Hell Valley Railway

 It was my last day in Freiburg! I had a couple of things I wanted to tick of the to-do list here... 

First : Whilst I was in the black forest, I had to try some Blackforest Gateaux (Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte). Direct from the source. So I headed out into the old town and found a likely looking cafe, who were happy* to oblige.

It was rather good! I ought to point out that the fork, plate and table are a somewhat small. At a glance the perspective makes it look like I got a pretty huge kafee & kuchen! They were bug, but not that big.

After that I booked a train ticket. Departing from Freiburg's main station every half hour, the Höllentalbahn (which translates to "Hell Valley Railway") heads out west and high up into the black forest.

It's a stunning route that gradually takes you higher, through tunnels and past some rather picturesque scenes and one particularly huge bridge. I tried to take some snaps, but don't think they really do it justice. 

I was stopping at Titisee, a popular tourist town sitting beside a small lake (see meaning lake). The air was fresher up here, and like with Schauinsland there were residual patches of snow here and there. 

I did a small bit of walking around one side of the lake. There was a small trail to follow, and there were a fair few holiday makers & hiking folk around. 

 It was about mid-afternoon, and once I'd had my fill taking in the lovely scenery I decided to head back to the train station. Once there I grabbed a Puddingbrezel & coffee for the journey & did not have long to wait before I was heading back down the valleys.

Tomorrow I would be having even more of a "train-fest" needing to catch at least three to get to Munich airport - where I would be (trying to) rendezvous with some friends flying in from England to meet me for the final leg of the trip. So once I got back to the hotel I had a quiet evening getting things sorted and having a general chill. 

* At least I assume they were happy. I've found that nearly all locals seem to have a degree of reserve towards strangers here. Even hotel & other hospitality staff who as a rule in any other place would at least appear to be welcoming. I'm pretty sure it's not unfriendliness & just how things are in this region - or Germany as a whole? Guess I can compare with Munich

Freiburg's Highest Point

 Today I would be meeting with some people from the area that my brother's partner had kindly put me in touch with. We were to head to Shauinsland, a 1284m elevation accessed by Germany's longest cable car.

I met with Sylvia and Ludwig at Freiburg main station, and caught a tram, and then a bus out of town to the Shauinslandbahn station. We chatted amiably. I had a grasp of German that I would describe as... basic. The same was true of their English! Although I think that their English was probably better than my German was. That being said - I was able to speak and be understood with what I did know, and when Sylvia dropped into German for a while, I understood a pleasing amount of what she said!

The cable car ascends steeply and rapidly, and you are rewarded with great views of Freiburg below.

The summit still has some residual winter snow, although in Freiburg it had been a positively balmy 15 degrees. The views, of course, were fantastic. You can see to the Vosges mountain range in France; the Rhine (although this was obscured by distant fog) the depths of the black forest, and the Swiss alps.

There are hiking trails at the top, and so we took a stroll, firstly to the highest point with a viewing platform / tower (unfortunately that was shut, although the views were still great) then afterwards we walked 1km or so to Engländerdenkmal - a monument to several English boyscouts who became lost & died during a blizzard on the peak in the 30s.

After that, we stopped at the restaurant at the cable car station for some coffee and cake - very tasty! Then returned to Freiburg. There was a brief panic where I thought I had lost my ticket for the cable car. Sylvia spoke to the operator though - and he let me through anyway. I did feel like an oaf. Of course I found my ticket as soon as the car started it's journey back down. Then another blunder on the bus - I didn't have any cash to buy a ticket - and busses did not take card! Sylvia had some cash so stepped up again and bought a ticket for me.

Oh dear.

Back in town I thanked Sylvia and Ludvig - giving them a small gift of some chocolates I had brought with me. Hopefully it assuaged some of my earlier ticketing missteps! 

In the evening I had a positively colossal wrap & chips at O'kellys - which was a highly reviewed Irish themed sports pub. It was mega mega busy. I was aware Freiburg were playing in the bundesliga tomorrow - and had half a mind to watch it there, but couldn't imagine how they'd cope if that's how busy it was - not on a game day!

To Freiburg

 Another sunny day dawned in Germany. I feel like I have been lucky with the weather! Today I would be heading west, and south into deepest darkest Germany. Freiburg im Breisgau.

I had found the hauptbahnhof - central station - yesterday (and transferred there a couple of times too on the way to & back from the gig) so was pretty happy I knew where I was going. I bought an s-bahn ticket and before I knew it I was there.

Helpfully, the app tells you everything you need to know about inter city trains if you've reserved: your carriage, seat number, platform, and even which bit of the platform the carriage will be at. The overhead signs have all that information on as well, so it was all quite easy to follow.

 I did need to transfer at Karlsruhe. There was a small delay to both trains I'd selected too... but as I was used to atrocious trains in England (and because I was not familiar with anything here) I'd left a half hour transfer window, which looked to be ample.

And then I was off.

The journey was easy. The transfer went to plan, despite the delays. I had some time to wander around Karlsruhe, and popped into a Backerie for something sweet. I saw some doughnutty things with "Roggenbrötchen" written in front. I attempted to ask for one, but baffled the lady, who tentatively picked up a roll next to what I wanted. I resorted to pointing and got the right thing, which turned out to be a Berliner. A later check revealed that at first I had indeed asked if I could have one rye roll. I guess the signs were a bit wonk.

