Mini Guide to Phuket

Mini Guide to Phuket

Friday, 19 January 2018

I visited Phuket for the first time almost six years ago. It was my first venture to Asia and after a few days in Bangkok, we headed down south to the island to relax. My budget was a bit bigger that time since it was a holiday so we stayed in a really lovely resort up in the mountains and didn't really leave it that often. I guess that's always the way with resorts; five restaurants, a bar, a spa and a swimming pool, was all that we needed. This time around, I’m backpacking which was a whole different experience. Phuket is a very touristy part of Thailand but I enjoyed my time there all the same; it's my first destination of 2018 so to start off this years posts here’s what I’ve been up to this week!

Sleeping & Partying at Slumber Party Hostel:

I stayed at Slumber Party Hostel by Bodega and it was the perfect base for my trip. They are a well known chain around Thailand and I had big expectations after everything I'd heard about them through my travels so far; and I can confirm that they delivered.

 The Phuket hostel is in a great location near the infamous Bangla Road and also the beach. The accommodation part was perfect. It was clean, quite and comfortable and the beds were freshly made every day - I managed to get a good night’s sleep every single night. The best thing about this hostel though, is its atmosphere; if I wanted to be social (and I did) there was always the opportunity to party downstairs. They run a bar crawl three times a week and beer pong every other night which always gets everyone going. Also, like all good party hostels, there is free alcohol at the bar most days and at 6pm like clockwork you can expect a knock on your dorm door from one of the staff with a bottle of vodka.

I stayed for 8 days in total and even then I didn't want to leave. By the end of it, I had made good friends with some of the staff and it just felt like home - definitely a sign of a good hostel!

Touring in a Tuk tuk:

A couple of us from the hostel got together and hired a tuk tuk driver (we went for a pink one obvs) to take us around the southern part of the island for one of the days. We decided what things we wanted to go and see and spent an hour bartering for a reasonable price. I love how hostels bring people together. You can be complete strangers one second and the next you've spent all day having fun together.

The White Buddha:

This was one of our stops with the tuk tuk driver and is one of Phuket’s most famous attractions. Surprisingly, it was free entry to visit. The buddha itself it 45 metres tall and kinda sorta unfinished at the moment - you can give donations to buy the white tiles (White Burmese jade marble apparently) that cover the buddha and you can also buy the little bells that surround it. I loved the atmosphere these gave, the sound of bells in the wind at the top of the island was very serene.

It sits on the top of a hill so as well as going to see the iconic buddha, you get a pretty cool viewpoint as well.

 

Wat Chalong:

I’ll admit it, a lot of people, myself included get a bit templed out after a few weeks in Thailand but I really liked this one - it’s the biggest and probably the most popular temple in all of Phuket, you could tell it was very well looked after. And again, this was free entry which was actually quite surprising because otherwise, I have found Phuket to be the most expensive part of Thailand.  

We bought candles and incense which we lit outside the temple, before taking our shoes off and wandered around inside.
 

Kata Beach:

Phuket is famous for its beaches and whilst Patong beach was walking distance from the hostel, we decided to stop off at Kata beach for lunch after our morning of sight seeing; not before having a little splash around in the sea.

Phuket Bar Crawl:

This is the one I mentioned earlier and I did it again and again. It happens every Monday, Wednesday and Friday and was such a great opportunity to get everyone together, meet people and just have fun.   The price includes a free t-shirt (which honestly is all you usually need to convince me - I do love a customised tee printed for a specific event) but you also get food at the hostel before you go out which is a pretty clever idea really. As well as that, and shots at each bar, you get a bucket and that was me done for the evening; I didn’t have to buy any more drinks for the rest of the night!

Also, the staff from the hostel always make sure you get home safe which is super reassuring, especially when you're travelling solo.

Visiting Koh Phi Phi & James Bond Island 
You can do day tours that go to both Phi Phi and the famous James Bond Island and then back to your accommodation in Phuket but alot of people like myself, like to stay overnight on Phi Phi. It super expensive compared to the rest of Thailand but definitely a lot of fun - sometime too much fun! I can only handle a couple of days there at a time before I have to retreat back to normality. Saying that, the boys and I managed to get alot of rest during the day because while the beach is the home to some of the craziest parties on the island, it's pretty serene and beautiful during the day. We did one night partying on the beach and one night in a nice resort away from the madness.

After Phi Phi we headed back to Slumber party for a couple more nights of fun in Phuket before leaving for the next destination! 

