Asia Palace Hotel Hanoi 2

... meals then began to arrive at random intervals, meaning that some people had finished eating before others had even received theirs. I think the kitchen couldn't cope with such a large party. Additionally, matters weren't helped by several orders being completely wrong. For example, Ulrika ordered a sandwich that included ham, but specifically asked for no ham, as she is vegetarian. Not only was it brought a good ten minutes after most people had started eating, but it had ham ...

... different Hanoi is to HCMC. Instead of the big sweeping boulevards and leisurely spaced out buildings down south, Hanoi is all tight windy streets with everything on top of each other. With the cramped nature of things here you spend your whole time walking on the streets inthe traffic as the pavement is full of motorbikes, or goods spillout from shops; or even people sat down eating a meal on little stools. Annoyingly, the traffic is continuously beeping at you to warn you ...

... pain. Then last night the pain kept me up most of the night. This morning (Thursday) I woke up and decided I needed to see a doctor (duh). My ride into work was actually painful resting my leg on the passenger foot post. I got the phone number of Family Medical, which is right around the corner from school. I attempted to make an appt for today but there weren’t any openings. The first available was Friday at 5pm. I thought I can deal with this for another day ...

I made it to Sapa a couple days ago, and again, words/pictures are unable to describe this place. The town is up in the mountains, with green rice fields surrounding it. Again, there is green as far as the eye can see, and the mountains are hidden in the clouds at most times during the day. The first day I got in, I arrived at about 7 a.m. on a night train from Hanoi. This was my first experience on a sleeping night ...

... each season plus a 6 week break during summer. From what I can tell in looking at our calendar there are inservice days built into the calendar and it’s up to the Principals discretion if we have to come to school or not. I wear a tie everyday loose at the neck though. If anyone has any more questions regarding school or anything else send it and I’ll address it.

** Sorry the video just refused to turn right side up

Cho den lan sau
(Until next time)

... it, as all the info from that period suggested the Americans had a great time. It showed them playing basketball, watching films and eating good food. It took away all the irony from the name the Americans gave the prison, which was Hanoi Hilton. The Vietnamese, concentrated almost entirely on their own people’s plight in the prison, under French rule. It was a small, but good museum that was, again, fantastically one sided. Next day, I took my mum and dad off to the Ho Chi Minh ...

... However, it wasn't really that bad. We each had a draught Carlsberg (why Danish beer is so popular around the world, I do not know) which cost 35,000 VND. Granted, this was WAY more than our 3,000 VND Bia Hoi from the night before.

I ended up having two beers, Cory only one, and we ended up paying in American dollars since we were pretty low on VND. We all enjoyed talking to each other, and we had a pretty good conversation with the owner (who was from ...

... all wearing white sailor hats in addition to a uniform. They were amazed by us, more Pete's locks I imagine. We got back in the cyclo and headed for our next destination - the 'Hanoi Hilton' aka Ho Lao Prison. Our guide again waited for us as we walked through the prison that was the site of a village before those lovely French came along and demolished it making room for the prison (France had colonised most of Indochina - Nam, Cambodia and Laos - I say colonised, I mean destroyed ...

... about the 'falangs' hanging around and decided to be nosy, though I think the younger ones were letting us know this was their territory. Next thing, they were all gone and we were left listening to the frogs and watching the fireflies in the paddies. Would I swap all that adventure for a hotel room with a hot shower and a cold beer? Of course I would :) It was 'only' 45 kms to Vieng Xai the next day so we were up with the sun and away, but feeling ...

... a long palm beach, any category of hotels from simple guest-house to five stars luxury hotel, some strange yellow sand dunes and interesting fishermen villages. It is important to wake up early and to observe the fishermen returning from the night fishing on their strange round boats and the women who separate the different types of fishes. I suggest to travel by private buses. You can travel from Hanoi to Saigon with one single ticket and stop ...