Hi Everyone
Firstly - lets get one thing clear - the Thai island of Koh Tao is possibly one of the best diving sites I have ever been to - 25m + visibility and teeming with fish. Especially funny was watching trigger fish attack an American diver who was trying to get photos of it. It just started nailing his head and actually drew blood it was that forceful - very funny as he had deliberately dived over the nest (to get a better photo) of the Trigger fish despite being warned of the consequences (they are VERY territorial).
Koh Tao itself is a nice, small island that is unpretentious with great soft, sandy beaches that are really only accessible by scooter (which we hired to get around) so lazing in hammocks and watching the waves drift in and out was on the cards for a couple of days whilst the British lads we were travelling with finished their diving certificates. We stayed at a resort called Ban's that was actually pretty good value and had a dive centre on hand to make life easy - it had also been recommended on Tripadvisor.com so when I negotiated free accommodation for the lads they were pretty happy...
With the diving out of the way and the the exploration of Koh Tao finished we celebrated the lads finishing their course with a night out and then got on a Songserm boat to Ko Samui (via Ko Pha Ngan). We were met off the boat by the hotel staff and taken to the hotel I had booked. It actually turned out to be quite nice bungalows with a/c (a rarity in cheaper accommodation) located on the Northern part of the island. After an initial "is this a gay resort" load of questions (there were lots of magazines to that effect in the reception and in the rooms) from the boys (they are all 18 and 19 ;-) ) they settled down having seen two or three couples frolicking in the pool... anyway, even if it was - it was great, and very clean... No more bed bugs...
A few nights out and a scooter ride of the island later we set off for the return leg to Bangkok, sad to leave the boys but as we were heading our way we had to press on - we will meet again though in London for the "Banoffee Pie Bake off" between Chris and Erin - Christ knows how that happened but if it means I get Banoffee Pie I'm willing to support it! haha
We took the Government bus ride back to Bangkok and can happily recommend it over the private tour operators for ease and safety - if anyone else does this trip make the extra effort to get the decent government bus like the Thais do! Its the same price as well so no excuses... lots of thefts apparently happen on the private buses. They even threw in dinner for free as well (although by this stage Erin is sick of rice and complains all the time about food - on the upside she is looking even trimmer now).
Back in Bangkok the ritual tension between dodgy taxi touts and the tight Scotsman continue with a close runoff between the Scotsman being pretty insulting and the Thai gentlemen at the bus station trying to fleece the inexperienced travellers - net result - win to the Scotsman as he pays the same price as a local!
When we check in to the hotel at 5am we get a couple of hours sleep and then go out for some food. We are not 20 metres from our hotel when we bump into the Irish contingent we left in Siem Reap who had also just arrived and were hoping to meet us as well... very random but very welcome as we got to spend the whole day and evening with them... and hear all about how 18-25 year-old Laos is - Jack - if you are reading this we recommend you go there next!
Another trip to the Patpong night market to purchase some boxer shorts and a few polo shirts later and we are crammed (6 passengers) back into a taxi for the ride home as Erin and I had to pack before our 6am start the next day.
Packing over and early start commenced we are now at Bangkok airport in the Cathay lounge waiting to go - and happily a lovely young Thai lady has just told me we are being upgraded to business class so GAME ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Chat soon
Al & E.
Tuesday, 31 March 2009
Sunday, 22 March 2009
Bangkok to Koh Tao
Bangkok - what a place - dirty, bustling busy, interesting and fun all at once.
We had some beers on a street bar - just think of a few chairs on the side of 5th ave or Piccadilly Circus and you've pretty much got it and a farewell dinner for some of the guys we have been travelling with for the last month.
We took it easy the next day and visited the Thieves market, the textile market and a few other random ones. In addition Erin went to the Royal palace and I went to the Bangkok aquarium which bills itself as being the biggest in S.E. Asia - It was huge and we got to witness, shark feeding, stingray feeding, all the weird and wonderful sea creatures above us as we walked through the underwater tunnel and also from above as we got a glass bottom boat trip. We then went to a 4D show about prehistoric sea life which was amazing as the sensations of having your seat moving in time with the show really brought it all to life (and scared the girl behind us to death).
One of the more interesting markets we visited was the Patpong night market where I picked up a few decent polo shirts for under $10 that will see me through for the next couple of weeks... As it happens the Patpong market also has certain "shows" so if you are averse to any of the following don't go there.
