It was 35 years ago today . . .

Today was Liberation Day, which is a HUGE holiday in Vietnam. As I mentioned earlier, on April 30, 1975, the North Vietnamese crashed thru the gates of the Imperial Palace, "liberating" Saigon. I guess you could say it's like our 4th of July. To commemorate, there was a parade and celebration this morning right outside our hotel. Their parades aren't like the ones we know. Although they did have floats and marching bands, they didn't have a large group of spectators. Our group leader asked someone about it and was told the parade is not necessarily for the people to attend, but for them to watch on TV! Interesting.

We didn't stay in town to watch the parade, but instead headed south to explore the Mekong Delta. More specifically, we went to visit the sites around My Tho.

We first stopped at Vinh Trang Pagoda. It was a beautiful complex with a large statue of the lady buddha and a HUGE laughing buddha.

We then headed to the river for a boat ride on the Tien River. We took the boat to Turtle Island and boarded smaller boats (6 ppl) to ride through a smaller canal to a place where they make coconut candy. We learned how they make the candy, sampled it and then bought it up. It reminded me of taffy in that it sticks to your teeth! We then tried what they call a Mekong Cocktail, which is made up of green tea, honey and juice from a kumquat. There was a little baby there in a bamboo crib that was very cute. Folks in the group went a little crazy taking pictures of him. I know I'd be a little wierded out if a bunch of strangers were taking pictures of my kids. Because of that, I usually hang back and it I want to take photos, I do it from a distance. Finally, a number of us had pictures taken w/ the resident python. My dad will freak when or if he sees it. Snakes are not his thing.

We then hopped back in the small boats and then the larger boat to Unicorn Island. Here, we were serenaded by some locals as we ate fruit and then boarded even smaller boats, similar to canoes, and rode thru an even smaller, more narrow canal. The vegetation was so lush and green. Here's a picture of Jaffa and me on the boat.

On a side note, Khai (our guide) told us today that they don't have nuclear power in Vietnam and that most of their electricity comes from hydroelectric power. However, b/c water levels are very low, they tend to have rolling blackouts throughout the country 2-3 days a week for several hours. That might explain the power outages in Hoi An that interfered with the seamstress' schedules on our last day there.

After dinner back in Saigon, we went up to the roof of our hotel to watch the fireworks display from the pool area. Unfortunately it was raining, but it was still a good view from under the overhang.

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Saigon

Today we went out on our full day city tour of Saigon. However, early this morning we were woken up at 5am to loud music. Turns out they were practicing outside for tomorrow's parade celebrating 35 years since the liberation of Saigon.

Our first stop was Reunification Hall, the former presidential palace. This is the palace where south vietnam fell to the communists when a north vietnamese tank crashed thru the front gates on April 30, 1975. This is exactly what they are celebrating tomorrow. There were a lot of veterans (that is, vietnamese veterans) visiting Reunification Hall and who will be a part of the ceremonies tomorrow. It wasn't until around 1991 that Vietnam started opening its doors to tourism. Kind of like Cuba. Both coincide w/ the collapse of the USSR. It was a nice place, but w/ only fans and no a/c, it was hard to think about anything but finding a fan and leaving.

Our tour guide is my age. He told us that b/w approximately 1979 and 1985 a lot of folks tried to flee the country. Some of his family settled in San Diego. At age 12 his mom paid money for a spot for him in a fishing boat heading to Thailand. He was cramped in w/ 24 other people. When he woke up, he was in prison. Apparently the fisherman didn't really know how to get to thailand and ended up back in Vietnam. He never made it to the US. Luckily, our guide was only in prison 3 weeks. His mom paid a fine and agreed to re-educate him in the communist way.

I later had a chance to speak w/ our guide as I was waiting for the group to finish up at one of our stops. He's married and his parents live with him, which is traditional in Vietnam for the parents to live with the son. However, his wife is living w/ her mom b/c she is not doing well. They see each other only 1-2 times a month for 3-4 days at a time.

We then stopped off at Notre Dame Cathedral and the General Post Office. The post office is one of the most beautiful buildings in the City. We also made a point to go by City Hall and the Opera House, but did not go in.

We also went to the War Remnants Museum, which documented many of the atrocities from the war. The pictures of families and children were hard to see. No matter which side you are on, war is devastating. What I found most interesting was a section on agent orange. There were pictures and documentation re: the effects of agent orange on both the veterans (US and Vietnam) and the communities. Apparently there was an international tribunal on agent orange and the us and in 2009 they charged the US and the companies responsible for the production of dioxin and agent orange for crimes using toxic chemicals. The companies and the US were ordered to pay billions of dollars in reparation and for remediation. Very interesting. I wonder if the US will pay it any mind since they don't always pay any mind to international tribunal.

For lunch, we went to a noodle shop called Pho 2000. There's a bunch of them around Saigon, but the one we went to is the same one that Bill and Chelsea Clinton ate at when they visited Vietnam in 2000. They had a table cloth on the table Clinton sat at along with what he and Chelsea ate. Food was good and cheap as you can see from the pictures. I had a "small" soup w/ chicken, spring rolls and soda for only $5.

After lunch we went to the Ben Than Market and then the Binh Tay Market. Both were overwhelming b/c there was so much stuff and the aisles b/w stalls were barely wide enough for one person to walk through. The first market had more variety, whereas the second market, which was in Chinatown, was more of a wholesale market. A few of us went back to the Ben Than Market after the city tour and picked up a bunch of North Face bags for $5-10! That's also where we saw a North Face knock-off gone bad as you can see from the picture. We saw that and panicked that our bags were like that, but the lettering is all the same.

Before meeting the group at the Rex Hotel, we stopped at a department store across the street from the hotel. Aside from your typical dept store goods and prices, there was a bin of knock-off Prada bags at the front and a DVD stall where you could get DVDs for about $0.75 each. Not sure if they will all work, but for that price, who cares.

Finally, we met at the Rex Hotel for drinks at the Rooftop Garden. The Rex is where all the foreign journalists hung out in Saigon during the Vietnam War. It was the focus of social and military activities of the American soldiers as well.

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Next stop, Saigon

Yesterday, we flew to Ho Chi Minh City (or Saigon depending on who you talk to) very early in the morning. Our first stop was the Cu Chi Tunnels.

The tunnels were very interesting and used by peasants to aid the Vietcong in the war. We first watched a totally slanted video re: the war. They talked about some of the guerrilla women being american killer heroes and at one point referred to the american soldiers as "dirty little devils." Not slanted at all. I know we invaded their country, but it was still hard to hear it put that way.

These guerrilla fighters dug tunnels and lived in these tunnels. They were easily disguised and they placed land mines and traps throughout the countryside. We could go in thru one of the tunnels but they were very tight quarters. The closest I got was posing for a picture at one of the entry/exit point. They also had on display all of the types of traps used to kill/injure the soldiers along with a disturbing mural depicting soldiers caught in these traps. Aside from all of the displays, there was even an opportunity for target practice. You had to buy the ammo first and then you got to shoot an AK47. I didn't partake since I hated being forced to go to riflery at camp.
I mentioned this earlier, but it's amazing what people carry/transport on their mopeds. I've seen cases of beer, mirrors, piping and other construction materials, pigs, chickens, etc. On the side of the road was a woman selling goldfish, lots of goldfish, in individual bags.

After checking into our hotel, we took a dip in the pool on the roof of our hotel. For dinner, we went to the Temple Club. It's the 2nd floor of a former temple. The food was great and our waiter was such a cutie. About 10 of us went.

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Full Moon

I am all shopped out! Yesterday was our 2nd full day in Hoi An and it was on our own. I had lots of fittings scheduled throughout the day at 2 different shops. It was exhausting going back and forth to town, especially when you had to wait around for stuff. Things were also complicated by power outages in the town, which slowed production down. Now, it seems like I got a lot, but it was pennies compared to what some of my friends got. The best is this morning as I got ready and put on an extremely light weight top I refuse to part with, I thought to myself, "I should have made some of these tops." It's a good thing we are leaving today or more damage might have been done! Maybe we can blame it on the full moon. :)

Amazingly, I managed to fit it all in my suitcase and it was still at weight (20.8 kg)!

So, Hoi An is basically 1 huge tailor shop. There are tons of shops, 1 right after the other. It's almost sensory overload with all the choices. We first went to Yaly which was recommended by the guide books and my cousin. We then walked around to another shop, where a specific dress caught a friend's eye. This place was on the same road as Yaly, but in my opinion way better! That shop was Nguyet Thut @ 140 Tran Phu St. Her fit was much better and she had lots of great displays to help with ideas for clothes. I highly recommend her.

