Hoi An and Da Nang In Pictures

Hoi An is a very popular tourist destination in central Vietnam with it's beautiful ancient city and colourful tailor shops everywhere. We spent 5 days in Hoi An followed by 3 days in the neighbouring city; Da Nang. Here's our trip in pictures!

Ancient City is filled with small temples on both sides of the road. They are very pretty and peaceful. 

The ancient city is accessible only on foot or on a bike. Bikes are an awesome way to get around ! 

We are lucky to get to Hoi An just for the red flower festival. All the lights were lit and people were sending wish lanterns on the river. 

We did a day trip to visit the Cham island

Lanterns are lit every night. There are thousands !

We also met Xe and managed to get a ride.

The Japanese Bridge is in the Ancient town. Little over rated if I may say. 

Tailors tailors tailors everywhere... 

And more lanterns. 

You can take boats around the rivers. 

And then you send off your wish lanterns. 

Food is so delicious. 

DA NANG 

Dragon Bridge

Beautiful city landscape. 

Marbel Mountains 

Monkey Mountain

Marbel Mountain Caves

Beaches

Loved every second of it. 

C H I N A

The easiest way to get to China from Vietnam via land is to take a bus from the Luong Yen bus station in Hanoi. The tickets cost 40-45 USD per person and they say that the journey takes 6-7 h. In reality, it takes 4 hours to reach the boarder of China where you have to grab all your belongings with you and head to the Vietnamese boarder  control. Followed by the Chinese control and immigration. As the only foreigners around we got stuck at the customs with our six bags where they spent a good half an hour digging through absolutely everything. After all of that there is still about a four hour ride to Nanning. The bus terminal in Nanning has a tourist help desk (they can translate your hotel name into Chinese and write some instructions for the taxi driver). 

Our hotel staff didn't speak any English, but kept on babbling to us in Chinese (common feature around Asia), and there were no other travelers in sight. Two days of hand signalling and blindly pointing at menus gave me a curious feeling of a de ja vu. However, we managed to make some friends and try some yummy (beans and garlic fried with chili) and not so yummy (black tofu with pork) local foods. 

Next, we headed to Nanning train station to catch a train to Guilin. The station is weird; just walk through all security to get the tickets. Booking tickets online is easier if you can figure it our or get some help from a local. You have to get seats though, they sell standing tickets but that's absolute madness. The trains are new, fast and clean, definitely the best way to travel around China. 

We had the most amazing hotel in Guilin (Guilin central hostel) right by one of the lakes and the old town. Three days were well spend mesmerising our new surroundings. Places to visit; 

Forbidden City

Reed Flute Cave

Elephant Trunk Hill 

Yao Mountain 

We also visited a local silk factory. It was really hard not to buy a full set of heavenly soft sheets with us. Lucky us, they did cost a fortune which aided us out of the factory. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately (I hate zoos), the Seven Star Park no longer has any pandas. The city is very lovely for relaxing strolls, and it is very beautiful to walk around. 

From Guilin we continued our journey via public ferry on the Li River down to Yangshuo. We stayed at a peaceful retreat just outside the busy town, enjoying the lovely serenity and silence. We visited the Silver Cave and the Moon Hill but mostly spent our time relaxing and eating some of the most delicious food. We did a day tour on bicycle to the Yulong River, where we spent the afternoon bamboo rafting on the river. It was absolutely gorgeous. 

Final stop before Hong Kong was Guangzhou, third or fourth largest city in China with it's population of 13 million. Not too much to see, but we did visit the 450 m high Canton Tower and the local university. 

And off to Hong Kong for my final five days in Asia. 

Greetings from the East ! 

Mira

Birthday celebration on the top of Fansipan

Afternoon !

A week ago, after my little camping trip at Ha Long Bay, I met up with my mum in Hanoi and we headed to Sa Pa. Sa Pa is a small town near the boarder of China, 8 h train ride north from Ha Noi inhabited by tribes such as the Hmong people. From a friend's recommendation we decided to travel via a sleeper train. Seat61.com provides great service for international train tickets at decent prices.

The train was quite comfortable and morning come we were in Sa Pa. It was too early for us to check in so we headed out for my birthday breakfast and my mum's first Vietnamese meal. Watching the morning spread across the vales and fields from the village was beautiful. My mum immediately fell in love with Vietnamese traditional coffee like I had so many months before.

We were promised a free upgrade at the hotel if we waited for a little bit longer so we decided to head to Fansipan for the morning. Fansipan is a 3 143 meters high mountain towering over the Sa Pa town as the highest mountain in Indochina. It is possible to hike to the top, however, this is illegal without a guide which costs 120 USD per person. The hike takes a full day and there is a camping site near the top. Another way to reach the top is the Fansipan Legend cable car costing 25 dollars each and taking about half an hour. The cable car is super modern and the views from the box are stunning. Below you you can see a cable system that transports goods between houses that live underneath the mountain.

I was wearing a top and shorts, the Vietnamese people and other tourists were wearing rain coats and winter clothes. I guess it is true that Finnish people have a little warmer blood than the rest. Watching me jump up and down the rocks barely dressed was a huge amusement to the other people. From the cable car station there is still a good thousand steps to walk to the actual top of the mountain. The peak is so high that it is often covered in clouds and you won't be able to see the villages spreading below you.

Daily, there are small Hmong markets around the town as well as plenty of people walking around selling bags and other small ornaments. The town is quite touristy, filled with restaurants from around the world. The Hmong are not even to be compared with other Vietnamese people. They are delightful and happy, speak better English than Vietnamese and represent their cultural heritage with pride. They are hardcore sellers and hagglers and will walk around after you and make you love them so much you cannot help but to buy something. They are very eager to take you to their villages and to show you around and talk about Sa Pa. Forget any guide, go with a Hmong.

We rented a motorbike to head to the famous waterfalls; Silver Line and Love waterfalls. My mum had never even been on a motorbike before so it was fun to get her on one. Driving slow and safe for her, we had a good chance to check out the scenery. The waterfalls are 12 km out of town, on the route past Fansipan. They were not overly crowded with tourists which was pleasant. There is a small entrance fee for access. Pictures coming up !

