Phew!

So as you now know Helen has been really poorly... this has had its low moments as I'm sure you can imagine... I'm not especially proud of trying to make the nurses take her drip out as they were inserting it because it was hurting her so much and during the first few days when H was poorly my inability to help her, or even know how serious she was, was a cruel and usual challenge. However, one of the (very) few bright sides of the dengue fever has been that we've had more time in hoi an, which is a lovely place, also being parted from our tour group has been a good respite from delayed flights, 6am bus rides and constant movement.

I'm just so relieved and thankful that she's getting better, there won't be any lasting ill effects and that our Vietnamese hospital experience was so ideal considering alternative developing world hospital standards. Or maybe the nhs really does have something to answer for if Helen's care is representative of a developing country's health provision.  Something I'll mull on!

And now we have two days of fun before flying to Cambodia! Helen is having a couple of dresses made, we've done sight seeing, swimming and toe ring buying. Very shortly we're going for some very tasty food. I'm SO happy to have my travelling buddy back :-)

Society for the Eradication of Mosquitoes - join here.

Now that I'm better, and have been discharged, I feel I can post this:

The first major incident of our trip occurred this week, when i was admitted to hospital in Vietnam with dengue fever. Some BITCH of a mosquito decided she liked the taste of my blood, and that one bite led to a temperature of 39 degrees, sweats, chills, vomiting and blinding headaches.

I convinced myself I had malaria, and staggered off to the local hospital to pay the equivalent off a small portion of the euro zone debt for tests and drugs. And then cute, floppy haired doctor tells me it's dengue fever and I have to be admitted until my white blood cell count is at a certain level. Cute floppy haired doctor may look all chilled out and yummy, but he is taking no prisoners (or rather, he is, as I am his prisoner here), and every time I mention leaving, or going for a walk, or refuse my Vitamin C intravenously - damn, that hurts - he mutters dark words about risk of haemorrhage.



Looking puffy and weird and attached to a drip. Not my finest hour.


I have therefore spent the past few days relegated to my bed, attached to my drip and hoping fervently for the following things:

1) the mornings blood test comes back showing my white blood cells are multiplying faster than a bunch of rabbits.

2) the 'Jerry Springer' type family who live opposite the hospital stop screaming and singing and go to sleep.

3) That the loudspeaker van that comes round every evening around 10pm, and which I can't work out whether or not is an ice cream seller or a party political broadcast, SHUTS UP.

Vicky has been amazing. Truly, truly brilliant, I would have had a breakdown if it wasn't for her. She has sorted out all the travel insurance, arranged for us to stay longer in Hoi An, has spent hours in the hospital with me (including staying here on my first night). She's lovingly bossed me into eating, gone out to get sodas, sim cards so I can e mail, spring rolls and anything else I need. She asked the doctor the important questions while I was in the corner groaning in agony, and has generally been an all round superstar (we'll sweep the getting caught by cute floppy haired doctor bringing in a bottle of gin under the carpet for now). She's even arranged for one of the tailors that Hoi An is renowned for to come into the hospital and measure me up for a dress I'd chosen. The rest of the tour group deserve a mention too, they all popped in to say hello, bearing flowers, balloons, baked beans and vodka.



Vicky making gin and tonic (strictly for her) in my hospital room.


But now I've been here five nights, and its time to go. I want out of here. I want to go shopping, swim in the pool and hit the beach. I want to wash my hair and have a proper shower. Eat the white rose dumplings that Hoi An is famous for. Have a beer. Have a dress made. Freedom awaits.......


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Location:Pacific Hospital, Hoi An, Vietnam

Leaving Laos

Dont worry, be happy is the instruction we were given by our Thai tour guide, and is her second favourite thing to say (more about her first favourite saying later). After a few days in Laos, we are all less worried and more happy, having adapted to 'Asian time', where 'I'll meet you at 8am' could mean half an hour either side, and the pace of life is way more relaxed.

We've had a great time in Laos, the scenery has been stunning, the people friendly and the food incredible. There are miles and miles of river and green jungle. Ironically, in the UK, I half jokingly say that the countryside makes me itchy, being a total city girl. Here in Laos, where the countryside is way more beautiful, I do actually get itchy, as the mosquitoes show no mercy. But the landscape is seriously stunning, misty mountains give way to the river, and there a beautiful blue waterfalls to swim in, once you've got into the cold water and accepted that the Garra fish are going to nibble at your feet, whether you want them to or not.



The people have been wonderful and friendly, Sabaai dii (hello) and respectful bows greet you wherever you go. The staff at hotels and restaurants bend over backwards to help you and show you the hospitality of their country, and are keen for you to ask questions ( although don't ask them about their one party 'democracy'). Even our singing tour guide, who made us all sing 'My Heart Will Go On' and the rabbited on for an hour or so at 8:30am was sweet, although I think I would have been forced to punch him if I'd had to spend more than a day and a half on a coach with him.

Time to stop bitching and move in to my favourite topic, food. The food has been wonderful. Perfect yellow curries, lab ( minced meat mixed with herbs and salad, served beautifully fresh - I had the local meat, buffalo), a traditional Laotian barbeque, where the BBQ is set in the middle of the table, the meat is cooked on the top and around the outside, there is broth for cooking the vegetables, noodles and egg they bring alongside the meat. I was a bit dubious about cooking my own squid and prawns, but no adverse side effects mean that I am at least Masterchef qualified. Result.


Me with my mixed plate of fish and meat to go on the BBQ.




Getting the BBQ going.

The French influence in the region also means great baguettes and crepes, perfect for those days when you just can't face another bloody noodle. Although the fillings are somewhat interesting........




Banana, tuna, chocolate crepe anyone?


Very conscious that I've written a lot about food, and haven't included my two favourite meals yet. The first was at the night market in Luang Prabeng, where there are stalls with huge bowls of food that you can pick and mix on a plate. For 10,000 kip ( just over $1 US).




Stall at the night market, Luang Prabeng. Have died and gone to heaven.

My second favourite meal was at a restaurant in Vientiane that trains former street children to be waiting staff. A selection of super fresh, super tasty foods was bought out for us all to share; spicy beef salad, green chicken curry, red beef curry, rice, fresh spring rolls, just wonderful. And doing our bit for charidee too. Safe to say, we've been totally spoilt on the food front.




All this, and we've swam in waterfalls:


Ridden elephants:




Seen monkeys that can do amazing things:




And witnessed the most beautiful sunset over the Mekong river:




Laos, you've been pretty special to us. Good Morning Vietnam, you've got a lot to live up to.

Laos continued

On an 8 hour bus ride today I've realised that our commentary on Laos wouldn't be complete without saying how poor the country is. No doubt it's developing fast with tourism and the assistance of foreign aid but the local people are predominantly substance farmers who's houses are made of whatever's to hand in the jungle, mostly wood and bamboo. Education is not universal and the way of life for most Laotians who live in villages across the beautiful and mountainous countryside is basic. We've been fortunate enough to visit a traditional village to see this for ourselves and its been humbling.

Our local tour guides have also been a great source of information about life in Laos. Our guide today spent 10 years as a Buddhist monk before learning English and leaving his temple. He described his excitement on landing for his first visit outside Laos in Stockholm where after educating the Swedish immigration officials about Laos as they had never heard of it, he encountered automatic doors. This was clearly a pivotal moment in his previously sheltered monks life! Now he is known as the singing tour guide and has treated us to not only a very long local folksong but also Micheal Jackson's Heal he World, West life's My Love and an enchanting version of Celine Dione's My heart will go on, which we were required to sing along with... I thought I might suffer internal injuries I was trying so hard not to laugh but needless to say H and I joined in with gusto. A classic moment.

Laos

Hi there, here are a couple thoughts on Laos now that we've been here for a few days...

What a beautiful country! We're still working our way south to the capital but we've seen a fair bit - three different towns and a lot of Mekong river.  For us Laos has been all about the rivers and the mountains. Since crossing the boarder (on a boat) we've been on or in the water for the majority of the time, mostly sailing down the Mekong. We've also visited two waterfalls which are the most spectacular waterfalls I've ever seen, a real highlight, and we swam in them!

Luang Prabang has been a treat, we settled here for three nights in a tranquil cluster of bungalows 5 minutes outside town. Today was a free day and H and I along with the other young'uns on our tour elected to go elephant riding which was great fun if slightly terrifying at one point when our elephant traversed a very steep slope and we had to hold on for dear life. All part of the fun.

Beerlao and the amazing street food we've had also deserve a mention. The only thing fairing less well is my bum - many tuk tuk cross country rides and our huge variety of other methods of transport have taken there toll - but I think I can live :-)

The story so far.......

Saturday and Sunday: Bangkok and night train train to Chang Mai

We met our tour group, and after some trepidation, hangriness (dictionary definition: so hungry you become angry) and a few beers, we're getting on famously. We've done so much in the four days we've all been together. Sunday was our last day in Bangkok, much to Vicky's relief. We took a canal boat tour (hot), visited an enormous reclining Buddha at Wat Pho (hotter) and then head off to the Royal Palace (sweating like a beast and about to faint). All are utterly beautiful, Thailand's veneration of the Buddha and the temples that accompany that, have created a wealth of magnificence. Although I can't help the niggling doubt at the back of my mind that says "all that wealth in the temples in a country so poor"? Especially as we learn from our tour guide that the average Thai wage is $300 US dollars. A year.

We then took an overnight train - fourteen hours to Chang Mai, Northern Thailand. The bed is bigger than the one I've been sleeping in at my parents for the past few months. This has been noted. I get a bit pissed and end up smoking out of a caged window in the toilets, as per the guards instructions, It all seems slightly surreal. I have also eaten two pad Thais today (so much for getting back into skinny jeans before New York).

Monday: Chang Mai, cooking, temples and lady boys.

We arrive bleary eyed in Chang Mai. The overwhelming temptation is to go straight to bed, but there is Thai cooking to be done and temples to visit. We go to a Thai market and pick up ingredients for our cooking class. We learn how to cook Pad Thai (meaning I will eat nothing else for weeks on end when I get my hands on a kitchen), papaya salad, which I put a whole chilli in and nearly blows my head off, Tom yam soup and Thai green curry. The staff are friendly and attentive (and do the washing up - bonus) and we all have a great time. We then head off to a(nother) temple, where there are superb views over Chang Mai, chanting monks (one on his I-phone!) and lots of gold. We all get blessed by a monk, who throws water over us and ties a piece of white cotton around our wrists for luck on the journey. Then it's back to Chang Mai for the night market and SHOPPING. There are lady boys at the night market. They have amazing figures and great make-up, although I've never seen a woman wear that much make up, except on CNN. We are drawn to their cabaret like moths to a flame. They are very very good, and I have my picture taken with a couple of them. Result = they look beyond glamorous and I look like I am melting in the heat.









Tuesday and Wednesday - minibus, more temples and crossing the border into Laos.

I'm beginning to realise that the one thing I'm not going to like about this tour - the early starts. Up at the crack of dawn and into the bus for the journey to the Thai/Laos border. Via a cashew nut factory and yet another temple, this one very modern with spiderman and superman painted on the walls. Yes, really. The border crossing to Laos is by boat and I have a minor hissy getting my backpack down to the quay before we cross the beautiful Mekong river into Laos. We stay in a very basic guesthouse and have dinner overlooking the river. I get quite pissed and toddle off to the guesthouse to sleep off the beerlaos. We spend Wednesday on a boat down the Mekong river (several hours), visiting a hill tribe with the most adorable children, and the river provides amazing scenery. I shall doubtless bore you all to tears with endless photos of the river in all its finery. We're currently in a small town called Pakbeng on the bank of the Mekong. They sell croissants and nutella - hurrah for French colonialism!




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Our first big night out

I couldn't let our first proper night out happen without filling you in on it, so its just as well it was a corker! We started off with some champers courtesy of H's for thought in duty free and then moved onto Sky bar, a beautiful and uber smart rooftop bar on the 64th floor of a posh hotel. We made like tourists and took lots of photos (which we will upload at some point as soon when we figure out how) whilst enjoying some yummy cocktails and chatting to various people. Fortunately it turns out our international banter is well received!

Feeling peckish we went to an open air restaurant on the 52nd floor and had a totes amaze dinner. In such good spirits after a karaoke taxi ride home we did some Gangnam style dancing before bed. Does it get any better...?!

Sadly the reality of backpacking will now kick in as we head to our next hotel to start our tour. So long Ariyasom, its been a brilliant start to our holiday!

Day Three: we use every method of transport in Bangkok, and get pummelled by tiny Thai ladies

The proprietor of our hotel suggests we get the water taxi to Jim Thompson's house (American expat, fell in love with Thailand, not in a Thai bride style way, built amazing traditional style houses by the river, has 8th centuries Buddhas in his house, went missing in Malaysia in 1961). "Water taxi" we think, "how lovely, how hard can it be?". Hmmmmmmm.

We board the water taxi, which involves leaping onto a moving boat and nearly squashing several locals. The ticket lady comes to ask us where we are going. We have no idea. We pay for one stop. The boat stops. We can't get out without crushing several more locals, so continue to the next stop. I believe this is known as fare dodging, but the Thais don't seem too bothered. We get to the next stop, and make the leap from the boat, narrowly avoiding the filthy canal. We have no idea where we are, but pride ourselves on having travelled our first bit of public transport. We have no map, so wander for a bit in the heat, before taking our lives in our hands and getting in a tuk tuk - such fun!

We nosy around Jim Thompson's house, gorgeous gardens, raw silk, amazing artefacts, before getting the shuttle service (golf buggy) to the Skyride. We can do this! And we do. We may LOOK confused, but actually we are shit hot travellers who get to the right stop and everything. And then we don't know where we are, but after mooching around for a bit, instinct (and Vicky) take us down the road that leads back to our hotel. Hurrah! Time to get a beer and a swim before adopting the horizontal position for a few hours before we go all Fifty Shades of Grey and subject ourselves to a Thai massage.

My god, it HURTS. I spend fifty percent of my time worrying that she's going to either touch my fanny, or dislocate my hip, and I can't work out which freaks me out the most. Those ladies are vicious. But once she's finished cracking my toes, bruising my arms and bending me into positions that my body will not agree to, she starts on my back and shoulders. and it is blissful. The session ends with us both floating on air ( me and Vicky I mean, though I'd like to think the masseuse felt the same way too). And now we head out into the sweltering evening, as cocktails at the Sky Bar await us. Onwards and most definitely upwards.


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Jim Thompson's House

After much laziness (we blame jetleg , man flu and a bad back), we finally left the hotel! It took us 5 modes of transport (river bus, tuk tuk, golf buggy, sky train and walking) to get to Jim Thomspon's house and back but it was worth it. But now we're back on loungers by the pool...

My current view

Beer in hand, pad Thai consumed, 18 hours sleep undertaken. It's a tough life.

Tofu

Vicks here and admittedly tofu is an odd subject to start off with, but I have a suspicion that much of this blog will be about food so why not start as we mean to go on... It turns out that tofu is delicious here! Soft but not slimy and full of yummy favour. H and I had a curry and a stir fly last night both of which were veggie and had tofu that I would have bet money was pork. It was a revelation and so now it seems I no longer dislike tofu.

If this isn't the ground breaking news you were hoping for in this blog, never fear, I promise that once H and I stop sleeping for 18 hour stretches we'll be more interesting!