Friday, December 19, 2008

Vietnam (part2): (Final curtain) Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence.. Merry X-mas friends!

Friends! This is it I guess, the blog has almost come to an end. Most of you are already out of the office heading back to Greece (for those away from home), the rest of you planning already the first few days of your holiday.
Same for me, it’s my last day in Saigon. Tomorrow I am in Hong Kong and the day after taking a flight to Johannesburg, to meet up with my family…
The trip of a lifetime is almost over. I don’t have the time or the energy or even the mental courage to think about this now – it will be too depressing and I still have a beautiful, sweet part, left out for the end. So I won’t say goodbye here, I just want to say thank you for keeping me company as much as you’ve said I’ve kept you. Four different people from three different countries sent me a mail the past 2 days telling me that this blog is also for me, like a diary. I realize it is and I will use it as such, amazing myself when I think “did I do all this in 3 months?”.

I leave you here with a lot of Vietnam photos that I’ve taken the past few days. Ready for the final voyage? Let’s go!

The Mekong Delta

An amazing 2-day trip to one of the biggest rivers in the world, this is the rice basket of Vietnam where the majority of it's food is produced, enough to feed 85 million people and still be the 2nd largest exporter of rice in the world. My trip took me through canals, floating markets, villages and schools, it even included a "homestay" where you get a chance to live for a night in (pretty good accommodation) with a Vietnamese family...

Crossing the Mekong to get to one of the towns...

Sunset over the Mekong River

Homestay, cooking with the family

The foreigners eating... :-)

My humble accommodation. Mosquito net a MUST!, right outside the door is the river. Blue/white curtain on the left is the shower (no toilet). Cold water only of course.

View from the window

Wake up call the next day (for those that wanted) 06:00 am, our guide took us walking to one of the villages

Ferry to cross to get to the village

Boat culture, the only way to move

Note that we are not standing (not easy to balance, now scroll up and see the Vietnamese :-) )

Welcome to Thuong Thanh Elementary school, where girls sweep the floor before the class starts and the boys help them out moving the desks around....

Our accommodation from the river side...

Toilet - no kidding, on the other side of the river

The floating market - everything can be bought as long as it is on a boat.

Kostas, Martin and Mr Hu our boat driver and guide

Early at the floating market...

The cutest saleslady in the floating market was this girl helping her dad sell soft drinks and water...!

Note the mast: Every salesman puts up on the mast the type of fruit he sells, this way you know what you are going to buy! Here watermelons

Loading a smaller boat

Now you don't need to know Vietnamese here. Our guide said: "He is supermarket. Sells eveything (note the 3rd word). Even SIM cards!"

Loading products to smaller boats

Boat traffic...!

Happy traveler

Lunch time for a little guy at one of the villages

One of the local girls... I love the dress (and her shape...) :-)

Of course it's a farm as well, they have pigs!

Even little ones!
















Even bricks for houses are transported like this














Meet Jan and Lea, my 2 new friends, they live in Stockholm with their Swedish mom and Swiss (from Lausanne!) dad - I spoke in French :-)


Playing stone, pencil, paper, scissors with Jan. I could even say it in Swedish if you asked me 2 days ago!
















Multiple hats, that's me, with Lea














Banana, on blue table (art)




















Best coconut I've ever had! (also 25 cents!)

Kostas climbing a monkey bridge across the river


Even kids can do it (if their parents let them!) Here with our Vietnamesee guide

River is full of life, sometimes it ends up on your propeller



Fishnets. "For flying fish?", I asked


One of the few "real" bridges around


Jan checking out the other group



PHU QUOC ISLAND

You know the feeling, when you've travelled for 3 months and slept in shitty 8-bed hostels with drunk kids, except for a few days where your friends around the world kindly hosted you? Do you ever get that feeling of being fed up and when you see that you've reached the end of your trp and still have your budget under cotnrol, you say "I want something different!".
Never happened to you?
Well, this is my reaction to this. I booked this lovely place, for 2 nights, a veritable paradise on earth - I would take my girlfriend there (if she was around, if she existed!)

The restaurant: please note the X-mas tree!


My bungallow, 10 meters from the sea - I let the windows open at night, you just heard the waves...


View from my porch


Blogging, tropical style :-)



Oh my God, is that the bathroom? My own bathroom, with my own shower?! (I want to cry!)


Room...and backpack in the corner


Fishermen pulling out a fishnet at sundown




U2 - Gone... (bye everybody)

You wanted to get somewhere so badly
You had to lose yourself along the way
You change your name, well that's okay, it's necessary
And what you leave behind you don't miss anyway
Goodbye...
You can keep this suit of lights
I'll be up with the sun
I'm not coming down
I'm not coming down
I'm not coming down
'Cause I'm already gone
Felt that way all along...


4 comments:

Anonymous said...

:-)*64 (one smile for each entry)

Kala Xristougenna kai Kalh Xronia!
Eis to epanidein :)
xx

Anonymous said...

Hi C!
I've truly enjoyed reading up on your adventures. Indeed will be missing them ;-)
Enjoy the holiday season with your family, a great way to end this special time in your life.

Wish you a merry merry christmas and a marvelous start of the new year!

Talk to you soon!

Kisses, V.

Anonymous said...

It's not from the Phantom Of The Opera you saw back in Auckland, in a different time and space...but from West Side Story:

"
There's a place for us,
Somewhere a place for us.
Peace and quiet and open air
Wait for us
Somewhere.
There's a time for us,
Some day a time for us,
Time together with time to spare,
Time to look, time to care,
Someday!
Somewhere.
We'll find a new way of living,
We'll find a way of forgiving
Somewhere.

There's a place for us,
A time and place for us.
Hold my hand and we're half way there.
Hold my hand and I'll take you there
Somehow,
Someday,
Somewhere!
"

Feliz Navidad dude

Unknown said...

CONTRIBUTION ON SETTING STRATEGIES FOR PHU QUOC TOURISM (KIENGIANG – VIETNAM)
(FOR FOREIGN TOURIST)
Hello, I a member of “dulichphuquoc.info”. and I am doing a research, topic: “ BUILDING STRATIGIES FOR KIENGIANG (PHUQUOC) TOURISM TO YEAR 2015, VISION TO 2025”. Therefore, I would like you please to help me with some questions about choosing the best strategy.
Guide to answer:
I give you four strategies which I built before. Of these strategies, you will grade marks for each strategy. If you yourself feel the trategy XXX is the most urgent, important and suitable strategy for PhuQuoc tourism in particular and KienGiang tourism in general, please give it 4 marks. The less important, urgent strategy, you give it 3 marks and … to the least important and urgent, please give it 1 mark.
For example; if in recent time, when you travelled PhuQuoc or HaTien or RachGia, you saw that the infrastructure, transportation here is very bad, it is the biggest obstacle for growing tourism here, and They are very necessary to be reformed and newly built; you will give the strategy “ Reforming and improving infrastructure and transportation” 4 marks. While, you suppose that there is little information of KienGiang (Phuquoc) tourism, you and other tourists do not know much about it and it is necessary for KienGiang to increase marketing, advertising solutions; you will give the strategy “ Increasing marketing and advertising more effectively” 3 marks.
If You think tha “ PhuQuoc owns enough conditions and potentials to grow luxury tourism, such as MICE tourism, health tourism… in near future, but because it is poor at infrastructure and transportation… “ you will give the strategy “Develop luxury tourism, sea and island tourism” 2 marks…( IT IS JUST LIKE RANKING A SONG WITH STARS). YOU will do so for the another.
Basing on your evaluation, we will select only one strategy which is the highest graded to focus on.
FOUR STRATEGIES
1 . Reforming and improving infrastructure and transportation……………………… (marks)
2 . Increasing marketing and advertising more effectively………………………………. (marks)
3. Improve the attractiveness of tourism products…………………………………………...(marks)
4. Develop luxury tourism, sea and island tourism…………………………………………….(marks)
PLEASE GIVE ME US SOME YOUR INFORMATION.
Name (if possible):…………………………………………………………………………………………….
Age (YES if you are, LEAVE IT EMPTY if you are NOT)
From 20 to 25 years old ……………….
Over 25 years old………………………..
Your country:………………………………………………
Travelling time to Kien Giang: ……..month……….year 200…
WE APPRECIATE YOUR HELP ON THE RESEARCH, YOU HAVE GIVEN PHUQUOC IN PARTICULAR AND KIENGIANG IN GENERAL GOOD CONTRIBUTION.
PLEASE SEND EMAIL TO ME AS SOON AS POSSIBLE,
Email address: vietdragon2020@yahoo.com
THANK YOU VERY MUCH!
WELCOME TO VIETNAM NEXT TIME!