Back in Saigon

Dear Ethel, Family and friends,

We are now back in Saigon after our 2 week Sojourn in Nha Trang. We had a great time and thoroughly recommend it as a mid to long term destination and defiantly a ‘must stop’ on your way through Vietnam. The Beaches here are fantastic. We have said many times that as we live on the Sunshine Coast in Australia, it is hard to impress us with a beach. It is equal to anything in North Queensland with the tropical feeling, beautiful green rolling mountains in the back ground and lots of Islands dotted around the Bay. There are no real waves but it is a paradise for swimming, snorkeling, diving and sailing. Yes I finally got out sailing, only on one of those resort style hobiecats but lots of fun all the same. Although I prefer to spend my time on top of the water sailing, I decided to go diving as well.

The day I went diving was a miserable day, It was raining when I got up and driselling on our way out to the Islands. The diving guide made all the usual jokes about it not raining underwater to cheer us up. I have been diving a couple of times before on assisted dives which are great, as an experienced diver takes you down and guides you about. My guide was a young French girl named Marie who spoke perfect English but with that sexy French accent. Despite the rain, it was wonderful under the water, after my first few seconds hesitation, I remembered how to relax and breathe underwater. I was really amazed by how much coral and the number of fish down there. The group of 5 Islands off Nha Trang is a marine park so I did 2, 30 minute dives and It cost me about $60AUD.

There is a huge cable car connecting the Mainland to the first main Island, taking you to a gigantic theme park, Vinpearl Land. Although it’s not very ecological or attractive from the mainland as the land has been carved out of the side of a hill, the theme park is an amazing engineering feat, the sheer size and scale is astounding. The most amazing thing and more impressive than the cable car itself, is the aquarium. It is the size of the Darling Harbour aquarium in Sydney with an underwater tunnel walk with airport style conveyor belt. It has a large collection of Sharks, Stingrays, Turtles, Eel’s and all the fish you would expect. A waterslide park is another part of the park and I tried as many as were open. One in particular, the sink hole didn’t really agree with my neck, however after the masseur walked up and down my spine that afternoon the damage was repaired. There is also a collection of outdoor amusement rides, a great roller coaster, the chair ‘O plane, Pirate ship and one that I could only call the spasmatron (whirls you around, upside down 50 feet in the air) and some great inside amusements including a 4D movie cinema, a 3D cinema with moving seats. It all makes a really good day out but there were only about 50 in the place and more than a couple of hundred staff.

We caught up with our friend Diana again on her way back to Saigon. We took her to all our favourite restaurants in Nha Trang, French and Spanish being the best. We also caught up with another TESOL Graduate from Australia, Wheelie Pete. He is one admirable man, tackling Vietnam in a wheelchair he has recently completed a 5000km journey around Vietnam and Laos on a motorbike and is currently teaching English in Nha Trang. He took us to a great beach 20km south of Nha Trang where we lay around on a beach similar to Noosa North Shore and ate seafood.

Poor Louise is almost over her cold now and has spent most of the 2 weeks getting over it. We caught the train back to Saigon again and are now in our favourite Hotel the Hao Hoa . We have caught up with a few groups of students so far with more to go this evening and more to eat I guess. We have some job interviews on Monday and Wednesday and will be flying back to Australia on Thursday night. If we get some serious offers we will come back as we still have the return tickets, if not we will stay in Australia for Christmas.

All the best for now
Ric & Louise

[Postcards to Ethel] Nha Trang, Vietnam

Dear Ethel, Family and friends,

It’s been a while since I wrote a blog and a number of things have changes since then. The main one being that we are no longer teaching at Sea English Academy. In short the school didn’t have the correct licenses to carry on and couldn’t afford to keep us both. We are still disappointed with the way things transpired but have moved on now, literally and metaphorically.

