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Published: July 18th 2008
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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 Eco-Trail and I couldn't resist. I can actually count a few hours of this as work since the Eco-Trail will be part of the tour options we are developing.
Before leaving I had coffee Saturday morning in Dong Hoi with my Counterpart colleague Mr. Quy and some others. We had made plans for 8am coffee and I woke up kicking myself for agreeing to voluntarily wake up that early on a weekend. 3am is often bedtime for me in the U.S., but in Vietnam, many people actually wake at 3am to begin their day. Insanity.
I got to the cafe and no Mr. Quy. So I sat by myself, ordered coffee, and waited for one of the other cafe patrons to come over and "practice their English" with me. This happens 90% of the time when I am alone, even if I'm reading a book or working on something. In the U.S. I'm pretty boring. In Vietnam, especially in Dong Hoi, I have all
of the mystery and allure of a movie star. But without the acting talent. Everyone wants to know everything about me. Namely, what in the world is this foreigner doing in Dong Hoi? Did they get lost on their way to a real tourist destination? What's funny is that Dong Hoi residents usually assume you are working in an NGO, because they see more NGO workers than tourists. While I sometimes get annoyed with the constant attention, I had nothing to do as I waited for Mr. Quy, so I was actually pleased to have the company when a polite engineer with a decent command of English sat down with me. But after about 40 minutes of waiting for Mr. Quy I gave up and went back to the hotel just as Mr. Quy came into the lobby full of apologies. We had a nice conversation over coffee before I headed out to the park with Greg and Evi.
The Eco-Trail project is managed by the German NGO GTZ, designed by Greg who is Australian, and engineered by a Vietnamese gentleman. The guide training is run by a Dutchman, and GTZ employs Vietnamese staff and a French-German intern to
Eco-Trail Builder's Camp
The men and women constructing the trail have stayed on site camping in the forest. handle various related tasks. Throw American me into the mix and the project site is a mini global community. When I visited they had completed most of the path but were still building the boardwalks over the parts that cross over the creeks, and construction on a suspension bridge that spans the main river had not yet begun. So we employed various methods in crossing over the water, from wading right in at the shallow parts, to rock jumping, to crossing a slippery log over rapids while holding tightly onto a vine. It was fun and no one died. On Sunday we swam at Nuoc Moc, a cold spring at the end of the trail where the cold water bubbles up from the floor of the river. It makes for an incredibly refreshing and buoyant swim.
After the swim we visited the homestay construction site so that Greg and Evi could have a look at it. And then back to Dong Hoi to relax before the start of my second week of work.
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Cindy
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At first I thought Uncle Don was with you when I saw Antony. hahaha