I have always been curious about seeing the Death Railway ever since I saw the movie A Bridge to Far. Yes, I know the movie was filmed in Sri Lanka but the actual site by the river is well worth a visit. A few years ago while staying in Bangkok we decided to do a day trip to see the Thai-Burma Death Railway over the river Kwai. We booked with an agency at the hotel we were staying. The mini bus turned up at the appointed time and away we went. It is about 2-3 hours travel time even though it is only 80 miles from Bangkok. It could be faster but will depend on traffic congestion. The early start of around 6.30am managed to avoid the traffic in the morning but coming back was less successful with a lot of traffic congestion. We had limited time but if we did it again I would take the train as it sounds fun. We also did not have enough time to go all the way to Hellfire Pass so it would be worthwhile to stay a few nights.
The tour we choose visited the Commonwealth War Cemetery which is beautifully kept. Across the road is the Death Museum which I found very interesting and you can see how the prisoners lived during their incarceration. Then it is a short ride to the bridge where you have time to walk across it. Afterwards we took a train ride across the bridge to Wangpo. It is a lovely train ride through the countryside. We did not do the Tiger temple, boat trip or any other side trip. It was a full enough day with what we decided to do. It costs around 40 pounds each to do a tour from Bangkok. Below is a website of a tour company with good reviews.
After Vancouver we took a bus up to Chilliwack to Cultus Lake on our way to Kelowna and a lovely camp ground where there was even a 9 hole golf course (sadly that’s gone now).
Cultus Lake offers lots of water based activities and there are some lovely walks. If you’re interested, click on the link for more information about Chilliwack lake.
Okanagan – Kelowna, West Kelowna, Fintry & Killarney Beach
After a few days, we headed up to Kelowna and the West Kelowna by Lake Okanagan with my in-laws in their RV – the Dutch Flyer. Our destination was Killarney Beach where we stayed for a week chilling out and having a few parties to celebrate the milestones.
It’s a beautiful drive along this side of Okanagan Lake and often voted #1 of the most dangerous roads in Canada to drive. A few hairy bends but it is sealed all the way and has some beautiful spots to stop, in particular Fintry. If you get the chance it’s a lovely drive, just watch out for the motorcyclists whizzing by you!
The bridge from the Rambo film in the town of Hope on the way to Kelowna
The cabin by the lake
Flying the flag
View from the balcony
Great place to chill with a beer or wine
As you can see – wine & campfire!
Just click on the link to find out more about Fintry, it’s part of a provincial park and you can camp there, maybe even see a bear!
Fintry bear
Swimming in Lake Okanagan
Fintry Homestead
Have you been to Chilliwack and if you have what did you most enjoy?
I was living in Holland in 1989 and decided I wanted to go to London for a week and ended up staying over a year. It was the time of Edwina Currie and salmonella, the poll tax riots and strange pub hours. I ended up with a Chelsea library card and my local pub being the Queen Vic at the top of Earls Court Road opposite the police station. I worked for over a year at the Holland House Youth Hostel in London. The hostel is located in the middle of Holland Park and below is a link with the history of Holland House.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holland_House
It was a fun year. The hostel manager an Englishman had a rule only to hire commonwealth citizens and as a kiwi I fitted the criteria. I started in the kitchen and within a few weeks was working on reception. I am happy to stay that I have kept in touch with a lot of the people I worked with over the last quarter of a century. Peter alias Rabbit, Julia, Alastair and Kari alias Frog, Doris, Sarah, Wally and Ian via facebook. Then there are the others who have disappeared or not kept in contact and some who are still working for the YHA. Below are some stories about my time at the hostel.
Mormons
We had a group of Mormon students from Salt Lake City who when their teachers went into town one night decided to drink themselves senseless. Ian another staff member and I had to go up and quiet them down and of course confiscate their alcohol with me saying loudly it would all be poured down the drain and their behaviour reported to the missing teachers. So with several bottles of booze we went downstairs to the lounge and while Ian went to the bathroom I told everyone we were going to have some free drinks. He came in sat down sans bottles of booze and I said where is the booze, he said I poured it down the drain like you said. There was stunned silence and then the penny dropped. Oh you just said that. But the story does not end there. The next day the cleaners told me that all the duvets were missing from the Mormon dorm. This puzzled us and then I had the idea since they were on a cycling tour perhaps they had used the duvets when packing their bikes. Happily their luggage was still there as they were checking out in the evening. Low and behold they had used them as padding. We banned all future Mormon student groups from that particular school staying at the hostel.
