So, Sa Pa was ticked off, now I was ready for the real stuff, more off the beaten track, more isolated and definitely more fun:).

This trip would take me from Sa Pa to Ha Giang, northern most province of Vietnam, awesome mountains, bad roads, yummy food and an array of different ethnic communities. Total distance would be around 485km.

Again, I was following the route from the Vietnam Coracle Blog.

Vietnam Coracle

So for the first day I left Sa Pa to Muong Khuong, 85km and went through Lao Cai where I had got off on the train.  On the way there I was lucky enough to witness rice being harvested the old fashion way, back breaking stuff. 

Lao Cai is also a border crossing with China so I cruised around and watched the goings on.  I crossed the Red River and drove into pineapple country.

I also came across some interesting signs and I am not sure what I was eating here.  A favourite and I think very appropriate saying I said a lot to myself and others was; “what could go wrong, this is Vietnam!”.

If you can’t read what the sign says, top line is in Vietnamese, then Chinese and then in English “Frontiea”.  I am assuming it is to let you know that you are in the last frontier country.  I arrived in Muong Khuong after some spectacular scenery and after a good climb.  I had a bit of a rest and then found the local market and camped out at the drink stand and watched the world go by.

Next day I went from Muong Khuong to Bac Ha, only 90km.  This day was unreal, it was the best scenery I had had so far and because it was Saturday I was lucky to be able to visit some markets which happen on the main road, not main street.  You can tell you are getting close by the number of bikes parked up.   Now again not sure what this is but they were loving it. I also saw up close and personal how they transport pigs on motorbikes and the pigs do not like it.

The road in these places is where everything happens and I managed to see a family moving their cows along.

The highlight of the day was the Buffalo Sale.  This is the sight that greeted me

The small blue tents just above the herd is where I sat for over 2 hours and watched the negotiations, money changing hands, and stock.

They would be tied up to a rock so you can imagine how well that worked so there was quite a bit of roaming going on and mating. The guy smoking the pipe is a very common sight in the North.  Apparently you get a bigger hit than from a cigarette and all cafes have these pipes to use, all communal and no washing between customers.

And I saw an albino buffalo

To get to the Buffalo Sale I had to go though the market so I acquired my own sales person.  We started off at 250,000 VND and I got it for 150,000 VND ($8.90 AUD) for the bag however the process was not that simple.  She followed me around for about 15 minutes.  Anyway it worked out for both of us as I actually needed a new bag for the front of Oscar.

From the market I had great scenery again and followed a valley with China on the other side, to the right in the photo and also Oscar got in amongst it with the locals.

Made it to Bac Ha and had a look at some of the sights then camped out at the hotel bar and had dinner.

The town is famous for the Sunday market and had timed it perfectly completely by luck.  They also have a night market with local performances and also games for the kids which was fun to watch.

They also have a great way to tie up their transport:).

The next day I woke up early and went to the market and ate with the locals and saw the fruit and veggies for sale.

It was another great day in the saddle, scenery was awesome and the rain stayed away.

The trip took a lot longer because I was always getting off and taking photos.  I did a couple of detours (planned) to find a water fall but I haven’t found it yet, I found another one, but I saw some pretty cool signs!

One of the great things I love about Vietnam, is the willingness of people to speak to you and practise their English or laugh at my Vietnamese.  I meet these two girls where I stopped for a coke.

The scenery was so good as you can see above that my eyes may have stayed on it a fraction too long and I was on gravel with boulders and I did a slow unchoreographed crash onto the gravel at about 10km/hr.  I had jumped so I was ok, however Oscar had a bit of a bent under carriage so it made changing down gears hard.  We survived and made it to Xin Man and a garage and with only sign language I explained what needed to be done and the mechanic got his big hammer out and started banging away.

The last leg of this trip was 140km to Ha Giang.  The weather was not good and on the two passes that I had to make, it rained the most which was a shame because the scenery would have been spectacular.  However, I still managed to do some shopping and bought some tea which the region is famous for.

However, all was not lost, Bun Cha for lunch, yum and then I hit decent road for the first time on the trip and let it rip.  I saw the first cops of the whole trip and as a foreigner you have to get a permit.  Not sure why but you just cough up the money, 300,000 VND for a piece of paper

Ha Giang is a biggish town so it was interesting looking around.  I also had Oscar’s oil changed and lubed up at Honda Head.

This was a great trip with a few adventures thrown in:).

Dates: 7th October to 10th October 2016

So my journey of over 2000km begins in Sa Pa.  This place is very touristy but beautiful.  Oscar here is all ready for the journey ahead of him, me, not so sure.  I was lucky enough to have Spot, a satellite transmitter that Niels and Trang used to track me real time.

So my first trip was a loop, 325km.

The routes I used were from a blog of a guy living in Ho Chi Minh and they were fantastic.

Vietnam Coracle – Sa Pa Sin Ho

So off I set at 11:30am because it took me about an hour to find the right road, very few sign posts here and to fuel up at the one and only petrol station.  Lesson learnt, always fill up the night before.

My first stop was Lai Chau, approximately 75km where I passed waterfalls and Tram Ton Pass, Vietnam’s highest mountain, 1,900m and I saw Mount Fansipan.

I saw many women on the road, sewing, and selling fruit and vegetables with umbrellas, both for the rain and sun.

I saw rice being harvested and the Lakes at Lai Chau were beautiful and I had pancakes for dinner. I also had a massage, and it was as good as the one Wendy got in Nha Trang:).

The next day was from Lai Chau to Sin Ho, 120km.  I did a little detour, planned, to check out the mountains and it was beautiful.

I then found some Caves.  Now, please look at the sign and see if you can see a looped route on the map.  This is important for later…

So off I ventured into the underworld.  They were amazing and no one was around, so I explored and there were amazing butterflys.  I came across another group and I was like a film star, I had my picture taken with the group.  I would hate to see those pictures as it was hot and humid.  Anyway off I went, I then came to the end of the line as on the map and decided to turn around and beat the loud group.  I got to the cave entrance and it was completely dark, tried my phone, the light was useless and there was no signal.  Anyway, who was I going to call, ghostbusters?

So I back tracked and the other group had vanished without a sound.  I then found another track and climbed that, no, dead end. I heard voices so yelled out “help”.  That wasn’t very helpful, English, couldn’t remember the Vietnamese word for it.  This went on for about an hour and I had no water.  I then found another path and off I went, and guess what, it was a loop back to the motorbike park, who would have thought.  Anyway, was I glad to see Oscar, second day out!  No one speaks English so who do I tell about their misleading map!

Anyway I saddled up and took off into the distance and didn’t look back.  I then went over a small pass and then onto an amazing valley with a river and rice fields on the hills.

I found a little village beside the river and I could definitely spend time here in the future.  I got my tyres pumped up for free too.

After the valley I then had a 38km up hill drive which reminded me of Hotham in Victoria, Australia.  I filled up with petrol before the hill and off I went.  The road got a little rough, but the view was worth it.

I made it to Sin Ho, just on dusk and watched a bit of football and checked into my hotel with a view of the square, $10 AUD.

I didn’t need my alarm, a bus had it’s horn going at 6am.  Now these are not your normal horns, more are like a fog horn!  The next day was back to Sa Pa, 135km, which started off with a 60km descent and then back to Lai Chau and home the same way.  It was misty to start with and there was about 20km of gravel.

I did the pass again, and it was foggy, wet and very cold (for someone use to 35 C).  You can see it start to set in, in the photo.

 It was a great trip and a good one to start me off as it was going to get harder and far more isolated.  I drove 325km in 3 days and spent 75,000 VND on fuel ($4.40 AUD).

I made it back to Sa Pa and some friends had just arrived as they were going to climb a mountain so we had a great dinner.

