Day 3 in Sydney CBD is an extra special day for me in meeting up with my Vietnamese student Yen & her friend Jenny for a great day at Taronga Zoo (across the harbour from the Opera House) with a lot more walking, some 13.64klms for me all up in today’s encounter. I first met Yen in Hanoi on my first day in Vietnam backpacking back in 2018 where students, approx. 3-400 of them talked to us tourists all day around the beautiful city lake in the Old Historical Centre. Some parents even film you so they can replay the lessons back home. Yen was just 17, looked 14 & very slim and we discussed everything possible about her education and how she managed studies, exams, assignments, etc & in so, offering my old wisdom of advice, etc in what I believe would be best practice. Firstly, I had to correct her breathing so that would provide calmness and clarity in how she responded to communication & in areas of ‘stress’. Her breathing was slightly erratic, and she did extremely well in following my lead over time. If you want to see my Hanoi blog on this 2018 adventure pls scroll down on my website where it is easy to find.  https://bhlifestyles.travel.blog    

It was around 5.30pm after a long day ‘talking’ about myself to hundreds of students. Surely, you agree you can only talk about yourself for short periods .. LOL! I was determined not to involve any ego on my part but to involve everyone that was gracious to talk to me. I concentrated on the very shy ones too. Being so late in the day I took relief on a planter box under a large tree when the sweetest voice politely asked if she could sit next to me & talk English. For me, I had nothing for lunch, etc & was quite drained and I soon found out Yen was in the same boat & decided to eat once she got home some 90mins on the bus. I strongly advised her to walk across the road & have something at the counter still viewing the street so she would be comfortable sitting there.  The café chosen was The Note Coffee shop where there were thousands of post-it-notes placed in every conceivable spot by travellers & visitors all over the world. It would take you weeks to read them all. It was good reading for myself & Yen.

To partake in our respite I granted Yen, her first ever smoothie & cake. She suffered her first brain freeze too by sucking the straw too strongly .. so funny, we both laughed a lot but I did warn her. Her learning started from that point on. There’s more to this story back in an earlier blog on Hanoi if you scroll down to find it. I couldn’t decide on the 2 photos below, so you got them both. LOL!!!

Full credit to Yen’s commitment & her desire to learn where she excelled in her studies & was privileged to wear the traditional costume to honour students upon graduation. Since those 4yrs just passed, Yen has gained a university acceptance to do her Bachelor Degree here in a Sydney university for the next 3yrs. She does that on top of doing 2 jobs in different suburbs here in Western Sydney to be independent. Such a remarkable young lady now of 21. So very proud of her and most thankful she still remembers me & keeps me informed of her successes.

Both ladies were so excited to spend the day with me & to do a ferry trip to Taronga Zoo & see all types of nature (away from city life) today before Yen had to run off to uni at 3pm. I was so glad to see her and share in our catchup & to meet her great friend, Jenny. It was a day of connection so not many photos to share with you all although the photo of the tiger was amazing, and one should not complain on the dirty & flare from the ‘thin’ glass separating us. Whew!! To be so close. Most of the other animals were in hiding so no photos of them. Of course, most of the snakes were in full view … yay (not a snake lover)!!! One was half swallowing a rat much to the total disgust of a lady standing near us.

We missed the opportunity of using the cable car ride from the wharf to the zoo entrance however the State buses were there to take us up the hill free of charge. The zoo is constantly in change mode to keep the exhibitions real, functional & commercial so it took a bit of navigating in using the zoo map without double trekking. The week prior to our visit a Dad tiger & 3 of his cubs escaped from their enclosure overnight which made the news dramatically of course, so that part was closed off and we only saw the tiger in the photo. The zoo also provides overnight accommodation where they would fill an enclosure for night viewing from your bed or lounge. I think there are a few $ involved in that.

Before long, we had transversed the zoo and found the lower exit directly at the wharf for our return to Circular Quay, some 12mins travel. We got to see a closer look at the new cruise liner now berthed, the Queen Elizabeth which looked amazing in this harbour. With time upon us we scampered in a building that I had not found before, Oporto – Gateway Plaza, directly behind Rossini Restaurant off Wharf 5 in Alfred St where they had a huge food court & with great surprise the ladies chose a Chinese outlet (Vietnamese was not on their list .. haha!).

With Jenny required to go to The Museum Railway Station I finished the day with Yen by walking her from Circular Quay to the uni near Town Hall after. She preferred the walk with me instead of catching the Light Rail. With a huge hug I had to wish her well and to look forward to seeing her forthcoming successes. Of course, to celebrate this reunion I journeyed back to QVB to Metropole to enjoy another great coffee & then back to the resort before the storm eventuated.

My next blog, Day 4 involves a unique museum that you don’t see every day with an amazing story, so stay tuned. Take care & stay safe. Thank you for reading my blogs. Very much appreciated.

Sydney Getaway November 2022 – Day 2

Day 2 in Sydney CBD walking from my Wyndham Sydney Resort in Surrey Hills I ventured North towards the harbour via the Botanical Gardens through the magnificent Hyde Park via College St. I hope the city map provides some more navigation assistance, even though it doesn’t show you the light rail fully. The map still contains the monorail which is no longer in use & was demolished some time ago. My resort is near the N at the end of the written Chinatown. Central Station is just visible at the bottom of the map in the centre. Mrs Macquarie’s Chair is under the legend. Fort Denison would be at the top of the legend. Barangaroo Crown Casino Tower is on the wharf area to the right of the compass. I hope the locations assist you in using the map for this blog & future Sydney blogs?

In the ‘Upper’ Hyde Park (South), the first major icon monument is the super impressive Anzac Memorial constructed out of the Sydney sandstone. It certainly befits the sacrifices our Anzacs undertook to give us our culture & freedom/ rights. Inside are the inscriptions and testimonies of battles/ service in several parts of the world laid out in curved enclosures where our veterans served under great hardships.

My route encapsulated a lesser step day than yesterday (10.88klms) but it was full of nature and freedom & less of city cluster so it was legal meandering to enlighten the senses. At the bottom slope of the Upper Hyde Park was a most impressive statue of one of my heroes, Captain James Cook. He has copped a lot of rubbish of rewritten historical false ‘facts’ from cancel culture & Left-Wing socialist agendas & I can’t stress enough what this great man actually did in REAL history so pls do your own research & not take in the current narrative. I had just finished a historical book “Beating France to Botany Bay” by Margaret Cameron-Ash & it is brilliant & very accurate in how Australia was founded & we beat the French by just 5 days to this wonderland and it dispels all the falsehoods concerning Capt James Cook & the 1^st Fleet to settlement. Capt James Cook, with his enormous sailing the globe adventures he eliminated scurvy in his crew which was the biggest killer for sailors & changed the way such sail journeys were conducted.

Heading further North there are several impressive structures such as, The Australian Museum, St Mary’s Cathedral & The NSW Art Gallery, with the new art gallery being constructed behind. From there you come across the entry into The Domain & Botanical Gardens parklands. It was best to follow Mrs Macquarie’s Road completed in 1816 which then leads to Mrs Macquarie’s Chair where she used to sit & watch the ships sail past in the early days of settlement, right on the peninsula. It was her recluse area. The Domain & Botanical Gardens both had major staging works underway for upcoming events (Carols by Candelight is my guess) so my access was sadly restricted, so I eventually took the harbourside entry pathway to circumnavigate the headland point & gaze out into the harbour from Mrs Macquarie’s Chair. The same pathway also takes you back to the western side entry of the Opera House & Circular Quay.

Back in the day when I was working for the Cwlth Govt in construction works around 1984-85 in Project Division 1 at Central Office, Australia Square, I was assigned to do a final photographic survey of the small granite pagoda built especially for Mrs Macquarie in the early settlement days when her husband was the Governor. This pagoda was sited at the rear of HMAS Kuttabul (Navy area on Garden Island boundary). The Admiral gave me permission to carry out detailed photographic work on & around Garden Island for the pagoda but when the Military Naval Police nabbed me with a camera midday on a Friday I was interrogated rigorously until the Admiral was finally reached around 5pm. Whew!!! I was figuring I would be spending the weekend in the brig as it was a federal offence to undertake photography on a naval dockyard. This pagoda was to be removed piece by piece & relocated adjacent to Mrs Macquarie’s Chair, but it looks like this was never undertaken so I was a bit saddened I couldn’t rejoin this memory, marvel at it & touch the granite pagoda again.

Looking out into the harbour from Mrs Macquarie’s Chair I was thankful to take a photo of Fort Denison again which proves the sea level has not risen by more than 1cm over the entire time it was built so the Climate ideology believers can be relieved now. Climate Change is a UN, New World Order, WEF scam of wealth redistribution, nothing to do with the environment & for those that need educating on this really need to read “Green Murder” by our Australian Ian Plimer. Absolute facts in this book and really tells how this scam is killing humanity. Fort Denison was first used as a penal site, then levelled by convicts for a defence facility around 1840-1862 when finished.

Walking back towards the garden entrance on the Eastern side, next to Garden Island Dockyard I came across the Andrew ‘Boy’ Charlton pool adjacent to the Woolloomooloo Wharves (ritzy redeveloped area) near Garden Island Navy area. It’s the first time I had come across this area apart from work at the time. The aquatic centre has an 8 lane 50m heated saltwater pool. ‘Boy’ Charlton was a 5 medal Olympic swimmer. His 1^st World Record was set at just 15yrs of age in the early 1900s. Walking across the garden I headed over towards the Opera House & Circular Quay (lunch & a beer) then off to The Strand (historical Shopping arcade) & my favourite building the Queen Victoria Building (QVB, built 1898) further up George St opposite the Town Hall & to a great coffee shop, The Metropole where I was granted superb coffee, treats & service & went there quite a few times. The above city scape photo shows the Sydney Tower & Skywalk on the left, Barangaroo Crown Casino Tower on the far right, slightly in the background. The Opera House & Harbour Bridge are on the far outside of the photo on the right. The Sydney Tower offers 360-degree views of Sydney & beyond & I can’t believe I overlooked this opportunity however, I have visited there before. The enormous Westfield Shopping Centre is under this tower & also has a revolving restaurant which I am told is magnificent at night dining.

Apologies for not getting an external photo of the QVB for you. The building takes up an entire city block and provides 3 storeys of shopping and restaurants and links underground to the heavy city rail network. The building was constructed on the site where the original city markets were held back in 1898. It was one of those things with thousands of people around, the light rail running silently passed at times stopping at the Town Hall where the last thing on your mind was to take a photo. You can easily Google for photos of this truly magnificent building with its trademark enormous central dome and with a welcoming statue of Queen Victoria at the main entrance. Definitely worth a look. The Town Hall is spectacular too.

Seeing I have a great Day 3 planned I decided it was best to head back to my resort, beat the upcoming storm & take in some me relax time & to write this story. Hope you like the pics? Take care & stay safe. Thank you for reading my blogs. Very much appreciated.

Sydney Getaway November 2022

I’ll probably do 2 or 3 blogs for this trip and they will involve quite a few photos due to so many sights to see in Sydney & it is still the gateway to Australia. Enjoy the pics.

With being a Wyndham Owner (timeshare), I had some 2022 credits to use and with this dreaded COVID crap from our governments Australian travel is quite difficult in using your points. If 95% of Australians are not travelling overseas then that means they are booking every resort within Australia, so to gain an actual resort is like winning the lottery and I had to use my credits somehow. Scanning the website, I was surprised to first gain Kirra in Queensland for a week which is basically impossible due to its peak season rating all year and I managed to meet up with my family who all live near the border.

The next win was to gain 5 nights in Sydney CBD just over a week later where I could wander around and have a good break and also get to catchup with a young Vietnamese student, Yen, I met over in Hanoi and mentored for a while and now she is out here for a degree. More on this later.

I decided to go by train seeing how I also get a pension discount plus it was cheaper to do this than pay for 5 days of airport car parking, plus fuel there & to pay a higher airplane ticket. My whole train transport cost including return came to a frugal $122AUD. Catching the bus from my hometown, Yamba to Grafton to catch the train cost a huge $2.90 (discount again) for the 1hour travel. With time to spare in Grafton I was able to have dinner in the CBD before the 9pm train departure. Again, with plenty of time I booked a taxi through the popular Clocktower Pub but for some 40mins I’m left stranded on the side of the road looking for this phantom taxi. The pub chased it up again only to be promised again they are coming fast due to my now clear emergency. It was only by pure chance I saw a taxi in the dark & I had to virtually jump out in front of it before the lady driver saw me & hit the anchors. She was so obliging she raced towards the station & confirmed to me my taxi was still 3 trips away from reaching me. Not happy when people lie to customers.

The taxi had me at the station with just 1 minute to departure time. Racing up onto the platform the staff became so apologetic in saying “It’s OK, we’re running late waiting on the bus from Casino”. Whew!!!! There was plenty of time to find my 1^st Class seat and settle in for the 10.5hrs trip. It was not the trip I had envisaged though .. the air con system was so noisy & rattling and the passenger beside me was of Sri Lankan appearance and quite large and not in a healthy condition. He kept coughing in his mask & wouldn’t stop moving around. The train attendant wouldn’t allow either one of us to move seating arrangements either so you guessed it .. virtually no sleep at all & the trip felt like 18hrs. So much for 1^st class.

Arriving in Sydney CBD at 7.30am I had to fill in my day as my Wyndham Resort in Surrey Hills check-in time was strictly 4pm. It was pure relief when I was given the room a few hours earlier to crash. I hope you enjoy some of my photos I took through my meandering with the first photos being of the Central Station (Sydney’s prime railway station), its huge platform board and the front Northern elevation from the adjacent Belmore Park.

I believe it is many years, even decades since I really looked at the Sydney CBD. My brothers & I would travel down for 3 days each year to see our beloved Uncle Don so we rarely saw anything other than the airport, hotel & the Randwick racetrack. I’m expecting quite some changes as Sydney CBD has a new Light Rail Network linking many of the inner suburbs in addition to the underground rail loop.

Crossing through Belmore Park (heading North from Central Station front entrance) and then heading some 10mins West along Goulburn St you end up venturing past Chinatown and then into the new dockside development of Darling Harbour where vast development has taken place over the decades and is still in redevelopment phases. This part of town has really brought Sydney into life. Hidden behind the International Convention Centre is The Star Casino (western side of the harbour) and looking North the finished Barangaroo Crown Casino Tower hovers over everything with its unique shape. Darling Harbour used to be a myriad of wharves servicing all types of ships & merchandise in its day and it followed on from the ancient wharf area of The Rocks, situated closer to the Harbour Bridge area and was started up by the early settlement & convicts’ era.

CBW is short for the Cockle Bay Wharf where the location remembers this past wharf along with King St Wharf 1 & 3 & Barangaroo Wharf 1 & 2, where others have long been forgotten with redevelopment. Before moving on to Circular Quay I had a late brekky/ lunch at Adria Bar Restaurant right on Cockle Bay Wharf area and you’re never left disappointed here as we have visited this place many times before.

Walking back into the city streets I headed towards George St (Sydney’s main street) which now occupies the main trunk line of the Light Rail Network and runs from South Sydney, through to Town Hall & all the way into Circular Quay & then onto the old Rocks area. I’m not ready to use the Light Rail yet as I hadn’t picked up an Opal Travel card (min spend $20 & can be topped up as needed). For me tap & go can also be done by my credit card knowing I will never spend the $20 on this transport these few days with an Opal Card.

Apart from the Light Rail (terminates here at Circular Quay) there has been very little changes here at Circular Quay. Old & new ferries still services this great harbour for commuters, tourists, etc. Huge cruise ships moor against the International Cruise Terminal & a few of these can still fit under the Harbour Bridge & moor at other wharves out of city ciew.

Thousands of people venture like ants around this area, most in an absolute hurry and very few actually take in the hidden gems and really see what is around them. Along the ferry area large brass dome plates are placed every 20m or so and form The Writer’s Walk where past poets and writers have their walk of fame, I guess mounted for those seeking more in the city walks. I was amazed to look at the forecourt of The Opera House to see the dome benchmark plaque used in its construction survey datum. The more you look at the Opera House the more you can’t fathom how they constructed it. A world marvel.

Sydney Harbour is certainly the best harbour in the world and when you have the backdrop of super cruise ships, The Harbour Bridge and The Opera House all in their glory it is hard to not be impressed. I will be revisiting this area in a later blog so stay tuned.

You will note, in some of the pictures I have my cap in for a selfie. The cap represents my cousin’s micro-brewery “The Wobbly Chook” back in my hometown of Yamba NSW & I promote it by posting “where am I?” for those keen to see where my cap ends up.

Looking at my phone for my walking marathon I had certainly covered some ground (12.28klms) and I had just enough energy to reach my resort for a complete rest catchup. I hope you like my Day 1 blog of Sydney CBD and photos and there is still lots more to show you. Stay tuned & look after you. Cheers.

My Vietnam Launch – Nha Trang – 2018 Backpacking

In my last blog I mentioned I had done little research into my next journey locations. I was getting lazy & letting the universe provide the Vietnam for me to see & I knew very little of Nha Trang other than it was a bigger city than Quy Nhon. Basically, threw a dart on a map. In this blog you will see a high volume of photos so I hope you will enjoy these?

I had several messages sent to me the day before my departure by my next lodgings, iHome Hostel, stating my room is undergoing emergency repairs but would not tell me why. They were extremely sincere & apologetic so that was a good sign & promised to have my room ready in a few days if I could get another hotel room elsewhere as they were fully booked. Nothing like a last-minute challenge.

After a bit of sourcing, I managed a 1 bed studio from Summer Hotel in Nguyen Thien Thuat not far from ihome Hostel so with that sorted I was more relieved to catch the limo van at 2pm for a 4hr trip. Finally, I had managed to get a great driver & arrived in good shape & not to kiss the pavement like the Pope in Quy Nhon.

The Summer Hotel was a bit more upmarket at $24USD/ nite but it came with a fantastic brekky that you couldn’t afford to miss. My room was cosy with an ensuite however no window at all so I had to rely on the clock, not the sun or moon. Lol! I quickly unloaded my packs & ventured out to the hundreds of eating places. Nha Trang was instantly different to anything I had seen in Vietnam to date. There was another population type wandering the streets in volumes. I later learned at my eating place there were 4 languages on the menu. One was Vietnam, Chinese, Russian & to my relief, English.

Nha Trang used to be a Russian port and despite the port reverting back to Vietnam some years ago the Russian population remained and created their own citizenship network. I don’t believe they integrate that well on first observations.

I found it awkward walking the streets where I noticed the Russian women were ‘secretly’ smiling at me & when I acknowledged slightly back the Russian men/ partner would become quite terse in their look. Very possessive! I also found out the Russian men are not too pleasant to their female partners so I had better be more discreet in ‘smiling’ back as I would not stop when greeted warmly. During my whole stay at Nha Trang I never had the opportunity of speaking directly to any Russian, man or female so that says something, surely, however they were far better than the vile Chinese I came across at Sihanoukville in Cambodia.

My first outing was to walk to Long Son Pagoda (2.2klms West of the City Centre) in a very hot, humid day … but that is expected, so toughen up Princess. Upon arrival, the temple was closed (lunch & serenity hours I guessed) but climbed the 152 steps with the giant dragons on each side up to the Giant 24m high Supreme White Gautama Buddha on top of the hill which was the original site of the pagoda. The pagoda was erected in 1886 but was destroyed by a cyclone in 1900 & then rebuilt at its current safer lower elevation location. In 1940 the pagoda was renovated & expanded & in 1968 it was heavily damaged by the Vietnam War. Come 1971 the restoration started & was 60% completed when it was delayed due to the fall of Saigon & the Communist takeover.

From the pagoda there is a road leading up to Hai Duc Pagoda along the crest of the hill to the Gautama Buddha which was cast in concrete in 1964 & installed the following year. This day the Buddha was in brilliant display so you could possibly see that in the photo. Very impressive. Behind the Buddha are the wall cemeteries I called them. They are rows of inserted locker-type graves carrying the ashes & keep sakes of those passed. Many of these are in the same condition from the Vietnam War where they were damaged, looted/ vandalised, etc and no-one has come to do the cleanup for some reason.

With the time of day, I thought it best to walk back to the beach area for more temperate weather where I settled down on the course more-brown sand & started to do my usual people watch session. From that position I noticed a thatched roof bungalow further South, serving beer .. I have now found my 2^nd home here. There was a mixture of people occupying the 4bar sides. Some were English, some were Australians off the cruise ship berthed a few kilometres away & looking for a relief (from pain in the a.ss cruise travellers …. Their words, not mine). Some were other nationalities like Greeks & Italians and suffice to say, it was a great ambience of banter & drinking at $1USD beer stubbie. Along this vast beachfront there are many options to savour. There are more bungalows, beach club resort buildings and dining areas stretched out along the sand and manicured gardens suiting all levels of social status. Btw, no-one is allowed to walk or lay on the grass areas as I quickly found out from a scorning, I received from a Vietnamese lady worker.

After this verbal tirade I decided to sit on the concrete kerbing along the beach sand & path adjacent to a large coconut palm when “thud”!! a coconut dropped, about 4ft from me & half buried into the sand. I think I was safer with the Vietnamese worker. LOL!! As the day falls into sunset the crowds come out like hidden nocturnals and swarm the streets. The surf road between the shops & the beach (Tran Phu) is in constant congestion and to cross over using the zebra pedestrian crossing is still a major challenge & a test of bravery. Not kidding!

One day out of the blue, an ‘Easy Rider’ (Mr Mihn) picked me out of the crowd & offered a scooter all day tour to the fishing village, waterfall and Po Nagar Cham Towers for 750K Dong ($42AUD) to the North of the city. With nothing else on the horizon, I trusted the universe again and secured the next day’s outing. Some 10klms out, the fishing village was very busy coming in with the night’s catch and the adjacent ice making factory was in full swing making the extremely large ingot blocks and also crushing some of these blocks into manageable esky-type cubes and shredding these down too.

Being the dry season, the waterfall (some 30klms from the city) wasn’t much from my point of view but I did like the 2.5klm challenge a few couldn’t do in scaling the enormous rock bed downstream of the waterfall & then finally cooling off in the rock pool and sitting under the small waterfall. Apparently, this is a major attraction to the city, but I take it is when the rainy season is in swing. The best part was when two young female teenagers sat on the rock edge & dangled their feet into the rock pool and simultaneously screamed like they saw something evil. The small guppy fish were nibbling on their legs. I think every animal & bird then took cover.

Heading back into the city we stopped off at the 8^th Century Po Nagar Towers on the northern outskirts of the city. This restored tourist attraction certainly engages the crowds. It was at times quite congested and to take a good photo was like winning the lottery. It was great to see photos of when it was rediscovered in dense jungle growth & the amount of clearing and restoration that had taken place over decades so us tourists can get to see such magnificent sculptures. These temples were pre-Angkor Wat so it shows how early their construction was. The temples were amazing in their structure detail & accuracy and handling the test of time.

Mr Mihn dropped me off near my beer bungalow so that was a welcome relief. Here, I met more strangers and soon-to-be daily catchup drinkers. One of these strangers (Australian) encouraged me to visit a sports bar (Cheers Sports Bar) that night, not far from my new abode (iHome Hostel – private room $20USD/ night) to watch the World Cup soccer game scheduled. Here, we had a great time & met more of his friends that were travelling in a families’ group. We got on so well they invited me to join them for dinner the following night at a pizza restaurant nearby which was amazing and the very best pizza I’ve ever had. Sadly, Good Morning Vietnam restaurant is no longer there. From this night I found out with the 3 groups of family friends they were there to celebrate one of the couples renewed marriage vows on the beach just up from my beach bungalow the next afternoon. The ‘bride’ was saying how much they have put into this event using their resort’s events manager but forgot to have the music they had when originally walking down the sand aisle on this very same beach several years earlier. She so wanted Nat King Cole’s “When I Fall in Love” song. I told her, “no problem”, I’ll have it for her. She was so thrilled but you could see the hesitation & not fully believing that would happen.

The next day, I found the resort setting up the chapel type arch of flowers, seating, etc so I sat onto the raised concrete sand kerb and waited. The guests showed up in all their finery and it was full on!! They certainly catered for a great renewing vows wedding. From behind me the bride appeared out of nowhere, so here I am quickly scrambling with my phone & external sound speaker & getting the song just in time. The bride seemed to falter at that moment but all went well for the ceremony. Immediately after, the wedding group disappeared into the adjacent upmarket Beach Club for the reception. Not having the chance to catch their attention & offer my congratulations I returned to the bungalow for my receptive beer or two.

The next day, I bumped into one of the husbands journeying to the bungalow for a departure drink. He was thrilled he had caught up with me and to thank me for the sound of song the day prior. Apparently, a few came out after the wedding looking for me to celebrate with them but could not find me. The bride said she was overwhelmed & so thankful that I had arranged that song for her & her knees buckled when she had heard the song played & started to tear up, so I thought that was pretty cool & worth the effort. Sadly, with all the full-on interaction over the few days, I never got any contact details of the families other than they came from Melbourne.

Back at iHome Hostel, I remained the eldest staying there so all of the backpackers stayed clear of me until a young couple ventured to my table. They were travelling solo until they met each other a week or so ago & now they are travelling the entire Vietnam heading North on separate scooters. Amazing story & they were thrilled I could tell them things I had seen heading their direction. Also, from my unit I was awaken everyday at 6am from construction noise across the laneway. The workers were most pleasant and I was greeted by smiles every morning. We were so close we could almost throw a handshake out there. They worked a full 12hour shift, 6 days a week so I don’t know how they managed that.

The next day, I decided to see what was down the South beachside of the city. After walking 3klms down towards the old port (Govt security area) & seeing nothing of any value I turned around just as a severe thunderstorm rattled in. Within minutes the main roadway was flooding quickly, yet the drivers never slowed down and it wasn’t long before I was showered in spouts from their vehicles when gaining cover. By the time the storm was over & I returned the 3klms to my bungalow I was completely dry, such was the heat of the day.

The next day I caught up with my family back in Australia through Zoom & later walked the 3.1klm beachfront heading North towards the Po Nagar Towers. There was more to see than the Southside, that’s for sure. The Happy Beach was a great beach view & very unusual & a little later saw the towers in the background looking West. Took some building photos such as the Tram Huong Tower – Lotus Flower petals building that symbolises the treasured Vietnamese lily flower. This is the main business district.

My bungalow continued to serve up many great conversations, Ray, Lee, Adam & his gf, Amy where I was convinced, I needed to get my itchy feet moving and overcome my laziness staying in this comfortable zone city; so, I took the comment from some of these new bungalow friends stating Dalat was the next decent stay place & started to book the bus trip (4hrs 119K Dong, $7AUD).

Nah Trang is just a big city that provides all that a big city offers, luxury too, shopping of all types, cruise terminals & the latest tourist attraction is Vinpearl where it is a small Disney-type amusement centre on a close-by island opposite the cruise terminal & linked by a giant chairlift as well on the island of Vinh Nguyen & is of a massive scale. It looks great at night with its lights from our bungalow. This Vinpearl was definitely not for me so I can’t add anything to it other than it caters for certain volume of city tourists wanting upmarket resort accommodation, supreme golf course, etc & it reeks of Chinese development. On another close island, Hon Mieu there is the Thuy Cung Aquarium & more luxury resorts.

I am a Wyndham Resorts ‘owner’ (timeshare) & I noticed they are proposing a major resort construction near the business area along the beachfront so I might keep an eye on this opening in the hope I can return to this city. Fingers crossed. Now it’s time to say good-bye to this big city.

I’ll end this blog here, so stay safe, happy & hopefully enjoy the photos and kick this ongoing COVID-19 & the more-vile vaccines back into history. Stay tuned for my next blog on my travels at Dalat. A point to note; is that I’m continuing a new self-development journey by reading my 2^nd book of Eckhart Tolle .. A New Earth. Everyone must read this book. Truly remarkable. My life summary as written by Neil Diamond “Did you ever read about a frog who dreamed of bein’ a king and then became one, well except for the names and a few other changes, if you talk about me, the story is the same one”.

“I’m not a man that likes to swear; but I’ve never cared for the sound of being alone”.

Communication … Communication … Talk to each other.

Thank you again for reading my blogs and I trust you will stay safe, happy & healthy for 2022 and for it to be a far better year for all. I do not receive any commissions &/or ‘perks’ from the above nominated businesses & locations as I am purely happy to provide the acknowledgement and connection.

I always look forward to seeing the feedback so don’t be afraid to comment. My next blog/s will be more of the amazing Vietnam experiences and quite a few were life changing, & not just for me.

Live life to the most and a quote that I truly love is from Eckhart Tolle ..

“If I am not the hero of my life … who in the hell could be?”

Queen Elizabeth 11 – My Tribute Through My Eyes

In following the last week of the news of the world of the Queen’s passing; today, I felt the need to write something in reflection of how this great lady affected my family & my life, for it was all that we knew in royalty terms.

From 6.30pm 8^th September 2022, the UK, The Commonwealth of Nations and most parts of the World changed immediately in recognition, admiration and service this great lady provided to her home country, the Commonwealth and embraced nearly every other remaining world country.

We all have our thoughts, praises and grief and it is always a challenge to write something that encompasses all that she did & stood for in her 70year reign and to which she carried out her service, even to her 2^nd last living day.

My royal introduction was strongly through my mother who was born one month after the royal child, Elizabeth in 1926. My mum shared and followed her life, much like a sister even though worlds apart by living in a country city in NSW, Australia. Mum followed her fashion; hairstyle and I believe even took hold of her life-like demeanour and manners throughout her life. Looking back over mum’s life, I can see that would be so true & celebrated each milestone birthday too. Sadly, Mum passed away on 2013 through a major Sydney hospital mismanagement of her health. Mum, if still with us would be heartbroken in dealing with all this ongoing grieving and news broadcasts. Look at the photos here to see how similar they were.

For the Queen’s passing it feels like I’ve lost my mum again, bit of a stretch, you say but there was that ever belonging connection through mum. I even remember being 7yrs old sitting at the kitchen table listening to my parents in choosing my youngest brother’s name. They chose Rodney which didn’t get my ‘approval’ and then they chose Philip for the middle name .. not liking that also. Obviously, I wasn’t involved in the ‘voting’ process & I wasn’t too fussed on the idea anyway being 7, but my older brother (10) liked the chosen names as he liked being opposite to me, especially as the years progressed. Philip, clearly after the Queen’s husband but at the time I remember the discussion of hearing The Queen quite regularly. Dad was non plussed & quickly agreed to Mum’s request probably so he could leave the table, I guess.

In reference to 5^th March 1986, I had the fortuitist opportunity for I was working in Sydney, married with children and mum was visiting us when I found out Queen Elizabeth 11 was in Australia and also opening my rugby league team’s new stadium, Cumberland Oval at nearby Parramatta. I was currently supervising the major redevelopment of the taxiways & runway of Sydney’s Mascot Airport so it was a miracle I had that time available to be at home. Obviously, getting the stadium tickets was denied to many, so the only thing available was to become the public gathering outside of the stadium. Mum was negative in believing to get close enough but was well & truly dressed & pushing me towards the car that morning.

Knowing the stadium area well enough & being ultra-early I managed to park and provide a shortish walk for mum to trek around to the other side of the stadium where the double entry transport gates were located. The barricades were in place of course but they went right up to the gates. Here we stood for a few hours with the crowd building & numerous police present, but here we are in 1^st place at the gates and soon the motorcade came forward, firstly with police motorbikes & lights flashing.

Unexpectantly, The Queen’s royal England black Daimler stopped just short of the gate entrance and with her entourage in full motion opened the doors and the Queen & Prince Philip stepped out to the roar of the crowd. With the entourage channelling her through to the gates I called out strongly (politely of course) in the hope she would push towards the crowd for a close greeting for we are possibly only 6m (20’) from her. The crowd was beside & behind us with no crowds on the other side of the entrance gates, so the calls only came from one point.

I continued calling out as I knew full well my mum was the only older lady within a great distance and with her gloss white hair surely, she would be noticed being at the gate post. Mum was tugging at me to stop yelling and knowing I was getting nowhere I humbly obliged. It was bewildering the Queen never even waved to the crowd before entering the stadium. Even Prince Philip was focussed in walking forward. A circumstance I couldn’t fathom & still can’t in replaying my memory but I would say the Queen was quite late to the stadium. I felt so sad for mum, but she was still thrilled to have almost touched her. Mum was full of voice back in the car & in ringing her sisters back home once we had our landline.

With my eldest brother still living in our home back in Grafton, the Queen’s photo is still hanging in place. For my generation she has been with us our entire lives.

On behalf of my mum, I salute you madam in keeping your country & the Commonwealth strong in being a great Constitutional Monarch & will be recognised strongly in history for future generations to go by & wish King Charles 111 great success in following your lead.

RIP Your Majesty & thank you for Everything.

My Vietnam Launch – Quy Nhon – 2018 Backpacking

With the wonderful experience of Hoi An I would say this next step was probably the least amount of research I did doing my Vietnam run. I basically looked at the map for the next biggest city South of Hoi An & came across Quy Nhon & chose the best priced hotel next to water … I’ll leave it as a fingers crossed scenario. In the universe we trust.

What is with these limousine van drivers? Again, I’m scared shitless with complete insanity of non-caring of passengers and other road users. When booking, you are never told on the driver’s ability or any references of the company. I am cramped in the rear seat back corner and the van with 3 people too many on their capacity. We are hitting the road bumps that hard with the speed off the van that I have hit my head on the roof at least 4 times which is the same number of missed close calls of other road users. Complete madness. 5hrs of hell!!! Despite everyone providing the protests, nothing was achieved with the driver.

Arriving at Quy Nhon city of 457,400 citizens, the van dropped me off a block or so from my Hotel Trung Khanh with not a minute to spare where I was met by a receptionist non-plussed upon my arrival. With broken English & a wave of her hand she ushers me up the stairs to find my own room number. I settled my gear & walked around the city for a few hours and also found a place that I felt OK to have dinner in & not be too far to walk back to my hotel. The area had a vibe of safe at daytime but weary at night time.

My first night was very unpleasant. Firstly, there was door slamming at midnight, then a family next door was awake at 5am with TV blaring but worst of all was the hotel was on the main port road with what seemed like 100 trucks doing their pickups & repetitive horn blowing before dawn. At 6am the construction crew started the renovations on the above floors. No sleep really. What I found out much later was that the better hotels were on the other side of this peninsula with better beach & sand. My hotel’s waterside was the port entrance area for shipping, hence the transport madness.

The next day I searched the Google Maps & decided to walk the city area around my hotel. I walked about 6klms in high heat & humidity circumnavigating the large construction built tidal lake, the long sandy beach on the other side of the peninsula, coming across large statues & parklands. In one of the photos, you can see the size of these landmarks with vehicles using the 6lane roadway in front of the wall, statues & flagpole. Size does matter, apparently. The sandy beach area with the better-looking hotels was also deceiving, as this area had a multi-lane road bisecting the beach & the hotels and this road was under major renovation, so with the machinery & bitumen laying, the area would not be pleasant to stay in either. At this stage, I was wondering what am I doing here? Seems like a city of very little. The next upgrade hotel would be the resorts near the Southern entrance to the city & away from the culture & city activity.

The next day, after limited sleep again I walked in the western direction & came across an open road ‘roundabout’. I mean it was a 4street intersection (a very large cross road) with no real central circle or point where traffic could easily flow. It was open slather to everyone wanting to go in the direction they wanted with all mixture of transport. Here I am, a pedestrian praying to my God to cross this road plain, it was that large. I used my previous Asian experience of taking the first step, keep walking & never stopping. Traffic was so close to me but some 60-70 steps later I made it! I noticed very few pedestrians were crossing this road plain & I can see why.

Walking along the main road Tran Hung Dao I used Google Maps to direct me to the Thap Hung Thanh temples (Cham Twin Tower Hindu Temples) 11-13^th centuries but it kept failing. After quite some time, almost 1.5klms, I stood checking the Google Maps again but again it was failing. In frustration I was about to throw my phone (kidding) when a welcoming American/ English voice appeared from nowhere. He introduced himself as John Havican & commented I had that ‘lost look’. LOL!!! It was hilarious when I asked for direction to the Cham Towers. Almost laughing, he pointed around the corner of the building he came out of. I was basically 2metres from standing in front of the temple property. He left me to venture to the temples but implored me to step inside his building for more conversation after. What a life changing experience was yet to follow.

These Cham temples, sometimes called the Cham Twin Temples for obvious reasons now occupy a city park block and is one of the main tourist spots of the city. The city has grown & surrounded these magnificent structures into a city park. The construction of these temples 11-13^th centuries is very different to other temples with fine details and specific brick artwork. They had major restoration from 1991-97 using the best scientists & craftsmen at the time to bring them almost back to their original appearance. The main structural factor is the brick structures placed on very large rock/ stone foundations jutting above the ground. The brickwork with defined gothic arch patterns were laid precise in their laying, like it was done by laser cutting it was that accurate.

In checking the doorway of John’s building, it was a centre of special needs. I opened the door & again, was greeted by John and we shook hands. The entry was a quaint café (DEN Coffee) which I immediately loved in the set out. John waved over to the counter staff and the most petite tiny (about 4’2” tall) young girl with the best smile you would ever see greeted me like I was royalty. I was immediately taken by her. I had met the amazing Ho Thao Nhi. Sadly, Nhi is deaf & dumb but makes amazing communication with her friendliness, eyes and smile. I ordered a smoothie that it was up to her in providing to me, “surprise me” I said & she scurried away in haste, so excited. It was superb and possibly the best one I have had backpacking. John communicated to her for me & while I was sipping on the smoothie, she was looking at my photos of my trip on my phone & she was so excited to see them & showed them to her co-worker who was as eager as Nhi. At the same time, Nhi used her phone to facebook friend me & kept pointing for me to accept. Lol!!!  She remains & has been a great fb friend to me. I miss her so. The world needs more of her.

 John, an American has a long history of working in the health area of Asia, focusing later in Vietnam and continues to provide services and fundraising for this Nguyen Nga Centre. We spoke for some hours on almost everything and then he gave me a booklet written by a nurse some decades ago on the history of a hospital John was involved in back in the 1970s & pre-war years. I took it back with me, read it & was amazed of what great people can achieve in adversity. I returned the book the next day even though John was willing to let me have it & it was his only copy. After my smoothie I was introduced to the founding member & owner of the centre, Miss Nguyen Nga where she invited me to a concert in the next room by 3 special needs students/ musicians. One, in a wheelchair on guitar, a blind young lady on a 16string Zither & a wheelchair bound lady on a 16string Zither. They were amazing & had great delight in having an audience in their practice session. The photo is taken from a video I took of their performance so the quality is a bit blurred.

I had unknowingly spent 4hrs in this centre, getting the royal tour & treatment & seeing their paintings, handcrafts & jewellery. I was so taken aback on this centre knowing the Vietnamese Govt provides absolutely no funding to these centres. They will only provide some rooms or a building but in Nga’s case, a building she had for ages was taken over once she had done major renovations to the building with no recourse or compensation available. The one they are in is now owned totally by Nga after John’s fundraising over the years. Nga also invited me to her daughter’s café in the CBD early in the evening where they will have a youth concert with locals. I raced back near my hotel for dinner & then showered & dressed just in time for John & Nga to pick me up in their car. Two of the lady musicians were with them as well.

The daughter’s café was overflowing with youth attendance, some of the chairs & tables removed for the concert & everyone was so happy & vibrant. Up front was the microphone, speakers, piano & other musical instruments. The 3 lady musicians played first, followed by some locals singing English songs & then John provided more history to me of the centre celebrating their 25^th year in between breaks. An hour later a young Canadian, Jack arrived and sat with us along with a stunning French traveller, Amy. Jack had visited the centre prior to me & was pushed towards the stage by a few locals. He sang 3 songs on the piano & he was brilliant!! Sadly, time got away from us & John & Nga dropped me off at my hotel & in the hope of meeting again. I was so grateful in the privilege of being accepted into their world of friendship and community.

The next day I walked the town again in search of more attractions & culture only to be called over by a group of 3 men having a break. Cang was a taxi driver on his lunchbreak sharing the time with his brother & a friend. Had a great 2hrs chatting on all type of subjects plus my travels they were kindly interested in. The friend had never left Quy Nhon for his entire life & was very attentive in my stories of Australia & my travels. After this catchup, I returned to the centre as stated earlier to return John’s history booklet. I safely made it through that insane ‘intersection’ again.

John graciously invited me to an Aussie Sports Bar he frequently visits which is owned & run by an Aussie woman. The Quy Nhon Sports Bar serves wonderful aussie food and finally a steak I longed for was cooked to perfection followed by several beers. Perfect relax time. Even watched Brazil beat Mexico 2-0 in the Soccer World Cup with plenty of soccer fanatics filling the bar. Surprisingly, Amy was staying there too in the hotel above & greeted us for a while. John, later dropped me off at my hotel to pack for tomorrow’s departure & upon completion of that task I settled into the reception area to watch another World Cup soccer game live on their big screen well into the night. Alas, our rooms have no TVs. During the game, I noticed a bit more foot traffic. The gorgeous young receptionist who never ever talked to me was being paid some money at times. Finally, I awoke in that there was a bit of prostitution happening. Der!!!! Well, that thought prompted me to retire to bed & eagerly await my next day’s departure.

For this blog, picking a town/ city like throwing a dart at a dartboard can work out if you look deeper & remain open to opportunities. I was taught at a young age by my Dad to think well, make a decision, then make another one if that previous one didn’t work out & so on. Take another step, then another. I’m so thankful in meeting everyone at the Nguyen Nga Centre & what a warming to my heart.

I threw another dart & came up with my next stop, Nha Trang, another coastal city & seems the best travel is still with a Limo van driver, so here I go again for a 2pm pickup & a 4hr trip!  

I’ll end this blog here, so stay safe, happy & hopefully enjoy the photos and kick this ongoing COVID-19 & the more-vile vaccines back into history. Stay tuned for my next blog on my travels at Nha Trang. A point to note; is that I’m continuing a new self-development journey by reading my 2^nd book of Eckhart Tolle .. A New Earth. Everyone must read this book. Truly remarkable. My life summary as written by Neil Diamond “Did you ever read about a frog who dreamed of bein’ a king and then became one, well except for the names and a few other changes, if you talk about me, the story is the same one”.

“I’m not a man that likes to swear; but I’ve never cared for the sound of being alone”.

Communication … Communication … Talk to each other.

Thank you again for reading my blogs and I trust you will stay safe, happy & healthy for 2022 and for it to be a far better year for all. I do not receive any commissions &/or ‘perks’ from the above nominated businesses & locations as I am purely happy to provide the acknowledgement and connection.

I always look forward to seeing the feedback so don’t be afraid to comment. My next blog/s will be more of the amazing Vietnam experiences and quite a few were life changing, & not just for me.

Live life to the most and a quote that I truly love is from Eckhart Tolle ..

“If I am not the hero of my life … who in the hell could be?”

My Vietnam Launch – Hoi An – 2018 Backpacking

Hello my beloved followers. This blog has numerous photos so I hope you enjoy the colour & surprises of the popular and endeared Hoi An & in getting there. Thank you for reading my travel blogs and heartfelt thanks in supporting a goal I thought I would never achieve and in reaching this my 53rd blog. There’s still lots more to come just on this extensive Vietnam tour travelling on my own and when I join up with a super human Chung later, there will be things very few travellers get to see & experience. Stay tuned.

From my last blog I spent quite some time going over the DMZ and the Vietnam War in all its horrors, the tenacity & resilience of the Vietnamese on both sides and what it cost in human life, ongoing medical and mental hardships, devastation of families, heritage sites, cities, villages, etc and the ongoing environmental issues from chemicals of Agent Orange and the like plus the unknown secret locations of unexploded mines and bombs and other ammunition. It is such a huge volume to understand in all its complexities. A song that is very poignant is an Australian ‘war anthem’ & should have been included in my last blog of the DMZ is “I Was Only 19 (A Walk in the Light Green)” by an Aussie band, Redgum. You seriously must take a full listen on Spotify or similar … puts chills in your spine stuff and shows brilliantly the war tragedies of those involved.

With the Hue (Whey) visit completed, my Holiday Hotel Diamond manager, Miss Anna, booked a ‘limousine van’ to take me to Hoi-An (some 3hrs drive) in style, in lieu of a crowded bus considering my drama adventure getting to Hue (10hrs in a sleeper bus with virtually no sleep). The van picked me up at 8am and it was much like the Mercedes 9-seater we had for the DMZ tour that broke down due to a broken fan belt. Fingers crossed this van will get us there with no dramas. We are packed solid and I found myself in the 2^nd back row of seats, luckily against the window, albeit totally trapped.

Bloody hell!!!! Not far out of the city the driver with devil horns coming from his forehead had us all holding on for dear life!! He had a love affair with the accelerator and every time we hit a bump, my head would hit the roof of the van. Fellow travellers were yelling at him to slow down and take care but all we got in feedback .. “not enough time”.  I have had some wild trips in Cambodia and Vietnam before, but this was serious stuff.

Thankfully we achieved some relief just some 15mins out from Hue where we stopped at a favourite stop of many, being the Thanh Toan local market where, apart from the wonderful market there is a historical bridge, Thanh Toan Tiled Roofed Bridge built in 1776. Sadly, you only need about 15mins to view everything here, so it’s without delay we are back onto the F1 bus!

We pulled over at Hai Van Scenic Viewpoint along the Hai Van Pass (20klms of steep road from Da Nang) some 80klms from Hue which seemed to take just 20mins of MAD driving. Hai Van means ‘Sea Clouds’ on National Route 1 where this pass is noted as separating the 2 seasonal climates of Vietnam. This viewpoint is a major tourist attraction where numerous buses pull up and the throng of tourists traverse the busy road and scour the landscape & climb all through the brick & concrete war bunkers & even stand on the viewing platform like the man on the concrete disc looking out to sea. This outlook was the prime viewpoint for naval surveillance during the Vietnam War. It was the highest point within this vast region and was detrimental in keeping this secured by the Viet Cong until it was eventually taken by Sth Vietnamese, US forces & their allies. Our stopover was so quick we all nearly missed the van and despite voicing our outrage at the driver’s lack of safe driving at the time when boarding it never reached his brain in reality. Hold on; here we go again!!!

Just down the road we again have a stopover just South of Da Nang city called the Marble Mountains (photos above) where there is a cluster of 5 marble & limestone hills with numerous caves carved into them. Each hill is named after the 5 elements; the largest is Water, then Wood, Metal, Fire & Earth. The hills have a 100m elevation. The Water (Thuy Son is the most popular & has sacred pagodas, caves, old trees & lots & lots of steps. These Marble Mountains also provided a hiding place for the Viet Cong where Phan Hiep successfully led a battalion against a US airbase nearby. He later became a national hero & was renamed Phan Hahn Son. Soon after, he became involved in protecting the Cambodian people from the Khemer Rouge after the fall of the Saigon Government (now, Ho Chi Minh). To see most of this unique location you need about 1.5hrs & we will definitely not get this amount of time. To make it worse, we had further to walk as we were forced to park some 500m away in a parking lot, such is the tourist demand on this pocket of area.

We were left on our own to scour the steps and find our way around the numerous walkways and caves with a pre-determined time limit & to return to the van in haste. Sure ….. what could go wrong? No-one was keen to walk in a group so we all did our own thing. It was a place similar to a carnival or a landscape maze, where you had no idea where you were & in what direction was taken. The outside heat & humidity was becoming intense and even though we were close to the ocean there wasn’t a breeze. The only relief you were given was when you were inside the caves. I was thinking at the time how unpleasant it maybe in the van if each of us were being affected by this climate & in need of a shower .. LOL!!!. Venturing through the caves there were several clumps of miniature bats and when you came to the main ‘atrium’ cave & looked up they were well in view. A few screams from a few girls almost had a ‘Batman’ movie effect.

I was concentrating on my time, so I used a fair part of my time trying to find the exit & wondering whether to turn right or left. Of course, I found myself on the other side of the hill (confirmed later after much walking). Eventually I found the bus however, we are missing several travellers. After an eternity, some of us were forced to walk back up into the hill and seek them out. Luckily, we managed to find them in different locations of two exits. They were waiting for the van to pick them up. This always happens when communication fails. Visitors must remember the Marble Mountain is a complete maze, so have your wits about you, keep your water bottle handy & be prepared for steps & elevation walking; but it is a place not to be missed. One could never take enough photos of this special place.

Finally, we are all on board & holding onto our dear lives again for another 50mins or so to the ancient city of Hoi An. Looking out the side window the area seemed rather flat & uninspiring with normal landscape & the odd glances of rivers flowing & before long we were in a typical city of general traffic and large town shops. I was quite lucky where the van let us off (doing the Pope thing by kissing the footpath as I survived this van nightmare) as Google Maps had me at the cross street of Thai Phien & Tran Cao Van Streets to where my Dream City Hotel was located; a very new 2-star hotel but worth more stars as it has a pool & dining facility in Tran Cao Van Street and only $25US/ nite with brekky.

The Hoi An, Ancient Town (main tourist area for night viewing & daytime strolling) is located nearby in Phurong Minh An, a kilometre away from my hotel. This UNESCO area (1999) is a must-see tourist location full of colourful lanterns in the streets with numerous shops, bars, restaurants & cafes. It’s so peaceful & most of this area is closed to traffic thankfully & everyone is so accommodating in being gracious & human. The Ancient Town is a well-preserved port from the 15^th to the 19^th century on the Northern bank of the Thu Bon River which seriously floods at times. The town is a mixture of architecture from its trading influences with Chinese, Japanese & Portuguese traders. The architecture is quite mixed and the joined buildings for full blocks is quite unique. The careful eye shows no building in this area is no more than 2 storeys in height and with more scrutiny to the research shows this area comes under very strict maintenance and redevelopment guidelines to keep this heritage and culture totally protected. At the Western end of the town area, a few short streets away is an ancient Japanese bridge with a pagoda on it, dating from the 18^th century. It’s 60ft rainbow shape spans a small canal but you can see its value in providing this very necessary link during those trading times.

I spent considerable time walking the ancient streets and attending the numerous bars & cafés mainly due to the atmosphere during the day; outside of this area is the typical hustle & bustle of city living so I was not into that at all. At night, it draws you there again as it really lights up (literally with the colourful lanterns) & bright lights that matches the atmosphere, yet remains quite calming even with the added tourist volume. It is hard not to enjoy this environment of present & past ‘colliding’. I found a great spot to watch Australia play Denmark in the World Cup (1-1) so that was another reason to enjoy the night. Have I mentioned how great the food and beer I found here; domestic & international food beer and too much to undertake a full tasting, unless you were here for a month, at least? The food aromas in the air is also a wonderful treat to the senses, so it is hard to select a preference for your meal. All places are well patronised and everyone is either smiling, talking or laughing. Very unique when you stand back & take everything in. I trust the ancients are looking down enjoying how this area is treasured by so many world travellers.

Most hotels have in-house tourist centres to promote the region’s services and attractions & my hotel was no exception and had tourist pamphlets to view and two caught my eye. One was the ‘My Son’ ½ day tour (226,000 Dong) where you could view very old temples from 800AD to 1200AD located in a sacred hilly area & the other one was a Heaven & Earth ½ day 9klm cycling tour (550,000 Dong) on the outskirts of Hoi An city. I jumped at booking these but more of these tours later for I had more walking to do on the Southern part of the river, opposite to the Ancient Town area to find a shady spot & catch up with my journal and fathom what my next travelling steps may be.

Low & behold, I was writing my journal & gazing frequently out onto the lovely, lazy river next to me & looking up towards the bridge crossing I took some hundred metres away, when I saw a familiar sight. A man & a woman (blonde hair also stands out in Vietnam) and both with a distinctive walk walking away from me. I packed my daypack immediately & took off. I was correct! It was Hughie & his wife, Donna who I had met at M’Pai Bay on Koh Rong Island out from Sihanoukville in Cambodia many weeks ago. They lived in Sydney at the time & were seasoned world travellers who loved a beer & a chat & I was definitely into that. They were so surprised to see me & couldn’t believe we would meet up again in a totally different country & city. They had left Sihanoukville, travelling South to the Vietnam border & venturing North whereas I detoured to Siem Reap via Phnom Penh & then to Hanoi, travelling South. You can review my Cambodian travels by scrolling down on my website or from this blog … https://bhlifestyles.travel.blog

After departing M’Pai Bay & the island trip they accidentally met up with me again at Sihanoukville at my beloved Big Easy Backpackers Tavern & stayed at the same hotel as I, at the time. Go figure!! We had a great night before they headed of South the next morning. It was a treasured good-bye. Meeting up again in another country deserved many a beer & lots of chats and it was much like the ‘Aussie Pub Crawl’ (going from pub to pub and never knowing when to quit … LOL!!!) to which we did and when walking back to our respective hotels we found ourselves walking the same street, only to find theirs was totally opposite to mine & their balcony overlooked into my room. Bloody stalkers!! How freaky is this, being a small world is an understatement. As the years passed, Hugh & Donna sold their Sydney Bondi home & moved to a Northern NSW village … & I eventually moved to the coastal paradise of Yamba which is some 30mins away from them. A bloody small world now!! With COVID, recent huge floods & their travelling has prevented from us catching up again for the time being but it will happen … over a beer or two or more of course. Hughie has had major health issues of late, but they are both overseas enjoying travelling again.

Hugh & Donna extended their Hoi An stay due to the welcoming and extra special environment and so did I, but we had different settings to achieve like our respective tours, but we met up every afternoon & night & tried all types of retail & home-brewed beer. I couldn’t keep up with Hugh’s consumption though & truthfully it was not safe to do so, if you get my drift. I think our cheapest beer was $0.75AUD a schooner so you could get drunk very cheaply.

The next day I met the bus to take me on the World Cultural Heritage site ‘My Son’ tour of ancient Hindu temples. We head West South West for about 1hr 15mins (49klm) to a large open area of nature’s land with a few modern entrance buildings to gain access to directed touring via large tour buggies. Once out of the buggies we were left to wander the various & numerous temple sites but stay within the confines of the cultivated area (ex- Vietnam land mines, etc). The temples were amazing in preservation standards but your eye always caught the massive number of craters from bombs during the war. Sometimes there were craters within craters. So much damage and these sites were supposed to be protected from war scenarios but I believe the Vietnamese blame the Americans for the damage & it would be hard to dismiss this. It is recorded the temple builders for this site also went to Angkor Wat & Cambodia to build those temples. The first temple here was set around the 4^th century and restored after a destructive fire a century or so later. This religious area was heavily occupied with villagers & worshippers from the 4^th to the 14th century. My Son incorporates some 70 temples from around 7^th to 13^th century so it is a massive World Heritage Cultural site.

With world & Vietnam funding they are restoring on a grand scale but the experts can’t quite match the technology of the ancients in brick making. The new bricks at the commencement of restoring were lasting only 2yrs or so, whereas the ancient’s bricks allowed water to seep through the bricks with minuscule holes. When the temple walls were completed, they would set fires against the walls which would set the plant-based resin, they then coated the walls with a special sap. Over time, the experts are getting closer to replicating the ancient’s standards but in 2018 it was costing about $4USD each to make & lay. The ancient bricks look like they are laser cut, such is the thin line accuracy of the joins. How could they achieve such accuracy? It takes a while to seek out every temple & to see the remaining foundation structures, so there is no time to waste. Thank God for the buggies to help with the expanse of the ground to cover. I couldn’t wait to tell Hugh & Donna of today’s venture & the magnificent craftsmanship of the temples. In returning back to the city I was flashing my memory back to this area of magnificence and applied my imagination on how the ‘city of temples’ may have well operated in complete harmony with so many residents and markets.

The next day, I walked to the nearby office of Heaven & Earth in plenty of time (despise being late) .. am I too early, or am I at the wrong address? Not a good feeling at all. From an opened door two young effervescent Vietnamese ladies bounded out & then out came the bicycles. Whew!! We were all greeted individually & asked our names and backgrounds & if we had ridden a bike before. We all said yes, but we were waiting for two more people who eventually arrived. Our crew now comprised of a NZ married couple in their mid-60s, Justine & her younger brother, Mark (Melbourne but Justine now lives in Singapore). Mark had a disability, being hit by a car when he was 4 and despite a trial solo ride, he was found to be unsuitable for the ride. Without hesitation, one of the lady guides returned with a tandem bike & this worked wonderfully with her in charge of the tandem and I was so happy for Mark to join us. It was pure relief for Justine too.

We had such a ball!!! … riding through the wilderness trails, rice fields & reaching various village islands in this river delta. We stopped a few kilometres away at a river clearing and timber structure (shed- like) & greeted by non-English speaking boat builders with a few boats being built. It was left to us to fathom the intricate skill in forming these types of vessels due to the language barrier. The timber was of good quality but I couldn’t find out the species used & being a carpenter (Builder & Project Manager) I was more focused in this construction more than the others so it wasn’t long before I was hurried along by my crew.

A little further on we come to another river edge clearing with a few shanty sheds where we were met by a boisterous, yet diminutive older Vietnamese lady hurrying us up to the river edge & landing. The lady demanded us to wear the life jackets and she was very keen to show us how to paddle a basket boat (a round shallow table bowl more like it). The basket boats are made from a specific reed, dried & then coated with layers of a special sap to seal it from the water. Watching the old lady do the paddling was amazing and in such control .. it looked so easy, even though the paddling was not a normal rowing pattern. Seeing the NZ couple & Justine partake in this venture was hilarious, to say the least but yet again, I won the trophy!!! The ‘old’ lady couldn’t wait to get me into the basket!!!! The short video taken says it all, let alone the photos. She was really playing to the audience with her suggestive moves, language & ‘foreplay’ .. seriously, she was a shocker!!! The laughter from the audience was deafening. I couldn’t wait to get back to solid Earth. Yes, my ‘paddling’ wasn’t the best either … OK? Apart from this lady, the basket boat is an experience to treasure. How unique and what a way the Vietnamese thought of travelling this way. I felt sorry for Mark not being able to partake in this adventure but he enjoyed Justine getting a try at it.

Just up the river a bit we come to what is known as the floating bridge. I can call it other things of course once you took in all the aspects of this unique crossing. “You want us to cross this on a bike?” We took our photos and I was thankful I was able to get one with our fantastic guides. The crew continued the banter of the lady & the basket boat and at times at my expense, such was the show she played on me. We all took our single crossing and prayed we all will survive, to which we did. If this doesn’t get the heart & adrenaline fear flowing, I don’t know what will! It was truly an obstacle course to cross it. Reaching the other side & being the last person of course, making sure women & children go first … LOL!!!; I realised I had left my day backpack on the other side. Shit!!! I have to cross the floating bridge twice more now. I didn’t plan for this added adventure.

It was not a good feeling to do this again, but I survived the trip over & my daypack was still there, yay! Venturing back was a bit more difficult as my crew were eagerly & cheekily cheering me on and it was a real test to maintain the balance & to keep to a smooth speed & not take in the laughter of the jeers coming across the river. Trust me, it takes real concentration & a touch of bike skill. Can’t believe Mark & the young guide was able to complete this part of the journey on the tandem. On reaching the shore, I was gobsmacked Mark’s sister, Justine thought of me & took the photos of myself crossing the bridge for the third time. She was so special on this tour with her kindness and duty of caring to Mark. Thank you, Justine for the photos to treasure. We took some timely group photos and a few hits of the water bottle before heading off again on this tiny island.

On this bike tour we saw the real village life of different house structures and shanty’s, very tiny streets (lanes) taking in the advice this small island gets completely flooded almost annually by the overflowing of rains upstream of The Thu Bon River in the rainy season, as this region is much like a delta before the ocean (East Vietnam Sea) comes into play. We ventured through large rice fields and saw many a water buffalo grazing unfenced & unhindered to us boisterous cyclists.

We later stop in a very unassuming house where reed mat weaving was undertaken by a very frail looking 90yr old village woman & her grandson on bare concrete pavement out front. Hard to imagine how they can do this nearly every day. She had been doing mats since she was 13yrs old & now she is almost blind, her grandson sets the colour batches in front of her & she feeds the right colours into the mat’s edge & the Grandson feeds the rest of the reed through & compresses them to form the mat. The old lady knows the patterns by heart & uses the correct colours required. It saddened me to know they have to make plenty of mats for a buyer who sells them at tourist rates in the city where they can’t spend the time required taking them to the city for the most profit. They can’t afford the time & still make mats in the set volumes. It was hard to walk away & not share in buying a mat, but was able to donate a bit of Viet Dong for them, although one could never carry enough money.

Travelling to the other side of the island, we were met by a large boat, and here we discarded our bikes where the tour group organisers will pick them up soon after. We all climbed aboard and headed back to the city of Hoi An along the river for some 35mins where we all provided hugs and safe travels to all our crew and to the guides a very special thanks when embarking. The half day tour ran from approx. 8am-2.30pm so that was very good value. I was able to catch up with Hughie & Donna a little later for more beer & food & talked about a great day we respectively all had which lasted well into the night of course.

The next day I was left to wander the markets and ancient townscape where I was extremely lucky to briefly bump into Justine & Mark again with some high-quality personal gifts purchased. They are heading off the next day, along with Hugh & Donna too, so that left me to return to solo travelling again. It was fantastic to see Justine & Mark’s smiling faces again & knowing they are enjoying their time together. There is much to peruse and purchase in this ancient township area, from tailored clothing, jewellery, timber carvings such as this bike, leather goods and so much more. Being a backpacker & with no income currently, it was hard to walk away from some of the goods here, but I must remain strong. Always thinking of loved ones back home, my youngest grandchild turned 9yrs old this day so that was a wonderful face call to make & to talk with my daughter too on all things that were happening. Children just grow up so fast.

I had a few days still to go in Hoi An and trust me, it was not hard to do. There’re always things to see & experience. I obviously missed out on several tourist sites being focused on mainly the ancient town, but I’m not totally saddened on this. One day, I scored a Grab scooter (22,000 Dong = $1.30AUD) for some 5klms run to An Bang Beach. Had some lunch & beer at The Shore Club (very popular) in between sun bathing (Vitamin D intake) on the sandy beachfront looking at the tiny bay waves (much bigger waves in Australia). It was a really peaceful and relaxing time, finally able to stretch out on the very hot therapeutic sand in my boardshorts and learn to swim again. Lol!! What I didn’t expect was that to get a return trip/ scooter or cab return to Hoi An was like winning the lottery. It was some hours before I could have a ride confirmed. I was almost on the verge of doing the 5klm walk back along the highway to my hotel when my request was answered, albeit by a dearer taxi cab $5AUD (80,000Dong). Apparently, it is wise to book your return trip with a time to avoid being stranded. I talked to my daughter & son-in-law on face time for ages before going out for dinner & a few beers to say cheerio Hoi An … it’s been a blast!!! … for now, I’m off to another main location Quy Nhon.

I’ll end this blog here, so stay safe, happy & hopefully enjoy the photos and kick this ongoing COVID-19 & the more-vile vaccines back into history. Stay tuned for my next blog on my travels to Quy Nhon where there are a few surprises and wonderful super humans. A point to note; is that I’m continuing a new self-development journey by reading my 2^nd book of Eckhart Tolle .. A New Earth. Everyone must read this book. Truly remarkable. My life summary as written by Neil Diamond in my life song of “I Am .. I Said” is “Did you ever read about a frog who dreamed of bein’ a king and then became one, well except for the names and a few other changes, if you talk about me, the story is the same one”. Another line in this song is “I’m not a man that likes to swear; but I’ve never cared for the sound of being alone”.

Communication … Communication … Talk to each other.

Thank you again for reading my blogs and I trust you will stay safe, happy & healthy for 2022 and for it to be a far better year for all. I do not receive any commissions &/or ‘perks’ from the above nominated businesses & locations as I am purely happy to provide the acknowledgement and connection.

I always look forward to seeing the feedback so don’t be afraid to comment. My next blog/s will be more of the amazing Vietnam experiences and quite a few were life changing, & not just for me.

Live life to the most and a quote that I truly love is from Eckhart Tolle ..

“If I am not the hero of my life … who in the hell could be?”

My Vietnam Launch – The Demilitarise Zone – DMZ – 2018 Backpacking

From my last post I spent some enjoyable and reflection of days touring the city of Hue (Whey) and all the ancient and new tourism locations within a close proximity to my wonderful hotel, Holiday Hotel Diamond. Ms Anna, manager, had arranged for the wilderness tour of the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) set out between the North Vietnamese (Viet-Cong, communist) & South Vietnamese during their civil war, 1^st Nov 1955 – 30^th April 1975. This war, primarily between North & South also included Cambodia, Laos and sometimes referred to as 2^nd Indochina War. This blog contains a lot of photos, so enjoy these at your leisure.

The war basically started after Vietnam as a whole, ousted the French colonialists in 1954 and wanted to unite even further by coming a full communist country. This did not sit easy with conservative, freedom of speech and other freedoms mainly sought by the South Vietnam region, as Saigon was Vietnam’s capital at the time. The USA & other free allies joined in, while the North Communist base sought help from China & Russia therefore, the ugly clash, mass of life lost, chemical warfare, etc continued to a period up to 1973 where allies were forced to withdraw under world growing pressure and a war too difficult to win. North Vietnam, from 1973 to April 1975 made a full intrusion to take control which is present to today. Hanoi was their capital, but with Saigon being the main, more practical capital city it was proclaimed as Ho Chi Minh, named after the former Prime Minister of The Democratic Republic of Vietnam and later their 1^st President until his death in 1969. Ho Chi Minh did his early education in Hue before escalating to a well-travelled man & then settling in France from 1917 for a few years & this is where he chose that adopted name when he used France’s defeat in WW11 to raise his mission against France’s insurgence into Vietnam.  I was not aware his original name was Nguyen Sinh Cung and Ho Chi Minh means “He Who Enlightens”.  After the Vietnam War it took till 1995 before Vietnam entered formal diplomatic relations with opposing countries.

Back to my day trek (full day) but I’ll explain later what a full day it turned out to be. The clear instruction was for me to wait in reception until the bus driver walked down the long laneway to take me to the 9-seater Mercedes touring vehicle where I felt everyone was not pleased sitting in a closed bus with the air-con & motor off for those good 10mins or so for me. I think I was right, me being the last to board … & we were packed in tight with our day bags, mine at my feet. LOL!!

We headed off through the city, basically in a Western direction, then a NW direction for some 2hrs plus … such a long & winding journey in parts but again, it’s an occasion to see the real countryside in this central Vietnam region. The terrain becomes more of mountain range status and we’re all hoping the vehicle, and us would make it through to the next stop, wherever that may be. Along the way, we saw varying authentic houses which is an eye-opener considering they appear to be on harder times than what buildings I saw back in Ninh Binh.

On our way we are directed to view the mountain to the right where you can just see something sticking out of the ridge at the top. Through the passenger’s ‘Chinese Whispers’ I managed to see what was on the ridge & it was a military site but no more information was revealed. After the tour, I managed to do some research & found the outpost to be called by the US troops as Rockpile Hill, some 230m high & 26klms west of Dong Ha. It was the main & basically the only area available to viewpoint the valleys below for US troops. The only way possible to get there was by a helicopter drop off, no landing and troops were based there a fortnight to a month at a time, and the platform area was quite small, some 25m2 and was manned by about 16 troops on a 24/7 operational basis. Can’t imagine how tough that would have been and a full-on reason to be real mates no matter what! Talk about social distancing .. NOT!!!

Finally!! We stopped; and my fellow passengers almost fell out over me with the anticipation of escape. It was like an explosion .. LOL! Our guide, a young Vietnamese lady, with great English, finally showed us her voice, she had been mostly silent the entire trip so we were left to do our own commentary at times on the ‘bus’. She was rushing around and talking to now spread out trekkers, so my on-site education became impossible and had to rely on my late-night research again to fill in the gaps.

We had arrived at the Cau Da Krong suspension bridge, the central point of the Da Krong relic- scenic area on National Hwy9, 50klms out from hwy 14A (Google Maps). Originally, there was an iron bridge the army used. On one side of the bridge there are the majestic mtns, the other, the valley of The Cau Da Krong River. In 1973-75 with the help of Cuba the iron bridge was replaced by this 100mlong x 6m wide suspension bridge. It is the first cable-stayed & Vietnam designed, built bridge. The bridge, at war time over this river, was hotly contested throughout the Vietnam War & was held by the opposing forces several times over. This bridge also opens the way to Laos & the mystical Ho Chi Minh trail, hence the added importance. In a future blog I will disclose the Australian & British funded cable bridges that will blow your mind spanning together over the vast Mekong Delta.

Bridges come in all shape and sizes and most travellers never seem to realise the importance, nor the significance of bridges; but the common theme is to bring two sides together in a structural bond. Through this bond, much can be achieved and this bridge certainly signifies all of this even though, there is a stone engraved showing the date erected and with no huge showpiece monument to expose this importance to the masses, apart from the frequent viewing by bus loads of travellers. This isolated bridge certainly encapsulates this medium.

Below this bridge, the river Song Thach Han flows, from the Annamite Ranges to the Sth China Sea, East of Dong Ha, for some 150klms. There are hydro-electricity stations now along this river as it is mostly fast flowing too. Vietnam use every available resource when it’s available. Very little is wasted. The DMZ was based upon the 17^th Parallel from a previous Geneva Accord after the French was decisively defeated in war by Vietnam in 1954, starting in 1946. The DMZ functioned from 1954-2^nd July 1976 & spanned some 5klms each side of the Ben Hai River as a way of a geographic separation.

We cross this bridge & immediately turn left (West) for another 15klms or so and enter the village of Khe Sanh where this area showed some of the fiercest fighting in the war. Some 100,000 tons of bombs were dropped in this region. For those unaware, “Khe Sanh” is a very famous iconic song in Australia, sung by a top-ranking Aussie band, Cold Chisel. It was their first single in 1978, and remains today one of the best Vietnam War anthems of what can go wrong when Govts think they know best & a returning soldier is left to fend for himself. Don Walker, band member wrote this soldier tribute and what a small world it is when he lived just around the corner from me growing up in my hometown of Grafton. He is a little older than me. One of his many songs was about my hometown and is also an iconic Aussie song of country town living called “Flame Trees”. Both songs and more, can easily be found on Spotify & you will note the usual tones of lead singer, Jimmy Barnes. Enjoy!!!  I played part of the Khe Sahn song in the presence of my trekking troupe but respected their privacy of course by only playing a few minutes. Some were amazed that such a song existed.

Khe Sanh is certainly a small village, but I note several shops, etc had Aussie titles, probably by the influences of the dedicated Cold Chisel song. The Aussie troops weren’t fighting or based here but a hundred or so kilometres to the South, so I think I’m right here. Again, our guide was limited in her speech but the focus was to explore the US War Base Memorial & grounds to our pleasure, excluding the airstrip below in the valley due to many unexploded bombs/ ammunitions, etc. This museum is central to the US Army base where all military objectives were devised and implemented. I managed to see various aircrafts, helicopters, bunkers even though the US violently de-commissioned this base when departing in 1975. Through the grass you can still find memorabilia however, there are always several villagers that totally hound you to buy their wares of medals, ribbons, etc. We were strictly told to not buy anything from them as they risk complete danger still sifting through the relics of the base & airstrip. The dangers are well recorded with many deaths & injuries doing this activity. In the Khe Sanh region conflict there were 26,000 US soldiers & 17,000 Allied Soldiers placed for battle so you can imagine the resources and equipment that was required for such operations. The Base Museum certainly shows you up front what logistics, weaponry and storage facilities were required in a military airbase and command centre. I found it thankful there was such equipment, intact storage and bunkers in place to further educate visitors in this tragic warfare. The varying types of bombs and their sizes were confronting though. Most Vietnam War museums, including this one, were funded by the US however, Vietnam has twisted much of the display to reinforce & elevate their opposition to the enemy at that time. Some of the facts displayed are a little ‘hazy’. I came across this several times however, I guess you have to expect that from the victor.

We were reluctantly pushed by our guide to return to our van to continue towards Vinh Moc to the East. There was still more to see and experience this base but we understand there is limited daylight available to fit everything in on this tour.

We head back to the Cau Da Krong bridge but keep driving past it & head East to the tunnels of Dia Dao vinh moc (Vinh Moc Tunnels) just out from the city of Vinh Moc (slightly North) for some 2hrs drive towards the ocean in the East. Upon our journey we cross the Ben Hai River and another newly constructed bridge and to our right we are told of the adjacent & much older Hien Luong bridge (1928) separating the North & South Vietnam. It was declared in 1986 a significant national historical site.

This bridge is somewhat divided into 2 sections, painted in a different colour, each at 89 meters long from each end. Blue paint on the North side for 450 wooden planks & Yellow for 444 wooden planks on the Southern side. This temporary divide was supposed to last for 2 years and terminate after the unification general election, but it ended up lasting for 21years. On the North side is a monument depicting a unified Vietnam, along with its flagpole and a huge 9x12m flag. There is also other historical barracks to enforce the separation as well as a restored 500W tower speaker used by the North to ‘voice’ political messages and propaganda to the South. On the southern bank, there is the monument of “Desire for a Unified Country” with the image of young mother and her son looking North and waiting for her husband and other loved ones to arrive home.

This bridge was fiercely defended, mainly by The North Vietnamese where the Vinh Linh community and soldiers dug 18klms of war trenches & 48 anti-air emplacements. A now famous lady, Nguyen Thi Diem spent her night times over these war years mending the flag to keep morale high for the Viet Cong. She is remembered in a nearby monument engraved showing her tapestry work on the flag. The bridge was severely damaged during the war but was restored authentically where needed.

We now find we are travelling through farmland (cultivated & non-cultivated) & nearing our 2hr timeslot of travel in what seems the middle of nowhere. Without much fanfare our guide directs us to discreet landmarks of the Vinh Moc Tunnels, noting there are bomb craters everywhere you look. Obviously, we will not be walking off the dedicated tracks. The Vinh Moc tunnels, a much larger network than the Ho Chi Minh tunnels in the south were built between 1966-67 & used for 6years. The tunnels had 3 levels in parts, 12, 15 & 23m deep and have a continuous span of 2,200klms. It consisted of 13 entrances, & 7 exits to the sea. Everything the citizen & army population needed was provided in these tunnels; Kitchens, hospital, nursery where 17 babies were born, meeting rooms, school, sleeping qtrs, etc.  The US suspected these tunnels existed but could never find the entrances or exits, hence the dropping of more bombs.

Vietnam has now placed restoration policies in preserving some sections of these tunnels. The main obvious preservation is the large angled concrete retainment wall spanning a kilometre or 2 along the beach to offset the erosion from the sea. Exiting the tunnel network at this seaside is indescribable as we fully soak up the sunshine, clean ocean air and the sense of overwhelming freedom. I notice we are all breathing rather heavily now & have beaming smiles. Some of us start ‘looking’ for the trail to take us back, but alas, the only way back is through the darkness again. Here we go!

In the Wet Season some areas of the tunnels flood so during the war other tributary tunnels were formed to continue operations. I believe the restorations will not cover such sections obviously. The tunnels are incredibly small & narrow and some of my trekkers really struggled handling this and fearing they would be stuck. I was smaller than most and I was struggling at times, especially when you had to climb down the stairs and ladders in the limited light or darkness. How did everyone handle this over the years? Claustrophobia & such thoughts really comes to the fore and I believe I’ve never suffered from such experiences before. My troupe commented frequently when the tunnels narrowed and their reactions were quite unnerving at times. I could only take photos in the main hallway tunnels that allowed a bit more room. At night, villagers would work the food farms like normal & return to the tunnels at daybreak, leaving nothing for the US soldiers to see. Incredible resilience by the people & tunnel engineering mastery to handle the bomb attacks as well. When you exit the tunnels, away from the ocean you can see the myriad of craters everywhere so there were no exaggerations as to the number of bombings that took place.

After surviving the unknown time (guessing some 40mins but obviously felt much longer) of slithering through the network of tunnels and celebrating the open spaces and much cleaner air walking to our van, we are all in awe of what we just experienced … how do you do this for years on end? Such resilience!

We are told we are on schedule and we only have the famous war cemetery to do on our way back to Hue, when “BANG”! We have stopped in the centre of the narrow road between fields. There is much confusion … and we are told to alight and stay along the roadside and not to venture into the fields (landmines, ammunition still prevalent). The driver is translated as saying it will take him a few minutes to fix. The fan belt had snapped! Low & behold he grabs a new one out of the rear compartment & does a joyous laugh. I spoke to my nearby companion stating … “I believe the fan belt was already on its way out .. & yet, they used the van for the 5hr travel”. He agreed & said “we’ll be here for ages”.

After a while my fellow travellers started asking the guide when can we get back to Hue. One traveller (Pete from England), had to catch a plane that night. He was starting to stress out. All of a sudden, our English-speaking guide suddenly lost her English language & Vietnamese then flowed. So frustrating & very annoying. We pleaded for a recovery vehicle or something to get us moving again but to no avail. Out of frustration a couple of us tried to help the driver who was now showing some arm bruising and heat burns from the motor. We could not get the belt to go onto the last pulley. Later, a scooter turns up from a young guy working on a nearby farm. He can’t help but Pete, to catch his plane shows him some Viet Dong to take him to the nearest town for a bus. My evening communication with Pete said he made the bus by 25mins and just made his plane. I now have burn marks on my arm helping the driver. Our crowd was getting very agitated & after this eternity of time, the guide then rings someone. The only words we get is “mechanic .. soon”.

Another hour added on, with still no success on the belt, a man on a scooter arrives speaking Vietnamese and smiling. He is carrying some hand tools and quickly talks to the driver & much head nodding followed. With just a few minutes we are all thanking him and almost hugging him, for he had the belt on in about 7mins flat! Why couldn’t the guide make that call earlier .. so unnecessary to cause this drama. All up, we were on that roadside for 2hrs 50mins & it was now getting closer to dusk. We all boarded the van & I started searching my backpack for treating my arm burns & grease cover. Yay! Even though it was getting late everyone was agreed to doing a quick visit to the war cemetery with what daylight was available & before the cemetery gates are locked …. our agreed visit was largely out of respect of Vietnam’s fallen heroes and in respect of the hardship of those that lived in those tunnels. We allied ourselves to also toughen up!

Not far away was the Truong Son National Cemetery, in Ben Tat Hill, the largest war cemetery in Vietnam. Some 10,263 Vietnamese graves (soldiers & civilians) and far too many unnamed with just a single white cross and they also represent the 330,000 Vietnamese still listed as missing. Time prevented us from venturing too far from the entrance as the volunteers were getting ready to close the cemetery. The sheer volume of viewing the graves well into the distance was quite confronting. The cemetery is in 5 zones and covers some 40ha.  Such human travesty.

The ride home to Hue took ages (105klm journey) despite most of us having a power sleep as darkness evolved out from our windows. Everyone was hungry & thirsty; most had eaten their stock supplies back on the roadside out of sheer boredom. Again, guess who was the last to reach their hotel? Yes, me again!! I graciously thanked the driver & hurried down the laneway to my hotel so I could decant my daypack and head off to a restaurant or whatever is still open. The hotel clock ‘yelled’ out to me 8.15pm!!!  Reception was overwhelmed with relief that I had arrived. They had been checking with the tour office to no avail on when I would return. When I told them of my roadside adventures and sequences of events they were not impressed and stated they will ring through their displeasure to them tomorrow morning. I thanked them for their concern and politely excused myself to hurry up to my room and head out for food & a beverage or 2 or 3 or 4!!!

With food & liquid into my stomach & a welcomed hot shower I slept well into the next morning. That certainly was a full day tour! Ms Anna greeted me as usual with huge smiles & then the deepest of apologies for such trauma yesterday. She took the tour drama personally, as the hotel had recommended using this tour company. I stated, all was good & every day is an experience in travelling. Some good, some bad .. but it is better when you have freedom. She smiled again & took me to my breakfast table. I always attempt to eat with someone to share conversation with but everyone had already left for their respective day’s outing.

My goal for today was to take in the local sites in the city and to hopefully send a fax to my bank back in Australia and complete the ongoing crap I had with them since I was in Sihanoukville in Cambodia many, many weeks prior. After several tries, my fax still wasn’t received in Australia but was able to leave a message with the relevant bank department. The transmission fault was confirmed to be my bank & not the Post Office. The lady who served me in the post office laughed at me stating “who uses faxes nowadays”. I had to openly agree. I felt so embarrassed, as my bank is the largest in Australia .. & I’m using an antiquated fax that they will only deal with internationally. I also sent the fax doc to my daughter vie email; in the hope she could provide this to the bank for action on my behalf. After much frustration I managed to spend a little time in the city’s Ho Chi Minh Museum nearby. It seems every large city has one of these museums and each one has its own unique exhibition but nothing here to really attract my camera apart from the recognisable Ho Chi Minh and the plaque behind him depicting the symbols of some of Hue’s icons. Venturing back to my hotel I met up with a few cool roosters in a park. That’s something you don’t often see & this relieved me of my frustrations & I began to see the city’s other wonders in my slow walk around.

I’ll end this blog here, so stay safe, happy & hopefully enjoy the photos and kick this COVID-19 & the more vile vaccines back into history. Stay tuned for my next blog on my travels to the beautiful ancient city of Hoi An.

Thank you again for reading my blogs and I trust you will stay safe, happy & healthy for 2022 and for it to be a far better year for all. I do not receive any commissions &/or ‘perks’ from the above nominated businesses & locations as I am purely happy to provide the acknowledgement and connection.

I always look forward to seeing the feedback so don’t be afraid to comment. My next blog/s will be more of the amazing Vietnam experiences and quite a few were life changing, & not just for me.

Live life to the most and a quote that I truly love is from Eckhart Tolle ..

“If I am not the hero of my life … who in the hell could be?”

My Vietnam Launch – Hue – An Ancient Capital – 2018 Backpacking

From my last blog I survived the longest bus trip known to man from Ninh Binh, some 11hrs and arrived at my pre-booked Holiday Hotel Diamond in Hue (Whey) where the manager, Ms Anna, greeted me so warmly and had everything ready for me, including my room obviously but with a complimentary breakfast to start my stay off well. Food was of major priority considering it’s been some 15hrs since dinner so I settled into my room on the 5^th floor with lightning speed. This hotel has the tiniest passenger lift on Earth, with a floor area of 600x1200mm & limit of 2 persons .. or 1 person with backpacks which made my race up & back, a little awkward. Lol!!!

The Holiday Hotel Diamond is located down a narrow pedestrian laneway some 75m off Nguyen Cong Tru Street, with a shop-front-type doorway so you have to have faith you will find it, and when you do it makes an ideal location for The Citadel (about 2klms walk) and night time entertainment with bars and restaurants. Ms Anna, knowing my timeline for a few tours insisted I see The Citadel today with the hours left and then the river & Pagoda viewing the next day. At The Citadel, Ms Anna suggest I buy my group temple tour tickets to get the best advantage & pricing.

With food in my stomach and feeling to stretch my legs I walked the Le Loi street (parallel to The Perfume River) towards The Citadel (The Imperial City) some 2.2klms along The Perfume River seeking out the local culture along the way till I reached the Cau Phu Xuan Bridge & proceed to cross over using the safe pedestrian walkway. I decided to walk so I get to see everything in clear vision, unlike the usual blur from a scooter. This bridge provides immediate access to the large front fortress gates and ticket sales booth. Over the centuries Vietnam had a procession of capital cities and Hue was one of these using The Imperial City (Citadel) as the ‘castle’ of Vietnam with about 2klms of very high stoned walls, surrounding motes and bridge crossovers to further maintain their defences including using the banks of The Perfume River. I remembered Anna advised me to buy The Temple Tour tickets at The Citadel’s entrance where the pricing is better plus will save the inconvenience of separate purchases the next day. I was later to find this a very wise decision and provided a better management to my day. Thank you, Miss Anna.

Some 250yrs ago, Gia Long was born & he was the first emperor of 13 of the Nguyen Dynasty which became the last Vietnam dynasty which ruled for 143yrs and made Hue, the capital. In The Citadel’s centre was The Purple Forbidden City housing the emperor & his closest confidants. The saddest part and what struggled for me and no doubt the millions of tourists was trying to visualise what is missing in this enormous fortress. Several structures, walls, landscaping and general city infrastructures where over the years, natural disasters, evolving decades of no maintenance & most damage from the Vietnam War were obliterated. The North Vietcong attacked Hue in 1968 & the Allied Forces responded, mainly with bombs creating further damage. The Citadel had some 160 major buildings inside & now only 10 or so remain. It is pleasing to see restorations currently underway though, albeit not the original of the past. Near the main entrance is The Thai Hoa Palace used for the emperor’s official duties and that provides the best insight of what type of structures are missing.

Using a full 3 hours on The Citadel (you can see the size of this masterpiece in the photo below) I was keen to walk back near my hotel so I could find the eating zone in a slightly Eastern direction where the night life comes alive in all forms. The variety of foods was amazing and seems like no place is the same as the other. My body was crying for any food possible & I was not short changed!

Again, Holiday Hotel Diamond looked after me with a great sleep, in true comfort and a wonderful breakfast. I was also pleased that by seeing The Citadel yesterday I could take my time and catch a river boat, organised by Anna, straight to Sung An Temple (Minh Mang tomb), West of The Citadel some 10 kilometres further down The Perfume River. My pleasure turned to a slight pain when the river boat was a dirty black smoke chugging diesel motor overcoming the clean river air. The boat was controlled by a young man under the guise of a very aged, ultra-thin lady sitting in the middle of the boat who didn’t speak English but offered loud Vietnamese commands.

I found the only relief from the heavy black fumes was being called up to peruse the wares, the lady was selling, laid out over the floor of the boat on a large tablecloth. I found the fumes wasn’t around her so it seems like a real con to entice buyers to come forward to look at the goods (cotton bracelets, jewellery and jade figurines, etc). Being the sole passenger, I felt the added pressure too of buying 3 cotton bracelets for my grandchildren. I certainly took my time in order to escape the fumes for as long as possible. It was hard with the delay, absolutely no conversation from the old lady, just smiles and a lot of head nodding. I was so overcome with the current situation I forgot in taking photos. Some 30mins of river touring done, I was at the wharf and directed towards my new tourist group of some dozen people forming along the roadway.

The group, mostly of Vietnamese & Chinese was rather welcoming and of course I’m the only westerner, again. Despite the smiles and more head nodding there was almost no direct communication towards me (no English I think), so I just accepted the peace and the ability to not be diverted away from the varying temples and artifacts as they came along. Our first temple visit is also the resting place for the 2^nd Nguyen dynasty emperor, Minh Mang who ruled for 21yrs. His tomb was built in 1840-43. The grounds were built on a lake and there are 40 structures on this vast area and built on a symmetrical axis and is renowned as a masterpiece of Vietnamese Royal monuments.

Our next stop was Khai Dinh Temple & Tomb which represents this 12^th & last Nguyen emperor ruling 1916 until his death in 1925. This temple is unique as it differs from past emperors & also this monument & grounds are one of the smallest of the dynasty. The constructions took 11yrs to complete. Even though it is the smallest, it is also the most elaborate and effort consuming and being in the early 1900s it was the most expensive. Khai Dinh was condemned by his people as he imposed a heavy tax to complete it, plus he was called a puppet of the French.

You enter the grounds by a large set of steps into a quite large paved area walking past the scaled 1:1 rare stone soldier sculptures in a parade line. You take another 27steps to reach the temple’s doors. The temple is a slightly miniature grand structure as stated above & I’ve now seen a few temples in my time here in Vietnam and Cambodia so I’m a little accustomed to the sometimes usual. Like most temples, it is until you enter when you see the magnificence of decorations to please their religion and dynasty emperors and the like. WOW! Look at this brilliance!! Ceramic mosaic brilliance with gold everywhere, paint artistry and really too much to take in with one visit. Everywhere you looked you could not believe the detail and the perfection in every square inch of wall & ceiling. Khai Dinh has his tomb under the altar which his throne seated above, was cast in gold plate in France & shipped out. Behind the altar there is large portrait of the emperor, highlighting his youth. The centre of the altar is the prime photography shot so I start trying to squeeze a photo in between all the tourists and time is getting away. I think someone noticed me in my frustration. LOL!!

Out of the blue, I was grabbed by the arm and a woman in my group ushered a friend to take my photo in front of the ‘altar’ and in a blink she was photo bombing me. Out of the entire group she was the most welcoming and always happy whenever I saw her. Out of her kindness I knew her ‘agenda’ in wanting a photo to show friends back home of a ‘story’ of meeting a westerner on her travels but that didn’t bother me at all. It’s happened a lot to me during my travels. One must always be gracious and take reasonable steps to ensure everyone enjoys their travel days, even when it’s raining, windy & gloomy and utmost thanks today is such a beautiful nature day. With her thoughtfulness I didn’t mind being in her ‘story’ and it was unfortunate there was this verbal language barrier however words didn’t need to be spoken in this instance; just huge smiles and a prayer clasp in sequence. I’m very thankful the lady organised this photo shoot as it also allowed me to use her kindness into my story/ blog too. Thank you, ‘Lady in Red’.

Back onto a larger & more comfortable boat we head back towards The Citadel however we have one more temple to visit and 2 more places to visit on the one last stop. The temple is the tomb of Tu Duc, built 181864-67. It is situated in a narrow valley some 6.5klms from the city and was designed by Tu Duc himself where he based on his design for his life use and his death use, concentrating on tranquility. There are about 50 structures here and you do forget this is a place of someone’s resting place & view it as a large botanical garden. There is a garden island where the Emperor would find true peace and his poetry and singing was placed in a theatre not far from it called Minh Khiem Duong. While there is a tomb here, Tu Duc’s true grave is not known. The 200 workers who created his true resting place were all beheaded so as not to disclose the place to grave thieves trade. A gruesome act in today’s term but probably usual back then. While he had some 104 brides, he never managed to record an offspring. The 20 tonne stone with the emperor’s own words were inscribed is truly amazing. This complete park and tomb took his 50,000+ soldiers to complete the main landscaping, canals & the like.

With such a large estate (12ha) it took a while to get to our next stop, Nha vuon Phu Mong (Garden House) where it is now managed by a very old lady carrying on what her, & her husband has created over some 50yrs. They built their home and started planting and creating. Certainly, a great effort and applauded results on all types of vegetation, fruits & herbs. The lady still remains in the house and is very pleased for strangers to enter the grounds with a monetary donation and take in the pleasures of nature. Today, local volunteers help with the labour in keeping to this large estate.

The next stop is Chua Thien Mu Pagoda, a Buddhist temple adjacent to the ‘Garden House’ estate. This pagoda was built on a legend where a ‘heavenly lady’ was sighted (named Thien Mu) & ‘saying’ a King would come. King Nguyen Hoang upon hearing of this began the construction in 1601 & it was later refurbished in 1665. The 7-storey pagoda is regarded as the unofficial symbol of Hue where basically the same number of visitors to The Citadel come to The Pagoda. The pagoda bears a more common title of ‘The Celestial Lady’. This location, mainly in the last century became the icon focal point of hunger strikes, protests and the like and Buddhism was being tested and slightly rebuffed by the region. Over time, this is now a more peaceful and respectful location.

The giant bell weighs in at 1,985kgs, cast in 1710. It is said it is audible some 10klms away therefore whoever rings it must be; or go deaf, surely? The large marble turtle greets all visitors at the entrance doors to the temple and represents the longevity of life, so it was touched by a lot of visitors of course. This is not the only time I had seen Great Turtles on display and each one a true marvel of artistry and detail and none of them ever disappoint in the viewing.

Climbing back onto the boat it was a pleasure to find a comfy seat and take in the last few kilometres of The Perfume River sights until we disembarked at The Citadel where everyone dissipated quickly without the customary good-bye or pleasantries. Not the first time I experienced this also. Again, I decided to walk across the bridge and to a further parallel street back towards my hotel for a well-earned hot shower and head towards the night spot again for more food and drink testing.

On this happier subject of remembering The Marble Turtle of peace and longevity I’ll end my Hue temple blog here and get ready for the next, more testing blog of The Vietnam War Demilitarise Zone, so stay tuned. Stay safe, happy & hopefully enjoy the photos and kick this COVID-19 & the vile vaccines back into history.

Thank you again for reading my blogs and I trust you will stay safe, happy & healthy for 2022 and for it to be a far better year for all. I do not receive any commissions &/or ‘perks’ from the above nominated businesses & locations as I am purely happy to provide the acknowledgement and connection.

I always look forward to seeing the feedback so don’t be afraid to comment. My next blog/s will be more of the amazing Vietnam experiences and quite a few were life changing, & not just for me.

Live life to the most and a quote that I truly love is from Eckhart Tolle ..

“If I am not the hero of my life … who in the hell could be?”

My Vietnam Launch – Ninh Binh & Beyond – 2018 Backpacking

After a sad farewell to great people looking after me at the Hanoi Hotel Gratitude and knowing I may never get to see my favourite school student Julia (pls refer to previous blogs) for some years or possibly never who has been wonderful to start mentoring and monitoring her progress. Farewell Hanoi you have been superb.

My hotel’s valet driver with utmost precision wound around the congested streets to land me at the bus interchange for my bus journey (Hotel booked my trip $10USD) to Ninh Binh where it will be a 1 ½ hr drive (94klms) and with precious few minutes from boarding. Ninh Binh is the next tourism location South from Hanoi and that will be my direction for quite some weeks ending in Ho Chi Minh. Keep scrolling as you will discover there are lots of photos in this blog.

I didn’t get to view my fellow bus passengers with the time available as my large backpack was loaded into the trunk of the bus so I grabbed the first seat behind the driver with only a few travellers left to board. To my pleasure a Malaysian woman sat next to me and her daughter across the aisle. She was most vibrant and welcoming. Her name was Thilaga. Her daughter’s name I was unsure of (hard to understand) but I believe she was one of her twins, either Manjushri or Maanushri. She too, was most pleasant but quite shy.

With Thilaga’s enthusiasm the trip seemed like 5minutes. We talked non-stop and within 10mins Thalinga had connected me on facebook. What a wonderful human. I can’t even remember the halfway stop where we were able to see a disability workshop where the work was truly amazing. Such artistry. Again, on the bus, Thalinga & I chatted, and in a flash, we had stopped suddenly, and the Ninh Binh travellers were asked to depart. The language barrier kicked in and for some reason we were departing some 5klms out of town. Thilaga soon arranged for a taxi to take us into town. My hostel was one street off the main road so I was the first to be dropped off. I couldn’t thank Thilaga enough and we said good-bye both with huge smiles and continued our friendship on facebook ever since.

My hostel was called ‘Go Ninh Binh Hostel’, a revamped ex-railway station with the train line some 50m behind the building. It never dawned on me about the potential for train noise .. LOL!!! DER!! The train noise was enough but somehow for reasons unknown the train drivers always blew the loud horn at the station … probably historical or superstition reasons but that’s what can be expected at a railway station. Arriving at Platform 9 ¾ .. LOL!! I unpacked into their luxury private room they called it (private ensuite) where I am not commonly allowed to stay in communal rooms due to my age above 40. (hostel’s universal rules, I believe). With my age look, I could not say I was 39. Haha!

Due to being well before lunch I took to the hot weather streets of Ninh Binh where I walked some 5-6klms and sadly, found nothing but a plain, lazy unimpressive township and a large dilapidated lake being renovated by excavation equipment. Why the big thing about Ninh Binh? Upon my return and with a bit of heat stress I figured I asked reception what’s the deal on staying at Ninh Binh. The lovely young lady was most helpful by stating most travellers stay approximately 2 days and after seeing Tam Coc, a river rowboat through rice fields under a UNESCO heritage site. To get there I must hire one of their scooters at 100,000Dong, about $5.50 AUD for a full day. The last time I was on a scooter by myself was when I was 17yrs old … I hope it’s just like riding a bike .. pardon the pun?

So, with some trepidation, I scoffed down my brekky, studied the road map the young receptionist provided and headed S/West with my first test a busy traffic light intersection over a river crossing. Surviving that, I enjoyed the straight road and some very large roundabouts (7klms) to enter a quiet village and noticing the entrance and parking for the Tam Coc row boats. The entry fee was 270,000 Dong ($16AUD) where I was advised not to buy any goods (food & drink) from the ladies at the end of the ride plus not to provide any tip to the rower, usually a female as it is quickly handed over to the boat owners.

Your first task is to find a functioning and clean life jacket (mandatory wearing) and gamble on getting a good rower with some personality … well, I achieved a cleanish lifejacket, but it’s clear her name is ‘I’m Fine’. A see a sign which implies I must report rowers who use their feet while rowing to ensure maximum safety. Can’t see me dobbing people in .. it’s so un-Australian we call it .. unless it is extremely dangerous. We are under way & with no communication I was left in silence with no commentary to just look at the adjacent rice fields (the river, much like a stream is mainly 20m wide) and smile/ wave to passer-by canoes. Most people smiled & waved back. I noticed my rower is using her feet to row, plus I see others doing it so it is prevalent I’d say. TAM COC Photos below.

The only time my rower spoke to me (in Vietnamese) when it was obvious, we were entering a cave where I had best almost lie down to avoid hitting the roof of the cave & protruding stalagmites. It’s been a while since I was inside a cave and it was so serene, yet truly amazing with the light patterns and years of nature’s magic showing. If you suffer claustrophobia, you may well be challenged. There is not much room at all (height wise). We encountered 3 of these marvellous caves and with exiting the last one our canoe was besieged with several canoes of women trying to sell you food, drinks, etc. I thought I would never escape even while showing my daypack & drink bottle. Wished I had an oar/ paddle to either defend myself or start rowing. Finally, we headed back along the same route we came in, so it can be a long 2hr row course. The outer scenery past the rice crop was so amazing with high peaks of limestone, much like the Halong Bay islands. Mother Nature’s true glory.

I still had more hours left in my day and reading my map from the hostel I noticed there is a place called Mua Caves (4 on the map) not far away at 3klms. Winding through a small village, narrow road and almost getting rammed by a stupid, arrogant van driver I made it to the entrance. The trick here is to avoid the first person trying to enforce you to follow a sign and park there, when you can keep going right up to the entrance gate and park there at a much lower cost. The entrance fee if you followed my advice is 100,000 Dong ($5AUD). There’s a small cafe at the foot of the hill to climb and there I met a young newly married Netherland’s couple and we ‘enjoyed’ the 576 uneven steps up to the top, in between the huffing & puffing and it is best to take your time. It’s a challenge to get to the peak but truly worth it. Along the way is the Thai V1 Temple (Tiger Cave) and that is worth entering and make sure you enter all the way in otherwise you won’t think much of it. Look out for the miniature bats on the ceiling.

Getting to the top is called The Lazy Dragon (Lying down) where there is a dragon cement plaster model bolted to the jagged rock surface, approx. 25+m long and 3-4m high. Amazing to see. You can check out the photo showing you the stair route and the dragon just in view on the horizon. From this height you can see the panoramic view for miles 360° and it takes a while to see everything in view and take it all in. Looking down you can see Tam Coc row boat ‘river’ winding through and into the caves. What a view!!!

You have to be careful up here but always you see the idiots or the foolish in their antics. The rock surface is extremely harsh and sharp due to the rain erosion carving indents throughout the rock surface to razor sharp edges. You can easily cut yourself deep. The young couple stayed longer at the top so I allowed them their space and said safe travels and thanked them for their company.

Apologies for my shabby look with Ninh Binh in the far background. I’m now a backpacker with no-one to impress. I used to shave everyday back in Australia so I’m enjoying my new found freedom. Nearing the bottom of the stairs I met an English woman (58) & her daughter and I advised them of what the mountain climb offers, including the steps and what to look out for. They were very thankful and it wasn’t hard to find more communication. We discussed her recent Machu Picchu Peru trek and praised me for booking it. I’ll be doing this in 2019 with my eldest son, Scott where I can’t wait for March, the next year. At this time, a young athlete raced past us to our horror. He appeared to be Swedish and the humidity and heat was quite high. He returned much the same way, knowing he didn’t go to the peak but it was quite impressive to see that athleticism; obviously super fit.

By the time I reached the bottom, the young couple met up with me again and we sat and chattered further about our travels. They discussed locations for me heading South and I, for Hanoi, their next stop. Riding back to my hostel the traffic was more intense and crazier so more care required (peak traffic). I was so thankful I went to Mua Caves and survived the travels. I almost did a Pope thing & kissed the pavement when dismounting from my scooter.

There’s no food available at the hostel so you enter the street where there are a couple of family restaurants out the front of their homes. I chose the less promotional one advised by Tripadvisor as I felt for the family next door being ignored. I was extremely happy I chose Duc-Nhat, for more people joined me and the family took great care of me over my 3 days here. The menu was very good and so were the servings. So, loving and always gave me too much food to further impress on my ongoing custom.

After dinner I had a conversation with another receptionist & she said I should go to Trang An where she found it better than the more well-known Tam Coc. Again, I rented the scooter the next day and headed almost due West to Trang An for 6klms. What an amazing place and a far better setup than Tam Coc!! You have a choice of 3 different canal tours but each one provides walking access over Kong Island where the movie Kong- Skull Island was made (part of airplane and huts). I noticed the tourist buses mostly choosing route #1, so I chose #2 as the best option. Each boat tour was 200,00Dong, cheaper than Tam Coc. My problem was being a sole traveller where the cost was higher, so I waited for some 30 minutes before I could engage a young couple to share my boat. We had a great time together without imposing on each other, apart from getting the odd head, umbrella, etc in my other photos which happened all too often in a small row boat. Trang An photos below.

The 3 caves were more impressive and much lower at times than Tam Coc and it was beneficial of being able to walk onto Kong Island & the temple island for breaks in the 3hr journey. You can’t help but notice the clarity & stillness of the water. Utter peace surrounds you and you know you are walking and rowing on nature’s sacred place. It was like I was travelling in another world of tranquility. At the completion of a wonderful 3hrs, I was able to sit in the auditorium and watch a couple of promotional videos of Trang An & the region. The views were spectacular where drone views were used predominately to show the best of this region. In time, Trang Ang will take over Tam Coc as the prime venue, I’m sure.

Surviving yet another return bike ride I exhausted my stay at Ninh Binh & it was time to move on. My hostel doesn’t offer travel bookings so I had to venture across the street to buy my next bus ticket to Hue (Qway), the next major location to the South, some 11hrs away. I was strongly advised to book a sleeper bus for this type of journey. A train trip was far more expensive.  From here I was truly tested as you will follow.

A small car, like a Barina or little Fiat arrived around 6pm with 3 travellers already jammed in all with backpacks. I was pushed in amidst my backpacks and from there I could not see where we were going for some 15mins. We all exploded out of the tiny car to a street with a couple of cafes and lots of bus travellers waiting for their rides. From this, utter confusion!!! Bus valets had limited English and no-one knew which bus to board when they parked in the street. My car companions were going to Hue as well and they told me we have unknowingly been swapped on 2 buses since arriving, despite showing our tickets. 90 mins later, we were pushed onto a bus with others again left stranded on the footpath. The bus had 3 long rows of bunk beds (2 tiered high) and appeared fully booked. A local was ushered out to make way for me where I felt guilty but it was explained they ride free and must make way for paying travellers. The locals use a blanket to sleep on the floor in the aisles. So much for a sleeper bus, with managing only about 2 hours sleep to Hue.

At some point in the early hours of darkness and windows fogged up, the bus almost emptied with a mass exodus to a shady looking village. I was quite surprised and couldn’t find out why until I reached Hue. The exodus was to explore the Son Doong cave, the largest cave in the world & found by accident in 1990. It is located in the heart of the Phong Hna Ke Bang National Park out from supposedly Hoan Lao in the Quang Binh Province, some 500klms South of Hanoi. It then takes a 6klm trek through the rainforest after a bus to the park’s entrance. Quite a journey, to which I was not geared up for anyway. The cave is 9klms long and some parts open up to a 200m ceiling. Apparently, this is the major secret tourism journey I missed by not doing enough research. The cave is beyond words & must be on everyone’s bucket list.

After the longest bus trip known to man, I was dropped off at a street stop in the middle of ‘nowhere’, again with no commentary. You take everything as it comes during these travels .. to Google Maps it locates me just 3mins from my Holiday Hotel Diamond so a tut-tut scooter was the call & within minutes I was directed down a pedestrian lane-way some 75m, to a sign and shop front-type doorway of Hotel Diamond. I was greeted by a wonderful manager, Ms Anna who looked after me so well in handling everything I needed in Hue including an impromptu breakfast upon arrival due to the long bus trip of no food or drink. My room was superb and on the 5^th floor but what took me to a greater surprise and much laughter was using the tiniest passenger lift I believe in the world. The floor size was a mere 600×1200 (2 persons or 1 person with backpacks). LOL!!!! Breathe in! I felt I was travelling in a food dumb waiter. 😊 A photo of the lift in my next blog.

Over the centuries Vietnam had a procession of capital cities and Hue was one of these so I’ll leave this blog here and compile the next one on Hue, The Imperial City (Citadel) and The Vietnam War Demilitarise Zone, so stay tuned. Stay safe, happy & hopefully enjoy the photos.

Thank you again for reading my blogs and I trust you will stay safe, happy & healthy, especially through this COVID-19 pandemic and for 2022 to be a far better year. I do not receive any commissions &/or ‘perks’ from the above nominated businesses & locations as I am purely happy to provide the acknowledgement and connection.

I always look forward to seeing the feedback so don’t be afraid to comment. My next blog/s will be more of the amazing Vietnam experiences and quite a few were life changing, & not just for me.

Live life to the most and a quote that I truly love is from Eckhart Tolle ..

“If I am not the hero of my life … who in the hell could be?”