Cooking

Since I left home in September, I have not had a chance to get in the kitchen and I have been sorely missing one of my favorite activities, cooking. Now that I am with my friend in his condo I have access to a kitchen and I have enjoyed making coffee and toast in the mornings. Last night I decided to try my hand at "amok", the coconut based Cambodian food I learned about in my cooking class back in Siem Reap several weeks ago.
With Adil's help at the market, we rounded up everything we needed: lemon grass, ginger, tumeric root (who knew it does not just come ground up in a little jar from McCormick?), kaffir lime leaf, coconut cream, shrimp paste, fish sauce, chicken and rice. There was a lot of chopping when we got home, but cook time was brief and the result was quite tasty. It was so good, in fact, that we decided to make the same thing tonight. How fun to be back in the kitchen!

Kuala Lumpur

Telecom Tower in Kuala Lumpur, said to be modeled after a bamboo shoot.
The old train depot in KL, a lovely colonial Moorish building

Eating at The Banana Leaf

Having been in Kuala Lumpur earlier this year, I have seen most of the top tourist attractions such as Petronas Towers and Chinatown. I am enjoying relaxing in a homey environment and being less a traveler for a spell. As I mentioned before my friend Adil Razali lives here and has hospitably opened his home to me. I am so lucky to have a local show me around, especially when it comes to eating and shopping, two activities which have taken up a lot of my time here. I have had to buy the second bag in as many weeks after my trusty old duffel I have used for years began to fall apart back in Phnom Penh. I bought a cheap suitcase on wheels which began breaking here and there almost immediately, so yesterday i went to a mall in KL and bought an expensive but excellent wheeled duffel/back pack. (After what I spent on the bag it better last me a long, long time.)

In the picture above, Adil and I are having lunch in KL at The Banana Leaf Restaurant. The delicious food is on banana leaves, not plates, and the utensils are your fingers. Too bad for dishwashers seeking work!

Kuala Lumpur is a beautiful city with a lot of stunning architecture, colonial and very modern. The original Malay population slightly outnumbers Chinese and Indian who came here during the British colonial days. There is some racial conflict but mostly everyone seems to coexist rather well.

Chistmas 2010

This was Christmas Dinner. Good as it was I missed the turkey and other stuff at the Renfroes.

I spent Christmas day traveling from Koh Phangan in Thailand to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It was expectedly different from any Christmas before. I had a pick up at my place on the island at 0630 and then went to the ferry to the mainland. There I met a South African couple also headed for KL and I enjoyed discussing Christmas traditions with them as we journeyed to Hat Yai, Thailand, near the Malay border. I had a couple of hour layover in Hat Yai and I was sorry that I was not stopping there. It looked like a very lively town and probably would have been an enjoyable place to finish Christmas day in Asia.

However, I had booked a ticket through to Kuala Lumpur and I was pleased when I boarded the most comfy bus so far this trip for the onward journey. I arrived in KL at 5-ish in the morning and took a taxi to the house of my friend, Adil. That was Christmas, 2010.

Christmas Eve

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas here. There are lighted trees and some people are sporting Santa hats, so I guess it really is Christmas, Eve. I know I need to get some photos in here and save 100's of words.
I will be travelling all day on Christmas to Kuala Lumpur so once again Merry Christmas to all.

XOXOXO

Christmas Card

Merry Chistmas

One Night in Bangkok

Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok, one of the finest airports I know anywhere

I woke up early Sunday morning in Phnom Penh and called my friend in Ho Chi Minh City to see if he had recovered from a sore throat and was still planning to meet me in Phnom Penh. He was still sick so I hopped on the computer, checked flights to Bangkok, found a flight in exactly 2 hours, threw my things into my new suitcase (more on the suitcase later) and dashed to the airport to fly once again on good ole Thai Airways. I felt that I was embodying spontaneity and I liked it.

Now I am in Bangkok in the same hotel I discovered last time I passed through here, The Train Inn, which is just about 2 minutes from Hua Lumphong train station. Still in the mode of spontaneity, I began to plan the next step once here. I have a goal to be in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, by 31 December, so I am heading south. I just booked a bus/ferry combo to Koh Phangan at the next door travel agency. Koh Phangan is an island near Surat Thani (for anyone looking at a map) and it is famous for its Full Moon Parties, one of which is tomorrow, December 21. These parties are quite famous and I had to book a hotel for a minimum of 4 days. That will put me out on the street (actually out on the beach) on Christmas Eve. I hope to have a plan by then.

Two More Food Stories

Yesterday I was wandering about the streets of Phnom Penh and I noticed a delicious smell emanating from one of the many sidewalk food vendors. Following my Pavlovian response to an enticing smell I stopped to investigate. It was a stir fry with a lot of veggies but I did not recognize one ingredient. It could have been a bean, it could have been a bean sprout, it could have been a short noodle., it could have been a worm. I was 99% sure it wasn't a worm because it just did not have a meaty texture, so I kept on eating and wondering. Had I thought it was a worm it would have been end of show. (I have my limits.)

Last night I had my first bout of traveler's stomach and as I was regretting what possible steps I could have taken to avoid the problem, it dawned upon me that what I had eaten looked a lot like the larvae you find when you turn over a log in the woods. Grossed out? The good news is I am feeling fine and whatever it was did not kill me. I hope it wasn't larvae but I guess I will never know.

Today I took a bus from Phnom Penh back to Kep on the coast of Cambodia. I had a ticket to go to Kampot, another 20 KM further, but when the bus stopped at this little seaside village I was intrigued and hopped off. That is where I am now.

After checking in to a guest house I wandered along the beach and selected one of the many waterside cafes for lunch where I ordered a kilogram (2.2 pounds) of crab and a bowl of rice all for $4. I really did not know how much a kilo of crab was but when I saw my order I was sure I had over-ordered. I picked and smacked crab for over an hour and I could not finish it all.

Kep was developed by the French as a resort and there are numerous abandoned villas built on the hill overlooking the sea. Because of the link with colonialism Kep was particularly despised by the Khmer Rouge consequently the villas and other remnants of that legacy were mostly destroyed. At the moment I am debating to stay here omorrow or go over to Rabbit Island.

Another Bizarro Event

I am writing this in the lobby of my hotel in Phnom Penh. A few minutes ago I was writing an email to my sister Rena and I was telling her that I am anticipating one of my few Christmases away from home and what to my wondering ear should I hear but "Jingle Bells" playing on the hotel background music. I get pretty sentimental about family and home at this time of year. Frosty the Snowman would not last long here. It is hot!

No News Good News

These are lotus roots and the seeds which are enclosed in the small round circles are popular snacks, not unlike peanuts. The lotus is considered the perfect plant because it rises from the water to produce a beautiful flower. A lot of Buddhist allegory is connected with the lotus.

This stretch of sand and rocks is the quarter mile road connecting the highway to the beach in Sihanoukville. There is a lot of pedestrian, motorbike and construction traffic. That is my hotel on the left. I have declared that this is the worst road I have seen anywhere in the world. The saving grace is that it leads to such a delightful beach.

So long since I have written and a lot to catch up. I have been moving around a bit so not always able to get on the internet. That's my story and I am sticking to it.

I left Siem Reap a week ago and headed for Phnom Penh where I met a friend from Viet Nam who had business here. We spent a couple of days in PP seeing sights including the horrific Toul Sleng Detention Center, the site of torture, interrogations and killings of thousands of Cambodians during the years of genocide when the Red Khmers ran things back in the 80's and 90's. It was the goal of the Khmer Rouge to eliminate everything from the past and begin a new agrarian culture. All lawyers, teachers, politicians were interrogated, tortured and eventually killed, as were their wives and children, the latter to prevent reprisals after the children were grown. It was madness and so inconsistent with the gentle nature of the Cambodians I have met. Visiting Toul Sleng is depressing but enlightening, not in a very good way, when you see how low humanity can fall. I hired a guide who gave a vivid and horrible description of what took place there. She was about 45 years old and explained that she was living with her family in PP when Pol Pot took power. There are photos on display of celebration in the streets of Phnom Penh as the people welcomed the KR and photos 3 hours later of firing squad executions on the same streets. As the Khmer Rouge took over the city, residents either joined the party or fled to the country. She left with her family and walked 30 days to the north. Even there they did not escape and her father and brother who were teachers were killed by the Khmer Rouge. She told this story very emotionlessly as have all Cambodians with whom I have discussed the bad old days. I guess it is a defense mechanism.

From PP I traveled south to Sihanoukville, a wonderful beach town 4 hours away. I spent my first night in a pretty awful hotel but moved the next day to a much nicer place with a great balcony and view. The room was on the fourth floor and that is a lot of steps to schlep a heavy bag. There are few elevators in this country, so a room with a view usually means a lot of steps. In Sihnaoukville I enjoyed a lot of really good food. At night the beach is lined with food hawkers and you can sit at a table a few feet from the water and wiggle your toes in the sand as you are eating your grilled red snapper.

Now I am back in Phnom Penh and I will stay here a few more days. The main reason I am staying is to have some dental work done. I had a temporary crown put in a few months ago in Viet Nam so I was fitted yesterday for a permanent. It should be ready in a couple of days so I will rest and relax here in Phnom Penh while I wait..

Three Food Stories

Mandarins

When I was in Vietnam a shop keeper gave me a tasty little fruit which I have been seeking ever since. Only upon arriving in Cambodia did some one call it a name I recognized. This is a mandarin which I have only had in little cans from Goya when it is on sale at Walgreeens 3 for a dollar. There is so little similarity between the taste of fresh and canned that I had not made the connection. It is kind of like the difference between canned and fresh asparagus. I wonder if Florida grows mandarins. If so I have never seen them.

Running Amok

Yesterday I took a cooking class at Temple Bar which is really more restaurant than bar, but a very popular tourist spot with good food, pool tables, a nightly Aspara dance show and also cooking school. If I have not stressed it before, Cambodian food is the best I know in Asia and I hope that I learned enough to recreate a few Khmer dishes in my own kitchen.

I was able to select three items from a list so I chose green mango salad because it sounds good, green pea desert because it sounds intriguing and amok because it is one of the best things I have ever eaten, moving into my top three foods ever, the other two being my sister Eve's ratatouille and my Argentine friend Monada's lasagna. The mango salad was mostly a matter of chopping (julianne) mango, carrot, onion and basil. The sauce is made of fish sauce, palm sugar, white sugar, salt chili, garlic and lime. The green pea desert is a soup ("Soup for desert?", you may ask.) The amok is made with coconut cream, fish, chicken or beef, eggs,onion, shallot and yummy spices. If anyone cares to take a chance on how I can cook this when I get home, let me know. I will need guinea pigs.

Dixie, Georgia

How does Dixie figure into one of my 3 food stories from Asia? A few weeks ago I was in Surin, Thailand, for their annual elephant roundup. During my afternoon siesta one day I was flipping through channels on the TV seeking something in English. I had a choice of tennis, football (theirs, not ours) or the Asian Food Network. I alternated between tennis and food until I was captured by a voice I heard on the Asian Food Network. Someone was speaking South Georgia English!!!!!!!! Completely on the opposite side of the world there on television was a TV chef named Lynn Crawford doing a show on barbeque from Dixie. My thoughts were how bizarre is this and what a small world. I enjoyed hearing some "non accented" English and I was as a little nostalgic seeing a place so close to home.

Siem Reap

One of my favorite cities on my last trip was Siem Reap, Cambodia and that is why I am back here. What makes Siem Reap famous is the Angkor Wat temple complex which originated in 802 AD and was the seat of power for the area until 1431 when Thailand conquered the area. Interestingly, this was long before Christopher Columbus was even born. Visiting the ruins is a tiring and expensive adventure, so I may not go this time, having visited earlier this year. Instead, I plan to sample as many of the delicious and cheap restaurants and laze by the river which runs through the center of town. I also plan to take a cooking class while I am here. My hotel is comfy, central, air con, with a balcony overlooking the river and is only $10 per night. I may never leave.

Two Classics

This being the last day before my 14 day Thailand visa expires I decided to revisit the classic Oriental Hotel and from there take the public ferry up the Chao Praya River to see the city from water level. Classic though it is The Oriental has lost a lot of the original charm and now looks like any 5 star hotel anywhere. There is too much glass and marble and not enough teak and open windows which is what the Oriental was when I first saw it years ago. Well, that was classic number one.



The other classic was an encounter on the street not far from the Oriental. In case you are unaware Bangkok is no city for prudes. To put it politely working girls of all sorts are abundant. Today I was amused to hear the old classic, "Me love you long time," but with a twist. This poor unlovely girl offered to love me long time for 20 baht. That is less than one dollar and although it was a bargain, I decided I would rather have an ice coffee. I am sure I made the right decision.



I leave by mini van for Siem Reap tomorrow morning. My pickup is 7 AM and arrival at the border is around 11 AM. I expect to be in Siem Reap mid afternoon.

Final Day in Surin

I was taking a nap in my hotel Sunday afternoon after the elephant show and I was wakened by the trumpeting. I looked out of my hotel window at the plaza in front of the train station and I saw this wonderful scene.

A lady prepares to launch an offering to her ancestors.

This is a paper lantern that is also used in the loy ka tong celebration and it is amazingly simple and beautiful.

I spent my final day in Surin attending the aforementioned festival in the morning and the evening at another celebration called loy ka tang. For loy ka tang the Buddhists light candles and float them down the river or set off burning paper lanterns which ascend like a hot air balloon. This is done to honor ancestors and I would have made my offering had I not suspected that my father would probably not think it such a good idea to participate. Those of you who are reading this and who knew Jimmie Hanahan well will agree, no doubt. It was a beautiful event with candles floating on the water and burning lanterns rising from the shore.

I am now in Pattaya, Thailand for a little beach time. This is where I went to the hospital for a hip injury on my last trip. I was happy to walk past Pattaya Memorial Hospital earlier today and not have to stay there. I have only a 14 day visa for Thailand this time which means I have to leave here by next Monday. I will go to Bangkok in a couple of days and from there I plan to head over to Cambodia.

A Really Big Show

Classical Thai Dancing

They are just so cute and lovable.

This morning I went to the elephant round up which was the culmination of the weekend. What a show it was including a grand procession, classical Thai dancing, amazing elephant stunts and a reenactment of a 16th century battle between Thailand and Burma. The show was definitely one of the highlights of my trip and well worth the effort of getting here to Surin.

Elephants Elephants Elephants

Teacher and class who interviewed me. What is your name? Where are you from? Do you like Thailand? Do you like Thai food? etc. What a great learning experience this teacher devised!

Crossing the finish line with my bag of rice

Procession of elephants

Here come the elephants!

I have never seen so many elephants, more than 300 they say. They are all sizes from really cute looking babies to enormous powerhouses. It is really thrilling to be so close but a bit frightening too. I did see a minor incident when an elephant got irked with a handler and grabbed the handler with his trunk and threw him to the ground, but there seemed to be no harm done. There are warnings not to excite the elephants with flashes or surprise approaches. I am careful and most of the time keep my distance.

Yesterday the elephant procession occurred in the morning ending with an elephant buffet. The procession was down the length of Surin's main street starting at 0800. First came a marching band and you may guess what they played. Answer is below. After a few dignitaries and beauties on floats came the 2 hour parade of elephants. Sellers hawked sugar cane to feed which the trunk would delicately take from your hand and put into the mouth. If you handed the elephant paper money he would pass it in his trunk up to the handler on his back. I had a few bananas in my backpack. After an elephant probed my pack I decided it would be best to share my bananas. Upon arrival at the end of the route there were long tables set up with sugar cane, pineapples, watermelons and other fruits and veggies which were provided by banks and other businesses and the elephants would line up at a spot and very politely and orderly eat what was in front of them. There seemed to be no aggressive or piggish behaviour.

There was a large crowd gathered at the culmination and an announcer requested that some of the farang (foreigners) come forward to participate in a relay. In the course of the morning I had met a 3 Thai friends who encouraged me to participate so I went forward. The first contest was to swing a gourd between your legs attached to a string to knock a lime past the first goal. Easy once I got the rhythm. Next You had to eat a plate full of fruit, banana, watermelon, etc. Again, not so hard. Then came the balloon blow. You had to blow until the balloon popped and that was HARD. Lastly, was the rice tote in which I had to carry a burlap sack of rice across the finish line. I came in 3rd and won a tee shirt. Hooray! Actually it was a lot of fun and later in the day I was in the market and several food vendors recognized me from the contest. My 15 minutes?

Answer: The band played Henry Mancini's "Baby Elephant Walk" which I think I last heard in 1965. How incongruous can you get?

Back in Business

I have been moving about a good bit lately en route to my present location of Surin, Thailand. I left Vientiane by bus Monday morning and arrives at the surprisingly pleasant town of Udon in north east Thailand a few hours later. What was most interesting about that leg of the trip was crossing the border from Laos to Thailand. In Laos traffic drives on the right as we do. In Thailand traffic is on the left, so there was a criss-cross intersection where vehicles from the south (Thailand) would cross in front of the traffic departing Laos. It was almost like a vehicle ballet and reminded me of an ad that Mazda used to have on television with all the cars doing graceful interweaving maneuvers.

When I got off the bus in Udon I really was unprepared and not even clear as to where I was going, so I took a room near the bus station for the night. That way I could investigate possibilities to go to Surin. While exploring the town I ran across a beautiful air con mall so I spent a good bit of time there . I found a new camera to replace the one I don't like so much. On the top floor of the mall was a Sizzler and I enjoyed a delicious American style meal of meat, a baked potato (first baked potato in months and was it ever so good!) and a fantastic salad from the salad bar.

The following morning I took a 0630 bus on the first of a 2 bus journey to get me to Surin and arrived here mid afternoon. Surin is a quiet provincial capital in eastern Thailand except for the one weekend of the annual elephant roundup. Since guidebooks warned of limited hotels during this time and since I was unable to book a reservation online I got here early and now am happily located in my second hotel here after moving from a lovely but remote guesthouse to a centrally located hotel. There were several elephants roaming the streets last night and this morning was supposed to have been a procession of elephants, but it never seemed to happen. English speakers are not so common here and it is difficult to get info sometimes.

Backtracking a little, I foolishly opened an email from DHL yesterday and infected my computer with a virus. I left my laptop in the shop overnight and now all is well, so I am always happier when I can send and receive messages. Be warned so this does not happen to you.

I think I should return to the street to see what is happening. I would not want to miss any of the festivities. More about the roundup later.

Football ot Tennis

I have been in Laos for a few days now. Being here is such a change from Viet Nam. Here the pace is slower and less aggressive and the traffic calmer and quieter. If Viet Nam is a football game, then Laos is a tennis match. I was interested to learn that the hotel where I am staying in Vientiane was the principle hotel during the war days for journalists and spies. I can envision the likes of James Bond or a young Walter Cronkite roaming the hall outside my door.

One of my reasons for being in Vientiane is that this week is the celebration of the 450 year anniversary of Vientiane asd the capitol. While the festivites begin tomorrow the big events are not until next weekend and that is when I plan to be in Surin, Thailand for the elephant roundup. I am conflicted over which to choose.

Yesterday I visited the the fantasy like Buddha park. Here there are hundreds of Buddha and other related stautes in a pastoral setting alongside the Mekong River. Since the park is almosty an hour taxi out of the city few tourists make the long trek but it was a most worthwhile afternoon for me. Beside I had a delicious ice coffee in the parks' cafe.

Good Morning, Viet Nam

Today is my last in this wonderful country which I have come to love so much as did Robin Williams character in the film "Good Morning, Vietnam". I arrived here six weeks ago and in that time I have experienced frenetic cities with chaotic and cacaphonous traffic, tranquil countryside with beautiful natural scenery and stimulating beaches, some deserted as far as one can see and others complete with vendors selling sunglasses, beer and tee shirts. I have become a devotee of Vietnamese cuisine: who knew soup (pho) would become one of my favorite breakfasts? The Vietnamese people are some of the kindest, friendliest and most welcoming I have ever met.

I am now in my hotel in Hanoi where I am happy to have reliable internet once again. I returned by sleeper bus from the far north of Viet Nam to Hanoi a couple of days ago. Thinking that I had learned enough about sleeper buses I carefully planned my return booking early and confirming the seat I thought would be best only to arrive at the bus terminal and learn that the scheduled bus was delayed and I would be on a different bus. In the airline business we called this a COE - Change of Equuipment. This was none too comfy either so my track record for sleeper buses is not so good.


In my last hours here in Ha Noi I will revisit the mausoleum of Ho Chi Minh which was closed for restoration a few weeks ago. There is an office of American Airlines here and I will go there to buy some onward tickets. I plan to lunch at what has become my fav restaurant in Ha Noi where a delicious prix fixe lunch is about $2.50.

At 5 PM today I will depart for a long journey to Vientiane, Laos. Once again I am traveling by sleeper bus. The schedule is to arrive at the Viet Nam-Lao border at 5 AM. There I will obtain my VOA (visa on arrival) and then continue onward to Vientiane arriving mid afternoon. A friend from my previous trip to Vientiane has reserved a room for me at oone of my favorite hotels from my previous visit to Lao. So now I am out of the hotel for a final few hours in Ha Noi. My next report most likely will be from the PDRL-Pdeople's Democratic Republic of Lao.

The Fantasy Forest

Still enjoying being here in Sapa I went trekking again yesterday to see more minority villages but what was most wonderful about yesterday's excursion was the fantastic forest on the mountains between villages. There was a phantasmagorical element and I half expected to see dwarfs, nymphs, fairies and other elusive creatures darting through the lush dense bamboo stands. I feel like there is some benign magical quality about this place.

A few times since I have been in Asia someone has rubbed my tummy and said "Happy Buddha." I have been on some pretty strenuous hikes and I hope not to be called "Happy Buddha" again.

Last night's love market for which Sapa is known was really nothing special so I went with a friend to the happening-est place we could find which was a disco/karaoke bar. Almost all of the music was Vietnamese but once in a while the DJ would play an English song and the banner on the karaoke screen proclaimed "Ameri-Sing". It still seems odd to me that this country was our enemy so recently. As far as I can tell all has been forgiven.

High in the Mountains

This was the vantage point near the beginning of the 12 km hike to villages surrounding Sapa.
Fellow trekkers---Ed, Phu from Viet Nam, Bernard from Australia, Natalie from San Diego (one of the few Americans I have met) and Laura from Spain

Where the going got rough for these old bones.

Like the Hotel California "what a lovely place" is Sapa. From almost any viewpoint in the town which is situated atop a medium size mountain there are soaring peaks or sweeping valleys. From here you can see southeast Asia's answer to Mount Everest which is called Mount Fanispan.

Yesterday I joined and organized trekking expedition which was a hike of about 12 km down the valley, alongside the waterway and back up, during which we visited villages of 2 different minorities as the indigenous people are called. We saw the black Hmoung (so called because they wear all black heavily embroidered with colored thread and adorned with silver) and the red Tzai (red head scarves). The agent booking my tour advised it was of medium difficulty and I was confident that I was in shape for it. Well, the other 5 people on the tour were in their 20's and 30's and it was definitely a challenge to keep up. I did pretty well however I struggled as we hiked a narrow path between the terrace of rice fields and the beautiful crystalline stream which waters the paddies. By the end of the hike my shoes were pretty muddy so I left them with one of the many services here which clean and dry shoes overnight. I am pleased they look like new now.

I have another self guided hike planned for today which sounds pretty steep and I will take 2 preparatory Alleve. Going up while more difficult is easier than descending which can be pretty painful in these old knees. The views are supposed to be spectacular.

The day time temperatures are very pleasant and the nights are chilly. As tonight is my last night I hope not to buy any more warm clothes since I do not expect to need them in other places on this trip, however Saturday nights in Sapa are famous for the "love market" where locals come to court villagers from all around. I doubt that I will fall in love and I hope I resist the temptation to add more to my travel wardrobe.

There's Cold in Them There Hills

What a difference a day makes. I left Cat Ba Island at 9AM yesterday and after a series of 5 buses, a ferry and a taxi I got to the destination in Hanoi where I was to pick up my bus ticket onward to Sapa. By the time I got to Hanoi I was pretty disgusted with the arrangements made by my travel agent/hotel receptionist in Cat Ba so I prepared myself for the worst as I journeyed onward. Well, the bus ride to Sapa was so-so, fairly comfortable, not crowded and on schedule. The bus was arranged with 2 reclining side by side seats which were about 5 feet long. Another 12 inches certainly would have made for a far more relaxing ride.

What was most impressive about the trip was the change in climate from Ha Noi which is flat and hot to Sapa which was quite chilly and mountainous. Looking across the valleys around this village brings to mind the opening scene of "The Sound of Music" with all the steeples replaced by pagodas. It is delightful here now that the sun is fully operational, however I may have to visit the market tonight to buy something warmer than a windbreaker.

Cat Ba Island

I just happened to take this picture in Cat Ba because it was just outside my balcony although it could be anywhere in Viet Nam. There are hundreds of electrical and telephone wires strung like this. Must be a repairman's nightmare. On the beach in Cat Ba

Cruising to Cat Ba Island

I am now on Cat Ba island off the coast of Ha Long and Hai Phong sitting in the cafe where I had my breakfast using their internet. My breakfast was pretty ordinary, a cheese omelet, baguette ,coffee and a mango shake. Oh how I missed those delicious fresh fruit shakes after my last trip and how I am enjoying them again. It is difficult to decide whether to have mango, pineapple, banana or watermelon, but mango is probably my fav. I am taking a reprieve from the noodle soup (pho)breakfast which the locals eat.

Traveling here by junk was a little reminiscent of cruising in the islands in the Aegean Sea. The scenery is spectacular and there are island mountains every where. Yesterday I went on an excursion to a beach out of town and the view from afar looking back at Cat Ba town also looked like a Mediterranean island. There are spectacular limestone caves here, the most famous the largest in Asia. Unfortunately my camera could not begin to capture what I saw so you will just have to believe me that it was unforgettable. Stalagmites and stalactites on other formations created natural sculptures of animals and humans if you used your imagination.

Tomorrow I will be picked up at my hotel at 9 AM for a bus-ferry-bus trip to Hanoi where I will have another sleeper bus to the very north of Viet Nam, Sapa. It seems the information about this leg of the journey keeps being modified and I am not 100% confident that I have the correct information from the travel agent who booked it. According to my Vietnamese friend the people in the north are notorious for answering your questions "yes" if that is the answer you want. "Yes" does not necessarily mean it is so.

Familiar Names

Being in Viet Nam stimulates memories of names of so many places I never expected to see when I would listen to news reports back in the war days. This morning I traveled by bus from Ha Noi to Ha Long Bay. I think Ha Long Bay is where fellow Valdostan Norman Huggins was shot down and barely rescued from the bay by an American helicopter amidst exchanged gun fire between the helicopter and an approaching Vietnamese gun ship. If You have a chance to hear Norman tell the story do not miss it. It is a nail biter! Ha Long Bay is one of the most beautiful spots in Viet Nam and I look forward to exploring tomorrow.

ATM

Aren't ATM's wonderful? With your little plastic card you can go to a cash dispenser almost any place in the world and within seconds make a withdrawal from your account back home. I had a small problem today however. I requested 2 million Dong ($200) from an ATM in the market of old Ha Noi but I only received 1.5 million (3 half million Dong notes). I advised the the bank owning the ATM and also notified my bank in Valdosta. If all goes well the missing half million Dong will be credited to my account. If not I am out of $25. Could be worse and I surely learned a lesson: Always find an ATM attached to an bank and use it during working hours.

Tourist in Hanoi

This was John McCain's jumpsuit which he was wearing when he was captured. Fellow Democrats, do not worry. I am not switching!!!

Hoa Lo Prison, built by the French to incarcerate dissidents, was used during the war and dubbed "Hanoi Hilton". Propaganda abounds here and pictures of the imprisoned POW's show all happy and healthy looking Americans. In addition to McCain the current US Ambassador to Viet Nam was imprisoned here.

Statue of Confucius at the Temple of Literature.

Entrance to the Temple of Literature. This temple was founded in 1070and was the first university in the country. Highly placed men came here to study Confucius.

The War Strategy room in Ha Noi. What could have been avoided here and in D.C.

Tran Quoc Pagoda, one of the oldest in the country, was restored after heavy damage in the war.

Sometimes a city tour is the best way to get to know a few interesting highlights of a place. I booked a tour through my hotel and I thought I had made a good decision assuming since my tour was only 3 people that we would all be English speaking. Sadly the other 2 were Vietnamese from Sai Gon, so I understood little of the commentary. Well, I did get to see some important and interesting places anyway.

The most interesting things often are not on the tour. I am staying in the Old Quarter of Ha Noi which has been the shopping area for centuries. No doubt many of the wares have changed although some things like gongs and ducks and straw mats must have always been available. What impressed me most however was a street dedicated to the sale of new clothes all with U.S. Army insignia. Weren't we the enemy? Go figure!

A Few Random Observations

• Books I always enjoy life more when I am involved with a good book. After getting into the final 100 pages I start to dread reaching the last page and I ration my reading to forestall finishing. I started this trip with "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy, a favorite author who writes about beloved low country South Carolina where I spent a lot of time growing up. I hated coming to the inevitable conclusion. Now I am in that hateful stage of reading Michale Palin's "Himalaya" which is the former Monty Python actor's travel log of crossing the Himalayan Mountain Range from Afghanistan to Central China. Many hotels and cafes in Viet Nam have book exchanges so I hope to get lucky again when I seek new reading material.
• Onions I see all kinds of produce here. The markets abound with familiar and unfamiliar looking fruits and veggies. I succumbed to the taste for American food a few days ago and ordered a hamburger (which was actually very good). What I realized while eating my burger and fries is that I do not recall seeing a nice big ordinary slicing onion in any Asian market. How odd that something so very common to us is not available here.
• Crowds This is an unbelievably congested, noisy and crowded country. Ha Noi seems more so than any other place I have visited. The streets are narrow and the sidewalks are full of parked motorbikes and vendors selling food, belts, tee shirts, sunglasses; so pedestrians must walk on the edge of the street continuously aware of cars, bicycles and motorbikes all around. My observations of Ha Noi make New York City seem practically bucolic.
• Language The language of Viet Nam consists of all single syllable words. Note the way that the locals spell Ha Noi and Viet Nam.
• Uncle Ho Now that I am in Hanoi I am aware that Ho Chi Minh is accorded almost saintly status. In other parts of the country one can not help but notice his esteemed presence everywhere but Hanoi kicks it to a higher level. He is the George Washington of Viet Nam and I have read accounts of the USA in the years following the American Revolution that George Washington was similarly revered. I was disappointed today that his tomb in which resides his preserved remains is closed for renovation. It would have been interesting to see the local people pay tribute.

God Bye Hue and Hello Hanoi

Mellifluous Perfume River in Hue

Dining room at Jenny Li's home

Dinner is served

I spent my last days in Hue with new friends I met at a travel agency near my hotel. My new friends from the agency Hong and Jenny Li were happy for an opportunity to practice English.

What started out as coffee at a very local and very chic coffee shop turned into a lunch invitation at Jenny Li's. I stopped by a bakery and took a cake for dessert. Later in the day as the agency was closing at 9PM, I stopped by to thank everyone for their hospitality and we decided to go out for a few beers which we had in an open air restaurant next to the Perfume River. One would expect a sweet smell from a river so named but I never detected any scent at all. That was a little disappointing.

I arrived this morning in Hanoi after a very uncomfortable sleeping bus ride. Previously my sleeping bus trips have been quite satisfactory, but on this bus I was assigned a bunk in the back of the bus right over the wheel well and my much too close next door neighbor snored all the night. I was ready to get off the bus long before we arrived at our destination.

I remember the horror and anger that the name Hanoi used to inspire. Hard to believe that I am here. I have forayed only briefly out of the hotel because I still feel rather wiped out after my overnight bus trip. Near my hotel I spotted what appeared to be a theatre so I went in to inquire about shows. The cast was just leaving rehearsals as I walked in and so they gave me a ticket to the performance tomorrow night. From the publicity shots it looks like Chinese opera, but you know it's all Greek to me. If there is any resentment of Americans here, I surely have not experienced it.

Hi Ho Hue

The Citadel of Hue

In the rain

Tu Heiu Pagoda overlooking the Perfume River

From Hoi An to Hue was a very short trip on the bus, leaving at 8 AM and arriving at noon. Just a half hour out of Hoi An we stopped at Marble Mountain which is a huge escarpment of marble and a center of marble sculpture. Wisely the Vietnamese have chosen not to excavate any more of their marble and so most of the sculpture is from imported Chinese material. (Seeing this as an example, the present Chinese economic success will eventually bankrupt them of natural resources and probably lead to some serious problems.) Approaching the mountain the road is lined with shops selling beautiful carved Buddhas, goddesses, lanterns and other things to decorate your yard or temple. Had I my truck with me, I am sure I would have shopped for just the right piece for my patio. As it was I settled for a fist sized carved Buddha.

We arrived on schedule in Hue and I was hustled by one of the bus greeters to have a look at his hotel and that is where I am staying. It is actually fine and I the price does not reflect any commission paid to him as far as I can tell. As usual I am in the backpacker area so there are a lot of other tourists around and it is entertaining and enlightening the share road stories. For example the day I arrived i was speaking with a Canadian and a Brit who had arrived the same day but from Hanoi in the north. One had traveled by bus and the other by train and both had been delayed by about 14 hours due to flooding. That is the direction I am headed and I am happy that the flooding now has past. This was a result of a typhoon then in the Philippines and now in China.

I was lucky to meet an excellent tour guide here who has shown me around. We went the first day to the citadel which was the royal compound. Hue was the imperial capital of Vietnam from 1805 until 1945 and the kings built for themselves a private city to inhabit. One king would have several wives and as many as 200 concubines. Evidently the kings cared little for sleep. I expect there must have been a lot of people hired as nurses and diaper changers. My guide told me his great-great grandmother was the second wife of one of the kings and he referred to the palace as his ancestral home. During this time the French colonized Vietnam and there were frequent battles between the kings' forces and the colonists until the French finally had a puppet ruler installed on the throne.

The next day was an day long trip out of the city to the kings' tombs. Each king had a complete palace built for himself as a burial area. Prior to his death these palaces were places the royals would go for relaxation. The exact burial sites for the kings is unknown for fear that enemies might want to disturb the resting places.

I am declaring today a day of leisure. Having sightseen the important sights places I am looking forward to some leisure time along the beautifully named Perfume River. It is 730 in the morning and I am meeting some new friends for coffee at 830. Perhaps my plans will change after out meeting, but I do want to take it easy today.

My Son

No, I have not discovered a long unknown heir to my fortunes. Max the cat is still my one and only son. "My Son" is Vietnamese for "holy mountain" and visiting My Son was an interesting day trip out of Hoi An.

I booked a tour to My Son with my hotel and was picked up at 0800. The tour was not full so the minivan was comfortable. As always the tour was conducted in English although there were several non native English speakers touring. I resent the USA's efforts to dominate politics and business all over the world but I do enjoy the benefit that English is used worldwide as a common language of communication.

I wonder if non English speakers can understand the sometimes heavily accented English used here in Vietnam. I often struggle to catch words or phrases and they are speaking my language. How difficult it must be if you are Italian, Spanish, French, etc. to translate from Viet-English to standard English to your own language. It is the same, by the way with currency. Often prices here are quoted in unweildy Vietnamese Dong and also in US dollars. Fortunately for me, I have no further conversion to make. New Zealanders, Europeans, Japanese, etc. on the other hand must make an additional conversion. To explain my use of the word unweildy above, there are about 20,000 Vietnamese dong to one dollar. That means you must move the decimal place 4 to the left and then divide by 2 to calculate the dollar amount. When I go to the ATM here to withdraw money the maximum I can withdraw at one time is a whopping 2 million dong. 2,000,000 Dong is only $100, but it seems like a lot and it is difficult to count the number of zeroes on a bill .

Well, that was an aside and now back to the main event. My Son was founded in the second century by people called Cham who came to this part of the world from Indonesia. The religion was a localized form of Hinduism so there are remains of Shivas and Krishnas all around. The Chams ruled the area for about 14 centuries. I noticed the similarity of the artwork (sculpture) here to that in Cambodia's Angkor Wat, not surprisingly, but, inexplicably similar to some that I have seen in temples in Mexico, Peru and Guatemala. It seems to me there must be some anthopological connection between these cultures so far apart. I would like to research the idea when I have time.

Time and civilization have taken their toll on the temples and there were many more temples than now exist. A great amount of damage was caused by American bombing during the war. On this point even the official stand does take some responsibility since the Viet Cong used the temples as hideouts thus prompting the bombings. It is not often that the American actions are portrayed so magnanimously.

Nha Trang to Hoi An

The Japanese Bridge built in 1600's by local Japanese merchants to honor their emperor
Waterfront in Hoi An


Champa dance demonstration

Lantern making is a tradition here. Would love to bring some home with me but too early in the trip to start acquiring things like that.

