Mundane travel thread

No sign of a barker encouraging you in.

I hope they have The X-Files on loop in there.

The second Talkback hiking challenge of the week I'm jealous of.

You wouldn't be jealous if your legs and feet ached as much as mine do right now. Walked 16 miles today, all of it on hard surfaces so it felt more like 26.

Booked flights for my winter vacation. 5 nights in Taipei followed by 9 nights in Thailand, end of Feb to mid March. I'm staying with friends in Taiwan but Thailand I'm on my own, going to do a day or two in Bangkok at each end of that leg but I'll take probably 5 days to head somewhere else in the country. I'm told it will be crazy hot so my original plan of a hiking trip probably isn't a great idea, any suggestions or recommendations?

I thought Bangkok was great (and cheap) and I can recommend Chiang Mai which is in the north (and even cheaper). It felt a bit more authentic Thailand up there and it’s also the place to go if you want to visit elephant sanctuaries and such like. The street markets in Chiang Mai are amazing.
Also heard Chiang Rai is worth a visit.

Conversely, we spent a few days down south in Phuket and didn’t like it at all. It was always horribly humid - way worse than summer in Manhattan - and all the ping pong bars are tacky as fuck. Would probably have loved it if I was 25 but it’s all a bit naff when you’re in your 50s.
I would guess that all of the other islands would be equally humid since they’re all in roughly the same vicinity.

Sorry Jim, but don't head north (and I love Chiang Mai). End of February to mid-March is burning season, the air is toxic. Although I'm heading to Chiang Mai a few weeks later at the start of April in the middle of the hot season, so I don't follow my own advice.

If you were thinking hiking more than beaches, heading south I'd aim for Khao Sok National Park. Fly to Krabi ,Surat Thani or Ranong from Bangkok (make sure you know which airport, international flights usually use BKK, domestic usually use DMK, but this depends on the airline, although some mix them up). To give you an idea, Trip Advisor

To fit a bit of beach in, you can then head to Railay at Ao Nang (made for tourists, just beaches and rock climbing - stay on Railay, Ao Nang is dull) near Krabi, or Ko Phayam (which very few tourists know about, no roads, a two hour boat ride from Ranong, might rain a lot, stay at Marina Resort, eat at Flower Power, little else to do but explore beaches. Or for regular tourism, head to Ko Samui, maybe hit up some early 20s girls at a full moon party on Ko Pha-Ngan.

If that doesn't sound like what you want, let me know.

Thank you, that definitely gives me some starting points. I'll do some investigation and get back to you with questions. Appreciate the expert knowledge.

Well with perfect timing wifey and I with another couple booked a ranch in the Zion National park area in Utah for a hiking holiday a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately the government might shut down which will close the parks which would be a bit of a bugger.

I guess we would be stuck in Vegas for Halloween so there is that I suppose.

Was thinking about popping over to Greenland for a short stint before the locals there hate Americans. (Lucky for me I have two passports)….

As for Asia, I wouldn’t mind visiting Taiwan but either the exception of Japan the weather killed me. Vietnam was a holiday that resulted in heat exhaustion and food poisoning and wifey ending up being married to a tribal chief in the jungle. It was a bit of a clusterfuck.

Chicago: Making plans like Nigel.

Ah. Yeah didn’t think of that, sorry. We were there in November and it was all good.
Basically ignore anything I said then!

A friend of mine is heading to the UK at some point, I don't know when, to go see a couple of Boyzone concerts. (No, I don't get it either, don't ask me.) One of them is at Coventry Arena, and the trains will have stopped running back to London by the time the concert is over. Any recommendations on where to stay and what to do in Coventry, other than leave at the first available opportunity?

Birmingham?

That's not even a joke.

That was my thinking, but she'd have to change at Coventry at 11:30 and then it's another hour to Brum. Might be safer for her to just have a hotel in Coventry.

I generally use Premier Inns for things like that. They aren't fancy but comfortable and clean and generally cheap (though maybe not if there's a big event on and lots of people have booked in). you don't need any hotel amenities just a comfy bed.

Edit; out of curiosity I googled and don't see any Boyzone dates other than Emirates next summer, but maybe your friend has insider info.

Apparently it's Take That, not Boyzone. Potato potahto.