For those of you who would like to see additional pictures of my trip(s), take a look at these websites:
Nairobi: http://picasaweb.google.com/cturnbull/NairobiSeptember2008#
Kathmandu: http://picasaweb.google.com/cturnbull/KathmanduSeptember072008#
Pokhara: http://picasaweb.google.com/cturnbull/PokharaSeptember042008#
Hanoi: http://picasaweb.google.com/cturnbull/HanoiVietnamAugust292008#
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Monday, September 29, 2008
9/20/08 - Flying out of Khartoum, Sudan
Well, it has certainly been a whirlwind trip of the world. I'm about five hours away from landing in Dulles, and I wanted to describe Khartoum in a few paragraphs.
Sudan is a fascinating country. It is, for the most part, closed to western influence. For instance, you must take a LOT of cash with you to pay for everything. I'm not kidding – a credit card is not accepted anywhere. This made it very painful for Chris and me. We had just enough cash to pay for our hotel accommodations in Khartoum, leaving us with about $50 per person to cover food for two and a half days. The upshot is that we didn't eat much. Food, drinks and just about everything was extremely expensive. Let's just say I lost some weight while I was there.
Being that we were visiting not only during a weekend, but also during Ramadhan, our adventures in the city were limited – so we took a tour of Khartoum with our colleague Ali. It turned out to be a tour of some very interesting sites in the capital. We went by the hotels, diplomatic missions and UN missions, then we headed to the bridge that the rebels nearly overtook a few months ago when they attempted an invasion of Khartoum – bullet holes everywhere and the military school was looking pretty rough.
The training itself went well and I feel like the staff appreciated what we were able to bring to them. On the other hand, Chris, Frank, and I were so worn out from unnatural sleeping patterns and lack of nutrition that we were running on empty almost the entire time.
One of the nicest parts of the trip was our brief, six-hour stop-over in Frankfurt. We visited with Chris's mother and aunt and were treated to a traditional German breakfast – very filling in the aftermath of our "fast" in Sudan! Again, no pictures at all of Khartoum -- I was in the mood to make it home instead of staying in Sudan for an unknown period of time:-)
Sudan is a fascinating country. It is, for the most part, closed to western influence. For instance, you must take a LOT of cash with you to pay for everything. I'm not kidding – a credit card is not accepted anywhere. This made it very painful for Chris and me. We had just enough cash to pay for our hotel accommodations in Khartoum, leaving us with about $50 per person to cover food for two and a half days. The upshot is that we didn't eat much. Food, drinks and just about everything was extremely expensive. Let's just say I lost some weight while I was there.
Being that we were visiting not only during a weekend, but also during Ramadhan, our adventures in the city were limited – so we took a tour of Khartoum with our colleague Ali. It turned out to be a tour of some very interesting sites in the capital. We went by the hotels, diplomatic missions and UN missions, then we headed to the bridge that the rebels nearly overtook a few months ago when they attempted an invasion of Khartoum – bullet holes everywhere and the military school was looking pretty rough.
The training itself went well and I feel like the staff appreciated what we were able to bring to them. On the other hand, Chris, Frank, and I were so worn out from unnatural sleeping patterns and lack of nutrition that we were running on empty almost the entire time.
One of the nicest parts of the trip was our brief, six-hour stop-over in Frankfurt. We visited with Chris's mother and aunt and were treated to a traditional German breakfast – very filling in the aftermath of our "fast" in Sudan! Again, no pictures at all of Khartoum -- I was in the mood to make it home instead of staying in Sudan for an unknown period of time:-)
9/17/08 - Flying out of Juba, Sudan
Well, Juba was an 'interesting' experience. Juba, Sudan is on the fringe of civilization – at least in as far as I know civilization – and it represents the "wild west" for the Bank. It is the capital of Government of Southern Sudan (GOSS). Only 15,000 people live there; of them, 5,000 are from non-governmental organizations – about 87 different agencies.There's not much to see in Juba. The roads are mostly dirt. The airport is little more than a paved landing strip. The terminal building was about three times the size of our house. The UN runs the show here and expats spend a lot of time in their compounds. Our staff live on the compound, but there wasn't any room in the compound for us, so we stayed at the Summer Palace, a prefab hotel built and operated by the Chinese. It cost $150/night (cash only) and the accommodations included a bed, a table, a chair, a stool and a fan. The bathroom (yes, I was excited there actually was a bathroom) consisted of a toilet, a mirror and a showerhead that hung over the sink area. I am not complaining though…I had a mosquito net over my bed and the water in the bathroom could be warmed, so I could have a "hot" shower. The food was an overdose of carbs, but then again, I didn't get sick, so I'm happy. We had our choice for breakfast – toast with jelly, crepes (without filling), spring rolls, toast (without jelly), and some sort of Chinese bread thing…lunch was sometimes available, but I think I really went on a diet when I visited Juba. Dinner was our most promising meal most days and we did find some interesting places (both local and expat hang-outs) to enjoy some food and a nice cold beer.
