Author: bristolianbackpacker

24 Hours in Dien Bien Phu

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Dien Bien Phu is located in the North West of Vietnam, close to the Laos border. We took a night bus from Sa Pa and arrived at 5am. Rather than hopping straight onto another bus to Laos, we decided to stay a night in this small town, to explore what it has to offer and catch up on some sleep we missed on the night bus. After checking into our hotel and having a quick nap, we headed out to explore the town in the afternoon. We left our guesthouse and walked out to a main road. We were struck …

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Uh Oh, Helen Fell in Love Again: Sa Pa, Vietnam

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It was just over a year ago that I announced that I was falling in love with Montenegro. Less than a year ago, I also wrote my passionate experience about visiting Xingping in China. Both of these places stole my heart and are places I would happily go back to. They are places which are ideal for relaxing, unwinding, thinking, and getting away from the hustle and bustle. Location number three has now been added to the list: Sa Pa, Vietnam.     I explored a fair number of places the last time I was in Vietnam. Sa Pa, however, …

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When Four British Couples Meet in Laos

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The only time I’ve ever travelled as a group is when I was 17. It was a post-college trip to Corfu after finishing our A-Levels. There were 28 of us. Naturally, being 28 people we didn’t do everything together all of the time. There were smaller friendship groups within the big group, but it was still really nice to have so many people to hang out with.   Since 2014, I’ve travelled solo and, of course, with Mitch. Group travel is not something I’ve done since those two weeks in Corfu. Until now. Mitch and I boarded the 5:30am bus …

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Visiting Vietnam… Again

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For those of you who don’t know, Mitch and I are now in Vietnam. We contemplated going back to China but we eventually decided that, for now, our Chinese adventure was over. It’s actually the second time I’ve been to Vietnam. You won’t find much about it on the blog because I started The Bristolian Backpacker after the trip. I’ve been meaning for a long time to write about my Vietnam travels, and I will at some point, perhaps this time around. Despite renowned travel blogger Nomadic Matt explaining why he’ll never return to Vietnam, I have returned to Vietnam, because, despite …

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Turning 26 on Monkey Island

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I’ve never been one to do anything big and fancy for my birthday, and so the same was true for while we were travelling. Mitch and I wanted to go on a Ha Long Bay tour and it just so happened that we booked it a few days before my birthday. After toying with different tour companies (there are hundreds offering trips to Ha Long Bay in Vietnam), we opted to go with Hanoi Central Backpackers Hostel. Unlike some more luxury boat trips, this offered a stay on Monkey Island. For us, it was a good mix between socialising and …

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Visiting The Great Wall of China

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It would have been rude and ridiculous for us not to visit The Great Wall after living in China for 10 months. With five days left before our visas ran out, we headed to Beijing for one final adventure. Despite speaking to friends and reading many other travel blogs, we simply could not decide on whether we should take a tour to the wall or make our own way there. One favours seclusion and cost, the other convenience. After asking each other 10 times in one day “What shall we do about The Great Wall?” We finally decided on a …

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