So with Helen getting ready to go home and Kaki massi (she insists I say 'massi' now) insisting that she has served her time on this blog, I have been assigned the job of telling you all about our 2 week holiday. You can see pictures below posted by Helen.

Our much needed holiday began with a flight from Hanoi to Siem Reap (in Cambodia) to see the amazing temples of Angkor - built by Khmer Kings during the apogee of the Khmer empire a thousand years ago. The temples are massive and set out like a city - we had to have a tuk-tuk take us round from temple to temple as they are 5-15km apart. You can spend a week looking around, it is that big. Alas, we only had one day but saw as much as we could. The biggest and most impressive are Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom. Siem Reap town is very small - built mainly for tourists coming to see Angkor - so nothing much else to see. I should point out how NICE our hotel was. Our travel agent came up trumps BIG time with all our hotels. But this one was special because it had a swimming pool, a nice surprise after trekking around Angkor all day.

We then got a 6 hour boat down to Phnom Penh, which is much quieter and relaxed than Hanoi. We saw the sites we wanted to, specifically the Silver Pagoda (which isn't really silver), Royal Palace, some temples and the Russian and Central Market. We also visited the Tuol Sleng genocide museum, which was the biggest interrogation and torture prison during the Pol Pot/Khmer Rouge years, and the killing fields which are about 10km outside of Phnom Penh. Both are deeply disturbing and upsetting. The prison has barely been touched - barbed wire is still there, blood is still on the walls and they show all the tools used for torture. The museum consists of pictures of some of the people who were sent there (including children) - mainly mug shots but also graphic pictures of what they suffered. The killing fields is just as bad with skulls piled up high and mass graves too numerous to count.

On a lighter note, we managed to meet with a Cambodian friend of ours who showed us around town and had dinner with us. Very pleasant. I'd talk about all the food we ate if I remembered much about it, but I'm afraid I'll have to refer you to Helen or Kaki if you want further details.

After Phnom Penh, we got a coach to Ho Chi Minh city. We were there for less than 2 days as it was sandwiched between 'my holiday' (wanting to go to Cambodia) and 'Helen's holiday' (wanting to go to the beach in Hoi An). So HCMC suffered as a result. Poor Kaki was stuck with the plans we made and had no say on duration of stay in each location - she said she was happy with it, which is good enough for me (even if she's just being polite!). HCMC is half-way between Hanoi (which maintains a very Vietnamese feel) and a Westernised city like Singapore or Hong Kong. Suffice to say we prefer Hanoi but maybe we'd have a different opinion if we'd lived in HCMC for the past 6 months. Oh and all the Vietnamese I've learned proved to be useless as the southerners couldn't understand my 'northern accent'. Still, it was a nice place and we got to see Notre Dame Cathedral, Reunification Palace and the War Museum. These seem to be the main highlights. We also went to the Cu Chi tunnels nearby which were dug and used during the American War. Kaki came as well even though she went there last time she was in Vietnam. They're obviously very small (Vietnamese size) but actually weren't as bad as we expected, probably because Helen and I expected the very worst. Having said that, spending 20-30 minutes walking through them today obviously isn't the same as living in them during a war. Though there is a shooting range nearby to give it a somewhat realistic feel.

After HCMC came Hoi An - Helen's 'holiday'. When Mum, Dad and Raj came they generously gave us some money to treat ourselves and we decided to use it on a 4* resort in Hoi An. And it was money well spent because this hotel was AWESOME. Swimming pool, regular shuttle to the old town (very nice) and to a private beach and our own villas by the pool - it was the perfect place to relax. So 4 nights very well spent! We then moved onto Hue (via some sites) which is a relatively small and quaint town in Central Vietnam. The hotel is worthy of mention here as it was nearly as nice as Hoi An and had very friendly staff. We mixed up relaxing at the hotel (which had a DVD player and free DVDs) with site seeing. The city Citadel, forbidden city and Perfume River were the highlights. The holiday concluded with a sleeper train back to Hanoi and we arrived at 5am this morning.

