Post by Dom:
We arrived in Guam two weeks ago, just in time for the Liberation Day festivities. It was 5:30am when we exited the airport. The moon was still high in the western sky as the sun began to rise in the east. We were so tired because we didn't get any sleep the night before. So, our first day was spent sleeping. But, the following day we caught the Liberation parade. We grabbed a spot in the shade of a coconut tree and watched fire trucks, marching bands, beauty queens and floats drive down the main road. Then we saw the fireworks later in the evening. It was a surprisingly good show.

It feels a bit strange coming back to Guam after being gone for 11 years. I am a tourist in my homeland. I can barely remember how to get around and I enjoy shopping for souvenirs at the gigantic K-Mart (which is open 24hrs, and often has large tour buses parked out front). I would probably ask for a refund if I paid $100 for an island tour, and K-Mart was one of the stops. But, I guess Japanese tourists are a different breed.

The fun part of playing the tourist has been hanging out at the beach a lot. The beaches here are very quiet. The sand is soft and white, and the water is warm & calm. Perfect conditions for napping under a tree all day. There is one touristy section of beach with lots of inflatable devices floating around in the water (giant swans, rafts, beach balls and a water bike with huge inflated tires). We tried to stay clear of that area.

We've also been enjoying filling ourselves up with the local food that I've missed so much. Empanadas, mango and fiesta food. A typical "fiesta plate" bought at a restaurant or food stand consists of red rice, chicken kelaguen, and some form of BBQ'd meat (chicken or ribs). But, we also had the privilege of attending an actual fiesta, and the food was as never ending. Each village on the island has a patron Saint, and a fiesta is held each year in every village (at different times) to celebrate it's Saint. We were celebrating Santa Ana. A (Catholic) mass was held, and afterward was the reason we were there... to eat!! Multiple tables were filled with meat & seafood dishes, salads, soups breads and desserts. There was even a whole roasted pig (with the head still attached), which Tony tried for the first time. We were in food heaven! Tony had to stop loading his plate up once it was clear the mountain of food he had would topple over at any moment.


After a few days of sitting on our butts all day at the beach, I decided we needed some exercise. So, we hiked to the top of Mount Lamlam. The mountain is 1,334 feet above sea level, but is "technically" the tallest mountain in the world if you count the base, which is in the Marianas Trench. From tip to base it is over 37,000 feet tall! It took longer to get to the top than I remember, but maybe I'm just getting old. Many sections of the trail were overgrown with sword grass. Good thing I wore jeans! But, it was worth the fantastic views from the top. We looked out onto the vast Pacific Ocean, while savoring the cool breeze. Large crosses are scattered around the mountain from past Easter 'pilgrimages' when the religious carry them up the mountain. We only spent about 10min enjoying the view. Then we had to head back down because a big rain cloud was headed our way. I kind of wish we did more hikes, rather than being lazy on the beach. On second thought... naaaaah. We've had a few rainy days, which were spent at the mall, watching movies, or just driving around listening to island music.

Visiting with family has been a lot of fun. Even after 11 years, we seemed to pick up right where we left off. My nieces & nephews that were babies when I left are now teenagers. And now I have MORE nieces & nephews... I think the total count is now 15. What's going on here!? Has it really been that long? Time really does fly way too fast. I can hardly believe our 6 month trip is almost over.

So, this brings us to the end of our journey. We get back to the U.S. tomorrow. After an overnight stop in Manila, we head back to Dallas for two weeks. Then it's back to California. At least we get to be lazy and watch the Olympics while we're in TX getting over jet lag. This adventure has been exciting, enlightening, educational (any more 'e' words I can think of?). It's also been scary at times. We've had to step outside of our comfort zone, and have actually found it to be freeing. We've met some great people along the way, and have had amazing experiences.

