1. Welcome to VegasMessageBoard
    It appears you are visiting our community as a guest.
    In order to view full-size images, participate in discussions, vote in polls, etc, you will need to Log in or Register.

A month around South East Asia (Jan 2020) TR & Vlogs

Discussion in 'Non-Vegas Trip Reports' started by ajdj, Mar 23, 2020.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. ajdj

    ajdj Low-Roller

    Joined:
    Jul 1, 2019
    Messages:
    102
    Location:
    Canary Islands
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    6

    My Trip Report

    Trying to be positive and creative during these unusual times so I have been teaching myself how to video edit using Davinci Resolve whilst on lockdown here in Spain. I have a lot of footage from our last trip so I’m aiming to release a vlog for each day we were away. I’ve never done anything like this before but I’m really enjoying it so far.

    With travel on hold for all of us for the foreseeable I thought you may be interested to see what we got up to (this is hopefully serving as good practice for our next Vegas trip which I intend to vlog too).

    Itinerary-
    Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City), Vietnam
    Phu Quoc, Vietnam
    Bangkok, Thailand
    Trang, Thailand
    Koh Mook, Thailand
    Krabi Town, Thailand
    Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
    Georgetown, Malaysia
    North Sumatra (Bukit Lawang & Lake Toba),Indonesia
    Singapore

    I feel I should probably note that due to the timing COVID-19 wasn’t really on our radar until the final week of the trip. A lot has obviously changed around the world since then.

    We flew from Fuerteventura to Barcelona on 7th January and overnighted before doing Barcelona- London Heathrow, Heathrow-Bangkok, Bangkok-Ho Chi Minh with British Airways. Arrived on 9th January. Didn’t film the travel day(s) so Day 1 saw us explore Saigon on foot.

     
    • Like Like x 2
    • Love Love x 2
  2. ajdj

    ajdj Low-Roller

    Joined:
    Jul 1, 2019
    Messages:
    102
    Location:
    Canary Islands
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    6
    Thanks to all that have watched and subscribed so far.

    Day 2 - We booked a street food tour on scooters to experience some great food spots in the city with locals. Vi and Annie took great care of us and we had a lot of fun (and a lot of great food!). Video is now live.

    I’d not had an awful lot of Vietnamese food prior to this but really enjoyed the fresh flavours and the French influence. It was a great introduction and I’m keen to see how different regions compare if we return at some point to visit the North of the country. Banh Mi was probably my favourite, washed down with a Saigon Red beer

     
    • Like Like x 3
  3. ajdj

    ajdj Low-Roller

    Joined:
    Jul 1, 2019
    Messages:
    102
    Location:
    Canary Islands
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    6
    Day 3 - We flew from Ho Chi Minh City to the island of Phu Quoc. It was my wife's birthday so we enjoyed a few cocktails and a great meal on our first night. This is a shorter update as it was a travel day

     
    • Like Like x 2
  4. rsanbal9

    rsanbal9 Tourist

    Joined:
    Feb 17, 2009
    Messages:
    94
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    100
    I'm enjoying your vlogs so much. Thank you.
     
    • Love Love x 1
  5. ajdj

    ajdj Low-Roller

    Joined:
    Jul 1, 2019
    Messages:
    102
    Location:
    Canary Islands
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    6
    Day 4- Our first full day on the beautiful island of Phu Quoc. We decided to be brave and hire a scooter to explore the island. This ended up being pretty easy and we headed north to find a nice beach. The island is full of friendly locals who really love seeing tourists. Everyone we saw was waving at us and saying hello. Editing this made me think about how tough things must be for them now (as it is in any area that relies heavily on tourism). I still imagine they have smiles on their faces regardless, because that's their nature. I hope they see lots of travellers again when things get back to 'normal'.

     
    • Like Like x 2
  6. ajdj

    ajdj Low-Roller

    Joined:
    Jul 1, 2019
    Messages:
    102
    Location:
    Canary Islands
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    6
    Day 5-

    2 very contrasting experiences as we take the scooter south. First, a ride on the worlds longest cable car and then a visit to Phu Quoc prison which was an insight into the islands past and its links to war. A long day on the scooter but worth combining both into 1 day.

    Thanks again to all that are watching, I really appreciate it!

     
    • Like Like x 3
  7. ajdj

    ajdj Low-Roller

    Joined:
    Jul 1, 2019
    Messages:
    102
    Location:
    Canary Islands
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    6
    Day 6- Final day in Phu Quoc. After a day doing the tourist sites the day before, we decided to go off the tourist trail and explore the East coast which is much less visited. Also enjoyed a visit to the art gallery in Ong Lang, which doubles up as a nice bar.

     
    • Like Like x 4
  8. ajdj

    ajdj Low-Roller

    Joined:
    Jul 1, 2019
    Messages:
    102
    Location:
    Canary Islands
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    6
    Day 7- We fly from Phu Quoc direct to Bangkok, Thailand!

    After successfully navigating the public transport options to get to our hotel, we head to the huge Chinatown night market to sample some great street food. I can still taste how good that dim sum was! A shorter vlog as it was a travel day, but lots of sights and sounds of Bangkok to come in the next one too.

