Sights, Emotions, Smells, and Noise.

I have been in Vietnam now for 10 days, and this has been long enough for me to gather some of my feelings together about this culture, this country, this world that seems so different from our North American one.

First of all, I try hard not to feel it, but my guilt about my (what I thought was simple and sustainable) lifestyle at home and my reliance on fossil fuels during this leg of my summer experience is strong. The next strongest emotion is hopelessness. It seems, after completeing Otesha, where my world was so very full of hope and positivity for the health of the natural world, that I am now seeing and experiencing a culture that seems to have a lack of knowledge, or maybe just a different socio-economic situation that leads them to pollute, dispose, and destroy the beauty that is our world. There are just so many people here. Too many for our planet to handle. All of the time I was with Otesha, we were trying to openly and positively present choices to people in Canada, and there was always an option for that choice in the locations that we visited. Here on the other side of the world, it seems that even if the people had the choice, they would not be able to take it, because, they can't afford to, because, they may not be versed in the topics. I do feel that the western world has a big impact on the condition of the environment, and we Westerners have ample opportunity to live more simply, it's hard to see such a large portion of the world's population living with no idea of the future, rather they can look just to tomorrow.

But then, I visit and stay in the homes of the Northern Vietnamese H'mong tribe people, where they have farmed their stunningly gorgeous rice terraces for hundreds of years, and I see them working the land with water buffalo, and walking their short legs everywhere, and my hope is renewed. These people still live simply, even though they are eager to see things like electricity come to thier villages. They grow sweet potatoes and corn and squash and beans, for themseleves and for the Sapa market (and may I add sauteed sweet potatoe greens are sooooo delicious). They have beautiful gardens, simple homes, and a great abundance of clean water that is smartly channeled through bamboo eavestroughs and narrow aquaducts, ensuring that every rice terrace is saturated for growth. They even use the power of water to feul their rice mills, and they use hemp to weave material and they grow indigo to dye thier clothes. It is an area of vietnam that specializes in handicrafts, where the local's speak thier language and english, but they have never been taught to read or write, and have never been outside of the nothern mountain area. It's hard to know whether these people are truly happy with their one room homes, their squat toilets, and arranged mariages. From the tour guides that I had three solid days with, I would say they are fiercely proud of thier culture, and are excited to share it with the tourism industry, which fuels thier local economy.

I would say I still have alot to process and think about. After seeing the extraordinarily busy Ho Chi Minh City, visiting a Catholic convent and orphange, seeing the way the peole live in the Mekong River delta; then journeying North, seeing the stunningly beautiful Halong Bay, and noticing it's over exploitation and dirty waters, and visiting and staying the in homes of the H'mong peoples of Northern Vietnam, I have already seen and experienced so much. It has happened so fast, and I still need to think about what I have seen and gather my thoughts to communicate them with you all. I have tried here to do that a little....Tomorrow a new country: Loas! All and all I am so glad I am on this journey in Southeast Asia, and could not appreciate spending it with anyone else except my amazing buddie and sister Krista. I am endlessly glad to be here with her, and I am excited to keep experienceing all these crazy new things, and really learning more and more with her by my side.

Hope all is well wherever you are :)

P.S. This computer will not check my English spelling, so, forgive my errors!! and man, I could write for days about the way senses are in overdrive here in vietnam...the smells, good and horrible, the infinite city noise and the quiet hill tribe villages, the delicious tastes of fresh viet food, but the sights of some scary foods in the market and in street stalls, the feelings of appreciating my safe home space more then ever before...

British Columbia continues to be Beautiful...

I completed my last bicycle touring day into Whistler the other day. It was an interesting feeling, rising in Squamish after a previously harrowing day of flat tires and construction, to set out with Catherine on our last official touring day! It was a hard one - constant low grade uphill, hot hot hot, and full of Olympic road and infrastructure construction, but it was also an amazing sense of satisfaction.

First lets rewind a bit to the Sunshine Coast. Catherine and I cycled north through Vancouver in the dreary cold rain, and took a ferry across to Gibsons on the sunshine coast, a cute marine town that had character. As we were frigidly trying to make our wet way towards our campground for the night, we bumped into a cyclist who offered up his shack. Desperately wanting somewhere dry that we could warm up, Catherine and I gave this friendly man a chance and checked out his 'hippy haven' shack on the waters of the Strait of Georgia, that you had to descend makeshift steps through an enclosed canopy of greens to arrive at. When we saw the cozy shack, we accepted his wonderful offer, and felt so very lucky to be in the beautiful space that we were! We decided to stay there in that shack two nights, and explored Gibsons and the neighbouring Roberts Creek the next day. I really enjoyed the sunshine coast.

