We visited here twice on this trip…the first one was planned as Jill claims that last time we said that we should spend the night on a boat on Halong Bay rather than just do a day trip. And the other was that Dim was here and you couldn’t come to Vietnam and not see Halong Bay. So this post will cover off on both options that most tourists would do when visiting the famous Halong Bay.
While wandering through the war museum in Hanoi we ran into an met a lovely Italian lady (Chiara) who had ridden out the COVID waves in Melbourne. We all chatted and had lunch (at my favourite Indian joint) and told her we were off to CatBa island and she chose to join in. A quick trip to the bus company and an extra hotel room and we were all set. So four of us set off on our journey.
I re-read the previous post for Cat Ba Island and Halong Bay and everything that I wrote the first time holds true today with one exception. The transit was really easy now, no nightmares just a smooth and efficient transfer. Once on the island, the place is fantastic. The planned developments have partially gone ahead, however COVID slowed the rate of development and also dried up (for now) the influx of Chinese tourists. So at the moment, it is still absolutely lovely.
For decades, Cát Bà has been the launching point for Ha Long Bay and now this has been extended to include Lan Ha Bay. They are basically the inner and outer bays surrounding the island. Lan Ha Bay is made up of around 300 karst islands and limestone sea rocks and is southeast of Cat Ba Island. Lan Ha Bay is equally as beautiful although it is less visited, less inhabited and therefore has the extra appeal of being a more peaceful place.
There is much more here in terms of accommodation, resorts and restaurants than our first trip, but not so much to be silly. Our accommodation was amazing, we had a queen room with a private en suite for the princely sum of $15 a night and it included breakfast. Add to this that the lady on the front desk would bend over backwards to help despite being heavily pregnant. She was a machine.
On our arrival after hte bus trip and ferry ride, we hired scooters for 100,000 dong a day (about $6.50) and after a scooter lesson, given by me, Chiara was up and running with zero fear. This terrified Dim and I, as we knew what could go wrong. But she was fearless and two days later she was even riding with a pillion (a British women she met on the day trip).
We organised a day trip and the next morning took off on the traditional Cat Ba day trip. This included a boat trip around the bay, kayaking, beach time, swimming, a huge lunch and capped off by a fish massage at a local fishing village. This is basically exactly what we had done a decade earlier (with the exception of the feet eating fish). There is a similar day trip option leaving from Hanoi every morning and getting back the same night. I do not recommend this as you are adding 3-4 hours of driving on top of what is an already full day and you will be missing out on most of the activities.
After a full day on the water we headed to the bridge (where Jill and I had eaten and drank so many years earlier) and the four of us had a meal by the bridge (including beers) for 510,000 (about $35). All in all a great way to spend a day. And most importantly we capped it off with a street stall pancake like the ones in Thailand.
Nadim, Jill and I were on the bus back to Hanoi while Chiara chose to stay on and explore the island some more (on the motorbike with the British girl she met on the boat). We did meet up again briefly in Hanoi before she headed back to Italy then we headed to the next point in the journey.
After a bit more time in Hanoi, Dim went home and we headed to our pre-arranged tour and cruise on Halong Bay. This one was a bit flasher than the Cat Ba Trip (certainly a lot more expensive). This was a 2 day cruise of Halong bay, leaving from Hanoi and sleeping overnight on the water. It was lovely, the meals were magnificent and the rooms were amazing, especially given where we were.
While the cruise boat was much nicer, you still got on one of the dodgy boats for all of the daytime activities. And all of the activities were identical, which was fine but we had done it all a week earlier.
Having done Halong Bay in 2 of the 3 main ways available I must say that option 1 of the day trip from Hanoi is a bust and I really discourage this as there is too much to see in one day and it would have been exhausting and unsatisfying. The 2 day trip was much better. You are not pushed for time, you have a night on the water and the tours are all included. But it is seriously expensive.
My choice would be the Cat Ba Island option. Having spoken to Jill about the overall costings the price we paid for our 2 day cruise was about 5 times more than our Cat Ba trip, and the only difference was that we slept on the water. For the amount we spent on the 2 day cruise we could have spent a week on Cat Ba (including accommodation) and had different tours and trips every day (all within the same budget).
Sunworld (if you remember from back in the Danang Post)is in the process of establishing itself on Cat Ba island. The cable car is already in place and the resort is currently being built, along with what will likely be another Disneyland-type development. When it is finished, the entire Cát Bà cable car system will be 21.9 km long with 5 stations spanning the sea to link the towns including Cát Bà national park. When finished, this cable car will have the longest cable line in the world.
We came to Danang last time around and really liked the place, although there was very little really to do here. Well, that has changed considerably since our last visit. In 2017 the golden bridge was built and has quickly become one of the most visited and photographed things in all of Vietnam. I saw the images and decided that this was something that I really wanted to see.
Being up in the hills, and incredibly popular I have been warned that the bridge may well be shrouded in clouds or packed with people. Anyway, that is why we are here, more about the bridge a bit later on and we will see which version of the bridge we will get to encounter.
The other thing that we saw when we were here last time was the dragon bridge. This was a bridge that had its curves painted and styled to resemble a dragon. It didn’t particularly do anything but was an interesting enough oddity.
Well, this too has changed, the bridge has had a heap of lights added to it and of an evening it cycles through a range of colours, however, I still think that the original yellow is the most striking.
Oh yes, they added a couple of other features. Every Friday and Saturday night, to coincide with the riverside night market, at 9pm they put on a fire and water show.
The dragon literally spits fire…
and water, while thousands watch on with awe.
All in all, it is an excellent way to bring people to the city and have them in a central location. From here you have the markets with tons of fresh seafood on offer, along with the usual tourist fare of trinkets. The area is full of restaurants, vendors and performers. All in all it is an excellent evening and is highly recommended.
After this we organised a day trip out to the Cham Islands which is a 15 square-kilometer island cluster consisting of 1 main island and 8 surrounding small islands. It is about 20km from Hoi An and 45 from Danang. We actually tried to go the day before but strong winds meant that the government banned the tourism operators from taking people out.
As we got our tour pulled we decided to walk down to the beach and check that out.
Having gone out the next day, which was dramatically calmer, we were glad they stopped the trip. The seas were brutal. You are in a high powered speed boat, that holds about 30 people, and you belt across the straights at full tilt being bashed and bounced every inch of the journey. And that was on a calm day. Having arrived, the main island was pretty stunning as was the seafood lunch on offer.
Unfortunately, most Vietnamese people cannot swim. This means that they get loaded up in life vests and floatation rings, with goggles on, and tramp all over the reef and coral. So that which is left has been and continues to be pummelled.
And now on to the reason we came to Danang again, the Golden Bridge, situated in the Ba Na hills. On our way to the mountain, the guide told us that there had only been 4 good days of viewing over the last 30, so our expectations were suitably low.
The Ba Na hills area was once a mountain retreat for French emigres, back in colonial times, but had been long since forgotten due to limited road access. The solution to this was to join with European engineers and build the world’s biggest cable car at 5,801 meters in length. Additionally, this cable line has the largest height difference between the upper and lower stations in the world.
This was the introduction that you have, as you ride the almost 6 km cable car up to the French Village and La Jardin D’Amour Gardens. I had only ever seen the images of the bridge online. I did not realise that it was actually part of some massive, artificial amusement park akin to a Vietnamese version of Disneyland, known as Sunworld.
The bridge itself is 150m long, 12.8m wide and is made up of 8 arches and obviously has the two main supports sculpted to look like two giant stone hands.
While it is all fake, it is still very impressive to see and is nonetheless impressive.
As for the type of day we got…not a blue sky in sight. It was cloudy and wet and cold, considerably colder than I had counted on. In fact, I think it was around 10-15 degrees colder up the mountain than it was on the flat of Danang.
At the first stop you have the bridge and a French Village, which has been designed to look like an old fashioned France lined with recognizable classical landmarks such as the square, church, town, old village and inns.
From the bridge and gardens, you get on another cable car that takes you up to Sunworld proper. This is the blingiest fantasy theme park around…but I’m not sure that it means to be. I think that the attempts to re-create European cityscapes and plazas were genuine. There are castles, fountains, cathedrals, you name it…they are incredibly kitsch and tacky looking but fun nonetheless.
Fantasy Park is the largest indoor game zone of Vietnam that includes countless games, recreations and sports for families. The Jurassic Park is a must-visit for fans of movie with animatronic dinosaurs around every corner.
Besides, this complex also puts on offer the first wax museum of Vietnam, in which lifelike figurines are modeled after prominent figures worldwide. A personal favourite of ours was the incredibly blingy Helios Waterfall. This was some type of reimagining of the Spanish steps in Rome, the fountains of Versailles and who knows what else. The blurb tells you to “Admire the collection of classic god statues such as Helios, Apollo, Bacchus, Venus, Athena, and 15 other gods”. All of the statues were painted golden and glistened in the sunlight, oh and the photo with blue skies is Jill’s Camera doing tricks, there was no blue sky in sight.
The one thing that must be said is that the landscaping was incredible. The amount of effort and expense that must have gone into it was phenomenal and it was by far the standout for me. This goes for the entre place. There are obviously feature gardens that are lovely but even just walking around, each path is meticulously done and maintained.
And of course there was the usual amount of funpark randomness to be seen as you wended your way through the place.
As fake and tacky as some of this was, it was still a really good day. The buffet lunch that was included was incredible, the bridge was exactly what it seemed like and if you were willing to fight with the thousands of instagrammers you could get some nice photos. The earlier you arrive the better your chances.
And as a non-gardener…they really need to be commended…they even managed to impress me.
Well, what a difference a few years have made. Vietnam has gone ahead in leaps and bounds since our last visit. So much has changed, and for the most part, they seem to have gone ahead, rather than backwards during the COVID crisis. The economy seems to be booming and there are not the large volumes of empty or derelict shops, that we have encountered everywhere else so far.
Sadly this has impacted our exchange rate, on our last trip, we were getting around 20,000 dong per Aussie dollar. Whether our currency has totally tanked, or the Vietnamese economy has strengthened, this is down closer to 15000 today.
The introduction back into Vietnam through Ho Chi Minh was poor, as the immigration process was long, painful and cumbersome. We got off our plane and spent the next 90 minutes inching forward in a seemingly unmoving line. Eventually we did make it out of the airport and made our way to the accommodation.
Interestingly, the name Ho Chi Minh City seems to have reverted back to Saigon in virtually all local parlance. The first thing that strikes you is how clean it is. Major efforts have been, and continue to be, made in cleaning up the city. The roads are good, wide and there are lanes that, for the most part, are used. Footpaths now exist and are in good order (even if they still have motorbike parking all over them).
The first time around it took us a while to get the feel for Vietnam, it didn’t really appeal on first hit. But the further north we went, the further away from the touristy beaches, the more we came to like it. Another big sticking point last time around was the abundance of coriander and cucumber in almost every dish.
Another big sticking point last time around was the abundance of coriander and cucumber in almost every dish. Being both more seasoned travellers and better prepared, the picture on the right was captured and saved and is shown each time I sit down to eat.
The central Bến Thành Market has had an external refresh with a large paved area out the front now, giving easy access. The market itself does however seem to have transformed fully into a tourist market (rather than the 70% that it was before).
Also, the rumbling of motorcycles has calmed. The introduction of electric bikes has reduced some of the rumble that used to exist from the masses of motorbikes. Don’t get me wrong, the rumble is still there but it is considerably reduced from that which formerly existed. Even some of the honking of horns has reduced.
The traditional dress for women that used to be widely worn, has all but disappeared (in Saigon at least). This has been replaced with the shortest of short pants and skirts that seem to be everywhere. The pendulum seems to have swung to the other extreme.
The abundance of ladyboys seems to have gone through the roof. While they were always there, this time around, they seem to be more prevalent. The other thing that has exploded is the use of padded underwear to give a womanly shape. This applies to the ladyboys and the women alike. We sat at a bar and watched the parade as people with very interesting shapes passed us by. I decided that these would forevermore be known as Bumderwear.
The one thing that has not changed is the variety, quality and cheapness of the food. Even with such a drop off in exchange rates, food and beverage in Vietnam remains very cheap with incredible value to be found for under $5.
Our first lunch was a Banh Mi from a street vendor who was charging a ridiculous 22,000 dong ($1.30) for a pork roll with the lot. So for under $5 Jill and I were fed and got a drink each.
When we were here last time we saw the worst that western tourism can bring to a developing country…particularly in the south. Lots of old fat men trying to pick up small Asian women (LBFM’s for those that know the terminology). Add to this the hordes of Russians camping out on the beaches turning them into their on personal raves with lights and doof doof music everywhere. And the worst bit for us was the Aussie Bogan. This was really cringeworthy, with large volumes of Aussie tourists making asses of themselves in the bars, pubs, streets and markets.
Much of the old man issue has gone (as at March 2023) but I am certain that it is just a matter of time before the sex tourism trade will pick up again. While we did not head south to the beaches this time around, it was clear that Vietnam is currently overrun with Russians fleeing the war. I can only assume that the southern areas and beaches are still noisy beach parties. Certainly, the chats that we had with people suggested that this was the case. And as of last night, the return of the Aussie Bogan, the trickle has started. While not yet overrun, we saw the first of the tattoos, mullets, binge drinking and the use of the F word as a comma in every sentence.
On first glance the notion of food in the Philippines is a train wreck. Getting off the plane and travelling through Manila you will see huge volumes of American junk food chain stores on every block. Golden arches, burger king, KFC, pizza, Krispy Kreme, Starbucks and many more, they are all here, and here en masse.
Add to this a large number of local versions mimicking the American chains and there is no apparent hope in sight. Jollibee is a local fried chicken and burger joint that has sides that include rice and spaghetti. The spaghetti looks like a typical spag bol, but the sauce is much sweeter and is more akin to pouring jam on top of the pasta. I have been reliably informed that the chicken is actually pretty good.
Even a simple wander down a street will yield huge quantities of burgers, hotdogs and fried chicken. While I do accept that there is a place for these, surely this cannot be the main diet. Then you go to a store and find that all of the bread is HEAVILY sugared. This stuff is seriously sweet and even if you ask, there is no non-sweetened version available.
With the exception of the naming of certain items, very little of the Spanish influence seems to have lasted. Perhaps it is the availability of ingredients but the food here is much more localised in nature and is very different from what you may expect (or hope for) id a place with such a strong Spanish history.
Our first foray was to order food at the rooftop restaurant of our hotel, what a disaster. We tried to order a nachos, but ended up with cucumber, mayonnaise and canned american spray on cheese (cheese whiz) over the top of corn chips. There was no meat, no spice, no chilli, no sour cream and no guacamole. It was not heated, it was terrible. This was added to by a side of Hungarian sausage and some heavily garlic mushrooms.
Lechon was the first dish to turn the corner for us. It refers to spit-roasted pig or pork belly and is one of the most beloved and culturally significant Filipino foods. This was the first meal that we had that was not sickly sweet or sold from a large chain store. There is a chicken version that is known as lechon manok. Needless to say the chicken is nowhere near as good as the crispy pork.
Crispy pata was the second dish to get us over the Filipino food rut. This is in essence deep-fried pork trotters or knuckles served with a dipping sauce made with vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, onions, sugar, and ground black pepper (mine had a heap of fresh chilli added). This is a version of lechon, but given that it is the trotters, there is way more crispy skin to go around.
Pork Sisig – Is the one dish in the Philippines that best represents Filipino cuisine.As it turns out, the first bar that we had a drink with Brad and Nora, were giving away a free Sisig with every bucket of beer sold.
It is made with chopped pork face, ears, and chicken liver served on a cast iron sizzling plate. It was invented around the mid-1970s when a former US air base was seen to be discarding large amounts of pig’s heads. turns out, the first bar that we had a drink with Brad and Nora, were giving away a free Sisig with every bucket of beer sold.
Chicharon is basically just bags of crackling. It is the bits of a beast that can be made crispy once chopped up and deep fried. The main version Chicheron bituka is pork intestines that have been chopped up into bite-sized pieces and deep-fried.
Other meats are also used such as Chicharon manok which is deep-fried chicken skin, while chicharon bulaklak is deep fried ruffle fat pictured above), usually served with vinegar to help cut the fat.
Liempo is pork belly. It’s a popular dish that can be enjoyed with rice as an entree or as bar chow with beer. It’s usually served with a dipping sauce made with soy sauce and vinegar or vinegar with garlic and chili.
Lumpia is the local version of spring rolls.typically filled with sauteed ground pork, onions, carrots, raisins, and other vegetables
Longganisa is Filipino sausage, as with everywhere in the world, these are many and varied, and change from region to region.
By now you must be seeing a pattern. If it is not chain store junk food then it is pork, fatty pork, deep fried dishes and mystery meat parcels.
Adobo is everywhere, it is almost impossible to avoid. It is some type of meat, seafood, or vegetables (mostly chicken) that is marinated in a braising mixture of vinegar, soy sauce, black peppercorn, bay leaves, and garlic. If you do any type of tour or anything involving a set menu Adobo will be there.
Batchoy was the dish that we happened to order with our Lechon. This is a noodle (pancit) soup with pork or chicken meat in a clear broth. It was ok without being startling, however it was neither sweet nor oily and greasy, which was a blessing. It also introduced us to our first taste of the ubiquitous Calamansi.
Chicken inasal is one of the favorite Filipino comfort foods. It is charcoal grilled chicken marinated in calamansi, vinegar, pepper, and achuete. It is continuously basted with the marinade.
Pancit refers to a category of mainly Chinese-inspired noodle dishes usually made with rice noodles, vegetables, meat, and seafood. Chilli, soy and calamansi regularly also make an appearance.
Sinigang is another popular and important dish in Filipino cuisine. It is a type of soup or stew characterised by its sour and savory flavors Sinigang is usually made with different vegetables and some type of meat or seafood like pork, beef, shrimp, or fish. It’s usually paired with white rice and served with patis (fish sauce) as a condiment.
Bulalo is a light-colored soup made with leafy vegetables, corn on the cob, and beef shanks filled with bone marrow.
Kaldereta (or caldereta) is a goat meat stewed in tomato sauce. The one we had in Coron was not stewed long enough (so Nora tells us) as the meat was still tough and did not fall off the fork as it should have. THe Flavour though was fantastic.
Bangus refers to milkfish which is the national fish of the Philippines. As with the Adobo, this one is pretty hard to dodge, it will be served up at almost every opportunity. The taste is fine, without being startling. But be warned the milkfish is a very bony fish and you should be careful when eating them.
Silog has become our local breakfast option (whether you like it or not). it is basically a category of Filipino breakfasts that always include (VERY) garlic fried rice, and a fried egg. From here everything is on the table as to the type of meat that you add to it.
We have had so many variations that it would be crazy to list, needless to say pork and chicken is high on the list with a wide variety of how they are cooked. Spam, bacon, ham, sausage, hotdog, chorizo, corned meat, fish all feature and they all have their own name like Bacsilog for bacon or spamsilog for spam…and the list goes on.
And of course, my favourite, was the boodle fight. Such a simple concept, executed to perfection and a joy to take part in. I have been noticing, of recent times, the social media trying to replicate the concept with a dump meal. The modern equivalent seems more to mean dumping out the contents of the take away bag an hoeing in. The Filipino version is much more sophisticated, elegant and yummy.
And some stuff is just wrong and should not be eaten…
Balut is a fertilized duck egg embryo that’s been incubated for 14-21 days, boiled, and then eaten directly from its shell.
Now I have eaten some weird stuff over the years. Deep fried tarantulas, snakes, scorpions, any number of bugs and creepy crawlies. But Balut, no way on this earth will one of these pass my lips.
Summary
If you can get past the initial impressions, Filipino food is quite good. If you avoid the chain stores (at all cost) and limit the porky, crackly goodness that abounds, there are decent meals to be had. Garlic is a VERY big thing in almost all of the dishes, so if there is any fear of vampires then the Philippines may be for you.
Don’t get me wrong, even I, one of the world’s biggest carnivores, was looking for a salad by about half way through.
As a parting gift, our last meal before leaving was in fact Jollibee.
Boracay is another of the islands in the central Philippines. Boracay has been listed many times as one of the best islands and beaches in the world by all the travel experts. The island itself is tiny, being only seven kilometres long, and less than one kilometre wide at the narrowest spot. The total area is 10.32 square kilometres and it is packed with resorts, particularly along the west coast where White Beach is lined by palm trees, and directly behind them come the bars and restaurants.
In short, this place is tourist central. But unlike most places we have been to lately, this place is mainly for the locals to come. Not so many western tourists here, the lion’s share of people are local Filipinos enjoying the beach, diving, snorkelling, dining, and parties.
Our first raid on arrival was to wander down to White Beach for the famous sunset. Us along with about 2-3000 other people. This truly is a very popular beach. The sun sets here around 6:00 pm all year round and it is the busiest time on the beach, with lots of people taking pictures and enjoying the view.
After sunset, the beach path gets very busy with a lot of people hitting the various restaurants and bars until around midnight when the bars become quiet as people move from the bars to the clubs. We are old so we typically bail by about 10 after dinner and a few drinks.
Day two saw us jumping on the Island hopping tour so that we could get a good taste of vitamin SEA. The itinerary included stops to Puka Beach, Crystal Cove, Crocodile Island, Magic Island and Coral Garden. Puka Beach was just a nice beach to loll about with some rather impressive sand art and Crocodile Island, surprisingly, looked a bit like a crocodile. Coral Garden was nice but a bit busy, rough and a bit too much current for good snorkelling. This was made a little harder by a few Japanese tourists, who clearly did not swim too well and were thrashing about hitting anyone within range – not to mention scaring away all of the fish.
The thing that amused Jill the most was the Instagrammers. Almost without exception, they all hired the crystal canoes (plastic see through numbers) and spent the better part of 20 -30 minutes contorting themselves while the poor local paddling them about had to take photos of them. They were sitting, kneeling, lying, hanging over the side, just about anything to get their perfect shot. And they were doing it by the dozen as the shallow clear waters were full of these crystal canoes that had turned into photo studios.
Crystal Cove was the main port of call (and a 300 peso per person extra). This is a small island surrounded by very nice turquoise waters, with a couple of caves. On top of the coves, various huts and platforms have been built that overlook the water and waves hitting the rocks of the cove. Underneath is a hole with stairs leading down the cave and a natural pool where you can take a dip.
On the east coast, is Bulabog Beach its strong winds make this side a hub for water sports. This also means that this is all the western tourists, that were missing from White Beach, have gone to hide. The place is chock full of expensive resorts, overpriced restaurants (and I thought the prices at White Beach were high) and expensive past times. The sky is full of kite surfers and the water full of windsurfers – invariably all western, and the street is full of touts.
We thought that we would bum around on this beach as it was less busy, however the wind meant that a lot of debris had blown up on shore and it was not that nice. With the exception of the 100 meter strips in front of the major resorts, where they employed people to rake and sweep the beach constantly.
Nearby is Mount Luho, the highest peak on the island. While only a bit over 100 metres above sea level there is an observation deck that offers panoramic views over the island.
After hitting the tourist spots we decided to have a nice beach day. We headed out to White Beach, waiting an appropriate time for all the tours to go. Even then we got there too early as there was a steady stream of tour boats setting off until almost noon. A bit over the free breakfasts (Silog) we found a cafe that did real coffee (a bit over the 3-in-1) and after ordering found out that they also had real bread (not full of sugar). So Jill had the bacon and egg burger and I had an omelette with mushroom and gruyere cheese.
In short, Boracay is truly one of the nicest beaches in the world and its place on the lists warranted. It is long, with some of the finest sand that I have encountered and generally pleasant. The island however, is much more suited to scuba divers than it is for snorkelers. The nearby reefs have been hit hard by tourists and the currents are a bit too strong for most swimmers. A few meters down, these issues tend to go away. As you can see from the map below there are many dive sites surrounding the island.
Missed piece: this bit happened in Coron but I forgot to add it and it was one of Jill’s favourite things. After the departure of Brad and Nora, Jill and I went out to dinner. We sat down and I ordered a bucket of beer (6 bottles) the waitress turned to Jill and said ‘and for the lady’. This had Jill laughing for quite a while.
Sadly, in our transit to Borocay, an event overshadowed this. So much so that Jill will almost wets herself every time she thinks of it. We were sitting in the waiting area of the airport waiting for the assured gate change. When it came, we were approached by a very meek Filipina girl to advise us of the change (a fact that we knew and were about to move). At this point she looked at me and asked ‘are you wheelchair’, in disgust I got up and headed off while Jill virtually needed the wheelchair as she was laughing so much. For the next few hours, all that I heard from my wife was ‘are you wheelchair‘ followed by her cackling.
Coron, is the main town on the island of Busuanga and is one of the top tourist places in the Philippines, best known for World War II-era wreck diving. But in addition to this, there are heaps of limestone karst landscapes (almost identical to the Chinese Stone forest), some nice beaches, crystal-clear freshwater lakes, and shallow-water coral reefs.
Error number one: We met up with good friends Brad and Nora. Now, while Nora is lovely, Brad has been variously described as a marsupial beer sponge, a Japanese game show contestant and many more and worse things. Unfortunately, Brad and I feature strongly in each other’s (acts of stupidity) stories, going back many years. Whenever something stupid occurs, invariably, Brad and I are somehow involved and there was no responsible adult there to supervise us. I am certain that Brad is to blame for all of this, however, he may have a different opinion.
But to make a point, Brads first act when we met up was to introduce us to a local cocktail known as the Weng Weng. This is, in essence, a shot of all of the bottom shelf spirits mixed with pineapple and orange juice and the name roughly translates to shitfaced. The official ingredients list is vodka, tequila, brandy, bourbon, scotch, rum, cubed ice, orange juice, pineapple juice and a dash of grenadine. And they come in 1.5 and 3 litre towers (pictured above).
The second thing he did was bring into play both towers and buckets of beer. We had been happily sipping away on the local Pale Pilsen (at 5% abv) but once Brad arrived this quickly got swapped out for the 8% Red Horse and Weng Weng (of course). On the up side it did come with some pretty amazing sunsets.
Coron Bay is a famous dive location as it has the remains of ten Japanese WWII shipwrecks that were sunk on 24 September 1944. These ships (according to wiki) were the Akitsushima, Okikawa Maru, Irako, Kogyo Maru, Olympia Maru, Taiei Maru, Kyokuzan Maru, East Tangat Gunboat and Lusong Island Gunboat.
While everything is really close, you still need to hop on a boat and head to the islands for quality snorkeling, scuba or wreck diving. The boats are a type of motorised outrigger and the cost to get to these (as part of a tour) ranges from around 1000-1500 pesos ($28-42) with the cost of hiring snorkel gear (150 pesos pp) on top. They also offer the hire of plastic canoes/kayaks for 1500 pesos).
So we hopped on our first Coron Island Tour (B), as the A tour was overly busy that day, and took off to the twin lagoons (these two lagoons are separated by a narrow cliff and you can get between them by either swimming under the cliff (on low tide) or climbing some narrow wooden stairs (on high tide).
Major disclaimer here: Before leaving Australia I was given access to a GoPro with very little knowledge, handover, idea about what I was doing, or ability to edit videos. The abundance of underwater action and a fear of damaging expensive phones, saw the GoPro make its debut. The images and videos are likely to be terrible but if you bear with me I may get better over time.
The next stop was at skeleton wreck which was a 25m long Japanese supply ship that was sunk during WWII. The highest point rests at 5m with the remainder as deep as 22m. This means that s surface snorkel will get you a good view, and those able to free dive can get down and close to the wreck.
Being a wreck it has turned into a mini-reef with tons of fish life around to see and photograph. Reef garden was next and as you may have guessed, it is a reef where you can snorkel.
The next stop was at a beach (which particular beach varies every time, depending upon how many boats are around and how busy each beach is) for lunch.
Closely followed by a trip to Barracuda lake. The lake contains both salt and freshwater and these create large temperature differences (particularly for divers). This is known as thermocline and halocline, however the guides claimed the temperature difference on the surface was more likely due to urine.
The climb to get in is hellish, on possibly the dodgiest set of stairs ever made. The stairs were steep, narrow, wet, mouldy and with cut up car tyre strips for grip. The water for snorkelers is cloudy and the depth makes it hard to see much, but it was a nice place to float along in the water. And then, all of a sudden, BAM, out of nowhere, a one meter barracuda swims underneath you. I thought that barracuda lake was just a name, until it swam past, Jill reckons she saw two of them.
After such a big day on the water, we were relatively well shattered. A quiet night was followed by a day off the next day, with the exception of a late afternoon trip to the Macquinit hot springs. These are about 30 mins out of town and is one of the few saltwater hot springs in the world.
The trip is a very tough, dusty and uncomfortable ride on a tricycle (tuk tuk) so we opted for the hire of a bongo van instead. Once there, the thermal pool temperature is between 37° and 40° Celsius and is supposed to be more soothing and more therapeutic the longer you stay in there. That said, they also tell you not to stay in for more than 10 mins at a time.
The next day we were back in tourist mode hitting the Coron Island Tour (A). The first stop was at Quin Reef which was pretty much the same as the Reef Garden, but the snorkelling was nice and we saw nice coral, fish and starfish. Then on to CYC beach (Coron Youth Club) for a look and a paddle about.
The next stop was Las Isla de Coral, another good snorkelling spot followed by a beach for lunch. Lunch was identical both days, and from what we could see was identical for every boat. It was fairly simple but consisted of grilled fish, prawns and chicken coupled with seaweed, rice and veggies and capped off with fruit. After lunch, it was on to Green Lagoon, which we had driven through the day before as it was the area surrounding the twin lagoons. Needless to say, this is an area with clear green waters where you can swim and snorkel.
The last stop was Kayangan Lake which is a crystal-clear freshwater lake that has underwater rock formations, caves and islets. It’s a popular spot for photographers, for fairly obvious reasons, and is said to be the cleanest lake in all of the Philippines.
Another day off and the departure of Brad and Nora left us to take the final tour, being the reef and wrecks tour. There are in fact other tours but one is a town tour, given that the main town is a 3×2 block we figured we could explore this ourselves without having to pay 600 pesos per person. The last tour took in the East Tangat Gunboat and Lusong Island Gunboat, along with the Lusong Coral Garden and lunch and snorkelling on Pass Island.
The snorkelling was good, the wrecks were the closest to the surface so far and therefore were the easiest to access, and the beach was the best we had visited since arriving.
Bringing Coron to a close, I stopped in for a well overdue shave and a haircut. Total price 120 pesos, this is under $4 for a haircut and a straight razor shave. Those that have been reading along since the beginning may recall that I fell in love with these in India and have consistently attempted to find and have these shaves. Jill tells me that I am ‘manpering’, I am OK with this.
Leaving Coron, we did a quick hop over to Manila for an overnight before heading on to our next port of call.
Having flown out of Bangkok, we popped in briefly to Manila, Philippines for a few hours before moving on.
The Philippines is made up of 7,641 islands that are broadly categorised into three main geographical regions, being Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.
The best, and my favourite part of the Philippines is the Jeepney. These are a minibus style vehicle that serves as public transport in the Philippines. They are loud, full of bling, generally plastered in religious iconography, cheap and are just a lot of fun. Anyway, after a brief stop in Manila, we headed off to the island of Cebu.
The island of Cebu is around 200 kilometres long and 20km wide with coral reefs virtually surrounding its entire perimeter. Cebu City is the oldest city in the Philippines and the second largest, behind Manila. It is also known as the oldest settlement established by the Spaniards in the country.
In April 1521, Ferdinand Magellan arrived (to an already thriving port city), planted a cross and started converting the locals to Christianity. Having converted, the local king then told the Spaniards to go to the (nearby) island of Mactan to kill his enemy. This is where Magellan and his crew were killed.
The cross that Magellan planted in the 16th century was moved in the 1800s to Plaza Sugbo, beside the Basilica del Santo Nino. It is now a bit further from the water in an octagonal building made of coral shells.
The pavilion and the cross itself sustained cracks due to the 2013 Bohol earthquake (which happened while we were here starting our first round of touring). The 2013 earthquake ended up killing 222 people and injuring almost 1000.
Despite the death of Magellan, the Spanish influence remained strong in Cebu and the Philippines more broadly. The country was named in honour of King Phillip II of Spain and it was under Spanish rule for 333 years and later under U.S. tutelage for a further 48 years.
Fort San Pedro is the oldest military defence structure built jointly by the Spanish and local Cebuanois. It was built under the command of Miguel López de Legazpi, the first governor of the Captaincy General of the Philippines.
Miguel López de Legazpi was the founder of the first Spanish settlement. He repelled two attacks by the Portuguese and easily overcame the poorly organized Filipinos’ resistance to lay the foundations for the conversion of the people to Christianity.
The Philippines is the second most-populous Asian country with English as an official language (behind India) and one of only two predominantly Roman Catholic countries in Asia (the other being East Timor). Churches and cathedrals abound in Cebu.
Colon Street is often called the oldest national road in the Philippines as it was built in 1565 during the Spanish colonial period. It got its name from Cristobal Colon, who is more widely known as Christopher Columbus. The street was developed and became the centre of commerce in Cebu with the first few businesses established there. The name Colon Street remains equally as valid today. It seems as though the local sewage and plumbing in the area may not have seen any upgrades (possibly) since the 16th century. As such, the raw sewage smells at various points around town are absolutely putrid and overwhelming.
In fact, certain areas of the city look like slums with shanty housing and homelessness does seem common. The money spent on road and drainage upkeep seems minimal, there is no such thing as a footpath and getting about on foot can be challenging.
Lechon, derived from a Spanish word for roasted suckling pig, is one of the most famous and popular dishes in the Philippines. It is usually stuffed with lemongrass, tamarind, garlic, onions, and chives, and then roasted on a large spit over an open fire. Modern derivatives just do the pork belly, rolled. Cebu is renowned as having the best lechon in the Philippines. It was very good.
Why we need to come back
We did not even scratch the surface of Cebu. There is so much to see and do here that we will need to return and invest some more time exploring. Some of the super cool stuff you can do but we missed include: swimming with whale sharks, turtles and schools of sardines, waterfalls, and so much more. The photos below are of the stuff that we will have to do next time and is from the tour operators.
Bohol
Bohol is an island province consisting of the island itself and 75 minor surrounding islands. It is a popular tourist destination with some ok beaches and many resorts. Getting here from Cebu was a breeze. We took the ferry, which has proven to be our easiest and most comfortable commute so far. We were a bit worried as the official blurb was a bit confusing and contradictory but upon arrival, it was simple, easy and stress free. And the ride was really comfortable with heaps of leg room and the ability to get up and walk around.
In actual fact, from Bohol we crossed a bridge which actually had us sleeping on Panglao Island, but apart from the beaches everything we saw and did was on Bohol.
Butterfly Garden
On our tourist day we hopped in with the 6 others staying at our hotel and headed out for one of those tour days to hit the local sights. We met a great Dutch couple around our age and there were 3 early 20’s polish girls and one of their boyfriends who was Spanish. The first stop on the tour was the butterfly garden that had a few birds and a crocodile and probably had as many pythons as they did butterflies.
The chocolate hills are one of the main attractions. They are exactly what they sound like: rounded hills in the centre of the island, that go brown during the dry season so they end up looking like giant chocolate truffles. They are in fact, mounds of brown limestone formations, believed to have been underwater coral reefs before being pushed up.
As it turned out we were not here in the dry season and the chocolate hills were considerably greener, thereby prompting the conversation as to whether they were mint or pistachio hills. But chocolate they were not. Of course there was an impossibly large and steep staircase to be climbed.
The tarsier
The tarsier is one of the world’s smallest primates in the world, measuring between 85 to 160 mm. The average adult is about the size of an adult human fist making them difficult to spot. Their eyes are huge with the tarsier having the largest eye-to-body weight ratio of all mammals. Their eyes are fixed in their skull and cannot move in their sockets. Instead, they can rotate their heads 180°.
