london life

well heelloo lovelies!

How is everyone back home? sounds like there has been some mad awful weather in NZ. hope it's all cleared up now... keep the emails coming, and skpye calls as its so nice to hear about 'normal' life, and stuff from home.

Cant believe we have been here for two and a half weeks now, the time has really just zooooomed by, and each day has been cocca with job searching and sightseeing.

there is so dam much to do in this city, and we haven't even begun to scratch the surface hardly!
We are Loving it over here, it's fast paced and this crazy exhilarating ride that intoxicates and delights... people say they get addicted to London and I can see why, a different thing to see and do at every moment. its mad!

Last weekend we took off too the coast and did a 15km walk over the seven sisters white chalk cliffs from Seaford to EastBourne. The wind was the strongest ever, and you could actually lean into it and it would keep you standing. The walk itself was quite an easy one, and was nice to get away from all the hustle and bustle of the city. After the walk, we then caught the train to Brighton and checked it out. Very different to the seaside in NZ, but so delightful all the same, they even have a theme park on the end of the pier!! Very English!

During the week we have done some amazing things - we checked out the Tate Modern, and bestill my beating heart, I saw artworks by Piccaso, Matisse, Monet, and many more of the greats that I'd only ever seen in books and studied at Uni... there was a moment where I was like an excited child, pinching myself to make sure all this was reality!
We also went to Westminster Abby again, but this time went to a choir service inside the church itself, and it was unbelievable, the most massively ornate beautiful church I've ever been in, and the choir sounded like angels, and I got goosebumps... Hamish and I just smirked at each other in disbelief...
We went to the Science Museum and the exhibitions were all interactive and so well thought out, even for a novice science person I still loved it and learnt loads! Hamish was in his ELEMENT! We also went to Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly Circus and wandered around the Soho area, and down along the South Bank of the river at night. It's just as impressive by night time as the day! Yesterday we went to a beer festival in Earls Court and sampled a fair few beers and Ciders from all over the world, it was a good laugh. They had a pub quiz which was ridiculously hard and think we only got one right out of twenty questions. From the Beer Fest we then mossied on to a party on a houseboat on the Thames, zipped around in little black cabbies, and double decker buses, then onto Brick Lane for Indian Curries... top night!
Today is very mellow, just a home day.. scones, washing, walk through the parks and a few calls home. Feeling much more settled here. We have got into a routine and its nice to back into running and cooking meals again.
I somehow fluked my way into a job and I start on Wednesday. Its a creative role, in a groovy design agency in London. I'm really excited about, it sounds like I'll be mainly coming up with concepts and working closely with an artworker to do the technical stuff. Sounds extreamly varied too. So we will see how it goes... Starting as a freelancer, and the money is amazing!
Hamish is still on the job hunt, its a bit tedious, the recruitment agents over here seem as though they do NO work whatsoever!! So will keep you updated on what happens there.

Anyways better go, looking at heading away next weekend... missing everyone.
lots of love. sarah and hamish. xxx

the london love affair begins...

Flight to London was sweet, didn’t get much sleep though. The weather was fine over Europe so we could see city’s like Copenhagen from 30,000 feet. Touchdown, Sarah’s friend Libby was waiting at the airport for us, so it wasn’t too daunting. Had our first experience on the famous London tubes from the airport and surprise, surprise we were delayed for an hour with signal failure. Got out at the Hammersmith stop, it was very awkward lugging all our gear. First thing we noticed when we walked out of the tube station was not the number of people, but the ethnic diversity. We also noticed the famous London black cabs, the monopoly board place names, and the police cars with sirens blearing speeding around every corner. With rough directions in hand we eventually made it to Claxton grove. First thing Sarah wanted to do was go to the Pub with her mate, but I was really jet lagged (close to 22 hour without sleep) so unpacked and crashed after saying a bleary hello to the flat mates. We are staying in a flat in Hammersmith with about 6 others (I think!) who are mainly Aussies. Nice digs and the kitchen overlooks a graveyard.
Since being in London we have either been checking out the sights, catching up with mates or applying for jobs (in no particular order). The sights are definitely like walking around a postcard; West Minster Abbey, London Bridge, Parliament Buildings, Big Ben, Tower of London, the London eye, St Paul’s Cathedral, Buckingham Palace, the list of iconic sights seems endless. The weather has been outstanding in our first week, but I have heard that it does rain in London sometimes! ;-). The days are really long at the moment and the temperature has been as high as 28 deg. Negotiating the tube system has been fun and it doesn’t take long to pick up, as long as you have your Oyster card your home and hose!
Sarah has already scoped out some of the markets. From the endless food stalls at Burough market to the weird and wackey at Cambdon, to the trendy and quaint at Portabello. London’s got it all.
Hammersmith is a really nice area and we are lucky to have mates and family (Jen) close by who can give us a few handy tips. We have already had a few traditional Kiwi BBQ’s and English style ciders on the lawn in Hyde Park. London is surprisingly a really pretty place and there are Parks everywhere and lots of running tracks up and down the Thames. The inner city is modern yet still retains its historical charms. It would be hard to get bored in London, because there isn’t a shortage of things to do, places to see, or people to catch up with. I am still waiting for my invitation to have tea with the Queen!

Vietnam Continued…

From Nga Trang Hamish and I caught the overnight bus to Hoi An. Was an awful nights sleep! Trying to get comfortable while sitting upright for 12 hours, and trying to sleep with the bus driver continually on the horn, as well as Vietnamese comedy blearing from the TV, we arrived into Hoi An a weeny bit on the weary side. After a quick shower, and side of the road noodle soup for breaky we recovered and discovered how great this small little place was. We hired a motorbike again and explored. Hoi An is a World Heritage site, and the architecture has been maintained very well. All the streets and buildings in the old quarter are quaint and French like. Pink Blossoms grow everywhere, and this place is an artists dream. There are countless galleries in town, and Hoi An is also known for its tailoring abilities. There are stores making you hand tailored suits, dresses, shirts, pants, and jackets. Even shoes, for ludicrously low prices. Not that im complaining… Its brilliant to have a clothes that fit me perfect! We both got a few extra bits and pieces handmade for us, and after the morning looking around we took off to the beach. The beach was one of the best we have seen, white sand stretching for miles, and tropical blue water. Ah, totally living the life… That night we were spoilt as the little town was having its annual lantern festival, and the town was a buzz of lights, lanterns, traditional music, and people.
From Hoi An, we had another overnight MARATHON bus trip up to Hanoi. I think it was about 15 hours in total. However somehow the bus company stuffed up and we got put on a sweet sweet sleeper bus where the seats reclined and was no dramas getting to sleep which was great as somehow I had adapted an awful cold and hadn’t been feeling 100%. Arrived in Hanoi early in the morning, found some accommodation then explored the city. Like Phnom Phen, Hanoi was full noise with trillions of scooters and horns, however there is a real charm of the place and lures you in. I KO-ed for most of the avo that day, and Hamish did quite a bit of sightseeing. That night, after sleeping for the afternoon, we caught up with Hamish’s friends from NZ, Sarah and Matt, who are teaching English at a school in Hanoi. Was such a pleasant evening with happy hour drinks and nibbles followed by dinner in a tiny wee family run vietemese restaurant beside Matt’s flat. It was great to get an insight into the way living in the city for them is, and learn a bit more about the vietemese lifestyle is.
The following morning Hamish and I took off too Ha Long bay. Another World heritage sight, and it is truly incredible. Once we finally got there that is. The roads were pretty shocking to get there, and what is usually a 3-hour bus trip, took about 5. Nethertheless, once we got there we were not disappointed. Impressive Limestone formations, popping out of the water, crusing on the boat around all the different islands, relaxing and eating more sensational food than you can imagine, limestone caves like we haven’t encounter before, swimming as the sun was setting, sunbathing, kayaking in the morning… you kinda get the picture?? Just bliss, and was what we needed!
Once back in Hanoi we spent a few more days doing the sights of the city, buying artwork, and caught up with Hamish’s friends again. As well as that we went to a water puppet show, which is a definite MUST if you are there. Its classic and they have a band using all the traditional instruments. Really thought it was worthwhile.

From Hanoi we then caught a flight back to Bangkok, and meet up with Hamish’s dad Guy at the airport. Was very uncanny as he flew in about 10minutes before us from Taiwan, and it was just by a lucky fluke! It was so nice to see a friendly face from home, and I sure he felt a bit bombarded with us talking a hundred miles an hour about our travels! We went into the city and checked out the apartment he was staying in, and it was Lush. Up about 30 stories with a supreme view over Bangkok! Much nicer than our 1 star accommodation we had been staying in! We got our washing done – almost everything in our packs, and took Guy into the city. It was very strange as I look back and remember thinking Bangkok was sooooo crazy and busy and overwhelming, but well it really wasn’t the second time round. Its much more developed and built up, the roads are much less chaotic and everything is just more westernised than other parts of South East Asia. It kind of felt like we were coming home. We showed Guy the city hotspots and a bit of what we knew of Bangkok, and then headed back to his apartment for Happy hour drinks and nibbles. From there, we then went onto the nicest most civilised place we have been to for dinner in months and had a lovely authentic Thai Dish. We spent the following day shopping – Bangkok has unbelievable shopping malls! We packed and repacked our backpacks trying to get them under 20kgs, and squeezing as much as we could into our carryons… somehow it worked, and I after a little bit more shopping and pack compressing and squeezing, I went and got a proper reflexology foot massage and a manicure. Yup I’m really going to miss South East Asia, however, not the squat toilets, or the feeling of guilt when you accidentally flush toilet paper down the loo and forget to put it in the basket, or the moving from place to place every two days…
Ah it’s been full on, probably a bit rushed, but we have done it and survived! Bring on the next adventure. Londontown here we come!

New Photos Cambodia / Vietnam

Good morning Vietnam!

We have reached the last leg of our Journey up the Vietnamese coast from Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) in the south to Hanoi in the North. Its by no means a small distance we have to cover 1600 km in 10 days. So we bused into HCMC and the first thing we noticed was the number of motorbikes/scooters. It was unbelievable at a typical intersection there would be like 20 across by 30 deep. You can imagine that crossing the road is no easy task, you almost have to close you eyes and start walking and the all encompassing swarm will just move around you. HCMC has around 6 million people. Not wanting to spend too long in another big city we took the first available bus 200 km North to Mu Nei. A smaller seaside/fishing town with a few resorts and hotels in the mix. It was really nice spending a day and half relaxing on an idyllic beach under the swaying palm trees. The water was really warm too. On the bus again (we purchased an open bus ticket so we could pretty much hop on and off whenever we liked) and 4 ½ hours up the road to Nha Trang. Nha Trang is about the same size as Wellington and right on a really nice beach. We booked a boat trip when we got there which explored some of Nha Trangs Islands. Snorkling was a highlight for me the coral and aquatic life in the crystal clear water was primo. Our boat was the party boat and we had a really great day, singing, eating and swimming.

Cambodia

CONTRAST is what I think of when I reflect on Cambodia. Rich and Poor, Brillant and Bloody, amazing and tragic, history and current, old and new… It’s really the biggest eye opener that hamish and I have ever had. The poverty in Cambodia broke my heart, children shamelessly begging, landmine victims without legs, woman with a child in her arms filthy and begging for money on the street. It was too shocking to believe, and gave hamish and I the biggest wakeup call as to how lucky we are to come from little old NZ. Our hearts raced at the sights of the famous Angkor temples in Siem Reap, unforgettable sandcastle like creations, but we were shocked at how black humankind can be, as we learnt about the Khmur Rouges genocidal rule ( 1975-1979) under Pol Pots direction whereby almost 2 millon innocent Cambodians were killed under the regieme. It was bloody and awful and seeing the killing fields, and S-21 (the prison where people where torturted and kept before being taken to be killed) was airy and made me feel sick. Despite their bloody history, the Cambodian people are very warm, and we found them to be the loveliest we had encounted so far.

We flew into Siem Reap and spent the first few days there marvelling at the temples, and absorbing all the Grandness of the Khmer Empire… truly heart stopping, and we got up super early and watched the sun rise over Angkor Wat. The temples, are all different and each has so many orate carvings and statues, and things to marvel at… Ones we think worth checking out are Angkor Wat – you wont believe you eyes!!
Angkor Thom(bayon is amazing!), - there are hundreds of faces carved into the stone, quite strange!
Ta Prohm – the place were Indian Jones and Tomb raider was filmed, has crumbling stone work, tombs and looks enchanted as the jungle is devouring the temple.

From Siem Reap we decided to go to Battambang a smallish town, a days boat trip from the city. It was well worth it. The boat trip was extreamly senic as we passed floating village, after floating village, and got to see the ‘real’ Cambodia. Once in Battambang we meet up with a couple of guys from the UK and hired motobikes to checkout the area. Hamish was a wee bit rubish to begin with on the motorbike, and its not that great when you stall going through a BUSY intersection!! But by the end of the day he had mastered it. We hired a guide to take us through the Killing Caves, where over 100000 people were slaughted, killed then pushed down a 20m cave, was awful, there were all their bones still there and had an Eeiry feeling…

From Battengbang we then went onto Cambodia’a Capital – Phnom Pehn. We hired a cab for the day and he took us round the sights. We spent our time going to the S-21 prision. The prison used to be a school but was turned into a place of torture and death. When prisoners where brought to S-21 they got their photo taken, and there are rooms and rooms fill of photos from all the men, woman and children who had been there. The most chilling thing is that, all those people where killed, out of the hundreds of thousands that went there taken there, only 6 survived. What I cannot fathom is that this happened less than 30years ago!! One awful regime, stuffing up the future of Cambodia, so much so they are still trying to make up for it today. There is a heaviness of Heart in Cambodia.
From the Prison we then went on to the killing fields. Very distirbing. There are still bones on the ground and lose bits of fabric from the victims. The whole day made me feel sick!
Phnom Pehn was a big busy city, and we found some great places to eat, and checked out loads of markets and the grandpalace, and little nooks and crannies to enjoy while we were there…
It was nice to move on though, I love and loathe Cambodia at the same time…

viang vieng / vienteine

Nong Khiaw – Vang Vieng (VV). A long days travelling left at 2 pm and didn’t get into VV until 3 in the morning. The roads were terrible! It was like the Waiwoeka gorge multiplied but 8 hours of it! When we arrived we all piled into this very small Tuk-Tuk and with its tires flat and bottom scraping along the ground we made it to some accomodation.
V.V was the adventure tourist meca of Laos, with a lot to offer the hoards of tourists. We went tubing, but it wasn’t like your normal tubing, it had multiple stops at riverside pubs. They kind of latched you in with big sticks. There was also rope swings into the river which was great fun. I perfected my backwards flip off the rope swing, but when I tried to do it again with half twist the result was disasterous, I slammed into the river from a fair height on my side, and ended up with some bruising (but I am fine now) It was quite funny apparently I got a real groan from the watching audience. The drinks flowed freely and you had to be careful about getting too carried away. But we made it back to the G.H in one piece. Went out to Dinner in V.V and sat on the ground to eat our meal, that was pretty crazy. Had a nicer bus trip to Viantiene the following day. Viantiene is the Capital city of Laos, another riverside city, which is on the border with Thailand. There are approximately 200,000 people in Laos made up of locals and a large Expat community. There is again a real french feel to this place (according to SK as I have never been to France) with the architecture, roading and restaurants. I do love the chocolate croissants! And Sarah has turned into a local with having Chicken noodle soup for brekkie every morning. Have been wandering around checking out a few wats, the Laos version of the Arc De Triumph and trying to dodge the down pours. But we a really enjoying this place. We are flying out to Siem Reap (Cambodia) tomorrow. We are really looking forward to that.