Bonus Week 55 – The final days… Delhi and Dubai

‘I choose to be free’

[How this works is, each week, I will write to someone on my list, picked randomly and I will post it online on this blog – just in case the letter doesn’t reach its destination.  The letter includes a card with a random quote, which I hope you will enjoy (at the top of this blog page).]

The last page of our travels.

This has been the last week of our year of travel adventures.  It is odd to be back and in our house, but I’ll write more about that in the future.  It’s just hard to imagine what we’ve managed to see and do in one year!

This week has definitely ended us on a high.  We headed back to Delhi and we got to see a few sites we had missed on our first time through.  Our first stop was the Bahai ‘Lotus’ Temple.  Bahai is a religion which embraces all religions.  It was a beautiful, peaceful and quiet place.

Lotus Temple, Delhi

We, then, headed off to see the India Gate which is a huge memorial to those who gave their lives in WW II.  John had tried to see this memorial two other times, so third time lucky!

India Gate

We did a last stop shop of arts and crafts at the Dilli Haat.  A lovely market like area where I had a gentleman even paint some art on my thumb nail!

Art on my thumb!

One thing I did that I could carry with me for a few days was to get my hands henna-ed.  He put two peacocksand – without my knowing it – theTaj Mahal – how cool is that?!

Henna on hands

Just before we arrived home we had a few days in Dubai and, like Singapore, this city grows on me every time I go there.  I had arranged a desert safari which included a falcon show, jeep ride in the dunes, a beautiful sunset, dinner in the desert, a camel ride and a belly dancer. (see photos at bottom of blog from this tour!)

To top the end of my trip off, I met with an old highschool friend living in the UAE.

Norm and I

We went around Dubai to see some ‘culture’ which started with an awesome visit to a local mosque.

We had an incredible talk from our guide – highly recommend going there and learning more about the muslim faith.

Jumeirah Mosque

We saw the famous Burj Khalifa tower,

Like my new hat?

the fish tank in the mall,

Dubai Mall

the diving sculptures,

Divers fountain

ice rink

Ice Rink – Dubai

and, of course, tea!

Laduree Cafe, Dubai Mall

What a great way to end a year of travel, now what to next…?!  Well, watch this space, there are plans a foot…I may not know them all, but I know that there is change in the air!

Happy travels,

Debx

Photos from our safari in the desert:

Falcon display

Jeep Ride in Dunes

Jeep Ride in Dunes

John in desert

The desert and me!

Sunset

Camp in desert

seating area if you wanted to try the arabian smoking pipes

pots

seating area

camp

kitchen

lamps

camel ride

camels

belly dancer

belly dancer

belly dancer

11th month – May Video Blog

Below is my video blog on our travels round the world on you tube from May:

Week 44 – Feast for the Senses – Hanoi, Vietnam

‘Just because something isn’t happening for you right now doesn’t mean that it will never happen.’

[How this works is, each week, I will write to someone on my list, picked randomly and I will post it online on this blog – just in case the letter doesn’t reach its destination.  The letter includes a card with a random quote, which I hope you will enjoy (at the top of this blog page).]

Flags of Hanoi, Vietnam

This week in Hanoi, Vietnam has been a real treat.  We are right in the heart of the old quarter near Hoan Kiem Lake – there’s a great fable about this lake (check out the link.)  Each morning they do all sorts of calisthenics around this lake and surrounding streets.

During the day time it’s a city of never-ending noise from Roosters crowing to horns honking – I love it.  It has such energy and seems to be always moving – even if crossing the street can feel like mayhem on wheels.  There seems to be a gentle understanding of fluidity – horns honk, but there’s no real aggression expressed – not like a New York cabbie!  Just a gentle warning and then move on – swim around you.  I like it, as there seems to be a good awareness.  You can’t become complacent and assume you know what will happen, but need to be flexible to step aside or stop as needs be.  It looks and sounds worse than it is.  It’s better than in Western driving when you are always second guessing who will ‘run that traffic light’ – here they just do and you just go around it.

Crazy Streets of Hanoi

Celebrations for the Labour Day and Re-Unification of Vietnam

This has been a week of holidays – they’ve had Labour Day and Re-Unification Day, so it’s been a lot of flags

Communist flags of Vietnam

and fireworks.

Fireworks

We’ve managed to see some of the main tourist sites – Temple of Literature (1,000 years old),

Temple of Literature

the ‘Maison Centrale’ or ‘Hanoi Hilton’ or Hanoi Prison (interesting political history of Vietnam),

Hanoi Prison

Water Puppets,

Water Puppets

Night Market,

Night Market

Temples,

Temple

Ho Chi Minh Museum

Ho Chi Minh Museum

and one-pillar pagoda,

One Legged Pagoda

Ethnology Museum (great place for cultural history of Vietnam)

Village Hut – this is a matriarchal home, with 2 entrances the one with the breasts is for ladies and guests. It’s polite to grab the breasts when you enter.

and an example of an old house in the old quarter.

Old House

Part of this we did on our own and part was with Hanoikids – a free tour guide run by local students to help them improve their conversational English.  Really great opportunity to meet and talk with a local and see places you wouldn’t normally see.

John with our Hanoikid guide – Lê Phương Vũ

This is the first place we’ve been where theft, haggling and dodging cons is just a part of the tourist life.  We’ve had people who try to fix our ‘broken’ shoes to taxis with quickly rising fares.  So far, we’ve managed to dodge, but none of it takes away from the wonderous world that is Hanoi!  Such a great place to be introduced to.  What are some of your nightmare experiences with travel?

Communist freedom fighters statue

Debx

7th month – January Video Blog on You Tube

Below is the link to my video blog on you-tube from January: