A New Chapter

Ha Long Bay

rebecca_spencer — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 17:59:00 GMT

We got picked up from our hotel in the morning and travelled by mini bus to Ha Long City harbour ready for our junk boat tour to Ha Long Bay. There are so many boats trying to get in and out and they pretty much just push there way through, bumping and scraping along the sides of other boats as they go. We boarded our boat, checked into our rooms and then had a delicious lunch. After lunch we went cruising through Ha Long Bay, it was an overcast day but it's absolutely stunning, the only thing that ruined it was the rubbish floating in the water, it wasn't excessive but it was noticeable. Later on we docked and went ashore to explore this awesome networks of caves, it was massive! After that we went canoeing into this tiny little bay that was surrounded by mountains with only one little opening to get through, it was so calm and peaceful, paddling around was really fun but my arms were a bit sore the next day. By the time we finished our canoeing and got back onto the boat it was getting dark andBecause the weather was pretty yuk we didn't end up going swimming which was a bit of a disappointment but you get that sometimes, so we pretty much just lounged on the top deck and got cleaned up before dinner....which was another great meal. After some drinks and some socialising we retired pretty early, it had been a big day!

After a pretty peaceful sleep we awoke to find the weather had not improved at all, it didn't actually rain but it was overcast and miserable so we packed up, had breakfast and then made our way to the top deck to lounge about while we headed back to the harbour. We hadn't been cruising for long and then we stopped and another boat came right up beside us and they connected the 2 boats together and then starting cruising again....little did we know at the time but our boat had broken down and they were towing us back in, we later had to change boats anyway to get back into the harbour....junk boat alright! After we got back we had lunch and then boarded the bus and headed back to Hanoi. Deb and I were headed to Sapa on the train that night so we needed to kill some time so headed to a cafe for a drink and a bite to eat, whilst we were sitting there I noticed a hairdresser across the road so I headed over and sussed out how much it would be to get my hair washed, it was cheap so Deb and I both got our hair washed and dried, it was so worth it! After that we made our way to the train station for our overnight trip to Sapa.

Hanoi

rebecca_spencer — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 07:45:00 GMT

After our long and tiring overnight bus we arrived in Hanoi at about 6am and were met by touters offering taxis, motorbikes and hotels which was hard to deal with when you've literally just woken up. After getting organised and finding where we had to go we agreed to take a metered taxi to our desination, we've had taxi issues in the past but thought this was legitimate.....how very wrong. For starters what should have only been a 5 minute journey ended up being 10 minutes and when we arrived the meter, which had been out of our view, read 458000 which is nearly $50 Aus. I was tired, was in a bad mood from the touters hassling us and this just topped it off.....I was now really angry and started arguing with the driver who now all of a sudden didn't understand english so I started throwing a few Vietnamese phrases I had learned along the way and telling him I'm only going to give him $5 US, which is way more than the journey cost. So Deb and I are sitting in this cab, our packs are on the front seat near the driver and I'm starting to wonder how are we going to sort this thinking if we get out of the cab he's going to drive off with our stuff, so I say to Deb you stay in the cab while I get out and grab our bags, as soon as I got out of the cab he's hit the central locking, luckily Deb's still in the car and is able to unlock the front door, as I've opened it the driver has grabbed my pack....by this stage I'm absolutely fuming so I've reefed the bags out of the car yelling at the driver 'you think we're stupid and we're not'. Deb then said she didn't have a $5 note and now I'm thinking shit I hope I do, luckily I did and I threw it on the front seat and slammed the door. As Deb and I start to walk away she starts laughing and saying 'that was so funny, I'm so impressed with you'. Needless to say I wasn't finding the funny side of it at that moment, it was the first and only time I yelled at anyone on the trip but it was one of those moments when I'm thinking 'if you want to fight me today buddy, go right ahead'....he must of known it was in his best interest to be quiet.

After that eventful start we found a hotel, checked in, showered, ate and were ready to go again. We found a travel agent and booked tours for Ha Long Bay and Sapa and then wandered around the city for a bit and then went and visited Hoa Lo Prison or as it was later nicknamed the 'Hanoi Hilton', as we were walking around we kept crossing paths with 2 American couples with babies who we later started chatting with. Both couples had adopted Vietnames babies and it was their very first day as families, it was so lovely talking to them about thier journey and how long it had taken to get to the point where they could see and hold these gorgeous baby girls.

Later that night after dinner we went and seen the Water Puppet show, it was actually pretty cool, it's presented in a seated theatre and the stage is just a body of water with a backdrop, the whole thing is based around the traditional puppets they used in the rice fields years ago to tell stories for entertainment. The puppets are wooden and emerge from behind a small curtain just above the water and dance and swim around while a band play traditional music.

Hue

rebecca_spencer — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 21:35:00 GMT

En route to Hue we stopped at Marble Mountain for a look, it's absolutely amazing, full of caves and marble statues. It can be quite eerie in some parts especially when there's nobody else around...

After arriving in Hue we found a place to stay and then booked a tour for the following day. We had a pretty quite afternoon wandering around the city and later that night when we returned to our hotel room we disovered that we had no power so after letting reception know 2 men from the hotel all of a sudden bacame DIY electricians.....around an hour or so later we had power again.....

We got up early, had brekky, checked out of the hotel and made our way to the bus co. to drop our bags off before the tour started. In the morning we visited Tu Duc Tomb, Ming Mang Tomb and Khai Dinh Tomb, no one is actually buried there and it's just the kingdom where they lived at the time. After a delicious smorgasbord lunch we then visited the Ancient Citadel which was pretty cool, in the middle there's a lake which at first glance just looked like another lake but when we crossed the bridge over it and looked in it was filled with HUGE golden coy fish. A lady was throwing bread or something in the water and they were all going crazy and swimming after her as she walked along the bridge, it was very cool. Last stop was Linh Mu Pagoda before a leisurely dragon boat trip back to Hue. As soon as we got off the boat we had 30 minutes to get back to the bus co. and get ourselves sorted before the overnight bus trip to Hanoi.....exhausting but we made it!

Hoi An

rebecca_spencer — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 21:10:00 GMT

Well we arrived in Hoi An at 6am after our crazy bus trip! Luckily we had been given a tip about a nice place to stay so we headed straight for it and lucky for us we were able to check in straight away...this hotel is awesome...it even has a swimming pool which is a huge relief considering how hot it is here. For the past 2 days we've gone exploring during the day and then headed back to the hotel for a much needed afternoon dip!

Day 1 - After checking in and having much needed showers we ventured out ot take a look around Hoi An, it's such a pretty place, full of colourful lanterns and tailor shops....you can hardly buy anything off the rack here it's all tailer made. I got a pair of shorts and a shirt tailored and it takes no more than a day and the end product is spot on (I'm wearing my shorts now and they're so comfy). We pretty much just wandered around the 'Old Town' and markets all day which was really lovely. Whilst we were walking through the market we ran into Dawn and Hong again, they were on a cooking class tour so we didn't get much of a chance to chat. For dinner we thought we would go to this restaurant that's in the bible (Lonely Planet guide) and try some of the local fare for dinner, we got Cao Lau, fried wontons and white rose all of which are local specialties.....OH MY GOODNESS.....Deb and I both agreed that it was the nicest meal we've had since we've been over here. There was a little, old Vietnamese man having dinner there too and he was so drunk but he was just so cute! He spoke very good English and actually lives in Florida but is travelling over here for a while, he was sharing his philosophies on life and love and the human race and after chatting to him for a while we found out that he teaches people how to grow and care for Bonsai.....after we found that we both agreed that he will forever be known to us as Mr Miyagi!

Day 2 - We took a day trip to My Son (pronounced Me Son), which are temples and villages of the ancient minority people....nothing like Angkor Wat but interesting to see. We travelled down by bus and the came back by boat which was really nice and the breeze provided much needed relief from the heat and humidity of the day! We met some more really nice travellers again today

Tomorrow morning we're off to Hue!

Nha Trang

rebecca_spencer — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 20:59:00 GMT

Deb and I caught the bus down the very, very winding roads to Nha Trang which is on the the East coast of Vietnam. After now travelling for 2 weeks and being on the go for the whole time we both agreed that we were just going to chill out for the time that we were there. The first afternoon was just finding somewhere to stay (thank you Lonely Planet book) and then we tottled of to the Sailing Club for some beverages. The next day we went down to the beach and rented ourselves some comfy beach chairs under little palm tree hut things... As soon as we got settled the sellers were onto us trying to sell us a range of things from paintings to sunglasses to cigarettes. One young girl kept trying to sell us Mentos and we were totally not interested but she kept coming back she was so persistant, before we left to go and have lunch we did some wheeling and dealing with her and ended up with Mentos and gum....she was our best friend then and just kept coming over to chat, she didn't try and sell us anythig for the rest of the day.

We caught the sleeper bus (which is just INSANE I might just add) that night and headed to Hoi An....

Gallery: Mekong Delta

rebecca_spencer — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 20:37:00 GMT

Dalat

rebecca_spencer — Thu, 9 Apr 2009 22:47:00 GMT

We've been on the move again and are currently in Dalat! What an awesome little place...a must visit if ever you come to Vietnam. We met Dawn and Hong who are from London on the bus trip and have been hanging out with them since. Shortly after we arrived yesterday we were approached by the owner of a guesthouse across the road from the bus station, the rooms are nice and so very cheap $7 US for a twin room.....INSANE! After we had all checked in some Easy Riders (motorbike tour co.) came in and were talking to us about a tour, we decided to all go together and so today we jumped on the back of motorcylces and hit the open road for some fun. They take you to all these really cool places in the area and tell you about the history, we went to the 'Crazy House' named by the locals for obvious reasons....it's a hotel but it's like this giant concrete tree house type setup with themed rooms....it's totally nuts and the woman who designed it must have been having a serious acid trip at the time! It needs to be seen to be believed. The scenery in the area is beautiful and because it's in the Central Highlands it gets bloody cold at night....I'm sitting here with a long sleeved shirt on and a scarf....a vast contrast to Saigon!

It's been a really fun day and if there's ever a next time I'll be staying here for longer but tomorrow we're off to Nah Trang!

Cu Chi Tunnels

rebecca_spencer — Thu, 9 Apr 2009 22:36:00 GMT

On Tuesday Deb and I ventured out to the Cu Chi Tunnels for a look see, the tunnels are so small and the part that they actually walk through is widened for big arsed westerners like me, I was fully squatted down and walking like a duck through these dimly lit tunnels it was quite freaky and my legs are so sore even now....days later. The Vietnamese people lived in this tunnel system for years during the war....it would totally screw you in the head after a day! You can pay to fire weapons from the era and Deb and I and another lady on the tour decided we would share the cost and fire a couple of bullets each from an M16 rifle, it was really cool and an awesome experience....where else but Vietnam!

We met Taryn & Joey on the tour who are from Canada, they were only a day away from heading home after travelling for the past 2 months throught SE Asia so we got to chatting to them about our trip North and they gave us some really good tips, we ended up having lunch/dinner and some beers with them when we got back to Saigon.

6 Days In Cambodia

rebecca_spencer — Mon, 6 Apr 2009 21:02:00 GMT

We caught the bus from Saigon to Phnom Penh to meet up with our Gecko tour, the trip took about 6 hours and crossing the border was an interesting experience....you first stop at the Vietnam border, get off the bus and then line up with your passport to go through a departure proceedure, you then get back on the bus drive 5mins through no mans (a patch of land that neither Vienam or Cambodia want to take care of) and then stop at the Cambodian border, get off the bus again hand over your passport to an official looking person, get back on the bus and then it starts driving off....needles to say we were getting a bit worried wondering if we would ever see our passports again! The ended up just taking us up the road to this very dodgy pit stop for food and toilet break while they process the visa's, we were very relieved when the man came back with our passports.