Being on this trip has made us realize what is REALLY important in life... family & friends... and Vietnamese coffee. We're so excited to get back to see everyone! This will probably be our last entry (unless we're bored in Texas and feel like blogging just for fun). Thank you for taking the time to read our stories, and follow along in our adventures. We feel like you all were with us along the way. Now get ready for us to talk your ears off about it when we get home. :) *d
GUAM PICS

Post by: Tony
We arrived in Manila (capital of the Philippines) at about 4:30 in the morning. The flight from Saigon was fairly short but the combination of leaving at 11 at night and the plane being late off the tarmac made for very little sleep. We were able to catch a cab easily but once we arrived at our hotel we were informed that they didn't have a room ready for us, and one wouldn't be available until noon. They held our bags while we went for some breakfast. We ran across the street for some pancit (a Philippine noodle dish) and coffee. While out we decided to check a few other hotels around the area for availability but were told the same spiel about no rooms being available until noon, or else they were way too expensive ($75 vs. the $20 we were planning to pay). After giving up our search we headed back to our hotel's common room to wait out the next 6 hours until a room was ready. Having not had any sleep the night before Dom and I were quickly dispatched to our dreams, curled up in balls on the couch located in the middle of the room.

Finally, our room was ready and we were escorted to a small prison cell of a place. It was about 8'x8' with no windows to speak of, walls painted a dark orange and floors a dark brown. The bathroom was large and all pastel blue expect for a dark forest green rug in front of the shower that looked as though it had been laying in the doorway of a college dorm's shared bathroom. We made it a point not to touch or step on it with bare feet for the remainder of our stay. This was a big change compared to the nice $20/night rooms we've been paying throughout our trip. We were not used to paying more and getting less. We decided to try and catch up on our sleep for the first day in Manila but that threw off our sleep schedule worse than it was, and we ended up spending a few days sleeping in. Once we felt like we were getting back to normal we decided to venture out to the one thing that seemed to be the "thing to do in Manila"... explore the COLOSSAL malls.

The malls in Manila are completely INSANE!!! Think of your favorite, over-the-top mall. In Dallas, you have the Galleria or Frisco Mall. In San Francisco, there's the SF Shopping Center. Now expand that mall by two blocks in every direction and three stories up... that is your average Manila mall. It took us two days to explore one wing of one mall. We gave up on that one and tried a smaller mall the next few days. The second mall was much smaller and only took a day and a half to walk around once. It was also the place to go for the least expensive food! Actually, Dom and I were in sticker shock for most of our stint in Manila. It was quickly apparent that we weren't in Southeast Asia any longer.

It was strange to see the contrast of children begging & sleeping on the street (filthy from head to toe), next to these gigantic malls with luxury stores. It was also strange to see very young looking girls (under 18) with much OLDER, fat white men. It's worse than in Thailand. At least there, the girls look over 18 and seemed to be enjoying themselves. While the young girls in Manila walk around with these old white men with their heads down.

Anyway, after a week (and realizing this was probably our least favorite city) we needed a change of scenery, and it came in the form of Boracay.

Getting to the island of Boracay was pretty uneventful as long as you don't count the additional fees that we had to pay along the way. We seemed to be charged for something or other every step of the way. "You want to take a ferry to the island, that'll be $4 for a transition fee, $7 for a terminal fee, and $9 for the boat ticket". We thought "Dang, $7 for a terminal fee... it must be new and extravagant or something". Turns out its an old run down building with a plastic sign above it that reads "TERMINAL". Hahaha! The 1hr flight out there was nice though, flying over other Philippine islands. Once on Boracay we checked into Dave's Straw Hat Inn. It was one of the nicest places we've stayed in, with the highlight being the staff. All were extremely welcoming and they even had a mascot, a golden lab/boonie mix named Freckles.

While in Boracay we visited a few different shopping centers (where the least expensive food seemed to be) and walked along the coastline taking in the beauty of the island. When it wasn't raining (which is seemed to be doing with great frequency at this point) we spent the days hanging out at the beach just taking in rays, listening to music and reading... enjoying the clean white sand & clear blue water. At one point we decided to treat ourselves to a nice dinner on the beach. We decided on a surf and turf all you can eat buffet. I think we paid $12 total. After dinner we stuck around to have a few drinks and listen to some live music while basking in the warm off-shore breeze.

