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Got my travelling shoes on and ready to explore! Read more Nanaimo, Canada
  • TravelerThe Saunders Asian Adventure
    Day 33

    Headin’ Home!

    February 27, 2020 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    Travel day today! We were supposed to spend 4 days in Bangkok at the end of our trip, but decided for a number of reasons to give that a miss and bring our sore feet and happy, but weary bones back home!

    We left our hotel this morning and caught a flight from Krabi airport to Bangkok. We are now in the Bangkok airport waiting to board the 3.5 hour flight to Taipei - quick turnaround there before boarding our 10.5 hour flight to Vancouver. Then we’ll book it to the ferry and will hopefully be back in Nanaimo around 10:30 pm Thursday night - which will be 1:30pm Friday Thai time and over 29 hours of boats, planes and automobiles! 😴😴. Updates pending as we travel! 😊

    Just arrived in Taipei, Taiwan after a really good flight from Bangkok. We leave here in just over an hour for the longest leg of the journey - 🙏ing for sleep on the plane! (Wishful thinking - slept maybe an hour!)

    Arrived in Vancouver just after 6, had to wait over half an hour for our luggage then ran out to grab a cab to the Tsawwassen ferry Terminal! Promised the driver a good tip if he got us here in time for the 8:15 boat home, and we’re sailing home after a verrrry long day, but an amazing trip!    Read more

  • TravelerThe Saunders Asian Adventure
    Day 32

    A Morning in Ao Nang

    February 26, 2020 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    We hopped a cab this morning for the quick trip to the beach town of Ao Nang, about 15 minutes from our hotel. A busy little place, with lots of long boats making trips out to the many islands in this area, a nice beach, limestone rocks jutting out of the sand, and stores selling every piece of clothing, souvenirs, food, drinks and whatever else you’d like to buy to part with your last few Baht! (Yes, guilty as charged!!).

    Ao Nang is just around the bay from where we are staying, and on the other side of Ao Nang Bay is Railay Beach - a popular tourist spot in this area. Took some stairs up the side of one of the limestone rocks to a lookout, which overlooks Railay Beach East.

    For a small town, it’s pretty cosmopolitan, boasting 2 McDonalds, 2 Burger Kings, a Subway and a Starbucks! We spent a couple of hours walking the beach and checking out the stores, stopped for a coffee, walked some more, then caught the free shuttle back to our hotel.

    I headed down to the pool, while Dave went for a walk down to the pier to check that out, then he joined me later. Lazed around in a lounge chair all afternoon, reading our books and soaking up the sun - our last day to catch some rays!

    After a lovely day, we freshened up and went for a great dinner at the hotel restaurant - again, excellent food, which has been a constant for this whole trip! 😋    Read more

  • TravelerThe Saunders Asian Adventure
    Day 31

    Ko Lanta to Krabi

    February 25, 2020 in Thailand ⋅ 🌙 28 °C

    Today, we left our bungalow on the beach in Ko Lanta, and had a driver pick us up for the 3 hour road trip to Krabi, namely Ao Nam Mao beach, and our next hotel, the Villa Cha Cha!! The reason it took so long is there was a line up at the ferry and we had to wait about 45 minutes (ok, nothing like the BC Ferry waits, but these ferries are definitely not anything like ours 😆😆.)

    We arrived at the hotel around 1pm, checked in and hoofed it down to the pool to catch some rays, have a couple of oversized daiquiris, a bite to eat and a swim. This is a lovely hotel with multiple pools and interesting statues all over the place. It’s close to a town called Ao Nang, which we will explore tomorrow.

    Left the pool around 5 and came back to the room for a short nap - that sun can be exhausting! We decided to just go to the hotel restaurant for dinner, which is huge and beautifully decorated, and there was hardly anyone in it! Had a lovely dinner next to the beach, walked around a little and decided to call it a night. 🙂    Read more

  • TravelerThe Saunders Asian Adventure
    Day 30

    Lazy day at the beach!

    February 24, 2020 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    Today was a lazy beach day! We had our hotel buffet breakfast and I headed to my lounge chair on the beach while Dave did some net surfing and went for a beach walk. At around 1:30, we went for lunch at a little side street restaurant and had the most delicious little pizza between us! After lunch, I went back to my beach chair to read my book, and Dave did another beach walk and took a few pictures along the way.

