Halong Bay

We booked a trip to Halong Bay through the hotel...pick up 8 am. W boarded a small bus with a real variety of people on board. Not being too sure of each other there was little interaction during the bus trip - 3 hours of it.

Finally we arrived at Halong bay, boarded out little boat and were told where and when we would be for the next 24 hours... I have to admit that I was a little apprehensive.

The boat took off from the mooring, we were allocated rooms - B1 and I were given the honeymoon suite ( it consisted a double bed sprinkled with rose petals :-)). We then ate, drank and started to mingle with the other passengers - a couple of lone travellers, a young girl couple, a French family with two uni student daughters, a couple in their thirties (who were yet to realise they were a couple!) and a few more. They were all surprisingly good company for the few meals we shared, the dreadful karaoke, the tour of caves, kayaking, unsuccessful squid fishing and generally relaxing while cruising past some amazing sights.

Something like 1969 islands are in the bay - some small, some larger and I can easily see how they could have been mistaken for a dragon plunging through the ocean (supposedly where the name ha long comes from). Small fishing/floating villages shelter in the midst of larger island groupings. The weather was not perfect - a solid cloudy sky meant little reflected sunshine in the water - I can only guess that it would be quite a magnificent sight on such a day, however one could still marvel at the sheer limestone cliffs, caves and landforms that changed as you viewed them from different directions.

Thanks to Richard, M has been taught some magic tricks and wowed those on board producing tricks with his Terracotta soldier card deck. He had everyone on board playing cards or watching tricks, and then was confident enough to approach strangers at the boat terminal, souvenir shop and on the streets of Hanoi.

Good morning Vietnam

We arrived in Hanoi Christmas Day after an overnight train and all day bus trip.

Busy, noisy, sweet, exotic, smiling, sinister are all different adjectives I could use.  Care....is probably one of the most pertinent...take care, good care, attentive care.

Guangzhou

We all felt remarkably okay after arriving at the train station after an 18hour train trip. On the way into Guangzhou, we noticed different landscapes of rugged mountains and more tropical plants including what looked like banana trees.

The climate is much milder - we've stripped off the jackets and are very comfortable in lighter jumpers, which is good as we are all starting to crave warmer weather and thinking longingly of some time on the coast in Vietnam.

We are staying in the 'colourful days hotel'

Shanghai

We were all pleased to board the train to leave Xian. The Terracotta Warriors and Banpo were interesting but none of V5 warmed to the city itself. L's first comment on Shanghai was - "it is so much cleaner!".

The weather is colder than I expected it to be, although there is not the pollution and fog haze we had endlessly in the other two cities - it is nice to be able to focus our eyes on something clearly in the distance. We even saw sun and shadows today - something we noticed had been missing for the last week since leaving Singapore.

Shanghai is a busy city but much cleaner than Xian and Beijing - The western influences on it are quite noticeable with a mix of oriental and European architecture of say 200 years and not just ancient and modern Chinese.

We ventured onto the metro and into the heart of Shanghai. People approached us left right and centre offering to take us to shops selling fake designer goods - handbags, suitcases, wallets etc.

Took the metro to east East Nanjing Street and walking down the mall ran into a friend of Ben's from school - Allen who is in Shanghai visiting his grandmother - it blew everyone's mind, including his! It was about 15 minutes before I had the wits to think I should have taken a picture of all the kids as proof that there really is only six degrees of separation.

We walked to the Bund and saw the river and interesting skyline of modern buildings on the other side. Taking a small detour we found ourselves walking down the street with 'pretty girls' smiling sweetly at B1 and B2 ;-) - the education you give your kids on such journeys is priceless.

We are having dreadful Internet connection problems - all our email accounts come through gmail and of course google and the Chinese government apparently haven't reached agreement, so there seems to be a bit of a go slow on anything related to google. It hasn't been such an issue as in Shanghai although it has not been brilliant in Beijing or Xian either.

The second day we bought tickets on a hop-on hop-off sightseeing bus that took us around the city. We found a youth hostel bar that we all felt comfortable in and spent a few hours playing pool, talking to fellow travellers and soaking up the relaxed atmosphere - it is the most talking we've done with strangers as not many Chinese are open and talkative even if they can speak English. This has made us think that perhaps hostel accommodation might be more interesting for the kids particularly.

Xian - an ancient Chinese capital and end of the Silk Road

We arrived at 8am after an overnight train journey from Beijing. The railway station makes central railway in Sydney look village like. We were approached by a travel service lady who had a van to take us to a hotel - only 30 yuan. Thinking this was only 5 aud we agreed and were driven 2kms to our hotel. We are starting to get used to this.... Foreigner means no idea and therefor all the prices in the free trade commercial tourist areas are whatever you can get away with.

Our rooms in the Canaan international hotel were quite interesting. A black and white theme with a checkered floor meant that one felt quite woosy every time you walked in the door. Unfortunately the beds were no more comfortable than Beijing - they are large but rock hard - think the base part of a mattress and base ensemble and that is the mattress - I actually have bruises on my Lowe hips from the pressure of laying on my side.

Day one saw B1 head to the railway station to book the next leg of our journey and B2, L,M and I walk through the main part of town to get the lay of the land. There was a lot of construction work happening with large parts of the footpath hoarded off. The WHS issues would give an Australian work cover authority regulator heart palpitations if not a full on coronary. We walked through dirt with electrical cables laying across our path, excavators working unhindered less that 50 cm away. All the while the shopkeepers on the route keep trading. The pedestrian congestion at points was amazing - people just came to a complete halt to fit between a 1.5 m opening with the crowd 20 deep in either direction. It was quite confronting for me and even more so for the kids.

Xian is a walled city with an intact wall built the same time as the Great Wall was commenced. There are gate houses to the north, south, east and west and in the centre are two towers - a drum tower that told of the end of the day and a bell tower that informed citizens of the beginning of the day. Unfortunately both these were undergoing renovations so we were unable to have a good look other than to note the sheer size of both in the chinese style. Walking back to our hotel we walked the back streets and looked at day to day life. The economic divide can be to the extremes in less than a block.

Day 2 was a organised tour to Banpo Neolithic village excavations and the army of the terracotta warriors. Both simply amazing and I cannot aptly find the words to explain how I felt seeing that time frame of civilisation before me. These two historic attractions held more for me than the modern city, which I found a little overwhelming - the pace, notice and commercialism of a 4.5 million small city compared to our small 35000 city was a little hard to relax in.

Banpo, with the evidence of a maternalistic settlement from 4500 BC and the evolution of shelter construction, was mesmerising. The ingenuity of these peoples with lack of tools or mechanics to constantly improve their lot makes one marvel at what can be achieved. The information that has been gleaned by archaeological experts by piecing together all the little details to give an insight into life thousands of years before Christ makes me wonder what might be thought of our society in 6000 years.



The army of the terracotta warriors with the connection to the afterlife was a different attraction. The tyranny of the emperor who enslaved 700,000 of his people to build his tomb and army of protectors is hard to fathom. It is no wonder there was a peasant revolt that ended his reign and he only lived to 50. The incidental find by peasant farmers building a well and happening on a pit of broken soldiers adds to the mystique of the whole story. 1 metre of digging to the south or west would have seen this great wonder of the world continue to be buried for another 1000 years - now as it stands there will be work for generations of archaelogists in preserving and reconstructing this magnificent monument to ego. They are sight to behold

4 days in Beijing

V5 arrived in Beijing early Monday morning after an easy flight that left Singapore around midnight. The airport in both places makes Sydney's Kingsford Smith pale into insignificance. We needed to catch a train from the arrival gate in Beijing to the baggage collection area.

Our first experience at the tour desk at the airport on enquiring about a car to the hotel was a sign of a number of experiences. There is a reliance on foreigners not knowing the ropes and prices given can be exorbitant. The local airport shuttle took us to town for one tenth of the price we were quoted for a large taxi. However....when we got off the bus we were a little unsure how far it was to the hotel and had trouble catching taxis...we could flag them, but the drivers played mute when asked about the hotel...I think we now know that the fare was not large enough as it was only 10 yuan on the meter (maybe aud 1.5)

That first afternoon we took a walk south from where we were staying at the Redwall Hotel. Walking beside the Forbidden City, we found ourselves at Tianamen Square, the Great Hall of the People and the scale and size are needed to be seen to be believed. The number of tourists visiting at this time of year - really heading into winter - says something about the esteem of the government and respect for history here...people were everywhere and we were told it was nothing like the spring, summer and autumn times. Apparently over one day in the labour day week holiday period in October ... 600,000 visited the Forbidden City in one day and they stopped selling tickets at 1pm.

We all slept a very long sleep that first night... Catching up from the travel night and I think appreciating the cooler weather after the heat and humidity of Singapore.

Day 2 saw a visit to a local shopping precinct where we managed to find a McDonalds and were amazed at the value and similarity of menu. Coffee is in short supply - when it is available it is relatively bitter - the global coffee connoisseur fad has not yet hit china!

We bought tickets to the Forbidden Palace and the automatic guides to inform us. L and B2 were drawn into the historical stories of Emperors, Empresses and Concubines that were regaled with the different sections. The large scale of the buildings and walls in this palace can't be fully comprehended until you are actually inside. The craftsmanship is also quite astounding - to think that these wooden buildings are standing some 600 or 700 years later in such fine condition is testament to detail and care (the question is whether it was given willingly). My most amazing discovery was the primitive fire extinguishers located throughout the development - huge bronze urns that were constantly kept filled with water to circumvent any disaster - they look like giant flower pots and if you didn't know you would think they were just empty pots for such a purpose

Day 3 was an organised tour to the Great Wall and Ming tombs - organised through the hotel tour desk. We were collected at 730 by our guide, Michele, and bundled into a Mercedes van. We set out in the first flurries of snow and it remained all day. We began with a visit to the valley where 13 of the 16 Ming Emperors are buried - visiting the tomb of Zhao Ling. tranquility was exacerbated by the constant snow fall which gave a surreal feel. the snow and consequent ice made it perilously slippery on stairs and ramps.

Our trip was amended to a different part of the great wall as the mountain pass was considered a little dangerous so we opted for a closer location at Ba Da Ling. We were there at 12 noon on 12.12.12 - quiet a auspicious time. V4 climbed the wall while B1 toured the local museum sections due to knee injuries. The 4 who climbed felt the muscle strain for days afterwards. It is indeed a very impressive rabbit proof fence in China - the engineering and labour feats to build such a protective wall must have been at great cost to the community - I wonder whether the benefit was equal?

The final day in Beijing saw a check out from the hotel and the day spent at the National Museum of China - off Tiananmen Square. The museum is huge and had many exhibits. One interesting exhibit. Was the foreign diplomatic gifts received from countries around the world. We spotted three gifts from Australia - an engraved emu egg, a painting and a vase. Many of the gifts were from fellow communist countries - surprise!

Images of Singapore

A day in Singapore

A light breakfast and then hitting the streets. We walked and walked seeing Hindu temples, Mosques, Buddhist temples and Cathedrals. The Temples have it hands down for colour and interest as the cathedral was white and large and traditional.

L and M both decided on a henna tattoo. L going for a traditional hand and finger decoration, while M took on a Chinese dragon.

We took a bus around from Little India to Chinatown and had lunch in a food hall populated by locals. SGD2.50 for chicken and noodles but the most interesting was when we visited the food market in the basement. All manner of fruit, veg, fish and meats to be found and then we stumbled upon the 'live section'. Frogs, eels and catfish swimming around in buckets. B1, B2 and M had a time trying to capture an eel each in their bare hands - so brave and then the alcohol hand wash came out afterwards.

L was most impressed with Orchard Road - the names just rattled off her lips - D &G; YSL; Armani. I noticed the Chanel, but she s things like Forever 21 and Top Shop.

After a late afternoon nap we're off to find a curry for dinner - a nice cold beer as well.

Ready for take off...

The train was 10 minutes late but all was reasonably well. We didn't have time to stop and think too much as we moved from one thing to another. Customs wasn't too bad, but we had to keep moving. Boarded 30 mins before scheduled departure time.

B1 is doing foot exercises, M is reading safety information, B2 and L are talking like experienced international travellers and we haven't taken off yet!

I'm on the plane and finally starting to relax...LET THE HOLIDAY BEGIN :-)

And here we go...

Don't believe the lady on the phone that tells you to travel without a ticket. 530 this morning there wasa country link man at the station who said never do that! You can buy authority to travel and the purchase at your destination. Makes me feel a little more comfortable. The man behind me only had $20 dollar notes and had read a brochure that god him the ticket vending machine took notes...the CountryLink man's response... Never believe a brochure :-)

V5 are about to take off...slow train to Sydney.

And yes, I did get s good nights sleep :-) but the teenagers are suffering from such an early morning.

One more sleep...

Sausage sandwiches for dinner ... Everyone having their last fix of unrestrained Internet time in five different parts of the house.

Bags packed ... House sitter briefed. The big question, can I get a decent nights sleep?

And the count down begins.....

The last week has seen an endless list of tasks....from making sure growing teenagers actually have clothes and shoes to wear to creating PINs on credit cards to ensure they will work overseas.

It's been a week of preparations that haven't exactly run smoothly. The banks' foreign currency supplier computer system went down the 3 times I tried to order foreign currency; the local train station can't pre sell tickets for a 5.45 am train - you have to use a vending machine that has a 10 coin limit with no notes or eftpos facility (just imagine $60 in 20 coins :-)

The impending adventure is only just starting to sink in for all members of the clan. M is asking whether there will be fake iPhones; L is thinking about packing dresses; B2 is telling me he needs to see his friends because he won't see them for a month and B1 is saying 'don't worry - it will be fine' at every question I ask. I concerned about going to a country where limited English is spoken and I can't decipher the written script!

Just found this great translation app for the iPad - itranslate voice - you just say what you want translated and it then reads it in the language - it will be interesting to see the reaction in mandarin speaking areas as to the accuracy!

In less than 24 hours we'll be making the trek to Sydney to board planes. Of course, I've been recalled with horror stories of it taking over 4 hours to get through customs....my mantra.... I will relax!