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.

Lead Me By The Hand

Aunt Claudette and I travelled to Hue yesterday, by way of Saigon. Although the journey was only 6 hours, it seemed to take all day. After a lovely breakfast at the Amara, we headed out and arrived in Hue to a whole different world.
(Travel Tip: We booked on Tiger Airways, a budget airline which was very nice. I had not booked our excess baggage online, and had I, I would have saved us SGP15 per person, about C$10. Otherwise, the price was great!)
(Travel Tip for Traveling with Claudette: Keep all tickets for things yourself, and ensure she has all documentation required with her and handy and you know where it is a few hours prior to needing it. She said I should have taken a picture of all her worldly goods spread across the floor in the SGP Budget Terminal in an effort to locate her Vietnam visa. Thanks to the counter person for being so patient.)

Now back to the adventure. We arrive to a humid, overcast Hue, 34 degrees, where I had arranged for a driver to collect us at the airport to bring us to the Orchid Hotel, where we will stay for 2 nights. In a word, it looks like Mexico. Dusty streets, gates in front of the 2 and 3 story cement houses, chickens and dogs running around, bare footed happy children.

The second thing that strikes us in the traffic. BIKES everywhere! Literally everywhere. On the streets, on the sidewalks, in the gardens, and all over the road. Our plans to bicycle around the old city and to the pagoda - scrapped.

We check into the hotel, which has really nice service and the room is pleasant. We decide on a quick shower and then we'll head out on foot to explore the tourist area a bit. My aunt showers first, and then I hop in to cold water. I HATE when there is no hot water in a hotel. I quickly rinse and then as I am brushing my teeth and deciding how to broach the subject and if the lack of hot water warrants a hotel move tomorrow, I notice this.

(My suggestion will be that they tell White guests that you have to turn on the hot water before you shower :)

Off for our walk and dinner. What a hoot! Vendors everywhere, restaurants everywhere, traffic everywhere. Cyclos everywhere, shoe stores and garment stores everywhere. We strolled along for a bit and then I had read about a Vietnamese restaurant with a nice view of the Perfume River. Not so much. Claudette and I are greeted with a completely dark room when the elevator doors open! We end up eating on the ground floor, outside, with a view of the river, and the food was OK. I tried my first and last glass of Vietnamese white wine. I took a picture to commemorate the event.

On our way back to the hotel after dinner, we had to cross the street, no easy feat here. A cyclo driver asked us if we wanted a lift, which we didn't, but it took us so long to decide when to cross he finally took me by the arm and lead me across the road! Somehow, I felt this was symbolic to my trip to Vietnam...

La Première – et Quelle Première!

T’el que promis a mes cousins, les fils de ma tante, je vais faire mon possible d’écrire mon blog en français aussi, puisse qu’ils ne seront pas obliger de tout traduire aves l’aide de Google. Je dois avouer que mon écriture dans cette belle langue manque un peut de formation, mais je suis certaine que entre famille, nous allons se comprendre.

En style typique Tanya Lapierre, la journée d’arrivé dans un nouveaux pays était une journée pleine. Hier, après 24 heures en avons, nous sommes arrive, comme ma tante dit, a l’autre bout du monde. Singapore. Nos plans sont de passer une journée ici, et aujourd’hui, samedi, nous partirons pour le Vietnam.

Nous sommes arriver vers 11 hrs, alors suite a prendre nos bagages (et s’assurer que ma tante prend ces propres et non n’importe qu’elle valise mauve), une exchange d’argent, un taxi, l’entre a l’hôtel Amara et un petit 15 minutes a mon bureau, nous avons :

ü  Marcher vers le Chinatown en prenant un petit jus dans l’atrium du Red Dot Design Museum (Walk in toward Chinatown with a beverage stop in the atrium of the Red Dot Design Museum)

ü  Entre dans le Buddah Tooth Relic Temple and Museum

ü  Marcher dans les couloirs de Chinatown

ü  Entre dans le Sri Mariamman Temple - le temple le plus vieux a Singapore, ca date depuis 1827, mais la magnifique entrée est de l’année 1930 (This temple is the oldest temple in Singapore, dating from 1827, but the entrance gate is from 1930)

ü  Prendre le métro (De Chinatown a la station Promenade)

ü  Boire notre premier Singapore Sling (un cocktail inventé a Singapore)

ü  Faire le tour dans Le Singapore Flyer

ü  Manger dans un « Hawker Stall » (un kiosk dans la rue)

Après cette journée, je ronflait a 20hrs! Ma tante était très émotionnelle de sa première journée, et après une carte postale, elle, aussi, était au lit!

(Brief English Summary : I promised my cousins, my aunts son’s, that I would try to blog in French as well, so they did not have to translate every single blog post! Although my French is far from eloquent, I am sure we will be understood amongst family.

In typical Tanya Lapierre style, Day 1 in a new country, assuming one arrives early enough, means a full touring day. We arrived yesterday, after 24 hours of travel time, in Singapore, which my aunt is reminds me, is on the other side of the world. Our plan is 1 day here, and then this morning we head off to Vietnam.

After arriving around 11 and taking care of some logistics, we explored the city, and then some! I was snoring by 8:00 pm!)

Toronto Trials: Pre-Vietnam Pho

My aunt Claudette and I are going to Singapore and Vietnam - Vietnam first, for 1 week. My aunt retired last July and as I travel to Singapore on business on a frequent basis, I suggested she come with me one time. She agreed, and then she looked at the map and realized it was on the other side of the world! While she was getting over the shock of that, she noticed Vietnam was just across the water, and she suggested we go check it out. Well, you know me, I'm not one to say no to an adventure.

Claudette is in Toronto for a few days, exploring the city with my husband, and today she decided to have a trial Pho, a typical Vietnamese dish, in preparation for 14 days of Asian food.