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Another day in Hoi An

29/12/2015

We had another good bike ride through the countryside today even though there were some nasty muddy spots , and we got caught in the rain. We had a dip in the pool or showers to freshen followed by a lunch at our favourite Vietnamese restaurant just down the street. This afternoon and evening we had a nice walk through the old city visiting some historic sites, the market and the river bank.

Barry has posted some photos from the bike ride, so I'll post some of the ones from around the city. I was a little bolder with my camera today and got a few more "people" shots. The locals seem completely comfortable being photographed.

The roads in Hoi An are shared by trucks, cars, motorcycles/mopeds, bicycles, and whatever else needs to be taken along the street.

Molly at the Central Market

These industrious women offer river boat rides after the fishing is done in their boats.

Life alone the river in Hoi An

A local girl sits and watches the river's activities while her parents are setting up a street stall behind her. It's very common to see children at work with their parents.

I almost forget to mention that we participated in Barry's least favourite activity today: shopping. He is having some custom clothes (a suit, sports jacket, pants and shirts) made in Hoi An - something this city is famous for. He doesn't need them on the trip, but he can't show up to work at the university in Korea in shorts and a t-shirt that says, "Not all who wonder are lost."

The clothes should be ready tomorrow.

Barry getting sized at the tailor

coffee and juice break at sunset

Another great day.

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Could'a been the whisky, might'a been the crab

29/12/2015

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Today's a day off. Not because I've had enough of Hoi An but because it seems something got the better of me yesterday. Molly's also a little off today, so she and I are learning to play Gin (instead of drinking it). This too shall pass, and hopefully we'll catch up with the others later. They've all gone for a bike ride through the rice paddies to a new beach area looking for new sites and a new hotel for us for next week.

Yesterday we spent a good portion of the day at the beach again. The weather keeps promising to get poor, so we try to maximize our time in the sun and heat.

The beach here is stunning, and the best part for me is the cabana style setting that's so easy to enjoy. We walk along the beach, the server, Meow, finds us seven lounge chairs then she brings us $1 beers, watermelon juice, laughs and teases us about our beautiful white skin, and eventually calls us for lunch at the restaurant. The food is delicious, even the kids are being adventurous here. However, I think the crab I dissected for lunch has had the last laugh.

A little reading time in the shade

The day before, Molly and I went to town to stroll through the shops for a little while. Molly doesn't part with her own money easily so, despite her full bank account, we gave her some money for Christmas to select some new clothes for herself. She had thought she'd get some custom clothes made, which are easy to get here, but she said, "Mom, why would I overpay for custom clothes when all the clothes off the rack fit me fine." That's my girl...she'll never be poor. In fact, she's only spent 1/4 of the cash, suggesting she has enough.

Molly in one of her new dresses

As mentioned above, bike riding around Hoi An is very pleasant. The house we're staying in has provided 7 bikes for us and the land is table-flat and the paths through the fields are very accessible. It's a photographer's paradise to capture people tilling their rice paddies, water buffalos stomping through the mud and men gathered to squat over their lunch on the edge of the fields. Given hundreds of tourists cruise through these fields everyday observing regular activities, you'd think the locals would get annoyed at the sight of another camera, but people here are warm and always offering a smile. I took a few photos, but have continued to avoid sticking my camera in people's faces out of respect. Sorry some of these are blurry, but my lens was dirty. Check out Lorry and Ted Brandon's photos on FaceBook for really nice photos.

On our bikes

I can't forget to mention the local entertainments we saw on Boxing Day. Down the street is an outdoor theatre that hosts water puppet shows. The photo is poor, but to sum it up, people operate wooden puppets in 2 feet of water who dance and act out daily and mythical events. It was a short, quirky and charming performance that left us all with a smile on our faces.

We found a great taco place for dinner. Yum.

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Vietnam

27/12/2015

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This was initially posted on my site instead of Molly's, but you can her post in the right place now.

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Christmas Day

25/12/2015

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MERRY CHRISTMAS!

The kids started early, but not too early, opening gifts from a few places around the world and cards from their Nanny and Poppa and Mom and Johnny; thank you so much for making them feel special and not forgotten today! It was very meaningful.

When the unwrapping was done, we had a good breakfast prepared by the lady who works for the home owner, then we headed to the beach. When we were all tired of swimming and relaxing, and pleasantly pink, we headed home to make Christmas dinner.

Thanks to Lorry, Ted, Connor, Stephen and Jessie for helping us celebrate Christmas. It means a lot to have friends with us today.

lunch at the beach

We spent a good portion of the day in the water or under these umbrellas. Wonderful.

The water is wonderfully warm.

A one-man fishing boat

The men bbq'd beef to go with our mashed potatoes, carrots, green beans, fresh bread and nice desserts from the bakery next door.

This isn't Mom's or June's homemade pie, but it'll have to do.

The owner of the place we're renting also sent cards and a Christmas cake for us. How thoughtful. All in all it's been a wonderful day and the kids seem pretty happy. I'm relieved.

Merry Christmas everyone. We hope your day is wonderful too.

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Christmas Eve

24/12/2015

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It does not feel like Christmas here in Vietnam. There are very few decorations as most locals are Buddhists, however we did see many children dressed up as Santa Claus tonight - rather surreal.

When we went to Florida for Christmas twice, I was worried we were depriving our kids of a "normal" Christmas even though they still got to celebrate with family in Haliburton before we left and my Mom and Johnny joined us there. But that worry doesn't compared to how I feel now. George seems okay with missing a traditional Christmas, but Molly is feeling more sentimental about the lack of turkey and Nanaimo bars...and baking, and snow, and a big tree and mostly her extended family. I pray tomorrow isn't a disaster that spoils her childhood and passion for Christmas. We've tried to set the bar really low, but I can't predict how she'll feel about the lack of "normal" and abundant gifts here. Time will tell.

Today I did do some shopping while the rest of the gang went to the beach where they had a lot of fun. Lorry actually commented that the ocean was a bit too warm! I can't believe it.

The city was hot - about 31 degrees today so shopping was intense. The market here sells mostly locally made things plus a lot of North Face products; not sure why. I had a good time shopping but was unable to find most of what I was searching for, particularly snorkel, goggle and flipper sets for the kids ....but I did get a two-foot tall tree already decorated.

We attended the full moon lantern festival tonight where lanterns are set adrift on the river. As Stephen Taylor, our Canadian friend we visited with today, said, it's rather environmentally unfriendly, but it was quite pretty. The photos didn't work out, so I can't show you how it looked.

It's Christmas eve so I'd like to wish everyone who reads this a fabulous Christmas.

Much love, Ursula

P.S. Ted posted a video on Facebook of us trying to cross the street amidst the local traffic - check it out!

P.P.S. George's back has still not be found by the airline.

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Our First day in Vietnam

23/12/2015

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After the very long journey to get here, Vietnam is everything we were hoping for: it's hot, friendly, the Brandons are here, the accommodation is awesome, the food is great and the beer and fresh juices are very cheap. We haven't made it to the beach yet, but that's on the agenda tomorrow, and it promises to be great too.

Hopefully George's bag, which is somewhere between Cape Town and Hoi An, will join us soon. We had to do a little clothes shopping to get him through a few days. Thank goodness everything is so cheap here.

Here's a little of what we saw.

Tomorrow Barry will take the kids to the beach while I pretend to need a rest so I can get some gifts for the kids!

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A great day in Cape Town

20/12/2015

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The clouds cleared from yesterday, the sun shone, the temperature rose to 30 degrees and we packed the day full, including a trip up Table Mountain, a Star Wars movie for the boys and Christmas shopping for the girls, followed by an inspiring trip to Robben Island where Dr. Nelson Mandela (and many other political prisoners) lived for 18 years.

It was a good way to spend our final day in South Africa.

The top of Table Mountain looking south down the peninsula

The Devolins on Table Mountain, Cape Town

George pondering the view into Cape Town's harbour. Our hotel was near the oval shaped sports stadium.

Barry with a touch of the harbour, the city and a north easterly view of the mountains

There are no photos of the 4D Star Wars viewing, but the boys said it was great.

Looking back at Cape Town. Our boat to Robben Island throws a bit of a wake. We could see whales blowing in the distance.

Robben Island Prison

This was Mandela's cell, his home and all that was in it for 18 years. What a cruel existence.

Our splashy boat ride back was at sunset.

Robben Island's prison closed in 1991 - Mandela and others were released then. I was 18 years old at the time. It's hard to believe sometimes that apartheid was part of such recent history.

