The Ultimate Jet Setter

The next day I headed off at midday for some lunch. We returned to Plaza Mayor and ate at Gustos. I finally got some well needed paella and Sangria of course. There are different types of paella such as traditional seafood, chicken paella, squid ink paella and paella with noodles (weird I know). I settled for the traditional paella which was yummy.  We then headed to the Cathdedral which looks very impressive from the outside. Entry is permitted to all anytime apart from on religious holidays. It's a €1 donation and probably the largest cathedral I've been in. Also the only church I've visited that wasn't cold inside and had wifi. The cathedral had the usual stained glass windows, impressive ceilings, pews, worshippers and paintings of Jesus but well worth a visit as it's virtually free.  Just around the corner is the palace which reminded me of Versailles. It's pretty grand and ornate. The queue was far too long to comprehend queuing in so I just took a few pho...

First blog post of 2018! My journey takes me to Madrid for a few days. I got the 6:30am BA flight from Heathrow to Madrid and got to my hotel Iberostar Las Letras at around 11am. I would recommend this hotel, the room was very spacious, high ceilings and large windows. It's also on Gran Via which is one of the main streets in Madrid so in a great location also. The only criticism I have is that the lobby is tiny. I was able to check in which I was pleasantly surprised by.  I had a quick change, got a map from reception and headed out for some lunch. I walked 5 minutes to Puerta Del Sol which is a kind if plaza were several streets feed into. There are several shops in this area such as Apple, Zara, El Corte Ingles, Sephora and Pull & Bear. There are also hoards of people milling around this tourist area. There are a lot of beggars, people dressed up as Disney characters, little stalls selling souvenirs and the Puerta Del Sol metro station.  A further 5-7 minute walk and yo...

I left the Bay Hotel at 5:30am for my flight to Hoi An. After we arrived at the airport and I paid the driver was demanding an extra 10,000 Dong/£0.32 for some unknown reason. I think it was some kind of airport surcharge he had to pay but I was so apprehensive of getting ripped off I refused to pay again for something I didn't understand. Combined with the fact the taxi driver didn't speak English he gave up and waived this 'surcharge'. To be honest it was probably legit but considering what happened next I'm glad I didn't give it to him.     I headed into the terminal and didn't see my flight on the screen. I quickly realised that I was in the international terminal. I asked where the domestic terminal was. I was told it was downstairs. I followed these instructions but all I found was the arrivals terminal. So headed back upstairs and enquired with someone else. It turns out that the domestic terminal is actually in a DIFFERENT BUILDING and this taxi driv...

So a quick 45 minute flight from Phu Quoc and I arrived in Ho Chi Minh City. I got a taxi from the airport to the Bay Hotel. It's about a 45 minute journey. By the time I got to my hotel it seems the rain from Phu Quoc had followed me.  After I checked in I headed out at around 5pm. By which time rain was spitting and after a few minutes it had completely stopped. I walked to the Saigon Notre Dame Basilica which was about a 15 minute walk. Along the way I noticed several Western shops and eateries such as Zara, H&M, Chanel, McDonalds and Starbucks. Chains that I had not seen before in Vietnam. The city is a lot more built up and developed than others in Vietnam. There are a lot more skyscrapers and tall buildings in addition to larger roads and of a better standard. Unfortunately one negative thing I did notice is that spitting in the street is deemed an acceptable practice. It's very loud, disgusting and unnecessary.  Crossing the road is just as scary if not worse than H...

So I had an early start today, I had a flight to Phu Quoc, (the largest island in Vietnam) at 6:40am. I left my hostel at 5am and headed to Hanoi airport. I checked in and boarded my flight which was 1.5 hours. After we landed it started to shower then when I got in my airport shuttle the heavens opened. It was about at 20 minute journey from the airport to The Shells Resort & Spa. I checked in and was driven in a golf buggy to my room. When we got to my room the bell boy asked me for the room key which I didn't have to which he seemed shocked. After him talking to reception on the walkie talkie and after 5 minutes he came to the conclusion that the room was actually unlocked so we walked in. Apparently there was an issue with my lock that needed to be fixed and apparently they didn't think it a good idea to fix this before taking me to my room. A few minutes later the locksmith came and about 10 minutes after that I was given my new key.  The hotel room is quite spacious a...

Today I arranged with my hostel to go to Ha Long Bay with Wati Travel, Ha Long Bay is one of the 7 natural wonders of the world and a landmark well known to Vietnam.  I booked a one day tour for $65/£47 which included transport to and from Ha Long Bay, lunch, boat ride through caves or you have the option to kayak if you want. Also a tour of a stalagmite and stalactite cave.  You can also visit Ha Long Bay for 1 or 2 nights. I'm not sure what those tours would include or what else you would see. Personally I think 1 day is enough but if you want to spend a night on a boat then you have the option to stay overnight.  I was picked up at 7:45am and we left Hanoi at 9am by the time we had picked up the other passengers. There were 25 of us totally. It's a 3 hour journey to get to the Ha Long Bay marina, we had a pit stop half way there so the journey took 3.5 hours in the end.  We arrived at the marina at 12:30pm and got on our boat. Pretty soon after we boarded we were ...

I woke up and headed downstairs for breakfast which was a buffet of sausages, bacon, rice, noodles and boiled eggs. There was also tea and coffee, you could sit inside or there was a little balcony with breathtaking mountain views.  I walked around Sapa town for a bit after breakfast then headed back to the hotel. Our tour guide met us at 9:30am and we had a new family from Australia join us. Our tour guide was very sweet although it was a bit difficult to understand at times which wasn't ideal. Although he was very confident speaking in English I'd give him a 2/10 when it came to understanding English. When he would ask me a question and I would answer I would have to l repeat myself at least 3 times before he understood. And even then given his response it wouldn't  suggest he understood what I was saying. I would have expected a higher level of English given the price of the tour.  Communication could have also been improved. He would explain at the beginning of the da...