Happy New Year!

I'm sitting here at 2pm on New Year's Eve in the Krabi Ferry Passenger Terminal waiting on my boat to Koh Phi Phi. For those from the crowd at home (if any of you read this!?!) I'm away to meet 'cockney Matt' for the night and bring in New Year with him. He replied to a general xmas email saying he was flying out yesterday until the 3rd, so off to crash at his.

As all the best (or worst) goodbyes on this trip, my Happy New Year goodbye to my sister and mum (and James and Allan) were very brief, as I hopped on a songthaew shared taxi to Krabi..... and as I sit here I pick up an email to say mates are spending it in Ao Nang where I have just left.... bloody typical!

From Phi Phi I may head to Koh Lanta as a stop off to head to islands in the far south of Thailand, do a visa run, and back to Krabi to meet another mate on 6th!

Happy New Year wherever you are!!

Post Christmas chill

Pretty uneventful blog for today and yesterday.... yesterday we went to Tonsai beach and it pissed with rain so we had a beer and came back. Today we went to Railey in the afternoon (sisters anniversary and her hubby's birthday...two years ago today we were all on a beach in Florida jigging with kilts on the beach, setting off fireworks pissed...well, the last bit was just me). Oh yeh I did get 'New feet for the New Year' today on the beach where they scrubbed my feet getting rid of all the wear and tear from 6 months of boots and sandals (nice thought eh?)

I much prefer the vibe at Tonsai - a lot more chilled but maybe boring after a while if you are not climbing a lot.

And that's about it! Still no idea about New Year's night yet but not fussed which way it goes - mad or quiet. Tomorrow (30th) is the last full day with the family as they all depart on the 31st, with the olds taking in the New Year in Bangkok airport!!

Heading on a boat trip to Hong Island on a chartered long tail boat tomorrow.

Plans for January

Current 'plans' are .....dunno at New Years, depends if others are in touch with me, otherwise, it'll be waving goodbye to family and whatever I find going on (but I'm not too fussed). On the 1st or 2nd I may head down to the far South West of Thailand and visit a couple fo islands in the national park there, and do a visa run to Malaysia before returning to Ao Nang to hook up with a mate on the 6th. From 8-15th I may travel to Koh Lanta with them, then *maybe* head over to Phuket to grab a liveaboard dive boat to the Similan Islands for a few days before heading over to see Koh Tao on the east coast. I hope to get quite a few dives in around this period, but it'll empty my wallet, which is starting to empty way too quickly before I head East. On 6th Feb I need to be back in Sydney to fly to Australia.

The Beach

I think someone else has seen the map to 'The Beach' :


My first tour of the areas islands were taken today, including Kho Phi Phi, and other small islands. As you can see by the picture, we went to visit Maya Bay on Koh Phi Phi Leh where the beach was filmed, and I think many more people have found 'The Map'. Despite being a national park, the bay was ridiculously busy, with most boats going right up to the beach. I was doubting whether this was the real place, but I imagine it would look completely different without the boats, and DeCaprio sitting in the water on his own (erm, not that that thought does anything for me obviously!).

We stopped at various bays to snorkel, some of which had a lot of coral, and a shitload of little fish. Unfortunately, the boat operators were throwing bread in to attract the fish, and the bays were mobbed with up to twenty boats in the bays. It was a reasonable way to see what we saw, infact its the main staple of tourism here, but it was really too rushed.....

'Ok, we stop here, you have 30 minutes to snorkel'
'Ok, we stop here, you have 40 minutes to relax'

By the time you found the toilet, took a picture and laid down your towel, it was time to go again.

Another shot of Maya Bay :

Despite this, it was a good day, and I managed to snorkel at a few different sites, and have lunch on Koh Phi Phi. It was a bit of nightmare on that island as I had a quick look around for accommodation, and they are charging whatever they can get away with...a small beach hut for 500 Baht with no facilities.... and just a mattress on the ground of the hut, with a fan, next to the beach. Everywhere is full, and the beach is mobbed compared to others in the area (see picture). In Ao Nang, despite being a bigger resort, you can easily get a stretch of beach to yourself without much effort. I'll have a couple of days there in mid January, hopefully it's died down a bit by then.

I also got an email from a mate who is going to be in Phi Phi during New Year...eh oh, it could be messy (and expensive!) if we manage to hook up!

