Sapa (Ron)

After the two posts my Jeff and Heidi I tried to think about an event here that had a similar bearing on my humanity and I can honestly say I have not had that experience (thankfully). My experience here is that Vietnam is a very peaceful country with wonderful people. The closest I had was a political discussion about a progressive citizen who was imprisoned for speaking out against corruption of the current government. It was not even a debate as my co-worker was agreeing with me that this man's imprisonment was improper.


On a more happier note, I have found one of my favorite places on this earth. Sapa, Vietnam. Sapa is a little town northwest of hanoi in the nothern mountains of vietnam that is surrounded by ethnic minorities who live their very traditional lives in small villages scattered amongst the rice paddies.

I booked a tour with handspan tours which was the best investment for this trip. The guide we had was wonderful. He grew up in Sapa so he was very knowledgeable of the area and the people. The hotel was simply amazing. Here is the view we had.


The group of people I had most contact with were called Black Hmong. Others in the region are Red Dau, Day, Tay, Flower Hmong, and Lu. At times it's very difficult to tell the difference as an outsider but each group has slightly distinctive clothing.

Here is a Black Hmong mother and her baby. They hike EVERYWHERE so all young children are carried on their back.


This is Cat Cat Village (Black Hmong). As you can see the village consists of small houses usually in a valley scattered around rice paddies.

This is from the second day hike to Lau Chai village. As you can see from the pictures it rained. In fact it rained the entire time I was in Sapa and I still left feeling like it was one of the most magical places I have ever been to.

One of the main reasons why I felt Sapa to be so wonderful is the people I met there. Everyone is trying to sell you something as the town and surrounding area is a tourist attraction. It is a mixture of hilarity and anger as you continually say "no" to someone who continues to ask "you buy from me?"

But the younger children speak very good English and are eager to practice. They are very outgoing and sometimes just want to get to know you. Here is a picture of a couple girls my group and I spent time talking to.

These two girls were hilarious when together. Just simply amazing people.

If anyone travels to nothern Vietnam you absolutely must take a trip to Sapa. The small town is beautiful in itself, hiking along the villages is a great way to spend the day, and the people are utteraly unforgettable.

Highlight of my trip so far.

Tourist in Hanoi (Ron)

I thought I would add some pictures and comments from the tourist sites that I've visited in Hanoi. Most of these I saw a few weeks ago but some were just this past weekend.


This Hoan Kiem Lake, one of the multiple lakes in Hanoi but the most popular being right in the center of downtown.


A refurbished section of Hoa Lo prison. Originally constructed as a prison to hold Vietnamese political prisoners fighting against French occupation it is commonly known as the famous prison where US Soldiers were held during the "American War" as it's known here.


The Temple of Literature is the first "university" of Vietnam established in 1076. It has stone tablets with the names of its doctoral graduates.


I enjoy the Night market better in Hanoi than in other places. It's more of a gathering place for a nice walk than the Ben Thanh market in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) where you are treated as a walking wallet.


Speaking of "Uncle Ho" here is his final resting place and Ba Dinh square. The sheer size of this open area is hard to describe. In one of the most crowded cities I have seen, this large open area is just stunning.

My project is coming along fine. Two months just isn't a lot of time to get even basic research done in my mind, but I think what I'll collect will be helpful to ACS and hopefully to the organizations here.

This upcoming weekend I'm going to travel to Sapa which is a nothern mountainous region where many ethnic minorities live. Hiking along the rice paddies from village to village sounds like a great way to spend my weekend in attempt to get away from city life.

The Good and The Bad (Ron)

I haven't posted in a while partly my own doing and partly because I felt too sick to leave my bed.

So the beginning........

A few weeks ago I was notified by my work that they would be holding a journalist training seminar on how to write effective tobacco control stories. The 2 day conference was to be held in Ha Long which is about a 3.5 hour drive from Ha Noi. So I thought to myself, what a wonderful opportunity to visit Ha Long Bay the weekend before and begin the conference the following Monday. So I booked overnight passage on the SS White Dolphin. Here's a picture of it's little cousin - my boat was another floor bigger.Ha Long Bay was absolutely beautiful. It was simply amazing to see the limestone rock formations sharply extend from the water which is turned a very pretty green due to the dissolved rock. Everything is so calm with the exception of all the other boats touring the bay but when you have some free time it's truly a relaxing place to be.The trip itinerary was a little touristy for my liking but we did explore "Surprise Cave" (ask me why it's a surprise and I'll show you the picture), hike one of the islands and kayak a smaller enclosure.Pretty much the entire time was a relaxing boat cruise on the bay. I ate great seafood and met some really nice people as well.

The conference was likewise a really enjoyable time. Even though I did not understand a word of what was being said without the translator it was successful in that I gained some insight for my work here on Vietnamese media. I met and talked with some newspaper reporters, and TV correspondents - all of these contacts will help in the future when I need some insight into their tobacco control efforts.

Through a work friend I was invited into the home of a local family (the toddler son did not like me), drank beer and ate squid by the bay, and enjoyed pleasant conversation into the evening.

Even the 3.5 hour return bus ride to Ha Noi was enjoyable.

But if the universe is a zero-sum game, I certainly paid for it in the following days.

