Cookery courses are a newfound hobby of mine, and today was a chance to practice that hobby. The course here was a very different format - I just went in and we started cooking. No recipe sheets, tips and techniques or anything. This is probably becuase the instructor spoke no english other than the word yes (showing her to be a girl worth getting to know ;-)...). But I did kind of learn to make some Lao food. *Beef Larb (Lao Laap) *Chicken curry *Pork spring rolls (im sure these are vietnamese...) Of course the more observant of you will have [View Full Entry]

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Friendly. It is the only thing that everyone agrees on about Laos, and I wasn't dissapointed. Immigration, Taxi Drivers, Guesthouse staff - they are all really friendly! After checking into my guesthouse I went out to start one of my favourite activities - sampling the local cuisine. My lunch was Lao Laap - a salad of chillies, minced chicken, beansprouts, lettuce, cucumber, mint and shallots. It was absolutley delicious, and seemed to be very easy to make. I spent the afternoon running various errands (and having an afternoon nap - shameful!). The rain had turned the unmade roads i [View Full Entry]

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Walking around the temple of literature it was confirmed - I needed a haircut. A few hours later I was sitting in a Hanoi Salon, sweating in feer as the heavily pregnant hairdresser did the hair equivalent of dangling me over a cliff. She had a curious habit of perfecting, then ruining what she had just done. My hair was looking fine if a little short... before she decided to cut a diagonal line through the entirety of my fringe. I bit my lip to keep from laughing/crying/punching her and in the end I was left looking a little bit like [View Full Entry]

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Waking up several times during the night largely due to our boat colliding with another left me pretty tired and not feeling full of energy and ready for breakfast. After dropping the 3 dayers on Cat Ba Island we slowly headed back to Halong City, before taking the long bus journey back to Ha Noi. In my mind the perfect way to recover from a journey like that is with a smoothie, so an awesome Avocado and Custard Apple one was soon in my hand! In the evening we went for Bia Hoi (fresh draught beer) at the informally named 'Bia [View Full Entry]

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I arrived in Hanoi early from my night train, and met up with Khay again who had booked us on a tour to Halong Bay. We went and grabbed some of the now staple Pho Bo (noodle soup) and then walked around the lake killing time before the tour pick up. Walking around the shores of Hoan Kiem I was presented with one of the most funny and surreal sights of my travels thus far. What we found was essential a massive outdoor gym. Along one section of sidewalk a 6-a-side badminton match was taking place. A few metres away a [View Full Entry]

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I rented another motorbike this time going to the next major town from Sapa some 50km away. Despite Sisi insistance that there was no need for one I insisted on a skid lid as a condition of rental - certainly a rarety in South East Asia. I was very glad of it too - not for its safety features but since it kept the rain off of my head! My second day on two wheels and I was driving down switchbacked mountain roads with 10m visibility. The bike struggled going uphill, making me feel very heavy! I eventually managed to master [View Full Entry]

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The family had been up a long time by the time us 'scruffy western backpackers' awoke. We were all suprised and delighted to be hangover free, and decided that rice wine is actually great stuff. A leisurely pancake breakfast preceded another half days gentle strolling through the beautiful paddies. The weather was quite rainy, but rather than ruining the day it added some nice variety! The walking was far from hard, and I would recommend that anyone who is physically fit and wants to get some exercise while seeing this area should either go by themselves, or hire their own guide [View Full Entry]

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We set off in a group of 5 (rather than the agency advertised 3!) for a 2 day trek through the hills and villages around Sapa. he scenery around Sapa is mountainous, and all of the lower slopes are cultivated into tiered rice paddies. These are amazing feats of human labour, so much so that you forget they are man made and begin to think them part of the natural countryside. Along the trail is a constant sprinkling of huts and small settlements, and an even more even sprinkling of people trying to sell you stuff. The trekking itself is easy, [View Full Entry]

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Trekking Many people have their own idea as to what a trek is, as opposed to a stroll. To my travel agent 2 hours at a slow pace was a day long trek. To me it was a brief stroll. Nonetheless our guide was very fun and informative, and although the path down to the Cat Cat H'Mong minority village was busy and very well trodden the surroundings were beautiful and the people very friendly. When they weren't trying to sell you things that is! H'Mong The H'Mong people are one of a number of minority groups within the area. They [View Full Entry]

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Water puppets Water puppets are a traditional vietnamese art formed which stem from the flooding encountered in the rainy season. The puppets are wooden, buoyant and articuated and they are controlled from behind a screen which hides the puppeteers from the audience. A mix of humour, pyrotechnics and live orchestra made for a very enjoyable excursion. smoothie recipes Custard apple and avocado - try it and you won't look back! Music while you eat I went for dinner with Khay and Quinn (her room mate) to a fantastic lakeside restaurant. The food was great albeit [View Full Entry]

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