Getting ready for the year long journey

April 30th and May 1st were two national holidays in Vietnam. One day was celebrating the re-unification of Vietnam and the second day was workers’ day, or as we call it back home, labourers' day. We had planned a two day excursion to Ban Na Hll and a day overnight in Hoi An. Actually, I would have preferred to spend the entire time in Hoi An and hit the local beach rather than go to Ban Na Hill because the thought of leaving at 5:00 in the morning made me wonder would I be rested or more tired after the two day excursion. I have to say, that I was glad I went to Ban Na Hill, but don’t feel the need to go there again. But it was a great experience. Another attraction that was happening in Danang was the international fireworks competition which Mrs. Thao and her family wished to attend. We (meaning myself and the 3 other teachers) opted out of this as we preferred to spend our day and the following morning in Hoi An.

Ban Na Hill is in Danang and is a French Colonial station that was established in 1919. Ban Na Hill is a mountain resort that I think is still being developed. One of the main attractions is the cable car ride. This cable car is the longest and highest in the world. I also read that it is the steepest cable car ride and also has the longest unbroked cable in the world. The ride lasted about 14 minutes and from above you can see the lush tropical rainforest and waterfalls. Tourist information about Ban Na Hill states. that there are 543 species of flora and 256 spieces of fauna When you reach the top of the cable car ride you can get out and go to some of the restaurants, and other sites such as the French Wine cellar. The view is spectatular and seeing the mist with the faint outline of the mountains while you are in the air is amazing. We also saw the Linh Ung Pagoda which is a 27 metre tall statue of Buddah. Ban Na Hill also offers accommodatons and has several restaurants.

After leaving Ban Na Hill we made our way to Hoi An and arrived in Hoi An around 5:00 p.m. I had been to Hoi An, the previous year with my better half, so it brought with it some sweet memories. We also stayed in the same hotel that I had been at the previous year, An Huy Hotel (www.anhuyhotel.com ). Hoi An is described as the Ancient Town and it is just south of Da Nang. It is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The old town has quaint winding roads and along the roads are many shopkeepers sellng their wares. There are jewellers, and many, many tailors. But what I enjoy seeing is the silk lanterns that are hung up around the town and lit every lunar moon. No doubt, Hoi An has become commercialized, but I still love the hustle and bustle of the market and seeing the beautfiul flowers for sale in the Market. However, our main reason for coming to Hoi An was to shop, although we all agreed that we would like to have gone to the nearby beach. My goal was to buy some beaded jewllery, but surprise, I bought more than that….a purse and a couple of silk/cotton tops. We all met at 7:00 p.m. and had a great dinner and I had a yummy dessert - a chocolate mouse (which I had tried the previous year) and then we wandered around for a couple of more hours and headed back to our hotel. Before leaving my room earlier on, I had noticed this black slimy thing. It wasn’t an insect as it didn’t have any legs. I definitely did not want to pick it up so I took my garbage can and put it over top of the “thing”. Later on all of us took a look at it and we figured it was probably a baby bat…yuck. Anyways, when I checked out, the garbage can was still overtop the bat…or whatever it was.

When we woke up in the morning we had a great breakfast which was included in the priceof our room and then wewalked around and did some more sightseeing. Iris bought a few items for her family. We had a scrumptious lunch at a nearby stall and hurried back to our hotel so that we could catch the bus back to Quang Ngai City. We had a great time, but I was quite sore for a week due to the long amount of time sitting I had to do in the van and in the bus. Unfortunately I could not get a massage until the day after our arrival back to Quang Ngai. In the future, I will have to really think twice about doing such long trips in a short period of time. However, I am fortunate since can also access very inexpensive massages. Regardless, I look forward to the next time I go to Hoi An as I would like to hit the beach and find a place called Randy’s Book Exchange, which I believe I can access by crossing a bridge to a small island.

During the month of April, 2013, we had 3 days off work due to 3 public holidays. On our first day off myself and the 3 other teachers, Iris, Siena, and Raisa decided to go to Thien An Mountain Pagoda. The ride to the mountan was only 15 minutes from where we live. At the top of the mountain, is an ancient pagoda which was built in 1695. The pagoda is also the site of the tomb of Huynh Thuc Khan. Huyn Thuc Khang (1876-1947) was a famous scholar and journalist and the acting president of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. In addition there are the tombs of the monks. Here is several pictures I took at the Pagoda. The days was topped of perfectly by an awesome barbequed chicken dinner with Mrs. Thao and her family.

Towards the end of February we decided that we should all go to My Khe Beach which is approximately a half hour bus ride from where we live. Along the route to the beach was the My Lai Memorial which we all wanted to visit. I believe that all of us knew before going that what we would see would be upsetting but it was something we felt we must do. Having travelled through Asia over the last seven years and knowing how friendly the people are that I've met and how beautiful and peaceful the countryside is, it was even hard for me to fathom, the massacre that took place on March 16th /68. At that time I was only 12 years old but I still remember the picture of the young girl running from the village. I have included some pictures that I took at Son My,pictures of the grounds and the memorial but I have chosen not to includeany of the pictures of the massacre as I feel if someone really wants to see the aftermath of that assault on March 16th, they could easily find what they wish to find through the Internet.

After visiting My Son, we headed to My Khe beach which is seven kilometres of sandy beach which was virtually desserted. The waves were high and the water was cool. When we arrived we saw a couple of cows heading towards the beach to see what they could scrounge up to eat. The sand, as you will see from the pictures is pure white. We all had an amazing seafood dinner; for five of us it came to twenty five dollars US. As I write this, I am planning to go to My Khe Beach in early May. My students tell me that the water is 28 celcius....I can surely handle that.

Of course, as noted by my colleagues, I would stand out like a sore thumb.....however that does not bother me, I was more concerned where I could leave my valuables and my camera while I went swimming as I would be going solo. I discussed this with one of my students and she assured me that I can leave my valuables with the staff at the hotel...

The school was closed down for a period of 18 days and I decided that instead of spending the whole time in Quang Ngai, that I should use this opportunity to visit another part of Vietnam since this was going to be the longest trek of time I was going to have off for the remainder of my contract. I decided that I would like to go to Hue, the old capital of Vietnam which is also a world UNESCO heritage site. Since I did not know until the last minute that our holiday was going to be several days less than originally planned I spent my last day in Quang Ngai doing lesson planning…actually I was up until 1:00 a.m. in the moring and only had 4 hours sleep and then I had to get up to get the train that would take me to Hue.

This was my first experience on a train in Vietnam and because it was the TET holiday it was packed. Unfortunately, I was not able to get some of the better seats on the way down, but on the way back I had a nice comfortable seat with air con. Although I had air conditioning, the seating was quite uncomfortable. It was like sitting on a narrow park bench except that this park bench was sized to fit 3 people but I had to share my seat with 3 other people. There was airconditiioning but at times it was quite cool and I was glad that I had brought a shawl with me. I had envisioned that I would be able to take in some beautiful scenery, but I could barely keep my eyes opened, although I did not fall asleep, my eyes were quite heavy. I was able to see at times the mist rising off the rice paddy fields as the sun was making ready to rise.

I had spent several hours trying to decide where I should stay in Hue and I decided to stay at a place called Phong Lan Guest House (12/66 Le Loi Street, Hue - telephone (+84.54)3826255 – 3837897; e-mail phlonglanhue@gmail.com. This guesthouse had very good reviews and it was within my budget. I’m glad to say it was a great little place with very accommodating staff. My stay their included breakfast and the homemade jams were delicious. The only thing I would have liked but, I knew wasn’t available was a pool. However, as it turned out I was really quite busy siteseeing and just meandering about the town and checking out the stores and finding some places to eat.

