Well this wont be too long because I have to go pee due to too many Bier Laos at lunch. Anyhoo, we finished with Vietnam two days ago and flew to Laos yesterday. Our final week of Vietnam was going to Ninh Binh where we saw some great scenery and village life (pretty similar to Ha Long Bay but no tourists). Ha Noi was great. Right next to our hotel there was a place where you could just sit and drink keg beer and eat good food. One night we met a Vietnamese girl and she was eating crab from a few stands down so we each ordered one and they were the most delicious things ever. I have great photos but that will have to wait for later. We went to the womens museum which was really interesting and Ho Chi Minh's Mosoleum which was just as creepy as I remember.
We flew into Laos yesterday and so far there are a few differences that I have notices: its much less humid which is excellent for my hair, there are lots more dope fiends here than families. Not really but there are a lot more white people with dreplocks and we all know what those people like (dope). Also its definitely poorer. But so far I have really enjoyed being here, much less hassle than Vietnam. There is a great night market and lots of good food. Next up is partyville on the Makong fingers crossed I make it out alive!
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
fotos
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| artichoke season in Da Lat |
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| Well these are totally out of order but this was this morning, My Son about an hour away from Hoi An, too early |
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| I couldn't really tell which photos I was adding so this isn't the good one of this family but anyway a minority group origonally from loas, we had some bananas and the mother suggested that we trade skin about 10 times. Apparently my pasty pale (turning to tan) is all the rage here |
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| Some cute kids that we had to bribe with candy before they would pose for us |
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| From our cooking class yesterday. We made a delicious lunch of spring rolls, money bags (pork and veggies fried in rice paper), eggplant in a hot pot and fish grilled in a banana leaf. It was a great morning followed by a great afternoon on the beach |
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| One of the best meals yet: Vietnamese pancakes and spring rolls. |
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| I think I have identified the origin of the muffin dog: vietnam |
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| More Vietnamese pancakes |
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| Cute kids never get old |
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| This family raised pythons for their oil or something but their daughter clearly does this whenevr visitors come. This picture is also hugely zoomed in as I refuse to get within 15 feet of such a monster |
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| From our first tour on motorbikes around Da Lat |
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| Danielle and Dan |
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| Quy and I before the 6 day trip |
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
I also finished Moby Dick
So our three day motorbike tour turded into six days! We decided to skip Nha Trang and go directly to Hoi An and spend more time on the Ho Chi Minh Trai. The trip was pretty expensive but it was well worth the money as we were able to see so much, learn so much and eat amazing food.
We spent about half of our time learing about the local minority groups and the argicultural production from one of our guides (Quy) and about the Vietnam war and life under the communist governmet from our other guide (Dan). Vietnam seems to grow pretty much everything- we saw tons of coffee, tapioca (turns out its not just a pudding flavor), black pepper, rice, pineapple and more. Visiting the minority villages was also pretty interesting- mostly seeing cute kids and their houses which are all a little bit different. Since it is spring there were tons of little puppies, pigglets, and calves wondering around.
Dan had served in the South Vietnamese Army as a paratruper from 1968 until the end of the war in 1975 after which he was in a reeducation camp for two years and then had to check in with the goernment once a week for another year. Nine years of his life wasted he said. We visited many battle sites and saw many war memorials. Dan emphasized that all the sites only told one side of the story, the Norths and that the Southern soldiers were never spoken of. In America, too, the contribution and perspective of the South Vietnamese Army is rarely mentioned. When we vistited these sites Dan seemed very affected and though he would answer all of our questions thoughtfully and honestly he was not quick to go any further. He had served for a long time at Charlie Hill by the boarder with Laos and though he said he often has US veterans that want to revisit the battle sites he said he would never want to go back to Charlie Hill. It was a really amazing experience to get to know Dan and hear about his life. We learned a huge amount both about the war and the 15 years following the war when the embargo was in place but unfortunately the keyboard at this hotel sucks and there is a group of Portugese leaning of my shoulder so you will just have to imagine all the awesome things I learned and saw.
Rigt now we are in Hoi An which is just so pretty I could throw up. Having a suit made in the hopes that I will one day be employed!
We spent about half of our time learing about the local minority groups and the argicultural production from one of our guides (Quy) and about the Vietnam war and life under the communist governmet from our other guide (Dan). Vietnam seems to grow pretty much everything- we saw tons of coffee, tapioca (turns out its not just a pudding flavor), black pepper, rice, pineapple and more. Visiting the minority villages was also pretty interesting- mostly seeing cute kids and their houses which are all a little bit different. Since it is spring there were tons of little puppies, pigglets, and calves wondering around.
