Just spent a lovely weekend in what I believe to be Asia’s most romantic city. The name translates as “peaceful meeting place”. Hội An started as a trading port in about 1595. The city became the most important trade port on the East Vietnam Sea during the 16th and 17th centuries. It declined in the 18th century and was almost untouched for almost 200 years. In 1999 the old town was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. It has become more and more popular. Last year, six million people visited the city which has…
Vietnam
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Booked my first A350 flight with Thai Airways Royal Silk [updated]
UPDATE: December 2016: Sadly, due to issues with Thailand’s air safety authority, Thai has not been given permission to deploy A350s on Australian flights. So I am on a 777 instead. Still looking forward to the flight. I am very excited to have booked a seat on Thai’s new Airbus A350-900 Royal Silk Business Class product from Bangkok, Thailand to Melbourne, Australia later this year! Thanks to the last Avianca deal which gave me a 125% bonus on purchased miles! I was able to use these miles to get a seat at a very good price with Thai…
TAM’s new Airbus 350
Brazil’s TAM air has welcomed the first of their 27 beautiful Airbus 350 XWBs. This follows Qatar’s receipt of the 350 in January, followed by Vietnam Airlines and Finnair. The 348 seat TAM plane has a two class layout: ‘Premium Business’ cabin with 30 forward-facing business class seats arranged 2-2-2. All seats convert into fully-flat beds and have a personal 15.4 inch HD video screens 318 seats are crammed into the Economy in a 3/3/3 layout admittedly with an 18″ seat width Their A350 has the same seats and cabin design as sister carrier LAN’s…
Trip Report: Vietnam’s Reunification Express
Ho Chi Minh City to Da Nang, Vietnam Reunification Express Train SE2 Departure: 7pm Arrival: 1140am the next day Booking: 8 out of 10 Thanks to the amazing Man at Seat 61 (see yesterday’s blog), we learnt that booking train tickets in Vietnam is not straight forward. Mark Smith (the man) has a whole section on the site dedicated to navigating the Vietnamese railway system. Thanks Mark. We tried to book through VietnamImpressive and despite two attempts never heard from them. We then went to Vietnam-Railway.com. Note this company is not an official arm of the Vietnamese Railways or linked to…
48 hours+ Malaysia Airlines statement
Malaysia Airlines issued their ninth media statement an hour ago noting: It has been more than 48 hours since we lost contact with our flight MH370 from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. Key points: Malaysia Airlines is cooperating with the search and rescue authorities coordinated by the Department of Civil Aviation Malaysia (DCA). Search and rescue teams from Australia, China, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, Philippines and the United States of America are involved Malaysia Airlines’ has been providing family members with timely information, travel facilities, accommodation, meals, medical and emotional support and financial assistance Each family has been assigned…
Sun rises on a new day in Malaysia
Sunrise this morning in Malaysia is at 0722am local time today. With the sun rise comes a bewildering lack of answers as to how one of the world’s safest aeroplanes flown by a five star airline suddenly vanished off radar screens on a routine flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.The weather was clear with no warnings. The signs point to a catastrophic event for Malaysia Airlines MH 370. If there had been a mechanical failure, the pilot should have been able to radio for help. Did the plane suddenly break up and/or went into a very steep dive, similar to…
Oil slicks indicate possible crash site
Vietnamese search planes have spotted two oil slicks in the crash site area, 140 kilometres (90miles) south of Tho Chu island off Southern Vietnam. The two oil slicks were each 10-15 kilometers long (six to ten miles) and about 500 meters apart. These could be from the jet engines. Ships have been sent to the site and we will wait for further information as soon as it comes to hand. Malaysia Airlines had said the air search would be called off until Sunday morning local time. Relatives of MH370 victims are still waiting for the…
No sign of MAS370 [updated]
Malaysian naval vessels have found no immediate signs of wreckage in the maritime area off the country’s northeast coast where the missing Malaysia Airlines MAS 370 last made contact. “Our aircraft spotted an orange speck in the sea where the last signal came from. We sent a vessel to search the area and it was confirmed that it was nothing,” an official was reported. Admiral Ngo Van Phat from Vietnam has denied earlier reports in Vietnamese state media quoting him as saying the plane had actually crashed. His recent statement suggested the plane “could have”…
Vietnamese Navy says MH370 HAS crashed into ocean
Tuoi Tre (“Youth News), a main daily Vietnamese newspaper has reported that the Vietnamese Navy has confirmed that the missing Malaysian Airways 777 crashed into the ocean. Navy Admiral Ngo Van Phat, Commander of the Region 5, military radar recorded that the plane crashed into the sea at a location 251kilometers (153 nautical miles) South of Phu Quoc island in Malaysian territorial waters. If there are any survivors, then they need to be rescued now as every hour in the ocean reduces their chances. The Malaysian Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein has not been able to confirm…
The search for MH370 [updated]
The Search and Rescue effort for Malaysian MH370 involves: Malasyia Airlines Malasyian Department of Civil Aviation Royal Malaysian Air Force and the Royal Malaysian Navy Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency, Butterworth-based Intergrated Area Defence System Headquarters the Hawaii-based United States Pacific Command. two Chinese maritime rescue ships are being sent to aid rescuers searching work for missing Malaysia Airlines 777. agencies from Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines The mission involves maritime patrol aircraft, fighter jets, frigates, submarines and fishing vessels. “The plane lost contact near Ca Mau province airspace as it was preparing to transfer to Ho Chi Minh City air traffic…
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