Day 30 to 33: Hello Australia! Melbourne

Day 30...

We had finally arrived in Sydney Australia but still had one more flight to catch to Melbourne. Jack was over excited about being in Australia, almost breaking out in dance and thrilled to be out of Asia. When we touched down in Melbourne we headed straight for car hire and Nicola became the designated driver. We had been provided with an automatic car which was a new experience for us. The whole group struggled to find the handbrake so we decided to quietly ask someone for help. The lady then proceeded to shout to a collegue in front of everybody, "they can't use the car". Her collegue then tried to make us feel better by giving us the excuse that were European! It was very embarressing. After that small drama we were finally on our way and headed to Mount Martha to stay with Kimmy's uncle and aunty. Arriving to the best possible start to our Australian trip, lovely people and an amazing aussie BBQ!!!!!

Day 31:
Obviously slighty jet lagged we managed to sleep through our alarms so had a rather lazy morning. And what was that out the window.........RAIN?! Booo!!! So we decided to have a chilled day and do a little shopping in Frankston shopping mall. With Kimmy rather excited from the site of Nandos, we settled for lunch..yum! Arriving back we chilled out and enjoyed some cool ciders whilst chatting away. We had our first experience with a massive 'house spider' and after some girly screams from Jack we had captured it to put it outside.... until Tony (Kimmy's cousin) decided to let it run up and down his arms before putting it back on the wall!!! We than ordered a taxi for our first Ozzy night out. The night didnt go as planned with Niks being refused entry for wearing Havai-ana thongs....how did they know she was wearing a thong?! Ah Thongs means flip flops! As well as them not accepting our English driving liences we called it a night with plenty of entertainment from drunken Tony as well as drunken Ozzy's. Best people watching experience.  But did we want a Taxi or a Maxi Taxi?! You don't know what a Maxi Taxi is?!....it's a Mini Bus duh.

Day 32:
Same story as the Previous morning, we had managed to miss our alarm again.... oopps. Up and ready, it was time to be Tourists with a trip into Mealbourne City. We met with James, a friend of Jack's, and the begining of what we like to call Baver's on tour #BaversOnTour. We strolled around the City taking in all the lovely sites as well as a visit to the Mumba Festival where we watched Weight boarding and Jack losing on the fairground games. We saw the grafitti street, the tower, museums and some fabulous architecture. We settled In a bar on the waterfront and enjoyed a Cider (Nik and kerry), Wine (Kimmy) and Beer (Jack) with Jack bringing along another friend Jess from Camp America #BaversOnTour. We headed back arriving to a very delious curry made by Chris.....it was amazing!

Day 33:
All packed up we headed out for Fish and Chips (never as good as home Fish and Chips....they don't do curry sauce!) before saying our goodbyes and heading for our first overnight bus on the Greyhound to Sydney.

Thank you so so much Dave and  Chris for inviting us into your home, the amazing food and late night chats!!!

Day 29: Goodbye Asia

Crazy to think we've been gone for one month and it was actually time to say good bye to Asia! The journney to Australia began with a flight from Hanoi to Bangkok where we enjoyed a Starbucks and ate are last Thai food with chopsticks. It was time to start a new adventure in Australia!!!!

Reflections on Asia......

Asia you have been amazing with so many great experiences and a few bad for some!

♥♥♥♥♥♥We will miss...
Staying in hotels
Eating out
Pampering ourselves - manicures, pedicures and eyebrow threading!
Cheap alcohol
Cheap hair extentions for Kimdoll
Motorbike taxis
Someone washing and folding your clothes
Buckets
Beach parties
Bunkbed buses
Tuk tuks
Chopsticks
Street corn
Street food generally...it tastes sooo good!
Air hostesses on buses
Ladyboys
The mafia - Thai, Cambodian and Vietnamese (there everywhere)
Friendly cambodians

XXXXXXWe will not miss...
The smell of poo
Being offered something which is the same same but different
Taxi men pretending they know where you want to go but they dont
Hole in the growned toilets/self flush toilets!
Begging children and their relentless efforts.
The continus beeping of every single car/bus/motorbike/lorry to simply say get out of my way NOW beeeeeeeeeeep!
Trying to cross the road...nightmare

Missing items....
Samsung charger
Rain mac
Make up...and lots of it
Perfume
Travel pillow
Varius clothes
Camera
Sewing kit
Mirror
Hairbrush
All of the above belonging to Kimdoll
One very floppy hat by Niks on purpose

Things we didnt get round to and so an excuse to go back for...
Eat some bugs on sticks
Ride an ostriche in vietnam
Tailored made suit
Visit the south of cambodia
Become a certified diver in Koh Tao as it is rediculously cheap
But most importantly to go on a motorbike taxi again.

