Merry Christmas . . .

. . . from Halong Bay, Vietnam:

. . . 'nough said!

More Vietnam

Have had three surprising days in Vietnam. I don't know what I expected, but have very much enjoyed these past few days. On Monday, we drove out of Saigon for about an hour and a half to My Tho, where first we visited the Vinh Trang Pagoda. I loved the huge laughing Buddha!

Like many of the temples in Vietnam, it is not for only one religion so you see a mixture of Buddhist, Daoist, and Hindu statues in the temples, which we found very interesting.

We then headed to the harbour where we boarded a boat to some islands in the Mekong Delta. On one of the islands there are several family-run operations where they make everything from coconuts - candy (which is really good), carvings, etc. The scenery was beautiful, but seeing the industriousness of the people and how they wasted nothing was so interesting. Following a tour of one of the businesses, we were taken across island in a horse cart. Vietnamese horses are quite small - about pony size, but they are full-grown horses. The carts are mostly driven by young women. We went to another family-run place that produces honey and all sort of sweet, honey-based items. We saw a boa constrictor there (ugh) and had a short concert of Vietnamese music by a group of about 8 musicians and singers. The performance was quite good. We then took a small boat navigated by an oar in the back of the boat (sort of like a gondola) up a small canal to another part of the island where we had a wonderful lunch before we got back on the larger boat to head back to the mainland.

Back in Saigon we were taken to Chinatown and the main wholesale market. The place was so crowded and busy - the last time I felt this claustrophobic and overwhelmed by a crowd was in the bazaar district of Istanbul. I had to keep talking to myself so as not to panic! The hustle and bustle of the market was incredible, and the amount and type of merchandise was mind-boggling.

Yesterday we flew to Hue where we were met by a new guide, Thanh, who is a young, very animated and funny man. Since we arrived at about 12:30 our first stop was for lunch. We are never going to starve here in Vietnam - the food has been very plentiful; Pam and I can't believe the quantities of food we have been served - and it has all been so good! Anyway, lunch was in a former French colonial house which was very lovely with lots of shiny woodwork. After lunch we went to the Imperial City which is modelled after the Forbidden City in Beijing.

Pam and me in front of the Imperial City, Hue, Vietnam

The city was built in the 19th century by the last of the dynasties to rule Vietnam, the Nguyen Dynasty. The Imperial City was attacked during the Tet Offensive in 1968 and bears many scars, and was bombed and very badly damaged in 1969. The site is now a UNESCO heritage site and is under restoration. Despite the damage, it is still very beautiful and the restoration will be done in time for our grandchildren to be toured through it by Thanh's daughter - who is 2!

Throne in the theatre of the Imperial City in Hue, Vietnam. The king sat facing the audience and the performers performed to the king; so the performers' backs were to the rest of the audience!

Last night we walked from our lovely art deco hotel to the central business district where there are lots of shops selling silk embroidered pictures, lacquered art works, clothing, leather goods, paintings, etc., etc.We had a not-so-great dinner - badly done western-style food. We will likely stick to Vietnamese food from now on. It was quite dark and very rainy, so the walk back to the hotel was kind of creepy. The creepiness was capped off when I saw a dead rat in the gutter!! Anyone who knows me knows that I have such an aversion to rodents; this really creeped me out!!! Made it back to the hotel and had a great night's sleep!

Today we took a boat trip down the Perfume River for about an hour to the Thien Mu Pagoda. This is a Buddhist monastery and is such a lovely and peaceful setting. Some of the novice monks are orphans who were deposited at the monastery as newborns whose mothers could not care for them; some are sons of families who want their sons to become monks. The pagoda and surrounding buildings are beautiful. This is also the monastery of the monk who drove to Saigon and lit himself on fire to protest the government's anti-Buddhist law in 1963. I remember that event so vividly from the news reports. The car he drove to Saigon and news photos of the event are on display here.

We then went to the Tu Duc Tomb (fourth, I think, emperor of the Nguyen dynasty). Again, the grounds and buildings are lovely, although very much deteriorated through neglect and natural weather damage. It is also now a UNESCO site so funds are available to restore the buildings and grounds. The work is ongoing and what has been restored is beautiful; but the parts that are yet to be restored have their own beauty as well. As with the Imperial City that we visited yesterday, I like to walk around these places and think about what it might have been like to live there during those times. What a different life it would have been!

We stopped on the way to our next visit site to see how they make the Vietnamese bamboo hats and incense. There were several vendors selling fruit as well and we bought a mangosteen which was really delicious - looked like garlic cloves, but tasted like custard, if you can imagine!

Our guide, Thanh, with the woman who sold us the mangosteen.

Our last stop of the day (besides lunch, of course) was Khai Dinh which is the last monument built during the Nguyen dynasty. It has beautiful mosaics and gold work. Since this dynasty went until 1943, there were photos of the last emperor and his family. I always find that photos, unlike painted portraits, help me understand better and to realize these were real people. The monument has some long stairways and some wonderful sculptures. The architecture reflected influences from Europe as well as from Buddhist and Chinese styles.

We then had another fabulous lunch in a beautiful setting. I've been so impressed that we have not had the same dishes over and over again at these lunches that have been included in our tour. Each meal has been unique . . . and delicious!

Tonight we are going to treat our tired feet to a massage at the spa at our hotel. They deserve some pampering after all the walking on brick and stone walkways!

Good Morning Vietnam!!

OK, I'm sorry, that is a really bad title, but here I am in Vietnam - a place that figured so prominently in my youth (the mid-to-late 60's). To visit the country where a war was fought that so affected my generation, and the first war to be brought to our homes daily via television is quite interesting and amazing to me. I certainly never thought I would be able to visit this beautiful country. Vietnam has been fighting off invaders for so many millenia - and all they wanted was to be one country and to determine their own government. I remember about 10-15 years ago when someone said to me that Vietnam had the most beautiful beaches they had ever seen. I was astonished; that just didn't compute in my head because all I could remember of Vietnam was Agent Orange and how the country had been stripped of its beauty.

Ho Chi Minh City is big and busy. There are motorbikes EVERYWHERE - and it's a good thing. If all these people were driving cars the traffic would be ridiculous. As it is no one can go very fast and it is truly like a dance to watch how cars, trucks and motorbikes all jockey for position on the roads. Fortunately, helmets are required by law, and although we never went over 60 km/hour (and I don't think anyone else goes over that speed) but I wonder if there are still a lot of accidents and injuries. I'll have to ask our guide - Hong, who is so knowledgeable.

This is indeed a beautiful country with kind and gentle people. They have chosen to forgive their invaders - from the Mongols, to the Chinese, to the French to the Americans, and to simply move on; looking forward instead of wallowing in the past.

Today we began by touring the Cu Chi tunnels - the 210 mile network of tunnels used by guerilla fighters from 1940 through to the end of the Vietnam War (the war for reunification) in 1975.

Me at the entrance to a tunnel -that's as far in as I would go since I'm claustrophobic!

The tunnels are now part of an historic site where tourists learn about how the traps and weapons used by the guerillas in the Vietnam War were all made from pieces of bombs and artillery courtesy of the US military! They were quite ingenious in creating some really nasty traps and weapons. It was actually quite a disturbing place to visit - there is actually a shooting range where tourists can pay to shoot some of the guns used in the war. So all around us we heard gun-fire - which was unnerving, but I had to remember that this is what the Vietnamese people lived with on a daily basis.

From Cu Chi we went back to Ho Chi Minh City, had a wonderful Vietnamese lunch with each dish presented as a sculpture and then went to tour the Reunification Palace. This was formerly the Presidential Palace, built by the French in 1870-something (can't remember the exact year). It was destroyed in a bombing in 1962 and could not be restored. A new palace was built in a totally different style - designed by a Vietnamese architect. It is a beautiful building in which the rooms have been restored to how they were when the president of South Vietnam lived and worked there. It is now open the public as a tourist site. The wall in this photo is all done in lacquered wood and is so beautiful:

This is the palace that the North Vietnamese tank crashed into the gate which resulted in the surrender of the South Vietnamese on April 30, 1975.

We then visited a painted lacquer factory where we saw how they make the beautiful mother-of-pearl and eggshell inlaid pieces. What painstaking work! Notre Dame Cathedral and the Post Office were the final stops today. The post-office is a pink French Colonial building that is open every day of the year from 7AM to 7 PM.

After a bit of a rest, Pam and I went to a restaurant called Lemon Grass for dinner. The meal was wonderful and there was a woman playing a stringed instrument the name of which I will have to ask our guide tomorrow. The music really added to the atmosphere. After dinner we walked through the neighborhood looking at/in the shops . . . and, of course, picked up a few things!

It is Sunday night, but you would have thought it was New Year's Eve. So many people were out looking at all the Christmas decorations. We asked our guide about Christmas celebrations in Vietnam. He said it is celebrated, but not for the Christian reason; rather it is just a good excuse for a party! There are lots of decorations all over the city - the parks, store windows, hotel lobbies - and it was incredible to see people posing and having their photos taken in front of the decorations. Motorbike traffic was unbelievable - some streets looked like wall-to-wall headlights and helmets! The people were all having such a good time. Unfortunately, my camera battery had died. I will try to get some photos tomorrow night.

PORK!!

I had a BLT sandwich for dinner the other night. This is remarkable in that we have only recently been able to buy pork in Qatar. This is very exciting news indeed! It is sold at the liquor store where only people with permits can buy liquor - and now pork. Go figure!

In November I had the privilege of welcoming 3 of our students to Calgary as they attended the convocation ceremony on main campus. Each student was invited to attend and to bring up to three guests. We had four students who were eligible to graduate, but only three were able to travel to Calgary. They and their guests had a whirlwind 4 days in Calgary. They must have been so tired. One student and her husband had actually just returned from the Hajj (the pilgrimage to Mecca), were home only a few hours and then got on the flight to Calgary. I don't think she had slept in 3 days by the time I met her at the Calgary airport. It was so nice to see the students take part in the very large ceremony. I think they and their families were very impressed and it helped them to feel that they are part of the UofC - which is hard to do when your campus is on the other side of the world! There was a luncheon following the ceremony and the next day I accompanied them on a tour of Banff and Lake Louise. The morning started out cloudy, but clear enough to see the mountains. We stopped at Johnson Lake which was frozen over and the students/families got to walk on a frozen lake for the first time. At Johnston Canyon they had their first snowball fight. By the time we got to Lake Louise, it was a white-out and you couldn't see the lake, let alone the glacier - a bit disappointing. We headed into Banff where we had lunch and walked around town a bit, saw the Banff Springs Hotel, and Bow Falls. It was too cloudy to see the mountains so there was no point in taking the gondola to the top of Sulfur Mountain. By that time they were all pretty tired out, so we headed back to Calgary. By the time we hit Canmore, almost all were asleep.

I spent the following week visiting with family and friends in Calgary - it was all too short a visit. My friend, Jean Rutter, flew back to Doha with me, though and we had a wonderful visit. The first week I worked while Jean got over her jet lag and dealt with a bit of culture shock. I took her to the souk on about the 2nd or 3rd night she was here. After about 20 minutes she admitted to being a bit overwhelmed by it. I recall that was my reaction the first time I went there, too. It's so different than any experience I had previously had - the sights, sound, smells are all so different and it is sensory overload! I took her to an Arabic women's party called Wanassa Night, which is held at the College of the North Atlantic. I went a couple of years ago and thought it was good fun, and thought it was a Middle East experience Jean should have. The girls get up and dance, there is loud Arabic music, lots of food, a fashion show of abayas and very fancy formal dresses. Men are not allowed at the party and you have to check your cell phone and camera at the door!

The following week we went to Dubai and Abu Dhabi. We did a very thorough job of seeing Dubai - I think we were in every mall there is in the city where shopping is the national sport. We also saw the old section of Dubai - the spice souk, textile souk, gold souk - taking a walking tour, and visited a really great museum. The museum was actually quite a surprise because it is in an old fort that is nothing much to look at when you first enter; but then you go inside and down a spiral ramp that leads you to this wonderful museum! We took the bus to Abu Dhabi and that was interesting . . . . ladies board first - even if they arrive after the men (there were a few men who were in line when we arrived at the bus station who did not get on and had to wait for the next bus - hardly seemed fair to us) and ladies sit at the front of the bus. It was a very comfortable bus and the ride took about two hours. Abu Dhabi is another new, big city with lots of construction of amazing buildings - not quite as over-the-top as Dubai, but close.

Back in Doha after our trip to Dubai, Jean was feeling more comfortable about getting out and about on her own. She spent a day at the souk which has a totally different feel during the day than it does at night. A visit to the Islamic Cultural Centre and another day at the Museum of Islamic Arts were interesting for her as well. We went out to the camel races one Friday afternoon and that is always a hoot!

Christmas is coming and for the third year I will not be in Canada for the holidays. I am leaving tomorrow for Vietnam and Cambodia. I am very much looking forward to this trip. I will be traveling with Pam who was on the trip to South Africa last Christmas and on the Baltic cruise in August. She is a great traveling companion.

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and I will try to update along the way on this trip.