It’s been a little busy lately and even though I announced on Instagram that I would upload this blog post soon, I kinda got stuck on it. So, finally – my blog post about my Southeast Asia backpacking trip. Southeast Asia was my final stop during my 7-week backpacking trip during my summer break. I started in Australia, traveled along the east coast with a brief stop in Auckland, New Zealand and finally flew from Sidney to Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand were on our agenda, so a lot to see in a few couple of weeks.

Malaysia

Kuala Lumpur

First stop, Malaysia. We arrived in Kuala Lumpur around 9pm at night and my friend,  that I studied with in Edinburgh, picked us up. We were able to stay at her place for a couple of nights (she is obviously from Malaysia) which was really nice. We spent three nights at her place, one night at the Traders Hotel with a view over the Petronas Twin Towers and one night at Penang island at the G Hotel. I got to say – all hotels are absolutely recommendable, very chic, the rooms were awesome, comfy beds, good service and friendly staff.

During our time in Kuala Lumpur, we visited the Menara Kuala Lumpur TV tower, Batu Caves, the Petronas Twin Towers and went to a variety of different mall, because, well they have a bunch of them there. We also visited one of the night markets ( I believe it was Chow Kit Market, but they have a variety of them there), where you are able to buy literally everything. Books, DVDs, clothes, electronics but most importantly – food. You can find one street kitchen after another, so just pick the one that looks the best to you and try some of the local food – its worth it. The interesting thing is that you have three different ethnic groups in Malaysia – the Malays, Chinese and Indians. Therefore the variety of food is incredible and you have a good mix of all the different foods ( Indian was pretty awesome there too).

Penang Island

Because we wanted to see a little more of Malaysia, we flew over to Penang island, one of the over 40 islands of the country. Flights there are super cheap, I think we pays around 20 € and it is only a 45 minute flight. As I said, we stayed at the G Hotel, which was pretty amazing (the beds are so big and comfy). Our friend had another friend living on the island, so he was kind enough to show us around Georgetown. It is really nice to walk around there, they have cute cafes and street vendors. Besides that, we also went up to Kek-Lok temple and the snake temple (I first thought the snakes were a fake, yeah, they aren’t). At night, there was a big night market next to our hotel where we went to food. Unfortunately, I didn’t feel too well, so I couldn’t eat anything, but my friend said the food was awesome.

I can definitely recommend going to Malaysia, however I would not spend too much time in Kuala Lumpur. It’s a nice city, but it is just like any other big city. When I will be going back, I will for sure take some more time to explore the other islands and more of the mainland to see what the country has to offer.

Vietnam

Hanoi

Our Next stop was Hanoi, Vietnam, where we stayed at the Backpackershostel – The Original in the old quarter close to Hoan-Kiem sea. The hostel is fun, they have a lot of stuff to do for backpackers, nice breakfast and the location is awesome. Right in the heart of old town, surrounded by shops and restaurants/food vendors.I love Vietnamese food, its just so, so good. If you ever get to old town Hanoi, just walk around the little streets and take it all in. You have streets where they sell food, kinda like a market, then they have streets where they sell toys and all kind of crazy stuff. Its just really nice and a lot to see. We also did a Rikscha ride, which is a pretty adventurous thing, if you are asking me. And even though I sometimes feared for my life (I also fear riding on scooters in China), it was a fun way to see our area and ride through the authentic parts of the old quarter.

Halong Bay

While staying in Hanoi, we booked a two days, one night trip to Halong Bay with the hostel. You can extend this trip to sleep on a party island (it’s called “Castaway tour”), too, but we skipped that one and only did the Halong Bay tour. I am all for partying, but this trip was a little too intense. We arrived on the boat (beautiful scenery by the way) and directly started playing drinking games. Afterwards we were able to swim, go on a Kanu ride (highly recommend that, it was amazing) or just chill on deck and soak up the sun. Food was actually really good and in the evening we had, of course, more drinking and games, which escalated quickly. The group of people were fun though and so we had a really good time. Back then, it was the last tour with this boat provider, so I am not sure who they are using now. But just go to the reception at the Backpackers Hanoi and ask about the tour. It should definitely be fun, if you like partying.

Ho Chi Minh City

After Halong Bay and Hanoi we made our way to Ho Chi Minh City. If you make if to Vietnam, try to travel down (or up) all the way, I heard that the landscape and scenery in between the two cities is incredible and its such a nice experience. We stayed at the Luan Vu hotel in a private room. The hotel is very small in a tiny street right up from the main food street there. The reception is super nice, breakfast was ok and the rooms are simple but clean and extremely westernized. The location is pretty good, there are a lot of restaurants and bars in the neighborhood and it is a good walking distance to get around.

We were lucky enough to arrive on the Vietnam Independence day. So many people on the streets, fireworks, it was truly awesome to watch. The next day we were able to walk around half a day and went to all the major sights, in the afternoon we then went on a half day tour (booked through the hotel) to a little island where they make honey and special Vietnamese sweets. We were able to listen to traditional music and took a boat ride on a tiny river. I have to say, the tour was very touristy and I would probably not do it again and rather spend the time exploring by myself. I don’t exactly remember the name of the tour, just make sure you compare and see that its really what you want, if you want to book any kind of tour.

Cambodia

Siem Reap

Our next stop was Siem Reap in Cambodia. I was lucky enough to have my friend with me who lived in Cambodia for 5 months, so she was an expert on where to go and what to do. We stayed at the Malika d’Angkor Boutique Hotel, which was a really nice hotel a little off road from the main hotels in Siem Reap. We had a nice room with a view over the pool area, the cocktails were awesome, really good food and the pool was very nice, too. We were lucky that not a lot of people stayed there during that time, so we had the pool area almost to our selves. We arrived in the evening and went out to Pub street for food. Pub street is crazy busy, they have a night market, loads of restaurants and bars and massage places. It is a really cool area, but be aware of all the kids on the street that are trying to ask for money. It’s a pretty common thing that parents send their kids on the street to beg and its written everywhere not to give them something in order to not encourage this kind of “parenting” behavior. Its just really sad to see and if you go there you will most likely be approached by them.

One common thing to eat in Combodia is Fish Amok, which you will most definitely have to try. You will find it in almost all the restaurants there. Another thing to try are food vendors on the streets. Believe it or not, but we actually had crickets, snake and frog and it was actually not bad at all (as long as you don’t think about what you are eating). So, if you feel adventurous, go try it out- its lots of fun.

We also visited the night and day market in Siem Reap, which is nice for souvenirs (I bought a bunch of sunnies there, really good) and all kind of spices and food (sticky rice, yum). Another thing that I would recommend is the foot spa with the fishes and ask for a deal where you get a beer or two as well (I was so scared at first- I have a little fish phobia – but then it was super relaxing). Another thing that was fun was taking pictures in traditional clothing. I’ve never heard of it but my friend saw pictures online and really wanted to try it out, so we did. Hilarious, I can tell you that much.

When in Siem Reap you obviously have one destination – the temple park. We booked a two day pass to have enough time to explore everything. You have the choice between a one day, two day or three day pass to access the park. We got a Tuktuk for the entire two days to get around there better and our Tuktuk driver was the best. We had so much fun and the temples are amazing. It’s incredible if you think about how they build it all ages ago. It’s  definitely a must go, an incredible experience.

Thailand

Krabi 

Our last stop was Thailand. Believe it or not, but I’ve never been before, even though it’s such a popular tourist destination nowadays. Because my friend already spent time in Phuket, we decided to crash in Krabi and then go to Bangkok for our last couple days.

In Krabi, we stayed at the Green View Village Resort which is AMAZING. You stay in little houses with an incredible view over the mountains, its just a short ride to the beach and the pool area is awesome. Unfortunately, the rainy season got us bad right when we landed in Thailand, so the weather was relatively shitty and we only had one real beach day on Phi Phi island, which we visited for a day. The hotel is located in a side road, close to all the bars and restaurants in Krabi.

Because of the rain, we did not have the chance to see too much, however we went to the beach a couple of times (even though we were not able to relax there), ate a lot, visited Phi Phi island (you can just go there by ferry) and went on an elephant tour.

So, here is the deal with these elephant tours. Before we went, I wanted to make sure that it was an “eco” place, elephant friendly and safe for the animals. When we got there, I got a really shitty feeling and felt guilty even going there. I get that it’s an incredible experience to interact with them, but I don’t need to ride on them and they don’t need to do tricks in order for me to appreciate it. I’d rather see them in their natural habitat. It’s really up to you, but I urge you to think about that, before you book a tour like that. For me, it just felt extremely wrong.

Bangkok

Bangkok was our final stop of the entire trip. We stayed at the We Bangkok Hostel, which is located in a quiet area at Soi Sathorn Street. It’s however a good walking distance to main attractions and it’s easy to access the skytrain from there. The hostel was pretty chill, the rooms are alright and the service was good.

Because we only had an entire day there, we went to see the big temple and the Wat Phra Kaeo temple first by taking the ferry along the river. The temples are very beautiful but also very touristy so be prepared for that when you go there.

We also went to Siam Paragon mall to check out the shops there. On that day, they had a concert from some boy band apparently, so we watched them for a while and moved on. In the evening, we went to our last night market and looked for some presents for my friends parents before we head back to our hostel to call it a night.

In general, I really loved my trip to Southeast Asia. I would have loved to spend more time in each country, but I will definitely go back there, to take my time. I can definitely recommend to travel there, its so amazing, the people are nice, its cheap traveling and the food and the landscape is amazing.