Ha Giang in the clouds

Fantastic last few days in Vietnam. I did a three day tour of Ha Giang (pronounced Ha Zhang) province with a local guide, Lam Luân. Ha Giang province offers truly breathtaking scenery (similar to Sa Pa  Province) as it is so mountainous. The countryside is dotted with rice terraces and is particularly green in the rainy season. I was lucky to have very little rain and overall excellent weather conditions. I am still shy about taking pictures of people so have not taken pics of the local population, but it was quite interesting to see people of all ages dressing in their traditional outfits.  We stayed on the first night at a homestead in a black zhu village, where the traditional clothing is black wool with embroidered red bandanas for the women.  The dinner with Mama Eung was very funny, everyone got a little light headed because of the many rounds of "cham phan cham" (100%) and the rather excellent rice based alcohol.  I have perfected evasion techniques since i am not much of a drinker when all is said and done, but it is hard to resist a persuasive Vietnamese dinner party (and you're never entirely sure what is considered rude during Vietnamest dinner parties. I had several comments on the fact that i eat with my mouth closed which is entirely at odds with the local fashion).

Luan was an excellent guide and we made several stops on our journey to take pictures.  Really I just wanted to have a constant video stream going to capture everything around me! We saw mountain goats (being herded by young children) and many buffaloes. I visited the H mong palace which was built by Chinese workers for the hmong "king" who made his money through the sale of marijuana (a crop that is still grown today though often to make hemp clothing.)  Got to try many local dishes including bitter melon stuffed with meat and herbs, goat meat, buffalo meat and spring rolls wrapped in piper lolot leaves.
After my Ha Giang trip I took yet another (my 7th?) overnight bus back to Hanoi and have been enjoying just wandering around the city with my friend E who i met in India.  Hanoi is wonderfully atmospheric, a great mix of Chinese, Vietnamese and French architecture. Not to mention amazing dishes like bun cha and bun bo nam bo.  If you go, definitely take an hour to sit and enjoy the coconut ice cream coffee at Cong Caphe (the one in front of St Joseph cathedral is great).

Love, Mia

Worth a visit
HA GIANG
-Bong hostel in Ha Giang province (they can store your luggage)
-the towns of Dong Van and Meo Vac are quite pretty.
-Ha Giang travel for a guide. Flipside Hostel in Hanoi also arranges four day (three nights) tours which are apparently very social and fun.

HANOI
-Ga Hostel (Chicken hostel) for budget accommodation in Hanoi
-the Old City
-West Lake
-Bun bo Nam Bo
-Cong Caphe
-Walking the train tracks (a hassle free / motorbike free walk in Hanoi!) along Le Duan road
-Crossing Long Bien bridge, which was designed by Gustav Eiffel himself.

Cat Ba island is better when you have A/C

Hello! I am hiding in Highlands Coffee near Hanoi's main Old Quarter plaza, to escape from the relentless humidity and heat. Guess i was wrong to think that Northern Vietnam would be cooler than the south, in June! Its rather the opposite, as the south is more bearable especially just after it rains in the evenings.  In Hanoi the heat is oppressive at the moment, and I can't wait to get to the northern province of Ha Giang (leaving tonight).

Spent two days in Cat Ba island which is part of the Ha Long Bay region; Cat Ba is more commonly frequented by Vietnamese rather than Western tourists.  I first heard about Cat Ba island when I was in Myanmar and met an Aussie couple, Rinne and Ryan, who worked here for 3 months. It was lovely to go kayaking around the bay (again thanks to cousin Jenn for the suggestions) and cool off on the beaches.   Funny moment, I wanted to head to the beach to cool down as soon as I arrived on the island (after 18 hours of travelling from Phong Nha via Hanoi) but realised somewhat to my dismay that it wasn't an original idea. Indeed,  peak time for Vietnamese beach goers is 4pm to 7pm, when the sun is not as strong. (Most Asians avoid sunlight as much as possible! White skin is considered more beautiful than tanned skin;  but probably they are also being smart and avoiding skin cancer!)   There was literally not a square foot of free space on the beach as there were tons of people sitting on plastic stools and jumping in the waves, so I walked around instead, sunset is actually a gorgeous time to take a stroll along the bay.

Je suis egalement allee au "Hospital Caves" qui onto ete occupee pendant 8 ans par les soldats vietnamiens pendant la guerre entre Americains et Vietnamiens.  Une belle petite randonnee à velo, mais la chaleur etait un peu intense donc je me suis ensuite reposée au resto vegetarien "Buddha's Belly" en compagnie d'un charmant couple de Français (qui demenagent cet eté à Montréal!).

Aujourd'hui je prends soin de mes muscles un peu endoloris. :)  un peu de leche-vitrine en attendant le prochain bus!