Buck, Beaujolasis and me
Buck was the most neurotic dog I ever knew. He was the guard dog and had a habit of biting anyone without warning. Especially if he sensed fear or if you were in my view a nasty person.
Back then I liked a drink. Every year France rushes to launch Beaujolais wine. It is on the third Thursday of November. We had a new manager then who was hated by everyone so to improve staff relations he bought a dozen bottles of the above wine. I was on the 3-11pm shift and had not eaten that day but did know about the free booze. Peter a good friend said as I was going down to dinner that there was only one bottle of the wine left. Naturally I rushed to the staffroom to find he had lied and there were plenty but since I was there who needed food. Foolishly, I only had around 45 minutes for dinner which was completely liquid. Returning to reception I was a little sozzled. Frog my supervisor that night and could see I was a little squiffy so told me to go to the back office and have a nap. Enter Buck the Youth Hostel German Shepherd a dog who had been their years and never outside and so was a little insane. Also a great judge of character, our new manager he immediately growled at and hated on sight. Saying that Buck bit everyone except me we sort of clicked. So back to Buck who had kindly let me sleep in his basket in the back office where he lived. At the end of the shift he would not let anyone go near me as I slept. In the end he woke me up licking my face and I went to bed. Getting up the next morning hangover and quite unwell to fly Greece for a few weeks holiday.
I looked like Death warmed up. After a flight where I was lucky to keep everything down and on arrival at Athens airport looking absolutely awful. Customs looked at me smiled and said welcome to Greece and I was allowed to go through with no problems. In contrast, my sober, clean shaven, tidy Australian mate Peter was detained and interrogated while I waited for him in arrivals. Greece was an interesting trip, I might write about it again later and how we were mistaken for a gay couple and I was told I could do so much better! On our return to England we spent a few more months working at the hostel and then myself, Peter and Ian left. The sad thing is the new manager sneaked in and took Buck to the vet and had him put down. Karma is a bitch though as his true colours were revealed later and he was dismissed for misconduct.
The Circle Line Pub Crawl
We decided to do the circle line pub crawl, the first time was a disaster. No reconnaissance or finding the pubs closest to the tube stop. Suffice to say it was messy. The second time, there was Rodney the Australian who decided to drink beer at each of the 27 stops. He did last until the 21st and then we had to take him home. My advice for anyone wanting to do this pub crawl is to stick to shots.
Why I was vegetarian for a year and green sausages?
One morning when I was on reception there was a panicked phone call from the chef saying the sausages were green. I went down to look and sure enough the cooked sausages had turned green. Me and the chef stared at them and I told him to tell the punters that it was a celebration of all things Irish. I never ate meat in England for the remainder of my time while at Holland House.
A Pirate Ship
HMS Belfast was once offered to the YHA as a hostel. The ship is now a major tourist attraction on the Thames. There is a link below about the HMS Belfast.
http://www.iwm.org.uk/visits/hms-belfast
Sadly the cost to refurbish the ship was too expensive and the offer turned down. Increasing demand did result in a decision to build a new hostel in London at Rotherhithe. After completing it someone at a management meeting pointed out that the public transport to that location at that time did not run after 9pm. No one had bothered to check that until after it was built!
I will write a few more stories about my Youth Hostel days including our reunion in Eden Australia and how I ran over a dead kangaroo, the staff house in Baron Courts Road, a holiday on Crete and the day the old manager literally actually took the kitchen sink with him when he left and his going away celebration care of Harrods.
It was nice to arrive back in New Zealand in November 2010 although a bit odd that my Canadian in-laws, Joe and Inga, met us at Christchurch airport.
I’m a kiwi and it should have been the other way around except that we now live in the UK. Our 1st stop was a Best Western Hotel near the airport and then dinner at Annie’s Wine Bar at the Arts Centre in central Christchurch. Sadly it has now closed due to the damage by the earthquake.
The next day we drove to the West Coast stopping at Castle Rock which is an area famous for rock bouldering. Another claim to fame is the Dalia Lama named it in 2002 a Spiritual Center of the Universe.
If you are up for a little adventure just a few kilometres up the road is the Cave Creek Reserve where you can get your feet wet and walk through a cave.
Arthur’s Pass
Next stop was Arthur’s Pass where I have done a few tramps or hikes and where I have many happy memories, including surviving being swept downstream in a river.
I introduced my in-laws and wife to the Charlie Chaplin of the bird world or better known as the New Zealand Alpine Parrot the Kea. Famous for its clown walk, curiosity and a beak that can do a lot damage to fingers.
A Story…
They also can be highly amusing, I remember 1 tramping trip at 3 am in the morning hearing banging outside our hut and finding a Kea hitting the corrugated WC or long drop roof with a stick.
When I was at university I helped a friend catch them to test their blood, he was doing a post-graduate on lead poisoning in Kea. Such a cheeky bird.
After our entertainment from the Kea we drove via Lake Brunner to the Punakiki Pancake rocks.
Punakiki Pancake rocks, west coast
The West Coast of the South Island
We stayed at a lovely motor camp just down the road from Punakiki.
It was the place my wife and her parents were introduction to the New Zealand sandfly and their realisation why we were the only ones on the beach at a picnic table. No hobbits seen probably avoiding the sandflys.
The next day we leisurely drove down the coast stopping for lunch at Greymouth and eventually ending up at Fox Glacier.
Fox Glacier
I was sad to see how developed and horrible Franz Josef had become since I last visited and much prefer Fox Glacier. We stayed the night at Fox Glacier and had a lovely meal at the Mattheson Café with a view of Mt Cook in the distance. Reviews of the 1st two places we stayed at are here and here.
It was lovely to walk up to the glacier at Fox and to soak in the scenery as we drove down to Wanaka over the Haast Pass. After a short lunch break at Wanaka we then drove over 1 of the most scenic highways in New Zealand, the Cadrona Highway with a short stop at the Cadrona Pub before heading down to Arrowtown.
Fox Glacier
Why we stayed in Arrowtown
I didn’t want to stay in Queenstown as it’s just a horrible place to stay. The activities and scenery are fantastic but the over development is there for all to see.
In contrast, Arrowtown which is nearby becomes an oasis of peace and is quite lovely after the tour buses leave in the late afternoon. I did some research and we managed to stay at the best accommodation we encountered on our travels in terms of quirkiness and hospitality of the hosts. It is an 1875 old miners cottage with 2 bedrooms and a spa bath, the link is here. We stayed a few days in Arrowtown and my wife Debbie did a shotover rafting trip.
We then went on to Te Anau as a base to go to Milford Sound which we did on a gloriously fine day. It is around a 2 and a half hour drive to the Milford Sound from Te Anau and we went early to avoid the 1st buses arriving from Queenstown.
The boat tour was good with sightings of dolphins and some yellow eyed penguins as well as the scenery.
In Te Anau, on our return, we did a night tour to look at the glow-worm caves across the lake. However, it was a bad year and the glow worms were less than glowing.
How low can you go?
My father in law wanted to get as close to Antarctica as he could so we drove down to the bottom of the South Island to a place called Bluff.
Then we went via the Catlins Park on the East Coast to see New Zealand’s Niagara Falls. We stayed the night at Tokanui close by to Curio Bay which has a petrified forest on the beach and you can also see Yellow eyed penguins. Here is a review of the place we stayed.
Up the East Coast
The next day we stopped at another lovely spot, Oamaru. Famous for the Oamaru Blue Penguin Colony where you can see the little waddlers return around twilight to their nests for the night. It’s quite comical to watch and looks like a Penguin Normandy landing invasion. It’s a paid attraction and you sit in a little stand and bang on time from a few to dozens of penguins arrive on the beach and clamber up to their nests. For more information about the penguins click here.
Debbie loved them so much, she wrote a song about them:
Dunedin was next and then the famous Moeraki boulders where again no hobbits were seen. We then spent a few days in Christchurch and a drive out to Akaroa, New Zealand’s only bit of French culture. Then we drove up via Kaikoura to Picton and the ferry to Wellington.
