Andorra - A Good Alternative to the Alps

(Thank you to our client for writing this piece to help inspire you to visit alternative destinations around the world)

After a few years off the slopes, this year we bit the bullet and shelled out the necessary money to have a family ski holiday during February Half Term.

We chose Soldeu in Andorra, part of the large Grand Valira ski area in the Pyrenees. Soldeu is the larger of the two main resorts in the area, Pas de la Casa being the other. Andorra is well known as a good value ski destination and it didn’t disappoint. 

We flew into Barcelona, served by numerous airlines, and after a three hour coach transfer, arrived in resort at a decent 3 star hotel - Hotel Soldeu Maistre.  You can also fly to Toulouse for a slightly shorter transfer.  The three of us shared a pretty spacious family room on a half board basis. Although the hotel was fairly basic in terms of extra amenities, the beds were comfortable, there was plenty of hot water, ski lockers available and a short walk along the main street of Soldeu to the telecabine up the mountain.

Food at the hotel was buffet style; not gourmet dining but lots of choice and as much as you wanted. The format worked well for families especially those with hungry teenagers or picky eaters. Our room looked out over the mountains and being slightly set back from the main drag ensured a peaceful night’s sleep.

We picked up our hire gear at the shop right by the telecabine. Even with the large numbers coming through, the staff were efficient and friendly as they fitted our boots and set up the skis. Most tourists seemed to be English and all the staff were able to talk the basics in at least 2 languages. 

At the top of the lift we quickly found the ski school. Being a busy week, lessons were being run morning and afternoon. Our 7-year old was in the afternoon session but they put on taster sessions on the first morning free of charge to help beginners find their ski feet and learn the basics. Lessons were split into the different nationalities and taught by native speakers making it easy for children to understand instructions and feel at ease. Daisy quickly made friends with a couple of other kids in her group. She couldn’t wait to get rid of us after lunch each day.

We had lunch vouchers as part of our deal which meant there were very few extras to pay for during the holiday. Food up the mountain was fine - tasty baguettes, burgers, chips, chicken etc. The restaurants were busy but coped well with numbers during what is probably their busiest week of the season.

The Grand Valira ski area is vast with loads of pistes for all levels of skier and snowboarder. It seemed particularly well set up for beginners with easily accessible greens and blues across all areas of the mountain. There are also several snow parks, kids ski gardens and even a zip wire attraction!

Bluebird conditions all week meant fantastic skiing conditions and even without a hint of fresh snow the pistes were kept in great condition by the snow cannons and hard-working staff. Whether the same will be true by mid-March, I wouldn’t like to say. 

After a hard day’s skiing, the telecabine down is a quick 5 minutes ride or you can ski down an easy blue, or red, or black to start some much-needed apres ski back in Soldeu village. The village has a good choice of bars, hotels and restaurants including several live music venues and a nightclub. If you do self-catering there are two supermarkets with a good range of fresh food and other essentials. 

There isn’t much in Soldeu in terms of public swimming baths or ice skating but you can pay to use the Sport Hotel’s facilities or take a half day trip to the hot pools Caldea in the capital. 

For a great Alps alternative with a warm and friendly atmosphere, I would definitely recommend giving Andorra a try. After a full week’s skiing out of Soldeu, we still hadn’t skied the whole area. Meanwhile, the 7-year old is a new ski fanatic thanks to some great ski school lessons. We’ll definitely be back next year. 

Philippines Islands

The Philippines were one of the places we have been looking forward to most on our travels. Having no idea what to expect we booked a whole month here, flying into Cebu then a short flight to Coron got us to our arrival destination for the adventure of a lifetime. Before we left the UK we booked onto a boat tour for 7 days for our first week just to give us a running start.



Experience of a lifetime

The Tao experience is a fleet of traditional  Filipino boats setting out on their voyages on most days of the week for either 7, 5 or 3 days. We booked 7 days going from Coron to El Nido (you can also go the other direction).

Tao was set up for the locals to learn/better their English, improve quality of life and enable new skills to be learned. Everyone who works on the boats, islands, in the kitchens and behind the scenes has a story to tell and you can learn so much from these wonderful people. The lost boys who generally run the boats were so much fun to get to know and they seem to absolutely love their jobs and are so appreciative of what Tao has done for them and their families.

On your Tao experience you sleep in huts on the beach and travel around between islands on the traditional boat during the day. Breakfast lunch and dinner are all included on the trip with a few snacks thrown in too. The food is all freshly cooked in front of you, some of it is even caught in front of you too. Quiet possibly the best food we’ve had so far around South East Asia.

We had our first 2 nights at camp Ngey Ngey, one of their main camp bases and one of the largest ones also. Generally we stopped 2 to 3 times a day at different islands and reefs to explore the islands and snorkelling the underwater world (we finally spotted turtles here). Philippines is well known for its tremendous amounts of shipwrecks and we got to explore some of these too whilst on the Tao experience. In the evenings we would chill with some jungle juice (Rum and pineapple), card games, bracelet making, volleyball, relaxing massage by the ladies and of course dinner all with the locals who run this amazing operation.

Our last 2 nights on the trip were spent at the Farm Camp. The Farm is where all the staff go for frequent training days and the chefs teach each other new recipes using what they grow on their farm to cater from the incoming tourists needs.

If you’re not sure what to do in the Philippines make this your first thing on your list. If you don’t have that long I would suggest doing 5 days as it really does give you a wonderful view of these amazing islands. 


El Nido

Only having a few things on our list to do in El Nido we took a few R&R days here in El Nido after our very exhausting boat trip.

We booked ourselves onto a boat trip to see some of the main sights. We stopped off at the secret lagoon, a tiny lagoon surrounded by land and rocks, you have to crawl through the rocks and water to find this beautifully secluded lagoon. After a couple of snorkelling spots, 7 commandoes beach and a lunch stop the highlight of the trip was the Big Lagoon. Crystal clear waters you can kayak through to explore the caves, archways and beauty of this stunning lagoon. A must see in El Nido. 


**Warning**


We were pre warned by fellow travellers that the food and water in EL Nido had made them ill. We also fell ill in El Nido, we are still unsure of the cause but just be super aware of food vendors, and not using tap water even when brushing your teeth. 


Princess Port

After a 5 hour bus journey which at a normal pace I reckon would have taken about 7 hours we arrived in Puerto Princesa. Down beautiful winding coastal roads lies Peurto Princesa south of El Nido,

We spent a couple of nights here only to see the newly appointed 7 wonder of the world and the UNESCO approved site of the underground river. Unfortunately you have to book a whole day trip to do a 45minute tour due to queues for permits and a lot of faffing from what we could see, if you find another way of doing this I’d love to know. Finally, after leaving at 7am, we reached the boat to enter the caved river at lunchtime.

The River is over 8km long but only 1-2kms of this is open for tourists to view. You are guided through the winding river by a guide lead by just a headtorch. This mystical river still has researchers and scientist studying how it came to be and continue to research the river much, much further into the darkness. Bats and swallows have made homes here and looking up at points all you can see are the bats nesting just waiting for dusk to arrive to leave for hunting (remember to keep your mouth closed if you look up!)


Flying visit

We next take an early flight out to Siargao via Cebu. We found that if you chose to fly around the Philippines you generally have to make a stop in either Cebu or Manilla.

Flying via Cebu we landed in Siargao to rain! When it rains in the Philippines it really rains. Once the clouds separated this beautiful island homes luscious green landscapes with treasures all around. Like most places in the Philippines the best way to get around is either by hiring a motorbike or using the tricycle taxis.

We stayed in the general Luna area and took a tricycle to Maasin river where a famous tree slants over the river now complete with rope swing to jump into the river. Quite a tourist attraction now but a beautiful river nonetheless. We spent the rest of the day relaxing looking out to sea in the White Banana restaurant. There are so many restaurants and bars to choose from along the coastline due to the number of tourists that come here for the surfing. Siargao is supposed to be one of the best surf spots in the Philippines and lessons and instructors are in abundance for you to choose from.

Unfortunately we didn’t get to spend too long in Siargao as we are on a very tight schedule so we swiftly moved on. Taking a ferry from Dapa to Surigao (the island’s capital) we then took a flight to Cebu. From Cebu we hopped on a short boat ride to Bohol. 


Welcome to Island life.

Our first day on Bohol we took yourselves below the surface of the water to turtle point and scuba dived with the turtles and the technicolour corals. A truly magical experience. Bohol has some of the most amazing scuba areas so if you are a keen diver make sure you make a stop here.

We hired bikes again here on Bohol and it was truly worth it. We set out on a day’s adventure, below is our route we took if you fancy not having to think about it and use us a guide. It’s what we’re here for. The most time we spent on the bikes at one time was around 45 minutes, taking lots of scenic breaks, drinks stops and generally driving to enjoy the views.


Bike route of Bohol:


Leaving Panglao at around 8am -  We stayed in Panglao which is the island attached to Bohol by bridge. Panglao is the home of Alona beach, the most well-known part of Bohol, with tourist shops, restaurants and bars in abundance.


Stop off at the blood compact memorial – The site where a memorial lies to depict the blood compact to seal a friendship and the first treaty between the Spaniards and the Filipinos. A beautiful shrine to this piece of Filipino history with a beautiful backdrop. Not easy to spot so don’t miss it, its literally just off the road.


Tarsier sanctuary – Tarsiers are the smallest primate in the world and Bohol is one of the few places in the world where they live. They are an endangered species so here at the sanctuary they take care of these tiny creatures and keep tourist access to a minimum ensuring a safe distance and noise levels the whole time. When you spot these tiny animals you will never want to leave. Be sure to treat these animals with respect and ensure you pick the Sanctuary to visit not any random sign posted place – some are much more of a tourist attraction than somewhere safe for these beautiful creatures to live.