Toe Update: Kerry's Toe Nail still intacted. #ToeDrama

Day 28: Hanoi

We wrrived late in Hanoi the night before so we checked in and went straight to bed. Unable to book a trip to Halong Bay that night, Niks being a good sport got up at 6:00am and got us a place on the tour....yay Niks!

It was a 4 hour Bus Ride to Halong Bay so we all seized the perfect oppertunity to nap as always. When we arrived at halong Bay we saw some amazing views, a floating village, kayaked through some caves, strolled through some very big caves and had a very fishy lunch (Niks and Kerry trying clambs.....yes really). In the very big cave the tour guide was determined to find animal shaped rocks. He had a very strong imagination as no one in the group could really see these animal shaped rocks. He also told us romeo and juliet had visited there as their shadows returned there when they died?! Very bizarre but funny.

Arriving back we quickly got ready and joined the hostals pub crawl for our final night in Asia. Finishing up at The Light House, which we crossed the Motorway to get to and was ran by the Mafia! We all had an amazing night, we danced, Jack TC, Niks and I tried our first pork patty, Niks cut her toe, Kimmy and kerry carried Niks out the club (unnessarily) and we all got our final motorbike taxi home......we love motorbike taxi's♡♡♡♡♡

We also wished we had more time in Hanoi as it is a fairly big place and we didnt get to see much of the city. It wasnt very commercialised so felt like we were in real Vietnam and not a tourist spot. We need to return to Vietnam to see and do the things we missed! Mainly to ride an ostriche. 

Day 27: 12 hours in Hoi An

The bus arrived in Hoi ann around 7am, bright and early. We were amazed by how good the bus journey was as we were told some bad stories about the buses being full of smoke, the isles full of people and belongings being stolen. However none of this happened to us, instead we just had persistant beeping from the driver and other road users (the norm in Asia).

After a very short taxi from the bus station we had arrived at our hostel. We had a quick breakfast and headed to a recomended Tailors, Kimmys Tailors. We had limited time with a flight to Hanoi that evening so we picked our fabrics, designs, got measured, all within 10 minutes or so and arranged to return at 3pm for our Kimodo fitting. Once again leaving Jack to sleep.

In between fittings we headed for a cooking lesson which we loved ♡♡♡♥♥♥ We made Pork Spring Rolls, Prawn and Mango salad and Chilli Chicken with Rice.....now take a seat (especially Jodie) NICOLA AND I ATE PRAWNs haha!! We shall be holding a Vietnamese dinner party when we arrive home which shall be eaten with chopsticks only. We then strolled around the Market brought a few Souviners - chopsticks.  Kimmy and kerry had their eyebrows threaded by a crazy vietnemise woman.

After a hectic day we returned to Kimmy's Tailors to pick up our custom made Kimodos. They fitted perfectly and had been made in 3hours.....crazy! Another flight onto Hanoi!!!

It was a busy day in Hoi Ann but so much fun. It is such a stunning little town full of tailors, market stools and beautiful flowers! We wished we had more time here.

Day 25 & 26: Nha Trang

Day 25...
We started the day with a flight to Nha Trang . We arrived at the airport to find the flight had been delayed......by 4 hours!!!! With a very restless Nicola, a few naps on the floor, we passed the time with card games and wondering around the really rubbish shops.

Upon arrival in Nha Trang we arranged a trip to the mud baths for the following day and brought ourselves a bevvy costing a mere £6.00 for a liter of Smiroff vodok......lovely! And why not, we headed to the why not bar. A very funny night of unusual dancing with the  Vietnameses and of course Nicola being told to move from a seat AGAIN. We had a great night.

