January 31, 2006 - Michael's last night in Chiang Mai
We celebrated Michael's last night in Chiang Mai by going to an all-you-can-eat Thai restaurant with Sally and Podam. The restaurant was huge, looked like an airplane hanger with hundreds of Thai people eating and enjoying themselves. There was even a live band and girls screaming like the band members were rock stars. Maybe they were! We were the only farangs (foreigners) that we could see. For 88 baht each (US $2.10) we grilled Thai style at our table. Among the foods to grill were fresh fish, shellfish, vegetables, tofu and every kind of meat and fowl. There were countless tables with food to select for grilling as well as tables filled with sauces, rices, noodles, fruits, ice cream and every food imaginable. It was a spectacular feast. There was also a salad bar and tables with barbecued meats, squid, satays & fish, another with steamed clams, another with dim sum style dumplings and huge steamers with pork bao.

Michael is moving on to Bangkok for one day before he leaves back to the US on February 2. Below are pictures of Sally and Podam. Their baby is due in March.

As we expected, there are delightful contrasts to Vietnam (Sally said, accurately, that it sounds like we have a love-hate relationship with Vietnam). Instead of constant horn-blowing, there are rather rare minuscule "bips" (not long enough to be beeps) in appropriate situations. The traffic is orderly and being a pedestrian is rather peaceful.

Vehicles actually stop for stop lights! Our shower has plumbing through the wall and a powerful stream of water as hot as you want for as long as you want, instead of a shower hose and a weak stream of failing warm water. There are far fewer, and briefer, efforts to sell you something while you're walking or sitting.

On January 26, we arrived in the northern city of Chiang Mai, Thailand. We took short flights from Danang, Vietnam to Bangkok, Thailand and then to Chiang Mai, Thailand. Since arriving in Chiang Mai, we've had a fabulous seafood dinner with Sally and Podam and we are enjoying being back in Thailand! We left Hanoi by train to Hue, and later took a bus to Hoi An. Internet, and power, are spotty in Vietnam so we made no postings.  Hoi An has proved to be our favorite stop in Vietnam. We stayed on the outskirts of "Ancient Town." It's a charming village, mostly composed of old buildings, housing shops & restaurants. Here are a few pictures of people in Vietnam as well as street scenes:


The traffic/horns/blocked sidewalk issues are quite bearable here, as they were in Hue; surviving Hanoi makes it a piece of cake. As with our previous stops, there are local food specialties & beers (beer is called bia in Vietnam.)

Yvonne & Michael greatly enjoyed their cooking school, the Red Bridge School, which included shopping at the local market, cooking, eating & getting recipes & instructions. They even decorated a tomato to look like a rose and a cucumber to look like a fan. They also got some cooking tools. Here's part of the menu from the school:

Sweet and sour eggplant in clay pot
Fresh rolls with shrimp and vegetables
Hoi An crepes with shrimp and vegetables
Grilled fish in banana leaf

One of the specialties in Hoi An is something called White Rose. It is translucent rice noodles shaped like a flower with shrimp and pork in the middle, served with fish sauce and tastes absolutely delicious. They run about $1.25 for a plate with 8 or 10 of them!

The best thing about this town: all clothing and shoes are made to order. They either copy your clothes or tailor them for you from Vietnamese silk, Thai silk, Japanese silk, linen, cotton or other fabrics. All of us had clothes made and Yvonne even had silk slippers made and Neal had some leather sandals made. They make clothes and shoes in a matter of hours.

Meanwhile, Neal enjoyed a walking tour of Ancient Town sights, with a ticket that allowed him admission to sights worth going inside. At lunch time he happened on a modest vegetarian restaurant under a canopy on an alley, where he had four dishes plus bottled water for under $1, much less than our tourist restaurants.

January 18, 2006 - Ha Long Bay to Hue
A lot has happened since our last post. We have been moving south and we are now in the city of Hue, pronounced "Way," after an overnight train ride from Hanoi. Our first impression is that it seems like nirvana compared to Hanoi: wide boulevards, less noise and a beautiful river. We spent twelve hours in our own train car with "soft sleeper" beds. It was fairly comfortable; although it was first class for Vietnam, it was nowhere near American standards.

Before that we spent three days and two nights on a Chinese junk, the Dragon's Pearl, in Ha Long Bay. Ha Long Bay is unquestionably one of the most serene and beautiful places on earth. It was a much needed respite from Hanoi. It did take four hours to get there and back. The bay is extremely calm with gigantic limestone formations and small islands jutting up from the water. The weather was cool and the overcast skies gave it a surreal feel. There are very few people other than the tourists, and the native fishing families who live in small floating villages. It is in the middle of nowhere and was quite a relief from the hectic life in Hanoi. Unfortunately, we had to go back to Hanoi and stay there five hours before we could get a train out. Here are pictures of our junk and of our beautiful table set for lunch on a secluded beach:

The junk was delightful, albeit the rooms were small and the shower hose hangs over the toilet. It could compete for an award for the smallest bathroom in the world. But the food, and tours within the bay and to the islands, made up for everything else. Lunches were seven courses and dinners nine courses of fabulous Vietnamese seafood with some pork, beef, vegetarian dishes and fresh fruits. None of the food is heavy, so one can eat all the courses and just feel pleasantly full. Whenever they brought Michael and me a meat dish, they brought Neal a fish version. Our barbecue on a secluded beach with just eight persons was worth the price of the entire cruise, and one of the most memorable events of the entire trip. Click here for more pictures of Halong Bay.

