12/08/2011 by Russell.

Off to Ha Noi to start another little tour of South East Asia.

Principally, Hanoi beckoned to find somewhere to live, before my contract commences in September to teach English to children and local businessmen.

I am due to be in Ha noi, for what will prove to be quite challenging, to teach my own language, to people of varying degrees of competence, and I suspect apathy towards learning, the same the world over.

Generally I will be teaching for 20 hours a week, split 10 hrs school children and 10 hours for businesses.

Ha Noi, is the capital, but not as modern and vibrant in the same way as Bangkok or Hong Kong, Saigon is very much like Ha Noi.  It seems much smaller in size and the road network is nothing compared to the wide boulevards of Bangkok.

I signed my contract with Shelton and have to get back to HA Noi for the 3^rd September. Typically it will be a new syllabus, so have full lesson prep to negotiate for the first time in many years.  Hope I remember David Opperman’s advice for lesson plans!

Needless to say, no accommodation was successfully accomplished, but there is a place in an area 30 mins from where I will teach. Tam wants to be much nearer to the school and business.

However, Thursday arrived and we left for Bangkok for some R&R, hotel by the river where I had once dined for breakfast-  Whose address had been duly noted for future reference.  Failed to meet up with Natasha Khilji – we were in and out to get to the Viet Embassy

Managed to go to MBK and find some bits for Emily’s Blackberry and over the road admire the extravagances of the Siam Paragon shopping mall.  This all fitting in with acquiring yet another Viet visa.

Friday – and it was a full day – to the Royal Palace and grounds, very cultural with colours and manicured gardens.  I had been before with Barbora, where is instantly reminds me of Shakespeare “all the glisters is not gold”. Funny how something learnt in childhood still applies from something written many hundreds of years ago from the Merchant of Venice.  Thanks to John Hollman my English tutor, sadly I let him down on my O level literature, but what he did instill in me was the desire to read, perhaps not a failing after all.

Saturday was an all day affair at the Chatuchuk market – 8,000 stalls from small things to crocodiles and that’s not the handbags.  Tam ‘not like’ - I do not understand when there is so much choice, but it was more expensive than Vietnam

However for lunch they did try to serve uncooked crab – wow – get it on the bbq and quick please.  

It was very hot, very sweaty, especially trying on clothes.  Was in dire need of a massage after that exhertion….

Sunday to the zoo and Wat Pho, and bed for an early rise at 3.30am.

Bounced into Hanoi and then a flight to Da Nang within the hour, why can’t we do that in England?  Yet I guess we have more prestige to lose if we suffer a failure in security.

Dentist in Da Nang? Well we tried to get a crown done for a few hundred dollars, and to be honest, would have done it, but was completely knacked from being up at 3 am and wanted a different crown to the one offered at the third dentist we visited.

Stayed overnight before a quick visit to BA Na

Ba Na is a hill top resort, connected by the longest cable car ‘in the  world’ (say it like Jeremy Carkson).  It is in the Guiness Book of Records.  Imagine going from Fort William to the top of Ben Nevis by cable car and you get the idea, in terms of height and distance, the journey takes about 30 minutes - and you are not at the top then!

What do you see? a fantastic view looking East towards DA NAng and the sea. You are able to visit Fantasy Land, a bit like a better mans Matlock Bath but not quiite the Pleasure Beach of Blackpool.  All the rides are indoors because of the weather? and it will be completed in 2013.  There is a 3D experience and a vertical drop of 20m obligatory dodgems and more besides.  The hotels are expensive - but the view and the cooler weather made for a delightful change.

…then back to Chu Lai…

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23/09/2010 by Russell.

