Howdy folks. Thought I’d throw a travel idea by you thats part Apocalypse Now, part Motorcycle Diaries, this trip is done by motorcycle down the Ho Chi Minh trail from Hanoi to Saigon on Russian made Minsk motorcycles. The cycles are the backbone of the country, everyone rides them. While cycling, you will visit everything from Ho Chi Minh’s birthplace to the Chinese fishing town of Hoi An, to the hill retreat of Dalat. A pretty thorough and bona fide Vietnam experience. You ride along the highway, along dirt roads, through small towns where you stop and have the best Phu you’ve likely ever eaten. I would do this one in a heartbeat.
Word for the Travel Wise (01/03/07)
On your way to Vietnam in the near future? If all goes well when you arrive you shouldn’t need this Vietnamese vocab to figure out where you luggage landed, but if you should find that you cannot find your goods you may wish to cut the small talk and show them you know what you’re talking about..
Today’s word is a Vietnamese word used in Vietnam:
hành ly (haang lee) – luggage
To continue learning Vietnamese online start with phrase list found at the NY Public Library. This Wanna Learn / Geocities page has some free words and phrases listed. It was one of few I could find online for free though you won’t get far. Rosetta Stone offers audio and web courses for a fee and there’s always the opportunity to take a Vietnamese language class in Hanoi, Vietnam with CIEE. For those flying through the country for just a few short days pick up the phrasebook.
Past Vietnamese words: Xe Ðap, xinh xinh, cam hut thuoc, tam biêt, bàn dô, phong giat (fom zuht)
Photo of the Day (12/7/06)
Wow.
Simple. Fragile. Stunning.
I love the way these little saplings stand so defiant and proud on this lonely stretch of beach in Phu Quoc, Vietnam. Congrats go out to Ourmanwhere who snapped this beauty and contributed it to our Gadling Flickr Pool.
Vietnamese Blog
Don’t know how many fans of Vietnamese food there are out there, but I have to myself admit that I sometimes get a big-time hankering for Pho, the delicious Vietnamese soup. So folks who aren’t aware of this great blog should check it out. Noodlepie bills itself as “a blog about scoff & swill in Saigon”, which I think means they do food, with a ‘tude, as it were. The blog is written by the cheeky, but well-informed British journalist Graham Holliday, and features not only some superb write-ups on all that is edible around Saigon, but also provides photos and even video. He visits his favorite restaurants and marketplaces, and dines on an assortment of what we might call odd dishes, but which the Vietnamese call their standard cuisine. The best thing about this blog is how funny it is. Who knew that fish porridge could make you laugh.
Word for the Travel Wise (11/22/06)
It was the eve before Thanksgiving and some American was off abroad in a land where people spoke Vietnamese. They searched for turkey, but no one understood; they asked for gravy, but received phô instead and to make matters worse they were dirty from toe to head. If there was one word the poor tourist could remember it was the word for laundry place.
Today’s word is a Vietnamese word used in Vietnam:
phòng giat (fom zuht) – laundry place
To continue learning Vietnamese online start with phrase list found at the NY Public Library. This Wanna Learn / Geocities page has some free words and phrases listed. It was one of few I could find online for free though you won’t get far. Rosetta Stone offers audio and web courses for a fee and there’s always the opportunity to take a Vietnamese language class in Hanoi, Vietnam with CIEE. For those flying through the country for just a few short days pick up the phrasebook.
Past Vietnamese words: Xe Ðap, xinh xinh, cam hut thuoc, tam biêt, bàn dô