Mia  xx

Hoi An; Phong Nha

Hello my dears!  The last week has been filled with amazing sights, from old temples to stalactite-filled caves. Vietnam is definitely not a boring country for tourists!

I spent 3 nights in Hoi An which is a small yet lovely UNESCO -approved town close to Da Nang and four hours south of Hue (by car). Hoi An town - which has a number of Chinese temples and an old covered Japanese bridge-  is a wonderful place to cycle , and Is surrounded by rice paddies (with grazing water buffaloes) and beaches. I didnt really 'do' much, no excursions or cultural tours, but went to the beach several times, visited Hoi An by night (at its most magical time when the streets are lit by lanterns) and got fitted for a dress. Paddys Place, my hostel (recommended by cousin Jenn) was really nice and had a pool and an adorably self-possessed dog named Polly.  One can do a couple of day trips around the area such as the My son ruins and the Cham islands.

After a first bus to Hue and second bus to Phong Nha, I arrived at Phong Nha -Ke Bang national park which is famous for its spectacular caves. The area is  home to the biggest caves in the world although access to the biggest cave is strictly controlled and highly priced accordingly. There are nevertheless a few caves that are easily accessible and really worth  the detour. Phong Na town is tiny but surrounded by surreal  little mountains popping up all over the countryside like dandylions in the springtime. I visited three caves over two days (Paradise Cave was the biggest and most interesting one although the Dark and Phong Nha caves were also worth visiting.)  The Paradise and Phong Nha caves are filled with rock formations that look like tiny mushrooms, or like squid tentacles, or like the Moon... and definitely like nowhere where sunlight can reach.  The Dark Caves visit involved ziplining and mud bathing, I got a bit more mud than expected since I executed a near perfect pirouette in the muddy water while showing off how buoyant you can get in 4 feet of mud and water. Not recommended unless you are curious about what mud tastes like. The two Canadian psychologists grads i was travelling with for the day, Anisha and Randall, also got scraped and bruised from 'mud sliding' so the day ended on a rather discordant note although we still enjoyed it. The oldest hostel in town, Easy Tiger, had an open Mic night so it was nice to end a busy day by unwinding to the tune of Backstage Boy and Vance Joy hits.

With  10 days left in Asia.. I hope to fit in more kayaking, sun bathing and lots more eating in northern Vietnam plus two days in Hong Kong.

See you soon!! I am starting to look forward to being home and seeing my people. Six months travelling is wonderful but it's also great to be surrounded by friends and family.

Love  Mia

Dalat, Vietnam countryside tour

Hello! Having recharged my batteries, lucked out on a private room at my friend's place, and gotten my fill of bubble tea in Ho Chi Minh city, I then took an overnight bus to the hilly town of Dalat. I spent two days in Dalat -a popular honeymoon destination and vacation spot for Saigoners seeking to escape the heat of Vietnam's southern metropolis- and another two days touring the countryside around Dalat and Nha Trang on an "easy rider" (motorcycle taxi) tour.

The pictures below don't do justice to the beauty of the Dalat area, which has lots of beautiful mountains, waterfalls and rice paddles plenty.  Highlights of my time in Dalat were: *Mr Rot's Secret Tour*, during which we ate grasshoppers and tried betel nut in a local market, and the Lak Lake (Hô Lak) area west of Dalat. The Lak Lake is out of the way and not so touristy but quite atmospheric. (When I arrived there were elephants relaxing in the shallow section of the lake! Dalat is an area where villagers historically lived and worked with elephants although there are few left now. )

My tour guide and Easy Rider , Mr linh, was a great driver and took me to various spots including a brick making factory and a cashew nut factory.

Mekong Delta revisited

I am back in the Mekong delta ! Returning to the area, six years after I spent three months working at Tra Vinh University, brings back many good memories.

I started my Mekong tour with a quick trip to the mekong delta's biggest city, Can Tho (population 1.5 million). My friend Rena had highly recommended Can Tho Touring with Susan so i signed up for a tour and homestay with Susan, a 26-year old tourism grad. Definitely did not disappoint.  Susan is cute and bubbly and eager to share her knowledge of her hometown.  We visited the Can Tho floating market, learned how rice noodles are made, saw how the locals get their rice husked (with a machine) and went shopping for a meal that we "helped" to cook - although Susan and her mom did most of the cooking !  We learned how  to make a steamed rice paper dessert that i would describe as "ha cheong  fan" without the shrimp and dipped in a sweet coconut and peanut sauce.  Susan's family appear to have been relatively well off and they farm rice and many types of fruits and vegetables.

My favourite parts of this tour were tasting durian (the durian tasting generated a strong range of reactions from the German couple doing the tour with me-priceless grimaces and exclamations of "Yummy !" and "Ick!" ) and playing with Susan 's beautiful cats and dog, as well as visiting the floating market. It was also quite exciting to visit an orchard and find out how durian, mangosteen, jackfruit, pomelo, dragonfruit and kumquats are grown.

Then it was off to Tra Vinh ! I had forgotten what a pleasant town it is. TV University has gone  on a building spree and now have a whole second campus across the road from the original one. The new campus (which is all painted in yellow as per the rector's favourite colour) houses Medicine and Law faculties in addition to dorms for 3,500 students. The Gender and Community department moved three times and is now housed in one of the buildings of this new campus area. My former colleagues continue to teach English and Khmer culture and give workshops on gender equality.

Memory is a funny thing. I thought I had forgotten how to get around campus but my feet somehow remembered the way to my old office (now occupied by the Vice Dean of Aquaculture studies).  I remember Khmer dance classes outside the office and so many breaks for ca phê sua da (sweetened iced coffee).  I was actually ridiculously pleased to stumble across a group of students practising a dance choreography in honour of TVU's 15th anniversary - just like the countless rehearsals I witnessed in 2010. (Linh mentioned that her students are always late for rehearsals and Kim Anh complained her students are too lazy to do their homework. I guess some things don't change.)

And of course the trip down memory lane included sampling my favourite Tra Vinh dishes like nem nuong (barbecued meat rolled with fresh rice noodles, lettuce and herbs and dipped in fish sauce). 

Fun things to do in Tra Vinh include visiting the Ao Back Om (pond) and some of Tra Vinh provinces' 140 Khmer temples. It's a laid back little town that few foreigners visit, but it is worth the detour IMHO.

Next stop will be Saigon and Dalat as I make my way north!

xo

My Gratitude List

Traveling makes you grateful for the little  and big things  that make your life richer and more complete. I was inspired to compile my list of things for which i am grateful after reading about another traveler's no so successful trip to Indonesia (making me extremely grateful that I have had no travel mishaps so far- knock on wood). (If you are interested, you can read California-based artist and Youtuber Kina Grannis' account of being stuck in Jakarta for 100 days. )

Here are some 10 things I am grateful for:

1. Hospitality- Good friends offering a bed to crash on.  By far my favourite way to travel is to "courchsurf" with people I know, and while hostels  are great for meeting people, friends' places are the nicest place to relax, to feel comfortable and safe. Bonus : often comes with good food and/or cooking and tea-making facilities!

2. Family and friends.  Nothing is more important - and knowing your friends and family know and support your decision to travel has been hugely helpful in my case.

3. The Internet - Wifi  and sim cards with data allow me to felt connected and informed about the news wherever I go.

4. I am grateful for smiles, nods and hand gestures that allow me to communicate with locals whose language I dont or barely know. I am also so grateful for people who make efforts to understand me and my sign language.

5. Fellow travellers who share their tips and experiences with you make the going even more pleasant (and help you to make more interesting travel choices).

6. I am grateful for my books & my e-reader (and grateful for my brother and his girlfriend who insisted i take the reader back after i had loaned/given it to them. Also grateful to my aunties who gave it to me in the first place hehe ).

7. Swimming and yoga have been my best ways to keep fit and healthy. And blogging and calls/emails keep me mentally happy and healthy.

8. Grateful for kids I have met on this trip who laugh at my funny faces and interact because they are curious. They keep me endlessly entertained.

9. Grateful for those little luxuries like air conditioning and aloe vera soap that keep me cool and soothe sunburns!

10. My passport and the privilege of having been born Canadian. I am so grateful that I was born by sheer luck in a country that is safe and has clean forests, rivers and mountains.  Its only when you no longer have these things that you appreciate how lucky you were to grow up with clean air and plenty of space to play outdoors .

Hello Vietnam!

Ah Vietnam- it's so good to see you again.  In the six years since I saw you last, you've gotten  busier and moved up the corporate ladder. Your streets are filled with cars, not just motorcycles as before. Foreigners flock to your shores to teach English and start businesses.  You've even made friends with those strange and world travelling American fellows, Starbucks and McDonalds. President Obama decided to hang out with you this week, and you treated him like a superstar (even boasting to everyone that he likes Hanoi bun cha (rice noodles and bbq'd meat).  Your food choices are just as dizzying as before (so far I have sampled your banh xeo, bun cha, banh mi, nuoc mía (sugar cane juice), bia hoi (draft beer) and pizza!).  You have some amazing architecture but the old colonial buildings will make way for modern skyscrapers with less soul but more rental space for Korean and Chinese businesses.  You banned Facebook this week to coincide with protests over toxic waste spills in the ocean which killed thousands of fish. At the same time, you are now a middle income country with an astonishing ability to grow and change.

I guess  you're just as complex and contradictory as before.  But that's okay , with all your flaws i still think you are pretty fabulous.