Also Back in Nam.. Biking to Hue, Hanoi & Ha Long Bay

Most travellers throughout Vietnam make sure they get on a motorbike at least once during their time there. I've never been a huge fan of bikes and had never actually ridden one on my own till then. We decided we'd give it a go and ride on our own to the next city. Together with the greatest people we met on the trip, the now totally official 'Vietnam Vipers' (we had skull bandannas made and everything) we were off to Hue. The seven hour drive took us to some pretty fantastic places. We rode right along the coastline for most of the trip, over the Hai Van Pass stopping to take in some incredible views. It really was an unforgettable experience and something that even though I was terrified to do, I would do again in a heartbeat, skull bandanna and all ;)

Viperrrrrrrrrssss!!!

  

Filthy faces enjoying that well deserved beer

After arriving in Hue we cleaned ourselves up, riding in the open air with not much other than a bowl helmet made us pretty filthy at the end of it. We didn't waste time in planning the next leg of the trip to Hanoi. Vietnam backpackers are really great because they have opened hostels throughout the country and link up their trips with one another. We were able to book our Ha Long Bay Castaways tour in Hue and jump on board right after arriving in Hanoi. Arriving in Hanoi after another overnight bus trip was mad. It was the first time since Ho Chi Minh that we found ourselves in a big city again. Our time together was running out so we had to fit in as much as possible during those next few days. We made sure we got in all of the pho and street beers, a little temple hopping and cheap stuff shopping before Ha Long Bay.

Our trip to Ha Long Bay was a little different to most advertised trips. Because we opted for Vietnam backpackers castaway tour, we were in for a lot more than we expected... or actually exactly what we expected. It was wild to say the least. One night on the boat playing drinking games and partying till the early hours of the morning, a day spent kayaking through the little island caves and jumping off the roof of the boat and a night and day spent rock climbing, swimming and more partying on the castaway island, all involving all of the beers, pretty much sums up the trip. It took a lot of recovery after it all but was totally worth it. It really was loads of fun and we still got to experience the jaw dropping beauty of Ha Long Bay.

Back to Thailand, Koh Tao!

I'm home!!!! Back in Joburg after what can only be described as the best 18 months I could ever imagine! I did try my best to keep everyone up to speed with my 3 and a bit months in South East Asia but that didn't exactly go according to plan soooo I figured I'd just keep going now as I have tons of free time (unemployment! woo!)

After a super cool trip to Myanmar I had to say laters to Teddy Chesnut and was on my own again. One thing I really wanted to do on this trip was learn how to dive and get my open water license. I ran out of time before because I decided to go get hammered on Koh Phi Phi and Koh Phangnan before Burma, as one does. So I decided it was now or never. I got on the first night bus out of Bangkok and headed back down south for round two. I arrived in Koh Tao to my name on a piece of paper and got taken to the dive school. After a quick nap it was time to start the course. It pretty much consisted of videos and tests for the first two days and then the real diving began. I honestly can't put words to how cool it is being under water and being able to breathe and see the most beautiful ocean life like its no big deal. After four quick days of videos, tests, pool practice and amazing ocean diving I had become a PADI open water diver! I get a card and everything! The pretty fantastic instructors at Davy Jones Locker and my awesome dive buddy Femke made it super easy and a lot of fun:)

Because the dive course had taken up most of my first four days on Koh Tao, I decided to stay an extra two days to explore the island a bit more. I moved to a new backpackers, a bit further inland from the beach. The first day there turned into a pretty unforgettable Koh Tao holiday. Met some brilliant people, the unofficial but also totally official pres crew. If you're unfamiliar, pres: noun, the act of drinking cheap as chips booze before going out and drinking more/turning a hostel room into a war zone/creating a shit show. This happened for the next 3 nights teamed with snorkel trips and beach bumming. Koh Tao was definitely one for the books and further threw out every fear I had before about travelling alone because no matter where you are you're guaranteed to meet amazing people that you'll definitely keep in touch with for a long time:) Koh Tao, you were lovely...

4th of July fun & Boryeong Mud festival!

The 4th of July is usually just another day in July for me but for my American friends in Korea its something totally different. A bunch of us got together at a beach just off of Incheon called Muuido. It was a great little beach with wooden huts along it that you could stay in overnight. I decided to go along and try be as American as possible. We had an awesome time barbecuing, playing beach games, setting off fireworks, singing campfire songs and all the other fun stuff that went along with it.

Photos courtesy of Alex's epic instagram

Two weekends after that we headed out to the Boryeong Mud festival which is held every year on Daecheon beach, about a two hour bus trip from Seoul. Mud fest has been known to bring in a huge crowd of foreigners every year and this year it wasn't any different. It really didn't feel like I was in Korea for a while.

The festival was full of all things muddy with a few surprises scattered throughout the day. We covered ourselves with mud as soon as we got there and hit the mud slides and obstacle course. After washing off in the sea, where my one week old sunglasses decided they had had enough of being on my face and decided to stay in the water, we were surprised by a pretty cool air show with jets, smoke and planes flying over our heads and all the other neat stuff and air show has. 

The evening turned out to be pretty epic too when they set out a big boat in the middle of the ocean and shot fireworks off of it for everyone sitting on the beach. We ended the night with beach singalongs, slip slop losses and dance parties, perfect weekend Id say :)

Our bus on the way there was serious about the jiving

More of  Alex's photies

A sea parting, puppies, a couple of Moseses, and some adjumas..

This last weekend I headed down South to Jindo Island with a couple of friends.

Our day started super early with a 7am bus departure. It then took us another 6/7ish hours to get down to the beach.. pretty much the average time it would take us Joburg vaalies to get to Durban anyway so it seemed normal.

We arrived and dropped our luggage off at our minbak. A minbak is a house that Korean people sometimes use as home-stays  This one had rooms interlinking around with a courtyard in the middle. The family that owned the minbak we stayed in still lived there. They actually stayed right next to us.. It was a bit strange to have tons of Korean baby portraits staring down at you while you sleep but it was pretty humbling to know that these families that live super simple lives on the island are willing to open their homes to groups of foreigners like us.

We explored the beach front for a bit, browsing around at all the different street vendors, trying on adjuma hats, tasting dried fish snacks, snapping some pictures of babies and playing with some Jindo puppies before we headed to the shore to start the miraculous Jindo sea parting walk.

We bought some rubber boots for the walk and started making our way, along with hundreds of other people, across to the opposite island. It was kind of surreal to think that the water, which is normally swimming level deep all year round, was at our ankles. We were quite literally walking on water, with deep sea on either side of us! Proper Moses stuff.. Some friends even had Moses beards to fit the occasion!

Unfortunately we didn't get all the way to the other side because the sea decided it had had enough of its parting business and the tide started coming in like crazy. We finished the walk with some live octopus eating. You choose your octopus and they cut it up for you, no killing or cooking, just chopping. When it gets to your table, the tentacles are still squirming around. They suction onto the sides of your mouth when you eat them too! It was one of the strangest foods I've had in Korea so far and a vegetarians nightmare but it was surprisingly pretty tasty.

Our evening ended with a bonfire on the beach with all the people from our tour group. Guitar playing, song singing (chorus of songs singing as one does around a campfire) and new friend making :)

The next morning we packed the bus and headed off to a temple on the island. When we arrived I braved it and went on a hike with some people in the group. My first hike in Korea you guys!!!! Its pretty embarrassing seen as though Korea is kind of known for their hiking and I haven't done one in my 4 and a half months, but it was really good and I will definitely do some more pretty soon :)

All in all the trip was a lot of fun and it was awesome to see a new part of Korea. Cant believe that my next trip is to Hong Kong! Expect at least a 4 page long post for that :)

Our minbak housing

Moses and his adjumas

I don't know why these were not around when I was this small?

Moses mates

The choosing of the octopus

this guy was still squirming

View from the top of the mountain we hiked

temple grounds