Unfortunately, I have very few pictures of Juba, as it is generally an arrestible offense to take pictures in Sudan. Well, onto Khartoum for a few days…it should be interesting – more metropolitan than Juba. The most disrupting thing about this trip is that Sudan is a cash-based economy. You need currency to pay for everything. At this moment, I am extremely poor…not sure I'll make it out of the country. I have less than $50 to my name right now and not an ATM to be found!
9/13/08 - Flying out of Nairobi, Kenya
This was one of the shorter stops on our adventure, and it was unique and very interesting. Coming out of South Asia and stepping into the heart of Africa was quite a change.
Nairobi is a big metropolis with about 6 million people. We flew in on Wednesday and met our colleagues Frank and David here. There wasn't much room for play during this leg of our trip. We began at 9 a.m. the next day with a training session for office staff and then headed to the UN for an evening meeting.
We wound up staying in on Wednesday night, but on Thursday night we headed to a local restaurant called Carnivore, where you paid a flat fee and then were inundated with every variety of meat you could think of. It was the first time I'd had an opportunity to try alligator. I did try it, but it's not my cup of tea, I must say. It tastes a little like fish. Overall the meal was good, but my stomach wasn't big enough to really reap the rewards.
On Friday, I spent the day in the office getting caught up on a number of emails and other priorities. It felt good to get a grip on all of my other responsibilities at work, but I know there's soooooo much more to come when I get back to DC. We cut out of work early though, so that David could take us up to the Rift Valley…it was a bit foggy in the afternoon, but at least we were able to say that we saw it. For dinner, we went for a meal at a local gathering place that caters to the diplomatic community. There were many UN and embassy officials there and the meals were decidedly western. Normally, I try to eat something "local", but I was so tired of "new" foods (and so was my stomach), that having a cheese steak sandwich was wholly satisfying.
Saturday was our true "fun" day, and we spent it shopping and visiting the safari park just outside of Nairobi. We probably spent six hours traveling around the 116 km park on the outskirts of the international airport, and it was amazing. Who'd have thought you could have that type of nature on the flight path of an international airport. We saw everything from warthogs to baboons, to zebras, and even rhinoceroses – all from the cramped quarters of the 1998 Toyota Carolla we were travelling in. I have some great pictures of the animals. By the time we made it back to the hotel, we were bushed (no pun intended) and we had a glass of wine and headed off to bed.
Now I'm en route to Juba, Sudan. Of all the places I've visited with the Bank, this one is probably the furthest on the fringe of civilization. It will be interesting to see just how built up it is.
Nairobi is a big metropolis with about 6 million people. We flew in on Wednesday and met our colleagues Frank and David here. There wasn't much room for play during this leg of our trip. We began at 9 a.m. the next day with a training session for office staff and then headed to the UN for an evening meeting.
We wound up staying in on Wednesday night, but on Thursday night we headed to a local restaurant called Carnivore, where you paid a flat fee and then were inundated with every variety of meat you could think of. It was the first time I'd had an opportunity to try alligator. I did try it, but it's not my cup of tea, I must say. It tastes a little like fish. Overall the meal was good, but my stomach wasn't big enough to really reap the rewards.
