Sapa, biker gangs and water-borne gallavanting

Mai Chau photos are also up below, now!!

What a mmmmmmmmmmarvellous week this has been!
I got back to Hanoi, was chatting to lots of people, as I've told you. The day after my last post I was invited to lunch with a group of people I'd been drinking with the night before. Well, lunch was divine, they had this barbecued beef that was utterly beautiful, I've not had such wonderfully cooked beef in a long time. Whilst still gorging upon it, I'm told they're all planning to get the night train to Sapa that evening, and would I like to join them?
"Goodness, I'd love to.... but it just feels really last minute, I'm not really sure.."
Dave then replied "Well, why not?"
"Excellent point. I'll start packing, see you at half seven!"
and so there it was. I got all my things together, tried to charm the girl behind the desk into letting me check out late, but to no avail.. I got my next night at half price though, so I must still have a sweet smile at least.
Alas, Charlie and Dave had to pull out at the last moment, which was a shame but it was understandable. Things like motorbike injuries and needing to sell the very same motorbike meant that they couldn't reeeeaally leave Hanoi. On the upside, we still had Luisa, Tristan, Erik, Jenny and Anika, AND I got to use Dave's ticket so didn't have to pay for the train. There was Pauline too, but that was more of a downside, as it turned out.
Jenny and Anika went for the soft sleeper option, opting for squishy beds and a clean compartment. The rest of us though, we were hardcore and went for the 'hard sleeper'. Basically, we were on boards of plywood that had a bit of pleather over it to make it seem more upmarket. But it wasn't so bad, we got some booze and then some Aussies came and joined us, hotboxing the comparment as they did so. Good chats, but one of the Aussies pissed me off no end with his sheer arrogance and condescending manner, apparently knowing the minutae of how Vietnam works and us apparently knowing miniscule amounts by comparison. Cock.
Still, we kept them with us so we didn't have to pay so much for transfer from Lao Cai station up to Sapa village. 25000vnd saw us there at stupid o'clock in the morning, and it had just gotten light by our arrival. A brief moment of confusion later and we were at the door of our hostel. A brief moment of door opening later than that, someone flicked a switch and everything outside was drenched under mother nature's power shower.
Relieved and impressed with our timing, we checked our surroundings - the reception was empty, the electricity was out, no-one was to be seen nor heard. Accepting it might still be a bit early, even by Vietnamese standards, we crashed out on the seating in the foyer, only to be woken by the receptionist half an hour later. Bleary eyed we checked in, had a nap for 3hrs and woke to see glorious sunshine hitting the mountains all around.
This place was just magnificent. So indescribably beautiful, it was extraordinary. Wisps of cloud just whirled around the peaks and we went for our breakfast, anticipating great things for the day ahead.
It was there that we met Katie, Alex and Shane, all special in their own way. Katie was travelling alone, but linked up with Alex and Shane when crossing the border from China. Busy with her omelette, I didn't chat to her too much at first but Alex came down and just with him greeting me I could tell what a nice, genuine bloke he was. Didn't actually see Shane until a bit later, but he's very funny and just slightly perverted :) We all had similar ideas to get some motorbikes and tour the various villages and immerse ourselves in the landscapes surrounding us, so we linked up to form our biker gang - "The Emos". Named as such owing to the very un-manly "Emotion Hotel" emblazened across the front of our bikes. Lots of jokes about having semis began and we eventually set off, going down the windy road to explore Lao Cai.

Lao Cai was pretty dull, but the ride was magnificent and we managed to get seperated on the return journey but it was still a marvellous day, bar the little spill that saw two of our riders get better acquainted with the tarmac. They were going very slowly though so it was just a little bit of roadrash that we cleaned up, dressed and then carried on. Come the evening it was standard food, bar and bed, with the exception of the mahoosive thunderstorm that gave us quite a show as we smoked on the balcony watching it all around us.
Next day was more riding, with an even BIGGER gang, so we practically owned those mountains. Again, stunningly beautiful, but it was time to get back to Hanoi so it was a so-called sleeper bus back. The last sleeper bus wasn't too bad, you could actually kind of lie down, but this was just a coach where the seats reclined slightly more than normal, was much more scarily driven, and had lots of people on board being sick into plastic bags. The worst offender was the man sat infront of me who at one point used my knee for support. Not really wanting to tear it away for fear of causing offence, or worse yet a spill, I just had to sit there with him vomming over me.
All this was made much worse by Pauline, the pathetic French girl who just never stopped complaining, moaning, worrying, panicking, basically just to get attention. It's a horrendous trait to have, but she would basically give the nearest man puppy dog eyes so that he might close the window for her, might take her bag for her, might actually kill her. Gaaahhhh, and I'd been doing so well - giving up criticising the French for lent did me a lot of good, I hadn't been cheeky about them since, but then Pauline rather spoilt it for the Gauls..
Still, I felt I got a huge amount out of going to Sapa, I am so glad I did it. Also, I left it so that when I come back one day, there'll be plenty of reason to go back :)


Arriving in Hanoi, we were rather rudely awoken by thumping Vietnamese techno and pole dancing on the tv screen. All a little too surreal for one who's not slept, myself, Pauline, Katie and Tristan pile into what's normally a trustworthy taxi, and thus began 45min of being taken around the houses. I'd done the trip from the bus station to the hostel before, I knew it was only meant to be about 100,000vnd, so as he carried on taking the piss, we started to feel slightly smug that we were only going to give him a 100 note, and every extra detour we took was just going to get him in more trouble with his boss for acting like such an arse. Literally never had a problem with Ma Linh taxis, but this guy just took the piss!! Eventually we arrived, and made sure to put our bags on before giving him the money just incase we needed to dash, and we prepared ourselves for loads of shouting and anger on his part, instead we were just the recipients of a chuckle with a "Haa, you got me" kind of tone. The bastard delayed my breakfast!!

The day was then spent wandering around with Katie and Nathan, helping them to find a cheap Ha Long Bay tour, something I wasn't really planning on doing. Every time we stopped, however, every time we were given this wonderful images and painted beautiful scenes I felt more and more inclined to join them. I bit the bullet, changed my dental appointment and booked a flight so that I could spend three days with 17 other people whom I all knew by this point at a cheap cheap $37 for 3 days, bed and food included. And Pauline excluded (she'd already booked elsewhere). Being so many people, we pretty much had the boat to ourselves. We boarded in Ha Long City, started motoring out as we ate our lunch, all pretty similar to last week's daytrip. We then went to a different cave with a rock hard erection (photos to come.......!) and had a hilarious hour's kayaking where Josh and Nathan managed to sink their kayak whilst everyone just pointed, laughed and took photos. Aoifa got a brilliant one of them clinging to the tiny portion of the bow that was still sticking out of the water :)

What followed when we got back to our surprisingly lavish boat was just the loveliest moment of travelling since Jonny's wedding. All of us rather hot and sticky, we peeled off our garments and jumped from the top of this 5m high vessel into the sea. I treaded water for a bit afterwards, and all the splashing had settled down. I looked around me, encircled by all these rows of karst scenery jutting out of the water, with the sun getting low in the sky giving everything an orangey hue, and I was just in disbelief that I could be somewhere so extraordinarily beautiful, so stunning, really just beyond comprehension, with some amazingly friendly people, I just felt so intensely happy! Really really happy! And so relaxed, too - the water had just washed away any of my preoccupations. What's more is that I know I use all these words quite a lot, I've described Mai Chau and Sapa as such already, but I do find it so thoroughly difficult to get across what it was like.
Riding this high, we had supper and an extraordinary night! Proper vodka doesn't exist here, it's all made with rice, but we inadvertently ran out of mixer, so started drinking fingers of straight rice vodka to keep participating in all the games that were going on. It's at that point that I go completely blank. Not a single memory, however distant, remains from after our running out of fanta. So unlike me, too! But nevertheless, there it went and I was apparently rather a source of entertainment, being carried away to bed later on with people singing the song from the night nurse advert :) I realise now I've been rather remiss, but essentially what with giving an eye exam, assessing a motorbike wound and broken ankle, then more motorbike mishaps in Sapa, I was adorned with the name "Nurse" for the remainder of the week!
I awoke in a slight daze and the bedroom door wide open, with Katie lying beside me (innocently, we'd agreed to share a room) and yet no hangover. Went to breakfast, still rather drunk I realised, but feeling really rather refreshed for my night's sleep. Everyone, myself included, echoed warnings of what was to come, but it just never did. I felt lovely all day, until the lack of sleep caught up with me..
We had a pretty awful trek on Cat Ba island, no-one really enjoyed it and the guide lied to us when he said it was fine to do it in flip flops. Ohhhh, how he lied. It wasn't even worth it for the view when we got to the top, it was just rubbish. But we consoled ourselves with an afternoon on the beach with lots of swimming and I started learning poi (very backpacker-esque of me), poi which were bought in Goa (and then some). A little party in the evening, and we met two charming Canadian girls who both had incredible eyes and lovely personalities, flirted a little and then went to bed. Alone, I might add.
Back to Hanoi under the direction of our somewhat draconian and PMSing guide and I met up with Jonny and Vy for a couple of drinks, was lovely! Except for the fact that I lost everyone I'd been on the boat with, no idea where they went.. Shame, because that was my last night in Hanoi and last opportunity to bid the farewell! At least I bumped into Katie, we'd really gotten on so well, I was glad to see her. And it wasn't all bad, I saw Gaelle and James again. Gaelle is the French girl who made me feel like a schoolboy again, she was loooooooovely, and it was so nice to see her again - we were both thrilled and smiley and chatted lots, it was really nice :) James is a really sound bloke too, great to chat to, good banter and just so sweet natured!

Buggering up my sleep cycle as much as it could, my transfer for the airport picked me up at 5am thismorning, 4hrs later I was in Saigon again and here I am in a somewhat mediocre guesthouse with a sparsely populated dorm. I might see if there's an alternative nearby, but it might be as good as I'll get for the money. Still, all I have to do is merely exist for the next few days, providing the flights chaos doesn't bugger up my plans. I go to the dentist soon, will do tomorrow as well, then tomorrow will be spent in a quiet park, next to a quiet pool, by which time I should have some replacement earphones and maybe even a nice book.

Hope everyone's well back home :)
xxxxx

this didn't actually post last night, since then I have met a really nice and genuine guy called Max, a 2m tall American who walks remarkably sedately. Also got to know one of my dorm mates (who's name I'm sure I would misspell..) and it was all lovely. Now I'm off for some op la for my brekkers :)
And again, apologies for lack of photo goodness. I'll put them up thisevening.

Mai Chau, mai goodness how beautiful

Here I am in a Hanoi backpackers' hostel, a very lovely place with a sort of St Christopher's Inn kind of vibe to it, there's a rooftop bar and bbq, nice rooms with non-squeaky beds and it's filled with wonderful people! I'm just so happy to be here after what's actually been a pretty demoralising couple of days.

Tuesday was wonderful though! I got up early and went over to Jen and Helen's hotel in time for the bus transfer to Ha Long Bay. We unfortunately didn't sit next to each other, but that didn't stop us making rather loud conversation in the otherwise silent bus. Jen fell asleep, but Helen was close enough for us to play rounds of gin rummy as we rumbled over the uneven road. She was pretty damn good, I must say, and beat me quite thoroughly. Still, we got to Haiphong where we boarded our boat and were served a meagre lunch as we pulled out of port. Ha Long Bay then appeared out of the mist and we found ourselves surrounded by this amazing karst scenery rising out of the water. A visit to a floating village and then a pretty impressive cave was included in our afternoon adventure through this amazing part of the world. The caves were vast, they made Cheddar look like camembert and we were in awe of the scale of these stalactites and mites (tites on the ceiling, mites on the floor), they looked like cathedral organs.

Back on the boat and it seemed like no time at all before we were back on land and bundled into the bus, and really the transfer had taken so long that we only really got 5 hours on the boat.

Another silent bus journey, bar the squeals and giggles eminating from the back! Helen slept for half of it, but Jen and I chatted like mad things about mad things, until we stopped at the halfway point and Helen woke. Back in the bus again and the driver had put on his "Best of Backstreet Boys" cd - amazing. We sang along, attempting the harmonies at times, failing mostly.. We then got bored and cracked out my ipod, with such things as George Michael. Oh we had a good George sesh. Then, then came out R Kelly with Bump 'n Grind. With an earphone in the left and deaf in the right, I had no idea quite how loudly I was singing along. For a good 3min the bus was resonating with Fred voicing his moral opinions on bumping and grinding. Personally, I don't see nothing wrong, with a little bump 'n grind. What completed the moment, however, was the couple sat just forward of us who then took inspiration from this and proceeded to make out right there and then while we sang to them. Slightly surprising, but bloody hilarious! We got back and said our goodbyes, promising to keep each other updated on our various endeavours around China in their case and Vietnam/Europe in mine. Rather sad, we did get on ever so well, but I'm sure we'll see each other again.

Wednesday morning I galvanised myself to go down to Mai Chau. Mai Chau is a cluster of little villages in this valley, populated by a White Thai ethnic minority who live in these stilt houses with bamboo floors and a thatched roof. I had decided on taking a local bus in order to get there cheaply, so headed for the Ha Dong bus station in South West Hanoi, riiiiiight on the outskirts. The taxi chucked me out at this rather nondescript part of the Ha Dong suburb and said "here, here". I looked around and couldn't really see anything and was a little skeptical but he pointed down the road so I assumed he just wasn't allowed to drive into it or something. I got out and was hounded by xe oms and people trying to sell me things, and one of them said Ha Dong station was infact 7km away (my arse) and I just tried my best to shed my little following to walk around and find it myself. I walked in the direction the taxi driver pointed. And I walked. And I walked and I walked and then I walked some more. No bus station. Maybe I'd just been really blind and it's on the other side. So I walked and walked and walked some more, still no bus station. Maybe it was actually in the other direction...? Again, I walked and walked, crossed over and walked some more. No such luck. I came to the conclusion that there was infact no bus station, and so started eyeing up a bus stop to see if I could see one with a sign for Hoa Binh (en route) or Mai Chau. By this time I was sodden from the drizzle, my legs were muddy and I was pretty knackered. An old man asked me where I wanted to go, I said Hoa Binh and I was surrounded by a group of very enthusiastic Vietnamese people saying "Hoa Binh! Hoa Binh!!" and pointing at a bus. I got on, said to the bus driver "Anh oi! Hoa Binh?" He grumbled and shook his head so all these people starting pointing at another bus, and the same process was repeated but it was third time lucky when I got on this other one, said "Xin loi, Hoa Binh?" and received a nod from the driver. Marvellous. I sat down and gazed out of the window, though not before thanking my local supporters and removing my mahoosive bag.

2h30 later we pulled into Hoa Binh station, someone approached me and said "Where you go now?" - "Mai Chau" I said. "Ah, Mai Chau, Mai Chau!!" came the reply, laced with urgency and verging on panic. Bugger me, is it about to leave? No, not really. I sat down on the other bus and waited a good half an hour before the driver arrived. Sat behind me were some Vietnamese teenagers and then a couple of blokes in their 50s or 60s came and sat next to me. I thought maybe they were just curious, seeing as the majority of the bus was pretty empty. What came was half an hour of wondering "At what point does cross-cultural curiosity become groping?" as he commented on my facial hair, arm hair and muscle mass, complete with touching each thing that had drawn his attention. Not really sure if he was gay or just trying to part me with my wallet once distracted, I'm told homosexuality is extremely frowned upon in rural Vietnam, which made me wonder why he'd be so openly affectionate. Anyway, I swapped my wallet to the other pocket when I paid my fare and it was when I leaned forward to look out of the window that he surreptitiously placed his arm across my seat, so when I went back again he'd have his arm around me. I turned to him and just shook my head and after that he stopped. Still, he got off not long after that and so I was left to absorb the incredible scenery that we were driving through as we got closer to Mai Chau.

We descended down this huge mountain, coming out of the clouds to be presented with this stunningly beautiful valley spread out below, with terraced rice paddies and little villages dotted around. Upon arrival in the main village, a man came and said "Hello! Xin Chao!" - "Xin Chao" I replied. He then invited me to stay in his house, and not really knowing where else I'd stay I said "Hm, alright then I'll have a look."

At this point I should probably explain.. In Mai Chau, various families open up their house for people to stay in at 50,000vnd per night, and if you want they'll cook for you as well. All very cheap, and you get the experience of being in a traditional Thai stilt house, so it was all above board! Get it? Stilts? Above? Yeahh.

I got there and it was actually lovely. We'd gone through a not so pretty part on the xe om on the way, but then turned down this little lane which took us between rice paddies into a little village called Poom Cong, where I was dropped infront of the house. I went upstairs to have a look and was greeted with a calming, airy room with split bamboo flooring, and some rather unfortunate posters on the wall of babies wearing pink hats, a couple more babies and some airbrushed wedding photos. It was all very French. But it was comfortable, they had electricity and limited but passable plumbing. I agreed to stay there, but I didn't eat as that was a lot more than it said in the book and I thought I could do better elsewhere. I asked about bike hire, I was told 100,000 per day for a manual, twice what it should be. I tried to bring it down to 80 but he was having none of it, so I said "Fine, I'll look in the village for one." With a wry smile, he said ok and left me to it. I had a little wander around the lanes surrounding the village but spent most of that afternoon just chilling in my hut. The very sweet lady of the house brought a couple of cushions and laid some bamboo mats on the floor. The power was out so she brought me a fan she'd woven herself, all the time smiling sweetly. Day turned to night and the electricity was still non-existant, so I was brought a candle to read by. They came and put a mattress on my floor, like a thin fouton, and brought a pillow and duvet and assembled a mosquito net over all this. I climbed into my bed - it was early, but I was knackered. Listening to an audiobook of A Picture of Dorian Grey filled a couple of hours and the sweet little lady quietly shuffled around and moved my candle over to the table. It was lovely with the wooden hut illuminated in the glow from the candle, but far more so when it was lit up by the growing thunderstorm. I removed my earphones to hear the rain pounding on the roof and on the road outside. Looking out of my window I could see the mountains silhouetted against the candescent sky, I even went outside just in my shorts to enjoy the rain and see if I could time the camera with a lightning strike. Needless to say, Fred failed. But my goodness, it was magical!!

I got back to my bed, with a bit of a grin on my face. It was at this point, however, that I realised what I really really needed was someone to share this moment with. That sounds rather cheesy and absurd, but in Mai Chau I was pretty much the only Westerner. People turned their heads when I walked down the street, the language barrier in the countryside become insurmountable and I felt very alone. I couldn't help but think that if I had a travelling companion, I would have been able to share my enthusiasm with them, we would have bounced off each other and it would have been fine. It didn't help that the next morning I got up early to try and find a bike and failed dismally. No-one in this place rented bikes, not one person, despite the numerous bike repair shops. I gave up, went back to the hut and admitted to the man that he was right, there's no-where else and I'd like his bike for the day. So on I get - first time I've ridden a manual bike and so got laughed at a little when I first tried setting off. And the second time I tried. And the third. Eventually I got it going and started having a bit of fun, going up and down bits I hadn't yet explored.

After going around for 45min or so I thought I'd head up into the mountains now that I was comfortable with what felt like a very different bike from before. But I was famished, so I started looking for places to stop and eat, of which there were plenty and now there were none all of a sudden. I saw a place coming up and so slowed down and pulled in to be greeted by a sweet Vietnamese woman, not a word of English so she talked Vietnamese at me, I talked English at her, and we kind of worked each other out from facial expressions. She gave me some tea which was utterly divine, just what I needed, and then I bought a packet of nuts for a bit of sustinence - the pork she had looked a little hairy and I just wasn't sure. For a pot of tea and some nuts from a little old lady in the countryside? 1000vnd. 1000. That is three pence. Amazing. Anyway, back on the bike and back on the road. I started winding my way up these twisty mountain roads, climbing ever higher until I got into the cloud that hugged the peaks. I was having a whale of a time, but when I stopped to take some photos, my bike wouldn't start again. I tried all sorts, but then a massive old Russian IFA truck pulls up behind me and out climbs two 15yr old boys. They help tweak the bike and try various things and eventually get it running again for me, and wave me off with big smiles. I carry on up the road and the bike is sounding rather sick. I pulled into a petrol station to refill and the truck roared by, honking as the kids waved out of the window. Feeling quite positive about having enough fuel to take me to Son La if I so wished, I was quickly brought back to Earth (whilst still having my head in the clouds, boom boom) by the bike breaking again and not starting. Lots of tweaking by the men in the petrol station still didn't get it running, so they started pushing me down the mountain and I put it into gear. A cough and a splutter and it burst into life, and down the mountain I went, now quite annoyed with it all. Not wanting to risk another breakdown by stopping, I thought I might just go back to the hut and give them back the bike, this isn't worth 100k per day. Going back through the village it then died again, just gradually winding down and eventually conked out. Wouldn't start again, so pushing commenced. Got to a little hill so I tried rolling down it to start and it just about worked and got me back to my hut. I gave the bike back to them and said "This is wrong, this is wrong, this is wrong. Could be this, could be this, maybe this." and they very nearly understood, except they thought it was because I couldn't drive the bike properly. Assuring them that I had gotten the hang of it, I tried gesturing but still to no avail. Never mind, I walked into the village, did a bit of internetting on the only computer I could find and had a good long chat with a marvellous friend who just made the world feel so much better again, as I was having one of those traveller moments when I wondered why on earth I was doing what I was doing and feeling really really down about the whole thing. But I went to bed happy, refreshed and with plans to return to Hanoi the next day.

A comparitively painless bus journey got me into a completely different suburb of Hanoi so I was lazy and got a taxi to this hostel where I was greeted by many a smiling face! Got to my room where I met Andrew from NZ, Andrea from Canada and Matt from Birmingham, then downstairs got chatting to Melanie from Switzerland, Shane from Guernsey, absolutely loads of people from loads of places. Happy hour began, drinking ensued, as did a bbq on the rooftop. Was marvellous to be surrounded by people again and I got chatting to even more people, including Charlie, Dave and Tristan. Today started with a fair amount of hanging, to say the least! But food and tea cleared us up and I was on the mend.

A few people I'd made friends with had injured themselves in various ways, be it motorbiking, Laos New Year-related injuries to the foot or a pain in the eye, so I offered to have a look at these various things. Eye exam revealed nothing, biking injuries are pretty much mended and not infected and foot is now properly dressed and padded so walking is possible. I didn't ask for anything in return, but so far I've been given hugs and beer :)

ok, ran out of time that evening, as I took a spur of the moment decision to join a group of people on the night train to Sapa, and have now spent a day here and a few stories to tell, but they shall come in due course! And apologies for lack of photos, but they shall come when I find a computer with a usb port!



And photos are now up!! There are some of Mai Chau, and some of Jen and Helen in Ha Long Bay :)

I might have been wrong..

Hanoi isn't that baaaaaaaaaad.. I think I might have had a really bad first impression because I was so tired (reading back on my last post, that was a proper ramble) and just not in the mood, so I just found myself developing a grudge. Truth is, last couple of days have been really nice.

Yesterday I wandered around the Old Quarter when it was actually still quite light, and then met up with Jen and Helen in the late afternoon. We started chatting and didn't really stop.. We suddenly realised it was 9 o'clock so we got some supper, carried on chatting, realised it was about midnight, walked back to their hotel, carried on chatting, realised it was 1 so called it a day and I went home on the back of a xe om (say - om. Literally translates as motorbike hug). As we rode along the street, the driver offered me "cheap woman?"

"Erm... no, no thank you"

"No it's ok, she's very cheap"

"Noooo, I don't want a cheap woman"

"Go on"

"No."

So he stopped the bike, hailed his friend and they chatted in Vietnamese and I was told to get off the bike and get on the other one. The other driver then started taking me down mysterious streets that I did not at all recognise - possibly because of everywhere being shut - the place literally transforms by night when it's all empty, it's surreal. The driver then turned down a little alleyway "Uh ohhhhhh" I thought to myself. Even moreso when the bike stops, the driver says "ok, ok, we here."

I said "No, this is wrong! Wrong place!"

Drama drama drama. I'm very tired, he's evidently quite tired, we start getting really cross with each other because he wants to charge me even more to get me home, he thinks he has taken me home, etc etc etc. I then realise we're just antagonising each other and say "ok, ok, ok", lowering my voice. "Let's go back to the main road" (a lot of gesturing involved) "Let's go back to the main road and look at my map, see where we are."

We push the bike back together, start looking at the streetnames, we worked it out together, turned out he read my address wrong and he turned too early. We hop back on, he takes me up to the door and we part with a pat on each other's back and he says "Good luck to you sir, good luck to you" "And to you!" and to bed.

Got to bed, but the day wasn't over and I was up even later as a battle in the skies commenced as a belligerent mosquito entered my no-fly zone. I picked up a pretty hefty guide to SE Asia and entered ninja mode. The mozzie landed on my nose so I thwacked it good and hard, unfortunately missing the insect. I then lost sight of it and sat back down on my bed, taking a defensive stance. I didn't see or hear it for a while so I got up to see if it was resting somewhere. It was. I'd sat on it. Somehow it was still alive after fourteen stone of Fred bore down upon its head, but I just scraped it off and settled down.

Another lovely day with Helen and Jen today. Ended a little early, but we are quite tired and have an early start tomorrow for a daytrip around Ha Long Bay. Should be lovely, I'm glad I've bitten the bullet and booked a ticket! I couldn't not do it, really..

It has helped finalise my plans, though. As a result, this could be my last entry for a while. When I get back from Ha Long Bay, I shall be packing my bag to leave on Wednesday morning for Mai Chau. It's quite rural, with terraced rice paddies, mountains and some lovely villages. I plan to stay in a traditional stilt house quite cheaply and then hire a motorbike so I can enjoy the national parks that surround me, and I will probably be there for five days. I've been given a lot of food for thought today and yesterday, and feel I could have a good session of philosophising when I'm surrounded by what should be some pretty inspiring landscapes. I imagine I will be there for 4 or 5 days.

It is after those four or five days that I really am starting to run out of time before having to be back in Saigon to finish my dental work, and sadly it looks like I will not have time for Laos. It doesn't get me down though, when I think about it. A large part of travelling for me is about meeting people and making friends of similar mindsets, and if I am to sacrifice a journey through Laos to spend time connecting further with people then I think it is alright. Especially now there is such a family tie to this magnificent nation, I am certain to return, at which time I can explore the countries that surround it. I will endeavour to get to Cambodia, however. What the best method shall be is yet to be seen, I shall have to do some research, but I may even return to Hanoi to fly to Saigon to then get a bus to Siem Reap. Flying straight there is horrendously expensive..

You might have seen my mention of a broken toe on facebook. Well, not much to it except that I broke my toe. It was dark, the pavement was sticking up in one place and I kicked it pretty hard. If only this was the UK, I could get a couple of grand out of it and fund my postgrad when the time comes! Alas...

Photo-wise today, it's a rather nice lake in the corner of the Old Quarter, called Hoan Kiem Lake. It has a temple on an island in the middle and a rather shy turtle population lurking around somewhere inside. Lit rather prettily at night, and plays host to many couples and the odd exercise class, too. There's also a bit of Hanoi and of course the Mausoleum - inside that building is Ho Chi Minh, mummified. I got to thinking how extraordinary it is that one man could have so much commemoration of his life, what with a mausoleum with an armed ceremonial guard 24/7, lots of money spent on mummy maintenance, but then you come to think of what he actually achieved. Born in 1890, he lived a long long time, and so was already 55 when he booted out the Japanese from Vietnam, then 64 when he got rid of the French and in doing so laid down an infrastructure that would massively help the Vietcong secure victory against the US. Yes, there's a huge amount more to what he did, or perhaps one could say what he ignored of Giap's command of the military, but history will inevitably remember this man as the one who secured Vietnam's independance against the odds.

So that's the educated part of today done with, now Fred is going to veg for the remainder of the evening.

"How long to Hanoi?" - "36 hours" - "I see."

Wednesday evening I said goodbye to my dear friends and family Fran, Vy and Jonny. I lug my bag over to the waiting area for the bus where I get chatting to a friendly girl called Lauren. Being from Milwakee, I did of course make a Wayne's World reference when she asked if I knew it. She was mildly impressed, but refused to show it. So the bus turned up, and unfortunately we weren't next to each other, but I loaded my bag and then found my place on this sleeper bus. A strange layout, but it kind of works. Two stories of three aisles, each person had a space to sleep in, conveniently two inches shorter than me, and two inches narrower. What was really helpful was the lack of space to put my little rucksack. I filled my time experimenting with the best way to go about cramming myself and my bag of tricks in, with methods such as hugging my bag, threading the seatbelt through it so I didn't have to keep a grasp on it, but finally settled with using it as a lumpy pillow. It had a novelty value, so I naturally started marketing it to fellow travellers as the right way to go.

A troubled night ensued as a mozzie made residence in the footwell of my bed-cum-vice. About three hours of sleep I totalled, and eventually we got to Hoi An at about 6am. I introduced myself to Carla and Kirsty, two girls from Weymouth and Shrewsbury and we walked into the centre to try and find a spot of breakfast before carrying on to Hue. We failed, but found an early morning coffee and chatted as we wandered the streets of Hoi An, which felt very different from 3 weeks ago. Being so early in the morning, it was like the Hoi An I once knew, almost devoid of tourists and just populated by local people working in the market, on the boats and sitting on streetcorners playing Chinese chequers.

Back at the bus office, very quick and improvised wash in their toilets and a change of shirt before boarding the next leg up to Hue. Boarding the bus I made eye contact with and smiled at a couple of very friendly looking girls but left them to sort themselves out and get comfortable while I hopped into my bunk and studied a bit of Bach. Now thinking I was being a little antisocial and realising they did infact speak very good English, I started looking out of the window, waiting for something interesting enough to follow with my eyes until I was looking backwards at the very lovely Jennifer and her friend Helen. Smiling at each other we made conversation throughout the entire journey, greatly enjoying each other's company, it was really nice after a couple of false starts with other people :) Jennifer and Helen, their names.

Both of them from a little village near Birmingham, they were on some extensive travels throughout the region and had some great stories of people they'd met, bizarre things they'd done, all sorts! They'd been VIP guests to a meeting of kung fu masters where they presented prizes, were plied with drink and with food. I managed to ruin it by saying "I imagine #everybody was kung fu fightiiiiiing" but thankfully it was appreciated!

Arriving in Hue felt rather a shame to me, having gotten on with them so well. I gave them my number should they want to have lunch, but I never actually got a text. I think they got caught up at the post office, their first destination while I tried to find the citadel. Rather stupidly I got lost in what was once a familiar town, but I wandered on the river bank and down tree lined streets whereupon I got chatting to a local man who spoke very good english. He was waiting for his daughter to arrive on the bus, but she'd gotten delayed so we went and had some drinks together. Many a beer was consumed as we chatted about our families, my travel plans and our jobs. A very friendly man and a Buddhist, we got along famously until I told him I had to go to find my friends and have lunch with them. I still hadn't heard from them but I wanted to be available incase they should text. Nothing ever came so I got lunch at an old restaurant I remembered from last time called Lac Thien, a little restaurant run by a deaf mute man and his family.

Got lost again, but eventually found my way back in time for the next bus that would again take me overnight into Hanoi. Oh my what a journey it was becoming. Now knowing no-one and running low on sleep and energy, I settled into my bunk now well into the routine and now accepting the fact that I will never have a reading light that works. Night came and I was just so knackered that I actually fell asleep.

Morning came, I dismounted the bus upon our arrival and stumbled into the back of a taxi, giving the address of my lovely couchsurfing hosts.

Later I found myself being nurtured by a house of two couples, one Australian, one New Zealand. Caz let me in as she went to work and settled me down on the sofa, pointing out where the shower was and suchlike. I washed and napped before chatting to John, Matt and Lindy. All of them are absolutely lovely. I went for breakfast with them and then walked around Hanoi for a bit, absorbing the Temple of Literature. A beautiful place, this monument to knowledge and the teachings of Confucius, it was rather juxtaposed against the remarkably busy streets encircling it. I wandered around, cursing the rather unappreciative general public that made their way noisily from one bench to socialise on to another. And many of these people were infact native, a large schoolgroup making up the majority.

There are some beautiful temples in Hanoi, but I must admit this city is yet to really inspire me. It's grey, pretty bleak and very loud. The food isn't quite as good as down South and while there are some gorgeous bits of old colonial architecture as well as the temples, it all seems rather few and far between. The lakes are nice to have, or would be if they were properly kept. Some stretches of water look stagnant and black, thick with goodness knows what.

Anyway, after much much walking I eventually got back to the house I'm couchsurfing in and met the couple also couchsurfing here - Delphine et Arno, a French couple who were very friendly, then got ready for supper where I met even more people! Friends of Matt and Lindy's, all really nice people from all over the world. I was knackered though so didn't stay late, but I was really nurtured upon our return, with Caz putting some sheets on the sofa for me and then as I settled down, Lindy got back and poured me a glass of water, got me some extra pillows, made sure I was ok and then I was out like a light. I always listen to music before going to sleep, but I woke thismorning to find the ipod still in my hand, waiting for me to actually select something. A great deal of laziness then commenced with a remarkably slow start to the day with much chatting over weasel coffee. Delphine and I chatted for ages about music and the arts and cultural aspects, both good and bad, of today's world, comparing France and the UK.

Delphine and Arno have now left, sadly, but I did eventually get out of the house at about 4ish after doing lots of research into what I actually want to do after Hanoi. I walked around the Old quarter in the fading light, but still don't feel I saw very much that was particularly old, nor a huge amount of French architecture. Nor did I see the paving slab sticking out of the ground that saw the end of my little toe, now broken and bending in the wrong place. Very annoying, but it does almost help me with my decision on what to do next....

My three main options are to either get a coach to Luang Phabang in Laos for their new year, meaning I'd have to leave on Monday or Tuesday. However, if I decide that new year isn't too important to me then I could hire a bike for 5 days and cruise down to Mai Chau, a pretty region with lots of villages, cheap food and accomodation, and spectacular scenery. Thirdly, and now least likely, was a very cheap 3 day sojourn around Ha Long Bay but if I'm being rendered in a fair amount of pain, I'm not sure how much I'll really be able to enjoy it. However, it feels a lot better than it did initially, so either the codeine has kicked in, or it was just a very bad knock rather than a proper break and my eyes were just fooled by the low light. But bugger me, did it hurt.

Still, the idea of Mai Chau appeals to me more and more as I think about it, it'd be relatively inexpensive and a real discovery, enabling me to really go off the beaten track. I can still go to Laos, but New Year there does seem to me to be more of a family and religious event, so it may well be that I can't see as many of the Wats as I would be able to otherwise, and therein lies the problem - I just don't know, and no-one in this town nor on the internet seem to know either.

Anyway, tomorrow is another day, with more things to come and potentially a bit of clarity. Jennifer and Helen messaged me on facebook to say they're now in Hanoi if I wanted to meet up, and I've told them about the cheap Ha Long Bay thing I've spotted, so we might end up doing that together, which means I miss Laos new year, but I can still do the biking afterwards and then work South and into Cambodia instead, see Angkor Wat and suchlike. Hopefully it'll all become clear soon enough :)

Not much else to report, but have some photos for you.

First are the stellae at the Temple of Literature. These are mounted on the back of tortoises to symbolise the longevity of knowledge, and then there's also a close up of the text, describing how important learning is.

A monument to the King who established this institution in the 14th century, and then it's one of the gateways between different courtyards of the gardens there. I was starting to get a bit miffed because I couldn't get a single shot without people in it because of these ruddy teenagers who didn't move for an age. Youth of today..

Lastly one of Hanoi's most charming lakes. Yes.. Complete with swans.

I now see that blogspot have put them in a completely different order and missed out the last one, but A. I'm sure you'll work it out and B. You're not missing a lot..

Bed now, nightnight!!

ps. on closer inspection, there's also a little bit sticking out with a very localised bit of purple, so yes. Yes it probably is broken.

Don't Hassel the Hoff, as one person put it..

What a couple of days this has been. I couldn't remember the day before yesterday initially because yesterday dominated so much, so I'll do yesterday first. As you read, you may start to wonder, so I'll preface it with this - because I'm not giving you the man's name, patient confidentiality is not being breached, and writing about it actually helps me order my thoughts and gives me clarity on the whole situation. Don't worry though :)

We took our motorbikes down to this stunning beach about 30min drive South of Nha Trang. A pleasant morning was spent alternating between deckchairs and swimming in the gorgeous gorgeous sea that was there. A nice lunch of prawns and fish that we barbecued at our table with some garlic rice, and then more swimming in the afternoon. Very sadly, my St Christopher came off in the water. It was my late grandma's and very special to me, so a lot of time was spent scouring the water to see if I could spot anything glistening in the sun, but no such luck. God does, however, work in the most mysterious ways. It was my looking for St Christopher that kept us at the beach later than planned, and kept me near that patch of water when suddenly someone spotted a man drowning. When a group of Vietnamese men were pulling him in, I immedietely saw that he was unresponsive and unconscious. I helped get him up onto the beach and started administering aid, telling my brother to get my kit from my bag and Vy came over to work as a translator. I checked his breathing, unsurprisingly absent, so I began with 5 rescue breaths and then started chest compressions. It was after 13 that he began to cough and roll his head a bit, so I rolled him into the recovery position so he could cough up the water. I made sure his airway was open, and there he was, breathing again. I kept an eye on his pulse and resp rate, and checked his pupils. All these Vietnamese people that had crowded round kept wanting to do their own thing, even when I was in the middle of doing CPR. I saw one man trying to do something that is now FIFTY years out of date. I only know about it because we had a session on the history of St John! So I kept barking at them to stay back, and asked Vy to translate "I work on ambulances, let me do it" and they let up for a bit. It was when he was in the recovery position that they started getting agitated again and Vy said "They want to pick him up upside-down and shake him to get the water out; apparently that's how they do things here" and I said absolutely not!! But still they kept going on, and despite Vy's best efforts of diplomacy, they wouldn't let up. I then told Vy to say to them "The man who actually knows about this sort of thing strongly advises you do NOT do this. If anyone picks up this man and shakes him then they can take absolute responsibility for what ensues." and all of a sudden everyone took two paces back!! Jonny and I gave each other a slightly knowing look, saying "Is this a good sign, or are they just making space?"
Several of them actually left, and so it looked like they'd actually been sorted out once and for all. And all one had to do was to question their self-confidence :P
Ambulances are scarce in Vietnam and so the decision was made to take him to hospital in a taxi. The taxi driver was already there, and so I organised it that he bring the car as close as possible, and then chose some chaps to carry the man up off the beach, up the steps over the dune and into the carpark. I entrusted Jonny to support the head, thought it would be best to have a known quantity there!
So into the back of the taxi he went, and being too long for the backseat, I had to improvise him into a sort of recovery position to take the pressure off his chest whilst keeping his feet inside the door. I crouched down between the front and back seats so I could be with him the whole way in case he deteriorated, and his wife got in the front. It seemed like ages before we got to the hospital, but eventually there we were at this tiny rural hospital, maybe two stories. I gestured to the wife to get help from inside the hospital but she was pretty useless and somewhat apathetic (she must have just been completely thrown by the situation) and the pharmacist standing nearby was much more efficient. We couldn't get the trolley bed up to where the taxi was, so again bystanders were roped in to help carry him out of the taxi, down this gravelly slope and onto the trolley. Onto the bed he went and I helped the nurses wheel him into the casualty department. No-one spoke English so I had to gesture with my hands what had happened, what I'd done and so on. They were extremely grateful, the wife was distracted and the man's friend who followed on motorbike gave me a handshake and a hug. It was really good to see this man finally on oxygen and I later heard he was being transferred to a better hospital where they could get the fluid out of his lungs. Later on, the ambulance actually passed us on the way home (I recognised the nurse inside) so I was thinking he'll probably be ok and they should hopefully be able to prevent secondary drowning (caused by the irritated lungs creating too much mucus). Anyway, this friend of his gave me a lift back to the beach where Jonny and Vy still were, and it was only then I realised I was still just in swimming shorts, no flip flops, no t-shirt or anything! Just absolutely covered in sand, and so I carefully accepted his offer of a lift on the back of his bike :) But he drove sensibly, and I was soon back with Jons and Vy. It was quite sweet, the locals on the beach came up and shook my hand, said thank you, and that sort of thing. It was a much nicer welcome than the farewell I had, certainly!
A quick dip in the sea to get the sand off and I was off home for a much needed shower and beer.

At supper that night, we got a phonecall to say that they had gotten the water out of his lungs and were keeping him under observation for a couple of days, so he's made it!! Really am so so pleased, and I just think it's extraordinary how it was almost like I'd just been placed there, on that beach and kept until that time so that this man could live. It's a bizarre feeling, but of course it's a positive one. We've been invited for a thank you coffee, so it'll be nice to check up on how he's doing and suchlike :)

So there you are, all's well that ends well. I was rather unsure whether or not it would be appropriate to write about it, particularly yesterday when I didn't know what the outcome was, but now I know he's okay I feel it's alright.



So, the day before yesterday!! Well, I spent the morning doing odds and ends, getting shaved, getting a book on Laos, that kind of thing. In the afternoon, however, we biked up to an ancient Hindu temple, populated by the Cham tribe - a group of people that have been there long before the unification of Vietnam, the Americans, the Japanese, the French... The Cham tribe used to stretch from India all the way to here in South Vietnam and it was when the Vietnamese civilisation (at that time populating the area from Hue up to the Chinese border) started spreading South that the Cham tribe got seperated, but there are still some left. This temple was stunning, and I went inside the main section where the walls were blackened from years upon years of incence burning, and there was a wonderfully scented smog contained in this place. I felt it wouldn't be appropriate to photograph the inside (not entirely sure it was allowed anyway, find it doubtful) but I've got some of the outdoors!

After that we were received by Vy's grandfather and her uncle on the outskirts of Nha Trang for supper. There weren't enough seats so we all sat on the floor, ate some great food which included fish that they had just caught that day. Vy's uncle then practically ordered me to sing them a song and I felt their eyes fall on me and it was actually a little intimidating. So with a bellyful of fish and beer, I stood up, explained what I was going to sing and then did the first verse of Mozart's In Diesen Heil'gen Hallen for them whilst all the time feeling myself pierced with their judging looks as I sang. But I think I acquitted myself reasonably well and we all parted friends as we rode off into the night.

Well, that's it really.. Today was just filled with chilling out after a heavy night for some, though unfortunately not for me. Lovely lunch at Vy and Jonny's and we're about to head out for some streetfood. I tell you, the streetfood is superior to a lot of the restaurants here. It's just a shame you get plastic furniture in minature sizes, but it rather adds to the charm if you're in the right mood :)

Tomorrow night I get on a bus for 36hrs and travel up to Hanoi. I'm going to be couchsurfing with a nice New Zealand couple who teach English there. So, depart Wednesday night and arrive Friday morning. Lovelyyyyyyyy. I do get four hours in Hue, though, so I might go around the citadel there. I have been, but I might see it in a different light now, and there's a phenomenal restaurant there I seem to remember!

Love to all xxxxx

Ezy Rider

"Fred, we're thinking of hiring a couple of bikes tomorrow and going for a cruise, go into the countryside, that sort of thing. Does that appeal?"
"Yeah, sounds great!"
"Well how do you feel about being one of the drivers? Have you done much on bikes before?"

Hmmmmmmmmmmmm.. Now, the truth is that before then, my total riding experience was almost nil. My biking was confined to the lanes outside of Tom's house on the few occasions we actually got his scooter working, so I've probably ridden a two-wheeled machine of some description for a heady 6 minutes or thereabouts. And I told Jonny this, I was very honest, but also that "despite having a car battery taped to the floor and a very sick bike, it still came quite easily" and that I would be comfortable having a go, providing we could get an automatic or semi-automatic bike.
Next day, we're chatting to one of the many people on the pavement who just have a fleet of about 6 bikes that they rent out to people. 80,000 dong (two pounds and sixty seven pence) got me a Honda Nouvo for the day, in black! Had a quick ride around the block to get used to it, and then we were off! Four bikes that we were, we went down the coastal road for a while, enjoying the sea air and driving through the occasional patch of shade afforded by large trees along the way. Pulled up to check everyone was happy and to take a couple of photos and it was off again! Got onto an abandoned stretch of dual carriageway which led nowhere except past an abandoned and somewhat ghostly resort, and at the end of the road was a roundabout to turnaround and go back on, where we heard slightly deranged and maniacal laughter eminating from the bushes at the side of the road! So we opened the throttle and sped away, avoiding the bits of crumbling tarmac until we were back with civilisation.
We started going into the countryside and immedietely the road deteriorated into gravel and dust, which was kicked up in our wake as we went through villages and rice paddies. We weaved around the occasional cyclist and the odd motorbike when we found ourselves at this bridge about the length of Great Pulteney Street, perhaps a little more. It was barely wide enough for two bikes, but had two-way traffic all the same, and a surprising amount - but then being a bridge, I suppose it's a bottle neck for any traffic that is there. Anyway, we slotted one by one onto the bridge and did our best to keep straight and true over this not terribly straight, nor true bridge. The constant clackclackclack sound of the planks under the wheels reaffirmed any suspicions of ricketyness, I could see each one move as it bore my weight. It made it a lot of fun and gave it a lot of charm, but at the same time it was a shame to be concentrating so hard that I couldn't enjoy the phenomenal views either side of the lake we were crossing and the mountains either side. A couple of wobbles and a near-splash later, I found myself at the other end paying a toll of 6 pence before circling round and parking my bike on the bank with everyone else, where we stopped for a beer and a chill-out at this rather sweet little bar with an incredible backdrop.

After making our way through a bottle each and munching on some grilled rice paper we set off again, over gravelly paths, railway tracks and eventually into a bustling market place and then onto a loud, dense and somehow fluid highway. Intertwining with all the other bikes and cars and ex-Soviet trucks was an exercise of unrelenting concentration and awareness of the space around you, and not having directional hearing made it a massive exercise in checking blindspots, made moreso by the lack of properly adjustable mirrors, all they gave me was an opportunity to admire my torso. Nipping between all the traffic, we eventually came to a rest at the Louisiane Brewhouse, a lovely place on the beach that brews its own beer, has its own pool and beach and is just a very nice place to relax in. What an experience it all was! And so now I really do feel like I have to get a bike licence when I get back to the UK, I think having a bike at uni could be invaluable. And so much cheaper than a car. And yet, I almost feel like it's safer to ride a bike here in Vietnam where everyone rides a bike. Everyone is constantly aware of them, whereas somewhere like the UK which is dominated by cars, no-one properly looks for them at junctions, in blindspots or anything like that. Plus Vietnamese traffic is probably half the speed (although when it's six times the volume, that's a major acheivement).

The evening was rather lovely, the region was celebrating 30yrs since liberation from the Americans and so there was a real buzz about town. We had a special meal and then went down to the beach to watch the fireworks that were being launched out in the water. Everyone was really jolly and there was lots of families and it was all lovely :) Next morning we had to be up early so we didn't bother staying out terribly late to celebrate.

So yesterday saw us out of bed at about 6 in order to prepare ourselves for a morning of snorkelling! We went out on a diveboat to an island where we found all sorts of amazing varieties of colourful fish and coral and all sorts. I even got stung by a jellyfish up the length of my right arm. I didn't even see it, before or after the sting! I've been told that it was probably this sort which is just a long, thin string that sits just below the surface. But it was fantastic, there was a massive octopus and just generally it was so lovely to be back in the water doing that sort of thing, I've always loved snorkelling. I've also decided that I'm going to take up diving. I did some when I was about 15 and really enjoyed it, and university should give me a chance to do it relatively cheaply and get some qualifications under my belt. Perhaps even some of my own kit. I loved it when I did it back then and seeing everyone doing it on this boat really brought it back.

In other news, my travel plans have changed!! It looks like I might be spending a fair amount of my time in Laos - it's much cheaper than Vietnam and still has lovely people and lovely food, or so I'm told. And it's somewhere I know absolutely nothing about, so it really will be a voyage of discovery!! Exciting times :)

Photo-wise, this is going to be in reverse-order......
We've got grilled shellfish on the beach - a lady comes along with stick over her shoulder. Hanging from one end is a big bucket of shellfish, and from the other end are some hot coals to grill them over! So Vy, Jonny and Jasper are tucking into some crabs, but also on offer is lobster for a mere 150,000 Dong - about five pounds.
Then there's a floating village we saw on the way to snorkelling. Fisherman will just live on the water and have their own little fishfarm by their house rather than living on the land and going out to sea all the time.
We also have a fine example of fireworkery, on the celebration of kicking the Americans out!
That is THE bridge.
Lastly is what I was going to show you in the last post - it's a menu from a bar. Click to enlarge it and see what picture they've got to make the idea of a hamburger all the more appealling. Absolutely right, it's a fat kiiiiid!!

Happy Easter!!! xxxxx

Mui Ne... then Nha Trang. Kind of it.

Well no, but in some ways it feels like that as you'll soon see..
And if you haven't seen the wedding post yet, it's below this!!
Mui Ne we left with a smile upon our faces. The family had left, everything was packed and we were just chilling out in the pool for our last few hours before the bus took us to Nha Trang. I must admit, the family leaving was a relief. As much as I love my family, I was really suffering overexposure and I'd had a couple of arguments with my dad - although I had just enjoyed a massive victory over my sister at rummy, so I was already on a bit of a high! Also, the previous night I'd confirmed with Southampton that I would be studying there come October, so I've been getting very excited about that, and also about my impending audition for a vocal scholarship worth a thousand pounds a year!! That was organised at the same time, and it's set for May 14th, when I'll head down to St Michael's in Southampton about 20min before their choir rehearsal and I'll sing my prepared aria and after that they'll stick me in with the choir and see how I fare!! And as regards which aria, he said "Bach, Handel, or similar..". Instantly I thought of Mache Dich, Mein Herze, Rein from Bach's St Matthew Passion but at nearly 10min in length I felt compelled to ask "What sort of length would you like the aria to be?" and the reply of "Doesn't matter, just sing the one you enjoy most" sent me straight to imslp.org to get the sheet music for it (BRILLIANT resource if musicians amongst you don't already know it). I am, however, starting to wonder if it might be a bit easy so I'm still investigating other routes. I just feel that singing something from Handel's Messiah would be too obvious. Suggestions are welcome!

After digressing quite considerably, the bus turned up and we were sort of on our way to Nha Trang, via some rather unnecessary changeovers! But it was all ok in the end, we got here, found our cheap hotel and had some nice food and some beers to finish off the evening. Next morning we got up with fish noodles in mind and found this place that came recommended by Jonny, by Vy and by Vy's uncle who's lived here for many years now. Shame then, that during our breakfast there I should come down with food poisoning.

Fortunately it was quite gradual, I didn't vom in their restaurant but I felt I couldn't eat any more than the few mouthfuls I'd had. We retreated to Jonny and Vy's very very beautiful flat where I started to feel worse, despite the nice breeze and cooler temperature. I then felt terrible and excused myself to return to the hotel when all hell broke loose and I felt very very ill indeed. I was in my room all day, tried eating something that my lovely sister in law delivered to my room which stayed down... for a bit. Next morning though, I felt miles better so we went for breakfast. Alas, I was a bit overambitious in my choice of food and so back to bed I went, although I felt much better for losing the breakfast, almost as though that got rid of the nasty bug causing it all so I just had a short nap in Jonny's flat while people got themselves ready and then we headed down to the beach, where I did a lot more lying around. Ate a few chips and was instantly full, having had my stomach so compressed into a quarter of it's previous capacity - probably a good thing! But I felt loads better so we all went out to supper together.

This place we went was pretty fantastic and I'd love to go back when I really am feeling 100%. They deliver a load of charcoals to your table along with raw but marinaded meats. You then cook them to your own tastes over the charcoal and it is just gorgeous. We had a multitude of pork, beef, kingfish, okra, onion, all sorts. Again, I barely ate anything, but what I managed was fantastic.

Food-aside, the beach here is lovely, there are mountains all around and it's not unbearably hot. The town is pretty and they're preparing for some massive celebrations tomorrow, to celebrate 30yrs since this region was liberated from the Americans - we've seen them practising with lots of red flags and a barge filled with fireworks has been towed into the bay!! Should get some pretty amazing photographs, if taking an expensive camera seems feasible :)

Bringing food back into the equation (sorry, but you'd understand were you here), today saw a massive seafood feast prepared at Jonny and Vy's 9th floor flat. A little bbq was assembled on the balcony, similar to that in the restaurant - a clay structure housing some massive chunks of burning charcoal - and on it went some kingfish fillets we'd wrapped in banana leaf after marinading in lime juice and pepper, as well as some prawns of biblical proportions! Quite literally a cubit in length, and the girth of a carrot from the larger end of the spectrum. As well as this was some delicious clayport pork and some slightly cremated ribs - all Fran's fault. Though possibly mine too, as I was distracting him with a game of chess. He won in the end, but at what cost??

Anyway, tomorrow is a day for snorkelling and then the celebrations in the evening and while I've been having a bit of a panic about finances thisevening - a bit of a panic you can take to mean something nearer abject terror - I'm going to try my utmost to enjoy my last bit of time with Jonny and Vy and friends before heading on up to Hanoi.

Much love to all. Sorry the photos from Mui Ne never came, but I was rather cross with myself for not spotting dust on the lense which has but some great tonking grubby marks on some of my lovely pictures and it's almost shameful.

I have however got a nice photo of a menu I saw last night which we found hilarious - bear with me, I'll have to wait for a computer with a USB port, so perhaps tomorrow morning Vietnamese time :)

Off to the bar now, tam biet! xxxx

Vietnamese weddings!

So! Got some photos of the wedding, and here is how it all happens..
Bride and groom are at their separate houses. Yes, Jonny's house is in the UK, but we used a hotel to symbolise our house! Both of them were decorated muchly, but most importantly of all is the ancestral table with two candles and flower arrangements, and then the archway of flowers over the door - you can see on our ancestral table is a dragon and a phoenix made of chillis and teeth made of garlic and everything's made out of some sort of flower or vegetable!! I'll put some close-ups on facebook when I get back as it's really rather clever :)
Early in the morning, all 6 of the best men assemble and along with the groom they all prepare themselves by getting into ao dai, the traditional dress. While this is happening, the mother of the groom prepares and inspects the red lacquer boxes that contain certain gifts in a certain order, which (if I remember correctly) goes:-
Tea
Wine
Betelnut
Fruit
Jewellery
Money
.....I think. I'll double check and then edit this post if it's wrong! But these boxes are then covered with a red cloth and handed to the best men, taking care to keep them in order. The groom's procession then goes to the bride's house in convoy, and just before the house we got out and our father went up to greet the man of the bride's house, shake his hand and then beckon the procession of the groom's parents, followed by the groom, followed by best men, and lastly remaining family/friends. The best men then stop infront of the flowery archyway, standing opposite the bridesmaids, whereupon they simultaneously pass over the boxes. These are then placed infront of the ancestral table and presented, one by one.
After that, Vy's brother in law, the representative male of her family, and Michael light the two candles on the ancestral table and bow three times, a couple of speeches are made, followed by Vy being brought out of a hiding place whereupon Vy's mother puts her hand in Jonny's. Jonny gives Vy a bunch of flowers and a kiss on the cheek, and they exchange rings. Our mother then helps Vy put on some ancestral jewellery from our family. Jonny and Vy then bow to the ancestral table and proceed to serve tea to Sue and Michael to say thank you for bringing Jonny up and for taking on the responsibility of Vy, and then they serve tea to Vy's parents to say thank you for bringing her up :)
Lunch is then served, the best men and the bridesmaids look after each other, lots of food is eaten, much beer is consumed and it's still only 11am!! The bridesmaids were so so sweet, very lovely temperement and extremely pretty and made us feel very much at home in what was a completely new experience for us. Food was excellent, as it always is, and the house resounded to cries of "Mo!..Hai!....Ba!...YO!!!" which is the Vietnamese for "Cheers, mate.."
I managed to fall off my chair with remarkable grace. Beer in hand, I moved back on my plastic stool for a bit of legroom, however one corner found itself going off a small ledge on the floor, so down that corner went, down my weight went on that one leg, that one leg folds and down my weight goes onto the floor. Beer on the other hand, is held upon high by Fred's better judgement and despite a dusty yet silky arse, there remains a full glass! That's not really a formal part of the ceremonies though..

After lunch, the best men and the bridesmaids line up outside the flowery archway and the now empty boxes are passed back, this time with the cloth folded in half. They all then proceed together to the convoy of cars whereupon the bride, the groom, his family and friends return to the groom's house, followed by Vy's brother in law, her sister, traditionally the mother doesn't come for this bit, but her uncles and aunts did. Everyone's all smiles, we have some tea and a couple more speeches are made, presents are given and then Vy's family depart, leaving her with us!!

Now NONE of what I've written has been particularly emotive, but I can tell you it was such a special special affair. Everyone was really happy, laughing, joking, drinking and Vy and Jonny both looked absolutely stunning. Their ao dai was actually tailored just for them as opposed to us best men hiring ours, and we were all just blown away by how beautiful Vy looked when she first came out of her hiding place at her house. I heard a collective gasp at our table :) And I felt so proud of my big brother!! He looked so smart and he conducted himself so magnificently, and when people asked if we were related I was so glad to tell them we were :)

After a few hours of chilling out after the traditional ceremonies, there was a big reception in a beautiful park that's pretty much just known to the locals, so it wasn't inundated with tourists. Poor Jonny and Vy had to do not one, not two or three, but FOUR sets of photographs doing Mo Hai Ba Yo with each of the 10-ish tables! They barely got a chance to eat anything, but it was much fun for the rest of us, watching them pour out a crazy dry-ice champagne fountain that was bright red, and with these big confetti cannons and some sort of olympics-style fanfare as they and their parents progressed up this red carpet for some more speeches :) The Vietnamese love this kind of thing, and we really entered into the spirit of it! There was also a very sweet toddler at our table, whose parents had taught to do the Mo Hai Ba Yo, and so was doing it with her bottle while we all clinked our glasses of beer! Awwwwww.
Anyways, I'll post this and then I'll update you on what I've actually been getting up to the last few days!
xxxxx