Koh Phi Phi main beach :

Tsunami Anniversary

It's hard to think that two years ago, a large tsunami ripped through this area, devastating the lives of many around the world. There is still a bit of building work going on, but I think this has as much to do with development as anything else. There are tsunami evacuation signs all over the area, including the smaller islands.

Every day we have seen small balloons, lit by a small fire underneath ascend over the bay, staying alight for as long as you can see, drifting up to the heavens. Tonight we finally found out where they were being let off, and let off our own. They were to mark the anniversary of the tsunami, and were being set off from the beach to show respect, and make a wish. They're a pretty beautiful sight as you often see up to twenty in the sky, staying alight until they are too far away to see.

I've got a sneaky suspicion that the folk selling them are making a fast buck though without any cash going to the tsunami relief fund.
Mind you though, it's not just the guys on the street. I watched the news last week that said most of the cash donated is still tied up, and many of the large countries that pledged multi millions of dollars to help have only paid out a tiny percentage of their pledge.

Happy 60th Mum!

Boxing day meant it was my mum's 60th birthday. It was a totally chilled day today as she went for a Spa, while I got up late then met them at the pool. We splashed out on a nice hotel for dinner, sitting outside...only it was raining. As usual on this trip I've found that often the more you spend, the worse service you get. On that odd rare time I've intentionally splashed out on a hotel or meal, it hasn't been significantly better to justify the cost increase.

The barmen were great, and quite talkative, but when we moved to our table it all went wrong. No white wine. The festive period and no white wine? The third person asked eventually brought one of us to the pathetically stocked wine cabinet, which did actually have white wine....about 3 bottles of it, in a big resort hotel. When the food was ordered, one starter came ages before the others, and I was served and finished my food about 45 minutes before the others. It took around three attempts at asking for the other main courses as other parties came and went, and even after that one main was completely missed out. One of us even walked into the kitchen to ask for rice to accommpany one dish! I orderd my usual chicken green curry, as I decided to miss out on the 'Poo Dish' - yet another classic typo on Asian menus (see picture)



I must admit, there were more than one of us that was tempted just to walk out. We would have complained but no-one seemed to have a clue what was going on. As they had a note of my parents resort, we decided to wait and pay, and they even had the cheek to call their resort as they had forgotten to put some drinks on the tab!

At least in a street stall, it's served instantly, and it's cheap enough you can just chuck it in the bin otherwise! You can even get served booze at another stall next door here.

Merry Christmas

Last night we took the compulsory meal and 'entertainment' at the resorts my family are staying at. To say it wasn't worth the cash (1600 Baht!) was an understatment, and all drinks were chargeable! But there were around 20 young thai girls dressed in mock santa tops! (see picture above)

Xmas day was well chilled, started off on a bad note by me having a lie in and missing the uncommunicated present opening time, early after breakfast. So there it was, all started with meeting the others in an internet cafe, me heading for breakfast across from the accommodation, and a couple of hours by the pool. Present and gift swapping took place on the bungalow balcony with the sounds of the crickets luckily overshadowing the lousy Christmas tunes on my sister's iPod!

I also woke up this morning with a sprained wrist, and I definitely didn't fall over last night, so I'm not sure if I gace myself an unexpected (and unnoticed!) present last night during my sleep.....

In the afternoon we jumped on a moto taxi to the far side of the beach and chilled out topping up that xmas tan, soon to be finished off with us heading to the Irish pub for some traditional Christmas roast....

Merry Christmas wherever you are in the world!!!

Here's some xmas day pics of me! (Note the custom made board shorts from Hoi An?) :

Ao Nang chilling

Today is officially a chill day! (another one!). Met the fam yesterday and went for some food. I went to tell the bitchy landlady that I'd stay for longer 'Ooooh, 900 baht over christmas and new year' (much more than my current 500!)
'Even if I stay for over a week?'
'Yes, Thai people, they come, holiday, one week, you pay in advance'
(I quickly remembered the empty rooms she had, and her stroppieness yesterday and makea mental note to find somewhere else)
I found somewhere else this morning out of two I looked at yesterday. When she saw me walking out with my bags, and the few thousand baht she could have had, she offered it to me for 500 Baht...
'Sorry, too late - if you did that yesterday I'd have stayed but I've told someone else I'm taking a room now'

Oh well, I'm paying slightly more now, and not so nice a room, but I'd be b*ggered if I'dbe giving her my money for a week!

Anyway, it's a fab day, my family are 100m away from me, and I'm sitting on wifi having breakfast writing this before heading up to their pool.

I'm soooo tempted to go diving on xmas day, but I think it'd go down like a bomb. We have a very cheesy xmas eve meal tonight that it compulsory for people staying at my folk's resort, and I'm going along...although I'd rather be eating at a locals place than watching a magician's show surrounded my kids...

Bah Humbug! Merry Christmas!

Ao Nang, Krabi

I left the two guys this morning and took the long tail boat to Ao Nang beach for 60 Baht. As usual, you pay more money for a place and sometimes it's not worth it. They were meant to sort a spare bed for me with my folks but said they were finished, so I went out and got my own accommodation for the same price with some stropppy bitch of an old woman! I wish I went to the more expensive smaller place instead!
I had got the times of my folks arrival so there was nothing else to do but take a bike to the dive supply shop (only to find they can't get me a housing until 9th January - yuck), then swim in the sea and stroll back to town along the beach.

Anyway, I better go - I just got a text message and mum, stepdad, sister and husband are on the bus from the airport and I have strict orders to get the drinks ready for their arrival!

Tonsai and Krabi chill out day

Had a few too many beers last night, but hey it was the first night in town, and we hooked up with Noi from Laos.

Woke up really late today, then sat and wrote some emails on the laptop on the balcony of our shack (no wifi though!), then walked 50m along the beach to go bouldering.


After 10 minutes we decided a swim was a better offer to jumped in the sea. I then walked over to Railey east, and back over the hill to Tonsai before relaxing before dinner.

As mentioned I hooked up with a couple of guys I met in Laos, including an instructor.....John, if you see this your brother is here and loving the life!

Jonathan, Noi, someone else from On the Rocks climbing school, and myself :

Tonsai beach, Krabi (or Hat Ton Sai)

Me on Tonsai beach, Krabi - way overloaded!


I made it to Hat Ton Sai beach in the Krabi area today. I met a guy I climbed with in Vang Vieng in the departures lounge (pre-planned), then spent the night in Krabi town last night. There's a great little food market there, and we were in a pretty plush room by backpackers standards.

Today we took the boat to Tonsai beach next to Railey in Krabi. The boatman lit up a big fat one while the waves were splashing over the side (don't worry mum I didn't partake!).

We got in, managed to get a room reasonably easily at Andaman Resort, then hooked up with Noi who we met while at Laos Rock Climbing in Vang Vieng, Laos. (still follow this?). We almost ended up renting a treehouse for our time here, but decided against it based on the cost and the location - right next to the bar. We were tempted though as it's not often you can say you stayed in a treehouse 3 steps from the sea.


Anyway, myself Jonathan, Adam and Noi went off climbing and did a few routes five minutes from the beach, in a wonderful setting overlooking the lime karsts and the beach bay.

When we went climbing there were also loads of Long Tailed Macaque monkeys dancing around the area. Sometime there were a couple just hanging out on a small tree branch about 5 feet away from us, then the next thing there was one literally above my head when watching the others climbed. I could have reached out and touched it before it jumped across the climbing routes to join it's mates. There were about twenty of them walking along the beach underneath us. The pictures of the monkeys don't really do it justice.




For those from home, I managed to eat some Aberdeen Rowies (or butteries) the other morning!!! My mum took four over and I managed to throw them into the hotel's toaster - complete and utter treat. Oh jeez I miss them sooooooooo much.

Going to have a day of doing absolutely nothing tomorrow, then head to Ao Nang beach to spend xmas with mum, stepdad, sister and husband (her's not mine!).

Krabi Town

Some pics of the market and pier in Krabi Town...

BKK airport and last day madness (Saigon moto drivers are lightweights!)

There's a hole in my pocket, dear Lyla, dear Lyla....

At least I'm sure that's how the song goes, and that's how it feels being in a city...regardless of what I try to do, the money seems to keep falling through and imaginery hole in my pocket!

Today wasn't a highlight to be honest. Again, no chill out time in BKK after a not so great kip. I got up, attempted to sort my luggage out then gave up. Well I kinda had to as I realised I had lost the receipt I desperately need to complete my camera insurance claim. I grabbed a cab, realised how bad the traffic was, thrust some cash in the cabbies not too happy hands, jumped out, and flagged down a moto driver. We were there in minutes.

