Vietnamese food home made

During our trip to Vietnam , (http://danyshula.blogspot.co.il/2016/02/18-days-vietnam-5-days-thailand-trip.htmlsee )  among many other things we went through cooking lessons in one of the villages near Saigon.

Thanh Xuan Ho who is the owner of a restaurant http://www.kumquathoian.com brought us to his house that is surrounded with fields where vegetables are growing by the village people , after showing us around Xuan that is also known as Mr. Victor gave us cooking lessons on local Vietnamese food..

We had to make it good and tasty as we were going to eat it later during the evening....all in all it was a great experience, gastronomic and social wise, we had a chance to meet his lovely wife and his kids.

We loved the food so much   that we got few recopies from our host and today Chef Shula & Su Chef Danny prepared Papaya Salad and Spring rolls, it sure brough Vietnam flavor to us and good memories with it.

Bon Appeti.

Visitors from Colorado Springs

This visit from our friends started actually in 2005 when we first meet.

We reserve rv sites ahead only before long weekends the purpose is to gives us the flexibility we want , leave the place when we like to and not because we made a reservation ahead.

We were just before the 4th of July and wanted to make sure we had a place during the holyday.

Being in Colorado and planning to stay 10-12 days in Colorado Springs we called ahead to reserve a spot in a c.g , I made a list of Passport America RV campgrounds and called http://www.mountaindalecampground.com/ that was the third one on this list ,why? I have no idea  …..

On the other side of the phone was David the owner , he immediately recognized my accent and invited us to stay in his C.G.

Our meeting was special like it was meant to be and since then we stayed in touch.

During the years we recommended http://www.mountaindalecampground.com/  to our friends and actually we came back too in 2015,just to see the big changes in the RV park and meet our friends.

David and Debbie wanted very much to visit Israel and it all worked out this March, we were glad to accommodate them and show them around, for David it was the first time to visit the Holy land and from what I saw he was impressed.

THe weather was great so we could enjoy the outdoors and have breakfast in our garden while listening to the birds and smelling the flowers that started to  bloom.

David found a small Salamdra to play with ,just for fun…I am not so sure that she liked it at all

  

But at the end she was released and run happily back to where she was before the “kidnapping” happened.

After getting our bellies full we  drove to the Old Town of Jaffa that lays just South of TelAviv with a great beach on its West side.

  

The alleys , the old renovated houses combined with rich history and good weather made the walk very pleasant .

But also very thirsty and hungry, as a good guide of the area I suggested a simple restaurant that serves Humus, Salad and Falafel in the middle of the Flea Market .

I was to slow drawing my camera out of its hostler, and by the time I had it ready the dishes looked like they were washed….yes we were hungry and the food was delicious.

The Flea Market is a fun place to stroll through, tools, clothing's, souvenirs ,juice stands, old carpets ,copper lamps all in one colorful nice blend, not speaking about the people that are trying to make a sale- do not miss this one…

 

After the Flea Market we drove and parked next to the open daily market of Tel-Aviv,as it was the first day of the week the place was “slow” but still like a symphony of colors, smells and great bargains.

It sure was a great day and we are happy that our friends had a good time, seeing many things for the first time and collecting good memories as they go.

They wanted to see it all but decided cleverly to leave some things for the next visit….

2016 RV summer trip plan

My wife and I are RVing since 2002 every summer for 4-5 months each trip to new to us destinations, at the end of each trip we store the rig and fly home for the winter , in the following summer we pick the rig and countinue from there to other States/Provinces.

During winters we take short trips (10-20 days) to warm countries (with out the trailer) last year it was to the Las Palmas a Spanish beautiful Island and this year we were in Vietnam for 3 weeks.

When our eldest granddaughter reached 12 (Batmizva) we asked her what would she like to get as a present, her answer really surprised us as she said “ I want to join you on your trip with the trailer in North America” , so we took her with us and flew her back alone on a direct flight after a month.

This started a tradition and whenever a grandson reaches 13 (Barmizva) or a granddaughter reaches 12 we take them for a month with us.

This coming summer Zohar will be 12 and we are flying with her to L.A to pick the rig, first we will visit the city and it’s attractions for a few days and then head towards King Canyon+ Sequoia N.P to hike.

 

Here is the general plan,the first month will be from L.A to L.A to drop Zohar to the International Airport, then we will drive North ending the trip in Oregon in late September.

We love nature, waterfalls,history,natural hot springs and meeting people.

Usually we park the 5W in a central location and explore the area with the truck till we feel like moving to the next stop.

I  publish the plan way in advance to be able to make changes after receiving advise  and remarks from RVers that were there and think that I should not miss this or that.

Thank you in advance.

18 Days Vietnam + 5 Days Thailand trip

Vietnam is a Southeast Asian country on the South China Sea known for its beaches, rivers, Buddhist pagodas and bustling cities. Hanoi, the capital, pays homage to the nation’s iconic Communist-era leader, Ho Chi Minh, via a huge marble mausoleum. Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) has French colonial landmarks, plus Vietnamese War history museums and the Củ Chi tunnels, used by Viet Cong soldiers. For the last 15 years our summers from June till October are “taken” by our RV travels in North America, we love it and do not want mean time to change that , but it leaves us enough time to explore other parts of the world, last year it was 10 days in the Canary Islands and this year Vietnam and a a little of Thailand. As we landed in Hanoi and traveled from the airport to the hotel we experienced a culture “shock” while looking from the minivan window to the traffic and the streets, it seems that there are no traffic laws and everything is just a “suggestion", it is an organized mess but we did not see one incident, fight or a quarrel all went in a peaceful way – AMAZINGLY. The hotel was located in a fairly quite alley but close to the main streets, as we arrived we hit the road to get oriented, walking the streets was really an eye opener,resultants,small shops,traffic,noise and nice people were all over. I found it very interesting to look at the people, mostly happy, doing their thing, polite and do not mind if you take their picture. The markets are full of goods and bargain is excepted , some times you can get the 40% off the “original” price. We drove motorcycles, took a rickshaw trip,Elephants,worked in a rice field, visited wedding's that we saw on the way, sailed on a boat spending a night on board ,visited house boats where people live away from the land and had good local food that can coast 4-8 US$ with beer….did I say paradise???? It is a country that is still “authentic” that will change as time goes to be more touristic and run after the $ as most of the Western countries do, this kind of “real” people and countries are vanishing so the best time to visit is before it happens. Most of the hard work is done by women while the men have their tea or dose away, it still a place where the women work, keep the house, take care of the kids and make the men happy.. It is normal to see more that 2 people on a motorbike,it is scary for us the westerns that are for good reasons place a kid in a special chair with a safety belt to protect him, here the kids are born into it and have no fear. We loved the simple food and even took a cooking class in one of the remote farms, what we cooked we ate and it was good…. A 150 Mile Motorcycle day trip was great beside a slight pain in the a…but was worth it. Vietnam is the second largest country exporting rice,the rice fields are every where and it is sure not a picnic to work on the field but for half an hour it was an adventure…. Talking and mingling with the locals was a great experience, they love to hear and tell you all about their country and the living conditions with out to many complains. This beautiful young lady was my personal motorcycle driver in Saigon and she sure managed the traffic like a pro. In this short time we managed to “feel” the beat of the this magnificent country I just hope it will not change on our next trip there…. The beautiful hotel staff. The people in the mountains. Unforgettable….a different view on the country many Americans still remember from the war…

The grand finally

Our 14th RV trip started “surprise ” exactly form the place we left the rig a year before –Salida CO,and from there we made our way to North Colorado-Utah-Nevada and the East side of the High Sierras ending the trip near L.A.

On the way we hiked,soaked,sailed,danced,made friends , had a lot of fun and took it easy enjoying every minute (see previous posts).

We stored the rig and spend 2 weeks with family and friends in L.A.

 

On the way home we spend 2 weeks with our youngest son’s family in Toronto waiting for a birth of their second child and our 7th grandchild (great sex life-every year a grandkid…)

We made it before the “birth date” and had a great time with our kid ,wife and their 1 year and 10 months old(young) daughter.

It was the time that Ellie got used to us in case we have to stay with her when her parents have to go to the hospital,and it sure was a good idea…at 3AM the unborn did not want to wait and we were with Ellie till after the birth, except few minutes she was just perfect and we had no problem playing and enjoying the time with her.

At noon after the birth we took her to the hospital to meet her brother and parents,she understood that the big belly of her mom will actually become a baby and she took it as the big sister.

It was a great finally the cherry on the top of the cake ,a huge pleasure to end this summer trip like this,the mother and the child were realised from the hospital after a day healthy and happy and so was Grandma

 

We have a tradition going : every grand daughter at the age of 12 and every grandson at the age of 13 joins us RVing for one month , now we have to be in shape to do it for another 13 years…..we will try our best.

As we “shut down” our RV travels till the next summer we wish you all a great winter wherever you are – in Arizona,Florida,Alabama as snow birds or wintering at your brick house with the stove light up.

We are going home but will do some trips during the winter (not RVing) ,stay tuned.

See ya all down the road.