3rd to 8th March, 2017

We decided that we should get out and about once again and soak up some Balinese culture, so this meant heading more or less straight up the island to see a couple of temples, some rice terraces and maybe some wood carvings.

An early start (for us!) of 0800 saw us head off into the traffic towards our first temple of the day, but not without stopping briefly to snap one of the many magnificent statues that frequent many of the main roundabouts in Bali. They usually seem to represent a god vanquishing some demon or other and are generally huge! This is the one we saw. I think something similar would make the difference on some of our roundabouts at home!

Next to Pura Taman Ayun, a temple (or Pura) thought to have been built in 1634 and encircled by a moat to symbolise the mythological home of the gods, Mount Meru, floating in the cosmic ocean. It is a wonderfully tranquil place with soft red brick  and pale stone all looking suitably ancient, but very well preserved. There was a large covered area with some models of people cock fighting (illegal now we were told, but there seem to be plenty of the birds being bred).

There is then an inner courtyard with its own smaller moat which is inaccessible to the general public except at festival time. There are some two dozen meru or pagodas inside and the three most important ones represent Bali’s holiest mountains, their spot in the temple representing their location on Bali. These are Batukara (11 tiers), Batur (9 because it is smaller than the other two) and Agung (11 again).

Taman means garden and there was a lovely wooded area at the far end, again very tranquil. Balinese temples seem to have eschewed the brashness and over-the-top colour of some Hindu temples you find elsewhere and were certainly a bit of a relief after all that gold of the Buddhist temples and shrines of our earlier travels. Great carvings too… (and a couple of good snaps of Val)…

We had a short break at a fruit market to get a few provisions. I can’t remember what the door was all about, but it was really lovely, so you get that as a bonus…

So, one temple down and two to go – or so we thought. More on that soon. Next was Pura Ulun Danau Bratan, again in a lovely setting, this time in Lake Bratan. Built in 1633, it is dedicated to Dewi Danu, source of water and hence fertility for the island. Our guidebook did advise rather deprecatingly that you COULD hire a pedalo, if you must or, worse still in their view, join a speedboat ride. We took their implied advice and didn’t.

It is certainly photogenic and I have largely managed to crop out the hordes of people taking their selfie shots. I liked the eagle in the garden nearby too.

It was time for some lunch which we took overlooking the rice terraces of Jatiluwih, very beautiful and the oldest ones on the island. Also a chance for me to try to capture the essence of what they are like. I am not convinced I have succeeded, but see what you think… very green!

Now I mentioned another possible temple, Tanah Lot, this one actually on a rock in the sea, but we had to make a decision as to whether we saw that at sunset (with serious hordes of other people) or looked for some wood carvings and we settled for the latter, in Ubud. We went first to what was obviously a tourist trap, not least as the prices were on the decidedly high side, so in the end we had a quick walk through what is termed Ubud Art Market, though mostly it was low quality tourist stuff, football shirts and those wooden penises again (I am still intrigued as to who is buying them). We did find a mask though to go with the one we have at home already, so I will be drilling more holes in the dining room wall when I get home! More nice material and another lovely gateway.

And that was our tour as it was time to get back to the hotel. Another good day out and if we ever come back to Bali I would certainly look at staying outside of Denpasar and the south so we could more easily access the rest of the island as it has a great deal more to offer.

We have continued to sample the great restaurants near the hotel and managed to find some ribs, which were good.. though the attempt at a selfie needs work!

Having finally posted about Bali, it turns out that an Old Emanuel (where I used to teach) saw the post and was living really close so we so we met up with said OE, Helen Hobson and had a good catch-up on things past and present future (though the evening was not actually that tense, haha). Great to see her and, as ever, I feel vicariously paternal, though I am not sure I ever had much effect on Helen who was always very focused and well-behaved and did not grace my office for a ‘chat’! She is working for a marketing company and it seems that in this day and age if you simply do all your work on the internet, you can locate anywhere you like. Isn’t that fantastic!

Well, tomorrow we fly off to Mumbai for two nights before landing in Goa. We shall miss Bali (except the traffic). Nice people, again, great shops, lovely food and restaurants, a fascinating culture, wonderful spas and a fabulous hotel. Some final shots of the latter before we go. They have been excellent in every way.

Next stop – India!

 

 

 

23rd February to 2nd March, 2017

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Not a great deal to report other than sadly we seem to have lost Val’s camera which is very irritating as it had a lot of photos on it, though I did manage to get most of the good ones into the blog and have uploaded many into the cloud. We think we may have left it somewhere on our day out (see last post). Ah well, these things happen (as I keep trying to tell myself while still chuntering about it!)

We had been advised that a trip to the beach is a must-do activity, but not being particularly beachy people and definitely non-surfers we decided simply to go to a local spot called Potato Head (we still don’t know why) which is THE place to go to apparently and conveniently located in the hotel’s free shuttle service route. We didn’t reckon we could manage a whole day, so we went for the sunset and oh boy, was it good. (‘Oh no, not more sunset pictures?!’). I went a bit mad, but have really tried to pare them down to the best ones.

Potato Head is a restaurant and pool and you can hire a daybed for a fee and seems like quite a good party venue. The building itself was fascinating being clad in shutters of various kinds – very striking.

Once inside you get the feel for what is on offer by the throng of people in the restaurant, on the grass and by the pool…

And immediately in front is the beach with terrific waves crashing in.

Lots of people doing lots of things, though mostly taking selfies as far as I can judge!

A few random shots that don’t seem to fit into any other category…

The golden light as the sun went down was fabulous…….