Hue was the national capital of Vietnam until 1945 when the emperor at the time abdicated and a communist government was established in Hanoi. During the Tet offensive (Vietnam War) of 1968, Hue had considerable damage to its building from both the American and communist forces. Fortunately, now many of the buildings are being restored. During this vacation I took many pictures of the sites around Hue. One day I hired a driver for half a day to take me to the various temples. Another day I went with a young from the United States booked a boat trip on the Perfume River. The River ride also stopped us off at a couple of temples and we also had our lunch cooked for us on the boat. The boat also served as the family’s home. Another day I walked to the Citadel and got lost on the way back, but during that adventure found a great little food stall. Boy did the beer go down good.
My trip also included several massages (which were more expensive than in Quang Ngai), but necessary due the long train ride on a crowded bench. I was also able to pick up soGin which I have not yet found in Quang Ngai. Some retail therapy rounded the trip offnicely. The day before I left my tooth started acting up. I had had a root canal done in the Fall in Canada and had a temporary crown put on, but I suspected that some of it had come away. Luckily for me in Vietnam you can go to the pharmacy and get medicatons so I was able to get rid of the infection and about a week later went to see a dentist in Quang Ngai and had a crown put on. I included many pictures of the sites in Hue. Enjoy!

TET, or the Chinese New Year’s is a big deal. I had the opportunity to experience Tet in the community that I now live in For me this a once in a lifetime opportunity. Tet is the time when people get together with family and friends and there is lots of activity going on as the people prepare for Tet. The local supermarket called Co op Market was a zoo. I had taken some pictures of the hustle and bustle inside Co opmart but unfortunately I deleted those pictures in error. I haven’t taken any pictures there since it has not been as busy. I did however, get a few strange looks as I was taking the pictures. However, I also do stand out in a crowd, blond hair which is short, white and freckles.

A week or two before Tet the community is abuzz with activity. All the sidewalks are filled with flowers which people purchase to decorate their homes for Tet or they give them as gifts. There are so many flowers that there is hardly anywhere to walk on the streets. I had taken pictures of this but once again, they were deleted in error.

The café we go to was having a community dinner a few days before Tet and we were invited to attend the meal which was delicious. We were unable to stay for the entire time as we had some classes we needed to get to. However, the music was so loud that there was no way we could teach the students and I ended up playing games with the younger children and my adult class became a free talking class at a nearby café.

When preparing for Tet people buy gifts for each other which is usually food, wine etc. The rationale behind this is that when you have your guests coming to visit you, you have food to offer them. Iris and I were trying to figure out if it would be appropriate to do this for Mrs. Thao. I asked one of my students about this and she told me that if we were going to buy something flowers or food would be appropriate. Iris and I decided that we wanted to arrange our own Tet package for Mrs. Thao and off to the Co op Mart we went and we had lots of fun picking out our Tet gift for Mrs. Thao. Mrs. Thao had hoped to see us early during the Tet holiday but she ended up being so busy with friends and relatives visiting her and her family that we only saw her a couple of times, but she was quite surprised to see the gift we had prepared for her. The students in a couple of my classes took me out for coffee to celebrate Tet and I was invited to go to some of the students homes during Tet, but I told the students that I was not sure if I would be able to visit them as I may be going to Hue, the old capital of Vietnam for a week or so during Tet.

Iris and I stocked up on food because many of the stores would be closed for a few days and some of them for a couple of weeks. Mrs. Thao also made sure that we had some traditional Tet food to experience which she had made herself and brought over for Iris and myself. The other teacher, Siena had left to visit her family in the Phillipines and was also going to be travelling around Asia with her boyfriend. When she returned to Quang Ngai, her boyfriend also arrived and stayed for a couple of weeks.

A day after the school closed Mrs. Thao and the staff at the centre prepared an amazing meal for us at the Centre. Mrs. Thao had a monk do the blessings and he also visited the school and the new site that Mrs. Thao has selected for the new school. However, the monk, felt that the timing was not right to expand the school. This was determined by the age factor of Mrs. Thao and her husband. I take it that the Monk is also a fortune teller.

Early on in the Tet holiday I am still undecided if I should go away for a few days. At times I feel that even though the school is closed there is still much to do on my part. Since Kristina is gone I will be taking over most of her classes and all of those classes are new to me. But then again, I will not have the opportunity to do this again and for me, Tet will be the longest period of time that I will have off for vacation……… I have included some pictures of the feast Mrs. Thao prepared for us at the beginning of the Tet holiday.