Good morning Vietnam!

Hello again! Pete here - back after a break from blogging! I needed a rest - this travelling lark takes it out of you so thanks to Su and Jeanette for their contributions (which were much better than my usual ramblings!). Anyway, you're stuck with me again this time so on we go....

We arrived in Ho Chi Minh (when I say 'we' I mean Su, Jeanette and myself) by bus from Cambodia after around a 7 hour journey (which was relatively comfortable compared to some of our previous bus journeys!). Some may know Ho Chi Minh as Siagon and indeed, the locals call it Siagon more often than not. It was named Ho Chi Minh after the war with the U.S. - Ho Chi Minh being the founder of the communist party in Vietnam - he was a much revered guy in Vietnam.

First impressions of Ho Chi Minh were of complete bewilderment. It's a manic city with lots of people, lots of motorbikes, lots of tall narrow buildings, and best of all (in my view), lots of restaurants! It's a great place!The following photos will give you a small taste of what Ho Chi Minh is all about:

The photo above is the view from our hotel room. The next photo was also taken from our hotel room and shows two things: a) that some western people are nuts and will go to extreme lengths to look their best, and b) you can get anything in Ho Chi Minh:

They will shine your sandals and give you a manky looking flip flop to wear while you wait. I won't get out of bed in the morning anymore unless I get my flip flops shined first.

We thought that since we were staying a week in Ho Chi Minh that we might as well get a few tours in. We first went to the Cu Chi tunnels which is just a few hours outside Ho Chi Minh. These were tunnels used by the Viet Cong (the Vietnamese resistance during the war with the U.S.) that were used for planning, transport, living space, etc - right beside U.S. bases and a vital reason the Viet Cong were able to exist without capture. Here's a model of what the tunnel network looked like - there were three levels of tunnels, with the lowest level leading out to the Siagon river (in case escape was needed).

These tunnels were made by Vietnamese for Vietnamese and you must remember that the Vietnamese back then were even smaller than they are now so these tunnels are extremely small and narrow. Here's the entrance to one:

And these photos will give you an idea of the width and heights of the tunnels. Remember there are no lights so we were using the flash on the camera just to see where we were going!

Does my bum look big in this? My bum just about made it through and my shoulders were brushing against the sides of the tunnel. Hard going!

It was all very interesting but we were glad to see the light of day afterwards. The next day we went on a trip to the Mekong Delta! The weather wasn't great as it rained half way through. The Delta itself was pretty similar to the sights we saw in Cambodia - they had a floating market selling fruit and veg and we were brought to a coconut candy making factory, and a rice paper making factory.

I say 'factory' - it's all done by hand. We were even given a sample of the local snake wine. It's basically rice wine with a snake and scorpion added. Actually sounds a lot worse than it is.

I think the nephews will definitely find this photo interesting. We also had lunch and even a nice cup of tea! Very civilised! After lunch we were taken on a boat ride along the river - and we were even given some hats to try on!

 

All in all it was a good few days - even though myself and Su were feeling a bit ill due to taking our anti-Malaria tablets. We did manage to pull ourselves together for one night out with Jeanette in Ho Chi Minh and we even found a Guns N Roses pub!

Great night - great company - great city - great craic!

We waved a sad goodbye to Jeanette the next day - it was great to see her and she'll be missed! Some of the photos in this blog are hers (probably the good ones!). The plan is to travel up through Vietnam and make our way to Hanoi eventually. We're looking forward to it! So finally:

More to come!!

Happy Holidays...

Hi there.I have been given the honour of being a guest writer on this amazing blog.(Perhaps they needed a break?) For those of you who don't know me I am Jeanette,a friend of Susan's and,well,Pete's now too whether he likes it or not!!

Anyhows,I joined the dynamic duo in Bangkok mid July.Susan greeted me at the airport with such joy but I was a bit suspicious if it was me or the Tayto she knew I was carrying for her that she was so happy to see.....

It was lovely to see both of them there in the airport though especially when they told me about their harrowing journey to find the cheapest route to the airport.We got a taxi back into the city.

Rainy Bangkok was really just a stop point to sort out visas for Cambodia and Vietnam so 2 days later we headed to the lovely island of Ko Samet.

Susan had her moment of nostalgia when she saw the Silver Sands.She had stayed there last time she was in Thailand.When she showed us where her hut had been there was a new one in its place.Photo is for the other girls Gillian and Suzy Mogs to feel the memory!

We stayed in lovely adjoining rooms in the Samed Villa Resort beside the SIlver Sands.5 days and nights of nothing but beach,eating,sleeping,watching movies and a bit of dicky tummies.

Susan and myself fell victims to the water.Pete felt left out so the next day he was not feeling so well but I think Chang Beer had more to do with that......

So back to Bangkok for one night to collect passports and visas.We walked around Koh San Road

but being the ageing ones we found it too loud and busy so we ate in a quieter area.Next morning we were up at 4.15am to catch the 6am bus to the Thai border to cross over the Cambodia border.We got lucky as we arrived before other tourist buses and in good time-only took about 4 hours to the Thai border!We got through the borders too in no time which was also a very pleasant surprise.

However,the best form of transport from the Cambodian border to Siem Reap was in a Toyota Camry on the worst road EVER.No bad road in Ireland even comes close.Pot holes galore.

After 3 hours of that we arrived in Siem Reap to the luxurious Angkor Star Hotel with swimming pool!Great find by Miss Drennan.Lovely rooms and Star Movies!!!Siem Reap was a bonus.

We did our day of culture going to the floating village which was fascinating and sad at the same time.

How little people need to survive yet had the whole thing figured out from floating shops to churchs

to schools

to farms...

Unfortunately our guide just wanted to tell us his political views and get us to buy copybooks and pens for the school.When we did he said "is that all?"

Next we went to Angkor Wat.

Fascinating place as you can see from the photos.It dates back to the 12th century and was passed down to quite a few leaders.We educated ourselves by reading a book on everything as we were guided out by now.We got lucky and were able to see why the pond is called the "Reflecting Pond".Can you see why?

After we went to the Bayon to see the myriad of faces

and then to see the roots of trees

growing into the ruins of Angkor Thom.

All beautiful but we were waning at this point.We finished off with the terrace of Elephants and the Leper Kings.Our tuk tuk driver must have thought us the worst tourists ever as we were not delaying in many places.He was surprised when we said we were done and to take us back to the hotel.

That night we went out for food and a few drinky poos.

It was a fun night and Susan and myself even got to boogie!!!!Next day though I spent most of it by the pool as some people were feeling a bit worst for wear!

Then onto Phnom Penh,the capital of Cambodia.We paid for an air-conditioned bus that was supposed to take 5 hours.We had NO A/C and it took 8 hours-nice!The driver was overly horn happy which became the most annoying thing!We arrived to a very busy city which seemed to have a free-for-all-rules-of-the-road.Madness!We stayed in a real hostel called OKAY run by a racist Chinese woman who only liked white people or Chinese to stay in her hostel.She carried a handbag of cash around with her at all times.It was cheap and cheerful.We went to the Tuol Sleng Muesum(Security Prison 21) before going to the Killing Fields.They were both equally horrific.The Khmer Rouge took over Cambodia in 1975 and just tortured their own people.The educated,wealthy,professional people were first to go.They stayed in control until 1979 when the Vietnamese beat them.To date the actual count for how many people they tortured and murdered is still not decided-some say hundreds,others say thousands but the majority are saying a few million!They are still finding the remains of bodies in the killing fields' area.We only took a couple of photos as it just did not seem right taking them.

That night we went to a hostel that shows the Killing Fields film.It did not effect us as much as we thought.I guess having seen the real thing was beyond any reasoning that we were still numb.

To change the mood,the next day it rained something rotten(yesterday)!We had planned to only go to the Russian Market which thankfully was enclosed.

It was nothing special really but we made a couple of purchases anyway.We treated ourselves to a pizza last night out by the river which was very tasty.

So this morning we got on a bus about 9 o'clock to head to Vietnam.That is where we are sitting as I type.So far it is air-conditioned and the road is good.The driver has not tooted his horn once yet!This journey is SUPPOSED to take 6 hours-time will tell....... 

PS I leave the company of these 2 in 6 days but I thought I should let those mummies and daddies out there know that their children are doing well living the dream and still sickeningly loved up.They are looking forward to a good home cooked meal though......Dunshaughlin and Tuam watch out!

And finally................

Trains, Prawns and automobiles...

We've been in Thailand nearly a month now and are due a visa run.  This is a common practice with backpackers here who want to stay longer then the 30 day tourist visa issued on arrival.  In order to get a new one for free you need to leave the country and re-enter where they stamp you back in again.  The nearest country to us at this time is Myanmar (Burma) so we leave the party capital of Thailand and head west.  Once in Ranong (Thai boarder town) we hop onto a noisy long tail boat and cross the border. 

Thirty minutes later after a few military checkpoints we're in Myanmar immigration office.  The military have full control here and are not the friendliest in the world.  We were told to have US dollars in good condition to pay for our  Myanmar visa  which ours were.  We handed our money to a grumpy looking soldier and after a close inspection (which took a good 2 to 3 minutes) of our 2 $10 bills, the soldier hands them back to us and says 'No' our notes are not up to the required standard, they need to be pristine.  Ridiculous, luckily after a bit of searching Pete found a $20 which seemed to impress him more so all were happy. This border town is very poor it's more of a slum then a town but thankfully did not seem to have been affected by the recent cyclone.  We had planned to have a wander around to see a bit more but our intentions were lost in translation and ended up on the boat back to Thailand a few minutes later.

For all its stunning beaches and scenic forests the majority of towns and villages of Thailand are not the prettiest.  Overall Thailand could do with a good lick of paint.  Layers of dust, dirt and peeling paint is a common look for all local shops and homes inside and out, but among these shabby buildings will be their eye blindingly bright shiny, beautifully decorated Buddhas and temples.  It seems so contradictory the whole country lives in relative poverty while huge amounts of money are pumped into their religious temples and icons.  I took this photo above on the way back to the Thai boarder.

Next stop Phuket.  Phuket like Koh Samui is a busy over commercial tourist trap and is not on the backpacker circuit.  However the one thing it does have going for it is cheap cheap luxury during the monsoon.  (As I'm sure you can tell by now Thailand is our summer holiday of our trip).  We decide to stay here for around 2 weeks in total and stay in a few great places and eat fabulous food.

The average Thai backpacking menu is vegetable fried rice for breakfast, vegetable fried rice for lunch and yep you've guessed it vegetable fried rice for dinner!  I'm not joking, you can always judge the overall price and standard of any Thai restaurant by the price of the VFR.  If it costs more then €1 it's too dear and you keep on looking, it costs less than €1, bingo, that's were you eat for the rest of your stay.  This was the case when I backpacked with my cousins Gillian and Suzy a few years ago.  Myself and Pete  however have decided to splash out and treat ourselves by averaging the cost of our meals to around €2 but would normally only eat 2 meals a day.  We often eat in roadside hawker stands which are a one stop shop of noodle soup or chicken and rice dishes for less then €1.  You sit on small plastic stools on the footpath and slurp away along with all the locals. 

One night we were feeling brave and decided to chance a bit of 'Chicken on a Stick'. There are lots of chicken satay stalls all over Thailand and the barbeque smells fill the air.  After close inspection of all the different types of chicken (including the entrails!) we settled on the safest looking one.  Alas after our first bite we quickly discovered that there was more cartilage/bone/fat than meat and at an even closer inspection we realised that what we had bought was 6 chicken arses on a stick!! In other words the little triangular tail on a roast Chicken.... Mmm... Nice!  As you can see by Pete's expression below he was quite dubious about trying another piece..

Which brings me back to Phuket since we were on our 'holidays' we decided to splash out and eat like kings for a week, huge fresh tiger prawns, rock lobster even steak! Mmm! We were the envy of all backpackers and amazingly no dinner cost more then €8-12, needless to say we'd have 10p packet noodles for lunch so it's all relative!!!

This is a photo of one of the hotels we got for €13 a night...

it's such hard work being a champagne backpacker...

 

Well-fed and well-rested we leave Phuket for the backpacking capital Bangkok!  We're meeting Jeanette a friend of ours from home there in a few days.  We've decided to get the overnight sleeper train because the bus would take 14 hours which is bad enough for me but would be hell for Pete (being ever so slightly taller then the average Thai).  So after a 4 hour bus journey to the nearest train station we settle into our cabin.  We have once again splashed out and spent the extra 4 quid to get a private cabin with 2 bunk beds instead of sleeping with all of Thailand in one of the tiny bunks in one of the main cabins.

This is the first time we've travelled by train and its really comfy with our bunks converted into a couch during the day, a little table and even a sink and even more surprising it actually works!  It's nothing short of a posh hotel, a waitress even comes around to take our order for our following day's breakfast.

Unfortunately at some stage that day I must have eaten something dodgy because by around midnight I'm sick and vomiting and have to make several dashes to the loo.  Even more unfortunate our 1st class toilet blocks and floods (Nothing to do with me I can assure you!) so now our nearest loo is the mail carriage which is worse then the lowest class with a rusted non flushing bowl for a loo where you can actually see the tracks flying past below, a sink with no running water and a smell to match!! The window has no curtain so I'm sure the locals got an eye full as we passed thru the towns! After a 14 hour bumpy noisy ride I'm still making panicky dashes to our -3rd class mail carriage loo and when we pull into Bangkok station I want to kiss the ground, but no time because we now have a death defining local bus journey to our hostel, the noisy hot and sticky half hour journey only cost us 14c but after several stomach lurching jolts and hand brake turns we arrive in The Kao San Road, the main backpacker ghetto of Bangkok and it's straight to bed for me...

Transport in general in Thailand and South East Asia is quite a funny thing.  Since we've been here our modes of transport round up something like this... A Motorbike taxi no bigger than a Honda 50 which carried Me, Pete and the driver together, we had been looking to get a motorbike taxi each but thought they were charging too much so one of the drivers instructed us both to get on the same bike with him. Neither of us thought it was possible, either we wont fit or we'll burst the tyres, but believe or not off we sped clutching on for dear lives laughing at the state of us.  Luckily we didn't have to go around too many corners, I wouldn't have counted on us staying up right for too long if we had. The next step up are the motorbikes with side cars, it's basically a square metal frame with a floor stuck to the side of a small motorbike. These are great, free air con (wind) a seat with a bit of cushioning and a bar to hang on to.  This was our main mode of transport in Koh Lanta. Another form of island transport is the 'Songthew' which translates as '2 benches'.  It's a pick up truck with a bench at either sides, can be a pretty bumpy ride on the islands dirt roads but once again the air con is free,even if it's a bit dusty!!  The busier towns all have tuk tuks aptly named for their loud tuk tuk engine chugging along.  These are 3 wheeled motorbikes with a 3 seater bench just behind the driver, With a colourful canopy on top, they are famous in Bangkok.

 

The buses range from hot stuffy local buses where the horn is used to alert all of Thailand that we're on the move but strangely enough it's louder inside the bus then out, (so all the passengers know we're on the move!) as I'm writing now we are on one of these buses where the air con is on low and  the horn is on high (Pete and I are directly behind the driver so we can enjoy it on full volume) and to top it all off we have video Karaoke playing with some of the passengers diligently reading the words on the screen and singing away to themselves.... Great!  On the other end of the scale the VIP buses tend to have ice cold air con, frilly pink curtains, a hostess handing out cold water and sometimes a meal and seats larger then first class airline seats, some even come with your own plug for your laptop..

So as I daydream about the nice cool VIP buses as we chug along in our bone-rattling, sweat box I'll sign off and leave you with this very important note.....