Vietnam

10/10/06: Nha Trang to HCM City (aka Saigon)
WHY DON’T WE LEARN?? : Bus + Vietnam don’t work well together… our 7 hour journey expanded into a near 12 hour nightmare, yet again. Although spacious, we had our very own 60 year old (as she loved to express on numerous occasions - via sign language) Vietnamese stalker! She was traveling with her sister from Nha Trang to her home village on the outskirts of Saigon. At first we thought her nosey-ness was just innocent curiosity, as we did appear to be the only foreigners on the bus. She was sitting in the seat in front of us and kept turning around and smiling. Once Wayne had moved to some spare seats to try and sleep, she made the most of this golden opportunity: quickly slipping into the seat next to me and started trying to communicate (obviously she spoke NO English). At first I thought she was quite sweet and foolishly told her where we were staying (this later turned out to be one of the worst mistakes I have EVER made as she got fellow passengers to translate that she wanted to meet us at 9am outside out hotel the next day!)….but before I realized how psychotic she was I attempted to play along with her conversation and got the gist of what she was trying to say: 1. She was 60 – and how old were we? 2. Where were we from? 3. She’d had an American boyfriend (I assumed during the War) who had promised to return back from the US to marry her, but then never did (now we can empathize with him!) Following this revelation, she had a quick glance over her shoulder to make sure no-one else was looking and then proceeded to roll up her trouser leg (!!!) revealing a self-induced tattoo of the name ‘ANDY’ (which I assumed was this American lover…) She carried on trying to ask questions about our family and then kept saying ‘babyson babyson…’ whilst pointing at Wayne…we later found out from a girl who spoke a little English, that she wanted to adopt us!!! Hahaha. I truly believe that Wayne reminder her of the long lost American soldier, which is why this double infatuation materialized. Anyway, since she wouldn’t stop talking (and I had been sitting next to her for over 2 hours) I - following Wayne’s advice - tried to read my book. This didn’t work – she kept tapping me on the leg; grabbing my hand, kissing it and then stroking my cheek!! I was getting soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo irritated! When it reached 5.15pm she actually grabbed my book out of my hand indicating that the light was too poor to read in. To make matters worse she had been spitting grape seeds onto my foot for the entire journey! To cut a very long story short we managed to persuade her not to turn up outside our hotel the following day, in exchange for her telephone number, home address and the promise of a phone call and visit as soon as we returned to Saigon. Thankfully we failed to mention that our return would certainly not be within her lifetime….harsh but I think fair! Under any other circumstance we could have politely sneaked away, but in the cramped and confined environment of a Vietnamese bus there was No escape – hence it was to our great relief when our teary eyed stalker reached her stop and reluctantly left us to continue our journey.

By the time we reached our hotel they had assumed we were a ‘no show’ and had given our room to someone else! Fortunately they had a ‘sister’ hotel across the road which had a room available. This worked in our favour as the hotel was fab – breakfast and dinner was included in the price of our room (which was on par with any other accommodation we had stayed in!) The hotel was also immaculately clean (another big PLUS) as guests had to remove their shoes before going upstairs.

11/10/06: Cu Chi Tunnels
Signed up to a trip to the Cu Chi Tunnels. During the War this area supported the Vietcong (VC), who along with the local villagers quite literally dug themselves out of harms way - creating a massive tunnel network of over 250km and spread over 3 different levels! Tunnels were at places as small as 80cm high and 80com wide - although they have now been widened to accommodate (FATTER - as our guide continually reminded us) western tourists.

Our tour guide was a bit of an odd character - born locally in Saigon, moved to the US with his father in the 40s and therefore fought (to his shame - well so he now says) for the US Navy. He has been shunned by his country, and although a trained Dr can't work here - the only job he can get - ironically - is as a tour guide around the Cu Chi Tunnels - the location he fought at during the war?!? Wasn't entirely sure whether to believe him. He also, irritatingly (is that a word?!?) kept asking us if we could understand him as he doesn't talk English: only American (very funny joke..)

