Travelling light(ish) - Ho Chi Minh City to Kuala Lumpur and a bit inbetween

Over and Out

jennye23 — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 05:58:00 GMT

Back in the UK now after 2 flights accompanied by lots of films and some very good inflight meals (Indian airlines are definitely the way to travel for tasty plane food!) Nice to be home and reunited with a good mug of tea but it was an amazing trip and thank you to everyone for following the blog! x

Surfs Up

jennye23 — Thu, 5 Aug 2010 10:25:00 GMT

Atlast back in the presence of a good internet connection I can write about the last couple of weeks without fear that after it's all written it won't just disappear into an error message . . .

So after Ubud we arrived on the Gili Islands off of Lombok in more style than used to on this trip - by a speed boat with actual glass windows, cushioned seats and complimentary lunch boxes, very nice! The island we were staying on (Gili Trawangan) was really beautiful, spent a couple of days relaxing on the beach and then headed over to Lombok by a more normal boat, although spent more time in the air than on the boat with the choppy water, luckily it was only 20 minutes.

Lombok was very nice, completely different from Bali as hardly any tourists there. A lot less built up so every drive we went on we were traveling through really lush forest and little villages. The first drive was to a place called Sengiggi that was supposed to have a nice beach. Beach was nice but place a little strange felt a bit like a seaside town out of season, but the lack of people wasn't such a good thing as everyone there was desperate to sell something - from Sarongs to transport and it was such a small place that they made it there business to know exactly what you were doing at all times. Couldn't walk down the street without ten people saying 'where are you going?' (always find this funny as in England that would seem rude and a little stalkerish but they do it everywhere in Asia!). Other times they would inform you where you had just been and when me and Jess ventured out seperately it caused widespread concern 'where's your friend?' 'are you looking for your friend?' 'your friends over there'.

So a nice place for a couple of days but we were happy to leave when we did. Went to the next place via a scenic drive, went to a tiny little Hindu sea temple on the rocks which was very sweet and then into central Lombok to see rice paddies and a waterfall. The waterfall was full of local people not a tourist in sight which was nice. We managed to persuade them that we didn't need a guide to lead us along the 5 minute paved and sign posted path and walked down to look at, began to feel like we were the tourist attraction when we got there, don't know if have ever been stared at so much, when we drove away people were actually peering through the windows into the car. And if we thought this was going to get better when we arrived in Mataram - the capital of Lombok - we were very wrong. Not a tourist in sight (except for a few sheltering in the shopping mall)and quite a strange place. The Lonely Planet described it as charming, with wide tree lined streets, but didn't mention it was pretty much just one tree lined street and that along with the trees there were lots of very ugly buildings. It was good to go somewhere un-touristy though and the crazy shopping mall was an experience in itself - big fluffy elephants for children to travel round on, kareoke cafes everywhere (definitely think we should have these in England)and a live band shouting out rock songs only recongnisable if you happened to catch one of the lyrics.

But one night was enough there so left the next morning for Kuta Lombok, a beach down in the south. Really lovely there, very laid back and a bit of a surfers paradise. Unfortunately one on a bit of time limit as there are big resort adverts and billboards advertising land for sale everywhere but for now its lots of little bamboo shacks on the beach and bungalow guesthouses. One day we decided to walk to really nice sounding restaurant for lunch. Only two km away so sounded easy but we didn't put two and two together and think that perhaps somewhere that's described as having amazing cliff views might be a little bit high up. One hour later we staggered in, looking like exhausted wrecks to find that we had walked into land of peace and tranquility - everyone (who had all passed us on there motorbikes about half an hour earlier) was reclining and sipping milkshakes to the sound of hippy music and they all seemed to find our dramatic entrance very amusing. The food and view was worth it though.

The day after that we had a surf lesson which was great. Had to go out in a boat to the surf break which was in the middle of a bay and join lots of other learnings paddling towards the waves and trying to catch them. Given the effort it took to do this we weren't so keen on the idea of falling off by attempting to stand up as soon as we had caught a wave so had much more fun just speeding along on our stomachs and then paddling back again. Apparently this didn't impress the instructor so much (or atleast Jess's one as she had ended up with a slave driver who just sat on his board shouting 'go back! go back! Why do you go so far out! Why don't you stand up??', whereas mine was very sweet and just pushed my board along for me while I did some token paddling)but we felt that we were simply going along with the chilled out surfer dude logic and so it was completely justifiable.

After a few days there we went back to the Gili islands, had some more beach time and went snorkelling. Saw some very cool fish, a whole school of Dory fish (know this isn't the official term but get most of my fish knowledge from 'Finding Nemo')some crazy electric blue ones and at one point a turtle who was plodding along the sea floor.

Headed back to mainland Bali via very rough sea crossing and spent the last couple of nights there in Sanur where we started. Visited another sea temple called Ulu Watu which was on amazing stretch of coastline although populated with the monkeys I have come to really dislike - it wasn't reassuring when we were offered a guide to 'protect us from the monkeys'.

Now in Bangkok for our last couple of days. Flying home tomorrow and can't quite believe it!

Dawn Climbing

jennye23 — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 11:32:00 GMT

Now writing from Bali where we arrived about a week ago. Headed straight for the beach going over to an Island called Nusa Lembongan. Really loved it there as it was like the Bali I imagined but thought probably didn't exist anymore. Had hindu temples and shrines everywhere, peaceful villages, lots of little farms and gorgeous beaches. The beach we were staying on was made better by the fact it hadn't been taken over by resorts there were just quiet little bungalows and most of the beach life consisted of the locals who did seaweed farming their paying no attention to the tourists there. You could sit on the beach at low tide and watch them carrying the big baskets on their heads of the seaweed they harvested from segemented off squares in the sea only visible when the tide was out.

Also saw one of their religious ceremonies which involved most of the village crowding the streets and shouting, cheering and throwing water as 3 elaborately decorated floats made their way down the street changing direction and coming back the way they came whenever they decided to. They were accompanied by a whole band playing brass gongs and drums and it was complete chaos but the good kind. The whole of Bali is very religous and we are always seeing people wearing their ceremonial clothes, overhearing cermonies or finding offerings outside of our guesthouse rooms.

After Lembongan headed to Ubud, supposedly city of spiritual enlightenment and inner peace etc. Have seen lots of hippies wandering the streets in enlightened trances and their are health cafes and spas everywhere, microbiotic pasta anyone? Still lots of more earthly things to do here though. One morning (or perhaps night time?) we got up at 2.30 am to climb a volcano called Mount Batur for sunrise. This involved trekking for about an hour and a half in the pitch black up the volcano lighting our way with torches. It was really misty as well to add to the mystical effect but as soon as the path got steeper I was too busy looking at my feet to take much notice of this. Once we were there it was worth the climb with huge clouds rolling ahead of us sometimes completely covering the view and bringing with them a heavy layer of mist and other times moving away to show the pink sunrise sky and the view of the lake and village down below. We only glimpsed the actual sun rising a couple of times but was still very beautiful. Once it had risen and we had eaten our breakfast of fruit and banana toasties (I'd also carried up eggs which I was very relieved to find out only when we were at the top weren't soft boiled and therefore a recipe for disaster in my care) we walked up to one of the craters normally a dramatic view but completely obscured by mist. This lack of a view was made up for once we were halfway down and could look down on the lake at the bottom and the mountains on the opposite side. Had a stop at a coffee plantation on the way back for a much needed caffine fix although declined trying a cup of their 'special' coffee - made from beans which are fed to weasel like animals and then collected from their droppings.

Off to the Gilli Islands today, have opted for speedboat option after taking public boat over to Nusa Lembongan for 2 hours of rolling up and down in the waves, getting drenched with water and fighting seasickness along with every other passenger - when the locals are actually crying you know it can't be good!

Bike Ride in Melaka

jennye23 — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 11:14:00 GMT

Spent our last few Malaysian days in Melaka, spending most of the time being entertained by Howard our hyperactive hostel owner who saw it as his responsibility that his guests were occupied at all times. On our first night this involved taking us on a bike tour around Melaka. He mumbled something about a procession but only when we got into the centre of the town to see closed off streets, police everywhere and crowds of people did we realise what he meant.

To celebrate the anniversary of Melaka being made a world heritage site all the important officials and governors of melaka were going on a ceremonial bikeride through the streets. After talking to some of his police friends Howard informed us it was fine for us to ride along at the back as long as we let all the important people go first. So after watching all the ministers wobbling off in their formal costumes and then hearing a "go go go!" from Howard we set off in their wake following at a very slow speed as they made stops at temples and Chinese opera shows along the way. They seemed quite happy to have 3 tourists in their midsts and at one point Melaka's Minister of Tourism was looking after my bike while I went to one of the Temples.

