Gettin' dirty

For some reason, this post never made it. We did the mud baths our last night in nha trang.

Late yesterday afternoon, a small group of us went to the mudbaths. You begin by showering off in some lovely mineral showers. You then walk down to the mudbaths which are empty tubs that the attendants fill with mud when you enter. Typically you share the tubs with other people, but since there were so many of us, we got our own tub. We turned into little kids, playing in the mud and tossing buckets of mud over each other.

Next, you go up to the rocks to let the mud dry. After it dries, then it's back under the showers to get it all off. Next it's a walk through a lovely hot path that has sprays of water coming out of the walls. Then onto a soak in a tub of hot mineral water.....much like a jacuzzi. Finally it's into a swimming pool that almost as warm as the jacuzzi.

The whole process took us about two hours, but it was pure indulgence!

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The last supper

Tonight is our last dinner together and upon my former mentor's suggestion (thanks Richard!), Lisa and I have composed a bit of whimsy for the group. Enjoy!

Doug is so cool, he's almost finished school.
When his dad speaks, he pretends not to hear
But always listens when offered a beer

Ken likes his beer and is the doc
Although he brings no medicine, we still think he rocks.
He's always happy to lead his son astray
But when his wife calls he says a sweet g'day

Kerri has a camera and it's from Singapore.
Please no more photos, we can't take anymore!
In spring she'll return to a land oh so cold.
Her travels round the world have made her quite bold!

Senora, senora our lady so sweet
Traveling with you has been such a treat.
So quiet and gentle, never much said
But we always could spot you with your hat on your head!

Oh captain my captain, do not lead us astray
Though you play in traffic, we'd like to live another day
Now you return home to fight another war
Oh! we forgot that you're Swiss, it's not really a chore!

Nilo or nemo, we're never sure which
Someday you'll advise us and make us all rich
Your age is a mystery but one thing's for sure
You take ages to shop though you're really not poor!

Our dearest boy Nick is out here to find himself
he has also managed to drink all the beer on the shelf!
He's a wheeler dealer and clearly it shows,
just don't let him teach you to touch your cards to your nose!

Pauline's always the first to get a beer from the fridge
but please don't ask her to cycle over a bridge!
Her travel plans are all that we hear
The vineyards in Australia are quaking with fear!

Ellen likes clay, ceramics and pottery
To bring them all home Fox must win the lottery
Fox pretends he's the boss, but we know Ellen rules.
Though she's living in sin, we think that's quite cool!

They call him Fox though the reason's unclear
But he wins the award for best swimming gear!
He's willing to help and go the extra mile
We're very sorry we called you C. Niles!

Bon is on honeymoon but he spends it with us
We wish him a big thank you but he'll say no fuss
We've asked so many questions, he must have gone mad.
But he's the best travel guide we've ever had!

We've traversed Vietnam from bottom to tip.
We're tired and happy and all look like shit!
Never a nicer group you'll find than what we have here
We hope to see you again and have a happy new year!

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Halong bay

Yesterday we drove out to Halong bay. It's a huge area of limestone formations. Though there are typically tons of boats out with you, Bon instructed our boat to take a more scenic route. It was a lovely way to end a vacation, lounging on the top deck, reading a book with gorgeous scenery in the background.

We anchored just outside one of the largest limestone caves and went in to explore. It's actually pretty touristy, with paved pathways and lights....but pretty nonetheless. I also enjoyed particular rock formations that they lighted.....I'm sure they chose some of those for our amusement! (I'll post pictures to illustrate.)
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No strings attached

Last night we took a cyclo tour of the old quarter and ended at the water puppet show. Each street in the old quarter is dedicated to one product. So there's the mattress street, silver street, sporting goods street, etc. Pretty handy for bargaining!

Water puppets are a traditional Vietnamese art form invented by the farmers to entertain the town during the annual floods. The puppeteers stand behind a screen and move the puppets with a wooden rod that's underneath the puppets. So, the puppets look like they're dancing on water.  Traditionally, the craft was only known by one man in the village and he would pass on the knowledge to one of his sons.  This is still done in the villages, though in the city there are both male and female puppeteers.  The puppeteers often acquired some nasty water-borne diseases, but now wear waist-high rubber pants that protect them.

During the show, they re-enacted the legend of the lake. The emperor was having difficulty defeating the Chinese. As he was boating on the lake in Hanoi a turtle emerged with a special sword. The emperor wa able to defeat the Chinese with the sword. After, he returned to the lake and have the sword back to the turtle.



The story also represents the attitude of the Vietnamese, that after war, you should throw away your weapons and move on. Which makes a lot of sense considering the country has been at war for the last 2000 years. In fact, this has been the longest peacetime that Vietnam has experienced in it's history.


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Hanoi

We got off the train at 4:30 in the morning. Needless to say, not the best night's sleep I've ever gotten. At times the train was shaking so much, I couldn't keep a single part of my body still!

After a quick shower, we left for breakfast at KOTO. It's quite a lovely restaurant with three separate floors. Hands down it was the best breakfast we had.  KOTO stands for know one, teach one. It's a culinary training center for street kids or kids from poor families started by a former ex-pat intrepid leader. It's an 18 month course and the older students teach the younger ones. Your servers are current students and there are pictures of former students in their new positions. It's quite moving. Clinton also visited here on his trip, so I am also on the Clinton restaurant tour!

From KOTO we walked over to the Temple of Literature. There is a tower there that is the symbol of Hanoi. On the sides are stone tablets where the names of the scholars of the court are inscribed.   If the scholar did something disgraceful, his name was chiseled out of the stone. For luck before an exam, students run the head of the stone turtles, on which the scholar tablets are placed and then rub their faces.

We next drove over to ho chi minh's mausoleum. There are a number of instructions you must follow to visit the mausoleum. First, no cameras or cellphones. You must be fully covered. No hands in pockets or wearing hats. And no talking or laughing. I figured Lisa and I were goners. You know when someone tells you not to laugh that it's all you want to do! You wind your way through the line and go through security and then March up to the mausoleum. It's a huge Soviet style complex. You climb the stairs, circle around his preserved, well-lit body and exit. It's more than a little creepy. As we got to the body, all the Asian people in front of us were bowing. So I was confused about whether we were expected to bow.....I really didn't want to bow! But the soldier pulled Lisa along just as we got there so no bowing necessary!

I'm not really sure how I feel about Ho Chi Minh. Clearly I need to do some more reading. On the one hand, he is clearly the hero of the Vietnamese people, liberating them from the french and later Americans and there are lovely stories about him playing with the local children. As the Vietnamese describe him to me, he seems to have lovely ideals, but I suppose it's always about how those ideals are put into practice.

Our final stop of the day was the museum of ethnology. I had the best version of french food yet at their cafe. The museum has collections from all the tribes in the country and outside has replicas of their houses. Some really interesting stuff! There was a tomb that was decorated with the Vietnamese kama sutra to make a connection between death and regeneration.

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Get thee to a nunnery!

This morning we set out to tour the city of Hue. Our first stop was a local shop where we saw women making incense and the traditional conical hats. A layer of raffia is woven on as a base layer, then the hatmaker places on some symbolic paper cutouts that can include poems by the hatmaker, symbols of pagodas, etc. The one we saw had a cutout of a heart and two young lovers in the middle. A final layer of raffia is woven on top and painted with a clear glaze. Monks and nuns have hats that are slightly lower so that they don't see the human suffering of this world. The hats last for a year, after which, children use the hat pieces to make kites.



Our next stop was the tomb of the fourth emperor. He was a very handsome man, who visited his mother often, wrote poems, had 103 wives but never any children. The Vietnamese said it was because he was shooting blanks.....but I question whether he was aiming at the right target! He was buried at the back of the grounds, but his exact burial site is a mystery. Everyone who dug the grave was killed immediately after burial, including a member of the royal family. The french tried exvacating the site but found nothing. Although it would be possible to find him now with new technology, the Vietnamese prefer to leave him undisturbed.



We had a vegetarian feast at a small local nunnery. Lisa and I kept cracking jokes about how the nunnery would refuse us. The food however was amazing....lots of tofu prepared in tasty ways!



We ended our afternoon at the perfume pagoda. This is the pagoda where a Buddhist monk drove his car to saigon and self-emolated himself to protest the treatment of buddhists by the catholic leaders. It was this event that lead to the wife of the south Vietnamese prime minister saying that she wouldn't mind a few more bbq'd monks. Needless to say, there was outrage at her comments.



I'm now on an overnight train to Hanoi......hope you all have a better night's sleep than I will!

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Forbidden city

Christmas day we took a tour of the citadel and the forbidden city. It was pouring rain most of the time, so I wasn't able to get all the great pictures that were there.

This was the palace were many of the emperors held court. On the outskirts were the public buildings while the inside consisted of the forbidden city where the royal family and concubines lived. There is a ton of Vietnamese royal history that I'm not going to go into here, but I'll post some descriptions at the end of my trip.

The grounds are just gorgeous and you can almost feel the energy of the old courtiers whirling around you. The architecture has very clear Japanese, Chinese, and french influences. It sort of puts versaille to shame. On much of the architecture are the four sacred animals: the dragon, the unicorn, the turtle, and the phoenix. It is a world heritage site and they are restoring many of the buildings that were destroyed by wars, typhoons and termites....however in some cases they've "restored" columns using plastic which personally I'd prefer that they do nothing if that don't plan on using the original materials!

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Christmas in Vietnam

When we got back to the hotel Christmas eve, there was a staff party in the street. The hotel and surroundings were decorated with lights, a cross, and a surfer, yet somewhat scary Santa Claus! As we entered, they gave us all free beer and brought out chairs. In the middle, there was a circle of mostly men singing karaoke....I can only assume these were Vietnamese Christmas carols, as every third song had a distinct 'we wish you a merry christmas' tune! All the children of the hotel staff were dancing and running about.

When went inside to do our secret Santa. Lisa and I both opted out of it and designed a Christmas quiz for the group. This was Bon's first time doing it.....and he ended up giving Manuel the lantern he won the other night, even though it was quite sentimental for him. How sweet, right?!

Christmas day we traveled to Hue, stopping in the mist at the top of a gorgeous mountain pass. That night we went to a local restaurant run by a deaf man and his family. He made us all bottle openers, showed us pictures of his family and even passed around his youngest grandson. It was actually the perfect place for Christmas as he truly embodied the Christmas spirit.

Back at the hotel, Lisa and I did the Christmas quiz. Questions included those such as:
What sport did gw bush play at Yale? (cheerleading)
In UK divorce law, when do you always need a signed confession? (adultery)
Who was the first ghost that visited scrooge? (Jacob marley)

We were surprised at how competitively the group took the quiz! But there were lots of laughs. In the end, we bought the winners a beer.

So that was Christmas. I did manage to light some incense for mom....a little different from my tradition of lighting a candle, but I think it counts!
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Motorcycle diaries, two

Funny thing about boys and their toys. Our male motorbike driver fancied himself quite the photographer and kept stealing our cameras and taking pictures of the scenery!
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Motorcycle diaries

Christmas eve morning, six of us rented some bicycles and followed Bon into the countryside. Thankfully, they had some appropriatle hobbit-sized bikes for me! And it really is true what they say about it coming back!



Cycling through traffic was a bit hairy for me with the cars and motorbike flying around you. And that was just in hoi an, I can't imagine what it would be like in saigon!



We went out to the rice fields, cycled through a little village, stopped at some fish farms and then took a nice rest on the beach. I had forgotten how much fun it is to be on a bike......though maybe not in traffic!



That afternoon Lisa and I finished getting our clothes tailored and had a lovely lunch relaxing on day beds by the river.



Just before sunset, we hired some motorbikes to drive us further out into the countryside. As the motorbike took off, I thought, I'm riding on a donorcycle in a developing country where road rules are non-existent with a helmet that's not much more than a hard baseball hat.....perhaps not my best idea! But in the end, it was lovely and I loved being on the back of a motorbike! We saw waster buffalo plowing the fields and playing in the water, made Lisa stand on some questionable bridges, and wandered through a small fishing village.

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Cooking with gas

After the festival, some of us went to a local restaurant for a cooking class. We made five dishes, including a gorgeous lemongrass and garlic fish in banana leaf. The class was organized nicely, with each of us sharing the duties. I don't know if I'll be making the dishes anytime soon (a ton of ingredients for each recipe), but that fish was really tasty.

Just about everything we cooked was done with chopsticks--stirring, frying, flipping! Quite a versatile kitchen tool!

Our instructor had only been at the restaurant for five years. According to her, she spent the first two years learning how to cook and the next two years learning English so she could give cooking lessons.
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Japanese lantern festival

On Sunday night, it was a full moon. On the night of the full moon, the old quarter of hoi an bans motorbikes and sets up a festival of lanterns, games, and traditional performances. It's really gorgeous and so peaceful to not have motorbikes whizzing around!

We started at a game where everyone draws a paddle which is essentially a bingo card and sits in a circle. In the center of the circle is a pot with sticks that have words written on them. There are two singers who draw a stick. They then must sing a song and end each verse with the word that they've drawn. If that word is on your card, then you get a flag. The person with the most number of flags wins. In our game, Bon won! It was the first time he had won anything!

The next game is sort of a pinata. You put on a mask and have one chance to strike a hanging pot. It was really difficult.....I didn't see anyone even come close.

There was also a martial arts demonstration from a local school which was really cute. The last one we saw, the instructor called up a chubby little boy to demonstrate.......seriously cute!
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Hoi An

Right now I am sitting by a riverside cafe in hoi an, eating chips and mango salsa, the night breeze is gently blowing and people are strolling home from work.

We flew in on Saturday from nha trang. The plane this time turned out to be a prop plane. When we got on, I turned to Manuel and asked him if we would be safe. He said well, I'm not sure, all I can tell you is that I've never seen this kind of plane before, but I'm pretty sure it's Russian. Not reassuring! The flight itself was relatively smooth, though there was a distinct possibility of crashing off the runway as we landed!

On our way to hoi an, we stopped at china beach.....you know the one, with Dana delaney and all. Gorgeous beach with huge waves!

Hoi An is a traditional riverside village in central Vietnam. It was named a world heritage site. It sort of reminds me of Rockport or gloucester in it's sort of touristy yet traditional feel. It floods every year, though this year was one of the worst. The waters were about eight feet deep in some places.

This morning was a quick tour of the town, ending with a performance of traditional Vietnamese song and dance. It was really gorgeous, I wish it went on even longer! The rest of the afternoon was a free day to wander the town. I bought some presents for folks back home and had a shirt and two sheath dresses made. I had a fitting this afternoon and already they looked gorgeous. Though you are supposed to bargain, I find it much harder than in Thailand. Often times the merchants won't drop their price for us, even when we walk away.

Tonight is a full moon and the streets of the old quarter are closed to motorbikes while the townspeople perform traditional arts and games. It should be beautiful!
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The master photographer

This morning I did a quick dash over to the gallery of Long Thanh. He is Vietnam's most famous photographer.

I was awestruck by his work. His photographs are absolutely stunning. They brought tears to my eyes. After seeing them, I realized that there was no way that I could ever capture the beauty of the people of this country. He seems to do mainly portraits and street life, though there are a few landscapes in there. To me, his eye is very reminiscent of the tradition of Henri Cartier-Bresson

I ended up buying a picture of a young boy casting a sly glance over towards an older man. There was another one that I loved of a woman but it was a limited edition and so a little more than I wanted to spend on a spur of the moment art purchase!

I assume that the website has his photographs. If it does, run to it now, they are gorgeous!

www.longthanhart.com
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Come sail away

I'm sitting on the beach in the south china sea. I've just had a manicure and a massage. Really it doesn't get much better than this.

