An Outing to Gadsden, Alabama

Alabama Home Sweet Home

It's been a hectic week since we rushed home to bury our father.  With all the emotional exhaustion compounded by the persistent jet lag, yesterday was a good day to temporarily forget handling any of the post-death details and get mom out of the house for a drive down to Gadsden, Alabama.

Even after traveling the world, the countryscape of northeastern Alabama is still one of the most beautiful and peaceful places we know.  The rolling hills, naked wintry trees, mountain streams, cows grazing, and rolls of hay is an American sight that we have missed. 

Pink sunset, Crossville, Alabama.

We doubt Gadsden is on anyone's travel destinations, but if you happen upon it, you'll want to stroll down this very well-preserved, old-timey American downtown that looks like a flashback from half a century ago...

Sapa: A Mountain Town Covered in Thick Fog

In front of Tien Sa waterfall
near Cat Cat Village.

We finally made it into the northwestern mountains of Vietnam near the China border to an area called Sapa, famous for the patterned rice terraces carved out of the side of the mountains.  Once you've seen the view, it's easily recognizable as belonging to Sapa.  

As if the rice terrace landscape wasn't good enough, they are surrounded by sheer granite walls rising from crystal clear river canyons, bamboo forests soaring into the heavens, peppered with villages of Hmong tribes dressed in their colorful attire.  Sapa couldn't be more picture perfect.

Picture perfect, unless surrounded by dense fog with a visibility of about 20 feet...which was our Sapa experience on our first day here.

Here's what we should've been able to see in Sapa: 

Postcards of scenic Sapa area. 

Here's what we actually saw:

The fog gave the landscape a unique, mysterious shroud that was equally beautiful, but we wished we'd seen the dramatic views today.

Hoi An, A Day at the Cooking School

Where best to take cooking classes than in the culinary capital of Vietnam?  There are lots of cooking schools here in Hoi An.  It seems almost every restaurant offers some kind of class for very cheap.  After perusing through a few offerings, we settled on the cooking class provided by a reputable restaurant in town called Dao Tien River with Chef de Cuisine, Viet. For $25/pp we got a tour through the Central Market to buy some ingredients, then a boat tour of Hoai River and watched the fishermen cast their nets and catch fish (!), then we returned to the restaurant to start cooking.

We had a full day.  You can see our blog entry on the market tour at the start of the day.  We didn't think we were lucky enough to have the chef to ourselves for 6 hours for $25/pp, but we also didn't expect 17 other French tourists who happened to be an hour late for the meeting time either!  Wandering through the market and delivering cooking instructions to 19 people is quite challenging.  As a former educator, I can relate, so we think Chef Viet did an amazing job of keeping us on track, especially since the menu was quite ambitious for a mixed crowd.

The entire upstairs of Dao Tien was set up as a cooking school with 19 stations.  2-3 people shared propane burners. We loved this cooking school because although it took a long time to get through the instructions of 4 dishes with such a large crowd, it was all hands-on.

Hoi An, Central Market and Foodie Finds

Cao lau (Hoi An noodles) street vendor is now open for business!  Of course, red plastic stools are a must for good street food. Everything she needs (including the stools) are carried in two baskets.

As far as we're concerned (and many will agree), Hoi An is the culinary capital of Vietnam.  4 centuries of trade with Japan, China, India, Netherlands, Portugal, etc. have resulted in taking the best culinary tips from these countries and incorporated into the best Vietnamese food we've had. Not to mention foods like Cao Lau that can only be made authentically in Hoi An using one of five well waters here.  Not to mention the BEST banh mi sandwich exists in Hoi An.  Never mind the other unique dishes specific to Hoi An and the greater Quang Nam Province, plus fresh seafood straight off the fishing boats in the South China Sea, that can keep us eating something different every day for the next year!

Here are lots of photos from the central market and a few of Hoi An's food specialties.

Mekong Delta, The "Rice Bowl" of the World

The Mekong Delta in southern Vietnam is one of the world's richest agricultural regions, and according to our tour guide, just surpassed Thailand as the number one exporter of rice.  The climate, fertile soil, river waters, and centuries old cultivation techniques gives the Mekong a distinct advantage by being able to harvest rice 3 times a year.  Besides rice, there's a large commercial fishing industry and many tropical fruits grow in this fertile land.  Well, that sure sounded like a fifth grader encyclopedia report on the Mekong Delta (do they even do that in school anymore?  What's an encyclopedia? Ha, ha). 

Breakfast, pho ga, on our way to the
Mekong delta.

