My Spanish speaking readers will jump on this one... I guess they might be disappointed, as I'm going to talk about the weather...
La Niña is a meteorological phenomenon, something similar to the better known El Niño. La Niña is characterized by unusually cold ocean temperatures in the eastern equatorial Pacific, as compared to El Niño, which is characterized by unusually warm ocean temperatures in the Equatorial Pacific. This phenomenon appears with a certain regularity, every four to eight years, and it might last for up to two years. Its consequences are widespread, but especially for Indochina and here Vietnam it means higher precipitation and temperatures. It can be noticed already, because the monsoon season hasn't really started yet, but it's raining almost every day. Concerning the temperatures: you can't change the shirts as fast as they are wet from sweat... fortunately rain and sometimes the wind from distant storms bring down the temperature a bit.
But before publishing this post, I might as well write a few words about Las Niñas...
Vietnamese girls must be the prettiest and most natural in the whole universe... no need for more words... if you don't believe it, come and see (and admire) yourselves...
viernes, 4 de mayo de 2007
jueves, 3 de mayo de 2007
Back and forth
From Vinh I had taken the train to Quang Ngai, farther south. Close to this city is a place that will always be remembered together with the Vietnam War: My Lai.
During the war American soldiers committed a massacre in this village, killing 504 people, women, children, older men, almost all of them farmers. On the internet I had come across the "My Lai Peace Park", a Vietnamese-American project, and thought about trying to write an article about that. To say it in few words, this did not work out, too long to explain, why...
In any case, I managed to visit the My Lai Memorial and - although it sounds strange to mention this in the same moment - was able to make a motorcycle trip through beautiful country outside of Quang Ngai. The city itself was a bit better than Vinh, but not much... at least it didn't rain that heavily. Yet I got away as fast as possible, taking a bus north to Hoi An.
Hoi An has a long history as a trading port, it contains Vietnamese, Chinese and European influences... and was declared by UNESCO a "world heritage site". Needless to mention, Hoi An is full of touists, yet I like the atmosphere... its narrow streets, small houses, the countless boats on the river that have become a synonyme of Vietnam. I pay a bit more for my hotel than I should afford, 10 US-$... but Hoi An is fairly expensive, and I enjoy breakfast on a veranda right above the river.
Incidentally I arrived on a perfect date: in the middle of each lunar month - that means at full moon - Hoi An celebrates a Historical Night, with music, theater and more. From noon an the streets in the center were even closed for motorcycles and scooters, only bycicles were allowed to pass... a perfect measure, which resulted in a very delightful atmosphere... and made me forget the dreary experiences of the last days...
During the war American soldiers committed a massacre in this village, killing 504 people, women, children, older men, almost all of them farmers. On the internet I had come across the "My Lai Peace Park", a Vietnamese-American project, and thought about trying to write an article about that. To say it in few words, this did not work out, too long to explain, why...
In any case, I managed to visit the My Lai Memorial and - although it sounds strange to mention this in the same moment - was able to make a motorcycle trip through beautiful country outside of Quang Ngai. The city itself was a bit better than Vinh, but not much... at least it didn't rain that heavily. Yet I got away as fast as possible, taking a bus north to Hoi An.
Hoi An has a long history as a trading port, it contains Vietnamese, Chinese and European influences... and was declared by UNESCO a "world heritage site". Needless to mention, Hoi An is full of touists, yet I like the atmosphere... its narrow streets, small houses, the countless boats on the river that have become a synonyme of Vietnam. I pay a bit more for my hotel than I should afford, 10 US-$... but Hoi An is fairly expensive, and I enjoy breakfast on a veranda right above the river.
Incidentally I arrived on a perfect date: in the middle of each lunar month - that means at full moon - Hoi An celebrates a Historical Night, with music, theater and more. From noon an the streets in the center were even closed for motorcycles and scooters, only bycicles were allowed to pass... a perfect measure, which resulted in a very delightful atmosphere... and made me forget the dreary experiences of the last days...
Vietnam
I haven't spend more than five days in Vietnam and really not seen a lot, yet I'm sure about one point: it's the most beautiful country in the world. Leave behind many of its cities and the crazy traffic... beyond that Vietnam means breathtaking landscape, almost unreal colors, pure and good-natured energy of its people... I can't explain it any better...
I actually don't really know where to continue. I arrived more or less in the middle of this long-stretched country, and there's simply way too much to see and to experience for three or four weeks. I have to concentrate either on the south and its beaches, the Mekong delta with the lush green of the rice paddies and palm trees... or the mountainous north, Halong Bay and Hanoi with the old "French" quarter...
The statement above might seem a bit strange after my experiences in the first days, in the first cities... well, I don't mind having hit some bad moments first: after that you can even better enjoy the vast rest of a country that's overwhelming in every aspect...
I actually don't really know where to continue. I arrived more or less in the middle of this long-stretched country, and there's simply way too much to see and to experience for three or four weeks. I have to concentrate either on the south and its beaches, the Mekong delta with the lush green of the rice paddies and palm trees... or the mountainous north, Halong Bay and Hanoi with the old "French" quarter...
The statement above might seem a bit strange after my experiences in the first days, in the first cities... well, I don't mind having hit some bad moments first: after that you can even better enjoy the vast rest of a country that's overwhelming in every aspect...
miércoles, 2 de mayo de 2007
The most terrible place in the world
In Vinh I left the hotel very early in the morning, to look around a bit. It was Sunday morning seven o'clock and I thought, I could enjoy some kind of silence.This illusion lasted only a few seconds, until I had reached the street... it seemed that the whole city was on its way to somewhere, the traffic and the corresponding noise were incredible. The most important part of Vietnamese scooters, motorcycles and cars is the horn. Without a loud or even louder horn you are nothing and practically lost... I always thought that traffic in Barcelona was terrible, but I think I might "enjoy" it when I'm back...
Anyway, I walked around for an hour or two, drank a coffee, ate Pho, the traditional vietnamese soup, and decided to get out of this city as soon as possible. Vinh had absolutely nothing to it which might make it worth staying one day. The grey weather made everything even worse... I met the French women and they had the same idea... When we walked to the train station, the counters were closed and would be open again at 14.00... sounded somehow familiar. So we went back to the hotel, checked out, and slowly but steady made our way back to the train station. We should have hurried up a bit... the whole morning it was cloudy, drizzling now and then, but after walking a few minutes, a downpoor started, which was heavier than everything I can remember... in spite of raingear and umbrellas we arrived soaked at the station.The rainfall continued for the rest of the afternoon, the temperature went down, and yet I was lucky: I probably got the last ticket for the route I was asking for, south to Quang Ngai... the French women took an earlier afternoon train. I had booked a sleeper, which was due to leave at 18.30... until then the hours seemed to drag endlessly. Finally the train arrived... it's hard to describe how happy I was to finally sit down in my compartment and leave Vinh...
Anyway, I walked around for an hour or two, drank a coffee, ate Pho, the traditional vietnamese soup, and decided to get out of this city as soon as possible. Vinh had absolutely nothing to it which might make it worth staying one day. The grey weather made everything even worse... I met the French women and they had the same idea... When we walked to the train station, the counters were closed and would be open again at 14.00... sounded somehow familiar. So we went back to the hotel, checked out, and slowly but steady made our way back to the train station. We should have hurried up a bit... the whole morning it was cloudy, drizzling now and then, but after walking a few minutes, a downpoor started, which was heavier than everything I can remember... in spite of raingear and umbrellas we arrived soaked at the station.The rainfall continued for the rest of the afternoon, the temperature went down, and yet I was lucky: I probably got the last ticket for the route I was asking for, south to Quang Ngai... the French women took an earlier afternoon train. I had booked a sleeper, which was due to leave at 18.30... until then the hours seemed to drag endlessly. Finally the train arrived... it's hard to describe how happy I was to finally sit down in my compartment and leave Vinh...
Welcome to Vietnam
Several times I had seen a direct bus to Vinh in northern Vietnam passing the main street in Phonsavan early in the morning. As I waited for it Saturday morning, I waited in vain, no direct bus today. So I took a local bus to Nong Het, from there a pick-up to the border. On the bus I met two french women, not bad, I wouldn't be travelling alone. One of "my English students" was also there, visiting his parents close to Nong Het. He enjoyed the opportunity to talk english... while we talked,I admired the landscape, the road passed through beautiful mountain scenery, it was a magnificent trip.
When we got to the border, at about 11.30, it was closed, until 14.00 pm. So we waited... When it opened again, we went through some kind of bureaucracy which reminded me of East German bureaucracy long time ago... For the first time in many years my luggage was searched, but probably more out of sheer curiousity. One of the guards marvelled at my razor blades... they look like the ones David Beckham makes publicity for, but of course only look like them, because I don't earn as well as Beckham, I can't afford this expensive stuff, anyway, the guard marvelled at them and asked me to give him one... no problem, as I had enough with me, and then the search was completed...
On the Vietnamese side there was no bus or pick-up, only a crowd of small motorcycles, the only transport available to the next town 25 kms away. We climbed on the benches, not too easy with our backpacks, and the race was on... I remembered an article in the "Vientiane Times" some weeks ago, about the accident and mortality rate of Vietnamese motorcycle drivers, and didn't feel very comfortable. After about a kilometer my driver stopped at a house, a woman ran out and handed him a helmet. I was happy that at least one of us two would have good chances to survive an accident... The road wasn't paved, it was full of tight bends and curves, there were lots of dogs and chicken which we almost ran over... fortunately it was too high up to raise water buffaloes...
I wish I had made this route on a bus, I could have enjoyed better the marvellous landscape. After some kilometers the dirt road turned into road with good tarmac, we also reached the two bikes with the french women, who went at a slower pace... so we continued at a more pleasant speed the descent through this terrific mountain region...
When we arrived at the town, they dropped us in front of the only hotel, where a discussion started about the price and quality of the place (actually it was very good), because they wanted us to stay, while I more thought of how to continue. We managed to catch the last bus to Vinh, which took another six hours, again through beautiful country. We slowly descended from the altitude, then followed a river through a narrow valley for several hours. The mountains gave way to banana plantations and rice paddies, and slowly but steady the traffic accumulated. What I saw (and heard) made me want to go back to peaceful Laos immediately... but I think I had mentioned a pattern of Vietnamese traffic just a few minutes ago, so now definitely it all seemed to fit together... Anyway, at about 22.00 we arrived in Vinh, a little bit tired. After four weeks Laos I was overwhelmed by the traffic... we more or less took the first hotel we found, also to escape the crowds of people who wanted to drive us to other places, and I didn't even go out to get something to eat...
Welcome to Vietnam...
When we got to the border, at about 11.30, it was closed, until 14.00 pm. So we waited... When it opened again, we went through some kind of bureaucracy which reminded me of East German bureaucracy long time ago... For the first time in many years my luggage was searched, but probably more out of sheer curiousity. One of the guards marvelled at my razor blades... they look like the ones David Beckham makes publicity for, but of course only look like them, because I don't earn as well as Beckham, I can't afford this expensive stuff, anyway, the guard marvelled at them and asked me to give him one... no problem, as I had enough with me, and then the search was completed...
On the Vietnamese side there was no bus or pick-up, only a crowd of small motorcycles, the only transport available to the next town 25 kms away. We climbed on the benches, not too easy with our backpacks, and the race was on... I remembered an article in the "Vientiane Times" some weeks ago, about the accident and mortality rate of Vietnamese motorcycle drivers, and didn't feel very comfortable. After about a kilometer my driver stopped at a house, a woman ran out and handed him a helmet. I was happy that at least one of us two would have good chances to survive an accident... The road wasn't paved, it was full of tight bends and curves, there were lots of dogs and chicken which we almost ran over... fortunately it was too high up to raise water buffaloes...
I wish I had made this route on a bus, I could have enjoyed better the marvellous landscape. After some kilometers the dirt road turned into road with good tarmac, we also reached the two bikes with the french women, who went at a slower pace... so we continued at a more pleasant speed the descent through this terrific mountain region...
When we arrived at the town, they dropped us in front of the only hotel, where a discussion started about the price and quality of the place (actually it was very good), because they wanted us to stay, while I more thought of how to continue. We managed to catch the last bus to Vinh, which took another six hours, again through beautiful country. We slowly descended from the altitude, then followed a river through a narrow valley for several hours. The mountains gave way to banana plantations and rice paddies, and slowly but steady the traffic accumulated. What I saw (and heard) made me want to go back to peaceful Laos immediately... but I think I had mentioned a pattern of Vietnamese traffic just a few minutes ago, so now definitely it all seemed to fit together... Anyway, at about 22.00 we arrived in Vinh, a little bit tired. After four weeks Laos I was overwhelmed by the traffic... we more or less took the first hotel we found, also to escape the crowds of people who wanted to drive us to other places, and I didn't even go out to get something to eat...
Welcome to Vietnam...
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