Yes, you're reading that correctly. We are now residing, for the time being and for what seems to be the foreseeable future, in Prague. It's quite a far leap, I realize, from the last entry (was it really five months ago?) but I'll get to explaining that later. First, let's recap the past five months or so.
In January we took a vacation from Korea to visit Vietnam. We spent three weeks traveling south from Hanoi during a spate of unexpectedly cold, rainy weather. In normal fashion we travelled on a fifty dollar ticket that allowed us on and off passage on overnight busses from Hanoi in the North all the way to Saigon in South. Luckily we were forced to take a three day layover (changed from nine hours) in Shanghai so we had packed some warm clothes. After spending a few days in Hanoi, we took a short trip to Halong Bay, which due to the weather, was quite misty, and at that point still a bit surprisingly, cold. Despite this we met some interesting people (some of whom we met with again during our trip down the length of the narrow country) and had a good time.
Our next stop was in Hue, where we were greeted with two days of rain. On the first we visited the Citadel, spending many hours exploring the vast enclosure. The following day we decided to take a driving tour to various famous sites from the Vietnam War. It was interesting to finally see many of these places after having spend such a great deal of time studying them, and the war, in school. A highlight was hunching our way through the Vinh Moc tunnels. Our guide at the site had lived in the tunnels for much of his earl adolescent life.
Again on a bus, we arrived in Hoi An. Truth be told, we were a bit disappointed by the city famous for tailor made clothing and it's status as a Unesco World Heritage Site. In all it seemed a bit too touristy, in fact, I'd probably go so far as to call it "Disney Land Vietnam." It was very unlike the rest of the country, a bit too manicured, a bit to fake, and all in all just a bit too much. Even so, there were some high points to Hoi An. First, it is, actually, quite a picturesque city. It's historical position as a trading city brought in many migrant peoples from neighboring countries including China, India, Japan, and even as far away as Holland. With them they brought their architecture, adding unique character to the city. The city is also famous for some of it's snack-like dishes which we ate perhaps a bit too much of, and washed down with ultra cheap "bia-hoi" or "fresh beer." Fresh beer is brewed, well - fresh - daily and brought to the restaurant by what are essentially home brewers of various scale and quality. With a low alcohol content, and an even lower price tag (about ten cents a glass), bia-hoi provided the perfect accompaniment to our culinary adventuring.
After a few days in Hoi An, we again boarded a bus to Nha Trang. All of the sunny pictures we'd seen of the beach side city had apparently been taken during another time of year as instead of sunny blue skies and crystaline waters, instead we found ourselves cowering under the eaves hiding from the rain. It should be noted that at this point in the trip we had not yet seen warmth, nor sun. Needless to say, we were getting a bit fed up with that so without much ado we continued on our way to a beach called Mui Ne - famous for various colored, large, sand dunes, a "fairy spring," and kite surfing. Kite surfing was so popular, in fact, that venturing onto the beach in the afternoon hours was a surefire way to end up maimed from a falling kite. This also meant that it was incredibly windy BUT, it was warm, and sunny so we happily spent five days here lounging on the beach in the morning, and relaxing in the shade during the afternoon. Fresh whole fish and other sea food delights kept us fed well, and in the end, we felt quite rested and relaxed.
Ending our trip in Ho Chi Minh City, or Saigon if you're anyone but the government, we expected the chaos and noise of the South East Asian city. Instead, as it was the begining of the Tet Holiday, we were greeted with empty streets and an odd quiet that blanketed the city outside of the main tourist area. Luckily the major museums were open throughout the holiday so we happily wandered the empty streets eating at street vendor's carts on our way between the various sites.
Finally we ended our trip and flew back to Korea where we absolutely needed to put in five days of desk time before we could take off for a visit home to California.
Coming back to Korea, we were greeted with some contractual issues which, combined with a multitude of other unpleasantries, led to our resignations and a one way flight from Busan to Prague. I won't go into details but that, basically, is the short version resulting in our current, liminal state. We're in the process of getting a work visa, and following that will be trying to get our residence permit so it's an interesting time but not in the least exciting.
It's good to be back, it's good to see old friends, and life is good albeit a bit unknown at the moment - but that's not something we usually do so in the meantime it's a good change of pace.
I'll keep updating this blog from time to time, and will add pictures later this week to accompany the above stories, but if you're interested I've started a new blog dealing with life in the Czech Republic. It probably won't be that interesting for those not living or looking to move here, but it will probably get updated a bit more frequently so have a look if you've got a minute to spare!
The address is: http://pivoland.wordpress.com
In January we took a vacation from Korea to visit Vietnam. We spent three weeks traveling south from Hanoi during a spate of unexpectedly cold, rainy weather. In normal fashion we travelled on a fifty dollar ticket that allowed us on and off passage on overnight busses from Hanoi in the North all the way to Saigon in South. Luckily we were forced to take a three day layover (changed from nine hours) in Shanghai so we had packed some warm clothes. After spending a few days in Hanoi, we took a short trip to Halong Bay, which due to the weather, was quite misty, and at that point still a bit surprisingly, cold. Despite this we met some interesting people (some of whom we met with again during our trip down the length of the narrow country) and had a good time.
Our next stop was in Hue, where we were greeted with two days of rain. On the first we visited the Citadel, spending many hours exploring the vast enclosure. The following day we decided to take a driving tour to various famous sites from the Vietnam War. It was interesting to finally see many of these places after having spend such a great deal of time studying them, and the war, in school. A highlight was hunching our way through the Vinh Moc tunnels. Our guide at the site had lived in the tunnels for much of his earl adolescent life.
Again on a bus, we arrived in Hoi An. Truth be told, we were a bit disappointed by the city famous for tailor made clothing and it's status as a Unesco World Heritage Site. In all it seemed a bit too touristy, in fact, I'd probably go so far as to call it "Disney Land Vietnam." It was very unlike the rest of the country, a bit too manicured, a bit to fake, and all in all just a bit too much. Even so, there were some high points to Hoi An. First, it is, actually, quite a picturesque city. It's historical position as a trading city brought in many migrant peoples from neighboring countries including China, India, Japan, and even as far away as Holland. With them they brought their architecture, adding unique character to the city. The city is also famous for some of it's snack-like dishes which we ate perhaps a bit too much of, and washed down with ultra cheap "bia-hoi" or "fresh beer." Fresh beer is brewed, well - fresh - daily and brought to the restaurant by what are essentially home brewers of various scale and quality. With a low alcohol content, and an even lower price tag (about ten cents a glass), bia-hoi provided the perfect accompaniment to our culinary adventuring.
After a few days in Hoi An, we again boarded a bus to Nha Trang. All of the sunny pictures we'd seen of the beach side city had apparently been taken during another time of year as instead of sunny blue skies and crystaline waters, instead we found ourselves cowering under the eaves hiding from the rain. It should be noted that at this point in the trip we had not yet seen warmth, nor sun. Needless to say, we were getting a bit fed up with that so without much ado we continued on our way to a beach called Mui Ne - famous for various colored, large, sand dunes, a "fairy spring," and kite surfing. Kite surfing was so popular, in fact, that venturing onto the beach in the afternoon hours was a surefire way to end up maimed from a falling kite. This also meant that it was incredibly windy BUT, it was warm, and sunny so we happily spent five days here lounging on the beach in the morning, and relaxing in the shade during the afternoon. Fresh whole fish and other sea food delights kept us fed well, and in the end, we felt quite rested and relaxed.
Ending our trip in Ho Chi Minh City, or Saigon if you're anyone but the government, we expected the chaos and noise of the South East Asian city. Instead, as it was the begining of the Tet Holiday, we were greeted with empty streets and an odd quiet that blanketed the city outside of the main tourist area. Luckily the major museums were open throughout the holiday so we happily wandered the empty streets eating at street vendor's carts on our way between the various sites.
Finally we ended our trip and flew back to Korea where we absolutely needed to put in five days of desk time before we could take off for a visit home to California.
Coming back to Korea, we were greeted with some contractual issues which, combined with a multitude of other unpleasantries, led to our resignations and a one way flight from Busan to Prague. I won't go into details but that, basically, is the short version resulting in our current, liminal state. We're in the process of getting a work visa, and following that will be trying to get our residence permit so it's an interesting time but not in the least exciting.
It's good to be back, it's good to see old friends, and life is good albeit a bit unknown at the moment - but that's not something we usually do so in the meantime it's a good change of pace.
I'll keep updating this blog from time to time, and will add pictures later this week to accompany the above stories, but if you're interested I've started a new blog dealing with life in the Czech Republic. It probably won't be that interesting for those not living or looking to move here, but it will probably get updated a bit more frequently so have a look if you've got a minute to spare!
The address is: http://pivoland.wordpress.com
