Go with Brian

Tag: SE Asia

  • Endex

    Backpack packed and ready to go

    Just have to wait for the bus to airport now, back to heat wave UK tomorrow.

    Final mango and sticky rice at the airport. Love this stuff. Was starving so forgot to take pic before tucking in.

  • How is the heat wave in the uk ?

    Had chicken with chilli and lemongrass for breakfast from the buffet, really good. The chilli wakes up the tastebuds quickly.

    Forecast for 35 degrees, only one answer to that – beach day.

    Nearest beach is about 2 miles from the hotel, so borrowed one of their bikes and off we go to An Bang beach. The beach is actually 30 km long but is known by different names at different areas. As you approach the beach on a bike or motorbike people jump out in front to try and get you to park with them, they all charge 10000 dong just under 30p.

    About another 10km of beach that way.

    The tall buildings in the background is where Danang city is. Between here and there are a lot of genuine 4 and 5 star resort hotels. All the big names, many claiming private beaches but it is all one beach. They are pricey but probably good value compared to other countries.

    The beachside restaurants let you use the beds for free if you buy food, as I am always buying food it is not a great hardship. Plonked myself down at La Plage restaurant.

    Had a Pappaya salad and scallops in butter for lunch. The scallops were tiny and overpowered by the peanuts, spring onions and herbs, but they were ok. Thailand has a famous pappaya salad called Som Tam, which is like fast food there as you can get it from a stall on virtually every street. They usually have it very fiery with lots of chilli. It’s very refreshing dish even loaded with chilli. This one was only a little bit spicy but was good.

    All in with a couple of beers, water and a couple of soft drinks when I was on the lounger about £7.

    Tonights dinner walking by…… joking.

  • Another day, another room

    Got the bus a couple of hours south to place called Tam Coc, think it is a public holiday in Vietnam as there are tons of people about. Hotel is a few km from the main part of Tam Coc so will need to hire a bike to get further afield. Room is cheap but food prices in the hotel are expensive by Vietnamese standards. Hotel itself is quiet and has views of the mountains. No tv either..

    Had a quick walk around the local area. Bich Dong Pagoda is only 200 m away, the film Indochine was filmed here. It is on 3 levels up the mountain and was busy so will try when it is quieter. It is a tour group hotspot. Many coach trips from Hanoi go here and to Tam Coc for a boat ride. Very scenic place and expect very tranquil when all the tour buses depart. King Kong Skull Island was filmed not far away. Also lots of scruffy backpackers around as it is on the must do list.

  • Lumpini Park and Hollys expensive tea

    Quite a good choice at the breakfast buffet, something for everyone. Asian, Western, Middle Eastern and Indian.

    Had pork and shrimp congee and a freshly cooked omelet. The green stuff is Guava juice. Black stuff is coffee.

    Had a swim after breakfast and then headed out for a walk to Lumpini Park, about 2 miles away but ended up walking around for about 6 miles. Which is ok in UK, but in 28 degrees and humid Bangkok it is a bit draining. Big red face and buckets of sweat,,, nice. The park is surrounded on all sides by really busy roads but once inside there is no traffic noise and is a good place to spend some time. Lots of people exercise here in the mornings and evenings, and there are always bike clubs racing around the perimeter tracks. There is an outdoor food court for cheap eats, although not sure what time it starts. Was closed at mid day except for places to get a drink and snacks.

    Not many big lizards around today, saw this one and one in the bushes I got a vid of which was a bit bigger, waited a while but it wouldn’t come out. Can’t transfer video from the camera to the tablet though. The park was getting a bit overrun with lizards, so a few years ago the authorities set out to thin them out by catching some and taking to a lizard rest home somewhere. Or to get eaten, whichever ending you like best. Plenty of little turtles about.

    Can’t argue with that.

    It was hitting 30 degrees when I decided to head back so got the underground to get back to the hotel area. Cost 23 baht which is about 55 pence. There are always plenty of taxis about and they are cheap compared to UK but the metro , sky train and the river/canal boats are the best way to get around Bangkok, they are cheaper, quick and you don’t get stuck in traffic.

