Latest Update and New Zealand Link

I'm going to leave this page as a record of our travels and hope to add into a few of the gaps for my own records (I'll note these in case anyone wants to check out the new stuff). Our new adventures in New Zealand will be available at www.timtracynz.blogspot.com.

All pictures now posted!

I have now posted all the pictures from Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand at http://www.timcooke.com/Asia. There are an increasing number from New Zealand at http://www.timcooke.com/NZ/index.htm.

The End

That's this blog about complete, but there should be lots of pictures available soon on my website. I'll put the link in when I get them posted. Expect a new blog about our next adventure in New Zealand!

Tuesday December 5th

At long last our trip comes to it's final day, and a long day it will be: we leave Thailand at 6pm and arrive in LA... at 6pm with about 15 hours gained by reversing over the International Date Line. Tim is up early for some shopping while Tracy sleeps on and finds the crowds already gathering on Soi Sukumvit for the day's festivities. Over the last couple of days the area has sprouted makeshift stages and even more market stalls than usual.

The trusty 139 bus makes the journey into Patunam market simple and Tim grabs a selection of items for the forthcoming winter trips to warmer climes: mostly shorts and sunglasses. He also can't resist some cheap Thai silk boxers and a Scotland rugby shirt (the seller must see rugby shirts as a big seller as she has a ton for all the major countries) to show the New Zealanders his allegiance. It'll be dull to head back to places where the goods are expensive and there is no good natured bargaining.

We rendezvous back at the hotel and finish packing... now we are up to 5 bags from the two we arrived with. We also don our yellow shirts (a majority of the locals are wearing them to honor the king and we wouldn't want to look out of place), then we head over to meet up with Mike who has the day off for the holiday. He takes us out to see a popular local attraction, a massive three headed elephant with pleasant gardens around, which will hopefully bring us luck for our travels. With the new Bangkok ring road being built next to it rather more tourists are likely to be taken aback by it's appearance apparently peering over the edge of the highway.

The rest of our time before cabbing to the airport is taken up with chat and a last few Chang beers, while we have time at the airport to fit in one last Thai meal. Then it's hours on China Airlines, another visit to Taipei's airport and finally onto LA where we check into the hotel and walk around to get our Hi-tech and cold weather possessions back from Tracy's brother Trent.

Monday December 4th

With this being the last full day of the trip we opted for one of the major tourist magnets in the city, the Royal Palace. We reach it by Skytrain and ferry to enjoy the river journey again as it's close to one of the jettys.


The palace is a large complex of practical and ceremonial buildings much of which is open to the public. Build over the last 225 years there is a lot to see from the "Emerald Budda" to the different styles of royal architecture.


The amount of decoration is impressive and they now have an interesting exhibit about maintenance over the years with some of the old carvings and ornaments that were replaced.

We were supposed to meet Mike but were delayed by the slowness of transportation in the city and missed him. So we took a walk to find a place to eat and ended up at a recommended vegetarian restaurant with meat and fish options and enjoyed a quiet evening.

Sunday December 3rd

Another day another hash run, and this time we could both attend. Tracy had a lazy day first though while Tim took off into the heart of town to check out another market and the department stores. Luckily Mike and Som had mentioned that the 139 bus ran directly there on the highway and the journey proved to be quick, easy and cheap.

With Mike setting the run we got a ride from a friend of Som's. Our venue this time was an orchard close the obligatory Temple (the proximity of which would prove useful later) and our trail spent most of the time meandering on wooded trails. On the whole the way was well marked with small piles of shredded paper, but eventually Tim and several others running at the front met Tracy and the walkers coming the opposite way on what we both claimed was THE trail. Further searching revealed a marked path neither group had followed... which led right back to a road Tim had already run down!

With the daylight rapidly fading 6 of the group decided to take the road, staying on track by asking for the Temple. Two others "knew" a shortcut through the orchard, and by the time it got fully dark the 6 had made it back to the rendezvous, with no sign of the 2. They finally appeared some time later, on the road having abandoned the short cut.

This time we finished the evening with most of the hashers at a good little local restaurant nearby. The food, beer and wine kept coming and we kept singing!

Saturday December 2nd

First up today was more shopping, this time at the massive Chatuchak Market where weekends see a mass of sellers and buyers converge on an enormous area in the north of the city. It's a magnet for locals and tourists alike. Conveniently the Skytrain takes you right there and more importantly gets you away again with your purchases. We were able to complete the Xmas shopping duties and have a look at the range of goods on sale (pretty much anything you'd want) but we probably saw only about 20% of the place.

In the afternoon Tim took off for the Hash Run with Mike (it's a men only run on a Saturday, and old men at that!). We started down by a canal and the run took a great route around the canal system and through narrow residential streets. One done we stopped back to pick up Tracy and went to find Som before heading to a local restaurant for a Thai barbeque.


This consisted of a small dome shaped burner with a gutter around for broth and charcoals below for heat. You cook your seafood or meat on the burner and add greens to the broth for DIY soup... $2.50 for all you can eat and excellent. Beer came in a meter/yard high tower with space for ice in the center and a tap at the bottom. Sadly I did not have a camera to capture this great invention.

Friday December 1st

We have few priorities today so enjoy a leisurely breakfast before we investigate how best to get into town. The hotel is on a major street (Soi Udumsuk) leading to Sukumvit, one of the major arteries into the city. The newish Skytrain elevated railway runs along Sukumvit and terminates about 2 miles/ 3 km from our place so we walk there, checking out the extensive retail, food stall and market opportunities en route. Plus the dreaded McDonalds, a Boots (UK pharmacy chain), Tops market (US supermarket) and finally a huge Tescos (UK supermarket and the UK's biggest retailer). Truly the city is on the cusp of the Asia we have seen in smaller cities and a city back home.

We take the Skytrain as close as possible to the tourist sights (not very close, it more effectively links the main hotels and shops) and walk our way through some rather boring streets. Finally we come across a couple of the many canals here in the “Venice of the East” and soon are among some very impressive Wats. We then meander down to the Royal Palace and finally to the heart of the city, the River. At the jetty where we pick up the Ferry that plies north and south through the city there is a fine selection of food stalls so we invest in some excellent cheap eats before embarking south where we'll rejoin the Skytrain. The river journey is worth doing in itself with some great views of the city.

When we get back to the hotel (grabbing a local bus from the station to Udumsuk) we gethold of Mike and agree to meet him and his “significant other” Som. They soon arrive in a cab and we head down to Patpong (the party area of town I visited briefly with Don and John many weeks ago) and Noriega's, a bar owned by a hashing friend of theirs. It proves a good choice for a Friday with a singer/ guitarist warming us up with a good choice of music to my mind (including acoustic New Order and the Cure) before the main act, Bangkok's top Celtic Fusion band (who played for us at Chiang Mai). Picture an authentically Irish looking singer (who may have been American) leading a group of locals including a great electric fiddle player in Irish and rock tunes!?! I particularly enjoyed their rendition of Irish tunes (especially the “Fields of Athenry” of course) while Tracy did more dancing than was good for her ankle. Getting a cab in Patpong late at night is a challenge so we were lucky to have Som with us to do the talking and guide the driver back to the Niran.

Thursday November 30th

Happy Birthday Morag!

And Happy St Andrews Day to all.

Time to see if all the stories about the overland trip to Bangkok are true! We have booked a bus ticket all the way but reports suggest that this will not be the plain sailing implied by what the sellers tell us. We're picked up by taxi a little later than the 7am claimed start and dropped on the edge of town with a big crowd... at least there is safety in numbers. And there we wait... and wait, while the apparent organizer talks animatedly on his cell phone. Finally a bus arrives, but it's mostly full and only takes a few of those who have booked to the border (one way to do the journey is to make your own way by tuk-tuk from the border to the Thai bus station and on that way).

Then another bus arrives... again for most of the rest of the border travelers. Finally an old 18 seater rolls up for us... no A/C, hard seats... and two girls who came to Siem Reap aboard the same jalopy inform us that it broke down twice en route! Can anyone say “memories of Malawi”: this is more what we were used to living there in the early 90's when we were younger and tougher.

Initially the road is OK, then it becomes pot-holed pavement/ tarmac and finally dusty dirt. However for all the bumps and dust it is the dry season and it has been graded (flattened out and fixed) somewhat since the stories we heard from October when vehicles were towed across washed out areas... It's really the dust that provides the hardest to put up with for 6 hours and by the time we get to Poipet it fills every wrinkle and pore. Here we board a nice bus... but only for the mile to the border post where we check out of Cambodia and walk over into Thailand. This involves crossing the road too, Thailand drives on the left (Cambodia on the right in theory) and we have to walk in on the left. Is this the only land border outside Africa where the road priority changes? I can't think of any other places where countries driving on the left are not islands. New Guinea maybe?

Once over the border we have another long wait but at least there's ATM machines to fill up with Baht, a cafe and a store to buy snacks (which the Thai's do rather well). Then our bus arrives and lo and behold, a nice double decker like we had at the Interhash with lots of space for the bags. We grab space down in the VIP section (that's what they call the lower floor) and what proves to be the really easy part of the journey commences. There is not much to see along this road in Eastern Thailand but it's a fine highway and we're in Bangkok in less than 3½ hours!

While we are supposed to be dropped downtown in the Backpacker area the bus terminates at a travel agent shop I know not where. We grab the bags and one of the employees hails us a taxi (of which Bangkok has no shortage), explaining that they could not get all the way due to preparations for the King's birthday holiday on Tuesday (he's been on the throne 60 years so it's a big deal). We don't care as we've booked a place out of the center recommended by our friend Mike Burgess (who introduced us to the local Peace Corps group in Albany just before he moved out here) and the cab finally finds our hotel despite a few communication difficulties.

The Niran Grand is a big place if slightly run down, but meets our needs well. First up there is lots of hot water at high enough pressure to hose off the dust layers, then the restaurant is open late and we are able to get some food before a well earned rest. In Malawi we would have thought the journey acceptable if not easy... these days we'll avaoid repeating it for a while!

Wednesday 29th November

With only the one day to visit Angkor again (this time with camera) we are up early for breakfast at our favorite restaurant before we secure a couple of old one speed “sit up and beg” bikes (and a lot of water!). The whole area is completely flat and the bikes prove to be fine for travel.

Tracy's ankle feels good as we ride the few miles/ kms to the complex, unfortunately missing the ticket booth en route. Luckily we can get day passes near Angkor Wat and we are soon in Angkor Thom to revisit Bayon, then wander more slowly around the Terraces and some of the lesser known parts in the east of the old royal palace area. The well know parts are much busier than last time but mainly with organized groups who rush around a prescribed set of the buildings (memo to readers: if you ever come here SET YOUR OWN SCHEDULE!!!!). Just off the beaten track we see maybe one or two other people in half an hour!

Bayon

From here we get onto the “Grand Tour”, the route that takes you past many of the quieter but no less amazing palaces to the east and north. Using the bikes is hot work but going at our own pace is a delight. Tracy takes a break for a coconut and shopping (more silk outfits!) as Tim revisits Ta Prohm for pictures, then we continue to places we did not see or even pass in our previous visits (I'll have some more details when I work out the order we visited them!).

We only have a brief time for Angkor Wat (I'll be stealing the pictures Don, John and Cindy took last time around!) and Tracy again relaxes while Tim races in and up to the top for the obligatory sunset shot. Then we have to speed back to beat the fast failing light, arriving in town in the dark (luckily it's fairly well lit, the traffic moves slow and we know where we are going. After a couple of beers and snack food (gotta get some Pakora where it's available!)Tracy opts for a massage to recuperate from the day's activities while Tim internets, then we regroup for a very late meal on hopping “bar street”, oh so innovatively named as it's the main site for night life here.

Tuesday 28th November

Here soon...

Sunday 26th November

Here soon...

Monday 27th November

Here soon...

Saturday 25th November

Here soon...

Friday 24th November

After getting up for a beautiful sunrise (see the post right after Nov 21st for picture) we began the day by revisiting Cambodia's dark past at the Killing Fields of Cheung Ek. This was where the prisoners in S-21 (see October 22nd) were brought to be killed and buried in mass graves. Many of the graves were excavated after the Vietnamese liberation in 1979, others remain undisturbed.

A tower (stupsa) has been built containing many skulls and other exhumed remains while the field behind was the site of the graves. Some of the pits lie open while in other areas remnants of cloth and bone poke up through the soil. There are still a few pieces of headstone to remind you that this was once a Chinese graveyard while several of the trees were put to use for beating infants against or held loudspeakers playing music to drown out the screams. It all serves to remind you of the magnitude of the crimes perpetrated here, and the relatively recent time it took place.

More soon...

Hiatus

Sorry for the gap in posting, it was a busy end to the trip. We are home now and I'll soon fill in the gaps. Then there will be all the pictures to post!

Thursday November 23rd

Happy Thanksgiving to our US readers!

With this being our second visit to the city we had a limited schedule of things to do, headed by a visit to the spectacular Royal Palace. Tracy also had to pay a visit to the US embassy... all the visas we've been collecting have filled her passport and she can't leave the country without adding pages. Of course Thanksgiving meant the office was closed.

Royal Palace in Phnom Penh

We were joined at the palace by Ana, a Spanish girl we'd met because she was the only other person doing our exact itinerary out of Vietnam (also she was sick at the time an Dr Tracy was able to help out). It is certainly a spectacular complex of buildings that you can visit, including a very french one gifted by Napoleon III in the early days of the complex. There is also a pagoda on the grounds, the Silver Pagoda, where the king has dealing with monks. No monks live here but it was the home for the long lived King Sihanouk (whose ability to stick around whatever befalls his country is legendary) when he spent a year in the monkhood (a rite of passage for many Cambodian young men). The pagoda has beautiful decorations and a solid silver floor but photographs are forbidden.

From here we found lunch before Ana and Tracy went off to check out the Russian Market (home to craft and silk sellers aimed at tourists plus plenty of fake designer labels) while Tim caught up with the ever present need to get on the internet (how did we live without it?). Later we made the most of our beautiful river front room (we splurged a whole $30 a night for the best room) with a few sundowners on the balcony before a good meal at a well recommended local restaurant with Ana.

Wednesday 22nd November

Happy Birthday Stan and Dorothy!

Tim got up at dawn (easily done when the traffic is already noisy at that time) and went down to the very scenic riverfront for pictures. Then we grabbed a swift breakfast before our tour group of 15 or so walked back to the river to pick up our boats for a trip around a floating village and Cham village.

Chau Doc riverfront at dawn

This time we avoided the constant background noise of two stroke engine and were rowed by locals in small boats (two to a boat). The floating village is very substantial with houseboats mingling with larger structures on pontoons, including stores and gas/ petrol stations. People also tend small gardens of pot plants and bushes on their porches which makes for some attractive "streets" where clear water allows boats to pass.

Fish drying in the floating village

One of the main industries here is (cat) fish farming and while it's also seen on a more commercial scale, many people have large pens below and beside their homes where the fish are fed a meal made of waste rice and scraps.

From here we paddled on to a village populated by the Cham people who were dominant in this part of the world before the rise of the Angkor civilization, and who then got squeezed by other peoples into marginal communities in Vietnam and Cambodia. Cham in this area are Muslim.

Cham mosque

Travelling rice factory, it appeared to do all stages of the process

After the relaxing interlude those of us heading out to Cambodia had to get aboard our larger boat for the 3 hour ride to the border, and luckily it turned out to be a roomy, airy craft with plenty of shade. The ride was beautiful with great views of the local fishing and farming on either bank.

Border formalities took about an hour and we were able to spend every last Vietnamese Dong on food at a little restaurant before crossing over. Unfortunately our Cambodian boat, while faster, was not as pleasant. A metal structure, it go hot and had limited ventilation and views. There was some space to stand outside however and we took turns basting in the sun and standing in the limited airy shaded front section as we cruised up the Mekong.

We then transfered to a bus when the river hit a main road and we were in Phnom Penh as scheduled just after dark (6pm). With limited time to find anything we checked into a basic room in a local guest house (for $5) and had a good meal of local food there.

Sights around Phnom Penh

A few pictures from around town:

Royal Palace

Independence Monument

Cambodian pool table manufacture
(we've seen a lot of pool played both here and especially Vietnam)

Mobile gas/ petrol station (they are everywhere in the city)

I Wonder What the Poor People are Doing Tonight?

This quote (which is attributed variously to Fats Waller in a radio broadcast in the 50's, Kurt Vonnegut quoting a soldier sheltering in a bunker as Dresden is destroyed above them in 1945 and in the film Local Hero) has long been used by us as a toast for those "it doesn't get much better than this" moments. Our current hotel room in Phnom Penh is a good place for these kind of thoughts.

Sunrise over the confluence of Tonle Sap and Mekong Rivers, from our balcony

This trip has had many of those moments as on the whole we've lived well for little money and found beautiful and friendly places to spend time. We'd recommend this tour to anyone, though of course with many other people finding the same it'll be increasingly popular.

Tuesday November 21st

Today is the start of our journey home geographically from the furthest south we've been, and anybody looking at a map can see it's quite a straight road (Can Tho, Phnom Penh, Siem Riep, Bangkok). Today we stay in the delta with a four hour boat trip in a smaller craft around the rivers surrounding Can Tho.

Todays boat is an open one seating about 12, with one of the typical outboard motors with a long drive shaft between engine and propeller giving maximum manoeverability. We begin by passing a floating market where wholesalers in big boats trade with retailers and customers in smaller craft. Typically the big boats specialize in a few types of fruit, veggies or fish so the customers travel from one to another. The scene is completed by passing boats selling breakfast and drinks.

From here we took the roads less travelled (other than tourist boats one suspects) down small canals for a pleasant ride, disturbed only by the sputtering of the two-stroke engine powering us. We took a break at a fruit growing farm to sample the local bananas, pinapple and longans (a lychee like fruit very popular in these parts) and as Tim wandered around looking at the trees our guide Tuc called him over to try the local hooch: rice wine (rather a misnomer for this firewater) with longans added to mellow the flavor. We then spent a pleasant half hour with the farmer, the boat driver (not drinking I hasten to add) and a Korean guy on our tour finishing the bottle.

Back on the boat we moved back out to a larger river and took in the next visit of our tour, to a rice factory. Here a machine husks, polishes and sorts the rice amid huge piles of full sacks and in an atmosphere of dust and noise that would swiftly draw the attention of the health and safety authorities back home. Nothing goes to waste in the process, husks are burned, the dust from polishing the brown rice goes in pig feed, small broken pieces are eaten by chickens and bigger pieces boiled down for rice paper and wine. Tuc is clearly a man who likes a drink and the owner is soon passing out his home made rice wine... the unmellowed fire water proving more difficult to drink than that made with longans.

From here we headed back to Can Tho, with three hours to look around before our bus arrives to take us one to Chau Doc. We spend the time wandering the streets and trying out the street food, while Tracy takes a break for a while reading under a tree at the river side. The ride to Chau Doc is largely uneventful though we get some good views of flooded fields and extensive canal systems. By the time we arrive in what appears to be a compact and pleasant town we are ready for food and bed so we find a nearby "fake meat"vegetarian restaurant for our last full Vietnamese meal.

Monday November 20th

Our day begins early by grabbing food at a street stall and meeting up at the tour agent's office. Our bus is both newish and uncrowded for a change so our ride down into the Mekong delta is comfortable. At Vinh Long we board a tour boat (which is full) for a ride around the extensive network of rivers and canals that make up the Mekong delta.

It makes a fascinating change from what we are used to - and the rest of the country - to see a place where the water is the means of transport, source of food, place of business and heart of industry. The large rivers sport large boats, dredging and factories, smaller ones are lined by homes and businesses and small canals link everything and provide water to irrigate crops.

We make a couple of stops to see some typical tourist displays: how to make rice paper... how to make coconut candy... how to make puffed rice cakes. Contrived settings but fascinating all the same and the samples are tasty! After a couple of hours boating we get back on the bus and drive down to Can Tho where an extremely busy ferry service (six boats moving constantly) brings us and the bus over a wide stretch of River to the city where we'll spend the night.

We have some time to look at the town as we wander in search of food at dusk and very prosperous it looks with plenty of fashion, mobile phone and motorbike stores. This is the heart of agricultural production and Vietnam has been very successful in upping it's rice production to become a big exporter in the last few years (the long term effects of the intensive farming methodologies are yet to be seen...). The riverfront is lively with two favorite pursuits: taking the kids to the park for the slightly older set and cruising on your motorbike for the teens/ twentysomethings. We pick a restaurant in an old french building with a good view from the balcony and enjoy some of the local fish dishes.

Sidewalks/ Pavements

One thing you realize in Vietnam and Cambodia is that the one thing you do not do on sidewalks/ pavements is walk. For that you take a chance with the traffic on the street. Things you do use it for (and anyone with other observations is welcome to add):

1. Moto parking
2. Moto or bicycle repair
3. Gas station (fixed or mobile pump)
4. Restaurant/ breakfast bar
5. Store or shop
6. Bed
7. Child care center
8. Building materials store
9. Barber's shop
10. Office with typewriter or computer
11. Tailor's shop
12. Shower

I'm sure there are many I've forgotten. It is amazing that in ostensibly socialist Vietnam private enterprise and small business is a way of life! To avoid political controversy I will not contrast this with certain places where the small businesses are supressed by the mighty oppressor Wa***rt and no-one seems to care.

Sunday November 19th

We rolled into HCM as the sun rose having "enjoyed" a few hours sleep on the bus. Luckily our hotel said the room would be ready at 8am so we found breakfast and were soon relaxing. Tim spent some of the morning looking at tour options on our way out of Vietnam and doing internet duty, Tracy slept.

At lunchtime we wandered down towards the old center of town for the local Hash Run, booking a 3 day tour of the Mekong River Delta (finishing with a boat back to Cambodia) and taking in some sights en route. The hash run a bus from the center which proved an excellent way to get a crowd of maybe 35 runners to a spot out of the city, and sheltered us from a sudden downpour.

The run was HOT and took us around an old flooded quarry (always a good hash site the world over), through villages and over some scrub. They lay shredded paper for the trail and sometimes economized by leaving us without marks for a while. However the hare was up at the front of the pack and sometimes seemed to forget that he was supposed to get us to follow trail and not lead. However he did have to lead when we took a deliberate loop so we didn't start running in circles... the excuse was that there was only one bridge over a stinking sewer of a stream and I for one was glad not to be wading at any point!

The run to the water break was long (we were warned) and near the end an attack of bees made things interesting (sometimes it is good to be a quick runner as those behind got nailed more) but overall the run was fun. And we liked the water/ beer check so much we decided not to do the very short last leg (leaving us with a nicer spot to circle near a lake but a long walk to the bus after) and settled down to kebabs and beer. Tracy walked the whole short trail and though sore her leg held up well.

Once night fell we retired to the bus where Tracy and I led some singing and fun was had by all. The night ended with an on after at a pleasant bar in the city, a very good day. In a bout of "small world syndrome" Tim met a hasher who had lived in his home town for 12 years and we'd also like to thank her for lending us money for the taxi home and pointing us the right direction.

Saturday November 18th

Today promised to be a long day: we were to be picked up at 7am for a long bus ride to Mu Nie on the SE coast, then spend the afternoon and evening there before taking a night bus back to Saigon. Good thing our ladies could do a good breakfast early.

The ride down the hill began in thick cloud and rain (Scottish scenery) but as we dropped we had fine views of the arid coastal plain. As we zig-zagged down we crossed under some enormous pipes several times: the main hydro-electric project in the country. Once on the flat it was hot and dry, and the scrub and cacti put us in mind of California. The first bus took us to the coast where we had a brief view of the Cham towers: a collection of four towers built by Hindus in the 13th century, and therefore not disimilar in style to Angkor.

Then we piled aboard a minibus to Mu Nie, passing through more arid scenery, with the main local product seeming to be grapes. The road into Mu Nie passes the famous sand dunes, a collection of large dunes in both golden and red sand that lie close to the beach. Mu Nie itself is a fishing village which you pass through before coming to a road paralleling the sea which is just filled with hotels, resorts, bars and restaurants.

We were dropped in the middle of town and left our bags in the travel office before heading onto the beach. A lively place it is, strong onshore breezes make it ideal for wind surfing and kite surfing and many (mostly expert) people were doing one or other. We took the easier approach of sitting in a restaurant watching with the odd sojourn into the warm surf!

After sunset (and with a long evening ahead before the 1 am bus) we found a bar with pool table and settled down to fill some hours trying to get back into practice. After the first bar started to fill with much younger people than us we moved on and found another where Tim read a book about survivors of the Khmer Rouge attrocities in Cambodia and Tracy befriended two backpackers on the pool table, an American from Mississippi and a Frenchman. We ended up spending the rest of the evening here before making our way to a hopping spot opposite the travel office for some late food and a last beer.

At 1am the travel office was dark but two of the employees were around... but sleeping under mosquio nets in the open restaurant area. They got up when the northbound bus passed through then went back to sleep, leaving us to wait for out transport. The first two buses that passed were those of the two other companies running these trips, and ours didn't get there till about 2.20. At least it was a comfortable journey from then on!

Friday November 17th

Tim was up early to capture some morning pictures before we enjoyed a great breakfast from the friendly ladies who run the guest house. This featured a large number of strawberries, a local product, and good strawberry jam along with the usual fruit, strong coffee and french bread.

We elected just to walk around town for the day rather than to explore the hills and waterfalls further afield, and Tracy had a good workout for her improving leg. Our route took us down to the lake and around the far end from the town to a big flower garden. Though it is not quite the season (the rains are just ending here and we suspect they gear up for the busier travel months in Dec and Jan) and many of the beds were not at their best there were lots of beautiful bushes and flowers with a particularly impressive collection of orchids.

From here we climbed the other side of the lake to the University (it is a big university town as the students could concentrate in the cool conditions) then down through some older back streets and into the center. A snack at a floating restaurant sustained us and we headed to the market where all manner of fruits, veggies and other produce are on sail. We invested in some snack food (dried sweet potato, candied sweet potato, dried persimon) then ate at one of the stalls in the "food court" - a crowded collection of food places on the balcony ringing the market. Our choice was a vegetarian stall, which means the usual selection of foods made into a noodle soup, but with everything faked from tofu. Some of the fakes were outstanding... others tasted like old rubber!

Again we wandered to the narrow lane in the center of town with all manner of street food available, stopping to let Tracy enjoy the products of a little on the street restaurant specializing in clams, snails and other shelled items. Tracy picked snails and tiny clams cooked in spices out of the large selection and they were tasty if a little gritty. Once again we stopped at the shrimp pancake stall before splurging the $1 on a taxi up the hill.

Thursday November 16th

Today we head into the mountains of the south Central Highlands to Dalat, where the French colonials used to retire in the hot months to their villas. For the Public Healthers in the audience the site for the city was suggested by Alexandre Yersin, a protege of Pasteur who spent many years researching communicable disease in Vietnam and is best known for discovering the causative organism of Bubonic plague (named Yersinia Pestis in his honor). Actually a Japanese beat him to it by a few weeks but we westerners gave him the credit.



The place is a big tourist destination for Vietnamese and other asians and has a reputation for being tacky (think low rent Disney or a very poor man's Vegas without the gambling) but actually we thought it was nicely developed around a lake and the attractive villas from the early 20th century.

The bus journey there was really long, first it took a while to get out of HCM, then the highway is not exactly high speed and finally the bus had to climb from sea level to 5000 ft (1500m) with some real steep ups. The speed limits in Vietnam are pretty strict and enforced, but the drivers of buses and trucks appear to have a set of hand signals warning those coming in the opposite direction to look out for the cops.

Mountain scenery

The road winds for a long way at about 3000ft (910m) passing very many coffee bushes in both smallholdings and plantations (and very many coffee beans drying out in the sun). There was also some tea plantations too, rice in flat areas and many other crops that grow well in the cooler conditions. The final climb to Dalat is eve steeper and takes the road through cool pine forests.

We decided to stay in a guest house in one of the old colonial villas on the ridge overlooking the city, so Tracy was left with the bags in the bar of the fanciest hotel in time while Tim walked over to get booked in. Then we wandered the center of town in search of food (settling on shrimp pancakes from a street stall to start, then a nice family restaurant) before jumping in a taxi for the ride up the hill.

This being the home of Vietnamese wine we had invested in a bottle of their "Export" which we'd not yet tried. We enjoyed a very drinkable glass on our little porch before heading for bed.

Wednesday November 15th

Another travel day with a noon flight so the breakfast is relaxed. No real problems en route and this time we find the local bus for a journey into town costing 12c/7p each. As bargains go this is one of our favorites: up there with fresh donuts in HCM for 7c/ 4p, shrimp pancakes in Dalat (see later) for 12c/7p and internet ranging from 7c-14c (4p-8p) an hour (which explains why I keep writing so much... the picture capabilities are not so good hence a lack of pictures right now).

We have already booked a hotel (where we left most of our baggage) and get a nice room quickly. Then we have time to check out the amenities of "Backpacker Hell" , book coach tickets for the next few legs of our journey and get food before the usual early night. It's not really hell here, actually there is a concentration of the stuff travellers need with many less hassles than we'd been led to believe. Not sure we need the proliferation of Italian restaurants but many are run by Italians and there must be a demand.

Tuesday November 14th

No set plans for the day so we got up in a leisurely way (easily done in such a relaxing place!) and rented a scooter to get around. Tim first had to do a couple of test runs as he'd last ridden a motorbike in 1993 but was soon confident of manoevering Tracy over the bumpy dirt roads.

We decided not to cake ourselves in red dust with a trek into the interior, instead we headed for Long Beach where we relaxed and Tracy found a couple of ladies to give a massage and pedicure (for about $4.50). Tim took off for a look around town/ internet/ shopping and we rendezvoused for lunch before Tracy got a look at the town from the back of the bike. Tim will not be signing up for renting a bike in HCM: Duong Dong's market street was quite an adventure enough in dodging the crowds.

For a break in the usual routine we headed north from Mango Bay for dinner at Bo Resort (as suggested by the Brits we dove with and subsequently hung out with as they were in the adjoining room with shared deck). Tracy got a ride on the back of a motorbike for the 1.5 km/ 1 mile journey while Tim walked around the rocky and sandy shore (a challenge in the dark but a pleasant trip.

The food was good there and at the end of the night we spent a while talking to Regis, the Frenchman who co-owns it with his Vietnamese wife. He filled us in on development plans (apparently the number of Chinese going abroad is set to jump from 20 million/year to 100 million and Vietnam wants part of the action... with Phu Quoc occupying the place of the Balearics in Europe - warm, accessible - the island may suffer the same fate). These include a big golf resort in the north around his land. It is certain this island will be changing soon, already there are 3-4 times as many flights as a couple of years ago.

Regis got a couple of his staff to drop us back at Mango Bay on the ubiquitous bikes, and we would thoroughly recommend his resort to anyone. Interestingly the terrain just north of mango Bay was much different with Bo built on a steep slope while Mango Bay has a lot of grassy flat land.