Home!

Three pairs of weary feet and a bear! These Cocs have been to China and back to visit their cousins!

Ho Chi Minh was a mad house. It took us 45 minutes to travel 8 km to the airport. There were thousands of cars, trucks, buses, motorbikes and bicycles on the roads - not sure even they knew where they were going, but I guess they all got there eventually.
Our trip home was a bit of a challenge - engine problems, plane making very strange sounds, hours of turbulance and inflight entertainment systems that didn't work. But, we have made it as far as Christchurch, now waiting for our flight to Dunedin. We are noticing the cold already - about 20 degrees colder than HCMC yesterday! This is where we posted the first message on the blog, so an appropriate place to post the last one.
Until next time ............

Time head home

Our final Asian breakfast on the rooftop of our hotel in Ho Chi Minh City. Yesterday we shopped and shopped and shopped and, just when we thought there was no more shopping to do, we did some more! I think there will be a significiant rise in Vietnam's GDP after we leave. Amazingly enough we managed to get everything into our bags.
This morning we begin the final trek home - firstly Singapore, then Christchurch and home. We all feel it is time to go and it will be good to get back to sleepy, quiet and unpolluted Outram tomorrow afternoon.
Hope you have enjoyed following our latest adventures, we have certainly enjoyed sharing them with you.

Out and about

Yesterday we set off into the country side to visit Tonle Sap lake. We were going to go for a boat ride but unfortunately as we got closer to the lake the track deteriated and eventually we had to stop, Some locals wanted to take us on motorbikes but we decided to head back. We spent the time walking among local villages where many people live in traditional houses. At one stage we stopped and three young boys were watching Ella eating a biscuit, so I got out to offer them one. As soon as I had given them one, kids started running from everywhere. Thankfully there were enough left in the packet for them all, but it made me feel very humble that something as small as a biscuit could create so much excitement. Yet another reminder of how much we really have.


On our way back to the hotel we had a lovely Cambodian lunch with more perfectly cooked vegetables.


Spent the afternoon cruising by the pool - our abreviated summer holiday, though we did go for a walk and discovered large bats in a local park. The trees were full of them and they looked like a flock of black crows, making an incredible screetching sound. It was quite facinating watching them hanging upside down from the branches.
Today we fly back to Ho Chi Minh City for the last part of our adventure....shopping!

Siem Reap and Ankor Wat

Arrival in Cambodia was a bit of the shock - Vietnam was positively cool by comparisom - 34C After lunch (Ella tried some different food - spring rolls and chicken fried noodles - and enjoyed them!!) we headed out to Angkor Wat. The whole area where everyone tried to out-temple each other is amazing! Unfortunately the main Angkor temple was over run with tourists so we asked our guide to take us to Ta Prohm temple. On the way we stopped at various other temple bits. Great stuff but the highlight was Ta Prohm which felt like an India Jones film set. (Tomb Raider was filmed there)

Siem Reap is a small town, only about 15,000 people, but is already being overwhelmed by tourism - huge hotel complexes and appartments being build everwhere. You can buy a three story apartment for $US45,000. None of the local people can afford them, our tour guide said he was well paid and earns $US150 per month. It is so sad to see the way so much of the 'Asian culture is being Westernised to quickly.

Next to our hotel is a brand new mall, complete with the biggest supermarket in the town. We were amazed to see Mainland cheese and Arnotts Shapes crackers something Ella had missed terribly.

Today we are going to 'holiday' by the pool and explore a little of the town. It will be nice just to be able to please ourselves for a whole day, without an early start.

Cambodia and monkeys

Along the road side in Angkor Wat we stopped to watch the monkeys playing. They are incredibly friendly and we were able to walk right up to them without them running away. A couple of them were sitting picking the nits out of their fir - guess some things are the same in all cultures - though they were eating them! The baby monkeys were so cute, but I don't think NZ customs would be too impressed with us if we tried to bring one home.



As Ella said..soooo cute!

Driving to Hoi An

Driving to Hoi An was great - good to be out of cities and into the country side.
Watching the people at work in the fields showed a huge contrast between the rice farmers who work by hand (maybe a buffalo if you are lucky) and the city based people who can afford a car. We travelled a
over the Hou Van Pass which was a strategic point in the war (and in the past) and travelled down do Danang which is a city on the rise. Is now 'government' managed and is under major development. They had a typhoon last September and we stopped to gawk at one of 4 ships that had been grounded on the beach.

