Tet 2012

[james&nicole 2]

James..you are bringing back lots of memories from Hanoi for me..I felt like I was "ve que an Tet" again on Hang's Dad side of the family in HaTay. I have to give it to you..you are having the experiences the not even many VKs have ever seen..

Good to hear from you.. if your up in in the sacto area, you might have seen the Sutter Buttes around Yuba City/Marysville. I'm a norcal country boy, so I'm familiar with the area. Anyway the road from Hanoi to the in-laws is very similar to the central valley of CA. There was even a small mountain range that looked like the Sutter Buttes. They grow plenty of rice up around the Chico area. For me, a chance to see VN rice growing was a real treat. Damn that sounds boring. Anyway, I'm glad you are doing well. I got some people in norcal so if I ever get up there maybe I can look you up. Wishing you the best.

.

[james&nicole 2]

Love the rain, I sat at a coffee shop in Saigon, it rained hard across the street for ten minutes but I didn't get wet at all. I was literally at the edge of the rain. Never seen anything like it. One side of the street wet, the other side dry. You can't write that sh!t. Incredible.

[james&nicole 2]

How the heck do you remember this much detail??? I can barely remember what I had for lunch!

Memory.... Boon or bane...curse or gift? I think I remember because its new. I could bore you with more detail but this phone I type on is stupid. If the computer thing catches on maybe I'll buy one. Until then I'm investing in pay phones and buggy whips, you never see many of those so there must be a need for them. Trust me, I have huge gaps in my memory also, what I had for lunch, the seventies, early eighties, etc. When you have to feel your toothbrush to see If its wet. You know your memory is lacking.

[dalatian 4]

Good to hear from you.. if your up in in the sacto area, you might have seen the Sutter Buttes around Yuba City/Marysville. I'm a norcal country boy, so I'm familiar with the area. Anyway the road from Hanoi to the in-laws is very similar to the central valley of CA. There was even a small mountain range that looked like the Sutter Buttes. They grow plenty of rice up around the Chico area. For me, a chance to see VN rice growing was a real treat. Damn that sounds boring. Anyway, I'm glad you are doing well. I got some people in norcal so if I ever get up there maybe I can look you up. Wishing you the best.

.

Where is this place? I'm familiar with Soc Son and Ha Nam Ninh as these are my ancestral land. Both are close to Hanoi (Soc Son is adjacent to Noi Bai International).

[ScottThuy 140]

thit cho.. its whats for dinner today.. saw many many roasted and ready to go along the road through Son Tay.. Agreed its better than beef when done right... first time I had it was three different ways... dog sausage, roast and then a stir fry type dish.. snausages were really dry..maybe because of whatever was added to the meat...

weather here at the homestead is ideal at the moment.. if anyone is in Hanoi let me know I'll be back in the city Thurs PM and then another few days before I head back to FL.

[Ban Hammer 12,876]

one troll ejected.

[tcTTct 37]

Thit cho is so much more common in Hanoi. I'm from Saigon and was shocked to see it how available it was.

But people shouldn't worry about accidentally consuming it. It's a delicacy and costs more so nobody will serve it to you without you paying for it.

Edited March 6, 2012 by tcTTct

[james&nicole 2]

Where is this place? I'm familiar with Soc Son and Ha Nam Ninh as these are my ancestral land. Both are close to Hanoi (Soc Son is adjacent to Noi Bai International).

The Sutter Buttes lookalike was on highway QL1 or QL1A I think about halfway between Hanoi and Nam Dinh. The small mountain from which the town was shelled is called Nui An Lao. Or maybe just An Lao. We were about 10 miles due east of Nam Dinh and halfway between Phu Ly and Ninh Binh in a north/south axis. Tinh-Nam Dinh; Huyen-Vu Ban; Xa-Mihn Thuan; Thon-Dong Dat. Sorry about the lack of diacritics, even if I had them I not very good at using them.

[luckytxn 2,263]

The Sutter Buttes lookalike was on highway QL1 or QL1A I think about halfway between Hanoi and Nam Dinh. The small mountain from which the town was shelled is called Nui An Lao. Or maybe just An Lao. We were about 10 miles due east of Nam Dinh and halfway between Phu Ly and Ninh Binh in a north/south axis. Tinh-Nam Dinh; Huyen-Vu Ban; Xa-Mihn Thuan; Thon-Dong Dat. Sorry about the lack of diacritics, even if I had them I not very good at using them.

Northern California is stunning. One of my most favorite routes to drive.

[beavisandbutthead 0]

The weather in HCMC has been pretty consistent year round in my experience. Pretty hot and humid with thunder shower type rains rolling through. I never felt the weather was as oppressive as some people made it out to be. I stay hydrated and out of the direct sun if possible. I bought some hi tech travel clothes but honestly, a lightweight cotton shirt from Target works just as well and only costs 10 or 15 bucks.

same here. high tech stuff compared to cotton is the same. i took booth and some clothes my india friends gave me. that worked out great also

[dalatian 4]

The Sutter Buttes lookalike was on highway QL1 or QL1A I think about halfway between Hanoi and Nam Dinh. The small mountain from which the town was shelled is called Nui An Lao. Or maybe just An Lao. We were about 10 miles due east of Nam Dinh and halfway between Phu Ly and Ninh Binh in a north/south axis. Tinh-Nam Dinh; Huyen-Vu Ban; Xa-Mihn Thuan; Thon-Dong Dat. Sorry about the lack of diacritics, even if I had them I not very good at using them.

OK, so we are neighbors now. My mom's side is from Phu Ly, Nam Dinh. My great great .... great grandfather (I'm the 14th generation) founded a village there after resigning from his post as Vietnam ambassador to China in the 16th century. He topped the national examination as a Trạng nguyên (the highest scorer among other PhDs) and his name (#37) now is on the list of 49 Trạng nguyên ever at the Temple of Literature (Van Mieu - Quoc Tu Giam) in Hanoi. Quite some family history there! I was born and grew up in Dalat though; hence, dalatian, and spent a number of years as a forced hippie in Berkeley during college days.

[james&nicole 2]

Northern California is stunning. One of my most favorite routes to drive.

I have a lot of good memories there, grew up in shasta county between mt. Lassen & mt. Shasta, lived in Burney, Redding,Chico & Paradise. Been up and down the 5, 99, 101 a lot. Highway 89, 299, 49, 70, 36, 20, 1, 44, actually, there are so many that are my favorites. Tryin to keep it on the DL, don't want a bunch of flatlanders comin up and messin up the good parts of CA. If you get a chance to check out the redwoods, I highly recommend it.

[james&nicole 2]

OK, so we are neighbors now. My mom's side is from Phu Ly, Nam Dinh. My great great .... great grandfather (I'm the 14th generation) founded a village there after resigning from his post as Vietnam ambassador to China in the 16th century. He topped the national examination as a Trạng nguyên (the highest scorer among other PhDs) and his name (#37) now is on the list of 49 Trạng nguyên ever at the Temple of Literature (Van Mieu - Quoc Tu Giam) in Hanoi. Quite some family history there! I was born and grew up in Dalat though; hence, dalatian, and spent a number of years as a forced hippie in Berkeley during college days.

It's awesome you have a long family history. As a third or fourth gen American (great grand parents came from Scandinavia mid 1800's) that's as far back as I go. Story is they met on the boat over. No VJ to help back then.

I want to go to Dalat, if we get a visa issued this year we are planning to go. I've been to VN 10 times but always around sea level. I want to get some elevation and check out the flora and fauna there. Dalat will be the easiest I think. Sapa and some of the harder to get to regions take to much time to visit. We are working so hard to get a visa and have to be at the hospital for the meds so much, its difficult to be footloose and fancy free at this time in our lives. Speaking of footloose and fancy free, doesn't the term "forced hippie" seem like an oxymoron? I've been to Berkeley, interesting town. I like the bay area.

[dalatian 4]

It's awesome you have a long family history. As a third or fourth gen American (great grand parents came from Scandinavia mid 1800's) that's as far back as I go. Story is they met on the boat over. No VJ to help back then.

I want to go to Dalat, if we get a visa issued this year we are planning to go. I've been to VN 10 times but always around sea level. I want to get some elevation and check out the flora and fauna there. Dalat will be the easiest I think. Sapa and some of the harder to get to regions take to much time to visit. We are working so hard to get a visa and have to be at the hospital for the meds so much, its difficult to be footloose and fancy free at this time in our lives. Speaking of footloose and fancy free, doesn't the term "forced hippie" seem like an oxymoron? I've been to Berkeley, interesting town. I like the bay area.

The distance from Saigon to Dalat is pretty much the same as Sacramento to San Jose but it takes approx. 8 hrs on a bus, mainly due to horribly slow traffic. It's a scenic drive when you climb those mountain passes though. If you prefer shorter travel time, you can take a 45-min flight to Lien Khuong airport and then a shuttle to the town. If you decide to head up to Dalat for some cool fresh air, do avoid the monsoon season. Unlike tropical showers in other parts of the country, when it rains, it never stops in Dalat, not refreshing rain but annoying, wet, cold rain. Other than that, you'll find a pleasant change from the hectic, smoggy, humid and hot Saigon.

If you're in Hanoi, you can do Sapa in a weekend. I got a soft bed and slept on the train, arrived at Sapa in early morning. Its colorful tribal peoples make it different from Dalat though both share similarities in landscape (lots of steep slopes for your unwanted calf and quad workouts).

Hope you'll get a visa soon. Your timeline shows such a long and winding road. My dad got to take meds and went to many checkups for a six months before he was cleared and we were allowed to migrate to the States. It was a very frustrating and nervy time. It looks like you're close to the finish line. Good luck!