Day #5 March 15: Hoi An

We got up at 5:00, thrilled that we'd had a decent night's sleep.

 Hội An, also Faifoo, is a city of Vietnam, on the coast of the East Sea in the South Central Coast region of Vietnam. It is home to approximately 120,000 inhabitants. It is recognized as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.  Hội An Ancient Town is an exceptionally well-preserved example of a South-East Asian trading port dating from the 15th to the 19th century.                                                                                  --Wikipedia

The buffet breakfast under the trees was fabulous.

We also watched some tai chi being done.

Quite a few of our tour friends opted to get a bag full of laundry done at a local laundry that Hoa knew.  The cost was by the pounds and extremely reasonable.  Art and I didn't have enough to do.

I know Hoa said there was a law in effect that only three people could ride on a motorbike.  They were also supposed to wear a helmet. 

Ummm...

Hoa told us that when we're crossing streets teeming with motorbikes, we shouldn't run or stop.  We should simply walk slowly because bikes don't stop.   They just swerve to avoid you.

We went to the Chinese Community Center (Phuc Kien Assembly Hall) and saw a statue of Thien Hau (Heavenly Queen Lady).  In China, Thien Hau is known as Mazu.

Thiên Hậu is a deity of traditional Chinese religion, who is revered in the southern maritime provinces of China and in overseas Chinese communities. She is not specifically a deity of Taoism or Buddhism, though she has been brought into connection with figures and themes from Taoism and Buddhism.  -Wikipedia

I loved seeing this lady watching her dogs and puppies.










It was really funny to see bulbuls hanging from cages as pets.  They may be pretty, but are such pests in Hawaii!

Hoi An Artcraft Manufacturing Workshop

It was interesting to see this woman creating lanterns to be used for their festivals .

We listened to Vietnamese music.












This woman was selling Chinese horoscope pendants and hanging ornaments.

Japanese Covered Bridge
(16th - to early 17th century) 

It was built by the Japanese to connect their side to the Chinese side of town.

Lunch was at the Morning Glory Street Food Restaurant and Cooking School.

We thought their food was the best we'd had on this trip so far.

The menu listed this as Tofu & Tomato Soup and a Crispy Pancake.

The crispy pancake had green bananas, green mango, bean sprouts, cilantro (coriander) and mustard greens.

I know North Face is made in Vietnam, but I still wondered if what we saw in these little shops were the real thing or knock-offs.


I was having a hard time getting used to Vietnamese money which is called Dong.

The exchange rate was $1.00 = 21,000 dong.

The many zeros totally confused me!

In the late afternoon, I took a rest for a couple of hours while my energizer bunny, Art continued to explore the town.

Dinner at the hotel was restful and lovely.

Several tour friends had already gotten sick so a little rest was helpful.

Day #4 March 14: Hanoi

Woke up at 5:00 and had breakfast at 6:00.  Luggage pick-up at 7:00 and out the door by 8:00.

 Ngoc Son Temple

According to the legend, emperor Le Loi was boating on the lake when a Golden Turtle God (Kim Qui) surfaced and asked for his magic sword, Heaven's Will. Lợi concluded that Kim Qui had come to reclaim the sword that its master, a local God, the Dragon King (Vietnamese: Long Vương) had given Lợi some time earlier, during his revolt against the Chinese Ming Dynasty. Lợi renamed the lake to commemorate this event, it was formerly known as Luc Thuy meaning "Green Water"). The Turtle Tower (Thap Rùa) standing on a small island near the centre of lake is linked to the legend.   --Wikipedia

This is the Year of the Horse.


















And here's the soft shelled turtle that's preserved.

Hoa Lo Prison

Hoa said there is a real Hanoi Hilton so if a tourist were to ask for directions, they would be sent there.

There were glass shards embedded into the walls to prevent escape.  Hoa told us that the prison was originally built by the French to contain and torture Vietnamese revolutionaries.

He rather downplayed the fact that it also held American pilots.  There were photos of American pilots relaxing and having a comfortable life there.  Hoa said the prisoners weren't fed much, but they ate better than most of the citizens.

This plaque showed the terrible times the Vietnamese suffered at this prison.









John McCain's flight suit is preserved in that glass case at the far end of the room.

 Our next stop was the Quan Thanh Temple.

Legend has it that Quán Thánh Temple was established during the reign of Emperor Ly Thai To (reigned 1010–1028) and was dedicated to Trấn Vũ, Deity of the North in Taoism, whose symbols of power are the serpent and turtle. It is one of the Four Sacred Temples that were built in four directions to protect the capital from malevolent spirits.                                      --Wikipedia

On the way to the pond where John McCain crashed his airplane, I was looking the wrong way and nearly got run over by a scooter.  Luckily, a quick thinking Canadian in our group pulled me out of the way.

