I now have the power to control lightning...
and Steve's ready for spring break in Cabo...
31.7.09
30.7.09
They Actually Let These People Near Children
14.7.09
Fail
It's not that cool that we've been here 6 months already and still haven't seen hardly any of Vietnam*. A new plan to travel somewhere once a month has been put into effect, and this last weekend we set off to Halong Bay for our July trip. We left for Halong City right after our last class on Saturday night, with the intention of staying in the city that night, getting an overnight boat out to the bay on Sunday, and then heading back to Hai Phong on Monday. What we didn't plan on was everything going pretty much as wrong as it could.
After the 2 hour bus ride (which would be a lot shorter if they didn't pull over every few meters to pick up more passengers until the bus is full) and a short taxi ride we had made it to Halong City. And man, was there a lot of people there. Unfortunately for us, it's the local tourist season. People from all over Vietnam and China head to Halong this time of year. Hotel after hotel turned us away because they were full. By now it's about 9 pm (and still quite hot) and we're stranded in this tiny city with no place to sleep. Luckily, we found a tourist advisor guy who was happy to help us find a room - because he knew his commission off of what he was going to be able to get from us would probably be more than he's made all week. A few minutes and phone calls later we had a room, probably paying more than three times the price for it, but a room nonetheless. But it was all ok because tomorrow we'll be on an awesome boat in the middle of beautiful Halong Bay and everything will be great....right??
Wrong. Sunday morning we get a taxi to take us to the tourist warf, where you can hire a boat to take you out to the bay. There's a bunch of people there, but no one seems to be getting on any boats. The ticket booth lady avoids us for a few minutes, going to the other side of the counter every time we try to talk to her, so we have to go out of the building, walk around, and go in on the other side. We finally catch her and ask to buy a ticket for a boat. "No boats! Storm!" She yells, and as she is clearly done talking to us walks back to the other side of the counter. A little in shock - how can there be no boats? this is the only reason people go here! - we walk around the warf for a bit, asking a few other people. Everyone gives the same answer - "No boats".
Trying not to let our failure get the best of us, we head back into Halong City, deciding to enjoy some beers on the beach and maybe have a nice lunch before the long bus ride back to Hai Phong. About halfway through our beers we realize it's sprinkling. Which, in Southern California, means it's going to continue sprinkling for maybe the whole time it rains, but in tropical Vietnam it means you have about 10 minutes before it starts pouring.
Sure enough, by the time we finish our beers it is really coming down. Annoyed and defeated, we get a taxi and tell the driver to take us to the bus to Hai Phong. We get to the bus stop right as the bus is about to take off, but with help from the taxi driver we get them to stop to let us on. As soon as we get in the door we wish they had just taken off. There's about 40 people on this 25 passenger bus, and now 2 giant Americans too. We squeeze into seats (people are sitting 4 and even 5 across, so whenever someone behind you has to get out it's really fun) and pray this is the fastest bus ride ever.
We finally made it back to Hai Phong, drenched and cramped. Although I will need some time to recover before the next adventure, this will not be a last attempt. Halong Bay is supposed to be really amazing. But I think next time I might check the weather first.
So close yet so far. Here's some pics of Halong Bay from the (not so lovely) beach.
After the 2 hour bus ride (which would be a lot shorter if they didn't pull over every few meters to pick up more passengers until the bus is full) and a short taxi ride we had made it to Halong City. And man, was there a lot of people there. Unfortunately for us, it's the local tourist season. People from all over Vietnam and China head to Halong this time of year. Hotel after hotel turned us away because they were full. By now it's about 9 pm (and still quite hot) and we're stranded in this tiny city with no place to sleep. Luckily, we found a tourist advisor guy who was happy to help us find a room - because he knew his commission off of what he was going to be able to get from us would probably be more than he's made all week. A few minutes and phone calls later we had a room, probably paying more than three times the price for it, but a room nonetheless. But it was all ok because tomorrow we'll be on an awesome boat in the middle of beautiful Halong Bay and everything will be great....right??
Wrong. Sunday morning we get a taxi to take us to the tourist warf, where you can hire a boat to take you out to the bay. There's a bunch of people there, but no one seems to be getting on any boats. The ticket booth lady avoids us for a few minutes, going to the other side of the counter every time we try to talk to her, so we have to go out of the building, walk around, and go in on the other side. We finally catch her and ask to buy a ticket for a boat. "No boats! Storm!" She yells, and as she is clearly done talking to us walks back to the other side of the counter. A little in shock - how can there be no boats? this is the only reason people go here! - we walk around the warf for a bit, asking a few other people. Everyone gives the same answer - "No boats".
Trying not to let our failure get the best of us, we head back into Halong City, deciding to enjoy some beers on the beach and maybe have a nice lunch before the long bus ride back to Hai Phong. About halfway through our beers we realize it's sprinkling. Which, in Southern California, means it's going to continue sprinkling for maybe the whole time it rains, but in tropical Vietnam it means you have about 10 minutes before it starts pouring.
Sure enough, by the time we finish our beers it is really coming down. Annoyed and defeated, we get a taxi and tell the driver to take us to the bus to Hai Phong. We get to the bus stop right as the bus is about to take off, but with help from the taxi driver we get them to stop to let us on. As soon as we get in the door we wish they had just taken off. There's about 40 people on this 25 passenger bus, and now 2 giant Americans too. We squeeze into seats (people are sitting 4 and even 5 across, so whenever someone behind you has to get out it's really fun) and pray this is the fastest bus ride ever.
We finally made it back to Hai Phong, drenched and cramped. Although I will need some time to recover before the next adventure, this will not be a last attempt. Halong Bay is supposed to be really amazing. But I think next time I might check the weather first.
So close yet so far. Here's some pics of Halong Bay from the (not so lovely) beach.
*Note: I realize this sentence is grammatically incorrect, but it's ok. I'm an English teacher.
3.7.09
The Big Two-Five
Last week I had my first birthday in a foreign country. And it was a pretty damn good one. Steve got me the most awesomest present ever - a real professional-type camera, so hopefully you will be able to see quite an improvement in my blog pics. I also got not one, but two amazing looking and delicious tasting cakes (they really know how to do cakes over here), two beautiful flower bouquets (they're quite good at those too), my own custom-made birthday card, several renditions of Happy Birthday from my students, and I was even thrown my very own surprise party by one of my classes.
Of course I didn't have my new super camera with me, but I was able to get some pics of the party with my old camera.
One of my cakes with what I think is a rocket on it. Whatever it is I'm sure it's probably illegal in the states.
My class.
Me and my students. I've found that the best way to look like a giant is to stand next to a bunch of teeny asians.
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