Chris and Paula’s World

A Year in Review

Hi Everyone,

We arrived in Bangkok from Hanoi last Friday. I don’t know if Chris’ post mentioned, but I have pneumonia and it has put more than a bit of a drag into the holiday season. We spent $400 at a clinic (thankfully we have travellers’ insurance) for chest x-rays and bloodwork to find out that my bronchitis never quite went away and that it resurfaced as its ugly cousin, pneumonia. I was prescribed bad ass anitbiotics and rest and I am just starting to feel more alive. This morning we decided to go to a computer mall and by the time we got there, I had to head back to the hotel. Not fun. As the days go on and the antibiotics do their job I feel I am getting better. It has been a long week for me and no doubt, even longer for Chris.

Thinking back on the year, I can’t believe how much we have done, seen, eaten and spent. What a year of contrasts in terms of the places we have visited, the people we have met, and our own feelings about all of it. There are times when I have never felt so excited and then times when I have never felt so bored. I feel really thankful that we have had such an awesome chance to do a trip like this, and I have mixed feelings about it almost being over.

In the spirit of New Years Eve I am going to list my 2007 highlights.

Getting engaged on the sand dunes, Erg Chebbi, Morocco
Hot air ballooning over Cappadocia, Turkey
Elephant bath time, Chitwan National Park, Nepal
Donkey ride to Valley of the Kings, Egypt
Getting to know the students at Kilimehewa school, Moshi Tanzania
Walking around in the ancient markets of Damascus and Aleppo, Syria
The beautiful food in Florence
Everest Flight, Kathmandu Nepal
Taj Mahal, Agra India - the gorgeous colours of saris against the milky white marble

I’m sure there are more, but these were the ones that come to mind immediately. It has also been a big year for a lot of our friends at home. There have been some big changes and we are looking forward to seeing new homes, new babies, new puppies, and hearing about new jobs, new romances and other exciting events that have happened since we’ve been gone.

Anyhow, I hope that everyone had a very happy Christmas. Best wishes for the new year and we’ll see you all soon.

xoxo
Paula

Christmas in Hanoi

Well today is Christmas and even in Hanoi the madness it brings is apparent. Late last night I took a quick trip out of our Hotel room only to find shopping madness all around. For a country that is only about 10% christian (catholic), they certainly love to shop it up and put on the Santa costumes.

Paula is sick so she is sticking pretty close to bed trying to get better. I have been running errands and exploring Hanoi’s Old Quarter a bit. This morning we took a few minutes and opened up the stockings we had assembled for each other. Because we spend SO much time together, we had to purposefully take an hour or two apart a few days ago so we could get some things for each other.

Paula bought me some coffee that is supposedly run through a weasel’s digestive system before being packaged…YUMMM! And a little Vietnamese style coffee filter rig. The coffee here is very good. I also have a nice new “333″ tshirt. 333 is the beer out here. Some snazzy DVDs - Battlestar Galactica Season 3 and Star Trek Original Series, Seasons 1-3. WOO!

I picked up a nice silk robe for Paula, some candy and a somewhat tight Tiger beer tank top and a few other little goodies.

Christmas, even in Vietnam!

Merry Christmas everyone, we miss everyone much, especially over these few days.

xoxoxo

More photos: http://www.chrisandpaulasworld.com/photos/v/vietnam/.

Halong Bay

Paula and I took an overnight trip out to Halong Bay on Sunday to see what it is all about. It turns out to be a magical bay full of limestone karsts. A beautiful place indeed. They surround you as far as the eye can see in every direction. Our trip was onboard a beautiful Junk called the Santa Maria. It had 8 rooms, each with a bathroom and air con! Not that we needed air con, it was pretty dreary and cool but did not rain, thank goodness. Anyhow, it was a wonderful way to spend a night. Next day we got up, I went kayaking and swimming while Paula rested (she was feeling a little sick from a cold that won’t give up). By afternoon we were back on our way to Hanoi for Christmas Eve..

More about Halong Bay

More photos: http://www.chrisandpaulasworld.com/photos/v/vietnam/.

Loving Vietnam - Pho Sho

HI!

We are in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), formerly known as Saigon, Vietnam. We continue to be impressed by Vietnam! The streets are literally filled with motor bikes, I have never seen so many bikes in one place. Crossing the street takes some getting used to, however with our previous training we seem to be managing well. Cars and motor bikes just seem to veer around you while you cross, Frogger-like. I was taken by the arm today by a tiny old lady who seemed to be looking out for me while we crossed. Once across I wasn’t quite sure who was leading whom, but I think it was her. HCMC has car taxis and motor bike taxis (”motos”). We have been travelling by foot and moto and the more you ride around on a motor bike, the more you feel a part of this city. A mandatory helmet law just came into effect today so rides feel a little safer, though the helmets are teensy - I have a great picture of Chris wearing a tiny green helmet. Not so sure that it would provide much protection, but definitely sure that it provided some smiles and laughs as his taxi wove through traffic. I rode with Goggles Paizano yesterday, literally over curbs, on the sidewalk, through opposite traffic - all before the helmet laws came into effect today. I got off the bike shaky in the knees but otherwise A-OK with a great trip memory.

We visited the War Remnants Museum and the Reunification Palace yesterday. They certainly didn’t hold any sad or gruesome detail back about the war here. It never ceases to amaze me seeing the horrible stuff that a country can go through and get past. We are so lucky in Canada.

Today we visited China town and saw some amazing pagodas. These pagodas are a mixture of several religions including Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism. Like Cambodia, it isn’t rare here to see small shrines set up with a Buddha, some Chinese figures (at least one of which I am assuming to be Confucius), and sometimes even a Mary statue. Most of the times they have sticks of incense burning, a pile of fruit and a few cups of water, all lit nicely with twinkly lights or christmas bulbs. After China town we went to a local bar where they screen movies all day long. It was a nice break from the crazy hot sun and humidity. We watched Beowulf while drinking iced coffees. Not a bad way to spend a couple of hours on a hot Saturday. The movie wasn’t so hot, but the seats were comfy and the room cool.

Everywhere people are friendly and welcoming. People driving by on bikes will greet us, and today while my moto trailed Chris’, I saw a guy give Chris a thumbs up! People on the street seem quick to offer a hello, or a smile and kids everywhere wave at tourists. The food continues to be great, and pho has become our breakfast of choice. Like in Thailand, a bowl of noodle soup is cheap and tasty, served with a plate of fresh garnishes including basil, corriander, thinly sliced onions, hot peppers, a piece of lime and sprouts. So good.

We are heading to Nha Trang tomorrow for a couple of days on the beach on the way to Hanoi. Vietnam is a very long country - from south to north it is a 31 hour train ride!! We are taking the bus for this leg of the journey and we’ll figure it out from there. We want to be in Hanoi by the 22nd of December and have a couple of stops on the way there.

I hope everyone is having a good holiday season. It doesn’t feel much like Christmas where we are, but that’s ok. We’ll be thinking of everyone at home and missing you all.

We’ll upload some photos soon.

Bye!

Paula
xoxo

First thoughts on Vietnam

Hello!

We crossed from Cambodia to Vietnam yesterday. It was a nice border crossing, a boat rather than a dusty bus for a change. From Phnom Penh it took about 4 hours to get to Chau Doc including dealing with border issues. Chau Doc is a nice town near the border and for most of the way there (on the Vietnam side of the border) the river is lined with homes both on stilts and floating. Immediately on crossing you begin to see women wearing the triangular shaped straw hat that you associate with Vietnam. There is also a marked increase of two wheeled vehicles both bikes and motor bikes. Not unlike the majority of places we have been, kids are shrewd business people here. The young girls at the border carrying buckets of cold drinks had an uncanny way of getting pretty well everyone to buy. No Vietnam dong yet? No worries as a 12 year old girl carrying a stack of money is the foreign exchange pro! Dong is 16,000 to 1USD… meaning that I will be carrying a calculator everywhere I go.

Today we took a minibus to Can Tho, another town along the river in the Mekong Delta. We have arranged to take an 8 hour tour tomorrow with a woman on her boat. From Can Tho you can explore the biggest floating market in the Mekong Delta. Things start early in Vietnam. We are meeting her at 5:30 a.m. and heading to the river. Apparently by 9 a.m. the market has pretty well fizzled for the day. From the market we will head through a mangrove forest and some very narrow canals, and visit a fruit orchard as well. I am looking forward to that. We are both hoping to sample durian (a scary looking and smelling fruit that supposedly tastes like custard), as well as some other unidentifiable fruits that we have seen in the markets. Fruit markets here are like paint pallets.

So far we have a great impression of Vietnam. We’ve had some beautiful food including prawns in mango sauce, awesome spring rolls, chicken steamed in beer, and hot pot. The people here are super friendly. Not since Tanzania have so many people (kids especially) said hello, smiled, waved, etc. The heat is rather oppressive so far, though I think that our tolerance to heat has gone up. It feels like it could rain at any moment as the humidity is very high and it has been overcast. Vietnam is green, green, green and water is everywhere. We have been surprised to see stores stocking so much Christmassy stuff - in particular Santa suits, which seem to be on sale in every third store you pass. It is 10% Catholic in this country so obviously there are locals celebrating, though I do wonder how much is driven by tourists.

Thats all I have to report for now.

Hope that all is well at home.

xoxo
Paula

Phnom Penh

Hello!

We have been in Cambodia’s capital city, Phnom Penh for the last four days. We are getting ready to take a boat to Vietnam tomorrow. The plan is to spend a few days in the Mekong Delta before heading to Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon).

Cambodia has had a sad political history and has rebounded since the genocide that devastated the country in the early to mid 1970’s. We went to The Tuol Sleng (S-21) Genocide Museum where we learned more about the sad history of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge. Tuol Sleng was a school that was converted into a prison where 20,000 people over a 3-4 year span were held, starved and tortured prior to being moved to killing fields where they were executed. Out of 20,000 there were 7 survivors. During the genocide 2.5 million Cambodians were exterminated, primarily people living in Phnom Penh (city dwellers) and professionals. We also visited the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek 15km outside of Phnom Penh. There were hundreds of such places throughout Cambodia, and in total 19,000 mass graves. These fields have been converted into a memorial site. There is a stupa on the site that is literally a tower of the skulls that were excavated from graves found on the site. A very powerful memorial.

We’ve spent the rest of the time doing more sight seeing and hanging out at some really cool local markets.

Again I have had to visit a medical clinic. I’ve had the lower half of me cured and now it seems I have a problem in my upper half! I have bronchitis and am back on antibiotics. Interestingly, the same medication I was prescribed in Nepal ($4 for the pills) was $33 here. That aside, I am on the mend and feeling a lot better despite a nagging cough.

Next update will be from Vietnam. Hope all is well at home. I’ve been really wishing for a glass of rum and eggnog, and some Christmas cheer. Have a glass for us…well, for me at least, Chris hates eggnog — you can just have the rum for him.

xoxo
Paula

Made it to Cambodia!

Hi!

We are in Siem Reap, Cambodia now. We decided to cut our time in Thailand into two parts as we were hoping to be there to ring in the New Year. Thought we would be doing that on a beach somewhere but have discovered how truly busy the beaches in Thailand are in high season. Instead of keeping up our search we were both happy to land on Bangkok for NYE. We both really loved the city and have booked ourselves into a swish hotel for a few nights. This is the first New Years Eve in a while where we’ve had confirmed plans so early! Ah, the lure of a posh hotel… some things it seems don’t change.

When we left Bangkok we headed to the beach. We spent 4 or 5 nights on Koh Chang, a beautiful island on the south east coast of Thailand about 5 hours from Bangkok and close to Cambodia. It was nice to be back on a sandy, hot beach and we are happy to have tan lines again. We stayed on Lonely Beach which is a bit of a misnomer, as it was quite busy with travellers and our “resort” played loud house music late into the wee hours (I’m talkin’ 4 a.m.). It definitely won’t win a prize for favorite accommodation on the trip but we were within steps of the beach and the Thai massage ladies so all was well. Though they were lazy days we did manage a couple of day trips to neighbouring beaches (and were glad to see that we had lucked out on the best of them) as well as a couple of trips to a village called Bang Bao for some excellent seafood. Bang Bao is a fishing town that is built on stilts in the ocean. I don’t think that we have had a fresher local catch in a while - not since our meal of crab from my cousin’s boat in Newfoundland. All in all it was a good time.

From Koh Chang we took a ferry to Trat which was where we had left mainland Thailand. We stayed in a guesthouse called POP which we agreed was among the best places we have stayed on the trip. Great rooms, super comfy bed, clean and cool. We also liked Trat alot with a great night market where we ate some awesome Thai food washed down with Chang and Singha beer. From Trat we booked a van to Cambodia. The bus trip is unfortunately not a great goodbye to Thailand OR welcome to Cambodia. The Lonely Planet warns travellers about these buses being scams — they basically take so long to get to the destination that you are so exhausted when you get there you agree to stay at the guest house that the driver conveniently owns. We ended up on such a bus/van. We left at 10 a.m. and ended up getting into Siem Reap at about 10 p.m. — 3 hours late. We had not scheduled a place to stay but happily refused the very pushy tout who would not relent on trying to sell his guesthouse. After the first 2 places we tried were full we began to get nervous, but we found a good place - and for $15USD a fairly good deal. Interestingly, in Cambodia they seem to prefer the US dollar, which isn’t a shock I suppose when approx 4000 Riel = $1USD. We thought we were being clever by trying to pay in Riel - they told us our room was $45 USD for three nights, and of course that equals to approx 179,500 Riel!! Gets a little heavy in the pockets, but added to that we discovered that ATMs give USD, not their local currency!

We hired a tuk-tuk and guide to take us to Angkor Wat today. What an incredible place! I don’t have the camera with me to upload any photos, but Google it, it is really amazing. It is a huge site, much bigger than I had imagined, and Angkor Wat is one of the major sites but there are many other temples to explore as well. There are Buddhist and Hindu temples, some a bit of both, but Angkor Wat itself was built in the early 12th Century as a Hindu temple for the god Vishnu. We visited Ta Prohm, one of the only temples that has been basically left to the jungle. It is amazing to see an ancient temple literally in the grips of massive tree roots and vines that have wound their way over, under, and through huge stone walls, statues, and doorways. Work has been done to prevent further deterioration but you really get a sense of the power of nature but also of the strength of these structures to endure! There are literally trees straddling the temple, and these are MASSIVE trees, not little bushes or ivy vines! It is beautiful.

That’s all I have to report for now. We will be visiting some floating markets in the country side tomorrow and possibly head back to Angkor Wat for sunset. Hope all is well at home.

xoxo
Paula