Sunday, October 31, 2004
The Hard Life
Phill: 31/10 - Vang Vieng is just plain weird. There's a dirt track that passes for the main road through town, on either side of which is a collection of Pizzeria selling "happy" food & drinks and playing DVDs all day and night. We had brekie at one of them that seems to run the series "Friends" on a repeating schedule for about 18 hours per day. We all agreed to change hotels, and upgrade to the expensive $6/night rooms! Whoooooo! We switched to our swimming kit and got ready for a hard day of tubing.
This involved taking a tuk-tuk about 4km up the river, which we shared with a guy from Newcastle (named Mick, but we'd gotten into this habit of giving people new names, so we called him Winston) and a guy in orange that clearly had no interest in meeting people (or maybe just not us!). You then climb inside a huge tire-innertube and float down the river, along the banks of which are locals selling ice-cold beer Laos, and other local leisure substances. It's really funny, the way they hold out a long bamboo pole for you to grab onto to pull yourself ashore to buy beers. We did a mix of cruising down with the beers, and stopping to sit down and drink beer whilst listening to cheesy 80's music.
There really wasn't too much excitement, apart from me having a bit of a panic*, and also managing to lose Renee's sunglasses to Davy Jones's locker, but it certainly was an excellent day out. At the end, we walked a little way back to town, got changed, and went out for some Indian food to get away from the ubiquitous pizza. It's a hard life, eh?
*Panic - after an unexpected self-inflicted dunking, we got to talking about my discomfort in water. It's a fairly simple issue - whilst not irrationally afraid of water, I am afraid of drowning. If you look into the psychology of phobia, any phobia (however bizarre) essentially is the fear of death. People that really don't like heights, planes, roller-coasters, etc, when quizzed will reveal that in essence they equate their phobia with death. Even things such as a fear of feathers boils down to the same root (I saw a documentary once). So... having spent half of my life as a non-swimmer, and the 2nd half as a weak swimmer - is it really irrational that I'm pretty scared of water? Most of the time people don't even realise it, because I use rationality to hide or overcome it - for example, "I can easily swim back to the boat/poolside/shallow water, so I'm fine to dive right in". It's when unexpected things occur, like the boat drifting away, or the river getting deeper, and so on that causes me to panic. Slowly, but in definate steps - I am realising that the panic itself is irrational. I was swimming quite happily for ages when I thuoght I was "safe" - surely I can still swim now? If only it were that simple. Whilst this is getting a little personal (and I hope you don't mind me sharing), it's become a key point at several times during our travels, and I felt it needed a mention in the blog.
This involved taking a tuk-tuk about 4km up the river, which we shared with a guy from Newcastle (named Mick, but we'd gotten into this habit of giving people new names, so we called him Winston) and a guy in orange that clearly had no interest in meeting people (or maybe just not us!). You then climb inside a huge tire-innertube and float down the river, along the banks of which are locals selling ice-cold beer Laos, and other local leisure substances. It's really funny, the way they hold out a long bamboo pole for you to grab onto to pull yourself ashore to buy beers. We did a mix of cruising down with the beers, and stopping to sit down and drink beer whilst listening to cheesy 80's music.
There really wasn't too much excitement, apart from me having a bit of a panic*, and also managing to lose Renee's sunglasses to Davy Jones's locker, but it certainly was an excellent day out. At the end, we walked a little way back to town, got changed, and went out for some Indian food to get away from the ubiquitous pizza. It's a hard life, eh?
*Panic - after an unexpected self-inflicted dunking, we got to talking about my discomfort in water. It's a fairly simple issue - whilst not irrationally afraid of water, I am afraid of drowning. If you look into the psychology of phobia, any phobia (however bizarre) essentially is the fear of death. People that really don't like heights, planes, roller-coasters, etc, when quizzed will reveal that in essence they equate their phobia with death. Even things such as a fear of feathers boils down to the same root (I saw a documentary once). So... having spent half of my life as a non-swimmer, and the 2nd half as a weak swimmer - is it really irrational that I'm pretty scared of water? Most of the time people don't even realise it, because I use rationality to hide or overcome it - for example, "I can easily swim back to the boat/poolside/shallow water, so I'm fine to dive right in". It's when unexpected things occur, like the boat drifting away, or the river getting deeper, and so on that causes me to panic. Slowly, but in definate steps - I am realising that the panic itself is irrational. I was swimming quite happily for ages when I thuoght I was "safe" - surely I can still swim now? If only it were that simple. Whilst this is getting a little personal (and I hope you don't mind me sharing), it's become a key point at several times during our travels, and I felt it needed a mention in the blog.
Saturday, October 30, 2004
The 2:00pm-ish bus to Vang Vieng
Phill: 30/10 - Call us sell-outs, but Joma cafe does a mean breakfast, so we went there again. We took a walk down by the river, to see if we could catch some of the boat races that were part of the festival.. but to no avail. What they call "Laos Time" really kicked in as we arrived on time for our tuk-tuk ride to the bus. The tuk-tuk came about 20 mins late, and then we waited on the bus for over an hour while everyone else turned up 1 or 2 at a time according to when they'd been told that the bus was leaving. In the typical "travellers-coincidence" sort of way, Annemarie and Paddy were on our bus, and they took pretty quickly to singing the journey away with us. It was pretty late when we got to Vang Vieng, so many rooms were already taken and we ended up at a $2/night place. The mould, noisy fan and bed-bugs made us think that $2 was overpriced, but it was good enough for just 1 night.
Wednesday, October 27, 2004
Ho Chi Minh Museum of Modern Art?
Phill: 27/10 - For our last day we went to HCM Museum that everybody else had already visited. We'd intended to get a cab there, with our newfound fear of motorbikes, but ended up taking a very pleasant walk there instead. The HCM Complex consists of a few buildings, including the Presidential Palace, a replica stilt house, HCM's study, and of course the Museum. The Museum was simply the weirdest place that we've been to. Apart from the newspaper cuttings, photo's and letters about HCM's beliefs there's an exhibition that can only be described as modern art. Frankly it's message was totally lost on us, possibly because it's too obscure, possibly because we're not great interpreters of art. A whole floor of the building is dedicated to abstract displays on Vietnam's history, Uncle Ho's memory, and the failure of the Americans. It's just plain bizarre.
The rest of the day was pretty uneventful, one last ice-cream, one last lap of the lake, one last meal, and one last "stool beer" for Cam's sake and we were ready to move on to another country.
The rest of the day was pretty uneventful, one last ice-cream, one last lap of the lake, one last meal, and one last "stool beer" for Cam's sake and we were ready to move on to another country.
Tuesday, October 26, 2004
Justifiably Jaded
Phill: 26/10 - We had our own little tour planned for the day, and had read that it should cost us about $30 in a taxi. We hailed one in the street, showed him our 3 destinations and he offered to do it for $30 - "Wow, that's a first," we thought. So we get to our first pagoda (Thay) which is by a river, and has a number of old and fascinating buildings around it, including a little pagoda in the middle of the water. The whole time we're there is non-stop harrasment to buy gold-leaf, incense, lotus flowers, wooden dragonflies... you name it. Worse than that, everyone wants to be your guide - when all there is to do, is look around and go up the only obvious set of stairs carved into the mountain. When you've been to around twenty temples in SEA, you pretty much know all that you're ever going to about Buddhism - so a guide wasn't necessary. Still, they follow you, offering progressively lower prices - to the point where you're thinking "If you'd just said that in the first place, we might've paid it, but now we've already seen most of the sights". We've figured out the fairly obvious factor that leads to this - which is that tourists coming over for 2 weeks on a much larger budget are happy to pay a normal Viet's week's wages for a 1 hour tour. Either way, the pagoda and surroundings was interesting and led to some lovely photo opportunities.
The second pagoda (Tay Phuong) was at the top of a long set of stone stairs, had some interesting carvings, and had an added dimension because we arrived in the middle of worship, so there was much serene chanting and bell-beating. It was spoilt a little though by the fact that one very old woman left her worship to try and sell us something - with each day it becomes very difficult to find the difference between money-grabbing and desperately poor.
It's getting on towards lunch-time, and it's time for "Taxi-Driver Hung" to start being funny with us - there was some exorbitantly expensive parking ticket given to him in a rather ostentatious fashion as we left - and then when we ask how far it is to Ba Vi National Park (our 3rd destination) he suddenly claims that we never mentioned it, and that it was $30 just for the two pagoda. Even though you get used to it, it still annoys you when it happens. Ba Vi was the first place we discussed with him, made sure he knew where it was, I mean, we even pointed to it on the map. He then starts asking for almost double to take us there. Our only guess is that he got talking to the other taxi-driver that was at the pagoda, and found out that he had foolishly quoted us the correct price. After much negotiation and posturing, he was willing to settle for $35 - which of course let us know that he was obviously trying to rip us off. We gave him a simple choice - return to Hanoi for $15, or continue with the agreed $30 fare. No surprise, he continued.
We didn't have to wait long for the next deception, as Hung tried to take us to the waterfall near Ba Vi village (a place of which Leah had carefully noted the name) instead of to the park... well Leah was right on him when he started asking directions to that, and we gave him the local name of the mountain in the park to make sure there were no further misunderstandings.
Once we get to the park, he drives us to the restaurant there, where after some time we manage to order sucessfully in Vietnamese (score!). There doesn't seem to be anything around except for the road continuing up the mountain, so Cam displays how long he and Leah have been travelling by asking the waitress how far it is to the top - no misunderstandings: "kilometre" is the same word, 7 fingers are 7 fingers, and the litle steering wheel motion with both hands means you should drive it. We return to our cab, and make to get inside when:
Hung: "No no, you walk to the top, it's not far!"
Us: "7 km is too far to walk, please drive us there"
Taxi-driver 2: "No no, it's only 2km, we don't drive up"
Leah (to taxi 2): "You just shut up"
Us (to Hung): "Just drive will you"
Sure enough it was a little over 7km to the top. We passed a rather tired and desperate looking Western family, presumably from the other taxi that had tricked them into attempting to walk it - there was no way they'd make it, and even if they did there was only one thing to do at the top (see below). Along the way, we couldn't figure out if Hung just couldn't drive hills, or if he was trying to convince us that the car couldn't make it by leaving it in as high a gear as possible until it nearly stalled and we were almost going backwards. We sat patiently, and eventually arrived at the car-park at the top. The top of the mountain hosts 1229 steps up through the forest to the summit where there is a temple dedicated to Uncle Ho (Chi Minh). It was an excellent hike, we got to see wild pigs, and had a great laugh about the events of the day. The view from the top was way too hazy to really be enjoyed, but there was a great sense of accomplishment nonetheless. A discussion about whether there really were 1229 steps lead to us counting them between us on the way down - and yup, there were and it was a bloomin' long way! We wondered what other tricks Hung would try.
The drive down took as long as the drive up - Hung just really couldn't drive hills, and left the car in 4th gear, and rode the brakes down until they started burning. Then he starts sniffing the air (about 10 minutes later than us), pulls over and starts opening the fuse-box. Cam leaps out, as he obviously has no clue and steers him to the wheel and get him to sniff... "Aaah!" he says, then for some reason tries (unsuccessfully) to open the bonnet?! We gave up and waited for the brakes to cool, after which he drove us back to Hanoi. We'd been talking at various points about how crazy the motorbikes are here in VN, and how few people wear helmets - that day we had the misfortune to see an accident that involved what looked to me to be a child of about 7 years old, killed almost certainly because she wasn't wearing a helmet. It just made us all so angry that we got pretty upset - in Vietnam 58 people are killed and over 100 injured every day in trafic accidents (population 80,000,000), how much does a helmet cost compared to a funeral?
We arrived back in Hanoi during rush-hour, which convinced us that we were definitely not taking any more moto's in our time here. Hung made one last attempt to get various road-tolls and parking fees out of us, but we'd already rounded up the bill between us, so he had plenty for that. It's strange - after attempting to rip us off once, and to trick us into missing the sight that we'd gone to see at Ba VI, he still smiled and shook our hands like we were still great friends. It's such a weird country. We chilled for a while in a coffee shop that gave us a bird's-eye view of the busiest and possibly most dangerous junction in Hanoi... no more bikes for us here, no way.
The last of our rip-off's happened that day in the hotel - we'd dropped off some laundry which they said they'd weigh when it got back as there were no scales at the hotel. It was ready, so we picked it up and asked how much it was. "20 kilo's" came the response, to which we all laughed. "No, really, how much?" we repeated. "I'll find out" he says, and calls the laundrette... "14 kilo's". This was not the day to try our patience, and Renee made it quite clear by telling him he had either better stop messing around or we'd drag him to a set of scales and discuss it there. He then weighs the bags by hand, insisting one of them was about 9kg and the other 5kg. This goes on for some time, until he realises that we are not leaving without a definite (and sensible) answer. So he begrudgingly calls the laundrette again, and they bring scales which reveal a total of 7kg of laundry - suddenly he's claiming to be Vietnam's greatest comedian, and has no idea why we couldn't see the joke. This is the way in goes in Hanoi, and we will never know if it's just a Northern thing or just that we stayed in some great places in the South. Either way, we needed to move on, and soon.
The second pagoda (Tay Phuong) was at the top of a long set of stone stairs, had some interesting carvings, and had an added dimension because we arrived in the middle of worship, so there was much serene chanting and bell-beating. It was spoilt a little though by the fact that one very old woman left her worship to try and sell us something - with each day it becomes very difficult to find the difference between money-grabbing and desperately poor.
It's getting on towards lunch-time, and it's time for "Taxi-Driver Hung" to start being funny with us - there was some exorbitantly expensive parking ticket given to him in a rather ostentatious fashion as we left - and then when we ask how far it is to Ba Vi National Park (our 3rd destination) he suddenly claims that we never mentioned it, and that it was $30 just for the two pagoda. Even though you get used to it, it still annoys you when it happens. Ba Vi was the first place we discussed with him, made sure he knew where it was, I mean, we even pointed to it on the map. He then starts asking for almost double to take us there. Our only guess is that he got talking to the other taxi-driver that was at the pagoda, and found out that he had foolishly quoted us the correct price. After much negotiation and posturing, he was willing to settle for $35 - which of course let us know that he was obviously trying to rip us off. We gave him a simple choice - return to Hanoi for $15, or continue with the agreed $30 fare. No surprise, he continued.
We didn't have to wait long for the next deception, as Hung tried to take us to the waterfall near Ba Vi village (a place of which Leah had carefully noted the name) instead of to the park... well Leah was right on him when he started asking directions to that, and we gave him the local name of the mountain in the park to make sure there were no further misunderstandings.
Once we get to the park, he drives us to the restaurant there, where after some time we manage to order sucessfully in Vietnamese (score!). There doesn't seem to be anything around except for the road continuing up the mountain, so Cam displays how long he and Leah have been travelling by asking the waitress how far it is to the top - no misunderstandings: "kilometre" is the same word, 7 fingers are 7 fingers, and the litle steering wheel motion with both hands means you should drive it. We return to our cab, and make to get inside when:
Hung: "No no, you walk to the top, it's not far!"
Us: "7 km is too far to walk, please drive us there"
Taxi-driver 2: "No no, it's only 2km, we don't drive up"
Leah (to taxi 2): "You just shut up"
Us (to Hung): "Just drive will you"
Sure enough it was a little over 7km to the top. We passed a rather tired and desperate looking Western family, presumably from the other taxi that had tricked them into attempting to walk it - there was no way they'd make it, and even if they did there was only one thing to do at the top (see below). Along the way, we couldn't figure out if Hung just couldn't drive hills, or if he was trying to convince us that the car couldn't make it by leaving it in as high a gear as possible until it nearly stalled and we were almost going backwards. We sat patiently, and eventually arrived at the car-park at the top. The top of the mountain hosts 1229 steps up through the forest to the summit where there is a temple dedicated to Uncle Ho (Chi Minh). It was an excellent hike, we got to see wild pigs, and had a great laugh about the events of the day. The view from the top was way too hazy to really be enjoyed, but there was a great sense of accomplishment nonetheless. A discussion about whether there really were 1229 steps lead to us counting them between us on the way down - and yup, there were and it was a bloomin' long way! We wondered what other tricks Hung would try.
The drive down took as long as the drive up - Hung just really couldn't drive hills, and left the car in 4th gear, and rode the brakes down until they started burning. Then he starts sniffing the air (about 10 minutes later than us), pulls over and starts opening the fuse-box. Cam leaps out, as he obviously has no clue and steers him to the wheel and get him to sniff... "Aaah!" he says, then for some reason tries (unsuccessfully) to open the bonnet?! We gave up and waited for the brakes to cool, after which he drove us back to Hanoi. We'd been talking at various points about how crazy the motorbikes are here in VN, and how few people wear helmets - that day we had the misfortune to see an accident that involved what looked to me to be a child of about 7 years old, killed almost certainly because she wasn't wearing a helmet. It just made us all so angry that we got pretty upset - in Vietnam 58 people are killed and over 100 injured every day in trafic accidents (population 80,000,000), how much does a helmet cost compared to a funeral?
We arrived back in Hanoi during rush-hour, which convinced us that we were definitely not taking any more moto's in our time here. Hung made one last attempt to get various road-tolls and parking fees out of us, but we'd already rounded up the bill between us, so he had plenty for that. It's strange - after attempting to rip us off once, and to trick us into missing the sight that we'd gone to see at Ba VI, he still smiled and shook our hands like we were still great friends. It's such a weird country. We chilled for a while in a coffee shop that gave us a bird's-eye view of the busiest and possibly most dangerous junction in Hanoi... no more bikes for us here, no way.
The last of our rip-off's happened that day in the hotel - we'd dropped off some laundry which they said they'd weigh when it got back as there were no scales at the hotel. It was ready, so we picked it up and asked how much it was. "20 kilo's" came the response, to which we all laughed. "No, really, how much?" we repeated. "I'll find out" he says, and calls the laundrette... "14 kilo's". This was not the day to try our patience, and Renee made it quite clear by telling him he had either better stop messing around or we'd drag him to a set of scales and discuss it there. He then weighs the bags by hand, insisting one of them was about 9kg and the other 5kg. This goes on for some time, until he realises that we are not leaving without a definite (and sensible) answer. So he begrudgingly calls the laundrette again, and they bring scales which reveal a total of 7kg of laundry - suddenly he's claiming to be Vietnam's greatest comedian, and has no idea why we couldn't see the joke. This is the way in goes in Hanoi, and we will never know if it's just a Northern thing or just that we stayed in some great places in the South. Either way, we needed to move on, and soon.
