chappy Posted January 12, 2014 Share Posted January 12, 2014 Cheers Tony, as you may have noticed, I like to tap you for travelling reviews from time to time. I've no doubt that Vietnam would represent the more authentic travelling experience. I was actually planning on going there this year until budgeting reigned in my ambitions a little. Maybe next time. best bet is to do the whole sorta triangle , it's not as expensive as you'd think once you've got yourself to BKK BKK into Burma is a short flight and quiet cheap (limited routes so you have to go back out to BKK) then you can fly Air Asia up to Udan Thani .. bus or car over the friendship bridge in Laos .. Vietnam air will get you from Laos to Vietnam and around and about Vietnam as well if you dont' want to train or road trip it ... car to Chau Doc , river speedboat into Cambodia .. twin prop flight form PP to Siem Reap and then Silk Air onto Singapore for your flight home ( open jaw ticket from London so you don't have to return via BKK) Simples My 28 hour bus ride from Luang Prabang to Hanoi was one of the best and worst experiences of my life. 28 hours is decent! We were 24 hours from Hanoi to Vientiane, not a sleeper bus like the normal ones in Vietnam but a weird kind of mini bus with sort of half beds. Also we had to get out and push. Twice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dakid007 Posted January 12, 2014 Share Posted January 12, 2014 For a short 1 week break bit of sun what do people recommend? Nowhere too far as mrs is pregnant Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa4europe Posted January 12, 2014 Share Posted January 12, 2014 sharm for sun IMO it'll be hot though it'll work out cheaper that spain / greece and probably even turkey now just take time and pick a good hotel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tayls Posted January 12, 2014 Share Posted January 12, 2014 (edited) After ideas of where to take the family for the main summer holiday. We normally do a few lower priced holidays throughout the year but we've decided to a major summer holiday instead. It'll be for me, the wife, 2 kids (8 and 10 when there) and I don't really want to spend more than about £4k, but will go a bit higher for something amazing. I'd prefer something a bit longer than a week, maybe 10 days or 2 weeks. I went to the Maldives years ago and absolutely loved it. I like comfort and luxury, the wife likes sun, the kids like pools. I've been looking at the Sensatori resorts like this Does anyone have any suggestions? I know the criteria is pretty open but I'm after something I haven't yet thought of. Suggest anything please I think I mentioned the Sensatori resort in Cancun somewhere in the travel section, coulda been this thread, and I really do think it would be a great choice. It was the second Sensatori I visited having already been to the one in Crete, and this one did not disappoint either. There are so many different activities going on during the day where the reps of the resort go round inviting people to join in and play. There was beach football, volleyball, tennis, various other games in the pools. There is also a kids zone where the younger ones can go and play arcade games and air hockey and all that stuff. Also there is painting on the beach where you can decorate your own vase or whatever it is you fancy. If not then you can just relax on the private beach or around the numerous pools which they have. The only down side to the resort is that it is a good taxi ride from Cancun, probs about $60 one way. So if you wanna be at a resort that is right in the middle of town then this probably wouldn't be the best choice. There are a few excursions which I would highly recommend you do, Chichen Itza is an absolute must (if you are into seeing wonders of the world), as is a visit to Xcaret, when you return back to the hotel after these trips, you will know that you got your money's worth. The good thing about Sensatori's is that they offer about 6/7 different restaurants where you can try different flavours from around the globe. That's always quite fun and offers a little extra something in the evenings to look forward to. One of the restraunts you have to book and pay extra for but it was the most incredible and weird dining experience I have ever had, amazing. This can then be followed by the entertainment that is on offer from tribute acts, to talent shows etc etc, where you can enjoy your free drinks due to the hotel being an all inclusive resort. There is a gym and spa as well. The staff were really great, very helpful. Rooms were excellent, cleaned every day, unless you put the sign up of course. I went with my GF, and I think it came in at around £2500 and we went for 2 weeks... Highly recommend it! Edited January 12, 2014 by Tayls 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LockStockVilla Posted January 13, 2014 Share Posted January 13, 2014 Planning on hitting up Austin, Texas in late May with a couple of mates, should be a good time, I've heard many great things about Austin. The only other thing I have planned is Dublin in August to go see Penn State play UCF in the American Football, since my dad went to Penn State...I'm expecting that to be an excellent trip. Thinking about doing Bosnia/Kosovo, something a little bit different like that as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
