Culture, beaches galore and a downpour

From Hanoi we took an overnight sleeper train for 12 hours south along the coast to Hue. Much more comfortable than the one we had in Thailand, there were only 4 beds to a cabin, and I was able to get a much needed 8 hours sleep at least.

Hue is the old capital of Vietnam, and as such is afforded a lot of prestige by the locals. While thereare a lot of tombs to visit, plus a citadel, Matt and I only stayed here for a day and a night. We didmanage to squeeze in a visit to the Citadel, what was the Emperor's abode back in the day, but I must say I was rather disappointed with it. It is rather extensive, as you might expect, with various buildings dedicated to family members and specific activities, and the years have not been particularly kind to it. It has obviously been maintained to a certain extent, but at least half of it is covered in scaffolding and rather dilapidated. I must admit to getting slightly disillusioned with it and not seeing the final third, however Matt assures me it was the best part. I'll try and get some pics off him.

We'd rented some bikes again for the day, and spent an hour looking for the tomb of Tu Duc (somebody important way back when). I actually really enjoyed this. Rather than just a tomb, you find yourself in a walled estate some 2 hectares big, housing the tomb itself, but also living quarters, a lake, a boathouse and various other accoutrement. This was also used as a summer home for various members of royalty, hence the living quarters and plush landscaping. Apparently there are other tombs and temples which still sport bullet holes left over from the Vietnam conflict in the 60's and bit of the 70's, but we weren't able to travel far enough to find those, much to my disappointment.

From Hue to Hoi An was a short (4 hour) bus ride in relative comfort. One of my favourite places so far, it has oodles of charm, from the French architecture to the beach to the people themselves. The best English speaking by far, old or young even the street sellers and those walking around with books or cigarettes have a lexicon and understanding of our language which surpassed my expectations. We were able to rent bicycles and pedal the 4km to the beach, which was stunning. We ate amazing food in restaurants styled after the Spanish, Italian and French palettes. One of the only things we didn't do was buy a suit from one of the 100+ tailor shops in town. Pretty much every girl we spoke to however had bought a dress or two, and so we felt like they'd bought enough for all of us. We ran into people we'd met in Hanoi (not really that surprising) and had a very good few days of it, including some girls from Melbourne who've offered to show us around when we're there.

Unfortunately time constraints proved restrictive, and after only two nights there we were on yet another overnight sleeper bus to Nah Trang. I shouldn't really be writing about it as we're still here, but this town is like the Miami of Vietnam. Taller buildings, rather commercial, but boy oh boy is the beach a gem. Actually forget about that, the best bit really does have to be the food. Yes I know I've raved about it at pretty much each place I've been, but when you eat out every night, you get a taste for what is good and what isn't. This evening I had a delicious plate of pan-fried swordfish (I saw them take mine out of the tank) accompanied by sauteéd potatoes with bacon and rice. How much did I pay? 80,000 Dong, or for those in the UK, less than 4 quid. For everything. Add on the free cocktail on entrance (tasted like tropical fruit juice) and a free beer, and really, I could stay here forever. The rest of the food has easily been on a par. The only slight dampener on the trip was the explosive storm we had earlier, which left the main streets flooded up to our knees, but even that isn't enough to put me the slightest bit off Nah Trang.

We've spoken to a couple of war vets, including one guy who worked as an interpreter to the American Army when he was 16. It's a rather depressing tale, as once the US forces packed up and turned tail, he was left to deal with the victorious North Vietnamese Communist regime. This entailed four (yes, 4) years of 're-education' where he was taught how to be a 'true Vietnamese citizen'. As a result, nearly 40 years on and he has been left in the lurch. He was never given a job due to his activities with the Americans, and while government policy is now a form of free socialism, i.e. if you have money you can run your own business etc., he has neither the wherewithal nor the skills to either run a business, nor be employed it seems.

Snorkelling and diving are the main reasons to come here, and tomorrow with some luck we snorkel (Matt caught a bit of sun yesterday and is in pain, he's very lobsterish right now) but if we don't do that, then there are some hotsprings and natural mudbaths to visit, followed by a massage. More on that later...

Vietnam - Hanoi to Halong Bay

So we arrived in Hanoi. 14 hours on a local minivan and an arrival time of nearly 11pm didn't exactly leave us in the best of moods. We knew the hostel we were looking for, found it, found it was the most we'd pay to date for a bed even though it was in a 4 bed dorm, but too tired to do anything else we took it.


