The Journey

Animals and Aboriginies

Onto Cairns. Finally the tropics, some sun without it being so humid you sweat when you walk out the door and some time to work on my non existent tan. Plus some really cool days out.

We arrived in Cairns last Monday morning, spent the afternoon chilling out and by evening had found a number of tours and trip and planned the next eight days!

On Tuesday Kat, Naomi and I went for a plane ride over the Great Barrier Reef. It was amazing. We took off and flew for about fifteen minutes over deep blue water until we reached the outer reef. Approaching the reef the water became shallower and greener and was dotted with bits of reef. Around the reef the sea was a myriad of different greens, blues, yellows, oranges, and browns it looked amazing. As the coral rose close to the surface the occasional wave broke sending white foam shooting across the surface until it melted away back into the deep blue ocean. Lager parts of the reef cast a massive line across the ocean looking as though I would imagine the edge of the earth to look shortly before you dropped off. The scene below me was so spectacular I cannot find the words to adequately describe it, so instead I'm going to leave the describing to some of my photographs, which also don't do it justice. The only way to really appreciate it is to see it for yourself.

In island in the middle of the reef.

Looking down on the reef.

The edge of the earth?

Some more photos can be found here. 

The following day was spent lazing beside the Cairns lagoon - or swimming pool - before going discovering some Aboriginal culture that evening. We went to a place called Tjapukal, which promised to give us an insight into aboriginal culture, it was a good evening with a fantastic spread off food but I don't feel as though I came away having learnt a lot.

The show began with us being shown into a room with aboriginal art on the walls and artifacts in glass cabinets. All had explanations but I didn't have chance to work my way around the room before the lights dimmed and the audience was introduced the Gadja and Quinkin both aboriginal spirits. They informed us that: "In the dreamtime, the time before the time the oldest man can remember, Rainforest people walked the land - Tjapukai land," and some other stuff which has since slipped my memory!

We were lead though this room outside and given a pair of sticks along the way. Rhythmically banging the sticks everyone formed a circle around four aboriginal guys on a raised platform. We were told to chant as the aboriginals rubbed sticks together making fire. Once this ceremony was over we were taken into the restaurant given an amazing buffet and watched some traditional aboriginal dancing. All very good but not very informative.

Making fire

Some Aboriginal dancing.

Us with the Aboriginies

The following day we were up early for a day at the Rainforest Habitat. This wildlife sanctuary recreated many habitats where native Australian animals, are found and allows you to get up close and personal with many of them. Our first stop of the day was the Koalas, Emily had been soooooooooooooooo excited about seeing them that as soon as she was able to get near one and stroke it her: "Eyes were watering!" It was pretty amazing being that close to an animal that, living in England, is only normally seen in cuddly toy form! Their fur was incredibly soft and there were surprisingly happy to sit on a branch and be touched.

Naomi and I with the Koala.

During the day we also managed to hand feed the Kangaroos, Wallaby's and some random looking birds. We accompanied one of the park rangers on a feeding tour of the wetlands habitat. Many of the birds were so tame he was able to coax them onto his finger allowing us some good pictures! We also had lunch with the Lorikeets, some very pretty parrot like birds who were well accustomed to sitting on shoulders and looking pretty. One of them came on the bird feeding tour with us spending the whole time perched on the shoulder of various different people!

Katy, Kat, Jonny and Emily with a small Croc.

Feeding a Kangeroo.

All in all and amazing day, more photos can be found here.

That was Cairns in a nutshell.

Once again I'm behind with blogging and trying to catch up as quickly as possible! We've moved all the way down to the Whitsunday coast and Airlie beach. Tomorrow I'm off to spend the night on a deserted island that's only allows four people on at any one time!!! I can't wait!!!

The sights of Sydney

Standing on the edge of one of the world's largest natural harbour's its structure dominates to skyline and compels you towards it to have a closer look. The massive white sales of Sydney Opera House rise into the air as boats leave the harbour passing the iconic building that has never been seen complete by it's architect.

On January 29 1957 Jorn Utzon was named as the winner in a competition to design a new concert hall and opera theatre for Sydney. Work began in 1959 despite the architects warning that the plans hadn't yet been finalised, then later that year the commission was changed and they had to provide four theatres not two! During the construction costs escalates and eventually Jorn Utzon resigned from the project, leaving Australia shortly afterwards and never returned to see his completed design.

For more information of Sydney Opera house see here and here.

Approaching this iconic structure, that is a must for anyone visiting Sydney it wasn't quite what I'd been expecting. The approach is a mass of brown concrete steps giving the area a 70s feel. The white 'sails' rising into the sky are more an off-white cream colour and look as though they could do with a lick of paint. Standing in front of the Opera House it wasn't quite the bright white structure I'd seen so many times in pictures, although I'm assured it looks much whiter when the sun shines on it.

