‘What is hell is that!?’

Since its so hot during the day, everything in Singapore seems to come alive at night. On a wander around our area, we found a huge street market with clothing, trinkets and food. Then wandering further another mall, exit it, then another one. This place just goes on forever, with each area busy with people. I’m sure it really only ends when you reach the sea.

We are staying in Little India, which indeed captures the basic cultural essence of what we experienced in Delhi. It does have a lot less impact without the cows wandering around, but the food is good and the sweets even better. Wandering back last night, there were hundreds of Indian men wandering around, chatting in small groups, drinking chai or just people watching.

Settling in our dorm room, we prepared for sleep – earplugs in, keys hidden in the pillowcase and turned out the lights. We were nearly asleep when there was a flash of light in the middle of the room and I could see a shadow of a person by the light switch. However, Amber could not. She loudly blurted out “What the hell is that!” thinking the room was empty except for us. Then went into an embarrassing laughing fit when our roommate replied, and I had to intervene to explain Amber’s stupidity while she kept laughing at herself. Luckily the rest of the night was without incident.

Today we switched rooms, and are starting to sort out some details for NZ. All this in between the daily shopping trips which Amber is starting to enjoy a little too much…

Toasty Singapore.

Another smooth transit and here we are in Singapore. Traveling during the day itself is all good if you have the time. Get to sleep in during the morning, take a leisurely breakfast, and head out to the airport. No hurry, no rush.  Arriving here you can instantly feel the heat. Only 127m from the equator or something (as seen in a sign promoting the last German sausage stand before the equator). It’s like being constantly in an oven, slowly getting warmer and warmer. Stay in the shade, plenty of water and minimal walking outdoors and I should be alright.

Singapore is known for its fines for everything – spitting, chewing gum, litter, smoking and some obscure ones like no durians on the MRT (tube). Everywhere is pretty clean, even some of the backalleys we cut through. It all adds a strange charm to the place. Eating out can be a bit pricy as we have found, but the trick is to go for the hawker centers. These are like a warehouse of food stalls, like a convention but really just daily life. Row upon row of vendors displaying their menus and food certificates issued by the council. We got for the A’s but would consider a B if the food looks good. I’ve had worse in some places and lived through it. Plenty of tables and people chatting, drinking beers which are cooled even more by scooping ice from little buckets into the glass.

We stayed in Chinatown for the first 2 nights at the Scarlet Hotel. We decided upon arrival it would be good to have a decent rest for a few days, and switch to a hostel afterwards, which we are at now (more about that shortly). The hotel came first as we have an early flight on friday so wanted to get the most of the checkout times while we could.

Upon checking out today, we taxied to Little India (spoiled I know, but you try carrying a pack in equator heat) went into our hostel and had it pointed out that we had a booking from the next night onwards. Sh*t. The girl was really nice, and let us store our packs while she showed us the 2 beds free in the 17 bed dorm for us to consider, mentioning along the way that all bags should be stored at the end of the room to prevent bed bugs infesting the bed. Thanks for that. We looked around a few other places and have a bed for the night, then switch in the morning. For such a big transit city, bedding seems kinda limited here.

We checked out a little of the shopping yesterday. Mall after mall. It’s a little strange here as the metro just drops you somewhere in the city and you explore, then back down the hole into the train back to somewhere else. It’s too hot to wander for hours, so you only get glimpses of the city each time.

Plenty of stuff to do and see though. Tomorrow we are tracking down a green parrot living in Little India who picks a card with your fortune on it….

Last night in Ho Chi Minh

Our bus ride back was fine for the first 10 hours but then started to drag on a little. Your brain just gives up staring out a window for so long and just wants some attention. Once back in our favourite hotel here, we sleep nice and deeply as we hadn’t the few nights before. Skipped breakfast as well for extra sleep. It was all good.

Today we ran some errands, picking up dresses for amber, posting things etc. We jumped in some Cyclo’s (a rickshaw a big chair at the front and the driver behind you) and headed to the War Remants Museum. This was heaps of photos leading from the overtaking of the French Colonials into the horrors of the Vietnam war and beyond to the present day covering the clearance of landmines in many regions. All the books tell you not to stray too far from the paths as there is still heaps of danger in the country. Scary thought for the local people with no land to farm. Even with all this documented evidence of what happened during these times we see it repeat over and over again in recent years. But let’s not get into all that now.

Tommorrow we head to Singapore and are heading out for a final feast in Saigon and mingling with the locals. I’ll miss this place.

Supporting local artists

While in Nha Trang we decided to track down a photo gallery listed in the guidebook. It was run by a local guy who had gotten into photography 17 years ago, and was hooked. Chatting with him was cool as he was really passionate and could tell you about any of the photos and the people in them.

I ended up buying a photo print (on photo paper) for $US50 which is a good price. They are chargin $US135 for similar in Saigon. He has a website and does international orders. Worth checking out just for the cool photos.

http://www.ddk-gallery.com/intro.php

Enjoy.

Lumpy Pillows in Nha Trang

After another bus ride up to Nha Trang again playing chicken with the other vehicles on the road, we ended up at Vietnam’s premier beachside resort. A little town, with lots of restaurants, shops and local life situated alongside a 6km beach lined with people grilling fresh prawns and lobsters.

Our accomodation was one from the book, and arriving at night gives little choice to change places. So we stuck with it. $US10 a night for A/C, bathroom etc, but also lumpy pillows which disturbed what would have been a deep deep sleep after a long bus trip. We woke up a little grumpy the next morning (esp. Amber), and asked for more pillows which ended up a little less lumpy. On our third night, they accidently left the door to another room open so we snuck in and swapped the pillows. Luxury at last.

Our days were spent wandering the tiny town, looking in tourist shops, checking out the restaurants – many with fresh seafood tables out the front and a BBQ burning. The food was excellent – jumbo prawns, charred squid and shellfish platters. Surprisingly BBQ Oysters have become a new favourite. Still not keen on the slimy fresh version.

One place lets you use it’s pool in exchange for buying stuff so spent an afternoon there. While resting, we decided to get a head massage which was a little rough but gave a nice tingle. Getting up, Amber’s face turned to shock as she saw the two bruises above my eyes from burst blood vessels. Looks like I’d been in a fight, only my opponent was a 5ft Vietnamese girl who I paid to inflict pain. 2 days on and its still getting better.

With this being the beach capital of the country we embarked on a boat trip for the day heading out to a few islands. There are dive shops everywhere so expected a cool day on the water and under it with the fish. The trip itself was good with stop-overs at beachs, a massive lunch feast on the boat, and an amusing performance by the crew with guitars and makeshift drums playing a set of some well known favourite songs. They were actually really good (video up soon). And finishing off the day with an aquarium visit in a massive pirate ship.

The downside was the snorkelling which we were excited for and even tracked down a disposable waterproof camera in Bangkok for it. This turned out to be a basket of kids snorkelling equipment, and tiny fish hiding in the coral scared from the endless tourist boats. Disappointing. The day trip is good fun for what it is, but if you really want to swim with the fishes, go to a dive shop and arrange something. We would have if we had more time here.
Discussing the trip, we definitely want to return to Vietnam to check out the north. There is just a cool charm here, with friendly people, nice food and just a relaxed pace everywhere we have been. The tourists blend into the crowds and you get to see the country a bit more for what it is.

One amusing incident was at our first morns breakfast. Like HCMC, this place has lots of cafe’s for the cool kids to hang out at. We went to one, ordered breakfast – a spicy omlette for me and poached eggs & bread with peanut butter for Amber. We waited.

Presented before us, was my spicy omlette (no problems), 2 boiled eggs, and bread rolls with pineapple jam. We called over the waiter guy and mentioned we had ordered poached eggs. He points at the boiled eggs and says “yes, poached”.

We sat confused for a moment. “These are boiled eggs, poached is cooked in water without the shell”.

“Yes, cooked in water”.

OK, lets just go with that one. “This isn’t peanut butter, this is butter”.

“Yes, peanut butter”.

Accepting the confusion we just decided to go with it. The waiter clearly couldn’t see anything wrong with the order, and we really couldn’t explain it clear enough. We just asked for another jam and started eating.

A pleasant 2 days on the coast, but sadly our time here is running short. We were soon back on the bus to HCMC (Saigon) with lots of snacks and a breakfast from the markets (a baguette with a fried fish pattie, with herbs, onions, soy sauce, fish sauce and a bit of chilli). Yum.

Cycling in Mui Ne

Early yesterday we ventured onto one of the tourist buses and ended up here in Mui Ne, a beachside town, a mix of endless “resorts” (hotels), fishing boat/tubs, sand dunes and buses playing chicken with each other on the main road as they overtake other traffic.

The place we are staying looks a little nicer from the outside and is at the far end of town, but its got the beach on the doorstep, good seafood restaurant next door (did you say $US2 for fresh grilled prawns), and bicycle hire which is what we have been up to today, biking around stopping in shops, cafe’s and any shady patch.

The “town” is about 12 km long and is just a collection of shops. No-one is really central, just nearer to some bars/shops than other places. It’s all flat so really easy to get around. Going to book on a 3 hour trip up the sand dunes (they have red, yellow and white ones), do some sand-boarding (hopefully) and watch a sunset or something touristy. We could get there ourselves but probably involves biking uphill.

Just resting in an internet cafe filled with Vietnamese children playing games. We feel like the cool kids, with our bikes out front and competing for a turn on the computers

Amber’s Moment of Fame.

With a free day back in HCMC to recover from the tour, we headed out for some shopping. It’s a pain with a backpack to carry anything extra so once we hit Singapore we are relying on the local post to send some stuff off to Canada.

Everywhere in the city there are tailors selling made-to-order or ready made clothing made with Vietnamese silk. Not much selection for me besides some ties for my future jobs (as I know I’ll end up wearing them again, so why not look nice and sharp for that first interview). Amber on the other hand as saucer wide eyes wandering the various shops and currently has 2 tailor made dresses on order to be picked up next week. The cost in case you are wondering is about $US40-60 per dress. Pricy.

Today is rather hot and sticky, and right after being measured for her first dress, Amber steps away from the tailor once finished and says “I don’t feel well”, then faints in three stages towards the floor with two Vietnamese tailors along with me trying to hold her up. A seat is quickly rushed, smelling salts, menthol gel being rubbed into her head and bottle of water in hand. The staff seemed strangely prepared for this sort of thing but I think the embarassment factor was a lot higher. Especially since we have to go back next week to collect the new dress. Hope there isn’t a repeat performance.

Mekong Delta

Everywhere around here are cheap backpacker tours to check out the local area. We jumped on a Mekong Delta tour for 2 days for only $US23 each. All the travel agents put the prices in $US to make it more appealing and its like a second currency here.

We got picked up early morning in a mini-bus, drove for about 2 hours then for the next 2 days were wandering the waterways by boat visiting Coconut-Candy workshops, fishing villages, eating tropical fruit (almost) straight from the tree, watching rice paper making, rice husking, cruising floating markets and a few ferry crossings in between. I was surprised how smooth all the tourism flows here, and how many people were doing the same as us in the distance in a large boat labeled “TOURIST”. For 2 days, it was really good and definitely recommended.

Mmmm, fresh warm coconut candy….

Ho Chi Minh City (aka Saigon)

Here we are in the city of four million motorbikes. They are everywhere, like a river of helmets on the road which makes crossing them a challenge. Step onto the road slowly, make eye contact and slowly walk and they should go around you.

After Bangkok, the pace of here seems slower even if all the traffic doesn’t.  With the French colonials setting the pace a few hundred years ago there is a nice vibe around with people sitting at cafe’s, hawkers selling Pho Bo (Beef Noodles), and every so often a french bakery selling baguettes, and pastries. Many boutique shops line the inner city streets and plenty of parks dot the city. There aren’t really heaps of sights to see, but to enjoy the laid back atmosphere around here.

We are in the middle of backpackerland, which isn’t that bad. Lots of shops, each with a “room for rent”, cafe’s and travel agents. Coffee is a big thing over this way with Vietnam being the 2nd biggest exporter in the world after brazil, so there are coffee shops everywhere as well. There is a cool little place just down from us called Bobby Brewers showing free movies all day long in their first class cinema. Nice for a break from the day.

Transport is rickshaws once again with the seat at the front and driver behind, or an ‘xe om’ which is just doubling on a motorbike. Not sure how you really tell which ones are real and who is just making a quick dong (buck).

A nice place to be right now even if a little hot.

Leaving Bangkok.

We just picked up our passports from the embassy with our new visa’s for entry into Vietnam later today. Get in around 8pm which means we won’t be able to see what the place really looks like till we wake up in the morning. But it does mean all the hawkers will be out to feed us when we arrive.

After arriving back in Bangkok yesterday, we got all the washing sorted, bit of internet (as you can see) and posting trinkets off to Canada so we don’t have to bother carrying them. We did however find Mos Burger, a Japanese Healthy Burger place. Everyone was super friendly, and the food was tasty and in neat little portions. I upgraded to the Butterfly prawns on the side option instead of chips (fries). Excellent. Amber was loving the staff washing up to their elbows, and the hand sanitizer stations at the counter.

Today we are really just waiting for our flight, and heading out shortly for some fresh fruit. After being scared of the fruit in India (going by the “peel it, boil it, forget it” rule) all the fruit here has been awesome. So much better than the supermarket ripened fruit most of the west gets in the middle of winter. Local stuff is always better.

Hope everyone gets a good break for Easter. Don’t think there is any such thing over this way.