Paul's TEFL Adventures

From the book: Cat Ba Island

01-Apr-2018

It has been a long time since I recorded an entry in this book. Maybe its the hectic, long day nature of Vietnam. Maybe its the way I have stayed in Hanoi longer than expected. Most others have taken weekend breaks away to Sapa and Ninh Binh.

This weekends trip to Cat Ba Island has broken the routine of drunken Fridays, Boring Saturdays and lesson plan Sundays. I will have to retroactively add an entry for Halong Bay here and stick a lot of souvenirs/collectibles in here too.

The bus to the island was above average for comfort. The wi-fi is still lacking, but Mr Bean was on at least. Pretty standard route through the North Vietnamese countryside.

Arriving at the island on a small group boat, we travelled through a coastal road route, seeing rice fields, green limestone hills and jagged islands. Blue skies were also a relief to Hanoi’s often smoggy atmosphere.

The hotel looked dodgy on the outside compared to others in the Cat Ba strip, but it has lovely, if simple rooms with a view of the harbour. I would likely stay again, unless something better crops up on tripadvisor.

The plan was very simple: Travel the island at our own pace, see the sights and relax. It was me, Diane, Andy, Kristina, Sarah, Alex, Rebecca and Jon. Unfortunately Jon felt sick and had to lie down in the room for the duration of the trip.

Jon has been the biggest casualty of Vietnam in my opinion. It feels like he has been ill for 2/3rds of the entire internship. I feel sorry for him & its hard to help other than offering a listen or food to keep going. I wish he could figure it out, but I don’t know what to do about it.

Myself, Diane, Andy, Rebecca & Alex rented out mopeds and did a tour of the island. Words don’t do justice to the beauty of the island. Greenery everywhere, sharp ascending pillars, miles of open road, and wildlife all around. I hope to buy postcards to send home the gorgeous look.

Riding with Rebecca through the island

After checking out the forests & the coast, we raced to the top of Cannon Fort before sunset. By this point we were low on fuel, but we made it. Stunning views of the bay, similar to Ha Long’s jagged islands, but from a high viewpoint. Many pictures were taken.

Alex had tripped on the way back to her moped and lost the key! I ventured into the now dark pathway and found it in the woods after a but of blind searching. We practically used gravity to do all the moving back into down, bombing it down the hills. We found the gas station and got fuel in the end, with just a minute or two worth of fuel left.

I had a clam soup dinner, and it was fantastic. It was the highlight of an otherwise weak menu at the Oasis bar. They just kept forgetting meals or sending out 2 plates at a time. Still, it wasn’t all bad. A round of mojito’s were given to the table as an apology, and Tiger was just 10’000vnd.
“Then Rebecca got super drunk and got sick and had to be brought to her room”-Rebecca’s own words!

Yes, a lot of alcohol was consumed that night. I was fine since I stuck to Tiger, but Rebecca needed to return to the room at 11. Her bucket of vodka tasted like poison, the sort of cocktail you make in college. Myself, Alex, Kristina and Sarah stayed out until 1. The awful trap house music made us call an early night. Some of them had balloons as well.

Returning to the room, Jon didn’t feel any better. He mentioned leaving and going home. I felt like agreeing with him, before going to sleep.

The next morning was pleasant, with a simple rice breakfast and walk on the main strip. I found no Cat Ba postcards. Vendors said they had Ha Long cards only. I’ll need to print out my own. No sign of any post offices here either. You would wonder how mail ever gets delivered at all.

Back at the hotel, we decided to walk to a beach 5 minutes away. It is so close to being a paradise beach; a small cove with limestone islands in the distance. It was quiet as well, and worth spending time unwinding. The only things that detracted were a JCB doing work on the sand, and a private resort beside the cove that didn’t keep the look natural. I had a quick swim and had to leave quickly. the bus to Hanoi was leaving in 30 minutes. I would have to see this again.

Alex enjoying the view

The bus back was fine, I got tasty crackers and watched some more Mr Bean. Then I wanted nothing more than to chill in my room. Sadly I had no energy to wish those back home a happy Easter. Maybe next week I will call.

Help out the site!

Help continue the blogs posting by considering a donation to the site.

$5.00

A day out in Hanoi

24-Mar-2018

One thing I did more often than others in the internship in Hanoi was simply relaxing in Trung Hoa, and taking in the city. I didn’t do as much in the way of travelling as some others, who by this point had already been to the likes of Cambodia, Saigon and Phu Quoc. I was content with some northern breaks such as Ha Long and a soon to be planned trip to Cat Ba. But before the latter, I decided to spend a Saturday in the Old Quarter to celebrate Rebecca’s birthday.

Rebecca was relatively young as interns went, so she wasn’t as jaded as I was to lame birthdays. I was actually happy to go along with a day trip to the city and celebrate. Interestingly it began with ticking off one of the must see tourist attractions in Hanoi, the infamous Hỏa Lò prison.

The entrance to the prison. See the Black Ops reference now?
General layout.
The shackled prisoners
Niamh and Rebecca exploring the prison

We headed in with an under the weather Niamh and explored the prison. I personally got excited seeing the front entrance and blocks as it reminded me of the multiplayer map from Black Ops 1. I was trying to find all the similarities the map had to the real thing. One thing I did notice was the flag tower prominently in the game map was not here, and instead at the nearby military history museum. Still, the prison itself had its fair share of colonial grimness. The prisoners shackles and generally cramped conditions didn’t showcase a pampered life for the inmates.

John McCain’s uniform
the guillotine.

Some more notable attractions at the prison were John McCains air force uniform with parachute, and the infamous French guillotine (something that was prominent in the Black Ops map). It was all interesting and a strong introduction to what would turn out to be many colonial prisons and gravesites seen throughout my travels in Southeast Asia.

