Perth

Arrived in Perth, via Singapore, around 1am. Thankfully, a quick trip through immigration, bag quickly provided and a short taxi ride to the hotel, meant that i was there around 45mins later.

Perth is famous for being the most remote city in the world and has a fairly relaxed but impressive feel to it. The centre appears quite busy but most of the activity seems to take place on/around the waterfront (apparently one in three families own a boat here).

Based on advice before i came out, i left Perth and took an hour boat ride down to Freemantle. Freemantle is smaller than Perth and a good place to slowly spend a day/half day. Took some time to go around the Western Australia Maritime Museum which was fairly low key but included a fair amount on Australia 2, the boat that won the Americas Cup in the 1980's.

Photos here

Hanoi

My final location in Vietnam was Hanoi. The furthest north of my three stops, its the capital and has a different feel to both Hue and Ho Chi Minh. Hue is quite small and relaxed, HCM is like most bustling far eastern capitals (but is not capitol), Hanoi is somewhere in between. Obviously its busy and the streets demonstrate the same chaos seen in HCM, but it seems to have more history, more space (probably down to a number of parks and lakes) and a bit more to it.

I spent my first afternoon just getting a general feel for the place, and then took a full day tour on the second day. Whilst i had been slightly surprised with how modern some of the historical Hue sights had been, this was different - the oldest unversity formed in 1076 and other sites that went back further. Tour also combined the modern side, Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum which was built in the 1970's. Now i have seen a few tombs on this trip, which have all had the body enclosed and not open to anyone immediately after completed. So slightly surpised to see the old man lying there, body preserved in a cool room and appearing just to be in a deep sleep. Given you are ushered around quite quickly (there are no shortage of national guard in the place) did not get a great look but seemed slightly unusual.

Pictures are here and here

East v West ........different cultures

One of the things that surprised me when i was travelling around Europe, was the obdience that pedestrians showed to traffic lights. There seemed to be an amercian approach to "jaywalking", ie you only cross the road when the green man says you can. I was often amazed when all age groups would stand at the lights waiting to cross, when you had a clear view for miles of the lack of oncoming traffic. Maybe there is a new EU directive which has yet to reach the UK, but i adopted my usual approach - ie dont walk on red when there are old people or kids about, but at other times just be sensible.

Now i recognise that i actually have more in common with far eastern culture. To be fair its the motorbikes which take the view that green/red lights are purely advisory (and therefore discretionary), and if there is a gap, or a half gap, or a quarter gap, or there might be a gap...... they just move forward. As a pedestrian i have decided that waiting for the green man in the far east is probably a fairly sensible approach, but when he turns up you just walk........dont look,,,,,,,,try to ignore the hooting...........remember you have right of way............... and just walk (ideally at an even pace) and remarkably they will MISS YOU.

Of course when i get to Australia then i will probably need to be a bit more careful. Now i am not saying that Australian drivers are dangerous (although some states do have strange rules about being able to turn right even if its a red light) but they can spot a Pom a mile off and if they are not going to win the cricket then they might get their retaliation in early.

The Ashes are coming - can you make out what they are singing (part 2)

Expect the Barmy Army to start off fairly early with this one:

Convict Colony

(To the tune of Yellow Submarine)

In the town where I was born, there lived a man who was a thief
And he told me of his life, stealing bread and shagging sheep.
So they put him in the nick, and then a magistrate he went to see
He said "put him on a ship, to the convict colony"
You all live in a convict colony, a convict colony, a convict colony
You all live in a convict colony, a convict colony, a convict colony

Hue

Hue is in the central belt of Vietnam, and was for a period in the 19th /20th century the capital. A lot smaller than Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi, it has a relaxed and cultured feel to it. Badly effected by war, it is going through a significant and long term ("50 year") restoration process for many of the historical areas. This was boosted by Unesco "World Heritage Site" listing in 1993 and much of the renovation is being sponsored by overseas support.

The city is dominated by the Perfume River and the Citadel that sits on its banks. This is one of the areas that is receiving greatest attention and as i walked round there were a number of workman in action. It seems to be undertaken in a unrushed and considered way. The Citadel is a vast area and consisted of living , religious and administrative areas for the Emperor- started at the beginning of 19th century. Pictures are here.

Outside of Hue are a number of historical sites - pagodas, temples and mausoleums. I spent a day on a guided tour which covered the four most popular sites. All are impressive in their individual way and certainly a peaceful change to the noise of Ho Chi Minh City. What slightly surprised me was the age of some of the buildings, i had not expected to be walking around sites constructed in the early 20th century - they all had a much more historical feel to them. If you think that the war with America was 40 years or so later, it just seems slightly strange. Pictures here.

Sometimes there is a downside in staying in nice hotels......

The Intercontinental Ashiana in Ho Chi Minh City was very impressive. Good size room, decent wireless connection, spa/pool/gym, pleasant and attentive staff, varied TV channels (as demonstrated by previous post), good restaurant and of course...........bar.

The bar was called Purple Jade and was announcing the "musical talents of famous Canadian singer Karen Manion. Now I have nothing personally against Karen. Her style is cabaret/lounge/X Factor which appeals to some people (but i am in Simon Cowell's camp on this one) and she stuck to that style regardless of song.

Her rendition of James Blunt "Beautiful" was "interesting" (you are right it was the radio 2 version excluding the one F word)....................

her rendition of Wonderwall was a bit bizarre (although there are not many who could get anywhere close to the British Lions live 1997 version)..............

but when she went onto Amy Winehouse "Rehab" not only was i the one saying "no, no, no" but i had to check 1) whether i was the only one laughing and 2) whether she could see me (thankfully the bar had lots of dark cubicles).

And then at the end i heard the applause!!

Ho Chi Minh City

A long flight to Singapore, scheduled 5 hour wait for connecting flight and 1 1/2 hour flight to HCM left me feeling slightly tired on arrival. That said large Asian towns dont do quiet/relaxed so the drive from the airport did the job of waking me up.

Motorbikes are the vehicle of choice and the driving technique common for Asia (go forward, hoot, go forward hoot, hopefully miss, go forward). But it somehow seems to work as whilst there is a lot of traffic it seems to move (eventually).

I only had one full day here, so decided on the standard half day trip to the Cu Chi Tunnels and then to walk around the centre (given hotel is right in heart) PM. The tunnels are interesting and whilst the Vietnamese frame is smaller than its European equivalent, it must still have been a claustrophobic environment. That said they only stayed there when the French and then the US were searching in the area so this was probably days rather than weeks at a time. Still, will not have been the most pleasant area to spend much time in.

Slightly effected by torrential rain in the afternoon but managed to get round the Reunification Palace and the War Remnants Museum. The Museum is the sort of place that you have to visit and whilst shocking and painful in some areas, very worthwhile.


Pictures here.

p.s. - writing this whilst watching recording of Ebbsfleet Town v Wimbledon on Star Sports. Must make a note to add this to my Sky Sports and ESPN subscriptions.

Updated tour dates announced...................

24th Dec - Fly to Los Angeles then drive to Las Vegas

Staying at The Hotel at Mandalay Bay for 5 nights

Arrive back in UK 30th Dec.

Back to work..............................getting too close when i get back.

Slight change (19/11):

Decided a full drive to Vegas after the flight was probably not a good idea, so staying in Rancho Cucamonga (now don't tell me its not on your list of must visit towns) on the 24th and then driving to Las Vegas.

Final day Paris

Happened to be armistice day

Pictures here.

The Ashes are coming - can you make out what they are singing (part 1)

Ok, so to start off with an easy one:

Singer : Everywhere we go
Crowd : Everywhere we go
The people want to know
The people want to know
Who we are
Who we are
Where we come from
Where we come from
Shall we tell them
Shall we tell them
Who we are
Who we are
Where we come from
Where we come from
We are the England
We are the England
The Mighty Mighty England
The Mighty Mighty England
We are the Army
We are the Army
The Barmy Barmy Army
The Barmy Barmy Army
Andrew Strauss's Barmy Army
Etc Etc

Paris

Paris is the one city that i was visiting that i know fairly well. Given its so easy to get to and the regular rugby opportunities (RWC 2007 - how did we get to the final with such a poor team?!?* and Six Nation thrashings) i have been there quite a bit. As such these couple of days have been more about:

- seeing some familiar sites (Lourve, Jardin du Luxembourg - my favourite park in Paris);
- just walking around taking in the Parisien way of life;
- and seeing some new sites - i had not been for example to the Jardin des Plantes which is part of the Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle.

Pictures here.

*That tournament cost me a packet. I had been lucky enough to get to the 2003 Rugby World Cup in Australia. Given England's form going into that event, i was confident enough just to book the quarter finals onwards - with some confidence that i would see England in more than one match (ok half time against the Welsh in the quarter final was a bit touch and go but we got through didn't we!) Going into the 2007 event, i had managed to book a "Follow England" package which got me tickets basicaly for as long as England played in the event. But to be honest i thought they would struggle and only booked travel and hotel options for the pool games. As things progressed i ended up trying to book trains/hotel at the last minute (the day after each time England won to get through to the next stage ) which was a bit expensive. It ended up costing me more than my three week trip to Australia in 2003. And we ended up losing the final in 2007!

It had to happen eventually............

2-46pm on train sitting somewhere between Brussels and Paris......

Should have arrived in Paris at 1-56pm......

To be fair this is the first serious delay on my travels, apparently a TGV hit something ahead of us.

At least the train has decent Wi-fi.

Now just need to hope they sort out the problems with the A380's before my flight next week with Singapore Airlines. A few hours delay on a train on a wet afternoon on my way to Paris is fine, delay on flight to Vietnam via Singapore would be less fun.

Cologne

Assuming that nobody from the Cologne Tourist Board is tracking my blog, i am fairly safe in admitting that Cologne was not on my original list of places to visit. I had my journey to Prague planned and then was looking to return via Vienna and Paris. However i could not see a way to do this comfortably within the two week period, hence the need to find an alternative route back (yes i guess i could have changed the early part of my trip and perhaps reversed the trip but it was getting too confusing!). So eventually the overnight train from Prague to Cologne seemed like a fairly efficient way back.

So its probably unfair to compare Cologne to the other (all capital) cities that i have visited. It was however a good way to spend a lazy Sunday (and indeed Monday as a lot of places were closed) despite the weather turning cold and wet for the early part of the stay.

Highlights included a visit to the Sculpture Park and also Cologne Zoo. I always have mixed thoughts about Zoos, taking animals out of there natural habitat etc.. but this one seemed well laid out and animal friendly. Strange however to be right in the centre of town (you can see some of the apartment blocks in the photos).


Pictures here.

Why Train?

I am not a railway buff or a trainspotter, although i was excited to see three S450 locomotives on my trip from Berlin to Prague. So why travel around by train rather than plane or car?


Well to be honest i am not sure, other than it seemed like a good idea - and generally speaking it has been. The journeys have actually gone quite quickly - i was slightly worried that i would get bored on a 3-4 hour train journey but a combination of book,laptop,ipod and interesting scenery has meant that has not happened. It has been remarkably easy, everywhere has instructions in English including details of which carriage is at each end of the train (and the fact that on most journeys you need seat reservations actually makes things easier). Its certainly been a lot easier and probably quicker than flying which would have been an option on each of the journeys.

Thoroughly recommended.





*Only joking about the S450 locomotives by the way, could not find anything on wikipedia to make out i knew about trains so just made it up.

Prague

This was my first time in Prague and i was not sure what to expect. Many have said that its one of the most beautiful cities in the world, but it has become stag party capital of Europe - how does that comfortably sit side by side?

To be honest i am not sure it does. Yes the old town is quite stunning and the views from the castle are very impressive. There is character all around the place and generally speaking the architecture has been well matched over the years. But in other places it struggles to combine old and new and has characteristics that reflect it is still trying to catch up with the rest if Western Europe economically. Wherever you go in the world there are people trying to entice you into one restaurant rather than another but here it seemed less charming than other places. And the variety of people encouraging you from early evening into the local "cabaret" don't add to the atmosphere.

Most European cities are now trying to encourage the upper end traveller and Prague will need to decide whether it wants to remain a party city or takes steps such as those adopted by Dublin to try and move up market. I enjoyed my couple of days here but i suspect in a few years time it will either be a lot better or lot worse place to go.

Picture here

Stats:

Books read - one yes i have finished The Millennium Trilogy. I have now decided to attempt a much more challenging and controversial read - Peter Kay : "Saturday Night Peter"

Weather - good, dry and warm for most of the time. It did rain from around midday on Saturday, but i somehow managed to cope by finding a sports bar that showed both the Bolton v Spurs match and then the England v New Zealand rugby. Shame about the result.

I guess i am actually travelling quite a distance.........

View Train around Europe in a larger map



(ok, so i have only now worked out how to play with Google Maps - and you have to open larger map to see all locations. Be warned, more may follow)

Berlin

Berlin is the only city where i am spending three nights. Thats partly because its quite a distance from Amsterdam so i spend more time travelling and arrive late PM, and secondly because its a city i have not been to before. Staying at Novotel and whilst when i arrived i thought it was at bit out of the way, once i had undertaken the standard city bus tour i realised that actually Berlin is quite compact and i was close to a lot of the main areas.

Its probably a city that would have been fascinating before the fall of the Wall (or shortly thereafter) but the city has a more historic feel that means that actually the period between WW2 and fall of Wall is but a small part of its heritage. Much of the city was of course devastated during WW2 but the historical buildings that have survived are quite stunning and give a glimpse to what must have been one of the most impressive European Cities in the 18th and 19th century. Work post unification has been significant (scary to think thats 20 years ago).

Overall quite impressed. Pictures here.

Amsterdam

I guess Amsterdam never changes.......

Canals...

Strange smells coming out of Strabucks....

Friendly young (and old) ladies waving from their front room...

More canals.....

Pictures here