It's been awhile ... apologies. I'll quickly summarize from last May until now. Applied for Hoan's US visa before going to the US for the summer. Was proposed to at the airport upon my return to Vietnam, I said yes of course. Tore my meniscus in August, still slowly getting back to normal after some cascade effects that gave me half a rotated pelvis causing back pain ... we're almost normal now so no worries. 2 failed visa interviews. 1 successful marriage license issued in Vietnam (December 21, 2022). No weddings yet, just the paperwork for now due to said visa issues. Trip home for Christmas by myself (still no visa for Hoan) which included lost luggage for a couple days. Luckily (?) it only contained Christmas presents and arrived Christmas morning. Tet holiday with Hoan's family. We've started construction on his parents' new house in his hometown. 3rd failed visa interview the day before I left for Bali. I think that catches you up on the highlights. So Bali ... I had originally planned to go for fall break in October but because of my knee, I didn't think it wise to go. I know I'd probably push myself too far and reinjure it or something dumb like that. So I rebooked for spring break. The plan: 2 days at the beach, 2 days in the rice paddies, and 2 days in the jungle. I only planned to do 1-2 things per day so I didn't push my body too far. If nothing else, I had 10 freshly downloaded books on my Kindle in a beautiful setting. Part 1 - Jimbaran Bay The first 2 nights I stayed in Jimbaran Bay, maybe 15 min south of the airport. The idea was beaches and relaxation. The beach however was not great so I went to a cultural center and read books by the pool instead. So the cultural park is officially called the "Garuda Wisnu Kencana Cultural Park" and contains mostly stuff related to Balinese culture and the Hindu Vishnu and his half eagle/half human mount Garuda. It was overall interesting but largely empty. Part 2 - Ubud Rice Paddies After my first 2 days, I travelled up to the town of Ubud where I stayed in little villa with private pool and rented a motorbike to get around. I went to the Sacred Monkey Sanctuary and had my bag temporarily stolen by a monkey who thought I had food (I didn't). I also met up with a fellow traveler that I met in the security line at the Hanoi airport for some famed Babi Guling (suckling pig). Part 3 - Ubud Jungle For the last two nights, I moved to a treehouse type bungalow in the jungle by a river. Upon the recommendation of my travel friend, I went to the Bali Bird Park. I also went to a Puppet and Mask museum that I randomly found on Google maps. Past that, I was in my bungalow reading or trying to overcome stomach cramps/diarrhea (TMI I know but fun fact, it happens often enough that people have dubbed it "Bali belly") which I later found out (in Hanoi) were a result of 3 type of bacteria I had picked up somewhere along the way. Contrasts with Vietnam- Traffic and Driving habits
The first thing I noticed was the helmets on motorbike drivers. Most people wore one, especially in the more urban areas. In Vietnam, as long as you have something on your head, they'll call it good so a lot of people just get the 50 cent plastic "helmets" you can get on the side of the road. They won't protect your head at all but they count for legal purposes. In Bali, however, I only saw 1 helmet that wasn't at least a 3/4 helmet with good padding. They drive on the other side of the road in Bali so when I did eventually cave and rent a motorbike, it was an adjustment which required thinking at literally every turn. Luckily the 2 or 3 times I ended up on the wrong side of the road, no one was coming the other way. Generally speaking, lanes actually meant something in Bali. I had one driver who preferred being in the middle of the road straddling 2 lanes if the traffic flow allowed for it, but overall at least 90% of people followed the recommended lanes. Here in Vietnam, they may as well not even have the lane lines painted. I've only seen them followed really on the interstates. The other major thing I noticed was children wearing helmets. Not that there were more of them per say - I only counted a total of 15 once I started noticing - most children were still not wearing helmets. What I did notice was the children also wore the 3/4 helmets. So based on observation, I'm guessing there is a law about the minimum acceptable helmet in Bali and that minimum is 3/4 no matter your age. Even passing helmet shops, they didn't display anything less than 3/4. Last observation was average number of people per motorbike. Here in Vietnam, it's not uncommon to see 3 or even 4 grown ass adults on one motorbike. 5 is not uncommon if 2 or 3 of them are small children. Sure, they're generally smaller people but I've done 3 on a bike and it's not comfortable. In Bali, almost the only 3 person bikes I saw were 1 adult and 2 children. I did see one 3 adult bike on my final day.
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ShannonMath Teacher living and working in Hanoi, Vietnam Archives
February 2022
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