Dan had served in the South Vietnamese Army as a paratruper from 1968 until the end of the war in 1975 after which he was in a reeducation camp for two years and then had to check in with the goernment once a week for another year. Nine years of his life wasted he said. We visited many battle sites and saw many war memorials. Dan emphasized that all the sites only told one side of the story, the Norths and that the Southern soldiers were never spoken of. In America, too, the contribution and perspective of the South Vietnamese Army is rarely mentioned. When we vistited these sites Dan seemed very affected and though he would answer all of our questions thoughtfully and honestly he was not quick to go any further. He had served for a long time at Charlie Hill by the boarder with Laos and though he said he often has US veterans that want to revisit the battle sites he said he would never want to go back to Charlie Hill. It was a really amazing experience to get to know Dan and hear about his life. We learned a huge amount both about the war and the 15 years following the war when the embargo was in place but unfortunately the keyboard at this hotel sucks and there is a group of Portugese leaning of my shoulder so you will just have to imagine all the awesome things I learned and saw.
Rigt now we are in Hoi An which is just so pretty I could throw up. Having a suit made in the hopes that I will one day be employed!
Monday, March 5, 2012
Sunburned
So within a week of travel I have gotten myself quite sunburned but thats to be expected. Other than getting sunburned Danielle and I have been keeping fairly busy and are currently in the mountain town of Dalat. Its quite a bit cooler here than Ho Chi Minh which is nice. Dalat is very beautiful and is based around a lake which we walked around while I got very sunburned. Dalat is known for its vegetables, flowers and coffee. The markets here are amazing with so much fresh food and flowers. It seems to be artichoke season as there are tons of those being sold. Our first night we had a hot pot of artichoke and pork which was pretty delish. The food here has been pretty awesome and super cheap.
Yesterday we took a motorbike tour of the surrounding area. We saw a couple of pagodas which were both very Chinese in design, very different from the ones in Korea (I like the Korea ones better). We also stopped by a huge flower farm which was beautiful as well as a coffee farm. The coffee here is super strong and delicious. We had an awesome lunch of pho with our guides and learned a little about them. One was telling us that his father was given pilot training in Texas during the war but was killed in 1968. The other was a veteran of the war, though I am not sure which side he was on. We have decided to take a 3 day trip with them which will take us through the mountains to see some of the native tribes and then across the country along the ho chi minh trail and down to nha trang where we will sit on the beach for a few days. It should be a pretty interesting trip. I guess the younger of the two guides will tell us all about the mountain tribes and the older of the two will tell us about the Ho Chi Minh trail. It will be pretty interesting to learn about the war from him though I am sure I will be too awkward to ask too many personal questions.
Also, just like in Korea there are some super cute babies here and they are all very quiet (which is how I like babies).
It seems that I can't get on facebook here....probably because of the commies so communication will be restricted to email.
Yesterday we took a motorbike tour of the surrounding area. We saw a couple of pagodas which were both very Chinese in design, very different from the ones in Korea (I like the Korea ones better). We also stopped by a huge flower farm which was beautiful as well as a coffee farm. The coffee here is super strong and delicious. We had an awesome lunch of pho with our guides and learned a little about them. One was telling us that his father was given pilot training in Texas during the war but was killed in 1968. The other was a veteran of the war, though I am not sure which side he was on. We have decided to take a 3 day trip with them which will take us through the mountains to see some of the native tribes and then across the country along the ho chi minh trail and down to nha trang where we will sit on the beach for a few days. It should be a pretty interesting trip. I guess the younger of the two guides will tell us all about the mountain tribes and the older of the two will tell us about the Ho Chi Minh trail. It will be pretty interesting to learn about the war from him though I am sure I will be too awkward to ask too many personal questions.
Also, just like in Korea there are some super cute babies here and they are all very quiet (which is how I like babies).
It seems that I can't get on facebook here....probably because of the commies so communication will be restricted to email.
Friday, March 2, 2012
Step 1: Ho Chi Minh
So Danielle and I have successfully completed three days in Ho Chi Minh City. The first two nights we were staying at a great hostel but since they didn't have room for us for another two nights the owner decided to put us up in her home! So we are staying with her husband and a woman from Australia who has been living here for about 7 months working at a school for the blind. Tonight Mr. Long is going to cook us some dinner which should be pretty delicious. The food so far has been awesome- lots of Pho and beer. Highlights so far have been the abundance of beautiful (mostly western) people. I forgot how many good looking people there are while in Korea. I am also shocked by the number of westerners traveling. I guess we aren't the first people to think of traveling in Southeast Asia. Second highlight is riding on the back of motorbikes. Doesn't seem particularly safe but I haven't seen an accident yet so I'll be fine. Though I did burn the shit out of my leg on the tailpipe of one. That was a bummer. My sunburn is also a bummer but to be expected. Not a lot of shade when zipping around the city on the back of a motorbike! Next stop is Dalat up in the mountains where it should be a little bit cooler. Going to go play some games with Danielle now.
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