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

A Lay Day in Louisianne Brewhouse

We decided on another “rest” day today as tomorrow is the All Blacks test (hopefully on TV at the bar) and the next we are off to Danang at 5am by train. So here follows a blow by blow account of a weary travelers lay day as written up in the work diary

8:30am – Up without the sunrise. Our room actually has no windows so it is wonderfully quiet, cool and sunless. Its not called the Happy Hotel for nothing.

9.00am – Having applied ample dobs of sunscreen to protect the skin from the effects of “high sensitivity” to the sun because of the malaria tablets, rubbed emugel in to the arthritic joints, swallowed Voltairn to get the knees mobile and then Losec to protect the stomach from the other effects of Voltarin, we are set to move. God getting old is a pain!!

9.30am – 3 min walk to the Louisiane to book our deckchair by the pool for the day ($1.20)

9.45am – Wander up to the restaurant area and order brunch – a meat club sandwich with fries, vietnamese tea and toast ($2.90)

10:30am – Back to the deckchairs and a lie in the sun – ONLY for 20 min though. Im playing safe. Enough time to read the Vietnam English paper however (.50c).

11am – Into the pool for a swim-a-bout and back to the deckchair to tan the front side. Order a bottle of water ($1). Get out the laptop and check the Chch Press online and send some emails. One of the services at the Louisiane is free WiFi along with the excellent wait service.

1pm – The daily seabreeze starts up in earnst and is a cool respite from the sun – 38C and 82% humidity today. Doze for a while.

2.30pm – Massage booth is free and I decide on a back, head, shoulders combination for an hour before the sunburn sets in again and may not be able to take the punishment. ($6)

3.45pm – We break for lunch! A tasty 3 meat and noodles dish with a side of white rice and a “taster” of 4 small glasses of beer. This is really a brewery (no kidding) and they have their own beers – 5 in all – brewed by the owner an Australian. The place is set up for the weary traverlers comfort and has no accomadation but is open from, 6.30am till 2am each day. Great place to while away the hours Has a bakery, pizzas corner, pool table, big screen TV and is all open plan.

5.00pm – A piece of excellent English Fruit cake and tea with another bottle of water ($2.50). Work on my website from the restaurant table as the battery has run down.

7.45pm – Sun well down – but humidity still high. The place is filling up quickly with tourists and locals for dinner and the music has changed from Bread, Garfunkel and Bee Gees to a selection of Jazz. Time for a couple of cans of 7up and ice. ($2)

8pm – Down to the pool for another dip – no fear of the sun now and the Voltarin is wearing off so need to exercise abit.

8:30 – Decide on a night cap of 2 bottles (600ml) of BGI beer to rehydrate ($3) and help me sleep Spend the rest of the evening updating Blog and reading by the pool.

10pm - Cost for the day? A princley sum of $19.10 + hotel bed of $7.50!! The experience of living the life of Riely for a day? Priceless!!

Time to call it a night – the body and wallet can only handel so much of this!!!!

“Always remember that I have taken more out of alchol than alchol has taken out of me.”

Winston Churchill

Seeing the sights in Nha Trang

Great day today … we caught a slow boat to the islands and the fun attitude of the crew and guide just made the day Picked up early at the hotel … about 30 minutes late but then thats not unusual. Down to the wharf, with what seemed like hundreds of others, to be allocated a boat dependant on some(?) kind of predetermined plan, as we ended up on the boat with the most europeans and a crazy funloving guide.  The guy was a real performer – sang, danced and greeted each nationality in their own language and a part of a rendition of national song … “For Kiwi mates you get … Ka mate, Ka mate, Ka ora, Ka ora “.

The boat trip it self was not much to write home about .. bit of snorkling for the swimmers and later on a chance to wander along a beach and see the aquirium .. BUT the food and entertaiment was great. Huge spread of food as a smorgaseboard lunch, cheap beer all day (again), and another huge afternoon tea of fruit. At one stage the crew put on  a live band performance  – the Boat 4 Boy Band – with the drum kit consisting of an up turned water bowl, plastic 45 l drum and an ancient cymbol – and we all had to get up on the table and dance -  quite a few others had also embibed in the cheap beer !!

Nights are great here and it is the done thing to get out after 6 (its dark about 5) and go for dinner, either at a resturant, market or sidewalk stall.  During the day it is that hot and humid (not only for us as it turns out - apparently there is a heat wave rolling thru – 39 degrees today) the place is nearly deserted but in the cool of the night the people are out in force. There is a long, wide park area between the beach side road and the actual beach and this is packed full with family groups, kids and couples – great freindly atmosphere.

Have had a problem updating the website … spent a day on redoing parts of it and putting pics up- but for some reason the uploaded files havent taken .. bugger .. pics of HCMC can be viwed at MY PICASA website

Nha Trang

Left HCMC late in the evening in the middle of a real Westcoaster downpour on our overnight sleeper bus, adding to the “romance” of the moment lol.

The sleeper bus was a great idea theoretically – no hotel fees for the night plus you awake in the new location- but in practical terms  .. for someone my build .. not a great one for getting some sleep. I actually had the feeling of lying in my coffin lol. The bed size is designed more for the Asian build and the feeling of being on the verge of falling off was a constant. These all face forward as well, and to top it off I had been designated the very front top bunk and each time we braked I had to try and avoid slipping forwards as well!!

We arrived at Nha Trang around 5am in the morning to be immediately swept off our feet by two local “commission” men who ran us around to a quite pleasant local hotel called the Happy House Hotel. Nice, cool and clean at $7.50 each a night and about 3 min walk to the beach in one direction and the local “strip” in the other.

Food is great with heaps of variety and we have of course had to sample a number of bevies to check the quality, and price compare those of HCMC (and I can tell you that they range from about half the price to twice the price  For the less $$ conscience you can spend a bit more at the couple of “higher class” tourist bars along the beach but they tend to be rather bland and trit. NOT like the bar we decided to visit. Full of young backpackers, loud music and cheap beer at about 70 cents a bottle 

While wandering the streets I also found a barbar where I was able to get my fortnightly shave – this also included a bit of a thumping head massage – my ears are still ringing – and a forehead shave!! Who can complain though at a mere $2.

Today is rest day as there has been little sleep in the last 24 hrs and then we are off for a days boating around some islands tomorrow. We have decided to make this a week long stop over to catch up on some sun and sand and just chill out. The beach is beautiful with white sands and blue water, but the water also looks very deep and I noticed there are few people swimming more than a couple of yards off the waters edge.

The people here have a nice naivity about them. Heaps of smiles, less persistant hawkers, and lots of laughter. I do not relish the thought of what it will be like in 10 years time when the tourist hoards fully descend.

The biggest surprise here however is the lack of flies, crawly things, birds or bats … I can count the number Ive seen on one hand at this stage.

The Journey Begins

Apologies for the length of time since my last posting but the last few months have been DIABOLICAL in that I often wondered at times if I would even make it on to the plane!!

To list the majors … house building and selling was way over the estimated time and I actually only finished the last bit of construction the day before hoping on the plane; a couple of old injuries flared up and there was the fear of a blood clot in one leg; my work truck was in an accident and limped along for the last two months (although this worked out better as I was able to get cash for the damages lol); rushing around to get $$ changed on the last day and was caught up in a bomb scare wasting half of my day; finally finished this months taxes and related paperwork 4 hours before leaving for the airport … but … Im now in Veitnam and thats all behind me and its time to chill out and kick back

Im going to try and get some of the pics up on my website soon as can get a steady WiFi link and some down time … hey its not supposed to be work this traveling. Writing the blog is no prob from an Internet cafe but uploading pics and stuff has to be done from the laptop.

Sooooo … first impressions of Veitnam, or more precisly Ho Che Min City. As you can imagine getting through the intial hustle and bustle, checking the place out and doing the first touristy things is always abit of a culture shock but coming to grips with the endless traffic is quite something …. a bit mid blowing even for Asia. However … the streets are extremely clean, the people friendlywith heaps of smiles and lots of cheap food and beer. There are the odd beggers and local sales hawkers who become a bit bothersome but not overly bad really.

As for the thousands of motorcycles and scooters  ducking and diving like buzzy bees ….  to cross the road is another experience altogether!! First you pray, then step off the sidewalk no matter where you are, and just hope for the best!!! The trick is to walk through the traffic at a snails pace so all the motorbikes, taxis, pushbikes and buses can simply avoid you!!!!! To date, luckily they have all done very well!! The big bit of advice is to NOT make any sudden moves or it is likely to be curtains.

Red, green or yellow lights make little difference and it is really quite abit of artistry to see 12 lanes of traffic merging at a round about without a casuality or two. You have to see it to believe it!!!

Accomadation is fantastic .. big double bed, ensuite, tv, air con, and nicely located at the rear of the block (peace and quiet) … all for $12 a day. Initially we had booked at a different hotel but hours before the plane departed I was greeted by an urgent email letting me know that it had to be changed because they were over booked. We ended up getting an upgraded room (price went from $8 -$12) at our present place,the Spring House Hotel, as the first room we were given was a great big double bed which we both were going to have to share … I think not lol
 
Spent quite abit of the first two afternoons at a local pub (its VERY hot and humid here!!!) …which is only about 10 doors down from the hotel … and as luck would have it, it is a kiwi one too!!! Pics of Mt Taranaki abound and it is decorated coverd in silver fern logos Only kiwi pub in HCMC, lucky or what … so we were able to watch the test live and quaff endless handels of Tiger beer for $1.20 each.
 
Been to the “tourist spots” and a couple of big markets but only bought a couple of  nic-nacks. Cant really be bothered getting into the buying stuff at the mo (TM will have to wait lol) although taking to a fellow kiwi last night I was told about the cheap house deals here … hmmmmmm thats a thought. 

We are off to Nha Trang tonight on an over nite sleeper bus .. about a 8hr journey and will stay there about a week. Its a beach resort and supposedly the “place” to visit to wind down to holiday mode.

Originally we had decided to catch a day train and caught a ride on two Cyclos (three wheeled rickshaw cycle) for $3, to the trainstation to buy tickets. This was quite the exhilirating ride thru the aforementioned chaos of the traffic … and with several heart stopping moments to boot!! However once there, and being carted all over the place by our enthusiastic guide, we found at the booking office we had to take a seat in line to do the business …. we were number 820 with 400 odd before us!!!

As you can guess we decided to do something else for a while. Our guides took us to the local market (which by the way was miles from where we thought we were) and said they would come back in a couple of hours to pick us up and try back at the station … after a number of hours we tired of waiting and caught a taxi. Ah but it doesnt end there. Today on the way to breaky we were acossted by some other drivers and accused of cheating there mates out of their fares, “they had been waiting for us till 7 that nite”.  As it was we  were able to “negotiate” a demanded fare of $15 down to $10 each …. which incidentially was the orginally quoted price for the ride + a beer + a massage!!! which we had declined. Hmmmmm another way of culling a few extra $$ from the tourists pockets I think.

The joys of traveling