After 5 days in Boracay we had to make our way back to Manila since we were flying out of there to Guam. We were able to book another hotel near our last one and were pleasantly surprised by how much nicer it was (albeit a bit more expensive). The trick seemed to be to book your hotel online instead of trying to walk in off the street! The price online through a travel site, $35. The price for a walk-in, $50! Go figure. We had to stay in Manila for a day before heading to Guam so we decided to check out another mall while in town.

The ride there was pretty adventurous. We hopped in this cab and started to make our way across town. The cabbie seemed to be driving a little jerky but I figured it was just bad skill behind the wheel. It turns out he was running out of gas... actually, he was out of gas. We were putting along down a main artery of the city when "kerplunk", the car dies. He tried a few times to get it going again but to no avail. So he apologized and suggested we grab another cab. We offered to help push him to the nearest gas station but I don't think he spoke enough English to understand what we were trying to get across. So, we paid him most of what the flag had on it and grabbed another cab around the corner. The mall that we went to was supposed to have knock-off gear as far as the eye can see and it did not disappoint. There were shoes and electronics for aisles and aisles. After checking out as much as we could stand we decided to catch a movie, The Dark Knight. If you haven't seen that movie yet, go see it. It was AWESOME! I won't be surprised if Heath Ledger ends up with a posthumous Oscar nod.

Anyhoo, the next stop is Guam! We're both really excited to spend some time in Dom's old stomping grounds. It should be a nice way to end our 6 month journey! -t
MANILA&BORACAY PICS

Post by Dom:
Ho Chi Minh City (still called Saigon by the locals) was a really good time. Being Vietnam's largest city, it is a lot busier than Hanoi... and more modern and metropolitan. Neon signs, upscale hotels, international cuisine and designer stores abound. Tai (who most of you know from SF) was awesome enough to let us stay with him. He has a nice setup in a 2 bedroom apartment, and in a great location. It was nice to not be in the touristy backpacker section of town for once.

Eric & Myrthe (from Holland) also stayed in the apartment with us for a couple of days. We spent most of our time just hanging out...eating...and drinking. Tai took us to all of the good local eateries, bars and clubs. It was great having the inside track on what the best dishes are. Our first night we attempted to go bowling, but all of the lanes were full. So, we opted for playing games in the arcade instead. The next day we checked out the Zoo & Botanical Gardens with Myrthe & Eric. Tai stayed behind to get some work done. I was hoping for more gardens & less zoo, because I wasn't too interested in the zoo. But, it ended up being the other way around. We saw tigers, elephants, zebras & giraffes in spaces much too small. The most interesting part were the crocodiles. There is one section with so many crocs, they're lying all over each other... all with with their mouths open...just waiting for something to wander in. There are little mini bridges that are over the croc section, and the gate isn't all that tall. So, it wouldn't be entirely difficult for a clumsy idiot to fall in. Yikes!


The following afternoon was spent at the bowling alley (again). We actually got to bowl this time. I was horrible, and got the worst score. But, my whole life I've always sucked at bowling, so I don't know why I'm always surprised whenever I don't break 100. I always have fun though. We all played a few games of pool afterward (again, I sucked), before heading back to "Pad Tai". It was still too early to head out to the club, so we had some drinks & played Uno. Finally, something I don't suck at! I was getting sleepy after 5 games and a couple of drinks, but we all rallied and headed to a club called Lush. It's a nice club...just the right size...not too big. There are two levels, and we hung out upstairs and looked down on all of the action below. It happened to be ladies night, so all of the drinks Myrthe & I ordered were FREE! Maybe that explains why the place was so packed on a Tuesday. It was cool seeing how the locals unwind. The women get really dressed up (dresses, high heels). They didn't seem to do much dancing, a lot of standing around sipping cocktails and looking good.


