Shopping, Biking and Cooking in Hoi An

Hoi An is a small and picturesque town on the central coast which is famous for its quaint little streets and it's awesome tailors. The Japanese occupied the town for a while and left many influences, including the Japanese covered bridge. The shopping was fun and Erika found a nice shop where we each had dresses made (now we have birthday outfits!) and she had some red sandals made to fit her foot too.

The lantern-filled walking streets were very nice to walk around and it was certainly cooler here and will continue as we head farther north.

On our second day, we started off with an excellent bike ride through town and then to the neighboring fields where the locals were busy tending to their farms and gardens. We even had a chance to ride a water buffalo which was bumpy. It was a great bike ride!

That evening, eight of us walked to a lovely riverside restaurant for a cooking class! Many of y'all know I'm not a good cook (and never really try) but this was really fun! I started with the only cooking step I'm good at: opening the wine (one of the best Spanish wines Ive ever had... plan to find it while in Spain!). We each had a role as we learned how to prepare stuffed fish in banana leaves, lemongrass calamari, sweet and sour wontons and vegetable spring rolls! Yes, Erika also ate some seafood too! She thankfully didn't have to stuff the fish (that was my job!) but cut perfect slices of calamari which were delicious. As we gobbled down our food, we all agreed dinner was delicious so at least my assistance didn't ruin dinner for everyone! E and I will definitely be searching out for cooking classes and who knows, I may just be treating y'all to an Asian feast upon my return! Angi, you're definitely getting a feast cooked by E and I!

Now on to Hue, the old imperial capital, as we continue our journey north!

Nha Trang beaches and sun

Nha Trang is a wonderful slice of paradise on the East China Sea. Although rather touristy, the beaches were amazing! Encircled by green hills and a sea dotted with lush islands, I had to remind myself I wasn't in Hawaii! E and I took the longest cable car in the world to Vinpearl Island where an amusement park, aquarium, beaches and water park awaited us. It was beautifully manicured and so much fun playing like little kids for the day!

After a full day, we went back to Lousiane Brewery which is quite possibly the coolest brewery in the world. It has a beautiful pool, excellent beach front property and serves some excellent sushi and beer. My fav was the Passion fruit Wisbeer (dubbed the Vietnamese radler).

Yes this is a brewery:

After dinner, we strolled back to the ocean to go to the fancy Sailing Club which hosts a huge Saturday night beach party complete with a DJ and dancefloor on the sand, flaming juggling performers and a whole slew of drunk Russians (one somehow ended quoted Borat to us).

We awoke way too early to the jackhammers next door. Today we took a bus to a beautiful local beach where lots of sun, shaded areas, lounge chairs, BBQ and beer (and sugar cane rum!) awaited us. A beautiful way to spend a few hours.

This lil kids butt was hanging out all day but didn't get in the way of his playing!

Upon returning, four (E, a Norwegian and a German) of us taxid to the mud bath spa! This was heavenly! We started with a group soak in a very liquidy mud (which was refreshing to our slightly burnt skin!) then a long soak in a mineral bath with fruit and water and then the 45 min foot and body massage! After a shower I felt good as new! And all of that was about $20! Tonight, it's off to Hoi An on the night train! We will be celebrating Erika's first Non-Blues Monday!

Erika has arrived!

Erika arrived! And she barely had a chance to breathe before we were off on a Mekong Delta tour. The Mighty Mekong runs from the peaks of Tibet, through China and into Laos, Thailand , Cambodia before finally diverting into nine estuaries along the flat plains of Vietnam. Over 17 million people in Vietnam alone rely on the Mekong for food, transport and jobs.

We took a boat ride to a bunch of different islands in the large river and discovered how to make coconut candy, rice wine and coconut rice paper. Erika tried it out and did a good job so we jokes she has a backup job opportunity in Vietnam if she needs it!

That night, we met our Gap group (basically one couple, one German guy and the rest girls!) and had dinner at the night market.

The next day, we met our bus early for our trip to the Cu Chi tunnels. We had the cutest old Vietnamese man as our guide and he was excellent! The tour was ok, we did get a feel for how they lived when trying to hide from the  Americans and got to crawl through some of the original tunnels, but it wasn't very authentic.

The tour ends with a incredibly bad movie filmed in 1967, complete with horrible black and white footage, that is so slighted with anti-American propaganda that it was ridiculous to watch in 2012.  We then found some yummy Indian food and foot massages and before we knew it, we were loading up for our night train. E and I shared a quad bay with the two Danish girls who are health and nutrition majors but taking a break before finishing their masters. It was a decent overnight train actually! Not Deutsche bahn but it'll do.

Moped-ology

Moped-ology:
The art and science of avoiding certain death while dodging the zillions of mopeds and their contents that include, but not limited to, entire families of five, refrigerators, live chickens, stacks of veggies and fruit, food carts, 10 ft long 2x2's and huge trash bags.

I've been on the back of two mopeds here (mainly just getting carted to dinner by whichever Vietnamese we are with) and hung on for dear life.  But for the most part, I've avoided these death traps. As some know, I donated a few layers of skin to the roads of Ibiza, Spain two years ago (and some more skin in a wreck in high school) so these two-wheeled vehicles of destruction and mayhem aren't really my friend. However, in order to walk anywhere in Vietnam, one has to learn the road-crossing skill necessary to avoid becoming road kill. Thankfully, Vi gave me a quick lesson on day one. You avoid cars, as they certainly aren't going to avoid you, and just keep walking slow and steady so the mopeds can guess your movements and go around you. However, you have to always look both directions cuz someone may be driving on the wrong side of the road. Oh and sidewalks are not safe either. It took many 'careful's coming from Vi to feel confident navigating the river of mopeds streaming by you but I've so far successfully mastered Dalats roads. Now on to the bigger cities! Wish me luck!

Think this would pass a fire department's child seat inspection?

My feet on a bike-carriage, surrounded by mopeds!

I love the wind in the kids hair. But he should be wearing a helmet!

My last two days as a local

For my last two days in Dalat, I spent one day working at a local orphanage for special kids. Although I'm not a kid person, it was fun to spend a day playing with them. As soon as I walked in, one girl gave me a big hug and another boy kept telling me 'sin gaow' (hello) all day.  Although there is a concern that these children are becoming tourist attractions in developing countries, this was definitely not that type of opportunity and I would absolutely avoid visiting one 'advertised' if I ever came across one.

In the evening, Lin, the lady who works at the front desk of my guesthouse, invited me to her house for dinner and English lessons with her daughter. It was so fun!  Her daughter is 15 and majoring in English at her gifted high school (the only one in the whole province and sounds hard to get in to). She is in class six days a week from 7 am til 6:30 pm (2 hr lunch break to go home) and sometimes she even has extra lessons until 9 pm! And then sometimes on Sundays too! Her English was excellent and it was fun to learn about her studies. Her father works for a Dutch company that exports Dalat fruits and vegetables to Holland and Germany.  Dinner included a variety of these fresh vegetables and it was amazing! The connection the Vietnamese have with their land and their food is impressive. Whereas I walk in to a supermarket and have no idea where my food actually comes from, these people know the regions and delicacies and seasons of their foods. Fresh and local is always better and they know that! After a yummy dinner, I listened to the daughter and father's excellent guitars playing! Such talent. It was a lovely evening!

On my last morning, Vi and I brought flowers and incense to the local Catholic cemetery where aborted and stillborn babies are buried. Catholicism is one of the many things (along with Eiffel Tower replicas) the French brought over. Vi told me that abortions are allowed at the local hospital but there are also groups that help prevent a women from choosing this option but thankfully, it's still an option though this is where the 'babies' are remembered.

We then walked back to the house she's staying at and spent some time with the mom of the household. I don't usually like coffee but I really like Dalat coffee (with milk)! Tastes like hot chocolate. We then helped her make yogurt which is one of my favorite foods so it was fun to learn how she makes it. Again, such a strong connection to their food whereas I've never even thought about how my favorite food is made! Below is the directions and pictures. Pretty simple so maybe I'll try it at home!

Da-ua (yogurt)

Ingredients:
5 liters fresh milk (the fresher the better, ours was milked this morning and delivered still warm!)
900 grams sugar
2-6 spoonfuls of yogurt (more = sweeter)

Bring to boil, stirring occasionally, then turn off heat. Fan the milk to cool it down. Strain the milk in to a gallon pitcher.

Pour in to small cups.

Stack in a bin and pour boiling water into a jug in the bin and close lid. Let sit for about 10 hours. Then put in fridge overnight to solidify. Makes 110 4 oz cups of yogurt. Yum!

(The finished product is on the left. The other two are the milk before its undergone the yogurt-step)

After a run (probably my last til Germany as I'm sure not running in 90+ with 90% humidity like the rest of SEA!), massage and packing, I met Vi to take her to dinner for her birthday (it's tomorrow) and coffee with our local friends (Theo from our first hike and Then from her house). What a wonderful last night in Dalat but I sure am excited for the next leg of adventures!

Pasteur Clinic observations

Privacy? None. New patients just walk in to the doctors office and take a seat while she's still talking to the current patient. HIPPA monitors would have a fit! I'll be in the middle of sticking a patient and someone will reach over and drop their papers on the desk. There's really no sense of a line or waiting their turn but it doesn't seem to bother anyone else, just me!

Gloves? With known hepatitis patients? None. But they insisted I wear a mask for everything, even a vaccination which has very low splash risk.

Rabies- Very few people get the vaccines to prevent rabies as they cost 210,0000 dong ($10) each for three and they don't understand the need. But if bit by any of the gazillion stray dogs roaming the streets, they're treated based on the dog (if known or stray, dead or alive after 2 weeks) and that is when a visit to the clinic happens. Vi told me there is no concept of trying to prevent it by rounding up stray dogs or educating the public on the health risks (guess that's my public health mindset thinking!).

Diabetes- The doctor manages a shockingly large number of cases she told me. Approx 90% are type 2 which surprised me since it's a pretty thin country and with a diet of rice, veggies, noodles and fruit (and only 1 store sells m&ms), they seem to eat pretty healthy.  The clinic stocks home glucose monitors even.

HPV vaccines- Gardasil and cervicax are given to women in their teens and 20s (90% of women 9-25) and older women who want it even. Women get paps every 6 months though Vi says most women don't actually do it that often. They start at 18 regardless of any other factors. I was happy to hear that women seem to be getting their health needs met for the most part.

Adventure Weekend!

I finally had a full two days off so was pretty excited to do an adventure weekend with Groovy Gecko. The weather and my health may have not wanted me to (rainy and with a lil but of a cold) but I pressed on with my plans and had a great weekend. On Saturday, I trekked the three peaks in one day hike with an Irishman and two Swedes. As we made it to the top of Lang Biang peak at 2100 meters, we experienced fog, wind and rain but it didn't spoil our hike, just the views. It was a nice long hike and I enjoyed amazing jungle-like terrain. We ended at a minority village and meandered past a wedding, kids playing soccer in a church and a very talented lady weaving blankets, bags etc and so I finally bought a Dalat souvenir of a handmade small case. I'm trying to limit my purchases (trying to keep my bag to 12 kg max!) but I was happy to have a local keepsake.

On Sunday, I joined the Irishmen again and three Germans (it was fun hearing German again... Even if I still don't understand what they're saying!) for the canyoning trip. Now I really would've liked it to be warmer today as we spent a lot of the time in and out of the water so it did get quite cold but usually my adrenaline kept me warm as we did some really crazy stuff! We first practiced rappelling and then rappeled down a few rocks, jumped off some cliffs (including a 7 meter, 22 foot jump!), slid down some natural watersides and basically just enjoyed playing in the water. The two really tricky abseiling parts were also the most exhilarating. The first was walking down a waterfall which was crazy enough as the water is pummeling you while you're trying not to slip and then you run out of rope and have to just drop about 15 feet in to the water. The last one was the scariest as you rapel off an overhang and free-rapel down through the waterfall that's hitting you from the side and the drop and get carried out in a pretty swift current. Its called the Washing Machine for a reason! It was an incredibly fun trip but I really looked forward to a hot shower and a good nights rest!

Blessings for the New Clinic!

This is a busy week for the Pasteur Clinic as they are moving over the weekend to a new building so that major renovations to the current building can be completed over the next 4 months. They are expanding and adding a second floor and will have lots more space for each clinic function. They are also adding more exam rooms and will be able to perform women's health exams. So on Wednesday, the clinic hosted all the big wigs at the neighboring Pasteur Institute research building and did a ground-breaking ceremony complete with a blessing altar set up with incense, fruits and fake money (including dollar bills!). These blessing altars are set up for all big life events and holidays and I've seen many around town. We then shared mangos, pastries and a weird drink from a can (Vi couldn't translate what it was). The main Director speaks English and was very nice to introduce me to all the other directors and even said they'll need a nurse upon completion and I'm welcome to come back. I thanked him profusely for hid kindness but don't think I'll be sending in an application. But it was fun to be part of the ceremony! At the end, all the items in the blessing altar were burned. And yes, I am at least 6-8 inches taller than all the Vietnamese women here so I look like a giant in the group picture!

Valentines in Vietnam!

I decided to officially call off this years Valentines Day since I was without my lovely friends or family to do partner yoga, paraglide, dance on tables or get drunk with (all some of my few favorite Valentines memories of recent years).  But the flower ladies lining the streets and HBOs lineup of Valentines Day, Made of Honor, Letters to Juliet and Twilight made it hard to forget. Vi wasn't feeling well so we didn't meet up for dinner so I walked downtown to get my favorite meal: mango chicken! I ended up sharing a table with a very interesting old French man whose son married a Cambodian girl and lives there so he has spent almost a year total of the last three years in SE Asia. He teaches engineering to many Vietnamese students too. It was a fabulous dinner conversation and was an excellent evening. The heart picture above is an origami piece that Vi made out of the 500 dong bill (which is worth like 5 cents or something tiny). Hope everyone enjoyed a day with loved ones of all types! And a special happy anniversary to my parents whose 37 years of marriage is inspiring. I can't even stay in the same country for 37 days lol ;)

Bike to Mui Ne!

I broke my Sunday hike tradition to bike to the coast! I joined up with three fun British physical therapists for the early morning departure with Groovy Gecko tours. We drove about an hour and a half to our starting point (which was slowed down since we got stuck behind a funeral procession on the way to the graveyard which was interesting to quite interesting to see!). Then we set up our bikes and we were off! Since. We are starting high and descending over 900 meters, most of the biking was an exercise in brake grip strength versus leg muscles but it was an exhilarating ride! We also passed a minority village. Our bike guide explained that most minority's aren't recognized by the Vietnamese government and there are very rare instances where someone marries outside of the village. As if on cue, we passed a traditional wedding and the bride's white gown looked beautiful but slightly out of place in the dusty surroundings. The hilly jungle terrain was beautiful as we raced down the narrow road until we finally reached the flat roads leading towards the coast where we stopped for lunch. They served up some yummy sandwiches, fresh fruit and veggies and sugar cane juice! The juice basically consisted of the shop owner running long sugar cane sticks through a grinder that squeezes out the juice. A perfect refresher to combat the rising heat and humidity since we were out of the cool comfort of Dalat's higher altitudes. After lunch we biked an easy but warm 15 km more past a lot of small villages where the kids rushed to the street to say an English 'hello'. It felt like a parade and we were the main attraction. After a little drive, we reached Mui Ne which is a beautiful Oceanside resort town. I almost wished I was staying with the Brit's as we left them at a tropical resort (which was costing the three of them $26 a night for their room! Cheap!) I climbed back in the van with our driver and bike guide and casually asked them when we'd be home thinking it'd be about an hours drive along a shorter route like the tour booked told me. I was shocked to discover it was a 4 hr drive along the same route we came! So I kinda got 'misled' but enjoyed the stop for fresh seafood and the sunset over the hills as we rose back up to Dalat. It was a long but fun day!