BREAKING NEWS: OLW Blog Program Photos aren’t supported by Google any longer!

FYI – to all our readers – yes, that’s you Gaby, Maggi and Mom – bear with us for the next few weeks please.  Google has changed their coding and they are no longer supporting the blog program we use.  Thus, we can no longer easily upload photos.  I thought we had a fix for it, but it appears that all the recent photos uploaded are broken links.  Darn it! So, now I’m going back to try to replace the photos with something that will work.

Of course in the meantime, we’re still writing the darn blog – but heck,we’re making progress!  We’re all the way up to February 1st.  Woo Hoo! 

Eventually this will mean we’ll need to migrate away from OLW for our blogging needs, but I’m not even going to bother with that right now.  That can wait until we’ve at least got the copy done for this trip before we try to learn something new.  Computers! Or I guess I should say computer PROGRAMS!

So apologies, but we’ll figure it out and get right some day soon.

2/20–3/1 - Ten days in Chiang Mai

Here’s the quick run down of what we did in Chiang Mai for 10 days. Well it’s more like what we ate, because really, all we did was hang out, do laundry, relax and wander back and forth to Warorot Market!  This our shortest stay ever here (save our first trip which was only 4 days).

2/20 – Like idiots we walked over to the grocery store too early to buy beer and wine.  Sigh.  So, we buy a few non-perishable things we can carry home, then hit the new restaurant that is in the Shawarma place for lunch.  It’s called Street Food, and it is sort of like street food, but in a restaurant.  We have a pork omelet and something else I can’t remember, then walk back to the grocery store again after lunch – but before the alcohol cut off time – to buy our full supply stock for the week.  They can’t deliver until after 4pm, but that’s ok, we don’t have any plans.  We walk back home, successfully avoiding the jackfruit tree in River Market’s garden, then we just hang out (actually I take a nap), until the groceries arrive.

We eat in tonight, then hit the Bamboo Bar to see Jesca, who of course remembers us, and chit chats with us as we watch the night market shoppers walk past us.

2/21 – First trip to Warorot!  We stock up on those little mandarin-style oranges (45 cents for a kilo!) and my super expensive ($2) jackfruit, pick up more comfy “elephant” pants and that’s that for our morning exercise.  The day is spent reading and blogging and just hanging out.  Dinner again at the street food market, with drinks at Outlaws.  We had a pork belly satay which is really, really good.  Ah, the food.  Yummy!

2/22 – We popped over to the other grocery store in Pantip to pick up a few little items, then of all things, stopped in at Dunkin donuts for cappuccino.  We’ve never, ever done that outside the US, but we were getting a little tired of instant coffee, so we figured what the heck.  The only mistake we made was not to take the deal of the day which was $1 US extra for a sandwich.  Oh well!  The rest of the day is spent watching the Peaks drive, with the commune that has moved in next door and the dog pack that sleeps in the middle of the road.  Dinner tonight is at Street Pizza with fried zucchini, still the best, and a meat combo pizza that we sort of mis-ordered and had to totally apologetically send back.  But when the right one came, it was fantastic as usual.  Strolled back through the night market, stall-shopping, then hit the balcony for a night cap at the condo.

2/23 -  More of the same during the day, River Market for dinner.  Son-in-law eggs, that huge Pork Knuckle for Ed and Chicken and cashew nuts for me.  It’s a beautiful night, and they seat us right on the balcony overlooking the river (with a fan directed right at us – thank you! because it is really hot here, hotter than normal at this time of year).  Later at Bamboo we chat with Jesca and have her translate a sign we saw about some new market.  Turns out it is in this building we walk by on the way into town, but won’t start until we are gone.  Oh well.

On the way back to the condo, we hear a rock band playing and follow the sound to the Thai European restaurant, which has the same owner as the Bamboo.  The band is excellent, so we stop to listen and actually luck into a table (coz the place is packed).  We end up staying there for quite a while listening to these guys play excellent hard rock songs (think AC/DC, etc.)  Very fun, and we can’t believe we’ve not done this before – but it could all be in the timing, the bands may not have started yet as we traversed the market in years past.

2/24 – Today we take a long walk – and decide to go into town for the heck of it. We time our walk so we will end up there at lunch, because there is a place called UGO that has craft beer, but also has an owner who fights back on lousy reviews on TripAdvisor, and you know how we love that! Its a decent walk, and it’s not too terribly hot yet (plus we stay on the shady side of the road).  We end up at UGO right on time, and they do have a great selection of local craft beers. I end up with Stone Head Hazelnut Chocolate Stout which is awesome – not to mention the food!  We had chicken wings in an excellent BBQ type Asian sauce, crispy fried Larb served in little spoons that was such a great twist on traditional Larb and then Chicken Bai Toey which was chicken fried inside a banana leaf.  Really different and all really, really good. .

On the way home, we decide to stop at O’Malleys for another drink – why? I don’t know, but it sounded like a good idea. Ed had a Chiang Mai Red Truck Ale, I stuck with my wine there! 

Dinner at home, drinks at the Thai European Restaurant to listen to the band again. They are so good – and the bass player is so cute – and boy does he know it. Pretty band boy – I’m about as obsessed with him as I was with the Groom in Agra.  LOL  I’m also obsessed with this girl who comes in to sit at the cheater bar, who has on an adorable little casual black dress, but also these great ked like high top sneakers that lace up the back.  I’m so bummed I didn’t go up to her to ask where she bought them because a Google search has turned up nothing!

