'Peace, Independence, Democracy, Unity and Prosperity'

This title is Laos' motto and I only learned recently that Laos is a communist country, which made it the 4th communist country I visited. I guess that explains why I am such a socialist at heart!

To summarize, I loved Laos. I decided to go there after hearing very positive feedback from friends who just back from visiting. It was the most calming, peaceful, and tranquille country I have ever been to. The streets were so quiet, there was no haggling at the markets, and the scenery was spectacular. The population of Laos is only about 6 million which is less than the population of Saigon alone. The biggest city, the captial of Vientiane, has only about 220,000 people. I think what struck me the most about Laos was the absense of capitalism (for now, there are definite signs of change to come), it is very much: earn enough to make a living and then relax. I did not encounter any uptight or stressed people along the way.

Pha That Luang in Vientiane, the national symbol of Laos

I took the 13-hour overnight train from Bangkok to the border crossing and then a tuk-tuk to the immigration office to get my visa. For some strange reason Canadians have to pay the most, which I am still trying to figure out why ... In my tuk-tuk were 2 Americans, who are teaching English in Shanghai and we got along really well and were basically on the same itinerary that we ended up travelling together for the rest of the trip. I wasn't really worried to travel along to Laos (don't tell my mom) but it was a nice to have people to share the adventure with.

Sand bar in the Mekong delta. It's dry season so the sand bar is quite wide right now.

One highlight of the trip was throwing the frisbee around on the Mekong Delta and even introducing the game to some locals. We threw the disk around for a while then went to the river to watch the sunset. In terms of infrastructure, it is minimal - there is no railway system, bumpy roads, and only a few land and air connections to the surrounding countries. I travelled by bus to the other towns, not so horrible since I am small (one plus) and any time I began to feel squished I just thought about the 6 feet tall guys sitting in a fetal position around me ...

Travelling buddies, Dan and Ashley from the US and Yot from Thailand - we just arrived to Vang Vieng and heading to our cabin.

I got to do lots of outdoor activity - we went biking, caving, hiking, tubing (except my butt kept getting scraped by rocks because my tube was deflating) and swimming. Laos still has much of its natural environment intact since there is not a heavy demand for development and a booming population. If anything is going to deplete the land, it will be the growing tourism sector. I think Laos use to be a traveller's secret, but I don't think for much longer. I already saw lots of hotels and resorts being constructed.


So people are always making fun of me because I always seem to run into someone I know no matter where I am. Fate has struck again. Setting: I am sitting alone down a side-street alley for dinner. There is a middle-aged man next to me who is engaged in a conversation with someone across from him. I eavesdrop and hear this man is from Canada and I chirp in and say so am I. I assume he is from BC, he has the beachy look but he doesn't agree or disagree. He asks where I am from, I say Cape Breton and he eyes bug out and he says so is he. I say I am from Sydney and he then asks for my name and his eyes get even bigger, and I am thinking that he probably just recognizes me since there aren't exactly a lot of Vietnamese people in Cape Breton. He asks if I know Jonathan and I am still not putting the two together. And then he gives me Jonathan's full name and I still don't know who he is until he has to spell it out for me and says he's Jonathan's father! Jonathan is a good friend of mine from Queen's and we were neighbours in residence. His dad use to work at my stepfather's lodge in Cape North and now his family lives in Ottawa.

To really understand the significance of how overwhelmingly shocking it was to meet Keith, aka Jonathan's father, is that I am related to him through my stepdad, met 2 of his daughthers, almost met him in Kingston and Ottawa, and to finally meet him and sitting next to him nevertheless... in a small alley in Luang Prabang on our vacations is I think more than just a coincidence. Plus he is coming to Hanoi next month. It truly is a small world around us and as Keith put it the world is round.


Holiday is over and it's now back to work. I decided to finalize my return date even though things to tend to change last minute and I am coming back to Canada on April 25th. I thought it was time for me to somewhat plan my life and really think about what I want to do in the future. I been away 5 months today.

Bangkok Ultimate Hat Tournament 2007

Ultimate is almost cult-like here in Asia. It is quite popular with expats and growing in popularity with locals. I went to Bangkok a couple of weekends ago where it was hot, hot, hot and participated in the 2007 HAT (teams are balanced by skill levels, so you do not have to be a pro-star to play). There were players from all around the globe, Miranda came in from Abu Dabi, Dave was living in Australia and stopped through BKK before returning to the UK, plus there was a few from the States backpacking, and people who live in Hong Kong, Singapore, China, and Malaysia there as well. There were about 180 people in all and it is a great social venue, especially if you are travelling around Asia and want to hang out with some locals or need a place to crash.

Team Vietnam had a good showing. There was a few of us who came from Hanoi, a bunch from Saigon, one from Hue, and the rest have a Vietnamese connection who live outside of Vietnam.

I was on the pink team (aka Pink Ladies, Pink Panthers, and Keep it Pink) and during the round robin we had 4 games on the first day. We had to win at least 2 games in order to get the by and most importantly not have to play at 8 am the next morning. We lost our first two games, which were hard to lose since we lost by one or two points, but then hit a winning streak and ended up winning the finals. It was pretty exciting for me since I never actually been on a sport's team that has won a championship or finals that I was beginning to think it was me ...

The venue of the tournament was at the Thai military base ... it was slightly strange having the militia do their drills (with their guns) around the fields - luckily, the sergeant was on our team. Where else would the military let civilians play on their land?!

There was a 007 James Bond theme and us folks from Vietnam decided to show up in style and wear our ao dai's for a Vietnamese Casino Royale.

My first three days in Bangkok, I didn't really get to see the city since I decided instead to torture myself and run all day long in the scorching heat (BKK was about 20 degrees warmer than Hanoi). I did some sightseeing with friends for a couple of days before I headed to Laos (to be posted). I even hung out with a cousin who is studying in Bangkok whose parents I met in Saigon.

Jeigh as a dancing buddha

How to describe Bangkok. I can say is the most modern Asian city I have visited. You can buy anything you can't buy in Vietnam, public transit is great - I loved riding the skytrain and the subway, you can find any type of food you desire, and the shopping is addictive. On the surface you think 'wow this is a great place'. Thailand is also interesting because it has never been invaded or colonized, so it has developed independently (so to speak) than its neighbours.

For a country that thrives on being on the international stage, I just don't understand how there can be a growing sex trade industry, which is so very in your face. There were so many old, overweight, unattractive white men latching the arms of young pretty Thai women. The redlight district was filled with bare-chested women walking the streets. How can a country considered to be modern be so unprogressive when it comes to half of its population?

That was my first impressive of Thailand, albeit I was only in Bangkok and did not visit any other places. I am going to be back in March for work, so perhaps my perceptions will change.

One of the best temples I've seen, known as the Temple of Dawn and a national Thai symbol.

The Dao Dynasty

Coincidently we went to the Ngoc Suong (my mom's name) Restaurant for our family dinner

I am back from Saigon and finally met my mom's family. I was really interested in meeting them, since I find I have my mom's mannerisms and personality (don't you remember as a kid thinking you weren't like your parents at all and then when you got older you did things that reminded you of your parents that you swore you wouldn't do? or maybe it's just me ...). My uncle and aunt came to pick me up at the airport and my aunt from Sydney sent them the link to my blog and they thought I was a lot bigger (I guess the camera really does add 10lbs)! They had a sign with my name but decided not to use it and tried to guess who I was. My uncle has a strong ressemblance to my uncle in Sydney, so as soon as I saw him, I knew it was him. As we were in the taxi going back to my uncle's home I noticed a lady on her motorbike outside my window and as soon as we saw each other, we knew we were related. Her face is a spitting image of my mom - she was at the airport but my flight was a little late coming in.

We had a huge family dinner and I met everyone, and I mean everyone, speading across 3 generations. My mom is the oldest of her siblings, so I technically pull rank on all of my cousins (which I am not use to because my dad is one of the younger siblings so I am low on the totem pole on that side). My mom's mom died when she was 12 and my grandfather later remarried, so I have only seen one photo of my grandmother that my mom has at home. I saw that the same photo at my aunt's alter and met my grandmother's sisters and brothers. I met my mom's brother, two sisters, and their children, so within one weekend I probably met over 20 new relatives.

My mom is her early 20s

I was quite pampered over the weekend. One aunt owns a salon, so I had my hair washed everyday and another owns a cafe so we would go there after every meal for fresh juice and dessert. My relatives were very generous to me and I wish I could have given more back. I only had a few Canada momentos to offer, but I hope sometime in the future I can help pay for them to visit our family in Canada. My aunt in Sydney has been able to treat a couple of my relatives to come to Nova Scotia, but when they were down I was away in Ontario.

One of my aunts was supposed to go with her husband to Canada last year, but her application was denied because the Government of Canada considered her a flight risk, someone who would try to stay in the country even though she has 2 daughters who are still in school and also owns property in Saigon. I am not going to dwell on this, but it has always made me quite frustrated to hear people assume it is so easy for immigrants to come to Canada - it really isn't, it took my aunt in Sydney almost 10 years to become a Canadian citizen.

My cousins and I at my aunt's salon and home

I figured I would never shoot a gun anywhere else and if I ever was forced to shoot a gun least I would know how. I also thought of my father who was in the Vietnamese Army for the south.

I went to the Cu Chi Tunnels which were the underground tunnels that ran over 50 km to the Cambodian border built by the Viet Cong. It was pretty crazy, I have no idea how someone could live down there for months. They have reconstructed 90m of the tunnels for tourists and I was only able to crawl through the first 30m before paranoia and clastrophobia set in - they are credited with winning the war against the Americans. It is interesting how in Canada we call it the Vietnam War and here they call it the American War.

Chuc Mung Sinh Nhat Chi Diem!

First off I just wanted to say Happy Birthday to my big sis, Diem! I won't say how old she is turning because she might not want it broadcasted over the world wide web, but I will say it is a milestone birthday :) It was actually yesterday but I was on very slow internet in Vung Tau City and could not put up a posting.

All I have to say is wireless internet is great. I am at the Ho Chi Minh City airport, drinking a fresh coconut shake, surfing the 'net on my laptop (well FCM's laptop). I had a very nice trip, which I will go into more detail in another post - I met my mom's family, had a good work mission, visited the Cu Chi tunnels, and partied it up in Saigon with the Saigon utimate players. Speaking of ultimate ... I am heading there this weekend for another tournament!

Time to board ...