We met up with our tour group that night and went out for some dinner and drinks together. The next day we went on a cyclo tour to see the Royal Palace and the Russian Markets. After lunch we had a very sombre afternoon visiting S21 and the Killing Fields to learn about what Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge did to the people of Cambodia, it was horrific and an extremely sad afternoon. Nobody could understand how the rest of the world could let this happen....it's estimated that 3 million people were killed by the Khmer Roughe which at the time was 1/3 of the population of Cambodia. Our tour leader was 16 when it all started and told us his personal story of the time.

Day 3 we left Phnom Penh and travelled to Siem Reap....temple country! Along the way we stopped off to use the happy room (toilet) and eat some tarantula black spider and let a couple of live ones crawl on us. I only ate one of the legs..crunchy! We then stopped at a silk farm and learned how they make silk and then watched some ladies weave it into scarves. After we arrived in Siem Reap we checked into our hotel had a little bit of free time and then late in the afternoon went and climbed Phnom Bakheng temple to watch the sunset.

Day 4 was a FULL day of temples starting at 5am for sunrise at Angkor Wat! It was an amazing day and it's hard to believe that they still let you climb all over these ancient ruins....I dare say in years to come they will change that. After lunch we stopped outside Angkor Thom to feed the local monkeys some fruit, they were so gentle and would just come and take it straight out of your hand. They're ever the opportunists though as I found out when a couple of them jumped on my back while I was squatting down and then one of them stole my sunnes and ran off, luckily one of the local boys ran off after it and got them back for me...I'm really not having much luck with sunglasses! That night we all went out for dinner and drinks....I drank way too many buckets of cocktails and was very very ill later that night....I did get a free shirt though...bonus!

Day 5 was a free day to do whatever whcih was good as I was feeling very delicate. Deb and I sussed out the local markets, bought some goodies and then later in the after some of our group took a trip out to visit a floating village for sunset. It was unreal, they live on Tonle Sap Lake and the whole village floats...everything you could want is there, mechanic, pool/snooker table hall, bar. People grow gardens off the back of their floating house and we even seen a floating pig pen complete with 2 pigs....just no mud. It really needs to be seen to be believed! Totally awesome!

Day 6...today we said goodbye to our group and travelled back to Saigon

Ciao for now,

Beck

Mekong Delta Day Trip

rebecca_spencer — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 21:45:00 GMT

Today we got up early to prepare for our Mekong Delta day trip. The street we're staying in has the best food places so we found somewhere cheap and had brekky....boiled eggs & bread. The food is simple yet so very delicious over here. After a feed we headed to the travel agent to meet our tour, right on schedule the bus arrived and 9 of us hopped on board, the only downside....the bus had ZERO leg room! It was about a 2hr drive to the Mekong Delta but we had 2 small stops along the way. When we arrived we hopped on a long boat which took us along the Mekong, we got to visit 2 provinces in the region but there's heaps more. First stop was on a little island where we walked around and were shown some honey bees, we're all standing there as our tour guide showed us the honeycomb and explained how they get the honey and then.....in this chicken wire cage near the bees was a 'small' python! He took it out of the cage and asked if anyone wanted it around their necks...me being up for most things volunteered first, it was so weird, you can feel all of it's muscles contract as it moves around you.... We then had honey tea and some delicious local sweets. We walked around a wee bit further and sat down again where they served us some local fruit and more tea, we were then entertained with some traditional music. We then got loaded into row boats and they rowed us along this canal back down to the Mekong where our long boats were waiting. Back on the river we went to the second province and taken to a place where they make the local Coconut Candy, they were just in this open 'shed' making candy that gets sent all over Vietnam, we got to try some and it was AWESOME! They have different types but the standard one is a chewy coconut caramel lolly, so yummy, everyone bought some to take with them. From there we were taken to have lunch (I know what your thinking....more food...yes, we've eaten all day), we arrived got seated and lunch was pre arranged but there was additional menu that you could order from....it had things like squirrel, crocodile, snake, iguana and numerous other like things (no I'm not kidding). A fellow Aussie on the tour, Glen, decided that he would try snake, he had to go and choose his own snake which they then killed in front of him by cutting it's head off with a pair of scissors, they then brought the heart of the snake to the table which he was to eat.....mind you it was still beating! He swallowed it down like an oyster and then the rest of his snake came out meat and skin....satay style. He offered it around so I tried some, it was chewy like calamari sometimes is, it didn't really taste like anything probably because it was covered in satay. After lunch we made our way back to Saigon to some more beers. It's been a really fun day. Off to Cambodia tomorrow.

Will post photos soon.

Till next time,

Beck

Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon to the locals)

rebecca_spencer — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 18:27:00 GMT

You might want to grab a tea/coffee/milo for this one.......

DAY 1: - Well Deb and I arrived in HCMC yesterday around lunch time, we got our visas sorted at the airport, which was suprisingly easy, and then thought 'where to now?'. We got our bags and thought we would catch the bus 'downtown' and then find somewhere to stay for the night.....sounds good in theory. We get outside only to be told that there were no buses on Sunday (which I question now...but that's hindisght) so we arranged with a cabbie to take us into town we thought it was going to be 10 USD but no it was 10 USD each which he only clarified once we were driving away....first lesson! He dropped us into town and unloaded our bags onto the footpath, he then thought he had taken us into the wrong area and proceeded to load my things (one of them being a shopping bag) back into the front seat of the cab I said no this will be fine and he took my things out again without giving the whole situation much thought. So we strapped on the backpacks and started walking, map in hand when all of a sudden 2 cyclo riders came along and said they would show us a good hotel, we were reluctant but we really had no idea what we were doing so we hopped in. They did take us to a very nice hotel that was a good price so we took the room, the cyclos said they would wait while we checked in and then they would take us 'around'. We go up to the room, throw our bags down and use the loo. I thought I would unload some of my travel shit from my day pack and grab my brand new sunnies that I brought at Brisbane airport.....only to discover they weren't to be found! Our cab driver had stolen them when handling my bags in the front seat....second lesson! I was so angry with myself and it was such a bad start. Putting that aside we went downstairs to our waiting cyclos, when I asked how much one of them said 'it's ok', they took us riding through the traffic which is organised chaos, it's first in first go! We went to the general post office, a temple in Chinatown and the War Remnants Museum....which is a very sobering experience! The horrors of war that so many of us are immune to because we've not had to experience it first hand. We then went for dinner and then got dropped back to our hotel for an early night....the cyclos then expected us to pay a ridiculous price for their work....not happy! I offered them what I thought was fair and said take it or leave it....after a civilised argument they took the money and we walked away....lesson 3. By the time we got to bed we'd been awake for the better part of 36 hours.

DAY 2: - We had a bit of sleep in this morning and had brekky at the hotel, which was yummy. We then tottled off to a police station to fill out a report so I can at least claim my sunglasses theft through insurance, we found it, the police wonman was very helpful and got my report. We then went and checked out of our hotel as we decided that we wanted to find 'backpakcer alley' and get amongst it! We found the hotel we wanted got a good room at a good rate (internet included...bonus). We were feeling much better about the day and decided to go and book some tours, so we're off on a day trip to the Mekong Delta tomorrow and we've booked our bus tix to Cambodia for Wednesday. After that we just wandered the city, ate some great food and checked out some markets which were just crazy! Huge...floor to ceiling full of stuff, after wandering for a while you just kept seeing the same stuff over and over and over again and you get so sick of saying no thanks as they jam their wares in your face! I think we'll venture out tonight , grab a bite to eat and find a beer or two! Today has been a much better day...we've met some lovely locals!

Wow that was a big one!

Till next time take care!

Beck xoxo

The Final Countdown.....

rebecca_spencer — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 08:59:00 GMT

Well today is my last day at work and in a matter of hours I will be at the end of one chapter and the beginning of a new one.....a very different, very exciting chapter!

Tomorrow I'll pack up the little black beast (which I'm trying to sell if anyone's interested), leave the Gold Coast and drive the 5 hour journey back to Bundaberg. I'll be in Bundy for a couple of weeks to spend time with my family, tie up the last of my 'affairs' and drink as much rum as physically possible before shunning responsibility and becoming a professional backpacker!

Till next time, take care!

Love,

Becks