Phuket: On the beach

Kata beach

If you go to Phuket just for the beaches you will have a great holiday. We spent a lot of time on deck chairs between the various beaches around Phuket. You can rent a chair for the day for a few dollars, have cold drinks and food delivered to you while soaking up the sun and enjoying the amazing water. What more would you want?

We stopped off at Kammala, Surin, Patong, Kata and Karon beach over our week long trip. Kammala and Surin have cheap eateries that line the beach. You can also do some shopping there or organise some water sports. Patong is the most touristy and the one I liked the least. Patong is the place to go at night. In the day the other beaches are much better options. Kata and Karon seem to be more for the resort crowd. All the big resorts seem to be in this area. The beaches are nice but the small restaurants don't seem to have the same vibe as Kammala and Surin. My vote - Kammala.

Kammala beach sunset

Celine on Kammala beach


Views from the deck chair

Kata Beach

Enjoying the water

Kammala beach sunset: Take 2

Kammala beach by day

Phuket: With the girls

Views from the Big Buddha

Who said the French don't travel? Since arriving in Bangkok we have had a constant influx from the French contingent. What's the deal Australia? First one of Celine's friends came to Thailand for a few weeks, followed soon after by two of Celine's aunties and one of their friends. Not long after Celine's cousin and his girlfriend came for a few days before going done to Phuket to see their French friends. Celine's cousin stayed on for a few months. While staying with him, and his friends, in Phuket another of Celine's cousins (from the other side of the family) came to Thailand with her girlfriend. We caught up with them while we were in Phuket.


Girls on the bike

Melanie and Joelle were doing a few week island hopping trip. Their first stop was Phuket. We rented an extra motorbike and rode up the mountain to the Big Buddha, having a great lunch on the way. Super views up there. The girls also got a chance to hang out with a baby elephant. We also spent some time on Kata beach and enjoyed a few beers.

Melanie and Joelle chat to the elephant

Celine and the elephant


Lunch views


Kata beach


The girls enjoying lunch

Phuket: With the boys

Playing pool with the boys

The flood problems in Bangkok reached a climax towards the end of October. It was high tide and there were fears the city would be flooded. The government declared a 5 day holiday over the weekend of the 21st-22nd and as a result many businesses closed. All of our corporate English classes were cancelled. Our apartment owner who had been telling us for weeks that we MUST leave due to impending meter + high floods in our area was virtually pushing us out the door. Our apartment was full of his fear propoganda and with the latest government warning his paranoïa reached boiling point. Adding to that it was near impossible to buy bottled water as well as some foodstuffs.

For these reasons we decided to leave Bangkok for a few days - destination Phuket. Celine's cousin, Romain, who has been staying with us was already heading down to Phuket to see friends and it just so happened that they had a spare room in their house for a few days.

We ended up staying with them for a little under a week. They had a house on Kammala beach - one they moved into a day before the 2004 tsunami. Luckily their house was not affected.

The first stop was to rent a motorbike.



We spent the mornings riding around the island and exploring different beaches. We stopped at Patong (the most touristic), Kata, Karon, Kammala and Surin beach. Our favourite was Kammala which was laid back and relaxed while having all the ammenities you want at the same time.

At night we had dinners at different restaurants and explored some of the various bars on offer. We had a night out in Patong and experienced a ping pong show; amongst other things - very educational :). There were markets to explore as well so we always had things to do.

We both had a good time meeting Romain's friends and enjoying Phuket. It really is a cool island when you have the chance to explore it on motorbike.

Romain eating at a French restaurant


One of the bars on Kammala beach

Dinner - special Thai curry for me

A few to many for one guy

Phuket market

Back in Vietnam: Hanoi

Me and Noppy at Puku restautant

It was a real treat to be back in Hanoi. It was definately a different feeling than the first time we arrived - wide eyed without a clue of anything that was happening. A holiday to a new place is always exciting but there is also something refreshing about understanding how a place works. This time in Hanoi everything was on auto-pilot. We knew how to take a taxi and where to go. We could speak to the driver and opted for the Old Quarter. We decided to stay in the same hotel as the first night we arrived in Hanoi a few years ago. The hotel had changed it's name but this is not unusal for Hanoi. We knew where we wanted to go and what we wanted to see. We knew the food to eat and what restaurants to eat it in. For Romain, Celine's cousin who was travelling with us, the trip was " the best of" our year and half in Hanoi.

We only had a day and a half but we were able to fit a lot in.

You can't have a stay in Hanoi without a bowl of pho - the famous noodle soup. I tried and got sick of many Vietnamese dishes over my time there but pho was always a favourite. I could do with a bowl now.



As soon as we arrived in Hanoi we went to see our friend Quan who rents motorbikes. You can find him at 68 Hang Bac street in the Old Quarter. We picked a two motorbikes for a couple of days. Motorbike is the only way to properly get around in Hanoi. One of our first stops was to ride over the Long Bien Bridge.



We had dinner at the Rainbow restaurant with our friends Nam and Mai. Mai (pregnant in the photo) has recently given birth to to a beautiful baby boy. The raindow restaurant was on Bao Khanh street in the old quarter and was one of our favourite places to go.



Romain and I by Truc Bach Lake or what we called it; poo lake. The lake really smells. The trick is not to get too close.



Celine and Noppy at a cafe drinking coffee.



Romain and I eating frogs legs at Quan An Ngon restautant.



Eating and drinking at Sen restaurant - all you can eat buffet.



One of our stops on the motorbike was a small cafe by West Lake. It is a great place to go to get away from the hustle and bustle of busy Hanoi.



There are always fisherman on West Lake. I wouldn't want to eat anything they catch though.

Back in Vietnam: Mai Chau

Working in the fields

We stayed with the same family as the previous two times we have been to Mai Chau. They are very friendly and it was a lot of fun speaking Vietnamese again (albeit rather limited for myself). Celine on the other hand had no problem jumping straight back into her Vietnamese and was conversing like she hadn't left.


Hammock under the house

We spent our time relaxing and walking around the village, drinking the local wine, ruoi, with the father of the family, eating superb home cooked meals and going on motorbike rides around the area. At night we saw a traditional dance, where the son of the family was in a leading role. We drank the local Vietnamese coffee and bought some things for the house from the market.

Vietnamese traditional dance


My attempt at one of the dances

Madame Linh lives in her house with her husband and one of her two sons, his wife and their little baby. Sitting down to eat with the family is one of my favourite things. The sleeping arrangements are simple but by no means uncomfortable. The mattresses that they use are made in the village and we like them so much we took some back to Hanoi and now have them in Bangkok. Celine's cousin, Romain, is sleeping on those very mattresses at the moment while staying with us in Bangkok.

Sleeping arrangements


Dinner with the family

Madame Linh, her son and granddaughter. I look rather tall next to them

These guys played a song on the drums and them offered us some local ruoi wine.

Not bad views

Mother and daughter

Back in Vietnam: Road Trip

Romain battling dusty Hanoi



Celine, her cousin Romain and I recently took short trip to Vietnam. It was our first time back since leaving in March. We spent a few days in Hanoi before grabbing a few bikes and riding to one of favourite places in Vietnam - Mai Chau.

Riding up the mountain

Riding through a small town

Friendly and curious kids


Without a doubt the highlight of our year and half in Vietnam was the 3 week motorbike trip we took from Ho Chi Minh City to Da Nang. We have great memories from that trip so we were very happy to be back on the open road again enjoying the Vietnamese countryside. The first few hours out of Hanoi is a bit painful - hot and dusty traffic jams, poor roads, zooming buses and impatient truck drivers. However, once past Luong Son (the small home town of our friend Nam) the roads are better quality and wider with much less traffic, the air fresh and the scenery amazing.

Buffalos on the road

Rice fields

On the road to Mai Chau

Mai Chau is about 130km south-west of Hanoi. The drive took us about 6 hours. The town itself is pretty unappealing however the White Thai minority group have a village on the outskirts of town where they all live in traditional houses. This is a great place to stay, relax and eat some delicious home cooked Vietnamese food.

Not the worst place to go for a ride

Friendly locals


Goodbye Mai Chau