Day 44 - Papillon (Koh Lanta)

So today we escaped the solitary confinment of Crown Lanta, and find ourselves in Papillon. Okay I'll admit that you could hardly call one of the most upmarket hotels on this island solitary confinment, but then I will also admit that the main reason we are at Papillon is in homage to the second greatest film of all time - Papillon (within which the character spent many years in solitary - hence the weakish link). Had there been a beach hut resort called 'Cool Hand Luke' then we may well be sitting there now. There is an interesting similarity between this island and the backdrop scenery of Papillon, so this at least feels right.

For the non-fans of 70's film, Papillon is the true story of Henri Charriere (Papillon), played by Steve Mcqueen, who is deported to Devil's Island in French Guiana, here he makes repeated attempts to escape his tropical prison in defiance of his captors, and their extreme methods of punishment for attempted escape. Whilst incarcerated he develops a strong friendship with Dega (I Think!) played by Dustin Hoffman, this frienship is formed due to an extraodinary set of selfless acts by each that prove the amazing capacity of man to defy tyranny, whatever the odds!

Cool Hand Luke is the story of Lucas Jackson, played by Paul Newman, who is sentenced to two years prison, where he refuses to buckle to the will of his captors despite their extreme methods of punishment, not only does he defy his captors, but he also turns the other inmates from opponents to friends and followers by showing an extroadinary capacity to drive through pain and hardship with great gusto, thus driving a further stake into the hearts of their tyrannous captors.

Any part-time psycologists may want to extract some inner deeper meaning from a chap who sees these two films as the greatest, with their clear similarities, and then question the decision to up sticks and journey to the far side of the world, maybe as a form of escapism!!

With nothing to escape and no tyranny to behold, I wouldnt want to come to any conclusion on that myself. Although, with a great love of adventure and a greater love of 'bucking the trend', it is easy to greatly admire the characters of Papillon and Cool Hand, as they refuse to take the easy road.

****Okay chaps dont worry I havent started smoking the herbs out here, but the mind is certainly free****

My random warbling aside, Papillon ( the beach huts) is a very quiet garden with only a few huts, and is run by Jans, a swedish baker, who escaped Sweden for a simpler existence, although he does still bake. I intend on investigating whether the film Papillon had a profound effect on him, and hence his naming of his huts, and maybe I will practise some amateur psyscology on his film favourites later, after some home cooked bread and some Singha Beer!

Tomorrow we leave for a small island called Koh Kradan where there are only a handful of huts that are run by a Hawaiian chap called Wally!.... so I fear there maybe more escape stories ahead!

Day 43 - Crown Lanta

So we managed to find the pool the kids wanted!... if the picture is not quite clear, that is our private hotel terrace, with private entry into the pool, and this came with a price!

This rather upmarket hotel was picked for its pool alone, and quite frankly it is all that it has to offer! but the kids are happy, so it will do for one night, in fact it will have to, as to enjoy this treat we are eating Thai noodles for lunch which cost 13p each... yep that is a 52p lunch for the family! the kids love them though so all good. and for dinner we are going to the backpacker hostel nect door for burgers! wierd to think we were craving some classier accommodation, when now all we want it to get back to our basic yet pricturesque choices.

We are coming to terms with the fact that we do not have it in us to stay in one place for longer than 3 nights before we get the urge to shift location. in fact 3 is a rarity since joining the islands, completely the opposite of what we thought would happen. Maybe we have all now become fully fledged travelling folk

Mae Nam Pictures & Vid

 

Nope not a beached whale, just me chilling on the empty sea



Beach Food

Chang Face!

Last Sunrise in Samui

Boat to mainland (the smiles didnt last all day!)

Day 42 - Koh Samui to Koh Lanta

I'm not going to tart this one up a jot!... tough day of travelling. Started off well enough getting out of Samui and then southwest across Thailand to Krabi, from which point it became hard work.

We got passed from tour company to tour company, all of whom tried their best to rip us off atleast an extra 60 quid to get us to our destination without a 3 hr delay. A delay that our paid for passage had suddenly been hit with, Strangely!!

Anyway we made it, and releived is the best way to describe our state! We are shacked up in a backpackers beach hut, which is costing us £16 for the night, great value considering it has air conditioning and a TV!

Tomorrow we move on to find our new home... Priority one remains a cool pool! - lets see what we can find!!

Day 41 - Mae Nam - The changing priorities!

We have now stayed at 4 different places on this island trek, and each jump has come with a new set of priorities. When we first imagined what we would want, it didnt stop far beyond a simple beach hut in an idyllic setting, with nothing other than a Robinson Crusoe existence to keep us happy.

Location 1 on Koh Tao taught us that the staff and management need to be pleasant enough to make you feel welcome so you can relax in your idyllic setting, so a new priority needed to be at least a bit of customer service, actually not even service, just not a scowl and a huff when you approach.

Location 2 was both idyllic and had pleasant staff, but the beach hut was 25 minutes drive down a muddy hillside track, and without the forethought to do some shopping, life was a little too Robinson Crusoe! so a new priority came in that we would need some facilities within a 10 minute walk

Location 3 was just a way of reconnecting with civilisation for a few days, so we had a couple of interconnecting rooms set back from the beach in the middle of the busiest town on Koh Samui. Good fun but not part of the vision. Although with the flexibility to change our mind on a daily basis being the driver, maybe exactly what the vision was

By the time location 4 was picked, we felt that we knew what we wanted, and we have pretty much succeeded in getting everything right, leading to idyllic but not isolated, with pleasant staff and a few amenities, but how long would this be the 'right' setting!!  Well it turned out to be 2 days before the kids had a little brush with some stray jellyfish tenticles in the sea, which has left them a little nervous about getting in. Suddenly a swimming pool is a big priority, and with the lunchtime vote continuing to dictate our location, it appears we are now back on the move, in search of everything we have found to date... plus a pool!

I think the joy in this 'day by day' adventure is not so much just adding to the list of priorities, but keeping the priorities very fluid, so you can counter the lack of one priority by completely contradicting one location with the next, like we did in picking a mid town location straight after our deserted beach . We look forward to seeing where we find ourselves next.

So we head south tomorrow, and to Koh Lanta on the western side of Thailand on the Andaman sea.

Day 40 - Trying to keep in budget

On this unplanned part of the journey I set quite a tight daily budget to keep, this basically narrowed down to £50 a day for accommodation and £50 a day for spending money. We started off well, keeping inside of the budget for the first 3 days, as Chumphon and Koh Tao had little to create temptation.

Unfortunately Chaweng on Koh Samui had way too many temptations, and following the Jet Ski, snorkelling gear, a visit to the ice bar, some Australian ribs at the ozzie bar, Cocktails on the beach and Starbucks (Terrible aye, but felix loves the frappuchinos - as do we!) we managed to over spend by £50 a day. We then topped that with some wine from the 7eleven yesterday, so another £30 - yep wine is extremely expensive over here, We have managed to basically double our alloted spending money for the second 3 days.

We are hoping that we can be a little more conservative in our new environment!... but hey ho! whats a good budget if you dont smash it up a few times!

Sunrise this morning from our beach hut terrace

 

 

Another video from the 'ColeWerks' production Team

 



Day 39 - Making Mae Nam our home for a while

We feel we have finally found our perfect mix of amenity, quiet and excitement. So will be settling in Mae Nam for a while.
School of mum and dad kicked into 3 rd gear today. Almost had a mutiny!

Day 38 - Koh Samui, a day on the beach

Had a lovely day on the beach today, and got fully involved with the commercial offerings here in Koh Samui. Immy and I had a blast on the Jetski, but were just about bored of it after 25 minutes. Can you imagine the dissapointment experienced by those who actually buy these 'sea thugs', only to find it monotenous before you get the chance to refill the tank with fuel!

We have voted to move again, so we are yet to remain in one place for more than two nights (in fact only one place for two nights!), Tomorrow we are bound for Mae Nam and back into a beachside bungalow with more seclusion, but not isolation.

Just a small thought for today's entry, about Ladyboys. I have yet to mention this Thai phenomenon, and I am surprised really, because their presence has been about ever since our entry into the country. Two waitresses in Bangkok, the ticket clerk at the ferry desk, the bar lady in Chumphon and then of course the cabaret girls who sell their show tickets on the street every night. Is their constant presence a reflection on this nations acceptance and tolerance of all things, or is there something genetic to the thai people, which has increased the number of men who choose this alternative lifestyle. If it is not genetic, would a greater acceptance in the western world lead to vast numbers of men choosing to don the lippy and one of the Mrs's frocks for work... I'll leave that there!.. the kids find them very confusing!

Some Pics from the last few days

Some from Koh tao:

 

 

(You may note that I have dropped the Imogen and Felix Pages, whilst the school of mum and dad continues with much gusto! my ambitions for their contribution to the blog was a tad ambitious!)

Lunch on the beach in Koh Samui

Koh Tao Video

Day 37 - Koh Samui

So we jumped from Koh Tao, and head south (always south!) on a very stormy boat. Rigs and I challenged each other to stay on the outside top deck as long as possible, but it ended a draw as we both sought shelter after a full hour. There is good video and pics from the last 4 days, but no connection strong enough to let me upload it, hopefully tomorrow!

Koh Samui is very different to Koh Tao, a major tourist destination, so we are getting fat on western delights, before heading back out to robinson crusoe style islands at some point in the next few days.

Day 35 to 36 - Koh Tao

The Boat from Chumphon was cramped and dirty, with only inside seating, and none of us got to sit together! So a bit of a let down from the image we all had of skipping across the Thailand gulf, wind in our hair, on the speedy catamaran like the picture on the ticket suggested!

We were met in Koh Tao by a hoard of taxi drivers eager to take us to our destinations, we were bundled into the back of a pick up and swiftly taken to what we thought was our bungalow for the night, only to be told it was not, and so back into another taxi and off to the correct location! The main difference we have found between the Thais and the Vietnamese has been their capacity to hustle and fiddle you out of your money, The vietnamese were cunning and enterprising in making money from us tourists, and were always polite and straight with it, whilst the Thai's are just looking to scam you, however base and immoral the method. I wonder whether this difference has something to do with the advanced state of westernisation the Thais have, or that the scale and length of time that tourism has been ripe in Thailand has lead them to see the tourist as prey rather than economic opportunity.

Anyway we got to our bungalow, which was every piece the beach-side remote hut we were hoping for, however the service and welcome from the staff was so rude and awkward, that it only took about half an hour before we agreed that we needed to find a different place for our second night. We grabbed a taxi to the next bay and we were offered a great deal on another bungalow by the sea.

This first stop also quickly changed our perception of what we need, and remote idyllic hide away is nice, but reliable and friendly hosts, with a few local amenities is also a necessity for us. So we will likely make another jump tomorrow to a bigger island with more on offer.

Imogen and Felix now swim freely in the sea without hesitation, and we look forward to getting some snorkelling gear as it is likely to become one of our main past times over the next few weeks.

Day 34 - Train to Chumphon - Time to reflect!

We left Bangkok and our modern apartment this morning to board the 8:05 train bound for Chumphon, which is scheduled to arrival at 14:40, however the trains here tend to run slow and late. From Chumphon we will rest overnight before boarding a ferry to Koh Tao our first Island.

The trip is now unplanned and we only need to accomplish two things; get out of Thailand before the 10^th November, when our visa runs out; and then get to Singapore for the 23^rd November when our ship leaves for Australia.

These two factors should push us slowly 1,150 miles south through Thailand and Malaysia. We have ideas about areas, islands, and cities we would like to get to, but we are trying not to be influenced by these desires, or before you know it we will have googled, tripadvisored and booked the next 33 days to a firm programme (well I would anyway!). The idea is that each day will be taken as it comes, at lunch we will discuss whether we want to stay or leave the current location and then go from there. It could be that we spend 32 days in Koh Tao, and then get the overnight train to Singapore (I hope not!) but having now completed a very structured tour of Dubai, Vietnam and Northern Thailand, this part is about zero commitment, freedom of movement and thinking only for the moment.

As the structured section of the adventure comes to a close, I find myself sitting on a train again, reflecting back on the trip so far, and back all those months ago, when we spent so much time and effort organising each aspect of it. This organisation happened back at a time when we were still battling with the sale of the house, and we were still trying to secure our permanent residence visa for Australia.

The organistaion was great fun for me, (forever the anal administrator!) as it was excellent escapism from the realities and pains of trying to achieve our goal, but it also helped generate great expectation, enthusiasm and excitement for the wider adventure which was relocating to Oz. I think this was shared to a small degree by Steph and the Kids! So having completed the structured journey now, and in reflection on the excitement and anticipation we all felt running up to the trip, did it deliver?

Hell Yeah it did!! it has been way better than I expected, and that expectation was pretty high. I thought I may struggle to keep enthused about moving on from one place to another. I also feared that the kids would tire of the limited company and lack of friends, or people their own age to play with. I thought Steph would tire of me! I certainly felt there would be good days and bad days, a few dodgy locations and a tantrum or two from each of us. Truth is – none of the above, and I appreciate we are along way from our goal, but at this near mid point, and with the change in structure, it seems a good time to be smug, and go public with this declaration of success, as the point where it all goes wrong could quite easily be just a few hours down the track, when this 'free wheeling' idea kicks in.

A spot of lunch at 'The Cup'

The restaurant was made to look like a traditional English tearoom, and the menu had lots of Promise, Roast of the day and all!

We started with some Pate!

 

And then for Main...

 



 

But one of the sausages was maybe a little spicier than we are used to:

 

 

 

we all enjoyed it though!

Day 33 - We need some English Food!! and another dissaster avoided

Last night it came to light that Immy's Teddy had not made it to Bangkok!. A frantic search through all the bags, and a thorough assessment of when teddy was last seen was followed by tears from all, as it seemed that this prized possession of Immy's from the first days of her life was lost forever.

Steph emailed the hotels, homestays and apartments that we have stayed at over the last 5 weeks, in the small chance that teddy had been picked up and handed in.

This morning in my inbox was a picture from Betel Garden, our accommodation in Hoi An, Central Vietnam:

Is this your teddy

 

And a very Happy Immy!

Thanks to Mum's comment yesterday, informing us of the Sausages, mash and onion gravy they were going to enjoy, we are all salivating at the throught of some English Grub!

Steph has done a good job of messing with all our heads this week, telling us it was actually the day after it was, so The Kids and I woke this morning thinking it was Sunday, having believed that it was saturday all day yesterday. We think this error has been in our heads for about 5 days now.

So, with this error in our minds, I spent a frantic half hour desperately trying to find an English pub in Bangkok that had a Sunday Carvery, and after locating 2 excellent options, the Black Swan and the Chequers, it suddenly occured to me that if this sausage and mash dinner was being enjoyed on Friday, then today must be Saturday!

Gutted!

But by the time everyone is waking in blighty this morning, I can assure you, as eggs are eggs, we will be tucking into some form of English delight.... Bring on the Steak and Ale Pie!!

The Next Post will definately be a picture of what we find!!... watch this space... we are on a major mission!!

Day 32 - Bangkok

Bangkok is an unexpected surprise, a city buzzing all over.  From the tuc tuc drivers eargerly pushing you to the next unscheduled stop, for a soapy massage, to the plush and exclusive 5 star hotels that reach high above the city skyline, Bangkok is a constant contradiction - simply loving it!

It is not the stereo type seedy urban jungle we all hear about (or see on Hangover 2!) , and as long as you have a 30th floor appartment to escape to, this is a fantastic destination.

Nighttime view from our apartment:

Day 31 - The Train to Bangkok

Day 30 was another quiet day. Felix was still a little under the weather

But on day 31 we got ready for our overnight train to Bangkok here is a little film of our trip - the production was a team affair

Day 29 - Tiger Kingdom

We could tell deep down that there was something not quite right about the idea of breeding Tigers in captivity and keeping them tame for the enjoyment of the paying customer.

But at the same time, this was just simply an awesome opportunity to get up close and enjoy one of the worlds most magnificent creatures, so morals and all that aside for the day. I also cant imagine this being allowed when the kids grow up... so we were all in!! (especially when they said we could'nt play with any of the big tigers as our children were too small...Phewee!!.. no argument there! - they were massive)

So these are two month old cubs, and we were clearly disturbing the 18hr of sleep they try to get a day!

Immy didnt get too much coverage - so here is a nice photo to, (more in the pics section)

Day 28 - 4 weeks in! (tooth update)

we are now 4 weeks into the adventure, and marking the day with a slow one, Rigs and I are suffering a bit with the manflu!!.. or maybe just a bit too much heat & sun

The Kids watched 'Around the World in 80 Days' the David Niven one!

Steph has read and slept for the majority of the day, whilst I try and work out which island we are going to visit first in the south of Thailand after Bangkok... It is down to Koh Tao and Koh Phangan, the latter of course is famous for its full moon parties, but we will avoid this, which is good. Koh Tao is a divers paradise and as such is less touristy and is off thee beaten track in comparison. We will need to be wary of the weather as it can rain alot this time of year, so might be worth staying north for longer or even zipping through to a lower Island.

We are tempted to go and see some Tigers tomorrow, and you get the chance to actually play with them in the cage, but following our elephant escapade, we are not too sure, maybe just the cubs!

I have had some requests for a tooth update. It's okay in short, I do not eat or use the right side molars for fear of disrupting the filling, and this I think is keeping things okay, but I do get pain in the morning, and I guess this is due to me grinding my teeth at night....not using half my mouth is not a long term strategy but one which will hopefully se me through to Australia. My front tooth filling came out in Vietnam, but his is only a cosmetic thing, I basically look like a pirate! and the left side just about holding out with the extra workload.. but fear a replacement of these fillings will be necessary soon after we arrive!

Thanks for all your comments everyone, Keep them coming, especially as we go past Bangkok, and in essence off-piste, as I have not booked and we remain open on each days travels

Day 27 - The Disco Tuc Tuc!

The Night Market was fun..but only half as fun as the disco tuc-tuc we got home.... that holiday flip flop still manages to steel the show!



 

To remember the elephant stampede, a tattoo on my.....

........Phone!!

I had this done at the Parasol factory where the artists who paint the parasols and fans have a neat sideline in painting whatever you want, jeans shirts etc. - quite cool for 50p!

 

 

We are off to the night market for more bargains !

Day 26 - Elephant Stampede



 

Today we spent with Elephants!

 

We fed, watered, washed and rode these fantastic animals, that have been rescued from Burma and Cambodia where they are still used for illegal logging.

 

 

Immy and Rigs were reluctant to get up and ride them at first, but after a while they were having a great time.... until!

 

The 'King Bull' Elephant which is kept well away from the female elephants was having his afternoon walk on the otherside of the hill to where we were riding ours, as he can get a little feisty if he gets amongst the females, and the females get a little bit jumpy when he is about ( I've seen his manhood, it is completely understandable)

 

 

Anyway, whilst chomping on some leaves the 'King Bull' gets stung on the trunk by a nasty bee that sends him into a bit of a stuper and he decides to ease the pain with a little run...... in our direction! The first we know of the situation is all the elephant attendants are rapidly trying to get us off the back,s as this massive bull is charging down the hill at us. One thing we learnt today about elephants is that if one sees another one running it wants to run aswell, so within moments we are in the middle of an elephant stampede, sitting on the back of an elephant that wants to join in!!

 

Needless to say, Immy and Rigs freaked out. I was with Immy who once off the elephant, I grabbed and held very tight as two large elephants charged past me at great speed, and they were followed by two more. it really was quite scary!

 

The scene settled to leave our group of 10 stood on this hillside all looking at each other with wierd disbelief, for some of us this turned to nervous laughter and giggles, for others it was not a happy place.

 

We walked back down to the camp, and the owner very kindly rose to my suggestion of free beer.. so all was well for Cole family anyway, and another great story for the blog. Immy and Rigs recovered from the experience far quicker than  most of the adults did there may well be  some akward Tripadvisor reviews poppng up soon.

 

Anyway the day came to a close and they were still looking for 3 elephants!  apparently it's never happened before, they were extremely apologetic, and to be honest a little lucky that it didnt turn out worse

 



 

From my perspective you couldnt pay for a greater experience, Just dont expect me to do it again!

This is Steph on the terrace of our bungalow, it is very pleasant indeed



Day 25 - Hello Thailand and Chiang Mai

For the first time on this trip we found ourselves starting and finishing a journey in normal hours!

We left Saigon this morning at 10:30 following a difficult bill payment.. The haggling is not restricted to the markets unfortunately, and tactics are not always played with a straight bat, but anyway! We arrived at Chiang Mai in northern Thailand at 2:30, in time to acquaint ourselves with our new home for the next 5/6 days, the longest period we have spent in one place since Dubai. It is all fantastic, no pictures yet due to the 'Chang' beer being very strong and I havent found my feet yet!

We have however made very good friends with our hosts, Peter the Bavarian (Just Peter, He just happens to come from Bavaria... this was a long converstaion!, anyway he has lived here for 23 years)  his Thai wife Pai, and their daughter Isobel. We are being entertained by them in this idyllic and bohemain setting at the base of the mountains near Chiang Mai, and it certainly seems a million miles away from our day's start in Saigon. Pai lay on a Thai food banquet which was divine, and very quickly had Steph and I feeling excited about the culinary adventure ahead!

We have an early start tomorrow morning, as we are off to meet the two elephants we are looking after for the day, and apparently they enjoy a good bath before anything else. So It is our responsibility to get into the river and provide the bath!... this sounds like hard work considering they have a trunk that can do it in a fraction of the time.

The bungalow is remote and very quiet, and whilst we do have wireless it is not quick so we may be restricted in communication over the next few days. I will hopefully get some pics posted tomorrow whch will explain!

Day 24 - Relax

Not much today. Relaxed, watched films, Kids did School work, I did some Job hunting, general slob out day.

Managed to get out and get to the Creperie for lunch... which was very good, the french influence across Saigon is still very obvious.

Happy Birthday Steph! (Mummy)

Lovely evening on the Saigon river cruise. What they lack in skyline, they certainly make up for with the onboard entertainment!

 

 

Although I have to say that this skyline is heading the same way as so many others in the modern communist block (upwards!).

But without a doubt, and including the rendition of happy birthday by the dancers for Steph, and serious head and back massages for Steph and I, the best part of the evening has to be the magician. Simon Cowell may have made magic un-cool in recent years, but just look at the faces of Imogen and Felix to know that this was definately the highlight of their evening (this is just part of it, but long enough for the blog).

Day 23 - Morning at Cu Chi Tunnels

The Cu Chi Tunnels were excellent! Riggers was unfortunately not allowed to shoot the guns, but dad had a go all the same.

There was quite a lot of anti American sentiment in what was presented, but then the Communist Vietnamese did win this war, and what was achieved in building this extroadinary network of tunnels in overcoming the might of the american forces, and the manner by which they achieved the victory through guerilla warfare and simple tactics was amazing.

But the politics and gruesome realities of war were well presented, and the opportunity to feel the life of a tunnel soldier was chilling!

We are off out to celebrate Steph's birthday on a Saigon River dinner cruise. Thanks for all the comments everyone.

 

Day 22 - Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City)

After the drama of last night and our early arrival this morning, we were pleased to find our next stop was a large serviced apartment which we could call home for a few days. A vast sitting room, dining room and kitchen alongside 2 big bedrooms will allow us to regather ourselves before we head off to Thailand. A washing machine will certainly come in handy!, and as for some home cooked food - Yummy!

We will be off to see the Cu Chi tunnels tomorrow, and possibly the Mekong Delta, but we are not going to rush about!

In the train now - but Phew!

So we now sit in the moderate comfort of our 4 bed cabin on the last leg of this epic train journey south through Vietnam, and as my last two posts described , the conditions and atmosphere at the station were horrid, but for poor Imogen the situation was about to get a whole lot worse. With more than an hour still to wait, and with no warning what so ever, she decided to take a massive dislike to something she ate today! The projectile vomit closely missed the Vietnamese business man sat in front of us, but she did manage to hit the sign informing us of this evenings delay with her second splash as she ran towards the door  (rather brilliant in a way!), by the third splash she was half way through the door and into the rat infested pavement infront of the station, with mother in toe. The whole population of the station were by this point standing and staring at this difficult development in their evenings wait.

Bless her, she came back 20 minutes or so later to be fussed over by a number of well wishing, if not slighty weird Vietnamese women all wanting to help. One could not be stopped from performing some form of exorcism on her by rubbing her forehead and temple region, which she appeared to enjoy, but later confessed was not that pleasant.

Imogen is now feeling much better, and was able to provide editorial control of this blog before it got posted so hopefully fully recovered tomorrow!

The evenings drama was not completely over however, as I took a complete dislike to a rather aggravating family also boarding our train. The dislike came from the point that we reached the ticket guard at the main entrance, just as I was about to show our tickets (holding the vast majority of our bags, to allow Steph easy passage with Imogen). The son of the family decided he should bypass the queue and barge in front, with his very heavy and clearly important polystyrene box! He achieved this by shouting very loudly something in Vietnamese. The result of this is I have to stop, drop all my bags, and move out the way. By the time the train pulled up, it was clear that he and his family were due to board the same carriage.... hmmm.... how shall we say!! - I was not likely to get left in second place again!. My boarding the train came without problem, as I loaded most of the bags into the carriage, but Steph and the Kids did not manage to hold back the enthusiasm of the competition who slid onto the carriage to the discomfort of all the other travellers. So as we are winding our way down the corridor to our cabin I notice behind me a delay in Steph and the kids getting to me, and the reason was a slow entry into the cabin next to ours by this aggravating family and their polystyrene box! So with all the grace of a bull at Pamplona I barged past the son in order to help steph, the chap went flying in, leaving only the mother behind who's jaw had dropped leaving the smug grin back in Nha Trang. Anyway the situation was slightly diffused by the entry of a couple of Aussies we had met on the last leg of the train trip.

All calm now, roll on Saigon!

Waiting for the train

We are sat in the train station, with delay, two hours to go! The rain has flood the roads outside to about 30cm, and doesn't look like letting up. The station is a stereotype of the Hollywood vision of poor Asian communist infrastructure. Dirty, loud, bright, with ineffective fans, and a crackly loud public address system which instantly makes you twitch with fear when it comes in. The kids are knackered, but bearing up considering they don't have beer to ease the pain.. Any moment now a military troop with burst in and demand to see our papers, I just hope my flip flops can save us.

Felix Needs the loo

So Felix needs one, so we wonder around the back of the station to find the WC, it turns out to be a pay loo (price of about 1p) but no coins available, so I point to a corner and suggest he go there. Only to spot not one or two, but in the region of twenty rats. Felix reckons he can hold out until the train arrives!

Day 21 - tropical showers so off to another waterpark/themepark

Bit of an odd day, Stephs dreading the overnight train, and for sure this is the most challenging so far. Not for distance, but because it starts at 10 tonight and drops us in Saigon at 5 in the morning!!

But fun had today by the kids, and a curry on the cards for tonight before the train. The no.1 restaurant in Nha Trang.... Flashpacking baby!!

Day 20 Nha Trang - Mud glorious mud

Well it appears I was a little harsh on Nha Trang (or overly complimentary on Bognor!) but only one street behind the main strip and this is another bustling Vietnamese town with enterprising folk selling their wares from the pavement, an energetic and exciting atmosphere.

We are now at the main attraction in the area, apparently a natural hot spring with mud baths, natural pools and fountains. The reality is actually a very clever adult water park and spa.

A few hours in the pools, fountains and mud followed by massage for all (except immy who went for a manicure) and we are very relaxed.

Typhoons moved away last night and the sun is back!

Water shoot

Day 1 9 - Nha Trang - Rain!

Today there was rain. No typhoon, just rain!... slightly disappointing to be honest, especially when you find out that the town you just left (Hoi An) was hit very badly and the whole area is under a foot of water. I know this is not the right attitude, but then you don't find yourself in a tropical country in the middle of typhoon season too often – aye!

It is difficult to have an opinion about a town when you have only seen it in the rain, but I think this is basically Vietnam's answer to Bognor Regis with a touch of Ibiza!. Maybe I'll change my opinion tomorrow after a day at the natural spring and a Mud bath.. and possibly (even hopefully) a sprinkling of sunshine.

The Kids are still enjoying the hotel pool, despite the weather, and actually it has stopped raining. Yippee!. It's another great hotel with awesome customer service but I'm not going to bang on about that again!

I bought a data only sim card for my phone today, bored of the rubbish service offering I've had to date. 3 quid for unlimited data for a month! Brilliant!.. Not only that, but the sales personnel at this Vietnamese version of Carphone Warehouse seemed to be using sex to sell. It is an art that is slowly being lost in the west, and what a shame! The skirt was ridiculous, the flirtation infectious, the wife incredulous!... and I'm buying 3 more tomorrow!!

Day 18 Heading South on the train - and my Trip Advisor Theory

We have now started our 10hr train ride South from Denang towards Nha Trang, and the headache is starting to lift. The kids are trying to avoid doing some school of mum and dad, and Steph is sleeping off her headache. We gave the train lunch a go which was chicken leg and rice with boiled cabbage, it was actually pretty good!

As we have now stayed at several hotels and chatted to a number of our fellow travellers along the way, I am starting to develop a theory about the impact of Trip Advisor on global travel. When I researched and booked the various hotels for this trip, my main source of information was tripadvisor, and as we look to choose restaurants or things to do as we continue our travels, I still look to tripadvisor for information on where to go. This method of research is shared by nearly all the people we have met to date, and all coming to the same conclusions on which hotel is right for each spot. Hence why we are all in the same hotel!

Consequently the hotels that we have stayed at all share the same qualities, the predominant feature being exceptional customer service. These hotels are basic and certainly do not have marketing budgets that can reach an international market, and there are not a wide range of amenities to rave about, yet they are all full. The star rating system which is the traditional mark of a hotels quality is a basic reflection on size and amenities, but beyond the star rating, up until tripadvisor came along, we really had to trust the slick copy of the hotels marketing department to assure us of the level of customer service. A personal recommendation aside.

Anyway, that's all obvious really, so what's my point? Well if the hotels we are staying at are trading purely off their very high rating on tripadvisor, and well beyond their local competition, which I strongly believe they are, and the only true method of getting their hotels or restaurants up the ratings list on tripadvisor is exceptional customer service, then 'we' the punters can be extremely thankful to tripadviosr for a major global improvement in customer service.

In the hotel we stayed at in Hoi An, the Betel Garden Homestay, they proudly display their certificate of excellence from tripadvisor in their reception area, as have all the hotels we have stayed at. It is free for a hotel to list themselves on tripadvisor, and this free listing represents the only marketing that the hotel do, so that is a zero marketing budget, and zero sales people, quite an advantage over old traditional methods!

Last night the hotel treated every guest to an extremely good 4 course meal and as much drink as you could take. The guests mingled with the staff in a very friendly and open atmosphere and a great time was had by all. So if the money being saved on marketing is now going towards this weekly party, then Great! Thank you tripadvisor and may your impact continue to redefine the relationship between guest and hotelier. They will certainly be getting an awesome review from me.

So if this continues, then I believe that the impact on hotels and restaurants could be far more significant than google has been for other business sectors. Google helped companies reach their market far more effectively yet didn't really demand an improvement in service. Tripadvisor is helping hotels and restaurants reach their audience effectively but needs to back this up with a superior offering.

This sort of rambling waffle I'm coming out with is certainly helping the hours slip past on this slow train, with a mild hangover, I may have just put myself to sleep!

Day 17 - Body Surfing and Drinking!

I woke this morning with the first hang over of the trip... and a little sore from too much sun!

It was worth it though, Yesterday we spent the whole morning body surfing on Hoi An beach, which was great fun, and then in the afternoon we met up with our Kiwi Honeymooning friends from Ha Long Bay, Jo and Toby at their very nice hotel along the beach, so we tucked in to a good number of Mojitos whilst Immy and Felix enjoyed the pool.

Our mode of transport in Hoi An has been bicycles, and so we swerved our way back to our hotel just in time for the weekly Party to kick off, so we enjoyed the company of many Aussies and the great hospitality of our hotel staff into the night.

The town is preparing for a Typhoon to hit this evening, so we hoping to be able to enjoy this in the comfort of our next hotel, as our next destination Nha Trang is also under warning!! so it could be an interesting train journey and first night.

We leave Hoi An and recatch our train south this morning, and should arrive this evening at about 20:00

Day 15 - 16 Hanoi to Hoi An

Today we became proper back packers!

We left the boat this morning and made the return journey to Hanoi by Minibus. We were dropped off at the train station at four O'clock, with plenty of time spare before our seven O'clock overnight train to Denang.

(School of Mum and Dad Before we left the boat)

The train station was large, smelly, and full of pretty undesirable looking characters, so we lay base firstly at a street cafe, and secondly at a burger joint which had free wi-fi. This gave us the chance to catch up on the world, having been cut off in Ha Long. We found out that we have a new family member, as my sister gave birth to Hugo Xavier yesterday, awesome news and massive congratulations from us all, thinking of you guys!

Secondly that I missed what sounds like the best Ryder Cup ever,.. so gutted!!.. no sky+ or highlights, or a newspaper, or even a good enough internet connection to read up on it. Hay ho!

Anyway the station slowly started to fill with people who looked like hardened backpackers, so we knew we were in the right place. By six O'clock, the place was buzzing with westerners all freely talking to each other about the upcoming over night journey. An elderly lady from New Zealand stopped and chatted to us for half an hour about her travels, and promised to stop by and talk more once we had departed (Yikes!), some young europeans lads were buying 2 dozen beers from the station cafe and started quizzing me about the exact departure time, platform, restaurant bar and so on (did I somehow look more informed than them, or was it just the flip flops!)

We climbed aboard our carriage and threw our bags down in compartment 20, our home for the next sixteen hours. The kids got very excited about the odd prospect of spending the night on the train, ignoring the reality of a very basic cabin, with little other than 4 bunks 4 pillows and 4 duvets, but the atmosphere was very buzzy as the majority of people were there to experience this long slow train to Saigon.The screams from a group of girls two cabins down, who discovered a cockroach in their cabin, added to the atmosphere. We pulled out of Hanoi and tracked the main street out of the city, giving us one last chance to experience the chaos, but this time from the comfort of our bed, the city turned to darkness as we disappeared into the country, and we slowly fell asleep to the rattle of a very old train line and an equally dated coach.

The kids got a good sleep, but Steph and I certainly suffered from the noise, jostling, and generally unpleasant sleeping conditions, but we woke up to find ourselves travelling between the rugged coastline and mountains of North Vietnam, which was a moderate reward!

By 10:30 we had arrived at our destination and we were met by our driver who drove us to Hoi An. On the way we saw further evidence of the future state of Vietnam, as the beach side properties start making way for mega resorts, in only a couple of years this part will certainly be unrecognisable.

Our bungalow in Hoi An is simple again, but the staff extremely pleasant, they came good for Felix's Birthday bringing out a big cake with a firework, and singing happy birthday before giving him a local T shirt as a present, He was very happy.

Hoi An is a very pleasant coastal port that seems to centre around the natives abilities to tailor you any dress from any catalogue in under a couple of hours, all great stuff, but you have to be in the mood for a haggle, and the begging and pleading should you not go ahead with a sale.. so not for us this time. We have spent the last couple of hours by the pool, and we will be giving Felix the choice for tonights entertainment.

Hanoi Train Station

Currently sitting in a rather loud burger joint at Hanoi train station waiting for our over night train to Hoi An. I cannot get a signal that works on my phone, but have had missed calls from scott and emma, so I suspect I may be an uncle again!

Day 14 - Ha Long Bay

What a fantastic day!... we left our large luxurious Junk for a smaller day boat, and we had the whole thing to ourselves.

We were a little concerned that the busy itinerary would see us hustled from tourist trap to tourist trap without a chance to take in this great opportunity to enjoy a day cruising around one of the seven natural wonders of the world, in our own private boat. I had a chat with our young guide and made it clear that our desire for the day was to chill, however for the first hour or so we did get dragged into a couple of caves and a pearl farm. All very interesting stuff, but by the time brunch came along and the chance to have a dip in the sea came about, we pretty much dictated the pace for the rest of the day by having a long swim and getting on the kayaks and having a paddle, ignoring any suggestion of a move. They got the hint and we spent the rest of the day relaxing on the boat jumping in the sea and exploring the most extraordinary caves on the kayaks. The caves led to lagoons which were superb, and quite simply the main reason this area is a must see area.

The kids have really started to relax into the daily grind of new and different experiences and it really is quite amazing. Imogen sat in a kayak and made it through a 200m long pitch black cave to discover a lagoon at the end, with only the slightest hint of panic half way through. She had control of the one rather dim torch that led the way, and to be honest both Steph and I found the experience rather scary, so quite an awesome display by our once timid little girl.

Riggers was jumping off the top floor of the boat today, un-phased by the water or the height, and he has really started to lose his inhibitions in every capacity. He now talks openly and plays with the Vietnamese children without concern, he speak confidently with everyone (this has never been a problem, but his skills have got stronger).

(this was much higher than the movie makes out!)

We returned to the big boat this evening and the conversation amongst us has turned to how we can celebrate Rigs' Birthday the day after tomorrow, mindful that it starts on a train and ends in a beach bungalow.

He is rather taken by the opportunity to start the day as a Vietnamese millionaire, so this could kick things off, I just hope the Guys at Hoi An, our destination, have remembered that it is his birthday and they come up with something for him to remember.