Ho Chi Minh - City Tour and the "Ick" Factor

Well, we are finally ready to conclude the adventure we had in Cambodia and Vietnam. We actually flew back to Japan on an overnight flight, so we had one whole day still to explore the city of Ho Chi Ming before we had to be at the airport around 8:00pm. We signed up for a city tour through our hotel and were picked up by a bus in the mid-morning.

Unfortunately, and believe it or not, BEFORE the foodie tour the day prior, I was starting to feel a little queasy. After the tour, the deal was solidified I was DEFINITELY feeling queasy. Joel started feeling icky that evening after the tour and neither of us was able to eat much dinner. And both of us woke up multiple times in the middle of the night to run to the bathroom.

Oh just wait. It gets better.

Needless to say, I could only eat a piece of bread for breakfast and even that was rough. Joel managed to eat a hearty meal and bounced back to normal by lunch (his immune system is set to super hero status, I swear!). I was worried. We had a whole day on a tour bus ahead of us and I was feeling outright nauseous constantly. But, I decided to be a trooper and go on the tour because I figured my body had to improve as the day went on, right? I mean, how long does food poisoning really last? HA - famous last words! If I'd only known...

The bus took us by the local theater.... very European looking, eh?

Stop number one was the War Remnants Museum. We heard that until recently, it was still called the "War of American Aggression Museum". If that old title doesn't give you a taste for what was inside, I don't know what will...

Outside the museum there were vintage air and land craft used during the Vietnam War.

We were given 45 minutes to walk around the museum. I was feeling pretty awful still, so I was using the restroom every 15 minutes or so. BUT, to add an additional level of pain to my sickness, the museum was EXTREMELY graphic. Both Joel and I knew that there were many war atrocities committed at the hands of us Americans, but holy cow. That's ALL this museum seemed to be about! It was very painful to see and read about, (a) because a lot of the information was skewed and/or one sided and (b) the pictures and descriptions were horrendous. I literally didn't want to talk unless I faked a European accent because of the mood this museum sets on its audience. This is probably the only time I will EVER say this, but I was hoping at that time that the other museum guests would think we were Canadians so as not to associate us with the sickening acts depicted on the walls.

Needless to say, the Agent Orange room threw me over the edge and I spent 30 of our 45 minutes retching in the bathroom. But, moving on... what was I to do but keep going? We were locked into this tour and we'd already checked out of the hotel.

Our next stop was a local cafe where they serve fresh "weasel coffee" which is coffee that has been gathered from weasel poop! I guess the bean isn't broken down in the weasel's digestive system, but it does remove some of the acidity, providing us with a unique coffee blend for sure. This picture shows the individual coffee press they use at the cafe.

I absolutely would have had some, but I knew my stomach couldn't handle it. We bought some though so I've had it now and it's quite good!

Our next stop was a famous Chinese temple. I made it about 5 steps inside the door before the smell of incense COMPLETELY overwhelmed me, so I chilled outside while the rest of the group toured the building.

As you can see, it was quite an ancient temple with really ornate and beautiful craftsmanship.

Next came Chinatown for the folks to shop. I opted to stay on the bus because I knew I wouldn't be able to handle the crowds and smells. Some of the other tour members returned to the bus early though, so I was able to talk to two couples from Australia and a family from Malaysia (who LOVE durian, btw. They said sometimes you can tell they had it a week ago because the smell stays in their house that long, ew!).

Lunch took place at a famous Pho restaurant, known for offering flavored Pho noodles.

I ordered the vegetarian option and managed to drink some broth. I HAD to be able to say I had Pho in Vietnam no matter the cost to my innards!

Joel got the pork... it really is an excellent soup.There's just something special about the flavor of the broth.

You can see some of the different flavor noodles they offered...

Next, our tour took us to a gallery where they make art from metal and abalone shells. It was BEAUTIFUL and the way each and every one was individually created was time consuming to say the least. The group went in for a tour of the facility, but I was feeling WAY too sick, so I stayed outside and sat on a bench.

Here's a close up... it was pretty expensive, otherwise Joel and I would be rockin' one of these pieces!

So this is the last picture. Why, one may ask? Well, by this point, I absolutely knew I could go no further (yes, tears were involved). At our next stop, we asked the tour guide to hail us a cab to take us back to the hotel. Once we got back, they allowed us to rent a room for half a day so we were able to chill out for a few hours. It was horrible though. I was constantly running to the bathroom, I was writhing in pain because every few minutes I was having such terrible stomach spasms (if that was anything close to what labor pains feel like, I really respect you moms out there!), and had such a wicked migraine! I couldn't take any medicine though, because I wasn't able to keep anything down.

Bless his heart, Joel was doing research on appendicitis symptoms, what to do when you're an American in Vietnam for medical emergencies, where's the closest hospital, etc etc.

After discussing the possibility of going to a hospital, we decided to see how far I could get in the airport. The cab ride to the airport was torture and every few steps, I was having to stop because the stomach spasms were debilitating. But, I tried to fake looking OK in line to get our tickets.

Thankfully, it was only a little over an hour flight to Bangkok, where we needed to catch our connecting flight back to Fukuoka. That flight was the worst though, and as soon as we landed, I had to RUN to the bathroom! I was in there so long, I assumed the plane had cleared out and only Joel would be left waiting for me. Nope, I was not so lucky. I stepped out and everyone was still there STARING at me and Joel confirmed they could all hear me throwing up. Great.

Finally, we get off the plane, but they have to stuff us on a shuttle bus to the terminal. We were crammed in this space, it was SO hot, and I nearly passed out. I literally sank to the floor and held on the cold metal bar for dear life. Once in the terminal, Joel located the airport medical center and helped me explain what was going on. They took my vitals but didn't have time to give me an IV with fluids before our next flight so they hooked me up with about six different medications, one of which they administered intravenously. NOTHING stopped the spasms. They were the worst part! They were so so so so so so so painful!

But, whatever drug they gave me, made me feel so much worse. I may not have been as nauseous, but I was ready to fall asleep and incredibly buzzed all at the same, uncomfortable time. It was terrible. The nurse looked me dead in the eye and pointed her finger at me and said, "You have to FAKE feeling fine. You cannot look like you're sick or they won't let you on the plane. If you want to leave, you have to fake being ok!". Heard. Yikes!

So after "faking" being fine, we make it on the flight, and the medicine at last does its duty and knocks me out for most of the trip (except for the spasms that woke me up nearly every 15 - 30 minutes). Once we landed, I "faked" feeling fine so I wouldn't have to be quarantined by the Japanese. Joel drove all three hours back to Iwakuni while I passed out in the back seat.

Now for those of y'all that really know me, you know I literally feel like I'm dying if I don't eat every two to three hours. I wound up going over 36 hours without being able to keep food down so for me, I was absolutely nearing starvation. This should let you know how very sick I really was!

God is good in granting me with an amazing hubby though - Joel was my HERO and took extremely good care of me. He told me he thought my appendix was about to burst any second and was super worried the whole time! I wasn't able to eat normally for two weeks and the spasms lasted for another few days, although they got fewer and farther between.

Sorry to spend so much time on our kinda gross but realistic traveling saga. It was quite the finish to a whirlwind vacation! We had such an amazing time overall though, so I would absolutely do it again, even if I'd known I would get sick. Although, maybe I wouldn't have eaten the ice though or drank the water when I brushed my teeth... that's actually what we're thinking triggered the attack. Believe it or not, I don't think it was the balut! LOL.

Ho Chi Minh - Foodie Tour

So this blog post will include a subject matter you've never seen before... FOOD! :-p Ha ha! I know it seems like that's ALL we talk about, but it's so good and new and unique - a HUGE part of our Asian experience. And Vietnam is no different. This time, though, we signed up for a four hour foodie tour to get the insider scoop on what Vietnamese cuisine has to offer. And we were not disappointed, that is for sure!!

We used Tiger Tours, a newer tour company that was started about a year ago. The way it worked is that each person is picked up by their own tour guide on a scooter and they escort you throughout the city. It's hilarious - there are 16,000 scooter owners in Ho Chi Minh, so they are EVERYWHERE! The traffic wasn't quite as scary as Phnom Penh, though, because they seemed to have a few more traffic lights and wider roads. Also, there were actually crosswalks that were used and respected too, LOL!

This is the first restaurant we visited. It was a hole in the wall joint but they had delicious food of course!

They provided WAY too much food at each place so we literally STUFFED ourselves! But it was worth it! This restaurant served pork and beef with rice wraps and veggies.

This is pig's ear. Yes. We ate this. It had been boiled so it was cooked and we had a dipping sauce that gave it a little flavor because it really had none of its own.

