Adventures in Vietnam: Part III

I should probably admit that even though I did enjoy Vietnam, it took me some time to warm up to it. One major reason for this was the weather. Vietnam is hot and brutally humid during the summertime. High humidity is probably the kind of weather I have the least tolerance for and I was pretty crabby when we'd be walking for a couple miles or even just a couple blocks between museums and such. We were both drenched in sweat as soon as we stepped outside and showered  at least twice a day just to get rid of that sweat/sunscreen/bug spray film inevitably building up on our skin. There are places in Vietnam I would love to go back to and places I would still like to explore but I would definitely do so in the fall or winter next time.

Another thing that made the first few days tricky was the lack of good food. It's not that there aren't tons of delicious restaurants in Hanoi, it's that were weren't finding them. With a couple exceptions, the places we did eat at were either overpriced, delivered very small portions, or just weren't that tasty. One night after finally tracking down a place for dinner, I ordered pasta with plain marinara sauce from an English menu and upset the waiter when I tried to explain when he brought it out that I hadn't realized it would have seafood in it. I felt like an idiot for the confusion and in the end the dinner wasn't very good anyway. And I know that I'm so lucky to be able to travel like this and shouldn't be whining about bad dining experiences but I'd be lying if I didn't say that despite that they didn't put a slight damper on the first couple days.

So it wasn't until Monday night that I think I finally started to enjoy myself. After taking a rest in our gloriously air-conditioned room, we finally managed to find the street on our tourist map that supposedly has the best Italian restaurant in Hanoi. Or was it that after eating there we decided it's the best Italian restaurant in Hanoi?  Well either way it is!

The Little Hanoi Pizza Inn on Dinh Liet St. serves up some delicious pizzas and pastas (and a very tasty chocolate mousse for dessert! Actually this area has lots of good restaurants so if you're in the city and looking for some good eats then head this way. There are also tons of souvenir shops on this street selling everything from paintings to handbags to jewelry so I really can't recommend enough taking a walk down Dinh Liet.

As we were eating dinner it started raining and since we were sitting close to the balcony (not actually on the balcony though since it looked like it was hanging on by a thread) and enjoying our meal so much that we decided to order a few more drinks and just wait out the rain.

Except that that hot and humid weather I mentioned is also a sign of monsoon season. So the steady downpour soon turned into torrential rain. We watched the shopkeepers across the street first extend their awnings to prevent the rain from coming in, then saw them move their wares closest to the street inside and finally noticed that everyone was simply closing up shop. Further down the street the road itself started flooding and several scooters that went by had water almost completely covering their tires. We realized it was time to head out before the water could get any further up the street. But in the few minutes it took us to get downstairs our end was flooded too!

We managed to get partway up the street by sticking close to the edges but at the main intersection there was really no avoiding having to wade through several inches of water. I didn't have my camera and was regretting not getting any pictures of how insane this flood was but at the same time I'm glad I didn't risk ruining it in that weather. The storm drains in the road had massive amounts of water bubbling out and if we didn't have umbrellas I think we would have been soaked through in about 10 seconds.

Weather like that can be pretty scary but we knew that Vietnam experiences this kind of thing and that it wouldn't last all that long. So actually it was kind of fun running back to the hostel through that craziness. I did notice that night and other times when it began to rain that what most people do is find an overhang or something close to the sidewalk and just wait it out. Usually though the rains would last for a good while so this was surprising. In Korea you'd be hard pressed to find someone not carrying an umbrella in the summertime so that they can keep going on with their day despite the weather, same in the US basically. Maybe we're just in more of a rush though? It wasn't like the Vietnamese I saw waiting out the rain didn't have umbrellas, they just chose to wait for it to stop instead. Just a different mentality I guess.

Tuesday began with a walk to Quan Thanh Temple.

I liked this temple a lot. It was small and quiet but in a peaceful way and the few other people there weren't hurrying in to get their prayers over with but relaxing and taking their time. It was nice. 

Since coming to Korea and doing a bit of traveling I've been to a lot of temples and have seen lots of offerings left on the altars. Usually it's fruits and such which is why I was so amused to see the following items at this temple in Vietnam. It's not so much the fact of someone leaving boxed goods that I find funny because hey, food is food right, but that it's a box of Choco-Pies.

Choco-Pies are like the Twinkies of Korea. They are super popular and super disgusting. They're similar to Moon Pies or Zebra Cakes with a chocolate coating over cookie and marshmallow. Whenever we bring snacks into school for the kids we bring in Choco-Pies and they devour them. Last term when I gave them to one of my older classes I asked my students why they liked them so much and they were like, "Choco-Pies are a Korean National Treasure!". Apparently this photo is proof that they're held in high esteem in Vietnam too.

(At least the folks getting the items at this altar got something a bit stronger)

Across the street from the temple is a small park right on a lake and we discovered there a fleet of paddle boats and decided to take one out for a ride!

It was so pretty on the water and we kept ourselves turned so that we could get a reprieve from the sun. I hadn't been on a paddle boat in years so I was pleased we got to squeeze this in.

 (I tried not to consider the likelihood of these life jackets actually working as flotation devices...)

When our hour was up we paddled back in and had lunch at the restaurant next door.

Mike tried pretty much all of the local beers during our trip and I want to say that this was one of the better ones? I don't remember too well and this might not even be an actual Vietnamese beer but I know for sure Vietnam has better beer than Korea! Not that that is such a difficult feat to manage.

Afterwards we had a nice walk back to the hostel. One cool thing about Hanoi is the enormous sidewalks canopied by huge trees. The shade is so welcome on a hot day and it makes for a pretty stroll.

Except for when a car suddenly comes along on the sidewalk. Rude.

I had thought Taipei was land of the scooters but I was wrong. Hanoi beats them any day of the week, it's scooter city. I was sure we would die trying to cross the street there but the travel guides said to just walk across without hurrying or stopping and the scooters will just expertly avoid you. It's true too.

That night we said a brief goodbye to Hanoi and headed down to Hue for a few days. The trip there was an adventure in itself though and will need to wait until the next post when I have the energy to mentally recount it!

Trivia of the Day: The Saola, Vu Quang ox or Asian unicorn, also, infrequently, Vu Quang bovid (Pseudoryx nghetinhensis), one of the world's rarest mammals, is a forest-dwelling bovine found only in the Annamite Range of Vietnam and Laos. The species was "discovered" by science in 1992 in Vu Quang Nature Reserve by a joint survey of the Ministry of Forestry and the World Wide Fund for Nature. The team found three skulls with unusual long straight horns kept in hunters' houses. In their article, the team proposed "a three month survey to observe the living animal" but, more than 15 years later, there is still no reported sighting of a Saola in the wild by a scientist. In late August 2010, a Saola was captured by villagers in Laos but died in captivity before government conservationists could arrange for it to be released back in to the wild. The carcass is being studied with the hope that it will advance scientific understanding of the Saola.

This... sounds like a made up animal. Or at least a made up Wikipedia article (shocking). Discovered "by science"? Kind of sort of no actual sightings? However, the pictures on Google images seem legit enough and honestly I could not resist a piece of trivia about a creature called the "Asian unicorn". 

September I hardly knew ye

Cripes! The start of a new term at work, my internet throwing successive tantrums, a recent trip out of the country, and my general laziness and tendency to say, "Naw, I'll write something tomorrow" has led to an unintended two and a half week hiatus. Whoops. So I figured I needed to sit myself down and get something out before this month just completely passes me by.

First and foremost: Fall is here! It arrived exactly thirteen days ago on a Monday morning. How do I know this? Because fall is just that awesome. It comes with a crispness in the air and a coolness that you can feel even under the remaining summer heat. It's not pushy though like Winter which comes barreling in to set up camp for four months. It pops up, gives you a quick wink to let you know it's in town, and then lets Summer fade out. When I came downstairs that Monday morning I paused for a second and oh hey, there it was. Fall is the best season ever and I'm so so happy I'm abroad in a country that experiences a beautiful Autumn like the one back home.

And to ring in the harvest season, Korea celebrated Chuseok (추석) this past week. Chuseok is a three-day holiday that you'll hear most foreigners describe as the Korean Thanksgiving. Everyone goes back to their hometowns (or as most of my kids said to "grandma's house" wherever that may be) to spend time with family and in the words of my students to "eat yummy foods". It's one of the most important Korean holidays.

The holiday this year was from Sunday the 11th to Tuesday the 13th so a group of us girls from work took the opportunity to take a mini-vacation to Shanghai. You'd think that considering we'd only just started the new term we wouldn't be in need of a break yet but those first couple weeks are tiring so it was a more than welcome stay away. More on that adventure soon! That is when I actually finish up on Vietnam. Heh.

CDI always makes up missed class days though so I had to work both days this weekend which was not too fun. Luckily I only had one class today though that was out by 1:30pm so I'm spending the rest of the day relaxing and catching my breath. Literally. Somehow I came down with bronchitis and I have a real nasty cough and that obnoxious chest pain. Dr. Google and her associates however recommend basic home treatment like liquids and rest so I'm holding off on a trip to the pharmacy just yet. So far sitting next to my humidifier is helping a lot actually. In the event of needing more than just charades and coughing at the pharmacist though, this site seems to offer a decent Korean-English dictionary for medical terms. Or at least it's a Korean-English dictionary for medical terms. Whether or not those terms are accurate I haven't a clue...

So that's that in my life right now. I anticipate the next few months being pretty busy but I want to make sure to share some more of what's been happening lately. My first ever K-pop concert! Flying in style and delicious food in Shanghai! A visit to a house shaped like a giant toilet!

At least one of those adventures means I forever have the perfect ice breaker for awkward situations at parties. This really has been a successful year.

Trivia of the Day: Ganggangsullae (강강술래) is a 5,000-year-old Korean dance that was first used to bring about a bountiful harvest and has developed into a cultural symbol for Korea. It incorporates singing, dancing, and playing and is exclusively performed by women. The dance is mostly performed in the southwestern coastal province of Jeollanam-do. It is often associated with the Chuseok holiday and Daeboreum. Traditionally, this dance is performed only by women at night without any instruments. Young and old women dance in a circle at night under the moonlight. They go outside in traditional Korean clothing, hold each other's hands, make a circle, and start rotating clockwise. The lead singer sings a line and everyone sings the refrain 'ganggangsullae'. The song tempo progressively becomes faster. They sing about their personal hardships, relationships, and desires. During the dance, the women play a variety of games. The dance can last until dawn.

China Visa with less than 6 months on ARC

I recently went through the process of getting a visa for my upcoming trip to China. When we went to Vietnam I needed one as well and all it involved was filling out a form at the embassy in Seoul and coming back the following week to pick up my passport. Easy peasy.

China though? Not so much. If you're a foreigner living in Korea (specifically a US American since that's what I am in case some of this info may not apply to foreigners of other countries) and you want to take a trip to China, the visa process involves just a bit more work. You can no longer apply for a visa directly at the Chinese embassy so you need to find a travel agency to take care of it for you.

And if you're like me and you have an ARC (Alien Registration Card) that is expiring within the six month period from when you are applying for a visa, you will hear that the Chinese embassy in Seoul no longer grants visas in those cases. So you have to get some extra paper work and send your documents down to a travel agency in Busan where the Chinese embassy there will give you a visa. Still with me?

Once all was said and done, the process wasn't that much more difficult but I think I was just so worried that they wouldn't grant me a visa that I worked myself into a tizzy. This post will probably be way too late to help anyone hoping to head out to China for Chuseok but for future reference I thought I'd compile the steps you need to take if you want a visa for China with less than six months left on your ARC.

Step 1
If your ARC has less than six months on it then you need to get yourself to your local immigration office and pick up a Certificate of Foreign Registration (I have heard you can also get one of these at your city hall or district office but I can't confirm this). Bring your passport, ARC, and a stamp (I bought one at the office) into the immigration office and request this form. It takes less than five minutes and you leave with a sheet of paper that basically just re-states all the information from your ARC and passport but with a fancy stamp on top of it.

If you're in Incheon then the immigration office is located right behind Inha University Hospital. I took a cab and told the driver "Incheon chu-rip-kuk" or "Incheon immigration". I think I also threw in "Sa-mu-shil" or "office" for good measure but kept butchering it and he finally just said in plain English "Office?". Somehow even when I attempt to speak Korean I sound like an idiot...

Step 2
Find a travel agency to send your stuff to. I highly recommend Kangsan Travel as I had a very positive experience with them. They have an office in Seoul as well as one in Busan. I was super paranoid about mailing off my documents, particularly my passport, and having them get lost or be returned with a fat rejection stamp on top. So I emailed them beforehand just to confirm that they definitely would be able to get me a visa with my soon-to-be expired ARC and they assured me it would be fine.

Step 3
Fill out your visa application. You can find the applications through Kangsan Travel here. The first PDF is the main application form and the second is an extra form to fill out if you're applying for the visa in a country other than your country of nationality. So basically all foreigners in Korea need to send that one as well.

Step 4
Gather up your documents. What you'll be sending:
- Passport
- Copy of your ARC, front and back
- A 3cm x 4cm passport photo
- Application forms
- Certificate of Foreign Registration

If you don't have passport sized photos you can either get them taken in a subway station at one of those little photo booths or at a photography shop. Just look for a shop window full of family portraits, walk in, and tell them what you want. I needed one for Vietnam too so I had plenty of extras.

Step 5
Mail your documents off! I just brought everything into the post office, told them I wanted to send something express to Busan, and the worker helped me fill out the address in Korean. You can find the address at the page I linked above.

Step 6
Pay the visa and handling fee. For most foreigners the fee is 70,000 won but for Americans it's 220,000. Gross. On top of that I also paid 30,000 handling to Kangsan. You can pay by wire transfer at your bank which is super easy and safe. The account name and number details can also be found on the applications page linked above. I emailed Kangsan to let them know I'd transferred the money and I also sent them the address to mail my passport back to. 

I'd sent my things off on a Tuesday and by the Friday of the following week my passport was back with a brand new visa inside. I've heard various things about the Chinese embassy in Busan possibly changing to the no-visa-for-an-ARC-with-less-than-six-months like Seoul but at least for the time being you can get one if you follow these steps and go through Kangsan Travel. I'm sure there are other agencies you can use as well, I just know I had success with this one.

Happy travels!

Trivia of the Day: Caribbean Bay is an indoor / outdoor water park located in Yongin, South Korea. Opened in 1996, it is the largest indoor / outdoor water park in the world. The Caribbean Bay park reproduces a typical bay in the Caribbean Sea. The park includes a wave pool, the world's longest lazy river ride, a sandy pool, a wading pool for young children, various water slides, and a salt sauna. The children pool also has a baby pool which is very shallow for adults but perfect for babies. Caribbean Bay has received "Must-see Waterpark Awards" from International Association of Amusement Park Attractions.

Adventures in Vietnam: Part II

We started the third day of our trip at the National Museum of Vietnamese History. It's a nice museum and though it's not really big, it offers a pretty thorough overview. There was barely anyone there so we spent a couple quiet hours looking around inside and checking out the outdoor exhibit.

This day was better planned so at 11 o'clock when all the sights started closing for a two hour window we were finished at the museum and decided to wander in search of lunch.

We had lunch at a Vietnamese restaurant and it was pretty tasty. You'd think that being in Vietnam we'd be getting Vietnamese food at all the restaurants we went to but really, most of the trip we were eating Western dishes. Personally I've never enjoyed trying new foods because I'm always terrified I'll get a flavor/texture that freaks me out (though I have been much more adventurous since coming to Korea). So I consider the two or three dishes of local cuisine that I actually did try to be making an effort. 

After lunch, we came across Saint Joseph's Cathedral which according to Grandma Wiki was built in 1886 and is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hanoi. 

These kids kept saying hello and talking to us as they road their bikes.

In the afternoon we ended up at the Temple of Literature.

Although several Temples of Literature can be found throughout Vietnam, the most prominent and famous is that situated in the city of Hanoi, which also functioned as Vietnam's first university. The temple was first constructed in 1070 under King Lý Nhân Tông and is dedicated to Confucius, sages and scholars.

Hopefully I'll get around to posting everything from this trip before my next trip to Shanghai in two weeks!

Trivia of the Day: The flag of Vietnam, also known as the "red flag with yellow star" (cờ đỏ sao vàng), was designed in 1940 and used during an uprising against French rule in Cochinchina that year. The flag was used by the Việt Minh, a communist-led organization created in 1941 to oppose Japanese occupation. At the end of World War II, Việt Minh leader Hồ Chí Minh proclaimed Vietnam independent and signed a decree on September 5, 1945 adopting the Việt Minh flag as the flag of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. The DRV became the government of North Vietnam in 1954 following the Geneva Accords. The flag was modified on November 30, 1955 to make the edges of the star sharper. The red background was inspired by the flag of the communist party, which in turn honors the red flag of the Paris Commune of 1871. It symbolizes revolution and blood. The five-pointed yellow star represents the unity of workers, peasants, intellectuals, traders and soldiers in building socialism. Until Saigon was captured in 1975, South Vietnam used a yellow flag with three red stripes. The red flag of North Vietnam became the flag of a united Vietnam when the Socialist Republic of Vietnam was formed in 1976.