We ended up staying in Hoi An longer than most folks do b/c the city has a lantern festival every month on the date of the full moon. For 2 hours, they shut the old town off to moped and bike traffic (cars were already not allowed in that area), the street lights are turned of, all the shops turn out their lights except for lanterns and candles, and place their shrines and incense outside. At 7pm, folks light lanterns and place them in the river and as they do so, they make a wish. It was so nice and peaceful. I didn't make a wish b/c I was focused on getting some good pictures of the lanterns in the river.

Last night we ate along the river at Mango Room. It was comparable to a meal you get in a US city. The night before we ate at the Cargo Club next door. It was good, but not as good as the Mango Room.

In between fittings, I had a massage at the hotel. It was a combination of swedish, thai, vietnamese and something else. They had me lie down on a cushioned mat and the woman proceeded to move my body around, sit on my legs, push down on certain parts, and a little swedish rubbing. It was painful at times, but I did feel relaxed afterwards.

The best was while I was sitting at the pool for a bit. The pool is warm, there's no getting around that. At one point a hotel employee wheeled 4 large blocks of ice over by the pool. He then proceeded to throw the blocks of ice into the pool. Interesting way to cool the pool down.

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Pictures for Katie

I've been running around so much that I haven't had a chance to blog. Since my sister asked for more pictures, here's a few from Central Vietnam.

The first picture is from China Beach, 2nd is a fishing net on the river in Hoi An, and the last 2 are from the hotel.

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Supporting the local economy . . .

Today was our first full day in Hoi An. I think I mentioned this yesterday, but if I didn't, Hoi An is the place to get clothes made. The quaint, old part of town is small and over 3/4 of the shops are ones that will make the clothes for you. When I was in Hong Kong a number of folks had stuff made but I didn't. However, here I jumped on the bandwagon.

We were on the 8am shuttle bus to town and went to a shop called Yaly which had been recommended by my cousin, the travel books, etc. I had an idea of what I wanted - a blazer and some button down shirts - but looked thru a ton of books for ideas. Ended up w/ a black blazer made of a cashmere wool blend. I also had 2 tops made out of cotton. My friends were all getting suits and dresses and pants, so I decided to look at formal/cocktail dresses. Ended up w/ an a-line out of black chiffon and black satin trim.

From there we left to check out another store our fearless leader saw a dress she liked. Upon further examination (and learning it came with a reversible jacket) 3 of us ended up getting it in different colors. I then found a light dress I also liked. We kept finding things we liked, but had to move on to meet our group for a cooking tour.

I know, I suck at cooking, but had to go along w/ the group. We explored the market and then took a boat ride up the river to the cooking school. There, we learned how to make rice paper, spring rolls, pancakes, and eggplanr in a clay pot. Making the rice paper was really cool. We left with recipes and directions for making the dishes. We'll see whether I ever make this stuff, but you never know.

After the cooking class I went back to the hotel, relaxed in the pool, etc. before heading back to town for my fittings. Just so you know, it was over 100 degrees today and very humid. I must have lost a gallon of water just standing still. Anyway, by the time I got to the first shop for my fitting I was already sweating. I liked my button-down tops, and even got 2 more. For $35 each, you can't beat it! The blazer is what sent me over the edge - a cashmere/wool blend and lined. How do you try these on in this heat? I was sweating like crazy! There were a few alterations needed, but otherwise it looked good. Finally, the cocktail dress looked like a big tent. It needed to be taken in and shortened significantly. Still not sure how I like it.

From there I met up with friends at the other store. The dresses all needed to be let out a bit, but were not bad. While there, my eye wandered and I found some lightweight a-line skirts and another cocktail dress. I figure I can always use these things. I had to leave before I did anymore damage.

I'm sure you are thinking I went crazy, b/c I am. However, my friends were the crazy ones. They were buying 4 suits, dresses, pants, etc. I thought about pants but just didn't want to deal. I go back tomorrow morning for another fitting.

I am falling asleep as I type this. Goodnight!
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On the road . . . again

Today we left Hue and drove down to Hoi An where we'll be staying for 3 nights. The hotel we are staying at is supposed to be wonderful.

