Filed under: Asia
The adventure has come to an end. Its been a great journey; discovery of new places, new people…although far from the adventures of Marco Polo or Shackleton!!
However, hopefully I’ll be back on the road later in the year. Where to, I’m not sure, but maybe I’ll see more of Asia, spend some time in Malaysia, or maybe to South America. The choices are endless!
So, would I do anything differently if I had my time back? Just a quick reminder of the ground covered…eight days in Cambodia from west to south-east, taking in Siem Reap, Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville.
17 days in Vietnam from the most southern tip of Vietnam – Phu Quoc Island – to the Chinese border at Lao Cai in the northwest and then over to the north-east taking in Halong Bay. Nine days in Thailand – 3 in Bangkok, two in the beginning and one at the end, five in Koh Phangnan.
In total I covered about 3,200 km over the course of this journey, not excessive distances when you consider I was on the road for five weeks. Of course, these are overland journey’s only. I’m glad I decided not to fly while there (except from Hanoi to Koh Phangnan). The bus and train rides were great experiences…I’d recommend both as a way to travel.
I didn’t make it to Laos this time, but from stories from travellers I met, it sounds like a wonderfully laid back and nice place to visit. It seems to lack the big, commercial tourism outfits of Vietnam and Thailand. If I had my time back, and knowing what I now know, there’s not much I would change. If there was one thing, maybe to have spent more time in Cambodia and less in Vietnam. I would go back to Cambodia in a heartbeat, but for Vietnam, I’m not so sure. I feel that I’ve been there now, and nothing inspired me enough to want to go back.
South America, Here I Come……..
Filed under: Uncategorized
The final five days of this five-week trip were tagged for spending some time with Paula and Yot (and the two boys!) on the lovely island of Koh Phangnan. It’s a small island in the Gulf of Thailand, on the east side of the mainland. It’s world-renowned for full moon parties. However, lucky for me, I arrive here after the January 1st full moon! The journey here took a day, I flew from Hanoi to Bangkok and then on Surat Thani on the mainland with Air Asia. A cheaper way to get here…flying to Samui can be expensive. From Surat Thani i took the bus (1 1/2 hours) and then a three-hour boat ride. I left Hanoi at 9am and arrived in Koh Phangnan at 9pm. Not too bad.
There’s plenty here for everyone, whether it’s partying, sightseeing around the island or just generally relaxing. I had a very relaxing few days, just playing with the dogs, catching up on some reading and eating some delicious food. Next time I’m back here I’ll most certainly do a Thai cookery course and learn to ride the motorbike over the hills to Haad Rin!
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The final Vietnam destination. Located in the northeast, Halong Bay is a UNESCO World Heritage site. The spectacular bay consists of some 3000 islands rising from the water. The tourism and promotional material show it in all its glory with blue, clear skies. However, it’s exceptionally mysterious when shrouded in fog, a real pirates cove!
Happy that I made the trip there, even if only a day. The bus trip was a total of seven hours, with 5 hours sailing around a very small part of the bay. It’s enough to give you a flavour of the area.
The final Vietnam destination. It’s been 17 days, but I’ve managed to squeeze in a lot of sites from the very southern tip of Vietnam to the very northern where Vietnam meets the Chinese border at Lao Cai.
Filed under: Asia
Leaving Hanoi on the overnight train, I end up sharing a cabin with three guys from Israel. They have been travelling four months and covered a lot of ground. They spent a lot time in India, which they really enjoyed, although it was very challenging. Like me, they agree that travelling in Vietnam is far too easy. The most challenging thing is to avoid getting ripped off! They are spending a few days in Sapa trekking and then heading for Laos.
We arrive in Lao Cai, which is the last stop before China. Sapa is about an hours drive from there. It’s a truly beautiful mountain area, located in the northwest of Vietnam. By the time I arrived it was about 7.30am and the whole area was shrouded in fog, spectacular! The region is home to many minority tribespeople. They wear traditional clothes and their main occupation besides subsistence farming is making clothes, bags, purses, scarves – all very colourful. The children are very good marketers, and of course, after two days there I leave with more scarves and stuff I don’t need. However, at least the money they make goes straight to the families. The day flies past, as I wander through the town and its colourful markets and take a walk down to a local tribal area. The locals are more than happy to escort you there, explain their way of living and talk about life in the mountains.
By the end of day, I can hardly keep my eyes open. Two nights of travel are taking their toll! I’m in bed by 8pm. My original plan was to spend three days here, but as usual, I change my mind! I decided to take the night train the next day back to Hanoi and make an effort to get to Halong Bay! It would be a shame to come this far north and not see this beautiful place. Before I leave though, I organise a trip to Ha Bac Market, which takes place every Sunday. This Market is where all the local hill tribes come to sell their wares, including horses, pigs, chickens and cows. It’s amazing and a photographers heaven! The afternoon takes in a visit to a hill tribe and we get to see their way of living, from saving the corn to cooking. It’s a great insight. Finally, we go back to Lao Cai where I depart for my train, but not before taking a quick trip to the Chinese border, where we see the friendship bridge. China, so near! But with no visa organised and no plans to visit in such cold weather, it’ll have to wait for another time. I have a few hours to kill before my train, I have a look around the town, but it has little to offer. Lucky for me, I bump into two Japanese girls I met in Hoi An. They are also waiting for the train, so we pass the hours together.
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Arriving into Hanoi at 4.30am I head for a hostel, a place recommended by my hostel in Hue. When I arrive, of course they have no record of the booking, and of course, being New Years eve/day, they are fully booked. However, no panic, the young guy watching the door for the night let’s me ‘rest’ in his cupboard of a room, perfect. I pull a couple of blankets over the sheets and pillow and close my eyes for two hours, only to be woken to the most ugly scene ever. I am ashamed to be witness to this – an aggressive drunk little man – using the most foul language ever is accusing the night watchman of coming into his room and stealing his credit cards and money while he was in the shower. He claims the young night watchman came into his room and stole his pants with the cards and 4m dong. As well as verbally assaulting the young guy, he physically assaulted him, beating him. aggression is just not part of the Asian culture, they are gentle people. This was the worst sight I have ever seen, all at 7am. The middle-aged man – a New Zealander – continues to shout and scream like a lunatic. Pushing and shoving the defenceless Vietnamese boy. One hour later, I come back and he’s still ranting and raving at the manager, who has arrived and takes the side of his employee. I witness the second most amazing scene of the morning, the stupid, aggressive drunk, after all his ranting and raving comes back to reception to apologise – he found the pants, money and credit cards in his room. They were there all along. I’m amazed and stunned to witness all this violence before 10am New Years day!
Hanoi is a very busy place, the Old Quarter is beautiful, with little side streets merging into one another. It’s a lot cooler here, time for boots, jacket and I have to buy a wooly hat, as it’s raining – the first real rain I’ve seen on my travels. I wander around the Old Quarter area, which is the heart of the city, for a few hours.
The city is officially 1,000 years old in 2010, and being New Years day, many Vietnamese families are out for the day. The centre of the city is closed to traffic and many collect around the Hoan Kiem Lake. The legend has it that in the mid 15th century, heaven gave emprorer Ly Thai To a magical sword that he used to drive the Chinese out of Vietnam. One day after the war, while out boating, he came upon a giant golden tortoise; the creature grabbed the sword and disappeared into the depths of the lake. Something of a Lough Ness tale. The city is simple to navigate, with most of the streets sign posted. The city is certainly prepared to celebrate its 1000th birthday, visitors are under no illusions, with plenty of signage and street art. It’s a busy and noisy place, but very pretty. My time here is short, but never the less, I get a feel for the place.
For my final destination in Vietnam, I take the overnight train to Sapa. Finally getting to the mountains!
Filed under: Asia
With just over 24 hours in this central coast town, I took a quick afternoon tour of the city. Usually, I just walk or take a moto to the sites I want to see. Hue is a World Heritage Site, where the main attractions are the crumbling Citadel, tomes of emperors past and of course many pagodas! The afternoon finishes with a dragon cruise up the Perfume River, where the floating tin can of a boat breaks down and we have to swap boats mid river! The second boat has a small mechanical problem, but it is fixed quickly – imagine all of this on a short 4km stretch of river! The next day I take in some of the city sites on foot, while waiting to take the 4.30pm overnight train to Hanoi. One of the young guys who works on commission for the hotel (trying to encourage tourists to stay at the hotel when they arrive by bus or train). It’s a competitive world, he walks with me while he waits for the next bus. He’s paid 1 dollar for each person he takes to the hotel, some days he may get one or two, other days, none. He has aspirations to improve his English and become a tour guide and eventually own his own hotel. He’s only 22, but big on ambition. We have coffee sitting on the street with some of the other guys who do the same work. Girls, for a reason I don’t know the answer to, don’t do this work. Unfortunately, there is no equality rights here, so women do hard manual labour like building and road construction, because they are cheaper!
My young Vietnamese friend departs to go to the next arriving bus. He promises to take me to the station, which he duly does. He has ambitions to travel outside of Vietnam, however, this is highly unlikely for him. While the dong – the Vietnamese currency – remains valueless in the face of the dollar and euro, it is only the rich and privileged of society that have such good fortune. The children of wealthy parents are fortunate to be educated abroad, with Australia very popular due to its close proximity to Vietnam. Again, Vietnam suffers the same fate as their Cambodian neighbours in that the state teachers are poorly paid and have no incentive to provide any standard of education. It’s a shame.
The 12 hour train journey rolls in the new year. The start of 2010 rocking away to the gentle noise of the train. I’m the only foreigner on my coach, which is nice. Welcoming in the new year surrounded by lots of people, but nobody really. Thats traveling.
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