Video: Phan Thiet

My video of the sights around Phan Thiet...

Phan Theit

Phan Thiet: famous for fish sauce. Other than that, this costal town in the province of Binh Thuan is not known for much else. It produces around 20 million litres of fish sauce per year. Before arriving, I was told that the town had a distinctive and overpoweringly fishy smell. I explored the town today and happily found that is not the case.

I'm waiting for my Vietnamese partner, Van Ahn, to arrive tomorrow and I tried to take advantage of the time on my own to check out some sites that may be of interest to the Canadian students. My expedition lasted only about two hours because I quickly succumbed to the draining heat. The temperature in Saigon has been as high as 47 C with humidity these past few days, and it feels similar here. Walking about is a bit of a slog.

Here are some photos from my walk around Phan Thiet...

In Binh Thuan province, acres and acres of fruit plantations...I love tropical fruit and was happy to finally discover what the plants...

...for dragon fruit look like. Here's an unripe fruit...

...and some riper ones.

Along the river, there was lots of action amongst the colourful boats...

The market in town proved to be equally entertaining.

Sunrise at Phan Thiet.

Jackfruit trees.

Duc Thanh School, a cultural and historic site. Around 1910, Ho Chi Minh stayed and taught at the school.

Bao Tang Ho Chi Minh Museum in Phan Thiet.

I hope to explore more of the town on my next visit which will be next month. Here are a few more photos from around Phan Thiet...

Video: Hanoi

Here's a short video-clip I filmed in Hanoi...enjoy!

Around Saigon

Yesterday was a busy but rewarding day. I spent it with Karl (the other Canadian coordinator) and Linh (one of the two Vietnamese coordinators working on the project). We spent the morning investigating venues for the seminar and then visited a couple of sites in Saigon. Karl and Linh left south for their field site in Tra Vinh in the early afternoon. It was wonderful to discuss the details of the seminar with them as it seems that we have quite a lot of freedom in shaping what it will look like. I'm excited about all the possibilities!

We visited Ben Thahn Market. Everything that is commonly worn, eaten or used by the Saigonese is available here. The building was built in 1914.

The market provided me with my first authentic Vietnamese meal as it has a fabulous vegetarian food stall.

It was a delicious as it looks.

And perfectly complimented by this drinkable dessert that Linh ordered from me.

After Linh and Karl left, I visited the Saigon Central Mosque, built by South Indian Muslims in 1935. It's beautiful. Only half a dozen Indian Muslims remain in Saigon as most of the community fled in 1975.

(Unfortunately) The courtyard is used as motorcycle parking (as are almost all sidewalks in the city).

A cyclo driver tending to his mode of living. Karl remarked that if we had come here fifteen years ago, we would have seen city streets filled with cyclos and bicycles instead of scooters and cars.

Elderly vendor selling drinks on Saigon street.

Built between 1886 and 1881, the largest post office in Vietnam. It has gorgeous architecture both outside...

...and inside.

Phone booths inside the post office.

Statue outside of the post office.

Notre Dame Cathedral, in the centre of Saigon's government quarter. It was built 1877-1883 in the neo-Romanesque style.

I'm off to Binh Thuan province this morning to visit my field site for the first time. It's a 4.5 hour drive and I'm excited to see the rural landscape! More to come...

Vietnam: First Few Days

Ah, the olden days of Hanoi. This is what things used to look like...charming isn't it?

But not anymore. With a real GDP growth rate of almost 7%, it's all hustle and bustle.

Now it's frantic chaos with endless streams of motorcycles and bicycles - people seem to be constantly on the move.

Saigon (Ho Chi Minh city) seems to have a different vibe but run at an equally frantic pace. Below is a photo of Hotel de Ville (People's Committee Building). It was built between 1901 and 1908 but unfortunately, is not open to the public.

The gardens in front of the building are lovely though...

...with a nice statute of Ho Chi Minh himself.

The detail on the building is amazingly ornate. Apparently, at night, the exterior is covered in thousands of geckos feasting on insects.

I love this. A couple playing badminton in the middle of a major road (Dong Khoi area, Saigon).

I feel a bit overwhelmed with my first two days here. There's a lot to take in. Landing in Hanoi, flying to Saigon the following day, and planning for a the first field visit to Binh Thuan tomorrow has left me a bit disoriented. More to come, so please check back...

Just the factoids, please.

I've been thinking a lot about facts and factoids recently. I like the word "factoid." It sounds neat. What does it mean and how is it different than a "fact"?

Well, we can verify or prove facts. A factoid is "an item of unreliable information that is repeated so often that it becomes accepted as fact." Norman Mailer is credited with coining the term and the Washington Times referred to his term as "something that looks like a fact, could be a fact, but in fact is not a fact."

Over the past few months, I've been reading about Vietnam and sifting through content trying to discern what is fact and what is factoid. I've been reading about Vietnam's history, people, culture - and at the same time, trying to peel back layers of bias, unravel half-truths, and figure out what really happened in this country?

Here are some of things I've come across during my reading...fact or factoid?

* The Hanoi Hilton (the Hoa Lo Prison) served each new 'guest' a rice cake, tea and a kick in the groin upon their arrival.

* There are more waterbuffalo per capita in Vietnam than in any other nation.

* Agent Orange defoliated 100% of over 1.6 million acres of forest.

* 4.8 million Vietnamese people were exposed to Agent Orange, resulting in 400,000 people being killed or maimed, and 500,000 children born with birth defects.

These are just a few examples...it will be interesting to see how much truth there is to what I've read, how many misconceptions I unwittingly hold, and how little I know about a fascinating country: Vietnam.

For the Love of Jam

There's one thing I always seem to really miss when I travel. Jam. There's something utterly delicious and homey about that good old-fashioned jam that you can pick up at almost any Canadian farmer's market. For me, it's a comfort food that I crave every time I go overseas.

If Bobbles and Uncle Gary ever joined the dark side, I think they'd be jam bandits.

I few days ago, I was ravenous and the only thing that could seem to satisfy me was thick cuts of a fresh baguette heaped with spoonfuls of sticky jam. Unfortunately, I had to settle for store-bought jam instead of some lovely home-made concoction, but still it was so jammy and good...and so simple and so divine.

I know I can find good baguettes in Vietnam, but I wonder if I can find good jam there. I hope so.