We would like to wish all our readers a fabulous Christmas, a spanking 2011 and for those in Europe and the USA, a snowy white Christmas. For those in the southern hemisphere, a great beach barbie!
A special mention goes to our children Leanne, Paul and Alex. We miss you a lot and look forward to our chat on Christmas day.
We would also like to say hello to Clive & Karen as we are desperately sorry that they had to cut short their travels, and miss our joint Christmas party, due to Clive’s dad’s illness….we wish him a speedy recovery.
We have made our usual E-card to amuse you, copy and paste this into your browser:
Allow plenty of time for it to load. We had a lot of fun doing this and we hope you like it. Mark O, Chris and Andrew, if there’s any vacancies in your bands then we’re up for it!!!
We’ve been away now for almost 2 months and it finally rained during our journey south. Warm rain Paul!!
Boat ride Trang Am
We travelled from Cat Ba to Ninh Binh where we planned to stay a day or so. The journey was pretty uneventful although the local bus did follow the “Never Full” principle! Fortunately, we were almost first on the bus so we did have a proper seat for the 3 hour journey rather than a tiny plastic stool in the aisle. Ninh Binh itself is used by some as a base for trips, others travel from Hanoi, but the town itself is pretty dull. Its saving grace is that just a few kilometres out of town you find yourself surrounded by fabulous karsts and rice paddies. We had read about a number of scams at the Tam Coc boat rides so opted for the newer and lesser used, Trang An Grottoes instead.
Our hotel is very grand and at $15 was something of a steal considering it had a huge, tastefully decorated room, with enormous bathroom, balcony and flat screen TV. The bonus was that it was very close to the railway station which was to be our next mode of onward transport.
Getting to the grottoes was a little more challenging. Trips were available from hotels and agencies but as the number of tourists is low, there were no cheap group tours, just private hire car at $25. Having checked out the map we decided we could walk it let alone get a taxi for less than $25. It was about 8kms (5 miles) and we managed to get a local taxi that cost us $6 return trip! The grottoes were fantastic, and the ticket price of 100,000VND (about £3.30) included a 2.5 hour boat ride along the river in, out and through the caves in the massive limestone karsts. We went through about 9 or 10 grottoes, some up to 100m long, and some of them so low we had to lie flat on our backs in the boat. Our boat lady sometimes rowed with her hands and sometimes she somehow managed to row with her feet……pretty smart!
The Trang An Grottoes have recently been opened for tourists, with an impressive, but empty, visitor centre, and what seemed like hundreds of rowboats just waiting for the swarms to arrive in peak season. We timed our visit for lunchtime to hopefully avoid any tour buses from Hanoi and were rewarded with the river pretty much to ourselves. It was so peaceful, with only the sound of the water lapping against the boat. We met only one or two other boats towards the end of our trip. It was very much, “up close and personal” to the towering limestone karsts. The kingfishers along the way were a stunning blue, taunting us with their rapid fly-bys, and the very shy snake that swam in front of us soon disappeared under the surface when he spotted us. It was such a lovely experience, and our boat lady did not try to sell us anything or ask for a tip, so we broke a golden rule, and gave her a large tip which she seemed generally surprised to get.
The overnight train to Hue was dead on time and whilst it rattled a lot it was comfortable enough to get some sleep. Sadly our roommates, Swiss we think, were very unsociable despite us offering a snort of Hanoi Vodka. Fortunately, they were quiet so caused us no grief but it was a pity we couldn’t share some stories.
We selected our $15 hotel room including breakfast and a free beer, an idea more hotels should adopt we think. The restaurant also serves great cocktails at less than $2 each. We met up with Catherine, also en route from Cat Ba to Nha Trang, one evening and watched her stagger out of the restaurant after necking 4 of them! We also bumped into Chilla and Paul from Austria that we first met in Yuanshuo and then again on Cat Ba Island. They were due to leave the next day so we had dinner that night in a floating restaurant……very pleasant indeed!
We’ve been to Hue before but decided to use it as a place to break up the journey south. We also wanted to do one of the trips again, The Tombs of The Kings, as we now know much more of the history hopefully making the tour more meaningful. It was, as expected, a great trip and as we opted not to include a tour of the Citadel, we were put into a group of just 5 and taken to visit to a 100 year old traditional Vietnamese house and garden occupied by a very unassuming lady. Inside the wooden house there was a wonderful display of pictures of her ancestors and outside a serene garden with a myriad of fruit trees and spice shrubs. The trip was broken up with an excellent buffet lunch which we hadn’t bargained for. Our ticket price was to include a simple lunch. Being cheapskates, we opted not to upgrade for 50,000VND. By the time we got to lunch the tour guide seemed to have forgotten what we had paid and were cordially invited to tuck into a grand buffet along with everyone else.
Next day, we went further south to Quang Ngai which was to be just a stopover to break the 13 hour journey to Nha Trang. After a long walk we found ourselves at the Central Hotel (not so central) and managed to blag a room upgrade….nice one! We had a long walk from the station to the hotel, followed by a long walk around town and not a single westerner in sight……we appear to be the only ones here, hence all the strange ogling.
Tomorrow we’re on the final leg of our journey to Nha Trang, just a rather dull 7.5 hours on the train.
We came to Cat Ba Island we intending to stay maybe 4 to 5 days. After our less than warm reception we immediately changed that plan to leave first thing next morning. Then we discovered what lovely people we had bonded with during the fracas, what a great family hotel we had checked into and realised what an excellent place this is to just “hang out”. We eventually stayed for more than 3 weeks.
It’s relatively cheap to stay here, our spacious room is just $8/night, includes A/C, TV, mini bar and a view to die for. There are some simple things to do on the island that we can achieve without lining the pockets of the scummy tour operators and the seafood is as fresh as it gets.
We started our stay by doing very little, sussing out the options for sightseeing, getting our bearings for the beach, how to get back to the mainland and having dinner with our new friends. In the mornings, whilst drinking strong Viet coffee, we spent a long time just watching the view of the harbour from our bed as it changed, boats coming in here, boats going out there and the sun getting higher as the day gained momentum. How sleepy can it get?
Our first trip out was to take a local bus to Cai Vieng jetty. Not much here, in fact, absolutely nothing. However, it was a pleasant and cheap sightseeing trip of the island whilst “enjoying” the company of a bus load of kids on the way home from school…..ear plugs recommended!
One evening at dinner in the hotel we decided to share a large Grilled Red Snapper in Lemongrass. The hotel doesn’t have tanks for the fish so dinner was secured by Mr Tuan heading off on his moto to purchase our dinner. A couple of minutes later he reappeared only for Neil to spot something fall off the back of his bike about 30 metres down the road. The large object began flapping manically in its attempt to escape back to the sea. “Oy, that’s my fish!!” shouted Neil as one of the waiters legged it up the road, dodging the rest of the traffic, to retrieve our dinner. Despite the roadside incident the fish was delicious and, as we now know, it was very fresh! Watching our fish flapping around in the road being passed by motorbikes was one of the funniest things we have seen in a long time!
Dream on Bruno
Our next trip was to The National Park where we had a hike through the jungle and a climb of around an hour up to the top of a hill 225 metres high. The views were excellent and it was a great place to have our picnic. We sat for about an hour and met other travellers and exchanged stories including similar “welcoming” receptions at the northern jetty.
We also started to chat to Mr Tuan’s brother in law, Mr Anh the hotel manager, about the benefits of the hostel booking sites, Hostelworld and Hostelbookers. He’s very much “front of house” as he speaks very good English so he was pleased to give it a go. We use these on-line booking agencies all the time for reviews, information and bookings and, surprisingly, not a single establishment on Cat Ba Island is registered with either of them. So, it’s back to work for us and over a period of a few days we gave some free ‘consultancy” to help him get set up. In exchange, Mr Anh fed us some excellent food and beers so, all in all, it was a very fair exchange.
Friday was Cheryl’s birthday, and we took another trip by local bus to explore the Hospital Cave. This is a 3 storey, 17 room building carved into a cave in 1963 with help from the Chinese. It was used in the war to house up to 300 soldiers, and was in use as a hospital until 1975. The rooms are now bare, except for a light bulb, but the excellent local guide, Ba, showed us around, and told us a little of its history. He took great pride in showing us where Ho Chi Minh stayed for the night, as well as the cinema, the swimming pool and the ping pong room!
Thanks Ba
We took a picnic including chocolate mini birthday cakes from the bakery and enjoyed our lunch whilst waiting for the bus back to town.
Mmmmmm Cake
Neil planned a surprise birthday cake and asked Mr Anh if he could help him buy a small one, about the size of a tea plate. Mr Anh said no problem and asked how to spell her name. Neil’s intention was to have him bring out the cake after dinner. All this planning happened several days before Cheryl’s birthday and then, on the day, Mr Anh came up with his own plan. “You be in your room at 7 p.m. and I will bring cake and flowers with the two children”. OK, Neil thought, I can’t argue as he insists on paying so we’ll go with it. It was something of a close shave getting Cheryl showered and fully dressed, without appearing too pushy or spoiling the surprise, before the family arrived with a huge cake and some beautiful flowers. Dinner was excellent and the whole restaurant sang Happy Birthday as Cheryl blew out the candles and cut the cake.
Thanks Mr Anh and family
Mr Anh continues to show his appreciation for our “consultancy” and the fact that we’re now also “touting” his rooms to any traveller that we see looking for rooms with a back pack. So far we must have introduced half a dozen new guests and in exchange we have been invited to eat with the family several times. Take a look at the pics to see what great food we’ve been fed. We’ve also tried a couple of the hotel home brews, Snake Wine and Sea Horse Wine. Basically, they are home rice spirit with a little extra in the jar to provide that added touch of “mystique”. Take a look at the pics of the snakes in the jar.
Hot pot
More 100%
We’ve also had good fun with the family playing games. Ludo with Mr Tuan’s youngest son who is 7 years old (yes and he did whoop Neil’s arse) and card games such as gin rummy with the staff. These guys are cards mad but we’ve yet to even remotely understand how to play any of their games. Other than playing games we’ve spent a long time re-planning our trip due to the body swerve in the direction of Sri Lanka and also finalising visa dates to match flights home.
