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Indonesia Sri Lanka Thailand Travel Vietnam

Things lost on the road

Wrapping up a year of travel, I thought I would make a list of things I have lost this year.

  • four toenails, thanks to Rinjani
  • my iPod
  • my swimming costume
  • a beanie
  • my consumption of meat
  • my Australian identity (After spending four years living outside of Sydney and a good part of this year in Vietnam, I now feel a whole lot more Vietnamese than Australian.)
  • a fear of squat toilets and peeing in nature (When we were waiting for our bus to Danang, I asked a woman where the bathroom was. She brought me to the side of the road and we peed on the grass along with three other Vietnamese women, while a bus pulled up next to us.)
  • caring about what i look like (Though this may come back upon arriving back in Europe. Right now I am too used to wearing the same thing everyday and not wearing any makeup.)
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Indonesia Sri Lanka Travel Vietnam

Going vegetarian in Asia

About a month ago, I read Jonathan Safran Foer’s book ‘Eating Animals’. Since then, I haven’t eaten meat. (Yes, I realise one month isn’t a long time.) Sri Lanka and Indonesia are both fine if you want to avoid eating meat. Northern Vietnam is another story though.

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Cambodia Indonesia Philippines Sri Lanka Thailand Travel Vietnam

Traveling Asia as an Asian girl with a white guy

Traveling with a white guy sticks out more in Asia than in Europe. (Though I was yelled at a few times and called a puttana in Bologna while I was traveling with a white male friend.) Unfortunately, it’s still a (white) man’s world, especially in Asia.

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Indonesia Travel

Snorkelling the Gilis

We went snorkelling around the Gilis four times during our stay there – once as part of a snorkelling trip and then three times off each of the different islands. I definitely recommend just going off on your own rather than joining a trip.

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Cambodia Indonesia Sri Lanka Thailand Travel Vietnam

Where we stayed for under $20: recommended budget lodgings in Asia

Here is a compiled list of our favourite budget places we stayed throughout Asia. We paid less than 20USD/night, and a majority of them under $15. (Though a lot of the time we negotiated the price/ it was low season/ we were staying a few nights.) None of these places we booked – we just found them while walking or motorbiking, looking for accommodation. I know you can definitely get much cheaper (and we have stayed much cheaper but then cleanliness also goes down), but we these places are the ones that stand out when I think about all the places we have stayed on this trip. They were clean, comfortable and had a nice vibe.

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Indonesia Travel

Travel fatigue in Yogyakarta

You know you’ve been traveling for too long when you’re not that impressed by Borobudur.

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Indonesia Travel

Some thoughts on Canggu

We heard that the two best places in Bali for digital nomads were Ubud and Canggu. After being scared by the crowds and traffic in Ubud, we decided pretty quickly to base ourselves in Canggu.

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Indonesia Travel

Don’t book a Rinjani trek with Restu by View

Don’t do it. The owner is untrustworthy and just isn’t nice.

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Indonesia Travel

Gili T Favourites: Where to Sleep, Eat and Drink

We initially spent four nights on Gili Trawangan, but after a week in Lombok, we decided to return to the Gili islands and spend a further two weeks there instead of a longer time in Java.

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Indonesia Travel

Trekking Rinjani – NEVER again

I’m just going to say it – I’m definitely in the minority, but for me, the trek was not worth it.