Singapore - Malaysia - Hanoi

Abel Tasman lived up to expectation. It is a beautiful coastal national park, we took a jet boat with the layaks on the back along the coast into Marine Reserve then we paddled back to the kayak landing point. We paddled around an offshore island which is the seal breeding ground and then along the coast. I was one of the more experienced at kayaking as I've done it a few times now and the guide was egging me on to paddle through the gaps in the rocks. At the end of the trip he said I should go out on my own next time which was a pleasing complement but as I was leaving the next day, I didn't have the opportunity.

Monday - Singapore
The flight was ten hours and Singapore is four hours behind NZ so by the time I arrived I was feeling quite tired. I had arranged to meet Pearly at the airport but as we have never actually met before I had no idea what she looked like and she was in the same boat. She's a smart lady however and we found each other. I was so delighted that she brought her husband and small daughter to greet me. I felt very happy because usually when I get off the plane its all the other people who are meeting friends, hugging and so on. We went straight to the famous Singapore seafood plaza to eat chilli crabs - delicious. The whole time in Singapore and Malaysia was just one big eating event, trying lots of different delicious local foods. At one point Pearly and her sister were joking with me that they eat dog in Vietnam which is true but I don't think they sneak it in and pretend its beef, I think they tell you up front that its dog. Then they told me that in China, they eat the brains of monkeys while the monkey is still alive. Just the thought of this makes me feel ill.

Pearly and her husband go to meditation in Malaysia every Saturday and they invited me. The meditation master (Telamaha) was delighted to see someone from Europe and offered to take me sightseeing in Malaysia, I wanted Pearly to come along too as he doesn't speak very much English and I don't speak any Mandarin. We set off on Thursday after I had spent a few days sorting out my visas for China and Mongolia. We visited Malaka, Kuala Lumpar, Batu Caves and Genting Highlands, we stayed with Telamaha's sister in KL. The view of Genting at night from KL is magical, its a little city of lights on top of a hill in the distance. We went did all the sights in KL and went up the cable car over the tropical rain forest to Genting, really really beautiful.

Telahama did all the driving and refused to let me pay for anything. We visited lots of great little local restuarants that served delicious food, it was wonderful. I am so good at using chopsticks now that when they gave me a knife and fork in Hanoi yesterday I didn't even notice it till halfway through the meal. I can even pick up peanuts and that is not easy. Last night in Hanoi I had the local grilled fish which was cooked in front of me at the table with fresh dill, green beans, parsley and spring onions, it was heavenly and it cost about three pounds.

We got back to Singapore late on Sunday night and my flight to Hanoi was at 10am the next morning. When I got to the hotel I slept for an hour to catch up and then I didn't even leave the hotel room till I had unpacked and sorted out what to keep and what to chuck. As I travel, I seem to collect things and there is only limited space in the bag so every so often some things either get sent home or just tossed if they are really worn out or grubby, this sometimes seems a bit strange to the hotel chambermaids but I have no option. For example, in Oz and NZ, backpacker hostels have a kitchen were you cook and meet other backpackers, here the food and hotels are so cheap no one does that. But I had some cooking oil, rice, pasta etc that I am not carrying around when there is no kitchen to use. There was an M&S in Singapore and I had managed to buy some new knickers that are not the flimsy kind but the good old M&S hard wearing ones that are just what you need when travelling.

Hanoi
The traffic here is mad, there are a million motorbikes, they don't always stop at red lights, they don't always drive on the right side of the road and they sound the horn all the time. Crossing the road is like a suicide mission, once you start to cross, you have to pray and keep walking as they will expect to go around you. If you want a real white knuckle ride, forget bungy jumping, take a motorbike taxi, its best if you close you eyes and just hang on. If you walk along the street carrying a guide book, people will hassle you to buy something or ask if they can practice English on you. Tonight I was sitting by the lake to cool off and ended up helping a student with his English homework which he got out of his bag and we went over together.

Women really do walk along wearing conical hats and carrying baskets of fruit and veg to sell. Prices are often quoted in USD which is a bit strange considering how much effort they went to to kick out the USA during the war... The exchange rate is 16,000 USD per Vietnam Dong or 29,000 pounds sterling per VND. I decided to give the Teva sandles another try (the flip flops I bought in Sydney were at end of life), this time they cost me 480,000 VND. I lost the will to haggle any more with the woman over whether I should pay 450 or 480.