Category Archives: Vietnam
Snobbery and the Mekong Delta
There are people who travel and there are tourists. The debate of which category a person falls into – dependant on travelling behaviour, length of journey, lifestyle choices – is a long one that has been raging among backpacking communities … Continue reading
I’d like to tell you a story…
Once upon a time there was a little girl called Hien. She lived with her mother and father in a country called Vietnam. Now one day her mother and father decided they didn’t want their little girl any more. This … Continue reading
Halloween
Pleased to report it’s the same all over the world…people get dressed up, go to parties, get drunk, spill beer on their witch/cat/monster outfits, wake up in November with a hangover. Good times!
Taking communion
When I, and three other western orphanage volunteers, were asked to the house of Lan, a Vietnamese woman we work with at the centre, were very flattered. We didn’t know the girl well but she seemed friendly and eager to … Continue reading
Work hard, play hard
The people of Saigon seem to live crazy lives, haring round town on their motos, always in a hurry, always on the go. Most of the Vietnamese we know work 3 or 4 jobs, or impossibly long hours in 1. … Continue reading
Filed under age, Health and beauty, travel, Vietnam
Silver lining
It seems from my the response to recent blogs that I’ve been having a bit of a winge about Saigon, but it’s really not all bad. Sure, the city may be a bit dirty, busy and smelly but the work … Continue reading
Karaokism
Vietnam has several main religions: Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Catholicism and, most importantly, Karaoke. You can find temples to the last of these on every street corner and adherants of the faith don’t just visit on Sundays but pretty much every … Continue reading
Filed under Pubs and clubs, travel, Vietnam
Wrong Tau
When Jamie planned me a surprise romantic weekend out of Saigon for my birthday, I admit I was hoping for somewhere, well, romantic. Instead I got 2 nights in Vung Tau, the place where seaside holidays go to die. Like … Continue reading
Pink eye
One of the downsides to working with children is that you pick up every disease going. Anything remotely contagious spreads like warm butter in an institution like the one we work at: colds, coughs, sneezes and, now, Pink Eye! Owwwwch! … Continue reading
Filed under Health and beauty, Vietnam
Living in Disneyland
The architecture of Vietnam is singularly odd. Most buildings look like they were left over after a secondary school production of something Shakespearean, or perhaps rejected film sets from a reimagining of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. They are, by … Continue reading
