Saigon

Arriving in Saigon at 7 pm we had to compete against all the touts trying to tell as they have the best hotels. We thought ahead this time and had booked a room that the manager in Mui Ne recommended. Made it to the hotel in no time as it was just around the corner in district 1.

We drop off the bags and head to Good Morning Viet Nam restaurant for dinner. If this is what Italian food is like then I can't wait to get to Italy!!!! It was on the high side for price but worth every Dong!!!! Back to the hotel for an early night.

The next day we wake up and Carly has an abscess bulging in her mouth!! Straight down to the International Medical centre. Now I had always had bad thoughts about hospitals in South East Asia but I have to say, this one was good. Within 15mins Carly is in front of a doctor who with one look rang the surgeon who, we are told, will arrive in 45mins. Needless to say the treatment was spot on. and we were out of there just after midday.

While in the waiting room Carly spotted an add for a pub that was playing all the Super 14 games......so......on the way back we found this pub (Arena) and thought it rude not to stop in. I walk through the doors and my heart skipped a beat. They had the Cantabs game still running (Live) and settled down for the second half......my first game this season.....magic.

Back to the Hotel and wee booked a tour for the Cu Chi tunnels the next day. We made it back to Arena later that night to watch the Blues first win this season over the Reds........I miss rugby!!!!

The next morning and Carly is feeling a lot better. The bus picked us up for the tour. First Stop this Temple that is 120km's out of Saigon. We made it there in time for the midday service. It was cool seeing all the people file into this massive hall chatting and preying on their knees. Starting to heat up and time to leave for the tunnels.

Arriving at the tunnels we are showen this tape on the Viet Con and how they went about killing the Gi's. Interesting to see that propaganda was going full swing back in 1967!!!!

Next the guide took us through the forest to different sites. First one on how small the Viet Con entrances were!!! This guy disappeared down this hole that you would think was only big enough for a child! Amazing that they had 250km's of these tunnels in this area that stretched all the way to the Cambodian boarder!!!

After all the traps we got the option of shooting guns for $1USD/bullet. I thought I'd give it a go until I got up close and could hear how loud they were.....flag that!!!!!

INTO THE VIET CON TUNNELS....we arrive just out side this widened bunker. They guide side the tunnel runs for 40m under ground then you have a chance to get out, if you don't want to get out you can go a further 80m! He warned us not to follow any side
tunnels as we will get lost and could take a while to find us. In we go!! Luckily i had thought of bringing a torch.....Carly grabbed that as soon as I produced it!!! Thank god we had that as it was bloody dark down there!!! We went down around 6m below the surface and only had room to crawl. While down there all I could think about is "other tourists have done this", "Can't be much further". Carly stopped once in front of me but gave her a bit of encouragement and she was off again. Needless to say we only went the 40m....flag the 120m and in our group of 40 people even the bravest before going in only went 40m.

Shaken up a bit we get back on the bus. Back to Saigon and the hotel for a shower. We went out that night for a few well deserved drinks with a few of the people on the tour.

The next day is the last in Saigon and Viet Nam. We went to the markets, posted our suits to Patten and the War museum.

The museum was a bit of an eye opener. Will walking through you could see fetuses in jars that were aborted because of agent orange. American soliders holding up blowen up corpses and much more. Something you really only want to see once.

With that all said and done we are off to China. I'm at the Bangkok airport and have been for 14 hours. Our flight is soon for Beijing and the cold temps of minus 5 degrees.

I don't know if I can get onto this website in China. If I can I will post some photos etc. If not then in 10 days I will update when we land back in Thailand.

Mui Ne

We headed south again and made it to the coastal town of Mui Ne. It's a wind surfer's dream with the amount of wind that comes off the sea. I was thinking about trying out Kite Surfing but at $189 USD for 5 hours all I did was think about it.

The first day we really just spent hanging around doing nothing......really just getting use to the heat again!!! That night (First one there) we ran into Grego and Karin, Swiss couple from Sapa. We had a few drinks catching up on what we both had been doing for the last 1 1/2 weeks. Kinda of an early night as we had booked a jeep for touring the next morning.

7am up and ready to go. Carly got a call through from NZ about the job she had applied for in the UK........all sweet and she is now employed starting early May..... Sugar mumma ;-)

The jeep arrived with our driver ($20USD) to show as around the tourist spots. First stop sand sledding!!!!!! This was interesting, as soon as well got out of the jeep we had about 20 kids surround us offering their sleds as they were the best. I asked how much to which they replied....."up to you handsome". They asked for our names to which I replied "King Kong", this went a bit over their heads and for the next 45mins all I could hear is "hey King Kong come over here" or "King King how long you in Viet Nam?"....priceless!!!!

Up the top of these sand dunes the kids go about setting up the first sled for me promising the rock down the bottom won't hurt!!!!! On I get to have some little bugger push me straight away down the dune. A couple of seconds later, as I picked up some G force, I see the kids down the bottom scampering fast to get out of my way!!!! Much to my surprise the rock did not hurt that much!!!! Now to get back up this bloody dune!!! Again the kids were more than helpful....I had one between my legs trying to piggy back me, two on either side pulling my shoulders and one behind pushing me on the bum!!! I could not help laughing hard seeing these kids trying to get me back up the top! It must have been funny for Carly at the top as all I could hear is her laughing snapping photos!!!

Carly's turn- Again they go about setting up the sled. She looks at me and I smile assurance that it's ok....again the over eager kid is there and as soon as she sits down..... booooom....Carly's off!!! Following her down the dunes are her screams but this time time with me laughing my head off snapping photos. Carly made getting back up look easy but once was enough for the both of us!!!!

Know we had to settle the price of the ride each. Again asking how much they were very quick with a reply of 100,000 Dong each!!! Much to their dismay and annoyance the kids only got 60,000 Dong for the both of us....and that was more than ample!!!!

Next off to see the Red Canyon. It was just a Red Canyon so spent about 10mins there (4mins walk in, 2 mins of photos, 4 mins walk out).

Back in the jeep and off to the White Sand Dunes. These were cool!!! It looked like a vista out of Egypt with a little oasis down the bottom. We walked to the second peak and chilled out (in 35 degrees) taking a few more photos. Again we had kids wanting us to go down on their sleds but these dunes were much bigger and don't think I would have had the same support as before in getting back up.

The time was fast approaching midday and wanted to get back to town to book the bus for Saigon.

We had fun in Mui Ne but 2 nights was ample and want to do a tour in Saigon before we fly to China.

Nha Trang

Well we made it on the overnight bus from Hoi An in one piece to Nha Trang!! A couple of times we woke up as we were sure the bus was on only 2 wheels going around a few corners....all that was going through my head was Egypt, Egypt, Egypt!!!!

We walked with our packs and the bag of suits that we had made up (well I did anyway). This time we thought we would be clever and find a hotel that the bus did not drop us to.....being that they own them and get kick backs......big mistake!!! Cleverness scored us this smelly room that really does not deserve to be written about. Well one night there and we will find a new one.

The next day after finding a much better room for the same price we found out the bus company owned the hotel anyway :-) Joke on us for trying to think outside the square!!!!

That day we hung out at the beach. Much to our disappointment you could not really swim in the sea. Beautiful beach but the waves were crashing about a meter from the shore and the undertow looked a bit much to compete with. Instead I read my book while Carly had and oil massage.....not a bad trade off really.

Later that night we went down to the Sailing Club Restaurant (Morris's advise from when he was in Viet Nam). The place was very posh and quite pricey but boy was it worth very Dong!! I had pork wrapped in bacon with the best potatoes mash. Carly had squid done to perfection. Cheers Morris the place was a score in our books.

Later that night we found this place called Crazy Kims. It was after a few beers that Carly signed us up to teach English to street kids that come to the school (Back of the bar) for free. The next morning bright and early we were both off to school. It was neat sitting there having kids beaming from ear to ear practicing using verbs in sentences adding "ing" to them. The first class was children aged 5-12yrs. Come time for the second class I had to do the runner as dinner was coming back up. I contemplated going back to say I had been sh!tt-ING but thought better of it. Carly stayed on for the next class this time she had 12-17yrs. She said it was mainly dictation this time round so I am sort of glad I missed it........I hated dictation!!!!!

We thought we did not really want to do an island tour as people we meet said that they weren’t that great so booked our bus for the trip down to Mui Ne.

We hired a motorbike for the last day and toured around the town. Went to the Aquarium, which we saw in about 5 mins. Next off to this Wat that was built over looking the town. Starting to get Watted out and having more fun racing around on the bikes tooting at everyone as they toot at me..........hilarious that you can just toot the horn then turn into on coming traffic and your in the right :-)

Nha Trang was nice but a bit too commercial for us. Beer prices jumped up as well so time to leave. We only have 5 days left in Viet Nam.

I am finding it hard to upload photos so will do it when when we get to Saigon...sorry.

Well we left Hue at 9am and arrived in Hoi An just after lunch time. I imagine that this is what the medertrain coast is to look like!! It's a quiet little sea side village that has heaps of Tailor's!!!! That is the whole purpose of us being here!!! There are loads of tailors through Thailand but they have nothing on Hoi An!!! There must be about 200 different stores scattered across the town.

After checking in we go for a walk looking for what style suits we like. We found this little place just before the market (because Carly likes the look of a winter jacket on display...it's cute!!!). So we sit down flicking through all the latest fashion mags from around the world choosing what style we like the most. Once we had the styles sussed we chose the fabric. We both chose Italian Cashmere with silk/cotton lining. I had 3 suits made with a big winter jacket for the UK winter. Carly had 2 suits, 2 skirts, 2 dresses, 1 top and a winter jacket. She could have brought more.....trust me she could have brought a lot more, she had this crazed look in her eyes while looking through the mags.

That night we meet up with Steve and Claire and went out for dinner. We meet them in Hue and seem to be traveling south at about the same times. It's really strange these small towns in Viet Nam as all the bars seem to close at 11pm!!!!! Probably a good thing though as between the 4 of us we drank over 300,000 Dong worth of beer ($20USD) doesn't sound like much ($20) but it goes a long way.

The next day we get up rather early again ( 10.30am) as we have a fitting at 11am (suits made in under 24 hours). Get to the tailor and not everything is ready........understandable my apron in Form 2 took me a whole term!!!!!!!! Anyway 3 visits and 6 hours later all my suits are ready and fit like a glove. Carly was surprised to learn from the tailor that she has a problem with her shoulders and that's why they don't fit that well. In steps Blair explaining that the whole purpose of a tailor made suit is to fit the person. Out comes the chalk and they make a few marks and promise to have it back for Carly to try on in 3 hours. 3 hours later and the jackets fit perfectly!!!! We now have and extra 10Kg's to lug around. We have decided to courier the goods when we get to Ho Chi Minh to a mate of mine in the UK (Cheers Patten your a bright and shinny star).

So after 2 nights in Hoi An we are off to Nha Trang which is meant to have a really good beach :-) I'll tell ya what people it's a hard life living this road! So all of you reading this at work....think of us and hard we are doing it :-)

Citadel -Hue

Hue day 3 started very much like day 2. We got up at around 10am and went down stairs to rent a motorbike. Today we thought we would see what Hue has to offer.

First we went around the corner to this little open shop so I could get my hair cut. I didn't think I would be putting my life into any ones hands and thought it should be sweet. I needed a shave at the time so thought why not!!! It's the first time I have had a shave using a cutthroat. It was all good.....I only got nicked once. The hair cut started out dodgy but as Carly so kindly pointed out......"Hair grows back"......cheers! Now off to explore Hue.

After much tooting on the motorbike I was getting the hang of driving on the wrong side off the road. Another thing you have to keep in mind while riding is to just cut in front of other motorbikes when wanting to turn! As long as you toot your horn at least 4 times you should be sweet.

