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Koh Lanta: The First 7 Days
Klong Nin village We have now spent a few days on Koh Lanta and the village of Klong Nin has become our paradise. The aquamarine Andaman sea gently laps the long pale soft sand beach. A selection of accommodation in the form of beach huts inconspicuously line the beach, nestled amongst palm trees with attractive tropical gardens and a backdrop of wooded hills. Beach bars/ restaurants are rustic and low key, decked in driftwood and shells, cool seating areas with mats and cushions on the floor, there is a real chilled out vibe here. Music from the bars is kept at an acceptably low level and the overall feel is relaxed…
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From the City to the Islands: The Next Stage
We’ve now moved on from what was essentially a city break and on to the island holiday part of our trip, the idea always having been that after the Bangkok experience we chill out for a couple of weeks before we start the more adventurous parts of this journey. So we’re into a certain mode now, we know this is holiday island and not the “real” Thailand, but it’s chill time before we hit the real country. And so we now find ourselves in the village of Klong Nin on the island of Koh Lanta in the southern part of Thailand, billeted right on the beach with the sea lapping…
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Kanchanaburi and Relative History
The gravestone above sits amongst thousands of others in the War cemetery at Kanchanaburi, site of the infamous Death Railway of World War 2, but this one resonates with us. This modest headstone is the memorial to Phil’s Dad’s cousin Roland, who, like so many other young men, died a dreadful death here at the hands of the Japanese during construction of the Thai-Burma railway. He must have suffered unimaginable torment. We have come to Kanchanaburi purely to pay our respects to our family member, some 76 years after his death. We find the whole experience of visiting this headstone surprisingly emotional, given that this was someone who died more…
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Time In Bangkok: Our Review
And so after three full days and four evenings in Bangkok, we are moving on to our next destination. It’s been something of a whirlwind start to our Asian adventure but a more chilled spell is on the near horizon. So here’s a resume of our time in the capital and our recommendations for coping with Bangkok… Bangkok is….. Vibrant, lively, energetic, peaceful, devout. Shiny new, immensely ancient. Respectful and religious; iniquitous, rebellious and debauched. If those words sound contradictory, then they are meant to, because this place has just about everything. Whilst it is a bustling city full of life and full of contradictions, we wouldn’t really describe Bangkok…
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Bangkok: The Adventure Begins
It was the novelist Alex Garland who christened Bangkok “the centre of the backpacking universe”, and, by reputation, several other universes ranging from sex tourism to lady boys to diverse cuisine, are centred here. However, on the City Line train and MRT from the airport to the centre, it seems to us that Bangkok has become the centre of the face mask universe. Most likely the propensity of Asians for wearing protective masks in city atmospheres has been intensified by the Coronavirus scare, but whatever, most of the passengers are sporting one. An overnight flight from the UK means that it is late afternoon as we check in the hotel,…
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Here we go…
Today’s the day. After years of dreaming and months of planning, it’s finally the day when it all becomes reality. Later today we head to Heathrow and for the next 105 days we will be exploring South East Asia through Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and finally Singapore. It almost feels unreal. Next stop Bangkok….
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The Next Chapter
So here we are just a couple of days from realising our travel dreams, and setting off on the first of our major adventures post retirement. In the “about” sections of the blog you will find some history of our travels, and some clues as to why this is our dream. We got together as a couple in 2011 and since then wanderlust has simply taken over. Before we met we had both travelled to a degree, and have now each visited 40 countries of the World. And, in those 9 years together, we have visited 33 already, a number to be increased somewhat this year. This is a summary…
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Legends, Kings & Storms in Wet and Wild Cornwall
With just a couple of weeks left before our travels we take one more trip down to Cornwall. We arrive at the tail end of Storm Brendan battering the UK, the Cornish coast is being buffeted by the strong winds and the Atlantic is crashing in making a dramatic scene. The Atlantic is in an angry mood. So after reacquainting ourselves with some of the Padstow pubs on our first evening, we spend the first full day here battling the elements at Tintagel, Boscastle and Port Isaac. Tintagel is of course the legendary site of King Arthur’s castle, with its wonderful tales of Merlin, Arthur and the Knights of the…
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Dover Castle – The defender of England
As we wait for our travel date to arrive we continue our exploration of our local area. One major site which has been on our list for some time is Dover Castle, a familiar site majestically standing proud atop the white cliffs of Dover, keeping watch over the English Channel across to mainland Europe, keeping England safe through the ages, a myriad of underground tunnels holding secrets of days gone by. This site has been occupied in some form since Roman times, the Castle in its present form built by King Henry II and has played a key part in England’s defences throughout many wars, not least of course the…
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Canterbury: A cradle of Christianity
The countdown to the start of our amazing adventures and trips around the world is well underway, with just three weeks to go until our departure on January 29th. From that point on, the next chapter of our lives begins. So currently we are doing our best to shake off the extra pounds put on over Christmas and get quite a bit fitter before the adventures begin. The New Year has to date seen a stroll around the so-called lost waterways of London, following the trail of the River Fleet, a tributary of the Thames now mostly buried underground, and a delightful walk around the picturesque villages just south east…
