Hello we're in Siem Reap now and have found a place with free internet so I can waffle away again now.
Right, after our eventful night in Ho Chi Minh we took a trip on the Mekong Delta with Sinh Cafe the next day. Was a bit touristy but still really fun. We got to see how lots of different things like coconut candy and rice paper were made and had lots of free samples (mike ate 3 coconut candies and spat each one out deciding that he didn't like them, only to try and eat another one a few minutes later). There were also lots of free cups of tea and some very strange fruit that tasted bit like smelly feet. Highlight was probably riding around in a horse drawn carriage (don't know what this had to do with the local people or the way of life in the mekong as we didn't see any locals doing this, but they gave us all silly hats to wear so it was ok) or going down the river in a little rowing boat.
At 6.30 the following morning we got on the bus to Phnom Penh which was pretty uneventful,and checked into Tat Guesthouse which is brilliant. $7 for a double room with ensuite and the staff were so lovely and friendly. And they have a rooftop bit with hammocks.
We checked in and went off to see the Royal Palace which was a bit off a mug off as was the same price as our room, each. Was very pretty though, lots of pagodas and temples and we saw some really expensive stuff that had been donated by the royal family. Wandered about a bit and found D's Bookshop which was so lovely, i think i want to run a second hand bookshop when I'm older. Bought too many books. Then found another lil gem that had apparently just opened: it's a silk shop that also serves coffee and beer and they have loads of big cushions on the floor and jugs of beer for $3, so we stayed there for a bit. Think I would incorporate something like that into my bookshop.
Had dinner at the guesthouse with Paul and Sarah who had been eating Happy Pizza all day, and then lay in the hammocks and watched Borat. Lovely day.
Sunday we did the horrible stuff. Got up early and walked to Toul Sleng Genocide Museum to watch he film they show at 10am. We hired a guide who walked us round and explained everything. She was 8 when the Khmer Rouge took over and was sent to a labour camp near the Vietnamese border with her family. Her father was shot as he used to be in the army. Two of her brothers died there. One night she and he mother escaped and walked for a week to cross the border to Vietnam, where they lived until the 1980s. After that we went to the Killing Fields. I don't really want to write anything else about it as I don't think I could do it justice.
We had a really lovely tuk tuk driver that I think also works at Tat Guesthouse. He drove us about all day and then took us to the Russian Market where I bought far too many kramars and silk things... and an ipod!! It cost $40 and looks just like the little square ipod nanos, except the screen is a bit wonky. And the software on it is nothing like and ipod. But it's brilliant I'm so pleased with it. it even has a speaker on the back so in some ways (not many) it's better than a real ipod!
That cheered me up but apart from that we were both pretty low all day and i was quite glad to go to bed.
Monday was when I wrote my other posts, we bummed about on the internet until it was time to catch our bus to Siem Reap. We piled into a little mini bus thinking it would drop us at a bus station but it never did so we were a bit squashed the whole way. And the roads are pretty bad. Apparently they've got better recently, but there were some bits which were very bumpy and our driver was a bit of a loony. The views were amazing though, there is a lot more jungle here than Vietnam (obviously...) and most of the houses are on stilts for when the rivers flood in the rainy season. There were loads of temples and really ornate pagodas that looked beautiful and I'm sure if they were somewhere else would have loads of tourists, but here they are just peaking out of the jungle and look like no one from outside ever sees them.
Had a bit of a problem about an hour from Siem Reap, our driver started driving really slowly and meandering on and off the road. Eventually he stopped and explained to us in broken English that one of the brake disks had broken. ah. we all got off the bus and it was getting dark and huge bugs were flying into us. There was a thunder storm going on a few miles away and the lightening kept lighting up the clouds. The driver started to take the wheel apart and mike assisted by holding the torch for him. About 1/4 of the disk had come off but after fiddling with it for about 20 minutes the driver decided it would be fine if he drove slowly (read not quite as terribly as before) so we all piled back in and off we set.
Actually wasn't too bad, after a little while they swapped our bus for one with seats that reclined almost all the way back.
Got into Siem Reap and came to the Siem Reap hostel after being recommended it by loads of people. It seems really nice and clean and there are loads of good areas for lounging about in hammocks, but is very expensive $8 a night for a dorm bed without breakfast. But we're going to stay here as we're too poor to go out and do stuff and it's nice for bumming around. and free internet. The tuk tuk driver who brought us here seemed really nice him so we 'booked' him for a temples tour today. Got up at 4.30am to meet him outside at 5am. He drove us to Angkor Wat to watch the sunrise which was very pretty but we got a bit bored so while everyone else was watching we went off and explored. It was brilliant as we had the whole place to ourselves, there was NO ONE else around. We climbed all over it and took loads of photos and had a lovely time. We did the 'small tour' which covered all the main ones and the one where bits from tomb raider were filmed and the trees are part of the temples. At Angkor Thom we did an elephant ride which was a really bad idea. They're mentioned in Lonely Planet so we though they would be ok and well treated but it was $15 which is a mug off for a 10 minute ride and the bloke riding it kept hitting the elephant with a stick with a nail on the end and making it bleed. We were the 2nd ride of the day and there was already quite a bit of blood on it's head so it must be really bad later in the day.
the Bayon was my favourite temple and before 9am there are hardly any other tourists. There are lots of towers with heads carved onto them and it just looks really cool. Ta Keo was the worst. It is so high up and the steps are stupidly steep. I'm not great with heights and was pretty scared the whole way up and down. The whole day was just really good, temples are good.
We got back at about 12pm but felt like we'd had a whole day as we got up so early. Don't think we've really done much since. Lay in hammocks, wondered around town and seen where sells cheap beer, that's about it.
Plan for the next few days: staying in Siem Reap tonight (28/4) and tomorrow (29/4) trying to spend as little money as possible and then catching bus at 8am on 30/4 to Bangkok which should get in about 5.30pm (and costs $10). Spending 1 night in a hostel somewhere and then on 1/5 we check into the royal hotel and start the whole organised tour. easy. xx
Tuesday, 28 April 2009
Monday, 27 April 2009
Ho Chi Minh City
Sorry about that rushed ending. Right so we caught the sleeper bus to Ho Chi Minh which was pretty uneventful. Mike took some valium as everyone has been raving about it but it didn't really seem to work. He only slept once he'd stolen my really comfy extra long bunk and made me swap so I was in his mini cramped one. bluddy boy. Arrived in Ho Chi Minh at about 6.30am and for the first time didn't check into a great hotel. It was $16 a night which we now think of as a fortune and just not that nice, but they were the only place with rooms at that time. We went to Sinh Cafe and booked lots of tours for the next 2 days and an open bus ticket to Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, for under 25 pounds each! Then we went to see the Reunification Palace and the War Remnants Museum. Palace was pretty rubbish, not really worth it. Lonely Planet says it hasn't been changed since it fell to the North but there is a big gold statue of Ho Chi Minh in there so I don't believe one word of it. It was just a lot of rooms with furniture in, but no signs telling you anything. The war remnants museum was brilliant though. There was loads of information about the American War and a bit about some of the journalists who had died and their photographs which were really powerful. Also lots of information about the war crimes the american army committed which I didn't really know about. Like the Hanoi Hilton, it was all very one sided, but that still didn't explain why America did some of these awful things and seems to have got away with it. There were some really upsetting photographs of children who were deformed because of the Agent Orange chemical which was dropped on their villages, and of the Viet Cong in the prison there and the terrible conditions they lived in. I couldn't go in the cells as I was feeling pretty low. There was a visitors book which was pretty bad, it was either filled with stupidly nieve people writing things like "never again!" or just stupid angry people ranting about how bad america is.
