Hoi An et Hue

18/03
We arrive after a hard night in the bus, we walk about town with our big bags to find an hotel, we book the Hoa Binh hotel, a simple hotel, a nice room but noisy, on the street, above the reception area. That will do for today, we go to rest, as Val is not too well and I'm also pretty tired despite a bit of sleep. We go for lunch, walk around the town, Hoi An s an exceptionally well-preserved example of a South-East Asian trading port. We walk around and the city has a distinct Chinese atmosphere with low, tile-roofed houses and narrow streets; it is truly beautiful...People also visit for the numerous art shops and tailors, who produce made-to-measure clothes for a fraction of the western price!!! We find one too as we needs to get some clothes made for our friends wedding in Sri Lanka, it is fun to find fabric, bargain like mad and think of models....now cross fingers, we will get some clothes on time and with a good fit!!! We go for dinner in the port, and it is great to chill out....

19/03
After breakfast, we go for a stroll in the market, the heat is hard to bear already so we sat by shopping around for caps and t-shirt!! I end up buying a bag crumpler and manage to upset the shopkeeper with my hard bargaining!!! We go to do some fitting at the tailor, few adjustements to make but the results are good already and so quick!!! We also go to another tailor to get some dresses made for Val, the girls there are smiley and friendly, it is refreshing....
The heat is hard so we sneak in the hotel close to ours for a swim and chilling out next to the pool, it is gerat to unwind here. Simple dinner then we walk around town, strolling through the lantern-lit streets is like walking into a fairytale. It is all the more picturesque since motor vehicles are banned from Hoi An's Old Quarter. There are so many lantern shops and unique lights in the streets, people here experiment with new shapes and materials, including lights made from hollow bamboo tubes, we both like it very much. We go to bed early as we have to wake up for 5 am as we are going on a tour...

20/03
After a very short night and a near catastrophe, we're on the mini-bus that going to take us to the My Son (pronounced me-sun) temples. It's 5.20am and we've nearly missed the van our alarm clock (or our ears) failing miserably. It does not take us more than 5 minutes to get ready, the puzzled and completely sleepy hotel portier waiting for us to get out of the room. What a mad rush...
It's a small group of 8 people. The site is considered here as the local Angkor, remains from the kingdom of Champa. We get very excited at this thought. Once at the temples, built by Cham emperors, we learn that not much is left of them. First time did a bit of work, then the American bombs finished off the job. A European archeologist even sent a letter to Nixon to end the endless bombing of the temples, at that time considered as a backline for the Viet Cong guerilla. It's a nice setting though and we peacefully walk around the little remains of what would have been an Hindu influenced splendor. The site is deserted as we're the first one in, way before the assaults of big tourist coaches. It is really worth it. In the background, the rising fog slowly unveils the 'Beautiful Mountain' (translation of My Son). It is beautiful indeed.
We gather again in the bus and go back to town. Today is sightseeing day and we buy the old town heritage building visit tickets. We visit some historical houses in the old town, dark woods everywhere, colonial houses, little temples,pagodas. All the houses were made of rare wood, decorated with lacquered boards and panels engraved with Chinese characters. Pillars were carved with ornamental designs. Hoi An emerged when Japanese and Chinese traders built a commercial district there in the 16th century and you can really feel the fusion of influences here, amazing. The original structure of some streets still remains almost intact today and you sometimes feel back in time. Tan Ky house has been owned by the same family for 7 generations, with little alterations to its original design. We then visit a couple of temples, the ceramic trade museum (the building being the attraction, not its content) and the traditional art and craft museum. It's around 1pm and everyone in Vietnam takes a big break around lunch time...but the shops are still open. It's rather fun tiptoeing in a shop in order not to wake up the shopkeeper (who by the way cannot try a forced sale on us as he's asleep!). We have some lunch rather late and go hide in our air-con'ed hotel room for a bit as it is now really hot. Dinner and off to bed. Tomorrow is an exciting day for me, I'm going to learn a bit of vietnamese cooking! Yummy!

21/03
This morning is also an early start for me. I've booked a cooking class at the Red Bridge, a well known restaurant in Hoi An. I really wanted to learn how to do good fresh spring rolls and a couple of other things...These are one of my little sin and I could eat hundreds of them. Val stays at the hotel but gets up early too. It's fitting-adjustments day for her at the tailor!
In the hot morning I go to Hai Cafe to meet up with the guide who takes us-we're a small group but very international- around the market to show us the fresh products we will use during the class and do some side business as any good guide/tout/tourism trade people all do! We then hop on a boat for a short sailing trip to the Red Bridge, located up the river in the rice paddies. We get to see fishermen skilfully and beautifully throwing the circular net in the air, some other collecting the very little shells (snails) we saw many time being sold by old ladies around town. It is a delicacy patiently savoured by the locals.
The cooking class is fun, the chef punctuating the tuition by little canny jokes. I get to meet two girls, one American, Brendy heading to Hong Kong and an Aussie on vacation. The class is fun and very interesting. Cooking our little dishes, we munch them in between two recipies. We then have a great 3 courses lunch with some fresh lemon juice. The location is beautiful, rice paddies one side, the herb garden on another, the local fishermen rowing boats on the river as a background. Time to get back and catch up with my beautiful wife around 1.30pm. She's also been very active this morning.
She went to the tailor for the fittings. As there was only a couple of things to do, the young shop assistant took her to the workshop a bit further out of town. She enjoyed the ride and chats with the witty girl who has big plans for the future. She just needs to work to finance it and wants to become a teacher. Val enjoyed meeting some girls, having an insight into the tailor trade, it was fun apparently. We talk while strolling around town, looking at the people, the kids playing on the pedestrian streets. We both notice that there are loads of kids running around throughout Vietnam. They are not ultra protected behind close doors. During our trip here we got to see many of them, free of movement, but the parents still very close but somehow withdrawn. No barrier, no tension like in Europe. Everybody seems to look after everyone else's progeniture. It is a fabulous feeling of freshness and naivity. We smile... We soon do a bit more shopping, and a pair of made-to-measure sandals later we're back at the hotel. We rest a bit before going out for dinner on the harbour, at the foodstalls. Mr Hi, table number 5, remember! table number 5!!!!! He keeps saying! We sadly pack, we liked this mustard coloured walls houses and little town a lot. Lights off, tomorrow we're back in Val's favourite bus!

