sexy | Hello from the Five Star Vagabond

Santiago Brazil Barcelona Bangkok

April 23, 2015 by David Herd

Around the World again.

Santiago Brazil Barcelona Bangkok

Santiago Brazil Barcelona Bangkok was a fantastic trip in 2003. Add to this two visits to Vietnam, 3 times to Thailand, Singapore and a 13,000 km road trip through Australia’s outback. Overall one of my most frantic years for travel and fun was certainly 2003.

The photo above is Copacabana Beach with Sugarloaf mountain in the distance.

This it not part of my travel blog, just part of my personal photo & travel history from 2003. Mainly revolving around the many people who helped make it another fantastic year of travel.

My friends in Copacabana

These were very happy Times in Copacabana in 2003, from the left is Doug Rourke, (RIP) Marcelli, Dave Wylie, Dave Sommer (RIP) Tatiane and I forget the last guys name. 🙂

Carla at Copacabana

The most magnificent colour skin I have ever seen.

I often wonder where she is now.

Lunch with Jackie at Mea Pataca

A regular spot opposite the beach.

Mea Pataca restaurant in Copacabana

This seafood soup was fantastic.

Angra dos Reis

Today, because of its beautiful beaches and nearby regions, the municipality has become a focal point for tourism – not only state wide but on a national scale also. Within the municipality are over three hundred islands, many of them owned by national and international celebrities. Distance from Rio de Janeiro: 168 km; São Paulo: 411 km.

Angra dos Reis

An interesting place to get away for a quiet weekend.

Buzios

Two hours north of Rio de Janeiro is Buzios. In the early 1900s Búzios was popular with the Carioca’s high society, who wanted to escape from the chaotic city life of Rio de Janeiro and enjoy over 23 beaches that the peninsula offers.

Beautiful Brigitte

It wasn’t until 1964, when the famous French Actress Brigitte Bardot visited Búzios, that it grew to be a popular tourist destination.

Buzios

Búzios is located at 105 miles NE from the city of Rio de Janeiro, about a 2 hour drive from that city. You come to a fork in the road, straight ahead for Cabo Frio and left for Buzios.

Tin man at Copacabana

One of the great Copacabana characters.

Copacabana Palace

The most famous hotel in Rio.

Dinner at the Palace

I took these cute Scandinavian girls to dinner at the Palace, cost me a bloody fortune. 🙂

Does my bum look big in this?

Definitely not. 🙂

The last of the Rio shots before checking out Santiago.

Valparaiso on the coast of Chili

I was not too impressed with Santiago, I really preferred Valparaiso.

Valparaiso

Valparaiso central Chile about 100 kilometers from Santiago. I bet this fantastic house has been photographed millions of times, perched on the edge of a sheer drop you would not want to be a sleep walker. This is one of the escalators (Ascensores) connecting the harbour area to the hills, and the building is the restaurant Las Brujas.

Statue from Easter island in Vina del Mar

Vina del Mar is just to the north of Valparaiso.

Downtown Santiago.

I only spent two nights in Santiago and must admit I was not too impressed. I found it a fairly dull city overall, unlike Valparaiso and Vina del Mar which are more to my liking. However when it comes to drinking wine Chile has some wonderful examples. Although I live in Thailand most of the wine I drink here comes from Chile.

Barcelona

Old Customs building beside the harbour.

La Rambla

La Rambla is a street popular with tourists and locals alike. A tree-lined pedestrian mall, it stretches for 1.2 kilometres connecting Plaça de Catalunya in the centre with the Christopher Columbus Monument at Port Vell.

Casa Mil

Casa Milà, better known as La Pedrera, is one of Gaudí’s main residential buildings and one of the most imaginative houses in the history of architecture. This building is more a sculpture than a building. The façade is a varied and harmonious mass of undulating stone that, along with its forged iron balconies, explores the irregularities of the natural world. UNESCO recognized this building as World Heritage in 1984.

Final stop Thailand

Koh Chang is the 2nd largest island in Thailand and is located near the border of Cambodia.

My friend from Beijing

In September 2002 I met Mable in Beijing and we enjoyed a nice time together. Consequently I sent her a ticket to meet me in Thailand and we spent time in Pattaya, Koh Chang and Bangkok.

Mable at the Sabai Lodge

It is now 2015 and from my balcony in Pattaya I look down on the pool at the Sabai Lodge in Soi 2, a very good low price hotel.

Chinese ladies don’t like direct sun. 🙂

Thanks for visiting my Santiago Brazil Barcelona Bangkok photo blog.

Here are some more posts to check out

Soi Cowboy Nana Plaza Patpong

Please check out these fabulous posts

Gold Coast Pattaya Cinque Terre

Rio de Janeiro Singapore Eastern Europe

Bangkok Bars Tokyo Cape Town Safari

Great hotel room rates anywhere in the world if you book

through these links below. Book now & pay later.

Free Cancellation.

Bangkok Hotels Pattaya Hotels

That’s all folks

Pattaya live webcam

9a1fec74-4461-46cd-8663-97f5893c8f6e (1)

Atlantic bar Pattaya

Ah! Thankfully some things never change in Thailand. 🙂

Jump ahead to 2005 Rio Carnival

That’s all folks

Check out these great posts

Fabulous Soi 11 Bangkok

French village Breil Sur Roya

Breil Sur Roya devastated

Hong Kong 2014

Bradford on Avon

Coogee Beach Australia

Pattaya Thailand 2013

Amazing Iguazu Falls

New York City

Buddhist Temple Asakusa Tokyo

Pattaya live webcam

Counter only started February 16 2020.

This gallery contains 4 photos

Brazil Italy Thailand Adventure 2006

April 16, 2015 by David Herd

Another magic world trip

Brazil Italy Thailand Adventure

Brazil Italy Thailand Adventure 2006, once again my journey began with a flight from the Gold Coast to Sydney in October 2006, before arriving in Rio de Janeiro.

I flew to Teresina to meet a friend and her family then continued on to Forteleza and Belem. After Brazil I flew to Italy hired a car and headed for Portofino, San Gimignano, Vinci and Florence.

A friend in Sydney hosted a dinner at his hotel with several friends, great food and 2 very sexy waitresses.

This it not part of my travel blog, just part of my personal photo & travel history from 2006. Mainly revolving around the many people who helped make it another memorable year.

Freeway Hotel Crayfish

Crayfish? I can’t see any Crayfish. 🙂

Peter plays it cool

The following day I missed my Qantas flight to Rio through a mix up with the airline. I had to purchase another ticket, luckily a couple of months later Qantas reimbursed my original ticket.

A terrific night

GREAT FOOD, GOOD WINE & HOT BABES, WHAT MORE COULD YOU WANT?

Copacabana Beach Rio de Janeiro, say no more.

These two look like they mean business.

Alan Austin and his wife Renata

Alan & I met in Rio and became very good friends, unfortunately the following year he ran into some problems with the English authorities and I now visit him every year in various English prisons.

Shenanigans Ipanema

Monday nights here there are lots of specials and the place gets really crowded. The guy in the red shirt is Alan’s Las Vegas friend Jay.

The girl from Copacabana

I was relaxing on the beach when this vision appeared in front of me. I have never been one to let a golden opportunity pass so I brushed up on my social skills and introduced myself. Her name was Mel and she came from neighbouring Niteroi. Lo & behold within an hour we were in my apartment making mad passionate love. This certainly was one on the best days of my trip. 🙂

Mel from Niteroi

Mel is around 6′ tall with amazing green eyes, a total knock out. It is 2015 and I still have her photo on a shelf in my condo. 🙂

John, an Aussie guy who owned “The Office” restaurant.

John was an Aussie guy from Sydney and we swapped many stories about people we knew and knew of, mainly well known Sydney gangsters. 🙂 The following year John in fact was abducted by Brazilian gangsters who forced him to go to his home in Angra Dos Rios and pen his safe which they cleaned out.

Cabo Frio

Here is my friend Renilda, she lives at Cabo Frio near Buzios with her son and lots of pet dogs. We met in 1999 on Copacabana beach and have had a lot of fun together. I have not seen her since I took this photo in 2006 but I hope we meet again one day.

Sueli and Silmarinha Oliveira

I actually met Sueli online so on my way to Fortaleza I decided to stop at Teresina to meet her and her lovely family.

The whole family in Terisina

Here is the lovely family.

Fortaleza on the north Coast

Fortaleza is in the state capital of Ceará, located in Northeastern Brazil. With a population close to 2.3 million (metropolitan region over 3.4 million), Fortaleza is the 5th largest city in Brazil. Fortaleza is one of the three leading cities in the Northeast region together with Recife and Salvador. The city will be one of the host cities of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, for which Brazil is the host nation.

Brazil Italy Thailand Adventure

164 kilometers from Fortaleza is Canoa Quebrada.

Canoa Quebrada

We rode in a beach buggy along the beautiful long beaches and wandered through the amazing coloured sands of Canoa Quebrada.

Belem at the mouth of the mighty Amazon

Such a beautiful face, (of course I mean the girl) these two were dancers on a cruise I took on the Amazon.

The catch of the day

Belem is at the mouth of the Amazon river which represents more than half the planet’s remaining rainforests and comprises the largest and most species-rich tract of tropical rainforest in the world. Founded in 1616 by the Kingdom of Portugal, Belém was the first European colony on the Amazon but did not become part of Brazil until 1775. The newer part of the city has modern buildings and skyscrapers. The colonial portion retains the charm of tree-filled squares, churches and traditional blue tiles. The city has a rich history and architecture from colonial times. Recently it witnessed a skyscraper boom.

Old man of the sea

By now his skin must be like leather.

2.30 am flight Belem to Rio

Ah! Copacabana I have missed you so much. 🙂

Lets not forget Ipanema.

Ipanema is even more beautiful than Copacabana.

Lets have one last look at Mel

This is the photo I still have in my room today in 2016.

Transit at Madrid

Changing planes in Madrid on my my to Italy.

Francesca in Florence

Here is my friend Francesca, I was lucky enough to be able to crash on her couch for a few days.

The Old Bridge Florence

Certainly one of the most famous landmarks in this great city.

Great Pizza in Florence

People queue every night to get into this tiny restaurant in Florence, the chef is from Naples and only has 3 choices on the menu, all magnificent.

Ines from Rio de Janeiro

Ines is the daughter of my friend Reni from Cabo Frio, she was in Florence at the same time as I was. Francesca cooked dinner while we chatted about old times in Rio.

Beautiful San Gimignano

San Gimignano is famous for its Medieval village architecture, unique in the preservation of about a dozen of its tower houses, which, with its hilltop setting and encircling walls form “an unforgettable skyline”

San Gimignano

What a wonderful Italian village.

Lunch in Portofino

When you visit Portofino make sure you have your credit card, seafood soup 26 Euros. Maybe they charged me extra because I was dressed so upmarket. 🙂 🙂 🙂

Fabulous cheeky Portofino

If you own a nice boat the babes will come. 🙂

Club Med yacht.

Club Med 2 is a five-masted computer-controlled sailing ship owned and operated by Club Med and operated as a cruise ship. It combines the power of seven computer-operated sails with more traditional diesel-electric power, having four diesel generators that power two electric motors.

Arriving in Bangkok

My gorgeous friend Cleo who I catch up with every time I am in Bangkok.

The boys at Honey pot in Pattaya

Let the games begin, I’m back in Pattaya. 🙂

Brazil Italy Thailand

Thanks for visiting my Brazil Italy Thailand post, it really was another incredible around the world trip.

Here are some more posts to check out

Zagreb Croatia Rio de Janeiro Brisbane River

Koh Samui Korea London

Bangkok Osaka Pattaya

Chiang Mai Pattaya Chao Phraya river

Pattaya live webcam

That’s all folks

Counter only started June 16 2020.

This gallery contains 3 photos

Tropical storm floods Pattaya

April 4, 2015 by David Herd

Tropical storm floods Pattaya

Tropical storm floods Pattaya, when it rains it really pours down. I love to see the storm clouds roaring across Pattaya bay from my condo. You can can also watch from anywhere in the world on my webcam.

Here it comes

John Fogerty has a question….

I really love watching the black clouds roll in over the bay.

Is this a road or a river?

Looks more like a river to me. 🙂

Oh oh! This does not look good.

The roads flood so quickly as the drains just can’t handle the incredible volume of water. Often these storms only last for 30 or 40 minutes however that’s enough time to cause havoc.

LadyBoy in distress.

This LadyBoy looks a little concerned.

Houston, we have a problem

Hmmm what do I do now?

Helping hands

You see a lot of this during the storms.

Pattaya weather

South Rd near Tukcom.

My friend and I were relaxing in Starbucks watching the action.

No problem for the Baht bus.

The Song Tao or Baht bus ploughs straight through.

They won’t all make it

Believe me, not all these vehicles will get through.

Help is on the way

Tractor to the rescue.

The result

The beach gets smashed time and time again throughout the year this is the result.

Gutters can’t handle the volume

I don’t think there is any drainage system that can handle the sheer volume of storm water.

Repairs are needed

Sadly this in an all too familiar sight on Pattaya beach.

Soggy footpath

The aftermath of the storm.

Crazy idea

Here are 3 pumps to take the water from the flooded road onto the beach, don’t ask me to describe the logic behind this crazy idea. It simply washes away the sand as you can see in the above photos. One thing I do know however, logic and common sense are thin on the ground in Thailand.

The cavalry arrives

Repairing the beach.

A perfect Pattaya day

After all the rain and floods and beach erosion you can always be sure a perfect day is just around the corner.

April 30 Pattaya storm

Watch this video on YouTube

Holiday Inn

Fabulous views, excellent restaurants & a very good room rate if you book through THIS LINK.

The building in the middle is the Holiday Inn, on the left is the Amari Hotel which is another very good five star hotel. Use THIS LINK to book for a very good room rate.

Sabai Wing North Pattaya

The best Pattaya budget hotel, 3 pools & opposite Central Marina shopping mall. For a great room rate just book through THIS LINK.

Pattaya Hilton

This is the view from Horizons the amazing rooftop bar. A great five star hotel located opposte the beach & above the Central Festival shopping mall. Just book through THIS LINK for an excellent room rate.

Soi Cowboy Nana Plaza Patpong

Please check out these fabulous posts

Gold Coast Pattaya Cinque Terre

Rio de Janeiro Singapore Eastern Europe

Bangkok Bars Tokyo Cape Town Safari

Great hotel room rates anywhere in the world if you book

through these links below. Book now & pay later.

Free Cancellation.

Bangkok Hotels Pattaya Hotels

Brazil Hotels

That’s all folks

Click bottom right hand corner for full screen.

Check out these great posts

Fabulous Soi 11 Bangkok

French village Breil Sur Roya

Breil Sur Roya devastated

Hong Kong 2014

Bradford on Avon

Coogee Beach Australia

Pattaya Thailand 2013

Amazing Iguazu Falls

New York City

Buddhist Temple Asakusa Tokyo

Pattaya live webcam

Counter only started February 16 2020.

This gallery contains 2 photos

One night Bangkok, never enough

April 1, 2015 by David Herd

The boys in Bangkok

One night Bangkok, never enough

One night Bangkok, never enough, plus one night Bangkok makes a hard man humble, Not much between despair and ecstasy, One night in Bangkok and the tough guys tumble, Can’t be too careful with your company, I can feel the devil walking next to me.

We have all heard the song and some of us have been lucky enough to live the dream. 🙂

The photo above is at Nana Plaza with Greg Clee, John Sinclair and Sean Fenton, all Aussies who love Thailand.

This it not part of my travel blog, just part of my personal history from 2007.

One Night in Bangkok - Murray Head (HQ Audio)

“One night in Bangkok and the world’s your oyster
The bars are temples but their pearls ain’t free
You’ll find a god in every golden cloister
And if you’re lucky, then the god’s a she
I can feel an angel sliding up to me”

One night Bangkok, never enough

Say no more…….

Khaosan Road

“Khaosan” translates as “milled rice”, a reminder that in former times the street was a major Bangkok rice market. In the last 20 years, however, Khaosan Road has developed into a world famous “backpacker ghetto”. It offers cheap accommodation, ranging from “mattress in a box” style hotels to reasonably priced 3-star hotels. In an essay on the backpacker culture of Khaosan Road,

Khaosan Road cafe

There are several pubs and bars where backpackers meet to discuss their travels. The area is internationally known as a centre of dancing, partying, and just prior to the traditional Thai New Year (Songkran festival) of 13-15 April, water splashing that usually turns into a huge water fight. One Thai writer has described Khaosan as “…a short road that has the longest dream in the world”.

What a beautiful face.

A pedicure in Bangkok is an absolute please when done by such a beautiful girl.

Long tail boat

The craft is designed to carry passengers on a river & may include a lightweight long canoe hull, up to 30 meters long, and a canopy. There is a great variation among these boats, some have evolved from traditional craft types, while others have a more improvised look, the sole defining characteristic is a second-hand car or truck engine.

Ok, lets go yo Pattaya

Another beautiful face is Dah who was working at the Honey Pot in Soi 2 when I met her last year.

Dah in 2006, 15 kilo lighter

Same pretty face however she was 15 kilo lighter when I met her last year.

Sabai Resort

This is where I stayed for 7 years each time I would visit Pattaya until I moved to Thailand from Australia in October 2011. A great location with a reasonable price, I preferred room number 311.

Sabai Resort

Catie Rizzo from the Gold Coast with John Sinclair at the Sabai Resort.

Cate showing off her assets

Atlantic Bar 2nd Rd Pattaya

Ian Finlay (RIP March 2009) Ooy, Cate and John Sinclair enjoying a good night at the Atlantic bar.

Sean gets engaged.

Sean Fenton and Ann get engaged, it is now 2015 and they are living happily in Townsville with a number of children. On the left is Brad Robbins also from Townsville and on The right Greg Clee who is my neighbour in Pattaya.

Sean’s bucks party

Hamish Elton, Greg Clee and Sean winding up for a huge night.

Attitude

Hello sexy man, where you go?

Tiny girl at the Honey Pot

Rod is a fairly big guy, in fact he used to be a Sydney cop, he towers over the little waitress.

Honey Pot Soi 2

It was my favourite bar for 2 or 3 years, sadly the original Honey Pot is now closed. Typical Pattaya, nothing stays the same for too long.

Honey Pot

One of my favourite Honey Pot girls, I love the sexy glasses, and if you look through the slideshow you will notice one night she was wearing red & white socks, the Sydney Swans colours. 🙂

I’m in heaven

Savannah in Soi 3

Pretty face at Atlantic Bar

It’s 2017 & I’m still drinking at the Atlantic. Check out pattaya life in 2016 on THIS LINK.

Not just a pretty face

An incredible body as well. 🙂

Sabai Wing Soi 1 North Pattaya

Sabai Wing Soi 1, 3 swimming pools and nice rooms, 100 meters from BigC, great value at only $23 usd per night as of August 15. I live in the high-rise in the background, Markland. For a great room rate book here.

U Too bar

Moved several years ago to Drinking St 2nd Rd north Pattaya.

Gold Coast girls

Cate and Tammy.

Koh Samui

Cate, Tammy and I decided to spend a few days in Koh Samui.

One night Bangkok, never enough, thanks for visiting.

Glenn Frey says it better than I can.

When I’m in Bangkok I like to stay in Sukhumvit Soi 11, here is an excellent budget hotel, if you USE THIS LINK you will get a great rate of around B1100 per night, or $30 USD.

The best Bangkok budget hotel I have ever stayed in.

2008 was another super year, check out my exciting life on the Gold Coast, just click on this link.

Here are some more posts on my wild wicked ways.

Soi Cowboy Nana Plaza Patpong

Please check out these fabulous posts

Gold Coast Pattaya Cinque Terre

Rio de Janeiro Singapore Eastern Europe

Bangkok Bars Tokyo Cape Town Safari

Great hotel room rates anywhere in the world if you book

through these links below. Book now & pay later.

Free Cancellation.

Bangkok Hotels Pattaya Hotels

That’s all folks

Pattaya live webcam

Everything you wanted to know about Bangkok but were afraid to ask. 🙂

Amazing shopping mall

Chinatown Bangkok

Notorious Nana Plaza

The fabulous Commons

Patpong red light district

Canal cruise long-tail boat

Spectacular Bangkok Sky Bars

Mahanakhon Sky Walk Bangkok

Jim Thompson Bangkok Museum

Soi Cowboy Bangkok

Pattaya live webcam

Counter only started June 16 2020.

This gallery contains 2 photos

Tokyo London Lisbon Rio

March 27, 2015 by David Herd

One of my greatest ever trips

Tokyo London Lisbon Rio

Tokyo London Lisbon Rio NYC, plus Florianopolis, Belnario Camboriu, and Curitiba. In 2007 my 2 month trip which turned out to be one of the two best around the world journeys I have ever done.

Anyone for coffee?

Food, food and more food, you gotta love Tokyo. It is certainly one of my favourite cities in the world. In fact I was here for the first time in April this year and loved it so much I’m back in December.

Joan and Bill from Wiltshire

In fact we were having dinner in Bath, I was travelling to Dorchester the next day with Bill to visit his brother Alan who was a guest of Her Majesty.

Gold Hill, Shaftesbury

Gold Hill is a steep cobbled street in the town of Shaftesbury in the English county of Dorset. It is famous for its picturesque appearance; the view looking down from the top of the street has been described as “one of the most romantic sights in England

Lisbon

Fado is a music genre which can be traced to the 1820s in Portugal, but probably with much earlier origins.

Lisbon restaurant

Lisbon is a great city for food as you can clearly see. 🙂

Rio de Janeiro NYE Copacabana

December 2007 and the city is winding up for New Years Eve. After a couple of weeks I will go to Curitiba to meet my friend Craig aka Sudzy from Australia, then after visiting a few cities we will head back to Rio for Carnival

Sergio, do you think our ship will ever come in?

Beautiful Copacabana and the first of nine cruise ships arrive for NYE

Curitiba

A nice city south of Sao Paulo however one visit is enough, there are more interesting places further south as you will see.

Curitiba

I met my friend Craig from Australia and we set out for Florianopolis.

Florianopolis.

Florianopolis wonderful Brazilian city, the photo above is Joaquina beach which is famous throughout the world for surfing.

Florianopolis.

Barra da Lagoa Beach has good waves, clear water and a tropical rain-forest, this makes Barra da Lagoa the kind of place you can easily loose track of time! Just sit back and watch the pretty girls at play.

Balneário Camboriú a Brazilian surprise

We had never heard of this place until we were in Florianopolis and what a fabulous surprise it turned out to be.

Balneário Camboriú

A similar statue to Rio de Janeiro. Balneário Camboriú is famous for the cable car which (uniquely in the world) links the two beaches of Balneário Camboriú and Laranjeiras. The town is located 10 km (6.2 mi) south of the city of Itajaí and 80 km (50 mi) north of the state capital, Florianópolis, and has a population of 94,344 (2007 census office estimate), which swells to over one million in the summer.

Balneário Camboriú

Antonio cycled around the world for UNESCO in 1999, on his trip the both times he was robbed was in Australia while the Olympics were on in 2000. And people say Brazil is dangerous.

Paraty

It’s Probably not hard to guess why this is my favourite photo, a rose between two thorns, I don’t think so. Paraty grew in the 18th century as a strategically important port for exporting the gold mined in Minas Gerais. When shipments in nearby Rio began to attract the attention and ambition of pirates and privateers from rival European powers, the Portuguese began using Paraty as their safe port for getting their gold to Lisbon.

Magnificent Brazilian girl

To see more of this beautiful creature just follow THIS LINK.

Take me to your leader

Once a year, when the great Rio De Janeiro carnival takes place, the coastal town Paraty which is located 250 km south west to Rio, holds a unique carnival. In Paraty’s Mud Carnival – (Portuguese: Bloco da lama) the costumes that its participants wear is black sticky mud which is smeared on their bodies. The carnival preserves the ancient local tradition when the Indians smeared their bodies with black mud for medical reasons, and held ritual ceremonies in order to bring cure to the ill. In contrary to Rio carnival where the participants wear marvelous colored costumes, in Paraty carnival the fiesta is based mostly on the simplicity of the junction between men and nature.

Back to Rio for Carnival

After a fascinating trip down south we head back to Rio for Carnival.

Carnival in Ipanema

Ipanema Carnival street party was one of the best nights in my life with my friend Dave Wylie. There was a “bloco” going on in front of the restaurant. A “bloco” is a block party during carnival. There are hundreds of them just in Rio. They are organized by local Carnival groups and the best ones move up the food chain of blocks to become the big samba schools that put on the big Carnival parades each year that Rio is famous for. We had a window table at “Garota de Ipanema” with of course means “The Girl from Ipanema”, and this is the exact spot the song was written in 1962, with music by Antônio Carlos Jobim and Portuguese lyrics by Vinicius de Moraes. English lyrics were written later by Norman Gimbel.

With Dave Wylie at Garota de Ipanema

Here I am with my good friend Dave Wylie at our window table at Garota de Ipanema. All night the action was all around us as you can see from the photos. As I said earlier Ipanema Carnival it was one of the best and most memorable nights of my life. Another equally memorable night was 4 weeks earlier, New Years Eve on Copacabana, simply awesome.

Garota de Ipanema

This crazy guy was so funny, he was absolutely smashed and spoke to Dave Wylie who is fluent in Portuguese, he said “Voce sabe quem eu sou?” (do you know who I am?”) “Eu sou o deus de dor da cabesa”) (I am the God of Headaches”).

I love New York

As I said before New York is my favourite city, I like to say to friends, if the cities of the world could be likened to a horse race, New York would win by 10 lengths over the next bunch of cities which would include Paris, London, Sydney, Bangkok, Tokyo, Rome, Budapest, Amsterdam, Rio De Janeiro & Cape Town, not necessarily in that order.

Gallaghers steakhouse 52nd st

Surf and Turf, say no more.

Phil Barkin and Gordon Shanks

Phil now lives in Manila and both these guys love to visit Pattaya.

UPDATE, it’s October 2017 & Phil has moved back to Florida.

Thanks for visiting and sharing my memories.

I hope you enjoyed my Tokyo London Lisbon Rio NYC photo blog.

Here are some more posts to check out

Zagreb Croatia Rio de Janeiro Brisbane River

Koh Samui Korea London

Bangkok Osaka Pattaya

Chiang Mai Pattaya Chao Phraya river

Pattaya live webcam

That’s all folks

Check out these great photo blogs.

Rio beach babes

Florianopolis Brazil

Bangkok river ferry

Fabulous HCMC

Amazing World Food

Lyme Regis Jurassic coast

Hiroshima Japan

Sydney Harbour

Lake Como Lake Garda Italy

Pattaya live webcam

Counter only started June 16 2020.

This gallery contains 1 photo.

Salvador North Coast Brazil

February 21, 2015 by David Herd

Pelourinho-Salvador-Bahia-Brazil-sexy-bikini

Fascinating & Unique

Salvador North Coast Brazil

Salvador North Coast Brazil is Brazil’s 3rd largest city. Most of the population is in part descended from African slaves, who were mainly from Nigeria, Ghana, Togo and Benin.

Praia do Porto da Barra

We stayed in a hotel opposite this beach which is is only 5 kms from the historic centre Pelourinho.

Fort de Santa Maria

Logo Nassau organized civil guards of Recife, Paraíba and Itamaracá to reinforce the troops and set off on April 8 1638, at the head of a naval fleet of 36 units at 3,600 Europeans and Indians. He began the assault on Salvador in April 16, landing and gaining the surrender of the strong St. Albert, St. Philip and St. Bartholomew. But as Bagnuolo and the Governor-General had overcome their differences, Pernambuco army and the local garrison were united against the invasion consequently on the night of May 17 & 18 Nassau lost 300 men.

I met Monica on the beach

Mark it down as a big mistake, everything was ok for the first 2 days then she went kind of crazy. I actually cut my trip short by two days and flew back to Rio de Janeiro to catch up with Renilda, a gorgeous lady I met there the previous week.

Crazy Monica 🙂

Crazy is an understatement, anyhow after a brief fling I got out of Dodge. 🙂

Pelourinho

The Historic Centre known as The Pelourinho is located in the western zone of the city’s centre, and was named for the whipping post (Pelourinho means Pillory) in its central plaza where African slaves received punishment for various infractions and disciplinary purposes.

The Pelourinho, is extremely rich in historical monuments dating from the 17th through the 19th centuries. Salvador was the first colonial capital of Brazil and the city is one of the oldest in the New World (founded in 1549 by Portuguese settlers). It was also the first slave market on the continent, with slaves arriving to work on the sugar plantations.

