Mitchell’s on Tour – Thailand, Vietnam, India & Nepal

Before we left Australia we found an interesting article on the web, about a walking tour of Ho Chi Minh City. It sounded fascinating and since taxi’s and even cyclo’s are relatively expensive we decided to venture out into the traffic and mayhem of the side walks (yes i do mean traffic ON side walk as well) and burn off some of the calories we had for breakfast.

It was a warm morning but not too prohibitive, and the guide book assured us it was an easy stroll.

Fighting the sea of traffic at every crossing, especially navigating the round-about where cars and bikes just mingle into each other from every direction, we headed off to see the sights.

We braved walking into the middle of the mass of bikes and cars, several times, embracing the constant horn honking and smog and intrusion of touts to visit the markets and the War museum.

We still had several sites to visit, but in the end I was too exhausted (and so were the boys) so we headed back to the hostel, defeated by the city!!! Wondering how we will go in India??

Tomorrow we take a deep beath and do it all again. (Stephanie)

One of the things we’re always fascinated by in our travels are the electrical power lines in different places. We’ve seen the ones in Bangkok a few times and wondered how it is that they keep working but Ho Chi Minh City tops even Bangkok with hundreds of power lines mingled together and strung from one pole to the next and to the next.

It’s a strange thing to take photo’s of power lines while you’re on holidays but we couldn’t pass these ones up so click on the links below to take a look and if you’re a keen electrician then we’ll call you next time there’s a fault on ‘the’ line!!

Looking along the line: Click here -> Down the (Power) line

Here’s the junction at the power pole: Click here -> Which wire do I cut?

If you’re in the mood for some other tricky power lines then take a look at these other ones, some which I’ve seen and some I haven’t…Now, which wire do I cut???

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We arrived in Ho chi Minh City tonight just before dinner. The Lonely Planet guide assured us that we would be able to take the local bus for the price of 3,500 Dong ($AU3.50). We asked and searched and walked and walked however we were told over and over again that they stop running after 5pm.

Having been warned about such scams we didn’t believe a thing they said. We went on searching for our bus and along the way collected a little group of other foreigners that were also searching for the elusive bus. Eventually, after asking several more nationals and receiving the same answer (that the buses don’t run this late in the day), we decided that a taxi was the best option.

We all crammed into a 8 seater taxi and shared the fare of 200,000 Dong, a price increase of approx ten times what we had planned to pay. Then to add insult to injury, I over tipped the driver in my confusion about all the zeros in this new currency. I meant to pay him 6,000 Dong and accidentally paid him 60,000 (I’m sure he was very happy but I felt very foolish).

 It was quite fun to be crammed into the back of the van, all full of excitement and sharing our travel stories. The traffic kept us laughing (and gasping/squealing) all the way into the city.

 We had read about the traffic in Vietnam in guidebooks and blogs, but nothing had really conveyed just how bizarre it is here. Cars, bikes and buses literally weave in around each other, constantly honking their horns. To turn across the traffic at the lights, it is like an orchestrated dancing horse parade, as the cars and bikes just drive straight for each other and vie for position to get in front of each other.

Once we found our hostel (Lin-Phung Guesthouse – Pham Ngu Lao St, a fantastic little place 5 stories high, run by a family that keep plying us with crispy Vietnamese snacks – yum), we went out to dinner and sat chuckling at the traffic some more. We saw little old granny’s riding bikes and giving other women rides on the back (one was so tiny it was hard to believe she was riding at all). We also saw men riding bikes and calling out to offer us a massage, as well as one woman pushing a scale and encouraging folks to weigh themselves for a fee.

 All and all it has been quite an adventurous day full of surprises.

When we first visited Bangkok 20 years ago you couldn’t see the sky due to a constant smoke and pollution haze. It took hours to move around the city by car or Tuk Tuk and things were constantly grid-locked.

On this visit the new freeways mean that it’s far easier to get around with almost constant traffic flow from one area to another and at times three to four layers of tollways allowing the traffic to fan out across the city. The lower roads are still busy but with a city of over 10 million and with an equivalent number of cars it’s going to be hectic.

Add to this the absolutely fantastic BTS mass transit sky train and Underground Metro rail system (both better than I’ve seen in any country) and an increasing number of road vehicles moving to natural gas and Bangkok is moving from a city where black smoke billowing from tailpipes into the humid, tropical air was once a Bangkok trademark to, just 20 years on being a role model for Asia’s pollution-choked capitals, boasting considerably cleaner air than Beijing, Jakarta, New Delhi and Shanghai.

Seems that the local government has played their part as well by enacting simple but highly effective measures like washing the streets to keep the dust down. Buddhist crematoria in and around the city were urged to change from wood-burning pyres to more sophisticated electric incinerators.

The striking result is that, while the number of motor vehicles registered in Bangkok has increased by 40 percent over the past decade, the average levels of the most dangerous types of pollution — small dust particles that embed themselves in the lungs — have been cut by 47 percent, from 81 to 43 micrograms per cubic meter during the same period. Bangkok’s air, on average, now falls within the limit set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency of 50 micrograms per cubic meter, but is above the European Union limit of 40.

 In reality though all this means nothing to me. What means something is how the sky looked when I went out this morning……clear blue with no clouds (or smog) to be seen. It seems that Bangkok is moving ahead and in spite of the challenges of a ballooning population and traffic requirements it’s getting ahead of the environmental challenge that so many of the worlds countries, including Australia seem to be finding so difficult to make the hard decisions on.

While Stephanie & Jordan opted for a restful day closer to Bangkok yesterday, David & Luke headed off to Ayutthaya. The kingdom of Ayutthaya was a Thai kingdom that existed from 1351 to 1767 until it was sacked by the Burmese.

 Throughout the day (after a 2.5hr ‘Ordinary’ train trip) we moved from one world heritage site to another with the help of a tuk tuk driver as our guide and were able to move around and walk among sites that were more than 700 years old, something generally impossible to do in Australia.

 There was something amazing about walking up the (very steep) steps to the former Grand Palace or touching the dozens of Khmer budda and Bodhisvata staues and walking through arched walkways that previously were walked by the King of the East.

Herer are a few photo’s:

The long steps to glory

Khmer Temple

Looking out on history

 We covered 6 ancient sites in just a few hours before returning to the train station for our journey home. An amazing days experience.

All that remains of the old city are some impressive ruins of the royal palace. King Taksin established a capital at Thonburi, across the Chao Phraya from the present capital, Bangkok. The city of Ayutthaya was refounded near the old city, and is now capital of the Ayutthaya province.

After a train, taxi, three plane flights in three countries over 24 hours plus another taxi trip we’ve touched down for our first full day in Bangkok, Thailand.

 Hours after we arrived when eating at a roadside cafe (well it was on the roadside – literally) we were passed by an Elephant in downtown Bangkok so we knew we weren’t in Adelaide at least.

Dining in downtown Bangkok

Today we ventured out, a couple of hundred kilometres, to the famous floating markets. Heading down the Klongs in Long-tail Boats with huge 6 cylinder engines sitting on them (and exhaust fumes to match) then onto the Allied war cemetery in Kanchanburi, Bridge on the River Kwai which was part of the infamous Siam to Burma ‘Death Railway’ and finally onto what has become known as the Tiger Temple where we walked beside and sat with adult tigers. Luke even having one have it’s head across his lap. Stephanie’s highlight there was being nipped on the hand by a 6 month old cub (they do look cute!).

Tiger Temple visit photo

 On the way home we stopped at a much tourist trodden little section of bush where dozens of Monkeys eagerly awaited us and happily took the corn we bought for 20 baht (80 cents). The Monkeys are definitely wild but also definitely not afraid of people.

 The Tiger Temple was really our only reason for coming to Bangkok this time and we’ve had it planned since our last trip when we heard the boys were a little young for the tigers. We only have three full days here before heading to Vietnam on Wednesday night and will go from today’s very organised and somewhat expensive tour (although we’re glad we did it) to a totally independent trip tomorrow via the local monorail and underground then 3rd class seating (air-conditioned if you open the windows!) for a couple of hours north of Bangkok to the old capital of Ayuttaya – mainly ruins but highly recommended and something we haven’t seen before. The trip will be as much an adventure in getting there as it will be once we arrive…..more on that to come.

All the best

We had our first laugh about India today (and we haven’t even left Australia!) after sending an international SMS to a tour guide in Rajasthan. We found his details in a few blogs and wanted to check availability and cost. We sent the SMS from the web however Luke had the the actual mobile with him and was staying with friends.

Immediately after sending the SMS it seems that the driver called the number. Luke, thinking it was a wrong number (an Indian man saying he was calling back!) asked who he was calling for. The response was fast….He Knows! After a few attempts with the same response Luke changed tack…..Maybe you have the wrong number. The response….no, he contacted me on this number! Next attempt – Maybe he’s changed his number….you can understand the callers response now…he’s just received an SMS from this number, immediately called it back and this person thinks the number might have been changed – Hmmm. Luke’s last ditch effort was to say this is my number which ultimately brought about the end of the call (and probably more confusion for the Indian man!).

 Oblivious to what has just occurred Stephanie called Luke a minute later to see how he was going and he told her the story only to receive laughter as she puts it together and tells him it was an international call meant for us.

We sms’d him back, this time on David’s number and 15 seconds later (you guessed it), a call but this time we knew who he was……He know’s!

♦ Sawatdi ♦ Chào bạn ♦ Namasté ♦ Jojo-lapa ♦

We’re nearly there….after travelling in Zimbabwe, Malawi, South Africa, Malaysia, Thailand, Burma and Laos we’ve booked our flights for our next big adventure through Thailand, Vietnam, India, and Nepal!

Last week we visited the travel doctor and to Luke’s great relief he only had one needle (because he was so young when we travelled to Africa he needed to catch up on all of the Rabies and Heb A, B and other shots when we travelled last time and felt like a bit of a pin cushion.

We’re still working through our itinerary and trying to see the best way to cover all that we want to do as well as arriving in the right place at the right time (when it’s important…like for pre-booked flights!). We also need to arrange our visa’s, book some more flights, buy some new sleeping bags and supplies and work out how to use the Indian Railway online booking system.

 Our last trip was something none of us will ever forget and this time we’re away for more than double the time and have some very exciting things planned from the Mekong Delta to a camel safari in Rajastan to a home stay in Kathmandu, Nepal.

We head off on 28th February 09 and will be away for just under three months and we can’t wait. Take a look at what’s ahead of us.

1. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

2. Bangkok, Thailand

3. Ho Chi Minh City & Mekong Delta, Vietnam

4. Kolkata (Calcutta) India

5. Delhi India

6. Jaipur, Rajastan India

7. Mt Abu, Rajastan India

8. Jodphur, Rajastan India

9. Jaisalmer & Bikaner, Rajastan India

10. Chandigarh, India

11. Dehra Dun & Rishikesh, Inida

12. Kathmandu & Patan, Nepal

13. Chitwan (Royal Chitwan National Park), Nepal

14. Varanasi, India

15. Darjeeling, India

16. Chiang Mail, Thailand