Holidays in Asia Part 1

Bus…taxi…tuk tuk…airplane…motorbike…boat…

Thousands of kilometres later, I am back from an EPIC holiday season.

The anticipation started a year and a half ago when Jen and I were in Europe and joked about travelling to Asia in 2015. Deep down we weren’t joking.

When we met in the airport in Bangkok it felt so surreal; like what are you doing here?! But it also felt normal because we’ve now traveled together for the past 3 years.

Destination #1: Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam

What a crazy busy city! From Vientiane to Ho Chi Minh, I was definitely in some form of culture shock. So many people, motorbikes and buildings!

We spent about 3 days there wandering through markets, museums, parks and along the Mekong. The consequences of the Vietnam War can still be seen in various ways throughout Vietnam- shocking really.

 ^fresh fruit smoothies all day everyday

Destination #2: Mui Ne, Vietnam

While Jen kicked back comfortably in her reclining sofa chair on the bus, I struggled to just sit. Tall people problems, I tell ya!

Mui Ne had it’s ocean charm but still felt a bit weird to us. A town catered to tourists is definitely not what we are interested in, but nonetheless we got to explore. With rain sweeping across the town due to the typhoon in the Philippines, our adventure to the red and white sand dunes was accompanied by a poncho. And by poncho I mean plastic tarp that is water resistant for 30 seconds. Welcome to Vietnam.

The white sand dunes were absolutely gorgeous!!!

Destination #3: Phu Quoc Island, Vietnam

Love love love! This island…no words. There’s something about being on an island that just makes it that much more fun/exciting/amazing. We thought about staying there for 2 or 3 days but ended up staying 6. Can you tell we liked it?

We rode motorbikes and explored through the mountainous roads. We found secluded beaches, villages and pepper farms (yes, I bought some). We also met amazing people at our hostel with whom we travelled on most days. 

Christmas Eve was spent in the company of fish and corals. Our ‘gang’ went on a snorkelling trip the whole day which offered lots and lots of sun. Maybe too much. Lunch break meant that the boat was at a standstill, or should I say following a teeter totter rhythm thanks to the big waves. If I say waves, you say SEA SICK! Waves! SEA SICK! Waves! SEA SICK!

December 25th was spent on this island with our new friends. For most of us it was a different kind of Christmas than what we are used to, but together we made sure it was one to remember! The hostel prepared a big meal on Christmas night…delicious!

 

Oh and might I add the delicious seafood on this island. I don’t eat a lot of it in Laos because it’s a landlocked country so this was a nice treat.

Part 2 flows right into Cambodia! I’ll be uploading another blog post soon about it!

-Marielle