Hue is only a 3 hour drive from Hoi An, so we took the bus down. Along the way we stopped along the road for our tour guide to show us what a rice plant really looks like. We had seen rice spread out on the side of the road drying in the sun.

We then began ascending this narrow and winding mountain pass. It was a bit unnerving since there was no guardrail, other trucks and buses were come down the pass, and mopeds ands cars were passing throughout. We then reached the summit of the Hai Van Pass and had a beautiful view of Lang Co Peninsula. We then stopped at a place called Loc Vinh, which was a random tourist stand w/ western toilets. There, we were accosted by folks trying to sell us stuff. They all had really good English. One boy asked my friend and I where we were from. When my friend said Colorado, the boy said to wait b/c he knew where it was geographically. He then proceeded to draw an air map, pointing out where different states were and then pointed to where he thought Colorado would be. We were very impressed. He then asked if we had quarters from Colorado. Another boy told someone on our trip that he wasn't trying to sell him anything, but that he needed money to buy a dictionary! Too funny!

Once we left Loc Hinh, we went thru the longest tunnel I've been in, before reaching Danang. In Danang (the 5th largest city) we stopped at a bakery to pick up lunch stuff for a picnic on the beach. We got so much food for just pennies. We then walked thru the market for some fruit.

We had our picnic lunch on China Beach, the former rest and recreation center for US troops during the war. We know it as China Beach b/c of the 90s show with that name. The real names are My Khe and My An beaches. The beach was empty except foer a few folks eating in the shade. Most Vietnamese don't head to the beach until after 4. We were told that the Vietnamese all want white skin, so the cover up and stay out of the sun.

One thing I will note is that there is a ton of new development going up along the beach that could essentially cut off the beaches from the regular folks. We aren't sure who is or would be staying at these places since it doesn't seem many folks are staying at the hotels we are.

Once we arrived in Hoi An, we did a walking tour of the center of town - swear, I have never seen so many tailor shops. I hadn't planned on having clothes made, but as they say, "when in Rome . . ." We are going into town early tomorrow to check things out.

Our hotel is very nice and right on the beach. There are an array of massage treatments available. I need to schedule one for before we leave. However, I will say that it is getting much hotter out. The heat index today was in the high 90s and will only be getting hotter as we go farther south. Lucky me.

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On the road again . . .

Today we left Hue and drove down to Hoi An where we'll be staying for 3 nights. The hotel we are staying at is supposed to be wonderful.

Hue is only a 3 hour drive from Hoi An, so we took the bus down. Along the way we stopped along the road for our tour guide to show us what a rice plant really looks like. We had seen rice spread out on the side of the road drying in the sun.

We then began ascending this narrow and winding mountain pass. It was a bit unnerving since there was no guardrail, other trucks and buses were come down the pass, and mopeds ands cars were passing throughout. We then reached the summit of the Hai Van Pass and had a beautiful view of Lang Co Peninsula. We then stopped at a place called Loc Vinh, which was a random tourist stand w/ western toilets. There, we were accosted by folks trying to sell us stuff. They all had really good English. One boy asked my friend and I where we were from. When my friend said Colorado, the boy said to wait b/c he knew where it was geographically. He then proceeded to draw an air map, pointing out where different states were and then pointed to where he thought Colorado would be. We were very impressed. He then asked if we had quarters from Colorado. Another boy told someone on our trip that he wasn't trying to sell him anything, but that he needed money to buy a dictionary! Too funny!

Once we left Loc Hinh, we went thru the longest tunnel I've been in, before reaching Danang. In Danang (the 5th largest city) we stopped at a bakery to pick up lunch stuff for a picnic on the beach. We got so much food for just pennies. We then walked thru the market for some fruit.

We had our picnic lunch on China Beach, the former rest and recreation center for US troops during the war. We know it as China Beach b/c of the 90s show with that name. The real names are My Khe and My An beaches. The beach was empty except foer a few folks eating in the shade. Most Vietnamese don't head to the beach until after 4. We were told that the Vietnamese all want white skin, so the cover up and stay out of the sun.

One thing I will note is that there is a ton of new development going up along the beach that could essentially cut off the beaches from the regular folks. We aren't sure who is or would be staying at these places since it doesn't seem many folks are staying at the hotels we are.

Once we arrived in Hoi An, we did a walking tour of the center of town - swear, I have never seen so many tailor shops. I hadn't planned on having clothes made, but as they say, "when in Rome . . ." We are going into town early tomorrow to check things out.

Our hotel is very nice and right on the beach. There are an array of massage treatments available. I need to schedule one for before we leave. However, I will say that it is getting much hotter out. The heat index today was in the high 90s and will only be getting hotter as we go farther south. Lucky me.

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Hue - the longest day of the trip so far

As I'm beginning to write this I feel like I am still half asleep and it's only 1pm. The reason why is we were up this morning at 3:45am (after having gone to bed at midnight since it took us so long to get back from Halong Bay and dinner last night) so we could get to the airport for a 6:30am flight to Hue.

Hue is much more relaxed than and less crowded than Hanoi. Although Hanoi is the current capitol of Vietnam, Hue is the original capitol. Here remains the old royal palace and emperors' tombs.

Unfortunately, when we landed we were off and running w/ the tour. Our first stop was to rent bikes and ride them along the Perfume River to the Imperial Palace to see a miniature version of what looked the Forbidden City we saw in China. I was excited to ride a bike; however, I assumed we'd be riding along the river, like on a path. Yeah, no. Instead, we road along the busy streets of Hue, dodging bikes, cars, buses and lots of motor bikes. It was pandemonium out there. I thought riding thru boathouse row on a weekend was bad enough, but at least there people somewhat respond to directional cues. One person in our group lost her balance and fell on the bridge. I think the problem was people were so cautious that they went too slow and made it hard to ride. I was happy to break away and ride a little faster.

The Imperial Palace was nice, but not nearly as beautiful (or restored) as Beijing. I think had I not been to China I would have been more impressed with the buildings. However the grounds were still beautiful and more green b/c of the cloudy skies. We then rode our bikes back to the hotel. My lungs are feeling raw(like they were in Xian) from all the diesel fumes and other stuff they are burning.

*** I interrupt this blog post to rant for a moment *** When I went to China I got a lot of looks b/c of my blondish hair and was a bit of a rock star on the Great Wall w/ Asian men wanting photographs w/ me. Now, fast forward to this trip and people keep wanting to poke me. Ok, not just poke me, but poke my belly. I know I'm overweight and am self conscious about it. The first time it happened I was mortified. How could they be blatantly laughing at me. Then there were people giggling at me or pointing at me while riding by on the mopeds. Today, as we were getting the bikes, the guy smiled at me rubbed his belly and then pointed. I think they think of it as a Buddha belly from the laughing Buddha. Yeah, I'm not laughing. No one wants to be poked. NOT COOL! *** Rant is over ***

After lunch we boarded a boat for a scenic cruise along the Perfume River and to stop off and see the Ming Tomb and the Heavenly Lady Pagoda. The ride was interesting b/c the boat is actually home to 2 families. The woman on the boat continually tried to sell us one thing after another, giving us a fashion show of sorts to show off the clothes. The Heavenly Lady Pagoda was very peaceful and had some beautiful views.

Along our route there were tons of boats carrying gravel. Then there were boats that looked like they were dredging the river, maybe to extract the gravel? It was a long ride and at some point we began to smell pot. Not sure who it was, but someone on the boat had lit up. You can never mistake that smell. :)

The Ming Tomb was very tranquil. Ming was the king that had the most wives and most children. One of the kings had 103 wives, but no children. He ended up adopting his uncle's children so he could have heirs. We passed a few smaller tombs along the river, but did not stop to see them. You could see them from the river hidden in the trees. From the guide books, it looked like a short trip up the river, but it was a good hour before we got to the Heavenly Pagoda and then another hour to the tomb.

Can you say long day? It's hard to believe it's only 4:30pm as I write this. I'm looking forward to heading back to the hotel and shower and then crash!

Halong Bay - need I say anything else?

This morning we all piled in the bus and headed out to Halong Bay. Halong Bay is usually what you see when Vietnam is pictured, especially in travel ads.

Halong Bay is made up of an archipelago of limestone cliffs sticking up in the water. There are over 3,000 islands and it covers an area of 580 square miles. It is a UNESCO world heritage site and it is in the running for the "new" 7 wonders of the world.

