lunedì 26 novembre 2012

Good morning Vietnam

Who doesn't have an idea of what Vietnam looks like after seeing dozens of war movies? We all know about the green fields with water buffalos,the wonderful sunsets, people walking around with the typical Vietnamese hat. We mostly remember images of that disgraceful war though, and of all the pain and sorrow it caused. I chose this video because it combines extracts of one of my favourite Vietnam war movies (Full metal Jacket) and another great one (although not one of my favourites) (Forrest Gump), accompanied by a great song sung by one of the greatest voices of rock. (John Fogerty when he was with CCR). I actually think the best war movie about Vietnam of all times is Apocalypse now followed by The Deer Hunter. With these considerations in mind a few years ago I decided to explore the country given my deep love for South East Asia at the time.
So I arrived in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) and I have to say it was a little shocking at first. The noise, the motopeds, the dirt, the moltitude of people were almost unbearable and the place where I ended up (with my sister at the time) was very squallid (although highly recommended by Lonely Planet)with neon lights and suffocating rooms in a not so central area. I remember the first impact with Saigon during a stroll at night was a fast race with a rat as big as my cat Sofia, which even ended up fighting with a dog of basically the same size. Not very pleasant I can tell you... So we decided to change accomodation and ended up in Huong Sen hotel in the center. Huong Sen where at breakfast me met a few Italian couples who had come to Vietnam to adopt their children and it made me think about how retrograde our country is in this respect, since in order to be eligible for adoption you have to be married for three years. Therefore if you are just a couple living together or a single parent you are banned from applying. I guess this is what you get for having the Vatican at your doorstep. In general I didn't really like Saigon although it has some highlights I really enjoyed. For example all the Pagodas: Giam Lac , Jade Emperor Pagoda, Quan Am,Phuoc An Hoi Quan and many others.
Then the War Museum originally known as ""The House for Displaying War Crimes of American Imperialism and the Puppet Government [of South Vietnam]." Later it was known as the Museum of American War Crimes, then as the War Crimes Museum until it changed its name to War Remnants museum. It shows all the military equipment of the war plus pictures "covering the effects of Agent Orange and other chemical defoliant sprays, the use of napalm and phosphorus bombs, and atrocities such as the My Lai massacre. Curiosities include a guillotine used by the French and the South Vietnamese to execute prisoners, last in 1960, and three jars of preserved human fetuses deformed by exposure to dioxin "(Wikipedia), which, trust me , is not at all a pretty sight. We were really shocked, coming out of there, but then again as I pointed out in my previous post about Cape Town, respecting freedom of choice of course, I believe when in a country also the unpleasant things have to be seen , since they are part of their history. Coming to food, Vietnamese is a very particular and tasty cuisine and my favourite place was Huong Lai Everybody working here is a street child as they point out on the menu, and the owner supports the local orphanages also by giving them meals regularly. From there you can take a taxi or a train and go to the Mekong Delta. I didn't really see that much of it when I went there but you'd better stay for a few days and enjoy it because it's a place that needs to be seen properly. I remember I had an interesting conversation with a guide about how disgusting some European and Japanese food is since: while in Vietnam they eat, amongst others, dog, cat or mouse meat (I know i know.. I just makes me want to cry) us disgusting Europeans eat raw meat and the disgusting Japanese eat raw fish......(what's there to say?) We took a five hours bus ride to see what the Lonely Planet calls a " must see" a place in the mountains called Dalat. Well, you know how some guides are more reliable than others also amongst the ones by Lonely Planet. The one about Vietnam is not in fact at all reliable in my opinion . Dalat turned out to be a real let down so I would suggest not to go there at all. Plus it was cold and humid which didn't make it any better. From the pictures it may look nice but I think that can be misleading.
Dalat
From there we took another bus ride to go to Nha Trang on the sea side and that was also not worth it. We found a really nice Italian restaurant owned by Marinella a woman from Bergamo, who had been living there for many years and it was a really nice experience. La Bella Napoli.
Nha Trang
Then, determined to go north we tried in vain to take a flight and instead ended up getting a train. Now here's a suggestion : I have travelled by train in many countries including Malaysia,Thailand, Morocco and South Africa . I have to say I'm not a fan of long journeys anyway and if I really choose to take them I would like to have a little comfort especially now that I'm older. This is to say that if you have to travel in Vietnam by train for 16 hours (which turned out to be 22 in fact since the train broke down) maybe you shouldn't take anything else but first class. Anything lower will be: six bunkbeds all crammed together with a dirty floor and people who smoke in the compartment throwing everything they eat on the floor, a newspaper put into the only hole for the light and air which makes you feeel like being in a box, wake up call with fish soup cart in the morning at six even if the train is due to arrive at 3 in the afternoon and of course a terrifying common toilet in the corridors . At least this was my experience. I can only tell you that when I got to Hoi An at 4 in the afternoon we went for a walk in the city and went to sleep at 7 p.m. Now, Hoi An is a very beautiful place and it makes you feel like you're back in time since it's an ancient city with gravel roads and ancient buildings. Before collapsing into bed we tried the local delicacy : Cao Lau i.e. vermicelli noodles with pork, herbs and rice crackers. Delicious (at the time I was still eating meat).
Another thing we did in Hoi An was to get clothes made for us in about half a day. There is an area where you're basically dragged into and your measures are taken with an impressive precision within seconds in order to have whatever you want which can be tailor made . I chose an Ao Dai Vinh the typical Vietnamese dress which you see all the time especially on school girls.
Ao Dai Vinh
Hoi an
Hoi An by night
Then we went to beautiful and ancient Hué where you can spend a few days wondering around the majestic remains of ancient history. I would not suggest to go in August as I did because the heat was really unbearable. Nevertheless it was an amazing experience. We were taken around by motorcycles (two amongst the 2 millions you find everywhere in Vietnam) and were guided by these locals who did not speak English but somehow made themselves understood. We were also taken to a temple or pagoda where there were only women monks (or nuns?) and we followed the ceremony, which was really interesting.
Hué
Buddhist female monks
Then we flew to Hanoi, which I really enjoyed and liked much more to Saigon. That's the place where I noticed some things I neglected before, like being awaken at six o' clock by political propaganda coming out of the loud speakers in the streets, or the manic traffic all over the place, or the public aerobics classes in the park at night.
There I remember this very good restaurant called Brothers Cafè where you can go and have a nice and fancy meal. A good thing to do, if you are not too fussy is to sit in the street and have Pho Bo a beef noodle soup, or vietnamese Spring rolls. Or you can just sit in a cafè and have a Vietnamese coffee(Ca phe). If you never had one and you're a coffee lover then it's a MUST.
Vienamese Spring rolls
Ca phe
Hanoi is very fascinating and very different from the rest of Vietnam. There are a lot of expats working in embassies and a lot of places you can go and have great experiences. I would suggest three things: 1) go to a hairdressers and plan to spend there a couple of hours: not only do they wash your hair, they will give you a shampoo massaging your scalp for half an hour, then they would give you a face massage and then a neck a shoulder one for (at the time) as little as 5 Euros.We went into a local one (there are many for tourists) and it was great.
2) Have some tailor made clothes - same thing: go to a local tailor where quality is better: I had two shirts, a skirt, and a dress (all in silk )made for 60 euros.
Us and our Vietnamese Tailor friends
3) Take an organized trip to Halong Bay for two or three days on one of the typical boats they use. This is what it looks like.
Halong Bay
I have to say Vietnam is not an easy trip(at least it wasn't for me) compared to other countries in South East Asia is definitely more difficult since it one of the few communist countries left and it has been opening to tourism later than the others. However, it's a beautiful destination with all its differences and all its contradictions and difficulties, the roughness of the people and a very painful past. You may feel uncomfortable at times or even annoyed but hey that's the beauty of travelling. You'll see that at some point the smile of a Vietnamese child will surely cheer you up.

