23rd July 2010

I had a good trip to Ayutthaya the ancient capital of Thailand. I went up on the train from Bangkok and came back by bus.

Ayutthaya is situated about 80 kilometres North of Bangkok and is on an island between two rivers. It was the capital of the Siamese Kingdom for around 1350 AD to 1767 AD. It was a major trading hub and had a population of around one million people (at a time when the population of London was about half a million). The area has many ancient temples (Wats) and most of these are on small islands with a maze of moats isolating them.

A visit to Ayutthaya could easily be done as a day trip from Bangkok. The ancient temples are certainly worth checking out although they do not compare with the temples at Siem Reap (Ankgor Wat) in Cambodia.

               

More Photographs of Ayutthaya, Thailand

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18th July 2010

The Pattaya Marathon was on today and I had planned to go in the quarter marathon but injured my knee a few weeks ago and it still has not healed properly. I did go on my own "Walkathon" and covered about 25 kilometres so I am very tired. I have decided that I will give up running altogether as my joints are just not up to it any more.

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12th July 2010

I am going to Ayutthaya, Thailand, next week for a few days. Ayutthaya is the ancient capital of the Ayutthaya Kingdom (That later became Thailand) which originated in the 13th century and was the capital for more than 400 years. It is located about 80 kilometres North of Bangkok.

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27th June 2010

I just got back from four days in Kuala Lumpur to get a new Thai visa. I got a double entry visa so I can now stay in Thailand for up to six months, although I must exit after two or three months (up to three months on the first entry and up to three months on the second entry).

I have no travel plans arranged at all for the rest of this year at the moment but I will have to leave Thailand when my visa expires. I have booked a few trips for early next year:

Yangon, Myanmar
Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand
Udon Thani, Thailand border with Laos
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Tianjin, China (Also travelling to Beijing)

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12th June 2010

The rainy season has just started and it has rained heavily during the night for the past three days here in Pattaya/Jomtien, Thailand. Thankfully it has only rained at night and the days have still been fine and of course hot and humid.

I am in the process of starting a new business importing T Shirts into Australia. I have arranged for a company in Hanoi, Vietnam, to produce printed t shirts for me. This is an idea I have had for several years and the main reason it has taken so long is that I had not been able to find a good manufacturer able to produce at the right price.

The name of the business is CAUTION T Shirts and will sell printed t shirts with the CAUTION theme. To begin with we will only be selling ten styles in four sizes. The idea is to see what sort of demand there is in Australia before expanding the range and adding blank t shirts and other theme variations (I Beer and Girls etc.). Initially all sales will be retail online but hopefully this will grow to wholesale sales and offline sales.



The CAUTION T Shirts website is at:

www.cautiontshirts.com

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30th May 2010

Back in Thailand after 4 days in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I had two reasons to visit Kuala Lumpur - the first was just to have a look around and the second was to get a new Thai Visa. I was unable to get a Thai visa as the only day I had that I could pick it up was a public holiday (Wesak Day). I spent the bulk of my stay travelling around the city by light rail, walking and mono rail.

I was pleasantly surprised with Kuala Lumpur as it is much more modern than I expected and it has a good public transport system that is efficient and cheap.

I had expected a city similar to Bangkok but with Malays rather than Thais. Also I thought the bulk of the population was Muslim but this does not seem to be the case. The population of Kuala Lumpur is a mix of many nationalities with the Chinese probably being the majority followed by the Malays then Indians.

The public holiday on Friday 28th May was Wesak Day which is a Buddhist ceremony celebrating the birth, enlightenment and death of Buddha. Surprisingly it is a Malaysian ceremony which seems odd to me as Malaysia is supposed to be a Muslim nation.

           

More Photographs of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

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23rd May 2010

Mr Cheap: Air Asia has had a promotion over the past few days offering really cheap fares for early next year flights. It was hard to book any flights because their website kept crashing due to the volume of traffic but eventually I booked a few trips:

Bangkok to Yangon (Myanmar) early Feb next year - 1,010 Baht all up return (about $35)

Bangkok to Ubon Ratchathani (Thailand) mid Feb - 360 Baht all up return (about $13)

Bangkok to Udon Thani (Thailand border with Laos) early Mar - 1,440 Baht all up return (about $50)

Bangkok to Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) end April - 3,230 Baht all up return (about $115)

Kuala Lumpur to Tianjin (China) early May - all up return $260

All these fares include me selecting my seat close to the front of the plane.

The total flying time for the trips is 23 hours - at a total cost of $473 which equates to roughly $20 per flying hour.

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12th May 2010

Back home in Jomtien after 8 days in Bali. I had  really good time and it was like a real holiday.

Photographs of Bali, Indonesia

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Tony's Bali Pics  -  Jodie's Bali Pics  -  Sue's Bali Pics

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8th May 2010

We have been in Bali now for almost a week (Sue, Jodie and myself) and have been fairly active. We went on a full day self guided tour up to Batur Volcano stopping at a Batik factory, a jewellery factory, a wood carving gallery and a painting gallery. The last stop of the day was the Monkey Forest.

Yesterday we went on another full day tour visiting Nusa Dua, Uluwatu (Temple on the Cliff), Taman Ayun Royal Temple at Mengwe and finally Tanah Lot (the Temple in the Ocean).

Kuta beach is great and the water is much cleaner than when I was here last. Lots of surfers everywhere and the whole of Kuta seems to be full of Australians.

               

               

More Photographs of Bali, Indonesia

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23rd April 2010

There seems to be very few tourists around at the moment. This is probably due in part to the "Yellow Shirt" protestors in Bangkok. It is the Off Season in Pattaya at this time of year but there were many more tourists around at this time last year.

The Songkran Festival ended last Monday and it is now safe to go into Pattaya without the risk of being constantly sprayed with water.

I leave for Bali (Indonesia) on the 2nd of May for 8 days. My ex wife (Sue) and daughter (Jodie) are joining me there - they are coming from Sydney, Australia. I have been to Bali before many years ago and it will be interesting to see if it has changed much. We will be staying on Kuta Beach at the Satriya Cottages.
 
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30th March 2010.

Tomorrow I fly out to Ho Chi Minh City and then fly to Bangkok and bus home to Jomtien after a month in Vietnam.

My trip this time included Ho Chi Minh City, the Mekong Delta, Nha Trang, Doc Let Beach, Thap Ba Ponagar, Bai Dai Beach, Long Son Pagoda and Da Lat.

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27th March 2010

I have just returned from a two day trip to Da Lat. I had considered going there by motorbike but decided to take the minibus with Mai Linh. I am glad I did not go on a motorbike as the road was a very rough and rocky dirt road, with major road works in progress, for about 20 kilometres of the trip.

The journey took almost four hours (including a rest stop) and when I arrived at Da Lat there was a guy on a motorbike to pick me up and take me to the hotel. I stayed at the Thien An hotel which was good except for the traffic noise (my room was at the front which is the main road - Vietnamese drivers insist on using the horn endlessly) which went well into the night and started again around 4 am in the morning.

On the first day I went for a walk around town and also around Xuan Huong Lake although the lake was empty as it has been drained to rebuild the dam at the town end. The Da Lat Market well worth a visit as it is quite large and has a great variety of goods including all the usual goods plus a range of local vegetables and flowers. I also came across another large white Buddha on a high point just out of Da Lat. I re-visited the market at night and it really comes alive after dark.

On the second day I rented a motorbike and covered a lot of ground around Da Lat and beyond. The area around Da Lat is covered with a combination of coffee plantations, market gardens growing vegetables and plastic covered greenhouses that seem to concentrate on growing a variety of flowers. I also found the Da Lat Graveyard when I took a wrong turn.

The trip back to Nha Trang was interesting. Just as we left Da Lat it started to rain and continued to rain for the whole trip. There was  a woman in the back having a serious attack of travel sickness due to the winding mountain road. When we got to the rough dirt section it was very muddy and under water in places. We did quite a bit of sliding about and almost got bogged a couple of times (glad I did not tackle it on a motorbike) I doubt if it would be passable in very heavy rain in its current condition. I was happy to get back to my hotel as I had a bad headache from our driver blowing the horn for three and a half hours.


                       

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24th March 2010

Today has been the hottest and most humid in Nha Trang this trip, probably 33+ degrees and very humid. I had planned to walk to the Long Son Pagoda and have a look at The Big White Buddha on the hill. It is probably less than two kilometres from the hotel but I decided not to walk. I went there on a Cyclo (my first Cyclo ride) and it was much better than walking (I walked back).

The Long Son Pagoda is on the highest hill within Nha Trang and is fairly close to the Nha Trang Railway Station. I was quite impressed which surprised me as I have seen so many temples, Buddhas etc in South East Asia. Also it is free so that was another surprise.

