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Tough times Thailand 2019

September 10, 2019 by David Herd

Tough times Thailand

Tough times Thailand 2019 on two fronts, first we have Thai immigration making it more difficult for expats to live in this wonderful country, secondly the exchange rate for Thai Baht to the Aussie dollar (and other currencies) is hitting rock bottom.

The following 2 charts will highlight the situation.

This is not a travel blog, it is part of my personal photo history.

This photo blog covers from July 1st to December 31, for the first 6 months of 2019 please go to THIS LINK.

Australian $ to Thai Baht

In 2012 there was 33 Baht to the dollar, today it’s 21.

Australian term deposit rates

In 2012 they were over 5%, today it’s a miserable 1.5%.

Rising costs for food etc

Five years ago in 2014 this selection cost $72 AUD, today it would be $98 Aud, one of the reasons Thailand has become less attractive for expats.

Life is still very good in Thailand

Just ask my good friend Hamish, he hasn’t a care in the world. 🙂

Coffee at the Holiday Inn

Most afternoons I tear myself away from the computer & enjoy an afternoon coffee.

A small tip for a little lady

I often give this nice lady a B20 tip when I see her of a morning sweeping the road at Terminal 21, it’s just under $1 AUD. She gets so excited you would think it’s 200. I’m guessing they don’t get paid too much.

Love watching the storms roll in

So exciting when the storms roll in over Pattaya Bay.

There’s nothing like a September sunset.

I was sipping a red wine at the Holiday Inn watching this magnificent sunset.

Soi 1 demolish a small hotel.

Right next to Markland condo where I live.

Aussie guys at Atlantic bar

Doug Burrows, Bill Perry, David Herd, Brian Rawnsley & Shane Andrews. Shane is here for some major dental work which is around 1/3 of the cost in Australia.

Fusillo Italian restaurant

A nice evening with Matt Harkness & is girlfriend Bow.

Spaghetti seafood

Fusillo is in Naklua Rd, what a great looking dish.

Pattaya sunset

From floor 22 in Markland. For more magnificent sunsets follow THIS LINK.

A super cloud

This was 8 am on the morning of October 13, the previous shot was 6.15 pm the same day.

Halloween

Lola, Nina & Lucky playing trick or treat. I anticipated the visit & stocked up on lollies etc.

The boys from Oz

Shane Andrews, Bill Perry & Greg Caldwell were here for some major dental work. According to Greg he paid 55,000 Baht or $2650 AUD for 1 x Implant – 1 x Root canal – 2 x removals and a complete clean which took 2 hours’ in the chair.

Holly’s coffee at Terminal 21.

helping me maintain my 112 kilos.

Tough times Thailand with high levels of pollution in Pattaya

The unhealthy haze from farmers burning their crops in Thailand & neighboring countries.

Thailand is the least miserable country

Australia comes in at 54th. 🙂

Let’s talk about convenience, I often wonder what it would be like living in Australia again. I ask my friends on the Gold Coast to imagine if they could walk from their home to Robina Town Centre, Southport Park & Pacific Fair in less than 12 minutes? How convenient would that be?

Well folks, that’s what I can do in Pattaya, add to that the 6 five star hotels also within 12 minutes of where I live. All with terrific restaurants & coffee shops.

Plus I have a 24 hour supermarket, chemist & The Coffee Club on the ground floor of the condo where I live on the 20th floor with a view to die for. I probably should mention the 200+ restaurants & food courts also within 10 minutes walk.

Convenience folks, are you getting the picture? 🙂

The burning question is, could I be happy living in Australia again?

Cruise ship visits Pattaya

December 7 & a cruise liner anchors in Pattaya Bay.

Lets’s do the crocodile rock. 🙂

Crocodile on the spit at Central Marina.

The Peak at the Dusit Thani

I’m with my brother Warren enjoying the best Dim Sum in Pattaya, sadly the Peak is closing on December 8.

Oyster night

I brought 4 dozen French & Irish oysters from El Mercado in Bangkok home to Pattaya. My good friend Hamish Elton was in charge of shucking.

Tough times Thailand

It was such a good night I would like to make it a regular event.

A typical Thai street scene

Thai people really love their street food.

Beautiful morning on Pattaya Beach.

This is what I see on my morning walk along Beach Road.

Healthy lunch at Central Festival food hall.

They have doubled the size of the food hall, see much more on THIS LINK.

Central Marina food park

These are the best teriyaki chicken or pork skewers in Pattaya.

Soi pups

Four of these little guys live next to Markland, I have been giving them food most days.

The old Mantra site

Not sure what we can expect here, but I think there will be a restaurant & a cafe.

Xmas day

Hamish & May are moving into a lovely house in Jomtien.

Xmas dinner

A terrific meal at Harlan’s to celebrate Xmas.

Brad, poor & cousin Glen

We took a Sunday drive to check out the monkeys at Bangsaen.

Lots of people feed them bananas

They will crawl all over your car looking for food.

Asparagus & salmon sashimi

Great value fro Foodland at Terminal 21.

Breathtaking view

From my Markland balcony.

Glenn Frey will tell you how I feel.

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Flow Cafe Holiday Inn Pattaya

August 31, 2019 by David Herd

Flow Cafe Holiday Inn

Flow Cafe Holiday Inn Pattaya is my usual venue for afternoon coffee, only a 150 meter walk from my condo at Markland in Beach Rd. The shot above is the hotel reception, turn left to fond the Flow Cafe Holiday Inn.

Terrific cakes & pastries.

Also meat pies, sandwiches & sausage rolls, and excellent coffee of course.

So many choices….

And such little time. 🙂

My favourite waitress

This lovely lady with the gorgeous smile is Opor, that’s the shortened version of her name, she always makes me a special coffee. 🙂

How sweet is this?

Opor takes great pride in her work. 🙂

Luckily I get a 25% discount.

For a small cost you can get a “Hi Club” Card which gives you the discount on food & beverage except for the specials.

Other hotel specials

Happy hour every day between 5 & 7pm.

Pizza happy hour

In fact they ate my favourite pizzas in Pattaya.

There are specials every day.

Every day is a good day at the Holiday Inn Pattaya.

Flow Cafe Holiday Inn

Thanks for visiting my Flow Cafe Holiday Inn photo blog, you will find me there most days around 3 pm. 🙂

Something different

It tasted as good as it looked, very healthy indeed. 🙂

New sandwich system

Instead of ready made sandwiches you now order from this list.

Click bottom right hand corner for full screen.

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.

Sutus Court is a great budget hotel right i the heart of one of Pattaya’s main bar areas, just use THIS LINK for a terrific room rate. 420/100 Moo 9 Soi Buakhao.

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

For London & UK hotels there are great discounts through this link.

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Beachfront restaurant Pattaya

August 24, 2019 by David Herd

Beachfront restaurant Pattaya

Beachfront restaurant Pattaya is aptly named Surf & Turf & is rated number 100 out of 1187 restaurants in Pattaya. For far better food photographs than in this post just check out THIS LINK for my previous Surf & Turf photo blog.

Location

On the beach next door to the Long Beach Garden Hotel.

Beachfront restaurant Pattaya

A fairly ordinary front entrance.

Air conditioned inside section

It’s much nicer inside which you can clearly see.

Catering for the smokers

The further away from me the better. 🙂

Inside in the aircon.

Especially during the day the front area beside the beach is the most popular part of the restaurant.

Another outdoor area

There is quite a number of different sections in this popular Beachfront restaurant Pattaya.

This is the beachside section

No aircon but they have plenty of fans & there is usually a beautiful breeze coming off the ocean.

An unusual dish

My friend ordered snapper, as you can see the portion was rather small & there was a skewer of beef with it.

Here is the seared tuna

Rather delicious.

Chicken Satay

The peanut sauce was excellent.

Oysters from France

Delicious, rather expensive here, around B500 or $24 AUD for 6, double what I pay at El Mercado in Bangkok.

My 2 Australian friends

Ian Fraser-Smith & David Robertson from the Gold Coast in Australia are regular visitors to Pattaya. They were both impressed with the food at the Surf & Turf.

For far better food photographs than in this post please check out THIS LINK for my previous Surf & Turf photo blog.

Thanks for visiting my Beachfront restaurant Pattaya photo blog, Surf & Turf has good food in a great seaside location.

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Pattaya coffee shop review

August 18, 2019 by David Herd

Pattaya coffee shop review

Pattaya coffee shop review from my perspective. These are the venues where I choose to spend my time and money. 🙂

The photo above is the Coffee Club at Markland on Beach Rd, this in fact was opening day on 31-8-2018. It closed permanently 2 years later.

