Travels

First obstacle: the Mekong, green and immense ... and now what? As it turns out, in this section there are no bridges to cross to the other shore! And on top of the bike we look a little worried ... But don't panic! If there is one thing that is never a problem in Asia, it is transportation: anywhere and at any time there is always someone riding on something that can take you where you are going ... And this time it has not been different: we cross the great river aboard an mmm improvised boat?

After trying the hammocks at our start of the trip through Laos we wanted to enjoy them again, it is already time ... and what better place where the Mekong becomes an immense sea full of islets, the so-called 4,000 islands from Laos, some so small that they only have a small tree, and some larger ones where you can stay in one of its many bungalows by the river.

After passing through the Cambodian beaches we headed to the border that connects this country with Vietnam, although our first destination is an island that paradoxically faces the coast of Cambodia, in fact during our crab eater at the seashore we could see in the distance the silhouette of Phu Quoc, which is what it is called.

Our Vietnamese adventure has taken us to the imperial city Hue. Here, apart from seeing the ancient capital of the Nguyen dynasty, we celebrate my birthday. The truth is that it was a bit strange to turn years so far from home, but the funny thing is to have lived the hottest February 7 of my life, with shorts and sweat drop included (although you will see that later we would miss the Asian heat).

Caught though a bit strangely. We have not lost our passport, they have not stolen all our money, there is no revolution in the streets or anything like that ... We arrived in Saigon (or as it was renamed: Ho Chi Minh) after paying a good sum to get out of the Phu Quoc Island. The bus that should leave us in the center of the city does it in a kind of bus cemetery, where the only life we ​​find is that of the taxi drivers who are waiting for us rubbing their hands.

To spend the month of our visa in Cambodia, we spent the last days in two villages near the border with Vietnam. The first one was Kampot, famous for its pepper, which was highly valued in France in its colonial era. Little did we do here, the truth is that the only thing that surprised us was the wide range of quirky monuments at each roundabout ... a giant durian, a monument to the year 2000, farmer farmers ... yes, all of modern times, the khemres were already in charge Reds end any art sign in their territory.

Mui Ne is a fishing village in Vietnam where we have spent the next two nights of our trip. Read like this it seems a quiet place, with local people, a relaxed atmosphere ... nothing is further from reality, and more after our experience, which we will later tell. On the side of the town and for several kilometers of coastline, an infinity of super luxury resort rises, something we had never seen until now during our trip, next to each other, with hardly any space to access the beach.

When we were in Spain planning our trip to Asia, there were places that were essential for us: Bagan, Angkor and of course: Halong Bay. We had read a lot about this site, seen photos, and imagined what it would be like to navigate its waters ... but WOW! There is no idea, word or photo that can describe the beauty of this place!

After passing through the capital and a little escape to the north (this will be for us), we finally head south, towards the beaches! The first stop is the Railay Peninsula, a land overhang near Krabi surrounded by mountains that make it inaccessible by land. To get to it we have to take a long stern boat that leaves us next to the beach ... the last meters we cross them with our feet in the water and the backpack very high so that it does not get wet.

Today's post talks about a paradise island in Thailand ideal for backpacking: Koh Lipe! And they call it a dog's life ... that's because they haven't met Koh Lipe's dogs! This canine variety spends the day developing 3 activities: Lying on the beach (better under the sunbeds of the reddest guiris of the strawberries of Huelva) Bathing in the sea (if it is with the heat it does and the amount of hairs that They have a dip is the least) Eat (maneee would be missing more!

Kuala Lumpur is one of our favorite cities, its streets have seen how these two backpackers got lost and found each other, ate like bears in their restaurants, drank the worst beer in the world and suffered the worst hangover in the world (normal), knew good friends , they enjoyed the songs of their mosques ... Today we are going to give you 10 reasons why we love Kuala Lumpur ... 1.

After 6 months circling Asia we have finally stumbled upon our Paradise. Koh Rong will have a very large space in our little hearts, but after passing through the Perhentian Islands, we can only recognize that so far it is the best beach of the trip. Just half an hour from the coast, in the northeast corner of Malaysia, these two coconut palm islands, full of geckos (lizards of a considerable size) invite you to absolute relaxation.

A few weeks ago we learned that my dear formula one would pass through this continent at the beginning of the season, we began to square dates and Bingo! We will be in Kuala Lumpur for the Sepang Grand Prix! Lety is not too convinced, she always gets bored when on summer Sundays I spend the morning in front of the TV watching cars go back and forth, until completing the almost two hours of the race (plus the previous one), she doesn't know what awaits her !

Warm, warm. Here is the story of how two backpackers were about to be scammed to the core on their visit to the Bromo volcano on the island of Java, Indonesia, but as events finally turn sharply until they end up benefiting from the situation in a way somewhat funny ... In 3, 2, 1 ... "The best Dawn of Java, take fake and take good".

DAY 5. UBUD AND VOLCANO AND LAKE BATUR. 80 KM Today's goal is to reach the northeast to visit the largest lake in Bali, the Danu Batur. After meeting a small group of Spaniards at breakfast, we set off, and our first stop is the Gunung Kawi, a site of carved stones of up to 8 meters, with a kind of citadel carved in stone certainly interesting.

Well what was missing! Also the islands now suffer from personality disturbances. And it is clear that what Bali has is an obvious bipolar disorder: extreme changes in his mood, his nervousness, his improvised euphoria, his kindness followed by hustle and bustle ... pouf! Is it good? Is it bad?

In Asia it is hot, very hot, and if we remove some exceptional case (Hanoi), we have lived for six months with an average of 25 or 30 degrees and a sticky humidity. So, when we read that in Malaysia there is an area lost by the mountains, tea plantations, strawberries and with fresh air and temperatures that do not rise to 20 degrees, we have not thought twice: Cameron Higlands there we go.

Halfway between Yogyakarta and Jakarta we made a stop at the surfer village of Batu Caras. Of course, to get there we had to make several bus changes, as usual, to finish the two mounted on a motorcycle grabbed as we could to the driver, and balancing so as not to throw backpacks.

We arrived in Jogyakarta bribed by the agency to take a minibus instead of waiting for the night bus of the night we had worked with them, and we did not regret it. We shared the trip with another German couple, with whom we had already done the jeep tour of the volcano, and with Fulvio, an Italian boy who played DJ.

I already told you what were the bad things about traveling alone but the most important thing was pending: to encourage you to travel alone (at least) once in a lifetime. And you know why you should travel alone? There are a few reasons to do it and in this post I am going to tell you a few ... I have divided the post into 2 parts: the first one talks about the benefits of traveling alone, the second one tries to answer (and demystify) some of the main doubts at the time of traveling alone.