Crossing the road in Hanoi

And we're very glad we did. The Backpackers Hostel is pretty much the gathering point in Hanoi for backpackers and travellers. It's renowned for doing superb tours to Halong Bay, and after considering other significantly cheaper options, we went for their one.

After two nights in Hanoi, we found it to be fun, but expensive. Very expensive. Notwithstanding, the food is probably the best quality for both Asian and Western food we've found, so I guess the mark up in price is relatively justified. It's extremely commercial, and the street vendors and shop keepers are easily the most intense we've come across so far. They will initially invite you into their shop or to buy something, but no is not good enough, and they will continue to try at least 3 more times before letting you be. Also if you do want to buy something, bear in mind it will be severely marked up - I bought a lighter which was originally priced at 300,000 dong, about 12 quid. After haggling, I got it for 50k.

Other than shopping and eating and drinking, there are a number of museums dedicated to the war ('look how we repelled the agressive and wrongful American forces') Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum (where you can see 'him' preserved for eternity, though it looks slightly like a waxwork, and apparently his wish was to be cremated) or, and this for me was the better option, go to see the Prison. This was built in the late 19thC by the Colonial French. Looking through it, you see many awful examples of what life would have been like, and the fact it had its own guillotine, the victims of whose heads would later be displayed, should go some way to giving you a feel for it. One of the more interesting facts is that Senator John McCain was incarcerated here during the Vietnam war, and pictures line the walls. After 20 minutes I was bored.

On the third morning it was time to go on the tour, so at 8am I nursed my hangover onto a bus for 3 hours. We arrived in Halong Bay and were immediately taken to our boat. And what a boat. The rooms were nicer than most of the places we'd stayed in previously, and it had an almost inexhaustible supply of beer. Sweet.

We started the afternoon with a 2 hour kayak trip through the islands. These are basically large rock clusters left over from violent volcanic eruptions eons ago, and are a sight to behold. They are populated by monkeys, which we saw, and by Chinese Eagles which we also saw. The water was very still, and the kayaking was a bit more strenuous than most people expected, but it was fun nonetheless. Back on the boat, we had food (which was superb) and spent the evening jumping off the side of the boat (6-7m high) and getting drunk. I was in bed by 2am, but some people were still jumping in and going for swims at 7am, coincidentally when we had to get up for brekky.

Our second day was spent doing a trek 200m straight up and down pretty much, and then free time in the afternoon.

We'd arrived on Cat Ba island, a beautifully secluded bay with a number of top hotels, and again, we were put in something way above the quality we'd become accustomed. I was pooped and managed to fall asleep on the beach, but that evening we were on the sauce again. While having our dinner outside a restaurant, a few guys came round offering massages for a half hour where we sat, and a few of us took them up on it - not bad at all.

We'd become friends with a French girl called Celine who was staying an extra day, so Matt and I decided to do the same. We used that day productively, renting a motorbike (first time driving one with gears, don't know what took me so long cos it's great!) and visiting a war-time hospital which was built in a natural cave. It's quite awesome and slightly eerie, and the Ho Chi Minh song our guide sang for us echoed right the way through (Ho Chi Minh being the Vietnamese leader who successfully (or not depending on your view point) fought off the Americans during the war, and whose name replaced the name of Saigon). According to one of the signs, apparently you're not meant to take in explosives. I found I could probably make do without.

A quick aside about riding bikes here as the rules of the highway are simple: focus on what's in front of you, and let what's behind you take care of itself. There is a lot of over- and undertaking in this country, and bikers will frequently jump red lights and drive on the wrong side of the road (technically the correct side is the right). Drive as fast as you are comfortable, and ALWAYS give way to vehicles bigger than you (which is pretty much everything else). Stick to this, and barring bad luck you should be fine.

It's a similar state of affairs when crossing the road. Regardless of how much traffic there is, simply begin to walk slowly but steadily. You will find bikes and cars whizzing past, but they do all the work in avoiding you. I've posted a video of this on youtube but have lost the link. When I find it, I'll stick it back up!

We've since been to Hue for a day (the old capital) and we're now in Hoi An, which is great, but that will be added in a new post.

