Holiday in Europe and a question

Living in Vietnam, it feels like we are physically closer to our European roots, but it didn't feel that close after a 30 hour trip back there at the start of July.  Flying via Abu Dhabi, Paris, Copenhagen, Stockholm and Umea (in Northern Sweden) still landed us with an hour and a half drive to Skellefteå, where Vik grew up.  Luckily it was 9pm and we could go to bed on arrival.  Luckily not having to feel guilty about trying to adjust to new timezones and not sleep until normal bed time.  Unluckily, it was Sweden and summer time.  The sky was just as bright as if it was midday.  It turns out they've thought of that already and we had blackout blinds on the windows.

Next morning, or rather lunchtime, I awoke and the view was amazing.

Morning awesome

And it pretty much looked that way each day for two weeks.  The weather was mostly 25-30 degrees, blue skies and warm, even at night.  And the bonus of being so far north is that you can sit in the sun all day and not get burnt.  The lake was shallow and thus warm too so morning swims became a habit.

My favourite thing about Sweden (other than the accents) is their food and drink.  Well the drink is mostly just coffee, but they do it well.  They are listed in the top 3 of coffee drinking nations and its easy to see why.  I'd say they might even drink more than the English drink their tea. If you know me, then you know I only drank my first cup in 2012 and little did I guess back then that 2 years later I'd be chucking back 5 or 6 cups a day.

Swedish food is varied, seasonal, big on fish, heavy on cakes and all about the combinations.  At breakfast we made open sandwiches from hard crisp bread, butter, cheese, cucumber, boiled egg and a squeeze of fish eggs.  With yoghurt, fruit and of course coffee it was hugely tasty and filling.  Instead of lunch we tended to snack on cakes, biscuits, chocolate balls and coffee.  One evening we had the world famous Surstromming.  You can read about it by asking Mr Google but from my experience, I can confirm two things.  1. The smell is god awful and no matter how much you want to find out if the stories are true, as soon as you do you want to never smell it again.  2. It tastes pretty yummy - as long as you eat it the Swedish way on bread with potatoes, creme fraiche, onions and dill. 

Feeling like I was in the perfect dream, about a never ending holiday, we spent our days idling away on small jobs on the house (painting a fence, replacing the door lock), reading in the sun, swimming and fishing in the lake (I caught the tinniest fish you've ever seen and was told it was a whopper by local standards) and biking along never-ending, pine tree lined roads.  One evening we headed out for two hours of slow driving so that I could spot a moose.  I have been looking for them in both Canada and USA to no avail so was hoping for third time lucky.  But sadly we didn't see any.  Perhaps my moose-hunting look frightened them off.

The moose-hunter

But all dreams end and so we headed back down to Paris with Vik's mum.  The two of them were to spend a few days sightseeing as a birthday gift from Vik to her mum.  Whilst I was getting the train to Belgium to meet my folks, who had Eurostared in the day before, for a few days in Bruges.  Three flights, a metro, two trains and then walking to my hotel on the cobblestone streets of Bruges, I bumped into Mum and Dad.

I'd visited the city the year before and so acted tour guide as we wandered the canals, learnt about chocolate and chips and tasted as many strong beers as possible.  We had a day trip to visit the many memorials and cemeteries around Ypres - a very interesting tour.   But of course the best bit of Belgium is their beers.  I brought as many back with me as possible (10) and also a beer making kit I picked up in Sweden, of all places.  I set up the fermentation stage yesterday so hope to have some tasty beer in 3 weeks time.

Now the keen minds amongst you (I hope its not only search engines that read this) will know that I've missed out an important part of the story.  Being together in Europe with our respective families seemed like a good opportunity for them to meet and so the Chambers caught the train down to Paris and we had lunch in Montmatre, below the Sacre-Coeur, with the Degermans.  A quick walk up the hill to see the church and views of Paris was followed by a mad rush to get back to the train so my parents could catch their Eurostar home.

