{"id":203,"date":"2025-01-28T11:55:04","date_gmt":"2025-01-28T10:55:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/travel.thatmanmatt.com\/?p=203"},"modified":"2025-01-28T11:59:04","modified_gmt":"2025-01-28T10:59:04","slug":"day-9-atms-and-awps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/travel.thatmanmatt.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/28\/day-9-atms-and-awps\/","title":{"rendered":"Day 9: ATMs and AWPs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">I want money\u2026 that\u2019s what I want<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yes. I just need to get some cash. ATMs are plentiful, but none wish to serve me, apparently. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Actually it seems a lot of them are already empty as people have withdrawn money for the holidays; banks will be closed for several days. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">My new-found kangaroo-land buddies Julian and Holly said that <em>TPBank<\/em> doesn\u2019t charge transaction fees (usually 4%) so I found the only one in town but it was empty. However, a couple on a moped said that <em>VPBank <\/em>also doesn\u2019t charge fees, so a quick trot down the street and huzzah, I gots monies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">(Notwithstanding the fact that the machines always dispense high-value notes \u2013 500K \u2013 that small businesses will choke on).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Abandoned Water Park<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Something of a different \u201ctourist attraction\u201d, <strong><br \/>H\u1ed3 Th\u1ee7y Ti\u00ean<\/strong>&nbsp;(<em>Daffodil Lake<\/em>) was opened in 2004 and closed in, uh, 2004. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s now a place where people like me come to gawp at the tumbledown structures and water slides. You can read the details on <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/H%E1%BB%93_Th%E1%BB%A7y_Ti%C3%AAn?wprov=sfti1#\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Wikipedia<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I\u2019m a sucker for this kind of stuff so I spent a fun couple of hours poking around the dragon feature and walking around the lake. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"577\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/travel.thatmanmatt.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/img_2777-577x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-202\" srcset=\"https:\/\/travel.thatmanmatt.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/img_2777-577x1024.jpg 577w, https:\/\/travel.thatmanmatt.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/img_2777-169x300.jpg 169w, https:\/\/travel.thatmanmatt.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/img_2777-768x1364.jpg 768w, https:\/\/travel.thatmanmatt.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/img_2777-865x1536.jpg 865w, https:\/\/travel.thatmanmatt.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/img_2777.jpg 1126w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 577px) 100vw, 577px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A deathly slippery walkway to the dragon water fountain.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Honestly, how nobody killed themselves here either while it was operating or since, I don\u2019t know. The paving is a death trap, the steps inside are smooth concrete (and when operational, slick with water) and handrails few and far between (I assume there were some in the past). Fortunately the rough-hewn rock that the dragon sits amongst is, underneath, spray-painted polystyrene, that squeaky, beady stuff that gets absolutely everywhere and will never degrade. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Galleries<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I got round to downloading pictures from my Canon camera (no thanks to the Canon Camera Connect app, which fails spectacularly at its primary function, <em>Connecting<\/em> to my <em>Canon Camera<\/em>). <a href=\"https:\/\/travel.thatmanmatt.com\/index.php\/tag\/photo-gallery\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">So now I uploaded some nice (but deeply overcast) pictures from the last few days.<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"pvc_clear\"><\/div><p id=\"pvc_stats_203\" class=\"pvc_stats total_only  \" data-element-id=\"203\" style=\"\"><i class=\"pvc-stats-icon medium\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><svg aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\" data-prefix=\"far\" data-icon=\"chart-bar\" role=\"img\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 512 512\" class=\"svg-inline--fa fa-chart-bar fa-w-16 fa-2x\"><path fill=\"currentColor\" d=\"M396.8 352h22.4c6.4 0 12.8-6.4 12.8-12.8V108.8c0-6.4-6.4-12.8-12.8-12.8h-22.4c-6.4 0-12.8 6.4-12.8 12.8v230.4c0 6.4 6.4 12.8 12.8 12.8zm-192 0h22.4c6.4 0 12.8-6.4 12.8-12.8V140.8c0-6.4-6.4-12.8-12.8-12.8h-22.4c-6.4 0-12.8 6.4-12.8 12.8v198.4c0 6.4 6.4 12.8 12.8 12.8zm96 0h22.4c6.4 0 12.8-6.4 12.8-12.8V204.8c0-6.4-6.4-12.8-12.8-12.8h-22.4c-6.4 0-12.8 6.4-12.8 12.8v134.4c0 6.4 6.4 12.8 12.8 12.8zM496 400H48V80c0-8.84-7.16-16-16-16H16C7.16 64 0 71.16 0 80v336c0 17.67 14.33 32 32 32h464c8.84 0 16-7.16 16-16v-16c0-8.84-7.16-16-16-16zm-387.2-48h22.4c6.4 0 12.8-6.4 12.8-12.8v-70.4c0-6.4-6.4-12.8-12.8-12.8h-22.4c-6.4 0-12.8 6.4-12.8 12.8v70.4c0 6.4 6.4 12.8 12.8 12.8z\" class=\"\"><\/path><\/svg><\/i> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"16\" height=\"16\" alt=\"Loading\" src=\"https:\/\/travel.thatmanmatt.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/page-views-count\/ajax-loader-2x.gif\" border=0 \/><\/p><div class=\"pvc_clear\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I want money\u2026 that\u2019s what I want Yes. I just need to get some cash. ATMs are plentiful, but none wish to serve me, apparently. Actually it seems a lot of them are already empty as people have withdrawn money for the holidays; banks will be closed for several days. My new-found kangaroo-land buddies Julian [&hellip;]<\/p>\n<div class=\"pvc_clear\"><\/div>\n<p id=\"pvc_stats_203\" class=\"pvc_stats total_only  \" data-element-id=\"203\" style=\"\"><i class=\"pvc-stats-icon medium\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><svg aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\" data-prefix=\"far\" data-icon=\"chart-bar\" role=\"img\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 512 512\" class=\"svg-inline--fa fa-chart-bar fa-w-16 fa-2x\"><path fill=\"currentColor\" d=\"M396.8 352h22.4c6.4 0 12.8-6.4 12.8-12.8V108.8c0-6.4-6.4-12.8-12.8-12.8h-22.4c-6.4 0-12.8 6.4-12.8 12.8v230.4c0 6.4 6.4 12.8 12.8 12.8zm-192 0h22.4c6.4 0 12.8-6.4 12.8-12.8V140.8c0-6.4-6.4-12.8-12.8-12.8h-22.4c-6.4 0-12.8 6.4-12.8 12.8v198.4c0 6.4 6.4 12.8 12.8 12.8zm96 0h22.4c6.4 0 12.8-6.4 12.8-12.8V204.8c0-6.4-6.4-12.8-12.8-12.8h-22.4c-6.4 0-12.8 6.4-12.8 12.8v134.4c0 6.4 6.4 12.8 12.8 12.8zM496 400H48V80c0-8.84-7.16-16-16-16H16C7.16 64 0 71.16 0 80v336c0 17.67 14.33 32 32 32h464c8.84 0 16-7.16 16-16v-16c0-8.84-7.16-16-16-16zm-387.2-48h22.4c6.4 0 12.8-6.4 12.8-12.8v-70.4c0-6.4-6.4-12.8-12.8-12.8h-22.4c-6.4 0-12.8 6.4-12.8 12.8v70.4c0 6.4 6.4 12.8 12.8 12.8z\" class=\"\"><\/path><\/svg><\/i> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"16\" height=\"16\" alt=\"Loading\" src=\"https:\/\/travel.thatmanmatt.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/page-views-count\/ajax-loader-2x.gif\" border=0 \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"pvc_clear\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0","_share_on_mastodon_status":"%title% %permalink%"},"categories":[5,6,1],"tags":[15],"class_list":["post-203","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-asia","category-vietnam","category-world","tag-diary"],"a3_pvc":{"activated":true,"total_views":11,"today_views":0},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/toottoot.eu\/@thatmanmatt\/113905627647826861","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/travel.thatmanmatt.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/travel.thatmanmatt.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/travel.thatmanmatt.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/travel.thatmanmatt.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/travel.thatmanmatt.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=203"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/travel.thatmanmatt.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":205,"href":"https:\/\/travel.thatmanmatt.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203\/revisions\/205"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/travel.thatmanmatt.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=203"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/travel.thatmanmatt.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=203"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/travel.thatmanmatt.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}