And then there was the after glow that started like this…

And then turned into…….

And finally, the party was still in full swing…..

Other than that we have continued our care-free existence. We have tried some 10 pin bowling though not with huge success, we attended a ‘sunset to glam’ party in the bar at the hotel (very loud music!), we have visited many bars with some good live bands and guitar-playing songsters and kept up the exercise and Yahtzee.

What is especially pleasing is that Val’s Parkinson’s is behaving very well which was the main point of the trip in the first place. We can’t decide if it is the warm weather, lack of stress or not having to do anything if we don’t want to that is contributing the most or a combination of all three, but she is doing fantastically. In truth, it is also the amount of work she religiously puts in down at the gym that is also a great influence and an object lesson to all of us on how to deal with difficulties in our lives head on. Love you, Val!!

Ok, short one this time with lots of easy-to-look-at photos after the short book I gave you before. Next post soon – more temples!

19th – 22nd February, 2017

It is weirdly hard keeping this blog going. Lots of good intentions and few excuses, especially at the moment when, to be honest, we are hardly busy, but the days now seem to have a bit of routine that does not include ‘time for blog’. No wonder I could never keep a diary beyond the end of January!

Ok, I last left you with our arrival at our very nice hotel here in Seminyak on the south west coast of Bali. Seminyak is part of the Kuta-Ketian-Seminyak strip, a conurbation of resorts that were once villages, but are now the main hub for tourism, running from the decidedly brash, party Kuta (with some of the slightly seedier nightlife) to the upmarket, chic Seminyak. They are about 10km southwest of Denpasar, the capital, which covers most of the southern tip of the island.

What strikes you where we are is the plethora of really nice shops that would keep your average interior designer happy for weeks. Most of what is in them would not be out of place in Chelsea and some of the prices are about the same, though you can pick up plenty of bargains but then you have the problem of ‘how do we get the huge pot/Buddha/table/elaborately-carved doorway/huge tree-decoration thing back to the UK?’. Fascinating window shopping and it really is just as well we have no space in either our luggage or our house (though we do have room in the garden – more on that shortly). The main difference with Chelsea is the rather dodgy pavements, which more often than not have motorbikes parked on them and the traffic, again, mostly whizzing motorbikes jockeying for position by even a metre, which sometimes involves using the pavement as a temporary piece of road. Oh, and the taksis (taxi in English – or should it be Greek. In Malaysia they spell it teksi, which sounds as though someone really posh coined it way back when. The same goes for the word fesyen. Just say it in the sort of voice that would have called girls ‘gells’ and you will soon pick it up!). Anyway, the taksis. They are very keen and it is not so much ‘touting for business’ as ‘tooting for business’ and they won’t take no for an answer even though you are walking in the opposite direction down a one-way street. Val got very excited when one pulled up alongside of us and said ‘hello, taxi’, except she thought they had said ‘hello, sexy’! I was thinking that I could make my fortune by selling t shirts with ‘No thanks, I don’t need a taxi’ emblazoned on it.

There are also a lot of restaurants ranging from the local Balinese warung or cheap eaterie/cafe/bar to some much more upmarket places with western prices. The good news is that it does not have to be expensive to be good and we have found some tasty places, both local and international cuisine so both Val and I are happy. Don’t get me wrong, I like a good nasi goreng/satay/mie as much as the next person, but every now and then it is time for a burger or pizza. We did not opt for the breakfast at the hotel on the basis that is costs about £25 each, so we stock up on a few goodies from a bakery next door and snack in our room or sometimes nip out for a brunch at a total cost of about £20 tops. The good news is that I have actually lost a bit of weight, which is a bonus! We did have one dodgy moment yesterday after visiting Shrimp Sambal for the second time, then sauntered down the street (toot, toot, ‘taxi’?), found a nice bar which not only had live music, but was also showing Tottenham v Everton. We even started chatting to a nice couple from England (they seemed nice, even though they are Arsenal supporters), when all of a sudden my stomach did not feel good, I came out in a sweat and felt as though I was going to faint. They must have thought it odd that we left in such a rush (I didn’t even finish my Bintang beer). Luckily there was a taxi! The good news is, all is well and I seem to have only had a mild setback.

I was amused by Shrimp Sambal (which I can heartily recommend, by the by, dodgy tummy notwithstanding) as it was a bit like either the Spam sketch from Monty Python or the crow sketch from the Two Ronnies as it is, not surprisingly, almost exclusively shrimps on the menu. We had shrimp and avocado salad, shrimp bombs, shrimp nasi goreng and shrimp metah, a spicy salad type dish. Luckily the puddings were shrimp free (which may have accounted for my Bali Belly later!)

Other than looking at the shops, having the odd spa and eating out, we have kept ourselves occupied with table tennis, the gym, the pool, reading and Yahtzee (I am one ahead after 536 games – which just proves that it is a game of chance once you have mastered the tactics). And here is a photo of yours truly enjoying a good soak after an arduous working over on the massage table – it’s a tough life!

I think I forgot to show you the photos of the pool from our balcony, so here you go. I have to say, it is most imaginatively done, with a beach with real sand which extends for half the length of the pool. I have no idea how it doesn’t clog up the filter. The only downside is the water is possibly too warm (‘oh, please, John, enough!!’ I hear you cry). It is decidedly warmer and more humid here in Bali at between 30 and 33 degrees, which means that we have about 4 showers a day at least. No rain to speak of, though it is supposed to be wet.