The following day Vik's mum flew back home too and the two of us had a few hours in Paris.  We picked up some of the free Velib bikes and rode around the river and Notre Dame.  I had an engagement ring in my pocket and you'd think Paris would present many an opportunity but time, crowds and maybe a little bit of nerves meant I never quite found one.  And so it took until that evening, at the airport, and the sight of a champagne and seafood bar, before an idea formed.  I suggested a drink and ordered two champagnes and a plate of oysters.  Vik looked at me a little concerned at my sudden splurging out and I could only grin back as the waiter hovered in front of us, shucking the oysters.  She talked, I couldn't answer; too busy rehearsing lines in my head.  I couldn't keep still either.  I needed 30 seconds distraction-free.  Eventually the waiter disappeared and I was free to 'ask'.  Vik was still baffled by my odd behaviour and a ring that had (unceremoniously) been dropped in her hand, but as I kept confirming "Yes, this is really happening" she soon gave her answer: "I'd love to, that's a great idea".

And so, we are now engaged.  No plans as yet, we have to decide on a country still, and anyway we need to concentrate on getting this Masters written first before buying wedding magazines.
We quickly emailed family before stepping on the plane back to Vietnam where we stepped right onto a sleeper bus for the 8 hour drive back to our home in Dalat.  The first week back in rained non stop but since then its been sunny and hot with barely a thunderstorm in sight.  Perhaps rainy season is over early this year!

ps As well as writing this I have a few other ramblings online (http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff-nation/assignments/whats-the-grossest-thing-you-ve-eaten/10362375/Oh-cute-a-baby-bird-to-eat and a few articles on http://beervn.com/) 

 Breakfasts

 Hedgehogs would scamper over the lawn each evening

 French bistro

Guess what just happened

Tripping

Woahh there. Time flies and its nearly 2 months since I last wrote.  Much has happened and much has changed in our lives. Lets begin.

Back in mid June we took our first weekend trip away. Saddling up our steed, we set off in an easterly direction towards the coast and Nha Trang.  It is, apparently, 'the new road' and it did have less potholes than normal but as it was my first long distance trip on a motorbike I took it easy, keeping the speed below 70kph.  We cruised up and down hills past coffee plantations and fields of strawberries.  Eventually crossing a high pass, the road headed down the side of a huge valley and we could see what looked like flat land and the ocean in the distance.

As we slowly wound our way downhill, the heat increased.  We'd worn trainers and jeans in-place of leathers but I wanted nothing more than jandals and speedos and to jump in the sea.  I'm joking of course- I'd NEVER wear speedos.  Pine trees turned to rice paddies and banana trees until we hit the bustling metropolis of Nha Trang and had to weave our way around at least a million motorbikes to find the beach.  Checking into the Perfume Grass we had a sea view room, a/c, TV, fridge and free (if tiny) breakfast.  We were also 100 metres from the beach so headed straight there for an afternoon paddle.

I'd visited this very beach 10 years earlier when doing my backpacking round the world thing.  I still have photos.  Tourism, I once heard, tends to destroy the beauty of a place and the very thing that initially attracts a person to an area.  What was once a quiet beach stretching into the distance, famous for snorkelling trips and seafood has now become a party town, populated by Vietnamese and Russian tourists, a beach (and sea) littered with plastic and a beach front lined with 5-star hotel chains.  But that's all very subjective and says more about me than Nha Trang.  But if you can ignore the speedo-clad Russians with big bellies, and if you can find an available sun-lounger after 8am, then you can relax on the beach, have a swim in the cool water and then nip back to the hotel for a shower and bit of a/c.  And thats really all we wanted for two days.

The only time the beach was quiet - 6am.

