Squidding boat

The hotel business can be quite a headache, but also quite a joy at times. I find that many guests are hard to say goodbye to. We only know each other a few short days, but become friends quickly. I am always interested in hearing their stories, and they in turn are interested in the experience I have with this country and how I can add to their vacation. To hear it is time to check out is a bit sad. Some leave saying they will be back again, and others sadly will become distant memories. I truly hope they enjoyed staying with me as I have enjoyed hosting them. It is these people who are making this working retirement worth while.

There is something odd going on. Last night my British guests checked out and now the Hotel sits empty. It is not only me, but almost all of the hotels. Business seems to come in spurts with a week or so of chaos, and then

A very nice couple.

 another of quiet. I went into the main tourist area today and saw almost nobody there.  I dropped in on some friends of mine and they were complaining of there being no customers at all for them. HuH?…. I wonder if the ash cloud from the eruption has cancelled many flights here.

Today I will tell you about one of the tours offered in NhaTrang. I had the pleasure of spending a day with Mandy, Britt, Lloyd, Lee, and Carl on a snorkeling and Scuba adventure. As a hotel owner I get a few perks, and enjoying the trips with my guests at no charge, or reduced cost is one of

Nice people.. I hope to see you again

them. Britt decided to do 2 dives, and all of the others decided a day of snorkeling was just the ticket. We were picked up at our hotel at 7:15 am and driven to the main office to be fitted for gear. We met some other people who were going for diving and snorkeling and off we went. The van became crowded with people and seeing my displeasure, they offloaded a person and some gear for a motorcycle to deliver. I have to give them credit for taking our comfort seriously. A short 5 minute drive and we were at the port area. Also to my pleasure, we were loaded on to our boat with no problems or confusion, and we departed promptly. (I am hoping this is a standard practice and not

Bia Hoi with my British Buds

 staged for my benefit) The boat was in good condition and it took about 45 minutes to reach our destination of Mun Island. Fruit and drinks were served on the way. Britt was taken to the rear of the boat and geared up for her dive and we were all given equipment in new condition. The first reef we stopped at was OK but not spectacular. We spent an hour swimming and enjoying the new coral growth and the colorful fish. Back to the boat and we moved a few hundred yards to another area of coral. Like the first, it was new coral on top of dead, but in much more abundance and much more marine life. It was pleasant. We spent another hour exploring the reef an the surrounding rocky slopes. There were lion fish, Trigger and Angel fish, sea urchins and sea cucumbers, and many varieties of parrot fish. There were also a few oddities such as trumpet fish and others that I do not know the name of.

on the scuba boat

News Flash!!  At this moment the police have returned to the hotel next door. I do not know what is going on, but a couple of the guests headed out in a hurry. Probably because of the short term arrangement the hotel has. I hope they are not shut down as many of my fun evenings are watching the goings on of the place……. Anyway,

The second dive ended and we all were back on board. The boat headed back to NhaTrang and a very good lunch was served consisting of curried chicken stew, grilled pork chops, and mixed vegetables. We arrived at the docks without hassle and were driven back to the hotel about 12:30. All in all it was a good day The people with me were hoping that it would have lasted a bit longer, but they all seemed happy. I will use this company again. By the

Fish Farms

 way…. If you want to become a certified diver, here is where to do it. It is inexpensive and fun. A snorkel trip is 18 dollars, a 2 dive day is 40. To become certified is 250. Try and get that deal in your own country!! 

I mentioned dead coral in the preceding paragraphs. I will talk a little about that tomorrow. An interesting and sad bit of Vietnam history.

A slow ride

It seems that everyday poses a different challenge for a person here. I have mentioned before that Vietnamese people see things very differently than we in the west. Generally in business we like to have a plan and execute it with logical precision to get a desired result. The Vietnamese on the other hand get an idea and the construction begins. If the idea changes or gets modified, just go with the flow and modify things as you go. It can make for some very strange bedfellows. For example; we were traveling on a highway yesterday and encountered a very large modern sigh that boasted Pho Bo which is beef soup and Sony products. The restaurant was in the Sony showroom….. Huh!! The challenge for me in the last few days is a coffee shop who has decided to do some renovations. Their building is attached to two hotels that are filled

A nice temple

 with overnight guests. In order not to affect is coffee business, he has hired a night crew to renovate starting at 11:00 pm. Well!! Midnight and the air chisels and sledge hammers start banging on the walls. Quick to react, I was out the door and in their face yelling for them to stop this stupidity. The owner of the hotel next door joined me and seeing how I was able to put an end to the madness, has now warmed to me. Maybe our relationship will be better. Anyway… the owner of the coffee shop had not even considered there might be a problem wit doing demolition during the night when attached to two hotels Sheesh!! Talking about not thinking thing through.

Collecting fares

There is a bus that stops very near our hotel and travels the entire distance of NhaTrang. Drifter and I were too saddle sore to even think of a road trip, so never being to the end of the line, I joined him for a bus ride. The number 4 runs every 20 minutes and stops at around 8 pm. From our area the bus departs near the tourism college and passes in front of the hotel. We jump aboard and a pleasant young lady in uniform charges us the 15 cents for a ticket and gives us our change. We are sitting amongst some very attractive young people…. In air-conditioned comfort, we drive a short distance along the ocean before turning up a small street lined with street food vendors, many of them serving food that makes my mouth water. The

Same same but different

 bus turns along 2/4 street (named for the day the North Vietnamese entered the city). After a short drive through a business area we cross two bridges we come to a large intersection that has both a traffic circle and an island in the middle. If a person gets off and walks 3 blocks towards the ocean, you will be in downtown and the busy Dam Market area, a great place to spend an afternoon shopping. The bus continues past a couple of more traffic circles and near the Maximark supermarket (the only one in NhaTrang), and then cuts a few blocks towards the ocean to run down Nguyen Thien Thuat street. This street leads into the

The drivers view

heart of the main tourist area passing many bars, western and Asian restaurants with surprisingly good food, and to the infamous Sailing club and the Why Not Bar. The bus again turns on to the ocean and continues to the harbor and stops very close to the cable car to Vin pearl land. Wow!! How convenient. Unless you are a late night person, there is nowhere you cannot get in 15 minutes right from our location.  We hopped off the bus we were on and jumped on a returning number 4 having to pay another fifteen cents for the fare. The bus took us back and the rest of the day was spent lazing around watching the world go by. After dinner, we jumped on the bikes and headed down to the bars in the main tourist area. Over a quiet drink we decided that our butts had calmed enough for another Road Trip!!

a custom tiled bike

Drifter had plans to try to get a bus to a town called Phan Rang about 110 km south of NhaTrang to find a MIA ( missing in Asia). A buddy that has disappeared for 30 years. He had some new information that he may be found in this town. Instead of leaving a day early to find him, we decided to turn it into another adventure. 

 Nothing was going on in the expat bars, and we could not bring ourselves to hang out in the expensive and trendy night clubs so we decided just to go back to the hotel and spend a couple of hours sitting in chairs on the front side walk sipping a cool one and winking at all the young beautiful people walking by, but alas it was not to be. We pulled up on our bikes to see 6 police officers in our place. EEEKS!!!! A raid. They were a bit surprised to see us come in, and maybe more so when I started using the reception computer.

Difter.... Do you need a wife??

After an hour, Drifter decided he would forgo our nightly tradition of people watching and hit the sack, unfortunately for me, I had to stay. Records were checked and rooms inspected, and then paperwork was taken away, Hmmmmm…. The next day Mai and the landlord have a meeting with the provincial police to determine our future. Oh Well…… Road Trip!! Why worry… we were legit, so Drifter and I were off for an overnighter to seek out an MIA he has looked for so long…… The adventure intensifies!

Tilling the field

With the exception of horrid weather, I am going on a white water rafting trip. I have a family staying with us that was interested in doing something a little bit different. I have decided to join them in order to be able to give a first hand account for future guests. I will let you know how it all turns out in another post. The trip includes picking us up at the Hotel and transferring us to the river an hour away in the mountains, a BBQ lunch, and all the free beer I we can handle. Hmmmmmm…..BBQ and free beer??? I am not sure I like the sounds of that….. NOT! Anyway…..

I want to tell you about Paradise…. Yes Paradise. Drifter and I had a road trip to paradise and it goes like this;

Another temple

Li’l Sissy and Puffy after a good nights rest were going to be put to the test again. There is a town called Doc Let about 45 kilometers north and Drifter and I decided it was our next destination. Our Aching buts seemed to be OK and the smell of adventure was in the air. We left a bit late and cruised along a beautiful highway that parallels the ocean to the north of NhaTrang. We pass by an abandoned Russian resort that for some reason or another came to a grinding halt and sits there large and ominous beckoning ghosts to call it home. A not to distant drive and we encounter a tiny fishing village. What better a place to have lunch! We blinked and it was gone, so we turned around and looked for a roadside spot that had tables assuming there would be food service. We found a place and to the amazement and glee of some nice locals, we sat down. When they discovered that we had some crude language skills, they were even more elated. We asked if they had food and

Meow

the response was “what do you want?” Ok….. Uh…. How about Bun Me (submarine sandwich). The mother ( I assume) gives some commands to a young lady and off she runs at top speed. There is no food service here, but like in so much of Vietnam, if you want something, they will provide. It is taking the young lady a while and we engage the family in conversation so to speak. They of course ask of our marital status and the like, but surprisingly to us, two of the older women pull out cigarettes and start smoking. They then talk to us about the merits of having more than one wife. Cool!! The husband shows up and adds to the conversation. Unknowing to drifter, (I think) I deflected the pressure from me telling them that I was married as hell, but he was available. The husband showed up and then all sorts of marriage combo’s and advice were told. It was fun and finally the gal showed up with our submarine of pork fat, duck liver pate, and veggies. I asked about the distance as it took so long and was told that the submarine shop was very far away. Well!! If they would have said something, I would have spared her

A spot in the middle of nowhere

the trip. After enjoying the lunch with the family and watching fisher folk returning with their catches, we asked for the bill. 18000 or 90 us cents for 2 submarines and 2 Pepsis. We left a tip and carried on our way leaving the people with a story to tell. All in all a great experience (even though I would have preferred meat to pork fat in my sandwich). We are only into our trip for an hour and it is looking good. Heading north we merge into dreaded highway number 1 and run the gauntlet. I do not know if I could adequately describe how dangerous this highway can be. 

Lets picture a 2 lane road paved with asphalt softened by the heat of the day to form ruts and ripples at random spots on its entire length. On those two lanes, add a shoulder perhaps 3 to 4 feet in width on both sides. They are not even with the pavement. The road was layered 4 inches higher than the shoulder so there is a spot of instability when crossing. Now let’s add

Looking for a needle

 distractions. Along the sides of the highway will be many signs, goods, and services that are as close as possible to attract the attention of the motorist. The vehicles that have stopped at these places have dragged sand and muck onto the shoulders. Now let’s add the traffic. For the most part, motorcycles travel on the shoulders weaving back and forth to evade the debris pulled onto the roadway by emerging traffic. On the main softened washboard ridden pavement are trucks that sometimes make ours look timid, with horns factory stocked with decibel levels you cannot count. Who ever is the loudest and the biggest and most aggressive has the right of way. They will charge side by side not caring for on coming traffic. While they are doing a deadly dance, a fast moving minibus will get involved, its smaller horn blaring. Both lanes and almost both shoulders are taken by these maniacs.

Fisher folk

They come towards you at reckless abandon and you squeeze to mere inches from dropping into a ditch. They pass and your helmet gets sucked by such violent force that the chin strap starts to choke you. Ahhhhh I survived that one but guess what??? The same thing happens from behind so you better be keeping an eye on that rear view mirror non stop. The difference from the behind assault is that those ear piercing horns can shock you so severely. That who knows where or how you will react…. Maybe right in front of them. Anyway….. We are on our way to Paradise…. The adventure continues

A statue on the Promanade

A big thank you to other sites that I copied from.

Long Thanh Photo Studio

Long Thanh is a local photographer with a permanent exhibition gallery open to the public. This is a popular visiting spot for people who appreciate life as seen through a lens. To date, Long Thanh has exhibited at more than 57 different photographic exhibitions around the world including Europe, Asia, Australia and the United States. Long Thanh’s photographic repertoire is as wide-ranging as it is unique. His landscapes are often moody, contrasting the natural beauty of Vietnam with the continuing struggle in many people’s daily lives. Well worth checking out. 126 Hoang Van Thu St.

Boat Cruises

Nha Trang is flanked by 71 islands and the sea at most times of year is crystal clear so the plethora of boat trips daily heading out plus the easy availability of booking agents is self-explanatory. Trips are not expensive and are more often than not party cruises but with a fair amount of snorkeling and fishing fitted in between the drinking. Check whether lunch is included or not and compare deals before booking. If you are not an extremely

fisher folk

 early riser then charter a boat the day before. Most hotels can handle the booking but the place to book in person is the Cau Da Dock

Mud Baths

The mud baths at Thap Ba natural hot springs are a healthy and fun way to spend a few hours. The best time of day to go is between 12:00 and 15:00 when they are less crowded. You will be offered single or shared mud baths and obviously the single ones are more expensive yet the communal tubs are more fun. Shower off in mineral-rich water afterwards or let the mud dry on you first for additional benefits before showering.

Small bridge

Diving & SnorkelingNha Trang has over 20 dive shops, so this is a buyer’s market and divers looking for certification will find that the value for money here is superb, with PADI open water courses available with full equipment rental for as little as US$200. A two-dive boat trip with equipment rental and modest lunch can be had for as little as US$25.

