On the road again

Gallery: Taipei, Taiwan

larry_the_travel_guide — Thu, 8 Jan 2009 19:45:00 GMT

Random arond Taipei

Palawan-about Larry, Ken and Rabbit

larry_the_travel_guide — Thu, 8 Jan 2009 18:45:00 GMT

I thought it would be helpful if you knew a little more about the 3 of us, so you will understand some of the thoughts and decisions that went into making this a reality.

Larry Nixon, married with 3 daughters and has lived a travelling sort of life since 1970 when he first went overseas with brother Ken at 21. Since then he has hitch hiked in the dead of winter from Amsterdam to Istanbul, worked in a kibbutz in Israel, raced motorcycles in UK, worked as deckhand on a luxury 130 foot staysail schooner called Orejona based in San Antonio, near Ibiza, raced motorcycles in Australia, built a 36 foot ketch in Melbourne, worked for over 3 years in Papua New Guinea surviving 2 armed holdups, moved to Perth for 5 years, then to Auckland in New Zealand for 6 months, a short period in Melbourne before moving with his wife and 3 daughters to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia for 2 years, the longest period in the same house of almost 7 years in Melbourne before coming to Taipei in 2007 where they are still based. Larry is 59.

Ken Nixon-married with 1 daughter. Ken started his adventure travel life as a national seviceman with the Australian army in 1968 and saw active service in Vienam for 12 months in 1969. He then travelled with Larry from 1970 and also did the Istanbul/Israel trip but then fell in love and went to US for a year, rejoined Larry in Spain and worked on yacht Orejona briefly before returning to Melbourne in 1973 where he built up a successful motorcycle business from scratch before selling and moving to the Yea property he shares with his wife in 2007. He was born in 1947 which gives an indication of his age.

Rabbit Holland. Rabbit (his real name) is an absolute 40 something legend currently living in Sydney. He has lived in Melbourne before moving to Sydney, loves all things related to motorcycles, scuba diving and sailing. He first travelled with Larry and Ken in 2006 when they completed an awesome dirt bike ride from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap via the trails of Cambodia. Apart from an unpleasant encounter with an agressive flesh eating bateria which threatened his arm and kept him in a Bangkok hospital for weeks, Rabbit is back for more! Rabbit is a big man who likes travelling heavy so it will be interesting to see how he manages to fit himself and various travel bags into a local unaircon Philippino bus and small dangerous banca boat.

Palawan scuba adventure

larry_the_travel_guide — Thu, 8 Jan 2009 18:23:00 GMT

After the big family trip to Philippines, Thailand and Cambodia I settled back into a sedate family life in Taipei with the 2 girls at school and Liz working at Taipei American School. Many people have asked me if I ever get bored not working here but I can honestly say I have not had time to be bored. I find Taipei such an amazing place that from the moment I step foot outside the apartment I am surrounded and immersed in Taiwanese culture and Taiwanese hospitality and every minute of each day is an adventure. But while saying that, February is a cold month in Taipei, cold and damp with little sunshine, similar to my home city of Melbourne, Australia in July except at least in Melbourne we had central heating. here the locals don't seem to feel the cold and most places are not heated apart from a small porable fan heater.

So I have decided to organise another adventure trip to The Philippines, mainly to travel Palawan Island and dive the wrecks of Coron. This trip will be again different, I am meeting my brother Ken and friend Rabbit Holland in Manila on 11 Feb. I have travelled with both of them before, but travelling in Phil on my own is a totally different kettle of fish to travelling with 2 people who have not backpacked before, and who do not think backpacking is normal for middle aged Australian men.

Now that is the challenge, to convince Ken and Rabbit that backpacking is the best way to experience travelling, and the best way to really see the magnificent Philippines.

Gallery: Boracay

larry_the_travel_guide — Fri, 8 Aug 2008 16:44:00 GMT

Blue Mango Inn

Boracay-The last stop

larry_the_travel_guide — Fri, 8 Aug 2008 16:21:00 GMT

Hi everybody, we have just got our laptop back after if suffered terminal hard drive failure. Lucky Larry purchased a portable storage unit and backed up all our photos and docs before it broke so we can now finish the blog.

