14th January 2010

Took a trip up to Bangkok yesterday to apply for a new passport (I have run out of empty pages). I don't like going to Bangkok and back in one day as it can involve more than five hours of travel (bus and train). On this trip the bus to Bangkok took two and half hours which is slower than normal (and the bus only goes to Ekamai which is still a fair way out of central Bangkok). Luckily the British Embassy is located close to a Skytrain station so it was easy to get to. The cost of a new passport was almost 9,000 Baht which is exactly double the cost if you do it in England. At least I don't have to make another trip to pick it up as they are going to post it back to me in Jomtien.

Apart from my month long trip to Vietnam in March I have arranged to go to Bali for a week early in May. I had also planned to go to Laos again via Chiang Rai (Thailand) and then across the border into Laos and down the Mekong by boat. I have cancelled that idea for now as the boats only have bench seats and travel for six to eight hours each day. I don't think my back could take that.

I was also in the planning stages of a trip to Europe (to use my frequent flyer points) but I am not sure if that will happen this year now as I have been spending too much money.

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22nd December 2009

I have decided to stay in Jomtien for Christmas and not travel anywhere until I visit Visit Vietnam again in March.

I may go on a day trip to Koh Samet but otherwise stay at home (and work).

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28th November 2009

My trip to Vientiane, Laos, to renew my Thai visa was good. I only spent three days there but I think I will return some time and probably travel around Laos a bit.

Vientiane is the capital of Laos and has a population of around 500,000 which are obviously spread around as the city itself appears quite small. The people are like a mix of the other South East Asian countries which is not surprising when you consider that Laos is a land locked country and has borders with Myanmar, China, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand. Vientiane is on the bank of the Mekong River and Thailand starts on the opposite bank. The border crossing is via the Friendship Bridge opened in 1994 (funded and built by Australia).

The process of getting to and from Vientiane to renew my Thai visa was not as easy as I had been led to believe. I had to catch a minibus from the airport at Udon Thani (Thailand) to the border at the Friendship Bridge. That was followed by the exit procedure on the Thai side. Then another bus to cross the bridge and the immigration and visa process on the Laos side. Then another minibus into Vientiane. The return trip was even more complicated as I could not find any organised transport places and had to find my own way (baht bus from Vientiane to the border , bus across the bridge, Tuk Tuk into Nong Khai, local bus to Udon Thani and another Tuk Tuk to the airport. I think that next time I will find a way to fly into Vientiane.

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18th November 2009

Back in Jomtien, Thailand, after a cold and wet trip to China. All in al I was disappointed in China as I had expected there to be a lot of history, culture and old architecture but what I found was modern cities with little character.

The weather for most of the trip was cold and wet plus all of my flights on this trip were late from a minimum of one hour to a maximum of two and a half hours. This meant that on three occasions  I arrived at my hotel in the early hours of the morning. The main reason for the flight delays in China was the heavy snow in Beijing (the heaviest for more than 20 years) I had originally planned to visit Beijing but changed my plans and I am glad.

I spent two days in Shanghai, Two days in Qingdao and two days in Guangzhou.

I went on a full day tour of Shanghai which was OK with the highlight being a visit to the Shanghai museum which had an amazing collection of old coins dating back to 300 BC. To get to Pudong airport from Shanghai I caught the Maglev train which travels at 430 KPH.

When I arrived in Qingdao it was minus 3 degrees, luckily the forecast heavy snow did not arrive. My hotel was not where I thought it was and was 10 or more kilometres out of town. I spent the first day walking along the coast and around the city. Qingdao is much larger than I had expected with a population of around two and a half million. It is very modern and most of the buildings look quite new. Qingdao was the site of the sailing events for last years Olympic Games.
Guangzhou is a large city of 20 plus million but lacking any interesting features.

I was planning to return to China next year and visit Beijing and also the World Expo in Shanghai but I am not sure if I will go now.

More Photographs of China

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8th November 2009

I am now in Shanghai for two days after an overnight stop in Guangzhou. My first impression of Shanghai is that it is a typical sprawling city with little special appeal. I was surprised that there is virtually no information available locally in English - especially when you consider that Shanghai is hosting the World Expo next year.

