Jet Lag is a Killer!

I was hoping to go for a nap until midday (secretly until around 3pm) as I had practically been awake all night. Grandma had already arranged for me to go see my aunties and cousins so I didn’t have time. This ruined my plan of getting through the jetlag quicker, and I’ve been awake at 5-6 o’clock everyday this week because of it!

It has been so good to see everyone and spend loads of time with the little ones. Ella still won’t give me a cuddle but I got a few high fives out of her. I reckon I just needed another week to win her over. Stanley is the same as always, he loves to talk and is super hyper all the time. He has read 100’s of books to me over the past couple of days I couldn’t keep up.

Since being back I have eaten so much rubbish. It has been difficult going form tiny rations in Hong Kong to English meals. I’ve had sausage and mash, 2 roast dinners, fish and chips form the chippy, pie and chips, the list is endless. I’m definitely excited to go back to the fresh Mediterranean diet for a few weeks (minus Christmas day of course).

Back to Lanzarote for Christmas!

Grandma + Grandad are coming over to Lanzarote today as well. They dropped me off at 5am this morning and their flight isn’t until 11am bless them! Their plan was to hang around in the car for a while but grandma ended up forgetting her phone at home this morning, so I think they were going back to get that. At least it’ll kill some time for them!

I cannot wait to get home and see everyone. Mum will be coming to get me form the airport and maybe dad if he’s not working. Tom will probably still be in bed knowing him but that’ll soon change once I’ve jumped on him! I am most excited to see the pup though, as bad as that sounds. You cant talk to them on skype and ask them how they are so you do miss them that extra bit.

Meet My Dog Cody!!

I need to get a massage when I’m back as well. My neck and shoulders are rock solid from carrying a huge backpack round with me for 3 months. Even when I didn’t have to carry it (on days out) I still had my camera bag with me which easily weighs 5kg so I am very built up.

Apparently, it’s sunbathing weather in Lanzarote at the minute so if that’s true I know what I’m doing as soon as I get off this plane! I still have over an hour left and don’t know what else to do with myself. I’ve edited all my pictures, listened to music and wrote my entry. I tried sleeping but that was a massive fail – its going to be a long hour!

The post Home for Christmas appeared first on Green Eyed Traveller.

T and I spent the last week in Hong Kong. Unfortunately I managed to pass on the virus or whatever it was I had to T so we both spent the first 3 days in bed, barely managing to eat anything. By this point, I had not eaten for 7 days but was still managing to go to the toilet – how? No bloody clue. I lost 4kg that week.

Now as you know, T is a chef and LOVES food. He has been waiting to eat all kinds of Hong Kong delicacies this whole trip, so it was such bad timing for him to get ill. In fact, we felt as if we had no energy all week and had to stick to western food the whole time just to be safe. I felt so bad for him, he had literally talked about eating dumplings in Hong Kong for the past 9 weeks.

Despite us being ill, we managed to make it out of bed for a couple of hours at a time before we had to come back and recharge our energy with a power nap.

While in HK we visited Victoria Peak which is cool. You have to take a tram up to the top and the tram literally takes you up at a 45 degree angle! We also took the star ferry over to Kowloon to see the Symphony of Lights show. Yesterday was our first year anniversary and our last day together so we spent the day in Oceanpark playing on the roller-coasters and visiting different animals. We went out for a fancy meal to an expensive restaurant (only because it was buy a meal get one free!) and T finally got his steak.

Today I had to say goodbye to him once again as we’re both going home for Christmas and New Year. I am so exited to see everyone as it has been over a year! I just wish it didn’t mean leaving him again!

Click here to read about our Day at Disneyland! 

The post Bed Bound in Hong Kong appeared first on Green Eyed Traveller.

We had to post-pone this trip because the day we had originally planned to go, we were both still very ill. We couldn’t walk more than 20m without needing to be sick. We went back to bed and re-scheduled for 2 days later.

Surprisingly we both felt way better the day we went to Disney! Maybe it was magic 😉

Going to Disneyland was one of the best days out of the whole trip! We have seen some amazing things over the past 10 weeks but somehow Disney makes it into my top 5. To be fair, I never went as a child and have always been a huge fan. We were the first people there as I made us get up early so we could spend the entire day there!

T was pretending to be cool about the whole thing but secretly loved it too. Look at that face!

It was actually an incredible day and brought back so many childhood memories. It was so good to end our amazing trip on a positive note too!

Check out my next post: Home for Christmas!

The post A day at Disneyland appeared first on Green Eyed Traveller.