The day was really interesting: we saw numerous booby traps used by the Vietnamese and we were some of the only people (brace enough) to crawl through a small section of the tunnels - very HOT, SWEATY, CLAUSTROPHOBIC and PITCH BLACK - we couldn’t see anything and kept bumping into the person in fronts bum! haha. Apologies in advance for the revealing pictures you will see of me in the tunnels - I didn't realise how far you can see down my top whilst crawling! Wayne could have told me!

Wayne also paid to shoot 10 rounds on an AK47 - the noise was CRAZY! It was incredibly loud - I jumped back everytine he fired. He loved it.

12/10/06

Explored Saigon: Reunification House, Cathedral, Saigon Zoo (very cramped, inhumane cages - best feature (hence photos) = crocodile pits) and War Remnants Museum (which was excellent.)

Eve: flew to Siem Reap, Cambodia (much better than the usual bus - on;y 45 mins!) Hotel was basic, but can't really complain for 2 GBP a night. Major concern was the bathroom, which in a word was 'filthy.' Oh and the wholes in the wall - v anxious re: insects, hence we battled with the mosquito net all through the night - it kept falling off the hook (lamp shade) during the night and the frame landed on our heads on numerous occasions - very annoying! Also, realised that most men in cambodia are arrogant, chauvinistic twats who refuse to deal with women – this was a big mistake on their part as they were left to deal with Wayne – who didn’t really know what they were on about half the time!! (hahah – he told me to write that!!) Well that is a generalisation, but we did meet a few of those characters.

Anyway, I have waffled on a lot so I will continue this blog in a few hours, after we have refuled....at moment in an internet cafe in Vientiane, Laos...be back later....

Not the most exciting of entries but here goes....

Hoi An is a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site; primarily because the towns’ diverse architecture (Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese + European) managed to escape war damage. It is full of traditional old wooden shop fronts; making it an enjoyable place to spend copious amounts of money...unfortunately we did! We both invested in a tailor made suit (completed in less than 24 hours!), tailor made shoes, various souvenirs and refreshments in-between fittings (see dragon fruit picture – has anyone else ever seen this before? So cool – its got a bright pink rim when you cut it open and the fruit is white with tiny black seeds – a mix between watermelon and kiwi).

Aside from shopping we also managed to hire a scooter and visit the beach (which has been damaged by the typhoon and was therefore not as picturesque as it would have been the previous week). However, this worked to our advantage as the beach was deserted - the only people around were local women trying to sell anything and everything: from pineapples to pringles, backrubs to bracelets!! I opted for a french manicure (beth you should be proud!) which only cost 1GBP.

We also decided to do an excursion to My Son - a World Heritage Site of listed ruins created by the Cham people in about 400AD, and also home to a number of unexploded mines. This trip was, in a word, 'crap'. The tour guide didn't tell us anything about the ruins, so to us they just appeared to be a pile of bricks put together without cement. Through our cynicism we did however meet a like-minded couple, who we have since been out with a couple of times (see pics: dan = guy with curly hair/ laura = girl with blonde hair). They are doing a similar trip so they will possibly feature in a few of these blogs down the line...

The last thing to mention about Hoi An is the crazy autumn full moon festival that was going on from the eve we arrived until the eve we left (yet again immaculate timing!) The festival seemed to be a Vietnamese version of Halloween: kids dressed up as dragons and danced around to the beat of a drum for hours on end, trying to entice money from tourists and elders...day in day out. The first night we thought it was quite interesting, by the fourth I had a constant headache. It did however highlight another cultural difference: where as in the UK we would never dream of allowing begging kids into restaurants to annoy our customers while they eat, in Vietnam it is completely fine - they can annoy customers so much that they actually leave before ordering! haha

After 4 days in Hoi An we took a night bus to Nha Trang (suprisingly uneventful: bareable this time, although the coach did break down at 3am - flat tyre. I was amazed that the driver managed to find somewhere open at that time in the morning to sort it out - but he did!) Nha Trang has a great night life - we ended up staying out last night until 4am (a GREAT achievement for me these days - as I'm usually falling asleep by 10.30pm!) Its amazing how many people you meet from previous destinations along the way - a total of 8 of us ended up in the same bar in Nha Trang last night: small world.

