A Treat

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The monsoon is really starting to kick in here in HCMC, with driving rain every afternoon sending street vendors scurrying and causing mopeds to pull over so the passengers can put on their 2-headed ponchos.

We’ve finally gotten wise to weather and went out this morning to the Ho Chi Minh City museum, getting back to our hotel in time to do afternoon homeschool while it bucketted down outside.

Once the weather had cleared and the girls’ brains couldn’t take any more educatin’, we figured we deserved a treat, so walked up to the nearest ice cream parlour: Fanny Ice Cream.

If ever a sign deserved a photo…

Busy Doing Nothing in Hoi An

Posted on June 18, 2014 by Janet

It’s been good to slow down.

Instead of hurtling across the continent on various forms of public transport, trying to cram in as much as possible before our visa expires, we’ve chosen to spend the last 10 days moving no further than a couple of square miles, settling into our new Vietnamese lifestyle.

Our days consist of morning yoga, a leisurely breakfast, a trip to the market & the deli to buy the day’s provisions, back to our bungalow for home school, and then either a stroll around the town, a trip out or simply spending the rest of the day in the pool.

In many ways, I feel we are seeing more of the country, not less, by doing so. Travelling with children is a different experience. We’ve got past the stage where all the old ladies at the market shout “Sing-ba! Sing ba!” (triplets) over the entire area and create a mini-crowd-surge of excitement around us. They know us now, and are very welcoming, and very funny. We talk to them in English, they reply in Vietnamese, and we seem to get along just fine. For the first time in the trip, the girls have been able to enjoy the pleasure of exploring a really good fresh food market, and finding out what all the ‘funny stuff’ is, without being hassled. It’s lovely.

We’ve also found ourselves a great place to stay. We have a ground floor flat in Botanic Garden Homestay, with 2 bedrooms, a living room and a little kitchen. There’s space for the kids to play, and a little swimming pool to cool down in. We got a good deal for our longer stay, and are compensating for our wild overspend in Hong Kong! It’s lovely to be able to cook together and we’ve even attempted some old favourites – spag bol and bangers & mash have banished our home food cravings.

So what’s next? We’ve just extended our stay for another week, so more of the same. There’s some ancient Cham ruins, and a couple of promising beaches that will make good excursions. But mostly we’ll be staying right here. And loving it.

Ferg trying to fit into a Vietnamese sized bed on the night train from Saigon to Da Nang (only 17 hours Ferg, don’t worry)

Arriving in Da Nang, backpacks in tow

Janet attempting to explain Cham culture to 8 year old triplets

The awesome dragon bridge in Da Nang

Our cookery course in Hoi An

Our local market in Hoi An

The vegetables are lovely and fresh

More fresh veg for sale

Fish of all shapes and sizes are available…mostly unfamiliar to us!

Ferg has a little trouble reaching our favourite stall

Here’s our favourite market lady who gives us the best prices!

We don’t look like tourists at all!

A bridge in Hoi An’s old town

Evie making spaghetti bolognaise

Jemima’s spring rolls

Little chef Scarlett

Sausage and mash in 35 degree heat (it’s OK, we ate it in the air con)

Tucking into a home cooked meal

There Can Be Only One!

Posted on June 12, 2014 by Fergus

Can you help us resolve a family dispute? This is serious. Without your help I don’t know what we’ll do. Normally, we can sort out differences as they occur but this time, I’m not sure anyone is willing to back down. We need outside help.

See, the problem is this: who was the best Bruce Lee when we visited his statue in Hong Kong?

Here’s the evidence:

Ferg vs. Bruce Lee

Janet vs. Bruce Lee

Jemima vs. Bruce Lee

Scarlett vs. Bruce Lee

Evie vs. Bruce Lee

So? Who is the ultimate martial arts master?

Hong Kong in Pictures

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Posted on June 11, 2014 by Fergus

This gallery contains 41 photos.

Sleep Pile

Posted on June 10, 2014 by Fergus

The Croods sleeping in a pile in their cave – how it sometimes seems when we’re in a small room

Tonight I feel a bit lonely.

For the first time in many months of travelling with children, my kids aren’t sharing my room. In a bid to combat the travel weariness we’re all feeling, we have decided that it might do us good to stay still for more than 3 days at a time, so on arriving here in Hoi An, we have booked into a “bungalow”* for a whole week.

It seems huge. Me and Janet have our own bedroom. Our girls have their own bedroom. And what’s more, there’s not just a separate living room but a separate kitchenette, too! All very exciting.

Except I miss the snuffles and shuffles of my little girls moving around in their sleep. I won’t know if they wake up in the night. And when I wake up first tomorrow – as I usually do – I won’t be witness to them coming to.

Personal space is something I always felt I needed, but its necessity has faded somewhat in nine months of being squashed together with Janet and my kids in a variety of small hotel rooms. And all the tiny, single-room houses we’ve seen, sometimes with whole families sleeping in one bed or just on floor mats, I guess have normalized the experience.

So, while it’s nice to have some space, to be able to stretch out and not tip-toe around after bedtime… the thought of going home to a whole big house seems perturbing. What will we do with all that space? Will we drift apart?

