Bangkok

Bangkok Thailand - 21 Dec 2010

Well here we are in a Holiday Inn! I've never stayed in one before. This one is really really big! I booked it months ago when we were only going to be staying here for a couple of nights but with the India fiasco and having to rearrange all our plans we now have a layover of 10 days here before we head down to Krabi for a bit of sunbaking and relaxation before coming back to Oz.

Bangkok seems like a pretty cool place and I'm sure we will be able to amuse ourselves. We took a 8km walk around today just getting a feel for things and we are going to ride the skyway tomorrow and maybe the water bus.

One thing that has me seriously annoyed is they make you pay for Internet here. We just spent a month in Vietnam where every single Hotel we stayed in (none of which cost even half of what this place does) had free wireless internet.

We are talking a dual tower, 27 story Hotel in which the cheapest room is $80 / night and you have to pay to use the Internet. A beer from the minibar costs $10 and they have a wonderful paper foldup map in the room which is yours for a mere $8.

Luckily there is an awesome supermarket across the road so we've stocked the room with good food and drinks at normal human being prices.

I will post some photos when I have some decent ones.

Best of Vietnam

Best Things in Vietnam

Today is our last day in Vietnam. We didn't plan to come here so we've mostly made it up as we've gone along with the help of a Rough Guide's book and the Internet. Google Maps on iPhone has been our best friend along with Agoda Online Hotel Bookings. Other helpful iPhone apps are Wikipedia, Food Near Me, Google Earth and Trip Advisor. Dropbox (for keeping docs and info), Gmail and Facebook are the high rotation apps on the Macbook. Of course we've used the HD camera's in the iPhones which have provided some surprisingly great photos when I haven't been carrying the little SLR Rick so generously loaned me.

                                        Saigon River

We spent our last day walking around the French and Old Quarter's of Hanoi and talked about the best and most memorable things about our time here. So here is our best of list from what we could remember as well as a photo from each place we've been.

Best Springroll

Pho 24 - Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) - crispy fried middle bit served with salad, mint, lime and fresh wrappers to wrap it al up in. Awesome.

We had a cooking class on the boat in Halong Bay and made our own.

Fresh Springrolls anywhere pretty much.

                                                 Mui Ne

Best Cake

Sweet Mung Bean Paste / Coconut Cake,  - take away bakery Hanoi

Bananus Donut, - Danang

Profiteroles  - Street Bakery Hanoi

                    Nha Trang, Islands in the distance.

Best Coffee

K's homemade in the hotel room with her Vietnamese Coffee drip filter. I thought she was mad when she bought the coffee maker but I admit, it rules, especially here in Hanoi where you can buy fresh ground beans on the street everywhere.

Illy Coffee - Hanoi - classiest expresso, can't beat Illy coffee.

Joes Cafe Mui Ne - coolest soul music made up for the just ok coffee.

                       Danang Markets

Best Meal

I say the BBQ Snapper at the outdoor food court at Ben Tan Market in Saigon. Honourable mention to Phat Burger Mui Ne.

K says Chicken Breast with Mushroom Sauce at Jibes in Mui Ne or Tuna & Salad on Rye Sandwich at La Doree in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon).

Must mention the Mango Lassie's which saved our lives on the first day in Saigon.

Best Restaurant

Lam Tong - Mui Ne - From the Omelette at Breakfast to the Fried Seafood Noodles, everything was good and no meal we ate there cost more than $5.00, drinks included.

Joe's Cafe Mui Ne for the super cool soul music and the DVD, beanbag room.

Avalon Cafe Hanoi - Super Trendy, great view of the lake and nice food.

Honourable mention to  and the great little place we went to in Hoi An that played everything from Hendrix to Creedence to Johnny Cash.

                                      Ba Na Hill Station

Best Tour

Equal Best - Halong Bay overnight Junk Cruise, Ba Na Hill Station Cable Cars.

Cu Chi Tunnels River Cruise - Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon).

Best Sight or Monument

Big Buddha's -  Ba Na Hills & Nha Trang

Han Suspension Bridge -Da Nang. Beautiful lit up at night.

Independence Palace - Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) - For the retro furniture and the photo exhibition in the basement. For some reason the old photos and press clippings seen in context with the period furniture, old phones and radios gave us the most authentic sense of the war than any other museum or place.

Ancient Houses - Hoi An - 200 year old Merchant houses full of antiquities.

                                             Halong Bay

Best Day and / or Moment

Just about all our best moments were during the long walks we took around every place we were in. We usually walked for at least 4 hours each sightseeing day and clocked up 11Km's in one haul in Danang.

For me the one I remember is a quiet coffee during a walk in the pouring rain in Nha Trang. Some backstreet cafe I could never find again, the heaviest rain I've just about ever seen. We just sat there on the sidewalk under an umbrella next to some Vietnamese people who couldn't speak a word of English and looked at the rain. For some reason I was just completely at peace.

For K the day we went ten pin bowling in HCMC (Saigon). We had set out for the Independence Palace but found it closed and for some reason wandered into a mall which had a 10 Pin lane. We bowled and had junk food and it was just a lot of laughs and a great day.

For both of us, running home in a deluge in Ho Chi Minh City after a 4 hour walk. It was hot, sticky for most of the day and we crossed some of the busiest roads we were to see in all Vietnam. The rain started about half way home but the rush hour traffic was so intense it would have been pointless catching a taxi as we could walk faster. The rain turned to a tropical deluge and we finally ended up jogging then sprinting the last  km or so home. We were like drowned rats when we got to the hotel lobby.

Definitely the toughest moment was crossing a very long bridge in Danang that had no footbridge. We put our heads down and just walked into the traffic. It was incredibly nerve racking but somehow satisfying when we made it.

                                        Hanoi Streets

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Thanks for all the nice feedback about the blog and photos. Makes it more fun when you know others are getting a vicarious thrill from our travels.

Next stop Bangkok!

Halong Bay

Halong Bay, Vietnam - 18 Dec 2010


"Ha Long" is literally translated as "Bay of Descending Dragons." 
500 years ago, Nguyen Trai praised the beauty of Ha Long Bay in his verse Lộ nhập Vân Đồn, in which he called it "rock wonder in the sky". In 1962, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Vietnam listed Ha Long Bay in the National Relics and Landscapes publication. In 1994, the core zone of Ha Long Bay was listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site according to criteria vii, and listed for a second time according to criteria viii.

We (like most other tourist in Hanoi) visited the bay on an overnight tour aboard a Junk. They take you by bus to Halong City where you board the Junk and cruise out to through the bay where you moor overnight and do various activities including visiting a huge cave, Kayaking and climbing to the top of the one of the larger rocks.

We had a diverse group of great people on our boat from Switzerland, Singapore, America and Vietnam. We were, surprisingly the only Aussies on board. There was good spirit and interesting conversation at mealtimes. The crew on the boat were efficient and friendly and the whole thing was really well put together.

 It was a great tour and an amazingly beautiful place. Definitely a highlight of the trip.
Tomorrow we get ourselves organised to leave as we fly out to Thailand Monday morning.

More Photos in large format here.

Hanoi Sightseeing

Hanoi Vietnam - 16 Dec 2010

Well it's 12C here today. Cold & miserable. We are off to Halong Bay tomorrow and having walked around the City for 5 hours yesterday, we are taking a rest day, huddling in the hotel room eating chocolate and making coffee. 

                                         Hanoi Streets

I'm listening to Australia getting caned by England in the 2nd Test from the WACA via a cool little Radio Streaming App called Radiotime I downloaded for my iPhone. It's quite amazing how useful an iPhone with GPS and a net connection is for travelling. Google Maps/Earth, Wikipedia, Trip Advisor, Food Near Me, Facebook, Radiotime Apps, all getting daily use.

                           Temple of Literature

We visited The Temple of Literature, Ho Chi Minh's House and the surrounding Gardens, Mausoleum / Museum yesterday. In the Evening we went to the Water Puppet Theatre and had dinner at a lovely restaurant overlooking the lake. We saw and exhibition of prints by Japanese Artist Toba Mika at the Temple of Literature.

                                   Water Puppet Theatre

More Water Puppet Photos Here

Assorted Hanoi iPhone Photos Here

All Photos of our Trip Here

Last Stop Hanoi

Hanoi Vietnam - 14 Dec 2010

Days are becoming a bit of a blur at the moment. Been on the road now for nearly 6 weeks. Time seems to slow down and speed up at times when travelling. It seems an age since we were wandering around in the rain in Nha Trang but only the other day since we left Australia.

We got to Hanoi on Monday afternoon after a short flight from Da Nang. It takes way longer to get organised and to and from airports than it does to actually fly internally in a country the size of Vietnam. We've started to enjoy the airports here.The Nha Trang airport is miles out of town was the smallest and quietest airport we've ever seen. We got there early and there was literally about 6 other people in the airport. We were sitting around in the coffee shop for ages just reading and chatting to an American guy about the inanities of language and trying to pronounce Vietnamese phrases. When our flight took off it was the only plane on the tarmac and people were taking photos of each other boarding the plane while the crew looked on amused. Fun stuff. The Hanoi flight was a little busier but still room on the plane to spread out and relax.

It's winter here and a bit grey and rainy and really we've just been wandering around the streets taking in the incredible amount of little shops, cafes, hotels and restaurants here in the old quarter. It's a really old City Hanoi and we are right in the oldest part of it where some of the streets are just wide enough for one car to get down. Not that many people actually drive cars around here. It's a city of Motorbikes much like the rest of Vietnam. It kind of reminds me of Bladerunner here at night, not exactly sure why, just the constant drizzle and the juxtaposition of the oriental with the occidental, the really really old and dirty against the new and shiny. I'm going to try and take some night shots of the lights and narrow streets, try to get it on film, see if it translates from my head to the camera.

Tomorrow we will visit the mausoleum of Ho Chi Minh, the Temple of Confucian Literature and whatever other notable destinations we can fit in. Thursday we are going on an overnight cruise to World Heritage Listed Halon Bay. The weekend we will fit in whatever else we can and Monday we leave Vietnam for Thailand.

Full Size Photos Here

All Albums From This Trip Here

Ba Na Hill Station

Da Nang Vietnam - 12 Dec 2010

Ba Na Hill Station, 20 Km North West of Da Nang, discovered in 1901 by Frenchman Marin Debay. It was used as a cool respite from the fierce heat of summer by French Military Personal and Civil Servants, the site of more than 200 private villas during it's prime in the 1940's. The French and American wars and the economic crisis that followed saw it fall into disuse eventually crumbling back in to the thick jungle.

In modern tourist oriented Vietnam, Ba Na is having a renaissance and in 2009 the worlds longest cable car, 5042 Metres was built, stretching from the base of the mountain to the peak making it easier to ferry tourists to the new luxury hotels and the under construction alpine village and adventure park. For now there is the largest Buddha in South East Asia (27 Metres), a Temple as well as the remains of the French Villas to see.

For our last day in Central Vietnam we took the day tour to Ba Na, riding the amazing Cable Car to the summit with it's amazing views and a pretty decent lunch in the resort restaurant. It was a great tour from start to finish hosted by "Singh" our 62 year old tour guide who once worked as a translator for American Marines. We haven't done much in the way of organised tours on our journey but Karen really wanted to ride the Cable Car and despite my reluctance (read 'grumpy old man-ness') to participating in tours I'm  really glad I let myself be talked into it - Definitely a highlight of our trip so far.

Tomorrow we fly to Hanoi for a week, our last stop in Vietnam (with a possible side trip to Ha Long Bay) before we head to Thailand. 

All todays photos here (follow the link Nikki-lea).

Hoi An Pics

Hoi An Vietnam - 11 Dec 2010


We spent the day wandering around Hoi An looking at the old Chinese Merchant Houses and Trade Association Halls. I'm too tired to write so I'll let the pics do the talking. Unfortunately I didn't have my good camera with me so it's all iPhone snaps. Fortunately iPhone 4's take pretty decent pics. These are from mine & Karen's phones.
They are all upoaded in a Picassa Album HERE
Have a look at the other albums in our collection while you are there if you haven't already.

You know you've made it when Tin Tin visits!

Hoi An - Ancient City

Hoi An Vietnam - 9 Dec 2010

Hoi An, Ancient City! As it's billed on all the advertising. Existing in one form or another since supposedly, times BC, it's modern history starts around the 1600's when it's port was a meeting place for traders from China, Japan & Europe. 

It's economic fortunes, mostly dominated by the Chinese, fluctuated over the years finally declining in the late 1800's when silt clogged up the river, hampering it's use as a port. The French attempted to resuscitate the place in the early 1900's using it as an administrative centre but it didn't take and when the rail line to Da Nang washed away in 1916, they didn't bother repairing it. 

It's obscurity allowed it to remain undamaged during both the French & American Wars and now the antique buildings, ancient houses of Chinese Merchants etc, form a picturesque  backdrop for the modern renaissance as a tourist destination.

It's a pretty place but somehow,after our wanderings around the backstreets of Da Nang, we feel a bit like we've transported in to a Lonely Planet scripted tourist movie. Every restaurant on the main street has a sign up advertising the same dishes that are featured in the Lonely Planet and Rough Guides sidebars, the hawkers in the market actually follow you up the street haranguing you and the streets are filled with European and Ozzie Backpackers.

That's ok, we sort of expected it, it's one of the most famous tourist destinations in Vietnam, we are only here for a couple of days and it IS lovely. Our Hotel is right on the banks of the river and has a lovely leafy aspect and relaxed atmosphere. We followed the script and tried the locals specials for dinner, cao lau -a noodle dish with bean sprouts and pork and banh boa - manioc dumplings of crab topped with crispy fried onions and peanut and they were good although a little oily for Karen.

We are looking forward to visiting the Chinese Mansions, dating back to the 1600's. Constructed by wealthy merchant families with the Chinese love of the ornate and apparently filled with antiques and the collectibles of 8 generations they are one of the big draws here on the tourist map.

Cham Museum, Football (and Harry Potter)

Da Nang Vietnam 8 Dec 2010

               Breakfast in Da Nang

Well the old town is rocking tonight. Vietnam defeated Singapore 1 - 0 in the Suzuki Cup.

The AFF SUZUKI CUP is a biennial football competition organised by the ASEAN Football Federation and contested by the national teams of Southeast Asia. 

We were walking around trying to find something to eat after the movies tonight and every single joint in town had the TV on watching the game. The little drinking bars were wall to wall with screaming fans. They love their football here.

We saw Harry Potter at the local megaplex and let me tell you, they have some much better ideas about running a Cinema here. First you get to choose where you sit from  a floor plan when you buy your ticket and when you hit the snack bar you can buy an ice bucket of Heineken's for $5. Now everyone that knows me knows I don't drink but I can still appreciate the genius behind that idea. Imagine! A an ice bucket of Heinekens while you watch a film. Try that at Greater Union.

We did manage to fit in some cultural appreciation in our day also, taking in the Cham Museum.

From Wikipedia:

The Cham Kingdom was an Indianized kingdom of Malayo-Polynesian origins and controlled what is now southern and central Vietnam from approximately the 7th century through to 1832.

Champa reached its apogee in the 9th and 10th centuries AD. Thereafter began a gradual decline under pressure from Đại Việt, the Vietnamese polity centered in the region of modern Hanoi. In 1471, Viet troops sacked the northern Cham capital of Vijaya, and in 1697 the southern principality of Panduranga became a vassal of the Vietnamese emperor. In 1832, the Vietnamese emperor Minh Mạng annexed the remaining Cham territories.The capital city is now heritage listed.

There is a major Cham ruin South West of here that was excavated in the 1920's and a lot of the relics are on display at the local museum we visited. Interesting stuff.

Shiva - Cham Museum

    I guess Men always liked flash cars

                  Cham Museum

    Harry Potter (not featured at Cham Museum)

Off to Hoi An tomorrow.

The Great Bridge Crossing

Da Nang Vietnam 7 Nov 2010

GPS is great, GPS on iPhone with Google Maps is awesome for exploring Cities but it doesn't give you the whole story.

We went for one of our epic 4 hour walks around Da Nang today. We walked from our Hotel in the central City across the Han Bridge all the way across the Peninsula to China Beach, walked a couple of K's along the beach and then, according to our GPS we cut back across to pick up another bridge back to the City. When we got to the bridge we realised it was a traffic bridge with no walkway! Having already walked about 7Km by this point we didn't really feel like walking all the way back to the Han Bridge so after humming & hahing for a while we just decided to do what everyone else does with the roads here, if you want to get somewhere, just do it. So we stuck the attitude on and walked all the way across the bridge in the face of the traffic just daring them all to avoid us. And it worked! We were mighty relieved to get to the other side but we laughed our heads off when we did and I'm pretty sure it' will be one of those moments you remember for years after the holiday is finished.

      K still shellshocked after crossing the bridge. It's long!

China Beach was a bit of a Ghost Town in this season, like a big abandoned building site. It's a beautiful big white stretch of beach though.

                                  Winter - China Beach

We didn't see anything else much of note but walking is a great way to see how the locals live. The bridge home came out in the Port District & we walked through all the local bars and shops on the way back to the centre of town. Life is lived much more out in the open here and every building has a shop of some kind at the front. People cooking up stuff all over the pavement and gathering in street front bars and cafes.

                Han Market - Da Nang

We are going to the Cham Museum tomorrow and then Harry Potter at the local Megaplex for a bit of R&R. Thursday we are off to Hoi An for a couple of nights.

Viva Da Nang*

Da Nang Vietnam 6 Dec 2010

Bananous (ajt) to be  filled with Bananous eg "We are utterly Bananous."

Bananous )(Nn) Extremely calorific and delicious Donut found in Da Nang.

Da Nang - 3rd largest City in Vietnam, landing base for Americans during the Vietnam War. Main Port of Vietnam. Home of the famous China Beach (featured in the ABC TV Series of the same name) it was the last place Americans demobbed from in 1972.

We are here as a base to visit the imperial City of Hue, the old town of Hoi An and the Chamh ruins at My Son. So far though we just had dinner down by the River and aforementioned Donuts. The River is beautiful at night (a bit brown & grubby during the day). We are near to the Song Han Bridge, a suspension Bridge lit up at night. In the middle of the night, traffic is stopped from crossing the  and it swings on its axis to allow shipping traffic to pass along the river. It's really something.

More to report tomorrow after we've done some exploring. It looks like a really cool place so far.

*Viva Da Nang was sung by Robin Williams in one of his ad libs as DJ Adrian Kroneur in Good Morning Vietnam. It's been going around in my head intermittently since I've been here.

Nha Trang

Nha Trang Vietnam - 5 Dec 2010

View from our Hotel

Rain Rain Rain Rain Rain Rain

Rain Rain Rain Rain Rain Rain

It's been raining, for so long

when the rain comes, they run and hide there heads

it's raining again

raindrops keep falling on my head

You get the picture?

When they said it was wet season here they weren't joking.

But neither rain nor sleet nor hail or snow can stop the tourists on their appointed rounds. So we got some new raincoats and trudged around Nha Trang today.

We saw a large Catholic Cathedral, the biggest Buddha we've ever seen and some really really big markets. Then we walked home along the rather beautiful esplanade that runs the length of the beach. 

After all that we agreed that the most fun we had was just sitting at a tiny little coffee shop watching the rain just pour down. The owner brought us Chrysanthemum Tea and Ice Coffee that was so thick with Sugar and Condensed Mile it was like a desert. She pointed at her chest and said "me Vietnam, you?" and we said "Australia" and that was pretty much it for conversation. We just watched the rain and smoked and drank our coffee and it was peaceful. I felt a million miles from home and separate from everything, a feeling that's hard to get in these days of Skype and Facebook.

The Pagoda and Buddha were gorgeous but unfortunately haunted by the kind of self appointed guides these places are prone to. They followed us around talking non stop and then demanded money. It's hard not to feel guilty saying no but they were asking for the equivalent of $10 for something we didn't ask for. We gave them a few dollars which made them angry and they stormed off.  Kind of spoils the peace of a place which would be beautiful if you could just wander around it in silence.

Big Buddha at Long Son Pagoda

The market was like one of those old puzzles with ball bearings and a maze, you tilt the puzzle to get all the bearings into the centre. Once we were in the centre of the maze it was really hard to find the way out. Stalls and stalls of shoes, and sunglasses and bric a brac and food and herbs and vegetables and fish and, well, pretty much anything you can think of. It was kind of cool but we weren't in the mood for it so didn't shop for long. The beach was gorgeous after the buzz of the city, the water was brown and stormy with cloud and mist shrouding the Islands making a wilder sort of beauty than it would be in high season with perfect weather. Didn't swim there but had a plunge in the cold pool of the roof of our Hotel. Beautiful!

        K in the Pool on the roof looking out at the Islands.

Early night tonight, we are flying out to Da Nang tomorrow morning.

Last Days in Mui Ne

Mui Ne Vietnam 2 Dec 2010

Hired a Scooter and went for a bit of an explore today. Managed to negotiate the admittedly fairly low key traffic of Mui Ne Village (even if he did keep forgetting that you drive on the right side of the road here). I've ridden a Motorcycle in India and Bali but I wouldn't tackle Saigon or any other bigger City here. It's nuts (and they drive on the wrong side of the road - what is with that?).

We found the more windward coast on the other side of the Village with lots of resorts and Windsurfing Camps. Can see why this place is famous for Windsurfing, the wind is crazy strong. Plenty of keen surfers kiting up and getting amongst it.

            Windsurfers kitting up in Big Wind

Spent the rest of the day planning the rest of our time here. We've had enough beaching and relaxation to last us to Thailand. We are off to Nha Trang on Saturday for a quick look (it's the next popular beach town along the coast) then we head to DaNang from where we'll visit Hoi An and Hue. After than we'll fly to Hanoi and make a base to get to Ha Long Bay. All that over the next 18 days then it's bye bye Vietnam and off to Bangkok and Krabi.

The Agoda Website rules for booking accom here in Asia. I was using tripadvisor.com which includes it in the search but Agoda was always the cheapest and their website is much better than the Trip Advisor one. We are able to book 3 star Hotels in all the places we are visiting for around $30 night. Strong Aus $ helps. There are much cheaper alternatives but in the 3 star places you get Wireless Internet, Cable TV, free Breakfast that kind of thing (but still no coffee service in the rooms :-().

Decided to fly the long legs between Nha Trang / DaNang and DaNang / Hanoi. Internal flights are between $60 & $80 and although the Bus is much cheaper it's 1 hour in the air versus 10 or so on the road so it's a no contest for me.

Tomorrow is washing, getting organised day and then hit the road Saturday!