Good Morning, Vietnam

hi fans!

Continuing our South East Asia tour, we are in Vietnam, and have been for 2 weeks now. Currently in the capital Hanoi, at the north end of this long and thin country. Battling traffic and noise, hawkers and the heat, Hanoi is quite a blast in your face, and ears.

But first we started in the south, coming into Saigon (or Ho Chi Min City, as it is technically, though no one calls it that), on the fun bus from Cambodia. We had a mess up with our Vietnam visas (thank you Cambodia), which has squashed our stay a little (language problems) but what the hey. It was a painless crossing, and we met up with out friend Gemma who lives there now, to show us around.   

We went to the war museum there, currently titled "War Remnants Museum", opened in 1975 as "The House for Displaying War Crimes of American Imperialism and the Puppet Government of South Vietnam". It was predictably horrifying and interesting, but quite clumsily laid out.  Not the best museum I've been to. Some incredible photos from war journalists though.  Laura sat under a fan while I took goofy pictures of the helicopters and planes outside.  There was a cool bulldozer, for those interested in those.

I AM smiling. Can we go now?

We both loved Saigon, and having friends there was brilliant.  So. Many. Motorbikes.  There are 20 Million in Vietnam. And if your'e not on one, then your'e a foreigner or yours is broken.

Another predominantly Buddhist country, there are quite a few temples and a lot of shrines.  Its odd to see the food offerings to Buddha at the small shrines being chocolate Oreos, a can of strawberry Fanta and sometimes a few cigarettes.  Laura saw a beer can at one. But i suppose everything moves with the times doesn't it.

Hoi An was our next stop, a train ride up the coast.  Not quite as flash as our Thailand train rides, but it got us there safe n sound.  Cricked necks and no sleep!  (we couldn't splash for the beds, we just had chairs).  Hoi An was beautiful, especially at night and felt very chinese influenced.  The beer was supa cheap and we hired bikes for 5 days to roll around on and enjoy the slow pace.  Very touristy, it was still a nice place to stop by.  I even had a suit made at a tailors, which is the done thing here.  Its on its way home in a box now.  Fingers crossed!  I even got a personal email from the post office, confirming its transit, and asking if I was well or not.

My mum is very proud

Sail boat in Hoi An

From Hoi An, we took another rattle train north to Hanoi, where i am sat now.  Probably the worst train ride we've had, with ogre snoring from somewhere infront, I nearly threw up at the smell of dried squid flapping around in someones hand at 5am as we got off.  I was grumpy! 

We are staying in the Old Town area, which is very hairy, and twice so at night time.   Its quite a place!  Want to eat street noodles sat on a reed mat on the pavement while a guy angle grinds some steel tubing 3 metres to your left infront of the metal shop?  This is the place!  Its pretty amazing to see how things run here.  Pavements are like that army assault course they used to have on Whitley Bay beach when i was little.  But with more motorbikes.  

It feels like im talking about bikes a lot, but that is the overwhelming feature of city life here, and all commerce and transport is done on one.  Laura found a great photo book in a shop called Bikes of Burden, which has captured some of the bike stunts here. Click HERE for some of the brilliant pictures. My favourite is this one i think, from the book...

Confuse those tail-gaiters!

And a few from our collection...

There's a man on there somewhere...

Bicycle with a wood burning stove on the back

Vietnam has been great fun, we've travelled a long way northwards, and seen even more amazing sights and memories.  And its good to know these places will still be here after we've left, for us to visit again sometime in the future.  

So, tomorrow we jump on an early bus, and enter into China.  COOL!  We have 3 and a half weeks to explore Yunnan and Guangxi provinces, where Dog is the speciality dish. COOL! no, wait...

john 

A Short Stay in Cambodia...

After a final farewell with friends at New Life, we were on the open road and fending for ourselves again for the first time in a month. It was a bit of a shock to the system to say the least, especially when it came to the portion sizes at meal times. We had really been indulging at New Life.

Next stop Cambodia! Everywhere you look you'll find warnings about the madness that is the Cambodian border, and you've got to have your wits about you if you want to avoid one of the many scams that are out to get the innocent tourist. Luckily John was well read on the matter and had even managed to find a youtube video that guided you through the process – sounds a bit extreme but turned out to be really helpful!

6 on a bike

You arrive a few kilometres from the border, so the first task is to make sure the tuk tuk driver charges you a fair price. We eventually got him down to less than half of what he'd originally quoted. The next trick is to avoid all of the official-looking offices strategically placed on the approach to the border with men outside claiming it to be the place to get your visa – they don't mention their inflated prices or the fact that Cambodia actually gives visas on arrival (50 metres down the road) so you don't need to get one in advance.

A bamboo bicycle

Even when you get to the border the officials will try and scam you – signs very clearly state the 20$ visa price but that doesn't stop them asking for an extra 100 Baht for the 'express service' (code for their back pocket).  What?! Erm...sorry officer, we don't have any Baht left. Phew! Once into Poipet on the Cambodian side, you then really have to have your wits about you if you want to avoid the inflated prices being charged for your onward journey. Most people (like us) head to Siem Reap, and the 'official' taxi price is an incredible 48$, apparently so high because 25$ of every journey is given to the police. Great. We managed to join up with a tour group that had come from Bangkok and so paid an only slightly inflated price to take the bus – arriving in Siem Reap an exhausting 14 hours after we'd left Bangkok.

Siem Reap

Siem Reap is a gem of a city bustling with tourists thanks to it's main attraction, the ruins of Angkor Wat. Now I'm not going to lie, I'm not really fussed about crumbling ruins, and so it was with slight reluctance that I handed over 20$ for my day's pass. Definitely one of the more expensive things we've chosen to see this trip, but we were going off everyone's advice that it's definitely a 'must see'. The ruins are vast and spread out over many kilometres, so other than taking bicycles (which we didn't fancy in the 40 degree heat) we joined the tourist bandwagon and hired a driver for the day.

The driver & our carriage!

What a treat!!! We felt like royalty being driven around in our motorcycle carriage...he'd planned an itinerary for us that took in the main sites and so off we went. I don't think either of us had quite appreciated how vast or frankly amazing it was going to be – our first stop at Bayon (built nearly 1000 years ago!) was pretty incredible and definitely gave me a new appreciation for all things old.

indiana John assesses the ruins

Over the course of the day we visited 5 different sites, in and around Angkor Wat, including the amazing Ta Prohm which has been purposefully left to nature and now has trees growing through the walls. It was really beautiful. Temple fatigue kicked in towards the end but it was definitely one of the best days of our trip so far and lots of fun. A 'must see' for anyone heading to Cambodia.

More photos from Angkor Wat can be found here!  The clock is well and truly ticking on our time in Asia with only 6 weeks left until our flight to Istanbul. That definitely puts the pressure on our itinerary and we can no longer be as care free with our time. Our stay in Cambodia is limited to a week, giving us the remaining time to be split between Vietnam, China and a few days with John's cousin in Hong Kong.  Fun times ahead!x

Sweating Bricks

What seems to be the problem officer?

Since being in Mcloed Ganj, India, back in October, this is the first time we've settled for so long in one place (a month).  We've been going for about 10 months now! It doesn't feel like long from this end though, since being Away From Home feels like normal life for us now.  Its beautiful actually.

Its been very very good to get into some regular work here though, lifting bricks instead of rucksacks.  The weather is hot now, and getting warmer.  The Thai's are glad it's not 'chilly' any more.  That is, below 30 degrees - they laugh at us shirtless, sweating foreigners in the cool of the spring, while they cover up with layers and jackets and work in the garden.  I've no idea how.  Me, i am a St Bernard, and so have just given myself a shearing this morning.

9 Tuk Tuks turn up at New Life, instead of 2 vans. Damn. Nice convoy though.

We've been closely involved in the building of a new circular meditation hall here at the foundation, on the other side of the rice paddy field. It's made of mud and rice husk bricks, straight mud, and cement.    We've only done 2 days work in the garden, while all the rest has been on the site- we've made the bricks, laid the foundations, mixed the mortar and laid the bricks.  I've learned a lot, and its cool to talk about construction stuff with california Phil, who is overseeing it.

fresh bricks from the moulds.  There are about 4000.

This will be 8 feet high...

Its big - 16 metres diameter, 18 windows, 3 doors and about 5 metres high with the roof on (made of wood, a contractor is doing that).  Its a shame we wont be around to see it finished (we leave here in 4 days, and the building is about 10 days off completion), but I hope to get regular pictures.  Its been a lot lot of heavy lifting and shovelling and mixing, and has made mince meat of my battered hands.


I’ve been putting equal effort into eating the food, with 3 lovely healthy buffet banquets a day, and this has increased my rice belly somewhat.  I’ve made myself use only chop sticks to try and eat less while being here (not a unique strategy), but I've just become really good at using them instead.

Three legged Jack gets a lift home from the basket ball court

Its been fascinating to gradually get to know some of the residents here, and their stories of addiction and recovery.  The horror and the unstoppable, uncontrollable compulsion of addiction is mind blowing, and very hard to appreciate its extent once it has got hold of someone.  It is sometimes called a Hungry Ghost -  always there and never satisfied.  But the bravery and courage of the people here is hugely admirable.


Laura is currently on a meditation weekend course, learning to control her mind, and hopefully, to levitate.  She is keen and open to learning.  The Thailand Big Knit is being spearheaded by our favourite girl, and there are approximately 18 new knitters here.  read all about it on the New Life blog - here

Before class at the art gallery knitting workshop

As I say, our time is wearing thin, and we'll move along in a few days time.  There are some great great people here and it will be sad to leave.

The Amazing Spider-Man makes it onto Laura's finest knitting work yet.  Its not for me :(

On Wednesday, we'll head back into the real world and travel south back to Bangkok on the fancy-for-us overnight train, and catch another train south east to the Cambodian border.  We'll be there for only about 2 weeks, and then cross into Vietnam for another 2, heading north and then into China.


Beyond that though, we have a change of plan.  Instead of going north through China, Mongolia and Russia to get home (that is now too expensive for us), we will cycle 3000km across europe from Istanbul to Newcastle via an Amsterdam ferry and roll onto our family driveway.  Bam!

Our lakeside villa looked much better in the brochure.

We will raise money for the foundation via sponsorship, which should take us back home sometime in September, where I will eat muesli and real bread toast for breakfast, corn beef pie for lunch, and a roast dinner for pud.


John.

A New Life

Nearly 2 weeks ago we arrived at the New Life Foundation, a 'recovery community' 20km outside of Chiang Rai in the north of Thailand. The centre has been up and running for a couple of years now and supports people who are overcoming issues such as addiction, depression and relationship breakdowns. New Life isn't your typical 'rehab' centre however, as the focus of recovery is on mindfulness, meditation and personal development. Residents, staff and volunteers live, eat and work together, many staying for weeks, if not months at a time.

Our room

We had decided to come to New Life for a month for a number of reasons; to stay in one place for a while, learn new skills, meet new people, save money and have new experiences. I can safely say we've achieved all of those things and much much more even just in the first half of our stay. It's a really special place and even the most sceptical amongst us (John) couldn't help to be moved by what goes on here. New Life has over 70 acres of land with a number of buildings, a lake, rice fields, teak forest and large vegetable garden at its disposal. Local people are employed where possible to work the land and at the moment there are more than 20 volunteers all lending a hand.

Visiting monks

There are activities galore for both residents and volunteers to get involved with and in the last 2 weeks alone there's been yoga, meditation, salsa dancing, improvisation, and Thai massage courses available. Of course I couldn't let the opportunity pass to share the joy of knitting & so after a trip to the local market have taught about 15 people how to knit over the course of the weekend. It feels great to be sharing my skills and providing a useful and relaxing tool for the residents and volunteers. Now the dining hall is full of people happily knitting away.

We quickly got ourselves into a routine at New Life, and after a few days 'rest' have been waking up for the 6am yoga class every day. Arriving with a hangover made the prospect seem ghastly at first but after a few early nights we've begun to really enjoy seeing the sun rise over the fields while we gently wake up to yoga. Not wanting to learn Thai Massage myself has meant that I was quickly allocated the role of 'client' and have been receiving massages nearly every other day. Oh, and did I mention the swimming pool?!

It's not all fun & games however – there's hard graft to be done & we've been working 5 hours a day during the week. Sounds easy I know but being out of employment for a year means it was a bit of a shock to the system at first. We started out on the garden team & have since been working on the 'mud brick' team. For a week we were making & moving the mud bricks, and have since been laying concrete foundations and starting to build the new meditation hall. Although completely different to what we're used to it's been great fun & we've learnt lots of new things. Unfortunately I don't think our mud brick skills will be much use in rainy Manchester but maybe one day.

John the brick layer

The best thing about New Life is the people...everyone here is different and has really interesting stories to tell, either about their travels or if they're residents about their lives before coming to the community. Being here for a month means we can get past the usual traveller questions & really get to know people, so we've definitely made some good friends. Being here and living amongst recovering addicts has really been an eye opener and definitely makes us appreciate what we've got.

Sunrise over the meditation hall

Lovely Laos...

Answers on a postcard please...

Having spent a month in super easy, developed Thailand we were ready to get back on the road & experience somewhere a little more rustic and 'real'. Laos was the perfect next destination and we immediately fell in love with the country. Some say it's like Thailand 15 years ago, before it was well and truly placed on the tourist trail. Although not completely undiscovered, you can definitely travel through Laos feeling like you're seeing real people living real lives - the pace of life here is most definitely slow, the people friendly and the beer flowing.

The view from Wat Phu

After crossing the border we spent our first couple of nights in Pakse, mostly hunting for an ATM that would let us withdraw cash.  Eventually we found one that worked, and realised we needed to take 2 million kip out of the bank.  Paying for things with 50,000 notes and carrying around such a fat wad, we've never felt so rich.  Long may it last. 

John's new favourite head gear

After Pakse we headed south to the one street town of Champasak to see the 6^th century Wat Phu ruins. I'm somewhat ashamed to say that this was only our 2^nd visit to any kind of temple since we arrived in South East Asia before Christmas, so we made the extra effort to wake up early and headed off by bike at 7am.

Visiting the old ruins

Old Buddha statues

I'd been finding it relatively easy to find vegetarian food, until arriving in Champasak.  The concept of not eating meat seemed a bit more alien and I was struggling to get across to one restaurant owner that I just wanted vegetables with my noodles.  After struggling with my bad Lao and drawing numerous pictures of chickens, pigs & fish, I luckily managed to find another westerner in the restaurant that was fluent in Lao.  He confidently explained to the woman that while John wanted beef with his noodles, I just wanted veg.  It was great, apart from the decorative piece of beef slapped on top.

Our house

Our next destination was the island of Don Det, not far from the Cambodian border on the mighty Mekong River and part of the 4000 Thousand Islands.  Here we found our cheapest digs so far, at £1.70 a night for a wooden bungalow on stilts over the edge of the river.  The island was super laid back and the hammocks on our porch made it difficult to do anything but relax, knit, read and sip cold Beer Lao's.  Our most strenuous activities were strolling a few kilometres around the island and 'tubing' down the Mekong at sunset.  

Tubing down the Mekong

Tubing basically involves being taken up stream a few kilometres by boat & then floating back down at a very slow pace sat in a large rubber ring. Easy! Until you have to try and cross the river to get back to the beach.  Luckily there being 4000 islands meant there were enough clumps of trees in the river for us to hold onto while the boat came back to rescue us.  It's really popular in the North of Laos but is often combined with lots of drunkenness & accidents, so it was nice to have the option of trying it somewhere easier. It was great fun & soooooo relaxing, floating back down the river over the course of a couple of hours and watching the world go by.

The Mekong River

Back in Bangkok, after a few months off, I managed to find myself some knitting needles & yarn, a couple of patterns on the internet and have occupied myself for many an hour since trying to accomplish various new knitting techniques. My new year's resolution was to actually get good at knitting, & since I have so much time on my hands I have no excuse. Saying that, the 30 degree heat isn't the most inspiring for making winter woolies but I'm persevering all the same. My friend Gemma's newborn baby, Thomas, has a jumper on the way as soon as I can find a post office. I also crocheted a dress that was intended for the baby daughter of some good friends of ours, but I figured by the time it arrived home it would be too small (sorry Andy & Leanne, the thought was there!). In the end I gave it to a lovely family running the small restaurant next door. They were made up and I have to say the little girl looked super cute.

Cutey cute cute!!!

I also taught our new friend Flo how to knit, & after just one go he was better than me!  

Flo and his knitted phone case

We've spent the last couple of days at the waterfalls of Tat Lo, swimming in the river and walking through the forest.  A few elephants (that we think had been retired from the logging industry) were living near by & it was amazing to see them being washed in the river & one of John's favourite things of our trip so far.

Elephants having a bath

Over the next couple of weeks we are gradually heading up north, & then back into Thailand to meet our friend Natalie who's coming over to visit us on holiday. Yay!!! I'm so excited, and am currently trying to compile a list of everything I'm missing from home that I can get her to stuff in her suitcase.