Sri Lanka – Aragum Bay and Uda Walawe
We stayed in Aragum Bay for three nights, in a little ‘treehouse cabana’ in a hostel right on the beach. Our little wooden cabin, on stilts twice as tall as I am, and… Continue reading
Tag Archive: backpacking
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Sri Lanka – Ella
The train journey from Kandy to the hill town of Ella, passing through Nuwara Eliya and other popular little towns, is said to be one of the most beautiful in the world. The… Continue reading
Sri Lanka – Colombo and Kandy
Because we flew with Emirates airlines, we were able to make a very quick stop in Dubai in the middle of our flight to Sri Lanka. We got a taxi from the airport… Continue reading
Cuba – Baracoa
Keen to leave Santiago de Cuba, and keen to try out the Taxi Collectivos (group taxis) that we had heard other travellers rave about, we decided to skip the bus and make the… Continue reading
Cuba – Trinidad y Santiago de Cuba
Wandering the cobbled streets of Trinidad, past colourful houses, noisy bars, terraced restaurants and little shops selling straw hats and key rings, you might be forgiven for thinking that you had somehow ended… Continue reading
Cuba – Cienfuegos
It took eight hours to get from Viñales to Cienfuegos and the air con stopped working about five hours into the journey. We climbed off the bus sweaty and restless and hot and… Continue reading
Cuba – Valle Viñales
An uneventful and aggressively air conditioned bus journey took us from Havana to the small town of Viñales. It only took four hours (including the obligatory stop at a roadside café/ gift shop… Continue reading
Cuba – Habana
I arrived at Gatwick very early in the morning, climbed sleepily off the Gatwick Express and waited for my friend Kati to arrive, reflecting that I would rather be literally anywhere else in… Continue reading
Vietnam – Nha Trang
I had a few problems getting my photos from my phone onto my computer so this last post has been waaaayy delayed. I’ve been home for just over a week and Asia already… Continue reading
Vietnam – Hoi An
From Sapa, we caught a night bus down to Ha Noi, spent a couple more hours exploring the Old Quarter and then caught another night bus to Hue. The Imperial citadel of Hue… Continue reading
Vietnam – Halong Bay, Cat Ba Island
Instead of travelling to Halong City from Ha Noi, we decided to make our way to Cat Ba Island, which is in Lan Ha bay, a little further on but part of the… Continue reading
Vietnam – Ha Noi
After Kati left us to go back to England (sad times) Abs and I flew straight from Ho Chi Minh (which is in the southern end of Vietnam) to Ha Noi, right up… Continue reading
Vietnam – Mekong Delta
Abi (my sister) joined us in Vietnam just under a week ago and we had the best time running around Ho Chi Minh, eating loads of Pho, making her listen to our funny… Continue reading
Cambodia – Kampot
We arrived in Kampot late in the afternoon and it was almost dark by the time we were settled in our hostel and on our way into town. We’d been told by numerous… Continue reading
Cambodia – Koh Rong Samloem
Imagine any kind of tropical paradise, and you’d probably be picturing something a little bit like Koh Rong Samloem. Little brother to party island Koh Rong, Koh Rong Samloem has blue sea,… Continue reading
Cambodia – Sihanoukville, Otres Beach
It took us thirteen hours to reach Sihanoukville from Battambang, first on a ‘hotel bus’ to Phnom Penh and then in a minibus to the sprawling city. The hotel bus picked us up… Continue reading
Cambodia – Battambang
We arrived in Battambang in the torrential rain and by the time we had finally made it to our hostel we were completely soaked through, it was dark, and we were starving. We… Continue reading
Cambodia – Siem Reap and Angkor Wat
After a bumpy seven hour bus journey (along a road that hadn’t yet finished being built) we arrived in Siem Reap to neon signs, brightly lit markets and a whole street full of… Continue reading
Cambodia – Phnom Penh (part two)
It hasn’t taken us long to feel at home here – we’re used to the dust, the stares and haggling with the tuk tuk drivers. I really really like Phnom Penh and would… Continue reading
Cambodia – Phnom Penh
I was pretty nervous about the border crossing from Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh) to Cambodia (Phnom Penh). I thought that it would be somehow confusing or difficult, but in the end the bus… Continue reading
Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City
Ho Chi Minh stinks. But I kinda love it. It’s loud and smelly and busy and everybody seems to be playing a perpetual game of ‘chicken’ on the thousands of mopeds screaming around… Continue reading
Laters (The Barbican Conservatory)
I can’t believe how quickly it’s come round – but tomorrow is the first day of my trip around Cambodia and Vietnam! I’m so excited, I can’t wait to get out there, and… Continue reading
Ultimate Travel Reading List – Part Two
Part two of my epic summer reading list! Check yesterday’s post for part one. 6. Looking for Alaska – John Green John Green (recently responsible for making me ugly-cry for half an hour… Continue reading
4.2 (Tokyo), Osaka and Nara
After a final day in Tokyo checking out the Shibuya district (100￥ shops, the best ever Katsu curry and the famous scramble crossing), we took a bullet train south to Kansai province, Osaka.… Continue reading
4. Japan
I’m off to Japan! I’m pretty confident about the WiFi in Japan, (I’ve heard they’re pretty hot on that stuff), so expect regular updates, and loads of photos of everything from fashion to… Continue reading
3.9 Verona and Milan
We had a pretty stressful arrival in Verona as the B&B we had booked had already closed its reception when we arrived (we had gotten lost) and no matter how hard we rang… Continue reading
3.6 Napoli
“We’re going to Naples!” Is, in my experience, a statement most often followed by a severe warning about thievery, mugging, or violent crime. (Except in one instance; “hehe, Naples sounds like nipples…”) Following… Continue reading
3.4 (Rome) (Messina) and Syracuse
If someone is snoring in a hostel dorm room, or if they are prone to night terrors, sleep talking, sleep barking (don’t even ask) or even loud sleep shuffling, it should be legal,… Continue reading
3.2 Florence
We arrived in Florence after a long and uncomfortable train journey, most of which was spent hunkered down on our rucksacks in the hot and stuffy cargo hold of an old and alarmingly… Continue reading
3.1 Milan
Leave without a plan. The kind of supposedly aspirational undertaking which is plastered across bucket lists everywhere. Leave without a plan. In reality, this may not be the most sensible solution. Leave, perhaps… Continue reading
2. New York
We only had three days and three nights in New York, but I’m so glad that we made the stop. From the first time we stumbled out of our apartment into the harsh… Continue reading
1.11 International Weight Lifting Champion
Hello again. Apologies for lack of posts! We were hibernating pretty seriously for a couple of days after the Inca Trail, and the only reason we eventually emerged was because we had a plane… Continue reading
1.10 The Inca Trail
Hola Chicos! Sorry for the insane length of this post, but a lot has happened! We are in the middle of moving accomodation and preparing to return to Lima, we are super busy… Continue reading
1.9 Lake Titicaca
If we renamed all the tourist attractions in England so that their names included hilarious words such as Titi, the British tourist industry would be at an all time high. More reasons to vote… Continue reading
1.8 Could a llama trample me?
It is a truth universally acknowledged that a group of just thirty five adults or seventy children are able to trample a human being to death. This is true of just a small… Continue reading
1.7 El Cristo Blanco
*cough. cough.* I´m sick. I think that one of los neños charmingly gave me their cough and now it has mutated into some kind of megavirus, leaving me exhausted and disgusting. Whoever said… Continue reading
(1.6 Sex and el Ciudad)
Okay, a quick update… We have moved out of Lourdes´house! At this point, we would have happily moved back to the accomodation that originally fell down, even if it was still partially collapsed,… Continue reading
1.5.5 Side note.
We certainly feel that we are getting to know Cusco much better now, it is a relatively small city and we can easily wander around, going from the main plasa to our residence… Continue reading
1.4 Los Neños
Ola. Well, everything turned out better than expected. On Monday we went with much trepidation to the Spanish school in the centre of Cusco. (This is a twenty minute walk from our homestay,… Continue reading
1.3 Cusco
We have been in Cusco for three days now, and after a last minute change of plans from Real Gap (apparently our accommodation fell down…) we have been posted with a host family.… Continue reading