Five things I will not miss about Malta

Now it is time for 5 things I won’t miss about Malta. There are so many positive things about this country, but no places are perfect…

1. Jelly fish

The first time I saw a jellyfish in Malta, it was a Mauve Stinger. It looked cute, so small and reddish pink, swimming along the shore. I guess the stingers were so short that I didn’t connect it with the ones I have seen in Norway. So you can imagine the shock when I encountered one shortly after on my swim! It didn’t feel so painful at start, but the pain just increased. It turned out I am allergic to jelly fish as it soon started swelling up like a blister from a burn. Then it broke and blood and gore started to seep out. I think it hurt for two weeks until it started to heal. But for months after I could occasionally feel the stinging from somewhere along my arm.

I didn’t know one has to try to scratch off the poisonous threads  with a credit card or something similar, so I guess I made it worse by rubbing it. I tried the advice form a poster along the beach by putting on baking soda and salt water, but I don’t think it actually helped. The ointment I got from the pharmacy was no good. So I guess the advice is to avoid the jelly fish if you can. And scrape off the threads at once. My sons and my husband also got stung at some point, but they only felt it for a day or so. So guess I was the unlucky one! I still feel a bit scared sometimes when I go swimming here, but statistically I guess I won’t meet any more of themViews on quality

2. Views on quality

Being on a small island I guess you have to get used to waiting. Most things have to be ordered from Italy, and it takes time. When we arrived our apartment we discovered that there were no toilet seats. The toilets were not standard, one was round, and one was square, so the owner had to order it from Italy and told us we had to wait for 2-3 weeks. After 4 weeks we got one. The other one was the wrong type, so we had to wait another 4 weeks. After a few weeks the rain season started, which lead to electricity short-cuts, then the solar water heater broke…twice, then the toilet started to leak, causing the bathroom floor to be constantly wet. The intercom started to make a constant buzzing noice so that we had to disconnect the whole thing by cutting a cord, as it didn’t have an off button. I could go on…

Each time the owner called an electrician or a plumber who just fixed it sufficiently so that it would work for a while before it broke again. We soon learnt that the mentality here is to fix things short term instead of making sure it would be good long term. It probably has to do with cheap labour in Malta compared to Norway when you wallet starts to hurt as you dial for a handy man. There it pays to have things of good quality to avoid constant visits from the handy man.

The really sad thing is all the beautiful old houses where nobody takes care of the maintenance. But I guess: If it ain’t broke…why fix it?

3. Traffic and public transport

Traffic in Malta is tiring. Probably many families has more than one car, because the streets are always packed from 7 am to 6 pm every day. It takes forever to get from one place to another. An example is St. Pauls Bay to Valletta, which is about 17 km, will take half an hour to drive. From one end of Malta to another there is only about 35 km, but will take you 50-55 minutes to drive around noon any given weekday. In most other european countries/cities 17 km would probably take half the time. The Maltese also have a habit of hooting in traffic for the strangest reasons, like if they see a friend, or are impatient, or for no apparent reason. In northern Europe you only hoot if the other driver is doing something seriously wrong. The Maltese also park wherever they like with the emergency light on, sometimes at bus stops or in the middle of the street. The speed limits can be very confusing, changing abruptly from 70 km/h to 40km/h on a two lane carriage way, and then back to 70 on the same quality stretch. But nobody seems to care anyway, so I guess it doesn’t matter. But they do take the speed cameras very seriously, driving 40 km/h when the  speed limit i 60.

The buses are even worse, as they almost never come on time. Or at all. A bus lane or car pool lane would probably do wonders. But they are cheap, at least. Only 75 cents a trip, with free transfer for 2 hours,  if you have a registered card. But one thing I have to commend is that they are really good drivers, manoeuvring elegantly the large vehicle in really narrow and winding streets.

So the only advice is to be patient!

4. Garbage, dog poop and bird killing

I have mentioned littering before, and I have to mention it again. It is sad that people don’t throw garbage in the bin. Even on the beaches, where there are many garbage bins, people leave things where they sit even though it would only entail walking for 2 meters to use the bin. Using the bins is both good for Malta and for the planet! And also, dogwalkers should pick up the excrement from their dogs from the beaches and streets. Many dogowners are considerate, but far too many aren’t. It really isn’t very appealing to step on dog poop. You might not think about it because you only have one dog, but if all dog owners don´t pick up after their dogs, the beaches will soon look like a dog toilet!

A strange hobby some Maltese men have is to shoot small birds. They build shelters in nature so that they sit and wait for the birds. There are many methods but one is  to wait for them to land on the strings suspended between trees with cans fastened on them. Then they pull the string so that the birds will fly up, and they can shoot them. Then what? They are too small to eat. I guess I would understand it if it was for eating, but just for fun? Killing innoscent birds? Someone please explain!

There is also a lot of people racing on their motorbikes early in the mornings. If you live close to St. Pauls bypass you will be woken up at 6 am in the weekends by the sound of motorcycles. It is not only annoying, but also dangerous!

5. Inefficiency and corruption

Although money is important, some countries value it more than others. Malta is one of them. I can understand that a small country will do a lot to attract investors. Examples are that they ”sell” Maltese passports to rich people from outside of Europe, make it easy to launder money, selling public assets abroad and and open up for ”buying” all kinds of permits.

