My 5 tips for first time travelers

One of the most common things that people say to me when I talk to them about traveling is; your so brave I could never go off like that by myself or I wouldn't even know where to start. Equally sad is when you hear about a fellow traveler's first experiences at being scammed, pick pocketed or ripped off over something that could have been avoided with a little more knowledge, street smarts or research. As someone whose done a fair amount of traveling by now here is my five tips for first time travelers.
 

1) Relax, you are not alone: I remember my first time sat alone in a hotel room in India, I had had a shit first day (India kinda specialises in that department) and I was wondering if I should just fly home. But instead I put on some music from an ipod that my friends had brought me and relaxed. The next day I found a backpackers cafe where I met a ton of awesome people and by the next week I was soaring through the Himalayas with a bunch of my fellow travelers. The truth is everyone worries that they won't make friends or have shit days when traveling. But there are (literally) tons of fellow backpackers just like you out there to befriend, party with or just cheer you up when your having a bad day, so don't stress and just go with the flow.

2) Please don't feed the touts: Doing just a bit of research can make a big difference to any trip, even if you don't have a travel guide try to read up on just some of the scams that are more common in each country. I remember just how annoying it was being led into a 'tourist office' only to leave in disgust after they tried to convince me my hotel wasn't safe and that for only £50 they could help me find a new one in  a better area. Some of the more common ones include being taken to a wrong (and more expensive) hotel or hostel by your tuk tuk driver, having people approach you in the street (usually with the chorus lines "Hello my friend, where you from, England?") being overcharged for a relatively short journey. Over time you'll develop a sense for this and get wise to any tricks that they might use on you. Having said all this...

3) Not every local you meet will be trying to rip you off: Speaking from experience, there are many many locals out there on the road who will be genuinely interested in you, want to help you and listen to what you have to say. With a little common sense you should be able to start being able tell the difference between the two (rip off merchants generally aren't that subtle).

4) Get tips from fellow traveler: Generally speaking if you're a touch unsure about where to go or what to do next your fellow travelers can be great sources of advice and guidance. They can tell you about cool places they found, things to avoid and where to get the best deals or give you ideas about experiences that you might want to try yourself at some point. You might even find yourself falling in with a few like minded travelers or groups for a little while if you like the idea of where they are headed. And remember conversely if you find yourself not enjoying the company you're with or the crowd that a particular place attracts you can always just got somewhere else.

5) Have fun but at the same time be safe: Traveling is fun and you should take the opportunity to enjoy yourself and have a good time. But at the same time theres nothing wrong with using a bit of common sense. Getting plastered can be awesome, getting plastered to the point you can't get home or lose all your stuff not so much. Be aware and use your common sense. The same is true when it comes to budgeting you can have all sorts of awesome experiences each day and still have a rough idea of how much you might want to spent  At the end of the day as with most things in life its about balance.

Hope this helps to get your travel juices going. After all its a big, fun world out there.

Back to Bangkok

My time travelling had been fun, but sadly all good things must come to an end and I came back to Bangkok with a day or two to kill before I flew back to Britain. I had previously decided to pace myself in terms of sight seeing in Bangkok and had been in two minds about seeing the (very expensive) Bangkok royal palace.

It turned out to be well worth the asking price however, as the temples within it were truly stunning. The complex itself turned out to be pretty big as well and I spent most of the afternoon exploring every nook and cranny of it only to find out that I hadn't even reached the royal palace portion of it.

The current king of Thailand Rama IX, is extremely respected and revered in Thailand (as I found out halfway through buying tickets on a subway only for all the Thais around me to stop dead for a minute as the national anthem played for him). And this was reflected in the grandness and beauty of his throne room.

 I spent that evening chilling out, drinking beer and eating with my fellow travellers at the fabulous U-Baan Guesthouse (yes its shameless hostel promotion time, but to be fair Joy is a awesome if slightly sardonic host and this is my blog so nahhh). My only hick up was in mixing up my flight times, so I arrived bleary eyed to the airport that morning only to find out I could have had a whole extra few hour lie in.

Still overall my time travelling had been a fun, beautiful and eye opening experience and I wouldn't change any of it for the world.

Thailand: Chang Mai

I flew back into Bangkok before taking the very first night bus I could find up to Chang Mai. The city itself proved to be a charming mixture of modern city, ancient temples, bustling night markets and happening night spots, all surrounded by the spectacular nature imaginable.

After arriving early into the very heart of the city, I took my first day there as a chance to relax and recuperate before doing some light sight seeing. Even this proved to unearth a whole treasure trove of wonders, as I past (and then got tempted into) glowing golden temple, after glowing golden temple.

The best was saved for the next day however, as I took a shared taxi up to the hill top temple of Doi Suthep. This complex sat like a jewel overlooking the city of Chang Mai; a rich tapestry of brightly coloured statues, shining buddhas, intricately inlayed doors and walls and in the very centre a spire covered in purest gold. It was a wonderful way to spend my afternoon.

The sun was setting as I arrived back in the city and I decided to join one of my companions in exploring the night markets of Chang Mai. We browsed the market, examined glowing laterns, past rows sequined bags and purses and sampled the wonderful street food on display, before flopping down on the ground to eat. Afterwards I parted ways with my companion and had a rather delightful evening after deciding to pull up a pew with another fellow traveller.

The next day I decided it was time to do something fun, so I decided zip lining was the way forward. As I got picked up we drove through the beautifully pristine forest through which the zip lines had been build. And after a sharp ascent through several flights of steps, I was soon flying through the trees at a rather exhilarating rate of knots. Having slid, tandemed, supermaned and just plain bombed down a zig zag of intercrossing wires, I finally found myself absailing my way down to the forest floor. We topped all this excitement off with an amazing lunch and a walk up to a nearby waterfall.

By the time I arrived back in Chang Mai, I was ready for the return trip back to Bangkok and my final flight home.

Vietnam: The Mekong Delta

After a few days of being distinctly lazy on a Vietnamise beach, I decided it was time to get off my ass and do a bit of actual sightseeing. I therefore decided to take a boat/bus to the city of Can Tho, the settling for one of Vietnam's famous floating markets.

I settled on a rather charming hotel in the centre of the city and, rising before dawn, I set out on my tour of the floating markets. As our boat chugged up the river, we were treated to a truly lovely sunrise that bathed everything in a warm orange glow.

By that point me and my fellow tourists were all getting a bit peckish, so as we pulled up to the market it was a pleasant surprise to find one of the boats ladling out steaming portions of beef noodle soup. After pigging out on it and freshly prepared coffee I took in the sights and sounds of the floating market. People selling everything from fish, veg, junk food and even the occasional electronic good floated past us, all on the mostly brightly coloured boats imaginable.

After all this hustle and bustle it was a pleasant surprise to find that on the return journey our guide took us on a detour down some of the backwaters of the river. We drifted past verdant green shores, upon waters that turned to green and sparkling gold in the midday sun.

I arrived back at my hotel in the early afternoon and decided to spend the rest of my day wandering around Can Tho. It proved to be quite a nice place to spend the day and as I walked down past the river I got sucked into a rather beautiful buddhist temple decked out in the most splendid golds and blues imaginable.

My time in Vietnam was coming to an end however and the next day I took a bus back to Saigon, ready to fly back for my final two weeks in Thailand.

Vietnam: Dinh Quan

Dinh Quan was the next destination on my travels. I had past through the town on my first pass through Vietnam and I had been impressed with the truly stupendous boulders that littered the town. So as the bus rolled through from Cat Tien I jumped off and decided to explore.

I managed to check in to a relatively nice (and more importantly cheap) hotel and was soon exploring the town. It was bizarre to see shops and garages literally backing onto rocks that were twice the size of them and in some cases being used as billboards to advertise local products.

Wandering the town, I was drawn to the distance figure of a buddha that sat high on the rocks overlooking the area. It turned out that the area it sat in had been turned into a wonderful area of semi wild parkland and as I scampered over rocks and climbed past fences I was struck by just how beautiful the area was.

After I had toured the massive buddha I puffed and panted my way up the rock face on the other side of the park and was rewarded with a massive rock that was perched precariously on one side. I sunbathed beside it and enjoyed ice tea with the local teenagers who were hanging out by the boulders.

Volunteering with Go East part 3

By the time my third week on Dao Tien rolled round I felt I had settled into a relatively set routine on the island. This was however to be my last week volunteering on the project and in alot of ways it really felt like the best had been saved for last. A real highlight of my time there came that week as I finally got to go out and see the gibbons feeding in a semi wild environment (a vital part of the rehabilitation part of the project).

As I walked into the semi wild enclosure, I had a powerful moment of elation as I first saw the gibbons flying through the trees. This stage was an important part of the project, where the staff would take a step away from the gibbons in order to prepare them for life in the jungle. And although the staff would still go in to feed them twice a day (as we did now), it was great to know that these beautiful creatures would one day be ready to go back into the jungles of Cat Tien.

That week I was also taken out around the island to collect the seeds and leaves that the gibbons liked to eat. I perfected the art of catching the elusive grasshoppers that inhabited the thick grasses behind out lodge (these would then be fed the island's incredibly adorable Pygmy Loris), I gave tours and went out for a lovely evening meal at the home of one of the people who worked for Cat Tien national park. I also got to see first hand the truly innovative spirit that has served the Vietnamise people so well in their daily lives (A key for a padlock you say? Crazy talk when we have this handy sledge hammer right here).

On one of my last days my normal routine was set aside however and I was told to come with another volunteer down to the riverside. There we found one of the members of staff waiting for us with a rowing boat, we were taken out onto the river and got to drift serenely around the island river as the boatman rowed (with his feet no less). It was a real treat made even better when I got to see the island's wild Black Shanked Ducs leaping between the trees.

My last night was a wonderful send off, as I came in to find brownies waiting in the common area and me and my fellow work mates chilled out, chatted and watched Game of Thrones (which I was proud to be able to introduce to one of the volunteers).

In the morning I packed my bag, said some fond fairwells and set sail on what was approaching the final leg of my journey.

Volunteering with Go East: Part 2

By my second week on the island I was fully getting into the swing of things, I had learned about the four types of primates that the project was aiming to protect on the island. The Pygmy Loris, the Golden Cheeked Gibbon, the Silver Langer and the Black Shanked Duc. All beautiful creatures and all at risk of extinction due to deforestation, hunting, the illegal pet trade and the use of traditional Chinese medicines.

It was sad to learn the stories behind some of these animals, how two gibbons had been rescued from a tiny cage in a Vietnamise school where they had been continually stressed out and harassed by school children. Or the Pygmy Loris who had been taken from the wild and had his teeth pulled out because there was a chance he might bite his owners. Whatever the story the message was clear these animals don't make make good pets and shouldn't be taken as them.

But at Dao Tien there was hope for them. I watched them play and frolic to their heart's content, safe in the knowledge that one day there was a hope that these animals could be released back into the wild.

I was giving tours by the second week and it was great to know that I was helping to raise awareness about the plight of these animals. I also got to help clean the cages of the gibbons, a fun endevour made even more challenging by the fact that the animals would often try and grab you or your broom while you were cleaning one part of the enclosure.

What really impressed me about the project was that both the Vietnamise and British staff were so hard working, it was very humbling to see how much effort everyone put into the centre and its work.

I also got to see and photograph a bit more of the island itself including the dried out river bed behind our main office. This all had to be done carefully though as the island itself could potentially provide some unforseen hazards. Still by the end of my second week I was very much looking forward to my third week there, when I would finally get to see the gibbons feed in a semi wild environment.

Cambodia: The floating villages of Kampong Lounge

 After my adventure in Siem Reap I needed some time to relax so I travelled by boat to the city of Battamberg (i'll talk more on that later). We travelled by boat down the Mekong River, one of the largest lakes in South East Asia. We past brightly coloured house boats filled with people trading, washing, fishing and relaxing.

I took a bus to the nearby floating village of Kampong Lounge and after arriving by motor bike I was soon traversing the waters of the lake. The houses were ingeniously set up to be homes, businesses and fully floating boats. My overnight home turned out to be a mixture of hotel, barbers and local store. It was also the home to many dogs and two deeply mischievous Macques.

Now as reinforced by my time at Cat Tien I had come to the conclusion that monkeys should not be kept as pets and these little bastards confirmed this suspicion by proceeding to steal my glasses (and get aggressive when I made to get them back). After some bribery involving banana however we managed to successfully retrieve them. Even though they didn't look that badly treated it was still heart breaking to see them put on such short chains, unable to get the exercise they needed (or probably even the correct diet that would be good for them).

I spend my day relaxing, reading, people watching and taking a tour of the lake that took me past a rather impressive floating cathedral and allowed me the opportunity to stop to take tea with a group of wedding guest waiting for a service.

By night I sat out on the prow of the house and watched the lake become a sea of lights, floating serenely in the night.