Saigon Sights: The FITO Museum of Traditional Vietnamese Medicine

A re-creation of an apothecary's cupboard, above the stairs.

One of the last days of my roommate Elena's time in Vietnam (as a medical intern), she wanted to visit the FITO Museum of Traditional Vietnamese Medicine, and Antoine and I readily agreed. You can't really visit the HCMC Tripadvisor.com site without noting that this museum is almost always the first or second-rated attraction in the city, and yet I'd never been... even though it's a mere 1 km from my house.

Now, this sounds like it might be a fairly dry subject, but wow. Not only is the museum absolutely captivating, but it's beautiful and informative as well. Those reviews online have it right! It may be a small side trip out of the main D1 area, but it's completely worth it.

Click through for a small photo tour, for those of you who may not be able to see it in person, and feast your eyes!

No-Plan Vacation: Cần Giờ by Bike

New Dream Job:
Step 1: Open a hammock cafe. 2: ... 3: profit.

My roommates and I recently took a random bike ride to the southern coast, traveling south through the country. We stopped for hammocks and coffee, took many ferries, biked through the vast mangrove forest in Cần Giờ district, and explored the area around Cần Thạnh, a small, beautiful town on the southern tip of this peninsula.

The Cần Giờ District is the poorest in Saigon, where most of the locals make their money from fishing and the spotty tourism that comes through. The area is sometimes known as the "Green Lungs of Saigon" because, although it's far outside the hustle of the city, this nationally and internationally protected biosphere reserve helps buffer storms from the south seas and provide ample oxygen to cleanse what it can of the heavy pollution coming out of the city.

It's about 80,000 ha of mangroves, and, although much of it was destroyed in the American War, the natural flora and fauna have been slowly recovering and making their beneficial presence felt. As everywhere in the South, folks we encountered were kind and helpful, and dealt with our poor grasp of the language in a heroic fashion.

It was relaxing and refreshing. And here's the proof.

Click through for a map and photos!

Da Lat 2014: Scarf & Fireplace Weather

Erin, I adore this picture.

One of the best and most relaxing adventures of my summer was my return trip to Da Lat, in the Central Highlands of Vietnam - Land of 1000 Pines and Former French Colonial Playground.

Not only is the weather here just ridiculously comfortable (a mild 70's during our visit in July), but it was an excellent last hurrah with my friend Erin and a great experience for my friend Lisa visiting from NYC.

It's truly a must-see if you're looking to experience a few of the sheer variety of climates and environments in Vietnam.

Some of the great things we did included: staying at one of the world's most unique guesthouses, visiting pagodas and flower parks, discovering secret trails into the hills originating in the cemetery, frolicking among lush jungle waterfalls, doing the central Market on a Sunday, and generally wandering around this picture-perfect painting of a town, far away from the sweltering heat of Ho Chi Minh City to the south.

It was SO COLD... seriously,
like at least down to 70 F.
Scarf and fire weather.

True, I was brutally sick with a stomach bug for the first day and a half (including a really, really precarious sleeping bus trek. Sorry about your bathroom, Da Lat bus station - but seriously, you should be sorry about it too: thank god I carry toilet paper with me).

(BTW: Hello Erin's Family - this post is for you!!)

Not a lot of reading today, it's been a long week and I'm tired of looking at these summer posts stuck in Draft Purgatory. Plus, I pretty much detailed everything I liked about Da Lat in my 2013 post, which you can find here if you haven't memorized everything I've ever posted.

Check out a photo album of my Last Vietnam Hurrah with Friend Erin, and the beginning of my Vietnam Adventure with Lisa, below!

Da Lat's Hằng Nga Guesthouse

Lisa's Butt in her New Pants approaching the second spire of Crazy House by cement ivy walkway.
It makes sense... trust me.

Note: This summer took me to many new places... so many, in fact, that I'm only just now realizing that I have a zillion more posts to write about those three short months! Oof.

