tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32272493116016376392025-03-25T02:52:05.252+00:00Middle-aged Mum in beautiful rural Oxfordshire muddles on... and on...Kathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12626504093037241309noreply@blogger.comBlogger193125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3227249311601637639.post-84420944081087867762016-05-08T22:16:00.000+01:002016-05-08T22:16:10.287+01:00

After the Cloud Dome at the Gardens by the Bay we visited the slightly smaller but no less impressive Flower Dome.  The temperature was temperate, still refreshing compared to the outside heat, but not as cooling as the Cloud Dome.  Hence there were flowers and a vast array of cacti.  There was a special exhibition of spring flowers from Europe - so lots and lots of tulips and

Kathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12626504093037241309noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3227249311601637639.post-76639809003577834942016-05-03T21:54:00.000+01:002016-05-03T21:54:22.415+01:00

Walking back after the dog walk we passed the tree most commonly seen in Singapore - the Rain Tree.  'The Rain Tree can easily be identified by its big umbrella-shaped crown. The leaves have a habit of folding up at dusk and before rainy weather, hence its name. When the Rain Tree blooms, the crown is covered in clusters of pink-white flowers'. source: common trees in Singapore.

Kathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12626504093037241309noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3227249311601637639.post-3399610737879000492016-05-02T21:21:00.001+01:002016-05-02T21:21:50.132+01:00

This is one of the things Singapore is famous for.  I had mixed feelings, as I always do when visiting a zoo, but the aspect of going after dark was an interesting spin on things.  It was very busy, but we got into the queues and watched the show, and then toured round on the bus, and got off and walked a way. This was our host for the show part of the attraction.  She was very

Kathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12626504093037241309noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3227249311601637639.post-66207434212228596642016-05-01T20:35:00.000+01:002016-05-02T20:47:52.713+01:00

Richard had a few things to do, so we took the bus to Sentosa and found our way to the Aquarium. I'm very fond of aquariums.  I think it's because my star sign is Cancer - the crab.  I'm a water sign although I'm not a strong swimmer and consequently don't participate in messing around in the sea, in the pool or other water-based activities, sailing, rowing, and the like. Singapore

Kathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12626504093037241309noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3227249311601637639.post-844237455134229822016-03-06T21:52:00.000+00:002016-03-06T21:52:14.909+00:00

Singapore was something of a shock to the system: physically, in the constant temperature in the low 30s C, comfort was found in the air-conditioning of the car and whichever building we were heading to, and also culturally.  It was tight-laced, with lots of rules and regulations, but because of this it worked incredibly well, in a consumer paradise sort of way.  My heart felt more at

Kathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12626504093037241309noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3227249311601637639.post-53422580702900368572016-02-28T21:36:00.001+00:002016-02-28T21:36:07.618+00:00

The next morning we'd packed and checked out, and got to Hanoi Airport well in time for our flight to Singapore. Hanoi airport We'd become used to the more comfortable climate of the north of Vietnam, and had travelled to the airport in a temperature of around 19C.  So we were unprepared for the shock of the temperature in the 30Cs when we landed in Singapore that afternoon.  R

Kathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12626504093037241309noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3227249311601637639.post-20900963403902889172016-02-23T20:48:00.001+00:002016-02-23T20:48:51.980+00:00

At this stage of the holiday/adventure we'd become more confident in going out to eat unchaperoned in the evening.  We found that most of the Vietnamese we encountered could manage some English, either as a courtesy, as we were obviously racially foreigners and English would be a good 'lingua-Franca', or as a safe bet so that they could sell us something.  Either way, we took a taxi

Kathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12626504093037241309noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3227249311601637639.post-59263719417079117422016-02-22T21:43:00.000+00:002016-02-22T21:43:30.034+00:00

There was an early morning yoga on the top deck before breakfast, so I made my way upstairs to give it a go.  About 6 of us copied the leader, who was all dressed in white, and had a CD playing peaceful meditative music to aid the ambiance.  After about 20 minutes we'd all finished, and I had to smile to myself as the yoga leader swiftly changed out of his white robes to reveal that

Kathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12626504093037241309noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3227249311601637639.post-66819332658010540442016-02-21T21:26:00.001+00:002016-02-21T21:26:27.002+00:00

The Vietnamese Tourist Industry is rightly exploiting their natural treasure(s) in order to bring prosperity to the country.  Ha Long Bay is a must-see tourist destination, and the rest of the tourists boarded their respective boats and sailed off.  We boarded our junk, which slept about 30 people in total, and sailed off in procession to find our mooring spot.  The weather

Kathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12626504093037241309noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3227249311601637639.post-72135314370716540752016-02-18T22:00:00.003+00:002016-02-18T22:00:39.449+00:00

Err.  Well, this is embarrassing.  I've not blogged since forever, not finished the posts about VietNam, and it's almost a year since we went there already.  OK.  Skip to the chase.  I've not died.  No one's died. Life just got .... busy, I got distracted, there were a multitude of other things to do, which is not an excuse, just a reason.  Anyhoo, as they say.

Kathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12626504093037241309noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3227249311601637639.post-22216593290597061392015-10-19T22:13:00.000+01:002015-10-19T22:13:35.627+01:00

I really enjoyed spending time with M's family, in their environment, in the relatively deep countryside that travelling 3 hours out of Hanoi takes you to.  So, it turns out that pineapples don't go 'peep peep', but chicks do... Goat pen, Vietnamese style. However, there wasn't enough time in the day to ponder the meaning of life in this peaceful interlude.  We had to be back

Kathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12626504093037241309noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3227249311601637639.post-8122751493833608642015-10-12T22:15:00.001+01:002015-10-12T22:15:50.788+01:00

Poverty is relative.  Happiness is where you find it.  You can be 'poor' and happy, and 'rich' and unhappy.  M's family live in relative poverty.  They have a home and land which they farm.  They have a motorbike and pedal bikes and mobile phones.  They invited us into their home, which by our standards, was basic but sound and dry.  We didn't see their

Kathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12626504093037241309noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3227249311601637639.post-5731464986857666182015-10-11T22:09:00.002+01:002015-10-11T22:09:33.726+01:00

After we'd seen the three schools, given the gifts and taken photographs, we got back into our bus-taxi to be taken to meet our sponsored child M.  We've sponsored M. for almost 5 years, and have received regular updates on both the project work done by Plan International in M.s district, and have received letters, drawings and photographs by and of M. and her family.  The

Kathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12626504093037241309noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3227249311601637639.post-58969718206637627302015-07-10T21:52:00.000+01:002015-07-10T21:52:37.726+01:00

I have already said that I am not, by choice, or by my natural inclination, a 'traveller'.  I much prefer to be well within my comfort zone - in familiar surroundings, with everything normal and how it should be.  And yet, the trip to Vietnam was a brilliant adventure, well out of my comfort zone, in very unfamiliar surroundings, with everything about as far away from normal as it

Kathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12626504093037241309noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3227249311601637639.post-90323947416405750692015-05-19T21:52:00.000+01:002015-05-19T21:52:52.652+01:00

On the Wednesday, after breakfast, we checked out of the lovely Green Haven Resort Hotel, put our luggage in the minibus, and embarked on the next part of the guided tour - a walking tour of Hoi An, Ancient Town.  This started at the silk factory/workshop and we observed the silkworms munching the mulberry leaves, and the pupal sacs being boiled to release the silk strands (and kill the

Kathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12626504093037241309noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3227249311601637639.post-9043639529161980842015-05-10T22:31:00.002+01:002015-05-10T22:31:19.149+01:00

 The next time you plan to visit another country and have an adventure, such as the one we had, I would highly recommend you consider including a Cookery Lesson in the itinerary.  A friend had suggested it to my husband when the trip was mooted, and a jolly good idea it turned out to be. After the tour of the food markets in Hoi An town, we were taken on a 20 minute boat ride up the

Kathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12626504093037241309noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3227249311601637639.post-89450690195908627752015-05-04T22:04:00.000+01:002015-05-04T22:04:04.194+01:00

Tuesday 7th April and we packed and said goodbye to Ho Chi Minh City.  We flew to Danang, and transferred to Hoi An - an ancient trading town and Unesco World Heritage Site, listed since 1999:  http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/948. We stayed at the lovely 'Green Heaven Resort' hotel, and it was lovely.  Unfortunately for us our itinerary only had us staying one night here,

Kathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12626504093037241309noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3227249311601637639.post-63950596927000691862015-05-03T22:39:00.000+01:002015-05-03T22:39:44.864+01:00

In Vietnam the war isn't referred to as the Vietnam War.  Obviously.  Our guide told us it's called 'The American War of Aggression'.  The previous day we'd been shown the Cu Chi Tunnels - a major part of the modern history of Vietnam, and although strictly speaking we were tourists or some may say 'sightseers' the significance of the tunnels meant they weren't just a 'sight

Kathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12626504093037241309noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3227249311601637639.post-42087912907416645332015-04-29T21:31:00.001+01:002015-04-29T21:31:24.006+01:00

We left the Mekong Delta after lunch and returned to Ho Chi Minh City in time to see the Post Office and Notre Dame Cathedral.  The transfer time in the minibus was another 2 hours.  another contender for the heaviest load on a single motorbike.  Note the child sitting on the verge having a drink.  The face masks are partly for the pollution and partly for the dust.

Kathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12626504093037241309noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3227249311601637639.post-33794364761778937662015-04-26T20:59:00.000+01:002015-04-26T20:59:46.904+01:00

Our guide said we'd need to set off early the next day as the drive to the Mekong Delta would be another 2 hours in the minibus.  I was quite happy to people watch / life watch from the windows, and made an effort to drink in the scenes that we passed, rather than catch up on snoozing or screen browsing/tablet/phone swiping. not sure this trailer would pass our MOT - the bolt at his

Kathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12626504093037241309noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3227249311601637639.post-31941575682041040242015-04-22T21:41:00.000+01:002015-04-22T21:41:07.902+01:00

Cordite?  (the smell of spent ammunition, not dissimilar to the smell of fireworks).  Anyway, back to the trip... So after the Cu Chi tunnels, we returned in the heat of the day, in the comfort of the minibus, to Ho Chi Minh City to have lunch and then visit the Palace of Reunification, also known as:  Independence_Palace which is where the Vietnam War officially ended, in

Kathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12626504093037241309noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3227249311601637639.post-41177562603660510862015-04-21T21:41:00.002+01:002015-04-21T21:41:54.027+01:00

I almost forgot the wackiest bit of the Cu Chi Tunnels.  The reason I almost forgot it is I didn't take a photo as they were prohibited.... see notice below...  ho hum.   As we walked along the tour trail, we could hear the sound of gunfire in the distance.  To my middle-class, middle-aged, female white English ears it seemed a little tacky, a little bit 'side-show-ey

Kathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12626504093037241309noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3227249311601637639.post-41067474024017444722015-04-20T21:58:00.000+01:002015-04-21T21:02:09.183+01:00

Easter Sunday, 5th April, and we went from Ho Chi Minh City to visit the Cu Chi tunnels - approximately 2 hours drive by minibus.  Ho Chi Minh City in April is the dry season, hot and dry.  Hot.  Vietnam travel guide weather  It made for an interesting experience leaving the hotel, walking through 33degrees, into the air-conditioned minibus, and then out into the sweltering

Kathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12626504093037241309noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3227249311601637639.post-9102815360777103892015-04-19T06:38:00.000+01:002015-04-19T06:38:08.470+01:00

We did it. Our trip to Viet Nam and Singapore was an astounding success, and now I've got the jetlag and photos to edit to prove it.  I'm going to put up selected photos here with an impression of what we did and learned, and what we enjoyed. As with most things the planning is key.  Our travel agent Asia View Travel had been chosen by our friends in Singapore, and the

Kathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12626504093037241309noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3227249311601637639.post-41066001217166631482015-02-26T22:16:00.000+00:002015-02-26T22:16:01.488+00:00

I am not a good traveller. I resent the time taken to get to the destination, and am happier staying in and around my hometown which, happily, has everything I need and things that I don't need also. I have travelled to different parts of the world, on holiday, and to live, (Iceland, Hong Kong, America, Luxembourg, France) and drawing on past experience conclude that I am very much the

Kathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12626504093037241309noreply@blogger.com2