Wednesday, February 23, 2005
just a yellow lemon tree
pete and i arrived in hanoi and immediately booked not 1, but 2 package tours (will we ever learn?). we had intended to shop around at a few different tour offices, but one look at the glossy colour brochure in the first company we went into and we were sold. Luckily the risk paid off (sorry no tales of pete losing it on ill-planned group tours from hell.).
tour 1 (just completed) was 2 days of kayaking on ha long bay. we were treated to our very own private island with beach and 3 staff (a la Richard Branson) and all the equipment was imported from canada's infamous mountain equipment co-op (Bryan would have been proud!). pete took to paddling so enthusiastically that I didn't have to do any work at all on the second day... unfortunately his steering was less than accurate and we kept ramming our guide, Phu's boat.
tour 2 (departing this evening) is 3 days hiking and homestays amongst some ethnic minority groups. the last time we did homestays was the mongolian incident - so we are approaching the tour with caution.
in between these 2 completely out of character (at least for me) bouts of outdoorsyness we have been shopping in the french quarter of hanoi. so far we have bought enough plates, bowls, platters and chopsticks for a vietnamese themed dinner party for 10! you have been warned!
tour 1 (just completed) was 2 days of kayaking on ha long bay. we were treated to our very own private island with beach and 3 staff (a la Richard Branson) and all the equipment was imported from canada's infamous mountain equipment co-op (Bryan would have been proud!). pete took to paddling so enthusiastically that I didn't have to do any work at all on the second day... unfortunately his steering was less than accurate and we kept ramming our guide, Phu's boat.
tour 2 (departing this evening) is 3 days hiking and homestays amongst some ethnic minority groups. the last time we did homestays was the mongolian incident - so we are approaching the tour with caution.
in between these 2 completely out of character (at least for me) bouts of outdoorsyness we have been shopping in the french quarter of hanoi. so far we have bought enough plates, bowls, platters and chopsticks for a vietnamese themed dinner party for 10! you have been warned!
when the seagulls follow the trawler
So, onward we sail to Hue, the old Imperial capital of Vietnam no less.
Our journey there was enlivened, to say the least, by the behaviour of the French guy sitting in front of us. Most people noticed when the bus driver tried to overtake a slow moving truck on a bend. And everyone noticed when he did it a second time. Our French friend decided that action was required. Leaping from his seat he ran down the aisle and shouted at the driver to be more careful. Clearly this didn't have much effect, as minutes later we tried to pull out on another blind bend. This time the French guy really lost it. He launched back down the aisle and on reaching the driver, aimed a karate kick at his head. Now, I'll readily admit to not being the most patient of people with the locals at times, but this was taking things to an extreme somewhat.
There followed a rather bizzare stand off while the French guy calmed down and the driver looked rather bemused by it all. Needless to say it didn't make the slightest bit of differnce and we still drove the whole way in ridiculous kamikaze mode.
Hue - apparently the food capital of Vietnam. In between dodging the first rain we'd seen since the start of November, we put this to the test. Sadly our restaurant, 'the most interesting place in town', proved to be hugely disappointing. Staffed by a deaf mute family and with walls covered with traveller graffiti proclaiming it the best food anyone had ever tasted, our meal was bordering on the inedible.
And that was that.
Our journey there was enlivened, to say the least, by the behaviour of the French guy sitting in front of us. Most people noticed when the bus driver tried to overtake a slow moving truck on a bend. And everyone noticed when he did it a second time. Our French friend decided that action was required. Leaping from his seat he ran down the aisle and shouted at the driver to be more careful. Clearly this didn't have much effect, as minutes later we tried to pull out on another blind bend. This time the French guy really lost it. He launched back down the aisle and on reaching the driver, aimed a karate kick at his head. Now, I'll readily admit to not being the most patient of people with the locals at times, but this was taking things to an extreme somewhat.
There followed a rather bizzare stand off while the French guy calmed down and the driver looked rather bemused by it all. Needless to say it didn't make the slightest bit of differnce and we still drove the whole way in ridiculous kamikaze mode.
Hue - apparently the food capital of Vietnam. In between dodging the first rain we'd seen since the start of November, we put this to the test. Sadly our restaurant, 'the most interesting place in town', proved to be hugely disappointing. Staffed by a deaf mute family and with walls covered with traveller graffiti proclaiming it the best food anyone had ever tasted, our meal was bordering on the inedible.
And that was that.
Sunday, February 20, 2005
wylie birthdays vol. VII
Is there no respite from my families birthday's? Anyway, happy birthday to the former Cambridge business personality of the year, Mr Graham Wylie. It isn't everyone that can expect delivery of another grandchild for their birthday present. On this topic best wishes from both of us to Liz... we await the news...
A hop, skip and a jump has taken us north to Hanoi. Where it is about 20 degrees colder than the rest of the country. Suddenly posting all those jumpers home from India isn't looking so wise.
A hop, skip and a jump has taken us north to Hanoi. Where it is about 20 degrees colder than the rest of the country. Suddenly posting all those jumpers home from India isn't looking so wise.