The ride is a good 2 hour trek, so to entertain ourselves, we played SE Asia Bingo. We had to find typical SE Asian activities along our ride. Some of the "squares" included: 30 or more motorbikes parked side-by-side; pedestrian playing "frogger" w/ traffic; family of 3, 4, and 5 on a motorbike; rider w/ a pig; people squatting in an outdoor cafe; and motorbike w/ something piled 10 feet high on the back.

Pedestrians playing Frogger is the best way to explain how to cross the street in Vietnam. There are crosswalks, but no one uses them or pays attention to them. Instead, you slowly walk out into traffic and the cars, trucks, bikes and motorbikes move around you. It is scary as hell, but it works. One guy was just standing in the middle of traffic taking pictures and traffic just moved around him w/ no problem.

On our way to Halong Bay we stopped off at a handicraft location staffed by charity folks. They made many different things including marble sculptures, lacquered paintings, and silk embroidered paintings. The silk embroidery was beautiful and most folks bought something. I bought 2 little pieces for gifts and 2 larger ones for myself. One of the larger ones is a fisherman on the river at sunset in shades of green. The second larger one I got is similar to a monet w/ bright colored flowers and a stone arched bridge over a creek. Not sure where I'll put it yet, but we'll see.

I don't know how else to explain Halong Bay, but that it is absolutely breathtaking. We took a private cruise on a boat and spent a few hours cruising thru just a tip of the islands. The islands are as high as 100-150 meters, and reminded me of the cliffs on the Palisades (NJ). They were about the same height. I took so many pictures since each turn we made revealed even more beautiful scenes.

While cruising the bay, we made a stop at a huge cave with amazing stalagmites and stalactites. The cave was called Hang Thien Cung and is what they call a hanging cave. It was about 50m above sea level and contained lots of dripping stalactites (think sand castles), solid rock pillars and stumpy stalagtites.

When the cruise was over, we got back on the bus and settled in for our LONG ride home. Not even 45 minutes into our trek home, the bus stopped. Apparently a large truck was sticking out into the road blocking traffic. Forget the fact that the construction guys hauling the HUGE concrete blocks off the truck were wearing flip flops and no hard hats. What happened next was organized chaos gone awry. I mentioned earlier that there are no traffic rules and yet everything seems to go smoothly w/o incident. Yeah right. There was no one here to manage traffic, so oncoming traffic (trucks, cars,buses, mopeds all at once) just kept going moving toward us blocking the way. Then trucks and mopeds stared creeping up on us creating an insane traffic jam. It was so crazy you just had to laugh! It took us almost an hour to get thru the madness.

We are now finally on our way home. Not sure if we'll still be doing dinner since we are so late, but I'll be crashing early b/c we are up before dawn to catch a 6:30 flight to Hue in the central part of the country. I can't believe we are already leaving Hanoi. The time went much quicker than I had expected.
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Watch out for cars (and mopeds and bikes)

Today was our 2nd day in Vietnam. We started off the day today at Ho Chi Minh's tomb where he has been embalmed and is in a glass enclosed tomb for all to see. We weren't allowed to bring cameras or water inside, and we were to cover our shoulders and knees out of respect. We weren't the only ones who were there to see the Ho Chi Minh. There were tons of pre-school and elementary school kids there too. They were so cute. I wish we could have gotten pictures of some of these kids, but again, we weren't allowed to have our cameras. While we waited, there was a performance or ceremony with some elementary kids in school uniforms, the military, some veterans' families, and a school marching band. Apparently it wasn't a holiday, so no one is really sure why this took place.

After visting Ho Chi Minh in a more intimate way than I had ever imagined, we walked around the complex that contained his home. He was a very simple man and did not want to live extravagantly. He also did not marry, so he had no heirs. Many of the kids we had seen earlier were walking through the grounds as well and our group went a little crazy taking picturs of the kids. They were just so cute. After a while, some of the kids would say hi to us or try to practice some english.

So far, this was the first hour and a half of our day and I was already sopping wet. The heat and humidity are brutal, and this is the coolest part of our trip!

Next, we headed to the Temple of Literature, where I must admit, I cannot remember a thing about right now. I remember something about 5 levels of edcuation and that the Temple had 5 courtyards. That's what the heat does to me, it fries my brains!

From the Temple of Literature we had a buffet lunch and then made our way to the Old Quarter for a ride in the pedicabs. throuhg the narrow streets. Let me just tell you that this was the most insane thing. Here we were, riding in our own individucal cabs, next to cars, bikes, and mopeds w/ absolutely no traffic rules whatsoever. It really is amazing that no one got itno an accident. The Old Quarter is made up of narrow streets, each one is named after the type of item being sold: silk street, fish street, and as we dubbed some, shoe street and sunglass street. It really was a lot of fun.

We then walked around for a bit and then headed inot the a/c (thank god!) for a water puppet show. The water puppets are a very old art form. It was interesting, but since it was all in Vietnamese, I had no clue what was going on.

Later, we had some free time to walk around the Old Quarter to shop, eat, and do whatever. I even braved crossing the busy street a few times in the name of photography and shopping. I'll post pics or a video of traffic another time. I did a little shopping, had drinks w/ the group, and then went and got my first of many foot massages this trip. I could go on about it (and might come back and edit later), but it's after 11, I'm tired and have to be out the door by 8am to head to Halong Bay. I am very excited about that.

Oh, before I go, I should mention the interesting cab ride home tonight. About 7 of us piled into a van to go back to the hotel. The driver tried tralking to me, but I really couldn't understand muc of what he was saying. I noticed the meter was jumping up very quickly and he was driving very slow. Now, the cabs we've taken so far to and from the Old and French Quarters have been about 25,000 VND (or $1.50). By the time we got to our hotel, the meter read 387,000 VND! It was crazy -- more than 10 times the amount it should be. Then, the guy doesn't want to pull into the hotel. Finally, he stops at the driveway entrance and after telling him to go forward to the lobby, he gets out to let us out. At that point, I ran up to the hotel to get someone to explain what the price should have been and that he was ripping us off. After consulting w/ other cab drivers, he lowered the price to 100,000. We said no way. Then, we gave him 50,000 and he refused to take it. Finally, after a few minutes, he took the money and we all went our merry ways. We had been warned about this, so we knew to go to the hotel to sort it out. This guy knew he was scamming us b/c he refused to drive up into the hotel area. What a schmuck!

Until tomorrow . . .

Goooooood Morning Vietnaaaaaaam

Well, we arrived this morning around 9:30 after 17 hours of traveling. We got to the hotel around 10 and luckily were able to get into our rooms.

After a quick, refreshing shower, a group of us headed out to the Old Quarter to have lunch at the Cha Ca La Vong restaurant. This restaurant is so well known that they named the street after it. The restaurant was also written up in 1,000 Places to See Before You Die, and I can see why.

We sat down and were told (by a laminated piece of paper) that there was only one dish - fried fish. They brought out a charcoal grill w/ a pan on top containing curried garoupa fish and other seasonings. We then added a pile of dill and scallions to the mixture to cook. Once cooked, you added the mixture, along w/ a fish sauce, to a bowl of rice vermicelli noodles and peanuts. It was soooo good and definitely worth it.

Afterwards, we took a quick cab to Hoa Long, which we know in the US as the Hanoi Hilton. It was a bit emotional for a few reasons. First, it was a prison and some of its uses and conditions prior to the Vietnam war were just awful. Second, there were 2 rooms set aside for what they call the American war. It was emotional reading about the pilots and watching the propaganda video about how the US bombed the people of Hanoi.

Finally, the most emotional part was seeing my cousin Neil in the pictures of the POWs kept at the prison. I had been warned his picture was there by another cousin who had been to Hanoi last fall. As I looked thru the pictures, I thought maybe she was wrong, b/c none of the men really looked like Neil. However, as I looked at one of the last pictures in the room, there was no mistaking Neil in the picture. He looked just like his older brother. The picture was of POWs playing ball in the courtyard. At one point the Vietnamese put together a propaganda campaign on how well the POWs were treated: playing ball, eating, etc. My grandmother told me that when they saw these pictures on the news, that's how they knew that Neil was alive. It really is surreal to be on the other side of the world and see your cousin. I want to believe that they were not treated and housed like the Vietnamese prisoners prior to the war, but I know it wasn't all peaches and cream.

Once we finished, we took a cab to the Sofitel Metropole in the French Quarter. This is one of the nicest hotels in Hanoi and has a lot of history. We met up w/ some other folks in our group for high tea (like we did @ the peninsula in Hong Kong) and a chocolate buffet. It was a beautiful room and beautiful hotel.

We are staying @ the other Sofitel, which is on the Hoan Kiem lake. We have a nice view of part of the lake and the city.

We stayed at the hotel for dinner for our "welcome" to Vietnam. Afterwards, I could barely keep my eyes open and finally crashed around 9pm. Good thing is I am now adjusted to the time change and ready to roll!

First stop - LA

I arrived in LA Friday night. Since we were flying out of LA, it made the most sense to come a few days early and relax before my 14-hour flight to Hong Kong and then onto Hanoi.

I'm staying in Santa Monica and on Saturday I decided to head over to the 3rd Street Promenade for some breakfast and people watching. They had a bunch of tents out for their earth day festival and lots of folks were out and about. I then went and walked thru Palisades Park which is right on Ocean Ave. overlooking the beach.

While on 3rd street, I came across this person dressed up as a tree person. The picture doesn't really do it justice since he really was disturbing.

Saturday night, we drove out to Pasedena to go to The Dining Room, Michael Voltaggio's restaurant. For those that don't know, Michael Voltaggio was last season's winner of Top Chef. Let's just say that the dinner was fantastic. The presentation was spectacular, and the food was really, really good. After dinner, we went back into the kitchen and had a chance to meet Michael and thank him for a great meal. Really great guy. Very laid back. The couple we were with was from Manhatten Beach and he suggested we go to a new sushi place called Sashi and to tell the chef (Morimoto's suez chef) that he sent us. So, Debby and I are going tomorrow night before we head to the ariport.

Today, we met a friend of ours from the China trip for breakfast and then I walked down to the beach, rented a bike, a rode down the beach toward Venice. I took a few snapshots from my blackberry, but I think I had the settings wrong b/c the pictures seem kind of dark.

This was my favorite. I don't know if you can see it, but you've go the "Shul on the Beach" next to a store called Unruly. Love it. If only there were a medical marijuana place on the other side. There were tons of them along the beach in Venice.

More shots along the beach trail.

I don't know if you can see it in the picture above, but there's a guy on the left in white shorts that is hanging upside down. He actually climbed up that rope upside down. Crazy. Below is a view of the bike path from Palisades Park in Santa Monica.

The best is after my 10-mile ride, 5 miles of which were against the wind, I then had to walk up this to get back to my hotel. My legs were jelly just trying to get up there.

Tonight, I'm getting together for dinner w/ my cousin and then planning to chill out by the pool tomorrow. Maybe I'll even ride a bike again if I have time. Our flight doesn't leave until 11:50pm Monday night so we have another full day here. (I should have come in yesterday, but originally thought our flight was leaving today when I booked my flight)

On the road again . . .

I'm getting ready to leave this afternoon on my latest adventure - Vietnam and Cambodia. I leave this evening for LA for the weekend and then actually leave for SE Asia on Monday night. I'm headed over there again w/ Amazing Journeys and several of my friends from other trips. I really don't think the trip has fully set in yet, which would explain my avoidance of packing! I think I'm mostly done, but still have a few things to do.

The trip will take us to the main cities in Vietnam - Hanoi, Hoi An, Hue, Ho Chi Minh (Saigon) - as well as day trips to Halong Bay and the Mekong Delta. We'll then leave Vietnam and head to Siem Reap, Cambodia to spend a few days at Angkor Wat.

I've met many people in the past few months that have been to Vietnam and all have raved about it. For some of my world traveling friends, it's their favorite country!

I'm also looking forward to really breaking in my new camera. As you've seen in past posts, I've been having fun playing around w/ it and basically trying re-learn all the functions. I can't wait to see how the pictures turn out!

I should finish packing and shower now, since I leave for the airport in an hour and a half!

Figuring out how to post from Blackberry

This way I can add pictures and comments as I go on my trip.

Let's see if I can add pics to certain places in the post too.

Hmmm, doesn't look like it.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Patio

Ok, this is cool. I was able to send this picture via my blackberry, which means I'll be able to upload pictures while I'm in Vietnam and Cambodia. Cool.

Even though this was a test, here's a picture of my patio after I set up my grill this weekend. I can't wait to move my plants outside and get some more flowering plants, but I'll wait until I get back to do it.

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry