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foodtravelsleepstuff-blog · 7 years

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I’m Moving!

I’ve decided that I’m moving over to Word Press going forward. I’ll announce my new link once I’ve reformatted all my old posts :-)

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foodtravelsleepstuff-blog · 7 years

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Top Accommodation

It’s actually approaching 1 whole year since I’ve been home and I still think about my amazing trip every day without fail. Not long after I came back, I actually wrote a list of the favourite places that I stayed during the 6 months. These are a mixture of places I booked for myself through STA Travel or placed I stayed in on tour. I will try to provide as much information as I can about each place!

Note- Click the name of the accommodation to view the official website (if it has one)! Prices will be for 1 night stay and current to the time of writing this post. So bare in mind that depending on seasons, holidays, peak periods, prices will vary. For the last 2 in the list, sadly I was unable to find much information online regarding prices or official websites for the exact places I stayed.

*1*

Name- Artini Cottages 2

Country/Place- Ubud, Bali

Average Price- £42 (2 people sharing)

Pros- Swimming pool, shower and bath, bar area, TV, close to restaurants, shops and Monkey Forest

*2*

Name- Alpha Sovereign Hotel

Country/Place- Surfers Paradise, Australia

Average Price- £110 (2 people sharing)

Pros- Swimming pool, air conditioning, free wifi, TV, restaurant

*3*

Name- Nomads Hostel

Country/Place- Queenstown, New Zealand

Average Price- £24 (1x bed in a 4 bed female en suite dorm)

Pros- Cinema, sauna, free wifi, lounge with pool table, great location

*4*

Name- Pax Yoshino

Country/Place- Hakone, Japan

Average Price- £100 (2 people sharing)

Pros- Hot springs in room, non smoking, restaurant, free wifi in lobby, free shuttle bus to town

*5*

Name- Skotel Alpine Resort

Country/Place- Tongariro, New Zealand

Average Price- £73 (full occupancy cabin)

Pros- Full cooking facilities in cabin, TV, shower, toilet, restaurant

*6*

Name- Jailhouse Hostel

Country/Place- Christchurch, New Zealand

Average Price- £46 (twin bunk)

Pros- Laundry facilities, bike hire, free wifi, historical display rooms, Netflix in cinema room

*7*

Name- Noosa Lakes Resort

Country/Place- Noosa, Australia

Average Price- £160 (one bed studio)

Pros- Laundry facilities, 3 swimming pools, fully equipped kitchen, towels, iron, BBQ facilities

*8*

Name- Oak Hostel Zen

Country/Place- Tokyo, Japan

Average Price- £16 (1x bed in a female dorm)

Pros- Light, plug socket, locker, free wifi, hangers, fully equipped kitchen, computer, laundry facilities, bike rental

*9*

Name- Shanshui Hotel

Country/Place- Shenzhen, China

Average Price- £35 (superior twin)

Pros- Free wifi, right near the border crossing to Hong Kong, air conditioning, restaurant, shower, slippers

*10*

Name- Ibis Styles Kyoto Station

Country/Place- Kyoto, Japan

Average Price- £89 (2 people sharing)

Pros- Opposite the main train station, free wifi, laundry facilities, bath, restaurant, air conditioning

*11*

Name- Treasure Hotel

Country/Place- Luang Prabang, Laos

Average Price- £37 (2 people sharing)

Pros- Air conditioning, safe box, shower, free wifi, swimming pool, breakfast included

*12*

Name- Ben’s House

Country/Place- Ao Nang, Thailand

Average Price- £16 (2 people sharing)

Pros- Air conditioning, shower, mini bar, TV, swimming pool, free wifi, near the beach

*13*

Name- Kalibaru Cottages

Country/Place- Kalibaru, Indonesia

Average Price- £22 (twin room)

Pros- Swimming pool, sunbeds, restaurant, badminton court, pool table, free wifi, shower

*14*

Name- The Lava Lounge

Country/Place- Raglan, New Zealand

Average Price- £112 (2 people sharing)

Pros- Fully equipped kitchen, hot tub, laundry, BBQ facilities, ocean view, right by the surf beach, can sleep up to 10 people (extra charges apply)

*15*

Name- Old McDonalds Farm

Country/Place- Abel Tasman, New Zealand

Average Price- £17 (1x bed in a 5 bed dorm)

Pros- Communal showers and kitchen, BBQ facilities, laundry, hikes nearby, sea kayaking, bike rental

*16*

Name- Pop Hotel

Country/Place- Kuta, Bali

Average Price- £26 (twin room)

Pros- Right by the beach, swimming pool, close to the airport, safe box, free wifi, TV, shower

*17*

Name- Shankari Bali Villa

Country/Place- Balian Beach, Bali

Average Price- £39 (2 people sharing)

Pros- Cheap massages, restaurant, fans, mosquito nets, swimming pools, yoga hall, short walk from the beach, shower

*18*

Name- Hong Ngoc Tonkin

Country/Place- Hanoi, Vietnam

Average Price- £43 (2 people sharing)

Pros- Central location, free wifi, TV, restaurant, bath, air conditioning, towels, slippers, safe box

*19*

Name- Yoschi’s Hotel

Country/Place- Mount Bromo, Indonesia

Average Price- £18 (2 people sharing)

Pros- Restaurant, laundry, massages, free wifi, money exchange

*20*

Name- Vientiane SP Hotel

Country/Place- Vientiane, Laos

Average Price- £25 (2 people sharing)

Pros- Air conditioning, TV, fridge, shower, free wifi, breakfast included

*21*

Name- Ekoin Temple

Country/Place- Koyasan, Japan

Average Price- £71 (4 person family room)

Pros- Garden view, hot spring bath, meditation class, Buddhist writing, morning prayer service, fire ritual, towels provided, traditional futon, free wifi

*22*

Name- Hoang Ngan Hotel

Country/Place- Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Average Price- £20 (2 people sharing)

Pros- Free wifi, TV, laundry, breakfast included, bath, bar, walking distance to the market, room service

*23*

Name- Barefoot Manta

Country/Place- Barefoot Manta, Fiji

Average Price- £68 (2 people sharing)

Pros- Lots of water sports (payable), communal shower and toilet, ceiling fan, sea view, restaurant and bar

*24*

Name- Yongding Roundhouse

Country/Place- Yongding, China

Average Price- TBC

Pros- Village walks, local restaurants (home cooked food), museum, shower, air conditioning

*25*

Name- Dhula Bagh

Country/Place- Dhula Village, India

Average Price- TBC

Pros- Swimming pool, lots of history, private bathroom with shower, fan, electricity in the tent, fixed meals (vegetarian), bike rental

If you want any more information about any of the above places that I stayed, just comment!

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foodtravelsleepstuff-blog · 7 years

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Top Activities

I have somehow managed to narrow down my top 25 activities that I did whilst I was travelling. This was super difficult because I enjoyed everything I did, but I feel like these are definitely worth mentioning and I recommend to fellow travellers!

1) Swimming with the wild dolphins - Kaikoura, New Zealand

2) Hiking the Great Wall of China - Mutianyu, China

3) Snorkelling around the Great Barrier Reef - Cairns, Australia

4) Feeding and bathing the elephants at Chang Siam Elephant Park - Chiang Mai, Thailand

5) Visiting the Taj Mahal - Delhi, India

6) Watching sunrise over Angkor Wat - Siem Reap, Cambodia

7) Watching sunrise / climbing Mount Bromo - East Java, Indonesia

8) Spooning a Kangeroo and cuddling a Koala Bear at Currambin Wildlife Park - Currambin, Australia

9) Swimming with the huge crocodiles - Darwin, Australia

10) Hiking the Tongariro Crossing - Tongariro, New Zealand

11) Sailing around the Whitsundays - Whitsundays Islands, Australia

12) Visiting Borobudur and Prambanan temples - Yogyakarta, Indonesia

13) Phi Phi Islands day tour - Phi Phi, Thailand

14) Monkey Forest - Ubud, Bali

15) Khao Sok National Park day tour - Khao Sok, Thailand

16) Cuddling the tigers at Tiger Kingdom - Chiang Mai, Thailand

17) Singapore night safari - Singapore

18) Halong Bay boat trip - Halong Bay, Vietnam

19) Watching sunrise in a hot air balloon - Alice Springs, Australia

20) Seeing the Terracotta Warriors - Xi’an, China

21) Taking the tram up Peak Hill and witnessing beautiful views - Hong Kong

22) Ueno Zoo - Tokyo, Japan

23) Peace Park and Museum - Hiroshima, Japan

24) Robot Cafe - Tokyo, Japan

25) Buddah Park - Vientiane, Laos

If you want any further information about any of these amazing activities just leave a comment!

#travel #traveller #travelling #6 months #activities #faves #top 25 #memories #good times #fun #recommend #photos #pictures #information #lucky #amazing

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foodtravelsleepstuff-blog · 7 years

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Tour Review #8

Name: Beijing to Hong Kong - Fujian Route

Company: G Adventures

Length: 17 Days, 2 Countries (China, Hong Kong)

Start Location: Beijing, China

End Location: Hong Kong

Other Places: Xi’an, Suzhou, Shanghai, Wuyishan, Xiamen, Yongding, Shenzhen

Price: £1219

Overall Rating: 7.5

Accommodation Rating: 7. Accommodation was alright most of the time. Some hotels were a bit out of date and looked like they could have done with redecorating, but didn’t have any problems at all. My favourite was probably in Yongding when we stayed in a traditional Tolou. Each room had a bathroom and air conditioning, but there was also a common lounge area where we could all chill out and watch Chinese TV. Most of the hotels were very basic but all had air conditioning which was my main worry! As long as I wasn’t sweating to death and had a bed, I was game.

Weather Rating: 7. The weather was very hot most days. This was good as I totally missed the heat when I was in Japan, but it was super muggy. A few days in the big cities it was quite smoggy too. We had torrential rain in Wuyishan which cancelled one of our activities, but it was quite nice to have a bit of rain after many days of heat. It also led us to getting KFC delivered to our hotel room, so can’t complain there! It was absolutely boiling by the time we got to Hong Kong, so walking anywhere was a bit of a pain. Public transport was very air conditioned so sometimes I opted for this.

Inclusions Rating: 6. Compared to other trips, I felt there wasn’t actually that much included, however for the price I paid, I’m not complaining! All transport was included so that was one thing we didn’t have to worry about (unless we were doing our own activities). There were no included meals, but food was pretty cheap anyway - you could have a decent dinner for £5. There were a few activities included including the great wall of China, a private karaoke session, the entrance ticket to Wuyishan, a tour of the traditional Tolou and orientation walks in Xi'an, Shanghai, Xiamen, and Hong Kong.

Activities / Free Time Rating: 7. I think due to the lack of inclusion activities, we did have a lot of spare time. I definitely made the most of this and had the opportunity to do lots of really cool things! China has a lot of history so I advise making the most of visiting all the amazing touristy places to learn about it. Certain activities like the Shanghai museum were free so that is definitely somewhere I recommend if you have time. Most activities were very reasonably priced and our tour leader always arranged us transport to and from if there was enough of us going and the price was reasonable.

Group Rating: 7. My group was actually really cool. There were actually more males than females which I wasn’t expecting, but I got on really well with everyone. I had 2 room buddies on the trip because there was an odd number of girls which meant someone was alone and both were super lovely. I got on really well with Maya and we still keep in touch every now and then (mainly because of time difference). When we got to Shanghai, we had to say goodbye to a couple of people and hello to a couple of new people. One of those new people was probably the most ignorant and rude people I have EVER met travelling. I won’t go into too much detail, but I hope I never meet anyone like him again. I have most of the group on Facebook and occasionally speak to a few of the Americans and Canadians who were on the trip.

Tour Leader Rating: 8. Our tour leader was an absolute life saver! His English was very good and so useful. If you don’t know already, not many Chinese people speak English, so considering I don’t speak a word of Chinese, this was going to be difficult to do very basic things such as order food, buy a ticket or ask for directions. This was one of the main reasons I booked a tour around China and I couldn’t have faulted our tour leader one bit. He did an amazing job of organising our free time activities, getting us amazing deals (e.g. going up the Shanghai Tower which wasn’t even open yet) and making sure we weren’t ordering cat or dog for dinner. He also managed to keep his cool when someone from our group decided to be an a**hole.

Top 3 Memories:

1) Climbing / hiking the Great Wall of China

2) Visiting and learning all about the fascinating Terracotta Warriors followed by a yummy traditional ‘home cooked’ Chinese lunch

3) Getting to be a VIP and getting to go up the newly built Shanghai Tower before it had even opened to the public and seeing amazing views

Top 3 Tips:

1) The food in China is amazing - very different to your traditional Chinese take away back home. If you are in groups, I highly recommend buying a variety of different meat/veggie dishes, noodles and rice and sharing among everyone. This way, you get to taste many different types of dishes and you can split the cost.

2) There is a lot of public transport involved on this trip so be warned you will be doing a lot of luggage lifting. Please don’t be like the ignorant p***k on my trip who not only complained EVERY time we had to lift our cases (for some stupid reason he brought 2!?) but had a go at our tour leader for not arranging taxis to take us from location A to the station at every place. In other words, pack lightly OR shut up and suffer in silence!

3) Get used to the sound of hearing Chinese people spit. I was absolutely horrified, but everyone EVERYONE does it. (Thankfully it’s illegal in Hong Kong)!

I have a past blog post that has more details on this tour, otherwise feel free to head over to the G Adventures website for more information here.

#travel #travelling #traveller #gadventures #china #beijing to hongkong fujian route #tour #sta travel #beijing #xi'an #suzhou #shanghai #wuyishan #xiamen #yongding #shenzhen #hongkong #tips #memories

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foodtravelsleepstuff-blog · 7 years

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Tour Review #7

Name: Japan Express: Osaka to Tokyo

Company: G Adventures

Length: 9 Days, 1 Country (Japan)

Start Location: Osaka, Japan

End Location: Tokyo, Japan

Other Places: Kōyasan, Hiroshima-shi, Kyoto, Hakone

Price: £2199

Overall Rating: 7.5

Accommodation Rating: 9. All the accommodation was lovely in Japan (probably one of the reasons the tour was so expensive)! Rooms are traditionally quite small, but that didn’t really bother me as we weren’t in them much! Everywhere we stayed was comfortable, even in Kōyasan when we were sleeping on futons. My favourite hotel was the night before my birthday in Hakone. Our room had a natural hot springs bath, so I made sure I relaxed in it as it had been a pretty hectic week. The hotel also gave me chocolates for my birthday when we checked out! The hotel in Kyoto was pretty new, but the only had lifts (only the emergency exit had stairs which were alarmed) and therefore we had to wait up to 30 minutes in the mornings to actually get down to reception which was an absolute joke! Be warned, leave early haha!

Weather Rating: 6. The weather was pretty grim for most of the trip which was a shame. It rained quite a bit (especially in Hiroshima) but was grey and quite cold most of the time. Glad I had my jumper with me as I lived in it! It started to warm up once we had arrived in Tokyo and actually reached 26 degrees one day! I wasn’t too bothered by the weather as it didn’t spoil any of our activities, however I was definitely missing the sun after months of heat/sunshine before this tour. The only other downside is we didn’t get the greatest view of Mount Fuji which was a shame. We did see it, but it was very cloudy so my pictures weren’t great.

Inclusions Rating: 6. Considering the price of this tour (and when compared to other tours) I felt like this was overpriced for 9 days. However, Japan is expensive and there is nothing you can do about it! The best inclusion is the Japan rail pass. We needed it to get to all the places we travelled to but we also got to use it for 1 day after the tour, which saved me having to purchase any travel that day! We had 2 dinners (both of which I hated!) and 2 breakfasts included (1 of which I also hated! Thankfully the amazing all you can eat buffet breakfast happened to fall on my birthday)! The different activities that were included were some temples and the famous Oku-no-in cemetery in Kōyasan, Peace Park and and museum in Hiroshima, Miyajima Island visit, Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine visit, entry to Nijo Castle and Gardens, Kinkaku-ji Golden Pavilion and Daisen-in Zen Rock Garden in Kyoto and Lake Ashino-ko boat ride in Hakone.

Activities / Free Time Rating: 8. Despite being an express tour, meaning lots to do in a short amount of time, we did have a fair amount of free time. We were informed about all the extra activities we could do and to be honest, I did as many as possible! Anytime we were on public transport, I used this time to sleep, to avoid missing extra activities! Our tour guide always gave good recommendations for things to do in the area and eating places, which was really helpful.

Group Rating: 8. I was super nervous meeting my group because I literally arrived at the end of the pre-tour meeting, meaning everyone had already introduced themselves and got to know each other. I had nothing to be nervous about as my group was amazing! Again, as this was a classic tour, there was a nice mixture of young, old-ish and a family. Everyone got on and there were no arguments at all. I mainly hung around with Kharla and Ashleigh from Australia as they were a similar age to me but everyone was lovely. The majority of the time, most people completed included/extra activities together, which I felt brought the group closer together. I have most people on Facebook still and keep in contact with quite a few people. Kharla has just moved over to the UK for 2 years so we meet up quite regularly!

Tour Leader Rating: 8. My tour leader was a star! My second female tour guide and I couldn’t fault everything she did for our group. Especially for me, when I left my purse in our first hotel with basically my whole life inside it (cards, money, driving license etc). She called the hotel who found it in my room and they packed it up and sent it to our hotel in Hiroshima (along with my case that was getting shipped there). She lent me some money to cover me for the next few days. She took us to lots of amazing food places and on my birthday I was surprised with a card, cake and balloons! It was interesting to hear all her knowledge about Japan!

Top 3 Memories:

1) Spending my birthday in Tokyo - lovely Japanese food and cocktails, a surprise birthday cake and partying the last night on tour away with a karaoke session!

2) Making friends with local Japanese people at the Hiroshima baseball game

3) Catching a glimpse of beautiful Mount Fuji.

Top 3 Tips:

1) Japan is an AMAZING country, but very expensive. I was on tour for 9 days and then had 4 extra days in Tokyo, but somehow still managed to blow £500 just on food, drinks, extra activities and souvenirs!

2) If you plan to book this trip, try to pack light. You use a LOT of public transport so there will be a large amount of lifting luggage.

3) Plan in advance how to get from the airport in Osaka to the starting hotel. I was planning to just “jump in an uber” when I arrived, only to find out it was going to cost me over £100! I then spent over an hour panicking as I couldn’t work out how to get anywhere due to lack of English. Almost 2 hours later, exhausted and hungry, I made it to the hotel (completely missing the pre-tour group meeting) oops!

I have a past blog post that has more details on this tour, otherwise feel free to head over to the G Adventures website for more information here.

#travel #travelling #traveller #gadventures #japan express osaka to tokyo #tour #sta travel #osaka #koyasan #hiroshima #kyoto #hakone #tokyo #tips #memories

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foodtravelsleepstuff-blog · 7 years

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Tour Review #6

Name: Bangkok to Bali

Company: Intrepid

Length: 28 Days, 3 Countries (Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia)

Start Location: Bangkok, Thailand

End Location: Ubud, Bali

Other Places: Khao Sok NP, Krabi, Ao Nang, Penang, Kuala Lumpur, Melaka, Singapore, Jakarta, Pangandaran, Yogyakarta, Seloliman Nature Reserve, Mount Bromo, Kalibaru, Balian Beach

Price: £2512

Overall Rating: 6.5

Accommodation Rating: 7. I was actually pretty impressed with the accommodation on this trip, even the home stay. The majority was clean and comfortable with air conditioning. The Seloliman nature reserve was probably my least favourite (though the actual accommodation was adorable!) there were too many bugs for my liking, but that wasn’t something that could be helped when you are in the jungle! Just FYI, the spiders were bigger than my hand! The home stay was basically a huge mansion, which was really nice! My favourite was probably the Artini Cottages 2 in Ubud or the Kalibaru Cottages. Small and simply but cosy!

Weather Rating: 8. The weather was absolutely amazing on this trip! We did have a little bit of rain in both Thailand and Indonesia, but it was generally quite nice to cool down, especially after all the hiking we did! The rain didn’t cause us any problems so that was good. However, we got caught in a huge thunderstorm in Khao Sok NP where it absolutely chucked it down, so our night hike got cancelled which was a shame - on the plus, we basically drank £2 cocktails for the rest of the night!

Inclusions Rating: 6. The inclusion weren’t too bad, but I felt a lot of the inclusions were mainly just walks around the area, rather than actual activities (when compared to other tours). You then had to pay a fair amount for the extra activities which were quite pricey. All transport was included and we had 19 breakfasts, 4 lunches and 2 dinners which was one less thing to worry about. Other inclusions included a Khlong boat tour and entry to the Wat Pho temple in Bangkok, a Cheow Lan Lake tour in Khao Sok, a village walk, a Thai cooking demonstration and a morning sea kayaking in Krabi, half a day sightseeing in Penang, a city tour in Kuala Lumpur, an orientation walk and trishaw tour in Melaka, a city tour in Jakarta, a green canyon tour in Pangandaran, entry to Borobudur temple and a cycling tour in Yogyakarta, a village walk in Seloliman, a climb up Mount Bromo, a plantation tour in Kalibaru and entry to the Taman Ayu Temple in Bali. The annoying part of this tour is the flight from Singapore to Jakarta is NOT included.

Activities / Free Time Rating: 6. There wasn’t a huge range of extra activities to choose from, having said that, the ones I picked to do were brilliant! Although rather pricey, they were totally worth it. I ended up choosing to do the Phi Phi Islands full day trip in Krabi, a tram ride up and down Penang Hill, the KL tower, a river tour and the Taming Sari Tower in Melaka, the night safari in Singapore, a guided trek in Pangandaran, entry to Prambanan temple and a ticket to the Javanese ballet in Yogyakarta and a guided hike through the jungle in Seloliman. I did as much sleeping as possible on long bus/train rides to avoid being too tired and missing out on activities!

Group Rating: 5. This trip is actually split out into two trips, which is not something I was aware of before arriving (Bangkok to Singapore then Jakarta to Bali). When I met my group in Thailand, I thought we’d all be together until the end, but it turns out only me and my roomie were heading all the way to Bali. My first group was amazing! A mixture of old, young and in between! We all got on really well, it was actually super sad to say goodbye at the end. We all looked out for each other and mostly spent our free time together. I have pretty much everyone on Facebook still and keep in contact with quite a few people. All I can say is I was so thankful that my roomie was coming with me to Bali, because my second group was the complete opposite. Everyone did their own thing, noone really spent any time together, the atmosphere was very different. I’m not sure I would have enjoyed myself if I didn’t have my roomie to hang with. Other than my roomie, I don’t have any of the second group on Facebook, which is a shame. The group was nice, I just don’t get the feeling anyone really ‘clicked’.

Tour Leader Rating: 7. As the trip was split into two trips, I had two tour leaders. Both my tour leaders were amazing. For Bangkok to Singapore I actually had my first female tour leader, which was really nice. She was extremely informative about each place we visited, very generous (we all got a little gift at the end of our trip), very caring and just an absolute pleasure to spend my first two weeks with! For Jakarta to Bali, my tour leader was basically a male version of my previous one! I couldn’t fault either of them, they were extremely selfless and made it very obvious they loved their jobs! Baring in mind we had quite a few train journeys (most during the lunch period), our tour leader arranged cakes to be delivered to us either before or after, so that we weren’t starving - which was really thoughtful. I made sure I gave both 10/10 feedback.

Top 3 Memories:

1) Watching the sunrise and climbing Mount Bromo

2) Visiting Borobudur and Prambanan temples in Yogyakarta

3) Thai islands full day boat trip including a yummy buffet lunch

Top 3 Tips:

1) If you are wanting to do the famous half/full moon party, I advise you not to book this trip. When I first looked into doing this trip, it mentioned there might be an opportunity to go if your tour was in Thailand around the same time. There was no mention of this when I was in Thailand, but also we literally had no time!

2) I had the BEST massage in Balian beach. I paid roughly £10 for an hour full body massage and I was quite literally in heaven. I had several massages in South East Asia, but my massage in Bali was by far the best.

3) I found a lot of the train journeys through Indonesia were arranged for through the lunchtime period. Make sure you bring enough snacks as the train food wasn’t great! Sometimes it can be a while before you get to a shop/cafe/restaurant.

I have a past blog post that has more details on this tour, otherwise feel free to head over to the Intrepid website for more information here.

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foodtravelsleepstuff-blog · 7 years

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Tour Review #5

Name: Golden Triangle

Company: G Adventures

Length: 8 Days, 1 Country (India)

Start Location: Delhi, India

End Location: Delhi, India

Other Places: Agra, Dhula Village, Jaipur

Price: £439

Overall Rating: 6.5

Accommodation Rating: 6. I wasn’t too keen on the accommodation in India, especially the starting/finishing hotel. The location was not ideal at all, in the middle of a crazy busy street. I was super overwhelmed when I arrived - I was too scared to leave my room! The hotels were very basic which is not what I had expected for a ‘standard’ service level tour. (Maybe my expectations were set too high). Even toilet roll was pretty scarce, which is not ideal when you have full on sickness and diarrhea. Funnily enough, my favourite stay was at Dhula Village, which is where we spent the night glamping. The tents were huge with electricity and running water. We also had access to a clean swimming pool here. On the plus, due to odd numbers, I had my own room in each place for the whole tour.

Weather Rating: 7. The weather was hot. Probably too hot. It was pretty pointless even having a shower, because as soon as you stepped outside, you were sweating! I skipped out on some of the activities because it was simply too hot. I should have researched the weather before I booked the trip!

Inclusions Rating: 7. I was super impressed to find out that I got a free transfer from the airport to my hotel when I arrived. Gadventures have a project called ‘Women on Wheels’ that support women in India to work but also give us female travellers a safe ride to our accommodation. No food was included in this tour, but food was very cheap to buy anyway. Pretty much all the activities were included in the tour including a guided street walk in Delhi, a guided tour around Old Delhi (which had stops at the following: Jama Masjid, Gurduwara, Chandni Chowk, and Connaught Place), a visit to Agra Fort, a visit to the Taj Mahal, a visit to the Baby Taj, a visit to the Fatephur Sikri, a visit to Jaipur City Palace, a visit to Amber Fort and a visit to the Abhaneri stepwell. There was also an inlcuded Jaipur Cycle-Rickshaw Tour but I was unwell so couldn’t do it - gutted! All transport around India was also included and the mini bus was air conditioned!

Activities / Free Time Rating: 5. To be honest, there wasn’t much free time at all. The only optional activity I did was the Bollywood movie, which if I remember correctly, the whole group did. In all fairness, as most activities were included, there wasn’t really a need for extra activities or free time.

Group Rating: 6. This was my first ‘Classic’ tour and this meant there was no age limit so I wasn’t sure what to expect. We had a very strange mix - an old couple, a young couple, a family and a bunch of singles including myself. But yet we all got on so well! It was quite nice having some older people on the trip, they had some pretty cool stories to tell. I still keep in touch with a few people on the trip, but not everyone had Facebook, therefore I lost contact with several, which is a shame.

Tour Leader Rating: 7. My CEO was very knowledgeable and he made sure that we all had an amazing trip. He knew the best places to eat and the food was one of my highlights of the trip (even if I did eat almost the same thing every night)! I felt like I learned so much as he told us lots of information about each place we visited. He enjoyed spending time hanging with us during free time and also made sure I was okay when I became unwell. For this tour we also had a driver, who did an amazing job keeping us safe on the crazy Indian roads. We made sure we left him a good tip!

Top 3 Memories:

1) Getting up ridiculously early to be the first people in the Q to see the Taj Mahal

2) Chilling by the pool, having a fab group dinner and spending the evening playing Cards Against Humanity in Dhula Village

3) Going to see a Bollywood movie at the cinema in Jaipur

Top 3 Tips:

1) Make sure you drink LOTS of water. I don’t think it was lower than 38 degrees the whole time I was in India, which means you can get dehydrated very quickly. Water is very cheap, so drink as much as you can. There will be regular toilet stops along the way, but don’t expect them to be clean!

2) Take a hand sanitiser with you everywhere. The hygiene in India is extremely poor. I think everyone in my group had a dodgy stomach at least once, but I also had a fever mid way through and then sickness at the end of my trip. It never hurts to kill the germs!

3) If you don’t like spicy food, stick to butter chicken! Butter chicken is probably the only non-spicy Indian food I could find (other than western food)! Indian food is absolutely amazing, but very spicy.

I have a past blog post that has more details on this tour, otherwise feel free to head over to the G Adventures website for more information here.

#travel #traveller #travelling #gadventures #golden triangle #tour #sta travel #india #delhi #agra #dhula village #jaipur #tips #memories

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foodtravelsleepstuff-blog · 7 years

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Tour Review #4

Name: Indochina Discovery

Company: G Adventures

Length: 30 Days, 4 Countries (Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos)

Start Location: Bangkok, Thailand

End Location: Bangkok, Thailand

Other Places: Siem Reap, Phnom Penh, Sihanoukville, Cần Thơ, Ho Chi Minh City, Nha Trang, Da Nang, Hoi An, Huế, Ha Long, Hanoi, Vientiane, Vang Vieng, Luang Prabang, Muang Pakbèng, Chiang Khong, Chiang Mai

Price: £1949

Overall Rating: 7

Accommodation Rating: 7. The accommodation was pretty decent in Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos. We stayed mostly in hotels but we also had 4 overnight trains and 2 homestays. The hotels were very basic and all apart from the one in Chiang Khong had air conditioning. The only downside about having air conditioning is a lot of the rooms smelt very damp/mouldy. Having said that, I’d rather have air conditioning than be melting every night! Some hotels were nicer than others (the hotel in Saigon where we had a jacuzzi bath and the hotel in Chiang Mai where we had huge comfy beds as examples). The Vietnam homestay, I absolutely hated. The beds were like sleeping on a sheet of cardboard. I think the bad day we had contributed to my hatred. The Laos homestay, I enjoyed. The food and company was lovely and the beds were definitely softer than Vietnam. The overnight trains were not as bad as I had been informed! But they are very cold due to air conditioning, so make sure you bring a jumper (especially if you are on top bunk)! My expectations were pretty low before I arrived, but I was definitely proved wrong.

Weather Rating: 8. The weather was basically super hot and humid in Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos. However, in Vietnam, we had around 5 days of cold weather! It actually dropped to 10 degrees at one point. We also had quite a bit of rain which was annoying, but it didn’t stop us from having fun! I love the hot weather, but I’m not a fan of walking around for hours in the heat (which we did a fair amount of) so I definitely suggest wearing a cap / sunglasses. You can’t really control the weather, but I had been advised March-April is a good time to visit these countries, as you don’t want to visit during rainy season.

Inclusions Rating: 7. For the price I paid for the tour, I think the inclusions rating was alright. Most breakfasts were included along with a couple of lunches and dinners. Food and drink in each country was stupidly cheap, you could have a full meal for $1. Included activities were the Angkor Wat sunrise (which was one of my top memories), a local Khmer meal at a G Adventures supported project, floating market boat trip, noodle making demonstration, Halong Bay cruise with lunch and the 2 day Mekong river slow boat. All transportation was included to each place on the tour, as well as to and from included activities, 4 overnight trains and 1 internal flight. You can’t really get better than that!

Activities / Free Time Rating: 8. The range of different activities that were available during our free time was brilliant. I’m pretty sure I did something every free day unless I was too exhausted. If there was something we wanted to do that wasn’t included on the list, our CEO would always help us to find it. For example, we wanted to visit some tigers (this activity was not on the list) but was told a lot of the places around Thailand treat them very badly, apart from one place. Our CEO arranged for those who wanted to transport too and from Tiger Kingdom in Chiang Mai. Although a lot of people judged me for posing with a tiger (which I may also add was NOT drugged), it was a very memorable day for me. The prices of the non-included activities were very reasonable - I spent around £500 in total for food, drinks and activities for this whole tour plus my extra days before / after and I made sure I did everything I wanted too.

Group Rating: 8. I loved my group. Everyone was super friendly. There were no arguments. Everyone looked out for each other. We all got on really well. My roomie was amazing, we always paired up with each other during activities. We all still have each other on Facebook and I have met up with quite a few people since the tour has ended, with plans to meet up with those further afield later on this year!

Tour Leader Rating: 7. My CEO was hilarious! He was a bit of a joker and always tried to make us laugh. He was really informative about each location we were in and made sure we all had the best time, every single day. He spoke the different languages which was a big bonus and helped us when we had language barriers. He did really well keeping us entertained and even on low days, kept us all smiling for 30 days straight!

Top 3 Memories:

1) Watching the sunrise over Angkor Wat

2) Spending the day feeding and bathing the elephants in Chiang Mai

3) Caving, kayaking and chilling at the Blue Lagoon in Vang Vieng

Top 3 Tips:

1) Try not to use hotel laundry services. I did this once and ending up paying £60 as the price was per item, rather than kilos. It smelt lovely and was ironed perfectly (even my underwear!) but as a traveller, that was such an unnecessary cost. Ask your CEO for recommended local places, you can usually get a few kilos done for a few dollars.

2) I was advised before I went by my doctor, that I would need to take malaria tablets for Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos. I purchased Malarone (the more expensive tablet) but when I began taking them, I found out half my group had been advised they did not need malaria tablets. My CEO also agreed suggesting they weren’t needed. I continued to take them anyway, as I didn’t want to risk it and I had already purchased them. My advice is it is always better to be safe than sorry!

3) There are 4 overnight trains and quite a few long drives on this trip. Therefore I suggest bringing an external charger allowing you to charge devices en route, just in case you run out! On several occasions, my phone died (because the battery was slightly dodgy!) and my external charger saved my life and boredom. I now bring mine whenever I travel, you never know when you may need it.

I have a past blog post that has more details on this tour, otherwise feel free to head over to the G Adventures website for more information here.

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Tour Review #3

Name: The Big Walkabout (Sydney Start, With Sailing)

Company: Contiki

Length: 25 Days, 1 Country (Australia)

Start Location: Sydney, Australia

End Location: Darwin, Australia

Other Places: Coffs Harbour, Byron Bay, Surfers Paradise, Noosa, Fraser Island, Farmstay, The Whitsundays, Cairns, Alice Springs, Kings Creek Station, Uluru, Tennant Creek, Katherine, Kakadu National Park

Price: £2895

Overall Rating: 8

Accommodation Rating: 7. The accommodation on this trip was really good for the majority of the east coast. In Coffs Harbour, we were meant to be staying in a converted shipping container for the night, but as they were under refurbishment, we got upgraded to a 4* hotel! Definitely can’t complain about that. Most of the accommodation we stayed in were actually hotels, which was quite nice after mostly staying in hostels in my previous tour. I wasn’t keen on the hostel in Byron Bay as we had a leak and the room stank, but no real issues with anywhere we stayed. Until we got to the Northern Territory! We had one night of camping, which wasn’t actually as bad as I was expecting, but way too many creepy crawlies. I was expecting to wake up next to a brown snake, but I survived. Everywhere else we stayed in the Norther Territory had spiders, lizards, frogs and numerous other bugs. Sadly, there is nothing you can do about this, they are everywhere you go! I found that I struggled to sleep in the accommodation in the Norther Territory, mainly because I was so freaked out by the bugs, but we were warned to expect this.

Weather Rating: 9. The weather was perfect in Australia. I picked a really good time to go - the middle of Summer. I spent 30 days here in total and I only saw rain once. This was in Kakadu National Park where it absolutely chucked it down but thankfully we were on the coach so didn’t get wet and had stopped by the time we got off! I managed to get such an amazing tan, the sun was always shining and I don’t think it ever got below 25 degrees, even at night. The further north we went, the hotter it got. The Northern Territory was even hotter but also very humid.

Inclusions Rating: 8. For the price I paid for this tour (which was actually quite a bit less than the price advertised on the website) I was definitely impressed with everything included. Especially as the majority of the accommodation we stayed in were hotels. On top of the decent accommodation, we had 35 meals included which was a huge cost off our shoulders because food and drink was relatively expensive out there! This included 24 breakfasts, 1 lunch and 10 dinners. We had the following activities included as well: a day trip to the Blue Mountains, a small tour around Darling Harbour and Mrs Macquarie’s Chair Lookout, a cruise across Sydney Harbour on a ferry from Manley, one surf lesson, visit to Austrailia’s most eastern point and Byron lighthouse, a visit to Currumbin wildlife sanctuary, a 4WD trip across Fraser Island, tour around the farmstay and practice whip cracking, Simpsons Gap, participate in an Aboriginal ‘Bushtucker’ tour, equipment for one night camping in the outback, a hike to the ‘Garden of Eden’ waterhole and the ‘Lost City’, a photo stop at Mt. Conner and Lake Amadeus, a hike through / around Kata Tjuta, a visit to the Uluru cultural centre, Uluru sunrise and sunset, a visit to a traditional outback roadhouse, a visit to Wycliffe Well (UFO capital), a visit to the Devils’s Marbles, a visit to the Daly Waters pub, a swim at the Mataranka thermal pools, a hike to the Aboriginal rock art at Nourlangie Rock, a boat trip through the Kakadu swamps, a swim at Florence Falls and last but not least a visit to Darwin museum! So as you can see, you don’t miss out and this doesn’t even include “me time” activities!

Activities / Free Time Rating: 9. After reading the above list, you are probably thinking ‘how do I even have any time left for other activities?’ Well it is a pretty packed trip, but there is still PLENTY of time for extras! You’ll find that there are a lot of early starts on this trip, so that is something to think about when you are wanting to stay out partying until 6am! There are so many activities you can choose from and if you want to do almost everything (like me) you need to budget quite a bit for them as they aren’t cheap! I found that I was taking a lot of naps on the bus journeys so that I didn’t miss out on anything. It’s not everyday that someone from England can just pop over to Australia, so I knew I had to make the most of my time there. I managed to do everything that I wanted apart from scuba diving because I had a chest infection. Luckily I was able to get a refund (they are very strict with illnesses at the GBR so you can’t scuba dive if you’ve ever had asthma)! However, don’t feel like you are missing out, snorkelling is just as amazing, I promise! I don’t advise going on the boat tour in Katherine, it is quite pricey and actually pretty boring. You have an included swamp tour in Kakadu which is so much better - we saw 3 crocs, just saying!

Group Rating: 9. I was rather worried when I found out there was going to be 52 people in my group. How would I remember everyone’s name? Who would I hang around with? Would it be really bitchy? I’d never done a massive group tour before, but I am so happy I picked these dates, because I couldn’t have shared 25 days with better people! I made SO many new friends. I don’t think there was one person that I didn’t talk to and I somehow managed to remember everyone’s name! Within the huge group, there were mini groups and most people tended to stay within their mini group. However, I tried to get to know everyone and spent my free time with different groups. I shared room with all different people. Apparently there were a couple of arguments between a few girls, but I hadn’t even noticed, so it wasn’t that much of a big deal! I keep in contact with many people from this group and two months after returning from my travels, I went on an amazing reunion trip in Canada where I was able to meet up with many fellow Canadian friends I made. I am also seeing a few more people this year and there are talks of possibly a UK reunion in the summer... watch this space!

Tour Leader Rating: 7. The way the staffing worked for this trip was that for Sydney to Cairns we had one tour guide and one coach driver. For Alice Springs to Darwin, we had a different tour guide and a different coach driver. Our driver for the first part of the trip was really friendly. He did a very good job with the driving and loading/unloading the coach at every stop. Along with our tour guide, they both did an amazing job at keeping us entertained on the long journeys up the east coast! Our tour guide was super friendly and somehow managed to remember all our names pretty quickly (though he did get me muddled up with another girl on the tour because we looked alike)! It was quite sad saying goodbyes! On the second part of our trip, I wasn’t really a fan of our driver. He was quite grumpy and always seemed to be complaining about us. His driving was pretty good however. On the other hand, our tour guide was pretty good. He also kept us entertained, especially on the very long journeys around the Northern Territory. He didn’t really hang around with us though (where as our first tour guide did). I was so thankful that he helped me find a doctors when I needed one and made sure I was OK throughout the time I was unwell.

Top 3 Memories:

1) Snorkelling around the Great Barrier Reef

2) Sailing around the Whitsundays

3) Watching the sunrise in a hot air balloon over Alice Springs

Top 3 Tips:

1) Be very prepared for creepy crawlies in the Northern Territory. There is nothing you can do to avoid them, so just get used to them. It is quite rare that you will see a really poisonous creature e.g. spider or snake, but if you do, do not make any sudden movements. Stay calm until it moves away from you. Make sure you double check toilet seats to ensure there are no frogs hiding ready to give you the shock of your life! Also, do not swim in water that could be inhabited by crocs or sharks!

2) If you need to see a doctor, make sure you do this at some point along the east coast. I got a nasty cold during our farmstay and decided to wait until the Northern Territory to see a doctor. This was a bad move because there is basically nothing in the Northern Territory! I had to wait almost 2 weeks to see a doctor and my cold had turned into an awful chest infection. This meant another round of antibiotics just in time for my next trip!

3) I definitely advise arriving a few days early to explore Sydney. You spend 2 days in Sydney, but these are pretty packed full of group activities and therefore if you don’t give yourself extra time, you may miss out on things you wanted to do. I booked 4 extra days before the trip actually started and to be honest, I probably could have done with a couple more! I was able to find some of my tour group through the Contiki forum beforehand and met up with them during these 4 days, so I didn’t start the tour completely alone! On the other hand, Darwin is quite a small town in the Northern Territory so I didn’t plan to use any extra days to stay here. The tour finished and I flew to Thailand early the next day.

I have a past blog post that has more details on this tour, otherwise feel free to head over to the Contiki website for more information here.

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Package Review #2

Name: Island Time

Company: Awesome Adventures Fiji

Length: 6 Days, 5 Nights, 3 Islands

Start Location: Port Denarau, Nadi

End Location: Port Denarau, Nadi

Other Places: For my particular package, I went to Coralview, Barefoot Manta and South Sea islands

Price: From £351 (but there are many different packages)

Overall Rating: 6

Accommodation Rating: 6. The accommodation in Fiji is definitely not what I expected! At Coralview, I was lucky enough to be given my own bure which had a double bed, a ceiling fan and my own bathroom. It was very comfortable, but I was hoping to be sharing as I had travelled alone. At Barefoot Manta, I shared a deluxe bure with three other travellers. I was lucky to get the bottom bed and the bure also had a ceiling fan. There were shared bathroom facilities, which were extremely clean. At South Sea, I shared a 32 bed dorm (but there was only about 12 people on the island) but the room was really hot and the ceiling fan was nowhere near my bed! The staff were very laid back and allowed people to sleep outside in the hammocks if they wanted. There were shared bathroom facilities which were average, but could have been worse if the dorm was full!

Weather Rating: 9. Considering it was winter, the weather was boiling day and night. I don’t remember the temperature ever being lower than 30 degrees during the day. It was slightly cooler at night, but for anyone that lives in the UK, 25 degrees is a heatwave! Some islands lacked shade, so at times on the busier islands, the heat did become unbearable and I had to retreat to my accommodation to blast some cool air on myself!

Inclusions Rating: 6. I admit that I did pay slightly less than the price mentions above, but all that was included was the coach pick up and drop off to Port Denarau, the water taxi to and from each island, 5 nights accommodation (2 coconuts) and meals on South Sea island (where I only stayed for 1 night). You end up spending a bomb on food, drink, snacks and activities. I haven’t worked it out, but it may actually be cheaper to just upgrade to the full package so that you don’t have to worry about paying for it all when you get there.

Activities / Free Time Rating: 7. Each island had there own set of activities. At Coralview resort, you had to pay for all activities. They had a timetable located in the main area from morning to evening and all you had to do was turn up at the time stated for the activity and you were charged upon check out. I chose to do snorkelling at the Blue Lagoon and the sunset cruise. At Barefoot Manta resort, the activities were really expensive so I didn’t do any. At South Sea Island, they had some free optional activities such as a glass bottom boat tour and kayaking. You would usually have set meal times but other than that, you had as much free time as you wanted!

Group Rating: n/a - this was not a group tour. There were lots of people travelling to and from the islands every day. As I island hopped during low season, the three islands I stayed on were relatively quiet. I also found most people travelled in pairs or groups. The downside to this was I found it really difficult to make friends, especially as people were constantly coming and going. Luckily, I don’t mind my own company!

Tour Leader Rating: n/a - this was not a tour. You literally did all the organising yourself. Having said that, each island had staff that looked after you during your stay. The staff were absolutely amazing! So friendly and helpful. When you arrive on each island, you are welcomed usually by a song and dancing. When you leave each island, you are also departed in style!

Top 3 Memories:

1) The sunset cruise around Coralview resort

2) Snorkelling in and around the Blue Lagoon resort

3) Dinner on the beach and playing party games on South Sea island

Top 3 Tips:

1) Most of the islands do not have cash machines, but many will accept card payments. My advice would be to bring more than enough cash just in case, especially as some islands you have to make extra payments for food or activities and alcohol is very expensive.

2) Do not book a long trip (e.g. 3 weeks of island hopping) if you are not a fan of being lazy or lying in the sun for hours! There are plenty of activities to do on each island, but most of them come at a charge (unless you booked an upgraded package). If you get bored, you can’t just pop down the road to the shop, you are stuck on the island until it is time for you to leave!

3) Don’t be fooled at how close the islands look on a map. Coralview resort was among the Yawasa Islands and on a map it doesn’t look too far from the mainland. Having said that, it was a 5 hour water taxi ride away. The water taxi journey wasn’t too bad - they sold food and drink and had free wifi on board (though it wasn’t very good). Make sure you bring some kind of entertainment!

I have a past blog post that has more details on this package, otherwise feel free to head over to the Awesome Adventures Fiji website for more information here.

#travel #traveller #travelling #fiji #awesome adventures fiji #sta travel #package #island time #yasawas #mamanuca #coralview #barefoot manta #south sea #port denarau #nadi #island hopping #memories #tips

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foodtravelsleepstuff-blog · 7 years

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Tour Review #1

Name: The Best of New Zealand

Company: G Adventures

Length: 21 Days, 2 Islands

Start Location: Auckland, New Zealand (North Island)

End Location: Wellington, New Zealand (South Island)

Other Places: Raglan, Rotorua, Tongariro NP, Abel Tasman NP, Punakaiki, Franz Josef, Queenstown, Doubtful Sound, Otago Rail Trail, Christchurch and Kaikoura

Price: £2249

Overall Rating: 9

Accommodation Rating: 9. The accommodation in New Zealand was probably the most comfortable and cleanest out of all the tours I went on. Although they were pretty basic, they had everything you could possibly need. The majority of nights were spent in hostels and we were lucky enough to never share with randoms.

Weather Rating: 6. Considering it was supposed to be summer, the weather wasn’t too great. It definitely reminded me of home - at times it would be boiling, then pouring with rain and freezing a few hours later! The bad weather cancelled some activities which was annoying, including the helicopter ride in Franz Josef, which we were unable to reschedule. But this now gives me a reason to go back! I am glad I brought a thick jumper with me!

Inclusions Rating: 8. Breakfast was included everyday and there were also several lunches and dinners provided too. All transport from leaving Auckland to finishing in Wellington was provided, even to and from activities (unless on free days, but even still, our tour leader was kind enough to drop off / pick up if he wasn’t busy)! A range of activities were included as well - surfing, sea kayaking, mountain biking, hiking, a Maori cultural experience, a farm visit and a seal colony visit.

Activities / Free Time Rating: 9. There were so many activities to choose from. I literally did everything I wanted to do, unless it was cancelled due to bad weather. There was something for everyone in each place, even if you are on a budget or have particular fears (heights, water ect.). There were also plenty of restaurants, cafes, bars, shops to choose from. The only negative was the price of the activities were quite high, even with the brilliant exchange rate!

Group Rating: 9. This group was one of my favourites whilst travelling. Although there were a couple of small disagreements among the group, I got along with everyone. Everyone looked out for one another and I will never forget how encouraging and supportive people were when I struggled with one of the activities and when I had to go to the doctors for my swollen ankle. It was very sad saying goodbye on the last day of the tour! I have noticed a couple of people have removed me from Facebook since, not sure why, but each to their own. I still keep in contact with quite a few people from this group.

Tour Leader Rating: 8. Our CEO was really friendly, informative and organised. You could tell how much he loved his job and how proud he was showing us around his country. He enjoyed joining in with our meals, activities and partying but had a professional attitude.

Top 3 Memories:

1) Getting up at 5am to swim with the wild dolphins in Kaikoura

2) The boys cooking the group a lovely dinner in our beach house in Raglan, followed by an evening of drinking and chilling in the hot tub

3) Luging down the mountain in Queenstown

Top 3 Tips:

1) The wifi in New Zealand is the worst. If you are a social media addict (like me!) I would advise arranging some data allowance in advance as most places charge you to use the wifi and even then the wifi is slower than a snail.

2) Take bug repellent if you head to Doubtful or Milford Sounds. You will get eaten alive!

3) Buy your sun cream out in New Zealand. Factor 50 in England is not the same as factor 50 in New Zealand. You need strong protection, you will burn within minutes if exposed to the sun (I learnt from experience)!

I have a past blog post that has more details on this tour, otherwise feel free to head over to the G Adventures website for more information here.

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Tuesday 28th June 2016

I’M HOME!!!!!!!!!!

Note- I literally cannot believe I went travelling around the world for 6 months. I had the best time ever, meeting new people and making new friends, experiencing different cultures, trying different types of foods, learning about the history and places I visited. I would recommend anyone to go and see the world. I am now saving up to head over to Australia for a year to work and travel, so keep an eye out for my big move in 2017!

Coming Next- I plan to write some posts about each tour I did and the pros, cons, what I liked, what I didn’t like and whether I’d recommend you doing them. I plan to write some rating posts e.g. ranking my top fave to least fave country I visited, ranking my top fave to least fave tour I went on, top activities, top accommodation ect. If there are any posts you’d particularly like me to write about, please do let me know. As it has taken me a while to write my travel diary day by day, I have actually been on a few more trips since I arrived back to London in June. These include Canada, Iceland, Ireland and Germany. Look out for upcoming posts about these amazing trips!

Touching Down In London Town!

#travel #traveller #travelling #home #6months #sad but excited #london #heathrow #croydon #memories #best thing i ever did #gadventures #contiki #intrepid #awesomeadventuresfiji #sta travel

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foodtravelsleepstuff-blog · 7 years

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Monday 27th June 2016

Today I had a nice lie in before getting ready to check out. After my shower, the cleaners came in and began changing all the sheets of all the beds which was annoying as it meant I couldn’t get dressed of finish getting ready. I checked out at 10:45am and made my way down to central. I decided to go on the Hong Kong wheel as a last minute tourist activity. There was no queue at all and I went around 3x, taking lots of pictures. I then messaged Michelle to see where she had got to as we were going to go shopping before saying our goodbyes. I knew before I left she was heading to K11 shopping centre so I made my way over there. I walked around the shops for a while before managing to connect to some wifi, but I couldn’t get hold of her. I ended up in Starbucks for lunch to continue to connect to wifi. I ate a chicken and mushroom pie, chocolate muffin and a mango and banana smoothie. After no reply, I made my way back to my hostel to pick up my stored luggage. I then headed to the bus stop to get the airport bus, it was 10 seconds from my hostel. The bus journey took 1 hour in total and I arrived at T2 around 2:30pm. I checked in and dropped my bags. I then went through security and immigration and found a spot to charge my phone as my gate was not yet available. I spent the next few hours connecting to the free wifi and playing on my phone. I managed to speak to Michelle who had accidentally left her phone at her hotel and wished her a safe journey home. At 7pm, my gate was shown so I decided to head to the the toilet to get changed into my warm clothes and head over. I found another charging point but my phone gave up and refused to charge. At 8pm, we began boarding the huge double decker plane. We took off a bit late, around 9pm but it was only a 2 hour flight. We had a pretty smooth flight and I watched a comedy film “how not to be single”. The food was pretty good. I had chicken with fried rice and vegetables, a warm bread roll, a salad, a custard type of dessert, all washed down with a sprite. When we landed I headed to connecting flights and went through security. The queue was really long but as soon as I got through, I bought a strawberry fanta and found somewhere to sit until my gate was ready. Just over an hour later, they let us through the gate to further seats. We then waited around 30 minutes before boarding the plane. It was a brand new double decker which was nice! I was really tired by this point as it was around 1am Bangkok time so I stayed up until food was served. I had pork with pasta and vegetables, a warm bread roll, a salad and a dessert. I slept until around 3 hours before landing - the flight was 11 hours and 20 minutes long! Breakfast was sausage, egg and mushrooms, but I only ate the sausage, hot croissant, yogurt and fruit salad washed down with tropical juice. The flight was pretty smooth and we landed exactly on time at 7:15am!

