Saigon

Hi,

Just a quick update. I caught the overnight bus from Hoi An to Nha Trang on Thurs night. It wasn't too bad, but like you'd expect from an 11hr bus ride, not a huge amount of fun either. Got to Nha Trang at 5.30am and thankfully the hotel I'd booked let me in early.

Went to the beach about 11 that day and it was very nice getting some sun, a massage and fresh pineaplle cut up for me. Unfortunately I got too much sun and wasn't well because of it. I spent most of Sat in bed watching movies because I couldn't really walk due to sunburn but I have definitely learnt my lesson.

I flew to Saigon on Sunday and even though a few people I'd met hated Saigon, I really like it.. it's got parts of East and West all thrown together in a huge mess.
Went to the War Remnants museum and Reunification Palace yesterday and to the Cu Chi Tunnels today. Tomorrow I am going to the Mekong Delta for a boat trip down the river before flying to Bangkok on Thurs afternoon.

Hope everything at home is good!

Wednesday in Hoi An

I have to get my diary out to remember what I've done and where I've been on which days :) I came to Hoi An yesterday after 2 days in Hue. I had a 3.5hour flight delay getting to Hue on Sunday due to fog in Hanoi and bad weather in Hue but a Dutch couple I met in Halong Bay and saw again in Hoi An had a flight that same day (4hrs earlier) delayed, then flown to Danang (1hr past Hue) and then were sent back to Hanoi again. Funnily enough I didn't feel any grievances over my 3.5hrs after hearing that!

Hue was a much slower, more manageable pace than Hanoi and had friendlier people (lots of "hello" everywhere you go) and on Monday I braved the traffic and went for a bike ride to a pagoda about 4km out of the city.. it was so much fun... riding on the wrong side of the road with no helmet on a tinny bike with no gears and questionable brakes.

I met some people over dinner on Sunday; one of whom was a Vietnamese woman who was sent to Germany as a child to escape the war - she was now back in Vietnam for the first time in 30 years and hoping to find her birth mother. I ran into the same people in Hoi An last night and they bought me a big dinner, beer, etc.. one of those nice nights you tend to only have when you're on your own far from home :)

I have been eating well (probably TOO well) and I really have to stop ordering spring rolls and/or crispy pancakes with every meal. The 15c pastries in Hue and banana pancakes in Hoi An have also featured prominently.

Hoi An is a lovely town and in the 2 days I have been here I've gotten 2 dresses, 1 pair pants + 1 pair shoes made and I pick up my knock-off Tiffany necklace tomorrow afternoon. I was abit wary of the 'custom made clothing' experience (and electing not to think about the possible living conditions of the people who probably made the clothes) but I think I am really happy with everything I got made.

Lots of walking (still get lost heaps - I really do have the worst sense of direction) and sightseeing and generally having a pretty decent time.

Going to My Son (ancient city) tomorrow morning, then have the overnight bus booked for 6.30pm tomorrow to go to Nha Trang. Am planning to do very little in Nha Trang - probably just eat, sleep and get a massage.

Hope you're all well xoxo

Last night in Hanoi.. going to Hue tomorrow.

Hi and thanks for the comments, glad to know I have not been forgotten yet.

The Halong Bay tour was a long 2 days.. 3.5hrs each way by bus (bus is not the most fun way to travel in Vietnam let me say), lots of idle time on the boat and crap food BUT the kayaking was great, the weather was sunny (1st sunny day in VN for months apparently) and the Bay itself was beautiful, something really worth seeing.

An interesting feature of the drive to/from Halong was the stretch of 'thit cho' (dog) and 'meo' (cat) stalls on the side of the road.

I checked into a different hotel once I got back from Halong Bay and nearly cried when I saw the massive bed and clean bathroom with a bath!

Today I took it easy - I went to the History Museum, went to the Dong Xuan market and subsequently left 10mins later... I felt like a giant trying to get around the tiny aisles, especially with a backpack. It was a bit like the Queen Vic market - full of cheap crappy Asian goods.

In the afternoon I went to see the Water Puppet thearte which was cute, and good value at $2.50. I also went shopping for bootleg DVDs.. soooooooooo good. Have had a bit of an upset stomach this afternoon but am hoping a couple Immodium and some plainer food tonight and tomorrow will keep things calm.

Am going to bed early tonight which really, is not unusual for a Saturday for me anyway, but I have to leave the hotel around 6.45am tomorrow. Yep, I can hear the laughter from here.

Take care and hope you're all well!

Hello from Hanoi

Made it to Hanoi about 2pm yesterday. Hanoi is nuts, everything I had heard & read but with all the sounds (5am 'wake up' bells)and smells (I won't elaborate on that one) in real life and 3D. Weather is COLD (about 10deg) and overcast but (touch wood) no rain.

Spent 3+hrs just walking around yesterday afternoon and I kept getting lost but I tell myself it's how I learn the layout of the city (????). Am loving how cheap everything is - dinner last night was beef noodles and a soft drink for approx $2 and entrance fee to a temple on the main lake (sorry, it's still too early for proper names) was $0.30.

Going to see some sights today and hopefully a Water Puppet Thearte performance tonight, then going kayaking on Halong Bay tomorrow.

In Transit @ Changi

Made it to Singapore safely. A long flight but a good one, made better by it being only 1/3 full and me getting to lay across 3 seats for the majority of the flight.

Can honestly say I have never wanted a strong cup of tea in my life more than I do right now, so I'm off to grab one, a banana if I can find one, then some sleep at the airport hotel before the flight to Hanoi in the morning.

#23 - Recap

After trying to catch up so quickly at the end I think the biggest feeling at the moment is relief that I have finished it. By approx Week 6 I was struggling to find the motivation to keep going but I am glad that I persevered. The hardest part of the program for me was the time it took as I did the bulk of it from home (like most people I am sure) and therefore began to feel like I was 'working' all the time.

My favourite 'new discoveries' from the program would be Library Thing, RSS Feeds and Delicious. And I never want to see or hear about Rollyo or Technorati again!

I think that the potential uses of these technologies has been covered in earlier posts but from a broader level, the program helped me to learn and understand more about the way people approach technology. I hope this will help me when it comes to public internet classes in the future.

The surprising outcome of this program was how much I learnt about the people I work with. Whether it is intended or not, a lot of people's personalities came through in their blogs which is something I really value and appreciate. I can't highlight that enough and it is probably what I gained most from the program.

Finishing up, I want to say thanks Leslie and Lynette for all their hard work in co-ordinating this program (if they read this!). I can only imagine how much work it would have been at times and I hope that they know that even if a lot of people don't finish the whole course that it has been a worthwhile and valuable endeavour.

#22 - Audiobooks

I'm nearly there!

Without reservation I think that Project Gutenberg and the World eBook Fair are noble, worthy concepts and deserve much more support than they currently get. BUT.. that site was so hard to navigate and I also think that it doesn't have much to do with what public library patrons are interested in. Think about the most frequent users of audiobooks in your library. Now think about the types of books that group of users are generally looking for. Of course there are exceptions to the rule, but I don't know many sighted people who read Edgar Allen Poe or Shakespeare for fun, let alone elderly or blind patrons.

A long time ago (3 or 4 years?) I found Audible.com and was really impressed by the range and the price of their titles. For me, this site sets the benchmark for buying audiobooks and hopefully in time it will get competition so prices can come down more.

This exercise has been of value for me as I have a family member who is blind and who has sorely missed out on a lot of learning and stimulation for many years due to a lack of affordable, convenient access to audiobooks. This exercise has made me remember to burn some more audiobooks for her and maybe buy her some new ones for Christmas. It has been a source of frustration for me for several years that this family member can't go into a public library and get her MP3 player loaded up with an audiobook. People talk about how fast technology moves but there are times when I think it moves far too slow.

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