Merry Christmas from Vietnam

We are about 6 days into our tour of Vietnam and so far so good. Saigon is amazingly busy with 8 milliion people and about 10 million motorcycles but we still quite enjoyed the city. We travelled up to Dalat for 2 days which is up in the mountains so a little bit cooler, only 20 maybe. The last 2 days we have been in Nha Trang, right on the coast and the weather here is perfect, 24-25.
Very nice beaches and not that busy, today we went on a boat trip for some swimming and snorkeling, excellent, except Marlyn would not go swimming. Tomorrow we head up tp Hoi An.
We are having a gift exchange on the train between Hue and Hanoi on Christmas night with the other 10 members of our tour. Our price limit is 20,000d.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year
Don & Marlyn

Siem Reap & Angor Wat

We arrived in Siem Reap on Monday and found some cheap rooms @ Green Town guest house for $18.00/night. the next morning we hired a couple of moto's with drivers and spent the day touring the temples of Angor Wat. The whole area is huge and very impressive, with numerous temples to visit and wander through. It rivals the temples of Egypt although not quite as old but the setting in the forest is very nice. Next day we hired a tuk-tuk and drove up to Banetay Srie to veiw another temple and saw a lot more of the country and local villages. We also saw the floating village on the river leading into the lake, which are mostly Vietnamese fisherman. It was not all that impressive as the living conditions are pretty sad. Just another way for them to charge tourists money. We rented bicycle's and rode back out to Angor yesterday and went back to a couple of the temples liked. We should have just rented bike's in the first place but they do not want you to know that. Siem Reap is quite inexpensive for eating and drinking and everything is in US dollars. Beer or rum & coke are usually $1.50 each. The city itself is quite busy but relativly clean and loads of tourists, especially Chinese. The people are extremely helpful and freindly but they all want to sell you something especially the kids and they are persistent.

Singapore, the new city.

The flight from Cape Town to Singapore was 11 hours and one of these days I will actually sleep on a plane. I don't think Don got much sleep either but they have movies on demand so we got to watch a lot of fairly new stuff. We arrived in Singapore at 5 am and hopped a train to the city, into an area called Little India where we were staying. Singapore is 5 million people in a fairly small area so no matter where you go it is busy but amazingly clean. Public transport was a breeze so we saw quite a bit f the city and also did a tour one day. You have never seen so many shopping centers in your life though and I am sure that shopping is the number one pasttime. Despite all the concrete the city is still fairly green as they dedicate space to parks, all the building just keeps going higher and higher. Not the cheapest place to be though, food is inexpensive but beer is not, or are rooms. 4 days was more than enough, we have flights booked to Siem Reap in Cambodia, then to Vietnam for a 17 day tour, 1 week in Malaysia and then off to Australia.

Cape Town South Africa

Cape Town (actually South Africa as a whole) is an experience out of Africa. Cape Town is very much like Vancouver, but also very European with large high rise condos and loads of bars and restaurants on the water front. Plus streets that have clubs, more restaurants and bars, and lots of shopping(my favor, yea right ). The differences being that you cannot just walk into these areas at night but must take a taxi (safety issues) and the wind blows all the time. Tons of tourists, mostly from Europe.
We did all the tourist things in Cape Town and did enjoy most of it. We took the cable car up Table Mountain which stand behind the city. From there you have a view of two oceans - Atlantic and Indian, plus all of the city and harbours. We did a tour of the wine country, had some very nice wines and did the tour to the Cape of Hope and surrounding areas incuding the Kirstenbosch Gardens which was really fantastic. We also went to Robbin Island which is just in the bay off Cape Town. It has quite the history from leper colony to prison. This is where Mandela ans a lot of the current government officials spent many years of there life. We were in Cape Town for a week and did see a lot of the City. Off to Singapore now.

Southern Circle Tour

Our Southern Circle adventure started on Nov 1 with a dinner where we met all the other travellers along with our guide for the next 3 weeks, Bianca. Along with ourselves we travelled with Anja, Nicole, Wolfgang, Oliver, Birgit, Jan & Carina, all from Germany and Juha & Crista from Finland. The next morning we packed up the truck which is our home for the next 3 weeks and headed north thru Botswana. After driving for about 12 hours we finally arrived at Elephant Sands camp where we pitched our tents for the first time. The next morning we drove to Chobe National Park where we did our first game drive along the banks of the Chobe river. We saw lots of elephants and hippos in the river, all trying to stay cool as it was very hot. There were also lots of baboons, warthogs and a few buffalo. Apparently the warthogs like to visit the town and wander around but do not bother anybody. We then crossed the border into Zimbabwe and headed for Victoria Falls where we spent 3 nights at the very nice Drifters Inn. The first day we visited the falls although the water was quite low and the falls were kind a small compared to rainy season, and then went for cold beers at the beautiful Victoria Falls hotel. The next day Marlyn, Anja, Jan & Carina and myself all went whitewater rafting on the Zambesi river. Even with low water levels the rapids were still class 3-5 and we went thru about 21 sets of rapids.
I got thrown from the raft twice and we also flipped the raft twice so it was quote an exhilarating day. The worst part was having to walk out of the river gorge at the end which is about 250-300m up, but that was where the cold beer was waiting. We did a group dinner at La Boma restaurant which serves lots of wild game ( warthog steaks are awesome, Mapaune worms are not ), puts on a drumming show and African face painting. It was a lot of fun.
We now head into Zambia and set up camp in Kafue on the Zambezi River. We spend part of the day relaxing by the pool and drinking a few beers as well as setting up the tents, that we are sure will be flattened by the hippos. Next morning we break camp and load up canoes for a two day trip down the river. We travel with the current so the paddling is not to hard and we view much wild life and one close encounter with a couple of hippos. This night we spend on an island in close proximity to a herd of buffalo...it was very beautiful and exciting with the animals outside your tent. Another day on the river and then camp with the wildlife once again. The next morning we break camp and are speed boated ( ran out of gas ) back to Kafue to spend our last night on the Zambezi River. Thank god there was a pool and an air conditioned bar because it was HOT.
Day nine takes us to the capital city of Lusaka and toward Luangwa National Park. Spend a night in a camp with chickens and children before heading out for the worst roads on earth. We had a small problem with the truck and Bianca, Don and Jan spent the evening under the truck while the rest of us cook dinner. Carina sat on a bench to read a magazine and within 2 minutes had 15 kids with her looking at all the pictures and asking millions of questions. It was quite hilarious.
South Luangwa Park is just a beautiful location right on the river bank with animals roaming freely. We had no problems but some previous groups have had some close encounters, mostly with elephants. We did a night and an early morning game drive and again saw quite a range of animals including lions feeding on dead hippos. We could park within 10ft of the lions and they just ignore us, but the smell was disgusting.
We now headed into Malawi, stopping in Lilongwe for some groceries, water and beer, and then onto Wheelhouse campground right on the shore of the lake. They are in 3 small coves so the beaches are quite private with no people wandering around. I did some snorkeling with Jan and Carina while Marlyn did some cultural village visits. It just happened to be my birthday then so Marlyn and Bianca decided we needed a party which started after dinner, moved into this cool little bar they have and it got pretty drunk out that night. Good thing the next day was not a travel day for most people, especially Oliver.
Heading south we drive down to Mulanje and camp at the local golf course which would have been great except they had no water and it is still HOT. Everybody keeps telling us it will rain but it never does. Mulanje has quite a large mountain ( for Africa anyway ) and the next day we hike partially up ( some young ones go all the way up ) and spent a few hours at the waterfall where there is an excellent swimming hole and the water is quite cold which feels great.

Back in the truck we have a long drive heading to Mozambique. We get as far as Chomoio and set up camp beside a hotel. You have never seen bugs so bad in your life, the bar was raining with them and the bathrooms were crawling. Good thing it was only for 1 night. Another day of driving and we make it to Vilanculos on the coast of Mozambique. Quite a small town but all of sudden you have a lot more white people than before as Mozambique is quite a popular tourist destination these days and there are a lot of hotels and camps being built. We only spend 1 night in Vilanculos and then drive down to Inhambane where we take a dow over to the peninsula where the beach camps are. We are staying in casitas at the Drifters Barra camp right on the beach and it is an idyllic location with miles and miles of beautiful beach, and virtually no people to speak of. The weather was hot but cloudy and windy so the snorkeling and whale watching did not pan out to good but a few people, Jan, Carina, Anja and Nicole got some good dives in. This was an awesome place to stay and probably one of the most memorable and is fast becoming a major tourist draw. Nice to see it before too much development. Marlyn and I went horseback riding with Juha and Christa, and Marlyn will never be in the rodeo but at least she did not fall off. After 3 nights here we loaded up again and drove down to Maputo, the capital city, for 1 night in a hotel with a fabulous seafood restaurant. Maputo is a big city with too many people but the economy is strong here at least.
We are now on our way back to South Africa and Kruger National Park. After some of the other countries it is like coming back to civilization again in South Africa it is so developed. Kruger is an awesome park with very developed infrastructures, camps, hotels, etc. We camped at a place called Berg en Dal for 2 nights and had 2 excellent game drives ( one @ 4:30 am ) and saw lots of animals especially rhinos which was very cool. The lions were lying on the road, a group of about 8 and we just sat in the truck about 10ft away watching and taking pictures. Very cool.
Our last night was spent at the Drifters Inn at Hazyveiw which was another very nice location right in the forest and beside a river. Bianca made the group one last dinner, traditional South African, which was excellent. The next morning most of us headed back to Jo'burg and on to the next leg of our trip. We were fortunate we travelled a easy going group of people and there were no major dis-agreements and Bianca was a fabulous guide.
Cape Town update coming soon.

Good bye to Egypt

We took a 2 day trip out to the black and the white deserts, approx 500 kms southwest of Cairo.
We were joined by Omar and Faisal from Saudi Arabia and had a Bedouin guide to tour us around. The Black desert is almost volcanic looking with all the hills covered with black rock. The white desert is an ancient seabed with bizzare looking calcium deposits covering mile and miles of land. We pitched camp around 6 or 7 other groups and slept under the stars for the night. The whole area is now a protected park which was a surprise to all the guides, pretty funny. An awful lot of driving for 2 days but it was nice too see something different.
Marlyn says, good bye and good riddance to Cairo. We leave tomorrow on our 23 day tour of South Africa, Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique. Last week the temps in Botswana were in the 40's, hopefully we will not melt. Next update probably not till end of November.
Sorry no pictures at this time, maybe the next computer will let us download.

Talk to you later
Don & Marlyn

Welcome to Egypt

After spemding time in the civilized and small Greek Islands arriving in Cairo was a bit of culture shock. The city is very old and dirty, garbage everywhere, and the traffic and noise is staggerring. We have not even considered attempting to cross a major road as traffic signals of any kind are non-existant and you really put your life at risk The tour company we hired has been excellent, they really do everything for you from airport pick up to meals and tours.

We spent the first 2 days in Cairo seeing the sights, pyramids of Giza, the Sphinx, old Cairo, the Egyptian museum and of course the obligatory shopping bazaars, were they really do not like to hear no. Too bad for them! We then took the overnight train down to Aswan ( 14 hours in a sitting car - not great). What a difference Aswan is to Cairo, clean and green, right on the Nile, nice city. Which we would have known that sooner. So for 4 days and 3 nights we cruised the Nile and took in the ancient temples from Aswan to Luxor. The boat was excellent, met lots of interesting people from all over the world and our tour guide Marcos stayed with us the whole time. You could not have asked for a better guide, very personable and very knowledgable. So if you are planning on a visit start in Aswan or Luxor, much smaller cities and much more to see and easy to get around. The amount of tourists down here is staggering though, at one temple I counted 100 large tourist buses with more coming, and it is not even busy season yet. I cannot imagine what it will be like in a month. All the local people we encountered have been very freindly and welcoming to tourists. They always want to know where we are from and they always reply, Canada Dry!!

Back in Cairo today and then we have a 2 day desert trip, camping at an oasis for 1 night. Should be a fun experience. After that off to South Africa. Way too many pictures to post so here a few.

All the best

Don & Marlyn

Rhodes, Greece

Well here we are back in Greece for the last time, it kind of feels like coming home since we have been in Greece so long. Rhodes city is very busy with a lot of traffic and noise but at least we have a nice room, with english TV and actually catch up on news and watch a movie. The old fort and old town here is quite impressive and large but of course full of shops and tavernas of all kinds along with thousands of cruise ship people. Tommorrow we will take a boat trip up to Lindos for the day and see the Acropolis. The day after we will head up to Faliraki for a day at the beach. Here are some pictures of the fort and the town of Rhodes.

Bye for now Don and Marlyn

Turkey-The land of colour

Every colour you can imagine, orange, pink, red, purple and in every combination, this is how they paint their houses, buildings and even the mosques. It is quiet refreshing after the white and blue of Greece. The six am call to prayers is not quiet as refreshing.
We arrived in Turkey at a place called Marmaris, which just happens to be the largest tourist city in all of Turkey. Half the population of Britain and about the same number of Scandavaian are holidaying here. We started our stay in a Pension, which made us wonder what we were doing to offend the Gods this time. Soon figured out that the whole city is hotels and apartment hotel and moved. Now in a little apartment,where there is hot water(at least in the evenings).
We did a two day bus tour and got to see some of the real Turkey ... Ephesus, which are unbelievable ruins and Pammakale which are these white cliffs(looks like snow). Of course no pictures attached because we still have not figured that out. We met some wonderful people on the tour and had great fun with them at dinner and over a beer or two. You would need a lot more time than a week to see Turkey as it is a huge country. We found the people very freindly, more so than Greece and prices were definately more reasonable. Marmaris is pretty much shutting down for the winter so our timing was good, we are now back to Rhodes for a few days and then off to Egypt on Tuesday. Wish us luck.
Don and Marlyn

Crete - Continued

We left Matala and headed east having a fairly vague plan. We visited the archeoligical sites of Gortyna and Phaestos which were quite interesting although you need a guide or a book to know what you are looking at. After crossing numerous small mountains in our tiny little car we finally reched Mirtos and were not to impressed so we headed for Agios Nikolaus witht the promise of something better. We ended up Istron Bay Hotel, deciding to splurge on a swanky resort and in Marlyn's words and "Idyllic" location.Almost an all inclusive it was a nice treat compared to the crowded little pensions and the ace was packed. Pull it up on the internet, it is worth checking out. Today we drove up the east coast checking out some very nice places like Elounda, again up the incedibly narrow mountain roads ( only had to back up once and fortunately not on a curvy part ) and drove through Malia on the north coast. This place is miles and miles of beaches, and development, makes Mexico pale in comparison. All in all we would highly recommend Crete to anyone, tons to see and do, very reasonable and the nicest people in Greece so far. Now we are off to Rhodes.
Kalispera
Don + Marlyn

Crete the land of sun and wind

I thought working at Head Smashed In was windy,I take it back. Crete is beautiful and sunny, but we keep chasing our hats. We arrived in Iraklion which is a large port city, on thursday and stayed two nights...in Don's view two nights to many since our hotel room was at the end of a runway.
We rented a car and took off for Matala on the south coast. On the way we did stop at Gortyna, an archaeological site which was quite cool. Matala is a picturesque beach town surrounded by cliffs that are full of Roman burial caves. I was here at 19 and it was a kind of a trendy hippy hang out place back then and I think some of those people are still here hanging out. It is quite the tourist town...about ten bus loads of people arrived this morning and then all disappear by 5:00 pm. We are heading east tomorrow and will spend another three days on Crete then fly to Rhodes. All is well, we have not killed each other yet and that is a good sign from the gods.

Mykonos

We just finished a 3 day stay in Mykonos and blew our budget to hell. Rooms were easy to get right off the ferry with dozens of people offering everything from hostels to 5 star. We ended up paying 100 euros for 3 nights in a decent size quiet area room. Where they get you is on the food and drink and unfortunately no negotiating there. A rum and coke will run 8 to 10 euros. We eventually figured out to use the snack bars, good food and cheap beer. Mykonos is the party capital if you are under 25 but we noticed most of those kids only stay for a day anyway as it is so expensive. The town is an absolute maze and takes at least 3 days just to find your way around. The beaches are highly overrated and not having the warmest wether did not help. We met some nice "couples" mostly from Vancouver or London that were on there "honeymoon" although they were quite entertaining to hang around with and had lots of travel stories and advice for us.
Today we took the ferry down to Iraklion in Crete, the larget island. Not arrivng till dark the hotel we have is at the end of the airport runway but when we went for dinner we found out the whole city is built around the airport and harbour. Good planning. Dinner was great in a little local taverna with wine, good food and then they give you desert and raki gratis. ( Raki is like unleaded gasoline ), all for 24 euros.
We plan on renting a car tommorow and touring the island for a few days.
Updates soon.

Kalispera
Don + Marlyn

Leaving Naxos

We have spent the last three days on the island of Naxos. A beautiful Greek spot...very hilly with narrow winding roads. We rented a car for one day and did a self made tour(only just about died once). On the far side of the island in a town I can't spell,let alone pronounce, we meet a couple(65 yrs) that own a little hotel and tavern...they were from Montreal and have been running the place for 23 yrs.
The main town is built around a castle with a maze of walk ways,stairs and alleys that all travel up hill and we stayed right at the top, so lots of climbing.
The weather has not been the greatest I believe it is warmer in Edmonton, than here.
The food is very good and also the local wines, but the prices are about the same as home.We are now off to Mykinos for three days and we hope some better weather.
Update... My bruise is now black so it looks like Don kicks me a lot.
More updates soon...and some day pictures when we get to a computer and down load.

Santorini, Greece

We took the ferry from Athens and arrived in Santirini on Monday afternoon. The room we booked was about as big as a closet and seemed like the middle of nowhere. We were actually just outsde Perissa, a nice little beach town with lots of cool bars and restaurants. In the pension we stayed at the front door got locked so when we got home at midnight we could not get into the house. Of course our phone was in the room so we could not phone the owner so Marlyn climbed in thru the bathroom window an dfor her efforts received a gigantic bruise on the back of her leg. We then moved into a place called "The Best" in Perissa just a block off of the back sand beach.
We rented a car and toured the island checking out Fira and Oia which are both spectacular, especially Oia which hangs right on the cliffs. The crowds are massive though with 4 cruise ships in port, somedays they get 8 ships in! We met some nice locals and some people from Norway and had lots fun. Friday we took the ferry to Naxos where we will spend a few days and explore. The old town where we are staying is built around the old fort and is like a maze, pretty cool though!
Pictures soon.
What happened to our football team????

Don + Marlyn!

Goodbye Athens (nice to leave)

It has been 30 years since I was last in Athens and the years have not been good to the city...modern day ruins visited the tourist sites and much is the same, except for more scaffolding and more graffiti. However,the city has taken a beating...run down, drug problems, dirty and way too many people. I think I can wait another 30 years for a return visit. We are off to Santorini (1st island stop) and we are both looking forward to change of scenery. I hope we figure out how to load pictures soon so you can get a feel for the places we visit. Another update soon.

Athens

Hello from Athens. After a very long flight, challenging metro ride we found our hotel. Small but adequate. We walked for miles today and took in the Acropolis and a few other sights, very cool but tons of people. The hectic volume of people and vehicle traffic subsides after 6 or 7. We found a cool street with lots of outdoor cafes and tavernas, we are off for diinner shortly.Tomorrow a museum or 2 and book boat tickets to Santorin.

On the Road

We are off and running with passports in hand.
Thanks to Lorie and Kerry for a very nice "off you go".
Here is hoping we have a house to return to...kidding.
Toronto first stop.

Still at Home

We have not left Edmonton yet...but will be gone on September 16/08. I hope to keep this updated as much as is "Marlyn possible", let's hope I have Don's help. Posting soon to come.

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We are in California at Kim's wedding. It is great.