For the first time in many years I got to spend Mothers Day with my daughter. As any Mum will tell you spending time with your kids is something that gets more precious as the years go by. They now have their own lives and families to think about and so despite my dislike of commercialising these things I always milk Mothers Day for all I can get! I have the fondest memories of waking up to a cup of tea or breakfast in bed when they were little, faces so bright with excitement at the prospect of me opening their various ‘gifts’ – made at pre school and with such love – well let’s face it, who wouldn’t love a necklace made from pasta shapes or a card with a pop out section containing a teabag?? Nowadays I’m a happy chappy if I get to share a meal with them or, now that we live so far away, a whole weekend together. They usually indulge me, happily letting me ramble on about the old days only occasionally telling me that I’ve told that story a thousand times before!! The older they get the more nostalgic they are getting too and they quite enjoy flipping through our old photo albums, remembering a surprisingly large amount of details from their youth. Anyway I digress….!! To celebrate this year Lauren had arranged for us girls to go into the beautiful Hotel des Artes in central Saigon to enjoy some cocktails overlooking the city with a couple of her girlfriends,  a chance to throw on a frock and enjoy some girly chat and the gorgeous surrounds. The men folk were happy to be left at home as they were making the most of our absence to meet up with a few blokes to play shuffleboard and have a few beers whilst watching Liverpool play in a local sports bar. Happiness all round!

 

We were very lucky with the weather during our trip, it was the beginning of the rainy season and every day it was hot, around 33 degrees and you could feel the air getting thicker as the humidity increased. You just hoped it would pour down and be done with it, but somehow if there was any rain it was at night or while we were out of town. The electrical storms were quite something though and one of Lauren’s friends took this at exactly the right moment! This is the tallest building in Saigon and makes for quite a photo!

The humidity and year round tropical temperatures make for some beautiful flowers and greenery and they make a huge difference to the local area. HCMC is an urban jungle in a seemingly permanent stage of construction but the profusion of plants gives the whole place a feeling of a tropical paradise with the added benefits of softening the buildings and providing some well needed shade. It makes me wish I could paint!

 

As we will miss Lozzy’s 30th birthday later this year, we decided to take her away for a weekend to a lovely little eco resort called Mango Bay on the island of Phu Quoc, only a 30 minute plane trip but a million miles away from the hustle and bustle of HCMC. Located on 10 hectares of beachfront land 10km north of Duong Dong, the island’s main town, the ethos of Mango Bay is to create something close to nature, an unpretentious resort that is the antithesis of luxury. Here, despite the size of the land, there are only 44 rooms and villas, each unique and each hidden away from the beach. Built either with rammed earth or acacia, the colour and the materials enable the bungalows to merge seamlessly with the surrounding land. Set under the trees native to the island — tropical almond, acacia, ficus and fishtail palms — and surrounded by foliage, the majority of the shrubs planted on the land, the likes of crepe myrtle and red-flowering hibiscus, also come from Phu Quoc. There is no swimming pool, only the sea. Sand hasn’t been imported and rocks have not been removed to extend the two, yellow-sand beaches into something more user-friendly; here they remain as they were found. There are no heavily manicured flowerbeds or perfectly paved paths. Instead, the land, while loosely landscaped, has been kept natural — the only testament to the words ‘holiday’ and ‘resort’ come in the form of the banana leaf roofed bungalows.

 

After a day spent reading, playing local Saigon Monopoly and Scrabble, immersing ourselves in the VERY warm ocean in a vain attempt to cool down, eating delicious Vietnamese salads, drinking from fresh coconuts, afternoon snoozes in the generous hammocks under a lazily turning ceiling fan and generally enjoying life, we geared up for the main event that occurs from about 5pm with people gathering on the huge deck overlooking the bay in readiness for the most beautiful sunsets. Happy hour spans 3 hours which makes the cocktails as cheap as beer and as the sun slipped below the horizon and we ate fragrant blue swimmer crab in the balmy warmth of the evening all was well with my world. Watching the local fishermen coming home, silhouetted by the golden setting sun was a picture that will stay with me for ever.

 

The MOTH decided that the time had finally come for him to have a go at yoga. He has no flexibility and a sore back so it was never going to be easy but under the mid afternoon sun he stripped off and had a go together with a few other people and it was great to see him stretching out like the best of them and it is something we may consider doing together now we’re home as we have a beautiful yoga shala in Berry. He’d had a bit of a rough trot that day as he was first stung by a decent sized jellyfish (he never saw it but the welts criss crossed his arms and chest so it must have been fairly big!!) and then whilst showering in our eco outdoor shower he felt something on his back and asked me to get it off. It was a huge tear drop shaped spider and I was so scared I was going to make it angry and it would either bite him or scurry into our bedroom I apparently “took my sweet time” in removing it!! The next morning we saw huge webs strung between the palm trees and I think that is where our not so eensy weensy spider came from!!

 

We had purposely booked late flights back to HCMC so we could enjoy an extra day doing absolutely nothing and we felt extremely relaxed by the time we headed to the airport. A day spent snorkelling, eating, reading and game playing….heaven!

 

Then all of a sudden our holiday was nearly over and we had that awful “oh my goodness we only have two nights left” feeling and a sense of impending gloom at saying goodbye AGAIN. We made the most of it though, meeting her for lunch near her work, having a great dinner at their favourite local Italian, a two hour breakfast cruise through Saigon before our ‘Last Supper’ at a terrific Vietnamese restaurant Ann Quan, just around the corner from Lauren’s office. They serve amazing food as well as the local beer hoi, served in icy steel containers and unbelievably (after a long fortnight of less than perfect temperature beer) on our very last night, it was finally “Australian” cold! Any of you that know any Aussies will know that the beer is NEVER cold enough for them in any other country of the world. No matter if the outside temperature is below zero they still want it freezing!! Crazy Aussies!!

 

I have never been a beer drinker, I’ve tried a few times and after a few mouthfuls I’m over it. Vietnam on this trip however has opened my taste buds to a lighter type of beer and it really is the perfect drink in a hot climate. Wine here is nearly non-existent, of dubious quality AND expensive so I joined in with the beer hoi and found I actually loved it!! It may or may not have helped me say goodbye without crying too much….

 

So we are now back in The Meadow where winter has arrived all of a sudden and we are snuggling up in front of the fire and eating slow cooked food, the complete opposite of our time in Vietnam! Our amazing house sitters had looked after Bailey a treat, she was so spoiled with love I don’t think she missed us for a minute! They also insisted on cooking for us our first night home and I felt delightfully childlike as they took over our kitchen and made the most amazing meal for us. A perfect end to a wonderful holiday, thanks so much guys!

 

Undeniably the mobile phones of today are extremely useful when travelling. We used them primarily to communicate (where would I be without Whatsapp???) but also to use Google Maps to find out where we were going, to order our GRAB car, to hear our music playlists, to check on the state of the bank account, receive emails, as a camera, we even checked in at the airport on them, so they have become THE go to item for travellers. Hard as it was we really tried to have days when we didn’t use them, even take them out with us, and we missed them every single time! It made us realise how VERY much we are now attached to them. It is the love/hate relationship of today’s age and I just love this picture which seems to sum it all up beautifully; whilst everyone around her is busy capturing the moment on the phone this dear old lady is just IN it, taking it all in the old fashioned way!! Bravo.