Hong Kong

The pollution in Hong Kong is really becoming a problem, and we all felt somewhat affected by it, as well as the visibility being very poor.  It cleared some towards the end of our week, but more and more people are complaining about it and it ranks high on the list of the World's most polluted cities.  Most of it comes from Shenzen, over the border in China, but some is also believed to be because of lack of emission controls in Hong Kong itself.

The Sevens rugby was the best ever.  A changed format into two leagues - World Series and Qualifier, separates the Greats from the Minnows, so all the games were closer and there were no huge scores as in previous years, much more exciting to watch.  The closeness of the games may have had an effect on beer sales as less visits were made to the bar!

England looked pretty indifferent, losing to Samoa in the Pool, then to Fiji in the Cup semi-final and to South Africa in the play-off for 3rd place.  New Zealand looked unbeatable and favourites for the Cup, but Fiji stepped up their game and put in an electric performance to take the Cup.

Potatoes in the crowd!

Crusaders on red horses!

The South Stand was full by 10am on Saturday, but was curiously later on Sunday, probably due to the hangovers of the imbibers on Saturday.  Many more people had fancy dress than ever before, the population also had a lower average age than previous years, and the security atmosphere was noticeably more relaxed than in the last 15 years.  Even jugs of beer were making it into the upper levels, despite prohibition notices.  It seems that the organisers have realised that a heavy handed security approach is counter productive.

France lost every game, delighting many as it would, although it didn't silence the noisy crowd of French school kids several rows back from us, who had colonised a block as they had done two years ago!  They seemed more interested in constant trucking up and down the steps than watching the rugby.  Hong Kong broke the mould and won all their Pool games to go top and into the Qualifier quarter-finals with the prospect of promotion.  But, a player was red-carded in the opening minute and, despite a heroic effort from the other 6 to hold it to a draw by full time, they lost to Japan in sudden-death extra time.

Macau

We took a day trip to Macau, changed hugely since I was last there in '96.  It is striving to become the Las Vegas of Asia and now has many casinos with all of their excess and ugliness in most cases.  We visited The Venetian and were immediately surprised by the allowance of smoking inside and that we seemed to be the only non-Chinese there.  It is a Chinese gambling Mecca.  Despite the high stakes at some tables, we thought the gamblers didn't look well-off judging by their dress, so pondered whose money is being gambled away.

During a visit to the old town, we were again in the minority and I was struck by how the shops had changed to suit the market - gone were the semi-precious stone jewellers that I remember from the 70s, replaced by Chinese food outlets.  It was crowded and we didn't linger as long as I had expected to absorb the Portuguese architecture and ambiance, because it was pretty much subsumed by the influx of gamblers.

The steps of St Paul's.

Thailand - Koh Samui

Returning to Bangkok, we joined up with Mike & Karen before heading for Koh Samui to stay at The Tongsai Bay, run by Mike & Sue who used to run Poppies on our last visits here.  It's a bigger development, which we didn't leave for the entire stay, with private beach, two swimming pools, 3 restaurants and plenty of opportunity to relax and chill out.

Breakfast, and a very fine Thai buffet, were enjoyed in one of the restaurants, where Mike & Karen indulged in breakfast:

Another bath with a view too!

Just before cocktails:

Vietnam - Traffic!

The use of the motorcycle as a means of transport for families and materials continues to fascinate me, even more so now that I ride myself.  The chap with the sacks on the back is carrying seven of them, 60 kg each, a total of 420kg.  Typically, the motorcycle would have a passenger and cargo limit total of something like 150kg!  The rear tyre must be pumped up to about twice its normal pressure.

And, the weaving of motorcycles among other traffic remains utterly mesmerising, and we amazingly saw no accidents.

Some footage is from the road, one piece taken on the pavement to demonstrate that this is the same as the road, and there is relatively mild example of the situation at a junction, but I was able to view it from above, which gave it the edge.  I don't have good footage of the chap with the large fridge on the back of his motorcycle, or the family of five, or the little kids without helmets, or those with just what looked like baseball helmets etc etc.

Vietnam - Mekong Delta

We took a day trip to the Mekong Delta, starting at My Tho to take a small motorised boat across the river and into some creeks at the side, finally ending up in Vinh Long before returning to Saigon by road.  We saw the tail end of the floating market, which starts at daybreak, when traders come to buy and sell fruit and vegetables on the water, and visited a factory where rice pop was being made in a large wok with heated sand in the bottom.  It was then fused into blocks, cut and packaged at a next stage. Other foodstuffs were being made and packaged and I always enjoy seeing these basic ways of making food products:

I saw a large nuoc mam (fish sauce) vat, which was used in days gone by to make the sauce from rotting fish.  It seems to me that the modern day sauce is less smelly than that I remember, perhaps because of an improved process.  Previously, the premium grades were made by repeatedly draining the liquid from the bottom of the vat and pouring it back in for another pass - you had to eat it quick without smelling it!  It is very nice with cha gio (Vietnamese Spring Rolls).

 For part of the journey, we took a sampan through a small creek, which was very peaceful, even when interrupted by the oarsman's mobile phone!  

We also enjoyed a Vietnamese lunch on top of getting a bit of a feel for what life is like for those who live on the water.  In all, a lovely day.

Vietnam - Nui Dat

A trip to Nui Dat, an Australian Army combat base during the war, was principally an excursion for me.  I had connected a call-home telephone service to it, and Vung Tau on the coast, for Australian troops in '70, first visiting with their signals folk, one of whom I maintain contact with to this day.  

