Monday, 23 November 2009
Vietnam, ecrit par Sri en Francais
On peut demander "Pourquoi en Francais? Tu es vraiment un nul francophone!" Peut-etre c'est par-ce que je m'ennuie aujourd'hui. Aussi, c'est possible que vu que je n'ai pas active mon cerveau depuis cinq mois j'ai besoin de faire quelquechose un peu intellectual. Alors, excuse-moi pour mon niveau de Francais, mais je vais demander a Emmeline de faire seulement le moins correction possible pour maintenir un certain qualite authentique...
Etant arrive a Vietnam (remarquez l'utilisation du gerundif avec un petit rapelle de ma femme), nous avons passe deux jours a Ho Chi Minh (Saigon). Les premiers impressions? Motos. Beaucoup des motos. On a besoin de traverser la rue dans le centre de Saigon pour avoir un vrai appreciation. Et aussi, ayant dut payer dix dollars pour un taxi (le vrai prix est cinq, il a essaye de nous faire payer quinze...), je me suis senti un peu mefiant.
Saigon, motos. Au secours!
Nous avons achete un billet pour l'aeroplane et passe quelques jours dans une petite ile qui s'appelle Phu Quoc, au sud ouest. Une retraite idyllique, nous sommes arrives juste au debut de la saison touristique, et il n'y avait pas encore trop beaucoup des autres la. Nous avons passe presqu'un semaine de relaxation et comtemplation, et pour laisser notre corps de recuperer.
Phu Quoc, plage
Nous avons realise rapidement que Tibet et Nepal nous manquaient. En effet, apres plus que deux semaines, ils nous manquaient encore. Mais, dans l'espirit (sinon la pratique) de detachement Bouddiste, je continue.
Ayant decide d'essayer de conduire un moto nous-meme, et comme je suis tombe sur mon derriere apres j'ai realise que je ne peux pas le faire, nous avons decide d'etre des pietons. Mais, vu que nous avions eu l'intention de faire rien (sauf nager, manger et dormir) pour ces jours, ca n'etait pas grave.
Puis, nous avons commence a traverser le Mekong Delta pour retourner a Saigon (Ha Tien, Chau Doc, Can Tho, Saigon). Le temperature etait plus que 30 C, et humide. Ha Tien est une petit ville cotiere. Juste apres les conducteurs des 'Xe Om' (moto taxi) tres aggresifs ont commence de m'enerver, nous avons rencontre quelques amis Vietnamiens tres sympas dans un petit restaurant, et nous avons passe beaucoup d'heures en parlant avec eux (avec l'aide d'un dictionnaire). Emmie en particulier s'est bien entendu avec une fille (17 ans) qui l'a mene au marche pour un petit tour. C'est une paradoxe du Vietnam - il y a de temps a temps des escrocs et des personnes grossieres mais aussi de temps en temps les personnes vraiment tres sympas. Peut-etre c'est comme tout le monde, mais plus polarise je pense.
Les filles de Ha Tien.
A Chau Doc, nous avons pris des Xe Oms pour faire un petit tour de Sam Mountain (une montagne sainte avec une belle vue du sommet). Nous avons recontre quelques espagnols et aussi un monsieur americain tres interessant (Robert, entrepreneur retraite, qui habite a Panama). Et puis, a Can Tho, ou nous avons pris un bateau pour voir les marche flottants, une experience uniquement vietnamiene, et nous avons visite un village de la minorite Cham.
Marche flottant
Vendeuse... Encore une vendeuse
Alors, nous sommes retournes a Saigon et nous avons commence de voyager au Nord par l'autobus. Dalat est une ville dans les 'montagnes centrales'. Autrefois un centre des colonials Francais, elle a un altitude qui lui donne un climat tres hospitable pour les Europeens. Aussi, il a un architecture tres francais, mais les Vietnamiens ont decide de faire quelques 'modifications' - il est devenu un peu comme un centre de vacances pour maintenir une image de Paris tres cliche. Mais il est joli, surtout la campagne environnante. Nous avons fait un tour avec les 'Easy Riders', un group de conducteurs de Xe Om, et nous avons vu quelque temples Bouddistes, une usine des vers a soie, et aussi une plantation de 'belette cafe'... les belettes mangent les graines du cafe, et le fermier les rassemblent quand ils sont 'traites'... par le system digestif. Vraiment vrai. Pas une blague. La cuisine de Dalat est superbe, nous avons passe un soir dans un restaurant d'un artiste local qui fait les peintures avec ses doigts. Il nous a donne une peinture personalisee qu'il a fait sur la table devant nous. C'etait touchant.
Paysage de Dalat
Emmie sur une moto
Vers a soie
Notre ami l'artiste
Nous avons decide de ne passer pas beaucoup de temps a Nha Trang (finalement, c'est juste une plage), mais nous avons eu l'opportunite de rencontrer un couple Vietnamien sympa qui m'a aide avec ma prononciation de Vietnamese (j'ai oublie tout mais c'etait un bon sentiment). Vite a Hoi An, le capital d'art et de couture, pour voir les maisons traditionelles et preservees. Nous avons pris l'opportunite de faire faire des vetements sur mesure. Et puis a Hue, pour voir le palais imperial, et pour recouperer apres les voyages d'autobus.
Apprenant la langue Vietnamienne
Jardin du palais imperial
Maintenant, nous venons d'arriver a Hanoi, en preparant de faire les tours de Halong Bay et les villages pres de Sapa, au nord de Vietnam.
A bientot,
Sri
Autres photos:
Les ruins de My Son, un temple Hindou ancien
Shiva, My Son
Image classique du Mekong
Etant arrive a Vietnam (remarquez l'utilisation du gerundif avec un petit rapelle de ma femme), nous avons passe deux jours a Ho Chi Minh (Saigon). Les premiers impressions? Motos. Beaucoup des motos. On a besoin de traverser la rue dans le centre de Saigon pour avoir un vrai appreciation. Et aussi, ayant dut payer dix dollars pour un taxi (le vrai prix est cinq, il a essaye de nous faire payer quinze...), je me suis senti un peu mefiant.
Saigon, motos. Au secours!
Nous avons achete un billet pour l'aeroplane et passe quelques jours dans une petite ile qui s'appelle Phu Quoc, au sud ouest. Une retraite idyllique, nous sommes arrives juste au debut de la saison touristique, et il n'y avait pas encore trop beaucoup des autres la. Nous avons passe presqu'un semaine de relaxation et comtemplation, et pour laisser notre corps de recuperer.
Phu Quoc, plage
Nous avons realise rapidement que Tibet et Nepal nous manquaient. En effet, apres plus que deux semaines, ils nous manquaient encore. Mais, dans l'espirit (sinon la pratique) de detachement Bouddiste, je continue.
Ayant decide d'essayer de conduire un moto nous-meme, et comme je suis tombe sur mon derriere apres j'ai realise que je ne peux pas le faire, nous avons decide d'etre des pietons. Mais, vu que nous avions eu l'intention de faire rien (sauf nager, manger et dormir) pour ces jours, ca n'etait pas grave.
Puis, nous avons commence a traverser le Mekong Delta pour retourner a Saigon (Ha Tien, Chau Doc, Can Tho, Saigon). Le temperature etait plus que 30 C, et humide. Ha Tien est une petit ville cotiere. Juste apres les conducteurs des 'Xe Om' (moto taxi) tres aggresifs ont commence de m'enerver, nous avons rencontre quelques amis Vietnamiens tres sympas dans un petit restaurant, et nous avons passe beaucoup d'heures en parlant avec eux (avec l'aide d'un dictionnaire). Emmie en particulier s'est bien entendu avec une fille (17 ans) qui l'a mene au marche pour un petit tour. C'est une paradoxe du Vietnam - il y a de temps a temps des escrocs et des personnes grossieres mais aussi de temps en temps les personnes vraiment tres sympas. Peut-etre c'est comme tout le monde, mais plus polarise je pense.
Les filles de Ha Tien.
A Chau Doc, nous avons pris des Xe Oms pour faire un petit tour de Sam Mountain (une montagne sainte avec une belle vue du sommet). Nous avons recontre quelques espagnols et aussi un monsieur americain tres interessant (Robert, entrepreneur retraite, qui habite a Panama). Et puis, a Can Tho, ou nous avons pris un bateau pour voir les marche flottants, une experience uniquement vietnamiene, et nous avons visite un village de la minorite Cham.
Marche flottant
Vendeuse... Encore une vendeuse
Alors, nous sommes retournes a Saigon et nous avons commence de voyager au Nord par l'autobus. Dalat est une ville dans les 'montagnes centrales'. Autrefois un centre des colonials Francais, elle a un altitude qui lui donne un climat tres hospitable pour les Europeens. Aussi, il a un architecture tres francais, mais les Vietnamiens ont decide de faire quelques 'modifications' - il est devenu un peu comme un centre de vacances pour maintenir une image de Paris tres cliche. Mais il est joli, surtout la campagne environnante. Nous avons fait un tour avec les 'Easy Riders', un group de conducteurs de Xe Om, et nous avons vu quelque temples Bouddistes, une usine des vers a soie, et aussi une plantation de 'belette cafe'... les belettes mangent les graines du cafe, et le fermier les rassemblent quand ils sont 'traites'... par le system digestif. Vraiment vrai. Pas une blague. La cuisine de Dalat est superbe, nous avons passe un soir dans un restaurant d'un artiste local qui fait les peintures avec ses doigts. Il nous a donne une peinture personalisee qu'il a fait sur la table devant nous. C'etait touchant.
Paysage de Dalat
Emmie sur une moto
Vers a soie
Notre ami l'artiste
Nous avons decide de ne passer pas beaucoup de temps a Nha Trang (finalement, c'est juste une plage), mais nous avons eu l'opportunite de rencontrer un couple Vietnamien sympa qui m'a aide avec ma prononciation de Vietnamese (j'ai oublie tout mais c'etait un bon sentiment). Vite a Hoi An, le capital d'art et de couture, pour voir les maisons traditionelles et preservees. Nous avons pris l'opportunite de faire faire des vetements sur mesure. Et puis a Hue, pour voir le palais imperial, et pour recouperer apres les voyages d'autobus.
Apprenant la langue Vietnamienne
Jardin du palais imperial
Maintenant, nous venons d'arriver a Hanoi, en preparant de faire les tours de Halong Bay et les villages pres de Sapa, au nord de Vietnam.
A bientot,
Sri
Autres photos:
Les ruins de My Son, un temple Hindou ancien
Shiva, My Son
Image classique du Mekong
Vietnam en Anglais, by Emmie
Xin Chao people!
Sri and I have decided to swap our writing roles for once. So he's writing the French version and I'm doing the English one.It's so weird to think and write the blog in English!
So, a few weeks ago, we finally got our flight from Kathmandu to Saigon. I remember thinking at the time that after the chaotic traffic and sick air of Kathmandu, I could totally handle Saigon road traffic.
Ha! What a fool!
Saigon is absolute madness! You get out in the street and then suddenly, there are motorbikes. everywhere. Hundreds of them parked on the pavement, driving in every possible direction, driving on the pavement.
Crossing the road should be simple. There's a zebra crossing, it's green, you cross. Except that the motorbikes NEVER stop driving. ever.
So the best thing to do is follow the locals: slowly cross the road, casually, without even looking at the million cars and motorbikes about to run you over. And somehow, it works. we are still alive. woohoo.
Having been travelling pretty much non stop for 2 months, we thought it would be nice to have a 'holiday within the holiday'. So we went to Phu Quoc island, a little paradise in Southwest Vietnam.
And we did nothing appart from swim, build sand castles, eat and sleep for a week. Bliss!
Life there is a lot slower than in the cities. There is one big dirt road going through the island, and a few restaurants and small hotels in a corner and a lot of hammocks. That's it. perfect!
bit of posing in Phu Quoc
beautiful sky
rainbow
lil boat
Our hotel was actually a little bungalow in the jungle, a few minutes walk from the sea. Far away from everything. So we had to walk with a lamp torch every night to get our dinner.
the road to go to the nearest restaurant
la plage
going to the beach
After our lazy week away from it all, we took a boat back to the mainland and stayed in Ha Tien for one night.
We had a drink at a café/restaurant near where we were staying and ended up spending a while there chatting to the people who run it (well trying, with our mini Lonely Planet dictionnary!). It was kind of like playing Pictionnary actually. A lot of guessing games and drawings. I loved it.
They were all very young. The owner was about 20, and his sisters/cousins/friends were also working there. It was great to meet this mini community and see what their everyday life is like.
We ended up having breakfast there the next day and the girls said they wanted to show me the market. So before I had a chance to say the word in vietnamese, one of them took me by the hand and put her pointy hat on my head and her shopping bag on my arm and off we went. I wish I could have remembered all the words they taught me. It was great to go from place to place with them and see them doing their local shopping.
Despite not being able to say much to each other because of our mutual lack of language, we really connected and were sad to leave them so soon. It felt like we were leaving behind our newly found cousins!
The girls from the café in Ha Tien:
The owner - Thao - (left), playing a game I still don't know:
Then we got a guide and drove off to Chau Doc, to explore a bit more of the Mekong Delta. We shared a car with an American guy, Robert. Really interesting character.
He's an entrepreneur who recently retired. Has been living in Nicaragua and now Panama for a while. His latest on-going project is to rebuild a big fishing boat with some friends. He loves fishing and has caught some seriously big specimen (we're talking 250-300 kilos, huge creature, with one line that can only take up to 50 kilos - How did he fish that with this tiny line? 'It's a very delicate balance', he said, mysteriously).
He also seems to know quite a lot about Rhum and other lovely liquors, so in my head I renamed him Hemingway.
He told us anecdotes of his very rich life, and we listened to him, like kids listenning to their eccentric/wise uncle.
When we got to Chau Doc, we also met a really nice Spanish couple: Marta and Juan, two architects who were travelling a bit like us, but for less time.
We decided to all go to visit the surreal temple of Lady Xu. Legend has it that the statue of Lady Xu used to stand at the top of the Sam mountain. Ages ago, Siamese troops saw it and decided to take it back to Thailand. But the statue must have had a mind of its own because they couldn't move it very far down. So they left it half way down the mountain.
One day, villagers found the statue and decided to bring it back to their village. But once again, the statue was too heavy and wouldn't budge. Suddenly, a girl appeared out of nowhere. She was possessed by a spirit and said she was Lady Xu. She said that 40 virgins should carry the statue down the mountain and they should build a temple around the statue when they get there.
They got the 40 virgins to carry the statue but the statue was too heavy - again - and they had to stop and put it down. The villagers thought that this was a sign from Lady Xu, indicating the space where the temple should be built. So that's where it stands today.
The statue itself looked pretty kitsch, I thought. I guess I was expecting some kind of magically transcending thing, after reading the legend, but nevermind!
We wanted to climb the Sam mountain next to the temple, but the sun was already setting so we all got on motorbikes (with driver of course - I can't even take a turn by myself on a moto!) and followed each other all the way up the mountain.
I've never been on a motorbike going that fast, on a dirt road, so I spent most of the ride glued to my driver. Poor guy!
All went well except that half way through the ride, one of the motorcycles broke down and I had to climb at the back of Marta's motorbike and ride up the mountain with my feet off the floor. Fun times!
Three people on a motorbike is definitely too much!
View of the Delta from the top of the mountain:
In the evening, we thought we all deserved a good dinner in a posh restaurant (still ridiculously cheap in London standards):
Robert, Marta, Juan, Sri at the poncy French place:
Robert gave us his email address and said that if we were ever going through Panama, we could come over and say hi. I said sure, and that he should teach us to fish!
The next day, we took a boat to see the floating markets nearby and see the ethnic minorities at work in the villages close to Chau Doc
Proud dog:
Later on we took a bus to Can Tho where we spent the night. The next day, we saw some more floating markets and some minority tribes at work:
And we then took a long bus ride back to Saigon... Aaaah, crazy traffic, we missed you.
insane traffic in Saigon:
We then set off to Dalat, a cute little mountain town in Central Vietnam. It was discovered by the French. Can you tell?
kitsch frenchie Dalat:
In the evening, we went to have dinner in an art café. It's a little restaurant run by a painter. The walls are covered with his art. He paints with his fingers. We spent a while looking at the paintings and since he was there, we asked him how he created them, what the ideas were behind them etc... Eventually, he said 'You know what, I will make you one'. And he took a big cardboard page, some alcohol and a bit of black China ink and painted bamboo in the shape of our initials with his fingers, in a few seconds, on our table.
It was amazing, seeing the painting appear so quickly and flawlessly under his fingers. He said he did the bamboo in the shape of the moon, as this is symbol of a good heart in Vietnam.
This guy is quite famous apparently. He does exhibits in Saigon, Hanoi. And he teaches his unique technique too. At the moment, he has a student from Japan.
We were really touched that he would just give us this little piece of art, and his time too!
us and the painter
'Easy Riders' are a very popular way of exploring Dalat and the region, so we thought we would give it a go. We rode on a motorbike all day. It was awesome!
me on moto - I kept banging my head against Hong (my driver)'s helmet everytime I got on the bike, but he just laughed everytime.
As well as meeting villagers, craftsmen, coffee plantations, rice winery etc... we stopped a few times along the way to check out the amazing landscapes. We saw a really cool waterfall. Not huge but still pretty impressive, especially when you go at the back. powerful stuff.
us and the waterfall
We stopped by a silk factory. It was really impressive to see how they delicately unfurl the cocoons and get kilometers of silk, just like that! Hong explained that the worms that have been boiled to get the cocoon out, are then grilled and thrown in a soup, for breakfast. mmmh tasty.
tasty silk worms
We stopped to visit some Koho ladies (minority tribe) who sow silk and cotton for a living. They come from the Chicken village (yes, a village with a giant chicken statue in the middle!). The woman on the right in the picture said that Sri was very handsome and that women in her village would offer 10 buffalos (a lot in Koho standards) to have him! I said, yeah I know. But he's mine. miaw.
Yes because in the Koho tribe, women are the boss. Men don't come up to them. They come up to men and make an offer (generally in terms of buffalos) to marry them.
sri and the pretty ladies from the Chicken village who sow silk garments
We drove around some gorgeous mountain landscapes and on the way back, we stopped by Hang Nga 'crazy house'. The architect is the daughter of Ho Chi Minh's successor. The house itself is pretty crazy (with rooms with scary animals with red eyes and stuff), but nothing to nuts, when you've seen Gaudi's style of architecture!
crazy house - bedroom roof - woohooo crazy
crazy lady
The easy riders offered to take us on a road trip all the way to Nha Trang, but after much debate, we decided it would be a bit too expensive and told them we were going to go by bus.
After only a day of riding and exploring with them, we already felt really close to them and it was actually really sad to say goodbye.
The next day, we took a bus to Nha Trang where we spent an afternoon before setting off for Hoi An. Nha Trang is kind of a beach resort, and given the amount of places we want to see in Vietnam, we thought it better not to linger there.
We each had a tough massage (seriously, the lady was literally walking all over Sri, poor thing) and spent a bit of time on the beach, people-watching. That's where we met a nice couple who were taking their baby out for a walk.
The guy showed Sri a few vietnamese expressions while I was being a girl and playing with the cute baby.
the guy who taught sri some vietnamese in Nha Trang
After a tough night bus journey (the beds aren't designed for tall people like Mister Sri - argh painful), we finally got to rainy Hoi An where we spent a few days walking around the little streets and soaking up the history of the place. A lot of the houses have been kept the same since the 1800's, so it really felt like we were stepping back in time.
We visited the My Son ruins. (Hindu temples built by the Cham community) It's not quite Angkor. But pretty impressive though.
My Son ruins
old house in Hoi An
We got a few clothes tailor-made and then set off for Hué. On the way there, the bus stopped in a little village off the main road. At first, I wondered why we were stopping less than an hour driving. But then we realized there was a big entrance carved in a mountain. We got in and found ourselves inside this huge grotto. It felt like an adventure movie. We were expecting ninjas or adventurers to come out from behind the rocks!
Indiana Jones grotto on the way to Hue
Sri is at the right of the weird stone structure:
What else? Well, we got to Hué and I fell ill. So pretty much vegetated for a few days. It rained none stop for 3 days. Temperatures dropped to 18 degrees. (15 degrees difference in the space of a few days!) Shame there was no heating in the hotel. That plus 95 % humidity. Nice!
We finally took a night bus to Hanoi yesterday. Just in case we weren't sure the first time: we just confirmed to ourselves that night buses are indeed a torture. Even for small people like me. Don't do it.
I really like Hanoi, despite the craziness of the traffic. We're staying near the cathedral, in the old quarter. It's all very French and cute.
Anyway, gotta go now. We need to sort out our Halong Bay tour! Can't wait!
take care,
Emmie
Sri and I have decided to swap our writing roles for once. So he's writing the French version and I'm doing the English one.It's so weird to think and write the blog in English!
So, a few weeks ago, we finally got our flight from Kathmandu to Saigon. I remember thinking at the time that after the chaotic traffic and sick air of Kathmandu, I could totally handle Saigon road traffic.
Ha! What a fool!
Saigon is absolute madness! You get out in the street and then suddenly, there are motorbikes. everywhere. Hundreds of them parked on the pavement, driving in every possible direction, driving on the pavement.
Crossing the road should be simple. There's a zebra crossing, it's green, you cross. Except that the motorbikes NEVER stop driving. ever.
So the best thing to do is follow the locals: slowly cross the road, casually, without even looking at the million cars and motorbikes about to run you over. And somehow, it works. we are still alive. woohoo.
Having been travelling pretty much non stop for 2 months, we thought it would be nice to have a 'holiday within the holiday'. So we went to Phu Quoc island, a little paradise in Southwest Vietnam.
And we did nothing appart from swim, build sand castles, eat and sleep for a week. Bliss!
Life there is a lot slower than in the cities. There is one big dirt road going through the island, and a few restaurants and small hotels in a corner and a lot of hammocks. That's it. perfect!
bit of posing in Phu Quoc
beautiful sky
rainbow
lil boat
Our hotel was actually a little bungalow in the jungle, a few minutes walk from the sea. Far away from everything. So we had to walk with a lamp torch every night to get our dinner.
the road to go to the nearest restaurant
la plage
going to the beach
After our lazy week away from it all, we took a boat back to the mainland and stayed in Ha Tien for one night.
We had a drink at a café/restaurant near where we were staying and ended up spending a while there chatting to the people who run it (well trying, with our mini Lonely Planet dictionnary!). It was kind of like playing Pictionnary actually. A lot of guessing games and drawings. I loved it.
They were all very young. The owner was about 20, and his sisters/cousins/friends were also working there. It was great to meet this mini community and see what their everyday life is like.
We ended up having breakfast there the next day and the girls said they wanted to show me the market. So before I had a chance to say the word in vietnamese, one of them took me by the hand and put her pointy hat on my head and her shopping bag on my arm and off we went. I wish I could have remembered all the words they taught me. It was great to go from place to place with them and see them doing their local shopping.
Despite not being able to say much to each other because of our mutual lack of language, we really connected and were sad to leave them so soon. It felt like we were leaving behind our newly found cousins!
