Another long weekend has been and gone here in Canada, this time for Labour Day. While we were on our backpacking trip we were constantly meeting people from Vancouver Island who would give us recommendations for places on the island to visit. Tofino was unanimous. It's on the far, far west of the island which means a wee trek to get there. But the journey is half the fun, right?

A couple of weekends ago was Civic Weekend here in Canada. Now, I don't know much about the meaning behind it, but I do know it gets me a day off work, which means a day for exploring. Since coming back from New Zealand it has been a bit hard to settle back in to the swing of things so a weekend on the road was just what we needed. Banff National Park is known for the Canadian Rocky Mountains and it's crystal blue lakes. If you have seen a photo of a lake in Canada, chances are it's in Banff National Park. On a map Banff does not look that far from Vancouver, however since Canada is the second largest country in the world, getting anywhere is a bloody long way! The total drive time is between 9-10 hours. 

It has been two months since Will and I hung up our backpacks and said goodbye to travelling. We traded our lightweight, pick-up-and-go lifestyle for our own bed, in our own room, with no fear of bedbugs. Which, after 6 months on the road, we were more than ready for. The last leg of our trip was Vietnam, somewhere that Will and I had always wanted to go. This part of the trip was made even more special by the addition of Lil' Sebastian, our 110cc Honda Win that we purchased in Cambodia to take us into the south of Vietnam and travel the length of the country. 

Let's start with the border crossing into Vietnam, shall we? It was Will and I's 8-year-anniversary and certainly an anniversary I won't forget in a hurry. We had been told all sorts of stories about the Vietnam land crossing and the scamming that went on, especially with a motorbike. As we approached the crossing we fully expected to be ripped off and have to bribe to get Lil' Sebastian through with us. I went in first and as there was only one person at the desk I went straight to them. He made me fill out a wee yellow form and asked if I had a motorbike, to which I replied, yes. That was the first and last mention of a motorbike. I got off lightly, only being scammed out of the equivalent of $1 for a 'health check', where he just pointed a ray gun at me that took my temperature. Soon the three of us were through and free to start our Vietnam adventure. 

Although we had a few break downs, Lil' Sebastian was by far the best purchase of our trip. We bought him from a fellow backpacker at our hostel in Phnom Penh, Cambodia for $200USD. Lil' Sebastian was used to only carrying one person with one backpack, so some minor adjustments were needed. Will and I packed pretty light compared to most backpackers but still needed to figure out how to attach our backpacks to the bike and for me to still fit on the back. After a lot of translation mishaps trying to find a welder, we ended up finding one on the side of the road who made custom side racks for the equivalent of $3! Best bargain of the trip seeing as it took him a good hour to specially measure it up. Lil' Sebastian allowed us to see a lot of the country and not just the tourist destinations. We got to go through small villages and interact with locals who never saw tourists.  Breakdowns were never an issue as a mechanic was never too far away. The tiniest of towns always included a Phở joint, a petrol station, and a mechanic. The breakdowns were all part of the adventure. Hopping off the bike, problem solving, and trying to communicate what was wrong with the bike. Throughout the trip we had a couple of flat tyres, a tyre puncture, new shocks, a broken starter coil, a busted piston, pinched clutch cable, and multiple spark plug issues. This may sound like a lot, but the process of arranging to fix these were some of my favourite experiences. It may also sound expensive but all of these repairs would have cost no more than $50 TOTAL. Ridiculous. Riding a bike through South East Asia may not be for everyone, and if it wasn't for Will being able to ride a bike like a pro, I would have been on buses with the rest of the tourists. But if you've got the ability to see the country by bike, I highly recommend it. 

One month in India complete! Compared to the Europe portion of our trip India has not been about sites or the specific places we have been. It has been about absorbing the culture and the sheer madness of it all. Our original plan was to start in the south and work our way north but with only 30 days that was proving difficult. If you want to travel cheap in India you have to travel slowly. So with that in mind we gave the south a good go visiting Varkala, Kochi, Munnar, Mysore, Madikeri, Kannur, Goa, Hampi, Anantapur, Bangalore and Chennai. These are the parts of Indian culture that touched me the most.

Hi friends, while I have decent internet access and a computer to use - here is an update on what Willem and I are up to these days. From my last post you will know that Willem and I left Edinburgh in December after two wonderful years due to Willem's work visa ending. A while ago we decided it wasn't quite time to go back to New Zealand so looked into other countries for work visas and Canada came out on top. During our time in Edinburgh we didn't get to see all the places in Europe we had hoped so thought we'd do a couple of trips on the way to Vancouver. Well, that couple of trips has now turned in to 7 months backpacking through the UK, Europe, India, and South East Asia before eventually landing in Vancouver. I am one month into unemployment and am loving it. Here are a few highlights of the past month. 

I have made life long friends here, been able to travel to beautiful countries which are only a couple of hours away, emerge myself in the strong Scottish pride and try my hand at a few different jobs. Walking around a city with a castle perched high upon volcanic rock has become normal, but I will never take it for granted how truely unique and magical it has been to gaze up at Edinburgh Castle on a daily basis.

I take with me amazing memories, some great Scottish slang, and the thought of one day reconnecting with old pals somewhere else in the world. Thank you Edinburgh for a magnificent two years.

Morocco was the trip of a lifetime and we did so much during our week there that I am going to have to split up the blog posts! This post is going to focus on the city of Marrakech where we spent the majority of our time. Photos of Marrakech have been coming up a lot over the last few years due to more European airlines making it a destination. Each time I saw a photo of Marrakech, be it the colours, the markets, the spices, or the people, my heart told me I NEEDED to get there. It wasn't until I saw flights pop up through easyJet for £44 return that I knew getting my feet on Moroccan soil was in reach!