Food! Glorious Food!

Now, I know there is this type of lifestyle, where you don't eat and just feed on air and water. I also went through an era like that and realized that it's simply not the way to go. You need to eat well to live well. Eat whatever you want, but always find a balance. 

Not only because of my illness have I found balance, but I have also learned a new way of eating whilst in Viet Nam. The amount of food is incredible, but it's the type of food. Fruit, vegetable, beef, chicken, noodles and of course, the magic food and word of Asians - rice. British reporter, Richard West, was stationed in Indo-China during the Viet Nam war. In his book Victory in Vietnam, he wrote: "Rice is not only their staple diet but almost part of their civilization, a food with ritual and magical importance."

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Takze ja vim, ze jeden styl zivota kde nejis a jenom dychas a pijes vodu. Taky jsem si to vyzkousela a zjistila jsem, ze to neni nic pro me. Musis jist dobre, aby si zil dobre. Jez co chces, ale vzdycky si najdi rovnovahu.

Nejen kvuli me nemoci jsem nasla rovnovahu, ale naucila jsem se jist jinym zpusobem ve Vietnamu. Mnozstvi jidla je neuveritelny, ale je to druh jidel. Ovoce, zelenina, hovezi, kureci, nudle a samozrejme magice jidlo a slovo Asiatu - ryze. Britsky zurnalista, Richard West, byl umisten v Indo-Cine behem Vietnamske valky. V jeho knizce Vitezstvi ve Vietnamu on nejen popisoval situaci, ale taky napsal o ryzi: "Ryze je nejen jejich hlavni jidlo, ale je to soucasti jejich civilizace, jidlo s ceremonialni a magickou dulezitosti"

Here we had from what would a "normal" restaurant in European terms. We had our guide order foods from the menu, since it wasn't in English. After a couple of times visiting this place, we figured out what some of the words meant. (bo = beef; ga= chicken; thit lon = pork; mi = noodles)

This place is located near the enclosed market in Da Nang. We came here almost everyday we were in Da Nang for their delicious pho bo (beef noodle soup), Tiger beer. In the evenings they would have chicken with spicy rice. Everything was awesome!

Spicy chilis ~ Palive cili papricky

The spicy rice which was to later come with chicken ~ Paliva ryze, ktera byla servirovana s kurecim masem.

Fruit was in abundance! Women and men alike would push their carts filled with freshly cut pineapple, jackfruit, papaya, bananas (large and small). It was like a fruit drive-thru.

Bylo obrovske mnozstvi ovoce! Zeny a muzi tlacili sve karka plno cerstve nakrajenych ananasu, chlebovniku (lat.:Artocarpus heterophyllus), papaya, banany (velke i male). Bylo to jak ovocny McDrive.

One thing which is impossible in Vietnam, is ice cold beer. The vietnamese drink warm beer poured over a block of ice. 

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Jedna vec, ktera je nemozna ve Vietnamu, je vychlazeny pivo. Vetnamci pijou pivo tak, ze ji prelevaji pres kus ledu.

We once ate seafood at a restaurant which was situated right on the beach in Da Nang. It was also an important spot because the restaurant was situated exactly on the border between North and South Vietnam. During the Vietnam war (1955-1975), the Americans had their largest air force base in Indochina, including the final U.S. ground combat operations in Vietnam in 1975.

Jednou jsme jedli v restauraci, ktera byla hned na plazi v Da Nangu. Bylo to take vyznamne misto, protoze restaurace byla situovana na presne rozdelovaci care mezi Severnim a Jiznim Vietnamem. Behem Vietnamske valky (1955-1975) Americane tu meli svoji nejvetsi zakladnu v Indocine a byla tu posledni prizemsky Americky boj v 1975.

Czech sausages in Vietnam? Weird. ~ Ceske klobasy ve Vietnamu? Divne.

What the lady on the right is selling is a type of glutinous (sticky) rice wrapped in banana (?) leaves.

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To co pani vpravo prodava je typ lepkave ryze, zabalena v bananovem (?) liste.

Here was where I ate in Hoi An. Literally a food on the go. A bus leaving from the hotel in Da Nang, would take us to Hoi An in the morning. I decided I would not eat at the hotel, but rather try something new instead. As hungry as I was, I decided to refuse the first nice restaurant I saw and instead pursued my search for the perfect location. I finally found this lady, sitting on a corner, selling a lovely large bowl of rice/egg noodles on lemon grass leaves, topped with a sauce of shrimp, quail egg and some meat. I have no idea what it was, but after adding all the wonderful spicy chili, I started to dig in. I did not care for the lemon grass, which I didn't eat, but couldn't help myself but devour the whole bowl.

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Tady jsem jedla v Hoi Anu. Vylozene jidlo sebou. Autobus, ktery odjizdel z naseho hotelu v Da nnagu, nas vzalo rano do Hoi Anu. Rozhodla jsem se, ze nebudu jist v hotelu, ale radsi si zkusim neco noveho. I prestoze jsem mela obrovsky hlad, tak jsem oddolala hezkym a cistym restauracim, abych nasla dokonaly misto k sezeni. Konecne jsem nasla tuto pani, ktera sedela na rohu a prodavala velkou misku ryzovych/vajecnych nudli na citronele, politou omackou krevet, krepelcich vajec a nejake maso. Vubec nevim co to bylo, ale po tom co jsem si nandala vsechny ty uzasne palive cili papricky, tak jsem se do toho pustila. Moc me nesla citronela, ale ostatni jsem zhltnout celou misku.

After I had my delicious meal by the lady on the corner, I decided I wanted to try something sweet. I already saw this lady walking the streets of Hoi An and slowly crossing the bridge to the other side of the bank. I saw a group of young Vietnamese already sitting on her little stools, enjoying what I thought was going to be some rice pudding. Which it was but it was warm and put over ice, topped with grass jelly and sugar cane syrup. Although she gave me a 5,000 dong discount (it came out to be 10,000 dongs = 50 cents), I could not finish it. It was just too different for me..

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Jakmile jsem dojedla svoji vybornou misku plno nudli, chtela jsem zkusit neco sladkeho. Videla jsem pani, ktera se prochazela ulicema Hoi An a pomalu prechazela most na druhou stranu brehy. Videla jsem skupinu mladych vietnamcu, ktere uz sedeli na jeji male podnozky a pochutnavali si na co ja si myslela, ze je ryzovy puding. Coz bylo, ale bylo to teplu a davala to na medu, s travni zelatinou a syrup z cukrove trtiny. I kdyz mi dala 5,000 dong slevu (5 kc, tudiz to stalo 10, 000 dongu = 10 kc) nemohla jsem to dojist. Bylo to prilis jiny pro me..

I usually like to get these airy rice dumplings somewhere in the streets of Chinatown in San Francisco. But I have never bought one which would have some filling in it. I was taken back by surprise when I bit into the area, which (I think) had mushrooms and some other vegetable with an egg. I couldn't figure out if I liked it or thought it was gross. So I guess it was ok. It cost about 15 cents, which made it fun anyway.

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Vetsinou rada kupuju tyto vzdusne ryzove knedliky v Chinatown v San Francisku. Ale nikdy jsem nekupovala jednu s naplni. Takze mi bylo velke prekvapeni, kdyz jsem se do ni kousla a nasla jsem (co ja si myslim) houby a jine zeleniny s vajickem. Porad nevim jestli mi to chutnalo nebo jestli to bylo moc. Takze to bylo asi ok. Stalo to v prepoctu na nase 5 kc, coz uz bylo zabava si to koupit.

This was probably my favorite drink. It is (again) a mobile cart, which has a machine with two cylinders, through which they put the stalks of sugar cane in and out comes the juice. They then pour it over ice and voila! I thought it was an excellent and refreshing drink and when possible, I would put some fresh lime juice to give it a zest.

I also had this drink in Cambodia. I think the ice isn't so clean there and it came with a surprise later after. If you know what I mean...