On Friday, I spent the day in the office getting caught up on a number of emails and other priorities. It felt good to get a grip on all of my other responsibilities at work, but I know there's soooooo much more to come when I get back to DC. We cut out of work early though, so that David could take us up to the Rift Valley…it was a bit foggy in the afternoon, but at least we were able to say that we saw it. For dinner, we went for a meal at a local gathering place that caters to the diplomatic community. There were many UN and embassy officials there and the meals were decidedly western. Normally, I try to eat something "local", but I was so tired of "new" foods (and so was my stomach), that having a cheese steak sandwich was wholly satisfying.
Saturday was our true "fun" day, and we spent it shopping and visiting the safari park just outside of Nairobi. We probably spent six hours traveling around the 116 km park on the outskirts of the international airport, and it was amazing. Who'd have thought you could have that type of nature on the flight path of an international airport. We saw everything from warthogs to baboons, to zebras, and even rhinoceroses – all from the cramped quarters of the 1998 Toyota Carolla we were travelling in. I have some great pictures of the animals. By the time we made it back to the hotel, we were bushed (no pun intended) and we had a glass of wine and headed off to bed.
Now I'm en route to Juba, Sudan. Of all the places I've visited with the Bank, this one is probably the furthest on the fringe of civilization. It will be interesting to see just how built up it is.
9/9/2008 - Flying out of Kathmandu, Nepal
What a trip this has been. I think my colleague Chris and I would agree that this stop in Nepal has been the highlight of the trip so far. I'm not sure where to begin when explaining our experience here, so I'm going to try to describe it chronologically.
Our trip to Nepal was our longest stop-over during this mission. We were here for six days and they were packed to the hilt. When we flew from Bangkok last Thursday, we were able to see Mt. Everest during our final approach to Kathmandu's airport. What a majestic sight – it concerned me a bit however, that Everest was about at the same height as the plane. I never would have ever thought that I'd have an opportunity to see Mt. Everest. The Himalayas were amazing as well and the mountain range would pepper our experiences throughout the trip. They were always there, looming in the background (and sometimes even the foreground).
Upon arrival, we went straight to the office to prepare for our work. Thankfully, we were staying in the Yak & Yeti Hotel, which is attached to the office. The office is in a former royal palace. The architecture was stunning, but the government does not have the funding to truly take care for it. After a few brief meetings, Chris and I headed back to the hotel to unpack. We decided to take in a local meal for dinner (not the least of which because the food in the hotel was expensive).
The hotel recommended a traditional Nepali restaurant a 10 minute walk from the hotel, so we set off on foot and quickly realized we were taking our lives in our own hands. While the traffic in Hanoi was challenging, the traffic in Kathmandu was just plain dangerous – it didn't really matter where you walked (and there weren't that many choices), you were in danger of being hit by scooters, cars, trucks and everything else that is mobile. Nevertheless, we made it to dinner unscathed and proceeded to climb up five stories in this ancient building so that we could witness the native dress and dance customs of Nepal. The entertainers performed dances from the various families of Nepal. They also wore their traditional family clothing. Each region of Nepal houses a particular family. Marriages in those regions are typically arranged and the families rarely cross castes or families.
The meal was good – Nepali food consists of "curries" like you would find in India and other dishes like you would find in China. Nepal is situated between the two countries, so naturally the peoples and cultures share some commonalities. One dish that I had at least once a day was called "momos." Momos are pasta pouches filled with anything from vegetables to chicken or buffalo. They were quite good and I'll have to find a place to buy them in Washington when I return. The other local delicacy that Chris and I tried (and by trying I mean we touched our tongues to it) was a local rice wine. Both of us agreed that the local rice wine would be better used to clean open wounds – really, it probably would be used for that purpose anywhere else in the world.
I spent the next morning training the staff on First Aid, which went well. The staff were grateful for the information and we had a lot of fun as well. The best part of the day was yet to come however.
One of Chris's former employees when he was in Qatar was a British Ghurka. He and Chris still keep in touch and Chris found out that his wife had just had a new little baby boy. Gangaman lives in the Cayman Islands now and works for one of Chris's friends. He hadn't seen his family in 10 months, and asked that Chris stop by to see them if he was in the area.
It was the weekend in Nepal, so we decided to get out of the city, head to a tiny lake village and relax a little. Ganga-Man's family lived there and they offered to be our host and show us around their town of Pokhara. To get to Pokhara meant either a five to six hour bus ride or a 20-minute flight – we took the flight. The airline was named Buddha Air, and we felt very safe flying with the Buddha.
Upon arrival in Pokhara, they met us at the gate, draped shawls over our shoulders and presented us with flowers – it was quite a welcome, one I won't soon forget. They took us by taxi to our lake-side hotel and then proceeded with the grand tour. We took a boat across to the tiny island in the middle of the lake which had a Buddhist temple on it. It was a beautiful ride and we were able to see the Himalayas rising up in the background. The took us to the local waterfall, with its gushing glacial waters, and then to a cave carved out of the ground by the rushing waters. Then it was time for dinner and we headed into downtown Pokhara for some momos and a curry. Upon returning to the hotel, we took a long walk around the lakeside and did a little shopping for our families. What a whirlwind.
For some odd reason, Chris and I agreed to get up by 4 a.m. the next morning in order to climb Sarangot (in a car) so we could see the sunrise over the Himalayas – specifically Mt. Annapurna and Mt. Machupichue. We were tired, but the view turned out to be spectacular. I've never seen anything like it – wow. Eventually we headed down the mountain and proceeded to eat our way through the late morning and early afternoon before we boarded our flight back to Kathmandu.
Gangaman's family hosted us for lunch at their home before we left – we all ate entirely too much, but the company was great and we learned a great deal about their culture and their family. The flight back was uneventful, but we were able to identify the mountains that we had seen that morning.
Pradeep, our Country Security Manager in Nepal, hosted Chris and me for dinner at his house. As you can see, food is a strong theme of this story. By the time we made it to dinner at Pradeep's, we were already full. After dinner, they had to roll us back to the hotel – too much good food (and lots of momos!).
On Sunday, Pradeep took us up to Nagargot, a foothill of the Himalayas where you can view the Kathmandu Valley on one side and a beautiful farming valley on the other. It took nearly an hour and a half to climb (by car again) to the top of Nagarkot, but the views were spectacular. The switchbacks, however, were less than spectacular:-)
That evening, Chris and I headed into the "New Road" district of Kathmandu to do a little sight seeing and some shopping. That part of the city is quite old and some of the most amazing of the more than 5,000 temples in Kathmandu are situated there. We took quite a few pictures while dodging traffic and then we walked around the Thamel area and found ourselves at the Kathmandu Guest House, which is world famous for hosting celebrities, actors, pop stars and hippies. Did I mention that this is where I would stay my next time in Kathmandu. We sat down for dinner (no, I didn't have momos this time) with a American cover band playing in the background and wonderfully cool temperatures. We both, at about the same time, remarked how nice this would be if we only had our wives with us. Despite the hectic traffic in Kathmandu, the people are very laid back and easy going…it was a pleasure being there.
When we left to go to the airport today, we both felt like we'd be back. There is a lot to see and there is a lot to learn.
Our trip to Nepal was our longest stop-over during this mission. We were here for six days and they were packed to the hilt. When we flew from Bangkok last Thursday, we were able to see Mt. Everest during our final approach to Kathmandu's airport. What a majestic sight – it concerned me a bit however, that Everest was about at the same height as the plane. I never would have ever thought that I'd have an opportunity to see Mt. Everest. The Himalayas were amazing as well and the mountain range would pepper our experiences throughout the trip. They were always there, looming in the background (and sometimes even the foreground).
Upon arrival, we went straight to the office to prepare for our work. Thankfully, we were staying in the Yak & Yeti Hotel, which is attached to the office. The office is in a former royal palace. The architecture was stunning, but the government does not have the funding to truly take care for it. After a few brief meetings, Chris and I headed back to the hotel to unpack. We decided to take in a local meal for dinner (not the least of which because the food in the hotel was expensive). 
The hotel recommended a traditional Nepali restaurant a 10 minute walk from the hotel, so we set off on foot and quickly realized we were taking our lives in our own hands. While the traffic in Hanoi was challenging, the traffic in Kathmandu was just plain dangerous – it didn't really matter where you walked (and there weren't that many choices), you were in danger of being hit by scooters, cars, trucks and everything else that is mobile. Nevertheless, we made it to dinner unscathed and proceeded to climb up five stories in this ancient building so that we could witness the native dress and dance customs of Nepal. The entertainers performed dances from the various families of Nepal. They also wore their traditional family clothing. Each region of Nepal houses a particular family. Marriages in those regions are typically arranged and the families rarely cross castes or families. The meal was good – Nepali food consists of "curries" like you would find in India and other dishes like you would find in China. Nepal is situated between the two countries, so naturally the peoples and cultures share some commonalities. One dish that I had at least once a day was called "momos." Momos are pasta pouches filled with anything from vegetables to chicken or buffalo. They were quite good and I'll have to find a place to buy them in Washington when I return. The other local delicacy that Chris and I tried (and by trying I mean we touched our tongues to it) was a local rice wine. Both of us agreed that the local rice wine would be better used to clean open wounds – really, it probably would be used for that purpose anywhere else in the world.
I spent the next morning training the staff on First Aid, which went well. The staff were grateful for the information and we had a lot of fun as well. The best part of the day was yet to come however.
One of Chris's former employees when he was in Qatar was a British Ghurka. He and Chris still keep in touch and Chris found out that his wife had just had a new little baby boy. Gangaman lives in the Cayman Islands now and works for one of Chris's friends. He hadn't seen his family in 10 months, and asked that Chris stop by to see them if he was in the area.
It was the weekend in Nepal, so we decided to get out of the city, head to a tiny lake village and relax a little. Ganga-Man's family lived there and they offered to be our host and show us around their town of Pokhara. To get to Pokhara meant either a five to six hour bus ride or a 20-minute flight – we took the flight. The airline was named Buddha Air, and we felt very safe flying with the Buddha. 
Upon arrival in Pokhara, they met us at the gate, draped shawls over our shoulders and presented us with flowers – it was quite a welcome, one I won't soon forget. They took us by taxi to our lake-side hotel and then proceeded with the grand tour. We took a boat across to the tiny island in the middle of the lake which had a Buddhist temple on it. It was a beautiful ride and we were able to see the Himalayas rising up in the background. The took us to the local waterfall, with its gushing glacial waters, and then to a cave carved out of the ground by the rushing waters. Then it was time for dinner and we headed into downtown Pokhara for some momos and a curry. Upon returning to the hotel, we took a long walk around the lakeside and did a little shopping for our families. What a whirlwind. For some odd reason, Chris and I agreed to get up by 4 a.m. the next morning in order to climb Sarangot (in a car) so we could see the sunrise over the Himalayas – specifically Mt. Annapurna and Mt. Machupichue. We were tired, but the view turned out to be spectacular. I've never seen anything like it – wow. Eventually we headed down the mountain and proceeded to eat our way through the late morning and early afternoon before we boarded our flight back to Kathmandu.
Gangaman's family hosted us for lunch at their home before we left – we all ate entirely too much, but the company was great and we learned a great deal about their culture and their family. The flight back was uneventful, but we were able to identify the mountains that we had seen that morning.
Pradeep, our Country Security Manager in Nepal, hosted Chris and me for dinner at his house. As you can see, food is a strong theme of this story. By the time we made it to dinner at Pradeep's, we were already full. After dinner, they had to roll us back to the hotel – too much good food (and lots of momos!).
On Sunday, Pradeep took us up to Nagargot, a foothill of the Himalayas where you can view the Kathmandu Valley on one side and a beautiful farming valley on the other. It took nearly an hour and a half to climb (by car again) to the top of Nagarkot, but the views were spectacular. The switchbacks, however, were less than spectacular:-)
That evening, Chris and I headed into the "New Road" district of Kathmandu to do a little sight seeing and some shopping. That part of the city is quite old and some of the most amazing of the more than 5,000 temples in Kathmandu are situated there. We took quite a few pictures while dodging traffic and then we walked around the Thamel area and found ourselves at the Kathmandu Guest House, which is world famous for hosting celebrities, actors, pop stars and hippies. Did I mention that this is where I would stay my next time in Kathmandu. We sat down for dinner (no, I didn't have momos this time) with a American cover band playing in the background and wonderfully cool temperatures. We both, at about the same time, remarked how nice this would be if we only had our wives with us. Despite the hectic traffic in Kathmandu, the people are very laid back and easy going…it was a pleasure being there. When we left to go to the airport today, we both felt like we'd be back. There is a lot to see and there is a lot to learn.
9/3/2008 - Flying out of Jakarta, Indonesia
So this part of the trip was much more metropolitan. Jakarta has something like 15 million people living in it – it is a massive city with some of the worst traffic I've ever seen (it still doesn't beat Cairo, however). We didn't have a chance to really go site-seeing, but we had an opportunity to meet with some very interesting characters and learn more about the cultures of not only Indonesia, but other parts of East Asia Pacific as well.Our first day was spent shopping and preparing for our presentations on Monday. We spent part of the afternoon in this huge expo center that housed all sorts of arts and crafts indigenous to Indonesia. It was spectacular. It poured during the later afternoon, so we all headed back to the hotel to relax and get our thoughts in order for Monday's programs.
Let me say a few words about the hotel. We stayed in the Ritz Carlton – Jakarta Pacific Place. Being the Ritz, we expected quite a lot. The rooms were spacious and full of amenities – they were essentially suites. The hotel was also quite convenient to the office. Directly across the street was the Jakarta Stock Exchange, which also houses many other businesses (mostly financial) – the Bank being one of them. Unfortunately, the hotel had a few things lacking – namely, the Internet service (though free) was not working properly, which made it difficult to keep in touch with family and friends. The lights in my room didn't work all the time and the elevators broke down as well – a little odd for a 5-star hotel.
Monday was spent in the office, but Monday night was a treat. Paul, our Regional Security Advisor, linked us up with one of his Australian buddies (or "mates" as they say). Brian has lived all over the world, but currently lives in Indonesia. He has an incredible command of the cultures in Asia and provided a lot of good color to some of the situations we frequently deal with. Brian took us to a wonderful street restaurant that served seafood barbeque. These restaurants are set up after hours on the sidewalks in front of normal businesses. It was a slow night, given that Ramadhan had just begun. That, however, afforded us the most attention by the wait staff. We ate like kings; the food was fantastic. Even though alcohol was not available publicly because of the religious holiday, Brian and Paul had purchased some red and white wines to accompany our dinner. We all had a little too much (I think we probably drank a bottle each by the end of the night).
We then went back to Brian's apartment (near our hotel) and proceeded to have some very engaging discussions about the passion of our youth. When we finally got back to the hotel at 0130 hrs local, I was exhausted…so I hit the sack, just in time to get up at 0530 to prepare for a day of teaching CPR to the staff.
Needless to say, Tuesday was a long day. But we did meat our objectives and Paul had arranged for us to have a drink with another Aussie who works for the US. Alex, Chris and I headed off to B.A.T.S. (which stands for Bar At The Shangri-la -- I know, real original, huh?). This bar was definitely an ex-pat hang-out. We had a few drinks and watched a really good American band play everything from old-time rock-n-roll to R&B. After a few hours of watching drunk old ex-pat men get hit on by young Indonesian women, we headed on back to the hotel.
Today was a catch-up-on-sleep day for me. I got up late and packed all of my treasures in the bags so we could get to the airport on time. It was an interesting stop in Jakarta, and surprisingly, I took few (if any) pictures. It just wasn't that type of city. I think the next few stops will be a bit different – now we're heading on to the more under-developed nations of the world.
8/30/08 - Flying out of Hanoi, Vietnam
Well, so far, it's been a fantastic trip. I'm healthy. We got our work done in Hanoi and I had the pleasure of experiencing the unique culture of Vietnam.
I won't lie; this leg of my mission was mostly work. We ran a review course for the East Asia Pacific colleagues. It went well and we're in the midst of managing a potential situation in Thailand. That made our work here in Hanoi even more relevant.
But, like all of my missions thus far, we did manage to have some fun along the way. Our nights were filled with Vietnamese food, and Bia Hanoi (Hanoi Beer). The local beer is like so many other local beers I've tasted – it's a light beer with not much flavor, but it tastes good nonetheless -- particularly in the 90+ degree temperatures we faced. Being from Washington and having lived in the Caribbean, I would say I'm used to some humidity – not as it exists in this part of the world. To paint a picture for you, my colleague Chris and I traveled to the Old Quarter of Hanoi this morning at 6 a.m. to take some pictures of the capital. Our camera lenses immediately fogged up and remained that way for about 10 minutes while we walked around the lake.
