Per Magica Ad Astra

 Owdue again Day 4 of the Viet Nam Travelog and off to Hue from Da Nang. A route that took us along the coast then over the Hai Van Pass once described by Jeremy Clarkson as   "A deserted ribbon of perfection—one of the best coast roads in the world." Quite an accolade considering he was riding a scooter at the time, not exactly his favourite mode of travel it seems. In Hue we stayed at my favourite hotel the Scarlett Boutique Hotel, took a boat along the Perfume river to the pagoda and the Imperial city and finished the day with food and drink ant the DMZ bar. I've added some route animation to this one using mappi-studio. Let me know what you think and oh. If you watch it on YouTube a thumbs up and like on there and maybe even consider following my channel would be nice.

 The fireworks are over and after the explosive experience and the wine, a good sleep in preparation for a really great day was in order. Day 3 was a trip we had booked to Ba Na Hills and the Golden Bridge. You may have seen the Golden bridge on many promo adverts for Vietnam, it's the one with the hands. Pin has been wanting to go there for a while but her planned trips got the cop unfortunately. This time she got her wish. To be honest I hadn't researched this really so I wasn't particularly impressed that a trip to a bridge with concrete hands would be much of a trip. How wrong can you be! What a fantastic afternoon, what a great venue!!! Do I plan going back? Yup, sure do.

 At last, after a lot of censor induced cutting room floor contribution, the performance of the 2nd finalist, China, at the Da Nang International Fireworks Festival Unfortunately one of the pieces of music used in the show has a global ban on it so YouTube wouldn't let me show the whole video. The only way round this was to edit out the offending piece, a bit of a shame but there it is.  For info, DIFF is an annual competition held each weekend around the May, June, July period. I liked this performance the best because I felt the synchronisation of pyrotechnics and music was great, the judges did not agree but what do they know😁  It is a very popular event and this year I was only able to get a "room with a partial view" from a hotel right opposite the main stage and grandstand (I was too late to get tickets from the hotels rooftop viewing area or the actual grandstands themselves). This presented me with some problems; The room I had did not give an unobstructed view o...

 This is the performance of the 2nd finalist, China, at the Da Nang International Fireworks Festival. DIFF is an annual competition held each weekend around the May, June, July period. I liked this performance the best because I felt the synchronisation of pyrotechnics and music was great, the judges did not agree but what do they know😁  It is a very popular event and this year I was only able to get a "room with a partial view" from a hotel right opposite the main stage and grandstand (I was too late to get tickets from the hotels rooftop viewing area or the actual grandstands themselves). This presented me with some problems; The room I had did not give an unobstructed view of the total display. Rain drop residue was on the window I had to shoot from. Reflections had to be avoided. Conversations in the room (I was there with my wife) had to be removed. Getting rid of my phone bleeps however could not be done, lesson learned. Fortunately my #dji Pocket 4P performed well and...

 The Da Nang International Fireworks Festival, DIFF is an annual competition held each weekend around the May, June, July period. Schedule and event details can be found at the official website https://diff.vn/en/ It is a very popular event and this year I was only able to get a "room with a partial view" from a hotel right opposite the main stage and grandstand (I was too late to get tickets from the hotels rooftop viewing area or the actual grandstands themselves). This presented me with some problems; The room I had did not give an unobstructed view of the total display. Rain drop residue was on the window I had to shoot from. Reflections had to be avoided. Conversations in the room (I was there with my wife) had to be removed. Fortunately my #dji Pocket 4P performed well and my editing suite, #Filmora 15 cleaned the video and sound pretty well. This is a 20 minute full Version The highlight 1 minute version is on the channel as well, same title but with "highlight...

 The Da Nang International Fireworks Festival, DIFF is an annual competition held each weekend around the May, June, July period. Schedule and event details can be found at the official website https://diff.vn/en/ It is a very popular event and this year I was only able to get a "room with a partial view" from a hotel right opposite the main stage and grandstand (I was too late to get tickets from the hotels rooftop viewing area or the actual grandstands themselves). This presented me with some problems; The room I had did not give an unobstructed view of the total display. Rain drop residue was on the window I had to shoot from. Reflections had to be avoided. Conversations in the room (I was there with my wife) had to be removed. Fortunately my #dji Pocket 4P performed well and my editing suite, #Filmora 15 cleaned the video and sound pretty well. This is a 1 minute highlight generated by Filmora 15 The full 20 minute version is on the channel as well, same title but without...

 Owdue all Day 2 of the Viet Nam travelog and in the morning and to fit in with our schedule based around the final of the Da Nang International Firework Festival (DIFF) (which by the way meant there were many tourists and visitors everywhere we went) we took a tour to the Lady Buddha and Marble Mountain. The tour was booked via Get Your Guide. Maybe too much of me talking and not enough action but it is what it is. After the tour, dinner in a seafood restaurant before back to the hotel for the fireworks.

 Remember when you had a friend as a kid and their parents were either well off or movie mad and instead of having to look at the photo album you ended up watching a home movie of them on holiday.? Well this is a bit like that only I'm not well off, it's just the tech is more affordable now. So on the first out of country holiday together for 10 years I took my new tech on a learning trip and we went to Viet Nam. This is a look at Day 1, sitting on aircraft, sitting in airports and a wander for food and drink. The tech? DJI Pocket 4P and Samsung S22 ultra.

 Are you old enough to remember when you went round to a friends or even worse a relatives house after they had been on holiday and out came the photo album. What followed was an eternity of them pointing out memories to relive😧. Well all that is in the past as with the click of a link it's possible to bore a whole global audience... However, Vietnam is a fantastic place to visit and in a week we packed in some incredible activities so if some of the snaps make you think of going... Just wait till the videos get posted😂

 Owdue I am not one of those people that know instantly the ins and outs of the tech I buy, in fact if anything I am guilty of just jumping in and then wondering why the result is far from what I expected. I want to try and correct that to some degree so before I take the next travel adventure I have scheduled I am on familiarisation time with the DJI Pocket 4P. I have to say I rather like this camera, I know there are lots of comparisons between this and its major competitor but at the end of the day, availability and price is why I plumped for this one. Its availability is also the reason I didn't go got the Vlog combo. This is my very first attempt out "in the field". It was on the 4th of July and CK TIKII were having  a bit of a bash and one attraction was the food choice included hot dogs. There are not too many places that I frequent in Chiang Mai that do decent hot dogs. How did my first try go? Pretty good. the camera is easy to operate I need to study the focus a...

Here I am again sampling food and service. I am in Chiang Mai and I strolled to the Causeway Irish Pub where I had a pint of Guinness and a new to me dish, a Dublin Spice Bag. Very nice it was to be sure.

 Owdue June has been and gone. The rabbit and tortoises are still eating everything in sight including the now ripening avocados should they fall from the tree. Still planning an escape and still trying to climb the steps to sneak into the house. I've been out and about with rides on the Burg plus walks, some into the city ,some out in the rural area around home. You do sweat a lot in the tropics so one or two of my walks include hydration stops at CK TIKI, Happy Drink, MOMENT & WINE Hideaway and of course the Red Lion Pub Chiang Mai where not only do I enjoy a drink and good company but some terrific food. Mind you good food is not restricted to the Red Lion and as well as there this months delights included the Spices curry set and the incredible buffer at Auf Auf der Au Garden. All this and a couple of birthday to celebrate. Its a hard life...

 For some time now I have been trying to solve why my Innovv C5 camera mounted on my Burgman does or doesn't record. Taking a ride to a wonderful spot I tried a belt and braces approach. the approach worked, I wan not left with my trousers down by my ankles😂. OK the video is of me riding  so it isn't for many, but I was so happy to have got it recorded reliably I just had to post it... PS the AI declaration is for my devil look at the end.

 Chiang Mai's Pride of Peace event continue and here is a snippet of the Wonderful girls on stage in their finery at Pantip Lifestyle Hub giving us a twirl.

 Owdue Continuing the rainy season features😂 Another day in the life here in Chiang Mai and it's rainy season. On many a rainy season days it is a hot and sunny day with beautiful blue skies. Then, before you know it the clouds crash in and the heavens opened. Any so it was yesterday whilst I enjoyed a curry with my friend Charlie. Having eaten I needed the loo and whilst I went the rain conned me into thinking it was easing... So I set the phone to video... Instagram often refuses to post my UHD videos so here is a screenshot from the video which you can see by following the link to my YouTube channel here.

  Owdue. Been trying to become a little better at the on bike videos. Ideally I would like to be able to only incorporate a bit of the ride to give the feel of the ride and significant events. But in this case there weren't any epic clips, just the Thai countryside flashing by so fast you cant see it. That's cos of the 200fps timelapse which this has taught me may be a little too quick. The INNOVV still didn't record the return, no idea why, am investigating further. And you can see it here;

 Owdue The end of May 2026 and the air is clean and the countryside is so lush. One of my favourite places is Huai Mao On and with a Burg trip there, and back there was a walk. 

 Owdue Blimey, June, May 2026 has gone but it will not be forgotten as our Satang rose to doggie heaven to join Moohan. So June will bring a new phase to our lives here and the slideshow closes an era. Instagram wouldn't upload it but the slideshow is on YouTube here ;

 Owdue As the month of May creeps towards a close and the rainy season has made things lush and green it was time to hop on the Burg and take a stroll in another of the areas my friend William Carroll introduced me to. In all the excitement I forgot to take any water which was a mistake. I also didn't take a brolly and for a splat of 10 minutes a very localised shower his exactly my spot. It adds to the fun. I felt so good that I rewarded myself with a glass of Red at Moment and Wine before home to dinner. I've spliced the #relive together in HD, this one isn't on YouTube as I plan a fuller version later because I know you love the sound of my voice🤭 Here's a link to it on Google photos https://photos.app.goo.gl/9fJSmtYJXpMAbsrq6 

 Owdue You may have seen if you subscribe to my channel that I did a recce at Father's Reservoir Mae Takhrai. I also attempted to timelapse video the ride there and back. Unfortunately my Innovv video can be a but temperamental and sometimes goes on strike. So I only got the ride  back, bit if a shame, the look is nice with lovely scenery. Still if only of interests to bikers around Chiang Mai,. here it is.