Blimey, what a day December 3rd was. Booked tickets to New Zealand for next year’s trip, got Mr Anh live on Hostelbookers, made E-Christmas cards and bought tickets for several games at the cricket world cup in Sri Lanka. Phew, time for a rest followed by a journey from the island to Ninh Binh and southwards.
If it isn’t enough that we’re having a great time we’re pleased to announce that next year’s trip is already in the planning stage.
Air Asia has done us proud yet again. We got here for about £100 last October and now we’ve booked our trip for next October 2011.
India is back on the shelf for yet another year as we’re off to Christchurch, New Zealand for a little over £230. Add on a slice of Oz, a dash of this and splash of that and we have the makings of another mega trip.
When we originally planned this trip, a highlight was going to be visiting The Philippines in January 2011 to swim with the whale sharks. The plan has now changed.
We have been seduced by the possibility of swimming with turtles, whale watching, the thought of fabulous tasty curry on some of the finest white sand beaches in the world and being in the crowd amongst the craziest cricket fans going to the 2011 World Cup Cricket in Sri Lanka.
We spent a couple of days in Halong City trying to work out how to get to Cat Ba Island without giving the scummy tour operators shed loads of money for doing “jack”. We finally sussed out that we could catch the Government Tourist Boat to the island and catch a bus from the jetty into the main town. Cost of the boat was 130,000 VND (£4.30) which included 30,000VND to get us into Halong Bay which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The boat was due to depart at 1pm and would include a stop at a cave, and tour round the bay, the whole trip to take 3.5 hours. Once on the island the public bus should cost us about 10,000VND, “It’s easy” said the nice lady, in the smart uniform.
Whilst waiting for the boat we met an American couple, Rob & Erin, who had been teaching English in Korea, and were now on a short break before returning home to the US. Unfortunately, despite their best efforts to get the official ticket themselves, they ended up trusting one of the “helpful” people who offer to assist with ticket buying. They didn’t know he was a tout until they spoke to us so needless to say they were just a tad hacked off. It wasn’t much money but it is just annoying that the scum make a living out of lying through their teeth to make money out of people who cannot speak the language. We’ve learnt over the last couple of years that it pays to do your homework and if you don’t have time then just accept that you will pay over the odds.
At 1.30 p.m. we finally got on board what turned out to be a tour boat, not a Government Boat at all, after having to wait until the main tour party bus arrived. All had paid varying amounts for pretty much the same trip, most of them all the way from Hanoi. The majority on board had booked a longer trip, including spending a night on Cat Ba and/or a night on the boat. By this time we had already moaned at the boat “captain” about the late start, and got a telling off for going up on deck whilst still at the jetty. The four of us had to put our names on a passenger list, and the captain added a note alongside in Vietnamese. The boat captain refused to explain this but we guessed we had been noted as being “different” from the main group.
We finally set off only to grind to a halt 1km out of the wharf. Lunch time for those on the tour, we didn’t want to pay extra for lunch, but at least we were allowed up on the deck where we made ourselves comfy on some loungers. Some of the main group, who were staying on the boat that night, joined us and we spent a very pleasant trip chatting and watching the stunning scenery pass by. The boat stopped for about 40 mins for the visit to the cave. There was then another stop, around 30mins, for the tour group to go to a water cave at another charge of 50,000VND. We stayed on board the tour boat. When they got back, an exuberant young lad decided to jump off the top deck into the sea, much to our amusement. The captain however was not amused, “no swimming” he bellowed grimly. Several of us shouted to him “no pay, no swim, and no fun!”
Off again and we finally pulled in to a deserted looking jetty at about 4.30pm. Not so bad after all the delays and stops we thought, but strange that Lonely Planet suggested the trip would take 5 – 6 hours. We got off, along with the others who had booked transport only, and those who booked a night on the island as part of their tour. We walked a short way and waited a little apart from the tour group for a bus to arrive. A scruffy beat up green bus pulled in. A Vietnamese guy told us “that is not your bus, your bus in 15 minutes”. We told him we wanted the public bus as we were not part of the tour, and he again said, “not your bus”. Only after the bus left did we see the sign which showed a picture of the scruffy bus and confirmed it was indeed the one to Cat Ba town. He Lied.
It was now that we realised that he was a motorbike taxi driver and we had been turned over and it become very heated between us and the lying little scumbag. His scam was to prevent us getting on the local bus, wait until the tour bus had gone and offer us a motorcycle taxi ride to town at a rate of 700,000VND. We decided with Rob and Erin that we were getting on the tour bus if they liked it or not. If we didn’t then we decided to start a fire, stay the night rough and see if the motorcycle taxi driver could swim!!
It started to get dark and things continued with moto man, and to make matters worse another guy, claiming to be the “Manager” first denied that there was a local bus, and then told Erin off for not getting on it! Our tempers were raised, and it got more and more heated. Finally, after about 40 minutes the tour bus arrived and then it got really sh***y. Neil grabbed our bags and as soon as the arrival tour group got off the bus he tried to get on. Then the tour group organiser shouted that we weren’t allowed on so Neil took his place at the entrance to the bus door so no one could get on or off. It was an ugly standoff between us and the 3 guys from the tour bus, the driver being particularly big and menacing. Neil stood his ground, Cheryl joined in and Rob continued to threaten moto man.
During the “negotiations”, in an effort to get us on the bus we were instantly adopted by Sarah, a wonderfully feisty American girl, who had bought a ticket which appeared to include the bus for her. “You can’t leave them – they’re my parents” she shouted. For a split second the tour guy was confused, her moment of inspiration nearly worked. Then one of the boat guys shook his head, “They not your parent” the tour leader shouted, “you liar”, “ME LIAR??” Sarah bellowed back.
Arguments continued, the official tour group got on the bus plus a few locals and then the tour guide graciously offered to negotiate to get us on the bus, as if he was doing us a great favour. We could get on the bus but it would cost us 100,000 VND (the local bus would have cost 15,000VND!). It had got pretty scary as Neil was pushed, shoved and manhandled by the 3 tour people and he and the rather large driver came pretty close to blows.
At one point during the mêlée he did raise his fist towards Cheryl only to be given a serious verbal threat from her that seemed to make him think and back off. A petite French woman was roughly pushed and shoved as she believed she had paid but the bus man did not think she was included, but eventually let her on. Meanwhile, Robin from Canada, was videoing the whole thing so we hope one day to get a copy if it comes out.
It was pitch dark, we guessed given the time it took for the boat to get here that we must be at the far North of the island, not at the jetty we had been promised by the ticket seller and it was probably too far to walk. Our options were limited, and we definitely were not going to pay the scumbag moto man, so Rob, Erin and us reluctantly handed over the cash, whilst still swearing at the guide and driver, and got on. The bus man passed money to a number of Vietnamese guys, including the moto driver and the boat tour guide, it was clear they had all played a part and were entitled to a slice of the bounty.
The final blatant piece of profiteering took part halfway on the journey. The bus stopped, the tour man screamed at the French couple, Ronan & Clemence, “you not include, I speak to your boat, pay 100,000VND, or I throw you off”. They argued, and our group stood in support, but eventually they paid and we finally arrived in Cat Ba Town at around 7pm.
Cheryl writes, the thing which disappointed me most was the reaction, or lack of reaction, of the people on the official tour. They had been delayed by nearly 2 hours, they had witnessed the ugly standoff and Sarah explained to them what was happening to us when she got on the bus. Even when the French couple were threatened with being abandoned in the middle of nowhere, and Neil asked them if they were going to let them throw them off, the tour group sat in silence. One of my favourite quotes sums it up, “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing” Edmund Burke.
In real terms the scammers cost us 170,000VND, a paltry £5.50. However, it makes you seethe to think that this treatment gets served up to tourists on a regular basis thus giving Vietnam such a bad name. It only seems to happen around Hanoi and Halong Bay and we know that it’s just a minority of scammers. It just leaves you trusting nobody…..and that’s sad for the majority of people in Vietnam who are very friendly and just trying to make a relatively honest living.
However, in hindsight, the £5.50 turned out to be a good investment as we have “truly bonded” with some very nice people. We’ve been “adopted” by a lovely American girl and we now have a number of friends with integrity to visit on future trips…..overall money well spent. Since arrival we’ve also met other travellers who suffered the same trauma who have also bonded with fellow sufferers so maybe, just maybe, something good is coming out of all this crap.
So far in our travels we haven’t really felt overly challenged by being in China, despite not speaking any of the language apart from “hello” and “thanks”. Maybe it’s because we are familiar with life in Asia. We have travelled in Japan and learned to get by with gestures and smiles when you have a complete language barrier. Maybe it’s that we are just a little more relaxed in our attitude when things don’t appear to be going as you expect. We suspect that being on the tourist trail also helps as the local people we have met are used to hapless foreigners and can usually work out what is it that we want or are trying to do.
To test this theory we decided to leave our baggage in the hostel and take overnight packs for a couple of nights in the small town of Chongzuo to visit the town’s only attraction, the leaning Pagoda. We checked the train times the day before and set off in plenty of time for the train station. We were met with chaos and a seething mass of humanity in the ticketing hall, about ten queues of jostling people each about 25m long and not going anywhere fast. With almost an hour before our train departed we felt we had a reasonable chance of getting a ticket but joined separate queues just in case. Cheryl’s queue moved fairly quickly, until we realised it was due to the fact there was no ticket seller at the window and people in front had left to join another queue! The slowness of the queue, plus queue jumpers muscling in at the front, almost lead to queue rage….and suddenly a man in uniform appeared and stopped the jumpers. People were getting desperate and were pleading with those at the front to buy tickets for them.
With almost 15 mins to go, the ticket seller suddenly appeared in Cheryl’s queue……and a young girl ahead of her suddenly asked in perfect English “Do you need any help?. Cheryl did have the extract from Lonely Planet with Chongzuo in Chinese script, plus the train number and departure time written down to point to. However, the offer was accepted, and good job too as the ticket seller was reluctant to sell as there were only 7 mins left before departure. Tickets finally in hand we shouted our thanks and ran for the gate. We had to get through airline type bag scanners before finally arriving at the platform and onto the train with 2 mins to spare, phew! The whole chaotic experience was surprising as so far China has impressed us with its efficiency.
