Suit Up!

Hoi An is a must for anyone who wants to get a tailored suit. This blog post is a tribute to my new cashmere friends.

I'll keep this brief. Come to Hoi An, go to Mr Xe's (pronounced 'cee'), and expect to pay $75 - 110 USD per suit (after haggling), and $16 per shirt. I'm sure there are other decent places (I also tried A Dong Silk), but I'd recommend Xe thanks to his meticulous attention to detail and great pride in quality.

Trip Advisor link: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g298082-d2275868-Reviews-Mr_Xe-Hoi_An_Quang_Nam_Province.html#REVIEWS

So we walked around a few recommended places before arriving at Mr Xe's. First impressions were of just another shop, but Mr Xe came out and, by means of welcoming, gave Craig a kick in the butt and followed it up with some humerus banter.

After spending some time deliberating I put in an order for a tux, Craig for one suit, and Dustin for two. The next day we returned to Mr Xe for our first fittings. My Tux looked ace, except there was a flaw on one shoulder. Mr Xe was extremely unhappy at the defect. Racing, he grabbed me by the hand, dragged me outside, threw me on the back of a scooter, and before I knew it we were at the factory. Mr Xe spent 5 minutes jabbering away with a couple of the workers pointing angrily at different points on my suit.

Three fittings later the final tux was/is amazing. Mr Xe was kind enough to include free shorts, and I 'accidentally' bought 6 tailored shirts...
In summary, Mr Xe is an absolute perfectionist. The measuring is conducted by two different people, and Mr Xe is very forthcoming with what alterations are required. I highly recommend.

Summary of Nha Trang

We spent 2 nights in Nha Trang, arriving in the evening on the first, and departing crack of dawn on the third, leaving us with just one day of explori
ng. The reason for coming here is to get away to the islands, and that is just what we did.

So, boat trip. It was a warm, overcast day. Activities included a visit to an aquarium (no Kelly Tarltons), "snorkel" (rubbish mask/goggles that did not work, but for the best as it took away from the absence of live coral to see), lunch (hit the spot), boy band, and plenty

of swimming.

The boy band, comprised of the staff already on the boat, was hilarious. The drum kit had been assembled from the pots they had cooked our lunch in, and the lead singer was our guide. Next for entertainment every country had to perform. As soon as they announced this I was busy on my phone googling how to do the Haka in anticipation. All of the countries did their bits brilliantly, from the shy Nordics to the confident Koreans. And finally NZ's turn. My hunches confirmed as our host shouts out "HAKA!" Oh dear. I am quite embarrassed that I stuffed this up so so badly. As Tom said, "They'll never know the difference". My efforts certainly violated something Tapu. The fact that this was also performed on top of the dining table makes it worse. Still, we managed to woo the crowds nicely. I might even share a video of said Haka, provided I get over the embarrassment.

Next was the Funky Monkey bar. A number of us leapt from the side of the boat and chilled out while our host, Funky Monkey, brought

an endless stream of punch to us all. So much fun. With the assistance of international embarrassment behind us and an afternoon of tipsy swimming a

head the conversations flowed.

A few of us met up again in the evening, an English chap who took the 'p' out of everything, his new wife who is a rock singer, a delightful chap from Israel who was witty and hilarious on the dance floor, and two classic Australians. The pub of choice was right on the beach, opening up with tables and so on sprawling out over the sand and waves crashing violently nearby. Great fun.

Now, after a whole day spent in two transit vans, we have arrived in Hoi An, town of cheap suits. And now, dear diary, you are up to date.

Now in Hoi An

Arrived. Tired. Updates to follow once recovered from journey.

Da Lat - silk chase, coffee, chess

So, a superb few days in the cooler highland city of Da Lat, well worth the 5 hour winding bus ride in.

Yesterday was full of noteworthy adventure so here goes. In the morning we hired scooters to track down a silk farm. We failed, and ended up at Lang Biang, a hilly area, 12 km north of Da Lat. Eager for a stroll we tackled this hill. The walk was mostly a solid gradient and took about 4 hours to complete. The last 30 minutes of which (up and down) was spent stumbling and sliding over the steep slippery slopes. All in all it was an ace hike.

