This is what memories are made of

Nearly finished!

cookie — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 01:08:00 GMT

Well I suppose this will be my final Nomad entry as we leave tomorrow night for our long flight home...As keeping with the tradition I thought I'd finish as I started...tipsy :) Coby and I just had a true tourist of Bangkok cocktail...a bucket cocktail...basically it's a cocktail in a bucket..we chose a Pina Colada. Delicious...then we played free pool against a handsome Thai guy...I had a White Russian (cocktail) and now Cobes is watching the end of Die Hard 4 at our guesthouse. We got a nice and clean and cheap guesthouse to finish off our trip. Tomorrow we're going to Dream World and then off to our favourite place where we've been 3 times already....Bangkok airport. It's huge. You could think you are anywhere in the world...except everyone speaks Thai :)

Reflecting on this trip I would have to say I have learnt so much about: life, myself, people, True Community Development, God, Love, friends and more I'm sure. My most enjoyable times are remembering the people I have met and the times we've shared. I've so loved learning about differnet cultures, food, individual people and their stories. It's all so very interesting.

I don't think that I've been bitten by the travel bug...at the moment...but I so value the experiences that I have been blessed with. Each country had it's own unique beauty and sadness. Oh and the Nepal Deep bit of my trip would have to have been the biggest eye opener to poverty and the fact that there are wonderful people in the world who just want to make a difference and make their community a more loveily place to live.

All in all I'd have to say that this trip has most definitely been worth it...and worth the amount that I have drastically gone over my budget for....but I am also ready to come home and share some of this all with you. Tell me when you get sick of my stories otherwise I might just chew your ear off though.

Well until my next adventure.....bye bye. xxoo

Toilets

cookie — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 13:32:00 GMT

Through my travels I have seen many toilets and I would like to note some of my thoughts. These are my observations...

The world is made up of many people, many adventures and many Toilets:

They come in many different forms...

Natural (in the forest, behind some trees with shephards, cows and goats near by)

Concrete holes in the floor in the corner of a small smelly room.

Overflowing, clocked ceramic squat toilets with teh most fowlest smell imaginable

Flushing squat toilets

Squat toilets with buckets of water for flushing

Some with water for washign (this is the reason for only using the right hand for giving and receiving)

Nearly always a bucket nearby for used toilet paper...YUCK!

Squats in a wooden planked outhouse, near the kitchen (always near the kitchen!) with one plank missing...in the most undesirable place

Cold squats...so much so that your pee steams!

Western toilets with no seats

Western toilets with shoe marks on the seat (someone who expected a squat toilet i suppose?!)

Western toilets with a squirter and no toilet paper... be careful they can be dangerous!

Toilets in with the showers...with no dividers...always wet!

Take note....

Hike up pants before entering a squatter, don't forget paper (plastic bags are not a good substitute!), always carry antiseptic hand whipes...

It's always a lovely surprise to discover a white clean western toilet....but it does lack a certain amount of adventure doesn't it. :)

more trekking

cookie — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 22:07:00 GMT

okay I'll try to write but it may fail before I finish! Ummm okay so we got down Poon HIll and then had to head off again. Soon after we began we encountered the snow...this time it was everywhere....it was like a winter wonderland. I enjoyed the crunch as we made our way through the valleys and mountains but soon discovered that my feet apparel as just not suited to snow. I slipped and slidded everywhere. Actually it got quite scary for a while. I didn't know if I could make it....Nema had to hold me up some of the way...at one time I just slid down the hill on my feet like I was skiing! Nealry fell off the side of the cliff but thank God I did not. So exciting but scary.... ANyway it was an awesome but scary day. DAY FOUR Thank goodness it was much less adventurous and no snow. I woke and looked out my window in the morning and saw this beautiful sunrise over the Himalayas with pinks and yellow and blue...truely amazing! The snow topped mountains shon with a golden halo. IT was a fairly easy day which was lovely, as yesterday pretty much did us in! DAY FIVE (TODAY) we took it easy today and just enjoyed GOd's creation. Walked through forestry and saw amazing waterfalls. Back in Pokhara and the power is only holding on by7 a generater and will stop soon so I'd better go! I loved trekking and feel inspired by the utter bueaty that is in the world.