Then it was on to the airport to fly to Danang.

Our very fancy hotel was the Hoi An Historic Hotel.

Many in our tour group wished we could stay there longer.

In the evening we walked through Hoi An town.  We managed to luckily be there just in time for their monthly lunar celebration
when lanterns are lit throughout the streets in the evening.








Dinner that evening was
Chicken Parmigiana.

It was OK...

I would have preferred spring rolls.

Day #3 March 13: Hanoi

We woke up at 5:45, had breakfast and was out to the bus by 8:00.

I'm really missing pho for breakfast because I really got to love it!

Our first stop was Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum.

He was a communist revolutionary leader who was prime minister from 1945-1955 and president from 1955-1969.

Although seen as an enemy of the U.S. during the Vietnam war, he is highly regarded here.

We had to very quietly and respectfully walk past his preserved body in the mausoleum where no photography was allowed.

Children soon followed in busloads after us.

The congestion in all the Vietnamese city streets were mind boggling.













We passed rows of shops with family apartments on top.

We went to a craft shop rest stop where we couldn't resist buying these bamboo balancing dragonflies that could balance on the tip of your finger.


On to Three Cave Grottos (Ninh Binh-Tam Coc)!

Hoa told us that this is the land version of Halong Bay's islands.

Unfortunately, it was once again drizzly and overcast.

Our friends, Mike and Julia didn't let the rain dampen their travel joy.

It was fun to go through the three caves.

If you look closely, you'll see that the boatsman was rowing with his feet.  It was HARD work!

We thought this was a farmer working in the rice fields, but it was a scarecrow.









These ducks are not kept in the pens as pets.

We then returned to our hotel room, had a sumptuous dinner and went to sleep by 11:00.

POSTSCRIPT:   Thank you very much for all your kind comments, everybody!  It's your motivating energy that keeps me going.  I'm working hard to get all the days recorded and then I'll need to get our travel book done.  Only then can we put the trip to bed and get back to my regular routine.

Day #2 March 12: Halong Bay

Despite our lack of sleep and travel tiredness, we still woke up at 4:00 AM and were relieved it wasn't 2:00.

We set our bags outside our room for pick up for we'd be moving to another location.














At 6:00 the huge assortment of delectable breakfast choices was arrayed in front of us.  Oh yes, I overate!  I really grew to love pho (Vietnamese noodle soup) on this trip.

8:20 AM:  It was a short half hour drive to Halong Bay which is famous for its 1,600 limestone islands and islets that jut out of the water. It is located in the Gulf of Tonkin and is a UNESCO site.

Our tour guide, Hoa bought all our tickets for us.

Our boat was comfortable and I would realize later how good we had it when Art and I moved on to Bangladesh.

Art saw our cook preparing our lunch.

Unfortunately, a heavy fog blanketed most of our day.  Still many people remarked that it gave the scenery a mystical, lovely effect.

Here we are waving at the other tour group that we were traveling with.

We stopped at the biggest of 20 caves in the bay.  The "Surprise Cave" truly amazed us.  We enjoyed it as much as we did Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico.  Colored lights emphasized the beauty of limestone shapes.

I enjoyed seeing this heart hole in the cavern.

And yes, Art had to check out the t-shirt stand.

Lunch was on the boat.  We had spring rolls that were rather ubiquitous in Vietnam along with steamed cabbage, squid with vegetables and an assortment of other Vietnamese food.  Rice is served at the end of the meal in Vietnam and our tour guide had to make special arrangements to have it served at the beginning.  Dessert was almost always watermelon with other fruit.  Art was a happy camper.  I wouldn't have minded some chocolate ice cream.

We soon returned to port and began the long ride from Halong City to Hanoi.


More Vietnam notes from Hoa:

• Dog and snake meat are eaten in Vietnam.  Dogs are also pets which you wouldn't eat.
• Children are give 12 years of schooling.  The school year begins on September 5th and ends on June 5th.  
• Vietnamese were told that the moon in China is bigger and rounder than in the U.S.
• Russian watches are more accurate than the Swiss made ones.
• Vehicles beep constantly to let people know they are in blind spots.
• Many of these buildings have shops on the first floor and apartments on top for family members.

Dinner was at the Nha Hang Mimh Anh Vietnamese Restaurant.  Beef was served in the hollow of bamboo stalks.  The pineapple flambe was pretty wonderful.




Our Thang Long Opera Hotel room was spacious and quite lovely.

We did laundry in our room that night after unsuccessfully trying to figure out how to take a shower without the water draining onto the floor.

It was a strange anomaly of  many Vietnam hotels that the tubs had a depression along the sides which collected water and prevented it from draining into the tub. Water flowed, flooded the floor and eventually emptied into a floor drain.

Just like China, we always had two complimentary bottles of water in our room every night.  We were admonished not to drink the tap water.

We collapsed into our beds that night totally exhausted.

POSTSCRIPT:  Thank you, thank you to Kris (my tour mate) who wrote to correct me that we weren't in Ho Chi Minh City, but Halong City.  My journal notes are very sketchy here (too exhausted) so I'll be making more mistakes, I'm sure.  If any of my other tour mates reading find I've goofed, please let me know.  Thanks, everybody!

Day #1 March 10-11: Honolulu to Saigon

We arrived at the Honolulu International Airport at 10 PM and met Jane, our tour transit leader.

We also met several other tour members who lived rather close to us.  That was a pleasant surprise.

Unfortunately most of them would belong to a different group.

Evan, the organizer for the tour company, Vietnam Travel split us into two groups, #1 (19 people)  and #2 (13 people).  I have no idea why he made the two groups so uneven.  We were in separate buses with separate guides, traveled to the same places, but ate at different tables and were pretty segregated to our own groups.  I was disappointed about that, but truly enjoyed the people in our own group who learned to care about and for each other along with the other group.

Our China Airlines flight to Taipei was over 11 hours, but pretty painless.  We saw three movies of our choice and had dinner and breakfast onboard the aircraft.  We arrived at 5:53 AM Taipei time.

Then came the two hour layover in Taipei and another flight to Hanoi with a meal.

In Hanoi we met our Vietnam tour guide, Hoa (pronounced wah).

A four hour bus ride to Halong Bay was exhausting but the lunch break helped to alleviate the travel weariness.

We all received our daily supply of water bottles.

Hoa peppered us with facts about Vietnam.

• Vietnamese drive on the right side of the road.
• Rice fields are distributed to families according to the size of the family.
• Duck is eaten more than chicken.
• You must be 18 to drive a motor scooter or motorcycle.  There are helmet laws and no more than three people can ride on one motorbike.
• The president of Vietnam serves a maximum of 2 terms, 4 years each.  It is a one party rule (Communist).

Our bus took us on Highway 1 which stretches from Hanoi into China. 

Although we hadn't really slept in a bed yet since the evening before, we had eaten five meals... or was it six?

We really appreciated the clean rest stops that were provided by these tourist craft shops.  This shop had handicapped young people doing embroidery work.  We were sure tempted.

Our dinner was HUGE... and delicious!

I ate so much on the trip but lost 4 pounds! I should travel more often.

We all collapsed in our very lovely Saigon Halong Hotel rooms that first night and prayed we wouldn't wake up at 3:00 AM because of the time change.

Time to Leave

Post written on March 9th

We're leaving tonight on a 12:40 AM flight.  We've never done this before that I can remember and I hope I can manage to sleep a little.

We were told to make sure our luggage is not more than 40 pounds.  44 pounds is actually allowed, but the travel agent said to leave 4 pounds for souvenirs.  My suitcase is 34 pounds.  Art's is 24 pounds.  We've mixed some of the clothing in case a suitcase is lost.  I also have a small rolling carry-on and we each will have our own backpacks.

There were some last minute glitches with our son, Keola (who we'll see in Bangladesh after our tour) advising us that having overseas texting ability would be helpful, especially since he won't be allowed into the Dhaka airport terminal to greet and direct us to where we should go.

We contacted our go-to super techie son-in-law who got us 50 overseas texts for $10 with our AT&T plan.  He instructed us to go to our iPhone settings, click on wi-fi, and then turn off Cellular Data.  Once we land, he said we should take our iPhone off the Airplane mode so that we can receive signals and be able to text when we need to.  This has all been very spooky since we've all heard HORROR stories of people who turned on their cellphones in foreign countries and were socked with humungous bills for data usage.  Hopefully, everything will be all right.

We heard about the Malaysia Airlines jet that went down. When I asked Keola if the airplane we'd be taking in Dhaka would be better, he said Malaysia Airlines is a far better airline than the puddle jumper we'd be taking to get to the Sundarban wetlands.  This is NOT reassuring.

I'm writing this as we do our last minute preparations before leaving the house at 10:00 PM.  Mom is feeling content.  All the neighbors are alerted.  My brother is on guard.  The cupboards are stocked.  There's also two cartons of ice cream in the freezer.  Mom is a happy camper!

Keeping my fingers crossed.

Nylon Shirts!

Post written on March 1st

We were warned that there would probably be mosquitoes in southeast Asia.  Although it's the dry season in Bangladesh, we would probably be venturing into  malaria carrying mosquitoes areas.  Our tour agent for Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand said we would have regular mosquitoes in those countries and should bring mosquito repellent.

Now here's the problem. If you read the directions on the mosquito repellent, it says you must avoid having the repellent touch synthetic materials.  They are OK with cotton, wool and nylon... but I guess nothing else.  I checked my travel shirts.  Darn!  Polyester!

Don't you love technology?

Art went on line and found these nylon shirts ON SALE at REI!  They are quick drying nylon, SPF 30 and vented in the back.

They were selling for $30; free shipping if over $50.

So yes, we bought two.

I'm already packed and I still have lots of room in my suitcase.  It only weighs 31 pounds of the 44 I'm allotted.  I'm sure all my clothes will be creased, but hotels should have an iron.  Am I forgetting anything?

Eight more days until we leave...

POSTSCRIPT (April 9, 2014):  Yes there were a lot of mosquitoes!  No, there weren't any irons in the hotel rooms in southeast Asia.  Didn't matter.  My kids did tell me later though that I bought the wrong size and I looked like I was wearing a tent.  Ah well! 

As for mosquitoes, there were lots of them, especially in Bangladesh!  I came home with all kinds of mosquito bites.

I spent yesterday recuperating from a fever that popped up.  I was just so exhausted and jet-lag is really dragging me down. 

I've been slowly going through about 9,000 photos we've managed to take and trying to write my posts of the trip which will go up beginning next week.

My Solar/Rain Umbrella

Art's cousin, Renee had a surprise gift for me.  She knew about my hunt for an umbrella that would protect against both sun and rain.  When I've used my regular umbrella to Zumba class and the sun was too strong, I could still feel the heat seeping through the fabric as I walked home.

Isn't this amazing?

The fabric is similar to what they use on auto windshield sunshades.

It's very compact and will be great when we travel too.

I'm so excited!

And Now My Feet

Post written on February 26th

OK, what to wear on my feet.

Our trips have usually been in spring, fall or even winter so I brought warm covered toe shoes.

These Merrells and Born slip ons make it easy to take off and put on when we go to Japan or to get through the security lines quickly.  I sprayed the Merrell's suede with a waterproofing spray for wet days.

When we went to China last year, the tour agent said we should bring comfortable shoes, preferably gym shoes because we'd be doing a lot of walking.  Art is a firm believer in bringing a spare pair of gym shoes even though it takes up a lot of room because he likes to air dry his shoes between wearings.  My gym shoes have that netting fabric so it can breathe.

I always bring a pair of very light flip flops to wear in hotel rooms.  I'm planning to bring that gray and black Crocs too since there might be rain.  And yes, Art is insisting that I bring an extra pair of those gym shoes also.  He feels that should be my primary footwear.  He knows that I tend to stumble here and there and wants me to be as stable as possible.

OK... EIGHT more days to get ready... what else?
 

What to Wear in Bangladesh

Post written on February 25th

Our tour agent said we could wear anything we wear in Hawaii to Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand.  However, I was worried about Bangladesh. Could I get by with capris since it's supposed to be the hot and dry season right now?  Would a short sleeve blouse be acceptable?  Keola clarified it for me with his email.

"Your shoulders should be covered. :)  The part of your body, one considers to be shoulders - from the neck to the upper arm (near your elbow), should be covered with clothing.  If you want to see what women in Bangladesh wear, it's called a salwar kameez.  If you search google image for "salwar kameez Bangladesh" it will give you some idea.  The pictures are to model the outfit, but in practice, women wear a scarf draped in front of their chest.  All women wear either this for everyday, or a sari for formal occasions.  Clearly you aren't expected to dress like this, but cover your shoulders (see above) and long pants.  And by long pants, I mean pants down to your ankles.  You're trying to show as little skin as possible and loose-fitting to hide the shape of your body.  Remember, this used to be part of Pakistan, (they're very conservative when it comes to women). You can wear slippers or whatever footwear you have.  We probably won't see many temples in Bangladesh, so head cover is not necessary.  You can use a scarf to cover your head though; it also works for the sun and as a mask.  A thin scarf is very useful. If you don't have one, I can get one easily."