Khaosan Palace hotel and surroundings

Have been here a few days and Bangkok is full of westerners, Americans, Brits, French and Isrealites

whats good? The Khao San Road is itself a mishmash of market stalls and bars, restaurants and hawkers. A bargain for evryone. However, if you want to go to a market then at the weekend, go to Chatuchak Market, about 5km away, or a £2 taxi ride away. 5,000 stalls, selling everything. EVERYTHING! I have seen fried locusts and silk worms to eat, goldfish by the dozen, puppies, chameleons squirrels and Macaws for sale. Cock fighting in a rink, very boring, not the bloodlust I expected.

Clothes - Levis, leather biker jackets, cowboy clothes, bedding and even modern art, truly its all here. A good 3 hours and more if you wish to shop shop shop. An event in itself. Truly recommended.

Those selling puppies didn’t want any photographs to be taken- not all grim conditions, they were using hair dryers to cool them down in the heat, and kept the cages/pens clean.

Food to go everywhere, and and ATMs around the place in case you run short.

What do you do after that? A Thai Massage of course!

Back to town to a massage parlour – yup all proper, not sordid, its even visited by locals. I had 3 hours of oils, face massage, back, legs, and stuff. My masseuse (Kwan) was a 44 yr old, not the dolly bird I had in mind (ahem!) but boy oh boy it was only 14 quid. Never having experienced a massage before, it was in no way sexual as I had imagined, just very relaxing.

Diving off the Island of Koh Tau

Remember those days when the sun never seemed to stop shining during your summer school holidays and you never wanted to go back to school? Koh Tau is extremely like that, the sea is 30degrees, the water laps at your feet whilst you can surf the Internet, and when the sun shines everything takes on the hue of paradise. People arrive here and never return home. The island is one of those places which you visit which will live long in the memory.

Here, its not the gifts of nature which abound but the tranquilty of the ocean lapping at your feet as you surf the internet on the beach. Is it possible? It certainly is when you visit Sunshine Dive Resort. All very laid back and welcoming.

Natalie my dive instructor (Australian) has been here 10 years, Greg (Scouser) been here 5 years, the list is endless of people who arrive here and stay. The island is small and hosts 40 dive companies. What is also attractive is that you get free accommodation whilst completing a 4 day open water dive course. It seems all too easy when in the swimming pool, and despite my intial problem of going down on my first dive when I accidently took a gulp of sea water by accident, was in a bit of a flap, Natalie came to my rescue, and I remembered the regulator would let me push out the water through exhaling. From then on the rest was easy.

This PADI course is available for around £190 and enables me to be fully qualified for 18m diving, and once your confidence rises underwater, then you forget about the depth, the mental issue of not being able to breathe, it is truly like riding a bike, once you know how, the easier it becomes.

What can you see? In the warm waters around Koh Tau, there are spectacular sights, firstly there is the coral reef itself, very Jacques Cousteau, shapes and colours abound, and on top of all this there is the wildlife.

Can you imagine seeing a razor bill turlte feeding under water? I no longer have to imagine, I have seen it, can you imagine seeing ‘Nemo’ the clown fish? I have several darting around their favoured piece of coral. Can you imagine seeing angel fish, just as in the film ‘Finding nemo’ only bigger and in greater colours? I have, can you imagine seeing a green spotted ray? Can you imagine seeing parrot fish, oh so many to mention, but the most spectacular thing is that you realise, everyone can do it

Monkey Business on Koh Phi Phi Don

Zikes! Feeding monkeys on a beach? Grapes were the dish of the day for these little fellows. This was only a 5 minute boat ride along the coast of Phi Phi Don. They are all wise enough to wait for you and for the next boat and the next, although they must get fed every day by tourists, none of them were overweight. Imagine that in the UK? Someone trots along with food for you everyday, you would soon become lazy and bloated, or are we there already there with our microwave and take away meals and 24/7 supermarkets?

I digress.

