Thursday, August 31, 2006


Dany in Hoi An

Dany sur le pond de Hoi an


Hoi An was stunning. It really was a time warp, and the peaceful music in the streets, the beautiful colonial buildings and the fact that soliciting is illegal made this a truly memorable experience.This was the view from outside our room in Hoi An

Hoi An. Une ville magnifique... On a vraiment l impréssion d'etre dans un aute siecle... Voila la vue du balcon de notre chambre. Fantastique!!!



Here is the photo from the bus!

Une photo du bus ou on a passé 15 heures!!! Le 2eme chauffeur se repose tranquile sur un hammak attaché entre les sieges. Il etait fatigué aprés avoir changé 2 roues qui avair crevé!!!

Sunday, August 27, 2006

Hoi An

After Mu Ne we dicided that we would skip Nha Trang, which was an over crowded tourist spot, so went directly to Ho An. We figured we would save some money and go directly by bus, as it was far cheaper than the train. As a scouse brahaman with whom I have lost contact once said 'Oh my word'. They made Diego look like a granny on an autobahn. The seats kept wobbling for 20 seconds after each bump making it impossible to sleep. With huge drops on our right hand side and three mad drivers it was a frightening experience. Due to a flat tire, and other delays, it took us 21 hours door to door. They had three drivers, one slept in the passage way, and anther in a hammock set up by the exit doors! We were shattered by the time we got to Ho An! Today we went for a day trip to My Son and tomorrow we will be going to Hue for one night prior to taking the overnight TRAIN to Hanoi.

Thursday, August 24, 2006


View from Breakfast Table

Its amazing here. Our breakfast table is literally 1 metre from the sea, which has strong waves, and our room about 10m! Now we are off to Nha Trang, but we are trying to see if we can get the overnight train as soon as we arrive there to Ho An, so lets see, then we will go to Hue and the demilitarised zone which used to separate North and South Vietnam

La vue de notre hotel. C etait bien cool de pouvoir se reposer 2 jours a la plage. On pert dans une heure... heures de bus jusqu à Nha Trang, et train de nuit (12heures) jusqu'à Ho An...



The kids tried making us pay 1 dollar each to guide us. We thought that we didn't need one, how wrong we were! At first it was really nice walking along the river, however we didn't go onto the track were we were supposed to and carried on the river. I walked into what I am convinced was quicksand, but Bea is not sure. Suddenly I was up to my thigh in sand!!! I tried getting out and yanked on a rock. My flip flop got stuck and I saved the other one. We then spent 20 mins looking for it and had sand up to my elbows searching. We gave up, and I lost my favourite present (from Felipe) of the last year. My comfortable Havaianas that were in IESE with me, and had travelled the globe. The comfort, the grip, ahhh!

La riviere... C'etait magnifique et u peu bizarre aussi. gosses voulait 1$ chacun pour nous servir de guide. On a refusé en pensant qu on en avait pas besoin. On a regretté!! Au debut c'etait facil, mais apres quelques cetaines de metres Dan est resté coincé dans une sorte de sable mouvant et a perdu sa tongue!! On a eu un peu peur (il etait rentré jusqu aux cuisses!!!). Il est donc rentré avec une seule tongue!!!

Fairy River




We then moved onto Fairy River. I 1km walk to the source. Because of my open cut I wasn't sure about how clean the water was. Two kids insisted, and gave me good evidence so we progressed. Bea was notably jubilant.

Nous voila dans la riviere. 1 km à pied dans l'eau.




More photos, sorry but I loved this place, even though I cut my foot open at the base and the top after my sandle got stuck and I fell into some thorns on the way down.

Encore le canyon rouge, c'etait vraiment superbe...




Red Canyon

We then made our way to the Red Canyon. Most of the rock is made of sand!! And the features change with the rain!

Le red canyon. On dirait des rochers mais c'est en fait du sable!! Donc le paysage change avec la pluie...

Fishing Port






This was a really nice village. We made friends with a bunch of kids. They even ran after the jeep and tried jumping in when it was moving.
le port, et les gamins bien mignons qui nous suivaient partout...



Journey to the Fishing Port

We then made our way towards a fishing port. But we met some unexpected suprises on the way.
En route vers le port de peche du village, avec quelques petits arrets!!



Unfortunately the pictures don't do it justice, as it stunning.
C est vraiment magnifique ici.

White Sand Dune & Lotus Lake



Afer that we moved on, not much more to say.
Bonjour Tristan!!

Les dunes de sable blanc, et le lac de lotus.
Et un petit coucou au petit Tristan.



It was quite early, but definately worth it.
C etait bien dur de se lever aussi top mais ca vallait bien le coup!!

Mui Ne




Wow, this place really is beautiful. Bea and I both agree, that the scenery in Mui Ne is the nicest of the trip so far. We got up at 4am and went to the red sand dunes for sunrise.

Mui ne (toute petite ville sur la cote est du Vietnam) est sans aucun doute l endroit le plus beau que l'on a vu de tout le voyage. On s'est levé à 4h du mat' pour aller voir le levé du soleil sur les dunes de sable.

Tuesday, August 22, 2006




Following Cu Chi we made our way back to HCM and went to the History museum followed by the botancial gardens, filled with lions, tigers etc. Tomorrow we are leaving at 7.30am and making our way to Mu Ne (North East from here). We will then steadily make our way up the coast towards Hanoi, and then China.


And here I am!

voila Dany dans le meme tunnel. la chaleur qu il faisait la dedans était impressionante!!


Then we went into the tunnels. There are over 250km of underground tunnels in Vietnam, some with three floors. There was no air, and after only 50m everyone was gasping for air and covered in sweat! Here is the lovely Bea.

Me voila dans un des tunnels construit par les Vietnamiens pour pouvoir se balader et se cacher sous terre. Il y a plus de 250 km de sous terrains comme ca dans cette region. En etant un peu clostro je n'ai pu faire que 50metres! On devait passer à 4 pattes à des moments...


We then went on a firing range were we could try the guns. At $1.6 per bullet it was pretty expensive, so I bought 5 bullets (and got three bullseye!). Because of the noise Bea decided not to do it. My ears were ringing for an hour afterwards!

Voila Dany qui joue au GI. Je devais tirer aussi mais avec le bruit que ca faisait j ai préféré regarder... Meme comme ca, jamais les oreilles qui sifflaient!!! Dany était presque sopurd pendant toute l aprem!!


This morning, after an early start we went to the Cu Chi tunnels 70km from HCM. We were shown the tactics used by the Viet Cong, and here is one of the trap doors. Hardly any space at all!

Ce matin, aprés s'etre reveillé trés tot (encore un fois!, on est allé visiter les tunel de Cuchi. Un village ou ils ont préservé les tunnels, cachettes et pieges a americains que les Viet Congs et paysans utilisaient pour se cacher et se dedendre.
Voila un exemple de cachette: un trou juste assez grand pour une personne.


The following morning we went to the War Museum. Shocking images or the war in which over 4 million died, especially the exhibits of Dioxine and Orange Agent. It was very informative, and probably the best museum of the trip so far.

Pour notre 2eme journee à Saigon on a décidé d'aller visiter le musée de la guerre du Vietnam. C'était vraiment choquant... On savais bien que ca avait du etre horrible, mais on s'attendait pas à ce que l'on a vu!! C'etait surtout une exposition de photos, des morts, des gamins, des tortures, des americains... ce qu ils ont fait la bas est impardonable!
Bref, voila mon petit mari devant un tanc américain.


We were amazed by the sheer volume of motos and motorbikes on the roads. The most I have ever seen!

Une rue de Saigon. C est vraiment dingue la quantité de moto qu'il y a!!! On a jamais vu ca! Je sais pas comment il n'y a pas plus d accidents, les gens conduisents comme des malades!!


After the morning visits, we started our journey towards Ho Chi Min City (aka Saigon). We had to get out of the bus to cross the river, and as with most eastern cultures the eyes are to ward off nazar (bad luck). When we got to the otherside (15 minutes later), the bus vanished for over an hour, and we were left baking in the heat!We arrived in Ho Chi Min at sunset

Vue de Saigon (ou Ho Chi Min) au couché du soleil.

Monday, August 21, 2006



After visiting the museum we went by tug tug to the killing fields, which is 16km away from the centre. It was mad! There were trucks everwhere, and then out of nowhere a storm hit us. Children were bathing in the puddles! Once we were off the main road, and on the dirt track the tug tug was losing grip, and visibility was reduced to a couple of yards. With the number of oncoming trucks and other factors we had to turn back after 14km.

En chemin vers les champs d execution (a 15 bornes de la ville). Quand il pleut au Cambodge il pleut!!! On pensait vraiment qu on allait rester coincés dans la campagne. le chauffeur nous avait rassuré avant que la tempete commence en nous disant qu'il n'y avait pas de tempete eau Cambodge juste en Thailande!!! On a bien rigolé et on s est surtout bien trampé!!! Notez les gamin a droite sur la photo qui se baignaient dans les flaques gigantesques...



