Sights of Hoi An

Today Me and Izzy did some sight seeing in Hoi An, checking out the culture and arcitechture. It's a surprisingly small town, but has plenty of hitsory that hasn't been destroyed by the tourist industry. For 90,000 Dong, you can buy five tickets to see some of the 18 sights around the town, all of which are within walking distance from each other. There are a few markets dotted around selling typical tourist tat and fabrics for the tailors, but a couple of them are focused on local trade and sell every type of fruit, veg and fish under the sun. Some interesting smells to say the least!

Arrived in Hoi An

Last night we took the sleeper coach to Hoi An, a quick 12 hour drive north. I still find these coach trips funny... the seats on this one were pretty much beds. Well, they were seats, but they were permanently reclined. Your feet would tuck into a little compartment under the backrest of the passenger in front. God knows whose feet they were designed for because I have size 9's and they were too big for the gap, even with my shoes off. At about 9pm we were on a coastal road which was a cliff edge, with a tiny little barrier between us and a 100ft drop. The roads were very windy and busy with slow moving lorries carrying stone and timber, our driver clearly had a screw loose and was regularly overtaking around blind bends. Needless to say, this in combination with an uncomfortable seat didn't make for a very good nights sleep. I ended up playing solitare on my ipod to take my mind of what was happening.

We phoned our hotel when we arrived in Hoi An, and they told us to take a taxi and that the cost would be covered by them, which was a nice surprise! The hotel is really nice and clean, and feels quite traditional with all the decoration they have dotted around the building, it also has a great view of a temple out front. On arrival we were greeted with cinnamon tea, bananas and hand towels to freshen up after our coach journey.

Last Night in Nha Trang

We were going to go to Hoi An tonight on the sleeper coach, but my shirts needed some adjustment so we thought we would stay an extra night in case they were not finished. I have collected them now and both the shirts and the suit look great! I asked what material the suit is made from, and it is a wool/cashmere blend, with pure silk inner lining.

Thap Ba Ponagar, Nha Trang

Tomorrow we are planning on getting a sleeper coach north to Hoi An, so we thought we should stop lazing on the beach and see the rest of Nha Trang that we hadn't yet explored. We went for another top breakfast, both me and Izzy had banana pancakes and a Lipton tea with condensed milk (which makes it really sweet). They serve tea in a tumbler! Time to get the fisheye lens out, it's been a while.

Happy Christmas from Nha Trang

Happy Christmas 2010! What a nice Christmas we've had so far... last night was really nice, we went out for dinner at Da Fernando's Italian Restaurant. Fernando, the guy that owns it, is an Italian. It's not the cheapest place in Nha Trang to eat, but it is so tasty. I had some bruschetta to start with carbonara for main, not forgetting the Saigon Beer, while Izzy had gnocchi for main and a Coke. Then we took a walk down to the beach, where masses of locals were all sat in groups having BBQ's. It was like a huge beach party.

Christmas Eve, Nha Trang Beach

Christmas Eve in Nha Trang

I can't believe it's Christmas eve already, time has flown by. There are a few seasonal signs here and there and several adverts on the western channels on TV but otherwise it really doesn't feel like Christmas here. We've had some great weather now, and I've been in the sea pretty much every day for the last few days. Starting to look a bit brown now and not like a typical british tourist on the beach by blinding people with the whiteness of my skin.

Local kids playing football on the beach

Another Beach Day in Nha Trang

Nha Trang doesn't have a massive amount going on, but we like it, so we're staying until after Christmas. Another beach day today for us it is! The weather is still a bit overcast but the sun does break through occasionally. I have been loving the sea, while Izzy has been engrossed in her books. I did try and get some more photos today of the waves but still not quite getting the hang of it, although this one made the waves look huge...

Nha Trang

Nha Trang Beach

The weather started off a lot nicer this morning... blazing sunshine! So we got up, showered and went to our favourite cafe in Nha Trang for some breakfast where I had a ham and pepper omelette and Izzy had a french stick with jam. I'm addicted to the juice in this country because every restaurant/cafe make it in a blender with the fruit, no crap out of a carton.

After breakfast we went down to the beach to soak up the rays, and I decided to take a dip in the sea because I haven't been in it yet this whole trip. There is nearly no tide in Nha Trang, the waves are huge but they break right on the shore so when walking into the water it goes from ankle depth to crazy waves that wipe you off your feet in the space of a few metres.

I took my little fuji camera in the water with me to try and get some photos of the waves... I now have a massive respect for photographers that photograph surfers and the sea as it is so hard! Trying to concentrate on taking a photo, setting up the composition and pushing the button while the sea sucks you in and spits you out in the waves is nigh on impossible. I edited the photos a bit to try and make them look a bit more interesting because by the time I got some photos that you could actually make out the waves, the cloud came over so they all looked quite dull. Enjoy!

Nha Trang Beach

Mud Baths of Nha Trang

The weather still isn't scorching sunshine, so me and Isabella decided to visit the Mud Baths of Nha Trang. We read some reviews online that they were quite nice on an overcast weekday (apparently they can be too hot on a sunny day and too busy at the weekend). We jumped in a taxi as it's about 4 or 5 miles away. There are various options to choose from with various prices, we decided to treat ourselves and go for the top package which included a private mud bath, private mineral bath, massage, watermelon and bottled water, jacuzzi, and the swimming pool. The first stop is the mud baths which are deep wooden baths which they fill with warm muddy water for you. (Just before we came on our travels I bought a little Fuji water proof point-and-shoot camera which I took to the baths and managed to get some photos).

In the mud baths

6th Day in Nha Trang

We've been taking it pretty easy the last week really... eating, sleeping and chilling out! Over the last two days the weather hasn't been fantastic, quite overcast, but still warm enough to sit on the beach. Nha Trang has a few other bits we would like to do before we leave, like the Mud Baths and maybe visit some local islands, but we're thinking we might spend Christmas here so we have plenty of time.

There are a lot of people trying to sell you things on the street in Nha Trang, similar to other places we have already visited, but they try so much harder here! Yesterday we spent the day on the beach and were accosted every two minutes on average and they sit down next to you, get you talking and then try and sell you something. If you say no, they try and make you feel guilty about how they have no money and have kids to bring up. Although we're getting pretty good at ignoring them now and they start to recognise us and give up sooner. One lady yesterday had some tasty looking fresh fruit so we did buy a pineapple from her, and it definitely wasn't because she told us she had a big knife that she would use it to cut our toes off. She saw us again today and wouldn't give up, so I made a deal with her, I'd buy some bananas from her if I could take a photo of her!

Crazy fruit lady lent Izzy her hat...

Nha Trang

Me and Isabella have been in Nha Trang for 4 days now, so this morning we thought we would move and try out another hotel. Tide Hotel, where we had spent the last 3 nights was nice and clean and the staff were really pleasant people but its just a bit far out of town. We thought that the hotel being 4km's out of the tourist area might be quite nice as the beach would be empty, but there just isn't enough around. There wasn't many options for food, and I can only handle so much beef noodle soup for breakfast (a tradition here!). So we checked out and got a taxi to the tourist area which has a nicer beach with more amenities.

Nha Trang Beach

We've had some pretty good weather so far in Nha Trang, and some bad too! It was some of the worst rain I have ever seen when we arrived, but the last few days has been blazing sunshine. So hot in fact I got a little burnt, but then last night the heavens opened again. All the restaurants are open-fronted so we were sat eating dinner pretty much in the wind and rain, which was strangely quite fun. They parked the restaurant's van across the front to try and block some of the wind. Today is a bit grey but at least the rain has stopped, and it's still warm out.

817,000 Vietnamese Dong, or about £25 to you and me.

If you go back to my post about Patara Elephant Farm, I have added a video of the elephants playing the in the river! Click the link below to jump to the post.

Patara Elephant Farm

Arrived in Nha Trang

Yesterday afternoon/evening we had a fair amount of time to kill while waiting for our 9pm sleeper coach so we chilled out in the park, when three locals came up to speak to us as they wanted to practise their English. It was really good to have a chat with Lan, Coung and Ha and learn some of the culture in Vietnam.

Me and Isabella arrived in Nha Trang this morning after getting the sleeper coach last night which took ten hours and only cost about £4.25. This woman sat in front of me decided to completely recline her seat as soon as she got on the coach though, which meant her seat was right in my face, I couldn't even lean forward to reach into my bag her seat was so far back. After we got got going and the lights were dimmed so I reclined mine too! As usual I didn't sleep too well, so I caught up on that this morning once we checked into the hotel.

The beach outside our hotel in Nha Trang

Our hotel is good value and it's right on the beach... literally just walk across the road. It was raining this morning but had cleared up this afternoon, the next few days are meant to be good so hopefully we can chill out on the beach. I checked the weather everywhere in Thailand and Vietnam and it's raining everywhere so I don't think we can avoid it! This evening we went to a tradtional Vietnamese restaurant that Owen (the owner of our hotel) recommended, and both had beef noodle soup. Two drinks and two mains came to £1.80! I'm still amazed at how cheap some things are out here.