Three bum numbing hours later we were told our stop was next. We have found that when using public transport our destination is checked and we are told when to get off, which does make using transport in China pretty easy. Chongzuo is much smaller and less wealthy than Nanning but does have a small range of fairly upmarket shops and the usual good infrastructure of wide main streets. We soon discovered we were the only foreigners around and headed into town to find a bed for the night.
Think this is reflexology?
Dragon cake
After using signs and gestures we got to see a few rooms, some good, some bad and some downright grubby and decaying. We eventually returned to the first one we tried and started to check in. The girls on reception did not speak any English but we managed to agree a price, work out that there was no internet or wifi, hand over passports and finally understand that what we thought was a huge price increase at the last minute was actually a room deposit! All OK so far we thought as Cheryl’s passport was scanned, then the second girl on reception made a phone call before scanning Neil’s passport.
Suddenly the deal was off, we were no longer welcome, and our money was given back to us along with the passports. A map of the town in Chinese was produced and another hotel was circled, “this engrish” the girl said. We were totally bemused….what had gone wrong? There was no arguing with them, it was clear we had to go.
We decided to head in the direction of the circled hotel and passed another hotel on the way. The reception staff were welcoming so we checked it out and it was pretty good apart from not having wifi. We decided that if the hotel we had been sent too was no good or too expensive we would return here.
Welcome to the Big Brother Hotel
Finally we reached the circled hotel. It was big and looked way out of our price range but we ventured in past the crowds collecting for what appeared to be a wedding party. The young man on reception spoke a little English and we checked the price, 130 Yuan (the most expensive so far but still bang on budget at £13). The room was the best we had seen, almost Hilton like in the size and layout of the room, with only the slightly grubby carpet to let it down. We went back to reception to confirm whether there was internet just as the longest set of firecrackers we have ever heard was set off for the wedding. The noise was incredible, totally deafening and continued as Neil pushed the limits of the young man’s English trying to explain about the internet. When the firecrackers eventually stopped we checked in without any problems.
After sorting out the room we went for a walk and wandered around the corner into the nearby neighbourhood. A westerner!!! Our westerner turned out to be the owner of a US style bar, after all he was from Tennessee, and so we decided to stop for a beer and a chat. Our host, Terry, was Operations Director for the local chemical company which appears to be part US owned. Hopefully, we thought, no relation to Bhopal based Union Carbide! Terry had the bar as a sideline which his Chinese wife ran whilst he was at work. He gave us lots of local information including the fact that in this town of around 0.5 million people there are now approximately 12 westerners. We had increased the number by 20%.
We explained to him what had happened over our strange hotel experience and he just smiled. It appears that the “authorities” like to keep westerners in the same location and that the call that the young girl made in the first hotel was probably to the police. They had clearly told her to send us to our chosen hotel which we have since found out is right opposite Police HQ……surprise, surprise! Either way, we weren’t bothered as our hotel was excellent for the price.
Later a couple of other westerners came into the bar, one French one American, for some drinks and overpriced familiar western food. After some tips on how to avoid dog in the food stalls we headed off for our budget priced food. What we eventually settled for was a 50/50 hit/miss. Pork with vegetables was a big hit, and the very chewy dish, which we eventually found out to be intestine, not such a winner. The green vegetables with garlic were, as usual, excellent. After another wander, some interaction with the locals to obtain water etc we headed back to our bed.
On Sunday we headed off to purchase our train ticket for tomorrow to avoid another “bun fight” on the day. No queue, no problem, so why so difficult yesterday? We then headed off to the bus station to catch the bus to Zuojiang Leaning Pagoda. It stated in Lonely Planet that you could get a local bus, number 3, but despite asking a number of bus officials we were eventually led outside and bundled into a taxi. Finding number 3 was just a tad difficult as none of the buses had numbers so we went along with the solution. The nice lady told the driver where to take us and after some sign language he confirmed that it would be no more than 20Yuan (a couple of quid!). As it turns out, it was 13Yuan so we were more than happy.
The pagoda, whilst not the most splendiferous, was very cute, plain and, as described, leaning. It was also virtually tourist free so we agreed our ferry price and headed off for the 15m journey across the river. The steps up the pagoda were very narrow and the roof very low so keeping your head down was the order of the day. A tough call for Neil with his track record but he did well…….only one minor collision which resulted in no blood……well done Nellie!
It’s a pagoda, and it’s leaning
In the pagoda we met a young couple and the girl was clearly desperate to practice her “engrish” with “hello, where you from?” She tried again and again without being able to get anything else out. Then she said, “Change money?” Cheryl worked out that she wanted to change Yuan for English money. We explained that we didn’t have any money and then Neil remembered that we had a single £1 coin. Neil handed it to her and said, “1 English pound, the same as 10 Yuan”. “Too much” she said, not realising that we had given it to her. When she finally understood that it was a gift she was clearly ecstatic. Now she could go to high school tomorrow and show her friends her coin and explain that her “engrish’ friends had given it to her. (a lot of money, albeit useless, to a Chinese teenager). Do they have “show and tell” sessions in China schools we wondered?
Thanks for the pound
After our visit we walked about a kilometre back to the main road to, hopefully, catch the number 3 bus. After a short while, 3 well dressed Chinese drove back from the pagoda in their fancy 4 x 4, crossed the main road and stopped, then gesticulated to us to get in. Assuming this was a lift and not an abduction we got in and without understanding anything that was said we eventually showed them some information from the hotel and that was exactly where they dropped us. Once again, very nice helpful Chinese that always want to assist the hapless westerner.
Before leaving our hotel we eventually worked out that that it had one or two quirky attributes. Hot water only appears after 20.00hrs and seems to last into the night but by 08.00hrs it was definitely “tepid”. “Bath” towels are not really bath towels at all but are of hand towel size. Not a major problem but it does make drying after a luke warm shower a little more complicated.
After returning to Nanning for one night we caught the early bus to cross the border into Vietnam. What was supposed to be an 8 hour journey was actually 10 (that’s unusual……NOT!!) so we weren’t too unhappy. The border crossing was pretty uneventful, Chinese side very smooth and the utterly shambolic Vietnamese making Dad’s Army look organised.
Our stay in Nanning has been mostly about catching up with news, photos and chilling out at The Nanning City Hostel with the other travellers. It’s run by Weston, a Texan, and it’s a very large apartment over 3 floors in a snazzy complex. It’s just like a flat share Canary Wharf Style with the accommodation a mix of dorms and private bedrooms and a large kitchen/dining and living area that includes an Xbox, Playstation 2 and DVD’s……the backpackers dream. Once again, there’s a mix of guests, Brits from Thornbury near Bristol (about 8 miles from our home in Bradley Stoke!), Americans, Canadians, Germans, Chinese, Austrians and Dutch.
The city itself is about 3.5 million people, clean and with tree lined boulevards making this a quite pleasant place to live. Drivers seem to use their horns much less and even have a little more patience with pedestrians. All in all not a bad place to hang out with parks to visit, trains to sort out, buses to book and different food to try.
Graham, who we first met in Yuangshuo, is also here and we’ve been out to eat with him a couple of times. One evening we went to a Muslim Noodle House where you can watch them make the noodles. The guy makes it look easy as he slowly kneads the dough and then stretches and makes the noodles……years of practice! We all pointed at the pictures on the wall and Graham’s choice turned out to be the most interesting. A large platter arrived with lots of chicken with some vegetables in a rich and tasty sauce, flavoured with cinnamon and star anise. The chicken was more bone than meat, which is tricky to eat with chopsticks, and included both claws and the head! Graham and Neil went for the claws and decided that they were both very dull and devoid of any meat (no shit Sherlock!). Graham baulked at the head but Neil gave it a go…..more Sherlock! Hey, it “head” to be done…..tee hee.
We are here for a reason. To get our visa for Vietnam and this one of the value added services that Weston offers to arrange for free. We’ve had experience before of the “flexible pricing” of visas in Vietnamese Consulates. This way, at least, we’re not going to have to pay the “tourist tax” as decided by the whim of a crooked clerk. 480Yuan (about £48) buys us a 90 day single entry visa. It takes 3 days and gives us more time to do the things we want rather than hassle with the Vietnamese authorities. After evaluating all our travel options into Vietnam we’ve decided to take a direct bus to Halong. It costs us about £17 each and will probably take about 8 hours including a couple of hours crossing the border at the Friendship Pass. Buying the tickets, a few days in advance, was quite easy as the ticket counter had an English translation so all we had to do was point to the chosen route and write down the date and time in the correct Chinese format of year/month/day.
Yangmei Ancient Town
We also set aside some time to visit the ancient town of Yangmei. It turned out to be a quaint village with some well preserved Qing Dynasty houses and not very touristy so it gave us the opportunity to explore the dusty alleyways without any hassle. Our day out was planned to be just the two of us. Then Graham decided to join us. Then a new arrival, Michael and his Chinese “friend”, agreed to join the party. Finally, at the very last minute, the five of us were joined by two young Chinese girls who were on holiday from further north. Like a lot of cities in Asia, Nanning has several bus stations, so we made a number of attempts over the previous couple of days to try and find the correct one. The Chinese girls were very impressed that we went directly to the correct one and even more impressed that we guessed the correct departure time of 11.00 a.m.
The bus was packed and, having been on a number of local Chinese buses in the past, we smartly headed straight for the last remaining space….a seat on the engine in the very front of the bus. We had a great view from the front and it was better than sitting on the plastic stools in the aisles that Michael and his friend had to put up with. Graham found a seat and the two girls joined us facing backwards sitting on the engine. The journey was pretty uneventful, albeit bumpy, but did take us through some busy countryside where all sorts of crops were being grown. Maize, beans, sugar cane, bananas, tomatoes and other salad ingredients plus masses of things that we hadn’t seen before.
We lost Michael and friend shortly after arriving so lunch was just the five of us. We headed down to the restaurants by the river and the Chinese girls helped us choose from the menu. We had a delicious lunch of tiny fried fish, beef with pickled cabbage, stuffed noodles, sliced pork with starfruit, rice and green vegetables. The girls also insisted on paying which was a very honourable and generous thing to do but made us feel very embarrassed. Nothing would change their minds.
Typical toddler with open gusset pants
On the journey home, we managed to get the five seats at the back of the bus.
Never full!
Things were going nicely until we reached the level crossing in what can only be described as a soulless, godforsaken, cowboy town.
Grim
Grimmer
Here in this strange small town, the road narrows to single file to cross the tracks giving the potential for a major log jam. Sure enough, there were a number of large trucks stuck making it almost impossible for even motor bikes to weave through. Drivers had given up and gone to sleep, others had left their cabs (probably to get food) whilst others just sat and watched. Amazingly there was no road rage. Everyone just accepted the situation and got on with it. We had a little banter through the window with one of the drivers who was woken up by our laughing at him. He seemed to ask us what the situation was ahead so not really understanding exactly what he said we gave the “thumbs down” sign and that seemed to do the trick.
Snooze while you wait
The journey back to Nanning was completed without much more ado and we arrived about 30 minutes late.
We’re now a step further south in a town called Yangshuo. It’s the premier destination for Chinese tourists who come for the Li River cruises to see some of the most spectacular scenery in the world. The number of large cruise boats, medium boats and bamboo rafts defies belief as it replicates the M25 on a Monday morning.
Sadly, as China is home to more than 1.3 billion people it seems that they all want to be here, especially on Saturday nights! It’s not all bad. The limestone karst scenery is stunning so we understand why they come here and they do come to have fun…..lots of fun! It is party town for the Chinese so who are we to criticise……after all it’s their country.
Halloween in Yangshuo
We had a couple of nights in a quieter part of town and then we moved to a much calmer and smaller village called Xingping, pronounced “shingping”. It has a really quaint old quarter that is pedestrianised with couple of very good restaurants. Whilst also very touristy in the day it becomes very sleepy at night with most places closing around 20.00.
The title of this blog is “Hello Bamboo?” The reasoning is simple as everywhere you go in Yangshuo and Xingping you are stalked by ladies asking “Hello Bamboo?” This simply means “would you like an overpriced tour of the river on a bamboo boat?” Firstly, the modern boats are not made of bamboo but plastic pipe and second, the way the ladies sidle up to you makes it all sound very illicit, almost as though bamboo was a form of marijuana…if only!
Our first experience in Yuangshuo was a touristy thing to do…..to watch a fisherman with his cormorants’ fishing at night. Whilst it was a show for tourists, it is still an art practiced by the older fisherman throughout the length of the Li River. Neil saw it on a TV nature programme about 5 years ago, probably David Attenborough, and decided that if he were ever to visit China then it would be on his list of things to see.
Since seeing the show, and visiting Xingping, we have seen a number of bamboo rafts carrying fishermen and their birds doing their stuff in a much more private manner. It is quite amazing. The birds have a small constriction around their necks and are trained to free swim the river, catch fish and bring them back to the raft for the fisherman to disgorge the birds and deposit the catch in a basket. Every 6/7 fish the master allows them to eat thus ensuring their loyalty. It’s very, very clever and fantastic to see man and beast working together so well. A bit like a shepherd and his trusty mutt!
Xingping is quite revered in China as on the back of the 20Yuan note there is a picture of one of the groups of limestone karsts that dominate this area of China. Here we are doing what all the Chinese tourists do…pose with their note (value £2)!!
The room in our guesthouse here in Xingping has the most impressive view we think we’ve ever had…….let us know what you think!
This area is also great for trekking and we’ve done a number of routes some of which have been quite tough….especially up the 1500+ steps (Fiona we didn’t count them) up the nearby karst to the viewing point to catch the sunset……boy was that steep and tricky. It was well worth it as the view below was breathtaking making the village on the opposite side of the river look like toy town. Again, see the pics as nothing we can say can adequately describe what we have seen, especially the sunset over the myriad peaks.
Yes, we did take a dawn bamboo raft trip up the river. By going at dawn we missed the “M25” rush hour and had the river almost to ourselves. Our boatman, whose name can best be described in syllables, (Sin, Chin, A), was great and pointed out some of the most interesting karsts. The locals have given them some amazing wonderfully poetic names like, The Eight Super Naturals, Tortoise Climbing up the Hill and Chicken Cage Hill.
Sinchina the boatman
Sunrise from the boat
The trip up the river took just over an hour and we decided to take the trek back which took us about 4 hours. Again, take a look at the pics which our “point and shoot camera” really doesn’t do justice to. If there are any camera buffs out there (Alex can we have your camera when you’ve finished with it?) then you need to visit this place! We did name one of our own karsts, Snail Crossing the River, and Neil was good enough to pose as usual.
Snail crossing the river
The tour group look
We returned back to Yangshuo to stay in a different guesthouse where all the food is included in the price. Whilst breakfast is no great shakes, dinner is served for all the travellers around one big table. It’s very sociable and it offers a great opportunity to swap stories and pick up ideas. In addition, the food that Mr Wei and his family put on the table is quite excellent.
What is also lovely about this hostel is that when you walk in the door everyone puts on a pair a cutesy knitted slippers which means that all the floors are kept so clean. You also need to ring the doorbell when you want to come in so it feels like being a teenager again…..”and what time do you call this?!” We have Brits here, Austrians, Germans, French, Spaniards and an Chinese/American….it’s such a friendly social place to stay. Sadly, we leave tomorrow for Nanning.
We were looking for an off the beaten track adventure and decided to leave most of our baggage behind at the guesthouse to head off for a few days to walk the Dragon’s Backbone Rice Terraces.
We left the guesthouse in Guilin by a private “taxi” with a few other travellers to take the 2 hour drive to Ping’an. A pretty but very touristy village about 1000m up in the hills that are dotted with other villages occupied by the Red Yao people. Our room for the night had a stunning view over the valley and the rice terraces which date back around 600 years. Whilst a little over our budget, it was the best room we saw and the view was fabulous.
Posh room with a view
Ping An Terraces
We ate in a nearby guesthouse with Shaun, a young lone traveller from Chepstow of all places. He had been teaching English in Japan and was on his way home to the UK for Christmas. He was doing it the hard way, overland via the Mongolia and Russia railway. Our host for dinner was Mei, a really friendly lady who spent her “not working” time buried in a self teach English book. Whilst we ate and chatted she was busily reading out loud to herself the usual garbage these books teach you. “I can wait for an appointment but my toothache won’t”! We had a lot of banter with her including explaining the meaning of “urgent” by Neil pretending he was desperate for a wee…she soon got the meaning.
Mei and her English text book
Next morning we had the best breakfast yet with Mei whilst explaining a few more things from her book. Then it was off to take the 5 hour hike through the hills to our next destination Dazhai. We headed off up the steep track towards the terraces. The scenery was everything it was cracked up to be. The only slight disappointment being the fact that just a couple of weeks earlier most of the rice had been harvested. Our pictures couldn’t capture the natural beauty of the countryside or the amazing engineering feat of the terracing….truly spectacular.
We met a number of people along the way many of whom had been ‘weak’ and given in to the constant hassle from the locals wanting to act as guides. Whilst the route isn’t particularly well signed it didn’t take much working out for anyone with an ounce of grey matter. One small group in particular, from Philadelphia, had hired two guides to get them to the terraces and then another local guide to navigate the terraces themselves. They were amazed that we were doing this alone, “Do you speak Mandarin?” “Not a word” said Neil. “How do you get by?” “With signs, pointing and lots of laughs!” said Cheryl, “and when it goes wrong you have a great story to tell”. They were gobsmacked at our relaxed attitude.
The rice terraces area is the home of the Red Yao People. They are a minority people occupying a very small part of China. Apart from the brightly coloured traditional dress worn by the ladies they have one other claim to fame….they sport amazingly long hair and in the case of our host to be in Dazhai village, all the way down to her ankles! It is worn wrapped elaborately around their heads and often topped off with a black felt hat.
Once in Dazhai we set about finding a bed for the night. After about 3 or 4 attempts we settled on a room in the ‘Jinkeng Mountain Hamlet’ a traditional wooden hotel. Our host didn’t speak a word of English but with “sign and pointing” plus the aid of a calculator display we agreed a price of 50 Yuan, a little less than £5, and our cheapest room yet, and with the added value of a western toilet! The season is coming to an end here and the guesthouse was going through some improvement and all the chaos brought Fawlty Towers to mind. Her husband, “Basil”, was busy making a huge din with a circular saw in one of the adjoining rooms making our viewing of the room and the subsequent negotiations something of a challenge. “Sybil” shouted at him in Yao with something along the lines of “shut the f**k up” but it didn’t work and she turned back to us with a nice Sybil smile, as though nothing was going on, and encouraged us back downstairs to complete the formalities (parting with money).
Fawlty Towers Dazhai
It’ll be great when it’s finished
Sybil Fawlty
We had dinner, probably our best yet, in another guesthouse followed by a walk through the village, just in time to see our first whole cooked dog being prepared for the table. Just next door we bought some local bottled hooch after the proprietor had attempted to sell us his own various brews from large glass demijohns. Whilst the room and bed were very comfortable our sleep was not good. Our guesthouse had a number of animals freely wandering around, both inside and outside, pig, chickens and ducks. The cockerel had quite clearly not been given a watch by his owner as he spent all night roosting in a tree outside our window desperately trying to impress us with his “cock a doodle doo” (noisy little bastard)!
Noisy B*stard!
Travelling independently does not always guarantee success, and we do get the occasional dud. Breakfast from our host was just one of those duds. Pancakes and eggs floating in oil, not at all appetizing but after a few mouthfuls it was amazing how quickly our appetites were satisfied.
After our “un-petit dejeuner” we caught a number of local buses to get us to The Chengyang Wind and Rain Bridge and the village of Ma’an. Yet another dud! Whilst both the bridge and the village were quaint , neither were worth the arse numbing hours spent on the buses getting there plus the steep £6 admission fee.