Salvador Bahia Brazil

Once the capital city of Brazil from 1549 up until 1763 when it was succeeded by Rio de Jeneiro, Salvador da Bahia is considered to be the happiest place in the country. The city is best known for its food, music and general party atmosphere due to the numerous parties that now take place there.

Pellourinho

Salvador is the second most popular tourism destination in Brazil, after Rio de Janeiro. Tourism and cultural activity are important generators of employment and income, boosting the arts and the preservation of artistic and cultural heritage.

Chief among the points of interest are its famous Pelourinho (named after the colonial pillories that once stood there) district, its historic churches, and its beaches.

Elevador Lacerda

Elevator Lacerda is the first elevator Urban World. In December 1873 , when it opened, it was the highest in the world, about 63 meters.

Elevador Lacerda

This is the best way to get up to the old city and for 15 Reals (each way)

Salvador North Coast Brazil

At the beginning of the 17th century, a crane was used to transport goods from the port to the upper city.

Monica in front of Sousa Palace

Sousa Square (also known as City Square) is a square located in the historic centre of Salvador , where there is a lot of public buildings in the city, such as Sousa Palace (now city hall).

Pothole has a way with children

Pothole aka John Martin certainly has a way with children. A grown up family in Australia & 2 young boys in Thailand.

The rest of the team

Pothole aka John Martin & Tony Murphy.

Thanks for visiting Salvador Bahia Brazil

Thats all from Salvador North Coast Brazil, bye for now from David and crazy Monica. 🙂

Istanbul Budapest London

Mostar Dubrobnik Split

Saigon Zagreb Vung tau

Bangkok Hotels Pattaya Hotels

Brazil Hotels

Pattaya live webcam

That’s all folks

Holiday Inn

Fabulous views, excellent restaurants & a very good room rate if you book through THIS LINK.

The building in the middle is the Holiday Inn, on the left is the Amari Hotel which is another very good five star hotel. Use THIS LINK to book for a very good room rate.

Check out these great photo blogs.

Rio beach babes

Florianopolis Brazil

Bangkok river ferry

Fabulous HCMC

Amazing World Food

Lyme Regis Jurassic coast

Hiroshima Japan

Sydney Harbour

Lake Como Lake Garda Italy

Pattaya live webcam

Counter only started June 16 2020.

This gallery contains 2 photos

Copacabana Beach New Years Eve

February 13, 2015 by David Herd

Copacabana-new years eve-2007-Rio-Brazil

A wonderful unique experience

Copacabana Beach New Years Eve

Copacabana Beach New Years Eve and the cruise ships are arriving. Nine huge floating palaces drop anchor to watch tonight’s spectacle. Music fireworks & noise.

Lovely hostess

I paid $400 for a ticket to a cocktail party on the 12th floor overlooking Copacabana beach. The lovely lady above let me visit the venue mid afternoon to take some photos.

Sugarloaf Mountain

Mid afternoon and you can see the crowd building up. Two million people are expected to gather tonight at Copacabana most of whom will be wearing white.

Around 4 pm the crowd builds up

Through the afternoon the crowd starts to build.

More ships arrive

Nine huge ships arrived for the show.

A burning question

Sergio, we are in Copacabana Beach New Years Eve, do you think our ship will ever come in?

Now here is how we are going to handle troublemakers

Final instruction at 5.30 pm, the Rio cops are a very mean bunch.

The shadows cover the beach

The anticipation is building, you can fell the excitement in the air.

Going home to freshen up

Copacabana Beach New Years Eve an d as far as I’m concerned she is dressed perfectly.

The party begins

Here is where I am watching the celebration, lots of food and booze, after all we did pay $400. 🙂

Here they come

I have never seen a crowd this big anywhere before.

More and more all dressed in white

Copacabana Beach New Years Eve and millions come to celebrate.

The excitement is building & more people arrive

I was in the perfect spot to see everything.

Standing room only

What a night it was, worth every cent.

In the top right hand corner you can see the Sofitel hotel, the location is perfect between Copacabana & Ipanema. For an excellent room rate just book through THIS LINK.

I’m happy to be above the crowd

Let the games begin.

KERBOOM!!!!!!

The fireworks begins, 2 million people onshore and nine cruise ships anchored off the beach.

Spectacular fireworks

You can see five of the nine cruise ships here in this photo.

Lots of noise

Noise from the Fireworks and the amplified music that is blasting out from huge speakers along the beach.

Here is the live action

Copacabana Rio Di Janeiro in Brazil, NYE, an awesome experience

Watch this video on YouTube

Copacabana Beach New Years Eve and the beat goes on

The noise was quite incredible.

The show went on for hours

I left around 1 am knowing I had seen the most spectacular NYE celebration in my life. The Sydney fireworks is certainly superior however when you add two million screaming people into the mix at one of the world’s great beaches it is game over.

I hope you enjoyed my NYE experience

Of course for sheer drama and chaos check out Sydney New Year’s Eve 1981.

Checkout some more of my terrific blogs on the links below.

Soi Cowboy Nana Plaza Patpong

Gold Coast Pattaya Cinque Terre

Rio de Janeiro Singapore Eastern Europe

Bangkok Bars Tokyo Cape Town Safari

Great hotel room rates anywhere in the world if you book

through these links below. Book now & pay later.

Free Cancellation.

Bangkok Hotels Pattaya Hotels

That’s all folks

Pattaya live webcam

Check out these great photo blogs.

Counter only started June 16 2020.

This gallery contains 2 photos

Bangkok floating market

February 6, 2015 by David Herd

One of the most popular attractions.

Bangkok floating market

Bangkok floating market is a little over two hour west of the city, a short taxi ride then a long-tail boat will take to the fascinating market.

Long-tail boat

The long-tail boat is designed to carry passengers on a river & may include a lightweight long canoe hull, up to 30 meters long, and a canopy. There is a great variation among these boats, some have evolved from traditional craft types, while others have a more improvised look, the sole defining characteristic is a second-hand car or truck engine.

Crowded and chaotic

This is really a great day out, put it on your bucket list.

Food, food and more food

Bangkok floating market is certainly about Food, food and more food, everywhere someone is either eating or selling food.

Actually it’s not just food

Plenty of stock to sell here.

Clothes & hats a well

This is probably my 3rd visit to the Bangkok Floating Market and I’m sure there will be a 4th.

Long-tail boat

Check out the size of the engine that pushes this little boat along the river and canals.

Bag of bananas 10 Baht

In the supermarket they are 8 Baht each. 🙂

Genuine “copy” Lous Vuitton bags

In Thailand they will sell anything anywhere. 🙂

Bangkok floating market, Rambutans, yum!

This is my 3rd visit to the floating market and is always enjoyable.

Bangkok floating market

The Bangkok floating market is certainly a “must see” when you visit Bangkok. Other interesting tours are of course the Grand Palace and Wat Arun.

Here is our transport

Check out the waterfront homes Thai style.

Bangkok floating market

Lots of waterfront shops and homes.

Thanks for joining me at the famous Bangkok floating market photo blog

A couple of years after this visit I moved to Thailand to live permanently in Pattaya for about 10 years, one of the best decisions of my life.

If you visit Thailand please go and see Famous Bangkok floating market.

When I’m in Bangkok I like to stay in Sukhumvit Soi 11, here is an excellent budget hotel, if you USE THIS LINK you will get a great rate of around B1100 per night, or $30 USD.

The best Bangkok budget hotel I have ever stayed in.

Here are some more posts to check out

Pattaya Hilton

Soi Cowboy Nana Plaza Patpong

Please check out these fabulous posts

Gold Coast Pattaya Cinque Terre

Rio de Janeiro Singapore Eastern Europe

Bangkok Bars Tokyo Cape Town Safari

Great hotel room rates anywhere in the world if you book

through these links below. Book now & pay later.

Free Cancellation.

Bangkok Hotels Pattaya Hotels

Brazil Hotels

That’s all folks

Pattaya live webcam

Damnoen Saduak Floating Market near Bangkok, Thailand

Watch this video on YouTube

Here are some of my most popular posts.

Pattaya live webcam

Beautiful Brazilian beach babes

Copacabana beautiful beach babes

Nana Plaza Bangkok sex sin sleaze

Sexy Cherry Bar babes Pattaya Thailand

Tim Bristow Iron-Bar Freddy Tropical Joe

Atlantic Bar North Pattaya

Sexy Soi Cowboy Bangkok

Beautiful Budapest

Australian seafood

Counter only started June 16 2020.

This gallery contains 3 photos

Party Bar Pattaya Hot Babes

February 1, 2015 by David Herd

Party Bar-hot babes-Pattaya-Thailand-sexy

Great night with sexy babes

Party Bar Pattaya

Party Bar Pattaya had a re-opening Monday January 26 2015, a new partner bought into this little business so it was time to sing, dance and celebrate. So that’s what my friend Hamish & I did, minus the singing & dancing, we concentrated on drinking & checking out the pretty ladies.

Just a little corner bar

Located behind the Avenue shopping centre on 2nd road. Nothing too flash just a little corner bar where you can have a beer and watch the passing parade. In many ways people watching is why I also like the Cherry Bar on the corner of Soi 3 and 2nd road North Pattaya.

Party Bar Pattaya Lovely Noi

Noi has just become part owner of the Party bar, drop in sometime and say hello.

Surrounded by gorgeous creatures

What time can I start having fun?

Pretty ladies

Great smiles certainly brighten up the night.

Lovely cowgirl Kung

On this night all the girls wore cowgirl outfits and looked terrific, sadly now however they have reverted to normal clothes. It’s a shame really because any little back street beer bar needs to make sure customers remember them, so a point of difference that separates you from the thousands of similar places in Pattaya can only have a positive effect on the business. Walking street, LK Metro & Soi 6 have the passing traffic but most of the little back street bars don’t, so my message is loud & clear, dress the girls in the western outfits, they look terrific. 🙂

Check out my post on Seven sexy American restaurants and see how they do it, the yanks are masters of promotion.

Party Bar Pattaya & dinner is served

One thing Thai girls like to do is eat. 🙂

Some great looking babes here.

A very happy looking bunch.

A lesson for the Farangs

Not all Thai ladies are available in Pattaya for foreigners like myself merely because you have a few thousand Baht to burn on a night out. I was quite impressed by this gorgeous lady so I gave her my card and later in the week tried to arrange to meet her for a drink. To her credit she had too much style to be seen with a fat old Farang like me, so she made an excuse that she was sick. Good luck to you Yuie, stick with the younger cooler dudes. 🙂

Yuie likes to drink and dance.

More Sexy Thai girls dancing in Pattaya Party Bar

Never too young to party at the party bar.

This little guy was happy to be in the action.

Never too old either

Good luck to Party Bar Pattaya, I hope they have success, fun and make a lot of money.

Sabai Wing Soi 1 North Pattaya

For a more upmarket hotel on Beach Rd

Just use THIS LINK for a terrific rate at the Wave Hotel.

Thanks for visiting my Party Bar Pattaya Hot Babes photo blog.

Click bottom right hand corner for full screen.

Please check out these fabulous posts

Gold Coast Pattaya Cinque Terre

Rio de Janeiro Singapore Eastern Europe

Bangkok Bars Tokyo Cape Town Safari

Great hotel room rates anywhere in the world if you book

through these links below. Book now & pay later.

Free Cancellation.

Bangkok Hotels Pattaya Hotels

That’s all folks

Show them to me from Marc (MyNutZak) on Vimeo. Thai street food is world famous

Post by Travel blogger Fivestarvagabond.com”.

More about Pattaya here

Post by Travel blogger Fivestarvagabond.com”.

The one and only Soi 6

Post by Travel blogger Fivestarvagabond.com”.