               

More Photographs of Long Son Pagoda, Nha Trang - Vietnam

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21st March 2010

Rented a motorbike again today and went exploring. First I headed South and found the beach I was looking for the last time I went that way. The beach is called Bai Dai Beach (Long Beach - and it is about 20 kilometres South of Nha Trang) but the only access appears to be to the small sheltered bay at the Northern end of the beach. There are several restaurants right on the beach (Almost to the waters edge) and I think there are too many and they spoil what would be a great spot. The beach is quite nice and also sheltered from the prevailing winds. I think it is mainly a locals beach similar to Doc Let, although today it was almost empty even though it is Sunday.

After visiting Bai Dai Beach I went back to the main Ho Chi Minh to Hanoi highway and then headed West towards Da Lat (or Dalat) which is in the highlands (about 5,000 feet above sea level) and about 140 kilometres from Nha Trang. I decided not to try and go the whole way there today as I didn't really have time and also the road was very rough and potholed in many areas. If I rent a bike again while I am here I may do the trip to Da Lat.

On the way back to Nha Trang I got a puncture in the rear tyre, luckily I was fairly close to a town and after about 500 metres of walking the bike I found a place to fix the puncture. The guy did it straight away and it only cost 5,000 Dong (about 30 cents) which was amazing.

After a long day of riding I returned to the hotel and after a refreshing shower went up to the rooftop lounge for a Larue beer (or two).


                   

Photographs of Bai Dai Beach (Long Beach), Nha Trang - Vietnam

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12th March 2010

Walked to Thap Ba Ponagar (Cham Towers) today. The site is only a kilometre or so from central Nha Trang. The towers were built between the 7th and 12th century AD and were originally Hindu temples. They later became Buddhist places of worship. The temples sit on a rocky outcrop that was once where the Cai River met the ocean but is now a few hundred metres inland from the ocean.

           

More Photographs of the Cham Towers (Thap Ba Ponagar), Nha Trang - Vietnam

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9th March 2010

I took the day of today and rented a motorbike - I rode around town to start with and was amazed at how big Nha Trang is. I thought that it was a small fishing town mainly along a narrow coastal strip but it goes much further back from the coast than I thought. The population is apparently around 500,000 - I would have originally have guessed less than a quarter of that.

After battling with all the traffic for an hour or so I headed North to look for a beach called Doc Let that I had heard was very good. Doc Let beach is about 45 kilometres North of Nha Trang and I found it more or less by accident as there were no signs in English (and it is about ten kilometres off the main road). You have to pay to get in (15,000 Dong) and then pay to park (2,000 for a motorbike). The beach is quite good and very peaceful - it has fine soft sand and the water is warm and clean and the slope into the water is gentle so it is suitable for kids. There were not that many people there and most of them were Vietnamese. You can rent small thatched enclosures for 150,000 Dong which seems very expensive to me.

After my trip to Doc Let I went South to look for another beach but I did not find it.

All up I probably rode 200 kilometres and am a bit saddle sore as a lot of the road was fairly rough.

The hotel I am staying in is great (Ha Van Hotel) and I am paying less than $20 per night including an enormous breakfast.


                                   

Fishing Boats Moored Off Doc Let Beach         Doc Let Beach Looking North   

                                    

The Thatched Enclosures on Doc Let Beach          Doc Let Beach Looking South         

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3rd March 2010

I am now in Nha Trang after a fifty minute flight (better than seven hours on the train) from Ho Chi Minh City with Vietnam Airlines.
 
I knew (but had forgotten) that the airport for Nha Trang is about 35 kilometres out of town. Luckily there is a shuttle bus into town for 40,000 Dong (Taxis are also available but cost 260,000 Dong). My hotel is the Ha Van Hotel where I stayed the last time I visited Nha Trang and is excellent value.

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2nd March 2010

Arrived in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, last night after flying from Bangkok.

Today I went on a full day tour to the Mekong Delta South from Ho Chi Minh City. The tour was good and excellent value as it only cost $39 and included hotel pick up and drop off, transport to the Mekong Delta, three separate boat trips, coconut candy factory tour, motorbike taxi transport to tropical fruit tasting and lunch.

Tomorrow I fly to Nha Trang where I will be for the next four weeks, working hard with the occasional trip to the beach.


Photographs of My Mekong Delta Day Trip

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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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