Anyway, I actually have the shits so I’m not having the best of time. It started a couple of days ago. We went to a Ukrainian place for lunch in El Nido and had a mozzarella pitta and some dumpings. I was so full and we were getting a Van down to Puerto Princes that afternoon which was going to take 6-8 hours. It took us 4. Our driver was insane.

He nearly ran over a number of dogs, sign posts and a school girl, and he drove way over the speed limit the entire time. I felt so sick and could not wait to get out. As were arrived to our homestay I want straight to the toilet and have been going since – both ends. Fab.

I am sorry for sharing this, but the truth is… this is the reality of travelling to foreign places. It’s bound to happen at some point.

Despite my condition, I went out last night with everyone. We had pre-drinks at our hostel before going to the famous Mad Monkeys. We had a good laugh and Micha and Eleanor were there. Of course I shouldn’t have been drinking with the condition I was in so from 1am onwards I spent the night throwing up on the beach. T was in the same state that I was so we sat there together. It makes me laugh.

They say that travelling can either make or break a couple and he has definitely seen me at my absolute worst this trip! I’m even having poo conversations with him now which I never thought would happen. When we sat there last night throwing up side by side it made me realise that I am beyond comfortable with this guy and I love him more than I ever have. Travelling has definitely made us stronger!

Today we went to get a smoothie from Jonah’s as it is the nicest one we’ve had in the Philippines. T and I went to the beach afterwards to try get a few last rays before we head to Hong Kong. I couldn’t handle the beach for very long and ended up spending the rest of today in bed. On our way back to the hotel I had to make yet another pit stop to the bathroom.

I am so annoyed because I had booked in for a massage but I definitely cant make it . T has gone with Lou and Tamsin while I stay in bed. We’re going out for dinner tonight. I really don’t feel up to it but its our last night together before we all head our separate ways so I can’t miss out!! I don’t know when the next time i’ll see the girls again so it’s quite sad actually.

Not a great way to end my time with them!

Click here to read my next Entry: Bed Bound in Hong Kong

The post I Got the Inevitable ‘Sh*ts’ – It Was Bound to Happen Soon appeared first on Green Eyed Traveller.

We have been doing our own thing everyday for a couple of hours to prevent him from going crazy – and me to be fair. I was so used to traveling with just T that it became quite difficult at times to compromise our plans to suit 3 other friends. It just takes a lot more planning and effort and we were very used to going with the flow.

Having said this, I am enjoying travelling around with both T and our friends very much. The Philippines is the most beautiful country I have ever seen and I don’t want to leave.

T and I went to the beach for the day, and spent the night watching the sunset over the sea, while sipping a cold apple beer. Our second day we hired a scooter and drove up to Nacpan beach. We passed a waterfall on the way, but after being bombarded by locals, we decided not to go find it and continued to the beach. The road to the beach had turned into a mud road so that was funny trying to get down in one piece. There were many tourists like us, trying to drive down it so slowly, without getting covered in mud or sinking on the scooter.

After our 2 days away, we met back up with the girls for our second tour in Coron. It was so bizarre but I was so excited to see them – I had actually missed seeing their faces!

Click here to read my next post: I Got the Inevitable Sh*ts – It Was Bound to Happen Soon

The post Time Out from Group Travel appeared first on Green Eyed Traveller.

What We’ve Been Up To

Last week we were in Coron and had the best time, both in the town and out on the water. We went on 2 tours while we were there. The first one was based in the lagoons that surround the islands and it included a couple of beaches too.

We had lunch on the tour which was rice (shock!) with veggies and a few different meats, a bottle of water and a soft drink. It was so nice to drink something fizzy as I haven’t had anything like that in so long!

The second tour was the same set up but we visited 3 beaches on different islands around Coron. The first beach we went to was called Malcapuya Island and it was the most breath taking beach I have ever seen, in my entire life – and I have seen plenty of them. It was a view that I will never forget – probably because it’s that stunning it’ll be on the majority of Coron postcards.

We were supposed to head over to El Nido on the 17^th so we bought our tickets and got on the boat. We waited around for a while to set off but were not allowed to leave the port as they were expecting a typhoon – of course they bloody were. We don’t have the best of luck with these ferries. We collected our bags and made our way back to the hostel we had been staying in. They had no room for us but luckily, they knew someone who did because the majority of Coron was booked up. We didn’t really know what to do with our days as we had already seen the things we wanted to see.

We went to a café and used the wifi for the afternoon. T and I went to the hot springs that night then out for dinner, just for something to do. It turned out to be an extremely cool place with a water temp of around 40C and there were fairy lights and lanterns surrounding the pools. It was really pretty.

