It appears that in HCM city that the sidewalks are not for walking but are for the most part an extension of the work areas of the stores or a place to park you scooters. As you can see Aja was not too impressed, on going for walk just to see the sights along the sidewalks with her dad who kept stopping. As well we had to continually step out into traffic as we weaved our way around the many workers, rebuilding motors, upholstering cars making boxes and a vast number of other entertaining things to watch as we tried to move around the city...I thought it was great fun in itself meandering along the sidewalks. 'Sidewalks' journeys should be treated as an adventure in itself. So if you want to go anywhere in a hurry you should definitely stay off the sidewalks because getting places is what the scooter taxis are for.
This is a great shop in Ho Chi Minh city that brother Thomas took us to... it is full of model boats from all era's of human navel navigation. Apparently to ensure the accuracy of each particular vessel each of the ships is made by only one family. These guys that run the shop know their stuff.... They asked us where we were from and when we said Canada they listed off all the famous old and new ships, and even corrected uncle Thom (which is almost impossible to do) about whether one of the ships was from the Atlantic or the Pacific based on the number and jib of the sails the aweigh and the backstay.... For a couple of foreign, land locked, lubber's these city boys were really impressive with their knowledge of the hundreds of boats in their shops... they could sit with any salty or wan-a-be salty like papa and knaw away the hours with sailing tales. 'Avast' says I as I realized that the only sailing terms I know appear to have come from pirate movies or Popeye. So I added little to the conversation except to add ballast weight as a delighted observer... And of course headed out of the shop with a medium sized model replica of the original bluenose for the cost 150 of the Canadian coins that she is immortalized on. If your ever in HCM city I recommend setting a bearing or charting a course for this anchorage as a relaxing, informative, entertaining way to spend an afternoon.
The Chu Chi tunnels are 250 km of narrow underground passages between villages and underground facilities that allowed the Viet Cong to appear and disappear almost like ghosts during the Vietnam war. These tunnels were all built by hand using only small hand tools. These tunnels are a badge of pride to the people, from these small tunnels they used small artillery and land mines to combat tanks and a more heavily armed forces. This area is littered with destroyed tanks and underground bunkers. I could not fit down the entrance hole and I was only in a tee-shirt not in military gear and carrying any weapons. When the soldier at the tunnel saw me taking his picture, he made a peace sign, I was moved by his simple, yet profound gesture at this tunneled and scorched piece of the earth.
These pictures show me in the tunnel, this was the very largest part of the tunnels, and with the flash it looks nice and bright, but the 50 m of tunnel that we crawled through were mostly in pitch dark and had been widened for us tourists. Even in the wider tunnel I found it hard enough to go the 50 m, while the average distance covered in any day by the Viet Cong was 10 km. There were over 250 km of tunnels and kitchens, meeting rooms, hospitals, sleeping quarters and much more all underground. In fact the first American army base was built over a part of the existing tunnels from the time of the French. It took the Americans a long time to figure out why they were being shot at during the night from inside their camp. The one picture of me in a crater is a hole from a single B52 bomb. The craters were used to hide the dirt from the new tunnels that were being built. The tunnel war was so successful in this area that the Americans had the rule of dropping any unused bombs into this area at the end of any bombing mission. During the war 16 thousand people lived or operated underground, only 6 thousand survived the 10 thousand day war.
This is the hotel we stayed in in Vi Than. Like so many buildings in Vietnam to make use of the small size of the lot the buildings are narrow and tall. Another unique feature of the hotel, and quite a few buildings we saw, is the fact that the first step up to the hotel is about half a meter tall making it hard to step up to. So there is a ramp which I thought was to help you step up but it was not well designed or easy to walk on. Then I realized that it was not for people to walk up but to allow the staff or guests to drive their scooters or motorbikes into the lobby/restaurant at night. Kind of like a drawbridge. The hotel was great, for $20 a night, and as usual the cheaper the hotels the better the free internet. I have marveled all the way across Europe and Asia how the higher priced hotels want you to pay outlandish rates to access the internet.
Central to any day in Vietnam is not just preparing food but also shopping for your food fresh everyday. These farmers markets are a way of life for the locals and a way of having an authentic experience of Vietnam as a visitor. I like the great variety, and freshness of the food from the local farms and local fishermen. Of course as in many Asian markets you do have to watch for Vietnamese shoppers riding their motorbikes through the narrow aisles between the stalls. Nevertheless, it is a great experience getting to see exactly what you are eating is way more comforting than buying it off the shelf at Costco. Besides who wouldn't want to ride their scooters in Costco and supermarkets if you were allowed to.
My Brother in Common-Law Pierre sent me an e-mail that said: "When I was in Eastern Europe... a couple of years ago, the thing that I found the most remarkable was the infinite variety and number of people everywhere, busy doing their things... each one the center of their own universe. Can you believe there are so many feelings being felt, so many tastes tasted, so many marks of love shared, so many laughs and tears happening at the same time in so many different places?"
It is with a great delight that Aja and I welcomed Layli, my middle daughter, to join us in Thailand. These moments with her in Thailand were joyful moments, and I hope she will have happy memories of this time and this place. I know I will. I know Aja will... and now that Layli is back in Alberta Canada, finishing her journeyman training as an electrician, I hope she knows how much we miss her. 
An interesting tourist attraction is called Ancient Siam (or Ancient City)... This attraction is dubbed as the world's largest outdoor museum. The 320-hectare attraction is a gateway to Thailand's cultural heritage features 116 structures of Thailand's famous monuments and architectural attractions. It is a Disney sized tourist attraction that is so large you have to bike around it. The grounds of Ancient Siam correspond roughly to the shape of the country, with each of the monuments lying at their correct relative places geographically. Some of the buildings are life-size replicas of existing or former sites, while others are scaled down to 1/5 the of the original size. Others are the originals which he moved from their original sites because they were becoming severely damaged. The founder's first idea was to create a golf course with miniatures of Thailand's historically significant structures spread around the course. Instead he created this, so in one day we were able to see all of ancient cities, ruins and architecture that constitute the splendors of Thailand's past . (note: I had the only bike with a bell... and ringing a bell is considered lucky in Thailand.)
I know they start boxing rounds by ringing a bell and at university we were taught about Pavlov's dogs and how he trained them to respond to bells. Pavlov's research on conditional reflexes greatly influenced not only science, but also popular culture. The phrase "Pavlov's dog" being used to describe someone who merely reacts to a situation rather than using critical thinking. And although it may not be a science in Thailand bell ringing a bell is supposed to bring you luck... and of course when your sister has a stick in her hand and you hear a bell there are some other reactions that are natural too.... bad dogs...bad dogs
When we were visiting one of the temples we came across this bull that had its rope wrapped around a pole. So I undid the rope and untangled the bull to get it to drinking water ... to thank me the bull tried to flip me into the air a couple of times... I think even Layli the Albertan was impressed at my bull riding technique ... note my perfect one hand in the air as seen at the Calgary stampede move...
Some people in Victoria have traveled to islands in the Pacific to help the sea turtles. We just came to the market and seeing a pail of small turtles bought the bunch and took them to the dock and released them... We also bought a bag full of small eels and small fish to release. The Thai's say it is lucky to help other living things.... So finally, after all the things people have imagined to give them luck from rabbits feet, the lucky rainbows in Ireland, to spinning on the bulls privates in Italy, here, at last, is a lucky custom that I will hold on to. Well hold on to then drop into the river....
Fancy restaurants everywhere use lighting, sound, and attention to detail to create an artistic, atmosphere so our meal is a total sensory experience making the food taste great. If you have been in a restaurant like that then, whether or not the designer knew it they are using Feng Shui. Feng Shui, as I have learned here in Thailand, is also known as the art of Wind & Water - the art of flow. Here in Thailand, however, you can walk into any cement floored, florescent lighted, plastic plated, beside the road and open to the sounds of traffic without a single matching plate or cup and with a few dogs hanging around and...... THE FOOD IS AMAZING. Fresh, healthy, spicy and deeeelicious..... so as I see it, in Thailand restaurants have mastered reverse feng shui that is, by providing outstanding delicious food we are in harmony and at peace no matter what the environment... and on the up side they don't throw you out for eating the whole fish tail and all.
We have visited many Buddhist temples and shrines. We have seen thousands of statues of the reclining, satisfied, contented, peaceful, appeasing, gentle Buddhas with his 108 auspicious characteristics. (auspicious meaning with favorable circumstances and good luck) So this temple was a bit of a fun surprise.... with the outside full of these Thai boxers showing what I assume must be what you do when you run into the 108 un-auspicious characters and have to know the 108 various Thai boxing fighting techniques. Being Wilson's, of course we had to wade into the fray kicking and punching...
Amongst the glitter and the gold, and the mosaics and the murals stand the rock statues... hundreds of them... I think that having spent such a long time in the Canadian arctic the home of inukshuks I have an affinity to rock.... As well my father had a cement block factory in the Yukon and I have always appreciated the art of the stone. These rock beauties do not get the press of wonderful statues in Italy, may be if a couple of them were naked they might have a greater impact in the media... but I found them delightful ... rock on
Every time Canadians sing the Canadian national anthem we say "we stand on guard for thee" but mostly we don't guard anything, we might be milling around trying to look busy but for sure not guarding, I would say mostly were just waiting for a game to begin. The guards at the government buildings at the Grand palace, however, now their guarding something. They are well disciplined, standing still in the 30+ degree weather in their dress uniforms while tourists stop and have their pictures taken with them. They don't move around while thousands of tourists wonder if they, like the Buckingham palace guards, can't move or if they are allowed to grab the miscreants and ne'er-do-wells. It is a hard but important job and we must do what it takes so that people never look down on even the lowliest of these guards...
"There is no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your face."
