The Purple Hue of Hue

The next day we were leaving Hue (pronounced 'hway'), but in the morning, Shanty, Erik, Beate, Francois and myself undertook a walking tour (which we saw on a pamphlet we got from the Mandarin cafe). We made our way by ferry across the Perfume river to the market first of all. Actually that in itself was a bit of an adventure. We decided to set off about 8.30am or so, so that we would have enough time to do the tour, and see the Purple Forbidden City.

We decided to do our tour in reverse, so we could end up at the Mandarin cafe, rather than start there. This is because Mr Cu, the owner of the Mandarin cafe, is a famous photographer and takes fabulous photos of Vietnamese life in Hue which he then sells in his cafe - we wanted to have some time to peruse these. So, we set off looking firstly for the ferry crossing which we could see on the map.

Could we find it? No, not really. We crossed one bridge (as the map lead us to believe we should) only to be confronted by several locals who told us to go back to another location (which reluctantly we did). Francois was actually quite adamant that we shouldn't - but majority ruled, and we did - and managed to hire another boat to cross the river - for the princely sum of $1 per person. Whatever. It was cheap enough.

Upon arrival across the river we found ourselves in the Dong Ba market. This was quite spectacular (as markets go), crowded and full of variety. We decided to make our way through the market, rather than around (but not before attempting to go around anyway) and we were treated to interesting sights - chickens in cages, loads of fresh fish and seafood (and terrible smelling too) and then the usual stuff, cloth, clothes, tiger balm, helmets... tack. And everyone trying to sell you something...

Having made our way through we tried to negotiate our way towards the Citadel but we were conscious even then of running out of time - we had to be back at the hotel before 12 to shower and leave at 1230. As we were walking around and consulting the map, we came across the leader of the pack, our bikie tour leader from yesterday, who pointed us in the right direction. We found him outside the local cinema, which was deafeningly advertising the going rates for the movies it was showing on a loud speaker outside. REALLY loud.

Wandering around the back streets as he had suggested, we came across interesting sights - street sellers selling petrol in soft drink bottles, for one. We eventually came to the object of our quest - the Purple Forbidden City.

Built in around 1804, this was the residence of the imperial family. It was designed to replicate the forbidden city in Beijing. The French razed much of it when they left after World War 2, and the Americans finished off much of the rest with bombs during the Vietnam War, but there remain several interesting structures here. They are not fully restored, but several remaining buildings contain interesting artifacts from the era, thrones, etc. It was well worth the visit.

Time however was fast ticking by and we decided to head back, via the Mandarin cafe - but this time by taxi, rather than walking. We even managed to get the guy to agree to wait outside the Mandarin whilst we picked our photos (and he barely kept the meter running! So cheap...).

Shopping completed (Mr Cu's photos really are quite something, and well worth a visit - plus he is so generous, he gave us quite a few free ones as well), we headed back for a quick shower. We had decided to tell Vaughn that we didn't want to walk the 20 minute walk back to the Mandarin for lunch as, having had our shower, and seeing as how hot and humid it was, we would be all sticky and sweaty again - thus defeating the purpose of the shower. So when we met he was quite happy for us to venture off on our own, offering this salient point - that it would be better to split up so we could be served in time.

Alas, we didn't really heed his advice - much to our chagrin. Because, having had so much Vietnamese food, we really wanted something a bit more western, and ended up at an Italian restaurant, all 6 of us. We'd decided to ask for some items to take away as well, for the train. There in lay our problem, as clearly the girl didn't understand what we were on about. It took an absolute eternity for our food to be prepared - and even then the order was wrong, and we got the standard "same same - but different" response. Time was running out and we didn't have time to argue with her though. Her version of a large pizza was barely even a pizzette!

We walked quickly back to the hotel to meet the bus and head for the train station. The station in Hue is really not all that - certainly not much in the way of purchasable snacks for the journey - so it was lucky we had got some food for the journey in advance. Eventually the train came - it was sooo hot though and we were quite uncomfortable, waiting out there on the tracks, in the hot, humid afternoon sun, with the only refreshments available being some over warm bottles of water or a couple of hard boiled eggs the street seller was selling - so we were quite relieved when the train finally came and we were able to get on. And then we experienced problem number 2...

... the air con didn't work! And we were looking at a 13 hour journey to Hanoi! How can we survive 13 hours in stinking hot heat to Hanoi?! I mean, the air con would come on periodically, and then shut off, come on, shut off - if you walked through another carriage it very soon became blatantly obvious that ours was the oven and the others the refrigerator! Co-incidentally, ours was also full of tourists, and the locals in the others... hehehe...

So Vaughn had a word to the conductor and we got moved out of the frying pan and into... the freezer! Our new carriage had the aircon on frostbite mode, so that pretty soon we needed to rug up with all our warm clothes (which really was a bit stupid). I was in a carriage with Vaughn and Francois (as I had been the whole tour) but in this carriage we didn't get a 4th person the whole time, so I had my pick of a bed. In the end, it being so cold, I opted for the lower bunk, as it was sort of out of the flight path of the big freeze. Francois, being an engineer, decided to try to do something about it - so he pulled out of his bag a sewing kit he had procured at one of the hotels and started to try to sew a piece of paper over the vent. That didn't work, so he then produced Canadian coins with magnets stuck on the back - but the vent wasn't metallic, and they didn't stick. Eventually he found a piece of paper with a remnant of sticky tape on it, and stuck that over the vent. It made it marginally warmer.

The rest of the journey proceeded pretty much without incident except for one thing. Due to the fact that it was oh so cold in our carriage, I really didn't get much sleep. In fact, I was lucky if I got 30 minutes during the whole 13 hour journey. So when we pulled into Hanoi at 4am, I was not a happy camper... and was even less happy when we alighted from the train and discovered that we had landed smack bang in the middle of the north Vietnamese winter - and it was actually cold...! With my limited winter clothes, what had I got myself in to?

The Leader Of The Pack

We had another early morning start today as we needed to leave at 8am for our bus ride to Hue. It was a bit harrowing for B though as she had ordered yesterday another dress from a different tailor who had promised to deliver by 730 and who had not. So we were loading the bus and still the dress hadn't arrived. Fortunately B called them and they managed to get it there just before we left.

We stopped off enroute at the Marble palace which was actually quite interesting. There's a really cool cave there which although not filled with stalagmites and stalagtites, is very spacious. Theres a bunch of buddhist statues at the entrance into the cavernous space, which are apparently good and bad demons - a silly concept obviously as all demons are bad - but the carvings were interesting. As we left the area our leader Vaughn told us the story of buddha - quite frankly I don't get why anyone would follow that stuff but there you go.

Back on the bus then for a couple of hours journey to Hue. The scenery was mostly the same - rice field, water buffalo, speeding scooters, overloaded bicycles, run down shanty town houses, altars in the middle of the field etc. We had a short stop at Hai Van pass, which once was a checkpoint for the Americans during the Vietnam war. Offering spectacular views when the weather is right, today was overcast and all too often the waft of urine would float past, so it wasn't exactly my favourite spot. Eventually we arrived in Hue.

The first impression we had of Hue is that it is HOT! Boiling hot. And very humid. Having arrived around lunchtime we quickly checked into our hotel, Tigon Hotel, which was alright - the first we've had that had a bath as well as a shower, and then Vaughn took us to lunch at the famous Mandarin cafe.

The food at the Mandarin cafe was ok, nothing spectacular, but the service was very quick. The reason though that the Mandarin cafe is quite famous is because it's owner, Mr Cu, is a very good photographer. He takes photos of locals and scenes in Hue and then sells them (quite cheaply too). They also organise motorbike tours of the city for about $4?, so we all booked one. The guides arranged to pick us up back at the hotel a little later so we made our way back in order to freshen up. It was just so terribly hot walking back though!

At 2.40 pm we met our guides outside the hotel and then the 6 of us set off on motorbikes. Each bike had a driver and a tourist sat on the back. What a sight we must have made! Particularly once we headed out into the traffic (which is madness, I tell you - how we weren't killed I really don't know), and you've got Westerners sat on the back of the bike clinging on for grim death with one hand, video cam / camera the other frantically recording the countryside, scenery and each other as it all literally whooshes by. Couple times I thought I was going to be hit by locals screeching past us, or when we crossed the river on a very narrow, one lane bridge, and my driver had trouble trying to steer in a straight line, so he kept banging into the rails. It was an awesome experience, and one I would highly recommend (but only in Hue or Hoi An!).

