Hello Halong Bay

This elderly woman lives in a fishing village in Halong Bay. She's an adorable lady who probably weighs about 30 kgs. I know I shouldn't have taken her picture but she did encourage me. I did give her a few US dollars. Some people just walked up to her, took a picture and turned around and left. At least I always have the decency to ask before I shoot.

Much has happened since I last posted. I've left Hue and gone on to Hanoi. Now I am back in Hanoi after a three day kayaking/boat trip on Halong Bay.

I've taken a cooking class, done some hiking and tons of socializing. I'm still having a great time. I got my visa for India sorted out. All that I need to do now is buy a ticket to Mumbai and I am all set.

In the meantime, I am enjoying my time here in Vietnam. In such a sort time I have seen a lot. I can't begin to describe all the wonderful and intriguing people I have met. When you travel alone it can get quite solitary. Fortunately I keep meeting people who are so warm and understanding that I don't have much time to pause. Only now I pause because I am too drained to do anything.

ho ho hoian

Sweet potatoes sold in the shape of cookies were difficult to pass by so I sampled some and chatted with this lovely lady. Once a foreigner sees another doing something he'll try himself. He just needs encouragement. I sat down with this lady munching on this snack and one by one curious tourists stopped and asked me what I was eating. It only takes one person to try.

After taking the night bus, I arrived in Hoian early yesterday morning. With poor air conditioning and too many people, the bus ride was as uncomfortable as you can get. At the four hour mark, our driver stopped at a restaurant for a half hour break. After unloading all his passengers he sped out of the car park and returned two hours later. Needless to say, we weren't happy campers.

Battered but safe we arrived around 7 am. I took a quick shower at my hotel and ate breakfast at the restaurant. This week in Hoian, there's some sort of Buddhist holiday so Vietnamese news reporters and photographers are out in full force. And they all seem to be staying at my hotel. What a rowdy bunch these men are. One of them invited himself to sit with me at breakfast. He spoke very little English but he knew enough to tell me what type of camera he used and where is gallery is. I was too tired to take him up on his offer of a tour around Hoian on his motorcycle. Besides it was pouring rain and I just spent 12 hours on a damn bus. Tomorrow I will go see his photos.




The historical old town of Hoian is a living and breathing museum. Designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site, there's buildings and structures here that date back to the early 19th century or earlier. You really need to see the beautiful architecture to believe it. What I really like are the narrow cobblestone roads and the variety of wooden buildings.

Touts or hawkers have been banned from the city centre so it's a welcome change from everywhere else in Vietnam. No one is harassing me to buy anything. Truth be told though, the other reason people come to Hoian is for the tailor shops. This is one of the best if not the best places in Asia to get clothes made. People come here to get whole wardrobes made.

No doubt the inhabitants know this and have capitalized on this money making business. I was in the market yesterday and I was approached at least five times to come look at patterns. I only said yes once. That's all it took. I didn't spend a lot but I had two tops, one dao and three pairs of short pants made. At that I had to restrain myself and keep to my budget. All in good fun.



So yesterday and today, I have been walking around and taking photos. I wanted to go to this historical site, My Son, but since I am alone, every tour place and cyclo driver wants to overcharge me by ridiculous amounts of money. So for once I said screw it and ignored this tourist hotspot. Who said you have to see every historical place in every historical city? Six months from now, I will probably have trouble remembering what the heck I saw anyway.

I'm taking a cooking class tomorrow and then the next morning I am off to Hue. I am supposed to fly to Hong Kong on April 1, but I will try to change my ticket. I want another week in Northern Vietnam. There's supposed to be some great hiking opportunities up there.

na na nha trang

Warm beer never tasted so good. I should know since I had plenty while sitting with my new family. It's amazing how the communication problems decreased, the more beer we drank.


Here Marcel gives his new friend a piggyback ride. I promise I won't tell anyone, Marcel, honest! Truy was definitely a handful but since we're both "teachers" we had fun joking around with her.

Much has happened in the last few days in Nha Trang. What started out as an idle moment at the beach turned into moments of sheer madness. Noteworthy highlights include being adopted by a Vietnamese family, adopting a Vietnamese girl and volunteering at a school for street kids.

By chance, I bumped into Marcel near the beach and he convinced me to stay on an extra day to go on a boat trip. Earlier this day, I was sitting at the beach taking pictures and taking in the atmosphere. Many families were about having picnics and enjoying themselves. One such family beckoned me over to join their party. They plied me with beer and food. One man wanted me to take the all the children with me (they had six with them) while another man wanted to kiss me. I don't think his wife was amused. I just wish I knew some Vietnamese. Our time consisted of a lot of smiling and hand actions. Great laughs though.

After meeting Marcel we went for a walk on the beach. We were sitting down and this cute Vietnamese girl tried to sell us postcards. Since I had already been ripped off by a boy the other day, I didn't want anything more to do with postcards. Anyway this girl just wouldn't take no for answer. She just sat beside us and was a typical annoying child. Despite this her tactis were quite funny. She pretended to cry but I could see the gleam in her eye so I just laughed and threatened to throw her in the water. We finally managed our escape and went off to other things. I thought that was the end of her.

But I was wrong. At dinner that night, she managed to track us down. Trying to sell postcards, she harrassed the patrons sitting outside in the restaurant section of town. And she found us! So we invited her to eat with us. We drew pictures on a napkin and tried to make conversation. We learned her name was Thuy (pronounced like Tree) and was fourteen years old. Good times.

After Thuy walked us to our next destination, we decided to go to Crazy Kim's for a drink.

Crazy Kim's Bar is run by a Vietnamese-Canadian woman in the centre of Nha Trang. Attached to the bar is an English school for street kids. You can sign up at the bar to volunteer to teach street kids. Hands off the Kids is the name of the campaign and part of the proceeds from the bar go towards fighting the paedophilia problem in Nha Trang. I remember reading an article in the Globe and Mail about this woman a few years ago. Actually this same article was posted in her bar along with various other articles published in the media.

The day before this I went to volunteer with no expectations. Two young British girls were running the class and a Vietnamese man stood in the back. Maybe it's because it is a volunteer position for these girls but they didn't seem to take it seriously with no structure and continuity to the class. It was painful to be there. As a volunteer, I was to sit with students and help them pronounce the words. It was a long two hours.

Pedophiles are a big problem in Nha Trang. I told Marcel I am going to send one of the pics of him with Thuy to the Australian embassy. He didn't see any humor in my suggestion though.

beach blanket baby

Being on the side of the road seems to be a regular occurrence with the modes of transportation here. Fortunately it wasn't serious and we were back on the road within an hour. You can see my busdriver was not amused that I took his photo.

After 11 not so delightful hours on a crowded bus, I arrived after 7 pm in the beach town of Nha Trang. I am not looking forward to the two remaining long trips I have to make to reach Hanoi. I went with the cheapest option and booked an open bus ticket from Ho Chi Minh to Hanoi (roughly 1714 km) for only $14US.

Anyway, the bus driver scared the living daylights out of me. He was driving at speeds I didn't think were possible. Then every thirty seconds or so he would sound his horn to warn others (I presume)to get the heck out of the way. Everyone was looking at one other in absolute horror. At times I thought this was it. Sleeping wasn't possible so I just read and prayed for the best. This is what you get with cheap options--increased probability of sudden death or injury. Other people might call it adventure.

Marcel,the Aussie I met on my Mekong trip, took the bus with me for half the journey as he was going to another beach. Having some company on this eventful ride was welcomed. So if I were to die alone at least someone would hear my screaming.



Still reeling from my brush with death, I spent the best part of today at the beach. Nha Trang has one of the most famous beaches in Vietnam. Like most popular beaches you can drink, eat and get massaged. I drank at the beach, wrote in my journal and did lots of people watching. Unlike in Thailand, I wasn't hassled every two minutes or so to buy something. I met an Aussie girl last night and she said this area is the most touristic of the places she had been in Vietnam. I can't agree because I feel much more comfortable here. In Ho Chi Minh, I didn't feel 100 percent secure, especially when I was walking around Saigon River.

