Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Cambodia

After exploring Singapore (country 1), from incredible botanical gardens to tasty hawker street food (including putu piring, wanton soup, and pork belly noodles), we toasted the start of our 20,000 km journey home with a Singapore Sling at the Raffles Hotel. The following morning, on Sunday 24th March, the journey started. After a 2.5 hour delayed bus departure, two back-to-back 5 hour bus journeys with a stressful connection, and a 10 minute ferry, we arrived in George Town on Penang island in Malaysia (country 2), and immediately collapsed into bed - day 1 complete. 

After a filling breakfast and good coffee we were off again! Returning to the mainland to catch the 12:30am train to the Malaysia / Thai border. After some time zone confusion we boarded the overnight train to Bangkok without dinner or Thai currency. After arriving in Bangkok Thailand (country 3) the following morning at 9:30am, and after a breakfast of croffles (croissant waffles), we checked in to our very pleasent hotel for a couple of days rest and exploration in Bangkok. 

Finally, it was time for an essential haircut for Sam. Hair tamed, we enjoyed a street food lunch and dinner of fish tofu balls, pad thai, yellow curry noodles, and sticky rice coconut mango. We decided a short visit to Khaosan Road was required (the infamous centre of the young backpackers world). Upon experiencing the absolutely chaotic scene, loud club music, and thousands of drunk tourists being enticed to eat scorpions and other suspicious foods, we decided one beer was enough before heading back home. The next day we met up with our friends Lucy and Kaan (also travelling through south east Asia, and whose wedding we attended last summer, right at the beginning of our long trip!) We visited the Golden Mount temple, with great views of the city, before dining at a Michelin Guide restaurant which had fantastic Tom Yum soup! 

The journey continued at 9am the following day as we took a luxurious bus to Siem Read in Cambodia (country 4) to see the great Angkor Wat. The temple complex was absolutely incredible, with over 1000 temples, in varying states of decay. Our hotel in Siem Reap was particularly nice, with a relaxing pool with attached bar - perfect for relaxing after cycling 36 km around the archaeological site in 35°C sun and humidity over a 12 hour excursion! As we discovered, Cambodia has fantastic food (particularly Amok Fish and fresh vegetable and chicken soup), and wonderfully friendly and polite people. We took another early bus to the capital of Cambodia, Phnom Penh, to continue our exploration. We visited the killing fields at Choeung Ek, where we learned about the horrific events of the genocidal killing of 3 million Cambodians at the hands of the Khmer Rouge in the late 1970s. Our time in Cambodia was short, but we loved visiting this country, and hope to explore it again soon. For now though, we depart early tomorrow for our next destination: Vietnam! 

Vietnam

We instantly liked the vibe of Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) in Vietnam. We explored the downtown area, which had been substantially developed since Sam was last here (back in 2012). The city is a vibrant mix of old architecture, hipster cafes, quirky shops and welcoming restaurants mingled amongst newly built modern city structures. We visited the War Remnants Museum to learn more about the horrors of the Vietnam war. The museum is designed to teach the visitors about the worst atrocities of the war (which it does well) and the subsequent aftermath of effects that still continue to this day. Next, we boarded the night train to Hoi An. Vietnamese sleeper trains have private 4-berth cabins - we shared ours with two older Vietnamese women who were travelling back north to their farming village after visiting Saigon to attend a family wedding. They were very friendly and kind, and we enjoyed a Google-Translate enabled conversation, but suffered a little from the cultural gap in train etiquette. 

After a somewhat restful nights sleep we arrived at our hotel in Hoi An - a wonderfully comfortable Spanish style villa with a perfectly temperatured swimming pool. Our hotel was situated on a laid-back and quiet island populated mostly by locals. We ventured out that evening to the main centre of Hoi An, just over the bridge to the mainland, and were completely overwhelmed with the number of tourists crammed into the little towns waterfront - this was the point we realised it was Easter holiday season! After a quick exploration and a beer, we headed back to our quaint island for a very local restaurant for some fantastic dinner - no tourists in sight! We enjoyed jackfruit salad, mussel salad, and boiled ochre (much tastier than it sounds, with a fantastic spicy dip). During our stay we spent an afternoon cycling to a local beautiful beach, where we swam in the slightly cold sea, and got a little too sunburnt! We also took a cycling trip to another nearby non-touristy island with luscious green rice fields and a fantastic floating restaurant, where we chatted to some locals who were meeting to eat dinner, play guitar, and sing along with a bottle of red wine. Next, we boarded another sleeper train to reach Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam located in the north. In our cabin this time we met a lovely Vietnamese woman (An) travelling back home, and a friendly French-Moroccan traveller (Slimane) on a whistle-stop tour of Vietnam and Cambodia. Slimane had accidentally booked his train ticket for May, rather than April, but was luckily helped by a friendly conductor. On arriving in Hanoi, we immediately hopped onto a bus for a 6 hour journey up in to the north west countryside town of Ha Giang. Our Vietnamese guesthouse had wondrously beautiful views of rice fields, delicious home cooked food, and a very friendly puppy! We decided to stay for a few days to relax and wander through the local villages in this beautiful location. We met many other western tourists passing through, and shared our experiences from across the globe. After our few days relaxing, we were ready for the new adventure of China. 

China

The journey to China started with an unconventional trip across the border. A 12 hour journey from Hanoi in Vietnam to Nanning in China, split across VIP minibuses, taxi's, a golf buggy, and included being abandoned at the border with no clear instruction of who may meet us on the other side in China. Upon arriving in Nanning, our next challenge was locating our hotel without the aid of the internet or Google Maps, and with a significant language barrier. After 2 hours of walking and asking for help we located our hotel, only to find they had cancelled out booking as we arrived after 2pm (?!). Luckily they still had rooms available. Next we headed to XingPing, a former fishing village along the Li river, which is now a Chinese tourist hot-spot. The nature of the area was beautiful (many steep, domed mountains scattered among greenery), and our hostel host was wonderful and introduced us to other guests at a home cooked dinner. After a few days here enjoying walks along the river and into the hills, we were ready to leave the town and see the big city of Chengdu. 

We took an amazing bullet train from XingPing to Chengdu, which travelled at over 250km per hour. We really enjoyed the vibe of Chengdu - well organised, clean, green, and lots to do. The highlight of our visit was the Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, where we were able to see incredibly adorable giant pandas and red pandas being cared for. On another, very rainy day, we visited the Wenshu Buddhist temple in the city, and drank tea at the local tea house next door. Our next stop was Xian, the ancient capital of China, famous for the terracotta army at the mausoleum of the first emperor of China. The city, whilst not as pleasant as Chengdu, had an impressive history and extremely extensive ancient defensive walls (which we spent an afternoon cycling around the top of). The terracotta army was hugely impressive, particularly the detailed carvings of the intact statues. However, it was extremely overcrowded with tourists, which sadly detracted from the experience. 

From Xian we took another bullet train to the city of Jiayuguan in the north western province of Gansu. The 7 hour journey across 1300km took us through vastly changing climate and scenery. From the hot and fertile countryside surrounding Xian, through cold high altitude plateaus surrounded by snow capped mountains, and sand dunes of the Gobi desert. We had booked a hotel in the city, but on arriving at 7pm that evening we were informed that they did not have a licence to host foreigners! After a 2 hour scouting mission online and at hotels in the area, with many further rejections, we thankfully managed to find one that did have the necessary licence! The next day we explored the famous sites of Jiayuguan, which is the western start of the Great Wall of China, and hosts the military fort called the "First and Greatest Pass Under Heaven", marking the former western extent of the Chinese empires military control. The following day we started our final travels through China; a 48 hour intensive journey from Jiayuguan to Almaty in Kazakhstan, with two back-to-back night trains and an 8 hour coach journey, covering a distance of 2200 km. As a pit-stop along the way we spent one day in the Chinese city of Urumqi. We found it to be incredibly ethnically diverse, with many people from central Asia and Turkey; the central bazaar felt very similar to those in Istanbul, including some fantastic Turkish coffee. After our stop in Urumqi we boarded our second night train, continuing our journey to the border, and onwards into Kazakhstan for our next adventure! 

China was by far the most challenging country to travel through on the trip. Due to the language barrier, and significant internet restrictions (China have banned Google, Whatsapp and more), every activity was a complex problem solving exercise. We had to rely on Chinese apps (all in Mandarin) for everything, which led to much confusion and misadventure! Sam's small amount of Mandarin knowledge helped, but only just scratched the surface. The second major challenge was food... where almost no-one understood the concept of vegetarianism - there was always a 50/50 chance that any "vegetarian" food they provided contained sausages. Transport, however, was fantastic - we took bullet trains across the entire 5000km distance of the country. After the familiar, western tourist filled, and relatively easy logistics of south east Asian countries, we had been ready for the challenge... and it certainly delivered! 