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Tohle bylo asi moje oblibene piti. Je to (znovu) prodany z mobilni karky, ktera ma stroj s dvouma cylindrama, skrz kterych davaji stonky cukrove trtiny a vychazi ven stava. Potom prelejou stavu pres led a voila! Myslela jsem si, ze je to vyborna a svezujici napoj a kdyz mozno, tak jsem si pridala stavu z cerstvych limetek pro extra riz.

Taky jsem mela toto piti v Kambodzi. Myslim si, ze led tam neni tak ciste a prislo i s opozdenym prekvapenim. Pokud vite co myslim...

Vietnamese coffee is strong and excellent. They drink it with sweetened, condensed milk, usually over ice and is called ca phe sua da (ka fey sooh da).

Vietnamske kafe je silny a vyborny. Pijou ji se sladkym, kondenzovanym mlekem, vetsinou prelity pres led. Jmenuje se ve vietnamstine ca phe sua da (ka fey sooh da).

People of Viet Nam

So maybe this time it won't be about transportation but rather the people of Vietnam. I suppose I feel like writing about them more, since when walking around Prague or my small town, I see scowls despite the sun coming out, shining warm and bright. I think people just need to defrost a bit after the long and hard winter.

Then again if you give them a chance maybe they will crack a smile towards you, just like in Viet Nam. The Vietnamese often look at the foreigners with eyes filled with curiosity. If you are lucky, you can get a toothless grin from either a child with milk-like skin or a very old person, wrinkled from sun and time. 

People can be seen walking on the streets, selling their goods at the markets or in quiet corners. Usually families are seen sitting in front of their houses which in the countryside, beautifully colored with colors of turquoise, yellow or terra-cotta. In the city such as in Saigon, the houses or rather apartment buildings, are fitted next to each other with open garages. Each garage has their own group of people sitting inside. Women chatting together, whilst sitting on footstools, fanning themselves to create a breeze in the still air. If the man of the house is with them, then he is either sitting with another man, smoking a cigarette. If as a man he is alone, surrounded by the women on the footstools, he is seen usually caring of the youngest baby.

I found it interesting to see how much love and affection they display towards their children. You see how much they kiss them on the child's fat cheeks or bounce them on their knee to keep them entertained. 

The young children, are so curious with their large brown almond eyes, that it makes it impossible to not come up and say hello. I myself couldn't have helped it! I would take pictures of the children to which the parents never opposed but rather encouraged. They would try to make the child look into the camera, smile and wave their fat little hands.

Most Czechs will either remember or know about what was called pionyri (pioneers). To sum it up, it was an organization functioning for the communist party, for children and youth. It started during the 70's and lasted until after the revolution. Viet Nam is still a Marxist-Leninist led country and still has many of the organizations which we used to see in socialist countries in Europe, such as the pioneers. I ran into a group of these children part of the youth group on the bridge in Hoi An. I was a funny looking person for them with my short hair and some of the girls would giggle when I took photos of them. They seemed very close to each other and showed a lot of affection towards one another, which I thought was really cute. Also the red and white outfits were cute!

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Tak mozna tentokrat nebude o doprave, ale radsi o vietnamskych lidech. Mozna o nich chci psat vice, jelikoz kdyz se prochazim po Praze nebo po mem malem meste, tak vidim jen zamracene obliceje, i prestoze svitici slunce hreje a rozzaruje svet. Mozna se lide jenom potrebuji trochu rozmrazit po dlouhe a tvrde zimy

Naproti tomu zase, kdyz jim date sance, tak se i mozna usmejou, tak jako ve Vietnamu. Vietnamci taky potrebuji nekdy cas a casto koukaji na cizince s ocima plno zvedavosti. Pokud mate stesti, tak dostanete bezzuby usmev od batolete s pokozkou jako mleko nebo bezzuby usmev od starenky, ktera je svrascena od slunce a casu.

