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Blog No 1 - 24th June - 01 July 2018
Well, here we are one week into our 4 week trip and I thought it was time I put finger to keyboard and produce our 1st blog. We left Sydney on Sunday the 24th June after spending the previous night at a hotel near the airport. With a 11am flight we would have had to leave home at a sparrows fart (that's early in the morning for our North American readers) so it was easier to leave the afternoon before, have a nice rest overnight and join the flight refreshed and ready to go next morning.
After an 8 hour flight we arrived in Kuala Lumpur at around 5:30pm their time and booked into a hotel next to the airport terminal. We flew out of Kuala Lumpur the next day at 2pm and continued our journey to Bangkok, arriving at 3pm local time.
Having been to Bangkok at least 20 times, there wasn't a lot of sightseeing to do as we have seen just about all the interesting places there are to see. We did a bit of shopping at our favourite shopping centre (MBK) and the rest of the time was used getting a Cambodian Visa at the Cambodian Embassy and a visit to the Siam Museum, which we hadn't seen before. We enjoyed the ferry boat ride down the river to go back to our hotel. The Cambodian Visa's were a real pain as we had to go the other side of the city to apply and then go back next day to pick them up. Luckily the waiting room there was at least air conditioned which was not like the Myanmar one was a few years ago. In Bangkok we stay at suburb called Sathorn which is mainly residential so it's nice and quiet and easy access to the bus and Skytrain. The hotel (Chatrium Residence) is a 7 tower hotel complex with Studios, 1 Bedroom and 2 Bedroom apartments. We always get a 1 bedroom apartment as it gives us plenty of room to relax. This time we were on the top floor (18th) with great views of the city. The breakfast spread is fantastic and included in the price and they have a huge gym, lagoon style swimming pool and is a short 5 minute walk to a massive shopping centre.
After 5 busy days we headed back to the airport for a 5:25pm flight back to Kuala Lumpur and again stayed at the hotel next to the airport. We flew out again at 12:15pm for our flight to Sihanoukville in Cambodia. We had to circle the airport for over half and hour while they waited for a storm to pass over the airfield.
We are now relaxing in our resort room which is just a stone's throw from the beach. Everything here is in US dollars but very cheap. The club sandwich I had for lunch at a beach cafe was the biggest I have ever had. Grilled chicken, hamburger patty, cheese, lettuce, tomato on toasted bread. All for $5 included chips. Depending on the weather we are hoping to go snorkeling at least on one of the days we are here.
Our next stop will be back in Kuala Lumpur in 3 days but this time we will be spending 5 days there as I have some new dental implants to get done and a bit of sightseeing as well.
I will post my next blog from Chiang Mai in Thailand when we get there after KL.
Click on the button below to see photo of our trip so far. Enjoy!
After an 8 hour flight we arrived in Kuala Lumpur at around 5:30pm their time and booked into a hotel next to the airport terminal. We flew out of Kuala Lumpur the next day at 2pm and continued our journey to Bangkok, arriving at 3pm local time.
Having been to Bangkok at least 20 times, there wasn't a lot of sightseeing to do as we have seen just about all the interesting places there are to see. We did a bit of shopping at our favourite shopping centre (MBK) and the rest of the time was used getting a Cambodian Visa at the Cambodian Embassy and a visit to the Siam Museum, which we hadn't seen before. We enjoyed the ferry boat ride down the river to go back to our hotel. The Cambodian Visa's were a real pain as we had to go the other side of the city to apply and then go back next day to pick them up. Luckily the waiting room there was at least air conditioned which was not like the Myanmar one was a few years ago. In Bangkok we stay at suburb called Sathorn which is mainly residential so it's nice and quiet and easy access to the bus and Skytrain. The hotel (Chatrium Residence) is a 7 tower hotel complex with Studios, 1 Bedroom and 2 Bedroom apartments. We always get a 1 bedroom apartment as it gives us plenty of room to relax. This time we were on the top floor (18th) with great views of the city. The breakfast spread is fantastic and included in the price and they have a huge gym, lagoon style swimming pool and is a short 5 minute walk to a massive shopping centre.
After 5 busy days we headed back to the airport for a 5:25pm flight back to Kuala Lumpur and again stayed at the hotel next to the airport. We flew out again at 12:15pm for our flight to Sihanoukville in Cambodia. We had to circle the airport for over half and hour while they waited for a storm to pass over the airfield.
We are now relaxing in our resort room which is just a stone's throw from the beach. Everything here is in US dollars but very cheap. The club sandwich I had for lunch at a beach cafe was the biggest I have ever had. Grilled chicken, hamburger patty, cheese, lettuce, tomato on toasted bread. All for $5 included chips. Depending on the weather we are hoping to go snorkeling at least on one of the days we are here.
