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10/07/02 I add new photos to the bottom of the photo pages if you're looking for them! 08/07/02 More Photos from Australia and New Zealand including the now famous "Bungy Jumps" 24/06/02 Finally got around to adding photos from New Zealand, Argentina and Brazil and a bit of a travelogue from Argentina. Plenty of links for you armchair travellers. 19/05/02 Had some "technical" problems with the site. Re-Uploaded everything. 04/04/02 Added Photos from Australia Gili Islands and Singapore 27/01/02 Added photos from Gili Islands, Vietnam, Laos and Thailand 26/01/02 Re-scanned all the photos from India and Thailand-Original scanning quality was c**p. 21/01/02 Opened up OZ page. 27/12/01 Added short note from Anne in Bali 30/11/2001 Had to change the hit counter. Lost all previous visitors!! 27/11/2001 Added note from Annie in Hoi An Vietnam 18/11/2001 Added more to the travelogues for Thailand and Cambodia. Also added photo pages for India and Thailand 05/11/2001 Added short travelogues for Thailand & Cambodia 01/11/2001 Added a couple of countries laos,Cambodia,Vietnam 28/10/2001 Added edited e-mails, photos and links to the India Page. |
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Brian
Well we have now arrived in Vietnam, Saigon to be
exact, got in on Thursday evening after a gruelling 12 hours travelling from Phnom Penh in Cambodia.On Thursay we arrived here in Saigon, the
Southern capital of Vietnam (It's almost like being home in Cork!) This city has a great buzz to it and has a nice feel with its french architectural influences.On that night (15th Nov 2001) we found a bar showing the Ireland/Iran Game and we caught most of the second half. Since then we have been exploring the city and wait for it doing our "Christmas Shopping", in the local markets, very organised I hear you all say, and I agee whole heartedly.
On Monday we begin our journey north, up the eastern coast, I'm looking forward to getting away from city life again for a while.
Annie
I'm here in Hoi An in central Vietnam at the moment.It is about 6.30pm,dark and only about 14 or 15 degrees. It gets a little chilly at night, but very pleasant during the day. We have been here
since Saturday morning after taking an overnight bus from Nah Trang (13 pain in the butt hours!) It's a really picturesque little town, very old narrow, tree-lined streets, very few large vehicles, mostly motos and bicycles and the people are lovely. There is more culture here per sq.ft than is imaginable! It's really lovely.Today we rented bicycles and just ambled along the roads on the outskirts of town, all the tiny children waving and smiling and crying "Hello"! Its the only english word they have and they get great gas from us turning around and waving..Lives are so simple,uncomplicated with commercial things, but at the same time, far from easy. Money still has to come from somewhere to feed children, and there are VERY few luxuries. You rarely, if ever, see a backyard with plastic kids toys lying around disused.They amuse themselves with marbles,bottle tops and they play a type of bowls with their flip flops,sliding them across the dirt..great gas!
Tomorrow we are catching the 7.30 bus to Hue,about 5 hrs north. Hue is our last major town before we leave Vietnam and cross into Laos. We haven't got enough time to go further north into Hanoi unfortunately.Another time eh?
We are going out for some delicious noodle soup later on.They are really
tasty..lots of fresh vegetables and noodles in broth. Yum! And cheap too. Two bowls = $1.50! Dinner on the cheap. Oh there's a great fruit and veg market here too.Lots of different fruits I have never even heard of before.Green Dragon fruit is unique to Vietnam, and it is a huge green thing about the size of a large watermelon, covered with spines.Not pretty on the outside but delicious on the inside! Lots of bananas,mango,papaya,oranges,oh and lovely juicy pineapple that they peel and slice for you at the stalls. Is it any wonder that Asian people have the longest life expectancy in the world, with their healthy diets how wouldn't they?We met Paddy Lyons in a guesthouse in Pnomh Penh,Cambodia a few weeks ago! We used to work with Paddy in Smurfits,this world is very small..Oh and did I tell you that we went for a drink in an Irish Pub in Pnomh Penh one night, we were trying to suss out the possibility of seeing the Ireland qualifier game. The bar was called "Tom's Irish Bar" (Original eh?) "even mentioned on the web!!" and while I sat sipping my drink, I noticed a man playing darts with couple of others up one end of the bar. I noticed more particularly, that he was wearing a Kildare Jersey! So I approached him and introduced myself and ventured to ask why he was wearing a Kildare shirt..he told me that he was Tom, the owner,and that Glen Ryan had given it to him the last time he, himself had been home to Kildare.Then I noticed a picture on the wall of a newspaper cutting advertising Shades n' Shapes in Newbridge. It was Tom Maher, father of all the Maher girls etc. There ya go now! He used to drink in Lumville house. He was in the UN and had done a bit of travelling in Mozambique and the like, and he just settled in Cambodia a few years ago and thats where he is now..All the way over in Cambodia and we meet not one but two familiar faces!