The bikers took us to the Tien Mu Pagoda, which was quite pretty. We went to have a look inside but there were signs saying it was for worshippers only - however a load of tourists were indoors. There was a young boy there who was clearly a trainee monk or something (I feel sorry for him) and it was his job to chuck the tourists out. He approached this one very large American who didn't quite get it, and then who tried to pat the kid on his head, which is a very big no-no here, and the boy was most alarmed and tried frantically to get out of the way!

Back on the bikes, we travelled further along the Perfume river. The bikers clearly have a set order because Shanty's guy, who seemed to be the leader of the pack, always went first, and my guy, who was an older, quieter sort, almost always brought up the rear. Made for somewhat boring video for me...

They took us to an old arena which we were told was used as a fighting ring for elephants vs tigers, for the amusement of the king and queen. There is also a graveyard nearby for the elephants. It was interesting. They then took us through the backstreets of the countryside where we observed everyday life, from washing "hanging" (rather, resting) on bushes, to rice fields, sidewalk stalls, kids playing in school grounds, people going about their everyday business and so on. Then they took us to see incense sticks being made, before going to see one of the old bunkers from the war. Actually the bunker area was site interesting, as the guide showed us the view past the river and outlined the devastation that had taken place there 30 years ago due to Agent Orange.

Our final stop was the rice museum, which although it was closed, is approached by a cute little Japanese bridge upon which we found some gorgeous little boys playing. They were dancing and singing for us, and smiling for lots of photos - and surprisingly didn't ask for money. It was very sweet.

All too soon it was time to head back to the hotel, as dusk was falling. What a fabulous trip that was!

Masterchef - Vietnamese style!

I awoke feeling very excited, because today we were going cooking!

The cooking class we took was run by Morning Glory restaurant. Our leader, Hung, took us to the market before hand and told us about the different food used in Vietnamese cooking. It was really interesting to see the different spices and learn some of their names and uses. She gave us some lemongrass to keep in our hands in preparation for the next section of the market - the fish market.

The fish Market, whilst being interesting, was absolutely disgusting. I have never smelled anything so bad in my life! I had that lemongrass in my face the whole time. We saw some astonishingly poor levels of hygiene on display too, so much that I certainly wouldn't buy any fish there, but the locals didn't seem to mind.

Just up from the fish market was the fruit Market, but en route we came across chickens, still alive, tied up in bunch just lying there on the floor. Other chickens were caged, ready to be sold. It was just so interesting to see the different things at the Market.

We returned to the restaurant (having quickly stopped off for another fitting) and then Hung proceeded to teach us to make fresh spring rolls, traditional Hoi An pancake, and a mango salad. I was very impressed with the way everything was set out to enable us to complete the task, including us having our own little gas stove (which both Francois and Shanty managed to create flames of fire about a metre tall above their food), all the ingredients pre-laid out, and all the utensils we'd need, but I was unimpressed by the two French women next to me who wouldn't shut up the whole time, jabbering away there in French and preventing me from hearing much of the instruction. However it was a fun experience and we got to eat our food for lunch afterwards. They also gave us the recipe and a double knife as a souvenir.

The afternoon was then ours to spend as we liked. As we still had access to the bikes, Francois and I decided to go and explore the Market further - but managed to make a wrong turn en route which lead us to a cute little village 2kms outside of Hoi An. It was fabulous, they had a Market there too but it wasn't like the one in Hoi An - this was clearly only for locals which meant that we could look without being pestered to buy anything. W also stumbled across the back streets of the town and saw the shanty houses the locals lived in, complete with family altars in the house, or family altars on a pillar outside the house like a letterbox, and small front / back yard farms. Some of the houses on the bank of the river had their own personal jetty, but this wasn't like the ones at home, these were tiny little bamboo jetties that I think would have sunk if I had tried to walk on it.

We cycled on further and came across a school where the kids yelled out to us, wanting to practice their English. Across the road from there we saw hand made mud bricks crying by the side of the road. It really was another world.

Back to the hotel to return the bikes, we then ventured next door for a massage. This cost $7 and was quite good, although in this place "Heaven" it really was a routine, not something designed to actually improve your muscle condition or something. Firstly you had a foot bath and massage. Then you went into the room, laid face down on the bed and she would randomly rub up and down your back with oil. Periodically she'd hit your back making weird cupping sounds with her hands. She didn't just do your back though, she did hands, arms, head, neck, shoulders... Everything really. It was quite relaxing.

Our dinner that evening was a party by the pool. Vaughn arranged takeaway pizza which actually was quite nice as I am getting frankly a little sick of noodles and rice!

B and Erik still had fittings so they left in the middle and then came back. It was really pleasant by the pool and a lovely evening was enjoyed.

Everywhere You Go, You Always Take...School Kids With You?!

We had a second class carriage this time from Nha Trang to Da Nang, and boy, did we notice it! When the girls and Erik arrived in their cabin, they found a used nappy on the floor, an old bag of strawberries full of crickets, and the sheets were very dirty. Our cabin wasn't so bad, but our sheets were also dirty and we had to get the conductor to change them. The blankets also were very thin, which was a cause for concern for me as I was to be on the upper bunk this time with Francois below. Given that the air conditioning in the train is always too cold I was afraid I wouldn't sleep very well, and was pleasantly surprised that I did. The toilets however needed to be avoided at all costs...

We arrived in Da Nang around 930 and were met by our bus driver who took us to our hotel in Hoi An, some 25kms away. The hotel was the Vinh Hung 3 and it was probably the nicest we've stayed in so far. The beds had a hanging cover which I suspect was a mosquito net but which gave the impression of a four poster bed. The shower was awesome - you had the choice between a power shower or you had a separate hand held nozzle if you preferred. The future was very smart, with a lovely dark wooden colour. It's a short walk from the hotel to the old city, which is a UNESCO world heritage site, and it truly was beautiful. Glorious old buildings, ornate pagodas and lovely lanterns line the streets which are full of shops, particularly tailors - so immediately upon arrival we set off for Yally, one of the best tailors in Hoi An. Most of the group had outfits made - mine was a black suit - jacket, trousers and skirt - for $125. You choose the style, the fabric and anything specific details you want included, and they just make it for you. They also keep your details online so when you get home, if you want another item made, you can just email them and they'll ship it to you. They're able to make your clothes in 24 hours and deliver them to your hotel if you want.

Alas, there had to be a downer to this wonderful experience, and it was this - as I am standing there, being measured by the lovely Nicola, dreaming of the suit I am getting made, I look over Nicola's shoulder and see none other than Monica, one of the naughtiest girls at my school, standing there with her mother. What?! An All Hallows' girl in Hoi An? And not just that, but one I actually taught?! Wouldn't read about it now, would you?

And unfortunately she was there again later on when I went for my fitting. She told me that they were also going to Hue, so I hope I don't run into her there...

After the tailors, we headed off for lunch over on the little island of Cam? The food was magnificent, and so cheap too, and we ate really well. We then hired bicycles from the laundry lady outside our hotel (who does brilliant laundry, I might add - $1 per kilo and they come back smelling amazing) and then set off on our cycling adventure! The only problem was, we needed to negotiate Vietnamese traffic - and we know what that can be like!

Recovering from the initial shock of finding oneself on a collision course with speeding Vietnamese, we soon got the hang of it, and began to explore the streets of Hoi An. No map, no matter, the plan was to get lost in the thick of it - so it was not surprising when we took a turn and suddenly found ourselves sailing through the covered market (bending down low so as not to entangle ourselves on the low-lying cloth roof), whizzing past the stalls and generally having a whale of a time. I wonder though if there is a law against videoing whilst cycling? Can't imagine there is, as the locals seem to get away with mobile phones whilst riding...

We came flying out of the markets and that's then whether fun began for Shantelle. As she approached the bridge, no one really saw what happened, but the next thing we knew she had crashed into a local on a motorbike! Secretly we think it was Shanty's fault, but later Vaughn said that the local, having come from the bridge, needed to give way, Either way, the poor girl had popped her tire, and was visibly shaken, so she couldn't continue the journey. Sophie and Shanty then headed back.

The rest of us continued the journey and explored the little island, the Japanese bridge, and the old town before venturing out on the highway, cycling 4kms to the beach. It was a cute beach too, and we enjoyed watching the little basket boats bobbing out on the water. Our way home took us down some cute little lanes and past lots of rice fields, their owners busily toiling away.