We left the school at the beginning of the month and waited around in Saigon for a week or so collecting our thoughts. During this time we attended a number of social functions with the students who gave us a lot of mutual support, we have all become good friends as a result. We attended a food and hospitality trade show which was great for the students as most of them are Bakers or Chefs. It was great to see their reaction to things they had never seen before and eat things like olives, capers, cheese cake and many other things on display. Also it gave them a good chance to talk to the exhibitors in English. We were also invited to one student’s houses, Mr Ha. The other students attended as well and we feasted over spring rolls and seafood hotpot. Following this was a trip to a Garden district area, Binh Quoi, popular for weddings and wedding photography. It is a very picturesque area with photo opportunity spots every few feet. The students then treated us to an 84 course buffet. Talk about food overload. Between 8 of us we only managed about 22 courses. Louise and I were stumped after about 8 of them but I have never seen anyone eat as much as skinny 4 foot tall Vietnamese girls!

We had another Australian visitor as well, Dianna form Noosa and an ex-postie as well. It is always good to catch up with friends but also good to get another prospective on things. At nearly 70, Dianna is a particularly brave and gutsy woman doing a month long trip to Vietnam Cambodia and Laos by herself. I gave her a lift on the back of the motorbike; I think she was thankful for my Australia Post experience. Following our meeting with Dianna, we decided to do a trip down to the Mekong Delta. It was a 3 day organised trip on the busses. In hindsight it would have been better to do the 2 day trip as the 3 day version was an excuse to take half the group to the boarder of Cambodia. Also the Delta Floating Hotel is possibly the worst hotel in Vietnam, but definitely the worst hotel we have stayed in. Day 1 and day 2 of the sightseeing was fine, visiting the Mekong River on a variety of different river craft and seeing Floating markets, Floating villages, Coconut Candy Factory, Rice paper factory, Rice Husking Mill, Pagodas and temples. The Hotel on the first night was good enough for a one star but getting there proved an adventure. Getting in and out of Vinh Long can only be achieved by river at this stage until the new bridge is completed in 6 months time. Until then however, ferries service the river continuously 24 hours a day. Despite this there is always a 2 hour or more delay to cross the river unless its dusk when its 4 hours and coincidently when the tour organises to cross every day. The guide helpfully pointed out that if we all chipped in, we could afford to rent a boat for the 20 of us. We all agreed as it was only 10,000 each (80c) but involved a 1 mile hike to the river and a river crossing in the dark. Still it was a fun adventure although badly organised on the part of the tour operators. Of course we had the 2 hour wait the following day. Day 3 included a very brief local minority village visit and the fish farm stop then an 8 hour trip back to Saigon, plus a compulsory 3 hour stop in My Tho to gather the remaining one and two day trippers. All in all, we saw a lot of the Mekong which is what it’s all about. However we won’t be doing any more organised trips here based on our experience.

We booked train tickets from Saigon to Nha Trang. The train was a great way to travel. It was an 8pm train and arrived in Nha Trang in at 5.30am the following day. The train itself was clean and comfortable, one of the best train journeys we have done. We took the soft sleeper which sleeps 4 on double bunks and cost about $25AUD each. We were in Nha Trang very early but as we walked the short distances 1 Km or so to the tourist district, we were approached by the hotel touts. We were lucky enough with the one we followed, or did he follow us? Anyway the hotel is $10US a night with a view of the beach, 4th floor and Wi-Fi included. Great value 1 star! We haven’t done much since arriving, Louise caught a cold and has been house bound for 3 of the last 4 days, but it looks like a great spot, I’ve done a bit of investigating on a bicycle and we hired a motorbike today. There is food from everywhere in the world here so we will eat our way around the world one night at a time. Our friend Dianna is due here in about 4 days time, so look forward to catching up again.

As for the future, well that’s out of our hands as usual, we have a few interviews when we get back to Saigon. We still have return airfares to Australia that we booked 2 months ago, so the plan is, if we can secure some proper work before we leave here, we will return on about 16th of November if not, we will leave Vietnam on the 5th of November and look elsewhere.
Sorry this has gone on so long, but it took a while to get back into the mood for writing, but I think that’s cured and I hope the next post is a bit more entertaining.
All the best until next time.

Ric & Louise

Saigon, Vietnam Week 7

Dear Ethel, Family and friends,

We have had another pleasant weekend, starting with a spontaneous lunch on Friday afternoon. We went to a local restaurant with a group of students. After lunch we were invited back to Mr Home’s (one of the students) Bakery and Coffee shop where his family makes a big range of French style pastries and cakes. We sampled nearly all of them... just to be polite you understand and had to leave with bags of them!

Saturday we set off on Twee’s bike again to do our shopping, have coffee and get lunch in District 1. We are getting around like locals now and can find our way around reasonably well. On the journey home I felt the telltale drop in air pressure, an increase in the wind and a sweet smell in the air. Then, 75 motorbikes pulled off the road up under awnings simultaneously as the sky fell in. It rained solid for about 5 minutes then stopped and we were able to continue our trip with the other 75 bikes. A lot of locals only stop to don their raincoats, some of which are especially designed to take two people and has a see through panel that goes over the headlight.

The traffic itself is a bit daunting at first, but I have figured it out. The rules are simple, never look back, you are only responsible for what goes on in front of you. When going through big intersections, stick to the middle of the pack or try to cross in the shadow of a car or larger vehicle. Being able to ride slowly, and go up and down gutters with extra weight on the bike is probably the only thing I learnt during my time with Australia Post as a Postie, it’s funny, but I never thought it would come in handy but it’s an essential skill here. I often think that Louise & I are too large for these little bikes, but then I look around and see that we are probably only the same weight as a typical Vietnamese family of four and they seem to manage OK.

We were invited to another Students house for a traditional Sunday Lunch today. Vun and her family live in a suburb outside Saigon, a bit like going to Parramatta from Sydney. It was another interesting interlude. Getting there as half the fun, But I don’t thing Louise enjoys it as much as I do. Vun lives with her family of 5 and has relatives stay on the weekends and big lunches on Sundays. We were treated to a 5 course feast, that nobody could finish. Vun is a Chef so the food was spectacular Vietnamese fare, we finished with Chocolate and Orange crepes and fruit of course. We are having leftover crepes for dinner as you can’t leave someone’s house here without taking something with you. So with Crepes and French pastries, It’s going to be hard to lose weight here if this keeps up.

We are going to a Vietnamese Wedding next week, so will let you know all about it. All the best until next time.

Ric & Louise

Week 5 Saigon

Dear Ethel, Family and friends

Another weekend passes as we explore and find new places to visit. We have been very fortunate with the weather this weekend. It’s raining this evening but we have had two great days. During the week however we have had some pretty heavy rain including a spectacular storm on Thursday. I had a student due before the storm, but when it hit and turned our street into a raging rapid in about 15 minutes, I didn’t expect to see her at all, but sure enough she turned up a bit late. Amazingly resilient people.

In our search for a pool to swim in we found a green spot on the map and decided to have a look. We borrowed a motorbike for the weekend again and went exploring. We discovered the fabulous Binh Quoi tourist village, a slice of paradise in the hustle and bustle of Saigon. The grounds of this future resort are manicured with several types of grass, like golf links. Designed around a lake adjoining the Saigon river, the most has been made of the water features available and includes dining areas in pergolas over the water. The complex has been designed to take a dozen or so functions at the same time. Numerous private BBQ pergolas are also available. Cobbled paths meander through the site over small bridges and around Lilly ponds with sculptures and other vignettes of beauty at every turn. Sorry to sound like a commercial here but Ho Chi Minh City is a big busy dusty place and finding a gem like this so close to home is simply news worthy. Most importantly it has a fantastic pool. It’s about 40,000 Dong each (A$2.70) to use. It is free to wander about but the food is a bit more expensive than our local restaurants but worth it.

Louise went to a Spa or beauty salon on Saturday. One of the students at the school is the manager. Louise thought it was fabulous, although the heavily discounted price we were given was still too much to do it regularly. We are enjoying travelling around on the bike, and can even find our way around. I’ve found the trick with riding here is that you don’t worry about what’s going on behind you, just concentrate on looking forward and sideways at the same time. We do our shopping on the bike and have worked out the bike parking protocols.

The school is doing well and expecting more students. Some of our students have tests in two week time so we are doing extra work with them and started an English talk club where we don’t have formal classes but discussions and watching some Australian TV and talking about hot topics.

Everything is going well for us, so all the best for now
Ric & Louise

Week 4 Saigon

Dear Ethel, Family and friends,

Week four now, and our life has settled into a routine. This is now our second week at the school. The first week was a ground tester and the second week students have paid up in advance, which shows they are serious and dedicated. We have 3 more students starting next week as well. Some of the students have an IELTS test in a month, while others have their tests in 3 months. Most have a letter of offer from an employer in Australia and are just waiting on their IELTS tests.

The School itself is looking more like a school every day and we are working out of 2 classrooms now. We have a fulltime receptionist named Snow (as she has such black hair) and a full time cleaning lady has also started as well to keep the place neat and tidy. Plants arrived on Friday to make the place look a little more appealing. We still need to do a few thing, like finish the painting, hang posters on the walls, but will have to wait for the time being.

The District the school is in is about 7km from the center of the city. It’s defiantly not a tourist area and we are a constant fascination to the locals as we walk up and down the streets. We have eaten at a few street stalls, feeling they are safe enough to eat at and are so cheap. 2 Chicken, fried rice, with vegetables, a beer and a lemonade, $3. Another favorite with inside dining is the Australian Beefsteak Restaurant, serves Beef steaks, a sausage, egg and chips and with drinks costs, $8.

We borrowed a motorbike this weekend from Twee, one of the girls from Mingh’s office, who has been assigned to help us find and do things. We spent Saturday and Sunday, doing a bit of exploring cautiously. I have driven in Europe on the right hand side of the road before, and driven in Penang in chaotic Asian driving conditions. Riding a motorbike on the right through Saigon is an experience I’ll not soon forget. You might not think so when you see it, but there is an order to the chaos. I guess it will become second nature before long. All the best for now.

Ric & Louise

Google Map Link for the school

http://tinyurl.com/lzm8v5

Saigon Week 2

Dear Ethel, Family and friends,

Well here we are two weeks after arriving in Vietnam and still living in the hotel. Things happen slower here than at home. When we had a look at the school on the Thursday after we arrived, nothing had been done to the place since Kim had departed. Our Vietnamese host here, Minh assured us that all would be done by Wednesday 1st July for the ceremonial opening. I must say that we were very sceptical. In Australia we would hire 3 or 4 men for a renovation project like this and it would take 2 weeks. In Vietnam they hire 20 people and it takes 2 days. Amazing, although the smaller details seem to take forever. Ingrid, one of the Directors from Sea in Australia arrived on Monday to help hurry the process along.

We did indeed have our ceremonial opening on Wednesday as Minh had promised. We had perhaps 20 students attend as well to meet and greet with the teachers and staff. Ingrid, Louise & I were presented with bouquets of flowers and welcomed to the school. Afterwards we all attended a buffet lunch provided by Minh and his staff.

Since then the school has been taking enrolments and getting the office in shape. We have also been doing some heavy duty shopping, buying everything we need to set up our new living quarters upstairs from the school. Our living area comprises a large bedroom area 4 x 4 metres and a balcony lounge/dining area about 2.5 x 4 metres. Across the hall we have a kitchen and bathroom. It will be quite an adequate living area once it is finished. It still has no hot water or a kitchen and the whole site needs to be thoroughly cleaned before we move in, or before school starts tomorrow.

We have walked almost every inch of the city by now and have eaten in a lot of the restaurants and cafes. We went to the Reunification Palace, the Art Gallery, Cultural Museum and of course the dozens of markets around town. So we are really keen to start work now and look forward to the day to day challenges that teaching brings. All the best for now.
Ric & Louise

PS we have phone numbers, so email us and we'll send them.

Saigon, Vietnam

Dear Ethel, Family and friends,

We arrived in Saigon last night at about 10pm local time. It was a long day of travelling having started at 5AM. Both flights were uneventful and no problems with baggage weight, which has been our biggest worry. We don’t officially start work until Thursday, but wanted to get here to acclimatise before we start and also because we found some cheap tickets.

We were last in Saigon about 6 years ago and it’s a nice surprise to find it so clean. It is so different to India and the other Asian countries we have stayed in as well. It’s 34 degrees out so finding book shops, Cafes and Restaurants with air conditioning is a must. At lest it is cloudy so we can avoid the direct sun. We have been out and about this morning looking for textbooks for our classes. We sampled the excellent coffee and pastry on offer and had lunch at a nice restaurant serving traditional Vietnamese food, mmm.

Kim the founding director of Sea English Academy was here in Saigon last week arranging the new school, and she told us the school and our accommodation was being painted and organised, we hope to see the school later in the week. We will be living in a flat above the school about 5 km from the centre of the city. We will have address, phone and mobile numbers soon, so we’ll post them as soon as we have them to hand. So all the best for now.
Ric & Louise

Waiting with our suitcases half closed

Dear Ethel, Family and friends,

Plans are well advanced now for our trip to Vietnam, we are patiently waiting for our passports with visas to come back from the Vietnamese Consulate in Canberra. We have spent the last two week at the Sea English office in Maroochydore in preparation for our new jobs. Initially we will be running IELTS (International English Language Testing Scheme) classes for skilled immigrants to Australia, so we have been sitting in on some classes in Maroochydore. We are still waiting on information on the address and contact details of where we will be staying but it will be in District 1, right in the middle of Saigon. We will have land lines and mobiles when we arrive, so we will be contactable more readily than the last year and we should have a permanent internet connection so our Skype connection will be on.

We sold our beloved campervan today and got a bit teary as she drove off, but to a good home so all turned out well there. Things seem to be falling into place now and we are now waiting with our suitcases half closed for the green light which might happen tomorrow. We’ll keep you posted.

All the best for now
Ric & Louise

Bathurst Australia May 2009

Dear Ethel, Family and friends,
It has been 6 weeks or so since I last wrote. We have been staying with Louise’s Mother while Louise’s Sister has been away on a holiday. Bathurst is very nice this time of year, with the colourful trees losing their leaves. It’s still not too cold, but cool all the same. While we have been here we have had something to do every week, so we have kept busy.

We were here for Easter and I went to the Bathurst Car races. There were classes of older cars from 1930’s onwards racing. We also went to Sofala and Hill End, gold mining areas to stay the weekend. The following Saturday was the Rally of Lithgow. I went and took some video. Over the Anzac Weekend we went to Lithgow for Ironfest, a medieval festival with Jousting sword fighting and battle re-enactments. We volunteered to help set up and arrived on Thursday to help with making and putting up flags. We stayed in the campervan and it was very cold. The next weekend we went to Dubbo and visited the fantastic zoo there. This week end we have been down to Newnes Valley this side of the Blue Mountains. It’s very beautiful there and we stayed at Louise’s Uncle and Aunts.

As I said we have enjoyed our time in Bathurst and it’s been a great chance to relax after our nonstop travelling. However, we are about to set off again. We are heading back to Queensland this week to prepare for our trip to Vietnam. We have been offered jobs in Saigon, now called Ho Chi Minh City in the south of Vietnam for a 12 month posting. We will be working for Sea English Academy and running the new Saigon based Sea English campus. We did our Tesol courses last year in Penang, Malaysia and have been teaching in India earlier this year. We travelled to Vietnam about 5 years ago, it was only a 2 week trip but we really enjoyed it. So we are really excited about our new positions and look forward to the challenges ahead. We will keep you posted.

All the best for now
Ric & Louise