• The Nine Hour Tour

    27Feb
    Categories: Around The World, Laos Comments: 0

    There are basically two ways to get to our next destination, Muang Ngoi. The first is to take a 4 hour mini bus ride through the curvy mountain roads and then hop on a boat upriver 1 hour. The other option is to take a boat the entire distance. We wanted to enjoy the ride so we took the boat. Tickets cannot be purchased in advance, so you just show up the morning of and if there are enough people (not sure what enough is), then the boat goes. We had talked to some other travelers so we knew there were at least 4 that were going for sure and Rebecca was going to make up her mind that morning (she did join us and we glad for her company). There was quite a bit of confusion as passengers were shuffled on and off the boat, but generally more were getting on than off and the boat was becoming pretty full. At one point the boat drivers started off loading our bags on to a second boat and wanted the passengers on the second boat to cram on our boat. It was an interesting process as the language barrier prevented any kind of understanding of what the boat driver was doing. Thankfully enough people protested squeezing all the people on one boat and we stayed on two boats with our bags still on the other vessel. After an hour of sitting docked we finally were off only to stop 10 minutes later for fuel (which we were glad for) and then 10 minutes later for propellers (also a good idea) and after about an hour, for whatever reason we stopped and they motioned for three people to get in the other boat which we gladly did as that’s where our bags were.

    By 10:30 we were heading upstream and taking in the river life, seeing naked children bathing/playing in the river, people fishing for their dinner, women washing clothes, and beautiful mountains. The next nine hours were relaxing and slow with moments of excitement as the engine would come to halt every 20 minutes or so. We were preparing ourselves for a swim more than once as the boat stalled right after a set of small rapids and we started to drift sideways back into them. This seemed like business as usual for the driver so we went with it. One positive outcome to having engine problems was getting to dock at a small village/beach and play foot badminton with the kids (this is similar to playing hacky sack) until they all stripped off their clothes and went for a swim. John thought about joining in but decided this might cause some sort of international rift.

    We pulled into our stopover for the night at 5:30pm with sore butts from the hard seats and quickly found a place to sleep and eat, awaiting our one hour boat ride the next morning which would land us in our final destination, Muang Ngoi.

    So many good shots, it was hard to narrow down. A few of these are also photos of our friend, Rebecca.

  • Long gone in Luang Prabang

    26Feb
    Categories: Around The World, Laos Comments: 0

    We know food has been a focus of many of our posts and in Luang Prabang (LPB) we found the cheap food jackpot. For about $4 per person per day we ate: sausage and cheese sandwiches and bananas or noodles in a banana leaf and donuts; chicken sandwiches on baguettes with lettuce, tomato, cucumber, and sweet chili sauce; and the ever popular vegetarian buffet (which we later learned was possibly stuffed with MSG) which we ate every night and chased it with either a fruit or Oreo shake and a crepe with bananas or coconut ice cream. It was a delicious four days of dining and was one of favorite parts of the city. Once again food influences our opinion of a city.

     Besides eating, we should mention a few other things we did to pass the time in LPB. Our first evening we arrived at dusk without a reservation to find many full guesthouses. It felt a little like the Costco parking lot, seeing the same people on street after street looking for a guesthouse (a parking spot). We found one that we weren’t totally happy with, but it would do for one night. The following morning before we did anything else we hit the pavement searching for another guesthouse and just before Erin was completely done with house hunting, we settled on a spot run by a nice Lao family who were friendly and provided what felt like a good place to stay. The rest of the day was spent riding bikes around town, relaxing by the riverside watching monks play in the water complete with round offs and back flips, watching the sunset from the Wat Phousi on a hill in the center of LPB where we chatted up some cool Americans, and after our evening meal at the vegetarian buffet, wandering the night market.

     Our second day also involved hitting the pavement, this time in a search for an inexpensive motorbike to hire for the day. We wanted to ride out to the KoungSi waterfall, about 32 km. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find a bike for less than $22 and having been in the habit of paying $5 a day, we weren’t about to pay such a ridiculous price. However, had we hired the motorbike, we wouldn’t have met the gal who we stuck with for the next four days. The way that came about was a result of our indecision. We had wandered around town for too long and were ready to commit to something. A tuk-tuk driver came up and asked if we wanted to go out to the waterfall. He already had three people going and if we went, the price would be quite reasonable. So we quickly picked up our chicken sandwiches and hopped in for the ride. As we headed through town, we made one stop and picked up another tourist, Rebecca. We chatted along the way and when we arrived at the waterfall, the three of us decided to explore the area together. The waterfall was gorgeous–you almost thought it was man made as the colors were just stunning. The pools were available for swimming and many people were enjoying the cool waters. After hiking to the top of the falls and back we too joined in–John jumping off a small falls and the rope swing, Rebecca also launching off the rope swing, and Erin just jumping in the shallow end and floating around. It was a beautiful and refreshing way to spend the afternoon. We returned to town and after a little down time, we met up with our new friend for another evening of vege buffet dinner, shakes, crepes, and the market.

     

    Day three we hired bicycles and the three of us set off for a handicraft village where local artisans weave beautiful silk scarves and sarongs, among other things. We spent several hours poking through shops and watching the women at work. Eventually we split up and rode off to figure out how to get to our next destination and also to get our daily chicken sandwich for lunch. We also managed to squeeze in a little internet time in which we were able to purchase our tickets to Kenya!!!

     

    We met back for the evening and decided to take a quick trip down to the river to watch the sunset. So we locked the three bikes together and walked down to the sand, admiring the orange/red/pink colored sun dropping down behind the hills for about 45 minutes. When we climbed back up to our bikes, John led the way and before Rebecca or I were to the top, we heard him say, “Uh, guys… one of our bikes is missing.” Missing wasn’t entirely accurate–stolen was probably more accurate. The three of us sprang into action and divided up to scour the town. Looking back, it was pretty humorous that we even thought we’d have a chance at finding the bike but rather quickly we found our bike. Well, at least a bike that looked exactly like it. And then we found it again and again and again. The red “LA Bike” seemed to be the most common bike in town and there was no way we could identify our bike as it had no distinguishing marks. We chased two or three different people down the street thinking they must have our bike only to realize there was no way we could prove if it was our bike or not. Rebecca didn’t have any better luck and we reunited with disappointment. The total damage due was about $75 USD which was a decent hit and Rebecca was cool with splitting the cost three ways. We tried to keep things in perspective being thankful that we were all alive, that only one bike had been stolen, that we hadn’t lost our passports, or any of the other possible situations that could have transpired. It was a good reminder to be cautious. It certainly put a damper on the evening, but after a good amount of verbal processing, we decided not talk about it anymore and not let it ruin the evening. We enjoyed our regular evening activities and drowned our sorrows in crepes with coconut ice cream and chocolate.

     

  • La la la Laos

    25Feb
    Categories: Around The World, Laos Comments: 0

    Take a plane…. take a bus… take a plane…1 hour… take a bus…23 hours… take a plane…free peanuts…take a bus…onions piled into the walkways with very little leg room. What do you think we did? With much debate, we finally decided to take the hit on our budget and fly from Hanoi to Vientiane, Laos. We had heard stories from travellers that the bus, the obviously cheaper option, took anywhere from 20 to 30 hours in a bus where you had to sit up the entire time. Even the more hard core looking travellers told us we were better off taking a plane. With almost 100 hours of bus and train time logged in SE Asia and an anticipated 50 hours more to come, we felt we will have had experienced enough adventures on buses to go without this 24 hour ride. It also doesn’t help that the buses here are designed for an average height of 5 feet 6 inches.  With John’s 6 feet 3 inch frame, it’s like cramming a size 10 foot into a size 7 shoe. We have no regrets about this decision.

     

    The flight was wonderful with no onions in the aisles, as far as we could see, and we arrived in just under an hour of flight time. We immediately noticed a difference in Laos–things are much quieter here and people don’t use their horns as a form of communication. The loudest sound we hear in this country is the choir of roosters that start singing at 4:30am. Vientiane didn’t have much we were interested in seeing/doing but it was a nice place to bike around for the afternoon. We even got to cook our own Lao soup at our table overlooking the Mekong River for dinner. Not a bad way to kick off our time in Laos.

     

    Our next bus trip came all too soon and one day after arriving in Laos we boarded a bus headed north for Luang Prabang. It’s amazing that in a 10 hour bus ride, we only went 200 kilometers (120 miles), but if you saw the curvy mountain roads, you would understand. We did enjoy seeing the countryside as we passed by. Villages are constructed right along the road and we watched people harvesting a certain plant used for making brooms, taking baths, cooking meals, taking care of their children, carrying water and bamboo, and just living their daily lives. This long drive landed us in Luang Prabang where we spent the next four days exploring and relaxing and meeting a new friend.

     

     

  • Hanoi Part II

    19Feb
    Categories: Around The World, Laos, Vietnam Comments: 3
     After a four hour bus ride back to Hanoi from Halong Bay we were kicked out at a random location about a kilometer away from our hotel. We were a bit confused because the driver asked for the name of our hotel and we assumed he would take us there, but I guess he thought we were close enough. When we made it to the hotel, at which we had reserved a room for two nights, we were warmly greeted, given coffee and then told they didn’t have a room for us. Instead, they offered for us to stay at a sister hotel 1km away for $5 more a night to which we replied, “no, we can find another hotel.” Long story short, they paid the difference and for the taxi to transport us to the other hotel. We’re starting to get used to the way things run in SE Asia, but it was still frustrating.

    There were a few things we wanted to do and see in Hanoi before leaving and heading to Laos. We crammed them into a few hours the following day and called it good.

    - Cyclo Ride. A cyclo is basically a big, backwards tricycle with a carriage just barely wide enough for our two butts. We have seen these all over SE Asia, but hadn’t yet taken one. We decided it was a must-do before leaving Vietnam and we ended up with two rides over the course of the day.

    - Hanoi Hilton. A prison used during the American/Vietnam War for American POWs. This is where John McCain was kept, among many other US troops. The prison was orignally used by the French to keep political prisoners (communists) when they ruled Indochina until the 50s. The prison was in use until 1992.

    - The Circus. Like no other circus we have been to before, the Hanoi circus was a mix of American Idol, the Oregon State Fair acrobats, and a show you might see at a run down zoo operating illegally. Parts of it were very entertaining, parts were sad (the animal acts where they made bears and monkeys dress up and do stunts), and parts were just odd (the singing in between acts). The kids at the show loved every minute of it, which was part of the entertainment for us.

    - Contact Solution. Not necessarily a highlight, but it did take up an hour and a half of our afternoon. It was like a wild goose chase. We went to one store and they wouldn’t have any so we would ask if they knew where we could buy it and they would send us to another store. When we arrived at that store, they wouldn’t have any but they would send us to another store. Five stores later we finally found contact solution–yippee!

    We really enjoyed Vietnam and could definitely hope to return in the future, but were not sad to leave Hanoi and the incessant honking and noise pollution that had taken its toll on us. Even at 5:45am when we were climbing into the taxi that would take us to the airport, a bus came by and laid on it’s horn. Not just a friendly “toot, toot”, but an obnoxiously long honk. We were ready for some peace and quiet in Laos. We have been in Laos for two days now and are enjoying a slower pace, the laid back attitude, and not nearly as much honking. Our flight took us into Vientiane where we stopped for a day and then took the bus up to Luang Prabang. We will be in northern Laos for about two weeks.

     

  • Free Falling

    15Feb
    Categories: Around The World, Vietnam Comments: 5

    John leaned back and looked down to see the consequences that lay 20 feet below. Feeling exhausted, he reached for the next hold. All of a sudden he slipped and started falling, no rope to stop him. All Erin could do was look on as John hit the water with a big SPLASH! This was part of our best day in Vietnam (and the falling was half the fun). The idea of us rock climbing and, specifically, deep water solo climbing, came from a couple of Spaniards we chatted with in Siem Reap, Cambodia. They had stayed many days on Cat Ba Island and among other things, had spent time climbing. One of the questions we ask ourselves when we choose to do something in our travel is, “can we do this at home?” We tend to spend our money on unique experiences we can’t replicate as easily back in Oregon. Rock climbing is something we have done a handful of times, usually with our friends Keith and Laura Schneider, so we weren’t sold on the standard climbing outings, but Slo (the owner of Slo Pony Adventures) told us there was a group of climbers going out to do some deep water climbing the following day and we could talk to them about going out. When we caught up with the climbers, they were more than happy to let us tag along. We clearly told them were novices, but wanted to give it a shot. After arranging the logistics, 11 climbers were all signed up and paid for with a plan to leave at 7am the following day.

    We were pleased when everyone showed up on time and we were on the boat, cruising out into the bay toward Hawaii Five-O and Tiger Beach, our climbing locales. The cruise out was really peaceful and a different scene from our first ride through Halong Bay. The early morning activity of the floating villages we passed were great to absorb–parents rowing their children to school, fruit vendors pawning their goods to neighbors, and fishermen putting out their nets. As we pulled up to the rock face it was still a little cool out and few of us were super eager to be first in the water. The more experienced climbers hopped in the kayaks and headed out as the rest of us watched. Rock climbing is really an art form of sorts. To watch the experienced climbers move across the rock like smooth and graceful dancers was very cool. Some of the climbers reached heights of probably 60 feet before either jumping or falling into the water. After watching a couple people, we decided to give it a go, hopped in a kayak and paddled near the rock. Getting on the rock is the most challenging part of this type of climbing. You really have to be able to pull yourself up at least 5 feet while avoiding falling on top of the kayak. John’s first attempt was successful after 5 minutes of trying to just get on the rock. At that point with arms exhausted, climbing up an overhanging rock with no rope and the potential to land in the water on his back, it was like nothing he had ever done before. Before too long he was in the water and it was Erin’s turn to go. She hung on the rock, but she did not actually climb the rock. We both gave it a second go after about an hour break to rejuvenate our arms. But as the tide was lowering, getting on the rock became even more difficult and neither of us were successful in our attempts. Regardless, it was really fun and we enjoyed watching the others climb just as much as we enjoyed trying it ourselves.

    From 11am on, the tide was too low for the deep water climbing, but after an amazing lunch of squid and delicious scalloped potatoes and a kayak through the huge limestone islands, we had the chance to do some top rope climbing on Tiger Beach (the stuff we have some experience doing). The expert climbers were able to do the lead climbing and get the rope set up for the rest of us. Again, it was incredible to watch these humans with Spiderman like qualities scale the rocks. We were grateful for the kindness and generosity of everyone who went. It seems to be consistent with rock climbers–there’s not much attitude or cockiness, everyone is supportive and wants each other to succeed. We spent the next few hours climbing, encouraging each other, and relaxing on the beach. What a perfect afternoon! We both successfully climbed challenging routes and were reminded of how much fun climbing is. From the top of the routes the view was quite spectacular looking out on the islands and green water. By 5pm we were all bushed. We got back on the boat and returned to our starting point. But the day was not over. We met up with most of the folks for dinner and ended up hanging out until about 12:30am (a total of 18 hours). It was a fun crew and we swapped stories and laughed a lot. John even was given an Irish alter ego, Sean Rua a fisherman from Clifton (it’s a long story). We had a really good time hanging out with these guys and it made us miss our “family” back home.

    Here’s the line up of climbers we spent the day with:

    John (AKA Samuel–it’s another long story) & Fin – Two Irish guys spending the year travelling the world with no itinerary, so who knows where they’ll end up. They are also both surfers and told John to bring his wetsuit when we make it to Ireland. These two guys were hilarious and provided much of our evening entertainment.

    Christian – The German Spiderman. There was nothing he couldn’t climb.

    Janna – The German Spiderwoman. With 10 years of experience, she was fun to watch.

    Robin – Australian university student on summer holiday. Great climber, hopes to scale El Capitan some day. Cheers to Robin for arranging the details of the day.

    Peter – German dentist on holiday to China, Vietnam, and the Philippines. We have him to credit for some of the shots of Erin climbing since John was belaying her.

    Adrian – Canadian climber who has been working at Slo Pony Adventures while spending time on Cat Ba.

    Two Germans we never learned their names, but they were both excellent climbers and real laid back.

    It was a fantastic day and one we won’t soon forget.

  • I Do It Myself

    13Feb
    Categories: Around The World, Vietnam Comments: 1

    John’s grandma, Edna Williams, tells a story of a time when John was four years old and attempting to walk up the stairs wearing a pair of swimming fins. Grandma noticed this wasn’t going so well for her grandson and offered to help. John’s response was, “I do it myself.” This has been a recurring phrase on our trip and especially poignant these last few days. Much like trying to walk up the stairs with swimming fins, booking a trip to Halong Bay on your own is quite difficult. Unfortunately, the tour operators in the City of Scams (AKA Hanoi) do a really good job of hiding the truth from travellers. They attempt to tell you that the only way to see Halong Bay is to take a tour which we did not want to do. They tried to explain the tour options to us and we tried to explain to them we wanted to do it ourselves. We couldn’t seem to get them to understand or tell us how to do it ourselves.. We read travel blogs and Trip Advisor trying to figure out how could do it ourselves and found a few helpful tips, but when we crunched the numbers and found out that doing it ourselves would mean bypassing Halong Bay on the way to Cat Ba Island, we decided to compromise. We were able to convince the travel agent to get us on a boat that would take us through Halong Bay, drop us off on Cat Ba Island, and then leave us there on our own for a few days before picking us back up on Friday. This only took 3 1/2 hours to figure out.

    The cruise out started with lunch on the boat and then took us from the harbor on a 3 hour cruise of the Bay. This also included a stop at a cave lit up like an ugly Christmas tree. The cave was actually quite amazing, despite the obnoxious lighting. We got back on the boat and enjoyed the rest of the cruise, dangling our feet off the front of the boat as we passed some of the 8,000 limestone islands that populate Halong Bay. As requested, we were dropped at Cat Ba Island, packed like sardines into a bus (with the Vietnamese tour guides hanging out the door), and transported to Cat Ba Town where we made it just in time to see a gorgeous sunset. As we sat down to dinner our tour guide came over and overwhelmed us with options for more touring we could do the following day. I do it myself. We were able to stand our ground and say no and decided to design our own tour for the next day.

    Our personalized tour that we did ourselves consisted of hiring a moto, riding up the coastline of the island, hiking in the national park, being chased by dogs when we made a wrong turn (at least we weren’t on a tour!), seeing the planting and harvesting of rice up close, practicing English with some local school girls, enjoying the sunshine at our own pace, and taking loads of photos. We felt really good about our choice to do it ourselves, especially when we were finishing our hike (which included an hour by ourselves on top of a fire tower) in the national park and crossed paths with a tour group of 20 tourists.  We also felt good about our decision not to do the tour when we talked to other travellers who booked 3 day tours and ended up with something that looked nothing like what they were promised.

    We don’t want to totally dis tours because they can be a really great option and we have even found ourselves sometimes wanting a tour just so we don’t have to figure all the details out ourselves. The key is to go with a reputable company, when possible, and make sure to ask tons of questions, confirming what exactly you will be receiving. And check with travel blogs and Trip Advisor or other traveler reviews to see what’s been good for others. Tour operators will tell you just about anything to book you on their trips (at least here that is true). If you have ever thought about coming to some of the places we have travelled but don’t know if you could do it on your own, it’s definitely possible and the tours go everywhere you would want to go. If you specifically want to go to Halong Bay and do it on your own, we now know how it works (we talked to others on the Island and figured out it is possible), and we’d be happy to share the secret information the Hanoi travel agents won’t divulge.

  • Hanoi Part I

    13Feb
    Categories: Around The World, Vietnam Comments: 1

    We arrived in Hanoi around 10am after a 17 _mg_0128hour train ride from Hoi An. The train was a great way to see the countryside, weaving in and out of the coast line in the afternoon and in the morning when we awoke traveling through the rice fields with our bunk mates–a Vietnamese woman from Hanoi and a mouse who attempted to snuggle up to us as we slept. Dazed from the long trip, we walked into our first scam. As the city of scams, it’s only appropriate we were taken by one right off the bat. We hopped in the first taxi we saw (mistake) and took off. Of course, we made sure the driver turned the meter on which he was fine to do becasue as we soon learned, he had a fake meter which was running at hyper speed. By the time we reached our hotel we imgp4426saw the meter said 128,000 VND ($6) and we didn’t believe it was true. John asked how much and he pointed to the meter to which John sternly replied, “No, how much? That is too expensive.” And again, the driver just pointed at the meter. John just stared at him for awhile. After 30 seconds of awkwardness we gave up and paid him the money. When we asked at our hotel how much we should have paid they told us 40,000-50,000 VND would have been fair. We did learn from that experience what type of taxis are legit and that we could use our hotel to advocate for a better price for us if we ever found ourselves in a similar situation.

    Frustrated with our handling of the taxi scam and the blatant unethical business practice on the part of the taxi driver, our first impressions Hanoi were not positive. We dropped off our bags at our hotel, which we were pleased with, and hit the streets in search of good food and tickets for the water puppet show. As we wandered the city streets we happened to run into a couple from California we met in HCMC. We chatted them up on the street while _mg_0167fending off local sales people and ended up making plans to share some food later that night where we got to spend more time talking about our travel experiences and lives back home. Our time got cut a little short as we didn’t want to miss out on the water puppet show. This traditional performance is put on in a small theatre in the heart of the Old Quarter. It’s not a “must see” event if you come to Hanoi, but it was entertaining and interesting to see an ancient cultural tradition of music and puppetry. Water is the life source of the Vietnamese people so it makes sense that water puppetry was a good way to tell stories. The basic idea is that the “stage” is a pool of water with a backdrop, which in this case was a pagoda. The puppeteers are behind the backdrop and the puppets are attached at the end of a long stick (or several sticks depending on the complexity of the puppet) which comes out of the backdrop. The puppets would dance, swim, fish, squirt water, etc. Many stories were conveyed with the puppets and the music over the 45 minute show. We enjoyed the performance, but by the end _mg_0155of the night we were ready to escape to our hotel.

    We didn’t stay too long in Hanoi (we are ending with one more day there at the end of our Vietnam time) and the following day were on a bus headed to Halong Bay and Cat Ba Island.

  • The home of the white rose, fried wontons, cao lau, 500 tailors, and Chau

    08Feb
    Categories: Around The World, Vietnam Comments: 4

    When we told Erin’s parents in September 2007 about our plans to travel, Erin’s dad, Ed, could not have been more excited. He wanted to know where we might be going and told us if we needed any help researching places, to let him know. When we visited several months later, he showed us a book about world missions he had purchased with our trip in mind. Needless to say, he was a big supporter and has been living vicariously through us these past months. We didn’t want Ed’s enthusiasm to be wasted so we invited him to plan a day of our time in Vietnam with activities and sites he would want to see and food he would want to eat (we were very clear about this). As we hoped, he eagerly jumped on it and after careful consideration narrowed his research down to the ancient town of Hoi An.

    More than tourist attractions and cultural events, what Ed really wanted to do was meet Christians in Hoi An and see how they live out their faith in a country where less than 10% of the near 87 million people believe. To make a long story short, we met a couple in Dalat who have a brother in law in Hoi An who fit the above description and was more than happy to meet with us. The best part about this was that Ed didn’t even know that this would be a possibility–it was a fun surprise to share with him after we met Chau for the first time. Ed’s second and more attainable plan was to enjoy the Old Town of Hoi An, the unique foods of the area, the local beach scene, and a nearby island where local handicrafts are produced. He put together a page and a half of details that we did our best to follow.

    When we arrived in Hoi An the first thing we did was call Chau and see if he would be available to meet at some point in our three day stay. To our surprise within 20 minutes we were able to kill two birds with one stone: meeting with him and eating at The White Rose Restaurant (which was also on Ed’s agenda). We shared a delicious meal of white rose dumplings and fried wontons and followed his lead in how to properly eat both. We had a good conversation with Chau as we ate and he talked about his life and his faith. We got to spend quite a bit of time with Chau over two days so there’s more than we can cover in this post, but we’d be glad to talk to anyone who is interested about what we learned from him. He was extremely generous with his time, even taking us to one of his favorite restaurants the following day to eat another Hoi An speciality, ca0 lau, and to one of the 500 tailors in Hoi An to have a shirt and pants made, helping us through the whole process. The tailoring was a fun experience and in between getting fitted and being offered tea and fruit or other snacks we were able to spend more time conversing with Chau.

    As for the things Ed researched and planned for us to do, here are some of the highlights of his itinerary:

    - Quan Thang Ancient House: This beautiful house is over 300 years old and is made entirely img_9848of teak wood. We met the man who had lived there his whole life and whose great-great grandfather built the house. He was very charming, but his charm wore off quickly when he led us to the souvenir table and wanted us to buy chopsticks and other items we did not want.

    - Quan Cong Temple: It’s always interesting to see how the followers of other religions worship and this was a good place to watch as prayers were made and incense lit. The sincerity of each person was evident as they made their petitions. This decorative old building housed a large statue of a great warrior from 200 BC as well as statues of his two sons.

    - Fujian Meeting House: There is only one word to describe this place–incense. We nearly gotimgp4344 sick to our stomachs from the over powering smell. Hanging from the ceiling were spiraling incense sticks which will each burn continuously for a month. Multiply that by 400 and you can understand the intensity of the smell. We found it fascinating and enjoyed taking pictures, but after 20 minutes we needed to leave and get some fresh air.

    - Wandering around Old Town was a highlight by itself. Seeing the old buildings that showed _mg_0036French, Japanese, and Chinese influence and crossing bridges that were over 400 years old was pretty cool. Also, at night, the waterfront was lit up with Disneyland-like charm, reminding us of the French Quarter, minus the chowder bowls.

    Two activities we really enjoyed that were not on Ed’s itinerary, but somehow we found some spare time for were:

    - Cooking Class: Not sure if you can call what we did a cooking class, but it was an experience nonetheless and we got a great recipe out of it. Basically the class consisted of walking into the kitchen of the Green Moss Restaurant and watching a woman prepare the food we were going to eat. She did give us step by step instructions and measurements so we can replicate the dish. This kitchen definitely wasn’t up to OSHA standards, but whose is? The sweet and sour chicken dish we chose to learn was really good and we look forward to making it and teaching others when we get home.

    - Celebration dessert: Tiramisu, coconut ice cream, a Vietnamese coffee and most importantly, the celebration of the birth of Oscar Williams to John’s sister Rachel and brother-in-law, John. We were so thankful to have internet connection and learn within five hours of the arrival of his 6 lb 12 1/2 oz and 20 inches (we think those stats are correct) and even get to talk to the new mother. We couldn’t have been happier and figured the best way to celebrate was with a delicious afternoon snack. We are really excited to meet him in person at the end of our trip.

    We really appreciate the effort Ed put into our time in Hoi An and we know there were definitely things we got to do that we might not have had we not had his help and detailed itinerary. Thanks Dad for a fun time–can’t wait to share all the details not included here with you!

  • Dalat

    04Feb
    Categories: Around The World, Vietnam Comments: 6

    We really enjoyed the three days spent in Dalat, the French Alps-like town of Vietnam. The slower pace of the town, the fresh mountain air, the cooler temperatures, and the chance to enjoy nature made us consider staying even longer, but we knew we needed to keep moving if we wanted to get up to the northern part of the country in our time frame.

     

    Here are some of the highlights of our time in Dalat:

     

    - Breakfast. Each morning we were greeted warmly by the owner of our hotel, the Thien An Hotel, as we sat down to a table overflowing with good food. He asked us if we wanted tea or coffee and if we wanted eggs. If yes to the eggs, he asked, “fried or scrambled?” From there we got down to eating everything we possibly could from the spread of watermelon, pineapple, dragon fruit, mango, passion fruit, bananas, yogurt, baguettes with spreads of cheese, butter, jam, peanut butter, Vegemite, and Marmite. We washed it all down with a tall glass of fresh passion fruit juice. It usually took us about 45 minutes to finish breakfast, a meal which at home takes us an average of 7 minutes to eat. This amazing breakfast gave us additional desire to stay longer in Dalat.

     

    - Hiking Lang Biang Mountain. As we came up to Lang Biang Mountain by our hired moto we knew right away we were in the right place as there was a huge Hollywood-type sign on the side of the hill displaying the name of the mountain. We were both excited to get hiking and started walking up the road to find the trail head, which was more of a challenge than we expected. Eventually we decided to forge our own trail and headed into the woods, keeping the road and the noise of the Vietnamese tourist-filled trucks, which were heading to the summit, to our right. After an hour we reached the summit and joined the masses in admiring the view of the surrounding area. We were also privy to seeing a paragliding company launch off the side of the mountain–very cool. Also at the top was a horse and cart with which you could pose for photographs (the horse was real, but the cart was cemented to the ground–it seemed very odd); the local minority people weaving and selling their handmade purses, bracelets, wallets, etc; statues of the legendary Lang and Biang whose names the mountain carries; and a huge guitar made out of plywood and flowers.

     

    - Elephant Falls. The falls were about 50 km in the opposite direction of Lang Biang. This 45 minute ride by moto went by relatively quickly as the scenery we were driving past was beautiful. We had to stop several times and point on our map to the name of the falls in Vietnamese and confirm we were heading the correct direction–one of the times we weren’t and we were thankful to be pointed the right way. The locals were all very kind and willing to help. From the top, the falls were less than appealing to look out with garbage strewn throughout the water. The view from the bottom, however, was much more pleasant. The falls were given their name because an elephant fell over the edge here. At least that’s what we like to think. =) Next to the falls we visited our first pagoda. Haven’t figured out the difference between a pagoda and a wat (temple), but it was interesting nonetheless.

     

    - John’s Bearded Fame. As John’s beard has grown, so has the attention he receives. Dalat was the first place in Vietnam where people would regularly stare and would also comment as we walked by. It’s a good conversation piece, or at least gives people something to point and laugh at. It seems that Asian men have very little facial hair and those who do tend to grow long pointy beards rather than big bushy ones such as John’s. John has taken it in stride and hasn’t let the fame or shame go to his head.

     

    - Cable Car. One of the newer attraction in Dalat is a gondola that goes from the main town to a lake a mile and a half away. The ride over the tree tops was a great chance to see the city from an aerial perspective including the terraced farming that covers the hillsides. The lake was just what we were looking for–a quiet place to sit and read. It made for a really nice afternoon. We were also able to find artichoke tea there which we had been looking to buy. This tea is a speciality of Dalat and has a smooth, mildly  sweet flavor that we really enjoyed. It just so happened there was a woman with a tea stand at the end of the gondola ride so we made our purchase.

     

    - Art Cafe. Dalat is the first place that made us realize Vietnamese food is really good and made us more interested in trying different dishes. The things we tried in HCMC were mediocre and made us long for Thai food (the best of SE Asia cuisine). The Art Cafe did us a great service by cooking up delicious meals. A couple of our favorite dishes so far: sweet and sour chicken soup, pho bo, and caramelized beef in a clay pot with steamed rice.

     

    We left Dalat on Monday and hopped on a bus for what we anticipated being a 7 hour ride (according to our guidebook) to Nha Trang, a beach town on the South China Sea. Thankfully the drive only took about 4 hours (it’s funny how this keeps happening to us)! Nha Trang is a definite beach town. You come here to sit on the beach and not much else. And so we have been doing just that. We will leave tomorrow night and take the sleeper bus to Hoi An, about 12 hours north. Of course, with the way things have gone on buses, it’ll probably only be about 7 hours =).

     

  • If I had a million dong, I’d buy you a…

    01Feb
    Categories: Around The World, Vietnam Comments: 1

    We have become millionaires. On Wednesday we went to the bank and pulled out four million dong. Unfortunately, this only converts to about $240 dollars so we probably could only buy you a night’s stay in Vietnam and a trip down the Mekong. In all actuality, things are pretty inexpensive here and we’re still working on the 4 million dong five days later. Hot diggity dong! (a phrase Erin frequently uses, not sure how appropriate it is and we’re not certain how it translates to Vietnamese).

    We have been in Vietnam for just under a week and have been enjoying the sights and activities. We have just over two weeks here in all and are trying to travel almost the entire length of the country (Ho Chi Minh to Halong Bay)–approximately 1200 miles. Our first three days and nights we spent in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC)/Saigon. We stayed in a great place a little off the beaten track of the backpackers area. Actually it was so far off the street that when the taxi dropped us off we were wondering if he had taken us to the wrong place. We were in the right place and after wandering down the alley we came to a very nice, new (only been open for three days), and quiet mini hotel. It was a nice haven from the busyness of the city. With the lunar new year celebration (tet) HCMC was a little out of it’s regular day to day rhythm. Nine out of 10 shops were closed as you walked down the streets which made it hard to find a place for dinner, prices were double their norm, and people weren’t working, just hanging out all day. It was also a cool time to be there because there were fewer people in the city, it was decorated for the holiday, and it gave us something to say to people on the streets: “Happy New Year!”

    Here are some highlights from HCMC:

    - Visiting the Cu Chi Tunnels. This extensive network of underground tunnels covers 250 km and was constructed during the American War (as it’s called here) by the Viet Cong (VC) in an area on the border of Cambodia and Vietnam controlled by the VC. We got to crawl through 90 meters of a replica of the tunnel system–it was tiny and we couldn’t imagine how the VC lived their lives underground in such cramped quarters. Lucky for them they weren’t a 6 feet, 3 inches tall bearded, red head.

    - The War Remnants Museum. This was a good chance to learn quite a bit about the American/Vietnam War. It was an awful time and the people of Vietnam, not to mention the soldiers on both sides, continue to suffer greatly from the horror of what they lived through. What struck us most deeply was the affects of Agent Orange on civilians. Many children have been born since that time with incredible deformities and disabilities, as a result. The affects can penetrate through many generations and have cultural impacts as well. Although we left the museum feeling sick to our stomachs, it was good to learn more about the war.

    - The Reunification Palace. Nothing too amazing, this is the former home and office of past presidents of South Vietnam. We got to see rooms where much of the American/Vietnam War strategy was planned. We also met a really nice couple on our tour who live in HCMC and had good conversation with them. We got to check out their motorbike and John has already started looking on Craigslist to see what we can get one for at home. =)

    - Mekong Delta. After much debate on a one or two day trip we went for the one day boat trip which took us about 3 hours (plus a half hour due to the boat having a minor break down in the middle of the river) down into the delta where much of the country’s exported rice comes from. We got to hold a python, sample fresh fruit from the area, see how coconut candy is made, listen to some traditional South Vietnamese music, and take a row boat ride through a canal system. Once again we were reminded why we don’t enjoy tours as much as exploring on our own, but in this case we didn’t have time to arrange a trip ourselves.

    The people on your tour always make (or break) your time. There was one character who was quite interesting. When the boat was having trouble he was diagnosing the problem saying, “if we had a sail, we wouldn’t have any trouble,” and John asked him if he was into sailing. Without saying anything the man rolled up his shirt sleeve and pointed to the tattoo on his shoulder as if to say, “What do you think?” The tat was of a pirate with cross bones. Erin wanted to respond, “Ohhhhh… you’re a pirate!”  and John wanted to say, “Arrrgh you going to fix the ship?” but we both held our tongues. Over the course of the tour he gave us more information about himself than was necessary and he reminded us of a Cliff Claven gone pirate.  We actually did meet some cool folks and that made the tour very enjoyable.

     

    We decided to take a night bus to our next destination, Dalat. The bus left HCMC at midnight and was scheduled to arrive in Dalat seven hours later. We thought that would be just right, getting us into the city in the morning and we could get sorted out from there. At 4:30am the bus pulled into a station, the lights came on, and after asking several people we figured out we had arrived in Dalat, two and a half hours early. Guess traffic was light! It was the middle of the night and we were pretty out of it. The bus company provided a taxi to the hotel we had booked and we were dropped off on a dark street with no traffic and nothing open. Even the hotel had pulled the gate down and did not have a night manager. We rang the bell out front and a few minutes later the owner came out and graciously brought us inside. He explained he did not have a room for us until after 8am but there was a couch. He even brought out a blanket for us. We crashed there for a couple of hours and then were welcomed to eat breakfast with the other guests. The owner was so fantastic and let us check into our room around 8:30am. He actually felt bad he didn’t have a room for us when we arrived–we tried to reassure him it wasn’t a problem and we were just happy not to be sleeping on the sidewalk in front of the hotel!

    Dalat is a very nice town and a good change of pace from the city life we have been in for the past month. There are some small mountains around, a lake, green trees, fresh air, and cooler temperatures. We are glad to be here for a couple of days.

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