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.