Sapa - Vietnam

This is 'Jar', one of the hill tribe ladies from Sapa. She is twirling hemp between her fingers that they later weave and make clothes with. The tribes ladies smile and talk all the time. As soon as you leave the hotel you are bombarded with a barrage of questions; "Hello, what's your name, how old are you, how many babies, oh, how long you been married...."? At this point when we answer "no babies" the questions get a little personal, they look at Keith and say "Ah you can't have?"




Take a good look at the picture of 'Jar' here, she drinks 1 pint of rice whiskey every day, she smokes 85 roll up cigarettes every day, she works on the field 8 hours a day then walks 5 miles to get water from the well, she then cooks for her whole family. She goes to bed at 10 at night and is up at 4am. Yet she doesn't have a single ailment to speak of. Mind you she is only 16 years old!!


Look at this little beauty! She spent the whole day tied to her mother's back while they trekked along with us through the mountains and all they ever do is smile - it's amazing!

This is the executive sales team getting ready to meet the customers!! After asking all the questions (see above) they move towards the sales contract fine print! ... 'When you get to our village - remember, I spoke to you first - you buy from me'!!!

It's a hard life being a woman in these villages.

High up in the hills now. We're far up North West Vietnam and only a short way from the Chinese border. It's often very cool up here and most of the time misty - we were blessed with a little good weather on our two days so we got some stunning scenery. This is the Hoang Lien mountains, there's a certain mountain only a few miles from here at an elevation of 3143 metres. It's the highest mountain in Vietnam (possibly all of SE Asia?) The name of which will no doubt bring the first non-anonymous respondee - with a splendid cup of tea (it's pure poetry).

The rice fields are an amazing site - just feast your eyes at planet earth wearing its git big green pair of corduroy pants!

This is an eight year old girl called "Sa" who took a liking to Elvis, she looks like a doll doesn't she?

Elvis had bought some bags and other items and was now receiving 'Royal' treatment. I was left to wallow in the mud!

No tractors here guys, this is the water buffalo and a young kid ploughing the rice fields (yes outsourcer, that's a water buffalo).

A lot of questioning is going on here, just the usual as before and then followed by some sales pitch! Can you guess by this picture who has been 'splashing the cash'?

This is our evening meal served with the rest of the group and our 'home stay' family! Afterwards the man of the house got out his homemade rice wine (lethal stuff) and we all did the Vietnamese 1, 2, 3, cheers..... (mot, hai, ba, zo!) We all knew how to count to three in Vietnamese, then the rice wine kicked in and shortly afterwards we couldn't even remember our names. The guy right at the front is French though - we remember that. Bonjower!

This is my little mate at the home stay. I called him Kato. Every time I would walk into a room he would do a 'surprise' kung fu attack on me (like Kato in the Pink Panther film). So I would do surprise attacks on him too. It was great fun until later during the night - after a few rice wines too many - I did a surprise attack on his brother by mistake and he ran out of the house looking horrified!!

I taught Kato a few of my moves from the old days, then his sister said 'maybe not a good idea' he's been getting disciplined by the school for beating up kids! Hummm - now I've shown him how to do it properly!!

The dangerous situations I put myself in to get a picture for the blog. I almost died of 'breath poisoning' getting this picture.

These fields are flooded and ready for the rice shoots to be planted.

We really like the 'lovely daughter' and 'handsome husband' comments so please feel free to make some more!

Nearing the end of the trek now and Elvis is still full of beans! When the scenery is this good you can just float along.

The mark of 'Zorro' (Hovis - I forbid you to comment!).

This is a fantastic couple from Perth that we met, Bethne and Conrad. You'll see these two in the picture at the home stay above having a few rice wines too many too! We sang songs through the night including my brothers favourite 'And the band played Waltzing Matilda' of which Conrad knew every single word! We enjoyed our time so much with them that we managed to meet up again in Hanoi, Hoi An and spent a couple of days with them in Ho Chi Ming City. Wonderful people and happy times - thanks for your company!

This is the town of Sapa, a French hill station that was built in 1922. Just time to browse around and stop at a little number called 'Baguette and Chocolat'. Do you think coffee and cake could have possibly been consumed? You'd be wrong to think not. Bethne and Conrad joined us too - also cake and coffee lovers! After all of this excitement it was back to Hanoi on the train, arriving 5am the next day, then to the Indian Embassy to pick up the visas and back on the sleeper bus for Hoi An the same day to meet up with some dear old friends (well they are when you're travelling a year and you haven't seen them since January) - but that will all become apparent in the Hoi An blog you impatient lot!!

Halong Bay -Vietnam

23rd April - 2 days in Halong Bay.

The things you do to escape the noise and hullabaloo of Hanoi! Not really a chore of course because Halong bay is a must do trip if you're in these here parts. It's so beautiful that...... well, for a free cup of tea you can tell me what status is Halong Bay currently petitioning for?

After a few hours in a bus from Hanoi we got on a boat and within a few minutes we were sailing through a painting! There's 3,000 natural limestone islands rising straight up out of the Gulf of Tonkin. It's a natural phenomonomonomononomenenon if you will.

The picture on the left needs a little straightening out because Halong bay doesn't normally have an incline from right to left! Nothing a little photo shop won't cure! Look at the picture below - no the wonder according to mythology this is 'where Dragons be'. If you want a free custard Nana to dip into your free cup of tea you could tell us what Ha long actually means?

After sailing around the islands we spent the night on one of the larger islands - Cat Ba. They were getting ready for independence day so the flags were out. This is when you are reminded that although they show no real signs of it, Vietnam is a communist country. Not that I'm sure what that means anymore!!

After leaving Halong Bay we booked a trip for Sapa. This is Keith's THRILLED face at the prospect of a whole night in his nest on a train (although he reckons he looks just like his Granda!)! Our beds were really comfy and we had a good sleep although I did have to clought one of the Vietnamese guys who was sharing our cabin as he did insist on SNORING! What a Bomber!

So, Sapa here we come but as you know, yes... that's for another blog!!

No cup of tea questions in the last blog - so no answers. However, a late guess at the 'what food item' question from Cambodia by 'Un Big One' (brother Ron). Bulls balls he reckons! It's good Ron - but it's not right, although I certainly wouldn't put it past them! The food on the plate is - Deep fried spiders!! Give us a bulls knacker any day!

Hanoi - Vietnam

Well this is the 'manic madness' place that they call Hanoi! Constant 'peeping' of horns, a constant rush of traffic and... a constant headache! Even walking around this place is difficult as the roads are crammed with traffic, so walk on the pavement you say! Well, not so easy as the pavements are full of parked up motorbikes or ladies preparing and serving up noodle soup to their customers congregating on stools around a little table.

Yes, before we knew it this saleswoman had her wares perched on Elvis' shoulders, two pineapples in her hand and charged her for the privilege. There is no saying "No" in this place.









Erm, yes and again!!



This is the little cyclo ride that we took. We felt guilty having an old man cycle us about but let me tell you they are VERY keen for the cash so we were actually doing him the favour, yes honestly!











Life is just constant activity in Hanoi and just about everyone is selling something on the street. Beautiful flowers, fruit, vegetables, an assortment of kitchen tools, clothes, books, newspapers, kitchen sinks. You name it and these people are selling it!

This is Elvis and I on the sleeping bus. By some coincidence I manged to secure the longest bed on the bus and could lie down. Mind you sleep was out of the question due to the constant horn blaring, the very erratic driving and volume 10 karaoke music complete with video footage! Even Bomber would have struggled for 40 winks!

This bus is bound for Hoi An - but that was after to 'side trips' from Hanoi - but those are the subjects of future blogeration.

Cup of tea answer from Siem Reap - hold on to your stomachs! Along side the deep fried cockroaches and locusts, were those deep fried SPIDERS!! Yak!! Good try Ms Outsourcer, but not this time! And what do you all mean - we disclosed the answer during a video conference session with Sissy Ginny - oooooh you're all such bad losers!

News flash - English Class in Vietnam

May 9th 2008
We thought we would get this blog on air as soon as possible! Suzanne and I have just come back from an English class for adult Vietnamese. We have had the most marvellous time and Gayle (I'll explain who this wonderful person is later) allowed us to get involved in the class. First off we'd like to say a big thank you to Gayle and all your fantastic English students for making us so welcome in your class and for giving us one of the best experiences of our visit to your wonderful country. Hopefully some of you have been able to access the blog and you'll be reading this - if you have any comments just click the blue comment at the bottom of this section and we will read your comments.

The first picture is Gayle teaching some rather difficult English - so difficult that Suzanne and I had difficulty following - but Gayle does a great job explaining, Suzanne and I were thinking we may enroll for class!! After that Suzanne and I stood at the front of class and we had turns each with the students giving random facts about our respective countries - then the real fun began - a question and answer session! We were asked all kinds of questions like - 'What do Scotsmen wear under their kilts' and 'Are we allowed to see the Queen's face', I (Keith) was asked "Do I find Vietnamese woman attractive" - not easy to answer when your wife is standing next to you!! (The answer is yes of course - how could you not?).



This is the class at the end of the lesson - we hope you students had as good a time as we did. It was very interesting for us to hear your facts about Vietnam. Just look at this picture, have you ever seen such happy students anywhere else in the world?


This is Gayle (the American English teacher) with the real English speakers!!





Earlier that day Gayle and her lovely friend took us out to lunch and we were treated to some fantastic Vietnamese cuisine. But before all of that the day started at 9am in Gayle's study when we linked up with my Sister Jen on the computer and talked over the net for an hour - we could even see each other which was a real treat, not so much for me because it was 11pm in the USA by the time we finished and the sister was 'sinking' fast!!

We met Gayle through my sister Jen. Gayle is from Pennsylvania too and she and Jen taught the same grade kids together and became good friends. 13 years ago Gayle moved to Vietnam and now she teaches what we call 'adult education' classes on evenings.

What a wonderful day! We wish all the students "good luck" with your English studies - it was an absolute pleasure to spend time with you beautiful people. Gayle, "thank you" for looking after us for the day and giving us some great memories to take home - keep up the good work! Hopefully we'll see you again maybe in Pennsylvania and remember you're always welcome to visit us in England if you ever get the travel bug (that's bug Gayle not BOOK!!)

The Temples of Angkor - Siem Reap, Cambodia

Current status - We're in Saigon and thankfully, it's tons better than Hanoi!!

30th April 2008
What can a mere human say to describe this place? We've seen many temples and ancient architecture but even Penshaw Monument can't compete with this. Ladies and Gentlemen, may we present the WORLDS LARGEST RELIGIOUS BUILDING - Angkor Wat.

It was built by the ancient Khmer Empire between the 9th and 13th centuries when the empire stretched from Burma to Vietnam, then, unbelievably the entire place was lost for centuries to the world - completely overgrown by jungle. In 18th century a Frenchman named Henri Mouhot (Bonjower) was out roaming about the jungle wearing only a pair of speedos looking for snails and happened to find this amazing complex of ancient temples overgrown in the dense jungle. It's now, not surprisingly, one of the wonders of the world. This is an epic blog, so take your time to work through the pictures please and don't be rushing to the end to see who won the free cups of tea or looking for the cup of tea questions so you can be first to answer- we know who your are!


The first pictures are of Angkor Wat at sunrise (above) - yes that's right, while you lot were all in bed waiting for the alarm to go off, we were out there working hard for the blog! This is 5am and the sun is just coming up behind the temple.


This is how it looks a couple of hours later.





The first day we hired a driver for 15 dollars for the whole day and he drives you around in a kind of horse drawn carriage that has a motorbike welded onto the front of it - very comfortable but not the safest contraption we've ever rode on.






The entire place is covered in amazing structures. This is one of the five entrance gates that lead in to Angkor Thom. As you look through these pictures you may be reminded of some film scenes. Inspiration for Indiana Jones films and actual jungle scenes (see later pictures) were used in Tomb Raider.

Great big faces of the Gods are all over place. Bayon temple has 216 gargantuan faces of Avalokiteshiara! (Get 'the Bomber' to say that without his teeth in)







This is a poor innocent woman trying to make a living selling fresh fruit about to be 'bargained' into submission by Elvis! No, the truth is you always have to be on the ball, prices tend to rise considerably when a 'Westerner' is spotted.

I have never seen sights like this - it just doesn't look real! This does give some idea of how long this place was lost, the whole area was covered with trees this size and in some places (like this picture) the trees are so entrenched into the structure they can't remove them.

The largest temple, Angkor Wat from a distance. The main structure has four massive towers surrounding a large tower in the middle. The whole place is adorned with bass relief carvings - mostly of battles between good and evil.

Look at the gate behind the elephant - just amazing!

Another temple, Angkor Thom.

This is our favourite place - Ta Prohm. Ta Prohm has literally 'merged' with nature and can't be separated. They left all the trees in place because if they remove them it would crumble. So a lot of the temple is a metamorphosis (oooohhhh) of ancient bricks and trees - right out of Indiana Jones!

On the second day we ditched the 'motorbike drawn chariot' and took bikes. This is not for the faint hearted! It's 7km there and 7km back and the grand tour is 22km. Quite an exhausting trip but one of the best we've done. There was however some whinging going on while riding back when we got lost for a short while!!

"Le Posers!"

The last view of Angkor Wat as we left the temple grounds - 'Knackered' on our bikes!

This may look like we're in a hospital bed! No, not quite. This is a bakery/cafe with the biggest sofa's we've ever seen. You sit on them like you would your nest, then they put a 'lap table' over your .. erm lap I suppose and you sit drinking coffee and eating cake and inevitably, you fall asleep! Well we did, we'd just finished a 36km bike ride so we did earn it!

On the way around the complex we saw these kids making 'trucks' from old plastic bottles. We stopped and played games with them for a while then took a video of them pulling their trucks along. It was the funniest thing when we showed them the video - they belly laughed at each other. Again, kids with absolutely nothing having such fun. When we left Elvis had a tear in her eye. They all stood and waved us off in their raggy clothes and dirty faces.

If you fancy an ice cream in Cambodia be very careful to order the correct flavour or you could be in for a bit of a surprise!!!!!

After Siam Reap it was off to the airport. Here we are about to board the plane for yet another new country - and capital city! This plane is bound for Hanoi in Vietnam and that's for another blog!



On the way to Siam Reap the bus stopped at a kind of truck stop/rest area. The place was swarming with ladies trying to sell their wares - mainly to the locals. There was sugar cane bread (we tried - we liked mmmm), hard boiled eggs and lots of other things we weren't sure of. This woman though takes the prize! A free cup of tea to the first person who can tell me what's up for sale here, a clue would be that it's definitely not blue wildebeest. We didn't eat any by the way!

Previous cups of tea questions - a clean sweep by Ginny and her outsourcer, the Khmer Rouge, Pol pot and of course the film - 'The killing fields'. Erm, brother AKA Un Big One, 'Jaws' was good - but it's not right (said in an Irish twang).