Date: Mon, 3 Jun 2002 22:09:24 -0700 (PDT) From: "Jeremy Henrickson" Subject: Live from Hanoi! To: jeremyhenrickson@yahoogroups.com Happy Tuesday folks! If you ever visit Vietnam, bring your smile. They work wonders here. Throwing a simple grin in someone's direction will elicit a positive reaction 3/4 of the time. Learning Vietnamese has been something of a struggle. The language is difficult enough to start with, and most people here prefer to practice their English rather than the other way around. I spent an entire afternoon at the train station in Thap Cham helping the assistant manager there with his pronouciation and comprehension skills. But, I've successfully learned enough key phrases such that that people respond in their native tongue. This certainly helps when negotiating for purchases at the market! Here is a sample of a typical conversation that I have with new Vietnamese acquaintences: Me: "Xin chao." Somebody's mother: "Hello. Where are you from?" (Note: Very few people identify me as American off the bat. This has been immensely helpful. Thanks mom.) "America." "Ah. America. Are you married?" "No." "Why not? You are very handsome." "Um..." "This is my daughter, Uyen..." And so on. Marriage is exceedingly important in Vietnamese culture. Most local people have difficulty understanding that I am 27 and not yet married. Reactions to being unmarried typically start with surprise, and then quickly move to pity. My trip has been filled with memorable events, people, and places. There are, of course, too many to go into detail here, but I'll list a few of the more memorable ones: The Saigon District of Ho Chi Minh City. Teeming with life and the hub of commerce in Vietnam. I am still stunned that traffic by collective consciousness works as well as it does. But I suppose this is par for the course in a major Southeast Asian city. Choruses of "Hellos!" When biking in the country side in Vietnam, there is never a shortage of children (and adults, for that matter) to cheer you on. All along the way, kids will happily cheer and wave frenetically at passing foreigners, shouting "hello!", or the more sophisticated "heywhereareyoufromwhatsyourname" at the top of their lungs. It's a welcome distraction from burning quads, though smiling, waving and yelling hello back can get somewhat exhausting in its own right. Even better than the hellos are the frequent invitations into the homes of locals. They are happy to give what little food, tea, and what appears to be weak tea, but in reality is vodka they have with total strangers. In exchange, I do my best to share whatever food I'm carrying with me at the time, and show pictures of my family, which always cause a stir. Dalat. An absolutely beautiful tourist and university town up in the central highlands. It has a wonderful central market that sells just about everything you could want. This is where I fell in love with Rambutan fruit (or chiom choim as they call them in the south here) and learned the local market prices for everything. Cakes here are also very tasty. I met several students who are studying english at the University of Dalat. They were kind enough to teach me about the history of the area, and to point out some interesting places to visit (notably the touristy, but beautiful "Valley of Love"). And to cap it all off, the temperature never went above 32 or 33. Dalat certainly makes my list of top 3 places to come back to when I return. The long bike from Dalat to Phan Rang was memorable for two reasons. First were the two gargantuan descents (10 & 12km) where I could cruise along at 50km/h, carefully avoiding trucks that were rounding the hairpin curves on my side of the road. Second was the heat. While I started the morning at a reasonable 20 degrees or so, the 1400m descent into a desert -like landscape meant that I was biking the last 40km in 40+ degree heat. Bad idea. Fortunately, locals were kind enough to offer the shade of their homes every 10km or so. I made it back in one, albeit very salty, piece. Hoi An was a wonderful place to relax after the difficult ride to Phan Rang and a relatively nightmarish train ride to Danang. If you're one for getting clothes made for cheap, this is the place. Just be exceptionally specific about what you want, otherwise you may end up with buttons in places you weren't expecting them. And don't pass up the opportunity for some wonderful food. Up your budget to $2.50/meal and you'll have some of the best food you've ever tasted. Or, stay cheap and have the tasty local specialty, Cao Lau, for about $.30. Another very worthwhile stop just north of Hoi An are the Marble Mountains, a set of caves and pagodas whose main chamber serves as a better setting for communal prayer and meditation than any place I've ever been. I'd try to describe the scene, but the pictures I took will do a much better job. I really hope they turn out. Lang Co made a great beach stop after my ride over the Hai Van pass. It's a quiet town nestled between a lagoon and the South China Sea and a perfect place for a swim. The constant stream of "Motorbike?" and "xich lo?" (cyclo) querries. Because it is the down season, motorbike and xich lo drivers are all vying for the few potential customers (namely, me) that are available. These calls to transportation are only matched by the incessant questions posed by children trying to sell postcards, the english-language Vietnam News daily, and other assorted goods. One becomes good at the smiling, but definitive "khong, cam on" (no, thank you), very quickly. Finally, Hue is a beautiful city, especially since it has been lit up for the "2002 Festival." In addition, the Citadel and the Forbidden Purple City that it encloses are historical gems and were a treat to wander around, as was the "tomb" of Tu Duc, the most powerful and enduring Vietnamese emperor from the 19th century. I've managed to avoid western food of all sorts for the last 2 1/2 weeks, but I find myself hungering for a Snickers bar (ends first, then the sides... you know the drill). With any luck, I'll be able to find one while on a Lonely Planet-suggested walking tour of Hanoi's old quarter. Next stop after this is the ride out to Mai Chau. Wish me luck during a few days in the mountains. I hope you are all doing well! Take care, Jeremy P.S. The subject line of my last email should have been "the heat is on IN Saigon". How embarrasing. Chalk it up to lack of sleep. :)