Biking in Vietnam: First Few Days

Lots of people are writing in to ask how the bike trip is going! Right now I am in Hoi An, Vietnam on a layover day. We did a killer ride yesterday in what felt like 100 degree heat and 90% humidity. That said, I'm having a great time and the group is lots of fun. In a few minutes, we are going to Vietnamese cooking school. Here is a photo of our group:

This was taken in front of the Imperial City in Hue. For those Nelson DeMille Up Country fans reading the blog, this is where Paul Brenner has his secret meeting with the contact who tells him what his mission is!

To get to Hue, we had to take the overnight train from Hanoi in a second class sleeper, eek! Thank heavens for Ambien. Here I am getting on the train:

In Hue, we had this dinner where you dress up like 19th c. royals and dine in imperial style. Here I am with Sheri, Joulene and Pele!

The bike ride yesterday was a killer, but the views were worth it! Here are a few shots...

We really did bike up that hill, and those kids really are standing on water buffalo!

More soon, keep checking back!

Halong Bay, Vietnam: Two Days on the Halong Ginger

After my day in Hanoi, it was time to get out into the up country of Vietnam. I chose a two day cruise on the Halong Ginger (yet another Steve and Janet pick!) and had a great time.

The Halong Bay is positively the most beautiful marine area I’ve seen, other than the Galapagos Islands. One thing they have in common is they are both starting to get run over by tourists. The main difference is there are a lot more rock formations in Halong, but a lot less wildlife. In fact, the only animals we saw were bats, a couple of birds and a few fish. The pictures really tell the story here.

The service on the Ginger was great. The boat has been operational for 14 months and they are planning to build another one, the Halong Jasmine, with more cabins, more luxury and so on. I met Sonny, the managing director of the Ginger, and he is a sharp guy. You can check out their website at http://www.cruisehalong.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1.
There were two random things about my cruise. The first was actually a big problem which was the 15 year old kid who drove me from Hanoi to Halong. He drove about 90MPH the whole way and enjoyed passing when there was oncoming traffic in the opposite lane. We arrived a full hour early and he tried to dump me at the dock, which I refused. Instead I asked to be taken to an internet café where I emailed the tour company and demanded a different driver for the return. Miraculously on Saturday I had a new driver and a much nicer car.

The other oddball event was that I was the only person staying on the boat for two days. Most people go for one day. This meant that after breakfast the second day, I was shuttled onto a boat that was not exactly as nice as the Ginger. I don’t think the bathrooms have been cleaned any time recently. She was called the Huong Hai Junk, which I later learned is not to be confused with the Hoang Hai Junk or the Hoong Hai Junk. There was no AC on the Hong Hai, but luckily there was the East China Sea. I was to spend the whole day with 4 Vietnamese guys + me, one of whom spoke a very little English. It all turned out OK if a bit long - I got to swim, kayak and even eat a gourmet lunch of crab caught just that morning!

I met some very nice folks on the Ginger and everyone was hospitable to this crazy American girl traveling alone.

Vietnam Day 1: Hanoi

People keep asking me if I am traveling by myself, and for the first time on the trip the answer is, “Yes!” I arrived in Vietnam on Tuesday and spent my first full day here on Wednesday. Today’s post will chronicle my first solo day which was in Hanoi, Vietnam.
It was clear from the beginning that there was a lot to do. I set out determined to spend the morning on cultural endeavors, before hitting what’s been billed as the “Olympics of Shopping.” My companion for the day, thanks to Lisa, was the Luxe guide to Hanoi (http://www.luxecityguides.com/).

The first thing you have to understand about Hanoi is the traffic is unbelievable. Here is a view of the motor scooters as seen from my hotel, the Zephyr (www.zephyrhotel.com.vn). Before I got here several folks told me that when you want to cross the street, you step into the crosswalk (preferably when the light is green) and walk purposefully ahead. The sea of scooters (which never seems to stop) will part. On my walk to the Temple of Literature, I tested this out many times and it’s true, though nerve racking.
The Temple of Literature is about 1000 years old and was dedicated to training scholars for the nation. It is not in use today, but is considered one of the most important historical landmarks in Vietnam. At the centerpiece is this statue of Confucius, with his four disciples on either side of him.

It’s very hot at the temple and in Hanoi in general, and by this time I’d been trucking for a couple of hours and was ready to get into a building with air conditioning. I visited the Museum of Fine Arts (http://travel.nytimes.com/travel/guides/asia/vietnam/hanoi/attraction-detail.html?vid=1154665443681)

which is close to the temple. This is a museum which chronicles Vietnamese art from prehistoric times to the present. The art was lovely, but what struck me the most is how little of it there is. I got through the whole thing in about 45 minutes. So much of the art has been destroyed over the years and I guess it is lucky any was preserved at all.

By this time, it was lunch hour. I stepped into Pho 24 for my first official Vietnamese meal. Pho is written up in the handy Luxe Guide as a local chain which is clean and consistent. It was yummy!

Fortified, the shopping could officially begin. I had had enough walking and decided to hire a scooter taxi to take me to the next stop, Art Vietnam Gallery. This was all mine for 20,000 dong (~$1.40) which I later learned was about 5,000 dong too high, but I got over it. Art Vietnam (http://www.artvietnamgallery.com/) gets rave reviews from the Luxe guide, and you can see why. Although I did not find anything I could not live without, I met the owner, Suzanne Lecht, who is a native of my hometown, Austin, Texas. What a small world.

From here it was back on the motor scooter, and when that got too scary, into a car taxi and when that got too scary, back on foot. I spent the rest of the afternoon trolling around for art and purses and made purchases of all. I am not sure how I’m getting all this home but I will figure something out. I also got a $5 pedicure (yes Valerie, I brought my own nail kit).

The last event of the day, after a long shower, was dinner at Wild Rice Restaurant, where the food and atmosphere were fantastic. Here I am at dinner, all cleaned up.

There are some days in your life when you have them, you know you will never forget. For me, this was one of those days.

More Than Skin Deep

Last week was my "layover" week here in Singapore, so I thought I would talk about that today. I've successfully made the rounds of Dell folks living here - special thanks to Jae, Steve and Janet, and Lisa for hosting me in their lovely places! These guys all have very good lives here in Singapore.

I've really been looking ratty the last few weeks. I almost never use a hair dryer, and some days I put on makeup, but it gets so hot it melts off. Last Friday, some friends of Lisa's invited us to a dress-up party at the Ritz Carlton hosted by the Italian chamber of commerce. The theme was Ferrari and you were supposed to wear red. Naturally, this entailed my shopping for a red dress. I decided to go all out and get my hair and nails done.

Regarding the dress shopping, it was an experience. I have no idea if I will ever wear the dress again, but it was not too pricey so it's all good. At home, I wear a size 4-6 but in Singapore I am a 10-12! Ay chihuaha!

I chose a salon in Chinatown, the Corner Salon, which uses Kerastase (I admit to being a brand snob). I wanted a manicure too and they said they could do everything all at the same time! I was not sure how this was all going to work but quickly learned. My stylist (see pics below) came over with a bottle of shampoo and a bottle of water and started working on my hair while it was still dry. Before long he had it all lathered up and proceeded to give me a relaxing scalp massage which went on for a good 20 minutes. He was making some very interesting hand sounds and I have no idea how, but that's for another time. Meanwhile, the manicurist is working away at my nails. Finally, I had to get up and go to get the shampoo rinsed out at the sink, which caused a pause in the manicure thankfully. Once that was done, everyone resumed.

I realized that the salon was not too busy because everyone there seemed to be an employee, or maybe they just wanted to help. The woman in getting her hair done below helped the manicurist dry my nails, for which they used 2 hair dryers on cool setting for about 20 minutes. They really did not want me to mess them up! The total bill came to $29 Singapore dollars, or about $20US. Not bad considering the great service.

The cleanup was a definite and needed improvement. Here we are at the party with a Ferrari!

At the party, I met another blogger - Filippo Olivi, Director of the Italian Chamber here in Singapore. Filippo had fun a the dinner, but wished the speeches could have been longer. I promised I'd link to his blog, http://mangoditreviso.blogspot.com/.

Monkeying Around in Bali

Bali was a stop on the trip I had not visited previously. It definitely met my expectations! First, you can see from the photo below that the place we stayed was, literally, the lap of luxury. Sharon agreed too!

One interesting things about Bali, is you get the beaches and resorts and also some tropical jungle terrain, up in Ubud. We took a day trip to Ubud, where we stopped at one crafts store after another. It did not take us long to figure out our driver was getting a cut of the action. Nonetheless, cool stuff was procured. We ate lunch at the lovely Maya Ubud Resort (http://www.mayaubud.com/) . This is another Steve and Janet pick, and you can see why.

In Ubud, there is also a monkey forest. Immediately upon entering, we met a gentleman who is (I am not kidding about this) a monkey whisperer. He clearly knew a lot more about monkeys than we did, because we saw him breaking up a near monkey incident with a tourist who was harassing the poor animal. He showed us some very cute baby monkeys, and then the fun began! He gave me some food to feed the monkeys. You can see what happens next…
I can now say I have had a monkey not just on my back, but on my head! I’m really glad we met the whisperer guy, because a woman I met here in Vietnam claims she was bitten by a monkey at this exact same place. She did not have to get any shots and everything turned out fine, which was good to hear.

Bali is a beautiful place, but a few things about it were sad. People are poor and everyone has their hand out, similar to other resort areas where tourism is the main source of income. Moreover, the Bali bombings several years back have hurt the local people very badly. Folks were generally surprised to learn we were Americans, and explained that Americans no longer go to Bali. I didn’t visit there, but Brad Borgard tells me there is a mall just up the road which has completely shut down.

Bali is a great place to relax and enjoy the world of luxury. And we did!

Khao Lak, Thailand

So far, this is the best sunset picture I've been able to take. It is from Khao Lak, Thailand just over a week ago. It's notable because (a) it's beautiful and (b) Khao Lak looks nothing like it did about 2-1/2 years ago. This beach, about an hour north of Phuket, was the worst hit in the Asian tsunami of December 2004. You can see the imagery and read more at: http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/thailand/khaolak-imagery.htm.

I've never been to Phuket and the beaches, and I was curious to see what has happened since that terrible tragedy. I read about Khao Lak in Travel and Leisure, where it got rave reviews and assurances that all evidence of tsunamis is long gone. Best of all, the chance of a recurrence any time in like the next 10,000 years is almost nonexistent. So, I felt pretty safe.

Sharon and I stayed at the Le Meridien Resort in Khao Lak, and we loved it! Especially the value and quality of the spa treatments, which I have to say gave the International Big Kahuna of spas, the Mandarin Oriental Dhara Dheva, a run for the prize. We loved the Thai and Asian food, and Sharon especially liked the Bailey's even though they have skimpy pours. (Someone please post to the blog and explain how calories do not count when you are on vacation...)

It's almost true there is no evidence of the tsunami, at least in the resort area. I took a walk down the beach and took a few photos that might provide a clue about what

Notice how you can see the roots on this tree, but it's growing new ones and still alive...
These are not small branches and they are buried many feet deep in the sand.

Here is a honking big tree that has not been removed yet, I think people were busy putting the resorts back together...

Overall, I had a great time in Thailand and consider it my favorite set of stops on the trip - mostly because of the people and natural beauty of the place. Stay tuned for more on Bali soon!

The Adventures of Yard Elf

A lot of people thought when Carolyn was over here a week ago, there were 2 of us on the trip. In fact...there were 3! Meet our friend, Yard Elf. He's the one who guards my mom's yard and keeps away evil spirits, or some western equivalent. And he got to go on the trip of a lifetime!

He flew to Hong Kong on Cathay Pacific Airways, in coach.

He shopped in Stanley Market, met some schoolkids in Hong Kong and rode the Star Ferry.

In Singapore, he visited the Botanical Garden, swam in the pool at Jae's place, hung out with Sammy and Janet, and visited some likely condemned bullfrogs in the Wet Market.

In Chiang Mai, Thailand, he enjoyed good luck charms, courtesy of the staff at the Puripunn Hotel. He rode in a tuk tuk and on an elephant! And, he attended Thai cooking school (he is next to my cutting board in the photo below. No accidents to report).

It was a really hot day in Bangkok but he did get to see some temples.

Then it was time for him to go back to Austin and resume his duties. I miss him a lot and hope he will post to the blog soon.

Siem Reap, Cambodia

This week, Lisa and I spent a couple of days in Siem Reap exploring the local sights. Cambodia is very different that any place I have ever visited. Unfortunately, the people there are very poor - much more so than those in Thailand, whose poverty made me and Mom sad at times. It is also HOT!

Nonetheless, Cambodia is a great country with lots to offer. Most importantly, tourism is going to be critical to its future, because there are not a lot of other ways for these people to make money. We were lucky enough to have a great tuk tuk driver, Mr. Meng Davuth. I have his business card for any of you folks considering a trip to Siem Reap! Mr. Meng knows his stuff. On our first full day, we visited the floating village and the sunset at the Angkor Wat Temple.

The floating village is really just that - people living on the water. It's rainy season here now so everything is floating, but according to our guide, in dry season people are landlocked and the lake is a bunch of sand. Things we saw that were floating included, but were not limited to, a school with a basketball court, several grocery and electronics outlets, two police stations and a lot of homes. About 3000 Vietnamese and Cambodian people live in the floating village and the pictures you see here don't really capture the vastness of it.

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That evening Mr. Meng felt strongly that we should go see the sunset at Angkor Wat, the big temple. We left about 4:30 because sunset is at like 6. On the way, he mentioned that there would be a lot of people. He was not kidding! There were tour buses everywhere. We wove our way up the hill and braved the climb up some uber-narrow steps only to observe that it was very cloudy and the sunset was not what we were hoping for. As such, we decided to descend the hill by elephant. We tried to get some photos of ourselves on the elephant, but as Carolyn has already noted, it's a bit of a rough ride. You can see here how many people there were, and how punchy I was after climbing to the top of the temple!

The next morning we had temples to see and we were up and at 'em. Angkor Wat is a truly special place. It is a set of Hindu temples that have evolved into Bhuddist over time. Here, you see some headless Bhuddas that are said to actually represent one of the kings' wives! The place was built by the Khmer civilization between 802 and 1220 AD, and is remarked to be one of humankind's most astonishing and enduring architectural achievements. From here, the Khmer kings ruled over a vast domain that reached from Vietnam to China to the Bay of Bengal. There are more 100 stone temples in all (we saw about 7 up close).

According the the Sacred Sites website (http://www.sacredsites.com/asia/cambodia/angkor_wat.html), scholars agree that Angkor was a city as well as a holy venue, placed where it is because of its strategic military position and agricultural potential. Alternative scholars, however, believe that the geographical location of the Angkor complex and the arrangement of its temples was based on a planet-spanning sacred geography from archaic times. Using computer simulations it has been shown that the ground plan of the Angkor complex mirrors the stars in the constellation of Draco at the time of spring equinox in 10,500 BC. Wicked!

Our favorite temples were Angkor Wat, the main temple, and the Jungle Temple, Ta Prohm. Going into the main temple is a very dramatic experience, and as one climbs around and sees the 1+ miles of bas relief murals telling sacred Hindu tales, it is a bit overwhelming. Ta Prohm was outstanding because it has been preserved as an example of what a tropical forest will do to an architectural monument when humans keep their hands off! Roots of huge trees literally grow in formations around the temple. Having planted themselves centuries ago, the trees' serpentine roots pry apart the ancient stones and their immense trunks straddle the once bustling Buddhist temple. It's also where they filmed "Tomb Raider" with Angeline Jolie, who is like a local hero here.

Unlike Angelina, we did not adopt any kids, which was probably for the best...but you can see how one could be inspired.