Good Morning Vietnam!
Friday, Feb. 6, 2009https://www.accountonline.com/cards/svc/OutsideView.do?forward=Index&siteId=AC&langId=EN
Good morning Vietnam!
(After seeing that hilarious Robin Williams movie, I always wanted to be able to wake up one morning and say this so that’s exactly what I did my first morning in Saigon).
We’ve been exploring Vietnam for more than a week now and we can safely say that this country has surpassed all of our expectations. After meeting a group of travellers in Myanmar who had some pretty negative things to say about Vietnam, we began to wonder if we’d made a good decision to come here. We quickly realized that everyone has different tastes and that the people we met were looking for historic archeological sites without a tourist in sight (which you can easily find in Myanmar) rather than the refined culture and European inspired architecture found in Vietnam.
The diversity of sites and activities available in Vietnam is astounding and the food is by far the best in Southeast Asia. We couldn’t have been happier to finally find a place that serves fresh green vegetables and to take a break from fried rice and noodles! We took a half day cooking class that has inspired me to explore Montreal’s Chinatown more often and spend my Saturdays at Marche Jean Talon rather than at Le Cartet or Olive et Gourmando (yes, I know that’s a stretch but I’ve decided that 2009 is the year that I’ll finally learn to cook!). We learned how to make three different types of spring rolls, green papaya salad, shrimp pancakes rolled in lettuce, fish cooked in banana leaves and much more. We’re beginning to wonder why we don’t have more Vietnamese restaurants in Montreal – it’s an unbelievably fresh and healthy type of cuisine.
We began our tour of Vietnam in Saigon (recently renamed Ho Chi Mihn City in honor of a famous general), a city that amazed us with its beautiful architecture but that also saddened us with its tragic history of war when we visiting the incredible 200 km maze of underground tunnels built by the North Vietnamese guerrillas to hide from the Americans during the Vietnam War. Visiting the war museum and witnessing the atrocious impact of the chemical Agent Organge on generations of Vietnamese children made us appreciate even more how lucky we are to live in Canada. We also learned how to walk around hoardes of motorbikes on busy streets with no traffic lights without getting run over!
In Hoi An, the beautiful UNESCO World Heritage town located by the powdery beaches of the South China Sea, we visited hundreds of craft shops selling everything from paintings to silk scarves, jewellery, embroidered pillows, made to measure suits, laquerware plates and marble statues. Needless to say, we bought quite a few souvenirs but without breaking the bank since bargain is one of the first English words that the Vietnamese learn.
In Hue, we explored the old Imperial City where dynasties of kings lived with their up to 150 wives and hundreds of children (!!!) and built pagoda after temple to help accumulate merit for themselves before they passed away to ensure they wouldn’t be reincarnated as a lowly animal like a rat or frog in their next life.
We arrived in Hanoi yesterday, the beautiful capital city of Vietnam where up to 10 people live in the same tiny house just so they can be in the heart of the historic Old Quarter where craft shops abound and business is booming. Tomorrow we head to Halong Bay for an overnight boat cruise to visit the beautiful limestone mountains of this World Heritage Site.
Wishing you a beautiful day and hoping that you will have the opportunity to visit this fascinating country one day!
Cristelle and Odette
Phuket, Thailand
Thursday, Jan. 29, 2009
Dear friends and family,
For the past 6 days, I have had the pleasure of travelling with my wonderful mom Odette in the beach paradise that is Phuket in Thailand. After a sad goodbye to Rabih that I’m already missing like crazy, I met my mom at the Bangkok airport for our short, 1 hour flight to Phuket. Our hotel was located in an area called Ko Lak, which is nestled between the turquoise colored Andaman Sea and several lush tropical forests teeming with monkeys, elephants and waterfalls.
While we could have spent the entire time lounging on the beautiful beaches and soaking in the sun, Ko Lak was the perfect base for several days of adventure so we pretty much didn’t stop moving until today’s flight back to Bangkok and onward to Ho Chi Mihn City in Vietnam. We biked on country roads to visit waterfalls, did pilates on a secluded beach taught by a former male Moulin Rouge dancer, snorkeled around 3 of the 9 world famous Similan Islands, visited mangrove swamps by traditional pleat boat, and went sea canoeing in caves around the animal-shaped limestone mountains of Phang Nga Bay.
While the natural landscapes and wide range of activities here were impressive, I can safely say that Phuket’s beaches are no more impressive than Bavaro Beach in Punta Cana, for example. We truly are lucky in Montreal to be so close to such beautiful Carribean beaches. We were told that the beaches around the Andaman Sea used to be much whiter and softer but were destroyed by the tsunami, which is why there were so many rocks and seashells on the now beige-colored beaches.
We’re now at the Bangkok airport about to board our flight for Ho Chi Mihn City (aka Saigon). We’re both very excited to explore another country and taste what we heard is the best food in Asia. We even have a Vietnamese cooking class planned in just a few days!
Wishing you all a wonderful day and sending lots of sunshine your way!
xoxoxo Cristelle
Dubai to Bankok
Saturday, Jan. 3, 2009
Dear friends,
Well it’s been quite a week so far for us – one of contradictions and contrasts. We began our adventure in what is likely the world’s most excessive city (Dubai) filled with 7 star hotels, $400 lunches (based on being on the top floor of the Burj Al Arab and could see Palm island and The World islands from our table) and partying yet not being able to wear shorts above the knee or even kiss in public!
Our New Year’s party was awesome – Grandmaster Flash was the guest DJ so we grooved to old school hip hop all night. We partied like it was 1999 and stayed up all night to catch a 9:00 a.m. flight to Bangkok (luckily, we made it on time and even got upgraded to business class, no charge!).
Bangkok, on the other hand, is full of amazing street culture, which has been a whirlwind for the senses…from ultra-modern skytrains and shopping malls to the mazes of street stalls and homeless people, dogs and cats in the old part of town (where we’re staying, of course!), this is a place of so much contrast. Our dinners are cheaper than a one-way metro ride.
You guys would be proud, Rabih even had a beer at 10:30 a.m. while touring the canals of Bangkok by longtail boat (we bought the beer from a “floating market” aka a woman selling stuff from her tiny boat)!
Now we’re off to Yangon, the capital of Myanmar (former Burma), the place they call the Wild Wild West of the East and authentic Asia as it was 25 years ago. We may not have much e-mail access in this country so our next message may only come through from Cambodia in about 12 days.
Wishing you all a WONDERFUL NEW YEAR filled with love, health and happiness!
All our love,
xoxoxo Cristelle and Rabih