Lide jsou k videni na ulici, prodavajici jejich zbozi na trzich nebo v tichem rohu v samote. Vetsinou uvidite rodinu jak si vysedava pred jejich domy na venkove, ktere jsou zbarveny tyrkysem, zlutou nebo terakotovou barvou. Ve meste jako je Saigon, tak domy nebo-li radsi byty, jsou na miru postaveny jeden vedle druheho s otevrenou garazi. Kazda garaz ma svoji skupinu lid, ktere sedi pred nebo uvnitr techto garazi. Zeny klaboseji venku na podnozkach a pritom si mavaji pred oblicejem vejir, aby si udelaly vanek v nehybnem vzduchu. Pokud "muz domacnosti" je snima, pokuruje si cigaretu s dalsim muzem. Pokud je sam a jen obklopen zenama na podnozkach, tak ho uvidite vetsinou jak se stara o dite  nebo i deti.

Prislo mi zajimave videt kolik lasky a citu rodice davaji detem. Vidite jak detem polibeji jejich kulate, tluste tvaricky nebo s nima hopsaji na kline, aby je zabavily. Ja tohle bohuzel nevidim casto v nekterych zemich. Spise vidim jak rodice se zlobeji na sve deti, protoze se umatlaly, kdezto ve Vietnamu se zacnou tomu smat a utrou jim pusu. Nic se nehroti.

Malé deti jsou tak zvedavi s jejich cokoladove hnede oci ve tvaru mandli, ze to je nemozné, abych neprisla pozdravit!Kdyz jsem fotila deti, tak rodice nikdy nebyli proti, ba naopak me podporovali, abych je fotila. Snazili se rozesmivat jejich deti, nebo aby zamavaly.

Vetsina Cechu si pamatuji nebo znaji z dejepisu pionyri. Viet Nam je stale socialisticka republika a ma organizace, ktere behem rezimu existovaly i v CR. Potkala jsem skupinu deti, ktere sly pres most v Hoi An. Byla jem asi vtipne vypadajici holka (bez vlasu) a mlade devcata se chechtaly, kdyz jsem je fotila. Prislo mi, ze jsou si vsichni blizci pratele a byly roztomile. Taky jejich bilo-cervene outfity byly cute!

Young soldiers gone for an excursion at Marble Mountains ~ Mlade vojaky na exkurzi v Mramorovych Horach

Priest at Marble Mountains ~ Mnich sidlici v Mramorovych horach

Ao dai - Vietnamese national costume

This was an incredibly interesting night. We were in Hoi An during the time of the grand opening of their new dragon bridge. Everyone wanted to try to get across the new bridge from one side to another. I think that almost in any European country or American state, people would be yelling at each other, getting angry at one another for not moving or hurrying. Not one person yelled at another. Everyone was calmly trying to get across the bridge, taking turns. Tolerant people from my point of view.

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Tohle bylo velice zajimavy zazitek a i noc pro me. Byli jsme v Hoi An kdy bylo otevreni noveho mostu , ktera mela sloupy jako drak. Kazdy si to chtel vyzkouset a tudiz chteli prejet z jedne strany do druhy. Myslim si, ze v jakkemkoliv Evropske zemi ci Americkem statu, tak by lide na sebe kriceli a naddavali by si. Ani jeden clovek na nikoho vztekle nerval. Vsichni se klidne posouvali dal a cekali az na ne dojde rada. Dle meho nazoru jsou to velice tolerantni lide.

I'm back!

So I have finally returned from my travels to my little country in central eastern Europe. How quaint and quite it is here, a mental note taken after being in the hectic world of Asia. Usually people say that they are excited to go back home or are happy to be back. I have to exclude myself from this group. I wish I could be back in Viet Nam, eating pho bo (beef noodle soup) somewhere in the busy streets of Saigon or Hoi An.

I have been back for a week or so, but so needed the time to get acclimated and also start thinking as to how am I going to write about my travels! Every day I took notes, excited to share my experience not only from Viet Nam but also Cambodia. It's not every day, that you get to hop on a plane and go to these countries. Or take a bus for that matter. Yes, I took a bus from Saigon, Viet Nam to Siem Reap, Cambodia and from Siem Reap to the capital of Cambodia, Phnom Penh and back to Saigon. 1400 km of Cambodia under my belt. 

Instead of writing what I did on this day or that day, I'd rather if I divide my travels into different sections. People, landscape, cities/towns, ways of travel and so on. 

What I can start with is: It was an amazing adventure!

~

Tak jsem se uz konecne vratila ze svych cest do sve male zeme ve stredni Evrope. Je to tak zvlastni byt zpatky v tolika tichosti, coz je neco co jsem poznamenala hned pri priletu z hekticke Asie. Vetsinou lide rikaji, ze se tesi zpatky domu nebo jsou stastny byt zpatky. Sama sebe vylucuji z teto skupiny. Prala bych byt zpatky ve Viet Namu, s miskou pho bo (hovezi nudlova polevka) nekde na rusne ulici Saigonu nebo Hoi An.
Uz jsem zpatky zhruba tyden, ale potrebovala jsem cas se aklimatizovat a taky popremyslet jak napisu o svych cestach! Kazdy den jsem si delala zaznamy, a tesila jsem se az se podilim o svych zazitku nejen z Viet Namu ale i z Kambodzy. Neni to kazdy den co si skocite na letadlo a odletite do tehlech zemi. Nebo na autobus. Ano, jela jsem autobusem ze Saigonu (Viet Nam) do Siem Reap (Kambodza) a ze Siem Reap do hlavniho mesta Kambodzy, Phnom Penh a zpatky do Saigonu. 1400 km Kambodzy pod pasem.
Misto toho abych psala co jsem delala tento den nebo tamten den, tak bych radsi rozdelila sve cesty do ruznych sekci. Lide, krajina, velkomesta/mesta, zpusob cestovani a atd..
S cim muzu ale zacit: Bylo to bajecne dobroduzstvi!

I flew from Prague with Turkish Airlines. That meant I had to change in Istanbul and from Istanbul to Bangkok, Thailand. We waited an hour before they cleaned the plane and loaded Vietnamese pensioners to continue to Saigon. The worst turbulence I have experienced in my life, was when were flying over Pakistan. I wish I had some morpheme to knock me out!
~
Letela jsem z Prahy s Turkish Airlines. Tzn., ze jsem musela prestupovat v Istanbulu a z Istanbulu do Bangkoku, Thajsko. Tam jsme museli cekat hodinu nez uklidili letadlo a naplnili ho vietnamskymi duchodci. Nejhorsi turbulence kterou jsem zazila bylo nad Pakistanem. To jsem si prala morfia...

We stayed at the Star City Hotel in Saigon. It's near the airport which is great when you need to catch your next flight. Saigon is simply a frenzy of human and machine energy!
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Volba hotelu byla Star City Hotel v Saigonu. Je to blizko  letiste coz je super kdyz potrebujes chytit dalsi let. Saigon je proste silenstvi lidske a strojove energie!

Saigon @ night

Unfortunately, I cannot go into direct sun and have to cover my body due to the chemotherapy. I need a few months or a year after my last chemo (in January) before I can go into direct sunlight. Reason? My skin is ultra sensitive due to the drugs, and I was explained what happens when you mix sun and chemo. The molecules change somehow, but that's about as much as I can remember. I'll ask again to let you peaches know!
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Bohuzel nesmim na primy slunce a musim zakryvat cely telo kvuli chemoterapii. Potrebuju par mesicu az rok od posledni chemo (leden) nez muzu znovu na slunce. Duvod? Moje pokozka je ultra-sensitivni kvuli drogam a taky mi bylo vysvetleno co se stane kdyz pomichate slunce a chemo. Nejak se zmeni molekule, ale to asi tolik kolik si toho pamatuju. Zpetam se znova a dam vam peachesum vedet!

My first walk in Saigon was the next morning. A heavy tropical rain cleaned the air and made it that much more of a pleasant walk around the block.
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Moje prvni prochazka v Saigon druhe rano. Prudk, tropicka dest vycistila vzduch a bylo to o to prijemnejsi prochazka okolo bloku.

The next post will be about transportation (I think). As you can see, they mostly use scooters or bikes. Hope you enjoyed the beginning!
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Pristi post bude asi o transportaci. Coz vidite, ze prevazne jsou skutry nebo kola. Doufam, ze se vam libi zacatek!