Mui Ne Coast

Our bus to the east coast cost about 3 quid for 5 odd hours.  This journey didnt seem too appealing therefore we both weren't really looking forward to it until that is it turned up with beds on-board instead of seats. Yes a coach filled with beds, what a result. It was great, National Express are missing a trick here.  Even though we'd just had 10 hours kip the night before within 10 mins of boarding it was eyes-down-lights-out. We arrived at the coast bright as a button!

Mui Ne is a coastal resort town in the Binh Thuan province.  Mui Ne Beach is a popular tropical beach, strong sea breezes make it very popular for kitesurfing and windsurfing. Alas with the amount of jellyfish that were in the sea, we were staying firmly on the beach.

No guess what's on the agenda for the next few days...... not a lot!

A meander on the Mekong

The Mekong Delta river bustling with trading ports and canals which date back as early as in the first century C.E. Life in the Mekong Delta revolves much around the river, and many of the villages are often accessible by smaller rivers and canals rather than by road.

We took a bus from Siagon and then transferred onto a boat where we zig-zagged through ocean sized vessels that bring everything from fruit to steel into the area so that it then can be traded locally via smaller boats. Where possible trades are done via boat to boat resulting in workers and their family spending many days on-board their vessel.

The region is famous as a large rice growing area. It produces about half of the total of Vietnam's rice output. Vietnam is the second largest exporter of rice globally after Thailand.

As we worked through the network of canals and river ways we them transferred to a smaller rowing boat so we could gain access to one of the riverside villages. Transferring from boat to boat was a little interesting as if you didn't plant your first step in the centre of the small boat there would be a fair chance you'd be going for a swim and given the colour of the water noone really fancied it. Venice it wasn't!

At the village we got to see and experience different styles of living either via cooking or general trade practices. As it was the weekend there were plenty of locals around to banter with.  Lunch was a cook-up at a local homestay. Basically small restaurants that are attached to residential small holdings. Within the main entrance there was a huge, and I mean huge snake. If you so desired, or if you're mad enough, the owners would drape it around you whilst you had you photo taken. Thankful all were too keen to eat and the snake was duly kept in it's unlocked cage!  After lunch we took some bikes out and cycled up and down the village before we had to head back to the boat and home to Siagon.

Vietnam - love you one time but not longtime....

Vietnam. The one place on our list that hasn't fully enticed us but equally intrigued us enough to make the list. You only have to pick up any guide book on this place and it normally heads up more negatives than positives. Hence why then we researched it the least.

Thoughts again are compounded further regarding the state of this country as on arrival it doesn't take long for the first stranger to advise you to be careful of "everything" whilst your here ! It's pick-pocket central. Handbags are a no-no, designer hooky ones or real aren't advisable, as the all too many Honda clunk riding thieves here ain't choosy.

We arrived in the evening, not particularly late, but it's crazy mad busy. In Milo terms it looks 'totally nuts'. Mopeds are the main transportation for locals, millions of them! By now this just seems the Asian way for city life and weirdly enough you do become at ease with it.

Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) is crazy, totally crazy. Way too many people just not enough space to go round.  50+ Honda clunks line up at every red light prior to the green for go. The traffic seems to be following in every direction. In one guide book under top ten things to do when in Vietnam "cross the road" was listed! Sounds like a hit place hey, you'd think one to avoid. You know, leave

 it to others but no, the place is rammed with tourists of every type, the most we have seen so far on our trip. Like us we guess, curious to see what's really on offer.
Within another travel guide I picked up it stated that if Vietnam doesn't straighten it's security and corruption out soon there is a strong chance that visiting tourists will most definitely miss out on the real Vietnam which should by now be very much available to all.
Saigon is just crazy, like i said way too many people and just not enough space. We've seen families of 4 on one bike. Step ladders, many sacks of rice, plastic cups that nearly reach overhead cables, a double bed and the best so far, 7 crates of beer! All on the one faithful Honda clunk.

We visited the Vietnam war remnants museum. Which was something else. We always knew that it wasn't America's finest hour but on reading and viewing some of the exhibitions we wouldn't be too sure if Americans still to this day aren't, and in some eyes wont ever be, too welcome in these parts.

There was a whole floor dedicated to photography. These were taken by 14 serviceman photographers, none of which made it home.

Some of the photos were in colour which really emphasised how recent these atrocities took place.

We found the Tsunami museum in Sri Lanka moving but that was mother nature, this lot was all man made.

Some shocking Vietnam war stats:

72 million litres of toxic chemicals were sprayed by the Americans. Known as agent orange this herbicide was used for ten years, from 1961 to 1971. To defoliate the forests of Vietnam and hence make the Viet con (Vietnamese communists, or VC) visible from the air and to eradicate the enemies food source by the destruction of crops.

In total 24,000 sq km's or 6 million acres were sprayed in Vietnam. The after affects of this chemical usage are still visible today by with many handicapped Vietnamese (also photos of American war veterans with deformed children too).

Vietnam war compared with WWII:

Length of war:
WWII - 3 yrs 8 mths
Vietnam war - 17 yrs 2 mths

Tonnage of bombs & artillery shells used:
WWII - 5 million
Vietnam war - 14 million

Cost:
WWII - $341 billion
Vietnam war - $676 billion

Next we went to the Cu Chi Tunnels. The tunnels of Củ Chi are an immense network of connecting underground tunnels and form part of a much larger network of tunnels that underlie much of the country. The Củ Chi tunnels were the location of several military campaigns during the Vietnam War, and were the Viet Cong's base of operations for the Tết Offensive in 1968. The tunnels were used by Viet Cong guerrillas as hiding spots during combat, as well as serving as communication and supply routes, hospitals, food and weapon caches and living quarters for numerous guerrilla fighters.

On route to the tunnels we stopped at what you could say was your typical tourist trap where the locals take your hard earned dollars but this place seemed to have a different feel as many of the workers are suffering from disabilities as a result of chemical warfare imposed by the American. We'd not expected this stop off so we had very little funds but would you believe it the tour guide lent us £25 so we could in turn buy and support such a worthy cause.

Our tour guide was very animated when discussing the tactics and actions of the Americans within this region of Vietnam. Obviously any country will tell a one sided story but this guy certainly wasn't holding back on this opinions on the atrocities that were carried out by both sides. It was a tough call on whether he was pro communist or against.

He kept stating that let your camera remember the memories and not your minds. He stated that his first couple of tours that he carried the evenings that followed he just couldn't switch his mind away from what had taken place over many years. But he constantly told himself that the past was in past and it's now time for the country to move on. He also constantly thanked us all for visiting his country as tourism was aiding the change of opinion and moving the country into a new phase.



Ho Chi Minh former president and Vietnamese Communist who formed the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and led the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War until his death. Saigon was renamed Ho Chi Minh in his honour in 1950s after the Fall of Saigon.

At one point there was a chance to access sections of a tunnel. Wow they were small, (apparently the tunnel sizes have been increased so that us tourist types can fit) dark and very hot - and that's without someone trying to kill you via various methods ranging from gazing, flooding, booby trapping. The drive to win the war seemed bigger than ever given these conditions.

Hong Kong mainland - Kowloon district

Although being based on the island has been good we always knew that at some point we would like to be based in the main mix of it 'downtown'.

After doing the main touristy things which came to a head on the open top bus, which frankly was rubbish. I'll tell you why, the driver seemed to think it was the sort of tour that needed executing at warp speed. The g-force on top deck was neck crunching. The old camera needed to be permanently fixed on sport mode to capture any of the whizzing highlights on this tour. Unless the bus company employ some calmer drivers I would not recommend it.

The next couple of days we opted for amore slower pace of life as would you believe it within a city that is so germ obsessed I actually picked up quite a bad cold, some, one included, would class it as flu.  You known lying in the park watching tai chi and sipping tea at local cafes. The people watching in HK is absolutely epic.

To further kick back we opted for a day at the beach, Repulse Bay. By getting out and about I was hoping to pass this cold (flu) onto anyone who wasn't wearing a surgical mask. The bay is beautiful and a real contrast to the city and only 20 mins away. HK an island itself, is surrounded by another 260 islands. These islands were created at the end of the ice age following billions of years of previous volcanic eruptions. So the amount of coastline is pretty high compared with its overall land mass of 1090 sq km's total. Once you are out of the city it's quite a green place. Hiking is pretty big within the cooler months as vista views are far clearer at these times. Beacon Hill being one of the more frequently trekked peak.

What we did note was that there was no tourist accommodation beachside, with only residential, very nice at that, seeming to be ex-pat dominated. We found it funny as we watched the tour buses roll up with the Chinese lot on board. Dressed for what we'd class as clubwear, stilettos and Gucci, always a strong look at the beach! Fe was pleased to see signage for shark nets in place as she entered for a dip.

Our trip to the beach did the trick as the flu eased so we spent a evening in our hotel bar know as 'the pub'. An eastern stab of what pubs are deemed to be like. Duly we entered into a game of darts, the soft tip type.  What really pleased Fe was that no mental arithmetic was required, it did it all for you. What made us laugh was that even if the darts didn't stick in the board the score still seemed to count. With this said Fe claimed the high score of the night of 140.  (hmmmmmm). We called it a day when one of Fe's tips actually snapped off and got stuck in the board.

The main thing that gets me in HK is the lack of chairs ! There's just no where to grab a quick pew. It's probably one of the factors to why the whole place is running at such a pace !

We had a massive thunder and lightening storm last night. Our first "big" storm really, going on this morning papers 40mm fell in just 30mins. This made our night at the races even more exciting. Racing is pretty big in HK, there are two race tracks and the season runs from September to June with meetings twice weekly and we happened to be at the first Happy Valley meet of the season. The Happy Valley track is famous for its downtown location being bang slap in the middle of residential sky-scrapers.  There did seem to be a slight racket around who could actually gamble or not. We had a few cheeky 10$ bets 'on the nose' but no lady luck to be had this night. Now this is a place to hang out if your an ex-pat. It was full of 'em.

Following half an hour of spectacular thunder and lightening the heavens opened just as the tenth and final race ended. This seemed to flush out the 40k plus crowd pretty swiftly which then resulted in a mad scramble to get out of the ground and onto any passing mode of transport. We opted of the tram, as you can guess it was rammed steamy.   As the rains fell it reminded us of nights in the van minus the 98% humidity !! There were some big lightening strikes pretty close by and at one point I'd even say the locals seemed slightly concerned at what must be a common occurrence. A fun time had for our last night in HK. Next onward to the Nam.

Miss
D - The feel of being somewhere that is totally different from the west
F - The surgical masks

Won't miss
D - Highrise blocks - a harsh way to live
F- Eating noodles with 2 sticks - come on thats just silly!

Hong Kong baby! (the island)

Flying from Sri Lanka to HK has seemed to have acted as

some sort of time travel, almost like we have been transported into the future. HK really runs at some pace in every aspect. You could wonder when do these people actually sleep?

The crowds remain the same from day till night. All only difference at night is that the whole place takes on a odd new charm as every shop, restaurant and street vendor lights up like they are the last shop in town open.

There are whole streets dedicated to the sale of fish, cats, dogs, anything that can be salted and dried you name it it's on sale here by the shop-load. Along side these shops are plenty of restaurants selling various 'meats and fishes'. We wonderd what happens to the few animals that don't sell?!

Then there's getting around the place. On day one, we caught the tube and couldn't help think "'wahoo this could be interesting" but by day two we were experts! Mainly because it all works as it should. No eating or drinking allowed on any public transport so you can imagine how clean it all is. Us Brits are definitely missing a trick here.

Fe is loving the hygiene levels here.  Everything gets sprayed with antibac, telephones, lift buttons, hand rials!  Locals are loving the surgical masks too. 

We went up to Victoria Peak, named after QueenVictoria, on a tram, 396 metres above sea level.  The stylish architectural icon has been running for over 120 years.  Unlike in the UK where you exit via the gift shop, here you enter via the gift shop.  Alas the 'gifts' are complete tat.  Great views of the city below, unfortunately there was a bad heat haze so visibility was not great but we did walk around the peak, all 2.8km.

Following in the high up sight seeing mode, next was the Ngong Ping 360 cable car.  Last time we were in a cable car it was minus 4 and we were wearing thermal vests and had those bloody stupid boots on.  The ride takes you 5.7km out of the city and up into the mountains.  Again the heat haze slightly spoiled our view.  At the top was Tian Tan Buddha statue, the largest Buddhist monastery in HK.  Up 260 steps to reach the 100ft tall seated bronzed buddha.  We thought we were getting close to  being all buddha'd out but even in the heat this was worth the trek up.

Sri Lanka win Tri-Series at Dambulla

As you can imagine the locals are ever so slightly happy with this. Still raining out.

http://www.asianage.com/cricket/sri-lanka-thump-india-74-runs-win-tri-series-219

Raining. Well it's Bank Holiday

Previous day

And then today. Stair-rods.

                                                           

Goodbye SL

From Hikkaduwa we jumped back on the train and went further up the coast, stopping at Beruwala, staying in a lovely spa hotel http://www.taprospa.com/Footprints.asp#Rule  managed to get a cheap rate as we are out of season, plus some how via the booking process they thought Dave was a Sri Lanka resident (we were 2 of 6 guests!).  High season in SL is November - March, it is currently the monsoon season.  We have had a few grey days and light rain but the temperature never drops.  It is also wedding season.  We must have seen over 10 weddings.  The average SL wedding lasts for 2 days, with the bride wearing white on day 1 and red on day 2.  They certainly know how to party. 

Our last chunk of train journey was from Beruwala to Mount Lavina.  Another hour on the train for about 50p.  The train line hugs the coast, which is nice but you also get see lots of signs of poverty.  Litter is a real problem here, which is such a shame.  Our final hotel is a bit of a blow out, 5* luxury but we are classing it as a goodbye SL manoeuvre style: http://www.mountlaviniahotel.com/front/index.php  it has real colonial charm, check out what the porters are wearing. We even splashed out on a bottle of South African red with supper, our first taste of wine for a month. Total outrage.

We have enjoyed our 3 weeks here in Sri Lanka.  Have seen so much and experienced plenty of the culture.  The locals are really friendly always wanting to chat, so you can image what its like when they get chatting to Dave!

Miss
D - The feel of a country that does identify tourism but isn't totally overrun by it. But i do feel that mass tourism will be the next step but it well be interesting to see how they deal with it !
F - The curry, its amazing, although I draw the line at having it for breakfast.

Won't miss
D - At the moment everybody wants your Rupee
F- People feeling the need to clear the nostrils via their throat, oh and the litter.

Hikkaduwa, heading north to Colombo

Most people head from the south coast straight to Colombo, but as we have more time than most we decided to pick a few places along the coast for some beach action.  All being linked by the trusty train (built by the British).

First stop was Hikkaduwa, Drifters Hotel.  Owned by the most switched on Sri Lankan, Lalith, we had yet to meet - happy to work hard.  Whilst here we got a tuk-tuk to the Tsunami Museum, which consisted of 2 shacks on the beach.

No entry fee, just a donation box.  The museum was mainly of donated photos from volunteers and organisations that helped with the clear up.  It was extremely moving, some were taken as the first and second waves hit.  Fe was in tears and I was holding them back, trying to do the man thing whilst surrounded by women survivors who were showing us round.  The photos were very graphic and captured the moment as you can imagine.  The beach front is scattered with shells of houses left and gravestones and memorials.

Tsunami stats for this area - 40,000 deaths (with 1500 killed on the train alone.  After the first wave came when the train stopped at the station, everyone clambered on for safety but then the second wave hit.  This resulted in the biggest rail disaster in history) 20,000 children orphaned, 5650 people missing.

