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Frangela's Travels

August 2023 - May 2024
An open-ended adventure by Francis & Angela Read more
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  • Frangela's Travels
    Day 27

    Phuket

    August 30, 2023 in Thailand ⋅ ☁️ 30 °C

    Flying to Phuket was never planned, as we were hoping to check out the smaller islands further down in Thailand or on the East Coast such as Koh Phangan or Koh Tao, but there was a direct flight from Hanoi which was cheap, so we just went with it.

    Having boarded the minibus to take us to our hotel, you could immediately see how much wealthier the country was compared to Vietnam, there were shops, businesses and food shops, one after another and many more cars and pick-up trucks. There were no where near as many motorbikes on the road, just lots of fat Thai people who could afford to eat lots.

    Finally, we were the last passengers and an hour and a half after boarding the minivan we made it to the hotel. We booked a special one for a few nights, one with a swim up pool to the room as we deserved a little treat. Considering the last few days we had been on motorbikes for 7 hours a day and sleeping in places that I am still quite surprised had electricity we felt like we needed it. Our previous nights sleep (if you can call it that was terrible). We had arrived at our hotel in Hanoi at approx 10.30pm, we needed to leave at 7am for our flight the following morning. but as returning guests we were treated to an 'upgrade', how nice of them. A quick shower after the days riding and repack our suitcase as we had only taken small bags on our adventure, before passing out, was the plan. Train after train passed our room that night, the track was literally in front of the window 😳 and in the morning when we could see what we were contending with people were actually getting off the train in front of our room. We did not sleep much that night 😴.

    Anyway, back to our lovely hotel in Phuket, the man pointed at 2 golf caddies, great we thought, lugging these bags this far has been tiring to say the least, but he continued to then say 'broken' 🤦‍♂️ so we hauled our luggage up the hill, up a flight of stairs, up a lift and finally to the room. That pool had never felt so inviting!

    In between the downpours we made the most of our pool, and surroundings enjoying the food markets, massages and local specialities on offer.    Read more

  • Frangela's Travels
    Day 23

    Ha Giang Loop Part 1

    August 26, 2023 in Vietnam ⋅ ☁️ 31 °C

    A 350km journey on motorbike over 4 days and 3 nights through some crazy vietnamese mountain roads, sometimes there's tarmac, sometimes there's not, sometimes it's stones or mud or water or a quarry or a dirt track, or anything inbetween.

    The hairpin bends didn't stop, the steepness of the inclines were insane, then there was the downhill parts and more often than not, no barriers to stop you plummetting to your death, and the brakes weren't amazing either!

    Every corner was an experience and an achievement as you never knew what was around the next. Would it be a motorbike? Would it be a cow? Would it be a motorbike with a huge pig strapped to the back? Would it be a dog? Would it be a motorbike with a ton of chickens strapped to it? Or gas bottles, furniture, copious amounts of vegetation, eggs, boxes, welders, or just anything really.

    We did our tour with Ha Giang Adventure and it was well worth it, the research definitely paid off. Lots of the other tours were like converyour belts, 15 people all on the back of bikes just doing the motion. Because of dates and flight prices we really only had one day we could start and it turned out that we would be the only ones on our tour which sucked as you make good friends on these small tours, but nevertheless we pursued and had Li as our guide for the forthcoming adventure.

    7 Hours a day on a bike is not too fun, even less so when 40% of the roads were tarmaced and those that were, were full of potholes! The first night we stayed in a village with locals in a homestay, lots of lovely food, 'happy water', and Uno, not bad to be honest.

    Considering what was thrown at the bikes I'm surprised they did so well, I had a 110cc Honda Wave and Angela was on the back of Li's 150cc Honda. These bikes just keep on going whatever and wherever you take them. Yes a little gutless, but more time to enjoy the scenery.

    We set off early and started by having a wander in the weekly market. So much fresh produce and so cheap! After many more bumps, a torrential downpour and storm in which the wet weather gear didnt really work, we made our stop for the night, dinner was DIY Hotpot, and plenty of 'happy water'.

