21st - 29th June - Vietnam
Never judge a book by its cover.
Never judge a country by your journey to get there - no matter how heinous!
Vietnam is fab!
We have been quite overwhelmed by how relaxing it is to be here, especially after listening to others who are doing our trip the other way round. The towns are bustling with life - mopeds, markets and hawkers (old ladies - little children) everywhere, but it's fun to stroll through and not at all hassling. The people all seem to be very friendly (even though they are trying to sell us stuff) and fun with smiles all round. The ladies seem especially tactile and seem to like stroking my little white western bottom when trying to sell me stuff!! (Pol here by the way! - James seems to have dipped out on this local habit - a part for the hairy molers on the bus!!)
After a fairly decent lie-in in Hue, we did the sights. Bikes were incredibly hot work - I'm still amazed how such a gentile princess-like creature such as my dainty self can sweat like a sumo wrestler, stuck in the ring with a pregnant rhino and her babies, for hours at a time! It's minging.
We had planned a civilised boat trip to see the royal mausoleums, but after a night on the beers in a small bar we were convinced by the owner that we should go on their motorbike tour instead. It was a good move!
We had a great day zooming through rice fields (which smell sweet!) and strolling through all the sights that the boat would have taken us to, but quicker! We had a good time with a Dutch couple doing it too - the boys had their own bike while us girlies hung onto the back of the guides. I was pretty glad James didn't have to negotiate the mad roads with me on the back wining in his ear, as I'm sure he was too! And I felt perfectly happy trusting the local who has done the same trip everyday for the last 10 years - although I did get white knuckles a couple of times as he played silly buggers with a little Auzzie lad on the back of one of their other bikes! We finished the day off in the same little bar with a small crowd drinking too many beers - again.
P.S. Daddy check out the beer labels in the phots! Barge - hoover - get it?
To keep up with our main mission of this whole adventure we were obliged to try the local delicasies - yum funny crispy panckes folded over with huge shrimps, pork, bean sprouts - served with a runny 'chilli condiment' and a plateful of fresh herbs to scoff. yum.
Vietnamese buses rock! (Am currently touching cloth - sorry, I mean wood) ...All journeys here have been extremely uneventful a part from the fab views. The buses have picked us up where they should, when they should and taken us to where they should and even used their air-con! Hooo-bloody-ray!!!
Hoi An was our next stop. A lush heritage town on the river and fairly near the coast, so lots of lush sea food - huge fat prawns Daise!! One of the best finds has been fresh spring rolls (not deep fried!) Big fat juicy prawns wrapped with lots of fresh herbs and greens in fresh rice paper, of course served with a 'chilli condiment'. (NB 'Chilli condiment' is a Jamesism frquently used at home when he sticks chilli with anything he can! And is certainly relevant later...) James also had a fantastic 5 course lunch for 2 quid - fat shrimps, juicy squid, white roses, fish steamed in banana leaves etc etc.
The town was really pretty to cycle round, loads of very old merchant houses and a complete haven for me as they are now filled with locally made bags, shoes and fabric ready to be stitched into anything you want. Not such a haven for James!
However, getting into the swing of things - when in Rome afterall - he swiftly managed to arrange a made to measure black silk kimono, complete with tasteful red dragons roaming across his chest! Nice! He says feels distinguished along with his super long hair swept back Richard E Grant stylee. Alarmingly he looks quite good in it!!
The market was wonderful to mooch round. Filled with all sorts of yum smells and sights as well as more touristy things I wanted to buy but couldn't fit in my bag! Will defo have to come back!
Before we arrived in Nha Trang someone had told us to expect Blackpool. Fortunately our night bus was worth it as it must be low season there. It was great! Huge empty yellow sand beach, soft cushioned loungers under palm fringed sun shades, clean gentle sea - not at all unpleasant! In fact so deliciously un-unpleasant that we were forced to loaf for quite some time on said soft cushioned loungers! Oh - we got off to go diving twice and of course when it was beer o'clock!
