Such a lovely blog Sounds like you've had a great time. I've always wanted to visit Iran but and even more so after reading your blog. I found your attempt to shatter the stereotypes towards Iranians especially interesting since my country, the Philippines, lost to Iran for the gold medal in a basketball game and there has been some sort of animosity to the Iranians among a few Filipinos. Great read. Hope to see more of your writings in the future!
Many Thanks I thoroughly enjoyed your blog about Iran, along with the photos. I would like to thank you for such an in-depth narrative and exploration of your thoughts and feelings. How true that the image of Iran is and continues to be so awful--certainly in the US. I have often thought that we scorn or fear what we do not know and do not bother to find out. How wonderful to learn more about the country and the people and to find out they are not the monsters politics makes them out to be. One question (maybe two): do you speak Farsi? If not, did the people you stayed overnight with speak English?
I'd love to visit Iran Your writing is spectacular and the photos grand. You've painted word pictures that are sure to please. I do believe your blog will get a few more people interested in visiting Iran. Thanks for sharing your observations.
Very glad you didn't get eaten by a lagoon crocodile as I thoroughly enjoyed your recount in this blog. If you found the prices fair and the shopping experience enjoyable, no use stressing over the possibility of a scam, I say. Will look forward to your tales from Iran! Safe travels.
Your impression of Thailand was pretty accurate... having grown up there, I was pretty disappointed as to the changes during my last visit. I see that you went up Doi Inthanon...I supervised the construction of the road to the top of that mountain and the radar station on top...that was 1974-75.
Thanks, I was quite pleased how it worked out adding the original sound in some parts - thanks for the suggestion! Will be doing it more in the future...
Ross, your technique's great and your camera must be okay to give such good video footage. I know what you mean about inadequate microphones but, no matter how bad, add some of the original traffic noise, temple bells, splashing of waterfalls and waves on a beach with the music track in the background to disguise inadequacies, and I'm sure your videos will become even more interesting. Go on, give it a try!
An interesting insight to your last six months Vietnam's on my bucket list - your video makes me think I should try to get there soon. Thanks for sharing.
A small point: The music was okay but merging it occasionally with the original video soundtrack would have added to the atmosphere.
Hey thanks for the feedback! I have been thinking about doing that recently, but unfortunately the microphone on my camera is less than average so the sound quality is really bad - I might try and give it a go anyway though!
hanoi restaurant recommendations HI Ross
wondering if you have any restaurant / street food recommendations in Hanoi as mentioned in blog. NOT the snake restaurant, I dont think I could cope with that !
Yeh sure, Hanoi tends to have specific foods on specific roads, so if you go to these roads you should find it if you look at the signs...here are a few I can recommend:
My absolute favourite is 'Bun cha' - 1 Hang Manh is a great restaurant for that.
'Com rang dua bo' and 'com dao' on Tong Duy Tan Street
'Pho' on Bat Dan street
'Bun ca' on Hang Dau street
'Pho Cuon' (fresh spring rolls) at Hung Ben restaurant on Ngu Xa street
love this blog we too are heading to Laos in September, first to Vientiene for 3 nights then LP for 4 nights. My husband worked on a mapping project for World Heritage listing for LP many years ago and we want to go back and see how things worked out, meet up with some of the lovely people he worked with and explore a little. We are not backpackers so may not go as far afield as you have but we are really looking forward to it and info in you blog is very helpful. I will check out your Cambodia and Vietnam blogs as well as we are going there too.
Good Info Really happy that I came across your blog - we're heading to Laos in a couple of weeks and we are following a similar path in the North. Haven't heard yet about that town you trekked out of but we may try to do that now, it sounded amazing. The photo at the top of the mountain Phuo Si I thinked looked great, I'll have to look for that too. Enjoy Thailand - I'd recommend Doi Mae Salong and Kanchanaburi as my two favorites.
Thanks - trekking out of Luang Nam Tha was definitely worth it. Compared to some of the stories I've heard from trekking out of Chiang Mai it sounds like a totally different experience! I'd recommend the company 'Into the Wild' - they were great and great value for money! Phuo Si is right in the middle of Luang Prabang, you can't miss it - only takes 15 minutes to get to the top too! Good spot for sunset.
What a year!!! Thanks for the informative wrap up. And sorry to hear that your relationship didn't work out, even though your decision to start your career in civil engineering was made easier. As a civil engineer I think you made a difficult but good choice. And who knows...your paths may cross again. My son also found a girl friend while teaching in Bangkok. Now he will be in law school in the UK and she will be in Thailand. Not sure how that is going to work for him or her.
Thanks for your optimism - I hope so too! I have just read a book called 'The Dragon Apparent' by Norman Lewis, who travelled through Indo-China in the 1950's. It's a great book with some interesting stories - he talks about travelling through Dalat and I seem to remember you saying that you were at school there in the 50's? Maybe you have read the book - if not it's definitely worth checking out! I bet you have some great stories from Vietnam during that time - reading the book made it sound like a fascinating place!
You should take advantage of being in the center of the universe of TBers who are teachers... Contact Cockle (Nick Cockle) [blogger=46288] and Rat on the Road (Kris and Kate) [blogger=23681] for starters.
Great blog Ross!!! I've just entered my 5th year of teaching here and I still find myself to be staggered by the academic excellence that most Vietnamese students display. You are correct, they do exaggerate to an extent, but they also receive far more in the way of extra curricular tasks and homework to complete than students in most European countries do. Anyway, you are a braver man than me, risking life and limb in the classroom with blasts and explosions all in the name of chemistry :)
I so love this! Happy to have stumbled upon your blog. Love this video! Packs a lot than writing about my country. If you don't mind, would love to share this with local sites here :-)
After finishing a 4 year degree in Civil Engineering, I decided I needed a break from looking at buildings, roads and bridges and so headed to South Korea to teach ESL to a bunch of 3 year olds for a year. I enjoyed it so much I decided to continue the adventure in Vietnam, and I lived in Saigon teaching Maths and Science to lower secondary school kids for 6 months. I then went off exploring and spent some time travelling through Asia before heading to the Middle East and making my way back to England through the Balkans and Europe. The next 5 years has been spent furthering my career in Civil... full info
JayExiomo
Jay Exiomo
Such a lovely blog
Sounds like you've had a great time. I've always wanted to visit Iran but and even more so after reading your blog. I found your attempt to shatter the stereotypes towards Iranians especially interesting since my country, the Philippines, lost to Iran for the gold medal in a basketball game and there has been some sort of animosity to the Iranians among a few Filipinos. Great read. Hope to see more of your writings in the future!