Yesterday, I took from Gwen's lead by taking to the waters with a camera still attached to me.
I'm in the tiny village of Tortuguera in Costa Rica. The adjacent beach is the nesting place for more than 100,000 green turtles. Viewing them can only occur at night time so during the day, we went out to view the wildlife in the national park located south of the village.
The standard way to do this is with a guide in a canoe, where only the guide is doing the paddling. We wanted to have a bit more fun so with a bit of negotiating, we managed to convince our guide to let us follow him in some kayaks.
Unfortunately, when I got into my kayak and onto the open waters, I lost my balance, and flipped the kayak over, while I had my camera on me. The good news though was the camera was in my bag, which miraculously, kept the water out.
Unfortunately though, the lens in my bag built up some condensation due to the humidity, and upon drying out, has left an inner lens fogged up.
So in short, my camera and 1 lend works. The telephoto is out of commission. :-(
Wednesday, 6 July 2011
Saturday, 2 July 2011
Costa Rica - first impressions
So after a 2 days of travel, I finally landed in San José, the capital of Costa Rica. And based on the airport, it was hard to tell that I had even left the states! It had the same drab 70s metallic look that I assume was designed to look futuristic at the time but seems to always look old and dreary. Sort of like a metallic Barbican :-)
On the streets though, things look a lot different. I'm staying at a Backpackers that's quite central but you wouldn't know it. The streets are deserted with most shops closed although that could be due to siesta. Regardless, the place lacks any charm and for me, seems like a mash between Compton in LA and Havana (without the character).
Tomorrow, we're heading out of town to the only ancient ruins in Costa Rica. They're not grand but hopefully will be interesting. It's rainy season though so hopefully the day won't be ruined by it ;-)
On the streets though, things look a lot different. I'm staying at a Backpackers that's quite central but you wouldn't know it. The streets are deserted with most shops closed although that could be due to siesta. Regardless, the place lacks any charm and for me, seems like a mash between Compton in LA and Havana (without the character).
Tomorrow, we're heading out of town to the only ancient ruins in Costa Rica. They're not grand but hopefully will be interesting. It's rainy season though so hopefully the day won't be ruined by it ;-)
Thursday, 5 May 2011
Monday, 2 May 2011
Going home
I'm in Saigon again and tomorrow morning, we fly to Hong Kong for one night and then it's back to the old dart.
Time has gone by pretty quickly but I am missing home - especially the good Indian food (that doesn't make you sick!).
Time has gone by pretty quickly but I am missing home - especially the good Indian food (that doesn't make you sick!).
Sunday, 1 May 2011
Friday, 29 April 2011
Rain season begins
Looks like the rain season has well and truly begun here in Vietnam. Today we hired a motorbike and headed out to the north of the island (Phu Quoc) only to have to go back after 10 minutes of riding as the rain was bucketing down. Luckily it cleared up in the afternoon, but this is telling us it's almost time to leave and go back to balmy London!
Thursday, 28 April 2011
Gwen gets her own back
No matter how hard we've tried, it's been extremely difficult to like Vietnam. We have been constantly having to deal with the locals trying to rip us off at every turn.
It happened again this evening. We are in the small island of Phu Quoc and after dinner (where again the owner tried to over charge us), we went for a drink at a little stall in the night market. We looked at the menu and I ordered a fruit shake (where the price was listed), and Gwen ordered a "che" drink (no price listed but we had an idea of what the price should be from experience).
After drinking up we paid for the drinks without asking the price hoping they'd be one of the few honest locals. They gave us change which indicated they weren't, although that had already become obvious when a discussion amongst themselves started after we given them our money (knowledge of Vietnamese is not needed as they were clearly discussing what they should charge us).
After we inquired to the costs of the drinks, they gave us a price for my fruit juice that was higher than the menu (looking back now, this was so that the ratio of the prices of the two drinks would remain the same with Gwen's che being cheaper).
I pointed them to the menu price and they proceeded to give us some additional change admitting their mistake however we knew that they were still overcharging us for Gwen's che and she decided she was not having any of it.
So she simply got up, 'accidentally' knocked the table causing her empty glass to fall and smash on the floor. We then walked off with the Vietnamese a little shocked. We knew we were correct in our assumptions as they didn't chase us down or attempt to make us pay for the glass. That felt good! Bit evil though :-)
It happened again this evening. We are in the small island of Phu Quoc and after dinner (where again the owner tried to over charge us), we went for a drink at a little stall in the night market. We looked at the menu and I ordered a fruit shake (where the price was listed), and Gwen ordered a "che" drink (no price listed but we had an idea of what the price should be from experience).
After drinking up we paid for the drinks without asking the price hoping they'd be one of the few honest locals. They gave us change which indicated they weren't, although that had already become obvious when a discussion amongst themselves started after we given them our money (knowledge of Vietnamese is not needed as they were clearly discussing what they should charge us).
After we inquired to the costs of the drinks, they gave us a price for my fruit juice that was higher than the menu (looking back now, this was so that the ratio of the prices of the two drinks would remain the same with Gwen's che being cheaper).
I pointed them to the menu price and they proceeded to give us some additional change admitting their mistake however we knew that they were still overcharging us for Gwen's che and she decided she was not having any of it.
So she simply got up, 'accidentally' knocked the table causing her empty glass to fall and smash on the floor. We then walked off with the Vietnamese a little shocked. We knew we were correct in our assumptions as they didn't chase us down or attempt to make us pay for the glass. That felt good! Bit evil though :-)
Wednesday, 27 April 2011
Huế
Huế used to be the capital of Vietnam back at the beginning of the 20th century. There is a forbidden city in the town but unfortunately, it's been mainly reduced to rubble from the war.
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| He looks like he should star in a Kill Bill movie! |
Halong Bay
We did a 3 day cruise in Bai Tu Long bay - a less touristy area of Halong Bay. It was nice and most important of all, the boat didn't sink!
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| A another junk heading in the same direction |
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| There were also some dry freighters |
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| Our junk |
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| View from onboard |
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| Unfortunately (or fortunately), there wasn't that much to do |
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| Bird of prey trying to catch some |
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| We visited a floating village by bamboo boat |
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| And had some beach time |
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| Best of all, kayaking at sunset |
Motorbikes
It had to be done - photos of motorbikes in Vietnam.
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| Fridge on the bike - no problem |
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| Having a chat with his mate |
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| But worse - texting instead |
Hanoi
We spent about 5 days in Hanoi, although that was mostly spent chilling out observing the hustle and bustle!
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| Cyclos looking for business around the busy streets |
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| Crazy wiring! |
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| Vietnamese women seen through a street barbers mirror |
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| Something so common in asia - getting your portrait photos done |
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| Where ever there might be something to take a photo with! |
Monday, 25 April 2011
Sleepness nights and long days
Looks like I am a gazillionaire again! We're back in Vietnam and cashed up - I have roughly 2 million in my wallet :-) (note 1 dong is worth a tenth of a US cent).
The last few nights have been pretty rough. We had a cockroaches and loud chinese in our hotel in China, mosquitoes galore in our first stop in Vietnam and a rat in our hotel in Hanoi! Throw in a sleeper train in there somewhere and we were walking zombies for a while! Oh and I forgot the extra hour we gained crossing the border :-)
The last few nights have been pretty rough. We had a cockroaches and loud chinese in our hotel in China, mosquitoes galore in our first stop in Vietnam and a rat in our hotel in Hanoi! Throw in a sleeper train in there somewhere and we were walking zombies for a while! Oh and I forgot the extra hour we gained crossing the border :-)
Monday, 18 April 2011
To a lost friend
I'll forever remember the last time I saw you. Singing with all your heart.
And I don't want the world to see me
'Cause I don't think that they'd understand
When everything's made to be broken
I just want you to know who I am
Rest in peace Walshy
And I don't want the world to see me
'Cause I don't think that they'd understand
When everything's made to be broken
I just want you to know who I am
Rest in peace Walshy
Thursday, 14 April 2011
More Chinese signs...
Saw this in Yuanyang and it made me chuckle. I'm guessing they told the person who spoke English, that they wanted name of the hotel on their sign. And the person followed instructions literally!
Last taste of China
After spending a bit too much time relaxing in Dali, we headed down to the big city of Kunming. It's funny how most Chinese cities are unheard of outside of China yet can contain populations bigger than some European countries. Kunming has a population greater than Sydney and the scary thing is that they are expecting the population to almost double in the next year!!
Unlike most big cities however, Kunming (and in fact most developing Chinese cities) is having trouble coping. This meant massive traffic delays, so much so that the cities main bus stations have been relocated to the outskirts of the city. It has meant now that the airport is located closer to town than all the bus stations! Very frustrating when you are trying to get around via land transportation! To add to our misery, we found out we had only 4 days left on our Chinese visa before we had to high tail it out of there!
We decided to go see the rice terraces of Yuanyang as it was on the way to the Vietnam border. With some complications (aka a broken down bus) we managed to get there after a 9 hour bus ride. And I would say it was worth it!
Unlike most big cities however, Kunming (and in fact most developing Chinese cities) is having trouble coping. This meant massive traffic delays, so much so that the cities main bus stations have been relocated to the outskirts of the city. It has meant now that the airport is located closer to town than all the bus stations! Very frustrating when you are trying to get around via land transportation! To add to our misery, we found out we had only 4 days left on our Chinese visa before we had to high tail it out of there!
We decided to go see the rice terraces of Yuanyang as it was on the way to the Vietnam border. With some complications (aka a broken down bus) we managed to get there after a 9 hour bus ride. And I would say it was worth it!
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| Sunset over the rice terraces once we arrived |
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| Next morning - Gwen loves this photo. What seems like the sky is actually the sky reflected in the water of the terraces |
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| Chinese pigs are different to normal pigs - they look like pug dogs! |
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| Uggggggly! |
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| Terraces through the mist |
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| Terraces |
Wednesday, 13 April 2011
Dehli belly in Dali!?
So after 2 months on the road, I finally got food poisoning! Pretty good effort except the frustrating thing was I got sick from eating in an Indian restaurant!! Trust me to get Dehli belly in the one Indian restaurant in all of Yunnan!
It was actually worse than that - both Gwen and I were sick a couple of days earlier from eating at an "authentic" (in this case nasty) chinese restaurant in Dali. I happened to draw the short straw and was sick again 2 days later. So most of our time in Dali was spent watching pirated DVDs in our hostel where only half the discs worked while the other half had suspect subtitling - like the 'fantastic' Tom Cruise action film "Knight and Day" translated to "Dangerous Love Spy Game" for the hearing impaired :-)
Oh well - at least India won the world cup! That got me through! :-)
It was actually worse than that - both Gwen and I were sick a couple of days earlier from eating at an "authentic" (in this case nasty) chinese restaurant in Dali. I happened to draw the short straw and was sick again 2 days later. So most of our time in Dali was spent watching pirated DVDs in our hostel where only half the discs worked while the other half had suspect subtitling - like the 'fantastic' Tom Cruise action film "Knight and Day" translated to "Dangerous Love Spy Game" for the hearing impaired :-)
Oh well - at least India won the world cup! That got me through! :-)
Location:Dali, Yunnan Province, China
Tuesday, 5 April 2011
Search for the black necked crane
We were lucky enough to be in Shangri-La at the time of year when the rare black necked crane would be in the area. They are found in Napa Lake, which is about an hours bike ride from the town. The lake is special in that the basin fills with water during the summer, and then dries up the rest of the year.
It meant we could walk in the basin of the lake in some parts although it was very very boggy. Our shoes came out worse for wear although the lake itself was quite pretty.
It meant we could walk in the basin of the lake in some parts although it was very very boggy. Our shoes came out worse for wear although the lake itself was quite pretty.
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| Gwen back on the bike |
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| The mountains in the distance are of 5000m elevation! |
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| Dry part of Napa lake with horses grazing |
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| Black necked cranes |
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| I had to be careful cause when I got too close to them (like 50m)... |
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| they were up and outta here! |
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| The lake where there was still water |
Tibetan taster
Shangri-La! Well, actually Zhongdian, but the clever chinese decided that this town fits the bill for the mythical town in James Hilton's novel "Lost Horizon". So the name of the town was changed back in 2001 and now the tourists come flocking in (although probably not as much as they would hope).
Regardless, the place is beautiful and breathtaking - literally! Zhongdian is perched on a plataeu at an elevation of 3300 metres and at this elevation the air is noticably thinner.
Regardless, the place is beautiful and breathtaking - literally! Zhongdian is perched on a plataeu at an elevation of 3300 metres and at this elevation the air is noticably thinner.
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| One of many stupas we saw around the place |
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| Songzanlin monestary |
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| It was not warm as you can see |
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| Tibetan monk |
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