The food, etc.

As I've traveled north I've been liking the food better, but it really varies as to where I go. I eat better at the more upmarket places and restaurants geared towards foreigners, because it's more what my stomach is used to, and I have been opting for many tofu dishes, but I did really enjoy the seafood pho pictured above at the Pho 2000 chain in Saigon. Most people eat beef or pork pho, and they eat it for breakfast at street stalls, sitting on plastic chairs or stools at low tables. I can't imagine eating it for breakfast. Most hotels include a Western-style breakfast of baguette, jam, fried egg, fruit, and tea or coffee. Above you can see some of the delicious fruits of Vietnam at a market. The little purple ones at the left are mangosteen. They look and taste like a segmented lychee inside. The bright pink ones are dragonfrut. The inside is white with black seeds. It's actually a bit bland tasting but a good fiber source I suppose. Other popular fruits here are jackfruit, durian, watermelon, pineapple, various types of lychees, bananas, and coconut. Also mangos, rose apples, and custard apples. Sadly, papayas are not in season here now. I have gone an amazingly long time without chocolate, and am eating less dairy than usual (and sweating a lot), so I am losing weight.

There are some strange canned beverages available here... One is "winter melon" tea, which tastes surprisingly like maple syrup candy, and the other is "Bird's Nest," supposedly a nutritional drink, consiting of clear liquid with white jelly bits. The ingredients listed are: water, sugar, white fungus, and bird's nest. Hmmmm. OK. I've tried to figure out what bird's nest is without googling it. I asked 2 people. The first started talking about water in a bird's beak and the other showed me a picture of white stuff on the wall of a cave. I think the white fungus and bird's nest are the same thing but I'm still confused.

I did have some excellent food in Hoi An, where there is more Chinese influence in the food (as well as the architecture). Also in Hoi An our group took a cooking class, where we learned to make pumpkin soup, green papaya salad, veggie spring rolls, morning glory with garlic (it's like spinach, very popular as side dish vegetable), and fish in banana leaf.

There are many locally brewed beers available in Vietnam, and Tiger beer from Thailand is plentiful as well as Heineken. The best local brew I've had so far was Huda, from the Hue area.

Vietnam update

Thank you everyone for your comments! Glad to hear that you enjoy reading the blog!! I am actually really behind in my entries... I didn't have Internet access for the last couple of days. I was on a train, then I was in the forest, then I was on a boat. Now I am in the capitol city - Hanoi. I will be here for a few days catching up on things before I move on to Hong Kong. There may be some delay posting new photos (these avocados are from a market in Da Lat) because, apparently, most Windows software is pirated here and the fake stuff won't read my camera's memory card.
Check back soon and take care!

Completing the circle

A cutie patootie at NNC

In Qui Nhon our group visited the Nguyen Nga Center, a charitable association for children with special needs, offering education and vocational training. It's not an orphanage, but many children live at the center full time or during the week. Some of the children's disablities are thought to be a result of the effects of Agent Orange. The Center was started by a Vietnamese woman, but she was not around when we visited. We were given a tour by David, an American Vietnam War Vet and retired school counselor, who had been volunteering at the Center for 4 months. The kids were so cute and happy to have us visit, and David was very interesting to talk to. He joined us for dinner that night and spoke openly about his personal journey that brought him back to the area where he served in 1968-1969. I didn't hear him speak about specific things that happened during what the called "the bad time," but I sensed that he had carried a lot of guilt about it. He said that for many years he could not think about Vietnam, but eventually he decided to return here and "give back" during his retirement. He said that his second trip to Vietnam has been much better than the first and he has been really touched by everyone's warmth and hospitality. He has felt no animosity. "The past is the past." He also seemed pleased with the changes in the country and joked that communism turned out not to be so evil after all. His work has been very rewarding and his visit an emotional and positive experience that has allowed him to "complete the circle." He suggested that a similar journey might be beneficial to other veterans.





