Author Archives: John Rose
Back in the USSR
While Calungate Beach and Mui Ne were ‘mini Russia’, Nha Trang is ‘Big Mother Russia’. There are Russian bars big as cars, Russian Tours pour ‘touts jours’, White Russians and sunburnt Red Russians. Sailors and Tailors, beluga restaurants and vodka bars. All that is missing is Lada cars and the Bolshoi Theatre. The nearby International […]
Mui Ne, Mui Ne, Mui Ne must be funny…
In a rich man’s world. An apt title for this post as Mui Ne is covered in high end resorts and fancy sailing clubs – most of them Russian owned. We managed to find a great little hotel however, called Xin Chao that even had a pool for $22 a night (including breakfast). But we […]
Cu Chi Cu Chi Coo
After spending a few hours pricing out a half day tour to the Cu Chi Tunnels we decided to book the group tour with a travel agent across from the hotel as he said there was only 10 other people on the tour. As we were collected that morning and we walked to the bus […]
Mekong – you Jane!
Another day and another bus journey. Only this time it’s no ordinary bus journey. Today’s challenge would be the 6 hour bus Journey from Phnom Penh to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). With almost a month spent in Cambodia it was time (according to our Visa) to leave this beautiful country and head to our […]
North West Frontier
For many years I used to spend a couple of weeks at my granny’s house in Tipperary. It was here that I gained my love of World War 2 history through the various movies we would watch together. We saw them all dozens of times but the magic was always the same. We even had […]
First they took my molar…
For the last 5 weeks John’s tooth has been lose. He knew he needed to get it seen to but he wanted to wait for the right place. Our friend Charya goes to a clinic that is staffed with foreign trained dentists so we got her to book an appointment for John there. It was […]
Travelling 9 to 5
I must be dreaming… Why else would Peter Gabriel be singing to me…oh crap that’s my alarm ringing. For the last week my guest alarm song has been ‘Big Time’! “Karen…Karen wake up” I scream. “Wh…what day is it?” “Moving day!!” I reply. A rush of activity follows. No jumping in the showers or cups […]
The Island of Dr. Mor-Koh
“Hello Poor Island…..Hello Rich Island” We were dropped at the office in Sihanoukville for Palm Beach Bungalows and greeted by a big South African Man named Kevin, the owner. Luckily I had his business card as his booking system was all messed up, so he had to fit us in. With the boat pickup an […]
City of Ghosts
It is hard to imagine that this sleepy town was once a thriving port. Then Sihanoukville was founded in 1959 and Kampot started a period of decline that it is slowly crawling out of. Before the Civil War there were hundreds of Pepper Plantations surrounding the town. Demand was high as restaurants in Paris had […]
Little Bhaktapur
Sorry I have fallen behind with these. When we were in Bhaktapur (Nepal), we witnessed a film crew shooting some scenes for some local production. This jarred a memory from the previous year….. Sitting in the living room of our apartment in Greenwich with Karen’s Aunt Rez (visiting from Brussels), when she told us of […]
I like to ride my bicycle…
I like to ride my bike! We took a break on Day 4. Not from temples, but from the TukTuk. With very flat terrain and a great road network we decided to rent some bikes for the final day. Not Mountain Bikes, with their abundance if gears and good brakes. Instead we chose girly bicycles […]
Angkor Who? Part 3: Return of the Camera Shy!
Day 3 was upon us and we once more jumped in the TukTuk that we were slowly to label, “The Red Baron”! Today we would finish the temples that straddle around Angkor Wat. This would include one of the big hitters in Ta Prohm as part of the journey. First stop was …. Prasat Kravan […]
Angkor Who? : Part 2 ‘The Angkor Empire Strikes Back’
Day 2: Skirting the big temples A slightly later start was allowed for day 2 as we would not be travelling as far. Today we would be concentrating on the temples to the North and East of Ta Prohm, tightening the perimeter around our final days sights. First up on the menu was Preah Khan. […]
Angkor Who? : Part 1
We arrived in Siem Reap and quickly secured lodgings in the Shadow of Angkor II Guesthouse, across the river from the Old Market Area. That afternoon was spent in search of a TukTuk driver for the next few days. Why? There is only one big reason to come to Siem Reap. Not for what the […]
10000 Strong
During the last few days our blog has hit 10000 views so now would be a good time to crunch the numbers and see what trends we have seen on our trip so far. Travel So far we have been travelling for over 2 months or to be precise 66 days and 19 hours and […]
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