The girls from the café in Ha Tien:
The owner - Thao - (left), playing a game I still don't know:
Then we got a guide and drove off to Chau Doc, to explore a bit more of the Mekong Delta. We shared a car with an American guy, Robert. Really interesting character.
He's an entrepreneur who recently retired. Has been living in Nicaragua and now Panama for a while. His latest on-going project is to rebuild a big fishing boat with some friends. He loves fishing and has caught some seriously big specimen (we're talking 250-300 kilos, huge creature, with one line that can only take up to 50 kilos - How did he fish that with this tiny line? 'It's a very delicate balance', he said, mysteriously).
He also seems to know quite a lot about Rhum and other lovely liquors, so in my head I renamed him Hemingway.
He told us anecdotes of his very rich life, and we listened to him, like kids listenning to their eccentric/wise uncle.
When we got to Chau Doc, we also met a really nice Spanish couple: Marta and Juan, two architects who were travelling a bit like us, but for less time.
We decided to all go to visit the surreal temple of Lady Xu. Legend has it that the statue of Lady Xu used to stand at the top of the Sam mountain. Ages ago, Siamese troops saw it and decided to take it back to Thailand. But the statue must have had a mind of its own because they couldn't move it very far down. So they left it half way down the mountain.
One day, villagers found the statue and decided to bring it back to their village. But once again, the statue was too heavy and wouldn't budge. Suddenly, a girl appeared out of nowhere. She was possessed by a spirit and said she was Lady Xu. She said that 40 virgins should carry the statue down the mountain and they should build a temple around the statue when they get there.
They got the 40 virgins to carry the statue but the statue was too heavy - again - and they had to stop and put it down. The villagers thought that this was a sign from Lady Xu, indicating the space where the temple should be built. So that's where it stands today.
The statue itself looked pretty kitsch, I thought. I guess I was expecting some kind of magically transcending thing, after reading the legend, but nevermind!
We wanted to climb the Sam mountain next to the temple, but the sun was already setting so we all got on motorbikes (with driver of course - I can't even take a turn by myself on a moto!) and followed each other all the way up the mountain.
I've never been on a motorbike going that fast, on a dirt road, so I spent most of the ride glued to my driver. Poor guy!
All went well except that half way through the ride, one of the motorcycles broke down and I had to climb at the back of Marta's motorbike and ride up the mountain with my feet off the floor. Fun times!
Three people on a motorbike is definitely too much!
View of the Delta from the top of the mountain:
In the evening, we thought we all deserved a good dinner in a posh restaurant (still ridiculously cheap in London standards):
Robert, Marta, Juan, Sri at the poncy French place:
Robert gave us his email address and said that if we were ever going through Panama, we could come over and say hi. I said sure, and that he should teach us to fish!
The next day, we took a boat to see the floating markets nearby and see the ethnic minorities at work in the villages close to Chau Doc
Proud dog:
Later on we took a bus to Can Tho where we spent the night. The next day, we saw some more floating markets and some minority tribes at work:
And we then took a long bus ride back to Saigon... Aaaah, crazy traffic, we missed you.
insane traffic in Saigon:
We then set off to Dalat, a cute little mountain town in Central Vietnam. It was discovered by the French. Can you tell?
kitsch frenchie Dalat:
In the evening, we went to have dinner in an art café. It's a little restaurant run by a painter. The walls are covered with his art. He paints with his fingers. We spent a while looking at the paintings and since he was there, we asked him how he created them, what the ideas were behind them etc... Eventually, he said 'You know what, I will make you one'. And he took a big cardboard page, some alcohol and a bit of black China ink and painted bamboo in the shape of our initials with his fingers, in a few seconds, on our table.
It was amazing, seeing the painting appear so quickly and flawlessly under his fingers. He said he did the bamboo in the shape of the moon, as this is symbol of a good heart in Vietnam.
This guy is quite famous apparently. He does exhibits in Saigon, Hanoi. And he teaches his unique technique too. At the moment, he has a student from Japan.
We were really touched that he would just give us this little piece of art, and his time too!
us and the painter
'Easy Riders' are a very popular way of exploring Dalat and the region, so we thought we would give it a go. We rode on a motorbike all day. It was awesome!
me on moto - I kept banging my head against Hong (my driver)'s helmet everytime I got on the bike, but he just laughed everytime.
As well as meeting villagers, craftsmen, coffee plantations, rice winery etc... we stopped a few times along the way to check out the amazing landscapes. We saw a really cool waterfall. Not huge but still pretty impressive, especially when you go at the back. powerful stuff.
us and the waterfall
We stopped by a silk factory. It was really impressive to see how they delicately unfurl the cocoons and get kilometers of silk, just like that! Hong explained that the worms that have been boiled to get the cocoon out, are then grilled and thrown in a soup, for breakfast. mmmh tasty.
tasty silk worms
We stopped to visit some Koho ladies (minority tribe) who sow silk and cotton for a living. They come from the Chicken village (yes, a village with a giant chicken statue in the middle!). The woman on the right in the picture said that Sri was very handsome and that women in her village would offer 10 buffalos (a lot in Koho standards) to have him! I said, yeah I know. But he's mine. miaw.
Yes because in the Koho tribe, women are the boss. Men don't come up to them. They come up to men and make an offer (generally in terms of buffalos) to marry them.
sri and the pretty ladies from the Chicken village who sow silk garments
We drove around some gorgeous mountain landscapes and on the way back, we stopped by Hang Nga 'crazy house'. The architect is the daughter of Ho Chi Minh's successor. The house itself is pretty crazy (with rooms with scary animals with red eyes and stuff), but nothing to nuts, when you've seen Gaudi's style of architecture!
crazy house - bedroom roof - woohooo crazy
crazy lady
The easy riders offered to take us on a road trip all the way to Nha Trang, but after much debate, we decided it would be a bit too expensive and told them we were going to go by bus.
After only a day of riding and exploring with them, we already felt really close to them and it was actually really sad to say goodbye.
The next day, we took a bus to Nha Trang where we spent an afternoon before setting off for Hoi An. Nha Trang is kind of a beach resort, and given the amount of places we want to see in Vietnam, we thought it better not to linger there.
We each had a tough massage (seriously, the lady was literally walking all over Sri, poor thing) and spent a bit of time on the beach, people-watching. That's where we met a nice couple who were taking their baby out for a walk.
The guy showed Sri a few vietnamese expressions while I was being a girl and playing with the cute baby.
the guy who taught sri some vietnamese in Nha Trang
After a tough night bus journey (the beds aren't designed for tall people like Mister Sri - argh painful), we finally got to rainy Hoi An where we spent a few days walking around the little streets and soaking up the history of the place. A lot of the houses have been kept the same since the 1800's, so it really felt like we were stepping back in time.
We visited the My Son ruins. (Hindu temples built by the Cham community) It's not quite Angkor. But pretty impressive though.
My Son ruins
old house in Hoi An
We got a few clothes tailor-made and then set off for Hué. On the way there, the bus stopped in a little village off the main road. At first, I wondered why we were stopping less than an hour driving. But then we realized there was a big entrance carved in a mountain. We got in and found ourselves inside this huge grotto. It felt like an adventure movie. We were expecting ninjas or adventurers to come out from behind the rocks!
Indiana Jones grotto on the way to Hue
Sri is at the right of the weird stone structure:
What else? Well, we got to Hué and I fell ill. So pretty much vegetated for a few days. It rained none stop for 3 days. Temperatures dropped to 18 degrees. (15 degrees difference in the space of a few days!) Shame there was no heating in the hotel. That plus 95 % humidity. Nice!
We finally took a night bus to Hanoi yesterday. Just in case we weren't sure the first time: we just confirmed to ourselves that night buses are indeed a torture. Even for small people like me. Don't do it.
I really like Hanoi, despite the craziness of the traffic. We're staying near the cathedral, in the old quarter. It's all very French and cute.
Anyway, gotta go now. We need to sort out our Halong Bay tour! Can't wait!
take care,
Emmie
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