Sa Pa April 2010

Pictures of Sa Pa, Viet Nam

Wow, where does the time go? Already two weeks since my trip to Sa Pa and I haven't even posted any piccies or comments yet.

Well, we had a 4 day holiday here at the same time as Easter but celebrating different stuff which I do not intend to elaborate on as I am not sure quite what they were about. No, we did not paint eggs or give out chocolate or share cuddly bunnies......just what precisely does all that have to do with Easter anyway??????..........

So. back to Sa Pa.

My friend Sarah came up from Hue on the Thursday night. We spent all of Friday doing not a great deal other than eating and chatting. We met some friends downtown for drinks and dinner and then headed out for the overnight train to Sa Pa.

Sa Pa was developed by the French when they governed the country as a mountain retreat for the summer months when it gets very hot in Ha Noi. It's a 9 hour journey to the nearest train station then an hour on a bus trundling up the mountain side to finally arrive in the town itself nestling into the mountainside. We were taken for breakfast during which we met out guide, a lovely local lady called Ban.

Breakfast over, we set off with Ban and our driver in a battered old jeep to the start of our trek. Driving through Sa Pa was great.......really got me looking forward to exploring more. One surprising factor was the number of women (and a few men) who were wearing their ethnic garmets. There are 52 ethnic minority groups living in Viet Nam and they appear to live remarkably harmoniously together. Anyway, they wear the most amazing outfits....the largest group in Sa Pa are the Black Humongs, so called because they wear black clothes.. I asked Ban about the traditional clothing and she said that some young people don't wear the outfits but if a girl wants to marry, then she has little choice as she will not find a husband if she goes outside tradition. They make and dye their own clothes from Hessian and cotton and natural dyes.

Anyway, back to the trek.

We spent about 3 hours walking. It was easy walking in general and we went to the more touristy village that is the nearest to Sa Pa town. It was all great fun. We saw a waterfall. Sarah was interviewed for Sa Pa television, we saw a goat game (I checked first that the goat did not get harmed.....it did get a few kicks but nothing more so I was OK with that) and we watched the drama of stopping a mini bus disappear over the edge of the mountainside. The problem here is the roads are very narrow and especially on a busy weekend like it was when we were there, there are just too many vehicles and not enough road.

After a great walk and a lot of laughs, we got back to the hotel for lunch. Actually I say hotel but it wasn't actually OUR hotel, it was simply the place where we left out bags and had breakfast and lunch. Out hotel was just down the road and was not ready for us yet. After a surprisingly good lunch, we went for a coffee and re connected with a group of French people who were in our carriage of the train.

Didn't mention the train journey did I! Well, it was Ok really. A four berth sleeper with mattresses that did a good job of mimicking the hardness of an average floor. But the toilet was working, western and surprisingly clean. We even had toilet paper left by the time we arrived which is unkown. Anyway, the French people were very nice. I was chatting to a Vietnamese man who had gone to France to study but then when the wars broke out, he could not get home so he just decided to stay. He taught English in France, is now retired and organises trips to his homeland....a charming man.

Anyway, when we went for a coffee while waiting for our room to be ready and the French group were just finishing a very long liquid lunch. Their English was astonishingly better than it had been on the train......interesting what alcohol does for language learning...maybe that's where i am going wrong with my Vietnamese.....I just need to drink more wine!!!

We finally got into our hotel in time for us to collapse in an exhausted heap for a couple of hours.

The next adventure was Sa Pa itself and especially the market which I loved. Everyone wants to sell you something but it was all fun. That led into dinner and an early night.

They say that in Sa Pa you can go through the 4 seasons in one day. We woke up to heavy clouds and mist. It did not look too good but it was not raining so it was OK. We had breakfast and by the time Ban arrived, the clouds and mist had cleared and it was just perfect. 10.oo and we set off for our longer trek....around 4 hours. Again, our driver took us to the starting point and would be waiting for us at the end point.

The countryside is just lovely...just like on the postcards. The walk was downhill all the way. I had not heard a thing but apparently there had been a heavy storm over night and it was very slippy underfoot. No problem for my walking boots that are nicely stored away back home but not so good for my trainers. So it was tricky though fun. We did have a couple of women along with us who insisted on grabbing hold of me. In truth, I wasn't sure whether they helped or hindered and, of course, at the end of the walk over lunch, it became clear that their 'help' was not altruistic......they though it would be a great idea for me to buy their goods. I did buy one thing as I did like it and thought it was well made but was not going to be badgered into getting stuff I did not want.

Lunch was pleasant enough then we walked through a few villages all giving us ample opportunities to be parted with our money although, I have to say, there was little nagging from most of the locals. One woman decided that a constant stream of 'you will buy from me' was a good tactic as she walked with me for about 15 minutes. How wrong she was. I simply smiled and replied 'no thank you' to each of her statements. Eventually she got the message and left me to my walk.

The last part of the walk was probably my favourite part of the whole trip into the countryside. By now it was easy walking and it was really lovely and there was no-one around other than Sarah, Ban and myself. We got to the cafe where our driver was waiting, drove back into Sa Pa and sadly parted company with Ban before having a shower, changing and going for dinner.

Just a little about Ban. She is of undetermined age. Neither of us got around to asking her. She got married young (whatever that means) and has a 6 year old and a 1 year old. Her husband works the land around 3 days a week and helps with the children while she earns the money as a guide. She does not read or write but speaks about the best English I had heard since being in Vietnam. She also speaks fluent Vietnamese. her own language, 2 other ethnic languages. Spanish, Japanese and French. Although her Spanish, Japanese and French are not good enough for her to be a guide. She has a charming sense of humour. We call each other on the phone and have a little chat about what we are doing and I have given her number to some people who are going to Sa Pa. I will certainly arrange to see her next time I go.

Six o clock, the bus took us back down the mountainside where we had time for a drink and a chill before boarding our train. The less said about that train the better. The only good thing was that the mattress was actually quite comfortable...and that is the ONLY good thing that I can say.

We got back to Ha Noi treated ourselves to a disgustingly expensive and indulgent breakfast (by Vietnam standards) and then arranged for a taxi to take Sarah to the airport to get her flight back to Hue.

So all in all, a great trip. My only comment was that it was not long enough. I would have loved an extra day to do more walking and more chance to explore Sa Pa without needing to dash to the next meal or to collapse in an exhausted heap.....next time!!!

Old, Fat and Fit

Before I came out to Viet Nam I read that it is not a place to come to if you have any issues with self confidence or if you are sensitive about personal issues. I thought it was something of an overstatement at the time...I have since learnt that it is not!

Lack of concentration starts to get to me by 3.00pm if I have been on the computer for the day so I started to go into an open space and do some stretching exercises. Some of the local staff saw me and joined in. This soon developed into a daily routine. At 3.00pm every day, we have 10-15 minutes of stretching, exercises and a lot of laughter....just what the doctor ordered.

One day, one of my colleagues, a young women half my age with a darling sense of humour, a huge heart and a cheeky turn of phrase said to me one day rather tentatively, "Pat, you are...er...not very young...." I helped her out by clarifying that she was saying that I was old. She readily agreed and moved on to...."and you're not....er....very thin..." OK, so I am fat? "Yes", she agreed.

"Ok, so I am old and I am fat so is this going anywhere", I asked with trepidation. By this time, a little group of staff had gathered and were enjoying the dialogue enormously. "You're old and you're fat but you are much fitter than me!" came the response.

This became material for teasing for a few days. Oh yes, did I mention that Vietnamese people tease. They tease each other and they join forces with gusto when its my turn to be in the firing line.

Oh yes, and the other nickname that I seem to aquire in Ha Noi and in Hue is Big Mama. This is all despite losing around 12lbs since i arrived but put in the context of a nation of petiteness and youth (a population where 73% of people are under 35 years of age).....at ??? lbs (not giving that one away) and heading for my 60th birthday, I guess they're quite right.

To explain this next story, I need to tell you a little about the language. It is a tonal language meaning that one word can have up to 6 meanings depending on a slightly (to my ear) different pronunication. The word for beef for example means the same as the word for grandmother and vagina. So take care to get the pronunciation right or you could be ordering a slice of grandma or something worse.

So on this particuar lunchtime, someone was cutting up some fruit (ahh, the fruit here is just wonderful!) and she turned to me and said the name of the fruit, indicating to me to repeat the name which I duly did. My pronunication was greeted by a peal of laughter by everyone. Say it again, I was told.....again the tell take peals of laughter. From the giggles and the enthusiasm I assumed that I was saying something rude but went along with the joke. I was told afterwards that I had actually been saying the crudest word for the male reproductive organ......Believe me, even if my Vietnamese gets to an acceptable standard, I will never never ask for THAT fruit by name.....if I can't pick it up or point, I will go without it.

Laughter is something that is always bubbling away just below the surface here and the sense of humour of the people I know is disarming in its directness, sincerity and complete lack of malice.

So three months here and loving it more and more.

More photos coming soon..........

Pat

Anything that appears in the posting are my personal thoughts and comments and in no way reflect the views of VSO.

