Sibyl’s Travelblog – Issue 16

It begins with sickness and it ends with sickness…

My last blog ended in Goa as I was about to get our second night bus in India to Bangalore. Since then Lucy and I have been on more than eight, twelve hour night buses! We have fit in a lot of traveling. The night bus to Bangalore didn’t go as smoothly as I had hoped. Lucy and I both got food poisoning and were very ill the whole way – we were not prepared in the slightest! The ride was extremely bumpy and we had ‘reclining’ seats that didn’t recline because we were sat up against the back of the bus. It was not a pleasant journey.

Once we arrived in Bangalore we went straight to a hotel. Although going ’straight to a hotel’ in India is easier said than done. It was more like after haggling a price for two minutes and trying to explain to our driver where we wanted to go and that we didn’t want to go to a different ‘better’ hotel we wanted to go to this one in the ‘must be followed always’ guidebook and after wedging our backpacks into the tiny rickshaw (which were very much like the Tuk Tuks in Thailand – little 3 wheeled cars that you drive with a steering wheel type thing in between your legs) and squeezing in ourselves we were dropped at our hotel. It was actually a 5 minute walk away and we had no idea where we were going. We did eventually make it though and all that is very normal practice when traveling in India. Nothing is ever very easy and it feels a lot harder when you are ill.

The hotel people were very nice when we arrived, and the room was clean with a TV and everything! We even had towels and hot water – complete luxury! We had to fill out loads of paper-work before we could have the room though; it seems everything in India has some sort of bureaucracy involved. After a day in bed sleeping, watching TV and drinking sprite we felt well enough to go to the bus station and book tickets for a bus to Chennai the next day. We were very wary of buses at this point but when we caught the bus the next day it was very nice and they gave us sick bags (like they knew!) except we weren’t sick again fortunately. We arrived in Chennai very late in the evening. He then demanded a lot of money from us because he had taken us to the wrong place and had to drive us somewhere else, he got quite scary; so we gave him the money – it just wasn’t worth it!

I found Chennai a hard city to navigate because it is so spread out and huge. Rickshaw drivers seemed a lot meaner too. We only spent one night before we got another bus (I told you we did a lot of traveling) to Pondicherry. We thought we would have to get a train so went to book a ticket and the guy at the office (despite having a huge cue) invited us into his office and went through everything with us telling us it was better to get a bus. The entire office was staring at us and laughing and so were the cue of Indians outside the glass. You definitely get special attention as a westerner! A lot of the time it is unwanted attention though. We are constantly stared at everywhere we go no matter what you wear. Western men don’t seem to experience it as badly as we have. I bought Indian clothes thinking it might help but I think I get stared at more when I wear them and people walk past you making comments like ‘ooh, like Indian.’ We have been told several times that Lucy ‘looks like English’ but my face is Indian. Hmm…

I am glad we got out of the city because Pondicherry was beautiful. It’s a little town that used to be an old French colonial base and it felt more like the south of France than India. We didn’t really do much though which I was very happy about, we generally just relaxed in the roof top cafés and gardens that they had everywhere.

We had the most embarrassing experience when we arrived. We agreed a rickshaw price once we got off the bus to take us to our hotel. He told us to wait while he brought the rickshaw to us. He was quite an old man! To our horror when he came back he was pushing a cycle rickshaw! We had failed to notice that he had left out the ‘auto’ when he said rickshaw. We have never made that mistake again! We tried to protest (it was tiny and it would have been heavy with just us let alone with our backpacks as well) but he squeezed us on anyway. The next half an hour was the most embarrassing on my life. He was panting and sweating and had to get off several times to push because he couldn’t cycle any longer. We got off way before our hotel because we couldn’t deal with putting him through it anymore, or the humilation (everyone was staring at us horrified at what we were putting the old man through!) He overcharged us loads though so at least he got something out of it.

We stayed for two nights in an Ashram hostel. It was a strange place; I think Ashram might be a religion but it is centered about meditation and yoga. The hostel had a nice garden for this purpose but I only ever saw little kids running around and people sunbathing. It was very tranquil though as there was a sign saying to leave your voice, ego and shoes outside!

I met a very cute little french girl who was probably about 5 years old running around the garden. She decided that I was her best friend although I couldn’t understand anything she was saying (it’s amazing how much you can communicate through body language) She told her parents to go away, so they walked around the garden while she skipped around me collecting leaves and flowers to give me and putting on dance shows. She was so free! It was so lovely to see. She was such a hippie child, she had her hair cut very short and in the middle of her dancing and jumping around she would go into a yoga position. It was so funny! I ended up doing rolly pollys with her to her delight and probably Lucy’s horror. When it was time for me and Lucy to leave she burst into tears! I felt so awful. Her mum explained that she wanted to play with me again but they were leaving the next day. She was only consoled by me and her mum giving her lots of hugs. She was happy by the time she left of course!

Lucy and I had some lovely western dinners for the first time in India – steak and chips one night and pizza the next! The promenade was lovely and we found the best rooftop garden cafe with ice tea and fresh bread with humus and potato salad! Yum. By this point both me and Lucy needed a break from Indian food. We also found a great book fair where we stocked up on our book collection. We got the bus back to Chennai (because we had booked a flight from Chennai to Delhi to save a 3 day train journey) The bus that ran between Pondicherry and Chennai was a public service so it was very cheap but extremely squished and hot. All the seats in India are plastic so you end up with massive sweat patches on your bottom!

To give myself something to do on long bus journeys I have been thinking about and planning mine and Rhodri’s wedding in September. I am getting so excited! So amazing to think that there is only 6 months to go. I looked on Gary’s blog just now and the countdown was on 169 days! (131 by now! – Ed) Woah :) I am starting to realise that it will probably be quite stressful when I get back. Thankfully I have Katy, Rhodri and Eleri on the job back at home though. I feel so bad leaving it all to them! So so thankful though, not sure it would be possible to organise otherwise.

We had a day to sight see in Chennai before we flew out so we went to the fort but it wasn’t very impressive really. There was an interesting museum with some artifacts from colonial rule though. I didn’t really like Chennai that much though. We met a great Rickshaw driver on the way back from the museum though. He spoke good English, knew where he was going and let us decide the price! We got him to take us to the airport and he charged us so much less than the guide book said it should cost that we had to give him extra just for being the only person that was nice to us and didn’t try to force money out of us. Being hassled and asked for money by beggars gets very overwhelming, tedious and depressing at times. It was a nice break to have a good driver.

Our flight went smoothly – it landed in Hyderabad first picked up more people and went on to Delhi. It was funny – felt like taxi or bus service rather than a flight. I remember having the same experience in Tanzania with the planes – but they were tiny! We arrived in Delhi at 12 pm. We knew there was a train going to Jaipur leaving at 4:30 am so we felt it was pointless to get a hotel for that time – we were also scared about being in a city so late at night so we slept or more didn’t sleep in the airport. We managed to get the 4:30 am train and it was our first experience of a train in India! We only managed to get sleeper seats (you don’t get a reserved bed so you can end up sitting with lots of other people on one bed) but it wasn’t too bad because we hoisted our backpacks onto the top bunks and no one bothered us there! It was a bit of a cramped journey though but it was short in comparison to what we had been doing – only 8 hours! It was quite scary because we didn’t know when to get off as Jaipur was not the last stop – thankfully we asked someone just in time and we had to hurl our bags of the train before it started moving. Scary stuff.

As usual, as soon as we were off the train in Jaipur we were attacked by the rickshaw drivers and food sellers. One particular guy took us out to his (what we thought was a rickshaw) but actually turned out to be a taxi. Phew! He was also very nice and unusually not creepy. He didn’t stare and offered to take us to a nice hotel to just have a look which he did. The hotel was beautiful! It looked like a big house and the rooms were lovely and clean and got cleaned everyday! There was also a beautiful garden with a restaurant and puppet show. He also offered to take us around Jaipur for the next couple of days as our tour guide and driver. Which we also did starting that day! Over the next couple of days we got henna done on our hands and went to the city palace and fort and got taken to some factories where they made beautiful fabric and more money goes to the workers. We bought too much but it was lots of fun. Jaipur was also our first experience of the north and it was a shock how different it was! It is definitely cooler in the north which was a welcome change! Jaipur was a desert region and it reminded me of what I would expect Morocco to look like and there was elephants and camels everywhere! So cool!

After Jaipur we got a night bus to Udaipur to see Chloe! It was so lovely to see her after 7 months! I can’t believe how long it had been. It has made me miss her more though and miss home more! It was lovely to see her parents too – and just to have parents around; people that are older and look after you. We did loads of sightseeing because they are more organised and motivated than me and Lucy usually are. The city palace was amazing!

After two nights there we got a night bus to Agra. Unfortunately we were completely ripped off and told the bus was AC when it wasn’t! We had paid more than double what all the other Indians on the bus had paid. It was an awful nights sleep! I think I had started to feel ill before we got on the bus but by very early on in the journey I was feverish. I woke up at on point in the night thinking it was raining but it was someone throwing up out of their window. I won’t go into more details but after that it was an extremely hot journey because we couldn’t have the window open. Lucy was freezing apparently so I guess it was just me being ill. We had planned to spend no time in Agra (the only reason we were going was to see the Taj Mahal.) We wanted to arrive in the morning, see the Taj and then get a night bus to Khujaraho. Instead we ended up staying 2 nights because we were so ill (feverish, sick and fluey) only managing to scape ourselves out of bed on the last day to see the Taj. It was very beautiful (of course) so worth the pain!

Sibyl’s Travelblog – Issue 15

India

Our flight from Bangkok went smoothly and Lucy and I arrived in India at 10 PM on Sunday the 1st of March. We only made it out of the airport at 11:30 though after a huge passport control line and a massive wait for luggage. We got into town at 12:30 pm. Not a great time to arrive in India really. We got a very sweet Korean girl dumped on us at the airport by a Korean business man. He asked us if we were traveling and if we could take her to a hostel. SuJung 임수정 or Natalie is traveling alone in India for 3 months. We shared a taxi into town and ended up spending the next 9 days with her. Her English was not very good so communication has been hard (not that we can speak Korean – she is amazing for having two languages) – but she did improve loads over the 9 days.

Lucy and I were exhausted by the time we got to Colaba (central Bombay) as it was three in the morning our time. We had made a reservation at the Salvation Army hostel (tramps! – Ed.) but by the time we arrived they were closed and said they were full. It was 1 am when we finally found a hotel; it was very expensive for what it was, but we couldn’t really turn it down. The time spent wondering around that night was enough to have give us a bad impression of India! It had also given a bird enough time to single me out and poo on my bag. It would only happen to me! There were lots of men and beggars out though that did not make it very easy.

Monday

We headed back to the Salvation Army managing to get a room (for the three of us again). It was so nice seeing Living for Jesus calendars everywhere and Bibles out. There are lots more churches in India too! On our way to the Salvation army we were persuaded to be extras in a Bollywood movie, it’s set in a London night club and stars Kylie Minogue! We were skeptical about the Kylie Minogue thing but had heard it was common to be asked to be extras and they said we would be paid and everything else would be paid for. We agreed to do it the next day, despite the fact that I was quite nervous about the idea of dancing!

