The Little Things

We have begun these little games each day that keep Jeff and I on our toes and on the look out, also to know that we have some familiarity throughout our travels keeps a warm spots in our hearts. Some of the games we play are:

Where's Doraemon- We find him everywhere and one of Jeff's favorite things to do is take pictures and have a constant eye out for him. If you are not aware who this little cat/robot guy is see the attached pictures. Oh, forget it, we're just going to post this without pics today. It is no doubt in my mind that when I hear an exasperation of " Haaa" come out of his mouth from across the room, I know exactly who he has located. Either on the side of a milk carton, on a watch from a vendor stand, a key chain (which Jeff has started collecting) in the form of a stuffed animal, on the side of a taxi cab....this guy is everywhere!

"In the Tubing" Tubing Tanks- The next thing is these "In the Tubing" Tanks worn usually by 20-24 year old Australian boys or girls. Fresh with sunburned skin, bleached out hair and either a hangover or a beer in their hands.We joke that everyday we have to have our daily dose of Tubing tanks, its a stereotype, but hey, stereotypes are there because usually they are somewhat true, right?

Turns out, Jeff realized that these shirts read "In the Tubing" and really it a typo by the Laotian guy who meant to print "Inner Tubing". To support the Inner Tubing Drinking at riverside bars in Vang Vieng, Laos. Classic.

Looking for books to accumulate- obviously. We are speeding through books at a great rate and have a small obsession for finding new ones to read as we pass through the old. We both are carrying about 4 books with us now to read and most likely will be accumulating more as we change cities and find new hostels to raid. I am now, per Jeff hi-jacking from a hotel, reading book one and two of Harry Potter.

Tribal Tattoos- we are constantly on the look out for the best/worst (one in the same) tribal tattoo, very similar to the "In the tubing" tanks, these tribal tattoos are EVERYWHERE and they don't just merit the 20-24 year old crowd, no these hold room for the 30-50 year old crowd as well! On Koh San Road in Bangkok recently there was a guy who took the cake, as he strutted down the busy backpackers street with both arm and pectorals still red and bloody from fresh needling. (do you sense my sarcasm) All day, literally, shirt off up and down the street showing off his new pride and glory for all to see and hopefully gawk at.

Where's the local food market- priority #1. To find the cheapest, best tasting food it's all about the local food markets. Also to fill my obsession with markets and foods. So far they never let us down. The best exotic fruits, drinks in bags (open can, fill bag with ice, pour contents of can into bag, add straw, close with rubber band and enjoy) weird brightly colored dried fruits and candies, soups, noodle or rice dishes...the list goes on!

7-11- wherever there is a country that supports 7-11, you can bet we have most likely been to each and every one in the surrounding area we stay in. Not that we necessarily buy anything when we go in, but much like the food markets its fun to just see what is available 24 hours a day. So far these 7-11's are awesome and have everything we could possibly want! Seaweed snacks, iced coffee cans, nuts/seeds, coffee candies (another one of my big obsessions), different aloe drinks, oreo's..or some variation of (jeff's new love in life), and of course, of course...at least 10 different images posted or Doraemon via children's toy, candy or drink!

Vietnam

After our time in Hoi An, Vietnam we night-bused it up to Hanoi. Trying to remember the difference between Hoi An and Hanoi was a very trying experience that took about 5 days into the Hoi An stay to master. Eventually, Val said, "Hoi An is smaller. Think of Ann, the annoying little girl trying to sell us postcards. " Henceforth, no problem.


Originally, we were to stay two nights during our Northern transit in Nihn Bihn and have a good day biking through the ubiquitous and becoming slightly overrated rice fields, to a meandering river through what was said to be Ha Long Bay on land. Evidently, the area wasn't flooded during the dragon sweep that undertook the UNESCO Ha Long region, which we'd be visiting a few days hence.


The night bus was a standard affair of locals and as I arose at 5:30 we were just leaving the city limits of Nihn Bihn. Still groggy, I got up, wiped the lagania from my eyes and tapped the driver on the shoulder. I pointed to myself and said, "Nihn Bihn."