Not usually a fan of monkeys (usually referred to as tree rats) these ones were very sweet and you could not help but like them.
Man made forest
The Bohol Mahogany Forest, more commonly known as the Bilar Man-Made Forest, is a dense forest stretching two kilometres along the border of Loboc and Bilar towns in Bohol. The forest is mainly made up of white and red mahogany trees. It is part of a reforestation project started over 50 years ago that has seen the planting of over 1 million trees.
The forest was very nice and was a great initiative. What did not work was the Instagrammers. Cars were literally stopping dead, parking on blind corners, while a bunch of ‘influencers’ were laying in the middle of the road to get their photos taken. On our way back we had to slam on the brakes and very nearly squished some 20 somethings that were lying in the middle of the road.
Boodle fight
This is a term that we have heard of and had described, but until today had never experienced. A boodle fight is a Philippine military tradition where the table is laid with banana leaves and all of the food is piled up in the middle. The official version is that the soldiers gather around the table and eat while standing up without the use of cutlery.
A conversation with the owner of our hotel suggested it as an option and we jumped on the idea immediately along with the Dutch couple (Michael and Sonia). The younger ones were on a tighter budget and did not want to spend the 1000 pesos per head, we had no such qualms.
This is best done in large groups (unfortunately ours was only for 4 so the volume of food was not as visually impressive as the stock photos above). We dispensed with the standing up rule but we did eat with our fingers throughout. We opted for the seafood version that included, prawns, mussels, clams, sand crabs and a huge fish. This was accompanied by rice, fresh fruit (watermelon and mango) and washed down by one litre bottles of San Miguel Pale Pilsen.
The beaches
Bohol is an island and as you would expect there are a bunch of beaches at most of the inlets and coves. And some of them are really quite nice. As an Australian it is tough to rave over foreign beaches as, for the most part, the Aussie ones are bigger and better. But that does not detract from some very lovely little beaches. The main one is Alona Beach. This is in the heart of the tourist strip and is the launching point for island hopping tours, diving and snorkeling trips and the like. It is also the site of almost constant karaoke overpriced food and tons of touts. The beach is a couple of kilometers long but only 5-10 meters wide at most points and sometimes even less.
Doljo Beach is about 15 kilometres around from Alona Beach but is much less developed with fewer resorts. This means a quieter experience, more marine life and a 3 kilometre beach of white sand. Bolod Beach is popular among local tourists because it is a public beach with no fees. Bikini Beach is popular for the same reason as well as being the closest one to the ferry and main town (Tagbilaran City). White Beach was the closest to us but was quite similar to Alona beach in terms of the tourist hordes and the karaoke. The beach was free so had many more locals but the constant karaoke (of varying standards) was a little more than I could bear.
Ridiculous Overpricing
Having done the tourist tour we were met with some of the attempts at price gouging that we are usually immune to. The first was at the chocolate hills where they tried to send you on a 1 hr ATV or buggy ride. The price was 1000 pesos (almost $30) per person to ride a buggy or ATV around a field – they told us it was the only way to see the hills and that you could ride up the chocolate hills. These were all lies, you could not go up the chocolate hills at all, you could only ride around the paddock.
We (as a group) rejected this, and when pushed, the driver then took us one kilometer up the road to the public viewing point (that cost 100 pesos each), even here the driver tried to convince us that it was 200 each, but the honest ticket collector kept saying no 100, so he missed out on that little scam too.
A little bit later he tried to take us to lunch on floating restaurant. These are basically floating barges that offer a fixed price buffet for 850 pesos (about $25).
While this does not seem expensive this is way over virtually everything else around (by around 250%). A later check of the reviews showed that the food was terrible and massively overpriced for what you got. The 8 of us on the tour would have paid almost 7000 pesos for lunch. We (as a group) rejected this and went hunting for our driver. He was around the corner in a local cafe, that we also then went to. All 8 of us settled in, ordered food, that was really tasty, had soft drinks each and had dessert. Total bill 1090 pesos (less than $4 a head).
Tourism operators offer services and are more than entitled to earn profits and we encourage and support these at every opportunity. The actual attractions (tarsiers, butterfly garden and chocolate hills) were very reasonably priced and were excellent. They offered extra services (like selfies with the tarsiers or photos holding pythons etc) that are just good business. They are reasonably priced and they add revenue beyond the entrance fees and gift shops.
However, some of the overpriced bolt-on extras are just brazen attempts to bilk the tourists and can be obscene. Our driver and the ATV operators were both caught out lying just to extract more money.
Mactan Island
Having left Palawan and Bohol Islands we caught the ferry back to Cebu (once again seamless and comfortable). Rather than staying in Cebu we headed across the bridge to stay closer to the airport for our early morning flight the next day.
This saw us in Lapulapu City on Mactan Island (the previously mentioned site of Ferdinand Magellan’s death). It was a quick stop but an unpleasant one. The begging was off the charts. Not by the needy but by children who just saw foreigners as a soft mark. As soon as they saw a white face hordes of children had their hands out asking for money.
Well back into the capital for our last few days in Thailand. We hopped a tuk tuk to the train station in Ayutthaya, then hopped the fast train to Bangkok. This took a little over an hour and was relatively seamless, comfortable and hassle free.
Having arrived in the main train station (long distance) in Bangkok we were met with the usual throng of taxis and tuk tuks trying to get our business. We went through the usual dance and were offered a price of 450 baht to get to our hotel. Out came the phone and the Grab App that told us that we could have a driver collect and deliver us for about 250 baht. Using this as a barter point, I was willing to pay up to 300 for the convenience of leaving straight away. They came down to 400 and we ordered our car from the App.
When he arrived we loaded our bags and off we went, to the glares of the taxi drivers. Having hopped in the car the final price came down to 210 baht (the price is variable based on demand). We sat through hellish Friday afternoon Bangkok traffic to get to our hotel that was navigated expertly. We ended up tipping the driver an extra hundred baht because the traffic was so bad. Even after this we still saved almost 100 on the fare being offered by the taxis.
Once we arrived and settled into our hotel, we went for our usual acclimatisation walk around town. And we reminded ourselves that we are not fans of Bangkok. Within about a hundred meters of our hotel, we were back in the tourist sleaziness that has typified all of our previous Thailand visits. Girly bars and old blokes chasing and taking advantage of the locals.
This extended to the breakfast buffet at the hotel in the morning as well. The ladies that ‘found a friend’ for the night before were in the hotels enjoying a buffet breakfast in the same outfit that was perhaps a little more suitable at midnight than 9am.
Expensive
Having been out in the regions I cannot stress enough as to how expensive Bangkok is. The prices were astronomical, for everything, and Jill’s beloved rotis had skyrocketed to 100 baht each (1000% markup from Sukhotthai. Beers had gone from 90 to 170 baht a stubbie ($8.50), and a simple biriyani was going for $27.50 Australian (I got one biriyani in a market int Chiang Rai for 75c that included 2 chicken legs). The prices here were well over what you would pay even back home.
If you look hard
If you really try you can find some things that are not obscenely over the top in pricing. We had our first meal that night in a little street food stall on the side of the road (the usual plastic stools and dodgy carts). Now this meal everywhere else we had been would have come in at around 500 baht but here it was 760 (only a 50% markup). This was pretty good for here so that was dinner.
Heat and smog
This will be no surprise to anyone but Bangkok is hot and humid, seriously hot. Add to this the smog from millions of vehicles spewing exhaust fumes and it is pretty uncomfortable. My first foray to Bangkok was way back in 1996, and to be fair, this was my experience way back then too.
Getting around
While the traffic is chaotic, Bangkok does have a very good, cheap and efficient MRT (Metropolitan Rapid Transit) and BTS (Bangkok Mass Transit System) in operation. These are basically a Skytrain and an underground system that services most of the city. The tickets are cheap and easily purchased and there are even day passes for the sightseeing multi stop days.
The Grand Palace
The Grand Palace is the most obvious attraction to see here in Bangkok. It is free for locals and 500 baht ($25) for tourists. The ticket includes access to Wat Phra Kaew, The Royal Thai Decorations & Coins Pavilion and Queen Sirikit Museum of Textile, which are all located within the compound of the Grand Palace.
It was established in 1782 and it contains the royal and throne halls, several government offices and the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. To say this is a popular tourist attraction is an understatement. The sheer volume of people around make photographs virtually impossible without masses of people in your way. So I cheated and got the below photos from the official website.
From Sukhothai, we had to get a car back to Phitsanulok (transport hub and all) and hang around to catch the train down to Ayutthaya. This was another of those pronunciation nightmares, but with none of the odd derivations, just a mouthful. We went phonetic on the pronunciation (Ay you thay a) to find out how very wrong we were when trying to tell the train person where we wanted to get off. They pronounce it Ay yutie ya.
The train journey was fairly simple, cheap and uneventful. We did around 300km for $20 a head and it took us about 3 and a half hours. Not particularly fast, but comfortable enough with them trying to feed us (several times) on the journey.
Anyway, having got here, Ayutthaya is about 80 kilometres north of Bangkok and was the second capital of the Kingdom of Siam after Sukhothai. It is located on an island surrounded by three rivers that connect the old city to the sea. It operated as the capital from 1350 until it was razed by the Burmese in 1767. The ruins of the old city now form the, UNESCO listed , Ayutthaya Historical Park’, an archaeological site that contains palaces, Buddhist temples, monasteries and statues.
The UNESCO site claims, once an important center of global diplomacy and commerce, Ayutthaya is now an archaeological ruin, characterized by the remains of tall prang (reliquary towers) and Buddhist monasteries of monumental proportions, which give an idea of the city’s past size and the splendor of its architecture.
Being only 80 km north of Bangkok Ayutthaya is a regular location for day trippers. So if you are staying here (and I suggest that you do) go to see the temples early, add to this the fact that it is hot here and you don’t want to be trekking in the 36 degree heat of the day. By about 10am the first of the busses from Bangkok start arriving and flock towards temple one on the list.
Wat Mahathat
Wat Mahathat is one of Ayutthaya’s oldest temples, possibly built by King Boromaraja I (1370-88) and is said to have housed one of the buddha holy relics. Many important royal ceremonies of the Ayutthaya era were hosted here. When the Ayutthaya Kingdom failed in 1767, it was severely damaged by fire and abandoned.
The temple is most famous for the Buddha head situated in a Bodhi tree root. But the site now holds the remains of numerous towers and Buddhist monasteries giving modern day visitors an idea as to the size of the original city.
From the first Wat, Jill and I wandered through the rest of the place virtually alone for the next hour or so as the tourist busses only tend to hit the big three or four and then head back to Bangkok. So we saw Wat Nok, Wat Lankhadum, Wat Langkhakhao and Wat Phong without really seeing anyone else.
Wat Phra Ram
This one saw the return of some of the crowds. Its main feature is a well-proportioned prang situated on a stepped terrace adorned with chedis. Some of the prang’s stucco decorations, including Buddha images in the walking and standing poses, still remain.
Wat Phra Si Sanphet
You are in the middle of the crowds now, Wat Phra Si Sanphet is the most historically important temple in old Ayutthaya. Its three large chedis and numerous smaller ones make this wat – also known as the King’s Temple – one of the most impressive sights in the ruined city. Two of the large chedis, the eastern and central ones, were built in 1492 by King Ramathibodi II to house the ashes of his father and elder brother. His own ashes are interred in the third chedi, built in 1530 by his son and royal successor, King Boromaraja IV.
Elephant Palace and Royal Kraal
This was my favourite bit of day one and is the highlight of this palace. The front of the elephant yard is a small elephant shelter where visitors can get a picture of the elephants and even feed them. There is an opportunity for elephant rides too.
Jill’s favourite part of the day was watching a poor mahout (elephant herder) laying back on the elephant’s head while trying to capture the perfect Instagram shot for the two women riding (last photo above). I was caught fighting with a tuk tuk driver explaining why I did not a tour from him and missed the whole show, that apparently went on for ages.
Plastic is going to kill Asia
This is the first time we have seen anything this bad since India. Rubbish bins were in short supply throughout the entire town of Ayuttaya and the love of the plastic bag has created the biggest rubbish dump around. This place was a tip.
I am certain that if the appropriate receptacles were available that the Thai people would use them – but they were not. While the use of the plastic bag and takeaway meals has been ubiquitous throughout Thailand, this is the first place where litter and rubbish has been obvious.
The outer ring
Much like Cambodia, there is an inner ring and an outer ring of temples to visit. Day one we walked and ripped out about 18,000 steps, leaving us tired and weary in the 35 degree heat. So day two we hired a tuk tuk to do the outer ring.
Wat Yai Chaya Mongkol
This is the site of the reclining buddha and a stupa with a set of stairs that saw me tapping out. Jill, on the other hand, seems to have taken every set of stairs as a challenge that must be climbed. Even on a smoggy morning where there will be no view, she will climb it.
Wat Phananchoeng
The large wihan holds a 19 meter high, gilded, seated Buddha. It is a highly revered Buddha statue and is regarded as a guardian for mariners.
Wat Chai Watthana Ram
Built in 1630 by King Prasat Thong to honour his mother, Wat Chai Wattanaram was conceived as a replica of the Angkor temple. Interestingly the street around the temple is full of traditional Thai outfits that are available to rent and be dressed to the nines for photos and touring.
Wat Phukhaothong and King Naresuan the Greatmonument
King Naresuan the Great is a national hero and one of Thailand’s most revered monarchs as he liberated the country from the Burmese. His incredibly impressive tribute statue can be found a couple of kilometres to the north of the city along with another temple with an impossibly long staircase (which of course – Jill climbed).
Wat Thammikarat
This is the last of the temples that we visited. It is located in front of the ancient palace and after a fair day trekking about in 37 degree heat we decided that we were done.
Water Monitors
The water monitor (Varanus salvator) is a large lizard native to South and Southeast Asia. While walking along the waterfront we saw some small water monitors (about 50cm long) swimming through the water and resting on the branches of fallen trees. As we walked on further we saw some more examples that obviously had a ready access to a diet of human rubbish and had grown significantly bigger.
The ones we saw were huge. The Thai national parks website tells me that adults rarely exceed 1.5 – 2 m in length, but the largest specimen on record, from Sri Lanka, measured 3.21 m. The ones we saw today were every bit of 2m.
The injustice of the Roti
Roti is a typical SE Asian dessert that I have mentioned many times already. Served typically with banana, condensed milk or chocolate. It can be found at street vendors almost everywhere.
