photography – Page 8 – Where is Phil now?

A walk to Porlock Weir

Day 163, Friday 15 June 2012, Porlock

After those wines last night and what has to be the softest and most enveloping bed ever I slept like a dead person until 6:30. I really seem to have sleep dialled at the moment, I hope I have not hexed it !

I had arranged a skype with a friend for the morning and had a few vacant moments trying to work out time zones (I have now set up dual clocks on my computer !) before realising I was not really late. I went down to the hotel restaurant and ate my body weight in fried food for breakfast, plus they added baked beans to the fired breakie as I have not had a good sausage, egg and bean breakfast yet !

Once everything was sorted I went for a walk to Porlock Weir, a smaller village about two miles away. I walked through some of England’s fabled bridal paths, which are tracks for horses and walkers and in many cases mountain bikers and are all over England linking country towns and villages. The path took me up some of Porlock hill and I really enjoyed being back in the countryside again.

I constantly struggle with choosing between urban and rural when deciding where I should live when I next have to live somewhere for a longer period. I really enjoyed my time in Bristol, I liked the street art, the easy access to anything you need as malls are close and convenience stores are almost 24/7, the constant hum of people, access to public transport and gigs. And then I get out into the country and into the trees, and just relish the slower pace, the peace and quiet and the access to hill trails and mud. I love to take photos in both environments. Thank goodness I do not have to decide just yet !

Porlock Weir is a small fishing village on a minute harbour on the coast of the Bristol Channel.

I was there for about twenty minutes before the rain started to come down. I took a few photos and today was one day I really regretted not having a tripod with me. Of course, yesterday when I was carrying my gear around I was very pleased to not be humping a tripod !

I just loved this old break water.

Summer on the English coast !

I huddled in a coffee shop for a while and then took a long walk back to the hotel in the drizzle, naturally I was wearing one pair of jeans and the others were being washed, so it was shorts for the rest of the day.

I didn’t go out much till 5:30 when I went to the pub and had a pub fish and chips, a couple of pints of Atlantic IPA (very nice) and watched the football, France v Ukraine and England v Sweden..

Bristol – one cool city

Day 159/160/161, Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday 11/12/13 June 2012, Bristol

I spent three full days staying with Mel in Bristol, Mel worked on the Tuesday and left for a festival late afternoon on Wednesday, but we had a day and a half together which was great. The weather was average for most of my time there, a touch of sun on Wednesday morning mean we got out to have a big breakie in a cafe in the sun, but most of the time it was cloudy and drizzly.

Everyone in Mels flat works so it was another big lie in for me as Mel is not exactly known for early starts. Mel’s Spanish flat mate Jess made us a great Spanish omelette for breakfast, and then Mel and I went walkies. I wanted to get a couple of clothing items and a hydration pack in case I decided to get in a longish run while Mal and Tom are out on the trail.

I must say, even though the weather was less than average – it was raining, that Bristol is still a nice city, even in the more run down sections like St Pauls where Mel lives. There is a good mix of new and old buildings and really old buildings, parts of the cathedral have been there since the 1100s ! But what I really liked about Bristol was the street art, the council have allowed artists to paint a number of walls and some of the work is massive and a lot of it is beautiful – I took loads of pictures over a couple of days. There is also some quite good graffiti and slogans as well, especially around the Stokes Croft area where the riots were last year – outside Mels old flat, in the BBC footage of the riots you can see Mel and her friends sitting on the roof of their house. I have posted seperately about the stree art, but here ar my two favourites. This one is massive, two-three stories high !

Mel showed me all around the main parts of Bristol including the markets at St Nicholas’s I was tempted to buy a hoodie there, expensive and quite cool, but want something basic while I am in Cornwall anyway. There was an awesome record shop in the market – all it sold was punk and metal! And the coming gigs, awesome – and I am not going to be there for any of them. Next time I come to Bristol I will tie it in with a good show.

We visited St Mary RedCliffe church, a sign inside the door said daily services had been held here for over 800 years. (I so LOVE this old stuff)

An effigy of Sir Robert Berkely from the early 1200’s.

For lunch on Monday we went to the Hatchet Inn, open since 1606 – wowsers. I had half a pint of Doom Bar ale – not bad…

Bristol Alms houses, founded in 1483.

We wandered back to Mels and then took a marathon walk up to the Sportsman Bar so I could watch England play France in the football, we got there just after kick off so there was no seating free. At half time we decided to go another of Mels old flats that was quite close by and watch the second half there with some of friends. We grabbed four assorted polish beers – the cheapest in Bristol and watched footie, ate curry and talked crap for a few hours. I met a load more of Mels friends, most of the DJ’s in the Jungle Syndicate – they are all into dance music here and Bristol has a big scene. It was a good night, a nice bunch of people, Mel has always made really good friends and they welcomed me into the group which was most cool.

Mel worked Tuesday so I got up late and just went on more walkabouts in Bristol, I took a lot more street art photos and walked up to the museum for lunch. I got a bit lost a couple of times and then remembered Google maps on my phone !!

I had a walk around Bristol Cathedral, this chapel was built in 1220!

The grave of Abbot William Hunt from 1441.

Richard was making one his famous curries for dinner, so there was a very full flat at dinner time, another fun time with Mel and her friends. The large shared dinner seems to be the in thing here, which is great for an active social life, but I would not cope with all those late nights!

Wednesday Mel and Richard were off to work at a festival a few hours away so were leaving town mid afternoon. I was staying one more night which was cool. Mel and I were up and out the door for 9.00 and went for a walk in some glorious – though sporadic sun shine, we stopped up the Gloucester Rd for an expensive big breakie in the sun then shopped a bit before heading back to hers she could pack.

It was sad to see Mel and Richard leave, but I am so pleased to have been able to see her a few days and have some fun. Once they had gone I walked up to the Clifton Suspension Bridge about an hours walk away. The bridge is over the River Avon and was most impressive !

This old uni building was for sale, I was quite tempted : ) If only, it is next to the bridge and would have a monster view over Bristol city.

I was very fortunate to get invited to one of Mel’s friends place for dinner with some other people, which was incredibly nice of them and again I had a good time, and couple of drinks : ) a couple of her friends worked in Chamonix in the French alps, (where in my fantasy world I will get a job doing something completely unrelated to computers.) they have given some contacts there, and one of their friends has said I can possibly stay at their place as well and I have his number – how cool is that !!! very cool I think.

My baby girl and I

Gallery – Bristol street art

The street art in Bristol is just awesome, I have spent a good few hours walking around town looking around. I could easily do hours more.

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A visit to London

Day 156, Friday 8 June 2012, Brentwood

I had a pretty good sleep last night, I think I am pretty much adjusted to English time now.
Today was my first day of adventuring into the big smoke and I bought myself a ticket that allowed me to get to Liverpool St station in London, use the underground all day and then return to Shenfield station near where I am living. I was pretty stunned to find that even the off-peak fare was almost twenty pounds, things have gone up since the eighties !

I seemed to have picked up a blister on the back of my foot from my new sneakers, so stopped at a chemist on the way to the station and picked up some blister plasters, these worked for a bit but four days later it is still pretty bad and giving my grief in all sorts of shoes. I had to buy a new packet during my walks in London as it got pretty painful.

I met my old friend Trudi and her niece Kate at Liverpool St station at 10:00 and from there we took the underground towards the NZ Embassy.

It was very cool walking down Regent St, seeing all the double decker buses and black cabs and the flags from the queens jubilee last weekend. Even though it was a wee bit rainy I was still very happy to walking out there.

The advertising material in London phone boxes hasnt changed though.

I wanted to get someone to certify a copy of my NZ passport as I need to replace my drivers licence which was in the wallet I lost in Laos. Apparently you have to make an appointment to see someone and it costs 20 quid ! Bollocks. I got soaked walking down Haymarket in the pouring rain for that.

We then took the underground over to Borough Market, though there was a bit of construction work going on around there, as there is all over as London prepares for the Olympic games next month. The market specialises in food and there was some awesome stuff around, not cheap either, I loved these big wheels of parmesan, yummy…

We stopped for a pub lunch and I had my first English pint, Brakspear’s Oxford Gold ale – not bad ! The first of a million different types of beer to try, I aim to not repeat a pint, though I am sure I will forget, there are so many options.

Trudi and I went for a walk around the borough station area for a couple of hour, past the almost complete Shard.

Love this – Auckland could do with some…

Finally ending up at the Tate Modern gallery.

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Entry was free which was pretty cool, though the Damian Hurst exhibition was fifteen pounds – so we flagged it. We did get to see the diamond encrusted skull though, no photos but still cool to see it.

I mostly enjoyed the gallery, a lot of modern art is beyond me, for instance, the three white panels on the wall behind me… Though I did like a few pieces. crazy eyes !

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The outdoor eating area where the only guests are pigeons

From the Tate we wandered across the millennium bridge over the Thames and up to St Pauls.

St Pauls and Borough, were both areas I worked in when I was a van driver for DHL back in 1987, i recognised the odd part, but a lot of London has changed since then, not so much in that area, but the skyline has certainly changed, with the Shard and the Gerkin dominating.

I am using the 16-35mm lens, to get the shots I want without too many poles and trees, shooting at 16mm is probably not the best for buildings ! I am loving the lens though 🙂 The front of St Pauls.

We met up with Kate and her partner David at St Pauls and then nipped down to a local pub to watch the opening game of the Euro 2012 football competition. (One all draw between Poland and Greece)

After a couple of drinks it was off to a local Asian restaurant for some dinner and then I caught the tube back to Liverpool St and the train back home just before dark.

The train stops at Stratford where the Olympic games venues are, there is still a bit of work going on around there, but the site looks pretty good !

It was very enjoyable to beout on the streets of London with a camera, I will be back, by myself so I am not so annoying to those who do not want to stop every ten feet while I take another picture. Thanks Trudi, Kate and David – I had another great day.

Not long to CoastPath Run !

http://www.coastpathrun.co.uk/

Diving, photography, beer – almost a perfect day

Day 149, Friday 1 June 2012, Perhentian Kecil

Wow, the year is disappearing so quickly, its June already. A good day today, one average dive, one awesome dive and I am going to catch up with some of the divers I met today for a drink tonight. Not too much as one more diving day tomorrow – and the last dives of the trip. On the way back from the dive today I was wondering how I could extend for one more day, but not possible, I should have come here sooner I think. If you are planning diving in SE Asia, you have to put the Perhentians on your list!

Not as good a sleep as the night before, but still woke at 7.00 and was feeling OK, I think once I get to the UK I will take a couple of days of doing nothing much – if I can, oh apart from getting some running in every day to drop a couple of KG’s before I have to join Mal in Cornwall on the 15th. Heck that is only two weeks away now !

Lessons were learnt from yesterday so did a bit of washing, caught up on FB and some email and then meandered down to breakfast for 8.30, and things were open. There is a lot of mess on the beach this morning, there was a big party last night – which I of course did not go to, so lots of cans and fag ends all over the place. At least an effort is made to clean it early and it will be spotless again soon I imagine.

The first dive of the day was another wreck – Vietnamese – named as the vessel was sunk during the war, it is a deeper dive so only advanced divers can do it, this meant a smaller group which was good.

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What was surprising was there was already four other dive boats when we got to the site !

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We were hoping for clear calm waters but the ride out was a bit choppy and we found from one of the divers who were surfacing when we arrived that there was a strong current and visibility was down to four or five metres at the wreck, bugger !

The descent to the top of the wreck at eighteen metres was awesome though, a warm warm, crystal clear sea. However it all turned to crap at eighteen, I was not wearing a wetsuit and the water was quite cold (not NZ cold of course – Malaysia cold !) and visibility was terrible. Could barely see the wreck even up close, seeing fish was next to impossible. We did do a very cool swim through, the entrance was tight and pitch black, and as I was last diver through there was a lot of sediment in the water, It was quite scary going in and then it is totally dark until you look up a bit to see the torch light, and then suddenly you are in the hull and you could easily stand up. Definitely the high point of that dive. After the swim through we ascended up the mooring line, did the safety stop in the stunning crystal blue and then jumped back into the boat. It was a bummer about the conditions, but at least my mask was good and I could see clearly – just not much to see !

I hung around the dive shop over lunch chatting to some of the other divers as we waited for the second dive of the day to Temple.

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I had been told by Richard and Blathnaid, who I have kept in contact with since we met at Inle Lake in Myanmar, that Temple was AWESOME, one of their two favourite dives. So I was looking forward to this one.

The ride out in the full dive boat was “choppy”.

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And the site had a small swell going but not too bad.

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What can I say about Temple: my gear was good – I could see everything, the visibility down to about 14 metres was awesome, the water was warm, I saw bamboo sharks, eels, porcupine fish plus all the usual suspects. A fantastic site, and a great dive – I loved it, best dive for weeks – way better than anything at Koh Tao or Nha Trang. The only thing wrong with it, was it was too short ! The bamboo sharks are tiny and bottom dwell in small caves, in one tiny opening we saw a school of about five or six sharks, all under a metre long. We also got to swim in, through and with a huge school of trevaly and I got up close and personal with a nice sized snapper as well. Great dive !

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The ride back was fun, bouncing around the swells, luckily no one on the boat had any dry gear as it would not have been that way by the time we got to shore. I booked myself in for two more dives tomorrow and the guys will get me to a site called T3 which R and B also highly recommended – as did everyone who has dived there. These will be last two dives for a while, though I have completed thirty since I left New Zealand, so will not complain a bit ! The day after I leave Perhentians and soon after that SE Asia.

[edit] The rest of the post is written two days later : ) [/edit]

After the dive, a shower, a lie down and some internet time I wandered over the hill to Coral Bay on the other side of the island for the sunset. The path to Coral Bay was a good snap shot of the negative side of island Malaysia, though of course there are some beautiful bits too !

Unfinished construction

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Rubber trees in place of natives,

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and trash.

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When I arrived I could see the storm clouds gathering so raced out to the jetty to grab a few shots before heading back to find the nearest cafe where I had dinner and waited out the downpour.

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Luckily the rain finished and the sky cleared before the sunset so I headed back to the wharf to snap a few shots (quite a few in fact).

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And then down to the beach for some final photos.

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When it was too dark to take photos I headed back over to Long Beach and had a couple of beers with Jimmy who I was diving with today, and then hooked up with some English guys from the first day and had a few more. I wobbled back to my room at 12.30, a bit late considering I was diving the next day. The Tiger beer here is not as good on the head as other places…

A damn good day though ! diving, photography, companionship and beer !

Monk walks and on to Pakse

Day 126, Wednesday 9 May 2012, Luang Prabang to Pakse

Weird night, I heard voices on the street outside and thought – cool, it must be time to get up and go see the monk walk. I staggered out of bed, checked my watch and realised it was only 1:30 and not 5:30, back to bed. But I never really slept soundly again damnit.

I did get up at 5:45 when the alarm went off and was out the door soon after to catch the monk walk, though disappointingly I really only got the end of it. Luckily I did not listen to the advice of the guest house and go at 6.30 as I would have missed it all.

At dawn the monks from the local monasteries walk the two main parallel streets in Luang Prabang and collected alms, mainly from the local people, though some tourists also buy food and give to the monks. This is of course, a major tourist attraction in LP, and I was amazed at how many westerners are actually here – they obviously wheel out all the gentle folk on package tours for this ‘attraction’ – the tourists I hardly ever see when travelling more cheaply. I had a similar experience at Bagan in Myanmar, very few people around until sunset when all these tour buses magically appear and discharge a flood of tour groupers, who rapidly consume all there is to see and then disappear back on to the air conditioned buses to return to the sanctuary of their resorts.

There are numerous signs around LP advising people to respect the monks, don’t fire flashes in to their faces, keep out of the way and don’t crowd them. As you would expect, this seemed to be largely ignored. I kept my distance and took what photos I could without flash.

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It was an interesting experience.

I cannot say this enough, I really liked LP, it is quiet and considered, a little cooler than Hanoi was – though still 33 degrees ! it is off season so things are a little cheaper than peak. My guesthouse is comfy and close to where I want to be, I have met some good people to hang with, and apart from being sick again I am pretty chilled. It is also very clean and tidy!

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After breakfast and a wee break I grabbed a tuk tuk to the airport, check in was an hour and half before the flight time so I was there very early, unbelievably I actually went to sleep in the departure lounge on the most uncomfortable seats ever, I only woke when a boarding announcement was made. We all got on the plane and it left almost forty minutes early : ) so cool…

A re-enactment of actual events…

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It was an ok flight, i regret not having my camera for the landing approach as there was some great shots to be had. The Mekong is so much clearer in the south of Laos compare to the north and the land is significantly flatter as well as far more arid.

I shared a ride into town with some other travellers and found my way to the Sabady 2 hostel, the guide book recommended place. I have a cheap room, fan only and share bathroom, but half the price of Luang Prabang, the advantage being there are other travellers here.

I checked in and then dumped myself on an outside table with a group of other people, all a lot younger than me, but got myself involved in the conversation and end up having lunch, and then dinner with the group, as well as a wee wander around Pakse.

We had dinner at a Mekong side restaurant, of the four things we ordered, only one person got what they expected, it wasn’t me. My veges turned into a chicken dish that was the hottest thing I have had in asia, I couldn’t eat it ! The good news is my stomach seems OK now – yes !

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Tam Coc

Day 119 , Wednesday 02 May, 2012, Tam Coc.

I was put in a new room last night, pretty crap really, TV doesn’t work, bed squeaks really badly and internet is painfully slow, if I can connect at all. There is also no window, reasonably common in some places, but first one time in Vietnam.

I awoke with some trepidation as today I am going to do another tour and after the disappointment of Ha Long Bay I am worried it is going to be another long and tiresome day, at least it is only the one day.

I was picked up late, which is never a great start for me, and I will say pretty unusual for Vietnam, in my experience things generally happen on time. I jumped on the mini-bus to find I was the only westerner and my immediate thought was Oh shit, here we go again ! we did pick up an American girl at another hotel, and once full we were off.

The tour goes to Hoa Lu and Tam Coc. Hoa Lu was the first capital of Vietnam under the Dinh dynasty from 968 – 980 and the Li dynasties from 980 – 1009. The capital was then moved to Hanoi. Tam Coc is known as Ha Long Bay on rice paddies. Both sounded interesting.

Level crossing Hanoi styles, spot the odd person out !

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First stop, of course, was a cafe/souvenir shop half way along the four hour drive to Hoa Lu. I started talking cameras with the guy next to me in the cafe and he was in a group of three couples from Miri in Malaysian Borneo (and I place I much enoyed !), like many Malay Chinese they all had great English and were interested to know I had been to their home town. I hung with them for the rest of the day, so yay – I had some tour buddies ! This is obviously no fake !

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All along the highway outside of Hanoi there are miles of paddy fields, the area between the Red River and the sea is very productive. A lot of communities and families have rice paddies, vegetable gardens and often a large pond full of fish and ducks, they can be quite self sufficient. Many of the rice paddies will have burial sites in the middle, some quite large and others with just a single grave. Unfortunately I really didn’t get a chance to capture one properly from the bus.

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The limestone hills are not going to last long !

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Hoa Lu has been pretty much destroyed over the years and there are two key sites left which are the temple sites to the two dynasties, we visited King Dinh first.

King Dinh

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Number one son

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Next stop was King Li’s temple, though my picture of Mr Li sucked, so it is not here.

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I was going to do a bike ride from Hoa Lu to Tam Coc, it is only 12km, but I was the only one who had registered for it, and it was 41.5 degrees outside, yep it sure as hell was hot! I decided to take the bus with the others. Later that night I met some Canadians who had done it the day before (it was only 39 then) and they said the first 500 metres was Ok, then it was gruelling – and the last 7kms were through houses and very dull – he also got sun stroke, so I am glad I chose not to do it.

We had a buffet lunch in Tam Coc, this was the best feed I have had a tour – great variety of foods, and eating with the Malaysians I got to experiment a bit, the goat kebabs were charcoaled though and uneatable – or maybe the goat was tough, not sure. The restaurant sold hats – and believe me, you needed one, it was scorching.

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Token bicycle shot…

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The afternoons activity was a two hour boat ride through the rice paddies on the Ngo Dong river, we were rowed by a local woman.

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As “The Guide” says, it turns into a surreal sales experience, sadly they also demand a tip, which is embarrassing for all. However, the trip was great, quiet and gentle for the most part, there are a huge number of boats, and I can assure you the Vietnamese drive these like they ride motorbikes, no one gives way until the yelling is over…

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The river gently meanders through rice paddies, surrounded by magnificent limestone bluffs, with the occasional temple and house along the way. On three occasions we passed through low caves in the lime stone bluffs.

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A lot of the men and women row with their feet, which is just amazing to watch, their are also a large number of local photographers, who snap your photo, whether you want it or not and then try to flog you an appalling printed image at the end. This woman was rowing and snapping at the same time, awesome !

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After the river we were back on the bus for the ride back to Hanoi. As we were dropping off some of the other guests I recognised the street where my favourite cafe was, so I got dropped off. I found Moom on the first night in Hanoi, and have been unable to find it since, and not through a lack of trying either ! I had a couple of beers and a small pizza with a Canadian couple and a young English t guy, and at nine I wandered back to my hotel for some sleep – the bestest sleep ever !!

Paying a visit to Uncle Ho

Day 116, Sunday 29 April 2012, Hanoi

I was awake at 5.00, I am really am going to have to put some serious effort into staying up later in the evenings so I don’t wake so damn early. One of the issues I have with being on my own is I entertaining myself in the evenings. Though it sounds like I have been out drinking a lot, i don’t really do sitting in bars drinking on my own, I am way worse than that. I sit in my room drinking alone – well sort of, I have one or two while writing blog posts, not big nights of boozing. Once the blogging is done I kinda run out of enthusiasm, in fact – I usually run out about three quarters of the way through the post and I think that shows clearly in some of my entries. Maybe I should make them shorter !

The going to bed early is the start of a vicious cycle, early bed, early awake, early out doing things, early back for a rest, early out again, early dinner, early drink, back to bed…

Ha Long Bay tour tomorrow so should be with a group – fingers crossed there are some good folk on the tour, I am always in fear I will end up with a bunch of muppets, I should be able to vet their personalities before they are allowed on the bus !

Now – I have kinda got a plan, at least in my head, sorted. I was dead keen to dive Sipidan in Malaysian Borneo, however I got an email from one of the dive companies there and it will cost me at least $1500 NZD + flights to dive, on a minimum four day package. This will really stretch my available funds, so I may have to dive somewhere cheaper – any suggestions ??

Thailand or Malaysia – I will be ending my travelling in Chiang Mai and fly to the UK from Kuala Lumpur, so happy to dive anywhere sort of in between – as long as it is GOOD…

Back to the day – I was up in the ‘restaurant’ too early for eggs, so had a meagre breakfast of horrible toast and banana and a couple of coffees. I was on the road by 7.30 and took a long walk to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. Around the Presidential Palace.

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I knew it was going to busy, but wow – the queue was 500 metres long at 8.15, and it took me 10 minutes to find the end!

The start of the queue

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The middle – though I had to hand my camera in soon after – no cameras allowed from here to the mausoleums exit.

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The end of the queue !

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However the queue moved pretty quickly and I was through in half an hour. The visit was interesting – basically you queues for ages, shuffle quickly through the mausoleum, past dead Uncle Ho and out the other side. No stopping, no lingering and definitely no photos, I slowed down a bit inside as I kept stepping on the heel of the young girl in front of me – and got a hurry up nudge on the arm by one of the numerous guards.

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After a slow walk through the palace grounds with hundreds of Vietnamese I visited the One Pillar Pagoda, but decided to flag the nearby museum as it looked like a repeat of the HCM museum in HCMC (as it were !)

HCM’s place of residence in the 50’s

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One Pillar Pagoda

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I went in search of coffee on the way to my next stop which was the temple of literature, I wanted airconned – or at least fan cooled coffee, though it was cloudy and only 29 degrees I was still sweating like a trooper and needed a seat and a cool down, a roadside coffee was not going to work – though I should have taken one as I found nothing !

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The temple of literature was barely interesting, I am not sure if there was war damage to it, but everything is so renovated and concreted, new features are still being added, and it really detracts from the ambience of historical sites. I have mentioned this before, so no ranting now ! It was worth visiting, but was hardly a highlight of Vietnam.

This is really common in Buddhist temples, relics that have been rubbed so many times over the years there is a shiny spot. I think it is awesome.

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Vietnamese calligraphy.

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The place was fairly busy so I was amazed to be able to grab this shot without too long a wait.

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I had been on my feet for three hours by the time I left and was in need of water and coffee and some food , I wandered back into the old quarter to try and find my lunch spot from yesterday, maybe I was confused by being so dehydrated but I just could not find it and almost got lost wandering around I stopped for a coffee and chicken rice at a random place and found the wifi wasn’t working which was frustrating as I would have gone somewhere else that had wifi and relaxed for a while. So, it was back to the hotel room for a cooling shower and a lie down – bushed, and it is only 12.30. It was a good morning though, I do like walking around watching all the people, especially the lost tourists !

Yesterday I handed some washing in to the hotel to do, I got it back today and every item has a small label with my room number attached by two safety pins – labour is so cheap here.

After a wee lie down I started work on finalising some plans, I got myself booked on a flight from Hanoi to Luang Prabang in Laos for the third May, which kinda settles my plans for Vietnam ! I was planning on flying from Luang Prabang down to Pakse and then making my way back up to Vientane and then over to Chiang Mai, but there is no flight to Pakse anymore… going to have to rethink my whole damn schedule again : (

Bah, I went for walkabout, a couple of beers and some dinner.

A lovely (is there such a thing ?) old Citreon.

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I have sort of liked Hanoi, but like all large cities it is very impersonal and I have not connected with anyone since I have been here – this makes meal times less than fun times, though like all big cities wandering the streets is always interesting. I have been a bit reluctant to take photos here, there has always been someone in shot and I really do not want to offend by snapping peoples photos without their permission, well if they are looking at me anyway : )

After dinner it was back to the room to watch a bit of TV, review todays photos and post this blog entry!

A wander around Hanoi

Day 115, Saturday 28 April 2012, Hanoi

I woke early but lounged around in bed till 8.00 – and not due to the bottle of Jamesons I bought last night as I only had a couple, oh ye of little faith

Up for breakfast and found again that I was the only person in the restaurant – I am really starting to wonder about the places I pick – I have generally selected hotels/hostels/ guest houses that rate well on various websites, based on the assumption others would too. However it appears I choose places that no one else goes to. Maybe when I go Luang Prabang I will stay in a dorm room, though with my luck it will be empty bar me – at least it will be cheap I guess. Breakfast was average so maybe that was it !

I got my shower fixed and used it – bliss ! Loved the little flower tile. P1120465

I also discovered my first hotel cockroach in four months of travel – awesome, and about time too, I have heard so many stories of hotel cockroaches and was starting to doubt them!

For the first time in weeks I wore shoes today, I have a few grazes on my toes from the crappy flippers I was using diving and my jandals are virtually worn out now so I was getting sore feet walking in them last night.

I had loose plans to see a few sites when I left the hotel this morning, but the real aim was to walk and enjoy Hanoi. I didn’t bring the longer zoom lens which was a bit frustrating as there was a few things I would have used it on where the 20mm was way too wide – tomorrow !

My first stop was the remains of “Hanoi Hilton”, Hoa Lo Prison as it is officially named. The prison was opened by the French in 1896 and was used by them up until they were kicked out in the 50’s. It was then used by the Vietnamese to house US airman captured during the Vietnamese/American war. There is only a small section of the prison left standing. The commentary is very biased, the French were bastards (probably true) but the Vietnamese treated the American airman like hotel guests (probably not so true) and there were some great photos of smiling US prisoners to prove it. it was nowhere near as bleak as S21 in Phnom Penh.

I liked this quote from this female prisoner as she was sentenced to twenty years hard labour by the puppet government of the French.

“Will your regime be able to exist for another 20 years to keep me in prison”. Awesome !

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I wandered the streets a bit more.

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Feather duster seller.

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LCD TV delivery vehicles !

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If you get stopped by the police for any reason and cannot pay the instant fine then your motorcycle is confiscated on the spot and held for 10 days. When you get it back it will have no petrol and will possibly be missing parts. I heard one story of a newish engine being swapped for an old one. Got to love the police here !

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Hoan Kiem Lake (Lake of restored sword) is the centre point of Hanoi’s old quarter. The lake’s story is that in the 15th century the Gods sent emperor Ly Thai To a magical sword which he used to drive off the Chinese invaders. Once the Chinese were gone a tortoise swam out of the lake, grabbed the sword and took into the lake to return it to the gods.

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Ngoc Son Temple is a an 18th century temple in the lake.

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St Josephs Cathedral was built in 1886 and was closed when I got there.

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After a wee lie and cool down I ventured out again for another wee walk.

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Some street art, sadly most of it was covered up !

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And some not so good.

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Finally – a bike I can photograph.

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This outing my goal was to find “Bia Hoi corner”, which funnily enough I did… Bia Hoi means fresh beer and is dirt cheap, at 30c a glass. It is made in the evening, delivered in kegs the following morning to the various street stalls and drunk that afternoon and evening by a large mix of Hanoi locals, expats and tourists.

Bia Hoi corner, it slowly takes over the street.

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I had a couple of beers followed by a noodle dinner and back in my room by 7.30. Tired.

My Son (sorry Dom and Aiden – not talking about you)

Day 113, Thursday 26 April 2012, Da Nang – My Son

Once I was secured in my room at the Phi Yen Hotel I pretty much crashed straight away. When I was on the train I was really looking forward to a shower, but after two late nights in a row all I could manage was to flop unceremoniously on the bed where I remained until I awoke, rather groggily at 8.

My plan for Da Nang was to visit My Son as I missed it last time I was here and to catch up with a couple of people from the wedding, however I am stuffed if I can find my Vietnam sim card and I have phone numbers on it…

So, I have decided tdo a trip to My Son and have got a motorbike taxi for a few hours for $25, I could definitely do it more cheaply on my own but I am not riding a bike for 150kms !

Motorbike is definitely the way to see the country, we went pretty slowly so I got to see a lot more than I have done on buses or in cars, we only had one “oh shit” moment when a guy on a motorbike just shot out of a side heading the wrong way into us as we were being passed by a truck – well maybe I had the “oh shit” moment and everyone else just carried on as normal. I did see two guys got knocked off their bikes by side swipe from a passing bus, no one was hurt, thank God, and no one seemed to be too worried. Daily life on the road in Vietnam, if you make it home at the end of the day it’s a good thing.

My Son was a bit of a let down to be honest, maybe my expectations were too high for a site that is quite small and was bombed only forty years ago. Those days around Angkor and Bagan have given me unrealistic expectations for all ancient sites in SE Asia.

On the ride back to the hotel I was comparing the rebuild of Christchurch to the rebuild of Vietnam and have realised I have been very unfair on the historical sites here. The expectation is it will take many many years to rebuild Christchurch city, in a country that has a good economic base and a commitment to rebuilding. After the war Vietnam had no economic base and so much of its infrastructure had been destroyed, the rebuilding of places that are hundreds of years are old were and still are not a priority. Having said that there is a huge amount of construction work in Da Nang, from highways and resorts to houses and historic sites there is work going on everywhere.

My Son is a small cluster of Hindu temples started in the 4th century and active as a site until the 14th. The French started the renovation of the site in the 1930’s and had completed, what appears to be, some good work until hostilities started. The site was heavily bombed by our American cousins during the American war of aggression AKA the Vietnam War.

I found this great cockie in the small museum at the entrance, biggest I have seen that was not on a BBQ 🙂

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The trail down from the first temple site just made me think of my lovely Waitakere Ranges at home.

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I spent an hour and a half wandering listlessly around, not really in the zone for it today, there was a big tour group there the same time as me and it was very hot.

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I stopped for a water or two at the end and found this little beauty.

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On the way back to the hotel we stopped briefly at this temple. The wind had really picked up on the way back and we had a couple of good gusts hit the bike.

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After a wee lie down I walked a couple of kms to the good old beach side Temple Bar for a pizza and beer, though their internet access was down, which was a bit of a pain as I was going to do a couple of hours of email. I snapped a couple of pics on the walk there and back.

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I was back in the hotel with a full belly and zero energy by 6.30 PM, watched a bit of V8 super car racing from Hamilton – wicked, haven’t seen any all season !