Our time in south Vietnam is short, but we didn't want to miss the opportunity to visit the delta, and especially the famous floating markets that grace many postcards from Vietnam.  However, the delta is a large area and is difficult to get around without a boat.  One can easily get lost amongst the rice fields, mangrove forests, stilt houses, floating houses, tributaries, and canals...never to be found again.  It reminds us somewhat of the Louisiana bayou.  To visit the Mekong properly, we should've probably devoted at least a week to explore the "bayou".  Unfortunately, we didn't have that kind of time so we did something very touristy.  After much deliberation, we joined an organized tour (*gasp*)!  We decided that it was the most efficient way to visit the delta. 

Our Last Overland Border Crossing! Cambodia to Vietnam by Bus

Yesterday was our very final overland border crossing on our round-the-world trip!  We made it into Vietnam without any issue, visa or transporation-wise, thank goodness. 

The bus ride from Phnom Penh, Cambodia to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam took approximately 7 hours.  The roads were much better than our unpaved road bus ride from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh.  We heeded the advice of many and chose Mekong Express Limousine bus company at $13/pp (really, $12/pp but our hotel got a $1/pp commission) instead of the cheaper $5/pp bus rides.  The bus was clean and basic.  They gave us a free snack, water, and wet wipe.  Our luggage was tagged for security.  We stopped once for a 25-minute lunch break, right before the border crossing.  Weirdly, their 3 company goals were posted in Japanese inside the bus: (1) Avoid accidents (2) Reduce idling (3) Excellent customer service.  Hmmm.

Phnom Penh, A City in Mourning with a Promising Future

This post covers not only King Sihanouk's passing, but also a variety of Phnom Penh, Cambodia experiences this week, including the Royal Palace, National Museum, river view, wats (temples), the food scene, brewery tour, etc.  The Killing Fields and Tuol Sleng S-21 Prison is a different posting.  

Mercurial.  That's how the foreign press described the personality of Cambodia's ex-King Sihanouk, when they reported his passing away on October 15th, 2 weeks shy of his 90th birthday.  His personality may have been volatile and unpredictable, but Cambodians don't refer to him as "The King-Father of Cambodia" for nothing.  He was very loved and admired.

Ex-King Norodom Sihanouk, lying in state at Royal Palace, Phnom Penh.

Ko Samui, Our Week in Thai Beach Paradise

Postcard perfect Lamai Beach, Ko Samui, Thailand.

The word "Samui" means cold in Japanese, but I doubt that is what this island's namesake means in Thai!  While "Ko" means island in Thai, "Samui" may actually be named after a native tree called mui or after a Malay word, saboey, meaning "safe haven".  This island in the Gulf of Thailand is very tropical and definitely not "Samui" or cold.

There are so many nice islands in Thailand, it was difficult to choose where to plant ourselves for a week.  Ultimately, we chose the ever popular Ko Samui for its ease of access (if you consider a 12-hr train ride, 1.5-hr bus ride, 1.5-hr ferry ride, and hanging off the back of a songthaew truck, easy...), beautiful unspoiled beaches, and a variety of activities. 

Everyone's Got A Story and Wants to Feed You in Chiang Mai

Reflections on one of our best weeks during our travels in Chiang Mai.  Being in nature, riding elephants, and visiting more temples was good; however making new friends, reuniting with old, and trying out some good (non-Thai) food is what will remain in our memories.  Everyone's got a story in Chiang Mai. 

Thailand, A Street Foodie Paradise

One of a thousand Pad Thai stands

Oh, how we longed for this day to come where we could feast on street food (hawker stands) in Thailand!  Especially when we were traveling through the Balkans about 6 weeks ago, eating yet another unidentifiable minced meat patty or something they called pizza.  

For so long, we've been dreaming about ordering food from one of the myriad food carts and watching the little old ladies whip up our pad thai, chicken fried rice, noodle soup, spring rolls, or grilled skewers of meat, right before our eyes.

In Bangkok, it's more difficult to avoid someone selling food than finding food.  Right outside our guesthouse in a back alley are probably 10 food vendors grilling, frying, or sautéing away!  Once we get to the main street, we can't hardly walk down the sidewalk because it is packed with food stalls on both sides.  We have no idea what most of the stuff is, but it all smells good.   

6th Day in Istanbul: A Private Foodie Tour

What is Ottoman cuisine, you ask?  First, imagine a highly diverse empire that lasted for 500 years, extending all the way from Venice to the west, Hungary to the north, Egypt to the South, and the Middle East.  Imagined being able to incorporate the best culinary practices and bounties from each region into their own unique cuisine.  Also, imagine being situated right in the middle of the spice trade route.  The end result is a complex melting pot of flavors and cooking techniques influenced by India, Middle East, North Africa, the Mediterranean (think Greek), and Italy. 

2nd Day in Istanbul: Full of Really Old Things

We've been seeing a lot of history and ancient things on our travels, but we knew we were REALLY going to see some old and grand things when we got to Istanbul! 

As the center of many empires that have come and gone since the beginning of time, Istanbul offers an overwhelming amount of history and culture.  Ruins from ancient cities share prime real estate with modern buildings.  There are so many ancient artifacts, they are strewn all over the grounds of the archeological museum.  Every structure is a living history and testament to the power and grandeur that ruled this part of the world. 

1st Day in Istanbul: Mostly About the Food

We are so excited to finally be in Instanbul!  As soon as we arrived, we recognized the city immediately with the iconic images of massive domed mosques, sky-high minarets, palaces, bridges, and waterways. 

Despite our excitement, we didn't make it to hardly any famous sights today! No Hagia Sofia, no Blue Mosque, no Topkapi Palace, no museums, no Grand Bazaar.  We did manage to see the Galata Tower, Yeni Mosque, cross the Galata Bridge, and walk through the Egyptian Spice Market, get a view of the Golden Horn islet and the Bosphorus Strait; but the last 24 hours has mostly been about the food.  After 3 weeks of rather uninspiring Balkans cuisine, we are certain the remaining 7 days in Istanbul will continue to be mostly about gorging ourselves with Turkish cuisine! 

Sofia, Bulgaria: Our Last Balkans Experience

Sofia, Bulgaria - our last Balkans stay before we head to Istanbul, Turkey!  23 days ago, we blindly crossed the Adriatric, not knowing what to expect.  We found a region less traveled where the past differences continues to influence their hopeful future; where the most serene landscapes are peppered with memories of war and churches of all faiths.  We came out knowing a lot more about this area of the world, and are glad to have met all the kind people who safely helped us across their homeland.

Sofia is the capital city of Bulgaria with all the modern services and finds of a large, cosmopolitan city.  We could tell there's a significant Turkish and Russian influence in this city.  We also hadn't run into too many foreign business people and expatriates for the past 3 weeks until we arrived in Sofia.  We had a nice conversation and several Kamenitza beers with a retired Norwegian expatriate who made his residence in Sofia about 5 years ago.  

The best part about Sofia?  The currency exchange office took our Argentine pesos that nobody else would take!!  They also exchanged our Serbian dinar that the other Balkan countries would not touch.  It felt like a Christmas bonus. 

5-Days of R&R at Lake Ohrid, Macedonia

People around here call Lake Ohrid, the Macedonian Riviera, as it's the closest Macedonia will ever get to having a coastline.  The lake is one of the oldest and deepest in Europe, sharing it with Albania on the southwestern side.  It appears many Europeans have discovered this beautiful lake getaway so the small town is quite built-up with hotels and restaurants to accommodate the tourists.  Fortunately for us, we got here just in time to see the August holiday crowd pack-up and go home, leaving us to enjoy the serenity of the crystal clear waters surrounded by the Dinaric Alps mountain range undisturbed, except for a few lingering retirees. 

Serbia, The Bad Boy of the Balkans

To understand the ongoing conflicts in the Balkans, you have to get to know Serbia's roots, its complex history and people.

For example, the Serbs occupied the entire Balkans Peninsula in the early centuries until the Ottoman-Turks conquered and ruled for 500 years.  In the 20th century, despite being part of a larger socialist federation of Yugoslavia, Serbia continued to be the political center of the federation and called the shots.  Yugoslavia's collapse in 1992 opened up 'opportunities' for extreme Serbian nationalists to push their  'Greater Serbia' agenda forward under the leadership of the infamous Slobodan Milosević, resulting in bloodshed, wars, and atrocities such as ethnic cleansing.  As punishment and disapproval, the world isolated Serbia in response to their behavior. 

A Detour Through Venice, Italy

On our round-the-world trip, our next planned destination after Morocco was Croatia, so what the heck are we doing in Venice, Italy? Good question.

Venice is definitely not a budget traveler's friend.  As expected, when you've got one of the most unique and popular tourist destinations of the world in a confined area, things are going to be expensive - especially lodging.  

Here's the Venice-Croatia connection.  A ferry runs from Venice to Croatia through the Adriatic Sea.  We thought, wouldn't our travels be a lot more interesting if we took this ferry instead of flying directly from Tangier to the main city of Croatia?  Plus, we just love Venice.  We were here 7 years ago and wanted to come back.  So instead, we flew from Tangier back to Madrid on RyanAir; then flew the next day from Madrid to Venice on EasyJet.  Both are European budget airlines that charge extra for everything, including: printing a boarding pass at the airport, checking-in luggage, any inflight beverages, using the restroom on board (okay, just kidding on that one), etc.  

Overall, our desire to take the ferry across the Adriatic is turning out to be an expensive adventure, what with 2 extra flights and 2 nights in Venice, but what the heck.  One unexpected bonus towards our budget has been several freebie lodging in Spain and Morocco, thanks to the generosity of friends.  So, we don't think our plan will be too damaging to our bottom line. 

Grazing Our Way Through Madrid

Sangria and olives tapas 

Part of the fun of traveling is exploring the foodie culture in each of the places we visit.  Some places are more well-known around the world for their distinct food such as Japanese sushi, Peruvian ceviche, and Argentine steak; but most of the time, we've had no idea about the typical foods consumed in a certain region such as Ecuador and the Peruvian Andes, so it has been a wonderful adventure just discovering the foods.  

Spanish cuisine is more well-known around the world.  We've encountered good tapas restaurants even in our Midwestern city in Kansas and in Japan. We've had paella before.  Gourmet stores sell imported Serrano ham.  However, we've never been certain if the food is close to authentic or not.  Well, this was our chance to find out while we were in Madrid.

Several aspects about Madrid dining surprised us.  First, we were pleasantly surprised at how cheap the food and drinks were.  We basically went on a tapas bar crawl one night, and discovered several places with excellent specials such as a beer and 1 tapas for €0,90!  Also, most drink orders came with tapas such as olives and toast with jamón.  We easily became full just from "free" food.  Also, we've heard so much about the Spaniards eating dinner late that we didn't go out until at least 10 pm, only to find that most of the bars and restaurants were closing at midnight, even on a Friday night.  This was very surprising to us.  

During our short stay in Madrid, we mostly ended up grazing on bites of food throughout the day - a typical Spaniard lifestyle of ordering drinks and small plates and consuming them standing up, then moving on to the next location.  This way of eating was perfect for foodies who want to try a little bit of everything without having to commit to a full entree.  

We recognize that the Spanish food is very regional, so we may not have experienced the best-of-the-best since we didn't get to visit the actual region in which the food is derived from (e.g. eating paella in Madrid instead of Valencia; probably similar to having Kansas City BBQ in New York), but we definitely got a nice sampling of Spain.

Eating, Drinking, and Cooking Our Way Around Buenos Aires

Mike at Don Julio Parrilla
in Palermo Viejo

As our 3-weeks in Buenos Aires (BA) apartment living comes to a close, it's time to summarize our foodie adventures in this lovely city.  There were moments of excitement with having a kitchen, only to be let down with the disappointing grocery store selections. But, heavenly to find such great tasting beef steaks at any of the myriad parrillas for such a reasonable price, washed down all too easily with Malbec wine.  Not to mention the amazing coffeehouses to support the Argentine late-night culture, accompanied by their sweet-tooth for anything-dulche-de-leche.  We relished in Palermo district's obsession with ethnic restaurants - some winners, some losers; while repeatedly enjoying our newly-discovered favorite restaurant, Las Cabras, only half a block down from our apartment.

First meal and wine in our apartment

However, for those of you who know us well, might we remind you that we are on a strict BUDGET?  That means, we didn't indulge in our usual foodie adventures of trying out the latest and greatest celebrity-chef restaurants; the nouveau prix fixe 20-course menus; nor the trendiest, fanciest, oldest, whatever-est restaurants in BA.  Instead, we took this opportunity to savor in the adventures of grocery shopping, cooking homemade meals in a foreign country, and fed our souls with great budget restaurant finds.   

Day 88: Random Buenos Aires Adventures

This is a random assortment of events in one blog with buses, Kansas Grill, Thai Embassy, etc., but it all happened in one day, and it was quite adventurous so read on!

We thank our lucky stars that we can do this kind of traveling without hassle by virtue of having been born in countries that allow their citizens to roam freely around most of the world (We don't take it for granted.  Our freedoms CAN be taken away).  There are others that require their people apply for visas to leave their own country, and plenty of nations that require visitors from certain places to apply for tourist visas before entry.  That's a lot of embassy hopping.  For the most part, our journey doesn't require us to obtain special visas.  Except, if we want to stay in Thailand for longer than 30 days in October, which we do.  

It seems premature to apply for a tourist visa in July (for October), but looking at our next 2-3 months, we will frequently be on-the-go without the benefit of a Thai Embassy nearby.  Since we're hunkered down in Buenos Aires (BA) for 3-weeks, why not get this business taken care of now?  We did have to consult our calendar because we cannot be too hasty...we must enter Thailand within 90-days of issue, or else the visa expires.  This happens to be the perfect window of opportunity.