We spent a day exploring around the Hmong villages, hiking up and down their hills and fields, drinking more coffee and tasting the local flavours. We visited the Golden waterfall in the Cat Cat village and saw a traditional dance performance. It was magical; the ancient music echoing around the vales and the roar of the waterfall in the background.

Very different kind of birthday than I have had in the past but it was once in a lifetime experience. Barely in touch with the rest of the world just in amiss between the untouched, endless fields and slopes. A place where you can easily find your inner peace and experience something out of this world.


Peace,

Mira

What happened in Pai

Finally getting around the write what really happened during my Pai getaway. 

I had done some research on Pai in Chiang Mai as I only had three days in the town, I wanted to make sure I'll see the best of it. I found this article online, standard ''ten best things to do in Pai'', and I decided to go with it. http://www.jonesaroundtheworld.com/10-amazing-things-to-do-in-pai-thailand/ 

I had booked myself into a very nice resort with a pool and a private rooftop as I felt like I earned some peace, quiet and luxury. 

The first day was spent scrambling around, scouting for good places and getting myself settled, motorbike and all that. The sunset was magical and the people in Pai are such sweethearts, I had reached my happy place. 

The second day I took my new ''Bob'' out for a ride. I went to greet the big white Buddha and cruised around the river. I drove up to the Chinese village to look over Pai from the view point. It was great though the hills on the way up nearly killed my bike. There is a small cafe on top and a good 360 view over the Pai and the hills surrounding it. On the way back to town I stopped by a waterfall. It was dry season so there wasn't as much water as there normally would be. 

Pai is a small place but there are great things surrounding it so I would definitely recommend renting a motorbike, makes getting around so much easier and allows you to find fantastic hidden places where tours won't take you. We had agreed to fast the afternoon so that we could stuff ourselves full with the night market food. Which is super yummy by the way. 

Next morning we decided to expand our radius, I taught my company how to ride a motorbike, and tick of a few things from our ''ten things to do'' list. We started off with The Om Garden Cafe. The best food I have eaten in 10 months. I cannot even describe it, absolutely mouthwatering and delicious. You HAVE TO go there if you ever go to Pai. Then, with our bellies full, we headed out to the Pai canyon. The canyon is not huge but it is fun, you can climb on the rocks and jump around. It's great for photos, just remember to wear good shoes. We also stopped by the Land Split. A crack between two rock caused by two tiny earthquakes in 2009 and 2011, truly nothing to see there. 

On the way back to town we found of the locations from the list I had not been able to find online; the Container cafe. It's a cafe on the side of the big main road half way to the Pai canyon where you can sit in huge nest chairs and look over the vale. We sat there for ages enjoying nice, cold, matcha tea and taking awesome colourful photos (by now you will understand that I took thousands of photos, perks of finally having someone to travel with for real). 

We decided to go enjoy the sunset at the big Buddha. I would say best place to see it in Pai. They do daily trips to the canyon for sunset, which is lovely, but the view from the sanctuary is better. 

The next day we went for a hunt for a secret waterfall by some river, a few local friends were suppose to show us where it was but they were too hungover. Of course, we failed to find it but ended up finding another waterfall where a Thai family was having a day out. I don't even know how many kids were in that pool, they just kept on popping up from everywhere and jumping off the cliffs. It was amazing, the joy in them is indescribably. They didn't mind us at all, only more targets in their water fight so we had a great time unleashing our inner children. 

In the afternoon we had a serious talk, check up our ticket prices again, decided to miss our transport on the morning after and stay in Pai for another three days. We looked up an accommodation for both of us and moved into a lovely resort by the river. 

We finally managed to stay up long enough to go have a night out at the Don't Cry reggae bar (another thing on the list). The vibe was chilled and the music was amazing, nothing to complain about. Sums up Pai quite well. 

We decided to lazy up as we now had loads more time and spent the following day by the Fluid Pool (also recommended online). The place is cool; 60 k for entering for the day, a big pool and a bar that also serves food. It's quite popular among the tourists and the expats but the vibe still remains good. We had yoga plans at the Buddha at sunrise so the night was short. 

Woke up at six am, drove to the Buddha and waited for the sun to come up. No one else was out there so it was very peaceful and quiet. Completed our yoga and drove to the Om Garden Cafe again. you might not have realised but we did eat there every single day. I'm not joking, the food was out of this world. It was healing for my little vegetarian hippie soul. Our final day mostly rotated around food and chilling in different reggae places loving life. 

My feelings on Pai; absolutely fantastic, small but so filled little hippie place in the middle of what seems to be nowhere. Gorgeous food and fabulous people. I got the rest I so desperately needed and I got a reminder of how lucky and blessed I actually am. I met my kind of people who are keen on caring about the environment, their health and what they put in their bodies. 

Zen out, 

Mira 

Ha Long Bay adventures

Ha Long Bay !

What an extraordinary, beautiful place. Without a doubt the place well earns its World Heritage Destination title.

After returning from my trip to Thailand, I headed to Ha Long and Hai Phong to say good byes to my friends and to pick up my motorbike again. I met up with a friend from home and we drove to Cat Ba together. The plan was to rent kayaks for three days and head onto some hidden beaches in the bay. We stayed in Cat Ba one night and started hunting for kayaks and a tent early next morning. Turns out that there are absolutely no camping shops on Cat Ba and no one rents tents, contrary to what we had been told. For future adventurists, I would recommend booking early. A few places rent kayaks over night; Blue Swimmers and Woodstock Beach Camp. The Asia Outdoors at the Good Bar is a very helpful place as well.

Eventually, we managed to get kayaks and two hammocks so off we went. We got a boat ride deeper into the bay where our kayaks were waiting. From there we navigated towards the open sea where we had heard of a secret beach. The tide was very high and the sea quite wild so we ended up getting soaked before we were able to find any beaches. Luckily, found one before it got dark and hung up our hammocks and made a fire. It was fantastic to be in the middle of nowhere grilling food on an open fire while fishermen boats were lighting the horizon. Sleeping in itself didn't go so well; we were ambushed by millions of mosquitoes. I ended up having more than a hundred stings in my back alone.