After the beach, I went to the Long Thanh art gallery. Actually that was the reason I came here. I wanted to see Long Thanh's stunning black and white photography. I knew the man's work but I didn't know he had a gallery here until I opened up the Lonely Planet's guide. I wanted to meet him but he was developing film in the dark room. His wife told me I can email if I would like to talk to him or come by again.

I've decided to extend my time here in Vietnam. That's if I can ever get Cathay Pacific on the damn phone. I've been trying to reach them but the line is always engaged. I'm still working out how to get my Indian VISA. There's an office in Hanoi but the problem is that here in Vietnam, the hotels and guesthouses always keep your passports for police checks. I'm sure it will work itself out in the end. I won't worry about it until I get to Hanoi.

Mekong Delta Home Stay

I don't have enough time and energy as I thought I would when I started my trip. So that's why I haven't updated this blog for a few days. Also the weather is just too good to be sitting inside sorting through pictures and checking email.

My two day trip to Mekong Delta was awesome. Despite long delays with ferries, being stranded on the side of the highway and other unforeseen events, I had a wonderful experience. I met a nice Aussie couple from Sydney who were in Vietnam to celebrate their tenth year wedding anniversary.

We went to two floating markets- the largest and smallest- in the delta and took numerous boat rides on the upper and lower Mekong Delta. A bamboo stick was fasten to the end of the stern and at the tip of the stick was the piece of fruit that was for sale. So you could see pineapples and other fruits swinging freely in the wind.

At night some stayed in either a hotel in the city or a home stay with a Vietamese family. I chose the home stay. Most of my group stayed in bungalows alongside the river. I slept in the main house with the family.

We enjoyed a wonderfully prepared homemade Vietnamese dinner that included tofu, elephant fish, rice noodles and other wonderful treats. My dinner mates were from Germany, Australia, South Africa and France. We had some good laughs over dinner.

What I enjoyed the most was crusing along the rivers and seeing the riverside villages. What I enjoyed the least was the lack of washroom facilities that exist on a motorboat and the tremendous need I felt for one at the beginning of my journey. Most of you will agree that when travelling there's always the dilemma choosing between dehydration and a full bladder. Either way you can't win.

Our guides were Fong and Hung. Both had very strong Vietnamese accents so it was slightly difficult to understand them when they spoke. We stayed with Hung's family in his village. Since I was the first one up in the morning, I walked around with him a bit and chatted. He even put on some English music on for me. While on the boat rides, I asked him to tell us stories about his family and his life. He was very accomodating as he told about his arranged marriage, his family and his business.

As the youngest son in a family of 10, he taught himself English from a book and started a home stay business six years ago after listening to the suggestion of a tourist couple. He has never looked back and his business is booming.

starting my Vietnam experience in Ho Chi Minh

I've been in Ho Chi Minh for two and a half days. The hot weather is a welcome change from what I was getting in Hong Kong. With sunscreen in hand, I have seen much of what Ho Chi Minh has to offer.



I have visited museums, Cu Chi city and its tunnels, art galleries and various markets. I took a few motorcycle rides and each time was equally terrifying. In fact, walking across the street is life threatening. There's so many scooters and motorcycles driving at lightening speed. Luckily with bikes, the driver can swerve around pedestrians unlike larger vehicles. After two days, I have the hang of it. Most times I follow a Vietnamese person out into the traffic. Otherwise I just close my eyes and go.



Tomorrow I am off on a two day tour of the Mekong Delta.

PS. Vietnamese traditional clothing is absolutely beautiful. If I ever get married, I want a Vietnamese wedding dress. I looked at some dresses today and they took my breath away.

Woody Allen once said, success is eighty percent showing up. So keeping that in mind I ignored the crappy weather and proceeded on my second day in HK. I took in a lot of Hong Kong's sights and sounds by foot. I ventured around Central, which is on the northern part of Hong Kong island and where all the action appears to be.

