​Hanoi is a bustling city with a beautiful blend of old and new throughout everyday life. The narrow streets of the Old Quarter are filled with food stands and street vendors to satisfy every notion you’ve ever had about the “real Vietnam”. 

​The quality, flavour and price of the food is up there with the best in Vietnam and the people are friendly and welcoming to travellers. Hanoi has all the culture, cuisine, nightlife and atmosphere that you would expect from a centuries-old capital city.

​Flipside Hostel is a modern, new and innovative accommodation choice set in the heart of the Old Quarter. This place is awesome on so many levels. Everything is a step above what you would expect from a typical backpackers hostel. Where else do you find spacious and inviting double beds in a dorm? Or how about an enormous bathtub on the private balcony of your double room? At Flipside Hostel, THAT’S where!​

Koh Rong was one of the greatest surprises we have had so far in over 12 months of travelling. Arriving by boat from Sihanoukville, we weren’t sure whether Koh Rong would be an unspoilt paradise or an unbearable mess of drunken backpackers. Lucky for us, it was the first – an unspoilt paradise of white sand beaches, turquoise waters and jungle interior just waiting to be explored!

Koh Rong is roughly 25km off the south coast of Cambodia and is a 45 minute boat trip from the popular holiday town of Sihanoukville.

Set on it’s own private beach just around a small headland from the main Touch Beach, Treehouse Bungalows offers complete privacy from all the action of the main beach, while still being within a 10 minute walk from the centre of town. The sign for Tree House Bungalows is on the far northern end of Touch Beach and it doesn’t take long once you follow the damp and tree covered path, to suddenly emerge in front of a beautiful wooden bungalow within metres of the cool blue ocean!

We fell in love with this place before we had even reached the restaurant, which also doubles as reception. While the bungalows are more expensive than our usual accommodation budget, we decided that staying at Treehouse Bungalows would really make our time on Koh Rong so much more relaxing and seeing it offered everything we wanted in one place, we decided to splurge!

The onsite restaurant serves up a variety of Kmher and Western dishes and prides itself on having a real pizza oven. (Having said that, we ordered pizza during our stay and it was quite a let down, however the other food was fantastic!). Meals range from $3 - $10, making it one of the more expensive dining choices on the island, however it’s a nice alternative to the hustle and bustle of town if you want a quiet, relaxing night on your private beach!

Many travellers visit Siem Reap for one main reason – to visit the alluring and mesmerizing, Angkor Wat. I first visited Angkor Wat eight years ago, and in my opinion, this magnificent place and the surrounding temples are only getting better with age!

Siem Reap itself is also one of the liveliest cities in South East Asia with a great nightlife, wonderful cuisines and enough markets to satisfy any shop-aholic! 

For those wanting something a bit more special, there is even a Deluxe Rooftop Suite, with a sitting area and separate bedroom making it the largest room in the hotel. It’s also the only room on the rooftop, giving the lucky guests complete privacy!

The staff at Siem Reap Rooms were available morning, noon and night and all speak perfect English. The hotel offers a booking service for a variety of entertainment options in town as well as bus tickets, tuk tuk service and laundry. The hotel is roughly 10 minutes walk from town on a quiet street however there was always a tuk tuk driver out the front, ready to offer his services.

Siem Reap Rooms offers everything you need for a short or long stay in Siem Reap which is perfect for a city where you just might find yourself staying longer than planned!

Finding reasonably priced accommodation in Ao Nang during peak season was much more difficult than I originally anticipated. Many dorm beds were more expensive than we would normally pay for a private room and even then they were on the outskirts of town and quite far from the beach. Finding Laughing Gecko Bungalows was an absolute game changer to my time in Ao Nang and after a brief two night stay, I was disappointed I hadn't booked in for longer. In fact, I enjoyed it so much that within weeks I was back to stay again!

Laughing Gecko is located one street back from the Northern end of Ao Nang, on Nopparathara Beach where there is much less hustle and bustle and more peace and serenity than busy Ao Nang Beach. While the beachfront road is still lined with shops, restaurants, bars and street food vendors, there are less tourists and considering it was peak season, the beach was relatively peaceful most days. To walk into the main centre of shopping and nightlife in Ao Nang takes approximately 15 minutes and is a pleasant stroll along the beach most of the way.

In the common area, there is also a fridge with cold drinks, beer and water all at very reasonable prices. While Laughing Gecko certainly isn’t a party hostel, the atmosphere was awesome, friendly and relaxed while still being close enough to plenty of bars and pubs if your quiet drinks in the common area, turn into a night out on the town.

Laughing Gecko also offers a nightly communal buffet dinner and the one while I was there was delicious. The food was great tasting, home-cooked Thai food and was a good opportunity to meet other people and have a casual drink. If you're lucky enough, Nui might also whip out the guitar for some excellent live music!

I couldn’t have been any happier with my choice of accommodation in Ao Nang and thoroughly enjoyed the peace and quiet of this property while still being in close proximity to all that Ao Nang has to offer.