Bye bye Australia & Hello Southeast Asia

Hello there,

Here we are again, writing our new blog post from Luang Prabang in Laos 🌞🌴

Attention: There's a bit more to read 😵🤓🤓

Our last week in Australia came to a relaxing end, which we spent again in Byron Bay. It was one of the highlights on the East Coast for us and very good for surfing 🏄 and relaxing. There, we took a day trip to Nimbin, which is considered a hippie commune with around 450 inhabitants and where the hippie festival MardiGrass with 20,000 visitors is held once a year. It is the only place in the state of New South Wales where marijuana consumption is allowed.🌱

From Brisbane, where the Australian adventure began, we flew nearly 8 hours to Singapore. There we finally met up with Felix, one of our best friends, with whom we could share at least part of our experiences and impressions.😍

We spent a total of 2 days in Singapore and explored the most important sights. It was also nice that Lisa's uncle and family were in Singapore at the same time as us, and we could enjoy an evening together, including the Marina Bay Sands Skybar which offered an impressive view of the entire city.

Next stop was Bali, specifically Ubud, which is known for its rice terraces and the Monkey Forest. 🐒

As soon as we arrived, we were bombarded by thousands of taxi drivers asking if we wanted to ride with them. In short, it was humid almost to the point of 100% and definitely a culture shock ;)

The hotel was located in a quiet area, beautiful and had a great pool. Ubud itself was interesting and colorful, but a bit too touristy and therefore relatively hectic. You can eat there for very little money and you can get both local food (around €2-3) and western dishes as we know them. If you enjoy it, it is highly recommended to take one of the yoga classes there. I took one of the best yoga classes I have ever done there :)

However, be cautious of the monkeys that will steal anything that isn't nailed down. They tried to get into our bag and they stole someone else's cigarettes.

Otherwise, the numerous temples nearby were quite beautiful and worth every penny.

From Bali, we headed to the Gili Islands with Felix, specifically to Gili Trawangan, the largest and most touristy island (more of a backpacker/party island) of the three Gili Islands. After a really long journey and a lot of waiting (it was very long and very disorganized and crowded), we finally arrived and checked into our beautiful bungalow hotel. The next few days we mainly spent sunbathing and snorkeling, and we took a day trip to Gili Meno, which is the smallest and quietest island of the Gilis and we liked it better than Gili T.

After 4 days on Gili T., Felix left and we decided that we didn't want to stay any longer either, so the next day we boarded the ferry to Lombok. In short, it was the right decision to spend a few more days on Lombok because it is just as beautiful as Bali, but with half the number of tourists. We had the beaches to ourselves in some places, which was very pleasant. We spent two days in Sengiggi (north) and two days in Kuta (south). In Sengiggi, we rented a scooter and explored the north, which was really beautiful. However, the nicer beaches are in and around Kuta, which have incredibly soft sand and crystal-clear water, and we tried surfing again.

Then we flew back to Bali for three more days, where we stayed in the surfer town of Canggu 🏄 🌴 We really liked it there and the atmosphere reminded me a bit of a Balinese Byron Bay. The food there was also great and we discovered one of the best restaurants on our trip there.

After Bali, our time in Indonesia was already over and we boarded a plane to Vietnam 🛫, landing in Ho Chi Minh (Saigon). Unfortunately, we forgot to apply for a visa for Vietnam, so we only had a 15-day stay there. We decided to buy an open bus ticket, which allowed us to travel all the way up to Hanoi and see most of the important places. We didn't like Ho Chi Minh very much, except for the War Museum and the Cu Chi Tunnels. There, we gained insight into the Vietnam War and how the Vietnamese lived during that time. Two days in Ho Chi Minh were enough for us, so we took the night bus to Mui Ne in the evening. In Mui Ne, we were lucky with our hotel again and stayed in a large, clean room for a really low price, there were also two pools on the property. In Mui Ne itself, there wasn't much going on because it is currently not yet high season, and the beach was not really nice because it was very dirty and there was garbage everywhere. We took a day tour to two different huge sand dunes and a river between sandstone mountains (Fairy Stream) - this is highly recommended if you're in the area.

The next place on our tour in the south was Dalat. It is a place located in the middle of the mountains and is much more relaxed than the big cities. There we had the best hostel on our trip so far, where everyone gathered for a family dinner and ate together. It was really special because we quickly got into conversation with each other. From Dalat, we drove through the mountains to two different waterfalls and were overwhelmed by the nature along the way. Additionally, you should definitely visit the Maze Bar when you're in Dalat. The name is truly fitting, and if you're not careful or have had a bit too much to drink, you can quickly get lost there. After two days in Dalat, we unfortunately had to move on and took the bus to Nha Trang. The city is located right on the coast and we mostly spent our day there on the beach. The next night, we took the bus again and traveled about 10 hours overnight to Hoi An. Hoi An is a small city that has a lot of charm and is known for its numerous tailors. Dennis had a suit tailored there right away. In our hostel, we met many people again that we had met in Dalat and had a lot of fun and simply enjoyed our time there. We sat in small cafés and went to the beach. Unfortunately, time passed by too quickly there as well and after two nights in Hoi An, we once again spent the night on the bus for 15 hours to get to Hanoi. We liked Hanoi better than Ho Chi Minh, but it was still very crowded and loud. From Hanoi, we took a day trip to Halong Bay, which is an absolute must if you're in Vietnam. We were incredibly lucky with the weather, as after two days of rain, the sun shone all day when we visited Halong Bay. The bay was an absolute highlight of our time in Vietnam. The rock formations and the huge caves are beautiful.

That was already the end of our time in Vietnam, and from Hanoi, we took the 26-hour bus to Luang Prabang in Laos. The bus ride was quite exhausting, but fortunately not as bad as we had expected from other people's experiences.

It's very beautiful here in Luang Prabang. The city has countless Buddhist temples and the Mount Phu si, from which you can watch the sunset. Today, we visited the Tat Kuang Si waterfall, which was one of the most beautiful and impressive (if not the most beautiful) waterfalls on our entire trip. All in all, it's just super beautiful and relaxed here, and the people are incredibly friendly. We hope it's just as great everywhere in Laos :)

Now you had a lot to read, even though we tried to keep it short 😉 So we'll just say goodbye for now and see you in the next entry 👋🏼✌🏼

(Unfortunately, the Wi-Fi here is pretty bad, so we could only upload a few pictures. The rest will follow!!)