In spite of the weather, I took the tram up to the Peak, the highest point on Hong Kong island. Myself and the other five hundred people were greeted with nothing but a panoramic view of fog and mist. I don't know what I expected to see because on the ground you could clearly see the fog blocking the few of the mountains. When I am back in Hong Kong in three weeks, I hope the weather will permit me a better view from the top.

I'm off to Ho Chi Minh tomorrow.

can you say Jet Li? Chow Yun Fat?

Like the tourism board suggests, I discovered Hong Kong. Although I was still tired from my last night in Busan, I dragged my butt out of bed for some sightseeing. The city is very tourist friendly so I had no troubles getting around. I didn't get lost once. (Really)

Hong Kong, is quite nice. I love the color, color, color everywhere. Since the weather was overcast today, it made for interesting contrasts in my pictures.

I've taken about 400 photos but I won't post them all while I am travelling. It just takes too much time. Besides I want to bore everyone with my photos when I visit. Speaking of photography, there's about a zillion camera shops everywhere. Most of you know that I want to buy a new DSLR camera when I get to Canada (whenever that will be)and seeing all these cameras makes it oh so tempting to buy one now. Also adding fuel to my desire is the fact that my digital camera is giving me grief.

With only a few hours remaining in Korea, I spent as much time as possible with my friends before I left. I met Carol for one more meal of bimbibap and immediately afterwards I met Ryan, Angus and Peter for a few drinks.

Julie is kind enough to go to the airport with me tomorrow morning. Right now she's out with Ryan drinking still. I still have some stuff to do so I cut myself off.

So this time tomorrow I will be in Hong Kong. Wish me safe travels and keep sending emails.

If another person asks me if I am excited about my upcoming travels, I will scream. Excitement is far from the emotion I am feeling. Drained is more like it. Yesterday I rushed from meeting to meeting to see people one more time. Then today I met with a couple other old friends. I can't say I will never return to Korea but I feel it's a good idea to say goodbye just in case.

I have a zillion things to do and I am starting to feel the pinch. Actually today I managed to pick up my passport, transfer money, mail packages and exchange currency. I feel good knowing that all the big stuff has been taken care of. Now I just have to pack and clean the apartment. Oh the joy that awaits me.

Don't ask me why Adrian sent me this photo. The only reason I can think is that he wants me to post it here. So there you go, Adrian, happy? Now stop harassing me about my Korean boyfriend. There isn't one!

I am looking forward to seeing everyone in Ottawa in a few months! I hope we can play football and do some inline skating.

Christine's holding up a great t-shirt in Nampodoing. I wanted to buy it but it was too snug in the shoulders.

After spending a few hours with Grant, I met Della for lunch at the Indian restaurant in Sasang and a movie at my place. Later Christine joined us for several cocktails at Guri in Seomyeon.

There's no doubt about it-- I have to get ready for my trip. I've been putting so much off. Packing and cleaning await me. I am going to make myself focus tomorrow.

My last day at Wilshire was filled with relief and sadness. It's always sad leaving the familiar and the comfortable. At the same time, change is invigorating. Adventure is just around the corner for me. I am excited to turn the next page in my life. (Yes, I know that sounds cheesy)

We went out to Jade Garden for my farewell dinner. I should mention I did not choose the restaurant despite it bearing my moniker. The night was pretty somber but I enjoyed myself. Jake presented me with a beautiful jewelry box. I was surprised but elated to receive such a thoughtful gift. Ryan joked that there's probably is a return ticket to Busan in the lining of the box.

Independence Day in Korea

I don't know who this couple is but they were cute and kind enough to let this stranger take their picture. Today, March 1, was Samil-jeol or the aniversary of the Independence Movement from Japan so all of Korea took a holiday from work and classes. Christine and I trekked over the mountain in Seomyeon to Gwangali beach. We were welcomed with a panoramic view of Busan. We could see for miles. It was beautiful. Many others took advantage of the spring-like weather and sat atop of the mountain enjoying picnics and their friends.