I boarded the next train and enjoyed my Berliner watching the hills and woods roll by. I was later to learn that the Berliner is a somewhat seasonal treat made in large quantities at that time of year. It was not dissimilar to a jam filled dougnut. Very nice.

Then I was in Freiburg! 

After checking into the hotel I didn't have much of a specific plan, so headed out to wander the Altstadt / old town a bit. I was immediately struck with how different from Stuttgart it was!

It was very picturesque & quaint. Much of the buildings here were restored medieval buildings. It had a lively vibe too, being a university town. The Freiburger Munster was a towering spectacle at the heart of it.

As evening drew in I decided to head to a restaurant I liked the look of I'd spotted whilst wandering, which I think was a chain place. I don't mind eating by myself but here they had me surrounded by a bunch of group tables, it was busy too so I felt like a bit of a spectacle!

Still, I couldn't fault the food and the staff putting in the effort.

Kultur

Today I was going to indulge in some art and music.

My plan was to hit Stuttgart's "cultural mile" and explore the centre, then in the evening I had a ticket to see a musician I like called Tommy Emmanuel. 

After I'd eaten breakfast I headed out. I got to the road almost without needing a map, and hit the cultural mile near the bottom. It was right next to the rathaus, which lonely planet informs me boasts a vintage paternoster lift (where there are no doors and it just continues on a permanent loop). I wasn't sure it was open to the public, so gave that one a miss.

Further up were various museums, but I eventually hit my goal of the Staatsgalerie (state gallery). It was very interesting. Below are a couple of pieces I liked in tiny version mode. I don't want to be done for copyright or anything, but hopefully illustrates that the gallery has a broad range of works from modernist, expressionist, classical, romantic and more. It also had a number of originals from Andy Warhol and Picasso.

After that some more general wandering. Stuttgart is a very interesting looking place. Lots of brutalist, cubic art deco sort of buildings put together in interesting ways... huge square windows and blocky, kind of industrious. Business like... Then some 18th century sprinkled in.

Anyway I bought a butterpretzel for a light lunch / snack and headed back to the hotel to get ready for the gig!

I spent quite a long time back at the hotel agonising over how the hell I was going to actually get to the theaterhaus - which was in a more northerly part of the city. Well over an hour's walk away so not really do-able by foot. Although I did seriously consider it. I somewhat settled on the idea of trying for an uber / taxi. I went on to the theater's site to check that the show was still on or if there was any news, and noticed an alert at the top of the site warning of increased visitor numbers today because of the show. It had a link for general info, which I followed. That page informed me that if you had an event ticket, they said it gave a free return trip on any VVS transport. 

Hm, what could that be?

Any public transport in the city, Google informs me. Perhaps that could be an option. Then I spent ages more checking the VVS site & learning what stops were where etc and trying to plan a route for that. COMMENCE NOTE SCRIBBLING!

After a spot of dinner I  headed out to find out if I could make it to the theaterhaus.

I had of course done miles more prep than I needed. I basically just needed to know the train number and destination. Made it there with ease. Stuttgart's mass transit system is pretty good!*

I got to the theaterhaus with no trouble, sat in my seat and got chatting to a nice man about the show, my trip etc. When I thought to ask him & double check I was in the right seat - I of course wasn't. Oops! Apparently my ticket was for the Tribune (grandstand) - further back with the muggles. He kindly showed me to the actual right place & then it was on with the show.

It was phenomenal! Tommy Emmanuel is an absolute genius and I kept thinking - wow look at that old bugger go! He's still got it.

An English guy called Mike Dawes supported, who was also very good. He came back at the end to do a few numbers with Tommy. Fun highlight was a cover of smells like teen spirit by Nirvana. 

After that a quick and efficient train ride back to the hotel & straight to bed to be fresh for the trip to Freiburg tomorrow.

* probably not a hot take at all, is it.

Stäffele walking tour

 I awoke on the first proper day in Germany. It was bright and sunny, and the city looked inviting out the window. Strangely I felt apprehension*. I had some coffee, cereal and fruit and started to plan the day. 

I had half an idea to explore the centre on the first day, but it turns out that quite a lot of attractions in the city were closed on Monday! Oh well. I had a back up plan - suggested by the Lonely Planet guide to Munich, Bavaria and the Black Forest which was a Stäffele walking tour. Much of Stuttgart sits in a massive valley. In the Southern part of the city, are a network of stair cases built by vinters to quickly access the vineyards on the valley slopes - back when the city was more known for it's winemaking. 

So I headed out. I had plotted the route into google maps and had that on my phone - so was fairly confident of the way - although it would take about a half hour to get to the start at Marienplatz. It was a clear, bright and chilly day. It was busy and the weather was pleasant - but there was an odd quiet in the air. I knew the elections were coming up so wondered if it had anything to do with that. 

I was in good spirits, though. I made my way to Mareinplatz and began to follow the route. Ostensibly, looking back on some of the photos, it wouldn't seem that great. It's just a bunch of stairs. 

