Well, the end is here. After four weeks of adventuring, we are back in Bangkok for our final day before boarding the plane to Oz this evening.
We ended up having a busy and enjoyable five days in Chiang Mai. Even though our first impressions weren't that great, it really is a charming town/city with so much to offer to travellers. I believe the last time I wrote we had just attended our cooking class on Saturday and were heading to the market for a day of shopping.
Chiang Mai really is HEAVEN for shoppers. To my delight (and Craig's disgust), we actually managed to shop for EIGHT hours on Sunday- that is how big the Sunday market was! Hours and hours of strolling through the market looking at beautiful handicrafts, clothes, souvenirs, foods etc. We did stop half way through and treat ourselves to an amazing half an hour foot massage! We managed to pretty much complete our Christmas shopping- & we thought we were escaping Chrissy shopping by coming away, nope, we have shopped and shopped and shopped for our loved ones and got some great gifts. I bought a couple of dresses and trinkets, Craig bought some funny tee-shirts. It was an exhausting but fun day, we literally fell into bed when we got home and fell asleep instantly to the sound of the crickets and waterfall outside our room.
The next morning (Monday) we were up bright and early for yet another tour. We were not overly enthusiastic about it as this was the tour we felt as though we had been ripped off for, and we were a little 'toured' out by now but we are so glad we went. We saw some amazing sights in Chiang Mai. It started off with a bus ride that took about 45 minutes, with only one small detour (South East Asia is famous for detouring to little touristy places on the way!) and that was to an orchid farm which was really quite beautiful. We arrived in Mae Son where we drove along this dirt track with the most amazing hills and mountain scenery next to us, and lots and lots of elephants strolling along the river and the mountains. It was a great sight. They looked very happy in the beautiful surroundings.
We arrived at our elephant camp and were quickly sold some banana's to feed to the elephants. We were in a group of ten which was a great size, a Dutch family of 6, an Australian mother and daughter and us two. We were quickly herded up onto a platform where we were designated an elephant to ride. Ours was a beautiful large greedy guts that stuck its trunk up to us every minute for a banana. I am not sure whether or not I enjoyed elephant riding. It was quite a rocky ride and we were holding on for dear life the whole time. A lot of the road was against a cliff and even though I knew what a sturdy animal the elephant was, I was worried we would fall down! However, our elephant took good care of us (must have been all those banana's!) and we got some lovely photo's and had quite an enjoyable ride. Our bus picked us up at the end after about an hour of riding through some amazing jungle and mountain scenery.
From there we had lunch in a little hut. We were a bit shocked when our driver bought out these little banana leaf packages- we had no idea what would be in them! But when we opened them they were full of cold pad thai which hit the spot quite nicely, and the banana leaf packages were very eco-friendly which fit in with the theme of the day.
After lunch our tour guide handed us a bamboo stick and loaded up with water, we began our trek. We had thought that with a family of 6 with young children that the 'trek' would actually be a little stroll, but they were not lying when they said trek! It was very fun, especially now that Craig and I are so fit from all our walking, we did not struggle at all on the one hour climb. We went up the mountain, climbed rocks, went over rivers, across bridges. We saw huge spiderwebs, amazing jungle scenery and at the end we were greeted with a magnificant waterfall. We immediately stripped down to our bathers and jumped in, where we could shower under the strong water. It was a really awesome experience, being so high up in the mountains, surrounded by some of the hill tribes in little bamboo huts, swimming in this waterfall.
The trek down was a little harder than the trek up as we were on slippery surfaces and slippery rocks- the bamboo sticks definately stopped me falling the mud quite a few times! I was wearing my volley's for the walk and I was so glad to put my thongs back on after we finished trekking- my feet are not used to proper shoes and I had pretty bad blisters from it. I will have to ease my way back into normal footwear.
From here we got back into the car and drove down to the river where we were going white water rafting. I was a bit nervous about this as I had heard some screams from people going past whilst on the elephants! We stripped back down to our bathers, put on a lifejacket and a helmet and ended up with a boat with the other two Australians (mother and daughter) who we had got quite friendly with. We were given some oars and first the Thai guy controlling the boat taught us how to go forwards, backwards, how to steady out the boat and the emergency position. We went over the first rapid and it was quite fun really, just a little bit of rocking and water. However, going over the next rapid, where the rocks we went over were about a metre high, things got a little scary! We actually got stuck on one rock and had to tip ourselves over onto a two metre drop. I was very scared and we got very wet! We then got stuck on another rock and started taking in water. We were there for about five minutes before the boat emptied out enough for us to get off... talk about near death experience! The poor Australian girl who was only nine was very scared!
After that I was the only one who got badly wet again, as he got us to row backwards and didn't tell us we were about to run into a rock at a very high speed. I was at the front of the boat and I got thrown backwards onto the laps of the others, and ended up in the bottom of the boat, very embarrassed and wet! I don't know how Craig managed to hang on!
After about twenty minutes we were pretty glad to be out of the boat (although it was great fun), and we transferred onto a bamboo raft that was a little gentler but just our luck, it sank anyway, and we were wet all over again.
Saturated from head to toe, we piled back into the bus and headed for our last stop, the 'Karen Long Neck' tribal village. You have probably seen them on documentaries and such before, they have the long coils of brass around their necks. It was quite a sight to see. The women are beautiful, but their necks are so long from wearing these coils all their lives that if they were to take them off their necks would break. It is a little frightening to see tiny girls wearing them knowing they can never take them off. We held one of the brass coils and they weigh about 3.5 kgs, imagine having that weight on your neck and shoulders all the time? We were saddened and intrigued at the same time. We bought a few trinkets and chatted to a few of the locals then headed home- our tour had gone from 8-6 and we were very exhausted. We skipped the walk into town that night and instead caught a tuk-tuk to dinner! We ate at a place called Lemongrass which we had seen had rave reviews on Trip Advisor and it was one of the best meals we had eaten in Chiang Mai- very enjoyable, and quite reasonably priced.
Yesterday was our last day in Chiang Mai, and what better way to spend it than winding down in a day spa? We went to this beautiful place called Fah Lanna where I had 3.5 hours of relaxation and pampering. Craig chose to have a traditional Thai massage which is probably more like a chiropractor- he was bent and twisted all over the place, and even worse, his masseause was a male! After an hour of that, he was happy to go to the pub and drink beer whilst I kept being pampered. I had a one hour relaxation oil massage in this beautiful candle lit room, it was just lovely. After that, in the same room, I had a facial where I actually fell asleep it was so nice. After that, pedicure and manicure. Bliss! All this (including Craig's) cost us about $50 which was quite reasonable considering the level of professionalism there, which we had found rare in massage places throughout our trip.
So now, after another sleeper train trip, we are back in Bangkok, about to head to Siam (the best shopping centre ever) to escape the heat and spend the last of our Baht.
This may well be my last blog unless something exciting happens today or on our flight home.
So on reflection, this really has been the trip of our lifetime. Craig and I have to keep trying to convince ourselves that we actually did see all of the places we did in a mere month. Eight flights, Eight hotels, Two sleeper train rides, Three boat rides... many, many amazing people. We have jumped off the roof of boats, walked through crazy cities, drank tea in the oldest house in Hanoi, eaten some of the best food we probably ever will, been in the jungle of the Mekong Delta, swam in waterfalls, cuddled tigers, ridden elephants, scuba-dived and relaxed on maybe the most beautiful island we may ever see. What a month!
If anyone is reading this and thinking, hmmm, maybe I should head off to Vietnam and Thailand one day- do it... do it now! These places are becoming more and more Westernized by the day and it is REALLY worth it to see the cultural and 'real' side of it before it is too late. We may just see you there, as I doubt we will be able to stay away for long.
Until my next holiday ;) x
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Final Destination, Chiang Mai...
Internet access at last! Our hotel's computers have been down for a few days so we just found this internet cafe, where all I had to do was have a coffee and I got free access... lovely!
I will pick up where I left off with our journey on the sleeper train to Chiang Mai. The taxi ride from our hotel to the train station took 45 minutes... to go 6kms. That is the traffic in Bangkok! It was insane. When we arrived at the train station, it reminded me a bit of platform 9 and 3/4! People rushing everywhere with bags in this huge train station. Pretty cool really.
We made our way through the station to platform 5, where we were on the first class carriage. This consisted of a room no bigger than a bathroom, with a sofa that folded upwards into bunkbeds. It was actually quite clean, and nicer than I expected, but I was very happy to be in first class. I sought out the toilet, which to my horror was a squat- have you ever used a toilet like that whilst a train is rocking from side to side!? Craig thought it was VERY hilarious when he ventured to find a toilet and discovered a western toilet literally next door to the one I was used. I was relieved, but very frustrated. Haha.
We had brought our own dinner onto the train, as you are charged quite a bit for a plane style meal. We had gone to one of those crazy Asian bakeries that have all kind of goodies... however, on eating them, we were pretty disappointed that the Thai breads were nothing like Vietnams, and quite gross! Our dinner consisted of lollies from then on...
We were pretty content in our cosy little cabin, but about 8pm decided there was nothing to do but sleep. So we set up our bunk bed and shivering a little in the aircon, tried to get some shut eye. About an hour later a steward came round with blankets, and sheets and pillowcases! He was very surprised that we had set up the beds ourselves as that was his job. We were much comfier with the luxury of a blanket. It was difficult to sleep with the constant rocking and vibration of the train, but all in all, it was better than sleeping upright on a plane. I think we probably got about 5 or 6 hours which was fine.
At about 7.30 we were served a strange breakfast of sandwiches, with cold french fries and a banana. We were supposed to arrive in Chiang Mai at 8 but were delayed until 9.30 (making it 15 hours in our little room!) Safe to say we were very glad to reach the station and get off the train. We bargained with a tuktuk (a little golf cart kind of taxi) to take us to our hotel. They allowed us early check in without a worry, and the hotel is very nice but quite a way out of town. This hasn't been too much of a problem as it has allowed us to keep the weight we lost in Vietnam off by walking the half an hour there and back every day!
The hotel is very oriental style, with wooden beams and a waterfall next to the pool. We have a nice boutique style room with a balcony that overlooks the waterfall- very tranquil but at nice it makes us feel a little as though we are on a boat rather than in a rainforest which is the designed effect!
We braved the walk into town where we were told by some guy (big mistake to listen to him) that the best place to buy tours is the official government travel agency, which he pointed us in the direction of. We booked a one day trek for the next morning that included an elephant ride, waterfall swim, trek into the hilltribes and white water rafting. This cost about $40 bucks each, which is quite a bit in Thailand, especially since in Vietnam our tours were about $10 each. However, we thought we couldn't go wrong with the official agency. But when we consulted our Lonely Planet on arrival home, it informed us that the official tour agency was not at that location- we had been scammed. Important lesson- do not listen to anyone on the street in Thailand! It isn't all bad, because all the companies usually sell you off on the same tours anyway, but it was frustrating to think we probably paid too much.
When back at our accommodation we decided to hit the pool. Whilst in the pool we got chatting with another couple staying at the hotel, a couple from the UK named Libby and Steve. This was a good encounter as we could swap travel stories and ended up spending quite a bit of time together which was a welcome interaction after Craig and I spending over three weeks just talking to each other. It was also good because at this time Craig and I were feeling a little disillusioned with Thailand, feeling that it was not as cheap or as friendly as Vietnam. Libby and Steve had been in Thailand for 6 weeks and they felt similarly, so it was nice to see we weren't just whining!
Craig started to feel ill that night and lost his voice, so we had a quick bite in the restaurant at the hotel, hit the chemist to get him some meds and had an early night. We awoke the next morning to rain, and with Craig still having lost his voice, we postponed our trip to later in the week to give him some time to recover. I really wasn't keen for trekking and elephant riding in the rain anyways. We slipped a note under Libby and Steve's door to see if they were interested in accompanying us to one of the attractions I specifically came to Thailand to see, Tiger Kingdom. They were up for it, so we headed in a taxi out to Tiger Kingdom which was about 45 mins away.
It was one of the highlights of our trip, especially of the Thailand leg. Basically, it is a Tiger Park where all the tigers are hand reared by the Thai people so are relatively tame. The living conditions are not really up to Western standards, but the tigers are well loved and the grounds they live in are clean and maintained, so I felt pretty fine being there. I talked Craig into going for one of the bigger packages, that allowed us to spend 45 minutes with tigers of three different age groups. This cost about $40 each, which for me, was a cheap price to pay for the trip of a lifetime. We started off with the baby tigers- what an AMAZING experience. Getting to snuggle, hold and play with 6 week old tigers was such a joy. They were such sweet little things, almost like puppies but much more exotic. As soon as Craig held one of the tigers, it was clear he did not regret paying the extra money. We then saw 8 month old tigers, which we patted and had photos with, though they were quite sleepy. After that, we were in with the 14 month tigers which are considered 'medium', but to me, seemed HUGE! I was a little afraid of them but they were happy to lie around chewing on bamboo whilst we stroked them and took lots of photos. All in all, we left with 84 photos and I have fallen in love with tigers. What beautiful majestic creatures. I am so happy we did it!
That evening we met up with Libby and Steve again and headed to the Night Bazaar, Chiang Mai is famous for it. At this time I was still thinking despite the tigers, Chiang Mai is a pretty boring town. However, it lights up at night. Hundreds of stalls selling anything and everything line the street, along with music and lots of atmosphere. It was good fun. We purchased a few things, but decided to dedicate most of our shopping to another night when we weren't socializing (which happens to be tonight, yay!) We had some Pad Thai from a street restaurant which cost us about a buck, and was quite nice. It was a good evening, and once again it was fun to spend time with some fellow travellers.
Yesterday morning we were up bright and early for a cooking class that we had booked months ago. It had been recommended to us by a friend of Craig's and is touted as the best in Chiang Mai. However, when we arrived at the venue and saw that our 'exclusive cooking class' that we had paid quite a bit for consisted of us and abou 25 other people, we didn't feel so exclusive. We were taken to the market and shown how to choose fresh ingredients, but couldn't hear much considering that there were so many of us. It was interesting being at a market like that, we saw some very 'interesting' cuts of meat- pigs heads, and all of the insides. Ew!
Back at the cooking school things went pretty quickly. Basically you watched a demonstration, then cooked it yourself with guidance, then ate it. It continued like this all day- not the most relaxing of cooking classes. We also found some of the staff helping us a little belittling. As if we were going to be experts on the first day, really! The food was beautiful though, and even though Craig did manage with the help of one of the staff to accidentally set his noodles on fire, it was a somewhat enjoyable day. The best part was eating the food with fellow travellers and hearing stories from all over the world. The day did convince us even more that we like Vietnam much more than Thailand, as the Vietnamese seemed a lot more professional and courteous than the people we have met so far in Thailand...
Today we are hitting the several markets around town and hoping to spend most of the money left on our cash passports, as it is pretty expensive to empty it once back home. I can't wait! Will fill you in on more soon...
Hope all is well! x
I will pick up where I left off with our journey on the sleeper train to Chiang Mai. The taxi ride from our hotel to the train station took 45 minutes... to go 6kms. That is the traffic in Bangkok! It was insane. When we arrived at the train station, it reminded me a bit of platform 9 and 3/4! People rushing everywhere with bags in this huge train station. Pretty cool really.
We made our way through the station to platform 5, where we were on the first class carriage. This consisted of a room no bigger than a bathroom, with a sofa that folded upwards into bunkbeds. It was actually quite clean, and nicer than I expected, but I was very happy to be in first class. I sought out the toilet, which to my horror was a squat- have you ever used a toilet like that whilst a train is rocking from side to side!? Craig thought it was VERY hilarious when he ventured to find a toilet and discovered a western toilet literally next door to the one I was used. I was relieved, but very frustrated. Haha.
We had brought our own dinner onto the train, as you are charged quite a bit for a plane style meal. We had gone to one of those crazy Asian bakeries that have all kind of goodies... however, on eating them, we were pretty disappointed that the Thai breads were nothing like Vietnams, and quite gross! Our dinner consisted of lollies from then on...
We were pretty content in our cosy little cabin, but about 8pm decided there was nothing to do but sleep. So we set up our bunk bed and shivering a little in the aircon, tried to get some shut eye. About an hour later a steward came round with blankets, and sheets and pillowcases! He was very surprised that we had set up the beds ourselves as that was his job. We were much comfier with the luxury of a blanket. It was difficult to sleep with the constant rocking and vibration of the train, but all in all, it was better than sleeping upright on a plane. I think we probably got about 5 or 6 hours which was fine.
At about 7.30 we were served a strange breakfast of sandwiches, with cold french fries and a banana. We were supposed to arrive in Chiang Mai at 8 but were delayed until 9.30 (making it 15 hours in our little room!) Safe to say we were very glad to reach the station and get off the train. We bargained with a tuktuk (a little golf cart kind of taxi) to take us to our hotel. They allowed us early check in without a worry, and the hotel is very nice but quite a way out of town. This hasn't been too much of a problem as it has allowed us to keep the weight we lost in Vietnam off by walking the half an hour there and back every day!
The hotel is very oriental style, with wooden beams and a waterfall next to the pool. We have a nice boutique style room with a balcony that overlooks the waterfall- very tranquil but at nice it makes us feel a little as though we are on a boat rather than in a rainforest which is the designed effect!
We braved the walk into town where we were told by some guy (big mistake to listen to him) that the best place to buy tours is the official government travel agency, which he pointed us in the direction of. We booked a one day trek for the next morning that included an elephant ride, waterfall swim, trek into the hilltribes and white water rafting. This cost about $40 bucks each, which is quite a bit in Thailand, especially since in Vietnam our tours were about $10 each. However, we thought we couldn't go wrong with the official agency. But when we consulted our Lonely Planet on arrival home, it informed us that the official tour agency was not at that location- we had been scammed. Important lesson- do not listen to anyone on the street in Thailand! It isn't all bad, because all the companies usually sell you off on the same tours anyway, but it was frustrating to think we probably paid too much.
When back at our accommodation we decided to hit the pool. Whilst in the pool we got chatting with another couple staying at the hotel, a couple from the UK named Libby and Steve. This was a good encounter as we could swap travel stories and ended up spending quite a bit of time together which was a welcome interaction after Craig and I spending over three weeks just talking to each other. It was also good because at this time Craig and I were feeling a little disillusioned with Thailand, feeling that it was not as cheap or as friendly as Vietnam. Libby and Steve had been in Thailand for 6 weeks and they felt similarly, so it was nice to see we weren't just whining!
Craig started to feel ill that night and lost his voice, so we had a quick bite in the restaurant at the hotel, hit the chemist to get him some meds and had an early night. We awoke the next morning to rain, and with Craig still having lost his voice, we postponed our trip to later in the week to give him some time to recover. I really wasn't keen for trekking and elephant riding in the rain anyways. We slipped a note under Libby and Steve's door to see if they were interested in accompanying us to one of the attractions I specifically came to Thailand to see, Tiger Kingdom. They were up for it, so we headed in a taxi out to Tiger Kingdom which was about 45 mins away.
It was one of the highlights of our trip, especially of the Thailand leg. Basically, it is a Tiger Park where all the tigers are hand reared by the Thai people so are relatively tame. The living conditions are not really up to Western standards, but the tigers are well loved and the grounds they live in are clean and maintained, so I felt pretty fine being there. I talked Craig into going for one of the bigger packages, that allowed us to spend 45 minutes with tigers of three different age groups. This cost about $40 each, which for me, was a cheap price to pay for the trip of a lifetime. We started off with the baby tigers- what an AMAZING experience. Getting to snuggle, hold and play with 6 week old tigers was such a joy. They were such sweet little things, almost like puppies but much more exotic. As soon as Craig held one of the tigers, it was clear he did not regret paying the extra money. We then saw 8 month old tigers, which we patted and had photos with, though they were quite sleepy. After that, we were in with the 14 month tigers which are considered 'medium', but to me, seemed HUGE! I was a little afraid of them but they were happy to lie around chewing on bamboo whilst we stroked them and took lots of photos. All in all, we left with 84 photos and I have fallen in love with tigers. What beautiful majestic creatures. I am so happy we did it!
That evening we met up with Libby and Steve again and headed to the Night Bazaar, Chiang Mai is famous for it. At this time I was still thinking despite the tigers, Chiang Mai is a pretty boring town. However, it lights up at night. Hundreds of stalls selling anything and everything line the street, along with music and lots of atmosphere. It was good fun. We purchased a few things, but decided to dedicate most of our shopping to another night when we weren't socializing (which happens to be tonight, yay!) We had some Pad Thai from a street restaurant which cost us about a buck, and was quite nice. It was a good evening, and once again it was fun to spend time with some fellow travellers.
Yesterday morning we were up bright and early for a cooking class that we had booked months ago. It had been recommended to us by a friend of Craig's and is touted as the best in Chiang Mai. However, when we arrived at the venue and saw that our 'exclusive cooking class' that we had paid quite a bit for consisted of us and abou 25 other people, we didn't feel so exclusive. We were taken to the market and shown how to choose fresh ingredients, but couldn't hear much considering that there were so many of us. It was interesting being at a market like that, we saw some very 'interesting' cuts of meat- pigs heads, and all of the insides. Ew!
Back at the cooking school things went pretty quickly. Basically you watched a demonstration, then cooked it yourself with guidance, then ate it. It continued like this all day- not the most relaxing of cooking classes. We also found some of the staff helping us a little belittling. As if we were going to be experts on the first day, really! The food was beautiful though, and even though Craig did manage with the help of one of the staff to accidentally set his noodles on fire, it was a somewhat enjoyable day. The best part was eating the food with fellow travellers and hearing stories from all over the world. The day did convince us even more that we like Vietnam much more than Thailand, as the Vietnamese seemed a lot more professional and courteous than the people we have met so far in Thailand...
Today we are hitting the several markets around town and hoping to spend most of the money left on our cash passports, as it is pretty expensive to empty it once back home. I can't wait! Will fill you in on more soon...
Hope all is well! x
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Goodbye Vietnam...
Greetings from Bangkok!
The Vietnam leg of our trip is now over. I cried at the airport. It was so difficult to leave beautiful Phu Quoc Island, and the manner in which we left in made it even harder. Basically, our original flight from the island to Saigon left us with one hour and fifty minutes to get onto our international flight to Bangkok. Then, on our last night on the island, our flight was brought forward by an hour- leaving us only fifty minutes to get off the plane, get our luggage, get to the International terminal, check in our baggage and go through customs etc. Cue a very panicked morning! Craig was up since 3am stressing about if we were going to make it, we were both too stressed to enjoy our breakfast or last morning on the island. And to make matters worse, we were sitting at the airport for an hour just staring at our plane thinking, how silly that we can't just leave now!
On disembarking from the plane, we literally ran to the baggage carrel, then had to wait for 15 minutes for it to come, then ran to International where the check in lady told us we should probably run to customs straight away. We made it just as the gates were opening for our flight! Thank god- how stressful!
Our flight to Bangkok was uneventful. On arriving to Bangkok airport however, stress was high again. That airport is just ridiculous. Imagine having to walk over 1km just to get to passport check and baggage. Then we had filled the forms in wrong for immigration and ended up lining up for over an hour altogether whilst our baggage went round and round waiting for us.
We then hailed a meter taxi and got to our hotel in about half an hour. The cab driver clearly thought, look at these two Westerners straight off the plane, I am going to rip them off- as the meter clearly said 250 Baht but he told us 550! Little did he know we are seasoned travellers, and after 3 weeks in Vietnam, know every scam and trick in the book! We got it for the right price.
Our hotel is very nice, but after such a stressful and fitful day, Craig was feeling very unwell so he slept and attempted to recover whilst I had a date with cable tv. We attempted to explore before dinner but it quickly became clear that our hotel was close to not much at all, despite having a beautiful view of the city and the river, so we headed back to the hotel feeling very defeated and missing Vietnam very much!
We had a nice dinner at our hotel however, I was excited to eat Pad Thai in Thailand. Craig then hit the sack early as he was still unwell and I made friends with the tv again. After a good nights sleep we both felt much better and more alive, but had an awkward day ahead of us as our train doesn't leave till 6 but we had to check out at 2pm. So we asked the hotel where we could venture to just for a few hours and one of the guys suggested a place called Siam, a small train ride away.
Ah, Siam! How amazing it was. The moment I fell in love with Bangkok. It was like a shopping mall on drugs. Level upon level of the coolest, craziest shops ever, decorated with crazy Christmas gear like huge rabbits dressed in Christmas get up. Plus, Madame Taussauds was there so we spent an hour hanging out with Obama, and the Queen, and Beyonce etc, although I was a little disappointed that the Twilight cast hadn't made it there yet! Haha.
We spent some blissful hours wandering around this magical place, somehow managing to spend not much money at all apart from some crazy Thai yummies to eat on the train this evening, and made it back here to the hotel just in time to check out.
Now, we are just about to get a cab to the train station where we will head up to Chiang Mai on a sleeper train where we will spend five nights! Oh, the thought of spending 5 nights still in one place sounds amazing to me, whether this place is as cool as Vietnam or not!
I will keep you all updated. Am missing you all lots, and am ALMOST ready to come home!
Hope all is well =) x
The Vietnam leg of our trip is now over. I cried at the airport. It was so difficult to leave beautiful Phu Quoc Island, and the manner in which we left in made it even harder. Basically, our original flight from the island to Saigon left us with one hour and fifty minutes to get onto our international flight to Bangkok. Then, on our last night on the island, our flight was brought forward by an hour- leaving us only fifty minutes to get off the plane, get our luggage, get to the International terminal, check in our baggage and go through customs etc. Cue a very panicked morning! Craig was up since 3am stressing about if we were going to make it, we were both too stressed to enjoy our breakfast or last morning on the island. And to make matters worse, we were sitting at the airport for an hour just staring at our plane thinking, how silly that we can't just leave now!
On disembarking from the plane, we literally ran to the baggage carrel, then had to wait for 15 minutes for it to come, then ran to International where the check in lady told us we should probably run to customs straight away. We made it just as the gates were opening for our flight! Thank god- how stressful!
Our flight to Bangkok was uneventful. On arriving to Bangkok airport however, stress was high again. That airport is just ridiculous. Imagine having to walk over 1km just to get to passport check and baggage. Then we had filled the forms in wrong for immigration and ended up lining up for over an hour altogether whilst our baggage went round and round waiting for us.
We then hailed a meter taxi and got to our hotel in about half an hour. The cab driver clearly thought, look at these two Westerners straight off the plane, I am going to rip them off- as the meter clearly said 250 Baht but he told us 550! Little did he know we are seasoned travellers, and after 3 weeks in Vietnam, know every scam and trick in the book! We got it for the right price.
Our hotel is very nice, but after such a stressful and fitful day, Craig was feeling very unwell so he slept and attempted to recover whilst I had a date with cable tv. We attempted to explore before dinner but it quickly became clear that our hotel was close to not much at all, despite having a beautiful view of the city and the river, so we headed back to the hotel feeling very defeated and missing Vietnam very much!
We had a nice dinner at our hotel however, I was excited to eat Pad Thai in Thailand. Craig then hit the sack early as he was still unwell and I made friends with the tv again. After a good nights sleep we both felt much better and more alive, but had an awkward day ahead of us as our train doesn't leave till 6 but we had to check out at 2pm. So we asked the hotel where we could venture to just for a few hours and one of the guys suggested a place called Siam, a small train ride away.
Ah, Siam! How amazing it was. The moment I fell in love with Bangkok. It was like a shopping mall on drugs. Level upon level of the coolest, craziest shops ever, decorated with crazy Christmas gear like huge rabbits dressed in Christmas get up. Plus, Madame Taussauds was there so we spent an hour hanging out with Obama, and the Queen, and Beyonce etc, although I was a little disappointed that the Twilight cast hadn't made it there yet! Haha.
We spent some blissful hours wandering around this magical place, somehow managing to spend not much money at all apart from some crazy Thai yummies to eat on the train this evening, and made it back here to the hotel just in time to check out.
Now, we are just about to get a cab to the train station where we will head up to Chiang Mai on a sleeper train where we will spend five nights! Oh, the thought of spending 5 nights still in one place sounds amazing to me, whether this place is as cool as Vietnam or not!
I will keep you all updated. Am missing you all lots, and am ALMOST ready to come home!
Hope all is well =) x
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Greetings from Paradise!
Hi all,
Internet access is limited here so I haven't had much of a chance to write- although I doubt I would have been able to drag myself away from the sunbeds and crystal blue water anyway.
I am currently on Phu Quoc Island which is Vietnam's answer to Phuket- except it is way less commercialized and has only a small amount of resorts and restaurants. It is bliss! Easily the most beautiful place I have ever been to.
We are staying in a beach bungalow where it is literally ten steps before our feet are in the sand. The water is crystal blue and smooth like silk, and so warm! Very different from the beaches in Australia!
The resort has heaps of free sun lounges for us to use and we haven't done much else than swim, read, swim, read and eat some amazing food. The main mode of employment on the island is fisherman, so all the seafood is fresh and plentiful. So far we have eaten fresh squid, prawns, tuna, mackeral, crab and yesterday on our boat trip we even tried a sea urchin (the black spiky things about the size of a tennis ball!) Very interesting experience. The restaurants here are all located on the beach, where you sit at little candlelit tables with your feet in the sand. I even got to drink a cocktail straight out of a coconut! On our second night here we went to the night market for dinner- awesome place. Heaps of little makeshift restaurants that basically consisted of a table full of fresh seafood and a BBQ- you just pointed at what you wanted and they cooked it for you. Amazing!
Whilst walking along the beach one day we got approached by some local kids who wanted Craig to play soccer with them. He happily obliged and they were such lovely kids. Even though they didn't speak English and we didn't speak Vietnamese we managed to have a girls against boys soccer match on the beach. The kids here are such little dolls, and so high spirited. Often along the beach you will see about twenty of them splashing around in the water, fully clothed!
Yesterday we were brave enough to try scuba diving for the first time. We went on two 45 minute 'try dives' where you only go 6 metres down and have an instructor attached to you just in case. My instructor was this beautiful Vietnamese boy named Ting who took very good care of me! Especially since on my first dive my face mask kept filling up with water and we couldn't work out why for about twenty minutes- it had a leak! Once that was fixed up, I spent 2 x 45 glorious minutes under the water touching sea anenomes, seeing some beautiful coral, thousands of fish (clown fish, angelfish, butterfly fish etc). It was an awesome experience, and Craig and I are hankering to get up to the Great Barrier Reef sometime to try what Australia has to offer on the scuba dive front.
We were on the boat with three couples from Finland- well, that was pretty bad for our self esteem! I have never seen such tanned, muscled, blonde, perfect looking people in my life! I felt very white in comparison. They looked like they were off the set of Baywatch or something. They were good fun though, apart from the fact that we didn't speak Finnish, so therefore had no idea what the six of them were saying the entire trip!
All in all, this place has been a paradise after the bustling of the cities we have been too. We are almost feeling resentful towards Thailand because we have to leave this haven to go there- "Damn Thailand, who do they think they are taking us away from paradise?!" It is going to be so sad to leave Vietnam. We have become so attached to the people, the culture and the food. It has been everything we expected and so much more.
So now I am off to spend my last afternoon relaxing on the beach. I think a swim and a beach massage is in order. I am missing Melbourne and all my loved ones very much- less than 2 weeks till I see you all again!
Love lots x
Internet access is limited here so I haven't had much of a chance to write- although I doubt I would have been able to drag myself away from the sunbeds and crystal blue water anyway.
I am currently on Phu Quoc Island which is Vietnam's answer to Phuket- except it is way less commercialized and has only a small amount of resorts and restaurants. It is bliss! Easily the most beautiful place I have ever been to.
We are staying in a beach bungalow where it is literally ten steps before our feet are in the sand. The water is crystal blue and smooth like silk, and so warm! Very different from the beaches in Australia!
The resort has heaps of free sun lounges for us to use and we haven't done much else than swim, read, swim, read and eat some amazing food. The main mode of employment on the island is fisherman, so all the seafood is fresh and plentiful. So far we have eaten fresh squid, prawns, tuna, mackeral, crab and yesterday on our boat trip we even tried a sea urchin (the black spiky things about the size of a tennis ball!) Very interesting experience. The restaurants here are all located on the beach, where you sit at little candlelit tables with your feet in the sand. I even got to drink a cocktail straight out of a coconut! On our second night here we went to the night market for dinner- awesome place. Heaps of little makeshift restaurants that basically consisted of a table full of fresh seafood and a BBQ- you just pointed at what you wanted and they cooked it for you. Amazing!
Whilst walking along the beach one day we got approached by some local kids who wanted Craig to play soccer with them. He happily obliged and they were such lovely kids. Even though they didn't speak English and we didn't speak Vietnamese we managed to have a girls against boys soccer match on the beach. The kids here are such little dolls, and so high spirited. Often along the beach you will see about twenty of them splashing around in the water, fully clothed!
Yesterday we were brave enough to try scuba diving for the first time. We went on two 45 minute 'try dives' where you only go 6 metres down and have an instructor attached to you just in case. My instructor was this beautiful Vietnamese boy named Ting who took very good care of me! Especially since on my first dive my face mask kept filling up with water and we couldn't work out why for about twenty minutes- it had a leak! Once that was fixed up, I spent 2 x 45 glorious minutes under the water touching sea anenomes, seeing some beautiful coral, thousands of fish (clown fish, angelfish, butterfly fish etc). It was an awesome experience, and Craig and I are hankering to get up to the Great Barrier Reef sometime to try what Australia has to offer on the scuba dive front.
We were on the boat with three couples from Finland- well, that was pretty bad for our self esteem! I have never seen such tanned, muscled, blonde, perfect looking people in my life! I felt very white in comparison. They looked like they were off the set of Baywatch or something. They were good fun though, apart from the fact that we didn't speak Finnish, so therefore had no idea what the six of them were saying the entire trip!
All in all, this place has been a paradise after the bustling of the cities we have been too. We are almost feeling resentful towards Thailand because we have to leave this haven to go there- "Damn Thailand, who do they think they are taking us away from paradise?!" It is going to be so sad to leave Vietnam. We have become so attached to the people, the culture and the food. It has been everything we expected and so much more.
So now I am off to spend my last afternoon relaxing on the beach. I think a swim and a beach massage is in order. I am missing Melbourne and all my loved ones very much- less than 2 weeks till I see you all again!
Love lots x
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Last day in Saigon!
Hello all,
How is everything in Melbourne?
Saigon is a wintery 30 degrees at the moment and we are running ourselves into the ground AGAIN trying to see everything we can in the four days we are here.
On Wednesday we took a group tour out to the Mekong Delta, the biggest river in Vietnam. It started off interesting to say the least, as Craig & I were last on the bus so got stuck with the infamous back seats. So not like in Melbourne, where the cool kids sit in the back seat. No, in Vietnam, the back seat is for those that don't value their lives very much! No seat belt, plus crazy crazy roads means hanging on for dear life and I was feeling very unwell to say the least by the time we reached the Mekong.
Once there, we jumped onto a big boat to begin our journey crossing the Mekong. It is a pretty cool river, massive in width and with heaps of inlets and canals that lead out to these jungle islands. We stopped on the first island to go to this honey farm where we tried some honey tea and peanut brittle. Then, we did probably the most disgusting thing we have done since we came to Vietnam. You see, we were on a trip with all these hardcore backpackers who had been trekking through Laos and Cambodia, and Craig and I looked pretty weak in comparison. So, when the guide brings out this whisky that is supposed to have medicinal qualities because it has a dead snake and a dead bird in it, and everyone starts doing shots of it... well, we gave in. To tell the truth, it tasted just like normal whisky but it was probably the grossest thing we have done! So far though, we have not had any weird side effects.
We then trekked through the jungle to another boat, this time a tiny little row boat with only four people in. By then I had acquired for myself one of the awesome Vietnamese cone hats and was looking quite touristy! This boat was rowed by this tiny little Vietnamese lady with barely any teeth. She was gorgeous. She kept looking back at me and grinning. The ladies love me here because I am so white- I am jealous of them as they are so tanned. Apparently in Vietnamese culture, the whiter you are, the luckier you are. So I reckon I must be pretty lucky! The boat trip was pretty cool, winding down all these little canals with some serious jungle on either side. Like everything in Vietnam though, it really was a case of organized chaos as there were about a million other boats doing the same thing.
We then were transferred onto a medium sized boat- not via a platform or anything, just by jumping from the canoe into the other boat. This boat took us to yet another island where we this time saw how they make coconut candy. These are little caramals made out of coconut and they are yum yum yum. Not the most interesting process to watch though. We then jumped back into the medium boat and went to this jungle village for lunch. Now the traditional Vietnamese lunch was hardly the kind of fare we were used to eating in our extravagant food ventures. We got some rice, a piece of grisly pork and some fried vegetables. Needless to say it wasn't the best meal I have eaten in Vietnam! Nice atmosphere though. We were then told we could 'relax in hammocks' or 'ride bikes around the villages'. There were approximately 3 hammocks for the tour group of 50... and the bikes were pretty close to falling apart. So Craig and I instead walked around the village but there wasn't that much to see.
After an hour, we were told to head back to the boats. As I said earlier, there were a few groups of backpackers on the trip with us and one particular threesome consisted of one Canadian, one Italian and one Dutchman. The Dutchman was this big, black boy with dreadies- very hard to lose. But that it what happened, somehow on the island, his friends managed to lose him! So we get back to the boat at 3.15, about 50 of us waiting for this guy to be found! It was over an hour before they found him. Turned out he had taken a wrong turn on his bike, ended up on the other side of the island and had to get a guesthouse to drive him back. It was all very funny... he was very embarrassed!
After that we took the medium sized boat back to the harbour where we jumped on the bus. Needless to say Craig and I were very careful to sit near the front of the bus this time where we felt much safer! All in all, it wasn't the greatest tour we have been on here but it did only cost 8 bucks each, so can't complain too much.
Last night we made the mistake of branching out from our Vietnamese eating patterns and going for Japanese. We figured with the amount of Japanese people there are here in Vietnam that it would be pretty safe, but we are regretful now. It cost us $28 for dinner and two drinks, which is a pretty bloody pricey meal here, and it was fairly terrible. Australia is much better! We have learnt our lesson though.
Today we were up bright and early once again for a trip out to the Cu Chi tunnels. For those of you that don't know, these are the tunnels used by the Viet Cong in the war- they lived and fought underground. I was a bit nervous about the tunnels but as it turned out the entire trip consists of anything but the tunnels and we only spent about 15 minutes there. We started off with yet another bus trip, this time with the craziest guide we have had yet! I swear to god he was drunk the whole time. Long story short, he was a Vietnam War Veteran who was very confused. You see, he fought for the South Vietnamese and the US (so against the Viet Cong) but he hates the US and loves the Viet Cong. It was all very confusing. One minute he was talking about fighting for the US, the next he was scaring the crap out of these poor American tourists by saying how bad their country is. It was a bit over the top. We arrived at the tunnels after about 1.5 hrs of listening to him preach, and first we watched this ridiculous propaganda movie about how awesome the Viet Cong were and how terrible the Americans are. Don't get me wrong, I totally believe America was wrong and that they owe huge amounts to the Vietnamese people for what they have done and the lasting effects here, but this movie was very preachy.
We then saw a series of things such as tiny little holes they hid in and jumped out of (Craig attempted it, I didn't after this German woman got her bum stuck in it and had to be lifted out by three men!), then some horrific traps they used to kill the Americans, then some bomb craters, and then after about an hour we reached the start of the tunnels. But first there was an opportunity for food and drink and souvenirs, and to shoot some big guns! Craig did this- ten bullets from an AK 37 (don't quote me on that, it sounds right though). He was pretty excited, but the sound was SO loud that I ran away screaming like a girl as soon as it started.
We then got to the tunnels. There is about 100 metres of tunnels you can crawl through- they are about 6 metres underground and made of clay. We were going down the steps to get to the tunnels and I was standing with a British backpacker and we saw the size of the hole and bailed out of there. I literally would have had to be on my knees the whole time, and with my asthma playing up, seeing them was enough for me. Craig however, crawled the whole 100 metres- what a gun! He was sweatier than I have ever seen him when he came out though- they reckon it is about 100 degrees down there. He got some cool piccies of it though, so I did the Cu Chi tunnels vicariously through him.
After that it was all over ($4 well spent) and we had some preaching once again on the way home on the bus ride. Needless to say I wasn't really interested in tipping this guide!
After that we spent our afternoon braving the Ben Thanh market once again, where I added even more to my collection of sunnies, bought myself an awesome tshirt (it says 'Same Same but Different' on it, which is what ALL the Vietnamese people say at the markets, at restaurants- "You buy these glasses?" "Already got some" "No, no, same same but different!" or two restaurants next to each other, "Same same but different!" Awesome tshirt...) and some other little trinkets. We are always relieved to get out of that place with our wallets and camera's- it is pretty insane...
So now we are just about out of Vietnam. We have four nights on a tropical island, but I feel that this is our last hurrah in the craziness of Vietnam as it will be much quieter there. I have loved it so much here, I don't want to leave. I know Thailand is awaiting our presence but Vietnam has been everything we thought it would be and more- I love the way that anything can happen here!
We will be back!
I hope all is well in Melbourne and that everyone is getting their Christmas shopping down... At least you don't have to barter for your gifts ;) I am not sure how much internet access I will have in Phu Quoc Island so this might be my last post for a while, we will see.
I hope you are enjoying reading my essays, this has taken place of my travel diary so I am writing down everything I possibly can so I too can read it one day!
Love lots xx
How is everything in Melbourne?
Saigon is a wintery 30 degrees at the moment and we are running ourselves into the ground AGAIN trying to see everything we can in the four days we are here.
On Wednesday we took a group tour out to the Mekong Delta, the biggest river in Vietnam. It started off interesting to say the least, as Craig & I were last on the bus so got stuck with the infamous back seats. So not like in Melbourne, where the cool kids sit in the back seat. No, in Vietnam, the back seat is for those that don't value their lives very much! No seat belt, plus crazy crazy roads means hanging on for dear life and I was feeling very unwell to say the least by the time we reached the Mekong.
Once there, we jumped onto a big boat to begin our journey crossing the Mekong. It is a pretty cool river, massive in width and with heaps of inlets and canals that lead out to these jungle islands. We stopped on the first island to go to this honey farm where we tried some honey tea and peanut brittle. Then, we did probably the most disgusting thing we have done since we came to Vietnam. You see, we were on a trip with all these hardcore backpackers who had been trekking through Laos and Cambodia, and Craig and I looked pretty weak in comparison. So, when the guide brings out this whisky that is supposed to have medicinal qualities because it has a dead snake and a dead bird in it, and everyone starts doing shots of it... well, we gave in. To tell the truth, it tasted just like normal whisky but it was probably the grossest thing we have done! So far though, we have not had any weird side effects.
We then trekked through the jungle to another boat, this time a tiny little row boat with only four people in. By then I had acquired for myself one of the awesome Vietnamese cone hats and was looking quite touristy! This boat was rowed by this tiny little Vietnamese lady with barely any teeth. She was gorgeous. She kept looking back at me and grinning. The ladies love me here because I am so white- I am jealous of them as they are so tanned. Apparently in Vietnamese culture, the whiter you are, the luckier you are. So I reckon I must be pretty lucky! The boat trip was pretty cool, winding down all these little canals with some serious jungle on either side. Like everything in Vietnam though, it really was a case of organized chaos as there were about a million other boats doing the same thing.
We then were transferred onto a medium sized boat- not via a platform or anything, just by jumping from the canoe into the other boat. This boat took us to yet another island where we this time saw how they make coconut candy. These are little caramals made out of coconut and they are yum yum yum. Not the most interesting process to watch though. We then jumped back into the medium boat and went to this jungle village for lunch. Now the traditional Vietnamese lunch was hardly the kind of fare we were used to eating in our extravagant food ventures. We got some rice, a piece of grisly pork and some fried vegetables. Needless to say it wasn't the best meal I have eaten in Vietnam! Nice atmosphere though. We were then told we could 'relax in hammocks' or 'ride bikes around the villages'. There were approximately 3 hammocks for the tour group of 50... and the bikes were pretty close to falling apart. So Craig and I instead walked around the village but there wasn't that much to see.
After an hour, we were told to head back to the boats. As I said earlier, there were a few groups of backpackers on the trip with us and one particular threesome consisted of one Canadian, one Italian and one Dutchman. The Dutchman was this big, black boy with dreadies- very hard to lose. But that it what happened, somehow on the island, his friends managed to lose him! So we get back to the boat at 3.15, about 50 of us waiting for this guy to be found! It was over an hour before they found him. Turned out he had taken a wrong turn on his bike, ended up on the other side of the island and had to get a guesthouse to drive him back. It was all very funny... he was very embarrassed!
After that we took the medium sized boat back to the harbour where we jumped on the bus. Needless to say Craig and I were very careful to sit near the front of the bus this time where we felt much safer! All in all, it wasn't the greatest tour we have been on here but it did only cost 8 bucks each, so can't complain too much.
Last night we made the mistake of branching out from our Vietnamese eating patterns and going for Japanese. We figured with the amount of Japanese people there are here in Vietnam that it would be pretty safe, but we are regretful now. It cost us $28 for dinner and two drinks, which is a pretty bloody pricey meal here, and it was fairly terrible. Australia is much better! We have learnt our lesson though.
Today we were up bright and early once again for a trip out to the Cu Chi tunnels. For those of you that don't know, these are the tunnels used by the Viet Cong in the war- they lived and fought underground. I was a bit nervous about the tunnels but as it turned out the entire trip consists of anything but the tunnels and we only spent about 15 minutes there. We started off with yet another bus trip, this time with the craziest guide we have had yet! I swear to god he was drunk the whole time. Long story short, he was a Vietnam War Veteran who was very confused. You see, he fought for the South Vietnamese and the US (so against the Viet Cong) but he hates the US and loves the Viet Cong. It was all very confusing. One minute he was talking about fighting for the US, the next he was scaring the crap out of these poor American tourists by saying how bad their country is. It was a bit over the top. We arrived at the tunnels after about 1.5 hrs of listening to him preach, and first we watched this ridiculous propaganda movie about how awesome the Viet Cong were and how terrible the Americans are. Don't get me wrong, I totally believe America was wrong and that they owe huge amounts to the Vietnamese people for what they have done and the lasting effects here, but this movie was very preachy.
We then saw a series of things such as tiny little holes they hid in and jumped out of (Craig attempted it, I didn't after this German woman got her bum stuck in it and had to be lifted out by three men!), then some horrific traps they used to kill the Americans, then some bomb craters, and then after about an hour we reached the start of the tunnels. But first there was an opportunity for food and drink and souvenirs, and to shoot some big guns! Craig did this- ten bullets from an AK 37 (don't quote me on that, it sounds right though). He was pretty excited, but the sound was SO loud that I ran away screaming like a girl as soon as it started.
We then got to the tunnels. There is about 100 metres of tunnels you can crawl through- they are about 6 metres underground and made of clay. We were going down the steps to get to the tunnels and I was standing with a British backpacker and we saw the size of the hole and bailed out of there. I literally would have had to be on my knees the whole time, and with my asthma playing up, seeing them was enough for me. Craig however, crawled the whole 100 metres- what a gun! He was sweatier than I have ever seen him when he came out though- they reckon it is about 100 degrees down there. He got some cool piccies of it though, so I did the Cu Chi tunnels vicariously through him.
After that it was all over ($4 well spent) and we had some preaching once again on the way home on the bus ride. Needless to say I wasn't really interested in tipping this guide!
After that we spent our afternoon braving the Ben Thanh market once again, where I added even more to my collection of sunnies, bought myself an awesome tshirt (it says 'Same Same but Different' on it, which is what ALL the Vietnamese people say at the markets, at restaurants- "You buy these glasses?" "Already got some" "No, no, same same but different!" or two restaurants next to each other, "Same same but different!" Awesome tshirt...) and some other little trinkets. We are always relieved to get out of that place with our wallets and camera's- it is pretty insane...
So now we are just about out of Vietnam. We have four nights on a tropical island, but I feel that this is our last hurrah in the craziness of Vietnam as it will be much quieter there. I have loved it so much here, I don't want to leave. I know Thailand is awaiting our presence but Vietnam has been everything we thought it would be and more- I love the way that anything can happen here!
We will be back!
I hope all is well in Melbourne and that everyone is getting their Christmas shopping down... At least you don't have to barter for your gifts ;) I am not sure how much internet access I will have in Phu Quoc Island so this might be my last post for a while, we will see.
I hope you are enjoying reading my essays, this has taken place of my travel diary so I am writing down everything I possibly can so I too can read it one day!
Love lots xx
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Saigon, Saigon...
Greetings from Saigon- or Ho Chi Minh City as it is called these days. I still can't stop calling it Saigon though...
Will quickly run through what has happened since my last post. Unfortunately the rain held in in Nha Trang, It is SUCH a shame, as that place would have been paradise in nice weather. We didn't get to go to the beach at all, and in the rain it turned this murky colour like sand... not nice! On the way to the chemist to get some cold and flu medicine one day we almost drowned. We had to wring out our clothes when we got back. It was pretty brutal. So basically, there was not a lot left to do in Nha Trang but sit at a beach-side bar (Louisiane, our absolute fave in Vietnam so far) and drink. On our last day there we sat for three hours and consumed 5 beers (Craig), 2 cocktails (me), prawns and sushi, and dessert for only $25! Nice way to spend a rainy day. We then headed back up to the hotel where nothing was left to do but watch movies on 'Star Movies' the lame American movie channel that seems to house the only English speaking shows in Vietnam.
That night we went for dinner at a restaurant called Lanterns which is famous through Lonely Planet etc for giving some of their money to orphanages. Great cause, but the food was not amazing compared to what we have been used to so far.
We flew out early AGAIN the next morning heading for Saigon. This time we actually got to have breakfast though. And who should be sharing our plane with us but two long legged beauties from the Miss Earth pageant... this pageant has been following us EVERYWHERE! We even saw Miss Botswana (sash and all) at the Ben Thanh market the other day. These women in particular on our plane were stunning, and I felt very self conscious wearing no make up and having not washed my hair for a week. It should be illegal to have legs that long.
We then arrived here in Saigon, staying at a hotel called Elios which is centrally located right near the Ben Thanh market district. Our hotel is quite nice but this time we've been given two single beds. I swear they are against unmarried couples. The room is very clean and cosy though, and I think we will be quite content here for four nights. After settling in we headed out to the Ben Thanh market, which is probably one of the biggest attractions here. Immediately we experienced the touts we have not experienced since Hanoi "you ride to market with me?" "where you go? I take you!" "you want to buy book?" "you want to buy cigarette?" It is SO frustrating. The cyclo's are the worst, they literally have these books here that they show you where people from every country have written reviews of them. The annoying thing is that we literally just want to walk (it is all part of the Vietnam diet!) It is not even about the money- we just like to walk around town! So after avoiding about 20 of them, we made it to the Ben Thanh market which was an insanely awesome experience.
Think Queen Vic Market but a lot more crowded with a lot less English speaking. They sell EVERYTHING there. Chopsticks. Perfume. Bags. Sunglasses. DVD's. Artwork. Jewellery. Cosmetics. Food. Drink. Everything your heart could desire. We tried our hardest to limit what we bought there and after some expert haggling we did quite well. A couple of pairs of sunnies. 6 DVD's, the Mad Men series 1-4 and Gossip Girl series 1-3 (all for $22) and some really cute handmade puppets for Lucas. We will go back there again whilst we are here, but it was so insane we could only really handle an hour.
It is also VERY hot here, which is both a relief from the rain in Nha Trang and an annoyance. However, because there is still ozone left over Vietnam, it isn't so easy to get burnt. Think about it- Craig has been here for TEN days and has not yet been burnt. I know, a miracle.
Last night we had dinner at yet another charitable organization (the Lonely Planet loves to recommend them!) which was a restaurant that trains and gives jobs to street kids and orphans. It was an excellent dining experience. The food was fab and the staff were just a joy- you could tell they genuinely loved their job. It was really lovely to see.
Today we had a bit of a boring morning as I had a job interview over the phone at 11.30 so there was not much to do before that. The view from our breakfast on the rooftop is amazing, so we admired that for a while and then I nervously paced our hotel room until I got the interview over and done with (which went quite well, I hope!). We then ventured out again, hid from the cyclo's and have ourselves our own little walking tour of Saigon. We first went to the Reunification Palace which is the palace that ended the war between the North and the South. It was really beautiful to see, but not as 'palace-ey' as I expected- more of a government house. We had this lovely guide who took us around for free and made the cutest jokes like, "Where are you from?" "Australia" "I am from Vietnam, are you surprised?" and "I was going to sing you a song, but I have a bad voice, so lets just see the bomb shelter instead." She was such a dear!
We then trekked off to the War Remnants Museum which was a very harrowing experience. Craig & I didn't even talk for about twenty minutes afterwards, and I had to stop myself from crying several times. The museum contains photo after photo for the massacres that the Americans committed against the Vietnamese villages, as well as a huge section on the after effects of Agent Orange. It is just so sad. There were even specimans of disformed babies born from Agent Orange exposure. After seeing the pain that it has caused Vietnam now, even generations later, I just don't think I will be able to call it the 'Vietnam War' again. Here it is only referred to as the 'American War' and part of me thinks that is about right. I was even ashamed at one point that Australia had any involvement in what went on...
On a lighter note, on our way home we went to a traditional water puppet theatre show. This was such a funny and corny experience. It is literally what the name suggests- puppets, in water- along with a lot of Vietnamese traditional music. It was really fun. We did however, become exposed to (as we have several times over this trip) just how disgusting the behaviour of some other tourists can be. We have seen some terrible behaviour from the French on this trip. They treat the Vietnamese people so indignantly, push their way through every queue, demand they have the best seats at every restaurant/bus/show and pretty much think they are still colonizing the place. At this particular puppet show, a French tour group had been seated up the back of the theatre because that seemed to be where they sat the big groups (about 20-30 of them). A few of them just REFUSED to sit there. It was horrible to see. They were yelling at the Vietnamese boys (about 16) who were acting as ushers, refusing to sit up the back, blatantly stealing the seats of others, moving back to the front whenever they could and in the end to of them proceeded to sit in the aisle just so they could film the whole show. It was good, but not worth filming the whole bloody thing! Craig and I were so disgusted with the way they acted... Nothing against the French people, but from what we have seen so far, they are not setting the greatest example for their country!
Tomorrow we are off on a boat tour to the Mekong Delta which we are really looking forward to.
I hope everything is well in Melbourne- I miss you all! Do email me with any new updates =) xxxx
Will quickly run through what has happened since my last post. Unfortunately the rain held in in Nha Trang, It is SUCH a shame, as that place would have been paradise in nice weather. We didn't get to go to the beach at all, and in the rain it turned this murky colour like sand... not nice! On the way to the chemist to get some cold and flu medicine one day we almost drowned. We had to wring out our clothes when we got back. It was pretty brutal. So basically, there was not a lot left to do in Nha Trang but sit at a beach-side bar (Louisiane, our absolute fave in Vietnam so far) and drink. On our last day there we sat for three hours and consumed 5 beers (Craig), 2 cocktails (me), prawns and sushi, and dessert for only $25! Nice way to spend a rainy day. We then headed back up to the hotel where nothing was left to do but watch movies on 'Star Movies' the lame American movie channel that seems to house the only English speaking shows in Vietnam.
That night we went for dinner at a restaurant called Lanterns which is famous through Lonely Planet etc for giving some of their money to orphanages. Great cause, but the food was not amazing compared to what we have been used to so far.
We flew out early AGAIN the next morning heading for Saigon. This time we actually got to have breakfast though. And who should be sharing our plane with us but two long legged beauties from the Miss Earth pageant... this pageant has been following us EVERYWHERE! We even saw Miss Botswana (sash and all) at the Ben Thanh market the other day. These women in particular on our plane were stunning, and I felt very self conscious wearing no make up and having not washed my hair for a week. It should be illegal to have legs that long.
We then arrived here in Saigon, staying at a hotel called Elios which is centrally located right near the Ben Thanh market district. Our hotel is quite nice but this time we've been given two single beds. I swear they are against unmarried couples. The room is very clean and cosy though, and I think we will be quite content here for four nights. After settling in we headed out to the Ben Thanh market, which is probably one of the biggest attractions here. Immediately we experienced the touts we have not experienced since Hanoi "you ride to market with me?" "where you go? I take you!" "you want to buy book?" "you want to buy cigarette?" It is SO frustrating. The cyclo's are the worst, they literally have these books here that they show you where people from every country have written reviews of them. The annoying thing is that we literally just want to walk (it is all part of the Vietnam diet!) It is not even about the money- we just like to walk around town! So after avoiding about 20 of them, we made it to the Ben Thanh market which was an insanely awesome experience.
Think Queen Vic Market but a lot more crowded with a lot less English speaking. They sell EVERYTHING there. Chopsticks. Perfume. Bags. Sunglasses. DVD's. Artwork. Jewellery. Cosmetics. Food. Drink. Everything your heart could desire. We tried our hardest to limit what we bought there and after some expert haggling we did quite well. A couple of pairs of sunnies. 6 DVD's, the Mad Men series 1-4 and Gossip Girl series 1-3 (all for $22) and some really cute handmade puppets for Lucas. We will go back there again whilst we are here, but it was so insane we could only really handle an hour.
It is also VERY hot here, which is both a relief from the rain in Nha Trang and an annoyance. However, because there is still ozone left over Vietnam, it isn't so easy to get burnt. Think about it- Craig has been here for TEN days and has not yet been burnt. I know, a miracle.
Last night we had dinner at yet another charitable organization (the Lonely Planet loves to recommend them!) which was a restaurant that trains and gives jobs to street kids and orphans. It was an excellent dining experience. The food was fab and the staff were just a joy- you could tell they genuinely loved their job. It was really lovely to see.
Today we had a bit of a boring morning as I had a job interview over the phone at 11.30 so there was not much to do before that. The view from our breakfast on the rooftop is amazing, so we admired that for a while and then I nervously paced our hotel room until I got the interview over and done with (which went quite well, I hope!). We then ventured out again, hid from the cyclo's and have ourselves our own little walking tour of Saigon. We first went to the Reunification Palace which is the palace that ended the war between the North and the South. It was really beautiful to see, but not as 'palace-ey' as I expected- more of a government house. We had this lovely guide who took us around for free and made the cutest jokes like, "Where are you from?" "Australia" "I am from Vietnam, are you surprised?" and "I was going to sing you a song, but I have a bad voice, so lets just see the bomb shelter instead." She was such a dear!
We then trekked off to the War Remnants Museum which was a very harrowing experience. Craig & I didn't even talk for about twenty minutes afterwards, and I had to stop myself from crying several times. The museum contains photo after photo for the massacres that the Americans committed against the Vietnamese villages, as well as a huge section on the after effects of Agent Orange. It is just so sad. There were even specimans of disformed babies born from Agent Orange exposure. After seeing the pain that it has caused Vietnam now, even generations later, I just don't think I will be able to call it the 'Vietnam War' again. Here it is only referred to as the 'American War' and part of me thinks that is about right. I was even ashamed at one point that Australia had any involvement in what went on...
On a lighter note, on our way home we went to a traditional water puppet theatre show. This was such a funny and corny experience. It is literally what the name suggests- puppets, in water- along with a lot of Vietnamese traditional music. It was really fun. We did however, become exposed to (as we have several times over this trip) just how disgusting the behaviour of some other tourists can be. We have seen some terrible behaviour from the French on this trip. They treat the Vietnamese people so indignantly, push their way through every queue, demand they have the best seats at every restaurant/bus/show and pretty much think they are still colonizing the place. At this particular puppet show, a French tour group had been seated up the back of the theatre because that seemed to be where they sat the big groups (about 20-30 of them). A few of them just REFUSED to sit there. It was horrible to see. They were yelling at the Vietnamese boys (about 16) who were acting as ushers, refusing to sit up the back, blatantly stealing the seats of others, moving back to the front whenever they could and in the end to of them proceeded to sit in the aisle just so they could film the whole show. It was good, but not worth filming the whole bloody thing! Craig and I were so disgusted with the way they acted... Nothing against the French people, but from what we have seen so far, they are not setting the greatest example for their country!
Tomorrow we are off on a boat tour to the Mekong Delta which we are really looking forward to.
I hope everything is well in Melbourne- I miss you all! Do email me with any new updates =) xxxx
Saturday, December 4, 2010
First day in Nha Trang...
Hello again!
Well, we finally made it into our hotel. Arrived at 9am, check in wasn't until 12. We had both breakfast and lunch in the hotel bar, and explored a little but it was pretty hard with all our luggage etc. Our room is beautiful! Something we have noticed here is that a lot of the rooms have two beds... I think it must be unconventional for non-married couples to sleep together here! It is pretty warm at night (even though it is winter here, 27 degrees, brrrrr!) so its nice to have a bed each to spread out in. The accommodation here is beautiful, probably best so far. The location is great, about ten metres to the beach, and the room is lovely. We got the accomm on Agoda.com and got a free upgrade to a deluxe room- this is only costing us $28 a night!
This afternoon it was rainy so we decided to make our way to the Thap Ba Hot Springs. When we got there, we were talked into the very best package ($24 each for 3 hours) which included a 15 minute private mud bath, a 45 minute mineral springs bath, a foot massage and free entry to the public mineral springs etc. The mud bath was very weird! It felt disgusting and nice at the same time. We obviously couldn't take photos in there as we were covered in mud but they had a photographer taking photos that only cost $4 to buy (A4ish size) so you will be able to see how funny we look covered in mud. After that we rinsed off then made our way up to the mineral springs where we got a private bath and a plate of fresh pineapple. They even put cinnamon in the bath which made it smell amazing! After 45 mins two Vietnamese girls came to do the massage. The feet massages were amazing, they found all the pressure points in your feet and you could just feel yourself relaxing. They then whispered to us that they would give us a full body massage if we wanted to pay them "whatever we want" in cash. This is Vietnamese for "you name the price, and I will probably rip you off". The massage was so good that I said yes though, and we gave them 50, 000 dong each which is about $2.50- the daily wage in Vietnam is about five bucks, so pretty good, and our massages were divine!
We then went swimming etc, went in the mineral waterfall, picked up our photo and headed back to the hotel where I fell asleep immediately because I was so relaxed and am feeling pretty run down! After an hours siesta, we headed across the road to probably the coolest restaurant I have ever been too. Picture this: a microbrewery surrounded by pools of fresh, live seafood, thatched huts with tables underneath them with flowers, candles etc, a pool, and beach huts where you could see the waves crashing. It was just awesome. It is called Louisiane Brewhouse- just amazing! I had a fruit juice and Craig had a freshly brewed beer (which he spouted as being one of the best he has had) and we started with a mixed sharing plate that had rice paper rolls, spring rolls, tempura prawns and sate prawns- the yummiest prawns I have ever had! For main we had this sesame crusted pork which was just divine and steamed fresh snapper with soy beans and herbs. Very nice. Along with this we had another drink each and all this set us back $24! That's expensive for Vietnam too.
Tomorrow we had planned to take one of Mama Linh's crazy boat tours, where you pretty much float around a bar all day drinking wine and island hopping (only $6!) but we are going to see a) how the weather is, as it is rainy season and b) how I feel as I have a feeling I am getting a flu or cold. May have to find a chemist tomorrow to fix me up. I think I am just run down because of too many long days, early mornings and not enough down time. It has been an amazing week so far however.
We are thinking perhaps lounging around the pool at Louisiane might be more tempting tomorrow, drinking freshly brewed beer.... Hmmmm...
Going up to our room now to watch Miss Earth 2010- its being held on the next island over 'Vinpearl Land' and there is advertising for it EVERYWHERE. I think everyone in Vietnam will be watching it, may as well join in. We wished we had have known as it was only about $25 a head to attend!
Anyways, will update again soon. Hopefully I can fight this sickness (just like me to get the flu in a tropical climate, grrrr). After tomorrow night we are off to Saigon for four nights (four nights in one place will be amazing) then onto our tropical island escape for another four nights! So much to come! :) x
Well, we finally made it into our hotel. Arrived at 9am, check in wasn't until 12. We had both breakfast and lunch in the hotel bar, and explored a little but it was pretty hard with all our luggage etc. Our room is beautiful! Something we have noticed here is that a lot of the rooms have two beds... I think it must be unconventional for non-married couples to sleep together here! It is pretty warm at night (even though it is winter here, 27 degrees, brrrrr!) so its nice to have a bed each to spread out in. The accommodation here is beautiful, probably best so far. The location is great, about ten metres to the beach, and the room is lovely. We got the accomm on Agoda.com and got a free upgrade to a deluxe room- this is only costing us $28 a night!
This afternoon it was rainy so we decided to make our way to the Thap Ba Hot Springs. When we got there, we were talked into the very best package ($24 each for 3 hours) which included a 15 minute private mud bath, a 45 minute mineral springs bath, a foot massage and free entry to the public mineral springs etc. The mud bath was very weird! It felt disgusting and nice at the same time. We obviously couldn't take photos in there as we were covered in mud but they had a photographer taking photos that only cost $4 to buy (A4ish size) so you will be able to see how funny we look covered in mud. After that we rinsed off then made our way up to the mineral springs where we got a private bath and a plate of fresh pineapple. They even put cinnamon in the bath which made it smell amazing! After 45 mins two Vietnamese girls came to do the massage. The feet massages were amazing, they found all the pressure points in your feet and you could just feel yourself relaxing. They then whispered to us that they would give us a full body massage if we wanted to pay them "whatever we want" in cash. This is Vietnamese for "you name the price, and I will probably rip you off". The massage was so good that I said yes though, and we gave them 50, 000 dong each which is about $2.50- the daily wage in Vietnam is about five bucks, so pretty good, and our massages were divine!
We then went swimming etc, went in the mineral waterfall, picked up our photo and headed back to the hotel where I fell asleep immediately because I was so relaxed and am feeling pretty run down! After an hours siesta, we headed across the road to probably the coolest restaurant I have ever been too. Picture this: a microbrewery surrounded by pools of fresh, live seafood, thatched huts with tables underneath them with flowers, candles etc, a pool, and beach huts where you could see the waves crashing. It was just awesome. It is called Louisiane Brewhouse- just amazing! I had a fruit juice and Craig had a freshly brewed beer (which he spouted as being one of the best he has had) and we started with a mixed sharing plate that had rice paper rolls, spring rolls, tempura prawns and sate prawns- the yummiest prawns I have ever had! For main we had this sesame crusted pork which was just divine and steamed fresh snapper with soy beans and herbs. Very nice. Along with this we had another drink each and all this set us back $24! That's expensive for Vietnam too.
Tomorrow we had planned to take one of Mama Linh's crazy boat tours, where you pretty much float around a bar all day drinking wine and island hopping (only $6!) but we are going to see a) how the weather is, as it is rainy season and b) how I feel as I have a feeling I am getting a flu or cold. May have to find a chemist tomorrow to fix me up. I think I am just run down because of too many long days, early mornings and not enough down time. It has been an amazing week so far however.
We are thinking perhaps lounging around the pool at Louisiane might be more tempting tomorrow, drinking freshly brewed beer.... Hmmmm...
Going up to our room now to watch Miss Earth 2010- its being held on the next island over 'Vinpearl Land' and there is advertising for it EVERYWHERE. I think everyone in Vietnam will be watching it, may as well join in. We wished we had have known as it was only about $25 a head to attend!
Anyways, will update again soon. Hopefully I can fight this sickness (just like me to get the flu in a tropical climate, grrrr). After tomorrow night we are off to Saigon for four nights (four nights in one place will be amazing) then onto our tropical island escape for another four nights! So much to come! :) x
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