We had some beers on a street bar - just think of a few chairs on the side of 5th ave or Piccadilly Circus and you've pretty much got it and a farewell dinner for some of the guys we have been travelling with for the last month.
We took it easy the next day and visited the Thieves market, the textile market and a few other random ones. In addition Erin went to the Royal palace and I went to the Bangkok aquarium which bills itself as being the biggest in S.E. Asia - It was huge and we got to witness, shark feeding, stingray feeding, all the weird and wonderful sea creatures above us as we walked through the underwater tunnel and also from above as we got a glass bottom boat trip. We then went to a 4D show about prehistoric sea life which was amazing as the sensations of having your seat moving in time with the show really brought it all to life (and scared the girl behind us to death).
One of the more interesting markets we visited was the Patpong night market where I picked up a few decent polo shirts for under $10 that will see me through for the next couple of weeks... As it happens the Patpong market also has certain "shows" so if you are averse to any of the following don't go there.
- Douches
- Ping pong balls
- 3 inch sewing needles
- Flowers on a string
- coke bottles being opened
- Bananas flying across the room etc etc
As this is a PG rated post I won't go any further but you get the picture... Queue the tears from her majesty to go home.... so we left... by Tuk Tuk as none of the cabs would take us home - actually this turned out to be a much more fun way of doing it as we needed two TukTuks to get 6 of us home so the TukTuks ended up racing each other and ended up with one of them "getting air" it was going so fast - it actually beat a Mercedes Compressor off the line at a traffic light... Erin's TukTuk won though so my driver didn't get a tip!!! ;-)
We got a night bus from Bangkok down the Gulf of Thailand and then a fast boat to and island called Koh Tao where we are currently holed up and we expect to do a bit of diving as it looks like a great place to do it... all will be revealed in next post.
Hope you are all well
Al
Saturday, 21 March 2009
Saigon to Bangkok
Hi everyone....
Well it has been an eventful time since I last wrote - some of it shocking - to be explained later...
As I wrote before I was heading out to the Cu Chi tunnel system to check out how the Vietnamese used to resupply their frontline troops to combat the Americans - fascinating place and the tunnels are tiny - I fitted in the ones that have been specially widened to fit Westerners (for clarity here none of the current Vietnamese can fit in the old tunnels as they are all fatter than in wartime so whilst I have been ribbed mercilessly by email by various "friends & family" I don't feel that bad as I made it to the end of the network with three other travellers whilst our local Vietnamese guide only went about half way...
After another night in our dodgy accommodation we set off by public bus for the Cambodian border - pretty uneventful journey and the crossing was relatively harmless - we then carried on our journey by public bus to Phnom Pehn ("PP" from now on....)
In PP we had a cyclo tour of the city which ended up with the more competitive of our group actually changing places with the drivers and racing each other through the streets - now there are no gears on these bikes so the effort factor is multiplied heavily - sweat was dripping off some people when we finally made it to the restaurant for dinner. We chose the restaurant as the profits went to support local orphans - good food though... After dinner some little kids (maybe 5 or 6 years old) came up to us and offered us some travel books and then started playing around with us.... (memo note to self - don't play with the little sh*ts as they pick pocketed me for $20) - in the end I had to give in as the little tikes did actually succeed where many have failed in the past all round Asia so I have to hand it to them - they did well and I wish them all the best with my $20!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The next day we had a bit of time to visit the stunning Royal palace and surrounding buildings built for the emperor of the day... although Erin was forced to make herself more "decent" - hence the grow-bag you might have noticed on the photos I published on Picassa... haha
In PP we went on a tour of S21 ( the forboding place that many a Cambodian was detained for questioning and torture prior to being taken to the Killing fields) The photos show the horror of the place but even being there you cannot get a true sense of just how evil it was!! Afterwards we were taken to some of the "Killing Fields" themselves although we maybe saw about 30 of them there are more than 800 know about and it is estimated that there are another 3-400 unknown ones... It must have been a horrible time and the genocide just made me think about whether this is going on today and we are turning a blind eye to it just as we (as an international community) did between 1975 and 1979.
From PP we headed down towards the coast but stayed at a Cambodian homestay with a local village family - think rustic hut in the middle of nowhere with a straw roof and just a mosquito net for protection from malarial mossies... The two older Canadian women travelling with us had clearly not experienced things like this before and one resorted to drinking beer (she never usually drinks and certainly not beer) and the other restarted smoking after 30 years of quitting... it was pretty funny watching the two of them after a few drinks... I think one fell of the log she was on... The village community was actually very hospitable to us and showed us around their lives and their extended families so we got a good idea of how they lived... very subsistence farming existence...
The next day we woke up and we off to Sihanoukville ("S" from now on). This is a properly weird seaside town that I can only basically describe as a place where weird foreigners (excluding us) come to take advantage of the local young girls (and boys). I actually got asked if I had a boyfriend!!!!!! Thinking it was a translation issue I tried my best to explain that Erin was my girlfriend - in retrospect I think I was being naive!!!!
The problem with S is that it has amazing beaches and marine life that we saw by day boat trip to some outlying islands... so it is a complete contrast to the seediness of the main part of the city.. shame really as it made all of us feel a bit creepy.
I did also manage to have a pizza that I "mistakenly" thought was normal - as it made me want to go to sleep after about 30 mins... ;-) won't be doing that one again...
Next we headed back to PP for the public bus to Kompong Cham - a major gateway town to Northwest Cambodia and actually quite pretty rested on the Mekong river... On the way the bus stopped for a rest stop and we got off... to be greeted by deep fried tarantulas and crickets - I tried both and they both tasted a bit like prawn crackers from a chinese restaurant - I have photos to prove it too!!! ;-)
Here we only stayed a couple of nights but managed to fit in a bike tour to the local river islands which involved cycling over a 300 metre bamboo bridge (and paying for the privilege). Once on the island though we got taken to a tobacco farm and saw how they cultivated the leaves, dried them out and then harvested them ready for sale to companies like British American Tobacco. We then weaved our way back to the bridge via the local village community and little 3 or 4 year old wanting to give us "high fives" all the way back - lots of fun...
We then went by bus to Siem Reap ("SR" from now on). The hotel we stayed at was probably one of the nicest so far and the town itself is clearly geared up to the hoards of tourists that fly or bus in to see Angkor wat and the surrounding temples... although a trip to the Irish bar on St Paddys day led to some pretty sore heads on the bus the next day... Erin even managed a "blind massage" here - for blind people it is one of the few ways they can earn a living here...
Going round AW is an awesome place - it is magnificent for the architecture, the scale and the engineering that must have been involved as well as the religious significance... WOW! Photos on the web when I get round to it will probably still not do it justice but may show some of it... We also visited the Tomb Raider tombs with the trees that have grown over them - these are VERY picturesque as you will see...
We also managed to visit a charity that helped poor people learn a new skill - silk weaving. We went to the silk farm and saw the silk worms hard at work and then cultivated into the end product - as I had an order from mum it was nice to buy some of their efforts and support the charity. From the silk farm we went on to the local floating lake community where we saw crocs and snakes being harvested (not sure if this is legal but its certainly happening). This part of Cambodia is very poor and it also felt pretty malarial too so plenty of DEET was applied...
On the way back to SR we stopped off at a hammock bar and had a few beers whilst the sun went down. Our guide Sam introduced us to turtle (chewy and hard to get meat from) and snake (too much cartilige) but at least I gave it a shot...
Back to SR and then private bus to the Thai border and then on to the 7eleven. You;d be surprised how excited everyone got when they found they could finally buy Cadburys chololate again.... and then we finished the journey to Bangkok to stay in a bed bug ridden hotel (not nice as I killed one when I got into the room and Erin killed one about to attack me at 2am). So I paid for a much more expensive hotel close to the Koh San road the next night that at least had decent sheets and no bed bugs.
Next post will have Bangkok.
Hope you liked it so far
Al
Well it has been an eventful time since I last wrote - some of it shocking - to be explained later...
As I wrote before I was heading out to the Cu Chi tunnel system to check out how the Vietnamese used to resupply their frontline troops to combat the Americans - fascinating place and the tunnels are tiny - I fitted in the ones that have been specially widened to fit Westerners (for clarity here none of the current Vietnamese can fit in the old tunnels as they are all fatter than in wartime so whilst I have been ribbed mercilessly by email by various "friends & family" I don't feel that bad as I made it to the end of the network with three other travellers whilst our local Vietnamese guide only went about half way...
After another night in our dodgy accommodation we set off by public bus for the Cambodian border - pretty uneventful journey and the crossing was relatively harmless - we then carried on our journey by public bus to Phnom Pehn ("PP" from now on....)
