I spent two days in the busy city of Danang, strolling around and having more of the great coffee in road side cafes with old men who couldn’t speak any English but persisted with conversation anyway. The general mood was lovely, with lots of decorations going up for Vietnamese New Year (Tet). Many people smiled at me; the children being more brave, frequently calling out hello to me. I was offered several free fruit, red melon seeds, a beer, a watch and two pens. Lots of people took an interest in helping with my attempts at Vietnamese greetings and requests. My fears about Vietnam have so far been completely unfounded – I really did think that people were going to be mean and it is not the case at all, although being careful anywhere is a good idea. I moved onto Hoi An, which is only 30 minute away, and met a young pair of friends called Becky and Miffy on the bus journey so had a lovely day on the beautiful beach nearby with them.
Hannah, who I met in Northern Laos, arrived yesterday so we are now sharing a room (with access to a swimming pool!).
The town of Hoi An is the tailoring centre of South East Asia so I have had a couple of tops made. I also did a cookery course which involved a trip on a river boat.
Other that that, it is sit tight and wait to see how the festivities go on. All the shops close for up to 2 weeks, transportation dries up and in less touristy places, it is difficult to get food. On the eve of Tet itself (17th) there are massive celebrations as everyone celebrates their birthday on the same day – there is definitely a great buzz in the air already! In less touristy places, (according to the guide book) it is apparently quite normal to be invited to peoples houses, however there is a pecking order in how the guests are chosen with unmarried, childless ladies coming close to the bottom of the pile LOL. While in Danang where I was the only foreigner I saw, I had fabricated a husband (promoting Monty) and 2 year old child to make myself more ‘invitable’ – of course then I felt so guilty about (not the lying) leaving the child at home in England without its mother that I had to reconsider. Fortunately a new solution has arisen in the shape of 23 year old Hannah who, on two occasions yesterday, was mistaken for my daughter – gee whiz – don’t you just love sun damage! I have been having a few problems with my blog which initially I assumed to be something to do with censorship but could just as easily be to do with the website – either way please forgive syntax errors as I can’t really review the blog properly (hence the delay in reporting Dave – sorry). At present it looks as though I will actually go to Saigon (it would be a shame to come this far and not see it) on Monday if reduced travel services allow but I’m still pushing for Burma as so many people over here say it’s the highlight of their trip.
Chuc Mung Nam Moi from Cat
I spent two days in the busy city of Danang, strolling around and having more of the great coffee in road side cafes with old men who couldn’t speak any English but persisted with conversation anyway. The general mood was lovely, with lots of decorations going up for Vietnamese New Year (Tet). Many people smiled at me; the children being more brave, frequently calling out hello to me. I was offered several free fruit, red melon seeds, a beer, a watch and two pens. Lots of people took an interest in helping with my attempts at Vietnamese greetings and requests. My fears about Vietnam have so far been completely unfounded – I really did think that people were going to be mean and it is not the case at all, although being careful anywhere is a good idea. I moved onto Hoi An, which is only 30 minute away, and met a young pair of friends called Becky and Miffy on the bus journey so had a lovely day on the beautiful beach nearby with them. 
Hannah, who I met in Northern Laos, arrived yesterday so we are now sharing a room (with access to a swimming pool!). 
The town of Hoi An is the tailoring centre of South East Asia so I have had a couple of tops made. I also did a cookery course which involved a trip on a river boat. 
Other that that, it is sit tight and wait to see how the festivities go on. All the shops close for up to 2 weeks, transportation dries up and in less touristy places, it is difficult to get food. On the eve of Tet itself (17th) there are massive celebrations as everyone celebrates their birthday on the same day – there is definitely a great buzz in the air already! In less touristy places, (according to the guide book) it is apparently quite normal to be invited to peoples houses, however there is a pecking order in how the guests are chosen with unmarried, childless ladies coming close to the bottom of the pile LOL. While in Danang where I was the only foreigner I saw, I had fabricated a husband (promoting Monty) and 2 year old child to make myself more ‘invitable’ – of course then I felt so guilty about (not the lying) leaving the child at home in England without its mother that I had to reconsider. Fortunately a new solution has arisen in the shape of 23 year old Hannah who, on two occasions yesterday, was mistaken for my daughter – gee whiz – don’t you just love sun damage! I have been having a few problems with my blog which initially I assumed to be something to do with censorship but could just as easily be to do with the website – either way please forgive syntax errors as I can’t really review the blog properly (hence the delay in reporting Dave – sorry). At present it looks as though I will actually go to Saigon (it would be a shame to come this far and not see it) on Monday if reduced travel services allow but I’m still pushing for Burma as so many people over here say it’s the highlight of their trip.
Chuc Mung Nam Moi from Cat
1 comment:
Are people actually going to Burma these days? They never used to because of self-imposed sanctions etc.
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