To say it was an exciting ride would be an understatement. No junction was too much - it just meant he had to turn the wrong way then cut across the pavement, sneaking through the smallest gaps in traffic. I got my receipt, a replacement card reader, some DVD's to back stuff up, then back on a moto to get back near Khao San road.

It would have been all worthwhile if I wasn't sitting in the taxi to the airport realising I couldn't find the receipt again!!!! I think it will have to be a pleading call to them, and the insurance company. With transport, a new guidebook, a new book, and all the other crap, I've spent about 40 quid, and I still haven't eaten since breakfast!

Roll on a few days in Krabi when I'll hopefully have some accommodation secured for the festive period, as I desperately need to sit somewhere for a while to chill out! Bring on some diving, and hopefully climbing...although of course, that'll cost me! I hear your hearts go out to me.

If anyone is reading this back in blighty - have a merry festive period!! It doesn't feel like xmas here, which is a bit of a bugger as I have some presents to buy (some of which I think I've misplaced - sorry mum!)

Me sitting outside Bangkok airport on wifi! :

Last night in BKK

Well what can I say...it's my last night in BKK. I've just went for dinner with the family, checked my email...and basically can't be arsed to write anything.

Today has been pretty rushed...great plans of getting up, sitting by the pool, then hitting the dreaded shops after buying a tshirt, a new guidebook, getting my haircut.

The reality was getting up at 10am, waiting ages for breakfast while on wifi. Spending too much time on that. Rushing to throw my overweight luggage together. Checking in to another hotel, then traipsing around the Siam area looking for knock off CDs at rip off prices (compared to Vietnam) and hunting down overpriced cameras, and still being unsure of which one to buy.

I opted for an Canon IXUS 850IS, but was desperately wanting to purchase a Canon G7 but wasn't sure if the bulk of it would frustrate me for shots in the pub. I mean even my newly tailored custom made jeans have pockets that are too small to get my notebooks in. Now I need to find an Ikelite waterproof housing that won't fit the strobe flash I have been lugging around for months.

I left the new camera battery charging tonight, and already missed out a shot.

I went for a pee after the meal (a starter with meat and leaves, fish cooked in lime and chilli, then some of James' Green Curry), and the urinal had a sign on it :

'Out off work'. Amazing. Sounds like it usually gets paid for what it does.

Tomorrow I have to check out and head to the airport for 4pm, so no doubt I'll sit by the pool (after watching the family head to Chiang Mai), check out, and rush around in the afternoon.

I need to get out of this place. Not because I'm ready for it, it's just that there are too many temptations to spend money. I bought a second external hard drive as well - the first one is full already!

Good night.

Getting ready for the next phase.....

Grand Palace :


Tomorrow I'm flying to Krabi with Jonathan I met in Vang Vieng in Laos. A couple of days later my folks and sister join me.
Ciara left to head back to the UK yesterday as well so it's all a bit changeable for myself, kinda just crossing my fingers that we manage to find accommodation in Krabi!! Everywhere you can book is full.

Bangkok was and will be pretty much trying to avoid consumerism! I've still to buy a new small camera, and have been spending way too much money in comparison to other countries in SE Asia! I went to the Grand Palace again and a massage at Wat Po massage school, but this time got massaged by a lovely young Thai with soft delicate feet, not the big bruiser bloke I got last year!

Anyway, off to change hotels to be at the same one as my folks, so will write more soon - probably from Krabi!

Not sure which one felt more active when this was taken :

Back in BKK!

I arrived back in Bangkok yesterday for the third time this year. Isn't it weird how before, a place used to seem cheap, and now it's expensive?

For example, a not so legitimate CD costs almost 6 TIMES the price it does in Hanoi, as as for beer - unless you're in Khao San road or similar it's almost two quid a pint. Now that may seem tight moaning about, but when you come from 8 pence a glass (albeit the strength of pisswater) then that's quite a difference.

Even a t-shirt from the trendy BKKer is 'cheap' at 300 Baht for a tshirt from a genuine artist, but at over 4 quid, it's expensive compared to my 75 pence Vietnam one from Hoi An!

Anyway last night was spent dashing around BKK taking advantage of the relatively dirt cheap cabs. We headed from near Khao San to the Pat Pong night market, over to Sukhumvit for dinner and a walk along Soi Cowboy (to get pinched by one of the ever friendly girls on the way past), then back to Pat Pong for a drink at Radio City, then back to Khao San.