So ends Part 1 of our search for Hobbits which had been a complete failure.
We were lucky enough to spend 10 days here in 2009. It is a couple of hours from Bangkok by car or you could take the train. There are several trains a day leaving from Bangkok’s Hua Lamphong Station. The train takes around four hours to cover the 120 miles from Bangkok. We stayed at a beautiful spot near the town and surprisingly a quiet little oasis. The hotel is located away from the busy main resorts on the other side of the town.
Where we stayed
We stayed at the Putahracsa Hotel for 9 nights at the end of August and early September in an Ocean villa. The hotel is split in two with a road to cross to get to the beach which is the side we stayed. This was not a problem. The villa had a lovely private outside space and a jacuzzi which runs on cold water too! The food was fantastic and we had several evening meals overlooking the beach. What was great is watching the lightning storms as well as the bizarre sight of several naval vessels lit up like Xmas trees. They are their to protect the King who resides just five hundred metres up the beach. We spent a lot of time by the pool which we had mostly to ourselves and the staff provided brilliant service.The hotel provided complimentary wireless which was great for keeping in touch with people.One small gripe I is that breakfast was not included in the room price so we found a place in Hua Hin which allowed you to make up your own breakfast called Sweet Oasis. Just turn left as you come out from the hotel on the ocean side of the road and turn left at the first road you come to and Sweet Oasis is around 50 metres on the right side of the road. My wife was unwell so we took it mostly easy beside the pool aside from one trip. My trip review of the hotel is below:
A few tips are the hotel provides a golf cart to take you into Hua Hin one way which does save a bit of time walking in the heat. It not that far to walk around 10 minutes or so. My wife and I had several foot massages which were wonderful in several places in Hua Hin costing between 200-300 Baht or around five pounds. In the town we wandered around a lot and ate at several restaurants during our stay and visited the Hua Hin Night Market a few times. Of course there is the beach although it is a bit crowded along the resorts and their pools were extremely busy. We were so happy we stayed where we were as it was like a little oasis with the pool mostly to ourselves.
We visited the famous Phraya Nakhon cave in Khao Sam Roi Yot Marine National Park. It was a great day trip and not hard to climb the 430 odd steps to the cave from the beach. An excellent description of how to get to the caves is described in the blog below:
Love it or hate it the era of trip advisor has arrived. Last week trip advisor sent me an email telling me that I was the second highest contributor in Brighton which surprised me. I thought there would be others who had made a lot more contributions or reviews. It seems a long time ago when I started to write reviews in 2008. I decided under the name of KiwiinBrighton to start writing reviews about the hotels I stayed, restaurants and some of the attractions we visited. I decided to write a review more for myself as I traveled a lot and wanted to remember which hotels and restaurants I stayed at which were nice and vice versa. A particularly bad hotel stay in Paris was the catalyst which got me reviewing. The bed was as soft as melted butter and the size of the room even by European standards was designed for Hobbits.
Seven years later I am glad that I started writing reviews. The honest reason I did it was all hotels seem to blend into one and I would forget whether they were bad or good. This happened with the one in Paris and I did not want to stay there again. I traveled a lot and after a period of time forgot where I had stayed or restaurant I ate at in a city and whether it had been good. Trip advisor was a great tool to keep track of the good, the bad and the ugly. 583 reviews later it is great to look back and have a record of my trips that I can return to and decide where I might stay in a particular city. It also awakens happy memories of both leisure and business travel.
The Good
Lovely bed in South Africa
The biggest value is that I am finding it so useful when writing content for our blog Bridgethetravelgap.com and link back to reviews of hotels where I have stayed at during my travels. Travel forums are also useful and I have had some wonderful advice on particular subjects. I used them last year during our round the world trip for topics on RVs in North America and routes to a good company to swim with manatee in Florida. It is also quite nice to get a like for a review and people show some appreciation.
The Bad
There are a lot of fake reviews on trip advisor. However, there are three rules that I follow which I find help exclude the fakers.
Rule 1
If the reviewer has not written more than 25 reviews then ignore them.
Rule 2
Fake reviewers use similar or identical wording and it stands out.
