Vietnam pictures

Hi, this is Ingo, Chie's husband back in London. Chie managed to call briefly on Wednesday to say that she has arrived in PNG. This was only the first part of the trip, however, as she still has to take another domestic flight.

If you would like to see some pictures from our trip to Vietnam, please click on the following link or copy it into your browser:



Vietnam 2007

Trip to Vietnam

Hi, this is Ingo. As Chie has said, here are a few pictures from or trip to Vietnam ...



Service at the Cau Dai temple

Cairns, Australia

The above picture is Cairns from the plane.
Cairns is in their winter months and so the weather is really pleasant without humidity. There are a lot of Japanese here. I have been able to shop for all the items I think I may need in PNG. Things are not cheap here. Prices are like England. So far Australia reminds me of the States. People are friendly, things are sold in bulk, food seems similar to American food, they sell lots of american stuff, they even have Target here. At Cairns airport I was targeted (it seems like they were only picking on me)---3 different people approached me whilst waiting for luggage to see my passport and papers. Then a dog came over to sniff at my stuff and ok this other person. But there were a lot more other people there exc they were all white but me. Hmm.......

I saw aborigines people for the first time too. They look like the people in the documentaries.

Well tomorrow is the BIG day. I'm flying out of Cairns to Papua New Guinea. I will first fly to Moro which takes about 2.5 hours. Then transfer to another plane and fly to Gobe. Then I will stay overnight in Gobe. The next day I will be driven by the oil company on oil company road to Kikori where I will be base for four months.

Saying goodbye to Ingo at Changi Airport (Singapore) was a lot harder than I anticipated. At least it's only about 130 days apart.

Don't know when I can write and update blog once I'm in PNG. But Ingo said he was going to add some Vietnam pictures for your pleasure.

Saigon

Greetings from Saigon Ingo and I are here in Saigon on holiday. We first went to Singapore to go to my cousin's wedding. That was really nice to go to a Catholic wedding and then having a Chinese wedding banquet in the evening. We were only in Singapore for a few days. I met a cousin whom I had not seen in 25 years. That was really nice. Then we flew to Saigon. Tomorrow we are going to Mui Ne Beach which is about 3 hours drive from Saigon to windsurf and relax before I head out to Papua New Guinea on my own.

Saigon is incredible. Three words to describe Saigon--Motorbike, heat and crowd. There are motorbike everywhere. There is a bit of nostalgia here in Saigon. It reminded me of my childhood in Port Klang, Malaysia about 30 years ago--the smell, noise, filth, sights, toys, food...etc.... Although dogs here are well fed, seemed fairly well kept compared to the dogs when I was little. This place is a good introduction and acclimatisation of the humidity and heat. At least here I have air con to escape to in the evenings or afternoons if I really needed to. Even in the rural areas they have electricity and internet cafe. Incredible. Things are very cheap. Meals usually cost about one pound (US$2.00) for both Ingo and I. We stayed at a nice hotel initially but the last couple of days we're staying at the backpackers area and our room is only 6 pounds (US$12.00). Incredible huh. And that is with air conditioner. Learning about the history about Vietnam is an eye opener for me. We went to the War Remnant Museum, and I left with puffy eyes. The terrible atrocities that the Vietnamese went through. We also went to the tunnels and crawled through one as well. Thank goodness they are not at war now. It's not a starving country. In fact in the city, they feed their children so well, some of them are obese.

We went to the Mekong Delta the last couple of days. The noise of the wooden boat and the smell of gasoline just brings back so much memories of my childhood. The floating market was very cool. Basically it's market with boats filled with whatever they sell ie pumpkin, bread, noodles, potatoes, coconut, bananas, drinks...etc..... They rely on the Mekong River for everything. They bathe in it, wash their clothes, wash their vegetables...etc.... They all live a very hard life. With no social benefit system, you see old people and children working still. It really breaks my heart. Humbling and made me grateful for all I have.

We also saw lots of french and other caucasian couples with asian looking children--presumeably they adopted vietnamese children. It's a really child friendly country and the Vietnamese seem to love children--it is the same in malaysia as well. The only daunting thing is trying to cross roads with the mass motorbikes and cars. You basically have to dodge between them. The first few hours in Saigon, I must have had the face of fear on one of the crossroads, a kind Vietnamese old lady grabbed my hand to led the way. Felt like such a kid again!

Well I shall sign off now as i am sweating buckets and my air condition room is beckoning for my return. In 10 days I will be in Papua New Guinea. I am getting more and more use to the heat and the constant glow of sweat on my face........

Last minute packing

Two more days before we fly out to Singapore. We arrive on Singapore's national holiday to celebrate their independence. I've always hated packing (probably from all the 40+ moves I had in the last 15 years) but this one I hate even more because I'm only allowed 20kg and I have to bring months supply of other things as there is no supermarket to go to in PNG. 10kg is already filled with books and medical equipment. My bag weighs 3.5kg. So that's 13.5kg of miscellaneous things. Which leaves me with 6.5kg for my clothes, toiletries..etc... Which isn't very much really when you think about it.

The saga today wasn't any of these, but the pharmacist is telling me one of the anti HIV tablet that I need just in case of a needle stick injury has recently been taken off the market because of tablet contamination. He had over a week to sort this out but only told me today (well friday afternoon when we couldn't do anything about it). Typical isn't it. Then I went over to the bank to get travellers cheque but the bureau de exchange department was completely close for whatever reason and there was a note on the window saying sorry for the inconvenience. sometimes London can be like such a third world country. Trying not to stress but obviously I am. I am really looking forward to being on that plane and have all of this packing sorted.

On Thursday in Singapore I will be meeting family to have dinner, watch the fireworks and relax. That sounds really good at the moment. I'm really glad I'm not going straight to Papua New Guinea first, but to rest and holiday in singapore and Vietnam sounds exactly what Ingo and I need!