Xin Chao Vietnam

Now I thought Calgary was busy during rush hour! Ho Chi Minh City scared us a bit. No matter what time it was, people were everywhere. For lunch we went to a restaurant and ended up walking straight out when we noticed what they were serving. It was raw blood soup! Yes, I said blood, like the red stuff in your veins! I'm not sure if anyone not accustomed to eating blood in their daily diet can handle something like that. Or you would have to be really brave. I know we sure couldn't eat it! Back to eating Pho.

http://www.vietnam-travel.com/vietnam-vacations-261.html

We spent the first half of the afternoon at the Giac Lam Pagoda, which is the city’s oldest pagoda. The second half of the afternoon we visited the Thien Hau Temple were the people would express their gratitude to their goddess by burning incense in huge circles for a whole month. It was an amazing to experience the Vietnamese culture.

http://nilatanzil.blogspot.com/

http://tourism.hochiminhcity.gov.vn/english/chuyenmuc/detail_column_action.php?detail_column_id=334&subcolumn_id=19&current_page=1

And sadly we had to return home after a cultural day in Ho Chi Minh City and a wonderful journey through Vietnam!

See you all in Calgary in a few days... Hope you are enjoying our blog because we are sure having fun telling you about some of the hightlights of our trip!

If you have time, have a look at the this guy's video... we met him and his girlfriend in Ho Chi Minh. They were on their second visit to Vietnam...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4Ybv-NbFN4&NR=1

Chào tam biêt Vietnam! (Good bye Vietnam)
From Patrycja, Andrea and Evelyne

In Can Tho, we visited a water market on the Mekong Delta (7). The waterway was very crowded so we decided to hop onto a boat and take a trip down the river to see some of the countryside. We made sure to put on our rice hats for the hot day ahead!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Can_Tho

Some points in the river were very narrow and we thought we were going to get caught on the bottom of the river. Thankfully, we didn't! There was definitely some amazing sites to see on the Mekong Delta. The name of the river in Vietnamese is "Cuu Long." This means Nine Dragons, because the river has nine mouths that terminate the flow of the river. (7) We passed by many small boats, many of which carried food to and from the water markets and to other places in the river.

http://www.elephantguide.com/mekong-delta-travel-guide/mekong-delta-southern-grace-2.html

Down the river we saw many rice fields where the people were working so hard. The people used the river water to dam water into their fields so that they could grow their rice. (7) We also noticed how green everything around us was. Wow, was it ever beautiful! I wanted to hop off the boat to go onto one of the rice fields because I wanted to see what it was like to work in the water.

http://www.seafoodfromvietnam.com.vn/default.aspx?open=news_detail&new=53

Overnight we were able to stay in a traditional Mnong Longhouse, which is a traditional home for the families in Vietnam. The longhouses are usually used by families in the country or near the water. In the cities they mainly live in modern homes. These homes are usually 30 to 40 feet long, hence why they call them "longhouses." We didn't have very many amenities inside the Mnong but it was quite cozy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longhouse

Now I thought us 3 were small people before we visited the Cu Chi Tunnels (5)! Taking a tour through the tunnels was definitely an experience to remember. They were really hard to crawl through... and to think they reconstructed and expanded the tunnels 25 cm to accommodate the larger tourists! (5) These tunnels were used during the war in Vietnam by liberation fighting guerrillas and Americans as hiding spaces during combat, as well as serving as communication and supply routes, hospitals, food and weapon caches and living quarters for numerous guerrilla fighters. (5) The tunnels are hidden very well. You wouldn't even notice if you were standing, looking straight at a hatch. The hatches that the guerilla fighters had to climb in and out of were only as large as the width of their small bodies.

http://www.travelblog.org/Photos/7639.html

This area near the Cu Chi Tunnels is also where the Ho Chi Minh Trail (6) is said to end. Although there is no official Ho Chi Minh Trail route, the networks of foot paths, truck routes and river transportation that come down from North Vietnam through Laos and Cambodia are said to be considered the Ho Chi Minh Trail. (6) These routes were used to transport supplies to the soldiers and guerillas during the war (6). We were able to see some of the modern roads of the Ho Chi Minh Trail, but we wondered what it would be like to be here during the war. Although there wasn't too much to see on the trail, it was nice to be able to see the area and honour the memory of the people who died there.

http://www.afa.org/magazine/nov2005/1105trail.asp

A short flight later, we land in Nha Tran which is amongst the world's most beautiful bays according to Conde. However, we all agree that Nha Tran is to Vietnam what Cancun is to Mexico. Many big hotels, great beaches, some amusement parks, and a lot of tourists. We saw quite a few cruise ships stopping at the port for the day. We also took a private tour on the Nha Trang's turquoise water.

There is a lot of good cheap fun to be had in Nha Trang. Diving costs around $20CAD which attracts a lot of back packers. Aren't Andrea's diving pictures gorgeous?

We also visited Monkey Island. If you spend the night there, you'll have the island to yourself... oops... almost... you will actually have to share it with the island official 50+ furry inhabitants! Do not worry, they totally ignored us.

All three of us are certainly getting better and better with the language. Here are a few expressions we have memorized. By the way, Vietnamese is a tonal language, so Xin chào can have six different meanings...

Chào ban. is pronounced "Chow ban" and it means -Hi.
Tôi tù Canada dên. is pronounced "Toy tue Canada dayn" and it means -I come from Canada.
Càm on ban. is pronounced " Come un ban" and it means -Thankyou.

On our last day in Nha Trang, we headed to the beach again and noticed all these people eating stuff they had bought from a little old lady cooking on the beach. Andrea went to check it over and came back soooo excited saying that they were eating lobster. We decided to try some. What a treat!

Beside the train, boat rides and the motorbikes, we tried the famous Taxis "Tuk Tuk" and sure enjoyed a tour of the town! We felt like royalty! They sure use different modes of transportation in this country. Have a look at some unusual ones we have noticed...

Tuk-Tuk Taxi!

A short bus ride away, we reach Hoi An. What a beautiful place! We can sure feel the influence of France in Hoi An... which was explained to us by our concierge. In short, the French conquered Vietnam in the mid 1800's. After WWII, Vietnam declared its independence but the French continued to rule until 1954 when they were defeated by the Communist forces. The rest we already know... the Vietnam War...

We are noticing more and more cultural differences. For example, women do not shake hands with each other or with men. They usually greet by bowing slightly to each other. Men shake hands both when greeting and when saying good-bye. Everybody seems to be passing objects to one another with both hands... and touching children on the head is only done by family members.

To go back to the French influence, it can sure be noticed in the food. Baguettes & cakes! We have eaten more baguettes in one day than one year in Calgary. A mix of various meats, spices, cilantro, cucumbers, cheese, tomatoes... It tastes great! And the COFFEE! Vietnam is the third largest exporter of coffee. Did you know? They love a strong espresso (and so does Andrea) many times mixed with condensed milk and ice. Mmmmm...

Then the architecture. The buildings are very tall and very skinny, with beautiful front balconies and doorways. I took a picture of my favourite one!

To visit Hoi An old part of town, we crossed this beautiful bridge called the "Japanese Bridge". It is a very old bridge that used to divide the Japanese and Chinese Districts. Every single tourist takes a picture of this beautiful bridge! Here is ours...

There are a lot of little children playing in the streets...

We had fun with these two who were impressed with our Velcro Sandals...

And finally, the highlight of our trip... the tailoring! They sure have Master Tailors in Hoi An! We each planned to buy one custom tailored suit (for our School Practicum).

The shopping list ended up a little bit different: 2 suits, 1 winter coat, 3 pants, 2 dresses and 2 skirts each. Hmmm... Oh well, we paid peanuts and I think we all look fabulous! Tailors can make a suit for you in less than a couple of hours if you are in a rush. They even have one of those 400 pages JC Penny catalogue and they say they can make anything from the magazine. Just point and they will make it! Unbelievable! Evelyne will need to buy an extra suitcase... So we had 4 days in here, going to multiple fittings, walking around town, going to the beach, and eating great food!