Oh yeah, there was salmon at this place too. One restaurant down, only three more to go!

Our wonderful tour guides! They did everything for us!

Joel HAD to take a picture of the telephone wires here. Yikes! Glad he didn't have to deal with this in the States with Century Link!

In between the first and second restaurants, the tour guides took us to a flower market. It was right after the Chinese New Year, so they still had a lot leftover. They were gorgeous and so diverse - here were my favorites.

As a pedestrian in the market, you still had to beware of the scooters driving down the roads.

Joel on his scooter - the guides were great! Very safe drivers and they were able to give us history of the city and tell us about all the amazing things we were driving past. We were told they had to practice with a friend of the owner's that weighed almost 300 pounds to ensure they were ready for anyone who requested the tour, LOL.

Restaurant number two - it was actually a Chinese restaurant but we had their Vietnamese fare.

After the first restaurant, we hooked up with a few other folks that had signed up for the food tour that morning as well. We met a man from Belgium, a woman from China, and another guy from California (and of course all of their scooter tour guides). Fun group for sure! 

This is the owner of the tour company, Loan Tran, pouring our deer horn wine. It was a wine made with actual deer horns, but the strength of it and the method of consumption made me feel it was more like a liquor. And a really bad one at that. It tasted horrible, LOL.

This is fried goat udder and okra. Yup, you got that right! Goat UDDER. It was actually quite good. And the tomatoes in Cambodia and Vietnam may not look like much but they were SO tasty!!

Crocodile Curry - scrumptiously spicy!

Crab and puffed coconut salad - To quote a Homestarrunner video, "Soo,ooo,ooo good!" (I know some folks will understand this reference) ;-)

Heh heh, obviously a pose. I was WAY too scared to consider driving solo on these streets!

Restaurant number three was a simple seafood restaurant with only outdoor seating. There really is little to no refrigeration here just like Cambodia, so everything is cooked fresh because they have to before it spoils.

Are these limes of the calamondin type? I think they are...

Our dipping sauces, SO insanely fresh and simple!

Spicy crab claws - get this: Our guides did all the work for us. They cracked each and every one leaving the meat exposed so Joel and I could eat simply and quickly. What?! We felt so lazy, but it was part of the package!

The rest of our crew eating the deliciousness.

Clams with a peanut sauce, wow.

Sugar cane juice. So sweet and fresh!

Muscles in some sort of amazing broth.

This is Brian from CA. He is being really brave right now and I will tell you why...

This is balut. It is a fertilized duck egg that is boiled than eaten in a tasty peanut sauce. It tastes like egg for the most part, but it's a partially formed baby duck soooooooo..... you get bites of that as well.

I can't believe we ate it! I ate a beak and feathers, etc etc. We have a video of us doing it and it's pretty funny. Joel did better than me because he didn't look at it. I kept looking at it!

This is the machine used to squeeze out the juice from the sugar cane.

It's custom to simply throw your trash and shells on the ground. There were chickens and dogs around to eat some scraps and it simplified clean up for the restaurant servers.

Lastly, restaurant four for dessert! It was definitely not dessert like we think of in the States...

It was predominantly coconut milk and random fruit. Stuff we'd never seen or heard of that really wasn't sweet and had weird textures.

That THING is a piece of durian fruit. It's known as the "stinky fruit" and it is just that. I personally think it was worse to eat than the balut! The texture and flavor were AWFUL!

Taken from Wikipedia: "Regarded by many people in southeast Asia as the "king of fruits", the durian is distinctive for its large size, strong odor, and formidable thorn-covered husk. The edible flesh emits a distinctive odour that is strong and penetrating even when the husk is intact. Some people regard the durian as pleasantly fragrant; others find the aroma overpowering and revolting. The smell evokes reactions from deep appreciation to intense disgust, and has been described variously as almonds, rotten onions, turpentine, raw sewage, and smelly socks. The persistence of its odor has led to the fruit's banishment from certain hotels and public transportation in southeast Asia."

Brian confirmed that last statement - there was a sign in his hotel room that said, "No Durian in Room". HA! And if some folks watch Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern, you'll know that this is the one food he CAN'T eat! 

Needless to say, Joel and I can now say we've eaten some pretty random stuff. Glad we were brave but we now know there are some things we will NEVER eat again, namely DURIAN!