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Checking out
Here is my log for the third day:
Rise early for breakfast and departure to Hurghada. Event-free journey.
Orientation at Oberoi and arrived at our lovely villa in time for a snack lunch of calamari and kibbehs very nice.
We have a dish of biscuits etc. including some coconut macaroons was Ged doesn’t like. Daisy phones asks for future dishes to leave out coconut as Ged is allergic. Why?
We cannot book tennis court any earlier than 1900, so arranged late dinner in Saffron Indian restaurant.
Daisy does not enjoy floodlit tennis but we do both enjoy Indian meal of Bengal fish curry (nice perch) and chicken Tikka quite spicy but very tasty.
Light breakfast and a good news – Protest low-key in morning so no problem.
Have some more Hossam Ramzy music to accompany your read:
We see all the main highlights of museum and more – Tutankhamen moon and Akhenaten stuff highlights for us.
We were in a way very fortunate to be visiting the museum at this time. While there were evident signs of the afternoon/evening protests, our driver and guide were able to ferry us to and from the museum without any difficulty and the place was practically deserted, giving us untrammelled access to the wonders of that museum. Janie had been before and had been dreading the crowds a bit. She claims to have seen so much more on our visit as a result.
Comedy mislaying of Muhammad [our driver] (Ged’s fault). Delayed departure slightly but back nice and early for turkey/smoked beef toastie and some Casper/Jardan Du Nil white outside at Alfredos. Bit more atmosphere with a few people.
Time for R&R and amazing dinner at Moghul of Tandoori prawns, chicken Tikka in tomato gravy, yellow daal, pilao with peas and mushrooms and Nan – gift of kulfi and fond farewells to restaurant.
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Here is my log for the first day:
We rose at eight to realise that someone has built a huge stone monstrosity right in front of our window in the hotel.
Ged was going to complain, as he had paid for a pyramid view, until Daisy explained that the “big eyesore”, as Ged put it, was the Great Pyramid of Giza.
Simple breakfast and then off touring with her guide Mohammed who shows us that Great Pyramid (Khuru) the other big fella (Khafre)…
…and the baby one (Mankaura) “de-de-durrrrr”…
…plus the Khafre temple and also the Sphinx.
Back to hotel sharpish – nice tip cheered driver and guide up.
Got bearings and took a snack lunch of chicken foccaccia and beer at Alfredos by the pool. Hotel almost empty.
Had a good afternoon nap and took dinner at the Moghul restaurant – tried prawns in rich ginger and garlic and coconut gravy, Lamb Rogan Josh, black lentils, pulao Kashmiri style and carrot halwa to finish – so good, we booked again for tomorrow. Tried Ayam white and then switched to Zaman/Jardin Du Nil.
Rose at a civilised hour on Thursday – Ged [i.e. me] feeling a little worse for wear ahead of the journey.
Got through check-in and security at Heathrow terminal three in record time – our flight to Cairo is said to be half full and that middle of the day slot is quiet generally.
In the absence of business class, we sought a classy place to get some refreshment – especially as Egypt Air’s hospitality’s reputation is far from good.
We found Oriel & were nicely looked after there for a couple of hours. Daisy [Janie] had a couple of “glasses of” and a Caesar salad. Ged, feeling a bit ropey still, stuck with water, Diet Coke and eventually some smoked salmon and wine.
Event free flight – We did well to avoid the dreadful smelling food – apart from “Abu Fsai” in front of us and the big unit to our side.
Now’s the time to add some Egyptian music to enhance your reading experience – the great Hossam Ramzy:
We arrived on time, met by Ahmed who whizzed us through the Visa, immigration, baggage collection and customs processes.
Delighted to learn that we’ve been upgraded to a presidential suite on arrival – the King Gustav VI Adolf Suite.
After showering and sorting, took a late dinner of lentil soup followed by chicken kebab (Daisy) and lamb kofte (Ged) with local wine. Daisy like Zaman, Ged liked Jardin Du Nil. Read after trying Zaman first time round.
It was clear after just a few hours in Cairo that the place is “baksheesh central”, so Ged thought he should change some money after dinner at the Mena House’s 24 hours a day bank.
Strangely, the bank seem to be staffed solely by a security guard with very little English. He tried to explain that they had little English money until Ged emphasised with hand and cash waving that we sought small Egyptian money, not small English money.