I departed Nha Trang bound for Hoi An on the "sleeping bus" which was about a 10 hour ride. I had only seen the Vietnamese sleeper buses through the windows and I always felt they looked quite comfy, certainly better than those I had experienced in Laos. The entire bus was configured with lower and upper bunks designed to accommodate Asian size bodies, now over sized westerners, but I scrunched in, snuggled under the blanket they provided, donned my well used eye shades (my gratitude to the inventor) and actually slept fairly well. Two or three times during the night the bus stopped and the co-drivers got out, opened the motor compartment, fiddled around and then resumed the trip. Each time that happened I thought, "Oh, no! This is gonna be bad.", but we arrived in Hoi An right on schedule at 6 AM. Interesting to me was the policy when boarding the bus all passengers were given plastic bags for shoes so you walked barefooted from the door of the bus to your bunk.

I found a hotel close by the bus stop which will also be my departure point when I leave here, and after a short rest set out to explore Hoi An. This is an ancient city dating back to the second century. It was the principle port for international trade in this part of Asia from around 1200 until the mid 1800's. Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Persian, Indonesian, Portuguese, French, British and American ships called here and traded in silk, porcelain, paper, sugar, pepper, lacquer, mother of pearl, sulphur and lead. Fortunately by cooperation on both sides this city was not damaged in the war.

Baby Got New Shoes

Historically Hoi An in a merchant town and today that tradition is well in effect today. One does not go anywhere and not encounter shop keepers and street vendors trying to relieve you of a little hard earned moola. There are tee shirts, souvenirs, peanuts, candied ginger everywhere. Also there are tailors and shoe makers.

I resisited the above tempations (some were not so tempting actually) pretty well up to a point. Finally I caved in to the idea of custom made shoes so I decided to look at least. First I was presented with a huge display of shoes from which I could select the style I wanted. Then I was given a choice of leathers. Now came the time to negotiate price which started at $48. I explained I had a budget of $25, but I would consider going to a maximum of$30. After a persistent but low pressure discussion I agreed to "help out" the salesgirl and we settled on $33. She was good! I was measured and told to return the next day for a fitting. About 24 hours after my first contact I walked out of the store with my new shoes (but not wearing them because the glue had not set). It was kind of empowering to custom design shoes and I felt a bit Donald Trumpish.

Where Pho Is King

Pho is to the Vietnamese what grits is (or should I say are) to us Georgians. Pho is soup served in a huge bowl with a lot of noodles, a little meat and broth. Always a side dish piled high with all kind of veggies is served with pho and these are added to the broth making for a delicious filling and healthy breakfast. Above is a Nha Trang restaurant which serves good pho and caters to tourists

Searching for Sponge Bob

After a last minute weather observation I decided to take a chance on the skies not opening for another drenching and booked a snorkling trip out of the Nha Trang harbor. What a shame I did not have an underwater camera because some of the sights were so perfectly photographical. The tour lasted about 6 hours and stopped at 3 snorkling sites. After the second stop the guests climbed aboard and what awaited us was a tasty lunch served on the deck chairs which had been flatted into a makeshift dining table. As an added bonus the owner declared our trip to be a free beer, free soda cruise since all 20 spots were taken.

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintainence

I am still here in Nha Trang enjoying the days by the ocean. Despite a few torrential rains the weather has been good, not too hot and fine for the beach. For the past two nights the rain has come while I was sleeping and it sounds like the roof might fall in under the impact. I am always glad when the rain comes while I am comfortably inside and sleeping because it seems that there is a correlation "rainy at night, sun shining bright." I especially enjoy waking up in the hotel and looking out at sunrise over the China Sea. The sun surely does rise early here, before 0600.

Two days ago a Vietnamese friend and I rented a motorbike to explore the area around the city. We decided to head south where there are beautiful beaches with crystalline water (and no pollution like right here in the city.) The beach we found exceeded expectations and we were able to take our motorbike right on to the sand and ride for a long distance. All was perfect until we decided to ride back to one of the fisherman huts and try to buy some lunch. The ignition switch was inoperative! Not only were we unable to start the bike but we also could not get in to the underseat storage compartment where our money and phone were because the same ignition switch unlocked and locked that compartment.

I was becoming a little anxious at this point because we really were far from any town and other people. We started pushing the bike along and finally came to a beachside shack (truly a shack and not a cute cafe that calls itself a shack) where there were 4 really rough looking characters eating lunch and drinking whiskey. If we had been in Georgia I am sure the soundtrack of "Duelling Banjos" would have been playing. There was supposed to be a screwdiver at the next place down the beach and sure enough there was so we brought it back to our bike and one the above characters took a look at our bike unsuccessfully.

We continued onward pushing the bike to where we got the screwdriver and the lady there knew of a mechanic and she called. About a half hour later the fixer arrived and began his investigation of the problem. This was a Japanese (Suzuki) bike and just like a Japanese car, you have to take everything apart to get to what you want because all is so interconnected. We had the bike in pieces spread out on the beach and finally he made a temporary fix and the bike started.

Then it was time to pay but our money was still locked up so the next challenge was to get into the storage area. Mechanics are almost magician-like to me and eventually he was able to open the underseat storage. For his services he asked for 25,000 Vietnamese Dong. That is one dollar and twenty five cents. That's right sportsfans, a buck twenty five for his trip out to us and well over an hour of work. It would not be so bad to take your car to the shop at home at that rate.

Being hot and sandy my friend asked the proprietress if there was a shower and she offered us what she had, which was a deep well and a bucket. Standing on a few planks of wood you would drop the bucket into the well and pour water over your head. That was the first shower like that I ever had.