    The final x2 days had barely any tarmac and were non stop shaking. We had to wait for over an hour for them to blast rock from the quarry before we could drive through it all, and drive through lots of sludge, mud and water, so glad we didn't fall! It got a bit tiring in all honesty, non stop aches and the feeling of here we go again, and we were glad we had made it through and not injured like so many tourists do.

    Li was great, a good person, didnt drop Angela and liked 'happy water', I was semi-tempted to do the tour on our own, but glad we didn't as we would've missed so much!    Read more

  • Frangela's Travels
    Day 21

    Ha Long Bay

    August 24, 2023 in Vietnam ⋅ ☁️ 31 °C

    Ha long bay is so busy, boats and tourists everywhere, its feels like a conveyour belt tourist attraction. All the tour shops were selling the same 2 cruises and itinery, we knew we wanted something just a bit different, different to what everyone else was doing and different to our experiences of the same 10 years ago.

    It seems that we had very different experiences, Angela getting a party boat which served oysters, and I as travelling in a group of 3, getting the short straw and having to share a room with Japanese Ken, who I'd never met before and rather enjoyed walking around naked, great! 👍 🙃

    Having finally decided on the right cruise for us, we booked, we would be spending x2 days and a night on Dora, Dora the Vietnamese Explorer. £250 for the trip on a 5* Luxury boat, which had a bathtub in each room with views of the bay, all meals included and with Limosine bus pick-up, and cruised around gracefully to enjoy the picturesque views, sounded perfect, right?

    Angela here now, as my experience was different to Francis', I'll do my recall as I remember. 'Dora' was a lovely boat, with a beautiful room and bathroom as Francis has stated. I was a little annoyed as its sister boat 'Gloria' which we was going to book but decided not to and to upgrade had broken down, so everyone on 'Gloria' got a free upgrade to our boat 'Dora'. On the plus side it did mean there were more people to potentially mingle with.

    On the boat there was a very tight schedule, but what was lovely was the view and calmness of it all, as we only had three other boats on our bay. If we had been on the main part, it would have been packed. Unfortunately there was quite a lot of plastic and rubbish immediately where the boats were, this did ruin the natural beauty of the place, especially for Francis, and he was not impressed.

    The highlights included karaoke, instrumental solo's (which only crew members took part!); Cocktails with new made Australian friends and locals coming to to ship trying to sell you cheap drink, which we took full advantage of (even though not meant to) because the prices on the boat was sky high! Francis also having a bath looking out in the ocean was not necessarily a highlight for me, but he seemed to enjoy it!

    Overall it was good, but I am in agreement that it is touristy and the schedule is too tight, if you're on a boat like that, you want to relax and go at your own pace 🙂    Read more

  • Frangela's Travels
    Day 18

    Hanoi

    August 21, 2023 in Vietnam ⋅ ☁️ 33 °C

    Hanoi was a stepping stone to adventure 🏔🏍, relaxation🛳🏞 and catching up with an old friend🤝, although we weren't here long, it felt like lots was accomplished.

    Hanoi was busy, crazy and hot, yet felt a nicer place to be in than Ho Chi Minh, I can't put my finger quite on why, but something made me feel more comfortable here.

    A good friend, colleague and neighbour of mine from the days of Thailand, had moved here a few years back to teach English in Hanoi. I knew we must meet, and looked forward to our reunion. His name was Tigger, after Tigger from Winnie the Pooh for his 'bouncy' personality and spirit. We taught in the same school and lived next door to each other in our repective wooden huts in the middle a coconut plantation in Suratthani, Thailand.

    We met in a small bar off walking street for a drink before going to a local favourite of his called Spy Bar, nothing special but an expat hangout. We shared our stories of Suratthani helping Angela to imagine what our life was like, lots of time gently rocking in our hammocks, philosophical debates, beer, food and adventure! Oh, and some teaching too somewhere in the middle.

