Welcome to the backpacking diaries, where I’ll be updating you weekly on where I’ve been, what I’ve been getting up to, and most importantly, how I’m really feeling about this insane decision I’ve made.
As you probably know, I’m currently backpacking through Asia after quitting my job and leaving London for good.
I want to remember every moment of this experience, and document as much of it as I can, just like I’ve documented everything else in my life post-18 on this website.
You can keep up to date with my travels on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube but for now, enjoy week eleven of the travel diaries!
If you missed the first ten weeks of backpacking diaries, you can catch up here.
Top tip: for mobile data around Asia, we used the Airalo eSim which was super handy and easily installed onto our phones as soon as we arrived in Vietnam!
Day 71: Monday 27th May 2024
Location: Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Dear travel diary,
Today was an excursion day. We were up bright and early as our minivan was collecting us at 9am to take us to the Chu Chi tunnels, to learn about the Vietnam War.
We were very lucky with our tour guide as he was hilarious, and we also had a large group of American college graduates that he was happy to make fun of during the entire tour.
A war veteran himself, he told us personal stories of the Vietnam War and his experience as a leader of a platoon.
It was incredibly eye opening to visit this area and learn about the tunnels. We even experienced crawling through one of the tunnels that they’ve made wider for tourists and I was almost for passing out as I didn’t realise what I’d gotten myself into once I entered.
Since I had gone down there with people in front and people behind, there was no way back out except to go forward, with no idea how long the tunnel went on for. I was shaking like a leaf when I came out and I know I’ll have flashbacks to that moment for a very long time.
How the Vietnamese lived down there in those tunnels for years, I will never know. But for survival, who knows what any of us are capable of.
After the tour, we headed to a Michelin Guide spot for some beef Pho. It was good, but not the best Pho I had during our time in Vietnam so far.
Day 72: Tuesday 28th May 2024
Location: Ho Chi Minh City & Nha Trang, Vietnam
Dear travel diary,
Today was a day of travel. We headed to the bus station and had no idea where to find where we were going. A guy in a shirt who looked very flustered shouted at us and had our name on a sheet of paper, so we went with it.
We waited for a while at the station and then were squashed into a very small minivan full of locals. We were due to be on a bus for 11 hours, and there was no way this could be it.
Due to leave at 9am, it was now 9.30am with no sign of going anywhere, but loading up the minivan with as many parcels and packages that was possible.
Luckily, we were transported in this minivan to a large sleeper bus that would take us to Nha Trang. The bus must have stopped every five minutes along the way to drop off or pick up parcels, making it more of a postal service than a direct bus journey.
Once we arrived into the Nha Trang area late that night, we were circling the same streets dropping off and picking up parcels, getting closer and then farther from our destination. It didn’t seem like the driver was going to take us to our hotel, so a lot of us got out at one of the bigger stops and opted to take a Grab taxi to our hotel instead.
Our first long bus journey in Vietnam was not enjoyable, that’s for sure.
The first thing we noticed about Nha Trang was the traffic. For a beach area, it was hectic. Lots of shops, restaurants, neon lights and people.
However, we were pulling up to our hotel and the taxi driver told us where we were staying was one of the best hotels in the area. It looked incredible on the drive up, all 40+ floors of it on the waterfront.
We checked into our studio apartment on the 26th floor with floor to ceiling windows and a balcony overlooking the city, and I knew I was going to have a good time here.
This was definitely the best place we’ve stayed in during our travels, and for such a cheap price too.
We headed out for some Vietnamese food for dinner which was very tasty and headed back to the hotel to enjoy the room some more.
Day 73: Wednesday 29th May 2024
Location: Nha Trang, Vietnam
Dear travel diary,
My morning started with a coffee in bed. The first since that morning in Cambodia. Since we had a coffee shop in the building, it was easy for himself to nip down and bring me a hot mocha to wake up to.
The area was definitely feeling a lot like Las Vegas, with big hotels that had shops and coffee shops directly in reception.
There isn’t much to do in Nha Trang other than spend time on the beach. So we made the most of the relaxation and spent a lot of time in one of the hotels along the beachfront with a coffee shop to work on our laptops.
We had a cheap lunch at a bakery and camped out in the coffee shop for the entire day to get some work done.
Once the sun had gone down a bit, we walked along the beachfront and headed to an Indian restaurant for dinner. The portions were huge and I’m becoming very fond of Indian food during my time in Asia.
Although I’m not sure butter chicken will be great for my waistline.
Like I said, our time in Nha Trang isn’t very exciting, so there isn’t much to update you on.
Well, other than my website disappearing which was a very stressful moment but my host platform help-desk doesn’t open up until 9am UK time, so I have to wait until 3pm tomorrow to know whether I’ll ever see my website again.
