The Ultimate Jet Setter

So a quick 45 minute flight from Phu Quoc and I arrived in Ho Chi Minh City. I got a taxi from the airport to the Bay Hotel. It's about a 45 minute journey. By the time I got to my hotel it seems the rain from Phu Quoc had followed me.  After I checked in I headed out at around 5pm. By which time rain was spitting and after a few minutes it had completely stopped. I walked to the Saigon Notre Dame Basilica which was about a 15 minute walk. Along the way I noticed several Western shops and eateries such as Zara, H&M, Chanel, McDonalds and Starbucks. Chains that I had not seen before in Vietnam. The city is a lot more built up and developed than others in Vietnam. There are a lot more skyscrapers and tall buildings in addition to larger roads and of a better standard. Unfortunately one negative thing I did notice is that spitting in the street is deemed an acceptable practice. It's very loud, disgusting and unnecessary.  Crossing the road is just as scary if not worse than H...

So I had an early start today, I had a flight to Phu Quoc, (the largest island in Vietnam) at 6:40am. I left my hostel at 5am and headed to Hanoi airport. I checked in and boarded my flight which was 1.5 hours. After we landed it started to shower then when I got in my airport shuttle the heavens opened. It was about at 20 minute journey from the airport to The Shells Resort & Spa. I checked in and was driven in a golf buggy to my room. When we got to my room the bell boy asked me for the room key which I didn't have to which he seemed shocked. After him talking to reception on the walkie talkie and after 5 minutes he came to the conclusion that the room was actually unlocked so we walked in. Apparently there was an issue with my lock that needed to be fixed and apparently they didn't think it a good idea to fix this before taking me to my room. A few minutes later the locksmith came and about 10 minutes after that I was given my new key.  The hotel room is quite spacious a...

Today I arranged with my hostel to go to Ha Long Bay with Wati Travel, Ha Long Bay is one of the 7 natural wonders of the world and a landmark well known to Vietnam.  I booked a one day tour for $65/£47 which included transport to and from Ha Long Bay, lunch, boat ride through caves or you have the option to kayak if you want. Also a tour of a stalagmite and stalactite cave.  You can also visit Ha Long Bay for 1 or 2 nights. I'm not sure what those tours would include or what else you would see. Personally I think 1 day is enough but if you want to spend a night on a boat then you have the option to stay overnight.  I was picked up at 7:45am and we left Hanoi at 9am by the time we had picked up the other passengers. There were 25 of us totally. It's a 3 hour journey to get to the Ha Long Bay marina, we had a pit stop half way there so the journey took 3.5 hours in the end.  We arrived at the marina at 12:30pm and got on our boat. Pretty soon after we boarded we were ...

I woke up and headed downstairs for breakfast which was a buffet of sausages, bacon, rice, noodles and boiled eggs. There was also tea and coffee, you could sit inside or there was a little balcony with breathtaking mountain views.  I walked around Sapa town for a bit after breakfast then headed back to the hotel. Our tour guide met us at 9:30am and we had a new family from Australia join us. Our tour guide was very sweet although it was a bit difficult to understand at times which wasn't ideal. Although he was very confident speaking in English I'd give him a 2/10 when it came to understanding English. When he would ask me a question and I would answer I would have to l repeat myself at least 3 times before he understood. And even then given his response it wouldn't  suggest he understood what I was saying. I would have expected a higher level of English given the price of the tour.  Communication could have also been improved. He would explain at the beginning of the da...

So I headed to Sapa which is an area famous for its picturesque rice fields. My tour included transport from my hostel to Sapa, lunch and dinner on day 1 and a tour of the rice paddies with a local guide. In addition to 1 night's stay at a hotel. Then breakfast, lunch, a tour of another local village and transport back to my hostel in Hanoi on day 2 for $110/£90. Vietnamese dong is the official currency however US dollars are widely accepted.  My transport arrived at 6:30am, we picked up a few other people and didn't leave Hanoi until 8am. We transferred from a mini bus to another bus. The second bus was something I'd never experienced before. So this bus had 2 aisles and 3 rows of seats but these seats were fully reclinable. It was actually really comfortable just not what I was expecting at all. It takes 5 hours to get to Sapa so I slept the whole way as I'd been up since 5:30am. You get a blanket, water, wifi and a USB port if you're lucky. There are a couple of ...

So it's Vietnam day! When I went travelling in 2013 aka the best 6 months of my life I planned to go to Vietnam and with anything plans can change and I didn't make it. So 4 years later I finally decided to make the journey.  I flew Emirates from London with a 2 hour layover in Dubai. Each flight was around 6 hours each, I left on Sunday at 2pm and landed on Monday at around 1pm to the city of Hanoi. I stayed at the Nexy Hostel in the old quarter. I also arranged an airport pick up for $18/£13 with my hostel. It's about a 40 minute journey to the city. I was warmly welcomed when I arrived at Nexy and checked in.  I knew I wanted to go to Sapa and Halong Bay so I booked this through my hostel. I'm pretty sure I could have got a better price but after over 15 hours travelling I really didn't fancy trekking around several different travel agents in the 30 degree humid heat so I booked it through my hostel.   Nexy Hostel is very modernly decorated, there's a hang ou...

So I last minute decided to go on an adventure activity today called Canon De La Vieja. Not to be confused with Rincon De La Vieja which is where the volcano is and that tour usually consists of a hike, seeing the volcano and a waterfall.  Canon De La Vieja on the other hand is a lot more active and includes activities such as abseiling, rock climbing, zip lining, tubing and horse riding for $130/£100 and includes lunch. They pick you up from your hotel at 8:30am and drop you back at around 6pm. It's just over an hours drive to Canon De La Vieja. There were 7 of us in total doing the activities. 5 Canadians and 2 English.  We got our equipment for the first activity which was zip lining. The instructor's English wasn't that great which I feel like it should be in a job such as a zip line instructor. I also don't think that enough coaching/instruction was given before we went off. If it was my first time zip lining these guys wouldn't have made me feel at ease.  The ...