In PP we had a cyclo tour of the city which ended up with the more competitive of our group actually changing places with the drivers and racing each other through the streets - now there are no gears on these bikes so the effort factor is multiplied heavily - sweat was dripping off some people when we finally made it to the restaurant for dinner. We chose the restaurant as the profits went to support local orphans - good food though... After dinner some little kids (maybe 5 or 6 years old) came up to us and offered us some travel books and then started playing around with us.... (memo note to self - don't play with the little sh*ts as they pick pocketed me for $20) - in the end I had to give in as the little tikes did actually succeed where many have failed in the past all round Asia so I have to hand it to them - they did well and I wish them all the best with my $20!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The next day we had a bit of time to visit the stunning Royal palace and surrounding buildings built for the emperor of the day... although Erin was forced to make herself more "decent" - hence the grow-bag you might have noticed on the photos I published on Picassa... haha
In PP we went on a tour of S21 ( the forboding place that many a Cambodian was detained for questioning and torture prior to being taken to the Killing fields) The photos show the horror of the place but even being there you cannot get a true sense of just how evil it was!! Afterwards we were taken to some of the "Killing Fields" themselves although we maybe saw about 30 of them there are more than 800 know about and it is estimated that there are another 3-400 unknown ones... It must have been a horrible time and the genocide just made me think about whether this is going on today and we are turning a blind eye to it just as we (as an international community) did between 1975 and 1979.
From PP we headed down towards the coast but stayed at a Cambodian homestay with a local village family - think rustic hut in the middle of nowhere with a straw roof and just a mosquito net for protection from malarial mossies... The two older Canadian women travelling with us had clearly not experienced things like this before and one resorted to drinking beer (she never usually drinks and certainly not beer) and the other restarted smoking after 30 years of quitting... it was pretty funny watching the two of them after a few drinks... I think one fell of the log she was on... The village community was actually very hospitable to us and showed us around their lives and their extended families so we got a good idea of how they lived... very subsistence farming existence...
The next day we woke up and we off to Sihanoukville ("S" from now on). This is a properly weird seaside town that I can only basically describe as a place where weird foreigners (excluding us) come to take advantage of the local young girls (and boys). I actually got asked if I had a boyfriend!!!!!! Thinking it was a translation issue I tried my best to explain that Erin was my girlfriend - in retrospect I think I was being naive!!!!
The problem with S is that it has amazing beaches and marine life that we saw by day boat trip to some outlying islands... so it is a complete contrast to the seediness of the main part of the city.. shame really as it made all of us feel a bit creepy.
I did also manage to have a pizza that I "mistakenly" thought was normal - as it made me want to go to sleep after about 30 mins... ;-) won't be doing that one again...
Next we headed back to PP for the public bus to Kompong Cham - a major gateway town to Northwest Cambodia and actually quite pretty rested on the Mekong river... On the way the bus stopped for a rest stop and we got off... to be greeted by deep fried tarantulas and crickets - I tried both and they both tasted a bit like prawn crackers from a chinese restaurant - I have photos to prove it too!!! ;-)
Here we only stayed a couple of nights but managed to fit in a bike tour to the local river islands which involved cycling over a 300 metre bamboo bridge (and paying for the privilege). Once on the island though we got taken to a tobacco farm and saw how they cultivated the leaves, dried them out and then harvested them ready for sale to companies like British American Tobacco. We then weaved our way back to the bridge via the local village community and little 3 or 4 year old wanting to give us "high fives" all the way back - lots of fun...
We then went by bus to Siem Reap ("SR" from now on). The hotel we stayed at was probably one of the nicest so far and the town itself is clearly geared up to the hoards of tourists that fly or bus in to see Angkor wat and the surrounding temples... although a trip to the Irish bar on St Paddys day led to some pretty sore heads on the bus the next day... Erin even managed a "blind massage" here - for blind people it is one of the few ways they can earn a living here...
Going round AW is an awesome place - it is magnificent for the architecture, the scale and the engineering that must have been involved as well as the religious significance... WOW! Photos on the web when I get round to it will probably still not do it justice but may show some of it... We also visited the Tomb Raider tombs with the trees that have grown over them - these are VERY picturesque as you will see...