It was very hard to fall asleep thinking that the last eight years I’d spent on my blog would be for nothing and gone in an instant.
Day 74: Thursday 30th May 2024
Location: Nha Trang, Vietnam
Dear travel diary,
This morning we headed to the rooftop of our hotel/self-serviced apartment to check out the pool and lounge.
It was unfortunately an overcast day so the city and sea didn’t look too great, but the pool area wraps around the entire top of the building and comes with a sky bar, restaurant and cafe.
I worked up here for a few hours editing my backlog of YouTube footage of my time in Paris and trying not to think about my website.
Maybe it was a blessing in disguise and a way of telling me that I need to prioritise other things like YouTube and Instagram, rather than focusing so much on my blog.
It was a slight kick in the teeth that yesterday actually marked my best year of views ever on my blog, so soon into the year and I also surpassed my best ever income on the blog yesterday too. Then the website just disappeared.
Thankfully all was resolved and the hosting platform made an error while migrating to some new system. I have no clue when it comes to websites at all, which is funny considering I’ve been running this site for eight years, but no clue.
We had our second McDonalds of the trip (the first being in Dubai Airport) for lunch. Which was helpful to our budget as lunch for the both of us came to £2.40. You really can’t beat it, can you?
In the afternoon, after harassing my hosting team to fix my website, we headed to a coy fish cafe. The tables and seats are sunken into the water so the fish are swimming around you. Quite cool but also a bit smelly.
For dinner we had some more local Vietnamese food before spending out final night in our gorgeous hotel studio apartment.
I never want to leave this room.
Day 75: Friday 31st May 2024
Location: Nha Trang, Vietnam
Dear travel diary,
It’s our last day in Nha Trang today. We’re getting our first overnight sleeper bus this evening to Hoi An.
We mostly spent the day working on our laptops in a coffee shop, after having another very cheap McDonalds lunch. A habit we can’t fall into, no matter how cheap it is.
You can guess that we waited until 12pm on the dot to check out of our room. Wanting to stay here for as long as possible. Considering our accommodation tonight isn’t going to be so luxurious, on a bus.
I was dreading the sleeper bus, I won’t lie. After our first experience of the day bus, I knew it wasn’t going to be very comfortable.
And I was correct. The driving is chaotic with sudden breaks that make you slide down the ‘bed’. People shout and jostle the curtains when they walk up and down the bus at random times of the night.
Our first toilet stop was at midnight, and the next at 4am. Why would they wake us up at 4am to go to the bathroom?!
Then we finally arrived into Hoi An around 6.30/7am.
Day 76: Saturday 1st June 2024
Location: Hoi An, Vietnam
Dear travel diary,
We arrived into Hoi An at 7am, with little to no sleep on the sleeper bus. We had booked our hotel a night early so that we could check in as soon as we arrived in the city and headed straight to sleep for a few hours.
Around lunch time, we ventured out into Hoi An to explore. It was uncomfortably hot with not much shade around the winding streets.
Although it’s said to be a peaceful area due to no cars, there was still a lot of motorbikes, scooters and even cars, driving around the small streets and even on the pavements.
It was clear to see that this was an area dedicated to tailoring and making of clothes. Since we have zero room in our backpacks, we weren’t able to buy anything. But I know this area is very popular with tourists to have items specially made to their size.
Hoi An is definitely one of the prettiest places we’ve been to in Vietnam. It was hard not to snap a picture on every street corner. It was also one of the busiest places we’ve been to in terms of tourists which was nice to see.
In the evening, we ventured over to Hoi An Memories Land to see a production showcasing the history of Hoi An. Unfortunately it rained the entire time and we were in ponchos under no covering at all. But the show was enjoyable all the same.
Day 77: Sunday 2nd June 2024
Location: Hoi An, Vietnam
Dear travel diary,
Today was a relaxing day. We spent most of our time in coffee shops, escaping the scorching heat outside.
Our first spot was a place called Inner Hoi An which was quite aptly named. It seemed you needed to be part of some inner circle to know how to find the place. It’s hidden down alleyways and side streets.
They made the most incredible salted caramel iced coffee. I had two before having to stop due to my caffeine issues.
For lunch, it was time to sample the banh mis of the area. Anthony Bourdain had been here and claimed some of his favourite banh mis, so we had to check them out.
One of the most famous spots had been closed due to a salmonella outbreak a few months ago. So we made sure to avoid that one.
We tried a vegan banh mi from a stall on the side of the street which was delicious. Before heading on to the Banh Mi Queen for another.
Afterwards, it was a stint at another coffee shop to get more work done.
When the sun set, we wandered along the river to see the infamous lanterns and lights on the water. It was a very beautiful sight, although very busy with tourists and locals trying to sell you just about anything.
But amazing to see and a true highlight of my time in Vietnam.
Leave a Reply