Thread: From Laos to Turkey - A Christmas story :)

Originally Posted by Simon43

The mobile internet connection was shite today

Do they have 5G yet?

Originally Posted by beerlaodrinker

Yeah. And where are the pesky vendors selling you beer and prawns and and all kinds of shit. No . Were not having it. Go find a better beach to post up a pic. For fucks sake

Wait, I'll go down to the beach where the druggies hang out - sure to get some good photos as they beat the shit out of me.....

Topper, yes 5G in shopping centres, major locations etc.

Originally Posted by Simon43

Topper, yes 5G in shopping centres, major locations etc.

Well, scout out a place where you can do classes using a 5g connection for your classes, if you can.

Originally Posted by Simon43

Katie, I know what you mean by island fever. But to be honest, my latest bout of lung issues from the chilly weather in Turkey hit me hard. It's not lack of breath like asthma, just uncontrollable coughing and a huge physical tiredness (it's not Covid! I had a negative result before and after my recent flight). So right now, I just want to find somewhere to relax and gather my strength again

Anyway, I'll see what happens tomorrow...

I understand. As I've said before, your lung health is important. Island fever may sound a bit weird coming from me (since I live in an archipelago), but then I live in Luzon which is the biggest island & where the capital is. As I've said, it's just me. (It's not you, it's me. Lol)

In your case, I guess if you feel island fever setting in, you can easily hop on a flight to Reunion, Madagascar or mainland Africa.

Best of luck with getting the necessities done. Btw did you bring Candy along? If yes, will she have a place of honour in your new digs? Cheers.

Originally Posted by Simon43

Well, I've rented a nice house with a swimming pool and garden, plus it has a flat roof for my various antennas (tie them down well when the cyclones hit!). 5 minutes from several modern shopping centres, 10 minutes from a beautiful beach. So far, so good!

Does it have a fiber connection already?

Originally Posted by Topper

Does it have a fiber connection already?

Yes, but I need to upgrade it, 100Mbps down, 50 up for about $38 USD per month. The owner will do this later this week. I also did a speedtest.net check on the mobile connectivity and it is good, 20 down 10 up, (because the house is not in a heavily-populated area). So I should be good to go!

Excellent news and congratulations Simon, looks like you did your homework well! one of my mates is from Mauritius and he is always raving about how nice it is there. Seems like it has been fairly well run for some years now and as you have stated, everything seems to have been done to ease an expats transition and not hinder it.

Not meaning to damper your new found haven of easy living but Mauritius is pushing for a UN ruling on the ownership of The Chagos Islands after it's success over stamps!

'Stamps issued by the British Indian Ocean Territory could soon be rendered invalid after the United Nations’ Universal Postal Union (UPU) council recommended they no longer be recognised, in the latest step rejecting the UK’s claim to the Chagos Islands.'

UN favours Mauritian control over Chagos Islands by rejecting UK stamps | Chagos Islands | The Guardian

This is just the beginning and I think you can guess who is behind all of this!

Normally I would not bring politics into such a joyous occasion but seeing as it has been mentioned already, I deemed it to be relevant.

Looking forward to all the pictures and experiences I am sure you will bestow upon us in the coming months! I love hiking so had to have a quick nose and it looks like there are some nice little adventures to be had.

Google Maps

Originally Posted by Bonecollector

Excellent news and congratulations Simon, looks like you did your homework well! one of my mates is from Mauritius and he is always raving about how nice it is there. Seems like it has been fairly well run for some years now and as you have stated, everything seems to have been done to ease an expats transition and not hinder it.

Not meaning to damper your new found haven of easy living but Mauritius is pushing for a UN ruling on the ownership of The Chagos Islands after it's success over stamps!

'Stamps issued by the British Indian Ocean Territory could soon be rendered invalid after the United Nations’ Universal Postal Union (UPU) council recommended they no longer be recognised, in the latest step rejecting the UK’s claim to the Chagos Islands.'