One Saturday Afternoon in Ha Noi

CLICK on title for photos : A Saturday Afternoon in Ha Noi

Last Saturday was quite an adventure...I had my hair cut. That's not much of an adventure I hear you say well, believe me, when there is a total language barrier and you have curly hair in a country of straight hair, believe me, going to a hairdresser IS an adventure.

And I was more than pleasantly surprised. I had THE very best hairwashing experience of my life. The young lady not only washed my hair she massaged my head AND my face....bliss!! And all lying flat on my back on a comfortable day bed sort of thing. AND the haircut was just perfect... a little shorter than I had intended but actually given the fact that the weather has turned hot again, it feels just great. She did spend a great deal of time and energy trying to straighten my hair which was all rather futile but interesting. Having washed it, the curls have all bounced back into place and look rather good, I have to say.

So, new haircut in place, I headed out to visit a part of Ha Noi that I had not yet been to...the large Pagoda on West Lake. I wandered round for a little while enjoying the beauty of the place and the atmosphere. I did not take any photographs inside the Pagoda as it was a very special day for people to visit and pray and it did not feel appropriate to be snapping photos of what are really beautiful statues and decorations....another time when it it quieter.

I then wandered down to the lower part of the lake where there are some bars and restaurants and went onto the balcony of a bar to enjoy a cool bottle of Bia Hanoi before heading back towards home and supper.

Hue and Hoi An

Hue & Hoy An'>Photos from Hue and Hoi An Trip Feb 2010



After three weeks of induction training and two weeks of work (which was just great!), we had a week's holiday. The whole country took at least one week to celelbrate the Tet holiday and the start of the Lunar new year.



I travelled down by overnight train to see my two colleagues (who arrived with me) who have moved to a town in the centre of Viet Nam called Hue with Sarah and myself going further south to Hoi An for a couple of days.



The adventure starts when I arrive at the train station. No signs at all, no-one speaks English and few clues other than a lot of people with oodles of 'things'. And I do mean 'things'....bags, suitcases, motor bike helmuts (of course), flowers, boxes of fruit and assorted food stuff, trees in pots....all as gifts for Tet. I am in Ha Noi and assume that the buzz of people are all heading south as I am (given the sparcity of concentrated living North) so I decide to sit it out and go with the flow...literally. Every one moves, I move! Well, the strategy worked and I find my berth without any problems and find a charming Vietnamese family already settled onto the bottom bunks. The train pulls out on time (11.00pm) and I settle down to sleep. And sleep I do until I am bruskly woken up at 4.30am by the ticket collector. Bizarelly, this is the first time anyone has wanted to see my ticket.



I arrive in Hue refreshed and ready to go which is all to the good as a full day is planned. After something to eat and drink, we head out for the Citadel. Hue is much quieter than Ha Noi (not too hard to do) and much slower pace. Three of us have a great time at the Citadel (an old walled city of the Kings). Its impossible to avoid the extensive damage that the Citadel received from the bombing in the war but enough beautiful things to see to get the atmosphere and charactor of this piece of history.



The Citadel led into drinks and we met up with one of Sarah's many new Vietnamese friends. He was a darling and spent the rest of the evening with us when we celebrated the start of the new year with fireworks and the general frivolities connected to any new year celebration anywhere in the world.



The nesxt day, we went on a boat trip down the Perfume River to see a Pagado and some tombs. Well actually, in truth, we only saw one of the tombs ...the best one.....and just enjoyed the peace of the rest of the day. A good day except for lunch which was quite disgusting. Vietnamese food is wonderful except for a few exceptions....at Tet, they serve up a speciality rice cake...sort of like the Christmas cake tradition. But believe me, this tastes NOTHING like Christmas cake. It has a combination of a disgusting taste and texture that defies my taste buds......ugh!!!



Day two of Tet is when people invite friends as well as family to their homes and Sarah had received a few invitations which the two of us followed through on. It was a great honour and pleasure to spend time in local homes. Why the Vietnamese are not obese is one of live's mysteries. Eating is the focus of their lives and they see it as an obligation to ensure that everyone who visits them is eating something for the majority of their stay. The fruit is just wonderful as are a lot of their sweet things but then there is the ubiquitous rice cake that has a nasty habit of re appearing with undigestible regularlity. I learnt that the trick is to always keep hold of your food bowl and, wherever possible, hold it on your lap. It is an absolute guarantee that, if you put the bowl down on the table, it WILL be filled up with food of some sort.



And then to Hoi An. Sarah and I are excitied about Hoi An. This is the town of tailors where you can get clothes made to measure cheaply! Or so we thought. Becuase of Tet, most of the shops were closed and I think in all truth, the only ones to open were probably the ones that needed to because they were not the best. Sarah did find something but in all truth it was not the best experience and was expensive (everything is more expensive at Tet!!!). But we had a wonderful hotel and generally had a good time. Day two we focused on the history of Hoi An and went to visit the beautiful temples and meeting places (which appeared to our uncultured eyes like larger temples).



Back to Hue and a few adventures with Sarah's friends.......partying at Brown Eyes (to be recommended), shopping for a bridesmaids dress for a friend, driving around Hue on the back of the bikes of some young, enthusistic and totally charming people. And all too soon it was time to head back for Ha Noi.



But there was one more adventure for me to engage in. On the trip down, I had booked a sleeping berth. The return trip was supposed to leave at 4.30 (in fact it was 2 hours late) so I decided to book a reclining seat rather than a berth. This would give me a different experience and would give me an insight into how the average Vietnamese person who is travelling, travells. So this is a 'normal' train carriage where people eventually snuggle down to get some sleep. The thing is that the Viet concept of personal space is very different to the Western one. With the obligatory bags and baggage stuffed in any available space, people take shoes and socks off and grab whatever comfort they can. As the night progresses (12 hours of it!) , feet, arms, legs, all get entwined together. One moves, all move. In my case that meant 5 of us as I was sitting in a chair facing two other chairs where there was Mum, Dad and 6 year old little girl. Thankfully, the man sitting next to me was on his own. The only downside of his 'company' was the regular visit to have what smelt like a packet of cigarettes....the blessing was that he was not allowed to actually smoke IN the carriage....that would have been a step too far for me to take I think.



So I did get an experience and, I have to say, that next time, I will be booking a BERTH.

Any comments and observations made in this Blog are my made from my personal point of view and in no way reflect any views, opinions or comments connected to VSO.

Ha Noi Traffic

Yeh, finally I am getting myself organised to write my Blogs.

For those who have been to Ha Noi, you will not be surprised to see the heading of 'Traffic.' Before I came here, I looked at videos taken and was both amazed and horrified. Nothing but nothing, really truly prepares you for the reality of Ha Noi roads.

Let me see if I can paint something of a picture for the unititated and offer a reminder to the experienced.

As far as I can see, there is only one rule of the road that exists here....the bigger the vehicle you are driving, the more the right of way that you have. No-one argues with the buses...they are supreme. The cars come next followed by the motor bike. Strangely, the simply bicycle appears to simply finds its place within the hayhem of the motorized vehicles.

A road that would carry 3 lanes of traffic in the UK or US can carry 5 or 7 lanes of traffic here. There are NO lanes. It is basically a free for all within the power structure mentioned above. All vehicles travel side by side and nose to tail. Interesting no matter how many vehicles there are, the traffic rarely actually stops....not even at a red light!!!

Getting the picture!?

Next week is Tet here. Tet is like Christmas, new year and Thanksgiving all rolled into one and everyone is busy getting ready. The Vietnamese people buy flowers and trees in adundance for this event. The main tree purchased is a tangerine tree full of fruit.....the bigger the better. Sort of like in the UK we buy Christmas trees, here its tangerine trees. Now the vast majority of people travel by motorbike so, the trees are transported by the mode of travel available...on the backs of motor bikes. The tallest that I have seen so far was around 7 feet tall. They strap it on and off they go.

They must be born here with some innate sense of balance and spatial ability. They keep their bikes upright when anything in science and common sense says that it is an impossibility. They weave through gaps in traffic that just DO NOT exist. I love going on the back of a bike but will never NEVER get on the front end to drive one.

And when there are no trees to transport, there are always glass cabinets, beds, roofing tiles, the kitchen sink and. of course, the whole family fits neatly onto that one small double seat. It seems that a baby is deemed to be able to take part in this mode of transport unsupported and unshackled from the age of around 10 months!!

Which brings me to the pedestrian's rights! Well that is even simpler to understand than the rules of the road......you have NONE. So how do you get across these wide and busy roads? Well, you step our and start walking on the assumption that everyone will MISS you....the bikes that is. And it does work. The trick is to walk at a steady pace so that the bike rider can judge where you will be and avoid you. Cars and buses will just run into you so you do need to stop to let them go by which often necessitates simply standing in the middle of the road as bikes whizz around you until the car or cars have passed. You then continue.

Oh one thing I forgot to mention that can be quite important. They often drive the wrong way down the road and if the roads are really full, the bikes simply take to the pavements....going, of course, in either direction. Oh yes, and do you remember when you were learning to drive and you were taught to 'mirror, signal, maneuvoure'? Well, here its simply GO!! No-one looks, checks over their shoulder or uses a mirror...they just start the engine and go!

So as a pedestrian you take your choice of walking on the road side and assuming that the traffic will miss you or walking on the pavement and assuming that traffic will miss you. On most pavements it is marginally safer walking on the road due to the broken paving slabs, parked motorbikes, restaurents and just general family meetings that are held on the pavements.

You come to Ha Noi and you have two choices in terms of the traffic. You can complain and get irritated by it all or you can simply do what the Vietnamese do and go with the flow. I choose to do the latter and find the whole thing hugely entertaining.

I often wish I had my camera in my hand and ready to take a snap but yesterday something happened that would have been just perfect to capture. I am waiting for a bus on one of the busiest roads that I have come across in Ha Noi yet. I wide and long road where traffic is nose to tail and side by side. Two women suddenly appear pushing a cart full of rubbish/trash. They collect trash left on the side of the road and then head off across the middle of the road going against the traffic. Everyone blew their horn at them but they carried on slowly and steadily pushing the cart to their required destination.......just perfect!!!

Ok, enough on traffic. Its Saturday tomorrow and I am going down town WITH camera posed and ready for action so wil gather a selection of photos in an attempt to share with you some of the wonder and chaos of this wonderful city.

Talk again soon
Pat

Ha Long Bay, Viet Nam

17th January 2010

Ha Long Bay Photos

My blogs are a little back to front right now as this set of photos were taken on our first weekend in Ha Noi and I am about to step into my fourth but I am sure you will enjoy the photos despite that.

Ok, so we are in Ha Noi for a week and three of us are eager to go and visit Ha Long Bay. Before I move us to Ha Long, let me explian a little. Five of us arrived on the same day. Three of us from the UK, one from the US and one from India. All new recruits bright eyed and bushy tailed ready for the joys and tribulations of Viet Nam.

We had a great first week (despite the quirkiness of the language and the challenge of learning a language that has 6 potential meanings for a word all depending on whether the intonation goes up or down.....more on that another time). Two of us were keen to go exploring to this place that we had heard about and a third member of the group was more than eager to join in with the fun. The remaining two were very focused on trying to find somewhere to live and, happily, their quest was very successful and they did find an apartment in the exact area that they wanted to be. Anyway, back to Ha Long........

A three hour bus journey took us to the coast and to a truly amazing place. The photos just do not do justice to this place. It is quite mystical. You find yourself whispering at times as it just feels like it is a place with secrets that may be best left undisturbed. Legend has it that it is the place where the dragons decended to heaven and, in truth, if one surfaced, you'd probably simply take a photograph just as we would a dolphin or a whale.

We arrived around lunchtime and were taken to our boat. The first part of the journey is good...its always good to be on the water. Then the boat goes into the area of huge rocks that shoot up out of the water. They form some weird sort of fairy circle but designed for dragons rather than fairies. It's certainly an area to put on the list of must do's before you travel to the city in the sky.

We stayed overnight on the boat and were delighted to enjoy a perfect sunset and a clear starry sky. Sunday was spent meandoring through the bay and heading back to shore, lunch ashore and back to Ha Noi.

Lovely. Would do it again...and again. I just loved it.

Arrival in Ha Noi.

15th January 2010



Wow, what a week. I arrived in Ha Noi on the evening of the 11th January with three other VSO volunteers...two from England and one from America. The fifth member of our little group had arrived earlier that day and was already at the hotel. We were greeted at the airport by one of the VSO staff, escorted to the hotel and hence our adventure began.



I was put with Sarah as my room mate. Sarah is from Orlando so we immdiately had an affinity given my years of living in Bradenton. We were very polite to each other for the first evening while we sorted out our 'territory' in the room, had a great night sleep and woke the next morning both refreshed and ready to go. Since that time, we have had a great laugh together. I cannot have asked for a better room mate. She is just great AND she is picking up Vietnamese at an unprecedented rate. In that respect we are at the opposite ends of the scale as I am really struggling with anything more than hello, goodbye and thank you.



First impressions of Ha Noi? Friendly, noisy, interesting, delicious food, polluted.........love it. Luckily I had read a lot about the weather and so was prepared for the grey sky. It seems to be 'sunny' is used to describe a grey sky that is just a few shades brighter than the norm.



First impressions of VSO Vietnam? We have been looked after with such attention to detial that I am totally in love with everyone that I have met. They really have been just wonderful .... nothing is too much trouble for them.

The only sticky point so far is the language.......so watch this space!