Kazakhstan

Almaty, located in the far south east of Kazakhstan, is a city with a European vibe, snowy mountain views, and the most ethnically diverse population we have encountered. Our stay of a few days in this green and pleasant city was a welcome change from the challenges and high speed travel through China. After an initial few days of grey, cold weather (5°C) the sun came out and delivered fantastic weather (20+°C) for the remainder of our time in Kazakhstan. We embarked on a day trip out of the city to the incredible Ile-Alatau National Park, just a 30 minute local bus ride from the city centre. For such an easily accessible national park, we were amazed at the wilderness and snowy mountains with great hikes, where we encountered only a handful of other people. By the looks of it, it is also a good location for skiing in the winter months. The next day in Almaty was the Kazakhstan national Unity Day holiday, which celebrates the many ethnic groups that live together within the country. We watched dance and music performances, visited a craft fair, and ate overpriced ice cream. 

After our relaxing time in Almaty we were ready for another travel adventure, and embarked on a 5 day road trip to explore the surrounding region. The geography of this part of the country turned out to be as diverse as the population of the city. Our first stop was Gorge Turgen, located just 2 to 3 hours outside of Almaty. This region, on the edge of a high altitude plateau was sunny, cold (10°C) and snowy. We hiked to a waterfall on a quiet remote trail and stayed the night in a yurt with beautiful mountain surroundings. The next day we hiked up to the plateau, which presented incredible views. If we had more time we would have loved to have hired a 4x4 and driven across the plateau to our next destination, Kolsai Lakes. The drive to the lakes was incredibly slow, despite being only a few hundred kilometers away, as the road conditions were so terrible. However, the scenery was a continually changing array of beautiful plains with backdrops of snowy mountains, making the journey absolutely incredible. All across the plains we saw herders riding on horseback guiding their flocks of sheep and goats, and groups of wild horses, all surrounded by sparse countryside filled with grass and wild flowers. 

We stayed in a homestay in the small town of Saty, near Kolsai lakes, and met various other travellers from the UK, Philippines, Russia, and Kazakhstan. We had tasty home cooked food and were introduced to Baursak, a fried dough similar to doughnuts, and very tasty. The lakes were beautiful. We hiked along a steep and remote route, passing a few other hikers (mostly from Bangalore!) to reach the second lake, where we enjoyed a packed lunch, with the lake all to ourselves. The following day we drove further east to see Charyn Canyon. The snowy mountains vanished far into the distance, and the climate was entirely different - a rocky desert canyon! After a sweltering hot walk through the canyon we hit the road again and drove north to the national park of Altyn-Emel. Our homestay here was busy with visitors, and a very friend cat that we made best friends with. The Altyn-Emel national park is a rocky dry region with sand dunes and mountains, but sadly we couldn't visit the dunes as we didn't have a 4x4 car. Instead we headed back towards Almaty and stopped along the roadside for a short walk up a grassy mountain range. Another beautiful spot, so common across this region that it apparently wasn't deserving of national park classification. We arrived back in Almaty exhausted but hugely satisfied with our short road trip. The area surrounding Almaty is an incredibly beautiful natural paradise, with friendly welcoming homestays and low tourist numbers. Kazakhstan is definitely one of our favourite countries, and we already cannot wait to come back here to explore more of this amazing place. Next stop, Kyrgyzstan! 

Kyrgyzstan

We arrived in Kyrgyzstan's capital, Bishkek, after a slow and quite uncomfortable bus journey. We booked an AirBnB for 3 days, and enjoyed having some time to relax. Bishkek is quite a modern city with lots of parks and a lively vibe. We enjoyed trying some local restaurants, drinking beer at a microbrewery and exploring the city. We happened to be there on WWII Victory Day, and although we sadly mixed up the timings and missed the main events, it was lovely to see the city out celebrating, with a flame surrounded by flower offerings, a stage for performances and lots of games and activities. Similarly to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan had an interesting mix of nationalities, with strong Russian influences mixing with other Asian cultures. 