We have been out and about. We booked a car and driver for the day and headed north. Actually, we headed south first along the street on which our hotel is located, Jalan Sunset, jalan meaning street, so as to avoid the traffic of Denpasar and pick up Jalan By-Pass, as it is called here, to get to our first appointment which was a display of Balinese Barong dance and what I suppose must be called theatre. We arrived a little late, but there was still much to get our teeth into. The Barong is a mythical beast, half pantomime horse and half lion, though it can also be a tiger, boar or pig. The Barong, usually accompanied by a mischievous monkey, is the guardian of good against the widow witch, Rangda, who represents evil. The whole spectacle did remind me a pantomime Balinese style or possibly Gilbert and Sullivan as there were some splendidly dressed older characters who ran around rather ineffectually trying protect the maiden from various other elderly gentlemen, who appeared to be villains of one sort or another, all done in an over-the-top manner. There is also a touch of comedy, not least when a dog appears and is knocked unconscious, or so they think, and then seems to be decidedly less dead as evidenced in the photo below – but all is well, that was just his tail sticking up between his legs! All this is accompanied by full gamelan orchestra of plink-plonk music and crashing cymbals and drums. Great costumes!

We were now heading north through the town of Ubud, though it is very much ribbon development in much of central Bali and sometimes hard to tell where one district starts and ends. Ubud is the art centre of Bali, with chic galleries, stonemasons and wood carvings on an almost industrial scale, not to mention jewellery and clothes shops and the usual tacky tourist stuff. It is actually really enticing, especially if you are looking to set up home or a hotel. Some of the pieces are superb, massive statues or huge carved tree roots. We visited a silver shop, an art gallery, which had some good examples of the unique styles of Balinese painting with some pretty staggering price tags attached and a stonemasons. Now the last proved too tempting and there should be a crate arriving at home in a couple of months with a few pieces for the garden. The works themselves are ridiculously cheap, though the shipping hits you a bit, but we couldn’t resist.

Our driver, Yasa, organised for us to visit a family compound. Bali society, despite a very high level of tourism, still seems very traditional especially when driving north where the roadside has walled compounds joining onto one another. Each compound contains an extended family, the compound and village oriented ‘kaja-kelod’ which is towards Gunung Agung (Mount Agung) and away from it. The mountain is considered the home of the gods. Each family member usually has their own building in the compound with shared facilities with the different structures representing different parts of the body. So the family shrine is the head, the courtyard the navel, the ‘bale’ or raised thatched platforms used for different functions, the arms, the kitchen and rice barn the legs and feet and the rubbish tip located alongside the pig pen, the anus. The one we visited was not that wealthy, but seemed to be well kept. The bell-shaped bamboo like things contain chickens and sometimes fighting cocks (big in Bali). The things that look like posts with a thatch on top are the different shrines of the family. By the way, when building a new compound, much is made of auspicious days to build and measurements are taken of the head of the household and the layout is calculated relative to those.

The smallest organisational unit is the banjar or neighbourhood and each adult male is a member when they marry, with about 50 to 100 being the usual size, though they can be as many as 500. The banjar is effectively the parish council and makes many important decisions on a wide range of issues. And then there is the very important subak, the organisation that controls the sawah or rice fields, made up of farmers who use the water to irrigate their plots, very important to avoid disputes.

Well, a brief insight into Balinese life. Religion, Hinduism, is a very important part of every day life, but I will cover that in the next blog.

We pushed on to see some rice terraces, which have now become a tourist attraction to the extent you have to pay to see them, the money going to help the local community, which is fair enough. I have thrown in a few other rice-related pics as well…

And on we went to reach the furthest north we were going to go, a view of Gunung Badur, a still-active volcano, that last erupted in 2000 and is still smoking now, which is a good sign according to the locals as it means it is letting off steam. Lovely views, especially of the accompanying lake. All very atmospheric, all the more so as there were scudding clouds sweeping in every now and then.

The whole area is quite high up, naturally, and so a good place for market gardening which meant Val could get her fix of durian! Eaten outside the car, I might add. The other fruits highlighted below are mangosteens and rambutans.

Next on the itinerary was a temple or pura called Gunung Kawi Sebatu where there are ritual bathing pools, very important in Balinese religious customs as they are used to cleanse ‘sebel’ or ritual uncleanliness. This could be when women have their period, someone has a serious illness or for a family, after the death of a relative or for a village after, say, a plague of rats in the rice fields. In 2002 after the bombing in which over 200 died, the whole island went through exorcisms of ritual cleansing. I cannot emphasise enough how important all of these rituals are on a daily basis with offerings made to little shrines everywhere, including outside the lift on the top floor of our hotel! They are partly to ward of demons too. I will try to cover that in a later post. Fascinating stuff. Anyway, pictures of the temple. I nearly got lost in the maze of stalls that you had to negotiate on exit selling a huge array of trinkets and quite a bit of tat, including, oddly, wooden penises. No idea why or who is buying them!

We just had time to have a quick look at a local waterfall before heading back into the even heavier traffic nearer to the hotel.

All in all a fascinating day out and a good taster of what makes Bali tick. It would have been great to have been able to explore the island in greater detail, but getting about either involves hiring a car or motor scooter (you can just picture Val and me doing the latter!), which involves negotiating the traffic or getting someone else to drive us. It is a surprisingly big island when you are stuck in traffic a lot of the time. Still we did make another expedition on which more soon.

Well, that was a big post. I will try and start another one soon!

16th February, 2017

It was time to say goodbye to Vietnam and with a much easier departure than our arrival we were successfully crammed into our Tiger Air flight for the short jump to Singapore. What a difference to where we had been travelling for the last 6 weeks. It really is jaw-dropping in its orderliness. Everything works, everything is painted, everywhere is clean, the traffic is fine, the taxis luxurious, there is greenery everywhere. We had not been to Singapore since 2010 and then we had only spent one night there and before that I think my last visit was in 1987! Mind you it was a miracle then and it certainly does not seem to have changed its status as the best run country in the world. It is the only place I have heard of that offers you FREE tours of the city from the airport if you have a few hours between flights. Brilliant. I am not sure how much we would like to live there, but as ever it is a breath of fresh (and hot and humid) air as to what can be achieved if you have the will.

We were staying with my old pal, Nick, not forgetting the lovely and ever youthful-looking Stella and the wonderful Carlita. A wonderful dinner and a few sundowners awaited our arrival and gave us a chance to catch up with news and to put the world to rights – I hope you all noticed the difference!

Now you may be wondering when the photos are going to appear for a bit of light relief from all this verbiage, but sad to say we seem to have misplaced Val’s camera somewhere in Bali, so the photos we took are no longer available. To say that I am gutted would be an understatement, although most of the best pictures have at least been saved on the blog and I did have the presence of mind eventually to save some to the cloud if not all. Annoying, but a first world problem, as Caroline would say.

17th February, 2017

Carrying on regardless, we actually had quite a full day as I had been in touch with a number of Emanuel friends who are living in Singapore, so our first appointment was with Adam Nelson for lunch. Adam was a pupil at Emanuel and seems to be doing well in a marketing job (Flamingo) and very decently bought us lunch. Luckily we did take a few pics with Val’s tablet, so here we are for posterity.

It always makes me feel a bit paternal to catch up with ex-pupils and see them moving on in the world. Don’t even ask how I feel when they have married and had children. Positively ancient!

We were in an area that looked like Val could get a haircut and I decided that the beard had had its day, especially in this heat, so we stumbled upon a barber of the old school variety who deftly removed said hirsute appendage with his trusty cut-throat razor.  A bit scary at times, but take it from me, the end result was a great feeling! Val (and a bit of her finger!) were on hand with the tablet to record the event and the result.

We all went out for a drink and a bite to eat in the evening and met up with another Old Emanuel, Arman Arya, who was in Singapore for CEO magazine for whom he works in Stockholm (something of a contrast on Singapore!). Sadly, no photo survives, but great to catch up and discover he is doing so well, not least as we saw rather more of each other at school than either of us really wanted (in a pastoral way, if you get my drift). It was good to see that I was right, everyone can come good eventually.

I can’t show you the bright lights of nighttime Singapore, sorry. You will have to get there yourselves, but many thanks to Nick and Stella for a fabulous dinner and short tour of the sights.

18th February, 2017

We were off to Bali in mid-afternoon, which gave us enough time for one last catch-up, this time with the ex Head of History at Emanuel, the indefatigable Stuart Clayton and his lovely and very new wife, Polly for an excellent brunch. They are both teaching at Dulwich, Singapore (booo) and loving it.

Just wish there had been more time to chat, but needs must and we had a plane to catch, which we did very successfully and landed in Bali to be met and driven to our new home for the next 19 days, the Trans Resort Hotel in Seminyak, Bali. Luckily I used my other camera (still with us, thankfully) to take the traditional hotel room shots, so you won’t be missing a thing. I bet you are relieved!

Great view of the rather unusual pool (one end has sand like a beach) from out jacuzzi-equipped balcony! They have the most fabulous pillows I think I have ever experienced. So we are delighted, you will be pleased to know.

More soon, including some, wait for it, yes, sunset shots!!!

15th February, 2017

Our last full day in Vietnam and it is hard to believe that we have visited three countries already, two of them in some depth. We had a full day ahead of us though, as we set off south west to the magnificent Mekong Delta. I suppose I imagined it would be mangrove swamps and some rice paddies and a few people, but how wrong I was. It is certainly the rice bowl of Vietnam and arguably of SE Asia. The Mekong (not to be confused with the Mekon of Dan Dare fame) is some 4000 km long, starting in Tibet and is the third longest river in Asia (after the Yangtze and Yellow rivers). It deposits huge quantities of silt which makes the region particularly fertile and it provides one third of the country’s agricultural output. It is also densely populated with towns and villages and housing and people and motorbikes and boats all jockeying for position just as elsewhere in Vietnam.

It is a good hour plus from HCMC, but I enjoyed the bus on a mission and we did stop for refreshments where there was an example of a ‘monkey bridge’ at the cafe, though strictly speaking you only have a bamboo pole rather than a whole palm tree to walk on over the many ditches and rivers and inlets that are everywhere you go. Luckily there are several much more substantial bridges that take you over the various tributaries of the river itself.

Before we took to the water itself, we visited a rather dilapidated brickworks where they use the mud and clay from the river to produce, as far as I could see, two types of brick. Unfortunately the machine that makes the bricks was also a bit dilapidated and had broken down, but we got a sense of what it was all about and had a chance to look into the kilns, which are quite magical and reminded us a bit of the temples at Bagan. Must be all those bricks!

We were soon on the water itself (ok, the boat was on the water and we were on the boat) (pedant!) and chunkling along past the coconut processing workshops and various boats carrying all sorts of produce, including tourists.

There was so much to see and lots of people being busy carrying, raking, fishing, boating and generally being very industrious.

The boats are painted with very pronounced eyes on them, an ancient tradition to ward of river monsters, probably crocodiles (though none now survive). We did step on to dry land for a while to see a coconut sweet making business (I think I may have lost a filling there), take a walk down some of the country lanes and see how coconut rush mats are made. As you can see from the photos, schoolboys are the same all over the world. The frogs looked delicious – what a shame we were not offered any for lunch (!).

It was lunch next and delicious it was with a fried fish in a sort of toast rack (or fish rack) and spring rolls made at our table as we sat. I spotted someone who had obviously bustled a bit too much and was having a well-earned snooze. I love the photo of the hammock with only a hand and feet showing. The fruit is a pomelo in case you were wondering.

And there was a lovely and very accommodating butterfly that very decently came within camera length.

And then it was off up the byways and tributaries and onto our bus to make the journey back to the city. An excellent day out and probably deserving of a greater amount of time. Many people explore it by motorbike or bicycle. Maybe another time!

And that, dear reader, is Vietnam done, bar getting to the airport tomorrow (which we did very successfully as you can tell by the fact that I am typing this in Bali!).

We really liked Vietnam with the possible exception of Nha Trang, though even that had its good points. I would be happy to visit some bits again in a more leisurely fashion and there are other parts we could not reach such as Sa Pa in the far north that look fascinating. Nice people with plenty of variety between North and South and the usual Asian charm and desire to please throughout. It certainly feels like a country that is going places, though with one foot firmly in the past of kings and mandarins and a devastating war. It did not feel like a communist or socialist state and it would have been good to have been able to have chatted a bit with someone local a bit more about the political situation, but that seemed a rather taboo subject.

On to Singapore!

14th February, 2017

Hello? Is there anybody there? I would not be surprised if there isn’t as once again I am apologising for the lack of posting. I can almost feel my dear Papa over my shoulder ‘suggesting’ in that wonderfully polite, but pointed way that definitely meant ‘you will do this’, that a post or, in his day, a letter, is decidedly overdue.

There are reasons but no real excuses, these being a restfulness descending over me that is one step away from all-out lethargy and basically having a lovely time not doing much in a fairly busy way. It doesn’t help if we don’t surface much before 9.30, but more on that when we get to the post on Bali. First up we need to finish Vietnam and specifically HCMC, so on with the show.

It was Valentine’s Day, but as Val and I love each all year round we didn’t make a song and dance about it. We had been scheduled to be driven out to the Cu Chi tunnels that the Vietcong dug to evade US detection, but we were a bit knackered and it was a long way, so we asked to see more of HCMC and Wing duly obliged.

First stop was the botanical gardens. We didn’t particularly want to visit the zoo, but it seems you can’t do one without the other, so in we went. It was reasonable, but still rather distressing to see animals doing that up, down and back again walk over and over again. Of the ones on display, the white tiger playing with the water was good and there is still something magical about animals you don’t see everyday. A selection…

The gardens themselves were lovely too and very much a reflection of the high quality that we have witnessed of Vietnamese public spaces. I snapped this photo of the motorbike park, which sums up so much of our visit to South East Asia where they are truly ubiquitous (except Yangon, of course).

It was off next to the Ben Thanh market (Val needed her fix!), where there was the usual produce on display. It was big, as you might expect, with stalls crammed in with narrow walkways in between. Lots of bustle as ever and colour and suggestions that particular garments would look wonderful on us and are a must-have. They take no with good grace, which is a blessing. We should have tried the weasel coffee, which, for the uninitiated is where the coffee bean passes through a weasel first and is then roasted (the bean, not the weasel!). I have heard of this with other animals in other countries, but am none too sure if it (a) is for real and (b) makes any difference! Anyway, enjoy the stuffed example! The prawns were so big I had to get Val to put her hand near them for perspective. And whilst there was much in the market that was still done in the traditional way, it was interesting to see that iPads are popular with the young and not so young!

Next we visited the Fine Art Museum, located in a number of adjoining buildings, the principal one of which was a grand colonial mansion. The collection in this one was largely Vietnamese paintings, some traditional and some modern and many very attractive indeed. I have narrowed down a selection below. Many were of the independence struggle type, but some others were of everyday scenes. I like the Vietnamese equivalent of ‘Les Parapluies’ – have I spelt that right?  In the other buildings they also had a few bits of ceramic and wood carving though I liked the spiral staircase most. The large stone head on the roof would have looked great in the garden! He looked as though he was a bit miffed at being stuck out on the roof…

We were now about ready for a spa treatment so off we went to one that I had researched earlier. Wing and the driver very kindly waited for us and then it was back to the hotel and a rest (hardly needed, I admit) before our next trip tomorrow.

More soon – assuming that there is anyone reading this. Hello? Hello?

 

 

13th February, 2017

A thousand apologies, I have been very remiss and really have very few excuses other than that I am on holiday! I am typing this in Bali, so I still have to cover HCMC and Singapore. Well, here goes, I will see what I can achieve today.

We made our early flight from Da Lat to Ho Chi Minh City aka Saigon (and henceforth referred to as HCMC) and were met by our last guide in a long succession of guides, this one being called Wing (“as in chicken wing” as he informed us!), an extremely amiable and informative chap with a plethora of jokes and views on all matters Vietnamese. As it was so early we set off straight away for a bit of sightseeing round HCMC, a city very different to Hanoi, with wide straight streets, some degree of order, lots of traffic and lots of lush green parks. Hanoi has its French Quarter, but HCMC feels much more of a complete French city. It does not have an Old Quarter of meandering, bustling streets and alleyways and, for me, lacked the excitement and old world charm of Hanoi, though Val preferred it. It is supposed to be much more fun compared to conservative Hanoi and it is certainly attractive possibly because it is warmer, sunnier and generally much more cosmopolitan than the capital in what was the communist North.

