Hello everyone -
First I just want to assure everyone that we're safe and sound and currently in Hanoi, Vietnam. We are both quite moved at how many emails came through asking after our well being - we're lucky to have so many great friends. Thanks so much to everyone.
The tsunami was quite scary - not in the fact that we were personally in any jeopardy...but more in the realization that so many of the people we had met in our travels have been affected. One gentlemen from the US ran a scuba outfit on Ko Phi Phi and had gone out of his way to help us out. We saw him being interviewed on BBC News saying that he didn't know where many of his employees and friends were. It's just so sad...but people here are getting on with their lives (being relatively unaffected). Right now we're still planning on visiting India but perhaps not the deep south as we had originally thought.
We did manage to have a wonderful Christmas and New Year's despite the tragedy. After leaving Dalat, we traveled to the wonderful city of Hoi An. Where I got totally sucked in and got clothes made. It is just SO cheap and everything is custom made to fit. First, they give you a catalog where you can just pick anything you want made...or a magazine or picture printed from the internet...or you could just point to anyone walking by and ask them to copy the clothes...or even just drawing something on a napkin. Then they take at least 30 measurements and the whole time they're saying how nice a pair of grey pants would work with that shirt you're buying. At first it was one suit for me...and then another...and some shirts...and a pair of shoes... I don't think I've worn a suit since 1997 much less nice clothes on a daily basis. You'll have to read Deanna's blog for her account, but let's just say that we are now hauling around a brand new huge duffelbag in addition to our (extremely heavy) backpacks. Oh...Hoi An was also quite beautiful...old French buildings and a lot of Chinese style architecture.
From there, we went to Hue. Hue was...what's the best word for it...cold. Bitterly cold. And raining. For the entire time we were there. Good idea: Going out with some new friends for a great dinner and drinks for New Years. Bad idea: Taking a motorbike tour for six hours in the rain. It was freezing cold. I'm still not warm. One highlight of Hue was a restaurant we went to where the owner is deaf and just signs everything to you as you are ordering (it works...). The food was great and what was interesting is that the restaurant was called "Lac Thanh"...but in true Vietnamese fashion success breeds imitators so next door there was "Lac Thienh" and yet a third similarly named...all with deaf waiters.
And now we're in Hanoi. It's incredible. The city is so historic and bustling with activity. We're staying in the Old Quarter and it's just great. Traditionally all the streets were named for what the merchants sold/did on that street. And it's still fairly true today. Interestingly our hotel is on Hang Bac - the gravestone street. We literally walk by the artisans making funeral plaques, etc... and in true merchandising fashion they use celebrity pictures on some of the plaques to sell their wares. Deanna took a picture of the Britney Spears funeral plaque...perhaps to mark the end of Britney's career.
There is just so much going on in Hanoi. We went to see Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. You file in and get to see the perfectly preserved body with a soft white light shining on him. It's pretty amazing, a little creepy, and since he's dressed in all-white Deanna and I both independently decided that he looked a bit like Col. Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken fame. It's a weird experience, but he is a national communist hero and I guess they follow the tradition of Lenin and Mao.
The other stunner about Hanoi. It's cold. I've now bought (in addition to the Hoi An stuff) a new winter jacket, long pants, and gloves. Deanna bought me a fantastic winter hat in Dalat so I should be fully outfitted shortly. I only brought two pairs of long pants on the trip and I threw one away in Bangkok thinking "when am I ever going to need TWO pairs of long pants?". Fast forward to now when I'm thinking 2005 will the "the year of no showering". Did I mention our room in Hanoi doesn't have heat? Ugh. One more question to ask.
Okay. So next up we take a fabulous 6 day trip through Northwest Vietnam. We're excited...we ride in a 4WD jeep through some rough terrain and then end up in Sapa where we'll trek and stay with some of the ethnic minority hill tribes around that area. We're doing our best to get a "true" experience...there's only three people on our tour and we'll be staying in homestays. We'll see... After that, we take a two day trip to Halong Bay and then back to Hanoi for a 20 hour bus ride to Vientiene - finally entering Laos! At this rate, we should be home well before next Christmas.
Best to everyone and thanks again for all your concerns and holiday wishes.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment