tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39755168980610121612024-03-14T00:15:19.835+13:00Stu and Marcelle's Big Trip!Our Trip to Africa, India and VietnamUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3975516898061012161.post-743324763882680542008-07-10T02:01:00.003+12:002008-07-10T02:31:24.126+12:00The Big Pink Suitcase...Hi All,<br /><br />NOT MANY SLEEPS!!!!!<br /><br />While the idea of coming home is nice, the prospect ofworking in 4 days is pretty depressing (no offence Gail and the team!)<br /><br />Saigon has been amazing! We went to the Cu Chi tunnels which was a highlight for Stu. Stu went through about 130metres of the tunnels where as Marcelle only managed about 15. They were so narrow at one point that Stu was on his hands and knees, and couldn't see anything, and the temperature was unbelievable! Hard to believe that the prospect of capture or worse by the American soldiers was so bad that they had to go to these measures. Very moving stuff! Google them if you get a chance...<br /><br />On the way out we sampled rice wine with a pickled snake in it. You now know that we infact WILL drink anything!<br /><br />After that we went to the War Reminents Museum. I can't even go there with you about it. I am tearful just thinking about the stuff we saw in there. The blatant disregard to human life was unreal. Stu gave a speech last night to our tour leader about the Vietnamese people and how amazing and beautiful they are, and how they have just embraced us. You would never ever know that someof those absolute atrosities happened to them. Of all the nations in the world, this one was the least deserving of the things that happened to them. We have seen definate proof that agent orange was abundant here and that it has left devastating results on some people. We thought of you Janeo when we went through the museum because we know that you would have appreciated it with all of your knowledge.<br /><br />On to happier things though...<br /><br />Last night was our final night with the tour group. We had a lovely dinner and then went to KAROKE!!!! A room to ourselves + a few crates of beer = a great night! Mine and Stu's best moment was "Islands in the stream". Dancing, and actions and all! Stu's best solo moment though was "Say You, Say Me". A dedication to our tour leader who only knew Lionel Richie songs and "Eternal Flame" by The Bangles because they were slow and he could understand the English! Funny stuff!<br /><br />Today we did the MOTHER of all shops! We brought a pink suitcase and literally walked around Saigon buying stuff and filling the suitcase. Vietnamese people are pack horses and one guy was so horrified at out packing skills that he unpacked the whole thing and repacked it for us! They had more North Face jackets so I got 2 more and Stu got one. Timberland boots, NEW CROCS! Lmao! Chanel handbags, DVDS...the list goes on! We are pretty happy with what we got :o)<br /><br />We are sitting in hotel reception drinking local beer while we write this, but an early night for us tonight because tomorrow is our last day.<br /><br />We might blog again fromSingapore because we are there for24 hours.<br /><br />We have decided to have an open door policy on Saturday when we get home. Come over from mid afternoon and see us and have a drink. We can't promise anything coz we might be jet lagged, but it could end up at the pub? We will just take it as it comes. Can you all please let everyone know - Bry can you be in charge on letting Shan and Andrew know? If they're around? Or haven't read this? Lol! All are welcome and all are welcome to stay the night too. We would LOVE to see all of you!<br /><br />Lysh...Yes to the 19th, are XLR8 playing that night? Haven't forgotten your smokes either, just fix me up on Saturday, on my doorstep where you will be waiting ;o)<br /><br />Pamo, thanks in advance for the pickup, don't worry about bring jackets, we have millions :o)<br /><br />Love to everyone, see you really soon!<br /><br />Marcelle and Stu<br />xxxUnknownnoreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3975516898061012161.post-42584501136322941842008-07-06T21:59:00.002+12:002008-07-06T22:17:14.120+12:00Mud Baths, Jam Jars and Reunification...Yo! (we think that means 'cheers' in Vietnamese...)<br /><br />Since we last blogged we have done a few weird things...<br /><br />We caught the reunification express train (during the day which sucked! 9 hours!) to Nga Trang which is where we are at the moment. The night we got here we went to The Sailing Club to have an infamous 'Jam Jar'...2 Jam Jars later neither of us can remember much of the night, but there was a lot of probably bad dancing, and a 2am home time...Apparantly its the vietnamese vodka that they put in them...1/4 of a bottle in each jam jar and a bit of orange juice, but you would NEVER know! It totally crept up on you. We are almost ashamed to say that we got THAT drunk off 2 drinks...but we did...<br /><br />The next morning, we had a boat ride...Yes a boat ride, we should have listened to Tu (our tour leader) when he told us NOT to get the 2nd Jam Jar lol! It was all good after the anti nausea pills kicked in ;o) Stu jumped off the top of the boat and went snorkelling, and he got a massage and Marcelle got a pedicure. Bliss! Had a lovely lunch out there and came back in the afternoon. Last night we went to a novel restaurant - they brough mini BBQ's to your table and you cooked all sorts of meat and fish etc on them to your liking. Very smokey and noisey but a fantastic night! Back to the Sailing club after that, but only beers this time. They had a fantastic House DJ on and we brought his CD - Janeo you will love it!!<br /><br />Today we had 13 motorbike riders pull up to our hotel to take us tiki touring. We went to a hindu temple first (AVERAGE!) and then to the mud baths! They were sooooo good! We are all soft and silky smooth! You have to shower first, then lie in the mud bath, then bake the mud on in the sun, then shower it off, then bathe in a mineral pool, then shower again, then swim in a mineral pool. All of the pools were hot as! Lovely experience! We then got back on our bikes and went to a Buddhist Orphanage. The kids were on Stu the minute he walked in! He was lifting them up and throwing them around - fantastic photos! We then had a vegan lunch which we had to make a donation for. It was interesting, some nice food and some not so much...Then back on our bikes to go and see 2 GIANT Buddha statues. Pretty cool stuff.