Tips for Travel

The Zen House in Hue City, Vietnam

2013-12-10T13:40:00.000+00:00

So what is meditation? In the practical 'what and how' realm of reality, it means a lot of things to a lot of people but essentially whatever we do where ever we do and however we do it, the aim is to connect with spirit, to connect with the part of us that connects to the spiritual energies that exist in our belief systems.

Prayer is a type of meditation. Some people talk about communing with nature in all forms as being their path to meditation.

Others honor their deity with ceremony, acknowledgement and gifts, others use complicated journeys to unlock doors and imaginary people to guide us into understanding more about ourselves and our lives. No-one way is solely right or wrong. How can anything be wrong when people receive the joy and peace that is so connected with the art of meditation.

For me, the most impactful and probably the most challenging form of meditation is the art of Zen.

Zen uses no imagery, no ceremony, no 'props'. Zen is about sitting in silence and through that silence reaching a connection with the universal energies to learn more about ourselves and about spirit in its purest form. So why is it so challenging? The aim is to sit quietly allowing any thoughts to pass through unhindered .....that is why it is challenging. The aim is to still the mind, to become at one with pure energy. Hmm..... doing nothing with no connection with thoughts!! Not something that we are used to doing in the 21st Century of action and pro action, technology and worldwide communications. Which is precisely why it is so important and so relevant to modern living, it helps to reconnect us with what is important....the sense of love and peace.

Doing such meditation alone in one's one space is refreshing, calming, at times disturbing but ultimately very holistic and healing. But as anyone who has done meditation in a group will know, whatever you can achieve (or rather NOT achieve) is multiplied exponentially when meditating in a group regardless of the surroundings. Take that group energy and place it in an environment designed for purpose and the experience takes on a whole new dimension.

Which brings me to the Zen House in Hue. Just looking at the pictures makes me smile and relax.

The Zen House is situated just outside of Hue in Central Vietnam and is actually a complex with a number of buildings, gardens for beauty as well as for cultivating the organic ingredients that are used in cooking the vegetarian meals that are served. Locally it is called Cat Tuong Quan. Cat Tuong means 'to bring joy or pleasure'. Quan means 'gentleman'. So Cat Tuong Quan means 'the gentleman who brings joy or pleasure'. It is the term used to describe the host of the House and is also the name given to the house itself.

So what can you expect when visiting Cat Tuong Quan?

That depends largely on how long you choose to stay for but the one thing that is always guaranteed whether you choose a half day visit or decide to stay over for 2 nights or longer is that you will have a warm and friendly greeting from the Quan, the gentleman host.

This is a spiritual center and any visitors are expected to respect the fact. People are asked to dress respectfully, speak softly, treat everything and everything with the gentle spirit of Buddhism. Meals are taken in the spirit of honoring the food and the gift that it affords us. And what do we get it return?

As a visitor experience that wonderful deep sense of calm and peace that abounds in such an environment. We get to allow ourselves to slow down and to connect with our sense of being in the present and embracing what that means. We get to step out of the hustle and bustle of daily life as we know it and to reconnect with the gentle manners and ways of those who embrace the Buddhist way of being.

It is relaxing and invigorating at the same time. People staying at the house often report that they sleep better, enjoy their food and indeed, become more aware of themselves, others, their food, nature and everything around them.

If you are travelling to Vietnam and heading for Hue, this is something not to miss. You will need to book your visit in advance. For more information, you can email me at uk@hghue.com or call 0792 5300320. Or you can email Hue directly for information and to book a visit.....info@hghtravel.com

www.HGHTravel.com

The Sensory Experience of Ha Noi

2013-12-05T16:26:00.002+00:00

Well, the first thing to say is that Ha Noi is one huge sensory overload.

You walk down any street and you have the sound of traffic, more specifically, the sound of motorbikes. The only way to describe the larger roads is to imagine yourself in the middle of a beehive and being surrounded by the intense, close quarter buzzing of hundreds of bees. Imagine that and then add into the picture that each bee has access to a horn that he/she has an inherent need to press on an irregular yet frequent basis. On some of the wider streets in the middle of rush hour, you can see 8-10 motorbikes side by side across the road (and that's going one way). And when the road becomes too congested, the bikes simple take to the pavements. But that's only during the busy times.

The interesting thing about the horns is that NOBODY takes any notice. You just become immune to it. You know that particular sound is aimed at you and you simply carry on walking across the road or riding your bike as you would with or without the horns. During the two years that I lived in Hanoi, I stopped hearing the cacophony.

And then there are the dogs and the cockrels and the birds. I am woken up every morning to the sound of one of the other or a symphony of all of them. Not that I am complaning about the sound of birds especially as in my case, they are wild birds. However, the Vietnamese do like their caged birds and having one or three hanging outside your bedroom window can be a little disturbing at times. The worst at the cockrels. In my first apartment, I was woken every morning by a notoriously active cockrel at about 5.00am and, unlike an alarm clock, there was no off switch.

And then there are the locals. Where there are people, there are noises. They talk, they shout at each other.

Not in an aggressive way but just as a way of making contact across an open expanse of a few feet or inches. And when they are not eating or talking, they are doing something .......mending a table, building a wall, preparing food, feeding the toddler...all accompanied by a continuous stream of chatter. In the centre of town, you also have the shops that explode their wares into the streets which can, at times, get a little challenging when you are balancing whether it is more dangerous to stay on the pavement and deal with the parked bikes, the people and the shop overload or simply step into the stream of traffic in the road. The road is often the easier option.

Feeding the toddlers is intriguing, it never failed to fascinate me. You see women following the toddler round the streets with a bowl of food. The toddler plays or just wanders and Mother or Grandmother offers a spoonful of food whenever the child stops. The process can last the length of time as dicatated by the child, in some cases a couple of hours.

The other thing you notice is a lot of laughter and smiles. Even if there is no smile evident, a greeting and a smile offered invariably elicits a response. For me, it was probably the most evident of all the differences and I have to say that I was never overwhelmed by it....bring it on! One last thing that is a little intimidating at first is their tendancy to stare. I learnt that, again, a smile and acknowledgment usually turned the stare into a huge toothy grin.

Smells? Well, food has to be at the top of the list. Walk down any road in Ha Noi and some-one is cooking on the street....a cafe or a street vendor. And if its not a commercial venture, its a local family especially on Sunday evening. They all gather around a cooking pot that simmers away with all sorts of goodies and talk and laugh and say hello to the passing ex pat as they maneuvor their way into the road, around the obstacle and back onto the pavement.

And there are the less pleasant smells of the dead fish that gather on the edge of the lakes to rot away. And sometimes the rubblish bags that have been left out in the street can be rather unpleasant. The winter does not pose much of an issue for either but in the summer, it can be rather pungent.

And to finish on a more pleasant note, there are always the flowers...not to forget the flowers. People love cut flowers in Viet Nam. Every family has an alter dedicated to the ancestors to which they offer flowers and fruit gifts every 1st and 15th of the lunar month with special gifts during Tet (the New Year celebrations) and so flowers are a very important part of life for everyone. You see women on cycles balancing huge bunches of flowers for sale. They collect them at the market in the morning and spend the day doing their best to sell their wares.

So while there are some less than pleasant sensory experiences, on the whole, the balance is pretty good!!

Holiday, Travel or Adventure?

2013-12-04T15:07:00.002+00:00

Before booking any flights, hotels or tours, its important to consider what you really want from a break from work, the routine, regular life. Over the years of holidays, travel and adventure, I have come to realise that they are quite different in charactor and in nature.

Holiday

The average working person has X amount of days leave to take from their workplace and, again, the majority of people want to have a change of scenery and time to relax and chill out. For some that might be spending 2 weeks sitting by the pool, soaking up the sun and drinking margeritas and spending the evenings eating and drinking with friends new or old. For others, they might choose the security of the hotel and enjoy the pool at the end of an organised tours to one place of local interest or another.

Its a safe, organised, risk aversive, 'don't have to think to much', relaxing period designed to re charge the batteries and indulge. It can also be a way of enjoying the sun without being thrown into the center of a totally different culture.

OK so let's take this need for a holiday to somewhere different, let's head for Vietnam. Vietnam offers the whole range of possibilities. You could go to stay in a hotel on the beautiful beaches of Da Nang. There is a wide range of hotels in this area where you can enjoy the very best of the best in Vietnam. And you can take a short trip to the delightful ancient town of Hoi An that has numerous restaurants and cafes. Everyone speaks excellent English. It is a beautifully preserved town that has a lot of architecture and history to share. It is on the river so trips are available after which you can relax with a drink at a bar by the river's edge. And if shopping is your thing, it is Vietnam's answer to your prayers. There is a wide array of tailors and dress makers who will put your ideas into reality. You can choose a pattern from a book or simply take a picture for them to work from. 24 hours later, you have your item created especially for you. And don't forget the shoes. Cobblers will also create individually designed sandles, shoes or boots for you.