Chocolate Hills (for lunch time) – We arrived at the chocolate hills after driving through the most beautiful scenery and empty roads I’ve ever seen. It truly was a wonderful drive.

The road that leads up to the view point to the hills is a panoramic view that you won’t want to miss. The hills are a natural phenomenon that attract tourists from all over. If you choose to there are ATV tours, walking tours and restaurants at view points throughout the hills. Take your time here on this road trip pit stop.

Pahangog waterfalls – The road to Pahangog waterfalls is not one for the timid, it’s a track road with steep hills and turns however the road is totally worth the final destination. The twin falls are stunning. Take a dip, jump in and enjoy the beautiful picturesque views. You can even hire a little cabin to sit and have a drink. 

Mahogany Forest – man made forest – Drive through this amazing forest, there is wide ‘hard shoulders’ to stop over and take the array of colours in.

Bamboo bridge – These bridges cross the Lomboc river, they are rickety and wobbly so not one for the faint hearted but the views are beautiful and great to see these traditionally made bridges in use.


Arrived back to hotel around 6pm – After a long day of driving we were exhausted and ready for a nice dinner and cold drink in town. Make sure you take lots of water with you, take your time, make unplanned stops and enjoy the fresh air through your hair as you explore this beautiful island.



The Filipinos and there government are working hard to keep their beautiful islands clean and environmentally friendly, so please help them by keeping plastic to a minimum and leave nothing behind. Environment taxes are charged on most islands and generally most tours or trips you do you will be expected to pay these.

Filipino people are quite possible some of the happiest, friendliest and kindest people I’ve met and they are doing everything in their power to keep the Philippines as authentic and traditional as practically possible. Naturally with tourists coming in this is becoming a challenge but after speaking to some locals they are determined not to let their country turn into a tourist trap like some of the Thai islands.

Unfortunately due to the current Covoid-19 epidemic we were unable to make stops at all our planned visits but it gives us a very good excuse to return to this beautiful country. I’m so glad we managed to come here and experience the culture, sites and people even if it wasn’t for the amount of time originally planned.

In this time of world crisis and chaos don’t let it ruin your travel dreams, we can still help, you can still dream and in no time at all the world will be your oyster once again.

Dream big, Stay safe and keep fit and healthy.

Thailand’s South Islands

As you have been reading we have been travelling in a big circle around South East Asia we now find ourselves in South Thailand ready to explore the beautiful islands.

Flying from Siem Reap to Phuket we planned to see roughly 5/6 islands whilst working our way back to Phuket for our next flight. We decided to spend time in Phuket on our return trip so we jumped on a boat to Krabi and spent one night here merely as a stop over to reach the eastern islands, First stop Koh Samui.

Koh Samui.

We stayed off Lamai Beach in Koh Samui a beautiful sandy beach filled with tourists and water sport activities. In my opinion Koh Samui is one of the more expensive and touristy islands. Don’t get me wrong it’s still a beautiful island however I’m not sure I would rush back as there are plenty of other beautiful places to see. As per all the islands the best way to get around is hiring a scooter (generally around 200baht per day), take yourself around the island past Chaweng beach the main tourist beach on the island along to the big buddhas, beautiful monuments built for worship. They truly are a spectacle towering meters above you looking over the island. Please ensure to be respectful and cover your knees and shoulders, In some places they offer shawls at a cost for you to wear but you should always have something with you just in case.

Naturally there are some beautifully secluded sunset viewpoints on the island, some of which are mapped others you will just stumble across. Go Explore!

At one of the viewpoints is the grandmother grandfather rock, based on an island myth of grandparents setting out across the seas to arrange a marriage for their granddaughter and came across a storm and fell shipwrecked, they came returned to earth as rocks on the island to watch over their family. Use your imagination when you see the rocks, or just enjoy the beautiful views.

A vision underwater.

After a few days spent on Koh Samui we headed to the pier for our next stop, Koh Tao the diving island.

Whether it’s your first time diving or you are an experienced diver you will find a dive centre for you. I can highly recommend Buddha View dive centre where we spent a week achieving our open water Padi qualification.

The centre was understanding to all our needs, let us take our time if we needed to take a day out and just generally cared for us perfectly with the most wonderful instructors. Generally staying on site at dive centres and taking a course you get discount for accommodation which is what we did or of course you can stay elsewhere and travel in each day for your course or dives.

If you have never been scuba diving before, which I hadn’t, once you reach the depths of the ocean it truly is a magical world, however if diving isn’t for you there are plenty of snorkelling bays and trips which will ensure you see the underwater magic like everyone else.

Take yourself on a rocky walk up to John-Suwan view point for the most breath taking views of the island and all that surrounds. I stood up here taking it all in for some time before heading back down to earth for a snorkel back to base. Time really does stand still here on the islands and you can end up staying for a lot longer than planned if you’re not careful.

