Dining in Viet Nam

Certainly one of the things I like best about travel is getting to eat foods that are new or at least prepared differently from ways I have tried before. Often the menus in restaurants are 8 or 10 pages which can be daunting. It is a relief to be able to omit some items automatically such as eel and crocodile. ( I am working on the courage to try eel one of these days, however.) At the restaurant which I picked tonight, I saw another easily omitted entree selection---fried ox penis with chili sauce. Good grief! Talk about not wasting anything!
On the other hand I confidently ordered eggplant with anchovy sauce, even though the waiter questioned my choice. I think it is gonna be a while before I want to taste anchovy again! On the way out I mentioned to the waiter that I should have listened to him. He told me that anchovy sauce is too strong even for many Vietnamese.
Since I am on a food line, I will just give a little rundown on lunch. I was wandering in an area I had not been before and smelled meat cooking on a fire and a large crowd eating in the little mom and pop cafe. I stopped on my way inside and pointed to what I wanted to eat and had a delicious meal of pork chop, chicken stew, rice, veggies and ice tea for under $1.25. My Vietnamese vocabulary is expanding gradually and the word for rice is one I think I will not forget.

Living in Sai Gon

On Saturday my friend, Phu, brought his 4 1/2 year old daughter, Chick, to the city to play in the park near my hotel where there is an very extensive kiddie playground with all kinds of amusements. We met for lunch at her favorite place, KFC. She was predictably shy at first but later in the day was riding me piggyback. She can count to 10 in English. Wow!
I had a little setback on my apartment search yesterday, as the place I had selected now might not be available on December 1 as I had anticipated. I will start searching again. I have found a gym with a pool so that is progress. Also I have a few leads on teaching positions. All in all it is going quite well for me here in HCMC.

Thanksgiving in HCMC

Yesterday was Thanksgiving back home but there was no sign of a turkey or a pilgrim to be found where I am. (However there are smatterings of Christmas decorations about, as merchants here are cashing in on the selling opportunity in this country where western practices are often emulated.) My sister Eve sent me an email detailing the extravagant menu I was missing and I told my friend here that I had gotten a very cruel message from my sister. I called Eve on Skype Thanksgiving morning and told her what I had said. She told me she just wanted me to miss the family and I replied that I missed them without being reminded of what I was missing.
Well, I hope all of you enjoyed turkey day. Since my time in Sai Gon is 12 houirs ahead of EST, you are probably finishing off your turkey sandwiches now and the tryptophane should kick in shortly so I wish you all a good night of sleep. Don't go crazy with Black Friday shopping.

fyeo

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A Few More Pics of Mui Ne

I just returned to Saigon after a few days in the beach/coastal town of Mui Ne. The beach was delightful and theraputic, helping me get rid a a recurrent upper respiratory problem. I took a few hours away from the beach to explore the area a little. The most famed site of Mui Ne is the Saharan like sand dune which is best viewed at sunset. I tried sand sledding but ended up with clothes and skin covered with fine sand. Next time I will skip the sand sled and just enjoy the spectacular views.

A local fishing village, perhaps source of some of the fine seafood I enjoyed in the "bo ke",

which means waterside, food stands.

These are not baskets for collecting fish. They are woven boats which are everywhere along the coast.

Just a couple of notes here:

1-When I try to run spell check here in Viet Nam the program must think I am writing in Vietnamese because the only words not highlighted for correction are "the," "a," and "in" which must be Vietnamese words.

2-For anyone going to Mui Ne be sure to eat at Lam Tong Popular Restaurant, a bo ke right on the beach in the center of town. Order batter fried shrimp and grilled squid.

Back in Viet Nam

Mui Ne, Viet Nam is known as the kite surfing capital due to usual favorable winds and weather. The sky is filled with flying surf boards and I really wanted to try it but:
1-There is a 12 hour instruction course before you are allowed to kite surf on your own.
2-The classes are fully booked for the next 4 days.
3-The course of instruction and supply rentals cost $540.
Well, if I were only 25 or 30 I think I would overcome these challenges but for now it looks like it ain't gonna happen

When I left off I was in Hong Kong and enjoying that fine city, so I was happy that my explorations prior to flying to Viet Nam had a happy ending. I flew from Hong Kong to Saigon on 14 November on Cathay Pacific, an airline which regularly is rated among the world's best. It was a good but non exceptional flight. I did enjoy the meal service on the short flight--- probably the best meal I had since arriving in Asia.

I arrived Ho Chi Minh City 6 PM on Monday afternoon. I obtained my visa upon arrival in a procedure now familiar to me. (Rush to the service window with passport photo in hand, take a barely readable xeroxed form to fill out, complete the form and return it to the service window and wait, but hopefully less time than the other arriving passengers who have been less aggressive in getting to the agent accepting passports and dispensing visas.) I recovered my luggage after finishing the above formalities and bargained with a taxi from $25 to $9 to take me to Pham Nu Lau Street where I knew I could find a hotel without problem. Traffic into the city, always congested, was worse than usual being rush hour on Monday afternoon, so I generously tipped the driver an extra dollar (actually 20,000 Dong).

Ho Chi Minh was predictably energetic and I always like the feeling of the bustle of District 1. I met my friend Phu whom I know from previous trips and he sat in Allez Boo bar with my luggage while I went to find a room. I checked in to a place I had stayed another time but decided that I would upgrade the next day and I was very satisfied with my new lodgings. The internet was a little dodgy there, but everything else was peachy.

Among my first orders of business were to get a haircut and shave ($5), massage ($10) and maincure/pedicure ($5). For $20 I underwent a revitalization, and I expect I will enjoy the same procedures over and over, especially at those prices. If nothing else I hope to look well groomed.

Yesterday (Saturday, 12 November) I traveled to the beach town of Mui Ne. My friend Phu told me he was going there to make some sales calls and asked if I would like to go along. I agreed and that is where I am now, sitting outisde my beachfront room writing this report. Mui Ne is a resort town for Vietnamese, but mostly whom I see here are Russians and most of the signage here is in Vietnamese language as well as in Cyrillic alphabet.)

It is great to be back in Viet Nam. I hope that I will find an apartment next week and I will change from visitor to resident, at least temporarily. I have some leads on apartments which I found on Craig's List, which is also the same machine which helped me sell some of the things left from my moving sales a few weeks (It seems like ages) ago.

Hong Kong

This is the track of the Peak Tram Railway in Hong Kong. I took this tram to the highest peak in the city and had some spectacular, though fog and cloud obscured, views.

Symphony of Light show from Kowloon looking at Hong Kong

In my explorations I came across "Bird Walk Road" which is where locals bring thier caged birds for a walk. What a funny custom!

I am glad to find some place which I like finally. If it was not clear, I really did not like China for many reasons, so it is a pleasure to be in Hong Kong which is an exciting city with a great energy. I can move HK into my favorite cities list, along with Miami, Kuala Lumpur and Buenos Aires.

Arriving in HK and getting to the hotel was so easy. I followed the directions which had been emailed to me and went to the ground transport area of the airport and took the airport shuttle to the front of my hotel. The hotel where I am staying is not like any I have ever seen before. It is about 10 or 12 rooms on the 14th floor of a high rise and the whole building seems to be made up of lots of hotels (guesthouses), visa services and other small businesses. My room is about the size of a medium walk in closet and that includes the bathroom. Fortunately my bag is small enough to fit under the bed . But the hotel is clean, quiet, secure and ideally located with many attractions within walking distance. I am paying more for a room here than I usually pay, but HK is famously expensive.

Speaking of expensive, I have never seen a city so densely packed with high end designer shopes. On Canton Road today which is one of the major shopping streets, I noticed Channel is next to Ferragamo which is next to Fendi which is next to Prada. Hong Kong reeks of prosperity, although the world economy has taken its toll here too.

I have undertaken to see as much of this interesting city as I can. Hong Kong can be thought of as two areas separated by about a 1/2 mile wide bay. I am staying on the mainland side which is known as Kowloon. The actual city of Hong Kong is acroos the bay and is located on an island. Hong Kong is the financial center and Kowloon is more commercial, but both are developed with amazingly beautiful buildings many vintage but more fantastically modern. Last night i went to the Symphony of Lights which is a laser show on the waterfront with music and lights playing on the buildings on both the Hong Kong and Kowloon sides. There was narration in Cantonese so I undertstood absolutely nothing. Tiday I covered a wide distance by subway, light rail train and bus, going from an early settlement of the area on the mainland near to the China border to Stanley which is on the tip of Hong Kong island. The bus ride from central Hong Kong to Stanley along a cliff hanging road was unforgetably beautiful with views from high up the mountains to the Pacific below. I am glad to be reminded of the serendepity of some unplanned bus trips.

Still Catching Up

Terra Cotta Army near Xian

Shanghai Skyline

When I decided to leave China without doing an extensive tour as I had anticipated, I chose to limit my destinations to a couple of choices, Xian and Shanghai. I wanted to give China a fair shot but I just was not "feeling it."

I took the overnight sleeper train from Beijing to Xian. My rest on the train was quite comfy and I slept very soundly. The slight swaying and white noise of the wheels on the tracks relaxed me and I decided that another overnight train in China would be a fine idea. Upon arriving in Xian I was met by a representative from my hostel who was holding up a sign with my name. I always enjoy the luxury of being escorted to my destination when in a new place.

The weather in Xian was no better than what I experienced in Beijing---cold and a little rainy. I spent my first day exploring the area near the hotel which was centrally located near the ancient bell tower. Xian still retains its ancient wall from the time when it was the capital city of China. Hardly any remains from that time are known inside the city which is now a skyscraper filled metropolis. Xian's present claim to fame is the terra cotta warriors which were discovered by a farmer digging a well in the 1970's, nearly 2000 years after internment.

The terra cotta warrior army consists of over 2000 clay statues of all types of military men from foot soldiers to generals which were buried along with an emperor to serve with him in the afterlife. The statues do not contain bodies as I had originally thought, however each artisan was killed after completing his sculpture so that the location of the grave site would be kept secret. One would not want to rush to finish the job under those circumstances. On the guided tour I took I kept wondering why the heavily accented guide kept mentioning Harry Potter until I realized she was saying "terra cotta."

From Xian I took another overnight train to Shanghai. Again I was pleased with train travel and I recommend the overnight trips which both get you to where you are going and also save paying for a hotel. I did not have an escort to meet me in Shanghai so I took the metro to my hotel following the instructions included with my confirmation letter. I was pleased that it was quite easy getting there.

Shanghai is one of the worlds major cities but still the dearth of English speakers was obvious. It is contrary to all that I believe about travel to expect people to speak English to accommodate me, but I guess I have become more accustomed to it than I realized. Even the beggar children on the beaches in Cambodia speak basic to excellent English, and that is such a poor country. Maybe it is the Chinese confidence in their upcoming place in the world that they do not bother to learn another language, just like Americans did not learn other languages when I was in school.

The Bund in Shanghai is the famous waterfront. This is where international trade prospered and it was interesting to see since I just finished reading "Around the World in Eighty Days" and I could picture Phileas Fogg and Passepartout scrambling to get the boat to Hong Kong in time to catch another ship for their trans Pacific crossing. The Bund is a dazzling display of impressive modern buildings.

From Shanghai I flew to Hong Kong which brings me up to date. I will give more info on Hong Kong soon. I plan to fly to Saigon in the next few days so I expect to enjoy my time in Hong Kong for now. Details will follow.

I'm Back On Line

Incredibly crowded Forbidden City. Most Chinese were in groups and the group would all wear identical hats or tee shirts. Notice the haze in the air and you might recall all the concern over air quality during the 2008 Olympics. I went running a couple of times in Beijing but decided that it was very unhealthy to exercise in that environment.
Standing in front of Forbidden City with the Chairman Mao. I will tell you a story about the later.

When I left Valdosta a few weeks ago I had planned to keep everyone back home updated with my blog, so it was shocking when I got to Beijing back on 28 October to learn that "google" which is the host site for blogspot is restricted in China, as are Facebook and You Tube. I arrived today in Hong Kong which was reunited with China a few years back, but still has different laws (and different currency as well.) and now I am able to get back to blogspot. So here I go trying to update what I have been seeing with my one good eye since I last wrote. If you plan to read all this in one sitting, might I suggest a cup of coffee or a strong drink?

I had an enjoyable trans Pacific flight from Chicago to Beijing, and I was lucky to have a seat in first class, which gave me a flat bed for sleeping on the 19 hour crossing. Something new that American Airlines has started in first class is giving out pajamas, but I never put mine on. I would rather have the caviar which disappeared from first class in the cost cutting days of early 21st century than pjs, however I have made good use since getting here. My flight arrived in Beijing about midnight on 28 October and I took a taxi to my hostel which I had booked before leaving home. I was glad to get a shower and hoped for a restful sleep, and at least I get the hot shower. Oh yeah, when I opened my bag which I had checked it took me a few seconds to realize that I had made a terrible error and taken another Land's End bag instead of my own. I remember when I used to work baggage service in Dallas Fort Worth airport that I thought people who did a bag switch were so stupid and careless. Oops! So instead of lazing around like a slug my first morning in Beijing, I went to the airport and swapped one bag for mine. I feel so badly for the people whose bag I took, and I enclosed a note and cash to apologize.

Beijing is a monstrous city of many millions and I found nothing there to make me want to return. I visited Beijing about 10 years ago with a group of coworkers and did a rush tour of the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace, etc. so I chose to explore at my leisure a more local scene. The weather was rainy; prices, high; air, polluted; people, pushy; smells, foul; food, greasy---just not much to love there. The most enjoyable activity I did was to visit the mausoleum where Chairman Mao Zse Dong lies in state, lo these many years after his death. Many Chinese I saw going in there treated it as if it were a Buddhist temple, laying yellow chrysanthemums in front of a huge statue of Chairman Mao sitting in an almost Buddha posture and smiling benevolently down on his adorers. My final day in Beijing I revisited the Forbidden City since it was very close to my hotel and seemed like a good idea. The crowds of Chinese and other tourists were daunting and I was glad that someone had suggested listening to classical music to cocoon myself from the mobs. I toured the hundreds years old home of the Chinese royalty to a soundtrack of Handel, Beethoven, Ravel and Gershwin.

I was starting to feel like I did not want to spend too much time in China so instead of traveling slowly like I had enjoyed so much in Viet Nam, I began to plan a more streamlined trip with stays in only two more cities, Xian and Shanghai. Since it is getting to be supper time here n Hong Kong, I will stop here for now. I still another two weeks to report to bring you up to date.