Niamh was calling it a day from feeling unwell so myself and Rebecca headed to Hoan Kiem lake to chill. We had snacks and coffees overlooking the cloudy lake and it was quite relaxing all things told. It was rare that I actually visited the city center during the day. Either I was busy with classes or only visiting there at night for drinks. So to see the turtle tower during the day with fountains and just casually strolling around the lake was a pleasant experience. Vietnamese couples were taking selfies, the post office had postcards and even the McDonald’s had a classier vibe than most. It was a great time.

The post office
The beer by the lake

Following that was a trip to the Unicorn Kafe. I admitted to feeling lost as the taxi winded through the streets and dropped us off by a really tall tower. It turned out to be near Truc Bach lake, but for all I knew it was a faraway district. We met Sobia and Ricardo. To best describe the cafe, it was ‘sugary sweet’, and I don’t just mean the cake! People would arrive and dress up in fluffy unicorn onesies while eating rainbow cakes. The cake was tasty, and the coffee inevitably sweet, but the whole thing felt a bit too sweet for my tastes. At least the others had fun. I was taken aback by Ricardo’s boasting about sexual conquests though. I hadn’t seen him since the CWD and he didn’t strike me as one to brag about bedding women, but there you go.

A unicorn teddy
the well presented cakes
Vietnamese people dressed up
more kids in unicorn onesies
Ricardo
The excellent cake

After feeling the sugar rush of too much cake, I headed back to House 5 and chilled for the rest of the day. It seems a Bia Hanoi can cure all your needs when it comes to food. Too sugary? Bia. Too spicy? Bia. Feel like you ate something living that’s still moving inside you? Thats right, Bia! (and then maybe a doctors trip after). This was one of my more chill weekends before going on some more adventures, I just didn’t know it yet…

79431645_10206620952557828_4040160960936148992_o

Help out the site!

Keep the site going by paying for a round of bias. Your kind donations keep the lights on!

$5.00

Saint Patricks Day in Vietnam

18-Mar-2018

Like so many other situations in Vietnam, I was not a high flying partier prior to flying out. In Ireland St Patricks Day was no exception. I can probably count one, maybe two times I attended a large party on St Patricks Day. Most other years either never materialized due to other events happening, or I was working in retail on the day. This may be a shock to American readers out there, who probably think every Irish person on the day is absolutely hammered by midday and is singing a few tunes while wearing green, but its true. Dublin city on the day is expensive, crowded, noisy, and after a while not that great, as drunks shout and piss themselves. And as the designated server of drink that day (and the day before), I never had a lot of fun in Ireland. Even the pay rates in Spar for doing such a shift were peanuts. I did have a pint next door after the shift ended, but that was that.

I suppose the point of my opening paragraph is that being in Hanoi gave me a rejuvenated sense of self identity, and a chance to showcase to all the interns just what Ireland was all about, and really have the party for the ages that never actually happened back home. Myself, Odhran, Cian and Jack were definitely planning a day of it, and the evening seemed to settle on Sidewalk, a large bar in Tay Ho. Not only would it have a St Patricks Day themed night of music, but it would also be showing the Six Nations, with Ireland playing England in a climactic final showdown. The pieces were clearly set for the evening.

The morning and afternoon were a little more subdued than those big plans. I gathered a simple plan of cracking open cans at the earliest possible time, before all the other teachers were awake. In reality I woke up at 9 to do a can to kick off the day and spent the first hour nourishing my body with juice and street food to start. Spring rolls and noodles were an ideal starting meal. Afterwards, I collected a few tubs of pringles, some more crisps, a pretty small snickers bar and cans and went back to the lobby of House 5.

I set up the downstairs TV to play 2 Father Ted episodes to get me in the mood, followed by a spotify playlist of Irish tunes. To truly get me thinking of home I put on Hell, or the one where the priests go on holiday. I had always holidayed in Clare, so it was something that helped me feel like having a semblance of home. The music featured a few selections of classics and more recent pop. It brought back a fair few memories.

The second part of the day was around the middle of the afternoon. People started making their way to the house with the double lakes and started really getting on the cans. The house was one of the nicer ones of the intern places, and had a few people from Haiphong turning up too. Michelle, Lucy and Ed were around and it was good to hear how they were getting on outside Hanoi. Face painting, rebel anthems and just a hape of cans were what really kicked off a great session. Fortunately we were just quiet enough not to bring attention of the neighbours to us either, so it was all good. It was an excellent start to the session. Something that really jumped out at me was that you could play all the rebel tunes you wanted and have no repercussions. That meant Come out ye black and tans was allowed blare out through the speakers. Risque!

Michelles clover
A view of the twin lakes
Few Viet Ha’s

Following that we headed to the old quarter and went our separate ways to different bars. I wound up at the Vietnam Backpackers Hostel and really got in the swing of things as there were drinking games, and Bia Larues on tap. I did take issue with Oasis coming on for a lot of the Irish music, but they threw a lot of turn of the millenium Irish pop so I can’t get too mad. Quite a bit of Ronan Keating!

The fry would have been perfect to add on.
Irish Car Bomb challenge dominance
Emily looking well with the heart

Finally we made it to Sidewalk, and the night was all party atmosphere by now. Niamh was dancing in all her glory, and the rest of us were slugging cans and spirits while a trad session was playing. They even played out N17 a few years before that slowed down version came out! This really felt like the home of Irish expats in this corner of the world. Homebrewed stouts were available, and there was even tayto crisps on the menu! Unfortunately they ran out by the time we got there, so I was incredibly disappointed. Still, I had cans and danced away through the night.

Eventually the big highlight of the night began as the match between Ireland and England kicked off. I was having glances here and there, but otherwise I was having more fun drinking cans, having chats and taking the odd break outside to cool down a bit. The large crowds and hot lights really heated up the club! It was there that I met a South African lady, who was friendly and we sparked up a good conversation. That escalated quickly into her going in fast for a kiss and tightly grabbing my balls without too much hinting on that. I was taken aback but didn’t reciprocate. Turns out my intuition was right as she had a boyfriend that was absolutely ripped and could throw me around the place without a thought. “Thank Christ” I thought to myself.

The trad singing
Stout was actually available
“Sorry Fine Gaelers, but Sinn Fein voters were kicked out due to your disastrous policies and made a life elsewhere” That sort of vibe
a haaape of cans
the actual match

At least with that bizarre detour over with the match could get more focus, and the noise made as Ireland beat England 24 to 15 to win the grand slam was so deafening that I doubt I will hear that sort of noise in a venue club ever again. It was perfect, as a joyous expat group were bouncing up and down, chanting, singing and all dancing after.

In Sidewalk

The night was winding down in a bit of a weird way. Many of us started heading elsewhere, to some secret clubs or a bar overlooking Tay Ho lake. I was getting sleepy by 2 and decided just to head back to House 5. Then a big issue happened: My MB card was declined at the ATMS. For whatever reason taking out over a few million dong was considered so suspicious that the bank declined my card, and this was terrible timing, as I had spent my last 50k on a bia Saigon. After using 3 machines and no success, the only thing I could do was walk.

The walk at least had pretty lakeside views

I headed south. Knowing that even if I made it to Thuy Khue roundabout there was still a 4k walk down one massive road was daunting. Still, I walked about 3k from the club and was getting weary. At least the view of the buildings in the distance from the lake was pretty sweet, but with those same buildings being where I needed to go, it was rough mentally. Somehow after 10 minutes a grab bike happened to be driving around. I got on and showed him my last 22k and offered him to take me as far down that massive Văn Cao/Liễu Giai road as he would for the price. Amazingly, he went further down than I had expected, taking me to the end of Nguyễn Chí Thanh, just shy of the Tô Lịch river. The Eurowindow building was standing tall but dark, and it was a real landmark to the area. I knew I was grand at this point.

So there you have it, a long day of partying, watching the 6 nations and a long walk home. I found out the next day that Jack had got wet after falling in some fountain, pond or well at the secret bar. Megan Roche was trying to get stuck in all night so that was fun, and we all made it back eventually, though some stayed out until the early hours of 6 or 7. Crazy night!

Help out the site!

Help out the site by paying for a round of bias. Your donations keep the lights on!

$5.00

5 a side football in Hanoi

February to May, 2018

Cards on the table, I am not a particularly fit person.

Its strange that someone who cycled 150km and swam 1500 metres a week would say that, but I definitely do not fit the mold of a ripped lad with a 6 pack and who goes to the gym 5 times a week and eats pure steak. I am not that kind of man. I am the kind that will keep going even when others give up on something. I am sure not many would cycle from Dublin to Gorey for instance, but its something did in my own time even at a slow pace to cover the 70+km journey.

2 time great Dublin bike ride competitor, can’t last in 5 a side…

Football is another one of those sports I was only partly good at in school, and in a defensive role at that. You weren’t going to see me score a blinder unless the planets aligned, but at the same time I never exactly gave up when on the pitch. At least it wasn’t basketball, but I preferred the solitary sports.

Anyway while the weeks were passing by and the initial nervousness and excitement of teaching classes faded away, people began looking at extra curricular activities to do after teaching classes. Many of the women seemed to just head straight to the Eurowindow building with the infinity fitness gym at the top. Some others were already finding proper paying private lessons, and others found some great kickboxing classes. Some even started playing instruments and joining the expat community for a jam.

All this should come as no surprise as to why the Vietnamese lessons on Tuesdays had rapidly declining attendances as the weeks went on. Fair dues, each week was a different topic and the teacher was a sweet lady that was doing well with the topics, but after a while it seemed like it was just me, Pip, Rebecca, Bridget, Cara and Hannah. Others did come in week by week, but I think most teachers saw the first lesson on tones and instantly gave up, deciding to put their fate in google translate’s dodgy hands instead. In other words, the language is difficult!

yep, the same word with different tones gives you this!

I stuck with the Vietnamese lessons for a few weeks longer than most, but eventually I decided to throw my hat in and play some games of 5 a side football that the teachers had organized. Plenty of English teachers were dying to play the game and began searching for a venue near the houses. Eventually after a few weeks they had settled at Lý Thái Tổ’s astroturf pitch, which was conveniently only a few hundred meters from House 5. The pitch was excellent, well lit with floodlights and with surrounded on 3 sides by tall buildings. The school covered the remaining side, and sometimes you would have students coming out to watch us play. Let the games begin!

As expected, I was a defensive player and tended to swap with Odhran at the back, letting him have chances to really play with the ball. But I was running low on stamina on the pitch constantly. High intensity exercises were not my thing and it wasn’t long before I was gagging for some la vie or dasani from behind the posts. And Jesus, the amount of sweat that came with high temperatures and bursts of intensity! A typical game would have a lot of raw action and plenty of goals being scored. Clegg, Tom and Jackson really got into it, playing like every match was a matter of life and death. It bordered on the silly and ridiculous but it was part of the charm. On top of that, as the weeks went on, crowds of the women gathered by the sidelines cheering the teams on. Alex was awesome as well, cheering us on even when we were practically crawling to the ball after an hour. It was all a lovely bit of nonsense.

Unfortunately as the weeks passed, Jon’s health deteriorated and he was off the team. Despite that, he always liked hearing about the matches and sometimes even attended until his early departure in April. As a tribute, the final of the 5 a side was given the moniker; The Jon Howard Memorial/The Jon Howard Classic. This final showdown also meant winning a physical trophy in the form of an empty Viet Ha bottle with some tin foil and paper decorations on it. The stakes couldn’t be higher…

Still at the end of it all it was a bit of fun, and while I was pretty rubbish at the game, it did burn off most of the beers and had plenty of jokes in it. Highly recommended if you are a Hanoi teacher desperate to get a group together.

Help out the site!

Help out the site by paying for a round of bias. You keep us going with your kind donations!

$5.00

The messy night at Birdcage

3-Mar-2018

A few weeks had passed from Tết and the teaching rhythm had well and truly settled. With the exception of a kid in Cự Khôi throwing lego at his fellow students, things were going through the motions; Ly in An Hưng was a delight, Sophie Filer was still late on Wednesdays, misery loved company at Cổ Nhuế, and Kim Giang was noisier than a jet engine. A few lakeside Bia Hoi meet ups, some Tuesday football and tasty street food broke up the week. Plans for St Patricks Day were already in the works, but until then, there were simple plans just for drinks in town.

Friday came and went, though I was covering a class in the morning in Đông Thái. At this time BME was trying to get us all to cover classes to cover our supposed absences during Vietnamese public holidays. Most of us saw it for what it was; more interns teaching pricey classes while paying intern salaries. It did not go down well for some, who e-mailed Nathalie about it. I kept on trucking, but I should have been more vocal about it.

Returning to House 5, it was clear a party was brewing. I did the usual and bring cans around from Circle K, but also got Kelly some Alligator vodka from a vendor in the laneways. While Laura and Kelly were having pre-drinks with Sadie, I found out in the group chat that Megan was eating at an Italian restaurant, likely with Beth, Miles, Carrie, Maddie and Eoin. Sarah, Diane and Andy were stuffed from eating out earlier. Alex was on Board for whatever madness was in store, but she was partying in one of the other houses. Then, by the table downstairs, we all agreed on a place to head to.

The Birdcage

Up to this point all I knew about the Birdcage was that it was in the middle of nowhere, but all the teachers that returned from there had the party of a lifetime inside and great themes for music. No doubt it was intriguing, but it also seemed like the sort of place where you bring what you have with you, as once you are in its hard to get out. I decided to join in. The adventure element alone seemed worth it.

The taxi arrived around 11, and we got in. After a drive through the city, we wound up circling the large Tay Ho lake before heading further north. We passed the Trấn Quốc pagoda on the way, and the Tay Ho district itself. Instead of turning left into the district, the taxi headed straight to the flower market, and turned right. From here, it was a bumpy road through the night as the taxi hit a dirt road for a while, then turned again into another dirt road, passing what looked like a graveyard, and finally to the Birdcage.

Getting out of the taxi, it seemed like a daunting task just getting back to the main Âu Cơ road, let alone Cầu Giấy, which seemed a world away from this place. Looking back, it seemed so weird to think it was only 5-600 metres away from the main road, and maybe just under 10km worth of walking to House 5. In Ireland I would gladly stagger these distances and then some home, but in this strange new world, maybe not.

The birdcage itself was an interesting club (as if the location wasn’t enough). There was plenty of bamboo around the walls, lighting and sound was all focused at the main dancing area, while the bar was just beside it, protected by palm tree leaves and serving plenty of spirits and surprisingly pricey beers. For a club, the seating was surprisingly plentiful, though not enough to discourage mad dancing. Going counterclockwise, there was an outdoor drinking area with toilets, and further still, you would find a small room with a PS1 and Tekken on. Actual birdcages hung from the ceiling, though the feeling of distance from anywhere else gave Bircage its name more than any ornamental decoration.

Drinks and balloons were all the rage through the night, but I was having plenty of rum and ginger ale. It had been my first true night on spirits since arriving into Hanoi, and they were going down really fast and really easily. Up to now I had been on Viet Ha, various Hanoi beers and Bia Hois. Megans group arrived, along with a few other houses, and the party was really kicking off. Music was in excellent taste, and we were bouncing up and about. Dancing was all I was thinking of, and I was moving like I was 21 all over again. If you play noughties throwback anthems, I’ll do that! Not quite at worm dancing territory, but I was spinning limbs in all directions and stomping my feel on the floor.

Then something happened….I got absolutely hammered.

This shouldn’t come as much of a surprise since these were my first wave of spirits in 3 months, but it came out of nowhere and was a shock to the system. All of a sudden, the world was spinning, I was all over the shop, and not sure what was going on. I headed to the toilets and did an impromptu spew in the jacks. It was not pretty, but it got most of the builtup gas out of me and was able to continue on, or so I thought…

For all I knew, an hour had passed and I was still on it. By 2AM I was exhausted and incredibly drunk. I headed to the toilet again and this time it was far less civilized. I was in there for quite some time, heaving away, and despite trying to be discreet, the toilets left little in the way of privacy. 3 or 4 other lads were taking a piss, and heres me going all in with getting it all out in front of them. ‘At least it wasn’t Laura or Megan seeing me‘ I thought to myself. Then out of nowhere, a lad showed up asking if I knew Laura. Confused, I asked why? It turns out the group were looking for me when Laura overheard a man say ‘Someones getting real sick in there‘. She had asked someone to go back in the toilet and see if someone called ‘Paul‘ was in there. Dear oh dear. Well there went any chance of redeeming my image I thought! How embarrassing can you get?!

It was fortunate that even in my terrible state people had my back. The club had no wi-fi signal so I couldn’t call a grab from there either. Fortunately by then people were going back. I got in a taxi with Maddie and Beth, and was incredibly relieved when I saw familiar landmarks on the way back. However, even getting out of the taxi by BME accommodation wasn’t quite safe haven. I still threw up on the street one more time before heading to house 5. It was incredibly messy.

Thus ends my first taste of the Birdcage. The first night to involve spirits did not end so well, but for the fleeting moments where I was dancing, it was great! Truly great Hanoi nights out would need me to adapt more to spirits and at a slower pace in future. Those would be had, but this was not that night.

Help out the site!

Help out the site by paying for a round of bias to get our creative minds going! Your kind donations keep the lights on.

$5.00

The calm before the storm

19-Feb-2018

One of the best, and overlooked moments on any holiday is when you get home, have a takeaway and take a breather from the adventure. Its such a peaceful moment where you can take stock of what to do next, reflect on what you have done, and really enjoy that current feeling.

This was not one of those holidays.

Yes, I had spent plenty of time reflecting on the holiday, and yes I was bound to get a takeaway afterwards, but I had a nagging sense that I had arrived one day too early. Few teachers were around and even less locals were around than ever before. Interestingly I took a bus back from the airport as opposed to a taxi, which were at inflated Tết prices. Transferring busses from somewhere in Kim Ma to Trung Hoà was difficult, but it worked!

The main street, noticeably emptier and with the Eurowindow building in the background.

The city was empty, and even a trip to the usually busy Vinmart didn’t yield much life either. This was that Christmas feeling that has been lost in Ireland in recent years. Escalators moved with noone on them, New Years Day by U2 was the only noise being made in the supermarket, aired in from the overhead speakers, and all fresh food was cleared. I made do with plenty of dry foods such as cashew nuts, crisps, cookies, pot noodles, the essentials…

The empty Trung Hoà shopping center

Schools resumed on Wednesday, 2 days away, and after eating bland prepackaged food and listening to music in a largely empty House 5, I felt like I had made a mistake and should have arrived here on Tuesday. An extra day by the beach and with blue skies seemed a world away from a grey city where the mist didn’t lift even with the least amount of traffic Hanoi was ever going to get. I ended up spending the day drying clothes, recording a vlog, editing footage together and watching Its all gone Pete Tong.

Cringey vlog incoming

Tuesday was much better. While many teachers were still not arriving until late, a few had taken morning flights and were settling back into the area. The city had more traffic than Monday, and people were starting to sell and serve again. Rebecca turned up while I was in a lazy mood and it was a good a time as any to just head out and see what the story was like. We headed to Paris Baguette and had some tasty sandwiches and cakes. It was the cooked lunch I needed frankly after nearly 2 days of shop food.

It was interesting wandering the Trung Hoà area with less going on. It had a Niflheim feel to it, a quality that life wasn’t moving forward and you were the only thing moving about interacting with the world. I crossed the large and emptier Trần Duy Hưng street to the other side of Trung Hoà and posted a few postcards at the post office. Following that was a time to eat something. After a bit of walking, I did find a bún chả place for dinner as well, though this one required coming into the persons house! I am sad to say it wasn’t as tasty as the usual bún chả, usually under a canopy of tents, but it definitely fit the bill for the day that was in it. Finishing up the meal was a walk to the lake, to have one of the Viet Ha beers. It was relaxing, and with less noise all I could do was see the busy lights as the Handico building sparkled in the distance, Eurowindow was lighting up, and men stopped fishing at the lake.

Returning to House 5, people were arriving and preparing for Wednesday. I had done a bit of cleaning and washing earlier so I wasn’t in a rush to use the machine or the mop. All I knew was that I didn’t feel like teaching on Wednesday. I felt like I would have enjoyed starting on a day which began in the afternoon rather than an early morning start. Still, it is what it is, and I got ready to sleep and relax. The madness was all ahead again.

Help out the site!

Help out the site by paying for a round of bias. Your kind donations keep us going!

$5.00

5 places to check out in Đà Nẵng

Having finally wrapped up writing about my first tet holiday in Đà Nẵng, I felt like recommending a few places or things to do that newcomers may want to do while there. I eventually visited the city fairly frequently, along with Hoi An, and found it to be pleasant and developing quickly. But what is really worth seeing and doing there?!

As per my Hanoi list, here is a list of 5 attractions worth seeing in or around Đà Nẵng if you visit. While a city of a million people by the sea may seem like a center of partying, the actual highlights tend to be outside the city proper, with plenty to see and do if you keep your eyes peeled. Here are 5 to see, and 1 to avoid.

1. Mỹ Khê beach

Its virtually impossible to visit Đà Nẵng and not visit this gorgeous beach. By far the single greatest attraction the city has to offer, the beach runs for miles and features the giant Buddha at the end on a headland in the distance. Cemented both in history and TV, you will struggle to find a large beach better than this in Vietnam. Lacking much of the tackiness that is currently destroying a lot of Phu Quoc, or the antisocial and dodgy Russian characters of Nha Trang, its a great weekend break for those living in Hanoi and who just want to see something more than smog and grey skyscrapers. Only an hour flight from either Hanoi or Saigon.

2. Hải Vân Pass

The road leading to the coast
Da Nang in the distance
Thao guiding the tour
The hilltop tower

Made famous internationally by Top Gear, this is the road less travelled nowadays since a mountain tunnel was built to drastically shorten travel time between Huế and Đà Nẵng. However, the now quieter roads make this an ideal place to take it easy and test your biking skills, taking hairpin after hairpin. The winding road ascends and descends with gorgeous blue sea views and mile after mile of green foliage ahead. You will feel like a changed person after taking the entirety of the pass, and will want a breather to take in the feat. Even if you don’t take the entire pass on, at least take a stop at the peak, where ruins and towers await as well as some of the greatest views in Vietnam.

3. Marble Mountains

I went into this in more detail in this post, so this will be a tad shorter. The mountains are relatively close to the city and yet give off a feeling of fresh air and calm as you walk around the hills jutting out of nowhere. With plenty of pagodas, a cave system, limestone formations and great views from the top, its easy to enjoy. For those that enjoy souvenirs, the marble factories at the base of the hills can offer statues and a walk around to bring some oriental treasures back home, though the don’t use the marble from the hills anymore. Definitely worth a look if you have an afternoon to spare.

4. Mỹ Sơn Ruins

This is the farthest attraction on this list from the city, but well worth the trip. One misconception I think foreigners may have about Vietnam is that most temples here must be similar to Angkor Wat due to its iconic depiction in Apocalypse Now. In truth, most temples use the Taoist template and have tall pagodas. But for those that want something close, My Son fits the bill. Considered by UNESCO as “the most important constructions of the My Son civilization”, these Cham ruins feature many similarities to their Khmer cousins in Cambodia, but with a redder colour scheme and dedicated to hinduism as opposed to buddhism. It has a few quirks of its own and can be done in an afternoon.

Take note though, this is not Angkor Wat. It is far smaller, where it can be done in an hour, and with much of it well, ruined, its not going to produce the holiday making ‘WHOAH’ out of you the same way Angkor would. Dial down your expectations to see a few ruins in the sun, and you get that. Just don’t believe the tour guides trying to sell this to you these ruins to be as good as Angkor Wat, or Vietnam’s equivalent in terms of wonder.

5. Dragon Bridge

Even if you have nothing but yourself and a camera, this is a structure worth checking out. Đà Nẵng is relatively unremarkable when it comes to architectural marvels in the city, but the Dragon bridge is a relatively new structure that looks great and fits well with the vibe of the city. Unlike the other bridges, this one is colourful, incorporates the supports into a dragon and it even breathes fire if you show up on Saturday or Sunday at 9PM! Its an example of turning the mundane into something pleasing to look at, and finally gives the city some personality beyond lit up rectangular buildings.

One to Avoid: The Sunworld resort at the Ba Na hills

This might be a controversial pick because for some reason Vietnamese tourists really seem to like the Ba Na hills resort, high up in the hills to the west of Đà Nẵng. Sure, the original station was nothing to write home about save for a pretty sweet Pagoda and view, but jayses Sunworld completely ruined a good thing here! The bridge itself is fine, made for sharing on instagram or facebook, good for that. But the bridge tends to get real crowded, real quick unless you stay the night at the resort. You have to fight for your time to get the perfect selfie while crowds gather impatiently in elaborate dresses. And the resort… It can really be summed up in one word: Tacky

The resort is full of artificial looking, plastic French buildings and British taxis oddly enough. Nothing feels genuine and it all feels like a facade. The more it tries to replicate the style, the emptier it feels, and you just feel like you are on a movie set that has nothing of substance behind it. It all feels designed with Chinese tourists in mind that think all of Europe is like this, but I just had enough with the crowds and selfie sticks. If you can, run and do the hands bridge, and run back down!

So there you have it, a quick list of places worth checking out around the area. Some other things that aren’t so specific include having cans at the beach, spending time on one of the many rooftop bars and pools overlooking the sea, riding around the city on a motorbike and enjoying some top tier cuisine (my personal favourite was a seafood mix including clams and mussels with ginger and chilli). This is the central regions largest city so there is bound to be something you like in here. Enjoy!

79431645_10206620952557828_4040160960936148992_o-5

Help out the site!

Help out the site by paying for a round of bias. It keeps the idea well flowing with them in us!

$5.00

Tết 2018 (Part 5): The laidback ending

Part 1 of tết 2018 can be read here

Part 2 of tết 2018 can be read here

Part 3 of tết 2018 can be read here

Part 4 of tết 2018 can be read here

17/18-Feb-2018

The holiday was winding down. the massive fireworks had launched, the day trips to Huế and the Marble Mountains were covered, and the days at the beach were still there, but less about drinking and more about taking it all in. The staff at the hotel even demanded I write up a Tripadvisor review of the hotel to help them out. I was going to do one anyway, but being told to type one out while they were over my shoulder was a bit much. In all honesty it made me want to reevaluate the service with just that one moment, and I deleted my review a few days after. Vietnamese people out there, don’t force people into submitting 5 star Tripadvisor reviews!

The rest of the holiday was refreshingly chilled. I visited a few of the teachers other hotels and found they had a rooftop pool! They spent the day swimming and having drinks. At one point they even did a water dance to Uptown Girl. It was fun to watch and relax for a bit.

More interesting for me was doing something I had been meaning to do for a while: Rent a motorbike.

This was a particularly intimidating experience but I had wanted to do it after noticing it is the only real way of getting around a city fast. The streets of Hanoi were chaotic enough to ward any newbie off the roads, so Da Nang’s quieter streets seemed like a good starting point for trying out an automatic underbone bike. Despite having a driving license, I asked the renter for a quick lesson on operating the Yamaha Nouvo. I gave him 500k and after starting the machine and taking 4 right hand turns with him while indicating, it seemed easy enough, as well as going at a decent speed. He was fine with me handling the bike, but I think he found it to be a very simple opportunity to make a lot of cash. Maybe he was surprised since the teachers that didn’t have driving licenses were freely bombing their bikes down the streets already without much of a care. I was being cautious when it came to my first time on 2 wheels.

The Yamaha Nouvo, expat vehicle of choice in Vietnam

I picked up Rebecca and gave her a lift to one of the other hotels, just to be all braggy and manly and all that. She liked that I was being careful if nothing else, and we stopped off at one of the cafes to chill. It was nice to have some freedom of mobility, even if it was only across the block. The heat in the city made it hard to walk more than a few kilometers without burning.

After a bit of chit chat I headed to another block where a few people were gathering and chilling out. Sitting down, I found their plan for the night: Ride to the giant Buddha overlooking the beach in time for sunset. Being something that’s always visible in the distance but only seemingly reached by bike was definitely up my street, and it didn’t seem too far.

The trip began with what seemed like the start of a grand prix; about 9 bikes, with 2 people on each. I was one of the few riding solo, but that meant less responsibility if anything bad happened (cautious Paul thinking there). Once we were ready, we all took off. After the initial quiet of the blocks, we made it onto the busier main road running parallel to the beach. At this point some were bombing it, going well over 80km/h on machines that may have said they could do 160, but would likely have an engine explode at 100. Not to be outdone, I had my MP3 player blaring Fatboy Slim and other F1 classics matching their speed. After seeing that they were not going to slow down on top speed when the locals were barely reaching 40km/h, I slowed down to keep more in line with what locals were doing. I settled into a groove of 50, and was happy to take it relatively easy as I passed the waves and the golden sands of My Khe beach.

Approaching the Buddha
the entrance

After a hilly finale, pushing the hunk of metal and plastic to the top of the hill, I had completely lost the others, but it didn’t matter too much as I parked my bike and paid a man to keep an eye on it. I was sure to see them somewhere around the temples. The obvious centerpoint was the Buddha. This was far taller than first expected. It turned out to be huge! At 67 meters tall, it was the tallest statue in Vietnam and would be just 12 meters shy of matching the tallest building in the republic of Ireland (seriously, build up, not out lads).