trekking

cookie — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 21:46:00 GMT

So we just finished our 5 day trek in the Himalayas. We got back and I had a beautiful woman, now feeling like a woman again, instead of a stinky bushman. So basically it was an awesome adventure...straining on the body but feel like I've shed some of my massive amounts of holiday blubber. The first day was tiring but fairly easy. Just a few steps here and there but mostly just enjoying the beauty of God's creation. Just as we finished on the first day it started to rain...fantastic and really glad I invested in a poncho...Coby was sad she didn't! Nema (our guide) pointed out snow on some peeks but said we wouldn't be making it there...false hope! But awesome view. So we ended up having an early night and snuggling into bed by 8.30pm due to pure exhaustion and not wanting to stay in the cold any longer. DAY TWO We left our guesthouse early, at like 8.30am, and headed out all rugged up with scarves and beanies...as it was about 0 degrees! We were told by others that the second day is the hardest but man was it hard. The steps just kept going up and up and up. THere were some rain foresty places and with some waterfalls to enjoy but mostly we just concentrated on not dieing! After a lovely little lunch we got going with some renewed vigor and came upon some snow! It was just icey yucky stuff at the beginning but then started to develop into soft snow on the side of the path. Coby and I had a ball jumping around and throwing snow balls at everyone. Everyone else in the group lives in either Melbourne or Sydney and were nto too excited by the white stuff like CObes and I! After more and more steps we finally made it to Ghorepani and enjoyed relaxing in front of the fire, had a warm shower and fell into bed. DAY THREE It was really really early today. We had to get up at 5am so that we could climb Poon Hill and enjoy the sunrise. Poon Hill is 3200m high! We were packing it in half way...breathing so heavy due to the pure freezingness of the air and the fact that it was pitch black and we could only see 5cm in front of us. But we struggled on...I slipped on the icey steps now and again (my shoes had no grip at all!)but we made it to the top. IT was soooo cold. Waiting for the sun to come was torture but when it did it was truely amazing! We took so many photo's of snow topped mountains! ohh dear the power is about to go out! I'll finish here and write more soon.

TEAR

cookie — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 22:19:00 GMT

So we're about to head off on our trekking experience for 5 days which will be great fun but we're so unfit that I'm sure it'll be a challenge! I've heaps of stories but feel like sharing one in particular with you at the moment. We were in Nepalgunj a few days ago (on the Indian border)and visitted some projects running there through International Nepal Fellowship (INF). Amongst othere things we had to wait for a ferry boat for 4 hours whih then carried our vehicle across...quite scary on a rickety boat. It was a fantastic day though...saw a lot of poverty in villages and heard many stories of malaria and TB killing so many! extremely sad!

SOmething that really got to my heart was when we visited the Drug Awareness and Rehabilition Centre. It was fantastic to hear about the service works, testimonies from ex-drug users and those participating in the program at the moment. It's so marverlous that while it is a Christian organisation the Hindu community are very much using the service and are extremely grateful. We hung out with the boys, played table tennis and by the end I just wanted to cry with all the emotions. THese kids have been through so much...and are coming out the otherside with a renewed hope for their futures and for their community!

We took a walk in the back streets of Nepalgunj and I was completely torn a part with teh amount of poverty, lack of hygiene and seeing the places where the drug users hang out. I'm just so very thankful that there are so many dedicated workers out in the streets doing real community development. IT's so good to see and soooo very encouraging. The workers are so passionate about their community's future and believe so strongly that they are making a differnece. and I could see it as we walked along and people respoected them, wanted to stop and chat.

So inspiring.

Anyway best be off. We're in Pokhara (tourist central, minus the tourists cos it's off peak season) and seeing a few bits and pieces tomorrow.

If you heard about the bomb blas in Kathmandu don't worry, we weren't there and it wasn't anywhere near where we'll be.

Take care and see ya soon.

Nepal

cookie — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 16:15:00 GMT

Hi guys. Wow it would seem that I haven't had a chance to write since I've been in Nepal. I'm alive and well....actually Coby and I both got a cold and I'm trying to get over a bit of a nasty cough but getting there. At least I didn't catch the stomach bug like some others on team.

