Vietnamese Cooking class

This morning we took a cooking class, I had been looking forward to this the whole trip. We debated about taking a Thai one as well but I am sure I can figure out pad thai on my own, since we like Vietnamese food more we thought it ould be a good choice. We were right on! White Lotus was the place, Ty who is the head chef was our teacher and t make things even better we were the only ones in the class. Also, White Lotus is a restaurant that is non-porfit and the proceeds benefit displaced adults in the area. It is part of Project Indochina, an organization founded by an Austrailian that helps people throughout Viet Nam, Cambodia and Laos find work and a better way of living. We ate there 3 times already, hence the reason we chose to learn from that chef.
Our morning started at 8:30am, we got to the restaurant and had Vietnamese coffee. Then it was off to the maket to get our fresh veggies. Ty showed us around, it can be a bit overwhelming. He pointed out what we need but he also gave us a crash course on Vietnamese vegetables and fruit basics. There were so many that we had no idea about, some of the things we use in the states but did not look even close to what we are used to "same, same but different". Then it was a boat ride back to the restaurant to begin the preparation.
Next it was the first course complete with chef hats. I actually thought he would have aprons but chef hats are so much cooler!  Yesterday we got to choose 3 courses from about 12 dishes. Our first choice was papaya salad with shrimp and pork with prawn crackers. Not necessarily something I would pick off the menu but it's all about trying something new. Good choice!! He did make fun of me for being left-handed apparently that is not big in this country. Luckily there was a girl there who was as well and she showed me how she used the fancy gadget used to cut the onion juliene. It's backwars but it works, story of my life.... I told her in my country left-handed people were smarter, she laughed but I think she secretly believed me. Then we ate! Awesome salad!
Next course, what we have been waiting for Vietnamese soup otherwise known as Pho (fa). Pho Bo' (beef) tobe exact, pho ga (chicken) is for breakfast. Now eating with chopsticks is hard enough for me but cooking them is even harder. I had to boil the rice noodles while Eric chopped to ingredients for the broth, I had to use the chopsticks to get the noodles out of the water when they were ready. No strainer here.... Then bon appetit....
Lastly, it was the main course sweet and sour pork. This one threw me for a loop, who would have thought they used ketchup to make the sweet and sour sauce. Then, you guesses it, we ate. After that course they served us fresh fruit.
We left there with all 3 recipes printed out for us, a calander with picutres of the children in the villages that people in the program took and a memorible experience that will last a lifetime! Not to mention the homemade recipe for Pho for Eric's mom to add to the famly cookbook with an even better story to go along with it.
http://www.projectindochina.org/

Hoi An

This is one of our favorite places so far! It has everything, a nice small colonial town where you can walk to everything and a beach a short bike ride away. It is also part of the South China Sea but calmer and whiter sand. This is the area you visit if you want any clothes or shoes made. Eric kept saying it was too bad he didn't wear suits..... We did however get shoes made, yep our feet were measued (both of us have 1 bigger that te other) and we picked out the style, the color and even the heel in my case. We pik them up tomorrow morning, I mean how cool these are shoes tailor made for or feet. Eric got leather boat shoes and a pair of sneakers that look like Vans and I got a pair of mid-calf red leather boots for a grand total of $73. Take that Nordstrom rack....

Nha Trang

We compared this to a mellower version of Daytona Beach minus the vomit or urine smell. If you have been to Daytona on Spring Break you know what I mean. It is nice and we stayed at a $10 a night hotel accross from the beach with a balcany, mini-fridge and actual bathtub. There are a ton of restuarants, we even broke down here and had pizza. The waves were a little crazy, I actually got pummeled by one but still enjoyed my body surfing experince on the South China Sea. As scary as it was to me at times, I still really want to learn to surf. We even decided to go all out one night and had a 5 course meal with pre-dinner cocktails and a bottle of wine and still only spent $24. Overall, we enjoyed ourselves but it was just missing that Viet Nam experience.
FYI, it is suppose to have the best diving in Viet Nam.

Buses, trains and automobiles.....

Transit from place to place throughout all the countries has actually been easier then I thought. Mainly because more people speak english in all 3 counties then I expected.The buses are sometimes double-decker, most with a bathroom and all with air-conditioning (not that all worked but it had it) and all made periodic stops for snacks or for me the occasional car sickness. Yes, leaving Da Lat was a gnarley bus ride down the mountain and a very frightening run in with a cloud and now visibility.
The trains however have been slower but a semi-smoother ride with a nice view of the coutryside. That is if you don't sit next to a woman with stinky fruit. Our biggest venture is yet to come, it is from Hue to Hanoi and it is about 16 hours and we have bunkbeds we share with another 2 people I just pray no one has fruit!
Taxis are needed a little more since things tend to be  bit spread out. We have left the land of the tuk-tuk and the cyclos ( man riding a bike with a small cart you sit in) is not really the best way to get to the bus or train station on time. As long as the meter works you are good, even better if the hotel calls them.

Da Lat

Da Lat, Viet Nam is a mountain town that Vietnamese people go to for holiday or honeymoon. It's a nice ride up the mountain, a quiet town that is significantly cooler than Saigon. It's actually funny getting off the bus and seeing people with Northface jackets and hats on, I mean it's still in the 70's. We did a nice little hike to a waterfall, otherwise we enjoyed a break from the heat and the craziness. Sometimes it just feels good to do nothing.

Surgical Masks

I used to wonder why Asian people always wore those masks..... Were they germaphobic? Now I see how much air polution is around, mainly due to the large amount of motorcycles. What I don't get is if you are so concerned about breathing in bad air, why do you allow smoking everywhere? I'm not going to lie Eric and I almost got masks, they sell designer masks all over, since we got sick. Most of the buses are air-conditioned and there is no ventilation, germs fly around like crazy. We just couldn't do it....