On leaving Manila on 1 July bound for Caticlan we discovered our flight on Cebu Pacific had been cancelled and all passengers had to return to the check-in counter. So we bolted to miss the rush, but no such luck, it was a shambles but we finally obtained boarding passes for a flight to Kalibo about 90 minutes drive to Caticlan, arriving just before dark. We were shown to a mini bus and the maniac driver tore through the typhoon devastated town, past massive trees uprooted and crushed houses, it was quite sad to see. This happened a few weeks before when a passenger ferry capsised drowning 806 people just of the coast near Cebu.

We arrived at Caticlan and boarded a dodgy looking banca (small local ferry with bamboo outriggers) for the short ride to Boracay, lucky it was a beautiful night and perfectly calm. Once at the port, we all piled into a motorised tricycle for a short, noisy, bumpy and smelly fast ride to our beautiful destination at White Beach boat station 3, The Blue mango Inn. It was nice to be greeted by the owner Vaughan with an ice cold beer and he showed us to our amazing room room overlooking the perfect coconut tree framed White Beach.

The water is an amazing aquamarine colour and so clear. We spend the days on the lounges on the beach swimming and reading. Maddy does her intro to scuba diving. Liz joins her on a couple of dives which they enjoy in the clear, warm water full of colourful fish and coral. Maddy's second dive was eventful as the wind had picked up. Our dive boat broke down so after wallowing in the waves for about an hour, we had to swim to another boat to get to our dive site. It was all worth it and Maddy did really well at 60 foot!

We found Boracay to be quieter with fewer tourists than Thailand. The beach is picturesque and staying right on the beach was very relaxing. The weather deteriorated towards the end of our stay as a typhoon skirted The Philippines and hit Taiwan. The day we left was raining heavily and blowing. We were taken to the other side of the island, which is more sheltered, to get on the small local ferry over to Caticlan. There is no airport on Boracay Is. Then we had to get into a tricycle to get to the airport. (This is why it is important to have small luggage as there is barely enough room for 3 people!) This ride was a bit scary in the rain as the motorbikes front brake kept sticking on as we drove through the hills. By the time our small plane was due to take off the rain had eased which Maddy was releived about!

Bangkok and Manila

larry_the_travel_guide — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 11:54:00 GMT

After a delayed flight from Phnom Penh we arrived in Bangkok after dark. We booked the Ambassador Hotel in Sukhamavit district which was a good area for us. The street market was right out the front, handy for the girls! Plenty of Thai restuarants close by (more Green Chicken curries!) and we had a nice pool to cool off in after the heat of the day. It was very hot and humid. After all the travelling in Cambodia we relaxed and slowed down, the girls catching up on some poolside reading. We were in Bangkok about 5 days. We went to the Grand Palace, unfortunately on a buddhist holiday so it was packed and partially closed. It was a beautiful sight though. We went to see the largest reclining Buddha in SE Asia which was amazing. Bangkok was easy to get around using the train system and taxi's were cheap. We finished up at the weekend market which was huge, hot, humid and a bit overwhelming. Larry, Liz and Maddy flew to Manila on Saturday night leaving Lou and Kate to get to Melbourne Sunday night.

We arrived in Manila at 4.30am. We watched the sunrise over Manila Bay with hundreds of Filipino's until something was open for breakfast. We went to our hotel and slept by the pool until our room was ready. Those overnight flights are killers! Maddy had a few hours sleep then we had a look around Manila. Liz and Maddy found the streets full of suspect looking people all eager to look at Maddy ofcourse as there are not many tourists around. Heavily armed guards were a bit off putting too even at the 7 Eleven store and MacDonalds!