UN favours Mauritian control over Chagos Islands by rejecting UK stamps | Chagos Islands | The Guardian

This is just the beginning and I think you can guess who is behind all of this!

Normally I would not bring politics into such a joyous occasion but seeing as it has been mentioned already, I deemed it to be relevant.

Looking forward to all the pictures and experiences I am sure you will bestow upon us in the coming months! I love hiking so had to have a quick nose and it looks like there are some nice little adventures to be had.

Google Maps

Oh, I'm well aware of the issues and history of the Chagos Islands. As to who is pushing Mauritius on this, it's much more likely to be India than China, since India is discretely developing a military base on Agelega, one of the outer islands of Mauritius. There's an interesting YouTube video about this.

I went for a jog early this morning on the nearby beach, then for a swim. Not a soul to be seen on a beach that's as long as Nai Yang beach in Phuket. There are police cameras all along the beach walks to make sure that tourists are safe from muggers and .. er .. sexy hookers plying their trade (dam!). The cleaning ladies were all out tidying up the fallen leaves. Seems good so far. After jogging, I felt like I needed an ambulance, such is the weakened state of my lungs. But I recovered and know from experience that if I push myself to jog and walk, then my lungs will get much better. I start teaching at 11am, so have plenty of early morning time to go to the beach

Originally Posted by Simon43

Oh, I'm well aware of the issues and history of the Chagos Islands. As to who is pushing Mauritius on this, it's much more likely to be India than China, since India is discretely developing a military base on Agelega, one of the outer islands of Mauritius. There's an interesting YouTube video about this.

I went for a jog early this morning on the nearby beach, then for a swim. Not a soul to be seen on a beach that's as long as Nai Yang beach in Phuket. There are police cameras all along the beach walks to make sure that tourists are safe from muggers and .. er .. sexy hookers plying their trade (dam!). The cleaning ladies were all out tidying up the fallen leaves. Seems good so far. After jogging, I felt like I needed an ambulance, such is the weakened state of my lungs. But I recovered and know from experience that if I push myself to jog and walk, then my lungs will get much better. I start teaching at 11am, so have plenty of early morning time to go to the beach

Sounds like you have it made and like I said made the right decision. I also have this weird affliction which is non-existent in warm weather but a nightmare in the cold, so I know how you feel. Hope you recover quickly so you can really start to enjoy your new found paradise. What a find and please make sure you do some hiking for me!

PS. I will look into India being a player in all of this as I hadn't heard it mentioned/ written before. The UN, much like the WHO, is a joke now!

did you get a MCB account setup ?

there has been stories in the news about Mauritius introducing laws to make it a crypto friendly island , but I have not seen a real way to exchange there yet

quite a few white south africans moved there to escape

Originally Posted by baldrick

did you get a MCB account setup ?

there has been stories in the news about Mauritius introducing laws to make it a crypto friendly island , but I have not seen a real way to exchange there yet

quite a few white south africans moved there to escape

Not yet, I have to wait to get a letter for the bank from the immigration people so that I can easily open the account and transfer $1,500 into it. With the messing around by Paypal Thailand etc, I rearranged my income so that it either comes from WeChat to Stripe to Wise and then to Mauritius, or from iTalki to Payoneer to Wise to Mauritius. The overall transfer fees are either free or very low because I maintain the same currency (USD) throughout.

Originally Posted by Simon43

There are police cameras all along the beach walks to make sure that tourists are safe from muggers and .. er .. sexy hookers plying their trade (dam!).

Is crime a problem there then?

Originally Posted by Topper

Is crime a problem there then?

From what I hear from chatting with the locals, taxi drivers etc, low level crime is an issue in Port Louis amongst the locals (drugs, theft etc, just like many areas). The cameras were placed by the police to make sure that there are no safety issues concerning the tourist beaches etc. So it seems a good and proactive idea.

How is the pool, do you have to maintain it or does the landlord make sure its all working correctly and nice and clean?

