After some much needed time in the sun, I headed up to Hoi An, known in Vietnam as the place to get tailor-made clothes. After an exhausting 12+ hour ride up from Nha Trang, I was ready to get out of the bus and into some new clothes. I had met 2 young Aussie girls named Marita and Phoebe the night before at the Sun Moon Hotel and we agreed to stay together in Hoi An. After getting settled into the hotel, we headed out with an English girl named Rhiannon to get some breakfast.
Ahhhh, this is the place I'll always remember as the onethat introduced me to the highly addictive ice coffee. Since I never drink coffee back home, I'm not sure what propelled me to order one at the restaurant but I guess it was heaven-sent. One sip of the coffee+condensed milk+ice and I was in love. I mean this thing almost rivaled Jim for my affections and it took all my strength not to order another one.
Ahhhh....I just spent 30 minutes typing the rest of this story and it was deleted! I need to go and eat some dinner but I'll continue writing later.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
The Funky Monkey
Ok, I just got back from a boat trip to Halong Bay and finally have some time to write. I think my last blog left off when I had arrived in Nha Trang so I'll pick up again from there:
I got to Nha Trang and didn't have a clue where to go. I wandered the streets trying to look for hotels and trying in vain to ignore the many men asking if I wanted an "easy rider." From the big backpack and Lonely Planet guide, I guessed that the girl coming towards me was a fellow traveler. I stopped her and asked if she knew of any good hotels. We got to talking and decided to share a room together....I love traveling - sharing a room with a total stranger from the street! I got good vibes from her though and knew she was cool cat.
Marga (a Dutch girl who's traveling for a year) and I got a room at the Sun Moon Hotel and then went in search of breakfast. We met 2 other French girls at the Same Same But Different Cafe and after the delicious meals in Saigon, I was eager to try more food. What a disappointment! The noodles were greasy and almost flavorless.
We spent the day at a beach resort where I tried sunning my oh so pale skin. I'm suprised people weren't blinded by the glare of my white legs.
That night, we went out and met 2 other Dutch girls and decided to meet up early the next day. I was a little worried that I wouldn't be able to get up but with roosters crowing, dogs barking, and the townsfolk awaking at sunrise, this wouldn't be a problem anytime during my trip.
We decided we were going to go swimming at the nearby islands but then we happened upon what would be the best boat tour in Vietnam: the Funky Monkey. Our guide promised us that the best boy band in the world would be playing for us but I assumed he meant that he would be playing N'Sync or some other band on an iPod. Little did I know what a treat I was in for. After eating a beautifully spread lunch & chanting 1-2-3-Yo while toasting, we were told to go downstairs. There, before all 50 or so passengers, was a small stage with instruments set up. The drumset was made out of pots & had YAMAHA printed on them in neat letters. A rasta looking older guy with the best smile ever was sitting there waiting to play. To make a lomg story shorter, the band played lots of songs and finally sang Frere Jaques in every language that was spoken on the boat (Japonese, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Vietnamese, German, Danish, Chinese, and English if I remember correctly). They made me go up and sing a song about San Francisco but I didn't know any of the words so I just swayed to the beat and chimed in whenever I heard "San Francisco." It was quite a fun day!
The next day, I just layed on the beach and got a massage...if you could call it that. I was lured in by the woman because it was only $6 but I quickly regretted it. Her hands were so calloused that for a long time, I thought she was wearing gloves. The piounding on the head didn't exactly make me feel more relaxed either. Oh well, it was only $6 right?
The next day, Marga and I decided to do some "cultural"activities and so we rented a motorbike and visited the Cham Towers and the 24 meter high Buddha. It was exhilerating navigating the streets and feeling like one of the locals (even being on the backseat). The gleaming white Buddha was amazing and even though Marga ended up having to scold ("Who were you raised by? This is not how your parents taught you to be!) a local boy for trying to steal her water and then sell it back to us, the trip was lovely.
