31 July 2018, Tuesday After my very brief stint in Ho Chi Minh City, it was time to move on again – to Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. This would be the 17th country of my trip. At 7:30am, I went for a quick breakfast at the common dining area located on the rooftop […]
Asia | The Grand Adventure 2018 | Vietnam
The Grand Adventure: Day 91 – Vietnam (Nha Trang / Ho Chi Minh City)
30 July 2018, Monday After spending the past two days in Nha Trang, I would be continuing my journey to Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) today, which would be my last stop in Vietnam. I opted for a day bus this time round, having learned my lesson after enduring an uncomfortable ride on the overnight […]
29 July 2018, Sunday It was Sunday, and I had nothing planned for the day ahead in Nha Trang. I woke up at 8:45am, checked the weather forecast and saw that it was going to be another hot day with temperatures hovering around 33 degrees Celsius. I lazed in bed for a while longer, then […]
28 July 2018, Saturday After an uncomfortable, 11-hour bus ride from Hội An, I arrived Nha Trang at 5:05am. I didn’t sleep well on the bus at all. The sky was still dark and the streets were empty at this unearthly hour. Half-awake, I alighted from the bus in a daze and tried to get […]
Asia | The Grand Adventure 2018 | Vietnam
The Grand Adventure: Day 88 – Vietnam (Hội An / Nha Trang)
27 July 2018, Friday The past two days at Hội An had been relaxing and wonderful, so I was a bit sad that I would be leaving later in the evening on an overnight bus to the southern coastal city of Nha Trang. But first, I would be joining a traditional countryside bicycle tour in […]
26 July 2018, Thursday This morning, at the invitation of my homestay hosts, I woke up very early and joined them for a game of beach volleyball. At 5:20am, I left the guest house with the father and son of the house and we drove to An Bang Beach, a short 10-minute drive away. An […]
25 July 2018, Wednesday As it turned out, my overnight bus from Hanoi did not take me directly to Hội An. At 7:25am, we arrived at Huế, an ancient coastal city located in central Vietnam. We were told to alight and transfer to another bus, which would only depart about an hour later. Naturally, I […]
24 July 2018, Tuesday At 9:15am this morning, I went for breakfast at my hostel. I paid only US$8 for one night’s stay and breakfast was included, what a steal! It was typical Vietnamese fare of omelette, baguette, a banana and hot coffee. Simple but appetising. When in Vietnam, I simply love to eat the […]
23 July 2018, Monday After a 12½-hour train ride, I arrived at Hanoi’s Ga Gia Lâm railway station at 5:30am. I didn’t sleep particularly well on the train so I was still a little groggy when the train pulled up at the station. After disembarking, I looked for a ride to take me to my […]
Asia | China | The Grand Adventure 2018 | Vietnam
The Grand Adventure: Day 83 – China (Nanning) / Vietnam (Hanoi)
22 July 2018, Sunday This will be a really short post because it was one of those days when nothing eventful happened. Nanning is not a tourist destination and there aren’t many notable sightseeing places in the city. I lay in bed for as long as I could until I finally dragged myself out of […]
21 July 2018, Saturday After a well-rested night, I woke up at about 10am and continued lazing on my comfy round bed before heading out to take a short walk around my hotel. It was another hot day at 36 degrees Celsius but I felt much lighter and cooler with my fresh haircut. After buying […]
20 July 2018, Friday This morning, we went for breakfast at our inn at 7:45am. Breakfast was included in our booking but sadly, it wasn’t very appetising. It comprised of corn porridge, soup rice noodles, hard-boiled eggs, steamed mantou and unsweetened soya bean milk. Just give me a cup of hot coffee, bread with peanut […]
Asia | China | The Grand Adventure 2018
The Grand Adventure: Day 80 – China (Zhangjiajie / Fenghuang)
19 July 2018, Thursday After spending three full days at Zhangjiajie, it was time to say goodbye to Toro, the adorable Labrador Retriever at our cosy Wally House guest house at Wulingyuan. And of course, his owner as well. At 9am, we loaded our suitcases onto the van and made our way southwest to Fenghuang […]
18 July 2018, Wednesday It was our third and final day of our Zhangjiajie tour. In the past two days, we had covered the Wulingyuan Scenic Area, where we visited Yuanjiajie to see the famous Avatar Hallelujah Mountain, as well as Tianzi Mountain, Huanglong Cave, Baofeng Lake, Ten-Mile Natural Gallery and Golden Whip Stream. Today, […]
17 July 2018, Tuesday It was the second day of our Zhangjiajie tour and we would continue our exploration of the Wulingyuan Scenic Area. Yesterday, we went up the mountains and visited the majestic Yuanjiajie and Tianzi Mountain. Today, we would not be venturing up the mountains but would instead visit the attractions at ground […]
16 July 2018, Monday Rise and shine, exciting day ahead! We woke up bright and early at 7am and walked over to a small eatery near our guest house for breakfast. There was a “buffet” breakfast for only CNY 10 (S$2.09) but sadly, the variety of food available was very limited. We ended up only […]
Asia | China | The Grand Adventure 2018
The Grand Adventure: Day 76 – China (Shanghai / Zhangjiajie)
15 July 2018, Sunday This evening, we would be catching a short flight from Shanghai to Zhangjiajie, our next destination in China. I mentioned before that the concept for this Grand Adventure was to take one flight out of Singapore and make my way back home by land. So strictly speaking, I wasn’t supposed to […]
14 July 2018, Saturday For our final full day in Shanghai, we only had one objective today – shopping! We would be moving on to Zhangjiajie tomorrow and we knew that shopping opportunities there would be scant, so we made full use of our last day in Shanghai to shop to our hearts’ content. We […]
13 July 2018, Friday It was our second day in Shanghai and we started it by having a very sumptuous breakfast at the hotel. That is one of the good things about staying in a hotel – you don’t have to worry about finding food early in the morning or the night before, and you […]
12 July 2018, Thursday This morning, we checked out of our comfortable hutong house at 6:30am. Our Airbnb host picked us up in his spacious combo vehicle and sent us to Beijing South Railway Station. The morning traffic was heavy and it took us around 45 minutes to get there. On the whole, we enjoyed […]