What is the weather like in England?
Today in Vietnam we have sunshine and its 27 degrees.
Jealous?
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Life without straighteners.
Hello from Hanoi, Vietnam.
I've been away from the UK now for a week now but it feel likes longer! Not because I miss it (because I don't, not yet anyway) but because we have been so busy and done so much.
Our last day in Nanning we decided to go see the shops and have a look around. We felt like celebrities. In the shops the young shop assistants followed us around giggling every time we looked at them. People were taking pictures as we passed. A man even reached out and grabbed our arm as if to see if we were actually real. Normally if a guy in the street grabbed me I would be scared but this guy seemed absolutely fascinated and harmless and just wanted a closer look at our skin. We went to the supermarket to stock up on food for the journey to Vietnam. We spent about 60RMB (about 6 pounds) and got about a weeks worth of food.
We left Nanning on Monday on another sleeper train. This journey was much more pleasant. For starters it wasn't as busy, only about 20 people. But we also had bottom bunks and lots of food. When we got to the station we were sat in the crowded waiting room when we found some fellow Europeans. We were both as shocked as each other to spot fellow foreigners. We got talking and they were sisters from Austria who were also heading to Hanoi. It was nice to have some company on the train and they gave us some great advise for when we go to Shanghai. We didn't get much sleep on the train. When leaving China we all had to get off the train with our luggage. Once back on we again stopped at the Vietnamese border to have our passport checked. By the time we got on the train it was about 1 in the morning. We were meant to get into Hanoi at 8am. We got woken up about 4:30am and at 5:30 the train stopped. We'd arrived in Hanoi way before we had expected to and it was dark.
For the first hour here, I hated Hanoi and I was ready to leave. We got off the train and the first problem we faced was that we had no local money. We walked out of the station and it looked like we were in the middle of no where. We are greeted by many taxi drivers who were desperate to take us to our hostel. We decided we would wait at the station until it got a bit lighter and most probably safer. We knew we had to get a taxi to the hostel and that it would cost us about 80,000 dong but we had no money. There were two taxi drivers that would not leave us alone and finally one of them gave up and walked away but not before kicking me! We waited in the waiting room at the station and the taxi driver waited with us for about half an hour. The taxi driver said that he would take us to an ATM but we didn't really trust him. Eva and Anna (our Austrian friends) had some dollars so we decided to ask the taxi driver if he would take dollars. He was willing but wanted $20. The journey should have cost us $3/4 so there was no way we were going to pay $20. After much haggling he agreed to take us for $5. We managed then to get some money out and find our hostel. Once I got settled in and relaxed I felt so much better and I was able to enjoy the city.
Despite all the tourists, after one day I love Hanoi already. It's like nothing else I've ever experienced. There are thousands of motorbikes and no crossings. Crossing the road involves just taking a leap of faith and stepping out into the street and all the vehicles just drive around you. I will have to write more about Hanoi when I get the chance. We are planning on setting off for a 3 day trip to Halong Bay this weekend, spending one night on a junk boat. I can't wait!
[Edit: Pictures added 17/08/11 from the first day in Hanoi]
I've been away from the UK now for a week now but it feel likes longer! Not because I miss it (because I don't, not yet anyway) but because we have been so busy and done so much.
Our last day in Nanning we decided to go see the shops and have a look around. We felt like celebrities. In the shops the young shop assistants followed us around giggling every time we looked at them. People were taking pictures as we passed. A man even reached out and grabbed our arm as if to see if we were actually real. Normally if a guy in the street grabbed me I would be scared but this guy seemed absolutely fascinated and harmless and just wanted a closer look at our skin. We went to the supermarket to stock up on food for the journey to Vietnam. We spent about 60RMB (about 6 pounds) and got about a weeks worth of food.
We left Nanning on Monday on another sleeper train. This journey was much more pleasant. For starters it wasn't as busy, only about 20 people. But we also had bottom bunks and lots of food. When we got to the station we were sat in the crowded waiting room when we found some fellow Europeans. We were both as shocked as each other to spot fellow foreigners. We got talking and they were sisters from Austria who were also heading to Hanoi. It was nice to have some company on the train and they gave us some great advise for when we go to Shanghai. We didn't get much sleep on the train. When leaving China we all had to get off the train with our luggage. Once back on we again stopped at the Vietnamese border to have our passport checked. By the time we got on the train it was about 1 in the morning. We were meant to get into Hanoi at 8am. We got woken up about 4:30am and at 5:30 the train stopped. We'd arrived in Hanoi way before we had expected to and it was dark.
For the first hour here, I hated Hanoi and I was ready to leave. We got off the train and the first problem we faced was that we had no local money. We walked out of the station and it looked like we were in the middle of no where. We are greeted by many taxi drivers who were desperate to take us to our hostel. We decided we would wait at the station until it got a bit lighter and most probably safer. We knew we had to get a taxi to the hostel and that it would cost us about 80,000 dong but we had no money. There were two taxi drivers that would not leave us alone and finally one of them gave up and walked away but not before kicking me! We waited in the waiting room at the station and the taxi driver waited with us for about half an hour. The taxi driver said that he would take us to an ATM but we didn't really trust him. Eva and Anna (our Austrian friends) had some dollars so we decided to ask the taxi driver if he would take dollars. He was willing but wanted $20. The journey should have cost us $3/4 so there was no way we were going to pay $20. After much haggling he agreed to take us for $5. We managed then to get some money out and find our hostel. Once I got settled in and relaxed I felt so much better and I was able to enjoy the city.
Despite all the tourists, after one day I love Hanoi already. It's like nothing else I've ever experienced. There are thousands of motorbikes and no crossings. Crossing the road involves just taking a leap of faith and stepping out into the street and all the vehicles just drive around you. I will have to write more about Hanoi when I get the chance. We are planning on setting off for a 3 day trip to Halong Bay this weekend, spending one night on a junk boat. I can't wait!
[Edit: Pictures added 17/08/11 from the first day in Hanoi]
Monday, April 11, 2011
typo typo typo
E-mail blogging is difficult to correct after it's been posted.
I apologise for the obvious typos, I must learn to proof read.
I apologise for the obvious typos, I must learn to proof read.
Greetings from Nanning!
Good news is I remembered my toothbrush! Oh and that I made it safely to Hong Kong and survived the train journey to Nanning. As is inevitable I did forget some things, namely socks, suncream and my camera lead. And because of that I have no pictures to share with you as of yet. You will just have to use your vivid imaginations. [Edit: Pictures added on 14/08/11]
So we are on day 6 of travelling. We spent 3 nights in Hong Kong. It's such an interesting and busy city and I would love to go back one day and explore more but as budget travellers the place did get a bit expensive. But we made the most of it. We were staying in Fortress Hill which was right next to the bustling area of Causeway Bay. We walked a lot around the city taking in the sky scrapers and all the sights and smells of the crowded streets. We took a stroll down the Avenue of Stars where I had a photo taken by Jackie Chan's star. The avenue gave us the perfect view of Hong Kong Island. It's a far cry from Manchester!
On day two we went to the Tian Tan Buddha which I posted a picture of in an earlier post. Once we got to Lantau Island we took a picturesque journey up to the monastry. It was a hot day and we had to walk up 264 steps in the heat to get up the Buddha but it was worth it.
We left Hong Kong the next day. We had to get two trains to get to Nanning. We took a sleeper train which was a totally new experience. We had the top bunks which were about 6/7 foot up with just a narrow ladder to climb up. We shared the carriage with 64 other people.
[Photo taken from Sarah's blog Gandy Goes Global]
The bunks were tiny and we had no head room. And my feet were dangling over the edge. Don't even get me started on the toilets. I'm not looking forward to our next sleeper train journey tonight. The train view did however offer views of the Chinese countryside and we saw people working in the fields and the shacks we could only assume were their homes.
Compared to Hong Kong, Nanning is what I guess can be described as real China. They obviously don't get as many tourist as most people do stare at us, absolutely fascinated by these white people walking through their city. To say I stand out in this country is an understatement. The shop across the hostel sells baby turtles for 70p and the park next door men gather to play dominos. We went down into town to the night food market with some people we met at the hostel and they sell some weird and wonderful stuff there.
A chinese girl from the hostel came with us so fortunately she was able to tell us what everything was. We tried fruits that I'd never seen before. They had whole crocodiles (which absolutely stink), every body part of pretty much any animal on skewers and numerous birds in cages. The most distrubing thing was when a woman got a handful of sparrows from a cage and then just threw them to the ground to kill them, right in front of us. I think she found our reaction quite amusing. I even tried a chicken foot, when in rome and all. I can confirm that they actually taste quite good, it's just the thought that you're eating a chicken foot that is bad.
Everything is so cheap here, we fed ourselves at the market for about 1 pound. On the way back we walked past the park where people gather to dance in the evenings. A song just starts and everyone knows the rountine and just gets into it. I wish I could have videoed it as some of the dancers were amazing. You should try and see if you can find a video on YouTube. I would look for it but YouTube is banned over here. And so is Facebook.
Blogger is also banned, so I'm posting this through the e-mail blogging facility so I have no idea how well this will post but I'll tidy it up when I get the chance.
Next time I post, I'll be in Vietnam!! Wish me luck for the train journey.