Our next stop will be back in Kuala Lumpur in 3 days but this time we will be spending 5 days there as I have some new dental implants to get done and a bit of sightseeing as well.
I will post my next blog from Chiang Mai in Thailand when we get there after KL.
Click on the button below to see photo of our trip so far. Enjoy!
Blog No 2 - 1st to 14th July 201 8
Here way are into our 3rd week now of our trip. We are presently in Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand and enjoying the rest after a hectic 5 days in Kuala Lumpur and a rain soaked three days in Sihanoukville, Cambodia.
Sihanouk was very disappointing. We have been to Cambodia a few times but mainly Seim Reap and Phnom Penh and we looked forward to seeing what a seaside town would be like. The area we stayed in was a little bit south of the town but on a great beach. Unfortunately it rained every day and so we couldn't really get out and see anything and just as well, as there is nothing to see. The tourist trade revolves around diving and snorkeling and with the rain both were pointless.
The whole place is being taken over by huge Chinese developments. There are already 12 Casinos in Sihanouk and a lot more a planned to be built or are being built. The newer ones are 1400 room hotel/casinos and one has taken over a very popular public beach and now made it a private beach belonging to the hotel. They are even building them in National Parks with the Cambodian Governments permission. Talking to the locals they say that the corruption in government is massive and they are selling out the country to the Chinese. Chinese tourist are everywhere in Asia now and spoiling everything everywhere they go. They are rude and treat locals as if they are slaves. I have never heard a Chinese person say thank you for any hotel service they receive.
They have no respect for local customs and are buying up land everywhere and forcing a lot of local businesses out of business. The Chinese arrive straight from China and stay at and eat at, Chinese built and owned hotels. They even import Chinese labour to build the hotels so the locals get no benefit out of it at all.
Debbie and I are just about over Asia. We have been coming over here for the past 20 years and were lucky enough to see the real Asia before it was all spoilt by the Russians and Chinese.
So much for my bitching about the Chinese. We flew out of Sihanouk for Kuala Lumpur and booked into our hotel. When we were there last the hotel was called the Invito Suites. It is now the Ramada Suites and like a lot of hotels in KL, the hotel has the first 18 floors and the other 10 floors are private apartments/studios. We booked a private studio on the 26th floor. The rooms are very well appointed and have a kitchenette and balcony overlooking the city. You still have access to the hotel pool and gym but the rooms are not served daily. For $70 a night, I can go without the sheets being changed every day.
The day after we arrived the Dental Clinic car picked me up from the hotel and drove me across town to the dental surgery. That day I had two implants put in and two filling done. The surgery gives you medication to stop inflamation and infection. Unfortunately, I had a really bad reaction to one of the medications and as a consequence I was a sick as a dog for the next three days. I had a followup the day after the implants were put in and the dentist said not to take the medication. That could have been a result of me throwing up in the dentist chair whilst he was examining the implants. Luckily I had a ziploc bag in my pocket for just such an occasion. Anyhow, after some anti vomiting medicine from the Chemist I final recovered. As a result of my incapacitation, we didn't get out a lot in KL but that wasn't really a drama as we have seen all the sights in KL before and it was really only the dental work I was there for.
On Monday the 9th July, we flew from Kuala Lumpur to Chiang Mai. We love Chiang Mai but like all other places in Asia it's been invaded by Chinese tourist. The day after we checked in we caught the hotel shuttle bus into the old town and hired a motor scooter. Chiang Mai is nothing like Bangkok and it's easy to get around on a motor scooter. We have been doing that here for the past 15 years just using my Australian Motor Bike license. Unfortunately they changed the rules and now you need an International Motor Bike license to legally ride on the road. I found that out the hard way. The police had a roadside blitz and were pulling over all motor bike riders to check for valid licenses and helmets. That little license problem cost me 1000 baht ($40Aus) on the spot. I'm pretty sure the 1000 baht went straight into his pocket. No receipts and a simple 'next time get an International License" and we were on our way, the poorer for it. As a consequence, the next 3 days were around the back streets trying to avoid the police. We did manage to get to a few museums while we were here and had some fantastic food at a little restaurant across the street from the hotel. When we travel we rarely eat at the hotels. We like to spread our money around with the locals rather than the hotels getting it all. The meals at this restaurant were amazing and dirt cheap, The service was excellent and the spiciness of the food was done to your own taste.
Tonight we ride back into the city (via the back streets) and dinner at the night markets before returning the bike. We will be getting the Hotel shuttle bus back to the hotel.
