Vietnam Adventures

Our new blog

2011-03-02T23:52:00.003+07:00

We have now left Vietnam and we are in the process of moving to Thailand. Before we get there we are spending a few weeks in France.

If you would like to keep in touch with what we are up to you can check out our new Thailand blog.

It has been great keeping in touch with so many people through this blog and also being able to give others advice. Thanks to everyone.

Good bye Vietnam

2011-02-26T16:14:00.001+07:00

The last few days in Hanoi were pretty frantic. We moved out of our house, off loaded most of our furniture to our friend Nam and sold our bikes. We packed up boxes to be sent to Thailand and had our house cleaned from top to bottom. The last week went very quickly and before I knew it I was teaching my last class. It was a little sad. I am not a big hugger but the Vietnamese seem to be so I frequently had students coming in for a big goodbye hug.

Our on last night in the house our neighbours put on a party for us; a feast of Vietnamese food. We left our house a few days before our flight to chill in the Old Quarter. Old grannies from the street came out waving to say goodbye. It was very nice. We had some farewell drinks with our expat buddies in town which was also great. They are mainly teachers and we had representations from all corners of the globe. It has been great to meet so many people from different countries around the world.

I went and said goodbye to Mr Tuan, Madame Dzung and Grandmere, the family we stayed with when we first moved to Hanoi. We have kept in touch and they have always been so welcoming to us. Gradmere is probably our favourite person in Vietnam. She is so damn adorable. At 80 + and with only about 3 teeth she always gives you the biggest and happiest smile. I sat and had a green tea with her and told her where I was going. She was very interested. Madame Dzung made me some dinner and I drank some wine with Mr Tuan. I also got a big hug from him when I left.

We finished our last night with a few beers and some Vietnamese spring rolls at a restaurant we often go to. The waitress was very sad when we said we were leaving and gave Celine her scarf.

It has been a great year and a half in Hanoi. The Vietnamese people are so friendly. We have learnt so many interesting things about their culture and despite our excitement about Thailand will definitely miss the place. We hope to come back and visit.

Vietnamese Students

2011-02-26T16:03:00.002+07:00

I don’t know if so far, we have taken the time to properly describe what Vietnamese students are like, and what it’s like to teach them.

Usually, my adult students are actually students, they are between 16 and 30 years old, with a few older ones, but it’s quite rare, maybe one or two in each class.

Vietnamese students are lovely. They’re friendly, good natured and usually happy to be alive, and happy to be in class. They enjoy playing games more than anything, apart from the odd really-serious-guy (usually a girl, actually) who wants to do grammar exercises all the time. By games I mean anything involving some sort of competition with points or fake money, the girl love to crush the boys, and the boys love to crush the girls.

Vietnamese students have cooties. Talking about the boys and girls divide, we (all the teachers, from Dan, to Dana, to Lanette, to all my teacher friends) all understood after like… 3 days on the job, that something important here: boys and girls from 8 years old to about 18 years old hate each other and will NOT mix. Before that, they’re little kids and they don’t care. After that, they’re pretty much adults and start to have boyfriends and girlfriends, so the gender mixing is no longer an issue, but between 8 and 18 years old, there is no way to mix the students without having a profoundly upset class where everyone glares at me and wants to runaway home.

I like to play on that, I must admit. This morning I picked a kid who really makes me laugh, a cheeky boy of 11 named Nam Anh, and told the class that I would divide them in two groups: boys on one side and girls + Nam Anh on the other. Lol, he looked like he was about to have a heart attack, he screamed “NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!” while the other kids and I laughed our head off. Obviously I was only joking, and he knew it. But it shows you the general boy-girl feeling.

With adult classes, it’s easier. The boys and the girls are usually friendly enough to one another, unless playing language games in different teams and then they become competitive, but not hostile.

Vietnamese students are respectful of the teacher. Again, this is more obvious in adult classes, but to be honest even in kids’ classes or teenager’s classes, I can see a world of difference when I compare with the way we regarded teachers in my time as a student. Incomparable, really.

Adults are pretty much grateful to their teacher, kids have not grasped that concept yet, but they will stop talking right away at the first sign of me being annoyed. They are cute as, the kids, looking at me with their big eyes, cheering at the activities I propose, getting so much into the games they jump up and down in excitement. When they don’t stop talking and running even if I ask them to, it’s really more because of their hyperactivity than coming from a lack of respect for me.
Adults are great also, and tend to want to become friends. Half of my adult students have found me on facebook and send me random messages of love, and that’s the same with every other teacher I know.

Of course we all have classes we like a bit less, taciturn or downright boring students, and even the odd case of know-it-all annoying dude, who questions everything you say.

But usually they’re just awesome, and they love the teacher. If I ever get angry or upset, they’re mortified. I remember being mortified when I didn’t manage to enrage my teacher, that shows you how different my two worlds are.

Vietnamese students have a lot in common with one another. Discussions and debates are not the easiest task for a teacher to have their class perform, which comes from the fact that someone’s opinion will generally be representative of the entire age group’s opinion… on just about anything. The young adults cultivate their individuality as opposed to their parent’s generation’s individuality, but not so much as one-another’s individuality.

If one of my students likes a song, you can me almost sure that it’s a stylish song, and all the rest of the class will like it. If one doesn’t like an artist, the other ones don’t like him or her either (exceptions to this rule being Kpop and lady Gaga… some love, some hate.)

Same goes with what activities they like or dislike. They like going to the cinema, using facebook, listening to music and going out to drink coffee and eat ice cream with friends. Girls like shopping, boys like playing computer games. You might want to tell me that’s international, ok, it is… but try to find a whole class in your country where EVERY SINGLE boy will answer to the question ‘what do you like to do in your free time’: ‘playing computer games’.

I’ll be specific with the going out with friends business… going out with friends means: walk around the night market or drink coffee or eat street food or ice cream or go to the cinema. No house parties, no drinking beer nonsense – not for the girls, anyway, no smoking, no walking around the lake or in the park, no going on trips together or rarely, no meeting up in each other’s houses etc… A lot of these activities are considered lacking style, God knows why, I don’t know what’s so lame about walking in the park or by the lake but hey, I’m not very stylish myself ;)

General opinions-wise, it’s a bit the same. Teachers have adapted by asking questions to the class as a whole, where we usually get “YEEEES!!!” or “NOOOO” answers. A lot of us have given up altogether on healthy debates, because Vietnamese students, if they are against something, will find it extremely difficult to pretend that they are not, even for the sake of bettering their English – which after all is the only thing we are interested in providing, as teachers.

One of the teachers here, Sarah, made me pee my pants laughing when she told me a story: she organised a class debate about hashish. Not that I advocate its use or that our role as teachers should be to advocate its use, but I don’t think, with my western brain, that asking adults to impersonate doctors recommending the use of pot to their patients is a terrible thing to do. I think it’s ok. I wouldn’t tempt it myself as a teacher, because it would be impossible to put into place here, but she did it and good on her for trying. Anyway, she divided the class in two groups, “for” and “against”. The “for” group was absolutely mortified. They had to find arguments SUPPORTING the use of pot??? Might as well have asked them to find arguments to defend puppy killers – actually, that would have been tons easier around here…

She explained over and over that the students didn’t have to BELIEVE in their argument, only to try and impersonate people who did, people who didn’t view pot as an evil, like doctors or insomniacs etc…

It was tough. Group A argumented how evil pot was for twenty minutes, listing every by-the-book reason we’ve all heard before and worse.

Then group B remained silent and prostrated, and when Sarah urged them to give it a go, one of them stood up… said nothing… sat back down again… then stood up again and in a tense voice said:
“I AGREE with group A!!”. Then sat back down again.
That was the end of that debate.
I thought that was so funny, I still laugh now writing about it. If you’re not laughing, it’s probably because you’re not a teacher in Vietnam. Otherwise, you’d know, you’d really know why this is hilarious.

Let’s just say Sarah set the bar a bit high with her attempt, we usually keep debate topics a bit less controversial, because Vietnamese students have not been raised to believe evil can be good and good can be evil… they don’t see many shades of grey.

Some teachers argument that it is for us to show them that the western world thinks in shades of grey. They argue this because we train students with their English, so that they can pass their IELTS and consequently end up studying abroad. Should we show them how different from their own the thought patterns get in those western countries they want to go to, or let them figure it out on their own? I mean they’ll get to America, where the gay marriage rights hot topic is on the table (and let me tell you I completely support gay marriage) and not know what the heck is going on… I mean, gay culture here equals zero, it’s not talked about, it doesn’t exist and it’s wrong, anyway. Seriously. And what about moving to Australia and finding out that girls do drink, that a lot of couples do live together before marriage, that half of the population has a little joint here and there? What about getting to England and seeing girls go out with their mates ‘on the pull’?
Is it for us to introduce these foreign concepts to the students?

I think not, to be honest, but that’s mainly because I don’t teach IELTS and my students are usually in lower levels, where this whole ethical set of questions is irrelevant.

I feel for these other teachers, like Lindy, who teach IELTS and find themselves having to say ‘ok, your English is perfect, but please, PLEASE, do NOT say that to the examinator!” when her student said something like “obviously when I get married, I will never need to step in the kitchen ever again, it will be my wife’s duty to cook good meat for me everyday”.

There are exceptions to everything I've just said tough of course.
Nam, our best friend here, regularly organises trips with his friends and even girls join them - some have to lie to their parents and pretend it's a work thing, some tell the truth. He goes to travelers' conventions and everything. He enjoys bowling and walking in the park (yes!). My friend Phuong spends her free afternoons in book stores, which is hardly considered stylish amongst the young here, my student Tho Linh listens to hard rock and wears Metallica t-shirts, my friend Tung dresses in flamboyant colourful outfits, Chau and Van are hip-hop fans, they dance it, teach how to dance it and look like cute mini rappers... It's all relative, after all. But I mean generally speaking, these remain exceptions to the mass.

There are topics to avoid when teaching Vietnamese students: sensitive topics exist everywhere, really, and here you don’t risk anything by trying them out, but I still wouldn’t recommend it… for the good flow of the lesson if nothing else. Sex is a no-go, although if you get anywhere near it you won’t have students leaving your classroom in shock or anything, but you’ll get an uncontrollable level of blushing, giggling and hiding behind books. Why do it, then?

Politics are a complete no-go, students can’t grasp concepts they were never taught, and everything government-related is impossible to touch on. You might find students willing to tell you they hate the police or some officials are corrupted, but it costs them a lot more than what little gratification it might bring, so why do it?
I also avoid the cheating, affairs, mistresses etc… topics, for I don’t know what the general policy is on that and wouldn’t want to hurt anyone.

On the other hand, many subjects sensitive in the western world are not sensitive here: Religion is not a hot topic, it simply doesn’t exist as a debate or a stigma in any way. Some of them mention Buddha, some mention Jesus, they believe in what they believe in but they are unaware of what the concept of religion means to the western world: over and over I have to tell them what this word is, even, for they stumble on it in texts we study together, and simply don’t know what it is. They’ve never seen it before, the word ‘religion’ I mean, even within the higher levels of English.

It’s ok to call each other ‘fat’, it’s ok to point at the fat kid and call him fat, the fat kid himself laughs his head off, it’s ok to call someone ugly, rich or poor, it’s ok to ask about people’s salaries, it’s ok to say inappropriate racist remarks, that gay people must be crazy, that Thailand is a land of debauchery because men become girls… all this is ok, in the Vietnamese classrooms. No big deal. If that wasn’t clear, I don’t mean to say that it’s ok FOR ME to say those things, although it probably would be but hey, I can’t just unscrew my western head and put on my Vietnamese one on instead. I meant the STUDENTS say those things.

Vietnamese students are a bit shy: they need to get comfortable in their environment before coming out with answers to my questions. They might know a lot of vocabulary and grammar, but it’s hard for them to take it to the world and build sentences with what they know.

When left with a task involving imagination, I get very little response. I try to make them explain words they already know, so it appeals to their ability to put sentences together all on their own, and express concepts on their own, which they are not used to doing in the language learning process I mean. They know what a ‘lake’ is, for example, but when asked to explain it to me, they keep silent. They have been used to grammar exercises and generally much more controlled methods of learning like fill the blanks or multiple choice answers. Little by little, with my adult classes, I’ve built this bridge and they get more comfortable expressing concepts or explaining things. I tell them it doesn’t matter if the English is not very good, as long as they try. I ask them how they’re going to have conversations with foreigners if they don’t want to make sentences unless they are perfect? It works and the bridges are built, but only until this class gets to another teacher and I have to start all over again with a new class.

Vietnamese students cover the whole range between ‘stick together’ and ‘each for its own’. It’s funny to see how furiously they try to help the poor guy I asked a question to and can’t answer, they all whisper the answer in a frenzy that becomes so loud it seems almost ridiculous to keep whispering: obviously I can see and hear what they are doing. It makes me feel happy, this level of togetherness. They hate to see one person in trouble and will do anything in their power to help.

On the other hand, they are more than happy to snitch, with no shame at all. Especially teenagers, within friends groups I mean, will say “teacher, teacher, HE didn’t do his homework!! Punish HIM!!”. “teacher, teacher, you marked him right here but he got it wrong, please take away a point from him!!”.
It’s hilarious, as they do that to their best mates, no worries. The best mate in question doesn’t get angry, either, he just smiles good naturally. Amazing.

As teachers, we need to know our audience to be more efficient, and I think I really do, now. I’ve been teaching here for 18 months, I have taught maybe 50 adult classes, two to six hours per week for three months each class, that’s 1000 Vietnamese adult students. I think when you’ve taught 1000 students from a country, you can say you know your audience.

So, my audience is like this: Vietnamese students are pretty awesome, from the first meeting. Sweet, attentive, they listen to the teacher and laugh at my bad jokes like… every time. They are friendly, funny, extremely respectful and grateful to be taught. On the more sensitive aspects, I would say they are like one mind, and have not been taught to question what they know, much. The result is a uniformity of thought pattern and opinions which can be dealt with ok, as long as one is aware of it, and willing to adapt.

Bookworm

2011-02-21T16:01:00.003+07:00

With the days left in Vietnam now in single digits it has been time to start packing up our things and getting ready to leave. We had accumulated a decent selection of books over the year and a half we were here so obviously couldn't take them all with us. The bookworm, a foreign bookstore owned by a few Aussies, is an ideal place to offload them. They offer you a third of what they think they can sell them for; which at the end of the day is not that much. However, I don't really know of any other place that even sells a decent selection of books here in Hanoi so I was happy to use them.

We decided to stop for a coffee and plan our last week in Hanoi.

Bookworm: 44 Chau Long Street (not far from Truc Bach lake)
Next door is a Cooking Centre where you can sit and have a great lunch in a small courtyard away from the noise of the nearby street. Top food.

The Rat is back

2011-02-14T08:18:00.002+07:00

Celine and I started work again on Saturday after our Tet holiday. On Sunday morning, my biggest teaching day, I came downstairs to prepare breakfast to find my recently purchased baguette gnawed to bits. Shit, was my first reaction - the Rat is back. We have had some rat problems over the past few months but they all seemed to fix themselves without any drastic measures required. With only two weeks to go in the country we all had hoped that the rat situation was over. Apparently not.

The rat somehow climbed the chair and got onto the table where it proceeded to devour our morning baguette. I must admit I am damn impressed by how it managed to get up on the table in the first place. It was clear we were dealing with a professional.

Later that day, sitting on the sofa, I heard a rustling noise near the TV. The rat was in an empty paper bag I had planned to use for rubbish. I grabbed a nearby broom and planned my attack. The two logical options were to close off the exit to the bag and kill it or quickly pick up the bag and run it outside. I opted for a pathetic, at best, poke at the bag which had no benefit at all. The rat ran out and I jumped back like a little pansy. Man, I hate rats. He (I have decided the rat is a guy) ran behind the big cupboard under the TV probably thinking how stupid humans are. I decided to leave it there.

I told Ben and Lanette, my roommates, about our recent rat situation night. We are all about as useful as each other when it comes to rat disposal so our strategy was to wish it away. That didn't work.

Celine and I were upstairs watching Scrubs when she asked me; "but what if it comes up the stairs?" I replied something along the lines "Hun, I swear there is no chance at all that the rat can or would want to come up the stairs. There is no food up here". Within a minute of my words of wisdom we heard Lanette scream. The rat had in fact come up the stairs and had also decided to poop in Lanette's bathroom; at least it is toilet trained. The monster confronted Lanette as she came out of her room. The scream caused the rat, or more appropriately small dog, to run into our spare bedroom. This was one hell of a rat and was obviously not afraid of anyone.

Ben, Lanette, Celine and I talked strategy outside the spare room; each peering in as if a family of cobras lived inside. It was the room with all our things for France and Thailand; piled up on the floor. I did not like the idea of leaving our stuff to the mercy of the beast but it became clear that we were probably not the best people for the job. We decided to close the door and sort it out in the morning.

This morning I woke up and went to find my neighbour Hai. After explaining my situation he said he would help. We loaded up on weaponry and went into the room. Once in the room he told me to close the door. Since Hai was helping me, and I didn't want to look like a complete wuss, I did as I was asked. I must be honest though, the heart rate increased a few beats. I know it is not very manly but there is something about rats I just can't stand. There was a mass of hiding places in a small room where the only exit was now closed. The rat on steroids was somewhere and I was a little on edge.

I won't go into details but Hai is a legend and the problem is now solved. Thank you Hai. I owe you a few beers.

Tet's food and drinks

2011-02-10T22:20:00.003+07:00

We enjoyed a few Tet specialties over our 4 days in Hoa Binh province. In every house we went to, there were candy and Tet nibbles: sunflower seeds, biscuits, pistachios, caramels, soft candies, wasabi pease... and green tea, a lot lot lot of green tea! A lot of beers, too, but I stopped after like... 2. A beer in each house and I wouldn't have been able to go through the day!

Then in one house only, Khoi's house, we had dinner. The boys do this every year, they visit all their mates and end up at Khoi's house around 5pm for an early dinner (don't worry, there are still like... 7 houses after that, before being allowed to go to bed, so no the day doesn't end there at 5pm with a nice dinner, that's only the signal that the day is over and the evening is starting).
The green square is called banh trung (pronounce bang choong), it's a sticky rice savoury cake with soy bean paste and bits of pork inside. Below the banh trung is some grilled pork, at the bottom is a sort of head and cartilage pate, the round thing a kind of thick processed ham and on the left, stewed chicken.

Vietnamese houses in Tet

2011-02-10T21:44:00.005+07:00

Like Dan said in his post a few days ago, we visited about 20 houses in the course of our two days Tet celebrations bonanza. It's a tradition for Nam and his friends in their home town, they visit each other, and everytime they get to one of their friend's houses, they drink tea or bear, eat some candy, chat a while then go to the next house, taking the latest host with them.

We took some pictures... not of the twenty houses, but still quite a few... as you can see there are more and more people as new friends tag along...

Hung's house

Phi's house

Ngoc's house

Dung's house

Trung's house

Khoi's house

Leaving Vietnam

2011-02-10T17:03:00.003+07:00

Celine and I have decided it is time to finish our adventure in Vietnam. We are going to leave at the end of February; so a few weeks to go. After a short trip to France to see Celine's family we are going to settle in Bangkok for a year. We thought it was about time for something different as we have well overstayed our original "one year in Vietnam" plan. We plan to teach English in Thailand as we did in Hanoi.

To quote a cliche, time has flown. I can't believe how quickly our year and half stay has gone. It does not seem long ago that Celine and I jumped out of the taxi on a scorching hot day; bamboozled and out of place with all the unusual craziness happening all around us. We were wide eyed and lost on our first day. I remember us saying to each other how foreign we were to this place and how little we knew. We arrived with our bags and a hotel room for a few nights. That was the extent of our knowledge. We didn't know any of the language and had no idea how to get around. We understood little of the culture and with the exception of one contact, knew no one. We were completely new to everything which was nerve wracking but exciting. Of course there were frustrating, anxious and sometimes scary moments but that was part of the learning experience.

It took us a few weeks to warm into Hanoi but we were able to find a place to live, get jobs and start to make some contacts. We soon started getting around on motorbikes and got familiar with many types of Vietnamese food. We travelled throughout Hanoi and later on, the rest of the country. Celine, more than me, learnt the language but we can now both communicate with the locals. We have made some good friends, both Vietnamese and foreigners, over our stay in Vietnam. We both have a detailed understanding of the Vietnamese culture. We achieved this by trying to get involved with Vietnamese people and their customs from the very beginning. We are still learning new things everyday, our recent Tet holiday a perfect example, but I can leave feeling I have come a long way.

We both have very fond memories of our time here and we will use the next few weeks to reflect on that while catching up with many of the friends we have made. Importantly, we have learnt to live, work and play with a culture very different to ours. At times there have been culture clashes but in general we have been able to adapt to the Vietnamese way. There are parts of the Vietnamese culture that I will never understand but that is to be expected. There are also parts that I think are great and my culture could learn a lot from. Regardless of my opinions I am just happy to be able to take so much away from my experience here. Living abroad is such a great concept and opens your eyes to the world.

Both Celine and I are looking forward to Thailand. We know a little more about Thailand than we did about Vietnam but we will still, I am sure, be lost and confused on arrival. I am looking forward to comparing the two cultures and learning about a different group of people all over again. Only a few weeks to go.........Excited!

Traditional Medicine

2011-02-10T16:24:00.002+07:00

About 4 days ago I woke up with a sore neck. I slept on it the wrong way and it felt like I pinched a nerve. Over the following two days it got progressively worse. It was incredibly painful and I had my head on a constant angle. I couldn't turn my head and slept on my back; waking up occasionally with shooting pains. After 3 days all the muscles around my neck and shoulder had seized up and I was a bit of a mess.

Celine suggested I go and see Dr Tui at the Yukishi clinic; a centre concentrating on traditional and holistic health. I was a bit of a cynic when it came to things like acupuncture because my only experience did nothing to help. I had nothing to lose so i went in to see her. Over two sessions across two consecutive mornings Dr Tui concentrated on a mixture of acupuncture and acupressure. Now, after my second session there has been a drastic improvement. The pain is still there by localised to a specific area. I have decent mobility and the muscles have relaxed. Dr Tui said it should get better over the next day but maybe one more session of acupressure is needed. At $7 a session it definitely doesn't break the bank.

The Yakushi Centre offers a range of traditional medicine as well as massages. They are professional and offer high quality service.

Any cynicism I had towards traditional medicine is now gone

Luong Son Market

2011-02-08T13:23:00.004+07:00

The market experience is always interesting in Vietnam. At the market you can pick up all your fruit and vegetables for a very cheap price. In Hanoi Celine and I will always buy fruit and vegetables at the market. In Luong Son the market fills up a decent section on both sides of the road in the main street. Big chunks of meat sit on old wooden tables, often covered by an aging umbrella. Ladies squat in the dirt next to their items for sale. Their things sit in rattan trays and they invite you to come and look as you pass. The ladies wear conical hats. The markets are bit dirty and dusty though. Rubbish sits in and around the market which is not a good look. However, the locals don't seem to notice and I am sure it is something they have grown up with. The markets are always a good place to go to get some interesting photos.

Buying mandarines and mangos

Ladies at the market

Sugarcane

Briefly famous

2011-02-07T13:47:00.006+07:00

Nam took us to a big statue of Ho Chi Minh in Hoa Binh; 30km from Luong Son. It is the biggest statue in the country of Uncle Ho at 38m. Hoa Binh is not known for its tourists so a tall white bald man with a big nose is as much an attraction as Ho Chi Minh. While we were there a family came up to me and each asked to have their photo taken with me. It has happened a few times since being in Vietnam and is quite funny. It is nice to know that someone out there other than Celine is interested in my ugly face.

Tet in the countryside

2011-02-07T12:06:00.004+07:00

Last year we spent the Vietnamese New Year in Thailand. Most expats I know use the time to get out of Vietnam as everything shuts down for a few weeks. We decided to stay around Hanoi this year to experience the Tet holiday.

Our friend, Nam, invited us to come and stay with his family for a few days. Nam's parents live in Luong Son, a small town about 40km from Hanoi. We packed a few things and jumped on our bike a day before New Year. Nam's parents live on the main road in the heart of the local market. The market was bustling when we arrived; the last day of trade before the holiday started.

Nam's parents own a small shop which operates from the front of their house. They are both lovely people and very friendly. They can't speak any English so when Nam was not around we had to bring all our Vietnamese to the table in order to communicate. We slept in Nam's old room with Nam on the floor. We tried our best not to take his bed but he flatly refused anything other than him on the floor. Even though we sleep on the floor in Hanoi, and have done so for 6 months, he would not take no for an answer.

We ate our meals on the floor in the lounge room; lying out a mat and sitting cross-legged as we ate and chat. After dinner the socialising began. Nam keeps in touch with all his friends from school and the Tet holiday is the ideal time to catch up. Basically what happens is people hop from house to house saying Happy New Year to their friends and their family. The family always offers a drink, either beer, wine or tea, and has a bunch of snacks. Some of the snacks are traditional Vietnamese or Tet holiday snacks while others are candy, nuts and fruit. Everyone passes on their best wishes for a healthy, wealthy and happy year. We usually stay at a house no longer than 30 minutes. We went from house to house until a little before midnight. At that time everyone returned to their house to bring in the new year. After midnight, we again jumped on the bike and headed to a big tree in the centre of town where a congregation of young people had gathered. The tree, on government land, was the source for a sought after branch which is good luck for a wealthy year. Young guys with branch clippers on the end of a long pole would cut small branches from the tree. As they fell others would jump to grab a branch. It reminded me of ladies catching the bouquet at a wedding. With a branch in hand people would jump on their bike and ride off. Once Nam had his branch we too left and went back home. After that the socialising resumed and finished at around 2.30am. We visited 7 houses that first night. We were tired by the end of it.

The next day was much of the same. We visited house after house. It was a brutal affair. I think we stopped at maybe 20 different houses. I have never drunk so much tea and eaten so many candies. This ritual happens every year. After visiting someones house the host then comes along as well. By the end of the night we resembled a biker gang with about 10 bikes cruising along the road together. Celine and I were very happy to call it a night at around 10.30pm.

The main topic as we moved from house to house was marriage and kids; or lack of. For many of Nam's friends Tet must be a frustrating affair. Approaching 30, their parents are genuinely worried about them. The central questions are WHO (are you going to marry) and WHEN. Nam is getting married next month so for him Tet must be a bit easier this year; He can actually answer the constant barrage of questions. After marriage of course comes a baby. This was the question we received about 40 times. Why don't you have a baby? We even started to lie about how long we have been married. They can't fathom why a couple of 3 years would not have a baby. This got frustrating after the 20th time. I feel sorry for the young Vietnamese who don't really want to get married or have a kid. They are virtually forced.

Another Tet tradition is lucky money. Lucky money is given to the little kids when you visit their house. It is given to the older generation as well. Celine and I received some lucky money from Nam, Nam's parents and even some of the parent's of Nam's friends. The amounts vary on how close you are to the person but for kids it is usually 5,000-50,000 VND. For adults it was 100,000 VND. The money is either given directly or in a small envelope. Luckily Celine had prepared lucky money envelopes to give to the kids.

On the last day Nam's two older sisters and their families came from Hanoi and we had lunch with them. They are very friendly as well and it was very nice to spend the holiday with them. Tet is the only time of the year when they are all together.

The few days in Luong Son were great. It was the perfect insight into the Vietnamese Tet tradition and we learnt many things. It was often quite demanding and we had no down time but that comes with the Vietnamese culture.

Love the Pho

2011-01-29T14:52:00.002+07:00

I have had a lot of time to try and test all kinds of Vietnamese foods. Generally, the food is awesome and very cheap. I have had many favourites that have been and gone over our stay here but the traditional Pho would have to be the winner. It has been a comforting meal as the temperature has dropped over the capital. It was the first meal we had after arriving in Hanoi about a year and a half ago and we have had hundreds since, searching the city for the best one. A Pho place on the street Xuan Dieu is definitely high on the list which has the added benefit of being very close to our house.

We stopped for a Pho recently, rugged up with multiple jackets, scarfs and gloves before taking the chilly ride to work. This delicious chicken Pho helped with my decision of giving the Pho ultimate honours in Vietnamese cuisine.

Teaching English in Hanoi

2011-01-29T12:45:00.003+07:00

I have been teaching English in Hanoi for about a year and a half. My background is in finance. I came to Hanoi with no teaching experience. I took a TEFL (teaching English as a foreign language) course in Sydney before coming to Hanoi. There are many options for teaching English here, such as language schools, universities, public schools and kindergartens as well as tutoring.

Most people I know work in language schools which are popping up everywhere around town. They usually have some tutoring on the side. Learning English is very popular here and with money continuing to flow into the country and the population having more disposable income; parents are opting to send their kids to English lessons. With higher incomes and a high young population (I heard somewhere that 65% of the population are under 30) it makes for an attractive teaching environment.

The majority of classes are with kids or teenagers however there are adult classes as well. The levels range from beginners to advanced students planning to study abroad.

I have worked for a number of language schools in Hanoi. The choice you need to make is whether to go with a bigger, more reputable school or a smaller Mum and Dad type of set up. The bigger schools such as Language Link and Apollo will give you a contract, paying for things like insurance and holidays. They have a good selection of resources and are much better for social interactions. At Language Link there is a teachers room where teachers can prepare their lessons and chat with each other. They will pay you around the $18 per hour mark. They are generally the lower end of the pay scale in Hanoi. You have the option of a full time or part time contract. A full time contract is a minimum of 70 hours per week.

The Mum and Dad type schools, which usually operate out of a big house, are generally more relaxed and flexible. They also, generally, don't have contracts. The first school I worked for didn't have a contract and in the end I got screwed some of my wages. They were a small company; terribly run with little to no organisation, inefficient and of poor quality. I knew from the outset they were a rubbish company so I take the blame for sticking with them and not getting some of my money. The company was called Ninemoon English centre. They paid $20 per hour but I would avoid at all costs. The majority of the work I have done in Hanoi has been without a contract. This comes with added risk but I have had no other issues with employers and commonsense, along with a little word-of-mouth, usually prevails. I have earned between $24-33 per hour - cash in hand. They don't have the benefits of the bigger schools but in my experience the extra money they offer makes up the difference and more.

Once working for a school you will generally get offers for tutoring. I have done this throughout the whole time I have been here. You can ask from around the $25 per hour mark.

Hanoi is a great city to find work. There are many jobs and if you are a good teacher you will find work easily; regardless of experience. The Vietnamese students are generally great and look for a fun, interactive teacher. Creating a happy, enjoyable learning environment, for both kids and adults, will give you many teaching opportunities in Hanoi.

Rang Hanoi

2011-01-28T15:19:00.000+07:00

I went for a dental check up a few days ago. There are a few western dental clinics in Hanoi but I opted for a Vietnamese one that was recommended by a friend. The teeth were ok but I needed a clean. A young technician worked away for about 30 minutes doing a great job. My dentist was professional and had good enough English; explaining everything I needed to know. The facilities were very good.

The shortfall was the price. For a check-up by a dentist and a thorough dental clean the price came to a grand $4. Yes.... $4. Even after a year and a half here I am still sometimes left amazed at how cheap some things are. I don't know the price back home but I would guess at least 10 times more expensive. Fillings are very cheap as well - about $5 according to my friend.

Check out their website at Rang Hanoi if you are after some cheap, quality dental care in Hanoi.

Ding's vietnamese conversations

2011-01-25T22:35:00.003+07:00

No, I'm sorry, I shouldn't make fun, but that's what happens when one is too lazy to keep up with his Vietnamese lessons although he still lives in Vietnam and therefore is bound to have to speak Vietnamese from time to time.

Today, we met Phuong and Ly, our two grown up friends whom we know through Marine, my best friend. In the 45 minutes we spent with them (eating bun oc, YES, I had promised Ly I would try and she didn't forget, she made me eat it today... aaargh... bun oc means 'snails noodles', just so you know) Dan came up with a few classics...

I will translate what he said in English, of course. First, what he meant to say then what he actually said.

Dan trying to say: "I'm very busy".
Said: "I'm very pen".

Dan trying to say: "Snails noodles? Yes, I've eaten it before".
Said: "Snails noodles? Yes, I understand it already".

Dan trying to say : "I like the noodle soup from Hue"
Said: "I like Hue street" (actually a street in Hanoi)

To the question: "why are you going to Thailand?"
Dan answered: "Yes."

Lol. What a cutie pie.

Tết is back!!

2011-01-25T22:00:00.004+07:00

Here we are again, it's Tết in a few days. The Vietnamese new year (same as the Chinese new year) is on February 3rd this year, and man do we feel it approaching over here.

The streets are packed with people doing their Tết shopping before Hanoi shuts down for two weeks and with motorbikes and trucks transporting Tết trees, the kumquat tree. There's another Tết tree, but I have no idea how it's called. You know, the one with the little pink flowers? The traditional Chinese New Year tree, I believe. People hang some Tết red and gold decorations on them.

It's nice around Tết in Vietnam, there's a feeling of excitement as everyone is preparing to go home to their home town and enjoy a couple of weeks off from work. We ourselves are taking forced holidays, we'd rather not as we need the money before our big move to Thailand, but there's little choice. Our schools close for over two weeks. So, ok, it'll be packing and boxing time!

Museum of ethnology second round

2011-01-25T21:39:00.006+07:00

Since a lot of people have come to visit us in the last few months, we've had a chance to go back to some of the places we'd been to ages ago, like Hoi An, Halong Bay, Mai Chau and within Hanoi, to some museums.
With Julia and Vince a couple of weeks back, we went to the museum of Ethnology again. It really is a nice museum, although it was absolutely freezing that day, inside the museum also.
This time the exhibition was about AIDS in Vietnam and really, it was amazing, very moving.

Here I'm following around the guide, who happened to speak spanish, but a clear and slow spanish which I understood. Free guide for Leggy!

A Question for the Vietnamese: Part 4

2011-01-21T12:35:00.002+07:00

In Vietnam families live together. Kids live with their parents as well as their grandparents. The young Vietnamese generally live with their parents until they get married. From what I can see they are very respectful of their parents and will always respect their decisions. A friend of mine, who is 24 and lives at home, wanted to go on a holiday with her friends for the approaching TET New Year celebrations. Her parents refused, saying it was family time, and she, despite being disappointed accepted without debate.

What I don't know is how the young Vietnamese get some alone time once they are in a relationship. Many are in relationships; all living with their parents. Of course they can go outside together; to cafes, restaurants or to the cinema but what if they want a bit of alone time? This obviously happens before they get married and move in together but I assume their busy house filled with family members is not the ideal place.

Is this where the Nha Nghi (guesthouse in English) make their money? You will see a sign for guesthouse accommodation a lot in Vietnam, especially when you get out of the city centres. Driving around Vietnam I saw them everywhere and wondered how the hell they ever made any money; sitting on a back street in an outer suburb of town. On my street in Hanoi they are at least 5 or 6 guesthouses over a few kilometres.

So, if the Nha Nghi the solution for a bit of one on one time?

Dinner with the neighbours

2011-01-18T13:35:00.004+07:00

We live down a small alley, turning off the service road (a smaller road running parallel to the main road) down a steep ramp and weaving around a few tall houses before reaching ours. Our house is at the end of the alley. The alley is no more than a metre and a half wide. The entrance to our neighbours from door is only a metre from ours. They are great.

Anh, the mother, is a kindergarten teacher. She speaks good English and is a godsend to have around because no one else in the area speaks English. Hai is a chef and works late most nights. They have two kids who Celine and I know well. I was Santa at their house recently for 30 odd screaming kids.

They had us over for dinner a few nights ago and invited some of their friends. We had seafood hotpot. It was delicious. Often the Vietnamese will sit on the floor when enjoying a meal. As always when celebrating a meal with friends the Vietnamese drink rice wine. It was our friends Vince and Jules last night in Hanoi before flying back to Sydney. Rice wine is traditionally for the men so Vince and I drank with the other guys. Celine left for work and by the time she returned I was trying to get one of their friends to dance. Vince and Hai were well and truly friendly; arms around each other as they had been friends for years. The rice wine is deadly. This particular one was infused with dead geckos and starfish. Yum!

Knitting

2011-01-12T18:33:00.004+07:00

We've told you before: It's cold at the moment. Like... really cold.

After a day in town, there's nothing like a hot chocolate at home, under the quilt, with House on TV and a bit of knitting... A few weeks ago I bought some wool, and with the help of youtube started a scarf, for Dan. I needed Youtube for the bits my mum always did for me when I was little, which is... I don't even know how to call it in English... er... putting the wool around the needle for the very first rank of knitting, and also when the knitting in over, I never could do the finishing bit. Anyway, my mum is not here so I needed youtube to explain to me how to do those two things. You can learn anything online nowadays, and the Internet is full of little explanatory videos on how to do those knitting things.

So, there, I'm half way through a scarf, which is quite ugly but Dan will probably wear anyway, just to be nice. When we get to Bangkok, he won't ever need it again and will probably throw it away, but still, I'm happy!

Gaby honey are you proud of me??
:)

I am cold

2011-01-11T15:19:00.004+07:00

A cold snap has descended on Hanoi. The last week has been below average with temperatures around the 9-10 degree mark. That is usually not so bad but as Celine mentions Hanoi is not set up for the cold weather. There is no heating so life consists of moving from one cold place to another. Our house is freezing. We have a few small heaters that we all huddle around but that does little to shake the bite. Our school has no heating and most shops are the same. We are constantly rugged up in multiple layers waiting for this unusually cold weather to pass.

Riding around on motorbikes is usually such an enjoyable experience but at the moment it is a battle. Our schools are about 30 minutes from home and even with four layers, gloves and a scarf the cold burns your skin as you ride. It is especially nice when you get to school and they tell you your class has been cancelled. Cheers.

Today is especially cold which means wherever you go it's cold. Our house is an ice box. Your only solace is a few western cafes which have invested in a heating system. I am really looking forward to it getting a bit warmer which I am told is only a few days away.

Despite the recent cold, on my ride home at night I still manage to see a few Vietnamese huddled around the ice cream stand, hands shaking as they attempt to enjoy their ice cream. Crazy.

Winter in the classroom

2011-01-08T16:46:00.004+07:00

Kids come to class and study in their little coats, scarves and beanies. It's freezing in the classrooms, so much so that schools actually close when the temperature goes under 10 degres Celsius. You'd think it's still the kind of temperature where people can function normally, but not here: because there is nowhere to go to in order to escape the freezing humid cold... everywhere is cold: in the house, in the shops, in the bus, at school, at work, everywhere.
In Seoul it's much colder but as soon as it becomes too much, you can just walk in any cafe or shop and a wave a warmth takes you in as soon as your foot is in the door. Here in Hanoi, shops are completely open, I mean they're missing a whole wall, cafes are open onto the street, restaurants too, and houses also. There's no heating, it's cold all the time. We sleep with a little electric heater facing right at us, it's the only way to sleep.
At school, we have to take our shoes off and the windows are broken... not nice when it's so cold. This morning I took pictures on the littles kids all rugged up, doing their lines and their wordsearches, oblivious... aren't they cute?

Thank you Hien

2011-01-01T17:16:00.003+07:00

We returned home from Hoi An today to a wet and cold Hanoi. Hien, the lady who helps us around the house had left a nice bunch of roses as a New Year present. She also left a note which was quite funny;

"Happy New Year To Celine + Dan + Lunet + all lady..........I hope Everything good To you: good money + good healthy + prime..........good luck. I present to you flower. bye bye. See you in New Year"

I am not sure what it all meant but it was a very nice gesture.

Happy New Year from Hoi An

2010-12-31T19:12:00.004+07:00

We're spending new year's eve in Hoi An with Vince and Julia.

We love Hoi An, especially this time of year where it's not too hot and we can enjoy riding pushbikes through the little streets. There are still quite a few too many tourists, but we can't complaint too much... here, we are tourists too. We've done a lot (a LOT) of shopping, as you do in Hoi An, I think the shopping will deserve a post of its own, we've sampled every specialty possible and this time around, we've visited some ancient houses and museums which we didn't have the courage to have a look at last time because it was just too damn hot.

I think Hoi An is the prettiest little town in Vietnam, the old walls especially are stunning and the whole place just feels artsy. It's inspiring for photographers and painters to walk the quaint streets of Hoi An.

Happy New Year to all and love from Hoi An

Leggy

Walls of Hoi An

2010-12-31T18:51:00.002+07:00

If you like taking pictures of walls then Hoi An is the place to visit. We are spending New Years here and have taken the opportunity to grab some photos of the amazing architecture in this cool little town.

Christmas festivities

2010-12-27T22:55:00.004+07:00

On the 24th we had a champagne lunch with Ben and Lanette and then went home for some Christmas movies, rillettes and cheese.
On Xmas day, I taught in the morning and then started the festivities nicely with some champagne with Ben and and Lanette at home, followed by a lovely ‘chase the rat’ session. Yes... we have a rat. We were exchanging gifts and happily chatting about our upcoming trips for New Years– we're going to Hoi An and Ben and Lanette to Hong Kong, when I saw the rat trotting away in the living room, not at all phased by the four people laughing and talking loudly 3 metres away. We all perched ourselves on our chairs, and I ended up running upstairs while the other three chased the rat around the lounge. They found the animal in under the sofa, with a pile of breadcrumbs so big it must have been accumulating for weeks… from upstairs, all I heard was screaming, bangs, laughing and more screaming.

Xmas lunch was nice, we went to an all you can eat buffet with our good friend Nam. I had tons of sashimi , some clam chouder and grilled lamb. That’s the closest to a Christmas meal I could achieved in this very much Vietnamese restaurant, and even though it was not your traditional Xmas food, it was delish.
Nam was fun as always, it’s impossible not to have a great time with him. I couldn’t believe his ‘Xmas surprise’ though, he’s getting married in two months! I congratulated him and asked him if he was happy, he said not really because he’s not ready to get married but he’s reaching an age where he just has too… Nam’s 27 years old. I call that quite young to get married, but hey, it’s a different culture. Nam loves his girl, so it’s all good.

The afternoon was spent drinking Russian champagne (a weird reddish mixture) and Skyping with families. Something I learnt from this Skyping session: chatting to your loud family on Skype with a poor internet connection and almost no voice because of a bad cold is fun, but tough, and you will lose the little voice you had left. True story.
It was a quiet Xmas in the end, quieter than last year and hopefully than next year too, a lot of our friends here have gone already, a lot of the remaining friends were at work parties , I was sick and the weather was miserable. All the reasons why we kept it low key this time. We’ll have to compensate next year in Bangkok, by, I don’t know… going clubbing all night I guess.

Christmas spirit

2010-12-26T21:22:00.004+07:00

Lanette feels that this year, Hanoi is showing a lot more Xmas spirit and decorations than last year. I didn’t really see the difference, probably because I was sick for most of it so not really out and about, and also because I’m working in a Vietnamese school now and they don’t even close on Christmas day.
I went Xmas shopping around the old quarter a couple of times and it’s true there were plenty of Christmas trees and fake snow all around the shops. Here are a few pictures to give you and idea.

This year, Santa brought me some MAC make up (pretty stylish dude, this Santa), an ink stamp with my name on it, a chick flick DVD, a scarf, a facial mask, a bowl, books and a trip to Hoi An! I bougth myself the whole ‘night hunter’ DVD boxset, which none of you will know unless you grew up in France. (En Francais: Nikki Larson)
Dan got a pair a jeans, lots of boxer shorts, 10 DVDs, a stamp with his name on it, a feet spa cream for smelly feet (thanks Lanette), a bottle of wine from his students and a trip to Hoi An also.

Merry Christmas guys, thanks for reading and posting comments, love to all and a special thought for Dana: we missed you.
xxx

Christmas in Hanoi

2010-12-26T09:55:00.001+07:00

You can’t avoid Christmas in Hanoi. Stores are covered in decorations, Christmas trees stand at the front of restaurants and lights, especially in my part of town, cover bars and shops. Christmas CD stocks must have run out because ever café I go to has bad Christmas carol remixes blasting away. The waitresses wear Christmas hats and often hum away their favorite tunes. Many restaurants have put on Christmas menus so whatever your traditional feast; you are bound to find it.

Riding into town today I saw a Vietnamese guy fully dressed as Santa zooming along on his motorbike. The schools have Christmas parties and depending on the place has either Christmas Eve or Christmas day off. For us it is Christmas Eve so tomorrow morning we are off to work. In my school, the kids are being taught Christmas songs by their Vietnamese teachers. They are more than happy to sing to me when I come to class.

For two years now, I have somehow been roped into being Santa. I had avoided that role for 26 years but it seems in Vietnam there is no escaping it. I had to play Santa for 1,200 kids last year which was a nightmare. This year my neighbor asked me to be Santa for a kids party at her house. I arrived home from work to a house full of screaming kids waiting for Santa. I was quickly transformed into my Santa suit and slid into their house avoiding their prying eyes. I walked down their stares to the bottom floor to deafening screams from around 30 kids. Their parents were all taking photos. It was a random experience. I said my “Ho Ho Ho’s” and gave each of the kids a present. Many of them took the present with apprehension; a fearful expression on their face. I am not sure if it was the white beard or big nose that scared them. In any case, they were mostly happy and excited. It is very clear that the Christmas gimmick is alive in Hanoi.

Today we are having lunch with our flat mate and her boyfriend. It will be a multi-cultural affair with representations from Australia, France, South Africa and America. Celine has suggested trying something traditional from each of the countries. So I guess that is frois gras and smoked salmon from France and maybe ham from Australia. I am not sure on the other inclusions yet. Tomorrow, after working in the morning, we are heading out for Christmas lunch with one of our Vietnamese friends.

I am waiting for Celine in a café, listening to Silent Night. Celine is in Toy Street, buying the last of the Christmas shopping. When I dropped her off it was packed with Vietnamese buying last minute gifts for their kids. She is braver than I am because than did not look like fun. I am not a big fan of shopping.
This will be our second, and last, Christmas in Hanoi and it has definitely been interesting to experience how the Vietnamese celebrate it. I am not sure where we will be next year but I can only hope my Santa days are over.

Merry Christmas

2010-12-19T21:51:00.001+07:00

Christmas is coming again. In our fair regions of the world, we are cruelly aware of how little of a deal it is here… this year much more than last, as this time we both work in Vietnamese schools and listen to this: they don’t close on Christmas day. So… I’m working from 8.00 am to 11.am on the 25th, which prevents me from going out and getting drunk on Christmas eve, and then I have more classes from 6pm to 8pm,which prevents me from going out and getting drunk on Christmas day!
Awesome.
I guess I’ll eat a lot but I won’t drink too much eggnog, then.
Meeeerrry Christmas!

Occupational Health & Safety in Hanoi

2010-12-16T22:13:00.003+07:00

Dong Da lake; the good days

I currently work for two different schools in Hanoi. One is right next to Dong Da Lake. Celine and I visited the lake in the first few days after we arrived in Hanoi. We walked around it, had a coffee by the water and took some random tourist photos.

A few months ago they emptied the lake. Not long after, the rubbish started piling up and all the men eating at the lakeside restaurants used the emptiness as an easy access toilet. I ride by the lake on a small road for about 100m before taking a hard right down a small alley, soon reaching my school. As a passed the restaurants the stench of stale urine would waft through the air tattoeing itself in my nostrils. I guess I can understand the laziness of pissing in the most practical and quickest place, which in this case happens to be an empty lake, but I can't comprehend how these guys can eat through that smell.

Rubbish in Dong Da Lake

To keep up with appearances they filled the lake for the 1000 years of Hanoi celebrations. All the rubbish was collected and the area once again looked nice. As soon as the celebrations were over they emptied the lake and plans were underway to build a train station in its place. Now, the rubbish is back and the locals again have a toilet (although I am pretty sure they use the lake when it's full). Big concrete pillars have been put up around the lake. My small 100m dash along the lake now resembles a war zone. I don't really know what they are doing but workers are digging, and piling and generally causing a mess which makes my short ride somewhat of an obstacle. On either side big holes have been dug, large pipes removed, concrete and dirt piled. Men, covered in dirt with a dodgy electric power drill in hand, stand a meter deep working intently on what looks risky and unsafe electrics . All this was happening in peak hour traffic as bikes were flooding in each direction. I could have, and often considered, patting one of the workers on the head as I passed. I decided it was more important to concentrate on the road in front of me.

Sometimes the traffic is horrendous. As I crawled along the now dirt and dusty road I would wait for the cause. More often than not it is two cars at a stalemate, meeting each other in opposite directions with only enough room for one car. With no organization on the roads it takes a while to sort out the mess before you can find a small gap to pass and continue on your way. All this is happening as the road is being pulled up, holes dug, electrical work done while men are happily drinking, eating and pissing.

I had a late class last Friday which starts at 7.45pm. At this time the roads are much quieter and the workers have stopped. My little stretch along the side of the lake is quite peaceful at this hour. It is still dusty but there is no traffic. But, there is also no street lighting and virtually no lights from the nearby houses. There is definitely no "Road Works" signs or warnings about all the work that is going on. The street is small and a little bendy at points and I nearly rode right into a one meter ditch. I didn't see it until the last second. I swerved and continued on the bumpy, semi-destroyed road until my turn. The lack of safety is comical, that is of course unless you get hurt. I have avoided any serious injuries so far, touch wood, but I would not like to see the local census on workplace injuries; both for employees and members of the general public.

Bad Vietnamese wife

2010-12-14T13:16:00.003+07:00

It’s hard to be a good Vietnamese wife, they set the standard pretty high. Me, for instance, I’m French, but I live here in Vietnam and I am a wife, which unfortunately makes me, to all my Vietnamese friends and neighbours anyway, a Vietnamese wife by default.

Let me give you a few examples.

I’ve been trying to cook more. I mainly cook for Dan as I myself am ultra careful with what I eat and can you really call making white rice with green vegetables broth ‘cooking’? hmm… not really. But I make stir fries, meats in sauce, all kinds of pastas and braised vegetables for Dan. I find cooking almost therapeutical, it calms my own cravings and allows me to handle all kinds of food even though I won’t be able to eat it (Ok, I always have a taste).
Anyway, because I am in no way considered a Vietnamese wife by the sellers at the market (meat price is doubled as soon as I approach the stalls), I’ve asked our cleaning lady Hien to buy me half a kilo of meat everyweek. I explained why I was asking her, that it would make it much cheaper for me etc… I asked her to buy chicken one week, beef one week, pork one week and at any time she could just buy whatever she liked best that week, it didn’t matter.
She didn’t seem to follow. I was quite confused, I mean she speaks English and we usually understand each other very well. But it’s not the form she didn’t get, it’s the content of my request. She explained that it would be unthinkable to buy only one kind of meat per week for my husband and what kind of wife would I be?? How could such a thought even cross my mind??, “poor Dan!!” she lamented.
“No, but… Hien…” I objected, “the meat is not only for Dan you know, it’s for both of us, and I cook it in different ways everytime, with different sauces and vegetables on the side, so you know it won’t be always the same, don’t worry”
But the truth is that I had lost her at “different ways”. She believes in cooking each meat the same way every day, with soy sauce in a saucepan. She raised her eyebrows again and informed me she would buy me a bit of beef, pork AND chicken every week, because any other option would be crazy. Then she went her way, muttering something sounding a lot like “poor Dan”.
I was left with having to abandon most of my meats-in-sauce and steak ideas, as she now dices the meat for me in ways I don’t quite know what to do with, freezes it that way and sometimes she even cooks it without my ever asking her to do so, and when she cooks it, it’s with soy sauce and Vietnamese herbs. It’s very nice and all, but still ruins my plans for a stew, you see.
Once, she saw Dan cooking for me and told him how much of a good, good good boy he was, while glaring at me a little, unworthy wife me working on my computer while the man of the house is making pasta.
Once, she practically threw me out of bed and made me go help Dan who was busy fixing the door. She called me a lazy wife, which only made me laugh I mean, what are you going to do? In her world, I AM a lazy wife, and she’s 50 years old, I’m not about to question her whole world and set of values to try and explain ours, am I? So I went and helped Dan, who kicked me out for trying to give advice on things I don’t understand, such as fixing a door. Well, I know I don’t understand that, don’t I? I’m trying to keep peace in my house here, but not giving Hien a panick attack, that’s all.

I don’t mean to rant about Hien, I love Hien. What I’m ranting about, is being mistaken for a Vietnamese wife all the time… I could never reach THAT standard, believe me. I don’t clean well enough, cook well enough or make babies on time. I’m also not a 48 kilos bombshell with a perfect tiny body and big black eyes. Most young wives are, here. Talk about standards.

The neighbours regulary pat my tummy, always when I’m busy handling the bike or carrying 1000 things so I can’t slip away, and are all very disappointed that they never feel a baby bump. I’m clearly a bad wife with that, too. I get pity looks, sorry comments and even advice on how to make it happen. In fact, I've been given everything short of traditional medicine concoctions to help me get pregnant, which by the way is not yet in our projects but I definitly can’t explain that one here. It must be said though that one of our neighbours, a funny grandma, always gives DAN advice on how to perform better in the baby making department, so I love her, because with her it seems that DAN is the bad husband, ooh relief for me. Plus, her advice usually make us laugh a lot, so it’s all good.
Life can be tough for some real Vietnamese wives. As soon as they get married, they have to move in with their husband’s family (not always though, it depends of whether the husband is the first son). I understand that once there, they hold the last position in the family hierarchy, and more than one conversation with young wives have given me a pretty good idea of how small their place is in the new household. For instance, I hear that their mother in law makes them cook and clean and boss them around. In return, the grandparents look after the baby while the wife is at work. Also, they are expected to produce a baby within a year, or at least to get pregnant within a year, or women from both families gather to discuss the problem and produce medicines to help. My neighbour Hanh told me that if a new couple was not pregnant within a year, the whole neighbourhood would be talking about it and worry together.
Talk about culture clash. We westerners live together before we get married, or at least most couples do, which is very rare here and not at all looked kindly upon, and after marriage most of us wait a few years to have kids (if we even do get married… or if we ever do have kids…).
Please understand me: this kind of cutlure shock does not shock ME, I go and live in a foreign country, far from me the idea the judge their ways. But where it becomes difficult is when my own life is judged using these criterias, criterias that were never mine to start with. That’s when I find myself living and thinking in a way that can not be reconciled with anything around me and I am pretty much shocking anyone who takes an interest in me, because I don’t follow the vietnamese family common law inside my marriage. I don’t cook the right meats, I don’t help my husband when he’s fixing the door, I don’t make babies… I’m a terrible Vietnamese wife, I’m a disapointment to my neighbours, to my Vietnamese friends and definitly to my cleaning lady.
Tough crowd….

Un peu de lecture - 2

2010-12-08T19:49:00.003+07:00

Livre lus depuis mon dernier post sur le sujet (Mai):
Une collection encore une fois un peu éclectique, et a noter: trois re-lecture dans le lot: Millenium tome 3, que j'ai relu il y a deux mois, quand la version traduite en Anglais est ENFIN sortie (pauvre Dan, il attendait depuis deux ans), les deux premiers tomes de l'assassin royal de Robbin Hobb (parce que maman les avait pris avec elle quand elle est venue me voir ici, j'ai deja lu toute la Saga - environ 20 livres - il y a 5 ans, en France) et les Twilights, re-lus il y a trois mois pour la... je sais pas, peut etre quatrieme fois :)Et je n'ai pas honte de le dire, donc tant mieux pour moi. Ma serie culte c'est Buffy, je n'ai pas honte de dire ca non plus. Enfin, la plupart du temps je n'ai pas honte... mais dans les diners intellos ca casse l'ambiance...

2010-12-06T22:05:00.006+07:00

My mum and sister came to spend two weeks here in Hanoi, which was great. I went back to Halong bay on the same wonderfully peaceful tour we took the first time, and Dan and I also went back to Mai Chau to introduce the girls to Mme Linh, one of our favourite person in Vietnam, and to the beautiful landscapes around Mai Chau.

In between those two trips, we just hung out in Hanoi, training the girls on the Vietnamese way of things. By the time they left they could say quite a few things in Vietnamese and were even able to find their way around the Vietnamese money...

We spend most of our time in Hanoi eating traditional Vietnamese food,

and walking around the old quarter (oh so full on) and around West lake (Oh so quiet). We visited Pagodas and the Temple of Lit (first time for me, incredible as it sounds, as it's right next door to where I worked for a year).

We also went to the Water Puppet Theatre show, again a first for me. What else did we do? We enjoyed quite a few strong coffees and quality massages and facials all over the city. :)

The weather wasn't that great but we saw the sun a couple of times in the second week. They didn't mind what we call 'coldish' here, as right now in France... well, it's snowing eveywhere, and 'coldish' here, still means 20 degres Celsius of warm humidity. I can't even feel it anymore, but my mum and sister really did.

It was a good trip for them I think and we had a lot of fun. Catching up with family is always nice, when one lives so far away from them for such a long time. I left France in 2001, it's starting to be a while...

I hope the girls will come back to visit me wherever I am next, and help me remember where I come from and who I am, with everything they say and do.

A Question for the Vietnamese? Part 3

2010-12-06T15:15:00.002+07:00

How do you actually make ruou or rice wine as it is called in English? I have been drinking the stuff for a year and half, when encouraged by Vietnamese men, but still have no real idea of what goes into it. With the way I feel the next day it is probably better I don't know.

I know it is rice wine and I know a lot of it is home made. My neighbour for example makes rice wine with geckos. When I raise my eyebrow at the idea of drinking it he tells me with conviction that it is good for my health. He said the same thing about the duck embryo. I have seen rice wine with snakes, lizards, worms and bugs. By this I mean a bottle of wine with a dead snake in it. There are of course others that are just plain old rice wine with no added animals. These are the ones I drink most often, usually in the country side, when socialising with Vietnamese men.

The tastes are always different and the after effects as well. Sometimes I wake up spacey like on drugs, others dizzy but rarely ill. So I wonder how is it actually made and what is used to make it?

What have I been drinking for the past year and a half?

Hanoi Water Puppets

2010-12-06T14:45:00.002+07:00

I went and saw the water puppets show a few days ago. It is one of the main tourist attractions in Hanoi and it has taken me a year and a half to get there. It is very popular and the theatre was sold out. Water puppetry is a form of traditional theatre that has been around Vietnam for a long time. Celine's mother bought me a ticket so I happily went along.

The show lasts for about 45 minutes and as the title suggests, it is a puppet show in a waist-deep pool of water. To the side is a small orchestra who either play musical instruments or sing and give commentary throughout the show; all in Vietnamese I might add.

The show is ok. The backdrop is a pagoda and behind a screen men and women puppeteers stand in the water directing the puppets. The puppets are wooden and sit on the end of large rods. I can only hope the water is cleaner than the lakes of Hanoi. Either way it can't be the most enjoyable job.

The show follows a theme of Vietnamese tradition with many key symbols of their society appearing in the show. You will see dragons, rice fields and their workers, buffalo's and cows, conical hats, festivals, fishing etc. All these things make up a part of the Vietnamese culture; especially rural life.

The performance won't blow you away but the theatre is right in the centre of town and only costs $2 so it can easily be factored into your day. Make sure you book ahead because every other tourist in town is also planning on going.

Helping the Kids of Vietnam

2010-11-30T16:08:00.006+07:00

Three little ones at the orphanage

A few months ago when Celine and I were travelling through Vietnam we came upon an orphanage in a town called Kon Tum. There are many orphanages in the area and most have little or no support. We were directed to a particular orphanage on the outskirts of town. It took us a while to find the place but we finally did, up a dirt road on a small piece of land. There we met Teresa and a bunch of the kids at the orphanage. Teresa looks after the kids 7 days a week with the help of three sisters. She herself grew up in an orphanage in the area and is now dedicating her life to helping out others in need. She is a wonderful person. The kids are great too. They are happy and for the little they have are well looked after. This orphanage is not written about in any of the guide books and Teresa said we were only the second lot of foreigners to visit in the past year.

Teresa teaching away

We gave the orphanage a few small things; a bit of money and some food which is what anyone would do in the same situation. Celine and I left the orphanage wanting to help out; not just in a small one off way but over the long term. We have been thinking of ways to do this ever since.

Playing a skipping game with the kids

Why do they need help

There are currently 73 kids at the orphanage with only 58 beds

They eat two meals a day. They eat rice and vegetables, many grown in the fields. They don’t eat fish or meat. They are sometimes given food from the market but this is the old stuff that is generally unsalable.

They are often running out of medication. Recently many of the kids had an eye infection but they didn't have enough medicine.

The kids sometimes go to school, mostly by foot because they don't have enough bikes. The few bikes they do have are old and run down. Teresa, when she can, teaches them subjects like English and Maths at the orphanage. She has a blackboard in the main room that she uses.

The kids have one school uniform, a T-shirt for at home and a set of warm clothes. When we visited most of the kids were wearing dirty clothes.

Structurally, there are a lot of things that need to be done around the orphanage. They have a well that someone made for them but it is very unsafe for the young kids running around. The storage room that hold the rice and other important things is in bad shape. They have electricity but they can't afford to use it.

Hanging out with some of the kids

How to help

I have been in contact with an NGO operating in Danang who has been supporting disadvantaged kids for a number of years. After discussions with them it looks like they are going to work with me to start a project working with the orphanage in Kon Tum. For me this is great news. I want to put in place a long term solution, one that continues when I leave Vietnam. I am confident that we can work together in helping the kids have a better quality of life. If I can provide funds for the project they will source and distribute everything that is needed.

How can you help

The first and most obvious is to donate some money to the cause. A few dollars from everyone I know would easily cover the most needed things; that being a decent meal, adequate medicine and quality clothing. That is what I want to achieve first but I have many ideas for the future. I am still finalising the best way to collect the money so for the time being this post is to create awareness. I want people to know what I am doing and why I am doing it. Forward this post onto your friends and get people involved.

If you would like to help out please leave a comment on this post with your email and I will soon provide updated information. If you want more information, please get in touch with me and I can answer any questions you have. If you think this is a good idea please send this onto your friends and use social media to get my idea out there. Anyone that has been to Vietnam will know that many are living a hard life. These kids are born into this life and deserve our help. I have heard some terrible stories about the plight of young kids, often newborns in this area. This orphanage has provided a chance at life for many of these kids; a chance many before them never had. They have this chance because of wonderful people like Theresa who dedicate their life to helping others. I want, in a small way, to help too.

Get involved guys. A little help can go a long way. I will send an updated post once I have confirmation from the NGO on how we are going to proceed. In the meantime, tell others about helping the kids of Vietnam.

For my previous post of the orphanages of Kon Tum CLICK HERE

Truc Bach Lake

2010-11-30T14:47:00.002+07:00

I just got back from lunch with the inlaws on Truc Bach Lake. On one stretch of the lake is a line of Hot Pot, or Lau in Vietnamese, restaurants. I am not usually a hot pot fan and Vietnamese people have warned us away from these particular restaurants, citing bad quality, but I enjoy the experience. It is a good way to spend lunch on a cold and otherwise disagreeable day. For a beef hotpot it costs around 200,000 VND. You get a plate of meat, vegetables and some noodles. With the hotpot sitting on a small table you sit on the ground and gradually add ingredients as you wish.

The setting is very peaceful and you have picturesque views of the lake. My only suggestion is don't look down. Sitting right on the edge of the lake you have the unplesant first hand view of the filth that is Truc Bach Lake. At the edge of the lake are dead fish among other things. If the fish aren't dead then they are not far off. You see many flopping around at the surface, struggling to stay alive. You can see the layer of pollution on the surface of the lake and rubbish is scattered around. At other parts of the lake I have seen Vietnamese guys happily and frequently relieve themselves leaving a rotten stench whenever you walk past.

The areas around the lakes are great and the city is lucky to have them. The locals, in my opinion, need to make more of an effort to conserve the lakes and reverse the years of abuse they have suffered through continuous pollution. Truc Back Lake is where John McCain, US Republican politician, was shot down during the Vietnam war. He landed in the lake. I can only hope for his sake that the lake was in a better shape back in the late 60's. I would not like to be the person who had to get into Truc Bach today.

Happy Birthday Leg

2010-11-24T11:04:00.002+07:00

A big happy birthday for the beautiful Celine. We are spending the day in Hanoi with Celine's sister and mother. We started the day at the gym which is a pretty good effort for a birthday morning. After a swim we dug into some French delights; criossants, madeleines and some pain au chocolat. We washed that down with a few cappucinnos.

The girls are spending a half day at Thu Cuc; a spa and massage place. After a few hours relaxing in the afternoon we will have dinner at a seafood buffet restaurant.

I hope you have a great day Leggoy :)

Hitting the Gym

2010-11-19T15:26:00.002+07:00

So it has taken me 28 years but I have finally joined a gym, albeit only for a month. A new gym, Elite, has opened up in town not far from our house. It is very impressive and I would assume matches any top class gym going around. It has an abundance of choice with brand new facilities including cardio equipment that has a TV and Ipod connection. There are heaps of weight machines and free weights. They have classes running everyday including yoga and a bunch of other things I really have no idea about. The spin class looks fun. Celine is taking me for my first yoga on Monday so I will see how that goes.

There is a heated pool with a retractable roof and a sauna and jacuzzi. I also think there is a spa opening soon. The drawback, of course, is the price. It is more expensive than Sydney and costs a few hundred a month. As part of their grand opening they offered one month memberships for guests of a current member. Because of this I signed myself up for a month for about $30 and thus have my first gym experience.

I started going on Monday and have been back everyday with the exception of yesterday. I am really enjoying it. The good thing about the price is that no one else goes so the gym is virtually empty. I work out on the bike for about 30 minutes before hitting a few weights. The weights room, which consists of about 30 odd different machines and a whole free weight section, is usually completely vacant so I don't have to look like an idiot lifting 20kg weights :) After that I try and do a few laps of the pool. Celine and I try and go together so we motivate each other. As I only have a month I want to try and get the most out of it; meaning get rid of my beer gut.

I don't know how they make there money but I am happy with the quiet atmosphere.

A Question for the Vietnamese: Part 2?

2010-11-13T08:45:00.004+07:00

Note: This picture is not a reflection of the length of the Vietnamese nails. The nails I have seen are around the 5cm mark

Often I see Vietnamese men with one or two exceptionally long and immaculately clean fingernails. Now, I have been told a few conflicting things. Some people have said that this is a way of showing society that they are not workers doing manual labour. Others have said it is a fashion statement. The guy that shaves my head once a fortnight has two finger nails on one of his hands that are about 5 centimetres long. Any girl would be proud of how well they are kept. I have seen other guys with one nail that is impressively long and others with four or five long fingernails.

So, in my quest to understand all things Vietnamese, I want to get to the bottom of why the men do this and why do some only grow one fingernail and others two, three, four or five.

Any thoughts?

You can also join the discussion on another all important Question for the Vietnamese

Back to the French

2010-11-11T12:47:00.003+07:00

After a 6 month break from my French studies I have re-enrolled with the only French language school in town; L'Espace. I am now studying level C and so far enjoying it. The school has changed the books used to teach students which I think is an awesome idea. The new book is a big improvement from the last one. Also, my teachers are motivated and friendly; teachers can be a hit and miss at this school.

The facilities are very good for the price you pay and this point follows on from my last post; services among other things are very cheap here. An 8 week course, studying three times a week for 1.5 hours, with both French and Vietnamese teachers costs about $70. That is incomparable to anywhere else I know. It is more expensive for the Vietnamese to study English in language schools in Hanoi than for me to study French. In Sydney an 8 week course, 4 hours a week, at the Alliance Francais will cost you $575.
It is such a great opportunity learn a language at an affordable price. Now that I am back I am a bit angry at myself for not continuing the whole time I have been here, but I also had to concentrate on my Uni studies.

In a few weeks Celine's mother and sister arrive in Hanoi and as always I boast about my French skills; without much to back that up. I hope I have improved enough this time to have a decent conversation with them.

Cost of Living in Hanoi

2010-11-10T14:01:00.003+07:00

You need to leave Hanoi, or I guess Vietnam, to realise how amazingly cheap it is to live in this city. I recently got back from Seoul where a basic green tea was about $4. (Note from Celine: actually, yes Seoul is more expensive than Hanoi, no doubt about that, but regarding that green tea, our friend Diana who lives in Seoul clearly told us we got ripped off as green tea should cost between nothing to $1.50)I can get 40 green teas in Hanoi for that price. yes I said 40. A beer in Seoul is from $3-6 in a restaurant or bar. Most places in Hanoi won't be more than a $1.5. Last night I stopped to get dinner on the way home. I bought Xoi Ga, which is sticky rice with chicken, for $1. I also bought 3 cans of beer for $1.5 in total.

I get my head shaved once a fortnight, in a salon, for $1.5. If I want a head massage and a face wash (not really my thing) I will have to fork out an extra dollar.

I hire a motorbike for $40 a month spending $3 a week on petrol.

A smallish one bedroom apartment close to the city will be around the $300 per month mark. We live in a 5 story house with four bedrooms for $800 per month. You can share with a few friends and split the cost but even the whole amount would easily be manageable with the salary you earn. We don't want to live in a big house on our own so we share with one of our friends.

In Summer with the Air-con at full strenght all day and night, electricity bills come to around $50 a month. $70 includes all other bills as well; water, telephone, Internet and what ever other small random bill gets delivered to our door. In winter the amount we pay drops quite a bit.

You can get a massage (not the dodgy kind) anywhere from $3 per hour. An hour massage in a decent place, often frequented by foreigners, will be around the $8 to $10 mark.

A smallish trip in a taxi (make sure you ride in a decent one) should only be a few dollars.

In short the cost of living in Hanoi is extremely low. Food is very affordable; to the point where it's cheaper to eat out than cook at home, services are generally inexpensive and to counter all this the salaries are good. This low cost of living with an OK salary leads to a good quality of life. Any western comfort such as cappuccinos or a decent gym will cost you a lot more, but if you are willing to live like a local it will cost you next to nothing.

Korean or Vietnamese street food?

2010-11-09T09:14:00.005+07:00

Street food stand in Seoul

Personally, I don't think there is a better way to sample the food of a culture than sitting on the street with locals. I love eating street food in Vietnam and do so most days. I was very happy to find a similar culture, albeit in a different kind of set up, when I went to Korea. Koreans won't sit down and eat street food like in Vietnam, instead eating as they walk or standing at the stand and eating it there.

My top street food eats in Seoul are:

Tteokbokki - I kind of rice cake stew swerved in an orange sweet and spicy sauce. I loved this stuff but man it was spicy sometimes.

Kimbap - Korean Sushi. Delicious and cheap.

Odeng - boiled fish cakes on a stick. Does not sound that appealing but was a good, quick and easy snack.

Noodle soup - not sure of the Korean name but a big bowl of think noodles in a steaming but light tasting broth with chill paste was perfect for a cold evening. For only a $1 who can complain?

Ggultaraeyeot (Yongsuyeom) - Korean sweets made from honey and corn flour. The sweets were ok but seeing how it was made was very cool.

Making the candy in the Insadong district; the boys were funny which was the main reason we bought some

Dalgona Bbopgi - Candy on a stick. Celine loved this.

As with the sites of the city, when it came to street food we were only able to sample a few of the many options. From what I tried I was very impressed. I miss the food already.

In Vietnam we sit on the street, on small plastic chairs, or occasionally take the food away.

My favourites street foods in Hanoi are:

Pho Bo - Noodle soup with beef

Xoi ga - sticky rice with chicken

Banh Mi Pate - A pate sandwich with strips of pork, cucumber and some type of sauce with chili. Simple but i can't get enough of it.

Bun rieu - crab noodle soup

Kebab - I know, not very Vietnamese they are all around the city and at under a $1 I just love them.

I wrote an article on Street Food in Hanoi a while back giving a bit more information on some of the foods available. Have a read

What street food is better?.........That is a tough one.

The sites of Seoul

2010-11-08T14:37:00.005+07:00

Seoul by night

Seoul is a great place to spend a few days. We stayed with our friend Diana, a teacher, in her apartment not to far from the city centre. Diana lives in a small block of flats on Metro line 4. It is a simple apartment but you can still see the modern, technologically based life the Koreans live; she has no key, using a touch pad to enter the block of flats and her apartment, and her floors can be heated. I am not used to that. If you want technology come to Seoul.

We spent the days travelling around the city, catching up with Diana in the evenings. We walked Diana's area which is around Sungshin Women's University. There are shops, a high street, restaurants, shopping malls, street food and generally a buzz everywhere you go. We found that in many other places as well.

Around the palace

We checked out the shopping area of Myeongdong, the foreign district of Itaewon, the cultural and arts area around Insadong, the parks around the Seoul Tower and the main palace of Seoul, Gyeongbokgung. We also explored the area around Hongik University and around City Hall. My favourite place was Insadong and the parks around the Seoul Tower. Insadong a neighbourhood in Seoul has one main steet with a heap of small alleys feeding off it. There are art galleries, traditional shops and local markets. This area has a real soul (no pun intended). On a clear day the Seoul Tower is a great place to go. The veiws of the city are amazing - appartantly sometimes you can see over to North Korea. Surrounding the tower are public parks; a great place to walk and get away from city life. The park was really beautiful this time of year.
Views from the tower

We bought a Seoul hop-on-hop-off bus ticket; the same concept as the one we did in Kuala Lumpur. It was just as touristy as the last one but is a great way to see the city when you have limited time. For 10,000 Won or about $10 it is a great deal.

Autumn colours

Seoul is a mega city, home to around 12 million people. There is so much choice and we both found Seoul a truly impressive city. Seoul is surrounded by mountains and the autumn colours are in full force this time of year. It is getting cold at the moment.

We left content after our short trip in Seoul but felt it was definitely not enough. There were so many things we didn’t get to see. We would both love to go back.

First impressions of Seoul

2010-11-03T16:49:00.002+07:00

We arrived in Seoul for a 5 day trip, catching up and staying with our crazy friend Diana. It was time for a visa run so we decided to head up to Korea and see Diana while checking out Seoul at the same time.

Seoul is ultra modern. The city is clean and has a bustling atmosphere. There are things happening everywhere. There are shops and things to do and see everywhere you look. Each area of town has an abundance of choice for shopping, eating and many different tourist attractions. They are big on skin-care here (Celine's observation, not mine) and spend a lot of time hanging out in the countless chain stores. I must have seen a hundred Dunkin Donuts, Lotteria and Starbucks throughout the city. There are many other ones as well; every street has at least one so they are hard to miss.

The train travel is very efficient and pretty cheap. You can travel most places for about a dollar. The Metro is massive but never seems super busy which makes it a nice may to travel.

Koreans are very trendy and fashionable (I look like a bum here). Technology is important and is part of the Korean fashion statement; on trains and in the street I- Phones and other high-end gadgets are everywhere. I merge into the crowd here which is a welcome relief to Vietnam where they stare. The Koreans don't seemed fussed at all about foreigners, oblivious to us and anything we are doing. In saying that, I must say that the Koreans are super friendly and helpful. Anytime I have pulled out a map someone has come and asked if they can help.

So, first impressions are good; it's a busy, exciting city with lots to do. The food is tasty and the people are friendly. It is easy to get around and each neighbourhood has its own charm.

We have a few days to explore the city which should be fun. It is getting cold this time of year so I have to wear shoes for the first time in months; not to happy about that.

A Question for the Vietnamese?

2010-10-31T13:20:00.003+07:00

Why don't you paint or render the side of your house? For the typical long, thin and tall Vietnamese houses I often only see the front painted. The sides, which take up a much larger section than the front are concrete. I have seen this throughout the whole of Vietnam. Sometimes a lot of work and I would gather money goes into making the front look good to be contrasted with a big long ugly concrete wall. I just don't understand the logic.

A short walk from my house finds many examples. It is obvious to see so I wonder why the whole house isn't painted. Is it a money thing or an assumption that another house will go up next to it hiding the side?

Does anyone know?

Time for a new passport

2010-10-30T08:32:00.002+07:00

I am due for a new passport in 2012; something I am looking forward too. Firstly, I hate my 2002 photo. I have travelled quite a bit since I got the passport so I am reminded of the photo quite a bit.

Secondly, immigration officials, especially in Vietnam, seem to question if it is actually me. Each time I return I get inquisitive looks. One time recently I got the full work over. An older man wearing glasses grabbed my passport, looked at my picture and gave me a stern look. His face didn't move, his expression unchanged. All he did was repeatably roll his eyeballs from the picture back to me. I watched his eyes go back and forward between me and the picture at least four times.

I smiled. He didn't budge. I didn't know what to do so I looked away. The whole situation was getting a little awkward when he finally stamped the passport and gave me a suspicious look. I could feel his prying eyes burning the back of my head as I quickly walked away.

Damn passport photo.

Halong Bay

2010-10-29T16:20:00.004+07:00

No one in sight

A visit to Vietnam usually requires a stop at Halong Bay. It is probably the number one tourist attraction in the country and locals and foreigners a like flock there in numbers. Within the expat community the Halong Bay stories I have heard have usually been ones of disappointment; tours have been overcrowded, the service has been rubbish and any other number of reasons have resulted in an average at best experience.

Part of the local fishing village

The only glowing reference I received was for a company called Eco Friendly Vietnam. We took our friends suggestion and used these guys a few months ago. The trip was amazing. With my Mum and younger brother in town I had no hesitation to use these guys again. Generally I hate taking tours. I like authentic experiences and most tours rarely offer that. They take you to the touristy places with a bunch of other tourists so you can do touristy things.

Tim catching a few rays

These guys offer only private tours. They pick you up from your house in a van and drive you to Hai Phong. From there you take a fast ferry to Cat Ba island. The ferry is about 45 minutes. Once on Cat Ba island your tour guide meets you and takes you too your boat. When you board there are no other boats around. The main idea of their tours is to take you away from the masses. You spend the remaining day, that night and the following day until 2pm on the boat. In that time you come across maybe a handful of other boats, most from their small company. We spend the two days navigating around the limestone karsts, stopping at secluded little beaches, kayaking through caves and swimming in beautiful clean water. You really get the feeling you are in a relatively untouched part of the world. It is hard to believe that not too far away thousands of people cruise around the same area with boats connecting side up side at night.

One of the small beaches we stopped at

We slept in a cove surrounded up steep imposing cliffs. There is not a sole in sight when you wake up in the morning; a perfect opportunity for an early swim. The food on the trip is delicious with massive servings; predominantly fresh seafood, purchased from a nearby fish farm. The trip is relaxing and the crew leave you too yourself, also giving you the option to choose how you want to spend your day; swimming, kayaking, visiting caves and/or small uninhabited beaches are some of the options.

Mum writing

For three people it costs $128 per person. If you have four people in your group the price comes down to $110 per person. For what you get I think it is definitely worth it. I don't even bother looking at other options.

The old lady and my younger brother were very impressed with the trip, comparing it to some of the most beautiful landscapes they had ever seen. They left content and relaxed. I am not one to recommend tour companies but if you are heading to Halong Bay and want to get away from everyone else while seeing some magnificent scenery then I suggest getting in touch with these guys.

For my previous post, and trip to Halong Bay, which follows the same thought see It pays to pay Halong Bay

Two Weeks in Vietnam

2010-10-28T23:49:00.003+07:00

I have just sent the old lady and my younger brother back to Sydney after a few weeks in Vietnam. I sent them to Hoi An for a few days where Tim, my little bro, negotiated flood waters with a local expat. They rode through knee deep water on a mission to find a drinking session with a bunch of local policemen. They partied into the early hours. While in Hoi An they went to the local tailors and got suits and shoes made. You can grab a high quality suit for under $100.

Back in Hanoi we cruised around West Lake, visiting cafes on the water and eating away from the noise of the city. We stopped at pagodas and walked the streets near my house. We enjoyed the local Vietnamese coffee, cafe sua da, along with an assortment of Vietnamese specialities. We ate Pho Ga, Bun Cha, Bun Bo Nam Bo, Nem, Banh Cuon, Chau and many others. They were easy guests in that regard as they loved all the food on offer. Surprisingly, Tim's favourite food was Banh My Pate; a simple sandwich.

We went around the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and Museum, Presidential Palace and One Pillar Pagoda. A day was spent walking the streets of the Old Quarter, eating food and buying presents. My Mum bought more in a week than I have in a few years. With silk and lacquer, hand made artifacts and propaganda posters packed away they then took it upon themselves to relax with a well deserved massage. They decided on Just Massage, a company that employees vision impaired staff. They left with glowing reviews.

We visited the Temple of Literature and Craft Link, a handicrafts store aimed at helping the disadvantaged. Tim came and sat in on a few of my classes to see if I had any teaching skills; you will have to check with him as to his thoughts. We rode around the Opera House as well as Hoan Kiem Lake.

Tim was on the bike after a few days and proved a natural. He was able to take the bike on a two hour ride over Long Bien Bridge. We wanted to get out of the city and see some rice fields. The old lady has not been on a trip for about 10 years and handled the hustle and bustle of Hanoi very well.

We did a lot of walking, took countless photo's and ate continuously. We explored a good portion of the city giving the guys a decent feel of life in Hanoi. With only a few days left on the trip I decided to take them to Halong Bay. A relaxing few days seemed the best way to end a two week holiday in busy Vietnam.

Photo of the Week # 8

2010-10-27T23:08:00.001+07:00

Put your hands in the air like you just don't care

H'Mong Village Life: Living with the locals

2010-10-27T15:37:00.005+07:00

Ker's House

Ker and her family live in a village of about 500 people; houses scattered around a few kilometre radius, sitting on hilly terrain, surrounded by rice fields. There are two other houses that could be considered close neighbours. Ker lives with her husband Hung, their two kids, Hung's younger sister and Hung's parents. Following tradition, Ker lives with her husbands family.

Surrounding rice fields

About 5 kilometres out of Sapa we turned off the main road onto a rocky dirt road which wound up, down and around hills, through running streams and over bamboo bridges before arriving at Ker's village. It was a tricky ride. It was slippery and muddy and at times Celine had to get off and walk. It was only a few kilometres from the main road but the trip lasted 45 minutes.

Ker lives in a traditional H'mong house. The house has one main room and 3 small rooms. A ladder leads up to a second floor. This is used for storage. The main room, about 6m by 8m, is for cooking, eating and socialising with friends and family. The small rooms, about 2m by 2m, are for sleeping. Hung's younger sister gave us her room to sleep in. The family cooks from an open fire cut into the ground. The earth floor is hard like clay and uneven. As Celine mentioned, leftover food is thrown on the ground for the animals to eat. This may give the perception of a dirty place but this is not the case.

Our bedroom

The main room has a small table and some homemade benches. A light globe is the sole source of light and it is moved often from the cooking area to the eating area. Washing hangs throughout the main room. There are stools, spades, pig food and cooking pots in one section of the room. Bags of rice sit under a calender, a clock and a collection of old but happy family photos.

Family and friends enjoying a meal

The small sleeping rooms have a wooden frame bed and an area to hang clothes. There is a small side room to wash the dishes and prepare some of the food. Much of their work is done with little to no light. There is no running water and the toilet is the nearby trees.

Cooking dinner on the family fire

The families rice fields are nearby and Celine and I helped for a few hours. It is a completely manual task, harvesting the rice with a sharp curved knife, putting it in piles to dry. They harvest about 600kg a year which is all for the families consumption. They have two different types of rice. Ker earns the money for the family as a tour guide. As she is recovering after the birth of her second child, Hung does all the work. He is a helpful and caring husband; even when he receives a bit of lip from Ker. They don't own a buffalo, they can't afford one, so they borrow a friends. In return Hung will help other families when it is time to harvest.

Celine the harvester

Everyone is incredibly friendly in the village. I successfully made at least three kids cry. A tall, bald, white guy with a big nose must be a daunting image for a little one. If the kids weren't crying they would stare in complete amazement. I really enjoyed walking around watching everyone live their simple happy life. They didn't have or seemed to want much but were content living their village life, growing their crops and living with their families. In saying this, technology is not lost on Ker and her village. Most have a mobile phone and three days before we arrived at the village her neighbour had a TV installed. With a DVD player to go with it the locals were hooked. As we waved goodbye about 30 locals were sitting inside the neighbours house watching a Kung Fu movie. It was a contrasting image.

Ker's closest neighbours

We left very happy, enjoying a truly authentic experience while at the same time catching up with a friend and meeting her family.

H'Mong Village Life

2010-10-27T13:27:00.003+07:00

Our friend Ker

We went to Sapa again a few weekends ago. We’d been there in February this year, and became friends with our H’Mong guide, little Ker. In the last 8 months we talked to her on the phone a few times, and she’s been keeping us updated on her pregnancy. She’s only twenty years old but she has been married three years, and she already has a two years old little boy. When she was our tour guide, she explained a lot to us about H’Mong traditions and customs, one of them being getting married very early on… in February, she had just been to her little brother’s wedding celebration, that week. He was fourteen years old.

The new arrival - one week old

I actually am starting to know quite a bit about the H’Mong love customs, from seeing a documentary at the Cinematheque, the week we arrived about the H’Mong love market, then from talking to Ker a lot in February and finally from reading Liz Gilbert’s “Committed” book. So, being familiar with the Love market custom and the whole kidnapping business (when a H’mong boy likes a H’mong girl, he and his family go and kidnap her. The girl then spends three days in the boy’s family and at the end of that period she can decide whether she wants to marry him or not. Most of the times, it’s a yes, and the girl moves into the boy’s house, and village). That almost happened to Ker.

Looking at a photo album

Unfortunately for her maybe-future groom to be, Ker had already met the boy she loved, Hong (her current husband) when a whole delegation of men came to her house to kidnap her. Her father was in the secret, which he didn’t keep very well as he killed a pig when the men arrived to his house, and started exchanging tobacco with them, which is a sure enough sign of future wedding cahoots. Seeing this, Ker called Hung to the rescue and he discreetly took her out of the house and hid her at his aunt’s house. Then, they ran away. The men and Ker’s father looked for her all day but she was hiding with Hung in the mountains. She didn’t want to marry some boy she didn’t know. She wanted Hung.

Ker, Hung, their two kids and Hung's younger sister

When they returned, they were quickly married. Ker’s father was pissed off, although H’Mong are good natured people and his wrath was only manifested in this way: he took her mobile phone and purse, and hid them. Ker’s mum came to the rescue after a couple of days and retrieved the mobile phone and purse from under the dad’s pillow.
When Ker was telling us that story, a few weeks ago in her little mountain house, Ker, Dan and I were sitting around the fire laughing our heads off. That story really has a happy ending, they are now married with two kids and Ker’s father has grown to love Hung as he helps him on the farm a lot. :)

Ker & Hung at the local market

Anyway, the weekend was amazing, we spent it in a H’mong village which practically never sees any tourists, in a wooden house with no floor (if you don’t finish your rice, throw it on the floor, the dogs will eat it. That is inside the house I mean), no running water, one light bulb for the whole house, which they move from one end to another depending on what they need to do, kids running around pant less, friends visiting at any hour of the day, cats, dogs, chickens in the house, a lot of rice wine flowing, corn hanging from the ceiling and pigs just outside grunting away day and night.

Awesome.

The best home stay you’ll ever experience.

And the best of all that, is that we were amongst friends, I mean we really went to see Ker and her new baby, we planned it with her over the phone, she was happy to see us and spend time with us. It was a great feeling.

Exams are over

2010-10-23T16:54:00.002+07:00

The last few weeks have been rather hectic. A lot has happened and I have been very busy. We went on an amazing trip to Sapa to see our friend and her newborn baby, saw the arrival of my Mum and younger brother for a few weeks trip in Vietnam and did my best to cram for my exams. I am studying abroad here. I am finishing off my BA in Finance from an Australian University. I sit my exams at the British Council; an English language school. I have now sat 4 exams and each time I have been the only one in the examination room. A lady sits with me while I do my exam. She is a sweet lady in her thirties and takes her role very seriously. Any thoughts of paying her a little cash on the side so I could bring my book in was quickly squashed when she followed the exam regulations to the letter.

Each time I had to turn off my phone and place it face up under the table. Usual story for an exam. Then she proceeded to read me the examination rules. Each time she would read "No talking in the exam", "No copying off other people in the exam" and "Don't disturb others while sitting the exam". This made me smile and I would reply with some stupid response that she didn't completely understand. She has read the rules to me 4 times now and each time I humour myself with a little joke. Maybe next time I won't be the only person in the examination room and the rules will have some degree of relevance.

It is very chilled sitting and doing the exam on your own. My lady helper fills up my water bottle when I am empty. Now that is service. But now, most importantly, the exams are over and I can relax and spend my time showing the family around.

The party is over

2010-10-12T21:40:00.005+07:00

After 10 days of celebrations the 1000 year party for Hanoi has ended. I am not one to shy away from a party at the best of times but for me the past week has been one of avoidance. I did this for two reasons; 1. the traffic and 2. the uninspiring list of events taking place.

The traffic, as I mentioned before, was a nightmare. Streets were often closed, with the ones open a mass of bikes crawling centimetres at a time, spewing fumes and generating heat. As the heat grew the sweat came. This went on for an hour until I got to work, arriving dirty and clammy, hot and bothered. Yes, this is a bit of a whinge but my predicament comes in part to the organisation of this event. And by organisation I mean lack of. Thousands upon thousands of bikes would pack the roads, kilometres at a time. There were very few police and the ones that were out on the streets didn't seem able to manage the traffic. I didn't envy their job. As I got increasingly frustrated the Vietnamese stayed the same. They were not deterred and persisted without concern. On one particular occasion, after an hour creeping along the road I found a major source of the latest traffic jam. A car, dressed as a tank, was making it's way up a one way street (the wrong way). This car, that had a wood frame attached so as to resemble that of a tank, was making it's way to a practice rehearsal in preparation for the main celebrations on October 10. The car/tank happened to take up most of the road. Bikes, that stretched back kilometres were slowly, in ones and twos, slipping around the side of it. When I passed the car/tank had another 50 or so metres to go to get to the end of the one way street. With one policeman directly a thousand bikes coming the other way I figured the tank would be late for practice. No one seemed alarmed by this and continued on. By this point I had to smile. Welcome to Hanoi traffic.

The events for the party celebrations really didn't interest me. They were not tailored to the international market which I feel was a missed opportunity. After living in the culture for a year there were still many events that I didn't understand and others seemed boring and outdated for the modernising Hanoi. I understand that this is a party for the people of Hanoi but how about selling the city for what it is today using the ideal media opportunity that was on hand?

Instead they spent 63 million dollars covering the city in lights (which did look quite nice in places), dressing up a few areas, putting on a big military style parade and blaring music from loudspeakers that cracked as if playing back in the 40's. They put up TV's across town, as well as impromptu stages for some song and dance. Flags wrapped the city. Fireworks were originally planned throughout the city but most were cancelled late, with the money instead going to victims of the recent flooding in Central Vietnam; an important thing to do.

If the party was not intended for a western audience then of course that's ok. The important thing is that the locals enjoyed their chance to have a goodtime and celebrate their city.
I have heard mixed reactions. Many of my Vietnamese friends either stayed at home or left the city not wanting to get involved in the celebrations; mainly due to the traffic. Others thought it was a waste of money. Some were very happy, enjoying the lights and the chance to share the moment with friends. We decided to leave to Sapa to see a friend.

A few days into the celebration I drove past the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum where locals would take pictures under a script by Ly Thai To, the emperor who founded Hanoi in 1,010. This one particular time I saw a very old man dressed in what must have been his finest black suit, accompanied by a black top hat. He was old and frail but standing on his own. Next to him was a little girl, around 5 years old, who I took as his grand daughter (probably great grand daughter). They were posing for photos. He looked terribly proud standing in Ba Dinh Square (where Ho Chi Minh declared independence in 1945) with probably the newest member his family. It was a nice image. It made me think this city has seen a lot, just over the last 100 years, so hopefully the cynicism towards the events was not the overwhelming feeling. Hopefully there is a good lasting memory for the people of Hanoi, otherwise that 63 million could have been put to much better use.

En Francais, pour les Francais

2010-10-08T20:48:00.004+07:00

Dans un mois, les cours de Français à l’Espace Français d’Hanoi reprennent, et Dan va passer en classe 3 ! En fait, les niveaux sont des lettres, donc Dan va passer à C. L’autre jour il discutait avec ma dentiste, Trang, une jeune femme Vietnamienne mariée à un Français, qui prends aussi des cours de Français à l’Espace. Il était tout fier de passer en C, et l’a dit à Trang, qui lui à repondu qu’elle même etait en F.

Il m’a regardé avec des yeux ronds, surpris je pense qu’un tel niveau EXISTE.

F ??? mais c’est encore 3 classes après C ! Ca va jusqu’a quelle lettre Godness ??

Le Français est une langue difficile, pour les Anglophones et encore plus pour les Vietnamiens vu que la langue Vietnamienne ne s’embarasse d’aucune grammaire ni conjugaison. Tout se passe à la troisième personne et il n’y a pas de temps. Il suffit de rajouter « hier » ou « plus tard » dans sa phrase au présent pour faire passer une notion de passé ou de futur. Alors vous pensez bien que le passé composé, les verbes intransitifs, les compléments d’agent etc... c’est du Chinois pour eux. En fait, non, c’est une expression mal choisie, parce que le Chinois est en fait très simple grammaticalement, aussi.

Bref, Dan a arrêté ses cours il y a plus de 6 mois et s’inquiétait un peu de reprendre à froid en classe C, franchement un peu difficile pour lui. Donc depuis deux semaines on fait de la remise à niveau, deux fois par semaine. J’ai choisi ici un petit medley de choses qu’il me dit pendant nos lessons en tête à tête... J’ai vraiment pris des notes à donc ce medley est authentique et véridique :

Celine : Traduis : 14th, 15th ?

Dan : Qwatorzieme, Quinerzieme

Sur le sujet : nationalité et pays

Dan: Je suis Finlandaise (oui, il à du mal avec les genres), et j’habite en Finnishé.

Celine : USA ?

Dan : Leziti younis

Celine : Traduis « a bottle »

Dan : Une crevette !

Celine : The morning.

Dan : Le matin.

Celine: Good... The night.

Dan: La noix.

Celine: The window?

Dan: La fassiette

Celine: What's a BOULANGERIE?

Dan: (en Anglais) c'est l'endroit ou on joue a la petanque.

Et mon préféré... après avoir triché en allant voir sur un site web des phrases françaises section « couples », Dan m’a dit tout content : « Je suis la femme la plouz ereuze du monde ! »

Alors ca va, si elle est heureuse.

Photo of the week # 7

2010-10-08T12:06:00.001+07:00

Fishing early morning in Mui Ne

Nose Picker

2010-10-06T15:16:00.003+07:00

Teaching kids is a lot of fun. At times they can be naughty and it is often hard to control the class but generally it is a fun experience. You really don't know what you are going to get from them each lesson which makes it interesting.

I have started teaching a few classes of little ones; 6-8 years old. They are just starting out in English so it is basic stuff (even I can grasp it). I only have them for 20-30 minutes so I play a game, introduce new vocabulary, drill as a class and then individually before another quick game at the end.

As I drill individually, I often have to squat to meet their eyes. Yesterday, as I squatted to a small girl or 6, I asked her to say the words I pointed to in a book. I pointed to a picture, which happened to be for the word "SMILE", however she read it as shove my finger up my nose. I had a little snigger and asked her again. She proceeded to dig deeper into her nostril but to her credit managed in a soft, unassuming tone...."smile", which sounded more like "SMI". I left laughing, moving onto the next kid, as she continued to navigate her nostril.

I love it how kids just don't get societies social rules. As a teacher you often get to see and hear some funny things.

Unacceptable Behaviour

2010-10-05T22:09:00.002+07:00

Celine was pushed while riding her bike yesterday. She was pushed by a policeman. Whenever their is a VIP in town they are ferried around town by way of police escort. Big black cars zoom along the roads with cops on bikes, sirens blaring, at the front and rear.

These cops were wearing a white uniform, one I am not familiar with, and were obviously in the mood to make their presence felt. First, one of the cops, while riding his bike, veered to the side of the road where a teenager was riding without a helmet. He swung his batton at the kid who ducked to aviod the impact. As you can imagine if he had connected their could be serious concequences.

After that this guys decides that Celine is not out of the way enough so he rides over and gives her a push. I don't know if he knew she was a foreigner or not but it is hardly the point. Treating their own people like this is terrible. It was extremely dangerous, both swinging a batton at a kid and pushing Celine, both while they were riding. I wonder what they would have done if either of them fell off their bike. I can't see them stopping to check on anyones wellbeing. It really made me angry.

If you hear or see a VIP transport coming through the city I strongly suggest getting right out of the way.

Going to the gym

2010-10-05T17:55:00.004+07:00

I've been going to the gym everyday since we've been back. Every single day, I exercise for a couple of hours. I'm very proud, it's good for me and it makes me much happier and more active than I was this dreadful summer.

My gym is ultra modern, which is not the best for more spiritual activities such as yoga or meditation, but excellent for cardio, because....

Do you know what’s good about an exercise bike with its own TV screen wired on the guidon? I’ll tell you: it’s pedaling while watching a film, which will get you on the bike for huge chunks of time without you even realising it’s been so long.

Last Wednesday I stayed 45 minutes on there, delightfully watching “Forgetting Sarah Marshall”, laughing away. Today, I caught a police investigation movie starring Sandra Bullock and the ever so beautiful Ryan Gosling and watched all of it. That’s over 90 minutes on the bike, pedalling away, starring into Ryan’s eyes. (Yes, he's like... 18 in that film. But love knows no age, and in reality we're exactly the same age. We were born the same day)

When I got off the bike I could barely walk. It will hurt tomorrow, but I’m happy anyway. I had never in my life pedalled for an hour and a half in a gym, I get too bored way before that mark.

And that's why you need a TV screen wired ON your exercise bike!

Hanoi 1000 year celebrations

2010-10-01T10:48:00.002+07:00

Hanoi is officially in party mode. Today starts the 10 day celebrations for Hanoi's 1000th year, finishing on October the 10th. Lý Thái Tổ, an empereror back in the day, moved the capital to Hanoi in 1010. Hanoi, and Vietnam in general, have experienced a lot over the years and definitely deserves a party.

So far from what I have seen, lights have been put up throughout the city, mainly on Dien Bien Phu Street and between West and Truc Back Lake. The lights are a big attraction at night and the streets are packed. A lot of work has gone into Ba Dinh square, in front of the HCM Mausoleum, where many of the celebrations will take place. Traditional performances occur on stages on the side of the road; I passed one on my way home from work with about 100 motorbikes stopped, watching on.

Without being the Scrooge of the party I have to say the traffic is a nightmare. When there is a party of any kind the Vietnamese take to the streets in their masses. Driving to and from work, which happens to be where most of the decorations are, is constant grid lock. There is never much organisation of the traffic, despite seeing many more policeman on the road. If the Vietnamese want to stop, they will, even if it is in the middle of the road. Taking the traditional performance as an example; the 100 odd bikes that had all stopped were still on the road meaning everyone else had to ride around them, taking a two lane road down to less than half a lane. Traffic slowed to a virtual stop and we crawled for 5 minutes until past the performance.

I look forward to the celebrations and many people are excited about it but I definitely don't look forward to the frustrations of my daily pilgrimage to and from work.

Welcome Home

2010-09-29T07:58:00.002+07:00

After 6 weeks away, visiting Oz and travelling some of Vietnam, I returned to Hanoi and hit the ground running. We arrived on Saturday night and both had a full day of classes on Sunday. It was really nice to go back to our schools. We were welcomed with friendly smiles from the staff and students. The teaching environment is relaxed and very enjoyable. It was almost a pleasure to go back to work; something Celine and I definitely didn't feel in some of our other jobs. The owners of my school invited us out to dinner early next week.

On Sunday night our neighbours were having a party and invited us to come along. They have two young kids, who spent most of the night doing dragon dances in preparation for the autumn festival. They had a few of their friends over as well and we sat on a mat on the floor and chatted and shared a few drinks. We ate chicken hot pot which was delicious. Everything was going great until they pulled out some trung vit long, or duck embryos. They cracked them open into the hotpot; semi-formed embryos with all the added blood and goo you would expect. It was ghastly. I was wide-eyed and stunned. Celine broke into a cold sweat and couldn't look. It got worse when they served us some in our bowl. Celine politely refused. I summoned up the courage and thought of a happy place. It didn't taste so bad.

Last night we caught up with our friend Nam. We rode to his house and visited his family; sister, nephew and niece. We have organised to catch up for lunch next week.

We have been welcomed home by many people in the past few days which makes us very happy to be back.

Danang

2010-09-28T14:00:00.003+07:00

After a few days in Hoi An we jumped on the bike for our final journey; a 30km ride up the coast to Danang. Our bags were bulging with some last minute shopping and the straps to tie on our luggage were past their used by date. After 1,500km, and no 3rd gear our bike was struggling as well. Us, the bags and the bike made the short trip up to Danang in one piece.

Danang is a big town. It is very clean and I would say quite modern. That said, the city itself is not very attractive. The city runs alongside the Han River. There are mountains on one side of Danang and the South China sea on the other. The best things to see are outside the city. We rode up towards Monkey mountain to visit the big Buddha (apparently 68m) which looks down on Danang. The views and setting were amazing. There were a number of Buddhas situated around the main one. In the pagoda monks sung. It was 7am and the place was virtually empty. It was incredibly peaceful and very beautiful.

We then rode 10km to Marble Mountain, took a look from afar at some of the pagodas and checked out statue street (street alongside the entrance to the mountain where all the statues e.g. Buddhas are sold).

After that we stopped at China Beach and went for a swim. The sea was unbelievably calm; all the way out to the horizon. The water was great and we had most of the beach to ourselves. We also came across a rooster fight (as in the gambling type), on the side of the busy highway. A group of Vietnamese men were squatting on a patch of grass watching intently as the two roosters fought. I had never seen this before and was surprised that the roosters seemed to know what they were doing; prancing around each other before making an aggressive attack. It wasn't a fight to the death and the spurs were taped.

At around lunch time I put our bike on the train; sending it back to Hanoi. Celine and I found a bar that was showing the AFL grand final and we chilled there for a few hours. We had a flight back to Hanoi at 5.30pm bringing our trip to an end. The past few weeks have been amazing; both of us spoilt with some beautiful landscapes, wonderful people and delicious food. That being said, we are happy to get back to Hanoi.

Hoi An - Full moon festival

2010-09-23T21:19:00.006+07:00

I knew that every month on the 15th day of the lunar calendar, there was a full moon festival in Hoi An, where in the old town no electric lights or motorbikes were allowed. As a result, the old town is lit by candle and multicolored lanterns, creating a romantic ambiance. Romantic, yes: Vietnamese people come from all around the country for this special night and I swear I’ve never seen so many Vietnamese couples holding hands (including on Long Bien Bridge in Hanoi. If you know this bridge, you know what I mean. Love Bridge). Romantic, no: because there are thousands of people in the streets.

So, this is only once a month, and even though we had not planned it at all, we were lucky enough to be in Hoi An when in happened.

The streets of Hoi An were riddled with massive crowds walking around, holding hands, and with kids dressed as dragons playing drums. From what I gathered, the kids (boys only) got in the local shops or restaurants and danced around in Dragon outfits until the shop owner gave them a little money. It was fun to be around for this special night – actually it was two nights, the second one even more intense than the first. Oustide of the “pedestrian” area (in quote marks because only pedestrian on this instance) streets were gridlocked with bikes, not able to move even one inch. We were happy to have left ours at the hotel.

Hoi An

2010-09-23T21:14:00.007+07:00

We arrived in Hoi An very tired after 6 hours on the road, booked in a wonderful looking guesthouse, where the walls are antique carved wood panels – it felt like staying inside a Pagoda, and slept.

The rest of the evening was spent exploring the most charming town you’ll ever see, Hoi An, unfortunately absolutely ridden with tourists. But who could blame them? Hoi An’s old town has the most beautiful architecture and decrepit looking walls which to pretty much quote the LP; modern interior designers would spend a fortune trying to reproduce. I can see that, and I can see why.

It’s very hot here though, and there’s nothing to do between 8.00 am and 4pm but hide out somewhere and wait for the burning sun to subside a bit. Since I’ve been here, I’ve mainly wanted to chill and do nothing. I sleep a lot, walk around the old town, then sleep again or read (my DS charger is bust, so I can't read on that anymore... Dan just finished the third volume of Millenium, I was more than happy to read THAT again, damn I love Salander), swim a bit in the sea or the pool, get a few clothes made because, well… it’s Hoi An, the capital of Vietnamese tailors, then have a diet coke by the river and read some more… very relaxing. Very, very sunny and hot, so relaxing is a must.

Every day I discover walls so beautiful I have to catch my breath. I took a few pictures (500), some of which I’ll share here.

2010-09-23T20:51:00.004+07:00

Dak Glei was uneventful, it’s a very quiet village in the mountains where we only stopped for the night, but the people were extremely friendly. Kids were preparing for the full moon festival by banging on drums most of the evening and running around singing and laughing. We did baptise it “oil town", as we decided it was the Vietnamese cradle of oily dishes. I mean we have now been through the cradle of wine, of dragonfruits, of flowers, of coffee, of milk… so why not of oil? Dak Glei is not famous for its oil, really, but after being served two dishes bathing in it, we declared it was. (Photo: would you like some Pancakes with your oil??)
We stayed in a very cheap guesthouse where the shower was outside(litteraly I mean not in a room outside but just outside in the backyard) and we weren’t given towels anyway, so I must admit we skipped the shower. I know I washed my face and feet, but I can't promise anything about Dan.

In the very early morning I discovered My Quan, a noodle dish I didn't know yet: thick noodles, quail eggs and bits of pork and shrimp. Perfect for breakfast but in good Dak Glei style, a little too oily.

Then we set off on the Ho Chi Minh trail towards Hoi An. The ride was stunning. We had a coffee around 7am in a tiny mountain village, altitude 1900m. We shared a table at the cafe with this adorable little girl and her father. I don't have a good picture of her, but she had one of the most perfect prettiest face I've ever seen.The air was pure and once again, the locals were very friendly. Women would come out of their little wooden houses, baby on the back, and when seeing us, looked a little startled before waving at us with a big smile. Some of them didn't speak Vietnamese, so obviously they were from a mountain Ethnic minority but we don't know which one.

The road was virtually empty. That mountain ride took several hours and it became very hot very early, but it was the most beautiful of all.

Photo of the week # 6

2010-09-23T09:20:00.002+07:00

Young boy from the Banhar minority cutting a piece of bamboo

Road trip section 8: Kon Tum to Dak Glei

2010-09-22T16:04:00.008+07:00

After a morning bouncing along dirt roads, visiting ethic villages, in the blazing sun we headed back into Kon Tum to pack up our gear and make a dash towards Hoi An. Being 300km away we wern't going to arrive that day so we wanted to make the following day as bearable as possible and aimed to ride around 100km and find a place to crash as night fell. Once we had checked out of the hotel run by the Happy Family (note: sarcastic tone) I tied our bags onto the back of our bike as the sun belted down. Sweating profusely I did my best in an otherwise uncomfortable situation.

It felt like a sauna as we rode along. We decided the afternoon road trip was not for us and would keep to the early mornings for the rest of the trip. We were not in the mood for photo's and flew along the highway until our bums needed a break. The seat on our old bike is not the best and the padding provides little support so after an hour or so it starts to get a little painful. Celine and I would take turns standing up on the foot rests and stretching our legs, getting the blood circulation going, while I rode along. It was probably not the safest thing to do but provided great amusement for any other riders nearby. In Kon Tum our bikes third gear decided to die so we could only use first, second and fourth for the 300km journey to Hoi An.

We were now on the Ho Chi Minh Trail. We stopped in Dak To, a small unassuming town which saw some serious battles in the Vietnam/American war, for a coffee and a relax. This was an area that saw major human losses, on both sides. It was hard to imagine what happened in Dak To as you sat and chatted to friendly locals, watched kids play and ride bicycles, waving enthusiastically when you caught their eye.

After that the rain set in so we stopped and put on our new raincoats. The rain came was heavy for about 30 minutes but we rode straight through it waving to anyone else who was still on the road. We continued along the Ho Chi Minh Trail passing many ethnic minority villages that lived close to the highway. Women in traditional dress were walking up the road carting timber. Young boys drove buffalo's with a long bamboo stick. Others gave us a curious gaze as we slowed on the bike. The minorities have their own languages and many village people, especially those living out of the bigger cities, don't speak Vietnamese.

As the sun was going down we arrived into a small town, Dak Glei, and found a guesthouse to sleep the night. The room was basic and relatively clean, the people friendly, and the rate very acceptable: $5 for the room. It was nice to be staying somewhere not written about in guide books or online reviews.

Orphanages of Kon Tum

2010-09-20T20:27:00.010+07:00

There are 7 orphanages in and around Kon Tum, 2 of which are recognised by the government. They are all run by the Vietnamese Catholic sisters of the Miraculous Medal.

When visiting Mr An at Eva cafe, he drew us a map showing the orphanages in the area, making mention to the ones that are not listed in guides such as the Lonely Planet.

"These ones that are not in the guide need more help" he said.

We spent the best part of our first day visiting a few of the orphanages. First, we visited Vien Son 1, the main orphanage in town. We played with the kids, gave them some candy and talked to the sisters that looked after the orphanage. Alongside the orphanage is a dormitory for young adults, who live to far to study in town but also can't afford to live with their family. I met two amazing 23 year old girls, who lived in the dormitory, and studied tourism in town. Their English was good and they grew up in the same orphanage that joined their dormitory. These very intelligent girls grew up in a very small block of land, calling this humble place home for the best part of their lives. They were so friendly and felt blessed they had a small chance to speak English with a foreigner. They showed us around the orphanage, answering all our questions. After playing with the kids, mainly toddlers in this orphanage, we gave the Sisters in charge a bit of money, and said our goodbyes.
Photo: It's hot in Kontum. Babies at nap time look like they're passed out from heat!

Our next stop was to an orphanage that Mr An said needed help, and was on the outside of town. The orphanage, known as Orphanage number 5 (They can't get a proper name until recognised by the state), was a few kms out of town, over a suspension bridge. We arrived over a bumpy, steep, dirt road that passed houses very much in need of repair. We were passing houses of the Bahnar people, who make up a decent proportion of the areas population.

The kids in that orphanage were older, mainly from 5-12 years old, and seemed very happy. They looked healthy and were playing happily outside, the older ones taking care of the younger ones. That's where we met Theresa.

This is a picture of Theresa, a woman who has 4 children under 6 years old, including a 3 month old baby, and still goes and works in the Orphanage 7 hours a day, as a teacher. This is volunteer work of course. Theresa grew up in the main orphanage in town and is now dedicating the best part of her life to 68 kids (and growing), who have next to nothing, and are not getting any help from the state.

Last month, Theresa found this baby in an ethnic village far off the city. The baby had been left to die, as his mother had died post labour and the father had no means to feed the baby. This used to be current practise for surrounding ethnic villages: without a mum, the baby was left to starve for a few days and then buried with the mother (or even buried alive with the mother). From what we were told it doesn't happen much anymore as the villagers know about the orphanages and bring the newborns there. But this particular village was very far and the villagers didn't know any other way.

Fortunately, Theresa was visiting a friend in the village and she saw the baby lying there, abandoned. She took him back with her and told everyone in the village to call her if another baby was left motherless. We were completely shocked when we heard this story; speechless, listening to this terrible and surreal account. Celine and I glanced at each other in disbelief as we learnt what nearly happened to this one little baby, and what has happened to many others. It was terribly sad and very personal to us because we had spent time, earlier that day, with the little one Theresa saved; rocking the cot and feeding milk through a bottle.

We are determined to help out in some way and have been brainstorming ideas ever since. Please see my latest post

In and around Kon Tum

2010-09-20T19:57:00.008+07:00

The area around Kon Tum is my favourite place on this trip. I say the surrounds because the town itself is pretty uneventful without much character or soul. The people are friendly, which can be said for most of Vietnam, but everything else is quite uninspiring. It is very hot and as Celine pointed out there are virtually no trees or plant life throughout the city, and trees mean shade. Having a coffee on the river for breakfast or a drink in the evening is very enjoyable and is without a doubt the highlight of the town.

The ethnic minority villages and the people in general that surround Kon Tum are what makes this a special place. On our first morning in Kon Tum we went for a drive and found a cafe, Eva cafe, that was listed in the Lonely planet. The owner, Mr An, spoke great English, and pretty good French, and gave us a number of ideas for exploring the area. He also offered some inticing trekking options which we unfortunately could not fit into our schedule.

we spent the rest of the day visting a number of orphanages around the area, meeting adorable kids and amazing people, and learning about the plight that countless children face. (see next post)

We explored the local wooden French church, probably the most beautiful church I have seen, and later stopped for dinner around town. I chatted to many of the locals who were very friendly. One guy was telling me how his kids were living in Sydney, working for Macquarie and Wespac Bank. I used to work for Macquarie Bank. Small world.

The following day started as most do: with a coffee. After that, we had organised a guide to take us around some of the surrounding villages. The people, mainly Banhar people, have lived in the area long before the Vietnamese. There are a number of villages in close proximity to the town and others that are further out. He took us to places we would not have found, answered all our questions and gave us a great insight into the locals current culture and also their history. It was a very authentic experience.

We returned from our half day tour and hit the road towards Danang, hoping to find a small town to sleep for the night, before making tracks to the coast the following day.

On the road, 11 days of stats

2010-09-18T20:51:00.003+07:00

Number of days on the road: 11
Number of rainy days on the road: 1
Kilometres travelled: 1,085km
Number of coffees consumed: I would think around the 50 mark
Number of accidents: 0 (Woooooooooo Hooooooooo - touch wood)
Number of breakdowns: 0
Number of flat tires: 1
Number of times scared shit less by an approaching bus or truck: at least 15
Number of dragonflies who have undergone a kamikaze mission into my face: 5 (man that hurts)
Number of times we have got lost or taken a wrong turn: 1 (my fault). Seriously, how good is my co-pilot?
Number of hotel rooms above $15 per night: 0
Number of hotel rooms with a bathtub: 0
Number of hotel rooms on the beach: 2
Number of times kids have waved and shouted "Hello": uncountable
Number of pictures taken: around a 5000
Number of absolutely awesome pictures taken: around a 1000
Number of those absolutely awesome pictures taken by me: 3
Number of random cuddles from Vietnamese women to Celine: 3
Number of times people touched my bald head: around 20
Number of times men stroked my arm or leg hair: around 10
Number of new friends made: Plenty
Number of conversations in Vietnamese only: a few everyday
Number of inappropriately long stares at us: 1000
Number of bicycle treks we did: 1
Number of bicycle treks we enjoyed: 0
Number of days to go: 7

Road trip section 7: Buon Ma Thuot to Kon Tum

2010-09-18T18:51:00.004+07:00

We awoke early, around 5.30am, in preparation for our longest stint on the road. Our poor little bike had to carry the both of us and all our luggage (which actually is not that much) around 230km. We grabbed a few things to eat on the way from the local market and stopped at a cafe for our morning coffee. The Vietnamese coffee is damn strong. The coffee in Buon Ma Thuot is even stronger. One coffee and I was buzzing like a pill-popper at a rave. Now fully awake, we hit the road by 6.30am.

It didn't take long to realise the weather was not going to favour us. Firstly, it was cold. The chill of the wind cut through our clothes. Not long after it started to rain. Not heavy rain, but that annoying spitting rain. The rain decided to fall in a most uncomfortable angle; right into my face. A word of warning; a speeding rain droplet in the eyeball is quite unpleasant. Once this has been repeated a few times it can get frustrating. I was forced, at times, to squint to lessen the chance of another hit. I also tried driving with one eye, alternating every few seconds, but soon realised this was neither practical or safe.

Celine and I stopped on the side of the road to put on our cheap raincoats. To their credit they stopped most of the rain and acted as a great little wind barrier. We kept the raincoats on virtually the whole way to Kon Tum, which took us most of the day. A wet, windy and cold day was not what we wanted for our epic road journey but it had to happen sooner or later; being the rainy season and all.

The trip has gone great and we made our 230km to Kon Tum, arriving tired and weary but in good spirits. The road was generally in good condition (highway 14) and the landscape was not as stunning as the previous couple of days. That was good in a way because we could put our foot down and concentrate on riding. We passed a number of rubber plantations which reminded me of the French film Indonchine.
After a few stops along the way in Buon Ho, Iang Bang (tiny) and Pleiku for lunch we made a final dash for Kon Tom. We stopped for a final drinks break in a small cafe where we chatted to some very friendly locals, before zooming along the last 20km. After a long day we both needed a few hours to rest.

Road trip section 6: Lak Lake and BMT

2010-09-16T20:16:00.005+07:00

On the south side of Lak Lake is Jun village, where M’Nong people live (M’Nongs are one of the ethnic minority people of the area). We decided to stay in the village for the night. We had hoped to stay with a local family but that is not how it works here. You stay in the village, in the same kind of house as the locals, but in your own house. This is set up for tourists and we could feel it. Being low season, we were the only ones there, which is not a bad thing, but still we didn’t get to mix with the population much.
We could hear the kids play soccer or ride bikes outside in the evening, so it was semi-authentic, but It didn’t come close to our experiences in Ba Be Lake (January this year)or Mai Chau (In August last year).
In the morning (today) we took a boat ride on the lake, it was beautiful.

This guy was either washing or drowning an elephant. Not sure which, as he kept pushing the elephant under.Even though the village’s main attraction is an elephant ride around (and IN) the lake, we didn’t want to do that. In always seems incredibly sad to see elephants enslaved to take tourists on their back all day long, every day. Dan did it in Thailand and has kept a very bitter memory of it.
We hit the road again around 10 am but this time we didn’t go very far. We stopped 50 kms away, in the city of Buon Mat Thuot, the coffee capital of Vietnam.

I had 4 Vietnamese coffees today, and I’m buzzing. BMT is not amazing, but right next to it is the cutest little village, where we walked around and took pictures, as we do.

The people in the village were all out and about, walking around and chatting with the neighbours. I think we said “hello!” back to approximately 200 “helloooo!” thrown our way.

Dan, the local star:We’re staying in a small hotel in BMT. Tomorrow we'll be on the road from 6.00 am.

We'll be deep in the Highlands and on the Ho Chi Minh trail from tomorrow and for the next few days. It probably won’t be easy to get an Internet connection, so we’ll be back on the blog after that.

Road trip section 5: Dalat to Lien Son (on Lak Lake)

2010-09-16T15:29:00.008+07:00

The day started with our first, and hopefully last, flat tire. We ran over a long nail as we were leaving Dalat, right in front of a waterfall site, which had a bunch of cafes and security on hand. Within a minute a handful of Vietnamese guys came over to help us. One of the security guys from the waterfall found the nail in the tyre, pulled it out, and explained where the nearest garage was and how much it would cost to repair. We untied our bags from the bike and without explanation the security guy jumped on our bike and rode off. This may have raised a few alarm bells, and we did have a joke that our bike was now long gone, but in all seriousness we found this quite normal and typical of the friendly and helpful nature of the Vietnamese. We had a coffee and after 20 minutes the guy returned with a fixed tire. We paid and thanked him and were on our way. I have had probably 4 or 5 flat tires since I have been in Vietnam and the process of getting it fixed has always been painless: there's always help around the corner.

This day on the road was all about the Vietname Highlands, or as we like to call them, the "Greens". As the day progressed we passed some amazing landscapes, causing us to make repeated photo stops. We headed south-west through Nam Ban towards Dinh Van on highway 27. We were basically driving South when our destination, Lien Son, was North, but we were assured that this was the best way to go (driving South meant reaching the better road to go back up). As we dropped in altitude, winding down the green hills from Dalat we could feel the temperature climb. Dalat was crisp and even a little cold but by the time we got to Nam Ban the temperature was perfect.
Once we reached highway 27 we rode north-west up towards Lien Son. That ride, yesterday’s, was my favorite so far. I know I have repeated this statement but the stunning landscape, along with relatively good roads that twisted and turned through hills and valleys, across rivers and through quaint little towns can’t be beaten; so far. There was again little traffic and the backdrop was a mass of different greens that even an artist would have problems putting together. The rice paddies were a fluorescent lime and the vast variety of colours from other crops and vegetation was eye catching. We had a game of "count the shades of green".

We drove up and down hills, in and out of valleys. The hills around us were efficiently cultivated with coffee, fruit, rice, bamboo and others I can’t put a name to. Each patch had its own shade of green which at times made the landscape seem surreal.

The rice fields seemed artificial they were so perfect. Ladies, again wearing their conical hats, worked incessantly in the hot sun. The fruits of their labour were obvious to see as we stopped and admired their pristine pieces of land. Rice fields were in the valleys with coffee and corn plantations on the slopes of the hills. When coffee plantations stopped bamboo ones started. We watched workers gathering bamboo on steep slopes. At times we stopped on each corner for another great photo.

After a while we stopped for a coffee. How awesome was that cafe corner?

We had a picnic lunch by the side of the road, made of bread, tomatoes and yoghurts. A family living in a humble tin house saw us and came over to say hello. We chatted to them for a while before getting back on the road.

We passed small towns and saw many kids walking either to or from school. They waved happily. Cows and pigs crossed the road, a normal scene in this part of the country. Locals gave us a curious but happy look. Now in the highlands there is probably less chance to see other foreigners. We weaved our way through the wonderful scenery before reaching Lien Son and Lake Lak late afternoon.

The trip was around 160km, it took us 5 hours.

Easy Riders

2010-09-16T15:20:00.004+07:00

For two nights in Dalat we stayed at the Peace Hotel on 64 Truong Cong Dinh St. It was a great place to stay. The rooms were super cheap at $10 and the staff was friendly and very helpful. The rooms were more than ok, especially for the value, and it had a central location. There is a café downstairs that sells decent and very cheap food. The whole place has a great vibe.

Often sitting in the café downstairs are the Dalat Easy Riders. This is a company of Vietnamese motorbike riders who will take you, pretty much, anywhere you want to go. The guys have great English and have a wealth of experience both riding motorbikes and of travelling Vietnam. We had a number of conversations with them over the few days we were there. They can get a bit frustrating, always asking you if you want a tour, but that comes with the territory. Already having a bike made it very easy for us to say we didn’t need their services.

For those travelling without their own wheels, I suggest considering a trip with Easy Riders. In my opinion, the best way, by far, to travel Vietnam is by motorbike, and the easy riders bikes are damn comfortable according to Celine who took one around Dalat and came back saying it was like being on a sofa, which she never says about OUR bike, because our bike gives us bum cramps.

Many people obviously don’t feel comfortable riding a bike themselves so this option allows you to get off the beaten track. They cover many of the roads we have or will take on our trip which gives you a great experience of some of the lesser explored parts of Vietnam. Most tourists coming to Vietnam go to Hanoi, HCMC, Halong Bay, Sapa and the beach resorts up the east coast. Travelling with Easy Rider will take you to places very few foreigners go, travelling through small villages and across some amazing landscapes. They charge, however this can vary, around $60 a day which includes virtually everything; accommodation, food, petrol etc.

If anyone wants any info check out their website, Easy Riders, or send me a message as I know some good guides.

Mountain biking in Dalat

2010-09-14T15:42:00.008+07:00

There are a number of adventure type activities you can do around Dalat such as trekking, white water rafting, abseiling, kayaking and mountain biking. We had never done any mountain biking before so thought, how hard can it be. Firstly, let me say that we are both happy we did it and very happy that it is over. We have come to two conclusions;

1. We are both unfit
2. Mountain biking is probably not something we will pursue in the future

That being said, we did really enjoy it and would recommend people giving it a try. We drove around 30km out of Dalat before being dropped, a little prematurely, on a rocky, dirt road that lead us to the bike track. I say prematurely because the car could not get through a very muddy section so had to leave us and our two guides to make our own way to the track. Normally this would not be a problem BUT the bike track was 4km away up what was virtually a continuous hill. Cheers!

Celine attempted the muddy mess in front of us and was doing really well until she lost balance. A second later her left shoe, new by the way, went straight into the mud so she could stay upright. Cheers again. She persevered and continued on, successfully completing the first 10m of our 30km ride.

The uphill ascent was grueling for both of us. It was never-ending and many of our rarely used muscles were not happy at all. At times we had to get off the bike and push it. We felt embarrassed but seriously this was not the setting for beginners, unfit beginners at that. We were happy we were the only two on the tour.

After what seemed and eternity, exhausted and sweaty, we reached the start of the actual bike trail. We gulped a banana and chatted to our friendly guides. They had great English. Once on the track, thin, bumpy and wet, we had to negotiate a virtually continuous decent. My leg muscles took a break and my arm muscles took over having to break nonstop as we weaved around rocks, gaps, bumps and numerous other obstacles on our path. Celine was in her element though, mountain biking DOWN is her thing :)

It was only when we stopped for a break that we realized how beautiful the landscape was. The rest of the time we were concentrating on the road. Many motorbikes from the nearby villages use the path and with the frequent rain it has in places turned into a mud bath. It wasn’t long until my foot went straight into the mud, covered for the rest of the trip.

When we reached flat sections it was great. The scenery was green with pine trees and various other Vietnamese floras. We passed locals carting charcoal back to their village. Earlier massive trucks carted pine trunks causing us to move off the road to let them through. We had lunch looking up at green hills covered in coffee plantations. We crossed a bridge made from thin planks of wood, which were just thrown on top of each other, none tied down or connected in anyway. As we pushed our bike over the bridge we could see the stream below through gaping gaps. Can you say Death bridge?? Now I know why they asked us to sign a liability waiver before we started the trip.

When we reached the main road we called it quits which turned out to be a great idea as the rain soon was bucketing down. We had a coffee at the nearby local village and waited for the car to come and pick us up. After 4 hours we were tired and happy to be back in the car but we can both say, in hindsight, that it was a great thing to do. We had anticipated a bit more of the relatively flat terrain but instead got a decent workout. I think we will sleep well tonight.

Dalat's Crazy House

2010-09-14T15:42:00.005+07:00

While in Dalat we had a chance to go and visit the Crazy House; a bizarre and unconventional piece of architecture designed by Miss Hang Viet Nga, daughter of the late President (or Party Secretary) of Vietnam who succeeded Ho Chi Minh. The house is Euro Disney meets Gaudi however the architect herself studied and lived in Russia for 14 years before returning to Vietnam. She still lives there today and the crazy house is her home, a guesthouse and a museum all at once, it's a kind of continuous open house with a stream of visitors coming through every day.

Miss Nga has bought the adjacent piece of land and is currently extending the property. We walked over a kind of bridge connecting two of the houses only to find it abruptly ended. No signs or warnings about the still in construction, and rather high off the ground, parts of the house. No big deal on OH&S in Vietnam.

All the rooms are curved and you can almost get lost as you weave from room to room. There are, I believe, 10 rooms in the house, each with a different theme. There is a tiger room as well as a kangaroo, ant, bear and many other themed rooms.

You can actually stay there for the night which would be a surreal experience. Rooms are from around $25 per night – just don’t sleep in because you may have an excited Japanese tourist snapping shots you at your worst. :)

It is definitely not the kind of house you expect to see in Vietnam. It costs 20,000VND ($1)to visit and there are a few little shops scattered in rooms and nooks which sell a number of souvenirs as well as scarves, clothes bags and so on. If you are in Dalat I think it is worth a visit.

Dalat: the Vietnamese Paris

2010-09-13T21:07:00.004+07:00

Vietnamese people call Dalat the Vietnamese Paris. The site was found and the town founded by the French colonialists as a sort of… cool tempered resort center in the mountains. (around the 1900s). There’s even a smaller version of the Eiffel tower, you can see it on the picture.

In truth, Dalat looks nothing like Paris, but rather like a French skiing resort, albeit more colourful and cuter than any French mountain resort I know. But still, there are definite resemblances. For one, some buildings are very French-looking, mainly because of the “persienne” shutters, a trait I have found here and there everywhere in Vietnam. This building, on the picture, I swear looks like a typical South-of-France school. It seems funny to me to see it standing in Vietnamese mountains, it looks like someone decided to build a little bit of Marseille right there.
When in Dalat, one barely feels like in Asia, it really does have a European something about it and the air is pure and dry, the smells even are different from the rest of Vietnam. It smells like snow and herbs.

The people are lovely, so friendly it would be hard to top (in this, a huge difference with your French mountain resort, he he). The LP mentioned being harassed by tour guides and motorbike guides here: We didn’t get harassed in the slightest. We’ve only been accosted in a friendly way, and given tips and advice on where to go and what to do with our motorbike.

Last night we woke up from our nap only for a few hours, walked around town and found it bustling with life: Vietnamese teens playing foot-badminton with tourists, street food stalls selling sea food, night markets, all the shops still open, hundreds of people around the main square. It was great. Can you find Ding on the picture below?

This morning, we got up early and checked in a much nicer hotel, same low price but with a much warmer atmosphere. From there we visited the city by day, walked around its colourful streets and took many pictures. We drove around the main lake (we couldn’t find it at first as it is quite dried up, it’s really a main patch of grass right now. We laughed so much at the one poor dude who somehow managed to get a small boat in one the tiny puddle left in the center of the “lake”. The puddle must have been 20 cms deep; what that guy was doing in a boat in there, I can’t fathom), we walked in the flower market, explored the famous crazy house (pretty crazy) and when the weather changed for the worst, we took refuge for lunch in an awesome little artsy restaurant. The fish was ngnon!!

For tomorrow, we’ve booked a bike trip. A bicycle trip, that is. We’ve begged the tour company to let us go on a private tour, just us two, because we are so bloody unfit it would be embarrassing to impose our slowness on anybody else!

I’m looking forward to it and at the same time quite dreading it. 4 hours on a bicycle, me. I haven’t ridden one in years, maybe 10 years? Anyway, I’ll let you know how that went, if I’m still alive to tell the tale.

Fourth day on the road: Phan Rang to DALAT!!

2010-09-13T20:41:00.003+07:00

As usual, you can click on the map to see what we've already done (in brown) and this new section (in pink). This post in translated in English, below.

La route pour Dalat est longue et difficile, comme la route pour aller a Merlette quand j’étais petite. (sauf qu’a l’époque les virages me faisaient invariablement vomir sur mes parents. Maintenant, non.) C’est une route de montagne qui serpente et n’en finit pas. Les paysages sont merveilleux, certes, mais la route elle-même monte a pic, n’est pas goudronnée, est pleine de bosses et a la fin de chaque montée il faut se laver le visage et se dépoussiérer les habits avant de repartir pour un nouveau sommet.
La végétation a changé du tout au tout au long de ce road trip: de plages ensoleillées , dunes et steppe sèche nous sommes passés aux paysages des cartes postales Vietnamiennes, avec une végétation luxuriante et tropicale, puis plus tard dans la journée aux paysages verts et montagnards de la région de Dalat.

A midi on s’est arrêtés pour déjeuner dans un « com » au bord de la route. « com », c’est riz. Du riz blanc avec assortiments au choix. Normalement dans ce genre d’endroits, qu’on trouve tous les 20 mètres n’importe ou dans le pays, je me tiens a distance raisonnable des viandes et trucs frits et re-frits, et même si au bout d’un moment le com ca peut lasser, ca tient bien au ventre. A part quand on trouve un ver dans ses haricots, comme ce fut mon cas cette fois, mais hé, a la guerre... Il faut aussi dire qu’une portion coute 40 centimes d’euros, bananes en dessert prix inclus. Dans notre com-restau, on s’est fait des copains. On a discuté une bonne heure – en Vietnamien, et un peu français. Ils ont bien entendu fait boire trois shots de vodka pure à Dan (c’est la loi), qui a repris la route plutôt gai, après. Moi, moins.

J’étais crevos après tout ça. J’ai avalé trois cafés Viets dans la journée et il faut compter trois expressos par café Viet :). Quand on est (enfin) arrives a Dalat, un des sites les plus célèbres du Vietnam, on était tellement morts qu’on a sauté dans le premier hôtel lugubre sur notre chemin et qu’on s’est tous les deux endormis. Il était seulement 16h00.

The road from Phan Rang to Dalat took us through a distinctively changing landscape. From dried bushes in the dunes and sea side views, we went to luxurious green tropical vegetation to finally, green mountains heights around Dalat.
It was a tough ride, as the mountainy roads are bendy, bumpy, steep and not yet cemented for a huge chunk. So, when reaching every summit, we would have a layer of dust and dirt on us. It took forever to get to Dalat, and even though the landscapes were absolutely beautiful, we were glad to finally get there.
Before we did, we stopped a few times, as we do: first, in Tan Son on highway 27, for a coffee break. For lunch, we stopped in a small mountain village, Lac Xuan, in a rice place (“com”). Com restaurants are simple, grab a plate of white rice and pick assortments from a choice of meats and vegetables. It costs like, 50 cents, bananas for dessert included. Usually I stay away from the greasy meats in com restaurants although this time, the chicken was perfect. Ok, there was a worm in my green beans but I’ve learned to disregard such petty problems J
We made friends in the place, a bunch of Vietnamese guys with who we chatted for almost an hour. They of course made Dan drink 3 shots of VN vodka (it’s the law) and he was quite merry when taking the road again after that.
When we arrived in Dalat, after hours on the road and the grueling Ngon Nuc Path, we found ourselves in one of the most famous sites in Vietnam, but we were so tired that we booked in the first gloomy hotel we found and fell asleep instantly. It was 4pm…

Photo of the week 5

2010-09-12T18:42:00.003+07:00

Mui Ne beach, sunrise.

Phan Ranh

2010-09-12T18:40:00.004+07:00

Avant-hier, en arrivant a Phan Rang, on a cherché pendant une heure un hôtel recommandé par le Lonely Planet, soi-disant sur la plage et pas cher. On ne trouvait même pas la plage, a Phan Rang. On a du sortir de la ville pour trouver la plage a 10kms environ. On a vu l’hôtel, et un peu perplexes par le fait que Lonely Planet le situait DANS la ville et pas a 10kms, on a booké une chambre, on s’est décrassé et on a relaxé. Le problème avec des journées trop pleines de motos c’est que… que j’arrive a destination a 16h00, a 18h00 ou 1 20h00, ca ne change rien. Je suis trop fourbue pour faire quoi que ce soit d’autre que me doucher et m’allonger. C’était le cas en arrivant a Phan Rang. Bref, le lendemain matin en partant de l’hôtel, Dan s’est rendu compte que l’hôtel qu’il avait repéré dans le bouquin et nous avions cherche pendant une heure était en fait dans une autre ville. NOTRE Minh Binh hôtel, qui a 200 kms du vrai, avec quand même le même nom, n’est nulle part dans le livre et jamais personne n’y est allé a part nous. Lol, on a quand même passe la nuit a 10 bornes de notre ville-étape a cause de cette légère erreur. Ceci dit l’hôtel était génial et pratiquement gratuit. De toute façon, j’ai passe l’après midi dans le café d’a cote a lire Jane Eyre, trop crevée pour visiter quoi que ce soit. Autant avoir une vue sur la mer, ce faisant. On a pas raté grand-chose, la ville de Phan Rang n’étant pas très excitante. Au depart de Phan Ranh, sur la route qui mene a Dalat, on s'est quand meme arretes pour aller voir les tours Cham, l'attraction principale de la region, un temple hindu errige pendant l'empire Cham.

The day before yesterday, when getting to Phan Rang, we looked for a hotel Minh Binh that Dan had found in the Lonely Planet and seemed nice. We looked for it for an hour: it was supposed to be on the beach yet we couldn’t even find the said beach, and eventually found it like, 10kms east of the city. There, we saw the hotel Minh Binh and we checked in. It was cheaper than the book advised, and we were perplexed the Lonely planet forgot to say the hotel and the beach were so far from the town. Anyway, after so many hours on the road, I was way too tired to go visit anything and even though it was only 4pm, I showered, put on comfy clothes and read Jane Eyre until bed time.
This morning when leaving Phan Rang, Dan picked up the lonely planet and noticed that the Minh Binh hotel we had looked for was in fact in another city, 200 kms south. He had looked at the wrong page.
So, we were in a random hotel that nobody knows, 10kms out of the city we did want to see, a hotel with the same name. Funny, because we loved our hotel and the peace and quiet we got there. I spent the afternoon reading in the café next door: might as well have a nice sea view to do that. Phan Rang city is not very exciting from what we’ve seen when crossing it, so, no loss there.

On our way to Dalat,we did check out Phan Rang's main attraction: The cham towers, a still active Hindu temple from the Cham empire. 7 kms from Phan Rang town, on the road to Dalat.

Pham Cham etc...

Travelling the open road in Vietnam

2010-09-11T23:59:00.001+07:00

I have successfully negotiated my first few days on the road, travelling around 500km from HCMC around the coast, up to Phan Rang. Tomorrow we head inland towards Dalat. The trip has been fun and the freedom of deciding your own journey is priceless. The trip to date has been amongst the most enjoyable holidays I have had anywhere in the world.

Now we have worked out the best system for carting the two of us and our luggage around the country and we seem to be getting into a decent ryhthm. The bike has held our weight so far so fingers crossed our little Honda can last the distance. We bought the bike off a friend in Hanoi who sent it down to us on the train. We picked it up when we got back to HCMC from Phu Quoc Island. $20 to send a bike 2,000km is a pretty good deal I think. It cost a dollar a day to store it at the train station.

So far we have avoided any real danger on the road as Highway 1 (leaving HCMC) and highway 51 (road to Long Hai) were quite wide so there was adequate room for trucks and cars to zoom past us. Only a few times did an approaching bus seem to close for comfort so I quickly veered off onto the side of the road. From Long Hai (highway 55 they highway 1 again) up until Phan Rang the roads have been great, with decent roads and little traffic most of the way.

The trip a few days before from Rach Gia (after arriving from Phu Quoc island), to Can Tho city was vastly different. We were in a bus then and it was often a little scary the way they drive. The roads were thin and quite run down. Our bus driver and others would fly along the road weaving and darting on both sides of the road trying to get to their destination as quick as possible. Frequently we would be on the wrong side of the road with an approaching bus flying towards us. Horns would beep, lights would flash and it seems that size wins so the smaller would retreat; only at the last second swerving back, missing each other by the smallest of margins. 30 seconds later the process would be repeated. It was best to close your eyes and forget about the kamikaze drivers. The motorbike riders couldn't do this though. They had to contend with the constant onslaught of powerful, fast chunks of metal, it seemed determined to mow them down. Only a quick detour off the main road, into the gravel, did riders avoid a deadly fate. It was like a gazelle fleeing from an approaching tiger, using its agility at the last moment to change direction and breathe another day.

As with Hanoi, I am sure there in some order to the chaos and at the end of the day we arrived safely without killing anyone or seeing anyone else even have an accident. However, now being a rider on the open roads, the smallest on the food chain, I have to adapt and always be alert. So far, to be honest, has been pretty easy and without any real probems.

Road trip section 3: Mui Ne to Phan Rang

2010-09-11T23:40:00.007+07:00

Click on the map: In brown what we've already done, in pink the latest section, which this post is about.

photos to follow......terrible internet connection

After a day of R&R in Mui Ne which consisted of eating, reading, sleeping, shopping and a little more eating we jumped on the bike for the next leg (no pun intended) of our journey. Before I get to that, if seriously cheap, fresh and delicious seafood is your thing then Mui Ne must be considered. It also has a very long white sandy beach, which is great for swimming and relaxing but for the more adventurous there is kite surfing, wind surfing and jet skiing. The little town, which is spread along one long road, has a chilled out atmosphere and would be a good place to hang out and relax for a few days.

We only had one day, which we enjoyed immensely, before it was time to make tracks up the coast to Phan Rang (a night stopover before on our way to Dalat). The trip was around 130km and we got on the road at around 9am after a beach breakfast.

Leaving Mui Ne towards Phan Rang, is an area renowned for its sand dunes and it wasn’t long before we drove past them; big and red, but not steep, with happy Vietnamese kids riding down on sand sleds. I was waiting for the white sand dunes, about 30km further, which was ideal for adults who wanted a go at sand sledding.

As we drove we enjoyed the landscape, which was as amazing as the previous trip from Long Hai, but was in many ways different. We still often hugged the coastline, constantly peering down to white sands and blue water, but the sand dunes had become more prominent and at times it resembled a desert.
First the sand dunes were red, then white and then really white like salt. At times, in the valley of the sand dunes was a bunch of assorted vegetation, that similar to an oasis.

We turned off the main road, onto a sandy and rock filled red dirt road, trying to reach the white sand dunes for some adrenaline action on the scary, thrill inspiring sand slopes. It was getting hot and Celine and I trekked out into the sandy desert, sled in hand, finding the perfect run. The sun was beaming down and we were sweating and tired after a few minutes. After painfully hiking up a hill of hot sand we found a spot to launch. Celine, the dare devil, went first.

She prepared herself.

Took a deep breath.

And….

LAME!

She slid, which probably isn’t the appropriate word, like a snail descends a bump on the road.

I followed with the same result.

Ok, maybe we did it wrong, but I had convinced Celine to trek out into the hot sand, in the near middle of day, sun blaring in our faces, to fly down a sand dune. She had obliged, party for the thrill and party so she could me see me “fly” down and have a great time.

LAME!

We walked back, about 10 minutes, sweating and hot laughing at another of my wise, exciting activity choices. I decided this was the second lamest thing I have done. The first was a horse ride on the South coast of New South Wales in Australia. I organized the ride for her birthday as she loves horse-riding, with the anticipation she could canter freely through an open paddock. I went too and for the best part of an hour we followed a path, only allowed to walk the horse, with a group of losers; I am sorry but they were. Each slow step of the horse, following obediently behind another, was a little kick to my head, telling me how lame this whole situation was. I cringe now just thinking about it. Sorry Celine. So anyway, my sand dune suggestion is number 2.

After the sand dunes we were back on the road again, navigating our way along a bumpy 25km dirt road until we reached something close to civilization. Over the hour, or possibly longer trip, we passed maybe 5 other bikes. At times we again travelled by the sea with sand dunes on our other side. It was a great, authentic little ride, but we were burnt, sandy and dusty. We finally passed through a town, which only had dirt roads, waving happily to the surprised locals. We had lunch in a small town and later had our routine coffee in the next small town. We try to stop in each small town we pass so we often stop for a Vietnamese coffee or tea. The landscape changed with big rocky hills towering above us. We were back on the main Highway, after our sand dune detour, so could fly along on our bike. We passed a number of small towns which are always so interesting. One had little boys sitting high on a cart of hay which was dragged by cows. In another a cow walked freely, without any apparent owner, down a main street. Many Vietnamese women were working in rice fields, wearing the traditional conical hat. Others were on the side of the road drying some kind of produce; possibly rice. Kids were riding bikes home from school. Men were riding their motorbikes. Big buses and trucks were speeding along.

We arrived mid afternoon in Phan Rang, hot, sweaty and dusty but otherwise in good spirits. The bike is doing very well, despite a recently detached head light, and has defiantly taken some abuse today. We booked into hotel, had showers and took some time to relax. Again, a very enjoyable day on the road.

Road trip section 2: Long Hai to Mui Ne

2010-09-10T21:49:00.005+07:00

Posted by Dan.

Thursday was a cracker of a day. We got up at 6am and hit the road by 7am. We had a decent ride ahead of us, about 180km along the coast to Mui Ne. There was a scenic route which often hugged the coastline giving us amazing views of the South China Sea. The roads were in good condition and were very empty; at least in terms of what we are used too. It was a photographer’s paradise. On the right was the ocean with the morning sun reflecting bright silver off the otherwise blue water. On the left were hills full of green trees which would change quite quickly as we rode along to rice fields with active farmers bent over, working their crops. We passed sand dunes along the coast and many small fishing villages. The locals smiled and were interested and perhaps a little surprised to see foreigners. We saw only two other foreigners in 3 days; it was a couple on push bikes, riding on the highway, making us look lazy.

We stopped along the way at a few of the beaches for a photo and a walk.

We rode through Loc An, Ho Tram and Ho Coc Beach. The beaches were virtually deserted so we took the opportunity to explore. Later, we saw a Vietnamese couple getting their wedding photos done on a big rock overlooking the ocean. Good idea! We passed small villages, stopped for our routine Vietnamese coffee and chatted about the joys of travelling on a motorbike.

We stopped at Binh Chau for an early lunch. We went to and eco friendly Hot Springs Resort which has, believe it or not, hot springs you can swim in. At 37 degrees we decided to pass but dipped out feet in the hot springs footbath until we were sweating. There resort had gardens and rides and even an area where they boil eggs in the hot springs.

After lunch we continued towards Mui Ne, riding through La Gi before cutting back inland towards Highway 1. We passed through Thuan Nam and then Phan Thiet before reaching Mui Ne mid afternoon. Along the way we waved to school kids returning home from school on their pushbikes, dodged the occasional cow wandering on the road and, often at the last second, swerved to miss one or two deceiving potholes. Some of the architecture reminded Celine of Sydney. Along the way we stopped once for tea and then for coffee chatting to welcoming locals. I noticed a few people with deformities and/or serious illnesses on our trip and wondered if there was any relation to the terrible problems caused by Agent Orange. I don’t know if this area was affected by that, but, in only a few small towns I have seen severe deformities that I have never before seen in my life.

Mui Ne, a touristy beach town, has a different pace to the places we drove through this morning. The area is well developed with big, swish resorts and services on hand to cater the tourist trade. There are heaps of restaurants and shopping as well as a bunch of sports activities like kite surfing and jet skiing. We had a beer at a trendy beach bar on arrival, plotting our next move. After that we found a guesthouse to crash for the night and had a delicious and very cheap seafood dinner.

Today, travel wise, was one of the most enjoyable days I have had. Cruising around on a bike feels very natural to us and we are both developing a real passion for it. Being in complete control of an adventure, especially in a foreign place, is very rewarding and allows you to see and experience so many things and often in a much more authentic way than that of a tour. It gives you a different perspective on your surroundings and enables you to interact more freely with the locals. In short, we absolutely love our bike trip.

Long Hai

2010-09-10T21:30:00.002+07:00

We had a good time in Long Hai. The village is on the beach, and consists mainly of a big square beach front with lots of food and drinks stalls. We only ate on the said square in the evenings as lunch time is all about eating seafood on the beach. Vietnamese ladies walk around with their restaurant on their back. They propose prawns, squids, crabs all live and cook whatever people chose right there on the spot. When I say people: there was only us 2 on the beach, and a group of Vietnamese people from the country side. We chose Banh Canh. Banh Canh (pronounce Bang cang) is a seafood noodle soup, where the noodles are much thicker than normal, which is why they are called Banh – a word which in Vietnamese means cake, bun, bread, “beignet” (French) or anything hand made and thick. Bread in VN is “Banh my” and half the Vietnamese specialties are called “banh” something”” Banh bao, banh xeo, banh cuon. All very different things, unrelated to cakes but involving some sort of breadish wrap, bun or else. Anyway, these banh canh on the beach were really good, in the broth: grilled fish, prawns and herbs. We also treated ourselves to 2 huge prawns, at that point it’s not even prawns but probably some kind of Langouste. Don’t know how to say Langouste in English. Perhaps it’s the same word.
The rest on the day was spent reading (I have finished Mansfield Park, and, in a Jane Austen mood, I then read Pride and Prejudice. I’ve finished that too and now I’m quite reconciled with Jane. Pride and Prejudice is so good. I love everything about it: the book, the BBC series and the film which I have seen three times in the last 3 months, thanks to my housemate Lanette. Regardless, I had enough of good old Jane Austen after reading Pride and Prejudice so instead of following on with Sense and Sensitivity, I started Jane Eyre. That’s what I’m reading now. I’ve read it before, but I forgot all about it apart from the obvious lines of Mr Rochester is blind, she’s the governess in his house and they fall in love. Now on a second read, there is a LOT more to this book and I can’t put it down.)
We read, we sunbathed (how I regret this now, red and puffy with a sun allergy as I am while writing this post, inside my bungalow in Mui Ne, forbidden to go outside), we napped. After a while we went for a ride and found the five stars resort mentioned in the Lonely Planet. Yes, it was sumptuous but… we were a bit puzzled by the swastikas symbols on the pool restaurant building. It’s a symbol used in the Buddhist religion, however still a bit unexpected to us foreigners and as the wider clientele of such a resort would be foreigners also, I’m not sure it’s the best marketing move.
Evening was approaching when we ate this fish balls snack, and then found an Internet café with wifi (YAY!! Took us forever but we found wifi) and posted like… 5 posts. When that was done, we walked around, had dinner (sea food rice soup) and played with the same 2 year old boy as the night before. His great grandma was there, lovely, but his grandmother seemed a bit more strict. She made him bow to us and when he wouldn’t do it (“khong”, “khong”) she hit him on his little feet with chopsticks (“Aoow!”). She also made him bring dishes to tables. 2 years old. Child labor, much?
We went to bed early. Because yesterday morning, we wanted to be on the road by 7.00 am, direction: Mui Ne, the Sand dune beach town.

Lang Hai c’était genial. Le village est construit autour de la plage,en tout cas notre petite placette preferee est juste devant la mer. Sur cette place, des dizaines de petits stands ou on peut boire et manger. Mais pour nous, c’est l’endroit ou diner seulement, parceque le midi, rien ne vaut des fruits de mer sur la plage. Les dames vietnamiennes se deplacent avec leur restaurant sur le dos, et viennent proposer aux vacanciers (nous, et un bus de Vietnamiens de la campagne, c’est tout) leur crevettes, crabes et calamars vivants. Elles les cuisent sur place. On a choisi deux banh canh (prononcez Bang Cang), une soupe de nouille aux fruits de mers, et deux langoustes.
Le reste de la journée, on a bronze (comme je le regrette maintenant, sous cortisone, rouge et gonflée par une allergie au soleil du feu de Dieu), dormi et beaucoup lu. J’ai fini Mansfield Park, j’ai ensuite lu Orgueil et Préjugés (fantastiques, le livre, comme la série, comme le film) et au lieu d’enchainer avec Raison et Sentiments, en ai eu marre de Jane Austen et me suis rabattu sur Jane Eyre. Je l’ai lu en au collège en troisième, je crois, ou en quatrième, mais m’en souvenait a peine. Je suis complètement dedans et n’arrive pas à poser le livre. Enfin, ma DS.)
Ensuite on est allé visiter l’hôtel 5 étoiles de la côte ou on a été un surpris de voir des croix gammées sur les murs. La Swastika est un symbole hindu, utilisée dans la religion bouddhiste selon Wikep. Mais quand même, c’est moyen. L’hôtel a une clientèle plutôt Occidentale pour qui la Swastika, c’est la croix gammée, et le stigmate qui s’y attache.
Le soir on a retrouvé notre copain But, le petit bout de deux ans que sa grand mère a force a s’incliner devant nous pour nous saluer, sous peine de se faire taper les pieds avec des baguettes a nouilles. Lol. Pauvre puce. Il disait « khong Khong » (non, non) jusqu'à ce que les baguettes apparaissent, et après la première tape sur les pieds « Aou, aou ». On était a la fois un peu outres pour lui et un peu morts de rire. Il était trop chou.
Puis on s’est couchés tôt parce que le lendemain (hier), on voulait être sur la route des 7.00 pour une grosse journée de moto. Direction, Mui Ne, la ville estivale aux dunes de sable.

5.00 am beach walk at Long Hai

2010-09-08T18:58:00.005+07:00

This morning, for some mysterious reason, Dan woke me up at 5.00 am. He wanted to go walk on the beach. I happily obliged and in my pyjamas set off for a very early beach walk. We walked for over an hour and it was amazing. The village was waking up, local Vietnamese middle-aged woman were exercising on the beach and a few fishermen were already at work. We took beautiful pictures. Today we’re staying here, we eat seafood, get tanned on the beach and relax. Tomorrow morning we’re starting our longest journey : Long Hai to Mui Ne, on the east coast.

Ce matin, ce taré de Dan m’a réveillée a 5h00 du mat, pris d’une envie folle d’aller marcher sur la plage. J’y suis allée de bon gré, en pyj. La plage est juste devant l’hôtel (notre hôtel est une académie militaire, ou les chambres sont en fait les quartiers des soldats) On a marché pendant plus d’une heure, le village se réveillait, les grand-mères faisaient leur gym sur la plage et des pécheurs étaient déjà a l’œuvre. On a pris de jolies photos.
Aujourd’hui on reste ici, on bronze et on lit. Ce village est si calme et les gens si gentils que je n’ai aucune envie de partir. C’est certainement mon endroit préféré au Vietnam, en tout cas jusque la.
Demain on part tôt pour notre plus grosse journée de moto : de Long Hai (ici) a Mui Ne, sur la cote Est.

First day of our road trip!!!

2010-09-08T18:33:00.007+07:00

I'll try and update this map as we go. Click on it to see the first road section we covered (South, in pink, circled in light pink) from HCMC to Long Hai (not on the map as too small, but very near Vung Tau)

Ok, now we’re on the road ! It’s real stuff. We left HCMC yesterday, motorbike packed and bags organised. We had decided to stop at Long Hai for the night, about 130 kms South East of HCMC (See the map). I know, it sounds like 100 kms a day is barely anything, but it is. Because the roads in VN are not the kind of roads you know. We drive around 50kms/hour, but sometimes the road is but a dirt path, even the national roads, and our average speed for the day takes a hit. We also stopped several times, which I was delighted with. I was like a kid, excited at everything. Being on the road really works for me, far gone are these summer days where I felt depressed and generally blah.

Stop 1, after one hour on the road. The bags were set on the bike in a way that just didn’t work for us. There was too little room on the bike seats for both of us, we were squished. The first stop was about rearranging the bags in a small coffee stall on the side of the road. We had a drink for energy and a little snack. We were still close enough to HCMC for the roads to be busy and full of trucks. Although I must say, here’s another plus for HCMC vs Hanoi : trucks have their own side of the road, on the left, when motorbikes drive on the right. A concept thoroughly ignored – or inexistant, in Hanoi.

I enjoyed our first stop. We chatted with locals and Dan was eating processed sausages soooo good that even a hungry dog refused when we gave him one.

Stop 2 : The young (flaming) receptionist guy in our HCMC hotel told us to stop in Long Thanh on our way to Long Hai, as it is the cradle of milk production for the whole country. Now, if you don’t live here, you can’t know about Vinamilk. Vinamilk is the number one milk brand in Vietnam (until yesterday, we thought it twas the only milk brand in Vietnam), and the tune from the advert will forever be burnt in your head after a month of living here. Because it plays on TV and in every supermarket, every 5 minutes. So, we sang along on the bike until reaching the area around Long Thanh, where, sure enough, we started seeing pictures and statues of cows on the side of the road. We stopped in a sort of dairy fare where we ate ice cream and drank a glass of fresh milk. I was shoked to see the whole thing wasn’t Vinamilk but some other dairy brand which I’ve never seen in Hanoi. The whole place was pretty deserted, even despite the awesome looking water theme park. We were the only foreigners and people smiled at us in wondering what the hell we were doing there. Fun. We both ate our new found favourite noodles (Bun Bo Hue for me and Banh Canh for Dan) + one ice cream and a glass of milk each. It cost us 5 dollars altogether.

I love milk and was super happy in that place. Dan forced me to leave because of some trivial worry about not wanting to drive the dangerous roads filled with killer trucks and suicidal buses at night, when there are no lights on the road at all… pfff. All right then.

