Category: Travel

Well we have now arrived in Vietnam. Our flight here was delayed by three hours so, by the time we got to our hostel everywhere to eat and drink was closed as almost everywhere in Hanoi closes up by midnight. We are staying at the Hanoi guesthouse as recommended by a guy in STA travel. It seems pretty nice although our room consists of one single and one very large double bed. As a result Tom and I have been getting a little closer than we’d like but I guess sacrifices must be made. I seem to have given my cold to both Tom and Craig unfortunately. Craig seems to have shaken it off quickly but Tom has had a couple of days of feeling rough. On our first full day we decided to walk around Hanoi taking in lots of the sights and experiencing a little of the local culture. We sampled some of the local beer and went to a performance of Vietnamese water puppetry! We bought the tickets in the afternoon but when we came to go to the performance despite the fact that we had walked past the place several times we got completely lost (hard when its nearby next to a huge lake). In desperation we all hopped on the back the local motorbike/moped taxis and got there in about 2 minutes. This is something I would not consider in any other country and requires a little background explanation. Hanoi’s traffic is like no other countries, for a start there are almost no cars on the roads, everyone rides mopeds or motorbikes all of which are small and low powered. The traffic system is completely chaotic with people driving in all directions with no respect to lanes or sides of the road. While this may sound incredibly dangerous it actually works in your favour safety wise, due to the chaos it is pretty rare to exceed 20mph with the average speed being about 10-15mph. As it happens the speed limit for towns is only 40km/hour and still only 60km/h for the highways! To prevent accidents, indicators, flashing your lights and the horn seem to be used almost constantly to signal resulting in an ordered chaos that appears to be safer than anywhere else. This ordered chaos also requires a new system of crossing the road. Instead of waiting for no traffic (there’s are always a multitude of bikes passing) you just make sure there are no cars then step into teh road and walk slowly across in a horizontal line presenting the smallest face to the traffic. As long as you walk slowly the bikes part around you and you walk straight across the road. This was understandably terrifying the first few times but because everyone does this drivers are expecting pedestrains (and are already travelling very slowly) and it appears to actually be quite safe!

Anyway I have been distracted by the description of the traffic system so back to the maroinettes. I have to admit the actual puppet show was a little odd but since it is a tradition that goes back to the 11th century we thought we couldn’t miss it.

For dinner we went to an all vegetarian mock meat restaurant as mock meat is a speciality of Vietnam. The menu specifically said that everything was vegetarian and they listed sections of checken, pork, beef and shrimp. We ended up ordering about 10 dishes as they were quite small and we wanted to try a variety.  The food was actually pretty good, I liked the chicken, pork and beef but the shrimps I wasn’t so keen on. As it happens Craig reckoned the shrimp tasted just like the real thing but a bit less fishy, he liked the others but could tell easily that they weren’t meat. It looks like I have made the right choice being a vegetarian! (not that I was in doubt).

In the evening we sampled the local Bia Hoi, very cheap beer (15 for a pound) which is very fresh and really quite good. we also bought a few very well copied books at very cheap prices including the new lonely planet that has only just been released. This seems like a pretty good way to meet the locals and we ended up getting a inpromptu Vietnamese lesson. Since we could stay more than two nights at our guesthouse we opted to go on a tour to Ha long bay. 

As I write this we have almost finished in Ha long bay and my blog is now 3 days out of date, as once again what I’m seeing is so new and exciting that I have written way to much and am almost out of time. I still want to write about what I’ve seen of the Vietnamese (very friendly) and my experience of the culture but time is almost out so I’ll use my last few mines to start writing my next post and hopefully publish it soon, that is of course if I can find the time! Before I go please excuse the horrible spelling and grammar so far, the keyboards here are beyond terrible (I’ve thrown away better ones) and I barely have time to write, never mind proof read as I sit here sweating buckets (literally).

On the second day Tom took me to a cheap mall called MBK. It is huge and has a great food court you can buy almost any food and where Tom and I ate random Thai food from a vegetarian stall. After food we met Craig along with Bow, a Thai medical student that that Craig is friends with. Bow speaks pretty good English and led us on a tour through what seemed to be 3 connecting malls starting with MBK (the cheap one) and ending with Siam Paragon (the biggest and most expensive in Thailand). To put this into perspective Siam Paragon is like a six storey version of the Bullring in Birmingham. Bow seemed very nice and was more than happy to lead us around and answer all our questions. One thing that I learned that surprised me is that Thai students have to be back in their accommodation by 9pm and aren’t allowed any guests at all. Tom and Craig luckily didn’t have to respect the curfew but they did have to plead with house keeping so that I could be allowed in to see their room. It’s too bad and has basic air conditioning plus its pretty cheap to stay in and has an ensuite. In fact if you overlook the dated decor its pretty reasonable. I took some interesting night shots from the balcony which I have also uploaded.

For my second night in Thailand the guys decided to take me on a typical Thai night out. Not the tourist kind but a night out as experienced by the locals. We started off with Thai food at Ana’s garden which as a restaurant that has been built around the trees and plants that were already there giving it a relaxed disorganised feel. The food was excellent and we all split 5 Thai vegi dishes so that we got to taste a good selection. Craig has been very good at putting up with eating vegetarian so that I can try more which means I must have tried 15 or so dishes so far. Anyway after food (and beer) we went to a club called Ice bar to experience Thai student clubbing. Ice bar was unlike any club you would ever see in England. Firstly when you arrive you are escorted to a table by several staff. This is necessary as it is incredibly dark. In fact all the staff carry torches so that you can read the menus. Another unique thing about Thai clubs is that there are no dance floors, Everyone just dances and tries to avoid hitting the tables. Drinks wise you are meant to order a bottle of Whisky and then order mixers when required. We opted for the smallest (700ml) bottle of Johnny Walker Red Label and cola and soda water to mix. The staff bring your drinks to the table and pour you a drink with your required mixer. Everything is done to maximise your comfort and minimise the effort that you have to put in. When you glass is empty it is instantly refilled. Not being used to this system it can be a little uncomfortable to have a staff member standing by you all night but we made sure they got a reasonable tip and they all seemed very appreciative. The music was mostly live and played by what can only be described as a Thai rock with punk influences band. the music was actually pretty reasonable if a little generic, though I imagine that not knowing the language probably didn’t help. Tom and Craig said that it was pretty good that night normally the music is more Thai pop which from what I’ve heard seems pretty poor. The night was actually pretty good fun and it was nice to be in a club where we didn’t see a single other westerner!

Okay well I was going to stop here but since I have a few minutes left I may as well use them! So the third day was pretty relaxed, we all felt pretty wrecked from the previous night so went for the greasiest 2pm breakfast food we could find. This turned out to be a pleasant little restaurant 30 seconds from where we are staying where we got a fried English breakfast adapted for Thailand. Not something I’d want too often but interesting and very good for a hangover I also had a banana smoothy which was delicious! Craig had stuff to do after breakfast so Tom and I took a water taxi to Kho San road (not the correct spelling, just a guess) which is a hub for backpackers (here backpacker and tourist seem to be entirely interchangeable). It was an interesting place but really just too touristy, and on the bright side this time the sex trade was absent. As we were about to leave I experienced my first torrential Thai rain which flooded the street and pavement and left us stranded in a bar for an hour (I guess it could have been a lot worse!) Our evening was pretty low key, Thai food was good, Tom was a little down as he had plans cancelled with his girlfriend and we were all pretty tired. We went to a posh looking bar and Craig and I discussed morals, politics, the state of the UK and communism at length.

While Bangkok is an amazing city unlike anywhere else I have been before  has also left me feeling troubled. The gap between rich and poor seems to be so much wider here than anywhere else I have been to. I would love to talk more about this but I am out of time. We fly to Vietnam tonight so expect an update either very soon or not for quite a while, depending on the availability of internet access. Also after having no mosquito bites so far one of the little bastards just got me 6 times on the leg, I did manage to kill it though!

Well here I am in Thailand! I got onto my plane with no problems in Manchester and headed to Doha. I have never been to the Middle East before so landing in Doha was quite an experience. Coming down to land I could just see a massive expanse of flat white desert surrounding a city of ordered white boxes. Upon landing I could see that the white boxes were in fact decorated with arabic writing and Middle eastern architectural features. The flight to Doha was about 6 and a 1/2 hours and unfortunately I got almost no sleep despite my best efforts. Doha airport was new, very clean and had lots of seats but only being there for 1 and a 1/2 hours I did very little exploring. The flight to Bangkok was another 6 and a 1/2 hours and this time I did mange a whole hours sleep admittedly split into 10 minute chunks. Qatar Airways were fantastic, the staff were courteous the vegi food was actually surprisingly good and the entertainment system had almost 100 on demand movies plus TV shows and music all on demand and pausable. I have to say I barely took advantage of this though as i was trying to sleep.

Upon landing in Bangkok I got my bag and got though immigration really quickly and met Tom and Craig. We then took a taxi to the hostel to check my stuff into our triple room. The taxi driver seemed to take great delight in pointing out the lady boys shouting “lady man, lady man” and honking his horn when we passed one. Once we had checked in we walked into the room Tom looked for the light switch but before he found it I could just make out one very large bed in the dark. Tom turned on the light and confirmed my suspicion. Luckily seconds later as I was just about to initiate the “who sleeps in the middle” conversation the girl who checked us in ran into the room behind us to say she had given us the wrong key! What a relief that was! Our new room has 3 beds! Last night after warning the guys that I was pretty tired we went out for a beer to a local bar and then went on to the sky bar. The sky bar is an open air bar on the roof of the 64 floor state tower. A beer was about GBP5 so we only had one but it was worth it just to look out over Bangkok. Probably the scariest part of this is that the barrier stopping you from falling off was (very think) glass. But the fact that you are aware that you could easily jump over was enough to make me feel pretty uneasy. Hopefully I can upload some photos that I took up there.

After the sky bar we went to a tourist area where we hoped we could find a restaurant still open. On he way we walked through a market where I was warned we’d get hassled by the local sex trade. Sure enough we were greeted by lots of locals waving menus in front of us and inviting us to watch a local specialty that I assume wasn’t a stimulating table tennis match. Actually the hassling wasn’t too bad, a polite no thank you usually did the trick.

We found a restaurant and had a light meal of very fresh superbly spiced Thai vegetable dishes which I can’t describe but was very tasty. By this time it was after midnight but I was surprisingly awake (I guess it was early evening English time). The guys decided to finish the evening by taking me for a reflexology foot massage. I have to admit I was a little apprehensive but they took me to a place that they’d been before where a foot massage really would mean a foot massage. Actually it was an hour long and included a quick shoulder and neck massage but was really very nice and very professional. Anyway by the time we got out of there it was pushing 3am so we headed home to bed.

This ends the story of my first night in Bangkok. I don’t intend to write nearly as much or as detailed again but since this is all new to me it pretty exciting. I’m about out of time now so I’m going to have a quick go at uploading some photos of the sky bar and where we are staying.

So last weekend I went to a festival called Lowlands situated just outside Amsterdam in the Netherlands. It is advertised as a cross between Glastonbury and Goa and, as well as loads of live music there is a seemingly endless list of things to do when you are not watching your favourite bands. What surprised me most of all was how well organised the whole thing is yet it still feels like spending a weekend in the middle of nowhere with 55,000 hippies. Although I haven’t actually been to one of the British festivals (my ticket for Leeds 2005 had to be sold when I got a job in Amsterdam) they sound like a lot of muddy, pissed up people causing chaos made fun by some fantastic live music. Lowlands felt altogether more civilised, clean toilets, paved paths, good food and friendly security along with random art both static and performance. Oh one more thing all the of music is in the biggest tents I have ever seen, so even if it rains you don’t have to stand 6″ deep in mud to watch the Editors (or any one of the 100 odd bands playing). Anyway over the weekend we saw some amazing acts, notable were Interpol, The Editors, The Rifles (a somewhat unknown London band with an excellent album out), Mad Caddies. Kings of Leon played a fabulous set and even the Kaiser Chiefs who I’m no real fan of put on a great live performance. I could go on and list at least another 10 bands who I really like but I won’t, for the line-up visit www.lowlands.nl.

So once the live music is finished for the day most of the tents turn into dance floors with a large variety of music or, if your feet are slowly trying to kill you by this point they also show at least one new movie on a massive outdoor screen every night.

So okay it may not be the most hardcore festival experience but ask me if I’d rather wake up to an overflowing/flaming toilet or freshly squeezed orange juice and cheese and syrup pancakes and you shouldn’t have too much trouble guessing what my answer is. Oh did I mention that you can get right to the front of the crowd and watch all the music up close without getting crushed or having to crowd surf?