 I googled salwar kameez as he suggested and saw this.  Aren't they pretty?  I wish I were still teaching on the mainland and could wear something like this to school.  Unfortunately, I'd have no place to wear something like this in Hawaii.

On the plus side, I have  a bunch of scarves in my drawers.  The hard part is choosing which one to bring.

 OK... now which shoes?

Getting Ready for Southeast Asia- Health First

Post written on February 22nd

We'd already gotten the Hepatitus A and Typhoid shots before we left for China last year.  However, the Immunization doctor wanted us to get the Hepatitus B vaccine as well, in case we ended up with a blood related injury.  She also wanted us to take the malaria prophylaxis 2 days before we arrived in Bangladesh and for a month after.

The travel agent said we should bring a box of DayQuil and NightQuil for each person.  We think that's a bit much.  We're compromising and bringing 2 boxes of DayQuil and one box of NightQuil.  However, I am also bringing other cold medications including Airborne.

Our son, Keola thinks I'm really overdoing my medical preparation, but I'm not taking any chances.  I've only needed the meds perhaps a couple of times in all our travels, but I was sure glad I had them.  This time, I'm not bringing any of those rehydration packets that the doctor gave me for China.

I've got Benedryl, Sudafed, Benzonatate, After Bite lotion, Itch Relief lotion, Cold-Eze, Pepto Bismol, Cipro, cough lozenges, Tylenol PM, Motrin, Alka Seltzer Cold Plus, Immodium, etc.

When we were in Turkey many years ago we didn't get sick, but a whole lot of people on our tour bus did.  Unfortunately, I'd taken the pills out of the boxes to conserve space so I didn't know what dosage they were or the instructions.  Luckily a pharmacist was in our group so I could show him what I had and he dispensed them.  I  know better now, I always write the dosage, the frequency to take them and the expiration date.

What medication do you bring on your trips?

Bangladesh

"Wouldn't you guys like to come and visit me in Dhaka?" asked our son, Keola.  (I've been referring to him as Keola because the web crawler has been picking up photos from my blog and posting them under his real name.)   Keola has been in Dhaka for several months working for Johns Hopkins, first as part of his Masters and then after he graduated.

We weren't sure we'd be  going until we knew what his schedule would be like.

Meanwhile Art decided that if we were going to fly half way around the world, we should see some other countries as well.

Angkor Wat has always been on his bucket list.

He began scouring the travel section of the newspaper and settled on a tour of Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand.

Vietnam Travel Agency told us we could book a flight from Bangkok, Thailand after the tour and head out to Dhaka where we could spend some time with Keola.

I couldn't believe we were going to do this.  We usually have tons of time to plan and agonize over our trips.

Now I'd have to schedule a month's worth of posts for the time that we'd be away.

By the time you read this, we should have just returned from our travels.... safely, I hope.

Dark and Light, Hot and Cool Marriage

Marriage is about compromise.  I know that.  But sometimes Art and I have to really work through our differences.

He can tolerate warm temperatures.  I like it cool.

 In the morning, the kitchen is dark and he's perfectly content.  I come in and turn on the lights on my side of the table.

For some reason he likes to read his Kindle Fire in the dark and turns off the overhead light.  I like the rooms lighted.  Bright.

He likes reading in my office since that's where both our stressless chairs are to watch TV.  I don't have to even talk about our movie choices.

He likes our laundry hung up to dry in the sun.  I like my clothes tumbled a bit to be fluffy.

He loves to exercise, I..........  you know.

He avoids sweets, salt and fats.  Me?  Let's not go there.

He's a morning person and I'm an evening person.

He isn't crazy about music when he walks, I need it.

He likes healthy, stinky natto (fermented soybeans) and eggplant.  Yuck!

He drives everywhere.  My driving scares him.

So yes, we've got lots of differences. I won't even go into the toothpaste.  Still, with patience we've managed to stay married over 40 years and had to laugh at each other and at ourselves.

Corn Chowder With Spinach?

I've been accused of throwing everything except the kitchen sink into my soups.  I guess it's true.  Sometimes, my soups end up completely different from what I thought I was making.

Our kids used to worry (a little) when I would take out my soup pot because I would keep adding to it until we had enough to last us for several endless days.

Here I was making corn chowder.  Well, I happened to have half a bundle of fresh spinach so I threw it in.  I've been adding a cup of quinoa to all my soups and stews now.

I must tell you that mom and Art liked it.  They said they enjoyed the spinach in the corn chowder.  It was different... and tasty.

I wonder if I should make the kids a pot when they visit this summer...  Hmmm...