Nonsense Hour: August 2013

Friday, August 30, 2013

Hey guys!!! We're doing it, we're REALLY doing it: we're backpacking!

Well rested from our detour in Phu Quoc, we kicked our backpacking into high gear. First, we flew to HCMC for a quick stop to meet up with Jeremy's friends Nicolas and Camille. The four of us took advantage of the cheesy aerobics that dozens of locals do every evening to show off some spectacular dance moves to the 80's techno blasting in the park.

From there, we went to Danang, the city where Jeremy lived and volunteered for a summer 7 years ago. The city had changed quite a bit but mostly for the best. We motorbiked around the main sites, including an enormous hilltop Buddhist statue. One morning, we got up at 5:30 to see the sunrise and run on China beach. The most interesting part of this morning was the atmosphere on the beach before dawn: hundreds - no gazillions - of Vietnamese people exercising on the beach before going to work. By 7, the beach was empty.

Hoi An was our next stop. This is the Vietnamese capital of custom-made garments, and Alina took advantage of it... See results in pictures below. We also enjoyed a great day of diving in the Cham Islands, off the coast of Hoi An. A festival celebrating the relationship of Japan and Hoi An (a very specific festival) greeted us upon our return, so we enjoyed some concerts and carnival game activities.

Next stop: Hue, once the capital city of Vietnam, with its Imperial Palace (a nice site, but unfortunately poorly maintained), and tombs of emperors around the city. We stayed at an amazing, brand new hotel (thank you again Nicolas and Camille for the recommendation!), for $14.5 per night. Every time we got back to the hotel, they said: "You look so tired, please sit down" and would bring us fruits and lemonade. This is where Jeremy's sweating definitely comes in handy!

We have just arrived in Hanoi: more on that later!!

coffee with sweetened condensed milk rocks!

Techno-aerobics (90% hand movements, so not toooo challenging of a workout)

Alina working out so hard that the top of her head fell off

New Friend, Alina, Jeremy, Nicolas, & Camille

Safest motorbiker in the world

Danang bridges

Designing a dress

explaining what you want, when all you know is the Vietnamese word for 'Pho' (which is 'Pho')

Collateral damage

New dress designed by Alina (Sweetened Condensed Milk Designs, Ltd.)

Cham island extreme cuteness; viewer discretion advised

Yummy hot pot

Hyperventilation

Japan festival

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

A Vacation from Backpacking

We have a confession to make: we just took a vacation from backpacking. We know. It’s only been a week since we started, but we really needed a break.

West of the Mekong, off the coast of Cambodia, is an island called Phu Quoc. Fine sand, sunny beaches, cheap seafood, relatively undiscovered by tourists and backpackers, it was the perfect place for us. It is fascinating to see the island change almost in front of our eyes. New roads and a lot of construction is under way to prepare for the busy season at the end of the year. Our own hotel was undergoing works and, next door, new bungalows were half-built by the time we left. It’s easy to imagine that in a few years, this will be a highly visited destination, so, come here soon if you can!

Apart from reading in the sun (A Thousand Spendid Suns was amazing!) and lounging on the beach, we ran along the beach almost every morning. In the evenings, we went downtown to the nightly fish market for some fresh fish dinners. The pictures tell it best for this part of the trip.

We are now back in HCMC, for a quick stop before going up north to Danang.

Alina and Jeremy,
Sometimes No Nonsense is Better Than Too Little Nonsense

Boat ride to Phu Quoc

A VERY tiny island. We have placed a bottle of water on this picture so that you may compare for scale

Phu Quoc beach

Buying pineapple on the beach

Alina interviewing, blair-witch project style

Pooping sand. It happens.

Stall at the night market

Squid fishing = stupidest thing ever

Monday, August 19, 2013

Getting Started in Vietnam

Hong Kong was a gentle introduction to Asia, but now we have started backpacking for real!

Ho Chi Minh City
From Hong Kong, we flew to Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC). The first thing we noticed in HCMC is mayhem: hundreds of people on motorbikes, zooming around unmarked streets, coming within centimeters of each other, carry huge loads while driving, texting while driving, carry babies while driving, texting while carrying babies while driving and, as if that weren't dangerous enough, there are no traffic lights. In rare cases where there are traffic lights, they are treated as purely decorative and optional.

There is just one rule: the bigger vehicle has the right of way. So buses are king, then vans, cars, then motorbikes, regular bikes and, in last place, pedestrians. It's no mystery why there are so few pedestrians. Crossing the street is fairly simple: hold your breath, close your eyes, and start walking confidently. Please refer to Indiana Jones and the last Crusade to better understand what it feels like (see the path of God).

The next thing we noticed after overcoming this minor obstacle is just how much happens on HCMC's sidewalks. Small restaurants, shops, street vendors, etc. take possession of the sidewalk. This leaves no room for pedestrians and walking mostly happens on the road, where -see above- there are large predators such as killer buses. To our surprise, this all seems to work and we saw no actual deaths or collisions in our 2 days there.

The Mekong
After HCMC, we headed south to explore the Mekong. Our first stop was a city called Can Tho which, judging by the fact that the children all waved to us and tried to touch us, doesn't get many tourists. We spent a day walking around and woke up at 5 am one morning to take a rickety boat to the floating market. Also, we had a premium brunch at the best hotel in town for a whopping $3.5. We are pretty fancy.

Jeremy and Alina,
Seeking Out Nonsense So You Don’t Have To