Today my mum and step-dad arrived fresh off the plane from Scotland, so we had a quick trip to the Jatujak Weekend Market.

All shopped out, I'm off to the pool. Cameras will have to wait until tomorrow!

Archive links fixed

Just incase you are bored my archive links on the right hand side of my blog are now working, and there are new archives by country (more to be added)! There is also a contact email address on the right hand side for those that don't know me personally! Yaaaa!

Hanoi - Bia Hoi! The Beer Scooter really does exist!

Me drinking a 6 pence glass of beer :


Today was spent chilling out good and proper. Hanoi is an amazing place to wander around aimlessly as every street in the old quarter is absolutely buzzing with activity. Anything goes on from people cutting out marble headstones on the pavement, to carving drums, making belts, to just constantly eating at street stalls. Like bits of Yangon in Myanmar, each street seems to specialise in specific types of goods from leather to paper to whatever else, and the streetnames even reflect this.

You can buy pretty much anything you want - the only thing I haven't seen in the old town is modern gadgets like cameras etc. Kick ass big televisions yes, but not many cameras...I still need my replacement, and I've just been given the go-ahead by my insurance to get one out here. There is the same old ceramics I bought in Hoi An, but they are even cheaper here at a mere $5 a teaset!!! There are 'North Face' bags by the dozen starting at $5 and of pretty decent quality (rain covers too!), and even the odd Crumpler camera bag. Knock off CD's and DVD's are all over the place starting at 50 cents for a CD, and under a dollar for a DVD. Sometimes I'm in heaven then I remember I am travelling for a long time so still can't go mental. I even wanted to send wicker baskets home!

But alas, you can only do so much shopping, so we found the Bai Hoi stands at the corner of P Ta Hien and L Luong Ngoc Quyen. Like the one in Hoi An, these sell fresh beers, but there are around 5-10 places all in the same area and they sell fresh beer straight from the keg for 2000 Dong a glass (yes, thats around 23 cents, or 6 PENCE A GLASS!). It's not the strongest, or tastiest beer I've had but I Had around 7 glasses for under 50 pence.

These Bia Hoi places are pretty well known so people come and go all day, from locals to travellers, with quite a buzz around some evenings. They are also at a great location as well - at a 4 street intersection, where the streets are really narrow, and there's no roundabout, where there would be elsewhere. We sat there for around 4 hours just watching the world go by drinking beer and a half bottle of rum ($1.25). A whole day could easily be spent, only leaving your seat to make space for more beer. People approach you to sell you lighters, books, snacks, baskets, shine your shoes, and you can get takeaway food from just around the corner for next to nothing. The female sellers with their baskets over their shoulders constantly use that catchy walk and wiggle movements and offer you everything from hot food to fruit on their way by. After a while you even start to channel out the constant honking of horns that is ever present all over Hanoi.

Transaction taking place in the middle of the road :


And I was witness to that mythical thing today - the beer scooter!! Yes guys, it does exist!! But this one brings fresh beer to replenish supplies on a Honda Dream scooter! And almost as good as this, when I got some crips they were even stamped with authority that they were an ideal 'beer match'. See attached pictures.




After being so chilled, it was just along the road for real food, then I bumped into a couple of guys from the Netherlands I drank with in Battambang, Cambodia, so had a few beers with them.

Bia Hoi stalls at night :

To Hanoi

Due to a very limited time in Vietnam, and a pretty blown 'budget' already, the flight option to Hanoi was selected, saving 16-18 hours on the bus or train.

After chilling by the pool and collecting jeans it was finally time to grab some chillout time in Hoi An. Of course, this was ultimately decided after passing by a fresh beer stop, which offered up a glass for 19 cents. The final bill for 5 glasses was a shade under $1, or around 50 pence for UK people.

Yes, you read it correctly..... 5 beers for 50 PENCE!!! That's about a sixth of the price of ONE pint of Stella Artois in some bars in Edinburgh nowadays.

I then got it in my head I was going to swap my Raleigh International cap for a Rainbow Divers, Hoi An hat which is worn as part of a uniform by many of the cyclo drivers in town. They also wear matching Rainbow Divers shirts (great advertising!). Frustratingly, but admirably, they insisted it was not possible as it was part of their uniform and they couldn't give them away.

Although completely gutted to be leaving Hoi An so soon (and 4.5 days there is more than many!) I'm looking forward to Hanoi, but know that three days there will, once again, be waaaay too short.

Hoi An - expensive shopping!

It can hardly be said that Hoi An is an expensive place to shop, but you can certainly spend a shitload, but get a lot of bang for your buck....which is pretty much what I did today. I collected all the clothing, and decided to go back and buy the ceramics....all ceramic but finished off in lacquer that had a cracked look. Of course I had to think that these were my 'fancy' set of dishes so I ordered 7 large bowls, plates and spoons, 7 of the same but in a smaller size for rice, a large bowl, two dishes, 4 sauce dishes, chopsticks, 2 ladels, and probably another few things I can't remember...it was really a set of 6 I wanted but to allow for breakages....

I reckon in a department store like John Lewis's a large bowl would be around £15...but I got all the above for $68!! £36!!
I knew I'd end up spending more than that shipping them back, but I knew the postal rates and the weight so could work it out beforehand. The helpful woman boxed it all up then sped along to the post office with the box on the back of her moto. Already armed with a few kilos of some other stuff I Had to send home (some clothes, essential souvenir guidebooks etc), I just got the post office to throw this in a box with the ceramics.

The final weight?

29 kilograms!!

Cost me $98 to send it surface to the UK. It's a bit mad as although I'm meant to be back in Scotland in June 2007 I've already got many thoughts of delaying this, but I'm sure I'll be reacquainted with my bowls one day.......

If in Hoi A, dig out this shop (although you'll find the same in plenty places) :
King X.O. Shop, 728 (new) - 10 (old) Hai Ba Trung Street, Hoi An

After this I had to go out and celebrate so it was finding a bar, a couple of bottles of wine, then went in search of a late night bar my friend had recommended to seek out a few weeks ago. It was midnight, the town was dead, but we hijacked a moto drive and went in search of the 'Dream Bar' around 5km out of town. Unfortunately (especially given the rain that started) it was closed when we got there. Of course, no moto driver is worth their job if they don't supply alternatives, so it was back into town to try the Full Moon bar on the other side of the river. Although it was the middle of the night, they still insisted on tooting their horns through town, obviously getting a kick out of keeping the population awake. This also extended to the bar owner who was rudely awaken from his slumber on the pool table by my moto's horn. Within seconds the door was open, the PC was on, and I was selecting the best of a bad bunch of an 80's stylee soundtrack for the remainder of the evening, as the pool balls were
stacked up. Only two other people came into the bar before we left.

Hoi An cycle tour

Yesterday was spent getting way too acquainted with the tailors shops and I ended up ordering 2 short sleeve shirts, 1 copy of a Mountain Hardwear shirt, a copy of a pair of trousers, board shorts, and jeans and a pair of cashmere trousers based on some linen trousers I got in Thailand last year. All this for a princely sum around $90. I spent a long time going round shops to find soft denim like my favourite old pair of jeans - of course I found this just after ordering a cheap pair, but they wouldn't settle for less than $30 which is relatively very expensive here...but they had to be ordered too! $120 on clothes? Flashpacking! Not Backpacking!

I also started to fall in love with some bamboo rice dishes a lot of the shops are selling around town for $4-8 a set (bowl, plate and chopsticks). I spent the last two days considering sending these home but thought I'd sleep on it.

Prior to going around trying on some of the clothes so they could be finished off, we were off on a bike from the hotel for the day. After around 40 minutes we were at Cui Dai beach, which stretches around 30km up to Danang and more. It was a tad wild when there so we didn't hang around and just went for a coffee then cycled around town. Cycling is the ideal way to see Hoi An as there is a lot tucked up side streets and some of the shopping is a bit of the beaten track, but worth finding. 'Un'fortunately I ended up spotting a place selling ceramic versions of the bamboo bowls, at $3 for a bowl, plate and spoon it was less than half the price others quoted for bamboo... I never buy things for my flat at home as it's just so expensive but I'm always tempted on holiday, especially in places like Asia. Dangerous!

Similar to Luang Prabang, Hoi An isn't exactly the wildest place at night with most bars and restaurants dying around 11pm at this time of year, and well closed up by midnight. There's not even a lot of places I'd describe as jumpign bars, although I'm sure they are around.

Hoi An

With a storming hangover I went and checked out a dive place, had breakfast, then headed to the airport at Nha Trang for a one hour flight to Danang for Hoi An. After my love for Luang Prabang in Laos, and everyone comparing there to Hoi An I was keen to get there. The journey was short, but with a hangover it proved a bit interesting as I wasn't the liveliest.

Hoi An was exactly as expected, if not better. There is a whole load of cheap accommodation here so it's possible to get somewhere with a small pool, nice room, balcony, breakfast, free bicycle hire etc for $15 such as the Phuoc An Hotel - can't complain.

In fact the vibe of the place was so good when I arrived at the hotel I felt no need to leave quickly and it wasn't until the evening I wandered through the town for the first time.

Although it's clear there are numerous tailors you just can't prepare for how many there are - every second shop is, and even the examples outside them show some amazing clothes, and in all varieties from board shorts to combat trousers to the slinkiest dress.

I can't decide whether Hoi An is a good destination for backpackers or not. On one side I'd recommend against it as there are just too many temptations for your wallet - tailors, art, crafts and cheap beer (starting at 3000 Dong, 19 cents or 10 pence a glass if you look around!), but for that reason I'd wholeheartedly recommend the place to anyone. A friend of mine had three beautiful suits tailored for $90, you can get jeans for $15 and all sorts of tops, shorts, dresses and trousers tailored. The custom fitting also extends to shoes, flip-flops, trainers ($13?) and leather boots ($25 or less).

It's a great place to explore on bike, foot or cyclo, with a buzzing market, a riverside, and a 22km+ beach around 40 minutes cycle from town. It's now monsoon season, so not ideal for the beach as a main reason to visit at this time of year, but a nice addition anyway.

After a few hours chilling out I went out and hooked up with Claire and Scott I met in Luang Prabang as they were in Hoi An tonight before heading their separate ways.

Here is a selection of my Hoi An pictures

Leaving the highlands and drunken 11 year olds

Leaving Delat tomorrow and heading to Hoi An. Vietnam way too rushed. Just kind passing through Nah Trangh (spelling?) as I've heard Hoi An is very similar to Luang Prabang which I loved.

Grabed a snack at a truly locals snacking 'restaurant' - some old wifie frying very little, but tasting great. First time in Vietnam, long overdue. I had watched a 'Lonely Planet Food Guide - Vietnam' the other night, downloaded back home, yet the local woman always grabbed the spring roll thingie and insisted to show me how to roll them properly, throwing in the fresh leaf herbs, etc, but obviously I wasn't doing the local delicacy justice.

Lasting image of this evening, getting toasted and smashing beer glasses by a ed guy called Choi. He was with his family in a locals 'spit-on-the-floor' kinda classy joint.

He couldn't have been older than 11.

More to write soon, given time.
Missing my small camera :-(

Dalat

Arrived in Dalat yesterday in the pissing rain. The Open Tour buses that haul (mainly) tourists around Vietnam don't really get you involved with the locals like some of the Laos transport does, but it does make travel extremely convenient, and ridiculously cheap. I even thought the hotels they would drop you at would be overpriced, but I don't get that impression (although I haven't walked around and asked others). Others also said they are really pushy if you want to select hotels that weren't on their list, but in Dalat they openly said they'd point you towards your hotel if you had one pre-booked.

Illness has hit the trip for the first time, so we're just vegging out and not doing very much which is a bit of bummer.

Like following the floods in Myanmar, and just missing a small earthquake in Chiang Rai, I moved away from the coast just as a 160km/h typhoon was about to hit, which was the cause of the rain and winds last night. With hindsight the weather had started to turn in Mui Ne with the waves coming quite close to the beach bungalow, so it's maybe no bad thing we moved from there! Not a promising start, and doesn't make the prospect of touring around with the local Dalat Easy Riders (motorbike guides) very appealing in the wet roads and rain. It may be we leave here not seeing much :-(

Dalat is like a proper town compared to other places on route. It's very popular with Vietnamese tourists, and sits very high on the tacky scale, with a small scale replica of the Eiffel Tower in the middle of town. Sounds like it may have quite an interesting market, but whether I'll see that yet is another thing. Need to stop coughing and getting cold (it is actually cold here as it's relatively high up in the Central Highlands). They even have taxis here - I mean real ones, that are real cars, the windows work, the doors work, and it all looks in pretty good nick! The last car taxi I was in was in Myanmar, and it's safe to say it wasn't the same there!

A day longer in Mui Ne

Now that I'm feeling ok, Ciara's taken a turn for the worse, delaying our escape from Mui Ne to Dalat. There's worse places to be stuck in though, and it maybe means I'll get a shot at Kitesurfing later on :-)) A lazy day all round.

In fact there was no kitesurfing to be had - I was quite happy to snooze and catch up on the laptop on the beach :-))

This was my view when typing this offline, from the front of my beach bungalow :

Mui Ne Motobike Adventures

We hired a Honda Dream scooter today which was so weak compared to the larger bikes I've hired on this trip. Needless to say, with me and motorbikes, there had to be something go wrong! Coconut (see previous post) who hired the bike assured me there was enough gas to get to the gas station. Needless to say there wasn't, so I had to push until we found one of the local petrol sellers. Lukcily this was only 100 yards away, and the bike was filled up from a glass bottle full of petrol, not quite the same quality of gas as from the proper station, but there's no way I was pushing for another one or two kilometres.




Our destination was the amazing white and red sanddunes, 30km out of town, and a walk along the Fairy Stream to find a waterfall near the source. The Fairy Stream was a classic example of having to weigh in the 'Lonely Planet' factor when travelling long term. Yes, if you were here for two weeks as a normal holiday, go and see it, but the waterfall at the end was pathetic, it was just an enjoyable walk along a riverbed through some weird eroded sanddunes.

Luckily, in my usual style I managed to befriend a couple of local kids who spoke no English, but were happy to accompany us, laughing and playing around all the way, jumping in the water fully clothed, and loving me lifting them off the ground with one arm. They picked flowers for us, tickled us, and generally just had a laugh around a couple of white folk. Unfortunately, their mood changed dramatically near the end when they asked for cash and we refused. Even the balloons I gavce them were too hard to inflate, so they were a little dejected to say the least.

Our friends during the walk :




We then headed for another 20km along a beautiful beach road, fighting the onshore wind with the poxy little bike......and failed to find the correct entrance to the amazing sanddunes. We then came back and failed to find the correct entrance to the red sanddunes, and the red canyon, which is meant to give fine sunset views. Most people didn't speak English in the area, but despite these being the only attractions in the area, any hand gestures on which way to go gets you conflicting advice in terms of direction and direction! And not one signpost in sight.

We sacked it off and headed back to town, passing the hoards of poeple heading out to find it for sunset. The only good thing was that it looked like it was going to be a crap sunset. When we got back to Mui Ne there were at least 25 kitesurfers out, around ten windsurfers, and at least the same amount again onshore. I hadn't ever thought about sports outside snowboarding that people spend season away, but this place is definitely one of those for kitesurfing, and at this time of year it's inundated with them.

Today was the first day I felt a bit ill on the whole trip. Luckily it was just like a bad cold, but I felt really weak and rundown. I decided it was time to have no alcohol for a day, today being one of only three post Raleigh days like it. The rest I've been on overnight bus journeys ;->

Mui Ne - Kitesurfing Paradise

Mui Ne sanddunes :





Reluctantly we booked the open bus tour tickets from Ho Chi Minh (saigon) to Mui Ne, Dalat, Nah Trang and Danang. After trying to travel like locals in other countries I was a bit disappointed to be catching the tourist express bus. I went to the bus station yesterday to find out about local buses, but it's just now as feasible, almost costs more, and takes longer than the Open Tour buses. Due to tie ins with accommodation providers along the way, they sell tickets from Saigon to Hanoi for $23!!! This also includes stops at the main points along the way.

After a few hours we were at the beach resort of Mui Ne which is a pretty non-descript 13km stretch of restaurants and accommodation. The beach goes on forever away round the coast. I can't complain about my wee beachside bungalow though - more expensive than other places I've been to, but $10 brings me a 5 feet walk to the beach with sunloungers, and a great view of the kitesurfers. WiFi is pretty abundant here as well so you could be sitting on the beach browsing the web, and ideal base for a kitesurfing working nomad! Only now I need to find a job like that! I'm typing this up at the moment a stones throw from the sand, listening to the waves crashing down, which is also the sound that puts you to sleep at night.

You can get Wifi internet here :


We went for dinner at a place next to WindChimes, one of the surfing outlets and started speaking to a local waitress who introduced herself as coconut (at least her nickname), so I was given the nickname of Banana, largely due to my current addiction to Banana shakes (who wouldn't at 23 pence a time!).

Kitesurfing :