He slapped his head, pointed to me and said, "Hanoi." Again, I said, "Nihn Bihn" and he rebutted, "Hanoi." End of conversation. We loose.


So, we were predisposed to not wanting to be in Hanoi and dubbed it Hanoing, without even setting foot in the town. We arrived in a downpour amid a flock of hotel touts who Literally woke us up from out slumber on the bus.


Tap Tap Tap, Shake....Groggy Groggy Groggy, "Hello," yells a mid 20's Vietnamese man in a rush, "you are in Hanoi, you need Hotel." More of a statement then a question.

Mind you, we were still on the bus. I was curled up in a ball of my t-shirt, hat and backpack, it was 7:30AM and the bus was still idling. This guy was already on the bus shaking me awake to make sure that I saw his hotel flier first.

It was brash and brazen and total uncalled for. It was so (H)anno(i)ying and rude that instead of telling him off, I kind of appreciated it and respected him and all of his audacity. So, yeah, we got in his Taxi and went to his hotel and got the room - 5th floor view with huge balcony and two matching sofas outside on the veranda. Cable TV with the NBA Finals Game One Live on the Boob Tube and a hot shower with free coffee and breakfast were awaiting us.

Turns out this guy really was giving us the straight scoop. Everything was as advertised except for the foot long cockroach in the bathroom and gecko who stumbled out of the sink faucet. But, those are now to be expected and are kind of welcome additions and friends to the rooms we encounter. Even the nice ones.

With the room being all that is was, of course, we ironically and typically never really hung out in it and on that remarkable balcony, instead opting for walking around and looking around the city.

Really, anyone that has been traveling, say, anywhere in the world knows that basically what you do in a new place. You go there. You walk around and you look around. You eat some weird food and after eating the local fare for 5 or 6 meals you go through the "the is the best food I've ever had" phase, then on to the "really, this food is great," portion of the city. Next its the "ok, seriously, more curry," phase. At that point you buy french fries.

You drink bottled water, say no to taxi drivers and tour guys and go around looking at tourist destinations, food markets, the town square, POIs, backpacker land, the city park and those little spots that your friends tell you about. You talk about going to the museums, but realize that you get more culture from the food stall guy selling the Samosas and the pinapple vendor and the kids playing with kites in the park and the coffee shop kid thats going to Uni.

So, that is what we intended to do in Hanoi, per usual and per awesome. But, as I said, we were amid a 24 hour downpour and were relagated to coffeeshops. Which, wasn't bad because we found some decent coffee, AC and music as a handful of spots within a block of each other. After a few hours we became increasingly stir-crazy and booked a ticket on a boat to Ha Long Bay. We were off the next morning. One of the 7 Natural Wonders of the World. And if you didn't know about that yet, you'd sure find out upon reaching the dock the next day.

Ha Long Bay was simply awesome. We had heard rumours and rumblings from numourous people that is was overrated and missable. That you could bypass the overnight and take a day trip. That staying on the junk was unneccessary. Regardless, we went with our intuition and hooked up a 2 day 1 night stay on a nice size junk boat w/ queen size bed and private balcony. The price was good and we were just hoping for a good crew of travellers to accompany us on the trip for the 2 days.

We opted for the non-booze cruise trip and picked a tour company that looked organized and clean. And that offered us free Internet. In turn, we were rewarded with a smattering of personalitys and peoples from across the globe. The trip was all class and what beautiful scenery. Totally, literally unmissable and lamentable if you go to Vietnam and don't go to Ha Long Bay.

Within the Ha Long Bay tour we had a couple of treks, a great 2 hour kayaking stint throughout the bay, 3 amazing seafood buffetts, swimming at our leisure off the deck and wonderful panorama views with breathtaking sunsets. All in all a great stay. We even took an extra day staying on Cat Ba Island and treking through a National Park to a wicked high vantage point amid the jungle. We stayed the night at a guest house overlooking the harbor slightly reminiscent of a Cinque Terra city that I can't quite put my finger on. All in all, great time was had.