So for those who don't know. We're now travelling with a group could TEAR Australia. It's an exposure trip which exposes us to the Nepali culture and we also visit community development organisations and see how they work and what they do. For example tomorrow we're visiting a partner organisation which has established a drug awareness and rehabilitation program. We'll meet the workers, talk about their experiences, ask questions and get to know how it all works. It's quite exciting!

We've visitted women's groups, health centres, advocacy groups and much more. My favourite thing we've done so far is visit a farmer's co-op. For those of you who know TEAR, think of those gift cards that you can buy a goat for someone. Well i got to see one of those goats! :) Our group of 14 separated into 3 groups and i chose to go to the farm. It's amazing to see what a community can do on so little. TEAR (through United Mission to Nepal (UMN) funded some training for a community group which resulted in education about HIV/AIDS, Goat rearing, organic vegetable farming, insuring animals and even building a school. It's had such an impact on so many people's lives....just because a group of people in the community saw that they could live better lives if they work together instead of as individuals. A united front!

We got to see the school (so many cute kids!), treck through the hills (as there is no access for cars) and visit homes, farms and see a bio-gas thingo! amazing...the bio-gas is where they burn all the poo and compost and then turn it into gas for their homes. Saves so much money and means they can boil their water to make it safer to drink!

We tasted sugar cane, which was washed in unclean water, so thank God that we didn't get sick. We saw bufferlo and got to hang out with amazing couragerous people. At the end we had to cross a huge river in a cable car...but was really just a wooden box on a cable, with a Nepali man pulling us along...kinda scary when we got stuck!

That night we hung out with the UMN team and sang songs, danced and ate lots of rice! Probably half of the workers were Christian (which is pretty normal for the NGO's) and we had such a great time talking and singing praises. Nepal has only recently changed from a Hindu country to a secular country. Christians used to be beaten, cut off from family and put in gaol. Now they are discriminated against (considered as the lowest caste) but it is not as dangerous. So many people become Christians here due to someone they know being healed. THere are so many amazing stories.

So i'm pretty much loving it hear and immersing myself in the culture. I went for a walk one morning in Dhading by myself (not far don't worry) and there were no other westerners...people just stared at me as I walked down the road eating my mandarine. :) Everywhere we go we are pretty much the only westerners. its such a nice change from the other countries we visitted.

This morning we went to a Nepali church (our sunday is their saturday) and couldn't understand a thing but it was great! We've been one other time where there was translation which was cool. They love "this is the day" song. So much fun! Oh and then this arvo we went to the Indian border (could cross cos the immigration people were mean!). We went by horse and cart.

Well i'm sure there is more I can tell but I'm running out of words, memories and time so i think I'll say goodbye.

Hopefully i'll have another chance before we leave Nepal to write again.

xxoo

Scooters, snorkeling and burnies

cookie — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 20:45:00 GMT

Our motorbike turned in to a scooter thank goodness, as the scooter was scary enough on dirt roads and crazy drivers. So much fun zipping about (without a helmet!) and finding little places to explore. We went to a couple of beaches and a few rock areas to go snorkeling in the morning. It was so lovely...the water was beautiful and chrystal clear blueness. We swam for a while and I went sun bathing while coby continued her exploration of the beach. I probably made my first mistake sun bathing... the next was snorkeling with no t-shirt or sunscreen for the first bit of our morning. I soon learnt my lesson as my back began to take on a light shade of red and by the end of the day was a hot scorching red. While Coby was more dilligent with the sunscreen, she was also a bit pink and feeling it the next day!

A part from the stupidity of getting burnt we had a ball. The fish around the rocks were amazing...all colours and shapes and sizes. I've never snorkelled before and I enjoyed it no end. So relaxing as well. I thought I'd be scared because it can get quite deep but because you can just float and breathe it's no worries.

Well we left Koh Tao at about 9am and then took a boat to the main land and then a bus to Phuket, getting in at 10pm! In the end we worked out that we took 3 boats and 3 buses in one day. Absolutely radiculous! So last night we arrived late in Phuket and grabbed an overpriced taxi to Patong beach where Nick (Coby's brother) and his friends are staying. We made it to their hotel and they weren't in and there wasn't any rooms left for the night. So we left a note and looked for a place to stay...everything was FULLLLLLL! We didnt' expect to not find accommodation and was starting to get worried by 11pm and still not finding a place. Finally we found somewhere for $45 which is totally overpriced for what it is! Especially as you have to pay for the internet. Arrg..we're not used to paying lots for stuff but it seems Thailand is a bit more expensive than Vietnam and Cambodia.

Anyway we booked in our room and tried calling Nick but couldn't get the phone to work so went for a walk to check out the beach. I sat down on a bench at the beach and Coby went to see what the water was like and then I heard something that sounded like Nick's laugh. And would you believe there they were across the road! It wasn't even that close to their hotel either. Don't know how that happened but it was great...we hung out with them the rest of the night and enjoyed their pool at their hotel! :)

Now its sunday morning and we're meeting up with them again for a day at the beach. And I WILL be wearing sunscreen!

Thailand

cookie — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 18:28:00 GMT

So the day after Christmas (boxing day) we got up early to catch our bus, but whe we arrived, we were told there was a mistake and we couldn't arrive that night to Koh Tao as there was a problem with the boat....soooo we decided on a different route and in the end landed on a island near Koh Tao, Koh Phan Ngan. We thought we could get a boat out of Koh Phan Ngan that night, however we couldn't...sooo we stayed the night on this new island not in our itinerary (which meant taht we paid for our night in Ko Phan Ngan and for our booked accommodation at Koh Tao) ARGGGG. We were lost in the Thailand islands!!!!!!!!

Finally this morning we arrive at Koh Tao after being ripped off by thr tour group in Phuket but well worth it now we're here. It's so beautiful. THe water is so blue and you can see the shells and coral. We went for a swim this morning (after doing a little laundry) and then a hike into town. I nearly died....well sort of. I nearly trod on a snake! I'm sure it was poisonous and would have killed me in an instant! :)

So finally we are on our beautiful island with the beautiful people and beautiful scenary...and loving it. We just ate a banana and chocolate pancake that was totally awesome! absolutely delicious.

Tomorrow we may hire a motorbike and look around the island. Should be fun. Only like $5 for the day. Not bad!

Christmas and Beyond

cookie — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 18:11:00 GMT

Firstly the Angkor Wat was historically beautiful but not truely "awesome" in our eyes. The sunrise was lovely coming over the main temple, as was hanging out with Fredrick from France...our fake tour guide for the day.

We left Cambodia on the day before Christmas and spent Christmas eve in Bangkok. Off to Phuket on Christmas day at midday. The whole day was strange...it started with Coby jumping on my bed and freaking me out at like 7am and continued on in a crazy manner. We got to the airport okay, checked in our bags and went to have a nibble of food. In between this time somehow I lost my ticket and freaked out!! I was runnin garound trying to find it...Coby, sensibley, went to ask if I could have another and of course I could and everything was fine. We headed to our gate 3a only to discover we were going to be 30 minutes late as the plane was delayed for some reason. Finally we got onto our plane, and due to our laziness we waited for everyone else to board and then got on only to find that there were no assigned seats so we got the leftovers at the back in front of a screaming child...good times. The flight was quick and the landing traumatic for the poor baby behind us...and everyone else on the flight due to the screaching! Off the plane finally and went to grab our bags...but something was amiss. My bag had been broken into. My lock was broken and someone had riffled through my belonging. Nothing was taken thankgoodness but i had to go report it which took time. I was so pissed off!

We were planning on getting a bus at Phuket to Surathani (a town where the boats leave from) but we got to the bus station at 5pm, only to discover the buses finished at 4pm. OH my goodness so annoyed! We booked for the next day to take a bus then boat to arrive on our island Koh Tao by 8pm. |So we booked into a hotel, had our Christmas dinner at the Irish pub down the street with live music and a free turkey, sanwhiches and fruit YUM! Back to the hotel early 9PM settled in for a movie "Once", which was quite lovely. All in all our CHristmas day was definitely like none other we've experienced!

Cambodia

cookie — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 13:54:00 GMT

After a hazardous start to our decent from Hanoi to Phonm Penh...actually we nearly missed our flight as we got our days mixed up, thinking the flight was tuesday but it was monday! We had organised to have dinner with a friend on the monday night and couldn't get in contact with him so hopefully he's still not waiting at the city gate in Ho Chi Minh. We felt so bad!!

We jumped off the plane in Ho Chi Minh and then grabbed a taxi to our bus. Our bus was leaving (we were late by 30mins as we were told the wrong time!) We were freakin out! A motorbike driver took coby and came back for me to find the bus. I was quite scared sitting waiting for the motorbike driver to return for me!!

Finally we arrived in phonm Penh and thankgoodness Bryan came and picked us up in a toktok otherwise we wouldvé been toltally lost! Bryan had organised a place for us to stay (that did your laundry for free!) and then we went out to dinner. We had fish Amok. YUM! best dish yet!

We hung out with Bryan and Lisa, got to see their home and team centre and also some projects they've been a part of. it was great to see an aspect of their lives and community. We had dinner together on tuesday night and had a real time of refreshment! then got in touch with Brent and Di Wilsmore and had lunch with them on Wednesday (in our lovely smelling clothes!) and they invited us to stay at their home! YAY. They're such a lovely family. Its been nice to sleep in separate rooms and have some space ready for Thailand.

We're meeting up with a new friend (Racheal) from "servants" who is doing a 5 week internship. So she's gonig to show us where she is living in the slums with a family and where Carly lived. It'll be an eye opener for sure!

Well we're off tomorrow to siem reap and then Thailand on the 24th december. Hope you all have a very lovely Christmas.

Ha Long Bay

cookie — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 19:41:00 GMT

Well we just arrived back from Ha Long Bay this afternoon. There was a bit of a mess around with our hotel but we are now safe and sound. We had so much fun at Ha Long Bay. We met some really nice people and are actually going to go have ice cream with them tongiht.

OUr first day started off the same as others...drive around in a bus until everyone is collected. We met some really nice couples from Melbourne and England (really funny england young couple). We drove for about 3 hours until we got to the boat and then floated away amongst scattered islands. So relaxing.

The whole trip was cloudy and foggy but it didn't take away the beauty of God's creation. We had an awesome lunch of seafood and vegies and of course rice! Yum! After lunch we went kyaking. We had to negotiate around the islands and big ships. I was so scared we'd get squashed. It felt amazing to be a little pea in a big ocean. The rest of the day consisted of floating, talking, eating and resting...and reading. :)

In the evening we hung out with our melbourne friends and taught them Danish Bastards. That night we stayed on the boat for the night. So lovely just rocking back and forth. There were masses of other tourists on other boats which was annoying during the day but looked so romantic at nigh with teh reflection on the water.

Many people left the next morning to go back to Hanoi but some of us stayed on for the next two days. This meant that the group got significantly smaller (Peter & Chantel from Holland, Peter from America and Linda from South Africa) All older and really great people. We went for an amazing hike on Catba Island, up a huge mountain and got up a huge sweat! Such an amazing sight at the top. I think it was 225m high mountain. Just incrediable.

The afternoon we travelled to the town of Catba, where we were met with a huge group of teenage vietnamese students on camp. There were masses of teenagers squeelling and firing off fireworks until late at night and then early in the morning. We vistied monkey island (as did many other tourists, which was dissapointing) saw some cute monkeys and some angry monkeys. One attacked poor Peter! haha. The beach was lovely and it was quite funny watching the kids get too clse to the monkeys and then screaming, run away when the monkeys got grumpy!

Our little group, and guide Ha, enjoyed hanging out over dinner and then Coby and I went with our new friend (Fred) for drinks. We scored 2 cocktails! YAY for us. He was such a nice guy, once again older (44yrs) but such good quality. So much more interesting than other tourists our age who quite freely talk about drugs and getting smashed! Fred went to bed at 10pm and Coby and I found some new friends from Switzerland to go Karokaying with. So funny...they were hallarious. We sang a song we didn't know and "hit me baby one more time"! hahaha We only lasted until 11pm and then headed home to bed!

This morning we woke early with the kids fireworks (5am). I struggled to sleep after and just waited to get up (now I'm freaking sleepy). We got the boat back to Ha Long bay and then the bus too home. We said goodbye to our friends and the beautiful country side and now back in the not so fun city.