Day 26...
It was a morning of great timing for Nicola with a speedy get up and ready. Once again, Jack stayed in bed as we headed for the mud baths. The mud baths were cool/strange with what seemed to be a family day out for most! We started with mud (no photo evidence....lets not talk about that!), onto the human car wash, into the mineral bath, through another human car wash and into the hot springs. Arriving back from a day of relaxation we continued it with some more pampering, a pedicure to match our fresh nails...Kerry recieved some strange and confusing looks when it came to her big toe (fake toe nail).

Feeling rather peckish we came across a small restaurant and were greeted by a very friendly Texas man. Sold by his american manner and charm, we took a seat. The restaurant was very cool with pictures of customers covering the walls (get your picture up by visiting 3 times). We got slighty carried away and pretty much ordered the whole menu, but it was good! The texas owner asked how our food was for which we all replied 'lovely thank you'. He commented that we were apparently too polite and our reponse should have been 'it was damn good' .....were still to make a Texas girl out of Kimmy!!

We got our first night bus in Vietnam to Hoi Ann. Coolest night bus ever with 3 rows of bunk beds, wifi and charger points!

Day 24: Saigon Vietnam

Ho Chi Minh City also known Siagon. After setting up camp in our Hostal we were two men down. Kimmy and her Cambodian disease with 100% death rate (heat rash) and Jack ill (probably hungover). Niks and kerry headed to see what Siagon had to offer. Looking for somewhere to have breakfast we came across The Hungry Pig. It was so dreamy with real bread, real Bacan (a welcomed change from rice and noodles) and REAL TEA (our 1st since we left). We then went on a mission to find ourselves a traditional Vietnamese hat, with our hats on what better way to see the City than a motorbike taxi!!!!!! With the breeze through our hair It was the best experience ever and got to see all the sites with plenty of photo opportunities. When the motorbike tour was up we strolled around and decided to treat ourselves and have our nails done. Once sat down we suddenly realised that we were not in an normal Nail Salon with the Ladies VERY dressed up the 'Nail Salon' was more or less a cover up for something else going on. Leaving in fits of laughter and not the best manicure. It was a very funny experience! We had our first Vietnamese meal and beer. The waiter told us we use our chopsticks the Asian way and introduced us to the Vietnamese way. We had a starter, main and beer for £3.00! Strolling back we saw a real Nail Salon and had our nails done a second time that day, gel nails ♡. Niks going for a lovely shade of red and kerry a clear glitter, we were more than happy!

Day 19: Back to Bangkok

After taking our first internal flight from Phucket to Bangkok our second 24 hours in Bangkok began. We had some food and got ready to go out with Kimmy popping out to get her hair extentions done (she lasted 3 weeks before she cracked), Vietnamese hair special, how could she resist?!. An evening filled with drinks, banter with other backpackers, facetime to the girls back home.  Before we knew it was almost 6:00AM and our bus to Cambodia left at 6:00AM ooopps! With no sleep we took a tuk tuk to the bus station. Tuk tuks normally only fit 2 people with no luggage. However the thai man insisted 4 of us will fit with luggage, it was a very crammed journey with legs and arms hanging out of the tuk tuk everywhere.

Day 18: Phuket

We got a boat from Koh Phi Phi to Phuket which took about an hour and once we arrive we settled into our Hostal which was a room for 4. That evening we went for a family meal in a lovely restaurant lit   up with fairy lights on the beach front. For Niks and kerry it was tea on Jodie and KR (Thanks guys!) We enjoyed some firecracker noddles....yummy....hot hot. Leaving Jack (although I'm sure he would of loved it) behind, we rushed to ths Simon Ladyboy Show - it was fab show with some very convincing ladyboys.

We got back and before we knew it we were all out again with a group from the Hostal. Kimmy already deciding she didn't like most of them..very funny! We had some buckets, played the nail game and had a dance. Dancing away it came to me that one of them looked like Arg (Towie) with Kim agreeing she walked over....
Kimmy - " You really look like someone"
Arg lookalike - "let me guess it begins with an A...."
Kimmy - "yeah....Adam Sandler"
Arg lookalike - " *Beepoff I know you watch Towie"
With the night coming to to an end we went to Maccy d's with Kimmy shouting at Arg lookalike "ARG NO CARBS BEFORE MARBS!" And taking sneaky photos of him, it was then time for bed.

