The sugarpalm is used for it's fruit, the juice of the fruit, the leaves are used for roofing, string and the trunks for boats amongst other things.

Bo, our tour leader and his sister who was so happy to see her big brother again. As a thank you we thought it appropriate to give his mum some money to support her favourite charity in the city.

His family have a silk screen printing business so Irene and I got tshirts emblazoned with:

Lorraine and Irene's Gap Adventure

2009

Our tour leader took us to his mother's home in Phnom Penh where we were treated to a delicious typical Cambodian dinner. Many members of his family were involved in preparing and serving the food.

After dinner we all went for cocktails in a lovely bar then a few of us took the scenic route back to the hotel.

Tonight I have posted the remainder of the Vietnam photos. We have enjoyed two wonderful days in Phnom Penh. Seen some extraordinarily sad sights, heard of the horrific exploits of Pol Pot and been entertained in two homes to delicious food and great Cambodian hospitality.
Phnom Phen is a city of huge contrasts. Thankfully it is getting on it's feet again thanks to the intervention of the likes of UNESCO and others. The Japanese for instance have paid for many roads to be built and the rebuilding of the bridges in the city.

But it is the spirit of the people here who hopefully can managed the changes required to get their country on it's feet again.

We recommend it as a great place to visit as a tourist. We leave for Siam Reap tomorrow on a flight at 9 am.

Funeral wreaths were carried by tuk tuk in procession behind the coffin. In chinese culture white is the colour worn as a sign of mourning. The chief mourners wore long white robes, others white headbands and most of the flowers are white.

Note: white flowers should never be offered in Chinese culture apart from for a funeral.

The coffin was carried on a palaquin by about 18 men. Drums and cymbals made sure his ancestors who had passed on before him knew that he was on his way to them.

A chinese funeral carriage. A well known and respected member of the chinese community in Hoi An died and this was the splended send he was given.

Yes I did confirm that it was appropriate to take the photos and took them from a discreet distance.

Funeral carriage used for Chinese funerals. I came across this funeral procession and yes I did confirm that it was appropriate to take the photos and I was at a discreet distance.

The man who died was an important character in the Chinese community in Hoi An and they gave him a huge send off.

Chilling out in the relative splendour of the

New World Hotel for afternoon tea.

Mekong Delta on Sunday

I think this lad was repairing his boat! The plant is Water Hyacinth which grows/floats in huge clumps in the river. It is planted along the river banks to prevent erosion.

The boat people of the Delta usually live on their boats.

Four of us shared this "Mekong Fish"for lunch on Sunday We also had spring rolls, rice and vegetables.

Rice waiting to be transported by boat.

A boat transporting a cargo of coconuts on Mekong. The journey to Ho Chi Mingh City which took us 2.5hrs by bus takes 10 hours by boat.

We travelled 75 kms south of Ho Chi Minh City on Sunday for a cruise on the Mekong Delta.

This demonstrated how the tiny Vietnamese disappeared down into the tunnel system. They would pull a cover over the entrance making their hiding place secret.

Cathy was in front of me as we entered the tunnel. The space was incredibly small. The air felt damp and although we only crawled for a few metres it felt so much longer.

The Cu Chi Tunnels is a network of tunnels northwest of Saigon started during French occupation and extended by 200 kms during the Vietnam war with USA.

This is the cover over one of the entrances.

Offerings for Buddha

The Royal Palace - Phnom Penh

Julie, Kirsten, Stefan and I started the day viewing the sunrise over the Mekong at 05.30hrs. The city was so quiet. The only people about were those exercising at the riverfront.
There were plenty of great photo opportunities.

We have just arrived in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. We travelled by bus, not a private hire but a comfortable coach. The border crossing from Vietnam went well = this is when we are happy to have a tour guide to help with immigration etc. Lucikly Bo is Cambodian so we are hoping that we can really get the most out of our time here.
The journey's entertainment wasn't great to say the least - a big TV screen showing ridiculously violent films with ill matching subtitles. We crossed the Mekong by ferry - a low lying boat crammed with vans, lorries and buses. The river is in full spate right now after the rainy season so it was a slow crossing.
The countryside here is so very green - ride fields and and dense vegetation everywhere. The locals seem so poor obviously subsistance living. Their houses which are no more than bamboo huts are built on stilts due to risk of ffodding. Water buffalo and goats share the living space.
Luckily Irene and I have chosen to unpack and relax because right now we have a tropical rainstorm.

Irene suggested that we took a photo of our view from home in case we didn't always have a room with a view here and sure enough.... check out next post....

Tomorrow we have an early start for the drive north west to the border with Cambodia.

Next post will include photos of Cu Chi Tunnels visit and today's visit to the Mekong Delta.

We had been warned that some hotel rooms in Vietnam don't have windows and this was one.

Last night we had dinner in a revolving restaurant. The menu was the most extensive I have ever seen. It included animals I don't eat and those which I would - well, I would not have eaten the parts offered!!!!! Snake head spring rolls, chicken's feet with rice, turtle stew, frogs, snails and the prestigious bird's nest not to mention shark fin soup.

I settled for Spring Rolls but hadn't reckoned on ten!

The former Hotel de Ville now a government building.

After The Rain - Chaos resumed.

As there is often doggy meat on Vietnamese menus we called this little fellow Lucky.

At last someone older than me!

With 64% of the 84 million people being under 30 and everyone on our tour younger than me it was reassuring to find this lady. Estimated DOB 1869.

Ho Chi Minh Museum of History. A beautiful building with really interesting and well documented displays in Vietnamese, French and English. Obviously visiting dignitaries visit as there were photos of Messrs Bush and Clinton on display. No one asked me to pose! But by then I was in my rather saturated state.

Another government building.

A city council building.

Another western style wedding.

The Main Post Office with Uncle Ho's portrait overseeing proceedings.

Happily the Vietnamese have had the good sense to take care of the buildings built during the days of French colonial rule. Unlike, Hong Kong where there is little left of the British built buildings.

The last time I was here Kathryn and I risked life and limb to snap a traffic free photo of this beautiful Cathedral of Notre Dame and I got lucky again today.

Miss Saigon traveling by motorcycle.

I think you could say that the motorcycle is THE symbol of this city. There are hundreds of thousands of them although it feels like millions.
They paused for a couple of minutes yesterday while the drivers put on their plastic ponchos in a downpour. Unfortunately I was taking shelter from the and couldn't avail of the break in the traffic.

Lunch on arrival in Saigon.

AFTER

BEFORE

On my return from the Cu Chi Tunnels yesterday I headed out for a Walking Tour of Saigon as recommended in Lonely Planet guide. I had map in one hand and camera in t'other. Happily I had rain poncho in bag... more on that later.
First stop was Highlands Coffee shop - a local version of Starbucks where I enjoyed a very french style lunch, yum. The music being played was a Christmas mix! As I listened to "I'll be home for Christmas" I had the thought "only if I manage some of these traffic junctions first". The architecture is such an amazing mix of French, Chinese and Vietnamese modern. I visited the Post Office, Notre Dame Cathedral, Hotel de Ville and Opera House amongst others. While at the furthest point from the hotel... the Heavens opened. I really mean Tropical Rainstorm. There I was, resplendent in black poncho, trousers rolled up above knees and all I could think of was when Louise sees these pics. she'll think "omg, why didn't Mum just jump into a taxi?" But it was one of those moments "when you're a little off balance you'll remember it forever"! The poncho leaked but precious camera remained dry!

Just in from Mekong Delta Day. Well worth the 2.5hr journey. All our buses comfy so that helps. We often manage two seats each! The 2 million people who live there farm sugarcane,fruit,coconut,fish and of course rice. The river is so large it has two daily tides - very fertile soil in delta allows for intensive farming. After the rainy season, about now, one of the tributaries REVERSES it's flow back up into the Tonle Sap Lake in Cambodia. We will be flying over this lake from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap on Tuesday.
After the drive this morning we took a junk cruise around a large island in the Delta stopping at local home industries along the way. We saw poprice (as opposed to popcorn) being made along with rice paper used to wrapping spring rolls. We then enjoyed a great lunch at a local familie's home.
Have so many pics to choose from... will now finish posting the pics from Hoi An and then get to Saigon.

Have a few mins to spare before we had out for a day on Mekong Delta.
Yesterday was amazing. Visited Cu Chi Tunnels, an underground system build by the Vietnames initially to allow them to rebel against the French. They then extended those 40kms by 220 in their offensive against the US. We got the opportunity to crawl along a small area. It was truly awesome, a rabbit warren of rooms/tunnels in which thousands of people ate, slept, cooked, delivered babies and plotted and planned their campaign. Irene managed to get a photo as I surfaced, haven't seen it yet - will post later.

Catching up on photos from Hoi An. A few more to post.

Tomorrow we

Mr and Mrs Tran who entertained us to a delicious lunch at their home yesterday.

It was easy to smile for this photo as Bo, our Tour Leader had 15 cameras dangling from his wrists as he took the same shot for everyone.

During the visit to the fishing village some hardy souls took on the challenge of a short trip in these TINY rush boats. I think the captain of mine was even more concerned for his safety than I was of mine. He has never had a heavier cargo!

By the time we reached dry land again a crowd of locals had gathered to watch the spectacle. They were well rewarded by the entertainment factor of our efforts at making it ashore without getting wet. That water looked far from clean.

Having had fun on a motor cycle in Hue we took to bicycles in Hoi An. Mr Tran took us on a 6km tour to his home fishing village. It was a great opportunity to get to see how the local fishermen and their families live and work.
We visited a small ceramic factory, fished by the river using bamboo poles and then finished with a delicious lunch prepared by Mrs Tran in their family house.
We saw young boys catching geikos for fishing bait.
As soon as we got back to the hotel it was the pool for us all.

Here you can see the high water mark left by the flooding caused by Typhoon Ketsana only a week ago.

There were squads of workers using the simplest of shovels to move tonnes of mud. Even in the three days we spent here the improvements could be seen.

The Japanese Covered Bridge in Hoi An.

You've heard of "lining up your ducks in a row".

I went out very early each morning to catch Sunrise, the quiet streets and the teeming market. The sights, sounds and smells were something to behold.

The hardworking people seem to have no leisure time at all although the men do a little sitting about putting the world to right. All their jobs are so very labour intensive with apparently little reward.

Cooling off after a hard day's wandering!

Our hotel room in Hoi An. Again, not exactly 5* but much more than we expected - it DID have a window.

We took a bus for the 4 hour drive south to Hoi An, driving through Da nang. Again storm damage everywhere.

As soon as we arrived we dropped our bags and headed out downtown. Lonely Planet described it as a charming tranquil town. That's not quite how it is. Those darned motorcycles again.

We have arrived safely and on time in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City).
Again, having fretted about luggage allowance we flew in a boeing 777-200

Now I have finsihed posting photos of our stay in Hue. We leave Hoi An in a couple of hours for Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City).
Note to self: must do better in keeping current with postings. But it's hard work with so many nice distractions.

The Emperor's Reading Room within the Citadel in Hue. This was in it's original state which wasn't too bad. The government is funding renovations on the site which are so badly needed. So many of the historic monuments and sites in this city suffered badly during many wars/invasions by the Chinese, Japanese, French and most recently Americans.

Our guide in Hue.

This was taken outside the Citadel. A complex of very old buildings modelled on the Forbideen City in Beijing.

This bar advertised as being open from "10 am 'til the last one passes out".

We all managed to WALK out despite there being a Happy Hour offer on all evening.

A Rice Haystack

Glamourous Grandmother in Hue