Our Visit to Vietnam

We arrived in Hanoi with a bang on the tarmac in the darkness.  Was it an omen of things to come?

After consulting the travel counter, we decided that it would be easier to take a taxi rather than the airport shuttle to the downtown, some 40 miles away.  We showed the taxi driver the address of our hotel.  Unfortunately he did not read English and didn’t recognize the address.  He called the phone number of the hotel and spoke to a young man who directed him to another address.  The young man, told us that the hotel was overbooked and walked with us to a hotel “that was of the same quality.”  The Lemon Hotel was just that—a lemon:  the bedspread was ripped, one of the bed lights broken, and there was glass on the floor.   We asked the young man for a restaurant suggestion.  He brought us to a stall on the street.  We thanked him but declined the food and walked up the street to find a sit down restaurant.  About two blocks up the street we found a lovely hotel.  We walked in and asked if they had two rooms.  They did and we moved ourselves to the Hong Ngoc Hotel.  For exactly the same price we got two lovely rooms with a refrigerator, flat screen TV, and shower with a full bath.  Our room was even big enough to dance in!  No doubt we had been the victims of a bait and switch by the Sunshine Suites Hotel.  Happily Barbara notified Agoda, the booking agent and they subsequently refunded us for our Sunshine Suites Hotel rooms.

Exhausted, we had dinner at the Hong Ngoc Hotel.  Huong, the very friendly and helpful desk clerk, informed us that the rooms we booked were unavailable tomorrow night.  He suggested that we take our boat trip in Ha Long Bay tomorrow, spend the night there, and then return to Hanoi for one more night before leaving for Hue City.  Patty, Mark and I booked our passage on the Alova while we booked Barbara, not a fan of boats, at a hotel in town of Ha Long Bay.

Beautiful Ha Long Bay

Early the next morning we left Hanoi with 15 others for Ha Long Bay.   The four-hour trip was uneventful.  Mark, Patty and I took a tender to the Alova while Barbara was taken to her Ha Long Bay hotel. 

Our Alova travel companions

The Alova was on its 8^th cruise.  The new ship with 13 rooms and accommodations for 22 is a gem.  The ship has a first class chef and all the amenities.   We left the harbor and traveled southwest toward the magical mountains for which Ha Long Bay is famous.  The limestone weather-worn islands of which there are over 250, jut out of the bay reminding me of Coke bottles on a chess board.  The view is breathtaking and surreal.  We dine on a delicious lunch and meet the rest of our fellow passengers.   One is a man from Germany, and one is from the Czech Republic.  Three women and one man are from Malaysia and recruit Asian students to study in the US and Australia.  There is a family of 7 with 2 children.  After lunch we go to visit the famous Ha Long Bay cave and swim in a beach on one of the islands.  Life doesn’t get much better!

By early evening we were back at the Hong Ngoc Hotel in Hanoi.  We returned to our lovely large room.  We sought out a restaurant in the Old Quarter that was recommended.  The food was yummy and the ambience was festive.  We walked home the long way since I insisted upon setting our direction that turned out to be completely wrong. 

Huong and Mark

The following morning, Huong, offered to take us around the city.  We started with a walk to Hoan Kiem Lake to purchase tickets to Hanoi’s Water Puppets theatre.  We lucked out and got tickets for the early show.  The puppet show was lovely—45 minutes of music and puppets that was magical for both the adults and children. 

From there we hopped on a public bus with Huong and went to Ho Chi Min’s home.  In order to get to the home you had to visit his Mausoleum though we did manage to avoid the Ho Chi Min museum.  Ho Chi Min’s home was austere but elegant.  According to Huong, Ho Chi Min is affectionately called Uncle. 

After lunch at Koto, a restaurant used as a not-for-profit hospitality-training center for Vietnam’s street an disadvantaged youth.  (www.koto.com.au)  The food was fabulous and it made me feel good to support such a worthwhile mission.

From there we went to the Vietnam Ethnological Museum.  As always, I loved the museum; this museum even included an outdoor section with replicas of various minority tribe homes, tombs and temples.