Back to the mainland and back to Hanoing. But, wait a second, the sun is out, birds are chirping, people are abuzz and we run into two of our English friends fron Saigon and Hoi An. Things are looking up. We lingered with the two of them, plus a couple from out Ha Long trip and enjoyed outselved thoroughly at a very local, turned backpacker bar that was offering 3 year old plastic stools for chairs and beer for $0.17 a pint. Draft beer, 5 for $1.00. Unreal. And it was good. Hanoi had saved itself and we were fortuitous enough to reconnect with some good friends. A little positive attitude, good weather and good people can really go along was. Regardless, we were off the next day, opting against Nihn Bihn and a hightribe trek in Sa Pa. We were off to Bangkok and the Thai Island for some guaranteed fun and sun.

Fooood

Wow, as we have mentioned to some of you we have been eating some of the best food so far on this trip in Hoi An, Vietnam...well maybe even some of the best food in our lives!

We would like to thank some of our friends we have met along the way and local travelers for making this all possible...with out you we may have found ourselves with less than excellent food in our bellies and bigger holes in our wallets.

Upon arriving in Hoi An we ran into one of our friends and fellow travelers we have run into throughout the trip named Mira. She was getting ready to leave Hoi An when we ran into her but she had to show us this local food stall where she had been eating most of her meals before she left. We eagerly agreed because sometimes when you first arrive in a new place you can make rash decisions about food and eat the wrong things which can really off set the tone for that new place.

We were told to try the local grilled fish infused with lemon grass and wrapped in a bananna leaf (Ca nuong la chuoi)...hands down the best thing we have EVER put in our mouths. This thing was like Christmas, New Years, and all 28 birthdays concentrated, and gift wrapped up in one single bananna leaf! Wow thank you Lee for setting the tone for Hoi An to be the culinary highlight of our trip..lives by one dish! (followed very closely by the fried wontons topped, or rather piled high, with sauteed vegetables and grilled shrimp)

We then proceeded to wash this down with freshly squeezed/smashed sugar cane juice. This tastes like a mixture of watermelon, lime and the most refreshing thing you have ever sipped on blended in one magical drink called sugar cane juice! Not only is it highly delicious, but highly nutritios. We did a search and found that sugar cane, when not over processed and bleached has some amazing health qualities! Such as improving digestion, purifying the blood, regulating bloodsugar and curing jaundice among other things!

We also were able to locate the best beer in Vietnam which is called Viet A aka Fresh Beer aka Bia Tuoi. It is only sold in local stalls of the food market and can not be purchased in a bottle by anyone but Vietnamese people to re sell to the tourists for still crazy cheap. It beats out even the "distinguished" labels they have here which is really just glorified Bud Light (glorified only because it has a cool label of a tiger on the bottles)

Jeff had the pleasure of having a suit made at a place that was recommended to us by an older couple we met at our favorite local food stall, who also happened to be staying at our hotel, Keith and Carol. "Ken" is the tailors name and "his brother" is the one who makes the suits (as we have learned here inHoi an..Everyones brother seems to be a tailor..."brother" we have found is a possible code word for sweatshop) Ken wrote down on a scrap of paper the name of a restaurant with a sketchy map and 2 names of local dishes we must try while we are here.

Hesitant to break away from our favorite food stall, we gave in. After going on an adventure one night on our bikes we found the restaurant far far away from any sort of civilization (besides the major resort 2 miles away) Packed to the gills with locals we knew this place would not let us down. We handed the waitress our crumbled piece of paper, crossed our fingers and hoped for the best. As it turns out we were about to have Shark and Sting Rey for dinner! They brought us a massive pot of soup (basil, cilantro, tomatoes, pinapple broth) that we weredump the filleted pieces of raw shark in for a few moments to cook it! It was really, I mean really good! So far this could be the best way to cook fish in my book

Well that is it for now, I am running out of time on the internet and also getting hungry typing about all these foods!! Till next time or country, which ever comes first!!

Vietnamese Humans, or Some Variation Thereof

We left left Hoi An after 10days/9nights. Why were we in Hoi An for such a long time, you may be thinking to yourself? Periodically, we were wondering the same thing and often found ourselves discussing the merits of this tiny, UNESCO protected river/beach town.

Upon arrival, we had come from 3 days of on/off weather in Nha Trang. Beach life w/out the sun often seems like a baseball game w/out beer and a hotdog. Not bad, but missing a couple of essential componants. We were also slightly sick during Nha Trang, but came out of it during a trip to the Thermal Spa and Mud Baths. Not sure if we already discussed this experience, so suffice to say it was rewarding in that it made us feel infinately healthier and more vibrant, ready to tackle the next phase of our trip.

We have been staying at the An Phu Hotel. Everyday, after the 3rd night, all of the service persons at the hotel ask us (remark), "when are you leaving." It like a cross between a question and statement, something that the Vietnamese seem to be fond of and that we'll discuss later. I believe we've stayed at this hotel longer than any other recent guess, except for this one german guy who walks around all day in the lobby and grunts and huffs and mutters under his breath. "Das Das Das, Fumf!"

The hotel has been more the worthly for our $12, including bike, per night stay. We had been enjoying the free hot water at 800AM and 700PM daily allowing us to endulge in the NESCAFE instant coffee packets that we purchase in order to offset a few Dollars and save us from constantly drinking the sludge, or rather, tar, that the Vietnamese call coffee.

We also have a pool that we used for 5 minutes and then promptly got creaped out by all the hoteliers staring at Val's tattoo and the massage girls prodding for work and the creepy old German guy grunting in the deep end.

Knowing that there is a pool at your hotel is, frankly, more important than really using the pool. And what is the deal with the people that come to the beach town and spend all day in the chlorine laden water instead of the fresh water. What a bunch of weirdo's.

We've also had airconditioning with has been rewarding in that its also night to have, but not necessarily important to use. Kind of like cruise control. I liked having it on my last car, but never used it. Regardless, I'd always remark, "4WD, 22MPG, Great sightlines and CRUISE CONTROL."

The people in Hoi An have certainly been notable. Here are six of interest that we enjoyed seeing. We'll start with out Tailors.

Ken (Mao): Ken made me a cashmere suit w/ perfectly fitting shirts for a disgustingly reasonable price. He drove me on his motorbike to the fabric store where we jumped into the fray of locals and I made my selection. Turns out Ken tried to up and move to England and get a job, but came back after two weeks due to lack of finances and not having a clue what to do when he got there. He also invited us to his brothers wedding, which we couldn't attend because it is in September. But, we were able to make dinner w/ his family. A huge hot pot of pork, green onions, two types of muchrooms and various herbs. What a feast. After dinner he bought us a sugarcane beverage on the street. How about that service after making a modest purchase.

Lee: We got a reference for this street restaurant with an affable English speaking host/cook. This turned out to be out favorite place to eat on the whole trip. Unreal fish and wontons and salads for peanuts! Lee was beyong sleep deprived due to arriving at the market at 600AM and working til 1100, then out for a few hours of "the drinking." On top of that, he had a two year old that looked neither like himself or his baby mama. She was also preggers, due in 2 months. Lee: less Marlboro Reds and less of the drinking and more sleep. He worked at a Western Hotel for 4 years in Cambodia and really honed in on English, so it was good to learn through him about his cooking.

Dress Ladies: These two ladies, mom/daughter, sister/sister, friend/friend, we never could figure out the connectiong, but they ran a thorough and creative clothing shop. Pick your fabric, design your garment, whatever you want, and 24 hours later, perfection for the price of a 3-Pack Hanes Underwear. Val got a pair of pants made and these ladies kept giving Val huges and tapping her bum and holding out hands in this very open and happy manner of service with a smile. It was there way of making us feel comfortable in there store. We almost had them make us superhero capes with a button clasp around the neck, full standing collar and hand holds in the sides. Alas, when it came time to pull the trigger in the item, we looked at each other and realized it was time to leave town.

Beach Vendors:

Mango Lady: The oldest, maybe 90 years old, pusher of goods we've ever seen. Walking up and down the beach w/ 20lbs of fruit, Tiger Balm, Playing Cards, chopsticks, etc. She's walk up to us and say it a very creepy, yet sweet high pitched voice, "mangoooooo." "Baannnaaana."
At first it was endearing. Then weird. Then after she'd come up to us for th 8th or 9th time in 3 hour period, it just got annoying. She, along with all these beach vendors, would just say an item that they sell, then pick it up. We'd say 'no thank you', they'd pick up another one and try again. It got pretty rediculous because after one pass, we knew what they all sold. And this was just one of 9 ladies on this beach with would come up to us 2-3 times an hour. They were certainly bored as there were at most 25 tourists on the beach that was 2km long. Tough going for these ladies.

LuLu #1: Everytime she came buy it was the same sad song, "slow day. Sooo hot. You buy something, me LuLu number #1. If you buy something, you buy from me. Its Happy Hour."

But, with LuLu #1, it was always happy hour. And it was always a special price. Its just so strange that these vendors, on the beach and in the streets throughout Vietnam sell the exact same stuff, most of which we don't want. We don't want the Mango that's been roasting for 7 hours. We don't want another tub of Tiger Balm. We have sun tan loation. The beach is not the place to buy statues of buddahs or chess pieces. Its as it there is a pimp at one end of the beach and he only lets his women sell the same stuff. Same for all teh convenice stores in town. You want cookies? You better like Oreos. (Thankfully, not that we are in Thailand, its all changed. We have selection!)

We Killed a Cow

Well, not intionally. And, it wasn't really our doing. Nevertheless, we were on a "VIP" bus high-tailing it through Cambodia, freewheelin' through the small thatched-house towns and weaving and bobbing around motorbikes and children. Domestic animals and farm animals. Honking our way down the Cambodian Highway of Life trying our best to alert everything alive to gain way or risk being victim of a 4 ton bus ruining your day.

Whooooooooooose, zip, wrrrrrrrrruuuuuuung!

We slip and slide around the hairpin turns with the honk of a horn in what would be considered the wrong lane back home. No lanes over here. No shoulders either. Too bad if you're a motorbike driver and our bus is passing another on a blind turn at 100km an hour and your coming the other way. Your off the road and better hope its not a ditch or a gully, a pile of trash or the remains of a burning bamboo roof.

Nearly flying, we driving with such force, through said town, on the third rotation of the same album, of what is seemingly the only band in Cambodia. Or the only band ANYONE listens too. We nearly avoid a naked baby prodding some roadkill with a stick, an omen of sorts?!, the driver lays into a honk before, during and after we pass the child to let him know of our arrival and departure. When immediately, we come SMACK, THUD, what was that?

Something large we just slammed into and ran over with our tires as the bus tilted ever so slightly to the left a few degrees. The busdrivers debated stopping, but eventually did, all the while all the passengers were rubbernecking for a view of the damage.

Was is a human or an animal!?! That was the wonder. Luckily, I guess you could say, it was a cow. And a rather proper sized cow at that. As it happened to be a Saturday, we were reassured by the locals that it was, "no problem," and that the cattlefeed would be a welcome feast for the small village.

That was our welcome ride into Cambodia and I meant to write about it ages ago, but just plain forgot. What a bizarre story and upon mentioning it to our travel buddy Dave from NY, who we always run into, he acedotes, "well, at least you weren't on my train in India where a guy laid his head down on the tracks and the train sliced it off and we had to stop for 2 hours, all get out and help the conductor find the head."

Notes on Vietnam

Vietnam, so far..............

So far Vietnam has offered us a different experience so far than the previous countries. We have been trying lots of traveling via bus throughout the many different countries, long 5-12 hour stretches. So far Vietnam has come in first place in terms of bus travel. We were greeted in Cambodia with a new bus that had a flat screen TV in the front! As soon as the bus started the driver put on some tunes. We are pretty accustomed to this so far, Thailand and Laos it was the same 30 year old Reggae song over and over, Cambodia also had their local 30 year old favorite, but Vietnam...well Vietnam greeted us with Christmas music that was preformed by a reggae/disco group with ultimate fur get ups and sparkley peacock outfits, not only were these smashing hits executed to perfection, but they also played some of the songs with the Disney's cartoon, Recess. For no rhyme or reason, but that is pretty much what set the tone for us here in Vietnam, lots of random weird funny awkward things all around!!!

To add to the list of weird things, in DaLat we visited the "Crazy House" which felt like a Gaudi/Alice in Wonderland art hotel museum space. Upon entering one of the rooms in which you could rent for the night we were greeted by a drunk Easy Rider imposter (http://www.easy-riders.net/). Who escorted us onto one of the beds, closed all the windows, pushed us face up on the bed to look into the rooftop mirror above the bed, closed the door and the curtain to the room and sat right outside the curtain. When we tried to get up and leave he pushed us back onto the bed and sat back down...Weird...again we tried and fail, back on the bed....ok this is weird, we said NO THANKYOU and tried to leave, he then asked us for $1 for his attempt to let us have "private time" then when rejected asked for a cigarette. No thanks easy rider imposter, thats just too weird for us...

Moving right along our Vietnam escapade, we have rented bikes and motorbikes numerous times throughout the counrty. Its a great way to see the "real" culture and the landscapes. Jeff is always musing about how its important to see the "real (insert Country)". Half true/Half jest. It almost never fails that while we are riding along, Lalala, we get asked at least two handfulls of time (ya that's a bunch of time!) if we would like a taxi ,easy rider, motorbike, or bike taxi! Hmmm, now stop me if I am wrong, but if I have my own means of transportation I think that it is pretty clear that I don't need any additional means of transportation! But maybe that's just me...weird!

Another weird thing is that at every meal you are offered tea. This was so amazing because we love tea!! Almost everytime we go for a meal it never fails, this great tea that everyone in Vietnam seems to be drinking! We finally asked what kind of tea it is and it turns out to be Artichoke tea!! Weird!! But sooo good!! We then went as fast as we could to the local market and bought the biggest bag that we could and now look forward to bringing it home with us in mass quantities!! (not only is it good for your liver, digestion, and cholesterol but it tastes amazing!)

An unexpected weird thing happened yesterday as we were soaking in mud and mineral baths for 5 hours at the local hot springs, our bug bites and cuts that have been oozing pusd and blood non stop for the past 2 months, stopped. Wow!! Weird!! Unexpected and wonderful!! Not only did they cure us, but the baths left us with great glowing skin, relaxed muscles and an experience we plan to take home and indulge in regularly!

The Dragonfruit. I believe our favorite Fruit over here. Amount: $0.50 for one in Vietnam, $20 for one back home. Yummers. Sreaming hot pick w/ flair on the outside.

Ok, All for now. Hope you are all being safe. As they say in Vietnam, which sometimes comes across fatalistic or foreboding, but, is certainly genuine: Good Luck!

Dam Sen Park

We decided to head off to what we thought would be a quirky Vietnamese city park yesterday. We read about ice scultures and animal statues made of CD's and other various sites of interest in Lonely Planet. Turns out that this park was an Amusement Park and it was a great example of not trusting all things in Lonely Planet to be proper recommendations. However, they should have noted that this wasn't a park, but a 6year old kids amusement park. We were looking to relax, poi, read, etc. we ended up donning some parkas for the Harbin Ice Festival Style lit up Ice Sculpture Hall, watched some Late Show Style Stupid Animal Tricks, went on the World's Worst 3D vitual simulator ride and talked to some local kids who certainly wondered what we were doing there.