Trip to Bangkok, Siem Reap and the Angkor Wat Half Marathon

I've just finished my semester so have a week off. Over the past three months or so I've been running with the goal of running the Angkor Wat Half Marathon in early December. This coincides with my week off. I'm happy to report that training has gone well and I plan to run this next Sunday. However, in the week before this we are going to have a trip to Bangkok for 5 nights then traveling by bus to Siem Reap for three more nights where I will complete the run before flying back to Ho Chi Minh City. 

We fly to Bangkok tomorrow for five nights!!

A trip to the coast near Ho Chi Minh City

Yesterday I drove my bike to take a day trip to the coast of Vietnam. I've done this trip once before and its one of the few places you can go outside the city for a day out. It's about a 1.5 hour journey.

To get to the Island before the coast, You have to get a ferry. It's a bit like the chain ferry at Sandbanks in Dorset.

The drive to the coast is okay, its quite quiet and takes about an hour after the ferry. The road is covered with potholes so you can't go very quickly. When you do arrive at the coast is very underwhelming and its been Vietnamised. The beach is polluted and covered in litter.

I didn't swim or play in the sand but did find a nice deckchair to sit in in the shade. The air was fresher than Ho Chi Minh City despite the motorcyclists best efforts to change that. 

Good news is that I have a week off soon and will be going to Bangkok and Siem Reap.

My friends wedding in Ho Chi Minh City

I attended a wedding this past weekend. One of my friends married his Vietnamese girlfriend. Western men marrying Vietnamese girls is very common and a number of my friends, including myself, are now married to Vietnamese girls. Below is a picture of me and my wife with the happy couple. 

 

Halloween at work

A few days ago we celebrated Halloween with out students. We got two hours off teaching to play games and do stuff with them. Students could dress up if they wanted. One of the games involved each of the classes dressing their students up as mummies with toilet role. Below are some pictures of the event.

 

Landmark 81 - New skyscapers in Ho Chi Minh City

Over the past year or so there has been a big skyscraper being build. Its called Landmark 81 and is 461 meters high. This means its taller than the empire state building (443m) and the shard (306m). It has a viewing platform at the top and a shopping center at the bottom but I've not been yet. I took the photos below out the side of a bus recently. 

I'll go and visit soon. It will give me something to blog about.

Views from tall buildings in Ho Chi Minh City

Not much to report so though I'd share some photos taken from tall buildings in Ho Chi Minh City. Part of this extra job I have at the weekends examining involves going around the city to different big buildings and sitting in a room examining students. When I get the chance I like to look out the window and take photos. I often chuckle to myself and think 'how did I get here'.

Trip to Bien Hoa

Not much to report so though I'd blog about my recent trip to a place on the outskirts to Ho Chi Minh City called Bien Hoa. 

Why did I go there? Well, Ive got a part time weekend job as a speaking examiner and I volunteered to take the minibus and go and conduct some speaking exams. Its a pretty good gig as they pay some generous travel fees.

Bien Hoa was pretty much like every other small Vietnamese town. Not particularly interesting but I took some photos and am blogging about it regardless. 

I took these pictures from the minibus. I didn't get to walk around as I was smuggled off the bus into the exam room upon arrival. I don't think I really missed much. It was still an enjoyable trip and nice to see somewhere different.