Thursday 20 December 2012

A Brief Synopsis of 2012

So the new year is nearly upon us and, as this year closes, we make way for a new milestone and new adventures to be had. Hello 2013! I just wanted to give a quick review of 2012, what it meant for me and highlights of this year from my home country.

To start off with, I began this year right up until June working and trying to save money for University and my trip abroad. I encountered magnificent up's and devastating low's in my love life, to which I have now found the most spectacular, special man. This was followed by a whirlwind last six months where I went backpacking around South-East Asia and then embarked on the next stage of my life at University studying a subject I love and enjoy.

Wednesday 5 December 2012

England | London Baby!

London is one my favourite Cities and whenever I can I always pop down there, see friends and occasionally indulge in all the cool touristy things on often.



So if you ever get a chance to visit, here's my list of things to do and see in the Big Smoke:

Saturday 17 November 2012

Post-Travel Blues | My Top Ten Survival Tips

Here is my list to surviving those dread post-travel blues!

1. Talk to the people you met out there and reminisce.

2. Look through your pictures and re-live those days from the comfort of your home.

3. Find like-minded travellers; there's bound to be several flitting around in your local area, and talk to them about new and past adventures.

4. Plan your next trip and just be inspired!

5. Try something new, everyday, if possible.

Wednesday 7 November 2012

England | Surfing in St.Ives

Travelling doesn't always have to be to exotic places abroad.


Recently I went on a surfing trip with my University Surf Club to St.Ives in Cornwall. We travelled by minibus down into the depths of South-West England; stopping off at Asda on the way to buy provisions, i.e. booze. The long journey flew by as we played drinking games, ate food, and generally got to know each other a bit better... For me, I didn't know anyone so the alcohol consumption and drinking games were a good ice breaker.

Saturday 3 November 2012

Featured Article on GapYearBlog | Frontier

Would just like to express a quick post of thanks to Frontier, who recently featured this blog on their Gap Year Blog and here it is for you to view:
http://gapyearblog.org.uk/blog/2012/10/31/volunteer-travel-blog-hannah-banks-the-frontier-se-asia-ethi.html

Thank you guys for the experience!

Monday 22 October 2012

Vietnam | My last few days in S.E.Asia

Hanoi is a spectacular City, it feels very westernised and modern yet still withholds its Vietnamese traditions. Our first day was spent exploring the City, seeing a spectacular Gothic-like cathedral, buying new make-up, eating copious amounts of cheese sticks (they are immense) and purchasing cinema tickets to the new Batman film.

Our second day in Hanoi was slightly more cultured as we went on a tour around Halong Bay (Meaning: Descending Dragon). Our journey there was long, but we entertained ourselves by sleeping and watching the spectacular scenery race by around us. When we arrived we clambered on a boat, filled with other sightseers eager to cruise through the natural beauty. It was truly magnificent and words cannot justify it fully - it's one of those things you just have to see with your own eyes to understand and appreciate. The boat ride itself was fun as we ate a buffet of seafood (freshly caught) and rice. They took us through the caves which was amazing; they are massive and it feels like you've left reality and entered a pre-historic world underground.

Wednesday 17 October 2012

Vietnam | The Journey from South to North

After saying goodbye to the teaching and forest volunteers we left behind in Phnom Penh, we took a short tuk tuk ride to the bus station and waited for hours for our night bus to leave - we found out later that the driver had taken a nap. To pass the time myself, Cat and Miri pulled faces, ate pringles and oreos till we felt sick, watched the other trail members attempt to sleep and contemplated taking sneaky photos (open mouths, drool and random subconscious movements...) which kept us entertained for the hours we endured on the non-air conditioned bus. Eventually we set off and reached the Cambodia-Vietnam border at 7:30am and proceeded through passport control and so forth.

The journey from the border to Ho Chi Minh City was over in no time and we arrived around lunch-time. As we sleepily plodded off the bus we were hounded by taxi drivers urging and pushing and pulling us to get in their taxi. Luckily for us, Miri knew they would only rip us off by charging too much for the distance we would need to go. But our hostel was a five minute walk away from where we had been dropped off so, naturally, we walked. By this point I was getting fairly good at swiftly hoisting my over-sized pink bag onto my back and trekking after the others towards our new home for the night. When we arrived in the hostel we were all ecstatic to be sharing a room altogether. Officially the trail was reunited and so we would begin our adventures again! We chilled in the room for a bit before heading down the road in search of food and exploring the City - we visited the huge central market, a Cathedral which was meant to look like Notre-dame and the post office.

Friday 5 October 2012

Cambodia | Teaching and Living in Siem Reap

And so the island shenanigans in Koh Chang were brought to a premature close as we hopped on another bus and made our way to the Poipet border.

Our crossing into Cambodia was fairly smooth, although lengthy. On the other side we clambered back onto our bus and made our way to Siem Reap. Here, in the next few days, we would begin our voluntary projects. Due to the foot and mouth scare in Cambodia, at the time, Government schools were closed. We were initially worried that our teaching placement wouldn't take place as planned and thought we would have to participate on another project  (conservation, diving or working in an orphanage). Fortunately for us, we weren't volunteering in an area badly affected by the disease and the school itself, like many of the Government schools in Siem Reap stayed open. The school we taught at is run by a charitable NGO providing additional education to the children of Siem Reap and surrounding villages.

The only dilemma we did face was that our placement wouldn't be starting until the following week as they had taken an unscheduled "holiday".

Thursday 27 September 2012

Thailand | Koh Chang!

The time we spent in Chaing Mai wasn't quite long enough to really get a true feel for the place; so, compared to other travellers opinions, mine is a fairly opaque view. The City was nice, but compared with other Cities I visited later on, definitely not on my top five list which blew me away. However, I would relish the opportunity to visit again and really pick up on the detoxing vibes others resonate and speak highly of.

From Chaing Mai we headed back to Bangkok via train... What an experience! We enjoyed the scenic view it provided from our rickety carriages and peacefully watched the daily goings on of the locals. However, the hours dragged as we sat, slumped, curled and sprawled other our seats trying to find a happy medium and attempt to sleep through the mammoth 18 hour journey laid out before us. Alex even attempted the baggage racks above, which proved successful and he slept right through (until he got nudged to get down..).

Monday 24 September 2012

Thailand | Bangkok, Kanchanaburi, Chaing Mai and Pai

Like many travellers who have passed through Thailand; I was struck down like a fly (or mosquito...) by a bout of sickness in my first few hours of arriving which, subsequently, took me a few days to shake off before I fully acclimatised to the intense heat within Bangkok.

Our first few days in Thailand were spent exploring the immense and crazy City that is Bangkok. We delved straight into the historical and cultural sites and visited: The Grand Palace; The Reclining Buddha (this was by far my favourite place it was just magnificent. I loved the location and all the intricate, pretty surrounding temples; just wandering around for a short while you truly felt immersed within the foundations of Thai culture and spirituality); felt like sardines packed together as we travelled along the river Chao Phraya by express boat with the locals; browsed the extensive shops and market stalls in China Town, sampling various fruits, spring rolls; and trawled through endless rails of clothes and jewellery along Khao San Road - the most popular item, amongst both tourists and locals, being t-shirts sporting various iconic phrases such as "Same Same, but Different". My only wish, whilst shopping out there, was that there could be at least one top sporting: "Lovely Jubly", as this was a frequent phrase I heard whenever I told someone I was British and it amused me every time!

Friday 21 September 2012

Thailand | The Beginning

After plodding through Suvarnabhurmi Airport, Bangkok and dragging with me my gigantic, heavy, overpacked, dark pink backpack I found the representative I was meeting holding a flimsy sign with the company name sprawled neatly in black biro pen. Little did I know, at this point, that this girl, slouching against the entrance to Boots, waiting for me to arrive, was to become one of my best friends on the trail. I smiled nervously and uttered a shy: "Hi, I'm Hannah..." to my relief she recognised the name and introduced herself promptly as Miri, taking me swiftly under her wing. Haaaa!
We made our way through the airport, making general chit chat... How was the flight? Hope it wasn't too many hours ... Not too bad, there weren't any delays ... Where was your transfer? ... Don't worry, it's not too far to travel from where we're staying; your'll be able to put you rucksack down in a minute ... Has anyone else arrived yet? ... I can't wait to shower and get into different clothes! ... etc.

After copious amounts of winding our way down escalators and taking a wrong turn, we arrived at the Skytrain which would take us to the correct district and from there, after a quick stroll along a bridge overlooking a busy road below, we took a short tuk tuk ride to the infamous Khao San road where we'd be spending our first few days.

As I sat chatting in the back of the Tuk Tuk to Miri; clinging desperately to my bags and hoping I wouldn't fly out, but also being mesmerised by the 'STAR WARS' notebook Miri was writing in and explaining the itinery for the next two and a half months; the heat of the City struck me almost instantaneously!

Tuesday 26 June 2012

Chapter by Chapter

Gap Year 2011 - 2012

Teaching in Fiji
1/7/2011 - 2/8/2011

My year out begin in July 2011 when I had finished all my exams and officially left the Sixth Form I was attending. Reflecting back upon this year I want to emphasise how enjoyable and addictive the first month of travelling I experienced was. I spent it on the island of Viti Levu, part of the Fiji Islands; and participated in a voluntary scheme run by a well known Gap Year organisation. I  stayed with a host family and taught a variety of different core subjects and provided extra-curriculum activities to some of the Fijian students in a school just outside the Capital City of Suva.Whilst there, I learnt so much about Fijian culture: from drinking Kava (or grog) till the early hours with my host family to partying hard with the teachers I worked alongside - experiencing the wild, exhilarating Fijian night life through drinking Fiji Gold (their local beer) by the jugful. You've never danced properly until you've been on a Fijian dance floor! From the moment I set foot in the country, I fell in love. I fell in love with the people I met; who were so full of life, friendly, positive and upbeat. Although I was in the minority, in terms of skin colour and being a young female traveller; I did not ever feel unwelcome or ostracised in my stay there and they are by far some of the nicest people I've ever met in my nineteen years.

Each weekend, myself and the girls I travelled with, would explore more of the beautiful island. We visited fantastic beaches littered with white sand and palm trees; watched a rugby world cup qualifying match between Fiji and Samoa (Fiji won!); went scuba-diving in some amazing coral reefs and saw a variety of spectacular sealife; and did a 14,000ft tandem skydive onto a beach in Nadi. Whilst out there, I lived by two sayings: you only live once, so why not try it? And, I'm in Fiji, and on CONSTANT Fiji time. For those of you who aren't aware of "Fiji Time", it's their cheeky excuse for things being late which everyone loves as it's just a slooooow, chilled out island. But lateness can be from anything from an hour to beyond! Nonetheless, I gained so much from my time there and it really allowed me to grow and be more independent.
Full-Time Work
September 2011 - June 2012

After returning from my brief travels in Fiji, I began the search for full-time work, scrounging through endless job sites and sending off copious amounts of CV's and application forms; attending dead end interviews before finally I landed, not one, but two jobs! Neither have any relevance to the area of work I would, perhaps, like to be in after I attend University. But, they were a means of earning, and I couldn't really be picky as I wanted to go travelling again and soon, (responsibly, I also wanted to set some money aside for my degree studies).

And so began the hard work...

On average, I worked around 6 sometimes 7 days a week, with, perhaps, a morning or two off and proceeded to juggle two customer service roles: one in a well known UK Department store where I worked as a Sales Advisor, and the other in a Country pub where I worked as both a waitress and bartender. The hours were long, but the weeks and months, surprisingly, went quickly.
I was determined to meet my personal targets for the amount of money I wanted to earn in order to achieve my goals of travelling for a few months and surviving at University without relying on my parents. But, as the British summer rolled around and slowly the pennies mounted up; I knew my time working for both companies was almost up; and so would begin my next adventure abroad.

Backpacking and Teaching around South-East Asia
(Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam)
2/7/12 - 10/9/12
Excitedly I left England behind and headed straight for Bangkok; after meeting the rest of the trail we embarked upon a three week venture around Thailand: visiting the historical and cultural sights of the Capital, to cycling around Kanchanaburi, walking along the bridge on the river Kwai; chilling in Northern Thailand in the small town of Pai where we experienced tubing along the river drinking beer, riding and swimming with Elephants, partaking in a two day jungle trek and staying with a hill tribe, chilling in many a reggae bar with buckets full of vodka redbull; exploring more temples and learning about Buddhism in Chaing Mai and even visiting the Tiger Kingdom to casually hug and cuddle the biggest tigers; lastly we sunbathed and partied with the locals on the not so mainstream Island of Koh Chang.
From there, we crossed the border over to Cambodia and made our way to Siem Reap where we would spend the next four weeks. Here the trail was split into two smaller groups as we embarked on our separate volunteering projects - Conservation work in the forest and teaching English in a local school. I opted for the teaching and stayed in Siem Reap for the month; teaching the foundations of the English Language to 4 - 21 year old Cambodian's. I rediscovered my love for teaching and thoroughly enjoyed my time spent at the front of the classroom! One weekend, myself and the other volunteers went on our own small venture to Sihanoukville in Southern Cambodia where we sunbathed, saw some stunning beaches and, predictably, partied until the early hours. As the end of the month drew closer and our projects ended, we re-grouped and visited Angkor Wat and surrounding temples before leaving for Phnom Penh the next day. We spent our last few days in Cambodia visiting the Killing Fields and S21 and paying our respects.

Our last three weeks of the trail began as we crossed the border into Vietnam and headed straight for the Capital, Ho Chi Minh, where we explored the City and went on a 'Temples and Tunnels' tour before slowly travelling north to Mui Ne, where we relaxed on the beach and learnt to surf; visited the sand dunes, fairy stream and a small canyon! Next we headed further north to Nha Trang and went on a booze cruise around the small islands nearby. The boat stopped off at various locations where we were able to snorkel and see some spectacular underwater treasures. We also had the luxury of a seafood buffet on the roof of the boat; experience a condensed version of a lady boy show, and drink copious amounts of beer and free cocktails...

We then travelled onwards to the quaint, really pretty town of Hoi An; which reminded me so much of being in the South of France! Here we cycled around, explored more and witnessed their national holiday celebrations: even partaking by lighting lanterns and letting them float down the river alongside the fishing boats. Next we headed to Hue where we experienced true Vietnamese nightlife... and as a cultural and historic element, in out hungover states, visited the Citadel. Our last stop of the trail was the City of Hanoi where we visited more temples and explored the City and markets. In addition, we took a day trip to Halong Bay and watched in awe as we sailed through the natural phenomena of the rock formations cast out in front of us.

In Hanoi we all parted ways, and returned to our everyday lives back home. I came away with an increased knowledge, understanding and love for the different countries I visited and cultures we immersed ourselves within; made some amazing, strong, lifelong friendships and memories to look back on fondly, but the most poignent thing being I felt more grown up and calm. A strange sense of tranquility had taken over my inner being and I genuinely now feel at peace and content.
As a final note I want to conclude that this gap year, or year out, has really been really beneficial in making me a more rounded individual, and I would recommend taking one to anyone who doesn't yet feel ready to go straight into University or College. It has helped me grow up, clear my mind and really think; spark new ideas and passions, and helped develop more of an understanding of what I would like to do in the future.