    We regrouped at the pool for a dip to cool off (it’s been about 36 degrees here) and then headed down to the beach to watch the sunset. We cleaned up and decided to walk down the beach to a restaurant we had visited a few nights ago, and had a couple of appetizers and a glass of wine.

    On the way back to our hotel, we noticed that one of the establishments - Hans’ Bungalows - which has a restaurant and bar on the beach, was having “Elvis Night”, so of course we had to stop in! We ordered a drink each, and waited in anticipation for the show 🤔😜🤣. It was hilarious - an older Thai man dressed in a Elvis garb put on a tongue in cheek Elvis impersonation show! Truly the highlight of our evenings here in Ko Lanta - he really played the crowd, and at one point, tired himself out and had to sit down to finish one of his songs! We laughed pretty hard and had a great time - “Elvis” even brought the mike over for me to join in singing “Hound Dog” with him! 🤣🤣🤣. What a riot! Walked back down the beach to our hotel still laughing, and now it’s time for shut eye before moving on tomorrow!    Read more

  • TravelerThe Saunders Asian Adventure
    Day 29

    Ko Lanta Bikers!

    February 23, 2020 in Thailand ⋅ 🌙 26 °C

    So we rented a motorbike today for 200 Baht (less than $10 CAD) and drove around pretty much the whole island! Our original intention was to go to the national park and lighthouse at the south western most tip of the island, but we took a wrong turn and ended up at the south eastern most tip of the island! No big deal, we ended up at a very cool little place called Pirate’s Paradise at the end of the road on the south east coast, and had a look around there before taking the heavily construction filled road back to where we made our mistake! They are currently building a new cement road along this side of the island and it was interesting to see the building techniques!! On the way back, we also saw a Mama and her baby monkeys on the side of the road - didn’t get too close, but were able to get some photos!

    And fortunately, had we not made the wrong turn we would have missed Lanta Old Town, which was really nice to see. Bit of a tourist trap, with lots of stores and restaurants on the water’s edge, but fun to see. We stopped for a drink and a snack, and went on the swing at the restaurant for some photo opps!

    We got back on the route we had intended to take and drove along past beaches and swanky resorts before reaching the national park. It actually cost us over double to enter the park than the cost of renting the motorbike for the whole day - go figure?! We walked into the lighthouse area and climbed the hill up to be treated to some beautiful views of the park and surrounding beaches. It was very windy though and a bit scary hiking up to the lighthouse!

    We headed back north and stopped at a few more beaches along the way - one had a resident monkey who was scouring the garbage cans checking for bottles with a bit of something left in them! Then when we got back to the road, there was a big cow just hanging out and blocking traffic! We got back to our starting point around 3:30 pm after 6 hours on the road, and were pretty exhausted and wind blown! Went for a swim in the pool, watched the sunset, then got ready for dinner. We had an awesome meal at our hotel - I had the hot plate, which is set on fire before serving, and it was delicious! Dave got talking to a couple of the waiters, and they were watching a soccer game in the back of the restaurant (Man U vs Watford) so he went back there to watch with them while I came back to write my blog! Another awesome day on this amazing trip! 😊    Read more

  • TravelerThe Saunders Asian Adventure
    1
    Day 28

    A bungalow on the beach!

    February 22, 2020 in Thailand ⋅ 🌙 26 °C

    So here we are in Ko Lanta, Thailand - a lovely island on the west coast, staying at a place called Long Beach 🤔😊. We went for a walk along the beach this morning, and with our hotel room being 20 steps from the sand, there really is no need for shoes in this area - there are restaurants, stores, bars, and everything you need within a “no sandal” walking space! We did venture up to the main road, so carried our sandals for when we got to that part of the walk! Lots of hotels, bars and restaurants to check out along the way, and we also checked on renting motor bikes for the next day or two!

    Got back around 11am and headed for the beach! Spent the next 5 or 6 hours soaking up the sun, which was our main plan here in this paradise! We grabbed a couple of glasses of wine just after 6pm, and sat on beach chairs to watch the lovely sunset. We had a bit of a rest, freshened up, then headed back down the beach for dinner. Had some fabulous food at a beach restaurant, and even got to take in a fire show at the bar next door. Walked a little further down for a couple of drinks, then headed back to our hotel - no shoes worn for the entire evening! Love it here!    Read more

  • TravelerThe Saunders Asian Adventure
    Day 27

    Travel day - Saigon to Thailand

    February 21, 2020 in Thailand ⋅ 🌙 26 °C

    Not too much to report today - left the hotel in Saigon at 7:45am with our lovely driver, who told us he taught himself English by watching movies and using apps on his phone. He works double shifts (7:30am to midnight) so he can pay to send his daughters (who live in a Hoi An) to school to learn English and get a good education! Sometimes, we just don’t realize how lucky we are living where we do!