Gallery: Cambodia

larry_the_travel_guide — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 14:09:00 GMT

Phnom Penh & Siem Reap

Cambodia-Ankor Wat

larry_the_travel_guide — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 14:02:00 GMT

Leaving Koh Samui for Thai mainland; Surat Thani

We were picked up by a minibus for the drive to the ferry port at Nathan where we transferred to a public bus for another drive to the vehicular ferry to Surat Thani. This was an interesting trip as all our fellow passengers were local Thais returning to the mainland on the cheapest ferry available. On the way the back door of the bus flew open and all our bags threatened to fall out, it was only the quick thinking bus jockey who ran up the back and stopped them from disappearing! The ferry was old, rusty and had a permanent 10% list to port, we were the only non Thai passengers and the girls received a lot of attention, mainly from the young Thai men.

We got back on the bus when we landed and had another hour drive into Surat Thani to our hotel.

Larry made all the girls go to a local food night market but it was really local and we did not trust the food, (after finding something alive in Kate’s noodles!) so we ate back at the hotel.

Cambodia.

Next morning we flew to Bangkok on Thai Air Asia with a short connection to Phnom Penh, arriving around 4 pm to a hot, dusty and chaotic welcome at the airport. We all crammed into a taxi for the ride into the centre where we had booked The Hotel Castle. The girls were really interested during the mad drive into town, the city had a completely different look and feel to Thai cities and the traffic was the maddest yet! The last part of the drive was literally through the middle of a busy fruit and veg market, the driver just blasted his horn to get through as vendors scrambled to get out of our way; the girls hid their heads!

The Castle Hotel was a great choice, right on the Riverside with a lovely pool which was really appreciated by us all as it was real hot! Larry managed to find one of the guides he rode with by motorcycle with on his last trip. Ra was very pleased to see him. We went upstairs to the Foreign Correspondence Club for a drink overlooking the Mekong.

Saturday we went to the Russian Market by Tuk-Tuk where we were amazed by the rabbit warren of incredible market shops and stalls offering a huge range of things from clothes to second hand motorbike parts. Liz loved all the silk stalls and the girls found some nice tops. It was sensationally hot inside with no ventilation so we only stayed for an hour and went back for a swim and lunch.

After lunch we took another Tuk-Tuk out to the Killing Fields, about 18 km out of Phnom Penh. The girls had all read up on the history of the Khmer Rouge but nothing prepares you for the enormity of the lives that were lost. The ride out and back was a highlight with an amazing variety of interesting sights including witnessing a motorbike accident right next to our Tuk-Tuk, lucky the rider was not too injured, but her bike was broken! We meet up with Ra and Kim and enjoy sunset on a boat on the Mekong then go to a Cambodian beer garden for dinner.

We have an early start to catch the bus to Siem Reip. We have chosen the ‘delux’ bus; the Mekong Express which is $11 each. It has a toilet on board! We are out in rural Cambodia quite quickly, leaving busy PhomPhen behind. The next 5 hours we have a great view from the bus of the beautiful green countryside. Their homes are built close to the road out of timber with thatched roofs and on stilts. Most have a cow tied up out the front, a dam full of flowering lotus and in between villages are fields of rice and water buffalo. We are welcomed in Siem Riep by the tuk tuk driver from Golden banana guest house. The guest house is quaint, an old original house with about 10 bungalow style rooms. The staff were very friendly, even telling us where the gay bars in town were! We walk into town and the girls and Liz are amazed to find a great market to explore and lots of cafes and restaurants. We decide to book a 2 tuk tuks to take us out to Ankor Wat, the ruins we have come all this way to see, at 4.30am to watch the sunrise.

