Relaxation at the Sunrise Resort, Cat Ba Island

I am soaking up the final hours of cleanliness, fresh air and relaxation at this very beautiful resort. It feels very serene.

Yesterday we hired a motorbike and I sat on the back clutching Clive's belly. I had a system of fingering him when he went too fast down the hills. We drove out to the National Park on quiet roads. It all felt very idyllic. We walked into another world, forest on limestone, a sign informed us to the top of a little Karst mountain. We close the adventure trail and clambered over jagged limestone and slippery roots. We climbed up a rickety metal viewing tower and braved many flying insects that looked like huge wood wasps. The view was spectacular like dinasaur country. I was reminded how much I love wild places and how sad that in our lifetime they have been reduced to small pockets of national parks all over the globe. We saw one squirrel like creature, heard a few birds and spotted butterflies but there of course was no sign of the golden lemur of which there are 62 left in the world.

From there it was back to the resort to find that 91 year old Theo had walked into the town, survived the touts of many people offering him a ride on their motorbikes. His verdict was that it wasn't a very interesting town. So he spent the rest of the day lying on a beach chair and even going for a swim in the ocean. I have to say he has a truly healthy appetite and last night ate his banana split with serious intent and without looking up once!

We have been taking advantage of the $12 massages! My head was throughly massaged, pummelled and my hair pulled out of its roots. Then I had the novel experience of having this young woman, fortunately about half my size tramping with her feet on my back. She held onto a metal frame attached to the ceiling while perfoming this act. She sure was physically powerful and very skilled. My body is feeling good and I hoping it will come up with the needed effort to cycle 100 km per day when we start the next part of our trip.

So today we leave paradise back to the chaos of Hanoi. Theo leaves on Monday and we join our biking group.

Hullo for Cat ba island, Vietnam

Finally I have figured out what the strange vietnamese script at the top of my blog means and how to get into my blog! We had have a fantastic few days chasing moonshadows in Halong bay and world hertiage site of spectacular natural beauty which the vietnamese have done a remarkable job of saving.

We had a couple of hectic days in Hanoi finished the Voyager Jules Verne part of our trip and had to work out this part. While the organised Jules Verne part was interesting I think it will be fair to say that neither Clive nor I are the kind of people who like to be that organised. We did see a lot of the heritage sites in Vietnam but definately spent far too much time in buses and being organised by guides that could only just speak english.

Hanoi itself while a beautiful city with lakes and french boulevards has a chaotic mess of traffic. We spent an afternoon walking around the old city and truly felt sick from the intensity of the fumes. Many locals wear masks and I know why. Crossing the road is definately an extreme sport, extra hazordous with 91 year old theo who is extremely resistant to accepting a helpful arm. So inspite of the cornocopia of shopping delights we were glad to hop on a Handspan Tour bus out of the city to Halong Bay. We did find a fantastic jazz bar in Hanoi but definately decided that big Asian cities are not our thing and thought how lucky we are to live in the pristine Rocky Mountains.

We arrived at the boat terminal to throngs of tourists, guides and very smelly exhaust from the bsuy harbour. Soon we were ensconched on a fast boat that took us to our junk our home for at least 18 hours. Sitting on top, observing the sparking sea and Karst shaped islands like a fabled atlantic the stress of travelling in SE Asia dropped away and for the first time on the trip I felt relaxed. We cruised off through the bay of islands of fantastial shapes munching on delicous fresh prawns, squid and fish. An added plus we did not have to worry about taking Granpa tottering down any steps or being run over by an army of motorbikes! I have to say for 91 he has a very healthy appetite and enjoys pudding and coffee every night.

The following day we truly enjoyed getting onto Kayaks while granpa stayed on the support boat. It was very peaceful and idyllic.

Now we are spending a few days in a fabulous Sunrise resort toping up on Vitamin D and rest before heading back to Hanoi on Saturday. Theo returns to Edinburgh on Monday and we start our biking trip.

I have learned much more about vietnam's horrific history in the last fifty years. How amazingly resisilent the populations is.

Oh well lunch time.
The sun is shining, the sea is warm and the birds sing as the multitude of butterflies dance around the flowers. What more could I want?

Hoi An

It was good to escape from the crazy traffic of Saigon. The visit to the Chu Chi tunnels was educational to say the least. The ingenuity of the Vietnamese certainly won out against the might of the American's. I was glad I was there as tourist and not an American soldier - what a terrifying and alien experience it must have been for them wandering in a humid jungle into traps and guns, not to mention bugs and other poisonous creatures. This was followed by an equally disturbing visit to the War Remenants museum with grapic pictures taken by courageous journallists. It is hard for me to understand why the Americans were here in the first place. I wondered if the Iraquis and Afhganis came to take lessons on how to win a grurilla war and how long it will take us to learn that nobody wins wars. Horrific.


On a lighter note we took a trip to the fertile Mekong river delta and ate delicous pinapple, mango, grapefruit and lycees then floated on a sampan through the lush garens. They produce three crops of rice a year here.

