Merry Christmas Baby

Merry Christmas from Congleton in England.

Thinking particularly of those precious people absent this year.

With much love,

Kim

Saigon

Kim and I were so excited to return to Saigon after our earlier trip to Vietnam and we had some very particular places we wanted to go. I love the chaos of Saigon, however you have to be very careful with your belongings there!

We stayed at the Saigon Backpackers Hostel, definitely recommended for its clean rooms, comfy beds and included breakfast.

Awesome wallpaper at Saigon Backpackers Hostel...

Chilling in Phnom Penh

As we travelled through South East Asia and particularly Cambodia, most people told us that Phnom Penh was the kind of place you only need one or two days for. We ended up having an unscheduled (like our whole trip I guess??) 5 days there. And we loved it!

Kim exploring the city

Siem Reap - The friends you meet

After a rather long boat and bus journey from the 4000 Islands we made it to Cambodia and our first destination, Siem Reap. We had been recommended a hostel called the Mad Monkey, so we booked it a few days earlier (yes, actual planning in advance!) and it turned out to be the most amazing decision!

I always think the best part about travelling is not the things you do and see, but the people that you meet doing them, and Siem Reap proved this tenfold.

What is the most important thing? It is people! It is people! It is people!

First world problems

I keep coming back to this hilarious cartoon whilst travelling.

Life is bliss at the moment, everyday is a mystery and I feel blessed to be meeting the people and experiencing the amazing things we have been doing.

4000 reasons to visit the 4000 Islands

We left Vang Vieng at around 1pm for our trip to the 4000 Islands. We took a small bus, a sleeper bus, another small bus and a boat to get here. We were tired when we pulled up here yesterday at midday but happy to be on this little island paradise, Don Det.

I absolutely love it here on this peaceful island. I can't even begin to explain the beauty that surrounds the island. The clear water, long sunsets, lazy days, bike riding and swimming.

"Tubing" in Vang Vieng after the shutdown

To travel 160km in a mini van in Laos is rather labourious. You see the roads in this country are so bad that a 2 hour journey is around 8 hours. There are plenty of things to see though and the villages you drive through show people enjoying their day to day lives, kids playing and people working.

Cows wandering around on the road on our way to Vang Vieng

In the mini van we met an awesome German couple, Lina and Benny, and hung out with them whilst we were in Vang Vieng.

We stayed in little bungalows across the river in Vang Vieng. At the Banana Bungalows Sonja and I paid 25,000 Kip (of $3.00 Australian) each a night for our private bungalow with our own bathroom and beautiful view of the mountains.

Our accomodation at Banana bungalows