In July I went to Da Lat (again) with my friends Erin and Lisa. We had a BLAST.

Part of the experience was that we were staying in what I can easily call the most unique guesthouse I've ever seen. It's so absurd, I have a hard time even describing it with words. Even my gift for analogy seems like too fine a point on it when trying to talk about this astounding creative vision.

On second thought, that won't stop me from trying. Click through for a tour of one architect's vision made concrete (literally and figuratively, I assure you) - a kaleidoscope of nature, wire, stone, and wood brought together in an unforgettably eccentric manner.

Park Life: Thac Giang Điền

I wish I'd found this place myself.

However, it's so far off the beaten path of my everyday travels that only looking for it specifically would find it - it's not in Ho Chi Minh City at all, but rather, about about 60 minutes (~45km) outside it in the countryside of Dong Nai Province, northeast of Bien Hoa City.

Join me in the Dong Nai countryside for a relaxing surprise!

Hạ Long Bay: Natural and Economic Marvel of North Vietnam

'Tornado Light' - all afternoon!

"Twisters!" is an unexpected thing to hear where I live - not just because I immediately wonder what Helen Hunt is doing these days, but because I don't read much weather news here in Vietnam (why bother... it's either Hot and Dry or Hot and Rainy).

So when my mom and I did hear it, it only lent another interesting layer to our overnight daytrip to Hạ Long Bay, Vietnam, one of the new Seven Wonders of the World, in June 2014.

This is an ancient place, one of the first cradles of humanity in the Vietnam region, and a huge, interesting business built on the fickle whims of Mother Nature. Read on...

Côn Đảo: Unspoiled Vietnamese Island Life

Hey, you. You in the office. You seem stressed.

What do you want?

You want peace and quiet? You want dogs? You want the best diving in Vietnam and fresh seafood for every meal?

Done.

Beaches? I know a nice one. Endangered animals? Scads (well, maybe not scads... they are endangered, after all) Ghosts? If you believe some Vietnamese, this place is crazier than NYC at the end of Ghostbusters 2.

And history? Here's a place that summarizes in one 200 year period all the struggles and trials that Vietnamese mainlanders have gone through over thousands of years - shorter, sure, but arguably bloodier, and events just as traumatic to the national psyche in their sheer brutality and lingering impact.

You want all these things, plus boat rides, hiking, bike rides, and island-wide radio hour twice a day?

Have I got the place for you!

Vietnam's UNESCO World Heritage Sites: a Preview

Ha Long Bay (1994)

It's not long after spending some time researching or living abroad that the subject of UNESCO's World Heritage sites comes up. 

First of all, what are they, really? And what is 'UNESCO'? It sounds like a food supplier for prisons.

Hoi An Ancient Town (1999)

UNESCO stands for the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. In 1972, they approved and launched the most universally recognized international convention in history - the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage. It covers many different types of sites around the globe (currently 981 sites (check out that cool interactive map!) - mountains, lakes, monuments, buildings, cities, complexes, and natural features are all treated with universal recognition).

Time to fire up the travel bucket list generator and see what my future plans will include...

Saigon Sights: Lâm viên Cần Giờ (Monkey Island)

District Can Gio.

Recently it was the most glorious holiday (TEACHER'S DAY!) and I was able to rearrange my office hours to take a much-needed trip outside of the city - fresh air, fewer people, fewer bikes, nature... and monkeys.

So many monkeys. And so many pictures!

You can see the map of Cần Giờ District (yes, still part of Ho Chi Minh City, crazily!) that we traveled to. Our destination was Lâm viên Cần Giờ (Cần Giờ Forest Park), in the southern region - almost as far south as you can go while staying both on land and in HCMC's expansive boundaries.

Lâm viên Cần Giờ is a designated UN Biosphere Reserve, recognized as such for the best practices exhibited by the Vietnamese government in regrowing the massive and extensive mangrove forests following the destruction of over 80% of the total biomass through American gas attacks during the Vietnam War. Today, the area is a quiet haven for thousands of monkeys (called a troop!), a group of crocodiles (called a float!), and a beautiful and calm alternative to the endless shouting, honking, bustling throngs of Ho Chi Minh City.

It's picture slideshow time!

Dà Lạt: Central Highlands Playground of the French & Fabulous

Two months ago (!) I joined a number of people from my housing association and took a memorable trip (so memorable, in fact, that I'm about to recount it all to you, right now, two months late!) to Vietnam's central highlands, the most prominent city of which is Dà Lạt.

It is situated anywhere from 6-9 hours north of HCMC, and we were told to wear pants and long sleeves because it gets cold there. HA! It was shorts weather if I've ever seen any - a perfect 76F and mostly sunny all weekend. It's known for pine trees, strawberries, milk, and its abundant lakes and tree covered foothills. It provides temperate vegetables, flowers, and fruits to the rest of Vietnam and is particularly famous for a jam made from rose, strawberries, sweet potato, and mulberry.

It is the capital of Lâm Đồng Province, home to the Dà Lạt people, and is a popular tourist destination due to its mild climate and colonial past. During our stay we rented motorbikes, I learned how to drive, we toured the city, visited a temple, took a roller coaster around waterfalls, ate amazing food, and saw some incredible sights.

Hit the jump for a long post, and so, so many pictures!

What is This 'Rainy Season' You Speak Of?

Honestly, it's not as rainy as I expected to find - it's not like we're getting monsoons every day, all day. Lately they seem to come around 4pm, but there are no rules (just like Saigon traffic, weather here does what it wants, when it wants, for however long it feels like it, and damn the consequences!) - when it rains, it rains. Sometimes it sprinkles. Sometimes it's a total downpour, sheets of rain, look-out-or-it'll-bruise-you stuff. And all of it is fun - the wind and rain are making me miss Chicago a little less.

September has been much rainier than June, and it's been lovely - except for all those times I'm caught on my bike two blocks from home in a crazy-ass downpour. And even those are ok - usually it's so hot that to get soaking wet at 40km/hr is actually a little refreshing! Only when I'm going home though - I hate showing up to work looking like a soaking wet cat.

Park Life: Công Viên 23 Tháng 9

The lily pond in Công Viên 23 Tháng 9, surrounded by an isolating and deeply relaxing grove of palm trees.

Today I want to take you on a tour of the park where I meet several of my clients, as well as my own personal Vietnamese tutor. On concrete benches beneath the shade of palm trees, in a section far away from the mosquitos that live in the pond, I learn and teach languages. Coupled with a ca phe da (iced coffee), banh mi, and folders full of language notes, my students and I learn languages together in the morning heat.

Leslie Knope would be proud! This repurposed park is today a thriving civic hub, one that I visit at least three times a week.

Park Life: Công viên Lê Văn Tám

I couldn't find much info on this statue, which is
a shame - I like the stylized torch on top.

As one Google user states in their review of Le Van Tam Park (presumably a local, speaking in translated Vietnamese):

"Complicated resident with old construction..."

Couldn't put it better myself (well, mayb. This was the first park I fell in love with, and so it's the first public space I'll cover in depth in my tour of spaces that make Ho Chi Minh City unique.

I love parks. They're good for the mental and physical health of residents, they provide much-needed space for groups to meet, socialize, and exercise, they beautify, they breed civic pride, they can boost tourism, and they help create strong, integral communities with a multitude of opportunities for residents to interact, play, and work. They're an important part of any neighborhood, and cities without parks are just downright boring, as well as have more difficult paths to all the benefits I've already mentioned. A park is simply a wonderful thing to have around, and I have a personal interest in community infrastructure and design... which is why it's pretty much the first type of place I tried to find after moving to Vietnam. I was not disappointed - this park is well-designed and great for all sorts of activities.