Category Pages For: LIVING Ideas

Special events and fun things to do

Nha Trang - SCUBA - Dive Spot 1
NOVEMBER 2015: Click here to read our Vietnam Retirement Reviews. OVERVIEW: I had just arrived in Nha Trang that same evening. I had booked into my Guesthouse and had ‘hit the streets’ to find a local street cafe for dinner. I met an Englishman who was dining next to me. He worked for Rainbow Dive, one of the best Dive Shops in Nha Trang. He told me that they were going out the next day and that, because it was Friday, we got 3 dives instead of 2… with the last dive being a ‘Debris Dive’ where you collect debris from the sea floor. […]

Nha Trang – Vietnam – SCUBA Dive ...

NOVEMBER 2015: Click here to read our Vietnam Retirement Reviews. OVERVIEW: I booked my trip directly with John’s Tours at their office on Tran Hung Dau opposite the Paradise Resort. This was just up the road from where I was staying at the Nhat Lan Resort. John’s have a number of tours on offer: Snorkelling & Fishing to the South: US$17 Snorkelling & Fishing to the North: US$17 Sunset BBQ & Night Squid Fishing: US$15 South Tour: US$18 North Tour: US$21 Adventure Day & Night Cruise: US$30 Northern Frontier: US$30 Trek National Park & Discover Cua Can River by Kayak: US$31 Discover North […]

Phu Quoc – Vietnam – Sunset BBQ ...

NOVEMBER 2015: Click here to read our Vietnam Retirement Reviews. OVERVIEW: It is easy to find and book trips around Phu Quoc Island. I booked my 1 day snorkelling trip at the Thanh Kim Nga Resort which is just down a side road from the Coco Bar. I could have booked it anywhere but, a couple of nights before I had met Michelle (an elderly Frenchman) who owned the Thanh Kim Nga Resort and he said that his Vietnamese wife organised such tours and that she would give me a good price. These resorts work with local operators for commission. Thanh Kim Nga works […]

Phu Quoc – Vietnam – 1 Day ...

OCTOBER 2015: Click here to read our Vietnam Retirement Reviews. OVERVIEW: I arrived in Phu Quoc via a Mekong Delta Tour. I had already used BOOKING.COM to book 4 nights into the Lien Hiep Thanh Resort (about 4km south of Duong Dong). I booked 4 nights because Phu Quoc is a big island and I knew that it would take me 2 days to have a good look around. My objective was to find the best place to stay for the remainder of my planned 3 weeks on the island. TRANSPORT: When I arrived in Duong Dong, I was dropped off at the minivan offices […]

Phu Quoc – Vietnam – Around The ...

  OCTOBER 2015:   Click here to read our Vietnam Retirement Reviews. OVERVIEW: I was in Saigon / HCMC to arrange how to get to Phu Quoc. I had booked myself into the Bizu Hotel for 4 nights so that I could sort the best option out without being rushed. I used CHEAPFLIGHTS.COM and TIKET.COM to see how much the flight was from Saigon to Phu Quoc. I could get a one-way flight for about US$59 BUT BEWARE, once on Phu Quoc the last minute flights back were over US$100 (a frient had to pay US$175 from Phu Quoc to Nha Trang)! By the time […]

Saigon to Phu Quoc – Vietnam – ...

AUGUST 2015: INTRODUCTION: I was staying in Padang Bai and my plan was to stay there a few days before moving north to Amed. Amed is only 30km north of Padang Bai so I decided to rent a scooter and have a look at Amed in advance. A bit like I did with Kep whilst staying in Kampot. WHAT I FOUND: I found another Kep… Albeit a lot more compact. Amed is, effectively, a string of holiday resorts that stretch about 10km along the coastline broken only by the rise and fall of the coastline between the crescent bays. There is no […]

Padang Bai to Amed – Indonesia – ...

JULY 2015: Click here to read our Malaysian Retirement Reviews. GETTING ON TRACC: Pom Pom Island is idyllic. A desert island paradise. You can walk around the whole island in 30-45 minutes. You can kayak around it in just over 1 hour. And, as I found out on my penultimate day, you can snorkel around the reef crest in about 2.5 hours. If you haven’t done so already, click here to find out how we ended up as Tropical Research And Conservation Centre (TRACC) Volunteers on Pom Pom Island in the first place. To find out more about TRACC Borneo, itself, click […]

Pom Pom Island – Malaysia – Another ...

JUNE 2015: AU REVOIR OTRES BEACH: When you have stayed in the same place for 2 weeks or more, the locals are starting to get to know you and who you really are. Friendships are developing. A ‘cosiness’ starts to envelop you. Invariably, it becomes easy to just stay where you are and stop moving on. But that is not what I am here to do. There is always a certain amount of sadness when I leave somewhere like Otres Beach and the friends that I have made. However, I learnt something about myself at Otres Beach. I learnt a […]

Snooky to Stung Treng – Cambodia – ...

JUNE 2015: BACKDROP: Subsequent to out Ream Trip Mike, DC and I decided to check out some other rivers that we could possibly Hobicat and / or Kayak. DC (from the Otres Beach Resort) and I rented a couple of Scooters for a day and went on an information gathering trip along the Moat Peam River to check it out. We liked what we saw. We found a couple of lovely spots. We agreed that it is definitely a river worth kayaking… Mike, DC and I were in the process of sorting out how to get the kayaks there and back when […]

Snooky – Cambodia – Dirt Bike Circuit

JUNE 2015: Click here to read our Cambodia Retirement Reviews. THE PLAN: As discussed in my previous post, I have been GRANDPAcking in S.E. Asia for a while now and I have done so whilst keeping well under budget. It is now time to spend some of those savings on LIVING a bit… The plan is to: Take a Hobycat from Otres Boat Club (OBC) on Otres 2 Beach up the river estuary at Koh Thmei into Preaek Tuek Sab river (a distance of about 30kms) Sail up river as far as the National Highway 4 bridge Overnight at the […]

Ream – Cambodia – By Sea and ...

JUNE 2015: Click here to read our Cambodia Retirement Reviews. CHANGE OF PLAN: When I left Kampot for Snooky, my plan was to spend a couple of weeks on Otres 2 Beach and, then, head out to Koh Ta Kiev. Well, those plans have changed. Rainy season has started on the coast and it is the wrong time to head out to the islands. Effectively, I am 1 month too late (either that or the rains have come early). TIME FOR A BREAK: When I stepped off of the Liveaboard Scuba Dive trip back in Khao Lak, I was ‘break […]

Stung Treng – Cambodia – Here I ...

APRIL 2015: THE ANGKOR PLAN: The first day that I got my bicycle, I cycled from Jasmine Family Hostel on Highway 6 up Sivatha Road (parallel to Charles De Gaul) to the corner of Angkor Wat. I had no ticket, so I was stopped and denied entry. They told me to go back and get my ticket on Charles De Gaul. I cycled back down Sivatha home to my Hostel. I have an S1 prolapse and a trapped nerve in my back (that affects the right hand side of my right leg and foot – and can send my leg muscles into cramp […]

Angkor – Cambodia – Mad Dogs and ...