At a painfully slow pace, our boy counted out our money, until, seemingly complete having counted it twice, he handed it downwards. A tip-toed lean across the counter revealed the actual cashier, who had been sleeping on the floor.
He rose slowly, bleary eyed. He asked in surly tones if we were absolutely sure we wanted all that small money and then counted it all again.
A little offering to the guard and cashier seem to cheer them both up.
We took a wonderful trip back to Vietnam in early 2012. Our first visit in 1996 had been somewhat limited by time and some difficulty back then travelling comfortably off the beaten track. So we did “the Grand Tour” back then but had always wanted to go back and see some other places.
This 2012 trip took in Saigon, Can Tho, the Mekong Delta (including a home stay in Ut Trinh), Dalat and then rest and relaxation in Ninh Van Bay.
Bad place to drop something – a major junction in Saigon
Another glorious day. We skip tennis on grounds of Ged’s sore throat and full itinerary for the day.
Arrange to take Dinner On The Jetty.
At breakfast we chat to Daisy’s German friends from the earlier yoga class – they turn out to be medical academics from Heidelberg – still we get confused about whether or not they are joining our class later.
After breakfast we do a Vietnamese massage workshop – Ged acts as a model and Daisy learns the techniques. We meet some young sunburnt Hong Kongers there.
Then back to our villa for a last day of resting and reading by a private pool.
I have a dreadful feeling I didn’t quite get going with nor did I finish Goon Squad. I’ll need to dig that one out again.
Later we take our complimentary sunset cruise (gold star to Ân for remembering to switch wine for bubbly) and then get ready for dinner.
Dinner on the jetty (see menus) was excellent – Ged found opportunities to tip most of the people who been looking after us – chef Basha Ched Tuong, Leo (food and beverage), Ân… Gary the GM joins us for quite a while and helped us to get through our bottle of Alsatian Tokay/Pinot Gris. Excellent meal.
The last supper…on the jetty
26th of February 2012
Another glorious day, but sadly we are leaving. After some early morning R&R we pack.
…by Jeffrey Eugenides…I enjoyed this novel but not as much as I had enjoyed Middlesex on an earlier holiday.
We go to cocktail party at the gallery and then on to Dining On The Rocks. We wait nearly an hour for our first courses which turn out to be our second courses blah blah – all resolved in the end I suppose but £300 plus dinners shouldn’t be that way.
When we get home housekeeping has left us no water which irritates Ged further.
First world problems, I know, I know…
24 February 2012
Glorious weather again – we play tennis early on but Ged still wins 6-2 and it is still O-T-‘ot.
Staff queue up to apologise for yesterday’s misdemeanours and Ân brings a bottle of wine for our troubles, which will do nicely for dinner.
While Ân is with us, we spot and photograph an amazing blue headed tree agana [depicted above] which changes colour rapidly once it realises it’s on show.
We enjoy our sundeck and take a snack lunch of a club sandwich to share.
Stroll the beach & some R&R before dinner.
Then we try whole fish (grouper) cooked in banana leaf with all sorts of gooey goodies inside the leaf, served with rice paper and stuff. Preceded by beef in lalot leaf starter. Excellent meal.
After breakfast (Ged tried chicken with egg noodles today), Ged cracked on with Sense Of An Ending and even gets to start Exit Ghost today in the sun.
I am a great fan of the novels of both Julian Barnes and Philip Roth. I do recall very much enjoying the Barnes (Sense) whereas I found Exit Ghost a little below par for Roth.
Daisy does Tai Chi class and both [of us] enjoy some sun on our deck and some beer.
Play tennis just before dusk to avoid the heat – Daisy won 6-3 – pleasant at that hour.
Then back for a late siesta and then on to dinner where Basha [chef] has specially prepared the five spice duck for us very well it’s good isn’t it. We also enjoy a starter of dry spice beef salad and additional main teriyaki tuna – best meal at Six Senses so far for sure.
21 February 2012
Woke to a misty rainy morning – rain will not relent all day sadly.
Ged goes off to do some work on the photos before breakfast and then again after, while Daisy does Tai Chi.
Finish off the photos and chat briefly with German couple who wanted our villa and wanted to use the PC – they must hate us but they don’t show it!