However it takes you through some very nice neighbourhoods with interesting buildings. Combine that with the history, and some rather fantastic veiws - I can highly recommend giving it a go (on a nice day). I stopped for coffee in a cafe in the square. I think the waitress was slightly amused by my attempts at German, although continued to use German rather than switching to English which was either a good sign that my efforts were appreciated - or maybe she didn't know any English. I finished the tour on the other side of the valley. I did encounter a somewhat mad German man, sat near the bottom of the stairs. He immediately started babbling away at me. Amongst other things I think was trying to tell me the "mountain" was shut on Mondays. He gave up when I asked him (in German) if he spoke English.

On the way back I stopped in a little supermarket for some supplies. I was wary. In Brazil I'd had an embarressing and difficult time trying to use their automated tills because it was all in Portuguese, no pictures, and completely different to ones I was used to in England. It meant that a rather put upon looking Brazilian lady had to come over and basically do it all for me making me feel like an idiot. This time, I thought, I'll wait a little longer for a manned till so as to be able to use by basic German skills, point & gesticulate if needed. At least smile, apologise and try to win them over if all goes wrong. But disaster - the automated till assistant picks me out in the rather busy checkout area and says something to me ending in "kart". Clearly: are you paying by card... come use these machines. "Oh, Ich spreche kein Deutch" I explain (I speak no German). "It's ok. Pay by kart?" he said in a somewhat reassuring way. So a little reluctantly I acquiesced. Nearly immediately I am presented with prompts I don't understand which the chap has to deal with. I can't find where the bags are so he has to show me where those are hidden, in a little out of the way shelf under the packing area. Then to leave is one of those gates where you need to scan your receipt, but I'd accidetally buried mine - so the chap has to do that for me as well. I felt like a baffled, flustered old git. On the plus side it was a somewhat amusing learning experience, and turned out fine in the end. I had my supplies. 

In the evening I had a lovely Swabian platter at a restaurant more towards the city centre. It seemed a lot more busy and built up than where I had been on the walking tour - so I looked forward to exploring it more tomorrow!

* I think I often do on the first day or so, adjusting to not having my normal routine & being in a completely foreign place. Language barrier? Culture shock, maybe? Oh well - that's the whole reason I like doing this I suppose :)

Stuttgart. The Start of a Jaunt to the south of Germany

 Many a moon has passed since I wrote in this blog - mainly a pandemic, but some other stuff too. Buying a flat. That sort of thing. I did end up heading out on that Cyprus internship mentioned in the last post. I did keep a diary of sorts about that - and will write that up soon, but I find myself in Germany! 

Short story long: At the end of last year I decided I wanted to finally get good at guitar. Or at least, get to a standard I find acceptable. It led me to source a guitar teacher. That led me to definitively list all of the songs I would like to play - so that I could give that to the teacher and they could better structure what to teach me. During that process I found a couple of songs by a folky singer-songwriter called Joshua Hyslop, Spotify informed me he was on tour. Looking at the dates I saw that he would be playing in Brighton where I live! I had to book that. I thought - what better way to gain inspiration and motivation that to actually go and see him live! 

I continued to build up my list of songs I'd like to learn. At the "end goal" level of fingerstyle - there were some songs played by an exceptional guitarist called Tommy Emmanuel. Spotify informed me he was also on tour. I checked the dates, and at that exact moment he was in the US and would then head to Europe, before finishing in Australia where he hails from. Well since I was on a "let's get inspired by guitarists" kick, and had just booked to go see Joshua Hyslop I thought: well why the hell not go see Tommy Emmanuel too?

At that time it was early December, and the notice was way too short to go to the US. I did seriously consider Australia, which would have been around March. However I decided that was too expensive. With the flat purchase I was slightly financially "winded" so didn't feel in a position to be forking out thousands on a lavish trip to oz (although that is on my bucket list!). So that left me looking at Europe dates in February. Eventually I settled on Stuttgart. Mainly because of the venues I checked where he was playing - most had pretty poor options for seats left. Mostly right at the back & at the edges. But Stuttgart had one available seat fairly far forward. 

Aside from that reason, I have also never visited Germany. I had a vague interest in the prospect of seeing southern Germany; the black forest and Bavaria. So with that I started booking things*.  The plan: 3 cities over 10 days. I start with Stuttgart, capital of Baden-Wuttenburg - then catch the train to Freiburg im Breisgau to the south west. 3 days there on the doorstep of the black forest. After that I catch the train over to Munich, capital of Bavaria. There I will be meeting some friends who will be joining me for the final 3/4 days in the city.

It was quite astonishing how quickly the holiday came around. Maybe it shouldn't have been that much of a surprise since it was only a little over 2 months. I caught a national express coach to Heathrow, hopped on the plane and it was a little over an hour before we were descending through the bright white clouds into the murky winter evening over the frosty forested countryside outside Stuttgart. 

It felt slightly surreal, and the book of Grimm's fairy tales I bought at the airport seemed like an appropriate accompaniment to the journey.  

