Ginger DJ Rob

Body clock still thought it was yesterday hence waking up at 5am though the cold draft may had something to do with it. Sorry to say that Kerry's illness has come back. Before returning back to port we had a tour around the Ha Long bay caves, a pleasant surprise as they were a lot bigger than expected. Lots of strange shaped rocks with different names. Shame we got stuck behind a French dude with bad B.O. ala Pepe Le Poo. The coach drive back to Hanoi had many eye-opening views. I saw a shop called 'Tit' - I think it was a women's clothes shop; two mopeds delivering a full sized fridge-freezer and a 40" LCD TV; saw what could have been a really nasty, freak accident as a cement truck had a flat on the opposite direction and the driver with mate let the spare wheel bounce a couple of times right in front of some heavy traffic; finally, I swear I saw a family of 4 on a moped with the mother at the back breastfeeding. Lunch was quite expensive at the roadside world...

It was a night of horns, rocking motion and strange dreams on the train. I managed about a couple of hours though Kerry got a lot less with the 5am wake up. Outside Hanoi 's train station it was still typically loud with taxi car horns as we bused it to our temporary hotel to store our main baggage and get some breakfast. There was added sleep deprived hassle of having to repack for the overnight boat trip. At 7.30am we left for our first tour destination of the Hanoi Hilton or the city's old prison. We were in there before the cleaners! The Communist slant on the 'fair' treatment on US POWs was interesting. Check out the unusual souvenirs above. Second was the Confucius temple which we'd just arrived at the same time with about 200 school kids. Lots of stone tablets on turtles being rubbed for luck. Hanoi seems a lot less intense than Ho Chi Min City but has more cars. The rest of the morning was a 4 hour journey by bus. It appears that the north of Vietnam ...

A slightly reasonable 8am to start for our 20 km bike ride through Hue (Pronounced 'Who-way') to the city outskirts to see the coliseum where the Vietnamese emperor would be entertained by elephants and tigers fight each other. This used to go on from about 1850 to 1945 until the French took over. The remains including the elephant tombstones were still in reasonable condition and you could still see the claw marks left by the tigers. It was just round the corner from the incense makers were located and a few kilometres away from our tour rep's own house. With the small issue of my bike's chain snapping (support team didn't seem to lubricate the chains at all over the holiday), we rode back to Long's for lunch of more spring rolls and noodles. Whilst following a moped back into Hue, we stopped off at two tourist places. The first was the Imperial Palace . Hue was Vietnam's capital before the war and the emperor lived here for a few generations. Some inte...

7.30am start for a gentle flat ride along China beach. Started at a marble factory and showroom with sales ladies persistently asking us to buy at every glance. Very grey skies and couldn't see the white Buddha statue in the distance. A few old US vets were visiting where they had landed for the war. Through Da Nang then an energy top up for the big 10km assent. It was a steady pace with really only a numb bum to complain about. Everyone made it but were welcomed by the most pushy-ist bracelet sales women ever. An iced coffee and a lot of peanuts later we rode downhill for another 10km enjoying the speed. Another 10ish km through some really idyllic fishing areas then on the bus for about 30mins through some tight back roads to our lunch destination. More baguettes and Laughing Cow cheese accompanied by a very noisy cat. The family house we stopped at had loads of pretty butterflies and some sort of bee/humming bird insect sucking out nectar. The lunch didn't really fuel ...

A nice lazy start at 9am, we decided on a selfish day alone to walk around the beautiful and accessible Hoi An. I had 2 servings of yoghurt museli whilst Kerry opted for full English. Next we found the tailor that our guide recommended for Kerry's Chinese style dress. Within 20 minutes she'd chosen the silk fabric, been measured and paid the deposit with a fitting time of 4:30pm. We then found the tourist office and paid about £3 for a city ticket to visit about 5 museums and landmarks. The Japanese Covered bridge was first then a very old family house all in the mixed styles of Vietnamese, Japanese and European. The guide led us round stopping at every opportunity to buy their embroidery or gift shop stuff. Had some retail therapy finding the best t-shirt shop yet with a Bruce Lee noodles picture. Otherwise we explored more interesting sites, drank coffee, drank cocktails, ate cake until the fitting. Tailor wasn't ready so had to come back in an hour. More coffee and ...

