Phu Quoc, Vietnam

After Angkor, it was a quick flight to HCM and then off to an island called Phu Quoc.  Pretty standard beach life here.  We did some squid fishing, which was interesting.  Unfortunately, yours truly didn’t manage to catch a squid.  One companion caught an octopus!  I did manage to catch a fish, but it won’t be winning any poundage awards.  The island was mostly a nice place to chill with few people on beaches.   The picture below with the frog was taken at a restaurant on the beach.  I sat and kept feeling something squirming under my foot.  As I lifted it, he hoped out and burrowed himself in a new hole.  I felt bad for invading his home!  We took an opportunity to motor-scooter around the island.  Driving a scooter was both exciting and a little scary – and unfortunately one of our companions had a little scuffle with hers.  Thankfully, everything worked out fine.  After Phu Quoc it was a quick jump back to HCM and then return to HK.

Here are just a few pictures.  Several posts back I put up links to a large number of vacation pictures – so search those out if you’d like to see more.

Pajama Party

Shu Lan asked me to post pictures of the Vietnamese ‘pajamas’ and said that everyone would probably enjoy seeing them.  Yes, techinically they are not pajamas – as Shu Lan said, Oh my mom wore those all the time until she found Dillard’s – and my jealousy of not being able to wear bright colored,  loose fitting clothing is definitely showing.  But, here they are in all their glory:

Leaving Vietnam…

The next set of posts will leave Vietnam for a while and head to Cambodia. 

Children…

I had a whirlwind tour through the Mekong Delta.  I didn’t get to see some cities I hoped, but that’s ok.  Always leave an area with something left to see so that you have a reason to return, right?  Well, the Delta tour ended with a visit to a ‘minority’ village. 

Children selling stuff is really common in Vietnam and Cambodia.  With the combination of ridiculously low prices and insane cuteness – these little kids are a marketers dream.  It is nearly impossible to say no to them.  But, every now and then you get to have fun with them through the entire process.  At the village, several kids were selling cakes.  Signs and guides warned not to buy or eat the cakes, since they might make you sick.  One friend pointed out that they probably use water from the Mekong to make them.  While the Mekong is mighty impressive to travel upon, I shall not be taking swigs from it anytime soon. 

One little girl [below, the one in blue] talked to me.  When I said I didn’t want a cake, she said, ‘Maybe later.  You promise to only buy from me, ok?‘  So, I promised.  This, was a brilliant strategy.  Every child who came up to me, I could just point to the girl in blue and say, Oh, I’m sorry but I promised that little girl I’d only buy from her.  This made the little girl in blue’s day, she smiled really big.  As she followed me around, we chatted about different things.  I asked her name, how old she was, if she went to school.  She seemed to really like just talking too. 

When I returned to our group, I saw one of my friends had several cakes.  He said, I’m going to go broke here.  I said, ‘ You have to have a heart of stone.’  Then he replied, You can’t spare a dollar dude?  And I realized that this little girl had followed me around the entire time our group arrived, forgoing potiential other sales.  So, I walked back over and I said, ‘I only want two cakes’ [she had offered 4 to 6 at different points of the afternoon].  Suddenly, she looked really sad.  She handed me the two cakes, took the dollar and looked at it.  She offered me more cakes, but I declined.  Still, she looked really sad.  Thankfully, a child’s unhappiness is short lived as I saw her a little while later chatting and laughing with a friend.  She smiled and waved goodbye when I left.   This short introduction was just a preview of my struggles with an  entrepreneurial child.

Mekong Delta

So, I saw a lot of stuff in HCM city – but the majority was touristy standard items.  I won’t bore you with history or relics of momentous importance, instead I’ll dive right into the next major phase of the trip.  We were in a rush to get to Phenom Penh to meet a friend, so we booked a Mekong Delta tour.  I hate tours.  Constantly shuttled from one shitty ‘authentic’ place to the next, you don’t really see anything and you get suckered into buying stuff you don’t want.  In truth, this tour was much of the same thing.  The difference, though, was I expected it and mentally braced myself for minor frustration. 

I’m saddened that I cannot write the beauty that is the Mekong.  My prose will simply come across as: The river is pretty.  I sat in a boat and floated down seeing life along the banks.    I’m no poet and that prose just makes the Mekong seem like any other boring river.  So, the lame approach [but more enjoyable for you] is to show photos:

Learning to cook

So, in Ho Chi Minh City [nowafter only titled HCM] we saw a lot – Reunification Palace, the War Remnants Museum, markets and bazaars, temples and churches – but the coolest thing I did was take a Vietnamese cooking class.  It was also the most delicious food we ate during the entire Vietnamese phase of the trip.  Obviously, I’m just THAT good of a cook.  Cooking is also a blast when everything is prepared for you, cut and ready to go, and you don’t have to clean up afterward.  

We learned how to make fish/chili sauce, spring rolls, carmelized pork, coconut rice, and sweet and sour soup.  I even got a little certificate and a cook book at the end of it all.  Really, a grand little start to a wonderful day.  Here are some pics:

I recommend checking the place out if you are in HCM.  Here is their website.  It is a little pricey [34 USD] for Vietnam, but grand fun and humorous if you go with a group.  After the class, I asked about a good place to get coffee.  The hostess looked at me sheepishly and said, “Um… all the places near here are really small.”  I encouraged her and said it was ok.  She directed us toward the coffee shops and we set off.  We walked down the road and came out to a street, confused at how we missed the shops.  By small, she meant these are people’s homes that happen to serve coffee.  We awkwardly went up to one and the ushered us in friendly like.  As we sat, we realized we were sitting in someone’s living room.  She prepared the coffee and we laughed as we realized we were breaking every rule in the guidebooks – drinking local water, eating ice, who knows what being brought to us in the form of snacks.  If a stomach ailment was coming, it was coming early on this trip. But, the family was super friendly, excited to see us, and the coffee was delicious.  They say buy local, and I doubt you get much more local than drinking coffee in a random person’s home.  Here it is:

An aside, when googling the Vietnam Cooking Center website I found this blog about a guy’s experience there compared to learning to cook with his Vietnamese mother.  There are also some cool photos at his blog.  The menu seems to change, so check ahead.  He also writes about Pho 24, one of the worst pho places I have eaten at.  But, as he points out – free air con and wifi makes up for the pricey and mediocre food.

Rethinking the mini van…

Before I launch into the touristy fun I had in Vietnam and Cambodia, I thought I’d post two of my favorite photos in the entire trip.  The scooter has a following in Asia unlike anywhere else.  People use it to cart goods, carry furniture, and to mobilize the entire family.  They do all of this with skill that is simply impressive and awing.  That said, sometimes it ends in disaster.  But, here are two pictures that just make my day when I relook at them.  It took me forever to capture some families on scooters – so these two are actually from Cambodia:

This isn’t an unfamiliar sight in Vietnam either.   The most I ever saw was 5 people on one bike in Vietnam.  Dad driving, little kid in front of him, little kid behind, Mom at rear holding a baby.  One of my companions saw one mother breastfeeding on the back of one of these things.  Also, though these pictures show people without helmets – that is the rarity.  It seems that most people rock helmets – even if they don’t have them on the kiddos.

The land of pajamas and scooters…

Vietnam is the land of pajamas.  Seriously, I’ve never seen so many pajama wearers.  I have also never seen so many scooters.  Here’s a pic:

That’s right – on the sidewalk.  Normally, I hate scooters because they drive where I’m trying to walk, honking at me and making me wish I had a large stick to shove in their wheel.  For some reason, these seemed to bother me less.  Perhaps it was because I was mildly expected to walk in the street, so I felt there wasn’t a clear boundary of street/walk space.  Maybe it was the fact that these drivers can actually control their scooters?  Either way, while China may have claim to the most insane traffic I’ve ever seen, Vietnam could definitely give them a run for their money.  At least in Vietnam, however, there seem to be some rules.  For example, crossing the street takes a leap of faith.  The cross traffic will never stop.  They don’t even stop for the other cross traffic.  So, you step out and just keep walking.  You get honked at, but it is more of a friendly ‘Hey i’m here just so you know’ blip honk than a ‘Hey $@&#, move now fool!’ blare. Somehow, each time it feels like a minor miracle, you emerge on the other side perfectly fine as the drivers simply zip and glide around you.  Try that in China, and you’ll be dead. Vietnam seems to have a handle on organized chaos; though, I did see several, most likely deadly, accidents on this trip. 

Unfortunately, that picture doesn’t have pajamas in it.  But, all the ladies wear these outfits that, while not officially pajamas, would pass as nothing else in the US.  Everyone looked comfy in their pants and shirts, but seriously – pajamas?  I know, I know – my jealousy is limitless.

Next up, what I actually did in Vietnam and some Mekong Delta stuff!