It’ll seem lonely without occasionally hearing Evie fall out of bed, Jemima start sucking her thumb or Scarlett wriggling around as she struggles to drop off to sleep.

It’s undoubtedly trying to all squeeze in together – just the thought of all the evening spent reading my kindle in the dark while shushing overtired children in the next bed or sorting out the umpteenth argument over who’s elbow touched who’s bottom makes me feel awash with frustration. But it does have its compensations. I really appreciate our current closeness. And I’ll miss it when it’s gone.

PS. The title is a reference to The Croods, where the whole family sleep in a big pile in their cave. Not something I have much trouble relating to, having spent much of the last eight years covered in triplets.

* The term Bungalow is used very loosely by our hotel – we are on the ground floor of a three floor building.

Newsflash!

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Due to unexpectedly cheap tickets appearing on Skyscanner, we are going to Hong Kong for 3 nights! Today!

A Jungle Journey — A Swampy Surprise and an Anty Attack!

Posted on June 1, 2014 by Janet

by Jemima Hadley

It was on the second day of our boat trip to see orang-utans in Borneo when it happened. We were on a muddy river in the south of Borneo which, after one day on a boat, became a glossy, black river even though it was clean.

We were going on a walk to see orangutans. The walk took us along rotting, wobbling planks that often went underwater. We had to keep on the planks because they kept you off the mud. If you stood on the bed of leaves resting on mud you would sink past your knees if you were a child. The planks that were above the water sometimes bent under. We found out that you sink in the mud when there was a round, fallen tree instead of a plank. Evie decided to walk in the swamp so she got in and started to walk towards the next plank. She was almost there when she took one step and SQUISH! She was up to her bum in – mud!

When we pulled her out again her feet were covered in gunk so we washed her shoes. We carried on.

: Arriving at Camp Leakey

: The planks we had to walk along

: Information about the world-famous Camp Leakey research centre

Soon the swamp ended and the pain began! Bum – bum – bum! There was jungle on either side as we walked along every now and again the guide pointing out fire ants. We stopped to look at a stick insect when our guide said, “Owch!” and moved away! We moved after him, then we realised we had been standing in a fire ant patch. I realised I was still in it and sprinted quite far away. Evie started crying, Daddy picked her up and swatted the fire ants off her feet and hurried up to me. He didn’t get bitten. Tettie and Mummy went back the way we came to get out of the patch. Daddy went back and carried Tettie back through the patch. Mummy ran.

When we were safe Evie realised she had 5 bites. I cried in sympathy and cuddled Daddy and we went on.

Fire ants – nasty little things!

After loads more sprinting through fire ant patches and leaping over lines that crossed the path we reached the long wooden walkway and started to walk along it.

When we reached the boat we had a rest then realised it was orangutan feeding time and hurried off. There were no fire ants on the way. There were loads of orangutans when we got there. About 16. The guide book said you were lucky to see 4 or 5. We saw an enormous orangutan who we thought was Tom (the biggest, strongest orangutan in the forest – the king).

We thought this was Tom

As we went back, we saw the real Tom lying on the ground. He was even bigger than the other one! We looked at him for a bit, then we went to look at the visitor centre.

There were loads of fire ants crawling around the steps and we had to sprint through them and run up the steps then quickly take off our shoes. We looked and Mummy, Daddy, Tettie and Evie all had fire ants on their shoes. I was the only one who didn’t.

We had a look inside the visitor centre. There was a family tree inide and lots of other interesting things. I learned that the longest living orangutan lived to 58, but I’ve forgotten his name. It began with G.

On the way back there were possibly more fire ants outside the steps. We put on our shoes; the fire ants had crawled off them. Our guide had said that the best way was to walk slowly through them as there were gaps all along the patch. Daddy tried and at the very end a fire ant got him. He didn’t complain except saying, “Owch, one got me!” Mummy went and carried Evie across the path, running. Then our guide carried me and did the slow method meaning that I got the longest ride. Daddy went back and ran with Tettie, who yelled, “I’m on a dinosaur!”

On the way back to the boat, we saw Tom in a tree. Our guide tried to feed him bananas by putting them at the base of the tree, but he wasn’t hungry.

But this was Tom!

We went back to the wooden walkway and started to walk along it. Daddy dangled me over the swamp which the walkway was built over. Then we started talking about how Mummy would get really cross if I lost my shoe in the swamp. Then slop! Tettie’s shoe was in the swamp! Our guide stepped off the walkway, into a tree and just about managed to pull it back and give it to her, then climb back onto the walkway himself.

A couple of minutes later we were back on our boat and we could carry on with our beautiful boat adventure. After a painful and sloppy explore, we were glad to be back on the boat at last.

Orangutans kissing, while the smaller babay hangs off the side

Orangutans kissing, while the smaller baby hangs off the side

Spot the Komodo

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Trekking across Komodo Island, our guide managed to spot every dragon we passed but I have no idea how.They’re incredibly well-camouflaged against the dry forest and grasses of the island.

This was taken from the path we were following through a forest clearing. There’s a komodo dragon in full view here, using their preferred hunting technique – remain completely still and rely on camouflage until prey wanders close enough to leap at,