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GoBlue

90 Blog Entries
4 Trips
362 Photos

Trips:

Carl's Circuit
Joc's Journeys
J-Mac's Junket
Viv's Voyage(s)

Shorthand link:

http://blogabond.com/GoBlue




So long, Vietnam!

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Today marked the beginning of the end for me, as I'm now in the home stretch of my trip. Parting ways with Vivian, Carl, and Jocelyn was really quite sad - they are such a great travel "family," and we've had so much fun together! It was really a privilege to spend the majority of my vacation with Saucy, Dub Dub, and Vivouac, as well as with Dave, Maddy, Christi, Mike, Aaron, Ben, Kurt, Brendan, Allison, and Katie.

Luckily, our goodbyes were mixed with a good bit of humor. Just as my taxi pulled up in front of our Nha Trang hotel, the young boy who had tried multiple times to sell us postcards (or, if you are Carl, the chance to lose to him in a game of pool!) showed up as well. This kid was a real kick, and the sight of him standing next to my friends, mimicing their good-bye waves as my taxi pulled away, made me laugh like crazy.

For my last true stop in Vietnam, Nha Trang was a delight. The beach was lovely, we had a great time with Brendan and Allison, and we visited the mineral mud baths for an authentic spa treatment. We even went to a brewpub on the beach for a fancy dinner to celebrate my last night.


Who knew Louisiana-style microbrews are so big in Nha Trang?

Maybe it started with the idea that sat in mud for a half hour to cleanse my skin, but on my journey south to Saigon, I continued thinking about some things that have struck me over the past couple of days. Call them ironies, or contradictions, or just plain rambling ... but bear with me:

-- "Safe" is a relative term.

I was white-knuckled for at least 50% of my short Vietnam Airlines flight to Ho Chi Minh City. Due to some terrible weather, and despite being in a large Airbus jet and not the ATR-72 prop plane, I had one of the bumpiest descents of recent memory.


It's not night time...it's just a big rainstorm that makes landing extra exciting
I'm generally a pretty stoic flyer, but as the plane jolted around, I had to repeat my mantra of "it's nothing worse than a road filled with potholes" many times. Strange, though, that when I hopped in a taxi in torrential downpour to travel the chaotic streets of Saigon (where "traffic" should be called "lunacy"), I was completely unfazed! The reality is that I was in far more danger in a taxi without a seatbelt, but I guess I've become accostomed to honking motorbikes and near-misses.

-- Getting there is more than half the fun.

I think this applies best to our time in Hoi An. On the way into town, we watched the mountain-filled sky turn from blue, to amber, to blazing orange, before it faded into dusty pinks and dusky blues reflected in rice paddies and tributaries.


A gorgeous sunset on our trip from the Da Nang airport into Hoi An...

... and it just kept getting better!
Our driver was kind enough to let us hop out and take pictures. We had been so excited to arrive in Hoi An that it was a surprise to see such a great sight before we even crossed the town line. When it came time to leave town and head back to the airport, we left early to give ourselves time to hit Marble Mountain and China Beach. Marble Mountain is actually 5 separate mountains, all mined for their different colored marble. We climbed up one of the mountains to see its religious caves and pagodas, as well as panoramic views of the mountains, countryside, and ocean.

South China Sea seen from Marble Mountain
Then, we dipped our feet in the warm, sparking waters of China Beach and watched super-shy crabs digging their way into the sand.

Viv frolics in the China Beach surf
China Beach may be the prettiest beach I've seen in South East Asia, and it was certainly the most deserted and least built-up. It's funny how these memories will float to the top, even if they weren't in Hoi An proper.

Hoi An streetscape

Likewise, as Viv described so perfectly in her entry on our tailoring experience, we learned to relish the process more than the end product. While I'm really quite happy with my suit, two dresses, and four pairs of pants, in the long run, it's the memories of being like a kid in a candy store, selecting fabrics and styles with all my friends, that will last.

-- Girl, you'll be a woman soon.

What I'm getting at here is that being an MBA graduate-turned-backpackers is kind of a weird phenomenom. We don't quite fit into the 21-some crowd, which becomes clear when we can't stay up past midnight and party at the clubs/beach parties/karaoke bars to save our lives. (OK, I'm speaking for myself here.) Yet, we share the "trail" with the shoestring travelers, staying at budget hotels, booking economical tours, etc. Mostly, this works out just fine, but on occasion, it's a bit of a mismatch. Case in point: I was thrilled with our decision to upgrade to business class, for a mere $44, on our flight to Hoi An. It was great to arrive a day earlier, and it was even better to do it in such style.


OK, so we don't LOOK like we're business class travelers. Is it because we ate everything in sight in the airport lounge?
Later that night, we arrived at the Vinh Hung 1 Hotel -- which, according to our book, was an "atmospheric old Chinese trading house... an institution in budget hotels," but which in reality offered dark, musty rooms and the occasional cockroach. I found it hysterical, as I fell asleep in a sleepsack, cowering from bedbugs, that I had been flying high in business class earlier that same day.

It's time for me to sign off so I can get a good night sleep before my Saigon-Bangkok-Hong Kong journey tomorrow. Hopefully I'll get some good pictures of the Victoria Harbour skyline on my last night in Southeast Asia. Speaking of pictures, I've uploaded a bunch and added them to some to our entries below, including Halong Bay and Hoi An tailoring. Plus, Aaron has some good ones on his site, too: http://www.aaronshouse.shutterfly.com. Enjoy!


Follow that fish!!

permalink written by  GoBlue on June 28, 2007 from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
from the travel blog: J-Mac's Junket
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You know you're dirty when...??

Da Lat, Vietnam

...a kitten climbs on top of your shoulders and starts grooming your ponytail? Against doctor's orders - "under no circumstances - no matter how cute they are, whether they're dogs, cats, horses, cows, whatever - do not, I repeat, do not, pet them" - I gave in to holding and petting a kitten today. It was in cafe at the Long Bian mountains vista, so clearly a domestic kitten...ok, I'll stop justifying... Anyhoo, after spending some time sitting in my lap and rubbing its head under my hand for some petting, it hopped onto my shoulder and started grooming my ponytail. The irony is that I'm a lot cleaner today (showered, cool temps so no sweating, clean clothes thanks to a recent laundry run, etc.) than other points on this journey.

The real scoop is that Carl, Joc, and I arrived in Da Lat via a 6 hour bus from Nha Trang yesterday afternoon. Da Lat is lauded as a bohemian town set in the mountains and also serves as Vietnam's #1 honeymoon destination; there are far more domestic than foreign tourists. So far I've found this place to be a fairly sleepy town that seems more natural and "Vietnamese." People don't seem to care that 3 foreigners are meandering around in that no one is rushing up to us trying to sell us things or practice they're English. Well, I guess there are the Easy Riders (English speaking tour guides on bikes) who keep trying to convince us to use their tour services...

Weather-wise, Da Lat is a real treat from the rest of Southeast Asia; temps are in the mid to upper 60's. I've been wearing my fleece that I'd long forgotten in my bag. Glad there's a reason I'd been carrying it around all this time (after Australia that is).


View from Longbian

The rainy season that's currently enveloped the region makes rock climbing an impossibility, though we're signed up for some mountain biking for tomorrow. We went to the driving range at the local golf course - a really nice and *expensive* course - last night. Ater we paid for our balls, the woman at the counter called us a caddy and a golf cart and off we were across the course to the range (the caddy hung on for dear life at the back of the cart as Carl hurled us around corners and raced up and down the roads :)). As we continued hitting, about four other course staff appeared. Talk about pressure (for me since I only recently consistently even make contact with the ball!) as they just stood and watched. I wondered what they were doing. Turns out the course doesn't have a machine to pick up balls; they were there to gather all the balls we hit! I felt a lot better having topped several balls such that they were only 25 feet away. ;)


"get under the ball...get under the ball..."

"did i ever tell you guys how awesome i am at golf...??"


"how cool is this??"

permalink written by  GoBlue on June 28, 2007 from Da Lat, Vietnam
from the travel blog: Viv's Voyage(s)
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And then there were three

Nha Trang, Vietnam

Fond farewells to Ms Jennie McConaghy, who left today to begin the journey home - we'll miss you!

We're wrapping up two quick days in Nha Trang, a beach down just south of the demilitarized zone. Despite its potential historical intrigue, Nha Trang has been a place of semi-relaxation for us (or at least attempted relaxation as we have continued to Battle hawkers. The honking is significantly less here though, and there are some alternative cuisines that have temporarily staved off my despair at eating bland dishes and hoping to avoid MSG).


Our beautiful sunny beach day...

...turned to rain (but those thatched umbrellas are really effective!)

Highlights so far first include the company: we overlapped with Brendan and Allison for a day here, and it was great to catch up and bit and swap some stories. We also hit some mud baths today that were quite an experience - my skin is silky soft now (in theory at least).

Tomorrow we grab a bus to head into the mountains of Dalat for a few days. There, gasp, we may even need fleeces at night! Dalat boasts many outdoor attractions including good trekking, mountain biking, some climbing, and semi-natural water slides. Should be a fun change of pace. And from there, it's on to Cambodia to revel in the magnificence of Angkor Wat!

permalink written by  GoBlue on June 27, 2007 from Nha Trang, Vietnam
from the travel blog: Joc's Journeys
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Turns out I'm not a very good pool player . . .

Nha Trang, Vietnam

So, since my last post, we have left Hoi An, the tailoring capital of SE Asia. For more on how our tailoring experience turned out, read Joc and Vivian's blog entries. I refrained from spending too much money on the process, but our group as a whole spent a lot of time and money getting "cheap" tailored clothes made from scratch. It is a fascinating and scary process because you have no idea what you are purchasing, but fun nontheless. Aside from tailoring, we spent a wee bit of time at the beach and hanging out at restaurants and local bars. Oh! I almost forgot . . . we also had our first motorbike rental experience in Vietnam. From our previous posts, you might surmise that this was quite an experience. I thought it was fun and no one was hurt, so it was extremely worthwhile.

After leaving Hoi An two days ago, we flew to Nha Trang in a two-engine prop plane. We've since spent a lot of time relaxing--watching Wimbledon in our room, playing pool at a local pub, hanging out on the beach, and visiting local herbal mud baths. (On a side note, I irritated my ankle a week ago by hiking, not stretching and doing back flips off of our junk boat in Ha Long Bay. So, I am looking for a few days of down time to give my ankle a chance to let the swelling subside--almost there). Part of my Nha Trang experience has involved multiple rounds of "haggling" with a local boy over purchasing some of his postcards. He immediately challenged me to a game of pool with the condition that if he won, I would buy his postcards. I knew immediately that because he challenged me to this, there was no way I could beat him. Still, after a number of conversations with this kid (I thought he was 10 or 11, turns out he is just about 16), I decided to play him just to see how good he was . . . the short of the story is I will be sending 10 people a beautiful postcard from Nha Trang, Vietnam (if you'd like to be one of the 10, please send me your address!).


Carl being bested my a mini poolshark

Anyway, after a brief visit to Vietnam's favorite beach town, we are leaving Nha Trang tomorrow morning for a "very Bohemian experience" in the temperate mountain town of Dalat. I'm looking forward to some more beautiful vistas and potentially some mountain biking, climbing and golf, depending what my ankle allows.

I know I've been promising pictures for a while, but we have been struggling to find internet with decent speed that will allow for picture uploading . . . hope it is coming soon.

PS - I met a a 53kg female Rottweiler yesterday named Su Su. She is a large, gorgeous dog who is in way too hot of an environment for how large and black she is . . . still, despite losing a fist full of hair to my hand while petting her, she was happy to see me . . . I miss dogs.


permalink written by  GoBlue on June 27, 2007 from Nha Trang, Vietnam
from the travel blog: Carl's Circuit
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Haute Couture

Nha Trang, Vietnam

It turns out that getting things tailor-made takes a decent amount of time. Essentially, it ended up being the main activity for us in Hoi An. A quick process synopsis...

Katie and Viv surrounded by fabric

  • Phase 1: Design Doodling

    • Step 1 - You sift through giant catalogs searching for a style/clothes.
    Step 2 - Sales person scribbles/doodles down the design that you've picked out.
    Step 3 - You stare at the reams and reams of fabric surrounding you (slight honey glazing of the eyes occurs) and pick what you want your clothes to be made out of. (This was a lot harder than I thought it would be. I don't think I'm very good at grabbing a swath of fabric and confidently seeing the final product...)
    Step 4 - Sales person spins you around while she takes measurements and shouts them to an assistant taking notes. (At the first tailor I was admonished for wearing a sports bra to get fitted. Apparently that's a no-no. Something about my chest being "flattened" and not as "lifted" as it would be in the made clothes had I been wearing a "real" bra. Right...well, I learned my lesson.)
    Step 5 - You wave good bye and promise to return in a mere 24 hours.

    One of Joc's many measurements

    A necessary step in Carl's search for the perfect Western shirt

  • Phase 2: Fitting and Alterations

    • Step 1 - You try on your clothes piece by piece and get scrutinized. The sales folk break out chalk to mark you up as well as needle and thread to sew the item to fit as it's hanging on you.
    Step 2 - Return a couple of hours later to repeat Step 1.
    Step 3 - Return several hours later to repeat Step 1.
    Step 4 - Return the next day to repreat Step 1.
    Step 5 - You run out of time and hope the final alterations were the "final" alterations.

    Aaron is Bain-ready in his new dress shirt

    Viv and Jocelyn selecting buttons

    I had a great experience (emphasis on "experience") with the tailoring. We ended up at 2 different tailoring shops (Bi Bi Silk and Be Be Designs..."same, same but different" as they like to say in these parts) and I had success at both. Bi Bi was about 1/3 cheaper than Be Be, but the service of the latter was better. Ultimately I walked away with a few summer dresses, a few pairs of pants, a couple of skirts, and a bathing suit. Carl was the most restrained, picking up only a western style short sleeved shirt. The rest of the crew collectively picked up a number of suits, dress shirts, dress pants, dresses, etc. I'd be lying if I said there weren't any misses. Katie, for example, ended up with a formal dress that looks like a maternity dress that I bet she'd be happy to pass along. Any takers?

    Besides the tailoring, Carl, Joc, Jennie, and I used our collective bargaining power to amass some plates. Yes, you read that right, plates, and yeah, they're not light. While the price was mostly right, Carl, Joc, and I learned that the price to mail them home was definitely not right. A bit of a stomach punch one might say. Here's hoping the boxes make it home in one piece...emphasis on the *one* piece.

    Carl, Joc, Jennie, and I rented some motorbikes and sneaked in a couple hours at the Hoi An beach - between fittings of course. With a sunset for a background, the beach was full of locals relaxing; it was really nice to see. Small "restaurant" stands with plastic seating were all along the beach; each one of multiple families enjoying their evening and dinner together. While we did not eat on the beach, we did enjoy a nice orange fanta (my favorite!) before heading back to town to meet up with Katie and Aaron for dinner.


    Enjoying our motorbikes

    Orange Fanta...YUM!

    We've since made it to Nha Trang - Vietnam's premier beach town - met up with Brendan and Allison, and hung out at the beach today. They're unfortunately leaving us tonight on an overnight bus to Hoi An. It's been great to catch up and exchange beta regardless! We're planning another beach day tomorrow and mostly likely heading to Dalat the day after. We lose Jennie tomorrow evening for good as she makes her way home. Sad. And then there were three...

    permalink written by  GoBlue on June 26, 2007 from Nha Trang, Vietnam
    from the travel blog: Viv's Voyage(s)
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    Hoi An Happenings

    Hoi An, Vietnam

    Arriving back in Hanoi after Ha Long Bay, Joc, Carl, Katie, Jennie, and I said "later!" to Aaron who headed off to Hue and decided ourselves to make our way to Hoi An a day earlier than planned. Unfortunately (um, except not), the only seats available for the following day were on business class. We took them, flew into Da Nang, and arrived in Hoi An (~30 km ride) yesterday evening. The transport to Hoi An led us along a long stretch of beach, past China Beach and the marble mountains, and through a *gorgeous* sunset.

    Hoi An is known for its tailoring and has over 200 shops. Thus far, we've hit up a recommended tailor and put in some "test" orders. After flipping through a number of catelogs, I decided to go for a long linen skirt, a sun dress, and a bathing suit. It's all a gamble, particularly the last item for me, when it comes to tailor made, but a number of our friends who have already gone through these parts have had at least partial success, and it's all comparatively inexpensive. JMac picked up a dress, Katie ordered several, and Joc ordered jeans, pants, and a jacket...Carl just watched and provided input. (Fear not, we got a rather large beer in him before we dragged him along for the experience.) We try on our items tomorrow...yup, that's right a 24 hour turnaround...sit for any alterations and that's that. Fingers crossed as if everything works out, orders for suits will be forthcoming by Joc and Jennie. I, on the other hand, have more suits from my previous life than I know what to do with. Anyone??

    permalink written by  GoBlue on June 23, 2007 from Hoi An, Vietnam
    from the travel blog: Viv's Voyage(s)
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    From Ha Noi to Hoi An

    Hoi An, Vietnam

    Halong Bay was as spectacular as ever, though with far more people than there were 7 years ago - almost to the point of compromising our experience, but not quite. Our tour did a good job getting farther off the beaten path on our second day, when we did some kayaking in and amongst lagoons. We were also lucky in getting a cool group of 7 people to hang out with.

    Hanoi, however, didn't really welcome us back - no incidents, but we were ready to move on so we changed our flights to go down to Danang/Hoi An one day ahead of time. So far this town is much better suited towards me - a good bit less busy, fewer people, less honking, etc. We booked a functional hotel for our first night and then Carl and Viv scouted a great hotel that will host us for our remaining three days here.

    The main point of Hoi An (its "brand", if you will), is tailoring. This morning we went to a shop that had been recommended by some friends and spent about an hour looking through catalogues and selecting a few tester items. Measurements were made, fabric selected, and tomorrow morning at 11am we will see whether this is going to work! It's pretty fun...

    And now, off to the pool!

    permalink written by  GoBlue on June 22, 2007 from Hoi An, Vietnam
    from the travel blog: Joc's Journeys
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    Adolescence can suck, kinda.

    Hoi An, Vietnam

    Well, everyone knows how difficult the teenage years can be . . . I've decided that Viet Nam is firmly in the middle of its teenage years . . . It is not quite the young, developing country that makes one appreciate the difficulties of life; yet, it is definitely not a fully functioning, healthy country (politically, economically, or otherwise). This, I'm learning, can make traveling difficult.

    For instance, you will learn from reading all our blogs on this site that we haven't yet met a foreigner traveling in Viet Nam who has not been ripped off (to varying degrees). From a different angle, we also have found it incredibily efficient to book tours to see the country (so far Sa Pa and Ha Long Bay), but with this comes a certain feeling of being part of a large herd. Because of the infrastracture here we have found it difficult to get too far off the beaten path, forget about planning an adventure on our own sans tour guide.

    Still, all that said, I have been incredibly happy with my Viet Nam experience so far. Ha Long Bay was ridicuosly gorgeous, great green "mountains" rising out of calm, warm bay water (pictures coming soon). Even Hanoi grew on me after a while, granted for a while there I thought I was going to go the way of my father and also loose my hearing in Viet Nam, but I eventually learned to tune out the constant honking. I also became less concerned with walking into oncoming traffic (because every place I walked there was oncoming traffic of some type).

