yocksan's Travel log

Hello everyone, Lou and I are about to go on our big trip. We will keep you updated on this site with messages and photos. love Y and L xx

Log entries 11 - 20 of 27

Page: 1 2 3

Jan 12, 2005 09:00 PM Wineries and Cideries Hello everyone. Hope you are all well and haven't been affected by the storms. We are both fine but a little frustrated with this computer as we have now spent 2 hours trying to do this update and lost it both times. Its getting shorter each time we write it. Third time lucky, hopefully. We had a great day out in our little jeep in the Kalbarri National Park last week. We saw some amazing rock formations and spectacular gorges. It was so hot that you could fry an egg on the rocks. We would have tried if we had brought one! We did some bush walking but you really felt vulnerable out there in the searing heat. You really wouldn't want to get at all lost. the next day it was off to Perth on the last of our bus trips. Only a 7 hour jaunt down the road with our regular driver, Dino. He always saved us the best seats at the front of the bus as, in his words, "you could end up sitting next to some very smelly individuals up the the back"! We arrived in Perth and checked in to the Billabong Backpackers Resort. We spent a couple of days exploring Perth and its stunning beaches and Fremantle and its great cafes and bars. Perth really has got it all. We felt that we deserved a change from the buses and hired a car for a few days and made our way to the South coast. The first stop was Albany. There wasn't much to do in the town itself but the surrounding area was gorgeous. We found our most amazing beach so far called Misery Beach (we think it was given this name because of all the Whaling that was done there up until the 70's). It was totally deserted. We then went to a place called Blowholes. We weren't sure what we were going to find there but when we walked along the cliffs, high above the sea, we saw a sign saying "Blowholes - DANGER, STAND CLEAR". We suddenly heard an almighty roar and we lunged for cover. We later realised that this was the sound of the sea being forced up through a crevice in the cliffs. Sometimes it can 'blow' the sea 6m into the air! Shaken and stirred we headed for our next adventure of the day..... Tree Climbing! In a forest in Pemberton there is a 60m tree called the Gloucester tree that you can climb. There are metal stakes hammered into the trunk in a spiral all the way up to the top where there is a viewing platform. Clinging on for dear life, with sweaty palms, we made our way up and found Kojak at the top! Not the real Kojak but a Jananese student who had been waiting up there for the sunset for 2 hours! What a view from the top. You could see for miles. We awoke the next morning to find that we were under attack by......ANTS! We had stupidly left a box of half eaten biscuits on the floor (not usual for Yock not to finish off a packet of biscuits). After eating the biscuits they invaded my ruck sack. They were everywhere. Yuck. We headed to the wine region of Margaret River that morning. The area is saturated with wineries. Of course we had to go and sample some local produce! What a great day out, especially as Yock was the designated driver!! We also visited a great Cidery. The guy who owned it is a scientist and he helped to create the Pink Lady apple which they now make their delicious cider from. We decided to treat ourselves last night and we stayed in a really nice guest house in Margaret River. It was run by a guy who grew up in Harris. We took in some amazing coastline and surf spots today on our way to Dunsborough which is where we are now. The surf looked a bit too dangerous for us though and we will wait to give it a go in Manly on Saturday. In fact, i'll probably sit on the beach and watch while Yock tries to catch the perfect wave! We also went on a coastal walk today and then checked into the Beachouse YHA which is lovely. We have just played Volleyball and im now off to eat my dinner which Yock has just prepared! How lucky am i? Back to Perth tomorrow to fly to Sydney tomorrow night. Best go. Take care. Lots of love L and Y xx

Jan 03, 2005 09:00 PM Happy New Year!! Hello everyone. We hope you all had a great Christmas and New Year. Christmas for us consisted of sitting by the pool for most of the day trying to avoid getting sun burnt. The hostel we stayed at in Broome made it a great day for us all. First of all Santa arrived and started dishing out presents (a package containing crisps and maltesers) and then they set to work on the Christmas dinner. At about 5pm we all went down to the beach to watch the sunset and drink champagne. Then back to the hostel to eat roast lamb, ham and all the trimmings which was very nice although it didn't quite feel like a Christmas at home. Instead of snow and reindeer we had sand, camels and 40 deg. heat! We awoke the next morning to hear the terrible news of the disaster in Asia. We still can't quite believe the scale of the situation, especially as we had visited a lot of the towns and beaches affected in Thailand only a couple of weeks earlier. After another day of relaxation we left Broome and headed for Exmouth. Another 18 hours on the bus and we arrived at our accommodation. As there was not much to do in Exmouth itself we immediately booked a dive trip for the following day. We headed off early the next morning to the Muiron Islands which took about 2 hours on a small dive boat. It was extremely choppy but we had taken our tablets so no sickness this time! We then did two dives to 17 metres and saw some amazing corals, rock formations and fish. We also swam through lots of small underwater tunnels filled with tropical fish and coral, it was incredible! After lunch on the boat and on the way back we stopped off to do some snorkelling. It was the Loggerhead turtles mating season so we were hoping to see some of these giant creatures. I went for a swim and after a while Louise began shouting at me trying to alert me to the fact that there was a turtle right behind me. I looked round and got the fright of my life... right beside me was this Loggerhead turtle the size of a coffee table! I swam with it for a while before we started to see more. We also saw Rays and lots of other fish. Later that evening we met a couple who offered us a lift to a turtle egg laying beach where there was an information centre. We arrived just after sunset and headed off to the beach. After about half a hour of walking along the beach in the darkness and as we were about to give up hope of seeing anything we almost stumbled over a huge turtle. She had crawled from the ocean and was making her way up the sand to the tide line to dig a hole and lay her eggs. We crouched down and watched her do this which was an amazing experience, especially as we had swam with them earlier on. The next day we left and headed for a place called Monkey Mia which is about another 10 hours down the coast. It is a resort which is famous for the Bottlenose Dolphins who visit the beach every morning. We also spent new year here. The resort itself was really nice and the beach there was stunning. There was a band playing for Hogmany and we had a lovely meal in the restaurant overlooking the beach. Every morning at about 8am the dolphins came in and swam at your feet which was fantastic. At one point there must have been 15 dolphins swimming around us!! We left Monkey Mia very early on the 3rd and are now in a gorgeous place called Kalbarri. Its right on the mouth of a river as it meets the sea. The waves here are enormous. There is a world famous reef break nearby called "Jakes" but it's only for experts so we will only go there to watch. We plan to hire canoes today and venture up the river which is crystal clear. Tomorrow we are going to hire a 4 wheel drive jeep to go into Kalbarri National park where there are some amazing gorges and viewpoints. So far Australia has amazing natural beauty but it takes a long time to get from A to B. So far we have travelled nearly 65 hours in a bus (almost all in a straight line!) and we've only been here for 17 days! In fact, at one stage on the bus we went for 20 miles without turing a single corner, not even a slight bend! We head to Perth on the 6th and then to Sydney on the 14th. Take care and love to you all. Y and L xxxxx

Dec 22, 2004 09:00 PM G'day mates Hello everyone, hope all is well. Louise and I left Singapore and made the 5 hour flight to Darwin with the minor hassle of Louise's bag not arriving with us. It had gone on it's own holiday to Adelaide! However, it did arrive back in Darwin later that night. Darwin is hot, very hot! We think it is possibly the hottest place on earth. 40 deg and 80% humidity. It is hard work even eating. Walking is a nightmare! We booked into the Frogshollow Backpackers (no frogs) which was super friendly and they helped us organise a 4 day trip to Litchfield and Kakadu National Parks which we went on the following day. We then went down town to explore. As we walked the weather went from 40 deg and sunny to horizontal rain, gales and unbelievable thunder and lightening in a matter of minutes. The temperature also dropped about 15 deg. The power then went off for 5 hours as a result of a direct lighterning strike to the local power station. It was incredible. We then left early the next day on out trip to explore the Outback. We took a 4 wheel drive truck into the national Parks and swam in some amazing natural plunge pools, visited cultural centres and ate bbq under the stars. We also found ourselves walking all the way up this river to some beautiful falls where we were going to take a swim. When we arrived there we saw the leftovers of a half eaten lunch and some shoes and clothes but noone was to be seen. Shaun, our guide, began to get worried and joked that they may have been eated by Crocs! He then told us thet there is a local Fresh Water Croc who lived in the area but that the "Freshies" were not nearly as aggressive as the "Salties" (which was reassuring, not). Following the guide and, to Louise's horror, I then went for a quick swim. The guys who had left their stuff then returned and told us the they had seen a 2 meter "Freshie" a few moments earlier! Shaun didn't seem too bothered. Later, Shaun gave us didgeridoo lessons and showed us massive termite hills. We also went on an amazing boat trip down the crocadile infested Adelaide river where we came face to face with 6 meter Salt Water Crocs. We also held pythons and saw loads of other wildlife. All in all the trip was superb. We then decieded to get a Greyhound bus pass which would allow us to travel down the entire west coast hopping on and off as we chose. This turned out to be the cheapest way yo get from A to B. However it entailed doing some monster bus journeys.... starting with the first one - 26 hours to Broome!! Which is where we are now. Luckily we did take the bus instead of hiring a car as halfway along the main road we came across a large flood blocking our way. As the driver slowly navigated his way through the flowing river, water starting coming in through the front door!! Louise couldn't watch as we had recently been told a story about a car that had been washed away into a Croc infected river! There was a queue of cars stuck there as we passed. We are now in Broome which is also the hottest place on earth. We have just done some admin and are now about to head back to our hostel for a swim. We are near the beach which is excellent. We are going to the open air cinema tonight to catch a local flick. The cinema is 87 years old and you can eat dinner there as you watch. That's all for now. We are trying to get into the Christmas spirit which shouldn't be too difficult as the hostel is laying on loads of festive treats for all the guests. take care and have a great Christmas. Love, Louise and Yocksan xxxxxxxx

Dec 13, 2004 09:00 PM Scuba Diving Seasons greetings to you all... The boat trip to Ko Tao turned out to be not too bad. Louise slept reasonably well and, after I had fought off the urges to be sea sick, I got a few hours kip aswell. We arrived on the island at the crack of dawn and walked about a hundred yards up the beach to our accommodation at the Crystal Dive "Resort" where we went straight to bed promising ourselves that we would never do a night ferry again and feeling glad that the return trip would be during the day. Everyone at the dive centre was really friendly and after a chat with one of the dive instructors we signed up for a four day PADI Open Water Scuba course which we started the following morning. The course was a mixture of class room work, pool work and then the last two days were spent in the sea where we did a total of four dives to 18 meters. It was amazing. We saw Rays, Moray Eels, billions of tropical fish and we had a good laugh at eachother as we performed all the tasks which we had to do underwater such as taking your mask off, sharing air etc. During the first dive I started to feel unwell (probably due to overindulgance (food) the previous evening). I had to signal to our instructor that I needed to be sick. As we were 18 meters under the sea I expected her to take me to the surface. Instead, she wrote on her message board that I could be sick into my mouth piece if I wanted. I then had visions of choking and never seeing land again so I signalled that I would rather go to the surface which we then did. I then fed the fish my breakfast and continued. Not a great first dive! The rest of the course went more smoothly, well, apart from the task where Louise and I were given a compass bearing and told to swim off for a timed distance then to find the opposite bearing and swim back to where we started. Sounds simple, but it isn't! Basically we got lost for a while. Luckily our instructor found us again. Oh, and there was also the time where we were all coasting along the bottom looking at all the fish when I pressed the wrong button and ended up floating 15 meters up to the surface. The instructor looked at Louise and asked where I was. I don't think Lou even knew I had gone! I went back down again after I found some bubbles (technical term). Despite these schoolboy errors we passed the course and are now able to go diving anywhere in the world (!) which we might do when we get to Australia. While we were in Ko Tao we met up with one of Louise's pals who was doing her Dive Masters course there. She assisted the instructor during our course which was great. Louise was a little apprehensive about the whole thing at first but ended up finding it a lot easier than she thought. We are both very pleased with ourselves! We also spent some time exploring the island which had some lovely beaches. The social side of things was good too. There were some nice bars and restaurants near to where we were staying. The day before we were due to leave we went ino the travel shop where we had booked our daytime return journey just to ask them about places to stay when we got back to Phuket. They informed us that the day boat had been cancelled due to bad weather. Lou and I looked at eachother and knew what was coming next..... we had to take the dreaded night ferry again, that night, in the bad weather! So we packed up a night early, had a bite to eat and threw back some sea sickness pills and boarded the ferry for another overnighter. The boat was all over the place and we arrived bleary eyed at 5am. Then it was a series of busses back to the other coast to Phuket where we stayed the night in a lovely village near the airport. The following morning we flew to Singapore which is where we are now. We are staying with a friend (Peter, thank's for putting us up) and are having a lovely time. I think we've done 3 loads of washing already! Singapore is an interesting place, not a drop of litter or mess anywhere. You almost feel like dropping something just to mess it up a little but the fear of being jailed holds you back! We went to Raffels and had Singapore Slings and have been out for some lovely meals. We're off to Darwin on Thursday for the next stage of our trip and we will probably be in Broome for the 25th. We hope everyone has/had a lovely Christmas and we will be thinking of you all. Love and best wishes, Yocksan and Louise xxxx

Dec 03, 2004 09:00 PM A very long journey ... Greetings to you all. Hope all is in order where you are. The last update was in Ko Phi Phi and Louise and I were about to go rock climbing which we did and it was excellent. We had done a bit at an indoor climbing wall in Edinburgh but it was nothing compared to climbing up real rock. We had a guide who took us to a good spot where we had to scramble up through some jungle before we arrived at a towering wall of rock which looked impossible. Somehow we managed to do a good few climbs to about 40 meters before taking a load of photos of the bay below and then absailing down again. The next day we awoke with sore arms and got on another ferry to a lovely island called Ko Lanta which was about 2 hours away. It was a much quieter island and we booked into a very quiet bungalow complex towards the southern end. We spent a few days just relaxing by the pool and going for walks along the deserted beach. We found a great bar on the beach which had mats on the sand where you could relax with a cocktail and watch the sunset. One night we watched the sun go down at the same time as watching a distant electrical storm with forked lightening which was superb. We also took another boat trip to some islands to do some snorkelling. During the trip the skipper took us to the "emerald cave". We arrived at this very small island and were faced with a very small hole in the rock at water level. We all then jumped out of the boat with our life jackets on and started to swim towards the entrance. One by one in a long line with the guide at the front we snaked our way into the darkness of what turned out to be an 80 meter long cave which got very narrow (Neil "the claw" Mackay - don't panic if you're reading this!) All we could see was the dim flickering light of the guides torch as we went. We then emerged into an incredible enclosed lagoon which was surrounded on all sides by high cliffs. There was a small beach and we stayed there for a while in total amazement! There were huge ferns, monkeys and giant butterflys. We could have stayed there for days. The following day we left Ko Lanta having booked a ticket to Ao Nang. However, on the boat we met a lovely couple who we got chatting to. They were going to a place called Railay which was on the way yo Ao Nang. As we passed Railey it looked incredible so we decided to get off the boat there instead. We then spent a couple of nights there and spent some in the company of the couple we had met on the boat which was great. A good decision. On the second day there we hired a sea kayak for the day and went on a tour of the coastline which was breathtaking. We found some lovely small secluded beaches and paddled through some fantastic rock formations and islands. Saw kingfishers and other (unidentified) seabirds. The main beach at Railey is like something out of a magazine. Its stunning. We probably could have spent longer there. However, we have now made plans to continue to Ko Tao on the other coast. We have booked into this dive resort on the island called Crystal Divers and have booked to do a 4 day PADI diving course which should be good. We left Railey this afternoon at 2pm where we took a small boat then a mini bus then a big bus then a pick up truck and its now 9pm. We are about to board a freight boat at 11pm which gets into Ko Tao at 8am tomorrow! We will be sleeping on one of about 40 rock solid mattresses whic are all laid out together on the upper deck. We will be sharing our space with about a dozen condemed pigs who are all trussed up in cages. We'll probably end up eating them sometime over the next few days so we won't be getting to friendly with them! Anyway, we are both looking forward to the diving in Ko Tao which is supposed to be one of the best spots in the world. We'll report back in a few days. Take care and we hope you are all enjoying your christmas shopping! Lots of love, Louise and Yocksan xxxxxxxxx

Nov 26, 2004 09:00 PM Frog spotting Hi folks, Louise and I are now deep in relax mode. We are now island hopping off the south west coast of Thailand. Lovely. We arrived in Bangkok after a short flight from Vietnam and spent a few hot but relativly relaxing days in the city which was not as much of an attack on the sences as we had imagined. What we saw in the time we had was very nice. The food was excellent and the budget hotel we ended up in even had a pool! We both had a massage which for Louise was perfect but for me was more of a torture - It felt as if someone was actually walking on my back, with boots on! I'm sure I felt better for it the next day though. We took a boat trip up the river and visited Chinatown. We toured round some of the more colourful markets in the city and saw some amazing Whats which are very elaborate temple type buildings. One partucular highlight was the evening we spent watching Thai boxing.... Basically, two guys who look as if they have been chiselled out of stone, spend about half an hour kicking, stamping, kneeing, punching and generally punnishing eachother untill either one of them falls unconcious or (more likely) the judges decide in favour of the more aggressive one! It's brutal, but we enjoyed it. The purpose built indoor stadium is one of the biggest in Thailand and was full of local men shouting and betting. We watched about eight fights. Bangkok was really just a few days spent wandering around in what turned out to be quite a relaxed city, apart from the mandatory traffic chaos, but we're used to that now. Back to the airport to catch an early morning flight to Phuket which is where the frogs come in. We stayed in a less than salubrious bungalow which turned out to be more of a bungalette. We ended up sharing our limited space with a family of lizzards, three toads of various shapes and colours, a few cockroaches and an army of ants. Every time we got rid of our friends they came back, with their friends! Didn't sleep that well in Phuket but the beach was superb. The water was crystal clear, very warm and we spent a couple of days just laying on the beach and snorkelling which was perfect. We then decided to go to a group of islands called Ko Phi Phi which is where we are now. We are staying in another bungalette type dwelling but with no unwanted visitors this time. We spent the first day (yesterday) on the beach and today we went on an all day boat / snorkelling tour of the islands which was fantastic. We went to the beach where "The Beach" was filmed and it was perfect, totally secluded. We then went to various other equally spectacular beaches, coves and reefs to snorkell. Saw an incredible amount of tropical fish of all shapes and colours and even a huge jelly fish. We have booked up to go rock climbing tomorrow at some nearby limestone cliffs overhanging the sea which should be fun. Then we're off to another island called Ko Lanta for a few days before we head for Ao Nang which is back on the mainland. After that we head for the other coast where we will make our way to an island called Ko Tow which is supposed to be stunning. We will let you know..... Best wishes to you all. Love, Louise and Yocksan xxx

Nov 19, 2004 09:00 PM Keith and Jerry... Hello to you all, Just over a week ago now we left Hanoi and took an overnight train to a small place called Hoi An which is 13 hours down the coast. By coincidence, the two Irish guys who we had met in Halong bay were also on the train. Soon enough we were enjoying a few beers together in the train corridor while our German room-mates canoodled on the top bunk of our cabin! The next morning we enjoyed some excellent scenery from our cabin as we passed through some stunning countryside and coastline. The area of central Vietnam was heavily fought over and bombed during the Vietnam war and we saw hundreds upon hundreds of graves which was a very thought provoking sight. We even saw the remains of some old bomb crators. A good few beers followed over the next week in Hoi An which is a beautiful old place and is famed for cheap tailoring, old architecture and great food. We had only planned to spend a couple of days there but it was so nice that we stayed on. Louise got some clothes made (I even got a pair of made to measure board shorts!) We stayed in a lovely hotel near the town centre which had a pool and we made the five minute trip into town every day where we enjoyed the sights, cheap beer, free pool playing and fantastic cakes. We went on a cookery class where we made spring rolls, steamed fish in banana leaf and squid salad which was great fun. We had too many late nights with the Irish lads, Keith and Jerry from Cork, who were also staying in our hotel. After about 11pm all the bars and restaurants in the town closed and those who wanted to continue (us) had to go "across the river" to one of two options which stayed open untill 5am! Unfortunately we didn't have great weather so every time we arrived at the late night bar it was surrounded by water as the river had burst its banks. We had to wade through water to get there and to and from the portaloos!! On the days when the sun did come out we hired a couple of bikes and went to the lovely palm lined beach which was about 4km away. Between the beach, the good food, the great company we had a fantastic time in Hoi An. Sick of taking trains we decided to take a quick flight from Hoi An to Saigon which is where we are now. We have just spent an interesting day visiting the war remenants museum and the Reunification Palace. We also spent some time wandering through a massive covered market which sold absolutely everything under the sun, and more. After the relatively quiet streets of Hoi An we are back to traffic chaos playing chicken with the Hondas and bicycles every time we attempt to cross a road. Green man? You must be joking!! We fly to Bangkok tomorrow morning where we will spend three nights before we fly to Pukhet for some more beach time. Not sure where after that but we plan to get to a small island called Ko Tao for the beginning of December then to Singapore for around the 12th. Hope you are all well at home and thanks for all the messages, its much appreciated. Lots of love, Yocksan and Louise xxx

Nov 10, 2004 09:00 PM Hill Tribes Hi folks, hope all is well. Louise and I have just returned form a trully fantastic trip to a place called Sapa. It is 1600m up in the North Vietnamese highlands near the border with China. It is an old market town which has only recently become a tourist destination. When we arrived the place was flooded with local people who had travelled there form all over the valley to sell their hand made crafts. All were members of various tribes who have lived and farmed in the area for hundreds of years. All were wearing their traditional tribal dress. We then met up a local guide called Su from the H'mong tribe. She took us on a 40km trek over the following 3 days through some great mountain scenery to some remote tribal villages where we stayed for 2 nights with local people in their homes. The temperature was a lot cooler than in Hanoi and the evenings were verging on cold, which was a nice change. Although Su had never been to school she spoke great English and was brilliant at cards! She taught us how to play "shit head" and won every game! Every village we treked through was like walking through the past. Villagers all surviving on the land and almost completely self sufficient and all extremely friendly. We had to ask permission to take any photos as many of them genuinely believed that being photographed would remove their spirit. As we stopped off we would be surrounded by people trying to sell us their hand made bracelets and blankets. They were extremely persistant but in a very friendly way. When we politely said "no thankyou" they quickly replied "yes thankyou". And so it went on untill we eventually gave in. The scenery was superb, sweeping valleys, forrests, rivers, rice paddy terraces carved into the steep hills and huge mountains rising into the clouds with the highest, Fansipan (4132m), perched at the top of the valley. Took millions of photos. The whole trip was a great experience and has surpassed Halong Bay as the new highlight of the trip, so far! Having had another trip on a night train last night arriving back in Hanoi at 5am we are off on another 13 hour night train leaving tonight at 11pm bound for Denang which is down the east coast. We are then off in search of beach heaven and a few days of total relaxation at a place nearby called Hoi An. We aim to be in Saigon on around the 20th where we have booked a flight to bangkok on the 21st. Lots of love to you all, Yocksan and Louise xx

Nov 05, 2004 09:00 PM China and Vietnam... Hello everyone, hope you are all well. Louise and I have had a bit of an adventure over the last week or so. Since leaving Hong Kong we made our way over land through a small section of South China and into Vietnam. As we were only spending a short time in China we didn't buy a Lonley Planet book but instead went to the book shop and took notes! We left Hong Kong early on the 29th of last month with no real plan other than we had about 3 days untill our visa for Vietnam started on the 1st. First stop was a place called Guangzhou. We got off the bus there and were immediately lost in a large city where no-one spoke a single word of English. As neither of us had done a crash course in Chinese for beginners we spent the next few hours playing "give us a clue" with various locals with little success. We finally found our way to the train station where we were to catch a sleeper train which left at about 4pm. We travelled through some fantastic mountain scenery untill dark then off to the food carriage for a shot in the dark at the menu! Then to sleep. We arrived at our next stop, Nanning, at 5.30am where we went to a hotel near the train station. Booked in and then off to bed. We then spent a couple of days exploring the city which was extremely busy and relatively untouched by western commercialism. There were no other tourists at all and still no one spoke any English. We got on a local bus and went to a park where we stumbled upon a massive food festival where we saw (not ate) an incredible array of foods being cooked up. Dogs, sea horses (yes, sea horses) locusts, star fish, grubs, scorpians, all being munched by the locals. After we ate our bananas we headed off back into the town and through a meat and veg market which was also a sight to behold.... more dogs hanging on hooks and live fish being slaughtered everywhere. Had a couple more unidentified meals in the town before catching another train to the border. We arrived at a small town near the crossing to Vietnam and hooked up with a nice guy from Singapore who we shared a dare devil rickshaw to the friendship gate border control. After various financial bribes (including paying for a "medical check" and some "admin fees" which didn't exist) we made it through into Vietnam. We then took another Kamakaze 5 hour mini bus trip to Hanoi where we are now. Shaken, but not stirred, we eventually found a nice guest house. The currency here is Dong and there are lots of them.... 28000 to the pound. So we are Dong millionaires -which is good! We have spent the last couple of days hanging out in the city which is very chilled out with great restaurants and cafe culture. Lots of tree lined streets and lakes. Very nice. The buildings are very French looking and are shaped like the type of house you would see in Amsterdam - very tall and thin. We have just returned from what has probably been the highlight of our trip so far.... a 3 day boat trip to Halong Bay which is made up of over 3000 islands. There were 16 of us on a lovely boat and the scenery was stunning. Lots of swimming, deserted beaches, great sea food etc. Went for beers last night in a local beer stall where we drank great beers direct from the keg at 10 pence a pint!!! (headache today, needless to say) Back in Hanoi now waiting to get an overnight train to a mountain town called Sapa for 4 days of exploring and trekking. We will be spending one night in a hotel perched on the side of a mountain then 2 nights staying with hill tribe families - should be good... Anyway, off for some dinner now with some Irish lads who we met on the Halong Bay trip. Will update again soon Take care, love, Yocksan and Louise

Oct 27, 2004 06:00 PM Hong Kong Update Hi there, Hope all's well at home. We are now on the last day of what has been a great time here in Hong Kong. It couldn't be more different from India. It is extremely modern, clean and organised! It's almost too clean. We spent a day exploring one of the smaller islands where we went for a long walk, found a lovely beach where there was a life guard / shark spotter!! We then had some excellent sea food at a small harbour on the way home. The main island here is full of sky scrapers stretching as far as the eye can see. We are staying on an island which is about a 5 minute ferry ride away from which you get an amazing view of the central business district which rises from the sea with mountains in the immediate background. It's quite a sight, especially at night. There are escalators everywhere and the whole city seems to be linked through shopping centres and office blocks. You don't often find yourself walking at street level. We returned home yesterday to switch on the news to hear that there had been a shooting one street away from where we were staying, apparently some Triad gang members had planned to hold up a bank but were foiled by the Police at the last minute. Shots were fired! noone hurt - Luckily we were on the other side of town eating sweet and sour kidneys (by mistake!) at the time. We had a great night out in the Soho area, a few beers and food. Then we did our usual trip to the swankiest hotel in town for a drink and the most amazing views from the 27th floor of The Peninsula Hotel. The toilets were absolutely incredible - ceiling to Floor glass over-looking the entire city while you pee! We have now arranged our trip to Hanoi. We leave tomorrow morning at 8am when we will get the bus to a place called Guangzhou then an overnight train to Nanning. We should get to Hanoi on the 1st of November. We don't have a guide book for China so we're off to the book shop now to take notes!! Will be in touch soon, Yocksan and Louise xx

Page: 1 2 3