Blogs from Hai Phong, Red River Delta, Vietnam, Asia - page 4

We spent about 5 days in Ho Chi Minh, our second night there we met up with some Spanish buddies and I arranged to meet my uni friend Harriet who I haven't seen in like 2 years and has been teaching in 'Nam for 9 months - we had a awesome night with all of them and taught them all Irish snap (Obvs!). Drinks were flowing that night so the next day I had a bed day and Cec went off to be cultured. Speaking of cultured, we visited the War museum, the Cu Chi tunnels (where they did the fighting in the war) and did a day trip of the Mekong Delta; honestly it was all a bit dull so for the details see Cec's blog :) Our last night in Saigon was St Patricks ... read more

Vietnam loves it's festivals and special days. Several times a year they celebrate the day for women. All men are expected to shower the women in their lives with gifts and flowers. This Woman's Day we decided that in the spirit of equality of the sexes we should show our support of the female gender by becoming part of it for the evening. (Really we wanted the free beer jokingly promised to us in the bar when they said all women get a free drink). I'm not ashamed to say that we tried on a few outfits before settling on our dresses for the evening. Fergal went for the cheap slag look, I went for the high class hooker look, and Neil went for the tranny get up. We had a great night cross dressing; the ... read more

Na een dagje bijkomen in Saigon zijn we verder gereisd naar Cat Bai Island met het doel de Halong Bay te bezoeken. Geboekt met Jet Star airlines. Een budget maatschappij waar Ryan air nog wat van kan leren. De vliegtuigen lijken iig afdankertjes van Ryan; oude 737's waarvan de leren bekleding uitgedroogd en versleten is en die er van buiten niet al te best onderhouden uitzien. Voor het opstijgen vragen we ons af af het wel zo een goed plan was aangezien het vliegtuig toch wat doet denken aan de bussen in Laos/Cambodja (ja, die ene die halfweg de geest gegeven heeft). De vlucht viel mee (hoewel de pneumatiek toch wat schokkerig ging) en veilig kwamen we aan in Hai Phong. Hier een taxi genomen richting de pier waar we met de boot naar Cat Bai ... read more

Christmas to most westerners is one of the most important holidays of the year whether for religious reasons or not. It is a time for family and for showing others that you care. For most Tay (westerner) in Vietnam it is a time where people would miss home, and miss their family and friends. Thankfully over here we have formed our own version of family to take care of one another and lift each other's spirits. Although im sure some feelings of homesickness were felt, it turned out to be a wonderful christmas. Christmas in Hai Phong started off with a problem. The Office were trying to force us to teach on Christmas day although we had previously been promised it off. This was quickly resolved by telling the staff that if we were scheduled for ... read more

A weekend away was just what the doctor ordered. With our friend working in Halong it seemed the perfect excuse to visit on our long weekend. We could let her show us the nightlife, and while she was at work we could be touristy and see the sights of Halong Bay. As usual we set off in quite a rush, the taxi made it's way to the bus station at a snails pace and the rickity little coach was about to set off the instant we arrived. We hadn't even paid the taxi before random Vietnamese were dragging us towards two separate buses, both urging us to get on. We kept saying "Halong Bay?" and they kept chattering away and pulling at us. Seconds later the decision was made ... we would get on the bus ... read more