We woke up yesterday morning to the good news that our ferry was running. We got to the port and said hi to a number of familiar faces. We made it here 4.5 hours later and checked in to our hostel. T and I are having a couple of days to ourselves but we somehow managed to book into the hostel next door to the girls – some would say fate?

The 5 of us went on a tour of the islands today and we got lucky with weather considering it was supposed to rain all week. T and I are going off to a couple of beaches and waterfals for the next 2 days and then were meeting the girls on our last day for the last tour of El Nido.

Click here to read my next post: Time Out From Group Travel

The post The Most Beautiful Beach I have Ever Seen appeared first on Green Eyed Traveller.

Where We Stayed

Basically, there was a 20 minute dirt track leading down to the resort which was full of holes and steep hills and it was a seriously unpleasant ride. One night we were stranded in San Juan, a 30 minute drive away because even the taxis refused to take us home. We asked around 6 different people, all of whom would usually jump at the opportunity for work, all refusing to take us. In the end, we woke up a guy and his wife who were sleeping in their tricycle and begged them to take us home. They agreed.

I’m pretty sure they didn’t know what they were in for but we offered them a good price. The journey home was horrendous. What should have been half an hour took us over an hour. We had to go the back route to try avoid the so called ‘road’ but the back route was no better.

At one point I thought we were being kidnapped as we had driven about 10 minutes past the turning to our resort, and it was pitch black in the middle of nowhere. We weren’t, I was being paranoid.

We drove down the bumpy road, holding on for dear life. All 5 of us were squeezed into this one tricycle, alongside the driver and his wife. A total of 7 people on one little tricycle, bobbing along.

Just take a second to imagine the state of us.

We got to a big hill and there was no way we were getting up it. Half of us got off and T had to push the tricycle up the hill as it rolled backwards. Let’s just say we were all very happy to get home and paid the driver a bonus as he had to go all the way back!

Aside from our poor hotel selection, we had a good couple of days here. We visited the Cambugahay waterfalls and stayed there for a couple of hours playing on the rope swings with the locals. Later that afternoon T and I went to sort out our phones and we got ourselves some data.

Day Trip Just the Two of Us

The next day T and I spent the day at a holiday resort that we found, snorkelling and sunbathing. We found our first Nemo this day too!

From Siquijor we went over to Bohol where the chocolate hills are. They weren’t very chocolatey though as it’s rainy season here so everything is green. That afternoon we went to the beach and took a few cliché photos playing with coconuts in the white sand.

Fast-forward to Puerto Princesa as the majority of our time from Bohol to PP was spent on ferries and waiting around in airports for hours.

We stayed at a homestay and it was ridiculously cheap. I was totally surprised to see we had a room to ourselves, free WIFI and unlimited water and coffee (hot chocolate for me). In PP we went to the bank to get out more money + went to buy our boat ticket for the overnight ferry to Coron. We were told the ferry had been delayed 24hrs due to a typhoon out in the water. We improvised and booked on to the underground cave tour and went to see those for the day. They were breath-taking – I can definitely see whey they made 7 world wonders of nature list!

We are now on the ferry to Coron and are sharing a room with about 100+ other people. We were under the impression that they were 12 bed dorms so were very taken back when we walked into a huge hall full of beds. The ferry takes 15 hours in total so we’ll be there around midday tomorrow.

Click here to read my next post: The Most Beautiful Beach I have Ever Seen

The post That Time We Stayed So Far Inland, Even The Taxis Refused to Take Us Home appeared first on Green Eyed Traveller.

We landed in Cebu at 10.00am after flying in from Vietnam, and made our way down to Moalboal on a 4hr bus ride. Safe to say we were extremely tired by the time we arrived but we went to meet Lou and Libs for dinner as we hadn’t seen them in so long!!

The next day we were supposed to all go to a waterfall but T and I woke up feeling horrendous and ended up sleeping until midday. We drove down to Oslob that afternoon and somehow managed to squeeze all 4 of us, plus all of our luggage (which is a ridiculous amount of luggage i’ll admit) into this one bloody car! We were completely squashed and I had a dead leg for a whole hour.

Yesterday we swam with whale sharks

and it was the most incredible experience of my life. The whale sharks are humongous, but you somehow don’t feel alarmed by them. I will say there was a slight moment where I doubted my existence when I had accidentally strayed from the boat and turned around to see the motherTRucker right behind me, opening up his mouth to inhale a mouthful of fish. I saw right down the back of his throat I was that close. I screamed through my snorkel and jumped to one side trying to grab hold of any boat possible. Of course, being who I am,  I actually grabbed hold of a girls’ head instead but she was very nice about it and pulled me up to the boat. In the moment I was 100% expecting to be dunked by her.

