I'm sorry I didn't post the rest of my trip. I got sick. I was using all my energy just to get through the trip.
Wednesday, January 6, 2016
Monday, December 28, 2015
Hue and sick
Unfortunately will most likely just have one post for Hue. I've found myself sick with a cold. Last time I was this sick was when I was traveling around China this summer. I was sick for easily about 45 days then before I was able to get myself to the doctor. That was 45 days since the moment I started feeling off until the moment I started feeling better.
Saturday, December 26, 2015
Hoi An to Hue
I woke up today and was able to chat with some of the other guests at breakfast.
From there, one last ride into town to get some gifts that I had seen, I won't say what they are though.
Then I boarded my transit. I had arranged the transit through my hotel in Hue. I had an English speaking driver. We first stopped at the Marble Village in Da Nang, which effectively was just a place that sells marble. Then onto Marble Mountain. I spent about 30-45 minutes walking around the mountain and seeing the various religious sites.
Then it was off to the Hai Van Pass, at the top of which was an old US bunker and some type of Chinese fortification or gate from long ago. It used to be that the only way to get between the two cities was to take the pass, which is quite winding. However, recently a tunnel opened that cuts the time down significantly and actually makes the whole road a lot safer.
From there it was onto Lang Co beach where I ate the baguettes the hotel in Hoi An had sent with me. Then it was on to Hue, with an arrival around 230.
I checked in and chilled and then headed out to a local restaurant called Risotto for dinner which was practically next door to my hotel.
From there, one last ride into town to get some gifts that I had seen, I won't say what they are though.
Then I boarded my transit. I had arranged the transit through my hotel in Hue. I had an English speaking driver. We first stopped at the Marble Village in Da Nang, which effectively was just a place that sells marble. Then onto Marble Mountain. I spent about 30-45 minutes walking around the mountain and seeing the various religious sites.
Then it was off to the Hai Van Pass, at the top of which was an old US bunker and some type of Chinese fortification or gate from long ago. It used to be that the only way to get between the two cities was to take the pass, which is quite winding. However, recently a tunnel opened that cuts the time down significantly and actually makes the whole road a lot safer.
From there it was onto Lang Co beach where I ate the baguettes the hotel in Hoi An had sent with me. Then it was on to Hue, with an arrival around 230.
I checked in and chilled and then headed out to a local restaurant called Risotto for dinner which was practically next door to my hotel.
Friday, December 25, 2015
Christmas Eve (My Son)
So Christmas Eve Day. I had arranged a tour through my hotel to visit My Son. Which is not pronounced how we think it should be in English. It's kind of more like "may shan", which means beautiful mountain in Vietnamese.
I really wanted to go to My Son. I loved the site, my tour was awful and the guide was even worse. For one, they were 1/2 hour late picking up everybody. Once we arrived at the big bus, because yes were were on a bus will well over 50 people on it, I learned the worst part to come. The tour guide. The gentleman leading the tour had good English, but his voice was like nails on a chalkboard for me. And he repeated words and information over and over again.
I really wanted to go to My Son. I loved the site, my tour was awful and the guide was even worse. For one, they were 1/2 hour late picking up everybody. Once we arrived at the big bus, because yes were were on a bus will well over 50 people on it, I learned the worst part to come. The tour guide. The gentleman leading the tour had good English, but his voice was like nails on a chalkboard for me. And he repeated words and information over and over again.
Thursday, December 24, 2015
Roosters, dogs and Hoi An
Monday night going into Tuesday I spent the night on an overnight train from Saigon to Da Nang, which is the nearest train station to Hoi An, where I am now. I was in a so called "soft sleeper" meaning there were only 4 beds in each compartment. Despite being the most expensive option in the train I swore at various times of the night I hear a rooster crowing and a dog barking. And I wasn't the only one.
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| Hoi An is known as the Lantern City |
Tuesday, December 22, 2015
Mekong Delta
On December 21 I took a day trip to the Mekong Delta with Les Rives. I opted for this because it involved a boat instead of trying to travel by bus to the Mekong. It was also less of a touristy experience and more of an "authentic" experience.
