Vietnam Day 6

Hoi An

Woke up to the sound of birds, which is unusual so far. Breakfast at the hotel, the only thing I recognised on my plate was fried rice! Also, they unfortunately serve Western coffee, not Vietnamese coffee. I LOVE Vietnamese coffee - same as Malaysia, it is served super strong with condensed milk. For Western coffee, the sugar packets each hold 2 teaspoons of sugar, not one.

We quickly dropped in to a little cafe next to the hotel for some real coffee and free WiFi, and talked to the proprietor's brother. He said his sister rents the shop and does all of the baking and cake making.

Hoi An Museum of History and Culture

 

Bells from various eras.

We walked into Hoi An to do some of the museums and cultural attractions today. We saw the history museum, a temple, the folklore museum (which was really abut traditional handicrafts), and the Japanese covered bridge.

Dogs and monkeys guard the Japanese Friendship Bridge

A temple we found on our way back - it doesn't seem to be in use, or upkept.

Today was the first day it got quite hot and muggy - by lunch, Sarah and I had had enough, particularly with the nagging from vendors. It got to the point where we didn't even want to reply hello, because you know that engaging in conversation will inevitably lead to "you come see my shop?" I know it is nowhere near as bad as it is in other places, but we were both fed up. I get that we as tourists are creating the situation, so we can't have everything - it's part of the experience. On the other hand, we have met plenty of Vietnamese people who are friendly, welcoming, and really like engaging in conversation about a whole range of topics.

A moat around a temple. Men were fishing in this water.

We came back to the cool of our hotel room (Ancient Hotel) and watched movies for the afternoon, after picking up our freshly washed and beautifully folded laundry from Mrs Anh, next door to the hotel. Hotel prices: $2 for 1 pair of pants; Mrs Anh prices: $6 for 3.5kg washing. The rub had been that while you were there, one of her friends or daughters tried to talk you into going to look at her shop, but that said it is an easy price to pay to have clean clothes again.

Still so much space left for more wires and boxes...

Don't trim the trees - use them to hold the wires up!

We then caught a free bus back into Old Town for dinner (I was up front with the driver, we had a good chat, and Sarah was talking to some American tourists), but we couldn't find the restaurant - or actually, we found too many of the same named restaurant. Lonely Planet and Google Maps disagreed about where it was, and when we got into the town, we saw at least 3 restaurants named the same, and none were at the addresses we thought it should be! We gave up and walked into one called The Little Menu, and had a Hoi An specialty called White Rose, which is like a rice based ravioli with pork, as well as some Saigon and Tiger beer.

I love Tassie - but I'm not sure why you'd travel to Hoi An to learn to cook "Australian"!

Leaving early tomorrow for Ho Chi Minh City.

Vietnam Day 5

Danang to Hoi An

Being driven from Da Nang airport to our hotel last night showed a pretty city, all lit up with coloured lights, and a huge dragon bridge (Google it for night-time images, it's so pretty!) The traffic is civilised, and there seem to be a lot of bars and beer halls where people have gathered.

This morning after breakfast in the hotel we went to the Museum of Cham sculpture, which is the only attraction in Da Nang. Most people use Da Nang as a transit point to get to Hoi An, and don't stop over. The sculptures were as old as the 8th Century, relics from sites that have been destroyed by the string of wars in the country. It, along with the original site, are recognised by UNESCO as having important historical and cultural value.

Snake naga, 11th - 12th Century

After the Museum, we had some time to fill before our transfer to Hoi An, so we walked across the dragon bridge, and then wandered around the streets.

The full dragon bridge across the River Han

The dragon's head

We came across a street filled with fruit and vegetable stalls on the footpath, and then discovered this crazy shopping centre that is probably the equivalent of a Plaza. Everything was broken into sections, with mazes of stalls. You could almost get lost in there, the pathways were so narrow. There was a shoe section - "Madam, you buy?" (He then looked at Sarah's feet, shook his head and said "No"!) There was a section for materials, including bolts of silk, with the tailors around the edge making up clothes. There was a clothes section, a household goods section, and a massive food section. This included buckets and buckets of dried fish and different types of shrimp, so the smell was rather pungent.

So ... much ... food!

The trip from Da Nang to Hoi An was along the coastline. For about 20km, there is either massive resort after massive resort, or else, land earmarked for massive resorts. The thing is, all of the promotional shots stuck to the outside of the fences are mostly faded and tattered, and contrasted to the gleaming 5 star proposal, when you see through the fences it is all just barren wasteland, up to the beaches. Straight after these resorts are small towns of probably the poorest type living that I have seen since we've been here. You know that they are likely to be gobbled up by the big corporations and turned into more resorts for tourists like us.

Vietnam is a land of juxtapositions. You see houses with beautifully painted facades to the front, but raw concrete on either side; mansions built next door to shanties; fancy new buildings going up, using sticks tied with rope as scaffolding; manicured gardens next to festering wastelands; brand new shiny Audis, Land Rovers and Toyotas on the road driving with run down lemons; WiFi available everywhere yet tangles of electrical wires with no common standard for pin type or even voltage. It's difficult to comprehend, sometimes.

Hoi An wasn't as I expected it to be, after all of the write-ups it gets, although that was my initial feeling. We walked into the Ancient Town, and I started to get a better feel for the place. There are tourists everywhere, so much so that they have 2 periods a day where they ban motorbikes in the centre of the town - you are only allowed on foot or bicycle. We can get free bicycle hire from the hotel, but the streets are not really any better here than Hanoi, and very very few people are wearing helmets. The old buildings are beautiful, and tomorrow we expect to be able to visit a few of the temples and museums etc. There are a lot of street stalls around, however they are all selling the same things. Every shop you walk past you hear "You buy? You buy?", but they aren't particularly pushy. Some ladies on the street stalls will approach you and then lead you to their bigger shops and try to get you to buy. Again, the pressure isn't too much, and they are pretty accepting when you finally beg off. Sarah had a go at bargaining, and had fun doing it.

Buildings from 18th - 19th Century

We walked back to the hotel in a cool, light rain. I am now sitting inside a girlhood dream - a canopy bed! I'm surrounded by white tulle curtains, pretending to be a princess. Sarah says I'm less like a princess and more like the boy in the bubble. She also says that my inability to get a drink of water through the curtain is my problem that I'll have to deal with on my own. Travelling companions!

 

Vietnam Day 4

Halong Bay Day 2

Woke up with Vietnam Belly. Luckily I had brought some tablets along with me, because we had a lot of travel today. Started the day with some Tai Chi on the top deck as the sun kept "rising" behind the karsts.

Sunrise over the karsts

Then came decision time - can I take a squidgy tummy on a boat ride to see the Surprise Cave? I took the risk, and am glad that I did (thank you, pharmaceuticals!) The cave is in the middle of one of the karsts, 100 steps up.

Cave opening in the side of the hill

There were SO MANY TOURISTS. There was actually boats lined up in a queue to drop people off.

It was worth it though, they have everything running as a fairly well oiled machine, so everyone was nicely spaced out and it wasn't too crowded. We were actually meant to go to Titop Island, but some American and French girls had the cave as part of their package, so we managed to tag along.

The view from the top

It was then back to the boat for brunch, packing, and cruising back to port. Originally, we were to go on the mini-bus for 4 hours back to Hanoi, but we arranged with a travel company to change to a private car half way, to take us directly to the airport. When we got off the boat to get on the minibus, we asked about the transfer, to be met with blank looks. They agreed to call the company, and about 3 people conferred for 15 minutes before telling us that the driver would contact the car. We began travelling, and at the half way stopover, which is where we were to be picked up, we asked the driver where the car would be. He said that there wouldn't be one! We then re-iterated that all of this was arranged back at port, so he hopped on the phone, and they arranged an unscheduled stop-off at a petrol station about another hour on, to hand us over. It was funny, because on both days the drivers of the minivans had stopped on the highways to pass packages to each other. One would stop on the side of the road, then the next van coming in the opposite direction just pulls across to the wrong side of the road, stops, and they exchange things though their driver's windows!

At the airport we got talking to a young Vietnamese guy who had studied his MBA in the US, and now runs his own company bringing whiskey and wine to Vietnam. He is the sole distributor for Beckham (as in David) whiskey for Vietnam, and showed us a photograph of him meeting the man himself. We had a really long and interesting conversation about Vietnam, Australia and the USA. Later in the airport bus we had a quick talk with a couple from South Africa.

Our new Hotel (Brilliant Hotel) in Da Nang is gorgeous (we are getting used to the 5 star lifestyle).

Luckily there was a blind on the window into the bathroom!

Gorgeous pool - too perfect to swim in...

 The service in Vietnam matches the 5 star label. You simply cannot carry your own bags for love nor money, and when waiting for a transfer, you WILL wait in the comfort of the hotel lobby - waiting outside is too shocking.

Vietnam Day 3

Halong Bay Day 1

We mucked up our alarm, but managed to still have enough time to get ready and have breakfast before the pickup for Halong Bay, at 8am. The smog was appalling today - we'd noticed it on other days, but today it was a lot worse. It looks like their agriculture involves a lot of burning, as we saw quite a bit from the plane when we flew into HCMC. It is a 4 hour drive to Halong Bay, in a 10 seater people mover. For some reason both Sarah and I had assumed that as we left the city of Hanoi, we would eventually hit countryside, much like the Mountains, or out Hawkesbury way. We were very wrong. Imagine driving the stretch of Great Western Highway, at 50km/h, with incessant tooting, in roads 10 times worse - for 4 hours. There was just town after town after town, and the traffic and chaos didn't let up. 

All the little boats waiting to take tourists to their cruisers

When we reached Halong Bay, the smog had cleared a little, and it was a beautiful sunny day. We caught a small transport boat out to our Oriental Sails ship. We have a lovely room right on the water - about 1 metre above.

Our room

 We knew lunch was included, and there was a menu on the table when we sat down, although with 5 dishes, it was bound to be the dinner menu. Wrong! At least all of the dishes were fairly small, so we aren't over-eating.

Huge lunch menu!

 After lunch we had time to sit on the upper, open deck of the boat and watch the bay go by. It's a working bay as well as a tourist one, so there are a lot of different ships, from massive container ships to tiny fishing boats.

Limestone karst with fishing boats & smog

At 4pm we had he choice of a bamboo boat ride out in the bay, or do-it-yourself kayaking. I've never been a fan of having the water run down my arms when kayaking, so we opted for the lazy option. We went to look at a floating fishing village, where all of the small houses float in a pocket between the limestone karsts. They float on big blocks of styrofoam, and are anchored to the rocks. If the weather gets really bad, they can be moved to a more protected part of the bay. They even have a tiny room for a primary school.

Floating house, complete with guard dog!

Young boy with toy gun, rowing with his feet.

 After we returned from the bamboo boat, Sarah had a massage in the room, while I returned to the upper deck to lie back and watch the sun finish setting over the limestone karsts. When arranging the massage, the cruise director asked Sarah if she would like a strong one. She said yes, so he said he would have to find a strong masseuse. Sarah said that the Captain would be OK, which really made the cruise director laugh. For the rest of the afternoon, he kept suggesting he would go and get the Captain for Sarah, and it looks like the joke went through the rest of the crew as well.

At 6:30pm, they had a vegetable carving demonstration, where the chef made flowers from tomatoes and carrots, a lotus flower from an onion, a waterlily from cucumber, and the piece de resistance - a swan from some apples.

After dinner, it was squid fishing from the back of the boat. We could see them, but they didn't want to bite. One of the best things about the tours we are doing is meeting all of the other tourists. This time there are a few from Australia, 2 pair from France, and a couple of Americans. It's great to have Vietnam as a shared experience to begin meeting other people, as well as sharing tips and tricks about all of the places to visit.

The squid really were there.

 

Vietnam Day 2

Hanoi

We ate breakfast included with the hotel. I ate prawn dumplings, vegetables and some sort of beef stew, along with a watermelon juice. Sarah had some freshly cooked pancakes with lime and sugar. We also ate dragonfruit and jackfruit. We then headed to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. The hotel organised a taxi for us, however even then we later figured out he took us the long way around. At least we got to drive past the Botanic Gardens.