I think I mostly enjoyed the hike in the forest and the floating on the boat enjoying God's creation. There were many house boat communities (with dogs everywhere!) so strange to see floatign houses...not boats really..floating houses.

Well we'd better go as we're meeting Peter and Chantel for yummy icecream! Love to you all from a content Amy.

Hanoi

cookie — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 14:45:00 GMT

Well we put aside our pride and spent an extra $7 on a sleeper bus last night for our 14hr journey. There are these little beds (double story) and a little rug. Everything is small. More comfortable than the normal bus but was ready to be off by the end. We had not yet had a massage (which we've been promising our selves for a while now) so decided it was time. We hunted around and found a place around the corner. So beautiful. We've just visited and feel completely relaxed. Thank goodness it wasn't as violating as Coby's experience in India, however it was still slightly intimate! haha. We smell beautiful for the first time since we arrived!

We've booked in for a 3 day trip around Ha Long Bay (again thanks to Ai Hue and Alex for the suggestion). We'll Kayak, swim and sleep on the boat...not sure whta else..but it does look lovely.

My first perception of Hanoi is that it's really busy. It is the capital, however from what others have said (and due to the fact that not many planes come in and out of Hanoi) Ho Chi Minh (Saigon) is more like a capital city. It's more busy here but seems to lack the pizzaz...well maybe we haven't gone as far as the block so perhaps I'm judging too early.

Tonight we're going to a water puppet show on the lake which will be fantastic we're told.

Well my body is telling me to go lay down and enjoy feeling relaxed.

Party on Wayne, Party on Garth

cookie — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 09:15:00 GMT

Well you'll have to take my word for it that I just wrote an amazing entry. I went to save it and then it just left! argg so annoying. So I'll just fill you in quickly and probably not as nicely.

We looked around Hu'e yesterday and got a feel for the place. We bought some sweet potato and carrots and got to cook them in the kitchen here with the manager looking over our shoulder. An interesting experience. He couldn't believe we were just going to eat it plain. Thanks for the suggestion Ai Hue. Since we felt like we'd had dinner with our vegies we went out for dessert at a place called "little fish" owned by a Veitnamese guy from Australia. You oculd really tell the AUstralian influence. The only disconcerting thing was that it had a little fish bowl in the middle of the table and the fish looked dead! :(

We decided to go have a cocktail at the bar down the road DNZ, known for the draw of backpackers. I had a Manhatten and a Swimming Pool. Both very strange and I won't be getting them again. Oh well. A good experience. We played pool and chatted with people well into the night. We got talking to a guy, Joe, from Switzerland that Coby met on the bus. Really nice guy with a family back home...so we felt good having a good old yarn. There was a guy sitting by himself next to me so I got catting to him. His name was Damien, and English guy with a great accent. We talked about politics, sport, our countries, travelling and our drug and alcohol policies! So interesting. He bought me a drink (I choose water!) which was lovely. It was older, 35 maybe, and just wanted to chat. It's a lonely existance travelling. Especially for guys travelling alone, which there are many of. I think people are searching for something mroe in life but end up not sharing their experiences with anyone...hmmm something for me to ponder. Both Coby and I got to talk to Joe and Damien about our faith which was cool.

Coby and I both won a game of pool each and Coby even won a raffle (a pen, bottle opener and a rum and coke!) 4 out of the 5 winners were australian!! We decided to head home at 12.30am remembering that our hotel siad it was best not to stay out after 1am and we didn't even tell them we'd be out late! We started walking, thinking it was only down the street..we kept walking and walking and as you can imagine i was starting to freak out, remebering all the stuff in the lonely planet about walking in the dark as females! Thank God nothing happened (we prayed the whole way)! It was a scary experience and one we will learn from. When we got to the hotel the doors were locked but luckily the manager stayed up and was playing solitar on this very comupter in his pj's. Such a welcoming site for us to see! I don't think I've enjoyed seeing someone in the pj's so much!!

Well I'd better be off. We're going for a bike ride today, giving ourselves a tour of the tombs and bits and pieces here. Breakfast first I think...yum yum!

xxoo

A few things I forgot

cookie — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 17:35:00 GMT

HOw could I ever forget to tell you about your motorbike trip and our mud spa you ask? Well...I really don't know.

Firstly Dalat: On our last day in Dalat we had two funny older Vietnamese men take us out for a tour, on what they call "easy rider". One spoke a little english and the other only a warm smile on his face. So lovely. They took us up through the hills and we both felt really safe and comfortable...well we were by the end of our trip. At the start we were clutching their shoulders and Whong laughed at my cold hands! Next they asked if we were married and then we started to get slightly worried. But they were fine..just making conversation. It was so refreshing to drive up through the hills and enjoy the awesomeness of God's creation. So glorious! We visited a coffee bean farm (which was really just walking on to someone's property and telling us about how coffee comes to be in our cups) and then the rice wine makers. The best bit was going to the Elephant waterfall. We had to walk through the forest and over big rocks and finally came to the bottom where we were just sprayed with vapour. Magnificant. Risk assessments would probably stop soemthing like this in Australia...but here we pay 50c! There was a small shop at the waterfall (up the top, not at the bottom getting wet :) where the "minority community" sell their wares. From what I understand it's a community that looks after it's self. We were glad to buy a few bits and pieces.

Now my other exciting adventure...the mud spa! Yum yum. We got into Nha Trang at about 1pm and saw that there was a spring spa for like $5. We got to spend the afternoon soaking in mud (glorious mud, nothing quite like it for sothing the blood) then rinsing off with some Adelaidian crows supporters (we ditched them quick smart :) and then a high pressure shower that comes out horizontal from two sides. ticklish. Finally a 45minute soak in the mineral spring spa until we turned into prunes. Ever so relaxing.

What fun adventures can be, big and small.

Nha Trang...first sickness!

cookie — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 07:00:00 GMT

Well, where to start. There were no easily accessable computers in Nha Trang and so this is my first chance at documenting our happenings.

Firstly I have to mention this little story. We were getting our stuff together early in the morning to leave Da Lat and as per usual I was super organised and packed half an hour early and COby was finishing up ten minutes before we had to leave (somehow she always makes it!). Suddenly she says "i can't find my thongs or my new Da Lat t-shirt, someone has stolen them". She looked everywhere and couldn't find her missing stuff...and ended up deciding to tell the staff that someone was in our room (i kept saying I thought it was strange, as nothing of mine was stolen and her thongs were acutally pretty gross!) anyway. We got our stuff together and started heading out the door.....and there they were under my bag!! Coby is now adamant I stole her things!! haha. Quite funny indeed.

We then boarded our bus...moving to different seats, trying to find the best one and ended up with one that didn't go back...serves us right for hunting. We stopped for lunch between Dalat and Nah Trang. I got a pork dish...after three mouthfulls I started feeling funny...ran outside and dry reached. I felt aweful. Unfortunately I didn't acutally spew and beleive me I tried cos I wanted it out of my system. It was an aweful experience..especially then havintg to get on the bus and travel winding roads through the country. YUCK! I definitely wanted my mum. :( I'm slightly put off food for the past few days and am trying to go Vegetarian. Its working so far.

Oh I don't think I mentioned. All this travelling is us gonig from Ho Chi Minh city to Hanoi. Its called an open bus tour and you stop for as long as you want in a place and then get a bus to the next stop. Its a great way to see the country. We'll stay a few days in Hanoi and then fly back to Ho Chi Minh and then get a bus to Phnom Penh.

Luckily the bus trip to Phnom Penh is only 6 hours. THis last trip from Nah Trang to Hoi An was 12 hours! Oops I'm skipping ahead. Nah Trang: its a beach side town...a lovely place to get lost we found :). The energy is amazing. People getting up at 5am and places not closing until late 10pm. We went on a boat tour to the islands yesterday. It was really relaxing. THe snorkling wasn't that great we were told so we just swam. There was a time called "Happy Hour" on our boat, where the guides brought out their guitars, bass and makeshift drum kit and sang us songs and gave us mulberry wine. YUM! Don't worry I was sensible. It tasted great though. I think you (Haydn and Jon) should try it...maybe you already have.

So we spent the day in the sun, reading, swimming and enjoying ourselves. I think we both got slightly sun burnt even though we applied sunscreen to the enth degree. Oh well some more tan. We then hopped on our bus for Hoi An, which is where we are now. It was an overnight bus from 6.30pm to 6am. It was okay..dissapointed in not getting a sleeper bus but not annoyed enough to pay the extra $10. I'm not sure if we'll pay the extra for Hue to Ha Noi...as its longer again. It's raining here in Hoi An. It hasn't rained for us once yet. Its kind of refreshing.

Well I might go and join Coby in some slumber. xxoo

Long bus rides to Dalat, Vietnam

cookie — Fri, 7 Dec 2007 07:56:00 GMT

Well it's 7.45am in the morning and I woke about an hour ago with the hustling and bustling of the town centre. Dalat is a much smaller version for Ho Chi Minh city, however I liken it to myself in that it might be small but full of gumption! It's acutally a lot cleaner than the city to which is nice.

So the trip from Ho Chi Minh took longer than we thought, about 8 hours. It just kept on going! We only stopped 3 times, which meant my little bladder got a workout on the buppy roads...we had lunch at a little town and had a guy buy us a drink (one of our challenges for our travels)...luckily we did have any rules about what sort of drink...so tea it was :). It's great meeting people from everywhere...Australia, Ireland, America...Such rich and interesting stories about travelling and the journeys they have taken.

I like the lifestyle here. Go to bed early and wake early. Just right for me. We're looking to go on a tour today on the back of a scooter which should be an huge adventure in itself. Then we'll grab the bus tomorrow early and take a 5hr trip to the next town Na Trang I think. I hope to get used to the nomad wonderings of travelling...while its not my cup of tea (neither is the drinking tea really) its kind of exhilirating to not know what we'll do next!

Time to go wake Coby, have a shower over a toilet and get ready for the day ahead...it seems each day is so full and takes a lovely long time but yet these days are already flying by like the motorbikes racing down the congested roads beeping their horns!

Ho Chi Minh

cookie — Wed, 5 Dec 2007 22:03:00 GMT

Hello friends and family. Its our second day in Ho Chi Minh city. We're now in the more touristy part of town after spending last night in an expensive hotel. It had Christmas decorations out the front!!! Phoung's brother and father met us at the airport, after we encountered some scary looking custom workers. (and yes mum I had paper and many pens!! I take after you!) We found Son, Phoung's brother, who then showed us to a taxi and took us to our hotel "first hotel". It was indeed our first hotel in Ho Chi Minh! THe next morning (this morning) we woke at 6.30am and had breakfast (crosants, baked beans, fruit with black pips and funny yoghurt) we started our adventure in style. Son left a message and said he wouldn't take us to the church/orphanage afterall because it wasn't open in the afternoon. So we travelled off to District one, got charged too much for a mean taxi driver and then charged too much by a cyclo bicycle rider who threatened to keep my bag!!!!!

We finally found somewhere to have lunch and then, thank goodness (mostly God) Coby saw an information place where a really nice guy told us about a place to stay and a tour group. GREAT! I am now sitting at An An Hotel at the free internet. Coby has gone us stairs, slightly drunk as we've found the cocktails are cheap, very alcoholic and fun to drink! :) We've already bought to many things at the market and have been ripped off many times. It's hard seeing the child beggars and I can't help but think i am in a strange world that seems so normal and yet so strange and sad. Many people are amazing, espeically the scooter, motorbike and car drivers. So crazy and we've not yet seen an accident. Coby and I have already crossed many streets filled with traffic. Scary. Surprisingly its not too scary as i think its because not many people are going over 40km an hour. Still a little unerving though :)

Well this day had gone both quickly and slow. We've met some lovely VIetnamese people and soem lovely westerners (also some not so lovely from both) and feel like bed is the way to go.

Oh the plane trip was ok. Long...movies (holiday and a comedy that wasn't so good). Took over 8 hrs to get to Ho Chi Minh. I did stretches. Met peopel here who recognised us from the flight. haha funny. so cool in the crazy country.

Ready to drink some more water and fall in a heap on my bed.

Last night coby laughed in her sleep...freaked me out!!! haha.

Night night. Talk later. feeling slightly tipsy...dont' worry we're safe and sound.

oh...we're heading off tomorrow for your trek up to Hanoi. Have to be up by 7.30am!! good times. good times.