A 14 hour night bus brought us to Nha Trang, a quiet little beach spot, lovely to chill out in and have a dip in the sea! Had a couple of good nights out there, but it was probably my least favourite stop along the way - not too much going on.
Another night bus brought us as far as Hoi An, my favourite place in Nam I think. A UNESCO Heritage site, Hoi An is a really pretty ancient town built along a river. Famous for its tailors, I had three dresses made while I was there, all perfectly fitted, all at a fraction of the cost of what they would be in Ireland. Walking around the markets and attempting to bargain with the locals was great fun. Free buses to a beach party made two of my nights there pretty special, just loved the atmosphere of the place! Spent my third night there in writing postcards because the girls were too wrecked to go out. I was tempted to go on my own - it's so easy to meet people out there - but in the end it was probably best that I didn't... and it was nice to catch up on my reading/ writing!
A short flight later I was back in Hanoi, where it all started, a few hours ahead of the rest of the girls. Bored, alone, in my hotel room, I decided to go out on my own. Hanoi doesn't have much of a nightlife, but I knew I'd find somewhere to go if I googled Irish bars... and half an hour later I was in Finnegan's, where I stayed until the girls arrived, chatting to randomers from Arklow. Really friendly people, noticed I was on my own and invited me to pull up a stool - love that. A lot of them are teaching in Hanoi and they managed to peak my interest in teaching in SE Asia, but not in Hanoi, it's too big, busy and polluted- there are so many more beautiful places you could be above it.
The next day, having rejoined the others, we left Hanoi for Halong Bay, also a UNESCO site, and genuinely one of the most beautiful places in the world. We were to spend a night on a boat out there, visit some caves, go kayaking, have a swim in the beautiful water and visit a fish farm. Sadly, or hilariously, depending on your perspective, we missed out on the last few stops as my good friend Brendan and I managed to sink a kayak.
Don't ask us how. We capsized, as was somewhat planned "and there'll be none of your bitchin' when it happens" a few hundred metres out in the water, ages away from everyone else. Of course we just laughed, assuming we'd climb back in and make our way back to the others. It was not to be, simply put... the kayak sank. And we kept laughing. Some others on a kayak tried to help us but what could they do? They got help for us from the shore anyway, two Vietnamese girls in little shop-boat things rescued us. And we kept laughing. I swear, I have never seen Brendan Mulcahy look more relaxed as the girls rowed us in - sat back in the sun without a care in the world. I still couldn't keep a straight face as we arrived back to the boat where the others were waiting for us, and us dripping wet. I believe photos were taken! Who else would it happen to but me and Brendan, in all fairness!?
The last night of the holiday was spent in Singapore airport, us being too broke from replacing the kayak to get a hotel. It is the coolest airport i've ever seen, rooftop pool, gym and shower facilities, a cinema, free internet. Most of the cool stuff you needed money for, so we rounded off our epic two week holiday by sleeping of the floor of the airport cinema...
We had a laugh!
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Vietnam - Ho Chi Minh, Cu Chi and the Mekong Delta
I have to write a bit about Vietnam before it's all forgotten. It's so long I split it into two posts!
We flew via Singapore to Hanoi and straight from there to Ho Chi Minh (formerly Saigon) in the south. It was a nice city, full of motorbikes and madness, but what it really had going for it was it's proximity to stuff like the Cu Chi tunnels and the Mekong Delta. The tunnels, enlarged for Western tourists, are still no more than a metre or so high - you have to crouch or crawl to get through them. It was through this series of multi-level tunnels that the Viet Cong communicated, launched ambush attacks and in some cases lived during the American offence on the Cu Chi area. We were educated on some of the torture instruments and guerrila tactics used by the Viet Cong, they'd put the Ra to shame anyway! It was amazing to see how the war was fought and won from a Vietnamese point of view, and you go away with a hell of a lot more respect for the determination and strenght of spirit of the Vietnamese people than you came in with.
We also visited the War Remnants museum, formerly known as the Museum of American War Crimes in Ho Chi Minh, which was frankly harrowing. The first thing you see when you go in are colourful pictures painted by children depciting peace, love and harmony. Sadly, from there it's just shock after shock, much of what you learn there being genuinly difficult to read, believe and understand. Years later, you see a disproportionately large number of disabled people in the cities of Vietnam, and you can't help but associate them with Agent Orange and the American invasion, despite many of them being too young to have been directly effected by it.
The Mekong Delta, a two hour motorcycle journey from Ho Chi Minh, was just beautiful. A two hour boat journey stops off at three islands where you can buy souveneirs, have your photo taken with a python (pics up soon), eat fish that you pick out of the water and see killed in front of you and be rowed along a really exotic canal out to the Delta. Staying the night there gave us a feel for the real Vietnam, particularly when we could find no English speaking person in the town to get directions to a hotel or restaurant from! Nonetheless, we made our way to the Friendship Bar, where more than "friendship" was for sale, hence a hasty departure! Spent the night drinking fantastically cheap beer on plastic furniture at a local place, great craic altogether.
We flew via Singapore to Hanoi and straight from there to Ho Chi Minh (formerly Saigon) in the south. It was a nice city, full of motorbikes and madness, but what it really had going for it was it's proximity to stuff like the Cu Chi tunnels and the Mekong Delta. The tunnels, enlarged for Western tourists, are still no more than a metre or so high - you have to crouch or crawl to get through them. It was through this series of multi-level tunnels that the Viet Cong communicated, launched ambush attacks and in some cases lived during the American offence on the Cu Chi area. We were educated on some of the torture instruments and guerrila tactics used by the Viet Cong, they'd put the Ra to shame anyway! It was amazing to see how the war was fought and won from a Vietnamese point of view, and you go away with a hell of a lot more respect for the determination and strenght of spirit of the Vietnamese people than you came in with.
We also visited the War Remnants museum, formerly known as the Museum of American War Crimes in Ho Chi Minh, which was frankly harrowing. The first thing you see when you go in are colourful pictures painted by children depciting peace, love and harmony. Sadly, from there it's just shock after shock, much of what you learn there being genuinly difficult to read, believe and understand. Years later, you see a disproportionately large number of disabled people in the cities of Vietnam, and you can't help but associate them with Agent Orange and the American invasion, despite many of them being too young to have been directly effected by it.
The Mekong Delta, a two hour motorcycle journey from Ho Chi Minh, was just beautiful. A two hour boat journey stops off at three islands where you can buy souveneirs, have your photo taken with a python (pics up soon), eat fish that you pick out of the water and see killed in front of you and be rowed along a really exotic canal out to the Delta. Staying the night there gave us a feel for the real Vietnam, particularly when we could find no English speaking person in the town to get directions to a hotel or restaurant from! Nonetheless, we made our way to the Friendship Bar, where more than "friendship" was for sale, hence a hasty departure! Spent the night drinking fantastically cheap beer on plastic furniture at a local place, great craic altogether.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Last one, promise!
"Miss, I go Ireland with you?"
I love my little Mohammad.
Mohammad eile and Shahir in the background...
Blatant self-indulgence
My little favourite (yeah, I know teachers shouldn't have favourites, but we do) Ghaith drew a picture of my house and his house for 'my news' so I can come and visit him!
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