Today Paris turns 5! So in honor of that I'm posting a picture of her from last winter. I can't wait to see her in a couple weeks and get caught up on big, wet, slobbery kisses. :D
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Where am I?
I left my hotel yesterday morning around 8 a.m. with some bad info from a French woman who told me the bus station was about a 5-10 minute walk from there. 30-40 minutes later, with all my gear on and sweating like a sow, I got there. Begin the chaos. When you get to bus stations in Vietnam, the touts swarm, each one trying to figure out where you're going and get you to use their bus service. I was hoping to go to Ben Tre, the little town where they make the coconut candy, but had a hard time finding a bus that went directly there, so I bought a ticket to My Tho, a town about 30 kilometers from Ben Tre. Well... I ended up in Ho Chi Minh City. I had sort of imagined this scenario in my head and told myself if this happened I would just continue on to Dalat. Well, there were no obvious signs saying where I was and I couldn't find anyone who spoke enough English, or understood my sign language of pointing to my map, my feet, and the surrounding city with a look of question on my face. They all knew I wanted to go to Ben Tre, but the ticket cost the same as the price I had just paid, which didn't seem right. So finally one of the guards came up and said, "Vous parlez français, oui?" Oui, fortunately, but it turned out he also spoke pretty good English. In any case, we established that I was in HCMC and that now I wanted to get to Dalat. But buses to Dalat leave from the south station, and I was at the north station. He told me which bus I needed to catch and I was on my way. It was about a 40-minute ride to the other station, during which I met an Australian-Vietnamese guy who spoke perfect English.
There are a lot of French-speaking tourists traveling through Asia. I'm not sure what it is, but I've been mistaken for one on several occasions. Maybe it's the short hair. I guess I don't look like a typical American tourist, which is fine by me. And I guess I should start trying to use French first as opposed to English because I haven't really had much luck finding many Vietnamese people who speak English. In any case, I'm here, having arrived close to midnight last night. I found a great hotel room and I'm hoping to park it here for a few days, until I'm ready for the next leg of the journey, which promises to be even longer.
There are a lot of French-speaking tourists traveling through Asia. I'm not sure what it is, but I've been mistaken for one on several occasions. Maybe it's the short hair. I guess I don't look like a typical American tourist, which is fine by me. And I guess I should start trying to use French first as opposed to English because I haven't really had much luck finding many Vietnamese people who speak English. In any case, I'm here, having arrived close to midnight last night. I found a great hotel room and I'm hoping to park it here for a few days, until I'm ready for the next leg of the journey, which promises to be even longer.
Friday, February 5, 2010
River livin'
One of the biggest draws for tourists to the Mekong Delta is a visit to the floating markets. Having visited some in Thailand that turned out to be geared solely for tourists, I was hesitant to do another such tour here. However, I’m so glad I did! The markets here are about as authentic as you can get. There were very few tourists floating about and it really felt like you were getting a peek into the daily lives of the locals. Laundry hanging out to dry, produce exchanging hands, all as the sun was rising.
We spent about 8 hours on the river, setting out at 5:30 a.m., with a few stops to check out some rice paddies and have lunch. Our boat driver was kind enough to offer us plenty of fresh fruit along the way - pineapple, papaya, and pomelo. I shared the ride with a Dutch couple who are three months into their trip. Like me, they bought a one-way ticket and aren't quite sure when they'll return home. We also met a woman from England who's been traveling for 9 1/2 months... solo. Impressive. Traveling alone is cool, but I don't think I could do it for that long. I wasn't sure if I'd feel sad about ending my trip, but as the end nears I'm definitely getting more and more excited to go home. It's time.
Our boat driver multi-tasks - steering the boat and making art out of palm fronds.
This is how people advertise what they're selling - they hang one of each of the fruits and vegetables they have from a pole on their boat.
We spent about 8 hours on the river, setting out at 5:30 a.m., with a few stops to check out some rice paddies and have lunch. Our boat driver was kind enough to offer us plenty of fresh fruit along the way - pineapple, papaya, and pomelo. I shared the ride with a Dutch couple who are three months into their trip. Like me, they bought a one-way ticket and aren't quite sure when they'll return home. We also met a woman from England who's been traveling for 9 1/2 months... solo. Impressive. Traveling alone is cool, but I don't think I could do it for that long. I wasn't sure if I'd feel sad about ending my trip, but as the end nears I'm definitely getting more and more excited to go home. It's time.
Our boat driver multi-tasks - steering the boat and making art out of palm fronds.
This is how people advertise what they're selling - they hang one of each of the fruits and vegetables they have from a pole on their boat.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Recovery
After a good night’s sleep I woke up feeling quite a bit better. I finally emerged from my room around 10 a.m. and made my way to the riverfront, where there are many hotels and restaurants. I wandered for a bit, taking some photos, and ended up at Cappuccino, a little restaurant that caters to tourists. Sometimes I like the local restaurants, but not feeling 100% I really appreciate more familiar foods. I think I’ll be returning there for dinner… pasta! The last time I had pasta was at the ashram in India, made by my Italian friends there.
Feeling under the weather was definitely affecting my outlook on Vietnam. I even explored the option of flying home sooner, but the ticket prices are now out of control. Apparently I got the last good deal. Anyway, I have about 2 ½ weeks to go and I think that’ll be just about right. There’s a lot of ground to cover; Vietnam's a pretty big country if you travel south to north. I think I have my itinerary more or less mapped out. From here I’ll go to Dalat, Hoi An, Hue, Sapa, and Hanoi. This is subject to change if I get any hot tips from fellow travelers along the way. I’m hoping to only pass through Ho Chi Minh City. It sounds like a crazy place and I don’t think I’ll be missing anything particularly charming by skipping it.
Vietnam’s a really interesting place. In some ways it’s the quintessential Asia, at least what I think of when I think of Asia. There’s no shortage of people walking around in those cone-shaped hats, which seem really well designed in terms of sun protection, and the place just feels authentic. There’s a seamless blend of ancient and modern, people going about their daily business as usual while signs of modernity appear as well. Today I was struck by the rap lyrics I heard coming out of one of the cafés downtown (and I quote, "Shake that ass, girl") while folks were buying their flowers and bonsai trees at the market.
As I've mentioned before, the parallels between Vietnam and India are many, so it seems appropriate that I'm ending my trip here. Both places are culturally fascinating, but in general they don't try too hard to impress the tourists. If they could speak, these countries might say, "Yeah, I'm awesome, and if you can get past the rough exterior you might find that you love me." Thailand on the other hand has the whole tourism thing down, Laos isn't far behind, and Cambodia clearly relies on it for its livelihood, almost bending over backwards to please. I think maybe that's why tourists who've been to these other places are a little turned off by Vietnam; there just isn't quite the same level of customer service. On a couple of occasions, in fact, I'm pretty sure that some of the locals have laughed at me when I've tried to ask for help. That probably sounds paranoid, but if you were there I think you would have agreed. It's a good thing I was a teacher for so many years as it gave me a pretty thick skin.
Even though I won't be going to Ho Chi Minh City, aka Saigon, there's really no escaping the man. Here's a statue of him downtown in Can Tho.
Feeling under the weather was definitely affecting my outlook on Vietnam. I even explored the option of flying home sooner, but the ticket prices are now out of control. Apparently I got the last good deal. Anyway, I have about 2 ½ weeks to go and I think that’ll be just about right. There’s a lot of ground to cover; Vietnam's a pretty big country if you travel south to north. I think I have my itinerary more or less mapped out. From here I’ll go to Dalat, Hoi An, Hue, Sapa, and Hanoi. This is subject to change if I get any hot tips from fellow travelers along the way. I’m hoping to only pass through Ho Chi Minh City. It sounds like a crazy place and I don’t think I’ll be missing anything particularly charming by skipping it.
Vietnam’s a really interesting place. In some ways it’s the quintessential Asia, at least what I think of when I think of Asia. There’s no shortage of people walking around in those cone-shaped hats, which seem really well designed in terms of sun protection, and the place just feels authentic. There’s a seamless blend of ancient and modern, people going about their daily business as usual while signs of modernity appear as well. Today I was struck by the rap lyrics I heard coming out of one of the cafés downtown (and I quote, "Shake that ass, girl") while folks were buying their flowers and bonsai trees at the market.
As I've mentioned before, the parallels between Vietnam and India are many, so it seems appropriate that I'm ending my trip here. Both places are culturally fascinating, but in general they don't try too hard to impress the tourists. If they could speak, these countries might say, "Yeah, I'm awesome, and if you can get past the rough exterior you might find that you love me." Thailand on the other hand has the whole tourism thing down, Laos isn't far behind, and Cambodia clearly relies on it for its livelihood, almost bending over backwards to please. I think maybe that's why tourists who've been to these other places are a little turned off by Vietnam; there just isn't quite the same level of customer service. On a couple of occasions, in fact, I'm pretty sure that some of the locals have laughed at me when I've tried to ask for help. That probably sounds paranoid, but if you were there I think you would have agreed. It's a good thing I was a teacher for so many years as it gave me a pretty thick skin.