So we left from there feeling a bit low and it was so so hot we had to stop and have breaks every few minutes. We ended up eating in a Pho 24 (like a fast food noodle restuarant) which was pretty crap and expensive. Then came back to our room and I don't think we did much for the rest of the day.
Thursday we were booked to go on a tour of the Cao Dai Temple and the Cu Chi Tunnels. We left at about 8.30am on this little bus with only 6 other people in our group. And we had the best tour guide ever. His name was Tom and he was so smiley and happy. At the end of the day he sang a song about how much he would miss us. I love him. Temple was quite a long way out so we were on the bus for about 3 hours. It was really cool though, the religion is a mix of pretty much every religion in the world, and the temple was really brightly coloured with loads of dragons and things all over it. We watched the mid day mass which was loads of people in white, red, yellow and blue walking around and kneeling while about 200 tourists with big cameras filmed them.
Then back on the bus to the Cu Chi Tunnels where the Viet Cong hid from and fought the Americans during the war. We went in the afternoon after most of the tourists so was quite quiet and we all got a go to try and fit down the tiny holes the Viet Cong used to jump down. mike and I were the only ones who fitted. The tour was really good, it's ridiculous how small and hot the tunnels that they lived down were.
Back at Ho Chi Minh and we swapped hotels to the Yellow Hotel so we could be in a dorm and meet people. Met loads of people which was good but the hotel was rubbish, even though it's in lonely Planet. The staff are very rude and unhelpful and it's not worth the money. There were 2 other places nearby where they had dorm beds for $3 or $4 instead of the $7 they charge there.
That evening we went out for Bia Hoi and then to an amazing restaurant called Lam Cafe on the same road as Yellow Hotel. The food is so lovely, about 40,000 for a meal and really big portions. Then went down to Go2 bar and met Ash and Lee and some girls from Milton Keynes. Ended up staying out till 3am playing smoke or fire and drinking too much beer while the staff played with a wiji board. Then decided that Yellow Hotel was crap as the chap who sits inside all night to let people in had got bored and gone off to see his friend, locking the door with a bike lock from the outside (so good there wasn't a fire as there is no back entrance). So we had to sit for 1/2 hour until he came back and let us in, in a very bad mood for dragging us away. Idiot.
Oh have to go as mike is back and we need to catch a bus bye xxxx
So we left from there feeling a bit low and it was so so hot we had to stop and have breaks every few minutes. We ended up eating in a Pho 24 (like a fast food noodle restuarant) which was pretty crap and expensive. Then came back to our room and I don't think we did much for the rest of the day.
Thursday we were booked to go on a tour of the Cao Dai Temple and the Cu Chi Tunnels. We left at about 8.30am on this little bus with only 6 other people in our group. And we had the best tour guide ever. His name was Tom and he was so smiley and happy. At the end of the day he sang a song about how much he would miss us. I love him. Temple was quite a long way out so we were on the bus for about 3 hours. It was really cool though, the religion is a mix of pretty much every religion in the world, and the temple was really brightly coloured with loads of dragons and things all over it. We watched the mid day mass which was loads of people in white, red, yellow and blue walking around and kneeling while about 200 tourists with big cameras filmed them.
Then back on the bus to the Cu Chi Tunnels where the Viet Cong hid from and fought the Americans during the war. We went in the afternoon after most of the tourists so was quite quiet and we all got a go to try and fit down the tiny holes the Viet Cong used to jump down. mike and I were the only ones who fitted. The tour was really good, it's ridiculous how small and hot the tunnels that they lived down were.
Back at Ho Chi Minh and we swapped hotels to the Yellow Hotel so we could be in a dorm and meet people. Met loads of people which was good but the hotel was rubbish, even though it's in lonely Planet. The staff are very rude and unhelpful and it's not worth the money. There were 2 other places nearby where they had dorm beds for $3 or $4 instead of the $7 they charge there.
That evening we went out for Bia Hoi and then to an amazing restaurant called Lam Cafe on the same road as Yellow Hotel. The food is so lovely, about 40,000 for a meal and really big portions. Then went down to Go2 bar and met Ash and Lee and some girls from Milton Keynes. Ended up staying out till 3am playing smoke or fire and drinking too much beer while the staff played with a wiji board. Then decided that Yellow Hotel was crap as the chap who sits inside all night to let people in had got bored and gone off to see his friend, locking the door with a bike lock from the outside (so good there wasn't a fire as there is no back entrance). So we had to sit for 1/2 hour until he came back and let us in, in a very bad mood for dragging us away. Idiot.
Oh have to go as mike is back and we need to catch a bus bye xxxx
Nha Trang, Vietnam
oh no I haven't done this for a while I have looads to do and not much time! Ok well Nha Trang was very nice but essentially just a lovely beach with lots of bars. On Saturday we went to a beach party at the Sailing Club which turned into a pretty strange night as we wondered all over town, stopping at little shops by the road to drink beer and play with tiny baby puppies. Ended with everyone going skinny diping at 4am. The next day was spent in bed and on the beach as we were so hungover. I think mike may have even skipped a meal we felt that bad.
The next day after that (I can't remember days of the week) we went to Vin Pearl Land which is brilliant, if you're going to Nha Trang you should definately have a look. We paid 300,000 VND for the day, plus taxis of about 50,000 VND each way to get to the harbour. It's on an island opposite Nha Trang beach that you have to get a cable car across. Mike wondering if you leant against the doors and they opened if you would die while we were going across didn't help. The theme park is brilliant - there was no one there! At all, it was just us. We went on one of those swinging ship things and both sat at opposite ends laughing at how surreal it was. Then we went on a rollercoaster and at the end swapped seats and went on again, just beacuse we could. There was a huge amusement arcade with dodgems, a 4D cinema and every arcade game ever, all for free! It was also very air conditioned so we stayed in there quite a while. Then off to the aquarium which was brilliant, except mike took far too many photos of the fish. There is a moving walk way where you can go underneath the largest glass ceiling in the world and all the fish swim around you. And then we went to the water park which was the best bit. Loads of slides and rubber rings. Although I got whiplash on one as they are pretty steep. Basically a really good day. In the evening we saw Alex and Ewan (the boys who hired motorbikes in Hanoi and had ridden down Vietnam) and were so pleased they weren't dead we went out for dinner and drinks at Red Apple with them.
Last day in Nha Trang we hired bikes and went up to Cham Towers which were very pretty. Then tried to find a secluded beach but they all had big sewage pipes which put me off Nha Trang a bit. So we went back to the main tourist beach and bummed about there until it was time to get the bus to Ho Chi Minh.
And that is where I shall have to leave it as I need to go and buy some lunch and this internet is very expensive. But we're now in Phnom Penh in Cambodia and still alive xx
The next day after that (I can't remember days of the week) we went to Vin Pearl Land which is brilliant, if you're going to Nha Trang you should definately have a look. We paid 300,000 VND for the day, plus taxis of about 50,000 VND each way to get to the harbour. It's on an island opposite Nha Trang beach that you have to get a cable car across. Mike wondering if you leant against the doors and they opened if you would die while we were going across didn't help. The theme park is brilliant - there was no one there! At all, it was just us. We went on one of those swinging ship things and both sat at opposite ends laughing at how surreal it was. Then we went on a rollercoaster and at the end swapped seats and went on again, just beacuse we could. There was a huge amusement arcade with dodgems, a 4D cinema and every arcade game ever, all for free! It was also very air conditioned so we stayed in there quite a while. Then off to the aquarium which was brilliant, except mike took far too many photos of the fish. There is a moving walk way where you can go underneath the largest glass ceiling in the world and all the fish swim around you. And then we went to the water park which was the best bit. Loads of slides and rubber rings. Although I got whiplash on one as they are pretty steep. Basically a really good day. In the evening we saw Alex and Ewan (the boys who hired motorbikes in Hanoi and had ridden down Vietnam) and were so pleased they weren't dead we went out for dinner and drinks at Red Apple with them.
Last day in Nha Trang we hired bikes and went up to Cham Towers which were very pretty. Then tried to find a secluded beach but they all had big sewage pipes which put me off Nha Trang a bit. So we went back to the main tourist beach and bummed about there until it was time to get the bus to Ho Chi Minh.
And that is where I shall have to leave it as I need to go and buy some lunch and this internet is very expensive. But we're now in Phnom Penh in Cambodia and still alive xx
Saturday, 18 April 2009
Hoi An to Nha Trang, Vietnam
Have just arrived in Nha Trang this morning (after another painful sleeper bus journey) and again it's so much hotter. We can see the beach from our hotel window and it looks so beautiful, heading down there in a bit to cool down.
Hoi An was brilliant we had such a good time there. Firstly it's just so pretty, especially in the evenings when there are lots of Chinese lanterns strung up across the street and you can see all the restaurant lights by the river. Also because we rented motorbikes. That was probably our best idea so far, was so much fun. On Wednesday Mike and Ken rented them while I went and faffed around at the tailors trying to get everyone's clothes sorted (my whole family put in orders for tailor made clothes, it got a little bit complicated). Then they came and picked me up and we went off exploring. I don't think we actually really went anywhere (tried to go to Marble Mountain but it was closed), we just went really fast up and down the roads outside of Hoi An by the beach and the rice fields. And it was just really fun. I had a go but as expected I was pretty crap and uncoordinated and slowed everyone down so mike took it off me. We went to the beach and walked around and had a drink. The beach at Hoi An is so beautiful and so quiet. There are a couple of really expensive resorts ($155 for the cheapest room!) and that's about it. Just lots palm trees and some people sunbathing. It's been the first time we've really gone to the beach and I really enjoyed it, although we were only paddling. We went on the bridge over the river back into Hoi An just as the sun was starting to set and it looked pretty perfect.
Beth and Rory arrived that evening from Hue so we all went to Cafe 96 for dinner and then for some Bia Hoi. Then a chap handing out leaflets persuaded us it would be a good idea to go over to the island to King Kong bar where there were free rum and cokes so we headed off. I have not yet spoken to anyone who has been to King Kong bar and not got hideously drunk. Ken said it smelled of rape but I though it seemed quite a nice place, although there were only drunken British people there. Proper brits abroad, they gave out stupid amounts of free alcohol and everyone danced on the pool table. Was really fun until the amount of spirits caught up with me and I found that I couldn't really walk. Beth was worse so they had to go home early. We didn't stay that late as mike was more battered than me and couldn't actually speak any more, so we stumbled home and spent most of the next day in bed or sitting in Treats with sunglasses on. By the eve we were a bit better and met up with some boys that Beth and Rory had met in Hue. Went for dinner with them and then to Before and Now bar which was really cool and had loads of paintings all over the walls. They tried to persuade us to go back to King Kong bar that night but we wisely resisted.
Friday we were good and got up early to post all of our clothes back to England. Cost a small fortune. Oh and we went to Jean's cafe and spent 1 pound 80 having the best breakfast ever: banana milkshake, tea, scrambled eggs, bacon, toast and chips :) Then we hired bikes again (because we're such pros) and went to Marble Mountain, which was open this time.
Marble Mountain is a pretty wierd place. It's a huge cave about 50m high in a cliff of marble that just sticks out of the land. At the start it looks amazing, there's lots of little shrines carved into the rock and steps taking you to more secret shrines and waterfalls and it looks really pretty. We were the only ones in there and it was so quiet. Then there's some more bigger shrines with lots of buddhas and flashing lights. And then there's some little steps going down and it gets really dark and narrow. There are some carvings of people being tortured and eaten by demons. And then some more carvings of people in pain and being killed. And some demon heads carved into the walls and you keep on walking down and it's like descending into hell. I got a little bit freaked out and suddenly wished there were some more people in there to make some noise. And I had just read a book about vampires and there were some bats squeaking up at the top which weren't really helping. And that was the end. The steps just stopped and you turned around and walked back out of hell to the buddhas. Very strange place.
After that we went to the beach again and just stood in the sea for about 30 minutes just perving on how pretty it was and how nice and cool we were. I do love Hoi An. Had some ice creams and found a place that sold board shorts for one pound sixty. Then went back for dinner. We went to a place called Tam Tam cafe for dinner which was a bit more expensive that where we'd been before but was delicious, worth every penny.
Then we got on the sleeper bus to get to Nha Trang (obviously we had to wait about 1 1/2 hours to do this as the bus was late, standard). We got better seats than last time but I think at about 3 in the morning we went offroad for about an hour, as no proper road could possibly have that amount of potholes or need that amount of swerving. Got into Nha Trang at about 6.30 am and have now checked into Nice Hotel. Which seems very nice, our room has 2 double beds which is pretty good (and a little odd). Lots of pictures on facebook as it's a bit tricky putting them up on here xx
Hoi An was brilliant we had such a good time there. Firstly it's just so pretty, especially in the evenings when there are lots of Chinese lanterns strung up across the street and you can see all the restaurant lights by the river. Also because we rented motorbikes. That was probably our best idea so far, was so much fun. On Wednesday Mike and Ken rented them while I went and faffed around at the tailors trying to get everyone's clothes sorted (my whole family put in orders for tailor made clothes, it got a little bit complicated). Then they came and picked me up and we went off exploring. I don't think we actually really went anywhere (tried to go to Marble Mountain but it was closed), we just went really fast up and down the roads outside of Hoi An by the beach and the rice fields. And it was just really fun. I had a go but as expected I was pretty crap and uncoordinated and slowed everyone down so mike took it off me. We went to the beach and walked around and had a drink. The beach at Hoi An is so beautiful and so quiet. There are a couple of really expensive resorts ($155 for the cheapest room!) and that's about it. Just lots palm trees and some people sunbathing. It's been the first time we've really gone to the beach and I really enjoyed it, although we were only paddling. We went on the bridge over the river back into Hoi An just as the sun was starting to set and it looked pretty perfect.
Beth and Rory arrived that evening from Hue so we all went to Cafe 96 for dinner and then for some Bia Hoi. Then a chap handing out leaflets persuaded us it would be a good idea to go over to the island to King Kong bar where there were free rum and cokes so we headed off. I have not yet spoken to anyone who has been to King Kong bar and not got hideously drunk. Ken said it smelled of rape but I though it seemed quite a nice place, although there were only drunken British people there. Proper brits abroad, they gave out stupid amounts of free alcohol and everyone danced on the pool table. Was really fun until the amount of spirits caught up with me and I found that I couldn't really walk. Beth was worse so they had to go home early. We didn't stay that late as mike was more battered than me and couldn't actually speak any more, so we stumbled home and spent most of the next day in bed or sitting in Treats with sunglasses on. By the eve we were a bit better and met up with some boys that Beth and Rory had met in Hue. Went for dinner with them and then to Before and Now bar which was really cool and had loads of paintings all over the walls. They tried to persuade us to go back to King Kong bar that night but we wisely resisted.
Friday we were good and got up early to post all of our clothes back to England. Cost a small fortune. Oh and we went to Jean's cafe and spent 1 pound 80 having the best breakfast ever: banana milkshake, tea, scrambled eggs, bacon, toast and chips :) Then we hired bikes again (because we're such pros) and went to Marble Mountain, which was open this time.
Marble Mountain is a pretty wierd place. It's a huge cave about 50m high in a cliff of marble that just sticks out of the land. At the start it looks amazing, there's lots of little shrines carved into the rock and steps taking you to more secret shrines and waterfalls and it looks really pretty. We were the only ones in there and it was so quiet. Then there's some more bigger shrines with lots of buddhas and flashing lights. And then there's some little steps going down and it gets really dark and narrow. There are some carvings of people being tortured and eaten by demons. And then some more carvings of people in pain and being killed. And some demon heads carved into the walls and you keep on walking down and it's like descending into hell. I got a little bit freaked out and suddenly wished there were some more people in there to make some noise. And I had just read a book about vampires and there were some bats squeaking up at the top which weren't really helping. And that was the end. The steps just stopped and you turned around and walked back out of hell to the buddhas. Very strange place.
After that we went to the beach again and just stood in the sea for about 30 minutes just perving on how pretty it was and how nice and cool we were. I do love Hoi An. Had some ice creams and found a place that sold board shorts for one pound sixty. Then went back for dinner. We went to a place called Tam Tam cafe for dinner which was a bit more expensive that where we'd been before but was delicious, worth every penny.
Then we got on the sleeper bus to get to Nha Trang (obviously we had to wait about 1 1/2 hours to do this as the bus was late, standard). We got better seats than last time but I think at about 3 in the morning we went offroad for about an hour, as no proper road could possibly have that amount of potholes or need that amount of swerving. Got into Nha Trang at about 6.30 am and have now checked into Nice Hotel. Which seems very nice, our room has 2 double beds which is pretty good (and a little odd). Lots of pictures on facebook as it's a bit tricky putting them up on here xx
Tuesday, 14 April 2009
Just some pics...
Monday, 13 April 2009
Hanoi to Hoi An, Vietnam
We didn't go and drink snake blood in the end, for some strange reason no one else except Mike, Beth, Rory and I had booked to do it that night so it was cancelled. Went back to Gecko again though and then to Bia Hoi square and drank 12p beer for most of the night.
Friday we woke up early and checked out and caught a motorbike taxi (both of us on the back) to Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum to see his preserved body. Except it's apparently shut on Fridays so we somehow ended up in Ho Chi Minh's house which wasn't nearly as good. It seems that he moved several times to the house next door to where he was, and you can now walk past all of these and see things like tables and beds inside. facinating. There were also some fish in a tank which were either very old or not supposed to be there.
Bummed about for the next bit of the day, went on the internet, Mike bought every episode of South Park, ate some beef burgers etc. Then headed off to Hoa Lo Prison or the Hanoi Hilton. Was a bit horrible in places like the tiny isolation cells and although they'd done it up really nicely some bits were still a bit creepy. Really good exhibits though. Highlight was the comparison between how awfully the French Colonialists had treated the Vietnamese in the prison with how brilliantly the Vietnamese treated the American POWs in there. Lots of smiling pictures of americans playing football and opening letters. Oh and pictures of John McCain as he was apparently there.
About 6pm ish we caught the open bus (with Hung Thanh travel - $40 Hanoi to Saigon) to take us to Hue. It was a bit more complicated than jus getting on a bus though. First we got into a taxi. Then about 5 more people were put in the boot and then we set off. Then the people in the boot started banging as apparently it was air tight and they couldn't breathe. Then the police pulled us over, so the driver refused to open the boot in case the police saw the people he had crammed in there. Then we set off again and the people in the boot were still banging and people were yelling and it was pretty bad. Then we stopped, the people in the boot were put into another taxi where they could breathe (why this couldn't have been done at the beginning I don't know) and we went to the bus stop. An hour later the bus turned up and we got on. It wasn't as bad as the Chinese train but it wasn't great. The beds weren't long enough for me let along mike and they were tilted upwards so you kept slipping down and getting even less room. But that didn't seem to bad until we set off and we realised the sides were very low and didn't really keep you and Vietnamese drive like maniacs! nobody fell out and actually managed to sleep quite well. Arrived in Hue at about 8am the next day and checked into the 'recommended' hotel because they gave us a free taxi there.
Hoem Thien Hotel was actually really nice. $10 a night for a room with a single and double bed, air con, en suite, balcony, lovely. We booked to go on a tour of the royal tombs in the afternoon so spent the morning rushing around the Citadel and Forbidden Purple City. It was so lovely though, as it was all crumbling and you could just go off and explore and find all these little hidden bits as it's so big. Good pics on mike and my facebook, although I think we may have taken a few too many of all of the scenery. We caught a cyclo ( a big seat on the front of a bicycle) back to make sure we still had time for lunch. Cyclo was pretty expensive and I didn't really like it as we went so slowly and there was just this poor old man on the back sweating and trying to cycle mike and I around. I just wanted to get off and tell him that I'd walk. Had a lovely lunch and then got in a taxi to take us round the tombs. Went to Minh Mang first and had to pay to get in and it was lovely and very pretty but not as nice as the citadel and wasn't really that exciting. Then went to 2 more tombs but decided not to pay to get in and save a bit of money. Saw how conical hats and incense sticks are made, and then had to fight off vietnamese woman trying to sell conical hats and incense sticks to us. Then we caught a Dragon boat home which made it all worth it as the boat actually had 2 big dragons made from plastic of something on the front and we got to go all the way down the Perfum River. Then had a really amazing dinner at a little place round the corner from us. They made us traditional Hue cuisine like these little rice pancakes with shrimp wrapped in vine leaves and fried beef in lotus leaves and pancakes and was all just so so nice. We went down to Bar Why Not and played pool but I was pretty rubbish and then Mike got annoyed with the football so we went home.
Had a really lazy day on Saturday and caught up on sleep and read lots. Went to Missy Roo cafe and ate lots of spring rolls and drank beer while we used their free internet for most of the afternoon. There was a huge storm so we couldn't do our origional plan of lying around by the river so just drank more beer. Went to Mandarin Cafe for dinner which was really cheap but not as amazing food as other places. The pictures on the walls were amazing though and the staff were really frinedly and gave us a leaflet on a free walking tour of Hue. Should have gone there first day, I can see why they're in the lonely planet.
This morning we left Hue at 8am and caught a bus to Hoi An. It seemed hotter in Hue than Hanoi but it's soo much hotter here! And we've just readjusted to it being cold again after Africa! It seems so nice here I can see why lots of people we've met bum it. There's a river running through the middleand it's quite quiet and just really pretty. There seem to be a lot of older tourists here so I think it's a bit more chilled. And the shops are amazing. I could spend so much money I have already seen so many things I want. That's tomorrow's job, to try and find a good tailors for my large clothes order. We're staying in the Hoa Binh hotel which is again just where the bus dropped us but it's so lovely and easy to be lazy like this. And it's got a swimming pool! And it's very central so seems like a good idea. We went for a walk earlier and had a cheap lunch (although not as nice, but everything seems more expensive here than Hue) and just perved on how nice everything looked. Not too sure what our plans are, just bumming around, buying things and waiting for Beth and Rory to turn up I think.
But just to say, although Hoi An seems lovely, we did really really like Hue, as loads of people have been moaning about it and telling us to miss it out but we disagree and thought it was brilliant. and cheap.
So that's all for now, these updates are getting quite regular! I do like fast internet xx
Friday we woke up early and checked out and caught a motorbike taxi (both of us on the back) to Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum to see his preserved body. Except it's apparently shut on Fridays so we somehow ended up in Ho Chi Minh's house which wasn't nearly as good. It seems that he moved several times to the house next door to where he was, and you can now walk past all of these and see things like tables and beds inside. facinating. There were also some fish in a tank which were either very old or not supposed to be there.
Bummed about for the next bit of the day, went on the internet, Mike bought every episode of South Park, ate some beef burgers etc. Then headed off to Hoa Lo Prison or the Hanoi Hilton. Was a bit horrible in places like the tiny isolation cells and although they'd done it up really nicely some bits were still a bit creepy. Really good exhibits though. Highlight was the comparison between how awfully the French Colonialists had treated the Vietnamese in the prison with how brilliantly the Vietnamese treated the American POWs in there. Lots of smiling pictures of americans playing football and opening letters. Oh and pictures of John McCain as he was apparently there.
About 6pm ish we caught the open bus (with Hung Thanh travel - $40 Hanoi to Saigon) to take us to Hue. It was a bit more complicated than jus getting on a bus though. First we got into a taxi. Then about 5 more people were put in the boot and then we set off. Then the people in the boot started banging as apparently it was air tight and they couldn't breathe. Then the police pulled us over, so the driver refused to open the boot in case the police saw the people he had crammed in there. Then we set off again and the people in the boot were still banging and people were yelling and it was pretty bad. Then we stopped, the people in the boot were put into another taxi where they could breathe (why this couldn't have been done at the beginning I don't know) and we went to the bus stop. An hour later the bus turned up and we got on. It wasn't as bad as the Chinese train but it wasn't great. The beds weren't long enough for me let along mike and they were tilted upwards so you kept slipping down and getting even less room. But that didn't seem to bad until we set off and we realised the sides were very low and didn't really keep you and Vietnamese drive like maniacs! nobody fell out and actually managed to sleep quite well. Arrived in Hue at about 8am the next day and checked into the 'recommended' hotel because they gave us a free taxi there.
Hoem Thien Hotel was actually really nice. $10 a night for a room with a single and double bed, air con, en suite, balcony, lovely. We booked to go on a tour of the royal tombs in the afternoon so spent the morning rushing around the Citadel and Forbidden Purple City. It was so lovely though, as it was all crumbling and you could just go off and explore and find all these little hidden bits as it's so big. Good pics on mike and my facebook, although I think we may have taken a few too many of all of the scenery. We caught a cyclo ( a big seat on the front of a bicycle) back to make sure we still had time for lunch. Cyclo was pretty expensive and I didn't really like it as we went so slowly and there was just this poor old man on the back sweating and trying to cycle mike and I around. I just wanted to get off and tell him that I'd walk. Had a lovely lunch and then got in a taxi to take us round the tombs. Went to Minh Mang first and had to pay to get in and it was lovely and very pretty but not as nice as the citadel and wasn't really that exciting. Then went to 2 more tombs but decided not to pay to get in and save a bit of money. Saw how conical hats and incense sticks are made, and then had to fight off vietnamese woman trying to sell conical hats and incense sticks to us. Then we caught a Dragon boat home which made it all worth it as the boat actually had 2 big dragons made from plastic of something on the front and we got to go all the way down the Perfum River. Then had a really amazing dinner at a little place round the corner from us. They made us traditional Hue cuisine like these little rice pancakes with shrimp wrapped in vine leaves and fried beef in lotus leaves and pancakes and was all just so so nice. We went down to Bar Why Not and played pool but I was pretty rubbish and then Mike got annoyed with the football so we went home.
Had a really lazy day on Saturday and caught up on sleep and read lots. Went to Missy Roo cafe and ate lots of spring rolls and drank beer while we used their free internet for most of the afternoon. There was a huge storm so we couldn't do our origional plan of lying around by the river so just drank more beer. Went to Mandarin Cafe for dinner which was really cheap but not as amazing food as other places. The pictures on the walls were amazing though and the staff were really frinedly and gave us a leaflet on a free walking tour of Hue. Should have gone there first day, I can see why they're in the lonely planet.
This morning we left Hue at 8am and caught a bus to Hoi An. It seemed hotter in Hue than Hanoi but it's soo much hotter here! And we've just readjusted to it being cold again after Africa! It seems so nice here I can see why lots of people we've met bum it. There's a river running through the middleand it's quite quiet and just really pretty. There seem to be a lot of older tourists here so I think it's a bit more chilled. And the shops are amazing. I could spend so much money I have already seen so many things I want. That's tomorrow's job, to try and find a good tailors for my large clothes order. We're staying in the Hoa Binh hotel which is again just where the bus dropped us but it's so lovely and easy to be lazy like this. And it's got a swimming pool! And it's very central so seems like a good idea. We went for a walk earlier and had a cheap lunch (although not as nice, but everything seems more expensive here than Hue) and just perved on how nice everything looked. Not too sure what our plans are, just bumming around, buying things and waiting for Beth and Rory to turn up I think.
But just to say, although Hoi An seems lovely, we did really really like Hue, as loads of people have been moaning about it and telling us to miss it out but we disagree and thought it was brilliant. and cheap.
So that's all for now, these updates are getting quite regular! I do like fast internet xx
Thursday, 9 April 2009
Guangzhou, China to Hanoi, Vietnam
We're back in civilization! Been in Hanoi a few days now and it is so lovely. I could spend so much money in the shops. Actually I have a bit, but I have such nice things it's ok.
The overnight sleeper train to Nanning was just a bit wierd. It was sooo small and squashed and Mike and I were down opposite ends of the carriage. As it is so small there is no space to stand or sit except on your bed so we couldn't really talk for 12 hours. Actually there wasn't even much space on your bed. The bed above was too low so you couldn't sit on them. We did both try to lie on one but I almost fell off so we stopped that. It wasn't that fun but was pretty funny. We managed to cross the border pretty painlessly, nothing really went that wrong but it was still very stressful as I worried about everything that could go wrong, thinking that every taxi driver was going to murder us and everyone was trying to steal our bags. Actually one time it was quite bad, we got into the only taxi on the Vietnamese side of the border and he took us down a little backstreet and told us to wait a minute while he got out. I stayed remarkably calm until he came back about 10 minutes later and drove off. Mike started spazzing out and only later told me that the taxi driver had walked into a house with about 20 large men in suits who all started pointing at the car and looking at us and though we were about to be mugged/ murdered/ sold into the slave trade. I'm quite glad he didn't tell his at the time. We then got mugged off and paid about 4 times as much as we should have for a mini bus to Hanoi as the taxi driver didn't take us to the bus station but some dodgy mate of his and we had no other option but to pay his stupid price. The driver was a maniac, he constantly drove on the wrong side of the road, so I just read my book and tried not to look out the windows and see this. We were dropped off at his mates hostel but with mike's amazing mapreading skills we found our way to Hanoi Backpackers Hostel where we wanted to stay and got a room.
And then everything started getting much better! The hostel is brilliant I'd recommend it to anyone, really clean, quite cheap, free internet and breakfast, and just lots of people who have been travelling around to ask advice from. They also organised our trip to Halong Bay and our bus ticket down Vietnam for good prices and no hassle. They are brilliant, after China I love them so much.
The first night we met a bloke in the bar who took us to a pizza place where we had real cheese for the first time in almost 2 months! We got up early on Monday and went to the Temple of Literature which was good and very pretty but I think we may have peaked with our gardens at Nam Lian and all others will never seem as good as that place. They had some cool old things on tortoises though. Then we wondered about and went down to the lake and sat writing in our journals, taking pictures and bumming Vietnam. Oh and we had a delicious lunch in a little cafe near the lake. All the food we have had here actually has been really delicious. We haven't had much street food yet, just been popping into little cafes and having the cheapest thing on the menu. Back at the hostel we were told weather was starting to go downhill so booked our trip to Halong Bay the next day. The company was called Rock Long Rock Hard which maybe should have indicated to us that it was quite a heavy drinking sort of cruise. We went with it though cos it had lots of kayaking which Mike fancied.
The kayaking ended up being the best bit, was so fun. We were out for about 3 hours which killed my arms but we got to go to loads of bits you can't see on the big boats. Also went to a cave called the 'Fairy Cave' which was pitch black but had loads of huge stalactites and stalacmites in it. We turned off all of the torches and stood there without talking and it was pitch black and completely quiet which was wierd. Then came back and jumped off the 3 level boat. And got very cold, think mike and I have both now got colds, possibly from this. Then everyone started drinking and it went downhill a bit. They turned this hardcore dance music and europop up really loud and started playing drinking games and it got a bit intense, while all we wanted to do was sit about and drink beer and look at this beautiful place we were. We found 3 other girls who shared out point of view and went to bed early with us. Bit sad but it didn't really seem the right place to get blind drunk and play I Have Never.
Took most of Wednesday to get back to Hanoi and then we just bummed about. Went to another brilliant restaurant for dinner and collapsed as we were so tired.
Got up early again today and went to the Thai embassy to sort out our visas and they were free!! They've got some sort of special offer on there at the moment which is pretty cool. Then we wondered about the Old Quarter and went to Dong Xuan market. I have bought so much stuff!! There is such beautiful silk here and it's just so lovely I keep buying pashminas and purses. Most of them are presents so I kid myself it's ok but I really ought to stop.
Oh and mike has just informed me that we're going to a snake farm this evening where we will do shots of snake blood and eat snakes. brilliant! That's pretty much all up to now, I'll let you know soon how the snakes are xx
IF YOU'RE GOING HERE (and can't be arsed to read all of my waffle):
- The direct train or bus from Nanning to Hanoi is probably easiest. We didn't do this, to try and save time but it wasn't any cheaper and caused us quite a lot of worry. If you do it yourself and catch lots of different trains and taxis: Sleeper from Guangzhou to Nanning 173RMB hard sleeper, train from Nanning to Pingxiang 30RMB, taxi to border 20RMB each (there was a little man offering it for 2 RMB, apparently this is a scam), really easy to walk accross the border, althouth the Vietnamese side is a little disorganised and you need 2000 dong or 2RMB to pay for something to get in. The money changers in the middle gave us quite a good price but check the exchange rate before you go, taxi to Lang Song $10, minibus to Hanoi $15 each (apparently we got mugged off here and it should be about 50,000 dong but they were asking 300,000. Make sure the taxi driver takes you to the bus station and not just one mini bus. Then just barter better than us, although it's pretty scary when that is the only minibus you can see and you HAVE to get to Hanoi!). Have a good map to be able to point to where you want to get dropped off/ work out where you are and walk to your hostel. Most of the streets have big signs showing their names making it a bit easier to navigate
- Hanoi Backpackers hostel is ace. $7.50 for a dorm bed with free breakfast. There are loads of rooms so I'd imagine you can normally just walk in. We got there at about 5pm and they had lots left.
- Rock Long Rock Hard tour of Halong Bay was $69.50 for 2 days 1 night including everything except drink (20,000 for beers, 30,000 for spirit+mixers). 3ish hours of kayaking which is brilliant. All food is lovely and lots of it, vegetarians had quite a lot of choice too. Then a LOT of drinking. Not very chilled out, and very loud europop music.
- The Gecko Cafe in the Old Quarter is brilliant. Don't think it's in the lonely planet but it should be. Meals about 50,000.
- You can get the 60 day tourist visa for Thailand at the Thai embassy in Hanoi and at the moment (April 2009) it's free!
The overnight sleeper train to Nanning was just a bit wierd. It was sooo small and squashed and Mike and I were down opposite ends of the carriage. As it is so small there is no space to stand or sit except on your bed so we couldn't really talk for 12 hours. Actually there wasn't even much space on your bed. The bed above was too low so you couldn't sit on them. We did both try to lie on one but I almost fell off so we stopped that. It wasn't that fun but was pretty funny. We managed to cross the border pretty painlessly, nothing really went that wrong but it was still very stressful as I worried about everything that could go wrong, thinking that every taxi driver was going to murder us and everyone was trying to steal our bags. Actually one time it was quite bad, we got into the only taxi on the Vietnamese side of the border and he took us down a little backstreet and told us to wait a minute while he got out. I stayed remarkably calm until he came back about 10 minutes later and drove off. Mike started spazzing out and only later told me that the taxi driver had walked into a house with about 20 large men in suits who all started pointing at the car and looking at us and though we were about to be mugged/ murdered/ sold into the slave trade. I'm quite glad he didn't tell his at the time. We then got mugged off and paid about 4 times as much as we should have for a mini bus to Hanoi as the taxi driver didn't take us to the bus station but some dodgy mate of his and we had no other option but to pay his stupid price. The driver was a maniac, he constantly drove on the wrong side of the road, so I just read my book and tried not to look out the windows and see this. We were dropped off at his mates hostel but with mike's amazing mapreading skills we found our way to Hanoi Backpackers Hostel where we wanted to stay and got a room.
And then everything started getting much better! The hostel is brilliant I'd recommend it to anyone, really clean, quite cheap, free internet and breakfast, and just lots of people who have been travelling around to ask advice from. They also organised our trip to Halong Bay and our bus ticket down Vietnam for good prices and no hassle. They are brilliant, after China I love them so much.
The first night we met a bloke in the bar who took us to a pizza place where we had real cheese for the first time in almost 2 months! We got up early on Monday and went to the Temple of Literature which was good and very pretty but I think we may have peaked with our gardens at Nam Lian and all others will never seem as good as that place. They had some cool old things on tortoises though. Then we wondered about and went down to the lake and sat writing in our journals, taking pictures and bumming Vietnam. Oh and we had a delicious lunch in a little cafe near the lake. All the food we have had here actually has been really delicious. We haven't had much street food yet, just been popping into little cafes and having the cheapest thing on the menu. Back at the hostel we were told weather was starting to go downhill so booked our trip to Halong Bay the next day. The company was called Rock Long Rock Hard which maybe should have indicated to us that it was quite a heavy drinking sort of cruise. We went with it though cos it had lots of kayaking which Mike fancied.
The kayaking ended up being the best bit, was so fun. We were out for about 3 hours which killed my arms but we got to go to loads of bits you can't see on the big boats. Also went to a cave called the 'Fairy Cave' which was pitch black but had loads of huge stalactites and stalacmites in it. We turned off all of the torches and stood there without talking and it was pitch black and completely quiet which was wierd. Then came back and jumped off the 3 level boat. And got very cold, think mike and I have both now got colds, possibly from this. Then everyone started drinking and it went downhill a bit. They turned this hardcore dance music and europop up really loud and started playing drinking games and it got a bit intense, while all we wanted to do was sit about and drink beer and look at this beautiful place we were. We found 3 other girls who shared out point of view and went to bed early with us. Bit sad but it didn't really seem the right place to get blind drunk and play I Have Never.
Took most of Wednesday to get back to Hanoi and then we just bummed about. Went to another brilliant restaurant for dinner and collapsed as we were so tired.
Got up early again today and went to the Thai embassy to sort out our visas and they were free!! They've got some sort of special offer on there at the moment which is pretty cool. Then we wondered about the Old Quarter and went to Dong Xuan market. I have bought so much stuff!! There is such beautiful silk here and it's just so lovely I keep buying pashminas and purses. Most of them are presents so I kid myself it's ok but I really ought to stop.
Oh and mike has just informed me that we're going to a snake farm this evening where we will do shots of snake blood and eat snakes. brilliant! That's pretty much all up to now, I'll let you know soon how the snakes are xx
IF YOU'RE GOING HERE (and can't be arsed to read all of my waffle):
- The direct train or bus from Nanning to Hanoi is probably easiest. We didn't do this, to try and save time but it wasn't any cheaper and caused us quite a lot of worry. If you do it yourself and catch lots of different trains and taxis: Sleeper from Guangzhou to Nanning 173RMB hard sleeper, train from Nanning to Pingxiang 30RMB, taxi to border 20RMB each (there was a little man offering it for 2 RMB, apparently this is a scam), really easy to walk accross the border, althouth the Vietnamese side is a little disorganised and you need 2000 dong or 2RMB to pay for something to get in. The money changers in the middle gave us quite a good price but check the exchange rate before you go, taxi to Lang Song $10, minibus to Hanoi $15 each (apparently we got mugged off here and it should be about 50,000 dong but they were asking 300,000. Make sure the taxi driver takes you to the bus station and not just one mini bus. Then just barter better than us, although it's pretty scary when that is the only minibus you can see and you HAVE to get to Hanoi!). Have a good map to be able to point to where you want to get dropped off/ work out where you are and walk to your hostel. Most of the streets have big signs showing their names making it a bit easier to navigate
- Hanoi Backpackers hostel is ace. $7.50 for a dorm bed with free breakfast. There are loads of rooms so I'd imagine you can normally just walk in. We got there at about 5pm and they had lots left.
- Rock Long Rock Hard tour of Halong Bay was $69.50 for 2 days 1 night including everything except drink (20,000 for beers, 30,000 for spirit+mixers). 3ish hours of kayaking which is brilliant. All food is lovely and lots of it, vegetarians had quite a lot of choice too. Then a LOT of drinking. Not very chilled out, and very loud europop music.
- The Gecko Cafe in the Old Quarter is brilliant. Don't think it's in the lonely planet but it should be. Meals about 50,000.
- You can get the 60 day tourist visa for Thailand at the Thai embassy in Hanoi and at the moment (April 2009) it's free!
Saturday, 4 April 2009
China - Shenzhen to Guangzhou
you know how in the film 'In Brugues', Colin Farrell keeps saying "fuckin' Brugues"? Well replace Brugues with China and that's pretty much how we feel. I feel a bit bad as I'm sure it's a lovely place and there's loads of cool stuff to do, we've just had some pretty crap experiences and are really looking forward to leaving.
After my last post I woke Mike up off the floor, said goodbye to the girls and we wandered off to get an MTR train to the border. Then things started going a bit wrong, Mike was sick all over the floor of East Tsim Sha Tsui station. Just everywhere. That was pretty bad. We got on a train and then I was sick. Luckily into a plastic bag but still also pretty bad. Then we couldn't find where to return our octopus cards to so wer HKD100 out of pocket. But after getting all of that alcohol out of our systems we weren't feeling too bad. Once you leave Hong Kong and get into China everything changes a bit. From every single sign being written in English and everyone speaking English fluently, it becomes one or two signs and about one person in the whole station who speaks a tiny bit of English. Or maybe he just nodded at the right time as his directions were't much good. It is all just a bit more confusing and not as clean and sparkly as Hong Kong was. After about an hour of wondering around getting more and more down we found where we needed to buy train tickets from (outside of the station, how did we not work that out!), queued for 30 minutes to be told the tickets to Guilin were almost 100 pounds each. So that wasn't very good and we were a bit stuck. Lots of hassle later we decided to change out plans and abandon our already paid for hostel in Guilin and catch a train to Guangzhou. Which was relitavely easy so we nievely though our troubles were over and things were improving. Got off, queued for another age and realised that Chinese people (or maybe just the ones we met) don't have much of an idea of personal space and walk into us and each other a lot). Luckliy I had written down the names of some hostels in Guangzhou so we headed to a taxi rank. But no one spoke English. But it's ok cos we spell Chinese words phonetically, the way they say them, so if we just said the street name... but no that didn't work. So we showed them the written address. And that didn't work either. One taxi driver gave me he phone and i had to try and spell things down the line to a woman who barely spoke english and it was so painful I wanted to cry. This went on for longer than I want to remember, it was so bad and we were so tired and just wanted to sleep. In the end we gave up and walked into a posh hotel, thinking we would have to just pay a fortune and leave as soon as possible. In the hotel was a map, with the name of the road we had been trying to get to clearly written in the middle as it was the main road in the town. I may have cried a little bit at this point. Then we finally had some good luck and found out that this posh looking hotel (the Bay Yin City Hotel) was actually quite cheap, so we booked a room for 2 nights and went and collapsed in bed for the next 18 hours. The room was really nice and had free tea and toothbrushes and stuff like that.
Next afternoon we got up and went to find an internet cafe. I think we asked over 20 people but in the end we managed to find one and find out the train details to leave and get to Nanning where we can get into Vietnam. Did the same asking millions of people and managed to find an ATM. Then went and scarily easily managed to buy our train tickets. So in about 3 hours we're catching a sleeper to Nanning. hopefully. Had dinner in a wierd Chinese KFC for one pound ninety each and went to bed. So far those are our adventures in China, which is not very exciting at all. Apart from the both being sick in the railway station, that was pretty funny.
After my last post I woke Mike up off the floor, said goodbye to the girls and we wandered off to get an MTR train to the border. Then things started going a bit wrong, Mike was sick all over the floor of East Tsim Sha Tsui station. Just everywhere. That was pretty bad. We got on a train and then I was sick. Luckily into a plastic bag but still also pretty bad. Then we couldn't find where to return our octopus cards to so wer HKD100 out of pocket. But after getting all of that alcohol out of our systems we weren't feeling too bad. Once you leave Hong Kong and get into China everything changes a bit. From every single sign being written in English and everyone speaking English fluently, it becomes one or two signs and about one person in the whole station who speaks a tiny bit of English. Or maybe he just nodded at the right time as his directions were't much good. It is all just a bit more confusing and not as clean and sparkly as Hong Kong was. After about an hour of wondering around getting more and more down we found where we needed to buy train tickets from (outside of the station, how did we not work that out!), queued for 30 minutes to be told the tickets to Guilin were almost 100 pounds each. So that wasn't very good and we were a bit stuck. Lots of hassle later we decided to change out plans and abandon our already paid for hostel in Guilin and catch a train to Guangzhou. Which was relitavely easy so we nievely though our troubles were over and things were improving. Got off, queued for another age and realised that Chinese people (or maybe just the ones we met) don't have much of an idea of personal space and walk into us and each other a lot). Luckliy I had written down the names of some hostels in Guangzhou so we headed to a taxi rank. But no one spoke English. But it's ok cos we spell Chinese words phonetically, the way they say them, so if we just said the street name... but no that didn't work. So we showed them the written address. And that didn't work either. One taxi driver gave me he phone and i had to try and spell things down the line to a woman who barely spoke english and it was so painful I wanted to cry. This went on for longer than I want to remember, it was so bad and we were so tired and just wanted to sleep. In the end we gave up and walked into a posh hotel, thinking we would have to just pay a fortune and leave as soon as possible. In the hotel was a map, with the name of the road we had been trying to get to clearly written in the middle as it was the main road in the town. I may have cried a little bit at this point. Then we finally had some good luck and found out that this posh looking hotel (the Bay Yin City Hotel) was actually quite cheap, so we booked a room for 2 nights and went and collapsed in bed for the next 18 hours. The room was really nice and had free tea and toothbrushes and stuff like that.
Next afternoon we got up and went to find an internet cafe. I think we asked over 20 people but in the end we managed to find one and find out the train details to leave and get to Nanning where we can get into Vietnam. Did the same asking millions of people and managed to find an ATM. Then went and scarily easily managed to buy our train tickets. So in about 3 hours we're catching a sleeper to Nanning. hopefully. Had dinner in a wierd Chinese KFC for one pound ninety each and went to bed. So far those are our adventures in China, which is not very exciting at all. Apart from the both being sick in the railway station, that was pretty funny.
Thursday, 2 April 2009
Hong Kong
Such a culture shock, Hong Kong is the complete opposite of Ghana. All of the buildings here are a million storeys high and everything is super clean and organised. Sitting in an internet cafe at the moment so hungover as went out in Wan Chai last night with the lovely girls in our room. Mike is sleeping on the floor at the moment but they don't seem to mind.
Hong Kong is amazing I love it here. Although it is horribly expensive. We got in late Monday night so just went to our hostel and stayed up a bit talking to Hannah, Jenny and Sophia, the girls in our room. Tuesday we spent a lot of time trying to get around and getting a bit confused. There are some buits of Hong Kong island where you can't walk on the street, you have to use covered walkways between the buildings. Eventually we figured this out and caught a bus up to the Peak which is a big hill overlooking all of Hong Kong. It was a bit misty but it was so lovely and we could see so much. The buildings here are so tall. We met an American woman who told us about her favourite restaurant in quarry bay so we went there after and it was crap. So expensive and food was minging so we were a bit annoyed after that. I think she got commission from them. That was pretty much our whole day although it doesn't sound like much. We came back to the room and went with the girls to the Temple Street night market. The lights up Nathan road are brilliant there are just huge lit up signs for everything hanging over the whole street. Market was good but not that cheap and lots of rubbish being sold.
Wednesday was the best day ever. We got up really early and went to the Sin Sin temple (I don't have a guide book here with me so some of the names might be a bit off). It was already quite crowded with people lighting incense sticks and praying. There was a pretty garden bit at the back with lots of walkways over water. Then we went to Nam Lian Garden which is the best place in the whole world I could live there. It is a beautiful, really carefully planned garden near diamond hill and it is just so beautiful. It's designed to make you feel really calm and it does. There's a monastary up the top with lots of shrines to Buddha. It's so difficult to describe but it was just brilliant. Then we went to a pretty rubbish electronics market where most things were same as english prices. Bought a memory card though to try and avoid any further camera troubles. Then went and posted our package of goodies home. Then went to the Hong Kong Cultural Museum and learned all about Hong Kong and it's histroy. The museum was really well done, with loads of interesting stuff but not so well laid out so think we may have missed some bits out. Had a nap then went out in the eve to this bar where all the drinks were free. Bit mental. Can't remember much except laughing lots with Jenny and Mike.
So all in all Hong Kong is brilliant but expensive, we are hugely over budget. Ah well hopefully china will be cheaper! We leave today so I will update when I'm next near internet xx
Hong Kong is amazing I love it here. Although it is horribly expensive. We got in late Monday night so just went to our hostel and stayed up a bit talking to Hannah, Jenny and Sophia, the girls in our room. Tuesday we spent a lot of time trying to get around and getting a bit confused. There are some buits of Hong Kong island where you can't walk on the street, you have to use covered walkways between the buildings. Eventually we figured this out and caught a bus up to the Peak which is a big hill overlooking all of Hong Kong. It was a bit misty but it was so lovely and we could see so much. The buildings here are so tall. We met an American woman who told us about her favourite restaurant in quarry bay so we went there after and it was crap. So expensive and food was minging so we were a bit annoyed after that. I think she got commission from them. That was pretty much our whole day although it doesn't sound like much. We came back to the room and went with the girls to the Temple Street night market. The lights up Nathan road are brilliant there are just huge lit up signs for everything hanging over the whole street. Market was good but not that cheap and lots of rubbish being sold.
Wednesday was the best day ever. We got up really early and went to the Sin Sin temple (I don't have a guide book here with me so some of the names might be a bit off). It was already quite crowded with people lighting incense sticks and praying. There was a pretty garden bit at the back with lots of walkways over water. Then we went to Nam Lian Garden which is the best place in the whole world I could live there. It is a beautiful, really carefully planned garden near diamond hill and it is just so beautiful. It's designed to make you feel really calm and it does. There's a monastary up the top with lots of shrines to Buddha. It's so difficult to describe but it was just brilliant. Then we went to a pretty rubbish electronics market where most things were same as english prices. Bought a memory card though to try and avoid any further camera troubles. Then went and posted our package of goodies home. Then went to the Hong Kong Cultural Museum and learned all about Hong Kong and it's histroy. The museum was really well done, with loads of interesting stuff but not so well laid out so think we may have missed some bits out. Had a nap then went out in the eve to this bar where all the drinks were free. Bit mental. Can't remember much except laughing lots with Jenny and Mike.
So all in all Hong Kong is brilliant but expensive, we are hugely over budget. Ah well hopefully china will be cheaper! We leave today so I will update when I'm next near internet xx
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