    Got to the airport in lots of time to board our 10:15 flight to Bangkok, found out our connecting flight to Krabi had been delayed for over 2 hours, so had a 4 hour wait at Bangkok airport 😳! Read my book, played Candy Crush and watched the world go by till our next flight left at 3:30pm! We arrived in Krabi around 5, found our driver then had a 90km drive to Ko Lanta, which is an island, so had to take a ferry and cross a bridge before arriving around 7pm. (And trust me, the ferries are not like our BC Ferries!!

    Got to our hotel, which is right on the beach, dropped off our luggage, then had some amazing Pad Thai at the hotel restaurant. Went for a walk along the beach in the dark - seems beautiful, but can’t wait to see it in daylight! Had a glass of wine on the beach, then back to our little bungalow overlooking the pool and beach for a rest after a long travel day!    Read more

  • TravelerThe Saunders Asian Adventure
    Day 26

    Off to Market.... and a dinner cruise!

    February 20, 2020 in Vietnam ⋅ 🌙 26 °C

    This morning, we walked down to the Ben Thanh market to do some last minute souvenir shopping in Vietnam. Again, a huge market with everything you could possibly need - or not need - but the vendors in this one a lot more “assertive” (read pushy) than others we have been in! We did strike a few bargains though, after some creative negotiating - they start asking about triple what they end up selling for so it’s like a game to see how low they’ll actually go! It’s kind of like the game of dodging traffic on the streets of Vietnam - we found out yesterday that Saigon has a population of around 10 million people, and there are 8.5 million motorbikes in the city! Add to that the cars and buses, and what appears to be a total lack of “rules of the road”, and it can be total pandemonium being a pedestrian! Motorbikes ride and park on the sidewalks, and it’s not unusual to see them on the wrong side of the road going against traffic - crazy town!!

    We took our purchases back to the hotel and set off again on foot to find the “Heart of Darkness” brew pub, which is only about 10 minutes away from where we are staying. Brew pubs are becoming quite popular in Vietnam, and while I’m not really a beer fan, Dave found some samples he really enjoyed (fortunately, most of them sell wine for me! 😊). We had drinks and a couple of appetizers there, then walked back to the hotel to spend a bit of time at the rooftop pool again!

    We had booked a dinner cruise for this evening so got ready and headed down to the hotel lobby, where our tour guide, Kelvin, (aka Tai) met us around 6:30, and along with his driver, took us down to the Saigon River to board La Perle d’Orient, our quaint little cruise ship! We were served a lovely 5 course meal, with wine, and after we ate, moved up to the top deck for the nice breeze and a tour up and down the river. Kelvin came to sit with us on the top deck and gave us some interesting information and history about Saigon. We always like hearing things from the perspective of local people, and it especially makes us appreciate what we have at home! The boat docked around 9:30 and our van was waiting to take us back to the hotel. Travel day tomorrow so up with the sun again! 😊🌞    Read more

  • TravelerThe Saunders Asian Adventure
    1
    Day 25

    Touring HCMC

    February 19, 2020 in Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    We had tickets for the hop on/hop off bus in Ho Chi Minh City, so after breakfast, walked to stop #1 at the post office to board the bus. It was a hot one today - 33 degrees around 10am so the breeze on the open top deck was welcomed! The route for this one is not very long, and we had already seen (on foot) a lot of the places we drove by, but it’s a good way to learn more and see the city. We first got off at the Bitexco tower as we had purchased tickets to go up to the SkyDeck on the 49th floor. Amazing views from up there and makes you realize just how far the city stretches out! There is a helicopter pad 3 floors up from the observation deck and then the building narrows out and is supposed to represent a lotus flower. It is considered number 5 in the top 20 iconic buildings of the world! There were some props for photo ops, so we had to take advantage of those!

