Offtolivetheworld

Day eight and we are packed and ready for our trip around the country.
We wished Thomas a happy birthday and thanked them both for the warmest hospitality and their kindness to us. We really had not planned on staying so long but we so enjoyed their company and plans they made for us to see and go to places we would not have, had we not stayed the extra time.
But we must leave them to get on with their lives and we must use our rail pass to see this country in all its winter magic.
Our first destination Dresden.

It’s a picturesque trip through the German countryside passing green fields and romantic looking villages and towns on the way. The ICE train is easy to use and with a dining carriage should you need refreshments it’s a very pleasant way to travel.

We have booked two nights at Sax Imperial villa. It’s even more impressive when we arrive than the photos online and we feel we’ve hit the jackpot.

The tram ride here gave us a sense of how stunning Dresden is and the area we’re staying is gobsmacking with gorgeous mansions and buildings.

Our room is on the third floor and in the attic space, it’s big, clean, comfortable and even has a heated bath. There is a window on each side with views of a skating ring that is lit up at night.

We ventured over and were in awe of the space around the rink. Lots of great things for all ages to enjoy as well as the skating.

We treated ourselves to a delicious Italian meal in the town and walked around afterwards to get a feel for the town and walk some of that pasta off.

A very happy couple fell asleep excited for the next day.

We caught the tram into the city via a stop to try and sort out a SIM card we had purchased. It’s proving to be more of a headache than it’s worth so we decided not to spend anymore of our precious time on it and just enjoy the day.

To say Dresden is impressive is an understatement!

We were just floored by its beauty and majesty.

Returning into the heart of the city, we mooched around quite happily absorbing all the atmosphere and had a few tastes of things to eat before we decided to head back to our hotel to relax and prepare for our trip to Berlin via a stop at Leipzig the next day.

Dresden deserves more time and is one we will put on our want to return to list.

A fairly early start for us the next morning as we had a 9:13 am train to Leipzig, where we planned to stay from 10:30 am till 5:15 pm before getting train onto Berlin.

Leipzig turns out to be another picturesque city with Christmas markets all around the central heart of the city.

The train station is huge and had lockers so we were able to leave the backpack with most of our stuff in there and just trot around with our light weight day packs.

The station is also integrated with a fairly large shopping centre so good if you need anything before heading out into the cold and snow.

We had a great day wandering around trying different things to eat at the markets, checking out some old churches, looking at some of the shops as well as a few good breaks as it’s quite hard work walking around all day in boots and a million layers. We would definitely come to Leipzig again.

The train is just over an hour from there to Berlin and we found the local train we needed to our hotel pretty easily and were once again thrilled when we alighted to see we were in a beautiful part of Berlin with lots of restaurants and gorgeous wide streets. Our hotel is great and much better than we could have hoped for at the price, around €52 a night.

A hot bath to thaw ourselves out and a beer from the vending machine down the hall and we were ready to call it a day, another great day!

We didn’t rush the next morning and stopped at a bakery for coffee and croissant before taking to the street to walk to a few places we had circled on a map. But we came across a city tour bus that was such great value for three days and would take us to all the places we had marked on our map we signed up and hopped on.

We’ve been to Berlin before so some of the tourists must sees we’ve done, but we enjoyed driving past them again. We jumped off at the Christmas markets in Gendarmenmarkt, again at the flea market and finally at Schloss Charlottenburg for the Christmas markets there. Really beautiful locations for the Christmas markets once again and a little bit of snow helps the mood. We’ve been trying something different to eat each day so getting through most of the traditional German treats.

Even found a little Kiwi family at the market.

We got off the bus about 4:30 pm up the street from our hotel. It was already dark as sun down 4 pm. James saw a sign for a museum about the story of Berlin which was open till 8 pm so we decided we’d spend the last of our day out exploring the museum and taking the tour they offered to an underground bunker which was built in the fifties in the time of the Cold War and threat of atomic bombs.

Thoroughly informative and interesting museum and two and a half hours well spent. Time for home a bath and another beer from that vending machine before ticking that day off.

Woke up on Monday the 11th December and just couldn’t jump out of bed, my legs still felt tired, but after a little lie in we got up and headed off. Our second day of the city circle bus tour was going to be the purple line aka the Old East German line. After our fairly late start and had to travel on the yellow till stop 8 to catch stop 1 of the purple we then got off at the purple 2 to find brunch. Actually this turned out to be a really nice area and we took longer walking around here because it was such an attractive area to be in the Hackescher market area and you could also walk to the river area also which we did.

This tour takes you past the Berlin Wall memorial and also the east side gallery where around 100 slabs of the wall were painted on by famous artists after the 1989 reunification.

There are a ton of museums and art galleries to be seen here in Berlin and we have already decided that we will be coming back to Germany for a more extended stay.

We have planned to go on the tour bus tomorrow and check out the DDR museum, walk the top of the Brandenburger Tor and also the Victory hcolumn.

Having been exposed to the World War Two memorabilia on our tour of Russia and Northern capitals tour in 2012. We have mostly kept away from that line of sightseeing this trip.

We alighted from the tour bus in the dark although it was only 4:30 pm and strolled the beautiful Christmas markets near Kaiser Wilhelm-Gedachtniskirche.

The cityscape around this area that leads to where we are staying is lit up with Christmas lights all down the centre of the wide boulevards and buildings lining them, it’s a remarkable scene and truly glad we got to see it.

Back home it’s bath, clothes washing and checking out the map for our day tomorrow before bed, oh and a beer too, this time from the supermarket.

Our last day in Berlin and we headed off to catch the bus earlier than the last two mornings after a breakfast at the hotel, which to be fair was good value at under 10€ each.

We got to the DDR museum and enjoyed a few good hours there. This is well worth the visit and plenty of information and had fun sitting in the Trabbi car with a simulator drive around East Germany, quite a few lol moments.

Next stop was to climb the dome on the Brandenburger Tor which is free, but when we got there we found out you had to make a booking 😦 oh well next time.

So onto the victory column and it’s now 3 pm and definitely the day is closing in, it’s dark by 4 pm now. 270 steps lead us to the top with some great views all round the city.

A little out of my comfort zone but doing ok till the wind picked up and I was quite happy to make my way back down again.

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We took the bus round to the uniqlo store where I bought a neck muff like the one James bought from there the day before. It’s so much warmer and less scratchy than my Marino neck muff. Unfortunately on the way home I lost my grey beret but never mind I quite fancy one of those wool hats with the fur Pom poms on.

We stopped at Lidl a local supermarket and bought a six pack of water, a bottle of red, 3 cans of beer a large packet of chips and a bar of chocolate for €7.49, what a bargain.

We’ve really enjoyed Berlin again and definitely will be back. So so so much to do here.

Had our our private seating area on the train which with glass doors and windows on both sides gave us a terrific view of the countryside as we travelled from Berlin to Hamburg.

Fairly quick trip at about 1 hour 40 minutes and we arrived to snow/rain to a pretty ordinary part of the city as we walked to our accommodation just minutes away.

Once settled there we went off exploring and found that though we are on the wrong side of the tracks it’s only about 100 metres to the right side and some great historical buildings and Christmas markets stretching for quite some distance.

Hamburg is the second largest city in Germany and a big port city.

The Rathaus or council building is a big WOW and hoping to make the tour on Friday before heading black to Frankfurt.

James got his hair cut by a guy who travelled from Ghana at 23 on his own.

His parents were surprised when he called them to tell them he was in Germany! Umm yeah you think… He’s now 51.

Having a shared kitchenette at our hotel with only one other room we went and bought a few things to have over the next few days.

We spent the one whole day we had in Hamburg just walking around the city, there was plenty of things to see and lots of markets all through the streets and along the waterfront.

We walked around the indoor botanical gardens, waterfront parks, bombed cathedral ruins and had a pretty full day of it.

Back at our kitchen we cooked up chilli con carne with the rest of a baguette we’d bought earlier and had fresh fruit salad and yogurt after.

Our train to Frankfurt on the 15 th (our grandsons 9th birthday) wasn’t till nearly 3:30 pm so we packed up and left the big back pack in a locker at the station and headed off for our tour of the Rathaus which was spectacular. 647 rooms is pretty big and obviously we only saw a handful but really impressive.

We strolled around after the tour and were quite ready to sit down on the train when it was time to leave for Frankfurt. We didn’t see everything but we enjoyed our time.

Our wonderful friends Andrea and Thomas met us at the station and after a quick visit to Aldi we were home, eating dinner and drinking wine swapping stories of each couples past week.

It was a very sad farewell for us when the next morning they dropped us off so we could catch our train to Munich and our next adventures.

It was a very scenic and friendly trip to Munich as we shared our private compartment on the train with a lovely couple from the USA who were on their way to Nuremberg to catch up with friends for the weekend. They are based in Brussels and have an interesting life travelling the world as he works with NATO.

Now that we’re experienced with the German public transport it didn’t take us long to find our local train then bus needed to our hotel.

After settling in we went for a walk and found a shop to buy a few things and a Greek restaurant where we enjoyed a great meal before heading back to hotel for clothes washing, baths, internet searching and sleep.

It snowed most of the next day which makes everything pretty and we had a massive day walking around the city starting at Marienplatz. So many beautiful buildings etc that the day went fairly quickly and it was dark by the time we arrived back at our hotel.

Sooo Monday the 18th December was our day for Neuschwanstein Castle.

We had an early start leaving our hotel just on 7am. It was still dark but we were excited and looking forward to a great day.

It didn’t disappoint. Our tour was through Mikes bike tours, not that we took a bike, but a very comfortable coach along with 44 other people we had several great stops along the way. One to see King Ludwigs palace called Linderhof where he spent most of his remaining days and was found dead at 40 in the lake. The super enchanting town Oberammergau and of course the biggie Neuschwanstein.

Everything about this day was superb and the guide Sigmund was fantastic.

We ate the best apple strudel ever in Oberammergau and strolled the snowy streets taking in all the cute as a chocolate box buildings, lots of shops selling quality souvenirs and goods plus some lovely cafes and bakeries.

The scenery on the way was outstanding, with the Bavarian fields,villages, forests and alps all covered in icing sugar snow.

The Castle itself is set in the most exquisite setting and now having seen it wrapped in its winter coat will definitely be back to see it in all its other seasonal glory, whether that be spring, summer or autumn it sure to be a pleaser.

The bus left at 9 am in the morning and it was after 7pm when we returned to Munich. We went to Marienplatz and had fish and chips at the Christmas market before heading back to our hotel. Tired but happy yet again.

Tuesday 19th December, wow Christmas is so close and it’s really weird we have seen a trillion Christmas trees, decorations, drunk gluhwein, ate every kind of German Christmas food and gingerbread and we still don’t have a Christmas tree or decoration of our own or bought and wrapped a Christmas present.

We decided to use our last day of our German rail pass and go to Nuremberg for the day. WHAT A CITY! steeped in history and still with quite a bit of their walled city fortifications in place and a magnificent castle at one end of town this place is a spectacular eyeful for tourists. We spent several hours going through the castle and surrounding areas, photos just don’t do these places justice and every now and again I’d love to get a drone shot. :

The markets we glided through as we are back here on a stopover on the way to Prague. I did see there are some dungeons and a toy museum which also could be a couple of completely different sites to visit.

Pretty much called it a day as the afternoon started to settle into its closure and once we hopped off our local bus near our hotel ducked into an Italian restaurant right next door for some pasta before settling in to repack our bags and prepare for our move to next hotel as we meet the group we will be travelling with tomorrow night on our eight night Cosmos tour.

We look forward to sharing some time with other travellers for a few days.

After a day doing not too much except the Deutsches Museum and moving to the hotel our tour was leaving from it seemed to be 6pm and time to meet the tour director and other tour members for a quick run down on a few housekeeping issues for the trip. After the quick meeting James and I headed back to the Greek restaurant close by for our last meal. They treated us to a nip of ouzo at the end of our meal and wished us safe travels so that was a pleasant end to our stay in Munich.

GERMANY.

How can you possibly explain how much you appreciate people getting out of their beds and picking you up from an airport before it’s even sunrise!

Our plan had been to call Andrea and Thomas once we had our bags so they didn’t have to wait for us unnecessarily at the airport, but after we had picked up our bags and went through to the departure area to call them we were thrilled to see the beautiful face of Andrea waiting for us.

After big hugs we went and met Thomas at their super flash Tesla car and drove to their equally gorgeous home, stopping on the way to buy fresh out of the oven rolls and pretzels for a traditional German breakfast.

Along with the rolls, there was cold meats, cheeses, salad and grapes and coffee!

Having flown overnight on Cathay Pacific in premium Economy, with decent seats and a champagne and a couple of sleeping tablets I felt pretty rested, although James said he didn’t have such a great sleep and he’d had 4 tablets!

But when Andrea and Thomas said, hey it’s looking good outside, contrary to weather reports let’s go drive up the mountain and see if the snow has stayed on the mountain, we couldn’t get in their car fast enough.

Unbelievably not only had the snow stayed, it snowed while we walked through the forest to the restaurant for hot chocolate.

The scenery was pure Christmas card magic. And the snow on the tree branches was just so pretty, some reminded us of coral.

We couldn’t have been more excited and thrilled, it really doesn’t normally snow till January so for this to happen on the last day of November and our first day here, was like our dream come true.

Back home and a bowl of homemade chestnut soup inside us, we had a little rest till we were called to get ready to go to the local town Christmas market, it is on only one weekend a year, from the Thursday till the Sunday and it just happened today was the week it was on.

It was an easy walk and we started in the medieval part of the market where the stall holders were dressed in costume.

Totally delightful and after a few different warm wines and little treats we were rewarded with a little bit more snow.

What a top day.

Day two, we went walking through the town with Thomas before meeting Andrea who was at the dentist.

The town is so quaint, a real village atmosphere, with plenty of old Tudor style homes and a lake that freezes enough for ice skating.

That afternoon we drove into Frankfurt for the Christmas markets there.

They are huge and this year boasts the tallest Christmas tree.

We caught up with friends of Andrea and Thomas’s, Christian and Petra. A lovely couple who were also good enough to speak in English with us.

We were there for quite some hours as there are so many stalls and things to see.

Four tired but happy people hit bed that night.

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Day three, a beautiful drive through the country to Marburg where we visited the old castle and Christmas markets. Marburg is yet another gorgeous old village.

Andrea and Thomas hadn’t been together before either so it was nice to do something new for them as well.

They had friends coming over for dinner Uwe and Biata so we all helped get things ready for the cheese fondue dinner.

Another wonderful couple with great humour and conversation. James bailed at 1am and I at 2am and it was 3pm before the guests left. So it was a sleep in the next morning the beginning of day four and we woke to snow falling out our window.

Thomas dropped James and I off at Hessenpark, an amazing place where old buildings from around the province have been bought to make up a village display. There are people showing how things were back in different eras and just for this day only the entrance fee was half and included their Christmas markets as well.

We had such a great time for hours, going through the different buildings, looking at the markets, just being in awe of the beautiful scenery with fresh snow falling all day. We had warmed beer, hot chocolate, potato pancakes, soup and fresh made hot crisps.

Thomas picked us up and at home we decided we didn’t need to go out again and would enjoy just relaxing on the couch. We had another lovely healthy meal and we used one of the vinaigrettes we bought at the markets on the salad, then it was snacks and gluweine while we played scrabble. James and I rank amateurs compared to Andrea, but it was an enjoyable way to pass the evening as we chatted and laughed.

We have been humbled by Andrea and Thomas’s hospitality and they keep making it harder to think about leaving by offering such great plans of things to do together.

Day five, and we had decided on a trip to Strasbourg all together, but after a late start we decided a trip to Mainz and a shopping trip so James could buy better gloves and an extra pair of warm pants each was a better use of the day.

We also got a SIM card from Aldi so hopefully when all the registration etc goes through we’ll have internet when we’re on the road.

The shopping trip was successful in not only that we got what we needed quickly but at a great discount price due to Andrea and Thomas knowing the salesman.

Onto Mainz and after parking the luxurious Tesla at a charging station, we walked into the pretty centre of Mainz and it’s lovely old worldly charm and gorgeous markets. As usual Thomas and Andrea introduced us to more traditional German fare and as usual we all ate too much and after several pleasant hours four fat and happy bellies packed into the car for the drive home.

We had another home cooked meal at home and an early night for us all.

Day six and we are still here enjoying the hospitality and great company, we have decided to leave the suitcases here and come back for them on our way to Munich.

This way we will get to see our friends once more and we know our belongings will be safe.

So the morning was spent getting the SIM card registered, booking our first return day trip to Cologne and I finally finished and posted my blog on Hong Kong.

We had an amazing lunch at home before going into Bad Homburg just after three for a walk through the park and shopping precinct, also to walk some of our lunch calories off too. What a beautiful town! Massive old mansions surround the outside of the park and it was a very pleasant way to spend the afternoon.

We had dinner booked at The Lame Donkey for dinner where they serve great schnitzel and other traditional food and drinks are on offer as part of the menu. The restaurant is in huge Tudor style building and the meal, drinks and atmosphere were a winning combination.

Another great day here in Germany.

Day seven and we use our rail pass for the first day.

From the local station into Frankfurt and on the ICE train to Cologne. The day all went smoothly and Cologne train station was right next door to the amazing Cathedral, where we also went to the first Christmas markets of the day.

Cologne lies along a river so there is quite a tourist trade from there as well with the river cruises so popular these days.

We discovered a little Christmas train express which for 10€ took you around to 4 of the cities markets, a real bonus as there would have been too much walking involved otherwise.

James photobombing Saint Nickolas.

Each Market had its own theme and so although some foods are available at all the markets there have been a few different crafts etc on display.

As the afternoon closes in quickly and the lights come on throughout the stalls and overhead, a real festive atmosphere envelopes everyone and everything and the specialness of it all sinks in. This was why we wanted to come here and what we wanted to experience, haven’t been disappointed at all.

We made it safely back to Andrea and Thomas’s for our last evening meal with them and their son Dennis arrived just as we were going to bed, was great to meet him.

The next day it would be time to say goodbye to ur friends and use the rest of our rail pass to discover more of Germany and their world famous Christmas markets.

Hong Kong, Big, Bright, modern,traditional, and everything in between. Loved it.

We landed in Hong Kong and it was one of the smoothest airport transitions we’ve had. Hong Kong is fairly high tech and it was like magic, everything just worked.

We bought a SIM card and it instantly worked. We bought an octopus card and took the express train into Kowloon train station where you link up with a free bus shuttle to your hotel.

Our hotel room is more luxurious than we’ve had the last month and there’s a few extra facilities and amenities to make it all a little more comfortable. And I’m sure the power works 24/7 here.

After unpacking a little we were keen to get out and explore a little.

We walked for too long to be honest and we were pretty tired when we returned home to rest. Saying that we passed a little cafe about 100 metres from our hotel that looked great for breakfast.

Waking up slowly and getting our internet fix over with, we headed to that little cafe and had an awesome breakfast and I had my first cup of coffee for quite some time. Apart from a few sips of James over the last month and 2 at Buzz cafe in Coron I’ve not had my own due to not liking the brewed style mostly on offer.

We had also passed a little hair salon also close by and I was keen to get a cut as my hair literally felt like straw after all that swimming and sun in The Philippines.

I’ve never had a hair dresser like it. So casual with how he cut my hair not even combing it down properly smooth before cutting. In the end after he blow dried it, it looked pretty good, but to be honest it’s a bit of a hack job and my darling Susan will sort it out I’m sure when I’m back in Australia.

The hotel here runs a free shuttle service so we hopped on and got off for Mong Kok station.

Where we decided to take the train over to Hong Kong Island to check out where we were meeting Angela and Duncan at 4pm that afternoon. These two are legends we met on our Cruise earlier this year. They lived here for 20 years and gave us so much information on what to do here and then coincidentally were here on a port stop on another cruise!

We checked out our meeting point on Lockhart street and then took an Uber up to Victoria Peak.

Great views to be had here and we were so lucky as Angela had told us about a one hour loop walk to do.

Finding ourselves going down instead of around we asked a couple passing if they knew if we were going the right way. “No” they said but come with us we’re on our way to do it now. We spent a great hour walking and chatting with them as they pointed out landmarks along the way. It was a great time and we’re so grateful for the company and conversation.

Finding ourselves going down instead of around we asked a couple passing if they knew if we were going the right way. “No” they said but come with us we’re on our way to do it now. We spent a great hour walking and chatting with them as they pointed out landmarks along the way. It was a great time and we’re so grateful for the company and conversation.

We took the bus down to meet our friends and we were just a few minutes late but all good and we enjoyed another hour and a half having a few drinks and catching up before they had to start heading back to their ship.

It was fantastic to see them and to see someone familiar, with Andrew, Jung Won and Jett being our last ones in Korea.

We stayed at the pub after they left and the manager came over to chat, she was from the Philippines believe it or not and not the first Filipino we had met that day. We had a great chat about her life there and now.

Once we left there it was time to think about food, we’d only had breakfast and our drinks at the pub all day. We found a Thai restaurant close by and had a great meal. Would you believe we started talking to another couple who came in and she was Filipino and he was American, another couple joined in and they were identical to the other couple in that the man was American and wife Filipino.

Everyone waved us off when we left and we took the train back over to Kowloon to Mong Kok station and walked home, stopping to talk to some woman and their dogs who were so spoilt, they even had a dog pram for them and of course they were Filipino!

A great first day in Hong Kong.

Our second day we again didn’t leave hotel till around 10 am to go for breakfast at our little cafe.

We then took the hotel shuttle down to the waterfront where we bought tickets for The Star ferry, one hour harbour tour.

Weather was cooler and were glad for our warmer clothing.

The commentary was just enough without being boring and it was an enjoyable hour.

We decided to walk back to our hotel via Kowloon park and Nathan road.

Had one stop at the store selling all things Chinese and I was able to purchase some more of the magic potion that is great for stomach upsets.

We were tired when we arrived home and only ventured out to eat dinner almost next to the hotel. Delicious Chinese and we shared a big bottle of Chinese beer, which was good!

Another good day.

Day three and another later start, back to our cafe for breakfast and then walked downtown to go to uniqlo. We intended to go on to the waterfront and catch a couple of local ferries but after our shopping we headed back for a rest before heading out again in the evening. It was Sunday night and in one of the main streets it became like a buskers paradise etc just like you’d find in most cities during the day, but here it was Sunday evening.

We ended up back at our little cafe for dinner and we started chatting with a lovely young local couple Katherine and Alex whom live near by. They gave us a few good tips for other local restaurants and day trips.

We left the restaurant together and walked up the road till they waved us off at our hotel

This is what we love, chatting to locals and getting their tips and views on life.

Day four, actually got to breakfast by 10 am! Chatted with a family from Sweden who also go to the cafe every morning they said.

We took the hotels free shuttle downtown to the waterfront and caught the ferry over to Central station, HK island. Our idea was to catch a ferry to Lamma island but we missed the ferry by “ that much! Next one wasn’t for two hours so we decided to ditch that idea and take the bus to Stanley. Great bus trip, excellent views and freaky trip when on top deck of us right up front.

We walked the markets, the Boulevard, had a snack of dim sum and took a walk around a track that lead us to a little beach, two Buddhist temples,

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viewing platforms and a park with wild pigs, ( which we thought was a bit of a joke until we came across them).

Walking back to the beachfront of Stanley through residential area and bus back to Central. Caught the train to Mong Kok station on Kowloon and walked home via a delicious meal of Vietnamese food.

Better have an early night so we can leave earlier than today to get that ferry to Lamma island.

Oh and our breakfast cafe is shut tomorrow so they told us of another place to go. Tick, tick another great day in Honkers.

Day five, having our usual lie in we decided we best not miss that ferry to Lamma island and headed down to the waterfront to catch a ferry, stopping just long enough to devour a McDonald’s breakfast which to be fair is cheap and they make a flat white as well.

Once off the first ferry at Central we boarded the ferry to Lamma island and were quite surprised at one, how long a ride it was and two, how much bigger the island was than we surmised from seeing it from on top of The Peak on our first day.

Lamma island turned out to be a very pleasant experience.

After arriving at the ferry terminal at Sok Kwu Wan and walking past the sea front with the different restaurants offering some great offers on seafood, we took the track to the other side of the island to where the other ferry terminal back to Central is.

The walk/trek to Yung Shue Wan was extremely pretty and interesting with plenty of side paths to explore.

Yung Shue Wan is the more eclectic side of the town with a little slice of Old hippie and new hipster vibe going on, mixed with considerable old traditional charm.

There were old villages, beaches, pavilions, look outs,and great scenery along the way making it well worth an add onto your itinerary of Hong Kong.

Stopping back in town for an late lunch/afternoon tea meal of noodles we arrived back at our hotel for a few hours break before grabbing the free shuttle down to waterfront again to watch the nightly light show.

AQuite a few of the big buildings along the waterfront have some really impressive Christmas lights on them so when the actual light show started it was well to be honest a bit ho hum. Had we not made the effort we would have always wondered if we’d missed something special as it is we enjoyed seeing the Christmas lights around the city so the trip out was a success in that regard.

We had so enjoyed our Vietnamese dinner the night before we bought a serve of takeaway spring rolls to eat back in our room, we think they’re the best we’ve had anywhere and you wrap them in a lettuce leaf to eat them. Along with a individual airline size Aussie red, dinner was done and dusted and we went to sleep for our last time in Hong Kong.

Day six,

Our usual cafe gave us a pleasant final breakfast and the waiter even made me a flat white as he had been on a working holiday in Melbourne. They waved us off like old friends and we were again reminded of why we like to establish a rapport with local eateries by finding one we like and visiting frequently.

