Read this blog: The one where Robert doesn’t want to put his trousers on Wednesday 19th February 2025 Luang Prabang lies on a peninsula formed by the confluence of the Mekong River and its tributary the Nam Khan. It is the former royal capital of Laos. In 1545 the administrative capital was moved to Vientiane but the Lau royal family continued to live here until the communist takeover in 1975. Now the cultural Capital of Laos, Luang Prabang has a plethora of temples and colonial-style buildings along We woke to torrential rain [see Video of the day] which was fortunately short-lived and cleared the air making the day seem slightly cooler. After breakfast we set off to see a few sites: Matilda dressed appropriately for any temple visits and Robert with his elephant temple trousers in his bumbag. The sky still looked threatening over the park where the statue of President Souphanouvong stands. He seems to have been something of a contradiction. Born a member of the Laos royal family in Luang Prabang, and originally known as Prince Souphanouvong he became the first President of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic [Lao PDR] serving between 1975 and 1991. According to the […]
Trips
Read this blog: The one where Matilda has her aerosols inspected Monday 17th and Tuesday 18th February 2025 Thinking it would be easiest to give our hotel as a pick up point for InDrive, we went to the branch of Starbucks which is directly in front of the Holiday Inn for a coffee and a snack before organising transport to the COPE Visitor Centre. However, many of the streets in Vientiane are one way and it took a little time for our InDrive driver to negotiate the traffic and the one way system to be able to pick us up. From there on the journey to COPE was straightforward. The visitor centre is located in the grounds of the Centre for Medical Rehabilitation [CMR]. COPE stands for the Cooperative Orthotic & Prosthetic Enterprise and is the main provider of artificial limbs, walking aids and wheelchairs in Laos. Although many of those in need of a prosthetic are bomb blast victims, COPE also treats the victims of road traffic or other accidents and people with congenital conditions. Outside the building stands a striking sculpture made out of metal retrieved from bombs dropped by American forces. It almost seems as though the figures are running to […]
Read this blog: The one where we resisted the 80p trousers Sunday 16th February 2025 Matilda had identified somewhere she wanted to try for breakfast but unfortunately it wasn’t open on a Sunday so we returned to the Joma Bakery Café for baked morning goods. From here we booked an InDrive taxi to take us about 4km northeast of central Vientiane to Pha That Luang which translates literally as the “Great Stupa”. Its foundation dates back to the third century, when a shrine was built here to hold a relic of the Buddha. The current structure was built in 1566 after Vientiane became the capital of Laos although it has been renovated four times since then. A vast golden Buddha reclines near the entrance and the site incorporates many decorated graves. The central stupa stands in a vast compound flanked by two Buddhist temples and naga balustrades adorn many of the temple steps, guarding these holy buildings which . . . . . . feature the beautiful decorative painted carvings we have come to expect. Murals and paintings illustrating the life of Buddha also adorn some of the temple buildings. The roof of the central stupa was originally covered in gold […]
Read this blog: The one where Matilda gets to have her cake and eat it [twice] Friday 14th and Saturday 15th February 2025 Our flight to Wattay International Airport in Vientiane left from Don Mueang International Airport in Bangkok and we booked a taxi from the hotel to take us there. To our surprise, the driver seemed to be trying to tell us that it was expensive in Laos. As we stood in the queue to board, the man waiting behind us first complimented Robert on his Hawaiian shirt. This happens a lot. As the conversation progressed it transpired that he was an American athletics coach specialising in the pole-vault currently travelling on a year’s sabbatical. One of his students was a teenage girl from London. When Robert told him that he was also a pole-vaulter, the coach looked at his current girth and said good-naturedly, “a little while ago”. Some readers will be surprised to find out that Robert was an English schools level pole-vaulter and still in fact holds his school record for pole-vaulting, which he set over 40 years ago. He represented not only Warwickshire AAA but also the West Midland Schools at the English Schools Athletics […]
Read this blog: The one where we discover that the English only look at the pictures Thursday 13th February 2025 Matilda had planned we should get up early so that we could ascend the Golden Mount [see feature photo] in the comparative cool of the morning as on our last visit the temple had been covered in scaffolding so we had opted not to climb the 344 steps. However her confident assumption that yesterday’s lie-in meant that she had conquered jet-lag proved to be sadly over-optimistic. Once again, this time after a fitful nights’ sleep, we woke after 09:00. After breakfast, we once again walked to the Khlong Saen Saep [Saen Saep Canal] to catch a high speed boat. Already it felt hotter than it had the day before, despite the refreshing spray caused by passing another boat at high speed. Having arrived at Panfa Leelard Pier at the end of the line we set off along Boriphat Road towards the Golden Mount. We were almost instantly accosted by a tuk tuk driver trying to drum up some business but when we turned him down he was heard to mutter something which may have been in Thai but sounded suspiciously like “stupid […]
Read this blog: The one where we discover that there is no alcohol available in Bangkok Monday 10th to Wednesday 12th February 2025 Our second Asian adventure started in the Wetherspoons at Gatwick Airport where Robert opted for a pint and Matilda took in a cheeky decaffeinated latte while we waited for the gate for our 21:15 flight to be announced. On arriving for our second stay in Bangkok, we initially planned to grab a Grab (the Asian equivalent of an Über) to take us from the airport to our hotel. There is a dedicated Grab pick up zone beyond the taxi drop off lane as you exit Suvarnabhumi Airport. This is so popular that it has two pick up points designated rather unimaginatively Grab A and Grab B. We joined the throng of people all looking hopefully at their phones, waiting for a driver to accept their booking. After about a quarter of an hour we decided we would be better off getting the Airport Rail Link (ARL) into central Bangkok and then trying to get a Grab from there. The journey takes about half an hour to travel the 28km into the city and the train terminates at Phaya Thai Station where […]
Read this blog: The one where we find out that people like pink. Thursday 5th December 2024 Robert had a browse through the sights recommended on GPSmyCity and was delighted to discover the existence of Ritter Sport Colourful World of Chocolate. Here, you can book a session to make your own personalised bar of Ritter Sport or you can choose your own favourite ingredients and a member of staff will create an individual bar of chocolate to your specification. This takes about a half to three quarters of an hour to produce. We settled for buying a selection of the special editions available. Unsurprisingly, the shop is essentially wall to wall chocolate. Around Berlin there are lots of “Buddy Bears”. The bear has long been associated with Berlin and these colourful sculptures have been installed across the city to represent tolerance. Of course, the bear inside the Ritter Sport shop sported colourful squares and looked as though it had been dipped in chocolate. From here we walked to the Deutsches TechnikMuseum [German Museum of Technology]. The museum occupies a vast 28,500 m2 site where the freight yards for the old Anhalter Station once stood. Formerly one of Berlin’s busiest railway stations, this was […]
Read this blog: The one where we experience Cold War East Germany Wednesday 4th December 2024 We had booked to visit the Deutsche Spionagemuseum [German Spy Museum] in the morning which is promoted as being in “Berlin, the capital of spies”. It is open daily between 10:00 and 20:00 and on presenting our tourist train passes we were given a 25% discount on the entry price. This is home to over 1,000 exhibits which tell the story of information gathering over the millennia from Biblical stories and the ancient potter who concealed the secret recipe for a glaze in the decoration of a pot right through to modern surveillance techniques. Exhibits include hidden cameras, lipstick pistols, bugs and encrypted mobile phones as well as an original German Enigma Machine [below]. Also on display was a replica of the poison-tipped umbrella used to murder the Bulgarian dissident and anti-communist writer and broadcaster Georgi Markov in 1978 on a London street. The museum is highly interactive and if our visit had not coincided with those of several groups of students we would have spent more time trying to solve cyphers; seeing if we could identify when each other was lying and trying to negotiate a laser maze amongst […]