    Really appreciate the support, if you are enjoying the videos then please consider subscribing over on YouTube
     
    • Like Like x 2
  9. ajdj

    ajdj Low-Roller

    Joined:
    Jul 1, 2019
    Messages:
    102
    Location:
    Canary Islands
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    6
    Day 8- 1 Full day to explore Bangkok. Featuring temples, tut tuk's, food, drinks and a ride along the Chao Phraya river on the locals commuter boat to Khao San Road.
    In hindsight, I would have happily done another day in Bangkok. I think 3 days would have perfect to see a little more. It was extremely hot when we were there in January so this day was particularly tiring but 100% worth it!

     
    • Like Like x 3
  10. ajdj

    ajdj Low-Roller

    Joined:
    Jul 1, 2019
    Messages:
    102
    Location:
    Canary Islands
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    6
    Day 9- We flew from Bangkok to Trang in the South of Thailand. Usually a popular gateway town to access the islands, however we decided to spend a couple of nights there as we were keen on seeing an area less populated with tourists. First night didn't disappoint as we went to a very large night market called Cinta Garden. We only saw 2 other Westerners there! More great food, which is fast becoming a prime focus of this trip!

    Thanks again to those watching along :)

     
    • Like Like x 1
    • Love Love x 1
  11. Flowers

    Flowers VIP Whale

    Joined:
    Mar 29, 2014
    Messages:
    14,642
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    30
    Wow. I'm so excited to watch these. Thanks in advance for sharing!
     
    • Like Like x 2
    • Love Love x 1
  12. ajdj

    ajdj Low-Roller

    Joined:
    Jul 1, 2019
    Messages:
    102
    Location:
    Canary Islands
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    6
    Day 10- We spent the day exploring Trang Province, an area not often visited by many tourists. Enjoyed the 3km trail in the Botanic Gardens, followed by a couple of examples of early 1900's architecture in the form of a diplomats home and Kantang railway station. A really enjoyable day where once again we were warmly welcomed by all of the locals.

     
    • Like Like x 1
    • Love Love x 1
  13. ajdj

    ajdj Low-Roller

    Joined:
    Jul 1, 2019
    Messages:
    102
    Location:
    Canary Islands
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    6
    Day 11- We leave Trang get the public ferry to the beautiful island of Koh Mook. One of the smaller, less visited islands off the South East coast of Thailand. A slight mishap with our hotel but easily solved!

     
    • Like Like x 1
    • Love Love x 1
  14. ajdj

    ajdj Low-Roller

    Joined:
    Jul 1, 2019
    Messages:
    102
    Location:
    Canary Islands
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    6
    Day 12- We spend the day soaking up the island life on Koh Mook. Some stunning beaches, more great food and a rather nice sunset (would have been spectacular if it wasn't quite as cloudy!). This was one of our more relaxing days but we still somehow managed to walk 7 miles. Can highly recommend Koh Mook if you ever consider visiting the islands, this one is more chilled than some of the party islands and definitely not over crowded.

    I knew nothing about video editing or YouTube 6 weeks ago. I'm fast approaching 1000 views on the series so far which is amazing. Thank you so much to those of you watching :)

     
    • Like Like x 2
  15. ajdj

    ajdj Low-Roller

    Joined:
    Jul 1, 2019
    Messages:
    102
    Location:
    Canary Islands
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    6
    Day 13- We leave the island of Koh Mook and head North to Krabi Town. Found a lovely temple and sampled more night market food.

     
    • Like Like x 3
  16. ajdj

    ajdj Low-Roller

    Joined:
    Jul 1, 2019
    Messages:
    102
    Location:
    Canary Islands
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    6
    Day 14- We take a Songthaew to the bottom of the Tiger Cave Temple. Walked up the 1,260 in blistering heat and humidity but be did it and reached the top! Fantastic views and a thoroughly worthwhile experience. Had a fun encounter with a family of monkey's at the bottom too

     
    • Like Like x 2
    • Love Love x 1
  17. ajdj

    ajdj Low-Roller

    Joined:
    Jul 1, 2019
    Messages:
    102
    Location:
    Canary Islands
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    6
    Day 15-
    Our last day in Krabi and Thailand. Next video will be a new country! We visited the art museum before spending 4 hours in the afternoon at a Thai Cookery School learning how to make some great traditional Thai food.
     
    • Like Like x 2
  18. ajdj

    ajdj Low-Roller

    Joined:
    Jul 1, 2019
    Messages:
    102
    Location:
    Canary Islands
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    6
    Day 16-
    We leave Thailand and head to Malaysia. An easy flight to Kuala Lumpur with Air Asia and we make use of the excellent KLIA Express train to get into the city. Our hotel was night by the Jalan Alor night market so we sampled some of the food, including the famous durian fruit. It was ermmm, interesting!

     
    • Like Like x 2
  19. ajdj

    ajdj Low-Roller

    Joined:
    Jul 1, 2019
    Messages:
    102
    Location:
    Canary Islands
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    6
    Day 17-
    Exploring Kuala Lumpur. We visit the Botanical Gardens which are a fantastic contrast to the busy City. In the evening we go to one of the best Sky Bar's with a brilliant view of Petronas Towers and a great cocktail happy hour!

     
    • Like Like x 2
    • Love Love x 1
  20. tagac27

    tagac27 High-Roller

    Joined:
    Oct 25, 2009
    Messages:
    671
    Location:
    MA
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    22
    Ajdj, I loved your first video and can't wait to watch the rest! :)
     
    • Love Love x 1
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.