More lush beach at our next stop - Mui Ne. Had a pretty luxurius hotel too! Hired a moped to do the sights ourselves and James is now planning to get his own funky Vespa when we're back in London. Am not sure that being cut up by dodgy cabs in the rain will be quite so appealing as empty coastal roads though!
We found the fishing village which was fascinating. In amongst some fairly quiet residential streets we wound down to the sea where we came across hoards of people racing around with boats, baskets and racks of billions and billions of tiny silver fish. Everyone seemed quite interested in us - smiling and waving, and children jumping up and grinning trying to get in the way of my artistic phots! Later we stopped off at the local sand dunes where a gaggle of kids raced towards us with their homemade sand sledges! We set off up the dunes with them and James had a race down with a couple of the boys while I nattered to two chirpy little girls - for a fee of course!
We're now in Saigon. Sadly our last stop in Vietnam before heading on to Cambodia. We're planning the nitty gritty tours over the next day or so, The Chu Chi Tunnels and the War Museums. We've heard they're graphic and harrowing. With all the smiles and hustle and bustle of life here, it's easy to forget that not long ago this country was not the happy place we've found now.
We've spent today strolling round the city, eating and drinking (needs must!), posting birthday gizzits (long boring story taking up most of the day) and generally letting James recover from his rather alarming wake up during breakfast this morning.
I'll keep it brief. Boys prepare to wince.
Scene 1: At the cafe.
James orders pork porridge for breakfast (odd, but not the point of the story) which is served with yet another 'chilli condiment'. Nice breakkie eh!?
James merrily tears up whole fresh chillies to add to odd choice of breakkie but thoroughly enjoyed it all the same and was declaring it a great one to start a day skiing on, when he rubbed his face. Poor wee lamb forgot Thai cooking rule no.1. Never touch your face after handling chillies.
Scene 2: James heads to loos to wash stinging face.
Men these days are able to multitask so James decides to have a quick pee first. Clever huh!
Duh uh!
Scene 3: James rushes out to greet me with urgent need to leave cafe and return to hotel.
Clutching his pants he admits to forgetting Thai cooking rule no. 2. Never touch your bits after handling chillies.
Poor wee lamb! But made me chortle!!
Never judge a country by your journey to get there - no matter how heinous!
Vietnam is fab!
We have been quite overwhelmed by how relaxing it is to be here, especially after listening to others who are doing our trip the other way round. The towns are bustling with life - mopeds, markets and hawkers (old ladies - little children) everywhere, but it's fun to stroll through and not at all hassling. The people all seem to be very friendly (even though they are trying to sell us stuff) and fun with smiles all round. The ladies seem especially tactile and seem to like stroking my little white western bottom when trying to sell me stuff!! (Pol here by the way! - James seems to have dipped out on this local habit - a part for the hairy molers on the bus!!)
After a fairly decent lie-in in Hue, we did the sights. Bikes were incredibly hot work - I'm still amazed how such a gentile princess-like creature such as my dainty self can sweat like a sumo wrestler, stuck in the ring with a pregnant rhino and her babies, for hours at a time! It's minging.
We had planned a civilised boat trip to see the royal mausoleums, but after a night on the beers in a small bar we were convinced by the owner that we should go on their motorbike tour instead. It was a good move!
We had a great day zooming through rice fields (which smell sweet!) and strolling through all the sights that the boat would have taken us to, but quicker! We had a good time with a Dutch couple doing it too - the boys had their own bike while us girlies hung onto the back of the guides. I was pretty glad James didn't have to negotiate the mad roads with me on the back wining in his ear, as I'm sure he was too! And I felt perfectly happy trusting the local who has done the same trip everyday for the last 10 years - although I did get white knuckles a couple of times as he played silly buggers with a little Auzzie lad on the back of one of their other bikes! We finished the day off in the same little bar with a small crowd drinking too many beers - again.
P.S. Daddy check out the beer labels in the phots! Barge - hoover - get it?
To keep up with our main mission of this whole adventure we were obliged to try the local delicasies - yum funny crispy panckes folded over with huge shrimps, pork, bean sprouts - served with a runny 'chilli condiment' and a plateful of fresh herbs to scoff. yum.