We woke up to a beautiful, quiet morning. The boats had already left their nightly parking and the eagles were flying near by. The tide was very low so we could see many more beaches near by. Sadly, the locals don't really take care of the cleanness of the bay and the waves carry loads of trash on the sands. Our happiness lasted about an hour when the biggest thunderstorm I have been in hit us. So we sat shaking in our hammocks, soaked in the water. Luckily, the storms travel fast so it was over soon. We had to wait some time for the tide to raise in order for us to carry on. We had hoped to stay for another night on another beach but it didn't seem sensible any more at that point, it wouldn't have been possible to light another bonfire, our main warm clothes were wet and we had lost most of our camping spirit.

The rain begun again on our way back to the pier so we got soaked again. Back into the city and straight into the nearest hotel to get a warm shower and food. Most of the day was spent napping, evening strolling around the Cat Ba town. Cat Ba town is nice, plenty of local seafood restaurants by the Bay and some nice hidden beaches with ice cream stalls. Cat Ba town isn't big, most of the island is covered by a green bush that has hidden trails and caves, and funky animals. The only practical way to get around is with a motorbike, luckily, the roads are wide and easy to drive even for a beginner.

We decided to move out of town to the Woodstock Beach Camp for our final two nights. We booked a tent on the beached and stayed there. Once again we were a little unluckily with the rain but overall the camp was very chilled and cozy. We spent our days driving around the island, visiting the caves and the national park, eating plenty of ice cream and relaxing by the beach. The caves are quite different to others in Vietnam; Cat Ba was used a lot during the war - there is a hospital cave and some storing caves as well as a cannon hill. All well worth visiting.

On our final day we took the kayaks out again to go visit the Monkey Island. I have to say that the monkeys are quite aggressive, probably been subjected to bad treatment, and will definitely steal anything they can get their hands on. This time it was a coke, fruits and a pair of sunglasses. The island itself is gorgeous as well as the surrounding area. It is an easy, short kayak journey away from the pier. We managed to find another island with a high observation deck that we climbed on. It was fantastic- eagles flying right by our side, clouds reflecting from the calm turquoise water.

Regardless of the weather being against us, the trip was amazing. Only in the forests in Finland have I ever seen that kind of untouched, undiscovered, drop dead gorgeous nature. The scenery is just different shades of blue and green.  It was great to go explore by ourselves and get some good exercise going.

Pictures coming up next to fill in the gaps that words only cannot.


Love,

Mira

Time to unload

Hello,


Time to talk about the events of the last three weeks. This time, I can say that so much has happened and I haven't always know what was going on, it has been impossible to blog until now.

Things started happening when I went to Hanoi one Tuesday to get my passport from the Chinese Embassy. I was unlucky and managed to cause myself a heatstroke the next day, running around Hanoi on the first warm days. Worst two and a half hour bus ride back to Hai Phong, busy holding my breath so I wouldn't present my breakfast for the whole bus. I made it home and spent the next two days in my cold, dark room shaking in fever.

As usual, it wasn't possible to for me stay in bed another day so off to work on Friday morning I went. I will not be describing how I was holding onto the teachers' table, trying to stay on my feet throughout the classes or how even the local teachers were looking at my struggles with empathy from the back of the class. I was literally shaking so much when I left, having not been able to keep any food down since the weekend, that I had to gather myself before I was able to drive.

This and a late payment of my salary, once again, led into some very rude and inappropriate messaged from my boss. As you may have read between the lines before, I have long struggled to enjoy my job and have not really been able to appreciate my experience in Vietnam. There are many underlying reasons for this that I will not analyse now. However, on Friday, feeling sick and tired both emotionally and physically, I had had enough. I felt trapped and just couldn't imagine myself going on any further down this path. I booked my tickets to Bangkok and called my mum. The following weekend was spent packing and organising things as well as in my friend's 30th birthday pool party.

I was lucky how things turned out; I got to see most of my friends before leaving, my friends from Thailand who I visited in Ho Chi Minh came to see me, and I had a chance to say goodbyes to the only class that was truly mine from the start of the year. I didn't want to abandon my position, nor had I long masterminded this escape. I feel sad that I couldn't finish what I started but I saw no other option. My farewells to my class were beautiful. The students were aware that the two following weeks would be cancelled so I didn't have to provide them with further information. We played some games, they won more than 2,5 kg of candy from me, we took some pictures and they sang songs for me. My favourite students came to hug me and talk to me. I could have never imagined that I could teach and form these kinds of relationships with my students, I adored teaching some of my classes and I learned a lot. Looking back at it even now, I am happy I did it.

I have no regrets.


Best wishes,


Mira

Busy bee

Hello,


It has been a relief that my students have been busy with their speaking tests. Social events and other commitments have completely filled my time. We have celebrated a few birthdays and had some lovely gatherings. Work has still been quite hectic, it is quite visible in the students and the staff that we are approaching the end of the year and final examinations. My time has also been very occupied by my travel plans.

The panic has hit me that I only have another six weeks to see the rest of Vietnam. Luckily, I have a few days off coming up ! I am hoping to make it to Hoi An and Da Nang in central Vietnam. When my mother comes for a visit, we will go see Sapa in the north. I have been to Cat Ba before but the national park on the island is yet to be conquered. It feels weird to panic over such things; even though I am leaving Vietnam and Asia soon, it doesn't mean that I wouldn't be able to come back in the future and explore them more.

I am already thinking about the lessons I have learned in Vietnam and the experiences I get to walk away with. I have definitely met some of the most amazing people during my travels and I have made friends for life. Without a doubt these final weeks will be the cherry on the cake. This weekend we are heading to Do Son beach for a day out and a farewell party. Next week it's time for the annual pool party and my friend's big 30th birthday !

On another note, I have finally managed to find and organise the shipping of some of my property back to Europe. I looked into multiple options before but I have now chosen to use FedEx. My friends have good experiences from sending letters through the Vietnamese post but I wouldn't trust it with my belongings. The shipping has been a little tricky to organise because of the long list of regulations regarding the matter, which obviously boosts up the price with most companies into outrageous figures. So not to worry sister; your weasel poo coffee is on it's way in a few days !


That's all for now from Vietnam ! Have a lovely week.


M

Request for tips !

Dear Readers,

I am currently planning my road trip through southern China. I am heading there at the end of May. The plan is to go through Nanning, Guilin and Guangzhou on my way to Hong Kong. I am super duper excited about this trip and am trying to find out all the best things to do ! If you have any tips for me, I would be very interested to hear; mira.luoma@hotmail.fi

Later I will be heading back to South Africa, my former home country and my ultimate favourite. I will be blogging about this once the time comes so stay tuned for amazing tips and stories about Cape Town. Plan is to do the common tourist things; Table mountain, Robben island, Stellenbosch vineyards, Bo Kaap, Clifton beach.. Long with this I am looking to go scuba diving and diving with the sharks, hopefully bungee jump!

Sincerely yours,


Mira

The amazing Holi- festival

I headed to Hanoi last weekend. I am traveling to China at the end of my contract and had to make a run to the Embassy so I took up the opportunity to spend some extra time in Hanoi. I arrived Saturday afternoon and checked into the Downtown Backpackers' Hostel. Most backpackers stay in the old quarter around the Ma May street. This is a great place to see some more western people and enjoy western food. I wouldn't enjoy staying there for a long time but it is a more than welcome option after being in Hai Phong for so long.

On Saturday night I headed to a rooftop trance/ house party. The party was outside with a view over Hanoi, it was filled with different kinds of fantastic art work.  My friends had helped to organise it so I got to meet a lot of new people through them. Seemed like a super European night out and I really enjoyed it. We headed back to the old quarter for a little after party. Stuffed four people on a motorbike and drive down to The Rastaman to dance some reggaeton.

The Holi-festival took place on Sunday in the Kinder park in Hanoi. Woke up, drank my coffee and put on my white shirt. Off we went. The festival was amazing. Indian music is really catching and the joy of the people was just wonderful to witness. I even learned some traditional dance moves. I was rather surprised how many Indian people were in Hanoi. With just the entry fee, you could access an open bar and buffet. Absolutely tasty, authentic Indian food. At first, I was little scared that I wouldn't get enough colour on me but I can assure you, that was not a problem at all. I received so many heartfelt blessings from the people (rubbing some colour powder on your cheeks), it was beautiful. The festival took place right next to an amusement park so we had to test out their roller coaster. It was such a joyful, free spirited morning and afternoon spent dancing and laughing with so many happy faces. There was so much colour and so many different colours, I looked a little bit like a clown at the end but it was all well worth it. I did gather loads of stares on my way to my hostel but mostly people were just laughing, I did manage to make one child jump when I got out of my taxi.

Sunday night was spent dancing away with my girls. Backpackers feel no weekdays. Monday morning I hit the Embassy. Note to travels; if you are looking to go to China, the Embassy requires you to inform them about all the hotels you are planning on staying in. I was hoping to do my trip in a road trip style but in order to get the visa, this was not possible. For me, (besides the hotels) there was nothing extraordinary in the visa application. I was often warned about the long procedure, which is why I am so early with my application, but I was promised my visa within four days. I would however, recommend  you to apply for the visa 3-1 months before your journey.

This week has been full of speaking tests and trying to catch up with sleep.

I hope you had a lovely week so far and enjoy your weekend !


Love,


M

Vietnamese habits

Dear readers,

As I mentioned before, I have given a plenty of travel advice lately. It has made me think a lot of Vietnamese habits as I have been trying to explain how this country really works. I have long gathered my thoughts and notes, trying my best to analyse this country. So here we go !

The Vietnamese people hate the sun. This is even laughed at in Laos and Cambodia, much darker Asians. The Vietnamese take covering themselves to a whole new level, it is truly funny. It is nearly impossible to find skin products in this country that don't contain bleach.

There is no question too bold to ask. Not many days have gone past when I wasn't asked about my relationship status or other similar invasive topics. They don't understand the concept of physical boundaries either. You can easily see boys cuddling at school, holding their hands on each other's bodies. As I was shopping for my Ao Dai, I felt absolutely violated by the shop keepers as they were huffing and puffing around me shouting 'tay' and poking me to places no shop keeper has business in. There is no shame in pointing and staring at people, especially western people.

The country is still extremely communist. ''Attention'' my primary school assistant shouts when I walk into the class and the 8-year-olds greet me with a Nazi salute. All schools have their own 'school exercises'. This is a series of weird hand waving all students partake once a day during their break time.  It is still forbidden to discuss politics and religion with anyone, and you really want to mind your words when discussing famous Vietnamese people.

Vietnam has no bins. All litter is literally thrown on the streets where a group of older ladies gather and sort it into wheelbarrows. It is truly bizarre, throwing trash out still bugs me. In the start, I would always walk around with my trash looking for bins.

There is no such thing as originality. I tell my students to come up with a free topic to discuss in the next class and they all 'come up' with the same one (also reeks of laziness). There are a certain amount of Vietnamese traditional dishes; they are all made the exact same way, they all cost the same, no matter what shop you got to. No clothing shop or restaurant advertises themselves as unique or even tries to have something unique. People eat in the same place everyday. And nothing wrong with that, Vietnam has some yummy food.

Of course, when discussing food I need to bring up the meat culture in this country. Now, I have been a vegetarian for four years but even if I wasn't before, I would have surely become one upon arrival to this country. Firstly, eating dogs and cats is delicacy. Dog meat is eaten with crab meat sauce which stinks miles away. They say that two bad things make a good combination. No part of any animal is wasted. The meat is not parted into different files or ribs or anything, the entire animal is chopped into chewy, bony pieces that simply make me sick.

In restaurants, all meals and drinks are ordered a few at a time for the whole table. One person ordering a meal for themselves is unheard of. You can just simply join a dinner party, dig in and then pay your share at the end. If the food runs out, you simply order another dish. Beers are sold in jugs so just bring your glass around and pay 10 p at the end per glass.

All waiters and waitresses wait right by you once you have requested a menu or your bill. The western habit of slowly thinking, reading the menu or collecting money in peace from all parties does not exist. I guess it is because all the food is the same so people are expected to know what they want. Also, I believe that it is a custom for friends to pay for the dinner in turns.

There is a two - two an a half hour lunch break every day. The Vietnamese take their lunch very seriously and all the men get drunk on daily basis during this break. After which, they nap for an hour and start their day again. Their alcohol tolerance is so low, they get drunk very easily.

Like in many other Southern Asian countries, all things, especially money, is passed from one person to another with two hands. The words 'thank you' and 'please' are rarely used, the locals often laugh how 'tays' overuse these words. The students still bow their head when they are passing you or apologising something.

Security is ridiculous. This is something that does really annoy me, it is so unnecessary. You are not allowed to take any of your own bags into shops, you must check them into lockers. In case your wallet is in a tiny bag, it will be wrapped and sealed into plastic as you enter the shop. In clothing stores the assistants follow you so closely they sometimes even bump into you. Most of the expensive goods in shops have an alarm, batteries and wine etc. Once you are through the till a security guard will check your receipt and bags before stamping the receipt and letting you go. Small shops will even staple the receipt onto the bag.

I have discovered that it is possible to transport anything on a motorbike. I have seen fridges and washing machines, families and pigs. It's a shame that I am always driving so it's hard to snap photos but I'll be driving around with my go pro and hopefully, I'll be able to evidence some of the best ones later. I have even managed to transport somethings that I never expected; two rice cookers and a bunch of people. Nothing compared to the genuine locals but getting there.

It's okay to pick and poke anything, especially in public places. Next to my friends' front door in a stall that cleans people's ears on the street. Disgusting. You can often face a person at a dinner table sitting with their legs on the seat, picking their toe and finger nails. Most people are constantly picking their teeth (dental care here is nasty). Poking other people is not uncommon either.

And finally, it's all about them squats. Street restaurants have these cool urban chairs that are plastic and made for midgets. Toilets are either holes on the ground or disgusting. Sometimes it's really hard to drink enough water because it seems to be as hard to find a toilet as it is to find a bin. Squat, squat, squat away.


Anyways ! I hope I have shed some light on a few interesting Vietnamese habits.

Love,

Mira

Travel tips

Hello lovelies and happy mid-week,

Recently, I have been asked a lot of traveling advice. I would just like to tell you all not to be shy and ask away ! Share with your friends and family, I am more than happy to share my experiences and try and help everyone to have the best possible trip.

Mira 

Vietnamese celebrations

Happy women's day !! :)

I hope you all have a very blessed, beautiful day.


Time after the holidays has gone quickly balancing between work and different celebrations. I partook in my friend's wedding, staff retreat in Hanoi, recently celebrated two birthdays and today, women's day. In my opinion, Vietnamese people take their celebrations seriously, and I love how giving flowers in so common in this country.

The wedding was fun, though, it reminded me of a TV show. It was in a huge hall, filled with lights and flowers. The wedding couple spent most of their time on stage taking pictures while a (too) loud commentator was babbling away in Vietnamese. No one really paid attention to the couple or the show that was going on, everyone was busy eating and drinking vodka shots. The presentation on the stage was a bit weird and quite unclear (at least to us foreigners). The wedding couple starts taking their wedding pictures a month before the wedding in countless of different locations and dresses. The funniest part for us 'tays' is how common it is to take pictures outside shopping malls, in front of expensive fashion outlets.

The annual staff retreat took place in Hanoi this year. We performed a dance that I choreographed and enjoyed some drinks together. It was a beautiful, sunny day so we spent the rest of the afternoon drinking beers by the river. It was great to see the girls I worked with in Ha Long again!

Birthdays were absolute madness. My best friend turned 28 so we had a cake made, ordered some flowers and loads of drinks. We took her out for live music, followed by some dancing at a club. It was so much fun and she seemed to really enjoy it. We continued to the other birthday, which was a house party. My friends recently moved into a huge mansion so the party was quite crazy, but so much fun. The next day we took our bestie for a surprise amusement park day. There is a very random amusement park in central Hai Phong, with some equipment we didn't dare to try due to the lack of security measures. Regardless, the day was amazing, just what we all needed.

Sunday night was spent in a Vietnamese dance battle, which was amazing, and watching a football game. All in all, a perfect weekend.

Women's day is very popular in Vietnam. Yesterday I received flowers from my assistant and my students. I really had fun in my classes and do think that I have the best of students! I am now planning on popping by my assistants house, her mum just sent me some coffee. Such a sweet heart.

Unfortunately, I have been unable to fully defeat my flu so I am still snoring due to the inability to breath through my nose at all. Hopefully, the situation will be fixed soon... it is truly annoying to be constantly coughing and sneezing.


Anyways, enjoy your day !


Mira

Luang Prabang, Laos

Now, time to analyse Laos !

We flew to Luang Prabang from Siem Reap, quick ride to our hotel and straight into town. We found an amazing French place that had some lovely cheese platters with white wine.. Followed by the night market. I feel that the Laotian night market had more authentic stuff than any other I had been to, less of those fabulous touristy tops that say Laos. Laos, I think, is a slight bit more expensive than Cambodia. They also prefer to use their own currency, kip, instead of US dollars (which are also accepted in shops) unlike Cambodia, where US dollars are used more commonly than the local currency (riel).

We were upgraded to a very lovely room for our first night. In the morning we woke up to a fresh hotel breakfast. I was really upset that the hotel didn't serve coffee (what is that all about!) so we headed down to the Mekong river, less than a minute walk away, to enjoy 'second breakfast'. We rented out some bicycle for the day and enjoyed the day by just driving around the city and along the river, occasionally stopping for more food and drinks. Luang Prabang is a breathtaking, peaceful small city filled with flowers, temples and amazing food. The Mekong river definitely makes the city more attractive and fun, there are a few bamboo bridges over it providing the possibility to see the side of the city most locals live on.

We had the most fabulous dinner by the river before we headed for a Mekong river sunset cruise. We spent two hours roaming around the river, ending the day with the most beautiful sunset I have ever seen. Sun falling into the river in all the colours of the spectrum.

The next day we rented a motorbike to drive to the Kuang Si waterfalls. The road took us past local villages, rice fields and mountain vales. There is a small tourist village by the waterfalls where you can buy food and little souvenirs. At the entrance to the waterfalls is a bear sanctuary. The bears have been saved from the wild after an injury. One of the cuties was missing a pawn and another had had a brain surgery. The place was quite fascinating and the bears were messing around, enjoying the sun. The waterfalls were turquoise. Just turquoise. It was beautiful, unfortunately, so cold that I only dipped myself in and got out. For lunch we had a whole grilled fish with some vegetable skewers.

We found a lovely place at the end of the market street that has some sunbeds and books on the rooftop so I spent the next day there just reading classics and drinking beer Lao. Such a relaxing day, true holiday feeling. The trip was all about them sunsets so we climbed to mount Phousi to see the sunset that night. There are steps all the way up and a fee of 2,5 dollars. Views were incredible yet again. We also discovered a yummy street food buffet for two dollars so we feasted that night. I met some great people in the city so I spent two evenings playing cards against humanity at the local night club; Utopia.

For our final day, we had booked a 'rice is life' tour to go see a local rice farm; Living Land Farm, and to try some farming! The tour allowed us to get to know all the 14 steps rice farming has. They include, picking the right grains, planting them, turning over the field with a water buffalo, harvesting, peeling the grains and grinding it. The experience was one of a kind and so much fun. I will personally never buy Uncle Ben's again, rice farming is such hard work, and it requires plenty of skills. From a grain to plate is a four-month process. At the end of the tour, we made our own sugarcane juice and had a tasting of various rice products.

All in all, I am very blessed, my holiday was absolutely fantastic and I would highly recommend it to anyone. #onceinalifetime


Haha bye,


Mira

Side thought; Volunteering

A long time ago, I read this article written by a girl who had done some volunteering in Africa before. She wrote that the only issue with the job the organisation was doing in Africa was sending her there in person. At first, I was shocked; I had always wanted to volunteer and thought so highly of volunteers. After reading her article, I couldn't help but to agree.

Westerners travel to third world countries to boost their ego like they have been chosen to save the locals and to make the a difference in their lives. I have heard many horror stories about how children are being kidnapped from their parents into orphanages just to attract tourists and volunteers. Or how the schools volunteers build are being torn down after their departure so that the next group can build it again.

In the article, the girl wrote about how well she was treated and how her presence merely disrupted the daily life in the village. Most volunteering programs are very expensive, and it has always been unclear to me how that money is being spent. The writer argued that we should rather spend that money by sending it directly to the communities so that they can have it for useful purposes, instead of hosting westerners.

I am not saying that most volunteers don't have the best of intentions, as I am sure that they do. However, I thought that this article raised some good notions on the other side of volunteering. In my opinion, many of us are traveling and working towards 'giving the man a fish' , but only a few are teaching the man how to fish himself. This ensures that volunteering work will continue among the less-developed areas.

There is an illusion that the systems in the poor countries are faulty, and that they can only be fixed by implementing the western culture. When we travel we should keep in mind that some cultures can be thousands of years old, and even when we cannot understand the traditions and practices of these cultures, we shouldn't judge. Just because we are unhappy with certain elements of a culture, it doesn't mean that the locals are.

Vietnamese culture is more than a thousand years old. I certainly don't understand a lot of it, and by no means have I been free of judgement. I must honestly say that I truly despise some of the Vietnamese habits, though now, I do my best to try and accept them. One thing is clear; no matter what I teach or how I act as a role model for my students, it won't change anything. My students will never be westerners but that's okay, they are great the way they are and they are happy. The culture is old, upheld and valued by the people, and it works for them. One size does not fit all, sometimes we have to observe and love all the imperfections. The good, the bad and the ugly.

This has been one of the important lessons my students taught me.


Mira

The aftermath

Hello everyone,

I've just spent ten days in Cambodia and Laos ! I did this trip without any electronics so got some posts coming up to bring you all up to date. This one will be about the Thursday before my trip; making chung cakes at Thai Phien high school. Making chung cakes represents well the preparation that took place before tet and is unique to Vietnam.

On Thursday morning we arrived to Thai Phien high school in our ao dais. It didn't take a minute till we were in front of the camera. The main event of the Thursday's celebration was a chung cake making competition.

Chung cake is a traditional dish eaten during the tet holiday. My gallop confirms that nearly everyone loves this cake. The cake consists of four main ingredients; special leafs, sticky rice, green peas and pork meat. Luckily, I got to take part in this competition and am now somewhat an expert!

The cake is made into a square wooden frame. First, the leafs are carefully folded into the frame to from the base of the wrapping for the cake.  Once you have your leafs in place, you have to pour a cup of raw sticky rice on the leafs and pad it tightly. Then you must add the beans. Two slices of pork are added between two layers of beans, followed by another cup of rice. Chung cake is boiled for 10 - 12 hours so the wrapping has to be really tight. The leafs are folded around the cake like on a Christmas gift. The package is tied with thin bamboo straps. After observing different ways of making the cakes it became clear to me that it is all about the style of the maker and small details. My team had our peas cooked and kneaded into a tight ball whereas other teams used raw, lose peas. Also, there are different ways of folding the leafs into the frame as well as in making the ties with the bamboo strings.

I was able to try two different ways of wrapping the cakes, and eventually, I was really happy with the result. Before tet these cakes are sold on the streets for 50 000 VND (2 euros) each. Once cooked, one cake weights about a kilo. The cake is meant to be shared by eight people.

Each of the competing teams make 20 chung cakes and packed them tightly into huge pots. We left our students to guard the cakes for the evening and picked our own ones up on Friday morning. I didn't personally try the cake since I am a vegetarian but apparently they were good.

Later about my tet-holiday!

Mira

TET preparations

Twp days to TET !

It has been so fascinating to be able to be in Vietnam and to get to follow the preparation for the TET-holiday. TET is the biggest celebration in Vietnam, it is the celebration of the lunar new year. 

This year the holiday takes place between the 5th and the 14th of February. The week prior to the holiday is spent by cleaning and decorating the house. Some schools even organise a day when the students join in for the cleaning of the school. After this, schools arrange an event to start off the holiday. I have been invited to one of these events at my main high school; Thai Phien. Thai Phien is the second best high school in Hai Phong, and my favourite school. The events will be very glorious, and will include for example a competition of making the traditional Chung Cakes. Chung Cake is made of rice and shredded pork meat. I shall be wearing a bright red national dress of Vietnam; ao dai (pronounced ao zai). 

One of the main TET decorations is a tree; this sort of reminds me of the western tradition of a Christmas tree. It is tradition to buy a peach or a pomelo tree and decorate it for the holiday. People also buy branches of cherry blossoms. At the moment all our main road sides are full of street vendors selling these trees, the prices go up to ten million. Some of the trees are enormous; I have seen some very imaginative ways of transporting these trees. A friend of mine got hit in the head but someone pushing a tree into the back of his bike! All my life, I never thought that it would even be possible to be smacked by a tree when standing at traffic lights. 