Burned foundation of house at Son My, site of the My Lai village massacre (animal corpses added for emphasis)
The next morning we stopped at Son My, site of the My Lai village massacre of 1968, in which hundreds of unarmed Vietnamese civilians, mostly women and children, were killed by U.S. soldiers during the Vietnam War. This incident "prompted widespread outrage around the world and reduced American support at home for the war in Vietnam" (Wikipedia). I also remember learning about this incident in my social psychology class in college; it was presented as an example of group think, wherein someone might do something terrible when part of a group that they wouldn't do acting as an individual. A few years ago an American vet established a peace park on the site, which contains a memorial statue, information center, and remains of the former houses in the village. Despite the addition of fake dead animals and fake footprints (of civilians and soldier boots) in the sidewalks, it is hard to get a sense of what really happened there, maybe because it is so unfathomable and because the area (and all of Vietnam) is such a peaceful place today.

Beach time! Nha Trang

Style of boats in this costal area

I was happy to leave Dalat and head for the coastal areas, even though it meant a return to 100-degree heat. But our last few stops have all had the beach nearby and swimming pools at the hotel, and I've learned to get up early as the locals do and walk around before it gets sweltering (this would be the time frame of 5 - 8:30 AM) and find a shady cool place to chill out in the afternoon before heading out again around dusk.

In Nha Trang we had a boat trip that took us first to a "quaint" little fishing village where we walked around and admired the beautifully painted boats in the harbor. Then we sailed for about 20 mins and anchored near a small island, and we swam around the boats and feasted on a seafood lunch cooked by the boat crew. It was very quiet and private out there and the water was a gorgeous turquoise-green color. Pretty much paradise for me. After lunch we went to a beach on a different island that was a bit a dirty and not good for laying out - it was a pebble beach rather than sand - but I found some really nice seashells here. It's a beach that Vietnamese tourists and locals come too, so it's set up with shady areas to sit in but not much else. (The Vietnamese don't sunbathe.) There was parasailing, but that's not my thing. Throughout the day two girls joined our group to offer manicures and pedicures for the low low price of $2 each. So I paid only $4 for a mani/pedi on the boat.

Nha Trang was the first place on our trip where I started to see a number of other foreigners, and bars/lounges mainly for Westerners/ the backpacker crowd. I popped into one called Guava. It was nice but not too many people there. It's the "low season." The next night my guide took my roomate and I to a Vietnamese bar/disco, which was much more lively (and the girls' skirts surprisingly short) even on a Sunday night.

The 5:30 AM beach crowd

Our last day in Nha Trang I got up at an ungodly time because I heard that some people do tai chi on the beach then and it would be interesting to watch. Well, I went out at 5:30 and was amazed to see what seemed like the whole town doing their exercise - not just tai chi but jogging, stretching, badminton, swimming. Even teenagers were out and moving! And people were probably starting to go to work or do errands at that time because there were quite a few motorbikes on the roads. The sun was bright but still low on the horizon and the temperature and humidity was comfortable. These people are "no dummies."

Photos and other randomness

Deaf girls at Nguyen Nga Special Education Center in Qui Nhon

Rice paddy near Hoi An

deserted beach at Dai Lanh

I finally got some photos off my camera - I know the blog really needs them!! I will try to post a big batch to my Flickr photo stream soon. I'm in an Internet cafe now and it's closing. I hope that soon you will be able to look at my photos while sniffing some fish sauce and honking a horn incessantly and feel that you're right here with me. I mean that in the best possible way. The pictures don't do justice to the fantastic scenes I'm seeing here though. The colors are so vibrant and the people are really interesting and for the most part friendly. In some places they just want you to buy something ("Hello, Madam! You buy something!!" while shoving postcards, pineapple, and Mentos at you) but in the countryside and smaller towns they enjoy saying hello and practicing their English with you, no purchased required. Sometimes they stare but I don't mind it too much. My roomate and I drew an audience of teenage boys on the beach in Qui Nohn yesterday. Vietnamese women are too shy to wear bikinis - most swim in a t-shirt and shorts or capris. So a girl in a bikini (and a pale one at that) is a real treat. But - I found out 2 nights ago in Nha Trang, they do not dress modestly in discoteques. I went to one and was really surprised by the hoochie-mama-ness (sorry, no photos of this). They must change in the bathroom and put on their makeup when they get there, because they don't look like that while riding on their motorbike.

BTW, Is anyone having trouble getting the blog page to load? I am, but it seems I can still post.