A couple days later Eric & Myrthe met up with their parents in Saigon, and were traveling on to Thailand. So, we had to say our good-byes over some drinks. Tai, Tony & I started off by going to a couple of swanky bars. Then we met up with Eric, Myrthe, their parents, and their dad's business partners at Saigon Bar in one of the upper floors of the Caravelle Hotel. It's a nice open-air bar, and the live band was good entertainment...which, consisted of 3 scantily dressed women. Occasionally, some drunk guy would stagger his way up to the stage and dance provocatively in front of the band... as if trying to woo one of the singers. Later we went to a club called Apocalypse Now. It was ok, but the music was cheesy. The DJ on the upper level played a CD on a loop that kept replaying over & over again. But, he looked legit with his headphones on. I'm not sure what he was getting paid for. We only stayed for a couple of drinks, and then said our farewells... boo hoo. Those guys are really cool, and we had a lot of fun hanging out with them.

Our last couple of days in Saigon were spent hanging out with Tai and running errands. One day we took a combined Cao Dai Temple & Cu Chi Tunnels tour. We stopped at Cai Dai first. It's an ornate & colorful temple with intricate columns that have dragons wrapped around them. Several religions are practiced there, including Christianity, Hinduism, Taoism, Confucianism... and I forget what else. They hold a service everyday at noon, which we were able to witness. The leaders wore different colored robes (each color representing a different religion) and bishop-like hats. Everyone else wore white. Live music and singing came from the rafters.


The next stop was Cu Chi Tunnels. Tai was able to get the local ticket price for himself, and also for me (apparently I can pass for Vietnamese). Good thing I didn't have to speak. The local price was 90 cents, but Tony had to pay the tourist price, which was $5.00...sheesh! The tour started off in a video screening room, where we were going to watch a "documentary" about the tunnels. But, what we saw was actually an old propaganda film with footage taken during the war. It mostly painted an ugly picture of the American military, calling them a "batch of crazy devils" who shot at anything including "women, children, chickens, and even Buddha statues". The Vietnamese soldiers were called "American killer heroes". The more Americans they killed, the more medals they received. The film was both interesting & disturbing.

The tunnels are a huge underground network that are quite impressive. I just wish we could have seen more of them. They were used to aid the Vietnamese in traveling back & forth right under the noses of the U.S. military. A section of the tunnels even ran right underneath the U.S. military base. The entrances to the tunnels were ingeniously hidden by dirt & leaves. They were made just big enough for the slight body frame of the Vietnamese. So, even if a U.S. soldier were to discover an entrance, he probably wouldn't have fit inside the tunnel. We were able to go inside one section of the tunnels, which was neat. But, it was pitch black & so narrow in some parts that I felt suffocated. I had to use my camera flash as a light to see where I was going.

Surrounding the tunnels... scattered throughout the jungle, were booby traps. Basically, deep holes with metal stakes at the bottom... ouch! It was amazing to see just how serious the Vietnamese were about defending their country. Surrendering was not an option. Not only men & women soldiers...but, even civilians joined in the fighting. Along the tour was a shooting range, where (for $1.50/bullet) you could fire an AK47, M30 and even a Tommy Gun. We didn't shoot, but we hung out and watched for awhile. It was so freakin LOUD! I can't imagine having to fire those guns for long periods of time during a war. I'm sure many people lost their hearing.

On our last day, I decided I wanted to get a hair cut. I really needed one, and I figured Saigon would be a good place for it. I kept going back & forth on either getting just a trim, or going more drastic and chopping it all off. It's really hot out here, and my long hair was getting on my nerves. This indecision lasted all day, and all the way to the salon... up until I was sitting in the chair. I told myself that if the stylist didn't speak any English, then I would just get a trim... should be easy enough to explain that, right? But, what ended up happening is the complete opposite. The stylist did NOT speak any English. The receptionist had to translate everything. I decided to follow my "live in the now" motto, and with Tony's moral support I had him chop it all off! I even went a step further, and asked him to add red highlights. Meanwhile, Tony is sitting next to me getting pampered with a foot, neck & head massage. After the cut & color, the stylist flat ironed my hair, and I was happy to see that nothing was lost in translation. The red turned out a lot more red than I was expecting. But, it's kinda funky so I like it. It's funny that in Vietnam, with a non-English speaking stylist, I was more happy with my hair than countless times in the U.S. with no language barriers. Go figure. So, I walked out of the salon feeling sassy, flipping my hair around. It was so light & bouncy! I didn't realize how long & heavy it was before. Now let's hope I can style it on my own, or else I'll have poodle hair for awhile.

