Countries I have visited - best sights - scary moments - worst disasters

I have visited fifty countries.

 My family have had homes in the UK, the USA, Spain, and Singapore.

We have had au pair girls living with us, who came from France, Germany, Italy and Yugoslavia. 

I speak French fluently. I have restaurant Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, German and Dutch. I am struggling to read menus and signs in Greek, Hebrew and Russian (Cyrillic also in Bulgaria) and Chinese symbolic signs (also used in Japan).

ALBANIA

The best thing? The colourful buildings in the city centre and throughout the country. Designed to raise morale at a time of economic crisis.

Scary - Cliffside roads in the remote north to maintntop viewpoints and resort south to busy beach resort. 

ANDORRA

AUSTRALIA Super cities, Sydney and Perth.

BAHAMAS

BELGIUM

CAMBODIA

(Siem Reap for a tour of:) Ankor Wat. Scary moments. Losing our rickshaw at the entrance. One rickshaw when we said goodbye. At the end of the day, a national holiday, there were hundreds, and our vehicle had been told by police to move to the next car park. 

Second scary moment. I lost my ricksahw. Supposed to meet me by the gold Buddha at the entrance. The route through a temple was in one entrance and out the other side. All four entrances had a large gold seated Buddhas. 

CANADA Niagara Falls

CHINA Shanghai waterfront. Great Wall. (Wishlist terracotta warrors.) Scary moment, losing my tour group in China where I could not speak a word of Chinese. Getting on a coach tour bus and half a mile down the road discovering they were a German speaking group.

CORSICA Worst disaster. Guitarists played late into the night keeping me awake. The coach to the airport broke down and we were told to cross the road. I was knocked down by a car, had multiple injuries and was not expected to survive.  (1984.) 

CROATIA (Dubrovnik when it was Yugoslavia)

CYPRUS Greek and Turkish

DENMARK Hand Andersen's Home

DUBAI

ENGLAND Brighton Pavilion, York Shambles, Cornwall , Lake District - Wordsworth's House, Waddesdon, Bronte House Museum, Yorkshire, Oxford, Cambridge, Hadrian's Wall, Cadbury's Factory. London's Keats House, Dickens House, National and Tate Gallery, Portrait gallery.

FINLAND

FRANCE Paris. Worst disaster. My family drove from overnight at our ex au pair girl's home in Rheims, across France to the border. I then realised I had left my passport behind in a passport neck bag on the back or a chair.

GERMANY

GREECE

HAWAII

HONG KONG

HUNGARY

INDIA Scary moment. Losing my taxi at a shopping centre with four entrances. All the taxi drivers had dark skins, dark hair and black moustaches. All the taxis had number plates ending in the same three letters which was code for a taxi from that city.

INDONESIA

IRELAND

ISRAEL Historic and biblical Jerusalem, Art deco (Bauhaus) beach city of Tel Aviv (founded in 1909), kibbutzim, Ein Gedi waterfall into the water by the cave. 

ITALY Roman Rome, Opera in La Scala Milan, Umbria Etruscan gateway

JORDAN Petra

KOREA (SOUTH KOREA)

LUXEMBOURG

MALAYSIA

MALTA

MEXICO

MOROCCO Marrakesh

NEPAL

NEW ZEALAND

POLAND Auschwitz  Birkenau, and Schindler's Factory Museum

PORTUGAL Mountainside s-bends along the Douro valley from Oporto to Regua and onwards to Spain. 

RUSSIA

SAN MARINO

SING MAARTEN

SCOTLAND Edinburgth. Hilltop Castle. Portrait Gallery. Poets' area of old town and museums.Tartans and bagpipes.

SINGAPORE Night Safari. Botanic gardens and orchid garden.

SOUTH AFRICA Table Mountain

SPAIN Barcelona's Gaudi Cathedral, Scary moments, Cliffside S bends in Picos de Europa.  

SWITZERLAND Alprose Chocolate Factory. Covered bridges.

THAILAND Royyyal Palace.Floating Market.

TUNISIA

TURKEY Blue Mosque and Green Mosque

VIETNAM Halong Bay. best sight

Scary moment - first tuk tuk ride at speed from airport to checkin at hotel.Tuk-tuk (motorcycle carriage) transfer to hotel in Sien Reap. 

YUGOSLAVIA Dubrovnik, now CROATIA

WALES Brunel's bridge Fishguard Last Invasion Tapestry, Caerleon Roman Museum. Worst disaster. I was driving to my annual writers summer holiday in  Caerleon,Wales. On the M4. Another car drove innnto the back of my car. I had to transfer by train to my destination.

USA Disneyland LA, DisneyWorld Florida, Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon.  New York's Jewish Museum, Sex museum and many more.

WISHLIST

CHINA

Terracotta Warriors

UKRAINE

BEST TRANSPORT

Tuk-tuk (motorcycle carriage) transfer to hotel in Sien Reap. 

TRAVEL TIPS

1 Keep a track of your own best and worst holiday experiences.

2 Make an ecel document of trips, hotels, museums, favourite food.

I am compiling this all week. Come back every day for updates on mine.

Lovely places for lovers: lovely views, love lockets, love spoons

My mother of the room hanger. Picture by Angela Lansbury.

Singapore's Sheraton Towers Hotel. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

Every continent has something special for romance. For honeymoons, if money and travel restrictions were not an issue I would pick, in Asia, the Americas, and Europe:

Asia

Halong Bay, Vietnam, picture from Wikipedia. 

1 Halong Bay, a beautiful reflection in Vietnam.

Halong Bay is like America's Monument Valley on sea, with ships and little boats ready for romance. As we boarded our ship the staff stood at the stop of the spiralling staircase throwing down rose petals. This joy was for the benefit of a honeymoon couple. But all of us couples benefitted and loved it. Big boats bring you to your overnight stop. Take optional trips to caves on little boats.

You can sit on your small cruise ship and watch the scenery pass. Our room on board had a balcony.

Angkor Wat, Cambodia.

2 Cambodia's  temples, starting at Ankor Wat. 

Giant faces with eyes watch you from the wats, or temples. The faces watch you calmly and tree roots are entwined up the old walls. Carvings galore. Temples galore. 

Your base is a rickshaw ride from the city of Siem Reap. You buy a three day ticket and see not one but half a dozen temples over three days. Stunning. 

Plus gold buddhas under four-poster canopies.  

Ankor Wat is not just a temple but a complete walled city with a temple in the centre. 

A motorbike rickshaw, decorated with colourful paintings over the outside and inside, collected us from the airport and bounced and blew along between the trees. Tie on your hat. 

We stayed at a tiny hotel with a swimming pool. We had breakfast beside the pool. Perfection.

3 Singapore's Views Of And From Marina Bay Sands

My son and his fiancee (now his wife) went to the Marina bay Sands hotel for a drink with a view from the top. They loved the view so much they checked in for a night and enjoyed hours in and beside the Infinity pool overlooking Singapore. You can admire Marina Bay Sands, like a giant set of three cricket stumps, from the downtown area of the city. 

Or buy a ticket to the top where your voucher buys you most of a cocktail or a pizza per person. We did that one New Year's Day.

The airport itself has a giant waterfall in the centre of a mall linked to the terminal buildings by a walkway. When Covid-19 restrictions end, the shops and restaurants and mall and waterfall will be back, re-opened for you to enjoy. 

For gardens which are seasonally decorated and a giant waterfall with zigzagging walkways, go to Gardens By The Bay. 

For free you can take the waterside walk passing plants with plaques.

Another free place is the Botanical Gardens.

Now the opportunity is to go jogging along trails around the countryside, the beaches, the jungles. Bicycle trails are opening. My husband hired a hybrid bike for on road and off road, and hired a camera.

Americas

1 Bryce Canyon in the USA

Fabulous for pink sunsets.

2 Monument Valley in the USA

Make your own movie of yourself in Monument Valley.

3 Niagara Falls in Canada

Just sit and watch it. 

In February 2021 it was iced over. Another view. Another kind of photo.

EUROPE

UK

England

The Lake District. Where the hills and fir trees are reflected in the water of the lakes. Wordsworth said it all. 

'I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o'er vales and hills

When all at once I saw a crowd

Of dancing daffodils.'

Welsh love spoons tea towel. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

I love Wales. I usually go there once a year, either spring or summer. 2021 was the first year I have not visited the Writers' Holiday in Fishguard because it was cancelled because of Covid-19.

I have had this tea-towel for ages. To my surprise, the label says Made in Pakistan. Never mind. It shows Welsh love spoons and tells you about them.

Wales

Welsh love spoons as souvenirs. 

Waterfalls and castles. 

Welsh cakes.

Welsh love spoons.

Similar linked spoons from Norway. (Wikipedia.)

Czech Republic

Love lockets bridge in the capital, Prague. But the the locks are cut off.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seMUW6pakbo

New Zealand

New Zealand has its own lake district. I used to go every year to New Zealand for skiing in the British summer. Their seasons are upside down. Now they have added the movie tours.

Useful Websites

https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Angkor_Archaeological_Park

Angela Lansbury teacher of English (advanced and English as a Second Language or English as a Foreign Language, French and other languages, aspiring polyglot.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Member of many toastmasters  speaker training clubs and speaking contest judge.

Angela Lansbury, the author of 20 books including Wedding Speeches & Toasts, and Quick Quotations, has lived in the USA, Spain and Singapore. 

She  has several blogs and writes daily on at least two of the following:

travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com

dressofthedayangela.blogspot.com

translateforfun.blogspot.com

 Please share links to your favourite posts.

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Travel Diary Notes For Speeches And Novels

You could simply keep a diary of your travels. For speed and economy, take any notebook. Paste the cover of a map of the country and its name and the year or date. Number all the pages in the top right hand corner. Add lines for an index on the inside front cover or head the first two pages index and write down the page numbers in the left margin.

If you are really efficient, or think you will be rushed later, use a Filofax or loose leaf folder and in advance note the days or destination as a heading. for example, I knew I had a trip booked to Halong bay in Vietnam at the end of the week. It was no trouble to go half way through my notebook and head a couple of pages with Halong Bay and the three days, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday.

Vietnam flag for notebook.

You might contrast your expectations with what you actually find. Write down your expectations. Because when you arrive and find you were wrong, you either forget what you thought or are too embarrassed to admit the misconceptions.

Conversation and Dialogue
Local dialect
For example:

Conversation In India
A woman with a baby knocks on the window when we are in a delay at the traffic lights. She appears to be begging. I do not speak her language. I point to the driver.
 I do not open the window. So she steps forward and holds her hand out begging for money and addresses the driver.
He shouts at her.
I ask my translator, "What did the driver say?"
The driver had said:
 "I work for a living to feed my children. I'am not giving my children's money to you. You go and work to feed your children!"

 Singapore flag for notebook.

In Singapore
"Since young I go there. Cannot.  ..., la."

Misunderstandings and Miscommunication:
In Corsica I was knocked down by a car and had multiple injuries. I was flown by helicopter to hospital.
In the Corsica hospital I struggled to make myself understood. the woman in the next bed didn't no say a word. I later discovered she could not speak because she had had an asked for a radio. "Un radio." They gave me a radiography, an X-ray.

Phrases used at weddings
Stories told at weddings (eg 'My brother (the groom), threw me out of the window and I broke my leg,"- story from best man which I heard in a best man's wedding speech, which I surreptitiously recorded and actually heard at a wedding!)

Another system is to plan a series of events or types of writing. For example:
Tragedies and dramas.
Road accidents you pass and the comments of the people you are with.
Plane crashes,
Murders,
Local newspaper events.
political conflicts
religious rivalries
funerals
inquests
memorials
wartime museums
cemeteries

Comedy and Happiness
Celebrations
Birthdays
Engagement parties
Weddings
Honeymoon couples
Romantic Restaurants
Sunsets
Dates
Excitement
Fireworks
New Year

Descriptions
Transport
Mountains
Rivers
Seaside

Buildings
Temples
offices
Poor homes
Opulent homes
local architecture

Later, a week later, a year later, years later, your notes will come in handy.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer. I have many more posts on destinations and events. Please share links to your favourite posts.

Selina and family boating along beautiful Halong Bay, Vietnam

Ha Long Bay, Vietnam

Ha Long Bay is one of the world's top sites and sights, competing with Ankor Wat of Cambodia as the public's favourite place in polls. Ankor Wat is walking and man-made. Ha Long bay is natural scenery, lots of sitting, on the car, taxi or coach to get there, on the launch out to your overnight cruise ship, clamber onto the boat, and more sitting as you sail - or rather row your canoe or share a boat, admiring the natural scenery and greenery covering the rocky outcrops reflected in the water.

Look carefully at this picture and you will see: 

the tree-covered slopes, 

the triple deck cruise ship far right, 

in the centre background a man standing, rowing, several more, small, boats. 

Everybody is wearing the provided life jackets.

It is ideal for a honeymoon, wedding anniversary, birthday, family holiday, or any break. 

Travel Information

Please share links to your favourite posts.

What Trump and Kim Jong-Un Should See In Hanoi and Vietnam

Vietnam flag from Wikipedia.

I was in Hanoi at the New Year and here are my top picks:

1 ROMANTIC CRUISE
Take a trip from Hanoi to Halong Bay. Cruise through the green outcrops of rock reflected in the water.(The technical term is limestone karsts.)  Luxurious small and large cruise ships provide enough luxury, privacy and security. They can sit at tables for two watching the scenery go by.

2 LAKE WALK
Kin Jong-Un enjoyed a walk about in Singapore. Hanoi has two lakes you can walk around. On festive occasions the area is made pedestrian-only and car-free.

3 LUXURY HOTEL
A lakeside hotel with suites offering lake views would be just the thing.

4 SHOPPING
Will their wives be with them? No. But Kim Jong-Un's sister was seen alighting from the train. She might buy for herself and other members of the family, a great souvenir, a made to measure dress, the traditional Vietnamese tunic, knee length of longer, with slit slides and a long scarf and matching trousers. In silk, of course. (I bought one ready-made, in black and red.)

áo dài - Viietnamese national dress for women.

WHAT NOT TO DO
Prison Museum.
Too much anti-French and anti-American text and pictures. They would need a diplomatic guide to steer them past the early days of fighting and imprisonment towards the statue of the Vietnamese revolutionary leader and reconciliation.

Ho Chi Minh

CROSSING THE ROADS
You need an escort and the road closed. Otherwise the scooters come at you from all directions. If renovators can quickly fill in a few potholes, that would help.

Late Update on Hanoi Hotels:
Trump - probably staying at the J W Marriott
Kim Jong-un - Melia Hanoi Hotel
Summit destination: Sofitel Legend Metropole

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

Vietnam Cities - which is north and which is south? Where to go and why?

Halong Bay, Vietname.

The city in the south is the capital, renamed Ho Chi Minh city, named after the revolutionary leader.

Seventy per cent of the visitors to the country go to the capital first. My family had already been there, so we went to Hanoi.

I like Hanoi. I was delighted by our side trip to romantic Halong Bay which has green mountains like monument valley on land and most excitingly reflected in the blue sea..

I would have liked to have seen both major cities. But they were not nearby.

The city in the south was previously called Saigon and that name has gone, yet some people still use it. The name Saigon has various suggested origins, one of which is the kapok tree. The word Saigon is two syllables, one meaning wood, the other meaning pole, forest. 

The capital city, renamed Ho Chi Minh city, has memories of the Vietnam war and Ho Chi Minh and the tunnels called Cho Chi - the word Chi again. 

Ho is a family name. Chi means will. 

The northern city, Hanoi has Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum. You pass it on the open top hop on hop off bus tour. Hanoi's landscape feature is the two adjacent lakes, one of which is next to the old town and you walk around it. During festivities and holidays, such as Christmas and New Year when we were there, the area is pedestrianised. 

I enjoyed Hanoi but the potholes in the pavements (USA sidewalks) and zig-zagging scooters hooting when you cross the roads, make it scary for the nervous or elderly.

Highlight of my trip to Hanoi was a side trip to Halong Bay, overnight on a cruise ship. Photos often show just one boat amid the majestic scenery. I think that is supposed to be more romantic.

I was afraid that you would be lost in the remote seas, far from any other boats or people, stranded alone like the Titanic. 

Far from it. Rows of boats of all sizes are along the quayside, shops selling clothes and hats. As you sail, you pass other boats. 

Even when you are in a small motorboat going through the caves, lots of other tourists are in boats ahead and in front.

I found seeing lots of other tourists reassuring.   

Author

Angela Lansbury

See my other posts on Vietnam. Please share links to your favourite posts.

My Favourite Hotels, Restaurants and Coffee Bars in Hanoi and Halong Bay

Hotels
1 Stellar of The Seas cruise - from Hanoi -2 day and one overnight in Halong Bay. (See my review in post.)
2 Sunline Paon Hotel - for a weekend or week in Hanoi.
3 Apricot Hotel, Hanoi - for tea in the ground floor lobby near the lake. Sit neart window viewing the lake, by the indoor water fountain with fish surround, sculptures and paintings,or near the piano.

See the outside of the Hilton and the cathedral size lobby beside the opera house.

Coffee Bars
1 Gao - civilised upstairs, with a cute dog. Note the plants growing from avocado stones. Balcony upstairs.
2 Note - must go upstairs where the ceilings, chairs etc are covered with notes left by visitors; also see the toilet with notes instead of graffiti, with the same humour. Window viewing lake and square upstairs. Studenty feel.
(See Apricot hotel above.)

Dinner
Green Tangerine - stunning food, visual and taste appeal, great venue for a splurge. Pick up their flyer near the front door for a reduction of 10%.

Avalon BBQ top of the block on the main square by the lake - good view over lake (Hoan Kiem) and good, reasonably priced food
The Authentic. OK western food. romantic decor and high floor view.

Hungry Hanoi

More later


Travel information
Restaurant
www.hungryhanoi.com

For hotels
booking.com
Comparison site:
https://www.clicktripz.com/rates/search/index
For airlines
travelok.com
vietJetair.com (Comprehensive list of budget airlines in Wikivoyage.)
For transport
https://www.grab.com/vn/en/

Language
Duolingo.com 
(Remember to click on the sound symbol to hear how words are pronounced.) 

Author

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer. Please share links to your favourite posts.

Absolute beginner guide to Vietnam

Problem
Where to start?

Answer
The country is in three sections, north, middle and south.

North and Hanoi
In the North is the capital, Hanoi.

South and Saigon
In the South is the alliterative Saigon. The city of Saigon was renamed Ho Chi Minh city after the hugely popular leader who fought to gain independence from the French.

Vietnamese names start with the surname, like Chinese names. So Ho is a common surname. As in Chinese, the personal or given names reflect good qualities. Chi means will. Minh means bright.

Language
The language is similar to Chinese, with some French and English vocabulary. Fortunately it is written in what looks like the Roman / Latin alphabet which we use in English. However, they add a few accents above, or below, (called diacritics) to help you with intonation and pronunciation. Like the French accents, your voice rises or falls or falls and rises again.

Months
The months of the year are simply the numbers one to twelve with the word month added.  So, if you learn the numbers one to twelve, you will also recognize the months of the year.

Photo in public domain from Wikipedia.

Ho Chi Minh
The major character to know is Ho Chi Minh. His mausoleum and adjacent museum are in Hanoi, featured on the two hop on hop off bus tours (red and blue) and maps of the city (from your hotel or a tour agency shop). Also see his statue in Ho Chi Minh city, named after him, other Communist countries and several other cities of the world.

Ho Chi Minh lived all over the world and changed his name several times. If you find the account of his life on Wikipedia too long and complicated, try simple wiki.

Hanoi and Halong Bay
From Hanoi a major day trip is to Halong Bay, which I recommend.

Start Learning the Language
Wikipedia gives an overview of the Vietnamese language.

Viet Nam (Add the pointed hat symbol, called the circumflex in French, above the e to show you that you pronounce the e.) 
Mo to, for motor  auto or car - the hats are added above both letters o show the oh pronounciation.

You can also learn Vietnamese on Duolingo. The pronunciation used is that or the north, Hanoi, according to the comments from people living in the USA and elsewhere who are learning Vietnamese to talk to their family in Vietnam.

Places To Visit
1 Hanoi - the capital, in the north. Many boutique hotels in the old quarter.
2 Side trips to Halong Bay.
3 Central region includes the coast and Crazy House, a museum cum hotel with only ten rooms and walls at all angles, like Gaudi's buildings in Barcelona.
4 Saigon, also called Ho Chi Minh city, in the south.
5 Major attraction is the Vietcong's Cu Chi tunnels.

Useful Websites
Travel Tips
For reviews
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ho_Chi_Minh_City#Museums_and_art_galleries
https://www.tripadvisor.com.sg/ShowUserReviews-g293925-d4542125-r195747380-A_O_Show_Lune_Production-Ho_Chi_Minh_City.html
For hotels
booking.com
Comparison site:
https://www.clicktripz.com/rates/search/index
For airlines
travelok.com
vietJetair.com (Comprehensive list of budget airlines in Wikivoyage.)
For transport
https://www.grab.com/vn/en/

Language
Duolingo.com 
(Remember to click on the sound symbol to hear how words are pronounced.) 

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer.
Please share links to your favourite posts. I have several more on Hanoi, Halong Bay and Vietnam.

Motorcycles, scooters and masks in Hanoi

Hanoi, capital city of Vietnam, city of scooters and motorcycles. A decade or two ago it was bicycles. What of the next decade? The guide on the bus to Halong Bay told us that by 2030, according to the government's transport vision, the scooters and motorbikes would be gone. Replaced by what? Electric cars? Driverless buses? Shared bicycles?

Street sweeper, wearing mask against fumes. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

Many motorcyclists wear masks, a few pedestrians wear masks.  (In Singapore people wearing masks mostly have colds and flu and the masks are to stop you sneezing over other people sitting beside you on the MRT train. Except in years when there is a haze during the land-clearing burning in Indonesia.) India has smog. So does Hong Kong. And China. Now I know Vietnam also has a haze.

The Vietnamese, like the Chinese, burn paper imitation money in little braziers in the street. It is hoped that the paper money will join the cremated ancestors to comfort them. Meanwhile, in Hanoi, I felt I was breathing in petrol fumes all the time. Eventually I developed a cold.

If you want to buy a mask in Hanoi, Vietnam's capital, you will see gauze masks for sale in the kerbside shops. For every problem, there is a solution, and a sale.

Travel Tips
For hotels
booking.com
For airlines
travelok.com
vietJetair.com

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please share links to your favourite posts.