All in all, an awesome holiday with the perfect mix of site-seeing and relaxation. There's much more to tell, but I'll leave that to Helen and Kaki when you see them this weekend. In the meantime, I'm back at work tomorrow and will be working in Thanh Hoa for a few weeks starting this weekend. With Helen's return, I wouldn't anticipate regular blog updates, if only because I probably won't have much interesting to say (well...Hardip may be interested in my work but it will be easier if I just email her directly). I may be making a trip to Laos at some point though, so don't take it off your favourites just yet. If nothing else, I'm sure it makes fun reading from start to finish!

Anyways, I'd best be off to bed - though Helen's just found out that Aladdin is on so I may not sleep for another 90 minutes! I hope everyone is well and getting ready for the English Autumn. Christmas will be here before you know it (but pleeeease don't tell Helen!!!).

I'm going to see everyone soon and you'll all be sick of the holiday pictures, but I thought I'd post a random sample of everything we've done in the last two weeks!

In no particular order (and no commentary, as we have to meet Kaki for dinner in ten minutes(!))


























v

***********Guest Blog***********Guest Blog**********Guest Blog**********

Wanted to resist posting cos didn't think I could do the Guest Blog justice.

Have only been in town 2 days and have been on the back of a scooter in rush hour traffic (slightly panicked), enjoyed a night of Karaoke - Helen and Kelvin were forced to do Eternal Flame by the Bangles - eaten at the road cafe, been on a 'local bus' to the silk village, seen the water puppets and had a fab meal out be the lake.  Am knackered!!!

It's weird being in Hanoi - I really don't remember much from my last trip - it was years ago - but things come back to me as we simply walk around.  It's changed a lot though and it is really enjoyable to watch the world go by (on their scooters) sitting in Highlands (with better cold coffee than Starbucks).

More than that, it's nice to hang with Helen & Kelvin and anticipate our 'real holiday', to Cambodia on Tuesday...so excited about seeing Ankor Wat and travelling around the country by public transport rather than having to have a tour guide, using govt. hotels and having curfews.  Vitenam has certainly opened up to tourists since Hadish & I were here.

I can see that having the internet is a god send - it's such a nice way to keep in touch with all that is home - Brian won BB8??  We are heading out to the Old Quarter to see if anything is on for the 62nd celebration of Independance later tonight.  Hoping some fireworks at least!  But I insisted that we have a lazy afternoon today - think I'm still jet lagged and I thought it would be better to get this (short - in my defense, I have only been here 2 days) post up and out for you guys.

Love and Hugs to all.  BD
 

Mum and Annette have just left this morning to go to Danang, which is in the middle of Vietnam for interested readers. We had a lovely time with them, being spoiled rotten by being taken to the nicest restaurants and having three course meals. I think they enjoyed it - Mum had to buy a trolley bag to take all their new purchases home. Between them, they've boosted the Vietnamese economy 9000% by buying necklaces and handbags galore.

Kaki will be arriving in ... one hour! Assuming her plane arrives on time, of course. I have to go and flag down a taxi and convince him to take me to the ARRIVALS part of the airport, for a mere $10. No meter. It could be difficult. Added to which, of course, is the perennial staring I get from interested Vietnamese on the streets. It could be interesting. In fact, I should probably get a move on and pick her up - I'm counting on long queues at either Customs or Baggage Claim though.

I've put all my purchases and presents in my suitcase. It is full. Already. I think all clothes will have to be abandoned for handbags. And who knows what I'll pick up in Cambodia and the rest of Vietnam?! More handbags, hopefully.

Heeeeeeeeeeeey guys, have you missed me?!

I know you have. Feel free to tell me in descriptive detail how much you've missed me and how you can't wait until 39 days time when I am home. No, I didn't count - I have an electronic countdown on Facebook that tells me!

There are:

11 days until I finish work. (9 working days!)
12 days until Mum & Annette arrive.
17 days until Mum & Annette leave.
18 days until Kaki arrives.
22 days until we go to Cambodia.
36 days until we get back to Hanoi.
and 39 days until everyone gets their presents. And gets to see me, of course.

It's kinda like the 12 Days of Christmas. Except ... I don't get presents at the end of it. Boo.

HOWEVER. Kalvin has FINALLY agreed to let me go shopping next weekend as it shall be our last together alone. I know he is THRILLED at this opportunity to stand and watch me shop. I will be making it up to him by letting him take me to see Transformers and Oceans 13 over the next two weeks. I'm too kind, I know.

Feel free to catch us up with what's been happening at home! I can't wait to come home and find Simran being rebellious and swearing - I bet the Pawars are so proud! ;D

Heeeeeello! It's me again. Sorry, no more Rajen (unless he wants to come out here and guest blog again!) Seems we've scared Kaki with the guest blog! Don't worry, she will be writing one!

So much has happened with the Bahias visit that I don't know if I can cover it all. As Rajen said, we all went to Halong Bay and enjoyed the caves, especially the 'Surprising Cave' - and I'm still not entirely sure what was so surprising about it. It was pretty cool though. Don't worry Mum, if you have to go on your trip, it's not claustrophobic at all. Ask Kay! Kalvin, Rajen and I kayaked, after a bit of initial trouble figuring out how to go forward, backwards, right and left, Kalvin and I perfected our paddling. Unfortunately, my biceps are not made of steel, so I took advantage and left Kalvin to do the powering, and I joined in whenever we started steering towards rocks. Very important.

We went swimming in the middle of the sea (ocean?) where I forgot just how salty seawater is. Soon remembered though. Was blissfully warm in there, a nice change to the freezing coolness of British waters! The gorgeous tan I got there though has started to fade already, it's only been a week and a half! Never mind, I'll look to top it up on our holiday in September! (Which we have booked, by the way, and it will be AWESOME)

I dragged the Bahias shopping, and Kay took to it like a duck to water! Let's just say that Jeevan is a lucky girl! Also, the Hempstead homestead may look a little different by the time I get home!

Um, we also went on a lovely boat ride along the (possibly Perfume?) river, where all our boatsmen and women fleeced us, but in such a charming way that it was hard to be annoyed. Kalvin and I are proud owners of hand-stitched Vietnam t-shirts, and I believe Kay and Jinder have two themselves! Oh, and our boatsmen and women could ROW WITH THEIR FEET! I'm not just talking about moving the paddles, I mean turning them at the right time and EVERYTHING! I was in awe.

On another note, I have less than four weeks left at work, which is both yay and nay, because I have a lot of work to do, but when I finish, Mum will be here, then when she leaves, Kaki will arrive the next day, so non-stop family! Kalvin has gone to get his haircut, we made a deal that he'd get dinner if I updated the blog. So here I am!

I have successfully managed to get lovely pictures of all the Bahias now, so look out for those as presents! In the meantime, a few pictures of their time here:


Um, a cow.


Rajen helping to row.


You may not be able to see, but the Bahias are on some of those boats.


Kay and Jinder halfway through the boat trip!


Rajen with a leaf on his head. I had one on mine too. Very inventive, those Vietnamese!


Um, Kalvin. On a boat.


More Bahias on a boat.


Kalvin with his Vietnamese hat on!


Some Bahias relaxing on a boat in Halong Bay.







Finally! A picture of the two of us!





No, I'm not lost!


Bahia overboard!!



Kalvin in the Surprising Cave!





No comment!




I have just realised that there are more photos somewhere! I must not have uploaded them yet. I think that's enough for now, you'll get more in the next update!

Lots of love from us!

x

*** GUEST BLOG - GUEST BLOG - GUEST BLOG ***

Dear All,

To those of you who have logged on to Kalvin and Helen's blog expecting to hear from them direct, please do not adjust your PC or switch to a different blog.  This is their blog, but they've asked me, Kalvin's favourite brother, to do a guest slot in order to let you all know what Mum, Dad and I have been up to while we've been visiting them here.

Where to start though?  I'll do something very unusual for me/a lawyer and go with the straightforward approach of starting at the beginning.  We met Kalvin and Helen at the airport and were, as we continue to be, very impressed with how well they have looked after us and also how much they've clearly settled into life in Hanoi.  We've tasted lots of local food (in the kinds of places that Vietnamese people eat), done touristy things like the Ho Chi Minh Museum and the Old Quarter and have just returned from two absolutely amazing days in Halong Bay.

