Moving Blog Until I Get To Europe

Hi ya .. if you have been following my BLOG you will note that there has been a few problems with it. 9 times out of 10 Ive not been able to access either the blog itself or the WORDPRESS site. Im not sure if it is the site or the “communists” blocking access from my end, but Ive moved my BLOGING to http://tomstravels.blogsboom.com/ in the meantime until I get to Europe. There are also links to this via my site www.tomstravels.org . Will reassess things when things settle down and access is easier

SEE YOU

Back in Business

Just taking it easy today with a “computer” day to catch up on blogging and upload more pics

This will be the first posting for a few weeks due to some internet problems with the BLOG site. For some reason I havent been able to access WORDPRESS and it seems to be down most of the time, so have decided to look at alternatives in case it happens again. At least I have been able to copy all the old postings as it would really piss me off  if all the other postings have been lost as I had no copies arrrrghhhhh …. but that’s the Internet for you, here to day gone tomorrow.

Getting Internet access at the hostel is a bit of a pain too, so Ive decided to spend the day at an American icon … Starbucks (at least its not the big M!!!) as the wifi is free, the real blueberry muffins and coffee are a treat and its bright and breezey, unlike a lot of Beijing. The price of coffee and treats is basically the same as in CHCH so its not an overly expensive day but do I seem to be surrounded by nerds!!! Of the 20 odd people here, there are 15 student type westerners, 18 people wearing glasses and 6 working with laptops doing the same as me lol. At the hostel its either sit in the Internet room and sweat for $1 an hour or, if I want wifi (and the use of my own computer) I have to go to the far corner of the 4th floor and sit on the floor to access a connection!! Here I can sit as happy as a sandboy all day for free. AND in the last two hours there have been two FREE tastings of goodies and coffee offered around .

UPDATE: I finally got tired of squinting thru the old pair of glasses that I had to glue the lens back into about a dozen times and bought a new pair on the weekend. They had become totally bent out of shape and the lens were a fog of glue and scratches. The brand new pair cost $NZ145 and were ready to pickup after only 12 hours (on a Sunday too). Pretty good service.

So whats new??? Beijing is once again a mix of contrary experiences, as all of China seems to be now. You really have to admire the massive changes that is making this place into an Asian version of the West but still there are some of the old ways that are still apparent. For instance the service industry ranges from exceptionally focused and obliging to “bugger off I dont care” attitude.

An example of this was this morning when I went to change $US100 to yuan (Chinese $$). At the first bank (and there are many banks, one on just about every corner!!) I took my “number” and wait in a seated row till itwas my turn. After 30 mins of waiting I was told that this bank does not change money!! OK I had a good sleep last nite, so no tantrums and just issued an “uhuh, so where do I go”.

Three stores down was the bank I was directed to, and after the mandatory 20 min wait I was told by the teller that they could NOT change the money as I only had a photocopy of my passport and not the original (this is still at the Mongolian Embassy). O-O-O-K, and how do we get around this as Im hungry, have no more yuan, and would like to get lunch.

 ”Sorry cant help you!!”

Now it wasn’t as though I was trying to get money out of a bank account or to free up an overdraft, I simply wanted the $100 note changed into something more usable. So, even with a good nites sleep, I was not going to be buggered around any more and politely but firmly said (in my best teachers voice!) I wanted the money changed!!

The teller then had a long discussion with someone on the phone and I was then shown a copy of a letter (in chinese) that apparently said I needed a letter from the Police to say that my passport was at the Embassy… or I could try another bank (in other words remove the problem from her window!). I dug out my receipt from the Embassy to verify that, yes, they did have my passport, but still this was not good enough for the teller as it did not have a Chinese stamp. ARRRGH.

A littleless politely I said “I dont care, and can someone else look at this”. Next a supervisor appeared and asked me 4 times if this was really a receipt(!!). Another intense discussion followed with the supervisor, the teller and some other bloke with lots of pointing at the passport copy, the receipt and the notice about the police letter. Finally the problem was apparently solved, and she said “no problem” with the money being swapped with lots of smiles. Thats China lol.

The Walled City of Xian

The trip up from Kunming to Xian, or rather “down” to the lowlands J, was quite comfortable and went reasonably fast for a 36hr train journey. The “hard-sleeper” wasn’t too hard at all and was equivalent to the “soft-sleeper” class in Vietnam really. MUCH better than the sleeper bus by far!!

Filled in the time by sleeping (it was sleeper class after all), reading and conversing with some of our fellow passengers. Our bunk mates were a family heading for Xian as well and eventually the daughters (10 and 12) built up the courage to chat abit and practice their English. They were quite good at it and translated for their parents. I also went thru my pics of NZ (and the family of course!! The kids loved the pictures of Persia the kitten) on the laptop and we had quite a little group in the end looking on.

The sleeper carriage is set out with 20 compartments, each with 6 bunks (3 bunks on each side) and unlike the “soft-sleeper” set up, there are no doors or end wall so you are a real part of the community lol. Lot less claustrophobic too although the beds are once again way too narrow.

So to Xian. It’s a pity but Western culture has truly taken hold here as well. Several Big M’s, KFCs and Starbucks sit shoulder to shoulder with fast food type noodle houses and Wal-Mart supermarkets. We even spotted a couple of sex shops down by the railway station between the traditional food shops!! The Chinese element is still evident, thank goodness, in the architecture both old and new. There are quite a number of construction sites on the go, and most of these appear to be being built in replica of traditional Chinese style buildings, which is miles better than the square concrete block buildings that are more common. One of the new developments under construction is …. wait for it ….. a replica China Town!!

The city itself is probably the most visited city in China, outside of Beijing, mainly due to the Terracotta Warriors about an hour away. There have of course been having tourists here for hundreds of years as this was the starting point of the Silk Road and the city was established over 4000 years ago. The wall that surrounds the city is magnificent, built of stone, 12 miles in circumference, and around 30 metres high.  It is wide enough for 30 armed men to march side by side along the top of it, although it was only Ross and me today along with several cyclistsJ.

 I was also here 25 years ago and again changes are noticeable. The huge propaganda posters that used to be everywhere have now been replaced by advertising posters (same thing, different message), cell phones have replaced cigarettes as the coolest item in town, the twenty-something girls seem to be a competing to see who can wear the shortest hot pants and the number of guys with died hair and spiky type haircuts is scary!!!  The Red Guard must be turning in their graves.

Something’s don’t change however. There are still those who ignore the service element of tourism and cause that little bit of frustration. Like the local rail ticket issuer who refused to serve us (to much hassle dealing with English speakers more than likely) and posted a piece of paper up saying “get tickets at railway station” (over the other side of town) and like the hostel we are staying in – the restaurant had NO Chinese food available for lunch and I had to get an American breakfast instead!!

Breasts of Prayer in Kumning

I first visited Kunming 25 years ago (to the month actually) when spending 3 mths exploring China and Tibet on my first big OE. Traveling in China in those days was no cake walk and was often very frustrating, difficult and time consuming … no one spoke english, everything was in Chinese characters, there were few smiles to be had and officials went out of thier way to be bureaucratic.

This “border” city is now modern, clean (if you don’t count the pollution), full of technology, and packed with cars (which create the pollution!). Yes well 25 years is a rather long time, and to expect it to be much the same as before is being rather arrogant lol.

Not only the place but the people have changed. My most vivid memories of the Chinese people were the non-stop smoking, the spitting, the Mao suits that everyone wore – male and female (in only a choice of brown, green or blue), and the generally unhelpful service staff who’s job, it seemed, was to ignore everything you asked for and create as much red tape as possible. This was a natural result of the “system” that dictated there was no value in being helpful because you were paid the same no matter what in your “job for life”. Oh, there were also thousands of black, ancient push-bikes swarming the city’s streets.

This time around my first experience of the new China was at the airport where the immigration officals were smiling and welcoming. At the counter there was even a push-button “give your opinion on my service”  machine to grade the service we received. 

Upon entering the terminal, the first 3 people we spoke to had good english (how many Mandarin speakers would you find at Auckland International !!) and couldn’t be more helpful. We have found this to be quite common (the speaking of english) and it is a breeze to find our way around.

Here we also decided to board an “illegal” taxi to the hotel we had picked out (signs warn about the safety of these!!) but as it was a middle aged woman and her daughter it seemed safe enough . Ross had quite a little conversation with the wee girl in the back as they shared a colouring in book and named items in English .

Our body clocks have taken a bit of a beating over the last few days and some times its hard to decide what day it is. Having only about 2 hrs sleep before catching the plane to Kunming from Vientiane at 4am and with the odd nap here and there you do get abit disorientated . So we did little the first day and had our first big day out in China yesterday with a trip to the “Wild Animal Park” to enjoy, hopefully, some less polluted air.

We were expecting something along the lines of our Orana Park but it was not really the equivilent. It was certainly an improvement on how animals in zoo’s used to be treated although some of the things we saw would not go down well with our animal welfare people back home! For instance the “feeding” of the bears, lions and tigers with tit-bits hung from fishing rods was a rather unusual sight!! To be fair though, these animals appeared to be very well feed and even if only a small proportion of  the Kunming city population (pop 4.6 million) particiapted in the feeding ….. well you can imagine how well feed they would be ….. will post some pics soon . On the other hand the feeding of the Pelicans with live fish that you could buy from a stall might not be everyones idea of feeding the ducks.

We had expected to spend an hour or two but the place covered a huge area and even with the benefit of a motorized train we ended up spending the whole day there. Not only animals to view but animals doing tricks, food halls, photos of “you and animal” (Ross has a lovely picture of him with a monkey standing on his head!!) and a small stuffed animal museum. At one point however there were more people looking at us than the other animals lol. An interesting day out.

I’ve yet to see anyone spit on the pavement, smoking seems to be about non-existant and the myriad of colours, clothes and designer gear are just the same as any other wordly city. Mobile phones and phone shops abound and there is hardly a push bike to be seem. The big down side here is the air pollution …. and for two asthmatics it is very noticable …. but Beijin is supposed to be worse so maybe this is good??.

Oh and your probably wondering about the title of this post . It has been lifted from a sign outside the white tigers area … I think it is supposed to read “Beasts of Prey”. LOL thats China for you

Visiting in Vientiane

Vientiane is nothing of what I expected it to be! For some reason I thought it would be this isolated Indochina outpost – a bit backward maybe, a bit of  a cowboy town with basic food and accomadation… but ahhh NO!

We seem to be located in the downtown tourist centre, an area of about 5 blocks, where there appear to be more foreigners than Laotians – an endless supply of Western food, Internet cafes every 50m, many more cars than motorbikes (and no honking of horns!!) and a very laid back lifestlye.  I think the reason it is soooooo tourist orientated is because it has become the “add on trip” to a Thai holiday since the Friendship bridge was put in place a few years ago .. the place to come and chill out at the end of a holiday.

 The weather is cooler, in fact it is quite wet at the moment as we are experiencing abit of monsoon rainshine, and the humidity is much less than Vietnam. All in all not a bad place to spend a week.

Ross has hived off for acouple of days to Vang Vieng, a few hours up the road, to experience some water rafting/tubing down the river but Ive decided water (apart from swimming pools and beachside) is not really my thing. So I have opted to experience more of the hedonistic delights of what Vientiane has to offer – great food, so-so beer, lao massage and just lazing about

The food is fantastic here .. or did I mention that already! Today I began the day with an American breakfast of omelete, bagets, juice and tea. After a stroll around some of the temple sights (between showers) I had the most delicious pineapple crumble and iced chocolate for morning tea at a bakery. More sight seeing and photo ops was followed by a lunch of Tika Masala in a back street “Taj Mahal” restaurant, with Lassi and Indian tea (I keep forgetting Indian only comes with rice if you order it seperately – so no rice).

Then it was back to the hotel for a power nap and to recharge the camera batteries, then off for a shave. Best shave yet while on tour! The guy will even clean your ear wax out with cotton wool on long sticks if requested.

Dinner was a Lao spicy chicken curry, with a side of baby pork ribs and a plate of poached mushrooms and herbs. The tastes and texture were incredible. All this washed down with some Lao beer – which incidentially has to be drunk fairly fast as even with air conditioning, the beer gets warm rather quick. We actually added ICE to keep the beer  cool in some parts of Veitnam. A delightful day

We have also bought our air tickets to Kunming ($120 each) and fly out Friday morning at the crack of dawn – yet again – we need to be at the airport by 4:30am this time.

Busing to Vientiane

Firstly you have to remember this bus journey was booked thru our Fawlty Towers friends …  so why should we have expected anything different lol

Things did not start all that well when 20 min after the orginal pickup time for the ”tourist” bus, two motorcycle boys arrived to ferry us to what we thought would be our air conditioned coach. This was a mad dash thru the streets of Hanoi (as we were “running late”) with my driver frantically weaving between cars and bikes with my back pack balanced between his legs, one hand on the gas while using the other to hold his mobile to talk to the next driver to let him know we were on the way. You really have to admire the skill!!

The first stop was not our coach however but a taxi car already loaded with fellow travelers and packs, with barely enough room to insert our bus tickets … although apparently enough room for us. I was luckily enough to score the front seat, while the 6 others squashed up in the back! Unknowingly this was to be the luxury part of the trip.

The drive to met our coach was thru another part of Hanoi that has great 4 lane wide roads going both ways … but just as frenetic as any other; total bedlam with pedestrians, cars, trucks, and 100s of bikes weaving and tooting all over the place, with some even heading against the flow and everyone ignoring the lights! Apparently the reason so many people are out at night “cruising” is because many can’t afford airconditioning at home, and speeding the family around on a bike is a nice way to get cool!

Eventually we were dropped on the side of a busy road, in the dark, and were beginning to wonder when or if ever this bus was actually going to arrive. After standing around for a further 20 min we were shepherded around a corner to find our “tourist” bus awaiting the final loading of our packs onto the already overloaded roof. Again I was lucky enough to score a seat on my own up the front, apart from the large roll of #8 gauge wire under my seat and wheel arch in front, but compared to some this was quite good! Sadly that only lasted about 2hrs until I had to share it with another gentleman

Our bus was not what you would class as ‘nz’ tourist class .. the air con stopped working 30min in to the trip and we had to open the small bottom half windows to get some air, and of course because of the load on the top, only one roof vent would open. Every nook and crany, under and over the seats was used to store goods making it rather claustphobic, and our knees went just slightly further than the space between the seats would allow! They did recline but if you didnt recline yours when the person in front did, you could just about reach their one by sticking out your tongue when sitting up!! This was to be home for the next 20hrs. GREAT!!

I read in the newspaper here that there were only 12000 recorded road deaths in Vietnam last year … an incredibly low number when you observe the driving habits first hand!! Our journey was taking us back along the main southern hiway to Vinh, a heavily used roading system with 100′s of trucks using it 24/7, and then west to the Lao border crossing. Its a mad dash for everyone and we pass other vehicles, generally other buses and heavily laden trucks, willy nilly, on bends, three abreast, on bridges, all horns blaring and lights flashing, just to stop further on down the raod to pick up goods or have a break, and then do it all over again. We saw two major accidents on the way with bits of vehicles crumpled up and large gatherings of police and bystanders, but this has little impact on the drivers speed or manovours. Mind you it is mildly intoxicating lol.

We had a number of stops to overload the bus even further. Boxes were loaded on, more passengers taken on, and then all our packs were transferred into the bus to try and level the weight out abit – the back tyre was rubbing as we went around the bends. It made little difference. There was little sleep to be had – apart from individual body parts that were cramped up – and at the stops there was little to be had for food, although the 6 crew members seemed to eat up at every stop.

Around 6.40am we made the Lao border to be greeted by an incredibly confused system of passport control. No signs or information as to what to do, so it meant being redirected from counter to counter until all the requirements had been carried out – this included $1 to get out of Vietnam and another $1 to get our passports back when in Lao, on top of the normal Visa fees . The whole process took about 90min … and we were the first bus for the day with quite a few parked up behind us!

On the Lao side the scenery changed from paddy fields to jungle and mountainous rock, with odd hamlets  dotted along the way. Quite a few step hills which in the end beat the bus both going up and down. Going down we had to stop a few times to pour cold water on the wheels to try and cool the brakes … more pyscological than any help I think, but at least it kept the smell of burning brakes down! Then going up at one point the bus would just not move so we had to all get out and walk to the top of the pass while they “crew” used short spurts of revving engine, clouds of black deisel smoke and hand held chocks to move the bus meter by meter until it caught us up.

We finally arrived in Vientiane at 4.45pm … 15min ahead of schedule (!!) to find we had to transfer to a couple of tuk-tuks for the last leg of the journey to the center of the city.

Not really your trip of a lifetime but not your average tourist jaunt either lol, and besides, how many memories would a flight from Hanoi have generated eh!

Last Day In Vietnam

We are off! In about 2 hrs from now Ross and I will be getting comfy in a bus heading for Laos – a 20 hr bus journey away. Back in Hanoi the novelty of heat, sweat, noise and the constant “you take motorcycle” has worn off and Im looking forward to the next phase

Hanoi is full of shopping opportunities for the buying public, but if your not into this (or more reasonably, do not have any room in the pack) there is little else to do but eat and drink. Finding your way around Hanoi (or any where else for that matter) is realitively easy as most shops have the name of the street and number on them … the only problem is that alot of streets change names half way thru and they are not always the same as on the map!

Easiest way to get around is by taxi – as long as it is a metered one. Its abit more expensive in Hanoi than else where but generally pretty cheap as taxis go – $2-$3 a trip. Mind you, for the first time (when arriving back from Ha Long) a taxi driver tried to rip us off. I asked him twice to turn his meter on but “it broke” and the fare was over twice what it should have been. As we had already taken the same trip before I told him he would get 50,000 rather the 100,000 he was asking for and after alot of carry on from him and laughs from the bystanders, it was take it or nothing…. he took it and probably still made a healthy profit. Before doing this however, always make sure you have all your gear OUT of the taxi or they are likely to just take off!! 

We have been back in Fawlty Towers for our last evening and, yes, something else broke down – the lift! Unfortunately when we were leaving this morning, when crammed in to the lift with our packs, the doors jammed and I had to force them open to get out. Not an easy thing to do when, with the both of us and our packs in there, you can barely turn around. BUT we are both claustaphobic and lack of air with 30+ temps gets you moving . Managed to close the doors again (with us outside this time) and the whole system jammed up one floor down. We decided to walk the four flights!!

Realities of travel :)

The last few days have been rather more frustrating and time consuming than normal!!  Ahhhhh the reality of traveling rather than holidaying. Its at times like these that its always good to remember the old saying  “what doesn’t kill you just makes you stronger” lol    

To avoid having to get cash out all the time and carrying millions of dong (V15,000 Dong = $1) around, I pay the bill by visa and then get Ross’s half in US$$ for general expenses. Its worked fine so far but this time the hotels EFTPOS machine had broken down (along with the other things) and I was out of cash. So down to the bank for some $$ .. but when we arrived in Hanoi, the first thing we did was send our passports off to the Chinese Emabassy curtsy of our Fawlty Towers mates …  and of course no passport .. no money. 

The handy ATM which was the second line of defence also refused to hand over any cash as it couldnt recoginse my cards… no money again.!!  Luckily Ross has a handy stash so things aren’t too bad Just annoying.

At our next stop – Halong Bay, about a 3hr bus journey away - we determine first that the hotel actually excepts payment by visa but when we left after 2 days they then inform us that the person who told us that was wrong. Back to the bank senario … except this time Ross had to stay as “hostage” for security reasons, till I was able to return with some $$ after trying 4 more machines and waiting a further two hrs for the bank to open after the Monday long lunch.

The hotel we are presently in DEFINITLY accepts visa and is a bit of a luxury splurge for a few nights. The Presidential suite (which we are not staying in) goes for $980 a nite but we have scored a more modest version for only $35 a night including breaky Same facilities – resturants, bar, pool, sky etc but not so high up lol.

This is rather unlike the hotel we were in for the first two nights however – our room was up 8 flights of stairs (no lift) and there were power cuts on a regualr basis which meant the fan and the aircon were often out of order as well.

Mind you I have been a bit jaded the last couple of days – what with the heat, lack of sleep and  somehow getting caught up in a drinking contest with  a group of Taiwanese whos chanpion was a giant of a woman (I think I upheld our country’s honour but it was a close thing:) ), sitting by the pool, reading and sunning is just what is called for

But to top the week off, the rim of my reading glasses has broken so I now have to close one eye as I type cos only one lens will stay in ….  

Hot and Sweaty in Ha Noi

We seem to have caught the short end of the stick here in Hanoi as far as accomadation goes …. but then this is a more savy town concerning tourist knowhow and how to lever the $$ out of your pocket

When we first arrived yesterday (around 4:30 am) we had decided on a hotel to go to but the taxidriver was quite surprised when he dropped us there that the place had been demolished .. no worries there was bound to be another nearby. So we started legging it and as “luck” would have it two cycle boys knew just the place. Well after three stops and some more heart stopping moments in the early morning traffic, we finally found one that wasnt full… and then they wanted $5 each for their help!! 

The Golden Rule:: ALWAYS ask the price before you take up the offer.

At least the place is in the right part of town but the room is like a steamhouse with the air conditioner doing little and there seems to be some kind of underfloor heating (!) in the bathroom just to add to the ambiance. The guys running the place are smooth types (in a nice way lol) and have “friends, cousins and people” who can get anything we may need…. for a price!

 We went on a tour of Hanoi this morning (at an inflated price of $20 each, we actually saw the same tour advertised in town for $16!) and our “guide” didn’t appear to have been to the “highlites” himself and knew little about anything. The other guy on the tour was an American/Vietnamese student who they inivited for drinks last nite in welcome. However he found out this morning that he had to pay for them lol. They have been trying to get us to take a 2 day tour to Ha Long Bay while we wait for our Chinese visas but we have insisted that we will be going on our own by bus — Ahhh no good high season — no accomadation if you go by your self — well can you book a hotel for us — no, only if you take tour! .. ah huh

Everything is expensive here (for Vietnam at least) and if you want to drink cold beer in an expat pub expect to pay for the privilage lol.

Gidday from Da Nang

The guide books describe Da Nang as basically “boring but nice,” and it is different to our last two visited places, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder. From the little Ive seen it is a more modern city with well spaced out roads, a great riverside promenade  and much less hustle and bustel. You can actually cross the road with relative ease.

There appears to be few Westerners here as well which cant be a bad thing really and I presume most must hare off up to Hoian and the beaches. This has also meant a huge decrease in the number of hawkers and sellers approaching us with their wares and making us a bit more of a novelty. The little kids are full of smiles and continually come up and like to practice their “hello” on us while all the adults that have had a “chat” have had no obvious alternate motive

We made our way up here from Nha Trang in a soft sleeper rail carriage which is definetly the way to go – $22 for a 8hr journey – and included breakfast and lunch. The soft sleeper class is a folddown bunk bed with a matress and pillow as opposed to hard sleeper with only slats or a sit up seat.

We had been told we needed to be at the station at least an hour before departure, which we dutifully did at 4am, and still dont know why as we ended up sitting around for 3/4 of that time twiddling our thumbs. However it was interesting to see the local railway security guy waking the “locals” who were kipping on the seats - with a whack on the soles of the feet with a rolled up newspaper, and then a bit further up if no responce! No “anti-smacking” rules here!!

Wandered around last night and enjoyed the local food, beers (there was some kind of beer promotion on with our equivalent of the Tui girls vi-ing for custom with San Migual beer) atmoshpere and the much less humid weather.

To date its one of the best hotel rooms we have scored – double beds, huge bathroom with a two/three person corner bath, sky tv, ac and wifi in the rooms. We negotiated the price down from $20 to $18 for the room, which we were quite pleased with but at 6am found out why this may have been – construction next door started up around that time!!

Highlite of the  day was my weekly shave – this time the heart rate was slightly elevated  when the apprentice was given the job!! He wasnt too bad but his boss must have thought him too slow (he didnt seem to really know much about it!!) and finished the job himself with a great flourish of strokes. This time the cost was only 30c as opposed to $2 in Nha Trang. Im begining to like “boring” Da Nang even more