If culture is what you would like, you are very near the ancient Kymar ruins in the mountains overlooking Da Nang. And then there is the old city of Hue where you can visit the Citadel, take a boat trip along the Perfume River, visit the many Pagodas and Temples along the river side or enjoy the gentle buzz of this lovely little town.

Example of a Holiday Tour with HGH Travel (www.HGHTravel.com)

Holiday-Travel

Taking us from that option to the idea of Travel is a sliding scale of detials. I have certainly done holidays where I have had a package in a hotel with pool and flight. I have also booked organised tours from the hotel for the day and thoroughly enjoyed them. I then started organising my own tours to visit places that I wanted to see in the area. My next step was to book hotels and flights seperately to allow for more flexibility so I could do a two places trip moving from one area to another under my own steam.

So here I am beginning to move on that sliding scale from Holiday to Travel. It has the same purpose and outcome but it involves more planning, a more pro active and involved focus that taps into the independant nature. I started going to places on my own. While this is not in any way a pre-requisite to either Holiday or Travel, it certainly brings in the need for more decision making on the hoof and adds an element of the unknown, excitement and, at times, fear that tends to became more into focus as you move along the sliding scale to being the full out Traveller.

So being a Traveller is about independance, it is about making choices that are not pre ordained by someone else. It is about taking risks, about a balance of planning and winging it with an overview of where you need to be when. It is about meeting people along the way who are doing the same sort of thing and taking advantage of maximum flexibility in your way of thinking, your plans and even your destination. Or you might map out your preset time more accurately moving from spot to spot as per plan but each time arriving at a new unknown place that is your territory to explore for the next 1, 2 or 5 days. But largely, being a traveler is about taking risks, about being independent, about going off grid (even if only a little bit) to see and experience life that is totally foreign (literally) and unwanted by the average Holiday maker.

So let's stay in Vietnam and look at what the Traveler might do.

Starting earlier on the Holidaymaker-Traveler scale, someone who wants more than the comfort of staying in one place might opt for an organized tour that takes them to all of the hot spots in the country. That might take them from the capital city of Hanoi in the north to the magnificent Ha Long Bay down to Hue and Hoi An in the central area and then to Ho Chi Minh City and the Mekong Delta in the south. In this option, there is variety, there is an element of travel but it is all organized by the tour guide who is

: Being every great man is a great woman!

also available for sorting out any issues that might arise. Hotels are booked, transport is taken care of, food is organized or restaurants will be suggested, tours are included. But it certainly brings in the adventure and the buzz of being on the move and having the opportunity of seeing and experiencing more places. You might even want to add in a second country to the itinerary..... Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Myanmar are all easily accessible from Vietnam and can be included in a similar package.

OK so let's move onto the Advernturer.

Let's take the scenario above of travelling from north to south in Vietnam but now you are doing it alone. You are planning your own step by step progress. Accomodation might be anything from a room in a hotel to bunks in a hostel. Transport might be anything from flights to local trains to local buses or some combination of the three. Some people might arrive and hire a motorbike as their mode of transport. That is definitely at the top end of Adventure especially in Vietnam where the roads can be rather chaotic at times.

Example of a Holiday-Traveler Tour with HGH Travel (www.HGHTravel.com)

Traveler-Adventure

The Traveler-Adventurer might search out the means to go to the less travelled parts of the country. Language barriers are seen as being less of a barrier, more of another aspect of the adventure to communicate effectively...or at all.... with someone from a completely different culture speaking a totally undecipherable language.

The deeper into Adventure you go, the more risk is involved with the associated excitement and opportunities for things not going quite as planned and the more need there is for being able to go with the flow and simply dealing with stuff when it evolves. It's often about meeting some really intriguing and interesting people who you would just never meet in an everyday world. You get to have experiences that would not be in your frame of understanding as you just have no concept of them even existing. On one of my Traveler-Adventures in SE Asia, I went to Laos and decided to stay in a homestay for a few days. I was on my own and decided that my little bit of security was to pre book a car to pick me up at the airport and take me to the homestay. After that, I was on my own. I booked into the dorm and headed down to the 'restaurant' which was basically a rather delicate looking raft floating on the river. The fading lights had the advantage of hiding the less glamorous aspects of the raft but proved rather a challenge when it came to finding one's way OFF the raft and back to the dorm. As a 60 year old woman, I was from a different world to the 20 something groups who were staying at the same place. But three charming young men were delightful and sort of accepted me into the brood for the few days that we were there. They did tentatively invite me (the sort of invitation where someone offers but obviously does not want you to say yes) to go out with them into town one evening which I declined with thanks. It was the start of a great visit to Laos which sadly ended with me losing my passport......but that's another story!

And then of course you have the far end of the sliding scale where people go away to climb mountains, absail into caves, cycle 500 miles or something else equally exhausting to even write about.

Options for Travel-Adventure with HGH Travel (www.HGHTravel.com). For information on tailor made tours such as caving, email info@hghue.com.

Summary

And at the end of the day, this is a relatively short period into which you are putting a significant amount of hard earned cash and so it is important that you do your level best to get what YOU want from this time. There are no right or wrong ways of doing this. If risk sends your stress levels off the chart, it is important to take that into consideration. If risk=stress but you want more than a Holiday, then consider how to get the elements of Travel and Adventure that you want while staying within your comfort zone enough to get the buzz without the fear. Always remembering that excitement and fear are close buddies and it is only a short distance from one to the other.

If you are traveling alone, the decision is less complex as you only have to keep yourself happy. If you traveling with a companion or companions it is important to ask questions to clarify what you ALL want to get from time away from home. Maybe there is a need for a compromise of some sort to maximize comfort, relaxation, excitement and thrill for everyone. And remember, what is exciting for one is horror for another. If you need some help in deciding what sort of trip will suit your needs, feel free to talk to one of the consultants at HGH Travel in Vietnam. Alternatively, you can contact myself in the UK. I lived in Vietnam and now am based in the UK. I support HGH in their marketing and would be delighted to offer any insights and support that I can.

Have a great Holiday/Traveling/Adventure

Pat Sawyer

uk@hghue.com.

A Week in Barcelona, Nov.2013

2013-11-30T14:46:00.000+00:00

Day One

Arrived at airport pretty event less flight other than a very smelly man to right and a kicker to the rear. We did however have a great crew on board. The chief steward greeted everyone with a genuine smile and often with a personal positive comment to most people who boarded the plane. And he kept up the friendly banter all the way through. Thanks easyjet, it made for a great start to the week.

Barcelona has rather a sad looking airport but it was functional which, at the end of the day is what you need. The train station was attached to the airport with a number of ticket machines that were easy enough to use. We got a packet of tickets for the week. Had about 15 minutes to to wait before heading off for the city centre. Working out our stop was easy enough. And we had some surprisingly good entertainment on the train.

Finding how to get from the stop to the apartment was not quite so simple especially when we realised that we did not have any instructions and only had a very simple, not detailed map of the city. After a few false alarms, I did the only sensible thing and asked to find that we were just round the corner from our destination! A few more false alarms and, hey presto, we arrived. Well, we arrived at the building, we then had to decipher the rather complicated instructions for finding the keys for the apartment. Our final hurdle of the night was to open the door of the apartment with the strangest ‘key’ I have ever seen. But Frank prevailed and we sighed a sigh of relief on gaining access to our home for the next week And it was OK...large, comfortable, bland but a pretty good short term rental apartment complete with all amenities. On our travels en route, we noticed with relief that just next door there was a restaurant and just across the road there was a small local (OPEN) shop where we could pick up some basics for the morning. So dinner, shopping and bed in the hope of seeing some sun in the morning.

Day Two

After a reasonable nights sleep, we woke up to an overcast sky. Breakfast’ed, we set off for ‘La Rambla’..... the street where you have to be in Barcelona …..apparently! As we found out during the week, it certainly is the core of the hub of the old area of the city. Anyway, we soon realise that this apartment that we thought was well placed is even better than we thought. Which is just as well as the weather is not so great. Cool and wet!

Undeterred, off to find 'La Rambla' and en route passed some impressive buildings. Not as lively as suggested in the tour guide probably something to do with the weather. I guess the street entertainers are less enthusiastic to perform on the off chance of maybe getting a few euros in the pouring rain. We cut off the main boulevard into the interesting looking narrow streets of the old city. After a wet wander we decided it was time for a drink and a nibble. Made a great choice in a cafe. Friendly smile don't seem to come with the service here but it certainly does not help that we have virtually no Spanish to share. While this is not an obstacle to ordering as every one speaks perfect English, it does not encourage any warmth. Suitably refreshed we set off again on our journeying.

The old streets with the occasional square are great fodder for viewing and

we eventually arrived at a large open area with the Cathedral flanking one side. We had to wait a few minutes for the worshippers to leave (it being Sunday afternoon) but then were allowed to pay our six euros each to enter (apparently in the morning and after 5.00 its free!). Wow what a depressing and foreboding place….. all heaviness and morbidity. The cloisters were lighter and easier on the senses but I have to say I was glad to leave the cathedral itself and take a breathe of fresh (if wet) air. Another wander through the

narrow streets of the old town and another refreshment and drying off stop (thankfully this time with smiles accompanying the service) and we started planning the evening. Sometime during the day we had picked up a brochure for a classical Spanish guitar recital. We decided to get tickets and go along. So tickets safely tucked away we headed home to dry off and rest before dinner and entertainment. We also made a rough plan for the rest of the week, weather depending.

Well dinner was not such a great success. We did not leave enough time for deliberations for choosing the optimal place to eat and ran out of time ending up with a piece of pizza and sandwich which was just about adequate. But who cares.... we went to a magnificent recital. I am sure the guitar player had at least three miniature guitar players tucked under the table behind him. I swear it's impossible to create those sounds from one instrument. I was fascinated by his left hand. It reminded me of ‘Thing’ in the TV program and films of the Adams Family back in the 70's. ( it was a disembodied hand that had its own identity moving independently through life). I was totally transfixed and for me that is quite something as music is just NOT my thing. Of course it was still raining when we came out of the crypt (forgot to mention that the performance was in the crypt of a church). Frank wanted something to eat and eventually got a waffle with chocolate and walnuts. Back home and to bed!

Day 3 loomed......you guessed it.......cool and WET! Not going to be put off with a little rain, we set off as planned to join a guided walk around the weird and wonderful world and creations of Barcelona's own, the architect, Gaudi. We had a delightful lively guide called Kathryn who was totally unfazed by the rain despite the rather heavy downpour at times. It was a testament to her enthusiasm that we all stayed with her except for 2 people who had no raincoats at all and even they came back when the rain eased off.

We saw the outside of three houses and got the history of this fascinating man before heading out to his last and still unfinished monument….the Sagrada Familia. Love or hate it, his work definitely makes a statement. As we later discovered, he was only one of many architects of his time in the city who worked in the Art Deco style but it was his obsession with the very best of raw materials and ways of working that made his so different. If it looked like solid marble, it was, if it looked like an unusual wood that came from the other side of the world, it was because it was. At the start of the tour, Kathrine posed the question of whether he was a genius or a madman. My feeling at the end of the tour and increasingly as I saw his work that he was probably both with one side feeding the other.

We arrived home rather sodden and cold but soon warmed up and got comfortable. We decided in our wisdom to visit that night, a Tapas bar that was recommended in trip adviser. That in itself was very wise, the fact that it was it was in the north of the city nearly 2 kilometres away and not around the corner became a challenge when we set off in the pouring rain. Well to cut a long and very wet story short, we finally arrived and had a great time. In all truth, very mediocre food but a great welcome, wonderful atmosphere and great wine!

Day 4

NO RAIN! What a relief! We were more than ready for a break. We set off to meet up with Kathryn

once more to do the walk in the Old Quarter of the city. Only a small group today which was perfect. We really enjoyed this walk even more that the previous day. Weather definitely helped but it was also more varied and offered more about the history of the city. At the end we headed off for lunch and found a cafe with a table and chairs in the SUN…….ahhh…..wonderful. I had a great lunch, Frank not so good but we did enjoy the space enormously. Had a walk down to the sea then up from the bottom of La Rambla back to where we had started the morning with Kathryn to book some tickets at Tarantos for 8.30 performance of the Flamenco dancing for the following night. I had found this place on the Internet but then when I asked for a recommendation from K, she said that there were only 2 places worth going to in the city, a jazz club somewhere and Los Tarantos!

Day 5

Still no rain but now much colder. Today was the day we had assigned to the tourist bus with a number of stops en route. We spent the day on the open top floor of the bus for as long as we could stand the cold then scuttle downstairs to warm up or get off, visit something and have a hot drink. Our first stop was to visit the Sagrada Familia. What a story...150 years in the building and still lots to go but what an amazing monument. Quite unlike any church you have ever seen, the inside is full of light and space...which is just as well as it was increasingly full of tourists. We arrived about

9.45, got straight in and enjoyed the first 20 minutes or so in relative quiet but as the morning progressed, it got busier and busier. It is a must for anyone visiting Barcelona whatever your religious conviction. I really like the fact that although it is consecrated by the christian church and is undeniably christian in identity, it has a wider heart embracing more of the spirit of spirituality rather than the doctrines of the church.

Our next stop was at the Gaudi Park. This was an unexpected delight. Again. very busy but the open spaces made it feel less crowded. Another unfinished project, it has been re created as a total experience. We were lucky enough to be able to bask in a little sun during our visit. Our lunchtime decision was not so great and we ended up with eating a bowl of potatoes and having a glass of wine...the rest was really quite inedible. So back to the bus and onto the change over point of the day from red bus to blue bus. We scuttled off to warm up in a nearby Starbucks before boarding the blue

bus. By now it was early evening and dark and we debated whether to bother with the last part of the day but went ahead and I was glad that we did. We saw Barcelona at night from the lower level and then from the Montjuic hillside and finally down by the waterfront. It was beyond cold but we stuck it out for most of the trip. We ended the trip near the cathedral and went for the customary hot drink in order to orientate ourselves for getting to the Flamenco show. The cafe/restaurant looked good and we decided to aim to return post show to eat.

The Flamenco was pretty raw and very exciting. It is true that the performers have probably seen better days but they were entertaining and we had a great time. The venue is small and intimate and just perfect for Flamenco. After the show we headed back for the restaurant we had found earlier and had a good meal.

Day 6

What a treat this morning. I had decided that I wanted to go and see the Palau De La Musica Catalana….what a special place. As soon as I walked in, I got the atmosphere as well as the intrinsic

beauty of the design of the building. We started out with a touching video about the theatre and people who have performed there. We then set out for the tour with the best and most informative guide I have had anywhere for a long time. His passion for the place shone through. He gave us the history, talked about the architect and about the original purpose for the building….for choirs to perform. And then we went into the auditorium to find that the quartet due to play that evening were practising. So we got the full tour PLUS getting to enjoy it with the backdrop of this superb young group. WHAT A TREAT!!

I came out in something of a daze as we headed off for lunch which for me was great but for Frank a bit of a disaster. He managed to miss out on the verbal and visual cue that the local speciality Pork dish was, indeed, trotters!

The afternoon, we headed for the Guell Palace just off La Rambla. It’s impressive and mind boggling in so many ways with the details of design, the multiple patterns of wood and ironwork and everything looking like it would be more at home in a building about ten times the size (at least). Pretty it is not! But well worth the visit as Gaudi’s first large project.

The second trip to Los Tarantos proved to even better than the first. The group were definitely more polished and the dancer was great..and we got better seats as we got there earlier.

In search of somewhere to eat we stumbled on a lively place down a small lane successful because of some very enthusiastic and inviting guys on the nearest corner. We caught the end of yet another Flamenco show and enjoyed a good meal in an entertaining place.

Day 7 and the last day

Our flight was due to take off at 5.00 so we planned the day with precision to make the most of the day and not lose sight of the time crunch. After dropping of our cases, we headed for the Roman

Ruins at the Museu D’Historia De Barcelona very near to the Cathedral. It was a bit of a gamble with neither of us really that interested in Roman ruins but it was a real treat and am so glad not to have missed it. You travel down into the basement and wander along the well defined ‘streets’ able to clearly see the fish sauce factory, the laundry, dye shop and wine making hall as well as sections of houses and the wine. It was wonderfully organised and the auditory commentary was great.

We then headed off to find a vegetarian restaurant that Frank had found. It sort of topped the day off really. Great value and delicious food with friendly and helpful staff. Collect case, off to the airport arriving eventually home around 9.00pm after a rather wet, cold and very exciting week in Barcelona.

General Feelings/Impressions

This is a complex and intriguing city with so much to do it is a challenge to choose.

It can be expensive but it does not need to be. The city museums are excellent and very reasonably priced. Same with cafes and restaurants. Go off the main streets and you will find that the prices will drop significantly.

Lots of choices for place to eat but it all seems very similar. Tapas are good for some occasions but they do get a little boring. I missed my vegetables!!

Great wine, reasonable prices.

Did find some friendly people but on the whole found locals a bit dour and not too friendly. But I am putting that down to my lack of language and have promised myself to have at least the basics before I go again.

These pictures are a brief look at the places we saw, if you want to see more, CLICK HERE.

Some useful information:

For walking tours go to www. runnerbeantours.com/Barcelona. They are free, donate what you think the leader of the tour deserves.
Los Tarantos in the Place Reial (just off La Rambla)
We used the Turustic Bus which is not the best of tours that I have ever taken but it does take you to the important places, just don't rely on the commentary to provide any useful information.
For restaurants, hunt around the back streets...its there you will find the gems.
For short stay apartments, try Loving Apartments, Carrer de la Diputacio 291, Barcelona or email barcelona@loving apartments.com
DO NOT MISS going to the Sagrada Famila but go early in the day and definitely DO NOT MISS the Palau de la Musica.
We only went to one of the Barcelona city owned museums but it was very impressed. They are cheap (8 euros) and the one we went to had an exceptional layout and an audio guide which is, for me, second to none as it is the only guide that I have ever finished. I usually get bored after the first 5 minutes.
Do your homework. There is SO much to see and do in this city, it is easy to get overwhelmed.
Unless you are a real fan of Gaudi, don't focus too much time on his work as there is so much more to see and they can be quite expensive.

Boating on the Canal Du Midi

2013-10-01T09:53:00.003+01:00

On a boat on the water is my idea of heaven be it sailing on the sea, travelling on a ferry or a rowing boat on Camargue and the Midi on an adorable Penichette boat.....sort of a cross between a long boat and a fishing boat. It was comfortable and handled very well.

Our Penichette on the Canal du Midi

A few years ago, I had my first experience on the canals in England and totally loved it despite the wet, cold weather. This year, we decided to try a new experience and went to the south of France to spend a glorious week on the Canals of the South of France.

Montpellier

Starting the adventure at the beautiful town of Montpellier, we then picked up our little boat and headed off on the suggested agenda. The canals were just lovely and very varied. The first part took us in the area of the Camargue on the Canal du Rhone de Sete. This is not like any canal I had ever seen with the Mediterranean sea on one side and lakes and rivers on the other side with just a narrow stretch of pathways to separate the three. We had an open stretch of water to cross at the Etang de Thau. There are some towns on the lake and we decided to make a stop in one of them and found a charming gem of a plae in Meze. As much as I loved the first part of the trip, getting to the Midi was just wonderful.....the trees, the villages and towns and the moored boats along the way all added to the beauty and peacefulness of this wonderful Canal. Sadly many of the trees will be lost in the coming years as they are suffering from some sort of disease and will be cut down. We we feel very blessed to have been able to visit and enjoy the canal as it is now....indeed, as it has been for many years.

The Canal du Midi

We learnt early not to take the charts too seriously as they didn't always line up too well with reality. Everything happens so slowly however, we had the time to adapt. adjust and deal with whatever little surprises came our way. There were times when my meagre French was tested up to and beyond its limits but again, the kindness and patience of people enabled me to stumble my way through both speaking and understanding most things. On the subject of language the thing I loved the most and appreciated the most was that all the locals enabled me to speak in French. They would wait patiently for me to express myself then very often would just check or add the necessary word in English that far surpassed my French. That gave me a lot of confidence to do more throughout the week.

Of course, the food was just delicious. There were some surprises through misinterpretations but on the whole, we got what we wanted and thoroughly enjoyed it. But then this is France we are talking about!

After the lovely easy friendliness of Montpelier, we had set a very high standard for the following towns to match up to. On the whole, they did just that, in their own unique style.

The walled city of Aiges Morte

The main square inside Aiges Morte

Aiges Morte was our first overnight stop after Montepellier. It is a lovely old walled city. Its full of shops and restaurants and full of tourists. The real treat was that, during the late afternoon and evening, the majority of tourists have gone leaving the lovely little town to the visitors on boats or campers. We had a very pleasant evening in the square eating a meal that for me was plain delicious and for Frank something of a surprise especially when we realised that Gésier actually means gizzard...he did lose a little of his appetite at that point.

After a pleasant shopping expedition in the newer part of town the following morning and a shower in a rather disgusting shower block, we headed out.

Villeneuve-ls-Maguelonne was our next stop for lunch and an expedition. We 'parked' then walked across the swinging bridge (one of the surprises that we were not expecting on the canal) and walked down to see a re built ancient Cathedral. The walk was lovely and we got to see and photograph some wild Flamingos. It gave me such a thrill to see these birds in the wild. I had read that they lived in this area but had not really believed that they were common enough to actually SEE them.

And there were lots of them!!

The Cathedral and, indeed the whole area was charming. It was set in a large vineyard with a view of the sea, a lovely cafe that looked like a well restored building and, of course, the Cathedral. The Cathedral had been restored by the Faberge family and we wondered if they indeed owned the land, vineyard etc. Inadvertently we took a ride down to the beaches (wrong direction) on some free transport but eventually got back to the boat to continue on our way.We loved it.

A water jousting boat at Frontignan

We became very glad to have spent the time to stop and enjoy the afternoon especially as the overnight stop had only one thing to offer......a swinging bridge that only opened briefly twice a day to let you through! There is very little else to say about Frontignan......it is simply somewhere to pass through! Now this is a little warning. We were so impresssed by one persons positive Blog on Frontignan that we printed it out and took it with us and I for one, was really looking forward to visiting this town. Just goes to show what is one persons treat is another persons poison. We did however get this rather lovely picture of this Water Jousting boat....a local sport. And we were up early ready and eager to get through the bridge...didn't want to risk another ovenight stay.

The Etang de Thau is very protected and crossing it in a hired boat is banned in winds over 4 knots. It was not a great morning with threatening clouds but we headed out anyway (there was no way we were going to get stuck in Frontignan for another night) and the crossing itself was just about perfect. There are a number of towns clinging to the edges of the lake and we opted to head for one of them for a lunchtime stop. The restrictions on the lake are due to the fact that this lake is a huge shell fish farm...the biggest in Europe I believe, certainly the biggest in France.

The lovely town of Meze

Meze turned out to be a pretty fishing village with smiling locals, good cafes and interesting shops and streets to explore. We were very tempted to stop overnight but decided that a lunchtime stop would suffice. I met a really jolly and playful lady in the indoor market selling cheese..it did seem to be a very relaxed and happy little place. Liked it a lot!.

So reluctantly we moved on to the other side of the Lake and were then rewarded when we entered the Canal Du Midi. It was a little grubby looking at first with lots of old sunken boats of various shapes and sizes but that very soon metamorphosed into pure beauty with the elegance of

Welcome to the Midi

Canal du Midi

the trees, the rippling waters and the sun dancing around the foliage and the water in a splendid display of sparkles and shades. At times, we were really quite speechless, just enjoying the peace & beauty of it all.

To get to our overnight stop at the town of Agde, we had to pass through one of the famous Midi round Locks....and it was the biggest lock I have ever seen. I got quite

Entering the round lock at Agde

Maneuvering in the round lock

Finally exiting the Lock

excited (sad really) when I went forward to take a look at the lock and ran back along the canal side telling everyone who would listen that it was just HUGE, REALLY HUGE with all the appropriate hand gestures to demonstrate the fact. Everything went remarkably well going into and out of the lock and then we set off to find our parking space for the night. We were a little too busy while going through the lock to take any photos but we did go back later and managed to get some photos of a rather eccentric French man who we had met earlier maneavouring his 'garden boat' through the lock. It was quite entertaining. We had previously wondered how he could see where he was going with all the foliage on the boat. Watching him perform in the lock, we realised that he probably couldn't really see anything very much at all. His exit was accompanied by a resounding crash as he collided with the side of the lock.

Home for the night at Agde

We stopped on the canal side just outside of town in a lovely tree lined leafy spot. After securing everything, we got the bikes off the boat (first time) and set out for town. The old part of town was OK with its narrow streets and old buildings but it was obviously a place that was meant to have daytime tourists wandering around. It all seemed a little empty and quiet in the early evening. We went to a Trip Adviser recommended Creperie but I found very disappointing. But what was lacking in food was made up for the in the ambiance and the friendliness. I just needed a snack when we got back to the boat!

Our parking spot at Vias

The following day, a couple of hours boating got us to Vias....what a little charmer. Off came the bikes once more and we headed up hill to the little quaint town. Vias is a bustling little place with lots of locals and tourists from boats, campers (w met a couple of people at lunchtime) and bikers. The cafes in the square were all doing a great trade. We stopped for our daily coffee then happily stumbled on the local market which we both always enjoy wandering around. We bought a few things, absorbed the atmosphere, rescued a stolen item from the market stall (taken by a little boy obviously under the tutelage of his mother) and then headed back to the square for a delicious lunch of mussels.

We became very glad of having stopped for lunch as we managed to get lost on the way back to the boat and ended up taking an elongated but rather pretty detour around the countryside.

Sunset from the old bridge in Beziers

The glorious view of Bezier town

Our next stop was far far different from Vias but it turned out to be a true gem to us. Sadly in talking later to others that we met, the gems of the city were not easily or frequently discovered. Beziers is a large town and is at the bottom of a 7 gate staircase of locks so is very busy with people passing through. Once we were secure, we went for an early evening walk to see what the staircase had in store for us. It was somewhat further away than we had thought but nonetheless it was a lovely walk so it was not a problem.

We took a look at the lock then decided to head directly from there into town to find the town of Beziers and get something to eat. Bezier is a bit like a wedding cake, built in layers. There is the bottom layer, the middle layer and the top layer with the top layer being the part that you most revere and is, in truth, the only part worth a visit. After a long walk from the lock to the town, we found ourselves in a rather downbeat area. Following the irreplacable Google map directions, we headed for the bridge to take us over the river to the part of the town that towered above us. We were fortunate to be crossing the bridge at sunset and stopped for a few minutes to take in the lovely scenery at this adorable part of the any day.....magical.

Then we still had an exhausting climb ahead of us. After what seemed forever and was probably about 10 minutes, we arrived in a area of the higher part of town that looked like it should be lively but it wasn't...it was disturbingly quiet. However, this was when another gem showed itself....we went into a small empty cafe/restaurant and was greeted by the delightful owner who served us with such warmth and charm with delicious food, it became and stayed, the best meal of the trip. A taxi back to the boat rounded off a perfect evening.

Bezier Cathedral

View from the top of the Cathedral

Our plan had been to leave in the morning, to get to through the staircase and be on our way but it was not to be. After a number of obstacles to our plans unfolded, we opted to go explore Beziers a little more and do the staircase in the afternoon. The available time for travelling through the lock staircase are limited as it takes a long time to get from one end to the other so our aim was to get to the front of the line for the afternoon climb. So off we went back into the wedding cake town. And we got lost...again.... but eventually we found ourselves, had a few semi successful discoveries before coming across the Cathedral that formed the crown of the cake. And oh, was that worth it. What a glorious building. I walked and crawled all the way up the ancient winding staircase to get to the top of the Cathedral which was at the top of the 'cake' to be rewarded with spectacular views.

And the icing on the cake (OK, that's the last referral to cakes) was lunch. Just a stones throw from the Cathedral were a few pretty cafes. We picked the prettiest looking with the best menu with tables in the sun and were not disappointed. We had a lovely meal and then meandered happily back to the boat to head out to tackle the staircase. It was, as ever, hard work but lots of fun. And if we say so ourselves, we did a darn good job of it all. The only challenge was fighting my way through the tourists to catch and secure the lines for each lock. It's quite a tourist trap with people gathering daily to watch the process of boats going up and down.

Unscheduled stop at Poilhes

We had planned the day out but plans went happily astray when we were passing under the bridge at a little village called Poilhes and saw 4 Australians standing on the bridge. We had chatted with the group on a number of occasions and really liked them. They gave the thumbs up to the village so we promptly pulled in to join them for dinner in a remarkably sophisticated restaurant by the canal. We were also joined by three French Canadians. A great and very noisy evening was had by all.

One of the many large barges on the canal

Day 7 and we were heading out for Capestang, not a very French sounding name it is true but we stopped because it looked so pretty....and pretty it was with its winding streets, a HUGE church and very French square of cafes and cake shops. One more stop at the busy and rather commercial little town of Le Somail. It had some lovely canal side cafes and a huge bookshop selling books in lots of different languages on numerous subjects.

And then on for our last stretch on the canal to our destination to say a sad farewell to our little boat and head for our last night in a hotel in Carcassonne. If we had had the time, it would have been great to have visited more of the villages dotted along this part of the Canal but we were grateful for what we were able to see and eager to return at some stage to enjoy more.

Street of 'new' Carcassone

What a delightful and interesting town Carcassonne is...a wonderful addition and a soothing balm to ease the loss of being on the canal. The newer part of town (which is still very old) is lovely with some interesting buildings, wide open squares and cobbled streets. We walked through the lower town and headed to the old walled part of town where our hotel was situated. After booking in to the hotel, we headed back for the market that we had walked through to enjoy the hustle and bustle of buying and selling over a cup of coffee. We then sat and marvelled at the transformation of market to a square of cafes. As the market stalls were dismantled and removed, the tables, chairs and umbrellas came out to replace them. Slowly and steadily the transformation happened with seemingly seamless precision.

The walled town is all a little on the verge of looking like a set from a hotel in Las Vegas and is basically made up of shops, restaurants and cafes with a smattering of ghoulish offerings of museums of torture but it even with all of this it hasn't managed to lose all of the basic interest and charm of an ancient (though rebuilt) town. You can see the underlying charactor and charm of the place and imagine how it might have been in days gone by.

'New part of Carcassone'

Market place turns into cafe

Walled town of Carcassonne

Walled twon of Carcassonne

The main thing that I would say about Carcassonne is that we just did not have enough time to see and experience what it has to offer but we did get to enjoy the hustle and bustle of the market and the cafes in the lower part of town and spend some time in the walled town.

Summary of the week:

Loved the canals. The mixture of the open Camargue and the leafy Midi were just perfect.
Our Boat was owned and run by Locaboat. The boats are a little old and well used but clean, functional and comfortable. We loved our little boat and it was very good value.
Take care of the 'Le Boat' boats....they are the BMW's of the waterways....fast, sleek, rather ugly in their solidness with drivers who often (but not always) did not lower their eyes enough to acknowledge the lower life of the Penichette boaters.
If you are used to sailing in English waters don't expect to take the charts too seriously, it can give you a headache trying to line reality up with charts if you do.
One week is great if you can get it but not really long enough, we were no where near ready to leave the canal.
Seeing wild Flamingos in the Camargue was just amazing.
Don't focus too much on the cleanliness of the canals, just make sure you do NOT fall in. With the plethora of boats and no holding tanks, pollution is not really an issue. It does not smell or cause any problems as long as you treat it as something to sit on, not IN.
The Midi has many small villages which we just didn't have the time to visit as much as we would have liked. And do go off the main track and go away from the canals....you will find some treasures.
People were friendly and helpful almost without exception. Happy to let me struggle with my rather pathetic French and help me out if they could speak English but only to gain clarity or offer an explanation.

You can access the whole set of photos here.

My Introductin to Indonesia

2013-04-15T05:19:00.000+01:00

And what an introduction!!

First of all I went to Jakarta. Why?...I hear you asking did I go to Jakarta?

I went to Jakarta to visit a friend (my ex boss actually) from when I worked in Viet Nam. We have always kept in contact and despite being very different people (tall, elegant and polished v short, tatty and a little rough round the edges), we have always got on very well. So I wanted to see Natalie and she happens to live in Jakarta.

I can't say I fell in love with the city but I had a great time and liked a lot of what I experienced. For those not in the know, it is a HUGE city, busy with lots of people and traffic. I made Ha Noi look like a quiet village in comparison. It is a grand city with wide streets and big buildings but not what I would call attractive, It is a place to live, not really visit.... unless you are visiting friends who happen to live in a rather comfortable part of town......which I was fortunate to be doing!

From from the ridiculous to the sublime......we took a flight to Borneo to do a tip that Natalie has already done and had loved it so much, she was eager to repeat the experience....and with good reason.

We were greeted at the airport by our guide and whisked off to join our boat. We were going to spend the remainder of our time in Borneo on a tiny boat on the river in the jungle with the express intent of seeing wild and semi wild orangutans. As always happens, having the opportunity of seeing these wonderful creatures in their own, natural environment is as different as chalk and cheese to seeing them in a zoo.....no matter how good the zoo is. In one word, it was MAGICAL.

The Orangutans were all rescued and reintroduced into the jungle. Most were the victims of logging where they were orphaned by some accident or intervention. Many of course never make it back into their natural habitat because of the damage (physical or emotional) that they received. The ones who we saw are the lucky ones.

Day One

We arrived on the boat around midday and set off immediately. Nats and I lived on the top deck while the crew inhabited the lower deck. We were so well looked after. The food was excellent. Although sadly the Indonesian food was not suiting me so I was unable to do justice to anything more than the fruit, I really appreciated the effort that the lady went to in very cramped and challenging conditions. We stopped at the first feeding station around 2.00. It was a long weekend (Easter) so the river was very busy with people doing the same as our good selves but in the end, it really was not a problem.
We set off early to get to the station allowing ample time to take the long walk through the forest. The whole expedition took in my two greatest loves in nature.....water and dense forests.....there is something deeply satisfying in being in or by both elements.

We arrived at the feeding station early and got a good place near to the feeding station. The guys and gals started to arrive a few minutes before the bananas offering us an impressive display of acrobatics as they swung effortlessly through the trees. The first day, we saw a large male, a couple of his ladies and their youngsters. We were all there for about 30 minutes until all the banans had gone and then all went out own ways....us on the path back to the boats and our furry cousins swinging through the trees.

A cruise down the river in the afternoon and we began to see the proboscis monkeys. In the afternoon/early

evenings, they all come to the edge of the forest near to the river so we were able to watch them doing all the things that monkeys do in the wild setting. They are seriously ugly with their bulbous noses but they do have a certain charm that is very engaging.

We decided to 'park' the boat away from the jetty where everyone else was and tied up to some sturdy greenery on the edge of the forest. We snuggled up in bed on deck going to sleep to the gentle noises of nature.

Day Two
After breakfast, we set off for the second feeding station. What we missed out on in numbers, were made up for in stature. Only one orangutan appeared but what a handsome fellow he was. He gave us an amazing display of flexibility, swinging on tall thin trees that seemed totally unable to hold some weight and power.

He came down at ground level on the edge of where we were all standing. People who had been enthusiastic in getting as close as possible to him while he was high in the tree suddenly retreated on mass as he headed for ground level. But he was not in the least bit interested in us and ambled leisurely towards the feeding platform where he enjoyed a feast of bananas and milk.

Afterwards, we took a long walk back to the boat and our guide pointed out many trees and plants that the local people still use as medicine including the bark of a tree that they peel and coil and use for keeping the mosquitos at bay. The Forest is so lovely......we were in the secondary forest, the areas that have been reclaimed and reforested. The Primary forest must be truly lovely. There are a peace and silence that are difficult to explain and impossible to replicate.

And so onto our third feeding station. And what a treat we have in store!

This was now Easter Sunday and the number of boats and people have increased with additional local day So we left the boat early and took a long walk around to the station. On route, our eagle eyed guide spotted a mother and youngster in the trees. He called to the them and they came over towards where we were. The next piece needs a little explanation.....

The guides like our guy cannot feed the animals. The only people allowed to feed them are the people who work at the feeding stations themselves. They carry food with them to help to sort out any issues that might develop where they need to draw an orangutan away from people. It happened that one of these 'keepers' was following us on the same track. He saw mum and called her over offering her peanuts. Then much to my surprise and delight, he gave me peanuts to give to both mum and babe. We spent about 15/20 minutes engaging closely with these two and had the best time of the whole trip.

Eventually they both led us to the feeding station where we joined the rest of the visitors.
trippers. They did not have any bananas left to offer so the orangutans were given milk. This offered a whole bundle of interest both for the drinkers and watchers. One of the youngsters didn't seem to have any idea of how to manage the milk unlike his friend who made the best use of a splendid jutting lower lip and a large cupped hand to make the most of the milk....he didn't miss a drop!!! (this is a picture of the messy one!!). There is an adorable video of the other one in the attachment at the end of this blog.

After dinner, we were heading down the river and arrived at the right spot at the right time as a troop of proboscis monkeys were swimming across the river.....again, there is a short video of that on the attachment.

Then in hunt of the fireflies. When we eventually tracked a group down, they were clinging onto a large tree and making it look for all the world like a decorated Christmas tree. Dinner, a short night walk and we all climbed into bed.

Day Three
All too same, we are heading back to civilization. Thankfully the boat is quite slow and there was no rush but all the same, it was just not long enough. I wanted more, much more but am also eternally grateful for this wonderful opportunity. These are a few more favourite images but if you want more, go to the attachment where you will find over 200 (edited down from nearly 500) photos with a few short videos.

Hope you enjoy the photos as much as we enjoyed taking them.

Pat
https://plus.google.com/photos/103791184164606873174/albums/5866564627103384945

Back in Viet Nam

2013-04-13T14:39:00.001+01:00

After an absence of 14 months, I am finally back in Ha Noi. I have no idea why but I love this crazy, noisy city and its stern looking residents who are so easy with a smile and a helping hand when needed. I guess it took me all of about 3 hours to feel at home once more. It is only a visit but thankfully an elongated one for a total of 2 months.

My life when I lived and worked here was busy and pretty intense. Here as a visitor I am enjoying a more relaxed way of being something between a tourist and a visiting dignitary. I had many Vietnamese friends when I was here and have been catching up with all of them. Visiting my old haunts. I was astonished and delighted to find that when I visited the area in which I lived that I was recognized by a number of the local residents.

One elderly lady and her younger daughter live in a small house in an alley that I traversed every day to and from work. I walked by thinking A) they might not be there or B) they would not remember me. Far from it, I was greeted with such warmth, dragged into their room and regaled with a barrage of unintellible Vietnamese 99.9% of which I understood nothing of and it mattered not at all. We laughed and I looked at.she is totally adorable. We have never been able to 'talk' in the conventional sense but it really does not matter. I found the same with another older lady and her family who have a shop selling flowers and a young teenager who used to give me a ride on his motorbike sometimes when it was very hot and I was carrying shopping home from the market. The teenager has grown into a charming young man in the time I have been away.

their family photos that I have seen a dozen times before and basked in the warmth. I did get that the elderly lady is now 80 and looking just great. She goes out for a walk every day down the alley and back with the help of her daughter. Otherwise, she sits on her bed greeting passers by like some sort of Queen in waiting...

I spent the first few days in a hotel but since then the only 'problem' is deciding which offer to accept to stay at my friend's houses The welcome and warmth of heart is quite overwhelming at times and totally wonderful.

My stay here is going to be all too short...the longer I am here, the more that I know that to be the case. I simply must find a way of spending as much time as possible here for as long as I can.

So if you are reading this and are tempted to come.....do so. If you want information about travel etc, I can recommend www.hghue.com, a travel agent based in Hue but covering the whole country and Indochina. I own up to be a little biased as I have written their website and help with their marketing. And if you are planning a trip to Sapa in the north, visit www.sapatourguide. info. Again, I hold my hand up to being rather biased. Panh (pronounced Ban) is a local lady from the Black H'mong tribe and is a dear friend and I developed the site to share her wonderful skills and personality with anyone visiting the area. You will totally fall in love with her....... her English is impeccable and her sense of humor is quite wicked at times.

So yes I am biased. Which is why I spend time talking to whoever will listen about the wonders of this lovely country and supporting people I meet in any way I can to better themselves. So get your ticket, pack you case and come with an open heart and a big smile......and have a great time!!!

Pat

Ha Giang VietNam

2012-03-19T08:05:00.001+00:00

When you go to Viet Nam for a visit...and please tell me that you WILL go and visit this beautiful country, don't miss a trip to Ha Giang Province.

One of the many breathtaking scenes in Ha Giang

Ha Giang is in the north and hosts the most northerly point in Viet Nam before Viet Nam becomes China and it has the most breathtaking scenery.

Quite rightly, everyone makes for Sa Pa and there is good reason. I love Sa Pa. And oh, bye the way, before you go, you might want to take a look at this website that I built for my friend Panh (pronounced Ban). Panh is from the Black Hu’mong tribe and speaks perfect English as well as a number of other languages.

Go visit www.sapatourguide.info to learn more about Sa Pa and what Panh will do to make your stay extra special.

So, let's get back to Ha Giang Province.

Ha Giang is less commercial than Sa Pa. In fact the tourists who go there are, in the main on the back of a motorbike. There are tours arranged from Ha Noi or, of course, if you are really adventurous, you can always go on your own. But be warned, people in this area, in the main, do not speak any English and it is definitely not aimed at the tourist trade.

Being rather a coward when it comes to driving a two wheeled vehicle but loving the excitement of riding pillion, I did it the easy way. I took a local bus from Ha Noi (always an adventure in itself!) and booked a tour guide for 3 days to drive me around the most beautiful part of the Province.

Nam was my guide and was just wonderful. Nam is Vietnamese but lived in America for many years so speaks perfect English and Vietnamese. He has many years of experience with bikes and drives like a pro. He also rents out bikes and offers advice and support in getting the necessary visas. (in order to go to the north of the Province, you have to get a Visa).

He booked me a hotel, collected me from the bus and basically looked after me for the days that we were together.

You can see more pictures of the Province here Ha Giang Province.

Cambodia

2010-09-19T02:34:00.000+01:00

Click here to see photos of Cambodia.

