Jo and Hayley's SEA tour

Farewell to Sapa

joinsea1 — Sat, 9 Oct 2010 17:53:00 GMT

We have enjoyed our time here in Sapa, could have stayed much longer! Yesterday we went out on the motorbikes again and visited the Silver waterfall and walked through the Bamboo forest. Amazing scenery! The hill sides were blanketed in choko vines, made me think of mum, who loves choko's! We also drank little cups of hot local tea, and ate pork skewers cooked on small charcoal fires, very nice! I had a roasted sweet potato, which when peeled was a brilliant purple colour. The weather is cooler here, so makes for pleasant touring. Today is thick with fog, so we are happy we managed to take plenty of photo's when it was clear.Have just eaten lunch at a nice little Tapas place, good bruschetta, the tomatoes here are sooo sweet, potatoes with capsicum and onions, and chicken pesto, and carrot, ginger and wild apple juice. Awaiting our bus to take us to the train station, so will kill a couple of hours wandering the markets. Love to all, home in 4 days...... xxxxxx

Beautiful Sapa

joinsea1 — Fri, 8 Oct 2010 15:10:00 GMT

Hi,

We took a train from Hanoi to Lao Cai, which took about 10 hrs. The train was cleaner and more comfortable than some we had travelled in previously. Arrived around 5am then caught a shuttle bus to Sapa. We were lucky to check into our hotel, the Bamboo, early. The room was comfortable enough, but what made it outstanding was the view. Almost had to pinch myself as it didnt seem real. We are overlooking Mount Fanispan with terraced rice paddies and vegetables. We are really glad we came here, it is a fabulous place. The town is pretty and the people friendly and interesting. The Hmong people dress in their traditional garb and it is different to anything Ive seen before in Vietnam. There are several different hill tribe people in the area, all with a unique style of dress. Sent yesterday on motorbikes exploring the countryside, one our best days. Eating and drinking well as usual, Hayley has developed a good taste for Pho bo, soup with beef and rice noodles which she regularly breakfasts on. Will be home in 5 days and look forward to sharing our photos. Love to all xxxxxx

1000 years of Hanoi and saved by my crocs!

joinsea1 — Sun, 3 Oct 2010 23:00:00 GMT

We flew fron Danang and arrived in Hanoi for the 1000 years of Hanoi festivities. A car from our hotel, the May De Ville, picked us up from the airport just before midnight. Our room was very nice and had a large balcony overlooking the city. We were checking out the view, when I stepped on a cable coming out of the wall. A loud bang and a sizzle later... turned out to be a live electrical cable..... Saved by my Crocs!!! Didn'nt sleep too well that night, as it turned out there were two live cables sizzling and sparking on the balcony all night. The hotel staff were very apologetic, and discounted our bill by $20, my life is somewhat cheaper than I thought. We have since moved hotels, ha ha! and are now staying in the french quarter. Each night we have been walking around Hoan Kiem lake with the many thousands of Hanoians. Everywhere is brightly lit with icicle lights and lanterns, and the whole area is very pretty. Sausages on sticks are awesome and we have eaten many, cooked on little gas stoves on beds of onions. There have also been students with signs for free hugs, so we had some of those as well! Oh, and icecream at a restaurant overlooking the lake, we are doing it tough as always. Off to Sapa on the 5th, overnight train, about 10hrs duration. Love to all! xxxx

Last night in Hue

joinsea1 — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 15:16:00 GMT

We have enjoyed our time in Hue and will miss our friends here too! Had a lovely day yesterday, went to the mineral springs with Linh, Anh and another vietnamese young man, but I can't spell his name. The springs had three sulphurous hot pools and a large cool swimming pool. Ian braved the hot pool, about 37 degrees, but the rest of us just swam in the swimming pool. The grounds were lovely and we had a picnic lunch, was a really enjoyable day. We are heading back to Hoi An for 1 night to see Suong who has been hospitalised. Not sure what is wrong with her, but she sounds terrible. Communication remains a big issue, and makes it difficult to ascertain what is going on. Will fly to Hanoi on the 1st of October. Ian is still recovering from food poisoning but is in good spirits, Hayley and I are fine. Love to all! xxxx

Hue

joinsea1 — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 15:20:00 GMT

Hi! We are back in Hue, after surviving a nasty bout of food poisoning, will be a little while before fish is back on the menu. The grotty bus trip was easier to bear as we were both more or less comatose from illness, and since arriving have been moving slowly. Today we are both recovered and much happier! Warm welcome from the DMZ crew as usual, and we are finding our trip is more about the people we have become friends with than visiting the tourist sites. We are lucky to be included into peoples lives and lifestyles and our perspective of this culture continues to change. The DMZ Bar has two other businesses, the Little Italy Restaurant, which was the first business to open, and now the DMZ Hotel which is our current residence. Last night they filmed a short documentary for television and we were included in this, a bit of fun. Tomorrow we will visit some hot springs about 7kms from here with Linh and Anh so should be nice. Ian was also struck ill and will probably be better tomorrow...... Thanks for the encouraging messages from work, wish I had more rec leave!!! We are having Indian for dinner, though I will probably stick to naan bread and raita, being kind to my fragile stomach! All in all still enjoying our time here, although the countdown for home has started. Will fly to Hanoi on 30th and do a trip to Sapa from there. Sapa looks stunning so looking forward to this. Weather remains hot, and there has been little rain as yet, quite different from last year. Lots of love to all!

Full moon

joinsea1 — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 19:32:00 GMT

The evening festivities have continued each evening here in Hoi An and people from all over the provence have been converging in hundreds. We have watched many dragon and lion dances, they are very colourful and entertaining. The young boy we met last year organised to meet us last night by the river and he and his granny took us out on their boat to look at the full moon and set floating candles onto the water, we each made a wish as we did this. The atmosphere is very carnival like and a great time for children. We continue to meet Suong and her family every morning at 7.30 am for coffee and have dinner with them also. The heat of the day has been impossibly hot, so evenings are much more social. After touring the town last night we sat on mats by the river and had sugar-cane juice. Our time here is closing in, and we head back to Hue on the 25th, then onwards to Hanoi. It makes us both sad to think about leaving. Hope all is well at home, Love to all!xxxxx

Autumn Festival Hoi An

joinsea1 — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 19:30:00 GMT

Enjoying Hoi An, Suong and her family are looking after us well. Tonight is the Autumn Festival, although I'm not sure exactly what it is for, the full moon also plays a part. The children here put dragon costumes on, ie one child the head and another the tail, whilst a tribe of children follow, and drums are played. They travel in groups through all the local businesses, and small amounts of money are given, which the dragon 'swallows'. Not sure my description is adequate, but apparently, tonight this spectacle will be in full swing. There is an air of excitement in the town, and we feel lucky to be here. We have already come across some early starters, and I have a feeling it will be a colourful, lively and noisy night. Apart from this, we have treated ourselves to new mobile phones, LG touchscreens, pretty swish! We are eating well, though luckily the family have realised our capacity. Ian is well and his health restored, so we are all happy and healthy. Caught up with Ron and his wife again, which has been nice. Love to all! xxxx

Back in Hoi An

joinsea1 — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 19:54:00 GMT

Hi! Back in Hoi An after a ghastly bus trip with An Phu company, will not ride with them a gain. Grotty broken bus with non-functioning aircon, so we smelled pretty bad when we got off. New hotel however is lovely, huge, has a lounge area, big bedroom and huge bathroom with a jacuzzi.Its called The Longlife Riverside Hotel great location, will add website tomorrow. Have caught up with Ian, had a late lunch, and will coffee with Suong and her family tomorrow.. Having an early night watching DVD's and eating cake! Love to all!

No escape, or Hayley the brave

joinsea1 — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 19:32:00 GMT

Last night was fun, we caught up with the staff from the DMZ bar. Free coctails and a 10percent discount on any bills, as we were given VIP status. Lots of photos taken and gifts given. Unfortunately we missed the aniversary party by 4 days so we decided to make a night of it anyway. Met a nice couple from Scotland and had a good laugh. We also caught up with the vietnamese couple from last year and they had had another baby during our absence. Again we were invited to their home and to meet the new addition (baby boy). A very slow and hungover awakening for us, but we headed to the DMZ bar at 9 am as arranged. Travelled about 10kms to their home on motorbikes, and we explained that we had already had breakfast, as neither of us could stomach the thought of the gelatinous food from last year. It had been the only time we had really struggled with the food. We arrived at the house, warmly greeted by the husbands' parents, and both nursed the baby, who is 2 1/2 months old, very cute. A table was prepared and a mirror image of the food from last year lay before us. Clear pieces of jelly with shrimp inside, white gelatinous balls (quite chewy) and an array of white paste shapes with ground shrimp (also made of gelatinous rice). I have to give Hayley credit, hence the title of this story, she bravely chewed and swallowed. Our hosts were very hospitable and attentive to our empty bowls, I stood firm and the look of horror in my eyes as a clear jelly encased shrimp came my way was enough to save me, although was not so lucky with all the dishes. Unfortunately they were so hospitable and attentive there was little opportunity to slip much into our handbags (as this trick had saved us a little last year) Hayley did manage to slip one piece in, and we both said how full we were and stopped eating, even out of politeness we were having much difficulty. Apart from that, it was a lovely visit, and on our return spent most of the day in bed fighting nausea. I'm having pizza for dinner!!! Love to all! xxx

Hue

joinsea1 — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 20:31:00 GMT

Hi all! Quiet day yesterday, a bit of shopping at the big shopping mall, stocking up on snacks, and a couple of pretty belts for Hayley. She has been a bit under the weather with a tummy bug, but is much improved today. Started our day with a coffee across the lane and then headed to the DMZ bar, looking for a couple that worked there last year, a husband and wife. The wife took us to her family home and fed us interesting gelatinous food that we haven't forgotten. They will be working tonight so will be good to catch them up. We organised a motorbike tour for ourselves this afternoon, and headed out into the countryside. As always the scenery is pretty and interesting. There are many little temples here, dotted throughout the little villages, very ornate. I never get bored of watching life here. We watched women washing clothes in the dirty brown coloured river, and they come out clean. Children pass us on bicycles with their navy trousers and white shirts on their way home from school, in little shacks sewing machines are hard at work, all around us are rice paddies and thick greenery. I always feel inadequate when trying to describe what we see. We stopped at a small museum where a lively ancient woman gave us a demonstration of traditional rice threshing and grinding, also showed us bamboo fish traps and demonstrated pigeon catching with her shoe. Highly entertaining. Not sure what she had been chewing, but her teeth were black and she was pretty spry. We slipped her some dong for her trouble and she gave us a fan each.Was a good afternoon. Planning a picnic at the Citadel tomprrow, hope its overcast! Love to all, and our thoughts are with Glenys. xxxx

Hue

joinsea1 — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 11:28:00 GMT

Hi! We arrived safely in Hue, took a sleeper bus from Danang. It took 3hrs to travel just over a 100kms. Again the scenery is beautiful. We travelled through the Hai Van pass which is a tunnel through the moutains, about 4kms long, and then had a brief stop at Lang Co beach before heading to Hue. We caught up with Ron and his wife for dinner before we left Danang, had a nice meal and saw their new house. Was great to catch up with someone from home. Ian has remained in Hoi An and he likes the place very much, will catch him back up in a week. Suong has lent Hayley a mobile phone so she is enjoying being in contact with her friends again. We are staying at the Vina Hotel, which is cute and cosy and in the centre of town, with views over the river. Across the road (lane) there is a pretty little coffee house. The Vietnamese love their coffee houses and they are usually nicely decorated with water features, fish ponds and various plants, this one is no exception and I enjoyed my coffee there this morning. Love to all! xxx

Being killed with kindness

joinsea1 — Sat, 11 Sep 2010 15:45:00 GMT

Hi all! We are in Danang today, and will meet with Ron for dinner, will be lovely to catch up! Yesterday we were fed four times, all the exercise we did previously was to no avail. Yesterday we were picked up from our hotel by Suong and her husband and off for morning coffee, followed by a breakfast stop.... this was fried egg, steak, tomato, a strangely wrapped pork ball..., onions, broth served on a sizzle plate and baguettes. When we say we are not hungry the air of disappointment is plainly obvious, so we keep eating..... After breaky we headed back to the Tailor shop, and Suong headed to the market to buy food for lunch!!!!! Was very nice, fish in a tomato sauce, rice, soup, and prawn and spring onion spring rolls (we asked for just a small lunch). We then arranged to meet for dinner later that night, as we had declined the previous evening. Last year we met a small boy who sells clay whistles, so we brought him some gifts from Australia, a hat and a stuffed kangaroo and some Aussie dollars. Was great to see him again and he invited us to his home. We were to meet him at our favourite restaurant at 4pm. When he arrived he led us out of the back door to the river, where his Aunty was waiting with a little wooden boat. It took about 15mins to row to his house(Hayley and I weighed the boat down somewhat). The living conditions were very poor, half the house had a dirt floor, and the water marks from last years flooding were half way up the walls. We met all of the family, and they set up a plastic table with bottles of cola and fanta. Then out came food for us, spring rolls, squid and prawns, followed by bananas and bon-bon. We weren't hungry, but we felt obliged to eat as they had gone to so much trouble for us. Was very pleasant, though very little english was spoken, many smiles, and our bowls continually filled. Then we were taken by boat back to the town.... a little heavier again. Then we had to meet Suong and her husband for dinner, we explained that we had been fed, but the disappointed looks made us realise that of course we could squeeze in a little more...... fried chicken, rice and salad at a little local restaurant(little plastic tables and chairs, gas burner and wok) very tasty! We rolled home, literally, looking and feeling much fatter and realised we were being killed with kindness and hospitality!!!! Back to diet today! Off to Hue tomorrow for four days and then we will return to Hoi An, Suong and her family were disappointed we were only staying a week, so will go back and spend more time with them, though we have already said we can only eat two meals a day. Suong countered this with 'maybe just a small lunch also?' We will try and stand our ground. Lovely people, we feel very lucky!!! Love to all!xxxxxx

Happy in Hoi An

joinsea1 — Thu, 9 Sep 2010 15:05:00 GMT

Hi to all! We are all well, happy and fattening nicely! Suong Mai's birthday party was great fun, she has a very large family and it was lovely to be included. We shopped with her at the market in the morning, it was so hot under the awnings that Ian, myself and Hayley were all drenched in sweat. Suong Mai picked out a nice chicken and Hayley watched with interest as the nice vendor lopped off its head and feet. It was to become part of a very nice soup. The birthday dinner was mostly seafood, with fresh squid (not dried, will never eat that again) prawns BBQed on a clay pot filled with charcoal, clams cooked the same way but filled with herbs, onions and tomato. Lots of fresh crispy baguettes and a very nice chicken and vegetable soup (lol!). There is no furniture in the houses here, so everyone sits on the tiled floor, Suong Mai's family took up the entire floor area, with all the dishes of food in the centre. We drank beer with ice, and sang happy birthday vietnamese style, with sparklers. Every morning we meet at the tailor shop and go for coffee with the family, they take us on their motor bikes. We must look hungry because we are fed at every opportunity, today for lunch we had watermelon, mango's, bon-bon and rambuttan, as we called past. Hayley has several dresses being made, and she went to the warehouse yesterday to pick out the fabrics. The weather here remains sweltering, but hopefully some rain this afternoon, apparently related to a big storm that hit China. The evenings are cooler so we have been poking around the little shops and wandering the pretty streets. Thanks for the messages from home, always nice! Love to all!!! xxxx

Hoi An

joinsea1 — Tue, 7 Sep 2010 19:38:00 GMT

Great to be back in Hoi An, caught up with our friend Suong Mai and her family, much excitement there! It is Suong Mai's birthday today so we are heading to her parent's place for birthday dinner. We had dinner the previous night at our favourite restaurant, The Cargo Club and were recognised by most of the staff, lots of smiles, and the food is just as good. We have changed hotels and are now at the Than Van 2, have a huge room with 2 balconies for $35/night. Its closer to town, and the room gives us bit more space, has big bath too. www.thanvanhotel.com.vn The temperature here is hot hot hot, 36 degrees. We went shopping at the local market with Suong Mai this morning and brought lots of seafood and vegetables for dinner, she also brought us a big bag of mangos and some rambuttan. Her mother cooked us lunch, spinach and garlic, fresh fish, omelette, soup and rice, very simple, very tasty. Heading off now, can see Ian walking this way, love to all! xxxx

Yippee off to Hoi An!

joinsea1 — Sun, 5 Sep 2010 10:26:00 GMT

We are leaving this morning to head to Hoi An, I am excited! We are booked into the Villa Hoa Su which is on the outskirt of town but looks lovely. Will be nice to leave our current accommodation, and although the staff are really nice, its not the style of accommodation we have become accustom to... ha ha! We will spend 3 nights at Villa Hoa Su and 3 nights in the ancient town.Can't wait to see our friend, Sung Mai and her family again. And Hoi An is really beautiful lantern lit riverside, and not only specializing in tailors but also fine food, yay! Ian arrived yesterday, so we picked him up from the train station. Train was only a little over an hour late, which was pretty good. He will also head to Hoi An today. Lots of love! xxxx

http://www.villahoasu.com

Danang

joinsea1 — Sat, 4 Sep 2010 11:04:00 GMT

After a ghastly overnight train trip arrived in Danang around 6.30am. The train was filthy and you get a blanket and pillow with your bunk. Both our bunks had recently been slept in, and linen remained the same. I gave my blanket to the train porter, hoping he would get the message and get us a clean sheet at least, however he neatly folded it, taking several minutes and gave it back. The train rattled and shook its way north, and we had little sleep. I got up to go to the toilet in the middle of the night(we try not to drink and avoid these toilets like the plague), and got locked out of my cabin.The porter kindly let me back in as I looked at him through bleary eyes. We headed to our hotel, the Varna, and luckily they let us check in early because we were buggered. The hotel is a bit grotty, so we looked around at some others on our walk last night, and decided it wasn't so bad in comparison. We are staying adjacent to the river, and its not such a pretty city by day, but by night is quite lovely, lots of fairy lights, and the two bridges near us are spectacularly lit in different colours. We spent the afternoon wandering around the big shopping mall, and discovered the cineplex on the top floor, so treated ourselves to a movie. Most are in english, so we saw Salt with Angelina Jolie, was a good action flick, and only cost us a couple of dollars each. We had a really good dinner at a restaurant by the river, Hayley had a cesar salad, and I had spiced chicken with yoghurt sauce. Ian arrives today, on a sleeper train, a much longer journey than ours, so I'm sure he will enjoy..... Love to all! xxx

Last day in Tuy Hoa

joinsea1 — Thu, 2 Sep 2010 14:00:00 GMT

Our last day at the Vietstar Resort, and what a beautiful stay we have had, beautiful surrounds and great staff. http://www.vietstarresort.com/ The food has improved considerably, and the new manager Micheal, has organised a western chef who will start this week. They bake their own bread, cakes and pastries on site and they are really good. There are little electric cars that drive you around, and there is even a small zoo with rabbits, ostrich, deer and pigs. The pigs ran away, seemed to realize they were menu items!We are taking a sleeper train to Danang tonight, leaving at 9.30 and arriving at 5am. We have heard from Ian, who is on way to Saigon and hopefully will see him soon. Yesterday was a relaxing day listening to music and swimming in the massive swimming pool. We will miss this luxury!!! Love to all!

The cleanest beach in Vietnam!

joinsea1 — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 13:25:00 GMT

We are enjoying our stay at the Vietstar Resort, the grounds are like a botanical garden, and an entomologists dream. There are several different types of butterflies that are really pretty, and fabulous topiary throughout. Yesterday we organised to go to the beach, which is also part of the resort property, about 10 mins drive. A car and driver picked us us up around 3.30, as it started to cool. The beach was beautiful, squeaky sand, clear water and no rubbish whatsoever. Truly the cleanest beach we have been to in Vietnam. We swam and walked for a couple of hours, and our driver took his fishing rod and fished from the rocks. On our return we showered and had a couple of coctails by the pool, we are doing it tough! Love to all!

On way to Tuy Hoa updated

joinsea1 — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 12:11:00 GMT

Hi! We enjoyed our last couple of nights in Quy Nhon, walked every night along the beachfront and dined at the Kiwi cafe. There was a big storm before we left, with amazing lightening, so after dinner sat on our balcony and watched the sky. Apparently there was a typhoon further up the coast which was attributed to this, and the tide was noticeably higher. We caught a bus from Quy Nhon to Tuy Hoa, for $3 each, which was a bargain for one of the prettiest drives. Our bus driver wasn't particularly suicidal, so no heart stopping moments, unusual given some of our previous bus trips. ( we prefer to take the trains generally). The trip took just under 2hrs and the road followed the coast, providing beautiful scenery. The area is really green, lots of coconut palms and bougainvilleas. We arrived at the Vietstar around lunch time, and quickly settled into our spacious room. Very large bathroom, with the shower section outdoor, and a very large bath, which Hayley soaked in for a good hour with her book. We are on a hill about 7kms out of town, and this place covers considerable area. The views are pretty spectacular with the beach in the background. The food so far has been ordinary, and our pineapple juice and vodka's were suspiciously absent of vodka. Will monitor this situation. The pool is very good, so will swim daily. Hayley brought a heap of CD's in Nha Trang and was eager to try them out, so we asked to borrow a CD player. The maintenance crew arrived in the afternoon and installed a stereo, which was far more than we were expecting, and a nice surprise! Love to all! xxx

Still in Quy Nhon

joinsea1 — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 13:13:00 GMT

Hi! We are still in Quy Nhon and planning to move on in the next couple of days. Didn't do too much yesterday, as unfortunately was very sunny, today a little overcast so much more pleasant. Swam in the pool yesterday then walked about 5kms to dinner then walked home again. Went to a little seafood restaurant but the menu was hard to decipher, with a lot of sea snail things.... so Hayley had fried rice with egg and I had fried rice with crab, was tasty. Then we popped next door to the Kiwi cafe for an apple ,pear and ginger juice and a piece of carrot cake. There is a good paved path for 5kms along the beachfront (although nothing in Vietnam is of an even surface) and all the locals (hundreds) sit along the path in little make-shift cafe's. It is popular to drink fresh coconut juice and sugar cane juice. They have machines like washing machine mangles which they squeeze out the juice of the sugar cane sticks/stems with. They run extension cords for huge distances to run the machines and blenders. On our walks we say hello probably over a hundred times, the locals are curious, shy and friendly so adds to the experience. Love to all!