rma
Roslyn Amiss Joined: August 23rd 2009
Logged in: February 6th 2012
Logged in: February 6th 2012
Travel Blog Posts
Shop with extended verandah
Michael and I sadly left Vietnam towards the end of April – this trip had turned out to be a lot more interesting than we had anticipated. Our original reason for this trip was to attend a friend’s wedding…and we were very honoured to be invited to this wedding…..more about this in my next blog…… So, as you know from my previous blog, the four of us (Michael and Roslyn Amiss and Russell Ellett and Merri Hogan) went ahead and built a small shop attached to Hien’s parents-in-law house. The building was nearly completed prior to our returning to Australia. We were very surprised how quickly the building went up. Hien’s husband worked every day on the building aided by two talented assistants. We tried to go out to the building site at least every second ... read more
Nightscape in Old Town.
Vietnam is a country that is very popular as a tourist destination with hotels, restaurants, bars, tailors and souvenir shops dominating the old centre. It is becoming more popular each year. A visit to Hoi An is a highlight of any trip to Vietnam. It is a town oozing charm and history and has been lucky to have largely escaped the destruction of successive wars. Hoi An Old Town is now a UNESCO World Heritage site and is governed by preservation laws, that seem to be working, to retain the history and feel of the place. It is a great place to walk around - exploring the narrow laneways or strolling along the river; you can hire a bicycle or motor bike and explore the town and surrounding countryside and beaches. You can have clothes, shoes, ... read more
The line of cars waiting for the ferry
Goodbye to Mali - last day was 13th February, 2011 We had one day's rest back in Timbuktu after the festival and I spent a fair bit of time cleaning out our packs and trying to get rid of as much of the Sarah sand as possible and having a well earned shower and clean up. We decided to have a fancy dinner on our last night in Timbuktu and we were not disappointed. The special restaurant that we went to also had a very important diner who had a lot of protection and the two streets surrounding the restaurant were very protected by local police and lots of guns........(two Hi-Lux uteswith 50cal machine guns mouted in the back of each ute and plenty of armed soldiers as well),,,,not sure who the important person was but ... read more
I think we're ready - can't disappoint all the wedding planners.....
Festival in the Desert Highlights - 7th and 8th January 2011 7/1/2011 As I mentioned in an earlier blog - there was to be a wedding at the festival. David and Denise, who we were travelling with us, had decided to celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary by renewing their vows and the festival seemed to be the perfect place. Our travel group were all to be part of the wedding party and with Hamma's help we managed to get traditional clothing made for the wedding. We had several wedding planners involved in getting everything right - wedding photographer and video specialist, clothing, Tuareg traditions had to be learned and followed, etc. etc. Invitations were send out by word of mouth around the camp sites and at about 4pm the celebration began. David and Denise were dressed ... read more
The way into the festival site....
Festival in the Desert - 6th to 9th Januray 2011. The first Festival in the Desert took place in January 2001 and was based on a traditional Tuareg gathering. The first of these festivals was a rambling open-air celebration of Tuareg culture, music and dance, as well as a stage for other Malian and international performances. The Tuareg people are the largest ethic group in Mali and are mainly found in the northern part of the country. They are nomadic people and for the festival they travelled several hundred kms with their camels - travelling at night and resting during the heat of the day. The festival is seen as a yearly opportunity to trade and make an income that would last them for the whole year. By 2004, the three day event had a fixed ... read more
Flame of Peace monument, Timbuktu
Timbuktu town - 5/1/2011 and 6/1/2011 We had one day in Timbuktu to look around and the following day we headed out to the festival for the next 3-4 days. Timbuktu is the name of a town in Mali (and it really exists - we have t-shirts to prove it!!!) but as well Timbuktu is also the largest region of Mali stretching from the Niger Bend to the northern frontiers of the Malian Sahara. Virtually all the human activity takes place in the vicinity of the River Niger, where Timbuktu and Dire are two of the major towns. The only other permanent settlement is a further 400km across vast plains, dunes and shifting 'sand seas' - at the Taoudenni salt mines. A visit to the Post Office to have a post card sent back home stamped ... read more
We leave the plain and start our climb to the top of the escarpment
Date: 30/1/2010 Evening: Begnimato We had agreed between us that we would like to start walking early in the morning and get to the lunch stop before it got too hot each day and then start again about 3pm each afternoon. So, today we started early and walked about 5km (in sand mostly) along the plain following the escarpment. Before leaving Ende, we had a long walk around the village as this was the village most famous for the mud painting - we watched several artists work on specific pieces. We also saw the women processing indigo dyed blankets and scarfs and one of our group was fortunate enough to purchase a copy of one of the masks worn during the dancing yesterday....it was a really good find as only one man in the village makes ... read more
Crossing a beautiful waterway on our trek
Date: 31/12/2010 We started off this morning with singing Happy Birthday to Sam (who is not really a morning person) but she took it all in good spirit. We walked a longer distance today - mainly across the top of the rocky escarpment - arriving at our destination of Douruo by 12.30pm. After another lunch of pasta and finding that we were the only ones staying in this village for the night - New Year's Eve - we decided to move on. For several days we had been trying to get together on New Year's Eve and make a bit of a party of it with our fellow travellers - so we were very disappointed to find just our group in this village. Our guide arranged for a vehicle to come in and pick us up ... read more
Mopti.
1/1/2011 - day in Mopti On arrival in Mopti we were met by our tour organiser - who would accompany us on the river and festival sections of the tour. This was a good opportunity for some down time and washing. Four of us decided to take a walk around the town before dinner and while it is a major town in Mali - it didn't really hold anything special for us. The main area of interest was the Mosque, and we were invited up onto people's roofs to get a better view of the Mosque. "No charge" they say, but, you don't get anything for free and on the way up the stairs onto one roof we passed a little area set aside for making local handicrafts. So you know that you are going to ... read more
Fellow travellers on the Niger River.
Hi everyone, I think some people may have missed out on receiving one of the blogs I posted a couple of days ago - I posted 3 blogs just before leaving Addis Ababa - if you didn't receive all three, please just check out previous blogs to keep up to date. Many thanks, the cause might have been internet service. Having a beer in Bangkok at the moment and using free wifi (probably not really free if we have too many beers) - heading to the beach for a few days next week. Love to you all. Ros Niger River trip Day 2 - 3/1/2011 After rising at 5.30am (are we on holiday!!) we set off on the river again in time to catch the sunrise - magic. Today was a full day on the ... read more