Soapy Massage Pattaya Bangkok

Spectacular Bangkok Sky Bars

Fresh seafood Bangkok

Pattaya live webcam

Hawker Chan Hollys Coffee

Le Bordeaux Pattaya Restaurant

Flashback Sydenham Cellars

Art of desert Pattaya

Breakfast Bake n’ Brew

Food review Pattaya 2020

Counter only started June 16 2020.

This gallery contains 2 photos

Saigon HCMC South Vietnam 2015

January 17, 2015 by David Herd

Just an amazing city.

Saigon HCMC South Vietnam

Saigon HCMC South Vietnam in 2015 was quite different to my previous visits in 2003. More cars, not quite so many bikes, lots of high rise buildings & good taxis.

The old & traditional is far more charming

Later in the day this coffee shop will be packed.

Coffee shop close to Saigon Apartments

Good coffee here on the corner near Saigon Apartments.

Roland and I at our local coffee shop

My friend Roland Bonicci is a Sydney barrister who absolutely loves Vietnam, I’m sure sometime in the future he will probably retire here.

Saigon Apartments

Great value and a good location in District 3. Only $68 per night if you book through this AGODA link. Both bedrooms have en-suite bathrooms and there is an excellent kitchen and large lounge room with a balcony.

Shri, rooftop restaurant

Set atop the new Centec Tower, Shri Restaurant & Lounge offers unparalleled panoramic views from nearly every table in the restaurant, whether it be in the modern Internationally styled Dining Room, with its very clean simple lines, on the stunning alfresco Garden Terrace.

Pasta at Shri

The pasta was a very reasonable price at only $13 usd.

Roast pig at Tram Chim

This restaurant is very popular, not so much for the food but for the attractive waitresses who flirt with you while you dine. 🙂 In fact the waitresses are all worth the visit, they peel your prawns cut the pork and even massage your shoulders while you eat.

Peel the prawns then warm in the coconut

They tasted every bit as good as they looked.

Our personal prawn peeler

Now this is the only way to eat prawns, have somebody peel them for you.

Tram Chim sexy waitresses

If you want to really enjoy your dining experience this is the restaurant for you. The food is not bad but you don’t go there for the food. They have some of the most attractive “waitresses” in Saigon for a restaurant. Beautiful girls who are friendly and give very good service as well. The food is ok, the beer is cold and the waitresses are hot! Enjoy the place but don’t take your wife. 🙂

Let’s go upmarket to Maxim’s restaurant

It feels like you have stepped back in time to the 1930s. Maxim’s restaurant is like entering a time warp. It actually opened in 1925 and I swear they have changed nothing since then. 🙂 Food is excellent and reasonably expensive along with the wine. Worth a visit before going upstairs to their very classy upmarket night club.

Now let’s go really upmarket to Maxim’s night club

As you can imagine the drinks are rather expensive.

Gorgeous girls at Maxim’s

Famous as an important part of downtown Saigon since 1925, Maxim’s Club has been known as THE entertainment venue of business people and social elites since last century.

Gorgeous Russian Singer

Not only does she sing but plays a mean violin as well.

Maxim’s is magnificent

Yes, it is upmarket and expensive but a great venue for music and gorgeous girls. One huge negative for me is they smoke in the club.

Maxim’s Club 13-15-17 Đồng Khởi, District 1

The Russian girl may be beautiful however this guy can really sing, check him out if you get a chance.

Chill is a great rooftop bar & restaurant

A great bar and not as expensive as similar Bangkok Sky Bars.

Chill rooftop bar

The bar itself looks stunning from the floor above.

Breathtaking view from Chill

The ever changing Saigon skyline is quite breathtaking.

A favourite photo

Calm waters of the mighty Mekong River.

A great place for a long lazy lunch.

A terrific place to sip a cocktail and watch the world go by.

The famous Cho Ben Thanh Market

Located in the centre of Saigon this is one of the cities best known landmarks.

Cho Ben Thanh Market

To me the market kind of marks the very centre of Saigon. Adjacent the New World Hotel is in a great location in the centre of the city, for a discounted room rate book through THIS LINK.

At Phatty’s watching the Asian cup

One of the many excellent Saigon sports bars.

Wayne, David, Roland and Pat at Phatty’s

Here we are enjoying the atmosphere at one of Saigon’s best sports bars.

Bitexco Financial Tower

A stunning building with a huge heliport and a roof top bar.

ALTO ROOFTOP BAR

Breathtaking views from Alto Heli Bar on the 52nd floor of the ultra-modern Bitexco Financial Tower is by far the highest spot in Saigon to sip on a cool drink and admire the cityscape.

52nd floor of Bitexico tower

Apologies for the rather poor quality selfie.

Mai, a lovely French girl at Maxim’s

A gorgeous French mademoiselle.

Terrific singer at Maxim’s

This little girl could really belt out a song.

Saigon HCMC south Vietnam

Taken from beside the river.

Saigon HCMC south Vietnam, lunch is served

Lots of street food similar to Thailand.

Summer rolls & coconut only $4

One of my all time favourite dishes.

With Roger at the Buddha Bar

We drank 3 bottles of wine for lunch Two hours after I arrived I met Roger for lunch at Jaspers where we proceeded to drink 3 bottles of wine before moving onto several bars where more alcohol was consumed. Roger works for an upmarket wine distributor so he probably feels it’s part of his job. 🙂

Ciao Bella an excellent Italian restaurant

This very quickly became a favourite restaurant.

Roland enjoys a Ciao Bella feast

A great seafood salad, Roland is a Sydney barrister and really loves his food.

Best Saigon taxi company

Stick with this company or Mai Linh for clean honest low priced taxis.

Don’t under any circumstances use the company below.

They, SaigonTourist tried to charge 1,150,000 dong for a trip to the airport that should coast 150,000 to 200,000. After a brief argument I paid 300,000 and stormed off. It was my own fault completely as I broke my own rule of only using Vinasun and sometimes Mai Linh.