    10 minute walk at the other end so stopped off at Hollys Coffee shop to cool down. Peppermint iced tea and coconut cake. Bit expensive for what it is, £6 with tax and service charge. I know it is the city centre but Holly you need to adjust the prices.

  • All Change

    After much reading, viewing videos, jotting down itineraries, crossing out itineraries and starting again I have decided against the initial trip route and am now looking at something totally different. Problem with a place like Vietnam is that every time you come across a place name and research it, it always looks even better than what you looked at previously.

    So what have I come up with ? A flight into Hanoi and two nights in a hotel so far.

    Sapa looks tempting for me, hiking being my preferred leisure pursuit, but the time it takes to get there and back will probably weigh against it in my final plan. I need longer in country to make that feasible really given that I intend to bed down at a beach resort for 6 or 7 days to chill and generally rest up. A longer trip to Vietnam looks like it will be on the cards for sometime in the future.

    So now it is a North/Central trip rather than a South trip.

    Probably along the lines of

    Cat Ba

    Ninh Binh

    Hue

    Danang/Hoi An.

    Did look briefly at Halong Bay but get the impression it is likely to be over run with tours so Cat Ba Island probably suits me better and to do trip from there from the south of the bay rather than the crowded north bay. Or miss that part entirely and just head to Ninh Binh which has same type of scenery but on land rather that at sea. Being an ex soldier rather than an ex sailor, keeping my feet on dry land seems better to me.

    Perhaps I will overnight on a train but to save a bit of time may just go back to Hanoi from Ninh Binh area and fly to Danang.

    Hue being doable as a day trip/overnight from Danang.

    We will see.

  • So why the blog.

    So why the blog.

    As I am a kind of solitary individual and not one given over to public outbursts of my thoughts or  feelings this does not really come very naturally. Apart from a nice smile and a fake pretence that I am interested in what people are saying to me my social skills = zero and my writing skills = zero.

    Anyway in conversation with work colleagues about an upcoming holiday in April 2018, it was mentioned about creating a blog to upload pics so they could share whatever “adventure” I may have. It sounded like a good idea. Thanks Holly as I have now been glued to my pc, tablet and phone checking out various blogging platforms over the weekend instead of clubbing and raving as I normally do.

    Adventure may be too strong a word to describe what I would actually do on a couple of weeks holiday. Also I am not a great photographer and tend to forget I even have a camera on me most of the time.

    At this stage apart from buying a flight to Bangkok I am not 100% settled on where I will go. First instinct was to go to Vietnam to take advantage of the visa exemption rules currently in place, which I believe ends in June. Being a kind of lazy person who cannot be arsed with too much paperwork hassle the idea of 15 days visa exemption appeals to me

    However when i was looking at hotels on Expedia I still had a search listed for Siem Reap, Cambodia. I visited there last year and it came into my head that I have unfinished business in Cambodia, as well as it being cheaper :). My brother died on the first day of my holiday last year and although my mum was ok about me staying on rather than flying home early,  I did not really get to see as much of Cambodia as I wanted to.

    Right now it is probably 90% going to be southern/central Vietnam, starting in Ho Chi Minh city then onwards to Dalat, Nha Trang, then maybe down the coast to end up in Vung Tau for a few days before flying home. We will see what actually unfolds in April/May, as any soldier or ex soldier will tell you – no plan survives first contact.

    I don’t know too much about Vietnam, main influences being news bulletins from the 70s’ about the American war, the Top Gear road trip and the limited Vietnamese food I have had in other countries such as Laos and Thailand.

    Research so far on You Tube and other platforms is actually giving me the buzz for travel again, sometimes the anticipation of going somewhere new is better than the reality but I think not in the case of Vietnam.

    Hopefully I will not get too influenced by the hordes of social media “influencers” out there with their perfect views of hotels, nightlife, scenery, food etc.  Have you ever wondered why nobody ever ever dribbles or drops food down their shirts/vests/bikinis on travel Vlogs ?

    I do not know Vietnam but I know SE Asia, it is chaotic, fantastic, where anything can happen and I for one am always dropping food off my chopsticks. I cannot be the only one.