The trip to Koh Rong Samloem was so long, it was almost comical. I was told that it would take about 3-4 hours so I had mentally prepared myself for that, so when it took over double that time, I was not a happy camper. Cambodia has two main southern islands – Koh Rong and Koh Rong Samloem. Koh Rong is known as the supercrazy party island, and Koh Rong Samloem is known as the chill island. So it should come as no surprise that I decided to go to Koh Rong Samloem. I had the choice to leave at 7:30am, or wait until about 11, and I’m so glad that I decided to go with the earlier option. However, the transportation for this trip cost way more than almost any other leg of my trip, at $26USD/$35.39AUD! A van came to pick me up from my hostel in Kampot and took me into town, where we had to get off, grab our stuff, and put it onto a new van. By the time we had picked up everyone and left town, it was 8:30. The van ride to Sihanoukville took three hours, as promised, and we arrived right after 11:30am. There, they dropped us off and said we had to wait for ANOTHER van to take us to the ferry. There was a lady sitting at a desk and she asked where everyone was staying. I sat down first and found my hostel reservation, which was at a part of the island called M’Pai Bay. “This company doesn’t go there,” she said. “I’m sorry, what?” “Yes, we only go to Saracen Bay. You will need to pay $5 USD ($6.84AUD) to get a return ticket to M’Pai Bay from Sihanoukville.” I started getting upset because I had already spent way too much on my ticket, and I felt like I was being scammed. However, I didn’t really have any other option. I paid the five dollars and asked when the van would come, and she replied 1pm. “1pm?! That’s in an hour and a half!” I was really starting to lose my cool, and it might have been because I hadn’t eaten yet (or had my morning coffee!) and I was definitely getting hangry. I decided to walk to a restaurant called Olive & Olive because at this point, I just wanted some pizza. The prices were pretty expensive in Sihanoukville, but I settled on a margarita pizza, a coffee, and a coke for $8.50USD/$11.63AUD. The chef was right beside me, and I got to watch him roll out the dough and make the pizzas. After about five minutes, the server brought me a big piece of naan and an appetizer platter of olives and sauces. “Umm.. is this for me?” “It’s complimentary,” she replied. Wow! I didn’t remember the last time I got something for free, with no strings attached! And honestly, the olive that I tasted was like it was from heaven – it was one of the best olives I’ve had! It MIGHT have been because I hadn’t eaten an olive in four months, or it might have just been THAT good. When they brought out my pizza, I was shocked. It was massive!
There was no way that I’d be able to finish it, especially after already filling myself up on appetizers. I got through as much of the pizza as I could and took a tuktuk back to the bus office for 4000 riel ($1.42AUD) – Note: the tuktuks seem to be one of the only things in Cambodia that use local currency (riel), everything else is priced in American dollars. I got back to the office RIGHT before 1pm and waited with a French family. And we waited and waited and waited. “Doesn’t the ferry leave at 1pm?” “No, it’ll leave at 1:30pm. You have time.” But we started wondering if we WOULD have enough time. Finally a van pulled up at 1:22pm and told us to hurry because the ferry would be leaving soon (which I was kind of annoyed about, because why wouldn’t he come earlier?). He drove for less than five minutes, stopped at the top of a hill, and told us that we had to walk five minutes down to the pier (he wasn’t going to drive any further). We literally could have walked there from the office in less than 15 minutes… By that point, it was 1:28pm so we all walked as fast as we could down to the pier. I gave one of the people my ticket and they asked when my ferry was to leave, so I replied 1:30pm. She gave me a card that said “23” to put around my neck (which is the nickname for M’Pai Bay), and she said I’d have to take the 2pm – I was too late. I went to the dock and kept asking around, but no one gave me clear instructions as to what boat I had to take. Finally at about 2:15pm, they called everyone for M’Pai Bay and directed us towards a smaller boat. However, all of a sudden they said that we would join the big ferry to Koh Rong Island instead and THEN another boat would come pick us up to take us to Koh Rong Samloem. At this point, I almost laughed because it was so ridiculous that this trip had already taken 7 hours and would still require an hour JUST to get to Koh Rong Island. I went and found a seat on the ferry and opened a window. Immediately after I opened it, one of the workers came, closed it, and told me to follow him. He took me to the VIP part of the boat, which had couches, TVs, AND air-conditioning (Thank goodness, cause I was sweating in this 39-degree heat!). There were only about 9 other people in the room, so I don’t know why I was one of the lucky “chosen ones.” We finally got to Koh Rong at about 3:30pm and then all had to wait on the dock for about 5-10 minutes until another boat came to take us to Koh Rong Samloem. The boat was tiny and some people had to stand in the middle, but luckily it was less than 10 minutes away. I was staying in a hostel called Bonsai and it cost me $5.33USD/$7.31AUD per night to stay in an 8-bed mixed dorm. As soon as I got there, I met two French girls who were planning to get smoothies and then go to the beach, so I quickly changed and joined them. I immediately loved the feel of M’Pai Bay because it was more like a village and was very quaint, whereas the other part of the island (Saracen Bay) had a more resort-like feel to it, so it just seemed more touristy. We each got a smoothie for $1USD and enjoyed sitting on the beach. After hanging out by the restaurant for awhile, we decided to walk towards one of the main beaches, which was less than 10 minutes through a forest trail. We were all looking forward to having a refreshing swim in the water, after sweating all day, but were surprised when the water was actually warmer than the air! So much for refreshing…
However, once the sun started to go down, it cooled down quite a bit. We went back to the hostel to shower and change, and then we all went out for dinner to a place where I went at least once a day called M’Pay Bay Guest House. I decided to try one of the local dishes called lok lak, which was really good!
On Friday morning, I got up and joined the French girls for breakfast. We decided that we were going to walk to one of the further beaches (called Clearwater Bay), which would take about an hour. I read that we’d need hiking shoes, and I’m so glad that we brought them because we were climbing up and down to get there. However, the beach was absolutely gorgeous!
And there were only about six other people on the entire beach. Once again, we were looking forward to a refreshing dip and once again, we were disappointed by warm water. It actually made going OUT of the water refreshing! I get bored on beaches so I only stayed for a couple hours and then decided to head back at around 2pm to get some food. I had seen a sign with a Canada flag on it when I arrived on the island, and I was determined to get some poutine! Once I got back to M’Pai Bay (after another 45 minute walk), I walked down the street in search of the Canadian restaurant called YUL (the letters for the Montreal airport). On my way, I passed a tattoo parlour called “Sorry Mum,” which for some reason caught my eye. I had a tattoo idea in mind and I had already written a tattoo parlour in Siem Reap AND a tattoo parlour in Bangkok, but this parlour intrigued me. I continued on my walk, found the restaurant, and ordered a poutine with a coke for $4USD/$5.48AUD. While I was waiting, I searched up the tattoo parlour online and loved all of the tattoos that were posted. I decided that I’d stop by after eating. The poutine wasn’t the best I’ve ever had, but it was nice to have! I hung around for a bit, and then walked towards the tattoo parlour. I told the tattoo artist (Maria) my tattoo idea, showed her my (horrible) sketch of it, and she asked if I would come in the next day at 4pm to get it done. I had to pay a $10 deposit, and she quoted me between $180 and $220, and said it would take about 3 or 4 hours. My heart was beating and I was freaking out – I couldn’t believe how fast that happened! I went back to my hostel and decided to plan how I’d get to my next destination, which would be Siem Reap. I’ve heard horror stories about the night buses to Siem Reap because they don’t offer single beds (only doubles), so a lot of people will have strangers climb up right next to them. I did some research and found out that Giant Ibis offered some single beds, but the day that I was planning to leave (the 14th) was completely booked up. Then, there weren’t any buses running on the 15th because it was Khmer New Year. So my only option was the 16th. I was completely fine with this because I was loving Koh Rong Samloem, and staying two extra days definitely wouldn’t be the end of the world. However, if I was going to stay for longer, I realized that I should try to postpone my tattoo since I wouldn’t be able to go in the sun or the water. I messaged and asked if I could come in on the 15th or the 16th (the day I leave), and they wrote back and said that we could do a later day and they would let me know when works best. That night, I joined the girls again for dinner, which ended up being a burger (I was definitely enjoying my Western food at this point because my stomach still felt sensitive with eating Asian foods).
