asia and if you do get a chance to go visit a place called "Red Dragon" this really is great food and they also offer cooking classes.

We booked through our hotel a train ticket to Nha Trang, but I would recommend you getting a local bus to Da Nang train station and buying yourself as you will save a lot. On the train ticket the price says $22 (Us dollars). (Today's exchange rate £14)  but the hotel did charge us a lot more than this.

Hotels we stayed were booked through Booking.com

• Oasis Riverside Boutique, $126 (Us dollars). (Today's exchange rate £111) for one week. We extended through the hotel for one more week which they did as the same price as Booking.com. Breakfast was included within the price and it was mad fresh. (The pancakes were great). The rooms were big and modern with a large shower room and large wardrobe space. TV reception was good and we even had our own WIFI router in your room so it was very fast. I would definitely recommend staying here as the staff and hotel are lovely although the price has increased since we were there so not sure its worth anymore than we paid for it.

Heading to Chiang Mai

After our 2 weeks were up we headed to Chiang Mai via train. We purchased our tickets from Hua Lumphong THB841 (today's exchange rate £15). We were in the second class sleeper and it was the best night sleep we ever had.

The seats change into beds and the stewards come round to set them up and take them down for you.

I would not advise trying to do it yourself, an impatient man in the bed next to us tried and got his finger trapped and cut it open. A bit risky when the beds are old and rusty and there were a few cockroaches running around. The stewards know what they are doing and are fast at it so just be patient. They sell food on the train but it looked a bit questionable so eat at your own risk.


The train journey took 12 hours through the night and passed small towns built on the side of the train tracks, but the scenery of the countryside was great to see.
Once we got off the train we grabbed a tuk tuk to take us to our hotel. All the tuk tuk's were the same price at the train station so there's no point trying to barter, but it’s still fun to try.

In Chiang Mai there is a main square in the old city which is in the centre of town and the shops run from either end. Will take about 30 minutes to walk from one end to the other. The main gate to the shopping streets, is called Tha Phae Gate. When looking for hotels just set the filter to old city.

We were here for New Year and they had street celebrations, a live band, fireworks and everyone let off lanterns into the night sky. This was held at the Tha Phae Gate. A wonderful atmosphere to be a part of.






We did meet a few travelers who had not booked any accommodation and were just going to look for one once they were there and after looking around there are lots of hostels to choose from in the centre.

Things to do in Chiang Mai:
There are a three markets I would suggest seeing:

• Sunday market (or walking street) which starts at the Tha Phae gate and stretches for 1km. The locals sell handmade products and souvenirs.
• The Night Bazaar market which on Chang Khlan Road sell more designer brands and jewelry etc. 
• Chiang Mia's night food market is one to visit for its traditional Thai food and if your adventurous the deep fried bugs, cockroaches and anything else that moves. It is held on Sri Chum Road.

There are many different elephant rides/experiences in Chiang Mai and you can spend days looking at them all just to decide on one.

We were recommended the tour Ran-Tong and we were not disappointed. They are a rescue centre for elephants which have been used in log moving in rural parts of Thailand. We did the half day tour which cost us THB2400 (today's exchange rate £43) for one elephant two people. There are longer tours where you learn more about the elephants and more commands but we decided against this. The camp is about an hour’s drive into the country from the old city.


 A thing to note about this camp is there are a few steep steps to walk down, but once you’re at the bottom it’s very flat. All the elephants are within a squared area where the trainers lived, fed and bathed them. We were given time to see the elephants, touch them and feed them before we were given a quick lesson in the different commands they respond too.
Don't worry about remembering them they will only listen to their trainers but it’s fun to participate. After the lesson you are given clothing to put on as you will get mucky when you go into the water with them. You got to pick the elephant you wanted to ride and thanks to my partner we got the biggest (and the naughtiest). I sat on the back and held onto a rope which was put around the elephant’s body. Now this is not comfy at all as you’re sat on the spine (don’t worry it doesn’t hurt him) so be prepared to get a numb bum. My partner sat on the neck with his feet underneath his ears to guide him in the right direction.
The great thing about this elephant camp is you ride them bare back. What I didn’t know before is when saddles are used it puts more strain on their backs which results in back pain and sores from where the saddles have been. So we set off on our ride, and the guide was brilliant. You have individual guides for each elephant and ours took our camera and took lots of pictures for us. Our elephant didn’t like to follow the group, he liked to go his own way so we fell behind a little but this was OK as it was all within the camp.



After about 30-40 minutes we were taken to a big pond where you could walk the elephants in (while you’re on their backs) to get a bath, luckily ours didn’t like the water in the pond as they also poop in there so we just gave him a shower which he loved.






After the ride we were given a lovely lunch while looking across the countryside. (any pictures of the lunch?) Now as I mentioned earlier our guide took pictures for us as he advised the pictures taken by the camp are expensive, which they were. A good deed he didn’t need to do, so we tipped him at the end. They don’t have a lot at these camps so if you can help even just a little it is appreciated.


While we were in Chiang Mai we picked up a tuk tuk for the day THB400 (today's exchange rate £7) and went off to see the tigers.

At the tiger kingdom you get to go inside the cages with the tigers (scary I know!). They have big, medium, small and smallest cats. We paid THB1560 (today's exchange rate £28) to see the big, small and smallest cats. It’s not cheap to see them but a great experience. A lot of people worry about them being drugged in places like this and no one can say for sure if they are but you have to remember tigers sleep for 18 hours a day so are very dopey. They were very active always moving around and there are always trainers inside the cages with you.

It is great to see them up close and how big they actually are, their paws are huge! Bigger than my hand.

 

I would not recommend seeing the smallest tigers, although they are very cute they move around a lot so being able to stroke them is hard and also they are not allowed to sit on your knee like the pictures showed so we felt it was a waste of money to see them. Great for the children though as they are small. I would definitely do this again. There are other tiger kingdoms around Thailand.




After the Tigers we went on to visit a crocodile farm called Maerim crocodile show. This cost THB300 (today's exchange rate £5). This seemed very run down, and over crowed with crocodiles. The show began and if you don’t know, crocodiles are fast and these seemed very lethargic. The performer put his head inside the crocodiles mouth and held it there for several minutes. I'm not sure any crocodile would allow you to do this for that length of time if it wasn’t drugged. The performer dragged crocodiles around by their tales and got in the water with them and they didn’t do anything, I am not a crocodile hunter or trainer but I'm sure they wouldn't just sit there. I felt very uncomfortable watching this show and would not recommend supporting it.

Another attraction which is popular in Chiang Mai but unfortunately we didn’t do as the weather was not in our favour is the holy temple of Wat Phra That. It is located at the top of the mountain visible from the centre of Chiang Mai. Most tuk tuk drives will want to take you up the mountain to see the temple but you will need your walking boots as there are around 300 steps to the top and you will need your rain coats as it can get a bit wet at the top of the mountain.

The locals here are very friendly and one stopped us in the street to ask if we needed help, which we didn’t but he was still happy to chat us and he recommended going up the mountain as the views over Chiang Mai are worth the trek. A must for the next time we are there.

We did our first load of washing in Chaing Mai and we found only one coin laundry which was North of the square inside a shop which sold flip flops and next to a supermarket.








The hotels we stayed in are: These were booked via Booking.com

• Jira Luxury Boutique Residence, THB8,400 (today's exchange rate £153) for one week. This was about 15 minute walk to the main square but it was right next to the night market, with very modern big rooms.
• Lyceum Home THB8,000 (today's exchange rate £146) for one week. This "hotel" was a youth centre during the day downstairs. The rooms were old but big but I wouldn't stay here again as I didn't like the fact people could walk in and out. Also the breakfast was terrible, they left soup out in the open from 6am.

Next week we move onto Laos.

Bangkok

Thank you for returning to my blog. One thing I forgot to mention in my last blog is don't fall into tourist traps. What I mean by this is do what you like doing and don't feel just because someone has said 'this is a tourist thing to do' that you have to do it. We have wasted money doing thing people have told us to do and we haven't enjoyed it. So do things YOU enjoy.

First leg: Bangkok
Below is a map of our route starting in Bangkok.

So we started off in Heathrow London and flew with Air India to New Delhi and then onto Bangkok. The flight cost us £303 each with 30kg baggage. This airline was very good, we had meals included in the price, seats were spacious bearing in mind I'm 5 foot 11 and my partner is 6 foot 2. We stopped in New Delhi for 2 hours. The airport was clean and big and accepted all major currencies which is great as you don’t always have the correct currency on you if you’re doing a connecting flight.

We continued onto Bangkok. We had not pre-booked a taxi to our hotel but there is an information desk called Airport Authority of Thailand Limousine Service (AOT) where you can get a private taxi. The price varies depending on the type of car you want but we just got the cheapest one which cost around £20 for a 40 minute ride. There are other options if you’re on a budget, you can use public taxis which you can pick up outside the airport building or you can get the train into the city. The train line is called ARL city line and if I was to return to Bangkok I would use this, as I realised later the train lines are very easy to navigate.

Travel Tip: Print out the name of your hotel in Thai for the taxi driver as there are lots of hotels with similar names.

The hotel we stayed in was called Prom Ratchada Residence and cost THB16,250 (todays exchange rate £296) for 14 nights. It was a bit far from the main tourist area of Siam Square and the Grand Palace but as I mention before trains are within easy access.

Now we may have booked too long in Bangkok and even the locals thought 2 weeks was too long as we got laughed at on numerous occasions, but as a first time traveler we weren't sure how long we needed in each place. So we were there for 2 weeks, which we didn't mind as there are great cinemas at cheap prices, around £3 a ticket and fantastically clean and modern shopping malls to look around.

The public transport was very easy to master. We got the train into the "posh" area called Sukhumvit. The mall here is unique as each floor is based around a different country selling that countries products and souvenirs. A must visit.




We also went and looked round some temples but to be honest once you've seen one you've seen them all so I would just pick the big ones and leave the smaller ones. This temple is called Wat Trai Mit and is about 20-30 minute walk from the Grand Palace.






 The ones I would recommend seeing are:

• Wat Phra Kaew (Temple of Emerald). This is within the walls of the Grand Palace. Just looking at the detail of this temple is incredible, carved out of Jade it really sparkles in the sunlight.
• Wat Pho (Temple of Reclining Buddha). This is one of the oldest temples in Bangkok with a large reclining Buddha covered in gold leaf.
• Wat Saket. Now this one is a bit of a hike to get too so take some water as it is built on top of a high hill in the old city of Bangkok, with amazing views.

Although I never did a river cruise on this occasion I did do a long tail boat tour around the Klongs (canals) the last time I was in Bangkok and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Tours usually last about one and a half hours but our tour lasted about 3 hours but I think this was due to the propeller being broken. You can pick up a long tail boat from Saphan Taskin, or if your hotel is on the canals they will probably have boats waiting there, this is where I got my boat from. It was amazing to see how some people had so much and others had so little, with all the shacks only a few meters from the water level. On this tour you get to see some of the floating markets. I never went to see the large floating markets but I have heard they are great to see.

A big thing in Asia is a lot of restaurants and shopping malls close at 10pm except for local eateries but you have to be brave to eat here as you might not know what your eating, so keep this in mind.

I think if I were to redo my Bangkok trip I would only stay for 4 days at the most.

Next week we will be moving into Chiang Mai.....

Getting started for your travels.

Tips and planning: 
For us we didn't have a time limit on our travels so we probably spent a lot longer in places than some backpackers usually would. When we started looking into travelling we had a rough idea where we wanted to go and in which direction. Thailand - Laos - Vietnam- Cambodia, but we never had set plans, we just made it up as we went along. I think spending long lengths of times in places helps as you can research and bargain hunt on where you want to go next and how you want to get there. We also didn't know what we wanted to see in each place which is fine you don't have to have it all written down, that's the great thing about travelling you learn new things and plans change. We took the Lonely Planet book on Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia with us which we used on occasion to get an idea of what is going to be in the different places but you don't really need one as WIFI is readily available, even in Laos. Google is a great thing and hotels will provide you with information and leaflets. Talk to other travellers they are in the same boat as you, new exciting environment so you can help each other.

