Night Ride in Ho Chi Minh City

Travelling from Yangon, Myanmar to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam feels like time travelling. Although Myanmar has welcomed tourists since 2011 and is changing fast, the contrast between Ho Chi Minh City and Yangon still surprised us. Although we'd only been in Myanmar 12 days we felt as if we were returning to a future period in time, seeing the bright and brash lights of Ho Chi Minh on our evening drive from the airport to the city centre. 

I'd spent a few days in Ho Chi Minh City (also called Saigon) with friends in October, while Gordon was in Nepal, so the city felt quite familiar revisiting a month later. Ho Chi Minh City is hot, humid and incredibly noisy due to the astonishing number of cars and motorbikes that completely fill the streets and pavements.  There's a constant din of horns hooting. District 1 is where most tourists stay (us too) and walking around the streets it was easy to spot them (unlike Yangon, where sometimes we appeared to be the only tourists).   We enjoyed our stay in a small hotel overlooking the large Ben Thanh Market, built by the French in 1914, and we dipped in and out of the market when we felt up to bargaining.

We're loving the food in Vietnam and seem to spend a fair bit of time planning where we're going to have lunch and dinner.  Mostly we choose places that have been well reviewed on Trip Advisor or get a mention in our guide books, but this probably means we are missing out on places that simply haven't been reviewed.  I have the feeling we are slaves to the guides books but it's a hard habit to break.

Fresh rice paper spring rolls with prawns - so tasty

Stirfried beef and bok choy

The city has many beautiful French Colonial buildings and we admired them on our way to the exceptionally grand General Post Office to post our Xmas cards. I'm not sure what possessed us to acquire (in the market), write and post Xmas cards in Vietnam, but I hope the Vietnamese postal system does not let us down!  The inside of the General Post Office has not most probably not changed much in the last 50 years and is a glorious colonial building. Only one counter sells stamps and no sign of any automation.

Inside the General Post Office

General Post Office, Ho Chi Minh City

The People's Committee Building, the house of the city government

The War Remnants Museum is a sobering, thought provoking experience, depicting the effects of the Vietnam War on the the people of Vietnam.  You can't really come to Ho Chi Minh City and not learn a little about how the war shaped the Vietnam of today.  An hour here was enough.

A top rated experience to have in Ho Chi Minh City is to take a motorbike food tour, so we plucked up courage and signed up with Saigon Extravaganza Tours. What a lot of fun this was - zooming around the city on the back of motorbike one evening, making stops to eat delicious street food.  Our guides (the drivers of the motorbikes) were university students and spoke excellent English. Weaving in and out of the sea of motorbikes was a bit shocking at first, but after a while it was pleasant to feel the breeze as we zipped along in the roaring traffic.  Some of the "restaurants" we stopped at looked a bit rough and ready, but it was a great opportunity to eat in places we'd never choose ourselves as well as gain insights into the lives of young students in Vietnam.  At one of the food stops we were introduced to a local delicacy, called in English "lucky duck egg".  This turned out to be a hard boiled duck egg, which sounds ok, except that when you crack it open there is a duck foetus inside, looking pretty much like a duckling. Obviously it's dead, but it takes some courage to eat it (if you're a Westerner). I passed on this, but Gordon munched through a bit of one.  Eating one of these can bring you good luck apparently.

We're looking a bit hot here, but the food was delicious!

Four days in Ho Chi Minh City passed quickly and although we could have crammed our activities and sightseeing into fewer days, taking our time meant no rushing around.  Next up, a flight to Da Nang to visit Hue and Hoi An in central Vietnam.  

Down Time on Ngapali Beach

After the rigours of Yangon and Bago we're now resting up in Ngapali Beach and loving it here.  We're staying at a small beachside hotel called Yoma Cherry Lodge and it's exceeded expectations. Our large beachfront room overlooks a small deck and then there's the sand and the sea, waves crashing.  We can't be more than 20m from the water. We even have our own permanently reserved restaurant table right in front of our room, overlooking the beach.