The rest of my stay in Nha Trang was spent at the beach and then it was off to Hoi An...oh yeah, and I figured out what an Easy Rider was. It's a motorbike & guide that you hire to take you across the city or country. One of my favorite lines of the trip was Marga's comeback to the same guy who asked us every day if we wanted a ride: No Easy Rider, Easy Walker.
I got to Nha Trang and didn't have a clue where to go. I wandered the streets trying to look for hotels and trying in vain to ignore the many men asking if I wanted an "easy rider." From the big backpack and Lonely Planet guide, I guessed that the girl coming towards me was a fellow traveler. I stopped her and asked if she knew of any good hotels. We got to talking and decided to share a room together....I love traveling - sharing a room with a total stranger from the street! I got good vibes from her though and knew she was cool cat.
Marga (a Dutch girl who's traveling for a year) and I got a room at the Sun Moon Hotel and then went in search of breakfast. We met 2 other French girls at the Same Same But Different Cafe and after the delicious meals in Saigon, I was eager to try more food. What a disappointment! The noodles were greasy and almost flavorless.
We spent the day at a beach resort where I tried sunning my oh so pale skin. I'm suprised people weren't blinded by the glare of my white legs.
That night, we went out and met 2 other Dutch girls and decided to meet up early the next day. I was a little worried that I wouldn't be able to get up but with roosters crowing, dogs barking, and the townsfolk awaking at sunrise, this wouldn't be a problem anytime during my trip.
We decided we were going to go swimming at the nearby islands but then we happened upon what would be the best boat tour in Vietnam: the Funky Monkey. Our guide promised us that the best boy band in the world would be playing for us but I assumed he meant that he would be playing N'Sync or some other band on an iPod. Little did I know what a treat I was in for. After eating a beautifully spread lunch & chanting 1-2-3-Yo while toasting, we were told to go downstairs. There, before all 50 or so passengers, was a small stage with instruments set up. The drumset was made out of pots & had YAMAHA printed on them in neat letters. A rasta looking older guy with the best smile ever was sitting there waiting to play. To make a lomg story shorter, the band played lots of songs and finally sang Frere Jaques in every language that was spoken on the boat (Japonese, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Vietnamese, German, Danish, Chinese, and English if I remember correctly). They made me go up and sing a song about San Francisco but I didn't know any of the words so I just swayed to the beat and chimed in whenever I heard "San Francisco." It was quite a fun day!
The next day, I just layed on the beach and got a massage...if you could call it that. I was lured in by the woman because it was only $6 but I quickly regretted it. Her hands were so calloused that for a long time, I thought she was wearing gloves. The piounding on the head didn't exactly make me feel more relaxed either. Oh well, it was only $6 right?
The next day, Marga and I decided to do some "cultural"activities and so we rented a motorbike and visited the Cham Towers and the 24 meter high Buddha. It was exhilerating navigating the streets and feeling like one of the locals (even being on the backseat). The gleaming white Buddha was amazing and even though Marga ended up having to scold ("Who were you raised by? This is not how your parents taught you to be!) a local boy for trying to steal her water and then sell it back to us, the trip was lovely.
The rest of my stay in Nha Trang was spent at the beach and then it was off to Hoi An...oh yeah, and I figured out what an Easy Rider was. It's a motorbike & guide that you hire to take you across the city or country. One of my favorite lines of the trip was Marga's comeback to the same guy who asked us every day if we wanted a ride: No Easy Rider, Easy Walker.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
My first encounter
I've now been in Vietnam for about 2 weeks and this is what I have to say:
I arrived in Saigon to find a sea of scooters and cars weaving up and down the city streets to a clatter of tooting horns. I thought traffic in Central America was bad but I had yet to experience the busy streets of Vietnam. Beeping seemed more a rite of passage than a gentle warning but I was so enthralled to be in a new country that it didn't bother me. It was with excitement that I arrived to what I thought would be my hostel. Instead of a place with lots of fellow travels, I found myself instead at a hotel with a pond and 2 black turtles sunning themselves on rocks. Although I was so happy to have my own room, I wondered where I would meet people to travel with.