Our dinner was at a traditional restaurant by the river. We ordered our food first and then made our way to the tailors for our fittings. Poor B wasn't terribly happy with hers but suggestions were made for improving it and she seemed happier after that.

The dinner was lovely and we did head out for a nightcap but the bar was full of westerners and loud music, and as we were all so tired, we called it quits for the day. Especially because we had an early start the next day...

Stop! Police!

The next day B and Erik went scuba diving on one of the islands whilst the rest of us went on a boat tour of 4 islands. The boat tour included the opportunity to go snorkelling, lunch, swimming and a visit to the aquarium - for about $9. Sweet!

We were picked up at 830 to start the tour - Francois, myself and Shantelle. Unfortunately, as has been the case for most of the trip, Sophie was feeling unwell and so didn't go. Her loss really.

The tour group on the boat totalled 13 - some Vietnamese, some Germans, an Australian girl called Hayley and a British bloke called Peter. We became quite friendly and spent most of the day with them. Turns out she used to work as an activities director on Hamilton Island, and he was a journalist who had been working on the Gold Coast and now was undertaking an around the world trip back to the UK. They were lovely.

The boat was a kind of narrow thing with interesting wooden chairs that could be laid flat to make a table. It had a toilet on board but the door had a clear window and no lock. Couple that with the fact that it flushed via a ladle in a bucket, had no toilet papier and smelt absolutely diabolical, and you didn't really use it unless you absolutely had to. At least there was a curtain to cover the window for a bit of privacy.

The boat also had an upper deck so, seeing as it was a sunny day, we decided to go up and sunbathe whilst travelling along. All was well until about 15 minutes into our time the boat suddenly slows down and we observe water police having pulled alongside our ship. They inspected everything but fortunately all was in order - was this a random check or what was going on? Turns out they pulled us over because we had gone upstairs, and apparently you're not supposed to do that whilst the boat is moving!

Our first stop was to Mun island, or black rock island, where we did some snorkelling. The snorkelling was ok, nothing fancy but we did see some nice corals and actually some quite beautiful fish. Shanty was quite amusing as she really could not get the hang of breathing through the snorkel and kept drowning a little bit each time.

The next island was the lunch stop. This was most entertaining. The food was just beautiful, magnificent traditional Vietnamese food, and plenty of it - tofu and noodles, calamari, tiny crispy prawns, chicken, spring rolls and plenty of rice. What was funny though was the guy had put the chairs down in the middle of the boat to make one long table that we all sat around. The Vietnamese sat one side and the Westerners the other. The Westerners literally hoe'd into their food and it was gone pretty quick - and then the Vietnamese started pushing their left overs over to our side of the table for us to have!

After lunch the other two boats roped themselves up to ours and the entertainment began. Our guide, it turns out, was the lead singer in an inboard boy band, playing well known Vietnamese karaoke numbers where people just hopped up and sang songs (with his help). Suddenly he "volunteered" myself and Hayley to represent Australia! How embarrassing! So we had to do a rendition of "Down Under" - as if I actually know all the words - so the only thing to do was ham it up and go for gold, looking like a complete goose! I never been so embarrassed in all my life...

After the entertainment we then headed to the 3rd island for more swimming. This one had a private beach but rather than pay money to swim at an average looking beach we all decided to stay onboard and soak up some rays on the roof before we headed off to the 4th island, with the aquarium.

To be honest, I didn't think much of the aquarium, but some of the fish were interesting and it actually was a pretty little island once you headed out a bit. Some kids came past Francois and he took a picture of them, and they asked for money. They start so young...

All too soon the day was over and it was time to head back. Having already checked out we had a shower in the pool area and then as a group went to Lanterns for dinner. Our overnight train was leaving at 10pm to take us to Hoi An...

A Beach, A Crab and... A Mud Bath?

Friday 10 December

The train from Ho Chi Minh arrived at 515am in Nha Trang. To be honest, I really didn't sleep very well, because even though this was "first class", like most trains, there were things that didn't work - and on our train it was the compartment door. It just kept flying open during the night, and as I was on the bottom bunk, I kept having light shining in my eyes. So I didn't sleep much.

We were met at the station by our local bus driver and quickly transferred to our hotel, the Vien Dong. It was quite nice, our rooms though were in B block which was in a small building outside the hotel. Everyone was just shattered from the journey so we checked into the rooms and had a sleep.

About 9am I got up and headed off to the beach for a bit of a look. Nha Trang is like a seaside resort, with a nice beach, aquatic activities (like snorkelling and scuba on the islands nearby), nice cafes and restaurants , and of course sunbeds and swimming. The locals don't really partake of that sort of thing however. Seems a bit of a waste for it to be a stinking hot day on the beach and you're all covered up in long sleeves and long trousers, but hey, to each their own.

Vaughn had suggested that we take advantage of the beach in the morning if the weather was nice, and then go to Cham Tower and the mud baths in the afternoon, so I settled down for a bit of a sunbathing session on the beach. It wasn't particularly pleasant though, as the locals were wandering up and down trying to sell you jewellery or seafood all the time. Quite annoying actually. Fortunately Beate, Erik and Francois turned up and although the locals kept persisting, it was easier to ignore them when you all just start talking together.

About 1130ish we headed back to the hotel and had a swim in the pool before running into the girls on their way out. We all decided to go for lunch (or in the case of the girls, breakfast) together so we headed back across the road to one of the cafes there. Erik ordered a coffee which arrived in a most peculiar contraption. There was a thermos of hot water, a strange looking silver pot drip filter device on top of the cup, which already had some coffee and of course, condensed milk (as most Asians are lactose intolerant so they don't drink real milk) inside. The whole thing however took an eternity to brew and by the time it was ready, the drink was lukewarm.

For lunch I ordered some sort of chicken noodle dish, but Francois ordered a fish soup. Whilst we were sitting there, in the restaurant, eating our meals, some street sellers came up and tried to sell us seafood. Francois went over for a closer look and before we knew it, it appeared she was cooking him up a crab. He came back and we asked how much - he shook his head and said "I don't know... She kept trying to add more crab too it and I kept saying no but now it looks like she's cooking me a crab". When he came back with it, she charged him 150 000 dong ($7.50) for the most piddling little crab you ever did see. Talk about ripped off! But he said that was the missing ingredient for the soup - so I guess all was well.

We headed back around 130 and then took a taxi out to see Cham tower and to take us to the mud baths. The tower was nice, it was obviously a Buddhist temple though and as such you had to cover your shoulders and knees if you wanted to go in - so Beate and I were given sexy little grey robes to wear. You also had to take off your shoes and wear their ugly slippers.

In walking around we observed the musicians who were just sitting there drinking rice wine. They offered some to Erik who had found a beer at the kiosk. He had a photo with them instead.

Our taxi driver had been waiting for us but when we returned to him the meter had barely changed - obviously waiting is part of the service I suppose - and he then took us along some very windy, muddy and unsealed roads out to the mud baths. He agreed to wait 2 hours there for us.

We headed in to the mud baths and paid 900 000 (about $50) for 6 people to have mud bath treatment, mineral water soak, and use of the swimming pool. Included was the hire of bathers (essentially a tank top and terry towelling shorts) and for 30 000 dong deposit, the hire of lockers. Pretty cheap eh?

The mud bath experience was fabulous, I can highly recommend it. It was a particularly good bonding session for us as a group. You go up the hill to the mud bath, which is just a large ceramic bath that they fill with warm muddy mineral water. You then cake this on and relax in the water for 20 mins or so (but we were longer because we thought they'd tell us when to get out - and they didn't) and then you shower the mud off. You then walk through a special outdoor corridor with water jets shooting both sides at you, for further cleansing, before soaking in a warm mineral water bath. After this you head down to the main swimming pool which is also warm, and then you just relax there until you've had enough. There's also massages and so on which you can get, but this costs extra.

When we had finished we went outside and our taxi man was diligently waiting for us. This whole journey, some 3-4 hrs, cost us no more than $7 for all 6 of us - and that included the tip!

We met with Vaughn at 630 in the lobby and he took us out to one of the local restaurants. The food was incredible. I had fresh spring rolls which literally were to die for, and the most delicious Vietnamese noodles. Yum!

Cu Chi Cu Chi Cu

Having made arrangements with the others to have breakfast around 8.30, probably at the expensive Highland Coffee next door, I decided to head out earlier and get some pastries so I wouldn't have to pay that price. When, however I told the others about this, they wanted some too, so I took them to the place I had been in the backpacker district. The patisseries here display a very obviously French influence, with their beautifully decorated cakes and delightful looking pastries - however on closer inspection the pastries resemble more of a Japanese bakery in flavour. Curried chicken donuts, sweet potato bread - flavors that you would not normally put with sweetened pastry - but here they do. I tried the hotdog, which was a frankfurt in a soft sweet roll - it was nice, if not a little unusual.

We headed back to the hotel and as anticipated, Shanty and Sophie were not actually ready, having been out til 4am the night before. They didnt seem to see the issue with making us wait either - what was it to them, they've been in Ho Chi Minh for a few days so they'd already seen everything, unlike Francois and the Norwegians who hadn't. We eventually set off though around 930 in our private minibus with our guide Lee.

The first stop was to a government run handicap factory, which aims to teach victims of Agent Orange skills that they can use for their livelihood. It was quite interesting to see them creating bamboo plates with egg shell inlay and glazing - but when we got to the souvenir shop, we could not believe the prices, which were fixed quite high. Suffice to say we didn't buy anything.

Lee then took us to the Cu Chi tunnels themselves. Used by the Viet Cong during the Vietnam war (or American war, depending on whose side you were on), the tunnels were a way for the VC to survive the bombings of Agent Orange in this area, and the bombings in general. It was a quite intricate system for living underground, including creating passages for smoke from cooking to escape such that the Americans didn't know where it was coming from, and using American cologne around the entrance and smoke / ventilation holes so that the dogs couldn't sniff them out. The traps the VC created to ensnare a a yankee were quite intense too, and very clever and cruel. We managed to go down one of the tunnels which had been widened for tourists - I myself found it terribly claustrophobic. At one point we trapped Francois in a Vietnamese size tunnel also. After the tunnel there was a shooting range which Erik had a go at.

The street sellers are everywhere in vietnam and this certainly was no exception. Erik and Francois bought a beer from them to enjoy with lunch on the coach on the way back.

We got back around 330, dropping Erik, B and Francois off at the War Remnants museum, whilst the girls and I headed back to the hotel. My plan was to go back to Ben Thanh and have another look, or find a barber and get my hair cut. We'd arranged with the hotel to use Erik and Bs room to freshen up later - Sophie and Shanty hadn't wanted to go in on this as it was deemed too "expensive" but when we returned they were so tired that they went and lay down on the bed anyway, thus needing to pay up also.

I wandered the streets marveling at the sights and particularly smells. The Vietnamese sit in a peculiar squatting fashion (on haunches but on heels) and then conduct all their business and so on from the side of the street. Or from the seat of their bike - I saw quite a few sleeping on their bike actually. It really is another world.

As part of my wanderings I came across a hairdresser and the next thing I knew, I was having a quick trim for $3.00. Not bad eh?

We had arranged to have the use of a room until 6.00pm, so bearing in mind we were going on an overnight train, I went back and had a shower at the hotel and got sorted out. Then met with the others and Vaughn took us to a pho (pronounced "fur") restaurant in Ben Tranh market, where President Bill Clinton had had a bowl - so it was called Pho for the President. It was really delicious, and I enjoyed my meal - chicken pho (aka chicken noodle soup). Yum!

All too soon it was time to head off to the train station. Vaughn informed us that we had been upgraded to first class - and if that was first class, I'd hate to try second! Actually it wasn't too bad - 4 beds to a room, a small table, bin, pillows and a blanket. Everything you need I guess. So we sat around singing songs and having a mini party whilst we ventured on to Nha Trang...

When Kylie Met Gap Adventures

At 6pm, feeling somewhat nervous, I headed down to the lobby to meet the group. I really didn't know what to expect - I was really concerned that probably I would be too old for everyone (it's an 18-30 something tour, and i only just make the 30 something now!). So i was really worried.

Our group consists only of 6 people - a French Canadian (Francois), two Norwegians (Beate and Erik), myself and 2, very young Brits on a gap year (Shantelle - who wishes to be called "Shanty" and Sophie). Our "leader" (not guide - in Vietnam and most part of Asia you must be a native to be a guide) is Vaughn, from the Philippines. He is lovely, a really kind-hearted and generous guy who is keen to ensure that everyone has a good time but that everything is very fair. Francois seems lovely too, in a kind of a cute geek way - he has a 3d camera that he made himself, and has downloaded wikipedia to his iPod, so anything you want to know, he's your man. Erik and Beate are on their way back to Norway having spent 11 months in Australia working - they are very down to earth people, very inclusive and accepting of all, and Erik particularly is quite mischievous. The two UK girls are however another matter. They're ok I guess - but oh so immature. They're on the 4th month of their gap year and so far they've been to Tanzania, South Africa, Thailand and volunteered in Cambodia - so that makes them a world authority on all things travel related, of course - and all things in general. Sophie honestly just reminds me of a wet dish cloth - absolutely zero personality, and spends most of her time either sleeping or looking like a stunned mullet. When she does open her mouth, usually not much of any value comes out. She's harmless enough though. The really dopey one, in terms of saying and doing stupid things, is Shanty. Upon being told we were going to the UNESCO world heritage ancient city of Hoi An, she asks, "is it hidden?". What?! Then when she bought a soft drink, she shook it up and then goes "oh I didn't realize this was a can and I just shook it". My personal favourite though was when we were in a bar, she was watching the TV for a full minute, and then says "oh is this basketball?" - like what have you been watching then eh? She's also extremely loud and has a terrible habit of mimicking others in order to make fun - especially of those who don't speak English as their first language, and then of course of me as she considers me to be "Grandma". I got a bit sick of it so I gave her a serve when we were in the mud baths (which will be in a subsequent post) and as a result she hasn't done it to me since, fortunately for her.

Anyway after meeting the group Vaughn went through some of the more important points and then we headed out for dinner. We went to a restaurant in the backpacker area. I guess the price was pretty cheap but I've been used to paying less so I wasn't that impressed, especially as it seems we're to have dinner together every night! There goes my food budget!

Whilst we were in the restaurant we suddenly heard a loud commotion and lots of cheering from outside. Turns out that Vietnam were in the Asia cup finals or something for soccer and won! The streets absolutely went mad with this news - people literally went nuts. The scooters were flying around with Vietnamese flags, waving and cheering and basically encircling us as we tried to get across to the other side of the road - it took us ages to get anywhere! It was such a lively, exciting atmosphere, and the locals were most impressed when Shanty and Sophie tried to high five everyone and were screaming and cheering too in response. It really was all too incredible.

The plan for the next day was to go to the Cu Chi tunnels in the morning and then the others could go see the War Remnants museum upon our return. Vaughn originally advised that this would cost $96 but we got it at a cheap tour agency for $9 each hiring a private tour. This meant we could dictate what time we left etc. I wanted to go earlier so we would have more of the day left but Shanty wanted a sleep in, so we arranged to leave at 900.

I don't know why we bothered though, as she and Sophie went out clubbing after we returned to the hotel - while the rest of us, knowing the fullness of the day ahead, went to bed. I think it's going to be a long trip....

Pre-trip jitters

I woke up after a bit of a lie-in this morning with a slight twinge of fear - today is the day the tour starts! What if they don't like me? What if I don't like them? What if they're all a bunch of 18 year old toss-pots? How will I ever survive?

But first, more important things. Breakfast, check out of hotel, negotiate traffic and taxi touts, and check in to new hotel. So I loaded up my pack horse (aka me) and set off.

The new hotel is very lovely, much more upmarket than I had been paying (but then it would want to be, for the the price). After I settled in, I gathered up my stuff for the day and headed off. I knew that I needed to be back for the group meeting at 6pm. I set off with the intention of seeing the Ben Thanh market, the War Remnants museum, and if time, the Reunification Palace. I did however get somewhat side tracked as I headed to the Ben Thanh markets and ended up spending perhaps a bit longer than I had intended at this stage. It was complete and utter madhouse. Packed to the rafters with silk stalls, cloth stalls, souvenir stalls and general tat, hand bags, luggage - and that was just the textiles section. Then you had all the smelly food with all the kamikaze butchers. The smell was astonishing. I ended up purchasing a backpack, as mine has been breaking for some time now. It's a north face one, and hopefully, judging from the price I paid for it, real. The lady was happy enough to move on price for the fake ones but wouldn't budge on this one - so I guess thats proof. I was probably ripped off though. Personally I hate bargaining, as if anyone is going to be ripped off, it's going to be me. The secret to bargaining is to pick a price in your head that you would be happy to pay, and then realize you're probably not going to get it - so decide if you really want the item, or the price - if you really want the item, you won't mind if the price is a whisker more than you want - if it's the price you're after, walk away. If they're losing money they won't come after you. And the final thing, there will always be someone who got a better deal, so don't talk about it afterwards - realize that you will always pay more because you are Western, and that even if you feel you got "ripped off", you wouldn't have got it any cheaper at home, right? So shut up and be happy. After this I headed up towards the War Remnants museum but decided to visit a pagoda before hand. En route I encountered the strangest little woman. She wanted to know where I was from - I got the distinct impression though that it wouldn't matter where I said - it would be what she wanted to hear. I told her Australia and she started on about some aunt of hers who is moving there, and could she talk with me about it, and get advice for her aunt and so on. She wanted to meet up the next day when I said I didn't have any time today - I told her I would have to see if my friends were free at that time but she insisted on making arrangements. I felt bad as I knew I wouldn't be keeping them - but what can you do? It was all just a bit too surreal. By this point though the day was getting away and I still hadn't been to the War Remnants museum, or even the pagoda I was looking for. I eventually found the pagoda after dragging my sweaty self down the smelliest street in Ho Chi Minh (I renamed it "Urine St", it smelled so bad) - and when i got there you couldn't go in anyway, so what was the point of that?! When I then arrived at the War Remnants museum I was most upset to see that it was closing in 30 minutes - most of the museums do in the middle of the day - so it was off to Gloria Jeans (nearly dying in the traffic en route) for a coffee and cake pick me up, then a quick walk around to see Notre Dame cathedral (complete with random singers out the front - not even Christmas carols, just some strange Vietnamese songs) and then a visit to the ornate interior of the Post Office, which was very beautiful. By then both the Reunification Palace and the War Museum had reopened, so I started off at the palace. This place is exactly as it was in 1975 - they haven't changed a single thing. It was very interesting though, if not terribly hot inside. I got on a free English tour which was good. Then it was off to the War Remnants museum. This was an entirely different kettle of fish. It left me feeling quite sick afterwards, seeing the jars of deformed fetuses in formaldehyde (victims of agent orange), the photos and instruments of torture, pictures of war victims, war scenes and generally the whole unpleasantness that was the Vietnam War (or as the Vietnamese like to say, the American war). Just senseless. After this sobering encounter I made my way back to the hotel to prepare for the tour meeting, feeling very trepidatious..,

How to Cross The Road in Saigon

Here is my 3 fold method for crossing the road in Saigon. 1. Pray 2. Close your eyes 3. Go!

On the Ho Chi Minh Trail

As stated before, I arrived on Monday evening and immediately had to negotiate the taxi system in order to get to my hotel. Once there and settled, I headed out to explore the area - plus I was quite hungry at this time. The hotel is in the main backpacker district, in district 1, on Pham Ngu Lao street. This street is littered with hotels, shops, stalls, restaurants and lots of scooters parked on the footpath (thus making safe passage near on impossible as you then have to venture on to the road). In addition to this, the street is full of locals trying to sell you things and get you to hire a scooter or a cyclo tour of the city. They're not as persistent as in some countries (e.g. Egypt), but after a while it does still become pretty draining. Anyway, I made my way around exploring the area. It was pretty warm, and you also have to take very good care with your luggage, the scooters can just fly past and rip your backpack off - considering at times I had to venture on to the road I was extremely careful. I walked around a bit, amazed by the sounds (and smells - lots of locals have their own street food stalls with noodles cooking and so on, with others sitting around eating their noodles - and then of course there are some areas where the smells are less savoury!) and then tried to find a restaurant - again the waiters approach you and try to wave a menu under your nose so you'll go to their restaurant. In the end I found one with relatively cheap food, and people in there eating (and it looked clean!) so in I went. I ordered pho, which is a traditional Vietnamese noodle soup dish - it was very yummy and I was quite pleased. However at the end of the meal I began to suspect that perhaps all was not above board in this restaurant, as i observed a young man who was approached by the waiter (as i had been), who then turned bright red, looked up at the second floor of the building, smiled, nodded, and then was ushered to the back of the restaurant and up the stairs. He certainly didn't reappear during the time I was there, and when I left, I too looked up at the second level - and it didn't look like a restaurant to me! It reminded me of a time in Lisbon where we thought we were in a restaurant / bar but in fact turned out to be in a brothel!

I headed back to my hotel and enjoyed a very good night's sleep. I awoke refreshed the next morning to the sounds of people clambering up and down the stairs - the breakfast run had begun. So I headed down to breakfast, which consisted of eggs any way you wanted them, a baguette, and coffee. The woman cooked it there and then in the little hovel in the breakfast room.

The night before, on my way back to the hotel, I had pre-booked (for $9) a one day tour to the Mekong Delta. The tour took in the cities of My Tho and Ben Tre. The bus met us at the tour office where I booked it, and then took us for the drive to the first stop - a cafe on the side of the road. As we were driving out of Ho Chi Minh I was amazed at the scooters - crammed full of items, stacked very tall and not looking terribly stable. One bloke was carrying a TV strapped to the back of his scooter, another had a load of boxes stacked very tall, another had 2 adults and 2 kids all on the one scooter. It was astonishing.

We arrived at the cafe and immediately were accosted by the street sellers wanting to sell us sunglasses, postcards, jewellery - you name it, they were selling it. The cafe was of interest apparently because of its hammocks - all along the highway there are loads of cafes with hammocks, designed for the traveller. The idea is that as you are driving long distances on your scooter you often get tired, so you need a rest - so you buy a coffee, lie back in a hammock, and have a little nap. Quite a good idea really.

It was then back on the bus and off to the next stop, which was a small village within the delta itself. At this village we enjoyed fresh fruit whilst watching an entertaining show given by the local family. One of the singers was the Japanese guide for our tour. He gave an amusing performance of a love duet with his daughter - quite strange, particularly for the unusual nasal sounds that are typical of traditional Vietnamese song. The accompanists were interesting too, with one guy playing a traditional Vietnamese guitar and foot castanet, and the other guy on regular guitar.

The fruit was quite nice - the most unusual being the dragon fruit, which just looks like a poppy seed cake but which is obviously not.

After this they put us in sampan canoes and ferried us, gondola fashion, up the delta. In my sampan was 2 Canadians and a British girl. The Canadians were a bit older and were lovely - Helen and Doug - and we had quite a good chat.

The sampan cruise was very interesting for its insight into river life along the delta. The people use the river for everything. Anything that can float is used as a boat or a form of transportation. We even observed a boat which was dredging the bottom of the river and dumping the sand on the deck of the boat, to dry off and thus make bricks for houses. It was pretty cool (but apparently illegal as they're not supposed to dredge that part of the river!).

The journey brought us to the lunch venue, which was lovely. The lunch however was a bit skimpy, I thought - a tiny piece of pork with some steamed vegetables and small portion of rice. You had to pay to have anything extra with it!

After lunch we were taken to the candy making workshop, where we observed family members crushing coconut and making a sticky toffee paste to create coconut candy. You could have a go at cutting it up and wrapping your own in rice paper, and of course you could buy - but seeing as no one seemed to have very clean hands, and they were making these on top of an uncovered aluminum bench under a straw roofed open walled hut - no one was really up for it. So instead they gave us honey tea and then one of the guys brought out a python for people to have a hold of. Strange!

After this we headed back along the river in the bigger boat. It was again very interesting to see the river life - particularly the houses along the bank, which looked like there was no way they should really be standing at all, they were like little shanty towns.

Upon our return to the city we boarded the bus and headed off to a nearby Buddhist temple. This particular temple had a very ornate bonsai garden - not the real little bonsai trees that you get in the shops, but rather large ones, at least human height tall. The temple also had a large fat little squat Buddha statue with the dirty great big grin - but what I thought most amusing was in the title underneath the statue, it said "phat" - which of course he was!

Eventually it was time to head back to Ho Chi Minh. I dumped my stuff at the hotel and then promptly headed out again - now in search of the hotel I will check into tomorrow for the start of my Gap Adventures tour. Apparently it was (according to Google maps) only a 5 minute walk away. Clearly though Google hadn't accounted for "crossing the road in Vietnam" time! It was literally mad - I had been warned by Helen and Doug about crossing the road near the Ben Thanh market roundabout, but seriously, this was something else! It was near on impossible to get across! Eventually I had to just go for it, and luckily didn't get hit. I found the hotel we will be staying at, and then ventured over to the Ben Thanh market - but it was closed. I did however have a look at some of the shops nearby as I decided, starting to do some research on a new daybag as my current one, a free "Fitness First" gym bag that Iva gave me when she left London, really has seen better days.

