http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/MissyS/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from MissyS en-us Thu, 31 Dec 2009 19:52:42 +0000 Thu, 31 Dec 2009 19:52:42 +0000 These additional photos are courtesy of Mr. Vinh. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/North-Central-Coast/Phong-Nha-Ke-Bang/blog-302981.html I have been working myself ragged which is maybe how I got sick. I went to the pharmacist and mocked some coughing and nose blowing and then rubbed my throat glad I didn't have any diarrhea to act out. So she gave me coldflu medicine that contained stuff I recognized and then four different meds that she indicated were for my throat. I didn't want to buy them all so I grabbed one and went ho http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/North-Central-Coast/Dong-Hoi/blog-302975.html I am now sick with a bad cold or the flu or some such nonsense. But earlier this week I was having a much much better time.Monday Mr. Vinh and I took the car on the road around the park to take promotional photos and to check distance and difficulty for each section of the proposed biking route. We also revisited the Tam Co or 8 Volunteer or 8 Girl cave where 8 youth volunteers were killed http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/North-Central-Coast/Phong-Nha-Ke-Bang/blog-301343.html I had plans to work through the weekend in order to save up free days for a trip to Hoi An later but Greg and Evi invited me to Phong Nha to check out the EcoTrail and I couldn't resist. I can actually count a few hours of this as work since the EcoTrail will be part of the tour options we are developing. Before leaving I had coffee Saturday morning in Dong Hoi with my Counterpart colleague M http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/North-Central-Coast/Dong-Hoi/blog-301294.html On Wednesday I visited Chay Lap Village the location of our pilot communitybased tourism project. A lot of progress has been made since I was last involved last summer. A CBT Village Management Board has been set up and they have been busy. As with everything in Vietnam there have been many bureaucratic hurdles to get past but now the focus is on constructing the homestay buildings and trai http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/North-Central-Coast/Dong-Hoi/blog-301289.html I have returned to Vietnam this July to work on the same communitybased tourism project as last summer. The project is located in Quang Binh province in the buffer zone of the UNESCO World Heritage site Phong NhaKe Bang National Park. I am now working primarily on marketing and promotional material for the project. Last summer I was an intern but this summer I am all grown up with a Masters http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/North-Central-Coast/Dong-Hoi/blog-296851.html After a late night of farewell drinks in Dong Hoi Greg Evi and I woke up at 430am to catch the 530am train to Da Nang. We got to the station only to be told the train was running an hour and a half late because of last week's floods. An hour and a half later we were told it would be another hour. Finally after waiting in the train station for 4 hours the train arrived and we began the 6 ho http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/South-Central-Coast/Hoi-An/blog-207119.html I had my last real office day on Wednesday and my last day of work on Thursday was spent showing two Intrepid Indochina tour company guys around the villages and the park to get their feedback and advice on our project. Mark Australian and Hung Vietnamese are two chainsmoking heavy drinking extour leaders who are both brilliant when it comes to planning and doing tourism in Vietnam and http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/North-Central-Coast/Dong-Hoi/blog-207114.html So I've been home over a month and I have about two entries I wrote in Vietnam that I never posted and one more I should write to conclude the trip. This is just an entry promising that I will post these entries in the next day or two. And a little updateI just started taking martial arts classes with a crazy Vietnamese grandmaster who was the Southeast Asian champ. He swears he will teach me http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Maryland/Baltimore/blog-206805.html I lost the blog entry for my trip home for Amy and Ben's wedding. I guess it was a little out of place among the stories about Vietnam. I may still write up a whole new entry but I will give a summary for right now.I flew home the 10th of July to be in Amy and Ben's wedding. I would do that horrible 24 hour trip for few people but Amy and Ben are two of them. It was great seeing everyone esp http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/New-York/Buffalo/blog-192325.html So we held our successful Workshop CommunityBased Tourism Potential in the Phong Nha Ke Bang Buffer Zone on the 7th with representatives from the three communes and local and regional authorities. Wow. I'm still kind of giddy a week later. I'm somehow light years ahead professionally of where I thought I would be one year ago right before I started this Master's program. I was waiting tabl http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/North-Central-Coast/Dong-Hoi/blog-192247.html It may not seem like it but I am actually working here in Vietnam. I just have the best job ever and you're all jealous. I've had fun and I've had plenty of rice wine and gotten a tan but I've also conducted a lot of interviews read a lot of reports written a lot of reports done a lot of public awareness raising and now I'm designing an all day workshop to be held on the 7th. I just retur http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/North-Central-Coast/Dong-Hoi/blog-192237.html After flying back from the wedding I spent a few days in Hanoi wandering around exploring and getting lost in the maze of Old Quarter streets. The Old Quarter dates back to the 13th century and has little nooks and crannies that can make you feel transported through time. I stumbled upon the old Co Luong Communal House down a little alley where the motorbike traffic disappeared and sat by an http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Red-River-Delta/Hanoi/blog-191870.html Squid Faces and a WeddingAsia Vietnam Dong HoiJune 26th 2007Certain things are becoming familiar to me here and I have begun to develop small routines. I even have a bicycle for commuting to work. I have been in the office two days and the women there most of whom are around my age seem to have a blast intoducing me to Vietnamese culture. I had lunch with them yesterday where they tried to h http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/North-Central-Coast/Dong-Hoi/blog-173645.html I made it I arrived at the airport in Hanoi Monday night blearyeyed and too out of it to feel excited. However as soon as I got into the taxi I began to feel that small thrill of the unfamiliar. The taxi weaved and honked and forced its way through the motorbike traffic in a reckless but highly calculated manner while the motorbikes swerved and effortlessly dodged our car and each other like sc http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Red-River-Delta/Hanoi/blog-172757.html I met Chi Sen my boss and mother figure in Quang Binh at the train station at 1030pm Thursday night and then fell asleep in my crowded sleeper car to the rocking of the train on its way to Dong Hoi.Dong Hoi is the capital of Quang Binh province and my headquarters while working outside of Phong NhaKe Bang National Park. I feel conflicted about this small and somewhat rural city. It is a beach http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/North-Central-Coast/Dong-Hoi/blog-172770.html I finally got permission to visit the communities in the buffer zone on Thursday. I went from one interview to another with the commune officials to determine their goals for a communitybased tourism CBT business in their commune and to learn what they already know about tourism development. These places have tons of potential with breathtaking scenery and residents excited about hosting tour http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/North-Central-Coast/Dong-Hoi/blog-175702.html After a restless sleep on a wooden bed frame covered with a straw mat I went back to Mr. Su's and helped his wife cook some more rice wine Friday morning. The fermented rice smelled like vinegar but after cooking it with honey and mashed bananas it was a delicious breakfast pick me up. I left the village with Chi Sen and Mr. Vinh the Counterpart driver and renaissance man in Dong Hoi conduct http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/North-Central-Coast/Dong-Hoi/blog-175709.html Saturday night we took the night train back to Hanoi had some breakfast and then sat at a cafe drinking much needed coffee for about an hour before hopping on an ancient bus to Mai Chau. Chi Sen commented that the bus looked older than she is which is late 40's as I pried open an antique window to get some relief from the oppressive heat in the bus. A woman came aboard trying to sell fans and http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Northwest/Mai-Chau/blog-183692.html July 7 Saturday Sa Pa town On Tuesday night I traveled to Hanoi with Chi Sen and four commune leaders from the buffer zone of Phong Nha Ke Bang. The train was booked solid so we took a sleeper bus. There were three rows of bunks ingeniously designed so that the head of the person in front of you was above a compartment for your feet. However it was made for the Vietnamese and my legs were ju http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Northwest/Sapa/blog-183523.html