Yoma Cherry Lodge on Ngapali Beach

Looking along the beach from Yoma Cherry Lodge sunbeds

It's a short flight from Yangon to Thandwe and worth the journey. Thandwe Airport is tiny, just a small building next to a runway by the sea, and outgoing passengers are seated in the same area as incoming passengers stroll in to.  Oddly, for a domestic flight,  arriving passengers must line up at an Immigration desk and have passports examined and arrival recorded.  The single offical doing the writing (nothing electronic here) looked under pressure as the forty or so passengers formed a long line in front of his desk in the warm building (no aircon here).

Thandwe Airport, Myanmar

The sea right in front of the hotel is home to a cluster of local fishing boats so late afternoon and early morning (very early - pre dawn) there's a lot of activity as the boats come and go, especially early morning when the fish is unloaded.  Yesterday we watched fishermen unloading just one small boat and were surprised by the volume and size of fish that was carried in small buckets to a waiting crowd on the beach. Right on the beach, amid a small noisy crowd, the fish was weighed and the big ones thrown into the back of a pick-up truck, presumably to go to a local market.  But for most of the day the small bay (about 1 km long) is pretty empty, with just a handful of tourists soaking up the sun here and there.  Tall palm trees surround the bay and the whole scene is idyllic.  The weather is perfect, about 30C (real feel 36C says my weather app!) but there's a cooling breeze off the sea so it doesn't feel that hot to us.

A drinks shack on the beach a few minutes walk from our lodge

Fishing boats in front of Yoma Cherry Lodge

Weighing the fish on the beach

Fish!

As in most of Myanmar's tourist locations the cost of accommodation is higher than other countries in south east Asia, probably due to lack of competition in this rapidly developing but strictly controlled country.  But having forked out handsomely (by Asian standards) for accommodation, meals and drinks are cheap. Along the coast road south of Thandwe Airport there's an abundant choice of simple open air restaurants catering for tourists and the ones we've tried so far have offered up delicious seafood curries for less than £3 for a main. Alcoholic drinks seem to be less costly than water, so we've been hydrating ourselves with a variety of cocktails, not all of them matching their menu description when they're served! 

There's something very charming about where we are at Ngapali Beach. Granted we've not ventured out to explore the other beaches north and south of our little bay, but we just don't feel the need.   We have the feeling that Ngapali Beach is not going to stay like this for years to come.  On our evening excursions in the rattling tuktuks we noticed a lot of building along the coast road, so if you want to experience this old world slice of Myanmar, come soon.

The gardens at Yoma Cherry Lodge
and rooms set back from the beach
(beachfront rooms are best!)

Bago, Pagodas and Kindness

After a few days in Yangon we ventured north to Bago, a town about 90km north east of Yangon, an ancient capital built and razed over the centuries.  Booking train tickets was an interesting experience!  At the old and crumbling main railway station we were waved away with the words "other side" and with some difficulty found the sleepy deserted advance booking office where nothing has changed for at least 50 years, we reckon. Each train route has its own ledger and bookings are hand written in the ledger and a ticket written out. We booked 2 seats on train 9UP leaving the next morning - for the grand sum of 1000 kyat each (US 75c).  At the sight of my hot and red face the booking officials ushered Gordon and I into their shabby office and insisted we sat down while the ticket purchase was conducted - such kindness.

The advance booking office for Myanmar Railways, Yangon

Yangon Railway Station 

The following day we headed to the station for our 11am departure on 9UP.  It was clear that waiting for an announcement in English was futile and as our train departure time grew closer we started asking questions and waving our tickets and saying 9UP.  At last a station official took control and led us to the right platform and coach number indicated on our tickets.  Having bought upper class tickets our carriage was spacious and airy (wooden shutters opened widely) even if the train was old and tatty.  Just before departure a train attendant appeared and placed cleaned and ironed cotton seat covers over all the seats in our carriage!

Upper class carriage on the 9UP to Bago

At 11am exactly the train pulled out of Yangon Station and for the next two hours chugged its way slowly to Bago. Although not unexpected, the poverty witnessed from the train was a sobering sight.  In the heavily populated greater Yangon area buildings and shacks are side by side, with rubbish and poor sanitation a serious issue.  Urban landscape replaced the city and we passed small towns and settlements and farmland. Probably little has changed in these communities for decades and extreme poverty is the norm.

View from the train as it trundled through Yangon on our way to Bago

Countryside view from the train between Yangon and Bago

Bago Station is swelteringly hot at 1pm and we are relieved when a shiny tuk-tuk roars up to us (we are the only foreigners to have got off the train) and the driver grins and holds up a clipboard with my name on it.  15 minutes later we arrive at the Kanbawza Hinthar Hotel in the dusty suburbs of Bago and are pleasantly surprised.  The hotel looks decidedly Western....a rather grand entrance (with a gleaming luggage trolley out front), cool reception area and to one side a large glass fronted restaurant.  Our room is basic but clean and we think this is a good deal for £26. Lunch in the restaurant is delicious and cheap.

Lunch here may have been delicious but we ate at our hotel instead

By 4pm we'd recovered from the day's travelling and set out to see the Shwemawdaw Pagoda on the other side of town. We had to hang on as the tuktuk roared along, weaving as the driver tried to avoid potholes and unpaved bits of the road.  As is common all over Myanmar, our young driver was constantly chewing and spitting betel nut.  We're not sure if this accounted for his erratic driving or it really was the road conditions.  His smile revealed a bright red stained mouth and teeth and we've not been tempted to try this popular drug.  Small street side stalls everywhere sell betel nuts wrapped in betel leaf and it's a stimulant and addictive, likened to chewing tobacco.

Our betel chewing tuktuk driver

Myanmar's tallest stupa at the Shwemawdaw Pagoda in Bago

Beautiful temple at the Shwemawdaw Pagoda site

The next morning we continued our exploration of Bago.  Pagodas and Buddhas are two a penny in Myanmar but the massive reclining Buddha, Shwetalyaung, in Bago is extraordinary. 55m long, it's thought to have been built in 994 but when Bago was destroyed in 1757 it was forgotten about and covered by jungle growth.  In 1881 the British found it by accident. It was renovated and a corrugated iron pavilion erected over it to protect it.  It's beautifully maintained now and quite spectacular.  We rattled our way by tuktuk to the southern outskirts of Bago to see the Kyaik Pun Pagoda which consists of 4 huge seated Buddhas back to back, 27 m high.  They were built in 7th century AD and restored in 1467 and are quite beautiful.  We didn't see many other foreigners in Bago at all but would definitely recommend it as a side trip from Yangon. There are day trips from Yangon to Bago, but we think this'd be a punishing way to see the sights of Bago, as the car journey each way is at least 3 hours.

Magnificent reclining Shwetalyaung Buddha in Bago

Kyaik Pun Pagoda- four figures pagoda,
built in 7th century AD an restored in 1476

Returning to Yangon by private air conditioned taxi was twenty times the price of our bargain rail fares but way more comfortable.  The highway from Bago to Yangon is dual carriageway for some of the way,  which logically would aid the journey time, but Burmese driving negates this. Firstly motor bikers (mostly without helmets) ride towards oncoming traffic (so they are on the wrong side of the dual carriageway!) and secondly there is no consensus about lane usage. Slow vehicles, like tuktuks, trundle along in the fast lane and faster vehicles weave around them, horns beeping.  It was slow going once we hit the outskirts of the city but we were back in downtown Yangon by late afternoon.

