Back from a month in Viet Nam, as the natives call it - all words are short, so those with more than five letters become two words, or so it seems.
After a month I only know four words:
Thit bo - beef
Thit jo - dog
Gamon - thank you
Ke - frog
These I learnt from menus.
Restaurants that sell thit jo do not sell thit bo, or any other meat, so no problem there.
See a picture of a golden Labrador over the door & avoid.
I make this sound as though we made such decisions, but in fact we had a car with air-con, a driver, Phum & a guide, Chung, then Hai from day three onwards, so were well looked after.
We lunched with them every day & often dined with them & friends - twelve was the largest party!
Vietnam is 1500 miles long with the South china Sea to the East & shaped like a skinny, writhing fish.
Hanoi is the Northern capital & Ho Chi Minh city/Saigon the Southern capital, with a very thin central region - my description, entirely, if you hadn't guessed.
We started in Hanoi, travelled North as far as the Chinese border, then South as far as possible,to the Mekong Delta, returning to HCM city, to fly home.
A fascinating country, my main impressions are:
* Green & luscious, with crops growing everywhere - on steep slopes, up mountains, under pylons....
* very small people, especially the elderly; some of the younger people are our size with some plumpies amongst the better off, who eat more Western food.
*Very healthy food, bales of green stuff, almost anything green seems to be eaten.
This ties in with protein consumption - any life form is a source of protein.
I declined anything with more than four legs!
No sweets, chocolates, biscuits, etc, only masses of fantastic fruit, hence a 7lb weight loss.
*Motorcycles by the million, everywhere, weaving in & out, but few accidents due to the low speed
of all traffic. They often carry 3/4 people or a pig or a dozen ducks, the equivalent load of a small
van.
On day 1, three men carried a large chest freezer out of our hotel, balanced it across the back of a
m/c, no ties, which then drove off home.
*Appalling roads, apart from the new highways - worse than the worst country lane here.
In the North we averaged less than 20 mph.
*The dexterity of the masseurs!
We are just getting over the time difference (6 hours) & the 16 hour journey home.
The weather & J A's lawn mower have played havoc with the garden, the installation of an alarm system & the necessity to use the front door as the back door is not yet replaced, have created a mess indoors.
Nevertheless, I have done all of the washing & ironing - everything we took as damp/hot climates & foreign laundries leave a strange smell - cases are all away & the garden is having priority whilst the sun shines.
Photos to follow - just a few.
After a month I only know four words:
Thit bo - beef
Thit jo - dog
Gamon - thank you
Ke - frog
These I learnt from menus.
Restaurants that sell thit jo do not sell thit bo, or any other meat, so no problem there.
See a picture of a golden Labrador over the door & avoid.
I make this sound as though we made such decisions, but in fact we had a car with air-con, a driver, Phum & a guide, Chung, then Hai from day three onwards, so were well looked after.
We lunched with them every day & often dined with them & friends - twelve was the largest party!
Vietnam is 1500 miles long with the South china Sea to the East & shaped like a skinny, writhing fish.
Hanoi is the Northern capital & Ho Chi Minh city/Saigon the Southern capital, with a very thin central region - my description, entirely, if you hadn't guessed.
We started in Hanoi, travelled North as far as the Chinese border, then South as far as possible,to the Mekong Delta, returning to HCM city, to fly home.
A fascinating country, my main impressions are:
* Green & luscious, with crops growing everywhere - on steep slopes, up mountains, under pylons....
* very small people, especially the elderly; some of the younger people are our size with some plumpies amongst the better off, who eat more Western food.
*Very healthy food, bales of green stuff, almost anything green seems to be eaten.
This ties in with protein consumption - any life form is a source of protein.
I declined anything with more than four legs!
No sweets, chocolates, biscuits, etc, only masses of fantastic fruit, hence a 7lb weight loss.
*Motorcycles by the million, everywhere, weaving in & out, but few accidents due to the low speed
of all traffic. They often carry 3/4 people or a pig or a dozen ducks, the equivalent load of a small
van.
On day 1, three men carried a large chest freezer out of our hotel, balanced it across the back of a
m/c, no ties, which then drove off home.
*Appalling roads, apart from the new highways - worse than the worst country lane here.
In the North we averaged less than 20 mph.
*The dexterity of the masseurs!
We are just getting over the time difference (6 hours) & the 16 hour journey home.
The weather & J A's lawn mower have played havoc with the garden, the installation of an alarm system & the necessity to use the front door as the back door is not yet replaced, have created a mess indoors.
Nevertheless, I have done all of the washing & ironing - everything we took as damp/hot climates & foreign laundries leave a strange smell - cases are all away & the garden is having priority whilst the sun shines.
Photos to follow - just a few
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