Today we came norh to Hoi An a smaller town, a world hertitage site. We visited an original house with chinese and french influence. Every house seems to have an altar and although this is a communist country religion plays an important role in people's lives. We have visted a Bhuddist Temple, Chinese Pagoga's and strange religous sect called Cao Dai whose motto is God and Humanity, Love and Justice and claims most religous figures for inspiration, bhuddha, quanyin, jesus. This seems enlighted.
Well it's off to bed to look forward to another exciting day of touring with a group!

Ho Chi Minh

Well it would be safe to say that we are definately not in Kansas anymore, not that we ever were. This is definately a huge third world city with it wild cornocupia of smells and sights. The traffic is awash with hoards of motorcycles that seem to be the transport of choice for a family of four, china vases, thousands of bottles of yellow liquid and a miscellny of other stuff. What surprises me is the equanimity of the drivers and passengers as they weave in and out of one another, seemingly with a sixth sense of what the others are up to. Not many people speak much English and there is little tourist information.
We took a little untouristy tour on the river - a brown seething mass of water with all kinds of stuff floating on the surface. Life goes on along the sides of the river - it hardly looked like exclusive real estate, dogs grovelled in the thick mud and there some intrepid fishermen up to their necks in the river shaking their nets for something edible.
In the market there were all kinds of dried fish and other unidentifiable objects. This land gives a new meaning to germs, immunity and resilence.
Tomorrow we visit the War museum which I am sure will be quite horrific.
Time to go and brave the traffic. \
Wilma

LA Airport

Well here I am in the Star Alliance Lounge in LA airport waiting in style for my flight to Seoul and onto Saigon. It has been a busy few days. Hard to think that I was in Edinburgh at the weekend visiting family. I found my 91 year old father in law healthy, entertaining family, driving his car and excited about his up and coming trip to Vietnam. What an inspiration!

It was great to meet my nephew Paul, his wife Leigh and their little busy 8 month old Zac. Then I was surprised to hear that my neice Jane is 16 weeks pregnant. So this was very exciting news on top of spending 5 days with my neice Amy and her 3 month old baby Daniel and her husband Ross in London. It is very touching to see my neices and nephew taking care of the next generation. Very life affirming.

The weather was wild in Scotland but calmed down on Sunday as I sat in a train travelling south following rainbows bright against the electic-grey clouds.

I remembered it was 30 years ago in 1978 that Clive and I decided to leave London and head to New Zealand. What a different life we might have had if we had stayed in London. I certainly did not feel any regrets about the decision that we made all those years ago.

Monday it was back to Canmore for a day - repack, clean, and even time for a yoga class. The weather was gorgeous, warm and sunny. Clive and I left at 4 am, Orion bright in the southern sky, his limbs stretched out about the Three Sisters. I was reminded how lucky I am to live in such a beautiful place and for the convoluted journey that brought me here.

Meanwhile I talked to Chris out in Revelstoke BC. He had just been to Kelona to pick up the wood for his hard wood floor. His long basement renovation is falling into place as they rush to finish before the snow flies and the ski season sets in. He sure has learned a lot this summer and used his seemingly unlimited determination and persistance. Everything he needed to learn he found it on the internet.

Shona is in Toronto for an Alpine Canada gala and will pick up our car that we left at the airport for her. We talked to her and was happy that her latest sponsor Panasonic had given all the team members a new camera. She will be in Canmore for a bit and then off to Finland for 5 days for a slalom race.

For anyone reading this in Calgary - the calgary launch of the story that brought me here is on Nov 21 at Pages. I am really sorry that I will miss it.

Well time to go and hit the fruit tray again before our long flight over the Pacific

over and out

Wilma

World of grand nephew Daniel

Here I am in London reveling in the joy of my neice loving her baby-boy Daniel. It has been a few days of domesticity, cooking, washing dishes, going to the clinic,shopping the nuts and bolts of babyworld. He is cooing away quite happily in his cot and I barely remember my own kids being this well behaved! It is always fun to come to a big city like London and see people go about their daily life in such an orderly manner, planes fly on time, trains run, mums walk through the streets pushing their strollers, people cheerful as they do their routine jobs. It seems far from the drama of credit crunches, newspapers and politics. This is a diverse multicultural world. \all very fascinating.

I found a yoga class in a church hall and it felt good to stretch out some of my jet lag. I had been awake what felt like most of the night! Jet Lag.

In another few days I head up to Edinburgh to see 91 year old granpa at the opposite end of the spectrum

An hour to departure time for London for 9 days then back to Canmore for the night and on to Vietnam. Whoopteedo! I am excited but then need to have a shower etc before I embark on my next adventure. The sun is glinting off the valley cloud, the three sister peak through the luminous cloud promising good things to come. Always rainbows and clearing after the storm. It rained all night although the weather forecast said No precipitation between friday evening and saturday evening.
Watch this space for further blogs on my adventures.
Wilma