Day 3 - Hanoi

Yesterday wasn't a great day, the humidity was 300% and I felt nauseous all day.

We wandered the streets for a few hours, Garrett got hustled by a shoe repair guy and paid 250,000 VND to have his unbroken cons repaired.

Keen to escape the heat in my nauseated state, Garrett found us a shopping mall to hang in... Well shopping mall is an understatement, the Royal City Mega Mall, was indeed mega. Featuring an indoor underground version of "wet and wild" ! 

We returned to our digs for a nap, not well earned but required. 

In the evening we ventured out to find dinner, hidden in the Old Quarter we found "Green Mango" and though the food was delicious "Sweet Chicken and Cashews" my poor stomach wouldn't cope. I felt like I had offended the restaurant owner, a sweet French man who kept asking if I liked my meal. Eventually the language barrier was overcome and he understood that I was unwell and offered us a 10% discount for our next visit. 

We walked back via Hoan Kiem lake, and enjoyed watching the locals gathered by the lake, drinking "bia" and chatting. 

Day 1 - Hanoi to Sapa

Anticipating a 6:30am pick up for our bus trip to Sapa, we were up early and went for a walk at Hoan Kiem Lake. It was bustling at 5:50am, people going about their daily exercise regimes, stretching and moving to the music being broadcast on the public address system. We returned to our hostel where we enjoyed a breakfast of hot French bread, jam and fruit.

Our bus arrived at 7:10am and after several other pick ups in the old quarter we were on our way. 

5 and bit hours later we arrived in Sa Pa. After a quick bite to eat we settled into our digs. 

At 2:30pm we headed to off on our trek. There a just no words to explain the beauty of the Sa Pa valley, so I'll show you some pictures instead. 

       

                                      

                                      

 This beautiful Black Hmong woman, carried her little bubba who is just 1 month and 20 days old with her for the duration of the trek, AND she helped me down the muddy slippery hills, making sure I did not fall, total Grrrl Power right there. I thanked her by purchasing items from her that she had handmade. 

                                      

Transit

We arrived safely in Hanoi after 18 waking hours, we were ready to fall into bed. 

But not before I flooded the bathroom by accident and the AC unit dripped condensation all over the bed. 

Thankfully the time difference meant that we got a full nights sleep.

Saying See Ya Later

It was tough saying see us later to my little munchkins at Coffs Harbour airport as I flew to Sydney to meet Garrett. I have to admit this mumma had a few tears on the plane, but I know they will have a blast with Nanna Robbie and Poppop. 

As we flew in over Sydney my excitement started to build, more about seeing Garrett for the first time in 4 days than for the holiday :) 

Leaving on a jet plane

Here we go..... 

Thanks to Gem and Ally for loaning us their living room floor last night and delivering us safely to the airport. 

On being organised or the anal retentive mother

My organisational skills have gone next level this week. With under a week til fly out I have been busy making sure that everything is in place for the kids to have a hassle free time while they sleep over at Nanna Robbie and Poppop's house. 

Naturally we planned our holiday to have the least impact on the kids, 2 of our three weeks away they will be with their dad. Nanna Robbie recently underwent an Orthoroscopy. She is still recovering and using a walking frame to get around, so Poppop will be stepping up the the plate to care for the kids. To make his job a bit easier I have packed lunches (minus the sandwiches and fruit) into snap lock bags all labelled with names and dates. 

Today I packed their clothes in the exact same ways to help minimise the amount of washing that Poppop might have to do. 

Of course Garrett has been shaking his head at me all day, but I am happy to report he to is now packed, for both his Performing Arts Tour and our honeymoon. It's a good thing because he departs tomorrow !

Over Excitement or I need to pack now Syndrome

Yes, I am that person, I had a preliminary pack 2 weeks ago. The blessing of it still being winter here and travelling to hot and humid Southeast Asia is that my summer clothes are currently not in rotation!

I spent this morning re-assessing my outfits and other bits and pieces. I am happy to say, I am a pretty casual dresser and 90% of my wardrobe consists of black so packing mix and match outfits is really a breeze. Here is a picture of my creased up clothing.

Navy shorts, black shorts, black 3/4 fisherman pants, black long fisherman pants, jungle print shorts. 

Black T, rust tank, black tank, black T, green tank. 

Print cover-up, black cover-up, black maxi dress.

8 x underwear,2 bras 1 x bikini (not pictured)

I'm not the fussy beauty type either, I like to keep it pretty simple every day so deciding what to take was easy. I did get a few travel beauty recommendations from friends, like the solid shampoo and conditioner, I've given it a test run and i think it will do the job.

Toothbrush and Lush Toothy Tabs, Lush Jason and the Argan Oil Solid Shampoo, Lush Jungle Conditioner , nak 60 second treatment for my super dry bleached ends on the recommendation of my good friends at Twisted Scissors Hair, Milk and Honey body wash, Nivea Deodorant Cream, Bushman Insect repellent and Thank You hand sanitiser. 

For me down-sizing from my oversized Status Anxiety Passing Moments handbag to something more travel friendly has been the biggest challenge. I decided that as it will only be in used for a few weeks quality and colour were not really that important, it was layout that was most important; it has to fit all the essentials but still be compact. I think i won, with this little number that i picked up on 40% off at Strandbags. 

Loving my knock-off Chanel purse that i picked up on a previous trip to Thailand, it has lots of different sections, good for sorting different currencies. My Ciao Bella orange leather travel wallet was a gift to myself, because I was sick of the ever growing pile for booking paperwork in my handbag. Passport obviously an essential, Phone and earphones for comms and tunes, more hand sanitiser and some earplugs. ( not pictured - lip balm) 

So i think i am ready to go..... but i have to wait 18 more days 

Edited to Add : Garrett has not even thought about packing, I am simultaneously distressed and humoured.