Ok, so maybe not in the sense as in ‘64 but I was there!
Arriving into Hanoi we manage to wangle our way through Visa payment as we didn’t have any $US only Euros (Doh!!), choose a hostel and got in a ride fairly quickly considering our usual routine. And also considering that within 2 minutes of being in Vietnam we knew that gone are the days where people speak English!
We got a pickup by a guy with sort some of version of my name written on a piece of paper and nodded to the outside and said something which could have been: ‘off we go to rob you blind’ & we followed hoping this was our car! The guy didn’t speak a word of English as he bundled us in and there was another guy driving so there were 2 of them. I immediately started having bad thoughts, especially as he didn’t know where they were supposed to be taking us and I really thought that we had just gotten into some randoms car! Finally we managed to explain where we needed to go as we raced over the highway into town. 1 guy was on the phone all the time & in my mind he was calling the kidnappers and was arranging the change over! Hahaha – but after getting lost in the city and a great view and taste of Hanoi we arrived at the hostel.
The room was decent enough down a little alley street so I thought it would be quiet – but oh how wrong. At 7am in the morning we were woken by an announcement sounding out through speakers in the city. It began a bit like when Blanch plays the xylophone in Greece! And then came the Vietnamese government telling the people to be good. Look after tourists, eat your fruit and veg, treat women right – basically a little daily morning lecture on how to be a good person! So no lie in, but still better then the wailing!! I could hear the hustle bustle of the streets so we decided to get up shortly after that and set off to explore.
We LOVE Hanoi. We both agreed that it has a bit of a Bolivia feel to it. Crazy streets busy with women sitting with fruit baskets and food all down the streets – good produce too, insane traffic and a billion motorbikes and scooters beeping every second. It’s a mix of high end shops, stalls and shacks selling all sorts! The atmosphere is superb, if very polluted. All the locals wear surgeon like masks. We wandered around the lake in town and went to the old prison where most of the American pilots who were shot down and captured were kept as well as local political revolutionaries.
Vietnam is another country for me that highlights my ignorance on past wars and history. I have no idea! I know it happened, but that’s about it. So here’s a quick history lesson (in my very basic terms!) And please don’t skip it, unless you know about the war – it’s only short!!
Ok, so the French were first as they retaliated to Catholic missionaries being imprisoned & subsequently took over for a while. Then came the communists who were the most successful anticolonialists as well as at resisting Japanese forces during WW2. The French & Japanese worked together so that Vietnam wasn’t that affected by the war but towards the end there was big flooding and 10 million Vietnamese in the North starved to death. The communists, who were the only ones opposed to having the French & Japanese in Vietnam (known as the Viet Minh) at this time were offered assistance by the US.
Then it gets a bit messy as things in Europe took a lot of attention and the North and South of Vietnam were accepting Japanese surrender by the Chinese and British respectively. (Due to some conference called Potsdam) but in the end the French regained control of Vietnam. (All a bit confusing!) However, the Viet Minh were determined and despite massive US aid in a bid to stop a communist domino affect throughout Asia, it was ultimately an unwinnable war.
So then Vietnam was split into North (communist) and South (anti-communist). But the Southern leader got a bit tyrannical and the US decided to support a military coup.
In 1960 the Viet Cong was formed and a civil war began between North and South. The US still wanted to combat the communist movement and in 1964 claimed that 2 ships in Vietnamese waters came under unprovoked attack (which according to research is half and half true) but it was enough for them to start bombing the North. A resolution was passed in the US that meant the President had the power to take any action he desired to repel armed attacks, without any congressional control. The US then went crazy and even went as far as attacking and devastating half of Cambodia in an attempt to flush out Vietnamese communist sanctuaries. The US people eventually started to realize things were getting out of hand as protests and rage tore the country apart. Eventually in 1972 the Paris Peace Accord was signed by all involved providing a ceasefire.
That’s it in a nutshell (a really small shell!) I think it’s a big problem that our generation doesn’t know much about these things & while I know it’s the pot calling the kettle black – if I’ve been able to impart a small & limited piece of knowledge, then that’s good.
So……After the museum we made our way across town to the government area and the mausoleum of Ho Chi Minh (the founder of the Viet Minh), but guttingly it was closed!!!
As night started to draw in the city started to take on another feel as the streets became jammed with street food ‘restaurants’. They cook the food in little pots and pans on the street and have little kiddy chairs and tables for people to sit on. The locals are out in full force – like everyone eats at these places, no one cooks at home. The market shops open up and you have the shoe district, the hair accessories district (I have never in my life seen so many hair clips and bands!!) the bag district – it’s crazy! We brought an old school propaganda poster which is really cool and I can’t wait to hang it up at home.
The food is delicious. I’ve always loved Vietnamese food from the little I have had back home but here (obviously) it is superb!! We didn’t brave one of the little street set ups just yet so settled for a cheap local place.
The following day we set off on a tour to Halong Bay which is an amazing place made up of over 2000 incredible islands rising out of the Gulf of Tonkin. Unfortunately the weather wasn’t great so we didn’t get to see the water as emerald coloured and whereas normally you would be able to see islands stretching far out to the horizon, for us you could pretty much only see the surrounding islands as the rest were lost to the mist. However it also gave it another charm, slightly eerie and mysterious. A bit like I was setting off into the set of Lost or Jurassic Park!
On the way to Cat Ba, which is the only habitable island we stopped off at one of the grottos in the middle of an island which was quite spectacular, if not completely overrun with tourists. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many boat loads crammed into one place. That night we stayed in a hotel and met up with some people from the boat from NZ. Day 2 of the tour was to go to Cat Ba National Park and do a 2 hour trek before heading back on the boat, but we’d heard about a 6 hour trek through the park that we really wanted to do – as did the NZ’s, so we got together and organized an extra night in order to do so. And I am so glad that we did. The trek wasn’t as long as we expected (which seems to be the norm with these things) and only took about 4 hours but it was spectacular. We trekked through some real jungle up and down 6 mountains (well really big hills really) and the climbing was fairly demanding, especially the coming down! But it was really great and I’m glad we decided to do it! We stopped off at a village which is literally in the middle of nowhere. When you consider where this island is within Halong Bay and then it’s positioning it’s insane that people live here. And it’s not as we thought it would be - like mud roads and huts, it’s really built up. They even have satellite TV!! Lols.
That night we went out with the NZ’s, had way too much to drink, almost broke into a shut up hostel that we thought was ours and had locked us out but of course it turned out it wasn’t and the next day got back on the boat on which we would stay.
Now if there’s one thing I have noticed so far about the Vietnamese, is that they’re not exactly the brightest of the bunch when it comes to business. (Or maybe they are – it’s just that us Westerner’s don’t appreciate it!) Basically they don’t seem to be able to count. If there are 20 seats on a bus – they’ll have 22 people waiting to get on with tickets. If there are 14 beds on a boat, they’ll set sail with 15 people on board and so on…so there’s a lot of waiting around and rearranging and a lot of animated Vietnamese conversation going on! The crux of it is: they take as much money i.e. people as they can and will sort the logistics out later. It’s also very funny, if not slightly annoying when it comes to important things, trying to communicate. 2 classics to date are:
Q: Where is the lady in the blue shirt?
A: 30,000 for 1 kg!
Q: How are you?
A: Me 25
You will also find here that they are taught to say yes to everything as to say no is impolite. So whatever you ask you will always get the response ‘yes yes yes.’ This is basically translated into: ‘I have no idea what you are saying!’ Lols. But hey: it’s not like I can say anything considering my Vietnamese!!
So after spending the night on the boat, which was great – the tiny cabin room so was so cute, we arrived back in Hanoi just in time to take the night bus to Hue (pronounced Whey), in central Vietnam. We’d booked a sleeper bus which according to the pictures had full blown beds on the bus, & although that wasn’t quite the case, it wasn’t bad! Cramped, but you did get an almost fully horizontal bed and we were entertained with the delights of the Victoria’s Secret’s fashion show on the plasma TV screen. But don’t ask about the toilet, which was basically a bucket at the back of the bus. Thank god we had seats at the front as the stench was awful!! I actually even was able to sleep a little! We were dropped off outside a hotel which was manic. Sooo many locals buzzing around you asking if you want a taxi, a motorbike, a cyclo (tuc tuc thing)or hotel…all this & you’ve only just woken up and grabbed your stuff before it gets carried away out of your sight!
It was chaos, but we managed to sit down and eventually took the offer from one guy of a hostel down the road which seemed decent. We also had to book a room for Tymon’s parents as they were arriving that day!!
So here we are in Hue. His parents arrived safe and sound it’s great to have them here!! His dad is a fountain of knowledge which is great especially today as we visited the Citadel. The main city centre is separated by the Perfume River with the Citadel on the North side and recreation on the South.
The Citadel is very impressive and it’s sooo strange to think that just 70 years ago it was still being used in full force with its Eunuchs, Concubines & Mandarins! It’s basically a city within itself where the Emperors used to live. Unfortunately most of it was badly bombed during the French and American wars and only 20 of the 148 buildings survived. Restoration of the least damaged sections and the complete restoration of others is ongoing, but a large part of it is still in ruins. But it’s beautiful and the architecture is amazing.
Tomorrow we’re planning on heading to the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) about 90km west of Hue which saw some of the fiercest fighting in the American War.
So until next time…
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Slinging It In Singapore
So a quick entry this time about our 4 days in Singapore - at least that's the aim!
We arrived late at night and then did our usual ritual of sitting in arrivals with the Lonely Liar figuring out where we would stay and after what seemed an eternity we finally decided and got the shuttle bus into town. It was very quiet on the streets and from what I could see at that time very...city like. They have a Singapore Eye (like the London Eye...) which was all lit up and looked very pretty and lots of tall buildings.
The hostel was cheapish but clean and quiet. As we didn't get to bed until about 4am we slept in quite late before we set off to explore Singapore. We woke up to a lovely hot day so we were still in the kind of weather we were accustomed to. We'd ended up choosing (unknowingly) a hostel in the Muslim Quarter, but thankfully there was no wailing! The city map was HUGE - you had to open it up about 6 times before you could see it all and we were thinking that it was going to be a long day walking around and maybe it would be better to bus it, but as we set off for our first walk we realized that the city is infact tiny!! Tymon's mission whilst in Singapore was to buy some lenses and camera stuff as he has just purchased a professional Canon back in Holland (because of insurance) that his parents are bringing to Vietnam (so needless to say he's like a child waiting for Xmas day right now ;0) so our first day we pretty much spent in camera shops! Preeeety boring for me, but I know it'll be worth it in the long run when I see the photos!! The sad thing is we thought that it'd be so much cheaper in Singapore than back home and it turns out that it's not! So that was a bit of a let down - so after all the waiting around and comparing prices we went back to the hostel and he ordered it all online from Holland! Typical huh.
So after sitting in a shop most of the day for early evening went for a walk down to China Town to have a look around the street market and food courts. China Town is...China Town, the same everywhere else really, but a little more authentic. (Well obviously not as authentic as in China, but you know - at least Asian!) It was very big. On the way in by the river there is restaurant after restaurant with loads of fish tanks outside full of crab (a specialty), lobsters and prawns from which you can choose to have freshly made :0( and as you get into the market the food courts just take up a huge part of it. it's very basic and each kitchen cooks in a tiny space but the food is really cheap and for the most part good - if not very spicy!
The following day we slept in late again as we were on a night rhythm due to the late arrival & mainly caught up on emailing for the most part. We had a walk around the colonial district which is beautiful and the government buildings and architecture in general is pretty cool. Especially this huge 3 tower empire that is being constructed, which we later found out is actually going to be Singapore’s very first casino and mega complex. Although the locals aren’t allowed to go in and gamble unless they pay a S$100 every time!! The government only wants foreigner’s money to be wasted – not the local!! Pretty smart if you ask me! In the evening we took it easy & I worked on the computer doing all this and Tymon was sorting out buying his camera and phoning home. The only thing to report was that at one point about 2 hours had passed since Tymon said he was heading out to make a phone call and I went to look for him in the hostel and the receptionist said he’d left ages ago! So I started to panic. I waited another 20 mins and then my mind went into overdrive. What if he didn’t come back? What would I do? I started to think of the logical steps to take. I didn’t know where he had gone so how the hell would I find him? What if I never did? I’d have to call his parents! Oh the list goes on and before you know it I’m pacing up and down crying my eyes out. Checking his Facebook account to see what he last wrote for clues!! Eventually he comes back and wonders what the hell is wrong with me! Thinking something terrible has happened! Hahaha. I have to stop worrying – but I can’t help it. Whenever he’s out of my sight for more then 20 mins I start to panic. I just can’t bear the thought of anything happening to him. It didn’t help that I was in the middle of reading P.S. I Love You!! If you’ve read the book – you’ll understand! Heartbreaking!!
The following day was spent walking down the equivalent of Oxford Street and Bond Street called Orchard Road enjoying the local flavoured milk ice tea, except for the gooey, chewy, a bit like what you imagine fish eyes to be like, balls they put in for whatever reason!! It’s a very long road and the Gucci’s and Dior’s stores are MASSIVE!! Oh to go shopping!! :0)
Then that night was the night! Tymon had a friend from NL living in Singapore so we had agreed to meet up with him and his girlfriend for dinner followed by cocktails at Raffles!! Exciting! They took us for dinner to this all you can eat Japanese restaurant which no lie is the most amazing buffet I have ever seen. For 25 EUR you could eat all the lobster, crab, sushi, hot foods, salads, soups…the whole shebang – incredible!! Soooo goooooood. I can’t wait to go back to Singapore and go again!!
Then with an extremely full stomach we went to Raffles – the legendary hotel. (By the way this Mr. Raffles has been quite the busy man – his name is on pretty much everything in the city. Raffles Hospital, Raffles Cinema Complex, Raffles City Mall – loads!!) Anyway, the hotel is absolutely gorgeous and a very big complex. The architecture is quite impressive with a very English Indian Colonial style to it. It also has an arcade of high end shops running around the perimeter. So up to the bar we went anticipation in the air. The bar was…not what we were expecting. I though it was some high class cocktail bar when infact it’s more of an old English run down gentleman’s bar with peanut shells ALL over the floor! There was a really great live band on so it was really cool – much more fun! I’ve never had a Singapore Sling before and it’s…ok. Not my first cocktail of choice, but the moment was made and recorded, another tick on my checklist, as we toasted to Slinging It In Singapore!
Next stop that night was across the road to Swiss Hotel and the 72nd floor to a very swanky bar with fantastic views all over the city. We’d ran out of money at this point so we didn’t stay for a drink, just had a cheeky peek out of the windows but it was well worth the visit! And if you go for a holiday and have some mullah the hotel itself I’m told is pretty lush!!
So that was our time in Singapore. It’s a really nice city – very clean and very strict – I mean no chewing gum is allowed!! Bit extreme but the pavements are immaculate. They also have a lot rules, especially in the hostels and everyone seems to be on their best behavior. I’m looking forward to going back and hopefully we’ll be with my mum and dad!!
The next day we flew out to Vietnam and were extremely excited. We had a feeling the real adventure was about to begin – Asia: he we come!!
We arrived late at night and then did our usual ritual of sitting in arrivals with the Lonely Liar figuring out where we would stay and after what seemed an eternity we finally decided and got the shuttle bus into town. It was very quiet on the streets and from what I could see at that time very...city like. They have a Singapore Eye (like the London Eye...) which was all lit up and looked very pretty and lots of tall buildings.
The hostel was cheapish but clean and quiet. As we didn't get to bed until about 4am we slept in quite late before we set off to explore Singapore. We woke up to a lovely hot day so we were still in the kind of weather we were accustomed to. We'd ended up choosing (unknowingly) a hostel in the Muslim Quarter, but thankfully there was no wailing! The city map was HUGE - you had to open it up about 6 times before you could see it all and we were thinking that it was going to be a long day walking around and maybe it would be better to bus it, but as we set off for our first walk we realized that the city is infact tiny!! Tymon's mission whilst in Singapore was to buy some lenses and camera stuff as he has just purchased a professional Canon back in Holland (because of insurance) that his parents are bringing to Vietnam (so needless to say he's like a child waiting for Xmas day right now ;0) so our first day we pretty much spent in camera shops! Preeeety boring for me, but I know it'll be worth it in the long run when I see the photos!! The sad thing is we thought that it'd be so much cheaper in Singapore than back home and it turns out that it's not! So that was a bit of a let down - so after all the waiting around and comparing prices we went back to the hostel and he ordered it all online from Holland! Typical huh.
So after sitting in a shop most of the day for early evening went for a walk down to China Town to have a look around the street market and food courts. China Town is...China Town, the same everywhere else really, but a little more authentic. (Well obviously not as authentic as in China, but you know - at least Asian!) It was very big. On the way in by the river there is restaurant after restaurant with loads of fish tanks outside full of crab (a specialty), lobsters and prawns from which you can choose to have freshly made :0( and as you get into the market the food courts just take up a huge part of it. it's very basic and each kitchen cooks in a tiny space but the food is really cheap and for the most part good - if not very spicy!
The following day we slept in late again as we were on a night rhythm due to the late arrival & mainly caught up on emailing for the most part. We had a walk around the colonial district which is beautiful and the government buildings and architecture in general is pretty cool. Especially this huge 3 tower empire that is being constructed, which we later found out is actually going to be Singapore’s very first casino and mega complex. Although the locals aren’t allowed to go in and gamble unless they pay a S$100 every time!! The government only wants foreigner’s money to be wasted – not the local!! Pretty smart if you ask me! In the evening we took it easy & I worked on the computer doing all this and Tymon was sorting out buying his camera and phoning home. The only thing to report was that at one point about 2 hours had passed since Tymon said he was heading out to make a phone call and I went to look for him in the hostel and the receptionist said he’d left ages ago! So I started to panic. I waited another 20 mins and then my mind went into overdrive. What if he didn’t come back? What would I do? I started to think of the logical steps to take. I didn’t know where he had gone so how the hell would I find him? What if I never did? I’d have to call his parents! Oh the list goes on and before you know it I’m pacing up and down crying my eyes out. Checking his Facebook account to see what he last wrote for clues!! Eventually he comes back and wonders what the hell is wrong with me! Thinking something terrible has happened! Hahaha. I have to stop worrying – but I can’t help it. Whenever he’s out of my sight for more then 20 mins I start to panic. I just can’t bear the thought of anything happening to him. It didn’t help that I was in the middle of reading P.S. I Love You!! If you’ve read the book – you’ll understand! Heartbreaking!!
The following day was spent walking down the equivalent of Oxford Street and Bond Street called Orchard Road enjoying the local flavoured milk ice tea, except for the gooey, chewy, a bit like what you imagine fish eyes to be like, balls they put in for whatever reason!! It’s a very long road and the Gucci’s and Dior’s stores are MASSIVE!! Oh to go shopping!! :0)
Then that night was the night! Tymon had a friend from NL living in Singapore so we had agreed to meet up with him and his girlfriend for dinner followed by cocktails at Raffles!! Exciting! They took us for dinner to this all you can eat Japanese restaurant which no lie is the most amazing buffet I have ever seen. For 25 EUR you could eat all the lobster, crab, sushi, hot foods, salads, soups…the whole shebang – incredible!! Soooo goooooood. I can’t wait to go back to Singapore and go again!!
Then with an extremely full stomach we went to Raffles – the legendary hotel. (By the way this Mr. Raffles has been quite the busy man – his name is on pretty much everything in the city. Raffles Hospital, Raffles Cinema Complex, Raffles City Mall – loads!!) Anyway, the hotel is absolutely gorgeous and a very big complex. The architecture is quite impressive with a very English Indian Colonial style to it. It also has an arcade of high end shops running around the perimeter. So up to the bar we went anticipation in the air. The bar was…not what we were expecting. I though it was some high class cocktail bar when infact it’s more of an old English run down gentleman’s bar with peanut shells ALL over the floor! There was a really great live band on so it was really cool – much more fun! I’ve never had a Singapore Sling before and it’s…ok. Not my first cocktail of choice, but the moment was made and recorded, another tick on my checklist, as we toasted to Slinging It In Singapore!
Next stop that night was across the road to Swiss Hotel and the 72nd floor to a very swanky bar with fantastic views all over the city. We’d ran out of money at this point so we didn’t stay for a drink, just had a cheeky peek out of the windows but it was well worth the visit! And if you go for a holiday and have some mullah the hotel itself I’m told is pretty lush!!
So that was our time in Singapore. It’s a really nice city – very clean and very strict – I mean no chewing gum is allowed!! Bit extreme but the pavements are immaculate. They also have a lot rules, especially in the hostels and everyone seems to be on their best behavior. I’m looking forward to going back and hopefully we’ll be with my mum and dad!!
The next day we flew out to Vietnam and were extremely excited. We had a feeling the real adventure was about to begin – Asia: he we come!!
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Liars, Lonley, Illness, Fun & More Booze
It’s taken a while but we have realized that the bible is full of sh*t!! (Well I could have told you that yrs ago, but I mean our travel bible!) So, thanks to a friend we met, it will now be referred to as the Lonely Liar!
So as per the end of my last update, we were heading to Flores, which is a large island to the east of Indonesia. The Lonely Liar, promised great things! Beautiful bays and gorgeous beaches and superb snorkeling and diving! So we land at Labuanbajo full of high hopes. Only to be driven into the middle of a dirt track one way ‘road’ with ‘shops’ on either side. The heat was insanely intense and it smelt like a sewer. Thanks Lonely Liar!!
We found a hostel for the night and were just sitting down in the room trying to stop sweating for 2 minutes and trying to figure out what the hell Lonely Liar was going on about, when all of a sudden the loudest wailing starts over some speakers right outside our room! It sounded like someone was in pain – but we soon realized as it continued that it was friggin call to prayer!!! We’d arrived in Muslim territory and would have to endure this painful wailing up to 5 times a day or more, including a lovely 5am wake up call!! I mean don’t get me wrong – before the UK carts me off to the racist/religion bin – I’m all for appreciating and understanding other cultures, that’s why I am travelling, but really – does the guy have to be tone deaf and wail at the top of his lungs. How they can think that that’s what their God wants to hear - it’s an insult to anyone with ears, let alone someone as divine as their holy lord, or whatever!! So that little shock over and done with we figured out the next best place to be as we were totally not feeling Labuanbajo! The nearest town turned out to be about a 7 hour drive away, so that was out and there was a couple of nearby islands that were habitable so we thought we’d take our chances with one of them! We first of all went to the boat trip place to bring forward our ticket by a week – clearly we were not going to last that long out here! Thankfully there was space.
So the following day we decided to head to Kanawa, one of the nearby islands and stay there for 4 days until the boat left to take us back to civilization!
We lugged all our stuff down to the harbour where we tentatively watched the boat deck hands load on our bags to a boat that was swaying side to side so much I thought it could tip over at any moment. The water was pretty choppy and I’d made the mistake of wearing my flip flops. As I stepped onto the boat a big swirl of water came and rammed the boat against my big toe smashing it against the boat and the concrete steps! That was not a nice feeling!! There was blood and that sort of hyperventilating you do when you stub your toe. It’s so painful you want to cry but it doesn’t quite come. So there I am sitting on this boat with a big block of ice painfully held against my bleeding toe trying to concentrate on not falling out of the boat. After sorting me with the ice, the captain then runs around like a mad man punting the boat away from the harbour and then while it’s facing the right direction before the waves come and turn it around again he scrambles through some floor boards below the boat and started turning a big handle to get the engine started!! It started with a bang and a big puff of black smoke and roared to life. It was deafening!! Thank god it was only an hour ride or so!!
There was only one family owned and run ‘hotel’ on the island and one restaurant, which was extortionate. The hotel actually consisted of 15 bungalows on the beach which were pretty basic with an outdoor bathroom which meant of course the bloody hole in the floor as a toilet. This is another pet peeve of mine. I’m sorry – I don’t care how poor a place is – this kind of toilet should really these days not be in existence any longer. There is no excuse. All it takes is a few more bricks or whatever to create a seat. Weeing and pooing on your ankles just isn’t cool!!! My Whizz Ease came in handy for the number one’s but number two’s…well quite frankly, it’s the most degrading disgusting act ever! Thank God I didn’t encounter any cockroaches in the ‘bathroom’ cos that would have tipped me over the edge! The ‘shower’ was interesting too. We had a mandy which is basically a big bucket of ‘fresh water’ imported from the mainland (which wasn’t fresh at all and was half salted!) with a smaller hand bucket in it to pour over yourself. I mean ok it was pretty grim, but liveable with for a couple of days!
It was a quiet few days as we were the only tourists on the island the first night, with really nothing to do whatsoever apart from snorkel. It was sooooo blisteringly hot that we couldn’t even sit out. There were no loungers or anything so we’d just try and find some shade under one of the dying trees. The island wasn’t really beautiful and the locals obviously do the bare minimum. There was rubbish piled all over it which is such a shame. The second day another couple arrived who were from Finland, so we made friends with them and had dinner and breakfast etc together. The food was actually not bad, although if the island was full I’m not really sure how they would deal with the cooking orders. It took them almost 2 hours to make anything for 2 people, let alone if they were at capacity!! But we were in no hurry really – it’s not like we had somewhere to go! The second day was the first time I had a little cry and was a bit down and homesick. I just didn’t really like the island and it was pretty lonely. Tymon was off with the Finnish guy Dennis taking about a bazillion pictures doing his own thing so I was just alone reading thinking about all of you guys and family. I was looking forward to leaving.
So the days passed slowly. The boys were fishing catching squid and I was trawling through my book. Finally the day came to get the boat back to the mainland and wait the whole day for the boat out later that night back towards Bali. Back on the mainland we went to a restaurant that we had gone to on our first night there which had free wireless internet and we’d met the owner who was a really nice guy. Originally from Jakarta he’s done pretty well for himself with this restaurant so we thought we’d pass the day in the restaurant but he was actually closed. But he said hey come in and chill no worries and he cooked for us and said to help ourselves to drinks etc so we didn’t have to wander aimlessly around the village! It was so nice of him. Tymon also took some really amazing black and white pictures of him and his band mates – so check them out on www.melikepainting.com! As the day went on, even though he was closed the restaurant just kept filling up. He wasn’t even there; he was sitting with his mates across the road, so at one point I started taking drinks orders and keeping an eye on things for him. He had the business whether he wanted it or not and he was so relaxed about it – he was like hey help yourself and just write down what you take!! Finally the time came to load up onto the boat, which we thought actually left that night but we then found out we just stay on the boat in the harbour that night and set off at like 5am in the morning. It was also party night on the boat as people were leaving so it was a bit of a piss up and party especially for the crew, who immediately were basically al about the single girls on board. Everybody else kind of got treated like poo. We’d been up since 5am that morning and we so weren’t in the mood for a party on board especially as we were sleeping on deck so it was kind of like wait for everyone to finish before you can get any sleep!! The music was blaring and I just wanted to get on the road and back to Bali way!! Finally the crew started handing out the mattresses and pillows to put on the floor of the boat at about 1am. I laid on a seat ledge and there were cockroaches crawling about so I was having a great time already on this boat!! I was not in the best of moods – and I was tired. And we were getting up at the crack of dawn to have breakfast and go for a trek on Rinca island to see the Komodo Dragon!! I barely slept that night and then of course at 5am the bloody wailing started and the engine roared to life as we set off. I was up shortly after that!
But by 7am when we were walking off the boat into the National Park reserve to see the dragons I was very excited. Komodo’s can only be found in this small area of Indonesia in the whole world (wild that is), so it was a great feeling that our travels had brought us here to be able to see them! Within 5 minutes as we came to the entrance area there they all were. About 10 of them lounging around the huts and cabins. They are massive!!! And so prehistoric looking. When they stick out their snake like tongue and move along slowly and heavy there’s a real sense of foreboding. You do not want to get on the wrong side of ones of these. They carry so much bacteria in the holes in their teeth from all the rotten food they eat that if you get bitten – game over!! They can run about 25km per hour as well so I was grateful for the guides with big sticks following us around. It was an amazing experience!!
After a 2 hour trek around the reserve we headed back to the boat where everybody just chilled/sunbathed on deck while we sailed on to the next island for snorkeling. The group on the boat was a great group really so we had a laugh. Although ever since I set foot on the boat I didn’t really feel great. I was easily a bit nauseas from the sailing and I just felt a bit light headed and weak the whole time. (Little did I know the worst was to come!)
The next place we stopped was a small island for snorkeling. The boat stopped quite far out from shore over deep blue water, which already looked ominous to me. (As many of you may know – I have a sort of fear of the deep sea! You’ll especially know this if you’ve ever witnessed me trying to get back onto a pedlo after lowering myself in the deep blue water!!) But I wanted to go snorkeling so thought I’d give it a go. I figured I’d soon be over shallow reefs so I’d be fine. So I get a mask and jump into the water with Tymon. As I look down into the water I start to breathe a little faster. It was deep!! I mean I could see the bottom, but it was a long way down!! And I was getting little stings from these tiny little jelly fish, so I just thought get a grip and off we go. Tymon was swimming ahead quite oblivious at this point of my loud deep breathing getting faster and faster as we swim further over this cavernous deep! The noise of being able to hear myself breathe wasn’t helping either. You know how it is when your ears are under water and you’re breathing through the snorkel and you can hear yourself breathing like Darth Vader. All of a sudden I was breathing too fast and through my nose so my mask started peeling away from my face and filling up with water at which point, I had to call Tymon, as I started panicking and treading water spasing out! He was very good and calm and just said come on we’ll swim back, to which my answer was I can’t and he took my hand and said look at me you’re ok and calmed me down as we started to swim back. He said don’t look down but that’s like saying to someone – don’t look now, but…of course all I wanted to do was look down. I had to be able to see what was coming for me if anything!! Just as I didn’t think I could breathe any faster we got back to the boat and I got on board before losing it completely in what can only be described as a full on panic attack!! I was dry heaving and sobbing – again so actual tears, but I was just so terrified!! I was shaking and so relieved to be out of the water. As I settled down in Tymon’s arms and my breathing returned to normal, with all the crew looking at me like a freak – I’m really surprised at myself. I would never have expected that reaction! It was quite frightening.
I then got upset again as I walked out onto the deck to see the crew fishing and catching the beautiful tropical fish. They were flapping about in a metal tin on deck in a splash of water. I couldn’t’ believe it – how could they catch these beautiful things. They have such an indifference to animals over here it’s very sad.
Anyway, so the rest of the time on the boat was basically a lot of snorkeling and a lot of down time as we cruised the ocean, but as time went on I was feeling more dodgy. I couldn’t really put my finger on it – I thought it was a bit of sunstroke so I tried to sleep it off but as we got off the boat and onto the bus to head to the town we were staying in so we could transfer to the Gili Islands the following morning, it really started to kick in. I was sitting on the bus and I started to ache all over and I don’t mean like I’ve walked a lot or done a hard work out – I mean aching as if someone was stretching my bones with metals claws. I couldn’t sit still for the pain it was horrible. I took some painkillers and thankfully they worked for a while to get me through the rest of the journey until we arrived and found a hostel. I went straight to bed, drank of a lot of water and hoped that by morning it would be over.
I didn’t sleep very well as it was party central but the pain hadn’t actually been that bad and by morning I felt a bit better. A group of us from the boat got the connecting boat that would take us to Gili Trawangen which is where we would spend 12 days and Xmas. There is no traffic only pony drawn carts (which don’t get me started on – I hated them!! Not all the ponies were in a bad way, but the poor things were worked to the bone pretty much all hours of the day in the sweltering heat and the ones that weren’t looked after properly were skinny and had sores al over there bellies and chests from the ridiculous garb they hang on them and the straps were rubbing them red raw. AND they still worked them and had the straps pulled tightly across these sores AND there were bloody fat lazy cruel tourists piling into these carriages with their luggage and kitchen sink without a second thought. When I saw them in ones of the sore ridden carriages I had to contain myself not to shout obscenities at them! I wanted to punch them. But enough of that….) So no traffic and just blistering hot sun. We had been tipped off about a decent hostel so we headed (on foot I might add!) to the hostel. It wasn’t a far walk and already we got a great vibe about the island. There was a main strip (only a very small part of the islands is actually used for tourism) full of restaurants and bars and everyone seemed v¬ery friendly welcoming us to Gili. Once we were all settled I started to feel rather ropey again and tired, so following lunch I returned the hostel alone while the others explored and went to bed. This is the day it got worse – much worse. I don’t think I have ever felt so bad illness wise ever before. The aching slowly but surely started again with the metal claws stretching my bones in all directions. I couldn’t lay still or concentrate - it was awful. Eventually Tymon came home where he found me crying in bed not knowing what to do with myself. He promptly went and got some ice for my fever and came back, dosed me up with painkillers and sat with me all day and night. During the night as it got worse every few hours he would put me under the cold shower and stand with me telling me I would be ok as I cried. He was amazing. After a very long night & to cut a long story short (as if this entry is anything but short!!) I was pretty ill for about a week. I couldn’t eat (Hurrah – if only it was just a bit of sickness - that I could have dealt with) and was very weak, but eventually I started to feel better (and my appetite came back with a vengence – BOO!)
By the time I was better and out to socialize the group we came with had all left. So it was back to me and T. We did some snorkeling which was ok – but not as good as on Kanawa – although we did see Turtles which was AWESOME and found the 5* resort pool and sunbathed there. As the rainy season was finally kicking in by early afternoon it usually clouded over and started to rain which was a welcome break from the heat and we pretty much chilled to the max. We watched movies most nights in these private little chill out booths while we had dinner and got into a little routine. And then Xmas arrived. I was very emotional and missed my family A LOT! I didn’t like being away from them. But on Xmas morning Tymon and I exchanged presents (swim shorts for him and a bikini for me as there was only one decent shop on the island), had eggs Benedict for breakie which was delicious and a great substitute for my usual bacon sandwich and laid by the pool again soaking up the sun. We’d met another couple with whom we were going to have Xmas dinner with that night, which was very nice in a private booth overlooking the ocean and then before I knew it the day was over.
12 days is a long time where you’re just chilling, it was great and we felt thoroughly refreshed as we headed back to Bali for New Year.
It was great to be back in Legian at the same hostel as before and zipping about on the scooter. We went fabric shopping one day in preparation for Vietnam where we plan on getting some custom made clothes, ate a lot of satay at the street warungs, boogie boarded every day together which was BRILLIANT and saw in New Year on the beach with a million fireworks going off all along the coast line. It was amazing! (Even if we did get screwed over with crappy sparklers that didn’t work!) Following the fireworks we headed to a club where we got very drunk and had a great night followed by a burger on the way home, one more drink & then a tumble into bed before passing out!!
The hangover wasn’t critical but I needed food all day to ease the queasy feeling in my stomach. (Any excuse!!) We spent New Years Day on the beach boogie boarding and saying goodbye to Indonesia before heading to the airport to fly to Singapore from where I now write this extremely long blog!! Sorry about that – hope you’re still with me and haven’t fallen asleep!
Anyway – vids are coming soon – photos are on.
Hope you all had a great Xmas and Happy New Year to you all. Hope you have a great 2010 – mine is certainly off to a great start.
xxx
So as per the end of my last update, we were heading to Flores, which is a large island to the east of Indonesia. The Lonely Liar, promised great things! Beautiful bays and gorgeous beaches and superb snorkeling and diving! So we land at Labuanbajo full of high hopes. Only to be driven into the middle of a dirt track one way ‘road’ with ‘shops’ on either side. The heat was insanely intense and it smelt like a sewer. Thanks Lonely Liar!!
We found a hostel for the night and were just sitting down in the room trying to stop sweating for 2 minutes and trying to figure out what the hell Lonely Liar was going on about, when all of a sudden the loudest wailing starts over some speakers right outside our room! It sounded like someone was in pain – but we soon realized as it continued that it was friggin call to prayer!!! We’d arrived in Muslim territory and would have to endure this painful wailing up to 5 times a day or more, including a lovely 5am wake up call!! I mean don’t get me wrong – before the UK carts me off to the racist/religion bin – I’m all for appreciating and understanding other cultures, that’s why I am travelling, but really – does the guy have to be tone deaf and wail at the top of his lungs. How they can think that that’s what their God wants to hear - it’s an insult to anyone with ears, let alone someone as divine as their holy lord, or whatever!! So that little shock over and done with we figured out the next best place to be as we were totally not feeling Labuanbajo! The nearest town turned out to be about a 7 hour drive away, so that was out and there was a couple of nearby islands that were habitable so we thought we’d take our chances with one of them! We first of all went to the boat trip place to bring forward our ticket by a week – clearly we were not going to last that long out here! Thankfully there was space.
So the following day we decided to head to Kanawa, one of the nearby islands and stay there for 4 days until the boat left to take us back to civilization!
We lugged all our stuff down to the harbour where we tentatively watched the boat deck hands load on our bags to a boat that was swaying side to side so much I thought it could tip over at any moment. The water was pretty choppy and I’d made the mistake of wearing my flip flops. As I stepped onto the boat a big swirl of water came and rammed the boat against my big toe smashing it against the boat and the concrete steps! That was not a nice feeling!! There was blood and that sort of hyperventilating you do when you stub your toe. It’s so painful you want to cry but it doesn’t quite come. So there I am sitting on this boat with a big block of ice painfully held against my bleeding toe trying to concentrate on not falling out of the boat. After sorting me with the ice, the captain then runs around like a mad man punting the boat away from the harbour and then while it’s facing the right direction before the waves come and turn it around again he scrambles through some floor boards below the boat and started turning a big handle to get the engine started!! It started with a bang and a big puff of black smoke and roared to life. It was deafening!! Thank god it was only an hour ride or so!!
There was only one family owned and run ‘hotel’ on the island and one restaurant, which was extortionate. The hotel actually consisted of 15 bungalows on the beach which were pretty basic with an outdoor bathroom which meant of course the bloody hole in the floor as a toilet. This is another pet peeve of mine. I’m sorry – I don’t care how poor a place is – this kind of toilet should really these days not be in existence any longer. There is no excuse. All it takes is a few more bricks or whatever to create a seat. Weeing and pooing on your ankles just isn’t cool!!! My Whizz Ease came in handy for the number one’s but number two’s…well quite frankly, it’s the most degrading disgusting act ever! Thank God I didn’t encounter any cockroaches in the ‘bathroom’ cos that would have tipped me over the edge! The ‘shower’ was interesting too. We had a mandy which is basically a big bucket of ‘fresh water’ imported from the mainland (which wasn’t fresh at all and was half salted!) with a smaller hand bucket in it to pour over yourself. I mean ok it was pretty grim, but liveable with for a couple of days!
It was a quiet few days as we were the only tourists on the island the first night, with really nothing to do whatsoever apart from snorkel. It was sooooo blisteringly hot that we couldn’t even sit out. There were no loungers or anything so we’d just try and find some shade under one of the dying trees. The island wasn’t really beautiful and the locals obviously do the bare minimum. There was rubbish piled all over it which is such a shame. The second day another couple arrived who were from Finland, so we made friends with them and had dinner and breakfast etc together. The food was actually not bad, although if the island was full I’m not really sure how they would deal with the cooking orders. It took them almost 2 hours to make anything for 2 people, let alone if they were at capacity!! But we were in no hurry really – it’s not like we had somewhere to go! The second day was the first time I had a little cry and was a bit down and homesick. I just didn’t really like the island and it was pretty lonely. Tymon was off with the Finnish guy Dennis taking about a bazillion pictures doing his own thing so I was just alone reading thinking about all of you guys and family. I was looking forward to leaving.
So the days passed slowly. The boys were fishing catching squid and I was trawling through my book. Finally the day came to get the boat back to the mainland and wait the whole day for the boat out later that night back towards Bali. Back on the mainland we went to a restaurant that we had gone to on our first night there which had free wireless internet and we’d met the owner who was a really nice guy. Originally from Jakarta he’s done pretty well for himself with this restaurant so we thought we’d pass the day in the restaurant but he was actually closed. But he said hey come in and chill no worries and he cooked for us and said to help ourselves to drinks etc so we didn’t have to wander aimlessly around the village! It was so nice of him. Tymon also took some really amazing black and white pictures of him and his band mates – so check them out on www.melikepainting.com! As the day went on, even though he was closed the restaurant just kept filling up. He wasn’t even there; he was sitting with his mates across the road, so at one point I started taking drinks orders and keeping an eye on things for him. He had the business whether he wanted it or not and he was so relaxed about it – he was like hey help yourself and just write down what you take!! Finally the time came to load up onto the boat, which we thought actually left that night but we then found out we just stay on the boat in the harbour that night and set off at like 5am in the morning. It was also party night on the boat as people were leaving so it was a bit of a piss up and party especially for the crew, who immediately were basically al about the single girls on board. Everybody else kind of got treated like poo. We’d been up since 5am that morning and we so weren’t in the mood for a party on board especially as we were sleeping on deck so it was kind of like wait for everyone to finish before you can get any sleep!! The music was blaring and I just wanted to get on the road and back to Bali way!! Finally the crew started handing out the mattresses and pillows to put on the floor of the boat at about 1am. I laid on a seat ledge and there were cockroaches crawling about so I was having a great time already on this boat!! I was not in the best of moods – and I was tired. And we were getting up at the crack of dawn to have breakfast and go for a trek on Rinca island to see the Komodo Dragon!! I barely slept that night and then of course at 5am the bloody wailing started and the engine roared to life as we set off. I was up shortly after that!
But by 7am when we were walking off the boat into the National Park reserve to see the dragons I was very excited. Komodo’s can only be found in this small area of Indonesia in the whole world (wild that is), so it was a great feeling that our travels had brought us here to be able to see them! Within 5 minutes as we came to the entrance area there they all were. About 10 of them lounging around the huts and cabins. They are massive!!! And so prehistoric looking. When they stick out their snake like tongue and move along slowly and heavy there’s a real sense of foreboding. You do not want to get on the wrong side of ones of these. They carry so much bacteria in the holes in their teeth from all the rotten food they eat that if you get bitten – game over!! They can run about 25km per hour as well so I was grateful for the guides with big sticks following us around. It was an amazing experience!!
After a 2 hour trek around the reserve we headed back to the boat where everybody just chilled/sunbathed on deck while we sailed on to the next island for snorkeling. The group on the boat was a great group really so we had a laugh. Although ever since I set foot on the boat I didn’t really feel great. I was easily a bit nauseas from the sailing and I just felt a bit light headed and weak the whole time. (Little did I know the worst was to come!)
The next place we stopped was a small island for snorkeling. The boat stopped quite far out from shore over deep blue water, which already looked ominous to me. (As many of you may know – I have a sort of fear of the deep sea! You’ll especially know this if you’ve ever witnessed me trying to get back onto a pedlo after lowering myself in the deep blue water!!) But I wanted to go snorkeling so thought I’d give it a go. I figured I’d soon be over shallow reefs so I’d be fine. So I get a mask and jump into the water with Tymon. As I look down into the water I start to breathe a little faster. It was deep!! I mean I could see the bottom, but it was a long way down!! And I was getting little stings from these tiny little jelly fish, so I just thought get a grip and off we go. Tymon was swimming ahead quite oblivious at this point of my loud deep breathing getting faster and faster as we swim further over this cavernous deep! The noise of being able to hear myself breathe wasn’t helping either. You know how it is when your ears are under water and you’re breathing through the snorkel and you can hear yourself breathing like Darth Vader. All of a sudden I was breathing too fast and through my nose so my mask started peeling away from my face and filling up with water at which point, I had to call Tymon, as I started panicking and treading water spasing out! He was very good and calm and just said come on we’ll swim back, to which my answer was I can’t and he took my hand and said look at me you’re ok and calmed me down as we started to swim back. He said don’t look down but that’s like saying to someone – don’t look now, but…of course all I wanted to do was look down. I had to be able to see what was coming for me if anything!! Just as I didn’t think I could breathe any faster we got back to the boat and I got on board before losing it completely in what can only be described as a full on panic attack!! I was dry heaving and sobbing – again so actual tears, but I was just so terrified!! I was shaking and so relieved to be out of the water. As I settled down in Tymon’s arms and my breathing returned to normal, with all the crew looking at me like a freak – I’m really surprised at myself. I would never have expected that reaction! It was quite frightening.
I then got upset again as I walked out onto the deck to see the crew fishing and catching the beautiful tropical fish. They were flapping about in a metal tin on deck in a splash of water. I couldn’t’ believe it – how could they catch these beautiful things. They have such an indifference to animals over here it’s very sad.
Anyway, so the rest of the time on the boat was basically a lot of snorkeling and a lot of down time as we cruised the ocean, but as time went on I was feeling more dodgy. I couldn’t really put my finger on it – I thought it was a bit of sunstroke so I tried to sleep it off but as we got off the boat and onto the bus to head to the town we were staying in so we could transfer to the Gili Islands the following morning, it really started to kick in. I was sitting on the bus and I started to ache all over and I don’t mean like I’ve walked a lot or done a hard work out – I mean aching as if someone was stretching my bones with metals claws. I couldn’t sit still for the pain it was horrible. I took some painkillers and thankfully they worked for a while to get me through the rest of the journey until we arrived and found a hostel. I went straight to bed, drank of a lot of water and hoped that by morning it would be over.
I didn’t sleep very well as it was party central but the pain hadn’t actually been that bad and by morning I felt a bit better. A group of us from the boat got the connecting boat that would take us to Gili Trawangen which is where we would spend 12 days and Xmas. There is no traffic only pony drawn carts (which don’t get me started on – I hated them!! Not all the ponies were in a bad way, but the poor things were worked to the bone pretty much all hours of the day in the sweltering heat and the ones that weren’t looked after properly were skinny and had sores al over there bellies and chests from the ridiculous garb they hang on them and the straps were rubbing them red raw. AND they still worked them and had the straps pulled tightly across these sores AND there were bloody fat lazy cruel tourists piling into these carriages with their luggage and kitchen sink without a second thought. When I saw them in ones of the sore ridden carriages I had to contain myself not to shout obscenities at them! I wanted to punch them. But enough of that….) So no traffic and just blistering hot sun. We had been tipped off about a decent hostel so we headed (on foot I might add!) to the hostel. It wasn’t a far walk and already we got a great vibe about the island. There was a main strip (only a very small part of the islands is actually used for tourism) full of restaurants and bars and everyone seemed v¬ery friendly welcoming us to Gili. Once we were all settled I started to feel rather ropey again and tired, so following lunch I returned the hostel alone while the others explored and went to bed. This is the day it got worse – much worse. I don’t think I have ever felt so bad illness wise ever before. The aching slowly but surely started again with the metal claws stretching my bones in all directions. I couldn’t lay still or concentrate - it was awful. Eventually Tymon came home where he found me crying in bed not knowing what to do with myself. He promptly went and got some ice for my fever and came back, dosed me up with painkillers and sat with me all day and night. During the night as it got worse every few hours he would put me under the cold shower and stand with me telling me I would be ok as I cried. He was amazing. After a very long night & to cut a long story short (as if this entry is anything but short!!) I was pretty ill for about a week. I couldn’t eat (Hurrah – if only it was just a bit of sickness - that I could have dealt with) and was very weak, but eventually I started to feel better (and my appetite came back with a vengence – BOO!)
By the time I was better and out to socialize the group we came with had all left. So it was back to me and T. We did some snorkeling which was ok – but not as good as on Kanawa – although we did see Turtles which was AWESOME and found the 5* resort pool and sunbathed there. As the rainy season was finally kicking in by early afternoon it usually clouded over and started to rain which was a welcome break from the heat and we pretty much chilled to the max. We watched movies most nights in these private little chill out booths while we had dinner and got into a little routine. And then Xmas arrived. I was very emotional and missed my family A LOT! I didn’t like being away from them. But on Xmas morning Tymon and I exchanged presents (swim shorts for him and a bikini for me as there was only one decent shop on the island), had eggs Benedict for breakie which was delicious and a great substitute for my usual bacon sandwich and laid by the pool again soaking up the sun. We’d met another couple with whom we were going to have Xmas dinner with that night, which was very nice in a private booth overlooking the ocean and then before I knew it the day was over.
12 days is a long time where you’re just chilling, it was great and we felt thoroughly refreshed as we headed back to Bali for New Year.
It was great to be back in Legian at the same hostel as before and zipping about on the scooter. We went fabric shopping one day in preparation for Vietnam where we plan on getting some custom made clothes, ate a lot of satay at the street warungs, boogie boarded every day together which was BRILLIANT and saw in New Year on the beach with a million fireworks going off all along the coast line. It was amazing! (Even if we did get screwed over with crappy sparklers that didn’t work!) Following the fireworks we headed to a club where we got very drunk and had a great night followed by a burger on the way home, one more drink & then a tumble into bed before passing out!!
The hangover wasn’t critical but I needed food all day to ease the queasy feeling in my stomach. (Any excuse!!) We spent New Years Day on the beach boogie boarding and saying goodbye to Indonesia before heading to the airport to fly to Singapore from where I now write this extremely long blog!! Sorry about that – hope you’re still with me and haven’t fallen asleep!
Anyway – vids are coming soon – photos are on.
Hope you all had a great Xmas and Happy New Year to you all. Hope you have a great 2010 – mine is certainly off to a great start.
xxx
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