My thriftiness had us staying our last two nights in Yangon in budget accommodation at a small guest house in the city centre, Sule Sapphire Inn.  In my defence Trip Advisor reviews were glowing. Unease set in as we hauled ourselves up the exceptionally steep stairs (and I mean steep) to reach a hot small room with a counter (I really can't call this reception).  Our reserved deluxe room was small and cramped. On the plus side the beds were good, there was a window, and although the room was tired and old it was perfectly clean.  But it was here in Yangon that we had an extraordinarily heart warming experience. On our last afternoon, having "done" Yangon we decided to have an afternoon in, playing with our phones, tablet and laptop, happy to be in cool surroundings of our small room. Mid afternoon cleaning staff brought clean towels so I hopped under the bed covers for privacy as they entered the room.  Soon after, the guest house owners, husband and wife we think, knocked at the door and trooped in with fruit drinks on a tray. We thanked them for this kind gesture. Several hours later, still happy and cool in our room, there was another knock at the door and this time the owners appeared with a tray of tea and sesame cakes.  The couple looked anxiously at me and I heard the words "....in distress". The penny dropped - they thought I was unwell. We tried to reassure them I was perfectly ok, just having a lazy afternoon but I'm not sure they understood. We were overwhelmed by the concern and warmth this Burmese couple showed us.  A truly memorable stay at Sule Sapphire Inn in Yangon.

Sule Sapphire Inn above the ice cream shop in Bo Son Pat Street,  Yangon

Lunch at the iconic Strand Hotel in Yangon on our last day in the city

Keeping Cool in Yangon

Last night we arrived in Yangon from KL. Seeing our hotel room at Grand United Hotel for the first time, it was disappointingly dingy and uninviting and certainly not grand.  Returning to the  room this afternoon, exhausted after a day of steamy sightseeing, it was delightful!  We leapt into the cool air-conditioned room from the humid hallway and the world seemed wonderful again. 

Rooftops of Yangon city centre from the top of our hotel

Yangon city centre is hot and humid and noisy, but the city has some rewarding sights.  At its heart, the golden Sule Pagoda creates a roundabout, and cars and buses chug around it.  We take off our shoes and go inside and walk around.  The gilded stupa and other shrines are lovely and there’s a sense of peace about the place. Crossing the roundabout traffic, the Mahabandoola Gardens are green and grassy with water fountains and an impressive obelisk.  In spite of the heat we still appreciate the grand buildings that are remnants of the British colonial era here.  Some have been restored and maintained and are quite lovely, but others run down and disused.  A lot of downtown Yangon hasn’t seen a paintbrush in decades and the overall impression is one of poverty and grime.  The pavements are crammed with stalls and sellers and shoppers of many ethnic origins and life looks hard.

Sule pagoda in downtown Yangon

After a revival in our cool room we venture out to Chinatown at night and enjoy cheap gin and lime drinks (only 1000 Kyat/US 70c) sitting outside at a simple restaurant in 19th Street.  It’s steamy but after a couple of drinks we perk up and feel more lively.  We decide against street food dinner and head to a simple sushi restaurant we discovered last night, Oishii Sushi. What a find – deliciously fresh sushi appears at our table in minutes with plastic glasses of iced tea. The menu doesn’t offer other drinks, but we notice a neighbouring table gets bottles covered in black plastic bags and the amber liquid being poured out looks remarkably like beer. We ask for beer and we too get a bottle covered in plastic.  Life becomes even better when the waitress prizes off the bottle top, examines it and grins widely and brings us a 500 Kyat note (35c)! 

Our lucky winnings at Oishii Sushi

October Adventures

Prior to meeting me in Kuala Lumpur, Gordon spent the month of October on a expedition in the mountains of Nepal, climbing three major peaks in the Everest region. 

Khumbu Climber expedition with Jagged Globe took 28 days and was more technical than anything I'd done before.  Our group of 12 had appropriate previous experience and and everyone had made efforts to get fit.  My tent mate, John, and I got on very well and the weather for the whole expedition was excellent; of course it's cold above 6,000 m but winds were not strong and we only had light snow at Namche Bazaar on the way back to Lukla.  Three mountains were tackled in order of difficulty - Pokalde is scrambling on rock with no snow and ice.  To reach the top you clip your ascender onto the fixed ropes, and from the peak it's an abseil down.  The second mountain was Island Peak and we were surprised how hard it was.  One particularly challenging moment was crossing a large crevasse by walking over four ladders lashed together, and the headwall of snow and ice (the final bit at the top) was almost vertical.  With much puffing and panting we made it but wondered what Lobuche, the third peak, had in store for us.  This was a longer walk over rock and ice. There were six fixed ropes and techniques I learnt on Mont Blanc some years ago came in handy.  It was a perfect morning going up the steep slope with crampons and ice axe.  The views as the sun came up were magnificent. All in all an extremely challenging trip but fitness training beforehand paid off.  Our group were aided by competent sherpas, cooks, porters and a yak herder (9 yaks for luggage).

After waving Gordon off to Nepal early October I set off ten days later for warmer climes, my first stop being Hong Kong. I love Hong Kong. Having family in Hong Kong (David, my older brother has lived there for over 25 years and more recently his son Adrian and wife Karin) I've made several visits over the years so that this time I felt quite at home in this bustling noisy city.  October weather is lovely - warm and sunny, without horrid humidity experienced in summer.  My good friend Nicky arrived a few days later and we had a fabulous 3 days: rode the ding dong tram, went to Kowloon on the iconic Star Ferry, visited the Big Buddha on Lantau Island and ate dim sum.

The cutest pork buns!

Hong Kong skyline

From Hong Kong, next stop Hanoi, Vietnam. What a crazy place, with unimaginable traffic. Cars, motorbikes, pedestrians, cyclos (three wheeled bicycle taxi) all weave around each other to the incessant sound of hooting and engines roaring.  With only nine days to explore Vietnam, we divided our time between Hanoi and Ninh Binh in the north and then flew south to the Mekong Delta region to Can Tho, finally ending up in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon).  Another visit to Vietnam coming soon!

Nguyen Shack in Ninh Binh, where we stayed a few nights

Where are we now - 2017 update

After travels in South Africa in early 2016, following Gordon's retirement, we spent the spring and summer of 2016 settling in to our compact new home in Horsham, England.  A lot of "stuff" had to go to make everything fit, but we've grown to like our brand new home and its small garden.

2016 happenings: Joanne commissioned as an officer in the British Army and Ellen moved to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to teach at an international school. Gordon and I enjoyed short holidays in Laos and Myanmar at the end of 2016 and this whet our appetite for a return visit to Asia.

So here we are in Kuala Lumpur, recently reunited after separate adventures in Nepal (Gordon) and Vietnam (me) and looking forward to the next few months "on the road".  Are we flashpackers? Apparently flashpackers are backpackers who upscale their travels, carry fancy electronics and are older.  We certainly fit the bill....except my luggage has wheels.

With Ellen here in KL we are using Malaysia as a base and will venture out from here, returning here to rest and do laundry and see Ellen between trips around the region.  Airbnb has supplied us with a one bedroom appartment to rent on a daily basis in the same block where Ellen lives (actually an identical apartment to hers), and after only a few days it feels like home. The area of Mont Kiara (where we are now) has a lot of high rise apartment blocks and small shopping malls mixed up with concrete motorways and some leafy avenues of low level residences.  Restaurants are everywhere and ubers are plentiful and cheap so eating and getting around is easy.

KL home!

Last night's dinner experience here in KL was a first for Ellen, Gordon and me - Dining in the Dark.  Obviously no photographic evidence! All belongings had to be left in a locker before entering the dining area. We were led into the pitch black dining room by Yus, our blind waiter, and over the next few hours he served us a three course meal with wine.  We'd been apprehensive about how we'd cope and would there be spillage (Ellen had advised wearing dark clothes, just in case!) but after a while we got used to the darkness and had a lot of fun trying to work out what we were eating and drinking.  We could hear other diners around us laughing and eating (we were at our own table) and the evening went quickly.  All the courses had several elements to them and finding out afterwards what we'd been eating was a surprise.  I'd say we identified about half the dishes, but I'm afraid a lot of the flavours described on the menu passed me by.  A very enjoyable evening - thanks to Ellen (a birthday treat).

Ellen and me before Dining in the Dark