Next it was time for another road trip, this time for 9 days across the nature of Kyrgyzstan, whose terrain consists of 90% mountains. We hired a cute Russian 4x4 and a range of camping gear from an adventure tour company, and set off. Sadly it decided to rain quite heavily the first couple of days, so we spent most of our time driving along the southern side of the massive lake, Issyk Kul. We got a taste of the beauty of the country during a short walk up into the cloudy mountains, and the rain died down enough to camp on the second night. Our highlight of the roadtrip was a two day hike up into the valley of Altyn-Arashan. As we progressed higher into the mountains the views became more and more beautiful, while we walked besides a gushing river with dark green pine trees decorating the sides of snow capped mountains all around. Upon arriving on the plateau, we stayed in a yurt camp set up by a local family, and went to rest our tired muscles in a nearby hot spring, which the area is famous for. The following morning we woke up to views over the valley, and went on a two hour horse ride further into the mountains with two Norwegian guys we had met the day before. Our horses waded across streams and wound further into the valley, and the views somehow became even prettier. We then hiked back down to our car, and camped overnight in a nearby spot, where were were invited to join two local women for a picnic and a chat. After another lovely hike the following day, we camped in our favourite spot of the trip, a plateau overlooking the 'Seven Bulls' rock formation with 360 degree views of the mountains all around. After a few days of beautiful weather the rain sadly set in again, but we were still able to fit in a few more lovely walks, explore the 'fairytale canyon', and climb up the last remaining tower of an old settlement. 

The nature of Kyrgyzstan was amazing, and we really enjoyed the freedom of exploring with a 4x4 - with the conditions of the roads it was definitely necessary! After dropping our trusty car back in Bishkek, we rested there for a night in preparation for a long overnight bus journey through 3 countries, to reach the final destination of our trip - Uzbekistan!

Uzbekistan

After our lengthy and sleepless night on the bus we arrived in Uzbekistan. We met a nice but slightly odd Iranian who was also travelling the world, albeit in a very different style to us, with months at a time spent in a single location, without doing much... we would get restless! The next day we jumped onto a long sleeper train heading west into the desert, our destination: Moynak, a small former fishing village. The village used to be located along the shores of the Aral Sea, but due to the diversion of the sea waters for cotton farming in the latter half of the 20th century, the sea is now 150 km away from the town, resulting in the surrounding area being transformed to barren desert, scattered with rusting shipping vessels, and a crippled local economy. On alighting from our train in the city of Nukus, a friendly local offered us a lift to Moynak. She turned out to be a road safety assessor from Tashkent and a Formula 1 marshall, on her way to Moynak to be a timekeeper for the Moynak Rally! We had no idea the rally event was happening, so it was very lucky timing. After breakfast at her family's home, her brother sped us across the desert. Moynak is dull, has bad food, our accommodation had no running water or beds, and was way overpriced. However, the rally was fun and it was interesting to see the ship graveyards and learn about the Aral Sea environmental disaster. 

Next we stopped at the ancient silk road trading town of Khiva. Known as one of "the slave cities of central Asia", during the 17th to 19th centuries it was one of the largest human slave trading cities in the world, along with Bukhara and Samarkand. The small town centre has been very well preserved and restored, with beautiful madrassas (schools), mosques, and fortified city walls. The small town was charming, but entirely dedicated to tourism. However, it was a great place to learn a little about local history and culture. After 3 nights here, we took a long and very hot train journey to Samarkand! We found it to be a beautiful green city with incredible architecture and fascinating history. As the capital of the empire of Timur (Tamerlane) from 1370, as well as a silk road trading town, it became a wealthy and prosperous city. Timur's grandson, Ulugh Beg, built upon the rich cultural centre through the building of the first of the three madrassas (schools) within the city's Registan Square, and developing the city as a centre for education in Islamic studies, mathematics, science, and astronomy. We took a walking tour around the major historical attractions of the city, and marvelled at the beauty of the architecture. After three nights in the city, we took our last train journey back to Tashkent for the final few days of our honeymoon. 

Tashkent is a well organised and modern city, which took over from Samarkand as the capital of the country in 1930. We enjoyed walking along the canals through the old part of the city, which were quite run down but authentic. We also visited some madrassas, and an adjoining mosque that was still in use. On our final day we went for a drink at Hotel Uzbekistan, a soviet style hotel with great views over the city. We shared memories of our trip, and toasted to the end of our travels! Frustratingly, we had some flight complications which involved having two different sets of flights booked back to the UK and many phone calls to booking agents to figure out which we could take! After a 1am wake up, a 30 hour layover in Ankara and cancelling the other set of flights 12 hours before we were due to take them, we eventually made it back to London!

This is the end of our honeymoon and travel blog! 10 months exploring Eurasia together has been incredible, with many wonderful experiences and memories created. We have thoroughly enjoyed the journey, but are glad to be back home to see family and friends. Our next adventures, however, are never too far away. 

Here is a map of all the locations we have visited on our 10 month honeymoon. 158 different beds!