The beach in Nha Trang is beautiful, but we havent found that much to do during the day. The blue and red boats in the pictures are unique to this town: eyes have been painted on the sides to 'spot fish'. We plan to look around a bit more tomorrow and will then move on to Saigon (HCM City) on Tuesday...

I will try and put the pics on now, if not tomorrow, so keep checking out the site. Sorry for not including any in these blogs - it just takes far to long to upload each photo individually.

Hope everyone is well and I hope the travel tales are a bit more exciting next time...although this blog is pretty dull we have in fact enjoyed Hoi An and Nha Trang...v odd!

Take Care, E and W xxx

1/10/06 - left Hanoi (finally!) at 7.30pm and took another nightmare journey: 14 hour night bus (complete with its own fully functioning shower - aka leaky roof) to Hue. The driver was a mad man (visions of the film Speed) who refused to take passengers luggage off at their desired stops, meaning that numerous tourists ended up in the completely wrong destination! The toilet stops were equally as grotty as the bus and I managed to refrain from using the toilet for over 14 hours - wayne was v impressed! An example of the drivers crazyness: he loaded all of the luggae onto the back seats of the bus, and when he finally realised that there werent enough seats he proceeded to chuck the luggae out of the window, onto the road!! I was worried for the entire journey as to whether the bags had been loaded back onto the bus...

Once we arrived in Hue the driver, as expected, tried to drive off with waynes bag still on the bus! Their mentalities here are so odd - what do they think we are going to do?!? just let them???? Anyway, we were dropped off at the Ninh Binh hotel: our home for the proceeding 48 hours: v grim experience...

Everything in Hue had been shut down in preparation for the typhoon so there was very little to do. We found a bar that eve, had some food/drinks and then came back to the hotel. That eve it started raining heavily, but when we woke up the next day (after very little sleep - paranoia re: the stability of the hotel fed by rattely windows) all of the roads, pavements and shops/houses on street level had been flooded with filthy water. The wind had been howling all night: trees had been torn up, pilans were down and pretty much all the cheaper constructed buildings had been destroyed. Very sad. Rumour: it was the worst storm since 1985 - what timing we have! Wayne - big heart - was the only person who went out to help the local men clear the trees and electricity lines from the roads whilst the storm was still blowing. He nearly got decapitated by a flying mashettie (spelling?!?) As you can see from the photos he was drenched!! All of the hotel staff were calling him a hero - hahah - i wouldn't go that far..he was starting to develop a bit of a big head!

With no electricity, we were held hostage by the storm and spent the next 1.5 days, sitting in candle light talking to some fellow brits. By the end of the first night we had run out of beer and bread (I blame the EXTREMELY annoying american guy, who had no concept of decibels; spouting crap the entire evening and drinking so much that he was sick into the flood - and then nearly fell into his own vomit - yuck!)The only meal we had that day was noodle soup (twice!) Luckily it was quite nice - even wayne enjoyed it.

We didn't really get to see much of Hue - by luck we checked with the bus operator Mon am to see when we could get out of Hue and they said that afternoon, so we looked at the Imperial City (see canons and storm damage photos etc) for about an hour and then went back to pack our stuff. However, our first encounter with a snake (albeit dead) was in Hue - it was lying on the pavement as we crossed over a bridge - see pic.

Another bus journey - this time to Hoi An, and super organised. The guy was obsessed with checking our tickets - we must have got our receipt/non-existent ticket (as it still hasnt been issued to us) out of our bag at least 5 times! Journey was much more comfortable though, the only prob was - as always - at the end of our journey when we were told that the bus had broken down - such a lie - so that we HAD to stay at the hotel it had conveniently pulled up at rather than our chosen hostel. Since we tried to get a taxi from the hotel they offered us a room for $4 a night! We couldnt refuse. It was a bit shabby though, and so the following morning we made our way to the hostel I am sitting in now - free internet access and swimming pool - perfect! Only prob - rich - is no skype and no headphones.

Anyway, wondered around Hoi An today - pretty place but yet again lots of storm damage - but loads of shops. Wayne has ordered a tailor made suit for $45 (US) which he will send bk to the UK. 2moro we plan to hit the beach - hard life....

Missing you all - keep sending us updates of life in general

E and W xx

From Hanoi we took the night train (this time a 4 berth, soft sleeper so it was a lot more comfortable) to Lao Cai, got up at 4.30am and took a very cramped minibus to Sapa. We had booked a trekking tour with a guide and a small group of other tourists, which was just as well as Sapa itself is nothing special: v small with NOTHING to do.

Hotel was dreadful, arrived about 8am and there was no available room, despite the fact that we were due to start a trek at 9.15am. As you will all know, I refused to go anywhere until I'd had a shower so they eventually gave in and gave us a key. Opened the door and the room hadnt been cleaned - sheets were all falling off the bed, rubbish everywhere - disgusting!! After numerous attempts to usher the maids into our room we finally were able to meet the group downstairs at 9.30 (the food in the hotel was also vile - just thought i'd add that...)

The first trek was ok - very very hot and we only visited Cat Cat village; home of the Black Hmong people. Bit touristy: they were all trying to sell us pillow cases, bags, bracelets etc etc, but I loved going inside their homes - about 15 people share one shack - very basic with 2 seperate fires - one for maize, rice and veg and the other for animal. ALL the huts did however boast their very own colour tv!! The most entertaining part of the day was the korean couple in our group. The women turned up for the trek: dolled up with high heel shoes, white gloves and a white sun hat?!? She looked ridiculous! They walked 5 mins down the road, decided it wasn't for them and hired a motorbike...What did they think they were getting when they signed up for a trek??

That eve we met up with a guy who had been sleeping in the bed next to me in our dorm in Hanoi - small backpackers world! Went to a bar near to the hotel where u could make ur own playlist - pretty cool. I played darts and drank tiger beer - what a lad! (well wayne thought it was funny, hence the pic - see snapfish)

We both really enjoyed the next day - it was hard work: 20km trek in sweltering heat, but the views and villages were amazing. The korean couple (minus the high healed shoes) tried once again to explore the region, but 10 mins later hopped on the back of a bike! Our group dwindled down to 3: us 2 and a vietnamese tourist from Saigon; who proceeded to address wayne as 'nature boy' for the entire trek, because he believed wayne was a genuine animal lover?!? very odd man, although flicking through our photos I can see where he was coming from. Wayne has taken thousands of photos of animals (which I have - for your benefit - deleted the majority of).

Visited Sin Chai (Black Hmong), Lai Chai (Black Hmong) and Ta Van villages (Zay tribe). That morning 2 little Black Hmong girls (6 and 7 years old) followed us from Sapa to their home village (Lai Chai) - see photo of me posing with 2 ethnic girls in snapfish. They were so sweet, spoke very good English and made myself and wayne crowns, bracelets and wands out of ferns and grasses enroute. They walk to and from Sapa evey morning b4 school (2pm) to try and sell bracelets etc. We visited the health centre in their village - filthy! But the village was extremely proud of the centre: medicines and treatment were free (although only minor ailments could be dealt with as there were no doctors - just 3 local nurses).

Walked through numerous maize fields, a bamboo forest and across waterfalls - one of which wayne swam in (I was too much of a whimp - far too cold!) I thought wayne was going to drown because the current looked incredibly strong but we both survived to tell the tail.

A lot of the bridges we crossed were a little rickerty to say the least - again see pics - I kept saying mum would HATE this - I even began to feel edgy because wayne and the guide kept jumping along these unstable pieces of wood!

I felt like giving up on what was (although I didnt know at the time) the final hill - I was soooooooooooooooooooooo HOT and Sweaty and we had been walking for hours - it was starting to feel (but not quite) like one of uncle rich's holiday 'strolls'. i made it though, and we were picked up in an ex-army jeep - very scary ride over waterfalls and very narrow mountain roads...

One last story of interest on this sapa trip, which wayne has requested I include to highlight a (RARE) moment of stupidity on my part... we had been sitting, waiting at the train station in Lao Cai for hours for our night tarin back to Hanoi and I realised we hadn't sorted out our tickets. I therefore went over to the ticket office but was told by someone that I wasn't in the right place....he started pointing outside of the station and so I began to follow (without telling wayne). Basically I ended up wondering off without telling wayne where I was going in the middle of the night....I did begin to feel a little scared when we turned a corner and I couldnt see the station anymore...but as i headed back I saw wayne struggling down the road with ALL our luggage - bless!! He was a little mad! Whoops! But I am NOT impressed that he is using this minor mishap as an excuse for smoking YET AGAIN!

Since returing from Sapa we have survived a typhoon and its accompanying floods but I will write that in my next installment - which I will try type up 2moro as I have been on this computer for far too long! I will also try and upload photos 2moro so watch this space (and snapfish)... in Hoi An (central Vietnam) at the moment just in case anyone was wondering...

Lots of love E and W XX

Still in Hanoi in the backpackers hostel! We are checking out tonight, staying in another place in Hanoi and then off to Sapa in the north to do some trekking and visit a few ethnic tribes involved in tourism.

Got back from Halong Bay last night - beautiful place consisting off over 2000 islands. Most of the trip was on a boat - photo's (on snapfish) don't really capture the sights but give you an idea of what it was all about. The first day we stopped off on one of the islands and visited some massive limestone caves - full of stalagmites and stalagtites - geography came in useful! haha. We then continued on the boat and stopped off at another island - hiked to the top and the views were amazing. Sunset swim, followed by dinner on the boat. Food is lovely - mostly fish, noodles and rice - but wayne is eating it all! Its that or starve so I think he's adjusting to a new diet - or he may come back looking like a rake!

Cabin was pretty rank - ants all over the bathroom floor but it was ok - next day we did some kayaking in lagoons - was really fun but got a v v numb bum. Visited a floating village - where all residents live on these floating huts - we waited for our boat in one of their homes for about 30mins - even there they were trying to flog us pringles and beer. Wayne played pool with one of the residents - but no-one understood their rules! haha. The kids go to school in a floating hut - its so surreal.

Contined on to island near Cat Ba - private island and resort was fantastic - had our own room in beach huts (see pics) and there was a bar, pool table, mnore kayaks....i just chose to laze on the beach and read but wayne went off around the island with Olaf and saw some wicked caves.

People on the trip were all really cool - a real mix: German, French, Spanish, Kiwi's, Canadians and us! It was realy funny talking to the couples from new zealand (they were in there 50's/60's) and said they loved English humour - Office, Faulty Towers etc - Coronation Street is on everynight in NZ - hahah how odd! They gave us their contact details so we can give them a ring or drop by when we get to the north island in Feb.

The rules of the sea are the same as on land - honking, bumping into each other etc. - manic! We can't wait to try out their airline (thinking of flying from Saigon to Siem Reap - Cambodia - so that we don't have the hassle of the border again!) We must have crashed into other boats multiple times and the harbour boats bump into each other and push just to dock! Its crazy - we had to climb over another boat to get out. Women and girls row floating supermarkets - they appraoch the boat throughout the day trying to sell you various food stuffs and drinks - where ever you go you get harassed!

Went for dinner in Hanoi with olaf, Danielle and Jacob (a German guy we met on the trip) last night. Jacob then took us to a bar/road side stall in the old quarter for cheap beer - i.e. 7p for a glass!!! unbelievable. Think we spent 1.50 GBP on the meal and 48p on drinks after - not bad! haha only thing is coping with the illegal sellers - little boy came up to us trying to sell us photocopied books - in the end I couldn't say know so spent 3.50 GBP on a photocopied book - rip off but hopefully he'll get a cut of the money - he 'says' he uses it for schooling - who knows - but he was very bright - knew a lot about various locations across the globe.

anyway going to love you and leave you now - take care and we'll update you soon. Appologies for all the poor spelling, grammer and fragmented documentation - we're in a constant rush when it comes to computer time!

spk soon xxx