Saigon

Well our last day in Hoi An was just the perfect amount of time to get all our clothes back, fitted perfectly and off to our next destination Saigon, but not before I had to be extremely firm with some cheeky Vietnamese woman for my money in exchange for shoes of Celias that she never finished in time. What drama and I hate getting that upset.

Saigon was a another huge misunderstanding as we managed to get in another cab scam from the airport which was not a great start to our trip. We ended up in this seedy backpackers street at this guesthouse which was sex tourist capital. You can't get away from it in SE Asia and it's really tough for me because I like to point to Celias constant embaressment.

This truly is the city of Mopeds and i have many great pics showing hoe absolutely packed the streets are.

We went to the War museum which is like heaven to me, all these planes and tanks and helicopeters from 'Nam' and its not 'Namibia' this time. Boys will be boys. Celia on the other hand read all the stories in the museum and came back saying its so awful, i was just thinking... this is awesome, what the hell is she talking aboud.

That evening we went to this great Vietnamese BBQ / open air restaurant where we had the pleasure of great steaks (cooked on a coal fire on our table), superb mussels and crunchy scorpions. Not a bad taste, body is a bit tastless, but the big old claws are a bit like eating crab and quite meaty.

Options on this menu included Beef and Goat penis, snake and various other random dishes that i would not put my lips near.

We obviously ended off the evening with an ice cream as has become standard on this trip and got an early night as we were leaving for Cambodia via the Mekong Delta early in the morning.

The tailors of Hoi An

Hoi An is spectacular, this was definitely the highlight of our trip in Vietnam and one of our best times of our trip so far. Hoi An is renowned for its tailoring and the streets are dotted with shops stocked with mannequins sporting suits, dressed, shirts, coats and whatever else you can wish to see on a Milan catwalk.

Celia and I stayed in this fantastic hotel that was offered to us by chance for a measly $12/n with a room that had a balcony overlooking the pool, DSTV (no lies) and Internet. We also had a great recommendation for a tailor so we were set. I had absoluterly no idea what i wanted but i knew i needed a suit for Rick and Tess' wedding in Auckland, in Feb. So Celia was sitting in the tailors shop, a short camp Vietnamese man with a penchant for bad courdoroy suits from the 60's. He knew his stuff though and although he never had much on show, he worked on reputation.

So i was off scouting for ideas because i drew a blank when asked what kind of suit i wanted, i eventually found a Prada & Gucci catalog and asked Mr Xe to make the suit accordingly, while i was at it, i had a second one made as well as two shirts and a lens cover for my tele lens.

Celia was like a kid in a candy store and before i knew it has ordered a pants suit, skirt suit, two stunning dresses, a skirt and two blouses.

Now all these clothes were ready for first fitting in a day, unbelievable.. Some of them fitted perfectly, but i had a few changes to made to the suits and shirts. So we hired some bicycles to see more of the town in a shorter space of time. Well I cycled to work every for about 3 years in London, so i never forgot how, but Celia reckons she has not ridden a bike since school, so it was a treat watching her get accustomed to the whole experience again.

Now whenever i am on a bicycle whether its cycling to work in the pouring London rain, or in the baking sun in Vietnam i have to win and whichever cyclist i see ahead of me will be watching my back tyre sooner or later. So when Celia passed me when i got off to adjust my saddle it was game on. She was almost half a km ahead when i got on again so i was in for some tough pedalling. Another thing i have to tell you is that i always pretend i am in the Tour de France when cycling, its like a stage every time i get on the bike so in this stage i was way down and slipping back in the General Classification. I had to treat this like a time trial and gradually pedal my was back up to Celias wheel. She was a bit confused as to why i was wheezing when i arrived at the beach but in my mind i had just won the stage and the yellow jersey for the day.

The beach in Hoi An was a prize on its own and we spent the afternoon there eating sea food and drinking the local grog before we had to saddle up again for another epic stage back into town

Hue

We took the overnight sleeper bus from Hanoi to Hue which was a novel experience. On the bus where there should be seats, there are beds, amazing. They somehow manged to overbook the bus and some people had to sleep in the aisles. They were incensed but I was not surprised as this had and would become the norm in this part of the world.

Hue, called “the old emperor city” is really not so old. It was built in 1802 as the capital of the kingdom and modeled on the Forbidden City in Beijing.

We walked around the Citadel which was very interresting and beautiful and went for some lunch at a restaurant run by these deaf mute people. The food was great and when you leave they give you a bottle opener made of a piece of wood with a bolt on one end. It's such a great idea and they have an album with them with pictures that people have sent in from round the world opening beers.

Halong Bai

We arranged an overnight trip to Halong bai from Hanoi which was picturesque as all the postcards depict. The problem is that there are literally 1000's of tourists which translates to 1000's of boats and much pollution. The amount of diesel fumes you breath in while waiting to leave the dock would put a small dog under and does tarnish a beautiful experience.

After leaving the docks you are really not bothered by the other boats as the bay is huge and you sail along soaking up the sun and cliffs that rise dramatically out of the sea.

Celia & I were lucky enough to be given the room next to the engine which pumped disel fumes by the gallon directly through the wooden wall boards. I guess this helped us to fall asleep but i did wake up with an almighty headache which could also have something to do with the rice wine the boat captain was poring down my throat. I only compare it to some of the schnapps my father has at home. An aquited taste i think it is called.

Day two on the boat and back to Hanoi. We booked into a cozy little guest house with balcony right where all the action happens near this busy junction full os streetside stalls and kids selling copied books and travel guides. There is a great atmosphere there with great food at a quarter of the price of the restaurant. Vietnam is by far the cheapest place that we have been so far and a dollar, or 16000 dong, goes a long way.

Another day another dong

Hanoi was an eye opener, but i was still so shattered from the the evening spent on the airport benches that i crashed for about 5 hours, leaving us just enough time to wake up and accustom ourselves to the roads before night fall, this is a must for all of you that have not been to Hanoi!

The roads, wow!! Crossing them is like trying to cross the N3 to Durban on easter weekend. Ridiculous. There are no traffic lights or pedestrian crossings in the old city so making it to the other side is very imtimidating. I found the trick is just go, and carry on at a steady pace without looking at the traffic on either side. Easier said than done though.

The old city is realy beautiful and exploring it on foot through all the alleys and busy sidestreets with stalls and markets leaves you with many a memory.

The food in Hanoi is meant to be some of the best in Vietnam and it didn't dissapoint and to add to the experience, many of the restaurants have the quaint little balconies where you sit and watch the hustle and bustle down below in the streets. Just be careful to avoid those that serve instant noodles (my speciality back home - just add water) and preheated dishes, as there are many othem.

Macau

So the day finally came where we had to leave 'one day lay do' and head to Hanoi. Unfortunately due to financial restrictions we had to go via Maca and Bangkok, making a 1 hour flight into a 24 hour jaunt. To some this would be a dream.- ticking off 2 countries in the matter of a day, But after a week of relaxation, this was a tall order.

The ferry to Macau was pretty painless and upon arrival you think you are in Vegas. Casoinos as far as the eye can see, all designed and architectured to represent some or other theme. The Venetian was the most impressive with gondolas going under their fake Rialto bridge, all quite authentic. Unfortunately this place has retained nothing of its Portuguese heritage apart froma a few sign posts and a very special restaurant in the south called Fernandos.

It's a fantastic little place on the beach with a Portuguese only menu and makes you imagine what a relaxing mediterranian vibe this place must have had before all the money to build casinos poured in.

Celia and I tucked into our first SuperBock and eagerly awaited our meals of fresh porra(sorry) rolls, sald, bacalau and octopus.

The experience was fantastic, but the food was ot what i expected and would at any time rather have been in Observatory having a sunday lunch Portuguese style with the in-laws where the food is guaranteed to be good and the wine even better.

Evening arrived and we boarded our flight to Bangkok dreading the evening ahead. sadly Bangkok airport is not like Singapore as is not 24h so after a couple hours of wandering we found ourselves sleeping on bencheswilling the morning top come so we could head off to Hanoi

Turning Afrikaans, I think i'm turning Afrikaans, i really think so..

By now Celia and i have really sorted out any shortcomings in our Afrikaans. It has really been the language of choice for almost 3 months now when talking about prices and various things you don't want others to hear. Its hilarious and sometimes we even forget to switch back to English. I don't quite have the accent down yet or wearing the jean pant while listening to my favourite Dozi & De La Rey album but my matric Afrikaans teacher would have been proud, as would Oupoot.

