We are on a three day tour from Saigon to Phnom Penh so we go where we are guided. We have travelled with a bus company, Sinh and had good experiences so deliberated and checked a couple of others but in the end went with a company that we have had experience with. So it is working out great but the "blanket tour" is still part of the deal - ie stopping now and again at handicraft shops, etc. though there is much less of that as we go up the Mekong due to fewer tourists and tourism development here.
We zipped into and out of Saigon or HoChiMinh City. We did go on a tour of the tunnels that were used in the Vietnam War - pretty tiny and very well developed. Then with all of the noise,wide streets and unbelieveable traffic we decided to depart Saigon the next day on this tour to the Mekong. So we got up at 5:30 am and did our fast walk tour of some important buildings, went back for breakfast at 7 and left on the tour at 8. Sure we have been to Saigon. We visited and ate at 3 fabulous restaurants - that is great culture and education (of my stomach at least) and enjoyed the best sorbets and iced Vietnamese coffees as well.
The traffic is something that you could write a book on. The drivers honk on their horns quite lightly and often suggesting or sometimes trying to demand that some motorcycle move over. I tell you the bigger you are on the road the longer you should last...so pedestrians feel pretty low on the food chain... When an accident does happen the motorcycle stays put and it gets chalked out and measured after the police arrive - we have seen several and the victim is usually gone but the shoes or helmet are still at the scene. There is a technique for crossing the streets but it is tougher in Saigon than Hanoi. In Hanoi you go slow and it all works out. I'm not so sure that works quite as well in Saigon. And there are so many lanes to cross. There are traffic lights - eventually most pay attention but not if you just want to nip around the corner. There are 9 million people in Saigon and 6 million motorcycles and some fancy cars and some buses.
We have seen so much greenery throughout Vietnam. There are beautiful flowers, bushes, trees, arrangements everywhere - in traffic circles, town entrances, everywhere you see magnificent arrangements. This must take a ton of labour as everything much grow like weeds. We see gardeners everywhere.
We saw lots of badmintin and tennis in various schools and common areas as we came down the coast. Here in the Mekong we are seeing soccer and volleyball in the sandy areas that are empty.
The floors in the country are always so clean - the cleanest part. In fact at one rest stop yesterday they expected you to take off your street shoes and use their flip flops. That was an extreme example. But at a hotel the other day we went to rent bikes. We had to go through the kitchen area where they eat on the floor and so shoes off to go in and see the bikes. Every floor you could eat off of. This does not spread to the out of doors and spitting and throwing garbage everywhere. though a lot is picked up every night. It seems that recycling plastic bottles and cans is everywhere so that does help the garbage issue. The Mekong is experiencing problems with polluted water - wash yourself, clothes, drink, shit everything happens here and now the pesticides from the great 3 crop a year production are going in as well. So the great rice production (an exporter in recent years) due to private ownership will not last forever.
I am really loving the travelling and looking forward to seeing Cambodia in the coming days but I also look forward to coming home and seeing friends and family.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Friday, November 21, 2008
Mui Ne - a beach resort
We are gauging the weather and doing very well. Enjoyed our trip up to Dalat and the mountain air - caught a waft of the humid sea air first. We had so much fun on a motorscooter (automatic for all the twists and turns). It was a fun adventure using the Lonely Planet map and guessing at some of the signs. We visited Tiger Falls! named for the 30or 40 foot cement made tiger...and we were the only tourists down some muddy sometimes and potholed sometimes road. We visited the coolest house in Dalat called the Crazy House - the architect was the daughter of the successor to HoChiMinh. It was built like trees and a fantasy with rooms named after animals. After a while it lacked creativity but it was fun to begin with. My kind of culture! I sure do like being our own tour guide. You never quite know what might happen or who you might meet. It makes for gret adventuring - my style.
We have come to the coast and are loving the warm sea air and the beach type life today. You know - eat, walk, read, swim and generally laze about. Hope to carry on for a couple more days - expect to ride bikes tomorrow to explore and burn a few calories so that we can eat and drink more. We have sampled one bottle of local red wine and one bottle of local white wine. Think that we will stick to beer (lagers here and huge bottles) and Vietnamese coffee. Clive likes the hot coffee and I often prefer the ice. Interesting how every country has a way of making coffee. Here it is condensed milk in the bottom of the glass and then very strong coffee often passing through a fine filter slowly. Is it really that different from American coffee, latte and so on? Anyways we are enjoying.
We are getting used to things here and really enjoying - sunshine is great, food is great, prices are great -sometimes we are a little frustrated by the obvious cheating and misunderstanding but we are learning that is life here. So funny today we ordered a sandwich (a first) and asked about the bread for it. They show us a nice French roll and we nod that's great. The sandwiches arrived with plain white bread - they were tasty but interesting communication issue. Sometimes it seems that there is agreement but the communication has been lost somewhere - sometimes it seems kind of convenient for their business like minds. Anyways it is all small stuff and everything is working out well. Other travellers have similar experiences. It keeps you on your toes a bit.
Interesting to know that 50% of the population here is under 30years of age. No wonder we see hundreds and hundreds of kids on bikes every day (the terrain is usually flat) cycling to one of the many schools - all in their uniforms.
In the hotels there is always a poster mentioning that explosives are not allowed in the room, that valuables should not be left in the room and that prostitutes are not allowed. ...at dinner tonight we observed two old French guys with two young Vietnamese girls - not a word was spoken between the genders. One girl made shapes out of the napkins and the other covered her face. The guys chatted occasionally. ...Clive suggested for a moment that maybe they are related by business...pretty sad and obvious. The massage parlours all seem pretty much above board and so I enjoyed a massage this afternoon. Relaxing.
Interesting how they keep your passport at the hotels - I guess that they might do that in France as well - but you need to remember to get it before you leave and that is a new routine for us. People we met the other day forgot theirs and that was very difficult to get back since they had already moved on. One day we got a call from reception that they needed our passport as the police might come and inspect in the middle of the night.
Another day I was sitting on the front of a big boat and so were a couple of other passengers. Suddenly the guy steering the boat says "police, get to the inside of the boat". Like all good passengers we did - and one of the workers continued to sleep in his lawn chair. A good way to get us to move.... fear of the police...how we all respond to that....
Actually we did see the cops pulling over scooters when they were not wearing helmets - a bit like our speeding tickets.
Life does look pretty prosperous here. The roads outside of the city are in top shape. There are tons of schools and tons of hotels. I don't know how they make a business - everywhere that we have been there have been rooms pretty much everywhere. Are we out of season...or are less people coming (there are lots here)??
So a couple more days on the beach and then we will pull ourselves away as the visas run out at the end of the month.
We have come to the coast and are loving the warm sea air and the beach type life today. You know - eat, walk, read, swim and generally laze about. Hope to carry on for a couple more days - expect to ride bikes tomorrow to explore and burn a few calories so that we can eat and drink more. We have sampled one bottle of local red wine and one bottle of local white wine. Think that we will stick to beer (lagers here and huge bottles) and Vietnamese coffee. Clive likes the hot coffee and I often prefer the ice. Interesting how every country has a way of making coffee. Here it is condensed milk in the bottom of the glass and then very strong coffee often passing through a fine filter slowly. Is it really that different from American coffee, latte and so on? Anyways we are enjoying.
We are getting used to things here and really enjoying - sunshine is great, food is great, prices are great -sometimes we are a little frustrated by the obvious cheating and misunderstanding but we are learning that is life here. So funny today we ordered a sandwich (a first) and asked about the bread for it. They show us a nice French roll and we nod that's great. The sandwiches arrived with plain white bread - they were tasty but interesting communication issue. Sometimes it seems that there is agreement but the communication has been lost somewhere - sometimes it seems kind of convenient for their business like minds. Anyways it is all small stuff and everything is working out well. Other travellers have similar experiences. It keeps you on your toes a bit.