Fig 1. Us on the way up, still quite happy

Fig 2. Relaxing at the top

We stopped off at a school field in the afternoon and ended up joining in a game of soccer with the local kids. They were right in to it, and going pretty hard. Our goalie must have been about 2 ft nothing but had no fear, running straight at Dustin and successfully nabbing the ball preventing a sure goal early on in the game. I managed a couple of sweet looking offensive moves too, but after colliding with a kid - no injuries fortunately - I eased off. There were a few great set ups with a couple of great crosses (primarily from Dustin/Tom's team) which made this look like a full on game. The kids were good, which was bad for me as I am not. Speed was my only redeeming feature, but left me pretty tired pretty quick.

Fig 3. Where we played soccer

Fig 4. Some local kids - all laughed hysterically whenever viewing their own picture

The last tourist activity for the day was a trip out to a waterfall. 40.000 additional VND allows you to access it via roller coaster. We'd be mad not to. On the coaster you can control the pace of it. Dustin attempted no breaking but when the thing felt like it was threatening to bounce off the rails he eased off the pace a little. The falls themselves were pretty, but I think the real attraction was definitely the coaster-access.

Fig 5. Waterfall

On from there, dinner was a bit abysmal. Service, quality, drinks; Tom was busy filling in his Trip Advisor feedback whilst waiting on a beer.

The cafes in Da Lat are brilliant. Probably helped by the coffee also being brilliant. They are fairly uniform, narrow, bench seats down the side walls, two rows of tables, and stools. And many with clubbing music absolutely pumping. (This morning's coffee & read was cut short due to the catchy beats being just a bit too extreme for this hour). Now, the really neat thing about these places is they have Xiangqi boards (Chinese Chess) for patrons to play on. Further reading http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xiangqi

This game is excellent fun. It's similar to Chess except different rules governing pieces, and I am finding this to be a lot more fun. I played a gruelling game against Tom, then swapped boards to play Craig. On Craig's second or so move his Vietnamese neighbour was providing corrective suggestions by shaking his head and pointing. By the fourth move, just when Craig was at risk of loosing a Chariot, the Vietnamese chap, head still shaking, brushed Craig's hand away from the board and took over. This was a very hard game and I feel I held my own surprisingly well. The chap was phenomenal at ensuring every piece was marked so that, at many points, any move I made resulted in me losing a piece. The aim of the game seems to be about protecting players as well as keeping sufficient pressure on the opponent. I ended up playing a third game against a different Vietnamese chap. With a new found appreciation of keeping the pressure on and marking we danced around the board. There were a few points where I was at risk of loosing a few valuable pieces, and when it started to look a bit bad I went on a massive offensive and actually managed to win. I must confess this was probably down to luck as I am sure the chap let his guard down.

Fig 6. Learning how to play Chinese Chess the night before

Finally finally finally, coffee. I am so excited to be surrounded by coffee plantations on every side. A couple of days ago I sampled coffee berries and was intrigued by their flavour: it was in between a stringy pea and a watery avocado (I think similar to the Mexican Mole flavour, but not 100% sure as I haven't eaten it in years). Being surrounded by the stuff, and much to my delight, the coffee here has been amazing. It's very sweet and very strong. Not like Italian espresso strong, but rich in vibrant fruity flavours. I'm not usually a fan of my sweet coffees but this stuff really is great. This is often (always?) served with condensed milk which is a very tasty accompaniment, and I guess what adds the sweetness. I suspect even the 'black' coffees are served with a dash of the stuff.

Departing today, and off to Nha Trang on another bus this afternoon.

Vietnamese wine

This was a momentous day because I a) managed to have my demand for at least one Pho per day met by having it for every single meal, b) I sampled Vietnamese wine, and c) we managed to (collectively) work out and play two games of chinese chess at the cafe after dinner.

Really this is primarily a quick update to warn other travellers to avoid the wine. Both red and white lack any complexity but have this tri-flavour burst. The first taste is of burning. This passes quickly to leave you feeling safe, the calm before the storm. Next a weird scrumpy flavour starts and startles, then lastly you are left with the lingering after burn, reminiscent of being a 17 year old in Chaffers park (or whatever they call it nowadays) with a 1.5 litre bottle of Ruby Red. A warning should have been noted though. The bottles read 'contains wine made from various fruits'. I guess being unable to narrow this down to containing just grapes should be a pretty strong indicator of what was to come.

(To be fair on Vietnamese wines we were hitting $4 bottles. A fairer judgement should be made on the pricier wines which I shall brave at some future point.)

Banh xeo (crepe) in Da Lat

We are now in Da Lat, having survived the bumpy 5 hour bus ride from Mui Ne.

