5th Oct 2006 - 18th May 2007
At the moment I'm sitting in Saigon as a lot of locals still like to call it, having a few beers at a cafe in the rain. It's the last week of our Vietnamese adventure so we thought this would be a great spot to just relax and just soak up Vietnam. If I had to compare this little spot on the Asian continent to any other place in the world I would have to say it is, or at least will be the next Bali (unfortunatly). I'm sure this place is going to get a lot worse as far as tourist numbers and western influence. Which is a big shame because even though at times it has the dirtyness & tackyness of alot of other Asian cities, it really has a sense of innocence, patriotism & it's just bloody cool.
I had wanted to go to Vietnam for quite a while before this trip, but it's safe to say that I had never in visioned myself living here. Even though I was travelling quite often working for Flight Centre I had a very strong desire to go on another round the world trip but for much longer this time. We (my girlfriend Melinda & I) decided to do TESOL which allows you to work overseas teaching English in about 86 different countries. Having this little piece of paper really opened up a world of opportunities for us as they say.
There were so many options for teaching but we both were very happy with our choice of Vietnam as the first stop. We arrived in to Ho Chi Minh City after spending 5 days in Malaysia just relaxing from our rushed departure out of Australia. As we left the airport we were swamped as usual by everyone offering us the cheapest taxi possible in Vietnam. The first thing that blew me away on the way to our hotel was the amount of motorbikes on the road. I had never been to another country in the world that had motorbikes & push bikes as it's major mode of transport.
Saigon
I prefer to call this place Saigon rather than Ho Chi Minh City. You shouldn't take that as a sign of arrogance but more as a sign of respect I like to think. The beloved Ho Chi Minh had one wish before he died & that was to have his ashes scattered across the hill tops of Vietnam and not have anything named after him or to be made a martyr of in anyway. So in other words, Uncle Ho as the Vietnamese call him didn't even want the name of this city changed so there within lies the respect I was talking about earlier.
Over the first few days here we did the norm & visited all the happening tourist spots such as Ben Thanh Markets, Notre Dame, The Rex Hotel, The Hotel Continental (from the Quiet American), Th Reunification Palace & the War Remnants Museum. One thing you get a lot of here is the Vietnamese perspective of the Vietnam War in the 60's & 70's which I found quite unusual to see their side for a change. All the movies like Platoon, Full Metal Jacket & Forest Gump obviously show the Americans as the good guys & the Viet Cong as the evil do gooders. For me this was honestly the first time I ever sat back & thought "no one wins in war". At the war remnants museum you get to see all of the evil things America did to a lot of innocent Vietnamese people, like "Agent Orange", different torture methods & some of the disfiguring weaponary used. Seeing this and reading about the several other countries that have tried to take Vietnam gave me a real respect for the patriotism Vietnamese people had for there country. Don't get me wrong though there are a lot of things that the Viet Cong did that I don't agree with & there are several things I just don't like about this country, but if I hadn't of visited this place I would never of learnt about there side.
Over the first few days here we did the norm & visited all the happening tourist spots such as Ben Thanh Markets, Notre Dame, The Rex Hotel, The Hotel Continental (from the Quiet American), Th Reunification Palace & the War Remnants Museum. One thing you get a lot of here is the Vietnamese perspective of the Vietnam War in the 60's & 70's which I found quite unusual to see their side for a change. All the movies like Platoon, Full Metal Jacket & Forest Gump obviously show the Americans as the good guys & the Viet Cong as the evil do gooders. For me this was honestly the first time I ever sat back & thought "no one wins in war". At the war remnants museum you get to see all of the evil things America did to a lot of innocent Vietnamese people, like "Agent Orange", different torture methods & some of the disfiguring weaponary used. Seeing this and reading about the several other countries that have tried to take Vietnam gave me a real respect for the patriotism Vietnamese people had for there country. Don't get me wrong though there are a lot of things that the Viet Cong did that I don't agree with & there are several things I just don't like about this country, but if I hadn't of visited this place I would never of learnt about there side.
The Mekong River
After making the obligated stops along the river to visit various produce, fruit and cake stores (which are quite interesting) we made our way into the tight winding waterways that is the Mekong River.
We pulled up for some lunch at one of the few restaurants on the riverbank which had a pet snake that they allowed you to pat and hold. After lunch we continued to our home stay, traveling further up the river but this time we had to change from our big boat into small two seater local boats as the tide was going out which is quite an amazing thing to see. You could pick a spot on the riverbank or on a tree and you would see the water level drop at an alarming rate. With in 10 seconds it would be almost 15cm lower. It was so peaceful upon the water that I found myself just sitting back trying to think what this would of been like 30 years ago during the war time.
After a full day of travelling & sight seeing we had finally made it to our accommodation on the Mekong. When we arrived we were greeted by our new family and shown to our room. It was a little wooden shack on the river with stretchers and mosquito nets to guard us from those pesky little critters. We soon relaxed back into a hammock to enjoy the peacefulness with an ice-cold beer, a book and a guitar. That night as we all settled into our quite comfortable stretchers it began to rain which made for an easy night sleep.
There's not that much to do down this way except kick back & relax. You definitly wouldn't spend any more than one night on the water thats for sure. It's a nice experience to have but not something that I would go too far out of my way to do again. Keep an eye out for the dozens of rats that run around your room when the lights go off. You can't see them but you can make out the glowing beady eyes as they dart back & forth looking for food.
We pulled up for some lunch at one of the few restaurants on the riverbank which had a pet snake that they allowed you to pat and hold. After lunch we continued to our home stay, traveling further up the river but this time we had to change from our big boat into small two seater local boats as the tide was going out which is quite an amazing thing to see. You could pick a spot on the riverbank or on a tree and you would see the water level drop at an alarming rate. With in 10 seconds it would be almost 15cm lower. It was so peaceful upon the water that I found myself just sitting back trying to think what this would of been like 30 years ago during the war time.
After a full day of travelling & sight seeing we had finally made it to our accommodation on the Mekong. When we arrived we were greeted by our new family and shown to our room. It was a little wooden shack on the river with stretchers and mosquito nets to guard us from those pesky little critters. We soon relaxed back into a hammock to enjoy the peacefulness with an ice-cold beer, a book and a guitar. That night as we all settled into our quite comfortable stretchers it began to rain which made for an easy night sleep.
There's not that much to do down this way except kick back & relax. You definitly wouldn't spend any more than one night on the water thats for sure. It's a nice experience to have but not something that I would go too far out of my way to do again. Keep an eye out for the dozens of rats that run around your room when the lights go off. You can't see them but you can make out the glowing beady eyes as they dart back & forth looking for food.
Cu Chi Tunnels
This place is just cool! As you walk through the jungles in Cu Chi you can’t help but feel like you're looking for the enemy. Trying to make out shapes between the millions of trees with broken light shining through is not an easy feat. As you walk along keeping an eye out for trap doors and tunnels you can hear the deafening sound of gunfire ringing through the trees.
You can see some of the remaining tunnels of Cu Chi, and if you‘re the size of a hobbit you can crawl in and have a look. Most of the tunnels here have now been dug out for fat westerners but there are a few that still remain true, with a 30cm opening to crawl into. I went part of the way in to one of the tunnels but decided it wasn't the thing for me. Instead I opted to go and do what every red blooded Aussie male would do, Shoot some shit! My choice of weaponry was an AK-47 and also the good old M16. Whoever said guns weren’t fun hasn’t been to Cu Chi. Here for no more than $8 Aussie you can let rip with almost any weapon from the Vietnam war with exception of you RPG's and flame throwers. It wasn't long before I was knocking down the small red flags that scattered the sand dune.
This three hour trip from HCMC is a definite must for anyone with an interest in the Vietnam War.
You can see some of the remaining tunnels of Cu Chi, and if you‘re the size of a hobbit you can crawl in and have a look. Most of the tunnels here have now been dug out for fat westerners but there are a few that still remain true, with a 30cm opening to crawl into. I went part of the way in to one of the tunnels but decided it wasn't the thing for me. Instead I opted to go and do what every red blooded Aussie male would do, Shoot some shit! My choice of weaponry was an AK-47 and also the good old M16. Whoever said guns weren’t fun hasn’t been to Cu Chi. Here for no more than $8 Aussie you can let rip with almost any weapon from the Vietnam war with exception of you RPG's and flame throwers. It wasn't long before I was knocking down the small red flags that scattered the sand dune.
This three hour trip from HCMC is a definite must for anyone with an interest in the Vietnam War.
Dalat
An 8-hour bus trip from HCMC up into the highlands brought us to the city of Dalat. While still a pretty city with the lakes and French architecture there is not a great deal to do here. Once you've strolled though the small city center and seen the tourist spots such as The Crazy house, built by an ex-presidents fame driven daughter which is an eye sore of a hotel but interesting, the Last Emperor of Vietnam's Palace (which smells quite a bit like moth balls) it's safe to say you have seen what Dalat has to offer.
Nha Trang
This place is just a cool little village. I say village because I just don't know if it's big enough to be classed as a city or town. We arrived here in the evening & just went to one of the many seafood restaurants that Nha Trang is famous for. Even though we had two nights/three days here I didn't feel as though it was enough to absorb the Nha trang vibe.
A stroll along the beach here in the early morning to see the Vietnamese going for there swim before the sun is hot enough to discolour their skin, or in the evening when they are caring out their exercisers is a must. It's so relaxing to sit in the little park that lines the beach & just watch their daily happenings.
Whilst we were there we spent most of our time on the water swimming, snorkeling, island hopping, basket boating & just generally kicking back. The islands are a good way to experience the way the locals live in Nha Trang. After spending our first full day on the water we decided to rent some bikes when we finally reached dry land. This was our first experience of riding in the Vietnamese traffic. We took the bike for a casual ride along the beach front then past a few of the Cham Towers which are exactly like some of the temples of Cambodia.
Nha Trang has some great restaurants to visit & I found it one of the best places to do nothing & that's coming from a person who has to do something every minute of the day otherwise he gets bored shitless. To sum it up I would say Nha Trang is a must do for any trip to Vietnam. Whether it's one week or two your visiting it really does make a nice little stop over.
A stroll along the beach here in the early morning to see the Vietnamese going for there swim before the sun is hot enough to discolour their skin, or in the evening when they are caring out their exercisers is a must. It's so relaxing to sit in the little park that lines the beach & just watch their daily happenings.
Whilst we were there we spent most of our time on the water swimming, snorkeling, island hopping, basket boating & just generally kicking back. The islands are a good way to experience the way the locals live in Nha Trang. After spending our first full day on the water we decided to rent some bikes when we finally reached dry land. This was our first experience of riding in the Vietnamese traffic. We took the bike for a casual ride along the beach front then past a few of the Cham Towers which are exactly like some of the temples of Cambodia.
Nha Trang has some great restaurants to visit & I found it one of the best places to do nothing & that's coming from a person who has to do something every minute of the day otherwise he gets bored shitless. To sum it up I would say Nha Trang is a must do for any trip to Vietnam. Whether it's one week or two your visiting it really does make a nice little stop over.
Quy Nhon
Between Nha Trang and Hoi An there isn't much to see at all. While the country side is amazing and the hills just seem to rise straight up out of the ocean, tourist spots are few and far between.
We stopped for the night at a small little city called Quy Nhon and visited a place called Nguyen Nga Centre. Here they looks after disabled, deaf and retarded children affected by "Agent Orange". The Centre was started by one woman who did so against her mothers whishes. She funded the school with her own money and beliefs that someone needed to help the children. After several years in operation she has now gained government funding for her 230 students, some of which she has managed to send to university.
My Lai
A small stop on the very big drive between Quy Nhon and Hoi An is a small community called My Lai. During the war it was a small village that was thought by some Americans to be helping the Viet Cong. A few of the higher ranking Generals went off the rails here and decided to order a massacre which could only be thought of as similar to the Nazi party. 504 people including women and children were dragged from their houses and thrown into a ditch, where they were fired upon until dead. It was only from the courage of two of the US troops present, that any Vietnamese survived. One of them was a Helicopter pilot who began flying the remaining people to safety despite the threats on his own life for such an action.
The village is now a permanent memorial where you can see the names of all the people who perished, as well as the two heros & all the spots in which the attrocities took place.
The village is now a permanent memorial where you can see the names of all the people who perished, as well as the two heros & all the spots in which the attrocities took place.
Hoi An
What a place! If you're only going to visit one place outside of HCMC or Hanoi than this would probably be the one. It has a beautiful old quarter which is off limits to car's & motorbike which makes for one of the nicest areas to walk around in Vietnam. They also have great little restaurants that line the river & serving some wonderful locals specialties as well as all of your favourites.
I spent three days in this town in which 90% of this time was in the old quarter. On one occasion though we did hire push bikes and went for a ride down to the beach which is located about 20 minutes ride form the center of town. The beach is quite nice but I still think we have the best beaches in Australia. It's not hard to find your own spot on the sand or under one of the many umbrella's in which you're required to pay. The beaches are long, flat & wave less but are scattered with beautiful palm trees. After we had finished on the beach we rode back to town before continuing the other direction out of town to check out the rice fields & the locals doing their thing.
As we were heading the wrong way, we had to carry out what sounds like a simple maneuver and do a U turn. First it I waited for a break in the traffic and decided to make it across safely. Then it was Mels turn but she thought she would just do a U turn and the traffic would go around. WRONG!!! As Mel turned she forgot that you don't have to stay on your own side of the road here as it's more of guideline that is rarely followed. She was then struck by a speeding girl on a motorbike. Both the bikes went flying, the Vietnamese girl hit the road and so too Mel’s camera but she managed to land on her feet shaken but not stirred. Instantly men coming running to both the girls aid but with in seconds began hinting to the Vietnamese woman get some money, get some money. Luckily for Mel she realised it was her fault and appologised.
If you're into photography than this is one of the nicest places to visit, & the endless award winning shots won’t disappoint you. You do have to pick your times though as from what I understand it can be quite prone to flooding in the wet season.
I spent three days in this town in which 90% of this time was in the old quarter. On one occasion though we did hire push bikes and went for a ride down to the beach which is located about 20 minutes ride form the center of town. The beach is quite nice but I still think we have the best beaches in Australia. It's not hard to find your own spot on the sand or under one of the many umbrella's in which you're required to pay. The beaches are long, flat & wave less but are scattered with beautiful palm trees. After we had finished on the beach we rode back to town before continuing the other direction out of town to check out the rice fields & the locals doing their thing.
As we were heading the wrong way, we had to carry out what sounds like a simple maneuver and do a U turn. First it I waited for a break in the traffic and decided to make it across safely. Then it was Mels turn but she thought she would just do a U turn and the traffic would go around. WRONG!!! As Mel turned she forgot that you don't have to stay on your own side of the road here as it's more of guideline that is rarely followed. She was then struck by a speeding girl on a motorbike. Both the bikes went flying, the Vietnamese girl hit the road and so too Mel’s camera but she managed to land on her feet shaken but not stirred. Instantly men coming running to both the girls aid but with in seconds began hinting to the Vietnamese woman get some money, get some money. Luckily for Mel she realised it was her fault and appologised.
If you're into photography than this is one of the nicest places to visit, & the endless award winning shots won’t disappoint you. You do have to pick your times though as from what I understand it can be quite prone to flooding in the wet season.
Hue
I spent a few days in Hue which is a nice little stop. We did a motorbike tour which took us out into the country where the kids treated us like celebrities, giving us high fives and screaming hello as we zoomed past on our bikes. This was by far the highlight in this former capital of Vietnam. We stopped at a few temples along the way but the most interesting thing was where we stopped for lunch. We decided to have lunch in a monastery with some vegetarian, female monks. The food was quite good but the conversation lacked as the female monks were not allowed to talk to any males due to religious beliefs.
The other thing to see in Hue is the Citadel situated right in the middle of town on the banks of the Perfume River. I felt it looked very Chinese like one of the many walled cities or bell towers through out China. It has quite a big war time history after being burnt and pillaged by the French & then blown up several times by the Americans during their war in the 60's & 70's. Parts of it has been rebuilt several times & some of it was still being restored during our visit.
The other thing to see in Hue is the Citadel situated right in the middle of town on the banks of the Perfume River. I felt it looked very Chinese like one of the many walled cities or bell towers through out China. It has quite a big war time history after being burnt and pillaged by the French & then blown up several times by the Americans during their war in the 60's & 70's. Parts of it has been rebuilt several times & some of it was still being restored during our visit.
Ha Long Bay & Cat Ba Island
I was lucky enough to visit this World Heritage listed icon two times during my stay in Vietnam. My first time was with my Intrepid Tour on arrival to the country & the second was on a well deserved break from teaching English in Hanoi, when my friend Kath decided to come over for a visit.
There are few ways to get to Cat Ba island depending on how adventurous you are. The first is to take the ultra fast 45 minute Russian hydra foil direct. The second is to stay there after your first night on the Junk boat or the third is to coast along at 1 Km an hour on the 2 hour 45 minute locals boat. This was Intrepids choice the first time I went which is good for the first 15 minutes until the fans stop working, you have no legroom and the hawkers keep at you to buy their chicken meat and water.
Once on Cat Ba it’s a good place to escape the crowds and traffic of Vietnam. The streets are free of traffic and it is so quite that you would swear you were in another country. Watch out for the night butterflies though. These are girls that come out and try to entice you in for a massage but there are little extras thrown in.
The first time I went we didn't do much except drink & eat on the beach front. It wasn't until the second time that I really managed to discover the beauty of this place. We booked a 2 night package with a small local operator who put us on Halong for the first night & then Cat Ba for the second. This time around though, we went for a hike to a local village on Cat Ba island where we met a few of the locals & listend to a few of their stories. The village we went to was established during the war. Some of the people from Hanoi & Hai Phong decided to escape the enemy & seek shelter & peace on the island. Not too much has changed here since it was established, but they have recently got their very first post office.
If you can't make it to Cat Ba Island than it is possible to just do one night on Halong Bay. It doesn't matter who you book your trip through you always seem to stay on a similar style boat. The boat on both of my trips was nice & so too was the people & food.
Halong Bay is one of the must do's for any trip to Vietnam.
There are few ways to get to Cat Ba island depending on how adventurous you are. The first is to take the ultra fast 45 minute Russian hydra foil direct. The second is to stay there after your first night on the Junk boat or the third is to coast along at 1 Km an hour on the 2 hour 45 minute locals boat. This was Intrepids choice the first time I went which is good for the first 15 minutes until the fans stop working, you have no legroom and the hawkers keep at you to buy their chicken meat and water.
Once on Cat Ba it’s a good place to escape the crowds and traffic of Vietnam. The streets are free of traffic and it is so quite that you would swear you were in another country. Watch out for the night butterflies though. These are girls that come out and try to entice you in for a massage but there are little extras thrown in.
The first time I went we didn't do much except drink & eat on the beach front. It wasn't until the second time that I really managed to discover the beauty of this place. We booked a 2 night package with a small local operator who put us on Halong for the first night & then Cat Ba for the second. This time around though, we went for a hike to a local village on Cat Ba island where we met a few of the locals & listend to a few of their stories. The village we went to was established during the war. Some of the people from Hanoi & Hai Phong decided to escape the enemy & seek shelter & peace on the island. Not too much has changed here since it was established, but they have recently got their very first post office.
If you can't make it to Cat Ba Island than it is possible to just do one night on Halong Bay. It doesn't matter who you book your trip through you always seem to stay on a similar style boat. The boat on both of my trips was nice & so too was the people & food.
Halong Bay is one of the must do's for any trip to Vietnam.
Hanoi (My home away from home)
Well I could ramble on about Hanoi all day long as there is so much I learnt about the Vietnamese culture, traditions & people while living here. When I got to Hanoi I wasn't that impressed with it to be honest. The city seemed quite pretty as many people had told me. It had tree lined boulevards with lakes & small parks but the people came off no where near as nice as the South Vietnamese as far as shopping & crossing the road just seemed harder.
We (Mel & I) decided to holiday for a little longer before starting work as we were both nervous to begin teaching English & were definitely not in a rush to jump straight in. From the Victory Hotel which was Intrepids choice, we moved into the Especen Hotel located in the old quarter.
After emailing about twenty English schools in Hanoi we managed to get a reply from nearly all of them. We interviewed at a few small ones on the out skirts of Hanoi but definitely didn't feel comfortable with any of them. Our last interview of the day was at Cleverlearn in the Ba Dinh district. The Academic Coordinator, Matthew Low cam down to ask us a few questions & then show us through the school. He asked us if we liked it & if we would like to start soon. With no hesitation we both answered "yes". This was easily the best school we had seen & the one that we both wanted to work at. It had a gym, a movie cinema & most importantly big classrooms with movable seats. We emailed Cleverlearn a few days later just to let them know that we were serious & keen to start. It was the very next week that I was given my first adult class to teach & then the week after Mel was given her first class.
After a few ups & downs with the teaching thing we both finally seemed to be getting into it. Before we knew it it was almost Christmas & I was asked by the school to play Santa Clause for the kids & give out presents. “Sure” I said. I will never have the chance to do this again I thought. Matt the Academic Coordinator had a chuckle to himself and said “thanks heaps I’ll owe you a few beers”. Cleverlearn put on a big show for the children called “Jingle Bells”. They even invited a famous “Vietnamese Rock Star”. So as she warmed the crowd up for me (I hope she didn’t mind being the support act) I carefully slid into the pre loved Santa outfit. They gave us our sacks which contained 250 presents each and with little direction except to "be ready" and "start giving the presents out" we made our appearance. OH MY GOD, the children went ape shit. We were both swamped with children pulling at the bag, my pants and suit. There were children getting trampled on, pushed and shoved. I could no longer get any presents out as the 14 kids on the bag alone weighed it down. We snatched the bag and I made my way up to the stage where there were children dancers, who then realized that Santa was here and forgot that they should be dancing. It all ended with about 67 children yelling ME, ME, ME but sadly I was out of presents.
To get to & from work we decided it would be best if we had a motorbike . Not only would it make the commute easier but we would be able to drive it around on the weekends to see a bit more of the city than was possible on foot. So one evening we decided to go and pay for it & drive it home. Now I hadn't ridden a motorbike before but figured it wasn't that hard. I'd go & pick it up at night when the traffic wasn't as bad as the day & if I did stack it no one would see because it was dark. Well I was wrong wasn't I.......... The night we decided to go & pick up the bike was the last night of the 2006 APEC summit so the traffic was terrible. After an uncertain start though we were off and luckily all went well.
On the 4th of Jan after having several problems with our hotel including theft of our motorbike we decided to move out into our own place. It was finally nice to have a place to call home. We managed to talk out landlords down slightly from $450 USD a month to $430. In Vietnam that saving could buy us quite a few meals. We were still aware however that we were paying about 5 times too much for the place but we figured we don’t want to live in a hotel anymore and we could afford it. We thought we were doing all right with our price as we managed to get cable, Internet, water & a maid included & we were also paying a lot less than everyone else we knew in Hanoi.
For the next few weeks we hardly left the house, as it was such a nice escape from the everyday antics that you get a bit sick of when you live there. We also had enough of the restaurants for a while as we had eaten almost every meal in them for the past three months. So as we occasionally shopped in the local stores & ogled the western goods that we could buy, our daily meals included a lot of toasted sandwiches. We had meat ones, ham ones, some with ham & cheese, baked beans, baked beans & cheese, tuna & even ones with tuna fritters. We did eat other things as well though like noodles, rice, chili con carne, tuna wraps, nachos, tuna burgers, Sultana Bran & Special K.
We did the occasional sight seeing at places like the “Hanoi Hilton” prison, a B52 bomber that we happened across one day & just a lot riding all over Hanoi checking out every little winding alley or back street that could give us a good insight into the real Vietnam. We also had a few visitors come over to see us while we were there. The first was Kath who turned up at the end of Jan for a week & a half stay. While there we both took a little time off work & ventured around Hanoi with her to show her the sights & also took some time off work to head out to the beautiful Halong Bay again.Our decision to visit Cat Ba Island again with Kath was definitely a good one. This time round we enjoyed it way more than the trip with Intrepid. We actually had a chance to venture out into the local communities, which was well worth the visit.
A few months after this Mel's parents came over to Vietnam so Mel decided to take some time off work & flew down to HCMC to travel up with them. I opted to stay & cover Mel's classes as she had only given 1 weeks notice to work that she wouldn't be in.
Another of our visitors was Peter Taylor from Melbourne. Me & Peter met one my very first trip overseas. It was on the tour of Egypt that I did with my sister, & girlfriend at the time. He came over to do a big tour of South East Asia & I took him around to a few places on our motorbike.
A few more months down the track & it had come to that time of the trip. Giving notice at work. Eeek! It's not that we were ready or even wanting to leave Vietnam but our Canadian visa was running out so we decided it was time for a change. We gave Clevelearn notice & they began to panic a little so we extended our stay for another 3 weeks. Once again it was all happening to quick. We didn't really have much to do but we didn't want to go. We started going out every night to have a bit of a drink to soak up the Vietnam that we came to love. It was just going into the best time of year in Hanoi as well. So the lovely hot days made it even harder to say goodbye.
We had our farewell with a few of the guys from school. Our farewell just happened to fall on my birthday which tied in with Paul & Karen's birthday as well so we made it a big join event. We all decided to meet at the front gates of Cleverlearn & ride like the Hells Angels to the other side of Hanoi for our festivities. The night began as we entered the huge soundproof room to be greeted by lots of beer & a huge chocolate birthday cake. As the beer began to flow, so to did the songs. Before we knew it our 2 hours was up & there was no option to extend as it was the government election period & they were enforcing curfew. So after making our way to a few random little pubs that were also enforcing the law, we finished the night off at "The Spotted Cow" (an Aussie Pub of all places).
After picking up our last pay on Saturday the 12th May 2007 we flew out for Saigon on Sunday & then for Vancouver Canada on Friday 18th May 2007.
We (Mel & I) decided to holiday for a little longer before starting work as we were both nervous to begin teaching English & were definitely not in a rush to jump straight in. From the Victory Hotel which was Intrepids choice, we moved into the Especen Hotel located in the old quarter.
After emailing about twenty English schools in Hanoi we managed to get a reply from nearly all of them. We interviewed at a few small ones on the out skirts of Hanoi but definitely didn't feel comfortable with any of them. Our last interview of the day was at Cleverlearn in the Ba Dinh district. The Academic Coordinator, Matthew Low cam down to ask us a few questions & then show us through the school. He asked us if we liked it & if we would like to start soon. With no hesitation we both answered "yes". This was easily the best school we had seen & the one that we both wanted to work at. It had a gym, a movie cinema & most importantly big classrooms with movable seats. We emailed Cleverlearn a few days later just to let them know that we were serious & keen to start. It was the very next week that I was given my first adult class to teach & then the week after Mel was given her first class.
After a few ups & downs with the teaching thing we both finally seemed to be getting into it. Before we knew it it was almost Christmas & I was asked by the school to play Santa Clause for the kids & give out presents. “Sure” I said. I will never have the chance to do this again I thought. Matt the Academic Coordinator had a chuckle to himself and said “thanks heaps I’ll owe you a few beers”. Cleverlearn put on a big show for the children called “Jingle Bells”. They even invited a famous “Vietnamese Rock Star”. So as she warmed the crowd up for me (I hope she didn’t mind being the support act) I carefully slid into the pre loved Santa outfit. They gave us our sacks which contained 250 presents each and with little direction except to "be ready" and "start giving the presents out" we made our appearance. OH MY GOD, the children went ape shit. We were both swamped with children pulling at the bag, my pants and suit. There were children getting trampled on, pushed and shoved. I could no longer get any presents out as the 14 kids on the bag alone weighed it down. We snatched the bag and I made my way up to the stage where there were children dancers, who then realized that Santa was here and forgot that they should be dancing. It all ended with about 67 children yelling ME, ME, ME but sadly I was out of presents.
To get to & from work we decided it would be best if we had a motorbike . Not only would it make the commute easier but we would be able to drive it around on the weekends to see a bit more of the city than was possible on foot. So one evening we decided to go and pay for it & drive it home. Now I hadn't ridden a motorbike before but figured it wasn't that hard. I'd go & pick it up at night when the traffic wasn't as bad as the day & if I did stack it no one would see because it was dark. Well I was wrong wasn't I.......... The night we decided to go & pick up the bike was the last night of the 2006 APEC summit so the traffic was terrible. After an uncertain start though we were off and luckily all went well.
On the 4th of Jan after having several problems with our hotel including theft of our motorbike we decided to move out into our own place. It was finally nice to have a place to call home. We managed to talk out landlords down slightly from $450 USD a month to $430. In Vietnam that saving could buy us quite a few meals. We were still aware however that we were paying about 5 times too much for the place but we figured we don’t want to live in a hotel anymore and we could afford it. We thought we were doing all right with our price as we managed to get cable, Internet, water & a maid included & we were also paying a lot less than everyone else we knew in Hanoi.
For the next few weeks we hardly left the house, as it was such a nice escape from the everyday antics that you get a bit sick of when you live there. We also had enough of the restaurants for a while as we had eaten almost every meal in them for the past three months. So as we occasionally shopped in the local stores & ogled the western goods that we could buy, our daily meals included a lot of toasted sandwiches. We had meat ones, ham ones, some with ham & cheese, baked beans, baked beans & cheese, tuna & even ones with tuna fritters. We did eat other things as well though like noodles, rice, chili con carne, tuna wraps, nachos, tuna burgers, Sultana Bran & Special K.
We did the occasional sight seeing at places like the “Hanoi Hilton” prison, a B52 bomber that we happened across one day & just a lot riding all over Hanoi checking out every little winding alley or back street that could give us a good insight into the real Vietnam. We also had a few visitors come over to see us while we were there. The first was Kath who turned up at the end of Jan for a week & a half stay. While there we both took a little time off work & ventured around Hanoi with her to show her the sights & also took some time off work to head out to the beautiful Halong Bay again.Our decision to visit Cat Ba Island again with Kath was definitely a good one. This time round we enjoyed it way more than the trip with Intrepid. We actually had a chance to venture out into the local communities, which was well worth the visit.
A few months after this Mel's parents came over to Vietnam so Mel decided to take some time off work & flew down to HCMC to travel up with them. I opted to stay & cover Mel's classes as she had only given 1 weeks notice to work that she wouldn't be in.
Another of our visitors was Peter Taylor from Melbourne. Me & Peter met one my very first trip overseas. It was on the tour of Egypt that I did with my sister, & girlfriend at the time. He came over to do a big tour of South East Asia & I took him around to a few places on our motorbike.
A few more months down the track & it had come to that time of the trip. Giving notice at work. Eeek! It's not that we were ready or even wanting to leave Vietnam but our Canadian visa was running out so we decided it was time for a change. We gave Clevelearn notice & they began to panic a little so we extended our stay for another 3 weeks. Once again it was all happening to quick. We didn't really have much to do but we didn't want to go. We started going out every night to have a bit of a drink to soak up the Vietnam that we came to love. It was just going into the best time of year in Hanoi as well. So the lovely hot days made it even harder to say goodbye.
We had our farewell with a few of the guys from school. Our farewell just happened to fall on my birthday which tied in with Paul & Karen's birthday as well so we made it a big join event. We all decided to meet at the front gates of Cleverlearn & ride like the Hells Angels to the other side of Hanoi for our festivities. The night began as we entered the huge soundproof room to be greeted by lots of beer & a huge chocolate birthday cake. As the beer began to flow, so to did the songs. Before we knew it our 2 hours was up & there was no option to extend as it was the government election period & they were enforcing curfew. So after making our way to a few random little pubs that were also enforcing the law, we finished the night off at "The Spotted Cow" (an Aussie Pub of all places).
After picking up our last pay on Saturday the 12th May 2007 we flew out for Saigon on Sunday & then for Vancouver Canada on Friday 18th May 2007.
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