Sapa

After a twelve hour journey on a sleeper bus we finally arrived in the mountain village of Sapa, Northwest Vietnam, right alongside the Chinese border. We immediately found ourselves freezing our best bits off in 'the coldest place in Vietnam', located high up in the mountains at an elevation of just under 2000 meters above mean sea level. Sapa is constantly shrouded in mist which gives it an eerie and mysterious look and feel. After settling into the Mountain View Hotel (we looked at no less than 15 other place before settling on the MVHotel) we got round to exploring the sights Sapa had to offer. Sapa and the surrounds are dubbed to offer Vietnam's best trekking with overnight 'homestays' and trips to the local minority villages being the main attraction. At over $70 per person per trek we opted for the 'solo mission' instead. Sticking to budget, as always. We wandered the surrounding hills for hours, getting lost in the clouds and along the numerous mountain trails. Nothing like the trekking we did in Nepal but a decent 5 hour trekking day overall.

Below are some of the sights of Sapa:

Pizza restaurant - beanie + top = chilly outside

The lower altitudes brought out the steamy trekking attire

Panorama of the Sapa hills - beautiful

Made our way through the veggie gardens with visibility severely limited in parts

Steamy trekking attire - trying to scare off the locals. Worked a treat

Cacey and the local folk decked out in their traditional clothes. They ended up taking us to their village and showing us how they live, introducing us to their family, etc

Jimmy with the midgets

Such a friendly bunch

We came across a hospital in the hills

Sapa is a must see if you ever find yourselves in Northern Vietnam, with the great trekking on offer for everyones capabilities, to the quaint restaurants and locals dressed in their traditional gear all eager to show you their way of life. It is a humbling experience that leaves you feeling refreshed and energised after days spent wading through the surrounding rice paddies taking you from village to village. Here there are no T.V's or computer games so you find yourself watching children play outside, laughing and talking to each other - something the western culture is losing quickly due to technology and our hunger for the latest and greatest gimics. What a magical destination, one of our favourite places in Nam!

Good morning Vietnam!

April 2011: We were delighted to have landed in Hanoi, the capital city of Vietnam. This delight soon dwindled as we were left as the last people waiting for our bags. We had by this stage collected three bags due to the excess shopping that occured in Thailand. When I say 'we' I mean myself, Jimmy, had managed to do at the Thai markets. After a lengthy wait our luggage popped out onto the conveyor belt in tact. Phew.

A proud country

A 45min airport shuttle ($2) was our ride into town, dropping us at the touristy 'Old Quarter' part of town. This area is the main tourist hub of Hanoi and retains a blend of French and traditional Vietnamese architecture which form together to provide you with a visual treat: the cutest little buildings, alleyways and sidewalks. Numerous cafe's, eateries and bakeries sprawl out onto these streets and one can get anything from croissants and apple pie to coffee and pizza, just those luxuries you'd be able to find back home.
Whilst walking these streets trying to find our backpackers we were constantly hounded by local 'touts' trying to sell us everything under the sun. 'Motorbike' was often shouted our way as if to imply we simply MUST catch a ride with the fine gentleman weilding a small 120cc scooter: backpacks x 3, handluggage and ourselves to be perched on the tiny seat. Not going to work mate.
Every human on a motorbike thinks they are registered 'xe-om' (Vietnamese scooter) or motor-taxi drivers so you can imagine you literally get bombarded by offers for a lift at every street corner, something we found quite annoying. It was clear that we were trying to find our new abode through these confusing alley ways but some lady was adimant we needed potplants to assist us on our stroll through the street. As if we weren't carrying enough already, idiot! You are literally pestered as you walk the streets as nothing cannot be sold to a tourist, it seems. This is something we later grew accustomed to and learnt to not even bother looking but answer back with a simple 'NO', than another 'NO', and usually after the third 'NO' the point came across that you really didn't want a bag of pig snouts today.

Xe-Om driver - a pretty usual day - doing nuthin'

Millions and millions of scooters everywhere you go

We finally found our backpackers (after all this) and after settling in, retired to the rooftop bar to partake in the happy hour festivities on offer. This is where we met the first South African we had seen in 10 weeks of travels. Same sense of humour, same home town, same accent. It was refreshing to meet a fellow Se-frican in this new unknown country. Happy hour was in full swing and we indulged in the R5 local beer (even cheaper than dodgy Mixas schwarma back home), playing giant Jenga and drinking card games with some of the other backpackers. What a great vibe and introduction to Vietnam, watching that sun set from 6 storeys up, beer in hand. The rooftop bar closed and it was decided that we should walk as a group to another bar a few twists and turns away. We tried our best to remember each and every turn in order to later navigate home. This next bar resembled a UK 'Walkabout' with some few choons to match. We thought it a cunning plan to proclaim that it was our newfound SA mate, Rudi's, birthday and were subsequently given a few free beers and partied the night away.

Rudi representing South Africa - not a drop went to waste - top form

Cunning plan it was, until we decided to find our way home without the guidance of the backpacker crowd. Needless to say the directions we tried to remember had now completely disappeared from our minds. Cacey and I wandered the streets only to find ourselves back at the same, now closed, 'Walkabout' bar a full hour later. Fail.

These dude's look like I felt after that loooong walk

Take two. A couple of corners later I spotted a midnight schwarma vendor, a sign from god. This meant two things - directions and food. Both of which were vital at this point in time. Only after ordering the schwarma I realized the kind man misunderstood me and out popped two schwarma's, two banana's and two bottles of water. I had only enough cash for one. Now you try get this point across to Mr Schwarma in broken English/Vietnamese + hand signals at well after midnight. He finally understood what was being said and explained that he didn't want anything. Not a cent, or VND (Vietnamese Dong), but just to have us sit at his stall and enjoy our meal. He then ducked off and returned with a map to assist us home. What a good deed. I was touched by his kindness.

The follwing day returned and paid him twice what we owed and still he did not want to accept but eventually succumbed after much plying. Small as that was it is something I won't forget.

Misty lake where we partook in our daily morning runs

Cacey shopping again - The ultimate wedding dress

To be continued.......

Thailand

Thailand, a place we have held close to our hearts for seven years since our trip there in 2004. WOW, has it grown! After a 48 hour journey from Nepal with a 24 hour stop over in Delhi we finally arrived in Bangkok. The level of excitement we were both experiencing is beyond words. At last we were going to feel some sunshine on our lily white bodies again!

 

The city that never sleeps - Bangkok central

We decided seen as though we were veterans to Thailand we would take the local bus to Khao San Road rather than paying extortionate taxi prices . Off we set and managed to make our way all the way there, two and a half hours later with only three bus changes, but hey we did it! And in the process paid only a tenth of the price of a taxi fare.

Khao San Road has a pulse like no other place we have been before, you can arrive at 6am, 10am, 4pm or 3am and it will be buzzing. With street cafes, makeshift bars and clothing stores galore we found ourselves in an urban paradise! One of our favorite past times was buying a beer from the local 7/11 and sitting on the benches outside watching the people go by, you get all sorts of folk in this city, rather amusing to say the least. The best is seeing a drunk tourist being led astray by a lady boy but not quite having the strength to be forceful enough to send them packing. Too drunk to realize that 'she' leading him home is actually very much a dolled up 'he'. Fail.

Street side fare.

We had a month to make the most out of Thailand and so we decided to get island hopping with immediate effect. First stop was an island called Koh Chang, to the south east of Bangkok. What an awesome little island it turned out to be, with pristine beaches, local bars, food stalls and live music a plenty, what more could you ask for? We thoroughly enjoyed our time on the island, drinking buckets, meeting new people, catching our all important tan and running some serious hills - running this island is not for the faint hearted! Often we were reduced to a walking pace up the steep slopes and running in 30 deg C heat proved rather difficult but great for the system. 

 

Koh Chang island

Why thank you, don't mind if I do....

Danger danger!



Beer's for breakfast, again



Living the dream

Next stop, Koh Tao - still a firm favourite of ours seven years later, in spite of the vast development all over the island. With the most beautiful white sand beaches and palm tree's lining the shore, cafes a plenty and beach bars as far as the eye can see, what's not to love?. In the evenings we would often dine at a table on the beach, sipping on an ice cold Beer Chang (quart form) and enjoy the sea food BBQ (braai). We managed to hook up with an old Billy the Bums mate, Nicola, who had been on the island for 3 months already. Wow, shock horror to the liver as we partied up a storm with her mates every few nights. It sure is a party island of note with the sounds of throbbing beats continuing on until the wee hours of the morning. 

Office Bar - the party begins

Chang o'clock results in the follwing day's 'Chang-over'

Getting messy - blurry vision, blurry camera

A couple nights in we decided we could get more bang for our buck and decided to move bungalows. Our new bungalow turned out to be of a reasonable price and only a stones throw from the sea. That night we retired to our new humble abode and after reading for a couple minutes felt a tickle. A roach. Boom, splat went roach number one. Then only a minute later, another one, but this time a baby. Splat. Then there were 3, 4, 5 and they just kept on coming. After 20 mins or so we had flattened a whole bus full of roaches and decided enough was enough. We lifted off the pillow case only to find the pillow crawling in cockroaches, literally hundreds of them. We packed our kit, most of it at least, and made a midnight bolt down the beach to another resort we viewed earlier that day. Being midnight there was not a soul around so we decided this was a critical situation and this meant we needed to employ emergency measures. We snuck into the reception and felt around, in the dark, for a key to an empty room or bungalow. We found a key and helped ourselves to an empty room and made ourselves at home in 'our' new roach free room, feeling a bit guilty for our actions we woke up incredibly early and hung around reception until the manager arrived, he was very chilled (more stoned than chilled) and said "dont worry about it guys you can pay me later". Thank goodness we did not have to endure a visit to a Thai prison for breaking and entering... that is one humble abode we both were not keen on trying out. Koh Tao is beautiful, breathtaking and amazing - but unfortunately it doesn't come cheap so if you do decide to visit this enchanting island make sure you bring plenty Baht along with you to truelly experience all it has to offer.

Even the rubbish bin's want your hard earned moola

View from our hotel pool/bar - island bliss

Yet another tough evening - dinner for two

We returned to Bangkok, tanned and ready to take on the bustling city for six days. We spent our time running at 5am in the morning (any later and you will die from pollution inhalation) - the locals thought we were mental running firstly and secondly with no face mask, shock horror! We travelled the city on the local buses, stopping in at the Chatuchak market (biggest market you will ever see in your life that sells everything from designer clothing to cooked dog meat - fascinating to say the least). We ventured to the shopping malls, designer dreams are made from shopping malls like this - every shop has been carefully designed, they are all different and stunning, with the clothes inside them just as enticing! 

Tacky Thailand sign

Bangkok's world class facilities - Cacey indulging in some treats

Pose. Skytrain. Water squirts. Plants etc

Ja, that does not work in RSA

On a whole Thailand is still amazing, sadly the people have become more "westernized" and no longer are happy to engage in a conversation without expecting something in return. Everyone is out to sell you something and in their mind it seems all tourists are trying to get merchandise for free. We still love the food, the people, the beaches and the soul of Thailand it is just sad to see it being overdevolped and that it is now becoming another resort ridden country that makes travelling on a shoestring budget near impossible. Due to time constraints we have not visited the north of Thailand which is, according to fellow travellers, still the old Thailand. We plan to visit the North of Thailand in August and hope that this rings true. Would we go back, yes indeed! We would even live in Bangkok if we could, like I said this city has a pulse like no other!

This guy has a coffee addiction

Streetside dining at it's best

The beer roars with flavour

Our next move was to head south, this involved a 26 hour journey from Koh Chang with a two hour stop over in Bangkok and finally arriving in Koh Samui after an extremely bumpy boat ride, those of you who know Jimmy well, will know that although he can pull an aerobatic maneuverer or two he gets sea sick at the slightest movement.... He was green by the time we set foot on the pier. Samui is sadly not an island we would like to visit again. It feels like a big city rather than an island paradise brimming with scooters, car repair  shops a Tescos and an overworked sewage system tends to give the island a pungent smell. However they did have a Muay Thai camp, which Jim was dying to attend, so we spent a week here getting lean and mean and running the island full power! One of the highlights of Koh Samui was the night market, it had loads of food stalls making the best Thai food at a fraction of a restaurant price. We spent the day's buzzing around Samui on our noble steed - the 120cc Toy Boy scooter. Doing the whole 65km loop around the island in a matter of hours, stopping for a fruit shake or two along the way.