We check out tomorrow at noon and catch an afternoon flight to Udon Thani which is close to the Laos border in North East Thailand. We haven't been there before so we are looking forward to that.
I will post our last Blog once we are back in Sydney in a weeks time. In the mean time, enjoy the photos (click on the button below) and catch you next time.
All our Love, Bill and Debbie
Sihanouk was very disappointing. We have been to Cambodia a few times but mainly Seim Reap and Phnom Penh and we looked forward to seeing what a seaside town would be like. The area we stayed in was a little bit south of the town but on a great beach. Unfortunately it rained every day and so we couldn't really get out and see anything and just as well, as there is nothing to see. The tourist trade revolves around diving and snorkeling and with the rain both were pointless.
The whole place is being taken over by huge Chinese developments. There are already 12 Casinos in Sihanouk and a lot more a planned to be built or are being built. The newer ones are 1400 room hotel/casinos and one has taken over a very popular public beach and now made it a private beach belonging to the hotel. They are even building them in National Parks with the Cambodian Governments permission. Talking to the locals they say that the corruption in government is massive and they are selling out the country to the Chinese. Chinese tourist are everywhere in Asia now and spoiling everything everywhere they go. They are rude and treat locals as if they are slaves. I have never heard a Chinese person say thank you for any hotel service they receive.
They have no respect for local customs and are buying up land everywhere and forcing a lot of local businesses out of business. The Chinese arrive straight from China and stay at and eat at, Chinese built and owned hotels. They even import Chinese labour to build the hotels so the locals get no benefit out of it at all.
Debbie and I are just about over Asia. We have been coming over here for the past 20 years and were lucky enough to see the real Asia before it was all spoilt by the Russians and Chinese.
So much for my bitching about the Chinese. We flew out of Sihanouk for Kuala Lumpur and booked into our hotel. When we were there last the hotel was called the Invito Suites. It is now the Ramada Suites and like a lot of hotels in KL, the hotel has the first 18 floors and the other 10 floors are private apartments/studios. We booked a private studio on the 26th floor. The rooms are very well appointed and have a kitchenette and balcony overlooking the city. You still have access to the hotel pool and gym but the rooms are not served daily. For $70 a night, I can go without the sheets being changed every day.
The day after we arrived the Dental Clinic car picked me up from the hotel and drove me across town to the dental surgery. That day I had two implants put in and two filling done. The surgery gives you medication to stop inflamation and infection. Unfortunately, I had a really bad reaction to one of the medications and as a consequence I was a sick as a dog for the next three days. I had a followup the day after the implants were put in and the dentist said not to take the medication. That could have been a result of me throwing up in the dentist chair whilst he was examining the implants. Luckily I had a ziploc bag in my pocket for just such an occasion. Anyhow, after some anti vomiting medicine from the Chemist I final recovered. As a result of my incapacitation, we didn't get out a lot in KL but that wasn't really a drama as we have seen all the sights in KL before and it was really only the dental work I was there for.
On Monday the 9th July, we flew from Kuala Lumpur to Chiang Mai. We love Chiang Mai but like all other places in Asia it's been invaded by Chinese tourist. The day after we checked in we caught the hotel shuttle bus into the old town and hired a motor scooter. Chiang Mai is nothing like Bangkok and it's easy to get around on a motor scooter. We have been doing that here for the past 15 years just using my Australian Motor Bike license. Unfortunately they changed the rules and now you need an International Motor Bike license to legally ride on the road. I found that out the hard way. The police had a roadside blitz and were pulling over all motor bike riders to check for valid licenses and helmets. That little license problem cost me 1000 baht ($40Aus) on the spot. I'm pretty sure the 1000 baht went straight into his pocket. No receipts and a simple 'next time get an International License" and we were on our way, the poorer for it. As a consequence, the next 3 days were around the back streets trying to avoid the police. We did manage to get to a few museums while we were here and had some fantastic food at a little restaurant across the street from the hotel. When we travel we rarely eat at the hotels. We like to spread our money around with the locals rather than the hotels getting it all. The meals at this restaurant were amazing and dirt cheap, The service was excellent and the spiciness of the food was done to your own taste.
Tonight we ride back into the city (via the back streets) and dinner at the night markets before returning the bike. We will be getting the Hotel shuttle bus back to the hotel.
We check out tomorrow at noon and catch an afternoon flight to Udon Thani which is close to the Laos border in North East Thailand. We haven't been there before so we are looking forward to that.
I will post our last Blog once we are back in Sydney in a weeks time. In the mean time, enjoy the photos (click on the button below) and catch you next time.
All our Love, Bill and Debbie
