Saturday 30th October

After almost 12 hours in an 80cm space, I was glad when the bus finally pulled into Nha Trang bus station (not before it pulled in for petrol ... 1km from the bus station!)

The rain was pouring down but somehow, as everyone else sheltered in the roadside station, I managed to flag down a Mailinh taxi and went straight out to Diamond Bay Resort, home of the 2008 Miss Universe pageant, where I was to meet Kym, Debbie, Donna and Julie from Moree, as we had arranged in Hoi An.

Arriving at the resort at 7am, I was cautious about calling them up so early, but as Kym had said, she was an early riser and was well awake when I knocked on their door. I dropped my bag and showered, and then they managed to get me into the breakfast buffet by using one of their breakfast tickets for tomorrow (I ... ahem ... altered the date on the coupon).

They were due to leave at 1:30pm for their 3:55 flight, so we hade a few hours to kill after breakfast. As the rain was pouring down, there wasn't a lot we could do, so the ladies all retired to their rooms whilst I hit up the gym. I almost had to swim to the pool - the water was literally up to my knees, and of course my running shoes (which have a mesh front) were absolutely soaked, so I ended up doing weights and strength work barefoot!

We all had lunch in the restaurant - about the only two places accessible in the resort were our rooms and the restaurant, situated in the same building as the lobby - and then we got the bad news: we were stranded. The road to Nha Trang was flooded, the airport was closed, the train tracks were flooded and the buses were stranded. I had planned to leave to Ho Chi Minh City on a lunchtime train tomorrow, but on hearing that the tracks were flooded decided to purchase a flight first thing Monday morning (there were none left on Sunday). The ladies were stuck - our afternoon revolved around calling the airport and airlines to see if they were re-opening, but it was to no avail. They weren't going anywhere that night - but neither could I!

So, after travelling to Nha Trang to take up their offer of a free room, they all ended up staying in the resort for the night they'd paid for - so I bunked down with Kym in one of the double beds. The resort was very helpful though, offering all of the guests a free dinner due to us not being able to get out. I was starting to think it wasn't too bad - free breakfast and dinner, internet, water, a gym - what else could you ask for? (Provided I could get out on Monday!)

Thursday 4th November

Final day in Asia (I'm not counting tomorrow, as that's simply my flight from KL). I was awoken at 5am with a phone call from home - as I had spoken to my parents for a week (through a combination of them not being able to get a hold of me and vice versa), they had started to get worried and thought I must have already been in Vancouver (I guess ... which explains the time of the call).

I enjoyed a bit of a sleep in after that, packed my bags, and then headed down to the Post Office to post a parcel home. I was worried about how much money I had in my wallet, and the parcel ended up taking most of it - 611,000 dong (such a stupid amount!)

Months ago, I had read an article about a chocolate cafe in Ho Chi Minh, and had ripped the article out of the magazine, intending to find it once I arrived. I decided to treat myself to the cafe as a prize for my last day of travelling, however no taxi drivers knew where it was! (I think the world was trying to tell me something ....) I ended up at Gloria Jeans with a frappucino, which was nowhere near as nice as a Starbucks frappucino (there are no Starbucks in Vietnam, India, or Cambodia, so it had been a while since I'd had one).

Knowing I had only a little money left in my wallet, I walked for 40 minutes back to my hotel, past the Reunification Palace and to Bu Vien, the backpacker street, where I surfed the web for an hour. WIth another hour to kill, I had lunch at a fancy looking restaurant - fancy looking perhaps, but cheap indeed! A tasty toasted veggie baguette was my last meal in Vietnam, before I returned to the hotel for my bags and flagged down a taxi to the airport. (I had no trouble packing everything, I still had heaps of room left in my daybag!)

My flight to KL was uneventful, and a quick 2 hours. I cleared customs in Malaysia for about the sixth time this year (1 - work trip to KL; 2 - first entry to Borneo; 3 - entry from Singapore; 4 - flight to India; 5 - flight to Vietnam). I'm starting to wonder if they think I'm a drug mule, as my stays last generally less than 24 hours, and in some cases less than 2 hours!

I'd booked a night at the Tune Hotel (cheap AirAsia hotel), which was about a 15 minute walk from the arrivals hall. One thing that offsets the cost of the hotel room is floor sponsors - i.e., McDonalds might sponsor your floor, so whilst trying to fall asleep you stare at a picture of a Big Mac. This hotel was way better than that in KL city, even having free internet (albeit limited to an hour), and a few restaurants and a 7-11 within its courtyard. The vibe was fun - obviously, everyone was just in transit here.

I walked back to the airport to grab some dinner (kaya toast at OldTown Coffee - pathetic service and pathetic food!); use the free wireless; exchange my money (whilst at the airport in Vietnam, I'd exchanged my remaining dong for US dollars, as I'd been told that Vietnamese dong aren't excepted anywhere outside Vietnam); and buy some Aussie Cadbury chocolate. Returning to the hotel, I only read a chapter of my book before falling asleep ... I knew tomorrow would be a big day, and an early start at that!

Wednesday 3rd November

Tuesday 2nd November

Monday 1st November

I was quite excited when I woke up, as I was off to Ho Chi Minh City, my final destination before heading to Vancouver. Mostly I was excited about finally getting to a big city with some international fashion shops, in the hope I could buy some winter clothes!

I was at the breakfast buffet as soon as it opened, and as it was still too early to depart for the airport I went for a wander around the resort grounds, where the rainwater had finally started to subcede. (I'm so glad I bought my jellies - they have to be the most versatile shoes ever, especially in the rain!) The Moree ladies had failed in their attempt to find the "Miss Australia suite" (each suite had the name of the Miss Universe contestant who had stayed in it during the competition), and I was determined to find it. Heading down to the pool (beautiful and absolutely monstrous, apparently it's one of the largest in Asia), it ended up being easy to find - facing the beach and nestled near Miss USA and Miss Venezuela (the winner of the 2008 Miss Universe pageant). I was just hoping that no one was staying in it, as I walked up to the suite and started snapping photos - "I promise, I'm not a stalker!"

The shuttle bus arrived to take me to the airport, and though the rain was a lot lighter than the previous days, the roads still showed signs of flooding. One place in particularly was quite hairy, as the rocks that had been nestled into the mountainside had fallen, lying across the road - one boulder would have been several tonne at least, so it's lucky that no cars had been driving past at the time it fell.

The plane was delayed in taking off as the pilot (an Aussie - they all seem to be Aussie pilots around here!) advised that the small airport did not have the safety equipment (fog lights?) necessary for planes to take off in rainy weather. Luckily, it was only a short delay - I was just glad to be getting out of Nha Trang at all!

Arriving into Ho Chi Minh City, I took a metered taxi to my hotel, Green Suites in District 1 (the core of the city). It was located right next to 'Bu Vien', which is the Vietnam equivalent of Thailand's Khao San Road. I had heard mixed reports about the city: some said that the further south you went, the better it was; whereas others said that Ho Chi Minh was dirty, polluted, and had too much traffic (after all, it was a city of 10 million people with more than 5 million registered motorbikes).

I headed out to the shops as soon as I dropped my bag, the first stop being Vincom Towers. This was the biggest and glitziest mall in the whole of Vietnam, with stores including Nine West, Emporio Armani and Jimmy Choo. Unfortunately, Nine West in HCMC, like Hanoi, only has shoes up to a size 8, and none of the other clothes stores had winter clothes (or any that I liked, anyway), so I left empty handed. (I also experienced a mis-understanding here about what Vegetarianism means - it does not mean that seafood is ok!)

I dropped into Ben Thanh market on the way back, which was the largest tourist market in HCMC. The Moree ladies had told me to buy perfume here and bags at An Dong, and I didn't want to make any purchases until I'd checked out An Dong so I headed back to my hotel empty-handed for a rest. I had planned to head out to An Dong that night, but the receptionist advised me that the market didn't stay open late, so I simply had dinner and an early night watching How I Met Your Mother (all repeats, but it's such a funny show!)

Sunday 31st October

When I woke on Sunday morning, I wasn't sure if it was the air-conditioning or rain that I could hear. Looking outside through the window, it was rain - albeit lighter than yesterday. That wasn't to last long though, as the heavens really opened again. We waded through ankle deep water on the way to breakfast, where Kym again managed to get me in free.

Since it was still so wet, I decided it was safest to stay at the resort. I found a cheap rate online and asked if the hotel would match. They advised me to book online, which is stupid - they're effectively earning less because they have to pay out commission to the website! Although it was more expensive than my normal hotels, I figured I'd had (almost) no expenses the previous day and the rate was all inclusive of meals, Internet, airport transfer etc. Another lot of Aussies were negotiating at the reception so I jumped online and booked their rooms for them too - they were so happy at the 50% saving I scored them, and told me to find them at lunch/dinner if I wanted some company.

I've never seen somewhere so wet, and that was just in the resort. Here I was, staying in a beautiful resort with tennis courts, huge pool etc, and I couldn't make use of the facilities because they were underwater! People we had spoken to the previous day had been in Nha Trang city but had returned because they were worried about being stranded (rightly so, as the road soon flooded). They told us how they had seen rats and maggots floating down the street, and showed us pictures of the roads, motorbikes near submerged. I also heard a tourist bus, similar to the one I had travelled in the previous day, had been submerged, with the tourists inside feared dead. Scary!

The ladies from Moree decided that rather than continually calling the airport and airline, their best bet was to head to the airport, as they would be more likely to get on a flight to Ho Chi Minh City by 'being in their face'. We'd confirmed that the airport was open, but no one at the hotel could confirm when they could fly out - they were waitlisted for a 3:55pm flight. At 11am, Kim, Debbie, Donna and Julie all departed to the airport, leaving me on my own - it had been so nice, 'stalking' them over Vietnam! The Aussies I've met in India and Vietnam have really made my travelling experience great.

I needed to fill in the rest of the day, in a resort I couldn't get out of yet couldn't really make use of. I ended up at the spa, getting my hair straightened again (what am I going to do when it costs more than $1 to have my hair done?), before vegging out in my room, intermittently falling asleep.

In the evening, with dinner provided by the resort again, I headed to the buffet, where I had dinner with the Aussie group that I had scored the cheap hotel rooms for. They were all in their late 40s/early 50s (2 couples), who had been at a tyre convention in Cambodia and were now holidaying in Southern Vietnam. They were lovely as well, and I had a nice chat to them during dinner.

I spent a while on the internet once I finished dinner (you may have noticed this blog is quite out-of-date, thanks to the intermitten internet access I can get here. Facebook is almost never available, and I can't upload photos because I lost my camera cable somewhere ....) before heading to bed, for another early start the next morning.

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.

Saturday 16th October
Sunday 17th October

My last day in India! After waking in my luxurious bed, I showered in the magnificent hot shower (I hadn't had a hot shower at all in my last hotel, for 12 whole days!) and made my way down to the breakfast buffet. Everything was very luxurious, but quite frankly I was disappointed in the food. Where were the pancakes and French toast? There was an egg making station, and a banquet of mini muffins and pastries, but no real 'hearty food'. I even had to pay for my water!!

Given it was an expensive room, I wanted to make full use of the facilities and wasn't planning on checking out until right on 12pm. So after breakfast I made my way down to the gym (for the second time in about 14 hours), and utilised the weights and cardio equipment. Working out just makes you feel sooo much better! Let's hope I can find somewhere to run in Vietnam, it's just not the same on a treadmill!

By now it was 10:30, so I went back to my room to pack, watching American sit-coms as I went, before reluctantly making my way down to the lobby. I chose to take my own bags rather than use the 'bell-hop', since I just don't like the concept of tipping! (How do you do it smoothly?) Checking out, the manager(?) knew my name and even asked for the address of this blog - maybe it will turn into a book deal, just like the 'Lost Girls' blog did! (See Siem Reap posting for more details).


Storing my bags, I chose to ignore the taxis at the front and instead headed to the tuk-tuks, directing them to 'India Gate', an imposing arch that was built to commemorate the loss of 90,000 soldiers whilst fighting for the British Empire. Although I'd driven past it numerous times on the way to Tyagaraj Stadium, I'd never actually got out to look at it or snap some photos.


The heat was tremendous - it felt like it was in the 40s (not impossible, as it had been 45 at the hockey and Rugby 7s the previous days). The gate sits at one end of a large avenue, similar to the Arc de Triumphe and Champs Delysee in Paris, and I had been planning to walk to the other end where the President's Estate was located, but it was just too hot! Photos snapped, it was then on to the Lotus Temple in the very south of Delhi (again by tuk-tuk, after bartering my way down from 350 to 100 ... they try to rip you off so badly!)


The Lotus Temple was very beautiful, designed to look like a flower (as the name suggests) - and also very similar to the architecture of the Opera House, in my opinion. The queues to get in were extremely long (first, you had to drop your shoes off at an underground bunker) - and given how queuing is a foreign concept in India, the queue was enormous. I decided, given the queues and the tremendous heat, that I couldn't be bothered waiting and instead of entering would just snap photos from the outside. There was also no water to be found inside the complex, and I was starting to suffer from dehydration, so I made a quick exit to the street vendors lining the road outside.


A few Army personnel (this time dressed in blue camo gear - does this mean they're actually Airforce?) assisted me in getting a tuk-tuk, but the guy was majorly trying to rip me off, and would only lower his price if I would visit a nearby emporium, which I refused. Just at this moment, the Ho-Ho bus (Hop On, Hop Off) pulled up, and I decided a lap on the bus would be a good way to kill some time. It went soooo slowly though - and the bus driver tooted (cross that, BLASTED) his horn every two seconds, which was extraordinarily loud. The 'Guest Experience Host' was very friendly towards me though, and I soon decided to alight at an 'exclusive shopping village' (she told me it sounded like it was the only shopping place I hadn't visited!)

The place was set in a garden, with white picket fences, inside a gated community. It was very exclusive though and not my type of shopping - cigar clubs and royalty-like Indian silks. I decided instead I needed to see Khan Market one more time before I left so I hopped in my last tuk-tuk of the trip. As I didn't have much money left, I didn't want to risk eating at a cafe, so instead purchased a few goodies at the bakery I had fallen in love with. (One happened to pass through my mouth at that moment ... well, I had only eaten breakfast that day, and wouldn't eat again until the airport!)

Journeyed by Metro back into Connaught Place, I was going to stop in at Janpath Markets (where Mark and I had gone the day before) but ended up getting hopelessly lost - too many roundabouts and off streets! I did find an internet cafe though (which are in extraordinarily short supply in India) and checked in for my flight from KL to Hanoi, since I had a very short time between arriving in KL and departing to Hanoi. (My flight from Delhi arrived at 4:30 and the flight to Hanoi left at 6:30. During that time, I had to pass immigration, collect my bag, then drop in my bag and have my documents checked).

Back at the Park Hotel, it was perfect timing for departing to Indira Gandhi Airport, travelling by the British(?) Ambassador taxi (I got charged an extra 50 rupees because I wanted air conditioning!) Security was extremely tight - only passengers could even enter the terminal, with airline tickets and passports checked at the front doors. Check-in was a breeze, as was immigration, and I then had a few hours to kill in the terminal.

Don't you hate that whole 'playing with money at the airport' concept? You want to make sure you have enough to purchase a meal and a snack or magazine, but you don't want too much that you have to change again, losing money on the exchange rate. Then you don't want to buy the first meal you see, because what if it's too expensive and then you can't buy the cool snowdome you find at a later shop? Aah, this always gets me. I purchased a very cheap meal of Indian and a chocolate bar, leaving money for some small souvenirs if I found them (which I didn't, which meant I ended up with some Indian rupees left - and it is illegal to change them once you've passed immigration!)

I had scored a window seat - the lady at check-in had told me it was 'no problem' as the flight wasn't near full; and even had the seat beside me free, which allowed me to tuck my legs up for a slightly better sleep. I hadn't bothered to purchase a meal, given we were flying out at 8:45pm and arriving in KL at 4:30am (a 5 hour flight with a 2.5 hour time difference).

Alighting from the flight in KL, I passed through immigration to score my 9th Malaysian stamp in 2 months, collected my bag, and then joined the 'Baggage Drop' queue at check-in (thank goodness I had checked in online, the check-in queue was mammoth, even at 5am!!) McDonalds and Starbucks were open outside, but I didn't want to risk eating and being late to pass through immigration and security, so I settled for an 'milo ice', terminal-side.

This flight was near full - checking in online meant I had been allocated a middle seat, but as no one sat in the window seat I changed seats as soon as the doors shut. I fell asleep as soon as we took off - the few hours sleep on the previous flight weren't enough - and woke up just before arriving into Hanoi, my final country before Canada!

There was only one baggage carousel for all of the flights - 4 had arrived in the same 10 minute time span - and mine seemed to take forever to appear. I had arrived into Vietnam with absolutely no 'dong', but as I had expected there were plenty of ATMS at arrivals. I withdrew the grand sum of 4,000,000 dong - I'm a millionnaire!! (about $200 - the maximum you can withdraw, most ATMS only allow 2,000,000).

I had been warned of the crazy taxi scene at the airport, and stood back for a few minutes to try and understand what was happening, and which person/company/car I should head for. Numerous men tried to grab me, but I headed for a woman with a tag on (tags mean they're official, right?) standing by the 'metered taxi' stand. It was the most expensive taxi ride I've had so far though - almsot US$20! The weather was drizzly though, and I would almost suggest it was cold - the first 'cold' weather I'd experienced since Malaysia.

Arriving at the hotel, a doorman opened the car door and retrieved my luggage, leading me into the hotel lobby. There, I was asked for my passport and asked to wait for a while whilst they checked me in. During this time, the travel agent at the front desk worked through an itinerary for me - he planned every day, hotel, bus ride etc of my trip for the next week! I wasn't interested at all, just nodding at the appropriate moments whilst waiting for my room to be ready. At the end of this though, I was told, "We're full - we have to move you to another hotel down the road".

I wasn't impressed, especially when I'd just had 2 overnight flights and just wanted a shower, food, and then some sleep. They paid for a taxi to a new hotel, which actually turned out to be slightly nicer than the original (even had free internet - something I've lacked for the past few weeks). My room was nice and spacious - cable TV, fridge, and hot water deemed to luxurious - the only problem being the five flights of stairs I had to alight to reach it.

After showering, I dropped in my laundry (almost all of my clothes) to search for some food. The food scene wasn't too great though, and I ended up walking for several hours first. Hanoi is very scenic, with several small lakes dominating the landscape (waterscape?) After India, it felt very laid-back - even the traffic didn't seem horrendous. (Vietnam is known for its terrible traffic - in Australia, you'd never have a chance to cross the road, so here you simply start walking and the traffic will dodge around you).

Shops littered the roadsides - silks, fake bags and sunglasses, souvenirs (although no snowdomes!) I was a bit over sightseeing so I didn't snap any photos, preferring to simply walk the streets and take in the sights. I finally found a lunch place at 1pm (keeping in mind, I hadn't eaten since 5pm the day before), and after 3 attempts at ordering ( 1 - cheese sandwich - was told after 10 minutes they'd 'run out'; 2 - pasta - was told after 15 minutes they'd made a mistake; 3) finally received pasta) and 2 chocolate milkshakes (I needed to have something in my stomach with all that waiting), finally ate a meal.

I returned back to the hotel, too tired to walk any further, and promptly fell asleep for two hours (half way through 'I Love You Man' - seemed like a good movie!) On waking, I ordered some room service and then watched a few hours of TV, before submitting to my sleep deprivation once again.