Daytripping around Hà Nội: (featuring Zach!) Temple of the Jade Mountain (Đền Ngọc Sơn), Hoàn Kiếm Lake, Old Propaganda Posters, Highlands Coffee, and The Bus

Not long after the National Day festivities (only two days later, in fact) it was time for an event I'd been looking forward to in anticipation for some time: Zach coming to visit! I may have a few pictures of Zach on here from my Chile days, as we met and bonded over our mixed feelings towards certain aspects of our experiences and shared love of pichangas while volunteer teaching there. Zach arrived bright and early in the morning and I am proud to say I figured out (with only a few mishaps) how to catch the bus to the airport to pick him up. With my A3 poster made on ILA's dime I made my way out to the airport to greet him. He was, understandably, very jetlagged. But he was (and is!) also a trooper. So after dropping his things at my house we headed out to get him some bún chả at a great local place on Ngọc Hà. As for Zach's inital impressions of Vietnam, well, I can at least say that it was apparent immediately that the country of Vietnam is not made for someone of Zach's stature (6'6").

First mouthful of bún chả. I promised not to put this on Facebook but I made no such promises about documenting this momentous occasion on my blog. Mmmm... bún chả.

We made our way on the bus over to Hoan Kiem Lake (I really wanted him to have the full Hanoi experience!) and I finally took a moment to photograph this amazing billboard across the street from the bus stop, which I see every day on my way to work and which is one of the better pieces of propaganda of all the ones I see around Hanoi.

After showing him the sights we decided to something I can't believe I haven't done before now considering how very popular of a tourist site it is: cross the Welcome Morning Sunlight Bridge (real name), otherwise known as Cầu Thê Húc and visit the Temple of the Jade Mountain, or Đền Ngọc Sơn. By this point Zach was getting a little delirious and by the next day I am not entirely sure he remembered this visit taking place but I still enjoyed myself so here we go!

Across the bridge (which just goes from the shore to about 20 feet out into the lake) and in front of the temple entrance. Zach is so ridiculously tall. This point will be reinforced many times throughout my writings about his visit, I am sure. As we walked around the city the cries of, "Oi gioi oi! [Oh my God!]" could be heard by various shocked onlookers.

Turtoises are a big deal in Vietnam and especially in this lake.

Inside the temple.

Outside in the courtyard, looking out onto the lake.

Tháp Rùa, or Turtle tower, in the distance.

By the time we finished wandering around the little island and made our way back across the bridge and into Old Quarter Zach's jetlag was well and truly winning so I decided it was time to introduce him to Vietnamese coffee, despite his protests of disliking coffee. I decided to go for the big name stuff and took him to the Highlands Coffee next to the lake, which has a great view of the hustle and bustle of the street and the comparative peace of the lake. Normally the place is a little overpriced and Starbucks-y for my tastes (although for those interested, Hanoi does in fact have 3 Starbucks as well) but it was a nice, gentle introduction to the wonders of cà phê.

Zach went for cà phê sữa đá, or iced coffee with condensed milk. Good choice for the casual, non-coffee drinker. I went for đen đá, or black and iced, because this wild heart cannot be tamed. He also got a hold of my camera. Chaos ensued.

After refueling with coffee we were feeling a little turbo so we walked around Old Quarter for a bit, checking out some propaganda poster shops and the general melee that is the most touristy but also probably one of the coolest parts of the city.

Zach was flagging again so I asked him if he'd mind taking the long way home, as the bus would eventually deposit us about 10 minutes from my house but not before giving a little tour of some of the districts farther west in Hanoi. Zach hesitantly agreed, probably not realizing the extent we would be bussing, and I jumped on that so once again we were off! Thankfully we managed to sit down in the back of the bus so people started but not as bad as they would on later bus rides where were standing and Zach's height was quite obvious. Ah well.

An interesting spot down one of the alleys near my house. I'm fairly sure, after the barest bit of research, that these are advertisements for concrete vendors.

We spent the rest of his first day relaxing at my house. We had an early day the next day, off to Ha Long Bay for the weekend on then making our way down into Cambodia and Thailand. But more on that next time!

Accidental emo livejournal photos are the best.

Living in Valdivia (briefly)

Snapshots of life here, what it might have been. I didn't like playing the what if game then and I'm not going to play it now. It didn't work out; things fall apart, the center cannot hold. I picked myself back up and moved on. But I did like Valdivia a lot, while I was there.

 

 Valdivia submarine.

 Goodbye kuchen and coffee.

 Local graffiti.

Saying goodbye to my host mother and wonderful person, Jackie.

Flying over Peru.

Bariloche, Argentina (Patagonia)

My favorite picture from my time there.

Day 1: Mexican Food (well from the night we arrived, technically) Lago Gutierrez, Dranks

You could cut the tension with a knife. A plastic butter knife.

There are not words enough to recommend Hostel Achalay if you're gonna stay in Bariloche. Chill staff (although I've rarely encountered a hostel with un-chill staff, still, these guys were great), speak English and veeery understandable Spanish (COUGH COUGH LOOKING AT YOU, CHILE COUGH), plus they bake fresh bread and make their own spreads for free breakfast every morning. And their coffee is fantastic. And it's on top of a hill which you will be grateful for once you get done eating in Bariloche. You're gonna want that hill.

 

We were in the Beatles room.

Everyone is well equipped there (there are approximately 5.8 billion sportswear stores), including the trees!

 Wintry street dog.

 Snow White and the... eight... dwarves....

 

WORDS CANNOT DESCRIBE HOW MUCH I WANTED TO STEAL THIS DOG

 This picture makes me laugh SO HARD, just as hard as I did the first time, every single time I look at it. Zach going beyond photo-bombing to basically just being the subject of my picture. Ain't even mad.

 These black labs ran out of someone's driveway and accompanied us for the whole hike! And then on the way back they returned home. What good dogs!

My notorious, hideous bar stool hamburger from the infamous Chicken Shack. After a night of haphazardly drinking at various bars, Caroline, Zach, Jenn and I wandered into this place of ill repute (at least from us) and ordered at random things we hoped might ease us from drinking into sleep. Instead I was delivered this monstrosity, which perhaps does not look that bad from the outside. And at first, I was hungry enough to ignore any problems I had with it. But about halfway through the sandwich I realized that the fries were greasy and not at all satisfying, the hamburger was overcooked, the bread was twice the size it needed to be, and that pink bit you can see sticking out the side is a slice of bologna. NO. NO NO NO NO. I looked up as the truth dawned on me, that this thing I had been drunkenly devouring was an abomination, and saw the same revelation in the eyes of my friends. We all say there for a minute, stunned at how gross the things we had ordered were, until one of us finally spoke the words out loud. At that point Jenn, who smartly had only gotten something simple (some fries, I think?) pointed to the wall next to our booth and said, I could have told you that when we sat down. Looking over at the wall was an array of grease splatter reaching up to the ceiling. With new eyes I looked around the Chicken Shack and realized every person in there was a sad drunken sack of some sort, blindly swallowing their hideous meal in the hopes of finding some salvation.

We had gone to the Argentinian Denny's.

 Day 2: Bike Ride. KILL ME.

 I started out doing the Chico Circuit bike tour with everyone else but was not really into it (nor was I as capable a biker as everyone else!) so I headed back to town and explored a bit, did some shopping, saw some nature from a lower vantage point.

 Weird basket structure near the church, in town. What the hell is it, you ask. I wondered the same thing myself. So I walked over to get a closer look.

 Then I walked inside it. Still not sure exactly what it was, but it was cool.

Day 3: Hike up to Cerro Campanario!

On the way up...

 Rainbow.

 Words can't really capture how breathtakingly beautiful it was up here. Pictures barely even do it justice, really.

 Boxed wine, cheap liquor, and llama sweaters. THAT'S RIGHT.

 Because it is possible to dream in another time.

 Heyyy!! Bit of home, all the way in Patagonia.

 Redemption final meal. Classy pichanga, delicious pizza.

 Delightful cappuccino at a cafe!

Welcome back to Chile feast. After a weekend of feasts... it was exactly what we didn't need and had to have.