I have booked an all day city tour for tomorrow so I should have a more accurate opinion of Shanghai after that.

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17th October 2009

I am going to China next month - Guangzhou, Shanghai and Qingdao - to get a visa I have to travel to Bangkok and back on two occasions which involves a total of twelve hours travelling on buses and trains.

My China trip is for a week and involves flying from Bangkok to Guangzhou. After overnighting in Guangzhou I fly on to Shanghai for three days and then fly to Qingdao. I am spending two days in Qingdao before flying back to Shanghai. I have not finalised my plans from Shanghai but will fly back to Bangkok from Guangzhou. I had originally planned to also go to Beijing but it would add to much time and cost to the trip.

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9th October 2009

Back home in Jomtien (Thailand) after a week in Vietnam. I visited Ho Chi Minh City, Nha Trang, Hoi An and Da Nang. The highlight for me was Nha Trang as it seems almost like a separate country to the rest of Vietnam.

Nha Trang is clean, tidy and well organised, I imagine there must be very strong local government controlling the day to day operation of the city as well as development. There are several high rise hotels and a large shopping complex under construction along the beachfront but it all blends together. The beach is quite wide and very long, I cannot imagine that it could ever get crowded. I came across a beach vendor selling fresh lobster and king prawns that she cooked over a charcoal BBQ. I spoilt myself with a small lobster and six king prawns (100,000 Dong). There is also a brewery (Louisiane Brewhouse) on the beach (my kind of beach) that has a restaurant, a swimming pool and great beer.

I like Ho Chi Minh City (I have been there three times now) but I could not live there as I need a beach.

I did not like Danang even though it has a beach. Danang is almost the opposite of Nha Trang as it is dirty, messy and scattered all over the place. The hotel I stayed at was on the opposite side of the Han river the the main part of the city and there was no public transport (or anything else) in the area. I chose the hotel as it was described as being between the city and the beach, which it is but the only way to get to the city or the beach is by taxi. I rented a motorbike to go to the beach etc. but the beach was closed due to debris and rough seas from the recent storms.

Worth mentioning that the trip to get to Danang (Ho Chi Minh to Nha Trang - Nha Trang to Danang) via two train trips took around 15 hours and the trip by air from Danang to Ho Chi Minh City took around 1 hour. The cost for each trip was about the same so considering that I would not take the train option next time.

More Photographs of Hoi An and Danang

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6th October 2009

I arrived in Danang at 5am this morning on the overnight train from Nha Trang. I caught a mini bus to Hoi An to have a look around before returning to Danang where I am staying for the next two nights.

Hoi An is an ancient city of the area but is very small and compact. It was in a bit of a mess as there had been major storms and flooding five days earlier (the same storm that caused all the flooding in Manila) leaving a lot of mud and debris.

Yesterday I rented a motorbike in Nha Trang and went for a ride around the area. I first went to the South of town to have a look at the cable car to Vinpearl (resort/spa/amusement park) The cable car system is more than 3 kilometres long going from the mainland to the island. I then went North for about 20 kilometres along the coast, passing small fishing villages and fish farms.

More Photographs of Nha Trang

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3rd October 2009

Arrived in Nha Trang this evening after the seven hour train trip from Ho Chi Minh City. I discovered that the reason the overnight train was full was because some previous trains had been cancelled due to flooding.

Nha Trang is definitely a tourist town, there are foreign tourists everywhere even though this is the off season. Although it is night time my first impressions are good, it has a clean, modern, organized look. There is a festival called the Mid Autumn Festival and so the streets are crowded.

I am staying at the Ha Van Hotel which is close to the beach and also central to Nha Trang - Great value, great service.

There are lots of hotels, restaurants, dive shops and tourist related shops although no shops selling the typical T shirts etc which is quite strange. Most of the shops and restaurants look expensive although I ate in a small local restaurant and had fried rice and a beer for less than $2.

