Halong Bay, Ninh Binh

I've more photos uploaded here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/thesupersaints/KoPhiPhiKualaLumpurHanoi

We headed off to Halong City about 3 hours from Hanoi and continued onto Halong Bay the following day. The fog was bad at the start but it eventually lifted and we got great views of the Karst landscape (read cliffs). We stopped in a floating fishermens village on the way out which was interesting. Here there are about 100 floating houses and even a floating school that the local children attend. We got off in the evening to kayak through a cave and even got in for a swim. It was as cold as Cahore in Co. Wexford. Tried to do a bit snorkelling but you couldn't even see your hand.
We slept on the boat that night and just had a couple of Bia Han Oi with an English couple who gave us great pointers for going south. It was more of the same the next day. While it was beautiful scenery I was happy enough to be going back to the mainland and Hanoi.

We looked into going to Sapa but unfortunately it was booked out due to Tet, which is the Chinese new year. Does the Tet offensive ring any bells? This was one of the major battles that decided the American war. Anyway we couldn't go so we decided on Ninh Binh as our backup that we would go to the following day. The following morning we did the cultural thing going to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and the Museum of Ethnology before heading for the train. We also visited the Womens museum detailing their impact in the American war, Hoa La prison museum aka the Hanoi Hilton and the museum of Vietnamese revolution. Alot of the Hanoi scene is history and barring that having a couple of Bia Hoi (fresh=draught=beer that was draught poured from a large plastic bottle) on the side of the road.

Well onto Ninh Binh which we arrived at last night. We hoped to stay for 1 night but because of Tet we can't get on the train. Instead we'll get the 12 hour night bus to Hue just south of the demilitarised zone, DMZ. Today we rented bikes and went to Tam Coc which is very like Halong bay on fresh water. Very impressive but I think we've got a bit spoiled. We got in a boat and myself and Caroline helped with the rowing.

We'll probably head to a primate sanctuary in a national park tomorrow and onto Hue tomorrow night. Slan. Happy new year of the pig. Oink oink. Although they're not being too kind to the pigs here with 6 here squealing outside the door.

Ko Phi Phi, Kuala Lumpur, Hanoi

We got accomodation in Ko Phi Phi in the end for about 1000 bat which wasn't too bad but very expensive by thai standards about 20 euros. This island was hit badly by the tsunami. Was a very nice spot and we headed on a cruise to monkey island followed by maya beach (where the beach was filmed and as a matter of interest universal studios destroyed the beach and there's currently a lawsuit out against them). Maya beach was particularly beautiful and we had to snorkel in and then walk in through a cave to get to the beach. Was fantastic. I'll post photos when I get a chance. We left the following day to get the ferry to Phuket but before we headed a small fire started on the strip running along the beach towards the pier. We actually had to go the long way round as all the area around there was blocked off. What started as a small fire turned into a blaze with 5 shops destroyed before they eventually brought the fire under control. If another disaster was to happen I don't think they'd be any better able to cope.

After all this drama we headed onto Phuket town which was lovely. It was alot more laid back here than it was in the islands. I thought it was lovely. Went down to the port for a bit of grub (by motorbike with myself and Caroline on the back, bit of a squeeze) and headed to the Irish pub to watch the egg chasing against France. Hill 16 looked a bit quiet.

The following day I headed for Kuala Lumpur for a lad from work, David McHugos wedding. The hotel we checked into was lovely. Strange to have a tv in the room. Did nothing much the first night bar a bit of boozing. I'd say before this our only heavy nights were with Irish people. You take it handy but whenever you meet Irish people you revert back to type.

The wedding was the following day. We had a lovely water park attached to the hotel and we headed there for an hour before the wedding. We were like children on the slides. The wedding ceremony was very much like home but they had this tea ceremony afterwards. First the bride and groom give tea to all the elders and they in turn receive tea from all their juniors. The afters was a quiet enough affair as everyone was zonked from the humidity. We managed to dance the siege of ennis though.

The next day we headed off to the Tioman islands. It was a resort but it was fairly remote but very nice. Didn't get up to a whole lot here. There was alot of swimming and snorkelling. The snorkelling was good as the Coral was only 100 metres off the coast. I also saw fish called needlefish who are a shorter version of swordfish and a shark but I think I frightened him off. We were here for 3 days in total.

Then we were off to Singapore. Nice looking city but it's fairly dull. I don't even regard it as a real country. It's only founded for mainly economic reasons. We had a chinese dinner for the new year on Clarke Quay. The starter for this consists of noodles with raw fish and it's considered good luck the higher you can lift your noodles with the chopsticks. The chinese new year was absolutely dire here though. It came and passed and we hardly knew it had passed midnight. Big Anti Climax. The next day I only went to a POW museum so I didn't see a whole lot. Interesting though.

We were off back to Kuala Lumpur then en route to Hanoi. One more night of 5 star before we got back to the backpacker lifestyle. We arrived in Hanoi yesterday and I have to say it's a very chaotic city almost scary at the start. The cars and motorbikes beep at each other all the time. Crossing the road is like a game of chicken. Step out on the road and let the motorbikes drive around you. The city is very French colonial looking. An experience to see the city but the nerves are a bit shot to bits at this stage. Off to Halong bay tomorrow so hopefully I'll get back to full health.

Ko Tao, Ko Lanta

We spent another night in Ko tao after and we went scuba diving the following morning. It was just a 50 minute dive but it was amazing. Saw loads. Other than that that pretty much sitting the shade just relaxing trying to avoid too much of a sunburn with the odd bit of snorkelling thrown in. The day after I got a great bit of snorkelling when I swam into a school of fish. At least I think that's what it's called.

This led to 24 hours of hell. We were going Ko Tao --> Surat Thani --> Krabi --> Ko Phi Phi. First leg was by night boat which left at 9 at night and they had almost double booked this. On this they had beds either side with a gap about shoulder width in between where people could walk past. I was "lucky" enough to get a spot in this walkway so I had a smelly foot in both ears. Lovely. Then we got to Surat Thani on time but because the donkeys in the Udomrat office delayed us leaving by 2 hours we missed our connecting ferry in Krabi to Ko Phi Phi. This kind of strangely worked out as Ko Phi Phi was chocabloc and we found a place in Ko Lanta instead. We got a lovely place with a hut nearly on the beach. Didn't do much the first day but we went into the port town, Sipadan last night and got lovely barbequed fish. Today we rented a moped and toured round the island. It was beautiful. This island was actually hit by the tsunami and they have all these evacuation procedures now.

omorrow we're hitting for Ko Phi Phi and hopefully we'll pick up accomodation and if not we'll head on to Phuket. We have a flight from here to Kuala Lumpur on the 12th anyway. Send on any feedback you have over the match in San Marino. Hope all is well. Sweating here in Ko Lanta at 7.30 at night.

Ko Tao

Went on a Thai cookery course the day after the last post. Nearly burned my eyebrows off. Was tricky enough. Was a bit trickier and a bit more pressurized than putting on pasta.

We set off on the long road to Ko Tao the day after with a 12 hour trip to Bangkok on the overnight train. Was very comfortable and slept brilliant on the train. A bomb wouldn't have woken me. Irish Rail could learn a couple of lessons there. Arrived into Bangkok at 7 in the morning and headed over to Siam square for a McDonalds or a McThai as the company is called here. Got a Samurai pork burger which hit the spot nicely. Other than that we just put in time in the shopping centre until our train to Chumphon was going which was 10 hours away. Stayed overnight here before getting the boat to Ko Tao which is an hour and a half away by Catamaran. It was the boat ride from hell. Started off with the waves coming in over the boat and the kids up the front were loving it but half an hour in that all changed. Mammy started puking followed by kid 1, 2 and 3. My stomach was dodgy so I got a travel tablet off Caroline. If it was in Ireland the boat never would have sailed. Starngely enough while all this was going on I found myself going to sleep. Couldn't believe I could do that in the rough weather.

Arrived into Ko Tao and got another bit of sleep. Must have have been all the mental stress I was under. Yesterday and today we worked on the tan and also did a bit of snorkelling. The reefs here are amazing. There's a bit of snobbery here between the divers and the rest here. Myself and Caroline will be joining the diving classes tomorrow when we do a 1 day intro which has a 50 minute dive. We'll head to Phuket either tomorrow morning or the following day through Surat Thani for Ko Phi Phi and Krabi.

Have photos up here as well:
http://picasaweb.google.com/thesupersaints

Off to watch the egg chasing now.

Bangkok, Chiang Mai

Tuesday, January 30, 2007 On the way out of Chiang Mai Went to the night market after on Friday I think it was. It's hard to keep track of the days. I went trekking the following morning for 3 days in the mountains outside Chiang Mai. On the first day we were in a group with 3 South Koreans and a Scottish guy Lee (an Aberdeen fan by the way).We went on elephant rides on the way to the mountains which was good but I got a hungry hoor who kept eating bananas and sugar cane to beat the band. There's a Thai guy on the front that directs the elephants and then 2 people on the back. The elephant puts his trunk over his shoulder to look for the grub and you feed it. Then onto themountains where we saw a lovely waterfall. I'll have to get my act togeher and upload the photos. Then we had a trek onto a village. I think it was the Karen hill tribe. We stayed in a local house in one of their villages. It was actually their New Years eve so the locals were boozing to beat the band drinking what they call moonshine. It tastes very like Sake. It's pitch dark at 6 in the mountains so it makes a very long evening of it especially when you're sitting in a yoga type of position with your feet underneath your arse. We were all in bed at 9. It was absolutely freezing in the mountains so I was up at 6 the following morning. For the New Years dinner they slaughter a pig which I saw. The slaughtering is handy enough. They give it 4 or 5 slaps with a piece of wood and then put wood over it's neck to finish the job but the pig is almost unconscious at this stage. Then they move to the gutting stage. They use every bit bof the pig including stomach, intestines, head. It turns out we had been eating a side order of fried intestines the previous night. I got a bit of the head before we departed before lunch. The houses are all built on stilts. One of the houses in the village had a television and the previous night about 60 locals had been in this one house and the floor of the roof had collapsed with the weight. The South Koreans all went home the next morning and we joined with another group (Tom and Carol from Longford, a Canadian, A Lebanese, 2 Australians) We then trekked to a waterfall with these and went for a swim. I'm on the internet now for an hour and a half and Caroline has been for her massage and is back now so a couple of 50 bat bottles are awaiting so I'll have to finish up. Today I went bamboo rafting with a Thai lad on the front and me on the back. And as any of you know from my white-water rafting days in Australia of course I fell in twice but I was standing this time. Very good fun. We'll probably do a half day Thai cooking course tomorrow and either fly to Phuket tomorrow or the following day. Ko Phi Phi will probably be our first port of call there.

Saturday, January 27, 2007 Chiang Mai As I was saying Thailand aren't exactly living up to their Kyoto protocol agreements. Day 2 & 3 we went to a heap of all the temples and the grand palace. The lying buddha was particularly impressive. I'll post photos when I get a chance. Also took a cruise on the Sky train out to Siam square which is all shopping but there was light at the end of the tunnel as in the BKM shopping centre they have an entire floor dedicated to food. The real Thai green curry out here would kill an army. It's cooked to John Tobin strength. Also took a cruise on the Mae Nam Chao Phraya (Chao Phraya river). Other than that nothing much to report about Bangkok other than it was fairly filthy and while an experience to see was glad to get out of it. Then last night we got the bus to Chiang Mai which was a nightmare we broke down about an hour from the city and had to wait an hour for a truck to call out. It took nearly 14 hours to get here but when we got here a much nicer city awaited us. Not much to the city but just a much nicer atmosphere. Only 300 temples to see here. Probably go to a night market tonight and maybe a couple of Buideals later. The going rate in the internet cafe is 30 bat for Chang. About 60 cents. Maybe I'll come back here for a couple later on. In Bangkok the dearest we were paying was 90 bat for a litre which is about 1.80. Enjoy the night and don't be shy with sending me the football results.

Friday, January 26, 2007 Bangkok I arrived in Bangkok 3 days ago. It's a fairly chaotic city with a lovely aroma off it. The fumes off the tuk-tuks and the cars are mostly to blame for this as well the cooking on the street. We just arrived on Tuesday and we were wrecked when we got in so Khao San was as far as we got. Just waiting on a bus to Chiang Mai so must dash. I'll tell you the rest when I get there.