'Nam

[sheherazade]

From my memoirs with some photos..

 

I've spent the last few days in Hoi An, an enchanting town that is a UNESCO Heritage Site.

 

 

The morning I arrived there, I had to wait downstairs with the hotel people while my room was been checked out of.

 

 

A coffee appeared from somewhere and everybody gathered round me. After the usual questions, one woman who couldn't understand English came at me from behind(I was sitting), hugged and rocked me. I was so taken aback. Beautiful she said, beautiful. 3 more women and the old man who ran the place said the same. One girl said she wanted to be like me! The Vietnamese women are very concerened with appearance. Would u believe they staighten their hair with straightening creams??

 

Later when I wore the only clean clothes I had(the Kashmiri kameez), the same woman caught me coming down the stairs. She beamed and did a little excited dance on the spot. She then took me in her arms and hugged me hard. She said the B word again. Again I was surprised. I left to wander the streets and caused something of a stir.

 

Beautiful girl, no boyfriend? I wish u luck in love they say. Bloody need it too. LOL. What do u think? A Vietnamese guy? They seem willing enough.

 

 

I don't know who they are but they beckoned me into their shop and posed. What was I to do?

 

 

At breakfast one morning, sitting in the shade outside a cafe I took:

 

 

Flowers been sold by a seller walking the streets.

 

 

 

Approaching Hoi An by boat. I spent a lovely day floating, eating sea food on the boat and watching locals build boats.

 

 

Oh and I was wandering around Hoi on the first evening when I suddenly found myself in the middle of a carnival. It was the annual August festival and on the night of the full moon. Suddenly I was in the middle of crowds of people, children carrying lanterns and candles, monks, floats and fires burning and dreamy, dreamy, stuff..straight out of a fairy tale. It was absolutely charming, and enchanting. The river-side was lined with lanterns of every colour and people came from all over to eat and be merry under a full moon.

 

Marvellous.

 

for Ahura; girl I'm knackered now but it's the only ngiht until next week I'm free, enjoy. It's only the tip of 'Nam

[Caano Geel]

right ..

so exactly what are you doing in veitnam other than picking up vietnamese girls .. and rather successfully by the sounds of things may i add .

[ElPunto]

^Nice pictures - but "'Nam" though? Are you a punk American GI or something? :rolleyes:

[sheherazade]

CG, u want tips, all u gotta do is ask.

 

ThePoint, Vietnam has had many names, 'Nam' which means south is one part of the changing name that has appeared often. Viet Nam: the south occupied by the Viet(main ethnic group). The GIs were too occupied with the women to care why they called it Nam. The men I saw were far more beautiful than the women, never seen so many pretty boys ever or since.

[Valenteenah.]

^^ Thank you. Pretty scrumptious, but I want to dig further into 'Nam. Happy to wait for when you are less knackered. :cool:

[Som@li]

Beauttiful pics, THanks for sharin

[Maf Kees]

Beautiful pics and nice commentary. Vietnam is a beautiful country. Have you been to Cambodia?

[Zafir]

^^She is on her way there this evening.

 

Sheh, wonderful pictures, how is the experience going so far? Is it true, dogs are endangered species in ‘Nam? That you’ll see stuff like (“Ratchow†well cooked rat with veggies) on restaurant menus, or are they as fabricated as Santa Clause in Chrissmess. :mad:

[Caano Geel]

yes lovely pics, so what she doing running across se. asia other than being true to her maryooley genes? shehehehehe, did some one tell you 'baasa-boor bey dhiibaan'?

[NGONGE]

What is it with you and Asia? It’s like that place is your little playground!

Going to Cambodia? You’re not! Tell me you’re not a Garry Glitter fan.

 

Nice photos. Still, and don’t take this as any sort of hint, I always find photos that don’t include the photographer slightly lacking in something. Anyway, couldn’t you take a photo next to a big python or something and claim that it was a tribal gift of some sort (you know, like people of a certain hue/culture do)?

 

PS

The person below is very naughty and a corrupter of innocent, minds.

[N.O.R.F]

wow, keep them coming

[-Lily-]

Lovely pics Sheh, did you keep a travelers log?

 

So you just booked a flight to 'Nam? Tell us the background story since it is such an unusual location.

[Che -Guevara]

Sheh...I went to dis Veitnamese restruant other day, nothing impressive really. I like my thia better. Wat's authentic Vietnamese food like?

[sheherazade]

OMG, Ngonge is in the house. War have u been in Asia yourself? Thanks, but I'll pass on the python show-off although I do have a snake on the head pic from Malaysia- small slithery bugger; it wasn't fun but it was memorable. I'm hardly in any photos anyway. Far more interesting sights to capture.

 

what's that ridiculous advertising?? no respect for art, I tell you

 

Valenteenah, u're welcome. Inshallah, next week, more on the stunning scenery. I can't fathom paradise when earthly spots can be so awe-inspiring.

 

Dabshid, Maf Kees thanks. Zafir, yes they do partake of the cannine flesh in Vietnam. I learned the word for dog, cat and pork so I didn't inadvertently wash them down with sugarcane juice(as u do).

 

In Ho Chi Min city on a bicycle rickshaw(never ever do this in Ho Chi Minh; it is near-death on their roads), I smelled something in the air(I am a smell freak), cast my eye about the shops we were cycling by(well, he was cycling, I was sweating) and caught sight of a puppy, hanging upside down and skinned. It really was oouucc-inspiring. I have seen deep-fried rat but not in Vietnam- think the fish in fish and chips only rat shaped. It was a night market and when I pointed it out to the group of people I was having dinner with- people I met there- they point blank refused to believe it was a rat(sorry, it was layer over layer of deep-fried rat, forming stacks like wine bottles). I had to hover a finger over the nose, over the back and down the slope of the long tail of one specimen before they realised. Dinner bubbled up in some of us, hehe.

 

CG, haha, my passport's got more stamps than yours, deal with it.

 

Northerner, inshallah I will.

 

WaterLily, I always fantasised about SE Asia when I was a girl; I just made the dream come true. It was never unusual in my head.

 

Yo, the food I had in Vietnam was OUT OF THIS WORLD. I ate and ate and ate. The Vietnamese love their food; the thought and consideration that went into food preparation was consistently good across establishments regardless of price. As one Vietnamese said every time we sat down for food: Sister, ATTACK!! Loved him, he was awesome. So respectful, considerate- he wouldn't eat any meat as I wasn't; he only ate what I could and coerced me into eating far more than I thought possible and kept introducing me to new food possibilities. What a man he was.

 

Nearly midnight, wish I could add more.

 

Next time, the scenery, the obsession with outward appearance(by women of women), my obsession with Vietnamese coffee, the marriage proposals, the food, the hospitality of the people, the beaches, the coffee, the food, the coffee, the food, the coffee, the food..bedtime.... , I'm hungry. Growl

 

looks like my pics may disappear, anybody recommend a free upload site that means FREE?

[-Serenity-]

anybody recommend a free upload site that means FREE

Flickr.

 

No reason not to keep going now