Monthly Archives: August 2007

Asia, Vietnam

Hoi An (II) My Son

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My Son

(not to be pronounced like your own male offspring, but rather like Mee Soon, with both vocals relatively short), the intellectual and religious center of the Cham kingdom, partly dating back to the 8th century. Described as the “most stunning sight to see in the Hoi An area” it is a tourist magnet. As such it reportedly gets very crowdy. Some people I asked told me it is not worth the visit, others were amazed. But all agreed it is too crowded. Lonely Planet says so, too, and suggest a visit in the early morning, which would give you the best atmosphere. Continue reading Hoi An (II) My Son →

Asia, Vietnam

Hoi An (I) Old Town

Hoi An

…is a picturesque old city, which luckily was at an early state preserved in its current state, cars banned from its inner roads (not motorbikes, though). There is even a ticket to support maintenance of the city, which includes a bit a complicated system of visits to historical sites within the city. In the end…I never found the right time to buy such a ticket and see the sites, which mostly consisted of buildings of Chinese congregations or temples. Not the most interesting stuff anyway. Just the town by itself is the main attraction. Continue reading Hoi An (I) Old Town →

Asia, Vietnam

Hue (III) DMZ

I had already briefly touched on the demarcation line between North and South Vietnam during the war the Vietnemese call “American War”, as I had a brief stop-over there when getting to Hue by bus. Please check there for 3 impressive pictures on restored buildings and memorials along the Highway 1 Bridge over Ben Hai river. For this day (10-AUG) I had booked myself on a so-called “DMZ Tour”, a tour to sites along the former Demilitarized Zone along the Ben Hai river. The tour included no less than 350km bus rides with a few stops along historically important sites. The sites by themselves weren’t so impressive any longer (except for the tunnels), but the day gave a good introduction to an important part of the American-Vietnamese War, though I will not be able here to repeat all details historically correct. Continue reading Hue (III) DMZ →

Asia, Vietnam

Hue (I) Micracles / Getting There

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Weltschmerz on the 13. (laptop had broken down), oh so beautiful a world the day after…yesterday afternoon and today was my day of miracles. I am writing these lines on my last day in Hoi An, the stop after Hue, but I am way behind with my articles. Had hoped to find more time in Hoi An, but instead I met a lot of people who drank a lot of beer, and who would I be to stand back? So I am still behind with the articles. Pictures are all selected, but writing takes time. And then there was the laptop’s breakdown, from which it against all odds recovered! At the moment the display works as always. I’ll be careful and expect the worst, but maybe a daily prayer will help. Continue reading Hue (I) Micracles / Getting There →

Asia, Vietnam

Halong Bay – YangShuo on the Water

To imagine what Halong Bay looks like you basically have to take YangShuo (which I visited even twice) and just replace all rice paddies with open water…et voilà: It’s limestone karst peaks peeking out of the water. Despite the similarity I was still overwhelmed by the scenery. The fact that I took no less than 130 pictures in 2,5 days is a sure indication for it. I am usually not so quick in taking picture, although it’s all digital nowadays and could be just deleted. But I still don’t fancy the work of sorting out picture. I’d rather avoid a bad picture right away. But on Halong Bay you could essentially point your camera anywhere and just press the button…you’d still have a stunning picture. Continue reading Halong Bay – YangShuo on the Water →

Asia, Vietnam

Sapa – Rice Paddies and Minorities

Am I glad that I did the trip! Remember? Many people told me I had to go there, but I had considered skipping it as I thought I had seen enough mountains and rice paddies already. Seeing then that tours to Sapa can be easily booked as group tours through basically any agency and guest house here in Hanoi I opted for a two day/three night version: First night on the night train to Sapa, then one day of hiking there with a tour guide, doing “homestay” for the second night (which means to stay with a local farmer in one of the minority villages), another shorter day of hiking, and the third night back on the night train to Hanoi.

Rice paddies here look like rice paddies in China, no news. But the muddy walking trails were an entirely new experience as was the encounter with the minority people. Not because of their appearance or traditions, but because of their insisting way of persuing their “business”. We’ll come back to that… Continue reading Sapa – Rice Paddies and Minorities →

Asia, Vietnam

Hanoi (III) Temple of Literature

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Let’s start with a small story, which actually dates back as far as to LiJiang: Our group came back from BaiSha, split up after returning. I went with two of the ladies through LiJiang back to the hostel, on the way asking “What’s about a coffee?”, completely taken by surprise that Jennifer, a US University Professor, studying cultural influences on language (I hope you forgive my extremely short-cut description?), could not follow my intention. I had to learn that “What’s about…” requires a context and I should have asked a bit more elaborated like “Would you like to have a coffee?” or “What do you think of having a coffee now?” After such introduction a follow-up like “What’s about tea instead?” would be OK. Well…she’s the native speaker…I just take the point. Continue reading Hanoi (III) Temple of Literature →