As with the rest of the trip so far, the Halong Bay trip started very well and then kept getting better!  We boarded our boat (our very comfortable home for the weekend) and the first stop was the Surprising Cave, which was on a much bigger scale than any of us anticipated.  The first thought that it evoked from me was that it was like something from an Indiana Jones film.  Then, and (as many of you know) mainly because I watch way too many films, it put me in mind of the mines of Moria from the first Lord of the Rings film.  In short, very cool!  

Kalvin and Helen - or is that Helen and Kalvin?  I suspect we all start with the person we know best when saying their names together or, if not, the person we like the most, so, as Kalvin's only brother.....Helen and Kalvin then!! - went kayaking together and I did the same with a guy who was also on our boat.  The boat then went a little way away from the islands that we'd kayaked around and we went swimming.  Other members of the boat jumped from the top of our two-storey boat into the water, as did I, but everyone else had far more sense and jumped in from the lowest deck.  The water was really warm, which was a surprise given how cold the sea is around the UK and Europe.

We then took a motor boat around a Vietnamese fishing village and into an secluded inlet that you had to get to via a wet cave (which basically looks like a hole in a massive rock island in the sea!) and are now back in Hanoi having had a slap-up dinner at an English/Vietnamese/Indian restaurant in the Old Quarter.  By way of an aside, the food in Vietnam is fantastic!

Well, that's it on the trip so far.  The short version of all of the above is that Vietnam is amazing and Helen and Kalvin are too (maintaining my film theme for this post, I would even go so far as to say that the Force is strong in those two).

Thanks for listening and the service of funny blogs from Helen and Kalvin will resume very soon - apologies that you've all had to put up with the above in the meantime!  

Cheers,

Raj

Hi everyone! Having a lovely time with the Bahias, just popped in to say this:

IF ONE PERSON MENTIONS HARRY POTTER BOOK 7 DEATHLY HALLOWS IN THIS BLOG, OR IN AN EMAIL TO ME, I WILL ... WELL, I'LL DO SOME DAMAGE! I DON'T WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS UNTIL I CAN READ THE BOOK MYSELF!!!

I am actually going to send Kalvin to check this blog for HP comments before I look, just in case someone decides to be mean and tries to tell me what happens before I can read it. This is a crime worse than ... well, anything else, and I quite possibly will never speak to you ever again if you spoil me for the book.


In case you haven't gathered, I'm in crazy book mode right now =P

No mentioning HP until I say I've read it, okay?!

Well, I managed to leave my field trip 2 days early. And after a gruelling 21 hour train ride, which was a hard (metal) sleeper, I'm finally back in the apartment and it is GREAT to be home. It will be even better when I pick up Helen later and I can have a normal dinner (see later). And of course to see Helen as well :-) Mum, Dad and Raj are also arriving tomorrow so it will be great to pick them up from the airport and see them for the next 10 days.

Sadly, there aren't too many interesting stories to tell about the trip. There was a lot of work during the first week but it got a bit better after that. The work was very interesting, but I'm not looking forward to writing the report now (boring!). On the plus side, many of you who have seen Vietnam on a map will note how 'thin' the country is, particuarly in the centre. Suffice to say, driving up Central Vietnam meant driving alongside the coast as well as the highlands, so the view was good! From what I saw whilst in the car, the beaches looked fantastic, so Helen should be very happy when we go to Hoi An and Hue during our travels.

The most notable, and perhaps hardest, aspect of the trip was the drinking and eating. Drinking with government officials means beer and vodka shots and/or rice wine (the latter sometimes mixed with blood). At both lunch and dinner. And there's no sipping or taking your time, everyone cheers and then you have to drink "tram von tram" (100%). I tried being sneaky on numerous occasions by saying "muoi von tram" (10%) but sadly it never worked. And given most of these people were government officials and respected party members, I did as they asked and built up my resistance. In terms of the food, being near the coast meant lots of seafood. Crap, shrimp, eel, squid, jellyfish, huge prawns and lots of others that I can't remember. For those who are squeamish at the thought of eating anything other than plants or herbivores, I suggest you move onto the next paragraph. Because I also ate cat, dog, fish eye soup (I don't know what fish it was, but the eye was enormous!), rat, goat, sheep and a cow (EVERY single body part). By the end, I really don't know what I was eating, I just asked that they didn't tell me and I pretended it was normal beef. And these lunches and dinners were huge! This is why I'm looking forward to normal food again.

I also managed to visit My Lai village, which some of you may know was the village the Americans destroyed and massacred in 1968 (after this, public opinion against the war soared in the West). Sadly, I didn't get to see all of it as we had to rush to the next town, so I'm hoping we'll be able to go there when we travel this Autumn (something to look forward to Kaki!). Needless to say, it was very sombre; they've got a museum and have restored parts of the village. I only got to see a bit of the museum and hardly anything of the village which is why I'm hoping we can go back in September.

I think that's all there is to tell, the trip was all work-related so I won't bore you with those details. In any case, I'd better go as I have to arrange a few things for family's arrival. I hope everyone is well and enjoying the English summer. TTFN.

Helen just got caught in torrential rain.

Helen is soaked through.

Helen was only wearing cropped trousers and a thin vest top. Yes, it was white.

Helen is drinking hot, sweet tea in an attempt to avoid catching a cold.

Helen realises this is probably pointless, as she catches a cold if someone sneezes five miles away.

Helen is so upset that she is referring to herself in the third person.

Helen is consoling herself with the knowledge that all the Bahias are arriving in Hanoi sometime this week.

Helen will be editing in some pictures as soon as she's uploaded them. They aren't of her, or Kalvin, as Kalvin is away and Helen isn't skilled enough to take fantastic pictures of herself, but they are nice ones of Hanoi.
























Yes, that was the downpour Helen found herself in.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KAY!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY HARDIE!
HAPPY WEDDING DAY, WESTERBEEKS!

Okay, I think I covered everything happening today. I'm happy to hear that the weather seems to be brightening, and that has NOTHING to do with me being able to watch uninterrupted Wimbledon (yay! Team Bartoli for the WIN! and maybe a little makeover. and WHAT IS UP WITH THAT SERVE?! It's kinda awesome in it's need for therapy - do you teach that style to your kids, Claire?!)

In other news, I've been ill, which is typical because I was ill the last time Kalvin ABANDONED me. Yesterday was the first day since Wednesday that I could keep food down (I like to give you all these mental images to carry with you). I've gone right off Vietnamese food, but I hope to be over that by Monday, otherwise I'll be starving by lunchtime. Luckily, sweet tea is soothing my ravaged palate.

Kalvin is having some fun while he's away, but I think he's mostly bored and upset that there's no sightseeing to do in his poor provincial towns (Wheee! Beauty and the Beast reference! I bet only Claire gets that, and maybe Hardie. Good morning, Belle!)

Kaki, Kalvin would like you to email him back. About ... our Vietnam/Cambodia trip, I think.


Okay, I'm off to find some food that doesn't make me feel ill at the mere thought of it ... a bigger challenge than you'd think, and I shall check back with you all later. Enjoy today!

To brighten your day, in case you miss seeing our beautiful, and if I may say so, cherubic, faces:



This old Diana concert is pretty good, huh?! I did some rocking around the world my apartment to Status Quo! I'll be very upset if I missed Tom Jones though!!

HELLO EVERYONE. KALVIN HAS LEFT ME TO GO PARTY IN THE CENTRAL PROVINCES FOR THREE WEEKS. THAT MEANS I'M ON MY OWN IN THE CITY. WHERE I DON'T SPEAK ZE LANGUAGE. OR STUFF. SO EVERYONE NEEDS TO EMAIL ME AND COMMENT HERE LOTS BECAUSE I'M ON MY OWN. YES I KNOW I'M SHOUTING, I'M BEING ALL WHINEY AND PATHETIC, I HOPE IT'S COMING ACROSS, BECAUSE I WANT PEOPLE TO FEEL SORRY FOR ME AND EMAIL ME LOTS.

