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The Travel Thread - I am lovely and respectful to all in my path PLUR <3 xxxxx

ponch said:
I didnt rate Samui at all Bear. Was on Samui a few weeks ago (Bophut beach) found it a bit average. There is nothing wrong with it just felt there are much nicer places in Thailand.
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I've been a few times now and always had a good time, I normally stay in the Centara area where all the bars etc are. It can be a bit overly busy with families but normally a good holiday after the peak holiday season.

I was in Phuket (Patong 8() and once out of that area the place was gorgeous - main street, beach are filthy so many horrible little bars and just feels dirty. We were in a pretty nice hotel and just taxied about the place, Old Phuket town is a gorgeous place but really quiet (would like to go back for a few days). Main street you just get stopped every few minutes, tuk tuk, massage, suits, sex, cocaine, hash etc.

OTC benzos though :D
 
Hah yeah Patong is a bit of a dump, those taxi/tuk tuk things with huge speakers and lights are ridiculous! There is a really nice chilled out island only 40mins away from Phuket by boat called Koh Yao Noi. Definitely check it out if you get the chance.

Check out Koh Tao if you can as well, really nice. Just don't hire a motorbike :D
 
ponch said:
Check out Koh Tao if you can as well, really nice.
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Haha, after moving off what was a practically private huge crescent beach on Ko Pha Ngan I thought Koh Tao with its six inches of beach (before high tide) was a bit shit really.
 
Sairee beach? Yeah its pretty small but there is hardly anyone on it!

Did you go to any of the others? Taxi boat preferably, I'm assuming you saw all the bandaged whoppers that ran out of skill on their motorbikes trying to get to other parts of the island.
 
Yes it was Sairee beach, though I had to look that up, it's been six years since Ko Tao. We didn't get taxi boats to any other islands because...(and maybe I shouldn't even write this considering what you went through)...the journey over the seas to Ko Tao from Pha Ngan was the scariest sea trip I've ever been on. Two hour journey turned into four due to rough seas, 15ft waves and bigger swells. Boat couldn't handle it, was overcrowded and no life jackets or life boats. Everyone on the boat convinced they were going to die. This included some really hard looking scouse bastards right behind me, absolutely crapping themselves, everyone being sick, getting wet from waves crashing over the boat. We left in conditions nothing like that. He should have turned back. He didn't. When we reached Ko Tao ferries were suspended for four days.

Funnily enough, when we did leave the island for Champhong we did so in ok seas but on this ferry (catamaran) that had the ability to seemingly go at 70mph. You could not walk the decks on this thing, really violently fast. SE Asian boat travel eh Ponch? :|
 
Jesus that sounds pretty terrifying! A similar thing on a smaller scale happened to us going from Koh Yao Noi to Krabi on a long tail boat. Just after we set off a storm hit (waves about 3 or 4 foot or so, not huge but big enough for a long tail) the captain rolled the plastic sides down and all I could think is if this capsizes no one is getting out. Was about 2 weeks after the Laos incident.

Nice one taking the catamaran, we went with that company as it seemed much safer than the others. They even have life jackets and life boats which is a very welcome bonus.

How are the boat journeys around Indonesia? Same deal?
 
ponch said:
How are the boat journeys around Indonesia? Same deal?
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We flew to Bali from Yogyakarta (and back). Normal people take the ferry but fuck it, the ferry takes hours and hours and AirAsia are cheap as.

BUT...we did get the ferry to Gili Air (the Gili islands, Indonesia's Balearics/Ibiza) from Bali. There's a lot of choice and it's not cheap because it's quite some distance. They've only just started doing fast boats and even these take a couple of hours, it used to be four. Anyway, there's loads of choice, all on the internet, and we went from choosing the posh 'these boats are supremely safe' option to the not so posh 'these carriers are trying hard to improve their safety record'. It really says that. Doesn't fill you full of confidence. But it was the difference between $200 return for 2 people vs $120 return for 2 people (with a free taxi to the airport 40 miles away on return). And the ride was great. What was horrendous was returning to Bali and watching the sea turn into a rubbish dump as we approached. Boat was great though, so long as you got to sit up top. If you didn't, there was no air-con and below decks was horribly hot. Just had to jump up top (limited space) sharpish.
 
So who's been to Mexico? Top tips/places?

I've booked tickets to and from Mexico City and am in the country for just over two weeks but haven't got anything planned firmly yet. A friend moved to Mexico City and says she will try and travel with us wherever we want to go which is nice...

I think we'll go to Oaxaca, Chiapas and the pacific coast rather than schleping to Yucatan (perhaps that's another trip).
 
Had a couple of weeks in Puerta Vallarta 20 years or so ago, so not much help really. Bud and coke were easy enough to get, if that's your thing, best memory, watching Manta rays jumping.
 
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Should have said I'm thinking of the pacific cost around Oaxaca, don't really expect to go north of Mexico City.
 
wibble said:
So who's been to Mexico? Top tips/places?
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Me! But not on holiday. I spent two weeks in Ciudad Del Carmen, which was a shithole. I was advised not to go out after nightfall. Which would have been difficult anyway, because the apartment complex was under armed guard. The other two weeks were spent on a jackup oil rig, which I wouldn't recommend as a holiday destination either. The locals did catch some nice fish off the rig, though. ;)
 
Hah, noted.

Most books and the FCO recommend not driving alone at night all around Mexico, hopefully we won't need any armed guards where we're going though.
 
Went down to Bangkok airport to fly to Vietnam today. While sat eating a bowl of noodle soup we realised we had forgotten to apply for a Visa on arrival. Did an express application online with a company that processes them and manage to bullshit the check in staff to let us on the plane (you have to show proof of confirmation before being allowed to check in). Arrive in Vietnam and luckily the application had been processed, after paying 5 dollars to a robbing git to print it out we got our Viasas and through immigration.

Need a drink!
 
^

I had no idea you were still travelling Ponch. Nice one. At this rate I'll be joining you again in September. However...

...in January we flew almost the same route (pre-booked from months in advance) as the Air Asia jet that went down in the Java sea. In Feb we were on the same boats on the Mekong as Ponch went down on in Laos. Now today,

Dozens killed as Philippines ferry capsizes

That's the next island along from the ferry we caught Cebu-Bohol (and we left Bohol a few days before a tropical storm killed 53).

Someone loves me. Maybe just not on BL.
 
This area of the world man, boats and plane accidents all the time it seems!

Where are you off to in September?

I'd just like to add that on first impression Vietnam is a fucking cool place :)
 
Completely and utterly jealous of you Ponch.. I've done Thailand but I always wanted to do Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. Shall save for when the kids have a grown up now..

Enjoy :)
 
ponch said:
This area of the world man, boats and plane accidents all the time it seems!

Where are you off to in September?

I'd just like to add that on first impression Vietnam is a fucking cool place :)
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I thought Hanoi was the worst place in the world but others here loved it (dearly departed Kara for one) but maybe you've landed in HCM? I much preferred the south. Which is the wrong way around for my politics but I thought the north was everything that gives communism a bad name. From Hoi An (especially Hoi An) downwards was cool.

PS PM was much appreciated. Thx man, you're a gent.
 
I have been thinking of going away for Halloween. It's my favourite time of the year, and it always sucks and never lives up to what I plan. So I think I shall take myself away as I have the week off.

Now to decide; hot and sunny, or cool and autumny.
 
Morocco is very nice in late Oct Ms Lane - hot, sunny, cool and autumnal!

Quite cost effective too.
 
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