I struggle with the Vietnamese currency, the Dong, due to the enormous numbers involved (I think they should remove three zeros). Recent examples of my costs:

Taxi from Ho Chi Minh airport to railway station 60,000
Hotel for the night 300,000
Train fare to Nha Trang 167,000
Coffee 42,000
Beer 15,000

Because all prices have such large numbers I get the feeling that everything is expensive but the above prices in Australian dollars are roughly

$4
$20
$11
$3
$1

As you can see things are not expensive at all (although the coffee was in an "Up Market" coffee shop so was relatively expensive but possibly the best coffee I have ever had)

I will check out the beach tomorrow.

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2nd October 2009

I am now in Ho Chi Minh City and my plan has been disrupted already. I had planned to catch the overnight train from Ho Chi Minh to Nha Trang tonight but it was full so I have to stay here tonight and catch the day train which leaves at 12.20 tomorrow. This means that I will lose a full day in Nha Trang as I will not get there until tomorrow night instead of early tomorrow morning.

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1st October 2009

Tomorrow I leave for Vietnam to complete my tour of the Vietnamese coastline. On my previous visit I flew into Hanoi, where I spent a couple of days, before catching the overnight train to Hue, where I a day/night. I the  flew from Hue, to Ho Chi Minh City for two days before flying back to Bangkok.

This trip I am flying from Bangkok to Ho Chi Minh City and catching the overnight train to Nha Trang on the day I arrive. I will spend two days in Nha Trang before catching the overnight train to Da Nang, where I spend two more days before flying back to Ho Chi Minh City for a day and then back to Bangkok.

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14th September 2009

I am now back home in Jomtien, Thailand, after a week in the Philippines.

I visited Manila, Caticlan, Boracay and Kalibo. The highlight was Boracay despite
the fact that there was a very strong constant onshore wind. The wind is apparently a seasonal feature of the area and does not occur during the peak tourist season. I did not get to see much of Manila as it was raining heavily for most of my time there. The main thing I noticed about Manila was that there are armed security guards everywhere (including small shops like pizza shops, chemists, 7 Elevens) - the banks have three guards one outside and two inside (with shotguns).

       

More Photographs of Boracay

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8th September 2009

After a month of work without any trips I am now in Boracay, Philippines. I flew from Bangkok to Manila with Philippine Airlines and then from Manila to Caticlan with SEAIR. The flight with SEAIR took one hour and included transfer to Boracay via shuttle bus and ferry - all for less than $10 - how do they make any money out of that?

Boracay is the most popular tourist destination in the Philippines.

This is the "Off Season" as it is the monsoon season. I am staying close to White Beach, the main beach on the island, which is long and has fine white sand. The only negative is that due to the season there is a strong, constant, onshore wind which makes the sea quite rough and sitting on the beach uncomfortable. A large portion of the beach has high wind breaks in place (up to five metres high) to shelter the shops, restaurants and hotels from the wind.

Boracay is still relatively undeveloped - no high rise hotels or department stores here - which I think adds its its appeal. Most of the tourists seem to be Filipinos or Koreans.

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6th August 2009

Mr. Cheap - I am going to Manila and Boracay (Philippines) next month and got a great deal on air fares. I am travelling Bangkok to Manila return with Philippine Airlines for less than $200 and then from Manila to Boracay (50 minutes each way) with Seair for less than $20!

Then in October I am going to Vietnam again to check out Danang and Nha Trang. I am flying Air Asia Bangkok to Ho Chi Minh City ($39 each way) then catching the train to Nha Trang and then on to Danang. I fly back from Danang to Ho Chi Minh City with Jetstar ($30).

I would like to visit China whilst I am here but so far have been unable to find any cheap flights etc. It seems that transport to and within China is quite expensive.

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The Above Photos Were Taken in Malta Where I Spent Six Months During 2008



The above photos were taken during my flying holidays of Australia in 2006

All the photos can be seen at The Flying Tour With The Bundaberg Aero Club and My Solo Flight Around Australia

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These photographs were taken during my five month RV tour of the US during 2007

More of the photos from that trip can be seen at: USA Tour Photographs 2007

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Not to be reproduced without written permission: webmaster@world-tourer.com