Even though I won't be going to Ho Chi Minh City, aka Saigon, there's really no escaping the man. Here's a statue of him downtown in Can Tho.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
And the award for Worst Public Transportation goes to…
… Vietnam! I have no photos today, but I think I can paint you a pretty good picture of the nightmare/farce that was my trip from Phu Quoc island to Rach Gia and then on to Can Tho. We were picked up (we being myself and two Aussie girls staying at the same place) at 6:45 this morning and taken to the Superdong (it‘s okay to laugh), the boat that would take us back to the mainland in 2 ½ hours. The ride was a little rough, but not bad really. We got free water again and I was highly entertained by a group of Vietnamese kids sitting near me who kept saying, “Hello! What’s your name?” or, “Hello! Sit down,” repeating what they must hear in school. Very cute. Once we got off the boat is when the nightmare began. We were swarmed by motorbike taxi drivers (“Where you go?”) claiming to be able to take us to the bus station for 150,000 dong, which is like $8. I almost fell for it, but then spotted what looked like an official building and it turns out this was where they sold tickets for the bus, and transported you to the bus station at no extra cost. The price of the ticket? 60,000 dong. Big difference. The Aussie girls went for the motorbike scam and were basically driven around the block and dropped off nowhere near the bus station. Hmm… they got away with just paying a small fee for this “service”.
So after we’re shuttled to the bus station we get onto the “bus,” again another mini-van, where we’re packed in nice and tight. Well, I wasn’t feeling that great to begin with (having Googled sandflies I’m a little paranoid currently that I may have contracted some horrible parasitic infection) and so for the first five minutes I’m sweating buckets in the backseat, trying to hold it together when I spot a little black bag in the seatback pocket. I reach over to get it as nonchalantly as possible and moments later it’s full of the contents of my stomach, which fortunately wasn’t much. Anyway, I feel better immediately, of course, and this feeling lasts for most of the rest of the three-hour journey. Unfortunately, I wasn’t the only one to fall victim to the ridiculously bumpy back-and-forth of the mini-van. A woman in the seat in front of me starting throwing up just minutes later… and continued to throw up the entire ride. When I threw up I didn’t make a sound. This poor woman was literally retching, which leads me to believe that maybe she didn’t just have motion sickness. Lovely. I felt bad for her, but at the same time I couldn’t help but laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation - stuck in a van with nowhere to go, forced to listen to this for hours. (My counterfeit iPod from Bangkok also died, by the way, so I had no way to drown it out.) And if that weren’t bad enough, dude in the backseat with me decides that now would be a good time to smoke a cigarette. Hello?!? We’re in a VAN, man, small enclosed space? Three people are sick (a small child had joined the ranks at that point), airflow is limited, and this guy decides to light up. Awesome. I started coughing, partially because it made me cough, and partially to let him know I was not happy about his decision. He looked over at me and said, “Sorry, ma’am,” which really I’m not sure what the point of that was. Sorry but I’m going to keep smoking this cigarette, and in fact smoke another one shortly after it, despite the fact that you’re looking a little yellowish right now? Um, OK. One of the Aussie girls gave him a nice death look when he lit up a second time, but to no avail.
Now I'm in a hotel room in Can Tho, one that has AC and cable TV. My Aussie companions were kind enough to go out and get some crackers for me, so I just ate a bunch of those and drank some water. We'll see how that goes. I could be feeling sick because of the sandflies, because I got too much sun, because the heat is getting to me, or maybe even because of something I ate. Who knows? Regardless, this day ranks as one of the lowlights of the trip, for sure. Not every day can be wonderful, of course, and if nothing else, at least it makes for an interesting story.
So after we’re shuttled to the bus station we get onto the “bus,” again another mini-van, where we’re packed in nice and tight. Well, I wasn’t feeling that great to begin with (having Googled sandflies I’m a little paranoid currently that I may have contracted some horrible parasitic infection) and so for the first five minutes I’m sweating buckets in the backseat, trying to hold it together when I spot a little black bag in the seatback pocket. I reach over to get it as nonchalantly as possible and moments later it’s full of the contents of my stomach, which fortunately wasn’t much. Anyway, I feel better immediately, of course, and this feeling lasts for most of the rest of the three-hour journey. Unfortunately, I wasn’t the only one to fall victim to the ridiculously bumpy back-and-forth of the mini-van. A woman in the seat in front of me starting throwing up just minutes later… and continued to throw up the entire ride. When I threw up I didn’t make a sound. This poor woman was literally retching, which leads me to believe that maybe she didn’t just have motion sickness. Lovely. I felt bad for her, but at the same time I couldn’t help but laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation - stuck in a van with nowhere to go, forced to listen to this for hours. (My counterfeit iPod from Bangkok also died, by the way, so I had no way to drown it out.) And if that weren’t bad enough, dude in the backseat with me decides that now would be a good time to smoke a cigarette. Hello?!? We’re in a VAN, man, small enclosed space? Three people are sick (a small child had joined the ranks at that point), airflow is limited, and this guy decides to light up. Awesome. I started coughing, partially because it made me cough, and partially to let him know I was not happy about his decision. He looked over at me and said, “Sorry, ma’am,” which really I’m not sure what the point of that was. Sorry but I’m going to keep smoking this cigarette, and in fact smoke another one shortly after it, despite the fact that you’re looking a little yellowish right now? Um, OK. One of the Aussie girls gave him a nice death look when he lit up a second time, but to no avail.