Stop 3 : Around the region of Tan Thanh, there is an umbelievable number of newly built, grand, sweesh, extremely modern churches. Catholic, perhaps, I’m not sure. But they violently clash with the environment, because when I say modern, I mean MODERN, like… designer – cubic style. I wonder what that’s about, and I’ll look into it. But when we saw what looked like an immense Pagoda or temple, I’m not sure, with gigantic statues of a Buddha I don’t yet know (standing, tall, slim, holding his hand up with the thumb and middle finger joined), we decided to stop. I asked the locals « who is this ? », pointing at the statue, and they told me, but I don’t remember. Something else to look into. This temple was very new, also. It seems like the region’s money mainly goes into building grandiose worship places, as in between beautiful churches and pagodas, the streets and the shops were generally falling apart.

Stop 4 : A bit further from the churches region, was a newly developed industrial area. You can see the factories far away behind the rice paddies, it’s not like they ruin the very area around the road. What does change the experience of the driver through, is the appearance of many, many appartment buildings all around, lodging, we can only assume, the industrial and factories staff. It was pretty umbelivable to see all those modern appartment complexes in the middle of nowhere, in Vietnam’s country side. Because of this huge boost in the region dynamic, the towns around are sooo modern, I mean, small but more modern than Hanoi, the capital. Freshly painted buildings (actually, probably freshly buit for most of them), tons of shops, restaurants and even a couple of shopping centers. That is, in a town springing from nowhere, surrounded by fields and rice paddies.

So, we made Ba Ria, the main one of these towns, our last stop before Long Hai, and enjoyed a cold coke on the main square. The sunset was beautiful. We were, by that point, so dirty and dusty and tired that the locals, extremely friendly as they were, could not help giggling at our rugged appearance.

Stop 5 : Long Hai, here we are.

I cannot believe we had never heard of this place. It’s a lovely little town, village, almost, set on the beach, so very quiet and friendly. We dropped our stuff at a hotel (a military academy overlooking the beach, with tennis courts and cantines, insanely cheap) and enjoyed a beer and a seafood rice soup on the main square. Kids came to speak to us, teenagers tried their english and we chatted with a great-grandmother about her family. Her 2 year old great grand son stared at us and repeated « khong » at everything we said to him. « khong » means « no ». So, it’s international now that no is the first word kids learn to say, even in Long Hai.

Can Tho City

2010-09-08T18:23:00.007+07:00

local food stand

On the way back from Phu Quoc, we stopped for the night in Can Tho city, a biggish town in the Mekong Delta, with a cute river front. There are so many different types of noodle soups in this part of Vietnam, we tried many, and had a few drinks by the river.

The next morning, we got up at 4.00 am (true story - it took Chi Anh a few tries to wake up 6 sleepy girls!) and went on a river boat ride as the sun was rising.

floating market

and again...

We went through a floating market and bought breakfast and coffees from small boats on the river.

Coffee delivered on a boat

What service

We stopped in a garden/zoo type thing where we had a lot of fun. Our Vietnamese friends are great travelers: excited at everything, they can make anything fun.

Around 12 we left Canh To for Saigon where we eventually said goodbye to our friends. We will see them again in Hanoi in a few weeks. The next morning, Dan and I took the time in a small Saigon cafe, to build an itinerary which seems to make sense for our bike trip to Hoi An. We have three weeks ahead of us and we want to make the best out of this time. Exciting!

Sur le chemin de retour de l’ile Phu Quoc, nous nous sommes arrêtés pour la nuit a Canh To, la plus grande ville du Mekong, qui a un mignon port de rivière. Il y a plein de types de soupes aux nouilles dans cette région du Vietnam, et on en a essaye quelques unes. On a encore une fois passe la nuit en dortoires séparés (filles/garçons) et le matin nous sommes réveillés – difficilement, a 4h00, pour aller passer quelques heures sur la rivière. Nous avons traverses un marché flottant, et acheté petit dej et même café vendus par des petits bateaux marchands. On s’est arrêtés dans un jardin-zoo sur la rive et la bonne humeur constante de nos copains Vietnamiens aidant, avons passe un bon moment.

Vers midi nous sommes repartis direction Saigon, ou nous avons dit au revoir a Nam, Phi, Ahn, Mai, Van and Chau. On les retrouvera a Hanoi dans quelques semaines. Dan et moi avons pris le temps, le lendemain matin dans un petit café de Saigon, de mettre au point un itinéraire qui se tient pour notre voyage en moto de Saigon a Hoi An, en trois semaines. Yay !

Photo of the week # 4

2010-09-08T18:20:00.005+07:00

We should warn you: we are taking awesome pictures on our trip, so this "photo of the week" thing is bound to appear every other day! At least we hope so :)

This is from the Phu Quoc fish village's Pier. I know, right? talent.

Phu Quoc's fish village

2010-09-08T17:47:00.007+07:00

We finished our PhuQuoc tour with a typical fishing village. We bought dried fish and walked around the pier. Here are some pictures.

On the sand bank, boys play football

And girls play... Marelle. I don't know how to say this in English.

What's this little boy doing? He looks like he's for sale...

But he's only selling starfish. The girls bought loads, and the whole bus stank. Yes. Starfish smells, did you know? he he.

This is Leg eating dried fish.

This is Ding eating dried fish. :)

Phu Quoc Island

2010-09-08T16:19:00.003+07:00

Two nights and two days on Phu Quoc Island and about a day in Can Tho, the biggest city in the Mekong Delta, was a fitting start to our month long voyage up the country. We made some great friends, learnt a stack of Vietnamese and saw some great parts of the country. We were spoilt when it came to the food, eating mainly delicious seafood dishes picked from a wealth of Vietnamese knowledge; that being our 7 happy travelling companions.

The night bus arrived at around 8.30am in Rach Gia. We waited there until 1pm and then took a speedboat to Phu Quoc Island. After that we took another bus to our final destination, Thanh Kieu hotel. The trip was quite painful but we chose the cost effective option and must take the unpleasantness that comes with multiple buses, taxis and boats. We finally arrived at our hotel, with much joy, at around 4pm – about 12 hours after setting off from Saigon. The bungalows were simple and clean and generally acceptable for the price and most importantly were only a small walk from the beach.

We had a swim, in a virtually unoccupied beach, which was fun; apart from dodging the occasional plastic bag. Later we headed into town for some local fish, raw fish the highlight, and a stroll through the night market. We finished the night with an ice cream; a fitting conclusion to a long and tiring day.

We got up early the following day. Our plans to cruise the island on motorbikes were squashed due to the rain. We hired a van instead and the happy driver drove us around the island all day. We went to the local museum, a pearl farm, one of the biggest beaches in Phu Quoc, Sao Beach, a great little beach where we swum and each took turns kayaking. I managed to get sun burnt, the joys of a pasty white complexion, which prompted Celine to buy 81+ sun cream (yes, it does exist) which for good measure was whitening; a common addition to the Vietnamese brands. I can report that my complexion will be either a painful pink or a ghostly white for the remainder of the trip; an unattractive prospect but one I am used to.

Finally we made our way to a seafood market which Celine will show with some great photos in her following post. We were able to fit a lot into one day and could leave the island with a good impression of the place. We had seafood at the night market in town for dinner, eating an amazing noodle dish, Banh Canh. All in all a great day.

Phu Quoc was an enjoyable little island with a laid back atmosphere. It wasn’t touristy, at least when we were there, which for me is a big plus. The island is definitely still in the development stage with most of the roads dirt and full of pop holes. We would often go for kilometers at a time on a bouncy, bumpy ride where heads would unexpectedly slam against windows. It is definitely not the place for a bad back or a weak stomach. The locals on the island were warm and friendly; a common trend for all Vietnamese. The food deserves a big thumbs up – I mean seriously, who can complain about a mass of cheap, fresh seafood. Celine and I enjoyed ourselves on the island but the trip was made all the more enjoyable with a bunch of easy going Vietnamese showing us the way.

Tip: grab a bike and drive the island. There is simply no better way to see a place than on a motorbike and Phu Quoc island is best explored this way.

Travelling with our Vietnamese friends

2010-09-06T11:47:00.005+07:00

We are back in HCMC. Last night we said goodbye to our Vietnamese friends, a lively group of young Hanoians who we will sorely miss. We don’t know how we will do now without the constant laughter and joking around… it also will be much more trying to find the best food stalls and tour deals with our now very limited access to Vietnamese language.
Before I talk about out three days travelling with them in Phu Quoc island and Canh To city, let me talk a little about them.

First of all, Nam.

Nam, the organiser of the trip and the glue to all its participants, used to be my student, a while back, at Language Link. We remained friends ever since and he is one of our very favourite people in Hanoi. Because he’s awesome. Kind hearted, hilarious, interested in everything. The kind of friends anybody would be lucky to have.

He's made me laugh so much on this trip that I had severe stomach cramps. True story.

Chau and Van (Pronounce Chow and Vun). on the Picture, Van is on the left, Chau on the right.We bunked together in Phu Quoc – there were two couples in the group, but we didn’t get anywhere near such nonsense as mixing genders in the rooms!

These girls are fantastic: their English is brilliant, they know all the cool expressions and get all the private jokes Dan and I say to each other and usually are completely lost in translation, as we expect them to be. Well, be careful with Chau and Van, they understand it all. The two girls are best friends, they’re hip hop dancers, dress in their own style, live their own life and shake their head at the idea of living their life the way their society tells them to. At 24 and 25 years old, they are not married, hold no yearning to be, and don’t want to become mothers for another few years. What they want right now, is to open an International dance studio in Hanoi and keep travelling throughout Asia until their means allows them to travel further. Honestly, it’s not because there is so much Westerner inside them both that I find them so refreshing. It’s because of their individuality, which I’m sad to say has been proven a rare treat in Vietnamese twenty something years old. Most teachers would agree with me, and all the ones I know will without a doubt: teaching Vietnamese students have made us very aware of the fact that all our students share a lot of the same ideas, opinions, goals, dress sense and often even hobby (computer games.). This is a bit generalized of course but all in all still true. I mean, not a day goes by in my Vietnamese teaching days where I don’t get a comment for having been married for two years and not yet have produced a baby. I’m border-line selfish to three quarters of my students, and I’m sooooo old that I won’t be able to even have one very soon so what the hell am I waiting for?

Am I sick? Is there something wrong with me? I’m 29 years old. Understand my annoyance at the whole thing. Pressure, much?

Anyway, Chau and Van have decided to wear baggy pants and cute little singlets and go about their life dancing and travelling. Their friends think them childish and also borderline selfish, for not turning their interests onto more serious and responsible matters such as – I’ll let you guess… yes, that’s right: getting married and making babies. But they don’t care, they do what makes them happy, and to this I bow in wonder and admiration because how difficult it might be to do such a thing in a society where it’s considered selfish and childish: well, I’ll never know, because I never had to do that.

The girls are also incredibly friendly, funny and witty and it was a great pleasure to hang out with them and share a bungalow with them instead of Dan, who snores, fidgets and sweats in his sleep. Lol.

Chi Anh: (Chi just stands for “older sister” but as Anh was the oldest of the group, we all addressed her with Chi in front of her name) was our accountant and treasurer. She was so awesome at it that she deserves a very special mention. For our 4 days travelling all together, we slept in hotels 4 nights, took I don’t know how many buses, boats and tours of rivers, markets and islands, we also ate breakfast lunch and dinner together: that’s a lot of paying. Chi Anh took care of everything, she paid every single hotel reception, waiter and bus driver. We all put money in a fund on the first day of our trip, and Chi Anh was in charge of that fund the whole trip. We never had to worry about dividing bills, counting money, tipping, who ate what etc… Chi Anh did it all. For this, we will eternally be grateful! She’s really the best treasurer ever, and we love her. She’s also pretty awesome at bargaining, finding the best fruits, finding us stuff to eat for breakfast when we are in the middle of a river, hungry, and waking up all the girls at 4.00 am when we keep going back to sleep but we need to get up because we have a ferry to catch. In short, she really was everyone’s big sister. (in the picture Chi Anh is the one with the purple dress, from left to right: Mai, Hien, Anh, Van and Chau)

Now I need to shorten the rest of the character’s biographies before this post starts taking up three pages on blogger as well as the rest of my HCMC morning: there was also Mai, a sweet lovely girl, a little shy, to whom it took a couple of days to warm up to us enough to try her English a bit more frequently. She also happens to be Nam’s girl. Be reassured that they did not overwhelm us with passionate embraces and crazy snogs: the Vietnamese have something us French call “pudeur”. It doesn’t quite translate in English, it’s a word which blends “reserve about all things private” and “sweetness” all at once. It can only be responded to by us with respect and our own amount of reservation back. No making out in front of our Vietnamese friends. Not that we do that in front of our other friends either; apart from Connell and Jem because they love it.

There was Phi, Nam’s friend with whom he came to Hanoi from their home town ten years ago, a really nice guy, and Hien, again a friend of Nam’s and of Chi Anh, who seemed like a real joker too. Most of her jokes happened in Vietnamese so we only caught bits of them, but laughed anyway.

Ok, so that was the group. It needs to be said that those guys were always in a good mood, laughing, happy and that they didn’t let anything bother them and never ever got annoyed at each other. I mean, at one point, we took a four hours bus with the meanest bus driver you can imagine. Horrid. He snapped, bipped (honked) the horn at us when we were taking a toilet break, moved people rudely from one seat to the other, and was altogether enough of a &*^!@& to make Dan and I first angry, then only able to appease ourselves by insulting him under our breath for two hours out of four. The other guys though, reacted very differently. They shut down. They slept, daydreamed and generally pretended he didn’t exist, though not enough to chat freely. They went quiet. When the bus dropped us off, nobody had a bad word to say about the driver, but they all came back to life suddenly. We tested the water by telling our friends that we had found our new favourite person on Vietnam. They looked at each other, wondering which one of them it could be, and asked us, and we said: “the bus driver”. We wanted to know if they would be the sort of people to react or just pretend that was in fact a possibility.

They all burst out laughing, completely aware that could only be a joke, and even admitted the driver was not nice. That’s as much bad mouthing we could get from them, but we were happy!

So, there. Thank you Nam for a fantastic few days and for introducing us to your fantastic friends.

Me, Van, Mai, Phi Chau and Nam

Foreigner's Tax

2010-09-05T23:06:00.001+07:00

By midnight our entire group had arrived in HCMC. There were 9 of us in total; Celine and I and 7 Vietnamese. If you ever come to Vietnam you should expect to receive foreigner’s tax. This is not a government enforced tax but one that the local shopkeepers quite happily pass on purely because you are not Vietnamese. They don’t try to be discreet and will argue their point if they have to. The foreigner tax becomes more apparent when you are travelling with Vietnamese.

The price increase is not massive and we often don't mind it, I even actually find it funny most of the time but it is interesting to observe how blatant they are in inforcing this tax which is supposed to be a discreet job. For instance, one of the Vietnamese guys from our group, Phi, went and ordered a beer for 12,000 dong (very cheap). I went and ordered the same beer straight after him, and the lady charged me 15,000 (still very cheap). When I quizzed her about it, in front of Phi, she smiled and shook her head; a sign that the price was final. Funny.
We had planned to wait in a rented room opposite the bus station until our 3am departure time. That way we had somewhere to rest until the bus arrived. We rented one room for 9 people, which the landlord had no issue with until she saw that two of the group were foreigners. She made us rent our own room, without giving any reason, apart from what to me seemed the obvious; taking advantage of the foreigner situation. The beer situation was humorous however as you can imagine the room stunt was slightly annoying.

We have found many instances of foreigner’s tax while living in Hanoi. Going into a shop with a local so as to get a cheaper price, to buy a jacket for example, doesn't do the trick. If the owner has a hint of your intention to pay, they will blast your cover, right in front of the local. A degree of organization is required if you want to avoid the foreigner tax but in most cases it is only a little and is best to smile at. With a month on the road we expect to see the foreigner’s tax applied quite a bit but really in most instances it is no big deal and if you are travelling without a local you often don’t even realize when it is being applied.

Ho Chi Minh City

2010-09-04T18:42:00.004+07:00

City by night

We spent one day in Ho Chi Minh City before we met up with our friends and headed for Phu Quoc island. After a quick bite to eat we checked out Ho Chi Minh’s Ben Thanh market, sampled some more food and got our bearings for the inner city. We hired a motorbike, great idea Celine, for the afternoon which enabled us to explore. You can see so much more in a short period of time when you have your own wheels so we always jump at the chance to hire a bike and just cruise around the city. We explored the area around the main church and the Revolutionary Museum stopping off for a coffee and checking out a pagoda. At the front of the pagoda there was an old man selling small bags of gold fish. If you buy them you can set them free within the pagoda. Celine bought a bag and was happy to be letting these little fish free. It turns out the only place we could leave them was a small pond full of the same fish; a pond that the old man comes and collects fish from before putting them in bags and selling to foreigners coming into the pagoda again. Funny! After that we drove through a local market and took many pictures.

In go the fish.....soon to be captured again

We stayed within district one, which is the centre of town, and were quite surprised with the organization and how modern it was. Streets had separate sections for cars and for motorbikes with well developed walk ways having little to no bikes parked on it. There were big shopping centres and famous brands. This part of town reminded us of parts of Bangkok or Kuala Lumpor – something we have not experienced in Vietnam. We are not big shoppers but after a year in Hanoi we noticed an abundance of western influences in HCMC that are only now starting to arrive up north.

Ben Thanh market

We had a massage and took a stroll through the city as the sun set. The large boulevards were lit up with lights hanging from trees and buildings, I assume for the Independence Day celebrations the following day. After dinner we dropped off the bike and took a taxi out to the western bus station to meet our friends before taking a very late bus, 3am, to Phu Quoc Island.

We only had a day but we were very impressed with HCMC. From what we saw it was much more developed that Hanoi, something that we knew and always led us to expect a commercial and charmless city, but we got a welcoming feel from the cute and colorful streets (Celine’s words, not mine). We had heard mixed reports about HCMC from various friends and now look forward to exploring in more detail when we get back in a few days.

Sydney to Saigon

2010-09-01T07:44:00.003+07:00

Bondi Beach - yesterday

I am now safely in Saigon after meeting up with Celine last night. We met at the airport before grabbing a taxi into district 1 to our hotel. I am happy to be back in Vietnam but I had a great time in Australia. It was a lot of fun catching up with a lot of you and for those I didn't, I hope to be back sometime soonish. A big shout out to my grandparents, Delia and George, for letting me stay with you and providing many laughs.

One part I love about travelling is the contrasts. Yesterday morning I was in Sydney, sipping a cappuccino on the beach, chatting to two of my brothers about my upcoming trip. Yesterday evening I was back to the humidity, smells, constant noise and general exciting craziness that is urban Vietnam. Sydney was quiet and organised; a structured city where rules are the norm. Vietnam is a mess of activity where life goes by in an unstructured way. There is a sense of freedom here that you don't experience in "Fines Apply" Sydney. It is a different pace here as well with a constant flow of bikes and people creating an ongoing buzz. Sydney has fresh air and clear blue skies. Saigon is noisy and polluted where unusual smells can be smelt around every corner. Both cities have there positives and negatives but I love the fact that I can experience both in one day.

Views from our hotel - this morning

We went out for a beer after we checked into the hotel. It was nice to practice my Vietnamese again with the extremely friendly South Vietnamese people. Today we are going to explore the city before meeting Vietnamese friends and taking a night bus down to Phu Quoc island.

Celine and are are very excited about the next month - taking the trip we have always wanted to do since arriving in Vietnam. Again, it was great to catch up with you all in Sydney. Looking forward to seeing some of you come over for a visit soon.

My wedding ring

2010-09-01T07:27:00.002+07:00

My beautiful wedding ring is nothing but a blob thanks to my stupidity. I threw it, albeit accidentally, into a big bonfire which you can imagine is a rather intelligent thing to do. Celine and I found the ring in a cool little store in San Francisco before we got married in Las Vegas in 2008. We both really like the ring and spent more than our decided budget to get it.

Despite its now somewhat changed shape I am very happy to have it back which I have to thank the eagle eyes of my old man who went sifting through the ash of the fire the following day. Thanks Dad. Lets hope I can melt it down again and make another ring or maybe a necklace. Celine took the news very well, one because she is a champion and two because, well, she and I both know she is prone to losing or misplacing things or a regular basis :)

Moral of the story: if its cold and your fingers have shrunk, take off your dangerously loose wedding ring while spending multiple hours carting large branches to a bonfire. Today's idiot award goes to me.

Homeschool

2010-08-28T08:42:00.002+07:00

I have worked for a number of English language schools since arriving in Hanoi. One of those is Homeschool, an English language school run by an Aussie and his Vietnamese wife. They run the school from two large houses and have over 1,200 kids. I have been there for about 7 months teaching kids from 6-19 years old. There business is doing great, so much that they don't have enough room for all the kids wanting to come and learn. I am pretty sure the demand is based purely on me. I think they have plans to expand soon and start a third school.

They recently put together a little marketing video and really wanted a good looking foreigner to sell the school. Naturally they chose me.

Have a squizz at the You Tube video, Homeschool, Hanoi for an exclusive look at me pretending to know what I am talking about. I pop up around the 7 minute mark. The video is a vast improvement on my only other You Tube entry which saw me krumping in Krakow, Poland.

Eating and cooking in Oz

2010-08-25T10:58:00.003+07:00

My grandmothers homemade tomoato sauce - delicious!

It has actually been very nice to cook while being back in Australia. For the best part of a year I haven't cooked, instead opting for eating out or occasionally ordering in. The main reason is laziness but it is also nice to eat out with the locals. We have a big kitchen which is rarely used; something we won't have when we move back to a developed country.

Eating out is extremely cheap with meals starting from a $1. There is little meat in the meals in Hanoi so cooking up a big steak or some pork chops every night here is great. I am still waiting for my grandmother to get out of hospital so it has been George and I holding the fort at the farm. I have been cooking our meals while he is doing things around the house that he shouldn't be doing - he has just had two operations and needs to be resting. I try to feed him vegetables on the grandmothers instructions which he refuses outright; a similar response to that of my two year old nephew.

After threatening to ground him I went to check my emails only to later find he was outside collecting firewood. I couldn't find him the day I arrived because while I was having a shower he went outside, jumped on the bike and rode around to check the sheep. I spent a weekend at my old man's farm and while I was away he jumped on the lawnmower and mowed the lawn. He is fiercely stubborn and independent but is as tough as nails.

Tonight I am cooking a big fat steak with mash potatoes and peas. George will undoubtedly refuse to eat the peas but I will persevere on the bosses orders.

Must go now - George is yelling abuse at the cat who seems to have vomited all over the carpet. I will go and clean it up I guess. The cat wouldn't get away with that in Vietnam.