    Now that we are in Hoi An, I'm also finding the Viet Namese people to be more warm and friendly. We aren't exactly off of "tourist row", so I don't think it is purely a result of leaving the heavy tourist areas . . . I can only guess that people in the North might be less welcoming, but I have had such a limited experience here that I couldn't say for sure . . .

    So far Hoi An seems like a great place. We saw an amazing sunset as we drove from Danang to Hoi An last night (as a side note, we passed the old US Army base in Danang and I was wondering if my Dad had been to the same place before . . .). Hoi An is a sleepy little town that has over 200 tailors! The ladies who form my traveling entourage were fitted today for various pieces of clothing that will be made from scratch for them tonight and ready to be tailored tomorrow. Pretty cool. The town also has some great restaurants, bars and other shops, making it a great place to spend a few days. I'm also hoping while we are here to spend some time finally uploading some pictures . . .

    permalink written by  GoBlue on June 22, 2007 from Hoi An, Vietnam
    from the travel blog: Carl's Circuit
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    Hanging in Ha Long Bay

    Ha Long, Vietnam

    Upon returning to Hanoi from Sapa on the overnight bus, Joc, Carl, Aaron, Ben, and I met up with Jennie and Katie..ok, more like busted into their hotel room at 7am demanding to use their shower...we were dirty, and I mean 30km of trekking sweat and dirt + deet + sunscreen + no shower for 3 days type dirty. can't really blame us right??

    Cleaned up, we all hopped on an 8:30am bus to Ha Long Bay (a 3 hour ride from Hanoi) where we jumped on a junk boat. (We bid farewell to Ben who had to take a shorter tour so that he could get back in time to catch his flights out of the country that would ultimately land him in Israel. Miss you BJ!) We spent the next couple of days puttering around on the water taking swimming breaks, hiking through the largest cave in the bay (a little cheesy giving the colorful lighting on the walls), kayaking in and out of lagoons (beautiful scenery and great to be active), and plain lounging about on deck - boy was the sun powerful! Night one was spent on the boat - luckily no one got seasick! - and night two was spent on Cat Ba island, one of the larger islands found in the bay. I thought we'd left behind all the people wanting to sell us things at the ferry; I was wrong. People with row boats full of goods were constantly approaching our boat. Pretty amazing.


    our hidden beach where we enjoyed a post-kayak swim


    Inside the "Amazing Cave." It's a cave...really!


    Carl and Joc at home in their kayak

    I shared a kayak with Simon from Australia, who was practically an engine. We were flying!

    One of many gigantic, seafood-based feasts out on Halong Bay


    wheeee!!!

    carl's kokopelli dive


    "here i go!"


    Halong Bay sunset, night one

    Not the only ones visiting the "Amazing Cave"!


    Even on water, the selling doesn't end


    Our boat, like most other tourist "junk" boats, was ornamented with dragon heads


    Celebrating our last night in Ha Noi at the Green Tangerine ... yum!

    permalink written by  GoBlue on June 22, 2007 from Ha Long, Vietnam
    from the travel blog: Viv's Voyage(s)
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    At 5:45 am, I fell out of bed because the roll-away mattress fell off the cot

    Hanoi, Vietnam

    See title. :)

    Seriously, though, I can't get over how funny this was. I was sleeping on the make-shift third bed in our room at the Prince II Hotel, which was a mattress atop a camping cot about 70% its size. Needless to say, this was not the most stable contraption. When I woke up, I reached for my watch to see what time it was, and next thing I know I'm on the floor, legs legs in the air, mattress on its side, laughing hysterically. So much for trying not to wake up Viv and Katie.

    permalink written by  GoBlue on June 21, 2007 from Hanoi, Vietnam
    from the travel blog: J-Mac's Junket
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