After much searching I finally gave up the mission - I was really tired after all - and tomorrow is another day...

Visa on Arrival

One of the reasons why I picked Vietnam as a holiday destination was that thanks to the wisdom of google, it appeared getting a visa wouldn't be too tricky. This was a primary reason, along with the fact that (a) I had never been there before and (b) I got a really cheap deal. All important factors in the decision making process. But I will admit, I was quite skeptical, never having heard of this process before. Essentially, you go to www.myvietnamvisa.com, pay $19USD, fill in a form and they'll send you a letter which you present upon arrival (only if you're coming by air though), pay a $25USD "stamping" fee, and you're good to go. Seemed a bit dubious. But astonishingly it worked! The only downside is that every other traveller to Vietnam was clearly trying to get their visa at the same time too, so it took quite a while (especially as some had taken the option of paying extra to have someone meet them there and take them to the counter - something I didn't think worth doing - but the benefit of this though was that the customs guy then dropped everything and did your visa next. Or so it seemed to me. An hour or so late I was good to go - but now there was a new problem, as the luggage belt for my flight was no longer showing on the screen, and no one seemed to know which one it had been, or indeed where the luggage was now. It was only by chance that I, in the course of completing a "lost baggage" form, overheard an official tell someone else who said they'd been on my flight that it was belt 2 - so i stopped filling in the form, hoofed it over there and luckily my bag was there! Thank goodness. Next step after customs and baggage handling was to get to the hotel. Easier said than done - the bus stops running at 6pm everyday and by now its 730 - no trains, no bus - what to do? Taxi was the only option but we all know how much of a rip off they are. Alas I had no choice, and headed for the ranks, only to be accosted by touts trying to charge me a good but exhorbitant "deal" - not one of them wanted to put on the meter, and several tried to say that i had to buy a taxi card in advance for 400 000 dong (about $40 USD). The guide book fortunately warned against all these and I eventually managed to find some poor soul willing to put on the meter, and we set off. Which I then immediately regretted. Now I've travelled by car in many different countries, especially those with intriguing road rules, but I tell you now, nothing can prepare you for the traffic experience in Vietnam! There's something like 8 million people in Ho Chi Minh, and half of them own scooters - and all seemed to be on the road at that time! Talk about madness! Even in the Middle East their driving was infinitely safer than this - here not only did we have several "lanes" of traffic - as many as you like, but no one abides by traffic lights! So you've got cars and scooters going every which way, even on the wrong side of the road - and there's beeps and light flashing going on everywhere. Madness. But on top of it, no one goes slow - my driver was weaving in and out at a ridiculous speed, so much so that i had to close my eyes as scooters, trucks, buses, cars all veered dangerously close to us. It was so rough that in the taxi in front of us the poor passenger stuck her head out and had a vom! Eventually we safely made it to the hotel and I checked in. This hotel, the Bich Duyen, is on the main street of the backpacker district, and is pretty clean and equipped with the mod cons, all for a very reasonable price. I paid $35USD for 2 nights which included an air-conditioned room, ensuite, tv, free wifi and breakfast. Pretty good. The only funny thing was having to take shoes off at the door - but other than that, all good. Oh and the fact that I didn't have a window, which was odd. But I did however sleep very well...

Kickin' Back In KL

What an interesting (and long) day it's been today. I arrived this morning in Kuala Lumpur at 610am after very little sleep, extremely tired and to be honest, pretty reluctant to do anything. In fact, I was seriously tempted to check in to the transit hotel and spend the 8 or so hours I had in transit there instead. I think I would've quite enjoyed it - until I got the bill! Anyway, as I got off the plane I decided that, as nothing would be open in the city for a while (I knew the hop-on, hop-off bus I was intending to take didn't even start til 830am), I would have a coffee at Starbucks and just sort myself out for a bit. I was glad I did. Feeling much more refreshed after a coffee, I then made my way through the terminal (this year they are working on the train so you had to get a bus), through immigration and onto the KLIA Ekspres train. From there it was a 28 minute journey to KL Sentral. Surprisingly, there was free wifi on the train, so I did a bit of browsing to try and figure out where to get the tour bus from. That was when I happened to discover that upon my return to KL, I will be leaving from a different airport. This started to put paid to my plans to pick up a couple of Barbie Christmas presents for my neices on the way home. Hm. Will have to rethink that one. Anyway after a bit of wandering around the station I finally found the bus stop for the tour bus, and managed to be on it by around 845, which I thought was pretty good. The tour wasn't so cheap, it was 38ringgits, but hey, I had nothing to do - and trying to negotiate the randomness that is the KL public transport system would have resulted, no doubt, in tears - so I was happy enough to go with it. Especially when we pulled into the national museum and had to wait 10 minutes so the other bus could be 30 minutes behind us - and I discovered free wifi on the tour bus! It was fast wifi, too, and enabled me to keep posting Facebook updates throughout the day! Photos, too! I had thought just to stay on the bus until Petronas Towers, but Independence Square (Dataran Merdeka) looked really interesting, so that was my first "hop off". Just near there also is St Marys "Cathedral" which is the oldest church in KL - and just near that was a strange old man waving his dingaling around... hm. I didn't stay there too long! Hopped back on the next bus, which was at least 30 minutes wait - worked out pretty quickly that with the limited time I have it's not possible to hop off at every stop, given that the next bus is 30 minutes away - and given that the bloke reckons a full loop takes 3 hours. I didn't believe that until we hit terrible traffic in Chinatown - in fact the traffic, and the roads, in KL is just ridiculous. The roads remind me a lot of Singapore (the main ones in the more commercial area) as they are quite big and wide - but there's an awful lot of people on them, and their driving skill is not really all that - I doubt they'd get a license anywhere else but perhaps the Middle East, or Italy...! Then in the more dirty, squalid parts of town, the roads are exceptionally narrow - quite difficult in spots for our tour bus to negotiate - and that's more likely where you'll see the shanty towns I spotted (particularly round the back of China town). The Indian district was quite interesting also, very colorful - but I was in heaven when we arrived at Petronas - literally. Because although you couldn't go up to the sky deck (it's closed on a Monday - and they only give out a limited number of tickets each day anyway) - I discovered the most wonderful thing - Suria KLCC mall. Oh my goodness, I was in heaven - all the big names were there, Bally, Armani, Ralph Lauren - plus a few old favourites - Zara, Top Shop and Gap - and that's when I worked out the rest of my Christmas shopping. I'll need to buy a new bag though, and I'll also need to double check AirAsia's luggage policy - but I think I can do it. So I spent quite a time there doing "research" before making my way back to the tour bus. By this stage it was getting late and I was getting anxious to get back to the airport, especially as the traffic was picking up and our pace, most definitely wasn't. Fortunately all was good, I got back in time and had no hassles getting to the airport. Next stop Saigon...

Maverick begins!

Malaysia and Vietnam Adventure - aka MAVerick - begins! (like what I did there?) Sunday 5 December 2010 Finally! The big day is here, I'm at the airport and the big adventure is about to begin... but of course, not without a few Kylie-flapping moments! Obviously, having visited some 52 countries in my time, I guess I would be what most would call a "seasoned traveller". Unfortunately, I am also what most would call an "incredible flapper" as well! This sort of 'flapping' behaviour used to drive my travel companion, Agnieszka, completely nuts. How it goes is this: firstly, there is the saga of packing. For most, this is not such a big deal - but for me, this is one of the biggest problems for me in travelling. Why? Because I can never, no matter how much I try to prepare in advance, figure out exactly what I should take. Toiletries, tech, books - that's all fine - but clothes? Oy ve, therein lies the problem. Firstly we go through the dilemma of exactly how much is too much, and how much too little? Then we go through the drama of what will be the "going out outfit", before capping it all off with the "what shoes will we bring and what colour" saga. And that's the tricky one - because the shade the majority of outfits are affects which shoes we pack - brown doesn't go with black you know - and that then becomes the entire crux of the matter - determining whether to have a black or brown hue to the wardrobe. You see, the majority of my functional travel outfits have a brown hue, but my waterproof jacket is black, and as it usually doubles as the "going out jacket", this then causes all sorts of problems. As a result, packing can take me several hours (especially as I tend to multitask the preparation of the tech at the same time - you know, convert all movies to .m4v so I can upload to my iPad and iPhone) - and today was no exception. In fact, today was especially extra-faffy, as in the middle of it all I dropped everything to go have lunch with Mel and her kids at Chermside (oh and do a little Christmas shopping as well!) Eventually I decided on a mostly brown hue with the occasional black thrown in ($3 black flip flops to accommodate), and by about 5.30pm I had finally zipped the bag up (impressive, considering I started packing at 9.30 this morning!). Having wangled a lift to the airport courtesy of Mel, I then set down to wait - but the tech still needed some work, and then I realized I needed to print out some stuff, and recharge some batteries, and clean the house - and all of a sudden Mel was ringing the doorbell, it was time to go - and the real flapping began! Did I have my passport? Have I got the visa approval letter? Hang on, where's my travel money? House keys? Is the door locked and all the windows shut (I'm actually still convinced, even now, sitting at the airport, that the backdoor is wide open!). When I eventually got down to the car I didn't even have my shoes on! So Mel thought it most amusing mid journey to the airport that I suddenly start frantically searching my bag for things I think I've forgotten! Fortunately I don't think I've forgotten anything... Then we had the dilemma of checking in. As Mel was pulling in the drive I was trying to check in online and not having any luck due to the fact I couldn't find the booking number. And when I arrived at the airport I wasn't even sure I had a valid ticket anyway - and couldn't check as check in didn't open for another 50 minutes! Fortunately all was well, I checked in successfully - and even had time to go to the internet desk to print off the pre arrival form for Vietnam visa on arrival (which I had forgotten to print off in advance). So now I'm sitting relatively calmly in the departure lounge awaiting boarding. Let the adventure begin! Monday 6 December 2010 So the flight was relatively uneventful - but not as comfortable as I am used to. I think once you've travelled Singapore Airlines for any reason, you really have been spoiled. Malaysian Airlines are ok, but they must be the only airline left on the planet (I guess outside of Garuda Indonesia, who were always rubbish, and whom I don't even know if they are still operational) who do not have personal TVs in economy for 8hr flights. Hm. I would love to say I slept the whole way, but after an incident whereupon I lost my pillow (thinking the person behind me had taken it) only to discover upon arrival that sometime during the night they relocated and in fact the pillow was still the, tucked far behind my seat, I really did not sleep all that well. So here I am in KL now with pretty much a whole day ahead of me before my last leg to Ho Chi Minh tonight. What to do? First things first, coffee at Starbucks to plan the day. I'm thinking at least I'll need to go to Petronas Towers today, or do a "hop on hop off" bus tour - but it's 630am and nothing much open yet (other than SB) so my guess is I'll hang here a little longer and make my way into town. Will let you know what happens! Update to the above - I am now on the hop-on hop-off tour - complete with it's own, free bus wifi - we could benefit from this in Brisbane, seriously! The bus is having to wait a few minutes so I'm quickly hopping on and off the wifi too! Gotta love Asia eh?

South Pacific

We left Brisbane on Monday evening and immediately set sail for New Caledonia. The weather started to improve, and life on the ship quickly settled into a routine - breakfast, lazing by the pool or attending some activities (belly dancing and line dancing were the ones I participated the most in), followed by lunch in the bistro, more lazing by the pool and maybe a spot of gym in the afternoon, or a massage at the Lotus spa, before dinner in the Burgundy / Bordeaux, a show, and then checking out Dakota, the resident band, in the Terrace lounge just before bed. One of the evenings was the cocktail evening, where we got to dress up in our finery. We took a formal family portrait that evening, and later Beck and I enjoyed the New Year's Eve party in September on the lido deck - it was such fun! Ah the life of the cruise...

We had 2 really pleasant days at sea and then on Thursday morning we awoke to the most gorgeous view - we were tucked away (well, as much as one can be on a huge cruise ship), surrounded by islands in Emerald Bay. Shortly after breakfast the tenders set sail, ferrying us to the shore, for a day on the beach at Poum. The locals came down to greet us, with their crafts and wares, (and hair braiding), and we enjoyed the day swimming, snorkelling (the reef was really beautiful), and exploring the immediate area. Beck and Cell got their hair braided!

Whilst the weather was a little overcast, it was still quite warm and we had a magnificent day. That evening, Mel, Kev and I (boy did I feel the gooseberry, as Anne would say!) enjoyed a wonderful meal in the steakhouse - the steak just literally melted in your mouth, and the desert, well, was to die for!

The next morning we awoke to the noise of the ship being moored in port at Noumea. Again a wonderful day was had by all. We disembarked as early as we could and made our way to the Petit Train, where we had a fabulous tour of the city. It was a beautifully warm day and we all thoroughly enjoyed our ride around the town - including the descending clutch start the "train" had to make at the top of the hill! How quirky!

After our ride we walked back into the city, where the locals were celebrating a national holiday, to commemorate Noumea being recognised as French. We explored the local markets and then the others headed back to the ship whilst I wandered about the town for a bit. I headed up to the cathedral which has magnificent views of the harbour. Beck and Dem came back out a little later and we did a spot of shopping.

On Saturday we had our last day in New Caledonia - this time at the Isle of Pines. I have to say this was probably the most special of our locations - and we nearly didn't get to go there! The reason was that in order to go ashore, we had to be ferried across on the tenders - but there was a big swell in the ocean and it wasn't safe for the tenders to pull up alongside the ship. Eventually, about mid morning, the captain was able to let some boats take passengers ashore, so we made it over around lunchtime. When we arrived there, the locals were out in full swing, with dancing, traditional singing, craft markets and so on. Beck and I bought some lovely floral dresses for the themed 'island' night planned later in the evening. We enjoyed swimming in the clear waters and playing in the sand, before making our way back to the ship. On the way back, Miss B entertained everyone with her rendition of Barney's "I love you, you love me, we're a happy family!" - everyone was laughing and smiling and appreciating the innocence of it all. It was just beautiful.

That evening was Island night, so Beck and I dressed up in our new dresses. There was an ice carving demonstration on the lido deck, and a party - we had Lachie up there with us, dancing to "YMCA" and "Nutbush" - it was such fun!

Alas, we were leaving New Caledonia, and had only 2 more days at sea. Included in that was another cocktail evening, where we dressed up again in our formal gear, and a country n western evening. Such fun! Lachlan, Mel and I got into the line dancing!

Mel and I also started to take advantage of the spa treatments available - and we booked in to a session of Ionithermie, which was brilliant. Even Kev had a session! Fabulous for treating cellulite.

But all too soon the holiday was over, and we were back in Newcastle. We'd had such a brilliant time, I really do hope that we can do it again soon. But for now, Phase 2 of the Moore family adventure was just beginning...

Sailing On The Ocean, The Tide Rolls High!

So when I left off, we had boarded the Pacific Sun and set off on our high seas adventure! It was terribly exciting, watching the tug boats push us off, the kids getting terribly excited (Bethany though decided it was an appropriate time to try and hide on the deck)

- finally we were off on our adventure! But then the first little hiccup struck, something that really shouldn't have affected me, having grown up on boats - but did. You see, when sailing on the ocean, the tide rolls high...

And roll it did! Coming out of Newcastle harbour! The waves started to get quite large, and although it wasn't really rough, by any standards - it was enough to have myself and my sister Mel feeling somewhat seedy - and just before dinner!

The family had adjourned to the Burgundy dining room for dinner that night. On board the Pacific Sun there are 2 dining rooms - Burgundy and Bordeaux - they both serve the same food but the Bordeaux is just that little more (allegedly) up market - so you usually have to make a reservation. We couldn't get one, so the Burgundy it was - which was fine - but when the ship is a-rocking and a-rolling, and you start to feel a bit off - well, that's not when you want to be ordering a 3 course meal! I think I managed the chicken soup and that was pretty much it... Fortunately, my sister Beck is a walking chemist, and she had come prepared with a whole swag of Stemotil, which Mel and I eagerly wolfed down - and instantly felt a whole lot better.

That evening was our first at exploring all the ship had to offer. I decided to go check out some of the night time activities - as advertised in the Pacific Daily, the newsletter that they give you each night advertising the next days' activities. Firstly we headed off to the Atlantis lounge to see the show - it was Ugly Dave Grey - and whilst it was ok, it wasn't really that funny. After that, according to the Daily, there was a "singles mingles" event in the Oz Bar, so off I went. Unfortunately, I suspect I was probably the only single on the cruise - cos no one else turned up! So I set off to explore the ship anyway... There is just sooo much on board - there's a gym, the 'oasis' (childfree, with sauna and spa), a beauty salon (for hair and so on), the Lotus Day spa (lots of massages and treatments), the Oz bar, the Terrace lounge, the Atlantis lounge (with 2 shows nightly), smuggler's bar, the casino, two pools, the buffet... lots of stuff! Plus a library that by night becomes an amazing steakhouse, and the speakeasy bar - with a bench designed like a piano (leading actually to the piano). So much to do....

The next morning, after enduring a sleepless night of Mum and Dad snoring (I was in a cabin with both them and Lach), I got up early (I couldn't sleep anymore anyway with all the snorts and whinnies from M and D). I'd decided that I wanted to go to the gym. Unfortunately when I got there (at 6.30am) it was totally busy - all the equipment was in use - so I decided to go looking for the so-called running track. As I was looking, suddenly the gym guy Tim (from Sweden) comes out, and asks if anyone is there for boot camp. I thought, why not - so I joined in. It was really good actually, but very hard work - you try running around the deck of a rolling ship raising a car tire up and down above your head! However what I hadn't realised, was that the boot camp was a charge activity - which cost me $10. Worth it, though.

That day was a day at sea, but unfortunately the weather was unpleasant - so whilst there was technically a lot on, according to the daily, I quickly realised that there wasn't a lot on simultaneously - so if you weren't interested in belly dancing at 11, then you didn't have anything else to do at 11. Fortunately Beck and I were, so we checked it out. And prior to that, Mum and I checked out the church service (which was somewhat brief - 2 hymns, a prayer and a poem - but still it was something). Other activities that I participated in was line-dancing, which surprisingly I really enjoyed - plus it is really quite tricky to do when the ship is rocking up and down! Gives a whole new meaning to the word 'grapevine'...

The next day, Monday, we were in port - in Brisbane. When we originally booked the trip, the boat was going to Brisbane, but not taking on passengers there. However they eventually opened up bookings to Brisbane so we did get some 300 new passengers on board. Mel had been feeling unwell though, and I had been feeling cold (with the rain) so when we arrived in Brisbane, we disembarked and spent the morning at Toombul - Mel at the doctor, and I in the flat getting a jumper. We made it back for lunch and spent the afternoon playing scrabble and other board games.

We also had the opportunity that afternoon to catch up with Grandma and the Heads. They came down to say hi so we had coffee at the wharf - which was really nice. Plus then they got to wave us off, as we finally set off for the high seas....

The Storm Before The Calm

So firstly I have to apologise for not really keeping up to date with my blogging. To be honest, I've been quite busy with mundane things - and that's not of any interest to anyone, now is it? But finally I have some things which are blogworthy... I had an extremely whirlwind week leading up to our impending first family holiday ever. Everyone else was getting quite excited, but I wasn't able to join in with their sentiments, because of the huge list of things I needed to achieve before the trip could actually take place. For me, this week truly was like the storm before the calm. Firstly I had to organise my packing - no small task as, those who know me well, would know that this is the one thing I detest the most about going on holiday - because I agonise over every single item I pack, and then start to fret over how much stuff I have. What made this all the worse was the fact that not only did I have to pack for 2 different seasons (the hopefully warm, sunny and bright weather of the cruise, and the unfortunately cold, damp and depressing weather of Melbourne afterwards), but that I also had to have it all packed a week before the actual trip. This was because of a couple of reasons, but primarily because I really needed to avoid checking my luggage in on my flight at all costs - I was flying with dodgy Jetstar after all, and timing was essentially down to the wire, with my arriving on the morning of the cruise. So Mum and Dad "offered" to cart my luggage with them as they were driving down to Newcastle - alas leaving several days beforehand... But beggars can't be choosers, so I sorted it out. Painfully. And that was the Sunday. Then I had to endure the week from hell at school - marking, marking, and yes, more marking - but this is a huge problem because firstly, I detest marking, and secondly, I'm really slow at it - because I want to be totally sure that I get it right for the sake of the kids. So that was a nightmare - because I couldn't do everything else I had to do until I did this. Then I had to do my verification submissions (aka moderation hell for teachers), SAIs (aka administrative b.s. which doesn't actually mean anything but causes a major headache for Heads of Department for no real reason at this point), and I also had a staff end of term thank you dinner as well - busy, busy, busy! Oh and a concert to organise and a visit to the opera with some students. Throw into all of this the wonderful visit of my dearest friend Heather from the UK and you will see Kylie was a very busy girl. It all however came to a head on the Wednesday evening when I was up until 3am trying to burn DVDs for the verification submission due, at the really stupid hour of 9am on Thursday morning (like, the thing isn't even due at the Board until the second day back after the holidays!) - suffice to say I was very tired and stressed the next day. Fortunately that was when I got to catch up with Heather, in Coolum - such a lovely time we had! It was all worth it... Then finally, Saturday came, and everything went surprisingly smoothly (well, except for the short delay as the cab I had booked came a bit late!). Actually it all was a bit of a miracle - 12 people needed to travel separately to Newcastle and arrive at the Port by 1.30pm for boarding on the Pacific Sun - so many things could've gone wrong. Mum and Dad drove down (3 days in advance) - the car nearly wasn't ready 2 days prior and needed a bit of work (and a new battery upon arrival!). Beck and her family were driving down on the Friday, towing a caravan - their luck with cars is dodgy at best, but fortunately all went smoothly. Mel and her family were flying down the night before - with the aforementioned trouble-ridden Jetstar - whilst they had some delay (inevitable with Jetstar!), they made it (albeit it later than expected) - although they had bigger problems the next day with the traffic around the port and with trying to return their hire car in time - but it all worked out. And then there was me, flying down at the crack of dawn o'clock on Saturday morning - last to leave, but still had some timing issues as had to get picked up by Mum and Dad sometime and somewhere in Newcastle - and yet all of these things came off and we arrived literally within a few minutes of each other at the Port. Finally our boarding time came and we were off! After months of planning, the holiday of a lifetime is finally here! Stay tuned for updates of our adventures...

Long Way Round

So, Friday morning. My last full day in Tasmania (my flight leaves early Saturday morning). What to do?

Really, all I had left was to head back to Launceston. But there were a couple of options as to how I might achieve this. The first was, to hoof it up the Lake highway and try to get to Cradle Mountain so I might have a chance of seeing it in brighter weather. But the weather didn't look all that bright at the moment - and how annoying would it be to go all that way and then still miss out?

Option 2 was to do Option 1, but instead of heading for Cradle, to go see some of the things I had missed around that way i.e. the caves at Mole Creek. But that was a bit off the beaten track, and would require a bit of driving - and the day was starting to get away from me.

Try Option 3. Option 3 was to head south, almost for Hobart, but stop off at Mount Field National Park (which was included in my National Parks pass) and do the short circuits out to Lady Barron Falls, Russell Falls, and the Tall Trees walk. From there either take the Lake Highway back up to Launceston, and see the lovely view of the Great Lakes, or take the A5 through Poatina and up to Lonnie that way. It would be a bit of a Long Way Round, but could be quite nice.

And that's exactly what I did. I drove for a few hours in the direction opposite to that which I needed to go, in order to see the exceptionally tall trees (and trust me, they were magnificent) in Mount Field National park, and the lovely waterfalls - Russell and Lady Baron. And then I endeavoured to head back via the Lake Highway, but unfortunately large chunks of that road is unsealed, gravel road - quite steep in places, and quite rough, according to the locals. With the recent rain, and ice, I thought that probably wasn't the smartest option. Not to mention the fact that the hire company null and void your insurance if you go off road on gravel and then damage the undercarriage of the car. Not a good idea.

So I headed back via the A5, which to be honest, was some of the most dull scenery I'd encountered in Tasmania. A little disappointing. But I guess, after having seen so much beauty on this trip, that was ok.

Got back to Lonnie in time to wash the car at a local BP (the first proper car wash I'd encountered for quite some time), pick up something for tea (not Chicken stirfry pasta again!), head to the Arthouse Backpackers and sort myself out. A quite pleasant evening.

The next morning it was up bright and early to return the car and head off to the airport (the car rental bloke dropped me off there) for my flight back to the Bris. A quite successful trip, if I do say so myself!