familyWest

A day of rest in Siem Reap in fantastic Cambodia. The morning went like this. • Keagan slept until 12 • Kerri read • Declan swam and watched TV • I blogged Lunch was spent at the Butterfly Garden Café. Encased by a large net the café is in a beautiful garden setting with butterflies in abundance. The owner pays local children to catch butterflies which is nice. Shopping followed at the central market - dresses, scarves and t-shirts. Swimming followed then the boys and I heated things up by going for a bike ride. Traffic is easy to navigate and we rode deep into town outskirts riding through a cemetery and disheveled houses. All on little dirt tracks it was an adventure. The appearance of Cambodia in the suburbs is in contrast to the more ... read more

Top of the agenda today is a day trip to the Mekong River delta. We had booked a trip in the back packer’s area. An 8.00 am departure ended up being an 8.30 start. A normal level of confusion for the Vietnamese was present in a bustling area. For 2 hours we traveled across flat country with the only hills being bridges over numerous rivers. We boarded a small boat and there were eleven of us on the tour following a well worn tourist path to visit a number of small islands on the Mekong. A short distance across the delta we walked to see a small village in a jungle setting. Followed was a small motorized bout trip along a narrow creek fern lined. It was special. At one stop we had a large snake ... read more

Hoi An - Ho Chin Min City Our last few hours in Hoi An was spent walking the streets dodging intermittent showers left over from the storms from the previous night. Hoi An is a busy place and has great character - well worth spending a few days here. The predominantly yellow colour of buildings and water makes it a visually interesting place. Whilst there are many shops you are never hassled to buy to any uncomfortable level. Keagan finished off his stay with a quick banana pancake at Miss Lay’s Cafe whist we had banana shakes. Our transfer to the airport in Danang some thirty minutes away was at 11.40 for our 1.40 pm plane to Ho Chi Min (HCM). Every tour trip logistic has worked like clockwork since we have been here which makes ... read more

Hue - Hoi An Our last full day in Hue was a relaxing one. A slow start to enjoy the buffet breakfast overlooking the perfume river at our hotel. The later morning was spent in cyclo’s touring a small part of the city. Sitting up front of a rider on a small seat was fun. We used the cyclo’s for two hours which cost us $2 each. First stop was the local market which bustled with many sights including animal internal organs (freaked Keagan out), clothes and other wares. Next stop was a supermarket to by supplies to save using the mini bar. Drinks followed at a small cafe written up in the guide books which is run by a deaf man. He got our order slightly wrong - no problems though. A welcome swim followed ... read more

Note: Photos were taken at various times since arriving. Day 5 Hanoi Kerri and I were up at 6.00 for our morning exercise to walk around the lake with many of Hanoi's older folk. Activities included aerobics, body slapping, Tai Chi, wheel chair races, pajama fashion parades, dancing with fans, body building, badminton, combined fan and ball thingy, sitting, praying and just straight walking. Kerri and I just stuck to the later. It was a good 3/4 hour walk. Breakfast with the boys and then we were off again to explore the old quarter. Under a hot sun, high humidity, narrow lanes, motorbikes and bikes galore we needed some frequent respites away from it all. An air-conditioned DVD shop was one, as was a restaurant for drinks. We stopped for lunch in a cafe on the ... read more