Now I'm in a hotel room in Can Tho, one that has AC and cable TV. My Aussie companions were kind enough to go out and get some crackers for me, so I just ate a bunch of those and drank some water. We'll see how that goes. I could be feeling sick because of the sandflies, because I got too much sun, because the heat is getting to me, or maybe even because of something I ate. Who knows? Regardless, this day ranks as one of the lowlights of the trip, for sure. Not every day can be wonderful, of course, and if nothing else, at least it makes for an interesting story.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Deceptively calm
Yesterday was so nice, lying on the beach, swimming in the Gulf of Thailand... so peaceful. Even more peaceful because I walked a little ways away from where all the resorts are to find my own little quiet patch of sand. I threw down my beach towel and sunbathed for about an hour. It was so perfect until later that day when I realized I hadn't been alone after all... nope, I had many visitors in fact, in the form of sand fleas. "What are those bumps on the back of my arm?" I thought as I toweled off from my shower... "and my legs?" Basically every part of my body that didn't fit on the little beach towel now has a nice collection of bites, some big, some small. I guess there’s a reason all the resorts provide beach chairs here!
Not because of this, but I'm done with Phu Quoc island. There's a limit to how tan I can get and frankly lying in the sun is kind of boring. I know this sounds so ungrateful to all my friends and family freezing their butts off back in Maine, but I'm sorry, it's just too hot here. You don't even have to move and you're sweating. Tomorrow I'll head back to the mainland and work my way north until I find some cooler temps.
I have a really high tolerance for pain and bug bites, but it sure would be nice to scratch like this dog is doing!
Not because of this, but I'm done with Phu Quoc island. There's a limit to how tan I can get and frankly lying in the sun is kind of boring. I know this sounds so ungrateful to all my friends and family freezing their butts off back in Maine, but I'm sorry, it's just too hot here. You don't even have to move and you're sweating. Tomorrow I'll head back to the mainland and work my way north until I find some cooler temps.
I have a really high tolerance for pain and bug bites, but it sure would be nice to scratch like this dog is doing!
Monday, February 1, 2010
Another strenuous day
Today was tough. After waking up and taking a shower, I decided to catch a motorbike taxi into town. Having sat on my sunglasses in Cambodia, I decided I really needed another pair. They're indispensable for travel, not just for the sun, but even more so to protect your eyes while you're riding around on said motorbike taxis. After a much more pleasant ride back to my hotel, I slathered on the sunscreen and went out to fortify my tan for an hour. Today was not tough, obviously. Today was dreamy. I am filing away this day, and the many others I've had like it on this trip, under "happy place" so that I can return to it in my mind when I'm cursing the Maine winter a month from now.
I stocked up on some fresh fruit at the local market - mini bananas, oranges, and rambutan. Yummy. The market here is bustling, with loads of produce, meat, and clothing for sale. And like the rest of Vietnam, at least what I've seen so far, this place seems to be hovering somewhere between falling apart at the seams and on the verge of serious development. It's a strange contrast and there's a fair amount of rubble almost everywhere you look. More than other markets I've seen in Asia as well, Vietnam seems to have an inordinate number of fish products. Phu Quoc island, in fact, is the country's biggest producer of fish sauce. You can even visit the factory, although I think I'll pass on that one. In any case, because of all the fish there's a distinct aroma as you roam around the market. On my trip to Ha Tien the other day, when we stopped to switch vans again, the air smelled like coffee, leading me to believe that I was in one of the coffee-growing regions. I suppose you can get used to the smell of fish, but I'd much rather live where they grow coffee.
A very crowded harbor.
I stocked up on some fresh fruit at the local market - mini bananas, oranges, and rambutan. Yummy. The market here is bustling, with loads of produce, meat, and clothing for sale. And like the rest of Vietnam, at least what I've seen so far, this place seems to be hovering somewhere between falling apart at the seams and on the verge of serious development. It's a strange contrast and there's a fair amount of rubble almost everywhere you look. More than other markets I've seen in Asia as well, Vietnam seems to have an inordinate number of fish products. Phu Quoc island, in fact, is the country's biggest producer of fish sauce. You can even visit the factory, although I think I'll pass on that one. In any case, because of all the fish there's a distinct aroma as you roam around the market. On my trip to Ha Tien the other day, when we stopped to switch vans again, the air smelled like coffee, leading me to believe that I was in one of the coffee-growing regions. I suppose you can get used to the smell of fish, but I'd much rather live where they grow coffee.
A very crowded harbor.
A Vietnamese woman prepares fish for sale. Pretty much all food prep is done on the ground here, at least in the markets.
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