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Jaded in Jeju

In the high level plan made many months ago, I allowed a day in Jeju for swimming at the beach and/or diving. The weather is hardly conducive … it is cool and drizzly. I didn’t feel the urge to go to the city centre (it will be like any other Korean town) or to the […]

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Bareback Divers and more

Lava Tube Cave It was drizzly in Jeju city. I was unfazed and took the bus (and walked 2.5km) to Manjanggul, a lava-tube cave … that’s a caved formed through hot molten lava flowing through the rock. BTW, Jeju island is very volcanic … there’s lots of black rock everywhere. Back to the lava tube […]

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Some historic sights of Seoul

Changdeokgung Palace My hostel was across the road to one of Seoul’s palaces … Changdeokgung … it was the most recommended one. While the palace was first built in the 1400s, what we see today was rebuilt in the 1600s (due to fire) and some bits were added in the 1800s. It was interesting to […]

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Courtesy that knows no bounds

My flight from Kuala Lumpur to Seoul’s Incheon airport departed at 1355. It seemed like the perfect flight with three seats for myself for most of the journey, despite the flight being quite full.  To my surprise a lot of the passengers were veiled Malay women who have become addicted to Korean soap operas. Upon […]

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Casinos and friends

Impressive Marina Sands We had a reasonably early start in Ho Chi Minh to make the 0910 Tiger Airways flight to Singapore. With an hour time difference, we landed just after midday and taxied to the Geylang red light district to check into our budget hotel, Hotel 81. Without much ado, we made our way […]

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Last day in Vietnam

Sightseeing with friends Today we caught up with Rodger and Liisa, our good friends from Auckland. We went to the Reunification Palace (which was the seat of the former South Vietnamese government) and the War Remnants Museum (which documents the atrocities of the American War). The latter proved rather grimmer than we remember from our […]

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Day at the beach, with a difference

Our scheduled departure from Nha Trang to Ho Chi Minh City was late tonight at 2150. We wanted a taste of the beach life but didn’t feel like snorkelling … we only wanted a few lazy dips in the water. So we didn’t do one of those boozy party-boat trips to the nearby islands. Instead […]

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Underwater posers

Deciding to dive We hadn’t decided on diving in Nha Trang, but at only USD40 for two fun dives with Coco Dive Centre, it was too good to be true. This was slightly less than their website price as it may have been a slow period.  It was a good way to keep current and […]

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Nha Trang

Deciding to dive We hadn’t decided on diving in Nha Trang, but at only USD40 for two fun dives with Coco Dive Centre, it was too good to be true. This was slightly less than their website price as it may have been a slow period.  It was a good way to keep current and […]

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The Vietnamese Riviera

Above: Pomelo salad for lunch. We flew with Vietnam Airlines on a propeller plane from Danang airport at 1020 to Nha Trang. Coming into land at 1145 at Nha Trang was very scenic. The sea was deep blue but turn turquoise closer to the coastline due to the golden sands.  Close to the estuary it […]

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