There was more than just one moment in the 30 minutes of swimming with the whale sharks that I thought we might be gonners. T was getting a video of me swimming with them, and I turn round and see one right behind his head. He then screamed through his snorkel and swam in the opposite direction. Safe to say we had an exhilirating morning.

That night we met Micha and Eleanor (2 girls we met in Bowen doing our farm work) for dinner and had a catch up with them. Tomorrow were heading over to Siquijor Island for 3 nights. We were originally getting like 2 ferries and 2 busses to get there but luckily Lou was chatting to a local and found out there’s now a direct route – Happy Days!

Click here to read my next post: That Time We Stayed So Far Inland, Even The Taxis Refused to Take Us Home

Alternatively, check out my blog post about Why You Should Swim With Whale Sharks

The post How I Thought I was Going to Be Swallowed Whole by a Whale Shark appeared first on Green Eyed Traveller.

Visiting Hanoi

We had 2 days in Hanoi and visited the lake, the prison and walked along the train track that runs straight through a street of houses. It is such a unique place and it was an amazing experience to see the people going about their normal lives, then quickly leaving the street, collecting their children and other belongings inside, safe from the passing train. We stayed outside to witness the train and we were stood, pressed up against the wall of someone’s house as the train flew past, less than a metre from our face. It was definitely adrenaline rush.

There are only supposed to be 2 trains that pass throughout the entire day, but we managed to see 2 in an hour! Don’t ask me how!

We both really enjoyed Hanoi, much more than we had expected. It was very poluted so I did struggle to breathe a few times with my asthma. A lot of the locals walk round with masks on it’s that bad.

Later that evening we chilled in the lobby of our hotel waiting for our 1.00am flight to the PHILIPPINES.

Click here to read my next post: How I Thought I was Going to Be Swallowed Whole by a Whale Shark

The post Exploring Hanoi City appeared first on Green Eyed Traveller.

We eventually found someone who could speak English and they pointed us in the right direction. We arrived at the right port and checked in to our tour. We saw a lot of people waiting around, mixed age groups so we were relatively calm.

As they called our names out, people began to assemble to their designated boats. We were called over so we naturally made our way to our boat, and immediately assumed their had been a mix up. We looked over to see a boat full of 60 year old’s sitting there in silence, among a handful of lively boats.

Accidentally Booking Onto an Old People’s Boat

Of course, knowing us, we managed to end up right in the middle of the lot of them. We took a seat and looked to both sides of our boats to see mixed ages, couples, etc. We were pretty gutted to be fair.

Anyway,  T and I are both chatty people so we took it upon ourselves to make an effort with everyone on board. We tried to make fun, light-hearted conversations but it didn’t go as planned.

Later that afternoon we all took our seats at the dinner table and I cannot help but laugh now, but at the time it was awful. T, bless him, didn’t really know what to do with the masses of cutlery set out on the table. Naturally we tried to be polite but I couldn’t resist giggling under my breath as I watched him struggle to figure it out. Every time we sat down to eat we were served a 5 course meal, so you can image how long that took to get through. Jesus.

It was quite difficult to find things in common with everyone on board and we tried very blooming hard to make conversation too.

Halong Bay Cruise

The tour itself was really good, we went kayaking, visited some caves and hiked up a view point to see the whole of the bay. The food on board was also amazing and we had the most comfortable bed. There was a Tai Chi class on deck just after sunrise but I didn’t want to get out of bed it was that good.

Unfortunately, the boat situation didn’t become any less awkward over the 2 days so T and I decided to hide out in our room playing drinking games with our own bottle of vodka, by ourselves. (jeeeez)

So How Did We End Up Booking Onto an Old-People’s Trip?

You know how nowadays the MAJORITY of companies have a website? I mean, if you don’t, you are at a serious disadvantage with your business!

So, I was browsing the internet doing a bit of research before we left for Vietnam. I looked into Halong Bay and knew we needed to go visit. For some bizarre reason, only 2 websites came up as I looked for cruises in Halong Bay. One of them was advertised as a complete party boat, probably a little bit too much for our ‘coupling’ selves. The other had a picture of older people, but a few youngsters mixed in. So we went with the second. ROOKY MISTAKE.

It turns out there are TONS of tour companies who offer this service, however do not own a website. WHY?

The best thing you can do is wait until you are in Vietnam and organise this cruise once you are there! Do not make the mistake that we did.

Keep your eyes peeled for my next post about Visiting Halong Bay and where to stay before you depart! It will be up shortly!

While you are waiting, click here to read my next post from my Journal: Exploring Hanoi City

The post Accidentally Booking on to an Old-Peoples Trip appeared first on Green Eyed Traveller.