We left Hanoi later that evening and traveled to Hue City.  Hue was the former Imperial Capital of Vietnam.  Hue is located on the Perfume River in the middle of Vietnam.  Hue was also pivotal in the Vietnam War (known as the American War in Hue.)  

The Romance Hotel was our home base during our time in Hue.  It was fortuitous that Barbara had arranged such a nice hotel for us.  The next morning we got an early start to explore Hue.  We went up for breakfast on the 11^th floor.   The food was plentiful and delicious but did not agree with Barbara.  Soon after breakfast she felt sick and went back to bed.  At the time none of us knew how sick Barbara really was.   While Barbara rested, Mark, Patty and I explored Hue.  I found a store that had old Blackberry parts and I was able to buy a replacement tracking ball and holder for my phone.   We also walked to the old Citadel that houses the remains of the old Imperial Palace.  I found a store that sold lovely silk blouses and another that raises money for disadvantaged disabled Vietnamese youth, called Healing the Wounded Heart Shop. 

Upon our return to the hotel, Mark and I treated ourselves to massages and I even got a much needed pedicure.   Ahh—to die for!  When I checked in on Barbara, I discovered a Vietnamese doctor in her room.  She felt so ill she had had the hotel call a doctor.  He diagnosed her with acute food poisoning.  He gave her some antibiotics to ease her discomfort. 

The following morning, Barbara still did not feel any better.  She was very concerned that the medicine she was taking did not seem to be helping her.  Later that day she asked the doctor to come by again.  By the following morning having talked to her doctor stateside, she still felt so terrible, she decided to go to the hospital.  Hue Central Hospital is a teaching hospital and blessedly, the doctor who had come to the hotel was on duty in the ER.  While Mark and Patty were checking out the Imperial City, Barbara and I were on our way to the ER.   After an array of tests and a night in the hospital, Barbara returned back to the Romance Hotel weak but healthy.  Navigating the hospital was fascinating and I must say, Barbara received excellent care.  Yesterday, Patty departed for Ho Chi Minh City to return to Seattle.   Unfortunately, due to Barbara’s hospitalization and our extended stay in Hue, we had to rebook our flights and were unable to visit Ho Chi Minh City. 

ER at Hue Central Hospital

Happily Barbara is almost back to normal today.  This morning, in the pouring rain, Mark, acting as our tour guide, took us through Hue’s Imperial City.  This afternoon we left Hue, via Ho Chi Minh City to Siem Reap, Cambodia.  We will be in Cambodia for a few days visiting Angkor Wat and then we will return to Bangkok. 

So was our bump on the tarmac an omen of things to come?   Perhaps.  But just like the airplane, in the end everything has turned out just fine.  Until next time, Happy Thanksgiving!

Lovely Lao

The Slow Boat is full!

We entered Laos from the Northern Thailand town of Chang Kong, near the Golden Triangle to begin our adventure by slow boat down the Mekong River.  The boat held about 80 people for our two-day trip.  The scenery is magical as we floated down the quickly flowing, winding river. We traveled through the lush mountainous valley filled with teak jungles, banana-laden trees, rice paddies, bamboo huts, people bathing in the river, and water buffalo on the shore.  Life on the river operates at a different pace.  Hours rolled by as we chatted with fellow travelers, drifting off to sleep, reading and watching the scenery.  We arrived at a village for the night and returned to the river early for our next day’s journey.

We pulled into Luang Prabang around 4PM the following day.  Our hotel was lovely.  The staff was welcoming and we came to be good friends with Yee and Hong.  We all found Luang Prabang charming.  Its French influence is undeniable.  It feels like you have been transported to a different era.  The buildings reminded me of New Orleans with an Asian twist.  The people are friendly.  Luang Prabang has a sizeable Hmong population.  Their handicrafts are plentiful at the Night Market.  This is a town to savor.  The townspeople work hard as the tourists leisurely explore this paradise.

The Mekong River

Although Lao is still a communist country, it opened itself to tourism in 1997.  Lao has a strong Buddhist tradition.  Luang Prabang is known for its 350 monks who walk each morning at daybreak around all the Wats collecting sticky rice and other foodstuff.  The procession and offering of alms is solemn and sacred.  The bounty is collected for the temple offerings and to be eaten by the monks throughout the day.

Yee  and Huong in front of our hotel

Our hotel desk clerk, Yee, asked if I could help him with his English pronunciation.  The following day I accompanied him to Big Brother Mouse, a program staffed by volunteer English speakers.  I worked with Yee and when he left for secondary school, I spent two more hours working on pronunciation with two other students.  Lao English study seems to consist of memorizing enormous lists of vocabulary and learning some grammar but the students do not practice basic conversation.  In order to get a good job in the tourist industry, conversational English is essential.  So Big Brother Mouse tries to help the Luang Prabang students speak proper English.  I left my students with homework:  practice pronouncing R, L, B, V, W.  Two days later I returned to check on the progress my young Buddhist monk had made.  His Rs and Ls were much improved.  I do enjoy teaching English!

Three of my ESL students at Big Brother Mouse

At lunch we met a man who had returned for the first time in 27 years to his hometown of Luang Prabang.  He was reuniting with two of his three sisters and planned to surprise his uncle who still lived in Luang Prabang.  Bud had been a policeman but was jailed for six years following the ascension of the Communists in 1975.  He managed to escape and has lived in Florida since the 1980s.

On our third day in Luang Prabang, we took a riverboat with Mr. Thongdy, a former USAID employee, to a weaving village.  The silk products were beautiful.  A few of the townspeople were obviously exceptional entrepreneurs.   We also saw paper being made.  From the weaving village we stopped at a pottery village but a townsperson had died the day before and the kilns were not operating.

Then we headed further south to a village where we took a truck ride to a waterfall and bear sanctuary.  The sanctuary held Moon and Sun Bears.  We arrived just in time for watching the bears eat:  they looked healthy.

The waterfall was tiered and the water was ice blue.  We hiked about a bit and even swam in the icy cold water.

We got in........brrr!

That night we attended a Lao cooking class in the countryside.  The class was professionally orchestrated and the food was delicious.  Patty, Barbara and I enjoyed ourselves immensely.  (Mark chose to pass on the class.)

Beautiful silk at the Night Market

Food in Luang Prabang is a treat.  There are French croissants, good coffee, fabulous Lao food, delicious fruit, pizza and pretty much everything else (including Diet Coke) your heart could desire.  Massages are also plentiful and inexpensive.  One afternoon Barbara and I tried our luck at a place on Main Street.  Luck wasn’t with us---the massage was a first for my masseuse!  The following evening we were much happier; Mark, Barbara and I had fabulous massages at a local shop.  Luang Prabang, like Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai, has an active Night Market filled with linens, jewelry, food, traditional handicrafts and collectibles.

On our last day we hiked Puisey Mountain, and had a delicious wood oven pizza at the Bee Hive restaurant.  Then it was off to the airport for our trip to Hanoi.

Thailand Travels

When we arrived at the airport in Bangkok, we wondered whether or not the flooding in Thailand would inhibit our travels.   Unfortunately, now two weeks later, as we leave Thailand the flooding in Bangkok has not subsided but actually has gotten worse.  The major reason for this, according to many residences, is not rain but actually the reluctance of policymakers and some rich Bangkok residents to keep the water away from their property.  This has created the current situation that is truly dire.

Our Bangkok stay was relaxing.  We had a lovely hotel with a pool and an exercise room.  Mark was in heaven.  Our friends Barbara from the other Washington (I have known Barbara for more than 30 years) and Patty from Mercer Island (yes, though ironically Patty and I know each other through Barbara) arrived safely.  They will be traveling with us through most of our SE Asia travels. 

Carol, Mark, Patty Hopps, Barbara Heffernan

Since the area near the river that houses the palace and many of the Buddist temples (Wats) were flooded, we focused on relaxing, dining, shopping and of course getting massages.  

Our next stop was Chiang Mai and a visit to see my friend, Noi Trevis.  Noi lived on Mercer Island until last year when she returned to Chiang Mai, the city of her birth, to open a restaurant, guesthouse and cooking school.  Her enterprise is a major success!  Noi spoiled us with great food, the likes of which we haven’t been able to duplicate since we left Chiang Mai.  Her son Dash has joined her and together they offer their guests a wonderful Thai experience. We all attended Noi’s cooking class that was a full day including our shopping trip to the local market and eating our delicious dishes!  We also visited a Tiger Kingdom where you can pet the tigers, and the Elephant Nature Park where we spent the day feeding, bathing and observing rescued elephants.  We even went to a fish spa where you put your feet in a aquarium with fish that bite the dead skin off your feet.  It tickles!  We had a wonderful time in Chiang Mai and wish we had had more time to explore and experience this dynamic area.

Cooking at Noi's

At the Chiang Mai market

Noi:  Cooking queen

Market peppers

Small tiger 

With the Biggest Tiger

At the Elephant Sanctuary

Our three hour trip to Chiang Rai turned into a day’s journey as we visited Thailand’s tallest geyser, the White Temple, an architect’s rendering of heaven for the Buddhists that is a gift to the city Chiang Rai from a native son, the Monkey Temple and cave where monkeys roam freely, the Golden Triangle (where Myranmar (Burma), Laos and Thailand intersect) made infamous by the opium trade, and a giant Buddha which guards the Golden Triangle. 

Our visit to Chiang Rai coincides with the festival of Lao Kka Tong.  Marking the end of the rice harvest, this Buddhist festival replete with soaring helium filled lanterns and floating offerings.

Chiang Rai is a smaller version of Chiang Mai.  We came here to meet the Christian missionaries from the Mekong Minority Foundation.  MMF works with the Hill Tribes to offer technical assistance and support in the areas of animal care, education, and legal assistance.  Hill tribe people do not have the same access to social services as their Thai compatriots.  MMF focuses on helping these communities to improve their lives.  MMF also helps the Burmese migrants whose numbers have soared due to fighting and economic strife.  Their ministry is wide-ranging and impressive.  The Christian compassion and focus of the MMF allows them to overcome great obstacles as they seek to offer services to their clients. 

Showing migrant children my photos

Karen Village woman

Late in the afternoon on our first day with MMF, we visited Chiang Rai University and MMF’s scholarship recipients.  These Hill tribe students are an exceeding bright group dedicated to making their world a better place.  They were inspiring and a lot of fun! We shared dinner with them and then enjoyed their Monday night fellowship. 

The next day we visited MMF’s migrant daycare center and school.  The pupils, whose parents are Burmese migrants, range in age from 2 years to 13.  Mark was impressed with the math skills the older children possessed.  Barbara was charmed by the toddlers and taken by their teacher’s ability to teach them addition.  Later that day, we drove up to Massa, a boarder town near Myanmar, where we learned about the plight of Burmese migrants and the work one pastor is dong to help the workers in his community.  We were humbled when we saw his meager living situation (one very small room with a tiny bathroom, desk and double bed for him, his wife and 2 children) knowing that he was sharing the rest of his living quarters with other displaced Burmese families.  Upon our return to Chiang Rai, we dined at a delicious Thai restaurant with Nono and Don.  What a wonderful end to a very special day.  Happy Birthday Nono!

Thanks to MMF and Wan, we spent another day and the night in a Karen Hill Tribe village.  Located in the mountains about 1½ hours outside of Chiang Rai, this village had no electricity nor plumbing; though they had two solar panels, this power was used to activate an emergency warning system for the rice farmers should flooding create a life-threatening situation.  I had always heard that rice farming was a lot of work.  After the few minutes we spent in the field attempting to tie bundles of cut rice, I will never look at a bowl of rice in the same way.  The work that goes into rice farming is truly backbreaking. 

The village is very proud of its new daycare facility.  They are also working on building a church.  There are a few trucks but most of the people use motorcycles.  Driving to the village it is apparent that during the rainy season the village must be totally self-sufficient because the dirt roads become impassable.  The primary school aged children must commute to the town school about ½ hour down the road.  The older children are sent to a Hill tribe school in the city.  They live in a dormitory during the week and return home during the weekends. 

We walked around the small Karen village and dined with Pastor Lazarus and his family.  Their hospitality was heartfelt and abundant.  What the village lacks in material goods they more than made up for in kindness and generosity.  You can feel the love and care they have for one another.  We felt truly embraced by the community.  We joined them for their weekly fellowship.  You could feel their closeness to God.

Without electricity, bedtime is early.  We slept on thin mattresses placed over tatami rugs covering ourselves with wool blankets and under mosquito netting.  We could hear the rain patter as the river gurgled---nature at her best. 

We awoke to sunshine.   After having two breakfasts, one at Pastor Lazarus’ home and one at the home of a fellow pastor, we walked to the daycare facility the village had recently built.  We had a chance to talk with Pastor Lazarus and the daycare teacher.  When we asked if there was anything we could give the village, we were humbled when the village wanted an ongoing relationship with us.   Here we were expecting to give them a material gift (money, books, things) but instead they wanted to stay in touch with us.  Who would have expected that?  I truly wonder who is more spiritually developed—these poor people or us?

Friday was a free day.  Barbara, Patty, Mark and I spent the morning exploring Chiang Rai.  Mark and I got our haircut while Barbara and Patty relaxed by the pool.  Mark and I went with Thon to visit the Christian school her children attend.   They would love to have Mark teach there.  It is an enticing offer; we’ll have to see where life takes us.  Barbara and I indulged in foot massages.  Ahh, it hurts so good.  We dined on Khai Soy (a lovely noodle soup dish with curry and coconut) for lunch and found a nice place to have dinner.  We took our last tour of the Night Market before heading back to the Diamond Park Inn and Resort for our last night in Thailand.

Tomorrow we head north to catch the Mekong River boat.  It is a two-day journey to our destination:  Luang Prabang, Laos.  Please keep the people of Bangkok in your prayers as they deal with the floodwaters.

Jordan

Being picked up at the airport is the height of luxury. Yousor, one of my former CityU ESL students, met us at the airport.  It was wonderful to see Yousor, who having received her MBA in June, recently returned home.  After settling in at Genny’s B&B by the 7th Circle in Amman, Yousor took us to dinner at a traditional Jordanian restaurant replete with traditional Bedouin tents and yummy grilled food.


We loved our home at Genny’s B&B.  Genny and Jalal have a B&B that is fabulous.  Genny is French; Jalal is Jordanian and staying with them couldn’t have been better.  Every morning we had a breakfast treat (Genny is a wonderful cook!) made to order eggs, yogurt, fruit, pastries, coffee, tea and juice.  We didn’t need to eat again until dinner!  Genny helped us plan our Jordan visit and sort ourselves.


On Day 1, Mark and I explored downtown Amman.  We visited the Blue Mosque, and the Citadel.  Amman is one of the oldest continually occupied cities in the world.  At the Citadel museum, prehistoric to Byzantine artifacts are on view.  (This is where the Dead Sea Scrolls are normally kept though they are on loan at the moment.)  In the 3rd century BC, Amman was renamed Philadelphia, after its Ptolemaic ruler. When it fell under the Roman Empire, Philadelphia was reconstructed in typical Roman style, with an amphitheater capable of seating 6000 spectators.  Pillars from the Temple of Hercules and ruins from a Byzantine temple are found at the Citadel.  Moreover, there is a very impressive Roman palace with a monumental gateway, audience hall and four vaulted chambers.

