Susie & Dan's Travels: South East Asia

Hanoi in Northern Vietnam was our first port of call in South East Asia. Staying in the Old Quarter, we were instantly captivated by the exotic smells, sounds and vibrant chaos that one associates with the region. Thousands of mopeds swarmed the pulsating narrow streets making life as a lone pedestrian fairly challenging. The little space they left was occupied by women with wicker balancing baskets over their shoulders filled with fresh fruit from the market, and street vendors selling everything from freshly cooked Pho (noodle soup) to large river fish gasping for air in small bowls of water destined for someone's dinner plate.

After a few days to find our feet in the new continent, visit the sights and get overexcited about the local cuisine, we were on the overnight train to the town of Sapa in the mountainous north west, just 3km from the border with China. Expecting the worse from the journey, we were pleasantly surprised to find ourselves in a wood panelled four

bed cabin complete with duvets, pillows and air conditioning of sorts, clearly the carriage designated for tourists. We embarked on a three day trek from Sapa down the mountain valley towards Ban Ho, seeing the various ethnic minority hill tribes in traditional dress along the way. Our nights were spent in villages with families from Dzay and Tao tribes, eating and playing cards with them whilst being offered shot after shot of their potent home brewed xeo (rice wine). Whilst the scenery of the Hoan Lien mountains certainly made the visit worthwhile, unfortunately it was tainted by some rather unfriendly local people who either aggressively tried to sell you something, or if they weren't selling would completely ignore you when you tried to communicate. With so many tourists walking the same route, it didn't surprise us that this had become the case. We couldn't help but think that maybe this was a place that would have been great to visit perhaps twenty years earlier. We hoped that this would not become a theme of our travels through South East Asia.

Next was a three day cycle in the mountains west of Sapa which we're pleased to say was a completely different experience, most likely by being just slightly off the tourist trail. We rode through numerous villages and each time we

re greeted by screams of welcome, not one person trying to sell anything to us or beg from us. The ride took us through some stunning mountain scenery with stereotypical steep and green cliffs in the clouds, towering over terraced rice fields below. The downhill stints were a real joy however the long uphill climbs a real challenge in the heat. With not a tourist restaurant in site, our guide took us to some rather shady local eateries three times a day for a taste of real Vietnamese cuisine with delicacies like pigs trotter spring rolls and stir fried mountain goats intestines presented to us. The only option for breakfast, Pho Ga of course (chicken noodle soup). The 200km cycle had a second purpose for us which was to give us a taste of long distance mountain biking ahead of our planned trip in Tibet. For those that don't know, we are planning on cycling through the Himalayas in September from Lhasa to Kathmandu, a mere 1,000km along the Friendship Highway. Cycling around Sapa was a real rude awakening that made us realise our Tibet adventure was going to be incredibly challenging, particularly given that neither of us are avidly keen cyclists and the closest thing we've done being a lunchtime spin class at the gym. Even more worrying was when we remembered that we were only at about 1,500m above sea level and the entire Friendship Highway is over 4,000m with six passes over 5,000m. We agreed that we were going to have to invest in some serious equipment if we are going to have any chance of making it, first and foremost some padded shorts.

After another night train back to Hanoi, we headed for Halong Bay for three days on a junk boat cruising around the Gulf of Tonkin where hundreds of

limestone peaks protrude from the green waters and people live on floating fishing villages. Kayaking around the vegetation covered karsts gave us the chance to explore a few of the countless grottoes and stalactite filled caves within, some of which led to tranquil hidden lakes at their centre. Arriving back on the mainland, we had the surprise of our lives when we completely unexpectedly bumped into friends Annie and Tom who were on their way out to Halong Bay and we were not supposed to meet until the end of October in Hong Kong. We genuinely had to double take to believe that it was really them.

A few hours back in Hanoi before departing for Hoi An gave us just enough time to experience

the traditional water puppet art form that we'd been told about by several people on our travels to date. As sceptical as we were, it turned out to be a very impressive and amusing show of puppets dancing on water to all sorts of traditional musical instruments with some indoor fireworks thrown into the mix as well. It may not sound great but you'll just have to trust us. Hoi An in Central Vietnam is a charming little fishing town with historic architecture and narrow streets filled with silk lanterns as well as some of the best food we had in Vietnam. Cheap tailor made clothing was on offer everywhere, however it was its serene nature that appealed to us most.

After a thirty hour train journey in a not so plush four berth cabin with six Vietnamese singing children, we were in Vietnam's largest and liveliest city, Ho Chi Minh. Formerly known as Saigon, its name was changed in 1975 in honour of leader Ho Chi Minh after his communist tanks from the north of the country stormed into Saigon and took over the south, thereby reuniting the country after years of civil war. Learning from the museum about the harsh reality of that war in which America partook was interesting, and was brought to life as we crawled through some of the Cu Chi underground tunnels in which people unbelievably spent years of their lives in the struggle. We also visited several of the picturesque pagodas in the city and attended a service at the Cao Dai Great Temple in Tay Ninh nearby, Cao Daism being a recently born religion in Vietnam containing elements of Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism.

Then it was back on some bikes for another three day cycle around the Mekong Delta in the south, similar in length to the last one although mostly flat this time and even more humid. We rode along the myriad of canals and paddy fields which make up the delta, crossing numerous bridges, using ferries over the wider parts, and taking small boats to visit the floating markets. The overnight highlight was a small family guesthouse on stilts with thin bamboo floors on top of the Mekong River. We were told that the length of all the canals in the delta adds up to over 100,000km, unimaginable when you think that’s two and a half times around the planet.

Finishing near the border, we took a boat up the mighty Mekong River to the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh. Phnom Penh is home to an amazing contrast of the grandeur of the Royal Palace to the reminders of the unthinkably brutal Khmer Rouge regime, and from the relative poverty of most to some of the

coolest lounge bars and cafes we've seen. After sampling some of Phnom Penh's finest, we made our way to Siem Reap to visit the many temples of Angkor. Despite having seen so many pictures of the famous Angkor Wat, we were both still blown away by its size, intricately detailed carvings and architectural beauty. It is almost incomprehensible that it took one million people thirty seven years to complete in the twelfth century. We found the Bayon temple within the Angkor Thom compound similarly breathtaking with its fifty four towers compared to Angkor Wat's five, and similarly Ta Prohm of Tomb Raider fame with its gigantic tree roots wrapped around the temple after hundreds of years of neglect. We both really enjoyed Cambodia and would have liked to have spent some more time there, however we made the decision to keep moving to Laos.

Soon after arriving in Vientiane by plane, we realised that Laos’s capital city wasn't quite what we had expected. Albeit that it was a Sunday, there was literally nothing going on and not much to see. After just one afternoon, we were on a bus to Vang Vieng alongside the Nam Song river. With it having rained so much a few days prior, the river was flowing incredibly fast which made for a particularly exciting kayaking trip with us capsizing twice amidst the brown murky rapids and Susie's sunglasses falling to the riverbed, much to her dismay. Whilst being surrounded by beautiful limestone karsts, Vang Vieng was unfortunately completely overrun by backpackers with the place itself seeming to exist solely for them rather than the other way around which was a shame. Another place to have visited perhaps twenty years earlier.

Luang Prabang was our last stop in Laos and also our favourite. A calming town filled with temples, French era buildings and Buddhist monks walking the streets dressed in their

bright orange robes. Waking at 5am one morning, we made our way out to the streets to participate in the giving of alms to the hundreds of monks in the form of sticky rice. Whilst being an authentic ritual for the local people and monks, it was sad to see so many tourists getting in the way of the monks and their procession for the sake of an ironic authentic picture.

Then it was onto familiar Bangkok for three days of replenishment in the form of fine dining, sunglasses and massage, and also a chance to pick up the cycling equipment we need - yet more kit in the overflowing backpack. We also did a half day cooking course at the Blue Elephant restaurant which was great fun, starting with a trip to the market and ending with a veritable feast cooked by yours truly.

A pleasant flight thanks to a double upgrade to first class took us to Singapore where we were looked after incredibly well by hosts Ilya and Angela.

Their gift on our first night, a tour of the city's finest nightlife and a two day hangover. We found Singapore to be a more refined version of its South East Asian brothers, immaculately clean, much greener, and far less cars and scooters on the road. Unlike Bangkok though which has some cutting edge developments and architecture, Singapore seems to have a slight aura of the eighties to it, perhaps due to its money being older than that of its neighbours. Judging by all the construction we saw from the top of Singapore's version of the London eye, this could all be about to change. One experience we hadn't expected from Singapore was coming uncomfortably close to a Sumatran spitting cobra whilst walking Ilya's dog along the pavement.

Now we are in Bali undergoing a seven day cleansing detox in a beautiful yoga retreat near Seminyak. Six days in we're feeling hungry but starting to feel the benefits.

We've really enjoyed our time in South East Asia, seeing its beautiful terrain, eating the food and meeting the people, however a lot of it seemed to lack the spirit of adventure that we had in Africa which is driving us through our travels. With so many people visiting, it felt at times like we were on a conveyor belt with everyone else doing similar things. It's not that we feel we necessarily need to be away from other visitors to find that spirit, but many years of many tourists clearly seems to change a place and turn it into more of a destination catering for tourists rather than somewhere offering an authentic experience.

Next stop, Japan.

Will and Josie, Stuart and Helen - congratulations on your engagement!

Click on the album cover below to see some more of our pictures.