Phuket was very commercialised and set up for tourists with many americanised bars/restaurants. It had a lovely beach called patong beach. The tuk tuks here were very different. They had flashing lights, sound systems and fancy rims. It was like they had been on pimp my ride.

Day 15: Ko Samui to Ko Phi Phi

We stumbled onto the boat-coach-boat to Koh Phi Phi all still feeling a bit typsy and extremely tired with Kerry being sick most of the way! We met 4 lovely English girls from Surrey on the coach, who filled us in on all there stories from their Thai adventure which unfortunately included food poisoning. When we arrived in Phi Phi we had already pre-booked to stay in bungalows (with a pool). On arrival we discovered it was double the price so we agreed to stay there that night and move to the bungalows next door the following night for half the price. We went to a Reggae bar with Thai boxing for a drink and met with Beth (from Uni) for a good catch up before heading to bed for our earliest night of the trip so far!

Koh Phi Phi was a pretty little island with no cars in the main town so the main form of transport round the island is by foot or push bike. To save us carrying our luggage to the bungalows a poor Thai man pushed it in a large cage with wheels, a bit like a giant wheelbarrow, as we followed behind. I guess it is their version of a taxi but on foot.

Day 16 & 17: Koh Phi Phi

Day 16...
The following day Jack and Kim enjoyed a morning in the pool while Niks and Kerry ventured out for Breakfast (toast and strawberries) and a hair braid, yay!!!! Arriving back we all had a little swim before being kicked out as we had moved to the bungalows (without a pool) next door, booo. We then made our way to meet Beth and co to get a taxi boat to Maya Beach from the movie 'The beach'. It has crystal clear water but unfortunately it had been taken over by taxi boats, which was a big shame. After some shameful tourist travel photos, sunbathing and a swim in the sea, we had a little explore of the very small island. Taxi boat back and we went out for food........with Kerry and Kim finishing their first meals with CHOPSTICK wooo hooo yeah alright!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We went out that evening to Dojo where Jack bumped into a 'mutal friend' #BaversOnTour and then headed to Woodys and Slinkys on the beach front. With Jack having an unforgetable Thai experiece, nothing else will be said about the rest of the evening or events that followed.......

Day 17...
We were up bright and early for a boat trip which we had arranged the day before to visit all of the little islands around Phi Phi. We were 1 man down as Jack was too hungover. First stop snorkelling.....very funny experience with the boat staff throwing food towards Kimmy and Kerry who screamed, laughed and splashed around with the rest of the group watching! Nicola was in her element getting a good look at those fishys. We stopped off at a beautiful Island and then Kayaked to Monkey Island. Monkey Island was obviously full of monkeys who were very cheeky. They stole watermelons, grabbed children and chased everyone round the beach. They were not the friendliest and we were warned they may bite.  All together it was a great trip with nap time between each stop/activity. Frankie (child sat next to us) was in trouble most of the trip and I don't think that name will ever sound the same to us.

Arriving back we went for a drink in a bar (Jack unable to join) and then headed to the beach. A few drinks turnt Into a.......picnic?!  Our feast on beach included crepes, pizza and crisps. As well as meeting someone from Bristol who had already completed her trip round the East Coast of Australia and gave us loads of tips.

Day 13 & 14: Koh Samui

Day 13:
We got a boat from Koh Phangan to Koh Samui which only took an hour or so. Everyone had previously told us how commercialised Koh Samui was and when we arrived there it felt like we had arrived in Spain or Greece. It was completely westernized with English Restaurants and bars everywhere. We found a hotel and went out to explore. Koh Samui had a beautiful beach and lovely bars. We got talking to some swedish guys in the room opposite us. Swen (pirate look a like and absolutely hilarious), Adam (top knot), Simon (long and thin). We pre-drank together playing a very funny game of ring of fire. We taught them the English rules and they took us to a sweedish bar called Viking, with us being the only non Sweds. Couple of buckets, a shot of Vodka and Kim dancing with a hot (sweaty) guy lead to us all having a fab night.

Day 14:
We spent the day at the beach with Jack wearing white shorts that went see through in the water which was a little bit awkward. There were some interesting characters at the beach, lots of girls having their own photo shoots which was great for people watching. That night we went out for dinner with the swedish guys, who had two more friends with them, Joakim otherwise known as UK or your gay and Vidar the angry one/Adam look a like. We had a few quiet drinks in the hotel as we all had to be up at 5/6am to travel to the next place. The swedish boys had a great idea to stay up all night playing cards and drinking until it was time to catch the bus. Kim and Jack flaked around 2ish with Jack being sick (light weight) and Kim going to the "toilet" aka bed. Nicola and Kerry made it through. Passing the time with Swedish card games and being taught Swedish phrases which was great fun. A snackett was recieved.

Day 22 to 23 Phnom Penh

Day 22...
Very interesting and educational day as we visited the Killing Fields. This is  a site where large number of people were killed and buried by communist Khmer Rouge regime from 1975 to 1979. At least 1,386,734 victims were executed if suspected to have connections with government, foreign government as well as professionals, intellectuals, ethnic Vietnamese, ethnic Thai, ethnic Chinese, ethnic Cham, Cambodian Christians and the Buddist Monkhood. The site had a mormorial building with Budddist arkutecture filled with the victims skulls, bones, clothing and the weapons used to kill them. We then went on to visit a Khmer Rouge prison with very creepy small rooms. Some of the rooms were divided with wood or concoreate and JUST enough room for the prisioners to lie down.

Although it was an educational day, it was very sad to see. So we decided to have a chilled at the Hostal with some Cider and a few games of cards. The Cambodian receptionists did not know what Cider was (surprising as alot of the cider sold in asia was bottled there) so we got them to have a try. At last minute Niks, Jack and Kerry  jumped in a Tuk Tuk and headed to Banana Bar, 20 minutes in and the bell rang for last orders. We shared a Tuk Tuk back with 2 guys from our Hostal called Adam and Andy from London who had the exact same outfits on....confusing! They had just come from Vietnam so gave us some useful tips.

Day 23...
Unable to get on the nightbus, Ker and Niks went for tourist day. Kim and Bavs had a sleepy day at the Hostal. Ker and Niks went to the Russian Market buying a few travel Souviners and saw the Golden Palace (very gold!). On the way back the Tuk Tuk broke down  (#2ndworldproblems) so we took the remainder of the journey by foot. We all went out for dinner and drinks at the Monkey bar. Niks purchased Kerry a drink called Bazuka consisting of Red Bull, Sambuca and Absinth....after applying peer pressure she did it for a point for England!

Day 11 to 12: Koh Phangnan

Day 11: Full Moon Party!!
We went for a yummy lunch with Jill, shopping for some full moon merchandise and then to the beach. When we got back we had some pre-drinks and a game of ring of fire with everyone at the hostel and spent about an hour painting each other for the Full Moon Party. The Full Moon Party was massive, the beach and streets were crowded with people, bucket sales, UV paint, fire dancers and music. We met some Americans guys who love to watch TOWIE and The Valleys (they were an exception as when we asked other Americans they had never heard of it before). We also met a English and Irish couple who have worked in Australia for the last year. They decided to warn us that Oz is pricey, we probably should have budgeted better in Thailand...too late now ooops. Us girls were wettys and by 6am we were ready for home after 1 too many buckets.

Day 12:
We woke up to find Bavers had still not come back....like a stray dog he came back around 4pm. He'd had his last bucket around 9/10am and then went to an after party. That evening we went out for a drink as a 4 and found a bar playing the Inbetweeners film and stayed there. After Bavers met the English guys in a Reggae bar, Kim went back for a sleep and Kerry and Nicola decided to go for drinks on the beach. The few drinks turned into another crazy night, met a few groups of English boys (who apparently had been filmed for Brits in Bangkok) and some irish girls. There was fire skipping on the beach but the Thai were leathal, flicking fire into the crowd. Met a 30 year old Canadian who proposed to Nicola with a bottle top made into a ring. After lots of chat from the Canandian boys from the Hostel about how good a chicken schnitzel was, Nicola and Kerry tried their first chicken schnitzel on the way back which was just fried chicken in a sandwich. Nothing special but still tasty.

Day 10: Koh Tao to Ko Phangan

We took a boat from Ko Tao to Ko Phangan for the full moon party. After being lost wondering around the town for about an hour we finally found our hostel (Bamboo Hostel), which was also a tattoo parlour (discount tattoos for hostel users). We got to our room which was a giant bunk bed with 7 mattresses on top and 6 on the bottom all pushed together (and one toilet...gross). In this room were 3 swedish girls, an English girl called Jill travelling on her own, two English boys Cam and Lewis and two canadian guys. The room next to us was full of 6 canadians who were friends with the two canadians in our room (canadian invasion). After all the introductions we got ready and had some pre-drinks then made our way to the beach with Cam, Lewis and Jill. We had a few buckets, drinking games on the beach as well as having our taro cards read. With Nicola discoving she would have the pick of 7 guys the following evening! Once back at the hostel we met an Austrailian guy having a tattoo done within a 16 hour sitting (crazy) waking up the following lunch time to find him still there!

Koh phangnan is a small island, full of packbackers. It didnt seem to have any real sites but a long beach lined with bars and beach parties every night.

Day 20 to 21 Siem Reap

Day 20...
We were told the bus to Siem Reap would only take 8 hours, but it actually took 9.5 hours. We crossed through the boarder which was an experience. We were stamped out of Thailand immigration to walk a few meters to see the 'Welcome to Cambodia' sign. As we crossed through we purchased our visa and went through Cambodia's imigration. Wierdly Cambodia's immigration took our picture and finger prints (we felt like criminals).

Siem Reap was a bizarre city with extreme wealth and poverty. There were children on the street begging, Tuk Tuks, little shaks for houses but also Porsches and Range Rovers driving around, huge houses and fancy restaurant/bars.

When we arrived we checked into OneStop hostel which had only just been built and was soo nice. We went for some food down pub street (a whole street full of bars and restsurants) and came across some street food selling Scorpians and Snakes on sticks. The Scorpians were pretty crunchy and the snake was really chewy but Scorpians were defiantly nicer.....as if we tried them! Didn't even get a picture as you had to pay!

We headed back to the hostel and got ready for a night out on pub street. Jack had found some male company so we eventually joined them for a few drinking games. After finding out some very strange/interesting facts about the guys I think its safe to we all went out feeling extremely normal! Pub Street was a great night out with most people drinking and dancing in the street with a crazy dance off between internationals and Cambodians.

Day 21...
It was temple time, Angkor Wat Temples. We headed out for this tourist day with Nikki and Kimmy dressed in temple atire (purchased for the occasion and very asian themed). The Temple ruins were pretty fascinating but after 5 or so they all became the same sadly. We did see the famous tomb raider temple though which was pretty amazing.  Leaving Jack and Kimmy in the Tuk Tuk Nikki and kerry went to explore. Arriving back we found the Tuk Tuk surrounded by begging children, "1 dolla Miss", "1 dolla Sir", "Please", "Miss please". With Kimmy trying not to look at them or respond and Jack trying to sell them stuff we jumped in and headed to our final temple. Jack was put off by the 20 minute walk so he waited for us in the Tuk Tuk. On return we found ourselves walking up and down looking for Jack and the Tuk Tuk man. Finally we hear "Kezza", the Tuk Tuk pulls in with Jack hanging in a hamock with his head poking out....very funny!

That evening and keeping with the theme we went to Temple Mini Golf. It took us more than one attempt to get there. The first Tuk Tuk man claimed he knew where to go but after half an hour of him driving us around the middle of nowhere we insisted he took us back to the hostel so we could arrange another Tuk Tuk. Thankfully the second Tuk Tuk (golf themed with a grass interior) got us there.
The results were......
1st Place: Jack (should of actully been Nicola as Jacks a cheater)
2nd Place: Nicola (Kerry as Jacks a cheater) 
3rd Place: Kerry (Jack as he is a massive CHEATER)
4th Place: Kimmy (her rightful place)

Arriving back we went out for some food with Nikki and kerry trying their first Cambodian dish...yum. That night we caught our first Cambodian night bus with bunk beds ♡. Kimmy was rocking her mini as a hat to hide her Tina Turner hair!