    The bar was nothing special, it had a TV on the wall with a film on in Vietnamese, a Jukebox (computer linked to youtube) and plenty to drink, we soon acquainted ourselves to the final two unitil about 3am and somehow made our way back to our hotel (more about that later 😬), having stopped off at one of surprisingly many food stalls open on the way. We (regretfully) chose deep fried fish balls and strange sausage., which in the morning looked, smelled and also tasted revolting 🤮

    An alarm was ringing, 'Brunch with Tigger', we must've made plans during the night before, and a quick look through messages indeed confirmed this, we both postponed to more of a lunch than brunch, washed down with a beer or 3 to keep the hangover at bay, and spoke much more of our pasts, presents and futures.

    We had a day to spare before heading off on our upcoming cruise. Being the 2nd largest producer of coffee in the world meant much opportunity to try coffee and make coffee. I signed up for a class and made various concoctions of Vietnamese coffee, including egg coffee, where egg yolks are whisked to substitute the milk, very nice! ☕️    Read more

  • Frangela's Travels
    Day 17

    Hoi An Memories Show

    August 20, 2023 in Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 34 °C

    I'm not one for theatre, especially musicals, but his was GOOD!

    Approx 500 performers, on 6 nights a week, singing, dancing, fire and light shows all for £20 a ticket. The West End is massively overpriced! It told the history of Hoi An wonderfully and was set in a beautiful environment.Read more

  • Frangela's Travels
    1
    Day 15

    Good Food, Lanterns & (too much) Cycling

    August 18, 2023 in Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 35 °C

    After our 16 hour sleeper bus ride to Hoi An (which isn't a pleasant as it sounds) we arrive. It's about 9am, we're both tired, grumpy and needing a shower. Sleeper buses in Vietnam aren't one of our fondest memories and this experience massively met expectations! Being that the bus was also full, we had the pleasure of the driver placing a mat in between our beds/seats/prisons for a local man to sleep on, great! 🙃 Our hotel let us check in early, and do what the bus originally promised.....SLEEP!

    Hoi An is still a beautiful place, but has changed so much since last being there 10 years ago. From a sleepy and pretty town, there are literally now people everywhere! It's hard to even take a photograph now without a tourist being in it.

    Being cheapskates we decided to make use of the hotels free bicycles and cycle everywhere in the 35°C humid heat, not fun. The term Sweaty Betty comes to mind.

    We spent some time mooching about, cycling to the beach, cycling into town, stopping off at random restaurants, tailors, cafes and shops along the way. Cycling through paddy fields, gazing at the water buffalo, sipping on cocktails and wringing copious amounts of sweat from our shirts. We stayed for 3 more days longer than we planned but it was quite a pleasant and romantic place to be.    Read more

  • Frangela's Travels
    1
    Day 10

    Avocado Coffee

    August 13, 2023 in Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    After an hours ride through the twisting and snaking mountain roads we make it..... not sure where as Google wants to take us here there and everywhere. We park up next to a giant bhudda, and give Angela's buttocks the massage they so deserve after the long and bumpy ride on the back of a motorbike.

    This Bhudda is mighty impressive, we find stairs inside and begin to climb. There is a little peep hole view every now and again, we don't know how far we've climbed but it doesn't seem to end. After around 200 steps we emerge somewhere near the top, and can see the beautiful waterfall in the distance, we feel like the borrowers inside here, everything is soo huge in comparison!

    After a tedious decent we go for a closer look of the waterfall, into what looks like an old and abandoned park over all the rusty metal bits and dodgy bridges (if you can call them that) we make our way closer for a photo.

    We notice a coffee plantation not far and ride off for a drink. The views are amazing, seeing both the waterfall and bhudda whilst sipping on a salt coffee and blueberry cold brew, lush! We finish up by having a small tour of the plant to cup process, having a few tasters as we go. Did you know Vietnam is the world's 2nd biggest exporter of coffee. We wait out yet another downpour, but with views like this who cares!

    The rain stops, time for some lunch and then the long drive back, as I'm checking the map I see an Avocado cafe, surely worth the detour to satisfy Angela's love of the green fruit.

    We follow said directions and just as we're about to turn around we see it. Looks very quiet, we then see the sign to see its only opened a few days ago, well Angela saw this bit, I was fixated at 'free cake' on the sign, so in we merrily go.

    We were treated like guests of honour, we were most probably the first white people to step foot through these doors. The location is great, sat in an avocado plantation, up on the balcony you can see the fruits hanging from the trees like an apple or any other fruit. Angela goes for a hibiscus tea, refreshing and fruity, and I another coffee, having not already had my caffeine fix.

    We head indoors as the heavens open again, we pose for photos with the owner, maybe this will be when the free cake comes as a prize for having our photos taken like celebrities. As we sit down, we are given a giant Avocado smoothie each, I don't know how many avocados were inside it but we'd definitely hit our Omega 3 target (and the rest) for the week!

    The sun sets st 18.10 it's currently 17.35, and the rain has just stopped. We say our goodbyes, and make our way to the bike having overdosed on Avocado, and quietly glad no cake came out as we were stuffed. We set off, the sun slowly getting lower and the rain starting to spit heavier and feel like little needles on our skin as time goes on. We race on, overtaking locals on their bikes to beat the sun before it sets and we're deserted in the dark and gloomy mountains. Before you know it, it's dark, it's chucking it down with rain and we have no choice but to keep going through the snaking roads as there is nowhere to stop and no shelter, bugger!

    After about 45 minutes of being attacked by rain, we are both shaking and shivering and I physically cannot see anymore as my eyelashes are saturated.......but finally civilisation! We stop at a random homestay and ask to use the facilities and dry off. We communicate through Google Translate and have a ginger tea to warm up. The owners are so friendly and before we know it we're playing pool (losing massively), drinking tea and all smiling together.

    We say our goodbyes and make our way back, it's not far now. A hot shower and cup of tea awaits.    Read more

  • Frangela's Travels
    Day 9

    Bbq Dog

    August 12, 2023 in Vietnam ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C

    We get up slightly late (what's new) and go to a Puppy cafe to spend some time before the bbq we're booked in for at the hostel later that evening. We're greeted by the dogs and have a wander around the beautiful gardens, we sense its time to go when it's dog orgy o'clock.

    We make our way into town, as we pass another huge golden bhudda at a monastry. We are greeted by two huge frogs in town and take our customary photo, we later learn it is a tradition to salute the frogs we will bare it in mind for next time (Https://youtu.be/XwMJFGJPzpw)

    Grabbing a few beers and starving as we head to the rooftop we notice nothings cooked, and it's diy style. 'Oh' our tummies grumble. It's a great way to socialise and speak to people, we get to know our compadres and make plans to go to a Maze bar after dinner. Full on beer and probably undercooked meat, we head to town. Words can't explain this place, from the moment you step in you are lost. God knows how many levels, secret stairwells, passages, tunnels and dead ends there are, it's like an ants nest, but a very pretty and ornate one at that. With in 5 minutes of entering we have lost each other and most of the group, it's a great place especially to break an ankle and you'd make a fortune if you set up a medical centre next door.

    We order a mini bus at kicking out time, all 14 of us sit down, the bus is full so we close the door. The door opens again whilst random backpackers are herded in like sheep by a Vietnamese man. I count about 31 or so people in varying positions, singing Sweet Caroline as 3 people are laying on our laps like a good old fashioned bundle. God knows where we are know going, we decend into a basement and the garage door closes before we all jump out and are squeezing in a lift 6 at a time, no one has a clue where we are or what's going on. But singing continues and we are transported up to sealed off room with only a bar and proper dodgy loo. We have a few drinks before escaping this smoky cesspit of a bar, finally free we fill up on some Banh mi (Baguette with various 'meat') and find a snooker hall for a game before meeting up with some of the others who also have managed to escape. What a dive!    Read more

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