We've had no sense of danger of any kind. The touts who try to sell things are the most annoying thing. They will follow you for blocks trying to sell something. However, we never felt we would be victimized in any way. Other than wanting our dollars (and yes, they accept American money), the people of Vietnam are warm, friendly and humorous. We cannot say enough of how friendly they are and how comfortable they make us feel. We think it is contagious. We've met so many nice people from all over the world: Australia, New Zealand, England, Canada, Turkey and Morocco. Even the French are nice here! The staff at the Lucky Stars Hotel in Hanoi have gone beyond anything we have ever seen to make our stay and escape from Hanoi perfect. They even accompanied us to the train station to get us to the right coach and to carry our luggage into the coach for us. Too bad they were not there when we arrived in Hue. We had just a few quick minutes to get off and, as usual, we have too much luggage.

One thing we have learned on this trip is that Vietnam is not for the faint of heart. We would recommend it only to seasoned travelers who like adventure and don't mind roughing it. It is not Kansas! A young couple from Winnipeg, whom we met shortly after their arrival in Hanoi, were totally freaked out.

January 14, 2006 - More Hanoi
Tomorrow we escape from Hanoi and travel to Ha Long Bay for a two night, three day cruise on the Dragon's Pearl Junk. After that we will take a sleeper train on a 14 hour ride to Hue, Vietnam.  Hanoi continues to astound us. The sound of motorbikes honking and the aroma of food is everywhere, all day and all night.

Here are a few photos of Big Mike selling pineapple & bananas. He's found a new career. These baskets are carried by woman who earn about $1-2 dollars a day! Some are quite heavy. Everything you will ever need passes before you on the streets in a basket.


This link is for more street scenes of Hanoi, note all the motorbikes and people everywhere.

January 12, 2006 - Hanoi, Vietnam
We arrived in Hanoi, Vietnam on January 11 after spending around 4 days in Bangkok.

Although all the travel books and literature describe the multitudes of motorcycles and the horn honking, you cannot begin to understand it until you get here. It is like everything is in motion. Everyone and I mean almost everyone is riding on some form of vehicle or transportation be it a car, bus, motorcycle, moped, bicycle, rickshaw etc. If they aren't riding, they are moving. You see countless woman in conical hats with heavy bamboo poles on their shoulders carrying baskets or metal containers filled with fruits, food and other items for sale. Deliveries of very large items are made on motorcycles too. If you stay in one spot everything you ever need will pass next to you for you to buy!

There are thousands of motorcycles parked along all of the sidewalks too. The streets in old Hanoi are narrow and there is almost no place to walk. Most of the time, you have to walk in the street because the sidewalks are blocked by the parked motorcycles, commercial activities & parked people (some are squatting on the sidewalk making food, gambling or just relaxing). Everyone beeps their horns non-stop and there appear to be no driving rules. Everyone just goes and it is total chaos. It is unbelievable and almost overwhelming. I will need to drink a lot of beer to be able to handle this place. It is unreal. I plan to take some video because no one will believe it. Check out these street scenes.

Vietnam is totally different than Thailand. The architecture is different, the layout of the streets, the way the people do things...it is Thailand on very strong steroids. The people are very friendly and English seems to be spoken by someone everywhere. If not, you communicate by pointing, raising fingers, other gestures or showing numbers on paper or calculators. The money is crazy. It is $16,000 dong to the dollar. Our dinner one night was $200,000.00 dong. That included two beers, one watermelon drink, two spring roll dishes, five entrees and a dessert. It was around $12.50 US.

Tonight we ate cha ca (a marinated fish dish) at the oldest restaurant in Hanoi. It was a wonderfully simple dish that is my favorite meal so far. The tab was $242,000.00 dong for the three of us with three beers and an extra order of fish. That's about $15.50. Here is a picture of cha ca, heating over a flame at our table:

Our hotel, the Lucky Star is funky. It is located in old Hanoi and we have a second floor room--(third floor American, with no elevator) with a small balcony that overlooks the street. We are keeping the balcony door & windows closed most of the time as the noise is overwhelming. The noise on the street is non-stop from 5:30 AM until about 10:30 PM. Then it is very quiet except for the few vehicles & fewer horns. The room has very old Asian furniture and new modern light fixtures. Very odd. The floors are Asian tile and look nice. There is an old funky refrigerator in the room and a Sony TV on top of it. Also, very odd. The bathroom has a green tile floor, blue tile around the bathtub and a purple shower curtain. The two towels are threadbare. The good news is that the water is hot (except it went freezing for the second half of Neal's shower today) and there is fairly good water pressure. We also get breakfast at the hotel. I selected a bowl of Pho this morning and used the Internet access at the table. What more can I ask for?  Here are some pictures of the hotel.

January 7-11
Bangkok Chinatown
Trucks in Chinatown
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