Mission Cup and Bike Trip

Last weekend the Consulate Tiger Team won our long-standing annual soccer match against the Hanoi Embassy Dragon Team. We've been training for this "Mission Cup" game for months, so it was great to have all that hard work pay off. Tensions were running high and the game itself was pretty rough. Monsoon season here also predictably delivered a rip-snorting thunderstorm, which added to the fun. I played a fair amount of the game and even scored a header on a corner kick, though it was not counted due to a penalty. Pictures from the game are on the team's website: https://sites.google.com/site/tigerteamhcmc/Articles/win2-0may28againstdragonteam-hanoitigerteamhasdefendedtheirannualtrophy/triumph-s-photos-of-tigerteam

Nikki came out and cheered along with a big group of supporters, and we all enjoyed a fun party celebrating the win afterwards with food, drinks, and singing (of course, I sang the two Vietnamese songs I know – will have to memorize a few more!). The fun didn't stop there though, as my buddy David and I headed to the local Spanish bar later that night (at 1:45AM) to watch Barcelona beat Manchester United.

Tired and happy, the next day Nikki and I hopped on an airplane to Dalat, which is an old mountain hill-station oft-visited by Saigonese escaping the muggy heat of the Saigon-Mekong river delta. The town has a very interesting French-colonial vibe and we enjoyed the architecture, food, and cool weather. Our hotel, the Ana Mandara, was built on an old French estate and maintained the sense of yore with antique cars, telephones, bathtubs, and buildings.

We rose early the next morning, and after a delicious breakfast of pho and croissants, headed out with a tour operator called Phat Tire to ride bicycles from the mountains down to the coast at Phan Thiet – a total of about 70 km. The scenery was incredible – pine forests, coffee plantations, ethnic minority villages, dragon fruit farms, and rice fields. Of course we saw every kind of cute farm animal you can imagine – pigs, goats, cows, etc. After the long ride, we treated ourselves to some relaxation in the beach town of Mui Ne, where we sat by the beach/pool, got massages, and read our books. I rented a windsurfer and was promptly blown several miles down the beach, but still had a blast.

We had planned to take the train back from Mui Ne to Ho Chi Minh City, but discovered upon arrival at the train station that the tickets were sold out. However, no worries! This is Vietnam, and with some good 'ole begging and pleading, we were able to secure one and a half seats on the train, usually reserved for employees. What is a half seat? Well, it happens to be a small plastic chair sitting in the aisle. Perfectly acceptable for the 5 hour trip back to Saigon Station through plantations of dragon fruit, manioc, and rubber trees. Ahh Vietnam, the adventure continues!

Work Trip, Cute Kids, and a Triathlon

I am finally getting a chance to work on some interesting environmental projects here in Vietnam (it only took me 6 months to line up enough contacts!). Most recently, I was able to attend a workshop put on by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in Hoi An to discuss the current status of marine protected areas (MPAs) in the country and their role in protecting sea turtles. MPA managers from all over the country attended and my rudimentary Vietnamese language skills are definitely coming in handy. We had the opportunity to visit a nearby MPA on Cu Lao Cham Island, which is mostly undeveloped and beautiful. Locals were selling/eating all manner of sea creatures caught around the protected area. Looks like this conference will result in a short paper, and then I'm off to another spatial zoning conference next month. Between these and my recent contract to work on land-based marine pollution, I'm feeling pretty good about my opportunities here!

Two weekends ago, Nikki and I visited a local orphanage with our friend Dave and his girlfriend. The orphanage had over 300 kids aged 0 to 16 who just wanted a little attention. We literally walked into rooms where 20 two and three year olds would raise up their arms, begging to be picked up. We spent a lot of time holding and playing with the kids, and distributed milk and treats that we had brought along. Now we are trying to organize return visits with other consulate folks

Last weekend, Nikki and I drove 4 hours east to Mui Ne, in the desert-like province of Binh Thuan to compete in the Le Fruit Offroad Triathlon (http://www.vietadventure.vn/eventdetail/item/2). We have been training fairly regularly for the race, but were totally blown away by how difficult it was!! For the swim/bike/run, Nikki's distances were 300m/20k/4k (my distances were about twice that). Sounds easy, right? Wrong! First, the ocean swim was pretty rough (Nikki swallowed several gallons of seawater). Next, the bike included an offroad portion where you had to actually carry your bike over a series of sand dunes – Nikki had her cruiser 1 ton mountain bike, which made this portion especially tough. For my race, I actually had to do the dune section three times. Finally, the run was on the beach, and we all know how much fun sand is to run in!

The good news is that the area was stunningly beautiful, and Nikki and I both finished the race. We made a couple preparation mistakes (e.g. did not bring any Gatorade/gu/energy bars for the 3 hour+ competition, and I didn't quite carry enough water – idiot!), but in the end we were proud of ourselves for gutting it out. I placed third and was 16 minutes behind the winner, but totally bonked on the run, so I know I can do better next time). We treated ourselves to a relaxing morning at Mui Ne beach the next day, lounging by the pool and in the waves before jumping in the car for the long drive home through bizarre dragon-fruit plantations.

Next week is Mission Cup – a major soccer game between the HCMC Consulate and the Hanoi Embassy. Everybody has been gearing up for it and we are hoping to win for the third year in a row. Last weekend we had a cupcake fundraiser at the consulate which was super fun – I made hideous, yet delicious peanut-butter chocolate ones – yum! This week, the team is making final preparations. Saturday is the big day, so we gotta rest up!

Laos

We finally were able to make it over to Laos last week and loved the people, food, and beautiful scenery. Thanks to international labor day and "victory day" here in Vietnam (celebrating defeat of American forces), we had almost a whole week to explore both Luang Prabang and Vientiane.

Luang Prabang is located in north central Laos at the intersection of the Mekong and Nam Khan rivers and is filled with temples and beautiful architecture. One of the biggest highlights of the town is that around 6AM every morning the resident monks fill the streets in bright orange robes, where people provide them with sticky rice and other food. Our friend Alex and I both participated in the ceremony by offering rice, even though it was raining our first day. We must have snapped hundreds of pictures.

The rivers and mountains were pretty photogenic as well, which we enjoyed the next day while taking a two hour boat trip up the Mekong River to visit Pak Ou Cave, where hundreds of Buddha statues have been placed. We stopped in a riverside village along the way, where I sampled some Lao coffee and there was no shortage of cute kids. That afternoon, we hired a tuk tuk for the hour drive to Kuang Si Falls. We took an alternate path to the main waterfall, which involved a slippery muddy path and fording the river, but the sheer beauty of the place was worth it. I was able to fit in a quick swim and try out an awesome rope swing. They also had an exhibit with rescued sunbears, which Nikki of course loved!

The next day we visited an elephant sanctuary set amongst stunning mountains and a river. We were able to feed and ride the elephants, and I'm pretty sure Nikki was trying to figure out how to get one back to Ho Chi Minh City. From the sanctuary, we jumped in kayaks and followed the Nam Khan river for a few hours back to Luang Prabang, getting a riverside view of rural Laotian life.

Aside from these day trips, we had tons of fun touring around Luang Prabang proper. We climbed Phu Si to visit the hilltop temple, got Lao massages, checked out the night market and sampled street food, and of course gorged ourselves on delicious Lao food – Laap salad, pork-stuffed lemongrass, sausages wrapped in lettuce and herbs, dried Mekong river weed (good with BeerLao), various dips made from eggplant, tomato, and buffalo skin (yum!), and of course ubiquitous sticky rice.

We had only a couple days to see Vientiane, but had fun sightseeing in the Lao capital city along the Mekong river on the border with Thailand. We saw the famous gold-colored Pha That Luang Buddhist stupa, the Arc de Triomphe-like Patuxai monument, and several other wats and temples. One of the highlights was eating at restaurant Makphet, which is both delicious and benefits street children (part of Friends International, which also has restaurants in Cambodia).

In all, we loved Laos and found it to be a fantastic and somewhat overlooked travel destination. We will definitely have to return for more delicious food and adventures.