To be totally honest I was quite pleased that the train we were originally on was cancelled because all though I was feeling much better I still wasn't fully well and getting out of the hotel by 8am would have been horrendous.
Train to Huế
We got to Da Nang about an hour bef...
Today we decided to go on another tour to see, what we believed was, one of the highlights of the Da Nang area, the Golden Hand Bridge. Today our Tour Guide was Toan, we were picked up at 07:40.
Ba Na Hills
The ride to Ba Na hills, was about 1 hour. Toan explained on the way...
Today we had an half tour tour of Da Nang starting at 2pm, so in the morning Susan and I went out in search of stamps to send more postcards and to find a cake for Tony's birthday.
The post office was over near the Dragon bridge, it didn't take too long to get there and we p...
Today was our first full day in Da Nang and 3 more of our friends were on there way to meet us, from Ho Chi Min City (Saigon).
Exploring
We spent the morning exploring Da Nang, we discovered the because there are so many scooters in Vietnam car owners buy skirts for their ve...
Today was our last day in Cambodia, I'd finally written all the postcards from Cambodia but didn't have enough time to get to the post office, I asked the hotel staff if there was a post box near by and they said that they would make sure that they got posted for me, so I ho...
Today was yet another tour, this time it was the one that I'd been most excited about since I had found out about it. Our tour guide today was Lucky, we were sat in the hotel reception and waiting for today's minibus to come and pick us up. Lucky came into the reception, int...
Postcards
Today we had a leisurely start, after a lie in, we went for breakfast at Asagohan Cafe. Then back at the hotel Susan went swimming and I walked back to the post office to get some postcards. No matter where I'd been in Siem Reap, including Angkor Wat there were no ...
Today we went to visit Angkor Wat, everyone, who had been before, told us that we should also visit the other temples and not just stick to Angkor Wat. So we decided to book a tour, our tour guide was called Mony, he was superb and had great knowledge of the area, having a g...
Exploring Siem Reap
After a lie in this morning we found a coffee shop, Asagohan Cafe to have a leisurely brunch this place was great. We then went for a walk to explore the city.
Firstly we walked through Pub Street, which was much less brash and noisy during the day time a...
Today the majority of our friends got up early to go on a boat trip to the local islands and do some snorkeling, so it was a good job that we said our goodbyes last night. We went back to Kamala coffee house for breakfast and Sarah joined us. After breakfast we checked out o...
Our one day in Kamala beach Phuket was a day of relaxation and chilling. We go up late and then went for breakfast at Kamala Coffee House. After breakfast Susan went back to the hotel to use the gym and have a massage.
Kamala beach
Sarah and I went for a walk along to the en...
Today we left Chiang Mai and flew to Phuket. At Chiang Mai (CHX) Airport it was a bit chaotic and we were in a queue, a long queue, for a while and then we realised that we could use the self check-in machines. This was all good until Mike's bag was overweight. This meant th...
Today we ventured into the Doi Inthanon national park in Thailand.
Waterfall
Our first stop of the day was Wachirathan Waterfall and as it was such a sunny day the spray from the waterfall created a double rainbow. The was so much spray from the waterfall that I was soaked w...
Elephants
This morning we were picked up from our hotel and driven to the elephant sanctuary, our guide was called Nell but I'm 99% sure that I have spelled his name wrong.
Arriving at the elephant sanctuary
Once we arrived at the sanctuary, we were shown around where to fin...
In Thailand the word Wat means Temple. Chiang Mai is a walled city surrounded by a moat and has over 300 temples.
Temples
After a leisurely start to the day we went out to discover Chiang Mai. We decided to head out of the walled city and walk around the outside. Almost ever...
Today was a transfer day from Bangkok to Chiang Mai, although our flight was not until 17:45 so we had the morning to explore.
Lumphini park
We choose our hotel partly because of its closeness to a park that I'd seen on a travel show about Thailand that I really wanted to se...
After a lie in and late breakfast I went out to explore Bangkok, while Susan went to the gym. I first got the Sky Train to Saphan Tansik and the walked across the river.
Sepak Takraw
At the other side of the river there was a park underneath the road flyover with a number of...
Today was the first full day in Bangkok and we had a full itinerary of sightseeing and tourist stuff.
Travel
Sky Train
First up we had to get from the hotel to the Grand Palace. Nick decided that we'd get the Sky Train and then a boat. Directions set in to google maps we set...
After the second flight of the trip we landed at Bangkok airport (BKK). The first thing I noticed is that it was not at brutally hot and humid as when I changed here on a flight to Australia in 2010. This was a huge relief to me.
Airport Immigration
Once off the plane we hea...
This is just a list of all the different animals I have seen in South East Asia. Read about my trip to South East Asia.
Thailand
Bangkok
Squirrel
Monkey (unknown kind)
Rat
Swifts
Monitor lizard
Catfish
Dogs
Cats (lots)
Pigeons
Golden thai python
Water Monitor Lizard (Bangko...
We have been planning this trip since January, when we all met up in York to discuss when and where we were going to holiday together this time.
Travel
We all started off in different airports around the UK:
Susan and I Stansted (STN)
Liz & Nick Birmingham (BHX)
Sarah Manchester (MAN)
Debbie and Mike Newcastle (NCL)
Eleanor and Tony Glasgow (GLA)
It turns out that Emirates flies from many different locations now in the UK. All of our flights departed within an hour of each other.
Approximately 7 hours later we all met up in O'Regans Irish Bar at Dubai airport (DBX), there wasn't much Irish-ness about this place but after a few drinks we finally boarded our flight to Bangkok (BKK).
14 July 1945 - 21 October 2025
Today my mum passed away, it was very peaceful.
Things my mum taught me
Always be nice to people, you don't know what is happening in their life.
Especially people who are not nice to you.
Always say thank you to people who have done somet...
Mental Health
This year I have been struggling with my mental health. I have been feeling overwhelmed, have not been able to sleep properly and felt like nobody likes me (and yes I know that this is not true).
This all culminated in the queue for Glastonbury festival where I...
Today I went to Westminster Magistrates Court to protest about Mo Chara from Kneecap being charged as a terrorist.
The outcome of the case was that the judge has yet again decided to postpone the decision, to 26 September, on whether or not he will face terror charges.
I arr...
Trains
So this week I went to Bristol for Web Dev Conf.
I got there by getting on the Elizabeth line, no problems whatsoever, super awesome railway line through London now. I got to Paddington about two o'clock.
My train was at half past two and when I went to the boards to ...
Back in April it was announced that Florence + the Machine would play the Proms with a full orchestra, performing her first album Lungs. I immediately messaged my friend, Nyika, to confirm that she wanted to attend with me. We first saw Florence together at Glastonbury 2009....
I first saw Massive Attack Live at Phoenix Festival 20 July 1996 (one of my favourite festivals ever), from that day I have been to see them as often as I can. I had seen the Massive Attack sound system the year previously when they were asked to curate the first ever Dance ...
Anyone who knows me well, will know that I have quite a lot of friends. Friends I meet through work, friends I meet at conferences and friends I meet at music festivals. This last group of friends we refer to as our Festival Family. We don't only meet up at music festivals, ...
At the beginning of the day, my blog only had posts there was literally no way of finding those posts other than knowing the URL and this is what I wanted to fix.
So tonight was the fourth night, for me, of Orbital’s Green/Brown tour. The previous weekend I attended:
Birmingham Friday 26 April
London Saturday 27 April
Nottingham Sunday 28 April
So I wasn't sure about going to this, even though I really wanted. Firstly after the N...
IWC DUS 2026