*This post contains a sponsored link

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My First Hostel Experience At La Guitarra Gdansk

My First Hostel Experience At La Guitarra Gdansk

Monday, 23 January 2017

Today's post is a hostel review! Not something I thought I'd be posting about in the past but I've really changed my outlook recently. I want to travel, and I want to do it more than two lovely holidays each year. I want to see the world and I want to experience it all and if that means staying somewhere that isn't a 5* hotel every now and then that's fine with me!

Hopefully you read about how I ended up in Poland in the first place (here) so with Selena being the expert, she talked me though booking my first hostel stay. First off, check location and accessibility, also whether it included free breakfast - all normal hotel stuff but then there were things like checking if it had lockers or whether you had to pay extra for towels, bedding or if there was a curfew - which is not all so familiar.

After we had narrowed those things down, it was about seeing which had the highest review ratings and picking a room. We decided on La Guitarra Hostel since it ticked all the boxed and was an 8.1 on hostel world. It had free internet, free breakfast and it was a fifteen minute walk from the station - passing though the center on the way. We decided on a four bed dorm - smaller rooms are usually more expensive but since it was my first time and the more expensive price was still only £7.55 we thought it was a good shout.

Checking in

After a short walk in the snow we made it to a very warm reception area. First box ticked, I was kind of a bit worried about spending our day exploring Gdansk in -19 degrees and then coming back to a cold room as well but that was not the case, reception was toasty (as was the rest of the building - our room had a huge radiator). Reception staff weren't all too friendly - most of the reviews described them as emotionless robots which I thought was a bit harsh beforehand but I can totally see where they are coming from having experienced them first hand. Still, not a problem, the guy gave us a card (the same one key card was used for the front door to the building, the dorm room and the crazy hi-tech electronic lockers) and the wifi password and we were off to check out our dorm. Reception also had a vending machine in case of emergency (running out of snacks).

Our Room & Roommates

Our room was on the first floor and had a brilliant view of the river. It had a bit of a university accommodation vibe but it was nicer than I was expecting. The room itself was in an L shape which turned out to be really great because it meant the other beds were around the corner and had we wanted to ignore them, it would have been very easy. Contrary to that, the couple we were sharing a room with were actually very nice! They were a Canadian couple travelling around Europe together and they were the perfect roommates for us. Turns out we were all in bed by 11pm reading a book (read: tweeting) and we were all very respectful of each other plus neither of them snored! We agreed on a time to set an alarm the night before - we were all off on the same tour in the morning which made that easy too.

The Bed

There were two sets of bunks beds and I took a bottom bunk. I was very impressed to spot a clean, thick, white duvet and huge fluffy pillow folded up on each bed which was super comfortable and very warm. There was also a little lamp and another socket next to each bed meaning I could charge my phone while I slept without worrying about someone stealing it. It was quite cosy actually! In the morning we were asked to strip the beds before we left.

Bathrooms

Toilets were outside the room in the hallway and were fresh and clean throughout my stay. Selena pointed out that the toilets and sinks were in different rooms which was a good thing and meant more people could use them at once but honestly I didn't see anyone else apart from our room mates though my stay. There was also a heater in each one for you to warm your towel whilst you shower!

Common Room & Kitchen
This was downstairs in the basement and oh so chilled. We popped in at about 10pm and the TV was on, some people were sitting around on the sofa with drinks and others were cooking a pizza. We came back again for breakfast in the morning and it was all very tidy set up with a simple continental breakfast. Just tea, coffee, cereals, ham, cheese and bread but it was more than enough - we both made a sandwich to take out with us that afternoon as well! I didn't fancy washing up so I ate mine off of a tissue - I'm surprised at how well I adapted to hostel life!

So what did I think? Well, maybe I just lucked out with La Guitarra or maybe  everything I've ever seen surrounded hostels has been wrong. Probably a bit of both as Selena was also pretty impressed with it too! It was clean, I felt safe there and I felt like my stuff was safe there when I was out. So overall I would totally recommend!

Have You Ever Stayed In A Hostel?

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The Generator Hostel, London

The Generator Hostel, London

Monday, 13 March 2017

You might be wondering why I was staying at a hostel when I live here so let me explain! The 28^th of Feb was a busy day this year; Pancake Day, obviously but it was also National Public Sleeping Day (whatever that means) so the guys at The Generator invited a bunch of us bloggers to come and celebrate.

The Generator is in a great location, not only for a traveler coming from St Pancras but for me coming from work, it was 20 minute walk (Tottenham court road if anyone cares.) The hostel has a street front which makes it very easy to find -  you have to walk down the little alley next to it which brings you to the hostel itself. I was first to arrive and very pleased when the lady at reception told me I’d been given a bottom bunk. All about the bottom bunk; Do you guys have a preference?