Interesting to know that 50% of the population here is under 30years of age. No wonder we see hundreds and hundreds of kids on bikes every day (the terrain is usually flat) cycling to one of the many schools - all in their uniforms.
In the hotels there is always a poster mentioning that explosives are not allowed in the room, that valuables should not be left in the room and that prostitutes are not allowed. ...at dinner tonight we observed two old French guys with two young Vietnamese girls - not a word was spoken between the genders. One girl made shapes out of the napkins and the other covered her face. The guys chatted occasionally. ...Clive suggested for a moment that maybe they are related by business...pretty sad and obvious. The massage parlours all seem pretty much above board and so I enjoyed a massage this afternoon. Relaxing.
Interesting how they keep your passport at the hotels - I guess that they might do that in France as well - but you need to remember to get it before you leave and that is a new routine for us. People we met the other day forgot theirs and that was very difficult to get back since they had already moved on. One day we got a call from reception that they needed our passport as the police might come and inspect in the middle of the night.
Another day I was sitting on the front of a big boat and so were a couple of other passengers. Suddenly the guy steering the boat says "police, get to the inside of the boat". Like all good passengers we did - and one of the workers continued to sleep in his lawn chair. A good way to get us to move.... fear of the police...how we all respond to that....
Actually we did see the cops pulling over scooters when they were not wearing helmets - a bit like our speeding tickets.
Life does look pretty prosperous here. The roads outside of the city are in top shape. There are tons of schools and tons of hotels. I don't know how they make a business - everywhere that we have been there have been rooms pretty much everywhere. Are we out of season...or are less people coming (there are lots here)??
So a couple more days on the beach and then we will pull ourselves away as the visas run out at the end of the month.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Hue and relaxing a bit more
We have enjoyed Hue, less hectic than Hanoi. Mẻt a 73year old American couple travelling indêpendently today so hopefully we can do it for a while longer. Clive got a little frazzled and I got a little annoyed at the beginning. But we are learning a bit how to travel here. Enjoyed dỉnnẻr tonight with a French - Vietnamese couple living in the US - besides moaning about US healthcare system and saying that they are allowed l visit per year to the doctor at a cost of $40. They figure $30,000 for the healthcare for the intended pregnancy within the next year! Also interesting to hear their travel frustrations. They got to Halong Bay on a bus and then could not buy a ticket from the dock at the ticket kiosk to the island. They would only sell to travel agent people. So they ended up on a package like everybody else but with a lot more hassle. Then they could not buy a train ticket to Hue for the overnight train so the agent said. He booked them on a tourist overnight bus sleeper which turned out to be all Vietnamese and not the same standard. So they are learning that you must check more than one source - and he speaks some Vietnamese.
Managed to see a great traditional folk music on a boat on the river last night. We thoroughly enjoyed it. We were the only Westerners on board. Three others got on the boat, looked around and got off. They missed a real cultural experience. We put a candle on a floating cardboard on the river and made a wish. A couple of the Vietnamese were excited to be doing this for the first time in their lives and they took pictures with us. So much fun!
Caught the bus down to HoiAn, a beautiful town about 4 hours south of Hue today. Didn't see a thing because it was pouring torrentially all day. This afternoon we waded in our sandals, ponchos and rolled up wet pants (though it is pleasantly warm) and had a superb lunch and then the freshest French pastry and latte after. So we want to go there for dinner and breakfast! priorities!! Hopefully the rain will stop and we will be able to enjoy it here - like one should.
So yes, we are figuring it out and getting the hang of it. I would so hate to be on a tour. This is obviously more difficult but then you really learn about how things operate and I certainly love the spontaneity and not being certain of what is coming next. Makes it an adventure for me. Clive doesn't like to many surprises - I guess that I don't really either but the alternative is not at all attractive to me. Also if the weather is not great we change our plans accordingly and do not have to go with pre-booking. We met Swiss today sitting in the coffee shop - this was to have been their beach day - maybe torrential downpours are less comfortable but more interesting - and well the food awesome here.