It was lightly snowing, dark and very cold as I stepped off the plane. I was picked up at the airport by my transfer driver . His car was a mega modern Mercades. So modern in fact that I was not able to find the handle to shut the door on the sleek ergonomic interior with it's shiny finish and intricate lighting system. 

It was getting a little late when I was dropped off at the hotel. Feeling a bit sleepy I decided to just eat there. After an exceptional salad with Stuttgart style ravioli and a nice Stuttgart Hofbrau pils I toddled off to bed. 

* Not really an interesting detail, but part of this booking stuff was actually be fulfilled as a kind (but late) birthday present later, meaning I did end up having to juggle some stuff 

48. Epilogue

So It’s pretty much 6 years since I returned from that long jaunt to south east asia. It has been strange to finish writing it up after all this time.
I thought it would be fitting to wrap up with a bit of a summary on what long term travelling was like for me and how it compares to my plans to go abroad for a few months this year.

When I was away, I was miles out of my comfort zone. It certainly taught me a lot:

• I vastly improved my ability to talk with people I’ve never met and learned to make friends with other travellers
• I learned how to be more self sufficient and make decisions
• On a day to day level I learned how to get outside and find things to do in a completely foreign place
• I became accustomed to being without the usual creature comforts
• I also was interested to learn that my most enjoyable experiences were those that were done with others.

During the trip I identified very much as a backpacker. In some part of my mind I thought that this made me somehow different to the other types of tourist. However I came to realise I wasn’t very different at all, since we’d all generally be foreigners; and would end up visiting the same places and doing similar things. The only difference was that I had no job, no plan and enough cash to get by for the next few weeks.
That being said it was a fantastic and unique way to travel. I was able to meet and journey with some awesome and like minded folk. I also had much more time on my hands, which meant I could see how people lived day to day over a longer period. I had more time to explore the sites and culture of a place. All of that meant I felt more inclined to try new things and I certainly gained some new perspectives.

Another freedom that backpacking affords is that ability to be spontaneous. For example my decision to try scuba diving was done somewhat last minute, just before heading to Ko Phagnan for the full moon party I changed my mind and booked a ferry to Ko Tao instead. I’m not sure what motivated the decision, possibly remembering how much I enjoyed snorkelling, possibly the idea was put in my head when an old flame said she thought I looked like a scuba instructor, or maybe just that it sounded like fun.
Whatever the reason when I got my advanced diving certification it was one of the proudest things I had achieved in a long time. It was quite a life changing whim.

Since then I’ve not gone on another long trip like that, but have always had vague plans to. I heard it’s a common thing for people that have returned from travelling to be determined to leave again, but don’t. Instead they get caught up with their job, or a mortgage, starting a family etc.
A few months ago whilst writing this I started to think that maybe I wasn’t quite ready to properly settle down like that yet. So I made a decision that the time was right to head off again and spend a few months on foreign shores.

This time it’s going to be a little different. Rather than “proper” travelling I’m going to Cyprus on a 5 month internship, working in a scuba diving centre. During that time I hope to train up to be a divemaster and maybe even an instructor, which could allow me to then work in that industry. I’m not certain at this point whether that will be something I continue with long term, but I’m excited about the opportunity to work with people, to teach and to do a heck of a lot of diving!

Whatever the outcome it has instilled in me that same feeling of excited apprehension that I felt those years ago before heading off to Asia. Just like then then a part of me is terrified and unsure of myself, but wondering if it could eventually yield something truly memorable.

47. Hanoi

And so I was headed to the last city of my solo trek: Hanoi.

My tactic to eat only cakes to avoid tummy problems going to Hanoi backfired massively. For the whole 10 hour trip I suffered stomach cramps, intense pain and trapped wind. I was once again crammed into another plastic bed seat that was too small for me. I attempted to angle myself in such a way that I could fart without anyone noticing - but that had mixed success. My fellow travellers shot some pretty unsavoury glances my way.
This whole thing was quite ironic since I hadn’t had any issues for the entire trip, and now, one time I did, it was as a result of actively trying to be careful.

However for better or for worse, we arrived in the city and disembarked in a cloud of faintly green air.

Hanoi was a big, clean, modern city which I wandered around a little. I spent the last of my small saving on some souvenirs, and felt sad about the impending end to my jaunt. The weather matched my mood somewhat. There was a perennial blanket of heavy cloud over the city, occasionally breaking out into patches of chilly rain.

I had just enough money to fund 2 excursions.

City tour

The first was a tour around the tomb of Ho Chi Minh. At this point I was bedraggled, skint and road weary. My tour-mates in contrast were affluent holidaying Americans. I felt very much like the odd one out. It rained the whole day. Two of the old folks I was with didn’t even want to get off the bus when we stopped.

Halong bay

Hanoi was a good staging point for tours of the famous Halong bay. I booked myself on a 2 day cruise as the last trip on my travels. In short: it was stunning.
Again, it was somewhat cloudy, but this made the little islands of the bay seem quite cool and mysterious.

It was 2 days & 1 night on the boat. Unlike the city tour my fellow cruisers were a younger bunch. For the night stop we moored up alongside another cruise boat. There was a buffet put on and we were provided with plenty of booze and a karaoke rig. I didn’t want a repeat of the Bohemian Rhapsody incident, so instead a few of us decided to head out onto the deck and chatted with some cruisers on the other boat.
They seemed friendly so we clambered over there to socialise. One of the “other boat people” was a girl who said her boyfriend had paid for her to go on a world trip for several months. I remember talking to her at length but other than the fact that she had just started a world tour I don’t really remember what we chatted about. I think I probably was moaning about having return to England because when I woke up the next day I found her in my bed, so can only assume she wanted to provide some comfort. I don't think anything happened though, we were both fully still clothed.

And  before I knew it I was in a taxi headed to the airport, my heart filled with a strange dread. However at the same time I was happy I'd made it to the end of my trip, and I was looking forward to seeing my friends and family again. 

46. Hue

So the night out in Hue commenced. Tam met me at my hotel and we headed out to meet up with his friends. It was a good laugh, we ate some good food and wandered around a few places to drink. The night wore on and eventually we ended up in a karaoke bar.

My host and his friends were seasoned karaoke goers, so were quick to get involved and bang out a few pop hits.

This is the best shot I could manage in my drunken state

When It was my turn, I had to spend a good few minutes leafing through the giant ring binder filled with reams and reams of songs from across the globe listed in tiny writing. It was a job to find a song that was actually in English - let alone a song I actually knew. I settled on Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen. It was a stupid choice in hindsight. It was nothing like what we’d been hearing so far. I forgot that it’s bloody long and a little unusual as pop songs go. None of them knew it either, so they sat in confusion whilst their new English friend badly attempted to sing an avant garde prog rock suite.
Eventually I finished, and normal service was resumed when Tam smashed out another Vietnamese pop belter. I decided to win back favour with my new friends by going to fetch drinks for everyone - but only managed to get lost and ended up wandering about for ages in the garage under the building.

On the final day I had a self guided walking tour of Hue. Historically the town used to be where the emperor lived, and still boasts a huge imperial city grounds and nearby citadel you can visit. They are absolutely incredible and well worth it.

The next day I’d be headed to my Final stop: Hanoi so I decided that I should get something “safe” to eat. At this point I really wanted to avoid any digestion based troubles since I’d be on a long bus trip to Hanoi, and not long after that: a mammoth flight back to England. As such on the way back from the citadel (after some extensive wandering and searching) I found a normal looking shop and picked up a box of prepackaged “twinky” style cakes which I figured wouldn’t trouble my innards.

45. Hoi An

It was a real struggle finding a coach for my onward trip. I was attempting to be frugal, however it was approaching Chinese new year so lots of people intended to travel and see family / friends so lots of tickets had sold out. It meant I had a fun afternoon wandering around numerous travel agents to find a bus ticket that was not extortionate.

Eventually I managed to buy one, and set off for the next stop: Hoi An. It was a beautiful town. Lots of waterfront areas, flowers everywhere and quaint streets with little coloured lanterns criss crossing above them.

From there I headed to Hue.

As we pulled into the town I did the same thing I did in the last two towns. Disembarked to find any hotel reps that might be there to haggle with. There were dutifully a couple of reps there, so listened to their offers. I accepted one and we headed off. On our way I got chatting to the driver, Tam. He asked me what my plans were for the new year celebrations. I confessed that I didn’t have any plans at all, really, being a foot loose and fancy free solo backpacker.
“But it’s Chinese new year!” I remember him exclaiming.
He didn’t seem able to accept my lack of plans - so invited me out that evening to celebrate with his friends. I was honoured and accepted.

44. Nah Trang Chopper Tour

The day before leaving Nah Trang I was approached by a man offering tours of the area by chopper bike. I decided quite quickly it sounded like fun, and said I was interested and asked how much it was. The guy had quite a rehearsed sales pitch though, so ploughed on with what he was saying, proceeding to produce a laminated booklet with lots of pictures of previous customers sat on his bike with big cheesy grins. I patiently scrutinised each picture, nodding and making interested noises as he leafed through.
We eventually agreed on a price and he hurried off to grab his bike.

He quickly returned on a large Harley, which was pretty impressive. He handed me a hard hat to wear and we set off. We rode as far as his house.
He hopped off and went inside, emerging with 2 bin liners full of clothes. He explained that this would be a charity donation to some villagers we were going to visit, and dumped them in front of me to hang on to.

We headed off to our first stop to deliver the clothes. It was about a twenty minute ride - and not the greatest start to the trip. I had to hold on to the bags but still keep myself on the bike, which I just about managed through tactical use of buttock muscles. When we got there we gave them the clothes bags. They eagerly rummaged through - picking out various garments. I suppose it was payment of sorts because we were then allowed to have a look around the village and the guide told me about their lifestyles and the various wicker creations they made there.

It was a great tour, and my guide was fantastic. He took me to various other interesting spots like scenic points in the countryside or workshops where they made incense, noodles and mats. I think my favourite place was a little local eatery in the middle of nowhere that my guide liked going to. I have to say it was easily the best bowl of Pho I’d ever had.

43. Last dive for a while

I left Ho Chi Minh City and caught a coach to Nah Trang. It was a coach unlike any I’d been on before because the aisle wasn’t lined with seats, but little plastic beds. I think these beds must have been designed for the Vietnamese physiology, because mine was a good few inches too short for me. It was a pretty fidgety, uncomfortable 10 hours.

When the coach eventually pulled in I unfolded myself from the bed and had a good stretch. As I got off the coach I was immediately pounced on by a gang of men who had various offers for rooms in hotels. Despite having scouted a place to stay beforehand I decided to haggle a little anyway and got a pretty great price from one of the guys. I hopped on his bike and we set off there instead of the one I'd picked out from the guidebook.

One of the first things I did in the town was to book a couple of dives in the area.
In the dive shop whilst I waited to go off on them a severely drunk Russian man stumbled in. He spoke in slurred English to the girl working there, demanding she phone the police. He claimed he had been swindled out of 20 dollars by the people working at the bar next door.
The unfortunate proprietor of the bar was actually outside the dive shop trying to reason with him through the door. For a few minutes the Russian man kept slurring his demands that the police be summoned, and I started to wonder if I could intervene. The girl in the shop stayed resolute, firmly telling him that they would do no such thing, and so he eventually lost interest and wandered off.

The dives that day were fun. The slight problem was that I had last been diving in Sipadan - and that is quite an experience to live up to. Indeed the Nah Trang waters felt relatively cold and fish free by comparison. That being said there were some stunning coral formations there, and I had a lot of fun - so was not disappointed at all.

42. A confession

If I’m honest after leaving Ho Chi Minh the remaining 3 or so weeks in Vietnam were not really the best. It’s nothing to do with the country, which was stunning and full of things to see and do, and I had a few amazing experiences.

I think one of the problems was that early on I had decided to stay in Vietnam for four weeks for no other reason that it was what my tourist Visa got me. I figured my severely depleted funds would just about suffice, but to be honest I should have cut it short. I didn’t consider doing that that though. I suppose I wanted to keep the dream alive for as long as possible. It was a mistake which contributed to a few problems:

• I was severely low on money, so was forced to spend (and therefore do) as little as possible, which was a problem given I had 4 weeks to fill.
• I found it much harder to meet people here. Largely due to my lack of money forcing me to not do as much - but also because I was not staying in more social “hostel” style accommodation.
• I was getting sad that it was the end of the road - and had some anxiety about returning to England and the “real world”. I think this was affecting my mood as well

As a result I spent a lot of time in Vietnam by myself feeling a poor, lonely and depressed that my travels were coming to an end.

That being said I was aware that this was still the opportunity of a lifetime - so made every effort to fight the negativity and make the most of the rest of my time in south east Asia.

41. Ho Chi Minh City

After landing in Ho Chi Minh City I headed to the area my trusty guide book suggested was good for low priced accommodation. Here, like in Phnom Penh, instead of roads there were rivers of scooters. I had to readjust to the knack of crossing the road, which was to step into the motorised maelstrom and keep walking trusting that nobody will hit you.

Once I found somewhere to stay I rang Mike, the guy who I’d saved the life of in Cambodia*. He was working in the city and had extended an invite to visit him in the new year.
We chatted for a while during which he told me a fitness boot camp was happening that night and invited me along. I thought: why not.

I hadn’t really done any exercise since Cambodia, so that night was a strange combination of being happy to catch up with Mike and almost dying of exhaustion.

The next day, rather sore, I decided to check out some cultural sights in the city. It didn’t take long to track down an enterprising bike owner with a custom tour offer.
I hopped on and we charged off into the blizzard of scooters, but almost as we’s set off we had to slow to pass a crowd in the road. There had been an accident. A scooter was on it’s side and people were gathered around a prone individual being given CPR. I couldn’t help but give my diver a pat on the back and urge him to be careful.

On the last night I met up with Mike again and a friend of his. It was a fun evening. We visited a few bars, ate some truly exceptional street food and watched a random fist fight that erupted between some Russians.

* Carried some distance from a sunbed to his guesthouse whilst unconscious

40. To Vietnam

The following day Cassie and I said our goodbyes. She was the last of my “long term” travelling companions. Travelling with her had been good fun, and it felt very sad to part ways.

The route to Vietnam began with a brief visit to Kuala Lumpur. It was a clean and modern city, but if I’m honest a little dull. I had one night in chinatown. There was just enough time to walk to the impressive Petronas towers and then the grand mosque, before heading back to the airport to catch my flight to Ho Chi Minh City.

I had a strange feeling of apprehension as I embarked on the last leg of my journey. It was a similar feeling to the one I had when I’d first got on the plane at Heathrow. I think the reason was that I was once again destined for a completely new place by myself. I’d not actually done that since leaving Ko Phangan in Thailand some months before. Even then it was only the next day that I bumped into Pat.

Really I’d been very lucky to have the company of some awesome and like minded traveller friends for all but a couple of weeks of the trip so far.