To make things more surreal our journey was accompanied by newspaper reporters jumping in our paths and snapping us with their cameras, and the police escort for the parade which we kept getting caught in the middle of. And while all this was going on Howard was happily riding along on his 1969 Chopper Bicycle (like the one in E.T. with low handle bars, a chair like seat and horns) complete with flashing disco lights spinning on the wheels and an R&B Soundtrack playing from a mini speaker system cunningly attached to the bike.

So it was fairly hard to beat this for memorable experiences but enjoyed the rest of the time in Melaka, shopping, doing a bit of site seeing and sampling their very delicious food. Went for a Malaysian Satay meal where you pick your choice of all different types of meat, fish and vegetable satay sticks and then sit around a table with a boiling pot of peanut satay sauce in the middle and cook the food, very delicious. Also saw the best of Melakan night life when Howard took most of the guests in the Hostel to the only place I think had a dance floor in Melaka - a gay club, and complete with his outfit of cycling gear and a rainbow headband led us all in a dance to YMCA.

Left Melaka with a sad goodbye to Howard and then had one more night in Kuala Lumpur where we said goodbye to Malaysia in appropriate style - with some very good food.

Photos: Cambodia

jennye23 — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 23:49:00 GMT

Into the Wild

jennye23 — Fri, 9 Jul 2010 17:20:00 GMT

Once we enough food had been sampled in Georgetown we took a ferry and a bus over to Kota Bharu, right in the North East of Malaysia. The best that I can say about it here was that it was a good taste of an authentic Malaysian town without all the tourist frills. It was interesting to wander around although I'm ashamed to say that the heat drove us into the air con'd McDonalds when we probably should have been looking around the Cultural Centre.. We stayed a couple of nights, watched England's defeat in the World Cup with some very happy Germans and left the next day for the Perhentean Islands.

A bus and a very fun speed boat trip later and we arrived in Paradise. Beautiful white sand, turquoise beaches and palm trees. It seemed like the best way to appreciate the beauty was lying down on the beach, so we spent the next 4 days doing this. The Perhenteans are famous for diving and snorkelling so we did attempt a snorkelling trip on the last day but in typical Jenny and Jess style managed to find the one part of sea possibly on the whole island where you the water was cloudy, you couldn't see a thing and the tide kept sweeping us into the nearby jetty!

Dragged ourselves away from the beach and back to Kota Bharu where we met Amy's friend of a friend Yo who is a guide in the jungle. He arranged a trip to the Jalawang Jungle for us starting the next day so after a panic trip to the supermarket for torches, emergency snacks, etc we packed our trekking boots and set our alarms for very early the next morning.

We took the Jungle Train to Dabong with Ja our guide and started off the trek as we were meant to go on with a trip to some caves. Expected the usual walk round well lit and roped off caves that we had already had on the trip but it couldn't have been more different. We were climbing through the pitch black (with torches), up rocks and at one point submerging selves in water to get through a gap in the rocks so small I thought it was a joke until I saw Ja dissappear through it. We also saw bats, cave Scorpions - look like a terrifying cross between black widows and scorpions (but not poisonous) and cave crickets ('a little bit poisonous'). Emerged into the daylight at the end very glad I hadn't known what was in store before we went in.

After lunch we started the trek up a very high waterfall. Didn't think that the fact I was knackered just climbing up the starting steps was such a good sign but we made it up and apart from the part where I fell in the waterfall trying to jump between rocks it was all ok, although a little scary when we were scaling up the rocks and could see how high we'd come. Stayed the night in the very cool Base Camp at the top with amazing view across the hills below, attempted to cook our instant noodles but after a slight disaster with that had a much more appetizing meal of fried rice cooked for us by Ja. Slept the night in a chalet, luxury accomodation for the jungle but I am very glad we were too tiered to be concerned by all the 'jungle orchestra' noises going on both inside and outside the hut.

Next day got up for Sunrise and it was amazing as we were above the mist and it felt like we were sitting in the clouds! The walk up the waterfall became very worthwhile when we spent the morning swimmming in the pools. Trekked back in the afternoon declining their offer for a 'night trek' in the interests of getting down without broken legs. After the spiciest noodles I have ever eaten we were reunited with our rucksacks and lovely clean clothes.

Now in Melaka after travelling down via the jungle train. Very nice here, like a more touristy and polished Georgetown again with very delicious food although we've made the mistake of finding cafe with amazing western food so there has been a bit more ciabatta than noodles being tried. Going for satay tonight, such a local delicacy that people queue up for hours to get it, so we can ease our consciences a bit there...

To the Tropical West

jennye23 — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 13:18:00 GMT

Now writing this in not so hot but very humid Malaysia. After one more day in Siem Reap we flew out of their very luxurious airport and into Kuala Lumpur - KL. In comparison to Cambodia KL was like stepping right back into the Western World, a really busy airport with starbucks, kfc, McDonalds etc everywhere and a bus trip to the centre on a big motorway full of expenisive looking western cars. The only thing that stopped me believing we hadn't made an accidental diversion to Europe was the tropical landscape with huge forests of what we think were mangrove trees (if Mangrove trees are stubby palm tree like things).

The actual city was great, mainly for the amount of cultures there who seem to exist together without any tension or problems. We were staying in China Town which was just a short walk away from Little India and in between there were lots of Malaysian food stalls. This was fantastic for the food as there were amazing stalls and restaurants everywhere you looked and with the amount of Chinese and Indian places around it was like eating really amazing takeaway for every meal. I tried to square this with my conscience by eating lots of the fresh fruit they sell everywhere at little stalls.

We had a few days there and seemed to spend most of it walking from place to place. On the cultural side we went to an Islamic arts museum (also the site of incredible arabic food market), an orchid garden and up the famous Petronas towers (a good view but for the privilige you have to sit through a ten minute brainwashing video on how great the petrol company petronas is, at the end I half expected them to say "now repeat after me . . " before we could go up). And then for one day of amazing non-culture we hit the shopping malls which are amazing. They put anything we have in the uk to shame as they are so huge and modern and everyone seemed to have amazing designer shops in it. There was one that came complete with a roller coaster and theme park rides and another that was so posh there were plush carpets everywhere and little groups of armchairs for the times when walking from Cartier, to Gucci to Alexander McQueen got too exhausting. We also found a cinema and for less than 2 pounds settled down to watch Sex and the City 2 (I was more excited in the queue for this than for Angkor wat but am pleased to say not as impressed).

Once our taste of civilisation at its best was satisfied we headed to the Cameron Highlands, an old British colonial hill station. This was amazing because with its height up in the hills it had a British climate that left us with the first naturally created goose bumps of the trip and gave us the luxury of sleeping without fan or air con and under 2 blankets! We visited a tea plantation here which was beautiful, it was like being in a tropical Switzerland, very green and hilly but with tea plants and palm trees everywhere. We had iced tea and scones and it was amazing!

The fact that while staying here we were sleeping in Nissan huts in 12 bedded dorms, (which, if you woke up in a confused state, would scare you into thinking you'd been conscripted into the army overnight)meant we only stayed a couple of nights and then came to current destination George town on an island called Penang.

Really like it here, at first it looks like a busy and quite ugly city and then you look more carefully at the buildings and realise why its a world heritage site. Because of the massive Chinese population and history here there are old Chinese shophouses (i wasn't sure what these were but was informed that they were shops that were also houses) which are all crumbling and beautiful looking often with shutters and vintage looking blinds. there are also some amazing chinese temples and mansions which are really ornate and incredible inside. They filmed the last King and I film here and its easy to see why, all you'd need to do is get rid of the windmill and fake flower covered rickshaws and a few tourists and you'd go back in time 150 years.

Continuing with the common theme here the food is amazing and its far easier to eat at street stalls and local restaurants here which is great as its far more atmospheric. Curry served on a banana leaf and eaten by the locals with their hands (we opted for cutlery) and chicken satay are probably the highlights. We're staying one more day, supposedly so we can visit a spice farm, but really because there's lot more local culture, ie. food, to be sampled...

Photos: Laos - most photogenic country ever??

jennye23 — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 00:13:00 GMT

Angkor Wat

jennye23 — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 14:49:00 GMT

One night bus later and we had left not so sunny Sihanoukville for Siem Reap - home of Angkor Wat. I think this deserves its own blog entry as it was as amazing everyone said it would be there.