Originally Posted by Topper

How is the pool, do you have to maintain it or does the landlord make sure its all working correctly and nice and clean?

The landlord takes care of it at his cost. I saw the pool guy today, he will come every week. It's nothing special, but nice to cool off in. Today being a holiday (no fast internet in my Airbnb), I jogged on Mon Choisy beach and swam a few times.

Not my photo, but you get the idea.... sheer luxury!!

Also, I'm back to my online lessons from this new house. The fibre will be upgraded this week, but mobile speed is fine - I'm using it now.

how has the bureaucracy been ? every time I passed though there lots of the immigration staff were wobbly heads which combined with uniforms made it a time consuming process - even in transit immigration was involved which meant I nearly missed my connection a couple of times

Originally Posted by Simon43

I saw the pool guy today, he will cum every week. I

Just like in the educational videos I watched as a teenager?

Originally Posted by Simon43

The landlord takes care of it at his cost. I saw the pool guy today, he will come every week. It's nothing special, but nice to cool off in. Today being a holiday (no fast internet in my Airbnb), I jogged on Mon Choisy beach and swam a few times.

Not my photo, but you get the idea.... sheer luxury!!

Also, I'm back to my online lessons from this new house. The fibre will be upgraded this week, but mobile speed is fine - I'm using it now.

Paradise, long may it continue.

Its grey, damp, cold and depressing in the UK atm.

Lest Simon gets too carried away with his new found nirvana, and sanatorium, it might be prudent to recall that the financial requirement to qualify for retirement in Mauritus for those over 50 years of age was the annual transfer of a minimum of $40,000 US, a threshold that was in force as recently as 2014........

The reduction to the current low level, a mere £1,100 per month and perhaps the most generous in the civilised world ( well, anywhere where you would want to be ), was seemingly spurred by the difficulties that have devastated their and the world's tourism industry.

A return to the status quo is therefore a reasonable forecast should things get back to normal quite quickly. The Mauritians have long held the view they wished to maintain a higher calibre of international visitor which explains their long held embargo on trashy British/Euro charter flights to the island which to my knowledge is still the case.

So, Simon, keep that in mind.......you may wish to entertain the prospect of a Mauritian partner as a stitch in time.

Ruddy hell Genticles , sound information and advice apart from getting hitched to a local.

It's not Pattaya!
Stay single Simon and enjoy your freedom, besides Candys always good for a head job

Originally Posted by Seekingasylum

Lest Simon gets too carried away with his new found nirvana, and sanatorium, it might be prudent to recall that the financial requirement to qualify for retirement in Mauritus for those over 50 years of age was the annual transfer of a minimum of $40,000 US, a threshold that was in force as recently as 2014........

The reduction to the current low level, a mere £1,100 per month and perhaps the most generous in the civilised world ( well, anywhere where you would want to be ), was seemingly spurred by the difficulties that have devastated their and the world's tourism industry.

A return to the status quo is therefore a reasonable forecast should things get back to normal quite quickly. The Mauritians have long held the view they wished to maintain a higher calibre of international visitor which explains their long held embargo on trashy British/Euro charter flights to the island which to my knowledge is still the case.

So, Simon, keep that in mind.......you may wish to entertain the prospect of a Mauritian partner as a stitch in time.

Yes, I'm aware of the previous financial requirements, some 8 years ago.... I'm reasonably confident that the current requirements will last 3 years, which is long enough for me to qualify for the 20-year PR visa.

Twenty year PR visa? Sa-weet.

Not a bad looking bolthole you've landed on.

Originally Posted by happynz

Twenty year PR visa? Sa-weet.

Not a bad looking bolthole you've landed on.

So far, so good, but very early days. I have a house with a pool, 10 minutes from that beach. My internet is working and I'm earning $ again from my online lessons. The local shops have a good choice of foods and consumer goods.

Er... what could go wrong?!

Don't buy a motel.