If that wasn't enough to make people get in contact, I will only be buying presents for people that pay attention to me for the next two weeks. NO, it's not bribery! It's perfectly good business.

So it occurred to us that we haven't posted on the blog in a while. It's not because we're lazy, there's just not a great deal to update you on!

We're both very busy at work (zzz), life at home is same old. We ventured back to Ha Dong on Saturday, just south of Hanoi, which was a very nice day out. However, I then realised that Helen's motivation was to see if there were more silk goods to be purchased...unfortunately we couldn't find any. Don't feel bad for her though, we're visiting a handicraft and silk village next month (possibly when Mum/Dad/Raj are here) so I'm sure all her shopping needs will be fulfilled.

I had a short field trip last week for my Rural Infrastructure project in Nghe An and Thanh Hoa (it's a 4-6 hour drive south of Hanoi, check a map of Vietnam if you're particularly interested). I start the longer trip on Sunday, which starts off with a flight to Ho Chi Minh City and then a trip round 11 provinces moving from South to Central Vietnam, lasting 2-3 weeks. So I'm sure Helen will appreciate emails, phone calls etc. during that time. The work is great, but the downside is that you're forced to eat 3 massive meals a day. It's an insult if you don't eat all the food because the provincial government is taking you out. So it involves beef and noodles for breakfast, and 6-7 course lunches and dinners consisting of rice, noodles and just about every type of meat you can eat that isn't human (I think...). To be honest, I don't know half the stuff I've eaten, but I made sure to pass on the dog and any blood jelly. I'm told that everything I eat is "good for men".

Otherwise, the visits to villages and communes are very interesting, and there are a number of stories to be told by the older generation about the wars with France and America (e.g. a woman who carried 2-3 times her weight in weapons and ammunition to the front-line soldiers, across an unstable bridge, before fighting with them. Which is certainly an impressive feat, but bear in mind women in Vietnam don't weigh much. So I don't know how long the supplies lasted).

It's scorching hot once again here. We have Wimbledon coverage on the TV (i.e. no tennis yet), and you have no idea how good some cold drizzle would be about now! Helen's happy though, she used the sun at the weekend to improve her tan and is now a very nice golden brown.

Um, I don't think there's much else to report. July will be much more eventful when my family arrives and we go on lots of new (and old) trips again. In the meantime, keep e-mailing and posting your comments.

Is there much excitement...well, maybe not excitement...any emotion whatsoever about the new Prime Minister taking over this week? Or is the thought of GB in charge just too boring to remember, let alone think about?

Kalvin

P.S. So Hardip, what did Jeevan do that was so bad, you moved her to a farm? It's a very innovative punishment.

Photos from Perfume Pagoda!

(Apologies for the RUBBISH pictures, I was too hot to be in any pictures and too hot to find the camera, and the caves didn't allow for good light. Jon? Fuji cameras are RUBBISH in dark caves!)

On the Perfume River in our little boat:





On the cable car that we cheated to get to the top of the mountain:





Inside the caves and the actual Perfume Pagoda (bad flash!)




Going DOWN in the cable car:


The Pagoda at the bottom of the mountain:



I randomly thought it was funny that there were ducks on the river. Don't ask why:





And most importantly, my HANDBAGS!

Good morning!

Yesterday, we went to the Perfume Pagoda, which is on the Perfume River. Strange, huh? To get there, we had to take a bus, then a boat, then hike up a mountain. It was SCORCHING hot. Kalvin had to buy a hat because I kinda made him, and it was one of those Vietnamese triangular straw hats, which is awesome. I'll post a picture of it later. The boats were rowed by tiny Vietnamese women, and there were four of us in it. It was kinda like being in a metal bath. That looked rusty. She rowed for an hour and a half, and I figure she could give Matthew Pinsent a run for his money in stamina. It was a beautiful ride, with gorgeous scenery. And ducks.

We arrived, and almost passed out because did I mention it was hot? I think someone said it was 40 degrees, but I'd be willing to accept that it was hotter than that. Prepared to walk up the mountain, we were surprised when everyone else on our tour group decided to get the cable car up. We caved in and got the cable car too, deciding that it was probably a good idea because after we climbed the twenty steps to the cable car, the entire tour group was sweating most unattractively (except for me, because I glow very nicely). We arrived at the top, then walked down into a cave, because that's where the pagoda is. It was alright. I'm not really into Buddhist temples, because all the statues look like they were painted by kids and it's full of fairy lights, but it was okay. Not as nice as the boat ride, which was my favourite part.

Because I'd fallen on the steps (I turned into the biggest klutz yesterday - every time I did something, I stumbled or knocked things over, I had absolutely no control of my limbs) we got the cable car down again and headed for lunch, where they had the NICEST tofu. Not a big fan of tofu normally, it was marinated in tomato sauce, and it was gorgeous. We then headed to another pagoda, yadda yadda yadda, before getting back into the boats (yay!) and heading home.

On the way home comes the BEST THING EVER. We stopped at a silk factory in Ha Dong, which is like, silk heaven in Vietnam. We weren't really interested in the machines and whatnot because we've seen it before, but then ... THEN! I spotted something in the window of one of the shops. Now, these shops seemed to sell mostly silk ties, silk clothes, etc and not really anything Kalvin or I wanted to buy. But I saw a bag. I headed inside, and there were sacks, full of GORGEOUS silk shoulder bags, about as big as a big purse, made of beautiful silk and gorgeous colours. I found three that I loved, and asked how much they were, expecting to haggle and be fleeced anyways. The woman said ... $1. ONE DOLLAR! One dollar each, so I got three bags for £1.50. Bargain, no? Then two other women came in, eying my bags and asking if they had anymore in the patterns I had, because obviously I'd picked the nicest ones out. Unfortunately for them, they didn't have any so they had to settle for what else was there. Kalvin asked why I didn't give them one of mine, and I scoffed. He just doesn't get it, bless him.

Then I went into another shop and saw a gorgeous bigger bag, with wooden handles and stripes. We haggled her down to £2.50 and my day was then a thousand times better than it had been already. I've put them in my suitcase, because I don't want to use them here. They'll get dirty in about five minutes around this place.

A successful day trip all round!

Now I'm hungry and we have to go out for lunch. Yummy!

It's most comforting that I tell everyone that I'm on my own and that I'm bored, and yet only Rainy (God bless your soul!) replies. That's just charming. CHARMING, I say.

So, Kalvin appeared back in Hanoi around 4.30am on Tuesday, which was about the same time that I woke up, having only had about three hours sleep. I got to work for 6am, which was the time we were meant to be at work, but typically, someone didn't turn up until 7am, so I could have had an extra hours sleep. A whole HOUR more.

We eventually left on the company-hired bus, and travelled for about four minutes before we alighted. I figured that was hardly worth the bus, but we just stopped for breakfast. Beef and noodles. Yummy. Kalvin only ate the beef, I only ate the noodles. Perfect couple, eh? We piled back on the bus and headed for BaVi, which was about an hour away, and then we started climbing up the mountain. Mum, Claire, Annette - It wasn't as bad as Italy, but there were certainly some hairy moments. The single member of the Cambodia office was with us as she was being trained in Vietnam for a few weeks, and she was sitting right behind me, freaking out quite a bit. And that was before it started getting hairy.

We made it to our destination in one piece, thankfully. Kalvin and several others showed off their MaD foOTbalL sKillZ. That would be a collective zero on the skills, then, bless them. We finally discovered that our fearless leader (Adam - company owner) had run ahead to the pagoda we were meant to be visiting. So off we poodled, only to discover that there were steps.

Lots of steps.

LOTS of steep, no rail to cling to, steps cut into the mountainside.

Awesome.

Actually, what's awesome is that I was the second person up there. Adam was first, since he'd left about twenty minutes before the rest of us. AND some of the skinny, tiny Vietnamese women didn't make it up to the top. Apparently, I walked too fast for them. I know, you think I'm joking, right? WRONG! Ha! I am SUPER MOUNTAIN CLIMBING WOMAN!

Except I'm pretty sure I wanted to cry at one point. It was HARD!

So I nominated myself official photographer, and since I had the company camera, I couldn't really take personal pictures, so you won't find any here. What I can do though is post the company pictures, because I totally stole them. I'll only show you the ones with Kalvin in them, as I doubt you'll care for the other pictures of total strangers.

We then climbed down, which was so beautiful. So easy. So non-breath-stealing. Then we got to the bus, who's driver then got lost, with some help from us. SOme of the guys started singing, at which point the microphone came out and we had an impromptu karaoke session. After declining the chance to serenade them all with my dulcet *ahem* tones, we then discovered that every single Vietnamese person seems to sing beautifully. I hate that! They had the most beautiful voices, it was disgusting! We got treated to some traditional Vietnamese songs, one about a couple in love during the America War (apparently it's not referred to as the Vietnam War here, crazy!).

We eventually found a spot to play some weird mix of Netball/Football, and Kalvin scored the equaliser at the last minute. Hurrah!

Then we drove round some more, had a picnic, drove round some more, got drenched with rain, attempted to play Tug of War, it rained some more, they played jump rope, it rained a lot more, then we headed down the mountain. We stopped at a few cafes to have some goats yogurt, then we headed back to the office.

And I got a cold. The End.

Kalvin has abandoned me to travel the country, so I'm alone in Hanoi. It's a little scary, but I think I'll be okay. It's good practice for when he leaves me for a week or two in June/July.

We went to an Aussie Day celebration yesterday, as Mekong Economics were one of the sponsors, and the two guys that run it are Australian. For some reason it was held in the American Embassy. Figure that out if you can. It was fun, but very humid and hot. Kalvin got roped into being in the 'circus', he had to 'shoot' a little boy, but it's okay because the little boy then 'shot' Kalvin. I caught a few pictures, but they're from a bad angle. There were some bands there and lots of food and drink. It was nice.

Kalvin returns on Tuesday at 5am. That's the day of our Company Picnic, so I have to be at work at 6am before we travel to Ba Vi (don't know where that is) for games, food and swimming. I think I'll be (non) official photographer, so that will be fun. Hopefully.

As you may be able to tell, I have no real reason to update this, but I'm very bored!

MAN. It is HOT here. SERIOUSLY.

Our landlady told us it was 40 degrees outside. That was at 7pm last night though. I hope she meant it had been during the day, although I wouldn't be surprised if it was 40 degrees at that time of the day. Because it is HOT.

Did I mention that Kalvin is worried that his family are going to disown him for being so dark when he gets back? Him getting darker every day isn't helping me when I think I might have caught the sun. I look even paler than normal when my skin is compared to his. Oh well, I'll just have to make sure I head out this weekend and catch some rays, assuming that it doesn't pour down, which it does a lot of the time at the weekends. Typical, eh?

Kalvin and I are very excited that Kaki (sorry, Bal!) has booked her tickets out here ... we have spots free in June and July (and early August) if anyone else wants to come (and I think some may be thinking of it, now I've told you how HOT it is here ... probably on my side though - sun worshippers!) My flight home apparently gets in at around 5am, aren't you lucky, whoever gets to pick me up? I know you'll all be fighting over it.

Hardie, can you please explain to Jeevan that by the time Kalvin gets married, she'll be at least a teenager, and will have probably grown out of wanting to become a bridesmaid? She'll just have to put that pressure on other members of the family. And I don't mean Rajen.

We still haven't made it to see the Water Puppets, apparently the one big theatre thing they have here, but we plan to go every weekend. Then some good movie comes on, or the FA Cup is airing, or you know. Stuff gets in the way. But we have it firmly pencilled in for this weekend. Unless Finding Nemo is on. (Kalvin now loves this movie. He's finding all kinds of things he likes now, such as sweet tea, short trousers and shopping. Nah, I'm just kidding on the shopping, that will never change.)

Claire - get back to me on what dates you'll be in each city/country!!

This was a very boring post. Apologies. I'll regale you all with fantastic stories once we've been to the Water Puppets. If we ever make it. And maybe after we get around to those day trips to a Pagoda and local villages. God, we're such tourists.

Some scenic shots of Sapa:



Kalvin randomly took a picture of a buffalo. They smell. Also - quite scary.


My two helpers: