Lost in currency's in Vietnam - June 2018

Here I am just listing the highlights of Vietnam. We spent 11 days here starting in Hanoi and ending up in Ho Chi Minh City also known as Saigon. 

It was a quick trip trying to pack in as much as we could of Vietnam but we just couldn't get our head around how much the money was worth. We still had the exchange rate of Indonesia in our heads. Getting confused with that and the money in Singapore, we gave up trying to figure out the costs of things.

Our first stop was Hanoi, we grabbed a taxi with Charlotte and Dawn as our hostels were close to one another's. We also decided to do a food tour that evening. It was such a great way to see the city, learn facts and taste local foods. We each had our own driver on mopeds. My driver, Snow, was super friendly and we chatted all night about the city, her studies and traditions to name a few. We ate some amazing Bun Cha (rice noodles with a bowl of pork and meatballs in sauce) and Kem xoi (a yummy green rice and ice cream dessert). We learnt many facts about the city but feeling tired we thanked them and made our way back to the hostel. We also wished Charlotte and Dawn a great trip around Vietnam.

In Hanoi we also visited the Vietnamese Woman's Museum where we learnt about Vietnamese weddings and the roles woman played in the war. 

We got stopped once by a teacher and her students as the children wanted to practice their English with us.

We watched a Water Puppet Show, the longest running show in the world, by the Guinness World Record.

Visited the Hoa Lo Prison, this was used during the war were they gained freedom from the French. At the time this was the largest prison in Indochina.

We travelled through Vietnam on the train...another post will be up soon explaining our train experiences in Vietnam.  

Next place we visited was Da Nang, on our first day we hired a motorbike and wanted to visit Hoi An...after the first 5 minutes driving around we both decided that it was too far to drive on a vehicle we didn't trust so we changed plans and visited the sights of the city. 

We visited the church, the Museum of Sculptures, Dragon Bridge, Tran Thi Ly Bridge and the Military Museum. We couldn't find the ticket office so we thought it was free to visit but once we had finished and were looking at the tanks in the garden a man called us over...we had to pay him. Then it was time to leave but the bike was nowhere to be found, it was not where we had left it! Went back to the ticket man and he had it tucked away. Joaquín nearly panicked that someone had stolen it! 

The next day was our trip to Hoi An, we boarded the bus to get there. Once we had arrived we walked into the town but hired bicycles on the way in so we could fit in all we want to see in that day. We packed in the Fukian Assembly Hall, the Japanese Covered Bridge, the Old House of Phung Hung, the gemstone museum, a few other buildings before finishing the day at the Museum. It was then back to drop the bikes off and head to the bus station. 

That night we got another train...read later post for our experience!

Kuala Lumpur 20.06.18 - 22.06.18

Time to leave Indonesia and head to Malaysia. 

We arrive at the airport half an hour later from the city paying the taxi 100,000 (about £). Only to find out that we were in the wrong terminal...it is quite a confusing airport. A taxi wanted to take us to the next terminal for 100,000 EACH which was 3 minutes drive! We laughed in his face and got the free train. 

We arrived in Kuala Lumpur on our delayed flight and caught the bus into the city, on the way in the bus driver had to stop at the petrol station, a first for me. 

We only stopped in Kuala Lumpur for a few days.

In the evening we went for a walk to find the Petronas Towers. We found a good photo spot.

They have so many walkways around the city, some through buildings to keep out of the sun/heat and in the AC...we only got a little lost once.

We only had this full day in the city so we packed it full of sightseeing. First we took a train to the Batu Caves. We had to walk through flocks of pigeons, avoid the monkeys and climb many steps. 

This is where a Hindu Temple is but most of the shrines and buildings were covered up as they were redecorating them. We stopped at Merdeka square, visited the Sri Mahamariamman Temple, Central and Peatling Street markets, Menara Kuala Lumpur Tower and then again to see the Petronas Towers in the day. A started thunderstorm started so we made our way back to the hostel. 

It was time to leave Kuala Lumpur and as we were checking out of the hostel we met Charlotte and Dawn who were also leaving and heading to the airport, to catch the same flight to Vietnam. We then travelled to the airport by taxi, then bus. The airport was quite confessing but we managed to finally find where to check the bags in. We sat talking until it was time to board, there was not a lot to do in the airport once air-side. Off we fly to Hanoi, Vietnam.

Third stop Java - Part 2

Bandung
The train ride was an over night 8 hour journey. We had seats which tilted back with a pillow and a blanket but they kept the lights on all night. It was alright as I had my trusty eyemask. After arriving in Bandung and checking into our hostel Joaquin needed a nap so I caught up on my blog. It was Ramadan so most things were closed but we found a place to eat and then decided to go and watch Jurassic World at the cinema.

In the morning we set off for the Geological Museum but when we arrived it was closed due to Ramadan. I found out that the holiday was over that day but most places were not open until the Tuesday or Wednesday. We managed to find Upside down world and it was open; we had a lot of fun taking many photos, Monty joined in too.

I didn't have a good night's sleep as some people that had checked into the room were not very considerate all night making noise.

Jakarta
It was off to the train station again for our train, this was only a 3 and a half hour journey this time. Checked into the hostel, sorted some of or things and headed out to visit the Puppet Museum and the History Museum. It was interesting to see the puppets they had in Indonesia and saw the fine details that went into making and decorating them. They also had some other puppets from around the world. 

The History Museum wasn't as intreresting it mainly had furniture from different periods. I noticed when I arrived back to the hostel that I had been bitten all over my feet which was strange as I had my shoes on! We got back to the hostel and was chilling in bed when Joaquín said what is that...I examined it...it was a bed bug. That was it is was stripping the bed on search for more just to make sure. I found more, we went to complain and they moved us to a new room and different beds but before I got into it I again stripped the beds and searched. I didn't find any but still was scared to sleep and wake up covered in bites.

Luckily I woke in the morning not to find any more bites,  phew! We made our way to the square to post a postcard when a group of girls came screaming up to me for selfies and Joaquín the boys.

This seemed to form a queue, finally the queue finished and we were off. We spent the day seeing the National Monument, a cathedral and some water roundabouts.

The last day there we spent in the hostel just planning more of our adventures only venturing out for food.

Third stop Java - Part 1

Here we travelled across the island so stayed in different cities and towns. 

Surabaya
The first city in Java (pronounced like hafa) was Surabaya. We arrived by plane and took a taxi to the hotel. I love how us foreigners get attacked by the taxi drivers for us to pick them to take us. We sometimes have to speak in code or Spanish so they can't understand what we are saying.

We stayed in a pod hostel, in our wooden box for 3 nights...we got free breakfast and quickly learnt that they love chocolate, we had green goop with chocolate sprinkles on our toast.

The first day we went exploring and visited the Monument Kapal Selam, this is an old submarine you could walk through. It was very interesting to be inside a submarine. We had lunch with all the locals looking at us but we worked out that we are a head and more above everyone. 

Next we took a walk to Hi-Tech Mall...it was far from Hi-Tech! I am not sure a Westerner has ever set foot in here for the attention we got. Joaquín wanted to buy a shirt...the girls gathered around and stood there giggling, think they took a liking to him! We went into KFC (they have many here) to get a drink and while I was waiting, sitting at a table I get a lady sit next to me and ask for a photo. 

The next day was an adventure...we started off wanting to go up to the water front by bus but the hotel worker told us to get a taxi. As this was the bus:

So we got in a taxi. It dropped us off and we had a long walk in the heat to get to where we were going. We tried to get through to see a monument but it seems the Navy have all the area cut off so we scrapped our plans and wanted to head back into town. We couldn't find a taxi anywhere so it was more walking through local streets watching the locals going in their everyday business. 

We spotted and ice truck, a small truck with many blocks of ice on the back delivering them to stalls...with the ice melting away. We finally reached a mall and went inside for some lunch and a spot of shopping. Outside we found a taxi which took us back to the hotel. 

Yogyakarta
It was time to leave Surabaya and head on the train to Yogyakarta. We left in the morning and arrived after a 5 hour journey. Checked into the hotel and found some early dinner. We wanted to explore the area so went to the main street and walked through the streets full on people, stalls and performers.

It was off to visit Borobudur Temple. First we found a local bus to take us all the way to a bus terminal where we had to change onto another bus, this one was a very old bus. No AC but the doors are left wide open for natural breeze and the seats are not made for tall people. My knees didn't even fit in so Joaquín was even more squashed in! We also couldn't fit in the seat, I was half sitting on the seat and half in the aisle. Anyway we reached the Borobudur Temple which is the biggest Buddhist temple in the world, it had been lost in the jungle for a long time until it was discovered in 1814 when they started to clear and restore it. It was a tiring day with a lot of walking so we just chilled in the evening.

Today was time to go and visit another temple. First we found the code museum with some the facts we could read in English which was really intreresting. It was a museum full of coding machines and the history of code making. Next we were off on the bus to Prambanan Temple, this time we only had to take one bus. This temple is the largest Hindu temple in South East Asia. It was huge to walk around and on the same site there is another Buddhist temple. It was a beautiful place but some earthquakes had destroyed parts of the temples and they were trying to restore them.

We had lots of time that evening before we caught the night train so we spent some time wondering around the market, found some dinner and had some fun at Fun World. This was full of games, we had a go at Mario Kart, basket ball and karaoke...we selected the song Help by the Beatles in this little box we were sweating. In the end I was singing..."Help, I need somebody, help get me out of here." It was time to head to the train, we found our seats in first class and went to sleep.

Second stop Gili Trawangan

The Gili Islands are small islands off of the cost of Lombok,  Indonesia...we stayed at the biggest one of the three - Gili Trawangan known also as Gili T. 

So to get there we decided to take a taxi to the airport and fly from Bali to Lombok. When we arrived we boarded a local bus. We were jam packed in with all the locals and lots of baggage. After an hour and a half we reached the end of the line and had to bargain for a taxi to the boat terminal. We bought our tickets for the slow public boat and because we were tourists we had to pay a tax to use the public boat. It really wasn't expensive paying only about £1.15 in total for one ticket. To get on the boat we had to get our feet wet and was quite an experience trying to board a boat with my backpack on! I really didn't want to fall over in the water. 

Feeling a bit sea sick we reached the island and walked barefoot to our homestay. It was very basic but close to the main shops, bars and restaurants. Before we knew it we were asleep and had a good nap after all the travelling when we woke it was dark and time to look for some dinner. We found out very soon that we were staying right next to a mosque.

The first day we hired some bikes and spent the day riding around the island. Although it only took maybe at most an hour to do the main loop around the island. We did the loop grabbed an ice cream then found a nice beach to have lunch and chill for the afternoon. We had our photos taken with the famous swings and decided to watch the sunset that evening. It wasn't that spectacular because of the haze and we just managed to make out Bali in the distance too.

 

The second day we spent out snorkeling. We got to do 3 sites to snorkel, first stop was a turtle point where we spotted 4 turtles and swam with one for a little bit but I didn't like swimming in such a large group. Next site was the statue and the crowds there were even worst. It was like a scene from Where's Wally! Joaquin and I sneaked onto Gili Meno just so we could say we stepped foot on all 3 islands. Our last stop for the day was just at a coral reef to see many beautiful fish and amazingly coloured coral. I had fun swimming along on our own as this place we had all to ourselves. It was time for lunch on Gili Air, then back to Gili T. It was a shame we didn't have more time to explore the other islands too.

For dinner this evening we ate at the night street market, delicious...I couldn't have eaten at all the stalls (except the fish ones!), we tried a Indonesian pancake and desserts too.

Our last day was a travelling one again. It was time to leave Gili and head back to the airport. We had the morning to chill on the beach, grab an early lunch and then it was time to catch the boat. Wet feet again! We made it over to Lombok then it was an hour wait for the bus at a hotel. The owners said 3 more minutes till the bus...then a taxi turned up which we got it. We paid for a bus but got a privert taxi instead. Got to the airport and it was a waiting game especially because our flight was delayed. It wasn't long though until we were boarding and off again into the skies.

Off to Indonesia - First stop Bali

Flight from Auckland, New Zealand to Denpasar, Bali.

For this flight we had to be up early in the morning 3:30am...I had 2 hours sleep as the hostel was so cold! Checked in did the usual airport things, like waiting then boarded our plane to Sydney. It was then a 7 hour wait for our connecting flight up to Bali. This was a long 7 hours but we had things to do; sort our photos, browse the shops, eat and then just wait. For me this was the longest connection time I've ever had, I got quite bored. Finally our flight was called and we were off to Bali.

We were lucky as we met a woman - Sonia, in the queue to board the flight in New Zealand. She was going to Bali and also to Ubud and she offered us to share a lift with her which she had already organised. It was great as we shared the cost. We chatted all the way from the airport to our hotel...she gave us some tips on where to go and what to eat. After checking in we went straight to sleep.

First day in Bali was spent wondering around the town...to get into the main streets of town we had to walk alongside the Monkey Forest, we needed to be careful of our hats and sunglasses as they are known for stealing them. We walked along passing by many shops, spas and restaurants. Our first stop was the spa, Joaquin had a snazzy haircut and I a manicure. As we went along the streets we were asked, taxi? Many, many times so much so I couldn't count the times.

Our second day was busy again we walked into town, did a spot of shopping and went into the market where everyone is trying to sell you something, haggling the prices. We took a wonder around Ubud palace, looked around a temple and then a visit through the Monkey Forest this time. We couldn't go in with our shopping bags as the monkeys think there is food inside and would rip and run off with your bags. Monty had to stay inside the bag too...otherwise he may have been decapitated or brought up feral with the monkeys. We popped all our shopping in the backpack and headed in. I wasn't to sure about walking through here, I saw a man get bitten as we got inside. Then another man a monkey climbed on him, one monkey stole some rubbish from someone's bag and then I walk pass a monkey who grabs my cardigan and wouldn't let go. I pleaded with him and eventually after a tug of war I won.

In the Monkey Forest there was a man with cameras attached to him from Google for street view. So in a few months you might be able to see me on there! 

In the evening we went out to a performance; Kecak Ramayana. This was a story about the death of Kumbakarna, this is an art form from the Balinese culture. There was vocal chanting throughout while the performers dance/acted out the scenes. At the end we saw a fire dance which is done to protect society against evil forces and epidemics, the dancer goes into a trance like state and then is able to walk over hot embers.

Our last day to enjoy Bali so we visited some temples. We hired a taxi which took us to Taman Ayumi Temple which was built in 1634 AD.

The next stop was Tirta Empul Temple, this is built on a spring and people enter the water as a tradition, take offerings to be blessed. Joaquín went in the water, you had to start at number one, put your head in the fountain for 3 seconds, splash your face 3 times and sip the water 3 times (you could spit it out if you wanted to) you had to do this at each fountain and there were many.

After making our way back to Ubud and having lunch we took a walk along the Campahan Ridge to see the rice fields. As it was our last night there we had another spa visit. This time we had a massage, I a pedicure and Joaquin a foot massage.

New Zealand Road Trip 2018 - Week 3

Day 15
This was a day spent in Taronga with Deanne and her family. We used to work at Thomas's together and she left for New Zealand nearly 2 years ago. It was such a great day for the weather - beautifully sunny, for a change! We arrived at her house and we could've stayed there all day just talking but then we would not have seen any of the area. First we went out for a walk around the Mount (Mount Mauao), spotted seals, watched the boats pass by and kept on chatting. The kids, Isaac and Oscar, we're very happy to have us visit and they were enjoying their New Zealand life. Ice-cream time and then we headed to a park at the waterfront to see the Hairy Maclary statues. On the way home Deanne showed us where she worked. We spent the rest of the day talking and talking...had a delicious dinner with the family before enjoying the evening of more chatting then off to bed.

 

 

 

 

Day 16
We had a comfortable nights sleep in a proper bed, where Joaquin could stretch his legs out. We then had breakfast with the family before we had to say our goodbyes. It was a really lovely time catching up with Deanne and we thank her and her family for the hospitality. It was then a drive over to Rotorua where we went to visit Te Puia. This is a place where the Maori lived/live and a place to learnt about the culture. At this centre we saw the geothermals, a kiwi, a replica village, traditional dances and watched men, boys and some woman at work learning the crafts of the Maori to keep them alive and to pass them down through the generations. As it was raining we decided not to head to a natural warm river and just head to the campsite again, McLaren Falls.

 

 

 

Day 17
Before leaving this campsite we look a walk along the path of see some waterfalls. Then it was a drive up the Coromandel.  We took a walk along by the sea to Cathedral Cove, then visited Hot Water Beach close by. Unfortunately we arrived at the wrong time to feel the hot water springs at the beach. It's best to go around low tide, give or take a few hours. You are supposed to dig a hole and it fills with hot water from the underground spring. We saw some old holes and I dug a little and felt the warm water just on my feet.

 

 

Day 18
Another long day driving but we did break it up by stopping off in Auckland. Joaquin needed to have a vaccination for South East Asia and we went to the post office to get some boxes to send stuff home to make our backpacks lighter. Before heading out of the city we went to see the volcanic crater which looks out over the city of Auckland. We continued our journey on up to the Bay of Islands. Arriving to a campsite that had a kitchen.

 

 

Day 19
We got up used the kitchen as I needed to start finishing up the food we had left and then we got ready for our horse ride. Unfortunately when we turnt up for our trek there was no one to be seen. We then received a message to say that it had to be cancelled due to the owner breaking her shoulder. We took the opportunity to get some washing done at the campsite and organised our boxes of stuff to send home.

 

Day 20
We spent the morning kayaking up the river. We first headed into the mangroves and kayaked through the trees trying not to get stuck. Next we paddled up the river to the waterfall, Harura Falls. After taking lots of photos having a snack it was time to drift back down the river. The tide was going out so not much effort was needed to paddle this way. I did get stuck on a small sandbank at one point! We wondered what to do for the afternoon so on a recommendation we stopped in at Ngawha spring pools. It really smelt but we went in and had a dip in different temperature pools. It was time to head down to our campsite for the night but we stank of the pools!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 21
After staying at Waipu Caves for the night we decided to have a quick walk to see them before having to head back to Auckland. This was not our journey...we got diverted as there had been an accident on the main highway.  There were no diversion signs as it had just happened so we started following all the other cars. It was a race around the counrty lanes trying to find our way back to the main road further along. We had made it! Only thing was, we hadn't passed the accident and had to turn back and find another way. This put an extra 2 hours to our journey. We were then rushing back as we had to return the campervan that afternoon. It was a made rush when we finally made it back into Auckland...checking in, throwing our bags in the room, off to the post office to send the parcels back (12kg less weight to carry between us), fill up with fuel and made it with one minute to spare to drop off the Campervan. Phew!