<<Previous Photo Essay – Jungle Trekking Chiang Mai.

1. A horse cuts it way through the busy Bac Ha market, Vietnam.

2. A lone woman stands deep in thought.

3. A horse and cart arrive to carry the heavy stuff back into the hills.

4. Colourful women selling chilli's and gossiping.

5. The pigs try to make a run for it at the livestock section

6. Puppies and pigs all packed up and ready to go home.

7. Woman selling ducklings...

8. Hill tribe women shopping for fabric... The louder the better.

9. A boy and his mother enjoy some Melon while waiting for a bus.

10. Two men get ready for the off, There's 20 pigs on each bike!

(Next Photo Essay: Bangkok, Thailand>>

If you’ve been to the Market at Bac Ha and have a picture you’d like to share please add the link in the comments section and it will magically appear, I’ll link back to you also… Mucho Mucho Love…

The alarm clock might as well have been thrown at my head, 7:30 am was far to early for a man who had guzzled down as much wine as I had, I’m not really a hangover kind of chap but wine has always been my downfall and team that with a silly o clock start… Wha-La – Hangover! But there wasn’t time to dwell on it, Georgie was on top form and we had to pack our bags and get upstairs ASAP to make the most of the breakfast buffet.

The buffet at the B Hotel was fit for a king and since it was indeed my first European breakfast outside of the UK, I made sure I enjoyed both chocolate filled pastries and meat all on one plate. There was no time for seconds though, we had to get our crap out of our room, check out and hop on a minibus to Plaça de Sant Jaume, a large square near Les Rambles – Barcelona’s main walking street. The itinerary for the day was simple:

1. Buy the ingredients at La Boqueria Market.
2. Cook them at Cook & Taste.

The minibus dropped us at Plaça de Sant Jaume where we met Teresa from Cook & Taste, the place where we would later be learning to cook Catalan style. But first – The ingredients and where better to shop for fresh ingredients than at Barcelona’s most famous market La Boqueria Market. We strolled through the narrow streets towards Les Rambles which were buzzing with early morning activity, for me and Georgie at least, this was our first real glimpse of Barcelona. The buildings dripped character and the shop windows oozed style, the smell of fresh pastries and coffee found it’s way out of the many cafe’s and straight up my hooter… Even the graffiti had a certain flair. it was a freakishly cold morning (freakish for Barcelona so I’m told) and the shady alleys weren’t helping much, as we emerged onto the wide open Les Rambles all the bloggers made a dash for the sunshine that would envy any Olympic sprinter.

Teresa gave us the low down on the market and what we’d be buying and then let us loose, the first few stalls at the entrance were vegetables, meats and sweets, all vibrant and colourful – a superb photo opportunity that everyone got stuck into… A mad few minutes followed while everyone’s excitement took over and those stalls at the front were drowned in a blanket of camera flashes – like a tourist thunderstorm sweeping through. La Boqueria Market is luscious in every sense, I’ve been to plenty of wet markets in my time but none have ever made me wish that I actually lived nearby just so I could shop at them all the time, with so much achingly fresh produce it gave me the impression that if I shopped there all the time I’d be so healthy that I’d live to 150. We followed Teresa through the various sections of the market collecting the things we’d need, at each place she stopped she would give us a little info and sometimes a sample to chew on but to be honest nothing was sinking in. The market was so colourful, so lively, so authentic and indeed smelly (in a good way) that I had no spare senses to concentrate with, we really were experiencing Catalonia!
La Boqueria Market is rather cleverly set out and divided into various sections like meat, fish and vegetables but the fish one is where it’s at. Stacks of prawns and lobsters wriggle about, the smell of the sea is everywhere and the sound of big cleavers hacking through lumps of fresh fish fill the air. The market was busy with shoppers, tourists and traders alike and with such a large group, wherever we stopped we managed to cause an obstruction for someone.