Packing:
Do you need a backpack? Like most people when you decide to go travelling you think about the type of backpack you want to get, and you rush out to the shops to purchase one. There are various sizes to choose and we went for the mid range 65 litre, which is pretty big when you open it up. This was our first mistake! They were very heavy, awkward and unnecessary.If you are only staying in one place for a couple of days you have to either pack strategically or pull everything out and repack. We would strongly recommend buying a suitcase, you will be much happier. Some people we met on the way agreed you didn’t need a backpack. Most people will say they are easier but even changing boats in the middle of the sea with a suitcase was easy and the staff on board will help move them for you.
Don't take too much. We definitely over packed. If we were to start again we would take 2 pair of shorts, and 5 t-shirts and that would be all. Also when your leaving home wear what you want to take, we wore thick jeans and hoodies because it was cold in England but have never worn them since so they are kind of a dead weight and costing us in luggage prices. You can wear an outfit for 2 days before it needs changing. We did our washing every 2 weeks, and you will find yourself wearing the same things over and over as they are comfy, and remember you can buy things while your travelling especially around South East Asia you can pick up some great bargains.

Important things to pack are:

• Microfiber Towels - They are light weight and fast drying.

• A pair of good walk shoes. - Although we only wore them on moving days you need something sturdy when carrying your backpack (unless you are brilliant and bought a suitcase) but a lot of activities do require enclosed shoes.

• Rain Coats - You will need these on your travels as you can not predict the weather, make sure you can roll them up small. 

•  Combination locks - We've all heard about peoples cases being tampered with and being pulled up at customs so don't take the risk. Get a TSA (Transport Security Administration) approved lock which can be opened by security with a master key. Other locks will just be broken open. We only put these on our hand luggage where our laptops were kept. 

•  First aid kit - I'm not going to list the thing to take as everyone is different but we took plasters, bandage, safety pins, antibiotics, Paracetamol, Ibuprofen, (but Aspirin is a good substitute for both these painkillers), anti-diarrhea pills, latex free gloves and ladies don't forget your contraceptive pills. These will need to be declared as the limit varies for each country. You can buy them in Australia but it can be a little expensive $80 for a doctors appointment and then $60 upwards for the pill. We didn't think we would need sickness tablets but you never know so take some with you. There are loads of chemists/pharmacies in each country that sell western brands so don't panic if you forget anything.

• Sewing Kit - Everyone laughed at me when I was looking for a sewing kit but it has played a very important roll as some washing machine eat your clothes so repairs need to be made. 

• Mosquito repellent - DO NOT FORGET THIS. Mosquitoes and flies (which are the worst), love us and even though the repellent helps it doesn't stop but we have seen people with terrible bites on their legs and you can tell they have never used a repellent.
• Sun Glasses - The sun is a lot more intense than in England so these are an essential when travelling.

• Sun Cream - A BIG MUST - The best sun cream we found is Calypso once a day. You put it on 15 minutes before going outside and you do not need to re-apply it again. (unless of course your swimming). They sell this in Wilkinsons in England but we found it for cheaper in Aldi so shop around.

• Electronics - We each took laptops with us, maybe download music and movies to put on before you leave on your trip as the TV is not great in some countries. 
• External Hard Drive - Back up your photo's, the last thing you want to find when you get home is you've lost all your pictures. 
• MP3 player - Trains and Bus journeys can be quiet long and usually through the night so take some entertainment.
• PS Vita - My partner took a PS Vita to play on bus/train journeys, but i got jealous so ended up buying one myself in Australia.
• Camera - We took a Samsung camera and our Iphone's for pictures as we didn't want to carry around heavy cameras and the camera is pretty good quality. Most of our picture are taken on the Iphone though. We would have liked a Go Pro on our travels as the seem light weight, small and easy to us, but we did not look into this before we left.

Remember you can buy anything while on your travels. If your very adventurous and plan on trekking or tenting please look further into the right things to take. We did not do this so i have not included it in our packing.

Travel Insurance:
Make sure you research your travel insurance and read the small print as we noticed a lot said they were for 365 days but you could only be out the country for 3 months at a time. There are specialised insurance companies for backpackers but we found these to be expensive so compare different ones. We went with Alpha Insurance which ticked all the boxes we needed.

Accommodation:
As a couple we wanted privacy while travelling and felt hostels would not give us this, so we stayed in hotels. I know what your thinking expensive, but you will be surprised some of the hotels we stayed in have been cheaper than hostels and they have offered us breakfast, swimming pools and privacy. We used Booking.com and just booked as we went along. We found this website to be reliable and secure and if we had any problems one phone call to them sorted it all out. Most hotels will provide a laundry service but these at times can be expensive so look around and see what the locals offer. (I will mention where we washed our clothes in each country as I go along). If you staying in one place for a while and want to change hotels walk around and ask to see rooms before booking and even ask if the hotel will do better deals than what is online many will. I will name the hotels we stayed in as we go along.

Visa's:
Check what visas and how to apply for the countries your visiting as they are all different and some require you to apply in advance and others let you get your visa from the border. In each country as we go along in the blog we have talked about the visa for that country.

Airlines and booking flights:
We found the app Sky Scanner to be very helpful to find which airlines are the cheapest and what dates. Booking through airlines own sites seems to be cheaper but CHECK the add on's. Many will automatically add extras on so you need to read everything. We found baggage to be expensive but I guess it is needed otherwise you wont have any luggage. What shocked us the most is the size of hand luggage people take on, we saw a lot of people taking 65 litre backpacks on as hand luggage. We just don't know how they got away with it and it was also frustrating because we paid for our luggage and they hadn't. Its a big thing we think needs to reviewed. We also found airlines don't space you out even though there are empty seats so don't be afraid to ask to move. As we go along we will let you know which airlines we used.

Apps:
We would recommend to download before you go (it is on iTunes and android) are:

•  XE Currency. This is great as you can use multiple currencies at once. 
• Sky Scanner. Checking and comparing flights 
• Booking.com. Easy to find hotels on the move.
• Skype. A way to make everyone back home jealous.
• Google Maps. Handy to see where you are on those night buses or trains. 
• Navmii. A Sat Nav for Australia and New Zealand which works off line. 
• TripAdvisor. If your like me and love writing reviews this is brilliant. 

Money:
Before you travel make sure you tell your bank otherwise they might cut you off. We are with HSBC and it is very easy to navigate online banking and you can also update your travel plans as you go along. There are several HSBC banks around Asia so if there is any problems you can speak to someone face to face. We will say which banks we used in each country as we go along so you know which banks charge to withdrawal. HSBC does charge a non-sterling transaction fee on withdrawals so check your bank.

DON'T be afraid to complain:
If the service you are getting is not what they advertise or what you expected then let them know. We have had numbers of discounts on hotels because of this. Remember its more money in your pocket to travel for longer or to do more activities.

Barter, Barter, Barter:
The locals obviously want to make the most they can when selling their products but these can sometimes be too pricey so always offer them a lower price. You will usually find that if they don’t accept your offer and you walk away they will come after you agreeing. So no harm trying to get things for cheap, again more money in your pocket.

The best kept secrets are kept to last, although I guess its no longer a secret but the best way in which we have saved money is joined Trustedhousesitters.com For those of you who don't know about this website, it is a MUST for you to join before you leave. We have saved hundreds of pounds joining this website and our only regret is that we didn't join it sooner.
So what is it? Trustedhousesitters.com is a website where people advertise their house and or pets to be looked after while they take their own adventure. As a person looking for a house sit we search the location we are in (currently Australia) and any house sit we find interesting or in the place we want to go to, and we apply to the home owner with a simple email telling them who we are and what we have previously done. With each house sit you do you are given references and the more your profile builds the better and bigger chance of securing a house sit.
What to do? You subscribe to the site for as little at £6.60 per month or £79.20 for a year and create a profile about yourself and who ever your travelling with. Make it an honest profile and let people know who you are, likes/dislikes, job etc. Add pictures, a friendly face can go along way and you can add videos of yourself if you wish, we haven't because I'm rubbish in front of a camera.
We have so far done 4 house sits currently on our 5th and it has been amazing. We have met some great people and made friends for life and looked after some great cuddly animals along the way. We will never stay in hotels again with this website available i can not stress enough how great it is. If you do decided to join this site before your travels please let them know who recommended you as we both might get some discounts. Our name is Travelers2015.

If you have any questions please leave a comment below.

Thank you for reading and please stay tuned as my next blog will start off in Bangkok.