Coffee Club Eggs Benedict.

Good quality food & coffee but far too expensive. For instance the equivalent of a Starbucks tall latte is B146 or $6.97 AUD, at Starbucks you pay B115 or $5.50 AUD. Even though they have a branch in my condo building I generally walk 200 meters to the Holiday Inn where I only pay B113.

Smiling faces at Flow in the Holiday Inn.

The staff here are very friendly & the food & coffee is excellent. The large coffee is B150 which is what you would expect for a 5 star hotel. However as I’m a member of the Hi Club I get a 25% discount which brings the cost down to B113.

Pattaya coffee shop review, how nice is this?

Coffee art at the Holiday Inn. 🙂

Pastry Addiction next door the Hard Rock Hotel.

An excellent up market coffee shop on Beach Road.

Breakfast at Pastry Addiction

Good food, coffee & decor.

Bon cafe in Naklua Rd

Certainly has one of the best value breakfasts in Pattaya, B185 including excellent coffee.

Bon Cafe coffee machines

Bon Cafe import coffee machines from many countries around the world for including Italy, Switzerland, Spain, the United States of America, and other countries to satisfy their various types of customers.

Starbucks, my favourite coffee shop in Pattaya

Around 5 days a week I am at Central Marina or the Bay in Beach Road. The lovely girls put a candle in my croissant for my birthday. 🙂

My Starbucks breakfast of choice

Accompanied by a tall latte of course. Starbucks sell 4 BILLION cups annually. Which (divided by 365 days) means that roughly 10,958,904 cups sold daily between ALL Starbucks locations. So we are talking about 388 cups of espresso and/or coffee drinks daily on average per store globally.

This is Boonthavorn

Surprisingly they have the best value coffee in Pattaya. They are on Sukhumvit Rd,see the map below.

Just inside the front entrance on the left.

Top quality coffee for only B30, or $1.40 AUD.

The Bay center on Beach Road

Good value coffee in a pleasant atmosphere.

Location

Many thanks for visiting my Pattaya coffee shop review photo blog.

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Pretty woman stop awhile

August 12, 2019 by David Herd

Pretty woman stop awhile

This is not a travel blog, it is part of my personal photo history, you may describe it as the melancholy musings of an old man. My answer to that is simple, it’s far better to be a “has been” than a “never was”. 🙂

Pretty woman stop awhile, Pretty woman talk awhile, Pretty woman give your smile to me, Pretty woman yeah, yeah, yeah, Pretty woman look my way, Pretty woman say you’ll stay with me, ‘Cause I need you, I’ll treat you right, Come with me baby, be mine tonight. It seems fitting looking back on a random selection of some of the Pretty women I have been lucky enough to know, that Roy Orbison should help me recall some of those wonderful memories.

That’s Karen Smith in 1985, my 3rd & last fiancee, I have never known a nicer girl.

Carol Aboud in 1978

This was taken on my birthday which fell on 7-7-77, Carol & I were an item (on & off) for around 4 years.

Sing it for me Neil. 🙂

Carolyn Clark 1994

I still see Carolyn when I’m on the Gold Coast, in fact in July 2019 we made a little promotional video for her boyfriend Andy Sims.

Next we have Glenn Frey sing a beautiful song, ok I know the song is Caroline as opposed to Carolyn, but you get the picture.

Now this definitely is a pretty woman.

Kelly Davis hailed from Tasmania, we knocked around together for a few months in 1991.

Kelly was a huge fan of Van Morrison so here is another one of my favourites.

One of the sexiest of all the girls I knew.

There is something about those Kiwi girls, hot, hot, hot. Karen Greenwood & I had an on & off relationship for over a year in 1991. She stuck around mainly because I lent her a car. 🙂 🙂 🙂

Now here we have a real wild child.

Allison Schroeder, 18 years of age & gorgeous. Of course I was only 45 at the time. 🙂 If I remember correctly I promised her the world & bought her an atlas. 🙂

As they say in the classics, I was having the time of my life. 🙂

Allison was wild but Tanya was crazy. 🙂

Great company sober, but give her a couple of drinks too many & she would turn into a nightmare. This was 1989 on the Gold Coast.

Time to feature a triple treat.