Malta today (10.6.2020) wrote that 89% of the Maltese think that corruption is widespread!

”The Maltese said bribes in political parties were widespread (60% said ‘yes’), as well as to politicians personally (48%), in the award of building permits (49%), business permits (39%), and among police (34%).”

Because of the laundering of money, I heard it takes months to get a bank account for a foreign business, and some personal accounts, that takes hours in other European countries.

The public sector seems to work very slow, I keep seeing complaints about processing times for Identity Malta, building permits, preservation of old houses that is not adhered to etc. I have also seen posts where expats claim that the police don’t help them or takes sides in conflicts with native Maltese, for example in eviction cases, house conflicts and car accidents etc, which makes you feel like a bit unsafe.

Many immigrant workers are also exploited, not getting the minimum wage. There are some NGO’s who help them, I have heard.

You only have to google ”Malta” and corruption to find numerous articles. Usually you don´t experience the corruption in everyday life unless you are involved in business with the government.

Ten things I will miss about Malta

Three cities by night

Now I have lived in Malta for almost a year, I have learnt a lot from this small country. Having lived in Norway almost all my life, there certainly are differences both in the way Maltese people live and they way they view the world. In general I think the maltese people are polite, but reserved. There are many expats living here, and I guess they are more open for getting to know you. I haven’t been out and about very much since my goal here was to write a novel, so I haven’t been exposed to so many ”natives”. The only place I meet people are on treks in the weekends. But because of covid-19, treks were also cancelled for many months. In many ways Malta is the ideal place to live, but it is not perfect. To balance off the 10 thing I love I will afterwards also write a list of 5 things I won’t miss.

1. Bouldering and trekking
Imagine wild cliffs where you can look down on roaring waves. Mysterious caves with green water and small fish swimming around your body. Red sand and the scent of wild thyme and fennel. Boulders and ragged rocks made of white limestone growing out from the ocean like the meandering tail of a snake.

I have never been a trekking type, especially in Norway where there are mostly forests and mountains. But trekking on boulders close to the ocean has changed my view totally. The salty sea air and the humid heat causing sweat to trickle down your body make you feel especially alive. The heat makes it a different experience from trekking in the cold.

Trail makers run by Giovanni Camilleri and Dennis Borg is in my opinion the best trekking group that I have attended in Malta, and I think I have attended most of them. He takes you out of the beaten track to smaller paths, not like most of the other groups were you spend half the time walking on roads. And his bouldering treks are definitely my favourite. It is a bit challenging, but it depends on your preference.

2. The sea and beaches
Turquoise, green and blue water with shimmering sunlight sparkling on the waves. The sea seems greener in Malta than many other places I have been, and you never have to go far to find a spot to swim. The Mediterranean water is salty and full of fish, so snorkling is a nice experience here in addition to scuba diving. There are pleny of grottos to explore. There aren’t that many sandy beaches, but there are some. Many of them are also pebbly so it is’t very comfortable to walk on them without shoes. The sandy beaches are very popular, so they are in general filled to the brim with people during the weekends.

I prefer the white rocks that you can find most places along the ocean side where you can find a ladder down to the sea. You can jump straight into the deep instead of walking on pebbles. For people looking for an adrenalin kick, places like St. Peters Pool you can also jump from a small cliff, dropping perhaps 8 meters.

I could swim from april to october/november as I seldom swim if the temperature is beneath 20. But as the sea temperature is never below 15 degrees Celsius, I guess the toughest of you can swim all year round.

  

3. Wild herbs like capers, fennel, wild rocket, thyme and prickly pear cactus
Even though Malta is a sunny and arid country, with only an average of 80 rainy days a year, there are many tasty plants growing wild.

If you are a green salad lover, you must love the spicy taste of a good rocket salad. And the wild rocket is even tastier. And in Malta they happen to grow everywhere. Literally. Of course I won’t recommend you picking them anywhere, like by the pavements, but if you go just a bit off the road beside farmland, you will find rocket everywhere. They seem to grow continuously all year round. You will find wild thyme higher up on hills. Wild fennel grows so to say everywhere, and you can smell those herby and sweet scents from afar.

Capers grow wild many places. The flowers are beautiful although they only last for one day, but the buds can be eaten after you conserve them a few days in salt and vinegar. The berries that come after the flowers can also be eaten as snacks after conservation. They are bitter, tasting a bit like mustard. You can start picking the buds in the spring, and by the middle of July you can find the fruits.

Prickly pear grows on the cactus that grows everywhere on Malta. The fruit is ripe in autumn from september to november depending om how much sun the plant gets. They are a bit painful to pick if you don’t have gloves as the spikes on them are almost invisible. You won’t see them, but you certainly will feel them, and it is hard to get rid of them. It is like fighting an invisible enemy! But they are not very strong enemies so only thin plastic gloves are enough for protection. The fruit has a very characteristic and domineering taste. You can make a syrup by boiling the strained juice the fruit. It has a lot of seeds, so it requires a bit of work, but it is with ut if you like the taste. And then you can make liquor from the syrup by adding it to vodka.


4. Drive-around vegetable vans
One of the charming things about Malta is the drive-around vegetable vans. The one I use, stops by the building where I live every monday around 4.30 pm and is driven by Mario. He has the cheapest eggs. 30 large eggs for only 4 euro. And the vegetables are cheap, too. Not always the best quality, though, but fine. He has all the usual vegetables, like cucumber, tomatoes, onions, potatoes, carrots and whatever vegetable is in season. In season we even had a cauliflower for 75 cents! He also has wine for 1 euro a bottle, but I have to admit I’m not that adventurous.

Buying from these vans is a good way to get to know your neighbours too! Some will start saying hi and ask you where you come from. These vans are every where along the roads. Some are probably farmers who sell whatever they have, for example water melon and strawberry. Just look for the vans!


5. Festivals and carnivals
The maltese know how to party. There are light festivals, summer festivals, music festivals ranging from jazz to folk music to broroque, night festivals like Notte bianca etc both in Malta and Gozo. They have a large carnival when everyone dress up and go out on the streets to watch an elaborate parade, dancing the night away for a week.

Almost every weekend some village have some feast or festival. The festa season in Malta starts from the end of May right through the entire summer and well into September. During this period, there is hardly any weekend when a town or a village is not celebrating the feast of its patron saint or other saints revered in different churches. They light fireworks and the locals show their singing and dancing skills on a stage in the town square.

When we first came to Malta in september, the sounds of cannons saluting were heard almost every day. They have one official recurring firework festival the night before mai 1st, but there seems to be improptu events popping up every now an then, like juli 1st this year (2020) when the airport opened again after covid-19. There are also a lot of social gatherings on facebook for anyone to join, so you should not be lonely here if you like a good party!



6. Camping possibilites
Sitting in front of a bustling fire, smelling the burning wood, food on the barbecue, salty sea, listening to the waves rushing ashore when you watch the stars lighting up in the dark sky. Lying down in a tent with only a mosquito net covering the opening and studying the star constellations: the big dipper, casiopeia and so on, interrupted only by the occasional plane passing by, seen as a speck of light floating across the sky.

It seems like anyone can camp anywhere in nature unless it is private property. It is not uncommon to see people put up their tents, bringing with them their barbecues, tables and chairs. The adults eat and the children play around. Only your fantacy or you ability to carry your equipment seems to be the limit to where you can camp, and the island has plenty of scenic spots to offer. Just be ware of mosquitos! And that maltese people go early to the becahes, så an empty beach at night might not be so empty at 6 a.m!


7. Charity and volounteer work
I was surprised by the amount of charity and volounteer work many Maltese people do. In Norway many of the sport teams do volounteer work to collect money, but they usually do it so that they can go on trips as a team, but it seems like many of the groups i Malta that are collecting money, do it for other causes. There are also people who impulsively start collecting money when they see a worthy cause, like a few months ago when a few people started collecting money for a refugee camp in Malta because they didn’t have hand sanitizers . In a few days they had collected more than 1000 euros. They went to the store and bought things that they refugees needed and brought it there. Sometimes it can be done really efficient.

There are also a lot of trekking groups that collect money for a good cause, like missionaries in Guatemala or blind people. There are also people putting up events were you can come together to pick garbage! I guess the Maltese (and expats!) aren’t used to the government doing these things in Malta, so they do it themselves. There is usually one or two people organising these events. It is usually not an organisation that require buraucracy. People just do it, which is a spirit I like.


8. Local stores, especially fishmongers
In every village in Malta you will find at least one fishmonger. In Saint Paul´s bay there are even two. The first time I into a fishmonger i Malta I was amazed that that they cleaned the fish. That I have never experienced in Norway, so I was perplex and grateful. I supposed they would have done it if you had asked in a one of the very few fish shops in Oslo. The fish is fresh although relatively expensive compared to meat. But the fresh oysters, that they will even open for you…o la la…And at the bargain price of 8.50 for a kilo!

They have also prepared some dishes that you can heat at home, like fish roll-ups, or braciole, of you prefer the fancy word…

There is also the pastizzeria that probably ensures that the Maltese are the among the fattest people in Europe. But their pastries and pies are certainly to die for!

There is a vegetable and convenience shop on almost every corner in the villages, so it is very easy to buy whatever you need to cook for dinner. No need to stock up at the supermarked every weekend. And the prices aren’t that much different either!


9. Relaxed people with self irony
Growing up in a structured country like Norway, coming to Malta became an experience of slow-life, in a good way. The Maltese people seems in general to be quite relaxed. Whatever will be will be, ”what can you do?”, seems to be their slogan. It seems they have all the time in the world. They don’t really like to follow rules. It seems they think that things will work out, so they don’t worry unneccessary. The bus is hardly ever on time, but you get used to it. I haven’t actually seen a maltese person hurry anywhere. One man told me he had lived in another country, but it was too much structure and order there, so he longed back to the relaxed way of Malta. And of course, it is the family that is in focus.

The Maltese are not very good at queuing, except for when they go to banks, as there are almost always a line outside the banks. One Maltese man I talked to said that many of the banks are so inefficient that it is hard to say whether they are in line for the ATM or to get into the bank.

Another thing that I like, is their self irony and that they can tell a foreigner what they don’t like about their government. One woman told me how the language requirements of her education changed during her 4 or 5 years of study because of a whim from the politicians. Another told me about corruption in the public sector with envelopes exchanging hands frequently. Political rivalry undermining each other’s projects. The sad thing is that most of the people I talked to didn’t seem to think there is a way to change the inefficiency and corruption in Malta. Being a beautiful place and the most sunny place in Europe, one should think they utilized more sun energy and kept their litter under control.

This is of course my impressions. I guess if you really know how they are, you should read the book I put in the picture…I haven’t read it my self, but I will.



10. Beautiful historical buildings

If you walk around in Valetta and the three cities it feels like you are catapulted hundred of years back in time. It is not hard to imagine the knights of St. John riding along the narrow and winding cobbled streets between the old, historic buildings, racing up the small stairs made for the horses. Someone told me that they never went off their horses, except for going to bed (and perhaps to eat), so even their houses were only one floor. The skyline of the ancient buildings at night against the ocean is so beautiful, you sometimes have to pinch yourself to make sure it is not a dream.

The old buildings are plentiful, and I have only been to a few of them. But Mdina, the walled city is beautiful, and they have the torture museum in an old building for the strong-hearted. Torture methods are illustrated with human size dolls, coming alive with sound effects which are chilling to the bone. It is quite a different experience from the somber Inquisition Palace in Vittoroso/Birgu. We were a bit disappointed to discover that it seems like fewer were tortured that we expected from our impression in the Malta dungeons.

The citadel in Victoria, Gozo, is an impressive building not to be missed. There are countless churches from ancient times. Msida Bastion Garden is worth a visit both at day and night where the warden can tell you numerous stories about the dead lying buried there when you walk around the tombstone in the eerie darkness. There are also prehistoric neolithic ruins if you prefer to go that far back in time. It is said that Malta has the oldest ruins in the Western world, older than Stonehenge, on Gozo.

Vietnamese food – the best in the world – objectively speaking…

I have lived and been to many countries, but I it’s hard to beat Vietnamese food. It is varied and lean, beautiful to look at, too. The only problem is that you may eat too much, so you still gain weight.

There is a big difference between restaurants that tourists visti and the little street vendors where the locals eat. The food is generally good everywhere, but the food at the vendors is perfect, impeccable, fresh. The turnover is so fast that you do not have to worry about getting bad food. The only problem might be the vegetables, that are washed in dubious water. Food doesn’t turn bad at this pace. People come and go constantly, and by midday people are sitting close together on these little plastic tables and chairs. The best places to dine are so specialized that they are only open certain times, for breakfast, lunch or dinner. In between the are gone without a trace.

Pho, Vietnam’s national dish consisting of white noodles in variable size with either chicken, beef or meatballs can be bought on almost every street corner. At 7 a.m, when the Vietnamese eat breakfast, you can see the places that are the most popular. Where can you get a bowl of 30 000 or 50 000 that allows you full for hours. 20, 000 is 6 million. One can get by a long time, spending little in this country. The food is definitely cheap and good.

Good coffee and smoothies of different kinds can be had at Cafe Luckily 5a Tran Hung Dao. A smoothie with the most exotic fruits cost from 25,000 to 50,000 in little more fancy restaurants. I prefer soursop or mango. Pomelo juice is also good. Aloe vera is supposed to be good for much, and tastes good as well. Khai likes watermelon juice. The girls who work there are very sweet and work here during the day and in another bar in the evening. They will sleep at the cafe. There is a small loft hidden behind a curtain where four girls sleep. Most come from the country, 1.5 hours by bus from Nha Trang city.

To walk along the beach after the sun has set and watch the locals sit on their plastic blankets with food that they have brought or purchased by the ladies walking along the beach with squid, prawns and portable grills made of stone, is an interesting study of culture. Older women 60-70 years selling sliced ​​fruit: mango, pineapple, watermelon. Some sell cooked quail eggs (50 cents a packet) and cakes. They find ways to make money that are touching. They manage with so little, it really puts the materialistic life in the West in a different perspective.

The food in Nha Trang is hotter than in Saigon since they put small red chillis in almost all food. Soups are sometimes made by so hot broth that it’s impossible to order something less hot. The difference is just extra chili on the side. But the food you get most places is pretty good. The chance of getting good food is greater in the small restaurants with only 3-5 dishes. Or even just one dish. To find a good restaurant, you only have to look out for restaurants that are full of people during breakfast, lunch or dinner time. People eat large bowls of soup and noodles in the morning and evening. But there are hundreds of variations, flat, thick or thin noodles with pork, chicken, beef, meatballs, fish balls. But also important are herbs and vegetables that can be added to the soup and give them the little extra. Important herbs are mint, coriander, Vietnamese basil, lemon grass, chives, Vietnamese coriander, etc. There are many different rice dishes with meat and egg fried rice. There are rolls of rice paper with different content, also called spring rolls and summer rolls with different content. Some are filled with Vietnamese sausage («Lap Xuong»), herbs, and carrot, while others are filled with herbs, pork and shrimp. And with every dish there is a different dip sauce. Not once did I get a stomach ache, even though I ate the vegetables and drank the icecubes.

To get good Banh Xeo, Vietnamese pancakes with seafood and bean sprouts, to go to 49 Phan Boi Chau, the treet named after one of the first to theorize about nationalism and activists in Vietnam during the French colonial period.

Won ton noodles can be by on the market in Phan Boi Chau street. It is good, and came with a lot of meat. They have many Chinese noodle dishes there. The one with duck is very good as well. It cost around 30 000 – 60 000 for a dish. The place seemed clean. Across the road by the Noodle Shop, you can rent a room for 60, 000 for the first hour, then 10, 000 per hour.

Prices for food are nothing compared to the prices in Norway. With Norwegian money, one can truly live like a king, you can buy some kind of freedom and not least fantastic food…

Bathing in Nha Trang

In Nha Trang the best place to swim is at the beach. But the waves can become quite huge, especially around noon. It was not unusual that they are approximately 1.5-2 meter when they rush towards the beach. The waves are so strong sometimes that if you have magnetic jewelry, they can easily disappear into the waves. And a child can easily be thrown against the beach. But you can always go further into the water, then you do not notice the waves so much. Some sections are covered with litter along the beach, but I stayed near the Sheraton hotel, so it was quite fine. There are litter-pickers along the beach, but they aren’t he quickest workers in the sun.

If you rent a beach chair with umbrella costing 40,000 – 60,000 dong (U.S. $ 2-3), you can stay all day. You can buy an iced coffee, soft drinks or fruit from street vendors passing by. In May, they sell rambutan, mango, bananas, small quail eggs and Vietnamese cakes. The fruit varies with the season. In addition, you can buy paintings with the usual motifs, water buffalo, sailboats, women in ao dai, mountains and lakes. You can buy counterfeit brand sunglasses and purses / wallets and scarves and jewelry. It’s probably not the cheapest place to buy things, but it is very comfortable.

You can of course swim in the pool at the hotel if there is the pool at the hotel. If not, there is a pool at Louisiana Brew house, located in the main street along the beach, Tran Phu. You can rent a deck chair around the pool with tourists from Australia, Russia, France etc . While sitting and sunbathing you can order expensive food and expensive drinks (double the price you usually pay). The drinks are good and the food is decent.

If you like pools, you can also go to areas with hot springs, Thap Ba or I-resort. You go there by taxi. There you can also bathe in mud in larger or smaller tubs depending on how many you are. The I-resort is the best because there are many small pools and artificial waterfalls where you can get a massage from the water falling on you. It is ideal for children because the pools are usually shallow. When you get hungry, you can order food and drinks at the only restaurant there.

One can also rent a boat or take part in organized tours to some of the 200 islands off Nha Trang. The easiest is the trip to the four islands. The trip can be a little staccato since one stops a bit here and there. Sometimes you can swim from the boat, sometimes you to go ashore. One place you have to pay a small sum for an aquarium or some deck chairs, but there is not much money to speak of. Included is a bottle of water and lunch.

There are many private companies that arrange the trip, but we were in the company: Mama Hang, who had a fun guide, who called himself Cuong Dollar. They had a band on the boat and made the different guests go on the “stage” and dance and sing a song in their language. He had learned a popular song in, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, French and Australian. It was pretty funny because he had chosen popular songs that so the guests could sing along with him. Otherwise he sang La Bamba and the Beautiful sunday. He had not learned anything in Norwegian. Another gimmick was to drinh as much wine we would drink from a floating bar in the water. But it was a bit difficult to drink if you are in the water, although definitely possible.

Another trip is the one that goes to the Orchid island, Fruit island and Monkey island. These are islands that are controlled by the state, and the tour is arranged by a state company, Long Phuoc. On this tour you can ride an ostrich, ride an elephant, watch the circus bears, elephants and monkeys. Monkey island started as a collaboration with Cambodia and did medical research on monkeys in 1986. But when cooperation broke down after a few years, the monkeys were freed to wander freely and multiplied to about 2,000 animals. Lunch on this tour is very good. 6 dishes and in addition you get a nice bottle of wine per table. You get approx. 1.5 hours to swim on this trip, and included is showering in fresh water to rinse off the salt water.

Sleeping in Nha Trang

I thought I could to rent an apartment since I’ was staying for three months, but this turned out to be easier said than done. It wasn’nt easy to find anything online. And even though I got to know a girl who could check things for me in Nha Trang, she did find not much at around $ 300, which was my limit. Two months without salary leaves me with little to spare after loans on apartment and cottage is paid. My relatives found a hotel that cost about $ 7 day, 150 000 VND, which seems incredibly cheap.

It turned out to be a decent hotel if you do not know how cheap it actually can be if you really want to save money. Because the hotel was so cheap I didn’t know quite what to expect. How often do they clean the room? How often do you change the sheets? Towel? Do you have to buy your own toilet paper? Is it normal that there are ants in the room?

Anyways, there were so many new impulses in the beginning that I ignored that they rarely changed bedding. I did not know if it was normal with insects in the room. It is after all a hot country. Some days when there was no toilet paper, we wondered whether we could expect it from a hotel where you only pay about $ 7 a night. But as I had lived in Nha Trang for a while, I discovered that the hotel across the street (Ha Minh) only costs 120 000 dong ($ 6) AND they clean the room every day, changing bed linen as often as you want, but the hotel is a bit older and shabbier, though clean. What I hate the most is the way she smiles and sweet-talks you, saying that she can change the sheets every other day, and does nothing. She/or the cleaning lady folds the quilt messily, pretending that the sheet are changed. As if I don’t notice that the bedding is still full of sand. I eventually had to move out because of the annoyance. I have always been warned about the Vietnamese People from North Vietnam. It is said that they are devious and uncivilized, smiling as the stab you in the back. But as a social anthropologist, I have to have an open mind. But sometimes it seems as if the stereotypes have grains of truth

Robert came with Jona and she told me that the room was $ 150 000 and 500 000 on the public holidays. But when he went (I had already moved out and offered me to come and argue with her, but Robert would have no conflict) she took 200 000 per night in addition to that she took an extra 1.6 million for his girlfriend for 9 days. That was beyond greed. I had to get some helmets the next day and argued with her just to get out some aggression.

We are certainly not either the first or last to be treated that way. Locals told me that we never should have paid. We should have called the police and threathened with the tax-authorities. Because hotels are paying tax from their income and doesn’t report the overcharging the IRS would have a field day. The postersbehind the door says 100 000, but they all charge between 50 and 100 000 more …, but 3 000 000 more for 9 days was bad.

Hoang Ha Tham is a street full of cheap hotels where many Vietnamese live when they are on vacation, so there are plenty to choose from. I haven’t lived in all of them, but it seems that everyone cleans the rooms every day. If you’re at the beach, it’s really hard not to get any sand in the room, especially if you have children. Most rooms cost 150 000-200 000 vnd. Those with elevators can cost up to 400 000. The more expensive hotels in Vietnam have the least 3 stars. In the cheap hotels it costs about 5,000 to wash a garment, but in the laundry places, it costs about 12 000 a kilogram. You may find that the prices increase when you are white, but it is usually possible to haggle.

It is possible to rent a studio costing as little as $ 200 per month, but then it almost as a hotel and you have to pay for electricity and water. I found a small apartment that cost $ 300 with a living room/kitchen and bedroom. But in an appartment you have to buy gas for cooking, and what were the chances that I would actually cook? The power might cost $ 30. And even if they would clean twice a week, it was better to stay in a hotel and have someone clean every day. But most appartments cost around $ 400.

When my friend visited, I moved to Hai Au, a three star hotel which cost 800 000 dong for a night including breakfast. There was also a small swimming pool there and we had a balcony with a view to the oceam. It was quite ok. Sometime I tip the cleaning staff, leaving $ 1 on the TV. They then gave us a few bottles of extra water – four instead of two bottles… and some more towels :-)). Breakfast was a bit boring with the ordinary, sausage, fried rice, fried noodles, rice soup, fruit, cereal, etc. There was also a Vietnamese noodle soup, different every day, but omelette was masterly made after your instructions. After my friend leaves I have to go back to my poor life. It’s nice with “rich friends”.

Why Nha Trang?

Actually I wanted to go to Hoi An, since I was there two years ago when I won tickets from Filmweb and became acquainted with the city. A tailor-lady would rent out a room to me for $ 150 a month. But my parents were afraid of earthquakes there, so we found a compromise when Robert suggested Nha Trang. Hoi An is beautiful with its old town and Japanese architecture, but Nha Trang has a fantastic beach. And it’s a small town, so I can both train Vietnamese kung fu (Vovinam) and send Khai to one of the many kindergartens here. There is even an international school here, for those with older kids. I visited Nha Trang in 1995 on my journey from south to north, but did not really know the town, apart from the beach. An alternative would have been Mui Ne, which is much closer to Ho Chi Minh city and my relatives, but it is not a town, just a small place with many hotels and too many Russians.

I quickly found out that Nha Trang is in many ways like a sleepy seaside resort, relaxed the way only sleepy beach towns can be. In the mornings there are mainly white tourists on the incredibly beautiful beach (very many Russians), but at night the locals spread out on their plastic blankets and have their picnics there. Sometimes they barbecue lobsters and crabs that the old ladies sell along the beach. They have everything from Akker to shrimp to lobster. People are relaxed and not rushing around as much as they do in Ho Chi Minh. But it’s hard to find someone who speaks well a language other than Vietnamese. It is also not so much crime, and you can generally go anywhere you want to virtually at all hours. I was told to be careful along the beach, but that warning was mostly directed towards white people. It is along the beach the thiefs and prostitutes operate.

And like everywhere else in Vietnam, the food is great, if a little hot. The locals will recommend good and cheap places, and Tripadvisor has some god points. There are so many tourist traps that it is almost tragic, but some of the places recommended on Tripadvisor is not just tourist traps, but pretty good, for example Andy’s Chopsticks.

The absent-minded scientist

Yes, I would say that I am well-travelled, but on this trip really my mind has been quite distracted. I have never traveled as far alone with a small child. But sometimes I think that I have a guardian angel who keeps protective his hand over me. It should almost be illegal to have as much luck as I have had in recent weeks.

All good things come in threes.

Traveling with kids is not easy. Especially not with a six year old who has airsickness. He threw up 4 times on the stretch: Zurich-Bangkok, so it was a struggle to have enough vomit bags. So I was pretty tired when we arrived.