Whoever deals with their playlist has amazing taste in music because the 90's were the soundtrack to our evening and everyone loved it. Music was playing loud all night through reception and the common areas; amazingly you couldn’t hear any of it from inside the room. I was staying in room 105 which is on the same floor and probably as close to reception as you can get. Our 8 bed dorm was spacious and light with a sink in the corner and two bathrooms, each with a toilet, sink and two showers just outside.

According to the website, these 8 bed dorms don’t exist but a similar 10 bed ones costs £12 per night (although that price changes every time I check - when I checked for a Tuesday night in April, it was £22). The beds were clean and comfortable and there were big storage lockers under them although you need to bring your own lock. Connecting to the wifi was easy with just my name and email but when I set about trying to charge my phone before everyone else arrived, I was shocked to find that there were only two plug sockets in the room! I went to inquire at reception and they quickly brought us an extension lead so it wasn't a problem. Outside of the room, there were so many sockets - I guess its all about bringing people out of their rooms, The Generator are all about getting people talking.

When the other girls arrived, we popped open the champagne that the team had left for us and made our way to the cinema style common room. By now the whole place was packed, it was a Tuesday night and the hostel was totally full. We had a look around the bar, the food area and the coffee/snack area and there were people everywhere. I know I’ve only stayed in 4 hostels so far but this one was by far the biggest and most social.

The evening was spent making cocktails; and then making pancakes before going out for some drinks! They had organised a private bar crawl for us and while most of the girls stayed at the hostel, Rosie, Kristy and Kristina, the three who I was sharing a dorm with were up for a night out! We caught a bus to Camden and partied the night away.

I woke up pretty early since none of us thought to close the curtains when we rolled in at 2am but it was a very comfortable night’s sleep. In the morning we had a cooked breakfast. I went for the bagel benedict (£6.50) which was just what I needed after the night before; the girls had a fry up which cost the same. After that, we handed in the keys and that was that; my little overnight stay ended with a walk back to the office. 

 *The Generator hosted me although all thoughts are my own

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How much does a weekend in Europe's Best Destination cost?

How much does a weekend in Europe's Best Destination cost?

Tuesday, 30 May 2017

The flights from Stanstead were cheap - that's why we originally chose Porto although I later found out  that it has been voted European Best Destination three times including for 2017! I met up with Selena at the airport and made our way to the gate. Selena had an aisle seat and I had a window one so we switched - I love a aisle seat. We arrived into Porto at about 9am and after Selena made it through passport control, everything takes longer because she is from Canada, we were off to explore. [Return Flights with Ryanair: £66/€75.99]

The station is just underneath the airport so we bought a reusable train ticket and headed 15 stops to Trindade. It is the most central station on the airport line and from there, everything is in walking distance. [Train ticket: €2.55]

We started by finding out hostel for the night, The Rivoli Cinema Hostel (More of that in another post) but we weren’t able to check in straight away so it was time to start exploring. We walked just down the road to Majestic cafe which had so many reviews online, it was a “must visit” although when we arrived there was a long queue and it was very overpriced so we decided against it and instead went on the hunt for a Porto specialty - La Francesinha. It wasn't the most amazing thing I've ever eaten but when in Rome and all that. We shared an original one which was was stuffed with different meats and cheese and came with chips.

[Hostel for one night including breakfast: €15 | La francesinha: €9 (€4.50 each)]

Next it was time for dessert and one of the things I was most excited about visiting Portugal for – Natas! These delicious puff pastry and custard tarts are what Portugal is famous for and can be found in bakeries all over the place. Selena lead us to a residential area away from all the touristy stuff and we round a local bakery where we bought our first fix. They were deep filled, just the right amount of brown on top and seriously delicious! We also found the cheapest bottles of water on that street – move away from the tourist spots to save money.
[Natas: €1 each | Water: €0.20]

High on custard, we were off to explore! This, surprisingly, is when we stopped spending money! We grabbed a map, which had all of the points of interest marked out and we made our way through all of them. We saw many beautiful churches covered in Azulejo (blue tiles.) On our free walking tour we found out that, apart from looking pretty, the tiles were originally added to buildings to prevent humidity and help with temperature control, I’d recommend Capelas del almas (just across the road from Balhoa station) and Church of Saint Ildefonso as they were the prettiest. We spend the afternoon learning about the history of Porto and finished up at Louis I bridge in Ribera. [Walking tour: Free | Lift up the cliff as the steps were closed off: €2.50]

For dinner, we hit up a tapas bar and indulged in garlic prawns, bacon and mushrooms and all of the potatoes. They tried to add a dish to the receipt that we didn’t ask for but after kicking up a fuss, they took it off.
[Two tapas dishes and a bottle of water: €12]

The next morning, we had breakfast in the hostel before heading out to explore some more. This time we went straight to Livrera de lello which is a famous book shop in Porto. Remind you of anything? Did you know that J K Rowling lived in Porto for 18 months? Apparently this beautiful bookshop inspired her. It was packed and it cost to even enter but it wasn’t too much and we really wanted to go in so we paid for it. I also stopped off to buy Andrew a shot glass for his collection. [Entrance to the bookshop: €4 | Shot glass: €2.50]

 For lunch, we stopped off in a bakery for a slice of quiche and another nata before heading to my last tourist stop of the trip. The Clerigos Church which again cost to get in. We climbed to the top of the tower and looked out over Porto before exploring the exhibition and church below. Afterwards, it started to rain so, I went back to the hostel for an hour whilst Selena headed to a park for some more exploring. I met her back at the station and we loaded our travel cards up and heading back to the station. 
[Quiche: €1.31 | Nata: €0.65 | Church entrance: €4 | Train top up: €1.55]

So, in answer to my original question, for me, a weekend in Porto costs €127.75

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Town house 373 Hostel, Ho Chi Minh City

Town house 373 Hostel, Ho Chi Minh City

Wednesday, 26 July 2017

I  did a hell of a lot of research for my recent trip to Vietnam. I've been to Asia before but always though a travel agent so booking this trip by myself was a big thing. I knew that I was going to be a long way from home, very hot and very tired so it was pretty important that I picked places that I could come back to relax after a long day. I didn't want the stress of being unhappy with where I was staying ruining my trip. 

Whilst most of these things are a given when you book a nice hotel, it was especially important to me with my anxiety and OCD, that my accommodation was clean and safe; and good A/C was a bonus. Our hostel in Ho Chi Minh City was particularly important because it was going to be the first hostel we stayed at in Vietnam and the place we would go to having come off of a very long flight. I picked Town house 373 which was part of three town house hostels in HCMC.

With a 9.1 rating on hostel world, Town houses 373 seemed like a good choice. They helped with booking my airport transfer and we arrived at around 7.30am. Reception was bright, spacious and as soon as I entered, I felt totally at ease to leave my bags there in reception which is very odd for me. They continued to make us feel safe throughout - I was very pleased to see that they had a padlock on the door each night which they had to open for us to get in.

 

Although it is located down an alley way, a lot of places in HCMC were, it was the perfect location for me as it was close to the backpacker district but it was on a different street so it was very peaceful. Whilst at first I was a little worried about how far down the alleyway it was; after I walked down it on my own for the first time, I realised that alleys here are not like alleys in London and it was totally fine, there were other hostel and shops the whole way down.

The room was my biggest shock and that was in a good way. As we opened the door, we were hit with cool air. The photos on Hostelworld look a tad bit digitally created so I wasnt 100% sure whether to believe them but surprisingly, it looked exactly the same. Again it was very light with white walls and a blue stripe design behind the wall mounted TV. Yes, there was a TV; and a safe. Amazing. 

We paid $90 for three nights in a private twin en suite room ($15 / £11 per person per night) but were upgraded to a private triple room so there was loads of space. The beds themselves were quite hard but I actually prefer that when it's not my own bed - I'd also say that these were actually the cleanest of the trip with not a stain in sight.

The room came with a daily free bottle of water each, a complementary large and small towel and was cleaned daily - just like a hotel! The bathroom was also equipped with shower gel, shampoo and toothbrushes.

It was pretty perfect for what I wanted but I thought I better mentioned the bad points here. These things didn't bother us in the slightest but I guess it's worth mentioning. There wasn't a lift so we had to carry our stuff up two flights of stairs and the A/C was great but it was loud although that was nothing a pair of ear plugs couldn't fix - apart from that, it was actually very quiet at night time.

Lastly our shower leaked so the bathroom floor did get quite wet but as I said, it was cleaned daily and I brought shower flip flops so it didn't make a difference to me.

The wifi was fast and the breakfast was great with a selection of fruit including bananas, many of which we took out on with us for the day plus they did freshly cooked eggs. There was also a fridge with the cheapest water that we found in the whole of our stay; a small bottle there cost 5,000 VND which translates to 17p.

This hostel wasn't social at all but that was just what I was looking for. There was always someone to welcome you at reception but apart from that, there was hardly anyone around. For me, it was the perfect place to come back to after an exhausting day exploring the crazy city outside.

