Blogs from Dong Ha, North Central Coast, Vietnam, Asia

Coming Home - Back to Dong Ha After our week in Hanoi and our trip to Sapa, we flew to Hue, and took a car up to Dong Ha. We planned on spending two weeks in Dong Ha teaching at Le Quy Don Gifted High School, where we taught back in April. We were excited to be back in town, but were nervous too. I think our expectations were high. We had such an amazing experience the first time here. We were driven to our hotel, Huu Nghi, which we were told had rooms for $12. I checked out their website and it looked fine. When we showed up, I was shocked. The hotel had two buildings, the older one in the rear, which was on the website, and a brand new fancy hotel in ... read more

Tam’s Café During our first trip to Dong Ha we were invited to English Club. English Club was a pretty informal meeting of people who want to practice their English. It was usually held at a café, and earlier this year, they rotated which café it would be at. There were not many members of English Club, but it highlighted the focus people in Dong Ha have on learning and practicing English. A lot can change in less than 5 months. Mr. Tam, from Global Community Service Foundation (“GCSF”), the organization that arranged our volunteer experience, opened a new café on one of the back roads in Dong Ha. Tam’s Café is staffed by young people who are deaf or deaf and mute. A portion of the proceeds from the café go to benefit the ... read more

I stopped in Dong Ha to access the DMZ. The main "attractions" would be the old Khe Sanh base and the Vinh Moc tunnels. I'd heard about the DMZ Cafe arranging good tours to these places so I was on a lookout for them. When I got off the train I got the usual touts harassing me. I shook'em off and headed into town on foot. I guy with a motorbike stopped and claimed he was from the DMZ Cafe and could take me to a good guesthouse. Sure... I still let him pick me up and we went to the guesthouse. Unfortunately I was overcome by the usual lazieness, not wanting to haul my baggage around anymore, and accepted the room and the tours that were obviously not the DMZ Cafe. As usual the sights ... read more

Dear Patrons, Welcome to our news letter. The Staff at Different Perspectives try to bring a clearer picture of current events effecting China and Asia. Although we believe the international media driven primarily by the western world's interests is bringing the public events as they happen we at Different Perspectives are independent and non biased without an agenda for prestige or monetary profit. We simply feel the western world may be somewhat isolated from news that is local to our office here in Beijing, China. We hope you enjoy the news from a different perspective. Wednesday August 27, 2008 Quang Nhai, Vietnam I got going early enough to have coffee at the local shop and pack before making my way by way of moto-taxi to the bus station. Today I would embark on a journey north ... read more

Nach einer doch recht entspannenden Busfahrt, Rebekka zur einen, eine telefonierenden Vietnamesin zur anderen und Hartmut unserem neuen Weggefahrten sind wir so gegen 7am in DongHa "erwacht". Bei einem Kaffee und nem Broetchen gabs gleich die naechsten offerten, eine Tour durch die DMZ, die alte Grenzlinie zwischen Nord und Sued Vietnam. Nach etwas hin und her stand fest, Tour mit Transport nach Hue fur 15$/Person. Gebucht und los. Zwei Ibizaner und zwei Iren waren auch noch dabei. Ein alter gedenk Friedhof gleich als erstes "zum wach werden", ein alter Panzer und dann die Tunnel von Vinh Moc. Alles etwas, das von Hollywood etwas seltener verfilmt wird. Die Tunnel waren etwas beklemmend, nicht nur von der groesse her, die war fuer Rebekka wie Masgeschneidert. Die Vietkong haben da aber im Krieg mit 200 - 400 Menschen unter ... read more