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| Houses on Stilts along the river in Saigon |
Sunday, December 20, 2015
Cu Chi Tunnels and a water puppet show
Yesterday I booked a trip out to the Cu Chi Tunnels.
In the Vietnam war these tunnels caused the US troops immense troubles. The troops ended up using Agent Orange to destroy the jungle that was above the tunnels, which as a result has caused innumerable health problems among the local population. Agent orange is odorless and tasteless so the people didn't know when they were imbibing it or eating it.
In the Vietnam war these tunnels caused the US troops immense troubles. The troops ended up using Agent Orange to destroy the jungle that was above the tunnels, which as a result has caused innumerable health problems among the local population. Agent orange is odorless and tasteless so the people didn't know when they were imbibing it or eating it.
Saturday, December 19, 2015
Day 1 in Ho Chi Minh/Saigon
For as late as I got to bed last night I slept miserably. I finally forced my butt out of bed and all the rest of that stuff sometime after 9 AM. Went downstairs to talk to the hotel people about getting a SIM and a map and finding out where the crucial essentials could be found (breakfast and an ATM). I also arranged a trip to the Cu Chi tunnels for tomorrow and to see the water puppet show. The tunnel tour is super cheap $5 USD, so I'm thinking there will be a few shopping stops.
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| Ho Chi Minh (Saigon) Central Post office |
Friday, December 18, 2015
Vietnam
I finally arrived in Vietnam.
Last year I had to cancel this trip when life happened. I knew that there was a variety of options for where to go for Christmas but ultimately I knew I would be closing a door by being able to make this trip. Dad would have wanted it. When I first came to China, my first trip was to Cambodia. I kept a bit quiet about this. Not because dad had fought in the war or anything, but because he had had many buddies who hadn't. After the trip he told me that he had never thought he'd have a daughter who would voluntarily go to Cambodia.
This time around it was him who suggested I should go to Vietnam during the trip last February that got cancelled. I felt that that was his okay that he was okay with it.
So I headed to the airport right after getting out of work yesterday and checked in along with a few colleagues. We ate pizza at the airport for dinner and parted our ways.
Now I'm a believer in the rule of threes that things tend to happen in threes. First off: we had to take a bus to get to the plane, in what seemed to be the furthest area from the terminal. Second: once we landed we once again were taxi'd to have to take the bus to the terminal in what seemed to be the most remote area of the airport. Third: once in the terminal the VOA computer had been down for 2 hours. Luckily I had paid for a fast track service but it still took longer than desired. Ugh.
Though on a touch of good news, all the info I had been reading said the visa was $45 USD, but I only had to pay $25 USD on arrival.
Finally got to my hotel around 11 PM last night and was asleep sometime after midnight. Big day exploring today.
Last year I had to cancel this trip when life happened. I knew that there was a variety of options for where to go for Christmas but ultimately I knew I would be closing a door by being able to make this trip. Dad would have wanted it. When I first came to China, my first trip was to Cambodia. I kept a bit quiet about this. Not because dad had fought in the war or anything, but because he had had many buddies who hadn't. After the trip he told me that he had never thought he'd have a daughter who would voluntarily go to Cambodia.
This time around it was him who suggested I should go to Vietnam during the trip last February that got cancelled. I felt that that was his okay that he was okay with it.
So I headed to the airport right after getting out of work yesterday and checked in along with a few colleagues. We ate pizza at the airport for dinner and parted our ways.
Now I'm a believer in the rule of threes that things tend to happen in threes. First off: we had to take a bus to get to the plane, in what seemed to be the furthest area from the terminal. Second: once we landed we once again were taxi'd to have to take the bus to the terminal in what seemed to be the most remote area of the airport. Third: once in the terminal the VOA computer had been down for 2 hours. Luckily I had paid for a fast track service but it still took longer than desired. Ugh.
Though on a touch of good news, all the info I had been reading said the visa was $45 USD, but I only had to pay $25 USD on arrival.
Finally got to my hotel around 11 PM last night and was asleep sometime after midnight. Big day exploring today.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
It's FRESH!
One of my favorite things is fresh berries, fruits and vegetables that are available in the summer from places other than the grocery store. Living in New England, we tended to only be able to get farm or garden fresh vegetables about 6 months out of the year, if lucky.
Here in Morocco, everything is very fresh, from the markets to the supermarket, what you see and can buy you know was only picked at the most a day or two before you purchased it. Even the poorest people buy fruits and vegetables, because there is always something in season that is cheap. Of course the cheapest thing to buy is bread, which is as always, fresh. Bread is government subsidized and you can buy gorgeous, just backed, French style baguettes for the equivalent of about $0.30.
Right now citrus is in season. Strawberries, oranges, mandarins, clementines. It's all very good. I've been buying a kilo of strawberries at a time, which is approximately 2.2 lbs, for just under $2 and just sitting and eating them.
It's very refreshing, as compared with the US where junk food seems to be the norm. In fact, I have been buying LESS junk food, as it is not very cheap at all. Of course, I really must admit that were I haven't been buying much junkfood, I have been buying fresh pastries and slices of cakes. So I don't know what's the worse of the two.
One thing that Moroccan use fresh fruits for are juices. All about Morocco you can find little shops that make fresh juices. Fruit blended with milk or yogurt. For argument's sake, technically this is a type of milk shake, but they call it juice here. For about a dollar, or just over a dollar you can have a yummy fruit juice. Offerings do depend on the season.
To make a Moroccan fruit juice is super easy! I just purchased an immersion blender today and made one of my own. The recipe I provide below is there for an immersion blender, you may want to adjust for a regular blender. Personally, I'd say this recipe is for one person, but you can make it for more if you so desire!
Strawberry juice:
In your immersion blender or blender, combine
2/3 cup milk (whole milk is more common here in Morocco, but skim or non-fat can be used, you just won't have the same taste result)
1/4-1/2 cup of fruit (chopped if it is a hard fruit) Depending on your own personal taste if you like something more fruity use more fruit, if you prefer it more liquidy use less fruit.
Blend for 45 seconds or until all noticeable chunks have been blended.
Here in Morocco, everything is very fresh, from the markets to the supermarket, what you see and can buy you know was only picked at the most a day or two before you purchased it. Even the poorest people buy fruits and vegetables, because there is always something in season that is cheap. Of course the cheapest thing to buy is bread, which is as always, fresh. Bread is government subsidized and you can buy gorgeous, just backed, French style baguettes for the equivalent of about $0.30.
Right now citrus is in season. Strawberries, oranges, mandarins, clementines. It's all very good. I've been buying a kilo of strawberries at a time, which is approximately 2.2 lbs, for just under $2 and just sitting and eating them.
It's very refreshing, as compared with the US where junk food seems to be the norm. In fact, I have been buying LESS junk food, as it is not very cheap at all. Of course, I really must admit that were I haven't been buying much junkfood, I have been buying fresh pastries and slices of cakes. So I don't know what's the worse of the two.
One thing that Moroccan use fresh fruits for are juices. All about Morocco you can find little shops that make fresh juices. Fruit blended with milk or yogurt. For argument's sake, technically this is a type of milk shake, but they call it juice here. For about a dollar, or just over a dollar you can have a yummy fruit juice. Offerings do depend on the season.
To make a Moroccan fruit juice is super easy! I just purchased an immersion blender today and made one of my own. The recipe I provide below is there for an immersion blender, you may want to adjust for a regular blender. Personally, I'd say this recipe is for one person, but you can make it for more if you so desire!
Strawberry juice:
In your immersion blender or blender, combine
2/3 cup milk (whole milk is more common here in Morocco, but skim or non-fat can be used, you just won't have the same taste result)
1/4-1/2 cup of fruit (chopped if it is a hard fruit) Depending on your own personal taste if you like something more fruity use more fruit, if you prefer it more liquidy use less fruit.
Blend for 45 seconds or until all noticeable chunks have been blended.
Friday, February 4, 2011
Wines
Well, welcome to my premier blog from Morocco. Perhaps February of my first year was not the best time to start this. A better time would have been in August, but yeah, that happened.
Let's just get the obvious out of the way: Morocco is a Muslim country. Followers of Islam are not supposed to drink any alcohol. One of the many things I can remember other friends telling me about their experiences in Egypt was that there were very few type of alcohol available. Yes, I realize that Morocco and Egypt are two different places. In this entry I purely use the two for comparison purposes. I remember them telling me you could buy hard alcohol from the Christians, but that there was pretty much just a couple types of beer and a couple types of wine. Being that I have never been to Egypt, thus no direct experience, I tell you this and advise you to take it with a grain of salt. My friends easily could have been exaggerating.
Morocco for all intents and purposes is a very liberal Muslim country. Coming here and speaking with others who had lived in other Muslim countries, made me see how many freedoms and liberties we have in comparison with those who live in other countries. Here in Morocco, I am able to buy almost any type of liquor in most grocery stores and numerous small corner stores. Yes, the beer choices are not that great, but one thing that is big here is wine! Morocco also has a bit more of a lax attitude when it comes to the holy month of Ramadan. Numerous people I know were able to buy wine during Ramadan through some pleading, showing of passports and a couple SVP's (s'il vous plait=please).
Almost every time I go to one of the major grocery stores you can see locals investing in some bottle of wine. Wine is so popular here that Morocco even produces numerous wines! The majority come from the area around Meknes. The wine brewing tradition goes all the way back to the Romans. While I do not invest in wine that often as even a small wine costs around $7, I have tried a few Moroccan wines with mixed results.
I'm currently enamored with Les Celliers de Meknes' Beauvallon Rouge Beni M'Tir. While it is nothing special, I think that is exactly what attracts me to it! A "fail" for me was Volubilis. I just couldn't love it.
Are Moroccan wines available where you live? Would you try one if given the chance?
Here are some more links to check out regarding Moroccan wines. The link above is good, too, though is for the specific company, and not more in general.
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/morocco/100120/morocco-winemakers
http://www.volubilis2000.com/morocco-wine-moroccan-wine.html
Let's just get the obvious out of the way: Morocco is a Muslim country. Followers of Islam are not supposed to drink any alcohol. One of the many things I can remember other friends telling me about their experiences in Egypt was that there were very few type of alcohol available. Yes, I realize that Morocco and Egypt are two different places. In this entry I purely use the two for comparison purposes. I remember them telling me you could buy hard alcohol from the Christians, but that there was pretty much just a couple types of beer and a couple types of wine. Being that I have never been to Egypt, thus no direct experience, I tell you this and advise you to take it with a grain of salt. My friends easily could have been exaggerating.
Morocco for all intents and purposes is a very liberal Muslim country. Coming here and speaking with others who had lived in other Muslim countries, made me see how many freedoms and liberties we have in comparison with those who live in other countries. Here in Morocco, I am able to buy almost any type of liquor in most grocery stores and numerous small corner stores. Yes, the beer choices are not that great, but one thing that is big here is wine! Morocco also has a bit more of a lax attitude when it comes to the holy month of Ramadan. Numerous people I know were able to buy wine during Ramadan through some pleading, showing of passports and a couple SVP's (s'il vous plait=please).
Almost every time I go to one of the major grocery stores you can see locals investing in some bottle of wine. Wine is so popular here that Morocco even produces numerous wines! The majority come from the area around Meknes. The wine brewing tradition goes all the way back to the Romans. While I do not invest in wine that often as even a small wine costs around $7, I have tried a few Moroccan wines with mixed results.
I'm currently enamored with Les Celliers de Meknes' Beauvallon Rouge Beni M'Tir. While it is nothing special, I think that is exactly what attracts me to it! A "fail" for me was Volubilis. I just couldn't love it.
Are Moroccan wines available where you live? Would you try one if given the chance?
Here are some more links to check out regarding Moroccan wines. The link above is good, too, though is for the specific company, and not more in general.
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/morocco/100120/morocco-winemakers
http://www.volubilis2000.com/morocco-wine-moroccan-wine.html
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