Being terrible tourists in Singapore!

Upon leaving Garsten we were supposed to head to Zagreb, Croatia to kick off a road trip along the Dalmatian coast. Instead we finally made the hard but necessary decision to return back to Australia so I could consistently see the same doctor, do some further tests and figure out what was making me sick. By this point I had been sick for around 6 weeks and although we dearly wanted to head to Croatia (and Bosnia and Turkey and Sri Lanka!), it wasn't to be.

Instead we took a train to Vienna were we flew to Zurich and then Singapore. We decided to break up the absurdly long flight back to Australia with 4 nights somewhere in South East Asia. We opted for Singapore, a new country for both Rob and I, and the only island city-state in the world! Although it would likely mark the end of our overseas travel, we were excited to be heading somewhere new for a relaxing end to the trip.

Rob crossing the bridge to find our Air BnB apartment

Singapore didn't quite turn out as planned. Aside from me being "normal sick", we both got colds, had issues adjusting to the change in time zone and the overwhelming humidity, heat and smog. We had huge problems sleeping at anytime before 3am. This left less time for sightseeing and we turned into pretty terrible tourists! However, importantly, we did utilise our Airbnb apartment's wonderful pool and did some reading.

Sleeping and pool time were high on our agendas

From what we did see, and barring a few less enjoyable things (humidity, air quality challenges), Singapore seems like a great place to live. The city has done an amazing job at urban planning and seems to be prioritising gardens and active lifestyles. We went to the Singapore City Gallery which shows the transformation of the city over the last five decades. It is astounding the changes they have made over short periods to neighbourhoods, building and lifestyles.

Not a bad view from our metro stop

Singapore model at the gallery

New meets old in Singapore?

Older style buildings with skyscraper neighbours made quite a sight

Singapore is a lovely town to wander around, especially in the evening when the heat has lifted. We enjoyed the atmosphere around the river and found lots to see. The city buildings are quite spectacular at night. I'm not really sure why but part of the cityscape reminded me of Melbourne. (Of course I don't recall a soccer field floating on the Yarra but I haven't been home for 10 months!)

Singapore turned the lights come on

Floating soccer (i.e. using the land you've got)

Love these statues. Reminded us of similar ones we saw in Santander

"Play it forward" Piano's under a bridge for the public to enjoy

We were there! 

Interesting helix bridge near where we had an AMAZING ice cream sandwich

Our "final" day in Singapore was quite the experience! In the morning we enjoyed the beautiful botanical gardens. The National Orchid Garden was just fantastic. The orchids were so varied and very colourful. 

Paphiopedilum Hybrid

Rob enjoying the lovely mist garden

Worth battling the humidity!

Fountain and flora near the entrance

After the gardens we met up with Rob's old neighbour, James, and his wife Dora and two boys for a brief but lovely catchup - shamefully, WE FORGOT TO TAKE A PHOTO! 

In the afternoon I started to feel worse for wear. Long story short, hours before our flight I ended up at the airport medical centre where I was deemed "unfit to fly" due to having also contracted gastro. We had to book new flights for the next day which wasn't great news but at that point we were just pleased to have seen a doctor. Needless to say our (actual) final day in Singapore was low key. 

Our flight home consisted of less than an hour sleep between us but we were still smiling and happy to catch up with family and friends at the other end. (And plotting to keep the 2015 travel dream alive...stay tuned!)

Phu Quoc Island

After less than a week in Ho Chi Minh City we took our first mini-trip to Phu Quoc Island. Still adapting to Vietnam's heat, post-Nepali freeze, we thought it was smart to take to the water. Phu Quoc is a southern Vietnamese island that sits just below Cambodia. It is a short one hour flight from Ho Chi Minh. One of those flights were you aren't cruising for long.

As we flew into Phu Quoc, I debated whether to wake Rob up from his nap. The sea around the island looked beautiful as was lit up by many boats. I let him sleep and wake up as we hit the tarmac. (This is not as mean as it sounds. We have established the same rule goes for buses and planes, Rob would prefer the sudden jolt of landing or stiffness in his neck to being woken.) 