When we got there, we joined the long, but fast moving line that snaked around the outside of the complex. To enter the complex, you must go through security screening. We were initially directed to the line with no bags, however when we reached front, we were told that because we had bags, we needed to move across to the other line. While waiting, another group with bags got through the no bags line. We put our bags through the screen, and I was told to remove my iPad and camera, to be put in a special bag. When I did, I was told that my camera was a small one, so it could stay in my original bag. Sarah was told that she couldn't take water in, but could drink it there and then. As she started to drink, she was told she could keep it in her bag. We then checked our bags, after being told to take out wallets and phones. I couldn't check in my iPad and camera. We joined the line again, to reach a point where we had to check all electronic equipment - except phones. And except Sarah's camera, which was small. However, my camera was no longer deemed small, so had to be checked! After all that, it was a walk through the perfectly manicured grounds, in a perfectly ordered line - completely different to the chaos of life outside. You enter the Mausoleum itself in that orderly line, then are directed around a small, dark room containing Ho Chi Minh's body, perfectly preserved. He is guarded by 4 men, standing absolutely still, along with others placed to keep the line moving. You walk slowly around the room in a single direction - no stopping. I think we were probably only in there for less than a minute.

The Mausoleum

Guards in uniform, marching through the grounds

When we finished at the Mausoleum, we were sitting down with the map attempting to figure out how to get to the Temple of Literature, when we heard a "hello!" from behind us. Sarah said "hello" back, then there was an outburst of giggles and running feet. We looked around to see 6 or 7 kids running off, probably aged around 8 - 10. We turned back to our map, but could hear one of the adults in the background encouraging them  to approach us again to ask "How are you?" We then turned to talk to them, but that was basically the extent of their English, and beyond the extent of our Vietnamese, so there was just a lot of laughing and giggling, with the occasional return to their parents for safety.

As we both have no direction sense, we decided that the offer of a cyclo was too good to miss, so a poor man cycled us to the Temple of Literature. At one point there was a bus heading directly for us down a street that was really only wide enough for a bus(!) but we still felt fairly safe. The Temple was beautiful, with manicured gardens, statues and stone stelae sitting on the back of stone turtles, for the doctors that had graduated.

Stelae

Although there were a lot of tourists, it felt peaceful, and sitting in the park next door was strange, as it is surrounded by rivers of motorbikes swirling around, yet it is a pocket of peace and quiet.

Floral decorations at the Temple of Literature

We had lunch at Koto, which is a not-for-profit social enterprise that trains street kids in hospitality and English. I had beef pho, and Sarah had a beef in bamboo dish.

Lunch, along with our trusty map

After lunch, we organised the next leg of our trip, which will encompass Hoi An and Ho Chi Minh City, before we move on to Phnom Penh in Cambodia.

Finally, for dinner we went on a "Food on Foot" tour, of the street food in Hanoi. We were in a group with a Spanish couple, an Austrian couple, and an English girl. We visited about 9 establishments, sampled (too) many dishes, and all in all had a great night talking to everyone else and the lovely guide. Too many things to remember, however I did try a tiny piece of one of the eggs that has a chick inside (it didn't taste too bad, just like meat) 

Yep, I really went there...

 and we finished the night with egg coffee, which was tasty but way too strong for me at this time of night. I need sleep...

Not what I was expecting - more like a rich egg custard floating on coffee - yummy!

Tomorrow we are off early to travel to Halong Bay, so probably won't have access to WiFi for a couple of days. Hope everyone has a great New Year!

Vietnam Day 1

Hanoi

I woke up fairly early, after a reasonable night's sleep. Had earplugs in, because the horn tooting never stops! We started the day with a buffet breakfast at the Church Boutique hotel. I ate some smoked fish, along with a vegetable dish that the staff were unable to translate into English for me. I suspect it was something like okra. There was also a selection of breads and croissants. We girded our loins and headed out of the hotel for the very short walk to our next hotel, and our first experience with crossing the road in Vietnam! We managed admirably, if we do say so ourselves, using the advice from the Internet - just walk out confidently and keep going. Later, we also learned that you give way to buses and mostly cars - it's just the motorcycles (so very, very many motorcycles) that you weave around. For the really large intersections and 3 lane roads, they do have traffic lights, although as Sarah says, they are really more of a suggestion than an absolute!

Doesn't look busy until you are trying to cross...

