Katie and I are currently awaiting a bus to take us to Chang Mai from Bangkok and we have some time to kill. Sounds like a good time to write. I think I left off in Vang Vieng last post.
Besides going tubing Katie and also rented Bicycles (as usual) and went for a ride. We wanted to visit one of the caves in the area as caves are pseudo-famous in this region. As we've come to expect, the best cave for visiting is also the furthest away from town. It was a bit of long journey on those azn-one-speeders, but we made it. We cycled a rough dirt and gravel road to a cave that was just under an hour bike ride away (later I had to go back there cycling alone, and it only took me about 25 minutes- thats a diffferent story though). The cave was really neat, I must say I was glad I had Katie with me for the spelunking (cave exploration?) because it quite the creepy experience, and nice to have someone with you for hand holding, nervous conversations and comfort in an otherwise scary situation.
Before entering the cave we had to hike up a flight of about 40 nature-made stairs to get to the cave entrance. (Nature made stairs means very big, uneven stone steps and a vine handrail). Under the intense sun this alone proved a bit of an exercise. There was a Buddha and some offerings near the entrance, and still quite a bit of light entering the cave through holes and such, but as we went further into the cave it got darker and darker and creepier and creepier.
After 10 minutes we were definitely relying on our Flashlights and headlamps. At one point, just to try it, we decided to turn off our lights to see 'how it feels'. The feeling was very unnatural and quite new to me. When our lights were turned off everything was pitch black, total and complete darkness. If the boogeyman lives...he lives in a cave, that's for sure. Luckily, on top of this, Katie and I had just recently watched a Natural Geographic urban legends special on the existence of giant man sized bats that roam in abandoned caves much like the one we were inside of at this very moment. Lets just say the lights were only turned off very briefly.
What really amazed me is this cave was home to many, many Laotians during the Vietnam War. The villagers used the caves as shelters from bombs the US forces were dropping in their efforts to slow the flow of supplies from North to South Vietnam. It was difficult to try and imagine living in one of these caves, but I suppose when faced with living in a cave or risking death by bomb it would be an obvious choice. After a creepy hour or so of spelunking we were back at the entrance and down the staircase to the beautiful lagoon at the foot of the Cave. The lagoon was a perfect swimming hole after sweating in the heat of the cave and the bike ride. We took a short break here at the lagoon, went for a few rope swings and a swim and then off we went, on our cycles, back to our hotel. The ride back was a little easier...it seems the ride back is always easier because you know approximately how long it takes and what to expect whereas on the way there you are always going on either local advice or tour guide book approximations, and none of these ever seem entirely correct.
So that's about it for Vang Vieng, the whole town is driven especially by tourism it seems and deals on food, rooms and swim gear are abundant.
And I know I've said this before, but Cycling in SE Asia is absolutely amazing (if you can handle it). While the bikes are usually rickety, only have one speed, creek non stop, need new brakes and are an all around P.O.S by our standards, in all my years cycling it has only been recently that I can say "I had to wait for that water buffalo to cross before I could enter the bridge", or "I thought that pig/duck/rabid dog was going to bite me!". And lets not forget about all the smiles you get from locals being on a bicycle rather than a motorbike (scooter). If you've got the gusto for it, rent a pedal bike.
Anyway, back to the subject at hand, after Vang Vieng we made our way to Phonesavahn to visit the mysterious and awe inspiring Plain of Jars. While it was worth seeing, and I definitely would never regret it, the van ride to Phonesavahn was not an easy one. Seating was fine (a nice change) but the road winds through the mountains and can be a little unnerving and stomach turning. We all made it without giving back our lunches though....it was close.
In Phonesavahn here is basically nothing to do except go to the plain of jars and learn about UXO (UnExploded Ordinance). We spent a very short time in Phonesavahn and have some great pics from the plains I'll have to show everyone. I would describe the 'jars' (as they are called) as giant cement flower pot type things and while they vary in size, even the small ones are bigger than a human. The mystery still exists behind them as nobody knows how they got there or what they are used for. One popular belief is that they were used as crematoriums or caskets for important kings and other like people in ancient society, but who knows, it might have been something as simple as a method of collecting and distributing water.....Either way, yet another mysterious sight to behold on our tip through this land. It is difficult ot explain exactly what they look like so I will put pictures up soon, and there is always good ol' Wikipedia.....
From Phonesavanh we made our way back south to a town called Pakse. In Pakse we rented a scooter so that we could go and see the nearby waterfalls. The drive there was quite exciting as we got a flat tire on our scooter and got a little squirrely on the back tire. I kept calm and remembered the advice from my motorcycle course back home and brought us to a controlled stop. We didn't have to walk the bike very far before we found a tire repair shop, the culprit was a couple small pieces of metal, much like part of a nail or something like that (it was a little suspicious as the culprit piece of metal was on the road only about 300 meters from the repair shop,the locals probably know, "at this part, stay only in this area of the road"). Anyway, we were fortunate the flat tire repair only cost us about $3.50 and 30 minutes of downtime. Soon enough we were on the road again to behold 2 very incredible waterfalls, some of the best I have ever seen. Their names elude me right now, but if you are in Pakse, it is easy to find them.
From Pakse we made our way to the land of 4000 Islands, an area in southern Laos where there are thousands of islands varying in size along the Mekong river. The larger islands, Don Khon and Don Det even have electricity and all those other comforts. I'll go through our adventures on this Island a little later, although they are limited mostly to a simple relaxing, a couple enjoyable bike rides and one not-so-enjoyable bike ride. Until next time, thanks as always for reading and I appreciate everyone's support and comments. I'll have some more information up here soon enough. We leave for Australia in a few days and I hope I can wrap up the rest of our SE Asia adventures in my first couple weeks there and then just let you know how it is trying to get back into a 'real life' (working, cooking, etc) in Oz.....
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Friday, January 1, 2010
Happy New Years from Thailand!
So I'm getting back into the Blogging thing (hopefully). I'm going to run through the last couple months very quickly, probably won't have very detailed descriptions of each place...
So from Dalat we went to Hoi An. Hoi An is an alright place however it rained every day we were there so it probably could have been a lot more fun. It is known for it's tailors and I had 2 suits made among some other clothing. We sent the clothes hoome so I'm crossing my fingers the box makes it there eventually. 2 Tailor made suits (Cashmere wool) for $120USD....not bad.
From Hoi An we went all the way to Hanoi, skipping Hue completely...We felt we were running low on time and it was raining in Hue when we got there too, so we kept on truckin. Hanoi was okay, although as far as the big Vietnam Cities (Saigon, Hanoi) i thought Saigon was leaps and bounds better than Hanoi. Hanoi was more expensive than the rest of Vietnam in every respect except for one. Beer is cheap in Hanoi. For about a quarter you get a medium sized glass of draft beer....3 dollars goes a long way if you want to drink. There's one catch though, all the cheap beer stand's seating arrangements are kindergarten style stackable plastic chairs...in fact all the cheap grub in Asia uses these types of chairs and little plastic tables at the food stalls. It really is a great way to eat lots for a good price...and usually the flavor is really good as well because the vendor makes one or two kinds of food and so they are very good at making whatever they serve. Anyway, Katie and I started using the term "Kindergarten Soup?" or "Kindergarten Beer?" when discussing where to eat. Note, Kindergarten Pho is delicious!!
Katie didn't feel very well in Hanoi and so we stayed a couple extra days before moving on to Ha Long Bay. Ha Long Bay is an amazing place and really needs to be seen with your own eyes to understadn the wonder of the place. You can look at pictures on the net and get an idea, but it is quite something to behold in person. you can purchase pre-arranged trips but Katie and I were getting sick of pre arranged tours and excursions and so we did Ha Long Bay on our own. it ended up being a great decision. We spoke with some other people who did the arranged trip and it turned out we followed very similar itineraries except that we saved a little money, had a nicer hotel, and didnt have to deal with the crowd being in a big tour group. Definitely no regrets in the Ha Long Bay Decision. We were there for Katie's champagne birthday (26 on 26th) and i have a humorous little anecdote about getting her birthday cake you'll have to ask me about. Birthday cakes, or even bakeries, aren't an everyday thing in the small town of Cat ba....which is why getting Katie a cake turned out to be a good little story (ask sometime). And the cake was delicious!!
We didn't want to leave Ha Long bay but our Visas were down to the wire and we didn't want to risk overstaying the Visa. We left Ha Long Bay back to Hanoi and stayed one night in a dorm style room where a Rat or some sort of creature ate a box of crackers we had purchased for a bus ride the next day. The best part is the crackers were right beside Katie's feet and so whatever ate them was proabbly crawling all over Katie's sleeping body. She loved coming to that realization.
After Vietnam we took a 30 Hour bus to Laos, it turned out to be only about 18 hours which was nice. It was a little dreadful and crowded, but again there were people in worse sitting positions than us (like Kindergarten Chairs in the aisle of the bus) so I didnt complain too much. Getting our Laos Visa on arrival was quick and painless. For some reason however, Canada has to pay the most of any country for the Visa....maybe they dont want Canadians visiting their wonderful country? Who knows....
Laos is a very nice place. So similar to Vietnam yet so different. Same Same but Different. (Asia joke). I actually didn't enjoy Vientiane very much (where we arrived in Laos) but we quickly left for Vang Vien and Vang Vien was unreal. I absolutely loved it. It is a little town driven by tourism of people going tubing down the River...i can't remember the name of the river right now. I highly recommend the river tubing just so you can try the rope swings the rope swings are incredible. There is a whole bunch of them, all attached to restaurants/bars as you float down the river. The very first swing is the best one though as it is the very highest. I was actually so scared going on it my first try that I couldn't even breathe. It is that high up....and the swing is so large that it is almost more like a trapese, you reach an incredible velocity as you swing out and when you let go you fall what I would guess is between 4 to 6 meters.. A totally unreal feeling that I kept going back for after the first try. Still scary every time though....just one of those kinds of thrills mountain dew lovers live for....
I'll blog more later on. Nature is calling. Merry Christmas everyone. Very special Birthday wish for my Grandma who just had a milestone birthday yet she still manages to beat me at Crochet (The line, "You play like my grandma" isn't so bad when it comes to Crochet.) It was hard being away at this time of year but it's like my Dad said, when I'm getting down about being away I just have to think about all the snow in Calgary and all the turquoise water and white sand here in Thailand. Thanks for reading everyone!! Happy New Year! We really miss you all and can't wait to see everyone again.
So from Dalat we went to Hoi An. Hoi An is an alright place however it rained every day we were there so it probably could have been a lot more fun. It is known for it's tailors and I had 2 suits made among some other clothing. We sent the clothes hoome so I'm crossing my fingers the box makes it there eventually. 2 Tailor made suits (Cashmere wool) for $120USD....not bad.
From Hoi An we went all the way to Hanoi, skipping Hue completely...We felt we were running low on time and it was raining in Hue when we got there too, so we kept on truckin. Hanoi was okay, although as far as the big Vietnam Cities (Saigon, Hanoi) i thought Saigon was leaps and bounds better than Hanoi. Hanoi was more expensive than the rest of Vietnam in every respect except for one. Beer is cheap in Hanoi. For about a quarter you get a medium sized glass of draft beer....3 dollars goes a long way if you want to drink. There's one catch though, all the cheap beer stand's seating arrangements are kindergarten style stackable plastic chairs...in fact all the cheap grub in Asia uses these types of chairs and little plastic tables at the food stalls. It really is a great way to eat lots for a good price...and usually the flavor is really good as well because the vendor makes one or two kinds of food and so they are very good at making whatever they serve. Anyway, Katie and I started using the term "Kindergarten Soup?" or "Kindergarten Beer?" when discussing where to eat. Note, Kindergarten Pho is delicious!!
Katie didn't feel very well in Hanoi and so we stayed a couple extra days before moving on to Ha Long Bay. Ha Long Bay is an amazing place and really needs to be seen with your own eyes to understadn the wonder of the place. You can look at pictures on the net and get an idea, but it is quite something to behold in person. you can purchase pre-arranged trips but Katie and I were getting sick of pre arranged tours and excursions and so we did Ha Long Bay on our own. it ended up being a great decision. We spoke with some other people who did the arranged trip and it turned out we followed very similar itineraries except that we saved a little money, had a nicer hotel, and didnt have to deal with the crowd being in a big tour group. Definitely no regrets in the Ha Long Bay Decision. We were there for Katie's champagne birthday (26 on 26th) and i have a humorous little anecdote about getting her birthday cake you'll have to ask me about. Birthday cakes, or even bakeries, aren't an everyday thing in the small town of Cat ba....which is why getting Katie a cake turned out to be a good little story (ask sometime). And the cake was delicious!!
We didn't want to leave Ha Long bay but our Visas were down to the wire and we didn't want to risk overstaying the Visa. We left Ha Long Bay back to Hanoi and stayed one night in a dorm style room where a Rat or some sort of creature ate a box of crackers we had purchased for a bus ride the next day. The best part is the crackers were right beside Katie's feet and so whatever ate them was proabbly crawling all over Katie's sleeping body. She loved coming to that realization.
After Vietnam we took a 30 Hour bus to Laos, it turned out to be only about 18 hours which was nice. It was a little dreadful and crowded, but again there were people in worse sitting positions than us (like Kindergarten Chairs in the aisle of the bus) so I didnt complain too much. Getting our Laos Visa on arrival was quick and painless. For some reason however, Canada has to pay the most of any country for the Visa....maybe they dont want Canadians visiting their wonderful country? Who knows....
Laos is a very nice place. So similar to Vietnam yet so different. Same Same but Different. (Asia joke). I actually didn't enjoy Vientiane very much (where we arrived in Laos) but we quickly left for Vang Vien and Vang Vien was unreal. I absolutely loved it. It is a little town driven by tourism of people going tubing down the River...i can't remember the name of the river right now. I highly recommend the river tubing just so you can try the rope swings the rope swings are incredible. There is a whole bunch of them, all attached to restaurants/bars as you float down the river. The very first swing is the best one though as it is the very highest. I was actually so scared going on it my first try that I couldn't even breathe. It is that high up....and the swing is so large that it is almost more like a trapese, you reach an incredible velocity as you swing out and when you let go you fall what I would guess is between 4 to 6 meters.. A totally unreal feeling that I kept going back for after the first try. Still scary every time though....just one of those kinds of thrills mountain dew lovers live for....
I'll blog more later on. Nature is calling. Merry Christmas everyone. Very special Birthday wish for my Grandma who just had a milestone birthday yet she still manages to beat me at Crochet (The line, "You play like my grandma" isn't so bad when it comes to Crochet.) It was hard being away at this time of year but it's like my Dad said, when I'm getting down about being away I just have to think about all the snow in Calgary and all the turquoise water and white sand here in Thailand. Thanks for reading everyone!! Happy New Year! We really miss you all and can't wait to see everyone again.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
From Muine to Dalat....
Wow, 2 blog posts in one day...I'm on a roll. Kate and I are currently waiting for a tour bus, it will still be about 45 minutes, so I figured I would continue the tales of our adventure. Note - The Bus we are waiting for is going to Vientiane (Laos) from Hanoi (Vietnam) and takes 30 hours Vietnam time. I am a little concerned, but hey...it builds character.
Anyway, as mentioned before, we stayed only a couple of nights in Muine which between our arrival and departure times meant we had one full solid day in Muine. Some great views of fishing boats and the sea here....
We caught our 'sleeper bus' in the morning only to be informed that this particular leg of the journey was not a sleeper bus at all, it was an oversized van ready to be packed far beyond it's recommended (and safe) limit. I was grimacing a little bit until the people in the seat behind me (the furthest back seat) we're asked to make room for one more vietnamese girl...on their lap! Seriously, there was no more room, and the bus driver made them put this poor little girl on their lap (she wasn't even that little, probably a teenager). Anyway, after witnessing this hardship for the travelers behind us I decided I would save my complaints for this blog. We actually talked to them a little bit and ended up spending some time with them in Dalat sharing a $4 two-six of Vodka. prepairing for our long hike the next day.
In Dalat we arrived midday and were dropped at a hotel where we enjoyed our most spacious room yet for $10USD/night. This room was amazing, you could have fit an entire family into it, there was 1 twin bed and 2 double beds....all for just Katie and I!!! The price even included breakfast. After relaxing and some small foot tours the first day of our arrival we got ready for a long hike up one of the mountains near Dalat. The name escapes me right now, but it was 2169M above sea level. It was a decent little hike. We rented scooters and joined up with a couple from Holland for the journey to the top, taking us about 4.5 hours there and back. The last kilometer was serious hiking with all of us keeping at least 3 points of body contact on solid ground at all times. The feeling of accomplishment and breathtaking views from the top definitely made up for the difficult and tense climb going up. We were very fortunate on this day because soon after we were out of the difficult part of the descent down, it started raining. Shortly after it started raining a torrential tropical downpour began. It was probably the most intense rain I have ever seen and definitely the worst rain I have ever hiked in. A river had literally formed following the traveled way back down the road and everything was soaked. If i had shampoo and soap I could have had a full on shower. It was warm though and we were on our way down, so our spirits never faltered (at least mine didn't...). Upon arrival at the bottom we had to ride our scooter back with soaked clothes and the rain pelting into my cold wet skin like drops of hail.....only somewhat enjoyable....still better than a mountain bike as some of our co-travelers had opted to use for transportation that day.
My hands were completely numb by the time we reached our hotel and we spent the rest of that day in long clothes eating hot soup, hot coffee and baked treats from a local bakery. We cuddled up and watched a couple of 90's movies that night - All of the hotels in Vietnam have HBO and Star Movies channels and they show the same set of 90's movies over and over, but this was early enough in the trip that we hadn't seen all of them yet. ;)
The next day we opted for a motorbike again. Motorbikes, or Scooters as we call them are a great way to get around the smaller cities, especially if you already have some experience form back home. You can really see the country side, you save money on tours, and you have nobody's schedule but your own. If i ever do this trip again, I will bring a much smaller backpack so that I can motorbike all the way from Saigon to Hanoi (or vice versa).....
Anyway, the next day in Dalat we toured around on the bike and visited waterfalls, lakes, temples and monuments in and out of the city limits. I even had the chance to feed a domestic elephant some oranges I had bought the day before. It was really neat to see such a gigantic creature acting so calm and well behaved. We didn't ride it this day, but we are hoping we can maybe ride one in Laos as it used to be known as the land of 1000 elephants./...my bus is here, I have to go, sorry for the abrupt ending...
Anyway, as mentioned before, we stayed only a couple of nights in Muine which between our arrival and departure times meant we had one full solid day in Muine. Some great views of fishing boats and the sea here....
We caught our 'sleeper bus' in the morning only to be informed that this particular leg of the journey was not a sleeper bus at all, it was an oversized van ready to be packed far beyond it's recommended (and safe) limit. I was grimacing a little bit until the people in the seat behind me (the furthest back seat) we're asked to make room for one more vietnamese girl...on their lap! Seriously, there was no more room, and the bus driver made them put this poor little girl on their lap (she wasn't even that little, probably a teenager). Anyway, after witnessing this hardship for the travelers behind us I decided I would save my complaints for this blog. We actually talked to them a little bit and ended up spending some time with them in Dalat sharing a $4 two-six of Vodka. prepairing for our long hike the next day.
In Dalat we arrived midday and were dropped at a hotel where we enjoyed our most spacious room yet for $10USD/night. This room was amazing, you could have fit an entire family into it, there was 1 twin bed and 2 double beds....all for just Katie and I!!! The price even included breakfast. After relaxing and some small foot tours the first day of our arrival we got ready for a long hike up one of the mountains near Dalat. The name escapes me right now, but it was 2169M above sea level. It was a decent little hike. We rented scooters and joined up with a couple from Holland for the journey to the top, taking us about 4.5 hours there and back. The last kilometer was serious hiking with all of us keeping at least 3 points of body contact on solid ground at all times. The feeling of accomplishment and breathtaking views from the top definitely made up for the difficult and tense climb going up. We were very fortunate on this day because soon after we were out of the difficult part of the descent down, it started raining. Shortly after it started raining a torrential tropical downpour began. It was probably the most intense rain I have ever seen and definitely the worst rain I have ever hiked in. A river had literally formed following the traveled way back down the road and everything was soaked. If i had shampoo and soap I could have had a full on shower. It was warm though and we were on our way down, so our spirits never faltered (at least mine didn't...). Upon arrival at the bottom we had to ride our scooter back with soaked clothes and the rain pelting into my cold wet skin like drops of hail.....only somewhat enjoyable....still better than a mountain bike as some of our co-travelers had opted to use for transportation that day.
My hands were completely numb by the time we reached our hotel and we spent the rest of that day in long clothes eating hot soup, hot coffee and baked treats from a local bakery. We cuddled up and watched a couple of 90's movies that night - All of the hotels in Vietnam have HBO and Star Movies channels and they show the same set of 90's movies over and over, but this was early enough in the trip that we hadn't seen all of them yet. ;)
The next day we opted for a motorbike again. Motorbikes, or Scooters as we call them are a great way to get around the smaller cities, especially if you already have some experience form back home. You can really see the country side, you save money on tours, and you have nobody's schedule but your own. If i ever do this trip again, I will bring a much smaller backpack so that I can motorbike all the way from Saigon to Hanoi (or vice versa).....
Anyway, the next day in Dalat we toured around on the bike and visited waterfalls, lakes, temples and monuments in and out of the city limits. I even had the chance to feed a domestic elephant some oranges I had bought the day before. It was really neat to see such a gigantic creature acting so calm and well behaved. We didn't ride it this day, but we are hoping we can maybe ride one in Laos as it used to be known as the land of 1000 elephants./...my bus is here, I have to go, sorry for the abrupt ending...
Saturday, November 28, 2009
The Vietnam Adventure Continues....
Katie and I decided to take an open tour sleeper bus to cross Vietnam North to South. For $43USD you can take a bus that stops at all the major cities and get off and on as you please staying at each destination as long as you like. It is called a "sleeper bus' and it is basically a greyhound style bus except that the seats have been replaced with Motor-home style, Vietnamese sized beds. While it is more comfortable than sitting upright an entire trip, the smaller size makes straightening your legs nearly impossible except for the few stretches where you let your legs into the aisles.
The bus left Saigon at 7PM Vietnam time (read - 8:15PM). We arrived in Muine (our first stop) in the middle of the night at about 12:45 AM. While Saigon is a city that never sleeps and hotels are available anytime of day, unfortunately Muine, as we found out to our displeasure, has a curfew for the entire town of about 12AM. We walked the dark deserted streets with a persistent motorbike driver following close behind us, the only other living being besides the noises in the trees, barking dogs, and very large rats walking the empty lanes. While we continually said 'no thanks, we'll walk' he kept leaving then returning "I have hotel, cheap price, only 20 dollar US". We saw lots of hotels advertising rooms for $10, the problem is all of these hotels were closed and all the lights off. After walking for entirely too long with my travel backpack we came upon a Hotel advertising New Hotel, rooms $10US. While the hotel looked nice, it still looked quite dark. I had enough though, so i ventured through the gate looking for any kind of lights. I found 2 people watching TV in one of the rooms with an open door. Turns out they were the hotel owners. They put us in a lovely room with all the amenities and even a few extras (drinking water, soap, shampoo) . Turns out this hotel had only been open for 3 days and so Katie and I may have been the first people ever to stay in that particular room. We were exhausted from our 'sleeper bus' ride and walking hundreds of meters with all our gear. We laid down and had a wonderful sleep.
The next morning we awoke to a welcome surprise of minimal horn honking. Muine is a smaller town placed right along the china sea. We opted for a more expensive breakfast so that we could eat overlooking the wonderful sea. We placed our order, however we realized that while Katie's item was a good choice, there was a similar option with that food item as well as free coffee and other side items for a mere 5000 more dong. We hurriedly got the waitresses attention and changed our order. No problem. Katie's food arrived and I thought "Wow! I should have got what you ordered, look at all that food!" Thankfully she shared with me. When the bill arrived it was all explained. There was a slight misunderstanding (who would have thought). Rather than changing our order, she simply added the set menu (which included our original food item) to our existing order....I guess common sense isn't as common around here.
Quick Lesson - Don't try to change a food order or ask for substitutions, even if it is within 10 seconds. At another place when Katie asked for a different kind of bread with her eggs. What we got was 4 french rolls instead of 1....all the same kind, but with tomatoes on the side??
Our hotel was called Muine dreams, and they were very helpful. For about $4 I rented a scooter and Kate and I took off for the fabled Sand dunes a little way out of town. The red dunes are only about 2 KM from town, but the more impressive White dunes are about 20KM out of town and much more fun for a Vietnam motorcycle adventure. If you plan on visiting, kids will crowd you soliciting rides on what we call crazy carpets back home. At one point Katie explained we called these things crazy carpets and they all thought she was nuts. Even if you say no to a ride, they follow you all over the dunes. After telling him my name was Dave, I was continually asked, "Hey Tim, c'mon, go for a ride". I finally made a deal, I would give him 30K for 3 rides on a slope of my choice. He very reluctantly agreed. Once the slope was chosen all of the children (about 12 of them) work together. They line either side of the chosen route and start shoveling the colder, moister sand under the top layer onto the track. While they are doing this, I am getting a quick lesson on the best way to ride the crazy carpet (and I'm still Tim). Once everything is set, off I go. One of the kids pushes me with all his might, and I must admit, the ride was really exciting, although a lot messier than actual crazy carpet riding. I had sand covering everything. After my 3 rides the kid insisted I give him a tip as well because he gave me a good push. The funny thing was the kid who pushed me was actually over in the group hassling Katie and didn't even mention the word tip, or money for that matter. I found out later when I arrived at the White dunes that they are the place to rent a carpet as they are cheaper and (as I noticed as well) the slopes are much steeper....While it was tempting, I was already covered in enough sand and couldn't stand anymore.
Muine's biggest draw is the Sand Dunes and they were well worth it. The trip to the white dunes was a great motorcycle ride through relative empty winding roads along the coast and through the hill sides and occasional village. When we were unsure of directions, we simply stopped and asked someone and through a series of hand gestures were always back on our way confident in the direction we were headed. I'll have pictures up one day, but basically the sand dunes are as described. A huge expanse of red sand dunes (imagine your built in Windows XP desktop) or the more impressive White dunes are an even bigger expanse of white soft sand (imagine Tattouine). I am not entirely sure how the dunes were formed as they border on relatively fertile farming grounds, but I am sure a little bit of internet research could answer that one for us....Anyway...next stop Dalat!!
The bus left Saigon at 7PM Vietnam time (read - 8:15PM). We arrived in Muine (our first stop) in the middle of the night at about 12:45 AM. While Saigon is a city that never sleeps and hotels are available anytime of day, unfortunately Muine, as we found out to our displeasure, has a curfew for the entire town of about 12AM. We walked the dark deserted streets with a persistent motorbike driver following close behind us, the only other living being besides the noises in the trees, barking dogs, and very large rats walking the empty lanes. While we continually said 'no thanks, we'll walk' he kept leaving then returning "I have hotel, cheap price, only 20 dollar US". We saw lots of hotels advertising rooms for $10, the problem is all of these hotels were closed and all the lights off. After walking for entirely too long with my travel backpack we came upon a Hotel advertising New Hotel, rooms $10US. While the hotel looked nice, it still looked quite dark. I had enough though, so i ventured through the gate looking for any kind of lights. I found 2 people watching TV in one of the rooms with an open door. Turns out they were the hotel owners. They put us in a lovely room with all the amenities and even a few extras (drinking water, soap, shampoo) . Turns out this hotel had only been open for 3 days and so Katie and I may have been the first people ever to stay in that particular room. We were exhausted from our 'sleeper bus' ride and walking hundreds of meters with all our gear. We laid down and had a wonderful sleep.
The next morning we awoke to a welcome surprise of minimal horn honking. Muine is a smaller town placed right along the china sea. We opted for a more expensive breakfast so that we could eat overlooking the wonderful sea. We placed our order, however we realized that while Katie's item was a good choice, there was a similar option with that food item as well as free coffee and other side items for a mere 5000 more dong. We hurriedly got the waitresses attention and changed our order. No problem. Katie's food arrived and I thought "Wow! I should have got what you ordered, look at all that food!" Thankfully she shared with me. When the bill arrived it was all explained. There was a slight misunderstanding (who would have thought). Rather than changing our order, she simply added the set menu (which included our original food item) to our existing order....I guess common sense isn't as common around here.
Quick Lesson - Don't try to change a food order or ask for substitutions, even if it is within 10 seconds. At another place when Katie asked for a different kind of bread with her eggs. What we got was 4 french rolls instead of 1....all the same kind, but with tomatoes on the side??
Our hotel was called Muine dreams, and they were very helpful. For about $4 I rented a scooter and Kate and I took off for the fabled Sand dunes a little way out of town. The red dunes are only about 2 KM from town, but the more impressive White dunes are about 20KM out of town and much more fun for a Vietnam motorcycle adventure. If you plan on visiting, kids will crowd you soliciting rides on what we call crazy carpets back home. At one point Katie explained we called these things crazy carpets and they all thought she was nuts. Even if you say no to a ride, they follow you all over the dunes. After telling him my name was Dave, I was continually asked, "Hey Tim, c'mon, go for a ride". I finally made a deal, I would give him 30K for 3 rides on a slope of my choice. He very reluctantly agreed. Once the slope was chosen all of the children (about 12 of them) work together. They line either side of the chosen route and start shoveling the colder, moister sand under the top layer onto the track. While they are doing this, I am getting a quick lesson on the best way to ride the crazy carpet (and I'm still Tim). Once everything is set, off I go. One of the kids pushes me with all his might, and I must admit, the ride was really exciting, although a lot messier than actual crazy carpet riding. I had sand covering everything. After my 3 rides the kid insisted I give him a tip as well because he gave me a good push. The funny thing was the kid who pushed me was actually over in the group hassling Katie and didn't even mention the word tip, or money for that matter. I found out later when I arrived at the White dunes that they are the place to rent a carpet as they are cheaper and (as I noticed as well) the slopes are much steeper....While it was tempting, I was already covered in enough sand and couldn't stand anymore.
Muine's biggest draw is the Sand Dunes and they were well worth it. The trip to the white dunes was a great motorcycle ride through relative empty winding roads along the coast and through the hill sides and occasional village. When we were unsure of directions, we simply stopped and asked someone and through a series of hand gestures were always back on our way confident in the direction we were headed. I'll have pictures up one day, but basically the sand dunes are as described. A huge expanse of red sand dunes (imagine your built in Windows XP desktop) or the more impressive White dunes are an even bigger expanse of white soft sand (imagine Tattouine). I am not entirely sure how the dunes were formed as they border on relatively fertile farming grounds, but I am sure a little bit of internet research could answer that one for us....Anyway...next stop Dalat!!
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Saigon and Mekong Delta - First Taste of Vietnam
Good Day Everyone!! :)
I want to start this post by mentioning that Lonely Planet, while extremely useful for tips on getting around, and maps, is extremely inaccurate for pricing. Everything here is still relatively inexpensive, but if we had planned this trip solely on Lonely Planet's prices, we would have been very sorely mistaken. Anyway, the Lonely planet books are a very good guide for getting around and maps and things to do, so I still recommend using them for any trip anyone out there is planning. Now let's talk about Ho-Chi-Minh City, or Saigon as everyone still calls it and as most people know it as....
Saigon was our arrival point for Vietnam, and Saigon is a great way to start out any Vietnam trip. The backpacker area of Pham Lam Ngao has everything imaginable for travelers regarding accommodation, food, clothing and anything else imaginable (Massa, T-Shirt, Motorbike, Boom Boom, Cigarette, etc, etc). We decided on a place to stay where our room was just a tiny bit bigger than the bed inside of it. This room was only 8 USD and it included a washroom (hot/cold), TV w/ Satellite (about 5 English channels), and wifi internet...Not too shabby eh?
One of the first things we did upon arrival to Saigon was enjoy some Vietnamese Coffee. Vietnamese iced coffees run you about 6000 Dong or 8000 w/ milk, thats like 60 cents. Compare that with the $3 or $4 most western Vietnamese restaurants charge you and it is that much more enjoyable.
Anyway, we really enjoyed our time in Saigon, the most memorable experience, besides the sheer excitement of being in Vietnam and crossing the crowded streets and enjoying $4 massages, was the war remnants museum. The War Remnants Museum is full of pictures, planes, tanks, weapons, and everything else related to the Vietnam war. It was a real eye opener with regards to the ugliness of war and the devastating effects it can have on a civilization and the environments. It was very good to see though and I think anyone who makes the trip to Vietnam has to make both this museum and an excursion to the Cu-Chi tunnels part of their itinerary. The Cu-Chi tunnels is a network of underground tunnels the Viet-Cong soldiers constructed and lived in during the Vietnam war. As a tourist you can explore certain parts of the tunnels and the tourist park facilitates imagining what it must have been like for soldiers fighting in the guerrilla warfare. There is a live ammunition shooting range in the park as well as many bomb and land mine craters. Let's just say being a US soldier sent to fight in this jungle would have been nothing less than a nightmare come true. The tunnels are a real testament to the Vietnamese ability to work and make due under extreme circumstances. At one point the tunnels spanned an area of 240 KM reaching all the way from Saigon to the Cambodian border.
That is the touristy stuff for Saigon, there was also a few walking trips Katie and I took to explore the city and see various parks and statues, etc. I've gotta say, anyone who enjoys Vietnamese food back home, this is heaven with regards to food and drink. You can find western favorites in lots of places, but the local food is where its at. Bowls of Pho soup run you about 25000 Dong, 1 CAD = 15000 Dong. My favorite, number 46 at Saigon Y2k (popular Calgary chain) cost me anywhere from 30K to 45K depending where I went and the six\ze of portion. For those who aren't familiar my favorite is Rice Vermicelli with Spring Rolls and Lemongrass Chicken. Oh ya, there's also the bubble teas for 11000 fo those with a sweet tooth. Ya, its amazing here....
After Saigon we took a trip to the Mekong Delta. I recommend making this trip part of your itinerary, however don't go all out, Katie and I did a 3 day trip and we felt a 2 day trip would have been just fine (we also later to spoke to someone else who said the exact same thing). While on the Mekong trip we experienced a more cultured look at the real Vietnamese life (not the bustling, tourist harrasing life of Saigon) and had lots of mini adventures with floating through boat markets, exciting bus trips and city walks through flodded streets (Katie especially disliked this last event)....
After Saigon we made our way North to Mui-Ne and Dalat, however I will tell all of you about that at another date....very, very soon. Happy Belated Birthdays to Andrew and Warren and I hope everyone took a moment of silence to remember our fallen soldiers on the 11th. Katie and I were at the top of a mountain this day and it was at the top where I took a moment to think about our fallen soldiers over the many years. Talk to everyone later where you all can read about this mountain adventure and derths of others. I hope everyone is enjoying the reads....just think about how great the pictures will be if you are still reading our (my) blog on a regular basis (I say my because Katie hasn't written anything since Ontario back in Sept...). Love you all, thanks for reading, and take care. :)
I want to start this post by mentioning that Lonely Planet, while extremely useful for tips on getting around, and maps, is extremely inaccurate for pricing. Everything here is still relatively inexpensive, but if we had planned this trip solely on Lonely Planet's prices, we would have been very sorely mistaken. Anyway, the Lonely planet books are a very good guide for getting around and maps and things to do, so I still recommend using them for any trip anyone out there is planning. Now let's talk about Ho-Chi-Minh City, or Saigon as everyone still calls it and as most people know it as....
Saigon was our arrival point for Vietnam, and Saigon is a great way to start out any Vietnam trip. The backpacker area of Pham Lam Ngao has everything imaginable for travelers regarding accommodation, food, clothing and anything else imaginable (Massa, T-Shirt, Motorbike, Boom Boom, Cigarette, etc, etc). We decided on a place to stay where our room was just a tiny bit bigger than the bed inside of it. This room was only 8 USD and it included a washroom (hot/cold), TV w/ Satellite (about 5 English channels), and wifi internet...Not too shabby eh?
One of the first things we did upon arrival to Saigon was enjoy some Vietnamese Coffee. Vietnamese iced coffees run you about 6000 Dong or 8000 w/ milk, thats like 60 cents. Compare that with the $3 or $4 most western Vietnamese restaurants charge you and it is that much more enjoyable.
Anyway, we really enjoyed our time in Saigon, the most memorable experience, besides the sheer excitement of being in Vietnam and crossing the crowded streets and enjoying $4 massages, was the war remnants museum. The War Remnants Museum is full of pictures, planes, tanks, weapons, and everything else related to the Vietnam war. It was a real eye opener with regards to the ugliness of war and the devastating effects it can have on a civilization and the environments. It was very good to see though and I think anyone who makes the trip to Vietnam has to make both this museum and an excursion to the Cu-Chi tunnels part of their itinerary. The Cu-Chi tunnels is a network of underground tunnels the Viet-Cong soldiers constructed and lived in during the Vietnam war. As a tourist you can explore certain parts of the tunnels and the tourist park facilitates imagining what it must have been like for soldiers fighting in the guerrilla warfare. There is a live ammunition shooting range in the park as well as many bomb and land mine craters. Let's just say being a US soldier sent to fight in this jungle would have been nothing less than a nightmare come true. The tunnels are a real testament to the Vietnamese ability to work and make due under extreme circumstances. At one point the tunnels spanned an area of 240 KM reaching all the way from Saigon to the Cambodian border.
That is the touristy stuff for Saigon, there was also a few walking trips Katie and I took to explore the city and see various parks and statues, etc. I've gotta say, anyone who enjoys Vietnamese food back home, this is heaven with regards to food and drink. You can find western favorites in lots of places, but the local food is where its at. Bowls of Pho soup run you about 25000 Dong, 1 CAD = 15000 Dong. My favorite, number 46 at Saigon Y2k (popular Calgary chain) cost me anywhere from 30K to 45K depending where I went and the six\ze of portion. For those who aren't familiar my favorite is Rice Vermicelli with Spring Rolls and Lemongrass Chicken. Oh ya, there's also the bubble teas for 11000 fo those with a sweet tooth. Ya, its amazing here....
After Saigon we took a trip to the Mekong Delta. I recommend making this trip part of your itinerary, however don't go all out, Katie and I did a 3 day trip and we felt a 2 day trip would have been just fine (we also later to spoke to someone else who said the exact same thing). While on the Mekong trip we experienced a more cultured look at the real Vietnamese life (not the bustling, tourist harrasing life of Saigon) and had lots of mini adventures with floating through boat markets, exciting bus trips and city walks through flodded streets (Katie especially disliked this last event)....
After Saigon we made our way North to Mui-Ne and Dalat, however I will tell all of you about that at another date....very, very soon. Happy Belated Birthdays to Andrew and Warren and I hope everyone took a moment of silence to remember our fallen soldiers on the 11th. Katie and I were at the top of a mountain this day and it was at the top where I took a moment to think about our fallen soldiers over the many years. Talk to everyone later where you all can read about this mountain adventure and derths of others. I hope everyone is enjoying the reads....just think about how great the pictures will be if you are still reading our (my) blog on a regular basis (I say my because Katie hasn't written anything since Ontario back in Sept...). Love you all, thanks for reading, and take care. :)
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Singapore for sure this time.....
So after Bali we arrived in Singapore for a quick 4 night stay. Singapore was neat, but it is a little expensive and prices are like to those in Canada than the rest of SE Asia. I am certain that if we had stayed any longer in Singapore we would have made the short trip over to Malaysia to save on Accomaodation and food.
Not much exciting to say about Singapore, we had some good times but nothing outrageous. It was nice to be in a western style city again where you can trust the drinking water and use public washrooms free of charge among other small amenities. We stayed in a Hsotel in an area called Little India. It cost $20 Singapore Dollars each for a dorm bed, quite expensive. The price did include a free breakfast inolving 2 eggs and as much toast and jam and coffee as you can drink. I definitely did my best to get the $20 worth from my unlimited toast w/ jam. Katie likes to joke and ask if i have had enough, as I hadn't quite finished the loaf yet. We managed to do lower cost activities by just exploring the city on foot or using public transit. The botanical gardens were one highlight as there was a lot of flora to take in there, my favorite was the bonsai garden exhibiting over 20 different types of bonsai plants. I would really like to try and grow a bonsai plant when we return home...we'll see how that turns out.
Food in Little India was very good, as long as you enjoy (as you have guessed)..... Indian food. We kept mostly to the food stalls selling a selection of rice/veggies and meats, more than you can eat for about $6 SG, thats like $4-$4.50 CAD. All was fun in Singapore and I allowed myself a couple of delights from back home such as McDonald's coffees and we even saw the Micheal Jackson movie in a very nice theatre with pop and popcorn. The movie, This is It, was sadly a little disappointing (not at all whatI was hoping for from his movie).
Anymore, I'll tell everyone more about Singapore when we return....I want to start writing about Vietnam, but our bus is here to take us from Saigon to Mui Ne, so I have to go. I'll update the blog soon though and tell about the amazing war relics from the Vietnam War around Saigon and our great little trip through the Mekong River Delta in South West Vietnam....Thanks for reading my blog everybody.....Hope all is well in Canada.
Not much exciting to say about Singapore, we had some good times but nothing outrageous. It was nice to be in a western style city again where you can trust the drinking water and use public washrooms free of charge among other small amenities. We stayed in a Hsotel in an area called Little India. It cost $20 Singapore Dollars each for a dorm bed, quite expensive. The price did include a free breakfast inolving 2 eggs and as much toast and jam and coffee as you can drink. I definitely did my best to get the $20 worth from my unlimited toast w/ jam. Katie likes to joke and ask if i have had enough, as I hadn't quite finished the loaf yet. We managed to do lower cost activities by just exploring the city on foot or using public transit. The botanical gardens were one highlight as there was a lot of flora to take in there, my favorite was the bonsai garden exhibiting over 20 different types of bonsai plants. I would really like to try and grow a bonsai plant when we return home...we'll see how that turns out.
Food in Little India was very good, as long as you enjoy (as you have guessed)..... Indian food. We kept mostly to the food stalls selling a selection of rice/veggies and meats, more than you can eat for about $6 SG, thats like $4-$4.50 CAD. All was fun in Singapore and I allowed myself a couple of delights from back home such as McDonald's coffees and we even saw the Micheal Jackson movie in a very nice theatre with pop and popcorn. The movie, This is It, was sadly a little disappointing (not at all whatI was hoping for from his movie).
Anymore, I'll tell everyone more about Singapore when we return....I want to start writing about Vietnam, but our bus is here to take us from Saigon to Mui Ne, so I have to go. I'll update the blog soon though and tell about the amazing war relics from the Vietnam War around Saigon and our great little trip through the Mekong River Delta in South West Vietnam....Thanks for reading my blog everybody.....Hope all is well in Canada.
Singapore and Some more Bali
So a few things....I noticed I didn't update the blog the next day as promised and I also noticed I forgot to tell of our small adventure in Tirta Ganga, Bali, Indonesia.
First off, If anyone is visiting Bali, I highly recommend taking a few days off from the beaches (relaxing as they are) and make a trip inland to a small town called Tirta Ganga, home of the Water Palace.
Katie and I went to Tirta Ganga for 3 nights. It is situated in between 2 of Bali's volcanoes, Ganung Agung (the big one) and another smaller one...the name escapes me right now. Anyway, We stayed at a place called Kumusujaya (or some likeliness of it). It has a rather uninviting staircase to the front entrance (especially when carrying a 40+ pound backpack,) however when you reach the top of the 50 step stairs you are met with friendly smiles from the staff and an amazing view of the town and rice feilds surrounding it down below. We stayed here for $12/night CAD (prices are always quoted for both of us, not each unless otherwise stated) and it includes breakfast, of course.
I'll take this time to give a quick explanation of Bali Coffee. Bali Coffee is not bad, but its not great either. Whenever you order coffee (at least at the cheapie places) you are always left a good amount of brown/black sludge at the bottom of the cup and you have to perfect the art fo knowing when to take your last sip in order to enjoy your cup to the fullest, but end it without a mouthfull of bitter coffee dust. I have already had a few lighthearted arguments with other tourists whether or not the coffee is simply instant coffee, and an irregularly huge amount of it for the cup, or the other opinion (mine) is that the coffee is the same as westrn coffee, except that coffee filters are too expensive for the balinese, so they simply dissolve a couple of tablespoons of ground coffee beans into hot water and you, the traveller, let the coffee sit for a few minutes while the grinded beans settle at the bottom, and then it is ready for drinking....either way, coffee is better in Vietnam (and Canada).
Now back to Tirta Ganga. While at Tirta Ganga you can visit the Water Temple. The water temple is a natural spring which the ancient balinese built a temple around to honor the gods. They belived the abundant water coming up from the groun in this area is a gift from the gods providing high yeilds for their rice fields and harvests. While we we're staying at Kumusajaya our host, Dewa was a very gracious host. While speaking with him after dinner, I noticed the Palm tree (Coconut Tree) had notches taken out of it. I asked Dewa if these were for climbing, and he said, yes, of course. He then coaxed me to give it a try. I must say, the climbing is not that bad, but the height can be a little gripping once you have taken a few steps up the 'ladder' (i use that term loosely). Dewa got a kick out of my feeble attempt at climbing nowhere near the top (but high enough to hurt myself if i fell) and he quickly jumped up onto the tree and climbed it almost as fast as monkey would have. He then offered to make us special coconut pancakes in the morning with fresh cocnuts from the tree he would gather himself in the morning. After the next morning delicious pancakes we took up Dewa's offer for a tour of the rice feilds (about$6 for both of us) and he took us high into the hills where we could see rice feilds as far as the eye could gaze and he pointed out all sorts of toher fruit trees along our walk as well, sweet patatoes, banana, passion fruit, advocado, and the famous durian trees, just to name a few. The tour was well worth it, Dewa was an excellent tour guide and we have many fond memories of our stay at Kumusajaya. He explained the different farming techniques, and steps in the harvest, and basically had an answer for any question we asked related to Bali or their people.
Now that I have wrapped up Tirta Ganga and Bali in whole (I forgot to post this stuff about Tirta Ganga last time, we were there before Gili Islands)...I will now move on to SIngapore and maybe Vietnam if i have time. Happy Reading everyone....
First off, If anyone is visiting Bali, I highly recommend taking a few days off from the beaches (relaxing as they are) and make a trip inland to a small town called Tirta Ganga, home of the Water Palace.
Katie and I went to Tirta Ganga for 3 nights. It is situated in between 2 of Bali's volcanoes, Ganung Agung (the big one) and another smaller one...the name escapes me right now. Anyway, We stayed at a place called Kumusujaya (or some likeliness of it). It has a rather uninviting staircase to the front entrance (especially when carrying a 40+ pound backpack,) however when you reach the top of the 50 step stairs you are met with friendly smiles from the staff and an amazing view of the town and rice feilds surrounding it down below. We stayed here for $12/night CAD (prices are always quoted for both of us, not each unless otherwise stated) and it includes breakfast, of course.
I'll take this time to give a quick explanation of Bali Coffee. Bali Coffee is not bad, but its not great either. Whenever you order coffee (at least at the cheapie places) you are always left a good amount of brown/black sludge at the bottom of the cup and you have to perfect the art fo knowing when to take your last sip in order to enjoy your cup to the fullest, but end it without a mouthfull of bitter coffee dust. I have already had a few lighthearted arguments with other tourists whether or not the coffee is simply instant coffee, and an irregularly huge amount of it for the cup, or the other opinion (mine) is that the coffee is the same as westrn coffee, except that coffee filters are too expensive for the balinese, so they simply dissolve a couple of tablespoons of ground coffee beans into hot water and you, the traveller, let the coffee sit for a few minutes while the grinded beans settle at the bottom, and then it is ready for drinking....either way, coffee is better in Vietnam (and Canada).
Now back to Tirta Ganga. While at Tirta Ganga you can visit the Water Temple. The water temple is a natural spring which the ancient balinese built a temple around to honor the gods. They belived the abundant water coming up from the groun in this area is a gift from the gods providing high yeilds for their rice fields and harvests. While we we're staying at Kumusajaya our host, Dewa was a very gracious host. While speaking with him after dinner, I noticed the Palm tree (Coconut Tree) had notches taken out of it. I asked Dewa if these were for climbing, and he said, yes, of course. He then coaxed me to give it a try. I must say, the climbing is not that bad, but the height can be a little gripping once you have taken a few steps up the 'ladder' (i use that term loosely). Dewa got a kick out of my feeble attempt at climbing nowhere near the top (but high enough to hurt myself if i fell) and he quickly jumped up onto the tree and climbed it almost as fast as monkey would have. He then offered to make us special coconut pancakes in the morning with fresh cocnuts from the tree he would gather himself in the morning. After the next morning delicious pancakes we took up Dewa's offer for a tour of the rice feilds (about$6 for both of us) and he took us high into the hills where we could see rice feilds as far as the eye could gaze and he pointed out all sorts of toher fruit trees along our walk as well, sweet patatoes, banana, passion fruit, advocado, and the famous durian trees, just to name a few. The tour was well worth it, Dewa was an excellent tour guide and we have many fond memories of our stay at Kumusajaya. He explained the different farming techniques, and steps in the harvest, and basically had an answer for any question we asked related to Bali or their people.
Now that I have wrapped up Tirta Ganga and Bali in whole (I forgot to post this stuff about Tirta Ganga last time, we were there before Gili Islands)...I will now move on to SIngapore and maybe Vietnam if i have time. Happy Reading everyone....
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