There is a hidden bonus in Nha Trang though.  It has not one but two microbreweries.  We of course went to both and I wrote a bit about it and sent it to a Swedish guy in Hanoi who writes his own blog about Vietnam's beer scene.  I was surprised when he stuck it up on his site: http://beervn.com/2014/07/02/louisiana-brewhouse-nha-trang/

Monday morning came too soon and we nipped into the supermarket - bigger range than our one in Dalat - to buy Earl Gray tea and then headed home.  The uphill ride was tough for our old bike but we made it and our only problem was rain which fell for the last hour and quickly turned our soaked hands and feet into ice blocks.  Funny to be so cold in the tropics but the same thing happened when I was cycling in the Andes so I should know better.  Luckily we have a hot shower at home and some new teabags so we soon warmed up again.

 On the way home, just before the rain

The following two weeks saw us packing up and cleaning our house.  We'd decided to move into an American man's empty house on the other side of town.  He only lives here 2 months of the year and so we would have the place to ourselves.  It was cheaper than where we lived but more importantly had an awesome view out the back sun-room over pine forests.  We'd timed our move with our little holiday to Europe to visit Vik's family and attend her sisters 40th birthday party.

In our last week, a new gym and spa place opened up and offered us to use the gym for a week for $5 as some of equipment hadn't arrived yet.  Our plan of going everyday didn't quite happen but we did make it four times.  The walls were adorned with muscle men and women from America.  I should have asked the grandma, who started telling me her life story while on the spinning bike, what she thought of them.  We must head back there and see it finished actually.

For our last night in Dalat, we headed out on the town (a rare occurrence) and ended up drinking quite a bit (ie 4 beers) and eating local food (frogs legs).  The next morning, with all our (worryingly growing amount of) stuff transported by bike to the new place, we got on a bus down to the beach resort of Mui Ne.

That is a frog's leg

Mui Ne is similar to Nha Trang in that its also full of Russians and has a beach but other than that its very different.  One street runs along 10km of beach and is home to small resorts, nice locals and not a high rise in sight.  Our hotel was sat back from the road on top of a sand dune which gave a lovely view but meant we had trouble getting to the beach as the resorts employ security guards to stop people just walking through their place.  Mui Ne is known for its kitesurfing but windy season is near Christmas so it was rather quiet when we were there.  And wet; it rained most of the time which was a bit of a shame.  But we are heading back there for 4 days in September when my entire family comes over to visit.

After two nights in our cosy hotel we bused to Saigon, went to a gym near the airport to work out (but mostly to use their shower) and then flew to Northern Sweden (via Abu Dhabi, Paris, Copenhagen and Stockholm).  More on that in another post.

Forever bending down

Yes, Vietnamese people are short.  And I tower over people everywhere, often seeing smiling old ladies looking up at me in the street, and I just know they must be thinking I'm a freak of nature being that tall.  I've already been asked to grab something off the top shelf in the supermarket.  But the real issue is that I'm the odd one out here and so thoughout the day I'm having to either bend down or stoop.  From washing up, to sweeping the floor or sitting without being able to get my legs under the table.  Its giving me a bit of back pain and therefore I'm taken to using a chair whilst preparing food, washing up and shaving.  Not decided how best to do the sweeping yet.

But thats not the end of my anatomical woes.  The mattresses here are quite possibly full of old porridge and the pillows more like a giant's beanbag.  I went to a shop to buy a smaller pillow, which at first scan didn't seem to exist.  I picked up one of the huge ones and mimed that I wanted a flatter one.  She grabbed it and started pulling out the stuffing.  I went home and did the same.  As for the mattress, well it seems they only have them rock solid here so we've given up and are trying to adjust. Now I just need to figure out a way to strangle the rooster living next door without anyone suspecting me of fowl play (boom boom).

Despite how it sounds, we're both loving our house and Dalat in general.  The weather is quite possibly the best out of anywhere I can imagine - especially as its highly likely to remain like this for our whole stay.  That could get 'boring' after a while I imagine but right now I love never being too hot or too cold.  

