Yet more islands

halong7
Originally uploaded by douglasnz.

My feet

halong6
Originally uploaded by douglasnz.

All in all this is the life!

kayaking

halong5
Originally uploaded by douglasnz.

Some of the islands have lagoons inside them only accessible by kayak. Amazing inside as water is still as a mill pond, and so quiet. Just lots of birds singing away, and the sound of Sarah telling me to keep the boat still while she's trying to take the photo.

dragon boat

halong4
Originally uploaded by douglasnz.

View from the Bow of the boat, which was my favorite place to sit.

island trekking

halong3
Originally uploaded by douglasnz.

halong2

halong2
Originally uploaded by douglasnz.

halong bay

halong1
Originally uploaded by douglasnz.

24th of April was my birthday and was spent in beautiful halong bay. We got this great deal for sailing around on a big wooden cruiser, with kayaking trips of around all the little islands, some with beaches, others with little jungle treks.

Had the funniest birthday party, with our tipsy tour guide trying to get german businessmen to sing songs to me for my birthday and to share "nice communications" . Everyone looked terrified as he was really persistent, so I eventually got a round of "When I'm 64" and that seemed to appease him.

This photo of us was taken after a major race to kayak to an island with a pagoda at the top in time for sunset. Hence we both have a fairly healthy glow.

sapa3

sapa3
Originally uploaded by douglasnz.

i know this looks like we've been transported to a cornish village coffee shop but it was actually up in the high mountainous region of north vietnam!! it was called the english dragon and served great fish and chips - very nostalgic!!

sapa2

sapa2
Originally uploaded by douglasnz.

this is a little girl of the H'Mong tribe - they are very persistent little sellers, selling their local wares of embroidered blankets, cushions, bags, and lots of bracelets and earrings.
they were great at english since they had learnt it from the tourists coming through but dont go to school now as selling is now their main priority - its a shame!

trekking in Sapa

sapa1
Originally uploaded by douglasnz.

arrived in hanoi after a very long bus trip overnight and little sleep but still very excited about exploring North Vietnam.
managed to find a bargain bucket hotel to stay in and set about sorting trips around Hanoi.
we took a 3-day trekking tour to Sapa in the northwest, taking a night train and preparing to do the most exercise we've done in weeks.
We had 2 brilliant and full on days of trekking in amazing surroundings - through valleys of terraced paddy fields, small villages of ethnic tribes, over streams and past waterfalls, and clambering up and down steep slopes.
we spent a night at a homestay in a remote little village where supper was cooked on an open fire, no running water there, and a toilet over the stream!! it was awesome to be in such untouched territory and learn more of the local ethnic groups.
we met some fun guys and got sore muscles!!

Maung Ming Temple

Maung Ming Temple
Originally uploaded by douglasnz.

Hue temple

Hue temple
Originally uploaded by douglasnz.

Dragon Steps

Dragon Steps
Originally uploaded by douglasnz.

So now on to Hue, this was for a while the capital of Vietnam and during this time the Kings built palaces and temples for themselves. Most can be seen by taking a river trip and stopping off along the way to explore.

Really cool to look around with a far more oriental feel than the temples we saw in Cambodia.

wheeler dealer

wheeler dealer
Originally uploaded by douglasnz.

With endless smiles and "Such lovely skin" Sarah relents and buys

tailors

tailors
Originally uploaded by douglasnz.

Hoi An

Hoi An
Originally uploaded by douglasnz.

Next on to Hoi An, a beautiful little town filled with a mixture of French and Vietnamese style architecture. It is also full of tailors who will create pretty much whatever you want (to varying degrees of accuracy). We both had some things made and were very pleased. The town also had loads of art galleries, restaurants and crockery shops. Despite this it still managed to feel laid back and quaint.

floating bar

floating bar
Originally uploaded by douglasnz.

Well here we are in Na Trang - big big beach resort in Vietnam and very, very busy. Thanks to Jim Turner we knew what to do though.... a boat trip. The coast off Na Trang has lots of little islands and the boat trips will take you around a few. They will also play music, supply floating bars, sing songs for you, cook a massive lunch and generally dance the day away. Brilliant day, great fun due to a truely fun crew.

samd dunes 2

samd dunes 2
Originally uploaded by douglasnz.

sand dunes

sand dunes
Originally uploaded by douglasnz.

spent a few days chilling out at a small beach resort, Mui Ne, on the east vietnamese coast. spent lots of time doing nothing! and hired a moped for the day to explore the fishing port, market, sand dunes and red canyon in Mui Ne. The dunes were massive - had lots of fun sliding down and jumping off!!

mekong trip2

mekong trip2
Originally uploaded by douglasnz.

mekong trip

mekong trip
Originally uploaded by douglasnz.

Had a quick two day trip down into the Mekong Delta (despite photo lots of time spent on bus). Very cool, when on the boats, massively fertile land so loads and loads of fruit and flowers everywhere.

saigon traffic

saigon traffic
Originally uploaded by douglasnz.

Well, here we are now in Ho Chi Minh city (Saigon). Took a bus from Cambodia which brought us into this city with the most incredible traffic. One would think that the city consisted off tens of thousands of suicidal Vietnamese on mopeds.

There are no apparent road rules other than small gives way to big! There is no stopping for pedestrians crossing the road either; so to cross you have to walk very slowly out into it and they all wizz around you. No sudden moves that can't be guessed by the drivers or you end up as road kill.

So a really buzzing city, more great food on the street corners, old men and women doing aerobics in the park, and karaoke. Had to try it, but instead of being put in with all locals we got put in a room full of Aussies! Probably more fun in the long run.

tomb raider

sarah roots
Originally uploaded by douglasnz.

worse than everest?

sarah climbs
Originally uploaded by douglasnz.

rob + monks

rob + monks
Originally uploaded by douglasnz.

bicycles

bicycles
Originally uploaded by douglasnz.

One of many attempted photos of us both whilst cycling around angkor wat. note the face of concentration.

angkor wat

angkor wat
Originally uploaded by douglasnz.

here we are in the ancient world of the temples!! we've been in Cambodia for a week now and spent 3 days exploring these awesome temples almost 1000 yrs old!! we hired a local guide on the first day to give us some history of the place and had a bike adventure the following day where we explored some of the more far-flung temples that are less frequented. felt like we were in a movie set most of the time - ready to run through temple doors to avoid the large rolling boulder!!
we've spent the last couple of days in a great lakeside guesthouse in Phnom Penh. the traffic is like a chaotic dance with mopeds weaving in and out of each other trying to cross at least 3 lanes of oncoming traffic. Had sobering day looking at the genocide museum and the killing fields from the Pol Pot regime.

next stop - vietnam