Some may say it’s not adventurous of us, but it gives us a sense of being part of a community and that is what makes slow travel appealing to us.

Hong Kong does this remarkable thing of being able to check in and drop your bags off at several of the train stations, great if like us you have a long wait between hotel check out and your plane leaving. Of course we could have left our bags at the hotel and gone back up to get them later but our plan was to spend the day over on Hong Kong Island once we checked out at 2 pm.

Having all that sorted we headed to Hong Kong park and a little late afternoon lunch.

We had so enjoyed our Vietnamese dinner the night before we bought a serve of takeaway spring rolls to eat back in our room, we think they’re the best we’ve had anywhere and you wrap them in a lettuce leaf to eat them. Along with a individual airline size Aussie red, dinner was done and dusted and we went to sleep for our last time in Hong Kong.

Strolling back to the waterfront as the sky darkened into evening then night, as the lights came on and the working day over for the locals, we found ourselves a little rooftop bar, celebrating happy hour and ordered ourselves a couple of N Z reds to pass the time for our last moments of this city.

Hong Kong has been a delight, the city is an eclectic mix of big bright lights and modern skyscrapers while still holding on to some old traditions and its working, just wish they’d all walk on one side of the path, walking the streets here is like playing body dodgems.

Next stop Frankfurt, Germany.

Sometimes travelling is hard work like the day we travelled to Manila from Puerto Princesa. James was back from the dentist and our flight was scheduled for 3:40 pm. We had already had a message that the flight would leave an hour late.

It was also stipulated they wanted us at the airport 3 hours before the flight!! This is a domestic flight we’re talking about.

So thinking ok we’ll not have lunch and grab something there we arrive at the ridiculously asked for time and guess what? It’s delayed again and then again! We ended up at the airport for 5 hours before we got on the plane.

We had decided to stay close to the airport and are glad we did as traffic in Manila is horrendous.

Our stay was at Alicia apartments less than a kilometre from the airport and as only opened four months ago was although fairly bland was comfortable enough. We were a little weary as it was clearly in a shantytown village.

Luckily the new presidents extremely hard stance on crime has cleaned up the city considerably and violence seems to be at an all time low. No beggars and we were once again impressed with the friendly locals.

For our one day in Manila we took the advice of several Filipinos we met and took an Uber into Intramuros which means inside the walls. This area has some of the buildings from the Spanish era here and there were quite a few that were reminiscent of our visit to Cartagena on our cruise.

We took a horse and carriage ride for an hour and got some great ideas of where to go for the rest of our day.

We went and visited gardens, the fort and museum of Jose Rizal. Had a yummy lunch and walked through lots of character full streets.

Not sure if there’s a building code here or not! I’d say it’s a safe guess NOT, when you see some of the structures around. It’s truly surprising they are inhabited by families and trades and haven’t fallen over in a domino effect.

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It was a great end to our month here and we left the next morning with one million photos and great memories.

Next stop Hong Kong.

We didn’t have to catch the ferry from Coron to El Nido till midday, so we had a nice lie in before packing the bags! I had a minor meltdown when I couldn’t find my credit card stash, but found them right where I had put them, remembering at the time that I’d probably forget that I’d put them there.

We’ve bought a few things along the way, snorkeling gear, drybags, (which have been the Best Buy with all the trips on the boats and on the back of the scooter on wet days),reef slippers and I bought a new sun hat to replace the $60 US Panama hat that was supposed to be a buy one hat last a lifetime buy! Pfft lasted a month in Bali just.

My new hat cost the equivalent of $4 Aus.

Trying to squish the extra in the bag is getting harder, but we manage somehow.

After packing we decided to shout ourselves a great Aussie breakfast at buzz, where we met a nice couple from Newcastle probably about our age.

The ferry had reserved seating and movies playing so the almost 4 hours passed quite easily and we were snaring our first glances of El Niño before 4pm.

The entry in is awesome and in fact the whole trip we were surrounded by islands making it a very visually interesting trip.

ElNido is a more lively town than Coron and caters for the young tourists with lots of eating and drinking places.

We instantly loved the vibe and are excited to discover this new town.

We got a tricycle to our hotel The Columbus Inn (strange that we will be sailing on the Columbus ship in February ) we were thrilled to discover that although not expensive it was far far far better than our Fawlty tower experience in Coron.

The view out the window is worth it alone.

After unpacking we grabbed a tricycle back into town, our hotel is in Corong a few kms out of the ElNido town.

The tricycle driver dropped us at a restaurant he thought we’d like and we did. And as we’d only had breakfast did justice to the food and drink we ordered.

After a stroll around we headed home as we had a boat tour booked for the next day.

For our first trip we picked tour A one of the two that are highly recommended. To be honest we had a great day but felt it wasn’t as spectacular as the ones we had done in Coron and way more boat/ people traffic.

Saying that we did still enjoy the day mixing with the other people on the tour.

After a shower we decided to head into the town of Corong to look for dinner and buy a few supplies. James had seen an Italian restaurant as we came off the boat trip and we went to check it out. So glad we did, had probably the best meal we’ve had in the Philippines and the wine was the cheapest we’d seen here ever, and was excellent. It was the first wine we’ve had here in Palawan as cocktails are cheaper usually. We will definitely go back.

We had a margarita each, a red wine each, I had a sofa water, James a bottle of plain water, we shared an entree, had a main each, shared a desert and James had an espresso and it was around $45 Aus. Ran into a young couple from our tour who also have recommended a French restaurant so somewhere else to check out.

The hardest part about being in the Philippines is the lack of internet, it just either doesn’t work at all or too slow to download or google.

That restaurant we said we’d go back to, try four nights in a row, to be fair we did try to go somewhere else but they were full.

Not one evening were we disappointed with the food, drink or music at the restaurant, in fact the music was so good we asked the manager one night where he got it, he said just music he’s liked off the Internet, he told us bring in a USB stick and they can download it for us, which we did!

We hired a motor scooter for two days after our first tour on the water and potted around going into El Nido and Dos Cabanos a beach near us.

and we went off heading north to a waterfall.

This was a great experience you hook up with a local guide, about $10 Aus for the two of us and then head off across farmers fields with cows, goats, pigs chickens all running free, cross over streams many times, walk through native vegetation and after around 45 minutes arrive at the waterfall with a beautiful cool refreshing pool to soak in before heading back.

These waterfalls have not been commercialised yet with stalls etc and the track hasn’t been upgraded and I hope it stays that way.

We booked tour B for our next on water adventure and we were pleased as it wasn’t anywhere near as busy at the stops and really quite stunning.

On our tour today we had a couple from Canada and their 7month old son Rowan. What a happy little chappie he was and smiled all day.

Palawan is a tropical paradise and there’s an amazing vista everywhere you look.

It’s different from Bali, there’s not the infrastructure here yet nor the shopping except for wet bags, sun hats, snorkeling sets, reef shoes and a few tee shirts.

Tour shops are everywhere and there are massage spas here as well.

We booked a scooter again for our next two days and have booked tour C for Thursday 16th November.

The first day with the scooter again we went into El Nido and were thrilled that the SIM card we had topped up in Coron but which hadn’t worked at all was suddenly working in town yay! We were able to book accommodation for our two nights in Manila before we fly out to Hong Kong, enjoy a lovely Mediterranean lunch overlooking the water, take the scooter to Dos Cabanos for sunset drinks and a swim before showering and heading back into Corong town for dinner at a restaurant for taco Tuesday with live music and margaritas buy one get one free, what a top day!

Oh and if you didn’t bring your dog on holiday don’t worry the restaurant will let you adopt theirs to sleep at your feet or give a pat too.

Our second day with the scooter we headed to Macpan beach.

This is north from El Nido and we passed the waterfall guide stalls on the way. We had been warned once you get off the National highway that the track road to Macpan beach was boggy after heavy rains, But we went anyway and James did a brilliant job of off-roading riding with me keeping still on the back. Like everyone else who ventured there by bike we were mud splattered on arrival.

The beach is a long stretch of white sands, coconut tree lined beach front with lush green vegetation covering hills at one end and little islands dotted off the coast. The water is turquoise clear and warm enough to dive into but still refreshing. We hired a couple of sun lounges with an umbrella for $10 Aus for the day and settled into a day of reading, swimming and relaxing in this visual paradise.

A couple of little native beach huts selling food and drinks supplied us with a snacking type of lunch, one thing we’ve loved about most of the food outlets here is if they offer fries, they are hand cut and soo delicious.

It was a very happy couple who rode back through the rice paddies with the caribou working the fields with their owners, passing little townships and passing tricycles with sidecars with their livestock of a couple of pigs in each.

The more we stay here away from the big town of Puerto Princesa the more we are falling for the charms of the Philippines.

Of course we ended our day with a shower, had to wash the motor scooter too as was dripping with sloshy mud, had a little nap then headed to our favourite restaurant for some more of their sensational pasta.

Thursday the 16th is tour C Island hopping day. We wake to the sound of roosters every morning and then the little chirps of the baby chickens scratching around in the vegetation at the back of our accommodation, we are snuggled into a hillside here with about 50 steps up to our 2nd floor room (hence the great views).

Tour C was a great day and our pick of the tours here in El Nido.

Another great day mixing with people from all over and we met some totally great ex pat Filipinos living in California for the last 37 Year’s. Will definitely be looking them up when we’re over that way.

Great locations with an awesome reef for snorkeling and excellent company made for a great day.

we decided to walk along the beachfront when we returned in the afternoon for drinks and a few tapas snacks watching the sunset over sunset beach,

back home for a shower and back for a pizza at our favourite restaurant. Another brilliant day.

Having booked the scooter for the next few days, we were hoping to get up to Duli beach but the first day we woke up to torrential rain and we relaxed, reading and dozing off again till midday. Headed into El Nido for lunch and ran into Carlos and Mina, a gorgeous young couple whom we keep running into, Carlos invited us to join them and some other young travellers at the bar for drinks, we had a great time chatting and exchanging tips and stories. Thanks for making our day.

Saturday the 18th November and second day with scooter again, still not looking like a beach day so we decided to head south and just see the countryside. In the end we rode to TayTay a seaside town with a fort, huge Catholic Church and lots of markets. We spotted one other non Filipino there and we did stand out a bit, but everyone is friendly and we found a Pensione that had a restaurant for lunch. As we were leaving a truck with army soldiers came in for lunch. They were all carrying massive automatic rifles AK47 style. If they hadn’t been smiling and said Hello would have been really intimidating, well it probably still was a little to be honest.

The loveliest part is waving to all the smiling kids as they wave to you as you ride past. Even older people wave to us, young folk on backs of trucks even (probably wondering what Lola and LoLo are doing).

Back home we had hot showers as we had plenty of rain on the trip, luckily we had taken our raincoats.

We went into El Nido to pick up the USB stick with the music on from the restaurant manager (they have several restaurants), the town was heaving with people and the busiest traffic we’ve seen here.

Went back to our favourite restaurant and couldn’t believe just as we were finishing up Carlos and Mina walked in. It’s bizarre how that happens, this isn’t that small a town. They were out celebrating Carlos’ birthday.

Our last day in El Nido and the sun was shining so we decided to spend the day at Dos Cabanos beach, we got there early enough to score free sun lounges(with cushions) and spent the day reading,swimming,eating and drinking.

That night we headed out for our last dinner at Tratoria Altrove. The staff gave us a warm welcome and even the manager was there and came over to say goodbye and thanked us for our custom.

Off course we ran into Carlos and Mina again up the lane way and another of the couples we’d met came into the restaurant for dinner.

That’s what we love about staying longer, you make a connection to places and with people.

Our van trip to Puerto Princesa was fairly gruelling considering it was air conditioned, they squeezed too many people in and it’s a long 6 hours from being picked up from our hotel. Never mind we arrived at Floral Villarosa along with another couple on the van and enjoyed the well appointed room and hotel.

Next day Tuesday 21st James got his tooth work finalised and we flew to Manila for our last two nights.

Like all good plans, sometimes things don’t quite go quite as expected. Then you have to improvise and make it work.

So we arrived at the Port at 9:30pm on Wednesday to be turned away. The ferry hadn’t arrived due to a typhoon off the coast of Coron where we were headed.

So back to our hotel Floral Villarosa to see if they had a room for the night.

We have extended our stay here several times which has required us to move rooms and this time we were able to get another room upstairs.

We ended up booking it for two nights as we weren’t going to catch the ferry till late the next night with a 1:30 am Thursday sailing time.

The staff here are fantastic and have really looked after us, helping with phone calls etc whilst we find out what’s happening.

Anyway we arrived at port around 10pm the next night as requested and were pleased everything was going ahead.

It was interesting to watch all the shipping containers being loaded on. This is a goods ferry as well as for people .

We opted for a private cabin, there aren’t many on the ferry but seeing that the alternative is either share a cabin with 2 strangers or sleep in the main sleeping area with 100 or more others in bunks and little facilities we took the more expensive option.

At 5000 pesos around $130 Australian we decided it was great value.

We actually have our own bathroom and there is a set of bunks as well as the queen size bed.oh and a window! Or porthole I should say.

We were pleasantly surprised that they had a nice area at back of ship on top with a bar and live music, and the singers were fantastic. People were writing them requests with a little thank you money so it was very entertaining.

Back in our cabin, with a seasick pill just in case,I slept right through the night and the ferry is so smooth it’s only the engine vibration you can feel.

Just as we were going to sleep there was an announcement with a prayer for a safe trip. And at 6am we were woken with a prayer for the new day and there was a prayer when we arrived as well.

Our tickets include breakfast and lunch and as stateroom guests we went to the Horizon cafe for our breakfast early the next morning as it was served between 7-8 am. James had coffee and I tried one of the two options forgoing the hotdog sausage (now I know why there is so much refrigerated space allocated for them at the supermarket, it’s a staple breakfast item).

To be fair if the chicken and rice served had been hot it would have been quite an enjoyable meal, but cold and served so early I could only manage a few mouthfuls. Looking forward to see what lunch offers, there’s a little kiosk which sells noodle bowls, just add hot water and you’re laughing, so that’s our backup meal.

People have bought all sorts with them on the ferry and quite a few will be going onto Manila. There’s roosters,dogs and potted shrubs and massive boxes of goods.

Again we seem to be the only non Filipinos on board.

Most tourists do the van to ElNido and fast ferry onto Coron before flying back to Manila.

We decided on this option as we need to come back to Puerto Princesa for James tooth repair, but if the impression wasn’t any good and we weren’t going to come back, we were going to be able to fly out of ElNido for Manila. With the ferry only twice a week from Coron, making ElNido our last stop meant we can get a van back to dentist in Puerto Princesa any day of the week.

(Hope you can understand all that).

Anyway back to the travel log, we made it to Coron and hopped on a tricycle to our hotel. The tricycles here are a little different and also have a rear cabin so to speak with bench seats so easy for piling our luggage in and the two of us.

From the outside the hotel GMG looks like a fairly nice establishment in the hub.

But the reality is it’s Fawlty Towers Philippine style.

The pub over the road is called No name, but the GMG hotel should be called No idea.

It’s so farcical it would be funny if it just wasn’t soooo bad.

The free wifi, well you can connect but nothing happens. The included breakfast is practically nonexistent. The room would appear ok but has a bad damp smell, sheets that a too small for the bed, see through towels that seem to be made of Teflon, dust etc. then there’s the bathroom so manky, I had to insist on them cleaning the mound and mildew off the walls while we went out.

We would have left if we hadn’t booked ahead with a travel agent, paying in cash on non refundable booking. To be honest this is not how we normally book accommodation and we only did it as at short notice there wasn’t a lot available.

We certainly thought it sounded ok and the pictures looked ok and it wasn’t that cheap. Certainly more than our hotel in Puerto Princesa so thought it would be fine.

Well the good thing about bad accommodation is that it makes you go out A LOT! And we actually enjoyed all the tours we did immensely.

You come to Palawan for the scenery but mostly for the stunning waters. And Coron certainly delivered in spectacular days out on the water, this is really the place if you love snorkeling and diving and white beaches with tropical outlooks.

We had four days on the water tour A, tour B, reefs and wrecks, and an escapade trip. If you were here on a limited time we would suggest tour B.

We also did an afternoon town tour which was fun going with people and we had a few laughs, the highlights were climbing the 721 steps to the top of the hill behind the town where the big cross and sign for Coron are located, we caught the sunset there and then onto the hot springs which were very hot around 41 degrees and good for those muscles we just gave a workout on the hill climb.

The springs have a beautiful setting at night. We were in a van and I know our friends the Porters did it in a tricycle, I know why Mel said it was scary.

We’ve had some bad food here and some excellent food, check out “ buzz express”for good coffee, even do a flat white, big breakfast, and great meals at night. Its pricier than a lot of places around $30-$40 for two meals with a cocktail, but worth it. You can get fried rice for around $2 at some places.

Something we’ve discovered is Turon banana wrapped in spring roll wrapper and deep fried, delicious!.

Beer is cheap especially at happy hour $1.25 and cocktails too, around $4-$5.

What we have enjoyed is mixing with all the people on the tours. We are usually the oldest but we’ve met people from the Philippines, Taiwan, USA, Canada, Iran, Uzbekistan , Poland, Norway, Spain, England, Slovenia, Russia.

Our next adventure is the fast ferry to El Nido where we have 11 nights booked.

it’s only four hours from Seoul to Manila and another one and a half hour flight from Manila to Puerto Princesa our first stop in the Philippines BUT! it took us almost two days to do this travel.We had breakfast with Andrew Tuesday morning in Songtan ( poor JungWon was back at doctors, she had originally taken sick a few weeks before in Brisbane,tonsillitis).

Andrew drove us to the bus stop and we took the 11:15 bus to Incheon airport.

We just missed the hourly shuttle to our hotel so had a coffee at the airport before the next shuttle.

The hotel had been refurbished since our last visit and was extremely comfortable, a nice last night for our South Korean stay. We reorganised bags and tested weights as we were to be on strict restrictions from Manila to Puerto Princesa. Had a lovely curry and a couple of reds for dinner and set our alarm to make sure we would make the first 6am shuttle to airport  our 8am departure to Manila using Philippine airways.

We had a long wait at Manila for our flight onwards and it was around 7pm that we arrived at Floral Villarosa our hotel for our stay in Puerto Princesa.

This is a lovely little complex, around 11 villas with a great garden and pool. The staff are fabulous and all would be perfect if it was just closer to town. This was going to be a fairly quick four night stay, to unwind and settle into Filipino culture, do a few day trips and discuss our next move.



However James dental work has required us to stay a few days longer and then  a return later to finish it off. We’re waiting to see if the impression taken and flown to Manila is ok, if not another impression will need to be done. The dentist James found online came with some good testimonials and was listed as Vanilla smiles. In fact when we arrived there was no sign for vanilla smiles and we were at a community hospital where doctors each have their own “shop” we did found the dentist (still no sign for vanilla smiles,but they were expecting James).  NEVER NEVER COMPLAIN ABOUT THE HEALTH CARE WHERE YOU LIVE. That’s not to say they don’t have good medical practitioners here, just that they’re working under hard conditions.

It was two hours before he came out and we were happy to get a tricycle home. A tricycle is a motorbike converted to accomodate up to five people. Every ride around here is 50 pesos around $1.25 Australian. We had gone into the town a bit earlier and found the SM shopping Mall. A 21st century western style shopping centre that was to be honest a welcome sight. It’s hard to say BUT sometimes it’s just nice to find something totally familiar somewhere you wouldn’t expect it, that’s all I’m . We found out a few days later that it only opened last month.

We have had breakfast and dinner every night except one at our hotel as there really isn’t any other options without going into the town centre, too far to walk so we’ve been extremely happy that the meals served are of a good variety and cheap enough. It seems most people staying here are of the same mind and we have all chatted along happily swapping tour advice etc. We’re happy to see that quite a few have been our age group.

Our first full day saw us having a walk around the area around the hotel and quickly realised that there’s not a lot to do here without getting a tricycle somewhere. So after our trip into town and dentist we were back to hotel for a swim in the pool and relax before dinner.

We decided on a Honda Bay tour for our second day and the hotel organised everything, they’re very good. We were picked up in a comfortable van and joined a great group of people for our days outing to three different beaches for snorkeling, swimming, with lunch included.

We visited starfish beach, Luli beach and Cowrie island.

Cowrie Island was our last stop and the one marked for just swimming and sun baking or sleeping, there are beach massages available and a bar serving very reasonably priced drinks, about $4 for a frozen margarita or daiquiri.

Unfortunately when we arrived so did the rain.

However we enjoyed a drink and sat out of the rain after having had a great day already with some good snorkeling.I had taken a seasick tablet and was fine all day, so I was happy.

They had quite a few of these life size sculptures of people, some we recognised, Beyoncé, Hulk Hogan, and others we didn’t, like the football player, golfer, surfer dude, but it added a bit of fun to the place.

Everyone on the tour was lovely, and we had some great chats about where people came from, one couple she was from Uzbekistan and he was Iranian, but they met in Japan and both did their University doctorates here in The Philippines and now live in Colorado.  Anyway everyone waved each other off at the end of the day thanking each other for the good company and wishing safe travels  each other.
Our third day we were thinking of just relaxing poolside but after our breakfast the rain started and we decided to go to the mall and pick up a few toiletries we were running out of.

We were mooching around in our room reading when our neighbour kiwi Kate knocked on the door and asked if we wanted to go out for dinner, she had a few choices and we decided on the Baywalk for dinner. This is an area by the port where pop up seafood restaurants open at night. We couldn’t say yes quick enough.

The poor tricycle all but died with three European sized people in it.

Much to our surprise and pleasure there was a scooter show and shine competition on. These scooters were their owners pride and joy and several had the prerequisite showgirl on their stand. Kate and I tried to do them out of a job with our showgirl pouting skills (don’t think we will get a call back somehow).

Our dinner wasn’t that great and it was really down to thinking a set menu with different tastings would be great value when we should have just chosen a fish and a few of the magnificent looking tiger prawns and had them grilled. Oh well the conversation and company was great and the atmosphere tops.

We have booked a tour of the underground river tomorrow (Sunday)and there is also a city tour you can do so may do that Monday afternoon. Well we had a fabulous day at the underground river, a unesco site and one of the new seven natural wonders of the world. The drive was extremely scenic and reminiscent of Bali with its coconut trees and rice paddies. The exception being NO RUBBISH littering the countryside. There is a fine for first two offences then a higher fine and six month Gail term for a third. Clearly working.

It also had a look of French Polynesia with its mountain ranges as well.                                                                                                         It was delightful to be part of a group where we were the only non Filipinos to enjoy this incredible day.

We arrived at Sabang harbour and distributed into outrigger boats for the trip to the beach where the underground river begins.

The strict conservation regulations put in place have kept this area pristine and I congratulate the Filipino community for their strong stance. It’s like a lost paradise and the trip through the river is one we will remember as a highlight of our time here.       It’s breathtaking and I can’t recommend this trip highly enough for anyone visiting this area.

Once at the beach you walk through the forest to an area where you are given a safety helmet along with the life vest you have been wearing since the Sabang harbour and into a boat with a guide with a strong torch and the tour begins.

They warn you not to open your mouth and go WOW as the cave is inhabited by bats and you could get a mouthful of bat 🦇 pee. They also ask everyone to not talk and not touch anything to keep it pristine for future generations.

This allows for a beautiful serene and awesome experience where the headphone guides you are each given relays all the information you need as the boatman glides you through the one and a half kilometres that tours take you. The river is in fact over 8 kilometres but that’s restricted. Not a bad thing for preserving something so special.

The stalagmites and stalactites and other rock formations including cathedral sized areas just showed why this has natural World wonder and unesco listing. Photos didn’t come out so well but we will remember it forever. Lunch was included and at around $55 Aus great value.

We did indeed book the city tour for Monday afternoon. Another thoroughly enjoyable day as yet again we were the only non Filipinos on the excursion. It’s been great to talk with everyone  and laugh and enjoy our tours together.

Once at the beach you walk through the forest to an area where you are given a safety helmet along with the life vest you have been wearing since the Sabang harbour and into a boat with a guide with a strong torch and the tour begins.

They warn you not to open your mouth and go WOW as the cave is inhabited by bats and you could get a mouthful of bat 🦇 pee. They also ask everyone to not talk and not touch anything to keep it pristine for future generations.

This allows for a beautiful serene and awesome experience where the headphone guides you are each given relays all the information you need as the boatman glides you through the one and a half kilometres that tours take you. The river is in fact over 8 kilometres but that’s restricted. Not a bad thing for preserving something so special.

The stalagmites and stalactites and other rock formations including cathedral sized areas just showed why this has natural World wonder and unesco listing.

Photos didn’t come out so well but we will remember it forever.

Lunch was included and at around $55 Aus great value.

We did indeed book the city tour for Monday afternoon. Another thoroughly enjoyable day as yet again we were the only non Filipinos on the excursion. It’s been great to talk with everyone and laugh and enjoy our tours together. I think the highlight was the butterfly eco garden and tribal village.

We were guided around by I’m quite sure a ladyboy who was as tall as James and so enthusiastic about what there was to see.

We saw beetles, scorpions, unique geckos, millipedes, crocodiles, butterflies etc but the highlight was the tribal village. This is a place where The tribespeople from the highlands come and stay, sometimes a few days sometimes a week or more and sell their handiwork and catch up with family.

They also show visitors parts of their way of life. Musical instruments and singing, blowpipe demonstration, how they make a fire with flints, (if I go on survivor I’m taking one of these people).

Anyway it was a very special time and they were truly lovely and friendly. And no big sell. They just wanted people to know about their culture. You could buy some of their handicrafts but there wasn’t any pressure.

This is in the butterfly enclosure.

Another great sop was at Binuatan creations. Here they make fantastic bags, wallets, lanyards, coin purses etc and you can all have a turn trying to weave.

James also found a new musical instrument there.ter the tour finished we asked to be dropped off at the SM mall as we had to finish paying and pick up vouchers for our next adventures in Palawan.

We visited a local travel agent in the morning to purchase tickets for the overnight ferry to Coron.

We leave midnight Wednesday Nov 1st and arrive at 3pm Thursday. We booked a private cabin and including breakfast and lunch at about $130 Aus we thought good value.

We will have a week there and we booked accommodation with the travel agent for Coron and also ElNido where we will take the fast ferry to on the 9th November staying till the 20th when we will return to Puerto Princesa for the fitting of James dental repair, it’s like a crown but not.

We have filled our time here quite easily as it turns out and are looking forward to the next chapter of our month in the Philippines.

On a side note I just had to include this photo of the fridges at the supermarket and how much space is used for hot dogs! The same amount of fridge space is used for all those other incidentals like milk, cheese, yoghurt etc.

James also found a new musical instrument there.ter the tour finished we asked to be dropped off at the SM mall as we had to finish paying and pick up vouchers for our next adventures in Palawan.

We visited a local travel agent in the morning to purchase tickets for the overnight ferry to Coron.

We leave midnight Wednesday Nov 1st and arrive at 3pm Thursday. We booked a private cabin and including breakfast and lunch at about $130 Aus we thought good value.

We will have a week there and we booked accommodation with the travel agent for Coron and also ElNido where we will take the fast ferry to on the 9th November staying till the 20th when we will return to Puerto Princesa for the fitting of James dental repair, it’s like a crown but not.

We have filled our time here quite easily as it turns out and are looking forward to the next chapter of our month in the Philippines.

On a side note I just had to include this photo of the fridges at the supermarket and how much space is used for hot dogs! The same amount of fridge space is used for all those other incidentals like milk, cheese, yoghurt etc. And these new flavour ice creams, avocado macchiato, and avocado and peanut butter, didn’t try either so can’t give it the thumbs up or down.

Leaving Sanur feeling that we would be happy to be here again we headed to the airport for our two flights which would take us to our next and much anticipated stop Korea. I was very excited to see my son Andrew and his family, my lovely and oh so good to us daughter in law JungWon and our only grandchild Jett, whom is fast approaching 9!
So our flight from Bali to South Korea was fairly cheap but I have to say we weren’t impressed with Malaysia Air. The tray tables were filthy and there was someone’s used toothpick stuck to the back of the seat in front of me. The toilets smelt and the food was just inedible, in fact it looked like cat food.

The only great thing was that we made our connection from Kuala Lumpa with plenty of time and we landed on schedule into Incheon early Friday the 13th.

Very happy mummy and Halmoni to see my big boy Andrew, JungWon and Jett, waiting for us at the airport. It was very good of them to get up at 5am so they could pick us up before having to start work early afternoon.
It’s quite a drive from the airport to Songtan where we stay at The Pacific hotel. 

The hotel is pretty decrepit but the room is big, it has a bath! and it’s close to the Osan, American airbase so there is lots going on around the area.

The owners an older couple (mama usually has her hair in curlers) are very friendly and helpful. Our room is about $64 a night and you can get your laundry done for free and use the hotel van for free locally.

After we had dropped Jett off at his school and Andrew and JungWon dropped us off at our hotel, we walked up the street for a coffee at McDonalds, haha who should we see there but Andrew and JungWon.
Later we walked around the town and through the traditional markets where I organised for some trousers to be taken down, $3 what a bargain, this was all organised by our second language which we’re fluent in, CHARADES.
After a snack at local street stall and a rest we headed back up for pizza and called it a day.

Saturday morning we decided to walk to the traditional weekend markets (Which the English speaking pizza shop owner had told us about) we wandered around happily for several hours before heading back for our 2pm pick up from family.

We had a lovely afternoon at a large 

Before heading off to Korean BBQ.

There was a festival happening in the area around the restaurant and whilst his mum and dad did a quick speed shop we took Jett off to play a few side show games which he blitzed and won himself a couple of soft toys. He also had a ride and feel asleep along with poppa on the way home.

Sunday was my birthday and as a treat we were off to Everland, a Dreamworld come Movie World, come animal park.                   What a day! And what a night!

Fairly tired little vegemites that night as we headed home around 8:30pm with an hour drive ahead.

We popped up to the corner of our street for a shared kebab before we went back to our room to start packing for our trip to Busan starting the next morning Monday the 16th.

We were able to leave our suitcases at the hotel and only bought the barest minimum with us for our four nights in Busan.
Andrew and JungWon picked us up and took us to the station in the morning and we were off….

The train travels at up to 300 km an hour and it was just over two hours later that we arrived at Busan train station at 11:50 am.

We easily found the bus stop we needed and our bus came along in less than a minute. This is where the internet really comes into its own! Finding transport and timetables.

James showed the driver a photo from the hotel we were going to and he asked if anyone on bus knew which stop. Yes someone did and they made sure we got off where we should, unbelievably right outside our hotel door.

Everyone is friendly and helpful in Korea especially if you smile.

We have also decided Koreans are big on CUTE, cute little puppies, animations, and neon signs. Outside our hotel here in Busan it looks reminiscent of Times Square New York.

Citadines hotel is fantastic!

Great location, from being close to beach, shops and hospital.

Why the hospital you say!

Well 3 hours before leaving Bali James had a tooth break! (His turn for needing a dentist).

With no time there, when we reached Seoul he made contact with our hotel in Busan and they set up a dentist visit at the local hospital which also unbelievably had a foreign guest department! What’s the chances of that all within 150 metres from our hotel on same side of the street.

We were stunned at how efficient it all was and NO WAITING. James’s appointment was for 3:30pm but getting there 20 minutes early they saw him there and then with an English translator.

$42 how great is that. He needs a crown and since they couldn’t get that done in the time we have in Korea, smoothed the edges and gave him his records to take on. What service, totally feel that the dentist god has been shining down on both of us this year.

So to top off an already great start we were upgraded from a room to a full apartment, LUXURY we have not had so much living space since we left home in May and it’s been fantastic.
We’ve even bought a few groceries and will cook bacon and eggs tomorrow for breakfast.
James is soaking away in said bath as I write this, I’ve already had mine and I’m sitting at the office desk in provided dressing gown with a glass of red.

NOT TOO BAD, oh and eating Camembert infused roll.

After the dentist we had a huge walk all along the sea front and past all the tall buildings and onto fishing village before heading back towards hotel.


After walking through the traditional markets with a lot of very weird and not “quite” our thing seafood dishes we ended up at a Saigon cafe eating Pho and shrimp cakes for the grand total of less than $8.00.

We have a movie complex inside the hotel building and we purchased tickets for Bladerunner, the movie was the original English version with Korean subtitles and at $9.00 each we had a great end to our first day in Busan, oh and we had a little party in the theatre with potato chips, chocolate peanuts,popcorn and ice creams. I know SO SO naughty but we loved every mouthful, (small sizes obviously).. it was after midnight when we turned off the light after looking at all the neon signs out the window.

I was knackered the next morning and was a late start before we headed off, for brunch and onto the information centre.
In the end we did a loop of the hop on hop off bus (the shorter one) leaving the longer one for another day as we had started so late.

A great day! 

We got off at the first stop at Moontan road and went off walking through the bush which we thoroughly enjoyed. Sea was peeking through the trees and it was so peaceful.

 We ended up walking some of the ancient railway of Donghae Nambucca line, now not in use they say you can walk it with your family, lover or friends. 

We ended up in the fishing village of Cheongsapo where we were able to reconnect with the bus (slightly relieved 😅 would have been some steep climbing back otherwise)

This also looked like a place we could spend more time in and could have walked to the next stop had we not wanted to get to the Haedong Yonggungsa temple.

What can I say about this Buddhist temple, WOW just doesn’t cover it, really was beautiful and in such a magnificent location.

Back on the bus and past all the other stops including the largest department store in the world!! (I know right, what discipline) till we arrived back to the start and off we went for a little walk around the town/city some more.

We bought our wine etc and after stopping in for a little Saigon fried rice and dim sum from our little cafe from the previous night headed home.

We are feeling very relaxed and thoroughly enjoying our life on the road. 
The luxury accommodation doesn’t hurt I have to say.

Wednesday arrived with cool brisk winds and the odd sprinkle of rain, considering its half way through autumn here we’ve been very lucky, so we decided to take the hop on hop off bus again doing the other available route and not get off but use it to get our bearings and file away ideas if we visit here again.
After a loop we stayed on and got off at Centum where that huge department store was.We weren’t really interested in shopping but like looking at what’s available and after a while we decided to head back to our apartment and catch up on a few office chores before heading out for dinner.

Thursday was sunny and after our home cooked breakfast, (second day running) and a coffee stop we took the small local bus back to the fishing village we had walked to through the Bush on our first day of using the hop on hop off bus. 

From here we Walked to Songjeong Beach.

On the way there is this awesome viewing platform where we had to wear slippers over our shoes. It had glass floors in parts and was just a great thing, all free and with an attendant as well.

James with one of the friendly locals, wearing his best country and western outfit.

We caught a different bus company home, but very pleased with ourselves for working out how to use the local buses from our phone apps.

Tomorrow we head back to Seoul for our final five nights in Korea before we head to The Philippines.
We have really enjoyed this side trip to Busan and are thankful for all the friendly people we have met along the way, many just simply wanting to find out where we’re from and why we’re visiting Korea and have a little chat using their English before waving to us as we all go off on our separate ways.

FRIDAY 20th – WEDNESDAY 25th.

We usually find a place we’re happy with for breakfast or mid morning coffee and tend to keep returning, this is also a way of making us feel more of a local as much as knowing that what we get is consistent.
In Busan it was Holly’s coffee shop. Here is Songtan it’s the local McDonalds.                             Don’t judge us! It’s also about the wifi too.

We made it back to Songtan, remembered to bring our travel card ( like our opal card) from last year, and transferred from fast train to the subway then walked the final couple of hundred yards back to the hotel Pacific.

We had arranged to catch up the next day with family so went up street for the best calzone ever before settling in for the night.

Saturday family picked us up and we drove to Suwon another large city in the Seoul precinct. 
There is an old Korean fortress and the largest local markets ever, imagine The Grand Bazaar Istanbul.

Sunday family picked us up at 1:30 and we all went to the movies together. GeoStorm English with Korean subtitles so easy for us.

Actually better than we expected and no one was complaining about the caramel popcorn either.                                                                                                                                                              We actually got to get the pirate kite up in the park nearby the theatre but the wind was swirling and inconsistent so will keep it for a beach day I think. It did cause some interest though, one guy asked James where he got it and thought Bali, Indonesia was a brand name..

One little guy about 7 was fascinated and probably the most excited when it did get up for a while.

JungWon and Jett had bought a boomerang back from Australia and that also got a workout.

James and I had had Mexican the night before and the family were happy to go there for dinner so it was a margarita each for James and I for the second night in a row. 
We ended up with desert at MacDonalds for those who were keen, I was full of Mexican and not even slightly interested, but Jett enjoyed his ice cream.

That was to be the last time we would see Jett this trip so it was a teary Halmoni kissing him goodbye till next time. 

 Andrew and JungWon will come Tuesday morning for breakfast before we take bus to airport area for our last night, we have an early flight Wednesday for the beginning of our next adventure to The Philippines. We will arrive in Manila late morning and take the 5pm flight to Palawan, staying at least 4nights in Puerto Princesa where James has an appointment about getting a crown at the dentist there. We will play it as it rolls from there.
While we have been here we’ve been corresponding with mates from our 2010 Cosmos tour and organising a reunion trip in 2020. Obviously won’t get everyone onboard but there are enough interested and we look to have decided on a tour which we can extend to include another exciting destination and that seems to be equally exciting to some of the others as well. Seems like a long time to go but we know it will be an awesome trip with some of the greatest folks we’ve been lucky enough to meet.

Bali, rarely disappoints and especially not when you’ve arrived business class.

Having secured these flights in the Boxing Day sales ( hard to turn down $426 each for business class) we were looking forward to experiencing the ” turn left” when entering the plane.

It certainly felt worth the price tag with the extra leg room, champagne and other little luxuries that we don’t normally have and it was a relaxed and happy couple that arrived in Bali to our waiting driver.

This is our third time to Bali together, James fourth and my fifth in total.

We have stayed in Sanur each time we have been here together.( we’ve also spent time in Ubud and Seminyak).

We feel very comfortable and instantly in our comfort zone, like putting on your favourite slippers and start settling into our 30 day stay.

THURSDAY 14th:

Having announced on Facebook that we were here should anyone wish to catch up it was thrilling to have a message from our buddies Cheryl and Phil Basley from W.A that they were not only in Bali but also in Sanur! With them leaving Thursday afternoon for home we quickly secured a coffee date and were pleased that their favourite coffee spot on the waterfront was also the one we also favour when here.

We haven’t seen them since meeting them on our honeymoon tour of Europe in 2010, though we keep in contact via Facebook. Cheryl is a one in a million sweetheart and Phil is the most gorgeous Aussie fella that anyone who has them in their life is blessed.

That 2010 tour secured friendships that go beyond countries, ages, cultural and religious backgrounds and we are hopeful that there will be a reunion tour sometime, ( will need to get that sorted).
That afternoon was seeing the arrival of Michael and Maani ( James son and girlfriend) to stay 3 nights in Sanur allowing us to have some quality catch ups.

That night we took them to the local night market for dinner, our favourite eating place where chicken soup filled with vegetables is $1 and 10 sate sticks usually less than $2.

It has a great vibe and frequented by locals and tourists.

FRIDAY 15th:

Old neighbours of James and friends to us both Lynn and Steve Bolton have been holidaying in Nusa Dua at the very luxurious Sofitel and had invited us all over for a visit, by coincidence their son Mitchell and Michael share a house together so it was great to all hook up in Nusa Dua for a few hours floating in the incredible pool there.

The pool is accessed from right outside their villa you walk out on the patio and walk into the pool, like an alleyway leading into the main pool via lush gardens and under bridges, totally cool.

That night was football and after a disappointing loss from Penrith to the Broncos, Maani helped make the decision for dinner on the beach. Great choice and very happy bellies that made their way home that night.

SATURDAY 16th:

It has become our habit after breakfast to walk to the coffee shop on the waterfront for a little slice of people watching and relaxing with our coffee and or juice before contemplating what else we’d like to do.

The young folk were off exploring and we met up at the Glasshouse ( another previous favourite of ours) for happy hour ( really 3 hours) cocktails and beers before the boys went on to watch the football, this time Parramatta loosing to the Cowboys! Not thinking that venue is good luck for them to be honest.

Maani and I decided it was time for some girl time and we headed off for Maani’s first facial. The spa was quite professional and although I thought the girls a little firm handed than I’d have liked we both managed to fall asleep while waiting for our masks to dry, so I think you could say it was all told a fairly relaxing experience.

We joined the boys for the last half of the game and then went on to The Porch restaurant for dinner with a stop at the MONA LISA restaurant for desert, we had had coffee there previously and seen they did creme brûlée which James and Maani had, again a first for Maani.
SUNDAY 17th:

Young folk were heading off to Uluwatu for their final days of holiday and we booked a driver to take us to Padang Pai to visit our friend Eric at his and wife Jacqui’s villa there. Unfortunately Jacqui had already returned home to Woy Woy but we had a fabulous overnight stay with Eric.

After being WOWED by their view.

We took off in Eric’s hire car to the Palace waterfalls to swim in the Kings pool and have lunch there. Glorious!

A little snooze back at the villa followed by drinks upstairs before heading off to the resort restaurant completed a wonderful day.

A relaxed morning breakfast on Sunday bought us to time to say goodbye to the Villa Henry at Bloo Lagoon.

Eric drove us back to Sanur and was only fitting that we should take him to our coffee spot before he headed off back to his little slice of paradise. Thanks for the stay Eric it was fantastic.
We dined at the local market that night and slept like babies.
TUESDAY 19th:

After our ritual coffee stop we walked along The waterfront for about an hour before turning back and stopping for a couple of Bintang’s and chatting with a couple from the U.K.

We had arranged for a driver from our guesthouse to drive us to Uluwatu for a five pm catch up with Michael and Maani for their last full night and to watch the sunset from the bar at Single Fin where Michael had made a booking, great idea it was packed and we had a great view as we sipped down a few cocktails and beers and sharing plates before we finished off with dinner there as well. I can highly recommend the pineapple marguerita’s.

We’ve really enjoyed our time with Michael and Maani as we have catching up with our friends as well.

Hard to believe that tonight, the 20 th marks only our first week here.

There are no more catch ups that we know of so we’ll get down to the gritty of everyday life of ” Offtolivetheworld where budgets must be looked at, planning for next few stops must be done and I’d like to get back into my Duolingo Spanish. James has his new beaut Ukele to get out of its case and there’s walks and coffee and books to get read as well. Ahhh life on the road.