Mid-Year Conference

At approximately the mid point of the Fulbright Grant (about two weeks before the mathematical halfway point), all the Fulbrighters reassembled in Da Lat (a wonderful city in the central highlands) for a four day conference. Wait-I've skipped a step- let me back up.

Week 1 (December 7th-December 15th)

After breaking my elbow and moping for a week, I headed back to the States for a very special reason...a wedding! One of my best friends, Sky, got married to his fiance, and he asked me to be his best man. So, I got permission from my school and from the U.S. Embassy and headed back for a week (well, with 36 hours travelling on both ends, it officially took 9 days but I was only home for a week). It was a great week! I saw my family- immediate and extended. Then I headed to Charlottesville for a truly spectacular wedding. While I couldn't participate in all of the bachelor party festivities (hard to play trampoline basketball and dodgeball with a broken elbow), I could fortunately put on my tux! The wedding was really beautiful- it was awesome to see Sky (and Emily) so happy.

Then, after a whirlwind in which I never fully shook the jet-lag, it was time to go back. I was worried it would be hard to go back, but I felt like I still had more to do in Lao Cai- I'm not finished growing- so it wasn't that hard.

Week 2( December 16th-19th)

I arrived back in Vietnam (eventually, I had to spend a night in Tokyo after flight delays caused me to miss my connections) and flew to Da Lat. I flew with Josh and his girlfriend Anya (they said they recognized me by my running through the airport using only one arm!).

In Da Lat, all 14 ETAs assembled for the first time since August (Paul hasn't left Quy Nhon once since August) as well as 6 ETAs from Laos. We spent 2 days giving 45 minute presentations (yes, it was long).

This was a great chance to reflect on my experience so far. What have I accomplished? What do I want to do differently next semester?

I was worried I would feel inadequate compared to the other ETAs- they are all incredibly impressive people who are doing amazing things in their provinces- what the hell am I doing? (For example, one girl is teaching an extra class at a coffee shop that gets over 50 people per class; another is teaching the city officials on the side).

In my experience, I was following an absolutely amazing teacher, a man named David Grundy, and people expected me to be just as good. Well, of course I'm very different from a trained 55 year old British teacher and so people readjusting their expectations (What? He'd rather play basketball than drink?) has taken longer than expected.

At this point, I'm seen as more of a trophy or status symbol than anything else. Everything I do is considered "good" or if I eat at a restaurant or go some place, it gets plastered on facebook so everyone knows. My school brings me places, just to show that they have this tall foreign teacher. Of course, I get it- there are not many foreigners in my province and I'm not capable of meaningfully engaging with people. I can talk with them for about 20 minutes but then I run out of things I can say in Vietnamese. I'm not  a trained teacher (only a native English speaker) so I can be of some (but limited) utility in that arena.

Fortunately, several other ETAs (many near to me in location) expressed similar feelings and I came to realize- this isn't a competition- I can't win or lose it. Instead, I spent the rest of the time trying to glean- what are other ETAs doing successfully- what can I apply to my situation?

Concretely: not much. There are distinct differences between the resources of other schools and mine (in level of the students and personnel) that make it hard or impossible to replicate the successful of the other ETAs. Instead I need to find ways I can be successful within the structures of my situation.

In terms of attitude: a ton! I took a concrete bit from each presentation ("keep a positive attitude" "advocate for youself" "appreciate the unique Vietnamese-ness of events, even if they are frustrating" "keep perspective on this. This is one year of your life." " There is always someone in a worse situation").

Lastly- the RELO (Regional Language Officer for Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam) had some good advice for us. "We don't need you to be amazing teachers," she said. "We need you to be public dipomats. Little p, little d. Help learn about Vietnam and teach about America, and try to make people who meet you have a positive experiences with Americans. Thats what we need you to do and why you are here."

That was helpful because it helped me realize I need to shift my focus away from teaching and more towards being friendly and gregarious (much easier to be friendly and engaged than to plan outstanding lessons every week).

Overall, meeting the Lao ETAs and seeing the Vietnamese ETAs really energized me and gave me a good pump up for the next semester! I was excited to go back to Lao Cai and teach second semester.

December 20-31st

I now have a new schedule.
Before, I taught 10 Math, 10 Literature, 10 Physics, 10 English, 11 English twice a week.
Now, I will teach 10/11 Math, 10/11 Literature, 10/11 Physics once a week each. (Also 10/11 English twice a week each) This way I see more students and make fewer lesson plans (this was my idea).

Further, this semester I am supposed to use the textbook about two thirds of lessons. Hopefully this will make lesson planning less stressful and I can focus on what I actually like- teaching.

I taught for two weeks (yes, on Christmas- no one really celebrates Christmas here- maybe <5% of people here are Christians). In those two weeks, I attended two weddings (and declined two more) and I attended a conference where I met the Lieutenant Governor of my province and the head of English Education in Vietnam (and talked to him about Fulbright).

NYE has been kind of a flop- I went to a party hosted by the Department of Education- but we had to end it early because my school has a 10:00 p.m. curfew (also Vietnam has a 12:00 curfew nationally).

Next up, I have a 10 day break because the best students will take the national exam (I'll write a post about that when they get their results back) and teachers must travel around the country to proctor it (teachers from the south will come to Lao Cai and LC teachers must go South). So, I'm headed to Nha Trang and Ho Chi Minh City for 9 days to relax in the warm sun (its 80 in HCMC and like 50 in Lao Cai- which is a lot colder when you realize no buildings have insulation or heating).

First wedding in Vietnam-teacher at my school and his former student 

You're supposed to put straight cash in an envelope (300,000 or 15 bucks)

Wooo!!!

School Christmas party! 

Also from the party...yeah I don't know

Next up- a 9 day trip to Nha Trang and Ho Chi Minh City while my national team students take exams!

Onward. Always Onward.

Daniel

Update on Goals

Last semester, I compiled a list of goals for myself. How am I doing?

Goal #1: Take time off, get work experience.

Check. I'm definitely older and I now have work experience. My public speaking has dramatically improved and I have more experience dealing with and relating to co-workers on a professional level (even if it is in a different language).

Goal #2: Travel

I've definitely done this. Continent No. 5, check! Listening to the other Vietnam ETAs, I got the uncomfortable feeling that they had all spent a lot more time in their province than me. On the flip side- I've travelled more than them. Thats good for me, but maybe bad for a scholarship whose purpose is to spread benevolent American influence (or something)- I'm still not totally sure. I always feel like I should spend more time in Lao Cai, but I always feel listless when I'm here. I also know I would feel regretful if I didn't see everywhere I wanted to see! This may be a conflict I need to rationalize until it goes away!

In October, my list looked like this:

• Hanoi (DONE)
• Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)
• Hue
• Da Nang
• Da Lat
• Ha Long Bay
• Hoi Ann
• Sapa (DONE)
• Fuqua
• Dien Bien Phu

Now, my list looks more like this:

Lao Cai Province (8 districts)

• Sapa (done many times)
• Muong Khuong (done twice)
• Si Ma Cai (done)
• Bac Ha (done twice)
• Van Ban
• Bao Thang
• Bao Yen
• Bao Xat

The North

• Hanoi (done)
• Tuyen Quang (done)- Josh's province
• Yen Bai (done)- Olivia's province
• Mai Chau (done)
• Ha Long Bay (done)
• Hai Phong (done)
• Hai Duong- Chin Yee's province
• Dien Bien Phu

Central

• Da Nang (done)
• Hoi An (done)
• Hue-Diane's site and UNESCO World Heritage Site
• Tam Ky (and My Son)- Erik's site and UNESCO World Heritage Site
• Dong Hoi- James' site and UNESCO World Heritage Site (I think)
• Da Lat (done)- but I didn't see enough so I need to go back

The South

• Ho Chi Minh City
• Quy Nhon- Paul's site
• Nha Trang
• Phu Quoc (see, I didn't even know how to spell it in October!)

Fortunately, I have plans to see Nha Trang and Ho Chi Minh on my 10 day break for national team testing (January 1st-10th).

As you can see, with only 21 weeks left (and I can only travel at most once every 2 weeks) I will be travelling a lot to fit everything in!

Goal #3-Personal Growth

Also so far as success, I think. I've definitely grown a lot closer to my immediate family over the last four months. I think I have skyped my family more in the last four months than I did all 4 years of college! While my family is already extremely close, I definitely have learned to allow myself to rely on them when I need it (something I did not do, to my own detriment, in college).

While it kind of does feel like regressing (what kind of post-grad skypes his family twice a week?) I'm choosing to define it as: "learning to ask for help when you need it."

I've gotten a lot better at accepting uncertainty ("What? I'm presenting to 250 English teachers tomorrow? Ok." "What, I'm now a judge at the provincial science fair later today?" "Perfect.")

In Vietnam, you can't plan. You just can't. You just have to roll with the punches and hope nothing goes wrong (it will) and just game plan from there. I always have a Plan A, B, and C. Then when Plan C falls apart, I just improvise.

Three Boulders

The analogy I used when I first started was that I was trying to swim with three giant boulders attached to me.

1. The boulder of not knowing the language (Vietnamese)
2. The boulder of not knowing the job (teaching)
3. The boulder of not knowing how to live independently (not in a dorm with a meal plan). 

All three boulders were huge; I wasn't trying so to swim so much as I was trying not to drown.

Now, the boulders are much smaller-I know I can tread water and do the requirements of the job. So I'm attempting to go beyond the minimum and do more- startup English club, travel, reach out into the community.

Goal #4-Minor Goals

• Get shredded. Failure. Between travelling most of October and November, and now being unable to lift weights until March, I think this has been a failure.
• Learn Vietnamese. Failure. I got a textbook when I went back so hopefully I get better at this moving forward.
• Transition to being a grad. Success? I still can't cook but I don't feel like a college student anymore.

After having been here for a semester, I have two new goals to add.

Goal #5- Be Proactive

First semester, my social life was very reactive. If people invited me to stuff, I went. If they didn't, I didn't. Now, I have more confidence in my social skills (I can speak enough Vietnamese to hold my own in basic conversations and I have some proficiency in basic social interactions like toasting and correcting saluting people), and in my relationships with the people around me. Therefore, I want to be more proactive in doing stuff. I want to try to actively develop the relationships with people whom I like the most. I want to actively try to re-start English club (instead of waiting for the teacher who is nominally in charge to get around to it).*

*I asked the teacher in charge if another American in Lao Cai and myself could restart it and take over. Since it involves no work on his part and he gets credit, he was happy to say yes!

Goal #6-Find the middle ground with regard to teaching

I've struggled all year with my teaching. Everyone expects me to be this amazing teacher, and I'm just not.* The first year of teaching is the hardest, and I know that. My parents and friends have encouraged me to say, "Who cares." I mean, honestly, I see most of these kids 1-2 periods a week. I'm not changing the world here.Most of their other lessons are probably boring. If mine are too, no big deal.

I struggle with that. I want my lessons to be educational and fun and interesting. However, I was making myself crazy trying to make every second of every lesson was interesting for every student. I'm aiming for a more middle ground- my lessons are usually interesting for most of the class. Its hard to see a student put their head down trying to go to sleep or hear "Oh my God!" in Vietnamese at the end of a lesson. However, its part of the middle ground I need to find- and keep.

*Don't get me wrong-I think I'm doing fine as a teacher, but I'm definitely a far cry from the teachers at my school, most of whom are master educators with master's degrees and 20+ years of teaching.

Conclusion

I'm now past the half way point. I'm sure the second half will go by much faster than the first half but I hope I can make substantial progress on all of these fronts!

Onward. Always Onward.

Daniel

Disaster!

On Monday, I slept for a while and started watching the Lao Cai province Olympics!

Schedule for Lao Cai Olympics
S=morning, C=afternoon, T=evening
Bong do=basketball
Bong da= soccer

After basketball finished, the Bao Thang District No.2 High School invited me (and some other adult spectators) to scrimmage against them. We were destroying them (after all, we were grown men) when I saw a lazy outlet pass. I raced cross court into the backcourt for the steal. I reached out my hand and broke up the pass. I hit the ground and rolled. When I came up, I had no feeling in my right arm. I could move my hand and shoulder, but not my elbow. I figured, maybe a pinched nerve. I continued to play. My arm felt worse and worse. I could no longer straighten it. I took a seat and got a sub. It felt worse and worse. I went inside and took some advil. I did RCE (I don't have ice). It got worse. After a couple hours, I went to the hospital.

They did an X-Ray. They came out. I asked (through a translator)- well? Is it broken?

They replied, " The X-ray is negative. Your arm is not broken."

"Thats great! But why does it hurt so much?"

"The news is negative. Your elbow is fractured."

After a while, I explained, in English, a fracture is a kind of break and negative means that nothing was found, not that the news is negative.

Regardless, my arm hurt. I couldn't shower, shave, change clothes, stand up, walk around, eat, or really do anything. Eventually, after a couple days and a lot of advil, I was able to use my chopsticks lefthanded and even lie down. Fortunately, an elbow heals quickly- meaning I would only be in a sling for 2 weeks, and unable to use my arm fully for 4 (sadly, I would not be able to play sports or lift weights for 12).

"Whats wrong with your arm" -everybody

It looks worse than it felt after the first week or so

Chess competition

Basketball (Lao Cai No,1 the best team against the most rural team)

Weird as it may sound, this was the best possible time for me to break an elbow. I got the week off teaching, then spent the next week in the States (where I got another X-ray to be sure) and then the next week in Da Lat for my mid-year conference. So, by the time I got back to Lao Cai, I was almost back to normal!

So, definitely not optimal, but not the end of the world. Definitely annoying though.

Onward. Always Onward.
Daniel

Thanksgiving (Surprise!) Conference

After 3 months in Lao Cai, I was really excited to go Hanoi for Thanksgiving. The Deputy Chief of Mission (the Deputy Ambassador) invited all the Fulbrighters to her house for Thanksgiving Dinner.

3 Fulbrighters (Lucas, Aubrey, and Karen) made plans to go to a resort-y island in the south called Phu Quoc. Very soon after they booked flights, we got invited to Hanoi. Whoops. Anyway, about half the Fulbrighters ended up making the trek to Hanoi (6 Northerners and Brenna who flew in from the South). The food was...delicious! We had real turkey (apparently flown in from the States), stuffing, cranberry sauce (the good kind, out of a can), pumpkin pie. It was delicious. The party was fairly small, and there was a ton of food so I felt very comfortable getting seconds. And thirds. And fourths. And I tried a fifth plate but I only finished half. :) 

Delicious food!

Fulbrighters and DCM (in Red)

The next morning, Josh and I planned a 2 day trip to a lake called Ba Be Lake, which was nominated (but not selected) as a UNESCO World Heritage site. We got up at 7, only to realize we had missed the only bus to the province. Josh wanted to just hang out in Hanoi and try again another day, but I had been informed a once-in-three years province-wide sports competition was happening and so I wanted to head back that night.

Instead, we headed to Perfume Pagoda. I had thought (from the name) that it was a pagoda. Nope! Josh and I rented a private car and headed to a complex of pagodas (that would take 3 days to complete). We hired two boat rowers and headed out. We boated to an entrance pagoda where we (apparently) had  to pray to gain entry. (Not sure if tourist trap or not but I'm assuming so). Anyway, we did and began hiking. Ignoring my flashbacks of Fansipan, we hiked up the side of a small mountain to a small shrine at the top (note: not a pagoda), We met the resident monk who told us he very rarely gets visitors. We talked to him for a while and headed back. Interesting, but I question how authentic a visit it truly was.

They insisted I pray. No idea why

"Pagoda" in the side of a mountain

Anyway, I headed back to Lao Cai that night and got back around 1 am.

(Surprise!) Conference

The next morning (this is now Saturday), I woke up at 6 and bicycled into the city (about 30 minutes). I locked up my bike and proceeded to watch the opening ceremonies for something abbreviated "HKPD."

Here is the deal: In lieu of having high school sports, every three years (so once for each kid while they are in high school), there is a weeklong sports Olympiad. All the high schools from around the province (well, some of them) come to Lao Cai city and compete in a variety of events (basketball, soccer, Hmong archery, stuff like that). Some events (basketball and soccer) took place right outside my room, whereas others (archery, badminton, chess) took place other places around Lao Cai city. As you can imagine, I was excited. A weeklong Olympics, featuring my students, right outside my room!

At about 7:15, I got a call (as most of my adventures start) asking "Where are you?" I explained I was in the town square. A van full of teachers came to pick me up because "the principal wants to have breakfast with me." Weird, but fine. So, we have breakfast and then we start to head out.

"Where are we going," I want to know.

"Hai Phong city" is the response.

Hai Phong city is the 3rd largest city in Vietnam and about 8 hours away. 

I panic. "What!? Why are we going? How long? I didn't bring any stuff! My bike is still locked up at the square!"

"What? No one told you? We are going to Hai Phong city for a conference for maybe 2 or 3 days."

Eventually, they turned around and let me grab a backpack full of hastily packed stuff (no phone charger, wallet, and the wrong number of clothes) and hand off my key to a student to retrieve my bike.

8 hours later, we arrived in Hai Phong. We went to a nice awards show and dinner, and then several English teachers from different provinces and I went for drinks afterwards.

The next morning, we went to the conference. It turns out gifted high schools from 26 northern provinces (including many of my friends' high schools) are organizing a competition for 10th graders in April to get them ready for the national exam in 11th and 12 grade. We spent about 3 hours in the morning hashing out the format of the exam, and excoriating the fact that many of the schools had submitted plagiarized research on education (required to take part in the competition). After 3 hours- it was over. It was great to see Erik (his school is competing too) even if teachers from my school wanted to know "why don't you speak like Erik!?" (his Vietnamese is much better than mine).

We had dinner with the family of a teacher at our school. Finally, we headed back to Lao Cai the next day (Monday). So, we spent 3 days travelling for a 3 hour conference. I think the teachers just wanted to miss 2 days of school (Saturday and Monday).

An (apparently plagiarized) paper being presented

Foreign English teachers (and Hoa, from my school) at the conference

Onward. Always Onward.
Daniel

Teacher's Day

When I applied to be a Fulbright ETA, I had the (I think reasonable) expectation, if selected, that I would be an English Teaching Assistant. Whoops. That ship has sailed. For Fulbright Vietnam, we are expected to be independent or individual "master" teachers. I was given 8 days of teacher training in Hanoi and since then I've been teaching independently. No one has ever observed my lessons or asked to see a lesson plan. I keep fearing this will eventually explode in my face. I'd say it is impostor syndrome...except I am impersonating a teacher. My only saving grace was that I was able to argue my way out of having to give grades (They said students would not pay attention unless I gave grades, but I've compensated by being fun...or at least loud).

Needless to say, like many first year teachers, the first semester was filled with few triumphs and many tribulations. It was hard. Of course it was hard. Sometimes, though, it was rewarding.

The most rewarding part of my teaching so far has been Teacher's Day. In Vietnam, teaching and teachers are regarded highly, much more highly than in America. So, every year, there is a national holiday to celebrate teachers, called Teacher's Day.

This year, Teacher's Day was on November 20th (a Friday) and we got school off! All week, students were super well behaved and did small things. Every evening that whole week, parents or students came by with (huge) presents, flowers, fruit, and money (I got like 75 bucks, which I would have refused but it was in envelopes so I didn't know what it was until they had left).

It was incredibly rewarding for the students to come and show how much they appreciate me- sometimes being a teacher becomes a grind, but when students come to your room in the evening with a giant cake and perform a choreographed song and dance it makes you feel a lot better!

Walking into 10 Physics

10 Math came to visit

Local Primary School I at which I volunteer

10 English

Cake from 10 Math

In culmination, the PTA of CLC (my school) held a giant party on Friday morning. It was huge. While I have been pretty steadfast about not drinking (a huge part of socializing in northern Vietnam), on this occasion, I had no choice.

Typically, at a Vietnamese party, no beverages will be served. Instead, tons of rice wine and shot glasses will be provided. People will come to your table and wish you all good health, and everyone will do a shot. At some point, you should go to every table and wish everyone good health and invite them to do a shot. As you can imagine, at an event with 18 tables, there was a lot of drinking. Women and men who are severely impaired (drunk) can decline shots, but almost no one else can. At such a high profile event, there was no feasible way for me to do so ("I'm allergic to alcohol." "This isn't alcohol, its wine!"). At noon, I was over 20 rice wine shots deep. Not the most fun experience. So, I wanted to go home. 

Nope! Of course, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the second part of every Vietnamese party. Karaoke! I can't sing (even a little bit- like not at all) and so I usually sing one song and no one asks me to sing again. :) This time, however, we only stayed for 20 minutes and then the English teachers bailed to get coffee and go sleep it off, after all, they (but not I) had to teach the next day!

11 English pretending to be soldiers during Teacher's Day Ceremony

Overall, one of the better weeks I've had in Vietnam. It felt great to be appreciated (I, in turn, have been reaching out to former teachers all year to express my appreciation for all their hard work- I never properly appreciated it before!)

Onward. Always Onward.

Daniel

Da Nang

Xin Chao Cac Ban! (Hello everyone/friends- forgive me for omitting the diacritical marks)

Its been almost a month and a half since my last post (despite my desire to keep this thing up to date, the gaps seem to be longer and longer between each post.. Hmmm. Hopefully that trends stops!)

Anyway, the week after I "conquered" Mt. Fansipan with Josh, I headed off to Da Nang and Hoi Ann with several other Fulbrighters (Erik, Brenna, and Diane, for various parts).

I left after class on Thursday (approximately 11:00 am) and after various mishaps (telling the taxi driver "airport" only for him to take me to international terminal rather than the domestic one), I arrived in Da Nang at about 11 p.m. (long trip). Erik was waiting to greet me in our spacious but cheap hotel room with some "stews" as he is fond of calling them.

Erik overseeing our domain

Delicious, delicious banh beo. You scoop it out with a spoon and dip in the sauce

First things first, we hit the beach! Initial impressions of Da Nang were extremely positive. It was warm (but not hot), humid, windy, and had the beach. For you East Coasters, it reminded me a lot of Virginia Beach. It was undeniably a city, and a rich one at that. Its kind of unreal that a Fulbrighter was placed here last year (Da Nang has an international airport, one of 3 in Vietnam) and is clearly a culture center. It ranks highly (if not 1st) on all quality of life surveys and has the most expats of anywhere in Vietnam. Overall- I really really liked it. While I can't seem myself living abroad ever again right now (those 4:25 am Packer games on Monday mornings are killers), I can definitely see why so many ex-pats choose to reside in Da Nang.

A marble mountain (its about 9 stories to the top)

After the beach, we went to the Marble Mountains, a series of karsts south of the city. They are these giant mountains that stick out of the beach. I'd love to know the origins of their formation (but am too lazy to look it up!). For lunch, we had what was probably one of my favorite meals so far in Vietnam (probably 3rd- 1st would be Thanksgiving, 2nd would be eel soup in Hanoi). We had Banh Beo and Banh Xeo. The former are little rice-y mouthfuls with fish sauce and the latter are yellow rice pancake-things. Sadly, both are only southern dishes (aka do not exist in Lao Cai) but are incredibly delicious.

After lunch, Erik and I went about an hour south to Hoi An. On the public bus, the ticket lady tried to overcharge us, but Erik (who probably has the best Vietnamese of the 10 of us who arrived without knowing any) bargained her down. Later, she told us that his Vietnamese was excellent and mine was terrible. Sigh. True (and a couple weeks later, when teachers from my school met Erik at a regional conference, they would ask me why I couldn't speak as well as him, haha).

Hoi An is a tourist-y city. Every building is hundreds of years old and preserved for tourists. Its kind of a Colonial Williamsburg for Central Vietnam. Hoi An is an old trading center, so there were lots of market houses and stuff like that. Later that night (this is Friday evening) Diane met up with us and we had Cao Lau, a specialty food of Hoi An. Diane lives in Hue, a huge, very historical city about 3 hours north of Da Nang.

James is based in Dong Hoi. Diane is based in Hue.
It takes about 3 hours to drive from Hue to Da Nang, and 1 hour from Da Nang to Hoi An.
It takes about 1 hour to drive from Hoi An to Tam Ky (where Erik is based).
Lastly, Paul is based in Qui Nhon (which I definitely want to visit).

Hoi An was cool (definitely recommend) but many of the attractions were similar (i.e. the Huong family house; the Chinese market) and once you saw 5 (included on one all-entry pass), you don't need to buy a 2nd pass.

Old gathering space for chinese trading delegation

Hoi An is known for its lanterns!

The next morning we headed up to Da Nang to meet up with Brenna (who was flying in from the South to take her GREs).  We went to a Cao Dai temple (an amalgamation religion that tries to mix from all the world's major religions and is unique to Vietnam) and Diane headed back to Hue.

5 major religious figures from the Cao Dai temple. Can you name all 5?

Later that evening, we went to a 36th floor Sky-bar (hey, I told you Da Nang has money) and debated ethics and whether or not something was "bourgie." Later, we saw the famous Da Nang Dragon Bridge breath fire!

The next morning (at Erik's insistence), we got up from our deluxe suite (they upgraded us because Erik is a relentless schmoozer) to watch the sunrise on the beach.  If you know me, you know I love sleep. I craze sleep. I hate not sleeping. However, I have to say, it was an amazing decision. The sunrise was beautiful and the weather was perfect. We finished up with a quick visit to Da Nang's answer to Christ the Redeemer and then I headed home.

Onward. Always Onward.
Daniel

Trip to Mt. Fansipan

This past weekend, I (and my friend Josh, a fellow ETA who is stationed in Tuyen Quang, a province just southeast of Lao Cai) decided to hike Mt. Fansipan, which at over 10,000 feet is the tallest mountain in Southeast Asia.

Now, I come from Virginia. Most mountains I've been to aren't terribly difficult. Mount Mitchell (tallest mountain east of the Appalachian mountain chain) can be driven up. So, when Josh and I decided to hike Mt. Fansipan, it seemed like something that two reasonably in-shape people could do. This was a mistake. I found out that just because I look in shape (aka have the shape of a normal person) doesn't mean I'm actually in good shape. (It turns out I'm horribly, horribly out of shape and as soon as my legs start working again, I'm planning on an immense amount of cardio to rectify the problem).

Here is the story of how we successfully climbed Mt. Fansipan.

Day 1: Saturday, November 7th

Josh arrived in Lao Cai on Friday, after an 8 hour bus trip from Tuyen Quang. I showed him around Lao Cai city, and he met some of my students. We retired early, and vowed to leave at 7:30 the next day.

We packed- I packed 3 liters of water, 8 granola bars, a change of clothes, a sweater, a rain jacket, a hat, and my Kindle for the night. I did not pack: mosquito repellent, a helmet torch, hiking boots, long pants, or gloves. For future hikers, I recommend all or most of those items, depending on when you go. I assumed that this would be a light (but long stroll), maybe a rock scramble or two if I got lucky. This was a woefully wrong assumption.

We arrived in Sapa (about 35 km away from Lao Cai) around 9. We spent about an hour trying to find a tour operator to take us up the mountain. We started at the official tourist office. They quoted a price of $120 per person, and then said that the quota of 20 people per night was reached (because there is a shelter at the top and thats how many it can fit). We were bummed. Josh suggested that we do a homestay at an ethnic village instead. I had been to an ethnic village and didn't like being harassed to buy stuff 24/7 so I suggested we try go see if we could get a private tour (you need a tour operator to get the permit to hike, plus people have died on Fansipan).

Our porter, Mai, carried dinner to summit camp!

Thats actually a false summit. Fansipan is BEHIND that. (Why didn't we start closer?)

Still in good spirits, one hour in.

We found someone to take us for only $95 per person. Not bad! Then they asked us if we wanted to join up with a solo hiker for a $10 reduction. We said, sure, why not? The trip organizers took us to another hotel, where we met up with...3 more people. Two expats (an American and a Brit) who had been living in Da Nang for the past 3 years and their friend, an American tourist. Slightly confused but OK! Also, we learned that Vietnam had issued 200 permits for 20 spots at the camp. I was apprehensive but I went with it. I wanted to hike!

By 11, we had headed off! The first two hours were difficult but fun.We hiked through deciduous forest. Lots of trees, roots, branches, flowers, and streams. Pretty similar to a difficult hike in Appalachia. We hiked for about a half an hour and then took a break. Then repeat. Strenuous, but doable.

Base camp- about 2 hours in, where we had lunch

Left to right- Josh, me, Hemeish, Mika, Amy

After lunch, we started hiking pretty aggressively. Our guide, Tieng, kept pushing us. We had about 3 hours of hard hiking to complete in 3.5 hours before dark. We left the forest behind and started going up rock scrambles. I was frequently on all-fours looking for foot and handholds. This is where hiking shoes and gloves would have come in handy! My hands and knees got destroyed by the wet but sharp rocks. There were ladders, sharp cliffs, and some pretty spectacular views. About an hour in to this second part of the first day, I started to regret coming. You know, at some point, you get the idea. There are trees, rocks, bushes, and clouds. I got it.

Views weren't bad, eh?

Mai (rightfully) thinks I'm a wussie

I guess proper footwear isn't essential (look at Mai's) but it would sure help

This stuff isn't difficult, unless you do it for hour after hour haha

Finally. Finally. We made it to summit camp shortly before dark on Day 1. We had hiked for about 4.5-5 hours and we were exhausted! We were at 2,800 meters and it started to get cold. In Lao Cai, it was 70 degrees. In Sapa, it was 60. At summit camp, it was 50 and getting colder. Everyone (except me) had to foresight to bring long pants.

Summit Camp

The kitchen (no wonder Amy and I both got sick)

Home sweet home

Summit camp was great- it had food and we could sit down! However, with the toilet facilities for 20 and 200 guests, the toilets were essentially unusable. Actually, scratch that. They were unusable, period. We slept in a longhouse style thing. The 5 of us, plus our guide (Tieng) and porter (Mai) and a random Hmong man who just joined us mid-way through the night.

The night was...bad. It was freezing (sub 40) with no insulation. The ground was rocky and hard. I sleep on my stomach, so I couldn't sleep for more than 20 minutes at a time. I think I was fortunate- Amy and Hemesich didn't sleep at all. Cold, hungry, tired, uncomfortable, and apprehensive. Not a good way to spend that night. It was so cold, we ended up huddling together with each other (complete strangers). Seriously- future readers. Do not attempt Fansipan between November and March without thermal stuff. I had two jackets on and was still freezing. Amy got sick and was throwing up throughout the night (I got sick the next morning- I blame the eggs).

Day 2: Sunday, November 8th

We got an early start the next morning. We woke and had breakfast and were attacking the summit by 6 a.m. Some groups left at 2 or 3 a.m. to try to make the summit by 5:30 sunrise. The trail was really difficult, so I can imagine it was really dangerous in the dark.

We left the summit camp and went to a false summit at 2,900 meters. We then descended down a long slope (pictured 3rd below), then across a cliff face and then were finally on Fansipan. Why we didn't start on Fansipan, I don't know. 

Cool view

The trail was pretty muddy for a lot of the way

We had to go down this, then up a comparable slope, then back down, then back up this. All in one morning!
If you can see, there are some people for scale in the bottom left corner. This took about 25 hard minutes to scale.

Fansipan was a cruel mountain. We kept thinking we were on the summit, only to have another twist and turn reveal how far away we were. It took about 2.5 hours from summit camp to make it to the summit.

Finally there!

Boom. Mountain climbed

Fansipan is also called "The Roof of Indochina"

Once there, we only had to make it back down! It took about 5 hours to climb Fansipan and then go back down. Once back at summit camp (at about 11 am), we only had to do everything we had done on Day 1!

This ladder was so easy it was a joke. Most of them were at 80 degree +

Handholds!

We got down...somehow

At 4 pm, after about 14 hours of hiking (5 on Day 1 and 9 on Day 2), we finally made it back!

Josh still somehow had energy

Overall

If you like trekking, or hiking, and are actually in good shape (could do a 5k right now with no sweat), Fansipan could be for you. For myself, I learned a valuable lesson about myself. I'm definitely an indoor cat. While I'm glad I did Fansipan, no way will I ever do it again (or anything like it). It was just physical torture for hours and hours. The views were spectacular of course, and I met many interesting Vietnamese, Chinese, Korean, and other tourists, but it just wasn't worth it. 

I know many people talk about how amazing travel is, and how every experience was amazing. This one...just wasn't. Of course- it was cool to see Josh and talk to him. Of course-I'm glad to say I climbed the mountain. Of course- thats all good stuff. However, I won't be doing it again, thats for darn sure. 

Future readers- don't be like me. Don't be hubristic enough to think that lifting and playing basketball daily is enough. I did it, of course (so it was enough), but in order to enjoy it, you'll need pretty good cardiovascular endurance (Amy, a fellow hiker, compared it in difficulty to a marathon she ran a couple years ago). Obviously, I couldn't do a marathon (and I did do this), but I just want to emphasize- this was tough.

My next trip (Da Nang) should hopefully involve much more sitting around and taking pictures. :)

Onwards. Always onwards.

Daniel