We didn't have a lot of opportunities to go downtown during the daytime, but this morning was a special treat. I had "window" shopped at night on the previous days, but today I had an opportunity to buy some gifts and mementos. I also had an opportunity to witness how the city woke up.
I only know a little of the history of Vietnam, but it was evident that the French had quite an influence on the architecture in Hanoi (and probably elsewhere in Vietnam). The Old Quarter was an interesting mix of French and Asian designs. In addition, we saw elements of communist and socialist architecture – very plain, non-descript buildings – clearly built for their utilitarian purposes.
The people were quite friendly in most places, and English was not spoken very frequently (or that well). We had to use our best communication skills (besides talking). What was most interesting this morning, was watching the city wake up. Before we even left our hotel we saw groups of Vietnamese men and women exercising in front of the building. As we took the 15 minute taxi ride into the Old Quarter, we saw similar assemblies. But, we had no idea of the magnitude, until we got to the Old Quarter and saw the multitudes partaking in, what we guessed was, state-sponsored exercise. It was as if the government told its citizens that everyone was to exercise at precisely the same time, that they could exercise in anyway they liked, but that they would exercise. We didn't understand the words coming from the government megaphones attached to street light poles and buildings throughout the city, but we were almost sure that it was tied in with the exercising. I plan to ask my Vietnamese colleagues more about this next time we talk.
Okay, that's it from me about Hanoi. I would definitely come back here some day. I'm en route to Jakarta, Indonesia via Singapore. We've got a few days in Jakarta, then it's off to Bangkok and finally onto another time zone – Nepal!
I won't lie; this leg of my mission was mostly work. We ran a review course for the East Asia Pacific colleagues. It went well and we're in the midst of managing a potential situation in Thailand. That made our work here in Hanoi even more relevant.
But, like all of my missions thus far, we did manage to have some fun along the way. Our nights were filled with Vietnamese food, and Bia Hanoi (Hanoi Beer). The local beer is like so many other local beers I've tasted – it's a light beer with not much flavor, but it tastes good nonetheless -- particularly in the 90+ degree temperatures we faced. Being from Washington and having lived in the Caribbean, I would say I'm used to some humidity – not as it exists in this part of the world. To paint a picture for you, my colleague Chris and I traveled to the Old Quarter of Hanoi this morning at 6 a.m. to take some pictures of the capital. Our camera lenses immediately fogged up and remained that way for about 10 minutes while we walked around the lake.
We didn't have a lot of opportunities to go downtown during the daytime, but this morning was a special treat. I had "window" shopped at night on the previous days, but today I had an opportunity to buy some gifts and mementos. I also had an opportunity to witness how the city woke up.
I only know a little of the history of Vietnam, but it was evident that the French had quite an influence on the architecture in Hanoi (and probably elsewhere in Vietnam). The Old Quarter was an interesting mix of French and Asian designs. In addition, we saw elements of communist and socialist architecture – very plain, non-descript buildings – clearly built for their utilitarian purposes.
The people were quite friendly in most places, and English was not spoken very frequently (or that well). We had to use our best communication skills (besides talking). What was most interesting this morning, was watching the city wake up. Before we even left our hotel we saw groups of Vietnamese men and women exercising in front of the building. As we took the 15 minute taxi ride into the Old Quarter, we saw similar assemblies. But, we had no idea of the magnitude, until we got to the Old Quarter and saw the multitudes partaking in, what we guessed was, state-sponsored exercise. It was as if the government told its citizens that everyone was to exercise at precisely the same time, that they could exercise in anyway they liked, but that they would exercise. We didn't understand the words coming from the government megaphones attached to street light poles and buildings throughout the city, but we were almost sure that it was tied in with the exercising. I plan to ask my Vietnamese colleagues more about this next time we talk.
Okay, that's it from me about Hanoi. I would definitely come back here some day. I'm en route to Jakarta, Indonesia via Singapore. We've got a few days in Jakarta, then it's off to Bangkok and finally onto another time zone – Nepal!
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