Cu Chi Tunnels from the Vietnam War

Chris and I have reached our new home, Grande Prairie. Today the sun was shining on the fluffy cumulus clouds and the air smelt of the end of summer as I looked upon the solid yellow trees. It was our first full day in Grande Prairie. Chris and I visited the local TELUS store to find out the plans and information regarding purchasing an iPhone. My mind felt jumbled and confused. The over manicured, over made-up woman provided us with the worst customer service possible, but that was really no surprise since it was TELUS. Chris and I then roamed many aisles in a nearby store looking for toothpaste, hairspray, razors and shaving cream. The prices made us both overwhelmed, depressed and stressed out. We had to stick together just help support one another through the aisles. Canada is expensive compared to S.E. Asia. I knew that. I just didn’t…Continue Reading

The War Remnants Museum in Vietnam

While in Ho Chi Minh City we visited the War Remnants Museum which focuses on the Vietnam War and the result of chemical warfare, specifically the use of a chemical called Agent Orange. I strongly recommend this museum. It only costs about $2 to enter. They have an impressive collection of tanks, planes, helicopters and artillery outside of the museum. Inside you will view unforgettable and disturbing photographs. If you are American you might feel somewhat attacked while visiting this museum. It is important to remember who eyes and perspective the museum is told from and that in every war no one ever likes their enemy, (otherwise there probably wouldn’t be wars).  

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

We’re in Bangkok right now souvenir shopping and site seeing by day and hanging out with our friend Ben, who we met during The Gibbon Experience, by night. Yet again, it’s the final countdown. After roughly 650 meals in restaurants over the past seven months we only have about 9 more restaurant meals to go.  The last three weeks have flown by.  I have trouble remembering if I saw something in Vietnam or Cambodia unless I think really, really hard.  To help me remember I have kept a rough journal throughout our entire journey where I noted what we bought, prices, what we saw and any other notes or feelings. I also, of course, have my photographs to remind me of our journey. While in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) we decided to visit the zoo.  It cost a little more than $1 dollar each.  I have been to the Calgary Zoo…Continue Reading

The Great Pho-Tasting Expedition of 2010

Hey guys, Laura and I are finally in Vietnam. As many of you already know, she started showing some symptoms of dengue fever when we were in Luang Prabang, Laos. Our original plan was to take a bus from there to Hanoi, in the north of Vietnam, but Dengue is not something you want to mess around with, and since Luang Prabang (and most of Laos) has virtually zero modern healthcare, we decided to head to the capital Vientiane instead. Luckily, by the time we got there, Laura’s fever had passed and her other symptoms calmed down. Facing another epic (24-30 hour) bus ride to get from Vientiane to Vietnam, we caved and bought some plane tickets via the north of Thailand to Ho Chi Minh City instead (via Bangkok). We are rapidly running out of time on this little journey of ours, and the consequence is that we will…Continue Reading