Hong Kong addition

Just remebered something i saw in HK that i thought i'd share. Its not witty, but in fact the complete opposite. Celia and i went into this shoping centre to get some passport pics made and saw this gallery of drawings made by children. The pics were good if not a little dark and all had a little message next to them. The one read something like this

"My sister and I always wanted a TV so my dad went to give blood to make money so he could buy us one. Then he started getting really sick and after a while he died. I really miss my dad and wish he could come back"

Wow! I thought this was horrible as all those girls wanted was a TV and that is something that you and I take for granted. The following day whwn we went to pic up our pics we say that it was a gallery from families affected by AIDS. It's really sad and especially cause he got it from a dirtly needle during blood donation. I never realised how the population of AIDS victims has risen in Asia. They have this website with stories of children similar to this, have a look.

Hong Kong in a nutshell

Jeesh were we tired when we got to HK, we had done about 40 hours without sleep so when we got to James and Weenies'aparment it was time to crash. No so, James came home early from work to meet us so a little bit of conversation was in order. Celia neatly excused herself and slipped out the room for 40 million winks.

Weenie made us a fabulous dinner and we cracked open one of many bottles of Meerlust Rubicon that James had very generously bought. The evenings we had there were generally spent at the Hoing Kong Football Club (where james and Weenie are members) munching on burgers or tasting Weenies interesting cooking (joking).

Days just flew by as we were so shattered we tended to wake up around noon and get our the house a 1:30, only to return again at 6. All our attempts to go sightseeing in HK were severely thwarted by the sandman. We did manage to catch the peak tram to get a view of the city and harbour which is very impressive from up there, the ferry to Kowloon at sunset allows you geat views like this one, Wan chai wet market was something else too. To prove the fish are fresh they slice them half open at the spine and leave all the organs intact so the heart is still pumping and the head is wondering what the hell.. its is really unbelievable to see.

Weenies dad was also there at the time and we wen out with him for lunch on the Sunday to Cococabana near the Marina Park yacht club and SA embassy. It was a fantasic meal and one of my top 5 of our tip so far. We had another ice ceam for desert as this seems to be the thing we now do on our trip. Not sure why but after were were intoduced o XTC ice cream in HK we never looked back. We were very tired on this day as James had inoduced me to another whole world of partying Hong Kong style. Fliday and Saturday night involved dinner, and many drinks in the university town atmosphere that is generated my the sports club dinners and drinks. On the Saturday night 5 of us ended up in Wan Chai dancing on bar counters till the early hours. What a night! Thank you James!!

Last day blues

We were both sad on our last day in Goa, but it had to come sooner or later. Our growing waistlines were very thankful though.

That morning i went as per usual to put my towel on the sunlounger in true German style, but the full blooded ones had already beaten me to it. Gutted, I laid it our nicely on the sand.

There was still time for plenty suntanning as well as purchasing a couple of trinkets for friends and family. I tried to capture any moments that i had missed thus far and continued suntanning. Attempting to pay for our stay was always fun and games as those nice people in the fraud department at Natwest in the UK seem to block our cards every time we attempt to use them in a new country abroad, no matter how many times we call them to say we are going here, here and here, they still leave us hanging at bill time. Many phone calls later in my polite aggravated voice we managed to check out and pay, relax on the beach some more and fit in a good lunch with our new Austrian friend Anna. Little did i know that this ongoing bank saga was the last of our worries for the day.

Over lunch Anna kindly offered us all her unused medication she had with her. No she is not a dealer or addict, she's a doctor. So Celia and I gladly took them when offered, now we carry everything you could possibly want for aches and pains in the winter, malaria, dunshiss, flu, you name it. We were sorted so no longer worried about eating scraps off the floor or drinking tap water.

We had booked a train trip back in 3AC to Cochin but were on the waiting list as it was full, the ticket office had assured us that there would be cancellations so no to worry. Well there weren't and that evening we had to take the 15 hour trip back to Cochin in general class. We were scared i think is he word. Fiortunately we met some nice indian fellows on the platfom that kept us 2 seats on the already overcrowded hard wooden bench. I can exclusively tell you tha this now 6 seater bench is only meant for 3 and to say it was a squash is an understatement.

Now already an hour into this trip and this Indian opposite me is violently coughing and spitting. All that is going through my head is the nurse back in London saying you don't need your TB shot unless you are going so sit next to someone that has TB for more than 3 hours". I was screwed. When tiredness finally set in we were rudely awoken at about 3am by some guys having a punch up in the carriage, it was pretty hectic and i never went to look in fear of being involved. Then came the moment on the trip thsat made i completely worth it. The guy sitting opposite me pipes up "there seems to be some confusion over the seating", the understatement of the century. The rest of the trip we saw policemen with hancuffed criminals beside us and many more things to make you laugh and simultaneously feel sick. Ecstatic to be back in Cochin, all that is left is a flight back to Singapore and then onwards to Hong Kong.

Same again

So day 4 started went pretty much according to plan. Woke up with the noise of the staff at about 7:30am, put on my running pant and ran the 1.5 km from our end of the beach to the other side and back. Its a fantastic way to start the day. Everyone small beach resort is just starting to stir and the farmers have just led the cows onto the beach.

If you time time it right you can see the local fishing boats coming in trying to sell their catch to the highest bidder. On this day i was in for a treat as they had dropped a huge net in the sea and were busy pulling it in on either side with the help of other fishermen who were hoping for a share of the catch.

I continued my run to the end of the beach quite briskly as i was going to go back and get the camera. The end of the beach was one of my favourite places on Palolem beach as there were no huts there where the river led into the ocean and i could do my training in peace. I looked forward to seeing the resident white-bellied sea eagle perched on the coconut palm over the river searching for prey, and on this day i was in for a treat. Not only was the eagle there but an Indian gentleman was perched on the bank of the river having a daga. Not pleasant.. I did a quick u-turn and headed back for my camera (no - not to take a pic of him).

By the time got back to the fishermen with my camera they had almost pulled in the net and had drawn quite a crowd. We all waited in anticipation to see these seasoned veterans full off Indias greatest catch. Could you believe it... the nets were completely retrieved and they managed to pull in about 5kg of fish. I felt really bad for them as i am sure many years ago such an exercise would have yielded many more fish. Dejected, they folded up the 100m long net and put it back in the boat. I had my pics so i went back for some coffee.

The late afternoons on Palolem bring about a most interesting scene on the beach. The tide practically races out to sea and does not return for hours, exposing a perfectly flat ocean floor brimming with sea life. The children search for starfish and crabs collecting them in buckets while some of the locals search for clams under the sand with forks and spoonsm seemingly collecting a potential meal. I'm just there for the cricket.

All along the beach, cricket matches are being played with intensity. The wickets are hard and flat and the rivalry between the local boys and the tourists could not be fiercer. Playing with them, i soon realised that whenever i went into bat they would set a perfect field in order to tempt me into a false stroke. A hook or pull shot here would result in the ball landing in someones lap or lunch, but a ball sent flying over the resort into the trees was seen as bad form and frowned upon. I loved every minute of it and the only thing stopping us form playing all evening was the returning tide which would wash away our stumps. I took great pride in being a South African in India as they do love our people, if only due to seeing our cricketers on tv, then so be it. But i got along with all of these young boys and they invited me back every day to pit our cricketing brains against eachother.

Goan adventure: Day 3

Woke Up; Ran; Swam; Coffee; Breakfast with Celia on beach; Tanned; Lunch on beach; Tanned; Swam; Played with the hermit crabs and starfish at low tide; Watched the sunset (clearly took photos); Had dinner on the beach; Slept;

Done

Goa here we come

The train journey to Goa was great fun, 12 hours in 3AC (which means 3 berths with A/C in the carriage). Was expecting worse but we both had a great rest and arrived in Goa ready for the hard slog of 5 days on the beach.

We got to Palolem and enjoyed a delicious meal. Celia once again had a bout of order envy as my coconut chicken was one of the best meals i have had on this trip. Got the tuk-tuk to the resort we had booked but were so disapointed by the cleanliness and state of the place that we thanked them for holding the room for us and left. We wanted someting closer to the beach anyway.

By this time it was raining againand the search for a room was proving fruitless. All the beach huts that we wanted to stay in were not yet ready for use. I later found out that the resort owners rent out the land (the beach) only for the tourist season. This translates to 6 months, so when everyone is gone in May, they dismantle all the beach huts and restaurants, pack them nicely under a canopy ready for them when they arrive mid October and start assembling everything in anticipation for the tourist trade. They arrive in hoardes from late November right through to Feb. Apparently Goa is a huge rave party town in Season, so beware, if you would like an idyllic time, skip Dec and Jan.

As first days go, this was not the greatest, but breakfast on the second and a beautiful beach hut to answer all our prayers was exactly the start we needed. We were very fortunate as this resort, "San Francisco" as it was called, had just opened for the season and had some available rooms at very reasonable rates. Being South African also seems to be advantageous, as often when you are mid haggle, they ask you where you are from and telling them you are from this proud nation usually gets you what you are after.

Allepey House boat

So the last and final stop on our Kerala round trip is Allepey. there you can rent these amazing bamboo crafted house boats for a night or two. They take you through the canals, backwaters and lakes in the area. Really relaxing, and a must do in the area.

We booked our houseboat through a connection of our homestay owner and sadly the coonnection did not deliver. The boat we wanted was booked but the one he had available was apparently "just as nice". Unfortunatly it was not, it was very run down, and the dissapointment on our faces could not be hidden. We decided to get over it as it was pointless to spoil our time sulking.

Well the trip turned out to be really special. We cruised around for the entire day, taking in all the fauna and flora that the lake had to offer. The area is really rich and abundant with birdlife and i have some award winning shots of the various species. Loving the different types of kingfishers we have encountered all over our travels. Don't only old people like birding.. better get out my Sasol book of birds. My dad would be proud.

All the food is served and cooked on the boat and is tasty as always, i am yet to have not had a bad meal in India. The only problem staying with people in homestays or having people cook for you is that you feel bad if you do not finish it, so you continue eating past the point of no return, this evening was no different. Most nights we groan at our stomoach pains post meal and hope that by morning we will feel better.

This sunset that greeted us on this day was very special, it might not have the romance of a beach sunset, but the scenery and colours were treemendous. We were exremely lucky as the previous evening they had monsoon rains (the monsoon rains have carried on for months after it's supposed departure here ). As usual, picures were in abundance.

A good nights sleep followed by a tasty Kerala breakfast on the boat, a short cruise along the backwaters and we were sadly back at the docks. We had long forgotten about our boat that had seen a season or two too many, just great moments and memories which everyone should try and do at some time if they are in Kerala. The locals bathing along the canals, fishing for dinner or going places in their hollowed out canoes are really special sights which i will never forget.

Periyar Tiger Reserve

With our time in the tea plantations done, our next stop was Periyar Tiger Reserve. We had been assured that seeing tigers in the wild is increasingly rare as in this 700 hectare reserve there are only 46 of the beasts. Still i prayed the entire way hoping for this rare sighting.

We booked in to stay the night in the tented camp, excited! Our 4x4 picked us up in Kumily and we headed towards the reserve. On the way we tried to fill up with diesel but because there was a strike the day before all the pumps were empty. Good thing we're in India because down the road there was some guy allowing people to siphon fuel from his bus, love it!!

The weather was not with us that evening and we had to cut our game drive down dramatically when the monsoon rains started again. Fortunately before that we had seen a large herd of Indian elephants grazing on the hillside. Elephants truly are amazing creatures, no matter if they're the real deal or from India. They still move around devouring the grass ahead of them without a care in the world. This herd had a really young baby and all the adults were guarding it so picture opportunities were at a minimum.

The landscape in this park is truly different to any park I have been to in South Africa. There are grass covered rolling hills and rivers that cut through their base bringing the natural spring water from the mountains. The animals that are found there in this park are Bison, Bears, Tigers, Leopards, elephants, Sambar deer and various others. Sadly we only got to see the Elephants, Bison and Deer but i really enjoyed being back in nature.

The staff in the camp prepared us our meal of curry (what else) and some chapatti, waited on us hand and foot while we were eating and made us a massive campfire to sit around after dinner.

We found out there were some varsity students on a nature camp nearby and went to explore. Bad idea... They were so excited by this that they placed us on the stage facing the group and prepped me for the 10 min speech i was about to blurt out. The speech went very well and opened up new possibilities for a career in public speaking. They were most interested in my views of cricket, nature, Eco-tourism and campus life. The round of applause i received was not dissimilar to that when John Smit lifted the RWC trophy. Best thing is we were asked to sing them a song.... only one i knew was Nkosi Sikeleli, so asking them to stand to attention i broke out into song. I think they underestimated how long the anthem was so they just humoured me to the end... lol, it was good fun though.

We retired to our tent, not before a thorough check for leeches, and got to sleep, only to be woken up at 2am by the locals who could hear 2 elephants in the camp. We spent about 10 min watching them feeding (from a good distance of course). When i crawled back into my sleeping bag i found i nice fat leech that had just fallen off my leg after a hearty meal... not pleasant. The rest of the night was pretty restless as every time i felt something anywhere i would wake up and shine the torch. What a girl!!!

The morning came and we went out trekking which was a lot of fun. We never trekked anywhere near the distance we were meant to as the path we had chosen was blocked by a herd of elephants, so we just sat there and merrily snapped away while they filled their bellies with grass.

So sadly no tiger or leopard, but we did see faeces from both of them full of Sambar Deer remains. Maybe next time.. Still dying to see that tiger!!