  

Next, a little more light hearted, was the turtle sanctuary.  A local guy ran this, doing what he thinks is the right thing by protecting this little critter as the locals seem to think they have the given right to steal the eggs and sell them on for a rupee of course.   This little fella was only 1 day old, Big D didn't want to drop him!

Whilst we were staying at Drifters a Poson Poya day, full moon day, fell.

The Poya Day of each month is classed as a holiday in Sri Lanka. On Poya Days all places of entertainment are closed and no alcohol is sold. Lalith, Drifters manager has given this one some thought though as once dark, 7pm ish, he was more than happy to make special arrangements for guests to order booze. This came in the form of Amstels being served up in tea sets. The man was hailed a genius. It was a very clear night and the brightness of the moon lit the sea with splashes of silver.

Galle

After a epic journey South we end up at The Lighthouse Lodge. Wahoo what a trip that was. The Lighthouse Lodge has a couple of rooms above a local familieses house,  Uma and Eresha were very sweet couple and always willing to help.  We were a little apprehensive to have gone from The Grand at Nuwara Eliya to a place we found on Hostelworld.com but it was lovely.  

 The fort was built by the Dutch in 1663 after they captured Galle in 1640.  They then handed it over to the British in 1796.  It is now a World Heritage Site and provided a calm haven for us two for a couple of days.  The walls of the fort protected the town and its businesses from the 2004 Tsunami.   You can also witness the sun set and rise given the fort's southerly location. 

Our time spent here was mainly relaxing and a haircut for Dave.  He hooked up with Milton, a barber at the Young Buddhists Centre and in his words "if it wasn't for the 12 hour flight, Milton would be replacing Franco".  I think the 15 min head massage with tea tree oil finished him off!  Resulting in numb sensation  almost to the waist! The electrics in this place just had to be seen to be believed, although I noticed Dave opted for the dry cut only!

The mountains in a minibus

If we thought a 4 hour journey in a tin box with no seat was epic.  We now had a 8 hour journey down south to  Galle in a minibus.  Tourists seriously underestimate the journey times within SL.  The route was only 170 miles but was going to take the whole day. 

  However our lovely driver did break up the drive with a few stops, one including St Clairs Waterfalls, Adams Peak (one of the higest points in SL) and the very spot where they filmed Bridge over the River Kwai.  Of course whilst here we had a pot of tea.

Nuwara Eliya. Any chance of a brew ?

Our train tickets to Nuwara Eliya (Middle England) cost 120 rupees, so about 69p for a 4 hour journey which took us  into the mountains, central SL - so as you can imagine we didn't have high hopes for the journey!  As expected no seat and certainly no buffet cart!  Didn't even try the loo.  We stopped at many stations on route and each time we pulled away it was as if the driver was doing his best to pull the front end compleely away from the carriages. The locals seem to find this quite amusing ! Boarding and ilighting the train in SL never takes very long as if there is a door, it is never closed (like the windows).  Each time we went through a tunnel everyone would scream at the top of their lungs as if they were on ghost train at the fair.

We arrived at The Grand hotel in Newara Eliya which was 2000 ft above sea level.  They call it Middle England. Within the villae there is a race course and golf course, all very bristish (although our caddies don't wear skirts).  It even smells like Britain, must have been the rain!  The first night we event wore our long sleeves!!  The hotel was lovely and had a billiards room and a bar with a open fire.  Felt like a ski lodge, very strange. 

The mountains are home to many tea plantations that SL export all round the world.  We drank the odd pot or two here!!   We did a tour of one of the factories, Mackwoods in Labookellie. 
http://www.mackwoodstea.com/aboutus.asp  

They have been producing tea for some 160 years. Not a bad drop we
thought. Bee gee we've drunk some tea over the last few weeks...

Some tea facts: 75 % of the pickings turns to water.  Only 2 leaves and a bud are hand plucked from the tea bush, this is the first stage of making tea.  Most bushes last 100 years although they have started cloning which reduced the life of the bush to 60 years but has an increased yeld - typical.