Phu Quoc Island - South Vietnam

Phu Quoc is a small island south of Ho Chi Minh City, roughly 40 mins by plane. If you are up for a relaxing beach holiday in a hotel by the pool I would recommend Phu Quoc as there is not a large amount to explore on the island. There are food markets which are worth a look and a couple of waterfall walks. We spent 5 days here and it was definitely enough! I would save it for the end if you are starting in the north of Vietnam a relaxing way to round up the trip as the beaches were lovely.

Ho Chi Minh City

Ho Chi Minh City would have to have been my least favourite out of all the places we went to in Vietnam. Although the weather was stunning, it was very crowded and quite commercial. It was very similar to Singapore, economically and industrially. It was filled with buses of Asian tourists and very big on commercial shopping centres and decorations. The markets however, were lovely, filled with colourful fruits and textiles. They sold a rather eclectic range of things, compared to the markets in Indonesia where everything was much the same. The jewellery, in particular was surprisingly incredible, most of it had come from India. (image 8)

All in all if you are heading to Vietnam and you had to choose between the north and south, i would definitely recommend skipping Ho Chi Minh to do Hanoi. The culture was lacking a bit in Ho Chi Minh and in my opinion the north definitely had more to offer in general. Yet if hot weather and large shopping malls is what your idea of a holiday than Ho Chi Minh would probably suit you. Another suggestion for the south instead of Ho Chi Minh is Phu Quoc Island.

Up next Phu Quoc Island.

Komodo Islands - Scuba Trip

trusty domestic indonesian flight

 my new friends

Scuba itinerary 

Balinese disco

Worlds most beautiful sunrise

Being privileged enough to have cousins that live in Bali means regular visits, however last year we decided to explore beyond our usual lilo's on Legian beach. After completing our scuba diving course we thought it was necessary to test them out in one of the worlds most pristine diving spots, The Komodo Islands. As we sat excited at Bali's domestic airport we were let down to find out that our flight was delayed for 24 hours because the plane was missing a part .... :/

The next say (attempt two) we were successful. We boarded the small propellor plane, praying that the new part had been installed...We arrived in Labuan Bajo, Flores, where we launched the boat for the Komodo Islands. The weather was beautiful and we were eager to hit the ocean for our first dive. All ten of us slept aboard La Lunia our new home/house boat for the next week. We had about seven crew members and our two scuba instructors Martin and Gregosh.

Each day consisted of three dives. One before breakfast, one before lunch and one in the afternoon. Although i had nothing to compare it to i must say it was pretty epic! The coral reefs we were exposed to were unbelievable. The reefs definitely lived up to their renowned reputation, with each day offering new and unexpected colourful Fish, Sharks, Turtles and Manta Rays! After spending a week in a three metre pool with my scuba instructor Toha, the reefs in Komodo were definitely a nice change.

Other than diving, we immersed ourself in all the islands had to offer which other than diving wasn't much, except for Komodo National Park, where we hoped to see the famous Komodo Dragons. When we arrived we received a 20 minute briefing about how the Komodo Dragons were supposedly very dangerous and even their saliva could leave you paralysed..We were further comforted to be introduced to our tour guides, who were wearing crocs, were half my size and their only form of weaponry to protect us from these creatures was a long stick...(image 8) We then set off on the two hour hike to be told that the dragons weren't very common on this island but on the one next door, GREAT and we should have done the six hour not the two hour hike if we expected to see one, again GREAT. Our luck however quickly changed and about an hour and a half in we saw this bloody 'dragon'. Now i won't sugar coat it, it was literally just a giant lizard, that moved slower than a snail, but if you like anti-climaxs than the Komodo Dragon is for you.

- Diving school was completed with PADI
- Boat hired was La Lunia
- Airline flew with was Merpati

Komodo Islands (Indonesia) = Insane diving!!

French immersion - The Parisian

My brothers well kept kitchen...

 suitcase leaving Australia - Merry Christmas to you France

Paris Paris Paris. The city of love, drinking red wine, La Tour Eiffel, The Louvre, shopping in the Champs Elysees, macaroons and bike rides along the seine. Well that all sounds well and good however during my stay in Paris i did not participate in a single activity listed above. No i went to visit my 23 year old brother who was studying in Paris at the time. I was welcomed by his diverse 'appartment' aka, one room with a bunk bed, stove and shower, floor covered in clothes and dishes that had clearly not been done since his arrival 8 months earlier! not to mention the communal toilet (long drop) that was supposedly an attraction due to its medieval stone structure... It was not the St Germain you see in movies! Living on a student budget was interesting i learnt quickly that the Soup Kitchen is your friend,  use the restroom when at a restaurant, if your brother borrows money off you he won't be paying you back anytime soon and if someone offers to buy you a drink say yes because being polite is overrated. Now i can't completely complain, because although i didn't participate in any touristy ordeals, i met awesome locals, improved my french and attended cute soirées in my brothers friends apartments with people from all around the world who were studying in Paris. So when it comes down to local vs. tourist i vote local! parce que je kiffe la fete ;)

French Immersion - Lille

 Christmas French style.

Barbe à papa

 Les Filles après l'école

My stay in Lille (North of France) was amazing! I visited my french family friends who have a daughter my age, Perrine. I went to school with her for 4 weeks which allowed me to improve my french skills and meet a new bunch of diverse people, who had never met anyone from Australia nor had they ever heard of Perth! The language barrier was difficult at school thanks to my genius of a host sister who's average day at school consisted of double maths, physics and chemistry something i didn't feel comfortable in english let alone french! So my first two weeks of school were spent reading Harry Potter and Twilight... (only two books they had in english) and playing doodle jump on my ipod until the language barrier was slowly broken.

Mon séjour à Lille était incroyable! J'ai passée mon séjour avec des amis de ma famille, qui sont français. Ils ont une fille, Perrine, qui est le même âge que moi. J'ai assister à son école pendant 4 semaines pour d'améliorée mon français. J'ai fais la connaissance de beaucoup de nouveaux personnes, qui n'avait jamais rencontré personne de l'Australie. La barrière de la langue était difficile à l'école grâce à mon génie d'une sœur d'accueil qui est moyenne par jour à l'école se composait de mathématiques doubles, physique et chimie! quelque chose que je ne me sentais pas à l'aise en anglais et encore moins en français! Donc, mes deux premières semaines d'école ont été consacrées à la lecture de Harry Potter et Twilight ... (seulement deux livres qu'ils avaient en anglais) et de jouer à Doodle Jump sur mon ipod!

Next stop -> Paris

xx