Hard at work in Hanoi

My four lovely flatmates (soon to be 2 more of us!)

 

Met a few Hanoi University students while trying chè on the street 

I arrived to Hanoi on Monday, March 18th after taking the train through the night from Danang. Quynh from CVTD was there waiting for me with my name on a sign (only the second time this has ever happened to me; it always feels like the movies!). She and I were on our way very quickly, and struggled through a bit of language barriers as well as terrifying traffic. We literally walked in the street trundling my giant suitcase behind us. I was very stressed, and we also had to take two buses for one hour to arrive at the CVTD apartment. Luckily the bus here is only about $0.30, like in Bangkok.

Despite a little grumpiness on my part (and thoroughly admirable good will on Quynh's), we arrived and I was able to relax. I met some of the staff and, as luck would have it, all I had to do that first afternoon was await the evening birthday party of a fellow volunteer. We had delicious cake and food, and I was able to join the little community here on a strong note.

Kim Chung primary school at pick-up time

My duties here include teaching one class of children per week, two weekly classes for adults, and offering my experience with blended learning as a sort of consultant. I'm apparently leading a presentation about blended learning for 900 people on Monday morning!!! More to come on that. I've also been tasked with the creation of an intensive beginning English curriculum for unemployed students. I'm working much more than I expected, but I actually enjoy it; I feel much better when I put my entire efforts into productive work. I'm so glad I chose to volunteer as part of my travels — I was getting tired of relaxing, to be honest.

Rice fields and hypermarket complex right next door 

Every few days, I make the hour-long, 25 km bus trek into Hanoi city to explore a bit. So far, I've seen the Hoan Kiem lake, enjoyed a concert at the French Institute, watched short films by young Vietnamese directors at the Goethe Institute, and met up with Couchsurfing locals. One night, I even ran into some recent CELTA veterans with my Spanish flatmate Ana! I toasted their success and we had an interesting night... at times completely forgetting to "grade" our English to Ana's level. But everybody kept spirits up, and I was really glad to meet them. I'm very glad I did my CELTA at Chiang Mai, though, because these guys said they had to commute by motorbike (?!) every day to their course premises. And you know what that means: putting your life in the hands of Hanoi's most nefarious daredevils at least two times a day!

I used my face mask to keep pollution away
and distract from my mosquito-bit eyes.

Couchsurfing in Danang

Pagoda on the hill in Danang 

Couchsurfing brings people together!

After my fantastic experiences with the Couchsurfing community in Bangkok, I was eager to participate more. I found a lovely host in Danang after I left Hoi An, and she and her parents even picked me up at my hotel in Hoi An. It turns out one of their relatives works/owns the establishment across the street from the luxurious Huy Hoang Garden Hotel!

Nhi, my host, is married to a Vietnamese guy who is currently working all the way in Finland, and she occasionally hosts Couchsurfers at her parents' amazing, three-story home. It is absolutely beautiful, and even has a small moat inside! We dropped my things off and Nhi took me by motorbike on a little night tour of her city. I had eaten my Hoi An feast right before the half-hour drive to Danang, so we just got coconut jelly drinks and sat chatting by the busy riverside. She pointed out the beautiful bridges in Danang (known as the city of bridges!) as she sped us expertly around the moderately heavy motorbike traffic.

In the morning, we had tasty noodles for breakfast at a local place. I hardly saw any foreign tourists in Danang, but I can't see why - it's a very beautiful city with lots to explore. Marble Mountain is several kilometers away and attracts tourists of its own, but Danang itself is a large city with lots of potential, I think. We skipped Marble Mountain this time, but Nhi and I went to a hilltop pagoda (I forget the name) and enjoyed the beautiful views. It reminded me of Marseille, where you can drag yourself to the top of a steep hill to see Notre Dame de la Garde. I have many fond memories in Marseille, and now I have fond memories of Danang. :)

We had lunch by the sea, where I ate a giant portion of seafood fried rice — very American of them! Most of the other restaurants I have been to serve less enormous portions. After that, we relaxed at her home with friends who had just come to town, and a few people played a Vietnamese card game in her living room. I tried my best to understand the rules, but couldn't for the life of me put it together. By the early evening, it was time for me to go to the train station for Hanoi, so I bid Nhi and her friends and family goodbye, thanking them for such a wonderful experience.

View from the hilltop pagoda

Heaven in Hoi An

Beautiful beaches in the Cham Islands, near Hoi An

I'll say it once and then leave it at that: my arrival in Saigon from Cambodia was a disaster, leaving me phoneless and $50 poorer. But things got significantly better!

Vietnamese lanterns in the streets of Hoi An

My Saigon guesthouse was a huge help, and I was relieved that the person receiving me that evening spoke English natively! I went to my room and decompressed that first evening, and then set out on a walking adventure the next day. I had no idea that Saigon, also known as Ho Chi Minh City, is the biggest in Vietnam! Blissfully ignorant, I dipped my toes in the insane traffic there, jaywalking through seas of motorbikes the way locals do. I made it out unscathed and only learned afterward that this was quite a feat!

I saw the river, the market and the electronics shopping plaza in Saigon but had already booked my train to Danang, a city up the coast, for later that afternoon. I bought my requisite Asian snacks and got myself aboard for an overnight sleeper train. It was my first! The "hard sleeper" was no different in comfort than the "soft sleeper" I would experience later, but it certainly was interesting to sleep in the middle bunk with five other passengers in the compartment.

At Danang, I caught a cab to the nearby beach town of Hoi An, where I stayed at the Huy Hoang Garden Hotel — this paradise nearly rivaled the Vdara resort where I stayed in Chiang Mai! I rented a $1.50 bicycle every day for the three days I spent there, and it was great to be back on wheels. I felt very grateful that I'd had the practice on a bike in Berkeley, because I certainly couldn't have navigated the motorbikes (fewer though they were) and lazy pedestrian tourists without some cycling chops.

My cycling took me to the beach, an artisan craft workshop for folks with disabilities, a custom tailor (2 suits for $140 total! A total steal!), and countless restaurants for tasty local food. On my third day, I reserved a tour of the nearby Cham Islands, complete with complimentary lunch and a snorkeling adventure.

The tiny jellyfish that stung me
were smaller than half the size of these starfish

The day trip was my favorite part of Hoi An! I'm so glad I got to go, and that I met some cool Aussies and a French guy on the minibus ride to the port. We saw the local town, which operates without electricity during the day and survives on generator power at night (it shuts off at 11 p.m.!!). We tramped through rice fields and took a speedboat to the beach where we splashed around before boarding the boat again and jumping off of it into the clear blue sea with our snorkel gear. The water wasn't as fish-populated as the waters in Hawaii I saw, but there was some coral and in fact a few jellyfish, which stung me. They were the tiniest of pinprick stings, but they annoyed me enough that I got out of the water after a few minutes. I sat on the boat with the others and joyfully held some starfish collected by a more daring snorkeler. (We threw them back of course.)

After the snorkeling, we boated back to the beach where a beautiful lunch was laid out for us to gobble down. I barely remember what we had, but it was delicious seafood! Then we lounged on the beach some more and I felt vaguely guilty for having such a lazy holiday, but it passed quickly. :) At 1:30 it was time to head back to Hoi An, where I freshened up and biked to pick up my suits. They seriously took over my suitcase (no pun intended), and I wish I hadn't packed so many unnecessary things to begin with!!

In the evening I met up with the group I met on the day trip, and we had a veritable smorgasbord of Hoi An cuisine for dinner, costing only about $8 per person! I finally got to try the "white rose" dumplings I had wanted since my arrival in Hoi An. (At another restaurant I asked for them but got completely the wrong thing...)

French-Aussie-Aussie-American

Facebook ban

Apparently Facebook is unofficially banned by the Vietnamese government — perhaps only for residential areas, like where I'm staying tonight? (I was able to access it from my guesthouses.) And potentially in Hanoi? So... that kind of sucks. Stand by...

Cambodia: check!

Angkor Wat was crowded, but I'm glad I went

A good friend of mine, well-traveled throughout Southeast Asia, told me I absolutely could not miss Angkor Wat, the enormous ancient temple in Siem Reap, Cambodia. And when she talks about Asia, you listen! So I left Bangkok by train: first I had to go to Aranyaprathet a few hours away, where I was then supposed to take a tuk-tuk to the border, a shuttle to the bus station, and a bus to Siem Reap! Whew.

At Angkor Wat

Let's just say I was woefully unprepared for all these transfers, and I luckily met an American couple and a Swedish girl who were all pooling together on the journey; I happily tagged along. It was my first border crossing by land, and I have to say it was an experience! I fortunately already had my visa, which I had handily ordered online (Cambodia is one of few countries out here that offers this). But my companions had to have their wits about them: the tuk-tuk driver took us to an unofficial building where people tried to make them pay for visas, but the Lonely Planet had said to absolutely not pay until we were at the border, where you can see a landmark gate. And we certainly weren't there yet! So after much deliberation, we calmly refused and set out down the road to cross the "friendship bridge" from Thailand into Cambodia. There, my friends entered the official building and paid the real visa people, for a much more reasonable price. Thank goodness! We then chatted and were generally pleasant company for each other on the rest of the journey to Siem Reap. The three of them made their way to a $1 hostel upon arrival, and I went my own way after giving them my contact info.

Day 1 at Joe to Go: amok, a Khmer curry

Day 2 at Joe to Go: delicious stir-fried pumpkin and bell peppers

I was, as the Brits say, "shattered" and "knackered" (my favorite phrases, in case you didn't already guess) from the traveling, so it took a lot of energy to go out in search of food. I very serendipitously stumbled upon a restaurant/cafe called Joe to Go, and I immediately fell in love. The cafe partners with an organization called The Global Child, a safe house for Cambodian street children. 100% of the restaurant profits, as well as those from the upstairs boutique Beau Fou, go toward the organization. This is exactly my cup of tea: helping locally instead of traveling just to travel. Joe to Go was a breath of fresh air in the midst of what has at times been a bit of a boring exercise in consumerism on my part. I was so enthralled by their cause — not to mention the drool-worthy food! — that I went back on my second night too.

I was riding my rental bike around Angkor Wat and
I just had to stop on the side of the road for this photo! 

But before that second night came, it was my responsibility to get to Angkor Wat and see what the fuss was about! I pulled on temple-appropriate long pants and long sleeves, rented a bike for $1.50, and set off on the 3km journey. This was my first experience biking among motorbikes and cars, and I have to say that I'm glad my first time was in Siem Reap. It was definitely buzzing at 7 a.m. (I wanted to wake up early enough to go to the temple for sunrise, but wasn't disciplined enough), but it's nothing compared to the traffic I've seen since then! I actually had to backtrack to the bank after I reached the Angkor Wat ticket office because I hadn't realized the visit would be so expensive ($20) for one day... So I got plenty of exercise. :)

The camera auto-focused on the Japanese tourists...
it must really hate ice cream. I mean, look at that sundae!

I think that Angkor Wat is nice, but I chose not to take a tour and thus did not learn much. It was very hot and absolutely crawling with tourists, which really puts a bad taste in my mouth no matter where I am. I think I may have missed out on something special by neglecting to go at sunrise/sunset, but in any case it was a very nice experience. I biked back after about an hour, catching a glimpse of the elephant on the way, and had a delicious mango melba at a place called The Blue Pumpkin! Sadly, there were no blue pumpkins. On the other hand, I read that pumpkin with sticky rice is a local dessert, and I'll have to add that to my list of things to eat next time I'm around - I didn't find it this time!

I finished of my second of two nights by meeting up with my travel buddies at their hostel, where we chatted about the preceding 24 hours. Something we all found in common was that the Cambodian people around us were very aggressive in hawking, begging and generally soliciting. I think it can really get to you as a tourist; I've never been anywhere quite as bad as Cambodia, but I do understand their position, as citizens of a third-world country. In my mind Cambodia is to tourism as a starving child is to her first meal in weeks or months: she has been without for so long and has seen so much warfare that destitution is the norm and she is jaded; but when she has the chance to eat, she wants to eat it all, shovel it down and demand more. I can't blame Cambodia; I would just rather it take things slowly and not shriek my ear off with calls of "Lady! Lady! You want some pant! You want some necklace!"

