vinapu

it's ok as long as you don't have me in mind

few pictures: pearl farm gift shop as you see money can be made from making wine on Phu Quoc - owner's house getting burned fake Italy and cable car station monster rollercoaster

Phu Quoc island – no boy business at all, other them meeting friend (not gay ) from my hometown. It’s only 90 minutes flight from Da Nang to Phu Quoc but practically it felt I spent whole day travelling . First, my flight was in early afternoon so morning was lazy, just wandering on the streets close to hotel and along Da Nang beach. At noon I checked out from the room , left may bag on reception and did more aimless , yet pleasant walking along the seashore. Car arrived on the dot and for 120000 ( 4.60 $ ) took me to the airport. Then it turned out that flight will depart at 5.30 p.m. instead of scheduled 4p.m.. We landed at 7.p. and knowing my friend will fly in at 8.00 p.m. I decided to wait for him to scare him off. Why ? because he did not have idea I will be in Phu Quoc at all. It worked well, I was greeted with cheerful ‘ what the fuck you are doing here ?” which was met with my response “ none of your fucking business “ . It great to have friends, no ? Why Phu Quoc, specially that I’m not and never was sun and sand kind of person ? And I was there last year ? I think my sister has best explanation – senility sets in, this is what she said after I told her last year I was there and liked it. Truth is , I like beaches there and like sea, warm , calm and very clean, specially on the west , Cambodia facing side, It’s probably only place in the world where I enjoy lazing on the beach whole day. (Ok , lets not exaggerate, half of first day only ). My friend stay in different hotel than me and this was by design as being friend not necessarily means 24 hrs friend , island is quite small so logistics of meeting were easy. I took free bus to my hotel and immediately learned that it’s not free anymore, from Jan 1st it costs 20000 to 50000 depending on distance but as senior I was eligible for reduced rate of 10000. Yes , almost always they checked ID to see if I qualify. First day we went to the beach , it was so pleasant and breezy that I did not notice that consuming 3 bottles of Saigon beer while sunbathing cost me getting burned by the sun . I noticed some color when we were leaving but only in the evening , when it started itching I realized it was quite nasty burn. Second day was devoted to famous cable car, longest in the world over sea ending in amusement park. Admission was 850 000 and this includes cable round trip ride and unlimited use of park facilities, all those tubes , slides and everything self respecting water park should have . Taxi from the city was 240 000 each way. What we noticed was that , compared to year ago it was much more crowded. In fact I did not take ride on their large wooden monster rollercoaster because line was well over what I was prepared to stand in. Day three was tour of the island on organized trip. Very well organized, pick up from hotel was on the dot and it was neatly divided between commercial, sightseeing and relax parts. Commercial part was typical- visiting pearl far, fish sauce factory, pepper plantation and yes, winery where they make wine from some local fruit. Quite drinkable. in all those places there was shop where we could buy whatever we wanted to waste our money on. In fact in pearl farm I bought very nice shirt for 10$.Then quite interesting temple and finally 2 hours on the beach so I could work on getting burned even more. Forth day was day of my departure in the afternoon but we managed to wander through island only city and visited colorful local market. My friend stays another week but I took Air Asia Cambodia flight to Siem Reap.

I will be working hard to make another trip for sure, specially in view of very rewarding recent trip. Only constrains at the moment are financial. Orange Overlord with removal of ' de minimis " exemption effectively ruined my carefully designed financial plan for 2025-2027.

By the way, according to my spies ' Wild Cat " sign is gone. I may mean idea of bar there was dead before it really took off. On another hand , it may be in preparation to put new, proper sign "White Cat ", in few days we should be clear

glad you guys have fun at my expense

retired , with no intention to return to the workforce

or having somebody at bottom of the stairs, pointing at the bar and trying to lure customers in. In that case because truly narrow entrance , just a door width , it was/ is a must.

that's in the books already for very long time. How is enforced it's another story but from time to time we hear about raids and hunt for foreigners working in bars and massages.

so it looks I was part of problem and reason I did not really liked it. Lesson learned , next time I will try to spend 1-2 nights there to see it's full glory

what about this year ? it's only February

some may have different ideas but I have habit of fixing expected tip before hand, if boy doesn't quote anything , I ask them outright " how much you want" . If they say ' up to you " , I tell them what I will give them. If they don't like my offer I usually say " I asked you already and you told me , up to me". That settles matter . Others may simply hand over money to boy at end of session , whatever they think is fair and that approach works too.

Marble Mountain, highest point and place of my winning bet one of temples in the caves angry dragon and cooling down city from above, bye, bye Da Nang, I'm on my way to Phu Quoc

few pictures to enliven the thread Da Nang railway station Campa Sculptures Museum My Son ruins beautifull mountain views from Ba Na hills and fake church in fake village ( rain outside was real)

Next few days I did mainly touristy stuff outside of city during days. Ba Na hills was my first destination, 550 000 dong , about 22$ by car , waiting included plus admission 1 000 000 dong. Complex is vast with multiple cable car lines offering I assume great views. There is famous , often photographed bridge supported by gigantic hands. They even have copy of French village complete with church which looks like church not only from outside but inside as well. Unfortunately I had bad luck . It was raining and fog was so dense that I could hardly see fingers on my hand ,forget those views. Still I enjoyed several rides, walked around , if only to get more wet although rain coat purchased for 50 000 was quite a help to stay at least partially dry. Surprise was , all that nasty weather was localized in the hills and city was dry when we arrived. Still about 5 hours spent well, At dusk I went for consolation to Nam Spa. I was told that guy there are more hunky and indeed three present all were. I was given option of choosing guy there. 75 minutes VIP treatment 1 500 000, ( 60$) . Not exactly cheap. This time promised body to body massage materialized with gusto, massage was again very good, clothes were shed in first few minutes. At end of session guy asked , if I have tip for him , to give it right in the room so I did. One thing I did not like was that I was left to shower alone which made bit difficult to get rid of all that oil . This was my second and last massage , or speaking more broadly , boy experience in Vietnam and while massages themselves were very good and professional, additional stuff was under executed to put it mildly and at prices they were charging not as good value for money as Bangkok massages are. But I’m glad I tried and certainly will again if travel to Da Nang again – highly likely as I liked the city vibe and have that Ba Na hills experience to repeat in better weather. Next day I visited or rather re-visited Champa ruins of My Son ( I was there in 2002 ) . I love ruins so it was highlight of my stay in Da Nang , weather cooperated today, heavy rain arrived exactly in the moment when I was getting back into my car. The same feast repeated in the afternoon which I devoted to exploring Marble Mountain in southern outskirts of Da Nang . I liked place a lot, temples , caves , quite a few climbs to get a views and it proven to be big ego booster for me. On top of highest point young Westerner told me he is impressed how well was doing climbing up in just plastic sandals and asked my age. When told he couldn’t believe so we made bet , 1000 dong ( 4 cents) and I prove it with my driving license. I collected banknote gladly. In the evening I went to Dragon Bridge to see Dragon breathing with fire and then splashing people with water. Spectacle is only Fri to Sun at 9p.m. Next morning funny thing at breakfast. I brought a soup to the table, left it there and returned to pick up more food and spoon. Upon return I see couple sitting at my table ( it was big one , sitting 6) and lady is eating my soup already !!!! WTF ? It turned up , she thought her husband was so nice and brought it for her and was even surprised how nice he indeed is. We had good laugh and become instant friends. In the early afternoon I took a car to Hoi An for 250 000 curious how I find it after 24 years since last time. Then it was charming little town, now I found it to be busy and noisy tourist trap . Walked though the old city, had 30 minutes river cruise , then some meal and was happy to go back to Da Nang. I know Ho An has many admirer, one of my friends even calls it “Quintessence of Asia” but, me, no , I’m not sold on it. Perhaps bkkmfj is right that I should spend night there to appreciate place fully. Like in all tourist infested places, I noticed tendence to overcharge. Both boat captain and taxi driver I took to drive me back to Da Nang started quotation at twice of final price I negotiated. All in, I enjoyed Da Nang a lot and can recommend city to everybody, I could stay few days more but my next stop is Phu Quoc island .

not intentional, I started feeling sleepy and decided to cut relation short for that reason

hope chicken with cashew nuts will be on the menu and to standard of Sophia's Kitchen

sign on the door , according to my spy still says they are looking for staff

Galia omnia es divida in partes tres

Not sure what you have against that short lived bar. I got conformation that Tuesday evening door remain shut. It could be a victim of war with Cambodia as due to absence of Cambodian there's certainly shortage talent available.

better not

no, Vassa was in next short alley, one that connects soi where ABomb is with one where XBoys and Dreamboys are. Vassa may be gone for half generation but their faded sign was still there when I passed by last year

correction , it was Monday evening when bar was discovered to be closed. My spy offered to do second check , just in case , next evening. but glory of Kiwi306 and me being their first customers will shine eternally

Amen from Jupiter ? Glad to hear , as usual , you did not waste any time while there. It's how vacation should be

We like North Korea and Phonyang scene better ?