Soft mattress I hate them
Rule 3
One bad review that contrasts with all the other reviewers is either a fake or that person is just a complainer or was unlucky.
Rule 4
Do not necessarily go for the top rated place. On our travels we went for numbers between 15-30 and it turned out a good strategy in finding some lovely places to stay.
Follow these rules and you should find the reviews useful first hand information sources about restaurants, hotels and attractions.
The Ugly
The cost is where I find the ugly parts of trip advisor. The claims of discounts, special deals with the booking provider or last minute should all be taken with a pinch of salt. Yes you will get a good deal sometimes. I have found that getting a discount normally means you get the boom boom room above the disco, the room facing the brick wall of the building nearby, the room beside the breakfast room or my particular favourite the one beside the noisy elevator.
In terms of the links to different booking websites I used them when booking business travel and get a slightly better room. However, with leisure travel when I pay myself, I contact the hotel directly. Normally if your polite, friendly and t is a family run hotel or smaller one you will get a better price. You also can tell the hotel directly what you prefer such as a room not near the elevator or one with a firm mattress. This does not work with chain hotels you have to be a member of one of the many clubs. However for independent hotels it does work and you will get a better room.
You can get a better room with a chain but it will have to be when you get there and after lots of complaining based on genuine problems. This happened once in Bangkok where we were shown two rooms with each have something wrong. The first one the safe did not work and I needed it for business documents, they tried to fix it but failed. The second there was literally a disco above us and we had just arrived after a 12 hour flight from the UK. In the end they upgraded us to the top floor in a corner suite where we also had access to the lounge for 11 nights which was lovely and unexpected. Thank you Amari Watergate Hotel.
Hence, my little hotel routine which drives my wife nuts sometimes when we get to a hotel as I will first go and check the room while she waits in the lobby. Several times this has resulted in upgrades or just a better room. I check several things including the mattress it has to be firm, a working safe, water pressure there is nothing worse than shower with no pressure, the view if we arrive during the day and the general state of the room.
Our coming trip of a year round the world will be different as we will be staying at Airbnb, hostels and also hotels. I will be using trip advisor as a useful tool to find the good and avoid the bad and ugly. Again if you want to see some of my reviews they can be seen at kiwiinbrighton
I always enjoy visiting Bangkok. The people, food, culture and temples are wonderful. I have been lucky in being able to visit Bangkok several times as a budget traveller and also for work. I have some lovely memories of Bangkok and only wished I had invested in a better camera. One thing I have noticed over the years is how transportation has improved compared to other Asian cities in particular Manila in the Philippines which never seems to improve and only get worse. The recent addition of the sky train is wonderful and is brilliant in being able to avoid the traffic congestion from the airport.
Where we have stayed
The last time I visited was in early 2012 for work and I spent 10 nights in Bangkok. I stayed at the Royal Orchid Sheraton Hotel Towers beside the river. My review of it is below. It is beside the river, has a great breakfast buffet and near the terminal where the dining river cruises depart.
Below are also a couple of other hotels I have stayed at in Bangkok including the Best Western Premier Amaranth Suvarnabhumi hotel with a lovely pool. The hotel is convenient to the airport and ideal if you have a short stopover.
Another hotel we have stayed at the Amari Watergate Hotel for 11 nights in 2009. This hotel is near the Central Mall with lots of shop and if you want to have a great view of the city go to the 55th floor where their is a nice bar.
The top five things I would recommend to do in Bangkok.
The Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaeo Palace and if you can arrive by the river taxi. Ignore anyone that tells you that it is closed it is not. Make sure you see the Emerald Buddha
The Wat Arun or Temple of Dawn and do try and see it from the river. There is a great view from the top of the temple but be warned the steps are steep.
Wat Pho to see the reclining Buddha and if you feel brave a traditional Thai massage
Hire one of the long boats and do a river tour. It is a great way to see another side of Bangkok and I always use the river taxi’s as that is the quickest way to get around Bangkok for places beside the river.
Enjoy the food it is glorious.