Another 6am wake-up call thanks to the Commie propaganda tannoy. Quite a lot cooler than days before so cycling easier. First stint was hilly but had rewarding views. Lots of beautiful empty beaches, breaking waves and a lighthouse. We bused it for an hour and a half for second stint. It started off with a great downhill section into a rough, uneven road. More inland farm scenery but the headwind was bad. If it wasn't for the kids saying hello and giving us high fives along the way our motivation would have been shot. Lunch was basic ham and cheese baguettes with our second iced coffee of the day. The next leg by bus was really bumpy as the roads are so pot-holed and broken swinging us from side to side. The last leg by bike was hardwork against a constant head wind plus a lot hills to end the total of 82 km in darkness with a beer and wine celebration at the end at the hotel. To toast ourselves we use the Vietnamese version of 1, 2, 3 Go. The evening meal was disappointing as...

Our free, lazy day in Nha Trang was rudely started at 6am thanks to a tannoy broadcasting Communist propaganda then an hour later with the local school doing marching band practice. Not happy. The hotel room windows are thin and rattle with all traffic noise impossible to block out. Kerry was still feeling rough so I went to breakfast on my own. At least they had coco pops! Dressed in my Buddy the Elf t-shirt for 9am we headed for the docks for our boat trip around the islands. At the docks was a Vietnamese guy dressed in a Santa suit but the t-shirt didn't get any attention. On board were a couple of ladies for massage and manicures. Kerry took advantage of the snorkling opportunity but the tide was a little too strong for her. The rest of the time was sun bathing, chilling out and massage plus I had my nails done (though it felt like torture at times) as well as my nose and ear hair trimmed. The boat toured another island then we took the short distance by coracle, the tradit...

A nice sleep in until 8.45am then a very bare breakfast. Kerry was feeling better so we could feel more confident about rejoining the group. The coach for the next destination would leave at 1.30pm so we went for a massage at 11. I opted for the full works with cooling aloe vera all over. The masseur was still slightly grabby but very good value. Another good meal at the restaurant opposite our hotel for lunch with food almost tasting like home. Coach was very late so the 5 hours would mean arriving in the dark. It was a sleeper bus with a toilet as promised for £3 each. Sat/laid next to a non English speaking student who tried to teach me some Vietnamese language from our guidebook as well as writing in my journal. When she lost my pen she then moved away maybe out of embarrassment or to get some kip. The 5 hour journey consisted of a lot of pretty fishing villages and towns but it got boring after 5pm when it got dark. At least the neon Xmas lights amused us as well as the shiny, ...

A 6am start with Kerry recovering from her heat-stroke. Our rep told us that three more of the tour group were expected who'd been delayed by snow-effected Heathrow . At 7:30am we left the hotel on Highway 1 bound for our starting destination for cycling. Driving out of Ho Chi Minh City seemed never unending passing the port and industrial areas which featured truck world, digger world, earth-moving vehicle world, crane world - it seemed to be a positive sign of boom-time for construction. Slightly ironic that after passing all the places featuring construction equipment, the main road out of the city had some pretty bad potholes though there were some resurfacing going on. When we arrived at our cycling starting point, the tour mechanic provided me some superglue to fix my camera mount - bless. The country roads had very little traffic compared to the sea of Saigon scooters. The other good-feel factor was the friendliness of the local children as they waved at us, saying hello ...

Experienced the traffic of Ho Chi Minh City with what could very well have been a million mopeds battling each other to get to work. After about 30 minutes of bus transfer we met up with the support team to prepare our mountain bikes for the rest of the holiday. The Trek mountain bikes provided were surpisingly good with some hassle-free swapping for a bigger frame size. The day's ride lasted about 35km stopping off to see some rice pancake making (used for spring rolls) and to see a rubber tree forest. My handle-bar mount for the digital camera didn't last long due to the bumpiness of the roads. Our last destination for the day was the Cu Chi tunnels , a complex of Vietcom tunnels which were created right under the American forces own camp. There were hundreds of tourists already there but somehow it didn't feel that busy on the tour. As you can see I tried a hideout hole which I could only just fit through. After seeing some of the home-made traps we tried some of t...

Our rep and driver seemed a bit paranoid to get us to the airport on time as he wad waiting for us 30 mins early. Something about traffic on the main road but that non existent. Plus the early arrival meant even more time to wait as our flight was delayed for 2 hours. We started guessing that with UK airports struggling with snow we could be down on numbers for the main Vietnam holiday. Our short flight of an hour and a half landed but no rep to meet us no matter how many times we looked for our names or Exodus. it was a lot more hot and humid in Ho Chi Min than Cambodia . Taxi drivers were starting to hassle us so had to call the local agent to find out what transit was arranged. None was the response so got in a cab with a price of $23. No wonder the cab driver was in a smiley, chatty mood as this was an extortionate rate when we were refunded. Traffic consisted of swarms of crazy moped riders cutting in and out. As we approached the hotel the buildings and shops got grander. ...

Tried the hotel's French toast for breakfast, good attempt but coffee burnt. Found out that Cambodians use English language for texting and their contacts on their Mobilephones instead of Sanskrit . First destination was the further temple of Srei by car. Driver went about 40mph. Temple was beautiful with detailed carvings but really busy with tourists. On the way back we stopped at the land mine museum where local orphans got adopted and a local hero diffused mines. Also stopped for scarecrow photo opportunities and to see palm sugar being made. So tasty we bought some. Two more temples also visited: a tall sandstone one and the other where many Buddha statues had been found buried. We amused our rep swapping methods of wolf whistling - he grabbed his bottom lip to do it. He was also amused by my anger which I explained about the Incredible Hulk as he'd only been exposed to Eastern culture. We learnt that his uncle had stepped on a landmine and although survived turned to...

Early start at 6.45am for 8am tour. Breakfast was really busy with mainly Chinese tourists but the food was a lot better than Phnom Penh . The elephant terrace temple was busy with what looked like marching band scouts. Nice introduction to Angkor Wat getting close to elephants and a monkey family with papa displaying his bits. Small disaster of day was dropping my lens filter down a stone staircase watching it bounce and miss other tourists trying to catch it. No scratches but the thread is slightly out. Lunch at a Khmer restaurant which did some simple food for those a bit fussy or jetlagged as myself. Plenty of photo opportunities for dilapidated temples with trees growing out including the famous one. A few kids try to sell flute or postcards etc. The rep offered us the chance to visit the national museum which I thought would be interesting but a bit of an expensive mistake at $13 each. It was like a Las Vegas shopping centre with quite sparse items. Once you've seen a d...

With the jetlag in full grip we got up earlier for a sub-standard hotel breakfast of flat orange Fanta, stale cornflakes and weird toast. The coffee tasted like it had been mixed with oily noodles. We ventured out wandering back towards the Royal Palace in the blazing heat getting used to crossing the road and avoiding a very persistent hammock salesman. Eventually we came across a cafe that served a luxury American breakfast around the corner from the hotel. We also ventured into the local market that sets up at 5am. Lots of very fresh fish ie still alive plus fruit and veg I'd never seen before. The same hammock salesman was still pushing his wares - mate, if I didn't want it the first 3 times I'm not gonna want it the 4th. Our driver picked us up on his own and thankfully less chatty than the guide. He was very interested in wedding traditions and costs. After taking the scenic route past embassy houses arrived at the Museum of Genocide , an old school converted into a...

Flight was a mixed experience. Malaysian Air had on-demand TV but the screens kept stalling. Watched Inception again and The Girl who kicked the Hornet's Nest even though I haven't finished the book yet. The plane's food was excellent. The Malaysian guys in front jabbered on like talking penguins with all 4 of them sat in 3 seats. We made our Kuala Lumpur transfer in good time. A nice modern airport but with no real snack or drink places to buy from. We met an old Oz guy who's living in Cambodia who gave us some tips during the 1.5 hour trip. The cabin music was like a snake charmer vibe and the announcer saying "ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls" like it was a circus show. Although the food was ok, after about 6 meals I wasn't really in the mood. The Haagen-Daz ice cream was appreciated. The airport visa process was a little hurried with a passport photo and $20 to start then a bank of officials stamping and checking until our first names. With o...

Today is our 9th wedding anniversary. Kerry and I got married in Reading on this day in 2001 and believe it or not it's just a little before digital photography really took off (for me at least) so no digital photos. Will have to scan a few at some point. Thought I'd revisit the places that made this day so memorable via the web: Reading Register Office (photo to the right - back in 2001 it was covered in scaffolding and no garden) Penta Hotel Reading (known back then as the Renaissance Hotel) for our brunch/lunch reception Eurostar to Paris As far as memories go for our honeymoon, I can't remember the hotel or any names of restaurants we visited but we did all the normal tourist places including: Eiffel Tower (Kerry's vertigo got the better of her); Notre Dame ; Pompidou Centre ; Arc de Triomphe (very windy and wet); Louvre ; Sacre-Coeur (artist portraits still rolled up in their tubes) Sad news on this day On this day today, Corey Haim died of a drug...

Half the month has just slipped away and I think most of it is deciding which HD television to buy! And here it is, the Sony Bravia 40" LCD KDL-40Z4500 which has a 200hz refresh, the first of its kind. I'm using Delicious to tag all the shopping websites and monitoring their downward price - have a look at my Delicious feed on the right. Since I started looking, some retailers have reduced the prices from an average of £1500 to £1300 in the space on a 3 weeks. January is supposed to be a quiet month to conserve the cash but we've braved the big freeze for a few treats along the way. To celebrate Sarah's last day of her old feet (before her feet operation that is) we went treated ourselves to the best tapas in Hove at Latino . It was an opposite experience the evening after trudging round Ikea with only meatballs and their chocolate biscuits a result. Downloaded the highly addictive GTi Club+ on the PS3 . This was a favourite of mine in the arcades where you race a ...

The weekend saw the second year running that we've missed Pride (first being Big Chill). This time a change of events meant having to go to Norfolk to see folks and friends as well as check up on my mum's house. My poor dad told us about his planned bonfire attracting some unnecessary village community interference resulting in numerous visits from locals, a stuck-up council lady, a farmer and the fire brigade. Also, caught up with some quality Norwich shopping with an evening visit to Josh and Christie's. Since last week we've been planning our Peru holiday for next year. For the first time we'll be doing an organised trip which actually works out cheaper. Using Llama Travel we've finally decided on the following itinerary: Lima , on the Pacific coast, was the most important and magnificent city in South America for the Spanish. Visit the colonial district and some of the finest museums in the world, with amazing collections of pre-Hispanic treasures. Cusco , ...

Checked out of the hotel after a very slow, half-awake state then went to check the ferry times for the airport and checked in online for the flight as getting back was high on our minds. After that we didn't have a plan so headed towards the Realto Bridge but saw signs for the Modern Art museum. It was only half open with the more interesting, Oriental arts half closed for renovation. Kerry spotted a Henry Moore (Helmet No. 2) which cheered her up as she'd finally caught my lurgy. Lunch was in a cosy, elevated window seat overlooking the Grand Canal. With time dragging on (can you tell we've had enough of Venice by now), we had our last cappuccino and slice of very average and over-priced tiramiso in the Caffe de Doge. At this point I was able to compile my Likes and Dislikes of Venice:- Dislikes Over-charging - just tourist tax Over-crowded Bag Sellers Souvenir tat everywhere Italian working hours Glassware Likes Tall sized cans of Coke Coffee is generally better We took ...

Naively thinking they'd be less tourists being a Monday we headed for the Basilica to view the bronze horses and golden frescos. It was the best value yet for entry if you wanted to be bombarded with images of saints, popes, god, Jesus, angels, St. Mark's droopy mouthed lion and all things holy. The downstairs part was shut to the public due to some military memorial so watched the traditional Catholic service from above. The view from the roof was excellent seeing the crowds dicing with the pigeons and we were able to get closer to the infamous bronze horses. Shame I took the 'no cameras and bags' rule seriously and only used my phone to get some shots. Around the corner is the Doge's Palace for a king's ransom entry at €12. We had to wait for 3 huge groups about 50 deep before being let in. The palace is impressive though with each room outdoing the other with grandness of ceiling frescos getting larger, grander and golder. Another highlight for me was seeing ...