After getting of the phone with my family and friends I was pretty emotional. I kept talking about what my family said and how Irene, Olga and Timmy are doing. The day was doomed, I was homesick. Everyone kept asking me how is Vietnam? I kept saying to imagine China town but bigger. I've been thinking about that question all day and decided that it was not a fair answer. We are staying in the Old Quarter, a touristy area in Hanoi. The city is very beautiful with rich history left by the French (churches, bridges, opera house, rivers) intermingled with new industry and malls. I find myself annoyed by the people and their behaviour towards tourists; the smell, the constant noise and endless scooters flying by.
There are endless tourists traps and we have identified many of them throughout our travels, but the odassity of people here is untolerable. The majority of people in Hanoi are rude and lack manners. It feels as though when they are looking at us, all they see are disposable dollar bills.
For example I went to buy soap and asked the clerk how much it costs. He showed 60 dong on his fingers (yes their money is called crap). I quickly translated it to canadian and realized that he's proposing that I pay $5 for a 200 ml bottle of Dove. I immediately said it was too much, then he proceeded to ask how much I am willing to pay. He handed me a pen and a newspaper and we started the negotiation. I decided to turn the bottle over and make sure that it was in fact soap that I was buying. To my surprise I found a white sticker with a printed price that said 35 dong. I took the pen and wrote 35. The clerk looked surprised; how was it that I was able to guess the exact price, of which he would have sold to a local. He started bargaining with me and I was so upset that I left the store. He ran after me and made a grand gesture that he was doing me some big favor and losing his pants to sell this soap for a local price. He got into a huge screaming match as I was leaving with his son (who probably put the sticker on the bottle in the first place).
We went to a temple yesterday, got thirsty and decided on a coke and fanta. The sign read: coca - 8, joy - 5. I figured coca to be coca cola and joy, well I wasn't sure why fanta was joy but figured my purchase should amount to no more than 13 crap. Out of habit before handing the lady my money I asked how much, she said 20. I looked at her and then at the sign and explained to her my rationale about 8+5 =13. She got really mad and handed me 4 dong change. It turned out that joy is water but they ran out. I thought to advise her that if she is going to rip of tourists she should find a more conspicous way rather than posting the prices on top of the fridge. My better judgment got me and I decided against it. Who am I to teach her how to run her business.
In Hue, the last city we stayed in, we ran into a traditional hotel scam. We saw a hotel we liked on trip advisor (a website were using), we called and made a reservation for two nights. When we got there they only had one night available but they paid for our cab to their sister hotel. The manager of our first hotel knew how much we were willing to pay and told their sister hotel our price. The sister hotel was more like a dirty uncle hotel and worth a lot less. Marc went to look at the room and I decided to look through their brochures. I found the price of the rooms glued to the counter. Marc came down and said the room was ok, not as nice as the other hotel, but it will do for two nights . He said our room number is 204. The manager quickly grabbed my bag and started carrying it to our room. I explained that we need to know the price before he takes my stuff up to the room (negotiation tip #1 always establish the price before you take the room, or enter the restaurant or put on the shoes). The manager quoted the price we were willing to pay for the nicer hotel (I wonder how he knew). I pointed to the sign that I dug up and pointed to room 204. The price was exactly half. To make a long story short he discounted the room just a bit and said if I wanted the price on the paper that I would have to go somewhere else. I wasn't willing to go anywhere else, it was hot and we just got off the overnight bus.
Bargaining Skills: As I previosly mentioned when we got to Thailand I was really good at bargaining. Something happened, Marc perfected the skill and I got weak. In Hanoi there is a really lovely shoe market. We promised Vanessa to bring back a pair of Nike shoes in black - size 8. My friend Shay who has been to Thailand three years ago said I can get them for $10. Well this is not the case anymore. We have been to many shoe markets and real Nike stores and we cant find any nice ones (but were still looking). I found these fake Puma shoes and fell in love. The first store we went to the Puma on the left was twice the size the Puma on the right. The second store we went to they were ripped and in the third store the slipper fit. I put the shoes on and started bargaining (remember the negotiation tip, this is a mistake). She said 350 I said 150 she said 250 I said 200. I looked and Marc and said "she wants 250 I dont know what to do". Marc said "the first store was willing to give them for 165 take off the shoes and lets go there". I looked at him and said, "but those shoes were bad and these are perfect". Marc looked at me in disbelief, shook his head and left the store. I ended up getting the shoes for 200 but after 15 minutes of making puppy faces. Outside I was all smiles wearing my new slippers, Marc looked at me and asked, "what happened, you used to be so good at this."
Vietnamese Massage: The day we were leaving Hue we got a Vietnamese massage. It wasn't a far stretch to assume that if the Thai massage is so popular, that these neighbours would learn the craft, steal shamlessly (like they thought us at Cintas). Apparantly the Viatnamese are to good for that and they invented their own massage. First things first, I know that we went to a proper massage place - no funny business. My girl was 16 and Marcs was maybe a few months older. They were both wearing mini skirts. The massage started with her pating my back wihout applying any pressure for about 30 minutes. She sat on top on the bed (in her mini skirt). It was really awkward. In the middle of the massage the lights went out, so they dissapeared for about 10 minutes to get the candles. During the black our next door neighbour fell asleep and started snoring. The rooms were divided by paper thin walls so the sound effects were clear. I felt that I could also feel the breeze from his snoring. So much for a relaxing experience. When the girl returned she countinued to pat my arms and legs. In about 15 minutes the massage was over. She handed me a feedback form which had two questions. Rate the massage good or bad and how much is the tip. The length of the massage including the black out was 45 minutes and we paid for 60 minutes. We saw two rats running by as we were leaving and they forgot to give us our mineral water. I would not recommend Viatnamese massage.
Street Hustlers: There are many people who offer to take tourists on the back of their scooters and carriages. They are at every corner huddled in bundles. They all have one line-- one hour very cheap. There aren't that many tourists during the day so when we are spotted walking down the street they all run towards us together. I dont even bother any more because they are so rude; however, to this day, Marc continues to say no thanks politely the first three times and then not so politely the next few times. Today he snapped. He got into an argument with a local. Marc and I were standing and trying to figure out where to go next. The large map in my hands may have been a giveaway. One local came up and said, "one hour very cheap" to which Marc said no thanks. They went back and forth about five times. Then another one came up, clearly the first one wasn't too convincing so the second one would try. Marc got so upset he shouted, "cant you see that we are having a conversation and you are interrupting." I dont think they understood but the fact that such a response came forth I knew Marc has had enough. As did I. The locals just laughed.
I dont want to give you a really bad impression of Hanoi, we did get to do a lot of really touristy stuff. Yesterday we saw a water pupper show in a traditional Vietnamese theater. It was about the rice fields, legends of the dragons and the sword accompanied by traditional music and singing. We also visited several temples, a church (left by the French), museums and went to the Cinema to see Revolutionary Road with Kate Winslet and Leo Dicaprio. Tomorrow we are going to Sapa, supposed to be the jewel of Vietnam. We booked the trip with our hotel so everything is taken care off. Overnight train, hotels, hikking, and overnight stay in the village. When we get back we are doing Halong Bay, also a tour booked with the hotel. In one week we will be off to Laos for ten days.
The best part of the trip is sitting in a coffe shop and opening our book, looking at the map and pointing to our next destination, then plotting the most efficient way to get there. I dont know if we will have access to the internet in the next 4-5 days because we will be away from civilization in the mountains. As soon as we are back, Marc or myself will blog.
I also wanted to mention that I got Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy and I am really excited about reading it. It's a russian classic and I'm embarassed to say that I still haven't read it. Marc said that he would it read after me.
Hope you are all doing well. Thanks for following our adventures!! we miss you.
Kissess
Friday, March 27, 2009
Monday, March 23, 2009
From the Pen of Marc
There are a few things that I would like to share with our fans. I know Veronika had touched upon some but I will add to those events. I will start with our day today.
We had booked a tour to see some royal grounds in Hue city. This place is called the Citadel or the forbidden purple city. We were to be picked up by no later than 12:30pm for the buffet lunch. We were supposed to go first thing in the morning but I was supposed to draft my fantasy baseball team. The draft didn't happen so we spent the morning drinking coffee. Literally we had 3 or 4 coffees each waiting for the bus. Needless to say, the bus didn't pick us up and when we called the travel agency they decided to send a waitress from the restaurant we were to have lunch at. We kept asking the tour operators as to why they didn't pick us up but they were convinced that a waitress walking us to the restaurant instead of the bus is just as good.
We finished lunch and made it to the purple city. This site was once home to the royal families and is now in some areas a place of worship. Once again there was a diferent line and price for locals and foreigners. It was incredibly hot today and combined with all the coffee Veronika and I drank, we weren't exactley the best people to take on a tour. We found out that the grounds were built like 200 years ago. "Big deal" Veronika said to me. She made a good point though, after visiting Angkor Wat (900 plus years ago) anything less shouldn't wow us. The tour started and the guide explained something about the dragon representing the king and went on about unicorns and the phoenix and other mythological creatures. I could have given this tour and made a bunch of garbage up about Ligers and Bigfoot too. So Veronika asks the guide the first question of the tour, "Does the king actually believe that dragons exist?" I obviously couldn't stop laughing and at that point we decided that we couldn't listen to the guide anymore. We kept our distance from the rest of the group and took some pictures. The heat had made us delerious so most of the pics were of us doing kung fu moves. Veronika will post these picks on facebook so stay tuned.
Next stop: Pagoda. I always thought that pagoda was a bench by a pool, at least that is what the controls for the light in my backyard says. A pagoda is a place where the Vietnamese pray and monks study. We saw these monks picking their noses and shouted for them not to clean house in public. Good thing they don't understand English. It was at this last stop we were supposed to hop on a boat to take us across the river with the rest of our group. Veronika and I ducked out of this tour early as well. Actually, we didin't participate in this one at all and we waited on the steps in front of the boat.
"There is our boat 357, it just got here" I told Veronika.
"It looks like it's leaving" she says.
"No they wouldn't leave without us". Immediately after I said that I remembered the way we behaved and it only made sense that they would leave us behind. Good move guys. So Veronika and I hired a couple of scooter drivers that took us throughout the city and back to our hotel. At the end of it all I have no hard feelings about the worst tour I will ever take.
Veronika mentioned the sleeping bus we were on but left out some details. The bus has three rows from the back to the front and there is the top bunk and the bottom bunk. My seat was the middle row so I had Veronika to my left and a gross person to my left (as always). This guy was coughing in his sleep and kept snorting. Not dry snorting either. You know when someone is sick and they are really congested? Yeah, he consistently sounding like this. Since we were the second last row to the back I had probably the grossest feet (other than my own) beside my face the whole night. Whoever designed these buses could not fathom that there are people over 5'9". The best part is that this is a sleeping bus and you have to pay more. My question is why should we pay more when the bus driver slams on his breaks every 100 metres and is leaning on his horn for 10 minute intervals. Not even two gravol pills could gaurentee me a good nights rest. The over night travel wasn't very peachy.
The morning made it all worth while when majority of the travellers got off the bus and new travelers got on. I was half asleep when I heard the two loudest Vietnamese guys ever enter the bus. Guess where they sat. Right beside me. At first, I was annoyed but then I heard a familiar voice. I thought I was still dreaming but when I was fully awake I got confirmation. One of the guys sounded exactley like the Cookie Monster. I was obviously amused and found myself eavesdropping on the conversation. Then Cookie Monster started talking and ended his sentence with the words "gobble gobble." I almost pissed myself. That guy made the uncomfortable trip absolutely priceless for me.
Veronika has also posted some pics of my new haircut. I originally went to the salon and asked them to shave my head. Obviously the lady could care less and cut my hair like Arsenal striker Robin Van Persie. Veronika and her convinced me that it looked good. I know that next time I will offer the person cutting my hair double the price if they can shave my head in under one minute. Give me a chance to chicken out and I will 10 out of 10 times. Angelo, I might consider flying you to wherever I am to give me a proper haircut next time.
Another thing about South East Asia, no matter where yo are every 3 kilmoetres it smells like farts. I share your amazement. The reason for it is still unclear to me but I will find out and report back to you as soon as I uncover the truth.
Over and Out
P.S. If you haven't seen a funny movie in a while watch Hot Rod. You will thank me later.
We had booked a tour to see some royal grounds in Hue city. This place is called the Citadel or the forbidden purple city. We were to be picked up by no later than 12:30pm for the buffet lunch. We were supposed to go first thing in the morning but I was supposed to draft my fantasy baseball team. The draft didn't happen so we spent the morning drinking coffee. Literally we had 3 or 4 coffees each waiting for the bus. Needless to say, the bus didn't pick us up and when we called the travel agency they decided to send a waitress from the restaurant we were to have lunch at. We kept asking the tour operators as to why they didn't pick us up but they were convinced that a waitress walking us to the restaurant instead of the bus is just as good.
We finished lunch and made it to the purple city. This site was once home to the royal families and is now in some areas a place of worship. Once again there was a diferent line and price for locals and foreigners. It was incredibly hot today and combined with all the coffee Veronika and I drank, we weren't exactley the best people to take on a tour. We found out that the grounds were built like 200 years ago. "Big deal" Veronika said to me. She made a good point though, after visiting Angkor Wat (900 plus years ago) anything less shouldn't wow us. The tour started and the guide explained something about the dragon representing the king and went on about unicorns and the phoenix and other mythological creatures. I could have given this tour and made a bunch of garbage up about Ligers and Bigfoot too. So Veronika asks the guide the first question of the tour, "Does the king actually believe that dragons exist?" I obviously couldn't stop laughing and at that point we decided that we couldn't listen to the guide anymore. We kept our distance from the rest of the group and took some pictures. The heat had made us delerious so most of the pics were of us doing kung fu moves. Veronika will post these picks on facebook so stay tuned.
Next stop: Pagoda. I always thought that pagoda was a bench by a pool, at least that is what the controls for the light in my backyard says. A pagoda is a place where the Vietnamese pray and monks study. We saw these monks picking their noses and shouted for them not to clean house in public. Good thing they don't understand English. It was at this last stop we were supposed to hop on a boat to take us across the river with the rest of our group. Veronika and I ducked out of this tour early as well. Actually, we didin't participate in this one at all and we waited on the steps in front of the boat.
"There is our boat 357, it just got here" I told Veronika.
"It looks like it's leaving" she says.
"No they wouldn't leave without us". Immediately after I said that I remembered the way we behaved and it only made sense that they would leave us behind. Good move guys. So Veronika and I hired a couple of scooter drivers that took us throughout the city and back to our hotel. At the end of it all I have no hard feelings about the worst tour I will ever take.
Veronika mentioned the sleeping bus we were on but left out some details. The bus has three rows from the back to the front and there is the top bunk and the bottom bunk. My seat was the middle row so I had Veronika to my left and a gross person to my left (as always). This guy was coughing in his sleep and kept snorting. Not dry snorting either. You know when someone is sick and they are really congested? Yeah, he consistently sounding like this. Since we were the second last row to the back I had probably the grossest feet (other than my own) beside my face the whole night. Whoever designed these buses could not fathom that there are people over 5'9". The best part is that this is a sleeping bus and you have to pay more. My question is why should we pay more when the bus driver slams on his breaks every 100 metres and is leaning on his horn for 10 minute intervals. Not even two gravol pills could gaurentee me a good nights rest. The over night travel wasn't very peachy.
The morning made it all worth while when majority of the travellers got off the bus and new travelers got on. I was half asleep when I heard the two loudest Vietnamese guys ever enter the bus. Guess where they sat. Right beside me. At first, I was annoyed but then I heard a familiar voice. I thought I was still dreaming but when I was fully awake I got confirmation. One of the guys sounded exactley like the Cookie Monster. I was obviously amused and found myself eavesdropping on the conversation. Then Cookie Monster started talking and ended his sentence with the words "gobble gobble." I almost pissed myself. That guy made the uncomfortable trip absolutely priceless for me.
Veronika has also posted some pics of my new haircut. I originally went to the salon and asked them to shave my head. Obviously the lady could care less and cut my hair like Arsenal striker Robin Van Persie. Veronika and her convinced me that it looked good. I know that next time I will offer the person cutting my hair double the price if they can shave my head in under one minute. Give me a chance to chicken out and I will 10 out of 10 times. Angelo, I might consider flying you to wherever I am to give me a proper haircut next time.
Another thing about South East Asia, no matter where yo are every 3 kilmoetres it smells like farts. I share your amazement. The reason for it is still unclear to me but I will find out and report back to you as soon as I uncover the truth.
Over and Out
P.S. If you haven't seen a funny movie in a while watch Hot Rod. You will thank me later.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Nha Trang & Hue - Vietnam
Our last two days in Nha Trang were so much fun. We ended up visiting a wonderland type of park called Vinpearl Land. We spend the whole day in a water park going down slides, we soaked on the beach, went to underwater world where we saw sharks and turtles, saw an animal circus show with monkeys and dogs, saw a magic show, and played indoor video games (pics on facebook). The park was huge but really diserted so we really had it all to ourselves. On the last day we went to do a mud bath and soaked in mineral water pools and tubs. We then took an overnight bus to Hue. The bus had actual bunk beds and was really comfortable to sleep in. Yesterday we got to Hue. This city has a lot of interesting sight to see and today we are going on a bus tour around the city. Yesterday we had a wonderful seafood dinner on a floating restaurant on the river. Olga and Timmy - update on Pho. We tried it but not at a specialty Pho place just at a regular restaurant and so far the verdict is that Toronto Pho is sooo much better. We have another week or so in Vietnam so we will try it again but at a specialized Pho place and we will report back.
Marc went to a hairdresser to shave his head. The lady acted like she understood everything and was going to shave it, but at the end she just gave him a very nice haircut. She said that she cant shave his hair because its so nice. Marc said he would give it a few days and we even had a vote on facebook and everyone said to shave it.
Mama and Papa thanks for calling Shmurak he emailed me and offered to be our tour guide all over Kiev. I am so excited to see Kiev and Shmurak, I actually remember him from when we lived there.
Marc went to a hairdresser to shave his head. The lady acted like she understood everything and was going to shave it, but at the end she just gave him a very nice haircut. She said that she cant shave his hair because its so nice. Marc said he would give it a few days and we even had a vote on facebook and everyone said to shave it.
Mama and Papa thanks for calling Shmurak he emailed me and offered to be our tour guide all over Kiev. I am so excited to see Kiev and Shmurak, I actually remember him from when we lived there.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Vietnam, Ooops, Vietnamese Hospitality, War and Kiev
We are staying in a very lovely city called Nha Trang at a hotel owned by a French Canadian family. The hospitality has been the best we have received on this trip so far. It's true Canadians are the best people in the world (I really miss Canada). The city has a lot of things to do and today we are going to a remote beach via scooter and tomorrow we are going on a day trip to get mud baths and to learn how to make straw hats and rice. Remember pictures of Vietnam where women and men wear straw hats, its true they really do that here. They also have some bad habbits. They cough without covering their mouth. They touch their feet while eating. They pick their nose in public. They scream at each other very loud.
Yesterday was a very interesting day. I will tell you in detail exactly what I did. It was time for me to get a manicure/pedicure. Marc gave me the bank card to take out money (it was the first time I took out money on our trip). At the bank machine I took out 4 million vnd (Vietnamese dong) its equal to $317 and as I was counting all the money I was overwhelmed by the sheer volume of it. I wrapped the money with the receipt and away I went. I got a beautiful manicure/pedicure for $5 (Vietnamese are the true masters in this craft) bought a really nice top and went back to the hotel all smiles. When I got back Marc took the money and examined my purchases. Everything good so far. He then asked me where the bank card was to which I replied I think I left it in the machine. I checked all my pockets and bags and yes I left the card inside the machine without logging out of the ATM. I had the worst thoughts as the realization of what I did hit me. At first I thought that someone just took our card, then I thought that whoever got the card also emptied out our entire account for the trip. Needless to say I was really worried. Marc was a gentlemen as he always is and went to retrieve the card by himself (it was really hot at this point). I didn't do that good of a job explaining where the bank machine was and he didn't find it. He was gone for about 40 minutes and I was thinking the worst.
First, I thought he came to the machine found someone took all our money and started a fight with that person and was arrested by the police. The second scenario was that he didn't find the card and went to the Internet cafe to check our balance and realized that it was emptied out and he was postponing telling me the news. When he came back he explained that he couldn't find the machine. At this point I was a total mess. I was sure that all our money was gone. When we got to the machine our card as you imagine was missing. The next idea I had was to check the online account for the balance. However, without the card you cant login in to do online banking. So we decided to use skype at our hotel to call the bank. All the numbers for TD online are 1800 numbers and you cant call those from skype. Marc wanted to call his dear friend Massimo who is also his banker but it was 3am Toronto time. Sometime later we ended up finding a 416 number and called it using skype. The headphones in our hotel were not working properly so we had to find another Internet cafe with skype and call the bank not having the card number. In the end, miraculously all our money was there. No one took our money just the card. Before we left Canada we made another card and kept it in a separate bag just in case this one got lost or stolen (or in case i just left it inside the machine without logging out). We cancelled the old card and activated the new one, thanks TD.
When events of such magnitude happen, all the little things that I started taking for granted on this trip take on new meaning. As soon as we realised everything was fine we went for ice cream and to buy new books. I bought a book about the war in Vietnam and now I'm learning about the history of this country and the involvement of the US in the war. We also went to a private pool bar located on the beach called Louisiana's. The pool is free with a purchase from the bar or menu. At this point we had very little money with us (the 4 million I took out was at the hotel), just enough for one beer and coconut. The waiter took his time before he approached us and when he did he let us know that we don't have to stay at this particularly expensive place, we can go outside to find a cheaper bar. I can imagine that from the side, Marc and I looked like poor tourists, we had to count our money and cross reference the menu price to make sure we had enough. No wonder they advised us to go elsewhere. Viatnamese hospitality I guess!!!
While at this pool bar we ended up playing a game of War. The last time we played it was a pretty bad conclusion. I was tired of the game it was over 40 minutes long with no end in sight and forfeited the game. Well ladies and gentlemen second time is the charm. I won at War, fair and square. Although Marc came up with a bunch of theories as to why I won, and how he will win next time, I won.
Some exciting news..... drum roll.... we booked our tickets for KIEV!!! We will be travelling there on May 19-May 27. We will be staying with my family and Helen and Andrei will join us. I cant wait to see the city where I have such beautiful memories from and where I spend the first 8 years of my life. Marc is really excited as well. He is half Ukrainian and will get an opportunity to see where his roots are from, who knows maybe we will find some of his distant relatives in a phone book. May 27 we will fly to London and then to Amsterdam where we will meet Olga, Timmy and Alana. Im so excited about seeing all of you I cant wait. Till then enjoy the weather in Toronto and let us know how you are doing!!!
Yesterday was a very interesting day. I will tell you in detail exactly what I did. It was time for me to get a manicure/pedicure. Marc gave me the bank card to take out money (it was the first time I took out money on our trip). At the bank machine I took out 4 million vnd (Vietnamese dong) its equal to $317 and as I was counting all the money I was overwhelmed by the sheer volume of it. I wrapped the money with the receipt and away I went. I got a beautiful manicure/pedicure for $5 (Vietnamese are the true masters in this craft) bought a really nice top and went back to the hotel all smiles. When I got back Marc took the money and examined my purchases. Everything good so far. He then asked me where the bank card was to which I replied I think I left it in the machine. I checked all my pockets and bags and yes I left the card inside the machine without logging out of the ATM. I had the worst thoughts as the realization of what I did hit me. At first I thought that someone just took our card, then I thought that whoever got the card also emptied out our entire account for the trip. Needless to say I was really worried. Marc was a gentlemen as he always is and went to retrieve the card by himself (it was really hot at this point). I didn't do that good of a job explaining where the bank machine was and he didn't find it. He was gone for about 40 minutes and I was thinking the worst.
First, I thought he came to the machine found someone took all our money and started a fight with that person and was arrested by the police. The second scenario was that he didn't find the card and went to the Internet cafe to check our balance and realized that it was emptied out and he was postponing telling me the news. When he came back he explained that he couldn't find the machine. At this point I was a total mess. I was sure that all our money was gone. When we got to the machine our card as you imagine was missing. The next idea I had was to check the online account for the balance. However, without the card you cant login in to do online banking. So we decided to use skype at our hotel to call the bank. All the numbers for TD online are 1800 numbers and you cant call those from skype. Marc wanted to call his dear friend Massimo who is also his banker but it was 3am Toronto time. Sometime later we ended up finding a 416 number and called it using skype. The headphones in our hotel were not working properly so we had to find another Internet cafe with skype and call the bank not having the card number. In the end, miraculously all our money was there. No one took our money just the card. Before we left Canada we made another card and kept it in a separate bag just in case this one got lost or stolen (or in case i just left it inside the machine without logging out). We cancelled the old card and activated the new one, thanks TD.
When events of such magnitude happen, all the little things that I started taking for granted on this trip take on new meaning. As soon as we realised everything was fine we went for ice cream and to buy new books. I bought a book about the war in Vietnam and now I'm learning about the history of this country and the involvement of the US in the war. We also went to a private pool bar located on the beach called Louisiana's. The pool is free with a purchase from the bar or menu. At this point we had very little money with us (the 4 million I took out was at the hotel), just enough for one beer and coconut. The waiter took his time before he approached us and when he did he let us know that we don't have to stay at this particularly expensive place, we can go outside to find a cheaper bar. I can imagine that from the side, Marc and I looked like poor tourists, we had to count our money and cross reference the menu price to make sure we had enough. No wonder they advised us to go elsewhere. Viatnamese hospitality I guess!!!
While at this pool bar we ended up playing a game of War. The last time we played it was a pretty bad conclusion. I was tired of the game it was over 40 minutes long with no end in sight and forfeited the game. Well ladies and gentlemen second time is the charm. I won at War, fair and square. Although Marc came up with a bunch of theories as to why I won, and how he will win next time, I won.
Some exciting news..... drum roll.... we booked our tickets for KIEV!!! We will be travelling there on May 19-May 27. We will be staying with my family and Helen and Andrei will join us. I cant wait to see the city where I have such beautiful memories from and where I spend the first 8 years of my life. Marc is really excited as well. He is half Ukrainian and will get an opportunity to see where his roots are from, who knows maybe we will find some of his distant relatives in a phone book. May 27 we will fly to London and then to Amsterdam where we will meet Olga, Timmy and Alana. Im so excited about seeing all of you I cant wait. Till then enjoy the weather in Toronto and let us know how you are doing!!!
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Short but Sweet
We are in Vietnam!!! We got here yesterday. The bus ride was 6 hours to Saigon city which is the capital of Vietnam. We then took another bus ride to Mui Ne which is a beach town 3 hours East on the coast of Vietnam. We are staying at a beatiful resort with a pool and majority Russian tourists. We also visited a Russian Sushi bar/Club last night. There was a saxaphonist playing old Russian tunes and a gang of bandits that were playing pool in the back (typical). This island is really popular for Kite Surfing. Ive never seen this before but it looks very difficult. The basics: you get a kite that inlfates, a surf board and a life jacket. You must balance yourself on the board while holding on to the kite. The winds and waves are quite high so the speeds people can achieve are very fast. Now you see them, soon you don't. When you look at the ocean, it is full of colourful kites with people holding on for dear life. Mom and Charlene don't worry we are not going to this activity.
Some things to note: Marc has become quite the negotiator. He negotiates at every hotel and every market, if he doesnt like the price he just walks away and leaves me to play the good cop. I am quite impressed. As well, his hair is getting really long and uncontrollable. He is really close to shaving his head. I checked and put his biggest fear to rest, he does not have an egg like head. If feels quite normal. I promise to take pictures of the event and post them for you to see.
Some things to note: Marc has become quite the negotiator. He negotiates at every hotel and every market, if he doesnt like the price he just walks away and leaves me to play the good cop. I am quite impressed. As well, his hair is getting really long and uncontrollable. He is really close to shaving his head. I checked and put his biggest fear to rest, he does not have an egg like head. If feels quite normal. I promise to take pictures of the event and post them for you to see.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Cambodia and the temples of Angkor Wat
Cambodia....
Crossing the border (if you can call it that) was a joke. I think that Canada's wonderland is more professional and has more of a secure border than these two countries. As usual, we bought a ticket that was supposed to take us from Thailand to Siem Riep, the region where the temple of Angkor was is located. At the border we were supposed to do our Visas to Cambodia on our own and then cross the border. SOUNDS pretty easy. The Thai people love to make money on stupid tourists. Since Marc and I pride ourselves on being the wiser of the bunch, we don't fall for tourists scams. When we got off the bus in Thailand to cross the border, a few really sleazy guys met us and asked for our passport and passport pictures so they can run to the border and do our Visas. The other tourists that got off the bus, complied with their instructions without hesitation. Not us, we knew better. They were asking for 1300 baht but we knew that Visas costs 1200 baht. We decided, not because of money but principle to do it ourselves. The sleazy guys looked really confused as if no one has ever done this. They said that the bus is not going to wait for us and that we have to do it with them. We said no and figured they would wait.
We crossed this joke of a border which housed several extravagant casinos along the way. At the visa office the sign said $20 dollars us and when we asked the guy beside the counter who looked like a police officer he said that it was 1000 baht. We were so happy that it was less than we expected, we forked over the money. Later we learned that $20 us dollars is actually $700 baht and we were jipped by the police man. I took that to heart. We're talking $7.50 is the difference but nonetheless, I felt like a fool. Finally on the Cambodian side we were looking for the sleazies to pick us up and take us on the bus to our destination but our guy was not there. In fact we waited for 20 minutes and watched other tourists cross the border picked up by their handlers and away they went. Other Cambodian sharks/sleeze/entrepreneurs I don't know what to call them (nothing nice comes to mind) tried to get us to pay for a private taxi all the way to our destination. They were telling us that all the buses have left and we will have no other choice. At this point I was really anxious to get going. I saw a tourism office right there and decided to go and complain about our experience.
Behind a small desk sat an older Cambodian gentlemen, he was scratching his feet and with one hand and used the other to pick his nose (we noticed that's a very common past time around here). He also had a mole on his right cheek from which he was sporting 7 long grey hairs. When he was done with his nose he would twirl the hairs as if to show that he was thinking. I explained what had happened to us and that we needed to get to our hotel. He listened and pulled out a card from his pocket that read: Ministry of Travel, Deputy General Director (I guess they like big titles around here). He was really nice and told me he was the right person to help us. Within five minutes we were in a private taxi on our way to Siem Riep. He also gave me some books and tips about places we should visit. He explained that in Cambodia majority of people are very nice and once in a while there will be a bad batch of people that will ruin it for others. He made me promise that this experience will not harm my opinion of the people of Cambodia. I explained that I agreed and understood him. I told him that in Canada we too have very nice people but there are a few bad apples along the way.
He was right, the people of Cambodia are very sweet and generous people. Although they live in complete poverty, they smile and try to help as much as they can. After Thailand we were expecting the worst but in turn we were pleasantly surprised. We love Cambodia, and extended our stay just by a few days. We tried some delicacy's while in Cambodia. When I say we I also mean Marc. For dinner we went to a bbq place and had Ostrich and Crocodile. They were actually quite delicious. Out of the two we both prefer Ostrich. We found a very good English book store and exchanged our old books for new ones. I already read 5 Grisham books, Hes just not that into you, and A thousand Splendid Suns (which was recommended by Irene and really amazing thanks). Marc is reading classics like Diary of Anne Frank, Death of a Sales Man and Animal Farm.
Angkor Wat... The reason we came to Cambodia. On Tuesday, we hired a driver who took us to this magnificent Temple. We also hired a tour guide, so I will recite what I learned. Angkor Wat was build by an Indian King that came to Cambodia in 1912 and married the Cambodian princess. The construction of Angkor Wat lasted over 50 years. It is a mix of Buddhist culture (Cambodia) and Hindu culture (India). The temple itself is quite large and it stands on the river bank, within old large trees. Its about 2km x1.5km. The temple has 5 large towers and the monks put offerings to Vishnu (Hindu god) and Buddha all in the same place. There are over 27 temples now and they are all built around the river. They used boats and elephants to transfer large rocks and haul them to the temple. We saw five temples the first day and another three the next. One of the temples we saw was used for the production for the oh so famous movie with Angelina Jolie, Tomb Raider. Being there truly felt like I was transferred to another time and another place.
Today we are in Phnom Penh, the capital city of Cambodia. We are here to do our Visa for Vietnam. Tomorrow we are going to see the Royal Palace, The Phnom Penh museum, and S-21 (killing field not sure about this one but everyone recommends it).
We are doing really well, having a great time, missing our friends and family and talk about you everyday. Please keep the emails and comments and your feedback coming. It means a lot to us.
Kisses
Crossing the border (if you can call it that) was a joke. I think that Canada's wonderland is more professional and has more of a secure border than these two countries. As usual, we bought a ticket that was supposed to take us from Thailand to Siem Riep, the region where the temple of Angkor was is located. At the border we were supposed to do our Visas to Cambodia on our own and then cross the border. SOUNDS pretty easy. The Thai people love to make money on stupid tourists. Since Marc and I pride ourselves on being the wiser of the bunch, we don't fall for tourists scams. When we got off the bus in Thailand to cross the border, a few really sleazy guys met us and asked for our passport and passport pictures so they can run to the border and do our Visas. The other tourists that got off the bus, complied with their instructions without hesitation. Not us, we knew better. They were asking for 1300 baht but we knew that Visas costs 1200 baht. We decided, not because of money but principle to do it ourselves. The sleazy guys looked really confused as if no one has ever done this. They said that the bus is not going to wait for us and that we have to do it with them. We said no and figured they would wait.
We crossed this joke of a border which housed several extravagant casinos along the way. At the visa office the sign said $20 dollars us and when we asked the guy beside the counter who looked like a police officer he said that it was 1000 baht. We were so happy that it was less than we expected, we forked over the money. Later we learned that $20 us dollars is actually $700 baht and we were jipped by the police man. I took that to heart. We're talking $7.50 is the difference but nonetheless, I felt like a fool. Finally on the Cambodian side we were looking for the sleazies to pick us up and take us on the bus to our destination but our guy was not there. In fact we waited for 20 minutes and watched other tourists cross the border picked up by their handlers and away they went. Other Cambodian sharks/sleeze/entrepreneurs I don't know what to call them (nothing nice comes to mind) tried to get us to pay for a private taxi all the way to our destination. They were telling us that all the buses have left and we will have no other choice. At this point I was really anxious to get going. I saw a tourism office right there and decided to go and complain about our experience.
Behind a small desk sat an older Cambodian gentlemen, he was scratching his feet and with one hand and used the other to pick his nose (we noticed that's a very common past time around here). He also had a mole on his right cheek from which he was sporting 7 long grey hairs. When he was done with his nose he would twirl the hairs as if to show that he was thinking. I explained what had happened to us and that we needed to get to our hotel. He listened and pulled out a card from his pocket that read: Ministry of Travel, Deputy General Director (I guess they like big titles around here). He was really nice and told me he was the right person to help us. Within five minutes we were in a private taxi on our way to Siem Riep. He also gave me some books and tips about places we should visit. He explained that in Cambodia majority of people are very nice and once in a while there will be a bad batch of people that will ruin it for others. He made me promise that this experience will not harm my opinion of the people of Cambodia. I explained that I agreed and understood him. I told him that in Canada we too have very nice people but there are a few bad apples along the way.
He was right, the people of Cambodia are very sweet and generous people. Although they live in complete poverty, they smile and try to help as much as they can. After Thailand we were expecting the worst but in turn we were pleasantly surprised. We love Cambodia, and extended our stay just by a few days. We tried some delicacy's while in Cambodia. When I say we I also mean Marc. For dinner we went to a bbq place and had Ostrich and Crocodile. They were actually quite delicious. Out of the two we both prefer Ostrich. We found a very good English book store and exchanged our old books for new ones. I already read 5 Grisham books, Hes just not that into you, and A thousand Splendid Suns (which was recommended by Irene and really amazing thanks). Marc is reading classics like Diary of Anne Frank, Death of a Sales Man and Animal Farm.
Angkor Wat... The reason we came to Cambodia. On Tuesday, we hired a driver who took us to this magnificent Temple. We also hired a tour guide, so I will recite what I learned. Angkor Wat was build by an Indian King that came to Cambodia in 1912 and married the Cambodian princess. The construction of Angkor Wat lasted over 50 years. It is a mix of Buddhist culture (Cambodia) and Hindu culture (India). The temple itself is quite large and it stands on the river bank, within old large trees. Its about 2km x1.5km. The temple has 5 large towers and the monks put offerings to Vishnu (Hindu god) and Buddha all in the same place. There are over 27 temples now and they are all built around the river. They used boats and elephants to transfer large rocks and haul them to the temple. We saw five temples the first day and another three the next. One of the temples we saw was used for the production for the oh so famous movie with Angelina Jolie, Tomb Raider. Being there truly felt like I was transferred to another time and another place.
Today we are in Phnom Penh, the capital city of Cambodia. We are here to do our Visa for Vietnam. Tomorrow we are going to see the Royal Palace, The Phnom Penh museum, and S-21 (killing field not sure about this one but everyone recommends it).
We are doing really well, having a great time, missing our friends and family and talk about you everyday. Please keep the emails and comments and your feedback coming. It means a lot to us.
Kisses
Saturday, March 7, 2009
A blog by Marc
A couple of days ago we had some issues with our toilet. The water was rising and so were the toilets contents. We panicked and needed some help quickly. I went to get the owner, Thor. Yes, I chose our residence based on the scene out of the 1980's classic Adventures In Babysitting. And no it is not the same Thor in the movie. This Thor is a lady boy that dresses like a gay pirate, don't they all? Thor knocked on our door and he stood there holding his plunger rather than a hammer and a silk scarf wrapped around his head as opposed to the vintage silver helmet with wings. Thor was focused and skipped the pleasantries, he was heading for the washroom. He walked into the washroom, took a look at the toilet and decided he needed to let us in the know. "There is a trash can in the washroom so you don't have to throw the toilet paper in the toilet". I felt like we were a couple of kids being scorned for doing something wrong. How backwards is that? Why don't I use the trash can to do my business in and only throw the toilet paper in the toilet?
The day after Thor's visit, we had the same problem with the toilet. We informed the lady at the front and she told us by the time we came home from dinner the toilet would be fixed. Sure enough the toilet wasn't fixed and I had to get to work. I somehow figured out a way to fix the toilet so it wouldn't completely fill up with water and it wouldn't run for 10 minutes after flushing. I know that when I get home I can be a plumber if I choose now. Vince are you hiring?
We rented a scooter yesterday and wanted to tour the island but first we needed some breakfast. We went to a German cafe across the street from Thor's Palace and saw a familiar face. This person's face was found on the menu, on the cooler for the drinks and on a poster for the wall. Who is it you ask? First guess would be the media whore Peyton Manning but it is actually a face that hasn't aged a day since I was a kid. Ronald McDonald. I wonder if Ronald decided that he couldn't take anymore of corporate America and he terminated his life long contract with McDonalds? If that is true then he didn't wait long before he jumped into bed with the German Cafe business.
Our day was to be highlighted by a trip to a waterfall about 25 minutes from our place. On our way to the waterfall we stopped by an elephant farm. We pulled up to the elephants, there was three of them. Each of them had their own shelter in what looked like a 4 car garage. They were eating branches and Veronika wanted to feed them. We paid for a basket of banana's and pineapples and she went over to feed the beasts. The elephants didn't take the time to peel the banana's the same way the monkeys did and they just shoved whole pineapples into their mouth. I felt that these glutton's didn't appreciate what Veronika was trying to feed them and as a result didn't get to enjoy the taste of the fruits. I didn't feed the elephants, they freak me out. Veronika forced me to take a picture in front of them. So take a look at the pics on facebook and my face will say it all.
After a few minutes we were back on track and heading towards the waterfall. On the way Veronika read a street sign to me and it read Elephants Crossing. Are you friggin serious? Sure enough right around the corner we had to stop because an elephant was crossing the street. And no he didn't look both ways. We finally arrived at the national park where we were to find the waterfall. At first we had to pay an admission which was equal to $4 Canadian. At the exact same time two Thai people came and payed $2 Canadian. They explained to us that foreigners had to pay more. I wonder how something like that would go over back home. If the CN Tower should charge non Canadians more money for their visit, they would cry bloody murder!
Now we are on our way to the waterfall and it is quite the hike through the forest. About 5 minutes into it, Veronika stops to grab my hand and starts pulling me along the path. I know what she saw but I want to hear her say it. After a few minutes of me asking over and over again, "what did you see?" she finally answers. She saw a snake in a tree. Lovely, I walked the remaining 500 metres through the forest holding my breath. I figured that would help me go undetected by those disgusting creatures. What purpose do snakes serve anyway? They are ugly, gross and make for stupid pets.
We get to the waterfall and make our way to the highest rock so we can have a seat. On our way up we see some locals swimming and laughing it up in the pool of water underneath the waterfall. I'm sure they are laughing at all the foreigners for paying double their admission. Laugh it up you little jerks! We get to the rock and sit down. After 15 minutes I was ready to go. But we hung out longer to eat some mango's and to swim. I had absolutely no desire to go into the water but had a great time watching three Thai kids jump off rocks anywhere from 15-25 feet into the water. There was a skinny kid, a fat Thai boy and a chubby Thai girl. The fat Thai boy was really scared and almost didn't jump but was left no choice after he saw the chubby girl dive in. You were left no choice my friend and I'm proud of you.
I'm pretty sure that's it
P.S by Veronika: we are leaving to Cambodia on Monday, we were informed that the Cambodians are pretty technologically behind, so as soon as we can... probably by Tuesday or Wednesday we will post a new blog.
The day after Thor's visit, we had the same problem with the toilet. We informed the lady at the front and she told us by the time we came home from dinner the toilet would be fixed. Sure enough the toilet wasn't fixed and I had to get to work. I somehow figured out a way to fix the toilet so it wouldn't completely fill up with water and it wouldn't run for 10 minutes after flushing. I know that when I get home I can be a plumber if I choose now. Vince are you hiring?
We rented a scooter yesterday and wanted to tour the island but first we needed some breakfast. We went to a German cafe across the street from Thor's Palace and saw a familiar face. This person's face was found on the menu, on the cooler for the drinks and on a poster for the wall. Who is it you ask? First guess would be the media whore Peyton Manning but it is actually a face that hasn't aged a day since I was a kid. Ronald McDonald. I wonder if Ronald decided that he couldn't take anymore of corporate America and he terminated his life long contract with McDonalds? If that is true then he didn't wait long before he jumped into bed with the German Cafe business.
Our day was to be highlighted by a trip to a waterfall about 25 minutes from our place. On our way to the waterfall we stopped by an elephant farm. We pulled up to the elephants, there was three of them. Each of them had their own shelter in what looked like a 4 car garage. They were eating branches and Veronika wanted to feed them. We paid for a basket of banana's and pineapples and she went over to feed the beasts. The elephants didn't take the time to peel the banana's the same way the monkeys did and they just shoved whole pineapples into their mouth. I felt that these glutton's didn't appreciate what Veronika was trying to feed them and as a result didn't get to enjoy the taste of the fruits. I didn't feed the elephants, they freak me out. Veronika forced me to take a picture in front of them. So take a look at the pics on facebook and my face will say it all.
After a few minutes we were back on track and heading towards the waterfall. On the way Veronika read a street sign to me and it read Elephants Crossing. Are you friggin serious? Sure enough right around the corner we had to stop because an elephant was crossing the street. And no he didn't look both ways. We finally arrived at the national park where we were to find the waterfall. At first we had to pay an admission which was equal to $4 Canadian. At the exact same time two Thai people came and payed $2 Canadian. They explained to us that foreigners had to pay more. I wonder how something like that would go over back home. If the CN Tower should charge non Canadians more money for their visit, they would cry bloody murder!
Now we are on our way to the waterfall and it is quite the hike through the forest. About 5 minutes into it, Veronika stops to grab my hand and starts pulling me along the path. I know what she saw but I want to hear her say it. After a few minutes of me asking over and over again, "what did you see?" she finally answers. She saw a snake in a tree. Lovely, I walked the remaining 500 metres through the forest holding my breath. I figured that would help me go undetected by those disgusting creatures. What purpose do snakes serve anyway? They are ugly, gross and make for stupid pets.
We get to the waterfall and make our way to the highest rock so we can have a seat. On our way up we see some locals swimming and laughing it up in the pool of water underneath the waterfall. I'm sure they are laughing at all the foreigners for paying double their admission. Laugh it up you little jerks! We get to the rock and sit down. After 15 minutes I was ready to go. But we hung out longer to eat some mango's and to swim. I had absolutely no desire to go into the water but had a great time watching three Thai kids jump off rocks anywhere from 15-25 feet into the water. There was a skinny kid, a fat Thai boy and a chubby Thai girl. The fat Thai boy was really scared and almost didn't jump but was left no choice after he saw the chubby girl dive in. You were left no choice my friend and I'm proud of you.
I'm pretty sure that's it
P.S by Veronika: we are leaving to Cambodia on Monday, we were informed that the Cambodians are pretty technologically behind, so as soon as we can... probably by Tuesday or Wednesday we will post a new blog.
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