More Vietnam Posts: 
Two week Vietnam itinerary
Cruising Halong Bay 

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Being a Digital Nomad in Ho Chi Minh City

Being a Digital Nomad in Ho Chi Minh City

Tuesday, 2 October 2018

I wasn’t really sure what to call this post because even though it is true on some days, I don’t really call myself a digital nomad. That being said, I do take on remote freelance work sometimes and if I do it when I’m travelling, then I guess I am, for all intensive purpose, a digital nomad.

Whilst I was happy to be 'unemployed' and traveling full time when I was in Asia, having the option to take a few hours out from my day to sit down and top up my travel money is something I will always be greatful that I can do. Not only is the money a plus; but working online also keeps my mind active and was great for filling any boring gaps I had.

Heres what day as a backpacking digital nomad typically looked like for me.

Ho Chi Minh City ended up being the last stop on my Asian adventure whilst I waited around for my visa to come through so I was there for three weeks in total, by the end of it I knew the city like the back of my hand, I knew exactly where I was going most of the time; no need for sat navs. It’s not somewhere that people stay for too long because it's pretty intense but I really did love the city - it’s hot and sticky, loud, bustling and there are motorbikes absolutely everywhere but that’s what I’m all about, I’d pick a big foreign city over the beach any day.

Well and truly embracking backpacker life and not knowing how long I'd have to wait for my visa, I booked myself into the cheapest room that I could find; a 16 bed dorm at a party hostel called The Hangout; and I really enjoyed my time there. It cost £4 per night which included breakfast and two mixed drinks - talk about value for money. Plus the bigger, the better - more beds means more opportunities to make friends (and to find someone who was travelling with a pair of straighteners.) 

Waking up at around 8am I'd usually be the first one out of bed. Saigon is magical in the morning, for such a ridiculously loud and fast paced city, the early morning was when I found it most authentic, I  loved wandering through the streets as the stall holders set up their markets.

The life of Vietnam is hidden in the alleyways and it's where I spent most of my time. One morning when I first arrived, I went for a wander and found a little gem that I went back to every single day until I left. What looked like just another dingy smoothie place, where the blenders were held together with elastic bands turned out to be Saigon’s best kept secret. 

I couldn’t start my day without a visit and I’d spend a half hour just sat there drinking my smoothie and watching life go by around me. I switched between two flavours, Milo (chocolate) and banana or an mango and passionfruit, both equally delicious and 25k (70p) each. More often than not I'd get through three smoothies a day.

After that it starts to get really hot and sticky and a bit crazy out on the streets so with an hour that needed filling and in search of some more morning calm, I headed to the gym. I found a great one at The Luna Hotel overlooking the backpacker street which cost me a grand total of 70K (3.70) pay as you go. It was also where I showered because towels were free there and they weren't at the hostel. lol backpacker life.

Whilst breakfast was the most delicious meal of the day, lunch was my best bargain of the day. I always try to eat where there are locals so having sat down surrounded by Vietnamese people and ordered some chicken which cost 25k (70p again) I was amazed when I was brought not only the chicken that I had ordered, but a side of rice, some green veg, a bowl of soup and an iced tea all included in the price.

After lunch, I had no more excuses left to avoid doing some work so that’s when I finally sat down to do some. Usually I’d head to the hostel to do it because everyone was still asleep and it was the quietest place. It also had air con, toilets and plugs so it was just an easy, free option.

By 3 or 4pm, people started to emerge and it’d be time to finish up work and just enjoy being a backpacker. Some days I went off to explore with friends; manicures, sky bars, markets. Others, someone would sit down in front of me with a pack of cards and we’d just mess around for a few hours.

Whatever adventure we decided to go on usually ended up with us agreeing that we needed to go back to the hostel for a nap. People would be coming and going at different hours all throught the night but you could be sure that if you wanted to get some proper rest, the best time to do it would be early evening becasue everyone would be returning from day trips and preparing for an evening of partying.

The evenings began at 8pm when the free drinks started and finished at all sorts of different times depending on the night and the crowd. Some nights we'd just stay at the hostel bar and others we'd head out to the club's. Or sometimes I just went to the gym. Either way though, I was always excited to head home because it meant I had to walk through Bui Vien Street (backpacker street) which was where all the street food was at. More often than not I'd sit down at a tiny table and order myself a midnight feast. I had street food for every single meal after Jonny left because we didn't eat any while he was there; he was just too big for the seats.

After that it was time to head back to the room so see what awaited me there. Sometimes that would be the end of my night and I'd be able to get into bed and go to sleep. Sometimes I'd get back to find the whole room having a deep meaningful chat over a pizza at 2am.

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