Friday 29th October

After last night's beautiful dinner with the Aussies, I decided to skip the breakfast at my hotel for breakfast there instead, ordering both French toast and porridge. (I wasn't being greedy, I just couldn't decide which one I wanted so I ordered both and ate half serves!)

Packing my bag this morning was fun. I did fit everything in reasonably easily, although some of the new clothes are in my daypack, rather than my big backpack (I could change this if I took the clothes out of their plastic seals, but I'd like to keen them in pristine condition until there is a reason to change them ... i.e. buying more clothes in Ho Chi Minh City. By the time I get to Canada, I will definitely need to buy a new bag!)

Checking out of the hotel at 10:30, I had 7 hours to kill before the sleeper bus to Nha Trang. I spent the first hour and a half on the internet, updating my blog and checking the usual suspect websites (i.e. PerezHilton).  I had an early lunch - the most beautiful egg and lettuce sandwich ever, made on thick crusty toasted bread - and then went and hired a bike. Everyone in Hoi An rides either a motorbike or a bicycle, and the main quadrant of town is even blocked off from motor vehicles. I wanted to join in the action, and ride to the nearby beach, about 5km away. The bike I hired was bright green and had a basket - I actually swapped the bike I was initially given for one with a basket!!

I didn't have a dog to put in the basket, only my bag and water, but off I rode into the sunset ... (ok, not really, just down the pothole and mud strewn roads of Hoi An). Once you got out of the city - which didn't take long - the scenery was gorgeous, with rice paddy fields being tilled by men and their water buffalos. Luckily the traffic around here isn't bad, and I managed to ride on the right hand side of the road without any issues - I need to get used to that for Canada!

The beach wasn't too far away, although as I approached it I heard a shrill whistle, waving me off the bike and into a 'parking lot'. (I'm not sure if I got played here - I was made pay 5000 dong to park my bike and then walk to the beach). The beach was very choppy - the weather has been bad here all week - and the sand was blowing hundreds of metres back onto the road.

Back on my bike, I rode into the town, onto the back streets and across the river. It's such a fun way to get around the town, and it makes you feel like such a local (and a little kid - when was the last time you rode on a bike with a basket?)

I deposited my bike back at the bike rental shop and decided to kill an hour of the remaining three hours left to the bus by getting a massage. Bad move - I don't know why I persist on getting massages, I think it's just because a) they're cheap and b) they're considered a luxury at home. I had a 60 minute herbal massage - very similar to a stone massage except with herbal compresses - and the young Vietnamese girl had a fun time scalding and pummelling my body into submission.

'Dinner' was next (even though it was only 4:30pm) - I didn't trust the roadside diners the bus would likely pull up at on the way to Nha Trang, so I wanted to make sure I had a hearty meal (and a few snacks in my daypack). The restaurant was really funky, and had a poster with the saying, "Google knows what you did last summer" in the style of the movie poster for 'I Know What You Did Last Summer', but with Google in the Google logo. Photography was prohibited else I would have taken a photo - I'd love a copy of it for my apartment! (Wherever that ends up being next).

I then returned to the guesthouse to wait for the bus pick-up. I was told the bus would leave at 6pm, but at 6pm I was 'picked-up' by a representative of the bus company, who accompanied me across the road to the bus office. I waited there for about 45 minutes before the sleeper bus finally arrived, and I piled on with the other backpackers and tourists.

How do I explain the sleeper bus to you ... imagine a bus, with three aisles of bunk beds. The back of the bus also consists of two levels of beds, except that instead of having individual bunks, it consists of five beds joined together. Each bed is tailored to the size of a standard Vietnamese person, despite these buses being predominantly used by Westerners. The beds are 80cm in width, and about 2m in length. This isn't a lie-flat 2m though - there is about 1m of horizontal space for your legs, and the remaining 2m is on an angle for your back to rest on. You soon realise 1m isn't enough room for your legs, so your feet end up hanging over onto the front of the bunk in front of you.

There is no room for your bag - you must nurse this either on top of your body, or sleep with your legs on top of it. Your shoes must be removed and placed in a plastic bag, rested in the same way. A small pillow is provided, along with a blanket, for some warmth and comfort, but sleeping for 12 hours on a bed which isn't wide enough to turn negates that comfort. (As you can imagine, I became very good friends with the German guy sleeping next to me - 80cm is a miniscule width!)

The 12 hour bus ride had only just departed when it made its first pit-stop at a local diner. I had decided I wasn't going to drink or eat anything on the bus because I didn't want to have to go to the bathroom (public bathrooms over here are disgusting!), and instead played my iPod, trying to block out the constant sound of the bus' horn. Vietnamese roads are also quite bumpy, and the suspension on the bus wasn't to Western standards, so the bus ride was bumpy to say the least. But, it was something I had wanted to experience (and now that I have, I see no reason in having to repeat the experience any time soon!)

Thursday 28th October

Now that my clothes are finished, I have two days in which to fill in before leaving for Nha Trang. Today I decided to head to Danang, the town in which I'd flown into. Finishing breakfast (the hotel had a good set-up - you could order any breakfast item and any drink off the menu, and it was included in the room tariff), I used the hotel car to go into Danang city.

I'd researched Danang the previous night using the hotel's wi-fi on my iPhone, and it didn't seem to be an interesting place (Abi had also previously told me this). All I could find of interest (well, to me at least), was the Big C shopping centre, and a few main streets which sounded promising.

That wasn't to be. I had fun in Big C, exploring their toiletries section - Vaseline for 50c? Clean and Clear moisturisor for 50c? (I stocked up, knowing this will save me money in the long run!) I then proceeded to walk the main streets of Danang, along to the dirty river and eventually ending up at a hairdresser salon. Through a great game of charades, the hairdressers worked out that I wanted my hair straightened. What a fun experience - I had a hairdresser either side of me, straightening each side of my hair; whilst the rest of the salon stood around and watched. (I was a little off the beaten path - maybe they hadn't seen too many Westerners, particularly with blonde hair as they touched it in amazement!) The grand total was 20,000 dong - $1!

During my research the previous night I'd also found a movie theatre that showed films in English (not just with sub-titles), so I watched 'Wall Street 2' for less than $3. What a great movie! I walked out totally in love with Shia LaBoeuf - no wonder his work is applauded!

I tried to find a cafe I'd both been told about by a local Vietnamese guy and read about in the Lonely Planet, which was a bakery/cafe run by deaf students. Unfortunately, I was unable to find it, so I took a taxi back to my hotel.

After a brief respite, I headed into Hoi An town, determined to take some photos of the heritage-listed town. I've barely taken any photos in Vietnam - it feels more like an experience than a group of attractions, and it's been the people that have made this trip bareable as I haven't really enjoyed the country - it's definitely been the best country to find people to talk with!

Continuing this trend, as I walked into Hoi An town I bumped into Kym, Julie, Donna and Debbie, the four ladies who I'd initially met in Sapa and then again on the flight to Hoi An. They invited me to join them for dinner, but first had a few pit-stops to make. The first was to a jewellery store, where they seemed to have purchased half of the store - and I could see why. The jewellery was not only beautiful and cheap, but it could also be either customised or custom-made to your specifications. They were supposed to be picking up some customised items, but couldn't resist purchasing a few more items.

They had spent most of their time on the 'east' side of the town, whereas I had spent my time in the 'west', so they weaved through a number of streets and called into shops I hadn't come across, before we arrived at the restaurant for dinner. The restaurant was owned by the same person who owned the jewellery store, and the ladies were welcomed warmly by the staff - they were the kind of people who would talk to anyone, and would become friends with everyone in an instance!