22/03
Wake up early as we take the bus to Hue this morning. We go to get our free breakie in the posh sister hotel. We then get our bags and get on the bus. It is another one of the sleeper bus, more recent but the legroom is even shorter than the one we had to get to Hoi An. I am completely cramped and can't even stretch my legs. Luckily enough the journey is only 3.5 hours (for 130km!), Vietnam style. Which means once again ten stops in the middle of nowhere, a 30 mins lunch break at 10.30am which in reality is 1 hour. Anyway, we get to Hue, and as soon as the bus stops, a swarm of touts trying to sell their hotel get onboard. No real room to get off and take our bag. It is really hot today and it takes a few minutes and upset touts (I tend to be polite but reckless with them!) before we're off to our little pick of the day, Huang Hong, a little guesthouse, very cheap, but quiet, tucked in a cul-de-sac, where the air is stranglely enough quite fresh. A simple room with two double beds(!), a basic bathroom and a fan. What do you need, hey?! We go for a quick lunch and come back to the room to relax and to let the heat go down a little. It is actually around 38 degres and it is hard!!! We decide to go for a walk around 5pm to see the town but most of the old sites are inside the citadel, we stroll around, the city is busy and not so pelasant despite the lakes and river. Val feels weak tonight, dizzy and we decide to get a take away and eat in the room tonight....

23/03
We wake up early to sort out our trip to Hanoi and go and visit the citadel before the heat, it is supposed to be 38 degres today...again!! I go and find us some train tickets for this afternoon as we are not so keen on staying here for long, the city in itself has not hooked us. After a lovely breakfast on the terrace at the guesthouse, we walk to the citadel, along the Perfume river, a long walk, busy town, many scooters, the heat is already difficult to bear and we are both feeling tired ! We reach the Citadel, a city whithin the city, old ramparts, 10 km long wall where the majority of the people live...Nice to see that for once, the town even a cultural one doesn't belong to the tourists but is still a REAL town... The sights are beautiful, imperial enclosure, Chinese temples, palace, amazing pavilions, little lakes,a forbidden city for the emperor, the residences of the queen, few elephants in a garden etc etc... it feels very Chinese here again, this capital of the Nguyen Emperors. We forget the touts for 3 hours, walk around this secluded place, funny enough we catch up with a Malay guy I met during the cooking class...It is already noon and hot...we decide to head back to the guesthouse to get some food and go to the station. After a bad lunch, we check out, and let the lady from the guesthouse sort out some mortobikes for us. She ends up driving me, hard to say stable at the back of a scooter with a 20 kgs rucksack!!! We leave Hue with no regret, happy to have seen the sights, the lovely citadel but not convinced by the city, specially after magical Hoi An.
The sleeper train for Hanoi is supposed to leave at 3 pm, we wait, wait, few Westerners and many Vietnamese until 4 pm when the train appears...we discover we are not in the normal sleeper 2nd class as we wanted but in a posher coach!!!
Well actually there are no Vietnamese people here and the air con is not working...Great...after crap bus journey here comes the train journey!!!
We are both melting, asking the staff to sort out the air con, it keeps stopping...oh joy...Val talks to some English people in the luxury carriage, next to ours, it is soooo much cooler there...The staff members come to the next cabin and start smoking drinking beers and play loud music...it is getting a bit too much for Val, we paid more to avoid crazy night bus and it will take longer to reach Hanoi but we were hoping to sleep!!! Action is necessary here!!
We chat to the guy in charge of the luxury carriage and he offers us an upgrade, cash in hand of course and unofficial!!! We move to a luxury cabin, just for the two of us, a risk as we might get kicked out in the middle of the night as we have no real tickets...but will see....
Feels so much better...we go for a stroll in the train, chat to the 4 English guys next to us and finally relax...the night might be good in the end! We should reach Hanoi around 4-5 am.

Mui Ne

12/03
We leave HCM around 9am, hard to get up as we went out so late last night...We wait for a while for the bus that takes us to Mui Ne. We arrive around 1pm, a long trip, we see the country, the bus ride is crazy...vietnamese driving...but we go along with the flow, we then walk struggling with our bags to find a nice place on the beach, many of them but expensive...finally we discover a cheap little resort with nice wooden bungalows, quite basic but very near the beach, with hammocs on it and a nice vibe. Then as we check in, we discover it is full of kitesurfers!!!! Some pros come here to surf and stay for months...a fit atmosphere here!!! Boys and girls with amaxzing bodies around...The town itself just consists of one main road, with small hotels spaced some distance apart, punctuated by small restaurants and tiny souvenir shops. Nice enough but not much to do...it will be perfect for a little break.

13/03
Fab decides to learn kitesurfing and today is the start of his training, he spends most of the day on the beach learning to control the kite, on land instead of learning in the water, there are many kites here and it is nice to see them floating, flying...like butterflies in the sky...The beach here is shaping up to be the kiteboarding center of South East Asia, with waves and wind year-round!!
I am also impressed by the skills and style of the kiters, I notice many people doing the same as me, being distracted from their book and spending hours watching them....I go for a walk along the beach, an amazing 10kms of white sand beach with red dunes around. Fab comes back, he had fun but there is a lot to take in, we go for a walk, we see a really beautiful sunset, the colours are vivid here and the sky is red, burning, then pink, then mauve...amazing views...

14/03
Fab spends most of his day hoping for less wind to continue his kitesurfing training, I read, we go for lunch, we walk, then it is dinner time again...the day goes quickly, not doing much, dreaming, observing the pros in the water. We go for a stroll along the street and discover that Mui Ne is full of shops and restaurants, many for Russian tourists...funny, there are many Russians here on holidays, as they don't need a visa to get here and it is easy and cheap for them....It is lively but seems artificial, a little resort created for the tourists. The day goes like that, we chat with the lady in our resort, she has a little dog Coco, she loves him to bit, funny to watch her play with him, treats him like a baby...Again our impressions of Vietnamese people are very different from what we've heard, people are nice, smiling, direct, yes, but nothing more than the French!!!

15/03
Another quiet day again on the beach in Mui Ne, Fab continues his kitesurfing training, we walked in the morning, early before the waves arrive so we can swim. I spend my day, reading in the hammoc, watching the kitesurfers, the wind, the long beach. We chat with some French people here for the weekend, Mui Ne is a popular place for expats at the weekend, they come for the sports and the beach and it is only 4-5 hours from Saigon...convenient...Benjamin is working in Saigon and has some friends visiting, nice to chat, to talk about life in Vietnam as an expat, seems like a good experience to be living in Asia.

16/03
Our last day here as we have decided to move again ad go to Hoi An in the centre of the country, slowly making our way up to Hanoi...another day on the beach for me, hot day, wind, waves, walk, swim, reading in the hammoc, I start feelin restless and realise that I cannot be still for more than few days...funny this tension between sightseeing, discovering and chilling out...we both feel we should move on, see more, explore more and at the same time, we want to stay put...Weird...and still unresolved...
Fab is in the water, kitesurfing, I observe him, struggling with his board, succeeding with the wind, the kite, up, down, sometimes, he even starts to rise off the water, trying to steady the kite overhead with one hand while holding the board with his other and trying to wiggle his feet into the board's foot straps. Interesting!!!! At the end of the day, he manages to kite for a bit, he is happy of his achievements and full of adrenaline, it is a good sport, he likes it and wants to do some more...good good... last dinner in a cheap place on the beach, and off to bed, tomorrow morning we are up early...

17/03
Last morning on the beach before taking the bus for Hoi An at 1pm...we rise early, go for a walk, a swim, it is so nice to stroll on the sunny beach....it was nice to be here chilling out for few days, being quiet and resting...now another adventure starts...an 18 hours bus journey up to Hoi An....We say our goodbyes to Saiho and her dog, it was nice to be in this relaxed atmosphere and head to the bus with Mike a Canadian guy, kitesurfer who has been staying here too....one of the pros...he gave Fab some useful tips and is on his way to another beach before heading home...the first part of the journey is fine, 6 hours in the sleeping bus, until Nha Trang, another beach place, funny to be lying down during the day, the bus is quiet, few people, I listen to the iPod, Fab chats with Mike and it goes quickly, watching the country, staring out the window at rice-fields, and Mui Ne's sunshine fading behind us...The bus driver is mad again, crazy ride towards Nha Trang...We reach this city at 6.30pm, we have 1/2 hour break to eat, go to the loo then jump in another one this time for 12 hours to reach the centre of the country...HELL...We say goodbye to Mike, then find ourselves in a bus packed full of bunkbeds! The beds are very small, typically built on an ‘Asian’ size scale, the over-night trip is completely stuffed, making an uncomfortable night nearly unbearable. There is a mix of Vietnamese and travellers, we may be 30 people here, the drivers shout I feel very anxious and hate it...trying to stay positive as it is all part fo the experience but I already know it is going to be a sleepless night for me...Fab seems a bit more Ok despite the size of the bed...The bus makes a dozens of stops for all sorts of unknown reasons during the night...Picking up people and cargo in the middle of a dark night was the norm for the rest of the evening. Crammed people sleeping on the floor, bags around us, one driver close to Fab in a hammoc and...to finish: a girl pucks just behing us!!!!! HELL!!! Her friends try to clean it up but we wil have to put up with vomit smell for 12 hours...I feel slightly unsane and agitated!!!! I try to remember it’s just a test of patience and Buddhist calm!! No sleep of course, Fab manages to sleep few hours...Quite a funny scene at sunrise when I am able to survey the whole disorganised lots, but I am rewarded by an amazing sunrise close to Hoi an, rice fields, red sun rising slowly...it feels peaceful...so glad to arrive!!!

Ho Chi Minh City - Saigon

9/03
We spend the day in planes, a stopover in Singapore then arrive in Saigon-Ho Chi Minh around 7pm, we get our visa checked, and then get into a taxi to our hostel in the backpacker area. There are millions of cars and motorcycles in the streets, a noisy mad city, but the vibe is great...We are both tired by the day and amazed by the busyness and hectiness of this place...An hour later, we arrive at our little guesthouse in a small alleyway, Bich Duyen. A small windowless room awaits us, it is going to be our little home here for few days. We go out around the corner for a bowl of pho (rice noodle soup with meat) and are stunned by the city, it is full of people, 11 millions of human beings here....and tons of noise....after that quick meal, off to bed as we want to visit and to explore tomorrow...

10/03
We tour Ho Chi Minh today, the city is hot, hectic, millions of motos in the streets, a complete chaos but again a great vibe. We go and see the market, the Ben Thanh Market, shops, food, clothes, a real mix, we stroll around the busy people and have some lunch in one of the many food stalls, nice to sit so close to the ground and chill out despite the heat...a good colourful market, full of many things...
The warm weather is different from Bali but still so hot...After this break, we continue to explore the city, visit Notre-Dame cathedral, built by the French, the nice old colonial post office and walk to the Chinese quarter to see the Jade Emperor Pagoda, a nice Chinese temple, a colourful pagoda, filled with statues in papier-mache, woodcarving, many burning sticks of encens, people come here to pray, to give offerings but also to rest in the courtyard and escape the rumble of motorbikes and noise.
We also visit the war museum, all about the American war, we learn about the mines, the chemicals, napalm, the terrible agent orange, the mad US bombings amd massacres...a terrible war, traumatic for both sides but with terrible effects still visible here: areas being defoliated, children being born deformed and disabled...still now, a horrible cost for many future generations. The museum is a traumatic place with haunting pictures of massacre, disabled children, horrible tortures...it is hot and I feel dizzy, the shock of seeing this horror and the heat...I have to sit down and rest for a bit , drinking an entire bottle of water!!
Of course it is one-sided but still shows us the tragic legacy of this war...
We walk back past the Reunification Palace, again Ho Chi Minh is intense, busy as hell, the rumble of millions of motorbikes around us, a mad metropolis. Most inhabitants refer to it as 'Saigon', the pre-reunification name. Since the city fell to the North Vietnamese Communists in 1975, the city's name was changed to Ho Chi Minh City, after the heroic founder of the Vietnamese Communist Party.
We go for a rest then it is time for dinner around our area Pham Ngu Lao, there are many shops, hostels, cafes, it is very lively, we lose ourselves here but in a nice way, it feels peaceful despite the crazyness around us. Our first impressions are good, we were worried as so many travellers were put off by Vietnam, Vietnamese people are full on but nice, direct but not too pushy and we cannot feel this aggressivity we were told of... Yes, true, the constant sounds and smells of hectic Asian city life combined with the hazy, damp heat has an effect on us, an intense sensory overload but a good one somehow.

11/03
Today we book a tour with a small group to go and visit two things: the Cao Dai temple and the Cu Chi tunnels. The Cao Dai temple is part of a Vietnamese sect that seeks to create the perfect religion by fusing the secular and religious philosophies of both East and West. We drive for few hours before reaching the temple, very colourful, we see the noon prayer: few hundred people pray in white dress, there are amazing murals, with some pictures of eyes, their representation of God everywhere, lots of colours, sounds...we see some portraits of Confucius, Buddha, Jesus, a melting pot of religions...weird...it is nice to get out of Saigon and see around, vivid rice fields. We then reach Cu Chi after a quick lunch, we chat to the people in our group, an Aussie couple, a Brit girl, an Austrian guy and another from Singapore, all nice and friendly travellers.
Around Cu Chi, there has been intense bombing, destruction during the war. The tunnel network of Cu Chi is very famous, there were more than 250 kms of tunnel, they made comunication possible between the different Viet Cong controlled areas and allowed for surpise attacks against the Americans...this zone was heavily bombed, defoliated, gassed and devastated during the war...It was an amazing achievement considering it was dug by hand and during bloody conflicts. We visit some renovated parts of the tunnel, it has been enlarged to allow tourists in, we see the camouflaged kitchen with no smoke, the tunnels. I go in, so narrow but Fab feels a bit too claustrophobic to get inside...they are only 1.2 metres high...imagine what the real 90cm ones would have been...we imagine the VC guerilla living here and fighting and the American boys arriving in this heat and fighting them...
We go back to crazy Saigon and decide to go out all together as we all get along well. We meet up for dinner, have some drinks, end up sharing a table with some locals who treat us to some local delicacies: dried cuttlefish, salted fish, water snails, and so on...a funny little bar, wher we stay close to many scooters and motos, fells like being in a garage but in the heat and outside...weird but nice! A great jolly mood and festive night out....nice to be with many people to share about our lifes, our culture, a real melting pot tonight, stories about travels, other countries, experiences....laughter and drinks!!!

Ubud, Bali

01/03
We leave Nigel and Nikki around 6am: a little hard after a very short night and lots of wine yesterday. Very kindly Nigel leads us up to the highway. A good half hour drive later we reach the Brisbane airport, the sun shines, it is our last moments in Australia, just a bit sad to leave and we will not be in Western countries before a long time... We return the car and board our plane to Singapore, the day will be long, we'll make a Singapore stopover and another flight back to Bali, a 10 hour journey! It's pleasant to fly this morning, we have space, we can sleep, watch movies, eat, more movies, eat again. A quick stop for a Singapore stopover. Two hours in the airport, we connect to the free airport internet whilst waiting for the next departure, then another flight to Bali. We arrive at 7.30pm. We have organised a pick up from the airport to the villa that takes us to our new accomodation: we are staying in 'luxury' this week, my friend Nona from Jakarta has negotiated for us a nice little villa in quiet Ubud, a mountain town in the middle of rice paddies and also the artistic and cultural centre of Bali. It's hot, the thick and humid air wraps us and I feel the next two days will be hard! We reach our home for the next 9 days in the village of Nyuhkuning, next to the Monkey Forest. The villa is lovely, beautiful Balinese architecture, a swimming pool shared between 4 villas, air conditioning, a small tropical garden, dark Balinese wood furniture. We are delighted and pleased to have a place for ourselves! A quick dinner and then bedtime, we are tired and the humid air is hard to cope with!

02/03
We rest this morning and then decide to go explore the city, to get a feeling of the town and discover this place! We are close to the Monkey Forest, we cross it to reach Ubud, a dense forest inhabited by macaks monkeys. The shaddy trail goes through the forest, a funny little jungle! I begin to stress about the dogs... There are millions of stray and ferral dogs in Bali, wild, ill and in a pretty bad state... It's a real pleasure for me who fears these animals! However, they are not really aggressive and I will quickly get used to them...
Strolling in Ubud, we find shops everywhere. Ubud is quite touristic, but clean, a pretty prosperous village.
It is the end of the monsoon season, the humidity is very high, about 80 percent and we struggle a little to adjust. We walk around town, through the streets and side alleys, we stop for lunch in a warong (the local cafes), rest, then a little more exploration of the city. The houses are beautiful, temples magnificent, the sens of ornament, of decoration is present everywhere in Bali. We enter villas and family compounds, admire the splendor of the Balinese gardens, a mix of species, colors and contrasts. Superb! Altars are everywhere, in and around all buildings, street corners, in front of the shops, on rooftops and roof terraces, simple offerings everywhere for the Nature, Gods, Spirits and Human celebrations. Walls, gates and doorways are all carved, orned, family temples are visible in each house, pavillion, altars, the Hindu influence is everywhere. Balinese Hinduism is very specific, a true conglomerate of indigenous beliefs, of Buddhism and Shivaism of Indian origins. The worship of natural elements is very strong, as we see in the ritual of the offerings: small package presented to the gods of the house, the weaving of palm leaves containing flowers and seeds. A real expression of Balinese art, the smoke of incense floating above our small altar in the villa day... beautiful! The beauty of gestures, of flowers, of these simple but meaningful offerings touches us greatly. It inspires reverence, but also serenity. After this beautiful walk, we rest a little, swim in the villa pool and then walk again into town for dinner. It's fun to cross the forest at night, a little scary but really fun actually!! The monkeys sleep and I control my fear of dogs with little difficulty...hanging to Fab's arms!! Nice dinner in a local cafe then time to return home.

03/03
A quiet day, relaxing, pool, walk in Ubud, which we really like, we explore new corners, we see some rice fields, just out of town, chat with Balinese people affable and smiling. We also chat with our neighbours, an English couple travelling, excahnging some tips and ideas. We both want to see the island, see everything, explore each temple but decide to chill out this week and live at the Balinese time, being in serene Ubud. We discover a nice place to eat, Dewa Warong, good local cheap food with shared tables, a place to share, which will become our canteen. We meet some French, Dutch, Belgian people, a slightly alternative atmosphere floats around, travelers from all corners of the planet put together here. We like it!

04/03
Quiet morning, we chat with our neighbours, discuss Bali, an island which seems quite elusive, beautiful and complex. We decide to hire a scooter to go a little further. We leave the villa around noon to reach some villages, the village of Mas, a village of wood carvers and furniture, and Celuk, a small village of goldsmiths, disappointing. We go through some poor villages, dogs are ill, there is rubbish in the streets, and this humidity,wetness of Asia, but flowers are everywhere, at every street corner, a luxuriant vegetation ... We reach Mas, looking for furniture and wood work, a little disappointing, factories and shops along the streets, but little sculpture...just Balinese furniture in large quantity, very nice but not what we are looking for. We visit two antique shops, but are reasonable, we are on a traveller's budget!!!Same in the silversmith village, disapointing, jewelry are all the same, bad styles for tourists. We go back to Ubud to get a massage, Balinese massage is offered at every corner here!!! We go to a small spa that was recommended to us, a very pleasant hour and a half, very relaxing! The rain is suddenly torrential, funny to have a massage and hear the water flowing on the roofs (alang alang), we get back to the scooter and in time to reach our canteen Dewa, are completely wet up to our underwears!! The monsoon rain again and again!! Nice dinner again, we chat to some Belgian and a Dutch, the tables are so convenient to share, exchange, and have a great meal!! When we leave, we run into a French couple met few days ago. A place definitely cool, the food is excellent, the nasi goreng, Nasi Campur or the gado gado, all the local dishes are fresh and good. A delice and so cheap! I start eating vegetarian agan, the Indonesian cuisine is full of soy or tempeh, very healthy... After a convivial evening, we go back to our beautiful villa, this time in scooter! Crossing the Forest seems longer in scooter that by foot that night, strange ... but the monkeys are sleeping and we see very few dogs!

05/03
Early start: we drive to Padang Bay, a long ride up to this small port city. Padang bay is not a success for us, a small port with ferries going to Lombok, many restaurants, plenty of diving clubs but quite disappointing. lots of driving to see an area that we don't connect with, shame...We meet a French couple there and have lunch together, they have spent 9 months in Australia, and are travelling in Asia, they are disappointed with Bali, we tell them about Ubud, talk, exchange tips and impressions, nice. We then drive to Sidemen , a village in the rice fields, recommended by a couple in Dewa, two days ago. A very nice ride through villages, beautiful scenery, tiny rice fields clinging onto the side of the mountains, a highly sophisticated landscape of rice terraces, it's a pretty spectacular ride. Farmers work hard, we can observe the cultivation of rice, its different stages, fascinating. The sky becomes threatening, we leave for Semarapura-Klunggkung to visit Gosa Kerta, the masterpiece of Balinese architecture, a courthouse with beautiful wood panelling, painted ceilings, wooden pavilions. We want to avoid the rain, but it is impossible, a rainstorm hits us!! I like the rain in Asia, violent, strong and intense. We get soaked head to foot, when we reach the villa, the streets are innundated!!! Fab is doing really well driving the scooter in mud and puddles! He is now driving like a local, using the horn, every 5 minutes!
Short break at home to get warm and then we go to see a Balinese dance performance, an episode of the Ramayana this great Indian epic, the episode of the abduction of Sita by Rawana. There are different types of dance in Bali, we decided to go see the Kecak. There is a chorus of men sitting in a circle, chanting and scanding the scenes, words and gestures are apparently designed to exorcise evil spirits. These are vocal percussions without music, the pace is very strong, powerful, supported by undulating movements and the body lexicon-vocabulary really impresses us. The dancers are supported by these singers, the dances are graceful, with beautiful fabrics, brocade of green, red, some diadems. Each movement is one of great precision and of technical perfection, the movements of the wrists, hands are fascinating. It is truly beauiful, fingers are pointed out, so much flexibility! We then go for dinner at Dewa, find Ariane and Alain, our couple from Montpellier, Alain is a sculptor, who does some land art, and Ariane is very much into India, spirituality , yoga, we share and chat with joy. Dewa is as usual so friendly, everyone chat, relax and eat well!! A must! I wonder what it would be like to spend few months here, Bali is full of yoga, meditation classes and I slowly reconnect with my spiritual search...all about reconnecting the mind and the body. A good atmosphere, quite spiritual here and I really like it...

06/03
We decide to go walk in the rice fields throughout the small villages, despite my fear of dogs, dogs are everywhere here and in quantity! It is very hot this morning but after a good breakfast and chat with our neighbours John and Mary Louise, an English couple who are travelling in Asia after living 8 years in Hong Kong and Malaysia, originally from Streatham, very close to home!!!!! It makes us smile to think of London. We reach a temple Pura Ungegen Lebah, between two rivers, we walk the slopes of alang alang grass, the grass used for the thatched roof houses. The path-trail is nice, we finally get to Bangkiang Sidem , a small village, enjoy the view over the rice fields, visit the temple of the village, always very well maintained, very beautiful. A wall divides the various sacred spaces, everything is decorated, sculpture everywhere, mythological figures, gods are all there. We then continue on to Keliki, a village of painters, a little bit disappointing tho. The Balinese reproduce in mass Hindu images or lifestyles scenes, thinking that is what tourists want. There is little originality in what we see, each stall has the same paintings. The sun is very strong, we then decide to return home, have lunch in an organic cafe, chat with another neighbour, an American Morgan, a musician who lives here. We then go to a yoga class: the first one for Fab! The course is organised in a villa, in an outdoor studio overlooking the rice paddies, beautiful! The class is nice, despite the thousands of mosquitoes that attack us! Fab appreciates the mental and physical relaxation provided by the postures, I reconnect with yoga, with joy, despite my lack of flexibility: a rich and relaxing time. We go to Dewa warung, our canteen, which unfortunately is closed for one day! Drama! We decide to have dinner next door. a bad choice....the food is not the same, by chance we see Alain and Ariane, chat, have a beer, exchange our details, we hope to catch up aghain on Sunday night before we leave Bali. Then back to our scooter and villa for sleeping.

07 \ 03
Up early to go shopping, we go to Sukawati, a city with an art market, an active city, we do some shopping and then go to Mas again to llok for some wood furniture, but find nothing....The thunder rumbles, a monsoon rain is coming, we leave for Ubud. A short break at home to leave our bags, then go for lunch in our little organic cafe, a salad, some internet, we book a guesthouse in Ho Chi Minh, then go foir a walk in Ubud before going for another massage. We asre temtpd to buy some batiks, the ikat from Bali, the richness of Balinese fabrics is amazing but stay reasonnable again! The joys of Balinese massage, an hour massage, very relaxing, a small dinner and then off to bed early. We want to enjoy Sunday, it is our last day here!

08/03
I wake up very early, around 6 pm, spend an hour quiet before Fab rises. We have breakfast, talk with two U.S. ladies from Hawaii, here to do a retreat. We then go to the market, do some shopping, haggling like crazy. Fab go for a pedicure, we then had lunch at Dewa, then run to the post office. It's Sunday, but we are lucky, it's open: a parcel has to be sent home again we must be light and we are not!!Our bags are so heavy!! I then go to a yoga class, at the yoga barn, the studio is always pleasant, overlooking the rice fields, a moment of relaxation and to myself. Fab during this time, go for a ride in the surrounding villages, get lost in the rice paddies and small, witnessing some rural life scenes, very unique. We go for our final dinner at Dewa with Alain and Ariane, we share our impressions on the island, our feelings, talk about a study on water and its receptivity to emotions and intentions .... well a very nice dinner. Back to our scooter, and then we have to pack again....hell!!!tomorrow ... we leave for Saigon...

09/03
Last breakfast in the villa, with John and Marie Louise, we chat about London, life in Asia, their experience in India, Hong Kong, a nice breakfast, we exchange our emails, and we hope to catch up in England, a nice encounter... Departure for Denpasar and the airport, we chat with Made our driver, we talk about the local rituals, the difficulties to survive here, especially since the bombing and the decrease in tourism. We speak about Hinduism, as most other islands in Indonesia are Muslim, it is fairly unique here...an interesting time .... we leave Bali with regret, a beautiful island, diverse, rich, complex, far from the cliches of a tropical paradise: a strong culture, spirituality highly integrated in daily life and close to nature ... we want to come back here, but longer, maybe...A beautiful and gentle introduction to Asia before Vietnam ....

Rainbow Beach, Fraser Island and Brisbane

25/02
We wake up at 7am as our flight to Brisbane is early. The flight is pretty short (2hours). We still dream of our dives, Val reads the inflight magazines, I write a bit about the past few days. We now touch down in Brisbane. It not as hot and humid as Cairns! Which feels nice. We have hired a car and at the rental office desks, we're being asked if we would like a free upgrade to a bigger car (we originally hired a small, tiny and cheap car!). Of course! We are upgraded to a big Holden (Aussie made), very luxurious. Nice because we have quite a few kilometres to our next destination: Rainbow Beach. The choice is simple: sandy beach, surfing and diving!
Few hours later we reach Noosa for lunch. It's a seaside resort, famous for its surf waves. It's quite big and quite posh in fact. The beach is lovely, but it feels a little bit too built up. I get new flip-flops as mine are pretty tired. We then drive again for a while and we make it to Debbie's, our new accomodation, in Rainbow Beach. It's the start of the low season and it's not busy. Instead of staying in the main house, we're upgraded (once again!!!) to a lovely semi-detached house, bedroom, (great) bathroom, kitchen and living room. What a change from the boat cabin and the grotty place!!Nice to have some space and a house for ourselves! We walk around town, watching the burning sky of the sunset. We do a bit a shopping for tomorrow's breakie. We watch a bit of TV and off to bed. The past few days have been intense, we need more rest and it seems to be the perfect place.

26/02
The night has been really rainy. But the day is welcoming us with a great blue sky. Slow start but we go to have a look at the beautiful sandy beach, quite wild with bushes arouund and no houses. We walk along the breaking waves. It's quite windy but it feels like a proper holiday time. The feeling of rush is slowly fading away. We do a bit of food shopping, book tomorrow's excursion, and then go home where I fire up the BBQ, Aussie style. We've bought some chicken with Teryaki marinade. It's great to wind down this way! We're really enjoying our time here. We're very relaxed and peaceful. Rainbow Beach is a very small resort town (more like a village really). And it's not crowded. And the house is so quiet. After lunch, a little nap (I think we took that nice little habit on the boat!) and we're off to the beach. I decide to enjoy my afternoon surfing the Aussie waves. Val stays on the beach reading, chilling out and sunbathing. It's a nice day, warm despite the strong wind. Good to have a bit of sun. Back on the beach we walk on the golden sand before sunset and then go home. Tonight it's lamb BBQ and fresh salad and a glass of rose. Lovely!

27/02
Early start today, we're going to Fraser Island, the largest sand island in the world. We booked a tour even if we are not big fans of them but we have no time here so one day on the island will do. We drive around to pick up the group, we are 12, mainly foreigners and everyone seems nice. We take the small ferry that cross the sandy straight separating the island from the mainland. It is pouring rain, we are very annoyed as it is supposed to e amazing...Nice ride on the beach, it is all sandy so 4WD ride on the sand and it feels quite fun! Our small coach gets stuck in the sand, a great start of the day!!!We drive around, go for tea in a resort then visit the Lake McKenzie, a stunning lake with blue water, white sandy beach, it is a perched lake, depending on rainfall.
Fraser Island is a world heritage site because of its exceptional natural beauty, its sandy beaches, dunes, its tall rainforest, dune lakes and it is truly incredible. The vegetation has grown despite the fact that is it all sand, the plants find nutrients from thin coatings on the sand grains and then from the forest floor, incredible! The rain has stopped now, we can enjoy the place, it is a huge island stretching over 123 kilometres in length. The lakes are great, the island is surrounded by saltwater but has more than 100 freshwater lakes!! We visit the rainforest, a proper rainforest with tall trees, a thick canopy of leaves, pines, eucalyptus, satinay trees (only found here). Truly beautiful. We have a short lunch break then we head on to the famous 75 Mile Beach, an amazing beach which is also a highway where all road rules apply, but also a runaway!!! We go to Eli Creek, visit an old logging camp and see the Maheno shipwreck which was struck in 1935 by a cyclone, we observe some coloured sands, the weird coastal dunes formations. We learn about the strong history, the logging industry, it is very interesting and this island is incredible. We both feel this day was a great introduction but we want more so we will have to come back here as it feels magical. We get back to Rainbow Beach around 5pm then go for a long walk on the beach until dusk, it feels peaceful and serene, we both reflect on our time here...our Australian moment is coming to an end, we both loved it, felt connected to this continent with so many aspects and contrasts.

28/02
We are leaving this country tomorrow, feels weird and a bit sad as we both really loved being here, it was fun, beautiful, magical, exciting and sometimes intense, a country gigantic and diverse, with amazing landscapes, strong history and friedly people. We have seen friends here, stayed in homes, met new people, overcome fears, had fun...It was a really good experience and we want to come back to dscover more!!
We wake up around 8sih to finish packing, go to the post office and then walk to the beach, we are sending many stuff back home as our bacpacks are too heavy and soon we won't have the luxury of cars in Asia so we are from now on travelling light!!! It is really sunny and hot, the vibe is a holida one, people in shorts, bikinis, the beach is quite busy, I am going surfing this morning and Val swimming, reading and resting. A beautiful morning. I enjoy the surf, the waves, but it goes very quickly. Already time to go, Val loses her sunglasses in the waves...a gift to this place then!! We leave around 2pm, to go to Brisbane, our last stop before our flight to Bali. Tonight, we are staying at Nigel's, who used to work with Val in Oval. Going to be nice to meet new faces and stay in a home again! The drive is long and a bit boring, but we manage to arrive a bit early so rush to the koala sanctuary to see some little animals before going to Nigel. We are late!!It is closing in 10 minutes and the guy doesn't want to let us in, Val is very disappointed but a kind lady tour guide sees us and sneaks us in discreetly and so we get to see two cute koalas before leaving the country! They look like furry toys, very cute and cuddly...
We reach Nigel and Nikki's, Val is really pleased to catch up, we meet the boys, have a BBQ, lots of wine, laughter anfd many interestring conversations, Nikki lived in Oz before and worked with Aboriginal communities, a truly intense experience. Very enlightening for us to share with them, about their life here, the many changes and challenges...Inspiring to hear about relocating, starting afresh here and dreaming of a new life with your family...a great night!!

Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef

18/02
Landing at Cairns airport, we pick up our bags and head out to grab a taxi, making our way to Cairns City Backpacker, our base in Cairns.
The hostel is set within a complex of 2 Queenslanders houses surrounded by trees. It has a swimming pool (more like a big tub, really!) and outside sitting area. The first thing that strikes us is the humidity and its smell. We experienced this in NZ too. That sort of smell, which is a mix of rotten leaves and humidity that does not go away...sweet and hard at the same time, stays everywhere in the bags, the clothes, us and so on.
The hostel and its buildings are definitely not recent. It's dated and probably in need of refurbishment, but hey, it's cheap and we won't stay there much (and prepares us for the wet!!). We unpack and decide to go do some breakfast shopping in the nearby supermarket. And then it's already the end of the day! We head off to our free hostel meal at the Woolshed, a bar/restaurant hosting evening events everyday, every week. There is a free shuttle service from the backpacker to the restaurant.Cool! On the way we speak to a young canadian girl and Richard, a young Aussie from Perth who's just come back from Vietnam. We get some very good information from him: where to go, what to see etc.
We arrive at the bar, it is ramed with backpackers (mostly in their early 20's) spending their cash on booze and meal upgrades. The free meal consists of Chili con carne, spaghetti bolognese or vegetarian pasta. We both opt for the chilli.
Once again we feel a bit weird there, we are not this age anymore. We've spent the past few years hosting or going to dinner parties, enjoying (too?) deep conversations around few bottles of wine. But here it's different, welcome to Party Land!!! Drinking, flirting, drinking more, and flirting even more...Sexual young energy in the air! We are both puzzled to feel that bit older! It is funny though and we're having fun watching them. We then come back to our hostel and have an early-ish night because tomorrow is a big day. We'll start the Open Water Diver course, that will teach us how to become closer to marine mamals!

19/02
The pick up time for the course is at 8.30am, we drive to the Pro Dive centre. We run through the course introduction, fill up all the paperwork, and start with the theory all morning. It feels like going back to school (and it is!). The morning goes very quickly (funny, in my (Fab) school time, I felt minutes were hours and days were very long!!!!) and we take our food order for the lunch break. Meanwhile we have the diving medical exam.
At the beginning of the afternoon, the swimming pool exercise starts: getting our equipment ready and how to look after it, how to breathe underwater, which turns out difficult for Val. Some other exercises involve removing the mask underwater, filling it up with water and flushing it with air. The mask is extremely hard to remove underwater, and Val experiences a big stress, she panics a bit and this stress is enhanced by some problems with her contact lenses. She ends up losing one. The first drills are painful for her and she'll now be very tensed everytime we'll have to do do some masks and regulators exercises.
Susan (Sue), our German instructor tries her best to reassure her and goes through some tips to get Val back on a more relaxed attitude. But the course is quite intense and the schedule is busy. We need to get on with the tuition. Val feels a bit rushed and wishes we had more time to get used to the new environment.
Out of the water again, we learn a bit more about the equipment we are going to use. And it's the end of day one. We get a drop off to our hostel. We rest for a bit, a debrief. Val becomes anxious as the night draws close, she want to give up, as she feel she can't overcome her irrational fears. The moment is intense. I (Fab) feel OK and try my best to calm her down. The night will be difficult...

20/02
Around our morning breakfast, Val is quiet but agitated. The night has not helped her too much and she's very anxious, as we start the morning in the pool, trying out different type of equipments, masks, snorkel, finns etc. before doing the second part of our pool exercises. Val is stressed with the mask exercise again, still not succeeding to keep calm. Eveytime she gets to do the mask thing she feels like she suffocates, that she's going to drawn, her nose filling up with water. It's extremely stressful for her, even in the shallow end of the pool. More difficulties arise as we are now in the deep end of the pool. We need to practice the emergency ascent. Val hates it. But she bravely persists and with a lot of Sue's persuasion, she succeeds (uncomfortably but brilliantly) in all the exercises.
We break for lunch, heading out to the centre of town before going to the Pro Dive shop to see if we want to buy the equipment we tried earlier on and register for the boat trip. After the bad mask/contact lenses experience and hours of chatting together, Val decides to buy a prescription mask to feel safer and have less to worry about as tomorrow is a different story: we'll be in the Big Blue!!!
Our wallets lighter of few dollars, we go back to the classroom for more theory and the final exam, we pass the test, Fab being mister 100 percent!
It's been a long day and we have to wake up really early to get to the boat and sail to the reef. We're not lucky as few youngsters party hard all night in the hostel. Some Irish guys get really drunk and we have to ask them to be quiet, twice, but it doesn't work. We'll end up with only two hours sleep...not a great night before the big trip!!!

21/02
The pick up is at 5.50!!! It's hard core with barely no sleep. We need to stow the bags, to check in. We wait at the shop, then we're all ready to go, 32 passengers and 7 staff! We arrive on the boat, Scubadiver 2. We get a briefing for what is going to happen in the next three days, get the security briefing and procedures.
We are 2 groups of beginners and some advanced divers as well, first briefing: we learn about the boat, we get to know the staff, the schedule. The boat leaves Cairns harbour.
We take some time to rest (at last but only a little bit) until we moore in the great barrier reef around 10.30am.
Everything goes quickly, we're here to dive and if it is too slow, we can't do all the training dives we need to be able to do the free dives after the certification. We get ready for the first training dive. It is funny to see 36 people getting ready in such a short time, on the same deck, dressing up in black protective lycra suites, BCD (Buoyancy Control Device, that's the inflatable jacket in layman's term), the (heavy for Val!) weight belt, mask, snorkel etc. A total of 15Kg on the back. We feel a little bit like donkeys really! It also feels a bit like an army operation...or a James Bond movie!
And there we are, ready to go, looking high, hand holding the mask, one big step ahead and we fall in the big blue, heart beating hard, all our senses completely alert. A big 'splash' later, that noise everybody heard sometimes on TV or else, that very noise of breathing underwater, well, we're producing it... amazing and up we go up, the BCD makes us float like a big buoy! It's crazy, dear old Archimed! But the fun's quickly over, we need to 'sink' to dive, down there, and meet some of the GBR locals... We deflate our BCD, looking at the bubbles going to the surface and disappearing...We feel the increasing pressure on our eardrums, we need to 'equalise' the pressure between the inside of our bodies and the outside. But we go down fairly quickly without much problems (a bit for me, Fab, actually, well you know, ears...work stuff!!!!)
Val is stressed in the ocean, she's apprehensive for the mask exercises but we do not have to do anything for the first dive. We just need to follow our instructor, 12m below, looking at what we've been all dreaming of for the past few days. And here they are, little Nemos (clown fish), anemones, all sorts of corals and beautiful angelfishes, surgeonfishes, parrotfishes, butterflyfishes...and few minutes later, round the corner of a rock, a green turtle! She's swimming 'like a bird in the sky', munching a jellyfish away (good on her we're all thinking!). It's beautiful, so serene, so relaxing...Val is relaxed, sucking fast her air away like I also do (we both are 'air pigs', great huh!!), I've also managed to calm down. It's funny, I keep having that sensation of 'falling' when I dive!
And between two animal discoveries we also practice our new skills, and the buddy system. It's a great dive, a good start! We then stop for the lunch break, Val is seasick, many people are, lots of (small) waves, but the boat rocks side to side.
She is also tensed as she worries she won't manage to do the mask exercise again...It's now time for the second training dive. We do lots of exercises, and the mask stuff comes. Val nearly suffocates under the water and has to be held by the instructor, she starts to worry she won't pass, with that weird feeling of suffocation (which does not happen) and anxiety...I am fine, but feel worried for Val, she's not quite enjoying her time here. We break, come back on the boat to chill out. We debrief, like after each dive, we chat to people. The group is very mixed, different ages, nationalities. There is a nice atmosphere on the boat. We have our meal and off to bed. Tomorrow is going to be challenging, we have the practical test. The boat is still rocking. And Val is getting extremely nervous.

22/02
After a very tensed night we have our first dive at 7am. It's hard to wake up and go straight in the water without a breakie!! We see a green turtle, but Val is getting low on air quickly. She's is very tense because of the exercises again. We learn about compass navigation. The masks stuff comes back again. And another panic for Val with the mask. But the group is small. It's quite nice for her to feel surrounded, supported and encouraged by all.
We break and we go for our last training dive. We all have to succeed or we won't pass the certification. After much worry, the mask exercise is finally cleared by Val without too much problem but it still feels difficult and stressful. We surface. It's now 11.30am and during the debrief, it's a success for both of us. We are now certified divers (yipee, no more mask stuff, ever!!!) and we can dive alone with a buddy up (or down!) to 18 metres. Lunch break, then it's time for our first dive ALONE, as a team, with no supervision. It is 3pm, we see sharks, stingrays, many fishes: triggerfishes (beautiful but stear clear, they are the pittbulls of the ocean!), clown fish, little Nemos etc. It feels great and peaceful, we're both comfortable in the water but Val's still breathing too quickly. It will be a big challenge to learn to regulate her breathing and feel more relaxed under water.
We then chill out, sleep a bit to recover, and then we get ready for the next dive. The night dive. Big anxiety for me. I feel scared of diving in the darkness. In fact I feel anxious again to experience what I would now qualify as the 'Milford' syndrom! Sue, our instructor, tries to make everyone laugh with a funny but brilliantly scary briefing with big great white sharks stories...We actually do see some sharks (not the big great white!) very close to the boat and many people are uneasy. Weirdly enough Val feels good about it, she really wants to do that dive and feels excited about it. I am anxious but make it to the water, we all slowly dive in the dark, with torches, feeling peaceful, following the little lights of the diver in front of us. We all (7 of us) stay very close to each other...Some people panick and go back to the surface, like little balloons flying up to high skies. We both feel relaxed, I even manage to overcome my fear of dark. We dive under a small overhang (yes me, too!) and see a gigantic sleeping green turtle tucked under a rock! It's magical, I lay down flat on the sandy bottom and stare at the beauty! We see fishes asleep, like the parrotfish in his snort bubble and then slowly start to ascent and we see some sharks around, quite impressive! Back on the boat around 9ish for some cake. We both feel really good, and empowered! We spend some time chatting with a French couple met on the boat and then off to bed. Good achievement, it feels great!

23/02
It's a very long and intense day today as we have to fit in 3 dives before 12!! We wake up and do the first dive a 6.30am. It's so hard to get in the water so early, we feel unmotivated...but are rewarded with a great dive, seeing two turtles eating corals and jellyfish. We managed to get very close to them. They're beautiful creatures swimming so graciously! We get to see more sharks, even a black tip, pretty rare apparently. We feel good to be alone in the water and relaxed. It's one of our best dives, with many fishes. We break for breakfast and then another dive at 9.30am. It is pretty exhausting! We are a team of three this time with Ryan our divemaster as he has no buddy. It's not that interesting. It is now raining and the water is a bit murky. Well, not that much in fact as it is the Great Barrier Reef and the visibility is still great but not as perfect! We are lucky to learn to dive in near perfect conditions and water! We chill out then the third dive comes, Val feels lazy and I find another buddy to go with, Sam. Val stays on the boat, chats with Sue our instructor who is the vigil-look out for this dive. A moment later I come back. The dive was very enjoyable. I swam under an arch, saw enormous maori wrasses (they're as big as my dive buddy!!!) and more little clown fishes!
Last lunch as a team on the boat, we have a debrief then agree to all meet for a goodbye dinner tonight. We make it back to the shop to pick up our bags then we're off to the hostel, we are staying again in the grotty backpacker but want a different room as the first one was too close to the action!! We take a hot shower, the proper first one in 3 days, so nice! We chill out a bit then off to town for our dinner. Nice evening, dinner then drinks with the group, we all end up in a club-bar, full of youngsters. We do feel very old at the moment, everyone in their twenties!!! Val feels like an old granny, I do not quite feel adequate... but we have fun, we dance, we have few drinks. We leave and go back to the hostel under the tropical rain at 2 am!! We both feel dizzy, wobbly because of the boat, we got used to having the floor moving and it keeps doing that now.... And it is not the alcohol!! It was nice to socialise, be with a group of people and share some common interests. Lights off.

24/02
We are lazy today and spend the morning sleeping. We spend a part of the day planning the trip. We are leaving tomorrow for Brisbane, we have to book a flight, find a car and some cheap place to stay for few days before Bali. It is hot and we feel tired. The boat trip was great but intense and full on. We are a bit exhausted, but in a nice way.
We finally leave the hostel around 2ish, go for a light lunch and a walk, but it is really humid and hot. We chill out in the pool at the Esplanade. Cairns does not really have a proper beach in town. So they've built a splendid pool overlooking the sea. We then go to the internet cafe, book our trip, then back to our canteen for our free meal (part of our hostel deal, we still get a free meal each day...chili con carne or spaghetti...a bit boring after three nights but it is free!!!). Back to the hotel as we have to pack and get ready, the flight is early again tomorrow. A lazy planning day then!