Meet Kitty, Di Parko & Helen Burke, before you ask the answer is yes. 🙂

They don’t come any hotter than Donna Turner.

This was 1996 & she still looks fabulous today in 2019.

Marlene Cuthbert

Around 1983 Marlene worked for Ansett Airlines, she had a very sexy voice on a microphone, that’s why Ansett used her to make all the announcements at mascot airport. 🙂

Looking back I sometimes regret I chose Karen Smith to be my 3rd fiancee instead of Marlene. Don’t get me wrong, Karen was one of the nicest person I ever knew, our personalities were at opposite ends of the spectrum.

Lee Gregory was my 2nd fiancee.

Lee was from Adelaide where met, then we reconnected again in Melbourne in 1974. We had a fairly hectic dramatic short time together, travelled to Singapore & Bali & saw Frank Sinatra in concert in Melbourne on my birthday 7-7-74.

This is one of my all time Sinatra favourites, I can think of no better song to play when I think of Lee.

And they did…..

Teresa Hamilton-Smith & Helen Burke, we had a lot of fun together in 1982 & 1983.

Barbara Manneli aka the Gypsy.

The classic island romance, we celebrated the millennium on Koh Samui, 3 months later I flew to Italy to re-kindle the affair. Guess what? I didn’t make 1st base. 🙂

This one’s for you Gypsy.

Tall & tanned & young & lovely

This is Mel, we me on Copacabana beach, she had green eyes & was 6′ tall, say no more. 🙂

Bebel Gilberto will sing the song for us.

Someones knocking at the door.

Do me a favour open the door & let em in.

This is Emily at the Sheraton Mirage.

Was a Gold Coast meter maid.

Then there was Jill….

Cool, sexy & a lot of fun. Last time I saw her was in Sydney in 2102.

Back to the 60s

Veronica Crocker was my 2nd serious girlfriend, we dated for a couple of years when I was a teenager until the wanderlust took hold of me & at the ripe old age of 20 I sailed to England.

Dion DiMucci was a huge artist in the 60s, here are two of his songs. Both bring back great memories of my time with Veronica.

Teenager in Love

Take good care of my Baby

My first serious girlfriend

What incredible memories I have of this gorgeous girl Elizabeth Wiggington, better known as Beth. She lived on the corner of Wellington Rd & Antwerp St & I would ride my bike 3.3 Km from my home at 58 Kihilla Rd. It was much easier when I got my drivers licence & bought my little Morris Minor, except for the night I was driving home from her house & collided with a horse on Cumberland Rd. 🙂

Now here is one of the reasons I love Facebook, it was 1960 when we were together for 1 to 1.5 years, then I never really saw her again. It’s now September 2019, 59 years later & we have re-connected on Facebook, in fact Beth sent me quite a few photos, because way back then for some stupid teenage reason I had torn up all the ones I owned. 🙂

Johnny Burnette can remind us how it was back then.

The old shipboard romance.

I needed to get over my long romance with Veronica & Leanne Scott on the ship to England seemed like the perfect solution. 🙂

Sing it for me Bobby……

Wendy Winspear, tall & gorgeous.

A lovely Dutch girl on the Gold Coast, sadly she passed away far too young around 2017, RIP.

My first fiancee, Melbourne 1970.

Paula Wills was an Adelaide girl living in Melbourne & working as a an hostess for Ansett. After 3 months living together I think we just ran out of things to say.

Dianne Parkinson in 1975

To say Parko bought some dramas into my life is a gross understatement. Read about some of it on THIS LINK.

The sweetest Diane of them all.

Adelaide 1973 Diane Butson was one of my neighbours in a condo block on Anzac Highway. She was a dance instructor at Arthur Murray dance studio. A great girl & absolutely gorgeous. Follow THIS LINK for more old photos.

Great song from the Bachelors in 1964.

The Bachelors ~ Diane ~ 1964

Watch this video on YouTube

Another beautiful Adelaide girl.

Jan Seagers was another neighbour, we had some terrific times together. We caught up again in 2015, I had not seen her for 40 years. Check out THIS LINK.

Pretty woman stop awhile

Helen Burke from Melbourne, we really had some fun, played backgammon all through Hawaii & the California coast in 1982.

Linda Ronstadt will tell you about the coast.

Well by now you are bored silly by the memories & musings of an old man. But make no mistake, Glenn Frey will describe exactly how I feel today.

So it’s time for me to go, thank you for visiting my Pretty woman stop awhile photo blog. Here is the collection on Flickr.

Jose Feliciano has the last word.

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For a great room rate at the A-One hotel opposite the beach just book through THIS LINK.

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Surfing Duranbah Beach Australia

August 4, 2019 by David Herd

Surfing Duranbah Beach Australia

Surfing Duranbah Beach Australia which is officially known as Flagstaff Beach, is the northernmost beach in New South Wales. It’s at the mouth of the Tweed River and the rocky headland Point Danger, which also marks the Queensland-New South Wales border.

Sand transport system

The Project is a sand transport system that collects sand from the southern side of the Tweed River entrance at Letitia Spit, and pumps it under the river to outlets on the northern side. From there the sand is transported by waves and currents to nourish the southern Gold Coast beaches.

Great view of the beach

We are standing on a cliff in QLD looking across Flagstaff Beach to NSW.

Surfers waiting for a wave.

There seems to be many personal and indescribable experiences in their lives that keeps them paddling out again & again. Plus the willingness to wait for them often defines a surfer more than his or her individual ability.

Bring it on.

The waiting is really worth it.

Everyone loves the beach

Not just surfers, kids with their mums & dogs as well. 🙂

My friends from England

Joan Baptist & Bill Austin from Wiltshire visited Australia in 2010 & naturally I took them sightseeing along the coast. The following week we drove down to Sydney.

They actually got married in England yesterday August 3 2019 after being together for over 20 years.

Surfing Duranbah Beach Australia

It’s not just the board-riders who love to surf. Kite-boarding is an action sport combining aspects of wake-boarding, snowboarding, windsurfing, surfing, paragliding, skateboarding and sailing into one extreme sport. A kite-boarder harnesses the power of the wind with a large controllable power kite to be propelled across the water, land, or snow. Wikipedia

Surfing Duranbah Beach Australia

I’m guessing he is heading for a cold beer.

OK, I’ll meet you at the pub. 🙂

This is what the Beach Boys call a “surfer girl”.

Thanks for visiting my Surfing Duranbah Beach Australia photo blog.

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Starbucks Pattaya every morning

July 28, 2019 by David Herd

Starbucks Pattaya every morning

Starbucks Pattaya every morning is a perfect start to my day. Not just the excellent coffee, the friendly smiling staff always put me in a positive mood. Above is the branch at The Bay on Beach Road Pattaya between Soi 5 & Soi 6.

The Bay Beach Road

Let’s go to Starbucks & stare at our phones. 🙂

Opening day at the Bay

September 22 2015.

My breakfast of choice.

Ham & cheese croissant with a tall latte. B240 or $7.8 USD

There are two Starbucks at Central Festival

That makes 4 within 10 minutes walk from my condo.

Inside Central Festival branch

Quite an attractive fit out.

A birthday candle for me. 🙂

As I mentioned earlier the smiles on girls are a really nice start for the day.

Sometimes they run out of croissants.

So I settle for a sandwich. 🙂

Starbucks Pattaya every morning

Every 12 coffee is free if you have a Starbucks card so I often take one home for later. Also they often have a two for one offer.

Almond croissant

A nice alternative to the ham & cheese.

Mr Donuts

Starbucks change B115 for a latte, here at Mr Donuts I paid B93 for what you see.

Xmas day 2021

Two of the lovely girls who look after me every day. 🙂

Thanks for visiting my Starbucks Pattaya every morning photo blog.

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Drifters Beach Cafe Pattaya

May 24, 2019 by David Herd

Drifters Beach Cafe Pattaya

Drifters Beach Cafe Pattaya, or to be more exact, it’s in the Sattahip District which is a twenty minute drive from Central Pattaya. Actually it’s hard to know if you are in Barbados, Brazil or Thailand. 🙂

The best beach bar in Pattaya

What a terrific unique establishment, they offer a large selection of food including wood fired pizzas, meat pies & burgers.

Watch the sunset

While drinking an ice cold Heineken. This certainly is one of the best places in Pattaya Or Jomtien to enjoy seaside drinks.

David Robertson from Australia

Relaxing with a cold beer as he so often does. 🙂 In fact I have never met anybody who can drink as much beer as he can. He has rented an apartment in Markland where I live, however he has not been able to use it for many months as he is stuck at home in Australia due to Covid-19.