legov Posted January 13, 2014 Share Posted January 13, 2014 (edited) I've never understood the fascination people have with Thailand. It's ok for you , you can go to the 4 floors to get banged by a lady boy but us Westerners have to travel to Thailand for it Took me a while to get that one Edit: Wait.............how did YOU get to know about the 4 floors, EH? Edited January 13, 2014 by legov Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted January 13, 2014 VT Supporter Share Posted January 13, 2014 (edited) we had a stag do in Barcelona once .. one of the group spoke decent Spanish , could do everything , even got my 3am Kebab without any salad and chilli sauce in Spanish .... and yet during a meal when he tried to order someone a glass of port , he failed .. repeatedly , even though to the best of my knowledge its the pretty much the same word (Puerto v port ? ) guess you had to be there Puerto is port as in the kind of port where a ship would be, or an air PORT. It's not the same as the drink though, which I think is "Vino de Oporto" (pronoucned "bee-no day oh-pour-toe") So if he was asking for a glass of "puerto" (pronounced "pwer-toe") then that's probably where he was running into problems. It would be like asking for a glass of airport. The spanish guy probably wouldn't have known that port is the same word for both things in English. Edited January 13, 2014 by Stevo985 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyh29 Posted January 13, 2014 Share Posted January 13, 2014 I've never understood the fascination people have with Thailand. It's ok for you , you can go to the 4 floors to get banged by a lady boy but us Westerners have to travel to Thailand for it Took me a while to get that one Edit: Wait.............how did YOU get to know about the 4 floors, EH? errrrrmm .. a friend told me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dakid007 Posted January 13, 2014 Share Posted January 13, 2014 sharm for sun IMO it'll be hot though it'll work out cheaper that spain / greece and probably even turkey now just take time and pick a good hotel Already been to Egypt, Turkey, Greece & Spain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omariqy Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 Off to Egypt (Sharm) in a couple of weeks for a lads holiday (stag do). Then going to Saudi (Mecca/Medinah) for Umrah (pilgrimage) in March then my mrs is off to South America for 6 weeks for her elective in the summer. I will be joining her for 2 and a half weeks but not sure which part yet. Probably Argentina and Brazil! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyh29 Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 (edited) I've never understood the fascination people have with Thailand. It's ok for you , you can go to the 4 floors to get banged by a lady boy but us Westerners have to travel to Thailand for it Tbh it's not a patch on Vietnam and it's beaches aren't a patch on say Mauritius or the Maldives But what it does offer is almost a package tour type holiday to somewhere exotic for those that feel they are a bit more adventurous than a week in Marbella it is also of course where wanky back packers go for their gap year after watching The Beach Edit : sorry no offence meant (Stevo ) I wasn't insulting your GF , I do understand the appeal of Thailand and why people want to go there ,I'm just having some interweb fun Went for physio on my back today .. the lady doing it I guess is mid 20's ... I've still got a bit of colour on me from my xmas holiday so we talked about travel and then she said I'd Love to go to Thailand ...and before I could ask why ,even though i sorta knew the answer , she added " I saw The Beach with Leonardo Di Caprio and thought it looked amazing and I've wanted to go there ever since " she probably can't work out why I found it so amusing Edited January 15, 2014 by tonyh29 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyh29 Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 Off to Egypt (Sharm) in a couple of weeks for a lads holiday (stag do). Then going to Saudi (Mecca/Medinah) for Umrah (pilgrimage) in March then my mrs is off to South America for 6 weeks for her elective in the summer. I will be joining her for 2 and a half weeks but not sure which part yet. Probably Argentina and Brazil! Have you done the Umrah thing before ? I'll get to Saudi at some point as it's a place I've always fancied seeing and there is even a VT member who lives there who has said he can help me with my visa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shillzz Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 I'll be staying on a liveaboard boat at 'the beach' in a few weeks. I know it's going to be rammed with Ruskies and middle class ****-ends from Europe, but I felt it was necessary. Plus there's the added bonus that it's the only boat allowed to stay in the bay overnight, so we will atleast get it to ourselves for a reasonable amount of time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyh29 Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 I'll be staying on a liveaboard boat at 'the beach' in a few weeks. I know it's going to be rammed with Ruskies and middle class ****-ends from Europe, but I felt it was necessary. Plus there's the added bonus that it's the only boat allowed to stay in the bay overnight, so we will atleast get it to ourselves for a reasonable amount of time. Boo Hiss Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shillzz Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 Fair. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyh29 Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 Good luck with the Ruskies ... they make the Aussies seem well mannered and considerate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omariqy Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 Never done Umrah. First time. Cannot wait to experience it. Saudi in its current guise is not that appealing to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zak Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 I've never understood the fascination people have with Thailand. It's ok for you , you can go to the 4 floors to get banged by a lady boy but us Westerners have to travel to Thailand for it Took me a while to get that one Edit: Wait.............how did YOU get to know about the 4 floors, EH? Think everyone knows about the 4 floors of ....! Anyway Holidays so far: a long weekend Skiing/Snowboarding with my rents in Meribel (never going to be too old to turn down a semi free trip) Mid March I have to go to New York to play lacrosse against a local club and also the Isreal team followed by Marching in St Patricks Day Parade, which I am very excited for. However over the holidays I decided I would resign from work and handed in my notice Friday. So going to push my flight forward a week and do a long weekend snowboarding in Vermont with a friend and then ill hopefully spend a week or 2 in Whistler boarding afterwards. Good Good times! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xela Posted January 15, 2014 Author Share Posted January 15, 2014 I've never understood the fascination people have with Thailand. It's ok for you , you can go to the 4 floors to get banged by a lady boy but us Westerners have to travel to Thailand for it Tbh it's not a patch on Vietnam and it's beaches aren't a patch on say Mauritius or the Maldives But what it does offer is almost a package tour type holiday to somewhere exotic for those that feel they are a bit more adventurous than a week in Marbella it is also of course where wanky back packers go for their gap year after watching The Beach Edit : sorry no offence meant (Stevo ) I wasn't insulting your GF , I do understand the appeal of Thailand and why people want to go there ,I'm just having some interweb fun Went for physio on my back today .. the lady doing it I guess is mid 20's ... I've still got a bit of colour on me from my xmas holiday so we talked about travel and then she said I'd Love to go to Thailand ...and before I could ask why ,even though i sorta knew the answer , she added " I saw The Beach with Leonardo Di Caprio and thought it looked amazing and I've wanted to go there ever since " she probably can't work out why I found it so amusing Massage from a girl in her 20's! You dirty dog you! I hope you told her Thailand was nothing like 'The Beach'? I'll be staying on a liveaboard boat at 'the beach' in a few weeks. I know it's going to be rammed with Ruskies and middle class ****-ends from Europe, but I felt it was necessary. Plus there's the added bonus that it's the only boat allowed to stay in the bay overnight, so we will atleast get it to ourselves for a reasonable amount of time. During the day the bay is rammed with boats, and that was back in 2007! I bet it will be fantastic at night though when it is deserted Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xela Posted January 15, 2014 Author Share Posted January 15, 2014 I've never understood the fascination people have with Thailand. It's ok for you , you can go to the 4 floors to get banged by a lady boy but us Westerners have to travel to Thailand for it Took me a while to get that one Edit: Wait.............how did YOU get to know about the 4 floors, EH? Think everyone knows about the 4 floors of ....! To be fair, Ipanema there is a good laugh! Just stay away from one of the ladyboy bars that me and my mate stumbled into my accident. Think it was called Crazy Horse or Wild Horses, something like that! That was an experience! Never drank a pint so quick in my life to get out of there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts