Shop 'til you drop in Hoi An

We arrived in Hoi An at 5.30am....a bit too early for the hotel as it turns out so we went for an early morning walk around town while we waited for the rooms to be ready. Couldn't tell you what we saw, I think I was still asleep! I can sum up what Hoi An means to me in one word - SHOPPING! I had the most amazing winter coats made.....wool, silk lining, made to measure, all done overnight & all for $35US. Add to that the dress, jumpsuit, skirt, pants & shorts & I spent less than $200 - including the postage to send the stuff home that I don't wanna lug around for the next 11 months!

Oh, I nearly forgot....we also discovered the most amazing chocolate mousse cake I've had in my life...Tam Tam Cafe, you rock my world!

Photo: Mmmmmmmmmmmousse Cake

While we were in Hoi An, we also got to see some of the Liberation Day celebrations. The Thu Bon River runs through the middle of Hoi An & it was the main location for the celebrations. Floating all along the river they had giant lanterns & dragons, lit up from the inside. Everywhere there were children playing traditional games & there was a really festive vibe in the air.

Next morning, despite a very civilised departure time of 10am, I nearly managed to miss the bus cos I was having my last outfit finished...oops! A 4 hour bus ride along the same route taken by the boys from Top Gear, took us to Hue. Stunning scenery but a little windy for those of us who might occasionally suffer from motion sickness!

Photo: As seen on Top Gear Vietnam Special

Hue was the scene of one of the most fun things we have done so far. A local cooking class at a restaurant down the road from the hotel called Missy Roo's. Turns out it's owned by an Aussie woman & the manager (who runs the classes) confessed his love for her...even though she shacked up with his best mate!! Anyway, the class started off with a trip to the local market. It was a real highlight being able to mingle & shop with the locals & to be buying the ingredients we would later be cooking with.

Photo: Anyone for duck?

We cooked fresh spring rolls, fried spring rolls, seafood pancakes, beef noodle soup & peanut sauce.....it was all freakin delicious!! As our teacher said "You eat your own product"....we had so much food that we had to get some of it packed up to take away! We can't wait to get home & test out our new Vietnamese cooking skills.

When we finished stuffing our faces, we dragged ourselves about 4kms out of town to the Thien Mu Pagoda situated on the banks of the Perfume River. It is a really picturesque spot with a giant Pagoda & many other small statues scattered around the grounds. The weirdest part was seen through the back fence - a massive, overgrown cemetary with cows grazing in it!

Photo: You'd think we'd be all Pagoda'd out by now!

Photo: Mooooooo!

Our visit to Hue ended on a slightly sour note. Our tour leader misread our train tickets & we ended up missing the overnight train Hanoi. This left a night bus as our only option....only we didn't catch an ordinary bus.....no, we caught a coach with no reclining seats, no toilet on board & no toilet breaks......for 14 hours!!! What a nightmare...but we managed to make it to Hanoi in one piece & that's where it starts to get really interesting!

Hello Ho Chi Minh

Photo: Crazy traffic outside the night market in Saigon

Forgive me for my tardiness....I know it's been a month since the last entry but it's been a hell of a month!

So we arrived in Ho Chi Minh after successfully crossing the Cambodian border. First impressions are......aaaahhhhhhhh TRAFFIC!! Went for an orientation walk before dinner. After dinner we tackled the night market Ben Thanh Market. On the way to the market we encountered "lovers lane".....a giant park where all the local "lovers" go to sit on their motorbikes & whisper sweet nothings into each others ears! So freakin weird...there where hundreds of them! So the market was massive, hot, packed & extremely overwhelming...we didn't last long! 

Photo: War Remnants Museum - Ho Chi Minh City

Started the day with a 5am wake up call......hundreds of locals in the park outside the hotel doing their morning exercise to The Backstreet Boys!! Today's first stop - The War Remnants Museum - a rather one sided look at the Vietnam War. Lots of graphic pictures up saying things like "The Americans did this". Included in the display were tanks full of deformed babies & hundreds of photos of dead bodies. One interesting display was dedicated to showing the effects of Agent Orange & other chemicals used by the US Army...again, very confronting. Even though it was 40 degrees, we walked back to the other side of town & braved the indoor, day market. Not much of an improvement on the night market...maybe a bit hotter! The only thing left to do was find a pub & have some cold beverages :)

Today we left for the Mekong Delta where we would be spending a night with a local family in a home stay. We were met by Mr Nam, our local guide who quickly became the highlight of the tour so far! We arrived at the port where we alighted our boat for the trip onto the Delta. Along the way we stopped at a few local businesses. We saw how they make popped rice (kinda like rice bubbles), bricks (fascinating) & a fruit farm where they were very keen for us all to try Durian - a fruit that can only be described as smelling like mouldy socks! At every stop we were given jasmine tea & shots of home made rice whisky - 90 proof rocket fuel!! Basically the day was all about getting us pissed!

 

Photo: Inside one of the brick kilns

 

Photo: Presentation is everything!

Lunch was amazing.....they carved little men out of cucumber to adorn the dishes of food, so cute! After lunch we went to leave the little canal in the boat but we had been blocked in by reeds as the tide came in. We turned around to try another way out with no success so we had to try & fit the boat under a bridge.....the only solution, everyone to the front of the boat to way it down....we just squeezed through with the boys pushing down on the underside of the bridge...then it was everyone to the back of the boat to repeat the process....very funny!

Photo: Everyone to the front of the boat

Next stop was a dancing display in an old, French colonial house on the water. We were all getting really into the dancing....and more whisky of course. Sadly it turns out that the family performing were in fact actors they ship in for the benefit of the tourists, not the custodians of the house as we all thought!! Next up a canoe ride took us to our homestay. VERY basic accomodation....just a stretcher bed with a blanket & a mozzie net hanging above. However, the hospitality shown by the patriach of the family was outstanding & the food was even better. Andrew got a hit of energy & went for a bike ride around the little village but the rest of us lay around in hammocks & snoozed! The evening was spent playing card games & teaching Nam (our guide) how to play "Chase the Ace".....he spent most of the night shouting "loser" at anyone he beat!! I think we created a monster :)

Photo: Our gracious host for the homestay

Next morning, back onto the boat for a trip to the floating market, where all the locals trade their wares & then back to Ho Chi Minh.

From the homestay we went straight to the Cu Chi Tunnels, about an hour outside of Ho Chi Minh. We were in a little mini van & about 20 minutes from the tunnels something came over our driver & he turned into a lunatic. He was driving at break neck speeds, down the middle of the road...on several occasions missing pedestrians & bike riders by millimetres.....our tour leader attempted to calm him down but it only served to make things worse! He took his seat belt off & turned into a rally driver.....so scary! We managed, somehow, to arrive in one piece & a phonecall to his boss ensured a safe return journey.

The tunnels were amazing. Evidence of the Vietnamese inginuity & determination.....some 200kms of multi level tunnels used by the locals to live safely during the Vietnam war. Andrew & I both had a go at fitting down an original tunnel entry....a very tight squeeze!

Photo: Breathe in!

They have opened up a handfull of the underground rooms for tourists & they have also widened a stretch of the tunnel (to double the size) so you can have a go crawling down it....you are still on your hands & knees though. Not a good idea if you're claustrophobic. At the end of the tour Andrew had the opportunity to shoot an AK47....or as he put it "shot the shit out of the rabbit". I think he enjoyed it a little too much for my liking!

Photo: Someone looks a little too pleased with himself :)

Back to the hotel to pick up the bags & time to board our first overnight train to Nha Trang...a beachside resort town up the coast. Not much to report about Nha Trang. Not great beaches but we did go to the mud baths which was heaps of fun!

Photo: Relaxing in the mud bath

After lying in the mudbath for about 45mins it was time to bake our mud coating in the sun....then off to the walk through showers & 4 different swimming pools. Not a bad way to spend an afternoon. After 3 days in Nha Trang we boarded an overnight "sleeper" bus for Hoi An. Sleeper Bus is a loose term as I don't think many of us slept! The bus had two levels of reclining seats where you lay almost flat with your feet in the pod under the person in front of you.....you are basically trapped on your back, unable to move your legs for 11 hours.

Photo: The view of Andrew's feet in the "sleeper" bus

I Heart Cambodia

Up at 4am for sunrise at Ankor Wat....what a beautiful, peaceful way to start the day....apart from the other 400 people also enjoying the serenity! We watched the sunrise over Ankor Wat temple and then headed off for some breakfast. Loving the fact that Cambodia was once a French colony and they havn't lost the art of baking a baguette.

After breakfast we headed out for a 5 hour walk around some of the other temples which are enclosed in a 203 acre compound. Did I mention that it was 42 degrees?? SOOOOO HOT! We did get to have a look at the temple where Tomb Raider was filmed with Angelina Jolie....quite amazing to see the trees growing out of and all over the temples. It was also really cool being able to walk through buildings that were built in the 12th century. The guide was VERY thorough...I don't think he could tell that we were all dying in the heat & he took great delight in explaining what every elephant carving & stone monument meant while all we wanted to do was find an icecream stand & some shade! Some of the temples are under repair & it was shocking to see the workmen climbing all over the scaffolding with powertools...in barefeet!!

In the very last temple, we had all hit our limit when we came across a little, old buddhist monk. He was tying red ribbons around everyone's wrists, rubbing them & then blowing on them, all the while quietly chanting to himself. He was banishing all our evil demons.....for some reason he worked on Andrew's wrist for about 3 times as long as everyone else!!

In the afternoon we headed back to the posh pool to cool off. Got back to the hostel at about 5pm, thought I might have a little nanna nap before dinner......woke up at 7.30 the next morning!

Next was a taxi to the bus station and a 7 hour bus ride on a local bus to Phnom Penh. When we arrived we headed down to FCC (Foreign Correspondents Club) - a popular ex-pat hang out for 2 for 1 cocktails & a beautiful view of the sunset over the Mekong River. It was a really nice, balmy night & we were all chatting away when we looked down on the road below us and saw an elephant wandering along the road.....as you do!

From FCC we moved to Friends Restaurant - a non-profit restaurant that rehabilitates street kids & offers them the chance to be trained in hospitality. Great food & service! Then we made the unfortunate mistake of heading to "The Heart Of Darkness", a local nightclub. This started off with a fairly "brisk" pat down by the enthusiastic bouncer, then a small issue with a security guard who didn't like that we moved a tall vase on the table about 6 inches along so that the conversation didn't have to go through the flowers! I spose we should have taken the hint & called it a night but instead it turned into a bit of a piss up & Andrew spent most of the next day paying for it!!

Morning took us to the S21 prison & killing fields, a legacy of the Khmer Rouge & Pol Pot's regime. A very sombre place full of really graffic images of the genocide suffered by the Cambodians...not something easily stomached let alone if you are hung over. At the killing fields there is a buddhist stupa filled with the human skulls of some of the victims....approximately 20 metres high. This is also the site of many mass graves. Very sad.

When we arrived back from the killing fields, Andrew went to bed while the girls all went for a nice lunch. Later in the day we braved the Russian markets...an eye opening under cover market offering "real" designer clothes and various other souvineers. It was fun having a bit of a haggle though.

Next morning we left at 7am for another local bus ride across the border to Vietnam. Immigration was abit slow....we waited almost an hour in the heat. Kinda the same as Thailand, there is no gambling in Vietnam so at both the entry & exit points for Cambodia we saw heaps of massive casinos (kinda like mini Vegas) where Thai or Vietnamese locals come on weekends to gamble & party! Weird!

Will definitely need to come back to Cambodia to spend some more time soaking up the culture & atmosphere. A week just wasn't enough!

Bankok to Siem Reap....

Not much to report from Bangkok.....most of the city was shut down cos of the political riots. We took a rain ride into Siam Square, got off the train, went to the platform looking out over the street and as far you could see were red shirts sleeping in the streets. Seems we had stumbled across their home base. All of the surrounding shops & attractions were closed so we got back on the train & went back to the hostel.

Joined our tour group for a 6.30am departure on Saturday morning. Took cabs to the bus station then a 6 hour bus ride to just outside the Cambodian border & a tuk-tuk the rest of the way. Walked across the border, caught a shuttle to a waiting bus then a 2 hour bus ride to the hostel. Really nice rooms, by the way.

We went for a walk into town & had some drinks on Pub Street....freakin awesome. One pitcher of cocktails (about 4 glasses worth) was $6 & I got a free t-shirt! Had a lovely meal then went and had the weirdest experience. We went to a stall in the street where you put your feet in this tank of water with fish in it & they eat all the dead skin!! Soooooo disgusting but strangely relaxing. Everyone was stopping to take photos of us so we became quite the tourist attraction!

After eating chocolate & banana crepes for breakfast, we spent the day at the pool of a nearby hotel....bliss! It is really hot here :(

Can't tell you how much nicer Cambodia is than Thailand. Much more relaxed, no hassling on the streets.....& really, really cheap! Looking forward to going to Ankor Wat tomorrow....at 4am for sunrise!

A photo of our hostel!

Bye, bye Singapore.....hello Bangkok!

What a fantastic 4 days in Singapore with Birnie, what an amazing host! Melbourne take note...efficient public transport is possible! Sorry MYKI. Apart from the usual suspects; the Zoo, Botanical Gardens & the Night Safari we also had amazing Chili Crab, HOT curry in Little India and went to the most mind boggling multi-story emporium known as Mufasa....you wnat it, you can get it at Mufasa. Also, completed Bec's first challenge - had my photo taken with the doorman at Raffles.

On our last night Birnie's work mates had a little BBQ (kinda in our honour) which ended up in the pool & jacuzzi after curfew (?)...I know, what rebels!

See you in Hanoi Birnie..........;)

Bangkok next....our accomodation in Bangkok was moved due to the political demonstrations & violence...should be interesting...

..........

Don't ask me how he smoked either...was like a pen but smoke came out so I dunno! Flight was fine, didn't sleep at all. Got to Singapore airport & Birnie was nowhere to be seen...thought maybe we were in the wrong place, went for a bit of a walk then went back to the arrival gate & not long after we see the gumby man running into the terminal like a mad man!!

Still quite warm at 10pm so a few beers for Andrew & less than half a vodka & lemonade for me & we were ratshit! Bedtime, aircon....ahhhhhh sleep!

Feeling a bit rough this morning, a shower & a walk around should do the trick.

P.S. check out the photo taken out our bedroom window earlier...not bad, not bad!

Singapore here we come...

Traumatic goodbyes all over (thank god)...think I have officially run out of tears now having spent about 60% of the 7 hour flight leaking from the eyeballs! So was exchanging some money at the airport when there was a bit of a commotion behind us, so I turn around to see a couple of teenage girls saying "OMG, I don't wanna ask her.....ok, I'll just ask her"...I left the poor guy counting back my money to me to check out what was going on only to see all these girls squealing and hyperventilating over LADY GAGA!! She stood and posed for photos for about 15 seconds then disappeared behind her gigantic body guard in the direction of her plane. So, turns out, she was in first class on our flight & the poor Heman body guard was slumming it in business :(

Andrew sat on the plane next to a guy who sneakily smoked all the way to Singapore....well in between smuggling his coke bottle full of scotch into the toilets to get hammered!