Our first stop, which almost seems to be compulsory, was the War Remnants Museum, not a destination for the faint-hearted as it is a distressing compendium of the horrors of war, in this case almost exclusively that imposed on Vietnam by the Americans (though the French do not get a very good write-up either). Outside there is an impressive collection of captured American artillery, a tank, helicopter and  fighter planes. Inside there are a series of halls presenting a grisly portfolio of photographs of mutilation, napalm burns and torture. There is a whole gallery on international opposition to the war and support for the North Vietnamese and Vietcong with another that looks at the war correspondents who catalogued the wars and often died in the attempt. Some 63 to 71 (the figures are debatable) were killed during the 20 years to 1975 (which matched the number killed in the Iraq war between 2003 and 2006. For information 67 died Inc WW2 and 18 in the Korean War).

Anyway, it was pretty one sided, though there was an attempt to show the efforts to reconciliation by all sides. That said, it was not at all complimentary to the US in particular and the tactics they used, especially Agent Orange. It would have been good to have had some historical context, but perhaps understandable if you are on the receiving end of the conflict). It did not lend itself to many photos, but here you go…

It was a short drive to the Reunification Palace, our next stop. This building became most famous possibly when two Vietcong tanks crashed through the gates on 30th April, 1975 (they have examples of the tanks, though not the originals, in the garden). Inside the palace the president of only two days, Duong Van Minh said to the victorious General Bui Tin “I have been waiting since early morning to transfer power to you”, to which the General replied “Your power has crumbled. You cannot give up what you do not have”. To the point! I have unearthed a report on YouTube by none other than Sandy Gall (remember him?) on the last days of Saigon. Compulsive viewing! https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IdR2Iktffaw.

The original palace was a colonial mansion built in 1871 for the governor-general of Indochina. It was appropriated by President Ngo Dinh Diem but suffered badly in an assassination attempt by two disaffected south Vietnamese pilots who bombed it in 1962. It was pulled down and a building erected that my guidebook suggests has all the charm of a municipal library! Fascinating inside though and still used for high-ranking visitors and important occasions. It still has a US helicopter on the roof and the bomb shelter in the basement with all the old maps and communications equipment (some of which Val recognised from her early working days!). The cinema and games room from the presidential days have also been preserved. As my excellent Lonely Planet guidebook once again says, hitting the nail on the proverbial head, ‘it’s hard not to think that you’ve strayed into the arch-criminal’s lair in a James Bond film’ and it certainly is a time capsule of Sixties and Seventies kitsch in places.

We departed and went on a drive and walk of some of the main sights of the city, starting with general post office (possibly by Eiffel, though it depends on who you read), built in the 1880s. Inside there are some old murals of Saigon and environs in 1892 and telegraph lines of south Vietnam in 1936. There is also still an old chap, Mr. Duong Van Ngo, who usually sits at the end of a long wooden table underneath a mural of Ho Chi Minh, behind the sign “Information and Writing Assistance”. Mr. Ngo has been working here since he was 17, (he was born in 1930), as a polyglot public letter writer. Being the last letter writer in old Saigon, he’s a source of stories of how he connects people across the planet with his fountain pen. Sadly he was not there when we visited! Sorry to build up the anticipation like that, I was partially quoting from other sources. I have sourced a photo of him though.

Just opposite is the Cathedral and a short drive away the Hotel de Ville, the opera house (now called the Municipal Theatre) and other colonial buildings, many of them hotels then as now (the Rex, Continental and Caravelle) and often made famous as drinking haunts of Vietnam War correspondents. In front of the Hotel de Ville there is the wonderful Nguyen Hue Street, which has two lanes with a large ‘walking square’ in between with the statutory statue of Uncle Ho at one end and stretching a good half kilometre down to the Saigon River.

It was now time to check into our latest abode, a nice modern hotel with all the usual amenities. Stand by for standard hotel room pictures!

Our day was not finished though as we were booked in to see a show at the Municipal Theatre, called the A O show, showcasing the talents of what are called here the minority people. It was absolutely breathtaking and the best I can do as there was no photography allowed (or even silent!) is to direct you to this trailer http://www.luneproduction.com/teh-dar which should give you a flavour. Quite Cirque du Soleil and utterly mesmerising. I think the production company does tours and I can heartily recommend it. Here is a view of the stage at least (plus a pair of very unusual shoes and the meal we had after the show)!

We then walked through the walking square admiring the fountains and avoiding the sight line of would-be David Baileys snapping their girlfriend would-be Kate Mosses posing in front of almost anything and the forest of selfie sticks. Lots of fun and very lively and jolly with the traffic pouring past. As ever, a mass of motorbikes all jostling for position and at times resorting to the pavement for those vital extra metres.

I enjoyed this photo – not sure what a tax supermarket is though!

Ok, one day down, but Val is looking for a game of table tennis, so I must leave it there for now. More soon, promise!

 

12th February, 2017

We woke to a lovely day, a little bit chilly at first, but warming up nicely to about ‘summer’s day in early June in England’ standard. I promised you a picture inthe last blog of where we were staying and here it is plus the (heated) swimming pool.

Our first appointment was with the train and our 7km ride up the track to Trai Mat. We arrived at the station to find the usual number of posing locals clambering all over different parts of the engine, tracks and carriages and then it was ‘all aboard!’ and we set off in what felt like a railway carriage from the late 19th century (third class).

We trundled slowly through the countryside. It was interesting more than beautiful especially if you have a major interest in market gardening!

The village of Trai Mat’s major attraction is Linh Phuoc Pagoda, a set of incredibly ornate buildings showcasing the art of tesselation, whereby small pieces of broken china or glass are painstakingly arranged in cement. There is a huge dragon also, made from over 12,000 carefully broken beer bottles. I feel, in my own small way, that I have contributed to the building of a new dragon by my unselfish sponsorship of several of the local brews in our travels through Vietnam! The whole affair was jaw-dropping with a fantastical 7 storey pagoda, two vast Buddhas, one that seemed to be encrusted with sea shells and one that looked like it was made from butter and a bell that was trimmed with requests for help or gifts. Almost as impressive was the car/bus park in front that at one point looked completely gridlocked. The whole affair reminded me of a sort of Buddhist Gaudi.

There was a sort of showroom of giant furniture and decorative carvings next door with one of the biggest single piece of wood tables I think I have ever seen. Val looked very regal in the inlaid chair!

Having eventually extricated ourselves from the car park, we drove past the standard Da Lat landscape of plastic greenhouses to one of the highlights of Da Lat, the summer palace of the last Emperor of Vietnam, Bao Dai. It was built between 1933 and 1938 and is the epitome of the fashion of those times in an Art Deco style that vaguely resembles a ship, not least by the odd port hole punched into its walls. The outside was a little bit in need of renovation, but I enjoyed the flower-decorated scooter in front. It was more homely than palatial and, quoting the guidebook, “provided Boa Dai with a bolt hole between elephant-slaughtering sessions”.

The inside had various relics of the emperor such as his desk and a rather family villa feel and it was not hard to imagine the emperor and his wife and five children at play here. The pink bedroom in the photos below reminded me a bit of Fawlty Towers! You had to don shoe covers to protect the fabric of the building or, as Wing, our guide put it, to help polish the floors!

As ever, the grass did not grow under our feet and it was off to the impressive market where the produce of the region was very much on show, especially the flowers in anticipation of St Valentine’s Day.

And off we went again, this time to a waterfall outside the city, much loved by the locals, especially if you are dating, I suspect and by families for a day out. This was partly because there were plenty of distractions such as a building with deformed animals (five-legged cows etc), which we decided to give a miss, dressing up in national costumes (of other countries apparently), elephant, buffalo and ostrich riding (see photo below – we did feel there should be a weight limit for the ostrich!) and kayaking and walking through the park (which, of course, was beautifully maintained). Oh, and a camel that reminded me of a leading US politician!

Our day ended at a very tranquil monastery with nice bonsai and gardens and one of the more unusual signs in our travels. We also bumped into some ladies all in purple who were gathering for a meet-up of some former colleagues and decided to attend in the same colour outfits.

And that was our time in Da Lat. Wing, our guide, discovered that our flight time to Ho Chi Minh City the next day was no longer just after midday, but now was 0750, so we got an early night for an early start. A nice change, what with the cool air and rather festive feel of the place, but we would now need to steel ourselves for the bustle of the city. More soon.

 

11th February, 2017

Well, it was time to depart Nha Trang for our penultimate destination, the hill station established by the French at the end of the 19th century at Da Lat. It is about 140 kms, but as we looked out of the window of our hotel that morning it didn’t look as though we would be travelling in blazing sunshine. Mind you it was a lovely light on the water!

We set off with Hanh our guide and our very able driver (Mr Chieu, I think), heading south and then hanging a right and started to climb and climb and climb. Da Lat is about 1,500 metres above sea level and the road we were on was not in good condition, having been subject to recent rockfalls and pitted with pot holes that often meant a detour onto the other side of the road with some interesting precipices on one side. It became even more exciting when the rain started and the clouds descended and visibility worsened. Mr Chieu took it nice and slow and after a stop for refreshments (Val was overdue her coconut!) we emerged into much better weather on the plateau of Da Lat. I declined the offer of a snake liquor pick-me-up! The bus we were in was very plush with reclining seats, cushions, drink holders and even a TV, though watching it going up that windy road would almost certainly have been a disaster. Val enjoyed the luxurious conditions though.

We had some lunch and as we were quite early it was suggested we do some of our tour straight away, which was fine by us. Da Lat today is no longer the sleepy respite centre for hot and bothered French colonial types that it was at the start of the 20th century, but has become the vegetable patch of Vietnam. Most growing is done under cover of plastic with every spare yard covered with the stuff for some very high intensity farming. It is also a major local tourist destination with lots coming up from Ho Chi Minh City and Nha Trang to savour the cold (well, cool) over their weekends. As a result it is plastered with decidedly kitsch entertainments some of which we were able to experience.

First up though we stepped back in time at Ga Da Lat as in Gare Da Lat, i.e. Da Lat Railway Station. It was a real Art Deco throwback having been built in 1938. The railway itself only extends 7 kms these days, the track having been a casualty of Vietcong attacks in the 1960s and subsequent ‘recycling’ of the rails by locals! The plan was to take the journey up the tracks, but no tickets were available, so we postponed that until tomorrow. A few photos to keep you going…

Next we visited the flower gardens next to the largish Lake Xuan Huong. As mentioned before, the Vietnamese have certainly mastered the art of the municipal garden and this was no exception. The biggest danger was being hit by a selfie stick as the locals absolutely looooove posing next to the flower beds (and trains and anything else you can think of) and this was nothing compared with our next destination (see below). Lovely flowers and gorgeous orchids plus a good smattering of bonsai. Also a small flavour of what was to come on the kitsch menu by way of Cinderella carriages and swan shaped pedallos (or should that be pedalli?), not to mention some impressive dragon topiary.

Ok, if that doesn’t convince you, let me whisk you off to the Vallee d’Amour or Valley of Love. The area had originally been a hunting spot for the last Emperor, Bao Dai and his courtiers in the 1950s before a dam project in 1972 flooded part of the valley and created a lake. It actually looked like a nice place to wander, though we did not have time for a lengthy hike. It was well worth a visit if only to get an insight into the Vietnamese of today, armed with their mobile phones and selfie sticks, wrapped up against the ‘cold’ enjoying the statues of what I think was meant to be Mickey Mouse and riding round the lake dressed as a cowboy amongst other entertainments. As it was nearly Valentine’s Day it was busier than ever and Val and I of course had to join in the fun. On another note but I am not sure what it is about me at the moment, possibly the hat or the beard or my staggering good looks, but I could start a small business from the number of times I have been asked to pose for photos either with or without local Vietnamese and this was no exception. I keep forgetting to get Val to record the event.

It was now time to head for our very nice hotel, the Ana Mandara Villas, built in a nice quiet, wooded area. The villas house about 4 rooms apiece and you walk over to separate buildings for restaurant etc. Very old world, but well thought out and, as ever, lovely staff.

We ate at the hotel as it is a bit of a walk to town and the meal was very nice. However what was most spectacular was the full moon that night, so stand by for a splurge of moon shots!

Ok, another post bites the dust. Catching up will probably have to wait until Bali, but you never know….

9th February, 2017

No tour today, but instead we were booked on a cruise for the day with Emperor Cruises on a junk or at least what a passes for one. We were picked up by a nice Kazakh girl whose name now escapes me, which was a surprise (her being Kazakh, not me forgetting her name). There are so many Russians in Nha Trang that having a Russian speaker on your staff is useful. Interestingly she didn’t speak Vietnamese very much, so I am not sure how that worked.

Our fellow passengers did indeed seem to comprise mainly of Russians who all seemed nice enough, if a little uncommunicative, presumably due to a lack of English (and a lack of Russian on our part, of course!). We were all ferried out to our home for the day, which was a very nice and rather plush boat, though possibly not in the first flush of youth, but then nor are we. A welcome drink and then we were off for our first excursion of the day.

The first stop was one of the many floating fishing villages on this part of the coast. The boats go out and catch the fish and then deposit them into the ‘tanks’ at the floating village. Looking at how fit one of the occupants looked, it must be a fairly tough life, though everyone looked reasonably prosperous. I liked the fact that one of the little coracles was called Leicester City – I wonder if they will change the name if the football club is relegated this season! The fishing boats are fantastic colours, absolutely made for photography, so I indulged a bit.

We then cruised for a bit, enjoying the sunshine or staying in the cool of the cabin. I enjoyed the upper deck and the boats passing by with their catch.

Our next stop was for a bit of snorkelling. This is not Val’s forte, so it was up to me to keep the family amused by donning a life jacket and posing for the statutory photo before setting off for a bit of coral and fish watching. It was sadly a bit of murky due to rain earlier in the week it would seem, but still fun and I did see a few fish and some fairly colourful coral. Be warned , those of a nervous disposition may want to skip the next photos!

What a fine figure of two men! Anyway, after all that exercise it was time for lunch and what an excellent lunch it was. We remembered to take a few pics, though we did tuck in rather too quickly to record the whole meal.

Finally it was off to one of the islands for a bit of lounging (yes) and swimming if you so wished (no) and, for me, a climb up the hill to snap the view. Val made the most of the sun lounger to have a post-prandial snooze.

And after all this sunshine and sea air, there was just the journey home passing under the cable car which, at 3.3 kms is, my guidebook assures me, the longest such ride in the world. I admired the guy in his tiny coracle, but then if they are as good at sea as they are in the Vietnamese traffic, they can probably handle themselves!

Nothing else to report other than we had had a most enjoyable day and could even say goodbye in Russian by the end. We attempted some tennis in the late afternoon and both nearly died of overheating!

10th February, 2017

Another rest day, so guess what, we had another spa! We rested up and did our usual – blogging, reading and Yahtzee.

We did venture out in the evening armed with an umbrella as it did look distinctly threatening, though in the end we were spared. We enjoyed walking down the beachside esplanade through the public gardens, something we have been really bowled over by throughout Vietnam. They can certainly train their trees into some great shapes. One of them reminded me of the oversize round fur hats some of the ultra-orthodox Jews wear.

We crossed the street again. It really does take some courage and determination but you sort of get the hang of it. Lots of seaside lights and I enjoyed the colours of material in one of the shops.

I can’t remember where we ate, which just about summed up our rather poor experience of the culinary arts of Nha Trang. Somehow or other we seemed to have bad luck or bad judgement in our choices throughout our stay here. We did pass one impressive restaurant, but after we had eaten, of course. I am sure the crocodile was delicious and it would have afforded me the opportunity to order it and ask the witer to make it snappy!

And that was our last day in Nha Trang. We had had a nice time, but I would not go back (as I would to Hanoi, Hue and Hoi An). It did come across as just another overdeveloped seaside resort with few cultural experiences to explore and rather too much traffic and modern buildings. The beach and gardens were lovely and I am sure they are probably more inviting in the warmer months, but unless you want bars and restaurants and a spot of nightlife, it did not seem to offer a lot more. Maybe a bit harsh on my part, but that was my impression.

On to the hill station of Da Lat next…….