Nunaversary: An Introduction to my first 365 days in the Canadian Arctic

My Nunaversary came (and went) on May 27, 2016.

Spending an entire year in the Canadian Arctic, one would assume that re-telling my adventures through stories would be an easy task.  However, I have spent nearly 2 months brainstorming, planning, organizing and mapping out a way to best describe my experiences while living in, as I like to describe it, a magical place, called Nunavut.

The most common approach I have applied to writing about my travel stories thus far includes a chronological order.  While it is in not the most creative way of writing, it keeps story telling simple by allowing me to explain events and adventures as they happened.  On the other hand, family and friends are able to follow along my journeys and experience them in a similar manner and order as I did.  I have used this technique in hopes to have my readers (mostly my mom and cousin) feel as if they are on the same journey with me.

Using this same approach, I though, "right, I will describe my Rankin Inlet adventures first in chronological order, then describe my relocation to Iqaluit and further my experiences in the capital city so far". However, as I took some time to think about how I would explain each adventure, organize the events in each story, it quickly became overwhelming to capture.  Everything that I have experienced in my last 365 days has been part of a strange but most amazing feeling of sensory overload. As a result, I found myself constantly telling each of my stories about camping adventures, hikes, dinner parties, learning about local cultures and the people I have met, through my 5 senses.

After spending nearly two months thinking about how best to share my arctic adventures, I have come to the conclusion that maybe I will create a 5 part travel story about my experiences in Nunavut. To do this, I would describe my adventures through the senses in order to 'attempt' to capture this most magical place I happen to stumble upon only a year ago.

The smells, the sights, the amazing foods I have tasted, both local and high-end specialty cuisines a la my dear friends, are equally applicable and I feel, the best way to organize my stories (and my thoughts) while I being to introduce both Rankin Inlet and Iqaluit.

While I do not expect my stories to fully capture the essence of this place, I look forward to describing my pleasant surprises to you.

Enjoy

- R :)

Day 20-26: Discovering Southern Vietnam

Day 20 - 23: Mekong Delta

We decided to drive 1 day earlier to the Mekong Delta! My excitement was very difficult to contain!

I have been in love with Vietnamese food and culture since 2010, not only because of my good fortune of having Thao for a roommate in Brissy, but because I found many similarities with my own culture and the significance of food.  Though the flavours are very much different from those I grew up enjoying...Viet food has a yum to it I find difficult to describe through words.

Our main destination was to witness the floating markets at 5am. Therefore, we decided to drive down a night before to give us plenty of rest after a 5 hour drive.  We enjoyed the company of family friends and relatives ...and for dinner, a restaurant called Budwiser.  As you can imagine very popular and it's a must see for foreigners like myself.  Even though, I would have rather tried the local tiny shop on the corner :)

The food was fantastic!

At 4 am the next day, we hit the road and drove in darkness to the harbor in Ca Mau.  From there we took a skinny long boat to see the sunrise awake the farmers.  It was breathtaking views !!

From the Mekon Delta we headed to Bac Lieu, then the most Southern city in Vietnam, Can Tho - where rice paddies and shrimp (prawn) farms ruled the land.

Now there is only one place left to discover and that is Saigon, aka Ho Chi Minh City.

I'm on my way!


Day 24-25: Discovering Saigon

After spending time in the most magnificent places in North, Central and Southern Vitenam, I must say, visiting the largest and most densely populated city was not something I was looking forward to.  I love nature and discovering lands which have remained untouched by civilization, for the most part.

However, one cannot visit a country without experiencing their economic ferris wheel. My instincts were right on the money....and I absolutely disliked Saigon.

Mind you, I enjoyed the historical tours and stories of the war, especially the stories about the Cu Chi people.  They managed to win the war against the Americans with nothing but home made rice bombs and tunnel traps.  I love clever people :)

I did enjoy the night dinner tours but again, I could have skipped this city and STILL maintained a love for the country.

Enjoy the photos of chaos

Saigon, over and out!


Day 26:  Final surprise

But of course, I would not depart from Saigon without one last surprise.

I got one last visit from my dear friends in Saigon, for lunch and karaoke.  I also had the pleasure of visiting the uni campus where Thao completed her undergrad, and had a cup of coffee where she used to gather with her friends after uni.

It was probably my favourite part of Saigon, to see my dear friends one last time, since who knows when we will get to meet again.

Overall, I loved my travels through this amazing country, and I was happy to leave with such amazing memories which I had the pleasure to share with some of my most dearest friends.

Ciao Vietnam....hope to see you soon!!!

- R :)