Selemat Pagi Indonesia!

After a day in transit at Singapore airport we arrived in Bali. I was really excited to be here as I was keen to check out some Gamelan music. I was really excited about our trip out the to the Gili islands as I have always wanted to go there. We had a Bintang beer on our balcony the first night in Bali and enjoyed a wander around the streets. Accommodation in Bali can be really cheap if you're not too fussy and usually includes breakfast so that helped us to keep the costs down. The next day we made our way to Padang Bai and took the local slow ferry out to Lombok during the crossing we saw a beautiful sunset. We arrived in Lombok late at night but we still managed to arrange a taxi up to Sengiggi. The next day we went to the beach in Sengiggi which was beautiful, the snorkelling was fun but the current was really strong so we didn't make it out to the reef just off the beach. We went for sunset beers and enjoyed some local food for dinner.

The next day we travelled up to Bangsal and took the local ferry over to Gili islands. The word Giili means island or islet in Bahasa Indonesian, this is a generic language spoken throughout Indonesia although there are many other local languages spoken you can get by with Bahasa. There are three Gili islands just of the northwest tip of Lombok, surrounded by reefs and beautiful turquoise seas they are a real Robinson Crusoe experience.

We headed to Air first and we were taken to beach bungalows by a cidomo (Horse drawn transport) as there are not motorised vehicles on the Gilis. The views were stunning and the beaches were beautiful. The snorkelling was incredible and I was fortunate enough to have an amazing birthday here, the hottest birthday I think I will ever have as it was in the high thirties early forties! We had a great day blowing the budget and enjoying cocktails and ended up singing along with the locals after our meal too! We walked around the island and generally enjoyed a slow pace of life sunbaking, eating the local food and fish.

The next stop was Gili Trawangan which is known as the party island, we spent about a week here partying, sunbaking, snorkelling and meeting great people. We went to check out the Turtle conservation places on the island but unfortunately we were too early to release any turtles, we did see some turtles that had hatched the day before my birthday. We hired bicycles and rode around the island and enjoyed soaking up the gorgeous scenery.

After a week of hanging out here we moved to Gili Meno which is the quietest island of the three. This was our favourite beach as there were trees to shelter from the midday sun, there was a really nice pineapple lady that we would buy fresh pineapple from and the snorkelling was the best here. We finally managed to see a couple of turtles and our last trip out was cut short as we saw the biggest Barracuda; it was about half the size of a leg! We ate most nights at a great little Warung (restaurant) called Ya Ya the guys there were really friendly and it was by far the best Nasi Goreng (fried rice) we had in Indonesia. We reluctantly left the islands and made our way back over to Bali. We spent a night in Padang Bai; we went to see the Black beach and enjoyed some local market food.

We were keen to get to Ubud as it has a lot of Balinese culture on offer so we left Padang Bai after one night. We arrived in Ubud mid morning and headed to the tourist information centre, this was really helpful. We asked if there were any ceremonies happening and the very helpful man pointed us in the direction of a cremation parade/ceremony. This was by far the most elaborate and energetic ceremony I have ever seen, the Gamelan groups that were a part of the ceremony were fascinating to watch and listen to. I was so pleased that we had seen this. We followed the procession along the streets to the Monkey Forest; this was where the cemetery and final part of the ritual took place. We left the ceremony there and went to have a wander around the town. We found out a few days later that the ceremony we had witnessed only happens once every five years, how lucky were we! Later in the afternoon we went to the Monkey Forest, wandered through the temples and watched the monkeys interacting with each other and the tourists that were feeding them. That night we went to the old Ubud Palace (Sareng Agung) to watch a traditional dance and gamelan performance. The setting for the performance was incredible as it was in the open air old palace court yard. Before the performance the 'stage' was lit by candles and decorated with flowers. The dance depicted a story involving Balinese gods and godesses which was easy to follow with the programme notes. I was completely bewitched by the dancing and I really enjoyed the Gamelan music. It was really nice to hear some live Gamelan music; the entire experience was really special. After a busy day enjoying Balinese culture we went for a beer and enjoyed a live cover band.

The next day we travelled to Kuta for a few days partying at the beach resort. There were many schoolies there and for those of you who have not yet encountered schoolies they are Aussie school leavers who go away to celebrate finishing school. We felt quite old when we went out but we didn't let that stop us! It was a real treat to have late night KFC and Macca's -although we did regret it after! We went to the Kuta night food market and ate at a small family restaurant that a father had passed on to his son; it was really cheap and delicious. Ryan was really excited during our stay in Kuta as we were on the countdown to our trip to Australia......

Apologies for not uploading photos for the last three blogs, I am on a time limit in the Geelong Library (which is running out quickly)!

Thailand the sequel; Bangkok

We arrived in Bangkok in the early hours of the morning and took a cab to our hotel on Khao San Road; apparently our taxi driver was falling asleep on the way -eek! We made it safe and sound. Ryan was particularly excited to be in Bangkok as we were off to see the Socceroos and I was excited as we were off to see my friend Pippa for a day of home comforts at her flat in Bangkok. We tried to go to the stadium to get our tickets but it was Sunday and the ticket booths were closed. We went to Tesco Lotus and headed round to Pippa's. Pippa made delicious Lasagne and Garlic Ciabatta for lunch and spoilt us with some yummy Lychee cakes! I went to visit her school and enjoyed seeing where Pippa worked and lived.  We went for a beer by the river side and decided to go for a curry at Pippa's favourite place for dinner. Absolutely delicious! We had a great time and were pleased that we would see Pippa again at the Footie. The next day we went to visit the Grand Palace and although this was spectacular it was no Buckingham Palace! That evening we met up with my friend from home Scott and his girlfriend Yam. We had loads of beers and ended up a very messy evening with street Pad Thai for dinner. We learnt a few useful phrases in Thai that Ryan practiced that night on everyone, this was very funny! The next day we spent the morning completing our Christmas shopping and then went to the post office to send our gifts to England. We then got changed into our Aussie shirts and made our way to the stadium. We met Pippa there and enjoyed a meal of street fish cakes and other random stuff, all delicious. The atmosphere within the grounds was amazing and the Thai supporters were in high spirits (fuelled by Chang beers). The match was a world cup qualifier that Thailand needed to win to stay in and Australia needed at least a draw to qualify. There were quite a few spectacular dives and some interesting decisions and the Thai side spent a lot of time on the turf Christiano Ronaldo style. Jing Lor!!! This made Pippa change sides and support Australia! Finally after 78 minutes of drama and near misses Brett Holman scored the first goal. The green and gold army went bonkers and it was such fun to join in! That was the highlight of the match and after a few great saves from Mark Schwarzer the Aussies had their win. I felt bad for Thai supporters as this was the end of their 2014 world cup campaign. At the end of the match some of the Socceroos came over to the Aussie fans and Luke Wilkshire and Neil Kilkenny threw their boots to the fans -we didn't catch them. Then Schwarzer threw his gloves into the crowd. After the game we ended up waiting at the players exit and Ryan met; Mark Schwarzer, Brett Holman, Bret Emerton. Holman is much prettier in real life and Schwarzer was the nicest and is actually a giant. Because of a weird camera setting I took poor photos and was in the dog house for a bit (sad times). We said our goodbyes to Pippa for a while (not too long we hope) and made our way to get sorted to leave early the next morning. I really enjoyed Thailand and I am really looking forward to the next visit there.

Photos to come soon...

Viet Nam; South to North in three weeks

Viet Nam is actually two words but they have been joined into one word in the west.  Viet means the people and Nam means the South, so Viet people living in the south. We had heard great things and were really excited for the next part of our trip.

We took the coach from Phnom Penh to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) this was by far the nicest coach we had travelled on we were given complimentary water and a movie was shown for the journey! We arrived in HCMC late afternoon and wandered around the small laneways looking for a place to stay. The first thing we needed to do was to check out bia hoi, a local draught beer served to customers sat on small plastic chairs and tables in the street.  It cost us 10,000 dong at the first place and the people watching was great. The next day we went to see Reunification palace which was the former presidential palace in South Viet Nam, this was an important victory for the Communists whose tanks broke through the gates in 1975 and marks the fall of Saigon. After this we wandered around the city looking at other famous landmarks such as the Notre Dame Cathedral. Crossing the roads in Viet Nam should be an Olympic event!  It is such a challenge! The trick is to keep walking at a consistent pace so that the traffic can pre-empt your movement. If you think about running or stopping chances are you will be hit! My map reading skills are shocking and I had us wandering off the tourist track through the local streets. This resulted in us having to cross a major road which had about 8 lanes of crazy traffic, scary times. I held Ryan's hand and closed my eyes and with the help of a local we made it. That night we found a cheaper bia hoi place for 6,000 dong -such a bargain as it was 33,000 dong to one pound! The next day we went to the Cu Chi Tunnels, about 30km outside of Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon).  The tunnels were a key role in the Viet Cong offensive during the Viet Nam war; a 200km system of tunnels stretching from Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) to the Cambodian border housed the Viet Cong and their families. The tunnels were complex and well thought out including rooms for sleeping, cooking, making weapons, making shoes and clothing, medical rooms, air holes disguised like termite mounds and well systems for water.  Not forgetting the essential escape routes out to the river if the tunnels were breached.  We enjoyed crawling through the tunnels, having a look at the home made bamboo weapons, eating tapioca and drinking tunnel tea.  We also had the opportunity to fire guns, we paid for the bullets and fired an M30 and I think a K74. It was fun, although I never want to fire a gun again as it was a bit scary.  Walking around the tunnels with to the sound of gun fire added to the atmosphere and helped us to imagine war time there. We met a fab English couple Jay and Louise who were on their honeymoon and we all went to watch the Rugby World Cup Final together (New Zealand vs France), naturally I was cheering for the Kiwi's (Shon has asked me to remind you all that New Zealand won). We had a great evening full of drinks and the tastiest Italian food we had found on the road.

We then went to Mui Ne which is a quiet little backpacker beach spot.  We stayed there for 5 nights, sunbaking, catching up with emails and enjoying the sunsets with Saigon (beer) from the spa. We went to a great seafood restaurant (Bi Bo) there and I got over my fish fear by eating fish made into fresh DIY spring rolls using rice paper, mixed greens and water -yum. The scallops there were my favourite and we went back a couple of times just for them! Ryan took part in the Mui Ne Phat Burger challenge, this was a burger that was pretty much the size of a cake, the challenge was to eat it and the side of chips within 20 minutes to get it for free and as much beer as you could drink. After a few motivational comments from me and a bit of space making belches, Rads completed the challenge within 18 minutes as far as we know is still the current record holder! Shame that Ryan could only manage one free beer after all that!

Our next stop was Nha Trang, we spent a few days on the beach here and on Halloween we took a boat trip out to the smaller islands off the coast. We stopped for snorkelling, sunbaking and a floating bar at Mun Island, Mot Island and Hon Tam Beach. We met some great people and drank far too much; the boat entertainment was pretty special. The best shanty musical instruments I have ever heard! We all met up later that night and continued to drink ourselves silly; I also made a rather drunken birthday call to my uncle -sorry about that! We spent the following day nursing our hangovers at the Mud bath and Hot Springs. Quite simply the best hangover cure ever! We made our way up the coast to Hoi An by an overnight bus, this was not the most comfortable journey.

We arrived in Hoi An at 7am and after a few hours of being messed around by a hotel we found a great place to stay which included free bike hire. We cycled 5km out of town to the beach which was stunning and we enjoyed a day there. Whilst in Hoi An we took a cooking lesson, shopped for a few Christmas pressies in the old town market and found the cheapest bia hoi for 3,000 dong a glass! Hoi An is the capital of tailor made clothes in Viet Nam so there were lots of great fabric shops and tailors everywhere, had we been on a shorter trip or holiday we would have had clothes made for us.

The next day we took the bus further up the coast to Hue, which was the political capital of Viet Nam from 1802 to 1945. We hired bicycles and rode around the town and around the outside of the old Citadel. Quite a few of the roads and streets here were flooded but that didn't stop us from exploring. We managed to catch the Viet Nam vs Myanmar (Burma) football game as part of the South East Asian games, after a few near misses the score finished up 0-0 but the Vietnamese were really animated with their support. We didn't stay very long in Hue as we wanted to get out to Cat Ba island in Halong Bay and to do that we had to get up to Hanoi.

We took another overnight bus up to Hanoi but this time paid the extra dollars to take the Sinh Tourist bus, this was well worth the money and was the best bus we took in Viet Nam. The seats recline on all of the tourist buses so that you can sleep during long journeys, there are a floor level and a raised level and the views on the bus journeys were fab. After a comfortable ride up the coast we arrived in Hanoi around 8am, we took a moto taxi out to the bus station and booked our travel out to Cat Ba Island.  Many guidebooks and internet accounts make it sound impossible to get out to Cat Ba Island but we found it really easy! After a trip on a minibus and a small boat we arrived in Cat Ba Island and began the hunt for a place to stay. We found somewhere and in the room opposite us were another backpacking couple who had been on the same journey out there. We had a chat and then ended up in a great routine of drinkies on our balcony each night with Laura and Damien. We went on a walk around the island to check out the beaches and some of the cliff side walks were spectacular and I instantly fell in love with Halong Bay! We took a boat trip out to Lan Ha Bay and Halong Bay for $18 each and Damien and Laura joined us.  We met Greg and Claire from Melbourne on the boat trip and the six of us were inseparable for the rest of the day.  Swimming in Halong bay was good fun, the stop at Monkey Island was nice, we stopped at the 'surprising cave' and its size and beauty more than lived up to the name. The highlight for me was Kayaking through the caves and quiet lagoons within Halong Bay and enjoying the stunning views. On the return trip to the port the sunset was beautiful and we decided to all meet up for dinner and drinks later. We had a great night together and this was probably fuelled by the two litres of Vodka for two pounds! Our last day in Cat Ba island we wanted to go and see the national park and the Hospital cave as recommended by Greg and Claire.  We hired motorbikes and followed Damien and Laura out along the road.  Our trip was cut short by a small bike crash that left Ryan and I a little worse for wear, especially as we were on a dirt/gravel road. Damien and Laura helped us out as did many Vietnamese people who came to see if we were ok. We went straight to the beach and cleaned ourselves off but this was the end of our exploring for that day. We took it easy for the rest of the day and were grateful that we didn't hit anyone else, that we were wearing helmets and that we didn't break anything. After a final night of hanging out with our new friends we travelled back to Hanoi the next day.

It is worth mentioning that travelling out to and staying for five nights on Cat Ba island to take the Halong Bay trip is cheaper than most of the day trips and is a lot more relaxed! After a few jokes from the mean moto taxis we got a ride into the old town and found the hotel that had been recommended. We found a great bia hoi place and ended up drinking with some locals -who shouted all of our beers. The next day we went into the city to complete our Christmas shopping, we checked out the Ngoc Son Temple on Hoan Kiem Lake which houses a preserved giant tortoise, took a xe-om (a cycle taxi similar to a tuc tuc) around the old city and checked out more bia hoi. We would have liked to have gone to visit Uncle Ho but he was in Russia for yearly maintenance work. We both really enjoyed Viet Nam; the people are really kind and mostly helpful.  The food is delicious especially the Pho (noodle soup), various street foods and spring rolls (Viet Nam is the home of Spring Rolls) and I still can't get over the fact that I could have had 11 draught (bia hoi) beers for one pound.

Photos to be added soon......