Our last stop in Koh Tao was on Sairee beach, we stayed at a little place 10 minutes inland. Sairee beach is the more touristy area filled with bars restaurants and the infamously Thailand alcohol buckets (not for everyone), you can also find some amazing food restaurants down these little alleys, I would recommend the Mexican/grill restaurant called the Flaming hog, it seemed to be two restaurants attached but the food was unreal if you need a break from local food.

If after all that you need even more excitement take yourself to one of the many island Muay Thai gyms for either a group session or a private session. We booked in for a private hour and a half session and it was amazing. Truly shows the hard work and effort these sportsmen and women put into the craft.

Full Moon

The only island people head to for the infamous full moon party is Koh Pha-nang and is really the only reason people now go there. We stayed a few nights here to head to the warm up Jungle party with live music and food and drink stands all around with a Glastonbury feel to it. It cost 700baht for the ticket of which you can stay as long as you please and if you chose stay up to see the sunrise.

The main event on the island is the full moon beach party – however most regulars and locals prefer and find the lead up parties more enjoyable. As you can imagine the full moon beach party is very much filled with tourists drinking in the various bars along the Haad Drin beach. There is all kinds of music playing down the different venues from RnB to House music. Take your pick, get right in there or find a spot to sit on the beach and take it all in.

Naturally after all this partying you have done you may want to head to somewhere to chill... and that’s exactly what we did.

From Koh Pan-nang we took another ferry taking us to Krabi and then onwards by minibus all the way to Koh Lanta for our next stop.

Koh Lanta

Koh Lanta is what I imagine all of Thailand to have been like a far few years ago, very laid back, very back to basics and generally sums up ‘island life’.

Koh Lanta is a province of Krabi and is very easy to get to by either boat or car from Krabi, as soon as you enter the island you can sense the change of lifestyle. ‘No rush no hurry’ sums up general life in South East Asia but even more so here on the Island. Embrace it, Relax!

I had no idea that Koh Lanta was a mainly Muslim island so instead of our regular viewings of the stunning temples we now see and hear the gorgeous mosques calling for daily prayers.

Koh Lanta is home to Mu Ko National park which will cost around 200baht per person to enter. You can easily get here by renting a bike (you will have to pay for the bike to enter also). We spent the most part of the day wandering around the white sandy beaches, walking up to the view points and taking a beautiful walk, albeit very sweaty, round the natural trail. Also part of the national park are the surrounding islands of which you can take a day boat trip and snorkel around the hidden caves, islands and beaches. The array of corals and underwater life here are breath-taking, we even had a turtle sighting which was extremely exciting!

Whilst on Koh Lanta you must visit the old town, originally the main trade port of the island and inhabited by sea gypsies has now transformed into a trade village. Beautiful buildings on stilts out in the water remain there now housing the restaurants, cafes and local shops. Take a moment to have lunch or a drink in one of the restaurants over looking the sea and surrounding islands. Take it all in…

Koh Phi Phi

Phi Phi is such a beautiful island with amazing viewpoints and beaches giving you that typical picturesque Thai landscape you see on postcards.

We took a traditional long boat trip around the main sights including monkey beach, shark point and long beach which included a snack breakfast and a packed lunch. On this boat trip we also made a stop at the famous Maya beach where Leonardo DiCaprio starred in ‘The Beach’, due to so many tourists visiting over the years the beach itself has been closed off so the land and wildlife can rejuvenate but if you want to see it still the tours take you as close as you can for a few minutes.

Other boat trips will take you to the national park beaches which will cost around 400baht to step onto land. The beaches are beautiful but you can see many gorgeous beaches without paying to go on them so it’s up to you.

Unfortunately for Phi Phi it has turned into a tourist hub for party goers, with numerous beach clubs, pool parties, bars and even a bar for tourist to take part in a Thai boxing match against a fellow intoxicated punter. Difficult to steer clear of however there are many lovely hotels, hotels and home stays to continue a relaxing stay on another beautiful Thai paradise.

Take a walk for sunset one day up to one of the many view points all of which now have information boards of the tsunamis that have hit over the years and you can truly take in the devastation that hits this small islands.

Phuket- floating villages

We didn’t stay in Phuket too long as cities aren’t really the one for us and we had heard that Phuket is just very resorty. So we stay about half an hour from the airport in the old town and booked straight onto a boat trip to head to an island that I’d been wanting to go to for a long time.

Koh Panyee is a floating village with schools, shops, restaurants and a wonderfully pleasant community, Made famous for its floating football field and the players this island did not disappoint. I would definitely recommend spending the money to take a trip here.

Finding a trip to Koh Panyee wasn’t all that easy, in fact we couldn’t find one that would take us just to this island alone so we had to stop at several stops on the way. We made stops at ‘James Bond island’ a tourist trap where the famous ‘Man with the golden gun’ was filmed, ‘ice cream cone cave’ a cave off an island that homes stalactites and stalagmites which are so beautiful and a lovely edition to our tour, we also stopped at a little beach on our way back to the main land which was slightly underwhelming after some of the other islands we have seen on our southern Thailand adventures but a welcome dip in the sea to cool off.

