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29 June
Having gotten in from a night out drinking with some English guys I’d met plus Amy at midnight, I then had to get up again at 4:30am at which time, I might add, it was still dark. Anyway after a shower and repacking, I dragged myself to breakfast and met two girls who had just come from Vietnam and were heading to the airport to Taiwan so we ended up sharing a taxi. The airport went by without incident except at security I was pulled aside and told to open my bag! Turned out I had left my insect repellent in there by accident and thus it got instantly confiscated, dammit. The departure lounge had computers which allowed you 15 minutes of free internet so I checked my email and with 3 minutes to spare logging into messenger (where in the UK it was 11pm). Christian was online! That was entertaining and I’m sure he’ll be happy to have a mention in my blog.
I arrived in Saigon (BST+6Hr). Locals call it Saigon and officially, it is just one district. Call it Saigon in front of officials or someone like that and you might be in trouble because
the politically correct name is Ho Chi Minh City (but that’s a real mouthful). I was a bit disappointed with the city. People seemed wonderful and friendly until they realise that you aren’t going to give them any money when suddenly they turn sour. Being white here means to pay a premium in time, money and stares. The first thing that happened to me in Saigon was that I was ripped off by a taxi driver charging 4 times the amount and I only managed to get it down to 3 times the proper amount. This made me pretty wary and later that day a cyclo driver also tried to rip me off but (having known the price from the lonely planet) I said to him take this or leave it and started walking away by which point he was suddenly very keen on my offer. Saigon was very stressful and frustrating and I was consistently hassled by cyclo drivers, motorbike taxis, shop assistants and street vendors. I retreated that evening to a very Western bar where I met a champion Mexican runner with an American scholarship and a dodgy Swedish guy who was behaving completely inappropriately towards the Vietnamese
waitresses.
1 July
I arrived in Da Nang. The airport was clearly used during the war and to be honest hadn’t changed a great deal. It was also the bumpiest runway I’d ever landed on and resembled something of an earthquake. We were the only plane in the airport so ground crews were eagerly awaiting us. My last blog entry about Singapore was actually written in the hotel I stayed at this night (I’m so behind I know!). The internet was free and no one else wanted to use it so I was on there ages. Today was scheduled as orientation and because there were so many of us volunteering this month, we had to have it in a local cafe. At lunchtime, me and another girl, Sarah, went to have a look around. I found an ATM so I got cash out. ATMs here are usually just the hole in the wall types but some (when not near a bank) look a bit like phoneboxes and behave like greenhouses. Outside was 33, inside...I didn’t stay long, put it that way. When I got out, Sarah was waving for help amongst a group of about 15 Vietnamese girls that
had engulfed her. They were keen on trying their English and we even tried a few Vietnamese phrases (with much hilarity on their part) and relatively little success. After they took several photos of everyone, we left and headed back to the cafe where we were greeting with a blitzing 2 hour lesson on the Vietnamese language. The only thing I think I learnt was how difficult Vietnamese is to learn and pronounce! There are hundreds of pronouns and getting the wrong one can really cause offense. For example, ‘you’ would change depending on gender, formality, age and position/career. The 30 or so volunteers then split into four cities, Da Nang, Tam Ky, another one I forgot and Hue, where I have been placed. The two hour drive between Da Nang and Hue through mountains and countryside revealed some of the most beautiful scenery I’ve seen in my life. Everywhere was picture perfect. This part of Vietnam is one of the narrowest parts of the country (just 50km across at one point I think) with Laos on the mountains side and the South China Sea on the other. There were loads of traditional houses/shacks, rice pickers with conical hats working
in the fields, water buffalo blocking the road. It’s difficult to effectively describe it all.
We reached Hue that evening where the most fantastic meal was waiting for us (and I was starving!) Our cook lives next door and prepares meals 3 times a day. The house itself is fantastic. For a start it’s right inside the old Citadel between the outer walls and the inner walls. The deceptively big house has a big yard outside for bikes and motorbikes, a terrace bit and the living area which leads onto it. There are 5 bedrooms in total and everyone has their own room except me and an American girl called Barrett who share a nice little room upstairs. There are nice views from upstairs and bad karaoke at night which doesn’t go on past midnight I don’t think (or maybe it’s just that I’m always asleep by then). There’s a nifty utility room upstairs with a washing machines and hangers but the best past is that everything dries so quickly here! That evening, I went kite flying with Hilary and David (UK, Oz respectively) in a large paved area within the Citadel in front of the largest flag pole in
Vietnam.
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pics
I love your pics. The colour and atmosphere an light really comes out. I would love to see mor of the furniture and interiors of houses you are staying in please. Annie