Hoi An - welcome to Vietnam

After an amazing six weeks in Europe, it was time for one last trip of business school - a long trip back to Southeast Asia. In fact, I would guess nobody in the world has ever flown from Tarifa Spain to Hoi An Vietnam before. It's not easy to do - I had to drive two hours to Malaga Spain, fly to London, change airports, then connect in Singapore and Hanoi, arrive in Da Nang, then drive an hour to Hoi An. Phew. But, still I was really excited to see Vietnam - the last Asian country high on my list of places to visit.

Hoi An was a great start to seeing the country. It is a small town located in the central portion of Vietnam, a couple miles from the coast and a few miles south of the 17th parallel, so technically part of South Vietnam from the perspective of the American War (I guess not surprisingly, but still unusual to hear, the Vietnam War is known here as the American War. And the Vietnamese justifiably have a lot of pride about how they were able to expel first the French colonists in the 1950s then the Americans in the 1970s).

Hoi An is now primarily a tourist destination, for Westerners, Vietnamese, and Chinese alike. It has a really nice, very walkable old town (cars are forbidden though bikes and motorcycles, known here as xe om, are everywhere). Our first day we rented bicycles (Asian biking again!) and rode from our hotel on the riverfront a few miles outside town into the downtown. I luckily did not hit anyone. We explored the various temples, the sprawling market, the numerous tailors and art galleries that have exploded to suck in tourist dollars, and walked throughout the old town, trying to adjust to the heat, humidity, aromas, and chaos that were a stark contrast from Europe. The town was really pleasant though, and, despite the madness when compared to Spain, was definitely one of the calmest places I have been in SE Asia.

Hoi An was a trading center for thousands of years, and there are a number of Chinese style buildings and temples. Here are a few photos of temples in the old town.




We also enjoyed the markets which sold everything from dried fish to fruits and vegetables to clothes and furniture.


We also spent part of our long weekend enjoying the beaches around Hoi An. The 30km long white sand beach that stretches from Hoi An to Da Nang was a famous relaxation spot for American soldiers. The northern stretch of the beach is also known from a tv show as "China Beach". We were only 1km from the southern portion of the beach, so we took full advantage of the 80+ degree ocean water, beautiful clean beaches, and gorgeous palm tree and island views. Yet another amazing beach.

Our last day in Hoi An, we hired a car and drove to My Son, a really interesting and beautiful set of Hindu ruins about an hour into the countryside that were built by the Champas culture from around the 3rd century to the 14th century. This is the same culture most famous for its largest ruins, Angkor Wat in Cambodia. The collection of temples, buildings, and ruins partially overrun by jungle was quite stunning and fascinating. We really enjoyed the drive from Hoi An, through some very small towns and countryside, then hiking (briefly) through the jungle to get to the ruins.

Shangri-La

It's been a whirlwind 48 hours since I wrote last so I will try to describe a few of the things that have happened.


First, Friday was my last day at Kijiji. Everyone gathered to take a photo (below) as I was leaving which was very cool.


Then I went out with the GSB crew to great Cantonese dim sum and then to karaoke with a bunch of Shu's friends. I knew it would be an interesting experience but it was crazier than I imagined. The place felt sort of like a nice casino, with big marble floors and high ceilings, chandeliers, great service, and fancy private karaoke rooms. Everyone was so in to singing it was crazy. I expected that, but it was more intense and more fun than I thought. Kind of like Lost in Translation, but with bigger, nicer rooms. Our GSB group sang Sweet Home Alabama, though I mostly banged on the tambourine to drown out my voice.

I left bright and early Saturday for Kunming, Yunnan. I have decided that Yunnan is equivalent to Colorado, and Kunming is Denver. There are mountains all around, a pretty unique culture that is not like California and not like the East Coast. I am probably not explaining this analogy very well, but the point is Kunming is a pretty cool city, especially for China. Very little pollution, a really nice downtown, some great pagodas and temples and a great lake. I spent a very pleasant 6 hours there, then hopped on a plane to Shangri-La.


Shangri-La is in the very Northwest corner of Yunnan/Colorado. Despite it's technical location in Yunnan, Shangri-La is a Tibetan town. All the people I have met have classified themselves as Tibetan, they dress and eat Tibetan food, and many of the local people are monks at one of the local Tibetan Buddhist Monasteries. [A quick note on Tibet, the people that we met here say that Westerners falsely associate the Tibetan culture with the Tibet SAR that is designated by the Chinese government. There are many Tibetan villages in the provinces that border that border Tibet SAR.]


I checked in to my hostel last night the same time as two Dutch travelers, so the three of us went out to check out the town and grab dinner. The town has a really cool monastery on the top of a little hill which was great. Then we went out and had a surprisingly good dinner of dried yak meat, pickled potatoes, and barley noodle balls.


Today we rented mountain bikes to explore the area. I will not write more about my dislike for the act of biking but I survived off road biking in the Himalayas on my first day at altitude (the town is at 3200 meters, surrounding area is higher) with only one bleeding knee.


But the best part of biking was that we got to see all sorts of off the beaten path things. We met a monk who took us into one of the monastery's kitchens and had yak tea with us (absolutely gross but amazing experience). We went through all sorts of gorgeous valleys with flowers and yaks and yak sheppards and Tibetan people going around the daily work. Everyone was super friendly and yelled "Hello" or "Nihao" to us. We went to the biggest monastery outside Tibet and hiked all around it, went through its dozens of cool temple areas, and trekked up through some of the hills and villages around the monastery. Finally we ended up in a huge lake bed and chilled in the fields.


That's all I can write for now. I will upload more pictures to this post later.

Hangzhou

On Sunday I went with 5 people from Kijiji to Hangzhou, a little town 2 hours by train west from Shanghai. Although I am calling it a town because I had never heard of it, it has about 6.5 million people. So city may be more appropriate.

When Marco Polo found Hangzhou in the 1200s, he called it “Paradise on Earth”. Most Shanghainese think it is the most beautiful city in China. I agree that it is quite nice – there is a huge lake in the middle of the city called Xihu (West Lake). It has all sorts of lotus blooming in it, mountains rising up all around it, a number of big pagodas and little tea houses, and two really long stone bridges that were built in the 300-400s that lead out to a little island in the center of the lake.

We got to Hangzhou around 11:30 and had a nice lunch in an old Chinese house. Then we walked all along the lake, admired the scenery, took photos and generally goofed around. As I have mentioned before, often decisions get made in Chinese and I am only consulted at the last minute. Around 3:00, I get asked if I know how to ride a bike. Hesitantly, I answer yes. And of course, next thing I know we have rented bikes.

As many of you who have ridden bikes with me in Ireland, the beach, or my triathlon, I am a good bike rider when there is nothing around me, but when there are objects nearby – anything from elderly Asian women to pesky water bottles – I tend to hit them. The thought of riding a bike around packed Chinese streets was a bit terrifying.

Also the bikes that we rented were very small – kind of like a regular bicycle, except you couldn’t turn the handlebars hard and peddle at the same time because your knees will hit them. And there was only 1 gear.

We start out riding on these paths near the lake. Not so bad. Then we go around the bend and there are tons of people and bikers and these trams that shuttle people all around. But I discover that I have a little bell. So I keep peddling along, sweating like crazy, and ringing my bell all the time and just hoping people get out of my way. There were a few close squeezes when the path got narrow. And once I ran into a bush (but bounced out and recovered nicely). No major disasters.

Then we get to the end of the path, and take a turn for a major road. Now we add cars and buses to the mix. I am sure I am going to die. We keep going for a bit, I sort of get used to driving near chaotic traffic, and everything seems ok. Except I am very ready to be done biking and it has only been 20 minutes. Finally, we get to a huge tunnel and which of course we decide to go through. There are two lanes of traffic and a “bike lane” on the right side. A tiny little bar divides us in the “bike lane” from the road. And there is not much room between this bar and the tunnel wall. I am struggling to just stay in a moderately straight line and not tip over into traffic and get run over. Then, this beeping comes from behind me and won’t stop. I quickly look over my shoulder and see a moped in the bike lane! I squeeze as close to the wall as I can and hope for the best. Sure enough, he starts to pass me. He zipped by me, and I bounced off the wall but gracefully managed to straighten things out and keep on peddling. The tunnel kept going and going and going – it was probably only 6 or 7 minutes really – but finally I made it out, and eventually back to the lake. I am done with biking.

One final Hangzhou story – since it was supposed to rain, I brought a rain jacket and wore cargo shorts instead of bringing a backpack. I brought my iPod, camera, some clifbars, passport, wallet, cards, etc. I am not sure exactly why, but everyone was amazed by how much stuff I had managed to bring with me. Apparently, there is a Japanese cartoon cat that has magic powers and can pull anything out of her “pockets” whenever she wants. So now, my Chinese nickname is “Dolae” because I resemble this female Japanese cartoon cat. Great.

More photos later, but for now:

Xihu (West Lake)

Team photoOur Triumphant HeroSunset at XihuStud with umbrellaDorae (I hope there is no resemblance)