One Life ...

We enjoyed another special Vietnamese breakfast. This time bread and vegetables (we think maybe some type of potatoes) followed by ice cold jack fruit. It was yummy and we ate the lot all washed down with a strong Vietnamese coffee! We had to say goodbye to our friends and their delightful doggie as we were leaving Hanoi for our next destination. Our bags were packed once again and we headed into the centre of Hanoi on the number 34 bus. We saw it as it started to leave but managed to jump on before it left the station.  We had one final place to visit in Hanoi - the dessert restaurant! We made our way along the railway tracks and around the corner to the cafe. We ordered 2 different desserts and sat chatting to the owners. They explained how they peeled a pomello and used the inside of the skin to make the gloopy yellow stuff in the dessert. It really does have a weird consistency! We shared drinks together which they kindly offered us as a gesture of friendship and listened to UB40 ...

Today was a seasonal breakfast. Autumn in Hanoi provides green rice, so we tried some Com. Special celebrations are also a time to eat red rice coloured by the Gak fruit. We tried some too. Topped off with some tasty pork slices, it was superb. Sometimes things seem to be a little tricky to arrange due to language. This morning we planned our move to Ninh Binh. Would we choose to go by bus or to take the train? The bus prices varied immensely from £5 to £15 and the train too! What was the difference between the two prices? We couldn't really figure it out so we decided to head to the train station to book a train. After we had secured a ticket we took a small alleyway near to the station. Well it wasn't really an alleyway, it was a tiny little lane full of crazy motorbikes, pedestrians and shops! We saw a slice of the poorer and more traditional Vietnam. There was all sorts of things to buy from doorways, fresh bread to some interesting butchers shops selling everything! We sto...

Getting up without the alarm clock is so nice! Today we enjoyed a local Vietnamese style breakfast of rice, vegetables and eggs. It was delicious. We washed it down with coffee and got to play with one 'super cute' puppy before catching the 34 bus to the centre. First stop today was the temple of literature. We thought we had entered from the correct gate but actually we were walking inside another park. We eventually found a way in but it appears this was actually an exit. The temples were very pretty and we enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere of the gardens. More gardens were waiting for us at the next stop on today's tour. We headed across to the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum. Even though it was closed we could explore the one pillar pagoda and the gardens that surrounded it. It was closed last time we came about 16 years ago too! We were thinking that we would probably travel south by train as the scenery along the coastal track looks stunning. The train station was our next stop to...

Our first full day in Hanoi. We woke to an amazing view today from the balcony on the 18th floor. Our plan today was to catch a bus to the centre and follow MapsMe to all of the major attractions. We started off quite well and the number 34 delivered us to the centre for 7000 Dong. We stopped at a fish restaurant and studied their king crabs and other odd sea creatures. They even sold Napoleon Wrasse by the kilo, which is the most beautiful looking fish and really shouldn't be eaten. We started walking towards our first point of interest but were distracted by loud shouts and screams. They were coming from inside a Korean Expo trade fair. We went to investigate and were told we could enter for free. There we found hundreds of teenage girls melting in front of their idols! The boy band they were drooling over were the winners of the Korean version of Pop Idol. What we were witnessing was a fan signing event and we have never seen anything like this before. It was really mad!  Next w...

Today we required that dreaded alarm clock thing again. We needed enough time to eat breakfast before calling a Grab taxi to the airport. That all went smoothly and we were delivered to the airport in plenty of time for our flight to Bangkok. To travel hand luggage only we have to squeeze a lot into our small bags. However, we now needed to make them only 7kg! Wearing extra clothes and filling our pocket with heavy items solved that problem. A flight delay of half an hour wouldn't normally have phased us but this time we were starting to worry as we had a connecting flight to catch. It wouldn't have been so bad but although both airlines were called Vietjet, one was Thai Vietjet and the other Vietnamese Vietjet, so they are like separate companies. This meant we could not check in for both flights. Fear started to grow. We were worried that we were going to miss our connection! We asked the airline staff if they could help. They were very kind and reallocated our seats to the r...

