We have just returned from Mui Ne and it is our last day in Vietnam. It has been a great part of our trip, the highs and lows have enriched the experience. Mui Ne, our holiday within a holiday, was very worthwhile. It is a long narrow stretch of beach with all the hotels and shops facing onto the main road. We stayed in this lovely quiet and very private place with cute little bungalos running down to the shore and some nice landscaping. Ours was one back from the beach and we could sit and watch the ocean as we ate crepes and mango and dragonfruit fruit salad. We ate plenty of seafood and avoided the sun, while everyone else around us soaked it up although already heavily bronzed. We failed to ride the distance to the sand dunes, which was sad but perhaps it wasn't meant to be. We passed on the windsurfing and kite surfing, as it looked both expensive (the budget is becoming stretched) and very hard work. It was much more peaceful watching from or banana lounges on our private beach. We got plenty of reading and relaxing done, which after all is what we had hoped for.
We will now take up as much of the Vietnamese culture and life that we can in these last hours, and prepare ourselves for the much less touristed, less organised but reputably more friendly Cambodia. We've heard good things! We probably won't be there that long, a few days in Phnom Penh and then off to Siem Reap and the Angkor Temples. Buy this time next week we will return to Bangkok, the last stop of our trip.
On the photo side of things, we unfortunately got a virus on both our camera and IPOD which hasn't affected the files but we wont be able to fix it until we return. So you'll all have wait in anticipation for the wonder that is my photography skills.
See you all soon.
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Vietnam from North to South
There has been some very bad internet connections since our last post so no hassling us about taking our time. We have tried every day just about and some places wouldn't even let our email get through.
We have arrived in Ho Chi Minh city now and have been enjoying our selves since Hanoi. The weather up north was the pits. We caught the train overnight from Hanoi to Hue. Hue was an old capital and had this great old ruins called the Citadel. Wandering the Citaldel was very atmospheric in the drizzly weather.
The next day (Tuesday) we had our DMZ tour. That is the border between North and South Vietnam where a lot of the conflict took place in the war. Our first stop was the Vinh Moc tunnels where a lot of the villagers hid during the bombing. They were very cramped and people had to spend a lot of time down there, so there was little rooms for families and even a maternity room where 17 babies were born. It was pretty cramped although there are worse tunnels around Ho Chi Minh City. The next stop was Khe Sanh military air base which was interesting but a little disappointing. Apart from a few plane and tank remnants, and a small museum there wasn't much else there. We think the runway musthave become overgrown and after the war the Vietnamese did a lot of cleaning up, never imagining that it would be a future tourist site. Along the road on the bus trip we also made a few stops, one at the river which makes the border, one a some famous pile of rocks, and the last was at a brige where a Ho Chi Minh trail used to start. (those were paths through the jungle that went from the north to the south, to supply weapons and supplies to north troops in the south) Overall the tour was informative but a little disappointing.
The next day it was on to Hoi An. This has been possibly our best place yet. It had the picturesque shops and houses of Luang Prabang, but a more genuine Vietnamese culture about it. It was a really nice place to relax and stroll aroud the streets. It is also a great place to get clothes made. We decided to invest in a few jackets and a suit for Brett, all tailored and what not. We also enjoyed some our best meals yet, and ran into our American friend Christian who we had met back in Laos on the slow boat. In fact the same people seem to keep popping up in cafes and on street corners.
Sadly we had to leave to spend a night in one of the worst places we've been(Danang) so we could catch our plane in the morning. We were glad to get out of there and arrive here in Ho Chi Minh City. The first day we settled into a nice clean hotel and took our selfves on a walking tour around the city. Today we have seen the War Museum (extreemly graphic and depressing) and the Reunification Palace, a lovely modernist building. We are thoroughly enjoying ourselves, crossing the street is always an adventure and there is plenty to sit and look at.
Tomorrow we are off to Mui Ne, a little fish sauce village on the beach. The weather down south is lovely so we are looking forward to a little sun and surf and maybe even some wind surfing.
Uncle Ho is Ho Chi Minh who was the president of North Vietnam and sadly died in 1969 missing seeing his country reunite. They see him as a father figure but is known as Uncle Ho.
Still struggling with photos.
We have arrived in Ho Chi Minh city now and have been enjoying our selves since Hanoi. The weather up north was the pits. We caught the train overnight from Hanoi to Hue. Hue was an old capital and had this great old ruins called the Citadel. Wandering the Citaldel was very atmospheric in the drizzly weather.
The next day (Tuesday) we had our DMZ tour. That is the border between North and South Vietnam where a lot of the conflict took place in the war. Our first stop was the Vinh Moc tunnels where a lot of the villagers hid during the bombing. They were very cramped and people had to spend a lot of time down there, so there was little rooms for families and even a maternity room where 17 babies were born. It was pretty cramped although there are worse tunnels around Ho Chi Minh City. The next stop was Khe Sanh military air base which was interesting but a little disappointing. Apart from a few plane and tank remnants, and a small museum there wasn't much else there. We think the runway musthave become overgrown and after the war the Vietnamese did a lot of cleaning up, never imagining that it would be a future tourist site. Along the road on the bus trip we also made a few stops, one at the river which makes the border, one a some famous pile of rocks, and the last was at a brige where a Ho Chi Minh trail used to start. (those were paths through the jungle that went from the north to the south, to supply weapons and supplies to north troops in the south) Overall the tour was informative but a little disappointing.
The next day it was on to Hoi An. This has been possibly our best place yet. It had the picturesque shops and houses of Luang Prabang, but a more genuine Vietnamese culture about it. It was a really nice place to relax and stroll aroud the streets. It is also a great place to get clothes made. We decided to invest in a few jackets and a suit for Brett, all tailored and what not. We also enjoyed some our best meals yet, and ran into our American friend Christian who we had met back in Laos on the slow boat. In fact the same people seem to keep popping up in cafes and on street corners.
Sadly we had to leave to spend a night in one of the worst places we've been(Danang) so we could catch our plane in the morning. We were glad to get out of there and arrive here in Ho Chi Minh City. The first day we settled into a nice clean hotel and took our selfves on a walking tour around the city. Today we have seen the War Museum (extreemly graphic and depressing) and the Reunification Palace, a lovely modernist building. We are thoroughly enjoying ourselves, crossing the street is always an adventure and there is plenty to sit and look at.
Tomorrow we are off to Mui Ne, a little fish sauce village on the beach. The weather down south is lovely so we are looking forward to a little sun and surf and maybe even some wind surfing.
Uncle Ho is Ho Chi Minh who was the president of North Vietnam and sadly died in 1969 missing seeing his country reunite. They see him as a father figure but is known as Uncle Ho.
Still struggling with photos.
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Hanoi and Halong Bay
We flew into Vietnam Tuesday evening and made our way to a cheap room in a very vertical building. In fact it wasn't until we had walked up the five flights of stairs that we understood why we were paying five bucks a night. It wasn't really a room at all, but a roof top shed with a plywood box and a curtain for a door. However Brett seemed to like the room, and i put it down to part of the experience. All night the wind howled and the traffic honked as we slumber under the blankets.
We were awoken by roosters (where on earth these roosters were I have no idea) and peak hour traffic, which finally coerced us out of bed and downstairs to the little living/kitchen/foyer/luggagestorage/internet cafe. As we ate out buttered baguettes we browsed our guidebook only to discover we had slept in to late to see Uncle HO. Instead we visited the Museum of Ethnology which was a well presented display of the many ethnicities of Vietnam as well as the transformation through the early communist years. Around the grounds we many examples of village huts and houses from around the country. Compared to the diaramas in Lao with their steelwool trees this was impressive and well translated too.
Unfortunately we have been suffering from some tummybug stuff so the rest of the day was spent in the sanctity of the new hotel room we got. The guesthouse attendant who lived in the kitchen/living room of the first guesthouse was organising all our travel for vietnam and our tour to Ha Long Bay. That evening we returned to get our passports from her only to stumble upon a birthday party for a Canadian girl staying their. We joined in on the celebrations which was a welcome distraction from unsettled bellies.
