Your pad Your apt looks lovely and modern and light and bright. And the Garden looks great. I am soooo glad that you are not in a dingy little dark place
Re ChrisC comment Dude - I loved Phenom Penh - has the spice of Chaos, much like Ho Chi Minh city and Bangkok.....some of the best cities i have experienced.
Hope you carry on sending through indepth TravelBlogs once you arrive in the U.K. Really exciting readings - can't wait for the next one. By the sound of the weather in the U.K. you'll be getting those flash new long coats out.
Love Nana XXXXXX
Like it... hate it Also, its interesting hearing which places different visitors liked and disliked. Some people prefer Hanoi over Saigon for its cleanliness and beauty, others hated Mui Ne cos of the turds floating past in the sea, and so on.
What I figure is that everywhere can both suck or rock depending on your personal experiences, the people you meet, and the places you choose to visit. South East Asia is like one of those Pick-a-path books your parents steered you away from, where everyones experiences are quite different but every trip can never been anything but an absolute adventure.
A few things are for sure though, you WILL hate some parts, and you will LOVE other parts, and I've never met anyone who has loved Phnom Penh ;-)
Ahhh, the memories of Nam... great to hear you discovered Mui Ne, where Jedd, Emma, Tim, and I played coconut-touch-rugby and got burnt to a crisp on the beach.
And interesting to hear of your 1st-hand experiences with people affected by Agent Orange. While travelling on a tour near the centre of Nam, our guide pointed out a very obvious feature of the landscape (which our Larium induced brains missed at first), the rolling hills covered in tussock and bare patches, where lush jungles once stood. You prob would have also seen quite a few deformed beggers, also a by-product of the chemical. A truely horrific detail of war, and another of the many acts which not only ruined the lives of civilians at the time, but 40 years down the track is still doing the same (like the landmines all through that area). But its quite satisfying to know that although the West killed millions of Vietnamese, using sneaky tactics like agent orange and napalm, they still gave up, and pulled out!
Senka Claire assume the Senka you know and the one I know are the same. Paul and I were able to see Senka get married in Pauanui as her mother is a very good golfing friend of mine.She looked beautiful.
just to prove I read it May use this experience in discussions on cultural safety. It is always a totally different experience if you can do the local thing rather than the tourist thing. Makes you wonder what people really understand about NZ and our way of life after a whistle stop bus trip.
Interesting Stories Gosh Claire you write such great travel journals, I almost feel like I'm there with you both. You should have been a Geogoraphy teacher - maybe at St. Cuthberts!!!!!!!
Love Linda
Fascinating Keep it up, the story is fascinating. Some similarity to our experiences in the east over years' but with far more involvement with local life than we ever aschieved. Look forward to seeing Brendan's photos. Take care!
Claire & Brendon's adventures.
Can you believe it? Another year gone! Where does the time go?
Brendon loves even numbers - and is thrilled about the idea of 2010. So nice and even and balanced. Anyone think perhaps he should be an accountant.....
Anyway, the past few years have really been living the dream for us. It's hard to imagine that anything could beat them. But with Cuba, Turkey and a trip on the Trans Siberian / Trans Mongolian Express from Beijing right the way up to St Petersberg all being in our shortlist, it might just be the best yet.
Watch this space
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thank you
thank you for your story, I enjoyed it and now i think I'll ave the tour with them.