Catching up after Ho Chi Minh's revenge

Ho Chi Minh's Revenge - I am sure that everyone has heard of Montezuma's revenge so we came up with a new term for this calamity that can occur while traveling to Vietnam.

Ho Chi Minh - Long considered the figurehead of the Viet Cong and the communist movement of Vietnam during the Vietnam war.

It seems that both Mark and I were afflicted with a bad stomach disorder which left us down for the count for a few days.

We are not sure whether it was the breakfast of Vietnamese beef soup, Calzones from a Pizzeria run by an Italian, or the BBQ'ed shrimp we cooked over coals Saturday night.

Needless to say we were hurtin' pups for a few days with a slight fever, cold chills and just a down right crappy feeling.

We were however in the very good care of Harry's mother-in-law who got us re hydrated and fixed up with enough Immodium to get us back on track. She owns and operates one of the most modern and premier Pharmacies in Vung Tau and always takes good care for us when we get sick or hurt.

Harry's Mother in Law -
"Me" ( Mother in Vietnamese)

After feeling much better in a few days we resumed riding our motorbikes around the peninsula where we were able to dodge traffic of all kinds.

An afternoon chillin' out at Pineapple Beach with Thoa and Nini. - we took Thoa and Nini over to Pineapple Beach which is a great place to swim, relax - swig Heiney's and watch the sunset.

Thoa and Nini chased little sand crabs which are very fast and about the size of a dime. If you are fast you can catch them and if not they go into their little hole in the sand. Those two love chasing and catching these tiny crabs and then bringing them home to stick in the aquarium for turtle food.

Thoa and Harry enjoy the Sunset at Pineapple Beach

Temple at the top of the Mountain - Harry, Mark, Thoa and Daniella took a trip up the Biggest Mountain in Vung Tau to see a Buddhist temple / Pagoda situated overlooking the Beach part of Vung Tau City.

We met the main Monk there and he told us a lot about his life and the history of this temple. He was really cool and smiled a lot telling us about the recent destruction of the temple from a Typhoon.

The temple grounds are located just below an army post on Big Mountain.
The Monk, 35, is Cambodian. His name, written, is just swirls and dashes. Life in his homeland was so bad he became religious to turn his life around, came to Vietnam and is now the head monk here after 18 years.



Three years ago a typhoon destroyed the compound, but there are now signs of the wreckage now except in pictures on a wall in the main shrine where we left a donation.



At 5 a.m. and 5 p.m. each day they pray and during the day they study their Buddhist Bible. He says they will go out on mission trips only when asked.

He is a pleasant man who offered us cold bottled water and allowed us to walk the grounds and take pictures.

L to R - Mark, Harry, Nini (bored and ready to go) Monk and Thoa


Vung Tau City in background of Temple

Lan Rung Resort - Vung Tau, Vietnam - One of the nicest Hotel's in Vung Tau where we stayed for 4 nights. We loved this place because we had our own private beach and also the swimming pool below was just a few steps from our room.

Mark and I decided to splurge our last few days in Vung Tau and after seeing the pool while scouting Hotels we were sold. The pool was immaculate and very close to the front door of our hotel room so we could quickly go for a swim whenever we wanted.

The water temp was 82 degrees and the air temp was 85 degrees so it was perfect on all accounts.

Here is a picture of Harry enjoying an evening cocktail at Sunset in this beautiful salt water pool after a long day of motorbiking (hard work) through the heavy and intense traffic of Vung Tau city.

Next......... Video of Mark and Harry riding through
heavy traffic in Vung Tau

Beach and Pizza day

After a few days of rainy weather the sun came back and boy did it heat up here!

Harry's wife went to Saigon on the Hydrofoil so Mark and Harry watched little Nini to give her Grandparents a break from entertaining the precocious 4 yr old.

We decided to take her to back beach where she could play in the sand and get some energy released plus build an appetite.

Pizza in Vietnam?

After playing on the beach and returning Nini to her grandparents Mark and Harry decided to check out a nice Pizza place on Front Beach for a relaxing afternoon lunch. They advertised brick oven pizza and it sounded delicious.

We ordered a Jumbo size pizza plus 2 Heineken's and it set us back about $15US for the meal. This was a bargain considering the pizza was more than enough plus we shared a large salad of sun ripened tomatoes, olive oil and balsamic vinegar.







After about 20 minutes they delivered our delicious Brick Oven Pepperoni Pizza..it was yummy!