The next morning we had to leave early for our Ha Long Bay trip. It was a three hours on the mini bus to the coast. Then we boarded our boat and headed towards some caves. They were a tad touristy but pretty cool. They liked to name all the rock formations even if it was somewhat obscure eg. this is a buddha, this is a turtle and this we call a finger but you can decide for yourself giggle giggle. Next they took us to a look out island which brett climbed but i passed (in my defence i have made an effort on all other climbing, and it wasn't as though you couldn't see the islands all around you). After dinner we played cards and learnt a game that Brett says he'll actually want to play again. There were your usual sprinkle of Australians and Poms and a group of Israelis. They were all nice and the old British guy taught the card game. We slept on the boat ontop of the engine (thankfully it was turned off we every. The next day we landed at Cat Ba Island and we went Kayaking, which was fun as we got to explore at our our own pace. Then we went back to Cat Ba Island, which felt a bit like a ghost town because it is winter and outside peak time. The next morning we caught a boat back to the mainland and bussed back to Hanoi, where we were both feeling pretty crappy, so we watched national geographic channel all evening.
The next day, feeling a little better, we finally got to see Uncle Ho, which was a bit wierd, he looked a bit more alive than we'd expected. From there it was onto the Temple of Literature, which was Vietnam's first university, set in a series of five courtyards. So now we are waiting until we have to go to the train station, where we leave at 7 tonight, and will arrive in Hue in the morning.
We were awoken by roosters (where on earth these roosters were I have no idea) and peak hour traffic, which finally coerced us out of bed and downstairs to the little living/kitchen/foyer/luggagestorage/internet cafe. As we ate out buttered baguettes we browsed our guidebook only to discover we had slept in to late to see Uncle HO. Instead we visited the Museum of Ethnology which was a well presented display of the many ethnicities of Vietnam as well as the transformation through the early communist years. Around the grounds we many examples of village huts and houses from around the country. Compared to the diaramas in Lao with their steelwool trees this was impressive and well translated too.
Unfortunately we have been suffering from some tummybug stuff so the rest of the day was spent in the sanctity of the new hotel room we got. The guesthouse attendant who lived in the kitchen/living room of the first guesthouse was organising all our travel for vietnam and our tour to Ha Long Bay. That evening we returned to get our passports from her only to stumble upon a birthday party for a Canadian girl staying their. We joined in on the celebrations which was a welcome distraction from unsettled bellies.
The next morning we had to leave early for our Ha Long Bay trip. It was a three hours on the mini bus to the coast. Then we boarded our boat and headed towards some caves. They were a tad touristy but pretty cool. They liked to name all the rock formations even if it was somewhat obscure eg. this is a buddha, this is a turtle and this we call a finger but you can decide for yourself giggle giggle. Next they took us to a look out island which brett climbed but i passed (in my defence i have made an effort on all other climbing, and it wasn't as though you couldn't see the islands all around you). After dinner we played cards and learnt a game that Brett says he'll actually want to play again. There were your usual sprinkle of Australians and Poms and a group of Israelis. They were all nice and the old British guy taught the card game. We slept on the boat ontop of the engine (thankfully it was turned off we every. The next day we landed at Cat Ba Island and we went Kayaking, which was fun as we got to explore at our our own pace. Then we went back to Cat Ba Island, which felt a bit like a ghost town because it is winter and outside peak time. The next morning we caught a boat back to the mainland and bussed back to Hanoi, where we were both feeling pretty crappy, so we watched national geographic channel all evening.
The next day, feeling a little better, we finally got to see Uncle Ho, which was a bit wierd, he looked a bit more alive than we'd expected. From there it was onto the Temple of Literature, which was Vietnam's first university, set in a series of five courtyards. So now we are waiting until we have to go to the train station, where we leave at 7 tonight, and will arrive in Hue in the morning.
Sunday, January 14, 2007
Last Post For Laos
Once arrived in Luang Prabang we only stay two nights. That really meant one day to see the sights. We had to skip the caves and just stick to things about town. And WHAT a town. Luang Prabang is a French Colonial town with some of the best streets and buildings we've seen. It is a real charmer. We spent our day riding bicycles around town, visiting various Wats and the Palace Museum, and topping it off with a sunset from the top of the hill in the centre of the town. Unfortunately as this was suggested in our trusty L.P. everyone else had the same idea. There's nothing like a hundred people all fighting for that perfect photo to ruin what would otherwise have been a nice view. Never mind.
After a few evening drinks with our American friend Christian and a new acquaintance Irna from Deutschland we headed back to the guesthouse. In the morning after some undercooked pancakes we began the nine hour bus ride to Vientiane. This was a winding ride through the beautiful Laos mountains, but it proved a little much for me and I was sick most of the way. These things are to be expected. We finally arrived in the late afternoon at Vientiane and settled in for the weekend. We couldn't leave until our visas for Vietnam were organised so we have been exploring the sites around town in the meantime. There is an amusing Arch de Triumph which was built with the concrete given to Laos to build an airport. We also visited their National Museum.....what can we say other than they seem to love their dioramas.
Tomorrow we fly out for Vietnam. (with the Vietnam Air who DO publish their safety records)
We don't seem able to post photos so you'll have to wait while we go some fisty-cuffs with blogger.
After a few evening drinks with our American friend Christian and a new acquaintance Irna from Deutschland we headed back to the guesthouse. In the morning after some undercooked pancakes we began the nine hour bus ride to Vientiane. This was a winding ride through the beautiful Laos mountains, but it proved a little much for me and I was sick most of the way. These things are to be expected. We finally arrived in the late afternoon at Vientiane and settled in for the weekend. We couldn't leave until our visas for Vietnam were organised so we have been exploring the sites around town in the meantime. There is an amusing Arch de Triumph which was built with the concrete given to Laos to build an airport. We also visited their National Museum.....what can we say other than they seem to love their dioramas.
Tomorrow we fly out for Vietnam. (with the Vietnam Air who DO publish their safety records)
We don't seem able to post photos so you'll have to wait while we go some fisty-cuffs with blogger.
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
LAOS!!!
Hello everyone,
Whoah, what a journey, after three days travelling from Chiang Mai (One day on a bus, two days on a boat) we finally arrived last night in Luang Prabang, the old capital of Laos. The slow boat, while not quite as awesome as Simon made it out to be, turned out to be quite bearable due to some new friends we made coupled with the presence of the now ubiquitous Beer Lao. I don't think Laos has tourism quite figured out yet, as we found out when we paid for our boat trip, only to be given back the money in two fat wads of 5000 kip notes - one to pay on the first day, one to pay on the second.
Which brings me to the Lao currency: the kip. I had been led to believe that any combination of Lao Kip, Thai Baht, and US Dollars were widely accepted here, however it seems that the government are making a strong push to legitimise the local currency, and have illegalised the use of foreign currencies. Not realising was I was getting myself into, I exchanged US$100 at the border, only to be given 160(!!!) 5000 kip notes in return.
Anyway, now we are in Luang Prabang, which is by far the prettiest, well kept place we have seen since we left. Occupying a rather picturesque setting on the Mekong River, the entire town is beautifully landscaped and clean, the footpaths are nicely paved and lacking in the potholes that we've become used to avoiding, and the sound of tuk-tuks has been replaced by that of pushbike bells. Most of the architecture here is in a surprisingly well preserved French Colonial style and the town almost feels like it belongs in Europe rather than Asia. The downside to all this is that everything is a fair bit more expensive than in Thailand.
Now we are off to explore the town on the bikes we just hired. We should be here for the next two days, then it's a bus to Vientiane, the Laos capital, where we need to arrange our Vietnamese visas before we fly to Hanoi, with perhaps a side trip to Vang Vieng (TUBING CAPITAL OF THE WORLD!!!) while we wait.
PS. Good news on arriving at the Laos border - we found out that Jackie got into Melbourne Uni!!
Whoah, what a journey, after three days travelling from Chiang Mai (One day on a bus, two days on a boat) we finally arrived last night in Luang Prabang, the old capital of Laos. The slow boat, while not quite as awesome as Simon made it out to be, turned out to be quite bearable due to some new friends we made coupled with the presence of the now ubiquitous Beer Lao. I don't think Laos has tourism quite figured out yet, as we found out when we paid for our boat trip, only to be given back the money in two fat wads of 5000 kip notes - one to pay on the first day, one to pay on the second.
Which brings me to the Lao currency: the kip. I had been led to believe that any combination of Lao Kip, Thai Baht, and US Dollars were widely accepted here, however it seems that the government are making a strong push to legitimise the local currency, and have illegalised the use of foreign currencies. Not realising was I was getting myself into, I exchanged US$100 at the border, only to be given 160(!!!) 5000 kip notes in return.
Anyway, now we are in Luang Prabang, which is by far the prettiest, well kept place we have seen since we left. Occupying a rather picturesque setting on the Mekong River, the entire town is beautifully landscaped and clean, the footpaths are nicely paved and lacking in the potholes that we've become used to avoiding, and the sound of tuk-tuks has been replaced by that of pushbike bells. Most of the architecture here is in a surprisingly well preserved French Colonial style and the town almost feels like it belongs in Europe rather than Asia. The downside to all this is that everything is a fair bit more expensive than in Thailand.
Now we are off to explore the town on the bikes we just hired. We should be here for the next two days, then it's a bus to Vientiane, the Laos capital, where we need to arrange our Vietnamese visas before we fly to Hanoi, with perhaps a side trip to Vang Vieng (TUBING CAPITAL OF THE WORLD!!!) while we wait.
PS. Good news on arriving at the Laos border - we found out that Jackie got into Melbourne Uni!!
Saturday, January 6, 2007
Trekking in Northern Thailand
Hi all,
It's been a while between posts because we've been on a trek for four days and got bake to Chiang Mai last night. The trek was so much better than we anticipated, and we are really glad we decided to go on a longer one. The first day we went elephant riding, and then to a cave which smelt funny and was very humid and full of tiny little bats. We then continued on to a drop off point in the hills and walked all afternoon to a Karen village. (I can't remember its name) The village had about 200 inhabitants and we (a group of 10) slept on bamboo mats in a hut overlooking the village and the surrounding valley. Our guide was a Karen, so was very helpful in explaining their customs and was also able to translate for us.
We were only going to stay in this village for one night but the villagers invited us to their new years celebrations the following day, so instead we walked to another village, and then on to a school. This was quite fun, we taught the Karen children some English (most of which involved "Heads and Shoulders, Knees and Toes) but they were very shy. Jackie got to practise her teachings skills.
After this we returned to the Karen village and were invited into the house of the village Holy Man, who we drank whisky with. (A rare privilege which our guide said he had never had). The Holy Man holds the highest position in the village, and also acts as a kind of doctor, using local herbs to heal. He is also able to detect the effects on black magic on a person, and to reverse its effects. He asked where we came from, and when we asked him if he knew where these places were, he said no. He had no concept of the world outside the hill tribes within which he lived. Younger villagers however showed outside influence, with motorbikes, televisions, and posters of Thai pop idols.
The next morning we participated in the village's new years celebrations. This involved every household (about 40) cooking a dish, and then visiting every other house in the village and eating and drinking whisky. We only visited five houses, and were feeling quite full and trying to limit our whisky intake for the walk ahead. The whisky the villagers drink is made locally be each village from pickled rice. The women make it - the men drink it.
After stuffing ourselves we walked for six hours to a bamboo rafting camp, and took a well earned swim in the river - though it was freezing cold, we forced ourselves to enjoy it. Bamboo rafting the next day was rather fun. It involved steering about ten bamboo logs tied together through a succession of rapids - four parts calm and one part terror. More than once we had to get off the raft to dislodge in from rocks, and then there was the everpresent danger of feet getting caught between the bamboo.
From here we drove to the highest point in Thailand so the two stupas (a type of temple) dedicated to the king and queen, and then it was back to Chiang Mai for a well earned rest on a soft bed.
It's been a while between posts because we've been on a trek for four days and got bake to Chiang Mai last night. The trek was so much better than we anticipated, and we are really glad we decided to go on a longer one. The first day we went elephant riding, and then to a cave which smelt funny and was very humid and full of tiny little bats. We then continued on to a drop off point in the hills and walked all afternoon to a Karen village. (I can't remember its name) The village had about 200 inhabitants and we (a group of 10) slept on bamboo mats in a hut overlooking the village and the surrounding valley. Our guide was a Karen, so was very helpful in explaining their customs and was also able to translate for us.
We were only going to stay in this village for one night but the villagers invited us to their new years celebrations the following day, so instead we walked to another village, and then on to a school. This was quite fun, we taught the Karen children some English (most of which involved "Heads and Shoulders, Knees and Toes) but they were very shy. Jackie got to practise her teachings skills.
After this we returned to the Karen village and were invited into the house of the village Holy Man, who we drank whisky with. (A rare privilege which our guide said he had never had). The Holy Man holds the highest position in the village, and also acts as a kind of doctor, using local herbs to heal. He is also able to detect the effects on black magic on a person, and to reverse its effects. He asked where we came from, and when we asked him if he knew where these places were, he said no. He had no concept of the world outside the hill tribes within which he lived. Younger villagers however showed outside influence, with motorbikes, televisions, and posters of Thai pop idols.
The next morning we participated in the village's new years celebrations. This involved every household (about 40) cooking a dish, and then visiting every other house in the village and eating and drinking whisky. We only visited five houses, and were feeling quite full and trying to limit our whisky intake for the walk ahead. The whisky the villagers drink is made locally be each village from pickled rice. The women make it - the men drink it.
After stuffing ourselves we walked for six hours to a bamboo rafting camp, and took a well earned swim in the river - though it was freezing cold, we forced ourselves to enjoy it. Bamboo rafting the next day was rather fun. It involved steering about ten bamboo logs tied together through a succession of rapids - four parts calm and one part terror. More than once we had to get off the raft to dislodge in from rocks, and then there was the everpresent danger of feet getting caught between the bamboo.
From here we drove to the highest point in Thailand so the two stupas (a type of temple) dedicated to the king and queen, and then it was back to Chiang Mai for a well earned rest on a soft bed.
Monday, January 1, 2007
You can relax
Ok so you can stop worrying. We were very surprised to sit down just now and read all your comments. We had no idea anything had happened until now! It really was business as usual in Bangkok. Not even a whisper of something where we were. Sorry to have left you hanging but we were a little hurried yesterday afternoon getting to the train and everything so we just put off emails until we arrived here in Chiang Mai. There is probably nothing to worry about from here on in as we are in the north of the counrty and for the next four days starting tomorrow we'll be on a trek that takes us out of the city into the country. This trek is a reputable guesthouse organised one that the lonely planet recommends. This will mean however that we won't be posting that whole time.
On a lighter note we are having a great time! After new years with Dean and Sal we got up fairly early and crammed in the big reclining buddha, the emerald buddha and Jim Thompson's House. That was about it before we headed back to the guesthouse to check out and catch a train. So far we still have not had any negative experiences and have thus far managed to avoid pickpocketing, expensive tuk-tuks and squat toilets. I know it's inevitable but we seem to be skilled at putting it off. Brett is doing most of the directing while Jackie does most of the trying not to spend money.
Thanks all for your concern and please could someone call Brett's parents because they are away and might not have the internet. Could Luke maybe call Brett's Dad, he should be home and the number is on that piece of paper that we wrote out.
All safe and sound
On a lighter note we are having a great time! After new years with Dean and Sal we got up fairly early and crammed in the big reclining buddha, the emerald buddha and Jim Thompson's House. That was about it before we headed back to the guesthouse to check out and catch a train. So far we still have not had any negative experiences and have thus far managed to avoid pickpocketing, expensive tuk-tuks and squat toilets. I know it's inevitable but we seem to be skilled at putting it off. Brett is doing most of the directing while Jackie does most of the trying not to spend money.
Thanks all for your concern and please could someone call Brett's parents because they are away and might not have the internet. Could Luke maybe call Brett's Dad, he should be home and the number is on that piece of paper that we wrote out.
All safe and sound
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