Interlude - Laos

**Updates at the bottom in red!**

In my previous blogs I've put more emphasis on what we've done and how we've done it rather than describe the actual Laos lifestyle and the type of thing you can expect there.

As I've been on buses for 44 hours in the past 120, I'll start with that.

The bus drivers are maniacs. But that's ok, because all the other road users are all so laid back. Taking an overnight sleeper bus is fine, provided you're not at the front, but that's where we were. We took a King of Bus from Pakse to Vientiane, and as we boarded we were rather impressed with the conditions, it seemed the beds were actually big enough for us. However, in building it some Laotian dude must have started putting beds back at the back, and when they got to the front, found they only hade 5ft left. So the debate must have raged, what do they do about it? The upshot seems to have been sod it, let's just put another bed in, but instead of giving them to our own 5ft nothing locals, we'll make sure we give them to westerners. And laugh about it.

Ha bloody ha. If we wanted to stretch our legs out, we had to sit up, and if we were lying down, our feet were bent back to our bums. Still, we managed it. Didn't really manage to see the countryside on that particular journey in between the 20 second sleeping fits between honking horns and wild swerves, but at least 30 hours on our local buses have been during the day.

A local bus is exactly that. No aircon (not that we needed it as it's been raining the past 4 days) but cramped in with Laotians, whose grannies and young kids alike hock a loogie out the window every few minutes. Add some chickens to the mix, suicidal cows stepping in front of us moving at 80km an hour plus the windiest roads outside of the Alps, and you're in for a treat. Maybe something of a miracle but we ran over nothing, bovine or otherwise.

That's the buses. They're fine, but I'm happy not to take another one for a few days at least.

Lets talk about the country itself. In a word, beautiful. The mist on the mountains, both above and below you, plus the views into the valleys, fully cultivated and ready for the rain to flood their rice paddies are breathtaking. Again no pictures as the lethargy of bus rides simply left me without the will to reach the 6 inches into my pocket for my phone. In these mountains, you pass numerous villages, all made out of bamboo or wood, and extremely well constructed. And not low down, I mean right at the top. What's amazing is that among these buildings, you will see satellite dishes the size of horses adorning their gardens. Apparently they have some creature comforts. But not many. You pass people of all ages on these roads, kids sometimes cycling to school (probably a good 20km away) otherwise villagers making the trip to or from their abode on supply runs. On bicycles, or walking. Add the heat and the rain, and this can't be pleasant. Still, they do it, and they survive, and frankly it amazes me. I'm not completely sure why they built their communities at such altitudes and in seemingly improbable areas, but they have, and they make it work.

As you get into flatter land, these villages are still as numerous, however you see more uses of electricity, and occasionally a mansion. And I do mean a mansion. Constructed in a sort of Spanish Villa style, these are normally 3-4 stories tall, and huge. I'd live there. And I'm picky. They have more livestock/poultry flaoting about in the lowlands as well, but as I've mentioned there are still plenty up on those twisty-turny roads, complete with mad cow or water buffalo looking for that one bus to come along and hit it.

One thing I haven't mentioned is how these local buses also act as a form of informal courrier/postal service. On each journey we took, multiple stops were made (seemingly in the middle of nowhere so how they knew where to stop and at which shack who knows) and a parcel (or chicken) would be offloaded.

There was the option to get a flight from Vientiane to Hanoi for about $20 more than it cost us to bus it, and cut our journey time to 3 hours or so (maybe less) but being the only westerners on our journey for 3 days, we've found that our journey has gotten us closer to the Lao people. We've been shown generosity in the way they share their food without thinking or expecting anything back from us. Yes we get stared at somewhat, and we were cramped as anything for most of the time (normally with a toothless old granny falling asleep on us to boot) but having not travelled the normal routes has shown us a lot more than I belive most people would see.

Our full journey from Pakse to Hanoi stopped off at Vientiane, Phonsavanh and Xam Neua if you want to look them up on a map so you can get some idea of the distance we've covered (unfortunately google maps is crap and doesn't have most cities, and Vientiane is labelled Viang Chang). Now I've done it once I'd probably take a flight next time, but if you can take cramped for a while, plus interesting roadside food which I can be 80% sure is edible, then do it. You'll have done something a lot of people haven't.

I'm afraid I can't remember a lot more right now, but as things come to me I'll update this particular post and highlight the new bits.