Dates: 4th October to 6th October 2016

I know you have been eagerly awaiting my next installment, well wait no longer.  I spent 15 days in Northern Vietnam, north of Hanoi driving around on my motorbike.  I did four separate routes, part 1-4, but first is getting from HCMC to Sa Pa

So the journey started in HCM with Oscar taking a ride on the train to Hanoi.  It took 10 days and I flew up to Hanoi to meet him.  I landed at 4:40pm and was in a taxi by 5pm and made it to the train station by 5:55pm. That is pretty good going for Hanoi.  Now as I have found, somethings are not as simple as you would think they should be.  Luckily I had someone to help me from Tigit Motorbikes to help me navigate through the Vietnam Railway system.  So we found my bike all wrapped up, we unwrapped it and siphoned petrol from one bike to the other so I could drive it to the other side of the tracks for my journey to Sapa.

I bought my ticket and then had to wait till 8pm to check my bike in. I came back at 8pm and they said, come back at 9pm!  We finally boarded and left at 10pm.

Now because I wasn’t sure if I could get my motorbike on the same train as me, I only bought a ticket that night so I was not in a sleeper car.  I went how the locals travel so that was fun.  We arrived at Lao Cai about 6am and I had hooked up with a motorbike tour group so we had breakfast together and they gave me some fuel to get to the petrol station.

We filled up and I said goodbye to them and set off.  Now, I don’t know what it is but the hardest part about navigating in Vietnam is getting out of the town.  It took me 3 goes to find the right direction to Sa Pa.  I also noticed that my speedo wasn’t working so I found a Honda Head and got that fixed before I left. This is me at the petrol station ready to go.

It is only about 35km to Sa Pa, once you find the right way, so off I headed.  The road is pretty windy and there are lots of buses, so it was exciting.  I made it to Sa Pa, found a hotel and slept.

I did a bit of exploring; local market and had Bun Cha, City Centre and got  duped into buying a bracelet from a 1 year old.

I had a great meal and view, planned for my first trip and went to bed.

 

 

My last week being a resident of HCM was as you can imagine, busy, sad, and fun all at the same time.  I was lucky enough to have a visitor from Australia, Craig so we explored HCM.  His flight arrived on time, however we had just had one of our massive storms that dumps rain and then the roads flood.  I somehow managed to avoid it all, no delays in getting an Uber and arrived at the airport in good time however the roads were flooded.

In Vietnam the notion of queuing is foreign so we had some fun at the taxi stand and ended up sharing with a Vietnamese girl who had been ordered out of her previous taxi by a white male.

The next day we started bright and early on Tuesday and I picked up Craig on Oscar.  We had some noodles for breakfast and a bit a congealed blood is always a good way to start.

Craig is the fourth person I have taken on the “Julie’s Personalised Tour of The Ho”.  We had views of the city, went on a ferry, saw rice fields, had Vietnamese Coffee, drove over a massive bridge and had dry Pho for lunch with some of my work friends.

The next day was my farewell party at work.  I have been learning Vietnamese for about 10 months, so I wrote the below speech and presented this.

I got many lovely gifts as well from the team at work:

Craig wanted to go to the Chu Chi Tunnels and I hadn’t been since 2012 so off we went.

The traps that they made were deadly and the way they lived, amazing.  Vietnamese who killed Americans were called The American Killer Hero and we watched an entire documentary about this.

We crawled through the tunnels and fired a few weapons.  As you can see I didn’t really enjoy it, but Craig looked like a professional with the AK47.

You can’t spend time in HCM without going to one of the many roof top bars

I had my final lunch with the Habitat team and of course it was Bun Cha

Craig headed to Angkor Wat, Cambodia and I had to pack, see the before and after shots. I am not sure how it happened but I accumulated at least 20kg more.

My last night as a resident was spent having a seafood dinner, cruising around on the motorbikes and having coffee, very typical and I will miss it.

 

 

 

Sitting here in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam this is what a can’t wait for when I get home

• To sit on a couch and watch TV
• To walk on the sidewalk and not have to be on constant alert for motorbikes, cracks, holes, trees, people, restaurants
• To drink water from the tap
• My soft comfortable bed
• Not having to take my passport when I travel within the country
• Chocolate
• Chocolate thick shake

Now that I am back this is what I have noticed:

• It is quiet
• No hooking of horns
• Predictable traffic
• Baby prams everywhere and taking up space
• So many cars
• It is hot and dry, I am use to hot and humid
• Things are very expensive, lunch is a minimum of $10AUD, in Vietnam I get it for $1.50AUD
• It is cleaner here but just as dusty
• Things don’t seem to change here as quickly as they do in Vietnam
• Activities are done by machine not by hand if possible
• Internet is crap and expensive here
• And NIELS IS HERE:)

Couple of funny things that have happened to me today:

• I was waiting at the lights on Ipswich Rd (busy road in Brisbane) on Zippy (my Scooter, and yes it has a name too, RIP Oscar) and I heard this wolf whistle, it took me a while to register it and then I turned around and there was a guy with long hair in a ponytail in a black old beat up ute.  He then smiled at me and said hi.  I was a little shocked, not really what I am into, so I smiled back and then he said how are you going? I said OK, then thankfully the lights changed and he put the pedal to the metal and took off.
• So after that interaction, I continued to the mall to get some lunch and I found a park next to other motorbikes.  After lunch I then left, but to do this I would have to bring out one of my Vietnamese riding skills, riding in the wrong direction.  It was flawless, but then, an elf was walking past, yes an elf, and he looked at me very disapprovingly!  Well it is Christmas.

Continuing on from The Weird and the Wonderful, here is part 2.  What constantly surprises me is there is always something new to see, stare at or just wonder “why?”.

I thought I would start this on a low note and therefore it can only get better.  There are a few dogs that run around the streets and it is amazing that they don’t get hit.  Here, a dog has decided to brave the traffic and do his business.

So moving from the dog, we go to the classic, what things can I carry on my motorbike today segment:

This picture doesn’t need any explanation.

My friend Trang and I were walking along the street and she pointed this out to me, it is like a little fence.  Don’t worry the parents were around.  The little girl just looked so cute and was oblivious to the world walking past her.

This is common for breakfast, it is like porridge but not sweet.  The lady is making sure she gets everything out of the pot.

This is the Cable Company at work and they feed the black cables along.  It is fascinating to watch.  I don’t know how they can work out what cable is what…

From electricity to water.  Some work being done of the water supply creating a mini flood.  Notice how there is no protection for them from traffic and they are working with minimal clothes.  Still get the job done.

I feel like I am part of the UN, I went to a conference and I wore these for translations from Vietnamese to English.  It is amazing how quickly they can translate.

Lauren and I saw this statue in Ninh Binh and it caught our attention.  I asked Trang about this and it is based on a traditional lady from a couple of centuries ago.  However, it is not a true depiction, as the clothing is lacking, what she is wearing below would only be worn around the house not outside in public.  The lady is fishing in a muddy water of a river using a basket.

 

This is on the way to a restaurant.  I had to stop and take a good look at this.  These are letter boxes and a lot of wiring

Who said you need to stop business when doing maintenance on the ceiling?  There were no barricades, or anyone spotting.  Nothing happened, people carried on as usual.  Imagine what would have happened in Australia!

 

There are many ways to carry bikes on scooters.  These are only a couple of them.

Furniture moving takes on a whole new element here.  I was riding along the street, eyes peeled for the unusual, and I certainly found it.  I went past a piano sitting on the road at the side.  I thought to myself, this has potential so I did a U turn and parked myself across the street to watch the festivities.  This is what caught my eye.

I know you are wondering what happens next… As mentioned before, they have “soft openings” here, where part of a hotel or apartment will open early when building has yet to be completed.  Well, this was the case here.  The apartment that the piano belonged to was on the 2nd floor so they moved the piano in over all the construction material!!!

Piano moving Vietnam Style

On my trip to the Me Kong, I stayed in a couple of hotels and the prices range from about $8 – $15 AUD and they were very good.  This greeted me in the shower of one of the hotels. A tile! I don’t think I looked like this when I used the shower.

I have mentioned in previous posts that the disabled have it pretty hard here, this guy uses his crutch to ride his bike, impressive.

I went to the Western grocery store to get a few items, chocolate:) and at the counter I saw this sign, it made no sense, why have the heading in English and the rest in Vietnamese.

I was walking home one night and I saw this and thought it was a hospital bed on the side of the street, no it was a cyclo driver having a sleep under the brightest light on the street.

One night we went for dinner in China Town, District 10 and we went to blocks of apartments which had food stalls on the street.  This food stall took my fancy, I was memorized by the heads.

Bobbing Chicken Heads

Vietnam has had an effect on me, I have been known to wear these stockings and they have ones so you can where flip flops.  Love it

I don’t think I need to say much here, pretty self explanatory.

I have seen many of these buildings around and I have always thought, how depressing.  Apparently they are for swallow nests. I think they look like a prison with no windows.

Just the normal duties of a bus driver here.

From my Epic Camping Adventure, I had a blow out with my shoes so I took them to my local shoe man and asked him to glue them as the sole had come unstuck.  This is how they came back:)

 

 

This is a story about an Epic Adventure involving 12 people that started late at night one Friday… (16th Sept)

So we met the group at about 9:30pm in HCM and headed off in a convoy of about 9 motorbikes.  It is about a 2 hour drive (100 km) to Tây Ninh aka Black Virgin Mountain and was good as there wasn’t much traffic.  I have been here previously on a day trip by myself;  The Black Virgin Mountain

So we arrived sometime after midnight and stayed at a rest stop so hammocks were the choice of bedding.  I have never slept in a hammock before and I was a little bit scared of tipping out,  but I needn’t worry because between the dogs and the roosters it was hard to get any quality sleep.

Upon waking we had to eat, pack the food and park our motorbikes.  Not all our motorbikes could fit at the one parking spot so we parked half and then we used four motorbikes to go a “short distance”.   We all carried three on the motorbikes and off we set.  Between the cows chasing us, the gravel, mud, pot holes and steep hill, it was a piece of cake and a short drive:).

So we started getting ready for the hike and something odd came out to be placed in shoes for cushioning.  Odd, but made sense.

The identity of this person in the photo will be kept unknown to protect their privacy. And so the journey started, which quickly turned into an epic adventure.  The summit was 1km high from the base and this was to be climbed over 10km, therefore giving a gradient of 10%.  It was basically rock climbing over boulders.

I think one of the most disheartening parts of the hike was when I asked how far we had gone and the reply was about 1/8 (or a half of a quarter as it was quoted to me) of the way, and I had truly thought we must be at least half way up.  One of our team members had done this trail before so he knew the way and there were red arrows on the rocks, however they were sometimes hard to find.  On one occasion some of the group, including me, went a more difficult way and we ended up beside a wasp nest.  Luckily, there was a guide on the trial and he helped to get us out. We then promptly hired him and he helped us up the rest of the way.

The terrain and views were amazing

So once we had finished with the boulders, we came across slippery and steep terrain and I let out a few swear words, and then it became dark and pissed down (rain).  However, like good boy scouts and girls we were prepared and had head torches.

And then came the monkey bridge.  This was a branch that was over a gorge and our guide nimbly walked across this with a rope and created the monkey bridge.  I would have photos however it was dark and thank god I couldn’t see how far down I could go.  So at about 10:30pm we made it to the top and after some hunting around we found a spot to rest our tired and bruised limbs.  As it was still pissing down we pitched our tents and had a meal of ham, meat roll like luncheon, marshmallows and gummy bears.  You can probably guess what I supplied.  So we finally settled down for our sleep at about midnight and in our tent were the three girls when a party outside our tent erupted and went on for about three hours.  Then at 6am breakfast started!

We had a delicious breakfast and enjoyed the views

So in the photo of Trang and I you can understand why I look half asleep, because I was!

Here are some photos of the camp sites that were around us.

So we took the easiest way down the mountain and it still took about 5 hours and a billion steps.  Because we had to take all our own food and water I had almost run out so lucky there was a spring halfway down.

All 12 of us made it down safely and we had a group dinner in the local town and then headed back to Ho Chi Minh and arrived home at about 10:30pm.

It was an amazing adventure, definitely one I will remember for the rest of my life.  Thank you!

 

My Mum and Joan (close family friend) made the trip to come and see me in Vietnam.  They started in Hanoi and did the same Intrepid trip that Niels and I had done almost 4 years to the day.  I caught up with with them in the Backpacker District centered around Bùi Viện Street for dinner and the next day they were off to Cu Chi Tunnels.  Now when Mum says Cu Chi Tunnels, it sounds like a train, Chu Chu, very funny.

After the tunnel tour I went to their hotel and we caught up then got a taxi to my place and had a quick look around the neighbourhood and then headed to work so they could meet the Habitat Team.  We had wanted to go out for snails, however because of the Lunar Calendar, the restaurant was closed, so we found another one.

We had clams, octopus and goats udder.

Joan and Mum had their first taste of the motorbikes and a friend (Huy) and I drove them home to their hotel.

The next day was a sleep in and I picked them up at their hotel along with one of their tour group members, Rachel from Switzerland and we took the local bus to my house.  From their we wandered through the Pink Catholic Church, the local market and then hit one of my favourite restaurants, Bun Cha:

I noticed the new sign that they had just put up.  We then went to get our nails done which cost 35,000 VND ($2 AUD), it was Joan’s first time.

The one thing that made me laugh was the time it took for them to choose the colour! Well as you can see it was a very tough day so we went to one of my favourite cafes, Sonate and we had hot chocolates to rev us up again.  We then headed back to the hotel via one of my favorite shops here, Ginko and I got this cool toy made out of rice paste, like play-dough.

This is made by hand and is one of the most-loved traditional toys of Vietnam, especially in the mid-Autumn season which is now.  It is hand-made from glutinous rice powder into colourful animals, flowers or fictional characters.  The artist, Pham Tien Hien, who was born in the craft village of Xuan La – where the art of making To He originated 300 years ago and is still preserved now.  He has 30 years experience.

I met a lovely Japanese lady, Masako at Network Girls and we have kept in contact and she has introduced me to much of the Japanese cuisine.  We met Masako and we went out for a Japanese meal in an area of HCM that is known for all things Japanese, Le Thánh Tôn Street.  To keep in the tradition of eating weird things, we ate cow tongue

Can’t you hear what it is saying?

I then made sure the “girls” were home early as they had a big day ahead of them…

MOTORBIKES IN HO CHI MINH.

If you have ever been to Vietnam, you will know what I mean.  You don’t truly appreciate the definition of chaos until you have experienced it here.

I organised one of the local Xe Ôm to drive Joan as I had Mum.  A Xe Ôm is a motorbike taxi.  Departure was at 8am and off we went in search of views of the city.

You wouldn’t believe me but the city is to the right.  Our Xe Ôm driver may need some instructions next time.  From there we headed to Cat Lai, a port and we used a ferry to cross the Siagon River to get to the other side.

We drove around in the rice fields and stopped for a coffee and had a great view of a Lotus Pond

This is not a normal stop for foreigners so we were a bit of an entertainment for the locals.  From there we went back to the city via a large bridge.  We clocked 50km, used 1.2 litres of fuel at a cost of 20,000 VND ($1.20 AUD).

I left them to rest at the hotel and then I met them at the base of the Bitexco Tower.  We went up to level 52 and had a couple of drinks and enjoyed the views and seeing where we had traveled that day.

We then had a delicious dinner and I said my farewells.  They had one more day in Ho Chi Minh and then Sunday morning they were off to Cambodia.

I had a great time with them and showing off Ho Chi Minh City and all it has to offer.

 

I often think about my Dad, he died in 2010, way too early and as the quote goes “the good die young”.

My father never made it to Vietnam so I wonder what he would have thought about it.  I think if would have loved it, he would have been tall for once in his life:).  Dad was an avid toothpick user and every restaurant has them so that would have made him happy.  He rode around on a motorbike at home on the farm so I am sure he would have loved this, if not for the challenge.

On a more serious note, Dad respected people who were hard working and didn’t complain and the Vietnamese certainly embody this.  Throughout history the Vietnamese have fought many wars and in recent history against the French and Americans and they certainly showed determination and a fighting spirit.  Dad was a history buff so the country would have intrigued him.

My Mother arrives today in Ho Chi Minh, so it will be interesting to hear her and Joan’s experiences of their time here in Vietnam and who knows what chaos they have created along the way. As my sister would say, the Crazys are in town.