After exploring the Roman amphitheater and meandering through the small but well appointed Ethnological Museum (I love Ethnological Museums!) we walked through the Souk area (small market stalls), and then headed to Rainbow Street, the yuppie part of downtown.  Here we met a group of 20-something young men who were passing out ballots to name the Dead Sea as one of the new Seven Wonders of the World.  These men played a crucial role in our Jordan trip by introducing us to their friend Shawn AKA Moe who became our Jordanian tour guide and driver.

On Day 2, Moe picked us up at Genny’s and we headed south to visit the site of Jesus’ baptism. I hadn’t realized that Jordan had so many Biblically significant sites!  Although Jordan is largely Muslim, the country is tolerant of all religions. Various denominations have constructed churches around this religious site.  When we approached the Jordan River we were shocked to see Israel less than 20 yards away on the other side of the River. It was interesting to talk with the Jordanians about Israel.  Their take on the Israel-Palestine issue varies greatly from what we hear in the States.

We left the Baptismal site and headed to the Dead Sea with Igor and Moe.  We invited Igor, a Ukrainian software engineer who we met on the Baptismal tour, to join our trip to the Dead Sea.  We had a BLAST at the Dead Sea.  It is so salty you float and can only stand up with effort.  We painted our bodies with mud we dug up from the shore.  After showering we took a dip in the pool that was adjacent to the Dead Sea. What fun!  Three hours later we were back on the road to Mt. Nebo, the location from which Moses saw the Promised Land. After Mt. Nebo, Igor returned to Amman while Moe, Mark and I headed to Madaba to see a church with a mosaic map of the world from the Byzantine era.  We also visited a Catholic church that had a tunnel that led to a well that dated to the days of the Moab people about 3000 years ago.

The following day we went to King Hussein’s car museum with an enormous collection of mint condition cars.  What a trip down memory lane!  After lunch, with Moe back in the driver’s seat we headed south to Petra.  We arrived in time to get a hotel room, some dinner and then head off to Petra.  The Petra at Night program is not to be missed.  Lit only by candlelight, you approach the Petra Treasury with the awe and anticipation of a caravan trader some 3000 years ago.  When at last you emerge from the 2 km narrow Sandstone gorge (known as the Siq) you stand in awe of one of the most beautifully carved monuments made by man.  Petra at Night is magical.

Petra by day isn’t too bad either.  We spent the following day walking, climbing and marveling at the beauty of this ancient town.  We could have spent more time exploring but by 2PM it was time to head to Wadi Rum, the land of Laurence of Arabia.

Wadi Rum is about 2 hours from Petra and the location of our Bedouin camp.  We made it just in time for the sunset there. It was gorgeous to see the sunset over the desert dunes!

The night in Wadi Rum was so much fun.  We stayed at a Bedouin family camp.  The food, cooked under the ground, much in the same way it is done traditionally in Hawaii, was delicious.  We had a blast playing games, one of which Mark won, as did Moe!  After dinner and the games, Mark and I went to enjoy the starlit night.

The following day we got up and out of the tent by 5:30AM, but due to the change from daylight savings time, the sun was already out.  We were probably lucky because walking in this desert was hard work!

Our last day, we spent traveling with Yousor and her sister to northern Jordan.  Our first stop was Jerash, probably the best-preserved Roman town we have seen on this trip.  Dating back as far as 6500, Jerash’s popularity peaked under the Roman’s rule and was abandoned by 600AD.  After a series of earthquakes the town had been buried and was not revisited until 1925 when excavation began.

The Romans were amazing architects.  The pillars had been constructed to withstand an earthquake.  One of the local guides illustrated this capability by manually shifting one of the columns sufficiently to place a shard of glass beneath it.  The theatre, colonnaded streets, baths, temples and plazas transport you back in time.  From there we headed toward another amazingly well preserved site, ‘Ajlun a castle from the 12th century.  Although it is a beautiful building, I am very pleased to be living in the 21st century.

Jordan has dazzled us.  We are so happy to have met such wonderful people and to have experienced a country so rich in history.  Our next stop is Thailand, and the beginning of our visit to Southeast Asia.