We're now in Hanoi, having seen the Plain of Jars in Phonsavanh, a somewhat eerie experience, basically about 400 large granite and limestone jars lying around (as in 4ft high) which the locals claim are 4000 years old. Noone really knows either how old they are or what they were used for, but it's either for holding the possessions of dead people buried under them, or making the local lao lao whiskey. Or maybe a giant game of hide and seek. You choose. Another reason for visiting though is that during the Vietnam war it held strategic importance to both the Vietcong and US forces so was highly contested. Also, US bombers trying to get to north Vietnam would sometimes have to turn back due to bad weather, and as they couldn't risk landing with a full load of ordnance, they would simply drop their bombs on Lao. This province was bombarded so much, it has the record for being the most bombed place per capita in the world. Over 2 tonnes of ordnance for each inhabitant, 30% of which is unexploded (called UXO) and lies under 25% of the useable farmland. As a result, there are 'accidents' each year which kill families and livestock alike. MAG is a local agency, and has been set up to search for and diffuse these rockets and missiles, however funding and a lack of volunteers makes this slowgoing. On visiting the plains you will see signs and markers indicating where is safe to walk and where isn't. Keeping within them is highly advised!

Enough for now, will blog again with more about Hanoi and Halong Bay when we get there.

How many people can you fit on a motorbike? Well so far the answer stands at 4, as that's what I've seen: Father driving, smallest kid in front of him, next kid behind him, mother at the back. You'd think he would drive a tad slower, what with holding the lives of his whole family on the end of a shoestring, but no, the driving is as haphazard as ever.

A week off almost...

Well it's been a few days since I last posted, but I can explain. I've been on an island in southern Laos for 4 days, and it has electricity for 2 hours a day. I couldn't really bring myself to leave my comfy hammock or the beach, so you'll have to accept my apologies.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Last you heard we were intending to kayak from Vang Vieng to Vientiane with a guy we met on a minibus called Mikael. Great guy, funny stories, unfortunately Swedish. So one morning last week (don't ask me when, all the days are blurring here) we got up at 7.30am, and fighting a hangover, made our way by songtaew to the river. We were given our 10 second kayak lesson (good thing we'd all kayaked before so it was pointless anyway) and off we set. It's been a while since I last kayaked properly, however these plastic two-seaters (me in the back, Matt in front) were pretty easy to handle. Because it's the dry season, the river was rather tame, and although there were a few faster patches, it was mainly still water, and one GIII-IV rapid. That in itself was pretty cool, and getting hit broadside by a surge of water will make your butt clench every time, but we managed to keep ourselves upright and relatively dry. Our lunch was made for us by our guides, some pre-prepared rice, but also freshly grilled chicken and veggie skewers which saw us over till dinner.

All in all we only had about 4 hours on the water, and we were then met by a minivan to take us the rest of the way. Apparently it would take 3 days to get there by river, and although the three of us were keen, there just isn't enough demand for them to take us.

On the kayaks we met a girl from Manchester, and a rather hairy guy from the states who shaved his arms (and only his arms, bizarre?!) and for the next 3 days in Vientiane (the Laos capital) the five of us hung out.

There's not much to say about Vientiane really. It's relatively busy, the accommodation is expensive, and there's not a whole lot to do. Some of the restaurants are superb however, and there are stalls and open restaurants all along the river which do great food. Matt and I were unfortunately struck down by some stomach bug which meant we weren't in a mood to do much of anything, but we did manage to get ourselves out on occasion. The strangest thing was the karaoke in the bowling alley, which assured us they had English songs, but no list. After writing approx 30 songs to find out they didn't have any, we were ready to leave as a local guy started singing Ronan Keating 'When you say nothing at all'. Now I'm not Ronan's greatest fan, but I felt robbed!

As Mikael was only out for a few weeks and was staying in Vientiane, Matt and I, along with Abi (manc girl) and a Filipino girl called Lyn looked into hiring a car and driving down to Pakse and 4000 Islands. This didn't quite materialise due to cost, and so the 4 of us went to the bus station and took a 12 hour sleeper bus. Matt and I had bought a ticket each, but later found out that we were expected to sleep on a bed no wider than single and no longer than from my knee to my shoulders. Together. As we were there rather early, we grabbed a 'double' each, and luckily were able to keep these for the duration.

Not really much to say about Pakse either, apart from a few nice enough waterfalls. Abi and Lyn met a Canadian guy called Ben, and the next day the 5 of us made our way to 4000 Islands.

This turned out to be another songtaew for 3 hours, which to me meant cramp in the knees and listening to the iPod, and to the two girls sat in the back a bodywash in dirt and dust. One interesting point - the bus stopped about 4 times en route, and each time we would be mobbed by ladies selling food on sticks. These could be as (potentially) harmless as banana or chicken, but a fellow traveller decided to buy roasted beetles instead. And they didn't taste all bad. Just a bit crunchy, and not particularly nice when the flavour had gone and you're left with chewing the skin and head.

What to say about 4k Islands. It's beautiful. We stayed in a bungalow each, which consisted of nothing other than a double bed and mosquito net, with a hammock on the porch. These cost us less than £2 a night each, but we made up for that at the bars! Apart from the beach, the main place to go in the evening was a place called Reggae Bar. To give you some idea of the type of place it was, it had it's own special 'Happy Holidays' menu, complete with 'Joint, Big', 'Joint, Small', and 'Bag full of Happy'.

Apart from 6-10pm, there was no electricity apart from where a particular restaurant would have its own generator, and that meant our days there were extremely chilled. I'd either be in my hammock reading, or on the beach. It was far too hot to be inside the bungalow during the day (think Sauna) but in the evening it cooled down, and each night the temp was comfortable. Not to say I slept, the amount of creepy crawlies buzzing around, not to mention cats fighting (or shagging, who knows) geckos burping and scorpions rattling around meant that most nights I only slept a few hours. Or maybe it was the weed.

Our last night there we had a humongous storm which was awesome to behold. Also a little bit off-putting to sleep during. Even though I was inside, I could still make out the lightning flashes behind my closed eyelids.

Abi Lyn and Ben left the day before us, however we seem to be following their trail back up Laos and towards Vietnam. Yesterday Matt and I got our Vietnamese VISAs at a cost of 15 minutes and US$50 each, and today we begin our 30 hour journey with another 12 hour sleeper bus. Spooning here we come...

Tubing and bucketfulls of bars

To tube:
Step 1, acquire rubber ring. Step 2, find a river with grade I-II rapids, and plenty of bars hauling people in off the water. Step 3, sit in tube, getting off at aforementioned bars and drinking. Lots.

Vang Vieng is in no way as finished as Luang Prabang, but has its own very definite charm. Apart from your normal Aussie or Irish Bar etc, there are places here called 'Friends' and 'Family Guy' bar. This is because there are places that pretty much from 8am to 12pm play Simpsons, Family Guy and Friends. Non-stop. A few days ago I spent 4 hours in the Family Guy bar - good times.

But there are much better times to be had! People come to Vang Vieng for one thing and one thing only - Tubing. As per the above, you rent a tube and get in a tuk-tuk which takes you up-river. You then spend the rest of the day lying in a tube, getting drunk and going down zipwires, occasionally doing 40ft high trapeze swings into the river. There is also one huge slide, which literally throws you into the air. Depending on how fast you've been brave enough to go down it, you can land anywhere up to 30ft away.

On our second day, we didn't bother with the tubes, deciding instead just to swim it. We saw some people we met the first time who were also swimming, and a group of 15 of us made our way from bar to bar, buying a bucket of lao whiskey and redbull/coke/sprite (in some cases a few mushroom shakes were bought...go figure) and generally getting progressively more drunk and scratched/bruised from the shallow rapid water. Those who attempted the swings and ziplines were applauded wildly, and those who wiped out, landing on their backs or belly flopping were greeted with condolences after the initial wincing 'oooh' from the crowd.

The biggest downside to tubing is not having a waterproof camera, and unfortunately I have no pictures whatsoever of our days on the river. What I have done however is made the title of this particular post link to a youtube video. You can watch the whole thing, or for probs the best idea of it, skip to 1:34 or thereabouts. It's actually a lot more touristy than that now, so I'm guessing that was a year or so ago. For some variety, another pretty decent one to watch is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JJZwPLWWIY.

Nightlife in Vang Vieng is more organised than other Laos places we've visited. A number of bars along the mainstreet are great warm ups, but for the most part, people take the rickety wooden bridges across to the two small islands on the river, each of which is set up with its own few bars. Of these, Bucket Bar (so named for the fact you can get a bucket of lao whiskey and mixer for 10k kip, which is around 90p) is the most popular, at least from 10pm till it closes. Completely outdoors, imagine 4 stages around 1.5ft high, 8ftx8ft in size, in the centre of a clearing. Put two small bonfires amongst them to keep the mossies away, add disco balls/lights and surround them by 20 or so raised and covered arab-style seating areas. Add hammocks to that plus a river setting, and you're there. Naturally there are people who continue straight after the tubing, however even if you've not turned up till 11pm, you will find yourself getting plastered pretty damn quickly!

Tomorrow we're going to try and leave Vang Vieng, and kayak to Vientiane, the capital of Laos. There are three of us, and it depends on if more people have signed up. If not, then we're here for another day or two. Tubing anyone...?

Luang Prabang and 3am bowling

As far as South East Asian villages go, Luang Prabang is a gem. Basically a two road town, the complete mishmash of beautiful French Colonial Villa style and local corrugated roof corner shops meets in an extremely attractive way, and for the most part, the place actually has well constructed roads and pavements. Guest houses, bars and restaurants all compete for space amongst the massage parlours (totally legit, we are informed) and tour operators (of which there are at least 15 within 50 metres of each other).

Having looked through the guidebook in advance, Matt and I had our hearts set on staying at the Silichith Guesthouse. My cryptic clue for pronouncing that name (Silichith) is 'Idiotic Poo'. If you thought that the whole reason for staying there was purely down to the name, you'd be correct, so it was a great bonus to find the place in great nick, cheap, and with amazingly friendly staff who'd join us for a drink or cigarette in the evening. Our room had aircon, two double beds and a toilet which, while you couldn't flush the paper down it, at least resembled a western one. If you need explanation of why this is a good thing, re-read the last post.

Luang Prabang is the most laid back place I think I have visited. There are some beautiful bars, Utopia which overlooks the river, and Lao Lao Garden which is a 6 tiered rock garden, each of which you can order a Lao Beer, extremely refreshing, similar to Tiger, or a bucket of the local Lao Whiskey plus redbull/coke/sprite etc. Just an aside on this locally brewed moonshine - if you buy a bottle of it, it comes with a dead but real scorpion inside the bottle, whose tail is being 'swallowed' by another dead but equally real cobra.

The only downside is curfew. A communist country, Laos gives its village elders or councils complete authority over the people. As a result of this midnight curfew, all bars, restaurants and shops will close latest 11.30pm, so that tourists and locals can be home in time.

But then you learn about the bowling alley. As you leave the bars after last orders, a plethora of tuk-tuk drivers start shouting out 'bowling, bowling, 5thousand each!' and everyone piles into these tiny covered trucks (think an American troop transport and reduce by half) or hang off them. Inexplicably, this bowling alley, which incidentally feels somewhat like a town hall with 8 bowling lanes, is allowed to stay open until 3am, and sell beer. I've never seen so many drunk people trying to throw a ball at 10 pins in my life. Nor have I ever had to associate bowling and hookers together. However, out of three Irish lads we were with, two of their faces the next morning told a story best left unrepeated.

Luang Prabang has quite a few temples to offer, including one at the top of a 300 step climb. If you decide you can deal with the 6am wakeup call, you can get up and give food offerings to the monks, who every day, rain or shine, walk the streets for their daily sustenance. There is an amazing set of interconnected waterfalls which you can swim in, and the beautiful scenery there ensures you're captivated for ages. There is something to be said for being able to jump in a pool at the very top, then swim to the edge and look over a 60ft drop without being in danger of falling yourself. It did however decide to rain cats and dogs when we reached the top, and the descent back to ground level in bare feet over slippy mud left this traveller with a bump the size of a Brazil nut on the back of my head.

Due to its sleepy town nature, Matt and I stayed 6 days in Luang Prabang, rather than the 3 we had originally intended. Like most travel hotspots, we met and made friends with quite a few people, and were happy to find that it was a busier hub than Chiang Mai, which while a great place, we found lacked in nightlife.

On Thursday we took a Minibus through the mountains to Vang Vieng, a cramped, 6 hour winding trip in which the aircon only worked when we went downhill. Stay tuned to hear more about this place soon...