We finally made it to the Citadel which is this old fortress that was built in the 1700's. We thought we could spend a quick hour there but when we walked inside we realised IT"S HUGE!!!!! It has a 10km moat running around the fortress and to walk to the other side takes a good 40 mins. It was a really hot day again but there were plenty of places inside the Citadel that we could just chill out under some shade. It was quite cool how you are in the middle of this structure but can not hear the sounds of cars and bikes tooting. We spent a good 4 hours just roaming around which had as both absolutely stuffed. Back to the room for our afternoon nap :-)

Later that night we meet up with Kim's family again. Again more beer on offer and again the food was awesome!!! We had to have an early night tonight as our bus is leaving for Hoi An tomorrow at 8am. This trip should only take 4 hours...wahoooooo!!!!!

Hue-Viet Nam

After spending the day in Hanoi w caught the overnight bus down to Hue.

We arrived in Hue at about 7am.......again many people waiting for us as we get off the bus. We were getting many offers of different hotels (all the best and cheapest). We ended up just walking across the road to the closest hotel as we just wanted a shower and a good room for quick sleep. We only planned to stay for a couple of nights but after the overnight bus thought we should stretch it out to 3 nights.

Carly has family in Hue. Her uncle Bryan from Melbourne married Kim so we wanted to meet her family. Come 4pm on the second night we had 3 motorbikes turn up to meet us outside the hotel. Kim's mother and father turned up with her sister and one of he friends (who could speak quite good English).

Off we go racing through Hue to the family house for dinner. On arrival a beer was offered to me straight away....could get use to this :-) Thom (sorry if names are spelt wrong Kim) the father sat down with Carly and I, while Whare (mother) and Na (sister) started making dinner. It was quite cool seeing the photos of Bryan and Kim everywhere they are obviously very proud. A little later Vin (little brother) came in from school and immediately got down to the business of getting to know us.

A couple of beers later and the food starts pouring out of the kitchen. They must think that we westerns eat loads cos there was food for Africa!!! I don't know what it is called (the meal that is) but we had this pot boiling in front of us with the most delicious broth with prawns packed through it. We had beef on plates around us that we would put into the ladle and cook in the pot before placing it in your bowl of noodles. Thinking that 3 bowls was about to make me explode (full as a boot) they bring out this seafood salad. Not wanting to offend I got stuck into this as well. My god 30 mins latter I look over to Carly who is looking how I'm feeling choker block to the teeth.

After dinner we all moved outside where we continued to drink more beers and try to learn a few words (much to the amusement of the family). Come 8.30pm Thom and Na dropped us back to the hotel with insistence that we come back tomorrow night for dinner again.....sweet as!!!!!

It was a great night that was topped off at Thu's Bar on Wheels back near our hotel. I just can't get how bars close at 11pm in this part of the country!!!

Sapa

We got off the Night train at 7am in the town of Loa Chi to be herded into our minibus for the hour drive up the mountain to Sapa. Arriving in Sapa we checked into the hotel to find our room will not be ready until lunch time. Not to worry we were introduced to our guide Sun who said our trek will start at 9.30am.........trek????

While waiting outside the hotel we were greeted by the local hill village ladies that took an immediate liking to Carly as she was close to their height. These ladies could not stop smiling and had you grinning from ear to ear while you were talking. They were dressed in their traditional hill clothes and all had very blue hands from using dyes.

Come 9.30am and we are off. Sapa sits at around 1600M above sea level so is covered in clouds. Visibility is down to about 2 to 3m in front of you. Walking down the mountain basically has you walking out of the clouds to these amazing views of the different villages that are scattered around the valleys. Rice paddy feelds are everywhere and blows your mind at how much work would be involved working them. The trek so far was all down hill...Carly and I can handle that.....just!

First we went through the village of Cat Cat were they proclaim that they don't eat dogs.....good stuff!!!
While the trek was mainly down hill we had our moments of up hill climbs so were very happy when Sun decided to stop by a waterfall for a break. Again we had local villages trying to sell the handcrafts but were very polite when we declined the sale.

Off we go again....this time up hill. Again you can't help looking at the padi fields that start down the bottom of this valley and climb up into the clouds. With fire breathing in our lungs and sweet dripping from all pours (keeping in mind it was only 4 degrees) we come to the beginning of a very step road that heads back to Sapa. These little men were standing around offering their services for $1USD and will drive us up......one look at Carly and we had a bike each leaving the rest of our trekking group behind......suckers!!!!!!!

In our room for a hot shower and fresh set of clothes....you beauty. Getting ready to go down for lunch the clouds broke from around the hotel and we could see part way down the mountain....absolutely cool!!!!!!

After lunch we had a look around Sapa. While the town is not that big it was easy to get lost as the cloud/fog was so thick. More locals were trying to sell us the goods surrounding you so you can't move forward....a lot of fun but retreated to the safety of our hotel. that night we went to a local pub called the Red Dragon with a Swiss couple we meet (Gregor and Karin). Quite a few beers later and closing time was closing in on us fast. We were all staying in the same hotel so stumbled home amongst the thickest fog.

Up at 8am the next day for another trek. My arse and legs were hurting and Carly was walking like she lost her horse but we ploughed on. Again we walked out of the clouds to these views that just keep taking your breath away. Today we were heading to the biggest hill village of 600 people. It was about this time that you realise while you are a tourist snapping photos this is actually these peoples lives. They produce crops and rice that will keep for their family and sell to us for luxury things such as ducks, pigs and chickens. Walking into the village we see a water mill that is slowly crushing wheat so they can make bread. The toilets involved canvas around a creek (and that all) that would wash away your waste. Gregor by this stage had taken a turn for the worst (Hung over) and went to use one of these toilets......he walked in and then straight back out thinking he can hold on. 15 mins later we are walking past something that resembled a long drop. Grego is in there in a flash. The sound of the noises he was making confirmed how he was looking......in bad shape!!!!!

Another hours walk and we were meet by a jeep that took us back to Sapa. We had a look around the local markets and brought a bracelet (Carly) and a mouth harp (Me). Come 6pm we were picked up for the overnight train back to Hanoi. We are not looking forward to the bikes and tooting of the city but it will only be for a few hours before we get an overnight bus to Hue.

Thailand to Vietnam (Hanoi)

Up early (11am) to catch our mini van to the airport at 12 noon. No dramas at all which was cool. Arrive at the airport to check in and realise that our flight does not leave until 5.45pm.....nice one Carly!!!

The flight (When the time arrived) was short only 1hr 25min. Landing in Hanoi (North Vietnam) we were scanned by this heat devise that checks to see if your running a temp. If you are you have H5N1 (Bird Flu) and won't be let into the country....we did not have a temp so were let through.

The weather here in Hanoi is vey much like NZ....cold!!!! The man who was to pick us up from the airport was not there so had to pay a local taxi $20USD to get into the City. He dropped us at the guesthouse (as we has a reservation) and I was explaining to the manager that his driver did not meet us and had to pay for a taxi to which he replied he has no driver....? Another look at the name of the place and we had been dropped at the wrong Hotel....neat....back into another taxi over to the correct one. Checked in and all sweet :-)

The next morning we walked around the old quarter of the city....very very busy with motorbikes!!! You just have to walk out into the road and hope you don't get hit reaching the other side. That night we went to The Water Puppets show....neat but did not understand a word that was said as they say "while in Rome" or Hanoi for us. We caught a couple of Cyclos back to the hotel. I felt very sorry for the guy carrying me :-)

The next day spent very much like the first, walking around defying all western road rules taking in the sites of Hanoi. After much trouble that I won't go into we managed to book a trip up to Sapa. Sapa is in the very north of Vietnam bordering with China. It is (from what we can understand) a hill village where the surrounding villages come to sell handicrafts in the local markets. I can't wait to get there as it is in the mountains and the village is meant to be above the clouds...very very cool!!!!

That night we went out of the old quarter to the circus.....yes again Wendy, Carly was singing her songs :-) The circus was really good. We had people bending over backwards, people flying through the air, other people were bouncing on their bums on the tight rope plus heaps heaps more. The second half of the show brought out the animals...this we did not like as much. The animals were entertaining but we prefer to see Zoos where they would have a better life. The whole way through the show Carly had a big grin on her face and could not stop clapping...I have now dubbed her Clappy :-)

Well it is now the third day in Hanoi and time to move on. We are catching the overnight train up to Sapa at 10pm our time. I don't know if they have internet up there (I'm sure they do) but will update this site when we get back including photos. I have tried to update this site at some internet cafes here but it seems to be blocked at a lot of places...so please keep checking.

Bangkok

Well back in Bangkok for a few nights before we head off to Vietnam. They were quite low key.......but I do have to say that we found the best shopping mall in Bangkok. It's called Pantip (Panteep) and it's 8 floors of just electronics :-)

We were wanting to purchase a new camera so I asked our friendly gay guy at the front desk of the hotel, his name is Pong (Like the smell). He told us to check out Pantip and the World Trade Centre (Duty Free). Well we walked into Pantip and it blew my mind away....anything and everything to do with electronics and not a clothing store in sight!!!! Shane and Matt you both have to go!!!!

Within 5mins of walking Carly said she was going to wait for me outside. As I explained this is a purchase we both have to make to which she replied (rolling her eyes) "OK"...he he he That gives me more time to look around. Laptops, Desktops, PC parts, discs, storage cards, games, DVD's, cameras, things that had flashy lights coming out of them (don't know what they did but they must be cool)....this was Choice!

4 Hours later we had purchased the Camera with a 1G card, tripod and carry case thrown in for our trouble. Carly by this time was ready for a drink....I don't blame her either as we had only really looked around half the mall.

Back at the Guest house we ran into Ben (Linda's Boyfriend). Linda we meet last time we were in Thailand and both Linda and Ben stayed with us for a couple of nights while they traveled NZ.

That night we took Ben to the Petrol Station for a couple of lazy Changs. Much to our amusement Ben discovered that the pumps were not locked up so we took a photo of Ben holding the petrol pump in one hand while in the other he held a candle......to be frowned on I'm sure but after a couple (or a few) we were indestructible!!! Come closing time we were off back to the guesthouse, stopping for Pad Thai and BBQ chicken on the way home (We love eating off the street).

Much to our enjoyment we did not wake up with a hang over....get it in :-) That night we meet back up with Tom and Lud and were going out for dinner. Tom had a surprise for us out where he lives (over the river). We went to this Thai Pop evening where you have these Thai singers that dress up to the nines and sing Thai songs (some very rude we are told) while you sit eat and drink. It's bit hard to explain but basically some of these songs were outlawed as they were to rude so you have a heap of Thai people turn up and dance (much like a disco) and give the singers money. It was a very funny evening and you could tell that the audience had there fav singers as they were given these things that they wore around their necks that was filled with hundreds of Baht. We all got up and had a dance but I felt like the freak that everyone has to look at being they were all around my chin height (except Tom and this one other western dude).

Back to the guesthouse by 11pm as we fly to Vietnam tomorrow! (Photos to come)

Bangkok to Ayuthaya

It was another long trip back to Bangkok from the islands but got a lot more sleep on this trip and the train was not delayed.
Carly woke me up one morning sing the Zoo Song, you know......"We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo! How about you, you, you?..." so I had a good idea of what we were going to be doing!!!! The Zoo was very good and enjoyed walking around in the middle of this huge city feeling like we were in the wop wops!
The snakes were the best part and it had just been feeding time. One of the enclosures still had 2 mice running around. The snakes in there could not have been that hungry cos I sat there waiting for them to be eaten for about 15mins before Carly dragged me of f...to see silly fish!!!!

The next day we made our way to the city of Ayuthaya. Ayuthaya was the capital of Thailand until 1767 when the Burmese invaded and made it Bangkok. It only took 2 hours to get up here and cost us less than $4NZD for our tickets.

Today we hired a tuk tuk to take us around the old runes that are everywhere here. Come 2pm the sun just seemed to be getting hotter and hotter so we called a retreat back to the safe A/C of our room to watch fashion Channel.

We will be heading back to Bangkok tomorrow to check out prices of digital cameras. Ours is now 3 years old and done some miles.