I know what you are all thinking.....how was the bus ride??? Well it was a big greyhound bus with at max, 6 people on board, so was actually very comfortable. We slept quite alot which helped pass the time. The scenery was actually very dull as its just dry outback. Still, we arrive in Broome at 5pm on Tuesday and check into our lovely YHA which has a tropical setting with a nice pool.
Wednesday we hire bikes to cycle to Cable beach. It is 22km of white sand. Absolutely beautiful, however when we arrive we see a crowd of people by the water. As we get nearer, we also see something lurking out in the water...yes, a crocodile has been hanging around for a few days and they are trying to catch him. So no swimming, which when its 35 degrees is pretty tough. We do a quick cycle tour of Broome in the afternoon and arrive back at the hostel early evening. Broome is a town dominated by mining and tourism but seems nice enough.
The next day is spent by the pool in the hostel reading more of Mr Blair and jumping in the pool every 20 minutes to cool down. In the afternoon its back to cable beach...still no swimming but this time we do a sunset ride on the camels. It is fantastic, very relaxing and a great way to see the amazing sunset. A quick dinner in town, then we go to the oldest outdoor picture garden in the world to see eat, pray love. Gorgeous cinema, not backed up by the quality of the film.
Friday morning we fly up to Darwin, and after circling a few times to miss the thunderstorm over the airport we land in hot humid conditions (normal for Darwin). We find our accommodation then walk through the park to the waterfront and find the wave pool...what fun and a nice way to cool down. Darwin is a lovely setting, but main problems I can see are- its always hot and humid, there are crocodiles and box jellyfish in the water so no swimming in the sea.
Saturday we do a mammoth walk in the heat to the war museum. Very interesting as Darwin was an important military base in WWII but was bombed heavily by the Japanese. We explore more of the city in the afternoon and then head back to the airport.
Back to the “land up over” as we cross the equator to Vietnam and Madame Cuc’s hotel. She has kindly laid on a private driver to avoid us being taken to the wrong hotel and overcharged which is apparently a problem in Vietnam. A very different experience now awaits us.....
We arrive in Ho Chi Min City (Saigon) at 10pm and head out into the throng of people to meet our driver...except there is no one there for us. After a while we brave our own taxi into town and get to Mada Cuc’s. Some delightful ladies meet us there and explain there was a mix up in our booking. Anyway, we have a lovely double room for the next 2 nights.
We spend the day walking, the best way to see the city. First challenge is to navigate the motorbikes on the road. Its like something else with thousands of them all charging at you, but you walk slowly out in front of them and they move around you. By the end of the day, and no accidents, we are experts. We see the reunification palace that was stormed when Vietnam became one independent state. We also wander through some markets, seeing live frogs being killed and fish waiting to be boiled for eating. We also experience some local food. The rice porridge with pickled eggs is one I will not get again. Early bed as we move onto Hanoi tomorrow and straight onto Halong Bay.
A day of travelling on Monday (have lost track of days), but what an interesting one. We fly to Hanoi, get a taxi to the bus station, then a bus-boat-bus ticket that takes us direct to Cat Ba Island, the only inhabited island in Halong Bay. We arrive at Cat Ba town at about 4pm expecting to find our accommodation easily. To cut a long story short we end up having a little man take us on his wooden boat for 45 minutes across the most amazing scenery I have ever seen, then a moped ride for 5 minutes to arrive at our bungalow accommodation for the next 3 nights. It is gorgeous and real rural Vietnam. Its great fun watching them pile our massive bags onto one moped.
We spend Tuesday treking around the local area. We see it all in the light and it is so spectacular. Dramatic valleys and limestone cliffs, and amazing views over the water and islands from up top. Lunch and dinner are shared with the other people in the bungalows. A Vietnamese feast. Although it is so beautiful and relaxing, we decide we will head back to civilisation tomorrow, or at least Cat Ba town so we can do some Kayaking.
After some confusing conversations – they speak no English so we rely on tour guides who bring other groups there to translate – we get back on the mopeds, and sure enough, the same little old man is there to take us back on his boat. We get into Cat Ba town and quickly get a nice harbour view room for the massive price of 7 pounds. Then do a kayak trip in the afternoon along with some swimming on Monkey Island (which does have monkeys).
Thursday is time to leave the stunning island and head back to Hanoi, arriving at lunch time to hoards of taxi drivers pointing at you as you get off the bus. We make one of their weeks by agreeing to a very pricey meter ride (only 5 pounds but expensive in Vietnam terms). Having given up on lonely planet, we find another cheap but smart hotel for 8 pounds. We spend the day walking round Hanoi which is beautiful with its French architecture. We see the Ho Chi Min grave which is mightily impressive. By the evening we are exhausted by the pace of life in Hanoi and constantly being hassled to buy things. A cheap dinner on the street and beer are well deserved.
Friday we are on the move again, flying down from Hanoi to KL, then a bus on to Melaka. The bus is super posh with our own seats that pretty much recline into beds. We arrive early evening into Melaka and check into Emily’s guest house. It is very special (well done lonely planet), with jungle showers and is run by two brothers who just seem to sit, smoke and relax all day. We head into the night market which is a huge surprise (in a very good way with loads of atmosphere) and have a lovely laksa soup dinner for a measly two pounds - bargain. Melaka is a world heritage city and the architecture shows why. Its a bit like the venice of the east. The food is pretty good too.
Only 2 weeks to go now which includes KL, Borneo and Singapore.