On Saturday, I decided to take a boat taxi to the other part of the island, Saracen Beach. It cost $5 each way, and I would have to leave at 10:30am. I decided to have a quick breakfast, and then walked back to the office to wait for my boat. It was only me and another couple, and we were led by a boy who seemed about 9 years old. He brought us to the dock, where there was a man and a younger boy (who I assume was his dad and brother). Then the boy hopped into another boat and tried to get the motor running. We had to wait for quite awhile for them to finally get the boat going, so by the time we left it was closer to 11am. Little did I know that it was this boy who would be taking us on the 30-minute journey to Saracen Beach. The boat had two motors, and the boy sat between them, and had ropes so he could pull on either rope to turn the boat.
We got to Saracen Bay at 11:30am and we were told to come back to the same pier at 4:30pm to go back. I walked down the beach for a bit and then decided to sit down at one of the restaurants to enjoy a smoothie. The beaches were nice with extremely white sand, but it still seemed more touristy compared to my area of the island. After my smoothie, I walked to another restaurant that was tucked away off the beach and was owned by a local family who spoke little to no English. I ordered a noodle dish, and then decided to walk to Lazy Beach, which was written in National Geographic’s Top 21 Beaches in the World. It was about a 30-minute walk through the forest and it was an extremely hot walk (the 39-degree weather is something I don’t think I’d ever get acclimatized to), so it was nice to finally get to the beach and go for a swim, where the water was a bit cooler. The beach was nice, but I honestly didn’t see why it would be one of the top 21 beaches in the world because I’ve definitely been to nicer ones. I stayed for about an hour and a half and then I had to head back to the pier in order to get there for 4:30pm. I got there right on time and walked out onto the dock when I saw a boat that looked similar, which showed up about 15 minutes later. I asked the man if he was going to M’Pai Bay and he said yes, so the couple and I got on his boat, along with three other
people. The man made a phonecall and then all of a sudden said that the three of us had to get back off because another boat was on its way for us. We were confused because there was more than enough room for everyone, but we got off and decided to wait. He said that they were having boat issues, but the boat would be there soon. We went back to the beach and waited for about a half hour, and suddenly a man walked by yelling M’Pai Bay. We ran to the boat and tried to give him our tickets, but he said that he couldn’t take them. We’d have to pay $5 if we wanted to go with him. Luckily, the man was nice and called the phone number on our tickets, and said that the boat was on its way (which we had heard before). We waited another ten minutes and finally the boat arrived with our little driver! The nice thing about the boat being late was that we got to watch the colours of the sky change while the sun was setting behind the island. And it was absolutely beautiful! The tattoo studio had written back and asked if I could come in the following day at noon to get my tattoo done, because I think everyone would be going on holiday for Khmer New Year (which lasts for three days). I asked if it would be possible for me to see the design that evening, and they said I could come in. I ran to the studio and Maria showed me the design. It was exactly what I had imagined in my head, and I couldn’t have been more excited about it. I was stoked! I went out for a later dinner that night, and enjoyed my time on the beach.
On Sunday, I went to a restaurant that’s known for its toasties (grilled cheese sandwiches). They were SO busy because a lot of the restaurants had closed for Khmer New Year, so it took over an hour to get my meal, which was fine because I had a few hours to kill before my tattoo. I met another Canadian girl because we were sharing a table, so we talked for quite awhile until we had gotten our meals. I hung out for awhile longer to work on my blog, and then I headed for the tattoo parlour (gulp!). This was now my second tattoo, but it was bigger, and I made a last-minute decision to not get it done on my other shoulder, and instead get it done on my back/ribs, which would be quite a lot more painful. Maria double-checked that I was happy with the design, and then made the stencil. She put the stencil on and asked if I was happy with the placement (which in all honesty, I would have liked it lower and this is where I need to learn how to take the opportunity to speak up, and I didn’t, but it’s fine!). We then had to wait ten minutes for the stencil to dry on, so by the time we got started, it was about 12:30pm. The lead-up to it was hard, and I was trying to distract myself as much as possible – I was nervous and excited, but my heart was just racing! The tattoo took about three hours, and
after about an hour and a half, we took a break. By that point, I was feeling great! Thanks to my high pain threshold, I wasn’t feeling too uncomfortable, and I actually just wanted to keep going. After that break though, it was the most pain that I had felt – I almost thought I wasn’t going to make it through. Luckily, it didn’t last for TOO long until I went back to just closing my eyes and thinking about life (and what my tattoo was going to look like!). We finished at about 3pm and then she said $250. I said that she had said between 180 and 220, so then she said 220 (although now that I think about it, maybe she said between 180 and 250 haha finally used some bartering skills). This is still pretty pricey for a tattoo in Asia, but I was really happy with the design so for me, it was worth it. The theme of the tattoo is “Travel is in my DNA,” and this idea came to me while I was lying in bed in Luang Prabang, Laos, so I’ve been obsessing about it ever since. So the most important things were to stay out of the sun and water for at least two weeks, and get some Bepanthen from the pharmacy, which would need to be applied three times per day (after washing). I honestly did NOT think this through, and I instantly had regrets about my stupid idea to get a tattoo on an island during a holiday within about two minutes, when I walked to the pharmacy and it was closed. I asked the hostel next door if it would be open the following day and they said that it was closed for Khmer New Year for the next three days! I instantly started to panic because I was stuck on an island without antiseptic, in an environment that wasn’t the cleanest. I walked to the beach area to find one of the minimarts, only to arrive just in time for the first part of the Songkran festivities, which consists of people throwing water and powder at each other. I tried to avoid the water guns and the people squirting baby powder out of the containers, and shield my tattoo away from it all. At that moment, I ran into a British couple that I had seen multiple times before (they were briefly written in a blog post when I had eaten dinner with them in Sapa). We had also run into each other on the bus from Sapa to Hanoi, and then saw each other again in Ninh Binh. They actually
said that they were wondering why they hadn’t bumped into me again. These two had a great energy about them, and we instantly got on, but we hadn’t even introduced ourselves. I later found out that their names were Rob and Amy, and we made plans to meet up at 6:30 to go for cocktails, since there were 2-for-1 cocktails for New Year’s. This was my third New Year’s Eve for 2019 (one in Koh Lanta, Thailand for regular New Year’s Eve, one in Taipei, Taiwan for Chinese New Year, and now one here) so it was cool to be a part of so many different holidays! For the next few hours, I searched for Bepanthen. I walked into multiple minimarts, and none of them had any. I then went to the other tattoo parlour, and the guy said that he had some of his own and would give me some in a ziploc bag if I needed, but he told me to go back to my tattoo parlour to see if they had any extra. Meanwhile, it was also my checkout day from my hostel because it was full for the next two nights, so I had to move my stuff to my new hostel, called The Twisted Gecko. This one cost $5.50USD/$7.53AUD per night to stay in a 6-bed dorm. I asked people at my old hostel and at my new hostel for advice, but everyone gave such mixed reviews. Some people said to use coconut oil, while others said you needed more of a gel such as Vaseline, but then I’ve heard that Vaseline doesn’t let it breathe, and neither of these have antiseptic properties. I went back to my tattoo parlour and she said that she’d check in the back to see if they had any spares, but they didn’t. The thing that bothered me the most was that she said that the pharmacy often closes whenever it wants to, so I don’t understand why they wouldn’t have spare antiseptic for those cases. I then literally started walking into bars and walking up to people with tattoos to ask them for advice, but once again, I continued to get mixed reviews. I was starting to think that I would die of a tattoo infection on an island in Cambodia (I also tend to jump to conclusions when under stress…). I decided to head back to my hostel to wash my tattoo since it had been over two hours and I needed to take off the saran wrap. Just as I got to my hostel, there was a lady walking down the street COVERED in tattoos from her chin down, so I walked up to her and asked if I could get some advice. Turns out she owns the other tattoo studio, so she said that if I come by, she could give me enough gel to last me for the next two days. I think she could tell that I was freaking out, and I was so extremely grateful! Before that, I was even contemplating whether I should take a boat to the mainland the next day in order to get to a pharmacy (which might be closed anyway). I was told to wash my tattoo with bottled water (since the island tap water might be iffy – another confirmation that getting my tattoo on an island in Asia was a bad idea. The other confirmation was that you’re not supposed to bath or soak your tattoo in water, but I was basically soaking in my own sweat (literally) until I left Asia ten days later. I also realized that I should be putting on clean clothes with my tattoo, but there weren’t any laundry places open for the next three days). Anyway, I walked to the tattoo parlour and all of the people there weren’t surprised when they were told that I got a tattoo at Sorry Mum and they didn’t do anything for aftercare. They said that someone else had come to them that day as well. They gave me the gel and told me that since I had already washed my tattoo, I’d have to go back to the hostel, re-wash it, and put the gel on directly after. I was meant to meet Rob and Amy in less than 15 minutes, so I ran back and did what I was told. I met up with Rob and Amy just in time, and we headed to the bar to get 2-for-1 cocktails. We each got two drinks, but the bartenders were already drunk, and the alcohol-to-sprite ratio was very high! Therefore, we were already feeling it after one drink. It was funny because Rob and Amy said that they haven’t had a crazy night during their three months of travel, and I said the same. I knew that they were my kind of people, and I think that made us trust each other a lot more easily. So, it was all of our first crazy nights while travelling, and it was one of the best nights! We had a couple more cocktails and then decided to get some dinner because it was 9pm and the last time any of us had eaten was at 11am. However, all of the restaurants were closed for New Year’s (there were only two bars open without food) so we were stuck with going to the minimart and eating Pringles, which probably didn’t help with our night out. The bar on the beach had a huge dance party, and they were handing out free beer to everyone, which was 6% per can! We danced until midnight, and then decided to walk to the beach to check out the bioluminescence of the plankton. I had to be extremely careful with my tattoo and couldn’t actually go swimming, so I sat on the beach most of the time, and then sometimes waded through the water. The plankton was SO cool!! Any time you moved in the water, they would light up and glow all over – I’ve never seen anything like it! I looked at the time and it was 2:45 so I told the other two that we should head back. We had to walk back through the forest and then I walked back towards my hostel. I swear that I was the only person left awake, as everything was dead quiet.
On Monday, I got up and had plans to meet with Rob and Amy at 12pm for lunch. I started getting hungry at about 11:30 so I walked towards the beach and they were already there. We were all feeling pretty rough, and they assured me that they don’t normally do that, and I assured them that neither do I. But we all agreed that it was a great night! After having lunch, Rob and Amy went to the beach and I decided to sit down in a restaurant and work on my blog since I couldn’t really enjoy the beach anyway. I took it easy that day, and just enjoyed my last full day on the island.
On Tuesday, I had to leave the island. My boat wasn’t until 4pm so I was still able to enjoy a few more hours next to the beach. I worked on my blog again that day, and said goodbye to Rob and Amy, who left at noon. At about 2:30, I went to a restaurant on the pier which served Turkish food.
I ordered a kebab while a cat kept me company, and then I caught my boat to take me back to the mainland. Love always
2pm, but the workers weren’t actually there so someone told me to come back in an hour. I was so hot, so I found the nearest cafe and enjoyed a coke while trying to keep cool. I went back to the tourist centre, got my 20 dollars back, and walked 30 minutes back to the hostel. I was hoping that while I walked past the laundry place, my laundry would be ready, but they told me to come back in an hour. Therefore, I walked back to the hostel, hung around for a bit, walked BACK to the laundry place to get my stuff, and went back to the hostel again to shower. I decided to go upstairs and sit in the common area so that I could get some work done on my blog and have dinner. I shouldn’t have been surprised when someone came up and started talking to me. It literally happens every time I decide to get some blog-writing done! The girl who sat with me was from Spain but had been living in the Netherlands, and had hurt her back at the last hostel she was at so was trying to take it easy. That night, the
hostel was having a movie night so we decided to join the other two people watching it (probably to their dismay). They were playing Fight Club and I was looking forward to watching a movie that I had heard so much about. However, I didn’t really enjoy it, and I didn’t understand it. I just sat at the end of the movie, realizing that I had just wasted over two hours, which gave myself confirmation as to why I don’t have Netflix. My time can easily be spent doing other things (like blog-writing!)! After the movie, I headed back downstairs to pack up my stuff so that I could catch the bus early the next morning, which I’ll save for the next post. Love always
My next destination after Phnom Penh was Kep. I had the option of taking the early bus at 7am (and be ready by 6:30am) or wait until 12pm (and be ready by 11:30am). Since I had already done quite a few early mornings, I naturally opted for the later time for $8USD/$10.95AUD. I was told that it would only take about 3.5 hours, so I wasn’t too concerned. I actually ended up waking up quite early (thanks to a couple in my room, if you catch my drift.. cough cough) so I decided to get up and ready for the day, check out, and go to Decathlon so that I could get a bigger bag to put my backpack and painting in. It took about 45 minutes each way, so by the time I got back, I had about an hour and a half to eat something before I’d get picked up. However, it was the slowest service ever! I ordered a burger and it took over an hour – I thought I might just have to leave without eating. Luckily, I got my burger with about five minutes to spare, so I ate it as fast as I could but felt bad because there was a couple who had ordered before me and one of them was STILL waiting for their food. Right when I finished eating, my tuktuk came and picked me up to take me to the bus station. Then I had to take my ticket to the ticket booth and she gave me a different ticket with a bottle of water, and told me to board the bus cause it would be leaving in about 15 minutes. The bus ride took way longer than expected (at least an hour late) due to horrible traffic getting out of Phnom Penh, as well as horrible traffic along the main road. I think we arrived in Kep at about 5:30pm, and I was able to get the bus to stop at the end of my hostel’s road (because I was staying outside of the main city of Kep). I was staying in a place called Khmer House Hostel and I got my own bedroom and bathroom for $7USD/$9.58AUD per night.
support the industry anymore. I therefore made sure that I stuck to ordering fish at the restaurants (which was still just as good!). After awhile at the Fish Market, I walked towards the entrance to the national park, which took another 15-20 minutes. I was already completely sweating and out of breath before even making it to the entrance. When I got to the entrance, there was a man sleeping in the stand, so I made sure to walk through the gravel extra loudly so that he knew I was coming. I had to pay $1USD/$1.37AUD and sign myself into the book. Then I was on my way! It was supposed to be an 8km round trip and take about 2 hours. However, I realised that the path going around the outside was really just an old road, so I got bored after about an hour. When I made it halfway, I noticed that there was a Transverse Path that basically cut straight towards the entrance that I came through, but went through the forest and straight up a hill. I figured I might as well try it because it seemed more like a hike than what I was doing, but after less than five minutes later, I started to regret my decision. It was hot, there were leaves all over the path (I’m not sure if anyone else really walked there), and there were a lot more mosquitoes.
I’ve had in my life! They were cooked perfectly, had so much flavour, and were so delicious. Plus three tacos, a Pepsi, and a milkshake only cost me $4.65USD/$6.36AUD! After eating, I was thinking about going to the beach but it was so busy and I didn’t know where I’d keep my stuff, so I just walked back to the hostel. I showered and then went to watch the sunset, but the sun got hidden behind the clouds on the way down. Therefore, I went back to the hostel and had dinner with a guy from Portugal. By the time we finished dinner, it was too late for me to book a bus for the following morning, so the hostel owner told me to come at 8 the next morning to book a bus.
The trip to Phnom Penh was quite smooth because I decided to book my trip online with Giant Ibis for $18.39USD/$25.17AUD. I had breakfast at the hostel in Ho Chi Minh and then walked for about ten minutes to get to the bus office 15 minutes early. The bus came and we left just after 8am, and they gave us all scones and water. The ticket guy explained how everything would work, handed out the arrival/departure forms and visa applications, and then collected our passports with payment for the visa (which was $35USD/$47.91AUD). It was then that I realised I had left my photos in my big backpack, which was under the bus (I had completely forgotten that I would need them since it was only the second time that I was required to have a photo). However, the bus company somehow avoided me actually needing the picture, as I think they had some police officers on our bus who processed everything and put the visas straight in our passports before we even got to border control, so they only had to be stamped. We drove for just over two hours and got to the Vietnam border, so we all had to get off of the bus and wait in the building for about ten minutes. The bus worker had all of our passports and got them all stamped for us and then gave our passports back so that we could show the officer on the way out. It was such a smooth process! We got back on the bus and drove a couple of minutes to a restaurant, where we’d have a 30-minute break. I was one of the first ones to order and decided to have one last pho before leaving Vietnam, and luckily this pho did not disappoint! We all got on the bus and got to the Cambodian border, so we all had to get off again and wait in line to get our passports stamped. As I said, the visas were already in there, and the bus worker seemed to know the customs officers well because as soon as we came in, they opened three new lines for us to speed up the process. We got through quite quickly and then once I got on the other side, I went to get a SIM card. I should have known better because of course, he tried to overcharge me. I saw that unlimited data would be 6 dollars, which was a good price so I gave the guy my phone and he started to install the SIM card. However, he asked how long I’d be in Cambodia and when I said two weeks, he said that the unlimited card would only last for one week, so he was trying to get me to pay $15-$20 for one that would last two weeks. This just made me angry so I said that I changed my mind, and I’d find somewhere cheaper. I got back on the bus and we continued to Phnom Penh and arrived at about 3:30pm. I didn’t have any Cambodian money yet (and didn’t realise that I wouldn’t actually need any, since Cambodia mostly uses the US dollar
for everything) so I didn’t think I could take a tuktuk. The walk to my hostel was about 30 minutes and Cambodia has been considerably hotter than Vietnam, with constant “feels-like” temperatures of 39 degrees. Especially in Phnom Penh, my skin constantly felt wet the entire time I was there – it was similar to how the weather felt in Kuala Lumpur, except a few degrees hotter. Naturally, the walk was extremely difficult (especially carrying all of my bags and my newly acquired painting) and I noticed right away that I was underdressed. I was wearing shorts and a tank top, but I noticed that everyone (all men and women) were wearing pants/jeans and long-sleeved shirts. How were they surviving in this weather?! I got to my hostel and checked in at The Big Easy for $4.50USD/$6.16AUD per night in an 18-bed dorm. I decided to go straight to Hard Rock Cafe to get my drumsticks, which was a 20-minute walk away. I just have to say that I love Hard Rock Cafe and the way that they train their staff because it doesn’t matter what location you go to, you’ll always be greeted with friendly smiles and the workers are always so helpful. I noticed that they didn’t have any city-specific drumsticks this time, and since I knew that there was another location in Cambodia, I asked if it would be possible for them to check if there’d be any city-specific drumsticks there. They told me that they’d message the other location, but since it was 5pm, they might not write back for awhile. He said that I could have a drink at the bar, so I decided I might as well. Believe it or not, this was a first for me! I can do many things alone – sit at restaurants, cafes, go to the movies, etc. But I’ve never had the guts to go sit at a bar alone. This was a good starting point for me because there were only two other people in the bar so I didn’t feel as awkward. I ordered a drink and sat there for about an hour, and one of the workers even came and sat with me and told me about how Khmer New Year would be the following week.
Once again, I just felt heavy again. I have heard multiple stories about people thinking of doing the Killing Fields one day and then the prison the next day, but then decided not to do the other one because they didn’t want to have two full days of sadness. I’m relieved that we did everything in one day, even though it was a lot to take in. It’s crazy that I had no idea that any of this happened, but made me realise how important it is to make myself aware of this kind of stuff. We got back to the tuktuk and made our way back to the hostel. By that point, we were all soaking wet because it was so hot that day, so everyone decided to shower. I decided to take a Grab Bike back to Hard Rock Cafe in order to get my drumsticks (since I had heard back from the other location and they said they didn’t have any), and then when I got back, I showered and met up with everyone for drinks. I
found out that the restaurant had poutine, and I was beyond excited to have one! It was pretty good too! After a couple of drinks, we decided to get some food for everyone else, but everyone had difficulty agreeing on a restaurant so we ended up walking for quite awhile. FINALLY, everyone agreed on a restaurant, so everyone else got dinner and we all chatted some more. This restaurant had pints of beer for 50 cents each! After dinner, we ended up separating from the group, and Lucy, Antonia, and I headed back to the hostel. Lucy and I continued having drinks at the hostel bar, and sat with some of the expats who were living in the city. It’s been weird because everywhere in Cambodia, there seems to be expats who have lived there for years, and all of the hostels I’ve stayed in (with the exception of one so far) are run by those expats and not by locals. This was one of the first
times in all of my travels where I went out for more than just a couple of drinks, and it was because Lucy and I got along so well. It was nice to feel like I had a normal friend to vent with about everything, and both of us were so sad that we only had one day together because I think we could have been really good travel partners. However, we’re still writing each other now so I wouldn’t be surprised if we met up again in the future. Lucy went to bed at about midnight because she had to catch a flight the next morning at 8am, so I stayed up and talked to some of the workers there. I went to bed shortly after because I’d be leaving the next day for Kep, which I’ll save for the next post. Love always
The 13-hour bus ride to Ho Chi Minh went by pretty fast, and I think I actually ended up falling asleep for a bit. I was given 30 minutes to feel sad before we already stopped for a 30-minute bathroom/food break. I figured I should probably eat since I had only eaten a sandwich at 4pm, so I went to the restaurant and ordered a pho for 48000 dong ($2.83AUD). I’ve been picky about my pho, and this one wasn’t that great because there was a really low noodle-to-broth ratio (and they weren’t even the good type of noodles). I finished eating and got back into my top bunk, put on my seatbelt (if I didn’t, I probably would have rolled out of the bed at least 100 times – the driving is crazy!), and wrote some friends before trying to sleep. The entire trip actually ended up taking just under 12 hours, and I arrived just after 6 in the morning. As usual, before I even got off the bus, there were a whole bunch of people standing in the entrance, asking if I needed a taxi. I said no and went to find somewhere to sit down and try to wake up. I looked up how much it would cost to take a Grab to my hostel and found out that it would cost about 80000 dong for a car, which was quite pricey! I then looked at how much it would cost to take a Grab BIKE, and it said 39000 dong ($2.30AUD), more than half the price. I tried to decide whether I could take a Grab with my huge backpack, and my day bag in one hand and a bag of food in the other. At this point, money was more important for me (with the 2 million dong that I paid the day before!), so I decided I’d take a bike. Conveniently, two guys came up to me and asked if I needed a bike and I said yes. I showed them where I needed to go and they replied, “100000 dong.” Seriously?! That was more than taking a Grab car! I was so angry, showed them my phone and said, “39000 dong. I will take this one instead.” And they just replied with an, “Oh.” I requested my Grab bike and went on an extremely long ride – I didn’t realise that it would take over 20 minutes. It was difficult because every time we stopped at a red light and started back up again, the weight of my backpack would pull me backwards, so I only hoped that I wouldn’t fall off along with it! I got to my hostel right after 6:30 and the door was open so I walked in. This time, I was staying at Long Hostel and paid 131000 dong ($7.72) per night to stay in a 4-bed mixed dorm (which ended up being only girls during my entire stay). There was a man who woke up on the couch, saw me, then turned around and went back to bed. I decided to let myself in and sit in the outdoor area until everyone woke up. It was then that I saw my first rat scurry from one side of the door to the other on the patio, and it was massive! I had forgotten about being warned about the rats in Ho Chi Minh, and I don’t think I ever got used to seeing them running around on the streets during my three nights there. At about 7, everyone started waking up because it was time for breakfast, so I moved into the common area inside. All I wanted was to shower and maybe get something to eat. I went to the counter and explained that I still needed to check in, but asked if I could get breakfast (which I was fully willing to pay for), but they gave me one free of charge! Again, I ordered banana pancakes (which I did for the three days I was there), and they were the best ones that I’ve had! While I was eating, another girl came and sat beside me, and I found out that she was Canadian, but living in Melbourne and teaching with the same agency as me! So weird! She was leaving within the next half hour, but we exchanged information because we’d both be getting back to Melbourne at the same time (at the start of term 2) and hopefully we’d be able to meet up. After eating, I asked if it would be possible for me to use the shower (since check in wouldn’t be until 2pm). They let me use the bathroom, and it was so nice to have a shower after spending so long on the bus! I was still so exhausted, so I researched different things that I could do that day and then at about 11:30, I decided to head out. I went to Bun Cha 145, which is one of the more popular bun cha (noodle bowl) places, but to be honest, I didn’t love it. The reason for this is that depending on the region of Vietnam, some bun cha places serve everything mixed together in a bowl (as they would at any Vietnamese restaurant in Saskatoon) and other bun cha places serve everything separately.
Agent Orange is a herbicide chemical that was used by the US military, and has had major consequences on the health of many individuals. About four million people were exposed to Agent Orange, and three million have suffered illnesses because of it. Agent Orange seems to affect the genetics of individuals, which in turn affects second, third, and fourth generations of these people. Some effects include mental disabilities, extra fingers and toes, loss of limbs, short stature, etc. This area of the museum included pictures of people who were affected by Agent Orange, or even pictures of foetuses in jars. It was a very difficult area to walk through, and I found myself looking away and speeding through faster. We stopped at a gift shop, which included artwork made by kids affected by Agent Orange, and the gift shop workers were all individuals who were affected as well. Itamar said that he wasn’t too keen on going through the rest of the museum (we were about two thirds through and it had been two hours), and I agreed. The museum was just very heavy, so it was difficult to get through the entire thing.
I decided that I’d come back later if I was still thinking about the painting (and I was, so I went back and bought it – I figured I could carry around a painting for three weeks). Afterwards, I went to buy my Christmas ornament. I was going to walk around for a bit, but it suddenly started to rain so I ran into the nearest shopping mall and was pleased to see that they had my favourite cafe, Paul. I decided to treat myself to a chocolat viennois, and spent the entire time FaceTiming Sonia in New Zealand. It was so nice to have a normal conversation with someone who knew me – I had almost forgotten what it felt like, it had been so long! When we finished talking, the rain had stopped so I walked around for a bit.
I then went back to the hostel to get my Vietnamese dong exchanged into US dollars, went back to the art store to get my art, and then went back to the hostel to drop it off. That night, I ate at The Hungry Pig again, and this time I ordered the Little Miss Piggy panini AND a Bloody Mary. While it WASN’T a Caesar, it still hit the spot after not having one in so long! AND I FaceTimed with my friend Crystal and her kids during my dinner, which was nice to see some smiling faces! I think I was really just needing some familiarity at this point, and was noticing the effects of being alone. I went back to the hostel and called it an early night cause I had to get up at 6:30 the next morning to go to Cambodia. To be honest, Ho Chi Minh was my least favourite place in Vietnam, and many people I’ve met have felt the same. The other cities had a lot more culture and life to them, so this ended up being just a place to stop over on the way to Cambodia. Love always
The bus was supposed to pick us up at our Hoi An homestay at 11am, and it would take about 7 hours to get to Quy Nhon (or so the sign said). Originally, I had been planning to go straight to Ho Chi Minh City from Hoi An, which would have taken about 16-19 hours, so this way I was able to cut down that number. We drove for less than ten minutes when the driver dropped us off at what must have been the bus depot. He said that our bus would arrive at 11:30. We waited and just after 11:30, someone called out for Quy Nhon. We got into our “luxury van,” which fit about 15 passengers, and luckily had air conditioning. It was one of the bumpiest rides so far – the roads never seem to have any smooth points in Vietnam! We stopped at about 1pm for a lunch and toilet stop. I decided to use the toilet and went to the back, but was extremely surprised to see that not only was there not a regular toilet, but there also wasn’t a squat toilet. It was just the floor with a spray gun. I decided to pass on this opportunity, mostly because I didn’t know how it would work. Nick got something to eat, but I still hadn’t gotten my appetite back (for most of my meals that week, I wasn’t able to finish my entire plate). We arrived in Quy Nhon at about 4pm and by that point, I was starving! Our hostel was about a 20-minute drive away, but when we tried to order a Grab, we found out that they weren’t available. Luckily, someone came up to us and asked if we needed a taxi, so we agreed on 170000 dong ($10.03AUD). Our hostel had two locations and we weren’t positive which one to go to, but luckily we chose the right one. We were staying at Life’s A Beach Backpackers for $9 US ($12.67AUD) per night. The hostel had a really nice bar area with hammocks, and it also had its own private beach. The other cool thing about this hostel was that it had a good combination of local workers and backpacker workers. They had about 5 or 6 backpackers who were working for accommodation and food, and some had only been there 1 or 2 weeks. It was technically a party hostel, but it was also a place where you could go and relax if you wanted to escape all of that. The only really bad thing about this hostel was that it was so far from the city so we were forced to get all food and drink from them. This was fine, but they just kept a running tab so we never knew how much money we owed until the very end. This is where I lost track of my spending completely, and Nick and I both ended up being extremely surprised when they gave us our grand totals at the end of our stay. It’s also weird because now that I’ve hit my budget limit, I feel comfortable with spending more money on everything (even though I’m now cutting into my Australian rent money!). Somehow because I’ve already passed that point, I figure I might as well keep going, so at least I’m nearing the end of my trip! As soon as we got there, I got something to eat because I hadn’t had food since breakfast and it was already 5pm. I ordered another Asian dish, but once again, I couldn’t finish it because my stomach seemed to develop a sensitivity to something. At this point, I was just starting to get annoyed that I couldn’t eat anything. We also decided to extend our stay for another night, from 2 nights to 3 nights because we already knew that we’d enjoy it there. That evening was just spent visiting with other backpackers and playing UNO.
and one of the locals pointed us further down the road but we still couldn’t find out where to turn. We continued asking different locals, but many didn’t know what we were talking about and many continued pointing us further down the road. I was watching the landmark on my maps.me get further and further away (yes, the landmark is on maps.me but the road to get there doesn’t exist on maps.me OR Google Maps). We finally decided to turn around and go back to the hostel to ask for better directions. On the way back, we passed a cute, little fishing village so we decided to take a quick stop to check out the beach.
and worse, and we really started questioning whether we were going in the right direction. I knew that we WERE going towards the waterfall – I just didn’t know if we were taking the worst way to get there. The plus side was that the views were nice, but I think both of us were too hot and getting too annoyed to really care. Nick kept saying that he was done, but we also didn’t want to turn back when we had already come all this way. After about an hour (so much for 20 minutes), we finally got to the point on my Google map where we were just south of the waterfall. But there wasn’t a path going north. I was trying to stay optimistic for the both of us, but it was getting more and more difficult, and I was so thirsty! We finally decided to give up and turn back, much to both of our dismay. All I could think was that if we were a team on The Amazing Race, we would fail miserably… The last step on the detailed list was that there would be a black pipe and if we followed it, it would lead us to the falls. On the walk back, I suddenly noticed a black pipe in the forest. This HAD to be it! I said that we had to follow the black pipe, but Nick seemed dubious that I knew what I was talking about. I was still determined to find these falls because I felt bad that we had wasted most of the day looking for them. He said that he’d go park the motorbike, so I ran through the forest to see if I could find the falls. And lo and behold, they were there! Maybe we’d do alright on The Amazing Race afterall… I breathed out a huge sigh of relief and went back to the front of the path, where Nick was just starting to walk. We headed back to the falls and when we got there, there were only three local kids and three foreigners, all who left about 15 minutes later because the sun FINALLY decided to hide behind the clouds (it couldn’t have done that an hour ago?!). We happily jumped into the pool at the bottom of the falls and welcomed the cold water. The water was full of little minnows that constantly nibbled us – we didn’t even have to pay to get one of those fish foot massages, we ended up getting a full body massage for free! I actually got cold quite fast after the sun went down, so we checked out the other two pools (there were three in total) and then decided to head into town.
It literally felt like we were celebrities – everyone was looking, waving, saying hi, and everyone was so friendly! We found out that the plaza didn’t have any SIM cards but decided to walk around anyway, and checked out the grocery store. After our adventure in the mall, I found a mobile shop about 15 minutes away so we went there and they gave Nick a SIM card (which actually took extremely long compared to my usual experiences). We were both craving pizza so I found a pizza shop less than five minutes away and we ate there. The tables were the typical Vietnamese short tables with tiny stools, which made Nick look like he was eating in a doll house. I decided to try something different and go with a pork floss pizza because I had loved pork floss so much when I was in Taiwan. The pizza was really good too! I’m going to have to find myself some pork floss when I get home! We decided to drive along the beach before heading back to the hostel. There was some kind of festival going on, and there was an open van with people in the back, playing music. Again, while we were driving down the street, everyone got so excited when they’d see us – it was so funny!
Nick and I arrived in Hoi An after the sun had set, and we had to drop off the motorbike at a random tailor shop (naturally…). First of all, let me just say that Hoi An is FULL of tailors. All over the place! Everybody in the city must know (or be related to) someone who’s a tailor, and the amount of times that we were approached and asked if we were interested in doing some shopping was too much. This was only the first of many times when someone would attempt to persuade us to use their services, (plus with a 10% discount!). I had already done my research ahead of time (no surprise), and thanks to a few blogs that I had read, I already had a tailor in mind. We picked up our backpacks and ordered a Grab to take us to our hostel, which was about a 10-minute drive outside of the Old Town, but has been one of the best places I’ve ever stayed in! We were staying at 
colour scheme picked out, but not a style. I told her what I was thinking, and she agreed on what type of style would work best for my body-type. Then she brought out a huge binder of different fabrics and asked what colour I would want. It was so much to think about at once, and since I didn’t have any set-in-stone answers from my sister, it made it even more difficult. It was already night-time at home, so I couldn’t even contact her to ask. The lady said that a dress would be anywhere between 90 and 120 dollars US, which was alright for a custom-made dress, but still seemed a bit high. I explained that I needed to wait to hear back from my sister, so I’d have to think about it until later that day. Luckily, that got me off the hook so she stopped pushing everything on me. Nick came back to the front and I could tell that he was just as overwhelmed as I was. When we said we still wanted to look at other shops, that just made them try harder. They showed us how they were the 3rd best shop on Trip Advisor, but it made me wonder why they were still trying to pick people up off of the street. They DID seem to know what they were talking about though! I suggested that we go for lunch to get some food before going through all of the measurements and everything. They said okay, and let us go. I think both of us took the biggest breath of fresh air when we stepped outside – it was definitely a situation where I felt like I was being suffocated. We walked back over to Ha Na Tailor, which was the exact opposite of what we had experienced – no other customers, just the lady and her two helpers, and she never once tried to push anything on us. She was extremely patient, and gave us different ideas for what we wanted. Nick was getting a suit made, so they measured him first. I kid you not, they took a full page of measurements – it was insane! Then it was my turn… Because I was just getting a dress, I didn’t need as many measurements so I finished a lot quicker. Not only that, but they keep our measurements so if I ever decide I want another dress made, I can just write her, she’ll make it, and then ship it over! I’ll need to make sure I don’t drastically gain weight by eating all of the travel food though (however it might already be too late for that!). We chose colours and fabrics for the outfits, and I told her the style I wanted. This was the picture that I gave her.
Then we entered the crazy busy streets of the Old Town, which were packed with tourists. All we wanted to do was sit at a cafe and people-watch, but all of the cafes were so expensive in the Old Town. We walked a bit further out of the Old Town and found a coffee shop to enjoy some refreshing iced coffee and iced tea. Then, we went to one of the beaches to do some more people-watching until the sun started to go down. On the way back to the hostel, when we were about the exact same distance as when the motorbike broke down the last time, the motorbike broke down again! We waited for about ten minutes, and then as soon as I wrote Phu to say that we were stuck again, I asked if he had turned on the lights and as soon as he did, the bike started working again! We decided that we’d ask for a different bike for the rest of our stay. We went back to the hostel 
to relax and visit for a few hours and then decided to check out the night market. However, once we got there (just after 9pm), a lot of the stalls were already starting to shut down. We decided to eat at a nearby restaurant, but found it difficult to find anything that would serve us because again, nearly everything would close at 10pm. Finally, we found a place that would serve us (although the waitress didn’t look too happy about it, especially when more and more people kept coming in). I decided to go for some pasta, as my stomach was craving Western food and I’m not sure it would have been able to handle anything else. The pasta was definitely my typical university meal – penne noodles with tomato sauce from a jar, but I still welcomed it. Right at 10:30, the waitress started putting bills on everyone’s tables, so we paid and kept talking to the table next to us. However, then the waitress came and said that she needed to stack all of the chairs, so we were forced to leave. We decided to head back to the hostel and visit with everyone before going to bed. Eileen has a Dutch friend who owns a vegetarian restaurant in Hoi An called Nourish, and he agreed to let her come in and work as a waitress the next day because she’s never worked in a restaurant before and wanted to see what it would be like. We all agreed that we’d go there for lunch the next day.
our stay. We were meant to check-out that day but liked it so much, we decided to stay for another two nights. We decided to have a relaxing morning at the hostel: have breakfast, hang out by the pool, and visit with everyone else. We all agreed to head over to Nourish at 1:30, so Nick and I got there first since everyone else was cycling. We went ahead and ordered, just because we had to leave for the tailor in about an hour. The rest of the crew joined shortly after we ordered, and we all enjoyed some really great vegetarian food! I ordered a mixed bowl of assorted foods, and it was so tasty!
(and kept waking up at 5am because of the rooster next door), plus for some reason, my mattress was covered in plastic, which made it very difficult to be quiet when rolling over, but also made it extremely hot at night – I felt like I was sticking to the bed! And that night was the worst of it… It was 1am, and then 2am, and then I left the room to sit outside and talk with my family, and then it was 3, and 4, and then I think I FINALLY just started dozing off, when an alarm went off just after 5 because everyone wanted to go watch the sunrise. So my short slumber was over 🙁 Everyone else left and I stayed in bed, but still couldn’t manage to fall asleep. On Thursday, we headed to the tailor again so that Nick could try on his second suit. I spent the next 30-45 minutes chatting with my sister and her fiance to see if they’d want any ties made, and kept having to send pictures of different colours. They shipped Nick’s suits back to the Netherlands, but I told them to wait to ship mine just in case my sister decided to order something the next day. We went back to the hostel to have breakfast and then hang out by the pool again. Eileen had already left, and Sara and Taylor were packing up to go. We decided to all go for one last lunch to Annen Yoga & Vegetarian at 1:30. I decided to get the eggplant in a clay pot with rice because it was Sara’s recommendation. After lunch, we all said our goodbyes and then headed back to the hostel. Nick and I had to decide where we’d be going the next day, so I asked Phu where a nice place would be that’s not too busy, and she suggested Quy Nhon. We looked up pictures on Google and were instantly sold – it looked gorgeous! We spent the afternoon picking out our accommodation and booking bus tickets, and did some more relaxing by the pool. That evening, we had plans to meet up with Simon and Tamara because they had arrived in Hoi An. They’re both vegetarian, so they had plans to go to a certain vegetarian restaurant (which would have been our third vegetarian restaurant in two days). First, we stopped at their hostel for a drink and then a couple of other people joined us. Then, we went searching for the restaurant but after about 15 minutes of walking, we realised it was closed. They searched another vegetarian restaurant, which also ended up being closed. Then Nick led us to a restaurant, which asked if we had a reservation. A reservation? In Vietnam? The man said that it was an all-you-can-eat menu for 400000 dong ($24.27) per person! Absolutely not! I saw that there was a burger place across the street (Chef Burger) and suggested we go there, since they’d HAVE to have a vegetarian option. They did (thank goodness!) so we finally got to eat at about 8:30pm. It was so weird being able to have burgers while listening to country music playing in the background, as I’m sure it’s the first time I’ve heard country music since I started my trip. It definitely gave me that familiar feeling of home though! By the time we finished eating, I had absolutely no energy left. I felt so bad because Simon and Tamara were really keen on going out, but I just didn’t have it in me. I was fully prepared to take a Grab home, but Nick said that he’d take me home, so we said our goodbyes and went back to the hostel.
heard that the best way to get to Hoi An was to rent a motorbike and go over the Hai Van Pass. It would be possible to hire a driver and ride on the back of his bike, but it would cost 900000 dong ($54.45), which was a bit out of my price range. My other option would be to go with Nick, which would cost 225000 dong ($13.28) each, if he was comfortable with it (because he had just gotten in a motorbike accident the week before). Otherwise, I’d just have to take the bus. Therefore, I had the afternoon and evening to decide what I’d want to do. Nick and I decided to go for lunch first, since it was after 2pm and we were both starving. We went to a nearby restaurant called Madam Thu, where I ordered a bun cha, and Nick (being the nice guy that he is) paid for everything. We then decided to walk to Imperial City, which was about 40 minutes away. We paid 150000 dong ($8.85) to enter, and then spent a couple hours exploring the grounds. It was just a bunch of ruins and buildings, and had the potential to be really nice if they added flowers to the landscape. But honestly, it was pretty drab and didn’t interest me much.
up. Simon thought I was just looking at nature! I chugged about half of my 1.5-litre bottle of water, and Tamara said that I looked flushed. However, I felt better so I thought I’d be okay to walk around for a bit. I was wrong though because after about five minutes, I started throwing up again. Everyone decided that we’d have to find a pharmacy as soon as possible, but that’s the difficult thing in Vietnam – pharmacies aren’t so easy to find when you’re relying on the internet. We drove along the lagoon, which was nice but I was too sick to worry about trying to take pictures. Then we stopped about 15 minutes later and I threw up again. This time it was the entire bottle of water that I had drank, so I hoped that was the last of it. Tamara suddenly remembered that she had Gravol, so she gave me some and I was determined to keep it down because I wasn’t sure if we’d see a pharmacy anytime soon. When we looked for a pharmacy on Google, it led us to a place that looked like a natural remedy store. I used Google Translate to ask for “something for a sore stomach and vomiting” and the man took a bottle of liquid and showed me that I had to dab some of it on my tongue and some of it on my chest. It was like VapoRub and I seriously doubted that it would do anything, plus it would cost 120000 dong. I said no, and we continued on our way. However, about five minutes later, we noticed a little green cross, and Nick circled back so I could check it out. I showed the owner the same translation, and she took out four very bright pills and told me to take all of them. I have no idea what they were, but I did as she said. She gave me an extra one of each, and charged 20000 dong ($1.21) for all of them. We continued driving for about a half an hour to Elephant Springs. We had to pay to enter the park, and we first stopped at a temple with a whole bunch of Buddha statues.
Phong Nha is famous for all of its caves but in order to get to them with a tour, I’d have to pay a MINIMUM of 1000000 dong ($60.76). I needed to decide if I would do a tour by that night so that it could be booked for the following day. That day, I decided that I’d just explore the surrounding area since the hostel was outside of the city and there was a lot of countryside to see. The hostel had free bikes to use so I biked about 15 minutes away to Bomb Crater Bar, which is exactly what it describes – a bar made in a bomb crater. I ordered some instant pho, which was interesting with little balls of instant meat that I decided to skip. However, as soon as I ordered, I realised that I had left my phone charger 
plugged in outside of the hostel and started freaking out that someone would take it, so I ate my food as fast as I could, biked back, and luckily it was still there. I then asked the hostel owner if it would be better for me to bike to the Botanical Garden or through the Bong Lai Valley, and he said the valley would be a lot easier because the botanical garden was really hilly to get to. The trip to the end of the valley was about 10km so it would take just over an hour to get to. It was also a ‘feels-like’ 42 degree day, so I was seriously questioning why I was crazy enough to go biking for over two hours in the sweltering heat. However, the slight breeze of the bike made the weather a lot more bearable, so it wasn’t that bad! I biked along the main road, past Bomb Crater Bar, hit a highway, crossed the highway, and then started on the gravel road through the valley. At one point, there was a man who waved at me so I waved back, but then he started yelling so I stopped. I had just gotten on a really bumpy section, so I thought that maybe he was going to give me some advice. However, he pointed to my bike and then pointed to the road, and it
looked like he was suggesting to push me up the hill. Nice! Okay, yeah sure… I got ready to start peddling again but my bike wasn’t moving. The man had jumped on the back of my bike and was trying to get me to bike him down the road! No, absolutely not. Especially when I was hardly even confident riding the bike down the road on my own. He kept insisting and saying motorbike, and I kept resisting until he finally got off. I wasn’t sure if he was trying to say that he’d give me a ride on his motorbike, but that’s when the language barrier gets the best of you. I continued on my way and eventually got to a place called The Duck Stop. It was a duck farm that was run by a local family, and as soon as I got there (completely sweaty and gross), there were two younger kids (a teenager and an 8-year-old) there to greet me. They sat me down and offered me some peanuts with salt and pepper, and then asked if I’d be interested in doing a duck tour. I had the choice of spending time with the
ducks and having a pancake and drink for 100000 dong ($5.90), or do everything AND ride a buffalo for 150000 dong. I decided to do the first option, and joined a group of about 8 people to visit the ducks. We were first shown how to be duck leaders, by quacking around the area with the food dish so that the ducks would follow you (and basically feeling like you were making a fool of yourself!). Then, we were told to sit down and hold our feet in a cup position so that the leader could pour some food in the “cup” and then the ducks would eat all of the food and give you a “foot massage” at the same time. Definitely a once in a lifetime experience, and it tickled so much! We were given a duck to hold and were told to make a wish and throw it into the air so it flew into the pond. That one I felt bad about doing, but I guess they fly and like water, and they didn’t seem to mind. We only
spent about 10-15 minutes with the ducks and then went back to the main area, where we were served traditional pancakes (which might have actually been duck…).
the end of the valley and once I got there, I sat at a cute cafe on the riverside and enjoyed an iced Vietnamese coffee. The river was quite low at that time of the year, so even though the views were already nice, I’m sure they’d be even nicer during wet season!
on the other side of the valley. It was like day and night – as soon as I crossed that bridge, every single person would yell out hello. The people were so friendly, and all of the kids were so excited to see a foreigner – they’d always point and yell out hello, even the kids under the age of 2.
However, after my shower, everyone started to arrive. I went outside and met a girl named Shantaliah who was from New Zealand. She was thinking of renting a motorbike to go to the caves the following day, but she didn’t feel comfortable going by herself. I suggested that I could go with her if she wanted, and it would halve the price of the motorbike. She had never ridden a motorbike with someone else on it, but she said that she would give it a try, and we decided to go to the caves the next morning. We chatted for quite awhile – I ordered dinner from the hostel and we continued talking until after dark.
beside me and introduced himself as Nick from the Netherlands. Shantaliah came and joined us, and we realised that it might rain that day so we figured we should get started as soon as we could. Nick said that he would join, and then when we got to our room, we ran into a guy named Tom from Germany who said that he would also join us. There were a bunch of caves to choose from, but we decided to start with the Phong Nha Cave because the Paradise and Dark Caves were the most popular and also the most expensive. 
We got our stuff ready and rented our motorbikes (Shantaliah and I paid 100000 dong/$5.90 each), and made our way to the cave. It wasn’t too far away and we had to pay 190000 dong ($11.21) for the three-hour tour. Once I realised it would be three hours, I decided to buy some snacks because I didn’t think I would last until 2pm. We needed 10 people for one boat, so we had to join other people who were waiting for a group of ten. The nice thing about this tour was that most of it was on a boat. We started by going about 20 minutes down the river past a bunch of villages, then the ladies turned off the motor and paddled through the cave.
sandwiches, and then the four of us decided to go to the botanical garden (which was really a forest hike with an alright waterfall). However, as soon as we got there, it started misting down with rain. We paid 40000 dong ($2.36) and only had about an hour and a half until the park closed. As we walked, 
the rain started getting heavier and heavier, and the rocks started getting slipperier and slipperier. We finally made it to the waterfall, where some people were swimming, but we decided to keep going.
being extremely hot or extremely wet. On the walk back, we had to step over some rocks across a stream, and that’s when I finally slipped. Luckily I didn’t actually land in the water, but on a rock so I was able to stay relatively dry. We made it out of the park right at the closing time (4:30) and then decided to make our way back to the hostel. However, the rain was a lot worse when going at a faster speed on the motorbike so it was impossible to stay dry. Tom’s motorbike suddenly stopped working, so we all had to stop and figure out what to do. He needed to catch a bus in about an hour, so he was really pressed for time. He could only drive at the slowest speed, so we all followed him for about 10-15 minutes. Then all of a sudden, his bike started working again (thank goodness!) so we drove the rest of the 30 minutes at a faster speed. We decided to join in on the family dinner that night, which has a bunch of food cooked by the homestay, so we each paid 70000 dong ($4.13) for that. It didn’t start until 6:30, which gave us all time to shower and then chat until dinner started. There were about 12 people at the family dinner, and it was so nice! They had so many different types of food, and it was a good way for everyone at the homestay to get to know each other.