Monday, October 25, 2004
L'Hopital
Phill: 25/10 - We said goodbye to Fanny & Rob, and it was pretty sad seeing our group dissolve after so long together. Following several doctor's consultations (Robrecht, Fanny & Chris are all Doctors), Ren needed to go to the hosptial to get her eye checked for an infection that had been bothering her. Thanks to the Lying Planet's poor grammar, we went to a Vietnamese hospital first beliveing that it had an international department with English-speaking staff - it was terrible. A guard pointed us to the A&E section, and it resembled something out of a war movie - with cots in the reception area with injured people moaning everywhere. No-one could/would help us... it wasn't just a language thing, I mean, the hospital we were supposed to be in was just next-door, it wouldn't take much insight to realise, and point! What made it more horrific, was that the outside of the building looked a litle run-down, and anyone that has been to S-21 in Cambodia will know how sinister these Asian government style buildings look after seeing that.
So, we figured we'd try the French hospital next-door as I can remember enough French to communicate what the problem was. Lo and behold, almost every member of staff there is tri-lingual (Vietnamese, French, English). In no time at all, and for just $55, we had a friendly French Opthamologist checking her out, and confirming that it was just conjunctivitis (pink-eye). Sadly, he also gave her vision a quick test to see how the LASIK had gone, and it hasn't worked so well - granting only some of the improvement it should have, although everything has healed correctly at least.
We walked some of the way home, as we couldn't find a taxi - the walk could've taken us past a lake, but they have a fence around it, and charge you to walk past - how crazy is that - charging to look at natural sights? We went to Red Bar that night, a microbrewery serving good food, and good beer - even though they had managed somehow to run out of one of the two beers they brew on the premises!?
So, we figured we'd try the French hospital next-door as I can remember enough French to communicate what the problem was. Lo and behold, almost every member of staff there is tri-lingual (Vietnamese, French, English). In no time at all, and for just $55, we had a friendly French Opthamologist checking her out, and confirming that it was just conjunctivitis (pink-eye). Sadly, he also gave her vision a quick test to see how the LASIK had gone, and it hasn't worked so well - granting only some of the improvement it should have, although everything has healed correctly at least.
We walked some of the way home, as we couldn't find a taxi - the walk could've taken us past a lake, but they have a fence around it, and charge you to walk past - how crazy is that - charging to look at natural sights? We went to Red Bar that night, a microbrewery serving good food, and good beer - even though they had managed somehow to run out of one of the two beers they brew on the premises!?
Sunday, October 24, 2004
No Weasling Out
Phill: 24/10 - Most of us were looking for a little quiet-time, so while Rob and Fanny headed off to go shopping, and Chris and Sal went to the Museum of Ethnography, C&L and Ren and I went to FancySpa for a massage. Not before C&S checked out to find that the hotel's pre-printed check-out receipts have a "10% government tax" on them. Leah told them that there was no such tax, they laughed, and deducted the money from C&S's bill. The cheek is amazing!
I ended up getting a good waxing, and then a head and neck massage which was ok. Cam got an ok massage and a terrible attempt at sorting out some cracked skin on his feet. The girls got a not-so-great pedicure, but a pretty good massage - Renee's girl even massaged her "pectorals" for her which gave us all a great laugh. We booked our plane tickets to Laos, after much confusion from the last girl that told us the flight was at 8:25, when in fact 825 was the flight number. Availablity was also not as great as previously promised, and we ended up having to stay an extra day in Hanoi.
We grabbed a sandwich and met everyone at Fanny's Ice-Cream (I see an obsession developing) then set off looking for somewhere that does "weasel coffee". This is a Vietamese speciality where they feed coffee beans to a weasel, and then salvage them from its excrement later to make the coffee. Well... "when in Rome", eh? It turned out that one of the only places that serves it were "Trung Nyugen" - VN's version of Starbucks, you see them everywhere... but do you think we could find one now? Not for an hour anyway! Still, we got there, and got our weasel - and boy, it is strong, but very tasty. Not something we feel we could make a habit of though!
Timescales meant that C&S had to skip dinner with us to get their overnight train to Sapa, so we said goodbye to them and had some drinks in the bar to which we'd taken a liking. Cam took Rob for a "stool beer*", because unlike the rest of us, he loved getting a glass of formaldehyde for just $0.06. A few more drinks and another cool day, even if it wasn't as relaxing as it could've been.
*Stool Beer - Cam's name for the Bia Hoi in Vietnam, which is basically some people supplying a load of children's plastic stools on a street corner and an enormous keg of beer that they sell very cheaply. Tastes awful.
I ended up getting a good waxing, and then a head and neck massage which was ok. Cam got an ok massage and a terrible attempt at sorting out some cracked skin on his feet. The girls got a not-so-great pedicure, but a pretty good massage - Renee's girl even massaged her "pectorals" for her which gave us all a great laugh. We booked our plane tickets to Laos, after much confusion from the last girl that told us the flight was at 8:25, when in fact 825 was the flight number. Availablity was also not as great as previously promised, and we ended up having to stay an extra day in Hanoi.
We grabbed a sandwich and met everyone at Fanny's Ice-Cream (I see an obsession developing) then set off looking for somewhere that does "weasel coffee". This is a Vietamese speciality where they feed coffee beans to a weasel, and then salvage them from its excrement later to make the coffee. Well... "when in Rome", eh? It turned out that one of the only places that serves it were "Trung Nyugen" - VN's version of Starbucks, you see them everywhere... but do you think we could find one now? Not for an hour anyway! Still, we got there, and got our weasel - and boy, it is strong, but very tasty. Not something we feel we could make a habit of though!
Timescales meant that C&S had to skip dinner with us to get their overnight train to Sapa, so we said goodbye to them and had some drinks in the bar to which we'd taken a liking. Cam took Rob for a "stool beer*", because unlike the rest of us, he loved getting a glass of formaldehyde for just $0.06. A few more drinks and another cool day, even if it wasn't as relaxing as it could've been.
*Stool Beer - Cam's name for the Bia Hoi in Vietnam, which is basically some people supplying a load of children's plastic stools on a street corner and an enormous keg of beer that they sell very cheaply. Tastes awful.
Friday, October 22, 2004
Rock the Cat Ba
Phill: 22/10 - After a pretty good night's sleep (considering we were on a boat), Ren and I decided that we were going to take advantage of the opportunity to have a swim at dawn, even if everyone else wasn't. It was thoroughly worth it, although it did take me the best part of 5 minutes to get the nerve to dive instead of jump, and then I just couldn't get enough diving done before we had to leave.
Cat Ba island is a bit strange - it's only real population is a very rapidly growing tourist town, and that always creates a strange atmosphere. Our breakfast was in the "No Boof-Head Cafe" which I can recommend for it's simple, tasty and filling meals, then after check-in to our hotel we took a bus across the island to see some mangroves and another cave. This cave was pretty cool, because it had only fairly recently discovered, so apart from a few lights, it was undeveloped and had no other tourists. It also had loads of stalagtite formations, which thanks to the acoustics of the cave made an undescribable noise when you hit them. The guide had a spot where he played a kind of percussion-solo for us that was really unusual.
We tried to make the bus trip back to the hotel pass a little quicker with a load of singing, and eventually got everyone to join in by singing their National Anthems - or at least however much they could remember! The afternoon boat trip to Monkey Island came with a packed lunch, which more than you could eat, and was timed perfectly by our guide so that we arrived there before anyone else. That meant we got the best spot on the beach, and all the umbrellas we wanted. We got to see some monkeys, but spent most of the time swimming, singing and having a laugh. Ren, Cam, Rob and Chris all swam right the way around the nearby headland.
That evening we watched the start of a movie that C&L love (Hot Chick) before we all ate together which involved sorting out a completely messed-up order. Then most of us went on to a Kiwi bar for one drink... We got to swapping drinking games, and pretty soon it was clear that we were having more than just one drink. The funniest game by far, is a version of "Zip, Boing, Bounce" where all the words are done with a deep-south/cowboy USA accent, like "Yeeehaw, Haybarn, Whoah-back and Git down lil' black dawgie!" - you get the picture? Very amusing! As ever, the slaps game went down a treat, particularly as Cam got the hang of it and was eager to play. Much later, we "closed the bar", and stumbled home.
Cat Ba island is a bit strange - it's only real population is a very rapidly growing tourist town, and that always creates a strange atmosphere. Our breakfast was in the "No Boof-Head Cafe" which I can recommend for it's simple, tasty and filling meals, then after check-in to our hotel we took a bus across the island to see some mangroves and another cave. This cave was pretty cool, because it had only fairly recently discovered, so apart from a few lights, it was undeveloped and had no other tourists. It also had loads of stalagtite formations, which thanks to the acoustics of the cave made an undescribable noise when you hit them. The guide had a spot where he played a kind of percussion-solo for us that was really unusual.
We tried to make the bus trip back to the hotel pass a little quicker with a load of singing, and eventually got everyone to join in by singing their National Anthems - or at least however much they could remember! The afternoon boat trip to Monkey Island came with a packed lunch, which more than you could eat, and was timed perfectly by our guide so that we arrived there before anyone else. That meant we got the best spot on the beach, and all the umbrellas we wanted. We got to see some monkeys, but spent most of the time swimming, singing and having a laugh. Ren, Cam, Rob and Chris all swam right the way around the nearby headland.
That evening we watched the start of a movie that C&L love (Hot Chick) before we all ate together which involved sorting out a completely messed-up order. Then most of us went on to a Kiwi bar for one drink... We got to swapping drinking games, and pretty soon it was clear that we were having more than just one drink. The funniest game by far, is a version of "Zip, Boing, Bounce" where all the words are done with a deep-south/cowboy USA accent, like "Yeeehaw, Haybarn, Whoah-back and Git down lil' black dawgie!" - you get the picture? Very amusing! As ever, the slaps game went down a treat, particularly as Cam got the hang of it and was eager to play. Much later, we "closed the bar", and stumbled home.
Thursday, October 21, 2004
How Long to Halong
Phill: 21/10 - We'd decided that we'd had enough of Green City hotel, and that we'd get Kangaroo Cafe to look after our bags while we were in Halong Bay, so we hiked it down there early enough in the morning to get one of their fantastic breakfast before setting off. Our companions for the trip were there too, and turned out to be people that we'd seen (and even vaguely spoken to) around town in the last 2 days. The journey began with a comfortable 2 hour bus trip to Halong City, where we had lunch. Now anyone that's travelled around SE-Asia on buses learns not to expect much from restaurant stops - they're generally places that pay commission because they're out of the way and not very good, plus our meals were included in the price so we were really impressed when the best sea-food I have ever eaten turns up on the table. There was loads of it too, and I just couldn't stop eating it was so good. Even the vegetarian alternatives (that somehow I also helped to finish off) were tasty and very plentiful.
We then had a bit of a bus transfer thing going on, but were delivered promptly to the dock, where our boat was ready and waiting. For a group of 15 it was huge - there was enough spacious seating in the on-board comfortable dining area that we didn't even use all of the tables. Rooms on board for twin-sharing and plenty of space up on deck. It was brilliant. The bay is known for it's countless islands of limestone cliffs that rise out of the water, making a maze of passageways and some cool sights. Our tour headed first for a cave in one of those islands, before finding a quiet area to weigh anchor for some swim-time. The boat was 3 floors tall, but in the first 2 seconds Robrecht had taken a perfect swan dive from the top floor (we later discover he was a competitive swimmer). Pretty soon, all the boat have leapt, dived or climbed into the water from various heights. Ren also managed to seriously impress everyone (including me) with a splash-less dive from the top. All except Mo because she was in a cast from being run over by a motorbike, and me because the thought of swimming in the open sea was terrifying. Once I'd convinced myself that I could surely make it back to the boat's ladder, and once all the peer-pressure cat-calls had stopped, I figured "What the heck" and took a running jump from the top rail when no-one was looking. It was so exhilarating! The water was warm, pretty clean, and so salty that even I could tread water, which is something I've never been able to do, and it was simply amazing.
That night, we again weren't expecting too much considering they cook the food on board the boat, but we were wrong again - and the earlier record of "Best ever seafood" was beaten twice in the same day; Crabs, kingprawns, fish, marinated pork, vegetables - another huge feast. We'd been told that the phosphorescent algae in the water glows when disturbed by swimming, but most of us had been drinking and didn't want to go in, but luckily one English guy (Matt) kindly agreed to jump in for all of us - and it really is quite a cool and bizarre sight. After a load of dirnking games played in the dark on deck, complete with Cam's soon-to-become-legendary victory dance in his underpants and we all crashed out.
We then had a bit of a bus transfer thing going on, but were delivered promptly to the dock, where our boat was ready and waiting. For a group of 15 it was huge - there was enough spacious seating in the on-board comfortable dining area that we didn't even use all of the tables. Rooms on board for twin-sharing and plenty of space up on deck. It was brilliant. The bay is known for it's countless islands of limestone cliffs that rise out of the water, making a maze of passageways and some cool sights. Our tour headed first for a cave in one of those islands, before finding a quiet area to weigh anchor for some swim-time. The boat was 3 floors tall, but in the first 2 seconds Robrecht had taken a perfect swan dive from the top floor (we later discover he was a competitive swimmer). Pretty soon, all the boat have leapt, dived or climbed into the water from various heights. Ren also managed to seriously impress everyone (including me) with a splash-less dive from the top. All except Mo because she was in a cast from being run over by a motorbike, and me because the thought of swimming in the open sea was terrifying. Once I'd convinced myself that I could surely make it back to the boat's ladder, and once all the peer-pressure cat-calls had stopped, I figured "What the heck" and took a running jump from the top rail when no-one was looking. It was so exhilarating! The water was warm, pretty clean, and so salty that even I could tread water, which is something I've never been able to do, and it was simply amazing.
That night, we again weren't expecting too much considering they cook the food on board the boat, but we were wrong again - and the earlier record of "Best ever seafood" was beaten twice in the same day; Crabs, kingprawns, fish, marinated pork, vegetables - another huge feast. We'd been told that the phosphorescent algae in the water glows when disturbed by swimming, but most of us had been drinking and didn't want to go in, but luckily one English guy (Matt) kindly agreed to jump in for all of us - and it really is quite a cool and bizarre sight. After a load of dirnking games played in the dark on deck, complete with Cam's soon-to-become-legendary victory dance in his underpants and we all crashed out.
Wednesday, October 20, 2004
Little Hanoi in Big Hanoi
Phill: 19/10 - So we arrived in Hanoi, and were rudely re-introduced to big-city life with an absolute horde of taxi touts waiting at the train station. I mean, they're even on the railway platforms trying to get you to take their cabs! We got two for the right price, with the usual "You come see my hotel first?", to which we replied "No, but after if ours is no good". They also did the usual thing of taking you to the wrong hotel first, but in short, we ended up at "his" hotel (Green City) - a nice, cheap, but windowless hotel near the centre of the Old Quarter.
We decided to get ourselves booked onto a trip to the famous Halong Bay as soon as possible, and went for a place recommended by another traveller (thanks Jackie!) called Kangaroo Cafe. This Aussie-run (surprise, surprise) cafe and tour operator had the most humungous portion sizes and the food was good too. It was no shock that after checking out another 3 operators, we ended up back at KC to put ourselves on their 3 day/2 night trip.
20/10 - We had a bit of a sleep-in to make up for the train, followed by the free breakfast at our hotel - it was awful. The other guys had set out to see Ho Chin Minh's stuffed body at his Museum complex - but sadly he was on holiday in Russia (getting his annual makeover and re-stuffing). We managed to meet Chris and Sally for lunch followed by what I can only describe as an afternoon of ice-cream tasting - first with C&S, then with Cam & Leah! Fanny's Ice Cream (the cafe, not our new French/Dutch friend called Fanny) was so goooood!
Later that evening, we discovered what would become our favourite Hanoi restaurant (Little Hanoi) and met for dinner with Rob and Fanny, while C&S met other friends. We finished off the night with drinks in a bar that played the same 3 songs repeatedly, but where another big group of 8 Aussies (that we'd run into a few times before) were having their final drinks.
We decided to get ourselves booked onto a trip to the famous Halong Bay as soon as possible, and went for a place recommended by another traveller (thanks Jackie!) called Kangaroo Cafe. This Aussie-run (surprise, surprise) cafe and tour operator had the most humungous portion sizes and the food was good too. It was no shock that after checking out another 3 operators, we ended up back at KC to put ourselves on their 3 day/2 night trip.
20/10 - We had a bit of a sleep-in to make up for the train, followed by the free breakfast at our hotel - it was awful. The other guys had set out to see Ho Chin Minh's stuffed body at his Museum complex - but sadly he was on holiday in Russia (getting his annual makeover and re-stuffing). We managed to meet Chris and Sally for lunch followed by what I can only describe as an afternoon of ice-cream tasting - first with C&S, then with Cam & Leah! Fanny's Ice Cream (the cafe, not our new French/Dutch friend called Fanny) was so goooood!
Later that evening, we discovered what would become our favourite Hanoi restaurant (Little Hanoi) and met for dinner with Rob and Fanny, while C&S met other friends. We finished off the night with drinks in a bar that played the same 3 songs repeatedly, but where another big group of 8 Aussies (that we'd run into a few times before) were having their final drinks.
Sunday, October 17, 2004
Another Typical Bus-Trip
Phill: 17/10 - What is wrong with our timing!? Yup, we've got a bus trip, therefore we have a hangover... again! So, whilst we didn't feel so great, the trip was pretty amazing, as it incorporates the marble mountains, and then goes up over a mountain range along the Hai Van pass which affords amazing views over the bay and its beaches. The trip was uneventful, apart from being sat behind the most irritating and stupid couple I have ever had the misfortune to share a bus with. I'm sure that the previous night's excesses didn't help much, but there's only so much you can take from people when the guy has a personal stereo on very loudly with his eyes closed, while his (significantly) younger girlfriend sits across the bus from him screaming (progressively louder and louder) at him to pose for a photo - when he's within "tapping on the shoulder" range. Anyway...
Our trip was made significantly better by Cam and Leah, who had booked our accomodation ahead for us. When the bus pulled up outside a guesthouse, with a strict "we'll only help you with your luggage if you stay here"-policy, we were so pleased to see a guy from the hotel holding up a card with our names on it. A free-ride to the hotel, including carrying our bags to the room, and our hangovers had almost faded.