 We wandered all around the Old Quarter for about 2 hours, following a map given to us by the Oriental Suites Hotel. There is just so much going on, for all 5 senses, that by lunch we were both ready to have a break from it. The hotel had suggested we lunch at Quan An Ngon, and it was a great choice. They are so busy, we were seated with some other people, one of which was an Australian lady who moved here about a month ago to work at the UN on renewable energy, funded by the Australian government. Ironically she used to work for the Department looking after renewable energy in Canberra, but it was cut in the budget.

55,000d = $3.60

After lunch we headed to the Hoa Lo prison, otherwise known as the "Hanoi Hilton". It's as awful as all prisons are, but interesting to read about history from a different point of view. They still have a genuine French guillotine on display, one of the two that were used at the prison.

Broken glass acting as barbed wire

We came back to the hotel for a rest in the afternoon, then headed out to Bun Bo Nam Bo for dinner. They only serve one dish, consisting of beef, noodles and vegetables. It was tasty. After dinner we headed to Hoan Kiem lake, which is much prettier by night than by day. 

Middle of Hoan Kiem Lake

A couple of girls sat next to Sarah. One was at uni studying to become a teacher of Maths, in English. She'd only been studying English for 3 years, and she was a great speaker. I was wearing my T-shirt, and she asked if I was cold. We'd noticed earlier in the day that all of the Vietnamese are rugged up, whereas to us it is a beautiful 20^C day, and the humidity is les than it has been at home. We are now off to an early bed, as we are still trying to adjust after arriving at our hotel last night at the equivalent of 3am Sydney time!

Penang Day 15

Erin was running an arts and craft lesson first thing this morning, so I started there. I left a little early to head off to my English class. On the way, I passed a class without a teacher, so I popped in, and taught them a maths game with playing cards. It was very simple, but they enjoyed it, and even simple maths is made more difficult when you are expected to answer in a second language!

Check this guy out!

My English lesson was for a triple period. I had known that Puan Susan would be busy rehearsing with the dance group, so I had done full lesson preparation, and was able to run it on my own. Considering it was for 1½ hours, I felt that this was a good lesson, and that I managed to actually teach them something new.

I ate lunch with some of the other teachers, and had a good discussion. I’ve said it before – it is so valuable to be able to talk to other people from a different culture about life, and education. I really feel as if I am absorbing so much knowledge, just through simple lunch time conversation, as well as the passing conversations we are able to have with the students.

The computer attached to the projector in the Science lab.

My final lesson was a double science. Again, Puan Ainda had to look after a dance group, so I had the class to myself. She had already organised a DVD on the planets for them, but I had done some lesson planning, just in case the DVD didn’t happen. It did, but the planning I had done allowed me to break the DVD occasionally and engage the class in discussion. The class was so well behaved, except for one student. Not only would he not engage, he was disrupting the other students. I tried a couple of behaviour management strategies, and they actually worked! I was able to engage him in the lesson, without any negative implications for him; in turn, this simple engagement prevented misbehaviour. All in all, a very good day for me, lesson wise!

Class 4A

As we are the school the farthest away from RECSAM, we were picked up first by the bus, as usual. We had quite a wait at Bukit Gambir, as they don’t finish until about 45 minutes after we arrive. While we were waiting, a group of kids from the primary school next door decided they wanted to wait for their bus in cool air-conditioning too, so Basrah, our driver, let them on. We had a lot of fun talking to them while we were waiting, and they were desperate to show off their English.

After school we had an official high tea, with representatives from RECSAM, the State Education Office, and the schools. We all received certificates of participation, which are very impressive, as well as a small gift. There were several speeches, followed by the afternoon tea. I appreciated the fact that we were able to officially recognise the schools and the teachers that have done so much for us.

The 6 lane main road we have been running across to catch the Rapid bus.
Luckily there is an island in the middle - you've got to be on your toes here!

 Now it is time to continue packing, figure out what I can leave, repack, and possibly repack again after our farewell at school tomorrow. This is likely to be the last post directly from Penang. Tomorrow we go to school, teach, come home, finish packing, and head for the plane!

Dinner - Seafood porridge. Porridge here is made from rice. It was quite tasty.