Vietnamese buses rock! (Am currently touching cloth - sorry, I mean wood) ...All journeys here have been extremely uneventful a part from the fab views. The buses have picked us up where they should, when they should and taken us to where they should and even used their air-con! Hooo-bloody-ray!!!
Hoi An was our next stop. A lush heritage town on the river and fairly near the coast, so lots of lush sea food - huge fat prawns Daise!! One of the best finds has been fresh spring rolls (not deep fried!) Big fat juicy prawns wrapped with lots of fresh herbs and greens in fresh rice paper, of course served with a 'chilli condiment'. (NB 'Chilli condiment' is a Jamesism frquently used at home when he sticks chilli with anything he can! And is certainly relevant later...) James also had a fantastic 5 course lunch for 2 quid - fat shrimps, juicy squid, white roses, fish steamed in banana leaves etc etc.
The town was really pretty to cycle round, loads of very old merchant houses and a complete haven for me as they are now filled with locally made bags, shoes and fabric ready to be stitched into anything you want. Not such a haven for James!
However, getting into the swing of things - when in Rome afterall - he swiftly managed to arrange a made to measure black silk kimono, complete with tasteful red dragons roaming across his chest! Nice! He says feels distinguished along with his super long hair swept back Richard E Grant stylee. Alarmingly he looks quite good in it!!
The market was wonderful to mooch round. Filled with all sorts of yum smells and sights as well as more touristy things I wanted to buy but couldn't fit in my bag! Will defo have to come back!
Before we arrived in Nha Trang someone had told us to expect Blackpool. Fortunately our night bus was worth it as it must be low season there. It was great! Huge empty yellow sand beach, soft cushioned loungers under palm fringed sun shades, clean gentle sea - not at all unpleasant! In fact so deliciously un-unpleasant that we were forced to loaf for quite some time on said soft cushioned loungers! Oh - we got off to go diving twice and of course when it was beer o'clock!
More lush beach at our next stop - Mui Ne. Had a pretty luxurius hotel too! Hired a moped to do the sights ourselves and James is now planning to get his own funky Vespa when we're back in London. Am not sure that being cut up by dodgy cabs in the rain will be quite so appealing as empty coastal roads though!
We found the fishing village which was fascinating. In amongst some fairly quiet residential streets we wound down to the sea where we came across hoards of people racing around with boats, baskets and racks of billions and billions of tiny silver fish. Everyone seemed quite interested in us - smiling and waving, and children jumping up and grinning trying to get in the way of my artistic phots! Later we stopped off at the local sand dunes where a gaggle of kids raced towards us with their homemade sand sledges! We set off up the dunes with them and James had a race down with a couple of the boys while I nattered to two chirpy little girls - for a fee of course!
We're now in Saigon. Sadly our last stop in Vietnam before heading on to Cambodia. We're planning the nitty gritty tours over the next day or so, The Chu Chi Tunnels and the War Museums. We've heard they're graphic and harrowing. With all the smiles and hustle and bustle of life here, it's easy to forget that not long ago this country was not the happy place we've found now.
We've spent today strolling round the city, eating and drinking (needs must!), posting birthday gizzits (long boring story taking up most of the day) and generally letting James recover from his rather alarming wake up during breakfast this morning.
I'll keep it brief. Boys prepare to wince.
Scene 1: At the cafe.
James orders pork porridge for breakfast (odd, but not the point of the story) which is served with yet another 'chilli condiment'. Nice breakkie eh!?
James merrily tears up whole fresh chillies to add to odd choice of breakkie but thoroughly enjoyed it all the same and was declaring it a great one to start a day skiing on, when he rubbed his face. Poor wee lamb forgot Thai cooking rule no.1. Never touch your face after handling chillies.
Scene 2: James heads to loos to wash stinging face.
Men these days are able to multitask so James decides to have a quick pee first. Clever huh!
Duh uh!
Scene 3: James rushes out to greet me with urgent need to leave cafe and return to hotel.
Clutching his pants he admits to forgetting Thai cooking rule no. 2. Never touch your bits after handling chillies.
Poor wee lamb! But made me chortle!!
posted by Polly and James at Wednesday, June 29, 2005
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