Postcards from Vietnam

In no particular order, I wanted to share with you some great pics from Vietnam...

We rode from Ho Chi Minh through the Mekong Delta. There may have been some silliness along the way...

Visiting the Bhudda at the end of the first day of cycling.

Cruising on the Mekong Delta. Visited the floating markets. Very cool!

Another lunch. Excellent!

Off for another ride. One of the very many group shots which was taken... we all got a bit tired of them by the end...

Look at me... in front of Josie. But it is not a race!!

Lots of stretches at the end of each day. Aren't we good!

The end of cycling in Vietnam. Very happy to give back my too big bike.

But Vietnam was awesome! I am so glad I had the opportunity to visit.


W xx

Meet our Motley Crew!

Now that the ride is over, I miss my blog.It was my favorite thing! Now I have no excuse for sharing my slightly quirky but always salient observations!

I have still been riding! Wow, who would have thought it would become part of my life!? I have been riding with Hugh and did a few laps of Rottnest Island with Josie. On a horrible hire bike! Made me grateful that our bikes on our adventure were really good!

So I thought it would be great to introduce our wonderful peeps from the ride. These are on day 1. Don't we all look shiny and new!

Thanks to Imran at Plan for some photos!

W xx

That Girl is Crazy!

Hey not me!!! I mean Josie!

Firstly, let me apologize to Josie in advance for this post... not a sincere apology... just a regular one!!

BUT she keeps suggesting that we do wild and crazy things... so far the suggestions are:

1. Telstra Triathlon - actually this one is not so bad as the plan is to do it in a team... which means I don't have to run which is a very, very good thing!
2. 200km ride to cure cancer - great cause I agree, and 200km is a doddle, but it only over 2 days, and it might be hard! And the biggest sticking point of course is that it involves tents! Now I have proven that I can manage 3 star accommodation, but I really think it is important not to have too many new experiences all in one go!
3. An ultra marathon across the Sahara - now this made wee Hamish snort lemonade out his nose. Running a marathon in the desert. For me the sticking point was more "Ultra" and of course "Marathon"
4. Doing a Stampede  : http://www.thestampede.com.au/#show - now I thought this related to cattle, maybe something along the lines of the movie city slickers. Turns out it is an obstacle course run over 5 or 10km. I may have made the mistake of expressing that the only good thing about this was how short it was... and perhaps the refreshing beer at the end. I may also have said I would only do it if we wore cocktail dresses! I don't know how it happened, but apparently that constituted me saying "Yes Josie, I would LOVE to do that!" Apparently we only live once... Yada, yada...

I notice crazy emails generally start with the heading "Thought for the Day". This trend started with the original email suggesting riding 399km in Cambodia and Vietnam! Now I have to admit that this actually turned out to be so totally fabulous... but as we all know, the past does not predict the future! 

I suggested that we do a cheese making class. That was met with what can only be described as complete derision!

But cheese goes so well with wine!

I have included the photo below which I think clearly shows that Josie is crazy! Let's call this Exhibit A.

Actually, speaking of Josie... this reminds me of one of my favorite bits from the ride.... 

Josie and I were riding in the lead pack chatting about kids, school and other really important stuff. It was a lovely day. Perfect for riding. Anyway the peeps in front of us started to fall off the lead group. The speed was varying a bit, and all of a sudden Josie says "I can't do this anymore" or something of a similar meaning and just zooms off up the hill. Leaving me behind!

I hear you gasp! Oh no! What happened next??

So I had two options... just to toodle along with this group OR catch up. I decided to catch up. As I rode past the group of girls, I was calling out    J-O-S-I-E!    J-O-S-I-E!    Really loud. Just like a kid at the fair who has lost their parents (without the tears!). Obviously, this was not necessary, but it amused me... and apparently amused the other girls! I said to Sherry Shrub "She has left me behind! What do I do? What do I do?". Now Sherry told me there was no way I would catch her... and again something about short legs!

But guess what! I did catch her. May have said something sassy about Josie having to try harder if she wants to ditch me!! Anyhoo we continued with our lovely ride and chat!

I was told later that it looked kind of funny... little legs flying up the hill to catch up...

OK, so I had better get on and either:

1. start coming up with excuses to get out of the Stampede; or
2. accept the inevitable and start training and trying on cocktail dresses.

Haven't decided which!

Later Gators!

W xx

Tips for Travelling with Wendy!

Just so you know, Wendy likes to travel and she likes to travel nice!!

Now I may have already mentioned the trepidation in which I held the standard of travel for this adventure... but there is a great side story which I feel it is important for me to share!!

My travelling companion may have spoken to me about not being a Princess on our trip. Now she has denied it, but I have witnesses!!

So I was trying my best to be good! Push it down Wendy!! Push it down!! 

As you know, I had to take a cab to the airport rather than a car service (new low # 1) for a 2.30 am flight (new low # 2) flying economy (new low # 3)... are you seeing a pattern? Anyway, we arrived at the airport and I see the queue for economy (new low # 4). Good grief! Maybe Paul was right! Again, good grief! Maybe we should have left a teeny bit earlier!!

But, hang on... wait a minute... what is that? Malaysian Airlines is a member of the One World Alliance! YAY, we don't have to queue! They have a special check in place just for Wendy! So the nice lady gives us great seats... blocks out seats next to us so we can have a nice sleep! Lovely, thanks so much. Have a lovely day! Now, that feels better!!

We go through immigration. This is really another side story and has absolutely no relevance for Tips for Travelling with Wendy... or maybe just a small one.... Anyway, some background. My youngest is a slightly gassy young man. He delights in passing wind... as loudly as possible. So we are in the immigration queue and the person behind me does the loudest burp. I turned around and said "Do you mind!!??"... to this gentleman's knees... in a very firm Mom voice! Too funny! It was a distinguished Chinese gentleman!! But, he apologized!! Ooops!

Then off we go to the lounge. Took a bit of time to find. We considered giving up... but I was determined!! Ah, there it is. Much better! Now it is not the best lounge I have been in... but it is clean, and comfortable, and has food and most importantly, champagne! Life is good!

In the lounge, Josie offers for me to get an upgrade. I say no. I am being good, and we are travelling together so I will fly up the back with her with a nice big smile on my face! Besides, I just know she will tell everyone! She denies it... well she denies it a little bit! Anyway, it doesn't matter, because I am not upgrading. GOOD Wendy!

BTW, just so you know, I HATE my back-pack. What is it with all of these zips? Just so annoying. Why on earth did I leave my trusty handbag at home. With that I know where everything is. With this pesky pack, it doesn't matter which zip I open, it is the wrong one! Ggggrrrrrr! At least it is not just me, Josie hates hers too!

So we have a good flight. Got some sleep which is always a good thing. And here we are at KL Airport. It is quite nice. I see lot's of shopping opportunities for the return journey. Excellent!

We found a Dome so Josie could have some Chai. This is very important as Chai makes Josie happy. Then off to the lounge. I notice that Josie is slipping into my way of travelling very easily... perhaps a little too easily!!

We had to take a train to change terminals for our flight to Vietnam. The doors started to close as we were getting on! Oh dear, Josie jumped in... and I jumped out! And off went the train!! Oh no... what do I do... what do I do??? Hang on a minute! I travel a lot. I can take the next train and we will meet up. OK. Get on the train... but it is on the other side... is this a bad thing... I wonder if it goes to a different place... Nope, all is OK. Both trains go the same way, and we find each other and board our flight to Ho Chi Min. All is good!

We arrive in Vietnam and head off to immigration. What a total zoo!! Where is my special queue?? Actually, is this even a queue. Maybe things work differently here... peeps just keep coming up and pushing in. Aaah, at last a reason why I prefer my pack plus cycling helmet to my handbag. I can push people around with my pack - cycling helmet combo. Just kind of surreptitiously bump them.. a little.. oops, dear me, I am so sorry! Couldn't do that with my handbag... well actually I could... but not surreptitiously!! We enjoyed a lovely hour of people watching while in the "queue". Great game! Josie asked what peeps playing the same game would say about us... it is obvious... Dykes on Bikes! How inappropriate! Did I really say that out loud??

So then the return journey...

We decided not to take a Tuk-Tuk out to the airport. We would have fitted, but had visions of our luggage flying out the side as we zoomed around a corner. Might end badly. So I arrange a car service with our hotel... well a white van service, but at least it had doors!

Again, we go to the special Wendy queue. Again we get fabulous seats. Have a nice day! Again we head to the lounge! Gosh life is good. Again Josie suggests that I upgrade! She is more convincing this time that she won't tell anyone. Again I say no, it is not right! GOOD Wendy!

We had a great flight despite the minor residual concern about the missing MH370. We experienced the joys of KL airport in reverse order... Dome, limited shopping, lounge (more about that later) and a less eventful train journey!

At the lounge Jasmin arrange for a whole row of seats each with the others blocked out. YAY! Then we head into the lounge restaurant to relax and maybe have something to eat ... and maybe yes, I would love a glass of champagne! Thank you so much for asking! Aaaaahhhh Bliss! We enjoyed a relaxing couple of hours. Josie enjoyed a big steak which was what she had missed the most. I enjoyed french champagne which is on the list of the top 100 things I missed the most! Again, I couldn't help but notice just how easily Josie adjusted to the Wendy way of travelling... 

We reminisced about our amazing adventure. I am so glad that we had this opportunity. And I am so glad I shared the experience with Josie.

Had a lovely sleep all the way home. Zoomed through immigration and customs. Just a small hitch that there was no car service waiting, but we got straight into a cab and came home!

Makes me wonder though... 

A. is Josie a Princess in the making... or 

B. is Wendy really not a Princess at all? 

Maybe we should have a poll!

I say C. All of the above!!

Happy travels!!

W xx

Random Fun Bits and Funny Stories!

Talking with my kids, I keep remembering random fun bits and funny stories. I thought it might be nice to share... so in no particular order...

The wonderful local guide who said I should start cycling rather than waiting for Josie and Karen who were busy faffing around because I had very short legs! Bless him. Can't say he was a whole lot taller than me!!

My favorite nickname... Pocket Rocket! Thanks Josie! That is why you are my favorite!!

Eating Elephant ear fish! Now it was really tasty, and we were enjoying a lovely relaxing lunch with Megan and Marnie... but who comes up with these names? Just crazy!

All of the looks / smirks / comments about my penchant for invisible zinc on my face. Turns out if you don't rub it in, it is not always entirely invisible! Over time people stopped mentioning it to me... and Josie noted the other day that I looked different without a white face... but on the last day one of the girls asked if I knew I had not rubbed it in properly. Of course I said yes, but just left it there! I hate getting sunburned. Later that day she was saying she got a bit burnt! Guess what... I didn't!

Sharing my rather substandard photos with the boys... We were asked to write why we were on the adventure. This proved harder than one would think... there was so little space available. Anyway my boys, who clearly aren't gaining the full benefit of their educational opportunities wondered why I believed in GOD things and what that had to do with my ride! It is GOOD people!!

BTW - just a note on the state of my apparel. Yes, it is fabulous, thanks for noticing! It is also very grubby... but in my defense, I did have it laundered in Phnom Penh. I wonder if it was so cheap because they didn't actually wash it. Or maybe they washed it twice and that explains why it was so late getting back. I was starting to get very nervous that I would be cycling with no clothes! It certainly smelt nice and fresh!

I spent the day in Phnom Penh with Marnie. We may have gotten the tiniest little bit lost. Personally I blame the map. It must have been faulty in some way. Anyhoo, we ended up following this little old man and having a wonderful Buddhist blessing. It was so lovely and totally unexpected.

Photo bombing people at Angkor Watt. This sort of behavior is probably completely inappropriate... I should probably hang my head with shame. OK I did that. But it was still a lot of fun! And then we got separated from our guides. So I played tour guide for a group of us. Some of the messages might not have been 100% based on actual facts! But we had a wonderful time and the temple is absolutely amazing! I am so glad we had the opportunity to go there.

Cycling on the last day. Shannon had been sick on the bus on our big cycling day. So we were cycling together. It was hot and dry and hot and dusty, and did I mention it was hot? Anyhoo, I remembered how much help my friends had been for me back in the days when I was not the most fabulous cyclist in the world, so I decided to be Shannon's motivational buddy. Please don't get me wrong, she is awesome, and probably did not need my help at all... but I gave it anyway. Now on this ride the most difficult part, if you ignore the heat and dust (did I mention that already?) and the water buffalo splats from passing cars, is that we seemed to be doing a lot of uphill. Our itinerary did not mention "challenging terrain" for that day, so we were most displeased! Some of us more than others. So every time we were doing an uphill I was telling Shannon that I remembered from the last time I rode here that there was a very big downhill after this uphill. I don't understand it, but Shannon didn't seem to believe me! What is that about?? And each time there was no big downhill after an uphill she seemed to believe me less... I just don't understand it!! Anyway, we all made it! A job well done I say!!

I had two traditional Kmer massages in Cambodia. The first was at Kep which is the most wonderful seaside town. Great white beach and fabulous seafood. Our hotel had this really cool outdoor lobby. No walls or windows, just some wooden poles and a roof. And better still, we actually had some time off! I was rooming with Josie that night and she thoughtfully arranged massages for the two of us and Karen. Excellent work Josie! It was very expensive at a whopping USD 10.00 for 1 hour! I love Cambodia. Now we had to have the massage in our room. Josie went first, and I went and had a relaxing beer down at the Cabana's near the beach. When I returned to the room with my massage therapist, Josie was still there. Still having her massage. Now I don't want to speak out of school, but quite frankly I didn't know that legs could bend like that... I know that mine certainly can't! Anyhoo, I had my massage. Fully dressed. It was quite a shock. It was like a full body sport. She sat on me and pushed bits with elbows and knees and feet. It was so wonderful. I felt absolutely fabulous. The second one (again arranged by Josie) was in Phnom Phen. Again, completely fabulous!

Our disco bus! One of our wild and crazy peeps is a DJ. So to break up a particularly boring bus journey, he did an impromptu gig. It was so much fun.

Playing that's a new low. Now this could be applied to almost anything... how early we had to get up, how long the bus trip was, how bad the food was (although luckily there were very few of these, but the hot picnic lunch with rancid chicken was the lowest), the buffet breakfast with no food (I know right!?), but most often in referred to the bathroom facilities. I guides called these "Happy House". Now just so you know, a Happy House can refer to anything from a lovely western style bathroom, to a nasty hole in the ground to a tree. I am not a fan of the tree, but I have got to say by the end of the trip a tree was a really great option. In my opinion, one happy house which won the that's a new low game... because if you weren't having gastric distress before going for a visit, most likely you would have afterwards!

Lot's more to come!

Hope you enjoy!!

W xx

Burden of Proof!

So, I noticed that my blog stats have good through the roof over the last couple of days! Hooray for me!

Or is it?

I noticed that an awful lot of hits were coming from Facebook. Now I don't use Facebook I know right? Me and probably 20 other people in the world! So it was kind of strange...

So I came up with a cunning plan. I had Paul very discretely ask Josie to be his friend... just to see if she had anything to do with my recent popularity... Unlikely I know, but I do like to be thorough... And as a very good friend recently told me, I do like to analyze absolutely everything!!

Anyway, she said yes! Yay, my plan is coming together... and no-one will suspect a thing!

And goodness me! It all became very clear!

I would like to put the following facts on record:

1.  No-one can prove that I am in fact Gwendolyn...
2. Well, almost no-one...
3. And if they could, it would be scurrilous hearsay...
4. And just because I did in fact ride on Saturday morning with Shannon and Josie does not imply that my story about Sherry Shrub, Jemima Wicks and Gwendolyn Woo was in any way related...
5. And just because you read it on facebook does not make it true!

I rest my case! I know, impressive hey!?

AND of course now I have a bigger problem... All of Paul's connections will now be able to see Josie's posts on Facebook. I WORK WITH THESE PEOPLE!! SOME OF THEM ARE CLIENTS!! VERY, VERY IMPORTANT CLIENTS!!!

Oh Dear... what should I do, what should I do....

Would it be RUDE if Paul was to unfriend Josie? I have heard that unfriending can lead to much bigger problems...

BTW - below is a picture of Gwendolyn - just in case you have not been convinced...

May or may not actually be a real picture of Gwendolyn

AND do you know the worst part??? I am hearing a lot of laughing! It seems to be getting louder... but no-one has reached out to me to check if Gwendolyn will be OK!

Hang your heads in shame people! Might seem more sincere if you don't laugh while doing it! Come on... just for a second at least!

W xxx

What's in that Plastic Bag?

During our cycle I saw the most amazing range of items in plastic bags. So being as how I like a good list, I started recording what I saw!

So here as some of the more peculiar items I saw in a plastic bag:

A puppy. How strange is that? A family was walking along the side of the road with their puppy in a plastic bag. I guess walking your dog is done differently over there!

Some ducks. In a plastic bag. The bag was on the handle bars of a motor bike driving along a back street with the ducks' heads all peaking out the top taking a look at what was going on around them.

Some rather questionable looking liquids. I choose to think it was tea. Workers need a nice refreshing beverage while out in the fields for the day! If the liquid was what it actually looked like, I am not sure why people would have been carrying it around with them!

At the Plan school, all of the kids were given their morning tea in little sealed plastic bags.

Then from the markets I vendors putting healthy and nutritious protein packed food items into bags for their customers. Some were very 'normal'... fruit, vegetables, meat etc. The stranger items included snakes, frogs, crickets, cockroaches, spiders (all dead and most cooked). Mmmmmm cockroaches for dinner! Would you like rice with that?

Of course, in our group there were people who were game to try many of these local delicacies. Me, not so much. Was fun watching though! I think my personal favorite was watching the tarantulas being eaten. Apparently the hair on their legs felt particularly gross going down! I was kind of surprised that none of them came back up, so good job to my intrepid fellow travelers!

Another fave was the girl who asked if she had something stuck in her teeth. In fact the answer was yes... there was a cricket stuck in her teeth! Very elegant!


Of course the downside of all of these plastic bags is the litter. Plastic bags everywhere in the country side. Such a shame!

Speaking with our totally amazing local guides, they explained that in the past food items were carried in banana leaves which were just thrown on the ground when they were used. Now that would have worked a treat since banana leaves would be slightly more bio-degradable than plastic shopping bags. And I am thinking that there may not quite the level of services with respect to trash collection in villages in Cambodia and Vietnam as we expect in the west.

Made me think one of the things which is needed is a 'Clean Up' campaign like we have here in Australia. And that is my 2 cents!

Later Gators!

W xx