<br /><br />We are just about to go and board the reunification express train again. We get into Saigon at 4am! Blah! We have to kill 4 hours in day rooms with 3 other people at the hotel because we can't check in until later...its going to be painful! The we head off to the Mekong Delta for the day. Should be good stuff to report.<br /><br />Not long now guys! We are a bit bittersweet about coming home because we love Vietnam so much, but we are looking forward to seeing everyone and playing with our dogs! (and Frank!)<br /><br />Love to all!<br /><br />Marcelle and Stu<br />xxx<br /><br />PS...To whoever was asking, Marcelle finally found Ralph ;o)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3975516898061012161.post-50756732295260856072008-07-04T01:20:00.003+12:002008-07-04T01:22:22.727+12:00Yum...Oh, and apparantly "Yum" in Vietnamese means horny...so maybe we should stop using it at every restaurant we go to...we only found out today, and we have been here a week...thats 3 meals a day, which have all been pretty "Yum"...you do the maths and try and work out how many people we have offended...Unknownnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3975516898061012161.post-76684794540582345832008-07-04T00:45:00.003+12:002008-07-04T01:16:28.206+12:00Same Same...But Different...<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Hello</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">all</span>,<br /><br /><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">We</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">just</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">realised</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">that</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">we</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">haven</span>'t <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">actually</span> blogged <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">for</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">awhile</span>, so <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">we</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">will</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">take</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">it</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">back</span> a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">few</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">dáys</span>...<br /><br /><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">We</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">started</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">our</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21">tour</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22">back</span> in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_23">Hanoi</span>, there ar<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_24">e</span> 13 <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_25">people</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_26">on</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_27">it</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_28">and</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_29">everyone</span> ís <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_30">really</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_31">nice</span>. The first day of our tour we caught an overnight sleeper train to Hue. It was absolutely amazing compared to the trains in India! We had to share our room with a random Vietnamese guy and he got pretty dark with us for putting our feet on what we thought was our bed...oops! It actually went really quickly and we both managed to sleep which was good.<br /><br />We got into Hue at about 9am, our hotel was pretty flash! We caught a boat down the river and went to see some pagodas and tombs (once you've seen one, you've seen the, all!). The rest of our tour went for an afternoon motorbike ride, but we already had a wee one so flagged it and went back on the boat on our own. We had to wake up the crew when we got back to it which was embarassing!! We went and had lunch at a floating restaurant- they had eels in tanks that you could have cooked for you...yuck! We went out for dinner with our tour group that night- Stu had a never ending set menu.<br /><br />The next day we travelled by (HOT) bus toHoi Ann, and we have both fallen in love with this place! People are friendly, easy to get around, fantastic shopping and beaches. And our hotel has a pool! Yay! We have visited areputable tailor here and Marcelle is having a 3 piece suit made - trialed it today and its lovely! and Stu got them to replicate his fave pair of levis...you have no idea! They look like the real deal, so hes getting 4 pairs made for US$35 each! Bargain! Marcelle also had some sandals made for US$10 each. We had lunch in a back ally street stall and it was by far the nicest meal we have had! We had rice paper rolls which you fill with various stuff (seafood, salads etc) and then roll up and dip into different sauces. So good! Stu had the lady there waiting on him and making his rolls for him and feeding him!<br /><br />Last night we went out for dinner and got on the booze. Our tour leader got pretty munted and it was hilarious! He wasdrinking Jack Daniels on the rocks...yuck! When we were walking home people would yell out"Hello" to us and he would sing back "Hello, is it me you're looking for" (Lionel Ritchie) and he also played a bit of pool cue guitar...nothing funnier than a chubby wee drunk Vietnamese man!<br /><br />Today we hired bicycles and rode to the beach through the country side. It was lovely and we really felt 'amongst' it. The beach was beautiful and we had a swim and a lax before biking back to the hotel and going to get a clothes fitting at the tailors. We did a half day cooking course today (Yes Pam, I know! Stu ACTUALLY did a cooking course!) we went to the market and learned about the fruit and veges and herbs and we brought some Vietnamese kitchen 'tools', and then took a boat cruise down the river to see the fishermen. Our teacher was great, trying his hardest to work on his slang...some of it made ZERO sense! We both did pretty well, we made Eggplant Claypot, Seafood Salad in a pineapple bowl, rice paper, rice paper rolls and learnt how to make fancy garnishes. Marcelle was told she was top of the class for the garnishes...some things never change (*Cough* Dux of Richmond Primary School). We got to eat it all as we made it and then they made all the dishes for us as well so we were chocka!<br /><br />Marcelle is very VERY sunburnt so we arehaving a laxey night tonight, and trying to keep cool.<br /><br />The language and the people here are hillarious, I will give you some stories...<br /><br />Today we were at the beach and a lady was trying to get us tobuy her Chinese Zodiac necklaces. She looked at my insect bites and said "See! Shit happen to you because you not have one of my necklaces, if you had one of my lucky necklaces, shit not happen to you"<br /><br />When we were at the market, our guide explained Fruit and veges like lettuce and cabbage as "Same Same but different". WTF!<br /><br />When we were on our bike ride today, one of the girls on our tour lost control of her bike, and rode into a bush. An old lady biking past who was pretty old thought it was the funniest thing she had ever seen and was cackling away! I guess to her its an every day thing...riding the SHITTEST bike you have ever seen through pot holes...Gold!<br /><br />Well that is about it really. Tomrrow we catch a day train to Nga Trang, and hopefully to some surf for Stu!!!<br /><br />We are loving it here, it might beat Africa...not sure yet though.<br /><br />Missing and loving everyone!!!<br /><br />Marcelle and Stu<br />xxxUnknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3975516898061012161.post-26958831277350518112008-06-29T15:13:00.002+12:002008-06-29T15:44:37.784+12:00Luxury Accomodation, Baked Beans, and Jean Claude Van Damme...Hi All,<br /><br />Jesus Jane! Its called "Stu and Marcelles Big Trip" not "Jane Fest!" Just joking, its nice to hear from you and hear about how Bryn is getting on :o)<br /><br />Well as you all know, we are in Hanoi. Our tour technically starts tonight, and we will be travelling by sleeper train to Hoi Ann tomorrow night.<br /><br />We decided to go to Halong Bay for the night, as it wasn't included in our tour. We left our hotel room booked as it meant we could leave all of our stuff in it. After much deliberation about which of the 50 million tour companys to go with, we decided on Indochina Sails. It was a 3 hour drive to Halong Bay, but well worth it! The boat was beautiful! 3 floors; accomodation and dining. There were about 20 other guests on the boat with us which was a really good sized group. The rooms were lovely! Everything was catered for, robes, hairdryers, the works! On the first day we got a 7 course lunch! Little tastes of everything. The meal was going swimmingly, with the crew doing really well catering to a vegetarians needs - vegetarian spring rolls, crumbed tofu, creamy pumpkin soup, all garnished to the hilt! Until the grand finale...Stu had grilled fish with glass noodles and I was given a lovely big bowl of steaming, microwave cooked...Baked Beans...beautiful! We both got the giggles and just couldn't stop laughing. The crew all stood there and stared at me but I just couldn't stop...The anti climax of it all!<br /><br />The scenery from the boat was breath taking! Many many limestone cliffs jutting out of blue water, Islands everywhere, just stunning! We went to a floating fishing village where 600 people lived. It was unbelivable! Some of them had pet dogs! Little kids would row up to our boat and try and sell us shells and stuff. We went to Ti Top Island and Stu and I spent the whole 2 hours in the water, it was our first swim of the whole holiday! That night there was the most amazing thunder and lightening storm! Pretty impressive from a boat in the middle of the water. For dinner Stu ate only meat and seafood...4 plates of it! Not a single vegetable! Pam are you proud? They made up for the baked bean incident by making me my own sperate meals, while everyone else had buffet. Pretty sweet. The next day we went to Surprise Cave which was pretty cool, a bit of a hike though! And then we ported back at Halong City, and came back to Hanoi yesterday afternoon.<br /><br />The whole way to and from Halong, we had a guy in our van who was Thai, but had an american accent, and a erm...hired looking 'escourt'...and all he did was talk on his Blackberry about how Jean Claude Van Damn (or 'JC' to those who know him...) wanted to shoot a film at his beachhouse in Bangkok and how he was taking him there when he got back from Vietnam. I swear he rung every damn person he knew and told them! It was a tedious 6 hour round trip...Not a great claim to fame we decided...I mean, name one reputable, Jean Claude movie...And didn't he go to jail for beating his wife? Whaddaguy!<br /><br />Anyway... the eating here has been unreal! We went to the flashest restaurant you have ever seen in your life the other night, and all up for entrees and drinks, it cost us about $30NZD. So cheap!<br /><br />Last night we went to a couple of pubs...the first one was exactly like Watts Road, except everyone was older, and you had to pay for the beers...the 'band'...well...ummmm...the guiatarist, although flamboyant, seemed to think he was a lot better than he actually was, and had somehow convinced his band of this too. It was all very fast, with little feel and little actual talent. The bassist and the drummer kept a good back beat, but that was about it...<br /><br />The second pub was called Seventeen Saloon, need I say anymore?? The bouncers all stood round with their thumbs in their belt loops, with cowboy hats and chaps on. The 'band' was a bit better this time. 2 female singers wearing little to nothing, but one of them could actually belt them out. We were waited on and Stu even got the eye from a couple of 'colourful' ladies. Needless to say we kept our distance. When the band finished they started thumping out very bad trance music, that was our cue to leave. I am feeling slightly worse for wear today as that was our first big night out in a while, and we are still on the Malaria pills which make 5 beers seem like 10! Excuses huh ;o)<br /><br />We change hotels today, as our tour starts from a less flash one than the one we are currently in, so we are off to pack again.<br /><br />Hope all is well with everyone, Lysh how was the date?<br /><br />hi mummy (stu) and hi bry<br /><br />Yep, thats your lot Pam and Bry! Lap it up!<br /><br />Love and hugs to everyone!!!!<br /><br />Marcelle and Stu<br />xxxUnknownnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3975516898061012161.post-63301877286778817682008-06-26T02:23:00.003+12:002008-06-26T02:37:06.724+12:00GOOD MORNING VIETNAM!!!!!!!!!Did you like that title Jess?? :o)<br /><br />We made it! And it is ALL that and a bag of chips!<br /><br />As you know, we left the horror story that was India (my insect blisters are still healing!) and flew to Singapore early. From one extreme to another...we stayed in a luxery hotel in Singapore which was fantastic! Went to Hogsbreath Cafe for tea - Stu got his Jalepeno and cheese steak - and then on to the Hard Rock Cafe for drinks and watched an acoustic covers band...BLISS!!!!!! Flew into Hanoi this morning and we love it! Our Hotel is really nice, and not too far from central Hanoi. We ventured out today for dinner etc and loved it! Dinner was by far the BEST Vietnamese (sp?) food we have ever had! $20 for 2 entrees, 2 mains, 4 big beers and 2 waters. Cheap as when thats a fairly high end restaurant by Lonely Planet standards! It was a restored house converted into a restaurant with all brick interior and dinky wee stairs. Really nice!<br /><br />You drive on the right hand side of the road over hear which is weird, and there have been a few near misses when crosing the road :o/<br /><br />Stu brought the 3rd season of Prision Break for NZ$4.50! There are so many bargains to be had! We resisted shopping too much tonight, as we have 4 more nights here, and don't want to do it all in one.<br /><br />We are planning to go to a Seafood restaurant tomorrow where Stu gets to actually pick a live fish, and they cook it for him. Classy! I might buy them all and set them free! Free Mahi Mahi!<br /><br />Not much more to report since we have only been here since 1pm! 8 hours...<br /><br />Hope all is well with everyone. Good luck with your date Lysh. Remember that you will never pay for milk if you can get it for free...;o) JOKES!!! Let us know how it goes!<br /><br />Love and hugs and missing everyone (especially Stella with her dumb wee face!)<br /><br />Marcelle and Stu<br /><br />xxxUnknownnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3975516898061012161.post-41141833374889249322008-06-23T18:20:00.003+12:002008-06-23T18:31:45.013+12:00update...Yo to all my homies.. We have decided to make our way back to Singapore today, basicly we don't think there's much left for us to do here, as most things are shut on mondays in India. We made a call to The Flight Centre this morning and they have hooked us up with flights a day earlier.<br />we will spend time in Singapore instead,which will give us time to visit Sentosa Island etc.. and they have a Hard Rock Cafe/HogsBreath Cafe, which serve the biggest steaks known to man-kind... respect!! so damn excited...<br /><br />sounds like you all had fun over the weekend? days don't seem to matter much for us as we lost track way back in Africa.. its weird to even comprehend work. (the sign of a good holiday)<br /><br />well thats about it really... you may have noticed that it's not Marcelle typing, she does a way better job lol<br /><br />peace out and respect!!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3975516898061012161.post-18742437443698033832008-06-23T00:12:00.002+12:002008-06-23T00:38:51.667+12:00Holy Cows! Ken Was Right...<p>Hi All,</p><p>For those of you who don't know, Ken is Marcelles grandad, and when he warned us about India, he described it as noisey, dirty, poverty, beauty and that people do...erm...number 2's in public. He didn't lie AT ALL!!! Infact he could have better prepared us for the onslaught that we were about to encounter!!! Thanks Ken...Geeze!</p><p> </p><p>Cows are everywhere here! Rush hour traffic on an eight laned highway, and a cow walks out, and everyone just drives around it and says nothing. They are in peoples houses, just friggin everywhere! So weird!</p><p> </p><p>First day we travelled from Delhi to Agra. Agra has the Taj Mahal. End of story. Diamond in the rough for sure! We caught the train to Agra and I wouldn't feed Stella on the tray tables, or feed her the food on offer on the train. It was a long 3 hours with trying not to touch anything, which is kinda hard when you have to sit down. We went to see the Taj the same day and it didn't disapoint. No wonder its a wonder! Absolutely stunning! You can't even begin to comprehend it until you are there, and even then it still makes no sense! Loved it!</p><p>Travelled to Jaipur which was the highlight city of the trip. 6 hours in a bus with no AIR CON!!! It was a lovely trip...Jaipur itself made up for it though. Went to the most amazing place for dinner, in a wee tourist village. There was dancers, elephant rides, camel rides, shops etc. But the interesting thing was that all the Indian tourists were there as well as locals, the food was apparantly that cheap and that good! And might I add, all vegetarian! Yay for Marcelle! Yay for Stu too who is on day 5 of being a temporary vego...today has been the hardest day, we had some 'meat' therapy...or meat porn? Only viewed from a computer though. Back to Jaipur, we went to the Amber Fort which was up there with the Taj! So cool and well preserved. On the way back Stu spied a camel, so we pulled over and got a ride down a main road. Quite surreal! Stu was happy as :o) Camels are still used day to day in Jaipur for pulling carts etc. The state of the horses over here has upset Stu, NZ must be horse paradise as the ones over here do not look very happy or very well cared for. </p><p>We have one story that will shock you and give you a bit of an insight into what its like over here. When we were getting into Jaipur, a man on the bus approached Stu and said "do not trust anyone when you get off the bus, I will help you as best I can but won't take a beating for you". We thought he was a bit nuts, until our bus pulled into the depot and people just starting running for it and swarming it. We got off and police were beating the people off with sticks, to stop them from getting to us all. One cop told us to go to the tourist office, but luckily we found our local guide and were piled into a car and taken to our hotel. SCAREY! </p><p>The bus and train rides have been good and bad. You see stuff that you wish you hadn't but also realise that its why we are here, to really SEE India. People over here live in ways that people in NZ could only ever imagine, I don't think NZers understand the true meaning of poverty. We have enjoyed this leg, but its been scarey, and tedious, and at times we have just wanted to come home! I don't think we will be back to India, but we don't regret coming :o)</p><p> </p><p>On that note, we will sign off. Jane, tell Ken we will be over to see him when we get home for a whole lotta stories!