Last Night in Ho Chi Minh City

Tonight is our last night Ho Chi Minh City before we get the sleeper coach tomorrow evening to Nha Trang, which is rougly 10 hours away on the east coast. I got a few photos today, but I haven't really been bothered to, when it's this hot and humid is such a pain to have to get my camera out the bag!

I still cant get over how manic this city really is, and it's difficult getting used to crossing the roads like you have a death wish. I was reading a magazine in a cafe today which gave tips to the roads in Vietnam. It said that if someone is in front of you in your line of sight then you have to give way to them. I don't know how the hell this works, but it seems to, even though people on bikes on purposely don't look at each other so they don't have to give way to them.

The street near our guesthouse, Ho Chi Minh City

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

We caught our 07:50am flight with Air Asia to Ho Chi Minh City, which was a short flight arriving there at about 9:15am. We booked a guesthouse last night which is very homely, and the retired couple that run it are very nice. They were helpful enough to email me last night telling me what to ask the bus driver so we knew where to got off when making our way from the airport.

Bangkok Airport at 5:45am

Back to Bangkok

Last night we flagged down a tuk tuk and made our way to Chiang Mai train station for the 17:55 sleeper train to Bangkok, actually quite sad to be leaving Chiang Mai because it has so much to see/do and is so chilled out! It was early evening when we were at the station so light was amazing and meant I was able to get some quite cool photos...

Chiang Mai Train Station

Goodbye Chiang Mai

I didn't bother posting on here yesterday as we didn't do anything! We were both so tired out from our day with Mae Boutong that we spent most of the day chilling out in the sun at the hotel and looking at what to do next. So, the plan is tonight we get the sleep train back to Bangkok and spend one night in a hotel near the airport, and catch the 7:50am flight to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Last night we went to the night bazaar again as it's so close and bought a last couple of souvenirs. Izzy bought a little mini elephant and a gold bangle, while I bought a slightly larger elephant that had been hand-carved from wood. The shop that I got my elephant from was incredible! Everything in the shop was hand-carved, including one display which was as tall as the room and a couple of metres wide. I couldn't take any photos in there because there were signs saying not to, but it was lots of smaller carvings incorporated into one to make a massive underwater scene with turtles, fish and a mermaid.

Wooden Elephant from Night Bazaar, Chiang Mai

Then we went to a restaurant we only discovered two nights ago, Lemongrass. It has a really chilled out atmosphere and the food is excellent! It's only a couple of pounds for a really tasty curry or noodles. The walls are all covered with messages from various tourists who have eaten there. I think we're going to go there again for lunch today for our last meal in Chiang Mai.

If ever you come to Thailand make sure you visit Chiang Mai and stay at Riverside Guest House as they are both amazing! See you in Vietnam.

Mae Boutong the Asian Elephant, Chiang Mai

Today me and Isabella took a trip to visit Patara Elephant Farm. At Patara they rescue elephants from unsuitable living conditions and owners who mistreat them, and bring them back to full health. The local farmers grow crops and food, which is bought by Patara Farm using the money from tourists and is then fed to the elephants... they eat 10% of their body weight every day!

The program we took was called 'An Elephant Owner For They Day' where you learn everything about looking after an elephant. We learnt how to tell an elephants mood, learnt to wash and clean them and to feed them.

First of all we were given traditional clothing made by the wives and daughters of the farmers, so that all visitors approaching the elephants are always wearing the same clothing. At this point we were introduced to our elephants trainer Sawas and our elephant  for the day Mae Boutong. She was a 28 year old female asian elephant and 3 months pregnant! To make sure we would get on OK with Mae Boutong and that she would like us we had to go and feed her and se if she would accept taking food from us, which she did no problem. I was pretty nervous at first putting my hands near an elephants mouth, but you get used to it quite quickly and soon enough our hands were covered with elephant slobber!

Lazy Day, Chiang Mai

Literally have done nothing today apart from sleep and eat, this is what travelling is all about. Me and Izzy had a traditional Thai massage last night, we didn't quite realise what was involved when we asked for it... they pulled, twisted and massaged every muslce in my body. I didn't realise such small Thai women could have super human strength. At one point she was on her back with her knees up, and pulling my body backwards over them, so my back was completely arched over. It was definitely not a massge you could have slept through but I'm feeling good for it today.

View from the bridge outside our hotel, Chiang Mai

Wat Pra Singh, Chiang Mai

Spent most of the day doing what we had planned for everyday... relaxing! Early afternoon me and Izzy got a Tuk Tuk to the furthest part of the city that we hadn't really explored, which has the most poplar temple in Chiang Mai, Wat Phra Singh.

Wat Phra Singh, Chiang Mai

Riverside at Chaing Mai

We hadn't booked this long at Riverside House, so we had to move rooms this morning. They did us a deal on a slightly more expensive room though so now we have wi-fi in the room (for even more blogging), nicer bathroom, bigger room, and a TV (although I haven't missed that one bit so I doubt we'll even turn it on). Here is the view from our room.

Riverside House, Chiang Mai

Saturday Market at Chiang Mai

This trip seems to be getting better by the day, but I think yesterday will be hard to beat after meeting those tigers. We had the bike until 15:30 so thought we would make the most of it and travel a bit further out of town to San Kampaeng. It's meant to be full of handicraft things that Isabella was pretty keen to have a look at but when we got there it was dead... must have been the wrong day. After the bike went back we chilled by the pool until early evening, when we got a Tuk Tuk over to the Saturday Market which is similar to the night bazaar. The night bazaar had so much crap for tourists like fake football shirts and fake watches, probably because it had become so famous but the saturday market was so much better! It was a lot more of what I expected from the night bazaar with more hand made bits and food stalls.

Tuk Tuk ride to Saturday Market, Chiang Mai

Tiger Kingdom, Chiang Mai

Me and Isabella had a pretty chilled out start to the day today, I think we burned ourselves out a bit yesterday. So we lounged around the pool until about 2pm then we decided to go to Tiger Kingdom after reading some really good reviews and every Tuk Tuk in town having a sticker advertising it. Apparently the best way to get there is by hiring a scooter! Which costs about £5, or a return Red Truck Taxi, which is £14... Scooter it is!

Beast of a Scooter in Chiang Mai

Chiang Mai Zoo and Doi Suthep

Me and Izzy went to Chiang Mai Zoo today! It was great fun, you can get really close to most of the animals which made for some good photography... I got a bit itchy triggered with the camera! So we jumped in the back of a Songathaew (Red Taxi Truck) for the £1.50, 13km trip to the Zoo.

Chiang Mai Zoo

Chiang Mai Night Bazaar

Just got in, we went for a walk around the night bazaar. Some really cool hand made stuff there, like buddhas carved from wood or onyx (want one!) and pretty much anything you can think of as a fake... watches, T-Shirts, bags etc. Here are some photos...

Night Bazaar, Chiang Mai

Bangkok to Chiang Mai

Yesterday me and Isabella checked out of Sawasdee Smile Inn on Khao San Road, and planned to head up to Chiang Mai. We had quite a chilled out day and didn't really explore too far from the hotel.

Isabella, Khao San Road, Bangkok

Bangkok

The plan today was to get up at about 6am and head to Thonburi Market for some breakfast then catch the 7:30am train to visit the River Kwai, but it ended up being more hassle then it was worth! The taxi driver we flagged down was adamant that it wasn't worth going there and we should go somewhere else (probably on commission!). Is and I just walked away in the end because they were determined to take us there, so instead we went to Wat Pho (Temple of the Reclining Buddha). It was pretty impressive... 46m long and 15m high!

Reclining Buddha, Wat Pho, Bangkok

First few days in Bangkok

Well the 11 and a half hour flight wasn't the best I've had... I just couldn't get comfortable! But the food was tasty and usual good choice of films, I watched Despicable Me. Me and Isabella landed in Bangkok airport at about 4pm local time (9am UK time)

Looking tired on the plane

The Itinerary...

Right so plan the plan so far is:

Friday 26th November 2010, Heathrow > Bangkok

Travel from Bangkok to Cambodia, Vietnam, the Islands in Thailand and down to Singapore

Sunday 20th February 2011, Singapore > Cairns

Travel from Cairns down to Melbourne, just in time for the F1!

Tuesday 29th March 2011, Melbourne > Auckland

Take a coach around the North & South Islands

Monday 25th April 2011, Auckland > Fiji

Couple of weeks in Fiji

Tuesday 10th May 2011, Fiji > HOME!

Stop off in LA and back to Heathrow

First Post

Winding down at work now... 18 days to go!