In Cambodia, they were very cheap but we hadn’t got the taste yet so we only had the one. In Chiang Mai we had another one, in Chiang Rai, well Jill has discovered a taste for them. We could get them from almost any vendor for 20 baht ($1). When we moved to Sukhothai the price had halved to 10 baht (50c) and they became a staple on our menu on the walk home. We have landed in Ayutthaya and the price is a ridiculous 50 baht ($2.50) and Jill is pouting furiously at the 500% markup and is boycotting their purchase.
OK so let’s be honest here, I had never heard of either of these two places and trying to remember them has been no easy feat. My early attempts at even trying to pronounce them have been less than stellar. The early attempts resulted in a very unhappy and uncomfortable item of poultry and a very happy local inhabitant.
Phitsanulok
Important note…the transport here from the airport to town is atrocious. We flew in via Bangkok and two plane loads arrived at the same time. Every cab in town (about 15 of them) was there to greet the plane. They filled (with the people with carry on only) and left for the 8 km journey to town, but almost none returned.
At this point I really need to stress the importance of getting, downloading and using the grab app.
From this point on you had to order your own car from the Grab or Uber apps, despite the fact that another 200 people odd are waiting to get to town. Cabs arrived and searched for the person who called them. There is no line, no queue, no order it is mayhem. We were off virtually first (seated in row 2), had our bags first (priority luggage) but were virtually the last two to leave the airport. They almost turned the lights out as we fought to get a car to town.
We finally got a car using the Grab app and got to where we wanted to be. First impressions…OK we are in the backblocks now. Phitsanulok was founded over 600 years ago and was one of the provincial centres of the Khmer Empire. Today it serves as a major transportation hub for the region with planes, trains and busses all routing through here. While this place may be a transport hub, it is a truly Thai town and there is not too much for tourists to do here.
Don’t get me wrong, it is nice but the food vendors sell food to and for locals. In plastic bags, designed to be taken home and eaten. There are very few if any tables (even the little plastic numbers) where you can sit down and eat your meal. In addition, if you have not eaten by 8pm you will not eat. Everything shuts up early and people go home. Oh, and as you head south…it gets hotter. This place is noticeably hotter than both Chiang Mai and Rai.
As you would expect, Phitsanulok has its fair share of Temples and Wats.
Wat Phra Sri Rattana Mahathat was built in 1357 and is home to the Phra Buddha Chinnarat. This is meant to be one of the most beautiful and revered Buddha statues in all of Thailand and serves as the official symbol of the Province. I get that I am a bit of a heathen, but I truly cannot tell what makes this one more beautiful than any of the thousands of others that we have seen.
The Night Bazaar, Chan Royal Palace Historical Center, and the Buddha casting factory are all nearby and if you are hunting for things to see and do then they are available.
Sukhotthai
Sukhothai and the area around it were part of the Khmer Empire until the early 13th century. When the Khmer Empire began to decline, the local population (called Siam) revolted and assumed power under the leadership of King Si Inthrathit. they called their new empire Sukhothai which literally translates to “the dawn of happiness”.
This Kingdom lasted for 200 years (1238-1438) and is credited with the invention and development of many of the unique identifying characteristics of Siamese (Thai) culture. It was the birthplace of the Thai language and where Theravada Buddhism became Thailand’s state religion. Many of the advancements have been attributed directly to King Ramkhamhaeng, who is considered the Founding Father of the Thai Nation.
Sukhothai Historical Park is the UNESCO listed) home of most of the historical elements of the early foundations of Thai culture. It is divided into 5 zones (N,S,E,W and central) with most of the elements in the central zone.
Sukhothai Historical Park covers 70 square kilometers and contains over 190 ruins which are pretty well spread out.
How much, how long and how
The cost to enter each zone is 100 Baht per person, so going to each of the 5 zones will cost a couple 1000 Baht ($50). The central zone contains most of the more impressive ruins and can be navigated on foot in a few hours (this will get your 10,000 steps up). There are options to hire bicycles and (very cool looking) electric golf buggies (that will reduce this timing) and will allow you to get to all five zones within one day.
We chose to spread our visit out over two days rather than power through and exhaust ourselves. Part of this had to do with the fact that our hotel was absolutely lovely (Foresto Sukhothai Guesthome) and warranted a bit of extra time.
So day one was on foot and took in the central zone with a day off before tackling the outer zones.
Wat Si Sawai
With this place containing the remains of Khmer rule and the onset of Thai rule, the architecture reflects this pretty well. You can clearly see the Khmer influences when you enter Wat Si Sawai with its three corncob shaped towers (prangs) and being surrounded by a wall.
Wat Mahathat
This temple was the most important royal temple in the Sukothai Kingdom. It is located right in the middle of the central zone. It is the largest of any in Sukhothai Historical Park and includes an incredibly large number of stupas, prangs (Khmer originated conical towers), and Buddha figures.
Wat Sa Si
This temple is on a small island and features a very impressive white sitting Buddha backdropped by a large chedi. And was infested by some annoying French tourists who took selfies for what seemed like forever.
Wat Sarosak
Wat Sorasak is a bell-shaped stupa on a brick base. The base of the temple is surrounded by 24 elephant heads (with torso and front legs). The remains of an assembly hall are just east of the stupa. Wat Sorasak was built about 1417 A.D.
The outer zone of temples
We had a day off from sight seeing and then got back into it to do the outer ring of temples. Due to the distances in between them walking was not a reasonable option so we invested $1.50 each to hire bicycles for the day so that we could get around to them all. As you may expect, $1.50 does not rent you a top of the line bike in terms of either, speed, gearing nor comfort.
To circumnavigate the outer ring it is about a 15-20 km loop. It is fairly safe to say that, while there are 190 different ruins, many of them are little more than piles of bricks and are not really that impressive. Having cycled this distance on a very dodgy bicycle, it is also safe to say that my arse hates me and I hate non-motorised bikes.
Despite the spiel about the different zones having fees, we only found ticket booths at the north and central zones. The rest of the time you can get about freely. We came across a school group being taught by some crazy dude dressed in a safari-style outfit which was fine but we did notice the shirt that one of the teenage girls was wearing. Not sure if the meaning (or inference) of this was known – but I’m not sure that you would not get away with this shirt in the Australian schools that I went to.
Is this the death of the tuk tuk?
Heading to the historical park the guest house owners told us to grab a tuk tuk and that it should be 150 baht one way…which it was. To return we hailed a tuk tuk and could not get a price cheaper than 200 baht despite trying to negotiate and haggle. So we rejected this, jumped on the Grab app and found that we could order an air-conditioned car that arrived within a few minutes and took us to our hotel for 130 baht.
The tuk tuk drivers (in every country) have a long history of ripping off tourists and charging ridiculously more than the locals. In India, the tourist price was about 250% the local price with some shady characters trying to charge much more, but with online apps, this world may well be changing. While we are happy to support the locals we are not happy being bilked in the process.
Apps such as Grab will tell you how much it will cost for you to get to your destination in the comfort of an air-conditioned vehicle. Surely any lesser options than these (such as tuk tuk) must be cheaper. They certainly should not be 50% more expensive, which was our experience trying to get home from the historical park.
Important note – If you are heading this way (Asia generally) the Grab transport App should be linked to alternative banking solutions (such as Wise or Revolut) so as to avoid huge bank fees and exorbitant exchange rate charges. In fact, these two are a much better way to avoid a multitude of bank fees charged by the usual banking suspects.
Travelling the world in a pre and post COVID state
