Send My Mail Here- On the Road Part 5

My little road trip around the south eastern tip of Vietnam ended where many things end, Saigon.  I spent much of my time in Saigon searching for a special kind of sandwich.  I'm not even going to pretend that I'm doing big important things here.  I have no delusions of grandeur as far as my self importance goes.  We ended our trip eating kobe beef and sea urchin at a Japanese restaurant in district six.  We knew the chef so we downed a bottle of saki and a few beers together, and then we made our way home.  It was another night of eating and drinking well with great company.  That's more than good enough for me.

The restaurant was part of some resort built on the grounds of an old French villa along the Saigon river.

Writing this entry made me think of this song:

"With Tennesee Sour mash Whiskey on my Breath,

And Rosalee, Suzie and and Lucy on my mind,

I drove my old car down the dusty streets of this old border town.

But I never thought I'd get stuck here such a long long time.

I've got a million-dollar bill but they can't change it.

And they won't let me leave until my tab is paid,

So I might as well settle down

And buy the house another round.

Send my mail to the Rosarita Beach Cafe.

It was one of those hot dry dime-a-dozen Mexicali days,

When I fell through the doors of the Rosarita Beach Cafe.

And I got myself a table with a view of the breakers on the bay

And another cold Dos Equis on the way."

Warren Zevon, "The Rosarita Beach Cafe"

Ugly Shirt

I bought this shirt off some women selling dress shirts on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere.  I think it was prudent financial decision.

(detail of the flower print below)

I can't tell if this is a woman's shirt or not.  Nobody seems to care here either way.

What it Means to Have an Address- On the Road Part 4

I have an address, sort of.  It's the address of the university and actually doesn't apply to where I live.  Taxi drivers never know where my building is since I am not on the main part of campus.  I pick up my mail from a box, with a lot of other boxes around it.  I have a box which I share with all the other foreign teachers at Da Lat.  This is not an address, I suppose.    Te Chung the professor from San Francisco who brought Tony and myself on this journey did so to inspect a home he is building for himself in Phan Tiet.  I look at this house as a reward for a lifetime of teaching.  Then I begin to think and wonder if at the end of my career I'll have earned something like such as this home.  I'm not sure that even I were to own a house here that I would feel at home.  I'm a visitor here.  I don't speak the language.  I don't know the customs.  I'm just another American expat pretending to be something resembling Fitzgerald's "lost generation," save for replacing post war France for the far east.  I'm not sure if I'd feel at home in this house, or in any other house abroad.  I can live abroad, I can live and adapt to most places, but I can't make a home abroad.  I think I'm stuck as an American.

View from between two cafes in Phan Tiet.

Vietnam is long and slender and has many serene beaches such as this one just south of Phan Tiet.

Bitter Melon and Chicken Roti in Phan Rang- On the Road Part 3

Phan Rang is a small coastal city which is located a few hours away from Da Lat.  As you approach Phan Rang the countryside appears to go through a change.  The lush greens of most everywhere in Vietnam turn into sandy wind blown desert with rocky outcrops, scrub brush, and cacti.  Our stop in Phan Rang was brief.  We stopped to eat at a small corner restaurant which served us chicken roti and bitter melon soup.  The bitter melon is gross.  It is really tough to eat and one of the few foods I don't like in Vietnam.  Chicken roti is rice and spicy fried chicken Vietnamese style.  The city is small and we were in an out of it quickly and off into the desert.

These region in Vietnam was at the heart of the Champa kingdom.  The Cham are an ethnic minority in Vietnam now, but at one point ruled the southern coast.  Their kingdom began to solidify in the 2nd century AD and lasted into 18th century, with its height being the 11th and 12th century.  What is unique about the Cham is their precipitous fall from power and their belief in the Hindu religion.  The south eastern coast of Vietnam is dotted with Cham towers exhibiting medieval Hindu art.  The Cham kingdom for centuries was a stop for merchants travelling and sailing along the spice route.  Columbus could have stopped in Phan Rang had he gone in the right direction.

On our way we made a short pit stop to inspect an old railroad bridge and interview some locals.

Bun Bo Hue

Bun Bo Hue is one of my favorite foods and I probably eat it every other day or so.  I usually go down to a little family owned shop on Bui Thi Xuan (pronounced similar to "booty swan").  I go there often enough that they no longer ask me what I want, they just assume it's Bun Bo Hue and a Saigon beer.  The soup starts with a broth that sits simmering all day long in large cauldrons.  It is flavored with a mix of spices and herbs, and because it is from the city of Hue it is usually made very spicy.  To make it one starts with a bowl of rice noodles, then adds cuts of beef, chives, pepper, and a hunk of liver.  Add to this the broth that has been simmering all day for however long a family has been handing down their recipe.  After this it is up to the patron to decide how to finish off their meal.  I usually add shredded lettuce, some fermented red pepper, and a bit of lime juice.  It's designed to be a full meal in a bowl, carbs, veggies, and meat altogether.  This cost me about 15,000VND, less than a dollar.  This is dinner most nights.

"Ocean in view! O! The Joy!"- On the Road Part 2

The road bends through small mountain towns and minority villages.  We stop to take pictures, and the people look and gaze at the travelers.  I can't tell if they're staring because were obviously Americans well off the beaten path or if it's because I'm wearing my ridiculous flower shirt.  From Da Lat there was short drop down, but now we have to journey upwards to crest the mountain and gain full view of the valley ahead of us.  At a bend that juts out over the declining vale sits a small Buddhist shrine.  The shrine was far from people and empty when we arrived.  From the carved mound which it sat adjacent to, one could see the whole of the valley from the road hence we came to the windy Pacific ocean.  I could see all of the coast and how far we still had to go to Phan Rang.  I understood why their had been a shrine here always.

Street Scenes, Da Lat