Kylie Minogue arrives at the international airport in Mumbai.

Once we were settled at the hotel, we went out on our own walking tour which was a great way to see the sights in Bombay. We walked along the Causeway, went to the gateway to India, the Taj Mahal hotel and Leopolds (both where the Mumbai bombings took place.) We also went to a modern art gallery and saw lots of the old colonial buildings.

Gateway to India (see if you can spot Sibyl!)

Tuesday

…was Bollywood day. We were met at 8am and taken by car to the studios. It was a long drive and we were told only when we were half way there that the day would finish at 9pm and that we could not leave! The distance back to town was enough to deter us from leaving though – the taxi cost would have been ridiculous! Once we arrived at the ‘studio’ (the very old shabby building with tents outside) we were taken to be dressed up and have hair and makeup done. We were wearing very casual clothes so they wanted to dress us up but they had hardly anything left. We had arrived late and there were lots of other extras already dressed up! They gave me a jewel studded top but I refused to wear the mini skirt they tried to force on me (too right! – Ed.). I was left in my shorts but told I had to sit down the whole time or I would ruin ‘the image.’ I was happy because it meant no dancing – they ended up making me dance anyway though! The day was so so long and most of it was just waiting around. It seemed like they only did about 10 minutes of actual filming. Our job was to sit in the background and bop to look like we were having fun. The set was actual really cool. They had created a giant blue bubble – maybe why the film is called ‘Blue’? And the stage had water running off it. I think the film has something to do with that too?

I read the book Twilight for most of the day, something which I have recently become obsessed with, so the waiting wasn’t too bad. Kylie Minogue was actually there! I couldn’t get my head around why though? We walked past her trailer situated outside an open sewer which had a piece of paper with her name on taped to the door – very budget. She is very tiny – small and skinny and an amazing dancer!

Kylie, looking good in Bollywood.

Maybe you will be able to see me in the movie but I kind of hope not (I kind of hope so! – Ed.) I dread to think. We finished at 8:30 pm and we were paid – 500 rupees and they took us back into town. I was so happy to finally get back and go to bed. I had been up very late the night before reading the second Twilight book. I couldn’t put it down even though I knew I would suffer in the morning! I finished it in 24 hours – like I have done with the rest of the book! Lucy keeps complaining that she has lost her friend to the series – I have finished them all now though.

Wednesday

The next couple of days were spent wandering around Mumbai again. We went to the Prince of Wales museum which is Indian history along with natural history. We also went to Chowpatty beach. We also got to see the extensive Cricket grounds (of course) and the University of Mumbai. All the buildings in Bombay are so beautiful! The Victoria Terminus train station is incredible. We also went to see Slumdog Millionaire at the ‘Regal’ cinema on the Causeway which is quite a famous building. I thought it was amazing and I want to see it again. We also felt very cool for having seen it in Mumbai and having been to many of the places in the movie.

The food here is incredible and there is so much choice. It is very different from South East Asian food too – which is a nice change after 7 months. I love the Indian sweets too. They are my favorite thing so far.

Thursday

We got a night bus to Goa (SuJung joined us) and arrived Friday morning. We have spent the last three days relaxing on the beach in Anjuna. The beaches here hilarious – they are full of cows, goats and dogs. Apparently they like to sunbathe too. The cows join you in sitting under the umbrellas in the shade!

We met two really cool travelers here – Pete and Sandra. Pete in from Swindon, England (oh, we thought you meant Swindon, Massachusetts! – Ed.) and Sandra is from Sweden. They were really nice to hang out with. They moved from Anjuna beach to Aranbul beach but we went to visit them there. We kind of wish we had gone to stay in Aranbul too because it is much more beautiful! We had a fun time visiting them there though. There is a natural fresh water lake by the sea which we went swimming in. Nice break from salt water although I am not sure how clean it was.

The Weekend

We went to a really cool market. Everything here is so amazingly cheap it is hard to resist buying loads. I am going to have to be careful.

I did not manage to get to a church on Sunday which I am really disappointed about. They only had Catholic churches and I failed even to get to their service in time! I will hopefully be able to find one next week. I am making good progress with Gary Brady’s book, ‘Being Born Again’ which I got as a present from him (Rhodri’s Dad) when I was baptised. It is really helpful to know what the Bible says about it.

We said goodbye to SuJung today as she is staying in Goa for longer than us. It was really sad, although it will be nice to just be me and Luce again. She wrote us a really sweet letter. I hope she finds some more people and continues to have a good time.

Sibyl’s Travelblog – Issue 14

Thailand.

We finally arrived in Bangkok after a long and frustrating journey. We navigated our way around Bangkok airport (it’s huge) and found a bus then we were on our way to Khao San Road – the epicenter of all backpacker life in Thailand. My first impressions were that it was a lot more westernised than Vietnam! They have McDonald’s, Subway, Starbucks, Boots, Burger King and Tesco, all of which Vietnam are deprived of. I was extremely excited as you can imagine! The first thing I did was buy Boots shampoo, conditioner and body wash. Yum. Shortly after that I had a Subway – Meatball Marinara of course!

Thailand is a lot more touristy, and therefore more expensive. After lugging our bags around what seemed to be dozens of hotels (we had lost our first nights accommodation because we were still in Vietnam) we realised we would not be getting anywhere nice for what we were willing to pay. We had gotten used to relative luxury in Vietnam. We would have to get used to tiny rooms with no windows and cold showers between us. Lucy and I had still not found a hotel and were wondering aimlessly down Khao San road pouring with sweat when we bumped into Josh and Leah. They’re Hampstead school friends who we knew were in Bangkok but were not expecting to bump into! It took a while for them to register that it was us standing in front of them waving. We all ended up finding a hotel together as they were looking too.

We met a lovely couple, Sam and Rosie. Rosie is English and Sam is Australian – they met in Europe. Rosie is living with him for three months now and we will hopefully visit them both when we are in Australia. We went out with them a couple of times which was very cool. We spent a few days in Bangkok – mostly wondering down Khao San road. There is such a strange mix of cultures here and you can tell it can be a very desperate place at times. I don’t think the Thai people know where they stand amongst all of it. There seems to be a massive Bob Marley following in Thailand and everyone gets there hair dread locked on Khao San.

Bangkok is the dirtiest city I have ever been to. Rats roam the streets unafraid even in the day; unlucky for Josh, he is afraid of them (‘Musophobia’, fear of mice and rats – Ed). We also braved the water taxis – which seem the cheapest and most efficient way of getting around Bangkok. They were a lot of fun but dodgy getting in and out of them. They were mostly full of Thai people. It was good to get a taste of Thailand without tourists and Khao San Road. Before we left we had a much deserved (we had tired them out) foot massage. It was amazing and in a lovely setting – outside with a waterfall type fountain thing behind us. It sounds random but it was very relaxing.

We were in Bangkok for 4 days and then got a night bus to Koh Samui (our first Island stop.) Josh and Leah decided to come too.

Koh Samui was gorgeous. We found amazing bungalows on the beach (facing and only a few meters from the sea.) They were very back to basics which I loved. They were just wooden and tipi shaped huts. It felt like camping with the big mosquito net, it was all cozy at night. We spent a few days relaxing on the beach and gorging ourselves on amazing Mars shakes from the restaurant.

Our next stop was Koh Tao. I loved the island as soon as we arrived. Dive shops everywhere, really relaxed feel and even more beautiful than Koh Samui. My mum’s friend had recommended her brother’s dive shop. It was a really cool ‘eco-friendly’ dive shop, they run conservation programs as well. They have a beautiful little garden on the beach with rabbits and a bakery opposite. We ended up staying in the flat above the bakery because it had four beds and so worked out cheaper than getting separate hotel rooms. It was perfectly designed because Josh got his own room and we got to have a girly room. And we had hot water for the first time in Thailand! We stayed about 6 days in all. I loved it – it felt like home; leaving was horrible.

While we were there I did my diving course and I am now a certified SSI diver. Yay! Diving was the most amazing thing! Bit tricky to get the hang of breathing underwater (and not breathing through your nose) at first because it completely goes against instinct but the best feeling when you are under and you are weightless and you can breathe and see everything. So cool! It was easy to panic when my goggles came off or when water went up my nose but I just kept having to tell myself that I was still able to breathe and it was all in my head. I saw a sea snake and an eel. I didn’t see a shark and I didn’t get eaten by one (Katy will be pleased to know) Josh did the whole diving course with me. Lucy came for one day but didn’t like it. She was glad that she had the experience though and she went Rock Climbing with Leah the next day. One extreme to the other.

We celebrated Lucy’s birthday while we were on Koh Tao as well. We got an amazing cake from the bakery with sparklers and had a lovely dinner on the beach. We pretty much tried every dish. The curry in Thailand is amazing – as is the Pad Thai. There were awesome beach bars in Koh Tao too – bean bags and rugs on the sand with flame throwers as entertainment.

We went to Koh Phanang after that (where all the crazy full moon parties happen.) We had just missed one of the huge parties and the destruction it had caused was still obvious. I am glad we missed it! We stayed on the ‘party beach’ for one night in Haadrin and I hated it. You couldn’t walk across the sand without treading on a bottle cap or a broken bottle. We stayed in bungalows named ‘paradise bungalows’ which were more like council flats with graffiti all over the walls and dirt everywhere. Our windows would not lock and pounding music went on through the night. Leah joined us in our room because we all felt so uneasy – it felt safer girls together. Lucy, Leah and I left early the next morning after the worst sleep. Josh decided to stay on.

We took a chance (we did not have a reservation) and went to bungalows on the island recommended by Sam and Rosie (the lovely couple) called Silvery Moon Bungalows. Most amazing place! You got dropped on the top of a cliff and had to stagger down a steep path (with huge backpack) through a forest down to the beach. It was private – completely cut off from everything. The bungalows were cheap but lovely and rustic and clean! A couple ran it – she was Thai he was western and she was the best cook ever. I spent so much on food. She made the best pancakes and so we took Pancake Day as an excuse to get them! It was so relaxed and was just what we needed after Haadrin. Unfortunately after 4 days (2 more days than we were planning to stay) we had to leave.

We were going to go to Phuket but Silvery Moon was so perfect we decided to relax there before heading back to crazy Bangkok.

We said our goodbyes to Leah on Koh Phanang and went our separate ways. She is continuing her travels in Thailand for another month. It was really sad saying goodbye! – Although it was at 6 in the morning so we were all a bit numbed by tiredness. She wrote us a lovely goodbye letter.

We got a night bus back to Bangkok and spent the next couple of days wondering around with no money! I wrote a lot of this blog at 1 in the morning because that is when the Internet cafe offered free Internet (Got to save the pennies! – Ed).

God answered our prayers the day before we left Bangkok. I met a Christian! He had John 3:16 tattooed to his arm (very Thailand) and I asked him if he was a Christian. We spoke for about half an hour about travelling and the bible. It was such a blessing to have that contact and have even that quick meeting and fellowship. I am being reminded constantly that God is always watching over me.

Sibyl’s Travelblog – Issue 12

January brought with it the winding down of teaching, only two weeks of it. It was a very strange feeling as we began to have the last of everything…

• Our last Phở.

• Our Last Vietnamese Coffee.

• Our last Bubble Tea (most amazing flavoured tea thing with squishy tapioca balls at the bottom).

• Our last gin and tonic night together.

It was really sad slowly saying goodbye and knowing we would probably never all be Hanoi together again! Hopefully there will be a reunion one day.

Towards the end we all got close to some of the Vietnamese waiters at Le Pub. We also got to know the manager who is a very cool Londoner called Matt – every time anyone had a birthday and every one of our ‘last nights’ he gave us a free stuff. Very sweet of him.

We went out with Tiếp, Tương and Long (which means Dragon!) quite a few times which was so much fun. However it resulted in unwanted drama involving Long declaring his love for me and giving me his scarf “to remember him by.” [Hmmm... -Ed] Oh dear.

Tết

Here seems a good place to write about Tết. It’s the celebration of the lunar calendar. The Vietnamese have lots of rituals that go on around this time. It mainly affected us because Hanoi got a lot busier with people visiting family. Traffic somehow got even scarier! On Tết eve (the Sunday before I left Hanoi) we went to see the fireworks over the lake. They were beautiful and I was very emotional because it was symbolically the end.

In the last month we also made friends with our hotel people. I have mentioned Mr. Sinh in particular, he always wanted us to come and drink with him – the Vietnamese drink a lot and a lot of really strong rice wine which they buy really cheaply. It was fun sitting around a table outside the hotel at night though – he would let me drink tea instead (sometimes) and eat dried watermelon seeds which I (and every Vietnamese person) am addicted to cracking open and eating. We also sat with them on Tết eve. I felt very privileged that they wanted us to be there. It was so sad when I left to start traveling – Mr. Sinh was crying as he said goodbye and gave me a massive bag of dried coconut!

9th of January.

We had a big weekend for Emily’s birthday – going out on the Friday and then Glenn and Craig threw her a party at theirs on the Saturday. It was fun and a good chance to say goodbye to some of the other gappers that were leaving. We got her an amazing iced cake and had a cake fight as mature 19 year olds do. She also got her tongue pierced for her birthday! A very eventful weekend.

I had the weirdest thing happen to me on the Friday of her birthday – we were talking to Matt (the owner of Le Pub) who was being interviewed for a magazine The Word so naturally we got talking to the guy interviewing him. Weirdest thing ever – the guy (Nick Ross who runs The Word a Saigon magazine) is Ms. Brophy’s cousin. Ms. Brophy was my chemistry teacher and our exam co-coordinator at school! Scariest woman ever but an amazing teacher. Apart from meeting a guy from Golders Green nothing else like that had happened!

The end of teaching…

…brought mixed emotions for me. A sort of relief that I had done it and that I could now travel and enjoy Vietnam but I was also so sad to say goodbye to my kids! They were lovely – I got lots of presents and pictures and cards from them. All my presents were so sweet but some of them were so impractical that I had to leave them behind. My school actaully got us engraved crystal paper weights that must have been about 1kg. Which we had to leave! The babies were the cutest because I did not tell them in advance that I was leaving so they would give me whatever they could to say goodbye. One of my cutest tiniest 5 years olds frantically rummaged in her bag and ran up to me holding out a piece of gauze strip like it was the most precious thing in the world!

I had also got to know my teachers well and taught with a few of them outside school at the kindergarten and private tutoring so it was sad saying goodbye to them. Two of them invited me to their homes for Tết but I did not have enough time to take up the offer which would have been lovely. Two of my teachers knitted me scarves – one bright yellow and the other bright green. I looked like the Big Bird in Sesame Street.

My saddest goodbye was with a little boy in one of my baby classes that has special needs. These sorts of things are not often recognized in Vietnam, he gets told off a lot for things that he cannot help. He drops his pencils and takes a lot longer to understand things than other children. He also can only colour in the colour orange(?). The Vietnamese teacher would shout at him and (as is acceptable in Vietnam) hit him. I would always spend longer with him making sure he understood and give him extra praise and encouragement. When I told the class I was leaving he burst into tears and got very angry with me. I did not know what I could do – at least his mum was there to comfort him and I gave them all lots of sweets to cheer them up.

Peace seems to be the message here.

Our school co-coordinator suddenly got friendly at the end as well (which seemed to be the trend with everyone). She invited Emily and I as well as Glenn and Craig (who also worked at our school) for lunch, but only me and Craig could make it. She took us to a very posh place and made sure we knew that only rich people could afford it (money seems to mean everything in Vietnam) it was a nice gesture.

Tuesday the 20th

Lucy arrived! It was lovely seeing her again – I had really missed her. It was a hard time to be a tourist in Hanoi because of Tết – everything was crazy before the 26th and then afterwards everything was dead. We still managed to have some nice day trips and we did a one night stay in Ha long bay. Unfortunately it was freezing and both Lucy and I got very ill. She still kyaked though – extremely brave.

My last Sunday at church…

…was lovely . I went out for lunch afterwards with Finja – one of the younger girls I had met at the church. We had a great time of fellowship – I got to know how she was converted and I talked about my conversion. We also talked about problems and we both had our bible out the whole time reading passages that helped us. It was such a blessing and so needed – God really answered my prayers.

On my last night in Hanoi is was Tương’s birthday so we went to do Vietnamese karaoke. Lots of singing and dancing! Me and Emily had our last sing along to the Moulin Rouge love medley (our favourite!) [not my favourite - Ed].

I was very stressed packing my bag; of course I left it until the last hour before getting the bus down south. It really did feel like I was packing up my life. Very hard to fit everything in a backpack and very heavy. Being stressed added to the emotion of leaving Hanoi and all the Aussies. In classic Sibyl style I was extremely emotional. But really that is that only way it could have been!

Sibyl’s Travelblog – Issue 11

Christmas and New Year in Vietnam.

December was lovely with the lead up to Christmas in school. I got to sings lots of carols and songs with the kids although I got a bit sick of  by Christmas. They made me start singing them at the end of November! However, I could never get bored of my little 5 year olds dances to those songs.

I also made Christmas cards with the kids, the pins I brought over with me came in handy for making jointed Santa’s (their arms and legs could move!) Emily and I also got to watch a National English singing competition held at our school, in which lots of small children sang very cute songs. They had a massive Christmas finale with children dressed as Reindeer, Father Christmas, Trees and even a Chicken (my personal favourite).

I loved teaching so much. It was so difficult at the start, but by the end I couldn’t really believe that I could just do it and enjoy it. It has given me so much confidence. I was worried about university and having to get up in front of people to do presentations but now I can never really be nervous about any such thing.

The kids could make you feel like a celebrity when you walked into class, such a great feeling when a class of 30 kids cheer, shout and scream when you walk in the door (even though they were only like that because I played games with them). They would get so excited in class. They are so competitive also! My favourite class always fought to name their team Team Sibyl. Their constant shouting to get my attention did get frustrating though. Even after I finished teaching when I walked passed school (which I did on a regular basis as I lived opposite) they would run up and jump on me! I loved all my classes so it was very difficult to say goodbye.

Christmas Eve was lovely; we got the evening off work and went for dinner with everyone. Craig’s family was over, some of Glenn’s family friends as well as Georgie’s family. It was lovely to be around families. After dinner we went to a carols by candle light service held by both the international churches in Hanoi. They did interpretations of all the characters in the story of the birth of Jesus, by making up monologues. I thought it was unnecessary as what they did was read the bible passage and then re-interpret it. But it was lovely to sing carols and hear a sermon about Jesus and what Christmas should be about.

We did not have to teach on Christmas day which was lovely. When we asked for the time off we chucked a present at our teacher so she couldn’t really refuse! Emily, Honor and I woke up to Georgie jumping on us (bearing gifts) and we all had a morning dance to Christmas songs. I had done stockings for Emily, Georgie, Honor, Craig and Glenn so the girls got to open those in the morning, we all did other presents as well because we weren’t patient enough to wait for the guys (we reverted back to childhood.) Did you know that Aussies do not get citrus fruit in their stockings? Is that English? Or just a Cooke Steed tradition? (Stockings are meant to be filled with five gifts designed to stimulate each of the five senses.  A typical stocking would be filled with: Something to eat — fruit, or candy, A toy or toys that make noise, An item that is visually pleasing like jewelry, cuff links, or a coloring book, An item with a good scent such as cologne or perfume, Something soft like modeling clay or a soft toy – Ed)

We had such a chilled out day after that – we met all the gappers at a cafe called Puku for big cooked breakfast which was sooo yummy. After that we met Glenn, Craig and his family as well as Georgie’s family at Mocha Café; we exchanged gifts and drank tea. Such a lovely Christmas day. I got such lovely gifts. Everyone made such an effort – I think because it was our first Christmas away from family and home.

I got a massive pot of marmite from Craig which has been so great for traveling although me and Lucy are getting through it very fast! I am constantly getting it out to have with toast! It had actually got really cold in Hanoi for Christmas and New years – what I was used to at Christmas. It was nice wrapping up warm but the Australians found it very strange as Christmas is always hot for them.

We went to a restaurant called Little Hanoi for dinner with everyone. Probably the only time I will ever eat Vietnamese food at Christmas. Ended up going back home earlyish with Honor and watching The Holiday – of course we had to watch a Christmassy movie as I was really missing Christmas TV, I could not find The Snowman.

The weekend after Christmas all the gappers went to Song Cong to exchange secret Santa gifts that we had done with everyone. Phoebe and Bridget (also gappers) live there – it’s about two hours out of Hanoi. We all stayed over and had a lovely Christmassy time. They even got a Christmas tree and decorated everything with lights!

The bus back into Hanoi was crazily busy. Emily and Glenn had to stand in the door for about an hour. I managed to get a seat on a box with three other Vietnamese people. I ended up making friends with the little girl sat next to me though who was learning English with the ‘Let’s go’ text books that I taught so we sang all the songs and I basically ended up giving her personal tutoring for an hour. I also got lovely cuddles from her 2 year old sister – it made me miss Indigo and Logan so much.

New Year

We had a lovely New Year and we only had to teach for an hour and half in the evening rather than the full 3 hours because our school was hosting a concert. We ended up a Le Pub (our local English place) for the new years count down. They had the Big Ben sound effects as it turned mid night which I got really excited about and that none of the Aussies understood.

We stayed out very late and made friends with the then new door guy at our hotel Mr. Sinh, we ended up sitting by the lake until 5 in the morning (!) talking and eating cheese sandwiches. We had the most people stay in mine and Emily’s room that night – I think it was 7 squished into a double and single bed! It was a lot of fun though and the start of friendship (finally!) with the people that ran our hotel.

Sibyl’s Travelblog – Issue 10

There is actually a giant turtle in Hồ Hoàn Kiếm lake!

As I was writing the first draft of this, the scariest thing happened. The Vietnamese Mafia (no joke) tried to kill a man outside the internet café I am sitting in. It really shook up, as this is my local area and I did not think something like that would happen here. All the Vietnamese people ran inside to hide and told me to as well. Completely crazy.

Anyway…
Last weekend, me and my friend Georgie were walking back home around the lake (the quickest way back to mine). It was pretty late and everywhere was deserted. The Vietnamese have a legend about a giant turtle in the lake and believe it’s good luck to see them. The last sighted giant turtle was in 2005. More info about the turtle.

Georgie had actually seen the giant turtle that is rumored to live in the lake the day before, and I was saying how amazing that was. She had only noticed because there were hundreds of people surrounding the lake. As I was telling her how awesome it was, part of the lake very close to us started bubbling and huge ripples went out across the lake. Me and Georgie got on our knees at the bank, clutching each other, staring completely shocked at the water. As we watched, the turtle’s huge head emerged onto the surface of the water. A second later it was gone.

The last photographed sighting

We could still see the ripples moving under the water and then it came up again, this time even closer to us! You could see the outline of its huge body perfectly beneath the water. Such a majestic creature – slow and silent. It was at least a meter long; probably more (I’m bad at guessing measurements). Then it disappeared again, this time for good. It was the most magical experience for both of us. We were both shaking with excitement but it was actually quite scary as well. Kind of like something out of Godzilla – with the huge ripples (usually the lake is perfectly still). A completely incredible experience. Unfortunately, I did not have my camera, however I think I’m glad of that because I just got to enjoy the moment, rather than stressing about photographic evidence. I look at the lake so differently now that I know there is that huge creature in it. I do not know how it survives with all the pollution, or why there are so few sightings. I feel so privileged to have seen something that not even Vietnamese people get to in their life time!

I can’t believe I only have four more weeks of teaching left and that I will be leaving Vietnam soon. It has become my second home. I love my teaching now as well, so I will miss all my kids. I am so glad that Rhodri got to see a couple of my classes while he was here. Teaching was something I thought I would never be able to do or feel natural about. I think I become a completely different person in front of my classes – I have to. The kids are so great, especially when we are doing acting or singing. Rhodri gave me the ideas for acting (ooh yeah -Ed). It’s so much fun – I need to film some of my classes doing it before I leave. The kids appreciate us so much as well and it’s an amazing feeling walking into a class with all the kids screaming with happiness. We are very much celebrities to the kids. I won’t miss the constant “Me! Me! Meee!” you get when you play games though. The kids sound like the seagulls out of Finding Nemo! I refuse to pick them if they say me now. One day they will learn.

Sibyl’s Travelblog – Issue 9

Flooding.

At the time of writing this, I am sitting in a flooded internet café with water up to my ankles. Slightly disconcerting but I have not been electrocuted so far.

It has been raining for the last 3 days. Apparently it is the heaviest rainfall Vietnam has seen in 35 years. 81 people have died and lots more are trapped in areas without food or water. The aid they are receiving does not seem to be very good. I am very thankful I am living in central Hanoi and we have not been effected badly. Hoan Kiem Lake which is a five minute walk from our hotel flooded which was amazing. The lake did not have a edge – everywhere became the lake. Craig and Glenn’s university flooded – we had to wade through knee deep water, all the buses were stranded – and water reached the inside of bus. People pushed their motorbikes along and every time a large vehicle went past a huge wave of water was created (it looked as if we were standing in the middle of a river – not crossing the road.) I have taken some amazing photos that I wish I could upload onto this page, but it never works on these computers. I will try to put them on Facebook (none at time of press – Ed.)

Teaching has been disrupted lots as well. Lots of the gappers got three days off. Me and Em have had to teach, but have had very small classes. On Friday we only had three students for an hour and a half. I have not been able to teach at the kindergarten, or tutor because the roads have been closed.

Church service was also canceled due to flooding. I was very pleased that I had met the elders the week before because I got a text telling me before I left! I was very disappointed though. Hopefully next week everything will be back to normal.

Emily has been really ill all weekend – we think she got something because it was raining so much. It makes it a lot easier to pick things up. Hopefully she is better now though and might try teaching again today. At least she picked a good time to stay indoors!

Rhodri is coming to visit in 8 days! I am so excited! (Me too! – Ed) Almost to the point of hysteria at times. Hopefully the weather will be better for him. It has been slightly depressing at times – everything is damp and has stayed damp. It has reminded me lots of home though.

Photos and more news to come soon. Hope you are not getting as much rain as we are here.

(News Story Link)

Sibyl’s Travelblog – Issue 8

Things I have forgotten to write about…

A couple of weekends ago we were very cultured and went to visit the army museum which goes through all Vietnamese history. It was really interesting and we had our own personal tour guide, a lovely Vietnamese guy who is one of Craig’s students. His English was really good. We ended up in KFC afterwards [very cultured! - Ed] to get out of the torrential rain. It was so heavy that all the drains overflowed and at some points you had to wade knee deep in water and other things that I really do not want to think about. It was so incredible though! Craig almost lost his flip flop in a stream of fast moving water and it was very funny watching him chase after it. We ended up walking bare foot!  I didn’t imagine that would ever happen.

We are meeting up with our ‘tour guide’ again this Saturday to go to the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum. He is not there at the moment – his body gets taken to be re-embalmed every September to December but it will be interesting to see where he lived! It was Women’s Day in Vietnam on Tuesday. All women get flowers and presents from the men. All our teachers at the school got heaps of flowers. Craig got me and Emily roses, which was really nice. The Vietnamese guy (I really should find out his name) was asking what our favourite flowers were as well, and apparently we are to expect bouquets on Saturday [hmmm? - Ed]. I love Vietnam!
One of the gappers remarked – why is there only women’s day and not men’s day – suggesting sexism against men, but someone else corrected him saying every day in Vietnam is men’s day. Which looking around is probably quite accurate. The women seem to do everything – most men sit around on their motorbikes topless smoking and drinking.

We met two travellers called Pete and Anna last weekend. They are lovely and have really interesting stories – they have travelled everywhere, they did the trans Siberian railway route. Pete is from Australia and Anna is from England. They fell in love in Australia and have been travelling to and fro and everywhere ever since. They are a really sweet couple and nice to talk to someone who has experienced the long distance relationship thing. We have taken them to all the local spots as well as street BBQ’s and egg-milk coffee. It’s been fun showing people around. We have also befriended a guy called Lennard, he’s from Germany and has been apart from his girlfriend for a whole year and a half while she studies in America. I had a good chat with him about that and about Christianity – I must keep praying for him.

Last Sunday; Georgie, Honor, Seth and Craig came to church, which was so great! It was a good sermon to hear as well; ‘what are your priorities in life?’ and ‘what should be most important?’ – glorifying God. Keep praying – hopefully they will come again this week. I was also very excited because I recognised one of the hymns for the first time! I met a lovely 15 year old girl who is part of the church and has lived in Vietnam since she was 5.

More to come soon!

Sibyl’s Travelblog – Issue 7

We have had some very fun nights out in Hanoi and have found some local places to chill in the evenings as well as play Jenga – they seem to have it everywhere here. The Police are very strict about drinking after 12 in Vietnam. Most places close down or shut their doors before then so we have not had many late nights. There is a lot of corruption among the police and military – bribery and other things that I am sure we do not even know go on. It’s when you see things like that you realise you are in a very controlled socialist country.

We went to see the band Regurgitator [attractive name] a few days ago which was so awesome but really random that they came to Vietnam! They are an Aussie band and they are actually really good (not implying that Aussie music isn’t) It was just a strange experience to have in Vietnam because it was like being at a festival at home. It was basically a mini festival from 5 until 10 at night. It was outside, they had festival food and there was (of course) loads of Australians there. We could have been in Australia or even England (apart from the heat.) The music was great and their was lots of ‘moshing’. I crowd surfed too! A few of us did. It was very cool and I landed on my feet.

Seth, the other volunteer teacher at our school, has left because he became frustrated with the situation (they mess us about quite a bit.) Glen and Craig are going to take his place at the school, and be paid as much as me and em earn in a month in two nights work! (But never mind.) At least we have some extra help at the school and will be cool teaching with people we know. We met up with Seth today to talk about it, he’s a really nice guy and is going to cook us mac and cheese to apologise for leaving us behind. Hopefully the school will realise that they should treat us better now.

Sibyl’s Travelblog – Issue 6

Yay! I have finally managed to write.

I have not written a blog in weeks! I have been so busy. It get’s overwhelming when you have not written for ages. There is lots and lots to write about. I can’t remember everything, which is probably a good thing. I don’t want to send you all to sleep.
So last time I wrote a blog I hated teaching. I think I have been too negative about everything here in my writing. I hope I have not given that impression. I am loving it here. I’m missing home and all of you but Vietnam is AMAZING and all the people I have met are lovely and so supportive. I get on really well with Emily my room mate which is such a blessing, I love her, she’s hilarious.

Teaching has got a lot easier as well. I am more used to getting up in front of the kids and winging it. I love them as well, they have a great sense of humour and they are so lovely when they are singing and excited about games and stickers. They all grab onto my hands and all say “good bye teacher, see you later” in cute little Vietnamese accents when they leave.

I have been offered two other jobs as well, one of which, (if everything goes to plan) I shall start today! I am very scared. It’s at a kindergarten, teaching and entertaining 18 month to four year olds. I am looking forward to meeting them but I am worried I am going to get too tired. I will be teaching them for 90 minutes and then doing another three hours at The Children’s Palace. It will be fun though. God is providing for me here. I was really worried about money (especially after my purse was stolen) but I know God is looking after me. The other job is on a saturday afternoon tutoring 6 students.

Since my last entry I have been to a place called ‘Halong Bay’, which was the most beautiful place I have ever seen [apart from Rhodri's face*]. So gorgeous! We had to leave at four in the morning though. It was too early for me to go to sleep and wake up again so I just didn’t – that resulted in me being awake for 48 hours. It rained the whole of the first morning but we left but as soon as we got onto the boat and out into the bay, then sun came out – it was perfect! We sunbathed, saw caves and dived off the boat into the most amazing clear warm water. Little women in rowing boats came up to our boat trying to sell beer and oreos. We stayed the night on the boat which was very fun – we danced lots and some people jumped off the side of the boat at midnight (of course.) I was incredibly tired though so ended up passing out before that. It was such a good nights sleep – the beds were so comfy. We got up early the next day for breakfast and kayaking. The food on the boat was also great – lots of fresh seafood (not for breakfast though.)

The following weekend I got to go to the church I was originally going to go to! Finally. ‘The Hanoi International Fellowship’, I was so happy to go to a service again. There was a visiting preacher but the sermon was so good and the message so clear and strong – it was on ‘the fragrance of Christ’ and how if we are trusting in Jesus our lives should reflect this and that it will spread (2 Corinthians 2:14-17). It was so good to hear people pray again. The singing is really cheesey and they encouraged dancing during the collection but they do say it’s for the glory of God and that you can worship God in different ways. It is very American. I took communion also which was done in the way I actually recognised! Everyone together. They are very welcoming but it is hard to meet and talk to people properly because it is a huge church with loads of visitors.

More blogging to come really soon. Sorry again for being so slack with writing.