Unfortunately, this holiday has made the roads a lot more dangerous than what they usually are. Traffic in Vietnam tends to be a little crazy on daily basis but not it has been taken to another level. The tree smacking is just one of many examples. This week I have seen so many things accidentally falling off bikes, causing others to quickly jump on their brakes. I have had to develop some ninja moves recently due to people irrationally driving to the wrong direction, randomly doing a 180 when they have spotted a tree they love or bouncing zigzag from one side to the other. The average speed has dropped by more then 10 km/ an hour. That's not bad news, it is nice to browse the trees while driving. Not to worry, I am being very careful. Just half an hour ago saw another crash. Luckily, not a bad one. 

A lot of my schools have cancelled classes this week so I have had a lot of time to prepare for the upcoming holiday. I couldn't be more excited to go to Cambodia and Laos. It turned out that a lot of my friends are headed to Siem Reap as well so some dates have been arranged. We have planned such a great itinerary for us! Two of my friends are flying from Ha Noi on Friday as well so we are all taking a private car there together. The car costs a million, the drive lasts for approximately two hours. It is ridiculous how cheap you can get a private car ! It will be about 10 euros per person.
For now, very excited for the Thursday's event. I will be keeping you up to date with some pictures afterwards! And then Cambodia and Laos. I hope you all have a good skiing holiday (if you are in a country that does celebrate that), or otherwise a fabulous February ! 

Happy new year :) chúc mừng năm mới ! (Chug mug namm mooi)

Mira

Ten days to TET

Dear Readers,


I hope you are all feeling happy and warm. The temperature in Northern Vietnam fell down to 6 degrees last weekend. All my morning classes this week have been cancelled because it is simply too cold to send kids to school. I find this rather funny because I know that my friends are currently crawling their way into university in -20 and inch deep in snow in Finland. But I am very happy to finally have my mornings to myself and be able to go to the gym in peace.

We did another road trip on Saturday. Unfortunately, that was the first unnaturally cold day, and we had two hours of the roads ahead of us. We drove through the countryside to my friend's family home, spent the afternoon there having some lunch and visiting the local flower market. Lucky me, it was so cold we spent a long time playing shuttle, and now I am rather good in it ! Shuttle is a local game played with a badminton feather by people standing in a circle, aiming the hold the feather in the air as long as possible.

Sadly, we were at my friend's house just in time to witness them killing two dogs and a puppy for dinner. We also saw the preparation project after this. In a way, it was good to see and acknowledge this very specific cultural habit since it is quite common in Vietnam, and very controversial to most of the tourists who travel here. We also witnessed another very endearing cultural habit; celebrating the death anniversary. In all the families in Vietnam, once a family member has passed the family gathers around every year on that day to pray for that person and to sacrifice food, money and flowers for them. All the family members gather around for this memorial and have a celebratory meal together.


The dark becomes quite early in Vietnam, so we were in a rush to leave before it got too cold to drive. I have grown comfortable with my bike already, but driving in the freezing cold and dark is never truly pleasant. Luckily, we made it home safe and sound. My hands were so frozen that I couldn't even remove my own helmet. We went to another friend's house to have a lovely, warm meal. It was super yummy, perfect comfort food in the weather. My friend used to be in the army in Vietnam, responsible for cooking along his other duties.

Sunday was spent mostly in bed, I only left to buy some ice cream; I am a strong believer that eating ice cream will make you feel better no matter what the weather is like. 

A friend from Ha Long is coming to visit me today; I am finally able to get my suitcase back ! I left it in Ha Long when I first come to Hai Phong because I thought that I would only stay there for a few weeks. I have struggled to find the time, and to make the effort, to go pick up my belongings. Now that I am so close to having everything back, I cannot believe that I have survived so long without. 

This weekend we shall have a pre TET-holiday party where we will perform all the traditional necessities; decorating a tree branch, burning a paper horse and so on. I shall report about this over the weekend. We might also go for a road trip to a near by pagoda; it will be decorated for TET and there will be many people visiting to send their prayers. I cannot wait for TET. Everything is planned and I am ready to go. We will be flying to Cambodia in the Friday afternoon, spending five days in Siem Reap and then moving on to Luang Prabang, Laos. Happy, sunny photos coming up soon ! 

Best wishes, 

Mira 

Ps. One of my classes did not show up on Thursday afternoon so I spent the hour with my TA in the canteen drinking some milk tea. This was at the school that has Hai Phong 'famous toilet'. The school paid 5 billion VND to get this toilet built; 90 % of this money was bribes. The equivalent value of this money in US dollars is 230 000 dollars.  The fancy part of this toilet is, apparently, the fact that there is soap and paper. I have long promised my mum pictures of this toilet so here we are; 

Count down

Happy weekend everyone,


I hope your week has been good so far !

I am still ill, holding onto my bed quite tightly. I tried to take some sick days this week to recover properly but, unfortunately, such thing is unheard of in Vietnam. The week has been such a roller coaster, I've been quite unhappy with work lately and it has definitely taken a toll on my personal life. But now I have some good news, and I hope that they will be able to help me power through!

I skyped my mum for her birthday on Wednesday and she just knows the best way to cheer me up. I was busy telling her that I cannot hang in here any more as I feel like I am on a verge of a breakdown, and she told me that she is hoping to fly to Vietnam for my birthday. Not only that but that she would fly me back to South Africa after that ! I haven't been back to Africa in over five years and have been waiting for the opportunity to go back ever since I left. So there we were, in the middle of the night, and booked a dream journey; first we will see some Vietnam, then we are going to travel through southern China all the way up to Hong Kong. We will spend a few days in Hong Kong and then fly to the Mahe Island near Somalia. I am hoping to see some pirate ships ! From there we will continue towards Cape Town. Two to three weeks in Cape Town doing all the things I couldn't last time and seeing some of my favorite people. This all is followed by a few relaxing days in Zanzibar, Tanzania.

Trip planning is definitely the best way to cheer me up. To keep me going I started the count down days in my calendar; 55 work days to go after TET holiday. I can do this ! It's not that there is something wrong with teaching, it is just exhausting and I am struggling with the corrupted, money-orientated system quite a bit. It seems that the work will suck all the juices out of you before anyone is satisfied. I'm sure, I will feel better once I am actually healthy again ! And, of course, now I have plenty to look forward to.

I must say, I haven't always valued the EU passport enough, or just the fact that I am from Europe, but truly, it is a privilege. Obviously, my mum is spoiling me rotten right now ! She is such an angel. And she will be awesome to travel with.

Last night was my friend's birthday, and we said good byes to a big colleague group whose contract ended. Today will be a dancing night out to celebrate ! Powering through it with some tea. I am actually really excited for my first night club night in Hai Phong, we mostly go to bars or have house parties. Should be good !

55 and counting,


Mira

January

Happy January everyone,

And happy birthday to the best mother in the world :)

I hope your 2016 has started just the way you wanted it to, or better !

Unfortunately, I cannot say quite the same; work has been super hectic and now I am ill again and trapped to bed. We have had loads of schedule changes at work, and it seems that schools are taking the second term by the balls. I have been made the new primary school teacher which is not necessary ideal to me. I lack experience with kids and, honestly, I cannot take the screaming and constant repeating at all. I think one of the reasons why I have been ill for so long is this new stress with work and being exposed to all the kids. It is endearing to see all the kids so excited and happy when I walk into the school but it takes up a lot of energy.

I have spent this week running between school and bed, drinking at least four liters of tea on a daily basis. A lot of my friends finish their work contract this week so the weekend is meant to be hectic. Besides the farewell party on Friday, it is my friend's birthday so the whole weekend is planned. I'm just praying I'll be able to rise from the dead by then. Just waiting for an antibiotics delivery.

I am having a dry January. I would like to think that I am not one of those people who jump on a hype, I did do this last year as well for two months (along with being a vegan)! I really wanted to do this now because I have been feeling quite ill for so long and just been very tired in general. Also looking forward to my trip to Cambodia and Laos during TET holiday so just waiting for a special occasion.

My new years resolution was to start applying for jobs in January so that I would have a clear plan for the future before my contract is ending (The UN application is LONG). Last Saturday, I spent four hours looking into jobs and updating my professional profile, it made me feel rather good and productive. Had about ten cups of coffee and fell in love with law all over again.

That's all for now ! More coming up soon :)


Love,


Mira

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

I hope you all had a peaceful Christmas filled with tasty food and a very pleasant, cheerful new year!

I, for one, really needed some rest during the Christmas days so I flew down south to Ho Chi Minh City to see some sun. My friend stays down there so I stayed with her. The apartment and the area were super nice and the weather was ideal. I arrived there during the Christmas eve, enjoyed the drive through the city to the apartment.

We spent Christmas evening inside, chilling and having some beers and sushi. Later we left for the local party street to play some pool! Ho Chi Minh is the biggest city in Vietnam with 8 million residents. The city is huge, wide spread and the streets are always busy. Ho Chi Minh is a popular tourist location filled with western people. Compared to Hai Phong the gap between westerners and the Vietnamese is definitely wider. Most of the local Vietnamese people know some English but don't really seem interested in making friends with the westerners. Especially during Christmas the touristy atmosphere was dominant; plenty of half naked people acting like idiots after drinking too much, something you rarely see in Hai Phong.

I slept like a baby in Ho Chi Minh. My friends hosted a Christmas dinner during the actual Christmas day; they ordered some roasted chickens and spent the morning preparing the food. The Christmas party was a great success; we had 20 people joining us, food was yummy and everyone was in good Christmas spirits. Later we toured around the city, stopped at some local places for drinks and enjoyed the little festivities around.

All of my friends were working or busy on Saturday so I headed to The Rex hotel to spend a day at their rooftop pool. I was blessed with a boiling hot weather for the entire four days so there was no better way of spending the day.  After I had roasted myself enough I wondered around the city and the shops. As a very tall person I have really struggled to find clothes and shoes in my size. Ho Chi Minh definitely has a wider selection than Hai Phong so I had big expectations to find something suitable for myself. I did manage to find myself some yummy food, a few clothes and some souvenirs for my family. I don't really trust the post here so some research on sending the package must happen.

Ho Chi Minh is a pleasant, vibrant city full of choices and different cultures. I would highly recommend it to every tourists who wants to enjoy some sun and a lot of entertainment. I am more than happy to work in a more local, communal city but the trip down south was great and very necessary to my mental health - started to feel a bit crazy already in Hai Phong. Sometimes a person just needs a break from the daily life.

I was looking to spend new years in Hoi An after I realised the bus journey to Sapa would take too long for me to make it there before midnight, but unfortunately, the flights were too pricey for those days. I had to move onto plan B; headed to Hanoi after work on Thursday. I was on my way to the bus stop when my TA's mother drove past me and offered me a ride, she is such a sweetheart even though we don't really speak the same language! We ended up chasing the bus down the street trying to make it stop again for me, I did make it ! Luckily, some of my friends were on the same bus so the 2,5 h ride up to Hanoi was rather pleasant.

Vietnamese people will definitely make sure that they receive every penny from their work. The bus had at least 60 people on it. 

Made it my hotel nicely, dropped my bags there and headed to my colleagues hostel with a new friend from my hotel. Hanoi was super busy, we stayed at a very popular hostel area so the streets were packed with all sorts of people. The atmosphere was great and we had a big group of people. Originally we wanted to head to the lakeside to see some fireworks but later decided to head to Hanoi Rock City club instead. The club was quite unique; quite a big roofless drug hole that serves fancy cocktails in its downstairs. Midnight came around quickly, unfortunately, there were no fireworks but the night was good anyway. We ended up staying up for ages with a bunch of people from our hostel. 

Friday was spent touring around Hanoi, stopping at every cute coffee place we came across and some secret ones. We walked around the lake, got a rickshaw ride and sat on some gorgeous rooftops. 

Rooftop cafe overlooking the lake

Lantern lounge with some yummy falafels 

Lakeside strolls. 

After strolling around the city for hours we retreated to our hotel to enjoy some chess and red wine. I also managed to learn some Vietnamese games. 

We spent the following day in the same manner; strolling around the streets, eating and hunting things from our shopping lists. I managed to find myself a cute lantern from the lantern street along with stamps and stickers for my classes. The last few weeks had worn me out so much I decided to head home that evening instead to have a peaceful evening by myself. 

Christmas and new years were both lovely, couldn't be happier to be able to explore Vietnam and to see other cities. 

Happy 2016 for everyone ! 

Mira