Sweating it out in Saigon, Vietnam

Local wares for sale

Vietnamese Kara drinking Cafe Sua not the street

We arrived into Ho Chi Minh City early on Saturday morning. It was hot, humid and the air smelt delicious. Vietnam smells. It smells like spicy egg noodles, dried fish, onions and sweet coffee… Combined it's quite welcoming and enough to get your stomach rumbling! But that’s ok because Vietnam can cook. Boy can they cook good. Aside from the regular beef pho, and scrummy rice paper spring rolls there is an array of different (we will say different) consumables: pig brain soup? Crocodile fritter? BBQ rat? Deep fried snake or Snail pie anyone? It’s all on the menu, and it all (when you close your eyes and think of chicken) tastes amazing. Another local favourite is the bang mi (baguette) made with liver, chilli, pickled onions, shredded chicken and spiced cucumber- absolutely delicious in fresh crispy bread.

Just after a rain- women selling fish

Come get your bananas! 

South Vietnam is hot, sweaty hot, clothes sticking to you hot. Which is quite amazing considering that everyone is dressed in pants and long sleeved shirts. 

Everything is busy and every man, dog and house, literally, is on a motorbike. 

Aside from the compulsory siestas, we have been quite busy exploring. As we only have five days in Vietnam we decided to make home base Ho Chi Minh city and venture outwards from there. We dived straight into a bit of war history and visited the famous underground tunnels in the Cu Chi district.

Things just got akward

Inside the largest Cu Chi tunnel

Bit of a tight squeeze out

The tunnels built in the late 1960's incorporate three underground levels and cover over 250kms of land. Built by the country folk of Cu Chi who, as it seems were extremely little people and were right into Guerrilla warfare. 

Chilling out at the red dragon

On our tour we were told the people had two options; 1. die 2. secretly hide underground and fight back.... so they fought back for over 18 years. We ventured nervously into the mini-people sized tunnels and covered 100meters of ground before our legs cramped up and we couldn't see through the sweat covering our eyes....nice. We also visited a government initiative designed to help those left jobless after the war to re-educate and learn new skills.

After that we had some R&R, John was dying to try the local brews so Kara left him at the bar and went off for a $3 mani and pedi. Quite a good bargain and the beer was tasty too!

Playing with the lunch 

We took a full day to also explore one of Vietnam's lifelines- the Mekong Delta. Our river tour took us South West 3 hours from Ho Chi Minh to My Tho, the upper branch of the Mekong. 

We boat-hopped across to four small islands named after animals found in Buddhism (the dragon, phoenix, unicorn & turtle). What we really enjoyed about the river tour was seeing how local people live (and make a living). 

Sailing the Mekong Delta

Each island had its own production of either honey, coconut candies or tropical fruits. 

We stopped for lunch on the largest island and ventured off later on bikes! The tours are a bit ‘touristy’ but do give you an insight to the people and culture.

We should note, we did visit the Binh Tay markets in the city centre. The market boosts to be the largest wholesale market in Vietnam. 

After walking 30minutes to get there from our hotel, we stayed all of 10minutes. We’re not sure if they get many tourists, or few but the sellers are very ‘persistent’ if you even show the slightest interest (or not even) with anything. Generally speaking you can get all your wares there and then some… seafood seemed to be very popular!

All fruits and them some! 

Vietnamese rice rolls for breakfast! 

'Pho' for lunch! 

Large pearly gates!

Visiting the Phat Budda

One thing we noticed about Vietnam is that is seems to come alive at night. It shakes of the humidity and heat of the sun and comes alive with plenty of neon lights. Actually it’s a bit like walking into a discount chemist shop- you can be a bit overwhelmed.

Bring on the nightlife! 

We loved sitting on the roadside with a local ‘Ca Phe Sua’ translation: espresso coffee with condensed milk over ice, and watching all the people about tending to their business, eating or playing with kids.

A treat to bring home!

River boats

Cycling through a small island village 

Ready for our boat ride! 

Onwards to China....

Tot siens,

John and Kara 

Melbourne and Cairns, Australia

Back in Melbourne, Victoria

So where are we now, what took us so long to blog and what is our big news!?

Hold on to your seats folks (and kudos to you if your using a standing desk)- We're off to BEIJING, CHINA! Kara has landed a pretty nifty teaching job and John loves Chinese food (a win-win).

Just a quick background to our last several weeks and then more about China: after leaving hot and sticky Malaysia we arrived in to the very cold Melbourne, Australia. In fact at the beginning of November Melbourne suffered its longest cold snap (for the month of November) in over 20 years!! Brrr!! So after a hop, skip and jump from Japan via Kuala Lumpur we arrived back into Aus. What hit us (after the massive wait at immigration) was the smell; the hot dry wind, dead grass and soft gum trees. We were back and it seemed even the birds were happy!

Visiting the Yarra Valley Chocolate emporium - oh no!

The last few weeks we have been kept occupied helping our hosts move house, and going shopping! First was a new computer (to keep our blogs going!) and then all the winter gear we will need for our first northern hemisphere winter. We have also been devouring a lot of food! Food that we missed the most; nachos, eggs benny, lamb, fresh salmon and salads! lots of salad!

Getting ready! 

Snorkelling on great barrier reef, Port Douglas

Kara's mum also popped over to Melbourne and we spent a day exploring the Yarra valley wine, chocolate and cheese trail (another fav we missed!!) before heading off to tropical Queensland (with Kara and her sister). So while John stayed in freezing cold Melbourne catching up on movies and admin, Kara was in Cairns soaking up the sun!

Kara, Tania and Tash relaxing in the resort pool

Champagne cocktail by the pool anyone?

Cairns sits about half way along the great barrier reef and is where the rainforest meets the reef. It was amazing and we spent time reading by the pool, eating fresh tiger prawns and snorkelling. The highlight was definitely heading out onto the reef with the local marine biologist for a close up of his environmental work... yip even saw a shark! Without a heartbeat, I could definitely say its like a paradise! (Thanks for the organising Tash and Mum for the surprise present).

Exploring the beach

Exploring the resorts private beach before breakfast

Ahhh... what?

So what's the plan now? We have our Chinese visas (yip- these were just as tricky to get as you might think), the dentist and doctor's appointments are done and we think we have enough clothes to stay warm.

Second phase... the arrival! So we're off this Friday, with several days up our sleeves we have planned to stop in Saigon (Ho chi minh) for the week! We also want to take the time to say a big thank you to MEG AND MISHA who accommodated and generously hosted us during our three weeks in Melbourne! We love you guys!


Tot siens,
John and Kara

Hiroshima, Japan

Kara didn't particularly want to travel to Hiroshima- why would you want to visit the streets were hundreds of innocent people died? When a country was devastated for years as radiation seeped into the land. What kind of tourism is that? Isn't it sadistic, or even just plain wrong?

A-bomb memorial, Hiroshima peace park

Itsukushima Shrine, Miyajima Island

However, we were recommended to go by fellow Japanese travellers and we are glad we did. Contrary to some western belief (or Kara's belief), the city has picked itself up and moved on. Hiroshima has washed away it's war history and is a vibrant and modern city. Yes, it's hard to forget the tragedies that occurred there and it's possible to visit the A-bomb memorial and peace park to reminisce- but that's all it is now a memorial to remember so that history is never repeated.


A local soba noddle and tempura dish

What Hiroshima offers now is an amazing city full of delicious foods- in particular a maple walnut cake filled with red bean paste (and if your lucky even deep fried!). We were super fortunate to also be there for the annual food festival- it seems a Japanese can't turn away from a baked and salted oyster! Us? We heart the Japanese rice balls... mmmm yum!

Japanese forest rat snake, Mt Misen

The area surrounding Hiroshima is also an outdoor paradise with plenty of mountains and islands for exploring in the local prefecture. We spent a day on Miyajima island off the coast and successfully submitted Mount Misen at a peak of 570m. The views from the top, but also the hike itself were outstanding and gave us a panoramic of the area. In addition the island is covered in wildlife, from deer that seem to have a taste for clothing (and aren't shy to have a nibble) to an array of venomous and nonvenomous snakes! This is a picture of the Japanese forest rat snake we encountered on the mountain trek. Exciting!!


Waterfall on Mt Misen, Miyajima island

A local treat in Miyajama Island

Best we run a little! On Mount Misen

On our arrival and for the second day after arriving in Hiroshima another typhoon hit the country (imagine heavy rain, strong winds, flooding)... It was all quite exciting considering we've missed winter this year! We met up with our NZ friend Nate who was also traveling in Japan for a hot 'Hiroshima style okomomiyaki' before wading to a hostel. Our second day, was very relaxing- we caught up on some sleep, drunk miso, talked with other travellers, tried to dry out our clothes and read- all as the rain pounded the windows... Ahh blissful!

Sake! Sake! 

When Sunday rolled around, we ventured to Saijo, a town located in the Hiba District (40 minutes by train). Saijo is a renowned Sake brewers area with 8 breweries in walking distance. To be honest we don't really remember much of that day, but we had a great time and tried many new (warm, cold, fruity, dry, sweet) sakes.


Sake tasting

Now that our three an a half weeks in Japan are coming to an end, we're gutted. Japan is an amazing country and traveling through the country it's evident that the Japanese also love and care for their country. We are going to miss quite a bit about Japan but in particular:
the delicious convenience store triangular sushi!!
the cleanliness of everything, streets, toilets and walkways,
possibly the most delicious thing available on earth-red bean rice balls and rice pancakes,
ordering our food from a ticket vending machine,
and lastly the fact that everything is on time. If the bus says it arrives at 11.34am it arrives at 11.34am!

We now have another short bus trip back to Osaka and will be flying onwards to Malaysia!

Tot siens,
John and Kara

Ps. Just a quick update... our next blog will be coming from Victoria, Australia!!- We plan to be sharing some very exciting news about the next year ahead! Stay tuned!!

Hiroshima peace park

Heiwa Odori shopping street, Hiroshima central

Catching the local trains by our hostel

How to order food in a Japanese restaurant

Inside the temple on the top of Mount Misen



Back to Osaka, Japan

Kara taking a quick nap on the bus

We arrived to Osaka after our stay in Nara. Osaka seems to be a bit of a base for us in Japan, with its amazing culture of Japanese anime and exotic foods!

As mentioned in our previous blog we had planned to visit Spa world. Spa world is an amazing, eight storied spa complex.... decked out with over 20 different themed spa rooms. However, it still remained very Japanese (meaning no clothes/togs/swimsuits in the water area). We said goodbye to each other and ventured off to the individual men's and women's floors for several hours, before meeting again for dinner and then retiring in the spa's sleeping rooms.






After our stay in spa world we quite frankly explored Japans 'underworld' yip- we went to a love hotel. Notorious in the western world for being dirty and sleazy but to our surprise, very clean and extraordinarily private!
We didn't go for a themed room, but just a normal Japanese room with the tatami mats. We would strongly recommend staying at a love hotel! You can't book rooms online in advance you do need to just turn up, but they are 1/3 of the price and at least 80% larger than any other hotel room in Japan. Bargain! And! you get plenty of free shampoos, soaps and hair ties!


Asahi capsule hotel, Osaka

For our last night in Osaka, we tried out the iconic Japanese capsule hotel!
Although guest reviews are quite mixed, we really enjoyed it! The capsules are spacious and each floor has a spa and sauna to relax in. In addition, you are given a lounge suit to wear and there are plenty of free activities (tv, games etc) to play if your bored.
Us? we skipped the games and made it our mission to try some fugu, our more commonly known as the blowfish... only the most poisonous food available for consumption.



Thinly sliced and raw Fugu

The fugu translates as 'river pig' and can be lethally poisonous. The preparation in Japan however is strictly controlled and chefs have to go through rigorous training (were talking Masters level degree) before being allowed to work in a restaurant. We went all out and tried the raw (sashmi) and cooked (fugu-chiri) varieties. Although it was exciting to be adventurous the fish itself was slightly chewier than we had anticipated.



A Japanese fav- 'Oden' found... everywhere!

There are two other photos we would like to share that to us, are quite memorable! Although both are found all over, and we mean everywhere! They seem very 'Japanese'. The first is the Oden, which is a hot soup food found in every convenience store and more. To us, its a bit tasteless but we love the shapes!





Japan's favourite past time- Pachinko

The second is the Pachinko! Actually a local was horrified,  beyond belief and thought we were pulling his leg when we said we didn't know of it? Well pachinko is a highly addictive Japanese slot machine game. However we have been lead to believe that there is some skill involved.... imagine your normal arcade fighting game but your betting little silver balls on the game. Its all rather complicated as to who is actually winning, but nether the less these pachinko's are rampant across Japan.

They are usually associated with bright lights, loud music and a very smoky interior. Seeing the significant amount of pachinko outlets you could easily be lead into thinking Japan may have a gambling problem.....

Tot siens,
John and Kara