Friday, April 3, 2009

How much does a 28 day trip like this cost?

Mike and I each took care of our own expenses, sharing the cost of a room.
My expenses break down roughly like this:
$1300 Pre-trip for guide books, maps, visa to enter the country, airport shuttle, plane tickets, and travel (repatriation) insurance. (I didn't figure in cost of backpack, travel gear, clothing, toiletries etc.)
$1000 for gifts, souvenirs, and shipping
$1700 in-country for food, my share of the lodging, trains, taxis, buses, planes, bike rental, tours, guides,and admission tickets

From the photos you may gather that we didn't travel like kings, but we didn't go like I did in my backpacking -sleep-under-a-bridge-days either. We would splurge on $3 ice cream, the rare $18 meal (until we got smart) We also got ripped off on occasion. I'd say I lost $75- $100 on "bad decisions." You could certainly do the whole thing more cheaply, and even tho I really am a cheap bastard, I don't regret not roughing it much more than we did. It was really a great trip.

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

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Hoi An



After the disastrous nite on the nite bus from Nha Trang we got to Hoi An. Not a real big place. Everything is within walking distance. It is an old trading city, with the modern claim to fame being a hotspot for tourists to buy custom made clothes, silk lanterns, silk "stuff", embroidery and so on. They also have cooking schools that we only got to see a little bit of, unfortunately.
The big draw for Mike and me was the early a.m. fish market and its photographic attractions. I had a ball down there for 3 mornings.
We bought all sorts of stuff. I have birthday presents, Xmas presents and wedding presents to get me thru the whole year of 2009. The recipients of those gifts will be reading this so I'll keep quiet about what I picked up.
I was told that the post office would supply boxes and tape and even box all your stuff up for you. That sounded fishy, but a trip to the PO confirmed that indeed this is the case.
As we were heading out the hotel to the PO w/ all this stuff the girl at the desk said,"Well, why don't you wait here. The post office will come here and box it all up for you." I rather unbelievingly said "OK" and within 5 min of her phone call two girls showed up with boxes and a scale. We filled out paperwork and paid $178.00. We finally figured out that it wasn't the post office who came to the hotel, but a packing service and we probably paid $50-$60 more than we would have at the PO. Oh well, live and learn and we didn't have to wait in line.
One thing I can tell you I bought was a silk embroidery "painting" It was pricey ($240.00) but just beautiful. I only paid a few dollars for silk lanterns that sell on the internet for $20 so I justified my extravagant purchase, thank you very much.

Sunday, March 29, 2009

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Hue




In Hue we went and visited the Citadel. Got some so-so photos. That evening I went down to the Perfume River to check out the possibilities of a boat ride. I got hailed immediately and even tho I said it was too late for a ride I was assured that, "No, now is the best time o go! Tomorrow too hot! Only eight dolla." OK. I reckoned there was a little light left and I might get a sunset picture or two. The boat only had one passenger - me.

It quickly became apparent that the $8 fee wasn't all it was hoped I would part with. Once we got going , Mom and the kids rolled out the sale goods. Mom had embroidery and postcards. The little girl and boy had drinks and doo-dads. They were just so damn cute! the kids were so sweet that I don't think sugar would melt in their mouths. Daughter looked to be about 6, but when she showed me her drawings I asked how old she was and found she was 10.

In Vietnamese there are different ways of saying "Thankyou." You say thankyou-boy, thankyou,girl/woman-younger-than-I. Thankyou-child, thankyou-sir, thankyou-woman-older-than-I. It all gets confusing , so Mom and I spent some time on Vietnamese lessons trying to get that straightened out in my head. Once Mom and I were getting along well, she asked her child to show me her drawings. She had a whole notebook full of pictures, and I admired them so much, that she detached two of them giving them to me using the word, "souvenir." So I got in my wallet and found an American quarter to give each kid for their souvenirs. It was a delightful trip.

Asiana Airlines



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