Bangkok’s MOCA Our final day in Thailand began with the familiar routine of hotel breakfast and showers, followed by the last packing of the trip. The main sightseeing objective today
Category: Big Trip Diary Entry
Thailand Contrasts (2022): Day 17: One Night in Bangkok
Although largely dedicated to relocation, today still managed to be reasonably interesting and enjoyable. Breakfast was a little different and considerably more colourful than usual as the hotel was hosting
Thailand Contrasts (2022): Day 16: Exploring Chiang Rai
Into the City We only had one full day in Chiang Rai and we were determined to make the most of it. Sizing up our new destination compared to the
Thailand Contrasts (2022): Day 15: To Another Northern City
Relocation After the customary (and rather nice) hotel breakfast at the earlier hour of 0715 and having then attended to showers and packing, we checked out of Le Méridien Chiang
Thailand Contrasts (2022): Day 14: Chang Moi
Introduction Today’s plan, intentionally a little less ambitious than Tuesday’s, concentrated on the district of Chiang Mai in which our hotel stood: Chang Moi. Even so, we weren’t intent on
Thailand Contrasts (2022): Day 13: Temples of Chiang Mai Old Town
Morning Today’s hefty programme – and indeed the next couple of days as well – got off to a good start with an inclusive breakfast at the hotel. This was
Thailand Contrasts (2022): Day 12: Onwards to Chiang Mai
The journey north Today began when Bruce’s phone alarm went off at 0444 and mine followed at 0445. (He has a penchant for using non-standard times!) We both knew that
Thailand Contrasts (2022): Days 8-11: At Leisure on Phuket
Our room Our Phuket hotel, where Bruce had arrived on schedule on the first day of the new month, was the Hilton Arcadia Resort & Spa, situated at Karon Beach.
Thailand Contrasts (2022): Days 6-7: An interlude in Leiden, then onwards to Phuket
Leiden Yes, Day 6 and I was still in the Netherlands – but on track to travel this evening! I had my usual Hampton breakfast before showering, packing and checking
Thailand Contrasts (2022): Days 3-5: Last few hours in Amsterdam … or so I thought!
The reason why I’m treating this as a block of three days will become clear soon enough. Today started out well enough and initially ran as planned. After checking out
Thailand Contrasts (2022): Day 1: Getting started with a North Sea hop
It was the most unassuming of starts to an intercontinental trip: a short hop to Amsterdam in Economy. Regular readers will know that this is not necessarily unusual for me.
California, Here We Come! (2021): Diary Epilogue
At this point, the sightseeing was over and all that remained was to get home. One of the reasons for choosing Paris as the end point of our intercontinental tickets
California, Here We Come! (2021): Days 16-18: And now, a long weekend in Paris!
Final Accommodation On Friday morning we relocated to central Paris for a three-night stay at the perfectly decent Holiday Inn Paris Montmartre. With just 54 rooms, it is one of
California, Here We Come! (2021): Days 14&15: Miami Interlude and Return to Europe
A few hours in downtown Miami I woke up after what felt like a short night, due to the combined effect of the 3hr time change the previous evening and
California, Here We Come! (2021): Day 13: Transcon in (Some) Style
St Andrew’s Day brought the first steps in our homeward journey, initially with a short hop back down the west coast to LA, then with a transcontinental flight to Miami,
California, Here We Come! (2021): Day 12: Gallery day
After breakfast this morning, there was some business to attend to: before embarking on our eastbound return journey to Europe the following day, it was essential to do more laundry.
California, Here We Come! (2021): Day 11: Sausalito, the Castro and North Beach revisited
Trip to Sausalito Today’s breakfast was at a nearby Blue Bottle Café, and this was followed by our usual shower routine before the day got underway in earnest. One notable
California, Here We Come! (2021): Day 10: San Francisco on Foot
Today began at a leisurely pace: we had a very light Starbucks breakfast and returned to base for showers. The first real event was our 1130 reservation for dim sum