We also managed to visit a charity that helped poor people learn a new skill - silk weaving. We went to the silk farm and saw the silk worms hard at work and then cultivated into the end product - as I had an order from mum it was nice to buy some of their efforts and support the charity. From the silk farm we went on to the local floating lake community where we saw crocs and snakes being harvested (not sure if this is legal but its certainly happening). This part of Cambodia is very poor and it also felt pretty malarial too so plenty of DEET was applied...
On the way back to SR we stopped off at a hammock bar and had a few beers whilst the sun went down. Our guide Sam introduced us to turtle (chewy and hard to get meat from) and snake (too much cartilige) but at least I gave it a shot...
Back to SR and then private bus to the Thai border and then on to the 7eleven. You;d be surprised how excited everyone got when they found they could finally buy Cadburys chololate again.... and then we finished the journey to Bangkok to stay in a bed bug ridden hotel (not nice as I killed one when I got into the room and Erin killed one about to attack me at 2am). So I paid for a much more expensive hotel close to the Koh San road the next night that at least had decent sheets and no bed bugs.
Next post will have Bangkok.
Hope you liked it so far
Al
Friday, 6 March 2009
Sapa to Saigon
Firstly sorry it has been so long since I last posted but the computers in Vietnam have seemed to have some sort of firewall that hasn't allowed me to log in to post a blog until now... so here goes...
As we left the lovely hilltop village of Sapa by minibus we descended down a windy mountain road at breakneck speed to a little town with a train station that serves as the focal point for the north of Vietnam and out exit route to Hanoi... via 12 hour overnight train.
The train was a bit dirty and not like the Chinese trains we had become accustomed to so it was a bit of a letdown for the team - the food wasn't up the Chinese par and a couple of the team also contracted scabies... NICE!!!! Luckily Erin and I had some scabicide and liberally dosed it on the poor victims before they infacted the rest of us.
We arrived in Hanoi and got driven to a shocking hotel - cockroaches, droppings, dirty sheets (some with blood drops on them - we assume from bites) and the a/c not working in some rooms - picture our lovely NYC blonde entering this situation with style and panache - OR NOT - and the tears opened up again... anyway, our room was actually fine and we left it to the others to sort out theirs.... ho hum!
Hanoi is a bit of a dump - very busy, pretty messy and scooters everywhere and guys constantly hassling you to make a dollar (who says this is a communist country!). We visited Ho Chi Min's mosuleum, the musuem, the Army ("I hate America" as Erin put it) Museum and also the highly recommended Enthology museum on the back of a scooter (again at breakneck speed - why won't they just slow down). For those interested they have photos and the flying suit of John McCain in the Hanoi "Hilton" Prison during his time here.
From Hanoi we took a bus on a two day trip to Halong Bay. After boarding a dinner boat we were taken to Haong Bay island - a UNESCO World Heritage site reknowned for its caves - great place to take photos of colourful stalagmites and stalagtites in a huge cavern. We reboarded the boat and were taken to another island where we stayed the night whilst purchasing some pearl earrings which grow in the Bay itself - Happy Birthday Mum for the 30th! - South China pearls - as requested!
From the island we took a JetCat back to the mainland and our two hour bus ride back to Hanoi to the lovely cockroach hotel - I can tell you everyone was filled with dread to go back there but it was a roof over our heads so can't complain too much.
From Hanoi we boarded an overnight train to Hue - a great town with lovely friendly people (in contrast to Hanoi). We went to a restaurant (highly recommended in the lonely planet) run and owned by a deaf and mute guy - GREAT FOOD and dirt cheap - so we went back for lunch and dinner and ended up writing all our names on the wall at the request of the owner - in return he gave us all home made bottle openers - his party trick was opening five beer bottles at once. Bear in mind all communication was by sign language and you will understand the duration of some conversations. Anyway, we did find out he was an ex-soldier and fought against the US, the Cambodians, and the Chinese despite hating fighting - he was doing it to pretect his family. Fascinating guy and lovely to chat to - even for Erin as an american!
The next day we opted to not follow our tour leader and instead cobble together a trip of our own. This started with hiring the cheapest pushbikes we could find that worked (there were nine of us and two of the bikes failed the "round the block" test) after some minor alterations we were off - well, at least until the river where some deft negotiation with a riverboat captain saw us ferried 7 kms downsteam to three massive temples, pagodas and the tomb at Tu Doc of the Vietnamese emperor - all very impressive... and then we cycled back through the rice padis and rural roads guided by a wrist mounted GPS I used to use for running - very handy in bumblefuckVietnam...
