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The difference was that I had a hosted walking tour and found that the city is quite tightly packed and convenient. Very British and not half bad.

Not as clean as expected – plenty of litter on the streets.

Just walk along the street here and be accosted by oh about 100 sleazy looking illegal street vendors all offering to sell the same fake watches. Turn around and walk back up the same street, same vendors will try to sell the same things to you AGAIN.

Fabulous.

When travelling in Phuket either rent a car or catch a ride on the trucks that carry lots of people at a time.

Taxis will not use their meters and will try to charge you per person rates.

Also the Jetski rates are overpriced and they won’t negotiate – preferring to sit on the beach day after day with not one jetski actually being used. Sharp business people they are not.

Don’t ask the price of anything you want to buy – offer a price for it. If you are looking at a shirt then offer 1 US dime. It you are buying shoes then offer 1 US dime. If you are buying a house … offer 1 US dime. They will counter with the same opening price for everything – USD$1 million. From there you can negotiate to some sort of middle ground.

Always remember – whatever “great” price you get something for – someone else got it cheaper. Hang in there and negotiate the price right down.

Plenty of sun and surf but pretty dull city otherwise. Lived there 7 years and one lousy sentence is all I can think up to describe it.

Only there for a couple of days. That was enough for me. A big empty city with nothing to recommend it. Not at all lively.

Casino is gigantic but don’t go there. Waste of money.

Not much to recommend it. Rather empty city that seems to close around 1800. Driving from the airport to the city centre at 1100 on a Tuesday morning was traffic free. I thought the city was deserted or there had been a plague.

Opera house is nice and the Harbour bridge climb worth the (high) cost.

Friend teaching English let me stay with him for 2 months. Too far from Tokyo.

Nice little University town, lived there for 1.5 years but too damned cold in the winter.

I have returned from Niseko and here is my story

I have returned from Niseko and here is my story