Such a unique beach shack.

Not sure what is upstairs, perhaps the Australian owner lives there.

Drifters Beach Cafe

Perfect to sail over to Koh Larn for the day. Otherwise just sit here and enjoy the view.

Brad Robbins from Townsville.

Drifters Beach Cafe Pattaya

Thanks for visiting my Drifters Beach Cafe Pattaya photo blog, put this unique beach bar on your bucket list.

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Vientiane excellent coffee shops

April 18, 2019 by David Herd

Vientiane excellent coffee shops

Vientiane excellent coffee shops were right around the corner from our hotel. They were every bit as good or better than I expected. The shot above is the cafe next door to Le Trio, I believe it is either part of the same business, or simply a shop who they sell their coffee to.

LE TRIO COFFEE

The first ’boutique roaster’ in Vientiane, they source ethical beans from local Lao producers and use only Robusta and Arabica beans, using a magnificent German roasting machine to make their coffee.

There are only 2 stools to sit at here.

I guess that’s why they send you next door. 🙂

Vientiane excellent coffee shops

Coffee does not get any better than this.

Many other coffee shops in Laos buy coffee beans from Le Trio to make their own coffee, showing just how powerful their blend is.

JOMA BAKERY CAFÉ

Joma is very popular among expats and travellers & has two locations in Vientiane. As well as their drinks, they serve great sandwiches, pastries, quiche, muesli, bagels and fruit shakes. It’s an excellent place to go to if you seek the taste of Western food. The mango pudding in the photo was absolutely magnificent.

Joma

Joma was founded by Canadians in Laos and now has 12 stores in three countries, including Cambodia and Vietnam. I must say it was very similar to a Starbucks.

We stayed at the Bloom Boutique Hotel.

These great coffee shops were only about 50 metres from our hotel. I would certainly recommend the Bloom Boutique Hotel, excellent rooms, friendly staff & a great breakfast. Use THIS LINK to book for a very good discount.

Sinouk Coffee Night Market

Small restaurant/bar at the corner of the street, you can watch the crowds pass by at night on the way to the night market.

Thanks for visiting my Vientiane excellent coffee shops photo blog. We took a taxi for an hour ($10 USD) to check out the city, follow THIS LINK to see some of the sights.

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Taxi tour discovering Vientiane

April 16, 2019 by David Herd

Taxi tour discovering Vientiane

Taxi tour discovering Vientiane in Laos only cost us $10 USD for an hour of sightseeing. This is the capital city with a population of only 783,000 in a country of 6.858 million.

The photo above is Pha That Luang, a gold-covered large Buddhist stupa in the centre of the city of Vientiane. Initially established in the 3rd century, the stupa has undergone several reconstructions, as recently as the 1930s due to foreign invasions of the area. Wikipedia

Temple near our hotel

In fact it was virtually in the same street as the Bloom Boutique Hotel, we would walk through it to get to the riverside.

Lets take a closer view.

Like many cities in Thailand there seems to be temples everywhere.

We did not spend too much time in the temples.

Our focus was more on the bars & restaurants. 🙂

I would like to recommend the Bloom Boutique Hotel, excellent rooms, friendly staff & a great breakfast. Use THIS LINK to book for a very good discount.

Patuxai is a war monument

Built between 1957 and 1968. The Patuxai was dedicated to those who fought in the struggle for independence from France. In romanising the name from the Laotian language, it is variously translated as Patuxai, Patuxay, Patousai and Patusai. Wikipedia

Meet the jolly jumbo

Made out of porcelain plates, saucers, cups etc. I have no idea what it stands for. 🙂

Rather spectacular.

It really is a fantastic monument.

Thai bank in Vientiane

I actually have an account at Kasikorn Bank.

This is what you need for a road trip. 🙂

Gotta be the most famous bike in the world.

King Anouvong Statue

Chao Anouvong (1767-1829), or Chao Anou for short, was the last king of the former Lao kingdom of Lane Xang. He ruled from 1805 to 1828 in Vientiane and came to power after his brother’s death. Chao Anouvong had long been an ally of the Thai monarchs against Burmese invaders but unfortunately his accomplishments and support of the Thai kingdom was not well recognized. From 1826 to 1828 Chao Anouvong rebelled against Siam in an attempt to gain independence from Siam.