Good Morning Vietnam

Vietnam has grown into a backpacker haven, therefore I felt it apt to look at some of the popular destinations to visit and all the places I have visited and would recommend.

Hanoi

Firstly, Hanoi. The capital of Vietnam and a city where you can really see the true hustle and bustle mixed with the calmness of Vietnamese life. The city is what I would expect from a South East Asian metropolitan, with little markets, hundreds of mopeds and the Vietnamese locals sitting out on the porches of their shops throughout the night. Hanoi is a great city to start in if you’re backpacking through Vietnam, as firstly it’s accessible by plane, but it also then gives you the distance to travel to the other popular destinations. There are plenty of hostels at crazy cheap prices, with cheap drink and food to match. You’ll find tonnes of knock-offs and fakes on the streets and might even be lucky enough to find the whole James Bond boxset for £8 like I did.

South East Asia Part 1

My first trip to Asia involved a three week stint in Hong Kong, Vietnam and Cambodia. Not much time and not much money, but we did it!
When I first thought about this trip my mind conjured up visions of travelling through the rainforest and watching out for bomb remains from the Vietnam War. As you can tell my thoughts about south-east Asia were pretty naive, however as soon as my friend told me to Google Halong Bay my thoughts quickly changed. I didn't really have much involvement on planning the trip; rather I left that to my other friends to decide.

Hong Kong

The trip started in Hong Kong, with a few days to explore the city and see how my friend had been living for the past year. I've got to say I loved Hong Kong; it had the perfect mix of east meets west, and it is a great place to start off as a new backpacker. There was enough of the unknown to get me out of my comfort zone but enough of the ‘holiday’ feel, which made me feel like I was still on vacation. I won’t go into too much detail about Hong Kong as that can be left for a whole post by itself, but basically we stayed in a small hostel in the city and spent our time looking at the main sights of the Victoria Peak, Tsim Sha Tsui East Promenade, the 10,000 Buddha Monastery and a selection of night markets.

Istanpul?

Istanbul. The only city in the world that spans two continents (Asia and Europe if you’re wondering…) Istanbul at first glance is breathtaking. It is a city full of culture, tradition, religion and friendly people. I was lucky enough to be travelling during the month of Ramadan, which meant each night saw feasts and celebrations outside the gigantic mosques. A few days or even a week in Istanbul means you won’t be tired of finding things to do, however this is a hot city so be aware the heat can slow you down. But despite the temperature, Istanbul is a great place to visit, and a great city for those with the backpack bug, but unfortunately this tourist friendly hotspot comes with the prices to match. Expect western Europe prices for food and drink, but lower for accommodation. Also not all of the bars serve alcohol, so don’t come here for a boozy trip! 

Istanbul is easy enough to get to by plane, bus or sleeper train (book a day in advance); save €15 for the border fee - a fact that my friend and I failed to remember which saw us scraping around the bottom of our bags for change. On the accommodation front we stayed in the Green Apple Hostel. Decent enough, fairly priced, right in the centre, nothing out of the ordinary but good enough to say I would stay again. 

The Seven Wonders of the World

Many travel blogs seem to include some kind of Travel Bucket List or Places To See Before I Die. Whilst looking around these many lists I've found that many bucket lists include a variation of all the different kinds of seven wonders of the world, which essentially can act as a bucket list in itself. This may seem easy at first -it's only seven places after all - but you may be surprised to hear there is no longer just a simple list of 'The Seven Wonders of the World', rather there are seven, seven wonders. Complicated? Not exactly, but over the years travellers, people in charge etc. (I’m not exactly sure who exactly decides these lists) have added different wonders of the world, for example 'The Seven Modern Wonders' and 'The Seven Underwater Wonders', which has created an ever bigger list of places to see.

Originally, these were the first Seven Wonders: 

• The Colossus of Rhodes 
• The Great Pyramid of Giza 
• The Hanging Gardens of Babylon 
• The Lighthouse of Alexandria 
• The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus 
• The Statue of Zeus at Olympia 
• The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus