I like people… I really do!!

mm mm good

Some more Photos from the rafting trip.

Some of you that know me personally understand how I was losing my faith in human nature, and how interacting with the public was dragging me down. I have to tell you that the attitude has changed….. a one hundred percent reversal. Dealing with the traveler whether business or pleasure is nothing like dealing with the public back home. So far, it has been a pure joy to interact with the guests in the hotel. I have hosted Canadians, Americans, Australians, French, Chinese, Malaysians, Czechs, Norwegians, Brits, Vietnamese, Thais, Germans, Swedes, and a few others. So far all of them have been very nice. My faith in human nature has been restored to the point where if I have free time, I will join them in an adventure, or just spend time in a café chatting. I have re-discovered that yes…. People are nice and interesting. I think that it is not only the business I am in causing this change in me, but the country itself. I will try to explain.

Every thing here is intense and filled with effort or emotion. There seems to be no middle ground where a person can just keep in

A scenic river

 mind the attitude of “whatever” or “same as usual”. You can see it everywhere, the hard working and serious faces during the day. The effort that the cabbies, hucksters, kids, and others that try to gain any advantage to get at your dollar. The open love that the women and young adults display for infants and children. The intense eagerness that students have at learning and understanding. At the end of the day it is the passion and romance of the young adults seems to fill the air with a sickly sweet feeling that can’t help sticking to you. Of course, the men after working hard all day are drinking and laughing hard also. Our culture seems to have become guarded and careful, the simplicity of just living a life filled with emotion and spontaneity seems lost to us. Not here! So, add this to the noise, confusion, and the chaotic party that is Vietnam and the tourist will get swept away…… They become part of the intense atmosphere, and either end up loving, or

warm water

sometimes hating this place. This is where I come in. I understand all of this confusion and I can see in the traveler the will and the hope to enjoy their vacations. It gives me a lot of pleasure to spend time talking and helping in their understanding. A few short explanations and all of suddenly things that made them scared or angry become clear. Now they can enjoy a bit more. I hear of their adventures and travels and become more educated. No more do I grind my teeth when a stranger walks up to greet me, and no longer do I want that person talking to me just to go away. IT is fantastic!! I want to talk with them, and hear there stories. I want to meet them for a Bia Hoi and give advice. My faith in human nature is restored, and I am a better person for it.

Cashews still on the tree

 As you may be able to tell, I have had a few. I broke my diet for the day and am writing this at night. I promise I will be a good boy tomorrow. I will leave this page intact for tomorrow, as I like the idea of “what you see is what you get”. No editing (except for spelling) If I flew off in random directions, so be it! Today I joined a nice couple from Toronto on a cruise of some of the islands around NhaTrang. It was a very interesting trip and perhaps I will write on it tomorrow. Now for a parting incident… or should I say part of the adventure……

Hey look at me!!

A very drunken policeman showed up in our lobby demanding to see the owner of the hotel. I was sitting on the front sidewalk where Patrick (warming Drifters chair), and I were involved in a conversation. I was asked to my total displeasure, to act like a customer while the landlord hurried over the deal with him. Luckily the landlord was able to deflect whatever was going on, and the crisis (whatever it was) was averted. I am at a crossroads of how my legal status will play out here. I had the pleasure of talking with Jennifer at my work (former?) tonight and informed her that I will have to extend my leave a little longer to cover my 6.

Welcome back from your Hawaii cuise Maz1….. I hope you enjoyed it

Time for a breather

Goodnight……..

SAPA and Halong Bay

sapa rice field

Sapa district

 (or Sa Pa) is located in Lao Cai province, 350 km from Hanoi, close to the border with China. The Hoang Lien Son range of mountains dominates the district, which is at the eastern extremity of the Himalayas. This range includes Vietnam’s highest peak, Fansipan Mountain at 3,142m above sea level, and a vast area covered by thick forest, which is very rich in wildlife. The township of Sapa lies on a hill station at the attitude of about 1,600m and was built by the French into a famous summer resort with some hundred colonial villas which was well-known as “ Tonkin’s Alps” . The complicated terrain of Sapa including steeped high mountains with sharp cuts and large valleys, many streams of water in combination with sloped terraced paddies form magnificent scenery. Famous for its breathtaking landscapes, Sapa is also an ideal inhabitation for a great diversity of ethnic minority peoples. It is likely that, Sapa was first inhabited by highland minorities of H’mong and Zao groups who immigrated from southern provinces

Misty mountains

 of China, later came the Tay, Zay, and a small number of Xa Pho to form the 5 main ethnic groups which takes about 85% of the district’s population today. The Vietnamese, in small number, immigrated from lower land to the region, mainly living in town, working in government offices, schools, hospital or running their own mini hotels, shops, … while most other ethnic peoples live in small hamlets and villages scattering on the mountains and valleys throughout the district. Until middle of 20th Century, the H’mong and Zao, majority of Sapa’a population, still lived shifting style and practiced slash and burn agriculture which caused huge damages to the nature. Nowadays, most of them have changed into sedentary one basing on intensive farming and work their land on sloping terraces cultivating rice and corn, since the vast majority of the land is mountainous. However self subsidiary is still the main feature of their production and lifestyle with almost no contact to the out side world until 1990 when tourism started in the region. On the other hand, due to hard weather & climate condition, only

Stepping fields

one crop can be cultivated in a year and the productivity depends much on nature thus led to a fact that food shortage is quite common here. For nearly two decade, thanks to the all aspect development of the region in an attempt to turning Sapa into one of the country’s premier tourist destination, the local ethnic peoples has experienced great changes and enjoy invaluable benefit. Road to remote villages is continuously built and upgraded, many schools were built…and the most important one is the revolution in agriculture and fast development of tourism which helps the majority ethnic peoples in Sapa improve their live dramatically. Luckily that in spite of all fast changes taken place in recent years, the ethnic minority peoples in Sapa still maintain well their colorful and unique culture.

Ha Long Bay

 is located in the northeastern part of Vietnam and constitutes part of the western bank of Bac Bo Gulf, including the sea area of Ha

Floating village

 Long City and Cam Pha Town and part of Vân Don island district. It abuts Cat Ba Island in the southwest. Toward the west is the shore with a 120 km-long coastline. It is located within 106o58’-107o22’ east longitude and within 20o45’- 20o50’ north latitude. The site is 1553 sq. km with 1969 islands of various sizes, of which 989 have been named. The islands in Ha Long Bay are mainly limestone and schist islands most lying in the two main areas: the southeastern part of Bái T? Long Bay and southwestern part of H? Long Bay. These islands represent the most ancient images of a geographical site having a tectonic age of from 250 million to 280 million years. They are the result of many times of rising and lowering processes of the continent to form a karst. The process of nearly full erosion and weathering of the karst created the unique Ha Long Bay in the world. In a not very large area, thousands of islands with different forms look like glittering emeralds attached to the blue scarf of a virgin. The area where many stone islands concentrate has spectacular scenes and world-famous caves and is the center of Ha Long Bay

Small boats

Natural Heritage, including HaLong Bay and a part of Bái Tu Long Bay.The area is recognized as the World Natural Heritage that is the area of 434 sq. km with 775 islands. It looks like a giant triangle with Ð?u G? Island (in the west), Ba Ham Lake (in the south) and Cong Tây Island (in the east) as its three angle points. The nearby area is the buffer area and areas classified as national beauty spots in 1962 by the Ministry of Culture and Information.Viewed from above, Ha Long Bay looks like an extremely vivid huge drawing. This is a wonderful and skilful masterpiece of the Creation and of nature that turns thousands of dumb soulless stone islands into fantastic sculptural and artistic works of various graceful shapes, both familiar and strange to human beings. Thousands of islands emerging uneven in the fanciful waves look strong and magnificent but also mild and vivid. Amidst these islands we feel as if we were astray in a petrified legendary world. There are many names given to islands according to their shapes and forms. This one looks like somebody heading toward the shore: Hòn Ðau Nguoi (Human Head Island); that one looks like a dragon hovering above the sea surface: Hòn Rông (Dragon Island); another looks like an old man

Aeautiful sight

 sitting fishing: Hòn Lã Vong; some look like big sails struggling amidst the wind to set off for the sea: Hòn Cánh Buom (Sail Island); then two islands look like a pair of chicken lovingly playing with each other above the sea: Hòn Trong Mái (Male and Female Chicken Island); and amid the vast sea stands an island like a big incense burner like a ritual offering to Heaven: Hòn Lu Huong (Incense Burner Island). All are so real that people are taken aback by them. Those stone islands have experienced unpredictable changes over time and they take different shapes from different angles of view. Here, we come to realize that they are not dumb inanimate things but are vivid and soulful.Inside the stone islands are various breath-taking caves, such as Thiên Cung, Ðau Go, Sung Sot, Trinh Nu, Tam Cung and others. These are really magnificent palaces of the Creation on earth. Long ago, Ha Long Bay has been called by the great national poet Nguyen Trãi:“a wonder of the earth erected towards the high sky”. Many men of letters from all over the world have been taken aback at the grandiose scenery of Ha Long. They seem to get puzzled

A junk

and incompetent as their treasure of vocabulary is not rich enough to depict the splendor of this place.Ha Long Bay is also attached to glorious pages of Vietnamese history, with famous sites such as Vân Ðon, a bustling trade port in the 12th century, charming Bài Tho Mountain, and not very far away from here is the Bach Dang River which witnessed two famous naval battles of the Viêt’s ancestors against invaders. Also, Ha Long is one of the cradles of human kind with the glorious Ha Long culture in the late Neolithic age, discovered at such archeological sites as Ðong Mang, Xích Tho, Soi Nhu and Thoi Giang. Ha Long is also home to great biodiversity with typical eco-systems like mangrove forest, coral and tropical forest. It is also home to thousands of plants and animals of numerous species, for example shrimp, fish and squid. Some species are particularly rare and can be found no where else.With such special values, at the 18th Session of UNESCO’s Council of World Heritage held on 17 December 1994 in Thailand, Ha Long Bay was officially placed on the list of the World Natural Heritage. In 2000, UNESCO recognized it as the World Heritage for the second time for its geographical and geomorphologic values. This confirms the global premier value of Ha Long Bay.

Beds on wheels

Waitresses at the Texas Bar

I saw a friend live on Facebook last night and I told him where I was… He wished he was here… so I took a couple of snapshots of what was in front of me. Rick…the first couple of photo’s are for you.

The  Open Tour is a concept that the Vietnamese have come up with to move people, especially tourists around the country. There are many companies

Playng pool

 that offer this service, but I imagine that most of them are the same. An open tour is a bus that runs the length of the country everyday. A ticket can be purchased for about 40 dollars that will allow you one month to travel in one direction, with unlimited stops to the end destination. For example, from Saigon to Hanoi is 40 dollars. You can get off at NhaTrang, Hoi An, Mui Ne, Hue, Danang or many other destinations. A

A sweetheart and Brother

person can spend a night or a week.. it does not matter. Just continue on your way to the next destination. If you book a shorter distance, say for example NhaTrang from Saigon, the ticket may only be 9 dollars with you being able to stop anywhere in-between. A pretty good deal huh? I think so. A warning though. If you travel by these busses you will be on Vietnamese time. That means there will be siestas and coffee breaks along the way that will extend the trip by hours. The buses are comfortable

Boiled snails

 enough. A trip that takes 8 hours by express bus will take 11 or 12 hours by open tour. The sleeper bus is how I am getting back to Nhatrang after going to Saigon. I tried to book a flight or a train, but there is no way. I might be able to slip a few bills in to get a seat, but it would be so crowded, it would not be worth it. Luckily I have these little blue pills the doc prescribed. I take one and 30 minutes later I am in a deep sleep for exactly 7.5 hours. I wake up refreshed and ready to go. I use these pills when flying here to adjust my body clock and am happy to say they work

Saigon traffic circle

wonderfully. There are many other alternatives to travel here but it is very hard for a foreigner to find out the exact information that you are looking for. After spending a few minutes on open tours, I got to thinking about travel companies that are here offering tours and booking services to the tourist.

I think that some tour guides and publications have given the tour companies a bad rap. I was sitting in a tour company’s office today. They

NhaTrang beach

 had asked for my help with a computer issue that I am able to help them with. While I was there, they had a number of potential customers come in to inquire about services or tours to different places. I watched as the young lady did her best to satisfy every whim of the person asking questions. The customer however, seemed deeply suspicious of the advice being given and was writing everything down to compare to the next company. She told me in Vietnamese  “ a lot of customers… no money” I understood exactly. These people will go to find a better deal, and when they do not they will simply book with whoever they are sitting with at the time. All the work this young lady did was for nothing. A word people……  Most of these companies are not trying to rip you off like the forums say. They will do their best to help you. The language barrier cane sometimes be an issue. Also, their understanding of what you want might be totally different that you expected, but they are doing there best. The days of the Vietnam tour companies trying to stiff the tourist are over. Traveling in Vietnam is still sometimes a hard and frustrating thing, but the people transporting you are really trying the best they can in a situation where resources may be restricted.

Our Hotel in the center of the shot

If any of you ever want to do a tour or have pre arranged destinations and need hotels, just contact me. I have some very good people that I know who will custom build a tour for you for much less than you could do it for yourself.

Hey!! The reno’s are done. The Hotel looks good. Some details to fix, but all in all OK. I have many readers chomping at the bit to see photo’s… you will, but after a few days.