So, this is a food-post for banh xeo. Other aliases include Vietnamese savoury pancakes or Vietnamese egg crepes.
After a very short walk in search of dinner we stumbled upon a little street stall with two charcoal barbecues and plenty of custom. It pays to follow the locals, so we immediately grabbed a free table and retracted ourselves on to their ridiculously tiny stools.

Guessed at recipe of the dinner:

This is all cooked very quickly. Plenty of movement is required to get everything cooked evenly.

Starting with a rice crepe on the bbq add the green sauce[0], smear out, add an egg and then cover thoroughly. Constantly move around and spread the mixture out to ensure an evenly cooked finish. Add chilli powder. Serve once crisp and cooked through. Include dipping sauces[1]. Done.

The end result is this tasty, crunchy, eggy crepe with a subtle kick of heat. Definitely a 'must have' when in Vietnam.

[0] Green sauce is (probably) finely cut spring onion, coriander, fish sauce(?), maybe something else to make it quite wet.

Turmeric, lemon, salt and lots of green pepper would work well too.

[1] Sauces include a dark tomato, and a slightly sweet chilli.

Mui Ne and a Giant Buddha

So the last day of scooters, and the last day in Mui Ne. We set out early in the morning for the giant Buddha, after food of course. The drive was mind-boggling. Scooters moving like liquid, cars with unexpected overtake manoeuvres, traffic rules with no adherence. On the outside it was utter mayhem. In reality it was safe and efficient. It is safe because, while the traffic moves fast, everyone is 110% alert due to the challenges one faces with avoiding other road users. Constantly. This is really efficient because you have squillions of people needing to get around, and normal 'western' road rules would create congestion beyond nightmare. While you couldn't get western cultures to adopt these road "rules" due to the façade of road-anarchy, I do think that it would be a few steps forward and we are really missing out on a winner back home.

So, we drove a long way to some place (name to be confirmed, I will update once known) to view a giant Buddha. The biggest in Vietnam. So big that he is lying down. A great gondola ride up. A great walk beyond that. A great statue. Really worth while.

The afternoon was a lazy one. We had been on the go for several hours by the time we got back to the hotel so much relaxation was required. A dusk run for me. Swim for everyone. Dinner and bears out (of course). Dinner was noteworthy. King Prawns on the barbeque served with rice and a sauce made of raw green pepper, salt(?), anchovies(??), and lemon juice. A-MAZING!

We went back to our 'local' after dinner for some fruit and food for tomorrow morning (we have to be out of here by 6:30 for a bus). We returned to this place because of their tiny adorable puppies. Great fun while you're waiting for your food.

And so ends day 5. Tomorrow off to some place inland for a bit. Not sure of names.

Mui Ne, Scooters and Sand Dunes

Day 4. Finally, a day where we managed to sleep in til 7:30. After room service we haggled our way around town and hired four scooters for two days, 900.000 d.

I was initially terrified driving on the roads, as the road rules governing traffic is a bit ad hoc. My fears proved irrational as you realize the key to being seen is to be heard - the horn is the most useful ally in navigating the roads.

We initially shot up the coast from Mui Ne up to the other end of the beach where we went for a wander amongst the fishing village. Here we saw many fishing boats, cool round wicker boats used for going between fishing boat and shore, and a number of people shelling scallops. There was a bit of a stench filling the air in the noon sun, but not too bad considering the scale of the fishing going on.

Driving along our next stop was at the peninsular where we drove down to the beach for a quick blat. Tom kept getting stuck in the sand which was pretty amusing. Getting the scooters back on to the road again proved to be a sweat-inducing challenge.

Moving on again we drove along a breathtaking coastal road which was wide, straight and empty, the hot Vietnamese winds providing a cooling effect as we flew by. This is undoubtedly the best scooter ride I have ever had.

Our next stop was at the Red sand dunes, which we did not end up seeing/doing. Driving in to this attraction though triggered the local kids to sprint over. Before we knew it we were all surrounded by adorable[1] Vietnamese kids who are probably repeating their parents smoothest lines to try and sell us 'sliding' down the dunes. [1] one girl we spoke with had her iPod stolen by them yesterday. They were cheeky though, in between smiles they were playing with our scooters and maybe subtly checking our pockets..

After cruising up the coast for quite some time we decided to head back via some inland routes. Again, the scenery was absolutely beautiful. A mix between farmed land, trees and sand filled the horizon as far as the eye could see. Further inland houses started springing up, all of good size and quality for Vietnam. The locals, especially the kids, were very friendly and showered us with enthusiastic waves as we passed. We ended up reaching a 'restaurant'. Really it was a couple of tables and a sugar-cane juicer. Eager to try this drink we each ordered and sipped away at a cup while local kids glanced our way from the streets. These locals appeared to know very little English so after much pointing we managed to order 'food' - the only discernible ingredient at time of ordering was the noodles. We were all thrilled when the food arrived; despite being instant noodles, the fried egg, chives, coriander, spring onion and chilli brought this simple dish to life. (And not to count pennies, lunch for five of us with drinks came to 85.000 d / about $5.25 NZ = excellent) (we tipped, for once).

It was at this local spot that we decided to attempt what we have seen the locals achieve; overcrowding scooters. Now many scooters you see on roads would be burdened with goods such as vegetables, pipes, or families, so we decided to see if we could match the locals on this front. With Craig driving, Dustin near the front, me sandwiched and Tom braving a backwards fall we managed to get going. The looks on the locals' faces were priceless, it was the ever-perfect mix between great amusement and disbelief. The kids local kids were shouting and laughing all the while. It really was a great experience. I believe this has now been uploaded to youtube, link to come soon.

On our adventures along the back roads we ended up running out of road. A bit of off roading is always fun, provided the vehicle of choice has been hired. There wasn't anything too challenging, one just had to be mindful of the cows. I was lagging behind the others at one point and I accidentally started a small stampede heading towards the others. Fortunately it just petered out before reaching them. Anyway, along this back road we successfully reached sand dunes! Sure they were much smaller than the real attraction, but these came without thieving little children (we met one person who was robbed by the cute kids), and on virgin sands unspoilt by other tourists. We had a great blast running, jumping, falling down the dunes.

From here we headed back, Dustin unfortunately with a snake in his bike. Craig, Dustin and I went for one last blat in search of the 'real' White sand dunes. We ended up taking an unpaved road for miles at dusk which was great fun. A great way to end a great day of hired vehicles.

Dinner with friends' friends, then drinks by a place selling dodgy fish, then off to sleep, too late for cards.

Vietnam Day 3 – bus trip to the beaches of Mui Ne

Some bad judgement has been exercised today.

So, today was our bus out of Saigon and up to Mui Ne. We arrived at our local at 7am for a brekkie. We found the staff there awesome, and spent countless conversations being tutored Vietnamese by the waiter. “Sin” – Please. “Mong” – one. “Hi” – two. “Ba” – three. “Bo” – four. “Sin ciao” – hello. “Come on” – thank you. Note: all of the above are misspelt. And probably misquoted.

The 200km journey north took about 5.5 hours, but fortunately we were in a ‘sleeper’ bus, where each seat reclines right back. Amazing. Well, I thought so. No one else seemed nearly as stoked as I was.

Fig 1. Anna and Tom on the Sleeper Bus

Cool journey. Slow travelling. Stopped at some place for lunch that had a few simple options. Random things from jars put on rice or bread. I saw three Vietnamese go for something that looked quite unappealing so I immediately requested ‘same same’. Turns out those Vietnamese really knew where it was at. Delicious sticky rice with 6 or so toppings, none of which I could decipher, but all worked well together. At a guess I think there were a couple of pork toppings and maybe shredded anchovy, all smothered with a couple of sauces that really gave the rice a sweet bite.

Fig 2. Same Same

The town we’re in is touristy but not too pricey. $25 USD for the 5 of us to stay each night, which is roughly half what the Lonely Planet warned. There’s a beach here that runs for miles and is lined with kite surfing shops and restaurants a plenty. Beer’s 40% more expensive here, meaning the Saigon Green’s are now setting us back about $1.20 NZD each. Outrage. Anyway. We all ended up going for a swim. Due to a bit of neglect on my part (primarily realizing I had my iPhone on me) I ended up stashing my money (&phone) pouch in my towel on the beach. The poorness of my judgement was brought home by the four locals who were blatantly staring/gaping at me while I did this, either with malicious intent, or just in shock at how blaze I could be about valuables in a high-theft area. I decided that abandoning the valuables at the hotel instead was a wise alternative and warranted a detour.

Food was eaten. None of it noteworthy. We all ended up at the hotel playing cards in Dustin’s/Craig’s/my room, first Tuppin then P&A’s. For hours.

Fig 3. Craig's Shuffling

Unfortunately (and this is where the poor judgement came in to play) Craig purchased a bottle of wine containing a scorpion hanging out of a cobra’s mouth.

Fig 4. Bad Judgement

Procrastinating, we eventually opened up the bottle. The stench was awful, the amber colour of the liquid reminding one of kidney-disease. The scent, no, the stench slowly wafted to fill the whole room with a constant reminder of distilled unhappiness. Well, eventually, in between hands, we began the dreaded countdown and all had a sip. This is undoubtedly the most awful substance of any kind, food or liquid, I have ever consumed in my life. Without a doubt. The unhappiness spreads as we each choke back the rancid flavour. “Putrid flesh” I believe was Dustin’s call, true to the t. In some heroic fashion Dustin and Tom, giving much credit to their manliness, decided to finish their shot – promptly causing a violent reaction in Dustin. It doesn’t end well. Dustin’s colouring resembles a chameleon, indecisive as to whether red or green are the way forward. Tom handles it pretty well, but still was pretty unhappy. A few hours have since passed since my sip and the taste still lingers, fortunately weaker now. All in all, a tacky, touristy experience that exists just for the sake of it. Awful, irrefutable. But at least we can say we’ve sampled that. Our only concern now is hoping we don’t end up with food-poisoning. We’re counting down, about 6 more hours until we find out.

Saigon, Day 1

OK, we (Dusten, Craig and I) are now in Saigon. I walked out of the airport, hopped in a cab and immediately saw my first scooter crash, just a nose to tail, but a very good introduction to the mayhem which is Saigon's roads. Accomodation wise we've hit a real goldmine: a rad room located in a very vibrant street down in District 1. There is an abundance of restaurants and bars all within walking distance. There's a bit of noise pollution however, I'm curren

tly listening to a Vietnamese rock band performing more English and American covers than I can possibly recall; currently jamming out to a Zombie by the Cranberries.

Anyway, Day 1. The day begins at a jetlag-induced 6am. At about 9 we wandered down the road to Tom and Anna's apartment and woke them up. Our morning reunion was held outside their hotel which is down this cute narrow alley way with shops and houses of varying wealth lining the path. The ally is teeming with life as scooters blast down the narrow street every few minutes, carefully dancing between throttle and break.

Breakfast (technically second breakfast) consisted of Pho from a little restaurant that clearly doubled as a house and a garage. Pho consists of white noodles in a tasty (addictive) broth with a few bits of beef. Very tasty. So tasty in fact that this was also my lunch.

Today was a sight seeing day and first up was Independence Palace (aka Reunification Palace(?)), the setting of where Vietnam's President presided, all put together back during Vietnam's abominable struggle against America.

The second sight of the day was the Rembrants Museum, a series of photos to tell different stories of the war. Collections included the 'Atrocities of War', 'Vietnam after the war', 'Agent Orange', and so on. There really were some deeply disturbing and moving photos and stories. It was extremely challenging to look at everything, especially as many contained death. The most moving photo of all for me was of two terrified kids roughly 4-8 years old by a farm. The photo was taken moments before they were shot, but it is clear that the older of the two has jumped on top of his little brother to shield him from harm. Truly heartbreaking. Seeing how these innocent folks were born in to an impossible and damned situation makes me really appreciate the freedom in to which we have been born. It is sad how forgranted we end up

taking that privilege.

We nursed our mental state back to health at a nearby cafe. My coffee + milk + ice was a real treat. Coffee's made with a cool filter device, I won't elaborate now though.

So the afternoon. We wandered down to a local market. Purchasable items included a bottle of miscellaneous alcohol with snakes and scorpions inside, a variety of sea cucumbers, and 'weasel' coffee, the coffee bean that has passed through the digestive tract of some marsupeal. We spent a bit of time wandering and haggling, only coming away with a bunch of tasty banannas.

Dinner today consisted of extremely dodgy pork based scraps inside a baugette, and a note worthy steamed pork bun with quail egg. Before long we found ourselves cramped around a tiny table on tiny chairs sipping away at the now familiar Saigon Green beer. Mid way through the evening the heavens opened the taps to full and within minutes a layer of water spanned across the street. The brave motor cyclists ploughing through with pace left a wake behind them. In a hurried rush restaurant staff extended the umbrellas

built in to each building to cover the now damp patrons. Just sitting back and watching the streets became infinitely more fascinating in this sudden and durastic downpour as sheets of rain form waterfalls and lighting completes the spectacle. The end of the night came and we needed to head home, a distance of about 20 meters. In the thick of it all (and as a result of following Dustin) we ended up walking straight past our hotel. A minute of standing out in the rain scratching our heads managed to solve the problem of 'where's our hotel', but at the cost of being completely and utterly soaked through.

Good times.

The Cu Chi Tunnels

So the strength of the Viet Cong came from their guerrilla tactics, and that meant dominating the forests. That meant traps. Passages. Housing. Military production facilities. And tunnels. 200+ km of tunnels (allegedly it is possible to access Cambodia from Saigon via these tunnels). So today we saw a small sample of all of the above on display at Cu Chi, 2 hours bus trip out of Saigon.

Our day started with a bus ride scheduled at Tom & Anna's hotel at 7:35. By 8:30, after being driven around for a while picking up other tourists, we noted that we were nearly back where we started the day. Oh well, sleeping in is overrated anyway.

After another couple of hours in busy, bumpy roads on a bus lacking suspension we arrived at Cu Chi.

The museum has a good variety of war time things on show. There are a number of traps on display which the Viet Cong dug and hid throughout the jungle that were effective. The traps were elaborate and gruesome, varying in style but all with a similar theme: gravity and something sharp. There were holes dug out from which one could be completely hidden and emerge silently when needing to (much like in the Vietnam war movies) The hiding holes were tiny and very hard to spot. There were cooking facilities that had chimneys directing smoke a long way away, great for misleading the Americans as to the kitchen's/settlement's exact whereabouts. The tunnels were complex, winding and small. Due to the sheer quantity of tourists this area has seen the tunnels have increased to about 40% larger than back in the 70s. They are however tiny, humid, warm and dark.

After we were shown a number of sights, demonstrations and offered the chance to shoot some guns (we declined), we found ourselves at the main attraction, the tunnels.

Anna refused outright to enter. Tom, Dustin, Craig and myself ventured further. Tom made it down the first few meters before muttering 'I can't do it' and balked. We last three ploughed on. It wasn't long before we were on our hands and knees due to the lack of room. Along, down, along, around, down, along. There were some lights illuminating the way but a number were out, leaving sections of the tunnel in complete darkness. I'd say we spent about 5+ minutes underground and the tunnel was certainly enjoyable in short doses. It would undoubtedly have been a dark, smoky, twisting, fear-inducing pathway in to the depths of nightmares during war-time. Much nicer now.

Anyway, that done, back to Saigon. Slept on bus. We managed to get the same bunch of seats together for the return journey too which was ace. Dodgy donner kebab for lunch, 10.000 dong beer to accompany, and now we (Craig, Dustin and I) have booked in to Anna and Tom's hotel for the night.

Tomorrow we're all departing Saigon and moving on to Mui Ne.

Today's photos.

A street we passed whilst on the bus out from Saigon.

Our tour guide talking about a hole in the ground

Tom stifling his enthusiasm.

It Begins at Five

The journey begins with all the pomp one can muster at 5 in the morning. The sluggish wake. Struggling to work out why an alarm is going off. The confusion as to why my room is so tidy. Then a slow realization triggered by spotting bags packed by the door. Before I know it I am soon exchanging a series of sentimental grunts with Dad as I pile my few worldly possessions in to the back of Mum's car to start me on my way. A cursory glance at the time quickly raises alarm; "there is no way I can get you to airport in time". What a great start. Much to my elation this statement seemed to kindle ambition for success rather than stem as my mother races us through Wellington's waking streets. And just as well. Plane ticket acquired five minutes before boarding commenced, bag checked four, and arriving at the gate by the time zero eventually decided to roll around.

So this is the start of my escape to The Orient, hitting Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. For company(/amusement) I am travelling with Craig, Morgan, Dustin, Mots, Tom, and Tom's girlfriend. (I sincerely hope Tom's girlfriend does not read this post revealing I have forgotten her name, and that I couldn't be bothered to switch tabs to Facebook to subtly rectify this gap in my memory). Most of us are old school chums from Wellington College and I imagine we shall spend most of our time exploring the local sights and so on.

Great pains have been taken to ensure this trip goes smoothly, the fruit of vibrant discussion and deliberation...ok, that was a lie. The first 48 hours are sorted at least. Craig has booked an extravagantly flash hotel in Ho Chi Minh city to get us started ($10 per night I'll never see again) and - I am loath to put this in print as this will probably void my excuses for forgetting - I have been charged with sorting a loose plan for the first few days and then suggest the next destination. Suggestions welcome, readers.

Anyway, bidding a fond farewell to Wellington and all of her beloved inhabitants, it's been a blast as always. 'Til next time, adieu.