Like all other fabulous places I have visited on my journey thus far, we departed one fabulous spot in search of another one equally as beautiful. We cycled into Squamish, discovered the wildly rampant rock climbing culture there, and met up with Catherine's friend who let us pitch our tent in her backyard, in between the running chickens of course. They took us for a swim at a briskly cold nearby lake, but Catherine and I were all too excited to dive in, and get some of the bike grease off our bodies after changing three flats that day, on the side of the Sea to Sky highway (which I might add, has some stunning scenery, but is all too developed). And then, we cycled the next 55km to Whistler, where I am now. Oh what a place this Whistler is.

I feel like I am in a manicured futuristic world, where all the buildings and landscaping looks the same, and everyone walking around is perfectly groomed and carrying some sort of disposable something. There are beautiful lakes to swim in and awesome cycling trails and uh, lets not forget the mountains in the backdrop, but it just seems like a backwards community, where people love their outdoor sports - skiing, snowboarding, mountain biking - but they don't think twice about their daily actions that might have an impact on their beautiful mountain landscape. It's very interesting to be here, and so far I have had a ton of fun. I know that I have my head on straight when I interact with some of the people here, and it feels great. It is wonderful to be staying in a beautiful cozy little apartment with my good friends, cooking and eating and swimming and catching up with one another. All in all, it is a relaxing end to my journey on the coast. Oh, and Samantha, my roommate from Erb St. who we are staying with, works for a zip lining ecotourism company, and we get a great discount so were going to go zipping tomorrow through the Whistler rain forest. It really will be fun I'm sure.

Well, like I have sought in every other town I have been in during my journey, I am going to the Whistler farmers market, to pick up some veggies for dinner making tonight.

And another thing - you can be sure that at random moments during my days, and weeks, I have thought about you. Mhmm. You.

The Beautiful Islands

I have now journeyed, by borrowed bicycle (affectionately named by my teammate Big Booty, cause she consistently had the largest load on the back of her bike) to Vancouver Island, and to Salt Spring Island. I really enjoyed both of these places. Victoria is much slower (and smaller) then Vancouver, and is absolutely surrounded by some beautiful beaches and waterfront area. The Island has some great bicycle trails on it, and it was fun to camp out in Rozzy's friend's backyard and cook some meals together in his house. I spent Canada day cycling around the Seaside Bike touring route, and cycling up Mount Doug to get a view over the city and across to some of the San Juan Islands and for a clear crisp view of Mount Baker in Washington. It was a beautiful solo day, finished off with a delicious meal with old and new friends at the communal house that my teammate Seth started up; a beautifully individual and artsy house with windows thrown wide open, screen less, with picture perfect views of the ocean from the bathroom and bedroom windows.

Next we cycled and ferried our way to one of the largest Gulf Islands, Salt Spring, one that is famous for it's unique artisans and organic farming. It is a very slow island, everyone seems to be on vacation even if they are not. I appreciated this vibe so much after having been in Vancouver for a long while. We explored the popular (and delicious) Saturday market in the town of Ganges, hung out on the doc of one of the many freshwater lakes on the island and made some eccentric new friends. We cycled our ways around this island, through roads that are ever so steep, and ever so curvy, between kilometers of undeveloped forest, with the odd cleared section for an organic cheese or vegetable farm. It was a fabulous place, I only wish we could have remained longer.

Alas, after an epic journey yesterday from the island, completed at 10:30pm in Van, realizing we were locked out of our friends house, pitching our tents in the cool summer air, hungry and needing a bathroom, there are only three of the original ten teammates who are still traveling together, soon to be two, and I feel funny. I feel somewhat uneasy in this city now, after having my bike stolen, and after experiencing the bliss of the Gulf Islands. I am ready to journey onward. If all goes as planned, after a much needed day of rest today, tomorrow, Catherine and I will embark on yet another mini-bike trip toward the Sunshine Coast, and then continue onward to visit my roommate in Whistler.

The wheels keep on rolling.