We chose to stay at a guesthouse listed on airbnb called The Venue. It was a good location as long as you don't mind a 400 metre walk to the beach. There were lots of food options at the end of the street and on the beach nearby. 

For a fair chunk of the weekend we beached ourselves. The island has some nice beaches,

though as always, it depends on your point of comparison. The beach closest to us did not have much of a coast but we were away from the main strip and it was peaceful. The lack of sand didn't really matter as it was too hot for us to lie in the full sun for a lot of the day and we preferred to be near the smoothies, fruit platters, spring rolls, cocktails and other delights. Reading, swimming and eating was the order of the day! That evening we enjoyed a sunset and saw my Mum's youngest brother's doppleganger. (Hi Peter if you happen to read this!)

Enjoying the beach near our guesthouse

Yoga at sunset

On our second full day at Phu Quoc we rented a motorbike from a restaurant. We were advised by their owner that under no circumstances were we to speak English, French or Vietnamese if pulled over by the police. "Pretend you don't understand anything", we were told. There have been tourist accidents in recent years on the island and the police have been cracking down on foreigners riding bikes. (Later, upon reading and thinking more on the subject we decided we probably wouldn't rent a motorbike again whilst in the country. After all, we don't ride motorbikes back home and aren't really on top of the Vietnamese road rules.) 

Anyway, on this particular day we set off with the idea that we would encounter small amounts of island traffic and if we drove safely would be okay. This turned out to be the case and we didn't spot the police anywhere. We stopped off at a cafe for a morning coffee before heading to the north-east part of the island. It took longer than we thought to get there and navigating the island wasn't quite as straight forward as we thought. Eventually we had lunch on a quiet fishing beach.

Child playing in the sand on a Northern beach

After lunch we found a bumpy dirt track that took us to a beach on the north-west side of the island. I made the ride more fun/dangerous by driving us slightly too fast at one point. Riding wasn't too comfortable but it was nice to be able to travel independently for awhile. Some of the island's resorts were on the north-west coast, perhaps positioned here more for the peace than the beach itself. We went for a nice afternoon dip before jumping back on our bike and heading south for the wet market. Though the market was interesting to see, Rob had a challenging time navigating us through the sea of motorbikes and stalls whilst suffering an overpowering stench of fish. After further wanderings we found the night market just in time for dinner. 

Something fishy in a market full of motorbikes

On our last day we journeyed to the southern beaches to spend more time reading on the beach. The beach was nice but very busy with large groups and lots of beach chairs covering the sand. (Yes, I know we are spoilt in Australia with quiet, often "untouched" beaches so this will always shade my thoughts on beaches overseas!) Towards the end of the afternoon people cleared off and it began to look like paradise! 

Reading on the beach

South-facing beach

All of a sudden everyone left!

We would recommend Phu Quoc as a great choice for a relaxing beach weekend trip from Ho Chi Minh.


Phu Quoc Costs and Tips 

Flight: AUD$346 return for two people

Accommodation: AUD$30/night for a double room at the Venue

Motorbike hire: ~70,000 dong (~AUD$4.40) for a day

Sun lounge hire: ~100,000 dong for a day (Or just got a few metres back on the sand and order a drink or some food and use their lounges. We were never made to feel like we should leave or continue to eat!)

Choosing a beach: There is something to like about most of the beaches but if you don't feel like exploring what each has to offer, we would recommend the east facing beach. If you walk a little south of the main bar and restaurant area it is both peaceful and beautiful.

General tip for Vietnam: Don't forget your passport! Everywhere in Vietnam requires your passport to register it locally and many keep it during your stay. Try not to be like us and leave it at the hotel!

Kagbeni, Kagbeni, Kagbeni

Due to our altered itinerary and our dolphin sands road climax (thus far), we found ourselves spending three nights in the small village of Kagbeni. It is located in the valley of the Kali Gandaki River.

Kali Gandaki River and mountains all around

Initially the arid landscape appeared very other worldly, especially compared to the Annapurna region. The brown valley, which reminded me of Colca Canyon in Peru, was in stark contrast with the blue sky and mostly white mountains around us. The beautiful scenery made us very excited about what would follow as we hiked further north into Upper Mustang, perhaps compounding our later disappointment!

(I will have to warn you here that this post is going to contain many photos because although Kagbeni mostly represented a place we weren’t meant to be, or a substitute for where we wished to be, I found it a really nice village with incredible and unique scenery.)

On the morning of our walk to Kagbeni, I tried my first Tibetan tea. The drink is made from the butter and milk of a yak, and though it wasn't anything to write home about, it was nice to try something new. (There was certainly not much else to look at at this point as it appeared we had stepped into a Wild Wild West movie. I couldn't even find a tumbleweed!)

On the road to Kagbeni

Passing a Kagbeni orchard

Apparently there is gold to be found

Our guide, Krishna took us around Kagbeni village and further into the valley

When we arrived at our hotel in Kagbeni I quickly found a window nook to bask in the sun and enjoy the view. I told Rob it was categorically a cat/Kat window which was confirmed the next day when we found a ginger and white cat napping in the very spot.

Room with a view

Kagbeni town and surrounds

Whilst in Kagbeni we tried to (respectfully) get some photos of the Kagbenians doing their thing. Most people were not interested in partaking, which I can understand. As we milled around town we saw scraps being given to birds, goats being herded back before sunset, men gambling in the streets and a goat's head hanging from the bridge. 

Home time!

Beautiful eyed boy

Unexplained goats head dangling from a bridge

Kagenians doing their thing

We also passed the unexpected no-hiking time with, UNO special rules (the game that keeps on giving as the dealer chooses the rules each round), reading, writing, napping and of course, eating dahl baht and drinking milk tea. We were in the midst of reading Around the World in 80-days together which we both enjoyed immensely. (No, we are not trying to speed up our journey to win a bet!)

River-side Kagbeni (Kali Mukti joins from the north-east/right)

Could be out of Game of Thrones

On our second and third night in Kagbeni, I tried hard to rest my ankle. It was not too bad but still painful. The next morning we would hike back to Jomsom for the return flight to Pokhara the day after. This time we walked in the riverbed, again having the sense that we could be somewhere other than Earth. Though the trek was short it felt long, as I was eager to return to Jomsom. We entertained ourselves with conversation, looking for gold and throwing rocks into the river. 

Rock games- Rob hit the mountain!

All smiles!

Up the icy path

A lovely part of Nepal

Which planet?

Kagbeni to Jomsom via the riverbed, all gold-prospecting

Blue skies and many browns

Eventually we made it to Jomsom where the colourful new monastery stuck out like a sore thumb amongst the browns and whites of the mountains. We were keen to use the wifi as we had been speculating on the prime ministership on our trek. It turned out that there had been a vote for a spill. We also caught up with the news of our friends, which included an exciting very recent new arrival to the world! 

Jomsom seemed pretty interesting until we started walking around and most things shut down. Nevertheless we decided to try and have a third tea for the day. Arriving at a small tea shop, we asked a young boy where to get it. He misunderstood thinking we were looking for beer! It is funny how us humans just hear what we expect to hear sometimes. (Rob was even speaking Nepali).

Arrival at Jomsom: new monastery

Jomsom

My heart almost stopped on our flight back to Pokhara. We had arrived very early at the small airport and waited around for a long time. They only fly in the morning because it is too windy and dangerous later on. We boarded the tiny plane of 15 passengers and my seat was requested so a mother and adult son could sit near each other. It was for the best because it was the woman’s first time on a plane and it just so happened that this one would drop at least ten metres in the sky. I lost my stomach and didn’t find it again until much later in the day. What made it worse was the woman had covered her eyes with a scarf so she couldn’t see.  It was definitely the most scenic and terrifying short flight I have been on. I don’t think I would do it again, opting for the multi-day hike to avoid it!