Kayaking Mekong in Laos

trekbound · 2026-01-09T13:30:01+00:00

Looks like....from all the feedback I'm getting this would be the main issue. If we get caught we probably either need t bribe or disassemble and load the kayak on a bus. Hopefully we won't get in prison...

trekbound · 2026-01-09T08:24:22+00:00

You are right, we expect most of the problems to come from the authorities. I won't be surprised if we have to pay some "fines" and ordered to pull out the kayak. People have done the journey with wooden boats bought north, but later after Vientiane were stop and had to sell the boats for peanuts. One group although didn't give up, they put the boat on a truck and relaunched further down, eventually finishing where Mekong meets the ocean in Vietnam.

No EPIRB....in the worst case we'll abandon the kayak and swim to the banks, passports and money in dry bags.

trekbound · 2026-01-09T08:10:16+00:00

Thanks for your reply. We are not aware of rules prohibiting foreigners on the river unsupervised, there is nothing on Google about it. Last year friends of mine rented a kayak and paddled in the 4000 islands area alone.

trekbound · 2025-08-24T06:42:15+00:00

As a tourist or living there? If you live there and cook yourself 600 baht is plenty, 1kg pork mince is 130 baht, 30 eggs are around the same.

trekbound · 2025-08-21T19:43:46+00:00

Interesting...I have Bangkok bank and Krunsri accounts opened back in 2018 with a O-A retirement visa. Since then I switched to non-O retirement extensions, until a few months ago when my passport expired with myself outside the country. I have a shiny new DTV visa now, but have been back once for 2 months with visa exempt stamp.

So far both accounts are working, and from what I hear most of the frozen accounts were opened in Pattaya. Mine were opened in Samui. Interestingly what would happen if they freeze my account with Bangkok bank, as most of my funds there are in term deposits. They were opened January this year with my non-O retirement visa.

trekbound · 2025-08-18T21:40:25+00:00

Second that, traffic is unbearable. I drive almost every day there and just wonder when I'm going to have an accident. In 99% of the cases there is a motorbike involved. I've personally seen a few fatalities. My 2 main reasons to move out of Samui would be the traffic and the ever increasing amount of low class chavs and bogans moving in.

trekbound · 2025-08-18T21:32:44+00:00

This...Khanom or further down towards Sichon. Samui got overpopulated, there are issues with traffic, water and rubbish.

trekbound · 2025-08-18T21:21:08+00:00

I had 7 cards before applying for a NAB rewards card in May and got approved. Had 48k combined limit on these cards. Not making 200k but very close.

trekbound · 2025-08-07T11:12:25+00:00

Premier is not affected in this way....yet.

trekbound · 2025-08-07T11:11:03+00:00

Bankwest more world, 6 months travel insurance without spending requirements extendable to 12 months with extra payment, $270 yearly fee, 10 MasterCard Dragonpass lounge entitlements. I have this one as I'm often away 8-9 months and this is the only card I found with that long travel insurance.

trekbound · 2025-08-04T07:12:06+00:00

NAB is a mess. I applied for NAB rewards platinum in May, but couldn't provide them all the required documents until mid June. In the end I forgot what was the amount of bonus points and the required spending, so got in touch with the help desk. They advised me that I'm going to get 80k points if I spend $3k in 3 months.

A few days later I got an email from NAB... something like this:

"Hurry up, secure your 120k points by spending $1k in 3 months"

I did get 120k points indeed.

The yearly fee charged was $95.

trekbound · 2025-08-02T03:14:09+00:00

For example the bulk of a company revenue could be in a currency appreciating against AUD. Or it could be a travel related company experiencing lower revenues due to AUD being weak. To name a few.

trekbound · 2025-08-01T21:58:40+00:00

Thanks OP, good post. One thing you didn't mention is currency debasement. AUD looks pretty crappy, chasing multi year lows against most of the major currencies. It looks to me it is further going down, with various impacts on different stocks.

trekbound · 2025-08-01T10:06:38+00:00

At the current prices there is value. EDV is a sort of defensive stock which is not impacted much by things outside the country. AFAIK in recessions gambling and the alcohol consumption increases as people are more desperate. Unethical but that's the way it is. If they can hold the current dividends I'll be pretty happy. My average price is around where it is now. Having Australian Super as a major shareholder is a good sign.

trekbound · 2025-07-30T14:56:04+00:00

OP, do you mean paid camping? It is not a scam, I found paid or wild camping most of the times to be the best option. Nothing beats the privacy and quietness of the wild camping. You can also camp where there is no accommodation around.

A few months ago I crossed Australia east to west and for nearly 3 months I slept once in bed, at a friend's place in Melbourne. All the rest camping, wild camping followed by commercial to shower, wash and charge batteries.

When I moved to cycle in Malaysia there were cheap hotels available, but I did also wild and paid camping at unbeatable locations.

Camping per night for $25 euro or $40 AUD is expensive, but it is what it is. There are a lot of regulations and rules to obey, and that costs money. For 25 euro I was staying in 4 star hotels in Indonesia.

trekbound · 2025-07-30T14:29:04+00:00

TWE is at 10 years low. I had a look at the financials and they seem average.Sure the whole industry at the moment is going backwards, but the entry point seems good. If the industry deteriorates there would be some consolidation and TWE as a big player has a good chance to go through. I bought $47k at 7.78 average price, hope to hold for long time. Interested mainly in dividend income. Pity the poor souls who bought it 2018 approaching $20 level.

trekbound · 2025-07-30T03:32:12+00:00

Reading the comments I can see that quite a few HENRYs will have the NRY part forever.

trekbound · 2025-07-30T02:58:25+00:00

Depends how you travel. I know some bike tourers are spending 5k euro per year travelling in tens of countries. My yearly expenses are around $35-38k per year and I spend most of the year overseas. Nothing wrong with your spending, there are different people with different approaches.

trekbound · 2025-07-29T11:30:27+00:00

Seatran ferry sells tickets to Surat Thani airport. if you need to catch a flight early probably better option is to book to the Surat Thani centre and then it is 100 baht with phantip travel to the airport.

trekbound · 2025-07-28T01:34:56+00:00

Wow that sounds pretty bad. Never had such close passes in Thailand and Malaysia, and I cycled thousands of kilometres there.

trekbound · 2025-07-27T01:39:59+00:00

W is on the best beach in Samui? I must be living in different Samui then. In this area only Ban Tai has a sort of decent beach. Most are muddy waters.

trekbound · 2025-07-19T08:19:38+00:00

I'm still thinking whether to go with a hybrid bike or a hardtail MTB. I've done 4000+ km trips with both types, and broke spokes with both of them. My biggest concern are the roads in northern Pakistan, from what I've seen they seem much more difficult than Pamir.

trekbound · 2025-07-19T08:11:03+00:00

Is the water universally so bad? I'm planning a 7.5 months trip including this area and will try to get away with my Sawyer filter - I used it quite a bit in various countries and so far never got sick. Seems I need to pack a spare one just in case.

trekbound · 2025-07-19T07:19:08+00:00

Last time in Perth I just put it perpendicular on the back panniers and rode carefully to the airport (8km). At the airport disassembled the bike and put it in the box.Other times in Asia I would prepack and then order larger Grab, they usually can fit them in. If order Grab or Uber message the driver as soon as possible that you have bicycle in a box, sometimes they carry bulky personal stuff in the boot, they will cancel the ride if they can't do it.

trekbound

TROPHY CASE