Still, whilst I was feeling some apprehension - I can’t deny that I was still excited to visit Vietnam

39. Monkeying Around

We’d seen an awful lot of wild proboscis monkeys thus far in Borneo - as they were almost a daily fixture at nature lodge cruises. But we’d not had enough of them, so took a short bus ride to a sanctuary dedicated to their protection: the sandakan proboscis monkey sanctuary.
Once there we were lead up some walkways to a tree lined clearing. That’s where we found them - relaxing in the trees; on logs and so on; even on the walkway as we passed.
We wandered around for a while, taking pics and saying “wow” a lot.

After a while we came across the alpha male of the group (we could tell he was the alpha as he had the biggest nose of all). He was sat on a handrail of our walkway a short distance ahead.
I got my phone out for a quick snap. As I did that he turned to look at me. Then he gave an almighty whoop, jumped down from the handrail and came thundering at me! I had a “rabbit in the headlights” moment and just stood there, wondering what was going to happen.

Just about got a pic of the alpha before he charged

Luckily must have just been interested in seeing off a rival male or something because he just charged straight past.

That evening we decided to have a farewell feast of pizza and beer, since Cassie and I would be parting ways. She was destined for the Kingdom of Brunei and I was headed to Vietnam.
Earlier in the day we had coincidentally bumped into a Belgian chap we’d met diving in Sipadan. He was also staying in our hotel so we invited him along to our shindig.

It was a good evening, marred slightly by this guy saying a lot of blatantly racist comments in an attempt to be funny. Turned out we’d forgotten how annoying he was so I decided to try and get so drunk I didn’t notice.
We eventually stumbled to bed.

Shortly after nodding off I was rudely awoken by a loud banging on our door. I groggily put something on and went to answer. I was confronted with our Belgian friend, now appearing to be both amused and irate. Apparently we’d wandered off from the bar and not bothered to pay our tab, leaving him to pay all of it! I apologised and gave him some money, feeling silly.

He left, muttering “Typical sneaky englishman”

38. Bird Cave

We left the reserve and continued up the coast. It would be a few nights till my flight to Vietnam so had planned one more stop in Borneo at a town called Sandakan.
On the way there we stopped at a huge cave where they harvest nests to make bird’s nest soup: A delicacy in many parts of east asia.

The van dropped me and Cassie off. It appeared that we were the only visitors there so got a guide to ourselves. He walked us to some raised walkways and into the cave. Once inside we could see workers clambering up enormous rickety ladders to the ceiling where the birds nests were. It was gloomy, lit only by a gap in the roof at the far end.

The smell was pretty dreadful - most likely caused by the huge piles of bird poo that lay beneath us. The piles seemed to have lives of their own. The brown black surfaces constantly moved and shifted, and as our eyes adjusted we realised it was because the piles were full of cockroaches. There were millions of them everywhere. On the ground, the walls, the walkway and the handrails. At one point I idly flicked one from a handrail into a poo pile. Cassie noticed and was horrified. She gave me a bit of a telling off. I tried to make the case that at least I wasn’t regularly making countless birds homeless, but somehow what I did was far worse.

We made it to Sandakan and booked a room in a mid range hotel. The town was quite pleasant, if a little run down looking. We had three days here. On the first day I decided to follow instructions for a walking tour of Sandakan that I found in a tourist leaflet.
I have to say the tour was a little underwhelming. It took me to a temple which was closed, a dirty clocktower in the middle of a roundabout and a chinese graveyard which, whilst expansive and probably more interesting than some of the other tour items, still was not anything to write home about.

The next day, after writing my mum a postcard about the Chinese graveyard, Cassie and I researched what was nearby and decided to book a ticket to an interesting looking proboscis monkey sanctuary that afternoon.

37. Kinabatangan Nature Lodge

It was getting late in the afternoon by the time we arrived at the Kinabatangan nature lodge. It was pretty a rustic place. It comprised of a series of wood cabins dotted amongst the jungle. Slippery wooden walkways sat over the leafy and muddy forest floor connecting the cabins.
We didn’t have much time to dump our stuff before needing to gather at the reception building for an evening river cruise.

There were around six of us. We headed down a gangplank to a small wooden motorboat. After clambering aboard, the boat chugged into life and set off down the river. It was a stunning trip. I was amazed at the range of animals we saw dotted around the jungles of Malaysian Borneo: orangutans; proboscis monkeys and hornbill birds to name a few.

Apparently the river cruises would be done every day - one at dawn and another at dusk. I was not at all sad to hear that.

It was a typical “ecotourist experience”. A term that I hadn’t heard of before now, and certainly had never actually done. On the other hand some of the fellow guests were quite the eco warriors, coming prepared with hiking boots, explorer hats and those sort of lightweight trousers that you can turn into shorts with a zip at the knee. I felt a very much like the odd one out essentially having lived the last 2 months as a beach bum.

The following night we took a nighttime jungle trek. We’d been told that there had been a lot of rain recently so the trails were waterlogged. We decided to rent wellingtons, since I guessed my trusty flip flops wouldn’t quite cut it. Unfortunately it seemed that every single pair I tried leaked pretty badly, so I just tried to pick the pair that seemed to let in the least amount of water.
We set off and my boots instantly filled with water, but I still enjoyed squelching my way round the jungle, and seeing the nocturnal wildlife our guide pointed out.

Later we got back to our room and I took a shower. I was shocked to find that an opportunistic leech had attached itself to my chest. Got knows how it managed to get in there.
I couldn’t remember the thing you are meant to do with them so I grabbed it’s body and sort of flicked it’s gob to make it let go. It seemed to work. I told Cassie, who was so horrified she immediately jumped back into the shower to double check that she was not carrying any unwanted passengers too.

On the last day one of the cruises took us to see a wild herd of elephants. As we approached we could just about see them moving through the trees, chomping on leaves and trumpeting quietly. It was quite stunning to see them in the wild.

The elephants were obviously a big draw because as we approached we saw a little gang of boats full of tourists straining to get snaps where the trees were less dense. One lady on a boat in front of us was so eager, in fact, that she got out of her seat and clambered up the small muddy river bank to get a better view. It was a short lived effort, because just before the top she slipped, and with a squawk toppled down the bank landing in the shallows with a splash. She was fished out, unharmed and embarrassed. I did wonder how many leeches she’d probably have to evict from her person later.

36. Trip to Kinabatangan

The time had come to move on from one of the world’s finest diving spots. It was bittersweet. Cassie Crosby was leaving at the same time we were. We had got to know each other quite well over our stay on Mabul Island. Around mid-afternoon we all caught the boat back to the mainland together. We had one evening in Semporna before heading on.

During dinner we discussed our plans. Cassie, who was on holiday for 2 weeks, would be stopping at a few places to do jungle treks and river cruises and that sort of thing in Sabah on her route up the coast and ending in the Kingdom of Brunei. It sounded fun, and she invited us to join along. It fit in quite nicely to my vague plans, which were to get to Vietnam at some point in a week or 2 as my last “stop” with what money I had left. Pat wasn’t interested though. He’d overspent a lot and wanted to go straight to Laos.

So Cassie and I agreed to be travel companions for a week. She sent off an email to the first place: a jungle lodge, so they could add me on to her booking.
The next morning dawned and we headed to the bus station. Cassie noticed there was no word from the lodge - so send a follow up email, just to be sure.

We bundled onto a coach heading north on a jungle lined highway. After an hour or so the bus got to the stop Pat needed for his connection. We shook hands as he hurried past but I felt the farewell lacked some of the ceremony it deserved. Cassie had some signal so rechecked her emails, but still there was no word from the lodge. With that she tried to call them, but it just rang out.
At this point I felt it was a very real possibility that I would be homeless in the jungle, and have to survive on largely forgotten Grylls and Mears knowledge.

After another couple of email free hours we disembarked at the stop where Cassie’s transfer was meant to pick us up. It was a strange, remote sort of place: A disconnected few buildings lining the jungle highway. We waited and enjoyed a reasonably priced buffet of quite tasty local cuisine.

After a bit of a wait a small minivan pulled up, and we hopped on board. They did not seem confused that I was there, so with my mind a little at ease they set off into the murky green jungle depths.

35. Sipadan Finale

I had a healthy buzz from the day’s dives, which called for celebration. That evening a lot of guests were drinking out on the decking / common area, including the divemaster who had joined us that day: Marie. Before long we grew a little footloose and decided to go wandering around the little island. We went to one bar that was a part of a different fancy “east Side” resort. It felt a little sedate and boring to us rough and ready west siders, so we soon left and headed to one of the nearby beaches. There we found some locals that Marie knew. We sat with them on the beach. One passed around a milk jug filled with liquor that apparently had been distilled by his kindly old grandma.

The night drew on and thanks to granny's special distillations I had gotten quite steaming - so decided to go back. Pat said he would stay on for a bit. So I took the key and stumbled off back to the homestay. The only problem was that my guidance system was on drunk mode, so I got very lost. I remember getting to one side of the island and finding myself in various resort beaches and getting shooed away by security men. After much walking, tracking, backtracking and getting thoroughly confused I came across the familiar slum that hid my home. I got in and Pat still wasn’t there. It was around 4 in the morning so I passed out, leaving the door open so Pat could get in.

I awoke with a throbbing head and a horrible taste in my dry mouth. Pat had gone already. It wasn’t long before more diving. I tentatively opened the door and crept out to find pretty much everyone from the previous night all up. Turns out that Pat got back before me and banged on our door for ages to no avail - since I had the key but wasn't there. He did succeed in waking up half the homestay. Johnny Keely from next door apparently let him crash in his room. I felt terrible.

We did 4 dives around Mabul that day: panglimara reef; Lobster wall and kapalai or “house reef” which was a purpose built area made up of the skeletons of houses that were slowly filling out with coral.
That night we did a night dive at paradise 2 which was a cool. One thing I like to do on night dives (since it’s pitch black) is look entirely away from the coral, rocks and all torch light for a while. All you feel is weightless. All you see is black. The only sensory input you get is the breath in your regulator. Somewhere deep down there is an involuntary twang somewhere between dread and vertigo, forcing me to look back. Both to reassure myself the world still existed, and also that I’ve not lost control of my buoyancy and am shooting up to the surface. Or worse: down into oblivion.

I wasn’t we got back and it was fine. Although not all that fine since it was the last day :(