Despite all this it was still well worth going to see. If only for the essential I've been to Sydney and had my picture taken in front of the opera house photograph.

Naomi and I in front of the opera House. Yes it was incredably windy.

The Opera House by night.

Look to the left of the Opera House and there stands the imposing ironwork of Sydney Harbour bridge. An undertaking of similar proportions to the Opera House the bridge is the highest steel arch bridge in the world with the top standing at 134 meters above ground level.

Naomi and I decided it would therefore be a good idea to climb to the top of that bridge for a look over Sydney and its famous harbour. Climbing up the bridge was one of the more scary things I've done of late. Walking along wooden planks and across seemingly unsteady metal floors - that you could see through - added to the fear factor. Luckily Naomi was much more scared that I was, I soon forgot my fear and was too busy laughing at her clenching her hand into a claw shape every time she got nervous and clinging onto the hand rails for dear life.

The tour was lead by a professional and we were attached to the bridge by a harness throughout. But walking over narrow walkways looking down on water or eight lanes of moving traffic and two train lines can be a bit unnerving for those not fond of heights. Despite the fear I really enjoyed the climb, the fear adding to the excitement - I think I may be becoming an adrenaline junkie. By the end of the climb I was deliberately looking down through the floor at the cars rushing beneath me just to get the adrenaline pumping!

Jonny, Me, Katy, Kat, Emily and Naomi in front of Sydney Harbour Bridge on a very windy day!

Naomi and I on the bridge during the climb.

Me on the bridge. This is a hideous photos but it amuses me!

Much of the rest of our time in Sydney was spent chilling out .... oh and watching England knock the Aussie's out of the Rugby world cup - celebrating loudly we weren't the most popular people in the pub that night.

Hopefully I'll get time to write some more soon. I've just got back from a few days in Cape Tribulation and still need to write about Cairns. You never know I may actually get this thing properly up to date soon. Nah that would make life too easy!

Three become six!

At last I have caught up... well given a brief summery of recent happenings. I am now in Australia and having the time of my life.

Onto the present day... almost!

Kat, Emily and I arrived in Australia absolutely exhausted early last Thursday morning after having driven through New Zealand for the majority of the night and only having grabbed a couple of hours sleep on the plane. Jonny (a mate from uni) waited two hours for our delayed plane to arrive in Sydney and greeted us at the airport.

Jonny has been in Australia for a while working on a farm and hooking up0 with mates he met whilst snowboarding in Canada,. It was good to catch up with him and find out about all the things he's been up to.

Luckily after a week of partying in Melbourne and an early plane back to Sydney Jonny was also knackered and together we headed back to our hostel to grab some much needed sleep.

By the time we'd got back, sorted ourselves out and crawled into bed it was almost two in the afternoon. I roused myself from my slumber around five, showered and headed to the airport to pick up our latest arrival - my sister Naomi.

I arrived just before she ambled through arrivals. I smiled as she approached but she looked right through me. She had almost walked past me when I said: "hi," "Oh, I didn't recognise you," came the response. I've only been away for a year. Is that really enough time for my own sister to forget what I look like?!

It's actually quite strange to see a family member after being away for so long. Naomi put me up to date on all the happenings in England including the news of my nan marring her bus driver in Gretna Green during her coach holiday to Scotland. My nan has assures me she's already divorced him!!! I get the impression the marriage wasn't real!

I took Naomi back to the hostel dumped her bags and after meeting the others briefly we grabbed some dinner before retiring to bed.

Early the next morning Emily roused herself and headed to the airport to meet her friend Katy. Around 10am they came into the room and woke us all introducing us to Katy and completing our temporary six person travelling posse.

Friday was a relaxed day. Emily and Katy being tired slept for most of the day whilst Kat, Naomi, Jonny and I made ourselves scarce heading into the centre of Sydney in search of Aussie sim cards to put us back in touch with each other and the rest of the world. It's very strange having a mobile again and extremely odd to think that for the first time in three months if we loose each other we are able to contact each other!

That evening we attempted a night out, but a combination of jet lag on the part of those travelling form the Northern hemisphere and a lack of sleep from those of us who'd been in the Southern hemisphere for a while meant we were home in bed by midnight! The next day our real Aussie adventure began.

More to come on that in another post.

Skip to the end

Well as you can see I'm now what is technically termed as mega behind on the blog. For that reason I have decided to give a summery of New Zealand in as few words as possible and bring myself right up to date.

I have mentioned New Zealand briefly enough to say that it was fantastic. So far my favourite country and apparently I haven't even seen the best bits. It was the first country I was actually sad to leave behind and the first I have seriously considered making my home one day. It is such a beautiful country with amazingly diverse landscapes and no shortage of things to do, see and marvel at.

Our stay in New Zealand began in Auckland where we spent a few days chilling out staying with some family who have recently moved there and live on a beautiful peninsular just outside of the city.

The view from Sharon and Peter's front room.

The beach five minutes rom peter and Sharons front door.

Shakespear Regional Park.

Our visits into Auckland itself were more adrenaline filled with me taking the plunge off the 193 meter Sky Jump at Auckland Sky Tower (pictures to follow) on our fist visit into the city. It was something of a snap decision as it meant I got free entry to the viewing deck of the Sky Tower - which was incidentally lower than the height of my jump!!! The jump was amazing, a completely exhilarating experience. there is something about being scared of heights and stood on an incredibly windy platform staring DOWN at the roves of skyscrapers to make you realise you're alive. Being absolutely petrified at the top I was surprised that as I was counted down from three I calmly, or was it blindly, stepped of the edge and began my 18 second decent to the floor landing gracefully on my feet. It was when I landed that the adrenaline really stared pumping, as I was released from the wires I was grinning inanely and shaking uncontrollably but ready to go back to the top and do it all over again!

One of the less exhilarating things we did in Auckland was the museum. It was badly laid out and much of the information wasn't very clear so I opted to snuggle on some cushions in the library area and fall asleep whilst the other two walked around.

From Auckland we moved on to the very interesting smelling Rotorua. Rotorua is surrounded by geothermal areas and the sulphur produced means the whole place smells constantly of bad eggs - lovely - but after a while you do get used to it.

Rotorua was possibly my favourite place in New Zealand - despite the smell. There was so much interesting stuff to see and do plus loads of adrenaline activities to be found.

During our stay we visited two of the geothermal areas both of which were amazing sights to behold. The first, Hells Gate, was interesting simply because of what it is. It's crazy to think the earth can be such a hostile place. All over the area boiling pools are dotted around some of them so acidic that if you fell in there would be no trace of you left. Yet beside them other pools are quite harmless and are safe to swim in.

Boling Mud.

Hells Gate.

The other geothermal area we visited was Wai-O-tapu, this place produces such a random mix of chemical is turns the water and earth a myriad of different colours. It was one of the most colourful natural phenomena I have ever seen. Well worth a visit just to marvel at the random yellow patches in the middle of a lake or the huge bright green lake that looks like it belongs to a nuclear disaster!

Some orange substance under the water.

A Green lake!

Another day was spent driving to and from the Waitomo glowworm caves. These spectacular carves are full of glowworms and a boat trip takes you into a cave system where you can stare at the wonder above you. Each worm gives out a small green light and sitting in the boat staring up it looks like you're staring at a city of interconnecting roads of green streetlight. Stare for too long and it becomes like one of those 3D pictures where you go cross eyed to see the image, only there isn't any clearly definable images that emerges just a mass of little lights playing tricks on your eyes as they morph in and out of different shapes. Sitting in the boat looking up no-one made a sound, all that could be heard was the gentle lapping of the water against the side of the boat as everyone took in the sights above them.

A less relaxing day in Rotorua was spent having a triple bypass - almost literally. Our day began with some fun on the swoop. A crazy swing type thing where you get strapped into sleeping bag harnesses and hoisted 94 meters into the air. Then one you of pulls a cord and you hurtle towards the ground before swinging back up the other side. Sooooo much fun. Emily and Kat were pretty scared and I have to say the thought of falling from the top was pretty scary but once we were off it was a lot of fun despite Emily screaming loudly into my ear the whole way through.

On the swoop.

On the swoop.

The second part of our triple bypass was the Agrojet. A high speed jet boat screaming around a small course full of tight corners. My idea of the perfect way to spend half an hour. Being three of us one had to go twice and I was extra happy to win the toss. I set off first with Kat who let out a piercing scram as we hurtled towards the end of the straight with the driver turning the wheel at the very last minute sending spray far into the distance. Three laps later Kat was still screaming and holding my had as hard as possible as I laughed loudly stamping my feet and loving every minute of it. And I still had three more laps to go with Emily, who screamed even louder and grabbed my hand even harder than Kat did!

We completed our bypass on the hydro Zorb. A Zorb is a big plastic ball that you get inside of and roll down a hill, the twist in ours was that the Zorb was full of water. I've always wanted to do this and it was a lots of fun although nothing like the adrenaline rush of the swoop or shear excitement of the Agrojet. You run along hamster like for about the first five meters than as soon as you hit the hill you fall and get chucked around inside the ball. It was impossible to stand up but I managed to find a sitting position where I could see down the hill - although I have to say I think being chucked around and sent crashing head over heals was the most fun!

From Rotorua we moved onto Taupo. There was a lot less to do here and having spent a fortune over the last few days we needed to sit back and chill out for a bit. We bumped into some guys in the hostel who we'd shared a taxi with to the airport in Vietnam - random I know - and our fist night we BBQ'd with them before heading into town for a few to many drinks. The second day was spent recovering before wondering down to some natural hot springs near our hostel and sitting in bath temperature water in the rain!! The river was nearby and you could swim from the hot spring about one meter out in the river where the water was icy cold. It was very good, so pretty and best of all free!

In the Taupo hot springs.

Our final stop heading South in New Zealand was Wellington. Here we stayed for eight days with Caroline, a girl we'd met in Korea, and had loads of fun getting pissed, driving around some of the beautiful countryside and discovering New Zealand's wine tasting regions. Unfortunately the weather was rubbish for much of the time we were there and we really did have most of our fun in bars. But Wellington is definitely somewhere I'd love to go back to - maybe in the height of summer though!

We travelled back to Auckland from Wellington, spent one night and hired a car to drive to the Bay of Islands and far north. We got up early and set off in the morning stopping off first for a Scarecrow festival at a placed called Warkworth. The festival was really good with some very random looking scarecrows my favourites were BO Peep and the Gruffalo.

Bo Peep.

The Gruffalo.

We continued driving to Whangarei where we stopped and stretched our legs walking around some waterfalls before heading to get some lunch. It proved harder than anticipated and after driving for a couple of hours along a windy road we eventually came to a small village with a bakery where we grabbed a sandwich and sat in the park eating it.

Whangarei waterfall.

From the we carried onto through picturesque countryside past beautiful bays and deep blue sea to the Bay of Islands and Paihia. We stayed here for the night before heading out early the next morning on a mission for the far North. We stopped first at the Kerikeri Mission house where the oldest stone and wooden buildings in New Zealand stand - although they were only built in the 1800s. It coast money to get in and didn't look desperately interesting so we had a look around the outside and took some picture before continuing on our journey.

Our next stop was the Ancient Kauri Kingdom where they make things out of 50,000 year old Kauri trees. The trees are huge. We attempted to find a Kauri forests earlier in the day but the road had became in passable and we'd had to give up. Inside the shop they had a tree that they'd made a spiral staircase inside - as I said huge!

Kat inside a Kuri tree.

We continued driving until we came to Te Paki and New Zealand's massive sand dunes. They didn't spread as far as the ones in Mui Ne (Vietnam) but were much taller. Kat elected to stay in the car as Emily and I walked up them in strong winds our legs being painfully whipped by grains of sand.

The sand dunes.

Our last stop of the day was the almost the most Northerly point in New Zealand, Cape Reinga. Apparently this is usually busy but we were there late in the day and there was no-one around. It was very pretty and incredibly peaceful, just what we needed to end our sight seeing around New Zealand.

Cape Reinga.

The lighthouse at Cape Reinga.

Cape Reinga.

From there we began the mammoth eight hour drive back to Auckland Airport to fly back to Australia early the next morning. Which is where I sit now writing this.

Hopefully later today or tomorrow I'll get chance to update all my travels in Sydney and Cairns.

Loads more photos of our travells around New Zealand can be foud here. This includes photos of our boat trip across lake Taupo to see some Maori rock art and the fantastic traditional Maori performace we watched in Rotorua.

Some catching up to do

Reading this blog you would be forgiven for thinking that I have recently left Vietnam, well you would be wrong! I have in fact spent the last three weeks in New Zealand and before that two weeks in Australia. I am however very far behind with the blog. I've been having far too much fun and not enough time to sit and write about the fun I've been having.

I do hope that one day I will get this up to date but for now please bare with me. Hopefully in the near future a few posts on New Zealand will appear - an amazing country by the way -and somewhere I would seriously consider living at some point in the future. New Zealand's landscape is incredibly diverse, all of it beautiful and apparently I haven't even see the best bits yet; plus the people are incredibly friendly and people seen to smile a lot despite the rain!

More coming soon - promise!

Mystical wonderland

A light mist rose off the water enveloping the lower ridges of the limestone outcrops littering the ocean in front of me. The junk boat rocked gently in the water its large sails flapping in the light breeze whilst the sun rose in the distance. Similar boats were anchored in the bay all around me and the smell of breakfast cooking wafted into my cabin. I'd just woken up aboard a junk boat floating in the beautiful rocky expanse of Ha Long Bay off the East cost of Vietnam. All that was missing was Johnny Depp swinging from the rafters of the boat a la Pirates of the Caribbean!

We'd arrived on the three star junk boat the previous day and were pleased to see it was the only one in the harbour with its spectacular sails blowing in the wind. Our day had been spent sailing around the bay taking in the views and contemplating the stillness and peacefulness of our surroundings.

Upon hearing numerous horror stories of people being ripped off on trips to Ha Long bay we decided to pay a little extra opting for a three star cruise. We been picked up and driven to the harbour then transferred to our boat - one of the nicest in the bay. Here our guide had introduced himself and assigned simple but comfortable air-conditioned rooms.

Once we'd settled into our room we made our way back to the dining room for a delicious lunch of about 10 different Vietnamese dishes. We were treated to steamed prawns, noodles, rice, squid, fish, chicken and pork all cooked beautifully in different sauces.

After lunch we began the afternoon clad in bikinis soaking up the sun laid on the sunbeds on the top deck of the boat. As the boat gently cruised through the bay we read, relaxed and drank in the beautiful views.

Relaxing on the boat.

After about an hour we were dropped off at the Sung Sot (or amazing) cave. This was a large spiraling cave system. Inside huge stalagmites and stalactites hung and grew all around us. Some parts of the cave were prettily lit with pinks, blues and yellows, whilst others were darker looking like a moonscape or a setting from Doctor Who.

Inside the caves.

Coming out of the caves on a high level offered a fantastic view over the bay and of our boat sailing in to pick us up with its sails billowing in the wind. We reboarded the boat for five minutes then were taken to a place for a spot of afternoon kayaking.

Being three of us one had to share a boat with Tom, our guide. That one was me, a smart move as he was possibly stronger than Kat and Emily put together, meaning I could do less work and spend more time enjoying the surroundings - or so I thought. The Tom helped everyone into their canoes then we set off, but being the guide he had to make up lost ground and get to our destination before everyone else. I soon found myself paddling like crazy overtaking all those gently floating along enjoying the bay - at least I was getting a good work out.

We paddled past the limestone rising high above us out of the water, then rounded a corner where a tunnel through the cliffs could be seen. We headed straight through the tunnel and into a bay called Luon. The bay could only be reached by paddle boat and was incredibly quiet. All around us tall cliffs of limestone rose upwards covered in green shrubbery and undergrowth. The only sounds were the mummer of people talking, the odd splash as someone manoeuvred their canoe and the seccors (I have no idea how to spell this - answers on a postcard) letting off their now familiar wining buzz.

We floated peacefully inside the bay for 15 minutes before it was time for Tom and I to race back to the boat making sure we were the first there so he could help everyone out of their canoes. He tried to make this into a game pretending he was racing Kat and Emily but they would attempt to race us for about three minutes then give up as we paddled off into the distance!

Once everyone was back aboard the boat sailed for 15 minutes before stopping a little way off a crowded beach for swimming. Those brave enough piled onto the second deck of the boat where there was a jumping platform. It was about 10 foot into the water, daunting for most people but Kat, Emily and I just launched ourselves off the deck into the water invitingly cool water. The water was really nice but had an incredibly strong current. It was like swimming on a treadmill, you could swim gently for ages but not make any headway against the current and if you stopped swimming the water carried you quickly away from the boat.

After working up an appetite attempting to swim against the current we showered and went for dinner. Dinner was as good as lunch with lots of yummy food to choose from. Later we sat on deck looking at the stars contemplating the beauty of our surrounding and realising that we go through so much of life not noticing the beautiful things that are right in front of us.

That night I was rocked to sleep by the gentle swaying of the boat in the water.

I had written about day two and three in Ha Long Bay but the computer just crashed and lost it all. So I'm sure you get the impression - it was beautiful if you ever go to Vietnam it is a must on you to do list. From me for now its over and out until the next time.

Some beautiful pictures taken over the three days.

Hanoi etc....

I'm am now in a desperate rush to catch up on blogging before I get too far behind to ever get up to date. So the next few posts are going to be very condensed versions of my travels so far.

We arrived in Hanoi tired but for once having slept on the bus. We found ourselves somewhere to stay and passed out for the morning before getting up and going to the Museum of Ethnology.

Hanoi was different to other places in Vietnam. The whole city was full of very small narrow streets making the incessant traffic even worse as they had smaller spaces to squeeze through. Pavements were non-existent and you spent the whole time dodging bikes and pedestrians that seemed to come at you from all directions.

By the time we reached Hanoi we were at the end of our Asian adventure and ready to get to a country where we could be understood and didn't feel like we had to watch our bags constantly. Had we arrived in Hanoi at the beginning of our adventure we would probably have developed a different opinion but as it was I didn't desperately enjoy it.

Our fist afternoon was spent at the Museum of Ethnology. This was one of the best museums I'd been to during my travels. It was well laid out, followed a logical path and loads of information was provided on the exhibits. I spent a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon wondering around learning about the ethnology's of different groups of Vietnamese people. Although to be completely honest most of the knowledge I gained had now seeped from my brain and been replaced with stuff much less interesting!

Our fist full day in Hanoi was spent at the Temple of Literature. Three Israelis we'd met during breakfast joined us, we think because they didn't have a map and couldn't be bothered coming up with something to do themselves. They just seemed to be happy to follow us and do whatever we were doing!

The Temple of Literature is Vietnam's principle Confucius sanctuary and is its historical centre of learning. The temple is also one of the few remnants of the Ly kings original city.

The main gate lead us into a peaceful garden modeled on Confucius's' birth place in China. We passed through two peaceful courtyards full of trimmed lawns and large trees before coming to the Han Cac gateway. This gateway was built in 1885, it has a double roof and its wooden upper story is said to be decorated with four radiating suns - although I failed to see them! As I passed through the gate directly in front of me was a large green pond known as the Well of Heavenly Clarity! Around the sides of this courtyard were the temples most valuable relics - 82 stone steale mounted on tortoises. These steale contain the exam results and bibliographical details of some of the students state examinations held between 1442 and 1779. The eldest two tablets are in the middle, the Americans helpfully built stone coverings to protect them from the elements. Many of the tablets were weather beaten and decidedly worn away in places with much of the ancient writing missing. It was a very strange sight, a courtyard full of giant public school reports!

From here we passed through the Gate of Great Success and entered the main temple buildings. Two pavilions on either side of a courtyard once contained alters dedicated to the 72 disciples of Confucius. These buildings now house gift shops and refreshments along with admin offices.

The temples ceremonial hall stands at the end of the courtyard. In this building the king and his mandarins would make sacrifices before the alter of Confucius. With a gift shop in one end of the building it was very hard to imagine the building as it once looked.

Directly behind the ceremonial hall was the temple sanctuary. At one time this would have been forbidden to even the king. In there Confucius sits with his four principle disciples. I found this room dark and not really worthy of the reverence it attracts. Although I guess if you hold Confucius in high regard even a statue of him is worth seeing.

The fifth and final courtyard houses the national academy. I would really like to have seen this but we couldn't find a way in so assumed it had been closed to the public, but whilst walking around the outside of the grounds we saw people in there. I guess we just missed the way in.

After the Temple of Literature we grabbed a bite to eat then went to the Vietnamese Fine Art Museum. This should have been a lot more interesting than it was, bar a really good photograph exhibition as we went in the rest of it was a bit boring. I think this is partly because we were museum and art galleried out and just couldn't be bothered to read any more information and attempt unsuccessfully to take it in. I wondered around in a daze wishing I was paying more attention than I was. Then we left and went back to our hotel for dinner and bed.

Luckily we were going to get away from it tomorrow with three days cruising around Ha Long Bay.

Cruising the perfume river

A trip that came highly recommend proved to be one of the better days out despite seeing yet more pagodas – as if we hadn’t seen enough already!

The trip saw us boarding a dragon boat and spending the day cruising along the perfume river visiting pagodas and mausoleums.

The trip got off to a rocky start when the boat girl came around with the lunch menu and all dishes cost 40,000VND – more than we’d paid for the trip - plus lunch was supposed to be included. When challenged she said lunch was included but all we got was rice and peas. Along with most of the rest of the group we refused to pay extra and opted for rice and peas!

After 20 minutes cruising through scenery we could barley see because we’d been told off for sitting outside the covered part of the boat – apparently the police would see – we arrived at our first stop the Thien Mu Pagoda.

The pretty seven tier brick stupa was built by Emperor Thieu Tri in the 1840s on the site of an ancient Cham temple. Each tier of the stupa is said to represent one of Buddha’s incarnations on earth.

The Thien Mu Pagoda.

Legend has it that in 1601 Lord Naguyen Hoang left Hanoi to govern the Southern territories. After arriving at the perfume river he met an old lady who told him to walk east along the river carrying a burning incense stick and to build his city where the incense stopped burning. Later Lord Hoang erected a pagoda in gratitude to the lady who he believed to be a messenger from the gods.

The Pagoda was pretty but there were people everywhere making it hard to get a good look at anything. Either side of the pagoda there was a pavilion on one side the pavilion housed a bell and the other housed a large stile erected in 1715 to record the history of Buddhism in Hue.

Behind the Pagoda was some pretty gardens a worship hall, a building under restoration and a number of monks cutting the grass. It was very pleasant walking around with the smell of freshly cut grass all around.

Passing through a gateway beside the pagoda a large group of people were gathered around an old Austin car. Getting closer I discovered this car once belonged to Thich Quang Duc. Thich Quang Duc became instantly famous after driving to Saigon, in the car that stood in front of me, parking up, sitting in the lotus position, dousing himself in petrol and setting himself alight. The act of self mutilation was in protest at the excesses of President Diem’s regime.

The infamous car.

At the time of Thich Quang Duc self mutilation Thien Mu was already renowned as a centre of Buddhist opposition to colonialism. Today it continues to be know as a focus for Buddhist protest against repression and is a sore spot for the Vietnamese government.

After cursing further down the river our next stop of the day was Tu Duc’s mausoleum. We were dropped off a fair distance from the entrance and told to get bikes there. Luckily everyone on the boat was as stubborn as us and refused to pay the bike drivers choosing instead to walk the distance. The walk was very pleasant passing many street stalls where people were making incense and conical hats.

As we entered the 12 hectare walled garden housing the mausoleum to our left was a pretty lake covered with lotus leaves. This mausoleum only took three years to build allowing Tu Duc sixteen years livening in the beautiful surroundings before he died. Tu Duc was a romantic poet and the longest ruling of the Nguyen monarchs despite being known as a weak ruler who preferred to hide from the world among the gardens he created. He lived a life of luxury enjoying 80 course meals, had 104 wives and a whole village of concubines – though, possibly due to a bout of small pox, he didn’t have any children.

The first building we entered was the main temple, Hoa Khiem, which Tu Duc used as an office during his lifetime. Today this is the building where the funery tablets are housed. The building was nice but nowhere near as pretty as the gardens surrounding it.

From here we rushed to the Emperors tomb but only managed to catch the briefest glimpse before we’d gone 10 minutes over our allotted time and still had a 20 minute walk back to the boat!

We arrived back at the boat the find lunch laid out for us. We were surprised to find a lot more than rice and peas offered for free and we ate as we cruised leisurely down the river to our next stop.

The next stop was the mausoleum of Minh Mang. The mausoleum was pretty and we enjoyed walking around but by then I really was buildinged out and most of it passed me by in a haze of pretty rooms, furniture and gardens.

The guidebook offered this gem of information that I felt I should share:

Ming Mang fathered 142 children with his 33 wives and 107 concubines.

We got back to the boat and were taken to another mausoleum, this was too far from the river to walk so rather than taking a bike we decided to go for a beer with the two Aussie guys we’d been chatting to all day. This was the final stop of the tour and from here we cruised back to Hue watching people returning from a festival up river sailing past us still in party mode putting floating candles into the water and making offerings of paper money to the gods.

That evening we had another night bus journey this time to our final stop Hanoi. Thankfully this one was a lot more comfortable than the last!

The Vietnamese DMZ

Another day trip – another sight: this time the Vietnamese DMZ - A 10 kilometer wide area where 10,000 tones of bombs were dropped per square kilometer of land during a violent and horrific war.

Our first stop of the day was Dong Ha a town used as a former US marine command post. The town was obliterated in 1962 but has managed to bounce back. The itinerary for the day made it sound as though we’d actually see some of the town, but in reality we stopped for a quick breakfast before being ushered back onto the bus to begin our tour of the surrounding area.

We drove for a while before stooping on the side of the road at Doc Mieu where amongst the undergrowth the last American tank could be seen. We got off the bus for a better look but in reality it was exactly what it looked like from the window, a very old burnt out tank of very little interest to anyone who wasn’t a war or military buff.

The tank was close to the original demarcation line. The Doc Mieu American military base had been set up on a hill to give them a good view across the demarcation line into the North of Vietnam.

Driving on from Doc Mieu we passed couple of monuments for those who had lost their lives during the war. Shortly after passing the monuments we crossed Hien Luong Bridge and stopped to take some pictures. There is currently a traffic bridge directly beside the old disused Hien Luong Bridge. The disused bridge is different from the original that was destroyed in 1967. The original bridge was painted half red half yellow as a vivid reminder that it was the physical and ideological boundary between the two Vietnams. The present iron bridge was constructed in 1973 and opened in 1975 as a symbol of reunification.

 

Beside the bridge on the North side is a large flag pole flying the Vietnamese flag. When the country was divided there was another pole on the South side and the two countries would continually attempt to fly bigger and bigger flags from their respective fag poles - a feud not unlike the one that currently exists between North and South Korea.

Moving on from the DMZ we visited the Vinh Moc tunnels, a system of tunnels that supported the living needs of 350 people for five years during the war. The tunnels are 2030 meters long and took one a half years to dig by hand over three different levels.

Our visit took us along the second level of the tunnels 15 meters below ground and the third level 23 meters below ground. The tunnels, dug out of red mud, were lit although still pretty dark and I’d image they didn’t have electricity during the war. Inside they were much taller than the tunnels at Cu Chi had been and I was able to stand upright all the way along. We followed our guide closely so as not to make a wrong turn and loose the rest of the group. She pointed out some very small dug outs in the tunnels that served as living quarters for a family of four, the tunnels were equipped with bathroom, a school room cum meeting room cum social area it even had a maternity ward where 28 babies were born.

A mock up of the maternity room.

The living space for a family of four.

From the Vinh Moc tunnels we returned to Dong Ha for lunch before rounding off the day at a war museum.

On the way to the museum we passed the rock pile so named by the Americans. This area had been heavily bombed during the war using agent orange and much of the shrubbery growing was very young because the soil has only recently recovered enough to support life. It not just the soil that suffered the effects of the weapons, adults being exposed to the chemical has resulted in their children being born with some awful deformities. It awful to think such hideous weapons were used against defenseless people.

More information on Agent Orange can be found here.

The war museum documented the battle of Khe Sanh. According the Vietnam Rough Guide this battle: “Demonstrated the futility of the Americans efforts to contain their enemy.” The museum was fine for a wonder around looking at pictures and gleaning some information about a small part of an awful. As usual it was full of anti American propaganda.

From there we were taken back to Hue where I accidentally deleted all my pictures from my USB stick and spent the evening sat on the computer recovering them whilst Kat and Emily went out for a nice dinner!

Hue - Imperial City

The next stop on our journey up the coast of Vietnam was Hue. Hue is a small peaceful city that in the early nineteenth century was the capital of Vietnam. By some it is considered highbrow its scholarly influence coming from the five universities within the city.

It was defiantly the one of the nicer places we visited in Vietnam, less busy than other places meaning we were hassled less. We even managed to sit down for a meal without anyone approaching our table trying to sell us something.

Our first day in Hue we visited the Citadel and the Imperial city, walking across the city in the sweltering heat to find it.

We entered the Imperial city through the Ngo Mon Gate which was built by Emperor Ming Mang in 1833. The impressive gate is described in the guidebook as a: “Considered masterpiece of Nguyen architecture.” It has five separate entrances – the emperor used the large central entrance paved with stone. Two entrances on either side were for the civil and military mandarins, whilst another pair of giant openings on either side of the main gate allowed access for the royal elephants.

On top of the gate is an elegant pavilion called the Five Phoenix Watch house, its nine rooves are said to resemble five birds in flight when viewed from above. Discovering this I wondered how many people back in 1933 would have been able to view this from above?

From the gate we meandered slowly over the moat filled with water lilies to Thai Hoa palace. Before arriving at the entrance to the palace we passed a pair of Kylin – according to the guidebook these are mythical dew drinking animals that are harbingers of peace. These creatures resembles a cross between a dragon and a lion but were much smaller than the guidebook made out.

Thai Hoa palace is said to be the most spectacular of Hue’s palaces. Inside its red and gold lacquered columns were impressive despite being worn away from years of people running their hands over them. The amount of wear was surprising considering they were replaced in the early 90s after termites got the better of the old columns.

Thai Hoa place was one of the most important of Hue’s palaces as it was the thrown room and place where the major ceremonies took place. The emperor would sit atop his thrown on a raised dais wearing a gold tunic and crown decorated with nine dragons. From his thrown he faced South across the Esplanade of Great Salutation – his view looked down to the Ngo Mon gate.

Other than the thrown and the pretty lacquer work there wasn’t much more to see in the palace and we made our way to the Forbidden Purple City. This was the third and final enclosure of the imperial city and would have been reserved for palaces, the residence of the state doctor, the nine ranks of the royal concubines, kitchens and pleasure pavilions. Many of the buildings inside the Forbidden Purple City were destroyed in a fire in 1947. We passed by the restored right house and left house, which actually stand to your opposite side as you enter (they were named based on the emperors perspective), and now house gift shops. From there we passed into what once would have been the heart of the city, but very little remained. We were met with the sight of a grassy expanse dotted with the remains of ruined buildings.

It was a sweltering day so we decided not to investigate the ruins and instead left the Imperial City. Outside we got on a cyclo for a tour around the outside of the Citadel and were dropped off at the market. My driver could speak a little English and making conversation he asked where I was from. I told him England and was met with the usual response of: “Oh, London, Manchester, football, Manchester United!”  The drivers then usually ask if I like football, do I support Manchester United, to which we have become accustomed to just saying yes because it’s easier. But this driver asked a different more unexpected question: “How long does it take to drive from England to America?!” Clearly he needs to work on his geography!

We walked briefly around the market which was similar to many of the markets we’ve visited in Asia then wondered back to the hotel had dinner and retired for the day.