Before we went I thought it was just one huge temple but there is actual Angkor Wat Temple and then a whole complex of ancient temples in the jungle surrounding it which were forgotten about for hundreds of years after the ruin of the Khmer and Cham Empires and only discovered again in the 1900's by French explorers. It's so huge there that we had to spend two days there being driven around by Tuk Tuk to see it and even then we didn't see it all.

We started with actual Angkor Wat, getting there to see the sun rise over the towers and across the lake / moat that surrounds it. Inside was all still in tact and huge with amazing, intricate stone carvings on every wall. On our last day there we climbed up in to the roof where you can see just how huge the towers are and get an idea of the scale of it.

Even though this is the most famous of the temples every single one we visited was incredible. If you could block out all the groups of tourists (not so easy as a lot of them were wearing matching fluorescent tracksuits, bright red hats etc and doing bizarre poses on every monument in their path) and the tarmaced roads connecting each temple it was easy to imagine you were just trekking in the jungle and had stumbled across them because there were jungle noises wherever you were and every temple except for Angkor was partly in ruins with whole corridors blocked by massive pieces of rubble and incredible carved pillars just lying in pieces on the ground.

One of the temples had massive stone faces in the pillars while another one had huge tree trunks just growing through the rock. Apparently this was where they filmed tomb raider which didn't mean a lot to me but judging by the poses going on in this temple I think it did to a lot of the tour groups. This temple had a room in it with walls covered in what looked like drill holes. Being a bit too influenced by Indiana Jones I thought it must have been some kind of closing walls torture chamber but managed to eavesdrop a tour guide telling the group that in every single hole there used to be a precious jewel, like an emerald or a sapphire. One of the temples we saw was covered in these so I can't even imagine how amazing it used to look.

Unfortunately I can't do justice to it either by writing about it or with the hundreds of pictures I took that all probably look the same but it was a really amazing experience and a very good way to end the triangle of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. All that remains now is to make the most of the 50 cent beer before we fly to Malaysia - apparently land of excellent food but very expensive alcohol.

Photos: A few photos (hopefully)

jennye23 — Wed, 9 Jun 2010 17:38:00 GMT

Vietnam

4000 (?) Islands

jennye23 — Wed, 9 Jun 2010 17:04:00 GMT

Thanks to the day befores journey it took quite a lot of will power to make ourselves head for the bus station the next day for another journey into the depths of the Laos countryside - this time a place called the Bolaven Plateau - but we had the guide books descriptions of lavender tinted hill, beautiful waterfalls and lush coffee plantations to motivate ourselves so early the next day thats where we headed for.

This time our mode of transport was an actual coach but a coach like I have never seen before, and which left the couple travelling with us (who had been all around south america on their most basic public transport) staring at it in disbelief. The roof was so loaded down with sacks of what looked like building material that it didn't look there could be anything inside but inside there was everything from bags of rice and most of the contents of a hardware to a racoon in a cage and a chicken held the whole way in someones arms. Add to that peeling away plastic walls and then one little rusty fan tied to the ceiling for air con and that was our luxurious mode of transport.

But it got us there so we spent the next couple of days relaxing by one of the waterfalls and attempting to find the incredible scenery described in the lonely planet. We might have had more success with this if the tuk tuk (open air taxi-like thing) driver who took us to what was meant to be the most beautiful waterfall there had told us that there was a damn nearby that only opened at two in the afternoon - we arrived at 12 o clock and tried to look impressed by the tiny trickle of water on a massive rock face. It was still pretty beautiful everywhere else though.

From there we headed to the 4,000 islands right in the south of Laos. They are lots of islands (although I think ísland' must also refer to small hunks of grass sticking out of the water if there anywhere close to 4,000 of them) all in the middle of the Mekong. Definitely one of the most beautiful places we have been, there were palm trees everywhere, and you could just stay in little wooden bungalows looking straight on to the river. The whole of Laos was so laid back but 4,000 islands made everywhere else look hectic. In the name of when in roman doing as the romans we spent most of the time just lying in hammocks and watching the sunsets and it was lovely!

That was our last place in Laos and a very good way to leave it so after a few days we got the bus across the boarder into Cambodia and stopped off in a little town called Kratie on the Mekong river (famous for river dolphins although we didn't manage to see any) and then went to Phnom Penh. Phnom Penh was great, it was crazy compared to Laos but there were nice big park areas and also a big bit by the river so it didn't feel too full on. It was also the place for some of the best food of the trip so far. We visited Tuol Sleng which was the notorious prison of the Khmer Rouge regieme and this was awful but I think a really important place to go as everything that happened was only just over 30 years ago and when you know about it you can see how the country is still recovering from it now.

From there we went to Kampot - famous for pepper and actually the pepper there was pretty amazing (not something i really thought was possible!) and we are now in Sihanoukville right in the south where we have found the sea again at last! A nice place to relax for a couple of days before we head to Angkor Wat.

And the rain begins . . .

jennye23 — Tue, 25 May 2010 20:09:00 GMT

Will attempt to rewrite all I have just written before it was rudely wiped by a power cut brought on by the third monsoon thunderstorm we have had in 24 hours. At last it looks like the rainy season has begun after what was apparently a freakishly hot May even by Lao standards and given the drop in temperature I have never been so grateful to see rain!

After we dragged ourselves away from Luang Prabang we headed south to Vang Vieng via amazing mountain road (although not so amazing for the travel sick lao people who don't seem used to their roads). Not so impressed by the costa-del-sol-but-with-more-drunks feel of Vang Vieng (although surrounding scenery of misty mountains and jagged limestone formations was beautiful). So we left after one night via pick-up truck / bus with a monk, a sunglasses sporting old couple who had very bizarre taste in snacks (at one point the old lady wipped out a leaf dipped it in a pot of what looked like face cream and started munching away) and a woman with bags of fish which she sold along the way getting the bus driver to stop each time she'd attracted an interested buyers attention.

Arrived in Vientianne, the capital of Laos. Definitely not as charming as Luang Prabang and it had a bit of a seedy feel to it but lots of good restaurants and we were true sight see-ers visiting temples, their museum and their asian version of the arch de Triomphe (it's own information sign described it as a monster of concerete but we quite liked it). Also went to a meditation session at a temple which was interesting although thinking about nothing was difficult in the company of red ants, flies and mosquitoes.

From there we took a night bus to Paksey in the south. Very bizarre design - there were layered rows of beds along each side of the bus that were single bed sized but were supposed to be shared by two peope whether or not they happened to know each other, I was very grateful my ticket put me next to Jess! Wasn't so grateful about the man above me who had two mobiles each with very loud and constantly going off ring tones into which he had constant angry and very loud conversations for the first few hours of the trip, never before was I so grateful to the technology of mp3 players.

When we arrived at Paksey at half 6 in the morning the transport hub feel of the place wasn't so appealing so we went by bus to a small town called Champasak to see the ruins of Angkor Watt's predeccessor - Wat Phu. Unfortunatey this wasn't as simple as it sounds and after two monsoon thunderstorms we didn't make it to the actual temple till this morning. Worth the wait though as there were almost no tourists there and wandering through the rubble in the mist felt like we were the first people to discover it.

Very glad it was worth a visit because our journey back to civilisation took one minibus, a raft across the Mekong (by raft I mean planks of wood over two canoes one which had a motor and the second which the 'driver' spent the 5 minute crossing scooping water out of), a pickup truck, a bus and then a tuk tuk. Now we are back in Paksey and have had pizza for lunch I am seeing it with new and far more appreciative eyes!

The Rustic North

jennye23 — Wed, 19 May 2010 15:24:00 GMT

After 5 days we managed to drag ourselves away from the air conditioned bakeries etc of Luang Prabang and went to catch a bus up to a village in the north. It turned out this was a bit optimistic of us and the 'bus' was two benches and a little cab with about 14 people plus lots of mysterious looking luggage which made about 15 stops along the way to drop off letters, people, unaccompanied bags of umbrellas etc.

Eventually got to the village of Nong Kieu, feeling a bit worse for wear but the amazing mountain and river scenery was enough to make up for it and once we had found a little bungalow over looking the river and had worked how to maximise the effect of the fan we could start to appreciate it there.

Tecnically people go there to trek but 3 day treks in that heat wasn't so appealing so we were happy with wandering around, admiring the scenery and then getting bikes to explore the next day. After a couple of nights there where Jess fully confronted her fear of bugs and we blessed the invention of mosquito nets we got the boat an hour up river to Mong Ngieu Village.

We were warned that if we thought Nong Kieu was laid back we hadn't seen anything yet and this was true - Mong Kieu had no roads, no internet and generator supplied electricity for only 3 hours a day. A very cool place to visit though as the locals didnt pay much attention to the tourists so it was a bit like being a fly on the wall in and seeing what there village life was really like.