We plodded on through the market and something struck me about the Catalonian people, I’d noticed that they carry themselves with in a certain way, they had a quiet confidence that I’d almost mistook for some sort of arrogance – maybe because we were a bunch of tourists or something? NO… that wasn’t it, it was pride… Barcelona is a beautiful city with a beautiful way of life weaved throughout, we’d hardly seen it really but it was clear already that the Catalans enjoy a certain way of life and the city is built around that… Not the other way round…

Just to be VERY clear, this was indeed a paid for press trip sponsored by the Department of Tourism for Catalonia and if you want to know more about the HAPPYTIMEBLOG disclosure policy and how we handle free stuff then have a peek at our new Disclosure page.

The alarm clock might as well have been thrown at my head, 7:30 am was far to early for a man who had guzzled down as much wine as I had, I’m not really a hangover kind of chap but wine has always been my downfall and team that with a silly o clock start… Wha-La – Hangover! But there wasn’t time to dwell on it, Georgie was on top form and we had to pack our bags and get upstairs ASAP to make the most of the breakfast buffet.

The buffet at the B Hotel was fit for a king and since it was indeed my first European breakfast outside of the UK, I made sure I enjoyed both chocolate filled pastries and meat all on one plate. There was no time for seconds though, we had to get our crap out of our room, check out and hop on a minibus to Plaça de Sant Jaume, a large square near Les Rambles – Barcelona’s main walking street. The itinerary for the day was simple:

1. Buy the ingredients at La Boqueria Market.
2. Cook them at Cook & Taste.

The minibus dropped us at Plaça de Sant Jaume where we met Teresa from Cook & Taste, the place where we would later be learning to cook Catalan style. But first – The ingredients and where better to shop for fresh ingredients than at Barcelona’s most famous market La Boqueria Market. We strolled through the narrow streets towards Les Rambles which were buzzing with early morning activity, for me and Georgie at least, this was our first real glimpse of Barcelona. The buildings dripped character and the shop windows oozed style, the smell of fresh pastries and coffee found it’s way out of the many cafe’s and straight up my hooter… Even the graffiti had a certain flair. it was a freakishly cold morning (freakish for Barcelona so I’m told) and the shady alleys weren’t helping much, as we emerged onto the wide open Les Rambles all the bloggers made a dash for the sunshine that would envy any Olympic sprinter.

Teresa gave us the low down on the market and what we’d be buying and then let us loose, the first few stalls at the entrance were vegetables, meats and sweets, all vibrant and colourful – a superb photo opportunity that everyone got stuck into… A mad few minutes followed while everyone’s excitement took over and those stalls at the front were drowned in a blanket of camera flashes – like a tourist thunderstorm sweeping through. La Boqueria Market is luscious in every sense, I’ve been to plenty of wet markets in my time but none have ever made me wish that I actually lived nearby just so I could shop at them all the time, with so much achingly fresh produce it gave me the impression that if I shopped there all the time I’d be so healthy that I’d live to 150. We followed Teresa through the various sections of the market collecting the things we’d need, at each place she stopped she would give us a little info and sometimes a sample to chew on but to be honest nothing was sinking in. The market was so colourful, so lively, so authentic and indeed smelly (in a good way) that I had no spare senses to concentrate with, we really were experiencing Catalonia!
La Boqueria Market is rather cleverly set out and divided into various sections like meat, fish and vegetables but the fish one is where it’s at. Stacks of prawns and lobsters wriggle about, the smell of the sea is everywhere and the sound of big cleavers hacking through lumps of fresh fish fill the air. The market was busy with shoppers, tourists and traders alike and with such a large group, wherever we stopped we managed to cause an obstruction for someone.

We plodded on through the market and something struck me about the Catalonian people, I’d noticed that they carry themselves with in a certain way, they had a quiet confidence that I’d almost mistook for some sort of arrogance – maybe because we were a bunch of tourists or something? NO… that wasn’t it, it was pride… Barcelona is a beautiful city with a beautiful way of life weaved throughout, we’d hardly seen it really but it was clear already that the Catalans enjoy a certain way of life and the city is built around that… Not the other way round…

Just to be VERY clear, this was indeed a paid for press trip sponsored by the Department of Tourism for Catalonia and if you want to know more about the HAPPYTIMEBLOG disclosure policy and how we handle free stuff then have a peek at our new Disclosure page.

So far so good… As you may or may not, but should know, Georgie, I and a bunch of other travel bloggers are discovering Catalonia thanks to the Catalonia Experience and Catalonia’s tourist board. We haven’t stopped since we landed yesterday in Barcelona and there are no real signs of it happening any time soon. The itinerary that was kept hush hush until everyone had arrived and sat down for dinner has turned out to be crammed and a spare minute to tickle the keys has yet eluded me. But just to wet your whistle, below is all the Tweets from the hashtag #catexp which is what everyone here is using to Tweet from road.
What’s more there’s also a picture gallery from our morning at La Boqueria Market in Barcelona and our cookery class misadventures at Cook and Taste.

Barcelona

More to follow soon but for now we need to get our heads down in preparation for the snowy hike in the morning…

Tweets from all the bloggers here and those using the hastag #catexp:

Settled amongst the mountains in the far north of Vietnam is Bac Ha, a small and relatively untouched  hillside town that for most of the week is quiet and sleepy. On Sunday however it’s all change, the surrounding hills are home to something like 10 different hilltribes: the Flower H’mong are the most vibrant, but other groups include Dzao, Giay (Nhang), Han (Hoa), Xa Fang, Lachi, Nung, Phula, Thai and Thulao and come Sunday morning the hills are alive with the sound of markets.
We headed there from Sapa another larger hillside town but it wasn’t easy, first we had to get a very early bus to Lao Cai and then from there a local bus to Bac Ha, which takes all day. There are tour buses that do the trip but because of the distance they charge a small fortune and this puts many tourists off. Anyway the local buses are always much more interesting and the road is very scenic if not a little rough!

The Sunday morning market starts early and it’s impossible to miss, what was a dusty, quiet town square turns into a car park for local buses and throngs of Flower H’mong people stroll past the few guest houses in town on their way to sell their wares. With their baskets strapped to their backs full of fruit, vegetables and textiles it makes for a wonderful scene and we didn’t see a single piece of tourist tat anywhere. Georgie loves a market and generally I do NOT but once your there it’s such an attack on the senses that I couldn’t help myself, I sat and smoked with some serious looking men what I hoped to be tobacco… A few coughs on my part soon had them laughing and within minutes I’d managed to reduce a whole crowd of serious tobacco buyers to a fit of coughing and giggling… Time to move on!
It is a real market in every sense of the word, it has wet parts and textile parts, livestock arrives and leaves on the back of motorbikes and the buzz about the place is almost overwhelming. Everything can be bought here from puppies to rice wine and if I recommend one thing it’s to sit down and try some home made hooch… It will certainly wake you up! I tried to chat with some men about which pig was best and which ones they were after but they were busy men and I probably stank a little too much of homemade moonshine from another stall.

The market lasts all day and unless your planning on staying in Bac Ha longer to explore the mountains around it then you will have to wander around to find a local bus with spare seats going your way. For some people this may be a bit hardcore because if your not on these buses the next ones will be a week later but to be honest the locals won’t see you stranded.
What struck me most about Bac Ha was it’s authenticity, even getting there was only possible the same way the locals do and once there we were in at the deep end. It’s not a market for tourists as such although there are bargains to be had but its a great way to spend a day and really get to see how some of Vietnam’s hilltribe people live…

Back in August 2008 my fiance and I (Georgina) were traveling through northern Vietnam and stopped in the beautiful mountain town of Sapa. Our $7 room had the feel of an old alpine cottage and unparalleled views of the infinite mountain scenery. We knew instantly we had stumbled over something special, surely one of the most romantic places we’d been on our travels to date.

Whilst drinking in morning coffees and that million dollar view (or seven as the case may be) the chat turned to how we should fill our time in such a beautiful place, that’s when the cracks started to show.

Georgina wanted to make a brutal seven hour bus trip to a remote and rural weekend market in a town called Bac Ha, filled with visions of Flower H’mong hill-tribe people selling everything from dried shrimps to dogs – the “real” Vietnam maybe, she was keen as mustard. I however was not.

Having been dragged around every market we’d passed since we left home, all I could focus on were the practicalities of getting there, the poor roads and sweaty buses for seven long hours.

