We have been home for 3 days now and are slowly getting back to normal. For me it's sitting on the sofa watching TV, going for a game of snooker, having a roast dinner and having dozens of cups of tea (made by Mum and Dad, too lazy to make it myself). To summarise our last 4 months we are going to do a "best and worse of..." and see our similar our answers will be!
Best Country:
James: I thought the best country and I would recommend for anyone to go to even if it was for just a 2 week holiday is Thailand. I heard a lot of good things about it and wasn't disapointed. But I am going to say Vietnam was the best country we went to because I had no expectations, did not know what to expect and seemed to meet a lot of people and visited some good places!
Georgia: Thailand, it has the best of both worlds. Really secluded beaches, yet really busy ones. The food is good and cheap; plus Chang is cheap ;) Its a very pretty place, with some much to see/do.
Worse Country:
James: It's a bit harsh to call one of the countries is the worst but if I had to miss one out it would be either Laos or Indonesia, but I probably prefered Indonesia because of Bali. So if there was any country that we could have missed out is Laos, as only Luang Prabang was worth seeing. There was a few good things to do in Laos and certainly wasn't rubbish but overall could have easily been missed out!
Georgia: There isn't really a worse counrty, but if there was a country we could have skipped out it would have been Indonesia, still good nonetheless. Indonesia was very authentic to say the least, the only place worth visiting is Bali. The rest can be skipped.
Best City:
James: I think Bangkok would be up there and is the best city that we visited, we actually went there twice! First time round we was just thankful of escaping India and staying in a luxury hotel surrounded by skyscrapers in the business district. The second time round when we was feeling a lot better we stayed on Khao San Road in Bangkok where all the backpackers go and is one street with a load of street food, restaurants, bars.
Georgia: Bangkok- Lived up to the Hangover film. When again in the future, Am I going to visit a strip club with James and watch a ping ping show!? LOL.
Worst City:
James: Although it was for just a night, Agra springs to mind almost immediately. I would be very surprised if Georgia didn't say the same. Everything about Agra was bad, the hotel, the whole place and even the train leaving was like a cattle market.
Georgia: Vientiane in Laos, was pretty boring and not much to do. Laos in general was a close second for the worst place category . It just seemed like a very boring place to be, with nothing to see or do!
Best Island/Resort:
James: Sihanoukville in Cambodia was my best place as it was ridiculously cheap for food and drink, a beach with a strip of bars and clubs. We also went on a booze cruise and met a few people that we will hopefully stay in contact with. The hotels that we stayed in wasn't great but dinner and drinks after was always a good laugh for the 6 nights we were there! For example, fish and chips was about 85p, we also went to a barbecue a couple of nights where you could have 3 bits of different meat, garlic bread, side salad, and a jacket potato for £2. The average price of a beer was 50p and a vodka a £1 at most! It was a place I would definitely go back and would be good to go with a group of mates. We have been to more scenic places with better beaches but this place made up for it in other ways!
Georgia: Sihanoukville in Cambodia, best place because I wasn't expecting it to be so western. We met some really nice people and had a week of clubbing in the sunshine :)
Best Beach:
James: Beaches on the Thai islands spring to mind, including the time me, Georgia and Rob had breakfast on the beach in Koh Tao. We also went to one in Koh Samui when we took a moped around the island and we found a nice deserted beach.
Georgia: The beach in Hoi An in Vietnam where we rode bicycles to the beach. I havent been on a bike for some years, so for me to enjoy a bike ride and a beach, is literally saying something lol!
Best Hotel:
James: It would probably be the hotel that we paid the most for which was in Bangkok for £38 a night to recover from India. The room would have easily cost about £200 in London and had it's own kitchen, a bathtub which is rare in Asia, bathrobes and was just modern and everything worked! Georgia even cooked me a meal one night! Rooms that also worth a mention was the shed we stayed in at Pai, the hostel we stayed in at Singapore and the Villa we stayed in Lombok was nice.
Georgia: The Quinlins, in Pai in Thailand because it was empty and peaceful. The owners were like your family, and after India this is just what we needed.
Worst Hotel:
James: The worse hotel would have been Agra because of no heating and the location was similar to downtown Baghdad Also, the place in Lombok, Indonesia for one night was pretty bad when even the toilet roll was not included with the room.
Georgia: In Lombok for the night , dirty bed sheets and a toilet with no flush. It wasn't even worth seven English pounds!
Worse journey:
James: The 20 hour journey from Singapore back home via Saudi Arabia sounds bad but it was not too bad really. The worse journey would have been maybe going from Bangkok to the full moon party which was about 18 hours on a bus and boat. The bus wasn't even a sleeper bus like they claimed. There were a lot of bad journeys in truth including a 20 hour bus journey from Vietnam to Laos and had screaming Vietnamese men screaming every hour waking us up. Also when I was in a coffin on the top bunk of a train was pretty bad!
Georgia: The slow boat to Laos, travelling all night and had only 3 hours sleep, hardly a hotel for a night like the travel agent claimed. The journey was so uncomfortable...
High Point:
James: One of the many nights out in Sihanoukville or maybe when we went trekking in Thailand as we had a good group of people with us!
Georgia: Cameron Highlands,where we visited the tea factories and then had the best afternoon tea in the mountains. A very British day :)
Low Point:
James: On the train from Agra to Delhi where I was addicted to imodium and it didn't quite last for the whole of the journey. Lets just say I could see the tracks when I was in the toilet.
Georgia: India..... James and myself being ill :( I was so worried for James, he has a fever alongside everything else. So glad we both got better :)
Best Excursion:
James: Trekking in Chiang Mai in Thailand
Georgia: The S21 prison in Cambodia got to see the aftermath of the civil war. Was a very heavy day. I'm a history buff, therefore this was one of the best excursions for me.
Best Night Out:
James: Most people probably would say full moon party but I wouldn't do it again although it was a good night! I can't really choose a good night out, maybe Luang Prabang when we went to an underground bowling alley. Also in Hoi An, in Vietnam when we started the night out with a nice meal with a couple we met and ended up at a bar that just started up and was basically someone's house and played pool tournaments all night lol
Georgia: Luang Prabang bowling alley - the hangover the next day was such a shame. I will never drink beer t that excess again... such a good night, shame about the morning haha!
Best Meal:
James: Probably a curry in Laos, I think Georgia persuaded me that was the best meal as it must have had a million different spices in it!
Georgia: Eating our first western meal after India, In Chiang Mai. A god ole' fashioned pie and mash!
Worse Meal:
James: The undercooked cheeseburgers in Koh Phangan, they looked like that they were cooked for a whole 2 seconds!
Georgia: When I had to wait 2 hours for my meal which was rice and it come out wrong. How and why? How can you mess up Rice? I paid and then quickly left with a empty stomach!
What we will miss:
James: Not living in the real world back home, the nice beaches and meeting people along the way
Georgia: The sunshine, which obviously makes us all happy :) And spending time with James
What we will definitely not miss:
James: Living out of a suitcase and wearing the same set of clothes for 4 months. Living in about 3-4 different places every week.
Georgia: Rice... I'm literally not eating the stuff for quite some while!
Best Beer:
James: Lao Baeer (Laos)
Georgia: Bintang Beer (Indonesia)
That's all our answers and that's the end of the blog. We have had over 1700 views so we are glad people have actually been reading it!
Final Stats
Days been away: 112 days
Distance travelled: 25,000 miles (approx.)
Countries Visited: 8 (India, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore)
Hotels visited: 47
Bus: 21 Times
Boat: 8 Times
Plane: 10 Times
Train: 4 Times
Overnight Journeys: 7 Times
Longest Journey: 26 hours (journey home)
Best Country:
James: I thought the best country and I would recommend for anyone to go to even if it was for just a 2 week holiday is Thailand. I heard a lot of good things about it and wasn't disapointed. But I am going to say Vietnam was the best country we went to because I had no expectations, did not know what to expect and seemed to meet a lot of people and visited some good places!
Georgia: Thailand, it has the best of both worlds. Really secluded beaches, yet really busy ones. The food is good and cheap; plus Chang is cheap ;) Its a very pretty place, with some much to see/do.
Worse Country:
James: It's a bit harsh to call one of the countries is the worst but if I had to miss one out it would be either Laos or Indonesia, but I probably prefered Indonesia because of Bali. So if there was any country that we could have missed out is Laos, as only Luang Prabang was worth seeing. There was a few good things to do in Laos and certainly wasn't rubbish but overall could have easily been missed out!
Georgia: There isn't really a worse counrty, but if there was a country we could have skipped out it would have been Indonesia, still good nonetheless. Indonesia was very authentic to say the least, the only place worth visiting is Bali. The rest can be skipped.
Best City:
James: I think Bangkok would be up there and is the best city that we visited, we actually went there twice! First time round we was just thankful of escaping India and staying in a luxury hotel surrounded by skyscrapers in the business district. The second time round when we was feeling a lot better we stayed on Khao San Road in Bangkok where all the backpackers go and is one street with a load of street food, restaurants, bars.
Georgia: Bangkok- Lived up to the Hangover film. When again in the future, Am I going to visit a strip club with James and watch a ping ping show!? LOL.
Worst City:
James: Although it was for just a night, Agra springs to mind almost immediately. I would be very surprised if Georgia didn't say the same. Everything about Agra was bad, the hotel, the whole place and even the train leaving was like a cattle market.
Georgia: Vientiane in Laos, was pretty boring and not much to do. Laos in general was a close second for the worst place category . It just seemed like a very boring place to be, with nothing to see or do!
Best Island/Resort:
James: Sihanoukville in Cambodia was my best place as it was ridiculously cheap for food and drink, a beach with a strip of bars and clubs. We also went on a booze cruise and met a few people that we will hopefully stay in contact with. The hotels that we stayed in wasn't great but dinner and drinks after was always a good laugh for the 6 nights we were there! For example, fish and chips was about 85p, we also went to a barbecue a couple of nights where you could have 3 bits of different meat, garlic bread, side salad, and a jacket potato for £2. The average price of a beer was 50p and a vodka a £1 at most! It was a place I would definitely go back and would be good to go with a group of mates. We have been to more scenic places with better beaches but this place made up for it in other ways!
Georgia: Sihanoukville in Cambodia, best place because I wasn't expecting it to be so western. We met some really nice people and had a week of clubbing in the sunshine :)
Best Beach:
James: Beaches on the Thai islands spring to mind, including the time me, Georgia and Rob had breakfast on the beach in Koh Tao. We also went to one in Koh Samui when we took a moped around the island and we found a nice deserted beach.
Georgia: The beach in Hoi An in Vietnam where we rode bicycles to the beach. I havent been on a bike for some years, so for me to enjoy a bike ride and a beach, is literally saying something lol!
Best Hotel:
James: It would probably be the hotel that we paid the most for which was in Bangkok for £38 a night to recover from India. The room would have easily cost about £200 in London and had it's own kitchen, a bathtub which is rare in Asia, bathrobes and was just modern and everything worked! Georgia even cooked me a meal one night! Rooms that also worth a mention was the shed we stayed in at Pai, the hostel we stayed in at Singapore and the Villa we stayed in Lombok was nice.
Georgia: The Quinlins, in Pai in Thailand because it was empty and peaceful. The owners were like your family, and after India this is just what we needed.
Worst Hotel:
James: The worse hotel would have been Agra because of no heating and the location was similar to downtown Baghdad Also, the place in Lombok, Indonesia for one night was pretty bad when even the toilet roll was not included with the room.
Georgia: In Lombok for the night , dirty bed sheets and a toilet with no flush. It wasn't even worth seven English pounds!
Worse journey:
James: The 20 hour journey from Singapore back home via Saudi Arabia sounds bad but it was not too bad really. The worse journey would have been maybe going from Bangkok to the full moon party which was about 18 hours on a bus and boat. The bus wasn't even a sleeper bus like they claimed. There were a lot of bad journeys in truth including a 20 hour bus journey from Vietnam to Laos and had screaming Vietnamese men screaming every hour waking us up. Also when I was in a coffin on the top bunk of a train was pretty bad!
Georgia: The slow boat to Laos, travelling all night and had only 3 hours sleep, hardly a hotel for a night like the travel agent claimed. The journey was so uncomfortable...
High Point:
James: One of the many nights out in Sihanoukville or maybe when we went trekking in Thailand as we had a good group of people with us!
Georgia: Cameron Highlands,where we visited the tea factories and then had the best afternoon tea in the mountains. A very British day :)
Low Point:
James: On the train from Agra to Delhi where I was addicted to imodium and it didn't quite last for the whole of the journey. Lets just say I could see the tracks when I was in the toilet.
Georgia: India..... James and myself being ill :( I was so worried for James, he has a fever alongside everything else. So glad we both got better :)
Best Excursion:
James: Trekking in Chiang Mai in Thailand
Georgia: The S21 prison in Cambodia got to see the aftermath of the civil war. Was a very heavy day. I'm a history buff, therefore this was one of the best excursions for me.
Best Night Out:
James: Most people probably would say full moon party but I wouldn't do it again although it was a good night! I can't really choose a good night out, maybe Luang Prabang when we went to an underground bowling alley. Also in Hoi An, in Vietnam when we started the night out with a nice meal with a couple we met and ended up at a bar that just started up and was basically someone's house and played pool tournaments all night lol
Georgia: Luang Prabang bowling alley - the hangover the next day was such a shame. I will never drink beer t that excess again... such a good night, shame about the morning haha!
Best Meal:
James: Probably a curry in Laos, I think Georgia persuaded me that was the best meal as it must have had a million different spices in it!
Georgia: Eating our first western meal after India, In Chiang Mai. A god ole' fashioned pie and mash!
Worse Meal:
James: The undercooked cheeseburgers in Koh Phangan, they looked like that they were cooked for a whole 2 seconds!
Georgia: When I had to wait 2 hours for my meal which was rice and it come out wrong. How and why? How can you mess up Rice? I paid and then quickly left with a empty stomach!
What we will miss:
James: Not living in the real world back home, the nice beaches and meeting people along the way
Georgia: The sunshine, which obviously makes us all happy :) And spending time with James
What we will definitely not miss:
James: Living out of a suitcase and wearing the same set of clothes for 4 months. Living in about 3-4 different places every week.
Georgia: Rice... I'm literally not eating the stuff for quite some while!
Best Beer:
James: Lao Baeer (Laos)
Georgia: Bintang Beer (Indonesia)
That's all our answers and that's the end of the blog. We have had over 1700 views so we are glad people have actually been reading it!
Final Stats
Days been away: 112 days
Distance travelled: 25,000 miles (approx.)
Countries Visited: 8 (India, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore)
Hotels visited: 47
Bus: 21 Times
Boat: 8 Times
Plane: 10 Times
Train: 4 Times
Overnight Journeys: 7 Times
Longest Journey: 26 hours (journey home)
No comments:
Post a Comment