    We got back on the bus, had a quick lunch then spent a couple of hours wandering around the Vietnam War Remnants Museum. What a heartbreaking, eye opening and informative experience that was, and something I would recommend to anyone visiting Saigon. Some of the exhibits and photographs brought us to tears in seeing what a senseless war this really was, especially in observing how the Vietnamese people have overcome so much of the horror and are such kind and welcoming people today.

    Next we walked to the Independence Palace, also known as the Reunification Palace, and formerly the Norodom Palace. Up until 1945, this was the home to the Governor Generals of French Indochina, and was taken over by the Japanese in March of that year. When the Japanese surrendered in September that same year, France returned to Vietnam and took over the Palace until 1954 when the Geneva Accord was signed and the Palace was handed over to the State of Vietnam. It was renamed the Independence Palace in 1955, was bombed in 1962 by the Republic of Vietnam’s Air Force, demolished and rebuilt as the building that stands today. In 1975, two tanks of the North Vietnamese Army bulldozed through the gates of the Palace, effectively putting an end to the Vietnam War. Today, the Palace is a popular tourist attraction with the two original tanks on display outside.

    We returned to our hotel after a long day and headed for the rooftop pool to cool off! We went out for dinner at a place called Five Oysters, which is located on Bui Vien Street, which is advertised as a walking street but still had motorcycles zooming up and down! We had an excellent Vietnamese meal, and noticed a rooftop bar on the other side of the street so decided to go there after. We later found that we had stumbled on one of the busiest and liveliest streets for nightlife in this area. We had a couple of great drinks at the bar and enjoyed the amazing views, then went down and walked along this crazy street! There were people everywhere - in bars, restaurants or just walking and taking in the sights (a young guy breathing fire was just one example!) - it was a happening place, and after taking it all in, we got a cab back to our hotel for a well earned sleep!!    Read more

  • TravelerThe Saunders Asian Adventure
    Day 24

    A day on the Mekong River

    February 18, 2020 in Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    Up bright and early to meet our tour bus at 8am to take us on the 90 minute ride to board our boat on the Mekong River. We had a couple of stops along the way, first just a rest stop, and the second at a beautiful pagoda with some lovely Buddha statues - I particularly like the Happy Buddha! Left there and headed down to the river where our boat was waiting. There were about 22 of us on the tour from places all over the world!

    We started cruising down the river seeing lots of vegetation and some floating fish farms on the way to our first stop at Cu Lao Thoi Son Island. We got off and we’re treated to honey tea at a small establishment where they maintain their own bees for the honey. The tea was poured over freshly squeezed kumquat juice, bee pollen and honey, and was very tasty! There was also honey, bee pollen and Royal Jelly for sale. We walked around to the back of the honey place to another little business where we got to sample freshly made chocolate and view the process of how they make it from the locally grown cacao. Behind this area was a small enclosure where we could have had our photos taken with large live pythons - but opted not to!! 😳😂. Next we were taken to a lovely area where we were given fresh fruit and entertained by local musicians and singers. We were then taken by golf carts to a pathway that led us to row boats which were paddled by two little Vietnamese ladies for 2kms through a narrow jungle inlet. Our paddlers were pretty strong as we passed many other boats along the way!

    We got back on the boat and headed to the next Island, which our tour guide called Unicorn Island. Our first stop here was to sample some delicious coconut candy and to watch the process of making it - the whole coconut is ground up and mixed with the juice, then heated and stirred for 24 hours before being made into candy. Our next stop was lunch at a lovely restaurant on the water where we were served soup, rice, fish, omelette and salad rolls. We had the next hour free and there were bikes available for us to ride, so Dave and I took off to explore - good thing there were no hills as the bikes had no brakes!! We got back to our gathering area and had a nice chat with our tour guide. He gave us lots of insight as to the changes Vietnam has gone through over the last few decades, and how it has affected the different generations of people. He said that about 70% of the people living in this area still call it Saigon as opposed to Ho Chi Minh City. We all got back on the boat for the return trip along the Mekong River to where our bus picked us up to head back to Saigon. As we approached the city, the traffic was absolutely insane, which is apparently quite normal here!

    Got back to our hotel, went for dinner, and while walking back, discovered another brew pub called East Meets West, which was started up 2 years ago by a Vietnamese American from Portland. We checked that out for Dave’s flight of beers and my glass of wine - quite the place! Headed back to the hotel for some shut eye before tomorrow’s adventures!    Read more

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