The above is Malaysian for Good Morning Ladies and Gentleman. I learned this on our flight. It is much more hilarious to hear, because it sounds like:
Selmat Pangi Toing Poing.
Well. What a day and a half it's been. We wake up bright as buttons on Wednesday, keen as mustard to head to the dump and run around the trash.
We meet David, the English owner of Bogey and Bacalls at his pub, and along with Richard (another Pom, sounds like Richard Thornhill, also loves pork-pies, must be the name?) as well as a young brethren couple (very awkward, didn't say two words, but looked down their noses at us when we got back for post-dump lagers) a girl name Cherry from Victoria in British Columbia, as well as Wayyyyyyyyyyne, a surfer dude from Cali-forn- yaaaaa. The local village policeman was there as well, as well as a photo journalist called NY-OH-MEE, who turned out to be an uppity snob. Stupid poms.
Anyway, we get to the pub and immediately start loading the truck with supplies, water, chairs, medical equipment... there are about 10 of us.. and only 2 seats.. where to sit? In the tray.
We rode through the streets of Phnom Penh, atop the tray of a truck, holding onto the rickety tray. We got to a womans roadside bread stall, a woman David calls Mama, where we bought 400 baguettes. From there we went to the wholesale market where we picked up 50kg of bananas, 60kg of crabapples, 40 kgs of regular apples, loaded them up and off to the Phnom Penh City Dump.
Myself and Wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyne had been asked to stand at the back of the truck and swat the kids back as we drove through the dump. I must of underestimated what he meant, because as soon as the truck entered the dump, about 50 kids came out of nowhere, from all directions, chasing our truck. Wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyne and I then had to unpry the little kids fingers from the truck (whilst we were driving up a mud road, in a dump, not holding onto anytthing...) until we stopped.
We pulled up in a quiet part of the dump, surrounded by two huge trash walls, and Operation Feedkids was underway.
About 450 kids, ranging from new-born baby to 15 years old, as well as some older ladies, young mothers to grandmothers, lined up in 2 orderly male and female lines to receive some tucker from the trucker.
We handed out food while the awkward brethrens (the woman was a medic) treated minor ailments such as cuts, scratches, infections, scabies and so on. There were a lot of cute little kids, including one naked little baby boy, probably 6mths old. He was in the line, being held by his mother, but reached out and grabbed my finger. So then his mother gave him to me to hold. That was awkward. Holding a naked stinky sweaty Cambodian child. But the kid was the cutest I've ever seen so very much ok.
We packed up and had a bit of a play with the kids. I had 2 little brats hanging off my arms asking me to pick them up, little ruffigans that they are. We packed up, said goodbye, and headed back for Phnom Penh City.
Once back at the pub, we unloaded, got everything sorted and sat down for a beer with David (the owner). We got back at about 2pm...One Angkor Draft turned into 20, then some guys from QLD turned up (Daryl and Paul) and they had some beer too. Next time I look at my watch its about 6pm, and Im absolutely pickled. So what to do? We head to HH Pizza.
It was good pizza.
Then the next logical step is... BACK TO THE PUB. So we head back, chill out with Daryl and Paul, two hilarious top blokes, and drink more beer. It gets to 10pm, and its time to pull stumps.. for we had a 9am bus to Siem Reap to catch.
Woke up today at about 6am, seedy as ever, and went for a jog through the city, probably about 3 or 4km. Even at 6am, its very hot and humid. Got back, had some breakfast and boarded an "express bus" to Siem Reap. It was a good trip, cost $9 and was very comfortable. We went for dinner at a little place called Star Rise right near our hotel (Motherhome Hotel) and then jumped onto a tuktuk to go to the Night Markets where we caught a movie and bought some souvenirs. (Rob I bought you a present)
Back at the hotel writing this but up early tomorrow to head to Angkor Wat with our tuktuk driver, Pit.
It should be good.
Til next time,
John.
Thursday, 5 March 2009
Tuesday, 3 March 2009
The Paragon
Konichiwa - I did learn how to say hello in Khmer yesterday, but now I forget, sorry.
We've moved hotels! This has made me extremely happy. It turns out Cambodia is not FULL of sex tourists HOORAY! After drinking many $1.00 beers on Monday we went upstairs to have a nap, which turned out to be a 12 hour nap! So we woke up at 6.00am the next morning and decided to go on a hunt for a new hotel. Being so fabulous, Courtney lent us her Lonely Planet Cambodia Guide and had been highlighting certain things in it for herself. Thanks to this, we are now staying a a much cheaper much nicer hotel called the Paragon. Which reminds me of the name of a ship in a book I once read.
We explored Riverside (kind of like Brisbane's Riverside except with more Cambodian people and no Story Bridge). I love it here, there are bars and restaurants (with minimal sex tourists) and food markets just around the corner.
While stinging around Phnom Penh on a tuk tuk, we ran into a tuk tuk, car and moto driver (a man of many talents a vehicular transport) named Dara who was introduced to us by Kim the day before. Dara is hilarious, he is so happy (he reminds me of Cho in Hanoi, Chotally Awesome!).
First up, Dara took us to the Killing Fields. May I just say, tuk tuk's are awesome. Except when we rode past the "Bog of Eternal Stench''. Labyrinth fans, this Bog does indeed exist, and it is located underneath a bridge, spilling out into grass fields on the way the The Killing Fields. Watch out of Hoggle and Ludo. ""Smeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeells Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad!!!"
Walking through the Killing Fields was a very sobering experience. There are massive ditches in the ground the once were mass graves, holding hundreds and hundreds of Khmer people. Unfortunately, during school no one ever mentioned the genocide that occurred quite recently in Cambodia. I'm not sure if this was the case for yourself, but I will briefly explain. Some absolute loony called Pol Pot, put together a 'political party' whose aim was to create a 'new improved' Cambodia. The way to this 'new and improved Cambodia' was to slaughter educated people, old people (over 60), politicians, families of educated people, families of old people, families of politicians, doctors, lawyers and their families, anyone suspected of being a traitor, and their families. You may see a slight problem in their categorizing of who dies - it's everyone.
So after rounding everyone up, sending those that didn't fit into the categories above to work in rice fields (the aim was to have no industry except for rice, again, another problem), he sent the remaining people to S21, a school turned prison to be "interrogated" (read: tortured) then to the Killing Fields, to be finished off by a blow to the back of the head. All of this occurred between 1974 though to 1978. So I ask the question - when the complete genocide of the Khmer people was being committed, where was the rest of world? And the answer: Nowhere, because it wasn't happening on the door step of a super power and because silk and rice just doesn't earn the dollars that oil does.
After having our eyes firmly stapled open forever, we headed back to Phnom Penh. Dara had offered to take us to lunch at a RIEL (see there it is again - fuck I'm funny) Cambodian restaurant. After lunch we headed back to our new hotel and came across a sign in the foyer "THE NEXT DUMP RUN IS THIS WEDNESDAY". Cambodia is a very poor country and there are some of the living conditions are HORRENDOUS. Just out of town there is a rubbish dump and in this rubbish dump hundreds of people live. They are scavengers, who sort through the rubbish for bottles and cans to hand in for small amounts of money (about 100 cans will get you US$1.00) to help them feed themselves. A group of people have started running volunteers up to the rubbish dump to bring food, fresh water and medical assistance to the children that live in these appalling conditions. So today, being Wednesday, we are off to the rubbish dump to help out. It costs just $15 per volunteer and they end up feeding around 400 people a couple of times a week.
So I'm off to Bogie and Bacall's now to catch the truck up there!
Love, hugs and rainbow families.
Shanngelina
We've moved hotels! This has made me extremely happy. It turns out Cambodia is not FULL of sex tourists HOORAY! After drinking many $1.00 beers on Monday we went upstairs to have a nap, which turned out to be a 12 hour nap! So we woke up at 6.00am the next morning and decided to go on a hunt for a new hotel. Being so fabulous, Courtney lent us her Lonely Planet Cambodia Guide and had been highlighting certain things in it for herself. Thanks to this, we are now staying a a much cheaper much nicer hotel called the Paragon. Which reminds me of the name of a ship in a book I once read.
We explored Riverside (kind of like Brisbane's Riverside except with more Cambodian people and no Story Bridge). I love it here, there are bars and restaurants (with minimal sex tourists) and food markets just around the corner.
While stinging around Phnom Penh on a tuk tuk, we ran into a tuk tuk, car and moto driver (a man of many talents a vehicular transport) named Dara who was introduced to us by Kim the day before. Dara is hilarious, he is so happy (he reminds me of Cho in Hanoi, Chotally Awesome!).
First up, Dara took us to the Killing Fields. May I just say, tuk tuk's are awesome. Except when we rode past the "Bog of Eternal Stench''. Labyrinth fans, this Bog does indeed exist, and it is located underneath a bridge, spilling out into grass fields on the way the The Killing Fields. Watch out of Hoggle and Ludo. ""Smeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeells Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad!!!"
Walking through the Killing Fields was a very sobering experience. There are massive ditches in the ground the once were mass graves, holding hundreds and hundreds of Khmer people. Unfortunately, during school no one ever mentioned the genocide that occurred quite recently in Cambodia. I'm not sure if this was the case for yourself, but I will briefly explain. Some absolute loony called Pol Pot, put together a 'political party' whose aim was to create a 'new improved' Cambodia. The way to this 'new and improved Cambodia' was to slaughter educated people, old people (over 60), politicians, families of educated people, families of old people, families of politicians, doctors, lawyers and their families, anyone suspected of being a traitor, and their families. You may see a slight problem in their categorizing of who dies - it's everyone.
So after rounding everyone up, sending those that didn't fit into the categories above to work in rice fields (the aim was to have no industry except for rice, again, another problem), he sent the remaining people to S21, a school turned prison to be "interrogated" (read: tortured) then to the Killing Fields, to be finished off by a blow to the back of the head. All of this occurred between 1974 though to 1978. So I ask the question - when the complete genocide of the Khmer people was being committed, where was the rest of world? And the answer: Nowhere, because it wasn't happening on the door step of a super power and because silk and rice just doesn't earn the dollars that oil does.
After having our eyes firmly stapled open forever, we headed back to Phnom Penh. Dara had offered to take us to lunch at a RIEL (see there it is again - fuck I'm funny) Cambodian restaurant. After lunch we headed back to our new hotel and came across a sign in the foyer "THE NEXT DUMP RUN IS THIS WEDNESDAY". Cambodia is a very poor country and there are some of the living conditions are HORRENDOUS. Just out of town there is a rubbish dump and in this rubbish dump hundreds of people live. They are scavengers, who sort through the rubbish for bottles and cans to hand in for small amounts of money (about 100 cans will get you US$1.00) to help them feed themselves. A group of people have started running volunteers up to the rubbish dump to bring food, fresh water and medical assistance to the children that live in these appalling conditions. So today, being Wednesday, we are off to the rubbish dump to help out. It costs just $15 per volunteer and they end up feeding around 400 people a couple of times a week.
So I'm off to Bogie and Bacall's now to catch the truck up there!
Love, hugs and rainbow families.
Shanngelina
Part 2: The Mini-Series Continues.
So.
Since I wrote last, we left the Flamingo Hotel (where the seedy expat's were) and moved closer to the Riverside, to the Paragon Hotel. It is a nice hotel, not as comfortable as the Flamingo, the blanket is small, the aircon loud, and we have no window, but we are saving nearly 30% and it is in a nicer area with not so much of a filthy expat population.
Also, I forgot to mention, that when we checked into flamingos, they had done a pretty shit job cleaning it as there was a whole packet of Valium (que?) in the drawer next to the bed... wierd.
Yesterday we organized with our tuktuk driver Dara to take us to the Big3 tourist attractions... so we headed off first to the Killing Fields.
It is quite an eye opening experience. As you walk around the dirt tracks of the old genocide paddocks, you are walking over clothing that is slowly unearthing everytime someone new trods the path. It is a red tshirt here, blue pants there, and simply knowing you are walking over the clothes that once adorned a Khmer that died in vain under the rule of an insane regime, is somewhat depressing and uneasy.
There is a tree there called the Killing Tree (or something similar) where apparently children were bludgeoned to death and then thrown in a mass grave beside it (this particular grave held 450 bodies when it was dug-up). Next to the tree there remain a pile about a metre high of human bones.
Back to the start of the circuit they have put in, is a large gold pagoda, about 30metres high, filled top to bottom of skulls of people who had died there. At first it just looked like "skulls"and I was totally ok to see it, but when I got closer and you started to see the teeth etc, it made me queazy and I had to run outside.
We left there and headed to S-21, or Tuol Sleung prison, an old primary school that was converted into a prison/torture centre when the Khmer Rouge took over. They managed to turn simple playground equipment into torture tools. We headed upstairs into the old classrooms that had been turned into both cells and torture rooms. As you walk around these rooms , there is a distinct maroon tint to the stains on the floor, some of the bloodstains have never been removed.
From S-21 we headed to one of Daras local places for a good old fashioned Khmer lunch. We had some tucker, and a lime juice, and headed off to the National Museum. The museum charged $3 entry, and as we were pretty touristed out, decided we'd head for a pub and have an ale.
We had a couple of beers and headed back to our new hotel. We decided we’d book our bus up to Siem Reap, so now we’re heading up on Thursday morning. We also saw a pamphlet advertising a volunteer trip to the Phnom Penh rubbish dump, to feed some of the 1200 kids who live on the rubbish dump. So we went to the pub that the guy owns (Bogey and Bacall on St 127) and met up with one of the guys who helps organize the trips. We got there at about 4pm, and drank, read stories, this guy (Richard) told us stories about his 2 years in Cambodia, saw pictures, eventually got smashed and bounced at about 830 to a western restaurant (Cadillac Bar and Grill) as I was really after a cheeseburger (see earlier comment about being smashed). The owner of the bar was really awesome, nice guy, Kenny from Texas. One of the very few Americans I’ve met travelling who isn’t a douche bag.
After dinner we hit the hay as we had to be up somewhat early for todays trip to the market and rubbish dump.
So that’s where we’re at. It’s now 8am, and we’ll be heading off soon. Just going to go grab some breakfast.
Will update soon.
Cooksley, John.
Since I wrote last, we left the Flamingo Hotel (where the seedy expat's were) and moved closer to the Riverside, to the Paragon Hotel. It is a nice hotel, not as comfortable as the Flamingo, the blanket is small, the aircon loud, and we have no window, but we are saving nearly 30% and it is in a nicer area with not so much of a filthy expat population.
Also, I forgot to mention, that when we checked into flamingos, they had done a pretty shit job cleaning it as there was a whole packet of Valium (que?) in the drawer next to the bed... wierd.
Yesterday we organized with our tuktuk driver Dara to take us to the Big3 tourist attractions... so we headed off first to the Killing Fields.
It is quite an eye opening experience. As you walk around the dirt tracks of the old genocide paddocks, you are walking over clothing that is slowly unearthing everytime someone new trods the path. It is a red tshirt here, blue pants there, and simply knowing you are walking over the clothes that once adorned a Khmer that died in vain under the rule of an insane regime, is somewhat depressing and uneasy.
There is a tree there called the Killing Tree (or something similar) where apparently children were bludgeoned to death and then thrown in a mass grave beside it (this particular grave held 450 bodies when it was dug-up). Next to the tree there remain a pile about a metre high of human bones.
Back to the start of the circuit they have put in, is a large gold pagoda, about 30metres high, filled top to bottom of skulls of people who had died there. At first it just looked like "skulls"and I was totally ok to see it, but when I got closer and you started to see the teeth etc, it made me queazy and I had to run outside.
We left there and headed to S-21, or Tuol Sleung prison, an old primary school that was converted into a prison/torture centre when the Khmer Rouge took over. They managed to turn simple playground equipment into torture tools. We headed upstairs into the old classrooms that had been turned into both cells and torture rooms. As you walk around these rooms , there is a distinct maroon tint to the stains on the floor, some of the bloodstains have never been removed.
From S-21 we headed to one of Daras local places for a good old fashioned Khmer lunch. We had some tucker, and a lime juice, and headed off to the National Museum. The museum charged $3 entry, and as we were pretty touristed out, decided we'd head for a pub and have an ale.
We had a couple of beers and headed back to our new hotel. We decided we’d book our bus up to Siem Reap, so now we’re heading up on Thursday morning. We also saw a pamphlet advertising a volunteer trip to the Phnom Penh rubbish dump, to feed some of the 1200 kids who live on the rubbish dump. So we went to the pub that the guy owns (Bogey and Bacall on St 127) and met up with one of the guys who helps organize the trips. We got there at about 4pm, and drank, read stories, this guy (Richard) told us stories about his 2 years in Cambodia, saw pictures, eventually got smashed and bounced at about 830 to a western restaurant (Cadillac Bar and Grill) as I was really after a cheeseburger (see earlier comment about being smashed). The owner of the bar was really awesome, nice guy, Kenny from Texas. One of the very few Americans I’ve met travelling who isn’t a douche bag.
After dinner we hit the hay as we had to be up somewhat early for todays trip to the market and rubbish dump.
So that’s where we’re at. It’s now 8am, and we’ll be heading off soon. Just going to go grab some breakfast.
Will update soon.
Cooksley, John.
Monday, 2 March 2009
Hello Diary. I'm Ann Frank.
Dear Diary,
Since I last wrote I have left Nazi Germany... oh wait. I'm not Ann Frank at all...
So I got up Sunday morning at 6am to make sure everything was a-ok.. my bags were packed.. my shoes were tied... and I had all my bizniss sorted. So.. it gets to like .. 11pm at night. and we''re at Brisbane International.. and I'm getting tired. So I figure I've got an 8 hr flight ahead of me.. so I'll just sleep?
WRONG.
I didn't get a wink. The douche behind me stole my pillow. I was totally uncomfortable and had movies-on-demand right in front of me. So I watched Quantum of Solace.. and some other movies, some Simpsons etc and before you know we've crossed the Timor Sea and we're in Kuala Lumpur.
Imagine sticking your nose in soeones bottom thats had mothballs stuffed up there. Thats what the KL International smelt like. Furthermore, it was boring as bat shit and rainy, and the sun only just rose before we left at 925 KL time.
We eventually board our flight to Phnom Penh.. again Malaysian Air comes to the party with some AWESOME service etc, and before we know it, BAM, we're in Cambodia.
We disembark at Cambodia, we'd filled in our customs and immigration forms when we come to a small problem. We apparently need a passport photo to stick to our Visa Application. What to do now?
The Immigration officer says "No worries, $1." So I gave him a buck and here we are. Cleared customs, immigration and into our shuttle bus we get... It was a pretty non-eventful ride from the airport to the hotel.. the typical South East Asia driving... honk, swerve, drive on wrong side of road, honk, giggle, honk.
Get to our hotel.. chuck our stuff in the room.. and headed for a walk. Phnom Penh is a poor mans Vietnam, only more expensive? Que? Anywho, we got back to the hotel, tired and dehyrdated so went to the bar for some $1.20 beers. Chatted to the owner of the hotel, Kim, a Cambodian man who lived in the US for 20 years.. very interesting and provided a bit of insight into Cambodia that only a person who'd lived and gone from there could give.
After that, we head off to the Wat Phnom, a 1km walk from our hotel. We get there.. lots of touts and little kids all with their "buy water, one dorrar". We walk up the stairs to the pagoda when some woman starts yelling "GO PAY, GO PAY". Not realizing we'd missed the ticket booth, we went to the "Foreigners Only" ticket booth, coughed up a buck, and had a look. There were a few people, ranging from a 3 yr old... to a 40yr old.. to a grandma all on their knees prayin' to Buddha. The woman prayed for peace in the world. The 40yr old prayed for a stable end to the World Economic Crisis.. the little 3 yr old prayed for a bitchin' new Tonka Truck.
So we get back (via Tuktuk) to our hotel. We're pretty hungry by this stage, so off down the street I went looking for some local tucker. I came across a guy selling sandwiches.. All made before your eyes.. a crusty bread stick, stuffed with Coriander, Tofu, Mackerel in Tomato Sauce, and Chili Sauce. It cost $1 for 2 sangers. They were massive. And delicious. Bargain.
I headed upstairs at about 4pm local time (7pm Brisbane time) to have a nap.. however as it was so bloody hot, I decided to go down to the bar for another beer and a game of pool (on my own, to unwind). I set the balls up, and a hooker comes over and is like "lets play". As I have a severe hooker intolerance, known as "Getawaydirtyslutitis", I told her to fk off and came and started on this blog. There are a lot of filthy faggoty British sex-tourists drinking/staying at the hotel we're at.. so we'll be leaving tomorrow. They are the scourge of the earth and make me dry-retch. Rant over.
Apart from that, this place is awesome. I can't wait to check out S21, the Royal Palace and the Killing Fields tomorrow.
Tonight we might go to the "Black Cat Bar" which is also owned by Kim, the bloke who owns our hotel we're in.
Until we chat again, peace.
John.
Update early on the morning of Day 2:
So... I went for a laydown at about 6pm as I was tired.. and we've only just woken up. It's 638am in the morning. haha. Awesome. Now we're hittin' some breakfast and out on the town.
Letters from Kampuchea (Shannon 02/03)
Letters from Kumpuchea - Too lazy to write on the travel blog today!
Hello!
So it's only 3.30pm Cambodian time (5.30pm Brisbane) on Monday afternoon and we've managed to stay up for about 36 hours now, with only 10 minute power naps to keep us going! '
Don't worry, the $1.00 beers have helped get us through.We've gone from Brisbane to Kuala Lumpur and happily spent 8 hours on a Malaysian Airlines flight with a choice of 20 new release movies, tv shows and games - all accessible through a remote control - best thing since sliced bread. We then spent 4 hours in KL airport. There are three main things I noticed most about KL (airport, as I'm not fit to judge the rest of the country yet) 1. the sun didn't rise until about 7.30am 2. It smells. It's a weird sort of smell, like a cross between a cupboard at my nanna's that hasn't been opened since 1940 and urine. 3. They are the proud owner of a bar in the airport called Cheers, where everybody knows your name.After trying to have a kip in some awesomely designed recliner chairs, it was time to leave for CAMBODIA! Or CAMBOOYA!! as I like to call it. See the clever use of Camb (the first syllable in Cambodia) and BOOYA! As in supremely awesome. I knew you would.
Malaysia Airlines have looked after us fantastically, feeding us and entertaining us at every opportunity. Unfortunately, there was a f*ckstick of a Frenchman on our flight making this strike 2 against French men when traveling abroad (see the first travel blog on Vietnam, namely in Sapa). They are extremely rude (ordering the flight attendant around like a dog, refusing to listen to the obligations of people sitting in the exit rows (thankfully he was moved because I sure didn't trust him to step up to the responsibility of saving me in an emergency!) and then cutting in front of us in the visa line - f*cker (luckily, it was the line for visa's NOT for fighting, or Chutney)).So we made it to Kampuchea, through the visa line (we had to bribe the customs official US$1 to let us through without a pre arranged passport photo!), then through customs, which consisted of:
Customs Official with Gun: "Anything to declare?"
Us: "No"
Customs Official with a Gun": "Head straight through"
No bag search, no X-ray - nothing. I think John and I must be the luckiest people ever when it comes to customs - touch wood.We had arranged to be picked up by our hotel - the Flamingo in central Phnom Penh. It's not too bad, comfy, clean, maybe a little bit over priced (which happens when you book before you get here) and FULL of SLEAZY Britich Expats, scamming all over the local girls (but from what I've seen, it seems to everywhere in Phnom Penh). I LOVE what I've seen of South East Asia, I mean LOVE it. The locals are fantastically friendly, the food is AMAZING (just to overuse CAPS here like a 14 year old on MSN... lyk OMG LolzorZ!) and the things to see and do are completely out of anything I would see in my normal world.
There's just one thing - I HATE (there's the overuse of CAPS again) the underbelly and seediness of the older male expat community. They are vile. Like Kyle Sandilands - on crack.Unfortunately that comes with 3rd world and developing economies, even developed economies if you look in the right places in Australia. So I'm going to continue to love South East Asia like it's my home away from home. With cheap beer & food, rich & proud culture, and interesting people - like Kim - the owner of The Flamingo who we met this afternoon.
We're heading to some touristy places tomorrow, the Killing Fields, S21, some pagoda's and the Royal Palace and Elephant rides. The day after, it's off to see the RIEL (see my pun there? No? Look it up) Kampuchea with our new friend Daka.
Peace, Love and Rainbow's.Shanngelina.
Tuesday, 4 December 2007
Wow. Adventures galore.
BIG JOHN WRITES:
So from where we left off. We went to see some temples, and the first Capital of Vietnam out at Tam Coc and Hoa Lu. After lunch we went for a row in a boat through the rice fields and out to a lake system known as Halong Bay Landing. We went through some very beautiful low caves, I had to pretty much duck under each one. From there we went back to Ha Noi via bus, where we chillaxed until about 7, when we were going to head to the Overnight train to Sa Pa.
Luxurious would be one way to describe the sleeper car- IF- we didn't have to share with 2 other people. We were the first ones into our room, Shannon grabbed the top bunk and I the bottom. Shannon spilled half a bottle of water on the mattress. Due to their being no-one else in our room, we assumed it was just us for the night. I said "No Worries" and swapped mattresses. About ten minutes later, a Vietnamese woman, with not a speck of English came in. She proceeded to get on the wet mattress. This brought a few laughs from me. However, she soon found the wet patch. Not knowing what it was, she rubbed the wet patch with her hand, and sniffed it, realllll close to her nose. She mumbled some stuff in Vietnamese, and then got angry, even though it was only water. She called in a guard, some other guy, and some woman, who along with Shannon, her and myself were all in this room no bigger than a common toilet. No-one in our cabin could speak English, and they just kept yelling. Shannon got her faux concerned face on, but I just put on my cool face and kept going " Whats goin on?". Hahahaha.
Anyway in the morning, after an ok ride to Sa Pa, we jumped on a bus with the most massive wankar of an American I've seen. In Vietnam. So then after an hour, we ended up in Sa Pa, had a quick shower and a bit of a wander. We met some girls from the Black H'Mong tribe who were very cute and polite, and tiny. About 4 and a half feet tall, at 15 years old.. We gave them toy koalas we have been carrying to hand out to the kids, and they gave us some bracelets. Very nice.
Then we were off to the mountainous jungle ranges to see the Tay and Day tribes, down through Lao Chai, and Ta Van. Stopped in at some womans house, as they were setting up for a wedding this week. Drank some tea, while our guide explained to us that the dogs we saw walking around were going to be the main course. Walked another kilometre or 2, and back to Sapa, where me and Shannon chillaxed, got lunch and we decided I should hire a motorbike and ride us both around Sa Pa. So we rode around, it was very fun and relaxing, there was minimal traffic so felt quite safe. Had a blast!
After that, we were at the markets where we met an old drunk from Perth. His name was Alfonso, and he was about 60 and the most hilarious Aussie I have met so far. Had a beer on the side of the road with him. Finished the beers, parted ways, and we headed back to our hotel, had a bit of fodder, then to a little bar called Tau Bar, where we had a few bevvies. They have a rum here called ISC which I am going to try and bring home.. its brilliant. There were some pretty disgusting people in there, so at Shannons advice, we left, and went to bed.
Woke up this morning, had some breakfast and we were off to more jungle. A bit of a trek through the mountains (about 5km) and we ended up at Cat Cat Waterfalls. They were very beautiful, but must admit, am getting a bit jungled out. After walking a couple of km more, we headed back to the road, where everyone got on Motos, back to Sa Pa. Then again, due to us being kickass, we decided to ride a moto. We rented one off a guy, and got about 2 streets away when BAM!
It's about 5 degrees here, so the roads are all icy and wet. I took a corner and BAM! Bike slid out from underneath us. Both hit the road! BAM! Picked the bike up, road it back to the fella I had just hired it from. Moto-man and I rode up to the local Moto Mechanic.. There was damage to brake caliper, fairing, light and the footpegs, and it cost me about VND400000, or about $40Australian. Shannon was ok, a couple of scratches, and I'm ok, a bit of blood on my leg, a couple of grazes on my tattoos, a cut elbow and thats it. Ego is hurting the most, feeling a little bit worse for wear due to my moto skills being superior to the av-e-rage bear. Most importantly no-one was hurt.
Tonight we leave back for Ha Noi. We get to Ha Noi in the morning (train again) and then off to Halong Bay. We are doing one night on Cat Ba island, and then back to Ha Noi for two days to a bit more shopping. After that we fly back to Ho Chi Minh.
Until then, take care. Write soon.
SHANNONEGANS WRITES:
Ok , so we've arived in the beautiful mountainous town of Sapa by train and then bus. The night train was a very interesting experience, we were stoked to find out that we got a room with 4 beds and devastated when we didn't get the whole place to ourselves. John and I were so excited at the prospect of spending 8 hours on a train that we decided to take and "Obligatory Myspace Photo", whilst trying to get the perfect angle to show off our beautiful faces I proceeded to knock over my water bottle spilling it all over my bed. Not wanting to sleep in a puddle of water for the trip John and I cam up with the ingenious idea to swap the mattresses with another bed in the room before someone else came in. This idea turned very badly once a Vietnamese lady came and sat down, realising her bed was wet, she proceeded to put her hand in the mysterious liquid and sniff it (all the while John and I pretending we had no idea what was going on). This then turned into the biggest debarcle when the guard and two other people from the train got involved! The problem was sorted when the woman swapped the matterss with another bed and they just put more blankets on it to soak it up.
Enter young Engish girl called Gemma, she did not seem to notice the wet and we had a great old chat. It turns out she was working at a school in Vietnam during her gap year. She had been here for 3 months and was loving it.
We then arrived in Sapa at around 6.30am we were then bombarded by the children of the local villages asking "Where you from?", "What your name?", "You buy from me?", we gave them some of the toy Koala's and got some bracelets in return. They were very cute and are very small. When we asked them their age I thought maybe 7 or 8, it turns out they were 15 and 16!! I seem big over here! We went on a day trip to some of the villages and were followed by some Black H'Mong women on the way down the mountain, they all find John and I very interesting, I have a hilarious picture of the women standing next to John, they were all about 30ish and look like dolls next to him!
The villages were amazing! The scenery is fantastic, it's winter here so a layer of fog hangs over the tops of the moutains, it makes all the terraces with rice growing on them look magical. I bought quite alot of stuff from the women who followed us down the mountain, my favourite was a weaved blanket, it's amazing handiwork. I've also bought some silver bracelets they make as well.
To avoid sleezy men and women (a number of people have been a bit off to both of us) we have been claiming to be husband and wife as they tend to leave us alone once this is said. This has brought many LOLS as I have come across a local village girl who forst tried to buy me from John and now keeps trying to steal me and take me back to her village to marry her brother. She has litterally dragged me down the street! (I think it's all in good fun but John is paranoid they are going to knock me over the head and run away with me).
It's our last day in Sapa and we had a bit of a moto accident today, nothing serious, just the combination of bald tyres, wet ground, a corner and a stupid man John was avoiding hitting. We are ok, just a couple of bumps and scratches. We are off to lunch now and to wade our way through the village children selling things and threatening to cry if we don't buy from them! As much as it is annoying, they are so cute!
So from where we left off. We went to see some temples, and the first Capital of Vietnam out at Tam Coc and Hoa Lu. After lunch we went for a row in a boat through the rice fields and out to a lake system known as Halong Bay Landing. We went through some very beautiful low caves, I had to pretty much duck under each one. From there we went back to Ha Noi via bus, where we chillaxed until about 7, when we were going to head to the Overnight train to Sa Pa.
Luxurious would be one way to describe the sleeper car- IF- we didn't have to share with 2 other people. We were the first ones into our room, Shannon grabbed the top bunk and I the bottom. Shannon spilled half a bottle of water on the mattress. Due to their being no-one else in our room, we assumed it was just us for the night. I said "No Worries" and swapped mattresses. About ten minutes later, a Vietnamese woman, with not a speck of English came in. She proceeded to get on the wet mattress. This brought a few laughs from me. However, she soon found the wet patch. Not knowing what it was, she rubbed the wet patch with her hand, and sniffed it, realllll close to her nose. She mumbled some stuff in Vietnamese, and then got angry, even though it was only water. She called in a guard, some other guy, and some woman, who along with Shannon, her and myself were all in this room no bigger than a common toilet. No-one in our cabin could speak English, and they just kept yelling. Shannon got her faux concerned face on, but I just put on my cool face and kept going " Whats goin on?". Hahahaha.
Anyway in the morning, after an ok ride to Sa Pa, we jumped on a bus with the most massive wankar of an American I've seen. In Vietnam. So then after an hour, we ended up in Sa Pa, had a quick shower and a bit of a wander. We met some girls from the Black H'Mong tribe who were very cute and polite, and tiny. About 4 and a half feet tall, at 15 years old.. We gave them toy koalas we have been carrying to hand out to the kids, and they gave us some bracelets. Very nice.
Then we were off to the mountainous jungle ranges to see the Tay and Day tribes, down through Lao Chai, and Ta Van. Stopped in at some womans house, as they were setting up for a wedding this week. Drank some tea, while our guide explained to us that the dogs we saw walking around were going to be the main course. Walked another kilometre or 2, and back to Sapa, where me and Shannon chillaxed, got lunch and we decided I should hire a motorbike and ride us both around Sa Pa. So we rode around, it was very fun and relaxing, there was minimal traffic so felt quite safe. Had a blast!
After that, we were at the markets where we met an old drunk from Perth. His name was Alfonso, and he was about 60 and the most hilarious Aussie I have met so far. Had a beer on the side of the road with him. Finished the beers, parted ways, and we headed back to our hotel, had a bit of fodder, then to a little bar called Tau Bar, where we had a few bevvies. They have a rum here called ISC which I am going to try and bring home.. its brilliant. There were some pretty disgusting people in there, so at Shannons advice, we left, and went to bed.
Woke up this morning, had some breakfast and we were off to more jungle. A bit of a trek through the mountains (about 5km) and we ended up at Cat Cat Waterfalls. They were very beautiful, but must admit, am getting a bit jungled out. After walking a couple of km more, we headed back to the road, where everyone got on Motos, back to Sa Pa. Then again, due to us being kickass, we decided to ride a moto. We rented one off a guy, and got about 2 streets away when BAM!
It's about 5 degrees here, so the roads are all icy and wet. I took a corner and BAM! Bike slid out from underneath us. Both hit the road! BAM! Picked the bike up, road it back to the fella I had just hired it from. Moto-man and I rode up to the local Moto Mechanic.. There was damage to brake caliper, fairing, light and the footpegs, and it cost me about VND400000, or about $40Australian. Shannon was ok, a couple of scratches, and I'm ok, a bit of blood on my leg, a couple of grazes on my tattoos, a cut elbow and thats it. Ego is hurting the most, feeling a little bit worse for wear due to my moto skills being superior to the av-e-rage bear. Most importantly no-one was hurt.
Tonight we leave back for Ha Noi. We get to Ha Noi in the morning (train again) and then off to Halong Bay. We are doing one night on Cat Ba island, and then back to Ha Noi for two days to a bit more shopping. After that we fly back to Ho Chi Minh.
Until then, take care. Write soon.
SHANNONEGANS WRITES:
Ok , so we've arived in the beautiful mountainous town of Sapa by train and then bus. The night train was a very interesting experience, we were stoked to find out that we got a room with 4 beds and devastated when we didn't get the whole place to ourselves. John and I were so excited at the prospect of spending 8 hours on a train that we decided to take and "Obligatory Myspace Photo", whilst trying to get the perfect angle to show off our beautiful faces I proceeded to knock over my water bottle spilling it all over my bed. Not wanting to sleep in a puddle of water for the trip John and I cam up with the ingenious idea to swap the mattresses with another bed in the room before someone else came in. This idea turned very badly once a Vietnamese lady came and sat down, realising her bed was wet, she proceeded to put her hand in the mysterious liquid and sniff it (all the while John and I pretending we had no idea what was going on). This then turned into the biggest debarcle when the guard and two other people from the train got involved! The problem was sorted when the woman swapped the matterss with another bed and they just put more blankets on it to soak it up.
Enter young Engish girl called Gemma, she did not seem to notice the wet and we had a great old chat. It turns out she was working at a school in Vietnam during her gap year. She had been here for 3 months and was loving it.
We then arrived in Sapa at around 6.30am we were then bombarded by the children of the local villages asking "Where you from?", "What your name?", "You buy from me?", we gave them some of the toy Koala's and got some bracelets in return. They were very cute and are very small. When we asked them their age I thought maybe 7 or 8, it turns out they were 15 and 16!! I seem big over here! We went on a day trip to some of the villages and were followed by some Black H'Mong women on the way down the mountain, they all find John and I very interesting, I have a hilarious picture of the women standing next to John, they were all about 30ish and look like dolls next to him!
The villages were amazing! The scenery is fantastic, it's winter here so a layer of fog hangs over the tops of the moutains, it makes all the terraces with rice growing on them look magical. I bought quite alot of stuff from the women who followed us down the mountain, my favourite was a weaved blanket, it's amazing handiwork. I've also bought some silver bracelets they make as well.
To avoid sleezy men and women (a number of people have been a bit off to both of us) we have been claiming to be husband and wife as they tend to leave us alone once this is said. This has brought many LOLS as I have come across a local village girl who forst tried to buy me from John and now keeps trying to steal me and take me back to her village to marry her brother. She has litterally dragged me down the street! (I think it's all in good fun but John is paranoid they are going to knock me over the head and run away with me).
It's our last day in Sapa and we had a bit of a moto accident today, nothing serious, just the combination of bald tyres, wet ground, a corner and a stupid man John was avoiding hitting. We are ok, just a couple of bumps and scratches. We are off to lunch now and to wade our way through the village children selling things and threatening to cry if we don't buy from them! As much as it is annoying, they are so cute!
Sunday, 2 December 2007
From then until now. The sapa continues.
John :
So since we last left off. The plans for Friday night involved heading to our favourite bar in HCMC, the GO2Bar. We sat down and there were some cute, rambunctious children running about. So we had a bit of a play and giggle, all the while Shannon was trying to take pictures of them. They wanted to charge us 5000VND, about $1 to take their photo. When we said no, they flipped us off. It was pretty funny.
Anywho, then Jetstar (the Aussie airline) came and gave everyone at Go2Bar some cake, because it was their birthday or some crap.
We gave our cakes to the children who immediately became our best friends. Hard to explain but we have some pretty cool memories and pictures of the kids. I got my drunk on, while this bar tender called Viet entertained us. He was hilarious, he insisted on arm wrestling and continually trying to make us dance. Chatted to him about Australia, and about Vietnam and it was eye opening. We gave him a toy koala that we had, and he named it Tim Cahill (Australian Soccer player). It was funny but also kinda sad watching all his mates and work colleagues wanting to play with it. It was very touching. One day I hope to see Viet in Australia. He was a chipper young fellow, and it's kinda hard to describe him. Just all round ace. A bloke from Wales called Cecil sat down at our table, and we talked a bit more, before we headed back to our hotel at about 11pm. The next morning we were up and about, getting some breakfast and chillaxing waiting for our ride to HCMC airport.
We have been in Hanoi since Saturday, after a kickass flight with Vietnam Airlines.. a 2hour trip on a jumbo jet (Boeing B777) doesn't make sense to me, but I'm not going to argue with it.
Did some shopping Saturday afternoon, and headed to a place called Le Pub for some beer. Hanoi had a french occupation for a lot of it's past, and is still very much french orientated. This leads to excellent shopping, great food, very relaxed (in comparison to HCMC) and unfortunately also has the air of pomposity that is synonomous with the French.
Today we did a tour of the City, checked out a couple of Museums, saw the changing of the guard at the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and then to a Restaraunt in Hanoi's Old Quarter for some great lunch. Me and Shannon decided to call it a day, and headed back to our hotel.
I headed off straight away to find a moto to take me a Doctor, as I had been experiencing ear problems for a couple of days. Woke up this morning with a severely sore ear, and could barely hear. Got to the doctor, and near USD$200 and some drugs later, turns out I have an inner ear infection.
Back on the Moto, with the translating help of an armed Vietnamese soldier in front of arrived back to the hotel, where we didnt stay long before heading to a little place we found in our earlier travels, called Half Man, 1/2 Noodle. I intend to come back here tonight and drink some beers.
Apart from that, we head off to do some more touring tomorrow. I believe we have a boat trip thru some rice paddies and other stuff on the cards. And then tomorrow night we head off to Sa Pa on the overnight train. Looking forward to it.
That's all I have for now, we will write soon.
Shannon :
We got to Hanoi yesterday. It's really different from Ho Chi Minh, John likes it better, I don't really.
It has much better shopping in terms of pretty things to bring home and it is easier to haggle, pretty much say "No thank you" and walk away, then they call after you what price you will pay! So far this isvery bad for me and my buying style as I walk away alot and then end up haggling and then I buy something I wanted but could have definately gone without! I bought some silk scarves and a silk shirt yesterday in total cost me about $20US. They're really pretty. I've also got my eye on some a lanterns and some beads and some cute book marks for presents and really awesome weaving from the H'Mong tribes. I want to actually buy the weavings when we go see the tribes in a few days though so I'm holding off.
The buildings are beautiful and it's alot cleaner and definately slower then Ho Chi Minh, but the people aren't as nice and I find it way too slow after the fast pace of Ho Chi Minh. We got a massage yesterday for 30mins, it cost $5US. I'm thinking about visiting a dayspa this afternoon, for 2.5 hours its like $30US - So cheap!
We went on a tour of Ha Noi this morning part of the set up with Sinh Cafe, it was sadly a little bit disappointing due to the fact that although interesting, it would have been good to do outside of a tour as we had to stick to the tours timelines. We went to some pagoda's where some people were holding a funeral - very different from Western funerals. They all wear white. Then we went to the Ethnology Museum which was all about the different ethnic groups in Vietnam, then itwas off to the Ho Chi Minh Mausuleum, unfortunately this time of year they did not have Ho Chi Minh's body on display. I learnt a fair bit about Vietnamese political history which was cool.
We're off on a boat trip tomorrow and then out to Sapa in the evening. I'm really looking forward to seeing the Black H'Mong tribe and the landscape in Sapa.
We had a pretty awesome last night in Ho Chi Minh and a very cool flight up here! They stuck us on a Boeing 777 for a 2 hour flight and had a camera at the front of the plane showing the view on landing and take off - way cool, not only that but they fed us!
I'm a bit bored today, there really isn't that much to do in Ha Noi and I'm struggling with being forced to be still! Our room is nice but small so I've been getting a bit of cabin fever.
Anyway, I must be off, I think we're going to hit a pub and get some din dins. Most of the tourists here are French and a fair bit snobbish so we haven't met anyone cool yet - not like Viet from the Go2Bar (read John's entry).
So since we last left off. The plans for Friday night involved heading to our favourite bar in HCMC, the GO2Bar. We sat down and there were some cute, rambunctious children running about. So we had a bit of a play and giggle, all the while Shannon was trying to take pictures of them. They wanted to charge us 5000VND, about $1 to take their photo. When we said no, they flipped us off. It was pretty funny.
Anywho, then Jetstar (the Aussie airline) came and gave everyone at Go2Bar some cake, because it was their birthday or some crap.
We gave our cakes to the children who immediately became our best friends. Hard to explain but we have some pretty cool memories and pictures of the kids. I got my drunk on, while this bar tender called Viet entertained us. He was hilarious, he insisted on arm wrestling and continually trying to make us dance. Chatted to him about Australia, and about Vietnam and it was eye opening. We gave him a toy koala that we had, and he named it Tim Cahill (Australian Soccer player). It was funny but also kinda sad watching all his mates and work colleagues wanting to play with it. It was very touching. One day I hope to see Viet in Australia. He was a chipper young fellow, and it's kinda hard to describe him. Just all round ace. A bloke from Wales called Cecil sat down at our table, and we talked a bit more, before we headed back to our hotel at about 11pm. The next morning we were up and about, getting some breakfast and chillaxing waiting for our ride to HCMC airport.
We have been in Hanoi since Saturday, after a kickass flight with Vietnam Airlines.. a 2hour trip on a jumbo jet (Boeing B777) doesn't make sense to me, but I'm not going to argue with it.
Did some shopping Saturday afternoon, and headed to a place called Le Pub for some beer. Hanoi had a french occupation for a lot of it's past, and is still very much french orientated. This leads to excellent shopping, great food, very relaxed (in comparison to HCMC) and unfortunately also has the air of pomposity that is synonomous with the French.
Today we did a tour of the City, checked out a couple of Museums, saw the changing of the guard at the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and then to a Restaraunt in Hanoi's Old Quarter for some great lunch. Me and Shannon decided to call it a day, and headed back to our hotel.
I headed off straight away to find a moto to take me a Doctor, as I had been experiencing ear problems for a couple of days. Woke up this morning with a severely sore ear, and could barely hear. Got to the doctor, and near USD$200 and some drugs later, turns out I have an inner ear infection.
Back on the Moto, with the translating help of an armed Vietnamese soldier in front of arrived back to the hotel, where we didnt stay long before heading to a little place we found in our earlier travels, called Half Man, 1/2 Noodle. I intend to come back here tonight and drink some beers.
Apart from that, we head off to do some more touring tomorrow. I believe we have a boat trip thru some rice paddies and other stuff on the cards. And then tomorrow night we head off to Sa Pa on the overnight train. Looking forward to it.
That's all I have for now, we will write soon.
Shannon :
We got to Hanoi yesterday. It's really different from Ho Chi Minh, John likes it better, I don't really.
It has much better shopping in terms of pretty things to bring home and it is easier to haggle, pretty much say "No thank you" and walk away, then they call after you what price you will pay! So far this isvery bad for me and my buying style as I walk away alot and then end up haggling and then I buy something I wanted but could have definately gone without! I bought some silk scarves and a silk shirt yesterday in total cost me about $20US. They're really pretty. I've also got my eye on some a lanterns and some beads and some cute book marks for presents and really awesome weaving from the H'Mong tribes. I want to actually buy the weavings when we go see the tribes in a few days though so I'm holding off.
The buildings are beautiful and it's alot cleaner and definately slower then Ho Chi Minh, but the people aren't as nice and I find it way too slow after the fast pace of Ho Chi Minh. We got a massage yesterday for 30mins, it cost $5US. I'm thinking about visiting a dayspa this afternoon, for 2.5 hours its like $30US - So cheap!
We went on a tour of Ha Noi this morning part of the set up with Sinh Cafe, it was sadly a little bit disappointing due to the fact that although interesting, it would have been good to do outside of a tour as we had to stick to the tours timelines. We went to some pagoda's where some people were holding a funeral - very different from Western funerals. They all wear white. Then we went to the Ethnology Museum which was all about the different ethnic groups in Vietnam, then itwas off to the Ho Chi Minh Mausuleum, unfortunately this time of year they did not have Ho Chi Minh's body on display. I learnt a fair bit about Vietnamese political history which was cool.
We're off on a boat trip tomorrow and then out to Sapa in the evening. I'm really looking forward to seeing the Black H'Mong tribe and the landscape in Sapa.
We had a pretty awesome last night in Ho Chi Minh and a very cool flight up here! They stuck us on a Boeing 777 for a 2 hour flight and had a camera at the front of the plane showing the view on landing and take off - way cool, not only that but they fed us!
I'm a bit bored today, there really isn't that much to do in Ha Noi and I'm struggling with being forced to be still! Our room is nice but small so I've been getting a bit of cabin fever.
Anyway, I must be off, I think we're going to hit a pub and get some din dins. Most of the tourists here are French and a fair bit snobbish so we haven't met anyone cool yet - not like Viet from the Go2Bar (read John's entry).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)