Ao Nang beach...Day 23

Once again we used this day for rest and relaxation by the pool of the Krabi Resort and the adjoining Ao Nang beach.

At lunch time we walk over to the Ao Nang beach home restaurant, we have eaten four of our meals here and we keep returning because the food is so good.

While we were relaxing by the pool we were discussing the various modes of transport we have used on this trip and below is a list of the ones we could think of.

Ground transport.

Private car  - Taxi.
Private bus - Local bus.
Mini bus  - Open  back van.
Sea ferry /Long tail boat
Siamese wooden junk / Dragon boat.
Various river craft.
Cyclo.

Airline transportation/ Airlines.

Royal Jordanian / Thai airways
Vietnamese Airways /Scoot airways.

Airports used

Larnaca- Cyprus / Amman- Jordan
BBK - Bangkok - Thailand / Hanoi - Vietnam
Danang -Vietnam / Nha Trang  - Vietnam
Ho Chi Minh - Vietnam / Changi - Singapore
Krabi - Thailand.

Aircraft
EMB 175 Jet - Dreamliner - 787.
Boeing 777-200  / Airbus A321

A trip to the Phi Phi Islands.....Day 22

We took the short drive to the local pier and boarded the local ferry from Ao Nang to the Phi Phi islands. The journey across the Anderman sea took about one hour fifty minutes.











As soon as we landed we stopped off for brunch before wandering around the local markets in the narrow streets. There are no vehicles allowed on the island, so for the only time on this trip we did not have to look out for hordes of motorcycles.

We then made our way down to the local beach for a cooling swim in the beautiful turquoise sea. After a few hours or exploring the sea front it was soon time to reboard the ferry and return to Ao Nang.

A day of relaxing in Ao Nang, Thailand.....Day 21

We spent most of the morning relaxing by the pool as the temperatures soared into the 30's. Mandy did show the way in the exercise department when she did 40 minutes of water aerobics in the main pool.

When she returned to the poolside we had a famous "Mandy- ism", while sitting by the pool she asked me, "Rob, why do all these Russian men wear Smudgy buglars ? " .......I had to jump in the pool in fits of laughter 😂😂😁😁

In the evening we walked down to The Moon bar to listen to some  live music and then crossed the road to enjoy a lovely Italian meal at "La Luna".

Sunset cruise off Krabi....Day 20

Another lovely, Sunny day in Krabi, Thailand and another early morning walk along Ao Nang beach. The perfect way to start the day.

In the afternoon we set sail on a Siamese Junk and visited 5 islands - Poda, Tup, Si, Ta Ming, Wasam & Gai where we spend the afternoon swimming and snorkelling, whilst taking in the breath-taking scenery of the surrounding islands. 

At the first snorkel stop I swam out to the Coral reef and the first thing I saw was a six foot reef shark, that stopped me in my tracks and I waited for the other snorkelers to arrived before continuing. There were plenty of colourful fish and Coral to see.

After a second snorkeling stop we were served a tasty evening meal as we watched a beautiful sunset. As soon as we landed back on shore the heavens opened up and we had a tremendous down pour of rain.

Krabi Resort, Ao Nang beach, Thailand....Day 19

Our body clocks meant we up bright and early and we had finished our breakfast by 7:15. We then went for a lovely, long walk along Ao nang beach and watched the longtail boats getting prepared to take guests out to the outlying islands.

We the returned to the Krabi resort for a relaxing time by the pool.

In the evening we walked down to the Golden beach resort where they were holding a "Thai party night ",  this consisted of dinner and stage show. The first performers were a troupe of traditional Manora dancers, six beautifully dressed young ladies dancing to the local music.











Next up were a couple of young lads demonstrating Thai boxing, actually it was quite a brutal bout with no punches being pulled. The boxers were extremely fast and agile and at one point I think one of the boxers was knocked out and they stopped the fight.











The final act was a couple of guys doing a fire show, they were very talented and twirled their fire pots in all directions. It was then time to take the short stroll along the seafront to our Hotel.

The road to Krabi...Day 18

After a slight hiccup to our travel plans we got back on track with a early start to the day. We left Saigon with Scoot airlines and our first stop was Singapore which took 1 hour 50 mins. 










After a 90 minute wait at Changi airport we boarded another Scoot flight to Krabi, Thailand.

We arrived in Krabi to be met by hundreds of people lining up for immigration, the whole process took a One hour - 40 minute's wait, not best start our visit.
We were met by our driver who took us to the Krabi resort on Ao nang beach.

The first thing we did was sit on the beach with a cold drink and watch the sun go down, we then went to a nearby restaurant for a Green Thai curry.

Our last day in Vietnam....Day 17

So after a whistle stop of Vietnam we spent our final day in Saigon, we took a walk over to a local park, once again taking our lives in our own hands by crossing the road, we finally made it to the park.

We watched the locals take part in various activities such as tai chi, aerobics, kick boxing and ballroom dancing.

We have loved our tour of Vietnam although the timetable has at times been exhausting. The Vietnamese are such a warm, kind and generous People, nothing has been to much trouble for them. We will take home many special memories from this country that is expanding on a daily basis, although it was great to see the old ways in the paddy fields and life along the Mekong Delta.

And of course there is the food, so much, so fresh and so tasty.
"Cam On " as the Vietnamese say.

Mekong Delta at Can Tho on the second day....Day 16

This morning we went on another cruise on the Mekong River, our first stop was the Cai Rang floating market with all its local characters trying to sell their wares, we boarded a fruit boat to try out the fresh pineapple. 

It is a hive of activity on the river with all manner of vessels passing up down the river. The one thing that did strike us is that the locals always seem to have a smile on their faces.

We then visited a noodle making workshop, this was more interesting than it sounds, watching the locals cook a huge pancake, drying it in the sun and the shredding it into noodles.

We then visited a fruit plantation where they had a very interesting menu of snake, frog and snails...."Thank, but No thanks", this was followed by a visit to a traditional Vietnamese long house.

We the checked out of the Iris hotel, which like all the hotels we have used on this tour have been very comfortable. This was followed by lunch at a local restaurant and we shared it with two lovely India people from Deli.

We then made the long trip back to Saigon where we had a smashing meal at the Garlick restaurant and the service was top notch.

Travelling to The Mekong delta....Day 15

We left Ho Chi Minh City for a tour up the Mekong Delta, our guide, Been, picked us up at the hotel, we were expecting to be going on a bus with other tourists, but no, along with Me Ggung, our driver,  it was just the four of us in brand new 4x4 Toyota.

It was a two hour drive passing paddy field after paddy field, our first stop was the  Vinh TraNg Pagoda, where Been gave a run down on his faith of Buddism and introduced us to the Monks.

We then went down to the pier to get a boat to cross the mighty Mekong River, we landed on Unicorn island and visited a natural chocolate workshop and tasted their lovely products. We then moved on to a honey making workshop to taste their wares and have some wonderful local fruit. We were also serenaded by local musicians as we drank honey tea.

We then sailed over to "Coconut island " where they use every part of the coconut for a number of uses including the delicious coconut ice cream, a potent drink, coconut candy and even coconut lipstick.

We then boarded a small boat to sail up a small  off shoot of the river  called the Thoi Son canal that was a bit spooky until we came to a landing area that led to our lunch stop restaurant that had a number of crocodiles next to it. The main course was an odd looking fish named " Elephant ear " and a young lady made fresh spring rolls at the table.  After lunch we continued to sail along the Mekong River seeing how local people live their lives.

After a long day we headed to our hotel in Can tho, while we were driving to the hotel we heard that the Vietnam under 23 football side had won a match on a penalty shootout, we arrived in a city of utter and total bedlem.  Thousands of people wereon the street celebrating and the noise from the car horns was deafening.