We flew into Nha Trang yesterday afternoon. Bon kept teasing me that we'd be in a prop plane, but thankfully it was a big airbus. Though I think a prop plane is still a possiblity for our flight tomorrow. Our hotel is located right across from the beach. After checking in, we took a cyclo tour of the city and ended at a BBQ place. The city is decked out in Christmas lights. It's actually kind of sweet.....however it's also sponsored by heineken so go figure!

The BBQ place is a cook your own sort of thing. They bring a ceramic charcoal grill to the table along with the meat you've ordered. The guys promptly commandeered the grill. Shocking! I was still feeling a bit delicate so I only had a bit, but what I had was very good. After they brought the bill they also gave each of us a lovely Christmas card which was very sweet.

This morning we took a boat to a fishing village. It was very picaresque. The boat is anchored out in the bay and the villagers paddle out to us in traditional Vietnamese boats which are shaped like a teacup. The village itself is filled with children who come running up to us. Most visitors give them candy or pens in exchange for a picture. Personally I don't feel comfortable giving children who don't have dental care candy. Instead I gave them my photography cards which turned out to be a big hit.

We then got back on the boat and headed out to a secluded small cove where we swam in the south china sea for an hour. During that time the crew had prepared a seafood feast for us. After lunch the boat landed at a beach where we all have our own deck chairs and the masseuses set up shop.

I'm now going to sit back in the seabreeze and enjoy a good trashy book for the afternoon!

Hope you're enjoying you're weather! ;-)
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Taking you to our leader

Up until now, I've been very neglectful and haven't told you about our leader. His name is Bon, he is a 31 year old Vietnamese man from Hanoi. He was just married last week. They had 1000 people at the wedding, which lasted for one week. It was an arranged marriage, so needless to say, his wife doesn't mind that he's away from home so much.  His two brothers work for the communist party.

As far as your guides go, he is the best I've ever had. Since this is his country, he is very invested in our having a good time while here. Further, since this is his country, he can give us greater insights about the culture than someone who didn't grow up here (of course they are also more likely to be filtered through the communist lens, but I think for the most part he is being honest as we've talked about and he's acknowledged the growing income inequalities in Vietnam and spoken openly about his wish for more than one political party in Vietnam). All of the little details are covered. For example, Lisa fried her converter our first night, so Bon bought her one (she has since fried that one as well......she's not having good luck with converters!). And he's always willing to go to dinner with us or frankly arrange anything we may be interested in doing! He also has a great sense of humor and we often tease each other. He also knows how to play the diplomat....for example, at the bar the other night, he was telling us what year we were all born in. He told Lisa that she was born in the year of the pig. When she asked what that meant, he smiled and said 'I don't know!' (apparently there are not good things associated with that year!).

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Traffic

One of the things I was most nervous about was negotiating the traffic in Vietnam.

Vietnam is a nation of motorbikes. Interestingly, a helmet law just went into effect the day I arrived. Previously, they had tried to institute such a law a few years earlier, but everyone ignored it. This time however it has stuck, largely because the fines are huge and the police can cite you for a violation every 300 yards. According to Bon, our tour leader, the prices for helmets skyrocketed to four times the normal price in the days leading up to the law, but now many are on sale for less than half the usual price. Vietnam may be communist, but they do have a capitalist market!

Anyways, the traffic. The first thing to note is that lane markings and traffic lights are merely suggestions. As are one way signs. There are various subtleties to honking- a rapid succession of honks means I'm passing, or I want to pass you; one quick honk means you're in my way; longer honks mean get out of my way.......or so I think anyways. There is a hierarchy on the road which basically comes down to the bigger vehicle gets the right of way. So in order to cross the street, you must step out into oncoming traffic and walk with a slow steady pace across the road, trusting that the cars and motorbikes will make the adjustments to go around you! Hair raising indeed!