However, it was not a complete dud as we did have some local “cabaret” after dinner. Just after we arrived in the village we met a couple who had been staying in the guesthouse in Guilin. We thought we might have bumped into them for dinner somewhere in the tiny village. It didn’t happen but on return to our accommodation we found them inside having their meal. They had been “adopted” by two local guys who had been drinking heavily.
The Dong people have a reputation for fun and these two guys were no exception. There was a total language barrier but with lots of laughing, singing and quaffing, we seemed to communicate and have fun. The highlight of the cabaret was the “gentle slow motion comedy falling” off his seat of one of the locals. Everyone burst out laughing as he went, taking everything off the table with him, including our bottle of local spirit. Check out the pics but no surprises for guessing who fell off his seat. The lady of the house didn’t bat an eyelid. She got off her chair and swept up the debris before providing more beers from the fridge. Cheryl shot off to buy more supplies of very expensive 32% proof…….for 60p!
Next day was notably cooler so we decided to return to Guilin to catch up on mail and plan the next couple of weeks…..busy, busy, busy!
We know that at least two of our readers have done some very extreme travelling more than 20 years ago so to them this probably sounds all very tame. However, for us, just like the guys from Philadelphia, it’s good to get out of your comfort zone and take a few risks. Going “off piste” can be challenging to various degrees depending on your experience so we really enjoyed the last few days and It has encouraged us to do more.
China was the top of Cheryl’s “must do” list so, after places like Vietnam and Hong Kong, it was good to cross something off her list, in fact, long overdue. Her ultimate “must do” is to walk The Great Wall but that will have to wait until April/May.
Getting the visas in Hong Kong turned out to be a great plan with the whole process going perfectly and much cheaper than having to make two journeys to London. Getting out of Hong Kong and into China at Shenzhen was, quote Lonely Planet, “a breeze”. Get on the metro, one change onto the East Railway Line and, 45 minutes later, you’re going through immigration. Once through customs it’s a 500m walk to the main station.
Even though there wasn’t a single English sign, getting a ticket for the overnight sleeper was also relatively easy once we had shown the nice lady a copy of the trusty guidebook with its translation of Guilin, our destination, into Chinese characters. “Hard or soft sleeper”? “Soft please”. It was done, all we had to do was while away 5/6 hours. Downtown Shenzhen is very glitzy and the malls are full of very expensive brands, much like HK. Lunch was also easy as there were familiar HK brands in the malls.
Every new adventure brings at least one funny story and Neil had yet another while checking out the mall near the station. Going up the escalator he was followed by a young guy trying to sell him jeans, watches, in fact, anything you could think of. Neil kept silent as he always does. Up four flights and he was still trying to sell him stuff. As Neil started his descent his friendly salesman shouted, ‘you want Viagara”? At this point Neil could not hold out any longer and burst into laughter and shouted “no, no viagara, I don’t want to buy anything, only my lunch’!!! “You must want something, anything, you must buy something!” “Yes, my lunch”!! He went away.
Lunch Schenzen
Once on the train we found our cabin. Soft sleeper comes with 4 berths so we were pleased to find out that one of our room mates spoke Chinglish very well, in fact, he was very well educated and spoke very good English. He was very chatty and explained that he and 17 colleagues had been to Taiwan on business. They had flown into HK and many of them had followed the lead of their younger member, our room mate, and bought iPads. He spent much of the start of the journey showing them how to use it. He went off to speak with some of his other mates and returned shortly later to tell us that he had been able to switch his berth leaving us on our own……result!
Overnight soft sleeper
The compartment was excellent. Very comfortable berths, carpet, a/c, sheets/quilts/pillows all provided and hot water in a flask to make tea/coffee (wish we’d known!). All in all, at £40 each to cover just over 1000kms, it was fab value. We did have a peep at hard sleeper class and decided that we had made a top decision. 6 berths in much narrower cabins, no lockable door, just open corridor with occasional seats for people to get away from their “room” mates! Yes, as we are worth it, a top decision.
We had taken provisions onto the train to see us through the journey which very soon ran out. Neil went up to the buffet car to find that the beer was sold out…..”what”? Two guys and a girl, who had been translating for him to the buffet attendant, had obviously drunk most of the beer on the train as they had multiple empties on the table. After much banter she talked Neil into buying a bottle of local hooch….mmmm….£1’s worth of fire!!
We both slept well and arrived in Guilin a little early at around 07.00. The guest house was only around a 10-15 minute walk and we were shown to our room without delay. Hot shower, breakfast and the day was on. The guesthouse is away from the centre of town which is great as it’s quiet with its own bar, garden (where this is being typed), and large rooms with funky art work on the walls. We’ve checked out some other guesthouses and decided that this one is OK.
Our room
Another day in the office
Just a short walk away is a large shopping mall with a great food court offering many superb food options, on table BBQ’s and a large beer and a coke for 90p!
Hold that paper for later…….Ron
Guilin is much more China as we expected. While a lot of it is grey concrete it does have a lovely walk along the Li River, one of reasons we came here. The people are generally affluent, there is some poverty which we didn’t see in Shenzhen, but they are so friendly. The guys in the guesthouse speak great English and are helping us with planning our “off piste” adventure but communication with many locals is via sign language which can be hilarious for all concerned.
Gambling mad
As we neared the hostel on our way back after dinner, a little guy in the security gates beckoned us in and played his musical instruments for us. He danced as he sang with his banjo then followed with an impressive tune on what can only be described as an elongated 2 string violin played with a bow but balanced on his knee. He giggled as his picture was taken, a thoroughly lovely old man.
We are getting cocky and decided that organised trips (tourist rip offs) are not for us. We’re leaving our baggage at the guesthouse to travel independently via local bus, to The Dragons Backbone Rice Terraces. We’ll be gone for 3 nights, finding beds on the way, so watch this space.
Our blog is as much a diary of our travels as it is news for people back home so we do like to record news items for our future memories. Today, we are so excited for the people of Chile after the world has watched for 69 days while they rescue 33 trapped miners from deep underground. Fab news for everyone around the world to celebrate.
HK Harbour view
We started our HK sightseeing with breakfast at Cafe de Coral. Eggs, sausage, thick toast and coffee for 19HKD (£1.60). Then it was off to Star Ferries for the short cruise across Victoria Harbour to Hong Kong Island. Wow, what a view, this really is a stunning city. A short walk got us to the longest travelator/escalator in the world (we know how to have fun!). It’s 800m long and threads its way up the hill and takes 20 minutes from start to finish. Downwards in the morning, to make it easier for the city workers, and after 10.00 a.m. it goes upwards. Neat huh?
Next was the gravity defying Peak Tram, a funicular railway that takes you to the top of Victoria Peak where the view of HK is spectacular.
Coming back down was quite weird as it is so steep and the towering apartment blocks and offices that are vertical appear to be leaning at really dodgy angles.
Don’t look down
HK is so easy to get around with the Octopus Card. It’s the mother of London’s Oyster card that you can use on metro, buses, trams, ferries and in many shops and restaurants. HK was on Neil’s list of must see places to visit that he’s had since he was a kid……..he’s not disappointed as this really is a great city and well worth a visit. It’s clean, the people always want to help you as soon as you get the map out, it’s pedestrian friendly and is as exciting and attractive as Singapore but without being sterile…..HK is lived in and is one of the most vibrant cities we’ve visited.
The third day was spent trying to sort our onward travel to China. For those of you who think we do nothing, it’s taken a full day to review almost all the options on how to get out of HK and into China. It isn’t easy when you’re independent travellers but, after tomorrow, we’ll have it sussed…. we hope!
Day 4, Saturday, and a trip to Lamma Island. A leafy and car free place which we’ve discovered, after today, is the place that Kongers go at weekends to see green places, beaches and eat fresh seafood. Yes, it was very busy but it had a cool breeze and, apart from HK’s massive power plant, it was very scenic. If you didn’t want to stay in downtown HK then this is a very pleasant place to stay and the 20 minute commute on the ferry costs less than £2.
We then got a different ferry back to Aberdeen on HK Island, the opposite side to the business centre, and probably named after the massive fishing fleet that used to sail out of Aberdeen in Scotland. It is the typhoon shelter for all things afloat, especially the fishing fleet, and was just a heaving mass of boats….take a look at the pics. You will see sampans, big trawlers and small craft surrounded by 40 storey condo’s……an amazing sight.
Finally, we jumped on a bus for a very cheap sightseeing tour of new parts of HK. We were sat at the front and the most incredible part of the journey was where the bus, riding on a 20m high flyover, weaved its way down a steep single carriageway around several blocks of 40 storey condo’s. You could almost see the whites of the residents’ eyes, we were that close. Sorry, didn’t have time to get the camera out.
Sunday, and after a lay in it’s off to the flower market and all its wonderful smells and displays followed by a visit to the bird garden just along the road. British men play golf on a Sunday or go fishing or something. HK men take their treasured birds in their cages and go and show them off to other birdmen!! There’s also a small market for bird accessories and food including bags of live bugs. Fantastic sounds and beautiful colours.
Next was a visit to Kowloon Park for a lot of people watching. On a Sunday many of the KL domestic workers from The Philippines, Sri Lanka and Indonesia congregate on their day off to have fun, take pictures, gossip, picnic and generally relax on their day off. Some also get a tad beered up and some flirt with many of the readily available local guys looking for “a bit of company”. It was great fun and we got included on at least one set of photos.
After our picnic in the park we wandered off to the waterfront to watch the sound and light show which people watch from Kowloon across the water on HK Island. There’s music piped along the whole waterfront and the lights on the building opposite dance to the tunes. By opposite we mean about half a mile away across Victoria harbour.
As it’s Sunday, Neil has a big confession to make. Leanne and Paul listen up here!!!! For those of you who don’t know, Neil’s children are in their mid 20’s and for most of those years they have been trying to get dad into a well known fast food establishment. They have tried many things some of them downright unfair but they have failed.
Today, for the first time, Neil went into a McDonalds!!!!!!!! However, thankfully he did not make a purchase but, much in need of their facilities; let’s just say he left a deposit. Neil’s “Lovin’ It” as he considers that this is where all their food belongs!! Cheryl waited on the stairs to get evidence so take a look at the pic kids. Dad has one regret,…that you weren’t there to see him finally cross the threshold……sorry kids I guess I really do deserve that Big Mac that you promised to put in my coffin!!
Monday was torture! After the 2hr application process when we arrived we expected a 2hr queue to collect the visa for China plus a number of arguments. Our expectations were NOT met! In, pay, collect and out in 10 minutes…job done….result! With unexpected time on our hands we decided to go to the viewing platform in the Bank of China which gives an amazing view from the 43rd floor over Victoria Harbour towards Kowloon. 43 floors in 43 seconds.
Afterwards, we jumped on a tram and went to Happy Valley to visit the Mecca of HK’s horse racing fraternity and the home of, probably, the world’s most famous rugby 7’s tournament. The setting is superb, surrounded by condo’s that get a great view of the stadium which is also open to people to train and enjoy at leisure.
HK in summary? It’s many things that the rest of Asia is not. It’s clean, efficient, orderly, and tourist friendly and yet it is still Asia with all its colour, noise, smells and seething humanity……it’s for real! By the way, if you smokers want to give up then come here. It’s virtually impossible to light up anywhere but a designated area even if you are out doors. One other thing – there’s no bloody mosquitoes either – what more can a tourist want?
Next stop China; we’re filled with both trepidation and excitement. Our next blog might be a while, as we do not know how much China blocks Get Jealous and other blogging websites.
The flight with Air Asia was fine. All our reservations about flying long haul with a low cost airline were unfounded. Yes, there was no entertainment unless you paid, and yes, if you paid the entertainment was limited, but all in all the flight wasn’t bad…..in fact, at £100 a pop it was great value. We were lucky to be able to sleep most of the way so the 12.5 hours did go very quickly. Plus, curry for breakfast……..welcome to Asia!!
Once in KL we soon found ourselves in The Tune Hotel with our tiny, tiny room. Funny, when we arrived the lady next door was sat outside trying to make sense of her luggage and trying desperately to make it fit into the room along with her husband and small child.
It’s good to be back in Asia……food court ambience of plastic chairs, fluorescent lighting, echoing sounds and just the general hustle and bustle of Asia. We both slept well again until about 03.00 a.m. when the jet lag played its games. No problem, the remains of the bottle of duty free scotch soon sent us back to sleep until the alarm got us up for the 07.00 a.m. flight to Hong Kong.
We had checked in on line and so, still very sleepy, we arrived for the flight with a minimum of time available. Straight upstairs and it wasn’t until we got to security that we remembered that we had not been to baggage drop. Another one of those “Oh sh*t” moments! Back down and through passport control “please, we forgot baggage, is it OK to go back through?” We shot off to baggage drop and finally got back to security in time but with one of the funniest moments yet.
We chose what looked like the shortest queue. However it soon ground to a halt as a little Asian guy was sent back through the scanner 4 times before finally emptying his pockets of all objects. His bag was then opened and the bemused security guy pulled out a long metal tube followed by a huge plastic container. It was an industrial strength garden sprayer! The security guy got up and went across to show his boss what he had found. Eventually he returned to his post, still grinning, and told the little guy he would have to have his bag checked in. Now, why would you want to take an industrial sprayer into the cabin? Answers on a postcard, or suggestions on the message board please.
Four hours later we arrived in Hong Kong and found our way to our hostel. Like a lot of guesthouses in HK it consists of converted individual apartments spread within an old crumbling tenement block of 16 storeys. Now, we had heard that HK has the most expensive real estate in the world, and we had booked a budget room for £23/night so we had low expectations. Our expectations were met, we had a double room measuring 2.5 metres square, but it has a bathroom, it is clean, it has a window (see pic for the view), and thankfully, as we are on the 13th floor, it has full fire safety equipment.
great balcony
fab view
Not bad for Hong Kong!
We spent the afternoon queuing for our China visas, treated ourselves to an ‘Affluent Tea Set’ (because we are worth it), and finished the day with two large bowls of noodle soup plus a beer all for 85HKD which is about £7. Pretty damn cheap for one of the most expensive cities in the world.
Firstly, this is a very long story so if you’re reading this and it’s morning put the kettle on or if it’s evening then open the wine now.
The year started with the death of Neil’s mum in January which, although sad, was a release for her. Then suddenly, during the summer, Tricia’s mum and dad died within the space of a few weeks of each other. After so many years together they were so fortunate that one was not left to face years of loneliness Finally, Neil’s sister-in-law lost her mother. Unlike Neil’s mum, she was lucky to remain independent to the end, living in the house that she had lived in for over 50 years and slipped away quietly in her sleep.
Before Neil’s mum died, the family agreed with her that after her death, some of her ashes would be spread next to dad adjacent to his favourite fishing spot at Witcombe Lakes. She also wanted to be returned to her native Belfast which she left during war time.
So, we agreed a date in September when all four children would fly into Belfast and spread mum’s ashes around the grave of her mother and father……”simple”? ha, we wish!
We were staying on a caravan site near to Bristol Airport and Neil’s brother Bob agreed to pick us up after picking up his sister June en route. We were on the 06.40 a.m. “red-eye” and we thought the directions for Bob and June to find us were perfect but, sadly not, and after a lot of chasing around, running through the lanes in the darkness we finally met. We headed to the airport, parked the car and raced into the terminal. We were already pushed for time and then disaster. The queue for security was out of security, all the way down the stairs and well into the check in area. We have no chance of catching this flight we thought.
We managed to “jump” some of the queue by taking the lift but Bob chose to stay in the main queue via the stairs. We needed him…..he had the ashes! Anyway, the three of us got to the security scan machine for the boarding cards that we had printed at home as directed by Ryanair. June went through and headed straight for the baggage x-ray, Neil went through but Cheryl’s would not scan. The very unhelpful man sent us back down stairs to the Ryanair desk to get another one. He reluctantly agreed that we could pass through the Priority Check In queue on our return.
The two of us shot down stairs to the desk and obtained a new boarding card for Cheryl from the totally humourless Ryanair lady. Ran back up the stairs and pushed to the front of the priority queue. Even after reminding him of our situation the equally unhelpful man running the queue sent us to the back, as ‘other people have to pay for this fast track’ which by now was almost as slow as the normal queue. Now we’re really stuffed!
We finally got to the front of the queue and Cheryl’s card scanned this time. Mr Happy commented that this was the wrong card and, just as Neil was about to add to the staff shortage and commit murder, he waived her through. Neil’s card, which had already been scanned, failed to scan! Mr Happy called on a few colleagues to try their scanners but it still didn’t work. Finally, just before Victor “Neil” Meldrew was about to scream “I don’t believe it” he called another lady over and eventually she waived Neil through. Mrs Helpful pushed us to the front of the baggage x-ray and we were through. On the other side we somehow managed to bump into June, but Bob was nowhere to be seen.
OK, all we have to do now is find Gate 14, through the shops (why do they assume that all you want to do in an Airport is buy perfume, booze and expensive handbags??), round the corner and up the stairs. Then another “oh s**t” moment….Bristol Airport had clearly been extended since we were last here, and staring at the unending gleaming white shiny corridor stretching for miles before us, ‘the stairway to heaven’ gate 14 was clearly on the other side of the airport. With minutes to go before takeoff Neil legged it to try and get the flight held. Cheryl and June power walked as fast as possible and eventually, to gain warp drive, June took off her heels and ran in her bare feet. The three of us, somehow, made it and were astounded to find the lady at the gate was sympathetic to our plight and agreed to page Bob. Before she had time Bob arrived along with the urn…….result!!
The flight was uneventful, thank heavens, and gave us a chance to calm down, until the landing when we must have dropped the last 50 metres to the tarmac like a stone…..ka boom! Then we were hit with the Ryanair fanfare over the tannoy. “Ta Ta Ta Taaaaa… Congratulations, you have just landed on yet another on-time Ryanair flight”. Cheryl joked, ‘more like you’ve just crash landed on yet another on-time Ryanair flight”!
Coffees were in order whilst we waited for Neil’s other brother Bill who was flying in from Heathrow. Bill arrived on time and, after he joked about his very dull journey, we headed to the hire car. Bob plugged in his sat-nav and we headed for Aunty Helens house.
About 10 minutes later we arrived in the right street. “Number 59” said Bob, “I remember it being on the left” said June, “I agree” said Bob. Neil piped in, “well, if it’s 59 then it’s on the right”. We arrived at 59 and we all jumped out and stood at the door as Bob knocked. The door opened and a startled lady stood in front of us. Cheryl thought “she doesn’t look overjoyed to see her nephews and niece after all this time ” Neil thought, “she’s changed a lot in the last 20 years..” Bob spoke to the lady and after agreeing that this was number 59 he checked his diary. “Ah, sorry, we want 56 not 59”. We all burst out laughing and Bob apologised to the very confused lady who must have thought we were dissident republicans come to knee cap her.
Aunty Helen and Uncle Alec at number 56 on the left were actually very pleased to see us and made us a much needed cuppa. We sat and chatted for ages before the five of us plus Aunty Helen set off to the grave yard to sprinkle the ashes. We arrived and Aunty Helen strode off down the hill giving the impression she knew exactly where she was going. Alas we soon found out this was not the case, so we split up to look for the grave. Now this was a seriously big grave yard, acres of graves and stones to check.
We know this story is long so we’ll cut this bit short. After a number of calls to the local council offices we were no wiser as the location of the grave. A call to Neil’s other Aunty “Big Maureen” gave us hope, ‘out of the gate, down the hill and on the right’…….we tried all gates, all hills and everything on the right. Maureen’s husband, Uncle Eddie, was the only one who knew exactly where it was but he was in hospital undergoing heart surgery. So, after almost 3 hours, and having run Plan A and given Plan B a go, we decided on Plan C…..give up, return to Aunty Helen’s for lunch and to leave Neil’s mums ashes with her until Uncle Eddie got better and he could point someone in the right direction.