nice to have the sound of the rain in the background! Nick said that he would join me on the bus trip to Hue the next day, so we decided to wake up at 6am because we’d be picked up between 6:30 and 7:10. Unfortunately, we had to say goodbye to Shantaliah that night because she would be heading north (one of the difficult things about travelling in Vietnam is many people are going in opposite directions). After our goodbyes,
we just had a relaxing evening before going to bed. Love always
Tam Coc was one of my favourite places that I’ve ever been, and likely my favourite place in Vietnam thus far. It had everything that one would look for in Vietnam – the bright green rice fields of Sapa, and the tall surrounding cliffs and mountains of Ha Long Bay – it was a combination of the two, and I absolutely loved it! To be honest, I didn’t actually step foot in the actual city of Ninh Binh because I heard to stay in Tam Coc instead. I ordered a ticket to Tam Coc through my hotel in Cat Ba since I was too tired to walk to one of the travel companies to 
order a nice bus. However, every time I book transport through a hostel or hotel, it doesn’t seem to be the best option (yet I continue to keep doing it!). I paid 260000 dong ($15.34AUD) for the bus to pick me up at 9:30 on Tuesday morning. I got into an extended golfcart-like vehicle and we drove around Cat Ba to pick up about 10 people to go to the bus. We then got on the bus and
it completely filled up. Even though it was cold and rainy in Cat Ba, the trip to Ninh Binh got more and more hot because there was hardly any air conditioning and any time I opened my vent, the guy beside me would close it. The seats also weren’t built for a normal-sized person, so everyone ended up leaning their seats backwards, and you would either have your knees digging into the seat in front of you, or have to try to find some space in
the aisle. We stopped at around 12:30 for a bathroom and food break, and then I ended up arriving in Tam Coc just after 3pm. I definitely wasn’t expecting it to be as hot as it was in Tam Coc, because some of the people who I had met in Cat Ba had come from there and said that the weather was the exact same as in Cat Ba. It was a pleasant surprise, especially since it had been so cold for the past week. I decided to stay at Tam Coc Rice Fields Homestay for 115000 dong ($6.79) in an 8-bed dorm. This place was so nice because it was only a five-minute walk from the main part of town (through a dark alley), but then it felt like it was in the middle of nowhere, with a beautiful view of the rice fields off of the patio.
ordered some chicken pho and a smoothie for 60000 dong ($3.54), but it took so long (which we discovered is normal for most restaurants in Tam Coc). After eating, we decided to walk over an hour to the nearest pagoda, called Bich Dong. The walk was so beautiful, and we both couldn’t believe the views!
The pagoda wasn’t anything special, but we still spent some time exploring it and then made our way back into town. We went back to the hostel to do some research and make some plans about what we’d do the next day, and then decided to go for dinner. We were both exhausted and were only planning to go for dinner and go to bed, but that didn’t end up happening. We stopped at a restaurant right by our hostel because it looked popular (and we continued going there everyday at least once per day – I don’t even know what it was called!). When we got there, there weren’t any free tables available but they directed us to a table with a French lady, who ended up leaving shortly after. Julia and I both ordered burgers (which we were so excited about!) and a coke for 80000 dong ($4.72). After we had ordered, two guys sat at the table next to ours and we got talking. Their names were Mike and Charlie, were from the United States, and were just doing a few weeks away from home. We told the guys what our plans were for the next day because we were starting with a boat ride in Trang An, which needed a minimum of four people. We all agreed to meet back at the restaurant the next morning at 8:15am so that we could order a Grab and get to the boat rides before 9am (which is when it tended to start getting busy).
On Wednesday morning, Julia and I got up and had breakfast at our hostel (I just got a crepe with a coffee), and then we headed to
the restaurant, where Mike and Charlie were already waiting for us. We ordered a Grab, which was only supposed to be 160000 dong total. However, we honestly thought it might have been one of the first times that the driver drove a manual vehicle because the amount of times that he stalled or we jerked back and forth was insane. Not only that, but when he found out that the guys were American, he
asked if we knew a song, which was ‘Hit Me Baby One More Time.’ He ended up having multiple Britney Spears songs available, so we were all trapped listening to the driver singing along while slowly making his way to Trang An. I was confused when he took a wrong turn down a backroad and we drove the whole way down, only to find out that there was a whole bunch of construction and a tractor
was blocking the way. We waited for about ten minutes, while the driver honked his horn and the tractor didn’t change position. We suggested that maybe we should go back and take the highway, so he finally turned around and went the way that we were supposed to go. Then when we got there, he charged us more (200000 dong) because he had to drive all the way around (which wasn’t our faults), so we just paid it and
left. We got our tickets to the Ecotourism Trang An Boat Ride for 200000 dong ($11.80) each, and decided to take Route 1. We heard mixed reviews about whether to take the Trang An or Tam Coc boat ride, but I heard that the Tam Coc boat ride is a lot more touristy and they constantly ask everyone to tip the driver. On our boat ride, they didn’t ask for tips because there’s a survey that
we have to fill out at the end (which questions whether we were asked for a tip). However, as soon as we filled out the survey, the driver said, “Tip, tip!” He definitely deserved one though, so we were happy to give him one. Anyway, our tour ended up being about three hours long and included boating through 9 caves and stopping at two temples. We were given about 20 minutes at each temple, and the rest of the time was spent on the boat.
We finished our boat ride at about noon and decided to head back into Tam Coc to get lunch. After lunch, the plan was to rent some bicycles in order to bike to one of the lookout points about five kilometres away. However, considering the last time I was on a bike was in 2012 in China, I was trying so hard to get out of it. I suggested going for iced coffee and everyone agreed, but only after we rented the bikes for 50000 dong ($2.95). Julia was
more nervous than I was because not only had she not been on a bike in 7 years, but she was also in a motorcycle accident before, so she was really hesitant about getting on a bike. However, despite both of us hesitating, we ended up going through with it cause we didn’t want to let down the rest of the group. And I’m so glad we did! We got to see so much more on a bike, and the scenery was beautiful to bike through.
sleep (thanks to the roosters and the plastic wrap on the mattress, which seems to be a common occurrence in Asia). Julia and I had breakfast at the hostel and then decided to rent bikes for the day again (since we were pretty much experts at that point!). I had to pack up all of my stuff since I’d be catching a night bus that evening. We biked around for a bit before deciding to stop for lunch and then Charlie and Mike met up with us to have some beer while we ate our lunch. For the rest of the day, we didn’t do a whole lot – just biked around, enjoyed the views, and chatted with random people who we ran into. We followed as many trails as we could find on maps.me, which was so useful! Julia and I biked to an area that we had seen from the viewpoint, where we could watch everyone on their boat tour.
hour tours! We then went for an iced coffee before getting on our bikes again and finding the Beverly Hills of Tam Coc. The houses were so nice, and they even had cars parked out front (Tam Coc mostly only had bicycles or motorbikes). Everyone was so friendly too – if anyone was outside while we biked by, they’d always yell out hello.
We headed back to our regular restaurant to catch happy hour, and then Charlie and Mike wrote and asked where we were. They met up to join us for a drink and then we went to an Indian restaurant for dinner. However, I think we waited too long to go because I had to be back at the hostel by 8pm to catch my 9pm bus. I wasn’t too sure why I had to be there so early, but I didn’t want to risk anything so I ended up
asking to get my meal packed up so that I could bike back to the hostel in time. These goodbyes were so difficult – this was one of the first places in all of my travels where I forgot that I was actually travelling. I just felt so comfortable, and absolutely loved my time there and the people who I was able to spend it with. I got back to the hostel and the lady gave me a towel and asked if I wanted to shower. Guess I didn’t have
to be in a rush.. I said I was fine, and tried to eat my food as fast as I could but after I was about halfway done, the hostel owner got off of the phone and said that we’d have to leave in five minutes. I put on my big backpack while holding my day pack in one hand and a plastic bag in the other, and jumped on the back of the pregnant lady’s scooter. I was definitely a pro at this point! She drove me five minutes
down the road to the bus terminal (basically a random parking lot) and then after about ten minutes, my bus to Phong Nha arrived, which will be for another post. Love always
Prairie Girl Abroad 