The food was beautiful, the setting was great and the company fantastic - we had a great evening. They were booked on a flight to Nha Trang the next morning, where they'd booked two nights at the Diamond Bay Resort, which hosted the 2008 Miss Universe pageant. However, as onward flights to Ho Chi Minh City were booked out on Sunday, they now had to leave Nha Trang on Saturday, which meant they couldn't use their second night at the resort, which was fully paid for and non-refundable. Was I interested in taking up the room?, they asked.

I accepted the offer, and arranged to meet them at the resort on Saturday morning once I'd arrived on the sleeper bus (I was worried about arriving too early, given the sleeper bus was scheduled to arrive at 6:00am, but Kym assured me she'd be awake). With that sorted, and dinner finished, we went our separate ways - them to pick-up their last items of clothing, and myself to snap a few more photos.

Tuesday 26th October
Wednesday 27th October

This post will take on a different fashion from my normal blogs, because these two days consisted of one thing: clothes fittings! Rather than account my hour by hour fittings, I thought I would write about my experience at each tailor, and the clothes I ended up with.

Yaly Couture
Advertising for Yaly Couture confronts you as soon as you enter the airport in Danang, and follows you down the road to Hoi An. Along with Ao Dong Silk, Yaly Couture is the premium tailor in Hoi An. This was my first stop, and armed with a list of clothes I wanted made, I was greeted by Fairy, my own personal assistant.

After showing her my pictures, talking through ideas and examining the look books (each tailor has a heap of magazines and lookbooks from which you can draw inspiration), I settled on four items to be made: a navy silk dress, similar to one I have in Australia; a tulip work dress; a black silk jacket with 80s style sleeves; and a replica of the flannellete dress I own, in a red and blue flannel.

At the first fitting that afternoon, I was a little alarmed. Each item was quite oversized (although, Fairy reassured me this was only because it was a first fitting - the clothes would be cut to size after the tailor had viewed the product on me, and as she said it was better for it to be too big than too small! I don't think there was any reason for me to be alarmed, it wasn't that they were poorly made, more just that I wasn't familiar with the clothes making process). The tulip dress was the one thing that was concerning me - I'd asked for it to be made with cap sleeves, which looked repulsive (I take the blame for this), and the silk dress made me look like a 10 tonne Tessa. 

One of the notable differences with Yaly is that at each fitting, the tailor of your item personally comes into your dressing room to examine the fit, and talk through any problems or concerns you have. (At all of the other tailors, the shop assistant examines the fit, and then sends it back to the sewing room). Having discussed my concerns with the tailors, they scurried back to work, and I returned the next morning for another fitting.

This time, my fears were allayed - the tailors had made every change required, and had now sorted out the hem lengths so I looked like the 27 year old that I am, rather than a frumpy Grandma. The flannellete dress was near perfect (I wanted one minor change to nip in the waist) whilst the silk dress was perfect; the jacket required a slight modification in the back for more space, and the tulip dress looked way better now that the sleeves were gone and the hem was shorter.

One more fitting in the afternoon and I was happy with all of the clothes. However, Fairy wouldn't let me leave with the clothes - she said she would perform a quality assessment of the clothes, and once she was satisfied with them she would have them couriered over to my hotel (and three hours later, they arrived at my hotel, freshly pressed and individually wrapped).

Judgment: Expensive, but you get what you pay for. Quality control, large range of fabric and look books, and professional staff ensure you leave a happy customer. Quality of tailoring is supreme.

Mr Xe
Mr Xe had good feedback on TripAdvisor. Run by an eccentric, short Vietnamese man, it was my second stop after Yaly Couture. Reviews I had read said it was best to have business clothes made here, not casual clothes, so I decided to have one business shirt made (my thought being, if the shirt turned out well I could always go back for more). At $15, I thought it was a bargain, especially as the fabric felt beautiful (rich woven cotton, as opposed to thin cotton).

After my measurements were taken, I was told to come back later that afternoon for a first fitting. The shirt was a disaster - way too small in the back for me - so it was sent back to the workshop. It required three more fittings on the next day to get it to fit me properly - they actually made a brand new shirt in the end, with more material. The eccentric Mr Xe ensured he sat in on all of the fittings as well, and the shirt was only allowed home with me once he gave the final sign-off. I'm not sure if I will end up wearing it - they can't seem to do women's shirts right, but at $15 it's worth having in the cupboard, even if it's just worn a few times or under dresses.

Judgment: Give women's business shirts a miss, but possibly worth persisting for other types of work clothes.

Thu Thuy
This tailor has good reviews on TripAdvisor, and had several locations in town. I stopped in at the first, a small front only store, and decided to have a business shirt made at a cost of $27. Similar to Mr Xe though, the fit was terrible. After 4 fittings, I gave up on it, asking if I could cancel the order. This meant I lost my deposit, but it was better than paying the full amount for a shirt I knew I would never wear.

Across the road was their main shopfront. You walked through the street facing store and at the rear was a large fabric and fitting room. The only items really left on my list, now that I'd decided to skip the Burberry jacket, were some pants for Whistler. Now I NEVER wear pants, because a) they don't suit my body and b) I don't feel feminine in them. My assistant wore a slightly surly expression on her face but she was absolutely brilliant - you know when people are really brilliant so they get bored when they're not being stretched? This was her. She advised me that no one in Hoi An had the right machine to make jeans, and advised getting them off the shelf once I got to Canada, but helped me pick out a great pair of black pants, which will be my workwear in Canada. They were made of a slightly shiny material, with some excess room around the crotch - a style that's very in at the moment (very tailored, not like a pair of harem pants!)

At the first fitting, I was very excited - finally a nice pair of pants I'd actually wear! I asked for slightly more room in the legs and for the waist to be brought in, and at the second fitting it was perfect.

Judgment: Putting the business shirt fiasco aside, they were very professional (even giving me free bottles of water as I waited) and stylish, and knew exactly how to fit and flatter. Slightly expensive but worth it.


Thanh Thien
On my list of 'wanted' clothes, I had jotted down a boyfriend blazer. However, none of the look books had good examples and I didn't really want to explain what a boyfriend blazer was. Walking down LeLoi street, I noticed a boyfriend blazer hanging in the window of this tailors, made in an expensive grey sheeny material, similar to that in which expensive suits are made out of. I asked to try it on and instantly fell in love, asking the price - it was only $30!
I was quickly measured up and told to come back later that afternoon. When I returned and tried on the custom product, it was absolutely perfect - not one alteration required. Since the jacket was made so perfectly, I decided to get a skirt made in the same material for only $25 - the skirt and jacket could act as a suit, or I could wear the boyfriend blazer with jeans or pants for a night out. The skirt required several alterations to fit perfectly - mostly because I designed it 'from my head' as a tulip skirt, but when I saw the product I realised it was a little too 'tulipy' and need to be streamlined.

Judgment: Not initially on the list, but this tailor turned out to be brilliant. Whenever they have something to copy, they can replicate it perfectly, as was the case with the jacket.

Shoe Shop
I hadn't intended on having shoes made, as the reviews I had read online gave only bad feedback. The myriad of shoemakers in town seemed to make the same types of shoes, all made from a cheap type of leather but customised to a design of your choice (predominantly sandals, thongs, or men's work shoes). This wasn't the type of place where you could bring your Nine West suede pumps and have them replicated.

Late on Tuesday night, I was walking through the city when a young girl called me into her shoe store. I obliged, intending to just have a quick look, but she had me down on a chair with a catalog in my hand before I could object. "So pretty," she kept remarking, as she stroked my blonde hair (everyone loves blonde hair and blue eyes it seems - none of them can believe my eye colour is real). She told me how the store was a family business, and that she worked everyday from 8:30am to 10pm, and how slow her day had been. By the end of this, I couldn't bare to walk out of the shop, and ended up ordering a pair of lace-up sandals made in a bright blue python-skin material.