Managed to see a great traditional folk music on a boat on the river last night. We thoroughly enjoyed it. We were the only Westerners on board. Three others got on the boat, looked around and got off. They missed a real cultural experience. We put a candle on a floating cardboard on the river and made a wish. A couple of the Vietnamese were excited to be doing this for the first time in their lives and they took pictures with us. So much fun!
Caught the bus down to HoiAn, a beautiful town about 4 hours south of Hue today. Didn't see a thing because it was pouring torrentially all day. This afternoon we waded in our sandals, ponchos and rolled up wet pants (though it is pleasantly warm) and had a superb lunch and then the freshest French pastry and latte after. So we want to go there for dinner and breakfast! priorities!! Hopefully the rain will stop and we will be able to enjoy it here - like one should.
So yes, we are figuring it out and getting the hang of it. I would so hate to be on a tour. This is obviously more difficult but then you really learn about how things operate and I certainly love the spontaneity and not being certain of what is coming next. Makes it an adventure for me. Clive doesn't like to many surprises - I guess that I don't really either but the alternative is not at all attractive to me. Also if the weather is not great we change our plans accordingly and do not have to go with pre-booking. We met Swiss today sitting in the coffee shop - this was to have been their beach day - maybe torrential downpours are less comfortable but more interesting - and well the food awesome here.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Hanoi, Sapa, Halong Bay
Well, we are trying to figure out Vietnam. So far it is not a love story. Hanoi is incredibly hectic and noisy though not as much as Bangkok. Tough to cross the streets though. With all of the flooding we are making choices and still trying to see stuff.
We went up to Halong Bay to see the limestone cliffs jutting out of the water like tiny islands (karsts). It was all quite pretty though with overcast skies and warm days some of the color contrast between the land and sea is lost. We spent a couple of days on CatBa Island. We signed up with some kind of package. The prices vary incredibly and you never know exactly what you are buying even when you think that you do. We got on the bus with one guide and got passed to another guide at the boat dock, another boat while on the boat, someone else at the ferry terminal and someone else at the hotel. All of these guides - no paper, no voucher - just follow me and trust that all will fall into place. It does - I don't know how but you don't feel in control. Man oh man - I guess that all of these operations intertwine and the agents suck the money off the top. We are trying to decide if packages where everything is looked after is best or not - but then there is no quality assurance. Will keep posted as we figure it out!
Every nationality seems to be travelling - lots of Asians and also lots of Europeans out for 2 or 3 weeks - the global world of travel. And Vietnam seems to be a hotspot with buckets of tourists - and we are on the tourist trail.
We arranged for a day of kayaking from CatBa Island with 2 kayak stops, a stop at monkey island, and snorkelling. The Vietnamese couple seemed to have signed up for everything and then you discover that maybe they are just agreeable. One couple wanted a short cruise and no stops to be back at 3pm. Meantime the 2 French couples signed up for a day to return at 4pm. We had signed up for everything and were to be back at 5pm. We ended up with a little kayak but not what was promised. Anyways it was a bit too slow for us. The agent just shrugged his shoulders and said that not enough people had signed up so he put us on another tour. Such was our introduction to Vietnam.
We did enjoy renting a motorscooter and hiking in the national park and knowing what we were getting!
We returned to Hanoi and it was still peeing with rain (or again) so we made arrangements to go to sunny Sapa. They were just recovering from floods and some road washouts. So we had 3 glorious days of sunshine - the first that they had seen in a month. We signed up for a tour - an ok hotel and a 'homestay' with a tribal family. It turned out to be a cheap hotel - no mingling with the family. So we loved the trekking and our cute 17 year old female guide from one of the local tribes who had learned English in the market. But again a disappointment from the agency. Hopefully we are learning - but how many questions can you ask??? and what do you assume. I can only think that tourism is fast and furious and a lot of money here. Hopefully we make decisions that we are a little happier with in the near future. And of course we are also hoping for sunshine as that makes a huge difference. This am it is not raining in Hanoi!!
We see flush toilets, hot water, western dress and lots of advances here. Tons of women wear the traditional chinese hat (cone)and a scarf across the face - to keep the sun off and the skin white!, lots of motorcycles, narrow highrise buildings that extend quite far back and are not adjoined to the next building but a few inches apart. We understand that taxes are based on the width of the front thus all seem tall and narrow - why they don't share a wall is beyond me as no sunshine can get in the few inches gap.
The traffic mayhem...we watched a Lexus SUV turn into oncoming traffic (motor scooters) and then cross three lanes to get to the correct side of the road. When we were on the highway we did a u-turn to change directions as there was no lane or road to get you going in the direction that the driver wanted.
We are learning to start walking across the street and going not too fast and working our way past each of the oncoming scooters. Our technique is improving but!!
We bought the best train tickets for the night train to Hue, halfway down the coast and the agent arranged the taxi, gave directions and negotiated the fare. But as luck would have it the driver didn't really know the hotel next to the station where he was to drop us off. Needless in this traffic hectic and slow city he was probably very tired and frazzled. He got angry on the way in the traffic and then angry when he couldn't find the hotel. We got there in the end and it didn't take long to relax when we got on the train. Thank goodness we had allowed lots of time. I could never driver in this city...or manage a bike or scooter - so walking is manageable.
We went up to Halong Bay to see the limestone cliffs jutting out of the water like tiny islands (karsts). It was all quite pretty though with overcast skies and warm days some of the color contrast between the land and sea is lost. We spent a couple of days on CatBa Island. We signed up with some kind of package. The prices vary incredibly and you never know exactly what you are buying even when you think that you do. We got on the bus with one guide and got passed to another guide at the boat dock, another boat while on the boat, someone else at the ferry terminal and someone else at the hotel. All of these guides - no paper, no voucher - just follow me and trust that all will fall into place. It does - I don't know how but you don't feel in control. Man oh man - I guess that all of these operations intertwine and the agents suck the money off the top. We are trying to decide if packages where everything is looked after is best or not - but then there is no quality assurance. Will keep posted as we figure it out!
Every nationality seems to be travelling - lots of Asians and also lots of Europeans out for 2 or 3 weeks - the global world of travel. And Vietnam seems to be a hotspot with buckets of tourists - and we are on the tourist trail.
We arranged for a day of kayaking from CatBa Island with 2 kayak stops, a stop at monkey island, and snorkelling. The Vietnamese couple seemed to have signed up for everything and then you discover that maybe they are just agreeable. One couple wanted a short cruise and no stops to be back at 3pm. Meantime the 2 French couples signed up for a day to return at 4pm. We had signed up for everything and were to be back at 5pm. We ended up with a little kayak but not what was promised. Anyways it was a bit too slow for us. The agent just shrugged his shoulders and said that not enough people had signed up so he put us on another tour. Such was our introduction to Vietnam.
We did enjoy renting a motorscooter and hiking in the national park and knowing what we were getting!
We returned to Hanoi and it was still peeing with rain (or again) so we made arrangements to go to sunny Sapa. They were just recovering from floods and some road washouts. So we had 3 glorious days of sunshine - the first that they had seen in a month. We signed up for a tour - an ok hotel and a 'homestay' with a tribal family. It turned out to be a cheap hotel - no mingling with the family. So we loved the trekking and our cute 17 year old female guide from one of the local tribes who had learned English in the market. But again a disappointment from the agency. Hopefully we are learning - but how many questions can you ask??? and what do you assume. I can only think that tourism is fast and furious and a lot of money here. Hopefully we make decisions that we are a little happier with in the near future. And of course we are also hoping for sunshine as that makes a huge difference. This am it is not raining in Hanoi!!
We see flush toilets, hot water, western dress and lots of advances here. Tons of women wear the traditional chinese hat (cone)and a scarf across the face - to keep the sun off and the skin white!, lots of motorcycles, narrow highrise buildings that extend quite far back and are not adjoined to the next building but a few inches apart. We understand that taxes are based on the width of the front thus all seem tall and narrow - why they don't share a wall is beyond me as no sunshine can get in the few inches gap.
The traffic mayhem...we watched a Lexus SUV turn into oncoming traffic (motor scooters) and then cross three lanes to get to the correct side of the road. When we were on the highway we did a u-turn to change directions as there was no lane or road to get you going in the direction that the driver wanted.
We are learning to start walking across the street and going not too fast and working our way past each of the oncoming scooters. Our technique is improving but!!
We bought the best train tickets for the night train to Hue, halfway down the coast and the agent arranged the taxi, gave directions and negotiated the fare. But as luck would have it the driver didn't really know the hotel next to the station where he was to drop us off. Needless in this traffic hectic and slow city he was probably very tired and frazzled. He got angry on the way in the traffic and then angry when he couldn't find the hotel. We got there in the end and it didn't take long to relax when we got on the train. Thank goodness we had allowed lots of time. I could never driver in this city...or manage a bike or scooter - so walking is manageable.
Monday, November 3, 2008
Hanoi after Singapore stopover
Well, we enjoyed the most amazing airport in the world at Singapore. One could almost holiday that with restaurants, bars, music, various lounges and kinds of chairs, quiet corners including the butterfly pavilion, the fish pond, spas, swimming pool, gym, cinema, internet, sports bars, shopping, hotels and more. Sue and I then parted with Sue returning home and me meeting up with Clive in Hanoi.
Another super flight with Singapore Airlines and then past flooded areas into Hanoi in the rain. There is record rainfall here and lots problems going to various areas. Anyways Clive and I met as expected and having enjoyed 2 days catching up and sampling the food here. Lots of vegetables so I am enjoying them. The food is great - lots of flavour but fairly mild - so far that is.
We are off to Halong Bay tomorrow for a few days on an island. We want to see what the weather is like and then make plans. Hopefully in a few days, it will be ok to go northwest to the hill tribes at Sapa and then south to Hue and the beaches. Right now the trains and buses can not go south. So I am glad that it is flooding and not a major earthquake or other natural disaster. The weather on the planet??? More rain here than in the past 35 years this past week. So crops are affected and I guess the result will be higher prices, etc and difficulties for lots of individuals.
Hanoi seems a modern city with lots and lots of traffic - look both ways and take your life in your hands crossing the roads. I am not sure that the traffic lights mean much. Also the streets are relatively clean, paved and I don't see any homeless people. Is that the Communist regime? Looks pretty prosperous on the surface but will learn much more as time goes on. Some people know English but they do have trouble with some sounds in English - much better than my Vietnamese though. So far everything appears pretty hassle free. We shall see. Anyways we are looking forward to exploring and learning more.
Another super flight with Singapore Airlines and then past flooded areas into Hanoi in the rain. There is record rainfall here and lots problems going to various areas. Anyways Clive and I met as expected and having enjoyed 2 days catching up and sampling the food here. Lots of vegetables so I am enjoying them. The food is great - lots of flavour but fairly mild - so far that is.
We are off to Halong Bay tomorrow for a few days on an island. We want to see what the weather is like and then make plans. Hopefully in a few days, it will be ok to go northwest to the hill tribes at Sapa and then south to Hue and the beaches. Right now the trains and buses can not go south. So I am glad that it is flooding and not a major earthquake or other natural disaster. The weather on the planet??? More rain here than in the past 35 years this past week. So crops are affected and I guess the result will be higher prices, etc and difficulties for lots of individuals.
Hanoi seems a modern city with lots and lots of traffic - look both ways and take your life in your hands crossing the roads. I am not sure that the traffic lights mean much. Also the streets are relatively clean, paved and I don't see any homeless people. Is that the Communist regime? Looks pretty prosperous on the surface but will learn much more as time goes on. Some people know English but they do have trouble with some sounds in English - much better than my Vietnamese though. So far everything appears pretty hassle free. We shall see. Anyways we are looking forward to exploring and learning more.
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