</p><p> </p><p>Thanks for the updates everyone - thanks Pam and Bry for keeping an eye on the house :o)</p><p> </p><p>Until next time,</p><p> </p><p>Marcelle and Stu</p><p>xxx</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3975516898061012161.post-18841521288579610112008-06-18T21:24:00.003+12:002008-06-18T21:42:49.377+12:00One Drunk, 2 Perving, 3 Honking Little Indians...Hi All,<br />We have arrived! Its hot and noisey and bustling but we love it!<br />The plane ride here was pretty good. We got to fly on one of the new Singapore Airlines planes and it was the buissssssnessssss! After sitting on your ass in the same place for so many hours its amazing what can spark your tyres...like a light in a new place, or a different cushion cover. We were Kings! Stu had to sit next to an Indian man on the way over who turned out to be lovely and very helpful. But as the flight went on, it appeared that he was intent on drinking ALL of the wine on the flight. By the end of the flight he was hysterically laughing, and on his knees in the aisle playing with his kids, when we had just been told not to leave our seats while we landed. Pretty good!<br />We were met at the airport by Raj our tour guide for Delhi. He took us to our Hotel...Hotel Perfect...:o/ Its like, the most decadent flashy furniture that doesn't match, all piled into a not so flashy room. There are things in the bath that I'm not even sure what you do with them? Sit and scrub I think...It beats a tent by a long shot though so we are happy. Slept for 12 hours as we didn't do much sleeping on the flights (Stu couldn't with drunk man sitting next to him!). Its 3pm here and we have already been for a walk around and looked in some shops. We braved lunch with the locals, and ended up having some really nice vego burgers and naan bread for $3 NZD all up. My boobs are again attratcing some attention, but not as much as Africa, and the road rules are hillarious! You just beep and honk, and then drive where ever you want while doing so. Rikshaws and Tuk Tuks everywhere, like Thailand, If it has wheels, you can drive it on the roads...tractors, etc etc.<br />We have our tour meeting tonight, apparantly there is only one other guy on our tour, we're stoked!!! Off to Agra and the Taj tomorrow!!! Woo hoo!!! Should be amazing!<br />Mum, Hippos in Africa are like sheep in NZ. They are everywhere!!! We saw hundred of them every day. So we just got a bit complacent. Your safe as with them as long as you don't go in the water with them, and stay away from them at night. The guard at one of the places we stayed at had a gun that he carried around incase a hippo came into camp.<br />Manny we are so disappointed in you! Start selling stuff and you will soon get over your addiction. Anyway...rehab is for quitters!!!<br />Culture wise, I think we are going to get heaps from India. Africa had no smell which sounds strange, but when you walk down the street in Thailand or India, the smells are amazing! We also weren't around the locals much in Africa, wheras in India we just had lunch with them. Don't get us wrong, we loved Africa, but we just longed for a bit of Culture and Interaction. I am sure we will have many more tales to tell as its quite an exciting fast paced place.<br /><br />Love to everyone, and tell Nick and Kate I said congrats.<br />Until the next blog,<br /><br />Marcelle and Stu<br />xxxUnknownnoreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3975516898061012161.post-88921402634661989632008-06-17T20:42:00.003+12:002008-06-17T20:55:06.470+12:00Information Desks, Perfume and Bags...Again!Hi All,<br /><br />We are writing to you from Singapore this time and its been a LONG 13 hours!!<br /><br />We thought we would be really clever and not send our bags directly to Delhi, but claim them at Singapore so that we could take stuff out of them and send it home, do some washing, and have a change of clothes and our toilet bags for the transit hotel...turns out you have to technically leave the airport and enter Singapore in order to do this, and you can't take your bags into the actual airport once you have claimed them. We worked out the best way was to empty out our bags on the floor in the middle of the airport, pack what we wanted to send home into our day bags and anything else we could carry, and re check our bags through to Delhi. We then found a post shop but had to sit and wait for 1 1/2 hours before it opened. It gets better! We sat at Starbucks and Stu went to get some food and his Credit Card declined. The Pay Phones wouldn't work so we had an hour of stressing while surrounded by sleeping bags and African Souvenirs, sitting in Starbucks! It was amagic moment! So 5 information desks later we finally posted our stuff home - $110 NZD! And got to a better pay phone to ring NZ. Westpac had stopped Stu's card because he had spent too much money in too many weird countires and they thought it was stolen...All sorted now though.<br /><br />We had a 6 hour sleep at the transit hotel, and a shower and we are feeling much better. We even went to a fancy perfume place and sprayed the testers all over us because we don't have our toilet bags lol!<br /><br />We are about to go and board our flight to India. Quite surreal at this point!<br /><br />Thanks for the Mark Todd goss Pam!<br /><br />Hope you had a great birthday and dinner Lysh!<br /><br />Pen I must have picked up on something :o)<br /><br />Jess I need more Goss!<br /><br />Bryn wins best blog comment EVER!!! We laughed so hard!! It was gold!<br /><br />Love to all (I'm running out of time!! 1 min left!)