Who to choose?

The Cheapest boat company we found to hop from island to island seemed to be Songserm. Just be prepared these boats run on Thai time. Generally they run around 30-45 minutes late, have no system of where luggage will go in accordance with what stop people are getting off at, but you will eventually make it to you next stop, even if it may not feel like it.

Say NO!

On our way round South Thailand and South East Asia as a while we have noticed that there are more and more signs about regarding litter and preserving the environment however there is still an unimaginable amount of litter around the streets and oceans. Plastic bags and packaging are completely overused in Asia so please try to carry a reusable bag around with you when out and about and always Say No to Plastic!

General animal abuse in South East Asia is getting addressed however there are still tourist attractions that require animals to live and work outside their natural habitat, please Say No to riding elephants, watching monkey tricks or anything that has you paying for animal abuse, please do not promote this awful businesses.

Although my final few words were not necessarily positive South Thailand has been the most beautiful adventure and I would recommend to anyone who is thinking about travelling here to stop thinking and just book your flight. You will not regret it, experiences new foods, cultures, scenery and so much more.


Get in touch with us at Big Blue Travel and we can make those dreamy thoughts come true.


Stop thinking. Just book it!

Exploring Cambodia


We’ve taken 4 main stops on our trip to Cambodia to hopefully hit all the main sites of this wonderful country. We start our adventure off crossing the Vietnam border into Cambodia to get to Pnom Penh.

The border crossing and visa should cost you no more than 35USD if you are being charged more than that then you have been ripped off. We used a bus company that the guide and driver were extremely helpful and did everything for us, we just had to get on and off the bus when told. It was all very simple, I imagine and have been told from other travellers that sometimes it’s a lot more complicated. Good Luck!

The Capital City

In Phnom Penh we stayed a couple of nights and were really only there to see one thing. The genocide museum and killing fields of Cambodia. It really was a very harrowing day learning of the gruelling not so distant history of the Khmer Rouge led by Pol Pot and the mass genocide of over 3 million people. I would recommend anyone visiting  Cambodia to make a day trip to both of these sites using the guided headset tour to learn about their history and share it with the world so that this disastrous event will never repeat itself.

Islands of Koh Rong

Next stop for us was Koh Rong Samloem an island off the south coast of Cambodia, situated next to the well known party island of Koh Rong. Unfortunately to get to the islands you have to stop at Sinhoukville, a once beautiful tourist city inviting all the backpackers to their endless bars and beaches, but now a hideously built up dirty building site. I have no doubt that in 5-10 years time the city will be almost complete with high rise hotels and casinos much like Nah Trang in Vietnam which will invite tourists once again. From Sinhoukville we took the speed ferry over to Koh Rong Samloem ready for our relaxing few days on the beach.

Koh Rong Samloem did not disappoint, Beautiful sandy beaches, clear blue water and the weather to go with it. It really was beautiful. Take yourself out on a sunset boat trip, or cruise round to explore the other beautiful beaches on the island. There is not much going on here on the island but if you love a beach, a nice walk, snorkelling and getting stuck into a book whilst you enjoy island life, then this place is for you. Don’t forget these beaches are well known for the plankton lighting up the sea at night so make sure you take a walk at night to experience the underwater magic for yourself.

Note: there are no ATMs on the islands of Koh Rong and Koh Rong Samloem so be prepared and bring enough cash with you otherwise you will be stuck or charged a hefty amount for someone to bring you cash from the mainland.

Island life over for now we took a very hot and crowded bus journey to Kampot. (You can definitely book a bus that’s a bus more luxuries).

Salt and Pepper town.

Kampot seems to be the new place for tourists to visit from what I understand. We first stayed a couple of nights in a place along the river – with its own ‘waterpark’ use at your own risk, it was great fun but the safety was definitely a bit suspect. Then for our final 2 days we stayed in the city and took in the sights.

Get yourself on a tour of the country side. Its beautiful and has a wonders to show. Our first stop was the salt fields, Kampot produces the majority of Cambodias salt, Who knew eh?. Watching the process of the salt being produced was quite fascinating and definitely not one to skip. Next on our countryside tour was the Temple cave and secret lake. The temple cave has an old temple in which locals will come up to for prayers of luck on their farms, we took the detour route back down through the caves to see the stalagmite’s and stalactite’s and the bats. The secret lake was built in the period of the Khmer Rouge to provide water to the ever growing padi fields they were relentless working people to tend to. The lake was beautiful but when you think of why it was there and what it was used for it suddenly became very eerie.

Our final stop through the countryside was La Plantation, a plantation started up by a French and Belgian couple. Not only do they produce a significant amount of Cambodia’s pepper they also provide work, funding and homes to locals. The plantation is huge and lined with rows and rows of pepper vines with other fruit trees surrounding them to help with natural fertilisation and pollination. We took a tour of the plantation and finished off with a tasting of all the different pepper produces they make. I can definitely recommend the ice cream before you leave!


To round our Cambodia trip off we took our final overnight bus to Siem Reap. We spent two days here, the first day was relatively chilled after a long bus journey but we did a cooking class in the afternoon and then took some quadbikes out to the padi fields for sunset. There a numerous tours that offer similar things and tuk tuk drivers all over to help you get about.

Temple running.

Naturally the main reason we came to Siem Reap was for Angkor Wat. One of the wonders of the world, and even after a VERY early start it truly was wonderous. At that time in the morning it is heaving and buying your ticket which is at a separate building about 15 minutes down the road was quite a challenge. I suggest you buy your ticket the night before so you don’t have to stress about missing the sunrise! We paid $20 for a tuk tuk driver to take us round the temples for the day. The temples were truly spectacular and all so so different. I very much recommend taking your time and see however many you can in your time here. Remember to bring water, it was so hot we were melting by the end of the day!

Our time here in Cambodia has come to an end. It hotter than everywhere else we’ve been so far in South East Asia, however that might just be the changing of the seasons, You pay in USD but receive Cambodia riel as change which is very confusing, their history is chilling but remarkable to see where they are now and it is truly a fabulous place to visit and like no country I’ve ever visited before.

Fish our your passport, add it to your list, give us a call and we can help you plan the trip of a lifetime.

Travelling Vietnam North to South


As we are travelling Vietnam during their winter months we felt very at home when we landed in Hanoi to dark rainy air, however still around 20degrees so not all that bad really. We later realised that as soon as you head out of the city the cloud and fog clears and becomes much brighter. Hanoi international airport is around an hours drive into the Old quarter city centre.

I have to tell you about our hostel here in Hanoi (we know hostels aren’t for everyone) which was more like a hotel. The Little Charm Hostel Hanoi has a 24 hour reception, tour operators, a reasonably priced Italian restaurant, an indoor heated swimming pool, fresh towels, hot and powerful showers and many more luxuries that we’ve missed along our backpacking route and all for only £6 per night in a mixed 6 bed dorm. If you haven’t tried hostelling yet, somewhere like this would be a good break-in.

Exploring the Old Quarter

Take yourself to Ga Long Bien station and walk along Longbien Bridge noticing the recognisable architecture of the bridge which was designed by the same architect as the Eiffel tower. This bridge has a train track running through it and bike routes either way, taking you all the way to the city of Hue. Not one for the fainthearted, it’s a tad wobbly especially when the train goes by.

Of course we made our way to the  infamous train street. You would have seen photos, I’m sure, of people walking across the tracks getting their Instagram perfect photo amongst the hustle and bustle of the shops and cafes that lie right on the edge of the track. Unfortunately several cafes and bars were opening up without a license and the government have blocked the street off and the train only runs on a few days now. You can still get your photo but it’s definitely a trick of photography as you can’t really get onto the track anymore.

We took ourselves for a walk around the Old quarter to the main sights of Hanoi and found ourselves at the Hoan Kiem Lake which you can walk around in about 20 minutes, you can pay £1 to cross the small bridge into the middle of lake to see the small temple which is very pretty and filled with tourists and worshipers alike. The Lake itself I would say isn’t that spectacular but is a nice walk round and a great running route if you’re in needed of some exercise. Next stop was St Josephs Cathedral, a beautiful cathedral that reminded me very much of Notre Dame in Paris, Beautiful Gothic architecture with an enormous Christmas tree and nativity scene out the front at Christmas time. Naturally, as per everywhere in Asia, we headed to the night market (Only Fri, Sat, Sundays from 6:30pm) selling ‘same same but different’ designer gear for nothing at all and street food that will make you want to come back for more. Our last stop in Hanoi was the Water Puppet show, costing only £4 to attend a show lasting about an hour, the puppeteers give an insight to Vietnam history with traditional music played along side the water stage. I’ll let you decide if its worth the trip or not.

Exploring the famous Islets of Ha Long

Ha Long Bay is possibly one of the most famous places tourists try to head to in Vietnam and that’s why tourist boats are no longer allowed to drop anchor for the night anymore due to polution of the water and over population. Instead we cruised around Lan Ha bay (dropping into Ha Long Bay on route). Lan Ha Bay is home to one of the biggest floating village communities in Vietnam. People stay on their floating homes to farm fish and of course, for tourism. We hopped onto one of the floating settlements to take their kayaks out for a tour around the islets at a more intimate level. Paddling around the islands, under archways, into hidden caves and beaches was truly magical and if you’re in a small group extremely peaceful. Along the way you’ll be shown where many scenes from famous Hollywood films such as James bond and King Kong were filmed.

We hopped off our boat every now and then to explore. We took a short cycle ride through Cat Ba island to find a small village called Viet Hai, famous for its pearls, rice wine and homestays. Home to around 30 families it really was beautiful and like stepping into another world with no cars, only bikes and walking as a means of transport. We also took our kayaks to monkey beach where you could take a walk up to a view point and look over the bay or just sit in the café and enjoy the monkeys terrorising the tourists.

We decided a 2 night 3 day tour would be a great amount of time for us around Lan Ha bay, and we were right, 1 night wouldn’t have been enough to enjoy this remarkable place. We stayed on a cruise (more like a pirate ship) that had 5 bedrooms, a dining table for all guests to sit for family dinner and lounge chairs to enjoy the sun and views from. Each night we would moor up in the ‘sleeping area’ of the bay and try our hand at making Nem (spring rolls) in a short cooking class and squid fishing. We were very unsuccessful at this but we came close and was definitely entertaining to give it a go. Of course during the day jumping from the highest point of the boat into the water was a huge must do challenge and once facing that fear and landing successfully in the water it was so refreshing it was hard to get out! There were steps – don’t panic!

For our Vietnam trip we purchased an open bus ticket which allowed us to stop in 5 different destinations (you can pay for more stops) and pick and chose when we left each city. So from Hanoi we caught our first overnight bus to Hue.

The Imperial City

We only spent 2 nights here in Hue and that was plenty. We set out on our first full day to the old Citadel, The Imperial City built in 1803 in the Nguyen dynasty. It costs around £5 to enter the old city and you can spend as much time there as you please. You could spend all day here exploring the hidden gardens and old parts of the city buildings. It is truly magical and if you use your imagination (and help from some videos around the site) you can really picture what if used to be like way back then.

We made some other quick pit stops in Hue including Thien Mu Pagoda and The Royal Tomb of Khai Dinh King, both uniquely beautiful in their own right. However you don’t need long here and it is extremely busy filled with tourists on the same route of the city. The last site we explored, and I had been excited to see since the beginning of our travels, was the old abandoned water park. The park is closed to everyone and there are guards turning you away at every entrance point which at first was very disappointing. We then looked a little closer and there was loads of people inside the park, so as encouraged  by our wonderful host at our hostel its best to just walk in as the guards cannot turn you away. So, on that, we did! And it truly is the most haunting place, with old dragon statues, winding staircases and a few old slides. Its quite magical, so take the plunge and experience it for yourselves.

Biking the Hai Van Pass

Our next adventure was travelling the Hai Van Pass on the back of motorbikes. We used Easy Riders who are a very prestigious company throughout Asia, you can hire a bike yourself or, like us, hop on the back of an experienced riders bike with your luggage strapped to the back.

The Hai Van Pass takes you up over the mountains rather than through the tunnel to HoiAn, even on a cloudy day the views are spectacular and I would highly recommended taking this route by bike. Our drivers stopped frequently for us to take in the scenery and other pitstops along the way and once we reach HoiAn they dropped us right at the doorstep of our accommodation. It’s a must do!

The city of lights.

What can I say about HoiAn? The lanterns, the rivers, the people and the food were all just what I’d ever dreamt of! The City of lights is famously known for its lanterns and it did not disappoint. At night time the city streets are lined with lanterns hanging and shops selling their treasured lanterns. Street stalls selling candles and paper baskets for you to make a wish and see your lantern float away down the river were on every corner. We chose not to take part in this as the river was slowly building up with left over paper and candles leaving a horrid eye sore on such a beautiful city. We took part in a lantern making class for a very reasonable price where you see and learn how to make a lantern from start to finish.

I now own my very own home made lantern and it will be treasured forever.

We took a very short taxi ride to The coconut village to take a trip round the village in a traditional bamboo boat that I had read so much about. The boats themselves were wonderful unfortunately the experience was slightly tainted by the amount of tourists and the locals playing up to it by booming out karaoke music all in a quest to get tips. I would definitely recommend giving the boats a go but do not have high expectations of a peaceful boat ride as you will be bitterly disappointed.

Beach time

We arrived in Nha Trang in the early hours of the morning after another long sleeper bus (there are of course flights and trains if you don’t want to endure these long buses). Nha Trang is renowned for its beautiful beaches which after a while of exploring cities with not much rest was welcomed with open arms. If you are a sea swimmer just be warned the waves and the rip on Nha Trang beach are extremely strong and even as a strong swimmer I was tugged and bashed around so didn’t spend long in the water. Please take notice to the danger flags on the beach and if you are not a strong swimmer I would recommend maybe just a paddle. Nha Trang has now become a place for Russian tourist to come and this is noticed as soon as you arrive in the city, with signage, menus, supermarkets all in Russian or with Russian influences. Many Locals would no longer talk to or smile at us which was such a shame, but as soon as we started speaking to them soon enough those Vietnamese smiles came running back.

One of the main reasons we came to Nha Trang was to go to VinPearl Land (the inner children in us). Vin Pearl Land is an amusement park with a water park, seaside water sports including inflatable assault course, theme park, giant wheel, animal park, gardens and cable car to get you to the island.

Be warned the queues to get to the island via cable car are endless, we ended up taking a speed boat which got us there much quicker and avoided the queues. We started in the water park, not all the rides were open as some were closed for maintenance but the others that were open were great with minimal queues. The beach here at Vin Pearl was glorious and the seas so calm in complete contrast to the mainland. We spent most of the morning in the water park then we made our way up to the big Ferris wheel and animal park filled with animals that don’t necessarily belong on an Asian island and don’t look incredibly well looked after. Naturally we moved on from here quite quickly towards the amusement park with a few thrill seeker rides and some more tame rides for those less interested in being thrown upside down. If you’re one of those amusement park people that will happily queue for hours for that perfect ride then get comfy for the new ‘alpine rollercoaster’ taking you to the top of VinPearl and riding down solo on a toboggan style cart, we decided to give this a miss as the queue was so long. Their newest addition to the park is the zipline, again we missed this, as their system was to queue up for an hour and then they would essentially shuffle some cards and if you were 1 of the lucky 10 cards shuffled in you would get a chance to ride the zipline. Seemed a little strange to me.

Vin Pearl is very much the Disney of Vietnam albeit much smaller and less magical but they have done a great job here and even do a light and dancing water show and light up the magic castle at night before you head back to the cable car on your return journey back to the mainland.

VinPearl Land has its ups and downs like all theme parks do but as a day trip for adults and children alike it is well worth a visit.

The City of Lakes, Dalat.

Situated in the mountains a city build around these beautiful lakes has brought foreign and local tourists to visit. Dalat is also famous for its flowers and vegetables as you can see on entering the city with the endless fields of green houses, not a square foot of land is empty.

Take a cab to the South of the city for a cable car across the scenic views of the mountains and fir trees taking you to the Truc Lam Zen Monastery, one of the most well-known monastery’s in Vientam famous for being extremely tranquil and zen. Spend as much time here as you like and take some ‘you time’. From here we took a walk about 20 minutes down the road to the Alpine rollercoaster and Datanla waterfall. Finally we had our chance at going on an Alpine rollercoaster and it was so much fun! Whipping and winding down the hill however fast you please as the breaks are at your own control. The waterfall at the bottom was also beautiful and you can chose to go canyoning here as a day trip.

Dalat is home to one of the oldest railways stations and tracks now only 8km of the track is usable and runs only a few times a day for tourist to take a trip on the replica carriages to the Linh Phu Pagoda, a beautiful pagoda made from recycled materials. The train will stop for around half an hour before it returns back towards the city. If you’ve paid for a return ticket be sure to get back with plenty of time as it will not wait for you.

A few days here in Dalat was lovely and I can see how people would spend longer as it’s a very calm place to be, exploring or just relaxing by the lake (even if slightly more expensive). Enjoy the relax time.

Lets go to the Beach….again.

From one chilled out place to another we moved onto Mui Ne. We stayed here for 4 nights right on the beach and didn’t stray too far from there for the majority of the time. It truly was fantastic. The small time we did spend off the beach was for the sun set at the sand dunes. At the White Dunes you can pay to use the quad bikes which now looking back I would have paid the small fortune they were asking for as it was an extremely long and hot walk to the top of the dunes. The Red dunes, where we ended up for the sunset, were packed with tourist and in my opinion a lot less beautiful than the white. But still a great place to watch the sun go down.

There’s plenty of places to get local food here in Mui Ne, we found a great food court that had seating in the middle and around 20 different varieties of food and drink restaurants surrounding you to chose from. We ate there most days.

Our final stop.


Our final stop in Vietnam was the Capital City of Ho Chi Minh City, still known to most as Saigon. We spent as little time as here as possible to be honest it was your typical over-crowded, polluted dirty city. We really only stopped here for one reason. The Cu Chi Tunnels. Dug in the 1940s by soldiers to store weapons and hide from the enemy this site has now been taken over by large tourists groups. Its my understanding that a few years back it was a great site to see and you really experienced the nature of these tunnels. However when we went this time round we were in an extremely large tour group (only tours go there, no taxis’s) where we were rushed round the site with a very quick stop if you chose to go into the tunnels and then spent most of our time waiting for our group to go in the firing range. The site is still run by the military and they have worked out that charging people to shoot some rifles or automatic weapons makes them heaps of money. Unfortunately this now seems to be the main attraction not the history of the tunnels.

Good Night Vietnam!

And so we end our trip in Vietnam. We spent roughly a month in this beautiful country and we could have happily spent another month exploring the hidden beauties of this country. As you can see by my number of photos going up on my blogs, there were so many to chose from in this part of our trip so I hope you enjoy them all! Just gives us an excuse to come back eh!?

Why not look into it? Drop us a message or pop into the office today and see if Vietnam is the place for you.

Keep Adventuring. Stay Blue.