Read this blog: The one where we hit the Berlin Christmas markets Monday 2nd and Tuesday 3rd December 2024 Although the festive spirit sometimes eludes Robert, when Matilda suggested a city break in Berlin to take in some culture and visit the Christmas markets, Robert enthusiastically embraced what he saw primarily as an opportunity to drink beer al fresco in the afternoon. To maximise our time in Berlin, rather than travel by train, we flew from Heathrow. Over the past few years it has been Robert who has experienced the odd inconvenience when travelling by plane: we think he may share his name with a known criminal. Whatever the reason, his old passport did not usually work in the automated gates and he was invariably referred to Border Control. Surprisingly his passport did work in Iceland. But it was at Reykjavik Airport that he was held back and interviewed by American officials as he had sulphur residue on his clothing from the caves we had visited. This trip it was Matilda who became quite embarrassed and flustered when one of the flight attendants made a request over the tannoy for her (and one other passenger) to make themselves known to […]
Read this blog: The one where we devise BOBs Pub Crawl Wednesday 27th November 2024 The Mystery Guides’ Birmingham City Centre adventure, The Mystery of the Fake Cheque Fiasco took us to several places that Robert (erstwhile Brummie that he is) had never been [see previous post] and we passed several banking halls which had been renovated and re-imagined as public houses with grand interiors. The conclusion of The Mystery of the Fake Cheque Fiasco is happily located inside The Old Joint Stock, one of our favourite Birmingham hostelries. Presentation of the booklet for the adventure at the bar secures a 10% discount on your first order [see Selfie of the Day]. Quietly sat sipping our drinks we brainstormed the concept of a pub crawl taking in the old banks of Birmingham which have been converted into pubs and coined the phrase [Birmingham’s Old Banks] BOBs Pub Crawl, starting where we sat in The Old Joint Stock [see Selfie of the day]. Erected in 1862 the building was originally the library for St Philip’s church opposite but was swiftly acquired by the Birmingham Joint Stock Bank. In 1889 Queen Victoria granted Birmingham ‘city status’ and in the same year the Birmingham Joint Stock Bank merged with Lloyds Bank. Shortly […]
Read this blog: The one where we solve The Fake Cheque Fiasco Tuesday 26th and Wednesday 27th November 2024 We left the York Tap behind and caught a train down to Birmingham, fully aware that we could have travelled all the way back to London in the time it took us to get to New Street Station. We were very taken with the mechanical bull on the station concourse. This was originally the centrepiece of the opening ceremony of the 2022 Commonwealth Games held here in the city. It moves at regular intervals, shaking its head and snorting [see Video of the day]. As Robert had had a full day’s meeting before we left York, it was later than we would usually plan to arrive somewhere when we finally reached Birmingham. We checked in to our hotel and walked to Victoria Square. Here “Birmingham’s Frankfurt Christmas Market” was already spreading the festive spirit [see Selfie of the day]. We went to find Chris Moose, the joke-telling, singing reindeer which has become a regular feature and focal point of the Christmas market here in Birmingham. The following morning, Matilda had invested in some entertainment: the Mystery Guides’ Birmingham City Centre adventure, The […]
Read this blog: The one where Robert queues for ghosts and Matilda fails to get her passport stamped Monday 25th and Tuesday 26th November 2024 Robert had a Great Rail Journeys [GRJ] Tour Managers’ Comms Group meeting scheduled in York and Matilda decided that since there was one side of a fully paid up double bed available she could travel up with Robert and spend the day of his meeting visiting the Christmas market and walking round beautiful historic York to start getting her in the festive spirit. The day before the meeting, we travelled up by train – naturally – and arrived in time to stroll through the market in daylight. The York Ghost Merchants had recently released a special edition Christmas tree decoration ghost and so Matilda also persuaded Robert to visit The York Ghost Merchants shop at The Dispensary in St Anthony’s Garden. Special edition ghosts are limited to one purchase per person so Matilda needed Robert with her to allow her to purchase two. Under duress, he agreed to accompany her. The queue at The Dispensary was indeed much shorter than the one for the shop in The Shambles but otherwise the experience is very similar. […]
Read this blog: The one where were Matilda shakes her Singapore Sling Monday 15th to Thursday 18th April 2024 We would undertake the journey back to Singapore in two stages: firstly travelling from Kuala Lumpur to Johor Bahru via Gemas by train before crossing the Johor Strait into Singapore. Robert, despite his enthusiasm for all things rail-related, is always reluctant to rely too heavily on train connections which could be subject to delays and had therefore planned for us to stay overnight in Johor Bahru. We went to Kuala Lumpur Sentral to catch the first train to Gemas. This was an aerodynamic high speed engine. The route took us through the lush Malaysian terrain. The onward train from Gemas to Johor Baru was running late and we became increasingly concerned that we would miss our next connecting train. However when Robert went to ask the ticket inspector he was confidently told not to worry as the service would wait. It transpired that the ticket inspector was also transferring to work on the connecting train which would definitely not leave without its full complement of staff. The Johor Strait, between the Malay Peninsuala and the Republic of Singapore is just three […]
Read this blog: The one where Robert is not allowed in a train carriage Saturday 13th and Sunday 14th April 2024 The MRT [Mass Rapid Transit] network in Kuala Lumpur has introduced a trial of women only coaches to provide them with a safer and more comfortable way to travel. We did not have to use the MRT during rush hour so there was generally plenty of space in both the mixed carriages and the women only ones. On some occasions, to ensure we were compliant, Robert stood behind the pink line while Matilda was able to take a seat on the other side. As we would not be leaving from the old Kuala Lumpur Railway Station we decided we should go and view the exterior, which is said to be very striking. Opposite the old station stands the Railway Administration Building, dating from 1917. It still houses the national railway administration for Peninsula Malaysia, which is now known as KTM [Keretapi Tanah Melayu]. The building was designed by the architect, A.B Hubback who was Assistant to the Director of Public Works for the state of Selangor. During the 20 years he held this post he also designed the Kuala […]
Read this blog: The one where we discover that shorter is higher Thursday 11th and Friday 12th April 2024 The day was to be taken up predominantly with travel so we went to fortify ourselves with breakfast at Wheelers again. This time Robert constructed his own breakfast by choosing items from a pick and mix menu [see Dish of the day]. As a Grab taxi is very reasonable and it was difficult to predict how long we might have to wait for the ferry, we decided to grab a Grab over the bridge to the station in Butterworth to catch our train to Kuala Lumpur, capital of Malaysia. This would provide us with a different view of the crossing. Once in the capital, we went to catch the monorail towards our hotel. We were a bit apprehensive to find that not all the platform gates have been completed so there was a sheer drop down to the rails. We stood well back as the train arrived [see Video of the day]. We checked in to our hotel and as we were too tired to start sightseeing, we took a short walk to the Hard Rock Café. Robert had done his […]
Read this blog: The one where we travel on the steepest tunnel train track in the world Wednesday 9th and Thursday 10th April 2024 Using a combination of the Penang tourist map from the hotel and GPSmyCity, Robert worked out a route taking in some of the major sights. First we walked to the Church of the Assumption, the third oldest Catholic church in Malaysia. In front stands a small, open, domed Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima with vibrant blue stained glass which is reserved for private prayer. A church was originally established here in 1786, but the population of George Town increased steadily and in 1860 work started on the current cruciform church with two bell towers. It opened the following year in 1861. Next we passed St George’s Church. Built in 1816, this is the oldest purpose-built Anglican Church in South East Asia. A sign outside told us that it was closed for the public holiday. Since Ramadan 2024 began late on March 11 with the first fasting day being March 12, in most countries the three days of Eid al-Fitr were due to start on April 10th 2024. There were therefore quite a lot of businesses […]