With Roger busy in the South Island of New Zealand over the Easter break I decided to invite my Mum, Rosie, and her partner, Lardy, to join me in Vietnam for a long weekend. Given the limited time we had we decided to start in Hanoi and visit Halong Bay.

Mum and Lardy flew in via Singapore from New Zealand arriving on Thursday morning. I had been working in South Korea all week and flew in from Seoul arriving Thursday evening…

Friday 19 April 2019

After a leisurely breakfast in the very comfortable Sofitel Metropole Hotel, which was built in 1901, we were met by our guide, Hai, to start our Hanoi sightseeing. We headed first to the square where Ho Chi Minh’s Tomb is, opposite the government buildings. It was extremely hot and humid even mid-morning and it was a relief to get into the park-like garden area surrounding the government buildings and the historic house of Ho Chi Minh. There were thousands of local and Chinese tourists thronging the place. It has been very well maintained and even some of his cars are on display including a Russian Zil. Apparently people wanted him to live in the large building that now operates as the presidential palace but he opted to stay in a much more humble bungalow before moving, on I think his 64th birthday, into a gorgeous, traditional wooden stilt home that was built for him.

After stopping in an air-conditioned gallery where we saw disabled women making incredible woven ‘paintings’ we wandered through parts of the old city – far from the madding crowds. Land is very expensive so the homes are tiny and narrow but built 4-5 storeys high. We meandered down tiny little alleyways between the buildings getting glimpses into many of the houses and dodging the scooters as they rode past.

We stopped briefly for a traditional Vietnamese lunch of pork meatballs and rice noodles in a sweet and sour sauce before heading off again for a cyclo tour of the old city area. Despite the crazy traffic this was a remarkably relaxing way to see the different sights in the city. Scooters dart along everywhere, some with 3-4 people on. At least most are wearing some sort of basic plastic helmet but many of the riders are talking on their phones or texting, and the children rarely have any helmets on. Like in most Asian cities people carry incredibly big loads on these scooters. But generally the traffic is very courteous. If you want to cross the road just walk slowly across and the traffic seems to go around you. It was a bit the same on the cyclos – it could look a bit daunting to have cars, scooters, buses and the like all converging on us as we crossed an intersection but they seemed to part to let us through.

i loved the various stalls selling fresh fruits and vegetables, often off the back of bikes just parked on the footpath with the owner resting (and sometimes sleeping) in a shaded area not too far away.  It was quite tempting to just reach out and grab a piece of fruit as we were cycled slowly past.

Eventually we arrived at the Hanoi Hilton, originally built as a prison to hold dissidents during the French rule and later housing over 600 US pilots shot down during the Vietnam War. The focus of the exhibits was on the egregious conditions the Vietnamese rebels were held in during French rule, including the guillotine area where several were executed. The exhibits on the US pilots showed a lot more of the positive photos taken when the Red Cross was visiting etc. I cannot imagine what it must have been like to be kept in these conditions. Many of the pilots were incarcerated there for 6-8 years, a large building with no air-conditioning in extremely hot conditions. Having said that – I do think they were probably better kept than the Vietnamese under the French.

Our last stop was Confuscious Temple, which is also a University. Outside were row after row of turtle statues, representing major scholars over the years. At 37+ degrees with 90% humidity, by this stage we were all more than ready to head back to the hotel for a break and to cool down.

In the evening we wandered down to the West Lake area, which is closed off to traffic in the weekends. Many people congregate along the shores of the lake, line-dancing, playing a form of hacky-sack with a funny thing that looks like a cross between a shuttlecock and a cats toy, and socialising. The lights around the lake are beautiful, particularly the red bridge leading to one of the temples.

We enjoyed dim sum for dinner at a Cantonese restaurant near the lake before returning to the hotel bar for a refreshing G&T to round out the evening,

Saturday 20 April 2019

This morning Hai picked us up and we drove the ~2.5 hours to Halong Bay. The roads around Hanoi are remarkably good and smooth making the trip fairly easy, especially once we got out of the city proper. There is a lot of development underway – at one stage we passed an area with about 50 cranes building large apartment blocks in what will become a satellite city. (Apologies for the quality of some of the photographs – not that easy to take a good picture out of a moving van).

The ground must be incredibly fertile. All along the road we passed field after field, initially orchards with various fruit trees (lychees, mangoes) as well as banana palms and pineapples; later field after field of rice, all dotted with shrines and cemeteries. There were also the odd duck farm, dotted about with white ducks, that have obviously had their wings clipped so they cannot fly.

As we got nearer to Halong Bay we started to come across fishing areas and oyster farms – sticks protruding seemingly at random from the mudflats and areas all netted off with little huts (like mai mai’s) Jutting above the water, apparently for shelter from storms.

We stopped at a pearl farm and had an interesting tour, learning how pearls are made. I can understand better now why they are so expensive given the high failure rate. It is quite a delicate process. A small piece of the muscle that makes the nacre on the inside of the shell is harvested from a live oyster. This is treated with antibiotics and along with a small core, made from crushed up shell, is placed inside the ovary of another live oyster. The oyster is then put in a frame and kept for 3-5 years. They are x-rayed from time to time to check that the pearl is till growing. Only about 30% actually take and of those less than 10% make really high grade pearls. There was of course the obligatory wander through the show rooms afterwards but the tour was very interesting and well worth it.

Eventually we arrived at the dock where row after row of boats waited for their guests to arrive. We boarded our junk, Legend 6, to be met by Duc, our guide and butler for the next 24 hours or so, who showed us our cabins and the layout of the boat. We were soon underway heading for route 4 – the furthest of the four routes the boats are assigned to avoid over-crowding. We enjoyed lunch while underway then rested on our shaded balconies for the rest of the trip enjoying the incredible scenery (including the many ships anchored and disgorging their cargo). We had the boat to ourselves, apart from the crew of eight who were all eager to please.

Halong Bay is as stunning as the photos I had seen. It covers an area of 1,553 square kilometres and contains 1969 islands and islets. Eventually we arrived at our first destination, a large floating fishing village. We were taken to the floating reception area where we boarded a sampan to be rowed around the village. We were each passed a Vietnamese hat, which resulted in a fair amount of hilarity. The village itself houses about 300 in around 25 small houses. There is also a communal area where they can gather for meetings etc. Most of the houses have dogs, which seem to be comfortable running around on the narrow pathways connecting the houses. It was a relaxing and pleasant experience and with the light breeze we were able to get a little respite from the heat.

After returning to our boat we motored to a sheltered spot for the night. There were a few other boats moored nearby and several people kayaking which made for a pleasant backdrop. The sunset was stunning and we enjoyed drinks on the deck. I have to admit that we really missed Roger – even between the three of us we had trouble finishing off one bottle of wine over the course of the evening.

Just before dinner Duc gave us a lesson in making Vietnamese spring rolls, which were then served up along with several other dishes for dinner. There was certainly no shortage of food on board! After dinner we tried out hand at squid fishing, hanging a bamboo pole with a lure on the end of a piece of string about 8 metres long out the window or door of the boat and jigging it up and down. Only Mum was successful, hauling up one medium sized squid that squirted lots of black ink as it was dragged into the boat.

Sunday 21 April 2019

After a restful night we were up fairly early with the boat getting underway just after 6:30 to take us to one of the 72 caves in Halong Bay. Mum and I headed off with Duc to climb the steps up to the cave while Lardy stayed on shore and watched the boat loads of people who arrived after us. I am very grateful for the early start. I think we were the second group to arrive so had the opportunity to experience the cave in relative quiet. As we were making our way down it seemed hordes of people were arriving.

Back on board Tae gave me a tai chi lesson and then proceeded to give me a “massage” which turned out to be vigorously rubbing my head. He was adamant that he wanted to massage my eyes as well and I reluctantly agreed. This involved him basically rubbing his hands together and then pressing them firmly against my eyes. I can’t say I’d be in a hurry to do it again!

After breakfast we motored back to dock. Being a holiday weekend there were thousands of boats, some heading in and others heading out, while barges crossed the lines and it was interesting to see how they all avoided hitting each other. Hai met us and we were soon back in our hotel in Hanoi where we all took the opportunity for a quiet afternoon.

In the evening we again headed down to the West Lake area. There were even more people out and about with a couple of bands playing, kids driving around in small cars and a general fun and vibrant atmosphere. We thoroughly enjoyed the stroll around the lake and the people watching.

Saturday 23 March 2019

We were up and ready for our taxi at 0730 for the drive to Guangzhou nan (south) station, where we jumped a high speed train heading northwest to Guilin. Stacey, a colleague of Sylvia’s also joined us as we headed to Yangshuo for a short weekend. Sylvia’s daughter, Beka, and her boyfriend, Tom, had climbed in the area about 5 years ago and have often spoken of its beautiful scenery.

I was surprised at how quickly the land turned rural as we headed northwest. Lots of bush covered hills and scattered villages lay alongside the track.

A bit over halfway into the journey the land changed into thousands of small sharp mounds (limestone karsts). Dismounting the train at Guilin (population 4.7m, and a small, 3rd or 4th tier city in China) we drove through what felt like a small town with few high rise buildings, then into some very picturesque countryside, reaching Yangshuo at about 1.30pm.

We settled into the very nice Yangshuo Mountain Retreat and enjoyed some lunch. We watched as bamboo rafts drifted down the Yulong river.

After lunch we took a stroll up the river and just below a weir a huge number of bamboo rafts were gathered.

After finding the ticket office and being escorted to the start point I was put on a raft alone while Sylvia and Stacey shared one with a somewhat aggressive rafts-man. Interestingly we had seen a sign warning about not having fun in the river so we were quite amused as we were poled along crossing the add weir along the way.

We were dropped off at what appeared to be an entertainment area and from there we strolled up a road to find Moon Hill, a place Beka had told Sylvia about. Several hundred steps and a well kept path took us to the rock. Tom had had has his photo taken here standing on a post so we did the same. (Although he managed his photo balancing comfortably on one foot on one post!)

Back at the hotel we enjoyed a light snack before retiring early as both Sylvia and Stacey were tired after a very busy week.

Sunday 23 March 2019

After a reasonably early breakfast we headed off on some bikes to explore some more of this rather picturesque area. There has been lots of money put into this area to upgrade both paths and irrigation canals. Interestingly there are many partially finished buildings around the area.

Returning to the hotel just after 10am we were picked up by a driver for our trip back to the Giulin train station. On the way we stopped to check out the 600 year old Yulong bridge, which was surrounded by more bamboo rafts and people trying to sell local stuff to the many tourists.

All around China one sees lots of interesting and and sometimes rather amusing signs.

Monday 18 March 2019

We arrived in Guangzhou yesterday afternoon after a fairly social week in Singapore, attending the Mars awards gala on Thursday night.

We then had dinner on Friday evening with Sylvia’s colleague Radi and his wife Caroline, and on Saturday evening we headed over to Sentosa Island for dinner with our friend Clare and her son Alex.

Looking out the window from our room on the 20th floor I can barely make out the Guangzhou tower through the thick polluted air. Checking the net I find it’s sitting at just under 200 (unhealthy) on the dirty air scale. Good is under 50. Looking down on the street below people are walking around normally so having procrastinated enough I headed out.
Heading west on Tianhe Rd, then south on Guangzhou Ave Middle I crossed a bridge onto Ersha Island and then another over the Pearl River to the much larger Haizhu Island.

The Pearl River is China’s third longest river at 2,400 kms and the second largest in volume, reaching across southern China and even into Vietnam.

I have to apologise here as this thick smog is not the best for pictures.

On the island I turned right, heading west along a wide path along the waters edge. The path is well kept with many cleaners with long straw  brooms ensuring it stays that way.

Fish and turtles, caught fresh by various means from the river, were on sale on the path.

