260829 Ella Night 1
AUGUST 2026 OVERVIEW We continue our Sri Lanka Tour. We have already done: Mount Lavinia It is time to move on to Ella. ELLA PLAN B My original plan was to go from Mount Lavinia to Kandy. You can catch a minivan between the 2 for about US$10. It leaves at 8am each morning from the KFC. Book online in advance using 12GO. My main reason for going to Kandy was to catch the famous, scenic, 8 hour train ride from Kandy to Ella. Alas, the 2025 monsoons damaged the first half of the track … and you can only […]

Ella – Sri Lanka – Information (2026)

AUGUST 2026 OVERVIEW We start our Sri Lanka Tour in Mount Lavinia. MOUNT LAVINIA I was scheduled to land in Colombo at about 10:30pm. I needed to spend a couple of days near Colombo to ‘get my feet under the table’. Accommodation around Colombo Fort was expensive. I did not want to be stuck out in the Colombo suburbs. I looked at Negombo Beach which is only 8kms north of the airport and easy to get to at that time of night. I wasn’t impressed by what was available. In the end, I decided to ‘bite-the-bullet’ and get down to […]

Mount Lavinia – Sri Lanka – Information ...

AUGUST / SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2026 OVERVIEW We are still trying to find our ‘optimal loop’ through Southern Asia. Mid August through to the end of October is a difficult time for sun lovers to travel in this part of the world … it is Rainy Season almost everywhere … except for Indonesia. Last year (2025), we started August in Bali, Indonesia with the intention of quickly moving on to the Gili Islands for a couple of months. For various reasons, this idea was abandoned. To see if we could replace the Bali / Gili Islands in the months of […]

East & North Sri Lanka Tour – ...

NOVEMBER 2025 OVERVIEW We have completed our rainy season ‘optimal loop’ through S E Asia from August through November. We were in: Bali, Indonesia from the middle of August to the middle of September; Northern Laos from the middle of September to the middle of October; Southern Phuket, Thailand from the middle of October to the middle of November. To cut a long story short, if you don’t want lots of rain, your only choice is Indonesia at this time of year. Anyway, it is time to go over-budget. <<< We now go on a 5 night SCUBA Liveaboard in […]

Thailand – Andaman Sea – SCUBA Liveaboard ...

OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2025 OVERVIEW We are continuing our ‘optimal loop’ through S E Asia. Mid August through to the end of October is a difficult time for sun lovers to travel through S E Asia … it is Rainy Season almost everywhere. We have just spent 3 weeks touring Northern Laos (Luang Prabang to Vientiane) … it rained (on average) about 1 day in 3 … for several hours on those ‘rainy days’ … sometimes all day. We now head for Phuket, Thailand. The Rainy Season in Phuket starts to clear from mid October. We land in Phuket in […]

Southern Phuket Scooter Tour – November Rain ...

OCTOBER 2025 OVERVIEW We are continuing our ‘optimal loop’ through S E Asia. Mid August through Mid October is a difficult time for sun lovers to travel through S E Asia … it is Rainy Season almost everywhere. We have just spent 7 weeks touring Bali Island … But, we have left Bali earlier than planned so that we can have a quick look at Laos. The Rainy Season in Laos starts to clear in October. We land in Laos in late September. The plan is to start in Luang Prabang, have a look around the area and, then, to […]

Luang Prabang to Vientiane – Laos – ...

AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2025   OVERVIEW We are continuing our ‘optimal loop’ through S E Asia. Mid August through Mid October is a difficult time for sun lovers to travel through S E Asia … it is Rainy Season almost everywhere … except some parts of Indonesia (such as Bali Island). When I am doing my S E Asia ‘loop’ I always plan to spend 2 months in Indonesia at this time of year. We have abandoned our plan to go to the Gili Islands. The Gili Islands are now too expensive for GRANDPAckers. The tide is out. <<< We […]

Bali Island – Indonesia – Information (2025)

AUGUST 2025 OVERVIEW We are continuing our ‘optimal loop’ through S E Asia. <<< our next stop is Bali & The Gili Islands, Indonesia >>> IN SUMMARY Mid August through Mid October is a difficult time for sun lovers to travel through S E Asia … it is Rainy Season almost everywhere … except Indonesia. When I am doing my S E Asia ‘loop’ I always plan to spend 2 months in Indonesia at this time of year. Traditionally, I have targeted the Gili Islands. … but, read on … REFERENCES I have provided a lot of detailed information on […]

Gili Islands – Indonesia – The Tide ...

MAY - AUGUST 2025 OVERVIEW We have just spent 1 month living in Jomtien Beach, Pattaya, Thailand. <<< our next stop is Hoi An, Vietnam >>> IN SUMMARY Hoi An has retained its charm … it has changed very little over the years. Hoi An remains one of (if not) the best destinations for budget travelers. … read on … HOI AN REFERENCES I have provided a lot of detailed information on Hoi An in the past. I will try not to duplicate that information again in this post. The purpose of this post is to provide an update. If you […]

Hoi An – Vietnam – Information Update ...

MAY / JUNE 2025 OVERVIEW We have just spent 1 month living in Jomtien Beach, Pattaya, Thailand. <<< our next stop is Dien Duong Beach, Hoi An, Vietnam >>> EXCHANGE RATE The currency in Vietnam is the Dong (the ‘VND’ or ‘d’). At the time of writing, the exchange rates for the major currencies were: US$1 EU€1 GB£1 Published Wholesale Rate 25,957 29,386 34,824 Actual Exchange Rate (Wise Debit Card) 25,827 29,239 34,650 Actual Exchange Rate (Typical Credit Card) 25,620 29,004 34,372 Actual Exchange Rate (Good ATM) 25,241 28,575 33,863 Over time, these exchange rates will change. Please check the […]

Dien Duong Beach – Hoi An – ...

APRIL / MAY 2025 <<< updated MAY 2026 >>> OVERVIEW We have just spent 1 month living in Langkawi Country Lodge, Cenang Beach, Langkawi, Malaysia. <<< our next stop is Jomtien Beach, Pattaya, Thailand >>> EXCHANGE RATE The currency in Thailand is the Baht (the ‘THB’ or ‘b’). At the time of writing, the exchange rates for the major currencies were: US$1 EU€1 GB£1 Published Wholesale Rate 32.48 37.93 43.72 Actual Exchange Rate (Wise Debit Card) 32.28 37.69 43.44 Actual Exchange Rate (Typical Credit Card) 31.21 36.45 42.01 Actual Exchange Rate (Good ATM) 31.54 36.83 42.45 Over time, these exchange […]

Jomtien Beach – Pattaya – Thailand – ...

MARCH 2025 OVERVIEW We have just finished our 6 month tour of the Ganges, Rajasthan, Goa, and the west coast of India. <<< we now go to Langkawi Country Lodge (LCL), Cenang Beach, Langkawi, Malaysia >>> You will find many videos of LCL on Youtube. Rosie Andre does an excellent one: ABOUT LANGKAWI Langkawi is a duty-free island (there are 3 designated ‘duty free’ islands in Malaysia: the other 2 are Tioman and Labuan). Langkawi is an archipelago of 99 islands located in the Strait of Malacca about 30 km off the coast of north-western Malaysia adjacent to the Thai […]

Langkawi Country Lodge – Cenang Beach – ...