Returning on Wednesday to pick them up, they were a disaster. I couldn't fit my feet into the shoes, and the material on the side was all crinkled - not a good look at all. "No problem, we fix, you return at 8pm," my friend told me.

Returning at 8pm, the shoes were still a disaster - in fact, they were possibly even worse than they had been that morning. I couldn't bare sending them back again - I decided to accept the fact that they were a disaster and I wouldn't wear them, and accepted them with a fake smile on my face. As soon as I returned to my hotel, the shoes were put by the bin (and I told the hotel manager he could give them to the staff).

Judgment: Friendly staff but terrible shoes - give shoe-making a miss in Hoi An.


Overall:
Sandals                 $20   Epic fail           Shoe Store
Business shirt      $15   Acceptable      Mr Xe
Silk dress             $65   Great               Yaly
Tulip dress           $60   Good                Yaly
Silk jacket            $60   Good                Yaly
Flannellete dress $60   Perfect              Yaly
Boyfriend blazer  $30   Perfect              Thanh Thien
Tulip skirt             $25  Good                 Thanh Thien
Shirt                      $27   Epic fail            Thu Thuy
Black pants          $55   Perfect              Thu Thuy

Overall, this was an interesting experience. I had initially intended on getting more clothes made, but for me I prefer to buy off the rack, because at least then you know what you're paying for. It's best to go armed with either an article of clothing you want replicated OR pictures of the item you want made - the tailors work best when they're copying something. You get what you pay for, but at these prices you can't really go wrong - and one or two items that are not up-to-scratch isn't bad in the long run.

Monday 25th October

Two months to Christmas! (Not that there is any sign of Christmas here). Although I awoke just before 8am - not a bad effort I thought, given the lack of sleep on the train the night before - I was the last one up in my dorm, which now consisted of about 7 people. The heat and humidity was horrendous in both the dorms and the bathroom - drying off seemed a useless task!

As my flight to Danang wasn't until 3:25pm, I had a few hours to kill. I ignored the breakfast provided by the hostel (fresh bread and condiments), and found a quaint little cafe down the road to eat in instead. Back at the hostel, I packed my bag and checked out, storing my bags to pick-up later.

Following the Lonely Planet's advice, I set off to try and find a bookshop, in the hope that they may have a Canadian Lonely Planet. After about 2 hours, I realise my efforts were in vain and ended up at the Sofitel Metropole, surrounded by all of its luxury stores (Louis Vuitton? Prada?) Numerous wedding shoots were going on outside, and the road was blocked off to cars for this purpose.

Deciding to have a quick lunch before heading out to the airport, on my way to a cafe I ran into Ashley and Matt, who I had met in Ko Phi Phi. I'd actually just being messaging Ashley that morning on Facebook, finding out they were in Hanoi and had jobs teaching English. They were supposed to have started that day but the woman had cancelled, so were out exploring the Old Quarter. It looked like they were already starting to doubt their decision to get jobs in Hanoi though, as the noise blared around us.

Farewelling them, I had lunch nearby to the hostel, before returning to pick-up my bags. I walked outside to find a Mai Linh cafe, but none were in sight. Not deterred, I started to walk down the streets to find one, when I found a travel agency offered airport taxis for only $9 (normally, the price is about $12-$14). I was expecting a catch, but a nice new taxi turned up and deposited me swiftly at the Hanoi airport, about 30km outside of the city.

Time flew and we were soon boarding the Jetstar flight, which was piloted by two Aussies and also had an Aussie flight attendant on board. The flight was only short - about an hour - and as we made our way off the plane, I ran into the Aussie ladies who had shared my mini-bus to the train station in Sapa. "We thought you hadn't made it!", they exclaimed, having not seen me at the airport. We chatted about our plans for clothes in Hoi An, and I gave them some advice on recommended tailors (as provided by Trip Advisor). In return, they told me of a great market in Ho Chi Minh City where I could find good handbags, and another which had real perfume at dirt cheap prices.

My bag was one of the first off the carousel, and the hotel driver was waiting for me outside. As there were no flights to Hoi An, I'd flown into Danang, a town of 1.1 million people located 35km from Hoi An. The ride took about half an hour, on a street parallel to the beach. Everywhere you looked, beach resorts were being constructed - Sheraton; Hyatt Regency; even a Greg Norman designed golf course.

It was dark by the time I'd checked in, but I was eager to go for a walk and have some dinner. The town has a population of only 10,000, and is very quaint. Finally, a town I like in Vietnam! (Partly due to the clamp down on touts, and that cars are forbidden from the centre of town). I ended up getting massively lost as I walked, but finally found my way down to the 'Eating Street', eating pumpkin soup at the Lonely Planet recommended 'Cargo Bar'. The restaraunt also had an adjoining bakery, full of delicious cakes, breads, and ice-creams, and I made a mental note of its location.

Back at the hotel, I finalised my plan of attack for the tailors tomorrow. I wrote down the names and addresses of the tailors I would head to; what clothes I would get made at each; and ensured I had pictures (or at least, the details in my head) and the clothes I wanted made. I couldn't wait!

Sunday 24th October

When the train pulled into Hanoi (after our 5am wake-up call!), Abi came to 'collect' me in my cabin and we walked out of the train station to find a taxi. All of the taxi drivers were circling like vultures, and as we coiuldn't find a Mai Linh taxi, we bargained with another taxi driver to take us first to Abi's hotel, and then to mine. Passing through the empty streets of Hanoi, Abi's hotel was all shut up, so we had him drop us at my hostel, which was open and contained another backpacker, fresh off the earlier train from Sapa (he'd arrived at 4:10am!)

We played on the internet whilst we waited for the reception to officially open at 6am. As I collected my keys, Abi wandered back to her hotel, feeling confident it would be open by now (and feeling safer given it was light out and movement on the streets). The receptionist told me there were two other people in my room, and I was worried about waking them up, given how early it was. Not to worry though, as they were already awake and showered! One of them was an Aussie and the other was Japanese and sooo sweet! She couldn't speak much English and was delighted when I conversed with her in Japanese, trying to tell me about the room (the air conditioning was only turned on at night by the staff, and was freezing, so she set up her towels and clothes on the railing above to try to block out the cold).

Given it was so early, and knowing I needed a wake-up call, I pulled on my runners and headed for the lake. It was here that I finally found something good about Vietnam! The lake was absolutely packed: men had brought out weights and were doing bench-presses; badminton courts had been assembled and competitions were being held; exercise classes were being performed by literally hundreds of old women; and hundreds, if not thousands, of people were pounding the pavement. I joined them, running several laps before returning to the hostel for a shower.

I'd decided I needed to do something 'touristy' today, so I headed out to the Museum of Ethnology, about 6km out of the city. I must admit I had an alterior motive for coming here - the Chocolat and Baguette cafe I'd loved in Sapa had an outpost here. Unfortunately though, they didn't have a bakery like the one in Sapa - nor a breakfast menu - so my stomach rumbled as I walked through the museum. The museum was a fairly standard (read: boring) museum, although the gardens were interesting, as they'd assembled replica tribal houses.

I had the taxi driver drop me at the French boulangerie and ordered scrambled eggs for breakfast. Whilst I was waiting, they brought out 6 slices of freshly baked baguette which was absolutely to die for!! I showed immense restraint in not eating it all, leaving 4 pieces untouched. I then spent several hours walking through the city, calling in at the Nine West, Clinique and Mac stores and mentally writing a shopping list for when I hit Canada.

Starting to fall asleep, I headed back to the hostel to work out an itinerary for the next week, keeping an eye on the Formula 1 whilst I was at it. The hostel had a special - for every crash, they would give out a free beer. The road was extremely wet and slippery, so there was a crash seemingly every two minutes - needless to say, the atmosphere quickly livened up! The place was opened by two Aussie guys, and had moved to the current location only two weeks ago, so was fresh and modern. It was free internet and wi-fi, a bar and travel agency downstairs, and a fifth floor with couches, more computers, and pool tables. The dorms themselves were good too - a lockable drawer located under the beds, and power supply and light for each bunk.

By 4pm I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer, so I had a quick cat-nap before I had to meet Abi at 6:30pm. Starving when I awoke, I was at her hotel shortly after 6pm, and we taxied it out to 'KOTO' (Know One, Teach One), which was a restaurant which trained disadvantaged kids (notice a pattern to my eating lately?) It had great reviews in both the Lonely Planet and TripAdvisor, and we weren't disappointed. We shared a Middle Eastern salad (chick peas, beetroot, pumpkin, mint leaves, Spanish onion, feta cheese) and then had pistachio and ricotta pasta for a main - seriously, this was the best pasta I have tasted in my life!

Unable to find a Mai Linh taxi outside (we dared to ask a few other companies for a quote, and their prices were so laughable that we would slam their doors and walk off, refusing on principle to barter them down), we walked down to road and happened to find the KOTO bakery - which had the duo chocolate tarts that both Abi and I had fallen in love with in Sapa! "Everything happens for a reason", I said to Abi, as we happily bought one each.

We had the taxi drop us on the lake as Abi headed into Mac and then the Nine West store, before farewelling each other. Abi was onto Ho Chi Minh City to meet up with her partner the next day, whilst I was off to Hoi An.

Saturday 23rd October

Although I was able to get to sleep easily last night, I was woken nice and early by the loud voices and disgusting habits of my neighbours. I wandered down to my 'local breakfast place', Chocolat and Baguette, for my normal eggs and toast, and was just reading a magazine when Abi walked in. (I'd recommended the cafe to her yesterday, and told her she would find me here in the morning). She had the last part of her trek beginning at 9:30am, but was eager for a nice breakfast as the food at her hotel did not look appetising in the slightest!

Abi left for her trek and had most of the day to fill in before we caught the train back to Hanoi. After packing my bags and checking out of the hotel, I started walking in the north of the town, away from the tourist traps. I then stumbled upon a hairdressers, and asked if they could straighten my hair (it's an easy pick-me-up - leaves you feeling much better than a massage). For only $2.50, the pink haired male hairdresser tended to my hair, and I emerged feeling like a supermodel! (Ok, not quite. But when you've been backpacking for almost 3 months, it's nice to feel pretty!)

I really struggled for things to fill in my time here. Sapa was renowned for its Saturday market, but it was exactly the same as the market that occurred everyday on the square, with the only difference being that more tribespeople came from the surrounding villages to sell to the tourists! The mountain has really been ruined by tourism and the salespeople local - it is such a beautiful location and would be the perfect place for a retreat, but when you're constantly being pestered every step by numerous people trying to sell you things, you just want to get out of the town.

I had some tapas at the same restaurant I ate at on Thursday - some beautiful mushrooms done in an olive sauce on bruschetta - and a Spanish hot chocolate, made with egg and cinnamon (I really need to stop drinking hot/cold chocolate ... my excuse is that it's helping me give up diet coke, but it's really just that I like it!) I filled in some more time by having a foot massage, and instantly regretted it. Abby had told me of her horrible experience at a massage parlour the previous day, and as we concluded later, I'd stumbled into the same one.

Returning to my guesthouse, Abi came running out of the Sapa Rooms restaurant, where she was enjoying a wine after finishing the trek, so I spent half an hour in there with her and a few Aussie women she'd met. Exchanging stories, it seems no one here is very impressed with Sapa.

I'd been told to return to my guesthouse at 4:30pm to await my transfer to the Lo Cai train station, and I checked with the receptionist that I should just sit in the lobby to wait. "Yes", she replied, "Wait 5 minutes". The five minutes stretched into twenty-five, and I was chatting with a Vietnamese guy when a man came in, took one look at me, and then said to the receptionist (in Vietnamese, which my new friend translated for me), "The bus has already left!" Luckily it wasn't too far away and the receptionist called it back for me, although I wasn't too impressed!

The bus wasn't full, just consisting of four Aussie women from Moree (whom I would see again on Monday, as they had booked the same flight to Danang as me). They told me that on their trek, their guide had told them how in Vietnam, once a child reaches two years old it's considered that they can fend for themselves. It's not a surprise to see young children wandering the streets by themselves, or six year olds carrying their baby brothers on their back. Whilst having a drink with Abi and a few Aussie women, we saw a young child with a plastic bag on his head. In Australia, the child would never have a plastic bag to begin with, due to the suffocation hazard, but the mother was completely unconcerned (meanwhile, I was looking on in horror and ready to jump up and help him!)

We reached the train station at about 5:30pm, despite my train not being to 8:45pm - due to the early onset of nightfall and the mist the hangs around the mountains, the buses leave Sapa very early. Abi and I had tickets on the same train but were being transported to the station separately, and we arranged to wait for each other at the front of the station. Well, I waited ... and waited ... and waited .. for almost 2 hours, before her bus finally arrive at 7:15pm! We then needed to exchange our coupons for actual berth locations on the train, and of course there were no tickets left in the same carriage - we were quite despondent at the thought that we might be sharing our cabins with some Vietnamese men and their horrible habits!

Desperate for a drink, we headed to a nearby restaurant where we found the Aussie women I'd shared the bus with, and bunkered with them whilst waiting to board the train. They all admitted how they were in awe of us, travelling by ourselves - they could never do it, they said.

Onwards to the train, we kept seeing people we knew (like the Western couple we'd spoken with on the train ride up, to tell them what had happened with that Vietnamese guy), and hoped we would be sharing our cabin with some nice Westerners. My cabin turned out to be ok, sharing with three Thai dentists all about my age, but Abi wasn't so lucky, making two new Vietnamese 'friends'. ;-) She came in to check on me and take a few photos for my blog, and then retired to her room whilst I fell asleep (well, at least tried to - I had a terrible night's sleep, not made much better with a 5am wake up call as we arrived back in Hanoi).

Thursday 21st October

We were woken on the train by the train attendants knocking on the door, shortly before 6am. The train pulled into Lao Cai station, about 45 minutes from Sapa, close to 6:30am, and the passengers alighted onto the platform. The front of the train station was full of Vietnamese drivers holding boards displaying passenger names. Abi spotted her driver straight away, but I couldn't find mine. Her driver offered to take me into town if I was stuck, but I kept searching - I'd already paid for the pick-up! Luckily, I eventually found the driver and boarded his mini-van, after exchanging details with Abi and arranging to have dinner on Friday when she returned from her trekking expedition.


Driving through the hills, we eventually arrived in Sapa town, and myself and another backpacker were greeted at Green Tree Guesthouse, underneath the town's market. Fortunately we were able to check-in straight away, and I was relieved to have a shower and wash away not only the dirt from the train but the sunscreen and salt from the cruise.

Sapa is located up in the mountains and near to the Chinese border. It was a nice change to pull on tights and my soft-shell jacket, and I enjoyed a pleasant stroll through the town before ordering breakfast at 'Chocolat and Baguette', a cafe recommended by the Lonely Planet. It was part of my 'responsible tourism' program, as it trained disadvantaged Vietnamese kids. The food was absolutely delicious though, and the tart that I purchased and later ate was probably the best I've ever eaten.


I stopped in at an internet cafe for a while, trying to determine my movements after Sapa. I had booked a night at the backpackers for the Sunday night, and then I wanted to get down to Hoi An, where I would get clothes and shoes made. Overnight trains and buses were available (about 14 hours), but I managed to find a Jetstar flight on Monday afternoon for only half a million dong (that's $25) - almost as cheap as the bus/train. The flight arrived at Danang, as Hoi An didn't have an airport, so I looked for hotels in Danang town. None appealed to me, so I researched how far Hoi An was from Danang airport. It was only half an hour, or a $15 taxi ride, so I decided I would go straight to Hoi An from the Danang airport, booking into a nice guesthouse in the middle of town. I returned to my room at this time, and after reading a few pages of Shantaram I fell firmly asleep for five hours.

As this is a mountaineous and cold town, everyone eats dinner early (and wakes early). As Abi had found the restaurant we ate in Hanoi, it was my turn to find a nice restaurant for us to eat in Sapa the following night, so I headed down the main street to find a restaurant to sample. There were lots of pizza and pasta places but I felt like something different, and ended up stopping in at a Spanish Tapas restaurant. I watched the sunset as I drank and organic milkshake and ate sizzling potatoes with onion and capsicum and a fresh baguette - perfect!


Back in the hotel room, I committed to finishing the final 200 pages of Shantaram - I seemed to have been reading it for ages! What a brilliant book - every page of the 1000 pages gave life lessons and provoked philosophical and historical arguments, and is surely an eye-opener to leading a real life (although, perhaps not to the extent that the author did!) Luckily on finishing I was exhausted again, because the sounds outside my room were making it extremely difficult to sleep - dogs barking, children crying, doors banging, loud music playing, and, worst of all, the men in the room next door (the walls were extremely flimsy) were hocking and spitting every 2 minutes - the most filthy noise in the world!

Friday 22nd October

As I said in yesterday's blog, the mountain air here makes it 'early to bed, early to rise', and I was out of bed before 8am. Although breakfast was included at my hotel, I wanted to go back up to Chocolat and Baguettes, where I'd had such a great meal yesterday. I ordered the same meal of eggs and toast and this time ordered a hot chocolate to go with it - is there anything more perfect than eating a hot chocolate on a cool day?

Coming down the hill (Sapa is based on a mountain, so everywhere you go you are either climbing or descending steps), I saw a sign for "Internet" and walked in. It was quite a maze - inside someone's house, to their back room, and then up a rickety staircase to a large room (but short roof!) full of computers. It seemed this was where the locals came when they wanted a game or You Tube fixed, and it was quite an odd sight to see the young girls, dressed in the traditional outfits, watching You Tube clips on the modern computers!

I hadn't booked any treks or tours in Sapa because I was determined to get my blog up-to-date and photos online. Having had next to no internet access in India, and then being on a boat and then overnight train in Vietnam, I was (as you may have noticed, if you're a loyal reader!) slipped violently behind in my blogs - photos hadn't been posted for 3 weeks! I spent two hours at this internet cafe, replying to e-mails and Facebook comments, and getting the blogs up-to-date, before needing a short break to rest my hunched over shoulders and weary eyes.

An hour back in my hotel room and I was ready to face the long task of uploading more photos. I'd make the task easier by previously sorting through the photos on the camera and writing which ones I wanted to post up alongside which day they occurred, but it still took me over 2.5 hours to post them up! I hope you are all enjoying them!

I had already decided I was going to skip lunch that day, instead waiting for dinner with Abi that evening. I e-mailled her the name and location of the restaurant I'd chosen - Sapa Rooms, which had great reviews on TripAdvisor (and similar to Chocolat and Baguette, was a training school for disadvantaged kids), and spent some more time researching tailors in Hoi An, for when I would reach there on Monday night. I'm still trying to work out what exactly I want to get made - jeans; black pants; a few casual dresses; will I risk getting a suit made?

Shortly before 6:30pm (it was already dark), I wandered down to the Sapa Rooms restaurant to meet Abi for dinner. The decor was very interesting - very dark and tribal - and there was both a Western and Vietnamese menu, with lots of vegetarian options. I chose the vegetable burger, with crusted roasted pumpkin and salad - ok but the burger was full of sugar! The service was terrible as well, as had it been in every other restaurant I've visited - they stuffed up our bill royally, overcharging for wine and missing out two items (we paid the correct amount though).


I'm really not in to Vietnam at all, and although it's nice to be in the cool mountains of Sapa, the locals just pester you every second. Even when you're having dinner in a restaurant, they stand at the windows, pointing at you and their goods. There are gangs of them waiting at your hotel door for you to step out, and they step in line with you as you try to take a relaxing walk around the town. The count down to Canada is well and truly on!

Wednesday 20th October


The sun crept through my window shortly after 6am, waking me from my deep slumber. I showered and join the rest of the gang at breakfast at 7:30am, enjoying the eggs and toast.


The girls had booked on for a 2 night cruise, whilst the rest of us were only staying for 1, so they were dropped at a nearby pier for a short trek and transferral to another boat, whilst the rest of us enjoyed the sun on the boat's roof. After some bad weather in Vietnam for the past few days, due to a typhoon, the day was perfect - brilliant blue skies and a scorching sun. I sprayed sunscreen on about 4 times whilst I laid out, knowing how bad my skin can burn - luckily, it didn't turn out too bad. I pestered the boys with questions about Canada - my most burning question being, "What shoes do you wear in the snow?"  (They said as the streets are shovelled and the paths salted every day, 'normal' shoes are fine to wear.)


We were all keen to return to Hanoi though, grateful we'd only booked the one night cruise, and docked at 11am. We were ushered into a large restaurant packed with other tour groups, and had a smorgasboard of food before we departed on our mini-van, back to Hanoi.


Arriving back in Hanoi at 4pm, I arranged to meet up with Abi at 7pm for dinner at a restaurant she'd recommended. I returned to my hotel and asked them to book accommodation and transfers for me in Sapa, as the train station was about 45 minutes from Sapa, as I'd heard the scene could be quite chaotic (especially at 6am in the morning when you've been on a train overnight). I then left my bags there whilst I went for a walk through the city - first stop being an ATM, as after paying for the Sapa accommodation I had only 20c left on me!

I purchased some snacks for the train and a few really cool 'paper cut out' cards (the Eiffel Tower would pop-up when you open the card). Walking through the markets, I felt fingers on my bag and quickly turned to discover a Vietnamese girl trying to undo the zip on my backpack. I didn't normally take my backpack out with me whilst walking, and my valuables were tucked away either on my body or at the bottom of the bag so there was no danger (she'd only opened it about 5cm when I'd turned), but I was struck by her audacity on the busy road. I wasn't sure what to do - grab her? Yell? I ended up just staring at her and walking off.

I met up with Abi at 'Five' restaurant at 7pm, and was stoked to have pasta and bread for dinner (the food on the boat had been ok but not hearty - vegetables and eggs, rather than complex carbohydrates). We even treated ourselves to dessert - chocolate mousse for Abi and chocolate cake for me.

She was on the 9pm train to Sapa, whereras I was on the 9:50pm train (although we'd worked out we were on the same train on Saturday night), so she took a cab to the train station at 8pm. I returned to my hotel but, with nothing to do, decided I might as well head to the train station as well. I ran into her almost as soon as I arrived - it turned out her train had been cancelled, and she was now on the same train as me. As her cabin had already been assigned, we went to the train attendants and asked if I could be placed in the same cabin as her, which we were able to do.

As the train was already on the platform, we set out to board it. By the platform, a man asked for our tickets and then asked us to follow him, so we did. He lead us on board a train and we were both astounded - the cabins were packed with whole families of Vietnamese, with the men all chain smoking. Abi and I looked at each other - we had to put up with this for 10 hours? (I thought Indian trains were supposed to be bad!) The man spoke with the people in our cabin, and soon shuffled us off the train - he'd taken us to the wrong train! (To say we were relieved was an understatement ...)

Eventually, we were taken to the right train, and we were stoked to find it clean, smoke free, and full of other Westerners. As we sunk onto the beds, the man stood in the doorway. "$10", he demanded. Abi and I looked at each other - we'd thought this man was a railway official, but he was a random who was trying to score money! Being a Vietnam ex-pat, Abi was shocked at his demand, as she explained the average Vietnamese wage is only $2.50 a day. We were refused, and turned back to each other, making conversation. The man refused to leave, and started to reduce his demand - "$5" - "$2". "He can stand there as long as he wants", said Abi, "We're not giving him any money".

After standing there for five minutes, surely knowing we weren't giving him any money, the man then leaned in to the cabin and kicked me! Abi stood up straight away and started yelling at the man. He held his hands up to his face, as if he thought she was about to fight him, and then ran off the train. "Are you ok?", asked Abi. I was fine - more shocked at the man's audacity! Abi went to the cabin nearby where a burly Western man was located, telling him of the situation and asking him to keep a look out. She was sure he wouldn't come back, but it was better to be on the safe side.

I was a little shaken up - not that I'd really felt in any danger, as I was on a train full of people, but just at the audacity of the man. Combined with the girl I'd caught trying to open my bag, Vietnam wasn't getting a good reputation. Abi called her boyfriend shortly after to tell him of what had happened. He confirmed the best thing to have done was yell, as Vietnamese people can't handle that, and told her he wouldn't have fought. As she told the story out loud, I started to laugh - what else can you do? I was relieved when the other two bunks in our cabin were filled by a Western couple, and we locked the doors after them, drifting off to sleep as soon as the train started to move.

Tuesday 19th October

I'd been advised by my travel agent that I would be picked up between 8am and 8:20am for the trip to Halong Bay, so I checked out by 7:30am to ensure I had time for breakfast before departing. However, as I checked out of the room, the tour driver arrived to pick me up!

I was the first one on the bus, and we wound through the streets of the Old Quarter to pick up 20 other guests, before departing for our 3.5 trip north to Halong Bay. (A weird sight along the way: there are shops selling gravestones, with pictures and details of the dead inscribed on then. There was one with Britney Spears on it, with a death date of 2001!) We stopped briefly for 'breakfast', except the emporium which was stopped at really only had crackers and biscuits, not actual breakfast to eat (I ended up scoffing a packet of cheese biscuits I'd taken with me).


On arriving at Halong Bay, the group was split up from those who were doing the day-trip only, and I met my fellow passengers for the first time. Our small group consisted of Adam, Scott, Nick and Jordan, 4 brothers from Canada (extremely cute and extraordinarily well mannered); Abigal, an English girl working in Nha Trang; and a mixed group of young girls from Australia, England, and Sweden. We checked out our rooms (quite good quality, given the price!) and then headed into the 'restaurant' for lunch. It mostly consisted of seafood - including prawns and whole fish - with a few extra dishes for me as the token vegetarian.

On completion of our meal, we all headed to the roof of the boat, lounging about on the sundecks and getting to know one another. We had fun comparing the other boats cruising on the harbour with ours - there seems to be a direct relationship between the age of the passengers and the quality of the boat.


After a brief sail, we docked at a cave for some sightseeing, along with numerous other boats. The caves were cool but everything here is reminding me of other parts of Asia - Halong Bay is like Ko Phi Phi; the caves were like Niah Caves in Malaysia etc. Back on board, our boat driver (who I caught steering with his feet - no wonder we crashed into other boats several times!) ferried us to a floating kayaking station, where I spent half an hour paddling around the 'islands' with Abi. It was quite hard work, and we were happy to return to the boat for some relaxation on the sun decks.


The boat then cruised into some open water, and the boys (and some of the girls) started jumping off the top of the boat into the ocean water (the South China Sea). Women dressed in the traditional Vietnamese hat paddled their boats in the water, trying to sell us beer and chips (they were even there well into the night!)  Dinner was at 6:30pm and must better than lunch, and then we all migrated back to the roof for a night of fun. The drinks were cracked open and we begun to play some drinking games (using my headlamp as the only source of light), before some of us ventured downstairs to join the crew in karaoke. I even managed to catch a squid at the back of the boat whilst randomly swinging a fishing rod in the water - I didn't realise at the time it was an actual rod!!


I made my way to bed at about midnight, and was asleep before I even touched the pillow - not even turning the fan or air conditioning on in my single room.

Monday 18th October

I wasn't in the mood for sightseeing again today, I more just wanted to shop and walk around the city.
The Lonely Planet advised that a number of good eateries were located around the Cathedral on the opposite side of the lake, so I wandered in this direction to find breakfast. I ended up at a French boulangerie, downing a beautiful croissant and hazelnut mocha frappucino. (Oh, I can't remember if I mentioned this before, but I have decided to give up diet coke. I always thought I was being 'good' for drinking it rather than reaching for a snack, but I've realised how unhealthy it is. I'm substituting chocolate milk for it if water just won't suffice, let's see how I go!)

I found the store (there aren't really any 'malls' in Vietnam - you find Western shops scattered amongst the streets) and was delighted to find several extremely cool pairs of shoes - one pair of flats that would be perfect for work in Canada, and a pair of heels that were just plain fun! Unfortunately, I was told that the biggest shoe size they had in Vietnam was a size 8 - and I'm an 8.5!! I was disappointed, but I snapped a few photos of the shoes and thought I could try to get them made when I reach Hoi An next week.

Tuesday 12th October
Day 9 - Commonwealth Games

I awoke feeling better than the previous day, and also excited - not only was it semi-final day, but I also had tickets to the athletics that night. I had breakfast at Khan Market, trying out a new cafe. An Indian man was also dining in, and he turned to me and asked if I minded if he turned the cricket on the cafe's TV. "Not at all", I replied, "I'm Australian!". He was delighted to find an Aussie and we discussed cricket over breakfast. Aussies seems to be the favourite tourists of Indians, and whenever they hear you are Australian they reply with one of two things: either, 'Ricky Ponting!', wanting to discuss the cricket, or 'You number 1!', referring to Australian's position on the medal tally.

The first match didn't start until 11:30am, and the stadium didn't open until 10am, but I arrived at the gates at 9:45am, to ensure I was first in the gates. The Army officials offered me a seat in their circle inside the gates whilst the stadium was officially opened, and I had a grand old time chatting with them. Some spoke English, and some did not, so one young guy acted as a translator for us.

At 9:59am, I was allowed to enter into the stadium, laying down my flag on the seats that our 'crew' had sat on everyday. Our crew grew in size that day - not only was there Kila and Denyse, but we were joined by John and Mark (two single travellers about my age) and two girls in their early 20s, all Australians. How small is this world - when I was chatting to one of the girls, I mentioned something about how I loved the Crows. "My friend Chris plays for the Crows", she said. "No way", I replied, and pulled out my iPhone to show the picture of Chris Knights that acted as my background. "Is this your friend?" She confirmed that Chris Knights, my idol from the Crows, was like a brother to her!!


Just before the match started, we were joined by a guy wearing a very skimpy and revealing netball uniform. He'd spotted our Aussie crew in the crowd and headed for us, introducing himself as Ash Williams from Nova radio. He worked with Hughesy and Kate on their breakfast program in Melbourne, and they'd sent him here to try to get on TV in as many stadiums as possible, wearing completely outrageous costumes. If the audience back in Australia managed to spot him on TV, they'd win $1000. He was a scream, and a genuinely nice guy - needless to say, everyone in the crowd wanted a picture with him. It was his first match of netball, but he ended up liking it so much he returned for the gold medal match on Thursday.


The first match of the day was Australia vs England. The English supporters were out in force, and extremely parochial - too much so, acting like soccer hooligans. "Bad luck", Denyse or I would call out the girls when they just missed an intercept. "What's lucky about that?", they would call back. The match was very tight, with the English actually up for most of the first three quarters. I really didn't want to lose that match - first, because I'd come here to watch a repeat of the 2002 final between NZ and Australia, which wasn't going to happen in Australia wasn't in the final; and secondly because I just couldn't stand to lose to such bad sports, it would be like losing to Collingwood!! Thankfully, we won the match - I didn't rub it in their faces, being a good sport, but I was happy to don my Aussie flag and wave it around, singing 'Aussie Aussie Aussie!'


The second match of the day was between Jamaica and New Zealand, for the second spot in the gold medal match. Although Jamaica started strongly, it sooned turned into a demolition. I remember remarking to Denyse at the time, "Geez, this seems like the longest match in history!', as there seemed to be an injury time-out every couple of minutes. Who knew that the longest match in history was to come on Thursday ....


It turned out John also had tickets to the athletics that night, and Mark and Denyse were also keen to come with us, so we visited the ticket counter at the front of the stadium. Unfortunately, no tickets were available, so they went sightseeing out to the Lotus Temple whilst John and I headed to the athletics stadium. We snapped a few photos out the front of the stadium, and were then separated at the security line-up, where males and females are segregated (thankfully, as it's not that comfortable to have a male frisk you!).


I had class 'A' tickets, which were right at the front, near the triple jump pits. Sitting right behind me were a couple of Aussies that had sat in front of us at the netball - again, such a small world! It was my first time at an athletics meet, and being the last night of competition every event was a final. The Indian crowd went absolutely berserk every time an India athlete competed, and went mad when they won a medal - Indians were doing laps of honour for coming third (I thought that was normally reserved for the gold medal winner?) 

The night finished shortly after 8pm, and on the Metro home I realised that the stadium was only 1 stop from Khan Market, so I alighted to have dinner. (I was starving - I'd eaten breakfast at 8:30, and had only a burger in the time since!). I had a nice meal at a creperie, talking sport with the waiter, and then walked outside to hail a taxi home. Also getting into a taxi at the front of Khan Market was Liz Ellis and Luke Darcy! Unfortunately they were halfway in the taxi, else I would have gone up to them and asked if they could come over to us on Thursday for a photo and a chat.

Monday 11th October
Day 8 - Commonwealth Games

Today I had a full day off the Commonwealth Games. I had planned to spend it sightseeing, using the 'Hop On, Hop Off' bus, but I wasn't feeling well when I woke up (I'd been feeling lousy the past few days actually). Showers and food always make one feel better, so after doing the first I headed out to Khan Market for the second.

Khan Market really has become my second home - it's no wonder it's so popular with the ex-pat and diplomatic community. I went back to Cafe Oz for breakfast for some familiarity, but then returned straight back home via tuk-tuk (probably not the best idea to be choking in the smog and pollution when I wasn't feeling well to begin with!)

I spent the rest of the day in my hotel room, watching the Games' coverage on TV (there was a snippet of the India vs PNG match, for last place) and spent an hour on the internet at the internet cafe near my hotel.  I ordered take-away from the Chinese restaurant opposite, which was delicious. This was where I discovered the concept of 'fried honey potato' - effectively French fries coated in a honey batter with sesame seeds. Whilst waiting for my food, a Scotsman in a kilt (but living in Australia) stopped me, as he had noticed the (fake) Commonwealth Games t-shirt I was wearing. He wanted to know where I'd purchased it, as there was no seemingly no merchandise available anywhere in the city. I advised him (like I'd advised many, many people) that I purchased it at Janpath Market, but that they only had one design and one size (and it certainly wasn't going to fit him). He told me that the reason why official merchandise was unavailable was because the police had prevented the Games' from selling it!! So there must be huge warehouses somewhere with millions of pieces of merchandise, that all of us tourists are dying to buy, yet will end up being destroyed!

Oh - one funny thing I saw on the TV whilst I was waiting for my take-away: "Sorry Sir, we can't seem to find anything wrong with you, we're going to diagnose you with 'Symptom Deficiency Disorder'.

Wednesday 12th October

Day 10 - Commonwealth Games

Despite the early wake-up call, I bounded out of bed and downstairs to meet my driver, who would take me to Agra to visit the Taj Mahal and Agra Fort. Despite only being 200km away, the ride took about 4.5 hours! As I'd booked a 'nice' package via Qantas Holidays back in Australia, I had a smooth car ride in a new and air-conditioned sedan, eliminating the pollution and dust from my trip. The ride there was uneventful, except for one point when, whilst stopped at a toll, a man came up to the window and had his monkey (on a lead) jump up on the window! It scared the living daylights out of me (he was selling photos with the monkey to tourists - I declined the offer).


When we reached Agra at about 11:30, we picked up our guide from the travel office. The guide was slightly sleazy (in the salesman sense, not the sexual sense!) but was very well educated - he had a degree and masters in tourism and history; and lead tours all over India. Having skipped breakfast, I asked to stop off at a cafe before we started our touring (random fact of the day: there are no Starbucks (at least, not that I could see) in India because they have several of their own very strong coffee chains.)


As I went to return to the car, the police appeared, blocking the main road off from pedestrians and vehicles. The train from Delhi, carrying Commonwealth Games athletes and officials, had just arrived, and the bus carrying them all was about to drive down the road - this was very typical behaviour in Delhi, but even in Agra!?

The Taj Mahal was actually closed off for the athletes only until 2pm, so our first visit was to the Agra Fort. This building was made of red sandstone, and about 500 years old. Only 10% of the area was open to the public, as the remaining sections were in use as military barracks (I think Mark was missing out in Canberra - where was his view of the Taj Mahal?!) My guide gave me a very information talk, going beyond history to speak of religion and philosophy. At one point, he started speaking about sex and its place in Indian society - and he got very graphic about "the sex" (I won't start discussing that here ... ) I know he was trying to be informative, but probably not that appropriate to speak to a single, young, female about!


A lunch break was provided at the conclusion of the tour of the Taj, and I was deposited at a local restaurant, where I enjoyed the garlic naan bread with a passion! But I was eager to get moving and on to the Taj Mahal - the greatest symbol of love in history, and one of the seven wonders of the world. (I say that, but is it really? There seem to be so many lists, a newly created list voted by the public - who knows?)


We entered via a side gate, typically used only by locals. I'd pre-purchased my ticket at Agra Fort as a discount was provided when both tickets were purchased; and I received a 'goodie bag' as I entered (bottle of water and shoe covers). Entering through the hall, I looked up to take my first glimpe (ignoring the far away view I'd had from Agra Fort) of the Taj. And wow, what a majestic sight - definitely worth putting up with the downfalls of India!


My guide explained to me that due to the Persian architectural philosophies, everything at the Taj was designed in symmetry, right down to the gardens and the intricate carving. On the left side of the Taj is a mosque, facing Mecca (as mosques must); and of course, on the right hand side, an exact replica of the mosque was built. However, this building can't be called a mosque as it doesn't face Mecca - so it's basically a pointless building for the purpose of symmetry! Everything was absolutely perfect - if even one mistake was made, the whole 'thing' (piece of marble, column etc) would be thrown out and the work started again. Imagine working on a 2 metre, 2 tonne piece of marble, carving intricate details for 2 months, only to make a mistake on the last piece of carving!


My guide also dispelled a few myths - 1), There is no evidence that Shah Jahan (the emperor who had it built) had planned a Black Mahal on the opposite side of the river; and 2) The architects and artisans who worked on the Taj did not have their fingers/hands cut off to stop them from working on other sites (more so, their fingers would accidentally be lost in accidents with their tools). As he had visited the Taj over 5000 times, he was a pro at taking photo album (or Facebook!) worthy photos, so I've got some great snaps to show.


With some buildings and sites, once you see them you feel fulfilled - "Ok, I've been to the Agra Fort, no need to come back". With the Taj Mahal, it was a different feeling - you felt like you could look at it all day, visit every day, and never get sick of it.


I farewelled my guide with a slick handshake, slyly slipping him a tip (yay, I finally mastered it!), and was back on the road to Agra with my driver. What a long day the driver must have - he picked me up at 7am and dropped me back at 8:30pm, and he does this almost everyday. A few interesting sights on the road from Agra - bulls and cows standing in the middle of roundabouts, and even the roads (cows are sacred here); and a camel 'towing' a cart down the street. As I commented to my driver how I loved cows, every time he spotted one he would make a mooing noise to point it out to me!


I had a great dinner of crispy honey potato (basically French fries, but done in a fried honey batter with sesame seeds)and rice from a local Chinese restaurant - I was stoked to find they'd included cutlery as well! Returning to my hotel, I found a large hall had sprung up next door, and the Indians were all celebrating a local festival (which was to go on for 9 nights), and were therefore singing and dancing well into the night. The sounds echoed through the speakers on my TV, so I didn't have a great night in!

Thursday 14th October

Day 11 - Commonwealth Games

The day we had all been waiting for was here - the Gold Medal play-off (yes, I do consider that a proper noun!) I awoke very early and set off for Khan Market for breakfast as usual. Only problem was, it was a public holiday in Delhi (for the closing ceremony), and so everything was closed in Delhi. Even McDonalds was closed!

There was no point in hanging around Khan Market, and even though I was extraordinarily early I headed off for the stadium. I had the tuk-tuk driver drop me off a few blocks early, and I spent half an hour walking the nearby streets to fill in time. The first match was at 11:30 and the stadium opened at 10am, but it was still only 9:15am when I arrived. A Kiwi supporter arrived at 9:30am and I politely tolerated him (just kidding!), and then Ash turned up (the crazily dressed radio host from Tuesday). This time, he was dressed in a full pink catsuit, including ears and tail, this time toting his large Aussie flag that he'd lost the previous day. He'd had so much fun on Tuesday he'd decided to return for the final, and was meeting his 'scalper' at the stadium to score a ticket (the match was sold-out, which didn't really mean much). He asked me to save him a seat inside, whilst he went off with his scalper and I went and spoke with my friends from the military, to ensure I was first in the gate.


The older Army woman was so sweet - she gave me a hug and told me "I was her friend" ( the only English she could speak) when I said it was sad this was the final day. Then at 9:59am, they allowed me to enter the stadium to score my perfect seats. Denise had a superstition that she had to sit in row 6, in the seat exactly behind the centre circle, so I secured that seat and the surrounding 6 for our 'crew' (Kila, Ash, myself, and any other Aussies who wanted to join us, of which Mark ended up doing). I'd brought yellow and green ribbons in my bag, and distributed them to little Indian girls around us, to encourage them to support the Aussies. Ash arrived, having scored his ticket for free from a random passer-by, and Denise arrived late after having to return to her guesthouse due to forgetting her ticket!


The first match up was between England Jamaica for the bronze medal, and the English supporters were out in force. The match was fairly scrappy - the first quarter was tight, but then the Jamaicans fell apart. I remember commenting at the time it seemed like 'the longest match in history' (I obviously didn't know what was to come!) with so many injuries and time-outs. The English were ecstatic to win the bronze - I guess it goes to show the difference between New Zealand and Australia and the next group of teams.

1pm, and it was time for the Gold Medal match. I wasn't game to go outside for a drink or something to eat in case I missed a minute. The stands were fairly full (although still not full, with several hundred seats still remaining - a far improvement from last week though!) A large Aussie contingent was present, although not a massive athlete presence - Kiwi athletes dominated on the opposite site of the stadium. Ash started an 'Aussie Aussie Aussie', and the match commenced.

As I'm sure you all know, it turned out to be the best match in the history of netball, going down to extra time and then double extra time. Our goal circle wasn't working at all, with Sharelle having a shocker - "We need Cath (Cox) on!", I remarked, and finally Norma responded. The last quarter, trailing by 7 goals, saw her make several changes, bringing Cath on as GS and Sharelle out to GA, and Kim on as WA. "I think I'm going to be sick," said Denise, worried for her daughter. It was an interesting move, given Lauren had been playing brilliantly at WA, but I guess she combined better with Cath due to their Swifts' relationship.


The Aussies were on the back foot at numerous times in the match, always seeming to be the ones having to catch-up. Cath did have several opportunities to win us the match, but despite her near flawless shooting she just couldn't convert the ones that mattered, and the Kiwis finally held their nerve to win the match. It was utter jubilation, with the girls jumping on top of each other and rolling on the floor. In dire opposites, the Aussie girls were despondent and in tears, slowly trudging off the court.

The three teams returned for the medal ceremony, and for the Aussies it was as if someone had died. They just could not be consoled, with Sharelle being the worse. Throughout the national anthem she kept looking at the exit, and at its conclusion she yanked off her sash and marched off the stage. No handshakes for them, as sporting etiquette dictates - whilst the Kiwi girls did the haka and the English thanked their fans, the Aussie girls were straight off the court again.


Being the final day (it felt like the last day of school!), we'd had high hopes of getting photos with the players and the commentators, but it wasn't to be - Luke and Liz left shortly after the match (Liz giving the players a hug in consolation), whilst the players were inconsolable in the dressing rooms. Denise, Mark and I decided to return the Denise's guesthouse to 'drown our sorrows', after farewelling the other supporters in the crowd (Mark and I were offered closing ceremony tickets from Pam, the president of Netball Australia, but we decided were to upset to celebrate).


Denise spoke to Kim on the phone, trying to console her, but she was unable to. She'd never heard her so upset - it was just unfathomable that they hadn't won the gold. Hopefully, looking back in the future without the emotion, they will realise that they were part of the best match in history that just unhappened to go their way, but time will tell. It was unfortunate that the girls weren't allowed out of the village AND weren't unable to drink - they all really needed to get out into the open, and share their feelings with friends and family over a few drinks (and some chocolate!)

Denise's guesthouse was amazing. Atul, the owner, who I had met before, welcomed us with smiles (and a hug, for Denise), and immediately ordered for some sandwiches and drinks whilst we considered our plans. We sat around talking for an hour or so before retiring to the rooftop and watching the sunset (the Delhi sunsets are so gorgeous). We ordered Indian food to share between the three of us, although when the food arrived we could have shared it with the whole Aussie netball team, as we barely made a dint in it! We were joined by a couple of American women who were fascinated by netball, after having attended the match that day. They couldn't believe how 'gymnastic' the game was, and how good of friends all of the players were.

As the sun set, our stomachs were filled, and the drinks stopped flowing, Mark and I eventually bade farewell to Denise and journeyed to our respective homes on the Metro, still wearing our Aussie t-shirts. As Mark wasn't leaving 'til Saturday morning (and me, Saturday night), we arranged to meet up the following day to wander through the Janpath markets.

I reflected on the day when I returned to my room. I'd said when I'd booked my tickets to India that I wanted the gold medal match to be a repeat of the 2002 gold medal match, when Australia edged out New Zealand in overtime - I hadn't realised how close my prediction had come.