Le Train

18 Hours from Danang to Sai Gon by train:

• Sleeper car was great! Bunked with 2 ladies (who had the upper bunks) who spoke no English.
• Beds were hard and narrow, but OK.
• Bedding was clean-ish (clean but not new) and if you sleep well to a rocking motion, you would have slept well.
• Toilette was a turkish toilette, a stainless steel hole in the floor with two foot holds. They gracefully provided a handle to keep from sliding around too much.
• Was ripped off for coffee (2 coffees were the same price as the 4 croissants and 2 muffins I had purchased at the AWESOME bakery Cargo, in Hoi Ann,
• Keep the door locked at all times. The train attendants have a key, if they need to see your ticket, they will open the door.

Welcome to Sai Gon.

18 heures en train, de Danang a Sai Gon.

Dormatoire sur le train etait geniale. Chaqu'un son lit, une petite chambre pour 4 personees, et les deux femmes au 2ieme niveau parlait pas un mot d'anglais.
Les lits etait etroit, dur, mais OK.
Draps - demi-propre. Propre, mais pas nouveaux, et si tu dorme bien avec le motion d'un train, t'airais super bien dormis.
Toilette turk: un trou, 2 placements p

My Son in Pictures

My Son (pronouced mee soon) is a historical vestige belonging to the Cham people built from as early as the 4th century through to the 12th century. We took the early start tour, departing at 5 am. The tour was worth every minute. The last picture is part of a restoration project. (Ever wonder what's under the bricks? That would be... more bricks...) The Viet Cong (Communist Vietnamese) used My Son as a base during the war with the Americans, and as such, little remains of what was once over 70 towers. The place is so moving and spiritual, that when you think of what it once was and why it is no longer, it just makes you sad.

Hoi An - Charmante, Just Charming

Nous avons passer 2 jours a la petite ville de Hoi An. Il y a beacoup de gens qui disent que Hoi An etait le pinicule de leur sejour a Vietnam. Ma tante et moi nous sommes d'accord que 2 jours pour nous etait magnifique et suffisant.

We spent 2 days in the town of Hoi An, a town which many people consider to the the highlight of their trip to Vietnam. Aunt Claudette and I agree that the 2 days we spent there were wonderful, and enough.

Hoi An est une ville reconnu par UNESCO, alors les vieux maisons sont protege et garde une charme rare a Vietman. Le bord de l'eau avec les bateaux, et les lumierres des lanteres de tout les restau attire les touriste en masse.

Hoi An is a UNESCO recognized site, allowing for the old homes to be preserved and ensuring a certain charm is maintained. The riverside, with its lovely boats and lit up in the evening with lanterns from the many restaurants attracts tourists in bulk quantity.

Hoi An est aussi LA PLACE pour te faire tailler des vetements. Porte apres portes, les vetements sont en vitrine, avec le promis de "come, come, we make for you your size, very fast..." Je me suis faite faire une robe. J'etait pas 100% satisfait, mais pour $48, je croix que je vais pouvoir le portez quelques fois, au moins! Si je reviens, je passerait dans le magazins un peut plus cher et je prederait le temps de les faire adjuster a mon gout.

Hoi An is also THE PLACE to have clothes made for you. Door after door are mannequins on display, each with the promise of "come, come, we make for you your size, very fast..." I had a dress made, and although it's not perfect, for $48, I'm sure I'll suffer through a wearing or three. If I ever do come back, I would head to the mid range shops and leave lots of time for adjustments.

Some Travel Funnies

When my sister and I were traveling Australia together, we had made a list of some funny things that people said or did, sometimes culture specific and sometimes just general things. I'd like to confirm a few:

• Americans are always from the state they live in: never from the United States of America, always from Wisconsin, Main, Ohio. It can be considered charming that you, Mr. Vermont, assume that your Vietnamese 21 year old tour guide knows where Vermont is.
• Americans flock together like flies to a pile of dog poop. Doesn't matter if it's in a line up at an airport or a tour bus with 16 people on it, they are drawn together by some unseen force. Let's call it to Obama Force. If you want to pick a Canadian out of the crowd, we are the people talking to the ladies from New Zealand or Norway.
• Asian people talk, loudly, during the English part of the tour if they do not speak English. Everywhere. However, making your English tour guide stop talking while you indicate, loudly, that the behaviour is considered rude, is quite effective.

Great sayings so far in Vietnam:

• Same Same, but different
• Now we enjoy
• I have big size for you

What makes me giggle the most is the bad English translations, though. There was actually a movie at one of the tour sites that had a water source being filled with crap. It was supposed to be crab. At least, according to the pictures they were showing!

The Marble Mountains

Les Montagnes de Marbre fassait parti de notre trajet entre Hue et Hoi An. Apres avoir vu le pagoda mentioner dans l'entree suivant, nous avons suivi les petits affiche afin d'arriver a une caverne. Une petite madame nous dirige vers le fond du premier caverne. "Up, up, you see heaven." Alors, on monte. Plutot, on grimpe dans le roches afin d'arriver dans cette caverne:

Magnifique, oui. Cela me fait penser au cavernes du Yucatan, Mexique. La pierre est la meme (Limestone en anglais - en francais?). Au fond (encore) de cette caverne, on peut vois des roches. "Up, up, lady, you see heaven. You go swowy." Alors, avec ma Tante Claudette en avant, on monte encore un fois, et nous sommes dehors, avec une vue magnifique sur les 5 formations qui s'appelle les Montagnes de Marbre. Ca me prend 15 minutes afin de comprendre que "swowy" veut dire "slowly", ou doucement. Voici pourquoi:

Ceci est un idee du "trajet" que nous avons pris afin de voir le ciel. En decendant, la petite madame, dans son anglais limite, arrive de me faire comprendre qu'elle est surprise que malgre mes grosse fesses, je suis flexible :) Elle nous laisse dans les marches pour aller guider un autre touriste "Up, up, to see heaven."

De Hue a Hoi An

Today we travelled from Hue, the old capital of Vietnam, to Hoi An, which is a small fishing town, a few hours south. On the way there, we made stops at Lang Co beach:

Aunt Claudette was attacked by hawkers, and for the first time in my life, I had coffee and spring rolls.

Next, off to Hai Van pass, the border, basically, between the north and south during the Vietnam war. Lovely views:

And you can clamber around the French and US bunkers:

Next on the trip is a stop and the marble village, where Aunt Claudette gives her VISA a little work out, and then we take the elevator to see the Pagoda with a cool dragon detail at the entrance.

Le Sejour Continue!

Bonjour, bonjour!
Desole, pas de photo ni d'accents, j'utilise l"internet de l'hotel Vin Hung II, a Hoi An. Je voulais vous mettre a jours avec nos experiences a date.
Avant hier, nous sommes y aller sue un "bus tour" a Hue, afin de voir le plus possible dans notre sejour ici. Le tour incluait 3 Temple, la Citadel, un buffet pour le lunch, le Pagoda et enfin, un tour de bateau sur la Rivierre de Parfun. (Perfume River). We took a bus tour from Hue in an effort to see as much as possible in one day. The bus tour covered the highlights: 3 temples of three kings, the Citadel, a buffet lunch, the oldest Pagoda in Vietnam and a boat cruise back on the Perfume River.
Ah - J'ai oublier le demonstration de Kung Fu! I Forgot the Kung Fu demonstration!
Tous ca pour $12.00. All this for $12.
En arrivant a l"hotel, chaud et epuisser, nous avons parti pour faire un peut de shopping dans la rue et ensuite pour trouver un restaurant pour le souper. Quelle Restaurant! Un paradis avec music "live", de la bonne bouffe, et une vue sur la rivierre. A la fin de notre repas, le gerant nous a informe que ca vais qu'un mois que c'est ouvert. Je suis certaine qu'ils vont tres bien y aller. When we arrived at the hotel, hot and tired, we went out immediately to do some shopping and to find a place for dinner. We ended up finding this great restaurant, which we later discovered had only been open for a month! I am sure they will do well. Live music, good food at reasonable prices, and right on the river overlooking the bridge.

Nous avons parti tot le l'endemain pour venir a Hoi An, mais en venant, nous avons arreter a Lang Co Beach, Hai Van Pass et Marble Mountains. We set out early to come to Hoi An, and on the way stopped at Lang Co beach, Hai Van pass and the Marble Mountains.

Plus sur cela dans un autre entre. Maintenant, la plage m'appelle!! More on that later, right now the beach is calling my name.