We think technology is making things easier, however, we are not 100% sure. Everything seems to take a little longer than expected or maybe it's because there are so many opportunities to go off on a different tangent! Choices, choices, choices ... Today was organisation day. Travelling on a tight budget is getting harder with prices on the rise. To try to stop them spiralling out of our control we are finding we have to be far more selective than ever before. The amount of time researching available options seems to take us too long. Or, maybe it's because our fingers are too large for the phone keyboard and we end up typing everything twice because we've made so many mistakes! We had an early breakfast and a really late lunch today. In fact lunch was at about 5pm!! We also spoke to our friends in France. They are part of an organisation which trains local divers in the Philippines, so they go there a lot. They explained how the recent typhoon had  damaged the coral reefs ...

After breakfast of fresh mangoes and local mini bananas we had enough energy for a day of walking. As Darryl got up to leave the leg of his chair fell off the edge of the raised platform and he landed in the plant pots. Unhurt he did make quite a mess as most of the soil was now on the floor! After helping to clean up the mess, we headed towards the central bus station to see what time the bus departed to the white temple. However, we were distracted by some paintings inside the station and eventually decided not to go. Instead we created our own mini tour in Chiang Rai. First stop 'school street'. We know outside the school they sell the really yummy iced drinks. We have no idea what they are called but today's flavours were honey milk and Oreos. After school we headed to the hospital. Well we took a short cut through the car park to find the start of our route. From here it was a nice straight road to our destination - the old Chiang Rai airport. The runway remains but it...

All good intentions of visiting the white temple of Chiang Mai went out of the window this morning. We sat in the communal coffee area and talked to a friendly couple from India. We talked about everything and we didn't stop talking about everything until late in the afternoon! It was now too late to go to the white temple. We thought talking too much was no substitute for eating so we went in search of a meal. We ended up in a small restaurant in the 'food area near the main road.' An older lady helped explain the food photos in the best way she could. We ended up with some great food and even had chopped up cloves of garlic to add to the dish. This is the first time we had seen this as an extra and took full advantage. We now stink! Staring at the map and looking for a route to nowhere in particular is our favourite pastime in Chiang Mai. We didn't have a lot of time before darkness fell. We decided to follow a small stream which lead off the Ping River in a circular ...

Early mornings seem to be a thing of the past. A relaxing breakfast, coffee and chat. A perfect start to the day. Eventually we dragged ourselves from the comfy seats and off we went to find the temple that must have moved on MapsMe. In fact we not only found the oldest temple in Chiang Rai but others too. We even accidentally discovered today is a bank holiday. We saw a building and grounds beautifully decorated with flowers so asked a local lady why? It was to commemorate a King from the past and today was a bank holiday. During our temple tour we picked up many snacks and even treated ourselves to a coconut ice cream from a little old lady ringing her bell and pushing her cart. We did still manage lunch too. We were told we were getting fried rice but out came chicken rice - far better! We were tired from our sightseeing, shopping and eating excursion so we nipped back to the hotel to rest our feet and wait for the night walking market. Also it gave us chance to drop off the mangos ...

The morning started at a relaxed pace before the chaos arrived! We had been arranging places to stay over Christmas as we were expecting the season of goodwill to be booked up. All was going really well until we received a message from AIRASIA - Your flight has been cancelled due to 'made up' reasons! This flight we purchased at a good price but it seemed AIRASIA had now pulled the route completely. The flight was part of a booking that had a connecting flight that hadn't been cancelled. Already this year we have learnt that contacting AIRASIA is an absolute nightmare. First you chat to their automated bot and eventually, through asking ridiculous questions, you get through to the chat queue. The chat queue does show you your position ... usually in the hundreds! After waiting several hours you are finally connected to a person who tries to help. Though we are not sure 'help' is the correct word to use! They generally issue a case number, fob you off with 'the t...

After a morning drinking coffee and doing some research for future destinations we decided it was time to go in search of food. First we headed to the market but not much to eat there. We started heading away and we BOTH stepped in some freshly laid concrete on the pavement (which in our defence was in no way marked or cordoned off!) Having apologised to the workmen we cleaned our shoes and headed on our way. We stopped at a cute little restaurant and had what is becoming one of our staple meals, chicken Khao Soi (curry noodle soup). We also tried a different pork noodle soup, both very good! After lunch we wandered on and as seems to be becoming normal after a spicy meal, we crave something sweet. As we passed the Chiang Mai College of Tourism we found lots of little food stalls, as college was just finishing for the day. We settled on some iced, bubble drinks, one strawberry yoghurt and one Thai Tea. Both hit the mark on sweetness!  We then started heading to a temple, the oldes...

Why rush? We have lots of time in Chiang Rai! We had a leisurely breakfast, kicked back with coffee before hitting the road. We followed the river until we got to a bridge. We crossed it and walked a while. We spotted lots of street art and accidentally stumbled across the Royal Chariot Museum. On we went but food was calling. Chicken rice was to be the dish of the day. We went easy on the spicy sauce which was super hot but covered our meal with the sweet soy sauce. We were getting closer and there were loads of police lining the route. We asked, why so many police? The answer came back - school, which wasn't quite as exciting as the last time we were in Thailand. Last time it was the King and his entourage that drove past. The blue temple stood out. It is not finished but it is a very beautiful building and worth the walk. We decided we should head back to base and drink iced coffee before our next adventure - trying to do the laundry. All went well with washing. In went the 10 B...

Sleep didn't come to us so easily last night. The little bungalow / mosquito net had a comfy mattress but didn't stop the noise of the cars, the cockerels and the night club. Coffee and Internet searching kept us busy until it was time to start our walk back to bus terminal 3. It would take about an hour to arrive at the station with a stop for breakfast on the way. The bus to Chiang Rai left on time. It was full of fresh faced backpackers and a scattering of Thais. We slept for most of the 3 hour journey and arrived fresh at our destination. Another walk from this station took us through a market, residential streets and delivered us to our hotel. The hotel received good reviews and we could understand why. Newly renovated it certainly stood out from the crowd of budget hotels. After dropping our bags we sat and relaxed in the social area with free tea, coffee and hot chocolate to keep us entertained. We eventually decided it was time to explore and took a gentle stroll along ...

Once again  were up early so we could help out at the airforce camp. It was another great morning teaching a group of delightful children. The airforce were again super kind to us and the children waved us off to our next destination. However, first we stopped for lunch at a beautiful little restaurant. It was decorated with all sorts of lovely things and the food was out of this world! We were dropped at the bus station by our friend, who we will miss immensely. Next we went to the ticket desk to buy a ticket for Chiang Rai. The friendly man behind the ticket counter turned up his mic and said, "Every bus to Chiang Rai is full today!" We stood back in disbelief. Where have all these people suddenly appeared from. We asked the locals and they had confirmed that there would be loads of seats available! We booked a bus for tomorrow and quietly found a place to stay for the night 'not so close' to the station but on the river. Unfortunately, the whole place had been floo...

The alarm woke us up. We don't like the alarm clock! Today we had to report for duty at the Chiang Mai airbase where we were teaching on the first day of the Wing 41 children's camp. The children arrived ready for the start of the session and we were straight into a song. At 10.30 the Wing Commander of the airforce arrived to officially open the camp. We were introduced to the Commander and his wife and we felt very privileged to have been invited to take part in this special event. Lunch today was at a more upmarket restaurant than we are used to. The food was very nice but more expensive than our usual fare. In fact it was only when we were leaving that the one Michelin star was mentioned! Temple touring was our plan for the afternoon. Chiang Mai is full of temples. We managed to see quite a few but they are everywhere. After we were templed out we stopped at Big C Extra, a huge supermarket. This place has one of everything you could ever possibly require. The airfryer took c...

Yes today we forgot to wake up. 10 o'clock was the time we eventually woke. We think it is so dark in our room that there is no light to persuade us that it is time to get up! This morning we went to the Central Festival Mall. We dropped our friend's daughter at piano lessons and whilst she was learning, we were shopping. When we arrived home we were treated to a hotpot. A small hob was doing the heating of the soup broth and vegetables, meat, eggs and noodles were being added. As soon as they had all been boiling away for a while they were taken out and eaten! We watched a famous Thai comedian on TV with English subtitles whilst we ate. As dusk arrived we went to the famous Sunday walking street in the centre of Chiang Mai. It was packed with people and huge. It sold clothes, bags, postcards, food and all sorts of other things. We even saw a huge Netflix promotion for the comedian we had been watching at lunchtime. There were many singers too either in bars or on the street. W...