First day, first scam!

We are now sitting in our REAL hotel, as opposed the scam hotel we spent 2 hours in when we arrived. The lesson has been learnt, we are safe and nothing is lost (except for a small amount of confidence). Apparently we're not as well travelled as we thought. Besides, the scam hotel had lovely air conditioning...

The weather is hot, the food is delicious and everything is so cheap! Those 25 cent beers are going down quite nicely. We visited Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum yesterday, along with thousands of Vietnamese. The lines were massive and we waited around in the 38 degree heat and 86% humidity for a good hour to get in. Well worth the wait though, it was amazing to see. Today, we will enjoy a Vietnamese cooking class and then watch the mighty cats game!

We are booked on our Ha-Long bay tour, just waiting for the typhoon to pass through the north. Then we're planning to head south to Hoi Anh. Vietnam, here we come!

Streets of Hanoi

Crickets and rice wine

Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum

Ho Chi Minh Palace

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All roads lead to Rome: Marathon Recap

Let me preface this by saying, before last year, I would never have considered myself a runner. And I still don't! As you know, I have had a lot of time on my hands over the past couple of years and decided to take up running as a "hobby". Yes, I know. This does not sound like the Kath you used to know. But alas, desperate times call for desperate measures. It was after signing up for a 10k at the beginning of 2016 while Brad was doing his marathon, that I realised event running is a LOT more fun than your average Monday night jog. And if the best part about running isn't that you can eat whatever the hell you like, then I don't know what is. Brad smashes out the Gran Canaria Marathon, 2016 After a couple of half marathons (I know, right? Who even am I anymore?!?!) and another couple of 10ks, I thought, "bugger it. Why not give a marathon a crack?" Brad and I decided to choose a primo location for the marathon, so that we coul...

Back in the saddle again...

...The saddle of the mountains, that is... It turns out that the middle of this island, an island which has a diameter of around 50 ks (tiiiiiiny), is a beautiful oasis of peaceful rugged mountains and hiking trails! It is so refreshing to know that there is somewhere other than the crowded, ugly-building-crammed southern beaches to escape to. Artenara Brad and I set off on the local bus for the highest town on Gran Canaria, Artenara, which is 1270m above sea level. The bus ride was an adventure all on its own, much like our experiences in Bolivia, except this time with the luxury of asphalt roads and safety barriers! View of the ocean from Artenara We stayed in the most amazing Cave Hostel up in Artenara, which was literally situated IN the side of a hill, with hiking trails at its doorstep. The indigenous people of the island were said to live in caves in the area and there are old cave paintings scattered along the walking trails. Every morning when we wo...

Budapest, Besties and Birthdays!

It was only a few weeks ago that Brad sent me an email with the top 10 things to do in Istanbul... it was also then that I realised Brad was somehow under the false impression that we were going to Turkey for my 30th birthday... He was almost right, just a few countries off! We jumped on a plane in the wee hours of the morning; destination Budapest (in Hungary, in case anyone else is confused...)! With a quick stopover in Madrid, and 6 short hours of flying, we were finally at our airbnb, right in the heart of Budapest city. The 38 degree heat was a very welcome surprise. The chain bridge - 5 minutes from our airbnb We dumped our bags and set off to Sziget, one of the biggest music festivals in Europe, which is held on a small island in Budapest on the Danube river. Our air bnb host warned us that the price of beer at Sziget had increased to ridiculous levels since she had been 7 years ago, however at around AU$3.20 for a pint of icy cold beer, we were ...

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