Left - Hong Kong Wheel | Top Right, Middle Right, Bottom Right - Hong Kong

Top Left, Top Right, Bottom Left, Bottom Right - View From The Hong Kong Wheel

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Sunday 26th June 2016

Today I had another lie in! Me, Maya and Michelle had arranged to meet at a subway station at 11am. We walked to pier 4 ferry terminal and boarded a ferry to Lamma Island. We had such a palava getting the tickets because you could only pay in coins or using the octopus card (which none of us had)! Luckily we just made the 11:30am ferry and arrived at Lamma Island just before 12 noon. We then had a 25 minute walk for Hung Shing Ye beach, grabbing a fresh kiwi drink en route. Considering the weather was pretty good, the beach wasn’t too busy when we arrived. I fell asleep and the next thing I know, 2 hours had passed! Also the beach was now packed! We decided to get some lunch and headed to a hotel restaurant opposite the beach (which was super expensive)! I had a club sandwich with fries and a sprite. It was actually really nice. We found another spot on the beach and spent another hour there which again, I pretty much fell asleep! We walked 25 minutes back to the ferry terminal and boarded the 6pm ferry. We arrived back on Hong Kong Island around 6:30pm and I took the subway back to my hostel arriving just after 7pm. I jumped in the shower and waited for Maya to come over and shower / sort out her case as she had checked out of her hostel due to heading to Malaysia in the early hours. She arrived at around 9pm and after her shower and case packing, we headed out to get some last minute dinner. We went to the bakery to get some pizza bread and I also picked up croissants for breakfast. We then went to a 7/11 to get drinks and I also got a kit kat. We found out the last bus was earlier than expected so I walked her to the bus stop at 10:15pm and we said our goodbyes at 10:30pm when the bus came. I chilled in my room having already sorted my case earlier then went to bed.

Top Left, Top Right, Bottom Left, Bottom Right - Lamma Island

Top Left, Top Right - Lamma Island | Bottom Left - Ferry Terminal | Bottom Right - Hong Kong Sunset

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Saturday 25th June 2016

Today I had another lie in! Me, Maya and Michelle decided to meet at a metro station at 11:30am to go to Hong Kong Park. Michelle was a little late so me and Maya went into one of the shopping centres and I bought a fererro roche cupcake. We eventually found each other and headed to the park. It was lovely, beautiful weather and an amazing atmosphere. We took many pictures of the lakes, plants, flowers and walked through a conservatory full of different species of flowers/plants as well as an aviary. We then decided to grab some lunch but somehow ended up in Starbucks yet again! I had lasagna and a banana and mango smoothie. We then headed to Hong Kong botanical and zoological gardens. We didn’t spend too long here as it got so hot but we saw the mammals - raccoons, moneys, orangutans and more. We walked around the shops and I grabbed a scoop of mango with raspberry ice cream from Haagen-Dazs. I also got some dungarees in the sale in Cotton On. We eventually all headed back to our hostels and got ready to meet my friend Libbie from work for dinner and drinks. We ended up having yummy burgers and cajun fries for dinner. We then went out for drinks in Causeway Bay and Soho. Me and Maya left just after 12 midnight, but it was a great night! I went to sleep not long after.

Top Left, Top Right, Bottom Left, Bottom Right - Hong Kong Park

Top Left - Hong Kong Park | Top Right - Hong Kong | Bottom Left - Hong Kong Botanical & Zoological Gardens | Bottom Right - Maya, Me & Libbie

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Friday 24th June 2016

Today we woke up at 8am to say our goodbyes. Tom, Ollie, Trevor and Renata were leaving for the airport and our tour leader was leaving later on. The rest of us were moving hotels and staying a few more nights. It was sad :-(! We went back to bed until 11:30am and spent most of the morning checking the referendum results. At 12noon we checked out and began to make the long trek to our hostel. It wasn’t too far away, but had to change on the subway twice. We eventually realised that Maya had booked the same hostel as me but in a slightly different location, however, it was only 2 stops away from each other on the subway. So we split up and headed to our hostels. I got a little lost but eventually found it and was put in a 6 bed mixed dorm. It was cute and clean and I was on my own for a little while. I was waiting for Maya to get to my hostel so we could hang out and have dinner together. Eventually I got 2 new room mates from Korea. Maya finally arrived and we just chilled and researched what we could do the next few days. We found a famous dim sum restaurant and sent a message to the rest o the group to see if anyone wanted to join. At 6:30pm, we met up with the 2 German guys and had a very yummy dinner - pork BBQ buns, spring rolls, fried noodles, won tons and more! We said our goodbyes as they were leaving tomorrow then looked around the shops. I walked Maya to the subway station, then headed to bed.

Note- No photos today as I didn’t really do much other than transfer from my hotel to hostel, relaxed and planned for my free days. Lots of exciting stuff coming up during my last few days travelling.

#travel #traveller #travelling #hong kong #goodbyes #bed #referendum #checked out #hostel #subway #split up #lost #dorm #cute #clean #hang out #roomies #chilled #research #dim sum #dinner #yummy #shops

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foodtravelsleepstuff-blog · 7 years

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Thursday 23rd June 2016

Today we were up and checked out at 8am. We walked to the China / Hong Kong checkpoint and departed China. We then went through Hong Kong passport control and security. Once we were all through, we stopped to get cash and got the subway to our hotel which took almost 1 hour. It was only a 5 minute walk to our hotel and we arrived at about 10:30am. It was too early to check in to most rooms so we left our luggage in the ready rooms and headed out for an early lunch. I had pepper steak with fried noodles and a hot chocolate. We then all grabbed McFlurrys from McDonalds. We walked all the way to the ferry terminal on Kowloon Island and took loads of pictures of the skyline. We then boarded the ferry (accidentally leaving our tour guide behind!) and heading to Hong Kong Island. We waited for our tour guide then walked all the way to peak tram station, which seemed to take forever as it was uphill and so hot! We took the tram up the hill and took lots of photos of Hong Kong! We then had free time to look in the shops. I bought a beautiful painting and then chilled in Starbucks, until it was time to meet up again. We headed back to the hotel but took the subway this time. We had just under one hour to get ready to meet for dinner at 6pm as well as organise the card / tip / present for our tour guide. We went for dinner at a restaurant near the hotel and I had garlic chicken with rice. We gave our tour guide his presents and all shared our favourite group memory. We caught the subway back to the skyline to watch the 8pm light show, which was cool. We agreed to meet at 8am tomorrow to say our goodbyes. A group of us headed to the Ozone bar (floor 118) of the Ritz-Calton hotel for a drink with a view. Pricey, but worth it. I had a cider. We took some photos and eventually left around 9:45pm as Tristan was flying to Greece this evening. The rest of us jumped in a taxi back to the hotel. I packed my case and chilled until I eventually fell asleep - the bed was rock solid!!

Top Left, Top Right, Bottom Left - Hong Kong Skyline | Bottom Right - Peak Hill Tram

Top Left, Top Right - Peak Hill | Bottom Left, Bottom Right - Lights Show

Top Left - Lights Show | Top Right, Bottom Left, Bottom Right - Ozone Bar

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