Happy new year from us both. Currently 1:23am and still about 30′C here! Just been to see the fireworks and party at Petronas towers.
Sadly the DJ was dire, and the band awful, but the fireworks were ok with a good finale. Not much booze here for obvious reasons….
Leaving KL in a couple of days to go to Melaka (Malacca) – then back to KL then off to Vietnam….
Hope all your dreams come true in 2012!
Ryan & Mel
See trip index here and Southern Thailand index here. Additional pictures here
Our first day in Patong beach 
was spent getting our bearings and exploring the beach. Our hotel /guesthouse is superb and is just behind the spectacular Jungceylon shopping centre which could be plucked from any top flight city. Slightly out of place here, and scary to see all shops and restaurants priced at UK prices, and even weirder is that it is busy with westerners! The rest of Patong is, as expected, overly touristy and busy, and really not a special place – apart from the vibe it has as if everyone knows there is a big party going to start. And pretty much, it does every night. Now we’ve been to a few iffy places; we’re very open minded; and really quite chilled on most things. Bangla road and the Soi Crocdile/Sea Dragon however pushes the boundaries a little bit. At night, it is probably the, erm, “most interesting” 
mainstream street we’ve seen. It does boast one hell of an atmosphere but you know just behind the front shows it is beyond most peoples imagination.
Lady boys galore, and many types of entertaining shows. All the single “weird looking” western guys have rented girl (or ladyboy)friends even during the day, and if you sit anywhere for a drink a girl/ladyboy will come and say hi. All “services” and “shows” available – even a game of “ping pong”. The atmosphere is quite something and the amount of bars and “choice” astounding. There are a few minger ladyboys, but one or two with stunning figures you just would…
Unless you are a clubber; like ladyboys; or like more bizarre things than us, then a few days in Patong is sufficient – especially as a gateway to the islands. 
Even the food/street food isn’t great here. We stayed in Patong due to its location to the islands between Phuket and Krabi, as well as Phang Nga bay. We wanted to go to see “James Bond Island” and looked into a DIY trip as we like doing things ourselves, but after our hosts quoted us 1200 bhat (£25) for a day trip with other bits discounted from 2,900 bhat (£60) list price – it was a no brainer to go on the trip;.
So on cue, a minibus collected us and deposited us on a pier and got us the boat for the day. Our first two stops Naka Island and Nong island. These are both limestone islands (like at Khao Sok) – but the sea has worn caves into them you can canoe through with a guide – through tight tunnels (having to lie flat in canoe..) which open up into spectacular lagoons. The entire islands are like hollows. Photos won’t show it, but it is a must see (though after a while they look the same 
) 
Nong was the most impressive with 3 consecutive lagoons.
Then after lunch, on to James Bond island (Ko Tapu). This has to be said is a tourist trap magnet. You get 30 mins on the island which is plenty, as it is tiny and 50% of the beach is tourist-tat sellers (nothing Bond related). But the views and the scenery are worth a look and make the trip worthwhile.
On our way back we stopped for a swim at a little beach in a “safe place” – but the current was too strong to swim against so a bit dangerous really. The guys on the boat had to go and collect someone, and Mel needed help as her dodgy shoulder stops her swimming at full strength.
All in all – an excellent day at a bargain price, even if a bit touristy.
The following day we continued our Patang exploration and in a storm went to see the latest Mission Impossible film in the cinema – bargain £2 for a decent seat!
Our second tour was an overnight trip to Raya island by speedboat with some snorkelling. Mel survived the speedboat there (just!), and due to the wind and rough seas the snorkelling was only okay rather than spectacular. However Raya itself is a stunning place. Quiet and unspoilt, and the two main beaches are soft white sand with warm clear sea. It is quite something and the
sort of place you’d not mind being stuck on. Our accommodation was basic, but the place itself was fine and the food was good. Our only real complaint about Raya is the price of icecream – though this is to be expected sadly.
In the morning we had a quick morning dip and had the beach to ourselves before the boats came, and then quite simply had a chilled day on the beach reading. We eventually left on a speedboat back to Phuket where we had a night in a different hotel
Next installment here
After the popularity of my 2009, 2010 and 2011 databases – I have now created a new 2012 version with the latest available data.
As always, I wish to reiterate I did not create any of the raw data. I have simply obtained the data from multiple sources, maniplated into a standard format, done a bit of Excel fiddling, and got it into formats that I (and I know others) find most useful.
The formats are for MS Auto route 2010 and 2011. Please download the correct version as MS AR 2011 does NOT upgrade the 2010 data to 2011 correctly. I have also included and a RAW format that is .csv files that are all in a format suitable for Garmins (I believe). Also there is a Google Earth version, both a single database and individual files if you want them.
The databases contain:-
The later datasets are from “Camping Car Infos” – and if you have a laptop I strongly recommend you downloading or buying their offline database. You can get these datasets directly of them, but not in a format suitable for simply getting into Garmins or (hence my conversion)
Download the files from our single download page HERE
We use and recommned 2010 (the cheaper version) for your laptop If you want to have GPS tracking and navigation on your laptop, the 2010 GPS comes with a GPS receiver. (Or buy the cheaper one and a serparate USB/Bluetooth GPS receiver from eBay). We also use an excellent XL with IQ routes and full maps for Europe and beyond. We could not survive without Tommy!
See trip index here and Southern Thailand index here. Additional pictures here
After a bit of a rest and fresh air, followed
by a lovely meal at our lodgings we felt a lot better – so we hoped our illness was just a blip… Our accommodation at Khao Lak was pretty good having been rebuilt by a Dutch guy after the Tsunami. The beach area was pretty nice but won’t appear on any top-beaches list, and the nearby town is surprisingly tatty and run down especially considering its total rebuild in the last 7 years. It seems to exist solely for tourists and is the first place every (and I mean every) shop keeper tries to get you to look into their shop or buy a suit.
However, only when we left did we see a bigger/better down about 4km further down the road that we did not explore. To get about at Khao Lak and to see the “nearby” attractions you probably need to hire a bike.
You really get the feel of the boxing day Tsunami by looking at Police Boat 813 which is a fairly large boat and now resides 2km inland where the Tsunami left it. And looking back to the sea you cannot imagine how it must’ve been at the time with everything between flattened. Even more moving, someone is leaving soft drinks and fruit at the boat in memory of a lost one 
We’d probably not have stayed too long in Khao Lak, but our health blip was more than a blip so now certain we’ve caught a bug of some sort. On the bright side we’ll lose half a stone or so if past experiences are anything to go by… On the downside it isn’t wise to leave our bungalow as trips to the bathroom were every 15 minutes – even overnight 
As our next stop required pubic busses and a bit of waiting around, we decided to wait till we were both fit enough as public loos that you want to use aren’t that easy to come by. This gave us time to plan Christmas though – and good job we did as it is peak season and a lot of places are fully booked. We’re treating ourselves by splurging £30 a night for B&B in a rather nice guest house in Ao Nang – and we get a motorbike thrown in. Annoying having to book, but everything over Christmas and New Year is tight. Word of warning as well, from 15 December to 15 January accommodation prices are much higher (almost double).
When we felt brave enough we left to get to the infamous Patong beach on Phuket. Our hosts dropped us on the main road when we instantly got a bus to Phuket (100 bhat each). The bus wasn’t new by any stretch, but comfortable and had free water – and even free wifi! At Phuket bus station, after running the gauntlet ignoring all the taxi/tour “helpers”, we wandered 1km west to the local market and caught a local bus to Patong. I say bus, more of a lorry with bench 
seats but remarkably good fun. 25 bhats took us the 40 minute driver over the roller coaster of the hill road.
Our accommodation at Patong (loveli guesthouse) was a bit pricy at £25/night (peak season & tourist hotspot) – but its hotel feel made it worthwile. The owners ran a travel agency and gave some incredible prices on trips that we wanted to do anyway, and some cheaper than we could DIY – so we planned the next week which should be a bit more fun than the last few days….
First impressions of Patong are a mix of old and posh thrown together, with most definitely the most compressed party feel we’ve seen – even compared to Bangkok. Looking forward to it (if we can leave the hotel….! )
Next installment here
See trip index here and Southern Thailand index here. Additional pictures here
Our first ever backpacking
trip started well – we made it from Suffolk, through London and to our Travel Lodge near heathrow. Always a good start! And we were spoilt with a friend taking us out for our final fish n chips for a while. Getting to the terminal was fine and the Jet Airways cheap airline via Mumbai was actually very good indeed – especially the first leg. Loads of room, reasonable food and good movies. At Mumbai 1960’s airport, our bags surprisingly made the connection, but Mel had to flash her boobs to the security guards to get though! (honest! Though admittedly not like it sounds)
Arriving at Bangkok was slightly sad as we saw what appeared to be flooding from the air, including what appeared to be another airport under water. That said, the new airport was superb – very modern and made it trivial to get the train in to the city for 45 bharts (£1) each. We opted to walk to the guest house rather than taxi as we wanted to explore. Quite a walk, and Mel was very lucky when a bird “dumped” on her rucksack only just missing her head! Our one and only guest house booking turned out to be pretty good too – decent clean room, bed and clean bathroom – with aircon and breakfast for under £14 a night.
First impressions, so far, are good…
After a few hours nap we went back into town towards the infamous Khaosan road. Expecting the worst we were pleasantly surprised. No more sales hassle than any other tourist area but everyone who says hello and offers “help” seems to be trying to direct you somewhere else (aka Moroccan carpet shops!). Our top tip is to either ignore or give a polite “no” then ignore, and if they say something is closed for whatever reason, its a lie. Our guidebook underlines this tip and in our first 2 days we’ve been given 
(and ignored) advice of things being closed due to floods and religious holidays – finding both were lies – they wanted us to go elsewhere (tourist shop?).
The markets in the alleys were worth a good look around and again were reminiscent of Morocco souks. We bought some essentials (water and fly spray) and had some beers (£1.20 a pint) and some Phai Thai (fried noodles, with egg and chicken for me) – for all of £1.60 for us both – plus a pineapple desert for about £1.
We didn’t see much sign of current flooding in the city, though loads of sandbags and DIY concrete defences up, and apart from a few places next to the river all seems okay now.
With a bit of jet lag we awoke to a jungle-like dawn chorus and then went for our days outing. Despite tuk-tuks and taxis being everywhere we decided to walk as we find it helps
to get a feel of the real city and it is possible to just wander into some great places. Bangkok is a place you need to feel and smell to help to understand. However, our feet tell us Bangkok is massive!
Our first stop was a tour of the impressive Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew which is a rare “wow!” site and a must see attraction. Expensive by Thai standards (400 bhats or £8 each) – plus the audio guide – but worth every bhat. We would suggest skipping the audio guide as most of the information is in the leaflet they give you and it stops you 
speeding through to get the audio guide back on time. Can’t really explain the place much, and the photos won’t do it justice. But the colours, the gold and the craftsmanship everywhere and the story behind was superb.
Our next temple was Wat Pho – the temple of the reclining Buddha. Our top tip is get there between 12 and 1 when the ticket office is closed but the gate open… Again, a must see site – the giant Buddha is – well – giant – with superb workmanship and images around. Amazing.
After there we had plans to head through China town to Silom Pat Pong area, but on our wanderings round Chinatown we found loads of hidden markets. And by loads, we mean we walked for probably a couple of hours and at junctions took
a random turn and yet we are sure we missed most off. A hugely impressive area for just amps and speakers; an equally large for electronics with a range that makes Maplin look tiny, and guys outside fixing anything they got. Then material shops, food, fruit and whatever else you wanted. We could’ve easily spent even more time there – and most of the time we were the only westerners in view which makes a change from old Bangkok.
Probably 15 miles walking later we gave up on our idea of going to Pat Pong and headed back via Khaosan Road for some more street food saving the fun area of Bangkok till our feet can cope! En route back we stumbled on what appeared to be a local only night market, with individual sellers selling their items – mainly second hand bits – in a cross between a real market and a car boot sale.
With sore feet, we crashed back at our hostel and raided some of our emergency supply of chocolate… We earned it!
See next installment HERE
Despite being absent from UK news, the flooding in Thailand has been getting worse, and the more we look, the bigger problem it is getting. It is certainly going to hange our plans.
Interestingly, they seem to be trying to look after tourists, and indeed have their priorities right – free wifi and food!
Unless the flight is cancelled we’ll still be going, but think we’ll fly out of Bangkok as soon as we get there as the roads and rail seem to be damaged, and we’ll probably do our planned route backwards. Glad we didn’t plan too much.
Looking forward to going, but quite sad nevertheless due to the devistation caused – and we don’t want to enjoy others misery
(See our tips page HERE)
Something many motorhomers do not consider, is that all campervans require maintenance. If you consider the shaking, twisting and bending that they get – its like your house is undergoing an earthquake every day! Not only that, many leisure items are really designed for a few weeks’ use per year, not the 1,000 or so days we’ve been giving ours over the last 3-4 years! (Thus one year of our usage is 10+ years of designed use)
On forums it does surprise us when people complain an item stops working or breaks, but unfortunately parts do wear out and its part of routine maintenance and DIY to keep vans in pristine condition.
So whilst back at base, we’re doing some proactive and reactive maintenance, and have undertaken the following:
Reactive fixes:
Proactive fixes:
And apart from that given it a good clean. And after over 1,000 days away in the last few years, with loads of wild camping and exteme use, everything continues to work perfectly and it still looks pristine condition.
Thing is – this sort of maintenance is required on all vans – even those with 2 weeks usage a year. So the moral of the story is – you may as well use your van more – the level of maintenance is the same 
For parts, we tend to use: eBay, LeisureShopDirect (who have some very good technical people who can offer advice), and CakTanks (who are a pain to order from, slow to deliver, but sometimes are the only providers…)
Just a quick update:
This site has been focused on our European trips, and since we’ve come back from our last trip (Trip 9) we’ve been UK based looking for areas to buy a house. So van is in heavy use still, but just not written it up.
However, from now till at least April 2012, updates on this site will be mainly related to our SE Asia backpacking trip. We leave on 26 November and not back till the end of March. So sorry for no more campervan trip blogs for a while, but rest assured its not over! Hope you find the backpacking just as interesting!
Just thought I’d put a post on here about my Dads new home solar system he has just had fitted (late September 2011).
PV Solar (electricy generating) isn’t cheap nor efficient, and re
ally it isn’t worth it. Until that is, the government backed scheme for energy companies to pay a Feed In Tariff (FIT). This means the energy companies pay you for the electricity you generate – and in fact they pay stupidly – about 15x what it would cost you to use, regardless if you use it yourself or not.
So simply, if you have solar installed you make money 3 ways:-
So for the first week install in late September, not great weather, we generated 75KWH of electricity.
1 Kwhr = 49.9p (43.3p per Kwhr + 3.1p per 2Kwhr + 10.09p per 2Kwr bill saving). This equates to £37.43 ( x52 say = £1946)
So almost £2k per year income based on an average week in September. So real figures will hopefully be more! And the FIT rate goes up every year (and this is guaranteed to happen for the next 25 years). A cash-back calculator can be found http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/Generate-your-own-energy/Cashback-Calculator which errs on the low side.
We did a lot of research and saw a lot of company’s offering a low “headline grabbing” price for install. Even Tesco are in on the act! But in the mix there are big companies who aren’t experts; ex-double-glazing style companies who just didn’t inspire confidence; and specialist installers. We tried to get quotes from a few – the bigger company like Tesco took a month to return a call. One of the cheaper ones felt like a double-glazing salesman. And a local company could not say when they were going to install, and their guarantees weren’t great.
As seen on Watchdog, this field is the next double-glazing minefield.
Anyway, on one of my car forums I frequent, I “know” a guy called Dan who runs Solar Dawn . Whilst I never met him, I knew people who had and they trusted him. My we contacted him and we had some interesting emails, then Dad invited him over to the house, and indeed Dan came and gave us information and answered our questions without a hard sell, in fact no sales angle at all. We got a quote and studied it, and still looked to compare, but the truth that whilst we could buy a system cheaper, no one came close to inspire confidence that they knew what they were doing – nor offer as good a guarantee (insurance backed)
Dan (http://www.solar-dawn.com/) (I believe) also use a single install team who came miles to do the install, but did the entire thing hassle free in a day.
Our setup is:-
2 arrays of 9 solar panel with each panel rated at 220 watts. Each array = 9×220 = 1980 watts. 
One array faces east and other faces south to optimise sunshine during the day. This give 3.96Kw ( Meeting the <4kw required for the best FIT deal)
Each array connects to a single dual feed inverter via its own isolator, and the output of the inverter has an isolator adjacent to the inverter and adjacent to the consumer unit. The Inverter takes both inputs from the solar panels (DC), and generates an AC output to feed into the grid system. The output of the inverter passes through a remote monitor interface unit (optional), and then via another isolator (adjacent to the consumer unit), which is connected to a kwhr meter (generated Kwhr) back to the grid in the consumer unit through an mcb.
Basically, if you don’t understand the above – it means its a well designed, efficient, and safe system!
To be clear, I have NO CONNECTION to Dan or Solar Dawn other than my dad being a very satisfied customer. As with most things like this, existing customers can get paid a small “referral” bonus if anyone they recommend buys. So, if anyone does contact Dan @ Solar Dawn for a quote, please mention Ryan & Colin and we should get a referral cashback from Dan (as he hasn’t had to pay for advertising). Please contact us too and we’ll send you £100 cashback direct to you. (Of course, you need to pay for your system and Dan needs to pay us before we can give you cashback!)
You can contact me via this site, and my dad through me. Dan and Solar Dawn can be contacted on 0800 500 3181 or http://www.solar-dawn.com/. Remember to let me know of any contacts so I can track any cashback!
If you go with any solar company, make sure you check the following:-
UPDATE: This post is now OUT OF DATE – see HERE for the latest data
I know – I’m hanging my head in shame, but we are members of the Caravan club. Eek.
Anyway, they do provide GPS data on their website, but they only do it in particular formats, and not the formats I want – like and Google Earth. And if I want it – then I’m sure everyone else does.
As such, as of today, I have the latest data and I have converted it into the usual formats and made them available on here for people to get. Hope you all find it useful!
The download is on our main download page HERE - there is a single download for and , but if you use the other data you need to download the CL and the sites separately. Enjoy!
is by far the easiest way to see the data off line and to help you easily see where all the sites are, and of course the points have the name, address and phone number of the location.
To download, go to our download page HERE
© 2013 All contents of this site are Copyright Ryan & Mel.