Who dat?!

Okay, so it's been a year since my last post. Yep that's flippin ages!!! But my posts are boring anyway, so what's it matter?!

Right now, I'm in New Orleans, so that matters!!!!

Flew to SanFran on Saturday 24th to see our Princess Emms and the Devil in Denim, with my gorgeous greek goddess and my naughty new soulth welsh chicky! Long flight...long stupid flight. Hardly slept, but well worth it when Princess Emms collected us in her gigantic truck at the airport! And to get home to DinD and B-Boy who were drunk and happy! Awesome! wouldn't have it any other way.

Also, on the way home I spotted a real SF treat! A naked man in his window butt naked and having a go of himself! The girls didn't believe me so we drove past again - and amongst the squeals were fits of giggles! Love SF!
First day of SF was pretty ruined. Princess E worked and DinD was supposed to take us on a tour, but he sucked. Sooky la la needed a coffee and bed. We didn't mind, coz bed was a nice idea! Thankfully the princess came home and took us to the park where the girls and I chilled, chatted and giggled in one of the many gorgeous meadows of the golden gate park. Such a gigantic park! love it xoxo
Ended up having dinner at my favourite mexican restaurant/tequila bar - Tommy's!!!! Fav place. Big meal and lots of Margaritas. Love those salty yummy drinks! The girls were left to hit the dive bar Trader Sams....terrible! just terrible! But that's what i love about SF/America. Dive bars, but you can have such a blast!

We had a touristy day with a start at Alcatraz. What a wicked prison. I think the 2 men that were never found made it to shore and are still amongst us. Crazy i know, but hey. Although we were absolutely freezing and that water was ridiculous! If they did survive they deserve to live in peace! Kudos to them! The escape attempts were crazy. The guts to do that was crazy. A spoon, just a spoon...and they dug out. And starving yourself to fit through the bars. Desperation. That's it. Alcatraz made you so desperate to get out. But cold, oh so cold.
Then caught a cable cart to the centre of the city. Happy hills and lovely conductor! good times. met Nick and Emms at a bar called Gold Dust. A fantastic, charachteristic little cocktail/piano lounge! love it! Tried eating at a well known vietnamese restaurant at the ferry building called the Slanted Door, but there was a 1 1/2 hour wait, so hell no!!!! Found a pizza bar near the coit tower which was just as fab!

There's probably more for SF, but all i can think of is New Orleans and the jazz fest! So will write about that tomorrow!

Love this country!
Love party pashes! (except no-one in the states knows what that is...except a few who i met!)

No surprise

Okay, so I know I shouldn't be surprised with the quality of toilets in Changi Airport, but after 3 weeks of Vietnamese bathrooms, squat toilets and having to take toilet paper and hand sanitiser everywhere, you kind of get used to roughing it!

But wow!!! Changi, noice! Not just toilets, but powder rooms as well. Automatic flushing, nice soft TP, pump soap and hand towels. Heaven!



And for some reason I thought of quickly calling my folks to let them know flight is going to be on time. Lucky I did call, I wouldn't have had anyone to meet me at the airport coz my altogether-with-it mother thought I was arriving on Sunday Morning. That gave me such a giggle. Quite a few people were looking at me in the lounge area, but who cares!



OOOhhhhhhh I don't want to go home!!!

Boo Hoo.....

Sitting at Singapore Changi airport again, using free internet, which means I am on the way home.
Not too happy about it, but I'll survive.
Had a little teary in the cab on the way to Hanoi airport, but i'm okay now.

Happy Easter Weekend too everyone. Kind of forget that when travelling.

Will update blog when home and hopefully put some photos up. There are about 1000 to go through, maybe even more, so be patient!

One of the 7 wonders of the world!

A very exciting day!!! Early bus trip to head out to Halong Bay! THis is the part I was looking forward to the most! And it didn't disappoint (except we could've been there longer and a little sun would've been good).

Our boat was really awesome! Called Junk Boats, they are like a 2 - 3 star hotel! For only 10 of us it was massive. A little lounge and dining area on the middle deck where lunch was all set up for us, rooms with ensuites on the lower deck and a nice big open top deck with chairs and tables! Heaven!
As soon as we were on the boat it was time for lunch and the boat took us straight out into the bay. The beautiful jade coloured water with limestones cliffs everywhere and thousands of limestone islands - big and small - scattered for miles! Amazing.
Visited a gorgeous cave. The hidden or secret cave i think it was called. So many tourists, but still huge enough to wander and enjoy. They had somelovely coloured lights for some of it.
Halong Bay means "the bay of descending dragons". There is a story that goes with it about the dragons spitting out jewels, which created these cliffs and islands to protect the king and the mainland.
Back on the boat i sat on the floor at the front to take it all in and had lovely chats with one of the other girls. I did see one gigantic jelly fish! It looked huge and had purply coloured veins. The water was so deep, you couldn't see far below at all. Who knows what's swimming below there!
We anchored and got into to 2's for kayaking. Wow - I went kayaking on Halong Bay......blew my mind! There were so many boats we got a little lost trying to find ours, but we just wanted to keep going too. We paddled into little inlets and chilled and looked for monkeys. No luck with that, but enjoyed every minute of it! It was not a warm day/evening, but I couldn't leave without swimming in Halong Bay. So I sucked it up and took a dive!!!! It was so freezing, i just had to keep swimming. I was also a bit scared, coz i couldn't see in the water or anything! But I'm so glad I did it. I was the only one who did.
Had a really chilled out night with dinner and drinks and watching crazy chinese shows, with vietnamese voice overs, with the crew. Had a few rice wines, which are really deadly, but i've had quite a few on this tour! It was lovely just sitting on the top deck chatting with 1 or 2 others and taking it all in. I just had such a nice time chilling. I wish we had another night there....
We are in Hanoi now, and I'm already not that into it. Just another big city with lots of horns and crowded streets. Oh well.

Getting back to nature

Okay I will try to write briefly now.....Although it's pretty tough to do that!

Very long train journey from Hue to Ninh Binh - 10 - 11 hours long.
Very nervous about this situation. We'd all read and heard horror stories. But you know it was actually quite good. We had sleeper cabins, so were able to lie down and not be stuck between locals. A few of the group went for a walk through the normal seating area, but I saw this through the window and didn't want to experience that. Look and smelt horrible!
We actually had a choice of a squat or western toilet. As foul as it smelt, I visited the western, coz i couldn't think of anything worse (or funnier) than trying to squat and balance on a rocky train!
The scenery was gorgeous. It ranged from lush rice paddies to massive craggy limestone cliffs, to corn fields, to lots of green ponds for fishing....its hard to describe and these computers are useless to download photos. But yes, we survived the hell trip!
Quiet night, just went on a hunt for icecream! We were told we would not find any, however a few doors down there was a shop with about 20 freezers chockers with it!!!! We were a little excited after that.

Stayed one night in Cuc Phuong National Park. I was so excited to get back to nature and go on a 2 hour trek! What a trek though. Thousands and thousands of steps heading up the mountain...This was hard work. I would've been okay with a steady incline, but steps!! Killed me. Our leader went quite quickly too, so really didn't get a chance to enjoy our surrounds. Don't get me wrong - I loved it and enjoyed it - it was just so fast and such hard work. They weren't little steps! Felt great when we got back to our funny accom. Were told we would have hot showers, but nope, they were freezing. So I had a "shower in a packet" (wet wipes). No one seemed to care! I was on the look out for monkeys and animals, but nothing. Just a hell of allot of mozzies! Uno came out and it was a huge time of games! 9 ppl playing is quite funny.
Dinner was fine for where we were and consisted of a plate of hot chips!!! THis kept the hords happy for a while. We visited the Endangered Species Centre for Monkeys. Was small, but they had some very pretty colours. One looked a bit sad coz he had to be alone in a cage, coz he was way to agressive. Gibbons aren't nice apparently!

Had a fun but short night, we were told electricity would be out at 9pm. So we all went to bed uber early and i think it didn't go off until 10.30pm. The Vietnamese have no concept of time!

Brief stories of the last week

Wow, internet is so bad here. Most has been free in the hotels, but that's because it's never worked and the last 3 days have been no where near a computer. So I am going to update quite briefly what I've seen and done since the "no tourist" town of Qui Nhon.

Had a nice early bus trip to the shopping mecca that is Hoi An. I actually really like this place. So many shops and nothing much else, but such a great place to stroll and people watch. We were told that we would not get hassled here at the shops, but they were worse than anywhere else we'd been! Hotel not bad. Internet useless. Breakfast the usual interesting items, except they had Banana Pancakes on the menu, which was so exciting and not a disappointment!!! Guess what I started my 3 mornings on?!
Had a quick walking tour in the evening, mainly pointed out shops that were the best to buy things in, of course. And ended up at a fantastic restaurant called Before & Now. These guys rocked!!! A vietnamese head chef and owner who specialises in Italian foods. He comes up and discusses his restaurant and ingredients and runs through the menu to make sure we get what we want. English was superb! Food absolutely fantastic! He was great entertainment too. It was one of the guys birthdays so our leader had organised a cake too, which was soooo yummy.
The next morning we had a bicycle tour of the surrounding areas which was so nice. Of course it absolutely bucketed with rain when we were no where near anywhere!!! I loved it. THe rain was so heavy and cool. We found a little place to wait it out and there were 2 little old men that thought we were quite funny, especially me coz I was dancing in the rain and checking out the temple. I loved the bike ride! THere was no point waiting it out coz it wasn't stopping, so we just rode back to the hotel. that was funny coz all the locals must know when the rain is coming, they were all decked out in ponchos and rain coats. As we were cycling on the road, locals were chatting to me we were that close!
Had a dinner at a locals house which was really nice. The next day still had time with the bikes, so rode out to an orphanage where quite a few are disabled. It was such a simple place but they are doing the right things for the kids. One little disabled girl held my hand when i squatted to say hello, she was so cute, but it did break my heart. We donated some rice and toiletries for the centre. Ordered a ring which is a copy of a george jensen copy. Checked online and it's price tag is $1,150 and I paid a tenth of that! Nice one! Bought heaps of little things but no clothes.
Went to a cooking class which was brilliant! Our teacher was fantastic and my new favourite dish is green papaya salad! Everything was so tasty and we were pretty proud of ourselves!
Went back to Before and Now for a final lunch and the chef was so chuffed, he gave us lots of little nibbles onthe house!
Hoi An was lovely, but the market stall holders were driving me mad. They actually hold on tight and don't let go. one clung to me for about 60 metres. So annoying!

I'm not doing very well with the briefly descriptions am I?!
Next stop Hue - (pronounced Hway). Had a "royal dinner" our first night. This is where 2 people are treated like the king and queen and the rest of us concubines and unics and we all get dressed up in the ancient gear. We all looked a laugh but it was a good night to be silly. Food was amazing and we had singers and music as well which was fab!\
Big highlight of the trip!!! Motorbike tour for most of the day! We were taken everywhere by a group of bikers (well scooter bikers anyway). Mine was a daredevil and we both laughed so much the whole day!
Riding through the rice paddies, watching the buffalo at work and the duckies being farmed along. Riding through little villages and having the kids so excited run to the side of the road to slap our hands as we went past. Stopped at a covered bridge of one village that has been ravaged by floods 3 times. A 70 something year old lady showed us all the farming tools and what a brilliant old lady she was! BEst on tour i think! She had the blackest of black teeth from chewing beetlenut and thebeetlenut leaf, which is an old tradition from years ago. Apparently the blacker the teeth, the more beautiful you are. Seriously she must be the prettiest lady ever! She showed us everything with such enthusiasm and giggled and sang. So lovely!
We went to a one-armed lady who makes the traditional conicle hats. She is famous for her hats as she puts a story and poem on the inside, so when you hold it to the light you can see it all. She is also faster than any other maker. Very lovely woman. Looked about 30 and was 43 yrs old!
Then off to have lunch at an orphanage run by monks. This orphanage was beautiful, but there were 300 kids. But they look after them so well and so many people come and volunteer there. We had a fabbo lunch and then 30 minutes to play with the kids! That was so much fun. I wanted to bring them all home! Some were maniacs, others were so quiet, others just wanted to be picked up and cuddled. It was a crazy 30 minutes with emotions let me tell you!
Saw incense being made and i had a go, not as easy as she made it out to look!
Went to a lookout area above the perfume river which was beautiful. It is called the perfume river because of all the flowers that lined the river banks and the scents. But people over farmed the area, and now there is no flowers.
Had quiet time at the 7 tier temple and pagoda. All about buddha here. So much information, not enough time or space! It was so nice and peaceful except for the loud giggling school kids, who followed us and stared constantly.
Quite a few other areas were seen but we ended at the Citadel. This area was quite big and mostly destroyed. Man, I feel for the Vietnamese people. They have spent so much time building their cities up again and again after so many wars. You'd think there'd be some seriously old buildings, but there isn't. Quite amazing really.

Um....oh so much more to write about!

Qui Nhon is such a place with no tourists

After such a blissful time in Nha Trang we had a couple hours on the bus to head to Que Nhon.

On the way we stopped at My Lai Memorial Centre. this is where a horrible massacre occurred with 504 people being killed by American Soldiers. Yes, this is the Vietnamese version, but it shouldn't have happened. These soldiers assumed there were VietCong hiding in this tiny village so went in there with orders to kill everything that was alive.
And they certainly almost did that. These people included women, children and old people. All unarmed and allot of children - ages from 1yr to 13 yrs. Why? Because they were following orders??? Horrid. Unarmed children. This village had no idea what happened that day. The soldiers raded the houses, burnt all animals and crops and homes. Ordered the villagers into small canals and shot them till they were dead. some were hiding under their parents they were so scared. And so now they are orphans. Whole families were wiped out. Just brutal. \
Quite a few graphic photos are here. A journalist/soldier was there taking pictures. A pilot ordered everything to stop, there was no reason to kill unarmed harmless villagers, but they continued, so this pilot ordered his machine gun crew to kill any soldier who came to get him while he saved 10 civilians from this torturous mess. Of course tears were streaming out of my eyes. I tried to stop, but it was so graphic and the land is as it was that day. Breaks my heart that war has caused such destruction over and over in such a small country with the frienliest people. I know the Vietnamese were pretty brutal as well, I'm not condoning that, but geez. These people have gone through hell and continue to go through hell. 2 million plus disabled children and adults struggling due to agent orange and all other things that happened. Orphaned children....just heart breaking.

Anyway, on to our 4 star hotel in Qui Nhon!!! The only one of course. Intrepid doesn't have a budget for more nights like this! Had a quick swim in the ocean, with many local kids and men alike, coming up and saying hello. Mind you that's all they could say!
Then a swim in the pool and updating my journal while chilling on a sun bed watching all the local students come out of school! so many!

What a tourist attraction I was! Fair skin, ginger hair....you can tell they don't get many tourists around this little town. There isn't much here for tourists except the beach. They loved it! I kind of loved the attention, but after the 200th person staring, I just felt weird. Some tried talking, some just said hello and stared. Very funny!

Such a nice night in luxury. The bed was lush, the pillows so comfy, the room so big, the bathroom so clean!!! Dinner great and breakfast the same as everywhere else, just a little more variety of savoury rice and steamed dishes!

They have hostpitality down pat in this country. so attentive and english not bad considering. the only thing they haven't mastered is getting all meals out at the same time. By the time one person is finished the last person is getting their meal. that's really the only problem with service. Australia needs to pick up their game in this area. We used to be great and classed as hospitality central, but compared to here we are lacking.

More Beachside Bliss

Our first night in Nha Trang we went to a local BBQ restaurant, where you actually cook yourself! They bring out these little clay volcano shaped bbq's and all the marinaded meat and off you go. We had chicken, beef, pork, goat, fish and some morning glory. (Morning Glory is a vegetable over here....interesting name :), but very tasty. I will miss this vege)
We did so well, and it didn't take long at all to cook. We were working up a sweat just from the heat! Beers went down a treat with this.
A few cocktails at a bar later and wandered home at some point. This was interesting with all the rats that ran out of bins as we passed! It was like a game of dodge ball, but with rats!

Our day of relaxation was brilliant. We headed to the port and jumped on a boat with a guide named Lam. He wanted us to call him lamb chop! I had no problem with this as he was the best looking vietnamese man i have ever seen! great skin, great smile and a lurvly body!!!
Anyhoot, went to a little fishing village on a tiny island, that only got power about 10 years ago, now you see big TV's in each house and kids love their playstations! THe local kids were funny and the adults just so friendly. To get back to the boat we had to get a lift in a traditional fishing basket. A smallish round basket made with bamboo and cow pat which you just paddle around. It was good fun. Old women, again, were the masters of these boats! These are easier to transport fish to markets and such.
Our first stop was in a gorgeous bay for jumping off the boat, swimming and snorkelling. And manicures, pedicures or massages from our lovely little ladies that were on the boat purely to pamper us when we wanted to. And they only charged $5 a piece!!! Pretty dam exciting. Jumping off the top of the boat was fun and the water so clear. Bit of a sunbake on the roof, then lunch. All seafood and noodles and rice spread out for us! Brilliant.
Then to a little beach on a secluded island for more relaxation. This was just lovely. There was a little pontoon with a very rickety slide, but it was a bit of a school girl giggle time for that!