After lunch, we bid Aunty Helen and Uncle Alec farewell and headed into central Belfast. We were catching a bus to Dublin as were going to stay with Hugh who we met in Malaysia last winter. We said our goodbyes to June, Bob and Bill, “see you in 2011” then we headed into the bus station.
Now, this all happened on September 21st 2010. Today is October 2nd and Bob has just emailed that sadly Uncle Eddie died in the night having never recovered from his surgery.
Neil’s mum is now back in Belfast, where she wanted her ashes to go. She hasn’t quite made it to her parents’ grave, so Plan C, Aunty Helen’s kitchen, will have to remain as far as she gets for now.
If anybody out there can make contact with Uncle Eddie……..please send us a sign.
This entry tells the story of our summer in the UK, and continues on from last year’s blog ‘It can be done!”.
It’s a bit of a cliché but it’s true – absence does make the heart grow fonder, and after spending seven months on our trip around SE Asia, we now truly appreciate this beautiful land which we are lucky to call home.
We finally got back to England in the middle of May after delays due to the infamous Ash Cloud. Green fields, bluebells, oak trees not palm trees, policemen without guns and joining an orderly queue at Heathrow immigration – it was good to be back.
Home for the Summer
It has been a great summer spent catching up with family and friends and exploring the UK in our caravan. Our tour this summer took us first to Yorkshire and The Peak District to visit Donna, Zoe and Matthew. Our regular readers will remember that the premature death of Steve, Donna’s husband, was part of the reason we took to travel. It was great to see them and so refreshing to hear them talk of him as though he was in the next room. Steve is gone but he clearly will never, ever, be forgotten. We spent around 3 weeks travelling over the Peak District enjoying long walks, National Trust and great weather.
After that it was down to Neil’s sister’s house in Gloucester for the formal opening of the “band stand” before heading off with June and Barbs to Glastonbury Music Festival. Wow, not a cloud in sight let alone a rain drop, and definitely no mud, just dust!. A fab weekend was had by all and we were glad of the bit of shade we managed to grab in the camper field. Major highlights? The Silent Disco, June’s face painting for her birthday, Pet Shop Boys, Scissor Sisters with a guest appearance by Kylie, and, of course, Rolf Harris.
Happy Birthday June
Travels continued to Devizes and Marlborough where we tracked down the 8 White Horses of Wiltshire. Then into Sussex and a stay near Uckfield to enjoy more gorgeous countryside, National Trust places, walking and generally enjoying being a tourist in our home country.
Next stop took us to Surrey to catch up with Cheryl’s sister Chris and husband Andrew and girls Jenny and Fiona. Our initial campsite here was short lived as it was under the Gatwick flightpath……something the brochure just happen to omit! It was no problem, plenty of liquid anaesthetic which kicked in around 11.00 p.m. and wore off around 05.45 a.m. as the first flight took off. Needless to say, we moved on next morning to the tranquillity of a site near Horsham which also had entertainment…..a herd of cattle, mostly bulls that just made us laugh so much with their crazy antics.
Catching up with Cheryl’s family was great including a day out with the girls and, the highlight, Capel Music Festival (a tad smaller than Glasto) opened by “Love ‘n Licks”, Chris on guitar and Andrew on base……not bad for their first gig!
Back to Bristol for a catch up on post and family before heading to Brecon. Here we had a great week walking the Beacons, absolutely stunning, before catching up with Steve and Denise. Steve and Neil lived next door to each other when they were at school and got into a number of scrapes when they were kids.
We also had a great couple of days with Chris ‘n Viv who were over from Oz to celebrate Viv’s mum’s 80 birthday. This included taking the Heart of Wales Railway Line from Llandovery to Knighton, something that Chris had been promising himself for years and we finally got to share it with him. A great day out. After Brecon it was off to Pandy near Abergavenny. Once again, lovely scenery and great walking plus a visit to Hay on Wye where every other house is a second hand book store!
Love you….really
Viv looks cold
We left the caravan in Bristol to fly to Belfast for an eventful day (full details are in the next diary entry). From Belfast we bussed to Dublin to meet up with Hugh for a visit to the west coast village of Roundstone in Connemara where he has a lovely cottage on the harbour. We met Hugh on our last trip to SE Asia. He had been insistent that we visit him and take a look at the pics. It is absolutely superb with incredible views and a Guinness & Chowder lunch to die for in the local pub.
Finally Devon and Dartmoor for some more walking, wind, rain and lovely countryside. It’s getting a bit cooler now and Autumn is here ……..so it’s time to head to Stanstead and a plane to the warmth!
Many thanks to all the friends and family for their hospitality during the summer – there are too many to mention all by name, but you know who you are. Also apologies to the ones we promised to visit again before we left – busy, busy, busy having great fun and sorry we ran out of time. Chapter 3 here we come.
We didn’t plan to be here at this time and, true to form, this is the hot season in S E Asia and it’s hot, hot, hot! Much of the time the temperature is around 38degs so we don’t do very much in the day. We swim in the pool early morning and late afternoon and have a choice of two beaches for long beach walks once the heat of the day starts to dissipate around 4pm. Swimming in the morning is so refreshing as the sun is still behind the hotel and the water is cool. The afternoon swim is very different. Whilst the sun has fallen behind the bungalows the water is so hot from the daytime sun that it’s like swimming in the bath. Each swim is about half a mile or 900 meters.
We also have the occasional trip via the courtesy minibus to the shopping mall in town, for lunch, massage and to top up on essentials. Most evenings it’s down to the local market for fresh supplies of fruit and salad. The fruit here is delicious and cheap, papaya, pineapple, watermelon, bananas and our favourite mangos now in season, 1kg of mango costs 60p. So ripe and juicy that you can’t help wearing it when you eat and needing a shower afterwards……gurt lush!! We’re bringing some seeds back home so hopefully Roy can get some growing in his garden.
So, what with our daily swims and weight training, (we’re using 6Ltr fresh water bottles as dumb bells!!) aided by a diet of salad and fruit, we’re living very healthily. Neil hasn’t had a beer for a couple of weeks although he has been having a little wine each evening. Final weight loss has been in excess of half a stone for both of us, about 1/3 of the target.
We’ve been having weekly traditional Thai massages as a treat. Neil’s have been quite pleasant and relaxing whereas Cheryl’s have been given by diminutive Thai ladies with hidden muscles, powerful thumbs, elbows and strength to rival Mike Tyson!
Whilst things have been getting nastier by the day with the ongoing unrest in Bangkok, life here in Hua Hin is sleepy. We’ve seen the pictures on the news but nothing actually has happened here. Our trip and from the airport keeps us well away from the centre of Bangkok so things have been fine. Things also seem to be getting closer to a settlement so coming back next winter could be on the cards again.
There was a big music festival on the beach and, just like Quy Nhon in Vietnam, the stars of the show are staying at our hotel. This time, however, the star isn’t a pretty boy but a good old fashioned Rock & Roll Band who partied before they went to the show and partied even harder after the show in the swimming pool…….made Keith Moon look like an amateur…..well…..by Thai standards.
Other entertainment includes the regular weekend events held at the hotel for local businesses, clubs and associations staying at the hotel. These are often held in the hotel garden which is a lovely place for an outdoor event. The evening ends with the ubiquitous karaoke…….always very BAD karaoke……but it keeps us very amused listening to the pitiful warbling of the punters who don’t actually appear to be having such a great time.
We’ve also had a real thunder & lightning display when we reckon about 2-3in of rain fell in around 30-40 minutes. It was incredibly heavy, the noise as the rain hammered on the roof was deafening and it was fun to watch from the relative dryness of our balcony.
More warm rain
Fortunately, we’ve got BBC World News so we’ve been able to keep up to speed with news and the election. It was great watching the results come in through the night, our time from about 6 a.m. onwards. The Beeb did not let us down with fabulous in depth coverage and comment. It felt like being at home with much confusion and inability to easily analyse the conflicting results. The pundits slowly came to the conclusion that we were indeed headed for a hung parliament. We’re enjoyed watching the courting threesome as they use teams of match makers to come up with a tempting dowry.
After this mornings announcement on the Beeb we would like to wish the happy couple, Davina and Nick, or is it David and Nicola, a long and fruitful relationship.
That’s it, we’re on our way home today and looking forward to catching up with children, family and friends…..see you soon.
Our last few days in Vietnam were spent in Ho Chi Minh City. We had some shopping to do, Neils backpack was looking a tad torn and the trainers he brought with him were also well past their sell by date. So, we bought a new cabin sized wheelie case, solid and tough and with lots more security that we hope should see us through the next few years. The trainers, Nike and made here in Vietnam, were just £15.
On the day we shopped for the case the heavens really opened. We were lucky just to get to the indoor market but the noise on the metal roof was absolutely deafening!!! Real warm tropical rain.
Our room view
Real life under our window
Our last night was spent with our Vietnamese friends Tien & Phuc. We met them in Dalat in February during the TET Festival. Tien is an English teacher in HCMC and she was home in Dalat visiting family. We kept in touch and they took us to a Vietnamese Restaurant where we had some very delicious traditional foods in what was a very popular restaurant indeed. They are a lovely couple who told us lots about Vietnamese life, her dislike for the big city and her longing to go home to the mountain cool of Dalat and her family. She answered lots of our questions and, equally, we hope we answered her questions too.
Delicious food
The flight from HCMC to Bangkok was pretty uneventful as was our hotel near the airport…..good standard and we would use it again. Tomorrow would be the test……would we stay or would we go?.
Its a no brainer, Ash Cloud wins, we stay!!!! The earliest flight that Etihad could get us on was May 5th. We had already guessed that this would be the case and, as we now have a new 30 day visa and there are people much more desperate to get home than us, we decided to get home into the UK on May 13th.
So, was it to be 3 weeks in Bangkok?…..not a chance……3 weeks in the North?……too hot……..3 weeks on the Andaman Coast?……..too wet…….NO, ……back to Hua Hin where we started this trip back in October and the Hillside Resort and our favourite swimming pool. We looked at the cost of travelling into Bangkok and getting the bus to Hua Hin, about £30 for a 6 hour journey providing everything slotted into place. We felt that if we could get a taxi all the way from the airport for not much more then it would be worth it for all the hassle we would lose. RESULT: £40 door to door in less than 3 hours…..nice one!
Were back in Nha Trang to extend the visas one more time before we head for home.
We were originally going to spend the last month of our trip chilling in Thailand, but we decided to stay on in Vietnam due to the political protests going on. We have to fly out of Bangkok to get home so fingers crossed that all will be ok with our overnight stay near to the airport. The airport hasnt been targeted by the red shirt protesters so far, but we do remember the chaos caused by the yellow shirts in November 2008.
Nha Trang seems so big, noisy and bustling after the relative calm of Quy Nhon. The place was packed on the Sunday we returned and it was difficult walking along the beach promenade as it was blocked by people, bicycles, and motorbikes. We are both getting really frustrated by the lack of consideration given to pedestrians so have decided to hold our ground when a bike is coming towards us on the pavement beeping for us to get out of the way, or driven at us or cut across us with the driver completely oblivious to the danger. Neil has even grabbed hold of bikes and their passengers to make sure they notice and this has shocked a number of bike riders so we suspect the locals just give way at all times. We have been surprised at the lack of accidents given the chaotic state of the traffic and some of the idiotic behaviour of both drivers and pedestrians we have seen.
Accidents do happen though, and we got chatting to an English girl in her twenties who was unlucky enough to come off the hire bike driven by her boyfriend as he skidded on gravel. Travelling at only 30km/hr she was wearing shorts and lost a fairly large strip of skin along her elbow, lower arm and all along her leg. It didn’t look too bad on the first day, and we were impressed with her positive, almost cheerful attitude despite her injuries. As the wounds dried up it started to look at lot worse and she was obviously in a lot of discomfort. Added to this, it turned out her travel insurance company, Insure and Go, were being really unhelpful and it appeared that they were looking for a loophole to avoid paying the claim. It didn’t help that the hospital doctor was cheerfully adding lots of expensive treatments and fictitious overnight stays to the bill!
There was no hire agreement as the bike was rented from a guy on a street corner so we suspect the insurance company will do all they can to prove they were not on the 50cc bike they hired, as most will not cover for more than 125cc. On her last day we found out the insurance company were sending an agent to look into it. We took her email address and will follow up to see how it all turns out.
We have enjoyed our last few weeks as there is a relaxed pace to life here. Its hot during the day so we are doing as the locals do and getting up at 6am for a 6km walk along the seafront. Its relatively cool at this time and the locals are out swimming, walking, running, Tai Chi, badminton etc. The beach is very quiet during the day, apart from the mad dog westerners frying in the sun. At 5pm it cools down and we join the locals once more for another long walk before dinner.
The food here is very good, especially in our favourite Italian restaurant, so it was a surprise that the dreaded holiday tum has struck……and Neil is suffering! I suppose it was about time. The very hot curry at Omars Tandoori Cafe probably didn’t help matters. Omars does have a slight reputation for dodgy food, but, there is a real Indian chef, the smells wafting from the restaurant are fabulous, and Neil had a craving for curry that got the better of him. Looking on the bright side, if this bug is anything like the one he picked up in Goa a few years back, he will lose about a stone in weight.
Neil writes: My dodgy tum, fortunately, comes without the sickness. However, Vietnam’s Vengeance, as I have named it does have one or two quirks. The first trip to the bathroom at 01.30 was accompanied by really chronic pains in the abdomen. After that, it was regular business as usual until dawn. That was the time that I started to ache and develop a fever, just like flu, so this is more than just a bad curry!! The fever lasted about 24 hours and left as quick as it arrived. During the following night I woke up around 05.00 to find myself lying in what appeared to be a river…..I had been sweating out the fever so much that the bed was very wet. Well, my side of the bed was wet but Cheryl’s was very dry and that was the way it was going to stay! The fever had completely gone and the next day went well, back to normal, walks along the beach, exercise etc. Its now 24 hours later and whilst the fever has gone the regular trips to the bathroom have come back. Oh well, still looking on the bright side at the weight Im going to lose.
Finally, after weeks of endless sunshine the rain came last night, thunder, lightning and heavy, heavy rain. But it is warm rain unlike our return home when we know the rain will definitely NOT be warm!
Tiny receptioist at Hotel Bali
Next stop Ho Chi Minh City, (still called Saigon by most locals), for a couple of days before heading to Bangkok…..and Home……volcanic ash permitting!!
The seaside town of Quy Nhon is a lot less touristy than Nha Trang, so much so that only one or two restaurants have menus in English. Whilst this did narrow the opportunities, we found enough variety to keep us covered for the three weeks we spent there. It was refreshing not to be approached by so many people wanting to sell you sun glasses, cigarettes or usher you into their restaurant.
Our hotel, The Seagull (in 3 weeks we didnt see a single seagull!!!), was right on the seafront and you can see from the pics that we had a stunning view from our superb balcony. We managed to negotiate a rate of $25 a night, including a splendid buffet breakfast, it was a little over our budget but it was very, very nice.
The Seagull
Fab room
We didn’t see many westerners in Quy Nhon, only the occasional tour group in/out of the hotel staying 1 night before moving on the next day. This is a tourist town but not set up for or frequented by westerners. We spoke to a few guests in the hotel who looked Vietnamese but were proud to say they were from California, and had been living there since the end of the war. We learned that San Francisco has the largest population of Vietnamese outside the country.
Lights out for Earth Day
We were here to do not very much and, to be fair, we were very successful so not much to blog about. However, here are a few snippets:
Mobile Music Man. Hows this for ingenuity. Get yourself a moto, fit on the back a very large car battery and amplifier, invest in a quality radio mic. and, hey presto, you have a mobile music business. Now you travel around town, singing all those favourite tunes outside all the restaurants in town. Just wander around the restaurant taking requests from the tables and pocket the cash!! Brilliant…… if not a tad annoying when youre trying to enjoy a quiet meal!
Another great business idea is the mobile ice cream man aboard his push bike with a large box at the front. Sure, nothing new here, it happens all over the world. But, playing the theme from The Good, The Bad and The Ugly as your signature tune seemed to us to be inspirational!
Around the coast, about 5kms south, theres a Leper Hospital and Rehabilitation Site. They have their own private beach with gardens and you can visit for 5000VND (about 15p). It was surreal. Very quiet and clean, totally unlike Vietnam, and it had a small village attached to it where the cured can live and work in the gardens, rice paddies and fishing. Altogether a very pleasant place to visit and see disabled people just getting on with their lives rather than begging in the streets.
While we were here the town celebrated 35 years of Liberation from the US aggressors! A big party in town with lots going on and, in true Vietnamese style, very noisy. We even had a famous Vietnamese Boy Superstar staying at our hotel who gigged just one night at the town’s stadium as part of the celebrations. He was very pretty but we don’t know how good his singing was! Lot’s of filming and interviews in the hotel foyer seemed to be boring him to death!
Quy Nhon has a large University and we were often approached by students wanting to polish up their English. One girl, in particular, was studying to be an English teacher. We were out for our evening stroll and she politely asked if she could walk with us. She was the first person in her village to attend Uni and her English and vocabulary were excellent. She walked with us for almost an hour and it was great to have been able to help her.
The beautiful beach
Thats it, we said it was short so its now back to Nha Trang to extend the visa once more.
ts been a while since we wrote a blog and thats because we are well into wind down, chill out mode before the return home at the end of April. One thing we have learned is not to rush about from one tourist hot spot to another, desperately ticking off the must sees as we go. Its just as interesting to stay in one place and simply observe life going on all around you and appreciate the differences in culture and outlook. People get to know you and after a while you can have a bit of banter with them.
The bus journey from Dalat was eventful. We were on the 2.30pm bus, had seats at the front and were waiting for the bus to leave (it was only 25 mins late at this stage…….) when the drivers mate fiddled with a couple of switches and what looked like clouds of dry ice descended over the steering wheel. We laughed…..then decided to get off the bus….quick!! The people at the back were coughing and spluttering by the time they spilled out…hmmm..not good we thought. About 10 mins later, the bus guys put a young lad from their office in the bus, closed the doors, left him in for 5 mins,…. he lived, ….so it was back on the bus and off we went. Canaries and mining come to mind.
The scenery was spectacular as the road winds through mountains, climbing up and down, and swerving side to side round hairpin bends. After 3 hours, and on the steep downhill descent, there was a smell of burning. We pulled over and everyone got off the bus while the brakes at the back had 15-20 mins to cool off and stop smoking. Back on the bus and about 30 mins later there was a loud bang. This didnt sound good and the driver brought the bus to a slow halt just as he limped in to the normal stop restaurant. What fabulous timing to have a tyre blow out!
That doesn’t look good
Everyone off the bus again for toilet break, food & drink while we waited for the driver & his mate to have their food before taking the bus for repairs in what seemed to be the middle of nowhere. Set off again (about 2 hours late by this time) thinking it wont be long before we get to Nha Trang, only for the road to turn into a rutted dirt track for the next hour. Average speed was about 10km/hour. Finally we got to the sealed road and waited for the driver to put his foot down…..and waited….and waited….average speed did not get above 40-50kms/hour. We suspect that the brakes were now completely shot and the driver seemed reluctant to take any risks.
Finally arrived in Nha Trang around 8pm to be greeted by our friend Hugh pointing to the nearest watering hole……well done Hugh……..see you in 5 minutes we said!!
Cheers Hugh
Nha Trang is a well established beach resort with a 6km beach, park like promenade and plenty of bars, restaurants and hotels geared towards both foreign and local holidaymakers. The westerners bake on the beach during the heat of the day and drift away by late afternoon. Thats when the locals arrive for huge games of football, family picnics on the beach and flying kites. The beach area is even floodlit at night!
We found a great hotel for $20/night a few steps away from a Bia Hoi where you get a litre jug of beer for 7000 VND (about 25p) and you get to sit on kiddie size plastic chairs and watch the world go by. The place is tiny but very popular and spills out into the street as nearby businesses close for the night. We enjoyed the great food on offer at the restaurants and were such frequent visitors to one Italian place we got a leaving present of a bottle of wine on our last night.
Cheryl & Neil Our Story 