Reflections of Vietnam

Even the Vietnamese have difficulty crossing the road!

Just a few of the motorbikes in Ho Chi Minh City, correctly parked. Most of the others were either on the footpaths where we wnated to walk or on the road where we were forced to walk!

Cu Chi Tunnels, Ho Chi Minh City. Jessica, the youngest and smallest of our group shows us what it is like to access the underground network. Fionnuala might have got her legs down but would have been a sitting duck for the Americans!


















The entrance to the park near the hotel where we stayed. We joined the locals in stretching exercises, yoga and dance - a good way to start the day at 6.30a.m.








Hey John! This has taken me over an hour to do! And the photos will not go in the place I want!! I'm off to have a holiday!

In Canberra and Tuross with no internet access

We have had no internet access since we left Sydney and what we had there was less than satisfactory as we were allowed 20 minutes and it could take the guts of that to access emails and then we would be disconnected in the middle of writing an email. Jim got really angry but to no avail! Lois and Fred only have dial up in Canberra and no computer access in Tuross. Finally we have found the library in Moruya but have not brought the notepad or the memory stick so no photos (John, Conor and Kadi!) - we can certainly promise them when we get home, probably after Christmas!! Hopefully I will not have forgotten what our present favourite nephew taught me - thank you John for the great time we had. It was wonderful to have a guide and somebody to pinch food from.

We landed in Canberra on Tuesday where we were met by Lois and Fred and where we picked up a Hyundai Getz. Lois and Fred live in Wynter Place, Hughes - if that means anything to you John. we have been getting royal treatment here - the kind suitable to Kings! On Wednesday, Fred drove us to Mount Ainslie for a view of Canberra. We could see the River Molonglo and the lake created by damming the river, the War Memorial and the sweep of Anzac Parade up to Old Parliament Building and, behind it, New Parliament Building. In the background is the Brindabella Mountains. It is a very beautiful view and very impressive! We followed that with a trip to Canberra Art Gallery where we confined ourselves to the section of Aboriginal Art - absolutely fantastic! The entrance to the Gallery has been redesigned recently and a main feature in the entrance is 200 burial poles given by the Aboriginal people for the bicentenary of Canberra - it was unbelievably beautiful! It ia an Aboriginal Memorial, each pole representing the life of an Aborigine who had dies defending his land against the settlers and each one representing 1 year of colonisation. Unfortunately we weren'y able to take photos as it was not allowed - I can hear some people saying it would make no difference anyway but be patient! We also visited Old Parliament House and then the Library.

Thursday was also full of culture as we spent ages in the War Memorial. We also drove to Mount Stromlo Observatory, part of Australia's National University Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics. This was destroyed in the firestorm of 18th January 2003.

Friday we drove to Lois and Fred's holiday home in Tuross. This is an absolutely beautiful location with lots of lovely walks along the Pacific Ocean/Tasman Sea. We have a week here and hope the weather will be kind to us - some rumblings of thunder storms so I plan to avoid sudden movement that can result in limb breakage!

Lois and Fred have now returned to Canberra and have left us to our own devices. We will miss the laughs and fun we have had but plan to just enjoy the area and leave the culture to our visit to Melbourne where we will be next Sunday and Monday.

Sydney

Arrived in Sydney on Friday 22nd after an awful trip down the Gold Coast (terrible rain, too much high rise and horrendous traffic due to some car race that we weren't aware was on), a great night with Kerrie and Daniel, a half day house cleaning, another trip to Redcliffe and a short flight from Brisbane.

We met up with John (twin) after his work and repaired to Darling Harbour for some food. As the sky darkened I realised, to my surprise, that the high towers actually look lovely at night. We then went to see the Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge - absolutely spectacular by night and much much bigger than I had anticipated!

Yesterday, as the weather was beautiful in the morning, we took the ferry to Manly Beach. Now we had the chance to see the Opera House and the bridge by daylight - equally impressive! After a lovely walk at Manly beach, back on the ferry for a fantastic journey through all the sailing vessels. Sailing looks real hard work! Then we did a trip to the Vaucluse for a cliff walk, to Bondi Beach for a coastal walk as far as Bronte Beach. John couldn't tempt us to surf! After all the walking we had to repair to Darling Harbour for more food and a great display of fireworks over the water - really enjoyable! John gave us a great time but he has a strange penchant for zig-zagging through carparks! He's off to a wedding today and we are looking out at the rain trying to persuade ourselves to go out and get wet!

Bushwalking, gravel roads and ginger

Most of the last 2 days has been spent bushwalking but we fitted in some other trips and activities.

After some housekeeping yesterday morning we headed off to find the Boondall Wetlands. This should have been very simple as the area is only about 5km from where we are staying. Faithfully following directions we arrived in the Boondall Entertainment Centre where we wandered about aimlessly along the many pathways of a huge complex. Finally a young man came to our rescue and we discovered the centre. Our walk was called the Billai dhagun Circuit (Place of She-oaks). Of great interest here are Nurri Millen Aboriginal art totems. These are cast aluminium totems symbolising aspects of Aboriginal culture in Boondall Wetlands. They are quite difficult to spot, mainly because the area was quite wet and muddy underfoot and the fall-prone Fionnuala was spending much time picking her steps. At any rate of the 10 on our track we saw 8. Somehow we missed number 4 and despite much searching we could not find number 10. They are very interesting - many of them are supported or framed by local weapons including shields or boomerangs.

Later we went for a trip up the sunshine coast and on seeing the Glasshouse mountains from Moreton Bay I had to agree with Captain Cook that they did indeed resemble glasshouses - the type you see in Botanic Gardens.

Having promised ourselves that we would revisit the beautiful Blackall Range area we set off early this morning in order to see, hear,smell and feel the nature in the area - we didn't taste as there are lots of poisonous plants! Our first bushwalk was at the Mary Cairncross Scenic Reserve. this comprises 52 hectares of National estate listed subtropical rainforest overlooking the Glass House Mountains. Here we had a spectacular view of the mountains - the best we had seen so far. Our bushwalk here was really interesting and a bit more challenging than yesterdays. There was lots of wildlife - the birds were particularly noisy and busy. One bird sounded a bit like a gunshot - I have forgotten its name. Another, the Green Catbird, sounds exactly like a baby crying. In general the birds here are much noisier and melodic than the birds at home. We are wakened every morning by a really melodic bird which has a lot of singing to do. The strangler fig trees were huge and are among the tallest and oldest trees at the reserve. They begin with a fig seed germinating high in a tree sending roots down nto the ground. Eventually the host tree is strangled and dies. We saw one brush turkey and not one, not eeven three but sis Pademelons! Pademelon is the Aboriginal name for the rainforest wallaby. A great experience!

Our next stop was Gardner's Falls. We took a short walk along the Obi Obi Creek brushing invisible cobwebs from our arms and legs - we had to feel nature! The trees soar high above the creek and the area is an oasis of tranquillity. We reached the falls which are not particularly spectacular as waterfalls and watched as a group of young men crossed the creek, accessed a manmade swing type thing with a really long branch, hung on to the swiong and jumped into the creek beyond the falls. It was very exciting but Jim wouldn't allow me to do it.

At Mapleton we had great views of rain forest valley and we did another walk - quite different to the Mary Cairncross one but also interesting. Leaving this centre we noticed a sign for Kenilworth which was our next port of call. This was a minor road which turned into a gravel road with a rather steep descent. When we started having misgivings about the wisdom of our choice and considered turning back, we realised that the road was one-way and there was no turning back! The road got narrower and narrower and the descent steeper and steeper. I held my breath for 10 minutes until we reached the bottom. We joined a mainer road and came to a detour because of road work - the roads certainly need work! The detour led to more gravel roads and finally we decided to give Kenilworth a miss and take the next normal road we could find. This led to Noosa Heads on the coast so we followed seaside after seaside until we came to a turn off for Yandina where there was the Buderin Ginger Factory - the world's largest ginger factory. There we lunched on freebies of products which were very gingery and very yummy. Unfortunately we can't take any home with us. I nearly bought a tee-shirt for Jim - it said "Adventure before Dementia" - but I realised it was too late!

Tomorrow Kerrie and Daniel are coming to stay with us for a night - they are the couple that we had the party with on the sleeper train. I expect we'll have another party - there's no option really!

Glasshouse Mountains and the Blackall Range

Spent yesterday and today in the area around the Glasshouse Mountains and the Blackall Range and hope to go back because there are more walks to do and things to see.

Yesterday we went to Eumundi Market. Seemingly it's the biggest market in the southern hemisphere. It certainly is the biggest market I have been to and the best. It has loads of local, high quality crafts and Jim nearly had multiple heart attacks every time I stopped to admire art work, jewellery, sculpture etc. Despite his forbidding expressions I managed to relieve some of the stall holders of some of their wares. I even persuaded him to get me an early Christmas present! On our way home we got a flavour of the Glasshouse Mountains so we had to go back today.

The Glasshouse Mountains, eroded volcanic plugs, got their name from Captain Cook who first saw them in 1770 and was reminded of glasshouses - they don't look remotely like glasshouses to me! I much prefer the aboriginal legend from the Guppi Guppi people about the mountains. Tibrogargan, the father, and Beerwah, the mother, had many children of whom Coonowrin was the eldest. One day Tibrogargan noticed that the seas were rising. He called out to Coonowrin to help gather the other children for his mother, who was pregnant - this is the cause of her huge size. Coonowrin ran away in fear of of the rising water saying that Beerwah was big enough to look after herself - he was not aware that she was pregnant. This angered Tibrogargan so much that he struck his son such a blow that it dislocated his neck. Tibrogargan was so furious with his eldest son that he has turned his back and looks out to sea - when you look at the mountain from the front you can actually see the shape of eyes. When you look at Coonowrin it does look like a crooked neck. And Beerwah is huge - it takes a long time to give birth to a mountain! We also walked to and admired many of Beerwah's other children. The twins, I think are fraternal as they are not identical.

The macadamia industry is very important in this area but unfortunately we missed the nut fest last weekend - obviously it was short two nuts!

Then we continued on to the Blackall Range and the towns in the area. This area is even more beautiful as it has wonderful views from the mountains right down as far as the coast. The countryside here is surprisingly like Ireland. We stopped in Maleny, a lovely rural town with more crafts - and more heart spasms for Jim! Then we went on to Montville, a quaint mountain town with great restaurants - so we had to eat! Between the walks and the window shopping it got too late to do all the things I wanted to do so hopefully we will go back to the area. Other travellers would probably be more attracted to the water sports of the Sunshine coast but we love the rural areas.

We have had some useful learning over the two days. While Jim was frantically trying to stop me spending money our car was being issued with a parking fine - we seem to gather them on all of our holidays! Anyway, there is nothing like a 30 dollar fine to ensure that we learn the rules of parking. 1P means 1 hour, 2P 2 and so on. We did 4P in a 1P zone! Today we had a near miss - we parked in a 2P place but we noticed that all the cars had been reversed in. Fortunately Jim was warned a bit later by a kind woman when he went back to get something from the car - he would be finedfor parking the wrong way round! I reckoned we had saved 30 dollars so proceeded to find ways of spending it!

Tomorrow - bushwalking or... back to the Blackall range and walk to a few waterfalls which should be good as there has been a lot of rain before we came.

Cuddling Koalas in Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary

Computer problems solved but not promising photos yet - we don't believe in instant gratificatication! Another first - managed to skype Brian this morning at 8.30am - 11.30 pm with him. Tried to skype Carol but she wasn't online which was really surprising. Hope she was getting a good night's sleep and not out partying! Very successful day so far as we followed the computer stuff with a trip to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary.

This was a great trip as we encountered all sorts of interesting animals and even had a chance to cuddle a koala. We do have a photo to prove it! We were thinking of adopting a koala - Jim brought the rucksack for the purpose - they seem to be less bother than children as all they do is sleep and eat eucalyptus leaves. In fact my koala looked pleadingly into my eyes but the carer allowed me no time to really bond! Later we realised that they are very noisy when they talk so maybe it's for the best. The wombats were very sleepy but the adult dingo was extremely voluble and aggressive. We took photos of a cassowary, some emus, wallabies, kangaroos, a barn owl, me feeding lorikeets, crocodiles, lizards etc. Since the beginning of the trip Jim has compiled quite a number of photos of lizards of varying sizes and then he tells me today that he's not that fond of reptiles! We saw varying snakes and frogs and finally after a few visits a platypus. All in all a very satisfying morning and early afternoon. Who knows what the rest of the day will hold - not Jim anyway. I'm off to plan something else!

Settling in to Aspley, Brisbane

First of all - lots of computer problems. Can't access Mozilla Firefox on my notepad and can't use Internet Explorer on it because it doesn't have add-ons whatever they are. Am not willing to tamper too much with Bill's computer as regards photos so it looks like you all will have to put up with boring text only!

We're very comfortable here in Aspley and have found a great shopping centre that has anything we need. We were here only minutes when the police called looking for James somebody - I was a bit taken aback as I was sure I hadn't let Jim out of my sight to get into any mischief. Jim assured them that he wasn't Ned Kelly and they went on their way.

We braved Brisbane by bus yesterday (30 minutes)and got on the hop on hop off bus to get an overview. The drivers were much more considerate of our needs than the tuk tuk driver in Bangkok and hopping on and off was much easier. Brisbane is a beautiful city. We hopped off to have lunch at a riverside cafe and hopped on again to go to Mount Coot-tha where we had a wonderful view of the city and surrounding areas. Then we hopped off again at the Botanic gardens where we met quite a lot of huge lizards. The jacaranda trees are in bloom all over the city - they have beautiful blue/purple blossoms. We then got on the city cat for a boat trip on the river. We could hop on and hop off there too but we stayed put. We'll do some more hopping another day.

One Day in Bangkok

Arrived safely in Bangkok before midday on Sunday, all luggage intact. Decided to go into centre of Bangkok to see the sights. This involved an hour's taxi drive during which we got caught up in the red shirt protest. Managed to finally escape and get to the Royal Palace where there was some ceremony involving the King and Queen which meant no entry for a couple of hours. Somehow we were bundled into a strange vehicle - front of a motor bike with the back of a trailer, a motorised rickshaw that emits an awful noise - called a Tuk tuk. We understood that the driver was to give us a tour and then return us to the Royal Palace - Tuktuk driver's have minds of their own. We visited the Standing Buddha - a huge golden statue outside a temple. The place was heaving with people and as we were wandering about trying to make sense of the place we were collared by a Thai man - a teacher employed by the Government to give free tours as this was a special Buddhists' day and people were doing a lot of praying. We removed our shoes and entered the temple and sat on the floor to the side of the praying area where this nice man explained a lot to us. Mainly he seemed to be saying that The Thai Government wanted us to reassure Irish people that Bangkok is safe to visit - the red shirt demonstration might suggest otherwise. Back to the Tuk tuk - getting in and out of a tuk tuk is quite a feat for me and quite a strain on my clothes - and next visit jewellery number1 where we dismounted. This was followed by several more jewelleries, a tailor's, another tailor's, more jewelleries etc. It seems that the Tuk tuk driver was entitles to free gasoline if he broufght us to a number of places. When we showed little enthusiasm for these places he told us to "slowly look, try on, ask for price ..." otherwise he would not get his free petrol. This approach was successful as I found myself increasing my ring collection! Having finally seen the Sleeping Buddha - a huge golden statue lying in a Temple - we decided to give the Royal Palace a miss as the driver had shown great reluctance to return us there anyway.

Travelling by Tuk tuk is just as much an exercise in trust as is travelling by cyclo in Vietnam. During the first leg the wind took Jim's hat - it was restored to him several minutes later by a very kind motorcyclist! On the second stop the engine would not start so we had to be pushed by some obliging passer-by. There were quite a few of these as the engine refused to start after each stop. Then we ran out of petrol and were abandoned alongside some buses as driver went to call for help. Meantime the buses pulled away leaving us stranded in the middle of the street! Finally we got towed by another Tuk tuk to a filling station and after another push-start we were on the road again.

We returned to the hotel after these adventures in Bangkok and took it easy over a nice meal and some drinks. At an early hour there were 2 large sleeping (one snoring!) buddhas in room 418.

Goodbye Asia! Next stop Sydney then Brisbane.

Hanoi - Friday and Saturday

Arrived in Hanoi yesterday after beautiful tranquillity in Halong Bay. What a contrast - it is positively stressful! The city is chock-a-block with people for the 1000th anniversary of Hanoi. The main celebrations are today and tomorrow. You can't walk on the footpaths because of the motorbikes, street sellers and crowds of people pushing their way through. You step on the road and you endanger your life. And all of this takes place in the most cacophonous surfeit of sound - car, bike and cyclo horns, loudspeakers, unintelligible Vietnamese voices etc. etc. The guide books described both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh as vibrant - I would suggest plain crazy!!

This is basically our last day as Jim and I leave for Bangkok very early tomorrow morning. Our tour group has become a bit subdued as 2 of our group are ill and had to go to hospital yesterday. One is on the way to recovery and the other may have to go back in today. So a cold is minor in comparison!

We expect to be in Brisbane on Tuesday morning - maybe we'll start to get some photos sorted then.

Touring Hue and its countryside

What a great day we had today! We departed from the hotel at 8.30 by motorcycle and boarded a boat for a cruise on the Perfume River. We stopped at a Pagoda, a monastery where we saw trainee monks as young as seven! Back to the boat to continue our cruise to the other side of the river where we were reunited with our bikes. The rest of the day was spent on motorbike stopping off at various places - a place where incense burners were made, the tomb of the 3rd Emperor of Vietnam who reigned from 1840 to 1847 - a condemned prisoner built the tunnel but when he finished the tunnel he was executed so no one knows where the Emperor is buried! - bunker hill ( an American base overlooking the river ), a Buddhist nunnery where we had a vegetarian lunch and a lesson in meditation and in worshipping the Buddha, a conical hat maker and a rice museum. We were in and out of main roads, back streets, alleyways, dirt tracks, over narrow bridges, along the train tracks, paths where it was too narrow to walk, between flooded paddy fields - totally exhilarating!

Royal Banquet Tuesday October 5 2010

The Royal Banquet was my first introduction as Queen to my loyal subjects. With His Royal Highness Mike the Solemn, we processed to the Banqueting Hall, accompanied by the court's musician and singers. Our subjects were suitably courteous and the noble handbag carrier, James Wingfield the spice lover, fulfilled his duties admirably. It is likely that we will retain him in that position with a view to increasing his responsibilities. His Higness and Her Majesty smiled favorably on the traditional musicians and singers and called for copious imbibements of the royal brew and fermented grape. The King showed himself to be a man of the people, removing his crown and nodding amicably at his guests in an effort to encourage conviviality.

The first concubine was present and shuffled eagerly to His Majesty's side to reposition his crown, reorganise his gown and ply him with nem and noodles. I was satisfied that she was suitably aware of her inferior position until she took advantage of an unguarded moment on my part, seizing my briefly removed crown, placing it on her head and positioning herself in my momentarily vacant throne! My eyes locked on hers and, in fury, I uttered my first royal command: "Off with her head!"

Day 1 Hue

We had a rather hectic start to today. It's a long story but concerns a pair of handmade sandals which, when delivered to the hotel, did not fit. A phone call assured me that a member of staff would meet me at 6.30 am in the hotel and the situation would be rectified before 8 am when we were scheduled to leave for Hue. 6.30 came and went, several phonecalls were attempted but no member of staff and no reply. We got our exercise by going to the shop at 7.10 to be told that it opened at 7.30, at 7.30 to find it still closed and finally at 7.55 with the intent of getting my money back. No joy on that front - Jim says we were talking to the monkey and not the organ grinder who had not as yet surfaced. Jim got an extra bit of exercise as he ran back to the hotel to get Phuong to mediate and negotiate. Finally an agreement to fix the sandals and send them to the hotel in Hue. Result - another day, possibly 2 days in sopping, stinking shoes.

We finally set off to Hue 20 minutes late. Our first stop was the marble mountain where we climbed 300 steep steps to a pagoda and a holy cave. The view was worth the effort - again photos later when we find out how to do it - Brian help! Then we stopped off at China Beach and at Lang Co Beach. Thet were very nice but many of our own Donegal beaches are just as nice.

We've checked in to a nice hotel in Hue and have already done a tour of the Royal Palace which was great. We are now preparing to go to a royal banquet - in fancy dress!

Day 3 Hoi An

Computer access here very temperamental - have not been able to get into gmail and getting banking details very difficult. However, that does not stop us spending!

Day 2 in Hoi An included a cycling/boat tour and a barbecue lunch. We moored the boat and disembarked (with difficulty as far as I was concerned!). We unloaded barbecue chairs and tables and - the downpour started. We re-embarked, reloaded everything, set up for barbecue on board - and the rain stopped! We stayed on board and partook of marinated beef, marinated chicken, mackerel and stirfry vegetables, barbecued tiger prawns and finally pineapple. We returned to Hoi An for fittings and as we started the 1 mile walk to the shop - the rain started forcing us to buy rain capes which were no good really as we were already soaked. Talking about being wet - I think we spend the time in a constant state of wetness ranging from damp to absolutely saturated. Undressing and dressing when you are damp or more than damp is difficult as is trying on shoes - having been wiped by a pair of shop-assistant-proferred socks! I thinkI will definitely appreciate feeling dry whenever that happens! We had our first free evening and enjoyed a French style pizza by the river looking put at a vista of lanterns and lit up dragons, fish and tigers. In the background was a live performance of traditional music. On our way back to the hotel, the heavens opened and once we were uncomfortably wet we took refuge in a shop where we were not hassled to buy - what a surprise! We might go back there today and buy.

Today we went to M SonWorld heritage site to look at remains of Hindu and Buddhist temples from the 7th to 14th centuries. The 12th and 13th century ones were bombed during the war because the Americans thought the Vietcong were hiding there. It involvd a walk in the jungle and much more wetness.

Tonight we celebrate Trevor's birthday (one of the group from Australia) and tomorrow we are going to Hue which we have been told is flooded - wet, wet, wet!

First day in Hoi An

I've just noticed that Hoi An is an anagram of Hanoi - I must ask Phuong about that tomorrow. Yes, I have been spelling his name wrongly! Anyway, early breakfast - 5.30 am - and off to the airport for our flight to Danang. Jim can do flying this way - give your passport to the leader and do what he says - no thinking, no worrying! 40 mins. bus drive to Hoi An and then allocated rooms in a really nice hotel not far from all the shops where you can have suits etc. and shoes made at very reasonable prices. Jim is having none of it - he doesn't need any clothes!! He's just told me that he nearly bought a tee shirt - but he didn't! We had torrential torrential rain so my hat is looking very sorry indeed but my cheap Regatta waterproof (?) walking shoes from Muff have done very well. Less well is the hair - much much worse than a bad hair day!

We have just returned from a cookery course with Hanh and forever after Jim will be "hot boy" - his love of spicy food of course - and I am "Fing" - much better than "Figment" or "Fifi"! It was hilarious and the food we cooked was great so you can all look forward to some Vietnamese cooking. Tomorrow we are doing an hour's cycling tour and after that we rest!!

Fortunately Jim's camera has survived but photo opportunities are limited as Jim doesn't want to get the camera wet again. It has not been possible to include any photos so far - time constraints and the fact that sometimes I can't use my notebook. Today for instance I couldn't get either the cheese (Jim's name) or Internet Explorer and I have had great difficulty accessing anything on the hotel's computers. But a bit of suspense is good!

Boat trip from Nha Trang

We woke to torrential rain despite Phoong's assurances that the weather is always great in Nha Trang. In Vietnam when it rains you just get wet even if you are wearing the ubiquitous plastic capes. In the boat we met Mr. Tom our Vietnamese guide for the day whose English was quite fluent if you could actually make out what he was saying. He brought us (on foot) for a tour of a fishing village on one of the islands, stopping briefly to supply us with our spotted capes which gave us the appearance of suffering from some form of tropical disease - a rare form of dengue fever some of the group thought. The rain was flowing in rivers down the narrow streets but undaunted we waded on, sometimes up to our ankles in the muddy waters. We reminded ourselves of the beneficial properties of mud based on our experiences yesterday but I was not convinced that seeing a high school, a primary school and a nursery school were sufficient compensation for muck between my toes and sopping leather footwear. To make matters worse my designer hat will never be the same again and even worse it looks like Jim's camera has taken a turn for the worst. As I write he is off to a camera shop to see what, if anything, can be done. Let's hope that he is more successful there than he was yesterday trying to get a beer and a glass oif wine. To be honest, I don't think he has the sign language for what he wants to say nor has he the English as he doesn't seem to know much about the camera.

Anyway, back to the boat and the seats have been transformed into a beauty salon for manicure, pedicure, nail-painting,threading, eyebrow shaping - I had the lot for 220,000. I've never spent so many thousands on myself! Jim had no bother recognising me but the others in the group seemed to think I was tranformed. I dread to think what they thought I was like before! Jim refused point blank to have his nails or to get ear and nose hair cut. I don't know what that says about him - I do but I'm not saying!

Mr. Tom and Mr. Somebody Else started a sing-song with "10 green bottles" which we quickly shortened to 2 after 8. Then we had "Waltzing Matilda" and "Moly Malone" and something I can't remember that represented New Zealand. The whole thing was quite hilarious with lots of sign language and over-the-top acting. I could only mime as my sore throat has become a chesty cough and a squeaky voice. It was a shame because I might have given them a rendition of "Mary from Dungloe".

Shortly after, the crew started fishing and the group went swimming. Jim particularly enjoyed jumping in from the top of the boat and seemingly all enjoyed themselves from the commotion they made. They said the water was warm and very salty and buoyant. I didn't swim because it was raining and I didn't want to get wet. While all this was going on the seats were transformed once again and this time into a table for our lunch. We were treated to the day's catch - squid and a type of fish that tasted very meaty - chicken and beef for the non-fish eating people and a platter of vegetarian goodies for the vegetarian as well as noodles and steamed rice. It was a great spread!

Our next stop was rocky beach which was set up for sun-worshipping rather than rain-worshipping but we made the best of things with some of the group getting into some serious stone throwing competitions.

At present the men have gone to play pool and have a few beers and the ladies have gone to a spa. I am giving that a miss as I have lost my voice and I'm afraid I would not be able to communicate exactly what I wanted or did not want - you can never be too careful you know!
Tomorrow we get up around 5 am to be at the airport for 6 for a flight to Danang and then a bus to Hoi An where we have 3 nights.