Back to port and just chilled out again. REally lovely day.
Very sick this night though. not good.

Beachside Bliss

Nha Trang next! Finally time to relax and enjoy quiet time!
Firstly we hit the hotel which was cool. I had some fabbo construction sharing my wall which made for a fun time.
We arrived and headed to Cham Tower. Ancient towers from the Cham dynasty/era?? on top of a hill. Inside these towers were little temples/shrines. Very nice to see if not suffocating with the amount of incence being burnt! There were some people around that almost sounded Indian with their music. They were great to watch, singing and dancing and playing! Good times.
Mud Bath Time!!! What an interesting experience this was. When I think of Mud Baths, I picture thick mud. Not this. You have a warm mineral shower and are led to a little pool, where a tap is turned on and greenish muddy water comes out. Very runny, very smelly, but oh what a laugh! We were the tourist attraction here. Every other pool were looking at us and taking photos of us. Geez, the papparazzi, wouldn't leave us green monstrous beauties alone!! Then we had the shower again, then were led through this hard spray thing, then into a warm pool of mineral water stuff. Very nice this one. All were laughing at us and one of the staff kept trying to grab my nose everytime he led us to a new spot.
Then us girls got into the pamper mode and had a 1 hour massage! This was great and interesting. She actually walked on my back! I thought that only happened in movies and to dirty men!! and when she was massaging my legs, she was actually sitting between then on the table. Quite different, unusual, but I liked it! All this was only $10!!!!!!!!!!!! yep, $10 - need this at home! I will never want to pay $50 + again!!!

Okay, out of time again, but only 3 days behind now!!

Exhausting Swan Boats...how do lurvers do it?!

Before we made it to Dalat, we did see a little village, called Chicken Village. This village had a great big concrete chicken in the middle of it. Quite funny to see, not expected. The story goes that if a man loved a woman he would need to prove it by going off into the mountains for a long time, until he found the biggest chicken. Then he would bring it back for the woman and they would marry. The woman would wait patiently for her man, while he wanders the mountains. Interesting love story, but they are sticking to it. most people many years ago thought the village only had females, coz the men would all be in the mountains. While here the kids and locals were gorgeous. One little girl had a disturbing toy though - a sparrow tied to a string. Yes it was till alive. They all thought it was fab. Not sure how i'm feeling about it still.

Dalat - What a funny, tacky, busy and great place! The surrounds were really good to.
As we arrived, we saw a large lake and on the lake were swan boats!!! I have never laughed so hard. Another unexpected thing in Vietnam! Anyway, that night had dinner at a local restaurant and a drink at a bar just by the hotel. We stuck out like sore thumbs in this bar. Really think it was a local place only. And they served the beer warm, with ice. Worst thing I have ever had to drink!!!

2nd Day in Dalat was filled with fun and excitement. Saw the palace of the Last King of Vietnam. He mainly used this as a summer house and only lived in it with his first wife. He did have 8 wives. Of course they were not to live there. Quite an interesting palace. I think I was expecting something a little more asian, but it was quite French and normal. But I suppose this city was first founded by the French, which makes sense with they style of houses, hotels and colours. After the palace we hit the Roller Coaster!! I was looking forward to this. However the Vietnamese Roller Coaster is quite different to ours. More like a bob sled on tracks for a short distance and you control the speed. This was the best aspect, unless you had a family in front who kept braking. The first run down was awesome and I caned it down!! but the second not so fast. At the bottom of this coaster was a really pretty waterfall. Can't remember the name but will another day! It was so nice, another unexpected thing in such a funny place!

Headed to a pagoda which was set above a man made lake and pine forest. This lake was the most amazing turquoise colour. The greens and blues looked so lovely. And the pagoda so peaceful. Wind chimes everywhere that were harmonious and almost eery, but so relaxing.
A little monk inside was banging a bell/chime and it could've made you fall asleep so calming. He had the most catching smile. Even though not too many teeth left! I lit some incense and said a prayer to Buddha as well as i could and sat outside enjoying the moment.

We then jumped on a cable car. Not bad. Miss crazy is afraid of heights but did well, but my tummy did not! Lucky it was a short cable car ride!!!

Back in town we saw a silk embroidery shop in action and i have to say they look amazing. (i'm running out of good adjectives for Vietnam!) The intricacy of the piece of art is just so awe inspiring. I would never be able to be that patient or steady. These girls start learning from their mother or grandmother and can then be sent to a shop or school to learn the finishing touches. Needless to say I bought a couple of pieces...
Hit the smelly markets. Funny - all "same same but different". It's all you hear in Vietnam. And they are so right. It was interesting seeing the chicken feet, meats, seafood and veg sitting in the sun, not looking too clean for sale, but hey, they know what they're doing. They've been doing it for so long now.
We were all going to do a swan boat challenge, but all piked, so only a few of us had a go. Now as fun as it looks, it's actually quite exhausting. And in the heat of Vietnam, not so fun. We had a giggle, but I gave up 15 minutes into the ride. The exhaustion and the floating dead fish, were not appealing to me anymore! Plus the men with fishing rods on the side were putting me off.
BBQ for the 2nd night was brilliant! Didn't look at the food out the front - thought it best to be surprised! and the promo girls were so different to ours at home!
All in all Dalat was a fab place to stop!

Scary Tactics of the Vietnamese

After heading back to Ho Chi Minh from the Mekong, nothing really to report. A very long drive, but good to see all the different towns and stuff. It's amazing how these people live. So simple. All the shops look the same, so I wonder if anyone is making any money...do they sell to the locals or the small amount of tourists that pass through? I just don't know. The road stops are so not like ours...but brilliant! small huts with quite a few hammocks tied up and a few tables. I LURV hammocks. I am going to buy 10 when I get home!

Anyway, headed to the Cu Chi Tunnels. These are the very cramped, underground tunnel systems that the Viet Cong created to fight the Americans (and a few others later). The area now belongs to the army and the staff and guides work in the army too. A huge area and the scary thing is there are still giant bomb craters. They are huge, but they have obviously filled in a little over the years. The bunkers were all set up with some info and documentaries which was good. There are over 250 kms of tunnels, 3 levels deep - 4 metres, 6 metres and 10 metres. Loads of booby traps laid out in them as well in case any americans actually got in. Now, I don't think any Americans could've with the size of these tunnels. There is even some areas, where people cannot go in Vietnam due to mines and bombs still in the ground that could be detonated and no one can remember where they all are.

The Vietnamese would hide in these tunnels and have secret entrances all over the place. We saw one of them and my goodness it was tiny! One of the girls on the tour gave it a go, just by standing in it and squatting down and she is quite tiny and just made it! So there was no way my big bum would fit (or I didn't want to get stuck in front of everyone!). They also cooked underground...and had a tricky way of filtering out the smoke so the americans couldn't find them. Apparently the Vietnamese back then and a few still today say a man should be able to cook without smoke, walk without marks and speak without noise...or something along those lines. Hence the cooking without smoke, and the smoke being filtered out of the ground 100 metres away...the walk without marks, is from their shoes. Made from car tyres, they would be able to wear them back to front so that the tracks look like they are going one way, but the men are going the opposite way. And I can't remember the talkng one...

The vietcong would quietly stalk the Americans and find the bombs that didn't detonate and take them carefully and plant them where they knew the Americans were heading so their own bombs would blow them up. Scary little things! There would be a small woman with each group underground as she would be small enough to fit everywhere, know how to shoot, and cook for them all.

Now I went down the tunnels for 60 metres. What hard work! I was crouched over, banging my head and shoulders, and it was so dam hot!!! I came up from it a sweating mess of exhaustion! And these tunnels had been widened to fit the tourists!!!!

After gettting back to HCM city, we didn't do much. Headed up the Majestic Hotel for a drink. This is a ritzy hotel right on the river and the prices of one drink showed just how posh it was! But it was nice to do.

A very long bus trip to Dalat...like really long....killer long...but so much to see and Dalat was the city of Lovers! More to tell and got to go.
Finding the time to write is quite hard. We are constantly on the go and when we have free time, it's really cool to be able to wander the streets.

Cruising the Mekong Delta

Quite an early start and a bit of a bus ride out to the Mekong Delta. We left all our main luggage in storage in Ho Chi Minh, as we were coming back, so just a change of clothes and toiletries in hand and off we went!