 

 

Hong Kong is only 2 hours flight from HCM, so I had to go.  I had been there once before when flying back from Europe in 2003 for one night and at that time it was crazy.  I was interested to know what I would think of it now.  View of Hong Kong flying in.

I got the subway from the airport to my hotel and I surfaced at about 10:30pm on Thursday and was greeted by a 7-Eleven and men drinking beer.  I then walked along the street that my hotel was on and was swamped by Indians wanting to sell me handbags, watches, accommodation and the occasional drugs.  This was a culture shock.  I finally found my accommodation and relaxed in my room.

The next day I woke up and headed for Victoria Peak.  The main feature other than the view is the cable car.  I took the star ferry across and had a bizarre conversation.  I was sitting looking at the view and behind me in a Texan accent I hear “is this the red bus?”.  Excuse me, is this the red bus?”.  I worked out that this person was talking to me so I turned around and said the only thing logically possible “this is a ferry”.  He then waved tickets at me and I said that I think he is in the right place as I have seen other people with those tickets.  He asked if I was a local and I said that I live in Vietnam and then he asked if I was from England.  As you can see this was an interesting conversation and adds to the stereotypical view of an American.

I was planning on going up the cable car however I somehow found myself on a double decker bus heading up the same hill.  I almost threw up on the bus due to motion sickness, it is becoming a theme here in Asia.  At the summit, there were big changes from when Niels and I were here in 2003, they have a massive viewing platform now.  The day wasn’t so good for viewing so I didn’t hand around but made use my selfie stick.

I made sure I took the cable car down, man it is steep. The guys in red are ready to pick up the bodies that don’t make it down:)…

From there I wondered around and enjoyed the parks and walking along sidewalks that were even, no motorbikes and generally orderly.

I had dumplings for dinner and then went to the water front to watch the lights and then on the way home I saw a wedding and the groom winked at me, seriously.

The next day I decided to go to Macau, a former Portuguese Colony and about an hour ferry ride from Hong Kong.  On the way it started to pour down.  I arrived and took a bus into town.  The architecture is wonderful.

The ruin on the right is of St Paul’s. It was a shame that it was raining as it made it harder to get around and enjoy the views.  I then went to the Macau Museum on top of a hill.

I then found a New Zealand Shop and stocked up on chocolate fish and Griffins Ginger Nuts then caught the ferry back to Hong Kong and managed to resist the temptation to go into the numerous casinos in Macau.  Back in Hong Kong I ended up in an Irish Bar and watch the Wallabies vs the Springbok and then Manchester United vs Manchester City.

With my last day in Hong Kong and I went to Star Avenue.  It was funny, when I mentioned to my friends in Ho Chi Minh that I was going to HK, they mentioned this.  It was interesting walking around all the movie stars’ hand prints

Jackie Chan at big hands and you know what they say about big hands…….. The statue is Bruce Lee.  It wasn’t until I looked at the photo afterwards that I saw my legs were doing a mirror image.  I think this is very clever.

From there I caught a taxi to Sky 100, 100th floor inside viewing. While waiting, I had fun with the free app.

It was a great view.

And I had some more fun.

I had a wonderful time in Hong Kong, I ate a lot of dumplings, chocolate and hot chocolates, did some shopping and relaxed.  I found Hong Kong quiet after Ho Chi Minh, yes a weird thing to say but it is true.  People seemed to be busier here, less similes and more serious.  I will be back.

A couple of things I noted that were different to Ho Chi Minh:

• They drive on the left side of the road which is right.  They drive on the right side on the road which is left.  No, they drive on the correct side of the road which is the left hand side.  Now that wasn’t confusing was it
• You have to ask for plastic bags when you buy something and you have to pay for them
• It is quiet, yes, it is still noisy, but still quieter than HCM, not beeping scooters
• Even though they drive on the left hand side of the road they still walk on the right hand side of the pavement.
• They walk a lot faster than Vietnamese here on the street
• You can use Pay Wave
• Cantonese and English (British accent) is used for all announcements.  I finally knew what was going on.