A Sad Farewell

Yes, it’s true, we’ve come home early. We are very disappointed but, given the circumstances, it is the right decision. We have been hit for six with the news that Gem possibly needs surgery within the next few months. Obviously continuing the travels may have had a detrimental impact on her health, so coming home is the only option.

Good morning Vietnam

Sunrise somewhere over Thailand en route to Vietnam

We arrived in Hanoi and immediately fell in love with the people. They simply are the friendliest people on Earth!! Hanoi itself is organised chaos. You dice with death each time you walk the streets, for all the mopeds and motorbikes that fly around, giving you a courteous hoot of the horn, if they are just about to knock you over!!!

Gem doing some heavy lifting in the streets of Hanoi

We decided to head out of Hanoi and take a trip to Halong Bay, to return and visit Hanoi’s sites on our return. A 3 and a half hour drive away, Halong Bay is famous for its 3,000 odd small islands, which jut up across the horizon. We took a boat trip on a so-called “junk boat”, which was actually more luxurious than it sounds!!

Hundreds of junk boats in Halong Bay

The dining room on our boat - the food was amazing!!

We sailed around the islands, visited an impressive cave system and canoed through some amazing rock formations. The food on the boat was fantastic, unfortunately the same can’t be said for the karaoke that night. Just terrible!!

The massive cave complex at Halong Bay



Us outside the caves with the spectacular view

Stunning sunset

We visited Cat Ba Island and the national park there. We trekked through some hot and humid rainforest and got a view of the whole park, which was incredible. Getting there was tough work though, the path was a mud slide and the heat was unbearable.

The view of Cat Ba National Park after our tough climb

More hospitals in South East Asia

We first discovered Gem would need surgery weeks ago in Singapore, however the doctor there was unconcerned and suggested we continue travelling. So we did. However, she had begun to get more acute pains whilst in Halong Bay, so we visited a doctor on our return to Hanoi. What a useless waste of time and money.

Our insurance people decided that they needed a more detailed report before they could safely send Gem on a long haul flight home, so off we went again to Bangkok. And again we saw no sights, but the inside of another hospital!!

The doc gave her the thumbs up for the flight, but crucially said that only a Business Class flight would do!! This reduced our disappointment of coming home slightly!! It was a lovely experience, if it was for the wrong reasons. Going back to economy will be hard in the future!!

Ells catching up on some movies in his big chair!!

The view from the upper deck of a 747!!

Travelling – a great way to reassess the value of your life

Eight months ago we were 2 young professionals, working hard in the week and lazing around at the weekend. If this trip has taught us anything, it’s that life is too short for that.

We have had enough time out to recharge our batteries and reassess our lives. And to be honest, we are absolutely ecstatic to be coming home and to have this opportunity at a fresh start.

We cannot recommend travelling highly enough. It gives you time to really appreciate what you have and take a long look at yourself to see where there is room for improvement. Now it’s time for us to prove that we can take this chance.

So, we bid you a sad farewell. It has been absolutely fantastic writing this blog. We hope you enjoyed it and thank you so much for all the kind comments. It has really helped when the going got tough!!

Love Ells and Gem xxx

A Big White Lie

As Jim, Vron, Katy, Rob and Joe walked through Singapore airport terminal, little did they know that we were waiting for them on the other side!!! “Surprise”, we shouted and the looks on their faces were priceless!!

Our beautiful nephew, Joe

We’ve been holed up here for the past 2 weeks to allow Gem’s foot to recover properly. We had planned to surprise them anyway as they are staying with Mark for a few days before heading on to Brisbane for a holiday. We were going to arrive a few days before them, but as Gem’s foot needed time to heal, we decided to get a flight from Bangkok all the way down to the southern tip of Malaysia and rest up in luxury without having to pay for it!!

And let us tell you, lying to your family about your whereabouts when you’re actually sitting in your brother’s apartment is harder than you think!!! Made up emails about how amazing Vietnam is and Skype calls from the restaurant downstairs purporting to be from a café in Bangkok all played their part! Sorry!!

Cabin fever – resting in JB

After waiting for 10 hours at Bangkok airport, we got a flight down to Johor Bahru (JB) in Malaysia, which is where Mark lives. Gem was wheeled to the car in her wheelchair, feeling suitably depressed that we were forgoing a couple of weeks of travelling around Thailand.

There is little to say about our time in JB, except that Gem’s foot has healed very well, Mark has an exceptionally awesome DVD collection, Wii bowling is addictive and swimming is bloody knackering.

Our daily routine went a little like this: Get up, go for a swim in the Olympic sized outdoor pool downstairs, shower, play Wii bowling, eat lunch, play on the internet, watch movies, go out for dinner, go to bed. Fortunately for us, we have an outrageously generous brother who has not let us pay for anything.

We did have our 3^rd wedding anniversary here though, which was something different. We went out for a lovely Italian meal and watched the sun set from Mark’s balcony looking over Singapore. How romantic!!!

Ells wiped the dust off the shirt for a night out

Anyway, hobbling has now turned to walking, so we are safe to get back on the road and see stuff again!!

Quick hop over to Singapore

Mark drove us over to Singapore where we had found a great value hotel right in the centre of the city. We planned to meet up with our good friends, Rach and Dave, who had come over to visit.

Although this wasn’t our 1^st time in Singapore, it was our 1^st proper visit together and we really had time to take in what Singapore is all about. As a city it really is magnificent. Everything is clean, everything works and everything runs on time!! We’re pretty sure the designers of Singapore played a lot of Sim City, as it truly is a perfect place!!

The next day the 4 of us took the cable car over to Sentosa Island, a small island just south of Singapore and bought 3 rides on the luge. It wasn’t quite as good as the one we rode in New Zealand and the heat was incredible, but we had a lot of fun all the same. After lunch we went to the Underwater World and saw all sorts of weird and wonderful coral fish, rays and sharks.

Now that Schumacher's pulled out, we're sure they're gonna give Rach a call!!

The next day we went to a tailoring shop and Ells got a cashmere suit made in anticipation of the job interviews that are hopefully looming on the horizon!! Dave didn’t join us though as he was hung over!! We headed back over to JB that night to clean up Mark’s flat for the arrival of the family.

The surprise

The next day we drove back over the border to Singapore airport and waited in the arrivals hall until the first signs of people from the flight started picking up their luggage.

Then we hid behind a pillar and waited in anticipation. The familiar click clack of Vron’s crutches told us they were coming, then comes the classic line from Mark!! “I’m afraid I didn’t have enough room in one car for all of us and the bags, so I’ve had to bring a friend to help” and out we came.

The looks on their faces were priceless. We had been worried that they may have found out from someone or may have guessed we’d be there, but they didn’t. It was a fantastic reunion and seeing Joe for the first time in 7 months was awesome. He’s grown up so much now and he certainly did his utmost to keep everyone up for the whole flight!!! They all looked knackered.

Reunited over a beer

Family time in Singapore

We had an absolutely fantastic time with the family and only wish it could have been for longer than 3 days. We hadn’t all been together as a family since Joe was first born so there was lots of catching up to do!!

The first day we drove to Singapore Zoo, which Joe loved. There was everything there from lions and elephants to a komodo dragon and a polar bear (who must have been a bit hot in the 35^oC heat!!), but most of all, Joe loved the fish!! He was mesmerised by them and kept making a popping noise just like them!! How cute!!!

A marine biologist in the making

Rob monkeying around!!

The next day we all packed up and headed back into Singapore. We must have a good few passport pages filled by Singapore stamps alone!! We went for a mammoth Hard Rock Cafe lunch and then the boys took Joe around the sites while the girls went shopping (you didn’t think Gem would come all the way to Singapore and not go shopping, did you?!!).

"This is where travellers shop...honest!!!"

Jim and Vron put us up in a lovely hotel for the night and it was very sad to say goodbye early the next day as they flew on to Brisbane and we made our way to Kuala Lumpur. We had a fantastic few days and must admit we feel a bit home sick now.

Tired out after an afternoon with the boys

But the show must go on!! We are just here in KL for 1 night before our 6.30am flight to Hanoi, Vietnam tomorrow. A new adventure awaits and we are glad to be back “on the road” after a few weeks off.

Love Ells and Gem xxx

WARNING: Do not read this blog if you are squeamish!!!

We think of ourselves as quite organised travellers. We pretty much have each day planned out for our time in South East Asia. There is so much to do that if you get caught in a place for longer than you intended, you can miss out on better things later on.

However, flexibility is also a quality a traveller needs and we have had to turn our plan on its head for the simple reason that Gem has been walking around for the last 2 weeks with what can only be described as a tree in her foot.

Sabaidee from Laos (it means Hello!!)

Our overnight train from Bangkok to the border with Laos was a much more comfortable affair than our previous train journey. We arrived at Nong Kai around 8am and completed the border crossing formalities without issue. The next train took us over the border into Laos where we bought our visas and headed to the capital city – Vientiane.

Ells relaxing in his bunk on the way to Laos

Vientiane is a very chilled out place where the French influence on the country truly tells. There are cafés all over the place selling crêpes and baguettes. We just enjoyed relaxing here, taking in the unbelievable sunsets and getting fully acquainted with Beerlao, the Lao’s answer to a fantastic tasting beer!!!

The fabulous sunset in Vientiane

We visited a Buddhist temple (of which there are hundreds here) and also the city’s bustling market, where Gem bought herself a tailor-made skirt to wear at school (when she gets a job!!).

They like a golden Buddha in Laos!!

This wat has 10,000 of them!!!

Vang Vieng – anyone for an episode of Friends?

After a couple of days in the capital, we got a bus a few hours north to the town of Vang Vieng, famous for its tubing adventure along the Nam Song River – basically a “bar crawl” of sorts, except instead of staggering from bar to bar, you float down the river in a rubber ring until the next bar throws you a rope and you pull yourself in. Or so we’re told!!!

We didn’t get to experience it as Gem’s foot had got slightly worse over the past few days, with more puss, blood and a few tiny splinters coming out of her wound. It was clearly infected, something we decided to rectify when we headed back to Thailand in a week’s time.

A local fisherman throwing his net in the Nam Song

So to fill our time in Vang Vieng, we watched Friends!! Sounds weird, but the locals have used the Western popularity for the show by creating “video bars” – bars where you lie down on a bed, drink Beerlao and watch Friends from dawn til dusk. It’s odd how you can just sit there for hours watching Friends, but hey, it’s a great show!!! And did we mention the beer’s great too!!!

Our room was pretty cool too. We slept in a hut on stilts next to the river with a mattress on the floor and a mozzy net!! The biggest cockroach on the planet lived there but we battled through that and enjoyed the authentic experience!!

Our hut in Vang Vieng

Luang Prabang – cookery schools.....

After another long drive through some spectacular scenery, we arrived in Luang Prabang. We were hot, sweaty and without anywhere to stay but we landed on a jackpot as the owner of a small guesthouse persuaded us to stay there. It was a lovely little place with AC and an amazing shower. Well, we’re allowed a little luxury every now and again – and for £7 a night, it’s a bargain!!

We booked ourselves on a cookery course and headed to the school early the next day. We met our chef teachers, Phia and Leng, then headed off to the market to buy our ingredients. That was an experience in itself. As a poor nation, the Lao eat almost everything they can to survive. This includes buffalo skin, congealed blood and even ground limestone as a flour. Unbelievable!!!

Anyone for chilli paste?!!

We got back to the school and watched Leng and Phia cook numerous dishes (fortunately not using any of the ingredients mentioned above!!) until we had to go back to our workstations and copy them. It was a fantastic day.

Gem making Laos-style mayonnaise

Ells frying up a storm

We cooked 5 dishes in total, learning new ways to cook certain ingredients that we wouldn’t have thought when used together would create such fantastic flavours. Then we got to eat them all. They were all lovely and we are looking forward to recreating this fabulous cuisine for anyone willing to try it when we get back.

Yum yum - some of our finished dishes

Us with Phia and Leng

...and hospitals!!

The next day we had planned to visit the many wats (temples) in the area, however, Gem’s foot had become excruciatingly painful, such that we had booked flights to Bangkok for the next day to head back to the hospital there to get it sorted for good.

Ells did manage to see a few wats while Gem was laid up in bed!!

Any research we had done regarding Laos medical facilities ended with the same message – if you want good medical care, then get yourself to Thailand as there isn’t any in Laos. So we called our travel insurance provider (which cost us a bloody fortune by the way) to get the OK for the flight down to Bangkok, however they were adamant that the care available in Laos was good enough.

Words that describe insurance providers begin with F and C and B. They simply cannot be repeated on this blog as Nan reads it!!

Regardless we needed to sort this out so we headed to the local hospital. We drove in a tuk-tuk out of the town passed some very poor neighbourhoods until we reached the Laos-China Friendship Hospital. Gem limped through the entrance and into the consultant’s room...with 3 other patients all being seen to at the same time. This wasn’t looking good...damn insurance tight asses!!

A colourful tuk-tuk and its smily driver

The doc consulted another guy whose English was equally rubbish (confidence is ebbing away and Gem is looking terrified at this point!!). He summons her to the “SURGSERY ROOM” as it was spelt on the door. Should we do a runner? Damn, Gem can’t run!!

So she lies on the bed and the doc starts dosing her foot in iodine. By this point Gem is petrified and when the 1^st injection goes in, with 3 nurses holding her leg down, the screams must have been heard in the UK!! To cut a long story short, he extracted 2 more splinters from the wound, one of which was over an inch long!!!

Not really a splinter, more a plank of wood!!

God only knows how someone can walk around for 2 weeks with a tree in their foot, but Gem managed it with a rucksack on her back!!

What now?

Our plan is to head back to Bangkok for a week or so anyway, just to rest Gem’s foot. We will also be close to a world class hospital in the event that we need it.

So, Laos was unfortunately not the experience we had wanted and our plans to head into northern Thailand and visit the tribal villages, do another cooking class and visit the Bridge over the River Kwai have regrettably been sent to the scrap heap. Oh well, we’ll just have to return one day!!

Love Ells and Gem xxx