We arrived in a little town called Cai Bao and got to go on a long boat with a cover out to the Island where our home stay was located! As soon as I saw the long boat I was excited! We had a local guide whose name was Han. Absolutely brilliant! We had great chats and he helped me with my phrase book (which I have given up on, coz it's wrong). So yeah, learnt a bit about the Mekong region and history and life style as we moved slowly along. Made our way through some little canals to our lunch spot, where we had a local delicacy of Deep Fried Elephant Ear Fish. It was served whole, standing up on little racks, and we had rice paper, lettuce and herbs, which we quite skillfully cut the meat of the fish off and put all together in the rice paper roll, dipped in something and ate!!! Beautiful! So tasty. I thought that was it, but we then got spring rolls, vegetable soup, chicken and rice, followed by fruit and tea! So much food and all locally farmed. I had a wander around and the ponds were where the fish were grown. All the family lives there and always with hammocks so you can have a chill out too! Loving the hammocks.
After lunch jumped in a Sampan, another long boat (a bit smaller) for 2-3 people pushed along by a little old lady. She was singing and giggling! Had another moment to chill out on hammocks, eating fruit and drinking tea - yes i have been drinking the tea - and learning more about the area.

So exciting!!!! Next we went on a 10 KM bike ride through the villages! Such a highlight so far!!! the kids the people.....ooh, it's just amazing. Every child would yell "hello" and come running out to see us. They love the attention and the people just love to smile and laugh! Some of the little bridges were a bit frightening to cross, but i was brave and did all of them. Even cycled up some giant ones!!!! I will never be scared of the stupid yellow things on our bicycle tracks in brissy again!

On the long boat to our Home Stay! Mr Muoi's House on stilts on the river! As soon as I saw it I was loving it. It automatically relaxed me! We learnt how to say "hello Mr Muoi". Sin Chao is hello. He was a great man! Lots of fun later in the night. We went for an hour walk through the island and chatted with local kids and giggled. Han was brilliant with me! i was asking so many questions and he answered everything so lovely!

We learnt how to prepare spring rolls for dinner and enjoyed Mr Muoi's wife and daughter in law so much. they were very smiley and the girl apparently said my spring rolls were perfect each time!! Go me!

Sitting on the giant balcony for dinner was a treat. Steamed elephant ear fish with garlic and herbs, rice and pork, our spring rolls, vegetables and fruit all from Mr Muoi's property. He is a farmer and very well known in the area. He sat with us after dinner and we could ask him anything we liked. The Vietnamese people ask lots of questions, allot quite personal, but it's just their way of learning about people and making friends. So much fun and he is very cheeky. The conversation got to a point where my passport was not going to be given back to me and I was staying on the island with him and his family!!! He had the most gorgeous (though crooked) grin and a glimmer in his eye that made me laugh so much! Both Thinh and Han were in stitches along with me and Mr Muoi. Mr Muoi doesn't know english, so Han and Thinh were translating our questions and answers. Such a great experience.

Early morning start, 5.30am, to have brekkie and say goodbye and hit the floating market. This was sad leaving Mr Muoi's, I could've stayed so much longer! The floating market was quite small compared to what I expected, but a great way to see their lives. Just wild, how everything is done on the water. It is so normal for them, and a world away from our lives.

Strolled through the town to see how coconut candy - my new favourite sweet - is made, rice paper, spider web rice paper, popped rice and all sorts of other stuff is made. We chatted to locals, laughed with more gorgeous kids, and of course I found somewhere to taste the Snake Wine. Just in a small shop, they allowed it. Apparently good for strength and longevity! Was quite worried about the taste, but surprisingly it wasn't that bad! I could go a bit more i think!

Just fantastic...So much more happened on this day, but will write later, when not too many people waiting for internet. And when you can be bothered to read more! I've only written about the first few days...and that's not even the half of it!

At the moment I am in Dalat, and it's great. But I still have to talk about the trip back to Ho Chi Minh, the Cu Chi Tunnels, my last night in Ho Chi Minh, the trip to Chicken Village on the 9 hour drive from Ho Chi Minh to Dalat, and our time here!!!!

LoveBubbles and SnakeWine

Finally continuing my story so far

Okay, so...where was I up too? That's right, traffic and horns!! Brilliant!
First day was unfortunately a write off. I was exhausted. No sleep on the planes and didn't feel 100% so just chilled in the hotel. Learnt that I had a room to myself, which i was excited about, but a bit bummed, coz I came with a tour to meet people. But we've worked out a roster between the single girls on the tour.

So that night, met the group and leader. Thinh, pronounced Tin, is brilliant. 26, very cheeky and very informative. Great guy and am really stoked to have him take us on this long tour. The rest of the group seem cool. Out of 10 people, 7 are from Australia, and funnier still, all from Brisbane! Then we have 1 from UK, 1 Canadian, and 1 Spaniard - who is with the canadian. Great people so far. All very open and fun.
We hit a local restaurant for dinner. Not bad. Quite simple. But a good night to break the ice. Walking back to the hotel was an experience. Dodging traffic and bikes. No road rules for pedestrians either, except get across without running. Our hotel is right near the Ben Thanh Cho (market). it's massive and when the main market closes, the vendors spread out into the streets till about 1am. People everywhere, shops everywhere, same-same-but-different!

Okay the first day begins with a cyclo ride through the city! I loved it...I want one, with a driver of course! It felt unbelievable to be right in the traffic, but feel so safe and chilled out. The Vietnamese people really do go at their own pace and I love it. Even though traffic is hectic, people and cyclos, go so slow. They took us through the city to the War Remnants Museum. That was a bit of a mess for me. Quite small, but extremely informative and photos very graphic. It was all about the main war in Vietnam and the devastation the USA's Agent Orange caused. There is over 2 million people still affected by the disabling chemicals today. I think it has another generation to get through too. It was hard. Kind of like the concentration camps in Germany and Poland for me. So informative, because I have tended not to know about all wars, because it upsets me so much, but very hard to deal with. Many tissues were used today just in a matter of an hour. The torture all countries involved inflicted on each other was just brutal. And to think it was only a few decades ago, broke my heart.

The drivers of our cyclos remembered who they had, which was brilliant, coz I couldn't! And took us a bit further to the Reunification Palace, and from there we strolled, through parks and streets to the Notre Dam Cathedral and the Post Office. What a great Post Office! Loved that one. Must be the only Post Office where people just walk in take photos and leave again. Not much business except the sale of post cards! Strolled a bit further, taking in all the different buildings, to a little spot, where our cyclos came again. Seeing them slowly making their way down the street to meet us was just priceless! Back to the Hotel, but with a tour of the city. Past the Opera House, which was really beautiful and even better at night, some pricey shops like Louis Vutton! Along the Saigon River, where a truck stopped right beside me and a man hung out the window grinning wildly saying "hellll-llllooooo". Funny people. Lots of smiles. Very cheeky big smiles! My kind of smiles! Back at the hotel to relax for 30 minutes before heading out for lunch.

Pho Bo - Beef Noodle Soup. A specialty dish of Vietnam. Extremely tasty and most of the time they actually eat it for brekkie!. Big bowls, which came with a plate of lettuce leaves and herbs, chilli and bean sprouts. Never knew something so simple could taste so good.

Free time, about 8 of us tried to find ChinaTown by cab, because they have huge markets there and just crazy streets. Cabbie said he knew where he was going, but after 15 minutes of driving around in circles handed the phone to one of us to talk to an english-speaker to explain where we wanted to go...Funny man. Just told him to stop in the end, and we just strolled around. Think we found the markets, but couldn't work out how to get in so hit the streets, which the markets sprawled onto. Brilliant. I loved just walking around watching the people. Some funky smells kept creeping into my nose, which was interesting. But nothing too bad. Found the chinese herb strip, which caused most of the funky smells! Huge sacks of different herbs. I'm sure they helped with weight loss, stress, agoraphobia, arachnaphobia, homophobia and anything else you had problems with!

I have never been so hot. This heat I'm finding harder to deal with than Oz. I have no idea what it is, but it almost hurts! We are all suffering and I think we've bought the shop out of water from next to the hotel!

Dinner was another interesting experience. Pancakes. But these are like GIANT crepes filled with stuff - I had sprouts, pork and mushrooms - served with lettuce leaves. You break up the crepe, put a bit of it in the lettuce leaf, and roll up. Hmmm...yummy, but quite messy and greasy. I enjoyed it though.

Obviously this is the short version of my exciting experiences!!! But you are probably finding it way too long anyway! There is just so much to see and do and write about!