So we are on day 6 of travelling. We spent 3 nights in Hong Kong. It's such an interesting and busy city and I would love to go back one day and explore more but as budget travellers the place did get a bit expensive. But we made the most of it. We were staying in Fortress Hill which was right next to the bustling area of Causeway Bay. We walked a lot around the city taking in the sky scrapers and all the sights and smells of the crowded streets. We took a stroll down the Avenue of Stars where I had a photo taken by Jackie Chan's star. The avenue gave us the perfect view of Hong Kong Island. It's a far cry from Manchester!
On day two we went to the Tian Tan Buddha which I posted a picture of in an earlier post. Once we got to Lantau Island we took a picturesque journey up to the monastry. It was a hot day and we had to walk up 264 steps in the heat to get up the Buddha but it was worth it.
[Edit: On a final night we took a walk around the city, it was so busy but it was cool to be among all the sky scrapers and the hustle and bustle. This was the night that the photo used in the blog banner was taken.]
We left Hong Kong the next day. We had to get two trains to get to Nanning. We took a sleeper train which was a totally new experience. We had the top bunks which were about 6/7 foot up with just a narrow ladder to climb up. We shared the carriage with 64 other people.
[Photo taken from Sarah's blog Gandy Goes Global]
The bunks were tiny and we had no head room. And my feet were dangling over the edge. Don't even get me started on the toilets. I'm not looking forward to our next sleeper train journey tonight. The train view did however offer views of the Chinese countryside and we saw people working in the fields and the shacks we could only assume were their homes.
Compared to Hong Kong, Nanning is what I guess can be described as real China. They obviously don't get as many tourist as most people do stare at us, absolutely fascinated by these white people walking through their city. To say I stand out in this country is an understatement. The shop across the hostel sells baby turtles for 70p and the park next door men gather to play dominos. We went down into town to the night food market with some people we met at the hostel and they sell some weird and wonderful stuff there.
A chinese girl from the hostel came with us so fortunately she was able to tell us what everything was. We tried fruits that I'd never seen before. They had whole crocodiles (which absolutely stink), every body part of pretty much any animal on skewers and numerous birds in cages. The most distrubing thing was when a woman got a handful of sparrows from a cage and then just threw them to the ground to kill them, right in front of us. I think she found our reaction quite amusing. I even tried a chicken foot, when in rome and all. I can confirm that they actually taste quite good, it's just the thought that you're eating a chicken foot that is bad.
 |
| Sarah outside the hostel. |
 |
| The pet shop. |
 |
| Games in the park. |
[Photo with sparrows from Sarah's blog Gandy Goes Global]
Everything is so cheap here, we fed ourselves at the market for about 1 pound. On the way back we walked past the park where people gather to dance in the evenings. A song just starts and everyone knows the rountine and just gets into it. I wish I could have videoed it as some of the dancers were amazing. You should try and see if you can find a video on YouTube. I would look for it but YouTube is banned over here. And so is Facebook.
Blogger is also banned, so I'm posting this through the e-mail blogging facility so I have no idea how well this will post but I'll tidy it up when I get the chance.
Next time I post, I'll be in Vietnam!! Wish me luck for the train journey.
Monday, April 4, 2011
This time tomorrow...
I will be waiting to board my flight. It's just crazy that in just 25 hours I will be in the air on my way to Hong Kong. That is of course assuming that flight leaves on time.
So what do you do on your last day in UK? My answer is eat at barburrios, shop, get my eyebrows threaded, eat krispy kremes and pack. To answer your question, have I finished packing? The answer is no. It's all laid out on my bed but actually putting it in my rucksack is a bit daunting.
I'm quite proud that I've managed to cut my wardrobe down to the bare basics. I told my mother I held X-factor style auditions for my clothes. In one basket I had the ones that just weren't good enough (or no longer fit) which is the give/throw away basket. Then I have the MASSIVE suitcase that has all the clothes that were good, but not quite good enough or what we're looking for. We encourage them to try again next year. Anyway, you get the idea. I managed to take it through bootcamp, to the judges house and now I have my pile for the final show (journey).
I'm pretty sure there is something I'm forgetting. Knowing me, I'll forget something vital like underwear, or my toothbrush, I always forget my toothbrush.
I hope you're ready to share Sarah.
I hope you're ready to share Sarah.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Last time
In the middle of getting excited for setting off, I decided to look over my photos from my first trip to China in 2007.
As my external hard drive is being awkward and not working properly (woe is me), all these photos are from Beijing as they were the only ones I uploaded to Facebook. I'm not even going to Beijing this time but it still gets me excited.
They aren't brilliant pictures. Hazy weather + crappy cheap Casio camera + Facebook uploads = very bad quality photos.
But here's a selection. Enjoy and be envious.
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