Da Nang and Hoi An

I am writing from Hoi An right now, and I think I missed a few days in here??? Not sure what day it is right now.

Drove from Hue yesterday through Da Nang, where China Beach is, and am now in a great resort in Hoi An. The South China Sea is cool, but not cold, and no one seems to be swimming in it. Every beach we stopped at along the way down south was empty. Except for fisher men's "basket boats". I couldn't get a good photo of them, but they are cool. like big baskets. Don't know how they steer them.

Hoi An is an old cinty and very hippie like. Small streets a long a river. Lots of shops and restaurants. This town is known for getting custom silk clothes in a day. Don't have the patience for it, but I did buy some silk sleeping bags (sacks). :)

This morning we we went to see the Champas ruins nearby. Built in the 4th Century, they are ancient civilization that became Vietnamese in the 1800's after being conquered by the Viets. Hindu influence. Very cool. Haven't been to eastern style ruins like this before.

Now getting ready to take a bike out again to the beach. Will check back in later with some photos.

Hue

Another great day. A short ride through town, we arrived at the Citadel. Reminds me a lot of the Forbidden City in Beijing. Same set up just not nearly as large, thank goodness as it gets pretty boring. Right now the Vietnamese are getting ready for the Lunar New Year so everything is decorated with flowers. The new year flower here is symbolized by the apricot tree. Beautiful yellow flowers. ACtually, everything is "bonzaied" in pots all over the city and flowering all different colors and shapes and sizes. I guess its a great time to see Vietnam. Anyway, place is old, an king's city surrounded by moat and along a river. Blah, blah, blah.

After Citadel we went to an orphanage that is one of the things supported by the foundation of my travel company, OAT. I was very worried how this would affect me, but it was wonderful. It is run by Buddhist nuns and houses children from a few weeks until they are ready to make their way in the world and complete college/university. The place was lovely and clean and happy and peaceful. The children all held hands and the older children held the babies. Like a family. Just lots of them. I brought them some school supplies and taught them how to play Toss Up, which I left behind. They were delighted. Lunch was at another monastary and was completely vegetarian, prepared by the nuns. Hearty and delicious. Funny side note, they say the buddhist's need to take a vow of eating vegetarian and sleeping vegetarian. Meaning they can't eat meat or have sex. Thought that was a funny way to express it.

I actually just got back from a great bike ride around the city and citadel and am using this time to write and decompress. Was quite an adventure to bicycle here, and certainly not relaxing. Bike was quite rickety and the throngs of motor bikes, etc. is very stressful. You don't ever stop or even pause and no sudden movements. Everyone just sort of flows around eachother with lots of horn beeping. And the fumes are overwhelming. I could only ride for an hour before I felt dirty and that I had enough. I did include a picture of myself riding over a bridge with all the traffic. Stupid, but I wanted to capture the moment as best I could.

Leaving in the morning for Hoi An.

Halong Bay and Hue

Yesterday was sailing around Halong Bay in the South China Sea. Beautiful limestone mountains poking out of the bay. Spent the night on our junk anchored beneath this wonderful jagged mountain. Complete darkness. No stars to see because of the mist that hung over the mountains. Eery but beautiful. A stop during our sail was at a floating fish market that was just like the movie Waterworld with Kevin Costner. Surreal actually, with the vegetables and plants being grown in pots over the nets ang planks over the river. Cool spot.

We also stopped at a local market on our way back to catch a flight out of Hanoi. Not so different than any other local markets throughout the world, but I'll post a photo anyway.

Now I am in Hue, a river town, at this wonderful hotel. Much more touristy in a resort type of way as opposed to Hanoi, which was a working bustling city. Headed to a monastary, the citadel, an orphanage (dreading) and possibly a bike ride, followed up by a $15 massage!

Finally slept pretty good as the jet lag has been exhausting so far.

Hanoi and Tho Ha Village

The cyclo ride yesterday was fabulous. All the traffic is crazy and people just ride straight ahead without stopping. Its a miracle there aren't any accidents. The old quarter of Hanoi has streets named for what they sell. Like shoes are all the shops on "Shoe Street" or sugar is pretty much all thats sold on "Sugar St." you get the idea. After that Old quarter tour we went to the Ho Chi Minh palace and tomb. You been to Lenins Tomb, seen Mao, you've pretty much seen Ho Chi Minh too. Nothing remarkable. In the evening we went to a water puppet show. Its a regional specialty where they do puppet shows in the water behind anm elaborate screen/stage over the water. I could barely keep my eyes open and can not say a puppet show was enough to keep me interested. But glad we went anyway. This morning however, we took a trip to the local village of Tho Ha. Fabulous. Had to take a ferry ride across this horribly polluted river to get to this island of Tho Ha. It was quite an experience. I thought we were going to go under on the "ferry" once everyone piled on. but we didn't. The village main economy is making rice paper for spring rolls. They are drying on screens everywhere you go. I did see some people rinsing the empty screens in the filthy river which I will never forget, but I did eat spring rolls at lunch this afternoon and I'm still not dead, so I guess its ok. We got to sit with a family who made the rice paper and had a chance to make some ourselves. Fun. Then a stroll around town. Pretty poor but culturally rich. Everyone wants to meet us and take pictures with us. Upon returning to the hotel we booked a massage at a spa. We walked in and it was beautiful. I got Thai massage, Signa swedish, and Lilly aromatherapy. 75 minutes each at $20. Love this country! My massage was famulous. I still feel great. She walked on my back, pounded me with elbows and stretched me backwards like a bow. Lilly and Signa did not fare so well. Fortunately we were all in the same room laughing and giggling while we were heckled by the masseurs (they were laughing and giggling at us). Lilly was rubbed raw, then freezing after a cold shower and no towel. Twice. Because she came back and still had coffee grinds (really) from the salt scrub she had still on her and needed to go re shower after being heckled by masseus. Very funny. Signa had trouble with her neck, so we all ended up leaving early in a whirlwind of miscommunication. Something none of us will ever forget. Now we are on our way to Bobby Chin for dinner. Very hip restaurant in Hanoi. Also included is a little video of Lilly fulfilling a dare to be tarzan from a tree in the city while we waited for some friends to buy wine.

Hanoi

Have no idea what day it is. I think it might be Saturday???? Lost a day in here somewhere.

The beds here are hard as a rock. I've been polling the people I have seen this morning so far to see what word they use to describe the bed. I say brick, Signa says cardboard. I've also gotten the floor and curb. Lilly is still sleeping.

Another great thing about Hanoi is trying to cross the street. Traffic is crazy with no lanes and lots of mopeds. Much like Cairo, you just dart out into traffic and hope for the best. The cyclists and mopeds are expectant of your movies and kind of flow around you. Don't ever stop and certainly don't step backwards. I'll try to get video later today.

Just came back from exercising in the park at 5:30am with a bunch of Vietnamese women.

Couldn't sleep and thought we would take a walk and found all these people exercising around the lake/park in Hanoi. What a morning!

Today we are taking a rickshaw ride around the old quarter.

Not much else to report. Just that we were traveling most of the day yesterday, took a short walk around the neighborhood in Hanoi and went to dinner where everyone pretty much fell asleep at the table.

One Night in Bangkok

Ok so I finally made it to Bangkok. No sleep for the most part. So hot and humid here. Headed momentarily to Hanoi.

\tokyo

\guess what? \another funky keyboard. Japanese this time. \\\\\\\\\\\major flight delays but am soon to board flight for \bangkok> Little Japanese girl helping me with the computer. Its 6 am.