Vietnam

We speak of wishes and dreams and generally give little thought to an outcome. I am so very grateful, my dream has come to be. I am so blessed to have the family I do; my Dad who introduced me to Vietnam as a child and answering all my questions as we watched news casts of the US war in Vietnam. Kelly and Dean who you know so well, Mur and Christina for always believing and of course Randy for being who he is. I arrived, I ate well, I slept amazingly well, we laughed, I lived. We met the most amazing people who welcomed us, genuinely happy to have us as guests and most going out of their way to make us welcome and share their way of life with us. Some we met had so little and that mattered not at all. I have had the best traveling companions. Together we have sailed, strolled China Beach, risked our lives on the back of scooters on treacherous mountain passes and in unbelievably crazy city streets, barreled down horrendous mountain roads at breakneck speed in a rattling sleeper bus, arrived at an airport to find our tickets had been booked for 2014 (how does this happen), we have seen uncomparable beauty and kayaked in the South China Sea. There was so much more that is so difficult to put into words so I will end with this - I am so very happy to have seen my Vietnam Dream 1967 - 2013. It was everything I ever dreamed it would be and then so much more.      

                                                                                                      Holly Therrien.                                         

Vietnam.

 

Whether it's the war from a not so distant past or the pho that I'm sure most of us have tried, Vietnam has made its mark on a lot of people. But to actually see and breathe it in, is a whole other story. To wait impatiently over the seemingly endless slow drip of an individual percolator, dripping over a bed of sweetened condensed milk. To the fantastic, traditionally based ingredients of the mouth watering spring rolls. From the screams of the street hawkers, to the exasperating honks of the impenetrable barrage of motor scooters. Vietnam is truly an exhilarating assault on the senses. It really makes you question your beliefs in life on what's edible and what is not. You really can push your limits. Fluffy little rabbits, they're so cute. But delicately slow roasted, their cuteness turns to pure deliciousness. Vietnam truly has a belief that if it moves, it can be eaten. They take this belief to the far ranges of what most of us in the western world believe to be incomprehensible when it come to our beloved fur babies. The scary things for us, we feared that if we had tried dog or cat, we may have liked it. We had heard from many travelers that when it comes to Nam, you either love it, or you hate it. For us, we feel that our 6 months on the road has numbed out the reptilian part of our brain that screams DANGER with all the chaoticness that is Vietnam. For Holly to travel with us, we're sure she felt comfort having us on either side. Most travelers we talked to said, Vietnam truly started once they got off the bus and were dumbfounded at how they were supposed to get across the street to their hotel. To us, it's chaos, but to the trained observer it's Beethoven's symphony at a rock concert.

 

We started in the south, Saigon. Kelly and I had our first real taste of luxury since leaving on this trip, thanks to Randy (Kellys Step-Dad). He was of the belief that if his wife was to backpack Vietnam, she needed to rest and recoup after the long flight. Holly arrived looking refreshed and ready to go. She was expecting to be sleeping in a dorm room, so when we showed up to the 5 star hotel, (which was a surprise) she actually seemed a little disappointed. But as the day wore on, her eagerness settled down and the need to get caught up on sleep crept in. The 5 star comfort became a welcomed, unexpected pleasure as she dozed into a silent abyss for 12 hours of sleep. :) All the while, Dean laid in the next bed over hoping his ibuprofen would kick in after a nasty mishap with hot, oily soup broth that burnt both his legs and a thumb. The 2nd degree burns would put him out of commission for the next day, which was disappointing. 

  Museums are not usually on the top of our list of places to visit, but after some really good reviews online, Kelly and her Mom decided to give it a go. It's important to learn about the history of the countries we visit, especially ones that have as much history as Vietnam. Nearly 3 hours later they left the museum with a heaviness looming over from the purely horrific portrayal of the Vietnam War, or better known here as the "American War". The tourist attractions in and around Ho Chi Minh are helpful. Painting a very clear picture of the well known war, how the people endured it, survived and moved on. We visited the famous Cu Chi Tunnels which were impressive to say the least. Amazing what people will and endure to ensure their survive.  To lighten the mood we spent an evening on scooters and went on a scooter/food tour. We all had so much fun and ate some very delicious food. We left Saigon after three days and began our cross country adventure.

Just one of the many booby traps used by the militia.

Inside the Cu Chi tunnels. Made bigger for the tourists. Used by the Vietnamese for 30 years.

  We started the journey from Saigon to the highland cities of Da Lat and Boun Ma Thout.  We were forced to head to the interior due to a typhoon hitting the coast. Da Lat was a beautiful little city that the french had established as their highland get away for big game hunting. We had a lovely couple days walking around and one day was spent on a guided scooter tour arranged through our guesthouse with the owners son. He was, without a doubt, the nicest guide we have ever had. Such a pleasant, good hearted young man. Holly sat on the back of his scooter and the entire trip they talked, him showing her everything. The drive was gorgeous. We visited a silk farm, rice whiskey brewery and observed the excruciating hard process for removing granite boulders out of the hills to make granite bricks. We went to Elephant Falls and Holly really pushed her limits by hiking down to the bottom. It was such a great experience to watch her conquer an obstacle that she wasn't sure she would be able to do.

Almost to the very bottom of the falls. So happy with our progress.

Huge boulders of granite which gets broken into small bricks by chisel and hammer.

Inside the silk factory. A big source of income for Vietnamese people.

 Boun Ma Thout near the border of Cambodia doesn't see many white foreigners. This was made evident when Kelly and Holly went for a swim in the outdoor pool. They were causally swimming around when they looked up and the entire conference room which was full of people, everyone was now standing at the windows taking photos. Embarrassing? Just a little. We had plans to visit a small village out of town where we could ride an elephant to a near by river and give them a bath. But unfortunately for us, when we showed up, the river was flowing to fast and was to high for the elephants to enter. We left Boun Ma Tout for Da Nang on a 16 hour sleeper bus. Despite the luxury of 'lay down' seats, the ride was long, too long. We vowed we wouldn't do that again...at least not when Holly was with us. 

Da Nang. We arrived just missing the typhoon. The beaches were in full repair mode. So much sand had been blown off the beach and onto the streets and boulevards. It was all being swept up and delivered back to the beach. It was a shame because this was the famous "China Beach". One spot that was on the top of Holly's must sees. Despite the fact that we couldn't swim, we had fun on the beach with our umbrellas and dipped our toes in a few times. We had some fantastic meals here and did some sightseeing to the Marble Mountains with their impressive caves and temples. 

Dragon bridge. Shoots water and smoke on Saturday and Sunday.

This was a beautiful cave with a temple built in it. The Buddha in the upper back left was carved out of the marble in the  mountain.

 We also spent a day at the neighboring town, Hoi An. We arrived not knowing what to expect and were pleasantly surprised. The town still has its original charm from when the french built it. It was too bad that we didn't have more time to explore. After enduring the 16 hour bus trip, we elected to fly to Hanoi. Why not? Tickets were only $38 each. Slight problem though, the tickets came in for 2014 and we didn't realize it until it came time to check in. Oops!Oh well, nothing a credit card and a smile can't fix.

Hoi An at night lit up by hundreds of lanterns.

 Hanoi. We arrived in the old quarter of town and found a pleasant place to stay. Our plan was to head out to Ha Long Bay for a 3 day/2 night tour. We quickly put the plan into action and booked ourselves on a ship leaving in a couple days. It wasn't sunny, nor was it hot, but the fact of the matter was, we wouldn't have wanted it any other way. What we had was perfect in its own way. The almost 2000 islands jet straight out of the ocean and when viewed from a distance, appeared magical. Almost like an optical illusion.The food served was top notch. We sure got our seafood fix. We met some great people (2 Irish girls who work for Facebook, who were an absolute hoot). Had fantastic service, so good that our room greeted us with a free bottle of red wine, fruit and a bouquet of red roses.

Our boat.

Fertility Cave :)

 On our 2nd day, we boarded a smaller day boat and found some relatively untouched waters. It was clean, calm and perfect for jumping off for a quick dip. When the boat anchored for lunch we got to go kayaking and boy was it stunning. We were thrilled to find out that we were paddling only 200 meters from the water border of China. Kelly says that those few days on the boat were in her top highlights of the trip so far.

We stopped at a pearl farm. We were all to cheap to buy anything.

We ended our 3 weeks back in Hanoi shopping, eating and celebrating Dean's birthday with a movie at the theater. Yep, 31 has arrived for him....isn't he getting old? ;) It was such a pleasure to share the time with Kelly's mom in a country that has a always been on the top of her list to see. It was also nice to have family see how we have been living for the last 7 months. To be able to appreciate the joys, sickness, exhaustion, laughter and awe that comes with this sort of traveling. So, in saying that, the next few months are exciting as we will be visiting the top 3 countries on Dean's list of places for this trip. Philippines, Myanmar and India. And it just so happens we will be meeting up with friends we met in Borneo for the Philippines. Dean's parents for Myanmar. (and Christmas!) And Dean's cousin for India. :)   This year just keeps getting better and better!!

Vietnamese Currency - Dong

Cambodia

"During the 1975-1979 Khmer Rouge genocide I lost 8 of my family members. My aunts, my uncles and both my grandparents... My mother watched one of her brothers get hung to a tree and stabbed in his stomach with a large sharp stick, then left for dead. When she showed anger towards the solders who did it, they hit her in the stomach and she was sick for the next three days. She doesn't talk much about the time when she was 22 and the Khmer Rouge took over the country and enslaved the entire population. " Although not yet born, 30 year old 'Mr. Dollar' (our tuk tuk driver) suffers large scars from this tragic event that will be known throughout history as one of the worst genocides known to man.

Cambodia this time around has unveiled its beauty for us in yet again another tragic form. Flooding has hit this country hard and everyone you talk to says they have never seen flooding like this. Driving in from Thailand we saw nothing but flooded fields and gushing rapids over the road ways. The beauty was to be seen in every element. From the flooded fields of deep, lush green tropics with the skys reflection atop the water. To the locals gathered everywhere swimming and fishing in all the deep pools. It really was a feat for the eyes and mind to absorb it all.

With only one week in Cambodia, we had to make the most of everyday. The first stop was back to the city of Siem Reap. The city built within minutes of driving to the world renowned Angkor Wat. We fell in love with this temple last time we were here and always felt like we never gave it full justice. Showing up at 9am on our first day, we walked around the ginormous engineered piece of art work for three hours, getting lost in its size and sheer splendor. Built in the 9th century, archeologist are still making discoveries in the surrounding area to dawn new evidence that the Khmer people, had in fact, built the largest city in the world during Medieval times. The temples that are open to the public are each in their own way magnificent and jaw dropping. We spent two full days touring around, walking and crawling on many temples. We had to be careful though and not become "templed out", so we made sure to take our time and truly appreciate it all.

Temple Ta Prohm

Out front of Angkor

Angkor Thom

Sunrise at Angkor Wat, we woke at a 4 am on day 2. So worth it.

Majapahit- Built for the Kings father.

Sunrise at Angkor Wat

Ta Prohm

One of four swimming pools at the top of Angkor.

Angkor Wat

Angkor Thom

Back of Angkor

One of the many murals carved out of the walls.

From Siem Reap we took a 5 hour bus ride to Cambodia's second largest city Battambang. Arriving to our hotel surrounded by water, we couldn't help but think of Calgary and everyone who was affected by the flooding there. Many of the streets here were full of water. The city however was not shut down and people were not evacuated. We took the water in stride and enjoyed the rarity of a hotel surrounded by a moat. With only a day and a half we got right to it. We arranged a full day excursion for the next day and that night we walked around, toured some markets and found some great street food. Our tour guide/tuk tuk driver Mr. Dollar picked us up the next day at 9 am. Driving us out of town and down an incredibly bumpy road, we were informed that it was our 'free Cambodian massage'. Our first stop on the trip was a small little village with some train tracks running through. We were to take a ride on the "Bamboo Train". Locals have taken use of the train tracks since the end of the war and built their own mode of transport. It has become somewhat of a tourist draw as of late and a source of great income directly to the villages involved. Unfortunately though, the government has decided to shut it down and build a new one somewhere else, to claim full stake of the tourist dollars. We were quite lucky, considering it was to be shut down over a week ago. A simple bamboo platform powered by a 14 horsepower engine, sitting on top of two axles, the home made cart was lots of fun. When you encounter on-coming traffic, the smaller load always loses and has to get up and unload everything off the tracks. It was very easy to disassemble and make way for the others to pass. The train took us to a small village and we were given a tour of the rice factory and the brick factory by about a dozen or so young girls. They all demanded us to buy a bracelet and some were quite miffed when we bought from one and not the other.

Our tour guides. You can tell who are the ones who were a little upset.

 

After a quick ride back to our tuk tuk our next stop was a hill top temple.This temple during the Khmer take over was used as a prison for anyone they wished (Now it's important for you to know that when they took power, they wanted to build a euphoric nation based off absolute self-sufficiency. They enslaved the entire nation and forced everyone to leave all cities and go to work in the country. They targeted anyone with links to foreign nations, anyone who may have been involved in capitalism. Anyone who was a teacher, a banker or had lived in the city. Heck, even if you wore glasses or had an education you were targeted and killed). The overwhelmingly sad part on this tour was the 'Killing Caves' located about twenty feet from the temple. Here the Khmer Rouge would take prisoners and throw them off the edge and down the cliff about thirty feet onto the rocks below. There was a cave for women and children and a cave for men. We absorbed the moment and while walking around at the bottom, tried not to get choked up picturing what took place here.

Mr Dollar

 We left Battambang the following day on a bus bound for Phnom Phen. We arrived mid day and spent the afternoon and evening walking around the water front of the Mekong River. The next day went for a walk to find the King's Palace. Then we were off on a bus to Vietnam.

 Life in Cambodia is hard. We really got our first 'in your face' exposure to some of the absolute poverty in Phnom Penh. There are many NGO's and Non-Profits working, trying to make life better. But with so many people and not a lot of opportunities, there are many who are left behind. It is incredibly hard to watch a child no older then our nephews and nieces out begging on the street. To have tuk tuk drivers run at a bus pulling in just so they can get some business. In Indonesia and Malaysia we noticed a lot of begging, but we also noticed 90 percent of the locals gave money to the beggars. We saw none of this here. We felt very welcomed by the Cambodians. Most willing to practice some English, or just exchange a smile. With getting a small dose of poverty here, we can't imagine how much more difficult India is going to be. That is a long way from now though, as of now we have great joy to look forward to with the arrival of Kelly's mom.

We hope all of you reading this are doing well. We are now 6 months into our adventure.

Cambodia Currency