You should, by now, know that Vik is studying away, every day, from 9 till 5 and often longer.  She set her own tight deadlines for each chapter of the thesis and so far hasn't missed one.  But there's been a few concerns about what exactly I'm doing every day!  Well, I have done a few small bits of work for old companies in Wellington, including some follow up work to what I was doing in Bougainville.  Working on websites often requires just a password and a fast enough laptop and so I'm lucky that my bosses know me enough to let me work remotely. 

In between work, (and the occasional proof reading session) I've been doing a bit of study myself.   Earlier this year I found two websites offering free online courses from reputable universities.  Both edx.org and coursera.org are chock full of interesting sounding classes.  Who wouldn't want to learn The Fundamentals of Rehearsing Music Ensembles?  Programmed cell death? Search for Vernacular Architecture of Asia?  Or Organic Solar Cells - Theory and Practice.  Actually I think I might sign up for that one.  In reality, despite not working full time, there are way too many courses available.  So far I've done Climate Change Science and Brain and Space and currently am doing a Mathematics one, rapidly relearning all that I was taught age 17.

And really that's taking up all my days.  A bit of shopping here and there and occasional reading of my book and I've not felt bored since we got off the 9 hour bus ride to get here.

Luckily our recent dining experiences have fared better than the 'duck foetus' incident.  A few doors away is a hot spot restaurant.  Or hot pot as its more conventionally known.  The owner and her teenage son both speak English and seem happy that we're visiting them on a weekly basis.  Each time we order a different base (chicken or beef so far) for the steaming soup and they bring over piles of greens, noodles, bread and eggs to dunk in and cook.  And each time we order a different drink from their menu.  The "herb hot wine" was probably sake and quite nice.  The Da wine doesn't seem to have a translation but came in an reused plastic water bottle (which I almost sent back as we hadn't ordered any water) and turned out to be lethally strong (and cost 50 cents) .  The last half of the bottle is still in our freezer, awaiting an unsuspecting visitor to ask for a drink. 

One of the best purchases so far have been a pair of glasses - each.  I need mine coz I'm blind and Vik just looks good in hers.  After trying on every pair in the shop I settled on thick plastic frames  and watched the guy slot my lenses in, taking less than 2 minutes.  In NZ they'd have sent it off to a lab somewhere.  But they are pretty funky and I feel a bit like Gene Hackman in Enemy of the State. 

Theres of course more to say but will save that for next week, when we may even have tales of a trip down to the coast for some sunshine and microbrews.

 The lovely Viktoria

 My first attempt at spring rolls

 Stooping at the sink

 Check out the gloves they give you

 Afternoon storm

 One of the top reasons we choose to come to Dalat

My new glasses.  Maybe Michael Caine?

Settling in

We've been up in Dalat nearly 2 weeks now and the weather has stayed pretty much the same.  But thats not a bad thing.  Each day the temperature is about 25 and at night it only gets down to about 20 in the house and a bit less outside.  We put on jumpers but a little walk up the road to a cafe and its time to return to T-shirts.  Its also sunny each morning (with the occasional early morning fog) and the clouds gather around lunchtime then drop their load randomly but efficiently.  Some days we miss out on the rain and only hear the rumbling thunder.  On other days we're right where the clouds decide to burst and after a few 'early warning'  droplets, the rain thunders down for an hour or two.  Either way, huge cumulonimbus (I'm currently learning about clouds through the web) clouds sit overhead, picking up the setting sun and eventually disappearing to reveal starry nights.  Sorry to harp on about the weather but anyone thats seen me in hot countries knows I don't like humidity so I was so very excited that Dalat was as cool as promised.

Our first week went pretty fast.  We were staying near the cable car with an AirBnB host.  A young yoga-instructor with a 2 year old boy and a house looking out over the forest.  I set about chasing up a few contacts I'd made to start looking for houses to rent and Vik aimed her nose at her books.

One week later and we moved into a spacious, but sparse 4 bedroom house near the University.   Our bathroom (as every bathroom I've seen here so far) has a toilet and urinal.  "We can wee at the same time - that's the best part" I hear Vik say yesterday.  The worst part, however, is the tiled floors.  We walk around barefoot most of the time which makes absolutely no noise, so after the first few days of me entering a room unheard and then scaring the hell out of Vik as she turned around to see me 2 feet away - we've both startled whistling as we move around the house.  Still, we're never quite clear where the other person is if we can't see them.  After a couple of trips to the market and flower shops we've added a little bit of homeliness but for only 6 months stay there's no point in going all Extreme Makeover.  It is easy to get carried away though when 2 roses, a rosemary bush, jasmine plant and another unidentified flower cost $5 from the market.  Roses are 3 dollars for a dozen!

In fact one of my memories from the first time I came here as a backpacker was how cheap Vietnam is.  Last night we ate out with a fizzy drink each, bought an ice cream and some fruit on the way home and didn't spend $5.  Food is for sale everywhere and at all times of the day or night.  It seems like every other shop is a cafe too boasting the famously thick (and sweet) Vietnamese coffee.  If you've not been, you wont know but I can say that I've undergone a shift from a tea drinking Brit to a 2 coffee a day man. 

Each morning or evening we go for walks in the local neighbourhood.  People are pretty friendly and kids often wave and shout hello to us through inquisitive and probably somewhat surprised eyes.  Within a few minutes we're away from the noise of the streets and walking through fields of growing veggies and flowers.  Greenhouses cover any spare bit of land and at night they are light up with eco-lightbulbs.  Its the only place in Vietnam that grows a whole range of things and so everyone seemingly gets in on the act and sells their crop to the rest of the country. 

On these walks we notice the houses too.  Its very different to Saigon, instead being a blend of Vietnamese style houses (narrow, tall and deep) and huge European villas with beautiful gardens and covered in flowers. The French were here for large parts of the 1800s and 1900s and have left their mark. 

As you might know from Facebook (which incidentally is blocked here) we rented an automatic motorbike and then a manual one.  And now we've bought our own one.  A trusty (and rusty) Honda Wave.  The horn works every other day and the petrol gauge doesn't move at all (which led to me running out of fuel and pushing to the nearest petrol station).  But I do have a super awesome helmet for it. 


Weirdly enough its been raining for 4 hours at the moment.  Oh well, not always just an hour.


ps FOUR BEDROOMS.  Come visit!

 Thats a lot of Dong

 Nice spot for a cocktail

 Dalat at night from the lake.

 If the locals can carry the extended family and a chicken, we can carry a few purchases

 New bike outside our house

 Our street

 Vietnamese coffee shot

 Our house is so big we play badminton inside

Purpose

Our reasons for travelling so soon after Bougainville are pretty simple.  Vik has a Masters thesis to write and Wellington is cold and wet during winter.  So a trip back to the tropics was in order and when we found $400 fares to Vietnam and read about a lovely town in the Highlands that was know as the City of Eternal Spring - it seemed a very simple choice.

That decision was made 5 months ago when all we could do was read travel forums and look at a few photos.  Now, we are here, in Dalat, Vietnam and have spent our first day looking around (fixing Vik's swollen little toe by getting a doctor to stick a needle in it), buying veg, fruit and herbs from the market, walking around the lake in the centre of town and generally just loving the place.  Its hot in the sun but cool in the shade and the air is not heavy or humid.  For me, thats almost enough already.  But it has more.  They can grow almost anything at any time of year.  The market has bananas, pawpaws and mangoes but also carrots, potatoes and strawberries.  There are nuts, herbs and all the usual weird Asian jars of things that are probably best left alone.  Then there's the fact its Vietnam's only wine growing region.  And main coffee growing region.  And tea growing.

If you want to have an idea of it then watch the Top Gear episode where they motorbiked up the length of the country and even better the BBC show The Coffee Trail with Simon Reeve.  But if you REALLY want  to know, come visit us...