We went to eat at the LP recommended Mandarin Cafe - food ok, service frosty, but the owner is an amazing photographer and his posters added something to the place at least. We did some chores, and then bumped into C&L who had been on a tour of the Citadel. Whilst we were chatting outside, a girl of no more than 7 years old, with a toddler on her hip, came by begging. None of us give to beggars, and anyone that wants to debate that with me can do so by email if they like (grin), but Leah luckily had a cheese-spread baguette left-over so she gave that to the girl while we continued chatting. Sure enough, about 10 minutes later, we spotted the girl begging at a nearby restaurant, with no sign of the roll. Cam retraced the girl's steps, and found the roll discarded in a nearby bin. Now, if you ever meet Leah, you'll gather pretty quickly that she's not the sort of woman to let things like that happen without saying something. She went over and asked the girl what she had done with the food - and sure enough, the girl (without breaking that innocent, starving look she's perfected) claimed she'd ate it. What does a 7 year old want with money? Well, if you ever buy any postcards, single-roses, tiger balm, necklaces, etc from one of them, and then follow them, you'll see... they hand it straight to an adult - usually one that owns a shop or restaurant, and is just supplementing their income by taking advantage of these amazingly cute little asian kids. We finished that evening at Little Italy, with one good pizza, and one not so good one, and the waitresses taking their usual liking to Cam's cheekiness... and his bald head!
Our trip was made significantly better by Cam and Leah, who had booked our accomodation ahead for us. When the bus pulled up outside a guesthouse, with a strict "we'll only help you with your luggage if you stay here"-policy, we were so pleased to see a guy from the hotel holding up a card with our names on it. A free-ride to the hotel, including carrying our bags to the room, and our hangovers had almost faded.
We went to eat at the LP recommended Mandarin Cafe - food ok, service frosty, but the owner is an amazing photographer and his posters added something to the place at least. We did some chores, and then bumped into C&L who had been on a tour of the Citadel. Whilst we were chatting outside, a girl of no more than 7 years old, with a toddler on her hip, came by begging. None of us give to beggars, and anyone that wants to debate that with me can do so by email if they like (grin), but Leah luckily had a cheese-spread baguette left-over so she gave that to the girl while we continued chatting. Sure enough, about 10 minutes later, we spotted the girl begging at a nearby restaurant, with no sign of the roll. Cam retraced the girl's steps, and found the roll discarded in a nearby bin. Now, if you ever meet Leah, you'll gather pretty quickly that she's not the sort of woman to let things like that happen without saying something. She went over and asked the girl what she had done with the food - and sure enough, the girl (without breaking that innocent, starving look she's perfected) claimed she'd ate it. What does a 7 year old want with money? Well, if you ever buy any postcards, single-roses, tiger balm, necklaces, etc from one of them, and then follow them, you'll see... they hand it straight to an adult - usually one that owns a shop or restaurant, and is just supplementing their income by taking advantage of these amazingly cute little asian kids. We finished that evening at Little Italy, with one good pizza, and one not so good one, and the waitresses taking their usual liking to Cam's cheekiness... and his bald head!
Friday, October 15, 2004
The "M" Day
Phill: 15/10 - Today seemed to be full of things beginning with the letter "M". Cam had used his charms to negotiate a cab for $12 to take the 4 of us to the Cham Museum in nearby Danang, then onto the Marble Mountains and finally to one of the many beaches dubbed "China Beach" by the US Army back when they were here.
The Cham Museum was really good. Ren and I don't usually dig museums, but the ancient carvings and stutues here (combined with Cam and Leah's enthusiasm and eye for detail) made for an enjoyable time. We also had a bit of a laugh with some photo's that we just wouldn't think to do when it's only the two of us.
The Marble Mountains were surprisingly good after some lacklustre reviews by fellow travellers. These huge marble formations are the site for many Buddhist temples, Bhudda's, carvings, pagoda, and caves. The marble caves in fact were some of the highlights, and even provided even more amusement when we thought we were going to be attacked by bats so we either ran off or "made ourselves small" in fright. Are we brave or what? As we left the mountains, it threw it down with rain so much that Leah (as the only one with a coat) had to run off to get our taxi driver to come and pick us up from where we sheltered under an awning. That also meant that we decided against the beach, and just headed "home" instead.
An active day led to a huge lunch appetite, so we went for some hearty italian food, before we split up and Ren and I took a long afternoon stroll over the Japanese bridge and through Hoi An's old quarter. It was nice, but nothing to rave about.
Jackie had a suggestion for dinner that night, and we went to a place called the Mango Rooms that she'd heard about. We still have no idea what specific style of "Latin" food they served, but we do know that it was delicious - if pretty overpriced ($8/person including drinks). Some more drinks at the only bar with people in it (Tam Tam, again!) and another great day was over.
The Cham Museum was really good. Ren and I don't usually dig museums, but the ancient carvings and stutues here (combined with Cam and Leah's enthusiasm and eye for detail) made for an enjoyable time. We also had a bit of a laugh with some photo's that we just wouldn't think to do when it's only the two of us.
The Marble Mountains were surprisingly good after some lacklustre reviews by fellow travellers. These huge marble formations are the site for many Buddhist temples, Bhudda's, carvings, pagoda, and caves. The marble caves in fact were some of the highlights, and even provided even more amusement when we thought we were going to be attacked by bats so we either ran off or "made ourselves small" in fright. Are we brave or what? As we left the mountains, it threw it down with rain so much that Leah (as the only one with a coat) had to run off to get our taxi driver to come and pick us up from where we sheltered under an awning. That also meant that we decided against the beach, and just headed "home" instead.
An active day led to a huge lunch appetite, so we went for some hearty italian food, before we split up and Ren and I took a long afternoon stroll over the Japanese bridge and through Hoi An's old quarter. It was nice, but nothing to rave about.
Jackie had a suggestion for dinner that night, and we went to a place called the Mango Rooms that she'd heard about. We still have no idea what specific style of "Latin" food they served, but we do know that it was delicious - if pretty overpriced ($8/person including drinks). Some more drinks at the only bar with people in it (Tam Tam, again!) and another great day was over.
Thursday, October 14, 2004
When in Hoi An...
Phill : 14/10 - We got sent from Thanh Binh 2 (our hotel) to Thanh Binh 3 (Leah and Cam's hotel) for breakfast - discovering in the process that TB3 was cheaper and had a swimming pool. Well, we weren't going to take that, so after much confusion about whether a room was available or not (and whether we could get it for the same $12 as Cam and Leah did), we changed hotels. It was a great move, as we'd been on the road for 5 days, and a swim in the pool was a great way to unwind.
Hoi An is famed for it's clothing. You can get a fitted suit here, in Chinese Silk, for about 65 USD - the tailoring isn't as good as you'd get if you paid a lot more back home, but frankly, you can't get a decent suit for that back home, so any tailoring is a bonus. With the weight I've lost on this trip, it would be a really bad time for me to get a fitted suit - so I just opted for some tailored shirts. Renee always has trouble getting things to fit, so she got a pair of trousers, a chinese-style top, a pair of boots that finally fit her (ahem!) strong calves, and an Ao Dai made. An Ao Dai is the traditional Vitenamese dress over a pair of silk trousers, and it looks amazing.
Cam and Leah took us to a place they'd been for lunch (Miss Ly), where we had these fantatic white roses (shrimp wrapped in sheets of rice noodle, shaped like a rose), and grilled pork with veg in rice paper where you roll your own spring-roll kind of things - delicious!
Later that night, we all met in the hotel reception, where a girl called Jackie had just arrived on her own - so we invited her along to dinner with us too. We had this stunning 5 course meal for 3 dollars, followed by G&T's just around the corner from our hotel... I can see that lost weight coming back on pretty quickly at this rate!
Hoi An is famed for it's clothing. You can get a fitted suit here, in Chinese Silk, for about 65 USD - the tailoring isn't as good as you'd get if you paid a lot more back home, but frankly, you can't get a decent suit for that back home, so any tailoring is a bonus. With the weight I've lost on this trip, it would be a really bad time for me to get a fitted suit - so I just opted for some tailored shirts. Renee always has trouble getting things to fit, so she got a pair of trousers, a chinese-style top, a pair of boots that finally fit her (ahem!) strong calves, and an Ao Dai made. An Ao Dai is the traditional Vitenamese dress over a pair of silk trousers, and it looks amazing.
Cam and Leah took us to a place they'd been for lunch (Miss Ly), where we had these fantatic white roses (shrimp wrapped in sheets of rice noodle, shaped like a rose), and grilled pork with veg in rice paper where you roll your own spring-roll kind of things - delicious!
Later that night, we all met in the hotel reception, where a girl called Jackie had just arrived on her own - so we invited her along to dinner with us too. We had this stunning 5 course meal for 3 dollars, followed by G&T's just around the corner from our hotel... I can see that lost weight coming back on pretty quickly at this rate!
Tuesday, October 12, 2004
Follow The Ho Chi Minh Trail
Phill: 12/10 (cont) - We set off to cross over the mountains along the Ho Chi Minh Trail (HCMT), passing Charlie Hill - a location where some of the most ferocious fighting took place during the Vietnam War (called, rather pointedly, "The American War" by the Vietnamese). This took us to a nowhere town for another huge lunch (about $3.75 for 4 of us), where the waitress was fascinated by Renee, telling her she was very beautiful and "not too tall", which we think is meant to be a compliment!
That was our last stop, apart from a pause next to a waterfall on the HCMT for a fruit-snack-break. The HCMT is quickly becoming Vietnam's "Highway 1a" as it becomes one of the best condition roads in the country. It runs up over the main mountain-range in the Central Highlands and made for the most fantastic scenery of our trip so far. We really were one of the only cars on the road, which was cool, but a bit spooky.
Our stop that night was the worst of the trip - it's too misty to safely drive in the dark, and being this close to the equator means an almost constant 12 hours of daylight all year around. That meant that there is only one place that you can stop during this journey - and it's pretty much government-owned - 2 hotels, 2 restaurants, a police station, and about 10 government buildings. Not very friendly either.
After a bit of confusion, we ate a really good (and again, large) dinner with Hai and Dinh, before I picked his brains for loads of Vietnamese vocabulary. He didn't seem to mind - like most SE-Asians, he's pretty pleased when a Westerner actually takes the time to learn even a few words of the language. It's the hardest language I've ever attempted. Even though it shares our alphabet, and is fairly simply structured, it a lot of sounds that are difficult for English-speakers to make in the first place. It also has 6 (six!) different "tones". That means that a word pronounced exactly the same, can mean 6 different things according to the tone of your voice at the time. After that tiring, but fun trial, we turned in.
That was our last stop, apart from a pause next to a waterfall on the HCMT for a fruit-snack-break. The HCMT is quickly becoming Vietnam's "Highway 1a" as it becomes one of the best condition roads in the country. It runs up over the main mountain-range in the Central Highlands and made for the most fantastic scenery of our trip so far. We really were one of the only cars on the road, which was cool, but a bit spooky.
Our stop that night was the worst of the trip - it's too misty to safely drive in the dark, and being this close to the equator means an almost constant 12 hours of daylight all year around. That meant that there is only one place that you can stop during this journey - and it's pretty much government-owned - 2 hotels, 2 restaurants, a police station, and about 10 government buildings. Not very friendly either.
After a bit of confusion, we ate a really good (and again, large) dinner with Hai and Dinh, before I picked his brains for loads of Vietnamese vocabulary. He didn't seem to mind - like most SE-Asians, he's pretty pleased when a Westerner actually takes the time to learn even a few words of the language. It's the hardest language I've ever attempted. Even though it shares our alphabet, and is fairly simply structured, it a lot of sounds that are difficult for English-speakers to make in the first place. It also has 6 (six!) different "tones". That means that a word pronounced exactly the same, can mean 6 different things according to the tone of your voice at the time. After that tiring, but fun trial, we turned in.
Kon Tum by Day
Phill: 12/10 : What a day! We started by crossing a single-lane wooden suspension bridge to visit a village of the Bana minority people. It was pretty quiet, but obviously isn't too often visited by tourists, as the people there just stared at us (rather than shout "Hello!" (you get that a lot)), and we got to look around a bit and see them making the huge silk weavings for which they are famous. We were equally amazed by the set of stone dumbells and barbells that one of the guys had obviously carefully chiselled and balanced. In the village centre is a Roong house, which in short is a very tall, thin and long hut on stilts (made from wood, bamboo and straw) that acts as the "town hall". You learn a lot about their traditional ceremonies there, such as the drinking competition that dictates who are the second-in-command in the village. You also see ample evidence of the government's "re-education" of these people, to try and unify the country.
After getting a cow-drawn cart to unhitch so that it could back-up and let us off the bridge (!), we headed back into town to see the Seminary there. It's amazing how many religions are present in VN, and how they've just integrated them into their society. This seminary had an ethnic museum in it, where we learned more about other minority races. It was pretty interesting as they did most of it through clever pieces of art and wooden carvings. It was also hands-on, as Ren proved she could master one of their bizarre instruments - something she did better than one of the museum guides! From there, we went to a nearby wooden church that has some pretty well-done pieces of imitation stained glass, created by a British artist from pieces of differently coloured celophane. Attached to that was one of a pair of local orphanages. Most of the kids were at school, but the under 3's were there in force and after a few moments of suspicion they did the universal kid-thing and treated me like some sort of novelty climbing-frame. It's a strange shame that most of us have to be abroad or go travelling to visit places that we have plenty of at home - it was a strangely touching time there, and there's no way after visiting, that you wouldn't want to make some form of contribution. After refusing so many beggars on this trip, it was great to finally make a donation to a cause where you know how the money will be spent. They don't take donations though - there's an associated school across the road, where they teach these kids, and other disadvantaged people to weave goods that they can sell to support the orphanages. As usual in Vietnam, these items are stupidly cheap - so we asked if it was ok to buy something with a very large bill and refuse the change. That seemed to go down much better that just giving cash, and we got a memento too.
After getting a cow-drawn cart to unhitch so that it could back-up and let us off the bridge (!), we headed back into town to see the Seminary there. It's amazing how many religions are present in VN, and how they've just integrated them into their society. This seminary had an ethnic museum in it, where we learned more about other minority races. It was pretty interesting as they did most of it through clever pieces of art and wooden carvings. It was also hands-on, as Ren proved she could master one of their bizarre instruments - something she did better than one of the museum guides! From there, we went to a nearby wooden church that has some pretty well-done pieces of imitation stained glass, created by a British artist from pieces of differently coloured celophane. Attached to that was one of a pair of local orphanages. Most of the kids were at school, but the under 3's were there in force and after a few moments of suspicion they did the universal kid-thing and treated me like some sort of novelty climbing-frame. It's a strange shame that most of us have to be abroad or go travelling to visit places that we have plenty of at home - it was a strangely touching time there, and there's no way after visiting, that you wouldn't want to make some form of contribution. After refusing so many beggars on this trip, it was great to finally make a donation to a cause where you know how the money will be spent. They don't take donations though - there's an associated school across the road, where they teach these kids, and other disadvantaged people to weave goods that they can sell to support the orphanages. As usual in Vietnam, these items are stupidly cheap - so we asked if it was ok to buy something with a very large bill and refuse the change. That seemed to go down much better that just giving cash, and we got a memento too.
Monday, October 11, 2004
Kon Tum by Night
Phill: 11/10 - Like most days, we had a lot of ground to cover this day, so as we passed back through Buon Ma Thuot, we picked up more fruit and sandwiches so that we could eat lunch quickly and easily. We also grabbed some fresh cakes from a great looking bakery. There certainly was a lot of driving to do, as we only made a few stops - all brief - before we arrived at our accomodation. This including seeing Sea Lake - a large lake in an ancient volcanic crater, and lunch sitting in some family's driveway where they had a peppercorn plantation. It turned out that those cakes were really good!
That night we finished up in Kon Tum, a really strange out-of-the way place, but obviously visited by Westerners with some frequency. When Dinh told us we were staying at a family hotel, we didn't realise that it meant we were staying at a hotel calledFamily Hotel! They took us out for dinner, and it was apparent why... there were only 1 or 2 places to eat in Kon Tum, and they don't really speak much English at all. Dinh was meeting a friend that night so he left us to wander the town, with a few suggestions on where to go. Everywhere we went, little kids came running after us shouting "Hello! Hello!". Some of them even got into some sort of daring game to measure their heights against Ren. It was all good fun, but eventually got a bit tiresome. There's not really anything to do in Kon Tum at night (we pretty much walked every street), so we wound up at the (only) cafe, across the street from our hotel and had a few drinks. Hai, Dihn, Dihn's friend, and his friend's associate (from Monaco) funnily enough ended-up there too, so we had a few drinks before crashing out.
That night we finished up in Kon Tum, a really strange out-of-the way place, but obviously visited by Westerners with some frequency. When Dinh told us we were staying at a family hotel, we didn't realise that it meant we were staying at a hotel calledFamily Hotel! They took us out for dinner, and it was apparent why... there were only 1 or 2 places to eat in Kon Tum, and they don't really speak much English at all. Dinh was meeting a friend that night so he left us to wander the town, with a few suggestions on where to go. Everywhere we went, little kids came running after us shouting "Hello! Hello!". Some of them even got into some sort of daring game to measure their heights against Ren. It was all good fun, but eventually got a bit tiresome. There's not really anything to do in Kon Tum at night (we pretty much walked every street), so we wound up at the (only) cafe, across the street from our hotel and had a few drinks. Hai, Dihn, Dihn's friend, and his friend's associate (from Monaco) funnily enough ended-up there too, so we had a few drinks before crashing out.
Sunday, October 10, 2004
Jaunt Through The Jungle
Phill: 10/10 - That morning we set off for Buon Mat Thuot, where Dinh took us around the markets to buy some fruit for a lunch on-the-move. Next stop was Drapsay waterfall, which was really nice thanks to the hour or so trek that you could take through the surrounding hardwood rainforest, and thanks to the Vietnamese family that came over and gave us a spare baguette that they had going - and then took our photo! We really were getting enough off the beaten track to become a novelty!
Later that afternoon we arrived at Yok Don national park where a local guide has some straw-hut accomodation, a restaurant, and some domesticated elephants. He also took us on a rather overpriced trek, with the possibility of spending even more USD leading to an elephant ride at the end. I say "trek", but "battle with the undergrowth" would probably be a better description! It started well, with the Guide (Vo) taking us along some jungle paths and teaching us some really cool stuff about the plants that grow there, the animals, and the ecology. We visited a minority village where he has some friends, including the (now) old man that caught the elephants, where we drank rice-wine, ate freshly picked and toasted cashew-nuts and saw how they lived and hunted. It was great to see kids that had a bit of a look at us, and then went back to playing their own games - rather than shouting "Hello!" and holding their hands out for money or sweets (candies). The village itself was so small and dispersed that we only realised we'd seen it after we'd already left it when the old-man took us to his canoe to cross the river. This canoe was impressive, as it was a huge tree-truck that had been hollowed by hand, and formed into a pretty neat boat.
The next part of the trek wasn't so much fun, as it involved us leaving the paths, and traipsing through the undergrowth of the Vietnamese jungle. We spent so much time watching out for snakes and leftover ordnance, and snagging our clothes on plants, and walking through enormous spider-webs that it was only when we finally got back to a path that we realised just how beautiful our surroundings were. It's a shame that Vo felt the need to do this, as it added nothing to the tour, and actually made it worse. We returned most of the way to the village by canoe, and crossed a bamboo suspension bridge spanning the point where one river splits into seven just as the sun was setting over the water, which made for a nice finish to the day. We would probably have ridden the elephants in the end, despite the cost, but they had already gone off to bed in the jungle, so we shrugged it off to fate.
After a cold shower we went to our accomodation, a stilt house made of bamboo and straw, with a squat toilet, matress and mossie-net. I wasn't sure I'd get much sleep, but it was certainly going to be novel. Dinner that night revolved around Vo and Dinh ordering way too much food for us again, and then us drinking lots of rice-wine and singing the evening away, until we were so exhausted that we passed out (quite early in the evening) and slept very soundly.
Later that afternoon we arrived at Yok Don national park where a local guide has some straw-hut accomodation, a restaurant, and some domesticated elephants. He also took us on a rather overpriced trek, with the possibility of spending even more USD leading to an elephant ride at the end. I say "trek", but "battle with the undergrowth" would probably be a better description! It started well, with the Guide (Vo) taking us along some jungle paths and teaching us some really cool stuff about the plants that grow there, the animals, and the ecology. We visited a minority village where he has some friends, including the (now) old man that caught the elephants, where we drank rice-wine, ate freshly picked and toasted cashew-nuts and saw how they lived and hunted. It was great to see kids that had a bit of a look at us, and then went back to playing their own games - rather than shouting "Hello!" and holding their hands out for money or sweets (candies). The village itself was so small and dispersed that we only realised we'd seen it after we'd already left it when the old-man took us to his canoe to cross the river. This canoe was impressive, as it was a huge tree-truck that had been hollowed by hand, and formed into a pretty neat boat.
The next part of the trek wasn't so much fun, as it involved us leaving the paths, and traipsing through the undergrowth of the Vietnamese jungle. We spent so much time watching out for snakes and leftover ordnance, and snagging our clothes on plants, and walking through enormous spider-webs that it was only when we finally got back to a path that we realised just how beautiful our surroundings were. It's a shame that Vo felt the need to do this, as it added nothing to the tour, and actually made it worse. We returned most of the way to the village by canoe, and crossed a bamboo suspension bridge spanning the point where one river splits into seven just as the sun was setting over the water, which made for a nice finish to the day. We would probably have ridden the elephants in the end, despite the cost, but they had already gone off to bed in the jungle, so we shrugged it off to fate.
After a cold shower we went to our accomodation, a stilt house made of bamboo and straw, with a squat toilet, matress and mossie-net. I wasn't sure I'd get much sleep, but it was certainly going to be novel. Dinner that night revolved around Vo and Dinh ordering way too much food for us again, and then us drinking lots of rice-wine and singing the evening away, until we were so exhausted that we passed out (quite early in the evening) and slept very soundly.
Friday, October 08, 2004
Several Thousand Words
They say that a picture speaks a thousand words, so to make up for the lag of blog entries recently (which is good, because we've been busy!) please enjoy the following new pictures from our travels:
Kyoto(2) - Japan(1) - Japan(2) - Thailand(1)
Kyoto(2) - Japan(1) - Japan(2) - Thailand(1)
Thursday, October 07, 2004
Easy Ranting
Phill : 7/10 - The near-legendary Easy Riders of Dalat, we feel, have lost their edge. Many people we know that have been to Vietnam, and even the Lonely Planet have only good things to say about these guys - but I feel that the "Supply & Demand Curve" has driven them to extreme. We admire what the Easy Riders have done, and believe that they still provide great tours... but they're pricing themselves out of the market, and seem to no longer be happy if you try and take anything less than 5 days with them. Constant assurances that you "wouldn't see the real Vietnam*", or that a 2 or 3 days trip was "no good". Their trips are well outside of the range of the Budget Traveller, and they use their book of fantastic testimonials from previous customers (usually from your home town) as very powerful adverts to get you to part with your cash. With all the recommendations we've had I was about ready to sign up, but with the price of $250 per person for a 5-day trip to Hoi An, we wanted some time to look through our figures and talk about it... good job we did! When away from the high-pressure sales environment, we realised that neither of us particularly fancied 5-days on the back of a bike come rain or shine. Ren also hadn't had as enjoyable an experience with her Easy Rider as the rest of us, and wasn't keen. We decided to check for an alternative, and within seconds found a highly-recommended place that provided a jeep, driver, and English-speaking guide for just $175. Decision made, and the trip that followed proved it was a good decision.
*That's another thing that's driving us nuts - "The Real Vietnam". We've heard it in most countries - people saying that the capital isn't part of a country, or that unless you go out into the middle of nowhere and visit an ethnic minority at their home, then you haven't seen the real country. We understand the sentiment, but a capital often reflects extremes of a culture that you might not appreciate elsewhere. Also - by the very definition of the word, a "minority people" means that they aren't really representative of the country either, just a small part of it, right? Don't get us wrong, you do have to get out into the countryside, and see the more simple lifestyles to get an overall view of a place - but surely to be balanced you also need to see cities and ethnic majorities too? Rant over.
*That's another thing that's driving us nuts - "The Real Vietnam". We've heard it in most countries - people saying that the capital isn't part of a country, or that unless you go out into the middle of nowhere and visit an ethnic minority at their home, then you haven't seen the real country. We understand the sentiment, but a capital often reflects extremes of a culture that you might not appreciate elsewhere. Also - by the very definition of the word, a "minority people" means that they aren't really representative of the country either, just a small part of it, right? Don't get us wrong, you do have to get out into the countryside, and see the more simple lifestyles to get an overall view of a place - but surely to be balanced you also need to see cities and ethnic majorities too? Rant over.
Easy Riding
Phill : 7/10 - Sometimes it's great to follow hotel chain recommendations. The Dreams hotel in Dalat was really nice, and the woman there gave us free breakfast because we were switching to there that night. You don't have to look for a group called the Dalat Easy Riders - they find you, and they don't let go. They're a group of motorbike riders most of whom speak good English that act as guides, bike taxi's and translators. They're often cited as the best way to get away from the tourist trail that everyone follows up the coast of Vietnam - which is good, but gets a bit... well... "Western". We'd booked a day tour around Dalat with them, that basically involved seeing all the sights that Dalat had to offer in one day. It was good... really good. So good that Cam and Leah left the next day because they were done. There is drawback though - see the next post.
Their trip was great, it covered:
- Crazy House - a house where an "artist" woman has created a hotel with rooms that are themed around animals (bear, eagle, kangaroo, etc). It's the ultimate in tacky, and hugely entertaining to see, so long as you approach it with the right mindset.
- Dragon Temple (Pagoda)
- A Coffee Plantation, which was really interesting.
- Chicken Village, an ethnic minority village, that's become a bit touristy. It's named after the huge concrete chicken that's there?!
- Tiger waterfall
- Lunch at a restaurant with a fantastic view, but a stroppy waitress that tried to ignore us.
- A Pagoda above a lake with fantátic gardens
- Summer Place of the king, which was interesting at least in that it showed what was considered as the height of luxury here.
After the tour, and the hard-sell, we went back to our room to discuss taking a 5 day tour with the Easy Riders and go up through the Central Highlands with them, instead of following all the other Westerners. I then discover that Renee had a pretty uncommunicative driver, and hated being on the back of the bike all day, so time for plan B. Luckily, there was one. A company called Dalat Holidays runs the same tour, in a comfy Jeep, for $75 LESS per person that the Easy Riders, so that was that.
We went out to book it the dark, because the electricity went out... it does that a fair bit here. Luckily we found a place to eat that had gas, and had a cool meal in the dark, that got took over by an additional 2 Aussie couples - which was fun.
Added excitement was caused by a raging fire in a cloth-shop, and that was pretty much a full day.
Their trip was great, it covered:
- Crazy House - a house where an "artist" woman has created a hotel with rooms that are themed around animals (bear, eagle, kangaroo, etc). It's the ultimate in tacky, and hugely entertaining to see, so long as you approach it with the right mindset.
- Dragon Temple (Pagoda)
- A Coffee Plantation, which was really interesting.
- Chicken Village, an ethnic minority village, that's become a bit touristy. It's named after the huge concrete chicken that's there?!
