TravelStream™ news feed for member koppers on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/koppers en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Sun, 15 Nov 2009 19:09:00 -0500 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/koppers/asian_odyssey/1250071516/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/koppers/asian_odyssey/1250071516/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/koppers/asian_odyssey/1250071516/tpod.html Sun, 15 Nov 2009 19:09:00 -0500 Kathleen & Konrad's Odyssey into the Orient.

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Hoi An, Quảng Nam, Vietnam

We hopped off the train and went out front in search of transport to Hoi An.  We had not taken this route before, so had no idea how much it should cost and crossed our fingers.  We were immediately targeted by a man with a van and a plan.  He offered the ride for 250,000 dong (about $15) for the five of us and our many bags; I countered with 200,000; he accepted.  While we were waiting for the van to drive up, we realized we'd left a bag on the train (though empty at the time, we didn't want to lose it).  Pike raced back to the train and found it just before it chugged off to its next destination.  The (small) van arrived and we wondered how on earth we would fit everything inside.  But our men set to work and strapped all the luggage to the roof (in bare feet, of course), and before we knew it, we were all piling into the van and zooming (well, not really zooming, more like pottering) towards Hoi An.  As we drove the 35 km stretch from Hoi An to Danang, Konrad and I were shocked (and appalled) at how much the beach had changed in the 3.5ish years since we'd previously visited.  When we were there in early 2006, the beach had pretty much been wide open, without any development.  At the time, we wondered how such a long stretch of beach could be ignored, but thought it was delightful.  It seemed someone else had had a similar idea and had since bought up the entire beach for hotel and high rent apartment property.  A shame it was, but we tried to leave it in the rear view and focus on Hoi An... where we needed to find a hotel yet.I'd called and emailed the place we had stayed before, and where a number of friends had stayed, per our recommendation.  Unfortunately, they didn't get back to me right away and the place went and booked up while we waited.  I'd looked for something else online, but everything was booked solid -- what in the world was going on?  It seemed we'd timed our visit to coincide with the Japan-Vietnam Friendship Festival, which was a new event to show the friendship and cooperation between the two countries.  Clearly, this was the reason everything was full and we were having a hard time finding a place.  We left the Parsons to sit with the bags and drink delicious, icy fruit shakes while Konrad and I started on the hotel hunt.  It was difficult to find a room anywhere, let alone three rooms for three nights in the same hotel, but in the end we were successful.  By the time we'd checked in and gotten ourselves sorted, it was already around 3pm and we hadn't eaten anything all day.  As such, lunch was a priority.  We found a sweet little spot along the river in the old town and treated the Parsons to their first taste of Hoi An cuisine (which is unique only to that area).  It had been a beautiful day, but as we ambled along the river after our lunch, the sky darkened and the clouds started moving in.  We dashed through the market just as the sky opened up and were lucky enough to find a waiting cab to whisk us back to our hotel.  This pattern would repeat itself every day we were in Hoi An: massive storms later in the afternoon. The second day had been reserved for a trip out to Marble Mountain and China Beach.  When we'd visited three years before, we'd biked out to Marble Mountain along the highway that was just then nearing completion.  It was one of my favorite things about our trip from Saigon to Hanoi, and I thought it would be perfect for the family because they are avid bikers.  Unfortunately, they are not avid fans of the heat -- and it was damn hot in Hoi An while we were there.  So their interest in biking 40 miles waned a bit and they looked into alternative options.  In the end, they opted to hire a minivan to drive us out and back.  By this time, we were getting a pretty late start, so decisions had to be made: Ma and Pa went to Marble Mountain to hike around and buy some souvenirs, while Konrad, Pike, and I hit the beach to soak up some more sun.  Once they finished their tour of the mountain, they found some ladies to give them xe om rides (on the backs of motorbikes) across the highway and we all met up for some gorgeous fresh, roll-your-own spring rolls at the famous Hoa's Place.  After squeezing in one more dip in the water, we had to climb back into the minivan and drive back to Hoi An.  Alas, a bit too short, but at least we'd had an opportunity to enjoy the water and the relatively empty beach.The next day we would not be as lucky securing spots on an empty beach.  After Ma and Pike guided themselves on a walking tour of the old town, Pike, Konrad, and I rented bicycles and went to the (far more crowded) beach to meet our friends Lily and John.  Lily and John had worked with us in Hanoi, but had transferred down to Danang at the beginning of July, which meant while we were in Hoi An we'd have a chance to meet up with them.  And a rousing good time it was.  The six of us (Lily's boyfriend, an Argentinian footballer and local legend) spent the day sitting on the beach, laughing, and having a ball.  Of course, the inevitable rains approached, and we took shelter in a beachfront bar -- complete with pool table.  I never cease to be amazed at how small the world is; our little jaunt to the beach would provide yet one more example of this.  While in the bar, we started talking to a couple who was down on holiday from Hanoi as well.  As we got to talking, we realized we'd met before, and that the guy had served as quizmaster at our beloved pub quiz nights.  We spent the rest of the afternoon chatting with the two of them and mixing shandies.  By the time 6:30 rolled around, we decided we better skedaddle or we'd be biking in the dark without lights.  Unfortunately, it was our last night in lovely Hoi An -- my how time passes when you're having a good time (or getting older, perhaps?).  John joined us for a comical dinner at a gorgeous outdoor restaurant along the river.  During this dinner, Pike's eyes proceeded to roll around in his head like he was possessed -- lack of food, he said.  Clearly, it was time to get the young lad home to bed.  Ma and Pa took responsibility and Konrad and I decided to check out the Vietnam-Japan Friendship Festival.  We made our way along the river, weaving through the various exhibits, until we found the main stage.  We watched a fashion show, which displayed the dress of both Vietnamese and Japanese women throughout the ages, then got a real treat when a STOMP type/martial arts/hip-hop crew took the stage.  Alas, our flight to Hanoi was scheduled for early the next morning, so we couldn't stay and watch the subsequent performances.  Pumpkin time.  So we headed back to the hotel, saying our last goodbyes to Hoi An, unsure of when we may be back to bask in its magic once again.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/koppers/asian_odyssey/1257152643/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/koppers/asian_odyssey/1257152643/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/koppers/asian_odyssey/1257152643/tpod.html Sun, 15 Nov 2009 18:38:09 -0500 Kathleen & Konrad's Odyssey into the Orient.

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Istanbul, Turkey

As you may remember, we'd accepted jobs in Istanbul while still in Vietnam.  The jobs were with a language school, but we would be farmed out to a university to teach English to students on a yearlong English prep program.  The program we would be working on was a year-long English preparatory course for students who didn't receive a high enough English placement test score.  The university requires English for essentially all of its majors, so if students did not receive a high enough score on their tests, they have to spend the first year focusing entirely on their English.  There were a few aspects that made the job attractive: 1) it paid far more than the other jobs we'd seen/been offered in Istanbul, 2) classes were during the day, which meant that we would have our evenings free -- an entirely new concept for us after three years of working nothing but evenings, and 3) classes would only be weekdays, which would leave the weekends free for exploring our new home.  In the end, those pros convinced us and we accepted the jobs.  The school held an orientation the week before classes started, which gave us an opportunity to check out the school and start to meet a few people.  We started school on Monday, and met our students for the first time during a short half hour session.  I was surprised because they seemed fairly quiet and shy -- which sounded like the opposite of what everyone had told us -- soon to change, of course....On the second day (which was, for all intents and purposes, the first real day of class), we started to learn some of the differences between Turkish and Vietnamese students.  Whereas Vietnamese students were fairly docile and respectful, Turkish students seemed to be much more to handle -- far more boisterous and difficult to get to stop talking.  The other thing that became apparent was that a lot of the students had no interest in being in the class, so motivation was going to play a huge part in our lesson plans.  For those of you interested in teaching English, it also became obvious that Turkish students, had an easier time with English than Vietnamese students... BUT that they didn't know the intricacies our Vietnamese students had (e.g.: terminology, the phonemic chart, etc.).Two weeks into the term, we were starting to figure things out and settle into a rhythm with our students -- just in time for everything to change.  Suddenly, the English prep course was no longer required for students in particular majors (those that were delivered in Turkish, rather than English -- e.g.: computer engineering, etc.).  This news trickled out to a few classes at the end of the day on the Friday of the second week, but no one really knew what it meant,  Over the next week there were a lot of rumors, but nothing concrete.  We were told (in a roundabout way) that we'd all keep our jobs, so that placated us a bit -- until Friday....On Friday, all the teachers on the program were summoned to a meeting where we were told that the situation was worse than expected: essentially, the program had lost a massive number of students.  As a result, our hours were reduced from 25 a week to 15 and our pay was cut in half (even though our hours weren't being cut in half!).  This was a major blow to us since it meant that we lost an entire salary in our house -- just as we were starting to get settled in.It's not the most ideal situation, and we've had a bit of additional bad luck since moving here (more on that later), but we do LOVE the city, so we're happy to be here.  Plus, I believe everything will work out eventually -- we've already found some supplemental work at the best language school in the city, which is fantastic (though we're currently waiting for classes to start up).  Every time we go in for meetings or classes (I've started one class), we say to ourselves: "It's like we work for a real school!"So at the moment, we've got lots of time to shop for furniture and get ourselves settled in -- which isn't really such a bad thing (apart from the fact that Istanbul is more expensive than we'd anticipated).  We'll continue to wait for things to pick up and keep writing to you -- stay tuned!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/koppers/asian_odyssey/1254085662/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/koppers/asian_odyssey/1254085662/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/koppers/asian_odyssey/1254085662/tpod.html Mon, 02 Nov 2009 04:15:48 -0500 Kathleen & Konrad's Odyssey into the Orient.

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Istanbul, Turkey

We were collected at the airport by a representative of our new school, and soon we found ourselves zipping (or at least it seemed fast to us -- 50mph!) along the expansive highways and overpasses that led towards the interior of the city.  Our first impressions were mainly that Istanbul was hugely hilly and that it would be difficult to drive a manual here -- rather reminiscent of San Francisco, actually.  We got off the massive highways and moved onto smaller, winding streets in very cool neighborhoods.  Shortly thereafter, the car stopped in front of a hotel... which wasn't the place we'd asked to go.We were a bit confused, but eventually sorted out that the school had reserved a room for us (without telling us), and that was where the driver had taken us.  Fortunately, the room we'd reserved was literally around the corner, so it wasn't long until we were out of the car, lugging our suitcases and poor Diego up six flights of stairs.  The place I'd found wasn't a hotel; it was a shared flat with four bedrooms (we hadn't really understood that before stepping foot into the place).  It really wasn't our speed, but it was cheap, and they didn't have a problem with Diego -- two very big things -- so we put our bags down and let Diego out of his carrier so he could wander around and stretch his wee legs.We were meant to go to an orientation for our school that day, but couldn't be asked to after the flight, so we spent the day exploring the area around the flat and relaxing from the trip.  We had somehow lucked out and landed ourselves smack in the middle of the most popular district in Istanbul.  We had just been looking for something along the subway, and had managed to find a place about 10 steps from Istiklal Caddesi (Independence Avenue).  Istiklal is THE place to be on a Friday or Saturday night (or any other time of day, really!).  It is reminiscent of State Street in that it is a 3km pedestrian avenue (no buses or taxis, though it does have a trolley that runs the length of the street) packed full of bars, restaurants, and shops.  It was terribly convenient living so close as it made it loads easier to adjust to life in Istanbul (and we found a few completely vegetarian restaurants there -- a difficult feat in meat loving Turkey!).We had missed the first day of orientation, but made sure we got to the second day (Thursday) bright and early.  It was interesting to be on the other side of things this time around: usually we were the people helping to set the schedule for the new teachers' induction, but this time we were participating.  Unlike the inductions we had helped coordinate, there were no get to know the school, the city, etc. sessions, so we were a bit on our own trying to suss out where to go and how things ran.  We did, however, start to meet a few people, including a man that was born in the same city as my mom in the same year!  Over the next few weeks, we found ourselves hanging out with a lot of the same people and have since formed a tight little group of good friends, which makes everything here all that much more enjoyable.We haven't had loads of time to explore things yet; we have been very busy apartment hunting, lesson planning, and searching for jobs (more on all that later).  But what we have seen has been fantastic and so far we adore Istanbul.  It's a huge change from Vietnam, and we definitely miss Southeast Asia immensely, but new is good.  And being surrounded by such old and amazing architecture is awe-inspiring.   We'll continue to explore and update you as we get settled in.  In the meantime, here's our new address:Turnacibasi CaddesiAydin Apartmani, No: 34, Kat: 2, Daire: 5Beyoglu, IstanbulTurkeyAnd the phone it hooked up once again, so feel free to give us a ring: +1 608 255 1156.Happy Halloween!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/koppers/asian_odyssey/1253946695/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/koppers/asian_odyssey/1253946695/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/koppers/asian_odyssey/1253946695/tpod.html Mon, 28 Sep 2009 15:07:26 -0400 Kathleen & Konrad's Odyssey into the Orient.

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Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan, Malaysia

Getting everything packed up and sold in those two short weeks had been no easy feat.  We had been working more or less straight through, but by the time to leave came, we thought we were in pretty good shape: we'd shipped seven huge boxes (about 150 kilos) of clothes and miscellaneous stuff (which would arrive in three... or six months!), we'd divested ourselves of loads of things we'd accumulated over the years, and we had pared it all down to (we thought) 25 kilos a piece for our checked luggage (an impossible task).  It had more or less been off to the races since we'd made the decision, and we had tried to squeeze in as much in those last two weeks as possible.  We (finally, after over three years!) went to the gorgeous Hanoi Opera House and treated ourselves (for less than $12) to a weekend symphony that was fantastic -- why weren't we doing that all along?  We skipped around to a number of favorite restaurants, making sure we had dinner with as many friends as we could.  We had a delightful goodbye party on Sunday night which was a great chance to get together with everyone for a last blow out (see the pictures in this entry).  Unfortunately, we just had so much to do that we never made it on one last bike trip, which really was heart wrenching for us -- especially since we'd promised ourselves we would definitely get back up to Sapa one last time before we left Vietnam.  On the positive side, by our final Sunday morning in Hanoi (flight was on Tuesday), we really felt like we'd gotten everything packed up and sorted, which was way ahead of schedule for us (typical last minute people).  Despite that, Sunday turned out to be reserved for running around like crazy.  We started out taking it fairly easy, but by the time we'd itemized(ish) all the boxes we had to ship, made it to the post office, filled out the multitude of unnecessary forms (really, why even bother itemizing the entire contents of each box twice when it's not even insured anyhow?), and then run a few errands, it was already 5:00.  Our party was set to begin at 8:00, and we still had loads to do before then.  I had planned to cook up whatever we had left on the shelves, so I set to that task while Konrad went on a mission to pick up some vegetables, water, and ice (which turned into an impossible mission).  I chopped and stirred, and he drove and drove and drove.  Eventually, we got the spread on the table and were fairly presentable by the time the first of our guests arrived at 8:00.  It was a fantastic party and we found ourselves climbing into bed around 4:30 -- too late for all that we had to do the next day. We expected Monday to be fairly tame and to allow us time to be a bit leisurely and enjoy our last day in Hanoi.  Alas, it was not meant to be, as we found ourselves going, going, going from 10:00 onwards.  We had a last lovely dinner in Hanoi with some great friends, then boogied to our (fairly empty) house to do our last minute packing.  Unfortunately, one of the most important tasks left was for us to find a place to stay upon our arrival.We had been in touch with our new school and had asked for a hotel recommendation that would allow us to have Diego in the room.  They never wrote back, and we, frustrated, finally wrote them on Thursday to ask.  On Friday night we received a response that they didn't have anything to recommend and that Diego would have to stay in a "pet pension."  This was not okay with us, so we began our own search.  Unfortunately, we hadn't been successful and were still looking for a place on Monday night -- less than 12 hours before we were scheduled to leave the house!  In the end, things worked out (via Skype while at the Kuala Lumpur airport during our layover!), but we were up all night trying to sort something out -- not a positive start to the trip.In fact, I got up early and continued to call places in the hopes that we would get it sorted out.  Eventually, I had to give up because the cab was picking us up at 11:00am and we had to finish packing.  We managed to get everything done, more or less just in the nick of time, and said a hurried goodbye to our beloved house.  We hopped in the cab and waved farewell to Hanoi as we drove out to the airport.  One of the most time consuming things in the run-up to our departure had been trying to get Diego's flight sorted out.  We had tried a number of options, and had finally settled on letting him fly with the baggage on a Malaysia Airlines flight.  We got to the airport to check him and ourselves in and were greeted by a very, very, very unwelcome surprise.  Not only were our checked bags overweight (we'd weighed them and thought they would meet the strict 25 kilo limit), but they wanted to weigh our carry on luggage as well -- and only allowed us 5 kilos a piece for that!We knew there was the possibility that our checked bags would be overweight, so we had a contingency plan: shove anything overweight into our carry on bags.  Little did we realize they would be weighing those as well, and that we would be screwed -- never have I had any airline weigh my carry ons!  So, we sat down on the floor in the checkout aisle and started eliminating what we really could (a very difficult task since we had already pared everything down as much as we thought was possible).  First we ditched all the DVDs we had accumulated over the years in Hanoi -- surely that would make a dent?  It did, but nowhere near enough.  For what amounted to over an hour, we tried to appeal to the staff at the check-in counter, but to no avail.  In the end, they made us pay for an extra 8 kilos ($42 each!), and in the shuffle, we lost some of our computer equipment as well (unintentionally).  Suffice to say, I was livid and a bit in shock that this would be our ultimate goodbye to Hanoi.  Both of us shuffled to the departure lounge very frustrated and emotional... and dead set to never fly Malaysia Airlines again.The flight to Kuala Lumpur was uneventful, and the skies were in fact clear enough to actually see the landscape during most of the journey (a rarity in Vietnam).  In Kuala Lumpur, we were able to spend our layover with a quivering Diego.  Apparently, his flight had been more difficult than ours, which we had expected.  We think it was largely because his water bottle leaked all over the place and must have gotten him wet.  We cradled him and cuddled with him for most of the layover, then had to get him checked in and find ourselves some dinner before our flight to Dubai left at 11:59pm.  The rest of the journey passed in a blur while we alternated between sleeping and reading, and before we knew it, we were collecting a surprisingly alert and normal Diego at the airport in Istanbul -- we'd arrived in Turkey!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/koppers/asian_odyssey/1254084623/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/koppers/asian_odyssey/1254084623/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/koppers/asian_odyssey/1254084623/tpod.html Mon, 28 Sep 2009 01:21:08 -0400 Kathleen & Konrad's Odyssey into the Orient.

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Hanoi, Vietnam

We had been applying for jobs like crazy, especially since my family had left -- to the point that in one day I sent out over 50 CVs.  We'd only had a few bites, something that had a lot of people surprised (including us), given our backgrounds, but we weren't too worried because life in Hanoi was comfortable and we were happy enough to sit and wait around for the perfect jobs.  We had narrowed our search down to Indonesia (we really only considered Bandung and Yogyakarta -- Jakarta sounded a bit like a hellhole), Oman (primarily interested in Muscat), Turkey (narrowed down to Izmir or Istanbul), Lebanon (Beirut only), and Sri Lanka.  To date, we'd had interviews in Istanbul and Bandung, and had been offered jobs in both places.  In the run up to my family's visit and the end of our jobs at Apollo, we had let a job in Istanbul sit a bit too long and ended up missing out on that opportunity.  The other job we interviewed for in Istanbul was massive split shifts (start at 7am and finish at 9pm) and less money, so we declined the offer.  Bandung was looking like a better possibility every day, and we started to think it the most likely option.... until the morning of September 6th.  Konrad hadn't been able to sleep all night, so was awake when the email came in from the job we'd missed out on: they had more students enroll and were offering us jobs -- to start in 2 weeks!  I woke up at 6am, surprised that Konrad still wasn't in bed, and went in search of him.  I found him on the roof, swaying in the hammock, reading a book and enjoying the sunrise.  He told me about the email and immediately the wheels started turning: surely 2 weeks wasn't long enough to get everything sorted -- right?  I went back to bed convinced we'd be rejecting the offer on that basis, but couldn't sleep.  I got up and started doing some research to see if it might be feasible or not: could we get Diego sorted in time, find reasonably priced flights, etc.?  I finally gave up and went back to bed, convinced that it just wasn't possible.Over the next three days, we started to think maybe we could do it, and set to discussing the likelihood of whether or not we could.  A good night of drinking with Hayley after the pub quiz more or less sealed the deal: Turkey would be fantastic, and we didn't want to miss out on such an opportunity.  So on Wednesday, we accepted the offer, with the caveat that I needed to get my passport renewed and we needed to get Diego's flights sorted out.After that, things happened pretty quickly.  The instant I posted our sale stuff, everything started flying off the shelves (except our lovely dining table and chairs, which are still sitting in our old house!) -- that was a huge relief and certainly helped us move forward with our plans.  It was going to be a squeeze, but we were up for the challenge -- Turkey-bound!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/koppers/asian_odyssey/1251037162/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/koppers/asian_odyssey/1251037162/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/koppers/asian_odyssey/1251037162/tpod.html Mon, 07 Sep 2009 01:12:19 -0400 Kathleen & Konrad's Odyssey into the Orient.

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Hanoi, Ha Nội, Vietnam

The wrap up of the summer proved to be a bit anticlimactic.  Perhaps it was because we were so busy in the run up to the end.  I was working on a teacher training course for local university lecturers working in the field of tourism throughout Vietnam, and it kept me very busy.  Both of us were trying to conduct a handover with the guy taking over our positions.  Part of the recent shake up was the decision to merge our positions into one, so only one person would deal with all the recruitment issues for all of Vietnam and all the welfare issues for all three centers in Hanoi.  Our department had gone from three people to just one in the space of a few months -- yet another reason we were glad to be getting out.  Our last day at Apollo, August 1st, was reserved for the final day of an examiner training course we had been taking.  It was a nice and fairly relaxing way to spend our last day -- especially after the craziness of the past month.We had been at Apollo for three years, so we were a bit disappointed by the send off (or lack of?) we received.  All that aside, there were eight of us in Hanoi who were finishing our contracts up in the same week.  A farewell party was organized at one of our favorite bars, so we spent a lovely evening looking at the lake and sharing a few jugs of Tiger with friends.  The party was on August 2nd, and we were headed down to Saigon on August 5th -- it left us little time to get everything in order for the trip, but by the time my family arrived, we were ready and excited to see everyone.We hadn't mapped out our post-Apollo plans, but had a few ideas and were sending out CVs -- we would see what the next month held for us and our futures!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/koppers/asian_odyssey/1242666660/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/koppers/asian_odyssey/1242666660/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/koppers/asian_odyssey/1242666660/tpod.html Mon, 07 Sep 2009 00:59:24 -0400 Kathleen & Konrad's Odyssey into the Orient.

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Hanoi, Vietnam

We returned to a very grey Hanoi, which was a bit difficult after the fabulous vacation we had been on.  We had to work the same day we returned, and found ourselves in the midst of many, many changes at work.  Basically, while we had been gone, a total shuffle of the company had taken place, and our jobs had suddenly become more difficult.  This would prove to be true, to a greater degree as the summer wore on, for the duration of our contracts.  By the end of it all, we were relieved to be done with that organization -- which was very sad, considering how we had once felt about it.But we didn't let that stop us from having a great time in Hanoi.  Our birthdays were in June, and we had a huge party to celebrate them: the pictures here are evidence of the fund we had.  Unfortunately, the onset of summer also brought the departure of many of our good friends -- it seemed like a mass exodus with going away parties what seemed like every other day.  New people were arriving, of course, but as our future was a bit uncertain, we failed to make the same bonds with them as we had with our old buddies who had departed.Nevertheless, we had a great and extremely busy summer, all of it spent in the confines of the city -- until my family decided to come to town.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/koppers/asian_odyssey/1249806405/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/koppers/asian_odyssey/1249806405/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/koppers/asian_odyssey/1249806405/tpod.html Sun, 06 Sep 2009 23:53:06 -0400 Kathleen & Konrad's Odyssey into the Orient.

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Nha Trang, Vietnam

Our bus pulled into Nha Trang just as the sun was setting and dropped us off at a hotel a few blocks off the water.  We had found an excellent deal at the Novotel ($45 a night -- a MASSIVE discount), so were looking forward to living a life of luxury for a few days.  We got to the hotel just as Ma and Pa were returning from the beach -- perfect timing.  We headed up to our rooms on the 10th floor and... WOW.  Never before have I stayed in a place as amazing as the Novotel.  We had a balcony with perfect views of the beach and the city, a gigantic room with a truly massive bed (like a double king size!), and a gorgeous bathroom with a sunken shower.  We were in heaven.  But it was already after 7pm, and everyone was starving after spending much of the day on buses, so we didn't have a terribly long time to sit and enjoy it.When Konrad and I had visited Nha Trang in 2006, we ended up staying for nearly a week and a half -- there's just something about the place that draws you in and makes you want to set down stakes.  The magic would prove to be around for this trip too, starting with the hotel, of course.  After luxuriating in the enormous bathtub, we hit the town in search of a favorite restaurant, Little Italy City Pizza, from our last trip.  They weren't familiar with it at the front desk, but our memory of the town proved correct and we found it right where we remembered it.  We had a fantastic and uber-filling dinner then headed back to the hotel to make the most of the wide screen TVs in our rooms.  After a most delicious sleep in our double king-sized beds, we stopped to grab some of Nha Trang's special baguettes, and then gathered on the beach.  The beach in Nha Trang is very different from that we had recently experienced in Mui Ne.  For starters, there are way more people on the beach in Nha Trang -- not to say it's overly crowded or packed to the gills, but not empty like the beach in Mui Ne.  Secondly, vendors rove the beach constantly, selling everything from sunglasses to seafood.  It is a tidge annoying, but it's not so much so that you'd rather be sitting by the hotel pool (which is only 14 meters long -- why?).  That said, the water is much calmer than in Mui Ne, making it far more appealing to swim and laze in the water... which we did lots of.  My dad remembered Nha Trang very fondly from his time here during the war, so it was another spot for him to revisit.  He told us one of those unbelievable coincidence stories about his favorite seafood restaurant from that time.  It was a place he and his mates visited often, and I think he said he came to know the owner.  Years later, back in Madison, he got to know neighbors a few doors down the street, one of whom (Thuy) happened to be Vietnamese.  They became very good friends and over the course of the years, it turned out that Thuy's uncle had been the owner of the restaurant in Nha Trang my dad had loved so much.  And to top it off, Thuy had waitressed there!  Not sure if they crossed paths back then, but there's certainly the possibility they did!  That restaurant is no longer there, but while we were in Nha Trang, my dad found a new favorite: Louisiane Brewhouse (http://www.louisianebrewhouse.com.vn/).  A rarity when it comes to Vietnam, Louisiane featured a number of homemade brews, including a passionfruit beer and a ginger beer.  In addition, they had all the old favorites like the red ale, pilsener, and black beer -- my dad and brother were in heaven.  The set up of the place was fantastic: the main building was along the beach road, but in the back they had a pool and beyond that there were lounge chairs on the beach.  It was a perfect place to hang out -- and hang out there we did -- numerous times.Our days in Nha Trang went by too quickly, and before we knew it, we had to check out of our amazing rooms and exchange them for a six person berth on the overnight train to Danang.  I assumed my mom would have the most trouble with the train, but in the end it was Pike, who claimed staying in his top bunk was like sleeping in a coffin.  Overall, the train trip went smoothly, and we found ourselves in Danang around 11am the next morning -- ready to zip away to the amazing little town of Hoi An.  
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/koppers/asian_odyssey/1249460764/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/koppers/asian_odyssey/1249460764/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/koppers/asian_odyssey/1249460764/tpod.html Thu, 03 Sep 2009 04:44:43 -0400 Kathleen & Konrad's Odyssey into the Orient.

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Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

After three and a half years in Vietnam, we had finally convinced some family members to cross the big blue Pacific and visit us.  My mom (Penny), dad (Tim), and brother (Pike) were able to finagle three weeks off of work for the trip, so we had a fair amount of time -- though we knew that meant we'd still have to hustle to see as much as possible.  Pops had been in Vietnam during the war in the late sixties, so this would actually be a return to Vietnam for him.  As such, he had some places he wanted to revisit, so we really had to cram everything in to get it all done in the little less than three weeks they had.  They were flying into Ho Chi Minh City, so Konrad and I planned to fly down and meet them there a few days after we finished work at Apollo.We had been up late on Tuesday night, enjoying one last evening with friends at the pub quiz (which I ran that night - the theme was colors, for those of you who are interested).  As a result, we took it easy on Wednesday morning and were a bit slow to get going.  We shuttled Diego to Simon's around 1:00pm and then ran a few last errands before heading back home to pack.  The taxi collected us at 3:30pm and we cruised to the airport where we waited a few hours for our plane, which, true to Jetstar form, was delayed.While waiting at the airport, I called the Sofitel in Saigon one more time.  My parents had made a reservation at the Metropole -- or so we thought....  I had called a number of times to check on their reservation, but had been told each time that no such reservation existed.  This time was no different -- the same response: no reservation.  We were definitely worried, but had a contingency plan, so hoped everything would work out in the end.We were scheduled to get into Saigon at 7:30pm, and planned to meet up with our friend Louise for dinner.  Due to the delay we didn't arrive until close to 9:00pm, and by the time we got to the hotel and met Lou it was nearly 10:00pm.  Fortunately, Saigon is very different from Hanoi, and getting a meal after 10:00pm is no problem -- it seems to be a city that never sleeps, which is a huge change from Hanoi, where everything closes around 11:00pm.  Lou met us at the hotel and the three of us taxied it to Pham Ngu Lao, Saigon's backpacker district.  We had some decent Mexican food and caught up over a few beers before Pike called to let me know that the family had touched down on Vietnamese soil -- whoo hoo!  Turns out the Metropole in Saigon is not part of the Sofitel chain, as it is here in Hanoi.  So all along, I'd been calling the wrong hotel!  With the knowledge that the family had arrived safe and sound, the three of us called it a night and planned to meet up the next day.After a leisurely breakfast, Konrad and I headed to the Metropole (not the Sofitel!) to meet up with the family.  They were all ready and raring to go and check out Saigon, so we set off on foot in the direction of the cathedral.  We passed the Ben Thanh Market, and cruised along to the Notre Dame Cathedral.  It was around noon, so the cathedral was closed, but we were able to take plenty of snaps of the exterior.  We were refused entry to the Presidential Palace (because it was lunchtime) and the family was a bit hot and sweaty (you can imagine how much higher the heat and humidity is in Vietnam), so we went to the Caravelle Hotel to have a few lunchtime drinks at the rooftop bar.The view was great, the breeze was fantastic, and we had the place to ourselves; it was delightful.  We had a few drinks, and, as we were paying the bill, I realized I didn't have my wallet.  I was sure that I had dropped it somewhere and would never see it again, but everyone else remained positive.  We rushed down to the lobby and quickly hopped into a taxi to zoom back to the Metropole and look for the wallet there.  I ran up to the room and.... my wallet was sitting on the bed.  Ah, the power of positive thinking (not by me, but by everyone else!).  Relieved and hungry, we decided to head to lunch at a vegetarian place we had visited three and a half years prior.  Apparently, the buffet breakfast at the Metropole was quite amazing, so the family wasn't interested in anything on the menu besides the beer.  Konrad and I had a few ok tofu dishes and after a few more drinks we were all a bit sleepy (and jetlagged too, I would imagine), so decided to head back to our hotels for a nap/dip in the pool.  Konrad and I weren't able to reserve a room in our favorite guesthouse of all time (California), so we had booked into a more expensive option a little farther from the Metropole.  We were hoping to find something more central and a bit cheaper, so we wandered around and found Quynh Kim Hotel (on the same alley as California).  We made a reservation and planned to move in the morning.  I was keen on getting a nap, so we decided to taxi it back to our current hotel (another thing that's very different about Saigon -- it's so spread out that we found ourselves taking taxis most of the time, rather than walking everywhere, as we do in Hanoi).   We weren't terribly familiar with the taxi companies in Saigon, but had taken a few the night before with Louise, who knew her stuff, so I grabbed one from the same company... or so I thought.  A big problem in Vietnam are poser taxis: cars with a magnet on the door to make it look like a taxi from a well known company.  These taxis do not have radios to communicate with their dispatchers, and they also have whack meters that charge exorbitant rates.  We are familiar with these from Hanoi, so were wary in Saigon -- but still got snagged.  Eventually, we made the driver stop so we could walk the rest of the way because the meter had climbed to such an outrageous price.  I tried to tell him (in Vietnamese, nonetheless) that the price was not fair and that we weren't going to pay the full "fare" -- this is something that works sometimes in Hanoi, because the drivers know they aren't legit.  Unfortunately, our driver wasn't having any of that and started yelling at us.  We handed over the money (along with a few expletives) and walked the rest of the distance to our hotel.  Finally, a chance to rest and relax.After a delicious Thai dinner with Louise and another friend living in Saigon, Cynthia, we headed to Le Pub for a few drinks -- you certainly can't beat $2 cocktails.  A few Pina Coladas later, the 'rents surrendered to sleep, and Louise, Pike, Konrad, and I moved onto the next venue: Eden.  It was loud, but the drinks were, again, very cheap, so we stayed for a few before heading to TPR (?) to play some pool.  The Parsons Kids vs. Louise/Konrad: Louise and Konrad proved themselves to be the better opponents that evening, much to our chagrin.We slept in the next morning, packed up, checked out (while arguing over the ridiculous exchange rate the hotel was trying to charge), and moved to our new hotel.  The family had enjoyed another massive buffet breakfast, so didn't have any interest in food; Konrad and I had lunch by ourselves and then went to the Metropole to collect the others.  We talked them into checking out the War Remnant Museum, which had a number of exhibits -- one of which was photos by war correspondents who were killed during the war.  My dad's posting required him to take photos during the war, so we thought it would be of great interest to him -- and it was.  Visiting the museum also enabled us to take a photo of Pike next to his time traveling twin.  When we were in Saigon a few years before, we had seen a photo from the war in the museum that looked exactly like Pike -- clearly he had been doing some quantum leaping.  Pops wanted to check out the river and look for a floating restaurant he remembered, so we stopped there before walking to the rooftop bar at the Palace Hotel -- another place we had stopped on our last visit.  The Palace had fantastic views, just as we remembered, so we spent a few hours sampling the Vietnamese beers and appreciating the skyline.  It was our last night in town, but we were all pretty beat and had to get up early to catch our respective buses the next day, so we ate dinner and hit the hay early.  Ma and Pa were planning to head into the mountains to the city of Dalat, while Pike, Konrad, and I opted for the beach and the town of Mui Ne.  
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/koppers/asian_odyssey/1249867854/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/koppers/asian_odyssey/1249867854/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/koppers/asian_odyssey/1249867854/tpod.html Sun, 16 Aug 2009 09:11:35 -0400 Kathleen & Konrad's Odyssey into the Orient.

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Mui Ne, Bình Thuận, Vietnam

Pops had a desire to revisit Dalat and try and find a hotel he remembered from his time here.  Konrad and I had been to Dalat before and really felt like it wasn't a necessity to see it again, so we decided to split up for the day and go our separate ways.  Ma and Pa took an 8am bus northwest to Dalat; Pike, Konrad, and I took an 8am bus north to Mui Ne.  We arrived in Mui Ne just before 2pm, hopped off the bus, grabbed a taxi, and zoomed our way to Small Garden -- a "hotel" (read: a number of bungalows gathered together along the ocean) recommended by a friend, Chris B.  We took a quick look at the rooms, agreed to the price ($20 for a beachside bungalow), and quickly changed into our suits in order to hit the beach.  I thought it had been a long time since I'd been in the ocean -- about two and a half months.  Then Pike told me it had been five years for him -- I keep forgetting what an excellent life we've been able to lead in Asia.This was our second time in Mui Ne; we had visited for a few days in February 2006.  It looked like things had not actually changed all that much -- a good thing considering how much development is going on in Vietnam.  The last time we'd been to Mui Ne we stayed down the road close to the town of Mui Ne.  We found that it was really too far from the beach and from most of the restaurants and whatnot.  Small Garden was right in the thick of it, so our experience this time around would be very different.  The beach was quiet and peaceful -- we pretty much had the stretch of beach in front of Small Garden to ourselves.  Pike sipped some beer and watched the kitesurfers while Konrad and I lounged on the comfortable chairs and read: our afternoon was perfect.  A little later on, we all strolled down to the end of the beach and back, taking in the darkening sky and the way the light played off the clouds.  When we got back to the bungalows, Pike's jet lag took over and he took a nap while Konrad and I explored the transportation options available to us for the next day.  We were planning to head to Nha Trang in the morning and meet Ma and Pa there.  Unfortunately, the dreaded open tour bus still rules in Mui Ne, so the only buses to Nha Trang (5 hours north) depart at 1:30am and 1:30pm.  We didn't feel prepared to spend $90 to rent a minibus to take us, so we resigned ourselves to the 1:30pm bus and made our way to dinner.  We chose a lovely restaurant (SukhoThai) on the beach at the hotel next to ours and had a fantastic meal (delicious curry and pizza) by candlelight.  A very annoying little French kid (amusingly named Konrad) repeatedly stopped at our table to show us his new prey (first a frog, then a number of crabs).  Despite that, it was a wonderful and relaxing meal away from the busy highway.  After a few drinks at a bar, we all called it a night and hit the hay.  The next morning was spent on the beach, soaking up as much sunshine as possible.  Our bus was scheduled to pick us up at the hotel at 1pm, so we checked out around noon and went across the street to get some lunch.  As we were finishing (around 12:45pm), I noticed a bus driving by that had our bus's logo on it.  I ran out and asked the driver if it was our bus -- he said yes, so we threw down some money and ran back to grab our bags.  By the time we had done all that, the bus had driven away.  Fortunately, the tour company offered to drive us to the bus in a taxi.  We met up with the bus at the agent's office and were told we had half an hour to wait.  By 1:45pm, we were pulling away and were on the road to Nha Trang -- another beach awaited our arrival.
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