September had a blessed national holiday day so my American pal, Sarah and I planned a trip to Cambodia. Sarah is going back home in December so this was to be our last holiday together.

We flew from Ha Noi via Laos to Siem Reap in the north of Cambodia. Our hotel was basic but great value for money. A quick lunch and we were off exploring the town.

Siem Reap is the town nearest to Ankar Wat and its purpose is mainly to serve the visitors for Ankar Wat. The result is a highly commerical, restaurant riddled town where everyone speaks English and has the sole purpose of getting dollars from you. Its a nice town, well laid out and there not totally Eurpeanised yet.

Ankar Wat is a huge geographical area in which there are numerous ancient temples...some grand, some huge, others more localised temples and smaller. We bought a pass for the week that enabled us to go to any temple without extra costs. As with most people I guess, we headed straight for the largest and the main temple on the first evening. To get to the site, you need to take a Tut Tut which is a carriage pulled by a motorbike. I loved this mode of transport and have lingering and favoured memories of driving around the area enjoying the scenery. It took us a couple of days but we eventually managed to connect with a young guy we liked and we hired him for the rest of the week to drive us wherever we wanted to go. He was great and really looked after us. He made himself exclusively available to us until 6.00pm when he went to school to study management.

So back to the temples.........we both LOVED the ones that were more rugged, that had been taken over by the trees, These trees are called Elephant trees and you can see why when you look at the 'trunks'..they really do look like elephant trunks. Unsurprisingly, some of these sites have been used for shots for the Indiana Jones movies in the past......you do feel like you are in a film set sometimes. It really does pay to follow the advice in the guidebooks to go when most of the visitors are eating breakfast or lunch. The difference in the atmosphere is huge when there are not hordes of photo clicking. video making foreigners crawling over everything....OK, I know I am really one of them but I like to pretend that I am not!

The only downside of going in the quieter times is that you are open fodder for the many people who have something that you do not want to sell you for 'just a dollar'. That was the main downside of Siem Reap. From the minute you leave your hotel to the minute you get back, there will be someone snapping at your heels wanted you to buy something from them or simply to give them money....there are a lot of beggars. The temples are the worst but the town is much the same especially at night. It does get a little tiring at times. They are not aggressive but but very persistent.

It was interesting going to Cambodia from living and working in Vietnam. Both are countries ravaged by recent disasters that led to an unbelievable number of deaths. I have great admiration for the Vietnamese for how they have picked themselves up and are charging forward. They are very resilient and focused. Its probably totally unfair as I was only in Cambodia for one week but I just didn't feel that there. There seem to be quieter, more subservient people....more likely to be led rather be leaders as a general characteristic. I guess I was surprised to find the huge difference in character but that's like assuming that the English are like the French (ha ha) or the Americans and like the Mexicans just because of the proximity of their countries. It took me a few days to adjust but then I did begin to enjoy the differences in the people.

One of the highlights of the trip was that we went horse riding. I was totally amazed by the quality of the stables.....talk about 5 star treatment!!....it was owned and managed by a Cambodian who had lived in America for years and had obviously done very well for himself. We went for 4 hours through the countryside which basically meant that we were paddling (or rather the horses were paddling) through water for most of the time given the fact that we were at the end of the rainy season. It was great if not just a little long to be in the saddle. My horse did not have the best of walking gaits and we walked for most of the time. Out guide had only been riding for 3 months and had obviously had little experience of anything above a walk. We did one trot for about 2 minutes when he abruptly stopped saying that his belly hurt.....hmn......I would have loved to have a canter and my horse was desperate to do the same but I didn't push it as I really didn't have any faith in the ride leader and had the feeling that my horse would be off like a bullet given half the chance. But it was all great fun and we got to see some stuff that we had not seen to date. Unfortunately, photos are limited as I was rather busy keeping my would be galloping steed in check but trust me, it was all rather lovely. Wasn't sure about the herd of water buffalo that we had to ride through. These are big ugly and strong animals and they have an eerie habit of watching you as you move past. They were very edgy about the horses and there were a lot of them.......was glad to be the other side of that part of the ride.

The best bits of the holiday.....

Spending some quality time with Sarah. We chose to spend the 6 days in Siem Reap which gave us a lot of time to do stuff and time to just chill out and chat.

Some of the temples were just wonderful. I also loved the walk up the mountainside we did with our driver.

Driving around in the Tut Tut.

We made friends with some of the locals in town who were fun to be around for a little while.

The fresh air. I had had a cough for a while in Ha Noi and it went almost immediately when we got to Siem Reap. Within two days of being back, it re emerged....just one of the few downsides to life in Ha Noi.

Being active.. I love being outdoors and being active. I did not go anywhere near a computer or a phone for the whole week and it was such a treat. Although of course, I hasten to add that I am more than happy to get back to using the computer just as I am delighted to be back in Ha Noi despite the pollution.

So that was Cambodia. Would not dash back but delighted to have been. The only other area of Cambodia that I would like to visit is the coastline which is supposed to be lovely and, in parts, unspoilt and non touristy..........watch this space, maybe it will happen.

This blog is written with my own personal viewpoint and opinion and in no way reflects any views or beliefs of VSO.

July 2010: Holiday in and around Ha Noi

2010-08-20T13:47:00.000+01:00

In no way does this Blog reflect any thoughts, opinions or ideas of VSO.

July 2010

Frank came over from the UK to join me in Viet Nam for a holiday and we had a blast. It was HOT and very steamy so our energy levels needed to be carefully utilised but despite that, we had a great time.

Frank arrived on the Friday night just in time for a group of my favourite people in the VSO world to descend on Ha Noi to gather together as it was the birthdays of two of their group. This was the group that arrived 2 months after me in March. Four of their group are based in Ha Noi and three in different placements around the country. Anyway, I (we) hosted a drinks get together at my new house (moved in just 3 weeks) then we all went out to dinner together. So for Frank, it was in at the deep end. After a lovely brunch the following day with the group, Frank and I headed to downtown Ha Noi.

After a couple of days in Ha Noi, we headed out for our first trip, two days in the Ninh Binh area visiting the extraudinary beauty spots and a rescue primate centre that had primates peculiar to Viet Nam....cute!!

A few days back in Ha Noi to rest up and explore then we were off to the valley of ........... for a couple of nights. We went primarily because it was supposed to be a place to cool off from the heat of Ha Noi and it turned out to be having a heat wave! Undaunted we pressed on. Day one, we went for a bike ride. Day two a walk and then we went for to visit a cave and went deep into the mountain. It was exhausting and wonderful. Later that day, we took a ride up into the mountains to an ethnic minority village and market. These are the Blue Humong tribes (and they all wear blue) and the Flower Humong tribe (they wear multi coloured clothing. The market was a treasure trove of colour!!

Back to Ha Noi! We sat one evening in the old quarter with a glass of locally brewed beer at a road junction watching the antics of Vietnamese people weaving their round each other with their various loads and passengers.....all of course, on motor bikes.

We loved the first two trips but we definitely saved the best 'til last......Ha Long Bay and Cat Ba Island.

We spent the first day on a rather grotty run down boat, visited the cave then went to Cat Ba Island. Cat Ba is the largest of the islands in the Bay and is mainly made up of mountains with gaps in between where the odd village or town collects. We went to the main town in the south side of the island, booked into the hotel and then went exploring. Cat Ba is something like a mixture of a mini Blackpool and Southsea. For the non English readers, a mixture of pure honest tackiness and cute old fashioned style.

We loved it. We had a drink on the seafront and got offered a massage....hmn......totally unsure, I was ready to say NO until the guy started and then I just relaxed and enjoyed the whole experience. Frank also got the same treatment....hmnnnnn.....

Dinner was less delicious unfortunately but never mind. It was raining heavily in the morning so we skipped the 2 hour trek into the mountains and settle for a walk and a long sit in at a lovely friendly cafe that served drinks and lunch. Back to the hotel to be collected to go to Monkey Island for a couple of hours. Apparently we had the use of a kayak in our deal so kayaking we went. It wasn't too successful at first due to having two skippers onboard with differing techniques but we finally got it together.

Back to the mainland and then back to our boat where we were staying for night 2. No old battered run down boat this time.....the pictures tell their own story. We have a great time and got back to Ha Noi the following evening well pleased with the whole thing.

And then all too soon, it was time for Frank to head back to the UK. It was a great holiday. We saw lots, had a lot of fun and met some wonderful people along the way.

August 2010

2010-08-08T05:34:00.000+01:00

This Blog is based on my personal views only and in no way reflects any views or opinions of VSO.

I never quite know where to start with these blogs. There is always so much to say, too much really in many ways.

General overview:

I continue to love my life here in Viet Nam. I am so so lucky to work in an office with some wonderful people who have become my friends. I look forward to going to work on Monday mornings as much as I look forward to greeting the weekends on Friday afternoons. I also consider myself lucky to be in Ha Noi. Before I came here, when I would tell people where I was coming, previous visitors would smile with lighted eyes and report their own experiences and love of the city. It has to be said that is not a universal opinion..it seems that you love it or hate it but I guess that's the same anywhere in the world. People gasp in horror when I describe Egypt as definitely NOT my favourite destination and a place I am glad I went to visit but would not do a return even on a free holiday.

So what do I love about Viet Nam. The country is beautiful and varied in its terrain from the rice tiers of Sa Pa to the lowlands of the central plains. The people are very special. They make a hobby of cheating vistitors..... it is true. Their concept of service is not always the best, I have to admit. They put no value in the basic things like hand over mouth when sneezing or using toilets instead of road sides to have a pee. The guys especially can be somewhat uncouth....not the image of a sexy dreamboat. But they do (as they say) brush up well and the ones who take care of their appearance and clean up their behaviour can be very attractive.

But they have a wonderful sense of humour. They are friendly. I live in the middle of an old village in the north of Ha Noi that has a large ex pat population mixed in with the people who have lived here for generations. I have chosen to be in a street with less of the ex pats and more of the locals and it is just perfect. They don't perceive us as visitors from outer space (as happens in the more remote areas) but there are not too many of us that they tire of our presence.

I have a growing range of friends here outside of work. I go along to an English group on Sunday afternoons where young Viets get together to practice their English. I go along to help occasionally with pronunciations and vocabulary but mainly to have fun with everyone and to talk English to them in a relaxed way that they don't get from lessons and the internet.

Work I have mentioned. I love everyone at my office but a couple of people in particular are becoming good friends.

I do spent some time with some of the other volunteers but it is minimal. My best buddy over here is Sarah. She and I arrived on the same day and have remained friends ever since. We holiday together and get together as much as possible on weekends given the fact that she lives so far away in the central district. David works in the same office as me as so Kiran and Mike. And I currently share a house with two other VSO volunteers. Other than that, I rarely see other people. They do arrange a regular Friday night get together at a Bia Hoi (a local 'bar' with cheap beer and food) but I rarely go to that. Friday's I just want to chill out with a bit of TV and a good book usually.

My latest involvement is with a group of people called the Three Trees. Three ladies (2 Vietnamese and one NZ) came across a centre for disabled children and elders on the outer edge of the Ha Noi boundary. This was about 3 years ago. The place touched the hearts of these wonderful women and they started to collect funds and to take presents out to the centre. I got involved about 5 months ago when they were wanting to get someone to help who had some experience in Disability and could advice them as to what to do to maximise their input to the centre.

Needless to say, I got hooked. I went on a couple of visits then offered to go one afternoon a week to work alongside the staff to help and to get a better idea of what they need to make things better for the children. With the support of my project manager, that is what I now do. I go with two young Vietnamese people every week in a private car to the centre. It takes us 2 hours to get there and around 2.5 hours to get back (ughy traffic) so we get about 3 hours. The first hour, we do something with the more able, more mobile children and young people. I guess our overall aim here is FUN. We do dancing, exercises, arts and craft.....each week we try and do something slightly different. They are such fun to be with. Some are quite intelligent but have a physical disability, others have learning disabilities. The pictures posted are of this group. They can be quite a handful at times but the more they get to know us, the more they are calming down and just enjoying what we have to offer.

We then go down to the 'cot rooms'. These are the babies and the more disabled children and here, it is a whole different world. Everyone is at the centre because they were abandoned by their families. This can be through stigma (shame at having a non perfect child) or poverty (just simply not being able to cope) or a mixture of both. Whatever reason, the children end up here.

Some of the cot children do not respond at all. Some cry, some just lay inert. And then there are the ones who follow your every move and the ones who reach out. Some of the children recognise us now and associate us with toys and play and maybe getting out of their cots for a while. When I say 'cots' you can draw up an imagine of what that is. But strip your imagined cot of any frills or soft furnishings, these are metal frames with metal slats on the bottom.....no soft furnishings at all. The larger cots are the same format but large enough to hold 6 to 9 children lying down. Again, no soft furnishings. Some lie on a ratten mat but nothing more. The children live the majority of their little lives in these cots. They are fed while lying on their backs and have little to no stimulation. They wear old rags as diapers which get changed when necessary.

I am writing this very factually and as it is. I have been going there for the two months to work alongside the staff. Could more be done for the children in the current situation? Of course. there is always more that we can do. But I also understand the huge pressures that the staff are under. Some of the staff do offer attention to the children and will engage with them during feeding time. (and it is like 'feeding time' with up to 6 children being fed at the same time with the same spoon from the same bowl). But there are too few staff....two staff working with 16 profoundly handicapped babies and children. Resources are appalling. There are no toys for the children, no playground. Most of them never see the outside world at all.

I love my Thursday afternoon with the children. It takes me back to my roots, back to what I love so much to do and have denied myself for so long.......to work directly with children with disabilities. I love that I can contribute- however minutely- some love and attention to these mites who have drawn such a short straw in life. Maybe another time I will share some photos but not until I have permission to do so from the director of the center.

So that is about me up to date in general terms. I will post this and then will shortly post a follow up with LOTS of photos of a recent holiday in Viet Nam that I took with Frank.

Sa Pa April 2010

2010-05-15T12:37:00.000+01:00

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

2010-04-15T17:57:00.000+01:00

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

2010-03-01T14:32:00.000+00:00

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

2010-02-28T01:11:00.000+00:00

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

2010-02-05T08:47:00.000+00:00

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

2010-01-17T09:35:00.000+00:00

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.

2010-01-15T05:35:00.000+00:00

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!

Preparing for Vietnam

2009-12-07T10:58:00.000+00:00

It's December 2009 and we are heading surely but steadily towards Christmas, the start of a new year and, for me, the start of a new adventure. On January 10th 2010, I head for Vietnam to live and work in the capital city of Hanoi certainly for one year, maybe longer.

Why Hanoi? Well, I am going to work for VSO in Hanoi (Voluntary Services Overseas) as a Disability Awareness Advisor. I will be working for two companies. I will spend some of my time in the VSO office and the rest of my time with an organisation called IDEA who support the development of services for people with disabilities. So, a new job in unfamiliar country (never been to Vietnam) doing a new job working with two different briefs for two different companies. Yikes!!

Not as though this sort of crazy, jump in at the deep end type of adventure is new to me. Back in 2005, I did a similar thing when I went to live in Florida to start my own business and a new life. That turned out to be an increadibly exciting (LOVED living in Florida), out of the stratesphere stressful and ultimately, excrutiatingly expensive adventure. US Immigration, horrendous bad luck, some bad decisions all topped off with a slice of the 2009 recession conspired to my losing the everything.

So what do you do when you have nothing and are back where you started? Well, I licked my wounds for a few months and then started to look at my live long wish list. One thing stood out for me that I put on the list in my early twenties and had never done......VSO. So I applied got accepted and here I am on the edge of making the next step into the unkown.

Why so driven?

In all truth I don't really know. I could settle down and get a job and probably be OK with my life. There are sacifices to be made for the life style that I have created for myself, of that, there is no doubt.

I think the drive for me comes from two angles. The first being that once bitten by the adventure of life, it IS a challenge to settle back to more 'normal' activities. The othe angle is my age. I am 59 and want to live life to the max. Life is such a gift to embrace and always wanted to do just that to the degree that I am able. I have missed opportunities in my life...who hasn't.....and I want to minimise that possibility as much as I can from here in.

There is one other factor that I would like to add into the mix and for some this will be a little off the wall so take it or leave it as you choose.

We are heading towards a major time in the calendar of this planet. The Mayan calendar does not stretch beyond 2012. Now this could mean that they just couldn't be bothered to write any more predictions, they lost interest of it coicided with the demise of their culture. Whatever the reason, the prediction suggests possibilties that some intepret as being the end of the world while others suggest that it is the end of the world as we know it. Enegies are shifting, changing, speeding up. Those who are responsive to 'energies' (and NO, I cannot explain what I mean...you know or you don't) experience life as being different to how it was a few years ago. There is a shift that feels like we are heading for something different developing for the planet. Some see it as doom and gloom, I see is as being different. And I want to follow any opportunities that arrive for me and just will not go away in order to be best placed for being and doing what I can to contribute to whatever happens.

So, there you are. Rubbish? Poppycock?.....possibly but all I know is that I am following my heart and there can't be too much amiss with that can there!?

See you soon
Pat