- Tiger waterfall
- Lunch at a restaurant with a fantastic view, but a stroppy waitress that tried to ignore us.
- A Pagoda above a lake with fantátic gardens
- Summer Place of the king, which was interesting at least in that it showed what was considered as the height of luxury here.
After the tour, and the hard-sell, we went back to our room to discuss taking a 5 day tour with the Easy Riders and go up through the Central Highlands with them, instead of following all the other Westerners. I then discover that Renee had a pretty uncommunicative driver, and hated being on the back of the bike all day, so time for plan B. Luckily, there was one. A company called Dalat Holidays runs the same tour, in a comfy Jeep, for $75 LESS per person that the Easy Riders, so that was that.
We went out to book it the dark, because the electricity went out... it does that a fair bit here. Luckily we found a place to eat that had gas, and had a cool meal in the dark, that got took over by an additional 2 Aussie couples - which was fun.
Added excitement was caused by a raging fire in a cloth-shop, and that was pretty much a full day.
Tuesday, October 05, 2004
Tour of Duty
Phill : 4/10 & 5/10 - Ren had come down with a bit of a cold, and we fancied an easy day anyway so we took it easy (and hence all the blog updates around that time). On the 5th, even though the sights in Saigon aren't really that interesting, we thought we should have a look a little further from our hotel, and went on an ad-hoc walking tour. This covered the Markets, Notre Dame Cathedral, the Post Office (which is surprisingly interesting), an expensive coffee break, the War Remnants Museum and a hair-raising walk back during rush-hour.
The War Remnants Museum is strange, although it's not our thing, the guns and vehicles there are quite interesting and make for some good photo's. What's more interesting, is that the place used to be called something like "A Display of Atrocities Committed by the Americans"... talk about not pulling punches! Some of the sentiment still remains, with some pretty unpleasant pictures and displays. By far and away the most interesting exhibit though, is a dedication put together in memory of the photo-journalists of the time. This makes for some pretty amazing pictures on display, that anyone with the vaguest interest in photography would enjoy. Sadly, it also recounts the date and circumstances of the artists' deaths.
Rush hour here is insane, lanes, lights, and laws mean nothing to these people, and with more motorbikes than I've ever seen in my life in one place it makes for some interesting times crossing the roads.
The War Remnants Museum is strange, although it's not our thing, the guns and vehicles there are quite interesting and make for some good photo's. What's more interesting, is that the place used to be called something like "A Display of Atrocities Committed by the Americans"... talk about not pulling punches! Some of the sentiment still remains, with some pretty unpleasant pictures and displays. By far and away the most interesting exhibit though, is a dedication put together in memory of the photo-journalists of the time. This makes for some pretty amazing pictures on display, that anyone with the vaguest interest in photography would enjoy. Sadly, it also recounts the date and circumstances of the artists' deaths.
Rush hour here is insane, lanes, lights, and laws mean nothing to these people, and with more motorbikes than I've ever seen in my life in one place it makes for some interesting times crossing the roads.
Sunday, October 03, 2004
Tunnel Rats
Phill : 3/10 - Well we did it again. Why is it that we always seem to get a hangover on the days that we have to get up early? We left at 8:00 in the morning, driving about 2 hours outside of HCMC to Tay Ninh to see the Cao Dai Holy See temple. Cao Dai is a bizarre mix of a few religions, where they kind of took the bits they liked of both Eastern and Western ideologies and made something new and pretty popular. The temple reflects this in it's mix of architecture - the use of bright colours (pink, blue, yellow, you name it) on columns wrapped by oriental dragons, leading to a star-covered ceiling; the symbol of the all-seeing-eye on almost every surface, and so on. The worshippers all dress in formal robes, with colours and armbands indicating their rank or function - it's all quite cult-ish really. We went with Delta Adventure Tours, and would certainly recommend them for their expert timing - they gave us just the right amount of time to look around before the Cao Dai ceremony started, and we left just as the ceremony was starting to get a bit boring. Neat! ;-)
We spent the afternoon at Cu Chi, a district where the Viet Cong fighters created a network of cramped underground tunnels from which to fight the US and Southern Vietnamese armies. There's a long history here, particularly as the Americans unknowingly placed one of their bases right on top of it, and later carpet-bombed the area in an attempt to defeat the VC. They've done a pretty good job of making this a tourist attraction by showing you how the whole tunnel system worked, how the guerilla's used clever but simple traps (often made from the US bomb shrapnel) and they also have a wide selection of big guns for you to fire at paper targets. Big guns aren't really mine or Ren's "thing" - so we gave that a miss, but it was fun to watch. You later get to go down a reconstructed section of tunnels, so that you can experience the cramped, hot conditions these people were living in for months on end. It's unpleasant, but fun, and many people climb out at the first exit... although we were amazed to see that the heel-wearing, carefully made-up Japanese girl stuck it out to the end - shoes in hand! Good on ya, girl!
Our trip was made really interesting by our guide, who was a non-combatant during the war, but had first-hand knowledge of the area and history. He even showed us a red dollar bill, one of many such "US Army Certificates of Payment" that were issued during the war and later destroyed. It's interesting how much you learn about a country and it's history when you travel there... all in all, a good day.
We spent the afternoon at Cu Chi, a district where the Viet Cong fighters created a network of cramped underground tunnels from which to fight the US and Southern Vietnamese armies. There's a long history here, particularly as the Americans unknowingly placed one of their bases right on top of it, and later carpet-bombed the area in an attempt to defeat the VC. They've done a pretty good job of making this a tourist attraction by showing you how the whole tunnel system worked, how the guerilla's used clever but simple traps (often made from the US bomb shrapnel) and they also have a wide selection of big guns for you to fire at paper targets. Big guns aren't really mine or Ren's "thing" - so we gave that a miss, but it was fun to watch. You later get to go down a reconstructed section of tunnels, so that you can experience the cramped, hot conditions these people were living in for months on end. It's unpleasant, but fun, and many people climb out at the first exit... although we were amazed to see that the heel-wearing, carefully made-up Japanese girl stuck it out to the end - shoes in hand! Good on ya, girl!
Our trip was made really interesting by our guide, who was a non-combatant during the war, but had first-hand knowledge of the area and history. He even showed us a red dollar bill, one of many such "US Army Certificates of Payment" that were issued during the war and later destroyed. It's interesting how much you learn about a country and it's history when you travel there... all in all, a good day.
Saturday, October 02, 2004
Bio Update 1
As a laugh, we thought we'd add a bio at occasional intervals:
Phill
Start Weight: 224 lbs / 102 Kg (16 stone)
Current Weight: 209 lbs / 95 Kg (14 st 13 lbs) due to illness
Favourite. Place: Kyoto, Japan
Least Fav. Place: Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Days on Toliet: 15
Favourite. Beer: Kirin (Japan) / Beer Chang (Thailand)
Least Fav. Beer: Any Chinese Canned Beer
Max.Mozzie Bites: 9
(in 24 hours)
Ren
Start Weight: 65 Kg ( 143 lbs)
Current Weight: 63 Kg (~138 lbs) due to Khmer food
Favourite. Place: Beppu, Japan
Least Fav. Place: Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Days on Toliet: 2
Favourite. Beer: Beer Laos / Beer Chang (Thailand)
Least Fav. Beer: Baltika, Russia
Max.Mozzie Bites: 4
(in 24 hours)
Phill
Start Weight: 224 lbs / 102 Kg (16 stone)
Current Weight: 209 lbs / 95 Kg (14 st 13 lbs) due to illness
Favourite. Place: Kyoto, Japan
Least Fav. Place: Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Days on Toliet: 15
Favourite. Beer: Kirin (Japan) / Beer Chang (Thailand)
Least Fav. Beer: Any Chinese Canned Beer
Max.Mozzie Bites: 9
(in 24 hours)
Ren
Start Weight: 65 Kg ( 143 lbs)
Current Weight: 63 Kg (~138 lbs) due to Khmer food
Favourite. Place: Beppu, Japan
Least Fav. Place: Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Days on Toliet: 2
Favourite. Beer: Beer Laos / Beer Chang (Thailand)
Least Fav. Beer: Baltika, Russia
Max.Mozzie Bites: 4
(in 24 hours)
Friday, October 01, 2004
A Note on Cambodia
Phill : 1/10 - Now that our time in Cambodia is at an end, we kind of feel we should comment on our previous postings. It's hard, because we really want to like everywhere we go, or at least to find positive things to say about it, but with Cambodia it's really tough. We have to admit that it didn't get a fair "crack of the whip" with us - probably because we only visited the two most tourist-victimising places in the country. We're sure that there are places that are beautiful and unspoilt - where the children aren't used to Westerners handing out money, so they don't ask or where people are altruistically kind and friendly. We just didn't get to see any of that. Partly, remember that posts complaining about something are usually easier to write, and often make for more amusing reading. "sCambodia" is our little joke to get us through each day where every 5 yards someone treats us like a moving ATM instead of a person.
In short - don't be put off by our commentaries - but do bear in mind that in Vietnam the boy wearing just 1 item of clothing, that leads you by the hand to the toilet in a restaurant doesn't stand there with his hand out saying "1 dollah".
In short - don't be put off by our commentaries - but do bear in mind that in Vietnam the boy wearing just 1 item of clothing, that leads you by the hand to the toilet in a restaurant doesn't stand there with his hand out saying "1 dollah".