I fell in love with Joe to Go and its boutique, Beau Fou, in Siem Reap

An Asia primer

A few things I've noticed about Asia, for those not in the know:

• Most places seem to be jaywalk-for-your-life. If you're timid in your jaywalking, you'll learn confidence quick here, most likely in a sea of motorbikes 25 strong.
• You don't flush the toilet paper. It goes in a tiny bin, I suppose to prevent pipe blockage.
• Children and adults alike will hawk their wares to you and try to scam you. I know this from experience! Siem Reap, the site of the famous temple Angkor Wat, was a constant barrage of "Tuk-tuk!" "Hello lady would like some pant? Would you like some necklace?" And I got scammed for $50 in Saigon when I tried to catch a taxi from the bus station to my guesthouse. Not to mention my phone getting stolen. The scamming is mind-numbing.
• Thailand and Vietnam seem to "get" English politeness, and at least they call out to you with "miss" or "madam." Cambodia, on the other hand, has been sorely misinformed that calling "lady" is okay. It's not, Cambodia...
• Living cheap will soon make you a miser. I find myself feeling entitled to the cheapest meals possible, and turning away from places serving dinner at $3.
• It's polite to take something offered to you with both hands, and if you must take it with one hand, you're supposed to touch the elbow of that arm with your other hand, to show politeness. This goes along with the wai (Thai word for praying gesture) which you should use for greetings.
• Apparently people here shower twice a day, because you become so sweaty throughout the day that it's necessary.
• Britney Spears' ...Baby One More Time album is alive and well here. Unfortunately.

Bumming around Bangkok

Appreciating street art in Bangkok with Couchsurfers

Tried durian ice cream at Chatuchak - it wasn't smelly, and
it just tasted like jackfruit...
was it jackfruit in durian clothing??

 In the spirit of my non-traditional traveling style, I saw hardly any of the tourist sights in Bangkok. This wasn't necessarily on purpose... friends had recommended that I take a river tour, check out the National Museum and explore the Grand Palace, and I had every intention of doing so. But what I didn't realize was that I had left these attractions till my last full day, Saturday, without knowing that they end admission at 3:30! But let's rewind...

After a slow start to the day on Thursday, I left my Couchsurfing digs to make my way to Khao San, where my guesthouse was.  I went exploring and found a bookshop near a tailor that I thought I might use to get some suits made, but I never found the time. It's amazing how many tailors — and other vendors for that matter — you can find in one city; it seems impossible to choose one. I think I'll have my suits made in Vietnam, though. Following my explorations of Khao San, I had an easygoing evening and browsed Couchsurfing for stuff to do. A group of people had posted about a street art exhibit at the Bangkok Art & Culture Center for Friday, so I hopped on the bandwagon and made plans to meet them for lunch and art!

The street art exhibit at the Bangkok Art & Culture Center

Friday morning, I took a taxi to the Vietnamese embassy, where I applied for a tourist visa. The US only grants visas-on-arrival for Thailand, so I thought I'd save myself the border visa process and just get the Cambodia and Vietnam visas in advance. The embassy was near the BACC, so I took a walk around before meeting the group. The exhibit was awesome! You can see some photos of us in the dark underground gallery that housed the art, and then more photos of us in the "wild" checking out the art installations on the street.

I had to go back to the embassy to pick up my completed visa, so I said goodbye to the fantastic group of CSers and then trooped back to my guesthouse. I wanted to try meeting up with another group for drinks, and navigate the bus system which A from Russia had explained to me. But I had the hardest time finding the bus stop, so I didn't make it! Instead I had a night in, chowing down on Asian snacks from the ubiquitous 7-11.

Pups aplenty at Chatuchak market

On Saturday morning, I spent nearly four hours exploring the famous Chatuchak weekend market, one of the largest open markets in the world. It swarmed with people perusing thousands of stalls, where you can buy anything from furniture to makeup to... puppies and sugar gliders. I had heard that Chatuchak had an entire pets section, but I didn't realize how uncomfortable it would make me until my browsing led me there. All the animals are kept in cages quite small, sometimes with way too many packed in together. It seems all well and good, because people are supposedly tending and buying them all day. But to really think about it, those animals were out in the hot weather for hours and hours, sometimes with only one caretaker for several cages. I had to power through and just not let it bother me - similar to the elephant rides, tiger kingdoms (where tiger cubs and grown adults lie sedately for tourists to pet and photograph) and hill tribe village visits, I think this type of thing capitalizes on "fun" and "cuteness" — or, in the hill tribe tours, exoticism — when really there are some significant moral questions left ignored by the tourists and the operators.

Dream House Project leaders auctioning the artwork
of a stateless Thai orphan who is now in better hands than before.

By the time I finished losing my way and finding it again in Chatuchak, getting my souvenirs (yes, presents for a select few of you! ;)), it was mid-afternoon, and I munched on some French fries while discovering I had missed out on the tourist stuff. I exchanged my finished books in Khao San for a $3 copy of Life of Pi, which I'm excited to read. I won't read it till I'm done re-reading The Time Traveler's Wife (HIGHLY recommended!), which I got in Chiang Mai. Then I embarked on yet another 7-baht (25-cent) bus journey to the Sukhumvit district of Bangkok, where a few Couchsurfers had advertised a fundraiser party for the Dream House Project, an anti-human trafficking organization.

With friends at the Dream House event

The party was Bollywood-themed, although I didn't have the attire, but many people were dressed beautifully. There were free drinks, free food, and a raffle for about 25 amazing prizes (somehow, I didn't win... boo). I met up with my Russian CS pal and his Thai friend, and we chatted and enjoyed the event. The Dream House folks showed a very eye-opening video about how human trafficking happens, and it very much sobered me to the importance of thinking about where my purchases come from. That cheap street vendor shirt could easily be the product of an abused, stateless child. It felt good to donate a few dollars to the Dream House cause, and my last night in Bangkok was a win! Then it was off to Siem Reap in Cambodia... to be continued!

We previewed the street artists' work at the museum, then saw it in action

Chiang Mai to Bangkok

At an adorable teahouse called The Flowery Home in Chiang Mai,
where I enjoyed "Mango cool cheese" (mango slices with slivered almonds,
plus sticky rice topped with puffed rice, and a glorious mango cheesecake).

I'm on my first full day in Bangkok, and I've already decided that I have mixed feelings about the backpacker's neighborhood I'm in, Khaosan Road. For one thing, there are some really cool things: street market, jazz bars and food from cheap to moderately expensive. But for the other, it's almost 90% Westerners! Every time I hear people speaking French or German I wonder to myself, "Are those the only two countries that get vacation time?" Not to mention the English speakers. Perhaps I am jaded... it'll pass.

Here are some highlights and recaps, with pictures to accompany: I ran into a CELTA coursemate on the streets of Chiang Mai the day after we all left the course. It was a welcome coincidence, and we had a lovely lunch together! I'm so glad we did, because we were able to catch each other up on the gossip, and say a proper "see you soon" (I've taken to actively avoiding the term "goodbye").

Chicken red curry for lunch in a gorgeous garden!

Me, J, M, and their friend V

While sitting at dinner on my own near my Chiang Mai guesthouse, I was invited to join three Aussie guys, which made my day! They were hilarious, intelligent and really fun to banter with. The conversation was fantastic, and I was pleased to be in their company for dinner.

I joined my friends J&M for one last meetup before I left Chiang Mai for Bangkok. They're lovely ladies, and I'm so glad I connected with them through a friend of a friend.

My train ride from Chiang Mai to Bangkok was 14 hours (2 more than I expected), and I arrived super late to my Couchsurfing host's place. But he was very laid-back, and everything was good. We chatted about all manner of things, and I bought him a meal to repay him. It was my first experience couchsurfing, and it was really interesting!

I'm realizing that I don't particularly like traveling in the traditional sense of the word; I prefer to move to places and get to know them in my own way. I knew this before, but this new experience of flitting around without any real plans or work to do is not my style, and I really hope I can get to Vietnam to do the volunteering I found out about, before heading home to... who knows what! Temp EFL subbing? Contracted work of some kind? We'll see...

Bar blogging

Welcome to my first post made with the Blogger Android app! Internet is down at my guesthouse, supposedly due to yesterday's storms, so I'm writing from a local bar where I've bought myself a cold Chang for the right to the WiFi password.

The past few days have been full of small pleasures, both unexpected and planned. I bought my train ticket to Bangkok, ran into a CELTA classmate on the streets of Chiang Mai, was invited to join a party of three friendly Aussies for dinner, and went to see the movie Flight to get out of the rain. I also bought myself a new suitcase for just $60 and had a lively, lovely 3-hour dinner with my new California  friends living here.

There will be more to come (particularly pictures), but for now, cheers! Sorry the pictures don't have captions... They might be out of the order I'm about to list but here we go: guesthouse cat lazing around, preparation of papaya salad, the delicious papaya salad, me at Doi Suthep temple right before it started pouring rain, the cold Chang who accompanies me tonight. Chang means elephant. ;)