I did encounter the rest after taking my time through the attractive temples and smaller statues. We headed to the wall overlooking the bay and just took it in. The sun began to set and buildings light up with all sorts of LED animations and colours. The sea reflected the lights and all that could be heard other than the chatter were chirpy insects and the waves. It was a wonderful ending to the trip.

the sunset
the ride back

After returning to the hotel, I returned the bike, had a last gander at the beach and then got ready to pack and return to Hanoi. I was returning a day earlier than most, just to settle in before teaching resumed, but I did think I regretted my decision to book earlier. Maybe next time I would learn my lesson.

All in, it was a brilliant holiday, full of excitement and discovery. The balance of sessions to day trips was balanced well, and trying out new foods was a delight. It certainly made me a Larue fan from then on out, and made me see more of Vietnam than a smoggy city and motorbikes. Hội An especially was the loveliest place I had seen thus far, and I hope to see more of the country as the internship progresses. The North is good, the center has had a peek. The south is the next big frontier, but we will have to wait until the next long weekend to see some of that!

Help out the site!

Help out the page with a round of Bia’s. You may encourage more posts with your kind donations.

$5.00

Tết 2018 (Part 4): Huế city

Part 1 of tết 2018 can be read here

Part 2 of tết 2018 can be read here

Part 3 of tết 2018 can be read here

16-Feb-2018

If ever there was a day that didn’t need a hangover on the holiday, this was it: with a bus leaving at 8 and a full day of taking in information ahead, it may have been wiser to do this trip the following day, but I didn’t know just how much fun the New Year was going to be the previous night. I had 3 hours of sleep and a shower, so at least I wasn’t going to be a smelly guy on the bus getting stared at. Breakfast was fairly quick, with rice, plenty of water and watermelon to keep me going. I even snuck some watermelon segments into a tissue for eating on the bus to Hue.

The drive to Huế was longer than expected, but that did mean I could get some extra naptime on the bus while the other tourists answered questions to the overly enthusiastic guide. Despite the energy he had, it was fast becoming clear that he didn’t want to be there. since this was the equivalent of Christmas day for the Vietnamese. I hope he spent time with family after the tour, but I did feel guilty afterwards.

The bus with Da Nang bridge in the background

The bus drove under mountain tunnels, rice fields, coastal roads and then into the city itself. It seemed as small as Hội An at times as the bus entered, but after a while it became clear there is more to Huế than Hội An, at least in terms of size. For one, the imperial palace was HUGE! The bus circled the palace before settling down, and it took a while to do so. Its probably a good thing that we were going to start with such a grand complex as it was the main attraction.

Comparisons to Bejing’s Forbidden city are common with the imperial city, both being large square complexes of oriental buildings surrounded by a moat and with a real feeling of ancient royalty, emperors and opulence. However, the key differences were apparent at a glance and more obvious the further into the palace you went; Beijing’s has a clear red colour palette and an immaculate, untouched appearance, ready to have as many visitors and guests as possible. Hue’s meanwhile has had a rough time with the Tet offensive; colours can feel washed out, some walls are entirely missing, and bullet holes riddled some of the palace floors. This was very much a frequently visited city that has seen many stories and tells them with what you find as you walk around. That is not to say its all damaged goods. There were still plenty of beautiful structures and rituals happening around the palace grounds. Some singing buddha bells and altars were all around and the lanterns were hanging around the structures.

The main entrance gate
plenty of fish by the moat

All in, it was a truly impressive complex and was well worth the tour trip alone. Its just a shame that anything that tried to follow this wasn’t going to be easy. Still, there was a temple and a tomb to visit, so at least they are different flavours of the city.

Bullet holes
ruins
what once were glamorous doors open to the ruins
A beautiful lantern

Next on the trip was to Thien Mu Pagoda. Despite having an impressive 7 floor tower and the infamous car that a Buddhist monk drove to Saigon’s busiest junction before self immolating, it felt like many other medium sized temples. That said, the gardens were lovely, and overlooking the Perfume River made for a great photo opportunity. It made for a good mini trip inbetween the palace and the tomb. It just felt smaller in importance following the Imperial palace. Overall, a good snack of a visit, one of those places thats worth visiting while we were in the area.

The 7 floor tower
By the Perfume river
the gardens
The monks car
the river

Lunch was served in the city, and it was a selection of rice noodles, a spicy broth and a really enjoyable pork meat. The seasoning made it taste like a satay dish mixed with lemongrass flavour. It was all very tasty, though I never got a definitive name for the meal, but if I had to take a guess it would be Nem Lui Hue. Surprisingly we weren’t served Bún bò Huế, a dish most often associated with the city. Perhaps they wanted to show other dishes this time around. After some refreshing tea, we headed to our last main temple.

After a slightly longer drive, the bus stopped at the tomb of Khải Định. At first glance, it was large, imposing, rather monotone in its grey-scale look, and quite a hike to get to the top. It looked very impressive from the bottom, but as you climb the 127 steps you notice that something is up with the emperors tomb…

Spoiler warning: I feature A LOT in this section of the tour!
The view from the bottom
stone warriors
one of the large pillars
the octagonal pavilion
the other pillar
Chilling with the warriors

For all the elaborate decorations, stone warriors and decorated pavilion, it was actually built in 1920 and finished in 1931. Some buildings in my hometown are older than that! The emperor also turned out to be unpopular, being more of a puppet leader while the French were around, and raised taxes in order to build this mausoleum. And here I was thinking Brian Cowen was bad!

But in the end, it is still an impressive structure. The tomb interior especially has plenty of vibrant colour, and the two obelisk pillars make an impression as you make your way up the stairs. It was enjoyable to hear the negative history while adoring what was around. It would make an ideal Mortal Kombat arena.

The tomb entrance
view from the tomb
cheeky dragons
Me again

After waiting around for some tourists committing the cardinal sin of wearing white socks on sandals, we headed back to Đà Nẵng. The hottest part of the day was over, we were given crackers and water as refreshments, and just took in the palm trees and coastal views as the bus drove back. I was thinking of the rest I could have back at the hotel, and maybe get a bag of crisps to keep me going before knocking out, but I was glad to have taken a day trip to Huế. Well worth seeing again for a proper weekend stay.

79431645_10206620952557828_4040160960936148992_o-6

Help out the site!

Help out the page with a round of Bia’s. You may encourage more posts with your kind donations.

$5.00

Tết 2018 (Part 3): New Year’s Eve at Hội An

Part 1 of tết 2018 can be read here

Part 2 of tết 2018 can be read here

15-Feb-2018

It had been a few days but I had really settled into the rhythm of the holiday by now, and was enjoying my time here. There was always a blue sky and sunshine to welcome me in the morning, sparkling the sea. There was always a friendly welcome in the hotel and suggestions for day tours, and the buffet always had something tasty for me to try. That morning I had a Bánh mì and eggs, with the condensed milk coffee that was really sweetening up my time here. The staff suggested another few lists of places for me to try and see. These included The Hải Vân Pass, Huế , the Mỹ Sơn ruins and the Bà Nà Hills. If nothing else, I knew the Tết offensive of 1968 from Black Ops, and was all in on visiting Huế city on the 50th anniversary of the event. The timing could not be better, and I went with that for tomorrow’s day trip. Today was going to be spent on the beach (or so I thought).

By now Rebecca and Jon Howard had arrived in Đà Nẵng, and I met up with Rebecca at a nice, shaded part of the beach to chill. Kirsty and Miles also showed up just to chill under the thatched umbrella and to have drinks at a table rather than on the sand for the third day in a row. It was all quite relaxing, and enjoyable to really settle with Larues.

The rest of the mid afternoon was spend returning to the group a few hundred meters north, though I was taking breaks here and there exploring the blocks around the beach. I found an Indian restaurant called Veda, as if it was calling me to eat there sometime! It even had the same font as the Veda near my home in Cabinteely. Along with Mexican and western restaurants nearby, the area near the beach had a lot of variety compared to other areas when it came to dining. I enjoyed exploring the food options, and bought snacks and larues for the afternoon by the beach.

It was all going as the usual, chit chat, a lot of relaxing and listening to music, but we found Sadie had passed out in the sun and got properly sunburnt. It looked incredibly painful and for whatever reason we thought the solution would be more drink and applying whatever suncream we had. She did hide under a palm tree and Zoe did put some clothing over her as a shield, but the damage was done.

I thought this would be the logical end for the day, but it turned out most of the group were heading on a minibus to Hội An and were heading to their homestay there. I just decided to join in as the opportunity was there and I was already decently dressed to make it through the night. It seemed like a good start to things.

We arrived at La Terrazza homestay and I was just hanging around outside for a bit taking in the….Vietnamese-ness of it all. Rice fields, palm trees, the odd motorbike crossing the field on a thin path, and mosquitos around. There was even a water buffalo, just chilling out and eating grass! The house itself was modern, with plenty of rooms and bathrooms. The owner was a friendly Italian who had settled down here and was happy running a guesthouse and farming the land with rice. Johnny was having plenty of discussions with him. Cian was absolutely loving it and the relaxed nature compared to Đà Nẵng was well suited. Some future stays could be had in places like this.

The strange thing was that despite feeling absolutely rural, it was only a couple of hundred meters from the same vibrant town center I was in the night before. Now that there was no time limit here unlike last night, I was able to take things in and really enjoy myself. We all stopped at a bar on Nguyễn Thị Minh Khai street, chilling out with Larues and taking a look at all the nearby stalls. Clothing, posters and souvenirs were all on sale, and the beautifully coloured suits and áo dài’s looked especially appealing. As the sun set, the lanterns lit up and it was a sight to behold. Suddenly the streets that seemed great already turned into something magical.

Viên Giác pagoda
Matt and Rebecca, with Odhran and Jack behind them
Chilling out in Hoi An
Japanese bridge

It felt nice to do the familiar activities again, such as crossing the Japanese bridge and letting candles float down the river. This time though, myself, Emily, Kirsty and Bethan got on one of the river boats and had a slow, chill trip on the river. It cost a fair amount of money at the time but it was worth it as we got to relax while the rower at the back took us downstream. It felt all very romantic and would be great to bring a significant other on. Hotel California was playing throughout the town at the time oddly enough and is a memory stuck in my head for the night overall.

Emily on the boat trip

After a bit of exploring, eating more street food and buying a flying bird toy, the parties started to begin appearing. This was the Lunar New Years Eve party, and the bars were starting to turn up the volume on all of their music. So much for peaceful! During the night we all headed to the likes of Mr Beans, Tiger Tiger and the Shamrock pub. Rebecca and Jon were both enjoying themselves, as were the rest of the group. It seemed like we had all congregated here and were on the beers, but the spirits were definitely flowing as well. Jon was even trying to score! I acted as his wingman but alas it wasn’t to be. Maybe next time for him. It was all good craic, but it was nothing compared to midnight.

After a good few hours on the sesh, it was messy but we managed to see that something was being prepared for midnight. By the river, a massive pile of fireworks were being arranged. For a town of its size, these looked like fireworks suited to a city ten times the size. While people were still roaring and chatting, a countdown had begun, from 10-1 in Vietnamese…..

And then the fireworks happened

The fireworks

I had never seen so many fireworks light up the sky before. It was bright, and had catherine wheels spinning while explosion after explosion illuminated the area. It was a feast for the senses, and beat anything seen in Dublin, especially given the small size of the town. One must wonder how big the displays were in Hanoi, Saigon or even Đà Nẵng.

The night for me ended at 3AM, though many others were staying longer. I found Jon and got in a taxi with him and a few others back to Đà Nẵng. At this hour and on this night it was unsurprising that it cost a fortune, but we didn’t mind, so long as we got home by 4AM. I had a long day ahead with the day tour likely starting in 5 hours time. Even so, this was for my money the best New Year I had ever had up to that point, even if it was a Lunar new year and I had noone to make out with at midnight. In Ireland I had only one, maybe 2 good New Years, but this was truly great. The parties, countdowns and positive atmosphere of a new year just swept over any downsides. I was so happy to have spent the day and night in Hội An.