Phi Phi Don and its sister island Phi Phi Lay, where they filmed the Beach movie are OK. Maybe I was spoilt by Koh Tao, but the sea was no way as clean as before and there appeared to be more tourists, more tattoo artists per head of population I have ever experienced before. As expected the women offer massages whilst men do the tattooing. Why they can’t put the two services together I don’t know, if they did there would be space for McDonalds and Pizza Hut. Surely these are things we westerners expect in every corner of the globe, so come on Maccy D’s pull yer finger out. Shame too that Starbucks isn’t here, had to make do with coffee made by some local cafe, just not the same when you can’t buy the big brands on yer global tour. All those guarantees of quality and flavour. Still somehow such a small place still had an Indian and a Mexican restaurant and even an irish Bar. I hate Irish Bars, why are they such a feature when you tour the world. You can find these really authentic bars in Ireland, so why not bugger off to Ireland for the experience? I mean we travel to new places around the globe to experience something new and different. In france the cafe experience, In Germany, beer festivals, In Italy local trattorias so why do I have to get served by a local Thai lass who is so far removed from ireland? (I didn’t really visit the Irish Bar on principle)

Any way enough of the rant - Phi Phi and this area (West side) was affected by the famous tsunami, and signs and even a practice drills take place on the island. Signs direct you to high ground. The weather is pleasantly hot and the sea is just the tonic, but there is so much rubbish in the waves, that it is a shame. Human waste gets everywhere. I even paid a local 40p tax upon entry to the island to safeguard the island, not much evidence of though.

The island(s) are small and can be easily navigated by boat in a day, went off on a trip to the famous Maya beach, where Leonardo Di Caprio strutted his stuff, and was over run by fellow day visitors, not what I wanted. The main island is dedicated to late night beach party’s, bars and music adorn the beach – yes the beach, not dry land, and the drinking playground is set up at dusk everyday. If you want to be part of the scene, have a bucket from around £3.60, which is invariably a can of Sprite, a third of a bottle of vodka and off you go and get p*ssed.

Off back to the mainland and Bangkok and Chiang Mai..

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27/08/2010 by Russell.

Hot City of Bangkok (30degrees)

Arrived and have found a hotel on Khao San Road, ie the place where all the action is. Yes, it is noisy, so much so the bar music didn’t enable me to get to sleep until way past 4am. I have never been to sleep at that time, never mind when yer an old man. God the music was loud and I am deaf!! I have moved rooms, so hopefully less din tonight.

Still not right in my tummy, seems I have a dreaded bug from SA, but will persist with starvation until tomorrow and see how I am then. I never realised a British tummy could be so sensitive. It is a bit of a drawback, but this place in comparison to India is heaven.

The people still want a slice of your dollar, but it is so much easier here. People aren’t always hassling you for a tut-tut. However, these drivers still operate on commission, and really I can’t be arsed with it, so a taxi is the better option (metered) and cheap. Around 2km for £1.

The market stalls outside my hotel are a shoppers delight, bargains although they are likely to be fakes are for sale at a fraction of the western world price, Ralph Lauren polo shirts for 180 Baht, that’s £3.5 to you and me. Sunglasses, jewellery, bras (I don’t need one for my man boobs yet) flip flops, shoes, made to measure ‘italian’ suits. Italian in Bangkok is a bit of a contradiction, but I will go with it! Cds (okay Del and Rodney copies) DVDs, swimwear, its all here within 10 metres of each other.

The city is not riddled with animals, nor pipping of horns, and it has modern achitecture amidst the old temples, which are what you imagined them to look like. Found in the Wat Traimit temple is the golden buddha - 3m high of solid gold. And the Wat Pho Temple is enormous and is the oldest temple here with the the reclining buddha which is 45m long, amaziiiing. These are places which should be on any visit here.

Even more amazing, nay stranger thing is, British blokes walking round with young Thai totty. The blokes are older, some are even younger than me and it makes me feel sad that these people have to ‘find a partner’ out here. Surely it can’t be love? And some of the totty is lovely to look at, enough to make a man jealous! I mean the silver haired brigade dating….

See some early pics.

Wat Traimit temple

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