Good Morning Hanoi, Good Night Halong Bay

Getting invited to do some chin ups by one of the locals exercising at a makeshift gym, besides the main lake in Hanoi, at 6 in the morning was encouraging. It was a tempting offer but I reluctantly declined as I'd already taken a shower. I was even invited to play this sport - called Da-Cau, which is like badminton but played only with feet . It looked pretty exhausting and again had to decline.

The night before Gayle had recommended checking out the city in the morning. Ian wanted his sleep - so it was Pauline, Libby and me, who woke up early to do a quick trip around the lake and it certainly was something. Everyone - old and young alike were doing various forms of exercises all across the streets.

Da-Cau in progress

People walking and exercising. Notice the KFC sign at the back (that's the only multi-national fast food outlet there - No McDonalds, No Burger King..Let's see how long that lasts)

Tai chi by the lake

Morning prayer

That kind of dedication and zeal for life was impressive - especially when they don't have many resources at their disposal. It was really heartening and I was quickly warming up to Vietnam. By the time we got back to the hotel - the loudspeakers across the streets were broadcasting loud Vietnamese music and it was grating but at the same time pretty entertaining. Tan later told us that it was propaganda music.

I had my first bowl of Pho at KOTO, for breakfast and fell in love with it. Everyone in Vietnam eats Pho - it is the national dish for a very good reason and now I can see why. Tricia, Pauline and Gayle teased  me as I went for my second serving of Pho Bo. It was perfect - light, flavor some, different layers of taste and smell and texture. The idea for KOTO is great and I like the fact that it is enabling people to take charge of their lives. After the breakfast at KOTO was our onward trip to Halong Bay.

The young chef cooking me some delicious Pho Bo

Pho everywhere

Because it was public holiday time [April 30th being Reunification Day and May-1st being International Worker's Day & the monday-ization of the Sunday holiday], the roads were packed and our wheeler-dealer tour leader got the information beforehand, so we ended up taking some back roads till we bypassed the traffic jam.

Traffic Jam

Once we passed the traffic jam - the ride was relatively more relaxed and I even brought out the pack of UNO. Ian, Libby and me were the only takers and we played it for a while before stopping to enjoy the countryside and towns passing by.

Ian, Libby and Gayle

Pauline, Gayle, Pam, Maree, Jill, Ebony and Bev

Tricia and Simon

Gayle had an upset tummy from the night before - must've been something she ate, so it was a good break to the journey when we stopped over at a place where they make handicrafts, sculptures, lacquers, paintings etc.. They are all done by people impacted in some form or the other by the chemical agents that US used during the America-Vietnam conflict. It is a strange feeling and you just have to wonder how many more follies we'll commit in the name of power and domination and resources. What is amazing though is the resilience of the people to just keep working with whatever hand life has dealt them.

The next stop was Halong Bay and the ferry terminal was packed as everyone - locals and tourists wanted to enjoy the beauty of the bay. We soon caught a small boat to our junk we were gonna be travelling in. We had a 3 or 4 course lunch as soon as we got onto the ship and it was delicious. Gayle was feeling pretty dehydrated, so I figured easiest way to rehydrate would be to make the lemon concoction with sugar and salt that is so common in India. The instructions I gave to the guy at the counter were interpreted liberally and Gayle ended up with a super salty lemon drink.

Monitoring ship activity

Entering Halong Bay

Halong Bay was amazing - it is hard to capture the scale and the beauty of the place. While the ship was going through the place the vision is awe-inspiring. It is basically limestone islands covered with thick vegetation.  By the time we dropped anchor we were already raring to go. Tan asked us who would be interested in kayaking and after a quick discussion with Ian I put my hand up as well but before that the first stop was Sung Sot cave - which was supposed to be beautiful.

Sailing through Halong Bay

Ian settling into his bed in the cabin

To get to the caves we had to climb a few steps and it was traffic jam even on the steps but once you get into the caves - the temperature was definitely way cooler and there was no humidity. As always I love my camera in low light conditions - don't have to use flash and the images actually turn out decent. The caves were beautiful but the only disappointing thing was that they've lit the hell out of it with multi-colored lights to make it look more beautiful. They needed to make the lighting a little bit more subtle and let nature speak for itself.

On way to Sung Sot cave

Walking through the caves

We didn't realize how cool the caves were till we walked out. The blast of humid air took everyone by surprise and we were sweating like pigs. Our kayaks were waiting for us by the time we got back to our junk - a quick change into more agreeable gear, borrowed zandals from the boat and snuggly fit into a life vest I was ready for it. Pam and Ebony (Pam's daughter) were on one of the kayaks; Pauline and Gayle were on another, Libby along with our kayaking guide was on another one while Ian and me occupied the last kayak. Everyone else in our group stayed back on the boat.

I was sitting at the back, which meant Ian was the navigator and since he had been kayaking from before I felt safe plus the water was very still. We started exploring some of the islands and it's a shame that none of us had waterproof cameras, otherwise there were some amazing sights to be captured. The guide was talking to Pauline and Gayle about wild monkeys when they spotted some on one of the islands and we pulled our kayak right next to theirs. It was an experience being able to spot them and see what they were doing from such a long distance - without the help of binoculars.

Once the crowds started gathering in we wandered away to explore more. We had 2 collisions from incoming kayaks and it was lucky that none of us tipped over - the funniest one was when a girl at the back of one of the kayaks yelled 'Xin Chao' ('Hello' in vietnamese) as our kayaks grazed past. After a little while the girls wanted to turn back as it was starting to get dark and we needed to get back to our boat before then. Ian and me were ahead by a distance, so we decided to turn the corner around the next island before heading back. As we were going around the rock, I asked Ian if we could beat the girls to the boat and Ian said yes, so we started pedaling harder.

Everyone had a good distance on us but we managed to pull right close to Pam and Ebony who were in the front but after that our kayak kept drifting away from the course and I blame that on Ian's steering skills while he blames it on bad light combined with him not having his glasses on him. At one point we were near another completely different boat altogether before our course correction and the final stretch towards our own boat. Despite our super long route and course diversion, it was still a very close finish but Pam and Ebony won [technically we won though, as we covered a shitload more distance and Pam and Ebony had a huge head start on us]. Nothing like good natured competition to make the proceedings a little bit more interesting.

Pauline and Ebony wanted to jump into the water for a swim but apparently it was illegal to do that and you had to go to a beach close by in order to swim. Looking at the state of the water - I wouldn't wanna swim - if I could swim properly. The water wasn't exactly clean and there was stuff floating around but that didn't stop someone from another boat to jump into the water, much to the dismay of Pauline and Ebony.

Night descending on Halong Bay

Tricia and Bev have a chat while Maree enjoys the calm

Waiting for rest of the gang to show up before dinner

After a quick shower, we were feeling famished and ready for a meal. It turned out to be another of those 4-5 course meal extravaganza and it was again delicious. This time around I made the lemon juice concoction for Gayle myself, so that it didn't end up too salty and I guess it was a little bit more drinkable than the last one. Dinner gave way for more conversations and getting to know each other before everyone called it a night.

After dinner conversations

Night lights

It turned out to be a super long but very eventful day. It was also nice getting away from all the noise and chaos of Hanoi, which is where we head back tomorrow.

Amit

Hello Vietnam!!!

Getting ripped off at Hanoi Airport to catch a cab into the city was not the first impression I wanted of Vietnam but that's exactly what I got.

My flight to KL was uneventful (which is how I like it) and I sat next to a dutch guy called Fred, who happened to be a military training commander back home. He was a cool dude and we did enjoy a good chat about various topics before either falling asleep or watching movies on the personal entertainment systems. The stop-over in KL was good in the sense that I was able to have a good night's sleep and my body clock got the chance to adapt to the time zone. It was 30 degrees in KL and definitely a welcome change from the weather in Auckland when I left.

Food on Malaysian Airlines international routes sucks while the food on it's regional flights (within Malaysia or to it's neighboring countries) is surprisingly good. The couple of british gals sitting next to me on the flight to Hanoi slept for 95% of the flight time as they were travelling straight through with no stop-overs.

The visa on arrival process was fairly painless but it was a nervous wait as the immigration officer paged through the entire passport before proceeding to stamp it. Walking out into the Hanoi - I could see various forms of taxis but wasn't sure which one to catch, so I went to the Tourist information centre and the girl there convinced me that it'd cost me US$30 for pre-paid cab into the city. I had read online that it doesn't cost more than $14 but the girl convinced me otherwise. Not knowing what else to do I decided to go with the option - it wasn't until later when I got to the hotel that I got to know that I'd paid double the amount. Since there was nothing I could do about it I just shrugged it off and it became a story for this blog.

Arriving at the hotel I got to know that I was sharing a room with a guy called Ian, who had already arrived but had gone out. I put my luggage in the room and went walking around the city to get myself oriented, especially since the team meeting for the Intrepid trip was not till 6 that evening. The temperature was around 35 degrees and the city was buzzing.

Watching the world pass by

Crossing the street

First port of call was shopping for jandals since I wasn't carrying any on me. Each street was dedicated to a trade or product - so you'd get an entire street filled with shoe shops and then an entire street filled with coffee bean shops. You'd think it'd be bad for competition but apparently it wasn't as I couldn't buy myself a pair of jandals despite my honest intentions. The shopkeepers quoted foreigner prices and then weren't willing to negotiate, so I decided to skip that part altogether and keep exploring the city.

Coffee

It was like being in India but with not as many people and a shit load more 2 wheelers combined with some cool old buildings. Crossing the streets was easier as the two-wheelers did avoid you as long as you didn't do anything rash or stupid. There was an ebb and flow to the traffic proceedings.

A trip to Dong Xuan Market was interesting as I seemed to be the only foreigner there and I got a lot of curious stares.The place was unbelievably packed and it's hard to capture the sense of the place in a photograph.

Dong Xuan Market

Busy trade

After roaming the streets some more, a tip from the hotel receptionist sent my scurrying for some nice Vietnamese food. My first meal in Vietnam wasn't spectacular but wasn't bad either. I did end up accidentally breaking a glass at the restaurant as I was trying to get some more sauce onto the spring rolls but there was no huge fuss about it and it wasn't the last time I'd break a glass in Vietnam either.

Food galore

Street seller

With my energy levels back up again I roamed the streets some more, just soaking in the sights and sounds of the city. After roaming around for another hour I thought it'd be best to return to the hotel to take a quick shower and some rest before the team meeting.

Vintage

Ian was (is) a Brit, who'd now settled in Australia. We got along well straight away and we chatted for a while before getting ready for the team meeting.I always love the surprise on people's faces when they realize that all I am travelling with is a small backpack and Ian was no exception.

The team meeting as usual is when you get to meet your travel companions for the next while and ours was a varied group of 12. The meeting is also entertaining as everyone tries to remember the names of everyone else. I was called 'Tariq' by Jill and that became a running joke for the rest of the trip. The surprise for me was finding another kiwi on the trip and it turned out that Pauline worked right round the corner from my house and also lived close by. What a small world. I also recognized Maree, Ebony and Pam as they were on the same flight as me from KL to Hanoi.

After handing over the insurance details to Tan - our group leader we went onto our first dinner as a team. 'Little Hanoi' restaurant turned out to be a great eat. On recommendation I tried the Aubergine with Garlic and it turned out to be super-delicious. The dinner was relaxed and fun as we got to know each other over food.

Gayle, Libby, Ebony, Maree and a blurred Tan

Jill and Bev

Simon looks on as everyone else listens to Tan

A popular local eating joint

Simon, me and Pauline (photo courtesy: Libby)

After dinner - Pauline, Gayle, Ian, Libby and me went to grab a beer at 'Le Pub' and the local beer was surprisingly cheap - about NZ$1 for a 600ml bottle and it wasn't bad at all. There was something on the menu called Vietnamese Rocket Fuel and it was tempting to try it but decided to skip it since it was only the first day of the trip and didn't wanna end up with a sore tummy or something till the body had gotten used to local food.

Ian and me (photo courtesy: Libby)

Pauline and Gayle (photo courtesy: Libby)

Pauline and Gayle

Lerue Beer :-)

Gayle was from UK and had already done 2 other trips - one in Laos and one in Cambodia-  just before this trip while Libby was from Australia and it was the first time she had traveled out on her own.We left after a couple of drinks we called it a night as it was a fairly early start the next morning and we had a big day ahead of us.

Tomorrow - it's a trip to Halong Bay and an overnight stay on the junk.
Amit

Long holiday weekend

Easter holiday weekend is kinda weird - it comes close to Christmas break in terms of everything literally shutting down and I am not sure I like it.  Only positive is that Auckland empties out and it's easy to get to any place you want quickly.

Another 5 sleeps before I board the flight to Vietnam and it's kinda  feeling real now. I guess that's what happens when you book your flights and all more than 6 months in advance - there is this sense of detachment from reality about the travel trip. I've managed to clean up most of my room so that the girl who'll be renting my room while I am away doesn't feel inconvenienced by my things getting in the way. I've been lucky that I've been able to find someone to rent my room out to every time I've travelled overseas - gives the pocket money to travel.

My travel agent has yet to send me my stopover accommodation vouchers - which Malaysian Airlines were slow to send. I bet the airlines didn't take the public holidays into account while enforcing their '7 day prior to departure' policy on sending out those vouchers. I hate the last minute rush but I guess there is nothing I can do about it.

Emily - one of my flatties, soaking up the sun

Winters are just around the corner and it's getting colder by the day. I wish I could travel overseas for another 2 months, so as to escape NZ winter altogether but that's wishful thinking with all the bills to pay and what not.

That's me for now,
Amit

Why I Write

So I've been super quiet over the past 6 months odd and if you are wondering why - the reason is pretty simple - I didn't really feel like sharing anything - even though I wrote occasional tid-bits.

The reason I write this blog is a way of communicating any significant things that are happening in my life here in NZ and also trying to put some of my thoughts into words regarding the projects I am doing or any social activities or things that capture my attention or imagination (or both) and the standard struggle of trying to make it in life. When nothing is going your way, it is extremely hard to write about anything - especially in a public domain like this, as you don't wanna bore every random person who stumbles upon this blog with your complaints and moans about how much it sucks to be going through a phase like this. I dislike people who complaint all the time and it's weird when you turn into the thing you hate the most.

If I was to capture the last 6 months in a few words I'd use words like - enlightening, exciting, frustrating, painful, exhausting, tumultuous, eventful - in short it feels like I am experiencing life in all it's glory - even though I don't necessarily like the way some of the things turned out or are shaping up. I guess I am lucky to have a supportive family and good friends who have provided a listening ear whenever I wanted to talk it out.

The most immediate thing that is round the corner is the coming trip to Vietnam and then India and I am excited about it. Work has been exhausting but great as I've started getting trained in transmission and it's great to have the brain ticking and learning. Nothing happening on film projects front for now.

Another year disappears and sometimes I wonder if time is just an illusion.
That's me for now,
Amit