Still after a night's sleep with the first half accompanied by howling dogs and the second half by cockerels and very early rising locals we thought it was time to head back to the city. So we are now back in Luang Prabang enjoying the luxury of proper showers and normal toilets before we head south tomorrow.

In to the Hills and down to the Bay

jennye23 — Wed, 12 May 2010 20:47:00 GMT

Sapa - Descending into the mountains via very luxurious night train did not prepare us for hard core trek from the mountain town Sapa into the hill tribe villages, but the effort was worth it for amazing views of mountains and all the hundreds of rice terraces all cut into the hill side. Stayed in a homestay in one of the villages and ate best food of Vietnam and then were persuaded (very easily) by the host and our trek guide to drink countless shots of local rice wine all in the name of an authentic experience. Next day 'trekked' back but this involved a minibus and lots more amazing scenery. After an unexpected surprise track down (and back up again) to a waterfall minus the promised jeep we were very happy to collapse on the night train and return to Ha Noi

The next day after recovery time we set off for Ha Long Bay deciding against the tour option which meant a more interesting journey including 3 hours on an old boat with locals who looked so unimpressed to share their seats with us I'm surprised we didn't end up in the water. But we were rewarded by arriving on Cat Ba Island (only lived on island in Ha Long Bay) the nice peaceful tourist boat free way and the view once we were there across a multicoloured boat filled harbour well made up for the journey. After a day of beach time and a tour around the island we went off on a boat trip of the actual Ha Long Bay. Very impressive and a lot more peaceful then I imagined. There were whole villages just made up of shacks on rafts around fish farms all guarded by very viscious looking dogs which had a miraculous effect on my steering skills when we got off the boat to kayak around them.

After another eventful journey back we arrived in Ha Noi the next day and had our last night in Vietnam. Next day was our flight to Luang Prabang in Laos and the most relaxing airport experience I have ever had, visas, passport control etc and transport away all sorted in one very calm half hour. A very appropriate intro to Laos which is the most relaxing place I think I've ever been. Luang Prabang is very beautiful, pretty shuttered buildings all near the Mekong river, lots of temples and some very nice cafes and restaurants. Went to very nice waterfall today which we swam in - very much appreciated after a trek to the very top of it. First impressions of Laos very good and the perfect opposite to crazy Vietnam. Looking forward to exploring the rest once we drag ourselves away from here.

From A to B - the Vietnamese way

jennye23 — Sun, 2 May 2010 19:56:00 GMT

Having been a little neglectful with keeping up to date with the blog I will now attempt to sum up the two journeys and 3 cities since I last wrote.

The first city Hoi An was beautiful, exactly how I pictured 1800s Oriental cities courtesy of the King and I. There were lots of old wooden buildings and warehouses, the streets were unmade up tracks and there were chinese lanterns everywhere all centered around the river and little bridges. There were less mopeds and more bicycles so at last we felt safe to do one of our vietnamese goals and rent bikes - heading via bridges and rice fields to the beach. This was also the place of some of my best vietnamese food experiences so far - mushroom stuffed with fish, and local delicacies of shrimp wanton, noodle soup and white roses - shrimp dumplings.

From here we opted out of the comfort zone option of our usual tourist bus and took the train. This turned out to be well worth the effort as for once we were the only tourists in our carriage and the scenery going along the coast and past jungles and mountains was amazing.

After a few delays we arrived in Hue and here was a lesson in not just going by your first impressions - this was of a very busy city, with unfriendly people (going for dinner at the Lonely Planet recommended restaurant called 'Friendly' we had the most hostile and rude service we have had here), and not much character. But Jess talked me out of my first instinct to leave the next day and we took the time to explore it, found some really nice restaurants and visited the ancient citadel which was amazing. It was not actually that ancient built in the 1800's by the emperor but very grand and because it had been so badly bombed in the Vietnamese war a lot of it was in ruins and had a just discovered feel to it. Anywhere that has a place called the 'Forbidden Purple Temple' which is hidden in a secret garden is good enough for me.

After a couple of days here we headed off on a night bus chosing the evening before the biggest Vietnamese celebration of the year to travel on. This meant a 16 hour journey with Vietnamese love songs blaring out on loop all night untill the actually civilized hour of 9 in the morning which was at the start so crowded there were people in the aisles on garden stools and in hammocks.