We're off to the Philippines next. We're really going to miss Saigon and hanging out with Tai. We were just starting to feel at home at his apartment. *d
SAIGON PICS

Post by: Tony
After Nha Trang we were off to Da Lat. Da Lat is a small town up in the mountains that the French used as a getaway during the "protectorate" days. As soon as we stepped off the bus it was very apparent as to why. It was at least 15-20 degrees (F) cooler in Da Lat than down by the coast. I was even able to wear jeans comfortably for the first time. It almost felt like fall in TX (all two weeks of it). A short cab ride after arriving and we were on our next hotel's doorstep. I must say, this place probably had the best value of all the places we stayed at in SE Asia (Dreams Hotel, Vietnam if you're curious). We were greeted by smiling faces and shown to our room which had ample space, a wardrobe to place our bags, a TV with cable, a super sweet shower with two shower heads and 6 shower jets, and a cheap mini-bar! To top it all off, a brand new sauna and hot tub on the roof level that we were able to take advantage of quite often during our stay. Oh, and a great breakfast with fresh fruit, baguettes, coffee, juice, eggs made to order...and peanut butter/jelly was also included. Dom was really excited about the peanut butter. It's not common in Asia, so having a PB&J sandwich was a real treat.

The next day we decided to see about renting some bicycles and poking around town. Our hotel actually offered them to us FREE of charge! They weren't the best or newest bikes that we had ridden but "never look a gift horse in the mouth", right? We were taken a little by surprise as to how difficult it was to navigate the hills around the area. They really don't look all that hard but, even with some gears functioning on our bikes, it was tough! Our first stop was a place called the Crazy House. It is best described as Alice in Wonderland meets Hunter S. Thomson... very surreal and strange. It started off as a small hotel, but is now just a tourist site. It has very few right angles, with unexpected twists & turns at every corner. You have to check the pictures out for yourself (link at the bottom of this post).

From there we headed over to a cathedral that was close by. We were hoping that it would be open so that we might be able to check out the inside of the place but it appeared to only be open for services and nothing else. It was still nice to look at... plus there were these two local guys there taking pictures of each other in front of the main door. It was fun making jokes about how it must be how they do Glomour Shots in SE Asia nowadays. Both guys had their hair spiked up with tight fitting collared shirts on that I think may have been bedazzled... not sure. After watching the photo shoot, we headed down to the lake and rode around it until we found the local flower park. It was a massive collection of flowers and Dom had a field day taking picture after picture of all of them. She was even able to get a sweet shot of a bee taking flight from a flower.

The following night we rented a motorbike to explore the outskirts of the city. We were hoping to find some waterfalls and a few other things that our guidebook said were not far away. We hopped on and headed out of town but were not successful in finding anything that was on our maps. It was still nice to just cruise around the mountainside though. It's so peacful out there and there's hardly any traffic so you pretty much have the whole road to yourself. On the way back we were able to spot a neat pagoda a little way off the main road. As we approached where we thought we might have to turn we were stopped to get a quick bearing and were quickly pointed in the correct direction by a local just hanging out on the corner. The pagoda itself is seven stories high and we were even able to climb all the way to the top of it! Next to the pagoda was a small temple that had some really neat dragons made out made of broken bottles, cups and other pottery-like things. It was also where I took notice of what looked like a swastika, only mirrored. It wasn't until a conversation with our friend Tai (who lives in Vietnam) that I found out that the symbol I noticed is actually a religious symbol and Hitler stole/perverted it for his use as the symbol for the Third Reich. Crazy!!!

After Da Lat, we headed to the beach town of Mui Ne. Our bus stopped for a bathroom break about halfway there. At first, we weren't sure why we were stopping because the buses usually stop at a place with a restaurant & bathrooms. But, we got out and all we could see is a long stretch of road and a bunch of trees. So, we figured maybe we were just stopping so people could stretch their legs. Dom & I got out of the bus, and minutes later we noticed that men were posting up in front of trees relieving themselves. Then, women and young girls started squatting everywhere in the grass. I guess this was the bathroom stop after all! Dom hesitated for a minute, but she really had to go... so, off she went behind a tree.

Mui Ne is less educational, but it makes up for it in relaxation. It has a very chill, surf vibe. It gets lots of wind, so kite boarding and wind surfing are very popular. We showed up around 11am which was about 2 hours sooner than we thought we would be there. Our friend Tai was coming from Saigon to meet us there, and his bus wasn't scheduled to come in until about 2pm so we dropped our bags at reception and had a bite to eat while we waited. Tai (many of you know him) is a good friend of ours from San Francisco that decided to move back to Vietnam a few months ago after having lived most of his life in the states. It was so good to see a another familiar face after so long. Our friends Eric and Myrthe (who we met in Nha Trang) were also in Mui Ne so we gave them a call and decided to meet up for dinner and drinks later that night.

In the meantime we settled in to the room and took some bicycles out to see what was around. We quickly realized that we had underestimated the scale of the long two lane road that made up the city. It was much longer than we anticipated. We biked for a good 5 miles and decided to head back. Dinner was fun, especially having someone that spoke the local language along to help decipher the menu. After dinner we headed to Jibes for some drinks. The place was not exactly hopping though... I think there were 11 people in the entire bar and our group made up 5 of them. After a few drinks we called it a night and went our separate ways because we were tired from the bike ride and Eric and Myrthe had to get up early for a bus to Saigon the next morning.

Being lazy and hanging out on the beach is what was on the agenda for the next morning. We just grabbed some chairs and watched the waves come rolling in one after another. At one point I decided to head out into them and attempt to body surf while Dom collected sea shells on shore and took pictures of the many kite boarders making the most of the windy day. Once the afternoon approached we rented some motorbikes and headed down to what was called Fairy Stream. I really had no idea what to expect. It ended up being a long stream that had some cool looking rock formations running along one side. What that had to do with fairies is a mystery to me. It was so shallow that you were able to walk in it and hardly get your ankles wet. The only downside to the journey was that we had to pass a field filled with vats of fish sauce (fish fermenting in huge pots in the hot sun). Talk about POTENT SMELLING! Mui Ne is known for their fish sauce, and there was lots of it. From there we headed to the sand dunes that were located just out of town. It was like being in a scene from Laurence of Arabia! There were people sliding down them on large flat pieces of plastic all over the place. Surprisingly, mostly locals were there... hardly any tourists. We just watched and enjoyed the scenery.


The next day we would be headed to Saigon. It would be our last stop in Vietnam and SE Asia, as well as home to our good friend Tai. He had graciously offered his extra room to us (as well as his living room to Eric and Myrthe!) and for that we were very grateful. Our adventure in Saigon will be posted soon, so check back!!! -t
DA LAT PICS
MUI NE PICS

Post by Dom:
Sorry, I know we're behind. It's been difficult keeping up to date with the blog. We're just having too much fun...and we're also a bit lazy. Nha Trang was our first real beach town in Vietnam. Our bus rolled in at 5:00am, and the locals were already up and at em...jogging and swimming at the beach. We had a crappy night's sleep on the bus, and our hotel room wasn't ready yet. So, we searched around for someplace to eat breakfast. After eating, we checked into the hotel and had a nap, then hit the beach. It was a very slow day. The beach in Nha Trang is nice, and caters to tourists...meaning bars, restaurants and lots of umbrellas and comfy beach loungers with cushions set up for our use (as long as we were willing to pay for them). We didn't paying mind because it kept the relentless vendors selling everything we didn't need at a distance.

Post by: Tony
We made it to Hué (pronounced Hway) pretty early in the morning on an overnight bus. We were treated to a beautiful sunrise that we normally wouldn't be awake for. It wasn't too horrible of a ride. We were able to get a few beds on the bottom this time so we weren't tossed around quite as much as the last time, but the sleep still didn't come easy. As soon as we stepped off the bus we grabbed a cab and made way to our guest house (Halo Guesthouse). We couldn't figure out if it was the name was derived from the thought of an angel's halo or the way locals say 'hello' (ha-lo). Either way, the staff there were extremely nice and welcoming.

Hué is a cool town...small, but busy. Our first day we rented a couple of bikes from our guesthouse and rode around the citadel located in the center of the city. It is surrounded by a moat that was cool to ride next to even if the traffic was a little hairy. Out here you just ride your bike in the middle of traffic with the rest of the motorbikes and occasional car. Inside the citadel there were a few ruins and museums. My favorite was the military museum. We didn't actually go inside but there were U.S. tanks and stuff parked outside. All of them were labeled with the corresponding battle in which it was seized and when. We also checked out the "Forbidden City", which was basically a small compound inside the citadel where the concubines hung out and held parties and such back in the day. There was recently a large festival in the city so there were still a lot of cool looking decorations set up that gave it a traditional feel. Later that evening we rode around the city (outside of the citadel). There were also a lot of decorations left from the festival along the streets as well that lit up the night. The most amazing were along the moat and were located strategically across from large neon signs on the other side of the water. The night air was cool and refreshing so we decided to park the bikes for a bit and take a short walk around before heading back to the guesthouse for the night.


The next day we decided to take a boat tour to a few royal tombs and the Thien Mu Pagoda. There were only about 14 people on the boat, a mixture of Vietnamese, French, American and Aussie's. We stopped by quite a few places on our way down the river. My favorites were the first and last. The first was a neat pagoda (kind of like a tiered spire). It had a small compound behind it and guarding the doorways were a few statues that were 8 feet high with REAL HAIR!!! Even the goatees were real. It was pretty entertaining. The last thing we visited was this cool gothic looking temple called Khai Dihn. The whole thing was done in shades of gray and was situated up the side of a steep hill. It looked very ominous.

After a few days in Hué we decided to head down to Hoi An. Before we hopped on the bus the staff of Halo Guesthouse asked if we had a place to stay in Hoi An. We explained that we had an idea but it wasn't set in stone. She hipped us to her friend's guesthouse there and said we would be able to get a nice room for the same price ($10 US). When she mentioned that she could call them and have them pick us up from where the bus dropped us we sealed the deal. She made the call and 3 hours later we were on the doorstep of her friends guest house.

Our first day in Hoi An was a pretty relaxing one. We just walked around town, which didn't take very long, and stopped in a few shops to look around. It's a really old town, with lots of charm (even though every other shop is a tailor shop). After a while we decided to take in the local cuisine. There are two different dishes that this town is famous for, White Rose and Cau Lau. We decided to try each at our first stop. White Rose was something like a steamed dumpling filled with shrimp and pork, topped with a little bit of fried garlic. Very good. The Cau Lau is a rice noodle dish with fresh herbs, pork slices and fried garlic. Also very tasty. The food was actually so tasty in this area that we decided to take a cooking class before we left. We learned how to make Cau Lau, Fresh Sping Rolls and Fresh Papaya Salad. The class was a lot of fun for both of us, especially eating all of the food!


The second day there was a little more active. We grabbed some bikes from this place across the street from our hotel and headed to the beach, which was conveniently located about 3 miles out of town. It was nice to get in some exercise as well as jump in the ocean for a little bit. I did have a small jelly-fish scare while in the water, but managed to snake my way out of it's path at the last second. From the look of the jelly fish, it would have been a pretty gnarly sting. Once back at our hotel we were invited to check out the tailor shop next door by the owner, Mr. Bu. This town is famous for it's tailor shops and the great clothes that you can have made for very cheap. Mr. Bu was quite the character. He stood no taller than Dom, was very friendly and VERY flamboyant... but most of all, a great salesman. Before we left Hoi An we were the proud owners of a few new clothing items (3 piece wool/cashmere suit & winter wool coat for me, and a jacket, dress and 2 skirts for Dom)... and paid a fraction of what it would have cost in the states (all custom fit).