Along the path were pagodas and parks, all well kept. As I rounded the west end of the island several groups of blokes sat in a pagoda drinking beer and playing cards. I stopped briefly and had a sign language laugh with them.

As I headed around to the south side of the island the nice path disappeared and I was pushed away from the water through newly built apartment blocks.

Eventually I ended up on a main road that ran up the centre of the island. Interestingly where we are staying and in the area around the Mandarin Oriental Hotel there are lots of signs in English, here there are very few. Not surprisingly I only spotted one European on the island. It’s a really busy place with lots going on. People even pull carts up the busy streets amongst the cars, buses and trucks. There are lots of small stalls and shops.

There are old and new apartment building all mixed up. I headed down a side street at one stage where some of the buildings looked quite rough but the streets were always clean and the people took no notice, not even giving me a casual glance as though I didn’t exist.

Eventually I headed north on Jianghai Ave, like many of the major roads here built up in the air. Underneath there were piles of broken yellow bikes – a big problem for every city in China.

Crossing the Pearl River again, on a footpath attached to the suspension bridge, the road took me back to the hotel. I headed to the lounge on the 24th floor and enjoyed a few glasses of water and a couple of sandwiches.

Tuesday 19 March 2019

I had a bit of work to do so spent the day around the hotel. A massage at the spa was the highlight of the day and wow was it good.

I had been trying to figure out just why the service in this hotel, the Mandarin Oriental, is some of the best I have ever experienced. Interestingly I had been having a chat recently with my mate Travis, who opened a new great bar, Fantail and Turtle at Smales Farm on the North Shore in Auckland. He was saying how people in the industry in NZ have trouble finding career staff in hospitality, which lead me to chatting to a few of the middle managers here. In the Loft Bar I got chatting to Young, the bar manager, who had asked me where Ms Burbery was tonight. He recognised me from the previous night. It turned out that they had all been briefed on the Royal Canin conference and that Sylvia was the boss. Chatting to Young I discovered he had borrowed a lot of money to go and learn his trade in Switzerland. They really take it on as a career here.

We had access to the Oriental Club on the 24th floor, which hosted us for breakfast, afternoon tea, and cocktails and light meals in the evening. John and Lulu are two of the staff.  John, originally from Korea and having lived in Turkey as a youth, entered the same training school in Switzerland as Young to pursue a career in hospitality. Lulu, of Korean and Mongolian heritage but raised mainly in Kazakhstan (where her mother worked for Doctors without Borders), leaving school had studied in New York and Pennsylvania and is now pursuing a career in hospitality.

Chase, the concierge supervisor, worked for the hotel from 2013 to 14 then went to Dubai to gain experience and came back in 2015 to continue his career. I had gone to make inquiries about a trip to Macau tomorrow and in no time at all he had fast train tickets sorted along with details on how to get to the Guangzhou Southern Station. Zara who had checked us in on Sunday also jumped in to make sure all was in hand.

Wednesday 20 March 2019
I had the option of taking a taxi or the Metro to Guangzhou South Station to catch the fast train to Zhuhai next to the Macau border. I chose the metro as the station was just through the shopping centre next to the hotel. Through security they have a bomb pot, which amused me as I imagined someone finding a bomb, chucking it in the pot, locking the lid, then the bomb exploding inside the pot like something in a cartoon creating a massive fragmentation grenade.

Sorting out a token on a machine I headed to the platform. The first train came in and it was so packed that there was no way anyone was getting in. The next I managed to force my way on. There are no manners here like in Singapore or Japan where people wait for everyone to dismount before getting on; here they push their way in ignoring the signs on the floor.

One change and I had made it to south station, probably slower than the taxi time. Soon I was on the slow (200kph) high-speed train heading south. I am always intrigued at how they manage the infrastructure in these places to keep all these people alive. Guangzhou has 13 million and the Pearl River Delta economic zone some 50 million. That’s a lot of just rice alone to be delivered every day. The 100km journey is pretty much non-stop housing with the odd rice paddy struggling to survive in  the urban sprawl.

Arriving at Zhuhai I was herded, along with hundreds of others, through sheep like yards to immigration, ending up in the wrong place with the guy processing me anyway then telling me “special”, so on the Macau side and on the way back I used the diplomatic lane with no queue. I had been advised that there were free buses to the casinos from the border. The place is pretty small so I decided to walk and explore the town. As I stepped on to the street I suddenly realised the cars were coming from the other direction; it’s right hand drive here.

Macau with its around 600k population was founded by the Portuguese in 1557, becoming the first and the last European colony in China when they left in 1999. It is now a Special Administrative Region belonging to China but still with its own currency. Wandering through the streets I eventually hit the fishing port, then cut through some back streets, which were super clean comparing only with Tokyo.

Eventually I came across a Street packed with people, many of who queued for food at what must be well recognised places. Then from behind a tall building appeared a monstrosity – although I am sure the person that designed it didn’t feel that way.

I had found the casino area! I headed inside where there was floor after floor of mainly tables, not the dominant presence of slot machines one sees in Vegas. I found a restaurant on the 6th floor and had a rather average Thai beef salad. The staff were friendly and attentive. I had not seen any alcoholic drinks or drinks in general on the gaming tables and asked if it was a dry casino? “No just most people don’t drink here when gambling”


Back outside I caught a bus across one of the three long bridges to Taipei old village on one of the islands.

A bus back on another bridge dropped me off by the heliport where large helos ferry tourists in and out of the country. I strolled past some more casinos then around the edge of a large reservoir and along a few streets back to the border.


Using the diplomatic queue I was processed and through in no time but now had 3 hours to kill to catch the train. I got in a queue to change my ticket, which killed an hour. A helpful lady in the queue who was giving me advice via google translate found out we were catching the same train and were in the same carriage. She and her friend escorted me to the train and at the other end took me to the taxi rank to make sure I didn’t get ripped off. Thank you Qi Ling.

The ride back was quicker than the metro and I got to see the city lit up as we crossed the Pearl River back into the city centre.

Sylvia and her team were having a gala dinner that night and all dressed in cultural attire representing their countries .

I was invited to join some of the team for a catch up after the event. They are a great bunch and it’s always great to enjoy a few drinks with them.

Thursday 21 March 2019

Several hours of the day were spent making two trips to the East station to collect our train tickets to Guilin on Saturday and Hong Kong on Sunday. The station is only 15 minutes away by metro but the queue was an hour plus each time. In the evening Sylvia and I took a taxi and headed to Morton’s Steak House, near the river and at the back of another flash shopping mall.

With a great view across the river and the Guangzhou Tower we watched the very brightly lit boats go up and down the river while the colours of the tower changed consistently. After a great meal we headed back to the hotel using the metro.

Friday 22 March 2019

After finishing some work and chatting to a few of the hotel staff I headed off to look at a piece of the Silk Road that had been glassed over. A couple of kms Into the journey it began to rain so I headed underground to take the metro. Following the signs to line one I walked over a kilometre through corridors lined with shops and stalls before arriving at the station. It’s quite amazing in these cities just how much use they make of the subterranean world.

As I tried to work out which train to take a lady decided to help me and once again with the help of google translate she  escorted me to the platform to ensure I got on the right train. Dismounting at the Peasant Movement Institute station and heading to where I had been told the Silk Road was I came across an art and pottery area but not the Silk Rd

I headed to the river and ferry terminal debating a ride on one of the well lit ferries we had seen last night. They definitely looked better by night and only did a down river look, not a trip around the island as I had expected so I made my way back to the hotel and caught up with Matt who runs Royal Canin in Australasia for a beer and a yarn.

Around 7pm I headed for the metro station to catch a line 3 train to the Tower. I didn’t even make it to the security as there was such a crowd in the passageway with a few people being let in at a time to join the thousands coming both for tickets and to get down to the platform. I laughed out loud and headed back to the hotel to take a taxi.

The girl on the concierge laughed when I told her. She told me “people have died of suffocation on line 3, especially on Friday nights”. Interestingly some time ago the government banned motorbikes in the city as there were too many snatch robberies taking place with them. This has put more pressure on the other transportation.

There were no taxis available so I lost interest in the tower and headed back to the Loft bar to wait for Sylvia to finish work for the day.

Friday 22 February 2019

I had been visiting the business in China (Shanghai) all week and next week I have to be in Tokyo to visit the Japan business so a colleague (Stacey) and I decided to spend the weekend in between in Yudanaka, Japan visiting the famous Snow monkeys. We flew from Shanghai to Narita on Friday afternoon and then caught the Narita Express train to Tokyo, then the Shinkansen (bullet train) to Nagano and the Snow Monkey Express to Yudunaka, eventually arriving at about 11:30pm. Like everything else I have encountered in Japan, the trains here are clean and efficient.

We were met at the Yudanaka station by someone from the small hotel we were staying in and transferred to the hotel. I have to briefly comment on the incredible communication and service we received from the Bosanzo Hotel – they could not have been more helpful or accommodating. Check in was very smooth and they offered to drive us to the Monkey Park on Saturday morning.

Yudanaka is a pretty small town to the west of Tokyo near the ski area. Most of the people we saw on the train seemed to be heading there for skiing. The hotel was one of the few in the area that offered real beds, not just futons. Still when I unlocked the door and walked in all I could see were tatami mats and I had a moment of concern until I spied a sliding panel and found a small bedroom. I did have a bit of a giggle at the rather incongruous placement of the mirror in the bathroom. Even after a whole weekend of trying to figure it out I cannot fathom why one would want a mirror a foot off the floor?!?

Saturday 23 February 2019

The hotel provided a Japanese style breakfast and we were faced with an array of dishes including rice, salad, miso soup, boiled egg, miso fish, mushrooms etc. Despite all my travels in Asia I have to say I still prefer a western breakfast.

After breakfast we were driven the 4 kms or so to the Jigokudani Monkey Park. It was bitterly cold and snowing lightly as we headed up the 1.7km path to the monkeys. Despite arriving not long after opening we passed many other tourists on the way. Well before we reached the park entrance we spotted monkeys in the snow on the other side of the stream that ran through the forest that we were gradually climbing in. Tickets purchased we rounded a corner and there were monkeys everywhere.

These Japanese Macaque monkeys are the northern most species of monkey in the world and survive in freezing temperatures. The park sprinkles food to provide incentive for the monkeys to stay (which encourages them to not bother the locals and therefore protects them from negative repercussions) but otherwise the monkeys are wild and are free to come and go as they please. They are clearly very used to being surrounded by people and seem completely oblivious to us. Some huddled against the cold in small clusters, others played and foraged and several soaked, swam or groomed each other in the hot pool this area is famous for. It was funny to see their normally pale pink faces turn almost red with the heat of the pool. This is obviously a favourite spot for grooming and they looked to be really enjoying the experience. Their hands are so human like it is really incredible to watch them.

After a while the cold got too much and we headed back to the ticket office to thaw out before wandering back down the hill. From the entrance we caught a bus to Shibu Onsen, a small traditional Japanese village that has several Ryokans (Inns) and Onsens (Thermal Bath houses) and is clearly a popular place for people to stay, although we barely saw anyone while we were there – I suspect they all head up the mountain during the day. It would be interesting to visit during the evening and see how different it is.

We wandered through the town then back towards Yudanaka, stopping briefly to look at a large Buddhist statue and monastery. We spent the rest of the day catching up on work and rest and then enjoyed a lovely Japanese meal in a small restaurant in the town.

Sunday 24 February 2019

After another Japanese breakfast we headed back to the station and retraced our steps to Tokyo. It was great this time to be able to do the trip in daylight. It was a gorgeous sunny day and the snowy mountains made a magnificent backdrop to the agriculture and housing. It seems that they use every piece of land in this heavily populated country and this area is particularly well known for its apples so we passed orchard after orchard, all groomed and staked for maximum efficiency.

All in all not a bad way to spend a weekend…