But at last we arrived in City number 3 and the capital of Vietnam - Ha Noi. Really like it here, thanks to the French colonial period it's like an asian version of paris, so there are tree lined avenues, little squares and cafes everywhere, it's just that the trees have vines trailing down, the buildings around the squares are more ramshackle and the cafes are serving noodles (although we've tracked down some very good baguettes here).

We've spent a couple of nights here, seen the fireworks and general 30th April celebrations and apparently sampled the worlds cheapest bear (about 20p for a glass). Now my trekking boots are on and we're getting ready for the night train to Sapa - a mountain town and place of 'moderate trekking' . . .

Lesson in travelling light number one

jennye23 — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 19:21:00 GMT

Via beautiful mountain roads we left Dalat for Nha Trang for a few days which this time did exactly what they said on the guide book - provided the perfect battery recharging beach spot. Thinking that we should make the effort to see a bit of the area beyond the beach we went on a boat trip on the second day and this was certainly a unique vietnamese experience the highlight of which was undoubtedly the floating bar - taken more literally than we were expecting this was a small piece of polystyrene floating in the middle of the sea decorated with a bunch of plastic flowers and manned by a bartender in a rubber ring who swam around filling the glasses of all the rubber ring wearing boat passengers with very strong wine. A recipe for disaster perhaps but it seemed to work!

On the Friday after birthday celebrations with some girls we have met along the way and a true creation of a vietnamese birthday cake we headed for our first night bus trip - 14 hours to Hoi An. 'Sleeping bus' might not be the most accurate name for a bus which spent most of the journey going around hairpin bends and the whole journey in the company of other vietnamese road users who use the horn more then they use their pedals but I was relieved to find that the lonely planet book was exaggerating a bit when it described the trip as prison - especially as we had actual bunk beds and blankets.

This would probably have led to an ok night's sleep had I so far managed to stick to my resolutions to travel light. Unfortunately given the absence of any hand luggage storage I was sharing my bed with 3 books, sun tan cream, sunglasses, a scarf, a beach towel, hundreds of toiletries that definately don't belong in a coach toilet and all the other 'essential' hand luggage I had brought with me. As from today I am organised, efficient, and clutter free. Unfortunately I am making this resolution the day we arrived in the best spot for shopping so far - Hoi An - so I shall see how this goes...

Retreat to the mountains??

jennye23 — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 23:33:00 GMT

With a slight sigh of relief and a three hour bus journey we arrived in Ho Chi Minh City's polar opposite - Mui Ne - almost deserted beaches, quiet bars and bungalow huts right on the beach. So we settled down for a couple of days of sunbathing and general chill out time. Technically Mui Ne is a Kite surfing hot spot but every sport needs it's spectators so I think we contributed in that way!

This morning we left as we had arrived - by bus - but after opting for a different bus company experienced a far more authentically vietnamese experience then on our first journey. Goodbye air con and free bottles of water, hello open windows, un made roads and an engine that had to be filled with water from a river to prevent smoking. But as it was only a few hours it was definately the more interesting way to travel especially as we were going right up the mountains to Delat.

Delat, where we are right now, wasn't quite what I imagined when I read the lonely planets description of the 'town of eternal spring'. Log cabins, fir trees, and streams everywhere was maybe a bit idealistic but all the same a busy motorbike filled city was a bit of a surprise. But it has definately been worth a see and next stop Nha Trang beach for a strategic journey stop off point, aka tanning location.

City of mopeds . . .

jennye23 — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 18:55:00 GMT

From Heathrow to Mumbai to Bangkok at last we arrived in Ho Chi Minh city / Saigon and I think it is a good thing we were dazed from such a long journey because just the taxi trip from the airport to the hotel was information overload, this city is crazy! The traffic is like nothing I have ever seen there are thousands of motorbikes and mopeds everywhere, including the pavements just going any direction they feel like, and tooting their horns for no apparent reason. All the while the drivers are smiling and away and looking as serene as anything.

We've done a lot of our sight seeing just sat at cafes watching it all going on on the roads, which is probably a good thing as it's pretty hot here. Although I now understand the meaning of the rainy season after seeing torrential rain followed half an hour later by bright sun as if it had never happened.

Off to a beach resort tomorrow and praying for a bit of peace and quiet as much as I have loved seeing Ho Chi Minh city I think it is best appreciated in small doses!