Then decide to have a satay nibble & some wine in the room – very nice.
Then attempt to play tennis but the court is waterlogged so we switch to badminton, Ged pulling off a surprise two nil win 15-8, 15-11)! Good fun.
Went to a “cocktail Martini” event in the bar and chatted with a nice Israeli couple.
They were a very interesting couple. She was in publishing and seemed a lot older and more high falutin’ than her man. We felt a bit sorry for them as they were only at the Six Senses for two nights; that wet day was their only full day there.
Then went home for an hour and then went to dinner to try caramelised pork belly done properly – uber-fatty but good with morning glory and tasty brown rice – more like red rice. Starter of cabbage chicken salad.
22 February 2012
Rose to another wet morning. Rested in and took late breakfast.
But then someone turn the lights on and it brightened up in a jiffy.
Soon the resort dried out – we enjoyed our sundeck round our own pool and read (finished Exit Ghost in my case) and had tea in the library with sandwich nibbles.
Played tennis in the evening – I won 6-4 – and thus met Françoise who sorted us out.
After tennis we got ready for dinner and had enormous ribeye steaks after a duo of tuna starter.
Our first couple of days at Ninh Van Bay were not blessed with good weather. Still, there were plenty of compensations at the Six Senses Ninh Van Bay even when the weather was not so good.
18 February 2012
Rose quite early to a rainy day. Potter then rush to get into breakfast in time!
Straight after breakfast Ân shows us a couple more villas – we fall in love with the one-off beach bungalow villa.
We look through photos while waiting to move and then we move into our new bungalow.
Unpack, potter and finish reviewing the photos.
Then Ged goes to the library to sort through photos for several (successful) hours, Daisy joining him for a while.
Then get ready for dinner and go down for a meal of mushroom ravioli with prawns (highlight) followed by poor mains of Thai seafood curry and caramelised pork belly, followed by ice cream.
Comparatively late night after following cricket and catching up on the news.
19 February 2012
Take breakfast in better time today. Ged had beef pho noodle soup, Daisy chicken egg noodle soup.
The weather is a bit better but still not good so we arrange to have our complimentary spa treatments this evening before dinner. Also chose to have a Vietnamese barbecue dinner.
Potter for much of the day and get used to new villa and such – look at shop.
Borrow a couple of DVDs and chat with Gary the general manager from Lichfield!
[Parenthetically, it was that conversation with Gary that persuaded us to try Six Senses Zighy Bay a couple of years later. The property had poor reports from its troubled launch but Gary convinced us, having been sent there to sort out the difficulties, that the property was now very special indeed and well worth trying. Gary was right.]
Play tennis – Ged wins six four – mid afternoon (it’s cool enough). Have some siesta and then a complimentary treatments. Daisy has a foot massage and body scrub, Ged has hand (arm) and body scrub. Very nice.
Then Vietnamese barbecue. Lots of spring/hand roll things (variations on a theme) plus salads and barbecue tuna probably the highlight – also grouper and a mackerel type fish. Could’ve pigged out but as usual we didn’t. Tried various desserts with limited success.
Ged was feeling very poorly this morning – had ginger tea only while Daisy ate just a light breakfast.
Some comedy moments on pick up as Cuong (guide) and Hien (driver) go past us as we walk up to reception, but somehow they, the luggage and we all end up in the right place and off we go.
We stopped to photograph a vista [see headline picture] before going up high passes in unbelievably heavy rain – like a pea soup.
As we came down the rain is less intense and even stopped for us to visit a village in Khanh Vinh district…
…where we took a photo opportunity with Price of Fish…
…then on to Nha Trang where we drove past the cathedral, looked at the Po Nagar Cham Towers and saw the Long Sun pagoda from afar
Then went to Ninh Van Bay pick up place and got speedboated across to our resort…
…where manager Gary and our butler Ân greet us. Ân shows us to our villa & then shows us several alternatives as ours is quite dingy. Will look at a couple more tomorrow.
Then we unpacked a little & took early dinner, comprising a seafood pancake Banh Xeo, soft shell crab with mango salad and Hanoi duck breast salad (reminiscent of our first night in Hanoi all those years ago) followed by Mekong Tiger Prawn (skewers). Also tried the home-made ice cream (highlight!)
