So You Think Traveling Is All Fun And Games????

Try this day out for size: today we were heading from Sapa, Vietnam, across the border into China. We were staying up in the hills of Sapa and we rode a mini bus down to the border. As it was a big holiday in Sapa, the minivans were racing up and down the hills to get as many fares as possible. Michelle yelled at our guy to tell him to slow down or he would get his money, as the steep, winding road was a little treacherous. He did listen, but shortly after, a motorcycle in front of us skidded and then did an 'endo' and the man and woman went over the steep edge. Our van wasn't going to, but we shouted for them to stop, and I rushed out to find the lady face down the very steep hillside, and the driver holding on to her with one hand and a small bush with the other. I managed to lift the lady up to safety (I think she had a broken arm) with help of a couple of others, and then helped the man up, and eventually the motorbike. It was a scary scene on a pretty steep slope. After a while, we managed to persuade our minivan to take the lady to hospital (an ambulance was going to take two hours - we were an hour away from the big city) . We hope she was OK in the end, as she was half unconscious and in shock when we dropped her off.

So, from the hospital, we got dropped off at the train station and took motorbike taxis to the border with our big packs on our back - Michelle almost fell off trying to get on the bike from the weight of her pack! It was Saturday, but we had been reassured that the banks in the big city would be open. Not so. Even the Money Exchnage inside the Border Control was closed. So I had to exchange our remaining Vietnamese Dong to Chinese RMB at some shady black market exchange area off to one side of the border control building. Here, there were about ten ladies sitting on plastic chairs with huge bags of money, doing much larger transactions than mine. Anyway, I got a good exchange rate - almost too good - so I had to hope I wasn't getting ripped off. It was either that or not at all, and we would lose $70 by not trying to exchange it. Crossing the border was probably the easiest part of our day. Even then after giving Michelle's passport back with no problem, we had to wait for a scary10 minutes while they took mine into the back room - a little stressful. All fine though, and out front to get ripped off on a little golf cart ride to the bus station which turned out to be just around the corner! Unfortunately, we didn't have a map and our chinese travelling skills/communication are a bit rusty!

So, there we were at the bus station in Hekou when some guy claiming to be the 'manager' tried to help us, but was really no help at all! He was a real pain! We were cautious, but we couldn't get rid of him. He found us wherever we went in town, and eventually we let him take us to his friend's restaurant where he put us in some little back room he called the room for foreignors and ordered us some food that was a disaster. When he left before the food arrived, he said something like 'If you leave before the food comes, they will hate you' which was a little weird. He also tried to get us to pay for his beer, but we certainly weren't having that! Somehow, in the whole situation we must have been scammed for some money, but at least not much, I think.

So, we took a horrible 13 hr sleeper bus (they actually have beds in the buses) from Hekou to Kunming. Right out of town we skidded to a stop and got a flat tyre that held us up for an hour while they repaired it. Michelle had hassle with some guy claiming she was in his bed, but the numbering was so random, she just played the 'stupid foreigner' card (pretty easy, ha ha). Then at some checkpoint, the police took our passports and we waited and waited. Next minute, the bus driver starts to take off and we didn't have our passports! We had to yell at him to stop. Of course now, as we were over an hour late, the bus driver figured he needed to make up time on the windy roads so we got very little sleep. It was bumpy and I almost fell out of my top bunk many times. I awoke once to the guy beside me attempting to throw his cigarette out my window, but I just got a shower of sparks in my face and legs as the cigarette lit up when it hit the fresh oxygen - idiot. I was yelling at him for being so stupid, but he just closed his eyes and faked being asleep. I got a few choice words in though.

We arrived in the morning to a big rainstorm in Kunming which continued for the rest of the day. From Kunming, we decided to just keep moving and got on another 5 hour bus to Dali City. Even though we checked multiple times and had the correct city on our ticket, the bus didn't take us to the right town! So we had to get yet another bus. To put the icing on the cake, we boarded the local bus with all our stuff. A lady beside me had a little grocery bag on the seat next to her, so I motioned if I could sit down there, but she yelled something in Chinese and ushered me away angrily. Welcome to China! For the other people that got on the bus, she moved her bag with no problem so that they could sit down if they wanted to - Bitch!!!

As if this whole day was not enough, I was also dealing with a case of travelers diaorrhea to boot! Right now, I'm thinking "WHY" did we come back to China again. Hopefully things will get better. If not, we won't finish out our 2 months here and we'll come up with a new plan! *STUB

My Favourite Hmong Lady, Sapa, Vietnam

Sapa in the mountains was a welcome, refreshing change - not just in temperature or scenery, but in the people. There are lots of different hilltribes around Sapa, all of them have different dress or head wear or embroidery with silver or bells etc. They were friendly, fun and had a great sense of humour. Very different from the Vietnamese people in Hanoi and the north. On our hike through the rice terraces down into the valley to the village of Lao Chai, the children were adorable and the ladies selling their wares were good fun. I couldn't resist a brightly coloured, beautiful embroidered blanket from one of the ladies (double click pic for photo) - it cost about $12. The only problem about buying stuff, and large stuff at that, is that I have to carry it. It's worth it though - where else would I get this souvenir blanket?!

In the town of Sapa itself, the women were persistent in trying to sell their emboidered clothes and trinkets, but they were always pleasant striking conversation in fairly good English. My local Sapa lady, here, from the Hmong people (who have only been around for a couple of centuries) didn't have great English and kept on saying" ok, ok, ok," while trying to sell me stuff. As you can see, she was teeny and the teeth that she did have were black as anything! Anyway, she followed me around Sapa town for big chunks of time showing me her stuff for sale, going "ok, ok, ok". For some reason she didn't annoy me at all - I just thought she was cute! * Mush

The Rice Terraces of Sapa, North Vietnam

We took a cramped overnight train on hard sleeper bunks, from Hanoi to the mountainous region of Sapa in the north. We waited for Stephanie (now called Stiffler) as her train came in about an hour after ours. Because the road up to the mountains was windy and steep, we had to take a minivan to get there. The usual when we get into a new town is to find a roof for over our heads. Martin went off enjoying the welcome cool climate for his search. He did well - the view from our room was spectacular . The valley below us full of terraces with rice and different crops - beautiful different colours; terraces filled with water for seeding. Overlooking us from across the valley was Fansipan - the highest mountain in Vietnam. I chilled out on the balcony in awe at the amazing view, while Martin caught up on the sleep that he didn't get on our journey up. All this for the price of $6 US per night.

The next few days we explored the town with Stiffler, and did a fairly strenuous hike to one of the villages in the valley - Lao Cai. We briefly saw Amanda and Wes after their quick tour, before heading back to Hanoi. Lydia and Jim came into town and we were able to show them the best 'Bia Hoi' places in town, and our favourite restaurant, Gerbera. Back together again, we all hired motorbikes to explore the hills. Unfotunately, we got caught in a storm, so we sought shelter in a local cafe. We ventured out again, but the storm got worse. This time we sheltered with some local Hmong tribe women also seeking shelter, but this made us prime target for buying stuff! Thankfully, Jim is a soft touch and he bought a second new hat! Finally, needing to get home we headed back the 15km to town through the rain. Martin and I picked up a couple of local hilltribe women walking along the road in the heavy rain and dropped them off at different destinations along the road. The last one was grateful for the ride into town - it was seriously wet and cold at this point. For us, it was back to another favourite place - 'Baguette and Chocolate' to warm up, play Scrabble and have a delicious potato, bacon, onion and Gouda cheese sandwich. Yummy! * Mush

Paddling Halong Bay's Caves, Vietnam

So, a little slow in the morning, but we were awoken by our guide to eat breakfast and then get out in the kayaks. We paid a little extra to have a full day of kayaking, but after the first paddle, our arms were pretty sore and we were dreading the next ones. It was a great way to see the area though, paddling through caves and around some of the floating villages. As we were on a 3 day trip, we bid farewell to the unfortunate ones on a 2 day, and took a ride up to a beautiful little beach. After kayaking around that area, they set up a table and umbrella on the beach and then served us an amazing lunch of seafood and other dishes on the beach. It was a stunning setting and we loved the experience.

After some swimming, Wes, Amanda, Michelle and I went out again in the kayaks through this cave which actually led to a secret lagoon, that only had one cave entrance and steep cliffs all around. We floated around the tranquil lagoon for 30 minutes listening to peace and quiet of nature and our echos. Back to the boat for a relaxing ride to Cat Ba Island where we spent the second night. A little town on the waterfront with a good selection of Bia Hoi's.

The third day was basically a travel day back from Cat Ba, on the Santa Maria back to Halong City. We just chilled out on the decks enjoying the scenery, reading books, and chatting with our new friends. A great trip to Halong, one we will remember for years to come! *Stub

Stunning Limestone Scenery of Halong Bay, Vietnam

We had been warned by many people about the Halong Bay trips and how people did not get the trip they thought they signed up for. We did quite a bit of research and settled for a company called Columbus Travel and our trip exceeded all of our expectations! We booked with our friends Wes and Amanda from Winnipeg who we had spent some time with up the coast. For three days the tour cost $66 (about 35 quid) including 2 nights accommodation - one night was on the boat, another on Cat Ba island, all the food, and a day of kayaking. Not bad.

To start, we took the bus to Halong City from Hanoi and boarded the beautiful Santa Maria (seen in background with sails up). In a sea of boats at the port, the Santa Maria looked like the nicest with an amazing upper deck with some very comfy loungers to relax on. A couple of hours through the beautiful islands landed us here, at Song Sot Cave. The cave itself was huge and tastefully lit up. Some great formations, but the view from the entrance out to the bay was spectacular. Our junk looked great with the sails up.

The boat anchored just behind the islands pictured and we jumped off the top deck of the boat for a swim - avoiding the huge jellyfish. A fun night on the boat with the group of 15 and our guide Ang who sang some traditional Vietnamese songs before inviting us to sing some of our traditional songs. Now I can't think of any traditional Canadian songs, so the Canucks went with Spirit of the West's - Home For A Rest!! We had music accompaniment with the iPod. As always, Michelle is never one to shy away from singing, so got into the spirit of things with a couple of solos that everyone loved. Plenty of Halida beers, Vang DaLat (Vietnamese red wine) and watching the stars from the upper deck finished a good day and fun night. *Stub

Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum, Hanoi, Vietnam

As you can imagine, after such a sour start to Hanoi, we really didn't have our heart in it. We met up with Wes and Amanda who arrived on a different bus, and did a couple of things in the city: We went to see the Mausoleum of Ho Chi Minh - the Communist leader of the North during the Vietnam War. Preserved in formaldehyde, he looked like a Madame Tussauds wax figure. Apparently there are only 2 other people preserved in this way.. Lenin, and Chairman Mao of China. Ho Chi Minh gets sent to Moscow 3 months of the year for 'maintenance', which made us laugh.

We wandered around the old town and all the streets are named and sorted in to specific things that they sell. There was clothes, gravestones, tinbox, Buddhas and shrines, mirrors, towels, 'counterfeit street' (fake money for offerings), blacksmiths, musical instruments, etc. After this tour, our main priority was to book a trip to Halong Bay, and once we got that sorted, we found 'Bia Hoi' junction- this time cheaper - 2000 'Dong' a glass - that's 7p (12.5 cents), and chatted to a local, called Huang who owned a kebab stand and turned out to be very nice - of course, they're not all out to get you! Bia Hoi junction had a bia hoi stand on each corner and the little plastic chairs often strewn out into the street until the local police drive by, sound their siren and all the drinkers have to scurry up onto the pavement again - quite funny.

We also fitted in a water puppet show. This tradition started back in the flooded farm fields where the puppeteers actually stand in the waist deep water behind a screen and move puppets on long sticks in front. It was really impressive and even included some fireworks, smoke and some crazy actions. All played out to some beautiful Veitnamese music played on traditional instruments. *Stub and Mush

Our First Really Bad Experience On Our Trip So Far.. Hanoi, Vietnam

A frustrating bus ride to Hue, (pronounced Hway) which should have taken 2 hours took something like 4! The driver stopped for a 30 minute food-stop - twice in 2 hours! Nuts, but this was not the bad experience! Our stop in Hue itself was a quick one and we rented a couple of bicycles and explored the walled citadel, the Emperor's Palace (or what was left of it) and the surrounding streets. Then another 12 hr bus to Hanoi overnight.

We were looking forward to Hanoi - the capital in the north, but had a really horrible start. The bus was supposed to drop us right in the city - the Old Quarter, but all the foreignors got dropped off 30 minutes out of the city, and were told that free taxis would be provided to get into town. We suspected a scam and checked multiple times with the bus rep who accompanied us in the taxi; he reassured us that it was free to get to the Old Quarter - even to our hotel. When we arrived at the hotel of the other couple who were in our taxi, the bus rep demanded payment: apparently ''taxi is only free if you go to his bus company's hotel''. Our suspicions were true! We were taken aback though - the guy started shouting and swearing. We got out of the taxi and quickly retrieved our bags. As I bent to pick up my pack, he pushed me over and I fell to my knees. All the time he was shouting and swearing and wanting to fight Martin. We hurried away, finding a different hotel to stay in than the one we had mentioned to the guy. It took us a while to recover from the shock.

It's a shame as we were really enjoying Vietnam, but what a contrast to the people in the south! At Mui Ne we got treated like Royalty and nothing was too much trouble. The friendliness of the people noticeably declined as we've moved north, ending up with this - the worst incident of our travels! So, to calm our nerves again, we joined our friends that night at Bia Hoi Junction (in pic). * Mush

R & R on China Beach near Danang, Vietnam

With friends Lydia and Stiffler, we rented motorbikes for the day. Our first stop was 26km away - the Cham temples of My Son -6th Century ruined temples. It was a great ride, with the wind in our hair (as there are no helmets available). Through local villages and fields where they were farming the rice and laying it all out on the street. At the temples, we had to take a Jeep up inside the complex, but unfortunately, the temples were not as impressive as we had hoped. I guess they got damaged in the American War as well. It was kind of cool as they were deep in the jungle at times, still untouched. So, we cruised back to town to meet up with the rest of the gang to head North after lunch. There were many 'fittings' to be done at the local tailors before we left, so a bit late starting out.

North about 12km to Marble Mountain where we were greeted with tons of shops all selling tacky marble statues, some of them absolutely huge! I guess they no longer use the marble from this mountain, but it is shipped in from China. All the shops want you to 'park for free' at their shop, but you are supposed to buy something I think. We don't need any marble statues believe it or not, and especially don't want to carry any so were not the best clients! On top of Marble Mountain was a cool path between temples, pagodas, caves with huge Buddha statues and some great views over the coast and our next destination - China Beach. I guess this beach is where all the American GI's were given their leave during the war and were allowed to relax and surf or picnic on China Beach. A pretty nice beach for sure which ran for miles. Again, greeted by locals who wanted us to buy stuff, but succumbed to the fact we weren't buying and just played around with us on the beach (in pic). A good ride home along the dirt road alongside the beach to greetings of 'Hello' from all the locals kids. And, as we were still in Vietnam, what day would be complete without Bia Hoi!!! *Stub

Hoi An - The Tailor Capital of the World, Vietnam

It was an exhausting 12 hour overnight bus to Hoi An further up the coast, but the town had a nice cosy feel to it. The old town is actually a UNESCO heritage site and it feels quite traditional, preserving its cultural heritage. Actually, it had a very 'Chinese' feel to it and it reminded us a lot of traditional towns we saw in China, with narrow streets and chinese lanterns hanging everywhere.

Hoi An is famous for its millions of tailor shops. You can get ANYTHING and EVERYTHING made here - anything from shoes, leather boots, to professional suits, bikinis, dresses, and I'm sure a lot more other unusual clothing!! It's so popular with tourists because they get a lot of clothes made extremely cheaply. People spend hundreds and hundreds of dollars, apparently saving a lot of money! We were really restrained though and only got a few things - for me: 2 chinese-style shirts (one pictured here) and one pair of 3/4 trousers (my current ones are dying), and Martin, a couple of great looking linen shirts- all for a total of $48 - 25 quid! The only trouble about acquiring new stuff is either having enough to warrant sending a package home, or carrying it. Right now, we're carrying it!

Apart from getting clothes fitted, we criss-crossed paths with recent friends, Stefanie, Wes and Amanda, and Lydia and Jim. We had fun touring around on motorbikes exploring beaches and countryside. And of course, meeting up for 'Bia Hoi' on the street for about 3000 'Dong' a glass - that's 10p (20 cents)!! * Mush

We CAN Actually Float - Nha Trang Mud Baths

A 12 hour overnight bus landed us in Nha Trang. We were running out of time on our visa in Vietnam so we decided to spend only 11 hours here and keep moving North. We had bought a boat trip ticket from Saigon to use in Nha Trang, but neither of us felt like spending the day on the boat and in the sun again. Instead, we rented a motorbike and cruised about 45 km North to check out the salt farms. Well, we didn't find the local people in conical hats farming pyramids of salt that we had seen in postcards, all we saw were flat empty fields of nothing. We did manage to continue on to a pretty beach called Doc Let that was mostly locals and a fine, white powder sand.
The long drive back made our butts real sore for some reason! Too much sitting on buses I think. Our afternoon was spent at the mud baths and mineral spas. We were allotted 20 minutes in the mud pools, and could actually float on top of the mud - it was a weird feeling. After baking in the sun to harden the mud, we showered off and chilled out in the mineral spring spa. My sunburn from kiteboarding was killing me when I got in the hot water, so spent most of the time watching Mush from the side! We did feel revitalized after the experience though, and as it only cost 50000 dong ( just over $3) we managed to treat ourselves to some local seafood at a very local style restaurant before hopping on another night bus to Hoi An - the tailor mecca of Vietnam. *Stub

Martin recovers from a broken leg in record time... Dalat, Vietnam

A quick funny story :
While we were in Da Lat in the central hills, our U.S. taxes were due on the 15th April and Martin's friend, Butter, offered to help us fill our tax forms - actually, he pretty much did it all (thanks Butter!). Because of the time difference between here and America, Martin went out to the internet early one morning to catch Butter regarding the forms. Of course he said that he would be back in an hour or so. I pottered around our room. A couple of hours passed and no sign of Martin. And then I remembered he was going to rent a motrobike, so I gave him more time. By the time 3 and a half hours had gone by, I was pretty concerned and decided that it would be pretty rotten if he were sitting in a hospital bed all alone. The hospital was literally a 1 minute walk up the street (I'd visited there earlier in the week after being stung by a bee - I have a bad allergic reaction to bee stings). Anyway, I walked around trying to find someone who spoke English. Finally someone did and I asked after Martin. After about 5 minutes of investigation, I was told that he had been in, but apparently, I had just missed him by 15 minutes. This was a little strange as we were one minute away and I would have passed him on the street! Anyway, she then informed me that he had broken his leg! Well, I was beside myself, but I asked her again if she was sure it was a 'Martin Callum', and she was sure. I flew back to the hotel. Having seen the note I'd left for him, Martin was WALKING up towards the hospital. What a relief to see him, but I was a mess! And what a remarkable recovery!! So apparently, there's another Martin Callum or at least some foreigner with a broken leg out in Da Lat somewhere - poor guy! * Mush

Easy Riding in Da Lat, Vietnam

Our trip to Dalat was a short one, so we hired a couple of what are known as 'Easy riders' to get us around. Hiep and Joseph were in their late to early 50s, and on the back of their motorbikes we cruised the countryside and visiting various places of interest. Even though DaLat is known for its nice, cooler climate, the sun was scorching hot and would warm up the bike seat pretty quickly! My driver, Joseph, called it getting a 'barbecued bottom'! He was right!

We had a great day out seeing lush green valleys with its rich soil perfect for farming vegetables, strawberries, roses and coffee. We visited farms that grew mushrooms in millions of plastic bags of a manure/tree bark mixture (yummy), all suspended from the rafters. As we drove through the countryside our guys pointed out areas that had been hit by American napalm bombs during the war - a herbicide that killed plants and trees designed to leave no shelter or cover for enemy soldiers. The slopes were now covered in pine trees - a restoration project carried out by the government. Elephant Falls was next with a cool climb down around large rocks to get a decent view of the big curtain of water. Above the falls we stopped for some very delicious and very cheap food - about $1.30 (70p). Next, was a drive through the New Economic Zone - an area for north Vietnamese people relocated to make a new life after the war, using a variety of different trades and crafts to sustain them. We visited families that farmed silkworms - white, 4 inches long and all wriggling away in bamboo racks strewn across the kitchen. Can you imagine!! Eeeww! Having a life cycle of 1 month, silk worms build cocoons during their final 3 days. These then get sent to local factories for weaving. It was very interesting to see how the cocoons were softened in hot water and the silk thread removed and spooled onto bobbin after bobbin. Must mention, that the remaining worms were lifted out of the water and sent to market as produce!!!! Finally, our daytrip ended with a visit to 'Crazy House' pictured here - a bizarre hotel designed by an eccentric architect. All the rooms were totally unique with different themes - such as the bear room, the tiger room, the gourd room, the kangaroo room etc etc. Pretty cool.

The best bit about our day was that Joseph and Hiep were open to answering our personal questions and they were very honest. Having lived through the Vietnam war, they were able to tell us what life was like during and afterwards. We could see the pain in their eyes when they shared the fact that, like many others, members of their family (having been anti-communist), suffered after the war in re-education camps of the new Communist government. 30 years on and Vietnam doesn't really appear to be very Communis, to be honest - people are not regarded as equal in terms of financial/social status anymore and there are huge differences between rich and poor. Joseph, described Vietnam's current poilitcal status with a cute phrase: " Vietnam has a Communist hat, but Capitalist belly!''. To them, thay are just happy that life has moved on, and that they have food and they can send their kids to school. * Mush

Vietnam's Sahara - White Dunes, Mui Ne

Us four kiteboarding students were waiting for wind so we grouped together and rented a Jeep to tour the local sights. With Stefanie (Holland) and Philip (Switzerland) we headed out first to Fairy Stream. This turned out to be quite fun as the further up the stream we walked, the more interesting the formations became. With red and white sandstone and dunes on one side, and thick, lush, green palm trees on the other it was quite a sight, especially from on top. A quick stop at the fishing village with what seemed like hundreds of colourful fishing boats, surrounded by the strange round boats they paddle in. Of course,we were mobbed by kids again onshore. The funky eroded landscape of Red Canyon followed and then on to watch sunset on the Yellow Dunes almost completed our day out. A final stop at a Bia Hoi place (fresh draft beer) that only cost 3000 dong per litre -that's only about 20 cents. Of course, joined in the small plastic chairs by local men and watching kids bringing in jugs to buy for their fathers we can only presume.
The next day again, no wind! So, the 4 of us, plus Julie (French) rented bikes to head to the White Dunes. A long drive along the beautiful coastline and through some strange cemetaries with graves covered in swastikas, we arrived at the dunes in the heat of the day. With a parade of kids behind carrying sand sleds (which looked like crazy carpets for the Canadians) we marched our way up the huge dunes and I went for a couple of long slides. A fun time with the kids who chased me down to carry the sled back up. After that, we went jumping off the dunes (as pictured) to get a little more sand in the out of the way cracks!!!! A nice drive home on the bike was interrupted slightly by a cow crossing the road. We skidded to a full stop from 60km/h honking the entire time, to end up face to face with the stupid beast!!! After the scare, we stopped for some more Bia Hoi with the rest of the Bia Hoi team - Wes/Amanda (Can) and Lydia/Jim (Brits)! Finally we rewarded ourselves again with a huge BBQ squid feast at our favourite restaurant 'Smoky House' that I think has the friendliest staff in SE Asia! *Stub

Mui Ne, Mui Ne, Mui Ne.... (Vietnam)

It's a rich man's world .. if you want to kiteboard! (This place is pronounced 'Mu nay', by the way). Ever since we had seen kiteboarding we had both wanted to try it for the longest time.. Even living near the Columbia Gorge in Portland (a mecca for kiteboarding and windsurfing in North America), we still hadn't got around to trying it! After failed attempts at learning in Thailand (because of either too much or too little wind), we finally landed in the town of Mui Ne on Vietnam's south coast - THE place to learn in Vietnam. It certainly ate into our budget, but cheaper than learning in Portland, for sure. It takes a long time to make progress, and getting on the board apparently can take anywhere from 3-10 days. Quite a big window for an 'average', don't you think! Frustratingly, the wind died at the start of the week after only a few hours of lessons, so we explored some local attractions by motorbike, and then headed to Dalat - town in the mountains. (See our next entries). After a couple of days there, we headed back to Mui Ne as the forecast had improved. And on Saturday, about a week after we'd started learning, the wind picked up. Sadly, a bit too much for me (I'm a bit of a wimp, but it was blowing about 25 knots if not more..) and so, disappointingly, I didn't carry on. Martin, on the other hand did, as he was strong enough to battle the big waves and stronger wind on the kite. He did really well and pretty much got up on the board. Very cool! Unfortunately, the instructor had to stop the lesson for safety reasons. But at least Martin had accomplished enough to be able to practice by himself (when we have the money to get all the gear! Arggh!). The instructor commented that we both had shown a lot of determination, but I was really proud of Martin, especially after what amounted to only 5 hours of lessons. *Mush

Squished in the Cu Chi Tunnels, Vietnam

The Cu Chi tunnels, about 18 miles (30km) NW of Saigon, are a system of tunnels built during the war against the French and later expanded in the war with the Americans. The 250 km maze of tunnels were home to over 16,000 local villagers fighting who became guerilla fighters fighting for the North Vietnamese against South Vietnam and America. Some were even built under U.S. bases allowing them to launch surprise attacks. The North Vietnamese people were very resourceful and creative. They were able to hide themselves and the existence of their tunnels using trap doors and booby traps etc. Once underground they had living areas, weapons factories, hospitals, and kitchens - all cleverly designed to hide escaping smoke.

The tunnels themselves are really tiny - Vietnamese are an extremely slight and petite race, and the sections that we saw and crawled through had been widened especially for tourists! I tried to crouch down and crawl through, but it got very hot and claustrophobic for me, so I literally reversed back into the glorious daylight and fresh air. Phew! Martin, on the the other hand, had no trouble at all and did about 120m of the tunnels, every so often popping up in a bunker and then scurrying down again like a little mole. There's not a lot left of the tunnels now. The area has been classed as 'the most bombed, shelled, gassed, defoliated and generally devastated area in the history of warfare'. More bluntly put ...they bombed the *&#@ out of it! * Mush

Somebody's Watching you! The Cao Dai Religion , Vietnam

We took a day trip NW out of Saigon to a famous temple called Cao Dai Grand Temple in Tay Ninh Province. This temple or more specifically, the religion of Cao Daism is a relatively recent religion created in the 1920s, integrating several religions together - Confucionism, Buddhism, Taoism, Vietnamese spiritualism (apparently involving seancey-type stuff to contact the spirit world!) and Catholicism (a gift from the French). The church building itself is striking with lots of bright, happy colours. At the centre of each window (as you can see in the picture), the front facade, and the altar inside, is a single eye: apparently, the founder of the religion saw it in a vision! You make you're own mind up! The people pray 4 times a day and we were lucky to arrive just in time for the mid-day ceremony. The men and the women pray on different sides of the temple, and they are dressed mostly in white ao dai - (long tunics and trousers, if you remember). Others dress in different colours according to their original doctrine: yellow for Buddhism, blue for Taoism, red for Confucianism. The praying mainly consisted of chanting along to some basic musical rythyms. It was very interesting to watch and they didn't seem to mind spectators. Perhaps if anything, it's a good way to spread word of their religion. The cyclops-style single eye is a bit freaky though! *Mush

Saigon.... or is it Ho Chi Minh City??? - Vietnam

Saigon before the Northern Communists under Ho Chi Minh 'liberated' the city in April 1975, and as you can guess, it changed it's name to HCMC. Well, I must say that we both liked the feel of Saigon/HCMC. The people are accommodating, polite and smiley, but as we said before not as friendly as Laos. We stayed in a very nice, friendly family-run guesthouse. It had a great rooftop patio that we found by accident one night when the power went out. It was nice to eat breakfast up there too overlooking the other patios and rooftops of the city, and marvel at all the television ariels.

One of the first things that we noticed about the city is the veritable sea of human mass all on 2 wheels. I think there are 8 million people and 5 million motorbikes in the city! Nobody seems to walk anywhere. Everyone is on a bike or moped. Crazy! Crossing the street is an adventure and is not for the weak, and you just have to basically walk confidently, and steady as the bikes flow around you. Hesitate, or stop and you will get hit! Women seem to cover up completely when riding on the mopeds too, wearing long satin gloves right up to where their short sleeves end. We also noticed (and loved) that when cars and trucks reverse, instead of the normal beeping sound to warn people, Jingle Bells or Happy Birthday tunes ring out!! ha ha! That's Asia for you!

We visited the Fine Arts Museum in a great colonial villa, Ho Chi Minh Musuem with some gory details about Vietnamese politics, Notre Dame Cathedral and the Hotel de Ville (French influence), but our favourite was the Reunification Palace. This drab, communist looking building was where the president of South Vietnam lived until the Communist tanks blasted through the gates in April 1975. The building was basically left as it was found that day, in 60's and 70's retro decor which we thought was cool and very stylish. Of course, the president's meeting rooms were great, but the cream of the crop were the games room complete with old barrel bar and circular couch, and the dance room which was on top in the centre as you can see in the picture. Down underneath the building was where the war rooms and bomb shelters were. Some great maps of Vietnam complete with war plans, and we snuck a pic of Michelle sitting in the President's old war room chair disregarding the sign 'Do not touch' - Ooops!

We witnessed some huge storms in Saigon, one in which we could only find shelter in a fluffy teddy bear shop for 45 minutes! We couldn't find a restaurant or bar! Once out of the rain, we also took in the War Remnants museum. Previously called the Museum of American War Crimes, and it pulls no punches. It is filled with photos and stories of gruesome acts perpetrated by the US in the American War (as it is called here). It is pretty eye opening and a little hard to stomach. We do realize that it is of course a very one-sided story, but when you see all the kids born with deformations from parents affected by agent orange, the countryside flora and fauna killed from the effects of napalm and agent orange, and the innocent women and children killed in the war, it is pretty hard to stomach. *Stub

"Mad Hatters" in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam

The Vietnamese attire is very striking and great to see. I was surprised to see just how many people actually wear the traditional 'don la' conical hats. It was great at the market to see them all lined up on the street selling their fruits and veg. Another fashion of Vietnam is the Ao Dai. It is a very elegant looking outfit worn by the women. It is composed of long, baggy satin trousers (like bell bottoms), and a beautiful long tunic that swoops down to about their knees or longer. The school girls all wear them, and we love seeing them in their matching white or lilac ao dai's, riding bicyles with the swoops of silk held in their hands as they ride along. If women aren't wearing the ao dai, then they seem to like wearing outfits that resemble pyjamas. Some are quite smart and just look like a matching top and bottoms, and others really are proper PJs! Yes, the sort with fluffy bunny rabbits or teddy bears - and they wear them all day long too! *Stub