Rush hour is a particular challenge as you can't imagine the sheer number of motorbikes on the road. The beltway has nothing on saigon traffic! However there are traffic guards stationed at some of the busier corners and they will help you cross if you're having trouble. Luckily, Manuel is an officer in the Swiss air force, so we just rely on him to lead us into battle!
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Oh the humanity!

So, last night we went out to paint the town red (ha!). We started at a very nice restaurant where I had some grilled pork and rice noodles. I should of noticed something was wrong when I wasn't very hungry. After dinner the majority of our group went to the Sheraton rooftop for drinks. It's a gorgeous setting on a terrace overlooking the city. We then hopped over to blue gecco, an aussie ex-pat place. Apparently, our guide told us that some of the waitresses there also work as prostitutes. I wasn't terribly surprised after watching the ex-pats next to us try to pick up their waitresses.

By the time we got back to hotel, it was clear that something was wrong! Thank god for the cigarette bins outside the elevator!

Afterwards, I realized that I broke my 'no dairy in Asia' rule that I had learned from the Scott Yabiku Bangkok Mayonnaise Incident. I has a pineapple shake for lunch.....at what seemed like a perfectly fine place.

I'm still a bit delicate this morning....and what's trip to Asia without a little food poisoning! However, I don't think I'll be eating anytime soon!
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A word about photos

So, I don't want you all to get your hopes up about my photos from this trip. In general, so far, the light here is very flat. I suppose it would be since we're pratically at the equator. What that means, is that there's not much dimension in the light.....and thus, people and buildings don't look that interesting. I'm trying to do better about getting in close to people to some better pictures, but we'll see. And of course.....I'm totally going to remember to get up at dawn for the rest of this trip!

xoxo,
~e

Mekong, Day two

Did you know that roosters crow well before dawn? Well they do in the Mekong. I woke up to the sound of crowing roosters....but it was more like 3am than sunrise! I managed to eventually go back to sleep but jumped out of bed when I saw some of my fellow travelers taking pictures in the early morning. I should have remembered to get up early for pictures....but the roosters did me in! I'll tell you, I don't feel bad about eating chicken anymore!

We had a traditional Mekong breakfast of cheese, bread, fruit, jam, and rice jellies that are dyed with vegetable and fruit juice. They're sort of like gum drops, but no sugar. After breakfast, we loaded back onto the boat to take a tour of the brick and pottery factory. The Vietnamese are very good about using all of the remnants of rice and not just the eating part (though you might expect that in a poor country.) The hulls of the rice are used for fuel, much like we would use wood. When they have finished burning, the ashes are used for garden fertilizer. The women do the firing in the plant, while the men make the molds and throw the clay. The firing is considered "light" work!

After the potttery factory, we went to Cai Be floating market to see how people sell goods from their boats. In general, the entire family lives on the house boat and their goods are outside. People "drive" up to the houseboat in smaller row boats and purchase what they need.

This was the end of our time in the Mekong. It was really peaceful and country-like, and our tour guide Suyen was fabulous! I'm back in Saigon for the night and then off to Nha Trang tomorrow. Tonight we plan to hit the town and really party it up!

Mekong, day one

This morning we left for the mekong delta. We took a boat to cai be to see how rice paper and coconut candy are made. There's a surprising number of flavors of rice paper that we never get in the west. The coconut candy is much like taffy but wrapped in very thin rice paper that you eat along with it. They served us lotus tea and samples of candy. We also got a chance to try snake wine, which is rice wine fermented with a cobra in it. It's really bitter...you can taste the snake!



After the candy demonstration, we took the boat across the mekong river to an island where we had lunch. This was also the place with the python. After lunch, some of the group went for a bike ride. Manuel, concha, and I opted out as we couldn't find bikes to fit us! Let's face it, I need child-sized! Manuel needs giant size! Instead we took a row boat down the river. While we were waiting for our colleagues, we walked around the town and met a wonderful old man. He told us about his life and wanted to know about us. He lived in the north and came south in 1954. His three children all work for the communist party in saigon, but he stays in the town because that is where his wife is buried. He asked me where my boyfriend was and I raised my arms and said I don't know, I don't have one! He then said that Manuel and I should get together, we would make a pretty couple. We both laughed, who knew I'd find a matchmaker in Vietnam!



We then made our way to the homestay and had a lovely dinner of local food, including beautifully fried elephant fish.....and of course more rice wine.



As I sit here finishing my post, I'm swinging on a hammock by the river with some jasmine tea while some of my travelmates teach our Vietnamese hosts how to play poker. There's a Christmas tree in the corner all lit up, the geccos are chirping above us, and we are all in good cheer..... Complete heaven!

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Monty the python

Today we started our tour of the mekong delta. At our lunch place, they had a bunch of animals, including a python. We decided to name him Monty since we had just been talking about Monty python. They took the python out for us and all the boys had a go at holding it. Then Fox said--Erin and Lisa why don't you hold it! And Lisa says sure! I was a bit more apprehensive. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves! Suffice it to say....it was much weirder than I thought!
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To market, to market

A handy tip! To bargain in the market, after the shopkeeper says his price, say "oy say oy! Mack wa!" (phoenetics obviously!). It will make him laugh and you'll get a good deal. It means "oh my god! Too dear!"
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Cyclos and war

We ate lunch at pho 2000, where Pres. Clinton ate when he visited Vietnam. They have pictures of him all around and have placed a table cloth on the table, marking the spot where he ate! We ate at that table.

In the afternoon, we took a cyclo tour....such fun! Cyclos are bicycles with a seat on the front for the passenger. I have never seen such bigger smiles, we were all having such fun!

Our first stop was the war remnants museum. You start out in the 'truths' room, which is a series of photos from photojournalists. The next building showed the pictures pa the children affected by agent orange. Unbelievably horrific.

While clearly, the museum has a point of view of the north Vietnamese, these pictures were taken....and while it might not be the entire truth of all the horrible things that happened....at the same time, what you see in the pictures happened.

The final major building was the peace building which shows pictures from the protests around the world during that time. However it seemed to me that the American protests weren't really represented in this building and I found that frustrating.

Our next stop was Reunification palace. This was one of the buildings during the fall of saigon that the helicopters were taking people off the building. It's not used for official purposes really anymore. They've kept all the decor of the sixties there.....it really reminded me of the Kennedy center in feel!

Our final stop was the post office. The arches of the building were done by the same architect that did the eiffel tower. Across the way, there was notre dame cathedral. The statue of the virgin mary is in front. They said that the cracks that appeared on her face looked liked she was crying. However the statue was repaired.

One of the funniest moments was when a school girl asked Manuel if he wanted to buy a rose. He said no. She then asked him if he had a girlfriend. He said no. So she pulled out a pack of gum and said you should buy this and then maybe you will! Genius!

Last evening we ate at an outdoor restaurant at the market. I had some fabulous BBQ meat rolls that you wrap in rice paper. Very local and exactly the sort of thing I was looking for! We finished the evening at an ice cream parlor that looked like more of a bar.....very chic!

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Cu chi cu chi cu!

We spent yesterday morning at the Cu Chi tunnels. When we arrived, we first had to watch a propaganda movie about the village of cu chi. There were some great propaganda phrases in it including "American killer hero" referring to the men and women of the village.

We then went on a tour of the tunnels and saw the small entrances to the tunnels. A few of the guys from the group tried to get in, but got stuck! We all had a good laugh! We also saw some of the booby trap set in the tunnels. They were very well disguised, I'm sure I would have gotten caught in one.

One of the most ingenious things I thought was the kitchen. In order to hide the smoke, they built a series of passages and filters, through which the smoke was funneled through, so that by the time it got above ground it looked like the morning mist!

At the end of the tour we got a chance to go into some of the tunnels. These tunnels have been widened to accommodate the western bodies.........so small still though! I can't imagine how they actually crawled around down there!

It's hard not to see this and draw parallels to the Iraq war. A country that we invade but so thoroughly misunderstand the culture, that it can only end in a quamire.
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A rubber tree plant

On the way back from Cu Chi, we stopped at a rubber tree plantation to take pictures.  At one point I turned to the guys after touching the sap and exclaimed "wow! It's just like rubber!"....to which they all informed me....."that's because it is!"  It was my Jessica Simpson moment.  I probably didn't help things when I got back on the bus and told Lisa with all sincerity: "the sap is actually rubber?!"  It got a good laugh and I felt a little naïve.....but it was fun.  And whatever readers.....I bet you didn't know that either! ;-)

And truthfully, even now, I'm still kind of amazed it's really rubber! [jan 2008 comment]



Talk soon!

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Ho ho ho chi minh

One of the unexpected experiences has been the array of Christmas decorations and carols. Our hotel has a carol CD on a loop......and quite frankly, I could do without another jingle bells! And at dinner last night we were seranaded by a trip of guitars playing silent night. Weird, but special.
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My travel group

I just met the group I'm traveling with for the next two weeks. I'm the only American! My roommate is a lovely British girl named Lisa. so far 4 of us are in our late 20s/early 30s.......so it looks like I'll have a nice group to hang out with at night. There is one older Spanish woman and older aussi couple, and a father/son aussi pair. Overall, a nice age mix. One of my fears was that this would be another very young group. So I'm relieved!
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So I'm in Ho Chi Minh. The airport is actually quite nice. I was through immigration and customs in 20 minutes! Seriously, why can't dulles be like that??

The hotel is nice enough. Standard Asian hotel with hot water. Unfortunately, there are now going to be three people in my room when there should have been only two. Definitely a tight squeeze, but since I got here first, I've got the good bed!

Talk soon!
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I'm off!

So, I'm sitting on the plane in LA, waiting to take off! This morning was a bit of a fiasco. The cab showed up 45 minutes too early....which meant that all the great cleaning I planned to get done never happened. I'm planning on going through my guidebook to check out places I'm not going to see with intrepid, as well as plan my first day in saigon. Right now I'm thinking a massage and afternoon tea could be great!

Wish me luck on this flight. It's 15 hours.....and I really hate flying! I did find a dime on the ground as I was going to the gate.....so I'm pretty sure mom is flying with me too!

Talk soon!
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My itinerary

I leave for Vietnam on December 14th and will come back to DC on December 31st. Along the way, I hope to have all sorts of adventures!

I've outlined my itinerary below. Of all the activities, I'm looking forward to the floating markets in the Mekong, an optional cooking class in Hoi An, the perfume river pagoda, and the limestone formations in Halong Bay. And honestly, I'm a little scared of the Cu Chi tunnels!

Dec. 15-17 Ho Chi Minh. I'll take a tour of the city, visit some markets, and tour the Cu Chi tunnels. Hopefully I'll also find some fabulous baguettes and french cafes!

Dec. 18-19 Mekong Delta. I'll take a boat along the waterways of the Mekong and stay overnight in one of the local homes.

Dec. 20-21 Nha Trang. This is a coastal town in south central Vietnam. I'll spend some time touring the neighboring islands, maybe exploring mud baths, and eating some great seafood!

Dec. 22-24 Hoi An. This is a river town, not far from Danang. I'm looking forward to going to the fish market, taking a cooking course, visiting the ruins of My Son (a World Heritage site), and possibly getting some clothes made!

Dec 25-26 Hue. I'm looking forward to taking a boat up the Perfume River to Thien Mu Pagoda, which is an active Buddhist monastry.

Dec 27 Hanoi. I'll explore the old city (which still retains much of its provincial French charm) and see the water puppets.

Dec 28-29 Halong Bay. I'll cruise around Halong Bay in a private boat, explore the limestone caves, and sleep onboard the boat!

Dec. 30 Hanoi. Back to Hanoi to continue exploring the city. I'll also hopefully meet up with Brittany (Kristi's friend). I have a midnight flight tonight back to the States.

Dec 31. Home!

Here we go!

I'm going to try to use this blog as my travel diary to keep you all posted on my adventures as I make my way through Vietnam!