After lunch we decided to explore the other mountain and find the road that would take it us high above the city affording us some new views and angles on the leeward side of the Vung Tau peninsula. We were very surprised at the views from the twisty turning road.

To get to the very top of the mountain the road turning to rock and ditches and we really needed off road motorbikes to navigate. We gently rode our scooters up and around the rocks to reach the summit only to be turned around by police at the top. We were afforded a pretty good view up there but decided to take some pictures on the way back down.

There was no need to start the motorbikes so we coasted gently down and around the rocky road finally reaching the paved part where coasted quietly waving and saying "Xin Chao" to the passerby's along the way. We were amazed at how friendly the faces were and the responses and smiles we received along the way.

Here are some nice photos we took on the way up and way back -

Looking back down over Pineapple Beach one of the softer wave beaches in the Village of Bai Dau. This is a beautiful and quiet area where we love to ride our motorbikes along the twisty road with the ocean down below.

Here is a picture of Strawberry Beach which is just about an 1/8th of a mile long and the waves and very soft. This is the nicest little beach in Vung Tau and we plan on taking Nini swimming here next week.
Here is a deep view looking north towards the village of Bai Dau from high atop Big Mountain.


Harry takes a break from the rough rocks and gulches to enjoy the view while Mark captures some nice shots over Pineapple Beach.

Here's a short clip of Harry riding down beach road after lunch.

A rainy day in Vung Tau

A Rainy day slows things down in Vung Tau

Tuesday January 19th 2010 - A storm came in off the South China Sea and stopped our motorbiking and exploring of Vung Tau for a day so we went to Ba and Me's house for a wonderful lunch of Bun Thiet Num a Vietnamese specialty of

Rice Noodles

Mint

Sugar Cane Grilled BBQ Pork

Spring rolls

Fish sauce and pickled carrots

Hot Chiles

Here is the link if you want to make at home!

http://savorysweetlife.com/2009/04/spring-is-here-vietnamese-inspired-bbq-pork-salad/

Bún tôm, thịt nướng - pronounced "Boon tum thit numg"

After lunch Thoa, Mark, Nini and I went to a Big Vietnamese Supermarket to get some items we needed plus stuff for dinner.

Here are some things that are indigenous to the Vietnamese palate -


One of the items are larvae of some kind of insect that is a real delicacy and they like the cream inside. I of course am not that willing to try that but Thoa said it is delicious.

Ummmm yummy Larvae of insect!!!!!!!!!!

Rainy day taxi ride through back streets of Vung Tau

After bringing Thoa and our little girl Nini back to her parents house the taxi driver took us back to our hotel for a rainy afternoon of relaxing and surfing the web. It gave me a chance to update the blog and add some pictures and video.

It was actually really nice to have a relaxing day without running around and being able to get some much needed rest. The weather will be better tomorrow so hopefully we can get back to riding around on our motorbikes as we really love zipping around and seeing the ocean.

Here is a view of the swimming pool and grounds from our new Hotel room in Front Beach. We can see the pool as well as the South China Sea and the Vung Tau harbor. At night when it isn't rainy there is lots of activity as all the kids come out here to pose with their girlfriends and show off their couture and flashy motorbikes. I will add some video of this in one of my next blogs



Room with a nice view $55 US

A Sunday trip to the Beach with family and friends

Vietnamese Boy finds Jelly Fish in the surf

Sunday January 17th 2010 - We rented a van from one of my Father in law's friends and he drove me, Mark, Thoa, Daniella, Thoa Anh, her son Keh Anh to Long Hoi for a day at the Beach.

We found a nice place where you can rent Tiki Huts to have a picnic and enjoy the beach.
The cost for renting these huts is $200,000 VND or about $10 USD for the day.

This was fun for a few hours and we bought some kites to fly on the beach. The kids had a blast running in the surf and looking for shells while Mark and I held down the fort at the Tiki hut.

Nini flying her new kite at Long Hai Beach

It was very hot today on the beach and the humidity was high so we only stayed there for about 2 1/2 hours before packing up and driving an hour north to a place that has hot springs.

Vietnamese Tourist Trap!

Harry's Father in law suggested we go to the Hot Springs Eco Resort so we could sit in the many hot springs and foot bathes. After an hour driving past many beach resorts that are being built or planned along the coast of southern Vietnam we finally arrived at the Hot Springs.

This is one of the Hot Springs where the water actually boils and the natural temp is around 220F degrees

When we pulled up to the entrance to the Hot Springs resort and exited the van we looked behind us and saw 3 big tour buses filled with screaming and yelling Vietnamese school children that were on a field trip.

Mark and I looked at each other with looks of despair. We were Hot, Tired and Hungry and the sound of all these kids plus the crowd of them really was going to spoil this venture.

We made the best of it and walked with all our gear and stuff to make lunch for the family about a quarter of a mile into the resort.

Once into the resort they charge you again for each amenity whether it be mud baths, foot baths, hot tubs or the swimming pool area.
It was filled with screaming kids and I was getting tired of the place after just a few minutes.

Mark and I made lunch for the family and then walked around to the spot where they boil eggs supposedly in the hot water.

Needless to say we didn't stay long and I will put some notes up on travel advisor that I think the place is a sham.

Mud people of the tourist trap

After walking around the Hot Springs we spied some Aussies that took the mud baths and I guess they thought it would be fun to cake mud on their bodies. It was over 1,500,000 VND ($81.00USD) for this amenity - We of course didn't want to pay that to cover ourselves in mud!

Later that afternoon we had to hurry back to get Thoa Anh and her son back to the bus in Vung Tau so we could have enough time to stop and swim in a private beach area. It was rocky all around but we found a nice little beach to swim out to the rocks and enjoy and afternoon cool off.

I was out sitting on the rocks and the waves were splashing over my head. It was great fun and adventurous way to wrap up our beach trip!

Harry braves sitting on the rocks in the South China Sea

Ho Chi Minh City - Saigon Vietnam

Outside Pho 24 in Saigon

Sunday January 17th, 2010

Most people here call it Ho Chi Minh City since the fall of Saigon in 1975. We call it Saigon as it is much easier to say.

We had a very easy flight down from Tokyo and by that time Mark and I were exhausted from the heavy traveling and slept most of the way.

We were really cramped on that flight as we were sandwiched in, but we managed ok otherwise on the Japan Airlines flight.

Here is a picture Mark took inside the Tokyo airport -




I always thought the Asian Airlines were far superior to the American ones, but after flying International on Continental my mind has been modified.

We had very good service on Continental and good food plus the seats were roomy and the flight wasn't full so we enjoyed it. It was still a very long time in the air 12 hours.

11:30pm Thursday night January 14th, 2010 -

Once we got to Saigon we sped through immigration and then downstairs our bags were speeding out of the luggage belt.

Mark was worried as he did not see his bag and after all the bags were unloaded Mark was very worried. Little did he know but his bag had been pulled off by someone on the other side and we finally found it.

After loading our stuff at customs we sped out of the front of the airport looking for my brother in law "Bi" and my Uncle Ton Anh. There seemed to be a million Vietnamese faces all waving signs and yelling at us. I finally saw my brother in law smiling and I yelled "Bi"! He ran around and whisked us up with Uncle Ton Anh to his waiting Van.

Here is a picture outside the Tan Son Nhat airport waiting for Harry's uncle to arrive with van.




The traffic was light and in no time we were at An An Hotel in the backpacker section of Saigon known for it western style hotels and late night eateries.

After checking into our Hotel we went up the street to a really cool late night bar and restaurant called G02 Bar. It is frequented by backpackers, Expats, and local folks wanting to stay up late. Go2 was still going strong when we got there so went to the top floor which is open air to enjoy the view and see the sights over Saigon. It is now 2 am yet the city is far from asleep yet.


Once we were seated we order a few Fosters beers and then looked over the menu. They had a mixture of items from around the world including Pizza and Hamburgers plus Vietnamese staples.

The center of the table was a Hibachi grill so we could freshly cook the marinated meat of choice. We chose wild pig which was marinated in lemongrass, ginger, garlic and Asian seasonings. It was delicious when we wrapped the grilled meat in the supplied lettuce.

The pizza was good considering we were in Vietnam and we devoured all the food quickly washing it down quickly with the ice cold Fosters.

The girl that works at Go2 came over and helped us with grilling the wild pork.

By this time it was late so we decided to hit the hay and worked our way back to our hotel just a half a block down. The streets were quiet except for a few girls that were dressed like they may have been working the tourist trade. They yelled to us being foreigners but we knew better than talk to any and just zipped back to Hotel.

We slept well and woke pretty early as we had so much sleep on the flights over.

Friday morning January 15th, 2010 - A nice start and a welcome surprise downstairs......


My wife's best friend Cathy came to visit us Friday morning and called me from the lobby of the hotel. I was surprised to see her as we were thinking she would visit us in Vung Tau. She is a dear friend of ours and we spent a week with her on our last visit where she went with us to Da Nang and Hue on our last visit November 2007. She was a real asset on that trip as she helped us with travel planning and translation along the way.

After pleasantries we hugged and then decided to go for a quick bite and some coffee at Bobby Brewers a local franchise aimed at the western tastes and ability to charge more than the locals.
We had lattes and Italian sub sandwiches. This set us back 158,000 VND or $8.00 US with a tip. Not too bad for a delicious breakfast and strong gourmet coffees.

The Best Pho in Saigon according to our host!

Pho is quintessential dish in Vietnam and my personal favorite thing to eat since my wife first introduced it to me over 8 years ago,

It is made from boiled beef bones that have had the fat skimmed carefully off leaving a very flavorful broth. The broth is then infused with ginger and onion that has been slightly burned plus a bouquet garni of cinnamon, clove, and star anise.

The resulting broth is then poured over rice noodles, and sliced raw onion and raw lean beef that cooks in the boiling broth as it is pored over this mixture in your bowl.

The side ingredients that you can add to personalize the Pho are; thai basil leaves, bean sprouts, Hot Chiles, culantro or saw tooth leaf, and then hoison Sauce and lastly Sriracha a Korean garlic chile sauce.

Here is a link to the complex recipe for Pho using ingredients found in the US.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ph%E1%BB%9F

Pho Tai Chin and side items personalize your Pho and make it delicious

Sriracha Sauce - one of my favorites

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sriracha_sauce

The mixtures and depths of flavor to this dish are intoxicating and once you have it you will always crave it.

Pham Ngo Lau Street - Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) Vietnam

We went back to the hotel to prepare and organize as Cathy will come back to get us at noon and we will go shopping for some thoughtful items for Harry's family in Vung Tau.

We will take the Hydrofoil over at 5pm after we have had a chance to go to the best market in HCMC for gifts and fine wines.

Wednesday January 13th 2010

Good Morning Greenville Spartanburg - all is smooth and the weather is clear.

All of our flights are on schedule and we are ready to board here a 6am.

Updates to come in Houston at 9am CST

Happy Travels!

Harry

10:35 am Update!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mark and are all on schedule and the plane is all ready at E7 in the International wing of the Houston Airport - Goerge W Bush International

We found a really good Mexican restaurant and had some beef steak fajitas with some wimpy salsa but it was the best they had. Oh well soon we can go to the market in Vung Tau to find some serious Vietnamese peppers and some fresh shrimp and lobster tails.

We are really tired so hope we can get some sleep on this flight and get freshened up Tokyo as it will be a pain to navigate that huge airport but we will learn it plus shop the duty free shops.

All for now and no updates further until we get to Hotel in HCMC!

Happy Jet trails!!!!

Monday morning update - Jan 11th, 2009

Habernero - Well I am just about packed and I am gathering all the last minute items to be all ready for the big trip to Vietnam.

We were stressing due the slowness of the receipt of the Visa's for entrance into Vietnam but luckily they showed up this morning!


I will go to Pick up Mark in Lexington, South Carolina on Tuesday and then we will get well rested and ready for a 30 hour trip around the world to the other side.

We will be at the airport at 4:30am for a 6am flight to Houston.

The weather should be good and we hope to have smooth flights and transfers.

Stay posted for updates along the way (as long as I can get an internet signal).

Here is nice little picture of a Ghost Pepper for all you following the further disintegration of my few remaining taste buds. Enjoy!

To Learn more about the Ghost Pepper click the link below -

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://s1.hubimg.com/u/83476_f496.jpg&imgrefurl=http://hubpages.com/hub/Ghost_chili_is_named_Worlds_Hottest_Pepper&usg=__f9e8i8Ih5u2dM4bbfxYcJixIeGA=&h=424&w=496&sz=50&hl=en&start=7&tbnid=O8tJe_bRcFr1OM:&tbnh=111&tbnw=130&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dghost%2Bpepper%26hl%3Den

Bhut Jolokia
1,000,000 + Scoville Units
The World's Hottest Chile Pepper
Guiness Book Of World Records