My first few days in Saigon were filled with amazing food, oppressive heat, and everyone & their mama asking, "you want motobike?" I quickly booked a bus ticket to Nha Trang, a coastal city that in America would only take a few hours to get to but in Vietnam, it would be around a 12 hour ride.
Sitting on the steps outside the wrong travel agency (did I mention that there are also a million travel agencies that all look alike), I almost missed my bus but luckily made it just in time. I had booked a sleeper bus thinking it would be a luxurious version of Greyhound, but foundthat it was instead a 2 tiered system of individual little elongated sleepers. I stepped aboard and was just about to climb up top to my sleeper when a bunch of mad Vietnamese passengers started pointing at my feet. I looked around and didn't see anything offensive but figured they wanted me to leave my shoes where I was. I took off my shoes and set off again. This time, pointing to a corner and yelling ensued. What was I doing wrong? Finally, someone came down and handed me a plastic bag. Huh?? Then they pointed to my shoes and then to the plastic bag. Oh, ok...they wanted me to put my shoes in the bag. After that ordeal was out of the way, I climbed up top with my backpack and tried to settle into the space. I looked around and saw everyone else lounging comfortably whereas I was struggling to fit my legs into the compartment. My mom had asked me earlier that day whether people were shorter and I had said no. I now recanted my words and began noticing that everyone around me was at least a few inches if not feet shorter.
The 12 hour ride was punctuated by freezing cold air, blasting Vietnamese music videos and plays, and food stops at midnight and 3am. After about an hour of sleep, I woke up near Nha Trang and was awed by the beautiful green rice fields and children playing at 4:30am.
I arrived in Saigon to find a sea of scooters and cars weaving up and down the city streets to a clatter of tooting horns. I thought traffic in Central America was bad but I had yet to experience the busy streets of Vietnam. Beeping seemed more a rite of passage than a gentle warning but I was so enthralled to be in a new country that it didn't bother me. It was with excitement that I arrived to what I thought would be my hostel. Instead of a place with lots of fellow travels, I found myself instead at a hotel with a pond and 2 black turtles sunning themselves on rocks. Although I was so happy to have my own room, I wondered where I would meet people to travel with.
My first few days in Saigon were filled with amazing food, oppressive heat, and everyone & their mama asking, "you want motobike?" I quickly booked a bus ticket to Nha Trang, a coastal city that in America would only take a few hours to get to but in Vietnam, it would be around a 12 hour ride.
Sitting on the steps outside the wrong travel agency (did I mention that there are also a million travel agencies that all look alike), I almost missed my bus but luckily made it just in time. I had booked a sleeper bus thinking it would be a luxurious version of Greyhound, but foundthat it was instead a 2 tiered system of individual little elongated sleepers. I stepped aboard and was just about to climb up top to my sleeper when a bunch of mad Vietnamese passengers started pointing at my feet. I looked around and didn't see anything offensive but figured they wanted me to leave my shoes where I was. I took off my shoes and set off again. This time, pointing to a corner and yelling ensued. What was I doing wrong? Finally, someone came down and handed me a plastic bag. Huh?? Then they pointed to my shoes and then to the plastic bag. Oh, ok...they wanted me to put my shoes in the bag. After that ordeal was out of the way, I climbed up top with my backpack and tried to settle into the space. I looked around and saw everyone else lounging comfortably whereas I was struggling to fit my legs into the compartment. My mom had asked me earlier that day whether people were shorter and I had said no. I now recanted my words and began noticing that everyone around me was at least a few inches if not feet shorter.
The 12 hour ride was punctuated by freezing cold air, blasting Vietnamese music videos and plays, and food stops at midnight and 3am. After about an hour of sleep, I woke up near Nha Trang and was awed by the beautiful green rice fields and children playing at 4:30am.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)