Vinpearl Water Park and Aquarium

Vinpearl is a resort located on Hon Tre (Bamboo Island) some three kilometres south of the port. It is connected to the mainland by the longest cable car in the world (in itself a pretty impressive experience) that transports visitors some 40 metres above sea level to the resort, its water

Amusement on the beach

 park, games park and an aquarium, as well as a spa. Prices are reasonable and the water park closes at 18:00

Yang Bay waterfall, 48 km from Nha Trang, consists of three sets of falls — Yang Bay, Yang Khang, and Ho Cho. It’s a well-developed tourist spot and a regular stop for Vietnamese on group tours, but it’s still worth seeking out on your own. The main falls have been heavily modified, and some swimming areas have been artificially created, but the effect is fairly natural and quite beautiful. It’s a great spot for swimming

Raglai ethnic village
Part of what makes the trip worthwhile is that the last half courses through some really stunning countryside, and the last few kilometres before the falls passes by a Raglai ethnic village.

Finally a mall being built

Dien Khanh Citadel
This site is actually a stop on some tour itineraries. While it doesn’t really merit seeking out for it’s own sake, you’ll pass through it on the way to Yang Bay falls. After you turn off Route 1 on the way to the falls you’ll pass through two gates, about two stories high, which are all that remain of an 18th century citadel. They have guard towers above the archways, and a couple metres of old earthen ramparts — they’re so narrow traffic can only pass through in one direction at a time, controlled by traffic lights.

Bai Dai

 (which means ‘long beach’ and is pronounced ‘bye-yai‘). It’s 19 km from the outskirts of Nha Trang, to the south, along the relatively new road that cuts through the coastal mountains to the Cam Ranh Airport. The beach is a long, beautiful stretch of sand that extends for ten kilometres or more along an arc-shaped bay.

a random shot

Other activities include white water rafting, day fishing trips, Bicycle tours, and more that I am sure I am forgetting. Now, lets head over to the sleeper bus and head north.

There seems to be a sudden change in the climate. For the past week or so, I have noticed that the seas are mirror like in the evenings and the early mornings. It gets a little choppy in the afternoons, but otherwise, it is a perfect swimming and boat tour time. I will make a mental note that the beginning of march is for swimmers.

Drifter in his comments made a reference to face…. It is a concept that many westerners hear about, but are not clear on what it is or how it works. Even those who think that they may have it figured out usually still do not get it. I am afraid that I may not have the writing skills to express into words what “face” is, but I will give it a try. First a little background..

Before I became involved with the Vietnamese, I lived among the Chinese. I was with them for 4 or 5 years immersed in their culture before I finally was able to understand what “face” truly is. It is not something that can be taught or explained, but something that has to be mastered by experience. I am very fortunate to be in a very small class of westerners who actually understand and feel in the soul the true meaning of “face”. I now live my life by this concept and have become a better man for it. Also because of this understanding, I am able to fit into situations and have total acceptance by people that you would think would want nothing to do with us…… Anyway, this is not about me tooting my own horn, but just to let you know that I truly understand and will try to give you an idea of what is involved. “Face” is an important moral base in almost all Asian cultures. The Chinese probably are the most deeply rooted in the concept with the others falling in behind.

Let us start with basically what “face” is. It is a system based on honor. Not respect or kindness, or correctness, but honor, and honor only. Through honor comes the other things such as respect, and politeness. “Face” is the core heart felt instinctive way a person feels. There is no thought or decisions, but it is a raw emotion as real as anger or love. A person might think that it is the honor of the individual, but wait….  No, there is the family…. But wait…. There is the community… but wait…. There is the local society…. But wait… there is the ethnic community…. But wait… there is the clan…. But wait… there are your ancestors. Yes!! That is how deep it goes. One must always respect the face of another for fear of losing face. ( I will deal with that in a bit.) “Face” can be a very emotional thing if you lose it, and a very elating thing if you can gain it. I have experienced both and the emotions are as strong as love and hate. So…….. Does face have rules? Yes and no. Try to think of it like the Klingon code of honor on Star Trek. ( I would even hazard a guess that Gene Roddenberry based the Klingon character on this very principle) Here is a very simple example of how one can lose and or recover face in a situation.

Two Klingons walk into a party with two Romulan women. The Klingons are good friends but the women are unknown to each of them. One remarks to another jokingly that that is a very ugly tie he is wearing. A joke to him is not a joke to his date… he has lost face. To react and give a joking result as a rebuttal in front of his date will cause him to further lose face, but he must respond to gain or get his face back. In order to save face, he will treat the comment as if not worthy of response not doing damage to his opponent and saving him face. Having saved himself face by saving his friends face, now puts him an a little bit of a position that he has worked hard and lost face with his friend by not giving him a rebuttal at the time of confrontation. In order save face he now must confront him and tell him of the inappropriate comment about the tie. This friend will apologize losing a little face for his friend to regain his.

Clear as mud right? I will tell you now that that is a very simple example of how it works. There is no way I can tell you in my clumsy words how it truly works. I already have reached my word limit and I am not even close at explaining it, so I will try from here to condense the explanations.

Insulting ones family or siblings is a bad move. The  family unit is the way people survive in Asia. If you insult one, you may insult them all. If an individual in a family is disgraced, the whole family will lose face and will stop at nothing to try to regain it. I personally have horror stories of this very thing. Some of you maybe have read past blogs on how I became enraged in the past. These instances were face issues and still have not been resolved to this day. I fear that relations with some family members have been damaged and can never be repaired. In some instances, face can be a curse.

With the above concept in mind, imagine what a process or raw emotion that can be stirred if you insult a family member. Face has to be satisfied. It cannot be let go, ever!! If you cannot find a way to save face, recover face, or repair ones face, a person or family or clan can become hated enemies forever. Being able to admit you are wrong and having the skill to give the wrong party their stolen face back, gives you a lot of face and respect in others eyes…. Even if you were wrong or wronged someone to begin with. It is a constant struggle of checks and balances that has allowed tribal cultures to survive amongst each other for centuries. Without this concept, there would be no basic rules to keep communities warring with each other. Think about it….. to this day there are still countries in the world that have no real political system in the country to keep everybody in line… only losing or saving face keeps the peace.

I live with the concept of face. I wish the western world could somehow understand and adopt the same principles, but I think not. It took me years of deep immersion to understand, and even though you think you may be able to make heads and tails from what I have attempted to say, sorry, I know you will not understand fully.

Of course, random photos as usual

oops!!! This post is from Feb 20. I did not realize that it did not get posted

As I closed for the night, the main door latch broke off in my hand. Huh!! Always something. We are still fully booked and things are going well. I think I will need to find a night receptionist quickly, Sleeping in the hotel and getting up very early everyday is slowly taking its toll. For the first time since I got here, I was forced to have a 20 minute nap. The streets are still alive with the New Years celebrations. There are dragon dancers showing up at random locations causing traffic jams as curious onlookers stop to gape at the martial arts spectacle. I do

A trap in Chu Chi

 not know how they do it. I see the same young men displaying their arts all day and evening long, and it looks very tiring. They are beaded with sweat by noon and a person can see the pain of the efforts in their faces, but still they persist. I have to admire them.

A bit of weather front has moved in and Nha Trang has cooled to a chilly 26 degrees. A pair of Swedes that were staying with us found the cloudiness not to their liking, so they have moved on south hoping to break through the

Hands up

front. I wish them luck. From what I have been able to see, the mildest and calmest climate is here in Nha Trang. Oh…… about the climate (oooooo ya gotta love my segways

Vietnam is over 3000 Km long so temperature can vary quite a bit depending on the season. I have been asked many times when the best time to travel to Vietnam is. That is a bit of a difficult question, but I will do my best to give you a clear answer.

Loom in muslim village

in Vietnam there are two seasons, the cold season occurs from November to April and the hot season from May to October. The difference in temperature between the two seasons in southern parts of Vietnam is almost unnoticeable, averaging only around 3ºC. It is much more noticeable in the North where differences of 12ºC are not uncommon. In the northern regions, the rainy season from May to September (it’s hot, heavy rain), and the dry season from October to April (it’s cold, little rainfall). The annual average temperature is in the 20 to 25 degree range, but in winter the average

Paddling on the Mekong

temperature is around 16 and can go as low as 3 degrees. There is over 100 days of rain fall making it hard to hit the best weather.

The south is a sharp contrast There is almost no noticeable difference in seasons and it is not as stormy as the north. It can get quite hot during the summers, especially in the Mekong. From Ho Chi minh City all the way up the coast, the climate is generally similar with the exception of Nha Trang. Nha Trang is blessed with some of the mildest weather in the world. The rainy season only lasts about one month, and then, it may only rain for a week or two with sunny afternoons and stormy mornings. Nha Trang is surrounded by a number of mountains that shelter it from storms and weather fronts. The climate is mild all year around with an average temperature of 26-28

Future boat driver

 degrees. Most if not all of the typhoons that hit Vietnam veer slightly to the north and miss Nha Trang. Other areas as close as 10 Km can be devastated, while this locale remains untouched. That is probably why the ancient Cham people thrived here.

So here it is in a nutshell…. Depending where you want to spend your time will influence your decision. If you intend  to spend most of your time touring south and central Vietnam, I would suggest winter Maybe January of February. It will be fairly dry and the temperatures mild at 26 – 32 degrees. However, travel to the north is not so pleasant at this time. It can be chilly but tolerable in Halong Bay, but it can be darn right miserable if you plan to go to SAPA. If only coming to the center and Nha Trang in particular, almost any month is good. Just remember that October-November is the rainy season. The north is a little trickier. If you do not want to be cold, summer is the best, however, is becomes rainy and hot.

South Mekong Girls

In my opinion, if a person wants to do an entire country tour from top to bottom, April – June may be the best months. There is a good chance that the warmer weather has set in the north and the south is not in its hottest time. For myself, I do not mind January through March. I would much rather deal with a little chilliness than be confined to air-conditioned hotel rooms. I hope this answers some of your questions. If you have more specific questions…. Please ask

Todays photo’s brought to you by Brad

Eating Lunch

I am continually amazed at the statistics I see when analyzing my blog. I am honored to say that I have daily readers from all over the world. I am now approaching 1000 daily readers, and more than 40,000 occasional readers a month. Thank you to all of you. It is your interest that keeps me blogging. It is interesting though, that there are so few commenters. That is OK. I do really enjoy the comments, but they are not necessary. Until recently, the majority of readers were from Canada, followed by Vietnam, USA, Australia, and others. The demographic has changed. Vietnam has overtaken Canada. The US and Canada and Australia are pretty equal, but my big surprise is Austria. It seems that I have a following there….. Huh! Who would of thought.

Some of you probably are aware that the hotel website is now up and running. It is crude, but a start. I racked my brain around problems for a week trying to figure out web issues. I am happy to say that some of them

A nap after lunch

 have been worked out. Those of you who know me understand that I can do amazing things with computers, but I am a total novice in web design.

I am writing this at 1am. Very late for me nowadays, but it cannot be helped. We finally have many people staying in the hotel….. and… a night clerk that has arranged for his friends to come and party here. I will let the little party slide as it is new year however, he is paid to sleep here and look after guests, not look after friends. The guests that checked in were shocked that there were new owners, and the place was renovated. They wanted to have a room like before where 12 people could share the same room. Sorry!! Our policy has changed. Two people to a room and an additional charge for a third. What I did not take into account is that the room would be booked by three women each having three children. OUCH!! Another learning experience. Things seem quiet now, but they were not earlier.. oops… check that!! Doors are banging and people yelling. It is 1:17. I have just gone upstairs for the third time to ask that two rooms be quiet as there are others in the building. I think it is falling on deaf ears. Vietnamese and Western Hotels are very different and it will be a challenge to set things up so they can co-exist. The second floor is rented to a Vietnamese tour. They seem like very nice people and are having fun. The problem is that I have on the third floor, a westerner who wants to sleep.  The Vietnamese seem to be impervious to noise. They live in it and create a lot of it. It is part of the culture shock we experience when we travel here. To the Vietnamese, we are just as different. They have a hard time

Masks worn by most women

 understanding the need for quiet as they have never experienced it. How does a person balance this in a hotel shared by all? I was given advice by Nicolas my friend who runs the Ha Van Hotel, that I should have posters in all the rooms stating that we will reserve the right to evict noisemakers after 11:00 pm. Hmmmm. I have to do something. I would not be surprised if my western guest checks out tomorrow because of the one night the noisemakers are here.

The friendliness and fun loving Vietnamese can sometimes overwhelm us. We are not used to noise. To all the Vietnamese readers…… Please be patient with us when we get angry or frustrated at all the noise. We come from a quiet place and do not have experience to hear loud things all the time. Sometimes we have trouble to hear and it makes us angry. We are not being impolite, it is just hard for us to understand. It is the same if you come to our home. It is so quiet that you will feel very uncomfortable. I sponsored a sister to visit me in Canada, and she had trouble because of the quiet.

Oh… and what did we do today? Today we lunched with a Vietnamese family that lives close to our house. They have a modest home with a chicken coup in the back. They graciously butchered a chicken for our benefit and lunch was on. It was very good. As is usual in many cases, we dined on the floor as table space was limited.

This morning I woke up to almost mirror calm waters. I have been sleeping in the hotel because of a lack or employees. Thankfully they are all back today and life can get back to normal so to speak.

A tip to the traveler. If I have not said so before, I cannot stress enough the importance of bringing good quality ear plugs with you. There are very few places here where you will find quiet. Millions of motorcycles, all tooting horns, buses and trucks with ear shattering honks that would be illegal in many countries are the most noticeable. That is why is seems they are always yelling back home. They have just become accustomed to talking loudly to be heard.

At the moment it is New Years Eve. Only fifteen minutes until the fireworks start. I am sure it will be spectacular. The fireworks will be launched from the center of the beach over the ocean. I only hope that I will be able to see them from here. I am right on the beach, but there is a small bend that might impede the view. I would love to walk the short distance over to get a good view but I am forced to deal with a reality that exists here. I have mentioned before that the whole country shuts down at New Year. I should have suspected that it would affect me in some way, but live and learn. I am now short staffed…… no let me re-phrase that….. I have no staff!! They have all gone home for the holiday. Mai and I are now sleeping here to keep the place open. Believe me when I say that this will never happen again. I am learning, slowly. Soooo…. Let me tell you about a big mistake I made.

Being newly engaged in the hotel business, I was asked by a family in Saigon if they could rent my entire building for one of the days during the New Year. Happy with the prospect of having a full house, I agreed as long as a deposit was sent. They did send the deposit and everything was cool……. Until…. A person came to us and wanted to book the hotel for two days prior and one week after including the date I was full…. Sorry I tell them. They can have every night except Feb 17. Not good enough and they move on looking for another hotel. This has happened many times now and I could have been at maximum capacity for two weeks, but because I am full for one night….. none of them have stayed. Damn!!!!! Live and learn. I have no doubt that I will have a lot of customers in the days to come, but I am hoping that as the first hotel here offering full services with booze and other things, that I can profit a bit on the extras. My prices are low, but of course the more people consuming… the more profit. I do not care if I make any money for me, but I would be happy if the employees working for me got a bit of a bonus. It is a bit of a dilemma still. I am now sitting on the sidewalk in front of my place watching many younger people leaving the hotel next door. It is New Year, and many are consummating their love on an hourly basis, not the working gals. They are making some money, and alas, I could be too. For now, I will continue to stick to my guns ant try to be an overnight hotel. One problem I am avoiding by not going hourly, is a situation that happened nest door. A woman showed up with a large knife angry as hell that the spouse was cheating and was there to kill somebody.

It is amazing how quickly the human body adapts. A person looks at the weather reports from around the world and think “glad I’m not there” or other things of a similar nature. I was once the same. Well… let me tell you something about that. Firstly….. depending on the elevation, the heat of the day can be quite different than what you feel at home. There is also humidity and air flow factors that are involved. I have found that a persons body quickly adjusts to the local climate and things that some extreme are no longer so. For example: I have my bedroom climate controlled. In Canada, I have the temperature set at 23 c for my comfort. Many people have it set below. Here in NhaTrang I have the temperature set at 27 c. Very comfortable. On occasion I need a sheet or blanket, even at that temperature. Humidity is also a bit of a misunderstanding here. If a person looks at the humidity levels, you may think that it will be a muggy day, but it is not so. Ocean breezes and a sky full of sunshine changes things quickly. I have only been here a few months but I can tell you that regular days of +30 and ocean humidity is pleasant. You will adapt, and quickly. I think going home will be a very cold even for me… even in June. It is starting to get hard to imagine what anything below 24 is like.

It has been pointed out to me that I have been doing too much drinking and partying since I have been here. Perhaps they are right. It is New Year and the party is on, however, there seems to always be some reason that I have to join someone for a drink, or I am a host entertaining. I did spend the last couple of days dry, but it is New Year… and tonight not so. I promise to those concerned that I will dry up in the nest few days….. and get back to my fitness mode.

This is cool!!!! I have written tomorrow’s blog tonight. Maybe I get the day off?….. We will see…. It is New Years eve, the city is rocking, And I have had one too many.

An odd afterthought: I am sitting here at almost 1:00 am and people are headed home from the fireworks display. A large number of them are carrying a long length of sugar cane, untrimmed, just cut from the ground. A question that needs an answer.

It is morning and I have the answer Taking home something sweet is good luck.

Kimmy and Kenny

Ah…. Where to begin. I could probably start by saying I have had the honor of meeting some very nice people. Ken has many friends here and I had the extreme pleasure of meeting a few so far. Kimmy invited us to lunch and took us to a very nice buffet place in downtown Saigon. She has a magical personality and I hope very much she will look me up when visiting NhaTrang.

My pal Hau

Yesterdays blog was a short one. Hau came banging on the door and we were set to hit the road for a trip into the Mekong. Here we were waiting for Ken to join us when sadly he announced that he is suffering some heave diarrhea. Which leads me into today’s sub topic:

A foreigner here must pay very close attention they what they eat. The food is wonderful and most things can be consumed safely, however, anything that is washed with local water must be treated as suspect. More importantly is the ice in your drink. There are two kinds of ice here. There are ice factories now that make ice from purified water. These can be recognized

Orange Dragons

 because of a rounded shape and a small hole in the middle. They can be large or small in size. If you are drinking an iced beverage, check to make sure there is some evidence of this round ice. If you cannot see, or if it is crushed ask to make sure it is ice made by machine and not cut from a block. Also,

Mekong river

most restaurants that are set up western style, are washing with purified water so vegetables can be consumed safely, however, in local spots, unless it is boiled or peeled do not eat it. I have as of yet not had a problem by following these two basic rules. Now on with the story:

Ken retired to his room and Hau and I were off by our selves to try a new

The drive on new highway

 highway that had just opened the day before. It reduced the time it takes to travel to the Mekong by three hours. The drive was beautiful. There are police at both ends of the new freeway to stop any motorcycles and trucks from entering and cars only are allowed. This may change but it made the ride pleasant. Since ken was not able to attend, it allowed me more time

On the Mekong

to get to know Hau. Our driver was surprised that this was the first time he had seen Hau travelling in his shorts and a tee shirt rather than formal attire. Hau explained to him that this was a trip with a friend and not a tourist. I was honored. I now consider him a very good friend, and I hope to spend time with him whenever he is here in NhaTrang, or I in

at the docks

 Saigon.  For any of my readers, if you plan to come here and need somebody to organize your trecks…. Hau is your man. Check out this website www.visitindochina.net Anyway…… back to Mekong. The drive took us only

Restaurant on water

1hr 10min to a town named My Tho. My Tho was founded by the Chinese back in the 13^th century. At that time a group of Chinese approached the King (or Emperor) of Vietnam and asked for land to live. The  King not wanting much do do with then gave them a piece of land far away, empty, and useless at the

Hau and our boat driver

 time. The Chinese thrived and eventually flowed to the north where they established a very large Chinatown in Saigon. If you go to do business there, you will probably end up in Cho Lon eventually. We arrived at a newly build boat dock to have a private boat waiting for us. We were way ahead of any

Looking back on our boat

tourists so we were alone (just the way I like it). Our small boat was chugging away across a wide section of the Mekong river when oh…oh…… A gentle wind started blowing, and the tide started to move in. The waves in the river grew to ocean size. The boat driver commented on the size informing us they were the largest he had ever experienced. Maybe it was that we were going earlier than normal, or perhaps somebody up there wanted me to have exciting things to write about.

On the Mekong river

Well……. After the waves started getting really big, I saw a bit of congers come over the drivers face and he started to concentrate on his driving. I also was becoming a bit concerned, I saw the same thing in Hau. Were we going to make it to the other side? Would the little boat be worthy of the task? Where is Batman??  Or Superman for that matter?? Do not change the channel. Stay tuned.

I have returned to see that NhaTrang is starting to fill up. Many hotels are totally booked and I am sure that our place will be also. I have discovered a disturbing thin upon my return.

Bridge over the Mekong

 The lady that operated this place before me has been hiding and witholdong taxes fron the government for years. They are rightly angry and will be keeping an eye on us as new owners….. Great!!!  So much for charging the big bucks for a quick slingshot into profitability. While most hotels will triple in price the next two weeks, we will have to rent out rooms at a regular rate, or perhaps a little bit higher, but not as we intended. Maybe I can get a crowd that will drink coffee and beer in the lobby to help. Oh well……..This place is too much fun to worry about it now.

Oh My God!! The Vietnamese have discovered LED’s. It is a good thing. The people here are forever trying to save money on their power bills by installing very energy efficient bulbs or even just living with very low lighting. LED’s have started an amazing transformation where they can decorate things with light at a low cost, and now they have. I was in an electrical store marveling at the rolls of led wire being sold to people. I did not know such a thing existed, but let me tell you about the display they are creating. Lunar New Year is coming up shortly. For the Asians this is a big thing. Years ago it was displayed by flags being flown from every household and chains of firecrackers adding to the constant noise all around. Now the firecrackers are no longer allowed, and light displays and special events, many of them singing are all the rage. Now the city is being lit up by a cascade of light shows, all lit by LED’s. It is only day one of the celebrations, so who knows what other light shows will show up soon. I have the camera…. I will take photo’s.

All these lights and the coming of New Year has turned this city into a party. A person cannot travel anywhere after dark without coping with heavy traffic. Also, all the young men and women are dressed for the occasion……  Damn my eyes hurt!!! I truly wish that all of you could be here to experience this…. It is a slow climax building to some kind of finale in the next two weeks. It is not as before…. I do not know how it will end…. Just another part of the adventure.

One final thought…. Do you pee in the shower?….Admit it… I know…. I have heard that many do.. me?? I can proudly admit that yes in fact I do…. Ha!! My urinal is right below my shower head…. Ahhhh luxury…. Bwa Ha Ha

Witnessing beautiful light shows, driving in warm tropical breezes, seeing beautiful young people around me, and peeing in the shower……. How can it be better?  Now I am off to Saigon for a bit of business and pleasure. It should prove interesting as I had totally forgot about new year when I made arrangements.