Word for the Travel Wise (04/12/06)

by Adrienne Wilson on

Instead of using only the flag to
help point out which country I’ll be looking to pull a word from today I decided to use a picture from the area to help
refresh our memory on a past word explored and a new word today. This picture found at the Hanoi Language and Culture Tour site shows a florist with very pretty
flowers atop of a bicycle on a busy Hanoi street.

Today’s word is a Vietnamese word used in Vietnam:

xinh xinh – pretty,
cute

Can’t say for sure how
today’s word is pronounced, but I’m sure you can find out by either complimenting the flowers or the pretty woman in
the conical hat selling them. Hopefully she’ll understand you’re trying to compliment her in the native tongue and
won’t slap you across the face. Better yet, let’s not take it that far yet. Just tell her how pretty the flowers look
on top of the bike. If you recall bike is xe dap (sur-raap).

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

Bird-Flu Posters

by Adrienne Wilson on

The fight against bird-flu is on! Best
way to avoid our infected feathered friends would be to stop eating them in my book, but these government issued
posters spotted in Vietnam don’t suggest you hide from them at all. In fact they are translated to read:

"To minimize the chance on contracting bird flu, please cook the absolute crap out of all poultry."

That certainly may not be the exact translation, but it sounds like a pretty darn good one if you’re still
willing to take chances eating poultry in high-risk bird-flu areas. May the force be with you.

via Pology

Red Corner: Hanoi Culinary Tours

by Neil Woodburn on

Vietnam is the only country I’ve visited under communist rule (or the first few years of post-communist rule, for that matter) that had good food. Even China was disappointing. But Vietnam, with its French influence had wonderful food even 15 years ago when I was amongst the first Americans allowed back into the country after visas regulations were lifted.

At the time, I was quite surprised to see the streets of Hanoi filled, Parisian-style, with baguette-toting pedestrians, colorful markets bursting with fresh produce and street food wafting delicious smells into the air. This was simply not what I had come to expect from communism.

The culinary arts have done nothing but improve since then.

Telegraph Journalist Francisca Kellet takes us on a culinary tour of Hanoi that begins in one of the city’s amazing outdoor markets where, amongst the hundreds of strange items, she was able to only identify basil, dill, a few varieties of fish, and skinned dog carcasses. Mmmmm….

Kellet’s tour, booked through British-based Travel Indochina was an 11-day “Culinary Discovery Tour” through the markets and kitchens of Hanoi and Saigon. She includes a few restaurant recommendations as well as a couple of local cooking classes that are offered. No mention on whether “sweet and sour canine” is included in any of the lessons.

Red Corner: The Ho Chi Minh Trail on Motorbike

by Neil Woodburn on

I’m not too big on motorcycles but was rather enthralled with an article I ran across on Bloomberg.com in which columnist Mark Gilbert jumped on a bike and toured the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Vietnam.

Gilbert writes about a friendly motorcycle gang in the town of Da Lat called the Easy Riders who have become the hottest way to travel through Vietnam. For $50-60 a day they drop you on the back of a Honda motorcycle and roar off to locations you’d never reach on your own or with a tour group. I spent time in Vietnam 10 years ago and longed for such an opportunity, but the tourist infrastructure didn’t exist at the time and I had to settle for public transport instead.

Vietnam is still a very backward country and Gilbert convinces us that the best way to navigate its poor roads and eek the very best out of a Vietnam vacation is on the back of a motorbike. His journey took him past remote hill tribes, silkworm farmers and fishermen hauling in the day’s electrocuted catch with the aid of a car battery strapped on their backs. Vietnam remains a very strange place indeed.

Word for the Travel Wise (01/18/06)

by Adrienne Wilson on

Ho Chi Minh city is a bustling place. Bus drivers lay down on blaring loud horns as bikers whiz by on two wheels, motorcycles speed off around corners and pedestrians stay clear while navigating their way through a tangled web of city and private traffic madness. Your options of getting around Vietnam are many and in a place so alive and in constant motion the best way to feel the city beats or even country back roads is by bicycle. How do I know this? I don’t know for a fact. I could be completely wrong. But I’ve read stories about biking through the country and the many joys it can offer the traveler looking to take things at a slower more relaxed pace, even if the rest of the city is going full speed ahead.

Today’s word is a Vietnamese word used in Vietnam:

Xe Ðap – (sur-raap) bicycle

The pronunciation might be a little off, but the way I understood and repeated the word back to a Vietnamese speaker earned high praise. Use it as a guide, but do not hold me accountable for the giggles it may cause combined with your accent, whatever accent you may have. Vietnam is a vibrant place so knowing even a few basic words could be rewarding. 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.