Across Cambodia, the Khmer Rouge rounded up people, and took them to schools where they were held and hundreds of thousands tortued prior to being taken to killing fields where there are many mass graves. We went to see one such school, an eye opening, and disturbing experience. More than 2 million people died during their 4 year rule.

Photo de l'ecole ou l armée des Khmer Rouge a torturé des milliers de personnes avant de les executer dans les « killing fields ». (champs d execution). En près de quatre ans d’horreur, le génocide Khmer rouge aura coûté la vie à 1,7 à 2 millions de personnes, mortes sur les « killing fields ». Soit environ un quart de la population du pays. Horrible comme endroit mais important à voir...


We stayed in a guest house in the hills with a nice view. About 20 mins up the hill there were incredible views of the Mekong Delta.

Vue sur Le delta du mékong (dans le sud du Vietnam).





Here is the royal palace (behind Bea), the river front and street (behind me), and the National Mueseum. Our hostal was directly infront of the museum.

La capitale. Les belles rues (deriere dany), le palace royal (derierre moi) et le tres beau musée national.




Here is one of the villages we passed. The kids getting excited, and people coming with whole supermarkets to sell!

la vue du toit du bateau: les gamins qui font coucou et le petit supermarché ambulant (la femme sur la barque qui va de maison en maison pour vendre ses legumes)



The fish farm was cool, and reminded me of the Acquaculture module at school with Mrs Brenchly at Bluecoat. Also the kids were quite cheeky, but cute.

Visite des fermes de poisson dans un vilage. Les gamins sont tellement beau ici c dingue. Une petite fille bien sympa qui nous a laissé la prendre en photo pendant son repas. Elle a adoré se voir sur l ecran de l appareil pfoto.



We went from Siem Reap to the capital of Cambodia Phnom Penh. We did the five hour boat ride. We got onto the roof of the boat as the boat went slowly (at 7am) along the river, and past the villages. Then, once we got to the open water it suddenly started going really fast. The roof was full, it was quite uncomfortable, but were going so fast that it was actually dangerous to try to get down, and into the cabin. After 20 mins of discussion we plucked up the courage!

Redemarrage à l'aube!!! Cette fois-ci c'etait pour prendre le bateau qui nous a ammené à la capital du Cambodge: Phnom Penh . 5 heures de bateau à travers les villages sur pilotis, avec plein de gosses qui sortaient de leur maison pour nous faire coucou... genial!!! Un peu moins genial: On était assis sur le toit du bateau, donc bien sympa au debut, mais pas terrible en plein soleil!!! On a du descendre et marcher sur le cote du bateau (comme le mec sur la photo) mais à pleine vitesse!!! Sensations fortes fortes!!!



This is our favourite photo, which was taken by a japanese photographer who apparently is very famous. It was just by chance, and we only found out later. There were lots of trees hundreds of years old within the temple.

Une de mes photos préférées. Il y a un temple qui a été envahi par la jungle avec les années. Ca ressemblait vraiment à une image d' Alice au pays des merveilles. On a donc demandé à un homme japonais de prendre la photo pour nous. Photo vraiment superbe, on nous a dit plus tard que cette personne était un artiste et photographe trés connu, on ne lui avit pas demandé son nom, dommage!!!


We went to see a fish farm, incense makers, as well as textile producers on boat houses. They have a different rowing technique here.



We arrived at the border town of Chau Doc, and got in a Tug tug variant, which was basically a motorbike with a lugguage compartment at the back. It was good, but a bit rough on the bumps! We also went for a walk in the market place in flip flops with Davide, a roman who was on the boat with us.

Voila nos premiers pas au Vietnam. Pas de pousse-pousse (j ai enfin trouvé le nom en francais!!1)au Vietnam. Ils ont une variante ici: une remorque accrochée à l'arriere d'une mobilette. C'est pas vraiment confortable surtout sur les bosses!! Le marché etait bien sympa aussi. On etait les seul touristes à perte de vue (nous et un italien qu on voit sur la photo), ca faisait bizarre!!!


At each stage of the trip there is quite alot to read prior to arriving. You have to understand the history, culture, where to stay or eat, and how to book the next destination, especially if you are on a schedule. Bea got excited after reading the book, and so far this is one of our favourite countries of the trip!

Me voila sur la remorque d une moto, et oui les touc touc sont restés au Cambodge, au Vietnam c'est ou a trois sur une mobilette, dans un taxi hors de prix ou sur une remorque en bois et en fer a l arierre d une mobilette!! C etait bien marrant, la preuve: ma tete sur la photo!!! Et notez l'accesoire indispensable du voyageur: le bouquin guide...