I chose to fly Swissair to Bangkok because they had the cheapest ticket. On the plane I met a Vietnamese man who worked at NTNU in Trondheim. He got a job after five years of working in Tokyo, where he had taken a Masters-degree. He studied something IT-related. When people talk about IT are my eyes switch to «off mode» and I nod and pretend that I understand. I don’t really care whether it is nanotechnology or software development. He what was more interesting was that his son had been 2 months in a kindergarten in Vietnam. It was not that hard to get into private kinder gardens. He told me one could try for a while before we decided to see if we liked it. But then he doesn’t knows not what little monster of a son I have. He looks like an angel with big round eyes and eyelashes one can die for, but basically he is cunning far above what one would expect of a 6 year old. Luckily he almost slept or played on his iPad on the whole trip.

When I arrived in Ho Chi Minh City, I was very relieved, the change of airport in Bangkok had been unexpected, and therefore stressful. I’m so deep into my own world that I sometimes do not remember anything at all, like to check which airport I fly from. I had to take a cab from one airport to the other in Bangkok and it cost 300 nok. Money not saved by buying a cheaper ticket. I should had gone with Vietnam Airlines instead AirAsia.

I had a large suitcase that I sent and a small suitcase as carry-on luggage and a backpack. In the backpack I had an iPad, computer and important documents that I had planned to be working with while I was in Vietnam. When we were out of the airport we had to through a scanner. In the bustle and crowds, I managed to forget the backpack. We had come all the way home to my relatives when I remembered that I didn’t have the backpack. With my heart in my throat, my second cousin drove me back to the airport again. On the way I prayed to God that if I found the bag, I would spend 10,000 NOK for charity and helping others. We got to the airport and went to Lost & found desk. There, they besought me to go to the scanner. As I walked past the scanner I didn’t see my I backpack and proceeded to Lost & found desk by the the baggage carousels. They told me to ask the man at the scanner. I asked him and he pointed up in a crate on top of the scanner. And there was my beloved Nike backpack. Words can not describe my happiness. The guard didn’t ask me not for my ID, but let me go off with the bag. I checked the bag and it was completely untouched. Had anyone seen it with the iPad it would hardly have been here now. I was lucky that we were on one of the last aircrafts of the day and it was only International flights, so people had more than enough with their own baggage.

I struggled to get cash in Ho Chi Minh with my Norwegian creditcards. Despite the fact that I had gotten out 4-5 million at a time before the machines would not give me anything now. Luckily I had a few hundred dollar bills with me that I could change. A week later, when I came to Nha Trang I finally found an ATM that would give me money, but only 2 million, and took a small fortune in fees, almost $ 3. But in all the confusion, I managed to leave my card. Luckily there were some Western tourists behind me in line who came running after me with my card. Insanity. Sometimes I do not know where my brain is.A few days later I found another ATM where there was “no surcharge” that would give me 5 million at a time. I was so happy that I again forgot to bring my card. Talk about being slow. The machine was designed so I had to press “cancel” to get the card out. And the worst thing was that I didn’t discover that I didn’t have the card until a few days later, when I bought a PC for Khai to watch Vietnamese movies. With my heart in my throat I called the number that was printed outside the ATM. I was told to call the main office to see if the card had come in there. Luckily they had received it. But I really have to get my act together. All things come in threes, so I can’t expect to be so lucky next time. Luck, I might have, even a guardian angel, but more than three times would be more like a miracle, wouldn’t it?

The superstitious anthropologist

The first time I went to Vietnam, I my parents told me how dangerous it would be. They told me how people would rob me in the street, how HIV positive people would try two stab me with needles full of bacteria, how they would cut up my bag to steal it’s content if they stood behind me in a queue. But the only thing I experienced was some guys who tried to take my hat one night I was out driving with my aunt. This time the focus was more on Vietnam’s food production, how they add all sorts of chemicals in food. How old and inedible food are preserved and served, how the fruit is grown with chemical fertilizers and animals are bred under the worst possible conditions. The old stories about tourists being robbed in the street, stripped of their designer clothing, bags and valuables. My aunt helped by telling a story about how someone tried to steal her cheap watchwhen she was at the market recently. So I stripped off all my rings, watch (which I don’t have), no fancy brand bags either, I wouldn’t risk attracting criminals.

I think you can travel the world and not feel that it is more dangerous than Oslo as long as you are careful. It is never wise to go out after dark in places with little people wherever you are. You never know what happens. I lived in Manhattan for 10 months and have even walked alone through the Bronx after dark in a miniskirt and high heels without anyting happening. But perhaps it was more luck than a calculated safe trip. In my defense I can say that I got lost. In my youth I did some stupid things, but I might have a guardian angel who keeps his protective hand over me. Not that I believe in angels as way the Princess of Norway does, but as an agnostic I reserve my right to consider all religions and say that I do not know. Or who knows?

I do not reject the idea that there can be higher powers. I do not reject the idea that there may be a destined path for us all. However, as an individualist, I also believe that one can Influence our own destiny. I do not believe in determinism in that sense. It may seem contradictory, but in my universe, there is no contradiction in that one can make dramatic decisions and the risk changing ones own destiny. Most people choose to accept life as it comes. Let me take an example: A person in Norway with mediocre intelligence can work average and get an average education and a satisfying job. But if this person had put a little extra bit of effort into their education, he could perhaps manage to get a really good education and received a very satisfactory job. Then the person would have changed his fate. By accepting the path of least resistance, one changes nothing. By not doing anything, that person would perhaps drop out of school and end up in the social services system instead. Then he or she would also had gone against what is natural for them. So people can affect their lives both negatively and positively. But to choose to “overperform”, they  must have drive, motivation. It is this force that is often lacking in a society where everything works effortlessly. Where the freedom to chose is real. In poor countries the motivation to excell might be higher, but it is harder to succeed.

 

I, the globetrotter

I have been traveling since I was 5 years old. When I was 5 years old my parents decided that we were going to tempt fate and embark on a journey in a fishing boat on the South China Sea in search for freedom. We were picked up by a Norwegian boat called Thermopylae and were shipped to Hong Kong. From there we were flown to Norway, specifically Bergen.

Instead of spending your vacations going back to our homeland, like so many Vietnamese, my parents took us on road trips to Denmark or Germany. As they got better knowledge of the Norwegian society, we went on holidays to Spain, Majorca, Benidorm, Gran Canaria.

When I was 15, my parents decided that we were going to emigrate to Australia, where my father’s sister lives. My parents were prescient enough to seek leave from the secure jobs they had in Bergen instead of quitting. In addition, there was a downturn in Norway so could not sell the house we lived in at the time. We lived in Sydney for a year, but when they had to make a decision whether to stay or go back, they decided to return. The only one who really enjoyed being there was me, being remarkably adaptable. Where I leave my hat is my home. I’m not picky or difficult. Only pragmatic and economical.

My next journey went to the USA on holiday when I was 18. I traveled alone for the first time. It was a gift from my parents to should visit my best friend from childhood who had emigrated to California when I was ten. It was wonderful to cruise the roads in the convertible car she had borrowed from her brother with wind in your hair. The freedom was indescribable. And I’ll never forget when we bathed in the sea in San Diego when it was completely dark.

The second time I traveled alone was to Sunny Beach with a girlfriend. The feeling of being without parents was intoxicating. No complaints about the clothes I wear, what I spend my money on, and anything else that parents complain ….

The third journey I undertook alone was when I went back to Vietnam for the first time. I was going to do fieldwork for my predoctoral thesis in anthropology. I was going to stay with my aunt, but I had not seen her since I was 5 years old. Then I was 22 and I felt so grown up. It’s strange to think back on how little I knew about life at the time. I had received a grant of 30,000 NOK from the Research Council and felt infinitely rich.

My fourth journey I undertook alone was to New York. I had received another scholarship. Interestingly enough, I had just received a “Moneyplant” as a farewell gift from the boss in the flower shop I had worked in for many years as a Christmas help. “Moneyplant” is a cactus plant that has leaves that are round and thick and looks a bit like gold coins. The boss had said that if I got the flower to bloom I would receive a lot of money. Despite the fact that it was mostly my mother who watered the flower, it was I who got the scholarship from the Fulbright Foundation.

When I started working, I had jobs where I worked on EU projects, so there were many trips around the EU countries. In addition, I went on holidays to countries such as Mexico, the U.S., Taiwan, China, Malaysia. After a few years I was tired of traveling. Most places are actually fairly similar. There are houses, people, shops and restaurants …

I traveled on a budget when I was student and more upscale as I got more settled. Although it is nice to travel “business class”, go through the “fast-track” at the airport, to be in a VIP lounge and eat and drink all you want, lay down the entire stretch from Singapore to Paris, a trip is after all just a trip… It might be easy for me to say that as I’m only a little over 1.50 m tall. I fit in the seats no matter how small they are.

And now I’m in Vietnam, Nha Trang with my youngest son. For me, airports are freedom. It gives me a thrill and a feeling that I’ll discover something new. I feel at home in airports. I can not understand people who are afraid to fly. For me it’s like taking the bus into town. Maybe that’s the sign that I’m a real globetrotter?

A rendez-vous with destiny…

Writing at my cabin

Okay, I admit it. I went to Nha Trang to stay in a hotel to try to become a writer. It is painful to admit that one attempts something that might fail. But it was Sartre and Beauvoir did, was’nt it? Stayed at a hotel and wrote? Norwegian authors like Sigrid Undset, Ragnhild Jølsen, Ibsen went abroad. Certainly not to Nha Trang. But Nha Trang is cheap, and they probably went to southern Europe because it was cheap. And a change of scenery often inspires one to see different things in ones writing. And Nha Trang has stunningly beautiful beaches. All my life I wanted to be a writer, so now, as I approach 40, I challenge myself: it’s now or never. So everything is arranged, I take leave from work a few months and head off, away from my writing cabin in Ytre Enebakk to my rendez-vous with destiny…

The other reason for going is that my youngest son should wants to learn Vietnamese. I myself was thrown into the Norwegian society, starting in kindergarten without knowing a Norwegian word. I’m told that I learned Norwegian in 3 months, so three months he will get…

The third reason is to complete some research reports that I should have finished years ago…

New reasons have also come up: like to explore if I can make a living just by writing and do research in Asia, if there are investment-opportunities in case I never succeed as a writer … So in this blog I document my journey towards an unknown location. ..the future…