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The Cape and Cape Town

19/12/2015

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We departed our hostel in Gordon's Bay Friday morning with the plan to drive down the east side of the Cape Peninsula, see the point, then head up the west coast to Cape Town. We thought we'd be to the hotel by 3:00 but the fantastic scenery kept us at the Cape longer than expected, and we clearly didn't see everything the towns and national park has to offer, but we were happy to see what we saw.

Because the view from the car was so good, we debated whether we should climb up the big hill to the lighthouse that overlooks the two points. We wanted to get to the city and I was a bit under the weather (doing fine now), so Barry didn't want to push me, but I insisted I didn't want to miss the view.

We would have been considered absolute fools had we not made the effort to see what felt like the top of the world- worlds end - the deep end of the ocean - the tip of the continent - the meeting of two oceans - the route to the East Indies - the home of the ghost ship, The Flying Dutchman - an explorer's hope - the most southwesterly point of Africa... you get the idea: it's significant and not to be missed!

The irony is I didn't even know this view was on my bucket list, but I simultaneously added it and checked it off. The feeling of seeing this mountain range, which starts at Table Mountain in Cape Town, disappear into the ocean with such certainty was a thrill I didn't expect.

My expression doesn't show how thrilled I am - The tip of land over my shoulder is the Cape of Good Hope

Molly overlooking Cape Point and the endless Atlantic Ocean

George at the cape lighthouse - he's not nearly as impressed by the heat and scenery as I am

The land on the other side of False Bay behind us is where we drove a few days ago

We stopped for lunch at a chic cafe in a little town on the coast. I had a open face veggie sandwich - ciabatta bread slathered in hummus, grilled squash, grilled peppers, pesto sauce, spinach, more hummus, and topped with shaved parmesan and pumpkin and sunflower seeds. It was delicious and easy to make - try it!

We arrive in Cape Town via the west coast road which was truly beautiful. The sun was shining and we could see Table Mountain from a long way off. The beaches along the way were speckled with sunbathers, swimmers and surfers, though surprisingly less populated than expected for the Christmas holidays. It really isn't that busy here.

After checking in to the hotel, we walked 2k to the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront, South Africa's most visited site. It's a a working wharf surrounded by fabulous restaurants, shops and stylish people...and us.

We ate a Thai dinner, at Molly's request, and enjoyed the sights and sounds of the very posh side of South Africa.

Saturday, we did a very middle class touristy thing by boarding the red Hop-On Hop-Off bus. Even though we have our own car. This bus route that circles Table Mountain and explores a lot of the city core and it's suburbs came highly recommended, so we took advantage, once again, of SA's reasonable pricing and did the tour. It was worth it, especially for Barry who didn't' have to be concerned with driving and trying to catch glimpses of beautiful things out of the corner of his eye. The kids weren't so impressed, but we reminded them that just two days ago we let them pet cheetahs and caracals and went on water slides...they humbly went silent.

Barry gets a chance to look around

The bus tour price included a half hour inner harbour tour, which was a nice bonus. Yachts, an Arctic explorer ship, tour boats and cruise ships all make this harbour their resting place.

Notice the seals in the water, the working ships and cranes, and the unwelcome cloud over Table Mountain

Now the disappointment of the day was that Table Mountain remained blanketed in a heavy cloud (see above photo). It looked like a cloud dragon decided to rest on the plateau for the day guarding it like a treasure and laughing at the waiting tourists below. Hopefully it'll find a new home tomorrow so that we can explore on of the 7 natural wonders of the world before the planned boat trip to Robben Island. The weather is known for being fickle here, so we'll have to wait and see.

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Cheetahs, Caracals, Water Slides & Sharks

18/12/2015

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Yesterday we enjoyed the city of Gordon's Bay. We're staying at a small hostel here and spent our early morning chatting with other travellers while we had our coffee and breakfast.
When we had arrived here, the host told us about a Cheetah Outreach Centre, so I looked it up and discovered that they had caracals, bat eared foxes, meerkats, and many cheetahs. George was disappointed Kruger Park when everyone else got to see their choice of animal but he didn't. Caracals are very hard to spot, so when I knew there was one nearby we decided to go see it.
Entrance to the park is cheap because they want people to learn about the cheetah's challenge to survive here in South Africa. The biggest threat to these cats is farmers who are trap or shoot them in hopes of protecting their livestock. Caracals and other animals are innocent non-livestock threatening animals that often get trapped by accident. It's rather sad. The organization if breeding and giving away large dogs to protect the livestock instead - the program has been very effective and much safer for all the cats.
The Centre allows you to have an encounter with some of the animals (this is where they get your money). Molly chose the young cheetahs and George wanted to pet the caracal. It was a lovely experience for all of us, more heartwarming than I expected.
The guides used our cameras to take some photos while we enjoyed the animals.

