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Tourer - Travel Blog Information -
January to February 2012
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22nd February 2012
I have decided where I will be moving to next year - I have bought a
studio apartment in
Hurghada,
Egypt. The complex is under
construction and is due for completion in April 2013.
----
20th February 2012
A Day at The Races
Yesterday I went to the horse Racing in Bangkok with three local
Brits - it was a good day out (even though we all lost) followed by
a short bar crawl around the Nana area in Bangkok.
The horse racing exposes one of the many Thaiisms in the country -
it is illegal to gamble but there is a lottery (presumably run by
the government) and betting is allowed on the horse racing tracks -
but apparently because gambling (in general) is illegal the Horse
Racing Clubs are not allowed to advertise or promote their race
meetings - this makes it quite hard to find out when and where they
are on.
The main track (Patumwan Racecourse) is in the centre of Bangkok
just a short walk from Siam - it is operated by the
Royal Bangkok Sport Club and has
race meetings every second week, alternating with the other track in
Bangkok (Nanglerng) operated by The Royal Turf Club.
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14th February 2012
The History of Valentine's Day
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1st February 2012
My travels are going to slow a bit this year as work commitments
mean that I need to concentrate on updating the coding of the
City Directory sites. I have already cancelled the planned trip to
Vietnam in April and am unlikely to go on the next four trips on my
itinerary despite the fact that I
have already booked and paid for them. I have just got so far behind
with my work that I need to really apply myself for a few months.
I will still be going to Sydney in July and will probably do a local
Thai trip or two (Koh Samet - Koh Chang maybe).
I am considering the purchase of a studio apartment in
Hurghada,
Egypt, but will probably wait to make any decision until after their
election process has finished and I have made another visit.
----
17th January 2012
Air Asia just sent me an email to announce they are now flying to
Sydney from Kuala Lumpur - they had promotional fares advertised but
I actually found a cheaper fare outside their promotional period - I
decided to take advantage of the cheap fare (Mr Cheap) and have
booked to fly from
Bangkok to Sydney return (via KL) in July
this year - the total cost of the flights is $401 including seat
selection and meals.
----
14th January 2012
My trips away were good I liked Krabi and may visit again one day. I
have just created a
Photo Gallery of my Krabi, Thailand trip.
My day trip to Nong Khai was a non event really apart from being one
of those days when things don't go to plan - the 8.50am train I had
planned to catch was running three and a half hours late so I caught
the bus which took two hours to get to Nong Khai (it's fifty
kilometres). Nong Khai is fairly small and just a bland Thai town.
Despite the fact that it is on the Mekong River you could easily
pass through the town without knowing that as the town backs onto
the river with no parks or walkways along the river and very little
access at all.
----
11th January 2012
Today I spent the day just wandering around Udon Thani - whilst I
have passed through Udon Thani several times I have only ever spent
one night here before and never explored the town.
The first thing I noticed when I arrived last night was how cool it
was - it is several degrees cooler than Krabi and was around 17
degrees C on arrival. I checked the weather forecast and it will be
between 17 and 25 degrees C each day I am here.
I was quite surprised to discover that Udon Thani is both larger and
more modern than I had imagined. There is a large Central Plaza
shopping centre in downtown Udon Thani that is being refurbished and
enlarged so that it will soon be double the size. There is also a
new shopping precinct near Udon Thani railway station that has a
variety of shops (including a Tesco Lotus Supermarket) and
restaurants. I came across quite a few musical instrument shops
around town which is unusual for Thailand.
Tomorrow I am planning to go to Nong Khai (on the Thai border with
Laos) for the day - I again have passed through there several times
before on my "Visa Runs" to Vientiane in Laos but have never
actually visited the town - I will probably go by train as I have
not done that before.
----
9th January 2012
Today I went on a day trip to the islands around Krabi, departing
from Ao Nang Beach - it was a group trip by longtail boat visiting
four islands and also snorkelling over a reef near Chicken
Island - First stop was Poda Island and the sea was clear and warm
and the sand clean and soft - After an hour and a half on Poda
Island we moved on to Chicken Island (so called because it looks
like a chicken) after boating around the island we stopped over a
reef close to Chicken Island for an hour of snorkelling - then
on to Tup Island which is also connected to Koh Dam Khwan by
the strip of beach - it is possible to wade across between Tup
Island and Chicken Island as long as it is not high tide. After an
hour or so on Tup Island, which included a Thai lunch, we started
the trip back to Ao Nang Beach which incuded a one
hour stopover at Phranang Beach and Phranang Cave. The cliff face at
Phranang Beach is quite impressive and there were several people
climbing the vertical cliff next to the cave. This trip was
good value and all of the locations visited were worth seeing - the trip
only cost 500 Baht (about $17) which included hotel pick up and drop
off and incuded entry fees and lunch.
Yesterday I spent most of the day on Ao Nang Beach which is the main
beach for Krabi - I am staying in Krabi town as the hotels are
cheaper (I came across one hotel in Ao Nang that charges $1,200 per
night!) and it is not as touristy as Ao Nang Beach. There is nothing
special about Ao Nang Beach, the beach itself is just a simple strip
of tan coloured sand, although it is family friendly as the sea is
calm and sheltered - the town at Ao Nang is a typical Thailand beach
tourist area - it appeared to me that the bulk of the visitors to
Krabi use Ao Nang as the departure point to visit the surrounding
islands rather than the destination.
Tomorrow I fly back to Bangkok and then straight on to Udon Thani
for a few days.
----
6th January 2012
Tomorrow I make my first trip for the year - I am going to Krabi,
Thailand, for a few days and then on to Udon Thani (also Thailand) -
The Udon Thani trip was initially booked as a "Visa Run" to renew my
visa in Laos but as I now have a long term visa I am just going to
stay in Udon Thani and have a look around.
After spending the past three years based in Thailand I am starting
to get the urge to move on - during my three years living in Jomtien
I have visited a lot of Asia:
All over
Thailand - Bangkok,
Jomtien,
Pattaya,
Ayutthaya,
Chiang Mai,
Chiang Rai, Phuket, Koh Samui,
Ubon Ratchathani, Narathiwat, Udon
Thani and
Hua Hin
Most of
Cambodia -
Siem Reap (Angkor Wat)
,
Kampong Cham,
Tuol Sleng ("Killing Fields") - Choeung Ek,
Phnom Penh and
Sihanoukville
Most of
Vietnam -
Hanoi,
Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon),
Hue,
Danang, Hoi An,
Dalat and
Nha Trang
A lot of
Laos - Vientiane, Huay Xai,
Pakbeng, Luang Prabang, Vang Vieng and Pakse
Two trips to China
(China
Photo Gallery) -
Guangzhou, Shanghai, Qingdao,
Tianjin,
Beijing (Great Wall)
and
Xian (Terracotta Warriors)
Philippines - Manila and
Boracay
Three trips to Indonesia -
Bali
Several trips to Malaysia - Penang,
Butterworth,
Kuala Lumpur,
Kota Bharu and
Kota Kinabalu (in Borneo)
Sri Lanka - Colombo,
Matara, Narigama, Galle
Myanmar (Burma) - Yangon (Rangoon)
I still have a year to go on the lease of my apartment but I will be
moving on once that expires.
I have a few places in mind that I may go to live (in no order):
Malta - Where I lived for six
months in 2008
Portugal - Where I have never visited
Vietnam - Where I have made several
visits including a month long stay in
Nha Trang
Cyprus - Where I lived for three years as a child
Egypt - Where I went on a group
tour in 2008
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