Crawling around Marble Mountain was fun - again a place that featured in the war and with historical Pagodas- and you can buy a life size marble lion, dragon, banana or what ever! One of the best things was seeing a pet monkey sitting in a tree outside one of the shops. It had a collar and lead - not sure whether is was being fattened for the Sunday roast or not.

We met up with David's brother and sister-in-law in Hoi An, they are heading north while we head south. It was great to be able to share the evening with them, especially as Jacintha had some dresses made which were not what she wanted, nor did they fit properly. Having a bit of sewing experience was useful in helping her to tell the tailors that they were not acceptable. In the end she won!

I am getting some boots made, so have my fingers crossed that they will be OK.
David hired a motorbike today and Ella and I hired bicycles and rode out to the beach. It was an experience negotiating the cars, buses, motorbikes, bicycles and rough roads, but it was so good the walk in the sand and paddle our feet in the South China Sea. It made us just a wee bit homesick for camping at Hahei or Whangamata. We also went for a family ride on the scooter VN style!

Being in Hoi An has been one of the highlights of our trip.
Tomorrow morning we fly to Ho Chi Min on our way to Sem Riep in Cambodia. Another phase of the adventure.

NB The boots fit - I just have to get them into my bag now!







Family Travel VN style - great fun!

Hue

We took the over-night train from Hanoi to Hue - it was a little different from our previous train trips as it was the local train. A bit challenging in cleanliness ... and as for the loos... ugh! It was better to not drink anything to spare the experience. Luckily we had a compartment to ourselves so we manged to nestle in ok and clanked and bumped and jerked our way to Hue. Ella had been really worried about the trains after some of the stories we had heard, but she was an intrepid traveller and managed to sleep most of the way.
Arriving at our hotel was fantastic, it is very clean, has air con and a pool, along with a water feature in our room. We decided not to turn it on though or we may have to spend the night having to use the lovely clean toilet here!
Hue has the most amazing Citadel and Purple Forbidden City. Most of it is in ruins, but they are in the process of restoration. Some of the trees and waterliles are flowering and it was so nice to see some colour, even though it is winter here. It is very warm though, not sure how we will cope in Cambodia.
We ate local food last night, very delicious and very cheap.
Today, once we get Ella moving, we are driving to Hoi An. David's brother and wife are there too, so it will be great to catch up with them and maybe even have a family dinner. Pretty cool to think that we are all in the same place at the same time.

Scooters

The massive number of scooters kind of spoils walking the popular
streets. Hanoi has so many they are Hannoying. Hue (pronounced 'h'waay) has Hway too many and Hoi An has every Boi An girl riding one.

Halong Bay

We survived another overnight train, this time arriving at the station at 4.30am. We drove to Halong Bay, about four hours away and boarded our 'junk' for an overnight cruise. We had a fantastic time, the scenary reminded us of the Coromandal, with lots of towering rocky islands and mist. The boat was lovely (- except too much sea-food) and it was so great to be away from the noise and dirt of the cities. Dispite the long and somewhat arduous drive to get there, it was well worth every moment. The highlight was visiting a floating fishing village this morning where there is even a school. The village was quite small and had sampans being rowed about selling fresh produce. (no motor scooters beeping horns...yay! - oh and we had rice on the boat...a very rice boat....)

The traffic!

So far we haven't mentioned the Hanoi traffic.....chaos!
After finally figuring out the road rules I hired a scooter. The rules are, apart from being no road rules, drive mostly in the middle of the road (just in case) pass when something else is coming head on or for variety pass on the inside, occasionly drive on the wrong side or backwards down a one way street, fit as many people, pigs, chickens, ducks or what ever on the bike, traffic lights are for beautification (dunno what red means), only look straight ahead and beep-honk-parp-blare your horn at anything that moves - if you get peeped-honked-parped either pass or be passed and only drive with 4 million other scooters in the same square metre of road. If you are a road worker spread some dirt around on the road and hit it with your shovel. Oh did I mention you need to beep the &^%$#$^ horn? Some how it all works (like Italy without the agro!).
One of the amazing things we have discovered is the art of crossing the road. After our initial terror in Ha Noi realising that pedestrian crossings mean absolutely nothing, we are now just like the locals. As long as you stride out confidently, do not make eye contact and look straight ahead, somehow the traffic just manages to weave their way around you. A bit like Outram where you can walk in the middle of the road without getting run over - well, maybe not quite the same.

Sapa and surrounds

Second day at Sapa we visited a local minority people village. Was a bit tourist oreintated but still interesting to see how some in the world still live. Funny to see how some of the 'local' handcrafts are now made in China. Great talking with the villagers - they seemd to be such happy people. They are tiny, we felt a bit like Gulliver in Lilliput, but have the most amazingly expressive faces. Considering their primitative living conditions they are so happy. One young woman we spoke to was 22 (looked about 14) and already had two babies. It is not uncommon for them to get married at 16 or 17 even though the legal age for marriage is 18. Traditionally the marriages were arranged, but things are changing. Can't help but feel that they are being exploited for tourism, and that they will become more and more discontented with their way of life, as they see how 'wealthy' the western world is.

Into the hills of Vietnam

We arrived bleary eyed at 5.30am in Lao Cai after catching the over night train. Great to have a sleeping compartment to ourselves so we were able to have a comfortable (and short!) night. Clanky and noisy though. When we saw the cleaners refolding the bedding, rather than changing it, as we got off the train, we were extra pleased that we had bought our own sleeping sheets and pillow cases! Not sure if the bedding is ever washed!

A guide picked us up and drove us (great drive with plenty to see) to Bac Ha Market - a market for local minority hill tribes. Very colourful. We felt like giants amongst them. Here we were offered all sort of food including dog...... We gawped at this huge rat a man had bought and was taking home to cook - looked like a small dog! (the guide reckoned he was a beauty - an got quite excited by some of the dogs!) The animal trading was quite different and while it seemed cruel to us it was just their way of life. Carrying a cat around strung up and hanging down like a hand bag! Don't tell the cats at home!

We have eaten mostly local food so far and have found it much more enjoyable than China but we won't look to hard at the meat after finding out the variety they eat - dog, cat, donkey etc. Ella will only eat things she can recognise like rice, fruit and bread! (oh lollies too!)
After the market we travelled to Sapa, at 1600m height, in the hills. Apparently it is rare to have clear days where you can see the mountains and we have been lucky enought to have two days with clear blue skies. The town is home for another of the minority tribes, this time dressed mainly in black but also very small. We couldn't resist buying from some of them, they are so 'gentle' as they hassle you to buy.



The French influence is very evident in the buildings and many of the homes are tall and narrow which look a bit funny when standing on their own. Land can be bought by the 100 sqm in the towns and the road frontage is important as you can run a business from it French loaves are easy to get - and of course French Fries... :-) (much to the delight of Ella)

We are enjoying the cool, clear air, the last we will experience for quite some time. We head of today for a short trek to some hill villages. Tonight another overnight train trip back to Ha Noi and then driving to Halong Bay for our cruise.





Fresh dog anyone?

Vietnam

Flew to Ha Noi yesterday afternoon - a mild 16 C - a pleasant change from Beijing. The landing was a bit 'hairy' as we bounced along the runway, but we made it. We had a lovely dinner last night, the food was such an improvement on what we have seen in China.
We catch the overnight train to Sapa tonight, so are just cruising this morning. We will spend the afternoon exploring Hanoi, trying not to be run over by motorbikes. First impressions are that it is busy, noisey and dirty. Tiny wee shops with stuff everywhere. As we walked last night we had to step around groups havinig their meal on the road side. We can watch everyday life from our hotel window - amazing.













Family Travel!

Panda!

Yesterday we visited Beijing zoo to view the Panda.  We had been told that they are big, fat, lazy and good for nothing and, yes, that is totally correct, but they are also incredibly cute.  We watched them for ages as they ate their way through bundles of bamboo and the occasional carrot.  The rest of the zoo was pretty grim,like the Auckland zoo I remember visiting when I was young.  The bears and big cats where either in cages or in concrete pits, prowling around aimlessly.  When we were in the building where the big cats were, they started roaring and growling = what an awesome sound.  We could totally understand why they are so terrifying when you hear them in the wild.
In the afternoon we went to the Silk Market.  The traders hassel you relentlessly to buy, even trying to grab your arm and pull you into their stalls.  They start of with ridiculous prices but you can beat them down to something approaching a bargain.  We bought Ella some 'Nike' sports shoes, starting price 920RMB, final price 100RMB - about $NZ25.  The place was jammed with people and obviously a popular place for the tour buses to stop given the number parked outside.
We travelled on the underground and the trip home was an experience with the incredible number of people jamming themselves on the train.  We had to force our way on and off each time = thankfully everyone was wearing winter jackets that slide against each other quite well.

We thought of everyone celebrating last night and wished you all a Happy New Year at 7.00 China time.  We didn't wait up to see the new year hear!

Today we head for Vietnam and more rice.