After lunch we had a long stroll on the beach and eventually ended up at a small water slide park. The kids slid for an hour and exhausted themselves. They chose to go there instead of the ocean because the water was rather cool and Barry and I didn't want to swim to entertain them. When Barry walked back along the beach to get the car and bring it to us, he noticed the water had been cleared of swimmers because of sharks being spotted. Not only do the beaches have lifeguards, but they have shark spotters as well. Flags are raised and horns are blasted to let people know to clear the water. Glad we chose the water park!

It's our plan today to drive down the Cape of Good Hope and make it back up to Cape Town by mid-afternoon. We'll spend three nights there before flying out.

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Coastal drive

17/12/2015

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Wed. Dec. 16, 2015

It’s not every day that you get to wake up to large green Knysna Turaco birds squawking and interacting outside your tent, but that’s how our Tuesday started (I'm going to try to add photos to yesterday's post after this).

After a fairly relaxing morning and a swim in the pool (kids only) we left the Treetop resort and drove out of the mountains and back to the coast. We had a one night stay planned at Mossel Bay, but like everywhere else we’d been in South Africa, we wished we’d booked more time.

The coast was so windy that our lunches could easily have blown right into the ocean had the plates not been so heavy. We enjoyed a walk along the beach and tried to go in swimming, but the kids were more interested in squabbling with one another than they were in compromising on where to swim so it was a bit of a frustrating outing. Oh well, I’m sure they’ll get another chance to swim in the Indian Ocean one day!!!

Mossel Bay is a pretty place with a gorgeous natural harbour and plenty of tourists. It’s very different than Jeffreys Bays’ surfer attitude as this place was a more upscale. I preferred J-Bay, but this was pretty amazing too. We had a fun dinner out at the harbour eating way too much barbecued meat and fire roasted bread. Molly had a hair wrap put in while we waited for our food, which she is delighted about.

Our hotel for the night was a huge 2 bedroom unit on a corner that overlooked the ocean. The windows fully opened to let the air blow right through. It was gorgeous to sit facing the water and listen to the waves.

We left in a haze this morning - environmentally, not mentally - and started our 350km drive to Gordon’s Bay, which is our last stop before Cape Town. The drive started out with familiar terrain, but it quickly diversified and we started seeing vast farmland on the mountain foothills, ostrich farms, potentially beautiful farm land (a little dry this year), vineyards and more. We broke off the main highway close to our destination in order to drive along a coastal road on a peninsula.
Our first stop was a small ocean-side town where everyone was swimming, picnicking, and enjoying the Dec. 16 holiday. It’s a day to remember reconciliation after the Boer War, but everyone we asked about the holiday didn’t know why Dec. 16 was important. When we arrived out our accommodation, our host looked it up for us. People like the holiday even if they don’t know what it’s for.

Our next stop was to see the African penguins who live in Betty’s Bay. These small penguins were charming to watch in the wild as they swam, climbed an old whale fishing ramp and fussed with one another like kids in a school yard. We didn’t stay long as we wanted to continue our drive along the Atlantic, up the coast and into False Bay. The scenery was spectacular with rough mountains on one side and the rolling Atlantic on the other (we crossed the Indian Ocean border and entered Atlantic coasts around noon - looks the same to me). It was gorgeous to round a corner into the bay and see the Cape of Good Hope mountains in the distance. The cape has always seemed like such an exotic place that I can almost imagine 400 year old ships rounding the corner in hopes of being off to the west Indies. The drive along the west side of the bay was much like Hwy 1 on American’s coast. At one point we could see a whale’s blowhole in the distance but not much of the whale could be seen. Southern Right Whales are most common here.

We arrived in Gordon’s Bay, checked into the hostel and returned to the waterfront for dinner. I found it rather thrilling to watch the sun set on the Cape of Good Hope. I’m surprised by what I emotionally respond to sometime. It was a great way to end an exciting day.