<br /><br />Marcelle and Stu<br /><br />xxxUnknownnoreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3975516898061012161.post-25192166792135195562008-06-16T03:05:00.002+12:002008-06-16T03:19:10.845+12:00Digital Cameras, Video Cameras, and Film Cameras...Hi All,<br /><br />Well done Lysh! I am so proud of you! You must have picked up on that BFF (Best Friends Forever) intuition I was sending out to you! Must have been an average night for you to be home at 3.30am and on the internet! Don't worry, 4 weeks and I will be back there, Stu will be on stage, and we will be drunk!<br /><br />Went to the mall in Pretoria today - the second biggest mall in the Southern Hemisphere. Its was nuts! The people were so pretentious! Gucci everywhere, floor to ceiling mirrors in the girls toilets, someone handing you paper towels to dry your hands with and on it goes. It was quite surreal after the stuff we have seen so far. Made us quite angry!<br /><br />Stuart did, however, buy a new camera. A really, really good Sony Digital with a couple of lenses. Hes charging it now and eagerly awaiting a play with it. We have already taken 20 rolls of film on our other camera and it was going to get a bit pricey! Films are also getting harder to get hold of so we decided to play it safe and upgrade :o)<br /><br />We fly to Singapore tomorrow, and we are going to post heaps of stuff home which will be a lot of weight of our backs! Most of our group flew out today which was strange. Its bizare to spend 2 weeks in such close proximity with people, and then just say "See ya, have a nice life!".<br /><br />We are both very content with our Africa leg, and don't feel sad saying goodbye because we feel that we experienced everything we wanted to and got as much out of it as we possibly could. We are both talking about coming back eventually though, and doing a few of the more northern countries. We are a little bit scared about India, apparantly its pretty full on! The heat is going to be a shock because its not actually that hot in Africa. There was a frost this morning! Weird huh! Its freezing at night, and boiling hot during the day!<br /><br />Well now that we (mainly Marcelle) have droned on about nothing really, we will sign off.<br /><br />Hopefully get some blogging time in Singapore and Delhi.<br /><br />Lukes 21st sounds awesome mum! Lol! Would have been good to see Boozel. Did Luke have a good night?<br /><br />We might have to have a slide night when we get home lmao!<br /><br />Love to everyone, hope your not too hungover Lysh.<br /><br />Hugs,<br /><br />Marcelle and Stu<br /><br />xxxUnknownnoreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3975516898061012161.post-53497499787675122382008-06-15T02:35:00.003+12:002008-06-15T02:56:46.653+12:00Little Brown Willies, Sore Behinds and Hippies...Hi all,<br /><br />Are you SOOOOOO proud that we have managed to blog again this quickly?<br /><br />Bry, I think that you might need to get another hobby, and the rest of you might need to pick up your game a little bit! Its nice to know you are all still reading this though and that it was worthwhile.<br /><br />Mum are you still alive???<br /><br />Righto, we will try and add a bit more detail into this one since we have time. I think last off we told you about the leopards etc<br /><br />Since then we have travelled into the Kingdom (fancy!) of Swaziland. They still live under the rule of a king, and in some ways its fairly traditional. Men in Swaziland can have as many wives as they want but women can only have one husband. Stu did his homework, but alas, left Swaziland with no wives and a tentative girlfriend. The King marries one new wife a year, the last one ruled for 60 years and had 600 grandchildren! Don't get any ideas Pam! In order to get his crown he also has to spear kill a leopard on his own! Not much to ask huh!<br /><br />We stayed in the most amazing place in Swaziland. A wildlife sanctuary in Mlilwane. Beautiful views and we also got to stay in a traditional beehive hut! The walls are pretty thin... It has a thatch roof dome and made of reeds and has a clay floor.<br /><br />On the ride in we passed a village and a wee boy ran out and flashed us his willie. It was hilarious!<br /><br />A few highlights from staying here... We visited what we thought was going to be a tradtional village ruled by a chief. The chief turned out to be a 70 year old woman and the village turned out to be an orphanage. The children here are victims of AIDS in Zimbabwe. At a guess I would say there was about 50 of them there. We were welcomed into the village, saw how they lived day to day, had to sing and dance with them, and it was all very moving and a bit much for us really! The children were very cuddley and took a liking to Marcelles Boobs! A few good shots with little black hands on them.<br /><br />We also went on a horse trek in the wildlife sanctuary at sunset. The horses were awesome and we rode in Argentinian (sp?) saddles. Comfy as! It was lovely and quite surreal riding past wilderbeast and impala.<br /><br />We have seen quite dramatic differences in countries in Africa. And have also spent long hours in our truck. We brought cushions to sit on but to be honest, they have stopped providing any comfort! One day we spent 11 hours in it. It got a bit tedious! Today, however, was our last day in the Orange Elephant! Yay! No more aching bums!<br /><br />We are now at Twana Lodge in Pretoria. Our tour ends tomorrow which is a bit bittersweet. We are happy to be leaving some people on the bus though...I think if we had any longer, Stu might be done for manslaughter! Theres always one!<br /><br />Twana Lodge is like a South African hippie commune. You take what you want from the bar and just write it down - dangerous stuff! You just tick up everything! Dinner, washing, internet, and pay it all at the end. Sounds pretty good to us! I think tonight might get a bit messy...Alright!<br /><br />Righto, there are many beers and Jack to be drunk so will sign off here. Many more stories to tell, but I am sure we will have lots of time when we get home.<br /><br />Love to you all.<br /><br />Marcelle and Stu<br /><br />xxx<br /><br />(Bottle of Duty Free (size not specified) for whoever is first to leave a comment)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3975516898061012161.post-63267400611582316632008-06-12T19:58:00.002+12:002008-06-12T20:08:22.255+12:00Boy Bands, Internet and 42 Elephants...Hey guys,<br /><br />Right, it seems the internet over here is fairly crap, and hard to come by. We haven't had access until yesterday, and we wrote the biggest post ever, and it didn't publish it...so sorry about the delay in getting news to you but I am sure you can all understand thats its not so westernised in some areas over here.<br /><br />Now to catch you up on our news...<br /><br />Way too much to type but will give you some highlights.<br /><br />We travelled down through Botswana which was fantastic. Did a river cruise where we saw 42 elephants drinking from the river all at once - most of which were babies!<br /><br />Did a game drive through Chobe National Park where we got our first taste of the wildlife over here. Buffalo, Elephants etc. It was great!<br /><br />We went to Blyde river canyon which was beautiful! On the way back to the truck we asked some nicely dressed African men if I could have my photo taken with them...turns out they are a prominant African Boy Band and they made Stu and I dance with them as part of their Music Video...Stu drew the line at playing leg guitar. Will let you know their name when we write it down so you can google them :o)<br /><br />Passed over the South African Boarder and have spent the last 3 nights in Kruger National Park. It was the highlight of the tour so far! We managed to see the big 5!!! A rare thing! Which is Rhino, Elephant, Buffalo, Lion and Leopard! We saw the Leopard last night and it was amazing! It came about 10 metres away from our truck and we managed to get heaps of photos and film footage of it.<br /><br />We are now on our way to Swaziland, where we will spend 2 nights before heading back up to Pretoria.<br /><br />Hope all is well with everyone. Thanks heaps and heaps for checking the house Pam.<br /><br />Love to all.<br /><br />Marcelle and Stu<br /><br />xxxUnknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3975516898061012161.post-58769374541187716372008-06-11T23:48:00.003+12:002008-06-11T23:59:43.850+12:00update.... (quick)...hi all jus t to let you know we are ok.. bags arrived we are settled in.. no time to blog so will catch up with you all soon...Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3975516898061012161.post-10445035945258028262008-06-04T20:59:00.002+12:002008-06-04T21:20:47.545+12:00Jet Lag, Bags and Lions...Right, where to start...<br /><br />First and foremost, we are in Africa!!!!<br /><br />But our trip here has been interesting...<br /><br />Our flight from Singapore to Johannesburg was delayed by 3 hours, which meant we missed our connecting flight from Joburg to Victoria Falls. We ended up on a British Airways flight that got us into Victoria Falls at 1.30pm instead of 9.30am. Sounds sweet right? Ummmm it gets better...Our bags never arrived in Victoria Falls, AND there was no rep from our tour group there to meet us. So we are sitting in the dinkiest little airport you have ever seen, in Zimbabwe, with no bags, and no idea where the hell we are! Lol! Ahhhh memories!<br /><br />We got someone to ring our tour company and they came and picked us up and our bags are expected to arrive today! Yay coz we are both fairly manky...no toothbrush, soap etc etc and shops here are VERY grass roots!!<br /><br />The drive from the airport to our lodge was very eye opening and humbling! Orangatangs walking down the road with their little babies, people living in grass/tin shacks on the sides of the road, beggers everywhere, big signs saying beware of elephants...Mind blowing!! We slept for 12 hours off and on and had to wake up at 5.30am this morning to go on our dum dum dum WALK WITH THE LIONS!!! We needed breakfast beforehand so decided it would be a good idea to walk down to the local 24 hour takeaway bar...in the dark :o/ Pam and Jane would you like paper bags? Getting there was fine, a few dodgy people hanging out, but on the way back all these monkeys came running out on to rooftops to stare at us, and then this rabid looking dog came running at us...good times! Possibly not the BEST idea to walk down the street at 6am with hamburgers with all the wildlife around here...<br /><br />So we found a place where we could walk with the lions here on the boarder of Zimbabwe. The place basically strives to introduce lions back into the wild. There are 4 steps to the programme and we were a part of step one, which is mainly fundraising (what we pay) but also getting the lions used to being part of a pride. AMAZING!!!! Like, life changing stuff! There were 10 of us and 2 lions and basically we just walked around and hung out. They are cheeky and you have to watch out when they pull 'naughty' faces. We both walked with them, with our hands on their backs, and also sat with them while they were lying down. An experience neither one of us will forget in a hurry! For cubs they were pretty big! A fully grown one would be very intimidating.<br /><br />It is far far more primative over here than either of us expected. And we are currently in a very touristy area. Our room for example, has 2 single beds, a set of drawers and that is it. Showers and toilets are shared and they are very grass roots. Lysh, you wouldn't use them! Lol!<br /><br />This afternoon we are going to walk down to Victoria Falls as we haven't seen them yet, but you can hear them at night! And we start our tour in the morning.<br /><br />We feel pretty safe here and it is hard to comprehend that the rest of Zimbabwe is not in such a good state. The poverty is asstounding, and makes you really glad for what we have back home. We have no bags but we are blissfully happy!!!<br /><br />Until next time.<br /><br />Love to everyone!!!!<br /><br />xxxUnknownnoreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3975516898061012161.post-28175958397480284802008-06-02T22:14:00.003+12:002008-06-02T22:18:38.408+12:00Our First Leg Is Over!!Hooray! We made it to Singapore after a long, but not quite as bad as expected, 11 hour flight!<br /><br />There was lots of movie watching and lots of Marcelle kicking Stu's ass at Mario brothers! Hes not happy!<br /><br /><em>(stu here) Marcelle turned out to be like this "pro" at mario.. what a loser!!</em><br /><br />Jealousy will get him no where! We are now off to find a bed for a few hours and try and get out of the sticky heat that is Changi airport.<br /><br />Love to you all, will try and check in when we get to...AFRICA!!!!!!! AGHHHHHHHH!!!!<br /><br />xxxUnknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3975516898061012161.post-74223466515603159952008-05-30T14:16:00.003+12:002008-05-30T14:19:51.638+12:00Change To Itinerary...<span style="font-size:85%;"><em>Please see letter below...</em></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">GRASSROTS ADVENTURES WATERFALLS & WILDLIFE<br /><br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;"></span><span style="font-size:85%;">Dear Gecko's travellers,</span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />In light of the current political situation and on advice from our local operators on the ground in Zimbabwe, we have decided to run our Waterfalls & Wildlife tour with an amended itinerary.</span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />Rather than travelling through Zimbabwe, time will be spent in Botswana, South Africa and Swaziland.<br /><br />You will be met at 6pm on the 4th of June by a Gecko's crewmember, who will conduct a pre-departure meeting. You will be transferred (with the Gecko's crewmember) on the morning of 5 June to Chobe National Park where you will meet with the crew, truck and remainder of your Gecko's travellers.<br /><br />As their will be no camping equipment available to you on the night of 4 June, you will be upgraded into bungalow accommodation, with shared facilities, at no additional cost.<br /><br />Itinerary:<br />Day 1: Victoria Falls Zimbabwe. Bungalow accommodation - 1 night<br />Day 2: Morning transfer across the border into Botswana. Meet with remainder of Gecko's travellers, crew & overland vehicle. Overnight at Thebe campsite. Enjoy a sunset cruise and a morning game drive the following day.<br />Day 3: Travel from Kasane (Chobe) to Nata. Afternoon game drive (subject to availability). Overnight at Nata.<br />Day 4: Border crossing into South Africa and overnight in Polokwane.<br />Day 5: Travel from Polokwane to Blyde River Canyon. Explore Bourke's Luck Potholes, 3 Rondavels and God's Window. Camp on the edge of the escarpment which overlooks the Kruger lowveld.<br />Days 6 - 8: Experience 3 days in Kruger National Park. Morning and afternoon game drives.<br />Days 9 - 10: Depart South Africa for Swaziland, staying in Mlilwane Wildlife Sanctuary.<br />Day 11: Travel back into South Africa and onto Pretoria for your last night<br />Day 12: Tour ends in Pretoria in the morning.<br /><br />This tour will still begin in Victoria Falls and end in Johannesburg so flights will not have to be changed. Please ensure you have a receipt for any additional expenses such as visas, so that you can make a claim through travel insurance upon your return. Gecko's can provide a letter to submit with your insurance claim if required.<br /><br />We trust that this altered itinerary will not adversely affect your experience and that you will have an enjoyable and memorable holiday in Africa.<br /><br />Sara Reeves<br />Africa Destination Manager Gecko's Adventures</span><br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3975516898061012161.post-90124732316968597772008-05-14T14:41:00.007+12:002008-05-26T13:22:25.322+12:00Our Itinerary<span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><em>Dates and times are appropriate to the country we are in, they are not NZ dates and times :o)</em> </span></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />Christchurch - Singapore<br />Mon 2nd June<br />Depart: 10.50am<br />Arrive: 5.40pm<br /><span style="color:#000000;"><em><strong>Stop Over: 8 hours 40 mins</strong></em><br /></span>Singapore – Joberg<br />Tues 3rd June<br />Depart: 2.20am<br />Arrive: 7.10am<br /><strong><em><span style="color:#000000;">Stop Over: 1 Hour 55 mins</span></em> </strong><br />Joberg – Vic Falls<br />Tues 3rd June<br />Depart: 9.15am<br />Arrive: 11.00am<br /><strong>Africa Tour- Waterfalls and Wildlife - 4th - 15th June</strong><br />Joberg – Singapore<br />Mon 16th June<br />Depart: 1.15pm<br />Arrive: 5.40am<br /><strong><em>Stop Over: 13 hours 10 mins</em> </strong><br />Singapore – Delhi<br />Tues 17th June<br />Depart: 6.50pm<br />Arrive: 11.55pm<br /><strong>India Tour - The Golden Triangle - 18th - 23rd June </strong><br />Delhi – Singapore<br />Tues 24th June<br />Depart: 11.10pm<br />Arrive: 7.15am<br /><em><strong>Stop Over: 3 hours 15 mins</strong></em><br />Singapore – Hanoi<br />Wed 25th June<br />Depart: 10.00am<br />Arrive: 12.30pm </span></span><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><strong>Vietnam - Reunification Express Hanoi to Saigon - 29th June - 9th July</strong><br />Ho Chi Minh – Singapore<br />Thurs 10th July<br />Depart: 7.50pm<br />Arrive: 10.45pm<br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><strong><em>Stop Over: 21 hours 45 mins (WAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!)</em> </strong><br />Singapore – Christchurch<br />Fri 11th July<br />Depart: 7.50pm<br />Arrive: 9.30am</span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3975516898061012161.post-20339730739091241652008-05-13T11:30:00.000+12:002008-05-13T12:11:05.885+12:00Links To Our Tours...<strong><span style="font-size:85%;">Africa - Waterfalls and Wildlife - 4th - 15th June</span></strong><br /><a href="http://www.geckosadventures.com/Africa/Trip/Dates-Prices.html?trip=Waterfalls-&-Wildlife&tripid=2643"><span style="font-size:85%;">http://www.geckosadventures.com/Africa/Trip/Dates-Prices.html?trip=Waterfalls-&-Wildlife&tripid=2643</span></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"></span><br /><strong><span style="font-size:85%;">India - The Golden Triangle - 18th - 23rd June</span></strong><br /><a href="http://www.geckosadventures.com/India/Trip/Overview.html?trip=The-Golden-Triangle&tripid=2831"><span style="font-size:85%;">http://www.geckosadventures.com/India/Trip/Overview.html?trip=The-Golden-Triangle&tripid=2831</span></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"></span><br /><strong><span style="font-size:85%;">Vietnam - Reunification Express Hanoi to Saigon - 29th June - 9th July</span></strong><br /><a href="http://www.geckosadventures.com/South-East-Asia/Trip/Overview.html?trip=Reunification%20Express%20(Hanoi%20to%20Saigon)&tripid=2720"><span style="font-size:85%;">http://www.geckosadventures.com/South-East-Asia/Trip/Overview.html?trip=Reunification%20Express%20(Hanoi%20to%20Saigon)&tripid=2720</span></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0