The camp itself is no longer there with only the gates remaining, some concrete bunkers survive, but the helicopter pad is now a soccer field, and the runway on which I had first landed, has been incorporated into a road.  

A kindergarten school has been opened in a joint venture between Australian Veterans and the local town of Baria, shown above to the right of what was the helipad.  SAS Hill was still discernible, but all the kit had been removed from the top of it.  

The base was established in '66 and a pivotal battle was fought nearby soon afterwards.  The NVA and VC tried to deliver a knock-out blow to the Aussies with overwhelming force at Long Tan, to keep the area insecure.  2,500 of them attacked an initial force of only 108.  In the end, 18 Aussies were killed and nearly 300 enemy bodies were found, although many more were believed to have been removed so they couldn't be counted, and the Long Tan Cross remembers those Aussie losses and was only established quite recently.

Our guide was a bit of a rough diamond, having been an interpreter for the US Marines around Quang Tri during the War.  He served his time in a Re-education Camp after Unification, which he described as 'prison'.  He did, however, get us to where I wanted to go.

Vietnam - Saigon

The city continues to develop and high rise is more evident than our last visit in '07.

The Hotel Majestic, overlooking the Saigon River, has been extended and massively refurbished since I lived there in '69 and '71, when it was rather run down although it could be see that it had a classic past.  Much of the character has been reinstated since it first opened in 1925 and we enjoyed a (French era) Colonial Room looking out on the river.  Maybe sadly, it plans further expansion, including a high rise tower behind the original building and it is difficult to see how its charm will persist with this expansion, although the Peninsular Hotel in Hong Kong may be the successful model to follow.  Cocktails on the top floor overlooking the river proved very popular and we tried every one with 'Saigon' in its name!

Vietnam - Halong Bay

It's a good 3 hours drive from Hanoi and it wasn't a good day weather-wise, cool and a bit drizzly at times.  The karst-type rock formations rise from the sea and are quite spectacular.  We had a junk ride to view some, with a seafood lunch on board.

We stopped to tour two impressive caves, housing many stalactites and stalagmites displayed well with coloured lighting, although the destructive effects of hands touching them not yet been fully understood.  Some creative cement work has also been included, although quite well done, including a larger nipple replacement to a mammary-shape rock that had been rubbed away!  

It was a long day but well worth it despite the gloomy and chilly conditions.

Vietnam - Hanoi

On arrival, we took a walk around Doan Kiem Lake in somewhat gloomy weather.  

Next day, we wandered the city, seeing Uncle Ho, who was back in his Mausoleum this time, having been missing, away on reparations in Russia, in 2007.  He looks like a wax effigy rather than a real body, but we were impressed by the reverence afforded him by the local people and the army guards.  

We popped into the Ho Chi Minh Museum afterwards for another look, but not much had changed in this rather ugly Russian style building.  

A tour of the Military Museum nearby featured a pile of US airplane wreckage, a bit cobbled together on the one hand, but making a point alongside the finely painted North Vietnamese tanks and other machinery.  

Then, it was off to the 'Hanoi Hilton', really only a piece of it remaining as a museum, but nonetheless giving a good portrayal of prison conditions in the French Indochina era for the political detainees, complete with guillotine, as well as those of the American pilots captured during the war.  Pretty grim they were.  Propaganda pictures portrayed an image of well looked and happy US prisoners, who had now seen the error of their ways, amid some diminutive female Vietnamese capturing the considerably larger pilots and hauling pieces of wreckage out of the lake waters.  Nothing was mentioned of the torture of course.  

Then we walked through increasing drizzle back to the hotel along, but mostly off, congested pavements as shop and house owners believe they own the piece in front of their premises and use it accordingly.

Reflecting back to when I first came to Hanoi in '94, there is now a minority of bicycles and many more motorcycles and cars to quantify the growth in prosperity in addition to the higher rise and new buildings.  The motorcycles continued to fascinate us and the rules for crossing are look ahead, not sideways or behind, and let the traffic flow around you believing you haven't seen them.  It's a bit like the rules of the ski slopes where you let others worry about you, not you about them!   However, we saw no accidents and I was impressed that no vehicles of any kind showed evidence of such either.  Jean found that using her umbrella to obscure her view of the traffic while crossing roads lessened her awareness of danger!

Bangkok & Bridge over the River Kwai

Staying at the Shangri La on the first visit, we got an upgrade to a 'bath with a view' over the Chao Phraya River!

Leaving early to avoid the traffic, we headed for Kanchanaburi, near to the location of the bridges over the River Kwai, passing through areas that had recently been badly affected by the floods.  After touring a museum, set up like a hut in which the prisoners of war used to live in, we got some appreciation of the terrible conditions and treatment they suffered.  Called the JEATH Museum, after the nationalities of the prisoners - Japanese, English, Australian, America, Thai and Holland, it was pretty basic and got the point across.  We also learned of the disruptive actions by the prisoners in choosing unseasoned timber for the railway construction, causing it to fail from time to time. 

 Then, there followed a quick trip on the river in a long tailed boat before we arrived at the bridge.  This was the metal one that was built after the wooden one, now no longer present.  Both were disabled by allied bombing but only the steel one was rebuilt (not blown up by Alec Guinness, as in the film).  A train took us from there, across the bridge, to Wang Pho where we enjoyed a Thai lunch before returning by road to the bridge.  The train was early for the first time in history, it was said, so we had to take our walk across the bridge afterwards.  This had some benefits as it was less crowded with others.