I made it in to work Wednesday morning noticing that it was hotter than most days (it really was) but that when I made it inside the office I was continuing to sweat. To make matters worse, we had run out of bottled water and a new shipment wasn't due for a few hours. I toughed it out but was feeling pretty bad with some lower back muscle pain. I thought it was due to dehydration, but after 3-4 bottles of water and lunch I decided that I wasn't feeling well enough to work throughout the day. I told the office that I was going home but would likely return tomorrow.

I made it home but by this time I was really burning up. Sure enough the thermometer was beeping with a temperature of 100.5. I monitored it throughout the day and it steadily climbed to 102 before plateauing. Then on came the headaches and diarrhea. Sadly this continued for another 3 days. I literally left my room a total of 3 times in five days all of which to go buy small amounts of food and large amounts of water.

This was the most sick I have felt in a long time.

When I finally recovered, I made it back to work just in time to be the butt of jokes pertaining to H1N1 and the American.

VINACOSH (Ron)

VINACOSH stands for the Vietnamese Committee on Smoking and Health. It is the government organization that conducts all tobacco control efforts in the country and it is where I work everyday. It is a very small organization with only 6 employees, but they are amazing people. Yesterday, there was a Vietnamese tradition of cleansing the body of "insects" - for lack of a better translation. The way this is properly done is to ingest a rice dice that has fermented for a while. Imagine eating rum cake with a noticeable amount of alcohol first thing before work and you'll get the picture.


The entire VINACOSH office is probably double the size of my apartment so it's a wonder that they even found a desk for me. Also pictured here is Huong (b).







From left to right is Huong (a) the media communications officer, my main working partner, and Huong (c). That's right, with a staff of 6, VINACOSH employs 3 Huongs :) I am told the name means fragrance.



For lunch, we will either go out to eat, or one of the women will cook in the office. Let me tell you that it's very difficult to get work done with the aroma of pan-fried pork wandering the office 30 minutes before lunch time. But the best part of working here is that I get to eat traditional Vietnamese food every day.



































And what lunch would be complete without a dish of Rambutan.


A Vietnamese fruit of which I have no words to describe other than that it is sweet. I am told it is similar to a lychee also spelled litchi. But since I have not eaten a lychee I have no reference.

The people I work with are simply amazing. They are so eager to please and to practice their English with a real American. I taught them the proper pronunciation of the words "valley" and "pine tree" both of which they are convinced are very difficult to say. Personally I have trouble with the word "ngon" which sounds like "non" but not exactly.

Motorbikes, motorbikes, EVERYWHERE (Ron)

One of the first things that hits you when you see Hanoi is how EVERY single person seems to ride motorbikes/mopeds. Whatever you want to call them they are everywhere. And by everywhere, I mean I frequently see motorbikes parked in jewelry stores.

I took a xe om (translates to "hug bike") to work on Thursday. It's a very cheap way to go around the city and probably the fastest considering you don't follow any traffic laws. Running red lights, who cares. Answering your cell phone while driving someone, who cares. Driving on the sidewalk, who cares. I guess it wouldn't be Hanoi if you don't get honked at from behind to get out of the way while you are walking on the sidewalk (which happened to me).

Another aspect of traffic that I'll talk about is crossing the street. After you have ridden on a xe om and see exactly how little attention is paid to traffic laws, it makes it very difficult to trust anyone driving a motorized vehicle. The problem is you have to if you want to get across the street. This is no break in traffic so what you do is just trek out into street and try to avoid LARGE cars and trucks. Anything smaller and you have to trust them to avoid you. It sounds and looks like suicide at times but surprisingly it works fairly well. It certainly takes a brave soul. Below is a picture of a street I had to cross to see the most famous lake in Hanoi.
I think I'll continue to edit this post as I see strange things on motorbikes here. I'll start off with:
A family of four
Multiple bushels of rice
20 ft metal beams
Three adults sharing one rain poncho (because it was POURING)
SIX, that's right, SIX toilets
Panes of window glass, and their frames
A headboard
8 open cases of coke......BOTTLES not cans
A 52' LCD flat screen
A Palm tree
A full length mirror

A short 26 hours later...... (Ron)

and I arrive in Hanoi.

That was a long flight, but I think it will be worth it.

The Vietnamese people are very nice people. On the plane I met a woman who organizes Vietnamese students to study abroad and she offered me a weekend job teaching English. She also spent a little time teaching me Vietnamese, which lead to a conversation with the older gentleman behind me telling me to get married in the country. :)

Two women who work at VINACOSH (my worksite) picked me up at the airport and helped me settle my apartment. It's just perfect for me with internet and all utilities already set up.



It's a nice little place that I will call home for the next 10 weeks.

OH BOY the time change. Hanoi is 11 hours ahead of Atlanta so I attempted to reduce my jet lag by staying up late 2-4am and sleeping in late a couple days before my flight. I followed the plan well except for the sleep in late part. Consequently spending 26 hours on a plane or in an airport and already being sleep deprived from before, I've already taken two naps and I'm getting ready for bed. It worked somewhat well because I'm tired at nighttime and hopefully won't be tired tomorrow morning.

Tomorrow I am meeting more people from VINACOSH and buying a plane ticket to Ho Chi Minh city (Saigon) to meet the ACS project consultant this weekend.

Wish everyone well this summer.