Things between us came to a head and at that point, in our idyllic mountain cabin, we realised the underlying issue had nothing to do with the market, in fact it was a problem which had been simmering beneath the surface for weeks or maybe even months. Somehow we had managed to grow apart as lovers, regularly finding ourselves in intense situations and constantly being around each other, we had become better friends than we could have ever hoped but with all the highs and lows that come with traveling foreign, unfamiliar countries we had forgotten to set aside time for just us.

It’s not as if we forgot or were too busy to love each other, rather that we didn’t adapt our relationship the same way we had to adapt every other aspect of our lives. Strolling hand in hand down perfect beaches with breathtaking sunsets as a backdrop, going out for candle lit dinners and lazy Sunday’s (well everyday) soon became the norm. More than that, they became part of our daily routine. I suppose it was naive to think a whole new way of life wasn’t going to change our relationship, that everything would take care of itself while we took care of having the time of our lives.

The problem we found with traveling as a couple is that there are three agendas, not two. Mine, Georgina’s and our relationship’s. The solution: We needed to treat it like a third person that has a third set of needs, not get an extra bed put in the room or carry a third backpack but actually make time for it during the day. The very environment conspires to come between any relationship while traveling – grubby rooms, diarrhea, tropical heat, single beds, intense situations, cultural taboos and the often unavailability of personal hygiene all redefine a relationship but it’s ignorance to all this which causes friction.

All was not lost though, once emotions had settled and feelings were out in the open we swiftly realised that it wasn’t a problem we had intentionally created, neither of us had meant any harm or lost any love, it was just something we simply hadn’t prepared for that got carried away. We’d managed to fit everything we might need for our trip into our backpacks and assumed our relationship would slot neatly in there too.

For the record I gave in, we went to Bac Ha market and I loved it. That’s how we do things now, if one of us wants to go somewhere or do something then we do it, no questions, no compromises, no moaning we just get on with it. Everyone needs a little push to do something they wouldn’t normally do sometimes, after all aren’t new places, new people and new experiences what traveling is all about.

We have been traveling southeast Asia for over a year now, we’ve seen things that neither of us will ever forget and done things that would make people back home green with envy. We have lived our dream! It’s been a constant learning curve but traveling as a couple has only enriched both our experiences. It means we don’t just have pictures of beaches and temples, but of each other – in these amazing places, we have the luxury of being able to talk our way to a solution rather than worry about a problem and look after each other if one of us gets sick. We’ve seen each others true colours shine through the amplified situations and shared everything… Nothing gives meaning to a moment or a place like being able to share it with someone you love.

Back in August 2008 my fiance and I (Georgina) were traveling through northern Vietnam and stopped in the beautiful mountain town of Sapa. Our $7 room had the feel of an old alpine cottage and unparalleled views of the infinite mountain scenery. We knew instantly we had stumbled over something special, surely one of the most romantic places we’d been on our travels to date.

Whilst drinking in morning coffees and that million dollar view (or seven as the case may be) the chat turned to how we should fill our time in such a beautiful place, that’s when the cracks started to show.

Georgina wanted to make a brutal seven hour bus trip to a remote and rural weekend market in a town called Bac Ha, filled with visions of Flower H’mong hill-tribe people selling everything from dried shrimps to dogs – the “real” Vietnam maybe, she was keen as mustard. I however was not.

Having been dragged around every market we’d passed since we left home, all I could focus on were the practicalities of getting there, the poor roads and sweaty buses for seven long hours.

Things between us came to a head and at that point, in our idyllic mountain cabin, we realised the underlying issue had nothing to do with the market, in fact it was a problem which had been simmering beneath the surface for weeks or maybe even months. Somehow we had managed to grow apart as lovers, regularly finding ourselves in intense situations and constantly being around each other, we had become better friends than we could have ever hoped but with all the highs and lows that come with traveling foreign, unfamiliar countries we had forgotten to set aside time for just us.

It’s not as if we forgot or were too busy to love each other, rather that we didn’t adapt our relationship the same way we had to adapt every other aspect of our lives. Strolling hand in hand down perfect beaches with breathtaking sunsets as a backdrop, going out for candle lit dinners and lazy Sunday’s (well everyday) soon became the norm. More than that, they became part of our daily routine. I suppose it was naive to think a whole new way of life wasn’t going to change our relationship, that everything would take care of itself while we took care of having the time of our lives.

The problem we found with traveling as a couple is that there are three agendas, not two. Mine, Georgina’s and our relationship’s. The solution: We needed to treat it like a third person that has a third set of needs, not get an extra bed put in the room or carry a third backpack but actually make time for it during the day. The very environment conspires to come between any relationship while traveling – grubby rooms, diarrhea, tropical heat, single beds, intense situations, cultural taboos and the often unavailability of personal hygiene all redefine a relationship but it’s ignorance to all this which causes friction.

All was not lost though, once emotions had settled and feelings were out in the open we swiftly realised that it wasn’t a problem we had intentionally created, neither of us had meant any harm or lost any love, it was just something we simply hadn’t prepared for that got carried away. We’d managed to fit everything we might need for our trip into our backpacks and assumed our relationship would slot neatly in there too.

For the record I gave in, we went to Bac Ha market and I loved it. That’s how we do things now, if one of us wants to go somewhere or do something then we do it, no questions, no compromises, no moaning we just get on with it. Everyone needs a little push to do something they wouldn’t normally do sometimes, after all aren’t new places, new people and new experiences what traveling is all about.

We have been traveling southeast Asia for over a year now, we’ve seen things that neither of us will ever forget and done things that would make people back home green with envy. We have lived our dream! It’s been a constant learning curve but traveling as a couple has only enriched both our experiences. It means we don’t just have pictures of beaches and temples, but of each other – in these amazing places, we have the luxury of being able to talk our way to a solution rather than worry about a problem and look after each other if one of us gets sick. We’ve seen each others true colours shine through the amplified situations and shared everything… Nothing gives meaning to a moment or a place like being able to share it with someone you love.

“Things between us came to a head and at that point, in our idyllic mountain cabin, we realised the underlying issue had nothing to do with the market, infact it was a problem which had been simmering beneath the surface for weeks or maybe even months. Somehow we had managed to grow apart as lovers, regularly finding ourselves in intense situations and constantly being around each other, we had become better friends than we could have ever hoped but with all the highs and lows that come with traveling foreign, unfamiliar countries we had forgotten to set aside time for just us.”

]]> http://happytimeblog.co.uk/in-the-press/it-takes-two-featured-in-hip-compass-escapes/feed/ 0 http://happytimeblog.co.uk/in-the-press/it-takes-two-featured-in-hip-compass-escapes-2/ http://happytimeblog.co.uk/in-the-press/it-takes-two-featured-in-hip-compass-escapes-2/#comments Mon, 13 Jul 2009 15:55:56 +0000 Aaron Bradford | HappytimeBlog.co.uk http://happytimeblog.co.uk/2009/07/13/it-takes-two-aaron-georgie-featured-in-hip-compass-escapades/ Hello everybody, just a quick update to let you know that our super duper article featured in the online travel magazine HipCompass Escapades – “It takes two” is now available for your viewing pleasure. It’s a feature packed travel magazine with lots of useful info and interesting articles (especially mine!!!) so click the cover below to take a look-see… Thanks you beautiful people.

“Things between us came to a head and at that point, in our idyllic mountain cabin, we realised the underlying issue had nothing to do with the market, infact it was a problem which had been simmering beneath the surface for weeks or maybe even months. Somehow we had managed to grow apart as lovers, regularly finding ourselves in intense situations and constantly being around each other, we had become better friends than we could have ever hoped but with all the highs and lows that come with traveling foreign, unfamiliar countries we had forgotten to set aside time for just us.”

]]> http://happytimeblog.co.uk/in-the-press/it-takes-two-featured-in-hip-compass-escapes-2/feed/ 0 http://happytimeblog.co.uk/indonesia/ubud/ubud-in-all-its-glory/ http://happytimeblog.co.uk/indonesia/ubud/ubud-in-all-its-glory/#comments Mon, 13 Apr 2009 16:27:56 +0000 Aaron Bradford | HappytimeBlog.co.uk http://happytimeblog.co.uk/2009/04/13/ubud-in-all-its-glory/