On the night of the full moon we went into the heart of town hoping for a festival of lanterns that is supposed to occur every month like clockwork. We walked around the blocks of the town center over and over again until a local explained to us that it normally takes place on the one street that was completely ripped out of the Earth a few days prior to us arriving. Bummer. Apparently, they were preparing for the Miss World pageant, which the city was hosting. There was going to be no lantern festival this month so we headed back to the hotel disappointed. The following day we were scheduled to head out of town so we spent the night getting our stuff together and trying to figure out how to cram our new clothes into our bags (which were already stuffed to the gills). We managed it somehow.

So on to Nha Trang we go, on another sleeper bus. That story to come. :) -t

HUE PICS
HOI AN PICS

Post by Dom:
I mentioned in the last post, that Hanoi served as a home base for venturing out to Sapa & Halong Bay. Well, let me start with Sapa. It's way up north near the Vietnam/China border. So, we took an overnight sleeper train for the 9 hour journey. We shared a car with a retired married couple from Australia. They own acres of land and plant trees, and then sell them at markets. We learned a lot about the proper way to re-pot plants. Hopefully, it will help my not-so-green thumb. We chatted with them for awhile until we couldn't stay awake any longer.


We took a hiking tour one day and walked from the town out to some of the villages, with terraced rice fields as far as the eye can see. The views were spectacular. Our guide, Lily, is from one of the hill-tribe villages and move to Sapa town to earn money. She learned to speak English in just a few years, and speaks really well, albeit with an Australian accent. She has never been to Australia, but she has picked up the accent from listening to other travelers. She is 20yrs old, but said in the village she is seen as "too old" and nobody will marry her. So, now she has to look for a city man. A couple of Hmong tribe women accompanied us on the hike. One had a baby strapped to her back, but she was light on her feet and zoomed down the steep roads way ahead of us at times. The other woman was much older, and made a point of making sure I made it down the mountain safely by leading me by the hand. She looked about 60-ish years old, and has 12 children. Five are still living at home. I guess that's why they have to marry young...to get started on the baby making!

After Sapa, we took the night train back to Hanoi. The next day was Tony's birthday, and we spent it on Halong Bay...or, Bay of the Descending Dragon. We did an overnight boat trip, and spent the night on the bay. It was a bit pricey, but the boat was gorgeous...dark wood & really nice furnishings throughout. We somehow ended up with the biggest cabin on the boat. It was almost the size of a hotel room, with a king size bed. The beauty of the bay is difficult to describe, and pictures just can't capture it. It is mystical & magnificent...an incredible feat of nature. Around 3,000 limestone islands rise from emerald waters. They were created over millions of years, when the movement of the earth's crust forced the limestone above the water line. Caverns & tunnel caves formed in some of the giant rocks.


We got a chance to kayak through one of these formations on the tour. It was comical at first because neither Tony or I had ever kayaked before. We looked clumsy in the water as we tried to figure out how to steer. After awhile it started to get frustrating trying to get coordinated and not flip they kayak over, but we powered through it. But, it was still fun cruising through floating fishing villages. The people who live in these villages live on the water year round. Even though their houses are surrounded by water, they still manage to have dogs. They spend their days lounging in front of their houses, while fish are being caught in nets that are set up underneath the houses. The second day of the tour we explored some amazing caves. There were 3 caves all connected, and they all had really interesting stalactite formations. The caves were really huge. You could easily fit several large houses inside of them. They were lit up with soft colorful mood lighting, making it a great date spot.


The food on the boat was wonderful, fresh seafood. I had the best calamari ever. It was perfectly cooked & tender. It seemed to melt away in my mouth. The crew surprised Tony (and me) with a birthday cake & bouquet of roses. They even had candles on the cake, and everyone sang happy birthday. It was a very nice touch. There were only 5 other people on the boat, so we had a very nice intimate group. Not surprisingly, the other 5 were all Australian. They were all very nice to spend time with. After Halong Bay we headed back to Hanoi, where we have to catch our bus to Hue.

But, I'll end this for now because it's time to pack up for the next town.
SAPA PICS
HALONG BAY PICS