Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Beachin'

I had a dream last night that John Cusack and I met on a Vietnam Airlines flight and absolutely hit it off. Because of COURSE we would.

First thing on my iPod this morning?  "In Your Eyes" by Peter Gabriel ....

I don't want to sell anything, buy anything, or process anything as a career. I don't want to sell anything bought or processed, or buy anything sold or processed, or process anything sold, bought, or processed, or repair anything sold, bought, or processed. You know, as a career, I don't want to do that. -- Lloyd Dobler

Coincidence?  I think not.

(and if you don't get the Lloyd Dobler reference, go and rent Say Anything ... now.  Do not pass go, do not collect $200 ... MUST SEE)

So how does this fit with the "Beachin'" title of this blog?  It doesn't ... but that's how my mind works.

You're welcome.

I partook of the amazing beaches of Vietnam last weekend - and it was GLORIOUS.  Weather was perfect, beach was beautiful (the sand sparkles - literally), water was so clear you could see your feet standing shoulders-deep ... and the best part?  I had amazing friends to share the weekend with!!

Friday morning ... 4:30 a.m. departure (meaning 3:30 a.m. wake up call) for the airport.  Quick hop, skip and a jump to Da Nang with Nathalie, LaMont, Sylvia and Miss Monae to paradise!

We made it!!

We ended up finding a 2 bedroom villa at a luxury beach resort in Hoi An - complete with a private pool and direct access to the beach ... all for $260/night.  I know you're probably thinking "that's pretty expensive for Vietnam!"  And it is ... definitely a splurge ... but if you think about costs in the U.S. - um ... PRIVATE villa with PRIVATE pool and DIRECT access to the beach, breakfast INCLUDED, and FREE shuttle bus to/from Hoi An?

Um yeah ... you can't put a pricetag on THIS as your backyard.

Our villa!

It was a steal, and having that pool after a long afternoon/evening sweating our asses off running through the streets of Hoi An to get clothes made was a godsend.

Plus - it's the beach ...

HEAVEN ...

... complete with fruity drinks!!

We did the beach thing, we did the Hoi An thing, I had 4 dresses made (added to Nat and Sylvia's wares, I'm PRETTY sure we significantly contributed to the provincial economy), had a few great meals and cold beers, and LOTS of laughs with fabulous friends.

Exotic locales like the beaches of Hoi An DEFINITELY add to the fabulosity of being an expat!!

Pics!!


Happy hour!
FYI ... that beer cost me 14,000 dong ... roughly $0.65.

Hoi An!

The BEST kind

Dragon bridge in Hoi An

LaMont and Nathalie enjoying a DELICIOUS dinner overlooking Hoi An's waterfront ...

... Sylvia and me doing the same!

Hoi An at dusk

A little blurry, but ... Hoi An at night
Check out the lanterns and Christmas lights!

Happy Monae running her heart out on the streets of Hoi An

Grun-Wynn family at the Japanese Bridge in Hoi An

Cheese face

LOTS of laughs!





Sunday, August 11, 2013

Canoes and Cable Cars

10 adults + 1 adorable little girl ventured to the Perfume Pagoda on Saturday ... many thanks to Nathalie and LaMont and Daraca and Damien for inviting me on the day trip they'd planned for visiting family members!!

According to Lonely Planet, the Perfume Pagoda ... "is a striking complex of pagodas and Buddhist shrines built into the karst cliffs of Huong Tich Mountain (Mountain of the Fragrant Traces)."  The better description comes from the Government of Vietnam's state-sanctioned Tourist Guidebook: "Huong Tich Grotto is the most beautiful and famous of the grottoes in the area.  It was discovered more than 2,000 years ago.  When Lord Trinh Sam visited the grotto in the 18th century, he wrote five Chinese characters on the entrance in calligraphy: Nam Thien De Nhat Dong, meaning 'the most beautiful grotto under the Southern skies.'  In the middle of the grotto is a statue of Bodhisattva Kuanin ... Many Vietnamese visit the Perfume Pagoda to implore Buddha for happiness and good luck, as well as to immerse themselves in the beauties of nature."

So the 11 of us ... me, Nathalie, LaMont, Monae, LaMont's mom Sylvia, Daraca, Damien, Damien's mum Pamela, and his grandmum Kathleen, and friends Kate and Zach ... piled into a "16 passenger van" (NOT 16 Western passengers - it was a tight fit) and enjoyed the 2 hour trip to the Perfume Pagoda.  We took a 1.5 hour canoe ride to the entrance to the temple, and slid our way (extremely slippery) through the temples.  THEN ... we took a cable car ... (that's right - a freaking CABLE CAR in BFE Vietnam) ... to the top of one of the karst mountains, and went spelunking (I love that word) to see the Temple in the cave.

Quite honestly, friends in Hanoi had warned me about the Perfume Pagoda - too many people, it's so hot, not worth going, blah blah blah ... it was AMAZING.  It was a perfect day trip from Hanoi, though I could see where it'd be "challenging" with a gajillion people pushing their way up the (millions of) steps and causing traffic jams on the river.

We lucked out with great weather (hot and sticky, but it wasn't sunny so that kept the temps pretty good for middle of summer in Vietnam) and no crowds.  We timed it perfectly, and had a great day doing it ... HIGHLY recommend the Perfume Pagoda to anyone venturing to Vietnam!

And of course - pictures!!   


We made it!  Kate, Zach, Sylvia, Monae and Daraca with our
trusty steed


Canoes and the view


Ready to get this party started!!


Cruisin'

Purple trash bags (aka ponchos) are the height of sophistication

Serious flooding on the river - the top part of the pagoda

Pamela, Kathleen and Dar enjoying the cruise!

More flooding - shop/restaurant underwater

The view!

Pagoda!

Pagoda!

More Pagoda!

Nat and Monae exploring the 1st set of Pagodas

Friends!

Fierce

Cheeseball

Altar in one of the temples

LaMont and Monae checking out the temples

Prayer flags!

Me and Dar pre-Cable Car

I imagine myself saying something like "SERIOUSLY???  A cable car?"
Also known as ... sheer terror ...

... until I was fine and posed with Damien

Sylvia and Daraca being fearless - lovin' the cable car ride
(to be fair - the view was AMAZING)

Weird fertility dolls - supposed to bless you with a boy ... 

... up close and personal ... Huh.

Nat getting ready to head down to the cave temple

View from the steps leading to the cave

Me and Damien making our way to the temple

Bells!

Home boy is welding in flip flops.  On the top of a mountain.  Having
carried those ridiculously heavy poles to the top of said mountain.
Good god we have it easy.

Altar in the cave temple

Caving!


The aforementioned cable cars.

Yeah dude

So the cable cars stopped for about a 1/2 hour, and we
thought it was the perfect photo cop ... me with the D's!

Two of my faves
(sidebar - notice how there's no fence or warning signs or - DO NOT ENTER
signs in the open air space behind us???  RIGHT ....)

Damien and LaMont throwing up their gang signs

Dar and Damien enjoying the ride BACK down the mountain

Canoeing back ... WONDERFUL DAY!!

 ** Thanks to Nat for many of these shots!!**