andycoll

Just finished the latest book in John Connolly's marvelous Charlie Parker series. As well as a great read it was a proper book. 690 pages, and not that weak large type and double spacing designed to turn a 200 page book into a 400 page book. You get your money's worth with this book, although as l borrowed it from the library perhaps thats not quite correct in my case.

Danang has a beach which goes on and on.

Just got a shock. Went to the toilet, flushed and go to wash my hands. No water. Wtf, I thought that was tomorrow. Go downstairs, apparently just the pump needs work.luckily as I am the only person staying here we should have enough water for tomorrow.

Yes, it's gone. I remember those days, a long time ago, when you could go from SuperGirl to SuperBaby with a pit stop at the Carousel Bar in between. Alas, now just memories.

As hinted at earlier, SuperGirl A Go Go is closed.

My gogo friend says that the new owners are the same people that run Panda, and it will be a 'Super' place for the Chinese. Believe it or not.

Just completed booking airfares for a trip later in the year. Melbourne - Colombo - Bangkok oneway, $460 AUD.

Sitting in the departure lounge at Don Monkey waiting to catch my flight to Danang.

Please let me know if the pages turned themselves.

Well, if you like the first one then you have a lot more to go, which is always a good thing.

I am in Sandakan, Borneo, for ANZAC DAY, tomorrow. Went and visited the orangutan sanctuary and Sun Bear conservation parks this morning. Unfortunately I don't know how to transfer my pictures to this tablet so can't show. The orangutan nursery was interesting, although a bit like being at a zoo. Was about a metre away from a mum and her baby whilst on the board walk which was good, although I don't think the mother was all that happy. Unfortunately I couldn't back up to a wider area for her to pass because of the people behind me so in the end she went bush. The sun bears were disappointing. Now I need to find a bar to watch the Richmond Melbourne game at. Sandakan is not a jumping place but I will try the bar at the Four Points in town.

'BORDER' by Don Winslow. The final book in the Art Keller series about the futility of the War on Drugs in North America. Excellent three book series.

Not unsurprising but disappointing nevertheless.

28 days till Patts.

Sitting at home watching a Janis Joplin doco I recorded a few days ago.

Yes I enjoy it. My problem is I keep coming up with so many ideas of where to go and what to do that I find it hard to keep up with myself. When I was working I didn't have enough time, now I'm retired I don't have enough money for everything I want to do. I am usually researching holidays a couple of trips in advance. I have to stop myself over researching things. After this I have to organize my letter of introduction for my VOA in Vietnam for my next trip and then that's it for that trip.

I'll have to pop my head in next time I'm in town to see if it's attracting a regular clientele or just the occasional passer bye.

It certainly paints a very depressing picture of life in some of the outbacks towns which have been ravaged by years of drought.

I am going there for ANZAC DAY ceremony on April 25th. I will probably visit the orangutan sanctuary and the Sun Bear center whilst there.

Just been dealing with Airasia. They sent an email telling me my flight out of Sandakan to KUL had been rescheduled to a later time which meant I would miss my flight to BKK. The flight hadn't been canceled they just moved it. So as I am in Pattaya I thought great, now I have to deal with the call center in Thailand. Luckily the lady spoke good English and I am back to my original flight, just the flight number had changed.She was very helpful, unlike the airline who could have just told everyone, same flight, different flight number. Dickheads.

Yes, something like that, I stayed a bit further north off Phan Van Dong. Myself I prefer to be closer to the beach, but that road Nguyen Van Thoai had plenty of restaurants, karaoke bars and the like. And yes, it is cheap. So yes, three days first, and then have a look around.

I stayed in two different hotels there. I would not recommend the first one, the second was the Bay Sydney Hotel, no pool but otherwise in a good area. The problem as I saw it is that there is an awful lot of construction going on as they try to cater for the tourist boom. So you might book an hotel next to a contruction site, maybe two. It might be an idea to book a room for three nights and look around while you are there if you feel a need to move. I have booked 5 nights at the Dylan Hotel for my trip in May. It is in a good area and close to the beach,also has a pool, but until I stay there I won't know how good it is. Also comes with breakfast but I found that I could get a mango smoothie and two rolls for 70000 dong after my morning walk so breakfast in the hotel is not a selling point for me.

I would recommend a trip to Danang. You can get direct flights from Bangkok with Vietjetair.com out of Swampy or Airasia.com.au out of Don Monkey. It has miles of beaches and is cheap if you wish. Hue is two hours to the north and Hoi An half an hour to the south. No real nightlife but a good break from Thailand. I went for two weeks last year and will be going again in May for two weeks.

Multitasking, reading this thread, listening to music from the 'what are you listening to now' thread, and watching, for the umpteenth time, the big battle of Gondor scene from the 'Lord of the Rings'. The charge of the Rohan never gets old, even if it is computer generated, it still brings a story I have always liked to life.

Hi everyone, I have been visiting Thailand for 34 years now. Although I have visited many places in Thailand over the years, now that I am older and lazier I tend to spend my time in Pattaya now, with more frequent visits to Vietnam as well.