We left behind the fantastic Buenos Aires to head to Salta which is in the north of Argentina. We arrived at the Hostal in time for Todd to watch Arsenal play the first leg of the champions league semi v Liverpool.
Salta is a pretty relaxed town, we walked around, ate some fantasic steak and empanadas, caught the cable car up to the top of a mountain to get some pretty good views of the city and the surrounding Andes.
After 1 1/2 days we headed to Cafayate which is the Northern wine region of Argentina. The bus ride was awful, it was a stinking hot day, the bus had no air con and the windows didn't open. We felt pretty rough arriving in Cafayate and probably half the size. The town is pretty compact and there is cheap good wine to buy everywhere. We sat on the roof terrace enjoying a nice bottle of Torrontes (white) and cooling down.
We hired bikes the next day to ride around to a few of the Bodegas (wineries) which will give you a tour of the wine making process when you turn up then let you try the wines. On the way back to the town 3kms out my bike got a puncture and we ended up having to push/carry it all the way back.
We bumped into a couple from Montreal that night who we meet earlier at a Bodega and ended up sampling a lot of the local wine.
Maybe it was the dodgy pizza we ate that night or something else but Todd was very sick for the next 2 days. We had booked into stay at one of the Bodegas as a bit of luxury (thanks for the tip Sam) so I guess it was good and bad timing, nice bathroom but unable to enjoy the beautiful surroundings.
We managed to fit in a couple of more wine tastings, the favourite Torrontes being the El Transito closely followed by the Quara. Sam, Todd and I agreed that the girls serving at El Transito beat the girls at Nanni.
The bus back to Salta was less eventful if not a little squashed and uncomfortable. We left early the next morning for San Pedro de Atacama in Chile.
Goodbye Argentina we will miss you.
Wednesday 30 April 2008
Saturday 26 April 2008
San Pedro De Atacama, April 15-18
Taking the 11 hour bus from Salta to San Pedro de Atacama in the north of Chile was our first taste of altitude (the 4500 metre Jama pass) and our first taste of Chilean customs officials. Both left us a little seedy.
Going over the pass meant a climb of 3000 metres in a few hours and you could see the rest of the passengers on the bus wilt as everyone felt a little soroche - altitude sickness. San Pedro D.A is 2436 metres above sea level and we figured a good place to acclimatise before going to the salt flats in Bolivia.
San Pedro is a small town of 2400 people, with uneven dirt roads, crumbling buildings and has a nice relaxed feeling about it. It has loads of cool bars and restauarants - all offering ´happy night´. We also discovered a bar where the empanada´s were bigger than your head.
After a day relaxing we decided to do the El Tatio Geyser tour, which meant starting at 4am´and putting oursleves in the hands of Fernando (our driver) and Diego (our guide). To get to the geysers meant climbing to 4500 metres in a little over an hour. After the tour bus drove over the geysers to a suitable spot we got to wander amongst them, varying from bubbling water to more impressive ones belching out huge amounts of steam. Apparently some unfotunate tourists have, in the past, gotten a little close to the geysers and ´perished´
We passed on getting naked with the German tourists in the hotpool and instead checked out the wildlife - llama, vicuñas, and loads of others including a bird looking much like a pukeko. Our tour took us to the town of New Machuga, situated about 20 metres away from the now abandoned Old Machuga. Machugas 40 inhabitants treated us to some BBQed Llama, some Coca tea and empanadas.
We relaxed after a long day in an open air restaurant with a pisco sour and contemplated the next day´s departure for a 3 day tour of the Bolvian Salt Flats. The open roof is the perfect canvas as the clean atmosphere and San Pedro´s remoteness provide the most vivid blue sky we have ever seen... a far cry from london!
Going over the pass meant a climb of 3000 metres in a few hours and you could see the rest of the passengers on the bus wilt as everyone felt a little soroche - altitude sickness. San Pedro D.A is 2436 metres above sea level and we figured a good place to acclimatise before going to the salt flats in Bolivia.
San Pedro is a small town of 2400 people, with uneven dirt roads, crumbling buildings and has a nice relaxed feeling about it. It has loads of cool bars and restauarants - all offering ´happy night´. We also discovered a bar where the empanada´s were bigger than your head.
After a day relaxing we decided to do the El Tatio Geyser tour, which meant starting at 4am´and putting oursleves in the hands of Fernando (our driver) and Diego (our guide). To get to the geysers meant climbing to 4500 metres in a little over an hour. After the tour bus drove over the geysers to a suitable spot we got to wander amongst them, varying from bubbling water to more impressive ones belching out huge amounts of steam. Apparently some unfotunate tourists have, in the past, gotten a little close to the geysers and ´perished´
We passed on getting naked with the German tourists in the hotpool and instead checked out the wildlife - llama, vicuñas, and loads of others including a bird looking much like a pukeko. Our tour took us to the town of New Machuga, situated about 20 metres away from the now abandoned Old Machuga. Machugas 40 inhabitants treated us to some BBQed Llama, some Coca tea and empanadas.
We relaxed after a long day in an open air restaurant with a pisco sour and contemplated the next day´s departure for a 3 day tour of the Bolvian Salt Flats. The open roof is the perfect canvas as the clean atmosphere and San Pedro´s remoteness provide the most vivid blue sky we have ever seen... a far cry from london!
Monday 21 April 2008
Buenos Airies after Boca. April 5th to 8th
The best way to unwind after the excitement of Boca was to spend a lazy Sunday wandering the San Telmo markets. San Telmo is the tango district and every sunday has a huge market down the length of Defensa Avenida and spilling into those running off it. Each side is crowded with markets and street performers, including the Tango.
We were told everyone is good at one part of tango, but never all three ' either the dance, the song or playing the music. There were hundreds of other types of performers and some very cool cafes you could watch it all go by.
We spent our last full day exploring more of the Palermo district and Recoleta ' the more expensive part of B.A and probably least favourite. Within Recoleta is the Cemetery de Recoleta which has streets and alleys running between family mausoleums of some of B.As most important and wealthy families. The sculptures would be better placed in art galleries. Recoleta also has Bullers Brew Pub and we managed to work our way through the Light Lager 4.5%, the Wheat 5.5%, the Honey 8.5%, the Oktoberfest 5.5%, the Indian Pale Ale 6%, the Irish Stout 5.5% and a few wines in the afternoon.
On recomendation we went to La Cabrera restaurant for our last night. On a Monday we still had an hour and a half wait during which they gave us free wine. This place should be a must for anyone visiting, the food was brilliant with about 8 sides with your steak, more free wine and a lollipop.
We were told everyone is good at one part of tango, but never all three ' either the dance, the song or playing the music. There were hundreds of other types of performers and some very cool cafes you could watch it all go by.
We spent our last full day exploring more of the Palermo district and Recoleta ' the more expensive part of B.A and probably least favourite. Within Recoleta is the Cemetery de Recoleta which has streets and alleys running between family mausoleums of some of B.As most important and wealthy families. The sculptures would be better placed in art galleries. Recoleta also has Bullers Brew Pub and we managed to work our way through the Light Lager 4.5%, the Wheat 5.5%, the Honey 8.5%, the Oktoberfest 5.5%, the Indian Pale Ale 6%, the Irish Stout 5.5% and a few wines in the afternoon.
On recomendation we went to La Cabrera restaurant for our last night. On a Monday we still had an hour and a half wait during which they gave us free wine. This place should be a must for anyone visiting, the food was brilliant with about 8 sides with your steak, more free wine and a lollipop.
La Boca!!!! April 5th
Back in Buenos Airies on the saturday for the Club Athletico Boca Juniors game vs. Banfield. Boca, while being in a poor area of BA, are the superstar club in Argentina having won the Sth American equivalent of the Champions League more than any other team.
The Boca stadium is huge, well at least 3 sides of it is, as the club ran out of money during the building of it so had to make the stadium rectangular shaped rather than the normal oval. Three sides are stands, with the remaining side only having about 4 rows of seats, the corporates and the tv cameras. The shape gives it the name "La Bombonera" The lollie. The Boca colours came from the clubs founders stating they would adopt the nation´s colours of the first ship that came into the port - the ship was Swedish so the shirts and stadium are blue and yellow.
We were picked up by Phillipe, one of a bunch of tour operators offering tourists the Boca experience but shielded from the worst of the stadium madness. Upon arriving at the stadium, we were herded into a nice, clean, and very tacky tourist 'holding pen' where you could buy merchandise, food and generally keep us away from the rest of the fans for much of the build up. Going in with the masses, the security is pretty lax and we found our seats up in the gods of the concrete jungle which did give a great view of the crowd and stadium. Boca reserves won the warm up, by the end of which the stadium was pretty full and the noise was rising.
The noise when the team came out was deafening. The Boca fans are incredible. Not for a second did the drummimg, singing, cheering, or whistling (when Banfield dared to touch the ball) stop. There is a whole section of the fans playing drums and trumpets, with that end of the ground seeing virtually none of the game as they are constantly singing and dancing. The Banfield first goal was vitually ignored other than by their away fans. As Boca scored and pushed for the win we got to experience the stadium in full flight and understand why the fans have the saying the stadium doesn't shake.... it beats. The 1 all draw was not the ideal result but the armosphere and fans were a true experience. The football may not have been as good as arsenal but the premiership could do with some of the latin american passion!
The Boca stadium is huge, well at least 3 sides of it is, as the club ran out of money during the building of it so had to make the stadium rectangular shaped rather than the normal oval. Three sides are stands, with the remaining side only having about 4 rows of seats, the corporates and the tv cameras. The shape gives it the name "La Bombonera" The lollie. The Boca colours came from the clubs founders stating they would adopt the nation´s colours of the first ship that came into the port - the ship was Swedish so the shirts and stadium are blue and yellow.
We were picked up by Phillipe, one of a bunch of tour operators offering tourists the Boca experience but shielded from the worst of the stadium madness. Upon arriving at the stadium, we were herded into a nice, clean, and very tacky tourist 'holding pen' where you could buy merchandise, food and generally keep us away from the rest of the fans for much of the build up. Going in with the masses, the security is pretty lax and we found our seats up in the gods of the concrete jungle which did give a great view of the crowd and stadium. Boca reserves won the warm up, by the end of which the stadium was pretty full and the noise was rising.
The noise when the team came out was deafening. The Boca fans are incredible. Not for a second did the drummimg, singing, cheering, or whistling (when Banfield dared to touch the ball) stop. There is a whole section of the fans playing drums and trumpets, with that end of the ground seeing virtually none of the game as they are constantly singing and dancing. The Banfield first goal was vitually ignored other than by their away fans. As Boca scored and pushed for the win we got to experience the stadium in full flight and understand why the fans have the saying the stadium doesn't shake.... it beats. The 1 all draw was not the ideal result but the armosphere and fans were a true experience. The football may not have been as good as arsenal but the premiership could do with some of the latin american passion!
Wednesday 16 April 2008
Iguazu Falls, April 2nd to 5th
Puerto Iguazu on the Argentinian side of the falls was the perfect break from the city. It´s a small town about 18kms from the falls, is mostly dirt road, has loads of little bars, parillas and cafes. Despite what was still stunning weather, with it not being peak tourist season, it was very subdued with dogs outnumbering people 2 to 1.
Early on the 3rd we caught the bus to the falls - the result of seven rivers meeting in one point and ending up as two. The argentinian side gives you the chance to get up close to many of the falls, as well as wander along the tops of them. The falls were absolutely magificient - its hard to describe the scale or views they provide. As you walk around the trails every turn seems to bring a bigger and more spectacular waterfall. We took a speedboat trip that starts serenely around one of the bottom rivers before dowsing you in one of the smaller falls and taking you up close enough to get soaked in the spray of one of the largest. After navigating both the bottom and top trails of the falls, a train takes you up to the largest of the falls 'Garganta Del Diablo' - The Devils throat. The largest and most stunning of the falls, this is absolutely huge.
You share the visit with some of the national park's wildlife - Cuotes (a cross between a racoon and a possum) who wander across the paths but apparently only attack when they see or smell food. There's also spiders, lizards, plenty of birds and one lazy croc / alligator??.
At the falls we met Fiona (from the UK) and Carlos (the real life ' gaucho') who we also caught up with for dinner that night. Fiona had decided to leave her UK life behind to join Carlos breaking horses, practicing medicine and cooking in the native Indian way in Mendoza. Carlos offered to cure us of our 'fear' of horses..... mmmm. They are running retreats so if you are interested, let us know and we can forward details!!
The next day the 'small' journey to Porto Do Iguacu on the Brazil side took an age - not helped by our guidebook suggesting bussing into the largely uninspiring town, only to double back most of the way on the bus to the falls. The border is easy to cross (if you are a kiwi or Brit) and you know as soon as you hit brazillian soil as the bridge between changes from the colours of the Argentinian flag to Brazil's.
The Brazil side gives you a stunning panaoramic view of everything we had seen the day before from close up. It only takes a couple of hours to see, but you also get to walk over one of the larger falls and also get a different, but equally impressive, view of 'Garganta Del Diablo'. It also had even more wildlife - with all the beasties a little larger than their slimline cross border counterparts.
For both sides of the falls, April is a great time to visit with not huge numbers of other tourists - unspoilt photos and hardly any tour groups!
Rounding off the whole Iguazu experience with a helicopter trip over the falls was perfect (and defintiely safer than hot air ballooning in Turkey). We will be running slide show evenings on Tuesdays and Thursday's for the first four weeks after we get back.
Early on the 3rd we caught the bus to the falls - the result of seven rivers meeting in one point and ending up as two. The argentinian side gives you the chance to get up close to many of the falls, as well as wander along the tops of them. The falls were absolutely magificient - its hard to describe the scale or views they provide. As you walk around the trails every turn seems to bring a bigger and more spectacular waterfall. We took a speedboat trip that starts serenely around one of the bottom rivers before dowsing you in one of the smaller falls and taking you up close enough to get soaked in the spray of one of the largest. After navigating both the bottom and top trails of the falls, a train takes you up to the largest of the falls 'Garganta Del Diablo' - The Devils throat. The largest and most stunning of the falls, this is absolutely huge.
You share the visit with some of the national park's wildlife - Cuotes (a cross between a racoon and a possum) who wander across the paths but apparently only attack when they see or smell food. There's also spiders, lizards, plenty of birds and one lazy croc / alligator??.
At the falls we met Fiona (from the UK) and Carlos (the real life ' gaucho') who we also caught up with for dinner that night. Fiona had decided to leave her UK life behind to join Carlos breaking horses, practicing medicine and cooking in the native Indian way in Mendoza. Carlos offered to cure us of our 'fear' of horses..... mmmm. They are running retreats so if you are interested, let us know and we can forward details!!
The next day the 'small' journey to Porto Do Iguacu on the Brazil side took an age - not helped by our guidebook suggesting bussing into the largely uninspiring town, only to double back most of the way on the bus to the falls. The border is easy to cross (if you are a kiwi or Brit) and you know as soon as you hit brazillian soil as the bridge between changes from the colours of the Argentinian flag to Brazil's.
The Brazil side gives you a stunning panaoramic view of everything we had seen the day before from close up. It only takes a couple of hours to see, but you also get to walk over one of the larger falls and also get a different, but equally impressive, view of 'Garganta Del Diablo'. It also had even more wildlife - with all the beasties a little larger than their slimline cross border counterparts.
For both sides of the falls, April is a great time to visit with not huge numbers of other tourists - unspoilt photos and hardly any tour groups!
Rounding off the whole Iguazu experience with a helicopter trip over the falls was perfect (and defintiely safer than hot air ballooning in Turkey). We will be running slide show evenings on Tuesdays and Thursday's for the first four weeks after we get back.
Sunday 13 April 2008
Buenos Airies Pt 1 - March 31 - April 1
The flight from Santigo to Buenos Airies takes you over the Andes - a stunning view from 40,000 feet. Even from that height, they stretch all along the horizon, and when the cloud rolled in, the tallest snow capped ones were still visible above the cloud line.
The Porteños of Buenos Airies love their late nights - even the Tuesday night Drum n Bass nights don´t open their doors until 1.30am. We got in late from the flight and went out in the Palermo District where we were staying for a fashionable 1am dinner.
Empañada´s should be classified as an illicit drug as having only had one you feel the pangs of addiction....
If you think of where the best places might be to go on a cycle tour of Buenos Airies, through the middle of a huge (and pretty raucous) protest against the president may not be one of them. All the protestors seemed to be marching the opposite way to where we went to ride, our guide didn´t seem to notice but with graffiti being sprayed on the walls of the city, loads of armed police, shop shutters down or with guards out front, and helicopters circling over top.... for us gringos it was very intense.
Before getting caught up in the protest, the tour started at San Martin Square where we saw the Malvinas Islands war memorial (Falklands). The ride took us along the old port - Puerto Madero - now home top expensive cafes and restaurants, and out to the river Paraña which stretches 220kms across and sits between Argentina and Uruguay, before heading to San Telmo.
We covered most of the south of the city - riding through La Boca (meaning "the Mouth" and home of Boca Juniors football) where the first Italian migrants settled. Most of the area is still housing blocks, with some parts pretty unsafe but they have dressed up one little section for tourists in bright colours with street vendors, souveniers and cafes. It all feels a bit plastic although the Maradonna lookalike posing for photos was class.
That night we got stuck in what must have been the 50 year storm, ´stranded´ in a bar while every news channel broadcast the downpour from street corners, backyards and rooftops.
With a Boca game coming up in a few days time, we decided to spilt our time in B.A, head up to Iguazu Falls and be back for the weekend - also the best time for the nightlife.....
The Porteños of Buenos Airies love their late nights - even the Tuesday night Drum n Bass nights don´t open their doors until 1.30am. We got in late from the flight and went out in the Palermo District where we were staying for a fashionable 1am dinner.
Empañada´s should be classified as an illicit drug as having only had one you feel the pangs of addiction....
If you think of where the best places might be to go on a cycle tour of Buenos Airies, through the middle of a huge (and pretty raucous) protest against the president may not be one of them. All the protestors seemed to be marching the opposite way to where we went to ride, our guide didn´t seem to notice but with graffiti being sprayed on the walls of the city, loads of armed police, shop shutters down or with guards out front, and helicopters circling over top.... for us gringos it was very intense.
Before getting caught up in the protest, the tour started at San Martin Square where we saw the Malvinas Islands war memorial (Falklands). The ride took us along the old port - Puerto Madero - now home top expensive cafes and restaurants, and out to the river Paraña which stretches 220kms across and sits between Argentina and Uruguay, before heading to San Telmo.
We covered most of the south of the city - riding through La Boca (meaning "the Mouth" and home of Boca Juniors football) where the first Italian migrants settled. Most of the area is still housing blocks, with some parts pretty unsafe but they have dressed up one little section for tourists in bright colours with street vendors, souveniers and cafes. It all feels a bit plastic although the Maradonna lookalike posing for photos was class.
That night we got stuck in what must have been the 50 year storm, ´stranded´ in a bar while every news channel broadcast the downpour from street corners, backyards and rooftops.
With a Boca game coming up in a few days time, we decided to spilt our time in B.A, head up to Iguazu Falls and be back for the weekend - also the best time for the nightlife.....
Santiago Chile - March 29 and 30
Landing into Santiago between the Andes is a pretty cool way to start south America.
We got a hostel in the Bella Vista district - lot´s of students and a bit bohemian which meant everything was a bit cheaper (at least prices can only drop as we travel out of Chile)
Sanitago is a pretty relaxed city, not a lot to do so we spent the days walking around the Plaza Mayor, looking through the markets and idly wasting time till it was acceptable to go and drink and eat. The nice thing about the beer in Sth America is the fact Litre bottles are the norm. Okay so people normally share them, but Nic not being a beer drinker meant it was my cross to bear.
We didn´t warm to the local music too much - we hope to never hear heavy metal pan flute fusion again.
Proving th Hutt is truly a global place - we met a guy in our hostel who grew up in the hood and now lives in Rio meaning we have a tour guide for when we arrive towards the end of our trip. Nice.
All the flights out of Santiago were very expensive but Nic managed to translate a local budget airline site and we got some flights for about a thrid of the cost. The fact they made everyone write the contact details of a next of kin down on paper and give it to the ground staff before boarding, and fumigated the plane cabin (and passengers with it) before take off, meant as we watched the new airbus 380 "avion gigante" leaving for it´s first trip from Santiago, we kinda wished were on that.
We got a hostel in the Bella Vista district - lot´s of students and a bit bohemian which meant everything was a bit cheaper (at least prices can only drop as we travel out of Chile)
Sanitago is a pretty relaxed city, not a lot to do so we spent the days walking around the Plaza Mayor, looking through the markets and idly wasting time till it was acceptable to go and drink and eat. The nice thing about the beer in Sth America is the fact Litre bottles are the norm. Okay so people normally share them, but Nic not being a beer drinker meant it was my cross to bear.
We didn´t warm to the local music too much - we hope to never hear heavy metal pan flute fusion again.
Proving th Hutt is truly a global place - we met a guy in our hostel who grew up in the hood and now lives in Rio meaning we have a tour guide for when we arrive towards the end of our trip. Nice.
All the flights out of Santiago were very expensive but Nic managed to translate a local budget airline site and we got some flights for about a thrid of the cost. The fact they made everyone write the contact details of a next of kin down on paper and give it to the ground staff before boarding, and fumigated the plane cabin (and passengers with it) before take off, meant as we watched the new airbus 380 "avion gigante" leaving for it´s first trip from Santiago, we kinda wished were on that.
Wednesday 9 April 2008
Aussie and NZ
Had a bit of a flying visit to Melbourne for 5 days and Sydney for 2, catching up with some special peeps which was perfect way to degunk after Asia.....
NZ was class - one of the highlights was Todd meeting his Godson Ted and handing him his new arsenal strip in person. Frankie (big bro) showed his true non liverpool colours by demanding he wear the socks.
Ben and Stace´s wedding was a great weekend - they have both done well. Todd still can´t bring himself to talk about Ben´s stag do from the previous week.
It was great to see the whanau and friends for a decent amount of time. Wellington put on the most extraordinary weather and only rained twice. with only 2 windy days in over a month. Of all the things we have seen while travelling so far - that was the most bizarre :)
Big ups to all the Aussie and NZ posse for helping us detroy our livers.
NZ was class - one of the highlights was Todd meeting his Godson Ted and handing him his new arsenal strip in person. Frankie (big bro) showed his true non liverpool colours by demanding he wear the socks.
Ben and Stace´s wedding was a great weekend - they have both done well. Todd still can´t bring himself to talk about Ben´s stag do from the previous week.
It was great to see the whanau and friends for a decent amount of time. Wellington put on the most extraordinary weather and only rained twice. with only 2 windy days in over a month. Of all the things we have seen while travelling so far - that was the most bizarre :)
Big ups to all the Aussie and NZ posse for helping us detroy our livers.
Vietnam finale
I think it came as a bit of a shock to both of us when we arrived in Hanoi. It had been 32-35 degrees everywhere so far and as we arrived into Hanoi the pilot told us it was 12.
Lonely Planet warns of the terrors of the airport cab drivers and touts - none of which transpired and we shared a collective mini van with some locals. With many layers of clothes on we walked around the old city taking in the sites and smells and avoiding being run over by any scooters.
The old city has lots of little streets crammed with shops and stalls and people selling everything on the street corner, it seemed a little bit more traditional than Saigon.
Now with it being 12 degress you would think that bars and restaurants would have some heating, but no they all still had the air con blasting so we spent what would have been a great dinner shivering with our jackets on.
The next day we had planned to go to see the monument for Ho Chi Minh which is a massive mausoleum where the Vietnamese pile in to see his embalmed body. Unfortunately for us their great leader was not having visitors - closed.
We headed off to a temple/religious university that the lonely planet says is a must. The students study religion for 11 years there - we struggled to last 11 minutes before being overtaken with the boredom. Fortunately across the road was a fabulous cafe which was run by a charity under a NZ chef to give street kids opportunites in the restaurant trade. Todd says the flat white was the best he´s had for a long while and the cakes and service were amazing.
On our last night in Vietnam we decided to partake in some of the local´s delicacies for dinner. the road side BBQ. You choose skewers of meat, us not knowing what most of it was then sat down at miniture tables and chairs while it was cooked for us. The beef and corn on the cob was great, the frog was actually really good but the round dumpling things were not so good when we bit in and decided they were probably testicles. Still, you can wash them down with some of the murky green beer.
Lonely Planet warns of the terrors of the airport cab drivers and touts - none of which transpired and we shared a collective mini van with some locals. With many layers of clothes on we walked around the old city taking in the sites and smells and avoiding being run over by any scooters.
The old city has lots of little streets crammed with shops and stalls and people selling everything on the street corner, it seemed a little bit more traditional than Saigon.
Now with it being 12 degress you would think that bars and restaurants would have some heating, but no they all still had the air con blasting so we spent what would have been a great dinner shivering with our jackets on.
The next day we had planned to go to see the monument for Ho Chi Minh which is a massive mausoleum where the Vietnamese pile in to see his embalmed body. Unfortunately for us their great leader was not having visitors - closed.
We headed off to a temple/religious university that the lonely planet says is a must. The students study religion for 11 years there - we struggled to last 11 minutes before being overtaken with the boredom. Fortunately across the road was a fabulous cafe which was run by a charity under a NZ chef to give street kids opportunites in the restaurant trade. Todd says the flat white was the best he´s had for a long while and the cakes and service were amazing.
On our last night in Vietnam we decided to partake in some of the local´s delicacies for dinner. the road side BBQ. You choose skewers of meat, us not knowing what most of it was then sat down at miniture tables and chairs while it was cooked for us. The beef and corn on the cob was great, the frog was actually really good but the round dumpling things were not so good when we bit in and decided they were probably testicles. Still, you can wash them down with some of the murky green beer.
Thursday 3 April 2008
Mekong Delta - Vietnam
Travelling back to Saigon on another 3 hour bus trip taking but took 7 hours we were all rested to head to the Mekong Delta. We took a 2 day tour which started with us waiting on the side of the road in Saigon at 7am with bus drivers shouting out destinations and us being very confused.
Arriving in one of the towns in the Delta we swapped to boats and spent the rest of the day and the next cruising along water ways seeing the way the delta people live, work and generally go about their life. The kids were pretty excited to see us and the arm got a bit sore from all the waving. It felt a weird, like we were peering in the window as people washed their hair, dishes and brushed their teeth in the river. While there were a couple of interesting stops from the boat including to see how coconut candy is made and Todd drinking snake wine (rice wine with a fermenting cobra in it) it was overall a bit disappointing as we didn´t get much of a feel for the place, more just moved from tourist spot to shop etc..... Not at all what we expected or what the lonely planet seemed to suggest. We stayed the night in the biggest town in the Delta which is Can Tho, just another city really - a homestay would have been better we think.
We met an aussie couple (Adam and Renee) on the bus back to Saigon and ended up having a bit of a street side drinking session that night. Todd and Adam were keen to sample the beer hoi, which is tapped out of a steel drum on the side of the street and costs 40p for a litre. A few of those and a few more mojitos later it was time to call it quits. I think Renee and Adam must have fely worse than us the next day especially since they were off to the tunnels.
Arriving in one of the towns in the Delta we swapped to boats and spent the rest of the day and the next cruising along water ways seeing the way the delta people live, work and generally go about their life. The kids were pretty excited to see us and the arm got a bit sore from all the waving. It felt a weird, like we were peering in the window as people washed their hair, dishes and brushed their teeth in the river. While there were a couple of interesting stops from the boat including to see how coconut candy is made and Todd drinking snake wine (rice wine with a fermenting cobra in it) it was overall a bit disappointing as we didn´t get much of a feel for the place, more just moved from tourist spot to shop etc..... Not at all what we expected or what the lonely planet seemed to suggest. We stayed the night in the biggest town in the Delta which is Can Tho, just another city really - a homestay would have been better we think.
We met an aussie couple (Adam and Renee) on the bus back to Saigon and ended up having a bit of a street side drinking session that night. Todd and Adam were keen to sample the beer hoi, which is tapped out of a steel drum on the side of the street and costs 40p for a litre. A few of those and a few more mojitos later it was time to call it quits. I think Renee and Adam must have fely worse than us the next day especially since they were off to the tunnels.
Thursday 14 February 2008
Chuc Mung Nam Moi
Mmmm okay, so being new to blogs... guess we didn`t realise you had to update them. It`s now 5 countries later and almost 2 months and we haven`t updated jack. We can`t type, we`ve forgotten what work feels like and we can`t even get the apostrophes to go the right way. Still.... let`s do a retrospect.... just pretend the screen is going all wavy and you are recalling a time long past.....
Arriving in Vietnam (Sometime early Feb) we arrived into Saigon. It`s not surprising the Vietnamese are so obsessed with luck, surviving 10 minutes on the streets requires divine intervention. Scooters everywhere are ridiculous numbers of the same family, shopping and big yellow new year blossom trees. It`s Tet (Chinese, Vietnamese, Cambodian New Year and everyone is barking Chuc Mung Nam Moi meaning `Happy New Year` which is probably the only words we learnt in 2 weeks in Vietnam. The party builds up for about 2 weeks prior and goes for about 4 days. It`s the year of the rat, extra good luck for rats, hit and miss for anyone else and pretty bad news for any born under the year of the cat. Give all your old money away to children and hope that your yellow blossom tree flowers over the New Year holiday to improve your chances if you were born under any other year so we were told.
Changing from US dollars in Cambodia to the perfectly named DONG in Vietnam meant adding about 7 zero`s and becoming instant millionaires '. A man could never tire of paying for things with Dong. Nor being told to `put your dong away` when taking your money out in public.
The next day we headined for a tour of the Cu Chi Tunnels guided by `Mr Bean`. He looked more like the old guy that owned gizmo in Gremlins than Rowan Atkinson, but he insisted we all called him that as he was as ashamed of his American name Michael Buyen, as he was fighting for the US as a half American - half Vietnamese man, during the war. The Cu Chi Tunnel experience was pretty gripping. For those of us who grew up on China Beach, Tour of Duty and Platoon it gives a whiole different perspective to see the devastation the Vietnam war caused for the country and it`s people. The tour starts with a black and white propoganda film where the damage caused to plants, people, chicken and `pots and pans is vividly portrayed along with the story of a young peasant girl who tended crops by day and single handedly wiped out US platoons by night.
Building 3 US army bases on 200 kilometres of already established tunnel systems, a nation who were used to and prepared to fight for their country, and sending a bunch of 19 year old american soldiers fighting after 16 weeks training, meant horrid loss of life. Mr Bean had spent 5 years in a `reeducation camp after the war and seemed genuinely remorseful of his part fighting against his own poeple. He eloquently described Oliver Stone as being all bullshit and cited Americas lack of aid for the 500000 children left disabled following its scorched earth policy of agent orange and napalm when losing the war.
The tour offers the chance for your own tunnel experience. 130 metres long, 60 cms wide and 1.3 metres tall, about 45 degrees, pitch black and with only one way in and one way out. They should have one of those ìf you fit in this hole you can go on this ride type things before but Mr Bean was keen to get everyone (particualrly the fat ass americans he loved so much) in there to feel the joy. Todd bailing out after 60 metres and Nic didn`t even attempt to go in.
After crazy Saigon bandit country, we headed for the coastal spot of Mui Ne for a few days. The 3 hour bus trip took 8 hours, but after that it was pretty smooth sailing with a perfcet beachside bungalow. It was sleep, eat, drink and repeat in a town still not yet aware of what it`s got, so devoid of beach sellers, tourist bars and largely devoid of people. The only downside was the beautiful beach it promised had all but vanished for the summer. Global warming or just freak weather no one seemed to be sure.
What Mui Ne does have is a Wellington strength breeze so its quickly establishing itself as a kite boarding mecca. Feeling we should do something other the aforementioned we did take a jeep tour around the geological wonders of the region. The great red canyon was about 5 feet deep and full of rubbish, the magic fairy stream was about 3 inches of water in a creek and while the red and white sand dunes were impressive, trying to slide down them on the hired boards resulted in sliding one foot and sinking two. Our guide picked up his girlfriend for a romantic jeep ride half way through leaving us the uncomfortable backseat voyeurs for young vietnamese love. Back to the eat, drink, sleep......
Arriving in Vietnam (Sometime early Feb) we arrived into Saigon. It`s not surprising the Vietnamese are so obsessed with luck, surviving 10 minutes on the streets requires divine intervention. Scooters everywhere are ridiculous numbers of the same family, shopping and big yellow new year blossom trees. It`s Tet (Chinese, Vietnamese, Cambodian New Year and everyone is barking Chuc Mung Nam Moi meaning `Happy New Year` which is probably the only words we learnt in 2 weeks in Vietnam. The party builds up for about 2 weeks prior and goes for about 4 days. It`s the year of the rat, extra good luck for rats, hit and miss for anyone else and pretty bad news for any born under the year of the cat. Give all your old money away to children and hope that your yellow blossom tree flowers over the New Year holiday to improve your chances if you were born under any other year so we were told.
Changing from US dollars in Cambodia to the perfectly named DONG in Vietnam meant adding about 7 zero`s and becoming instant millionaires '. A man could never tire of paying for things with Dong. Nor being told to `put your dong away` when taking your money out in public.
The next day we headined for a tour of the Cu Chi Tunnels guided by `Mr Bean`. He looked more like the old guy that owned gizmo in Gremlins than Rowan Atkinson, but he insisted we all called him that as he was as ashamed of his American name Michael Buyen, as he was fighting for the US as a half American - half Vietnamese man, during the war. The Cu Chi Tunnel experience was pretty gripping. For those of us who grew up on China Beach, Tour of Duty and Platoon it gives a whiole different perspective to see the devastation the Vietnam war caused for the country and it`s people. The tour starts with a black and white propoganda film where the damage caused to plants, people, chicken and `pots and pans is vividly portrayed along with the story of a young peasant girl who tended crops by day and single handedly wiped out US platoons by night.
Building 3 US army bases on 200 kilometres of already established tunnel systems, a nation who were used to and prepared to fight for their country, and sending a bunch of 19 year old american soldiers fighting after 16 weeks training, meant horrid loss of life. Mr Bean had spent 5 years in a `reeducation camp after the war and seemed genuinely remorseful of his part fighting against his own poeple. He eloquently described Oliver Stone as being all bullshit and cited Americas lack of aid for the 500000 children left disabled following its scorched earth policy of agent orange and napalm when losing the war.
The tour offers the chance for your own tunnel experience. 130 metres long, 60 cms wide and 1.3 metres tall, about 45 degrees, pitch black and with only one way in and one way out. They should have one of those ìf you fit in this hole you can go on this ride type things before but Mr Bean was keen to get everyone (particualrly the fat ass americans he loved so much) in there to feel the joy. Todd bailing out after 60 metres and Nic didn`t even attempt to go in.
After crazy Saigon bandit country, we headed for the coastal spot of Mui Ne for a few days. The 3 hour bus trip took 8 hours, but after that it was pretty smooth sailing with a perfcet beachside bungalow. It was sleep, eat, drink and repeat in a town still not yet aware of what it`s got, so devoid of beach sellers, tourist bars and largely devoid of people. The only downside was the beautiful beach it promised had all but vanished for the summer. Global warming or just freak weather no one seemed to be sure.
What Mui Ne does have is a Wellington strength breeze so its quickly establishing itself as a kite boarding mecca. Feeling we should do something other the aforementioned we did take a jeep tour around the geological wonders of the region. The great red canyon was about 5 feet deep and full of rubbish, the magic fairy stream was about 3 inches of water in a creek and while the red and white sand dunes were impressive, trying to slide down them on the hired boards resulted in sliding one foot and sinking two. Our guide picked up his girlfriend for a romantic jeep ride half way through leaving us the uncomfortable backseat voyeurs for young vietnamese love. Back to the eat, drink, sleep......
Thursday 7 February 2008
The Khmer #2
Siem Reap - January 30th - February 3rd, 2008
From Phnom Phen we took a boat 5 hours up the Ton Le Sap river to Siem Reap. For any females taking the bumpy dirt road away from the dock Nic suggests you wear a sports bra. All along the banks of the river families are living in shelters, some little more than a few peices of corregated metal, the filty water the only source for cooking, cleaning and drinking. It's a 16km ride into the town. Our Tuk tuk driver stopped about 5km in to discuss whether we would need him the next day or prefer to make our way from there but some vague promises got us back on the road.
We checked into a place called River Garden, luxury villas set in the Siem Reap jungle with frogs, rats, lizards and other beasts moving too fast to be identified keeping us company. The reason everyone goes to Siem Reap is the temples - the most famous being Ankor Wat where we watched the sunset over the sprawling stone structure and hindu sculpture. With few other tourists around we were able to wander the place undisturbed, except by the hordes of kids selling books, postcards and bracelets. The kids are very clued up, able to tell us Wellington was the capital of New Zealand, we had 4 1/2 million people and 45 millon sheep, and that Helen Clarke was the Prime Minister - 'a very good Prime Minister but she's not very pretty'.
There's so many temples it would take a month to see them all - and by the end of a couple of days you are feeling pretty 'templed out'. We hired a driver for the next day who took us to the best of them which included Ta Phrom (also famous for appearing in Tomb Raider). At Ta Phrom the huge trees have grown through the temple stones and it look slike they are melting into the stone work. Moving between the temples you get to see them at all stages of repair, paying tribute to many different hindu and buddist gods, and that each king tried to 'big up' his predecessors making both a statement on their superiority but also to ensure their pace among the divine. No matter how far into the jungle or how high up the temples you scale, there's plenty of bracelets and postcards available and some old guy has managed to get a drinks trolley with ice up / in there.
In Siem Reap town there's a place unumbiguously called Cambodian BBQ with almost any type of meat to cook up at you own table top BBQ. (NB: Veggies and Aussies may want to skip the next bit). The '6 meats' of Kangaroo, Crocodile, Squid, Fish Pork and Chicken was all class, and the base of the BBQ has a tray of boiling water for noodles and your veg. Anyone thinking we are bad people for eating skippy - you are not alone. Some of those divine powers took charge and Skippy was to wreak his revenge for the next 24 hours. At some stage (after a few wines, beers and cocktails) we mixed the raw meat / cooked meat chopsticks - they are all conveniently white and the stomachs took a hammering from skippys right hoof.
Siem Reap is a fantastic town, with huge local markets, cheap beers / food / accom, ultra friendly locals (and nice clean air!). Of course we weren't so far away we missed the football - catching the arsenal man city game (3 - 1 arsenal :) at Goodysaurus - where the owner spent the night trying to convince us he was a Jordy - putting on a crazy attempt at a Newcastle accent every time he spoke. We also managed to try Cambodias infamous Happy Pizza while we were there.
Leaving Siem Reap wasn't as easy as staying there - a power failure at the airport meant no ATMs (cue bizarre mix of currency to pay departure tax), no check in, no lights, no announcements. We also had our first flight delay as our Vietnam airlines plane had a technical fault that delayed us 5 hours and we were greated onto the plane by the captain apologising and saying the fault had 'probably been fixed'.
From Phnom Phen we took a boat 5 hours up the Ton Le Sap river to Siem Reap. For any females taking the bumpy dirt road away from the dock Nic suggests you wear a sports bra. All along the banks of the river families are living in shelters, some little more than a few peices of corregated metal, the filty water the only source for cooking, cleaning and drinking. It's a 16km ride into the town. Our Tuk tuk driver stopped about 5km in to discuss whether we would need him the next day or prefer to make our way from there but some vague promises got us back on the road.
We checked into a place called River Garden, luxury villas set in the Siem Reap jungle with frogs, rats, lizards and other beasts moving too fast to be identified keeping us company. The reason everyone goes to Siem Reap is the temples - the most famous being Ankor Wat where we watched the sunset over the sprawling stone structure and hindu sculpture. With few other tourists around we were able to wander the place undisturbed, except by the hordes of kids selling books, postcards and bracelets. The kids are very clued up, able to tell us Wellington was the capital of New Zealand, we had 4 1/2 million people and 45 millon sheep, and that Helen Clarke was the Prime Minister - 'a very good Prime Minister but she's not very pretty'.
There's so many temples it would take a month to see them all - and by the end of a couple of days you are feeling pretty 'templed out'. We hired a driver for the next day who took us to the best of them which included Ta Phrom (also famous for appearing in Tomb Raider). At Ta Phrom the huge trees have grown through the temple stones and it look slike they are melting into the stone work. Moving between the temples you get to see them at all stages of repair, paying tribute to many different hindu and buddist gods, and that each king tried to 'big up' his predecessors making both a statement on their superiority but also to ensure their pace among the divine. No matter how far into the jungle or how high up the temples you scale, there's plenty of bracelets and postcards available and some old guy has managed to get a drinks trolley with ice up / in there.
In Siem Reap town there's a place unumbiguously called Cambodian BBQ with almost any type of meat to cook up at you own table top BBQ. (NB: Veggies and Aussies may want to skip the next bit). The '6 meats' of Kangaroo, Crocodile, Squid, Fish Pork and Chicken was all class, and the base of the BBQ has a tray of boiling water for noodles and your veg. Anyone thinking we are bad people for eating skippy - you are not alone. Some of those divine powers took charge and Skippy was to wreak his revenge for the next 24 hours. At some stage (after a few wines, beers and cocktails) we mixed the raw meat / cooked meat chopsticks - they are all conveniently white and the stomachs took a hammering from skippys right hoof.
Siem Reap is a fantastic town, with huge local markets, cheap beers / food / accom, ultra friendly locals (and nice clean air!). Of course we weren't so far away we missed the football - catching the arsenal man city game (3 - 1 arsenal :) at Goodysaurus - where the owner spent the night trying to convince us he was a Jordy - putting on a crazy attempt at a Newcastle accent every time he spoke. We also managed to try Cambodias infamous Happy Pizza while we were there.
Leaving Siem Reap wasn't as easy as staying there - a power failure at the airport meant no ATMs (cue bizarre mix of currency to pay departure tax), no check in, no lights, no announcements. We also had our first flight delay as our Vietnam airlines plane had a technical fault that delayed us 5 hours and we were greated onto the plane by the captain apologising and saying the fault had 'probably been fixed'.
Monday 4 February 2008
The Khmer #1
Phonm Pehn January 28th - 30th, 2008
Okay so we didn't quite land in Phnom Pehn as the plane hit the runway. We were out into the madness that is the Cambodian capital in the back of our first Tuk tuk, a novelty at the time but over the coming week our arses would be permanently glued to them. The place is pretty grimey, with a thick layer of smog constant so no need for sunscreen, and no risk of a tan.
Other than millions of tuk tuks and motorbikes, the only other vehicle we were to see was the trusty Toyota Camry... In cambodia you aren't judged by the car you drive it seems, more the year of your Camry.
Cambodians are genuinely nice people, a smile in the eyes when they see you, which is amazing given the fact the country is still coming to grips with 160 odd years of occupation and civil war. You can't miss the desperation, with a lot of poverty and begging from those who have lost limbs or been left disabled and unable to work due to landmines that still pepper the country.
We had gone from our brand spanking 5 star hotel about 100 metres from the new Bangkok airport to the slightly less luxurious, but much friendlier 'Sunday Guest House'. We took an afternoon tuk tuk to the killing fields, about 14 kilometres out of Pnohm Pehn and the setting of mass executions under the Pol Pot Regime. It's pretty grim and pieces of bone and clothing are lying next to the paths and partly excavated mass graves. We also went on to the S21 Tuol Sleng genocide museum - Pol Pot's biggest prison and main location for interogations. You get a flavour for what a stunning setting it must have been when it was a school, and seems cruelly ironic that most of the warders, those who conducted the questioning and the executioners were 10 - 15 year old children, brainwashed into Pol Pot's new world order. All education, as well as arts, were banned under Pot, and visible in the main courtyard is a list of 10 rules (pretty twisted shit) that read not unlike those of Nazi Germany.
Our second day in Phonm Pehn we hooked up with Boral - a tuk tuk driver recommended to us by Andy and Kylie who has had him only a week or so prior. Boral was great at telling us about his family, life growing up, as well as doing the driving bit. He also had a pretty pimped dirt bike as his ride, rather than a scooter, so we made some pretty good time.
Over lunch he told us of his 6 brothers and sisters who had died over the Khmer Rouge years, leaving his farm to move to the city, being ostracised and reunited with his family, and having a child out of wedlock - not too good by Cambodian standards. The story of his grandfather who had a knife grow out of his chest (later passed on to his brother), and that of his brother who was sacrificed to the gods of the sea to make another man rich kind of left us a little puzzled.
We spent some time at the royal palace - the most notable feature the number of Buddha statues everywhere so you are constantly feeling his divine gaze. The one we couldn't quite get our heads around was Nu Rave Buddha complete with techno outfit and glow sticks around his head.
With some time left Boral suggested we take some food to a 'small' neighbourhood orphanage, where we could go and meet the children. The Khmer Developmenty of Freedom Orphanage was so heartbeaking but a special memory we will keep with us forever. We had picked up a 50kg bag of rice and some fruit at the market to take with us. Nic managed to survive being slapped on the shoulder by a slightly disturbed local woman in the market. Apparently it couldn't have had the power behind it of a kick to the shoulder by a Thai lady boy (we were told with confidence by a recipient of said kick at our hostel that night).
The kids were so happy and friendly - crowding around so we could hand out the fruit and fighting amongst each other to get the best pose for photos (we'll get some sorted to see soon). It was hard not to go all Brangelina and take some of them out of the desperate situation they were in. The orphange had 60 full time kids but looked after a steadliy increasing number of neighbourhood kids whose parents could not afford to feed and school them.
We got the tour of the place, small shack classrooms and a library complete with only a few dozen books. We left wanting to support them in a more sustainable way and thought maybe ticket money from the next 'All-Eights' party could be an idea.
The trip ended kinda weird when Boral suggested we could 'help' him (financially) through university - we suggested the best we could do was send future travellers his way!
Todd and Nic
Okay so we didn't quite land in Phnom Pehn as the plane hit the runway. We were out into the madness that is the Cambodian capital in the back of our first Tuk tuk, a novelty at the time but over the coming week our arses would be permanently glued to them. The place is pretty grimey, with a thick layer of smog constant so no need for sunscreen, and no risk of a tan.
Other than millions of tuk tuks and motorbikes, the only other vehicle we were to see was the trusty Toyota Camry... In cambodia you aren't judged by the car you drive it seems, more the year of your Camry.
Cambodians are genuinely nice people, a smile in the eyes when they see you, which is amazing given the fact the country is still coming to grips with 160 odd years of occupation and civil war. You can't miss the desperation, with a lot of poverty and begging from those who have lost limbs or been left disabled and unable to work due to landmines that still pepper the country.
We had gone from our brand spanking 5 star hotel about 100 metres from the new Bangkok airport to the slightly less luxurious, but much friendlier 'Sunday Guest House'. We took an afternoon tuk tuk to the killing fields, about 14 kilometres out of Pnohm Pehn and the setting of mass executions under the Pol Pot Regime. It's pretty grim and pieces of bone and clothing are lying next to the paths and partly excavated mass graves. We also went on to the S21 Tuol Sleng genocide museum - Pol Pot's biggest prison and main location for interogations. You get a flavour for what a stunning setting it must have been when it was a school, and seems cruelly ironic that most of the warders, those who conducted the questioning and the executioners were 10 - 15 year old children, brainwashed into Pol Pot's new world order. All education, as well as arts, were banned under Pot, and visible in the main courtyard is a list of 10 rules (pretty twisted shit) that read not unlike those of Nazi Germany.
Our second day in Phonm Pehn we hooked up with Boral - a tuk tuk driver recommended to us by Andy and Kylie who has had him only a week or so prior. Boral was great at telling us about his family, life growing up, as well as doing the driving bit. He also had a pretty pimped dirt bike as his ride, rather than a scooter, so we made some pretty good time.
Over lunch he told us of his 6 brothers and sisters who had died over the Khmer Rouge years, leaving his farm to move to the city, being ostracised and reunited with his family, and having a child out of wedlock - not too good by Cambodian standards. The story of his grandfather who had a knife grow out of his chest (later passed on to his brother), and that of his brother who was sacrificed to the gods of the sea to make another man rich kind of left us a little puzzled.
We spent some time at the royal palace - the most notable feature the number of Buddha statues everywhere so you are constantly feeling his divine gaze. The one we couldn't quite get our heads around was Nu Rave Buddha complete with techno outfit and glow sticks around his head.
With some time left Boral suggested we take some food to a 'small' neighbourhood orphanage, where we could go and meet the children. The Khmer Developmenty of Freedom Orphanage was so heartbeaking but a special memory we will keep with us forever. We had picked up a 50kg bag of rice and some fruit at the market to take with us. Nic managed to survive being slapped on the shoulder by a slightly disturbed local woman in the market. Apparently it couldn't have had the power behind it of a kick to the shoulder by a Thai lady boy (we were told with confidence by a recipient of said kick at our hostel that night).
The kids were so happy and friendly - crowding around so we could hand out the fruit and fighting amongst each other to get the best pose for photos (we'll get some sorted to see soon). It was hard not to go all Brangelina and take some of them out of the desperate situation they were in. The orphange had 60 full time kids but looked after a steadliy increasing number of neighbourhood kids whose parents could not afford to feed and school them.
We got the tour of the place, small shack classrooms and a library complete with only a few dozen books. We left wanting to support them in a more sustainable way and thought maybe ticket money from the next 'All-Eights' party could be an idea.
The trip ended kinda weird when Boral suggested we could 'help' him (financially) through university - we suggested the best we could do was send future travellers his way!
Todd and Nic
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