It is a warm morning and the drive out to the temple ruins is quite eerie in the dark as we enter the forest. We have no idea what to expect. The ruins cover over 200 square kms and Ankor Wat, the largest, has a huge moat around it. As the sun begins to rise we can vaguely see the outline. You are awestruck by its size. Lots of people are all being dropped off as we make our way across the stone bridge to sit and watch the sunrise, trying to take in seeing the incredibly intact temple materialize before us. I am amazed, and almost feeling guilty, as we clamber over these ruins that are thousands of years old without any restrictions. As the sun comes up we begin to explore this complex temple before too many people arrive. Stories are told in the incredible bas reliefs of the times gone by and we try to imagine who lived here and how did they create such amazing structures out of huge blocks of stone? It is going to be a hot day so we make the most of the cool morning. We have breakfast in a roadside restaurant after we have finished admiring Ankor Wat. Our tuk tuk drivers have waited and slept and now take us to another area which is even more amazing; Ankor Thom, which is where there are 200 heads of the king sculptured which are all about 3 metres high. Incredible! We then drive across bridges made of stone with huge carvings along the side, through stone archways where elephants wander by. We then went to Ta Prohm where the huge ficus trees have started to reclaim the temples weaving amongst the stone, this was the setting for Tomb Raiders. This place is so big and hard to take in. Just check out the photos! It was a huge and absolutely amazing experience. We went back to the hotel for a swim as it was so hot. We had walked miles and climbed to the top of some temples and were exhausted. Liz and Larry go back out to the ruins at 4.30pm to see the sunset from a different vantage point.

We decide on a rest day today, swim, have coffee in town and Larry explores town by pushbike. Plenty of establishments offer happy hour every night and we enjoy some Cambodian food. Larry wanted to try a “Happy Pizza” but the girls were not keen.

Monday we head back to PP by bus and arrive about 1.30 at the Ankor International Hotel, a cheaper alternative at just $15 per night. It has big rooms and is clean and comfortable!

We go out to the Genocide museum which is disturbing with photos and is in the actual school the Khmer Rouge converted into a prison in 1975. We then walk along the promenade next to the Mekong, an elephant wanders past in the heavy traffic, past the palace all covered in gold and watch the locals enjoy the coolness of the early evening playing traditional games, (kicking a shuttle type thing), selling food and watching the boats on the river. They are such friendly people and we think about what the older generation has been through. There are children on the street begging and some mothers holding their babies on the footpath asking for money. Responsible tourism is promoted and we give them food rather than money so as not to encourage parents to use their children to beg. It is a hard sight for us to see.

Today we fly to Bangkok today and regret having to leave Cambodia as it has been a an interesting place for everyone. The plane is delayed by an hour and when we do get on board the sky is stormy and we have a very bumpy ride, Maddy was screaming! Our hotel is in Sukamavit district and is well placed for our eating and market shopping needs!

Gallery: Krabi, Samui and Phanang

larry_the_travel_guide — Sun, 6 Jul 2008 23:02:00 GMT

Krabi and Koh Samui

larry_the_travel_guide — Sun, 6 Jul 2008 22:45:00 GMT

Krabi

Sunday June 22.

After leaving the yacht in Phuket, we travel by mini bus to Krabi. It takes about one and a half hours through small settlements and palm oil plantations. We decide to go to AoNang for the night which is a nice beach a bay around from Krabi. It is strange being on land now without the boat as we can see the Phang Nga Bay and all the islands we have just explored. We find a bungalow for about $20 a night which has a really nice restaurant attached and we enjoy a very tasty Thai meal ashore, the first since Koh Phi Phi. We then go for a walk along the beach and take a motorbike taxi into town to look at the shops. Maddy and Kate do some shopping while we enjoy a coffee.

The bad weather has caught up with us and it has been raining pretty heavily overnight. We decide to get a long tailed boat around to Railai Beach we had heard so much about. This beach is only accessible by boat and has a small settlement attracting rock climbers and those looking for some solitude. It is a beautiful bay flanked by amazing, tall rocky cliffs. There is a really interesting group of traditional Thai houses at one end of the beach to rent which look great. The wind and seas have really picked up now and we have to get back in that long tail! The boatman fights to get out of the bay with the wind onshore so Larry and Al help him, off we go into the waves with Maddy screaming at the top of her voice! Liz and the girls feel safer with life jackets on as we round the headland and safely get into AoNang very wet.

Koh Samui

Tuesday June 24.

We flew to Koh Samui from Krabi in a fairly small, propeller plane. The landing was a bit scary for the girls who haven’t really experienced small planes before. We bus into Chaweng beach to AKWA guest house. Larry has stayed here before and knew we would like the funky furniture and extra touches this guesthouse offers. We were very disappointed though to be met by the owner having a very bad day who was drunk and very rude to us. The bookings had been messed up and he only had small cramped rooms available. Allan and Helen decided to try elsewhere and we took the standard rooms. After 2 days we then moved into Seascape apartments which were great. It has a pool and is right on the beach.

The next 6 days we spent on the beach swimming, walking, reading, eating and drinking. We hired scooters for a couple of days and explored Lamai beach, the Big Buddha Choneung Beach, Namung falls where we swam and saw elephants and the saw the mummified monk, complete with Ray Bans on. We had some great meals with Allan and Helen, on the beach watching fireworks and lanterns and in the main street, the best being at Eat Sense on the beach.

Monday June 30 Larry leaves early to catch the ferry to Surat Thani then to fly to Bangkok to greet Louise. It takes him as long as it does her flight from Melbourne. They stay the night in Bangkok staying at D and D Inn on Khaoshan road and decide it is not the hotel for us when we all go to Bangkok!

Today we say goodbye to Allan and Helen who have to return to cold Melbourne. It was great having them, especially on board Alissa! We will miss the sunset drinks at The Lighthouse Bar.

Tuesday July 1 we wait all day to see Lou, looks like the trip via Surat Thani is a bit of a marathon. They finally arrive and are keen for a swim and a sunset drink at the lighthouse bar on the sand.

Wednesday July 2 we leave for 2 days at Koh Phanang which is an island close to Koh Samui famous for their full moon parties for 20 year olds. We have booked at Salad Hut on a beach NW. It is a beautiful Thai style resort with only 10 bungalows right on the beach and a nice pool to use when the tide is way out. It is very quiet here but everyone is happy reading and swimming while Lou catches up on some sun. The food is great and there are hammocks to lie in and relax. Koh Phanang must be what Samui used to be 20 years ago, no traffic and very laid back locals.

Friday we get the last ferry back to Koh Samui and stay at Baan Sukreep. We have 2 bungalows which are brand new with a kitchen and very helpful owners. It is in Chaweng Noi, a bit out of the way for shopping but has a nice beach with very friendly cafes right on the sand offering comfy deck chairs and umbrellas. Maddy is not feeling well today and is having a day in bed with a book and the a/c. Larry has hired a motorbike and has gone to the hospital to have his stomach looked into which has been bothering him for a while. Turns out he has a bladder infection, not very pleasant!

Sunday we moved back to our favourite beach at Chaweng, staying in the family room at Samui Beach Apartments which is huge, it has 2 bedrooms, and a large kitchen/lounge and is 30 seconds from the pool and beach. We had a fantastic sunny day swimming, finishing off with sunset drinks and a nice Indian meal in the main street. Tomorrow, Monday is our last day in Samui before we head off to Phnom Penh via Bangkok, everyone is really looking forward to Siem Reap and the Angkor Wat complex.

Gallery: Phuket sailing

larry_the_travel_guide — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 02:10:00 GMT

Sailing Alissa in Phang Nga Bay

larry_the_travel_guide — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 01:29:00 GMT

How good is this! We minibused into the marina at Yacht Haven Phuket and found our way to Alissa our Bavaria 42 we had chartered for the next 8 days. After unloading all our kit we found a local Thai restaurant for dinner and where we planned the forthcoming sailing trip around Phang Nga Bay and had a sensational last mainland meal before an early morning departure the next day.

Alissa was the perfect yacht for us, she had 4 cabins and 2 bathrooms and a sensational saloon and well equiped galley. She sailed really well, we had a couple of memorable sails with 9 knots displayed on the log for long periods, we all knew when we hit 9 knots as Allan always let us know with an excited yell. The wind was generally light with only 2 days of good 15 knot plus wind.

We left the marina after our short briefing on Sunday 15 June and had a good sail to an amazing anchorage at Ko Hong where we anchored in 10 metres of clear water in the lee of a sheer limestone island. After a swim we took the dinghy and explored the hong,(a rock cave that opens to sky) without a doubt an amazing experience, have a look at the photos.

Monday 16 June

After a hot night we all enjoyed an early morning swim. A local fisherman approaches us selling his catch of prawns. Al cleans them and Helen cooks them up fresh for breakfast. We up anchor and head north. The water is so still, making the rocky outcrops look majestic as they come out of the water. We pass the famous James Bond Island, the scenery is beautiful, sheer red rocky cliffs, then continue on to the 'gypsy village' which is a muslim fishing village on stilts complete with their own mosque. We go ashore to get some supplies. Helen cooks up a fried rice as we have discovered the fridge onboard is not working well and we need to cook up the meat we have. We start to head south, having to navigate the channel carefully as we experience some shallow ground! We have a pleasant sail, the girls jump overboard and hold a line behind us to cool off. As approach the Koh Kudu group the is another hong, this opens up into a beautiful, tranquil, emerald coloured lagoon. We explore it in the dinghy. We anchor the yacht in between Koh Kudu and Koh kudu Yai. The rock faces are spectacular, tall and isolated. Time to cool off in the water.

Tuesday 17 June

Up anchor early after another very hot night on board. Anchor at Koh Yao Noi to cook bacon and eggs. We then put up the sails but the breeze is slight. We sail towards the Koh Dam group and anchor early afternoon. Our first sandy beach with an amazing rocky outcrop in the bay. Kate and Maddy are keen to walk on land and snorkel ashore to be greeted by some very inquisitive yellow stripey fish! We all go ashore and have a cold beer from the tiny shop. There seems to be no one living on the island. Back on deck we all enjoy a fantastic sunset with the lights of Krabi and AoNang in the distance.

Weds 18 June

We up anchor early to move around to the next bay to a fabulous snorkelling spot. The fish and coral here are beautiful in clear water. we feed the fish and Maddy gets bitten by a fish; she walks on water to get back on the boat! We continue south rounding the 'chicken head' that thsi island is named after with Phi Phi in our sights. we are able to sail with some motoring. We enter the imposing Phi Phi harbour, dodging fishing and diving boats to find a secure anchorage. It looks different since the tsunami with the tall trees missing. Once anchored we go ashore to explore, Larry stays onboard. We have a swim and a look around, thete is still a lot of building underway. We have a drink back onboard and prepare for our first shore meal! We have a tasty Thai meal looking out onto the harbour and some cold beers.

Thursday 19 June

We go ashore for a good coffee and to stock up on fresh fruit and veg. Time to leave civilization and we go over to Phi Phi Le. Larry drops us off at the famous "The Beach" which Leonardo DiCaprio made famous. We go ashore in the dinghy for a swim. It is very beautiful with perfect white sand. We use the outboard to go out to see to meet Larry and carefully get back on board in the ocean chop. We the go around to 'Monkey Beach' Ao Lahdalum, at the back of Tonsai Bay on Phi Phi to anchor for the night. A picturesque bay that we have to ourselves. A nice beach and great snorkelling in crystal clear water. Maddy goes up in the bosun's chair for a bird eye view!

Friday 20 June

We spend a relaxing morning at anchor snorkelling and swimming and exploring the bay. We soon discover why this is called monkey bay as about 15 monkeys appear on the beach. They dig for crabs in the sand and sadly go through rubbish left by day trippers. We leave about 12.30 and start to head back towards Phuket, following the coast of Koh Yao Yai. We have had troule unfurling the mainsail so Larry goes up the mast in the bosun's chair to try to free it. Seems to be better, we put Alissa through her paces in a good breeze reaching 9.1 knots!

http://s290.photobucket.com/albums/ll260/larrynixon/?action=view&current=DSCN3803.flv

A great sail all afternoon and we arrive at our nightly anchorage at Koh Nui just before sunset. The south westerly has come up and we are well protected here at Ao Labu.

Saturday 21 June

Had a good nights sleep with a cooler breeze last night. We have been taking it in turns sleeping on deck some nights as down below was quite stuffy in the heat. Had a good sail across to Koh Naka Yai. A picturesque bay, quiet with a few local village huts visible. An enterprising Thai has a quaint beach bar set up on the beach and deck chairs. His only customers today are ourselves and the team from our yacht charter company out on a day sail. We spend a nice relaxing day there and explore an abandoned resort that is incomplete. This is our last night on board so we finish off the supplies, have a bottle of champagne to celebrate a very memorable trip. We have some strong rain and wind squawls overnight but the anchor holds well.

Sunday 22 June

At 6am this morning Liz and Larry were up early to raise the anchor and the noise of the anchor chain got Al up as well. We motored to get back up the channel into Yacht Haven for one and a half hours, made good time and used a GPS waypoint to guide us straight back in! The marina boat boys lead us in and we berth Alissa. We have breakfast on board before packing up and use the marinas facilities ashore before handing the boat over. It was a sensational yacht charter, perfect weather, great sailing and the most amazing scenery imaginable.

The Beach House-Cebu

larry_the_travel_guide — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 11:25:00 GMT

Tick off Cebu!

Monday 9 June

After a long trip from Taipei via Manila we finally arrived at Cebu to be met by our friendly driver from Cesario Hotel who made us feel very welcome. We were transported to the hotel quicktime and made a run for the restaurant as soon as we had checked in as we all were very hungry after the 12 hour transit from Taipei.

Tuesday morning came too quickly and we were soon in a taxi for up-town Cebu where we had a quick look around before heading to the North bus station to find and catch a bus to The Beach House at Antipolo. It was at this point the girls realized we were in a 3^rd world country, the public bus station was bedlam with people and vehicles rushing round and the place was crowded with people selling stuff, food, drink, souveniers etc. We found the correct Ceres bus for Antipolo and climbed on board to ensure we had a seat as it was filling up fast. The cost was good, 60 peso each at 42 to the A$, and that was for a 4 hour bus ride from Cebu City to the north west coast and Antipolo! A pity it was fresh air cooled and as it was 35c and as Kate remarked several times “Its bloody hot mate” It was also very crowded and we were jammed in seats designed for small asian bottoms with all seats occupied with many people standing for the whole 4 hour trip.

The girls were sitting quietly, seemingly overwhelmed by their first exposure to the 2^nd largest Philippine city as the bus launched into the chaotic traffic, madly excellerating and then braking heavily, swerving round slow moving vehicles and pedestrians with amazing precision. It was not until we cleared the built-up area and began travelling through the beautiful tropical countryside with the sea on the right side and mountains to the left that the girls began to relax and start talking about the mad experience of the bus departure from Cebu.

The Beach House.

We had told the conductor we had to get off at Antipolo in order to take a tricycle to the Beach House about 2 km away. When the bus pulled over and the conductor shouted “Antipolo, Antipolo” we looked around and thought he had made a mistake. We were unloaded into a dead quiet and isolated 2 building community and left standing on the side of the rode as the bus roared away in a cloud of dust, each one of us looking at each other wondering what we were going to do now. As luck would have it a tricycle ridden by a young man pulled up and we all piled aboard after agreeing he knew where The Beach House was.

A couple of k’s along a rough track brought us to the entrance to The Beach House, it looked lovely and we soon were checked in and swimming in the tropical sea across the road. The Beach House was lovely and after the first night we were the only guests so we were treated very well by the staff. The place only had 4 rooms and had the feel of a private house with beautiful gardens and was very well kept.

For the next 3 days we explored the neighboring villages, meeting lots of friendly people with the girls receiving much attention, particularly from the young men! Kate was a big hit.

We left early to find the bus back to Cebu and nobody was looking forward to the long bus ride, but in fact it was quite pleasant and we made it back to Cebu in time to do some shopping and have a look around Cebu City which we all agreed was a bit of a hole.

Everyone is really looking forward to Phuket, meeting Al and Helen and taking receipt of our bareboat charter yacht "Alissa" which is a Bavariar 42.

Leaving Taipei Monday 9 June

larry_the_travel_guide — Mon, 9 Jun 2008 12:53:00 GMT

Well the day has finally arrived, we are all packed and ready to go.

It has been a bit of a battle getting the girls to pack lightly enough for us to all take cabin bags. We have a couple of tight connections and I think it will be better if we can avoid waiting at the baggage claim for our bags. We also have limited storage on our yacht in Phuket and have to take small soft bags only to allow them to be stowed away when we arrive on board Alissya on June 14. But we have done it, and we are on our way, next story will be from the north coast of Cebu Island.

Larry, Liz, Kate and maddy

Cebu-first stop on the way to Phuket

larry_the_travel_guide — Tue, 3 Jun 2008 13:50:00 GMT

Hey, how about this technology!! I am in the final stages of arranging our long summer holiday to go sailing in Phuket via Cebu and Bangkok, we leave this coming Monday and I still have heaps to do.

This trip is a bit different as I am going with Liz and our 2 children Kate and Maddy, unlike most of my previous travels which I have done either alone or with my brother and friends. So the arrangements have to be right, good quality accomodation (meaning expensive) and much flying (minimal bus travel) We are meeting Allan and Helen in Phuket (Liz's brother and friend from Australia) and they are sailing with us and staying until Koh Samui. We are also looking forward to meeting Louise in Thailand after not seeing her for 6 months.

I have done everything using the internet from our apartment in Taipei where we are based for 2 years, had a couple of problems trying to change airfares booked on budget airlines (Cebu Pacific has been impossible to change because I have been totally unable to contact them)

I have used the following airlines and found their internet booking page to be good, relatively easy to navigate round and very quick to confirm airfares booked and paid for:

Cebu Pacific, AirAsia, Eva Airlines, Jetstar, Qantas

Its taken hours of reading travellers comments and reviews to enable me to pick good hotels, lucky I have had plenty of time. I will let you know how we go, how the reality compares to the internet reviews but in my previous travels I have yet to be disappointed with my choice of a hotel or guest house. Again, my needs have been modest until now so it will be good to stay in more up-market accomodation. OK, so Big John's in Bangkok was not quite as good as I thought it might be but for the price was OK.

I have chartered a yacht from Elite Yacht Charters in Phuket, its a Bavariar 42, a few years old but looks good in the photos sent to me and has all the kit I need to safely spend 7 days cruising around the Andaman Sea. We pickup the yacht from their base in the Phuket Boat Lagoon Marina on June 15 and have to return it by 12 pm June 22. Open the link below and find bareboat charters

http://www.elite-sail-dive.com/

After that we are going to Krabi for a couple of days on our way to Koh Samui and back to stay with Tim at The Akwa Guesthouse. Have a look at the link below.

http://www.sawadee.com/hotel/TH_samui_akwa.html

After a week in Koh Samui we are meeting Lou in Bangkok, back to Samui, back to Bangkok, across to Phnom Penh and Siem Reap in Cambodia before Lou and Kate go back to OZ, Liz, Maddy and I are off to The Philippines; Boracay and Puerto Galera Sabang where Mad is going for her scuba diving licence.

I'm feeling tired thinking about it, but it will be worth it I hope.

Next story will be after arrival in Cebu and after we have found our way by taxi, bus and tricycle to The Beach House in Baybay Antipolo in the north of Cebu island.

Gallery: Cebu

larry_the_travel_guide — Mon, 2 Jun 2008 19:56:00 GMT

!st stop is Cebu