Month: November 2006

You may not see it at first, but this parsley has one, very large, trunk, like a fig tree in the botanic gardens in miniature.

A perfect metaphor for my day today. Sorry to be so cryptic, but let’s just say that life is interesting, and strangely fucked up, yet with a shiny and interesting character.

Perhaps I should have let it flower and produce seeds – just to see what the children were like….

Tomorrow we’re going to pay for the tickets. I still don’t have my leave approved, but at this point, I think the trip is vitally important for my mental health – and for Mark’s too.

George’s estate has finally settled, and so today Dad gave me the cheque which is my inheritance from his estate. It’s very sad, but I know he would want me to use the money for something important (like saving for our house), so tomorrow I’ll have a little moment of silent thanks for having known him, as I sign the deposit slip that will add significantly to our house fund.

It’s full steam ahead for holiday planning – thanks Kate for the hotel tips! Mark has agreed to plan our trip to Halong Bay, and I’ll book hotels in Bangkok and Hanoi. The rest we’ll do when we’re there, as I think (hope) that we’ll have enough time up our sleeves to take some risks.

It’s been so long since I’ve travelled, and really entrusted my safety and wellbeing to the universe, that I am a little apprehensive that I will remember how to do it. But then I remember my first days in Thailand as a little kid – being offered a choice of chilli soup and porridge for breakfast on our first morning. At six going on seven, I’d never had porridge, and it looked disgusting. I chose the chilli soup, and a large watermelon juice.

I made the right decision then, and I’m pretty sure I’ll be all right this time too. And Mark and I get to examine our relationship anew in the light of travelling together.

I can’t wait.

I’ve been sleeping with the Lonely Planet Guide to Vietnam next to my pillow for a few weeks now, and in the last week I’d pretty much given up hope that the trip was going to be possible. Yesterday I decided to just MAKE it happen, and hopefully the consequences won’t be awful, and the trip will be wonderful, exciting, scintillating, jaw dropping, awesome, super, perfect, and just good fun.

When Mark and I got married, my grandfathers gift to us was to arrange for Roger Scott to photograph the wedding (he said he didn’t do weddings – but I loved his work so much, I pleaded with him and promised that it would be fun to photograph), and he also gave us some money so that we could go on a honeymoon.

We banked the cheque, but life kind of got in the way – first Mark was studying, then doing exams, then trying to find work, and then teaching his first class of pre-pubescent miscreants, and trying to keep breathing, keep turning up to school to face the little horrors, and hopefully to learn them something.

Now my fabulous parents have stepped in with a very generous, extremely thoughtful gift, and I feel like we’ve been thrown a lifeline. This trip is something we both desperately need, and the thought of not being able to go until next year was heartbreaking, and yesterday was like the sun peeking through the storm clouds. The storm clouds are still well and truly there, and rumbling ominously, but there is hope.

We’ll fly out of Sydney on December 30th, spend the night and the next morning in Bankok, and the arrive in Hanoi at 7.30pm on New Years Eve. I’d like to have a nice-ish hotel booked, I am accustomed to budget travel, but the thought of spending NYE in a hovel, in a new country where I don’t know the language, have any friends, or even know how to get to a good vegetarian restaurant is a little less than appealing. I’m not thinking five star, but something with electricity and running water would be good.

Anyone know of a good place to spend New Years Eve in Hanoi ?

Picture from here. Worth a read.

From Hanoi we’ll go to Halong Bay, which everyone has seen on postcards of Vietnam. Apparently it’s a magical place, if a bit of a tourist trap.

After Halong Bay, the plan isn’t fully mature. We’ll spend about a week going down the coast to Nha Trang, where we’ll be picked up by the people from the Whale Island “resort”, for a week on the island. Although it’s called a resort, I believe the accommodation is more bamboo hut than Club Med (which is totally fine by me !). The island has a wildlife sanctuary within walking distance, and I think I’ll try and buy the waterproof housing for my Olympus that I’ve wanted for ages so that I can photograph my snorkelling adventures. On the island I imagine we won’t have a lot to do, just relaxing, and snorkelling, and photographing creatures, and hopefully eating yummy food (they say they cater to vegetarians).

We’ll leave the island on the 19th, and head south to Ho Chi Minh City. We fly out on the 23rd, so we’ll have a couple of days to wander around the Mekong Delta.

I’ve created an account on the Lonely Planet Thorn Tree messageboard, and will be doing loads of research in the next few weeks.

If you’ve been to Vietnam, and have a story to tell, some advice, a must see spot, whatever, I’d love to hear from you!

We’re going to Vietnam.

The picture is of the gorgeous Indigo, on the day of Hamish and Heathers wedding. She looks a little like I feel right now. A little bit scared, a little bit excited, but open to whatever possibilities the future might hold.