Wat Arun
Wat Arun view of the river
Feeding the fishes on the river from along tail boat
Long tail boat race
Loved the sign as no one ever wears a life jacket on the river taxi’s
I have visited Singapore several times and always enjoy the experience. It’s a city where you can always find something new to see or do. The food is excellent as well. In 2010 with my wife, we stayed four nights and managed during my downtime to have a Singapore Sling at Raffles, go to the Zoo to do the night safari tour and enjoy several delicious meals. We stayed at the Swissotel in Merchant Court.
In November 2013 we stayed at the Ambassador Transit Hotel Singapore Changi Airport during a stopover from Australia. The hotel is ideal for an eight-hour break with access to a pool. We had a windowless room which was fine for sleeping and even had time to enjoy the pool.
Top 5 things to do in Singapore
The top five things I recommend to do in Singapore.
1 Just go for a walk down Orchard Road and check out the shops. The road is just over 2 kilometres long with lots of places to stop and eat or have a drink.
2 Visit the Singapore zoo and night safari and the Jurong Bird park nearby. I also would suggest you eat before you go as the food options there are awful. If you feel brave have the little fishes clean up the dead skin from your feet.
Close to Amsterdam is Utrecht city a hidden gem. I have been to this compact city several times. The city is 30 minutes by train from Amsterdam and the same amount of time from Schiphol. It is a lovely small city with canals and ideal for walking. The centre of the city is a short walk from the station, just head for the bell tower. It is also like all Dutch towns well signposted.
Utrecht is an ideal day trip or alternative place to stay from busy Amsterdam. If hotels are full in Amsterdam and you want to be close then Utrecht is ideal. Similar to Amsterdam there are lots of canals, museums, parks and things to do. It is a short walk from Utrecht train station to the Dom Tower, Netherlands highest bell tower and the centre of town. To check out train times you can look up the train timetable
Where we stayedt
We pushed the boat out a bit and stayed at the Grand Hotel V Karel in Utrecht. It is a lovely hotel with an excellent breakfast and beautiful grounds. It is only a five or so minute walk to the centre of town and has some lovely gardens and fountain.
What to do in Utrecht?
A couple of things to do in Utrecht are to climb the 450 odd steps to the top of the Dom Tower to get a wonderful view of the city. It is the tallest church tower in the Netherlands around 112 metres high and on a clear day you can see Rotterdam. The second thing to do is take a relaxing canal ride. The circular route is worthwhile to get your bearings. There are also many museums to visit or you can just find a café beside a canal and watch the world go by. An alternative is to just wander around the city streets or enjoy the flower market.
My wife and I had a visit to Texel Island in the Netherlands in August 2011. I would love to return again one day to further explore and enjoy the island. It is the largest of the Wadden Islands and first of a chain of small islands north of the city of Den Helder. Texel is around 25 km long and 9 km wide and a major resting place for birds during the migration season. It also is ideal for cycling and walking.
Map of the Island
The Lighthouse
Where we stayed
The Island caters for tourism so there are many accommodation options from camping to hotels. We stayed at the Hotel de Strandplevier in De Koog. The hotel is located near the town and a wide range of restaurants. They also hire bicycles at the hotel which is convenient. We had a great time exploring the island by cycling around it and there is plenty to do especially if you like birdlife. Texel was also the location of one of the last battles in the second world war. There is a museum and also several sites you can visit associated with the battle and the war. There also is a great bus service if you want to travel around the island.
Getting there
We took the train from Amsterdam to Den Helder, then a short bus ride to the ferry which costs 2.50 euros return per person and takes around 20 minutes to get to Texel. From there you can link with a bus to De Koog or the town you are staying and then I would suggest hiring a bike.
What to do on Texel?
If your a birdwatcher this is paradise with a wide variety of birdlife including Avocets, Black-headed Gulls, Black-tailed Godwits, Brent geese, Common Gulls, Cormorants, Herring Gulls, Jackdaws, Pied wagtail Lapwings, Sandwich Terns and Shellducks. Another good place to visit especially if you have kids is Ecomare which is the oldest seal sanctuary in Europe. It also has a range of other wildlife.
Regretfully my camera was rubbish for bird photos, however I did take a few other ones.
Windmill on Texel
Interesting house design
Northern most town
Lots of cafes to stop for cake and beer
Wide open spaces
Getting nearer to the lighthouse
A useful resource is the VVV website that lists what is to do on the Island throughout the year.
