HONEY, I'M HOME!

 Home sweet Home..... Sweet like a chewed toffee!
So much catching up with life and reality to do... and of course fighting with dust!

heading South for the winter

Our noses are pointing homewards.... its been a very interesting and exciting three months to say the least.

We have eaten foods that bite us back.... some like hot...

Eaten fruits in strange and yummy ways

I am almost sorry to say that we are no longer required to use our tea kettle aparatus.... sigh.

The skylines are soon to turn familiar...

Some sights we will surely miss

And no matter where we are in the world... people will always get annoyed, some just make it a lifestyle!

We are wearing a little thin and getting a little frayed with all the travelling,

but are looking forward to hugging our kids, breathing cooler air,

getting back into the driving seat at home again...

Till next time-back in a days!

some shots

A familiar scene in Hoi An

View from room in Hanoi - we were upgraded to a two star hotel!

Hanneke and Christoff in Ho Chi Min City

Cowboys on Bikes

Red Door in Hue

Saddling up in Hoi An

Hue in passing

Muine, Hoi An and now Hanoi

Time in Mui Ne was just too short
We swam, rode bikes and much more
On a sleeper bus made our way to Hoi An
the weather turned cooler, but still we had fun
Our bags crunched the road as they fell from the bus
sorry, no pictures as there was too much fuss
A wild cowboy drove us all the way to Hanoi
After a shower 'n cleaned up saw the sun, oh boy.

halleluya holidays

Upon arrival in Mui Ne... we needed to move to our New Home of three days... thank you Mark for showing us your moves

The night before ... in HCM City, Deon with the boys gave us some ideas.....

Estelles escapades caused Miemie to have to wear her shades...

Plienkie drove so fast , nearly lost her off the screen but Mark was holding on faithfully trusting her.

View from bike in HCM City  with the traffic and a taster of the full banquet of lights intended for Tet.
Heading off for a bus ride all the way up to Hoi An-aproximately 18 hours worth... Argh.

Back in the land of CaFe sua da and bungh mi

Woo hoo! We hit Viet Nam via boat on the Mekong yesterday, and we are enthralled by the vast differences visible in the three Asian Countries we have been to. One of the most intriguing things to experience here, is and probably always will be – the traffic!

In a country where the economic status is balanced on the back of motorcycles, we believe we have a real insight as to the health of this nation. Of course this is in the physical realm only... Spiritually is another story. We passed what would be known locally as a hospital last night on the way back from dinner, and the shock was tangible. Kalafong hospital is ~wonderful~, to state the obvious!

Teamwise we are doing rather well... boundaries are stretching, food
 tasting is becoming a hobby... so far we have done pretty well with keeping in our budget too... which is a big plus!

Cambodian Capers

Six hour bus trip from Siem Reap to the capitol of Phnom Penh not without its excitement elements....

1x tummy bug

1x fellow passenger with severe motion sickness upchucking on one of our team

1x broken seat

Oh yes... and diesel motor of bus broke down and while we prayed, (you got it)... it started again!

We are celebrating a few birthdays while we are here, but alas the choice of cakes has been rather suspect till now... we hope to do better tomorrow/today/any other time as long as we don't have to eat THIS!


Killing Fields Were explained to us, Section 21 seen and wondered at, Russian Market claimed among other things, some of our time.After seeing some of the history, it becomes easier, though only slightly to be able to pray for this nation. A nation that was destroyed in three years in levels that we cannot begin to understand.

Dinner here is an extravaganza of incomprehensible communication, fun, laughter and extraordinary dishes in many tiny bowls! This gets washed down with litres of water floating massive chunks of ice! Accompanied by irritating mosquitoes!

Ladies sleep in an 8 bed dorm with mattresses on the floor. Each has a rather large fan standing sentinel at the foot of the bed, seeing us through the warm mozzie filled nights. Another wonderful use of said sentinels is that they dry our laundry too!

Ees Feesheee

Exactly what it looks like!

Some feast while others fast!

What a scream! In more ways than one....

Another day another country

With huffing and puffing and swollen ankles, lotsa laughter and some tense moments... we made it to Cambodia. New friends for some and old hats for others, a family of four joined us for the rest of the trip. Deon and Corne' with their two sons are with us now and a new dynamic to the team has been formed.

Food is a constant delight and challenge not necessarily the same experience for all, toilet technology or the lack thereof often is our conversational topic of the moment.. argh! But hearts are being softened and skin thickened as each day goes past, we are feeling more for the people and not letting our feelings get in the way... hmmm now that could be taken in all sorts of ways-let's just take it the right way!

 

quick quick click click

Lunch time in the side streets of the city

part of a door made of teak from Myanmar

 Just another pretty lady in Bangkok

 Watch strap repair time

ganesh is here too

on arrival

Well the team has made it safe and sound! Or should that rather have been ' the team has made it safe and noise'?... needless to expand here. Mark and Paulien were the first to get here, they were met in the city by JP and Rita.

Next with wild whoops of joy from Paulien the next two made their way safely towards the hostel. Miemie and Estelle were glad to be here, with a story to tell about a planned flight, sleep and jet lag and lots more, ensconced in laughter the whole way.

Our team was completed with the evening arrival of Kobus , Hanneke and Christoph.  Christoph was really so at ease with the whole thing that he promptly fell asleep in the middle of the table!

We had a wild first day- just to get us familiar with what will be a frenetic pace of 'so much to do/see- with so little time'.

one night in Bangkok

Sometimes things transpire which leave us holding our breathe just waiting for what the next moment will bring.... well Bangkok with the first of the troops of the exposure trip have arrived... and with bated breathe we stand....

some pictures tell a  thousand words... lets face it , we don't have to understand the language!