After Hue we took a four hour bus to Hoi An - the suit making place for Vietnam where there are over 200 shops in VERY close proximity all vying for your business which pushes prices down to the very floor - and I mean the floor! I ended up getting a couple of tailor made suits made in Cashmere Wool for $100 each! and then went on to get six pairs of shoes made in leather for $150. The postage back to GB was nearly as much as the cost of a new suit! Bargain! I got Erin a couple of nice dresses made and also a big Winter Jacket that she saw on Neiman Marcus's website that they knocked up overnight for her.... Hoi An is definitely a great place to hang out and sit in the restaurants as well and I think it is the top city in Vietnam so far! We celebrated two birthdays here with one 25-year old in the group and one 50 year old Candian (who tried to keep her birthday a secret but her friend spilled the beans to me so I went out and got them both birthday cakes) Memo note to self - I may have indulged a bit too much in the free Rum and Coke's when, at 2am, yours truly, the 25 year-old Ozzie "birthday" girl and an 18 year old gap year student from Wimbledon were seen racing across a pedestrian bridge..............naked apart from the obligatory trainers - Lynn Helmboldt would have been proud! ;-)
From Hoi An we took a 4 hour bus to Nh Trang - pretty uninspiring place but we managed to get a boat cruise to a local snorkling place and visited a local fishing village on a nearby island that had the biggest lobster I have ever seen - in their fish farming nets! I t must have had a body of about 18-24 inches and woudl have some serious meat on it if they ever pulled it up to eat it.
From Nh Trang we got on the Reunification Express railway to Saigon (or Ho Chi Min City if you are being politically correct to the Vietnamese). The train was surprisingly good quality, comfort and clean so a great place to celebrate one of the girl's (May Yee) birthday with cake, local vodka and beer. In fact I think we partied so hard that we actually took one of her friends "out of play" today for the day trip to the Mekong Delta. Although the 4am arrival into Saigon may have tilted the scales against doing anything too much today...
Erin and I did manage to drag ourselves out to go on a day's excursion to the Mekong Delta as she really wanted to go see where her Uncle had been shot in the US-Vietnam war and where her was awarded a Purple Heart (Go Uncle Don!!!). We visited a few of the islands where we saw where the locals make coconut candy and also where they catch fish in the funnel nets. We also got taken on a random electrical horse and cart tour to a bee farm and then went on a flimsy paddleboat back to the main riverboat and the way home via lunch at an island restaurant where they served us Elephant Ear fish???!!!! what the hell kind of fish is that anyway!!!!!!!
Back in Saigon now and about to head out for dinner at the local Bintang market which we have been told is great for cheap, local, quality food - we shall see ;-)
Next on the agenda is the Cu Chi tunnels and then Cambodia - I will have to see if I can fit in the tunnels ;-) no comments Andy!
Al
As we left the lovely hilltop village of Sapa by minibus we descended down a windy mountain road at breakneck speed to a little town with a train station that serves as the focal point for the north of Vietnam and out exit route to Hanoi... via 12 hour overnight train.
The train was a bit dirty and not like the Chinese trains we had become accustomed to so it was a bit of a letdown for the team - the food wasn't up the Chinese par and a couple of the team also contracted scabies... NICE!!!! Luckily Erin and I had some scabicide and liberally dosed it on the poor victims before they infacted the rest of us.
We arrived in Hanoi and got driven to a shocking hotel - cockroaches, droppings, dirty sheets (some with blood drops on them - we assume from bites) and the a/c not working in some rooms - picture our lovely NYC blonde entering this situation with style and panache - OR NOT - and the tears opened up again... anyway, our room was actually fine and we left it to the others to sort out theirs.... ho hum!
Hanoi is a bit of a dump - very busy, pretty messy and scooters everywhere and guys constantly hassling you to make a dollar (who says this is a communist country!). We visited Ho Chi Min's mosuleum, the musuem, the Army ("I hate America" as Erin put it) Museum and also the highly recommended Enthology museum on the back of a scooter (again at breakneck speed - why won't they just slow down). For those interested they have photos and the flying suit of John McCain in the Hanoi "Hilton" Prison during his time here.
From Hanoi we took a bus on a two day trip to Halong Bay. After boarding a dinner boat we were taken to Haong Bay island - a UNESCO World Heritage site reknowned for its caves - great place to take photos of colourful stalagmites and stalagtites in a huge cavern. We reboarded the boat and were taken to another island where we stayed the night whilst purchasing some pearl earrings which grow in the Bay itself - Happy Birthday Mum for the 30th! - South China pearls - as requested!
From the island we took a JetCat back to the mainland and our two hour bus ride back to Hanoi to the lovely cockroach hotel - I can tell you everyone was filled with dread to go back there but it was a roof over our heads so can't complain too much.
From Hanoi we boarded an overnight train to Hue - a great town with lovely friendly people (in contrast to Hanoi). We went to a restaurant (highly recommended in the lonely planet) run and owned by a deaf and mute guy - GREAT FOOD and dirt cheap - so we went back for lunch and dinner and ended up writing all our names on the wall at the request of the owner - in return he gave us all home made bottle openers - his party trick was opening five beer bottles at once. Bear in mind all communication was by sign language and you will understand the duration of some conversations. Anyway, we did find out he was an ex-soldier and fought against the US, the Cambodians, and the Chinese despite hating fighting - he was doing it to pretect his family. Fascinating guy and lovely to chat to - even for Erin as an american!
The next day we opted to not follow our tour leader and instead cobble together a trip of our own. This started with hiring the cheapest pushbikes we could find that worked (there were nine of us and two of the bikes failed the "round the block" test) after some minor alterations we were off - well, at least until the river where some deft negotiation with a riverboat captain saw us ferried 7 kms downsteam to three massive temples, pagodas and the tomb at Tu Doc of the Vietnamese emperor - all very impressive... and then we cycled back through the rice padis and rural roads guided by a wrist mounted GPS I used to use for running - very handy in bumblefuckVietnam...
After Hue we took a four hour bus to Hoi An - the suit making place for Vietnam where there are over 200 shops in VERY close proximity all vying for your business which pushes prices down to the very floor - and I mean the floor! I ended up getting a couple of tailor made suits made in Cashmere Wool for $100 each! and then went on to get six pairs of shoes made in leather for $150. The postage back to GB was nearly as much as the cost of a new suit! Bargain! I got Erin a couple of nice dresses made and also a big Winter Jacket that she saw on Neiman Marcus's website that they knocked up overnight for her.... Hoi An is definitely a great place to hang out and sit in the restaurants as well and I think it is the top city in Vietnam so far! We celebrated two birthdays here with one 25-year old in the group and one 50 year old Candian (who tried to keep her birthday a secret but her friend spilled the beans to me so I went out and got them both birthday cakes) Memo note to self - I may have indulged a bit too much in the free Rum and Coke's when, at 2am, yours truly, the 25 year-old Ozzie "birthday" girl and an 18 year old gap year student from Wimbledon were seen racing across a pedestrian bridge..............naked apart from the obligatory trainers - Lynn Helmboldt would have been proud! ;-)
From Hoi An we took a 4 hour bus to Nh Trang - pretty uninspiring place but we managed to get a boat cruise to a local snorkling place and visited a local fishing village on a nearby island that had the biggest lobster I have ever seen - in their fish farming nets! I t must have had a body of about 18-24 inches and woudl have some serious meat on it if they ever pulled it up to eat it.
From Nh Trang we got on the Reunification Express railway to Saigon (or Ho Chi Min City if you are being politically correct to the Vietnamese). The train was surprisingly good quality, comfort and clean so a great place to celebrate one of the girl's (May Yee) birthday with cake, local vodka and beer. In fact I think we partied so hard that we actually took one of her friends "out of play" today for the day trip to the Mekong Delta. Although the 4am arrival into Saigon may have tilted the scales against doing anything too much today...
Erin and I did manage to drag ourselves out to go on a day's excursion to the Mekong Delta as she really wanted to go see where her Uncle had been shot in the US-Vietnam war and where her was awarded a Purple Heart (Go Uncle Don!!!). We visited a few of the islands where we saw where the locals make coconut candy and also where they catch fish in the funnel nets. We also got taken on a random electrical horse and cart tour to a bee farm and then went on a flimsy paddleboat back to the main riverboat and the way home via lunch at an island restaurant where they served us Elephant Ear fish???!!!! what the hell kind of fish is that anyway!!!!!!!
Back in Saigon now and about to head out for dinner at the local Bintang market which we have been told is great for cheap, local, quality food - we shall see ;-)
Next on the agenda is the Cu Chi tunnels and then Cambodia - I will have to see if I can fit in the tunnels ;-) no comments Andy!
Al
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