venerdì 23 novembre 2012

My mediterranean summer: The Croatian end

Well, after Turkey I thougt to accept my parents' invitation to celebrate my birthday in the Croatian island of Hvar. In order to do that I took a flight from Istanbul to Zagreb and then another one from Zagreb to Split. I had to wake up at 5 in the morning get to Ataturk airport in Istanbul, which took me over an hour and then go over all the check in and clearance procedures which took me also a long time. While I was in line I noticed at least four or five quarrels between passengers or between passengers and airlines personnel or policemen at passport control. Of course I didn't understand a word but I thought of it as a good thing since al least Turks speak up and don't take rubbish from others. I notice in Italy now people tend to take everything without complaining. When I arrived to Zagreb i had a three hours and a half layover and believe me: there is nothing in that airport. When I say nothing I mean nothing. I basically fell asleeep on one of those chaise long like chairs for a while and waited for my flight to Split which took less than 45 minutes. I had been to Split many years ago but I didn't really visit it properly. The center is lovely and Diocletian palace is absolutely a must see. Outside there are a lot of women selling little packs of lavender which you find everywhere in that area. The center of Split is fantastic: all white marbles and beautiful architecture. From there you can walk to the port and take the fast boat or the ferry to Hvar where I spent a few days. Hvar is well known for its nightlife but when I got there most of the people had gone plus the weather after a couple of days turned bad and rainy. The worst was on my birthday: rain all the time and coldish wind(!). Anyway I had a nice and quiet time there. We had the sea just in front of the house. Want to see what I'm talking about? Yes the first picture is me by the sea looking very seaside. As far as things to do in Hvar I cannot suggest a lot of because I didn't party nor explore so much as I was saying. However on the dining side I would suggest to go to konobas which are like tavernas where the food is genuine and much better than restaurants I would say. The one I liked better was Konoba Nono in Jelsa an hour away from Hvar town. In town I tried Lesina which I thought was good homemade food and Alviz very popular amongst the locals. The cuisine is very good: mostly seafood cooked with wine and vegetables like Gregada, a fish stew with potatoes or Buzara, shellfish in a wine and parsley sauce. Very tasty. My long summer ended taking the ship to Ancora from Split on a melancholic tuesday night. I had tasted, lived , breathed the Mediterranean which is and always will be the natural habitat for my species: after all I was born and raised by the beautiful Mediterranean sea and I'll always bring with me. Can't wait until next summer...

martedì 6 novembre 2012

My mediterranean summer: The Turkish segment. Subtitle: Italiani turchi una faccia una razza

Well in a way it's true that Italians and Turks are one face one race maybe more that with the Greeks at least in my personal experience. My dear friend Idil is Turkish and we managed for many years to meet somewhere in the world to spend some time together. This year it was Kalymnos and Datca on the Eagean coast of Turkey. Then it extended to one of my favourite cities in the world : the magnificent Istanbul. When we left Kalymnos to go to Kos in order to take the catamaran to Bodrum the temperature was of almost 40 degrees. Two of us had already a ticket and the other two (including me of course ) didn't. Basically they let us wait in a line which lasted forever to tell us there were no more tickets for Turgutreis, so we had to split from the other two. The heat and the long wait caused a Greek-Turkish incident on the pier but finally we all went on board even if on two different catamarans to two different places in the Bodrum peninsula. Thank God I had a real gentleman with me who helped carry my heavy luggage around at Kos and around Bodrum city in the heat and the confusion that there is in that place . I was there last year and it was already a no-no. I can certainly confirm . I found a very nice pansyion there where to spend the night and the next day I was off to Datca with my friend by boat. If you have been on the Eagean coast of Turkey you have probably seen a lot of wonderful places yet not so touristic . Well Datca is one of them. The temperature was of 40 degrees or something but one could jump into the sea which is also into town and the colour of the water is fantastic believeme. See? Now when in Turkey do what the Turks do right? In those lazy afternoons even if it was hot one would go in and out of the water, sun bathe and then have some beer and mussel dolma by the sea. What's mussel dolma? Exactly this. Datca is famous for the almond trees which give hundreds of tasty almonds and the food there is delicious. There is a place called Fevzinin Yeri which is a lovely fish place although a bit expensive. The fish soup and the mezes were really really good. We stayed in a very nice boutique hotel up on a little hill overlooking the bay called Villa Tokur It's owned by a turkish -german couple. Breakfast is very good and is served in the dining room close to the garden where cats come to ask for food. In Turkey there are a lot of stray cats and dogs. Believe me: A LOT but as I said in my former post about Turkey, people take care of them and feed them most of the time. My friend left for Istanbul and I decided to meet her there the next day, so in order to get closer to Dalaman airport I decided to spend a night in Marmaris. Well I don't think I'll ever go back there unless I want to feel like an understudy on the set of Eastenders and eat Yorkshire pudding or Indian Chinese English buffets for 5 euros all you can eat. I thought it was horrible so I will not even indulge in describing it. Just take my word for it : if you can avoid it. You ahve been warned. Finally I came to the splendid, wonderful,gorgeous,one of my favourite cities in the whole world: Her majesty Istanbul. Well if you haven't been there yet I strongly suggest you reconsider your travel plans and go becasue you are really missing on something- believe me . Now, since i have been there a few times and I have seen all the most touristic places, this time i went to visit what I'll call alternative Istanbul with my friend who is the perfect guide. First, I went to see Kilic Ali Pasa Mosque which is one of the mosques made by famous architect Sinan . It has a cemetery nearby with sails since it is known as the sailors cemetery. Very close to it you can find Istanbul modern, the museum of modern art which I didn't visit thouroughly but went just inside to have a look. It is supposed to have a bautiful view on the sea but unfortunately there was a cruise ship which blocked it all. If you feel like going for a coffee you can try a few meters away where there are lovely places where to sit and relax in perfect Turkish style. A turkish stylish cafe Kilic Ali Pasa Mosque Istanbul modern and cruise ship Turkish tea Then with my friend we decided to meet nearby Taksim square and go to the museum Orhan Pamuk has opened which recreates the contents of his book The museum of innocence I thought it was a wonderful experience. First we went to buy the book for me, which contains a ticket for the museum, and then we went to visit it. I hadn't read the book but I thought it was brilliant and now that I am reading it it's even more interesting. Then we took a taxi and went to visit Suleymaniye Mosque also by architect Sinan which is incredibly beautiful and from which you have a wonderful view of the city. We went to walk nearby and my fried took me to Tarihi Vefa Bozacisi, a very old and fascinating place where they serve ice cream and ottoman drinks like Boza, made from fermented wheat.Then we went to Mihrimah mosque also by Sinan the story of which is beautifully described on my friend's travel blog http://www.travelmind-idilka.blogspot.com. The museum of innocence Mihrimah View from Sulemaniye Mosque Tarihi Vefa Bozacisi Boza - We then ended this pefect day with a beautiful dinner in a very good Ottoman restaurant Asitane with lovely ambiance and delicious food. it is located in Edirnekapi one of the most important areas of old Istanbul. Take a walk around before or after dinner an you'll be mesmerized by the fascination of the streets and the view of the Golden Horn. It is close to Chora Church where apparently there are very interesting byzantinian mosaics. It was closed when I got there so I couldn't see them. While we were walking in the streets before going home since I had to take a plane to Zagreb at dawn I was thinking that this is one of the few places where I could live happily. Maybe then I should marry a Turk and i actually wouldn't mind.. Ladies you know what I am talking about.. Or else keep coming here until I feel like it which is a very long time I bet. It was time to leave unfortunately but my heart stayed there. I must have been Turkish in another life. Until next time beautiful Constantinopolis it was time to reach the coast of Croatia... (to be continued)