2/25 – Walked to the post office to mail postcards, then lunched at Kao Kab Kang where we’ve been before.  We shared spring rolls and the specialty fried whole fish – which came with rice in the shape of a teddy bear.  Too cute.  (Oh, and the specialty for us was the whole fish – a Chinese group came in, and the specialty for them was some fried rice dish.  Too funny!)

Tonight apps and happy hour at Tawan’s.  Eggrolls which were as good as always, and drinks outside in the heat with the rest of the family and friends  I finally ask about the coozies they have here that I just love, and find out we can buy them in Warorot.  Yes! Score.  On the way home, we pass by the Grumpy Old Men bar, which is open.  They are part of My Beer Friend brewery (I think) because one of the guys was a brewer who had come back to Chiang Mai to work there again.  We had a great conversation, and they explained that the taxes for local brewing are so high in Thailand, that companies go to Cambodia to produce the beer, then import it back in. Which explains why Stone Head says Cambodia, but it is actually a Thai beer.  They are sweet guys, and we enjoy our chat – and their beer, but between both our schedules (they will be closed a couple nights this week), I don’t think we’ll be able to come back to visit them.

2/26 – Happy Birthday to me! Today’s celebration includes a shopping excursion to Warorot which nets more comfy pants, my watchband, 2 coozies, a couple of scarves and this great shirt with flowers on it for dirt cheap.  And, on the way home we stop to take pictures of the share bikes that have been just left willy nilly everywhere on the streets.  Just saving it for later when we launch an all out campaign to protest having share bikes and share eScooters in Asheville! Lunch at home, then we go over to buy some rice cracker cakes that I love and end up stopping at Outlaws for a beer and wine.  Later, my birthday dinner is at the Teak House – a tradition when we are here.  Dash greets us like old friends and spends time chatting, his mom comes by as well and we spend a lovely evening talking, listening to good music and eating excellent meals of fried squid, Khao Soi for Ed and Mom’s special pork curry for me.  Excellent day!

2/27 – More of the same during the day, then back to the street food market for dinner.  I finally get my Papaya salad – it’s been far too long without it! Ed has grilled squid and we happily hang out for the evening chatting away with Maya and the owner of Outlaws (who we talk to all the time, but don’t have a clue what his name is.  Sigh).

2/28 – Lunch out today at a Vietnamese place next to Grumpy Old Men.  It is great food – with the Pho cooked right out front in the big cart.  I actually get a pork dish, which comes out a slices of heavenly marinated pork with lots of dipping sauce and condiments.  I think I’m supposed to roll it all up in the lettuce on the plate, but I”m happier eating it just as it is and dunking the rice noodles in the awesome peanut sauce. 

Dinner is at O’Malley’s for Ed’s huge burger and my chicken and cashews (which comes with so many cashews you can barely see the chicken – it’s perfect for me, the nut fiend!).

3/1 – Happy Birthday Mom!  To celebrate her birthday, we go to our Pad Thai place across the street for lunch (always so great!), then spend the rest of the day organizing the packing – which is far easier now that everything is clean and we aren’t juggling dirty laundry.  Last night dinner is of course at the street food market and Outlaws. Whole salted grilled fish, which is so jumbo tonight, it’s all we get – except for the banana roti we succumb to in an effort to celebrate our last night here.  We say goodbye to everyone, with hugs and cheek kisses all around.  It is just like leaving friends – which I guess after this week and a half, they really are friends now.

And that is that!  10 days in Chiang Mai.  I’m sure there are tons of silly and somewhat interesting things I’m forgetting, but really, it was just a very relaxing, chill (only in the literal sense) visit.  The perfect way to end a very busy touring trip!

2/19–Goodbye Luang Prabang, hello Chiang Mai

We are headed to the last part of our journey!  Time has flown by, and now we are getting ready for our flight (on a puddle jumper no less) to Chiang Mai, our last destination before home.  We are up early, as usual and take our last morning walk along the river, circling back through the city in a big loop.  We finalize the packing (making sure to put all the heavy stuff in the little bag so we don’t run into weight problems), then wait for Tara’s other neighbor to come pick us up in his little Jitney for our ride to the airport.  We haul our bags down the street and load them into the back of our little open air transport and off we go.  We don’t have seats yet and we can’t confirm the flight, so we figure we should get to the airport sooner rather than later, plus there is a lounge we can use.  Turns out we are there way early, its a quick 20 minute drive there, and its a really small airport!  But we get checked in and situated then go hang out at the lounge – which is really just a cube of glassed off area in the domestic waiting area.  But, it’s fine for us.  We sit by the window watching planes come and go and listening to a family behind us who keeps us in hysterics with their banter and the games they play with the kids to keep them quiet.  They are wonderful – don’t know how they are the rest of the time, but if their behavior the hour we spent listening to them in the lounge is any indication – they should be role models for the world. . Seriously that great with those kids and everything in general (including when one of the kids spilled a drink on the dad’s crotch – which was greeted with enough laughter and happy tears, that the whole lounge basically joined in).

After our 2 hour wait, we move on to the departure lounge, only to find that the plane is delayed – due to weather in Chiang Mai.  We don’t see any weather on the radar, but what do we know.  We get into a conversation with an American gentleman and his Thai girlfriend who tells us it is probably the fires keeping us grounded.  It is fire season after all, with the cold nights and the fires being lit to keep warm.   He gives us his background, moved to Chiang Mai a year and a half ago, loves it, will never go back to Florida.  Yeah, we get that!  We tell him about our travels, and he his, and spend a nice time just chatting as we wait for our flight to finally be released.

I manage to spend our last Kips on a couple of postcards, we’ve managed our cash so well there is nothing else we can afford, and finally we are ready to go.  No jetway for us, we walk right out onto the tarmac, and wander out to our little prop plane to board (along with everyone else who is out there snapping pictures of themselves with the plane!).  It’s actually not that bad a plane – or a flight – in the long run.  It’s more like an Embraer, just without the jets.  And since it is the only direct flight to Chiang Mai, my reticence (ok abject fear) of prop planes has to be put aside in favor of expedience. 

The flight is uneventful, we arrive in Thailand about 90 minutes late, grab our bags, walk through the international arrivals to the domestic arrivals, stopping on the way for Ed to get a SIM card and me to stop for the ATM, then we organize the taxi and are whisked away to Peaks Gardens in no time.

We are met by Nithya’s housekeeper, shown the keys and the door lock code, then let loose into the world of Chiang Mai.  It’s just like being home!  The condo we rented this year is a 2 bedroom on the front of the building with a wrap around porch we can use to hide from the afternoon sun.  We chose to move “up” to this unit to get away from the construction that had started in the back of the building last year as well as the Catholic School’s loudspeaker announcements.  Plus, a bigger unit just gives us more space to organize and hang about during our 10 day stay.

We get quickly organized, and since it is so late, head out to the street food market and Outlaws for dinner. Even though it is Makha Bucha day, we figure we can at least order sodas or something from Outlaws while we sit and eat our food.  When we arrive Maya greets us with a big smile and says hello, I remember you, it’s been what, 6 months or so?  We’re amazed!  It’s actually been a year, yet she remembers us and exactly what we drink!  So sweet. And bonus – tonight we are drinking “coffee.”  Yes, even though it is a dry day, somehow they are ingeniously serving our drinks in coffee cups – my wine in a mug, Ed’s beer in a tall to go cup (that actually makes it look like cappuccino!).  Perfect!

So, the night goes perfectly with our whole salted grilled fish, pork satay skewers and “coffee” to keep us hydrated!  And since we planned ahead, we have beer and wine waiting for us at home as well.  I’d call that the perfect first night in Chiang Mai!

2/18–Luang Prabang Kuangsi Waterfall

Today we are finally going to the Kuangsi Waterfalls. We had wanted to visit last year, but somehow just ran out of time. So this year we booked a half day transit with Tara’s neighbor, Mr. Boung, in his Jitney.  We want to leave as early as possible to avoid the crowds, but Mr. Boung drives the Monks back to their monastery after the morning alms giving, so we are on his schedule, and we sure can’t argue with that! 

He arrives to pick us up fairly early, around 8:15, hopping in the back of his Jitney and away we go.  It’s another gorgeous day, without a cloud in the sky as we traverse the city streets and then head out into the country filled with rice paddies, terraced farmlands and lots and lots of scooters on really badly maintained roads!  But Mr. Boung seems to know every pot hole and bump, and he keeps us as comfortable as possible in the back of the open air truck.

We arrive at the entrance to the Falls in a little under an hour. Mr. Boung shows us where to go for entry, and we wave goodbye, telling him we’ll see him in a while.  We pay our entrance fee and begin the trek through the forested paths to reach the Falls. But, before we get there, we get to walk through the Bear Sanctuary. Finally!  (Remember we didn't  have the opportunity to go to the Agra bear sanctuary.)  This sanctuary is associated with a charity called “Free the bears.”  Apparently bears in SE Asia are captured and “milked” for their bile, which is used in all sorts of medicines here.  A grandmother in Australia actually started the charity after she watched a TV program detailing the atrocities performed upon these bears. She started a petition in 1993 that drew thousands of signatures and eventually fostered the first Free the Bears charity, which began in Cambodia in 1995.  The movement then spread to India,  then to Laos and then to Vietnam.  The organization now operates 5 sanctuaries and helps support efforts in India to help stop the abuse, slaughter and trafficking of these poor bears.

The sanctuary here has plenty of room to roam, lots of trees and platforms for the bears to sleep and relax and seems to be a lovely habitat for them. We spend quite some time walking from viewing platform to viewing platform gazing at the snoozing bears. They are so sweet looking and similar to our Asheville bears in size and demeanor. There is also a great bear statue display that visually shows the difference between all the bears worldwide. There is even the North American Black bear (our bears!) that I stand in front of so Ed can snap a picture. 

Very cool.

Now, on to the waterfalls. Which are even better than their description!  We get to the first pools of water which are aquamarine in color and such a  beautiful contrast to the deep green trees and foliage surrounding them. We walk further up the incline and find the first little small falls, cascading peacefully over the rocks into pools.  The next set of falls are a bit higher, with rushing water running over craggy rocks. And as a bonus, there is a lovely girl perched on a tree branch over the water, posing for photos in a gorgeous white wrap around bikini.  Scenery.  You take it as you see it!

As we climb higher through the falls, we pass fig trees, their roots branching out all around their main trunks.  Serene ponds of aquamarine water, and rushing falls cascading down more craggy rocks.  Truly stunning scenery. We can’t get enough of it, and it there are more and more beautiful vistas everywhere we turn.  We had read that there are 2 ways to climb to the top of the falls – the path on the left is less strenuous, so we took that route.  If it is less strenuous, then I’d hate to see what the path to the right was like. This one was pretty hard.  We climbed up uneven steps and moss covered pathways, winding around the mountain through the forest, until we came to a scenic point with a bench where we could rest.  After this point, there were steep stairs up the side of the waterfall that were covered in rushing water.  Ok, we’re adventurous, but not that adventurous!  we’ve seen what we want to see – and we don’t need to tempt the fates by trying to climb up water slicked stone stairs.

We reverse course, and make our way down the paths to the bottom of the waterfall none the worse for wear. As we are treading our way to the exit, the park is totally filling up. Where just moments ago as we ascended the falls there was no one about, now the falls and pools are filled with people. We have beautiful photos with no one around, now? You couldn't even dream of a photo without other people in it. It so pays to get up and out early.

We make our way through the crowds, back to the bear sanctuary, where I end up buying a Free the Bears hat, which will be my traveling hat from now on.  then we find our way out to the car park where Mr. Boung is no where to be found. The other drivers look for him, and one guy in particular goes calling through the local food and drink stands for our driver.  Finally, after a couple of minutes he appears – apparently we were faster than what was expected (no surprise to us – we’re the speed tourists!).

On the way back to town, we have the option of stopping at the butterfly farm, but we’re not into that (we’ve read reviews that it is small, expensive and not worth the time), so we ask Boung if instead we can stop at the Laos Buffalo Dairy farm.  He obliges and we hang stop at the little roadside stand selling Buffalo ice cream, which is totally delicious. They have ricotta donuts too, but it would have been 15 minutes for the donut, so we declined, although we really should have ordered one and then walked about the property waiting. We didn’t realize we could just wander about – they have a pay tour, so we thought that was the only way to see the place, but there is a cafe and stalls and buffaloes and pigs running about the place, so we probably could have just wandered with our ice cream.  The dairy farm is a sustainable farm – they rent out the buffaloes from local farmers, so the farms get a piece of the action and the dairy farm helps protect the buffalo and also breed them to enhance the herds.  The dairy farm then sells cheese, ice cream and other products to support the business.Its a great business idea, and we are happy to support them, even if it is only with a purchased cup or 2 of ice cream.

Back in the Jitney we bump our way back to town, to the house and bid farewell to Mr. Boung.  It’s lunch time, so we head back to Atsalin for their great crispy yellow noodle dishes. This time I get the chicken, while Ed gets the duck again and we dig into to a wonderfully prepared and filling meal.  The rest of the afternoon is spent blogging and reading and just cooling off under the A/C.  Dinner tonight is at Soum Noum,  a restaurant we’ve passed by a couple of times on our wandering. The reviews sound good, and they have a mix of Western and Asian, as most places do. What has intrigued Ed though is their Pork Belly burger, so that is our goal for the evening! 

We arrive, and as per usual, we are one of the first customers. There is another guy sitting outside on the patio, but we decide it is way too loud out there (the speakers blaring music are right next to the table at which we start to sit), so we go “inside” to the covered patio, away from the street and the speakers for a lovely quiet evening meal.  Since we are the only customers, we get all the attention we need – ordering our drinks, then Ed orders his Pork Belly burger and I settle on the Mok Kai, a farci chicken wrapped in a banana leaf.  What the heck. 

The food arrives, and oh boy! That Pork belly burger is something else. It is first of all MONSTROUS, and second of all packed with pork belly, fried egg, lettuce, tomato onion, bun…it is just massive.  Ed can’t even get his mouth around the whole thing – he ends up deconstructing the thing just to eat it, but he says it is delicious and well worth the effort.  My Mok Kai is tiny, but packed full of flavor. It is some sort of ground chicken, packed with spices and steamed in the banana leaf, giving it tons and tons of flavor.  It’s a perfect size for me, and the accompanying sticky rice is all I need for a satisfying meal.  We have a little bit of a language issue when I ask for soy sauce for the rice, but the chef comes through (he understands my request) and the meal is excellent all around.

For a night cap, we head back to the Indigo rooftop bar – it’s the best place in town to hang out, watch people with a drink or two. Then a stop at the Dara Market for wine (tomorrow is Macha Bucha day in Thailand – dry day!!! – no booze – so I need to pack my wine for the day), then back to the house to hang out on the patio, and organize our packing for our trip to Chiang Mai tomorrow.

2/17–Luang Prabang

Another chill day in Luang Prabang – chill by way of hanging out, not the temperatures, to be sure.  But, nothing we didn’t expect, and we are prepared with our 2nd set of clothing for the trip (India was pretty cool, except for Mumbai, so we packed both our cold weather gear and our hot weather gear and are prepared for just about any situation).

This morning we had wanted to try to take a ferry across the river to the Wat Chomphet and the little village surrounding the wat.  Tara recommends this in her house guide, and we’ve found some information in a couple of guide books.  We head off to the river a little before 9, hoping to figure out how to get across to the other banks. But, as it did last year, the river crossing totally defeats us!  It is really hard to figure out where the correct boat docks are located,  there aren’t really any signs, and there are tons of individual boat owners trying to bargain with you to take you across. We do find one sign that says to Wat Chompet, it’s down by the ferry dock, but we aren’t quite sure if it is the right one, and we aren’t in agreement about the names of the wat or the village, so in the end? We jettison the whole outing and head back to the house – with the added bonus of being able to visit the morning market.

The morning market is as its name implies, only in the morning. This is where the locals come to buy their meat, seafood and produce every day.  The market is chock full with gorgeous fresh seafood, meat being butchered in front of our eyes, vibrantly colored produce and cooked and fried food offerings galore.  It is a cornucopia of food!  We wander through all the stalls, stopping here and there, but finally buying 2 skewers of what looks like bacon, which we will use for lunch with the eggs we bought.  The sweet lady at the stall pantomimes to us, asking us if we want the bacon heated up? No.  How about the bamboo skewers? No, you can take those off.  Too fun!  In the end, it’s pretty pricey, but what the heck.  The experience is worth it – and oh by the way – it is mighty tasty with our fried egg lunch!

The rest of the afternoon is spent hanging out, doing nothing in particular.  We take a little walk down the street, trying to ascertain exactly how far Rosella’s fusion restaurant is, but we never make it that far. We do, though, pass by Joli’s Pizza Fire Wood.  Wood fired pizza, yeah, Laotian style.  Lost in translation… but at least they have a great picture of the wood fire pizza oven.

Tonight’s dinner is at the Bamboo cafe, located away from the main drag of Luang Prabang, on a little side street across from a hostel. We arrive early (as always) and the family is eating at one of the big tables. They break away to seat us, which we thank them for profusely.  We order our drinks, then in a bit order dinner – Larb Moo (minced pork salad) for Ed and Tam Mak Hoong (green papaya salad) for me.  Finally, papaya salad!  The girls running the place are so cute – they cook, they cut the papaya, they do everything in the open kitchen right across the dining area.  The whole meal is great, and we leave feeling very satisfied. Since it is still early – and not raining – we head back to the night market, shopping through the stalls, buying bracelets and UXO souvenirs and those bamboo straws I should have bought last year!

As we are making our way back to the end of the market, we decide to stop for a drink at the Indigo house terrace bar, a rooftop bar overlooking Sisavangvong road and the whole of the night market. It’s a long climb up to the rooftop, and we can’t imagine staying in any of these rooms opening off the open stairway that resonates with the noise from the bar – but we’re here for the drinks and the ambience, not a hotel stay.  We luck out and find 2 seats at a bar shelf, overlooking the end of the night market, and order our drinks.  This is a great place to just hang out and relax, watching all the people come and go down below us.  We end up having a couple of beers and wines while we watch the comings and goings of Jitneys and taxis, and the ebb and flow of night market humanity.

Finally we take our leave, weaving our way though the market stalls and shoppers to our much quieter and peaceful little neighborhood house.  The rest of the night is spent on the patio, under the fan, chilling out.

2/16–Luang Prabang

Today is sort of do nothing day. We are reveling in relaxation after our busy, do something every day, 3+ weeks. We can sleep in and sort of lounge around in the morning, but we do have something planned for today.  Tara is having a talk on Taoism at TEAC, to which we are planning to attend. We arrive early (surprise!), pay our entrance fee and wander back to the presentation area.  We introduce ourselves to Tara, then seat ourselves in the back so as not to be obtrusive. Eventually, and the crowd fills in (mostly all local ex-pat, but a few tourists), Tara asks us to move up front to allow late guests easy entry – perfect! We’re in the front row without looking like pushy people. 

The presentation is great, the history of Taoism, how the traditions are kept in the villages and how TAEC has come into possession of so many artifacts (some are on loan from an anonymous donor, some were purchased when offered by the owner). We are also shown how they care for the artifacts, where they are stored and how they need a bigger space to display more of the items.  It is a fascinating hour or so, learning all about local culture, history and how Tara and her partner explore the culture and try to keep it alive through the museum.   

By the time we leave, it is close to lunch time, so we head over to Atsalin, another Tara recommendation.  This is a great little place a couple of blocks away from the house, serving mostly noodles and fried rice at totally cheap prices.  Today, I get fried rice with crispy pork, a sort of riff on pork belly that is excellent and way too filling.  Ed gets crispy yellow noodle with duck and vegetables, which is heavy on the duck and veggies, with yummy crispy noodles on the bottom.  Oh, I’m so getting that if we come here again!

The afternoon is spent at the house, just hanging about, enjoying our freedom.  The hot afternoon turns into a thunderstorm strewn evening as we venture from the house looking for dinner. We decide to eat at Tangor, always a good bet, and wade our way through the burgeoning night market to grab the very last table at Tangor. We are totally lucky, because everyone who comes in after us has to go out back – through the rain to what appears to be a leaky sort of bamboo thatched roofing over outdoor seating.  Timing is everything.

And we have timed it perfectly, not only do we nab the last table, we also manage to sneak into the last minutes of happy hour.  2 fers!  So we settle in, order our drinks and watch the rain on the patio and the people streaming in and out of the restaurant. After a while we order our meals – Chicken stay for me – 8 skewers of perfectly grilled chicken presented standing up in a wooden bowl, and bun cha for Ed, once again served with very little broth, but excellent with ground pork meatballs (as opposed to patties) a spring roll, noodles and tons of chili sauce and lettuce.  Guess the Hanoi “soup” style is only in Hanoi.

A yummy meal, with our 2nd drinks as dessert.  And the cutest thing, on the bill, the happy hour special rings up as one drink to pay, and the other drink as a “gift.”  Very funny! We’ve never been given a “gift” at a bar before. 

Totally full and happy, we take our leave and weave our way through a rainy night market, where most of the vendors were closing up shop due to the heavy downpours and the lack of customers.  We had plans to shop, but we have 2 more nights, so we’ll put it off for a drier evening.

2/15–Off to Luang Prabang

It’s another early morning today, leaving before breakfast is even being served to get to the airport for our 9:15m flight.  We, of course, wheel our suitcases down to the lobby ourselves, and set off some big huge alarm throughout the entire morning staff. One of the housekeeping ladies who was mopping the pool area starts shouting and waving her hands at some other guy, and before we know it they have descended upon us, taking our bags and ushering us to the lobby.  We’re not used to such attention! 

We check out, pay our final tab, and are handed breakfast bags for our drive to the airport.  The driver takes the luggage, and off we go, through the quiet, still sleeping town of Hoi An, and the just as quiet Da Nang city.  We arrive at the airport after almost an hour – for some reason it was very slow going at the last bit of the route – but we’ve still got plenty of time to check in and hit the club before boarding our flight to Hanoi for a 2 hour layover before our final segment to Luang Prabang. Before we know it, we are in Laos, handing in our visa forms and paying our fee, then grabbing our luggage and finding Mr. Ping who will drive us to the apartment/house we have rented close by the Dara market area. 

Tara is our landlord, and she is one of the founders of the Traditional Arts and Ethnology Centre (TAEC) which we had visited during our previous stay in Luang Prabang.  Mr. Ping deposits us into his Jitney and we take off for the house, arriving in a little less than 20 minutes.  The house is awesome. 2 bedrooms on the first floor, with a large bathroom and walk in shower. A bamboo fenced courtyard, And a 2 motorbike garage. Up the curved polished wood stairs there is a large open living space with sofa, TV and dining area and a nicely equipped kitchen forming an L off to the side with another 1/2 bath. There are also 2 great patios – one on the front of the house which gets tons of sun, and has no furniture, so we are thinking, not a great place to hang out. But the patio on the back of the house, off the top of the steps is covered, with furniture and a fan, and a great view of the neighborhood houses, the mountains in the distance and Mt. Phousi, the huge temple on the top of the mountain in the center of town. This will definitely be our hanging out location.  

We get settled and organized and head out into town.  It’s 3:30, and we’re sort of tired and just want to reacquaint ourselves with the town, so we head over to Sisavangvong Street, the main street of the town, looking for a place to just hang out. We end up at Tangor, a bar/restaurant we liked last year, where they have a happy hour which is just beginning. We end up sitting there, on the patio overlooking the street, relaxing and gathering our second wind.  It’s hot, we’re tired simply from an early morning and the hectic nature of flying anywhere, so it’s nice to just sort of chill here on the patio with cold drinks and watch the world go by.

On our way home, we stop at the grocery store to stock up on essentials, then freshen up and head to dinner. We don’t really have any single place in mind, but we’re thinking of maybe heading toward one of Tara’s recommended restaurants, Rosella Fusion. But it is sort of far, and we’re not really in the mood to walk that whole way, so we end up stopping at Sabaidee restaurant, which is directly across from Brother’s House – one of our favorite restaurants from last year (which, btw, is now getting terrible reviews because they have supposedly upped their prices, reduced the amount of food and even changed the BBQ grills from charcoal to electric – shame!).  There is no one there, only the staff who are eating  – I guess we are a bit early, even though it is approaching 7 – but they smile and seat us, and we throw caution to the wind and order their BBQ.  The BBQ takes a while – because we are the first customers and they have to get the wood and coals hot (it’s not like it’s electric), but we don’t mind, we have nothing else to do, and the meal is fantastic. Not a huge amount, but quite enough to be filling, along with 2 eggs for boiling and a copious amount of noodles we dip into the broth that is boiling on the sides of the grill.  Excellent!  A great first night meal for us here in Laos.

We easily navigate our way back to the house (it’s only one little alleyway off the street), and hang out in the blissful A/C until we are ready for bed.

2/14–Hoi An all day

Today is the first day in over 3 weeks that we don’t have anything planned.  No tours. No organization, nothing.  It’s a lovely feeling.  And it’s Valentine’s Day – Happy Valentine’s Day!

We putz around all morning, have breakfast, start to sort of arrange our packing, then head out to explore Hoi An.  We’ve been here before on a tour from a ship, and while we enjoyed the history and the ancient temples, etc., in town, it wasn’t our favorite place in Vietnam – I think we called its “Vietnam Lite.”  But, heck, we’re here, so we will go see what there is to see – and we do have 2 missions:  1) to buy Ed more of the awesome t-shirts we got here last time (they are the best quality!), and 2) go to the Banh mi place that had run out of bread on our street tour.  So, it’s not necessarily mindless wandering.

We follow Hung’s advice from 2 days ago, and walk into town along the river road – which is so much more pleasurable than going along the city streets.  First we pass a couple of rice paddies– right across the street from the hotel – with women already working, planting and maintaining the new soft shoots of rice.  Then we turn along the river, heading toward town, and while It’s longer this way, it is so much more peaceful. There is literally no one about, and the sidewalk along the river is wide and even, not like the hurdy gurdy sidewalk on the city streets.  The peacefulness quickly recedes behind us as we near town, it is a zoo review, even at a little after 10am.

We turn into town with a bunch of tourists, only to get confused by the Japanese bridge.  I think the city is before the bridge, but it turns out it is not, and are going in the opposite direction.  We correct our heading, cutting through town on a diagonal road that actually takes us right past the Old Town Bar and Bistro, one of our choice for dinner last night (that we smartly abandoned when we saw the masses of crowds descending on the town).  At least we know where it is for a drink later.

Now we know where we are, and we are right at the Japanese bridge, which is the beginning of the old historic district.  In and amongst the hundreds of touristy souvenir and arts shops, are little historical houses from the original town, temples and pagodas, plus museums and other interesting oddities you must pay admission to explore. Since we’ve already done that, we are just meandering, watching all the tourists and their deer in the headlights facial expressions, window shopping at the myriad of art/painting shops (with really gorgeous prints, but we A) don’t have room, and B) don’t think any of these are originals and worth the hassle of trying to get home) and various other souvenir shops along the main historic street.

Through all the hullaballoo, we do finally find the T-Shirt store for Ed. He has on one of his existing shirts, and the proprietor yells out, repeat customer, when he sees us. Yes, we are!  The shirts are pricey in comparison to others, but they are of such good quality that we don’t mind. We end up negotiating a discount on 3 shirts and walk out happily with our purchases.  Now on to lunch. 

Fortunately, I know exactly where we are now, and exactly where Banh Mi Phuong Hoi An is located.  There is already a line beginning to form when we get there, and not knowing exactly what the protocol is, I wait in the line while Ed goes in and grabs a seat.  As it turns out, we could have just sat down at the table and ordered, but we didn’t know that. The bonus of standing at the counter waiting to place the order is that I got to watch the assembly line put together Banh mi after Banh mi. It was a synchronized dance, and orchestral performance, there were 5 girls behind the counter all making different sandwiches at a rate of about 1 sandwich per minute.  Crazy fun, just watching.  I finally got to order – and even that was an ordeal, because they don’t have just regular Banh mi, they have all sorts of different varieties- bacon, tuna, with egg….nah, we just want traditional and ended up with pork and BBQ pork.  I grab the sandwiches and 2 beers, deposit them on the table then look for someone to pay.  It was such a busy place, I truly could have just walked away without paying, but that’s not right – so I stood at the counter until I could get someone’s attention, told them our order and paid – a whopping $1 USD for each sandwich and $0.65 cents for each beer.  Vietnam.  Gotta love it.

We finish our sandwiches and bus our own table (because I guess we weren’t supposed to be sitting there without waitstaff service?  I dunno, but it is the nice thing to do), and head out the door, where the line is literally stretching across the street - which isn’t too good from a safety standpoint – or a waiting time standpoint.  Obviously we got here at the right time.

Now, it’s time to make our way back through the crowds on our way to the hotel. We decide though to make a pitstop at the Old Town Bar and Bistro for a couple of drinks, which turns out to be a nice respite on the side street leading to the Japanese Bridge.  At first we are the only ones there, besides the owner (a Brit) and the bartender/waitress.  But soon, others filter in. Mostly Brits who talk with the owner, and a couple who just want the bathroom, to which the owner rolls his eyes and just shakes his head.  Overall it is quite a pleasant hour sitting there, drinking and listening to the banter. 

We took the river walk home, again on nice quiet streets along the river, then hung out in the room and on the balcony (when the sun went down), relaxing and enjoying the rest of our day. Tonight we have our Valentine’s Day celebration at Red Bean, where we feasted on a Hoi An specialty of Three Friends appetizer, an incredibly tasty little stack of shrimp and pork belly, tied together with strips of spring onions, then Bun Cha for Ed, which had an amazing selection of pork, but little sauce – very differently served here – still excellent though, and I had the seafood on a hot pan which was a combination of squid, shrimp and fish served with vegetables and a dipping sauce.  It was all lovely and served on the patio under the warm full moon.  Awesome.

And tomorrow, we will be up and out early for our flight to Luang Prabang.  It has been a wonderful time here, we have really enjoyed the hotel and the tours and excursions. The area around Hoi An has much to offer in terms of history and sightseeing, and we’ve enjoyed it all.  It is really funny though, as we have wandered around, we are struck with the contrast to India.  Where we used to think of Vietnam as a 3rd world country, and it truly is, we are astounded at how much cleaner, more organized and better infrastructure there is here as opposed to India.  Coming here after our India experience, has really opened our eyes to the differences in each and every country we visit. 

2/13–Hue–Thien Mu Pagoda, Khai Dinh tomb and back to Hoi An

After a quick trip to the restroom and a stroll through the beautiful gardens in front of the restaurant, we meet back with Hung to continue on our full day tour. Next, we are heading to the Thien Mu Pagoda, otherwise known as the Celestial Lady (or just Lady) Pagoda.  This is an iconic symbol of Hue, some say it is the unofficial symbol of the city,sitting on a rise above the Perfume River, about 4 k from the Citadel and Imperial City.  The original site was constructed in the 1600s under the Nguyen Dynasty, and was a much more simply designed.  The existing 7 storey pagoda, each story dedicated to a different Buddha that has appeared in human form, was built in 1844.  There is some folklore about the origins of the pagoda site, having to do with a lady who came and sat on this hill every day, dressed in red and blue, and prophesized that a lord would come here, erect a Buddhist temple on the hill and pray for the country’s prosperity.  After she proclaimed this, she disappeared. When the emperor at the time heard this, he immediately began construction on the “Lady” pagoda.

The pagoda itself has become an important Buddhist center, and as early as the 1600’s was visited by Zen masters.  Currently, 50 monks live on the property taking care of the gorgeous grounds, ensuring they are beautifully planted and maintained.  A lovely garden like courtyard exists behind the pagoda, with flowering bushes, plants and ponds with water falls and Buddhist deities strewn about.  At the far end of the gardens, a stupa in honor of the holy abbot who presided over the reconstruction of the temple complex in the 20th century.  Also on the grounds is the Austin car that the monk, Thich Quang Duc, rode in on his way to Saigon where he immolated himself in protest over the 1963 government ban on flying religious flags, which was only selectively applied and basically a ban on the Buddhists. 

It is quite a lovely temple area, and a perfect day to be here. It is only marred by the rude Chinese tourists who are loud, obnoxious and push right in front of you no matter where you are or what you are doing.  I almost had to shoulder block the 2 that jumped right in front me while I was taking a picture of the monk’s car.  Patience is a virtue that is in extremely short supply around the Chinese, I’m sorry to say.

Hung has asked us if we would like to take a boat trip down the Perfume River so that we can see the Citadel and the city, from another perspective.  We could then meet the car up river, which sounds good to us. He quotes us another additional price (we really should be negotiating with him!), and while it’s pricey, we agree – what the heck, we couldn’t ask for a better day, and it is the Perfume river after all. So, off we go to the river boat landing to wait for our boat which will be coming for us from up river.  Apparently, this is a consolidator deal, because Hung doesn’t know the boat driver, but is looking for a specific number on the boat.  We finally see the boat, and carefully make our way down the steep steps to hop on our own private dragon boat.

Off we go, down the river, with a breeze in our face and lovely riverbank scenery out the window. The boat, just like most of the others on the river, appears to be a combination of business and home for the family running it.  The driver, a woman and a little girl are all aboard as we sail up the Perfume river.  There is also an abundance of souvenirs on the boat, and the woman makes a great show of looking through the purses, bags, keychains and magnets she has available.  She never really offers them to us, but just looks at them, and gives magnets to Hung to look at as well.  Good teamwork, but we aren’t buying.  Literally!  They do offer us a beer, which of course we take.

There is a lot of river traffic out here, tons of various sized dragon boats are plying the waters either looking for, or already possessing riders heading to and from the Lady Pagoda.  15 minutes later, we are floating past the Citadel, which you really can’t even see from the water because of the trees.  Oh well, that was a little bit of a misleading sales job, but, heck, it’s a boat on a river on a beautiful sunny day – we aren’t complaining.

We dock at this little sandy pullout on the side of the river, no official docks around here (I almost feel like we were sneaking off the boat), pay for our boat ride (beer included), and hoof our way out of the river bank, with Hung stopping at every dragon boat moored here to take our picture.  Our car is waiting at the end of the pathway, and we hop in ready to make our last stop of the day, a royal tomb.  We have some discussion about which tomb to visit.  We had talked a lot about Minh Mang, who was an important emperor in the 1800’s, and I had read about his tomb. Hung gets this stuck in his head, and says we can go there instead of Khai Dinh, which is our original destination.  I ask him which is best – but of course, he won’t answer, he says they are both good, it is up to us.  Fortunately I can do a quick Google search (thank you Google Fi! Now if you will just work with regular Google to make their coordination with LiveWriter as good as your service, we’ll be very happy campers), and decide that Khai Dinh is the way to go.  (Hung actually agrees once we’ve made the decision.)

While most other tombs are fairly plain buildings with some decoration here and there, placed in the middle of a courtyard, Khai Dinh’s tomb is incredibly huge and ornate, and more like a monument than a typical tomb.  Built beginning in 1920, the complex took 11 years to complete and is a combination of Eastern and Western architecture (the most heavy influence from the French,  because the Emperor worked closely with France during his reign, often to the derision of his subjects who considered him a simple employee of the French government). Apparently he also taxed the peasants pretty heavily in order to finance the tomb, so this in combination with his French allegiance made him a pretty unpopular ruler. The tomb and its buildings are absolutely amazing to look at though, we must admit. 

Reached by climbing a steep set of concrete stairs on either side of a flower garden that is now terraced into the middle section of stairs, we enter through huge black wrought iron gates leading to a courtyard with statues of wise men, elephants and what we assume are peasants.  The buildings, towers and walls are all concrete that has turned a deep grey, and in many places black, over time, which provides contrasting colors in every type of light.  Another flight of stairs leads to the main tomb building, which is decorated with detailed carvings on every surface.  But inside, well, that’s another story! There’s gold in them there hills…uh…tomb!  Gold statues on the main tomb structure, in the form of the Emperor siting on his throne, of course, which is atop a platform made of gemstones inlayed into marble.  There are ornate pillars with bas relief dragons, all bedecked in inlayed gemstones, along with incredible mosaic tiles reaching from floor to ceiling representing the 4 seasons.  It is opulent and ornate, and you can see why this guy would not be popular with his people. 

It is crazy, over the top, but incredible gorgeous at the same time.  We are very glad we chose this tomb to visit.  On the way out, we can’t resist taking picture after picture of the buildings and the decorations, especially as the sun is perfectly placed for photo taking, without a cloud in the sky.   Wow.

We reconnect with our driver at a little rest stop area across from the tomb where everyone parks.  He and Hung want some coffee, so we hang out around the little cafe while they get their caffeine fix and peruse the offerings in the convenience store area, including ramen noodles “Made with Japanese technology.”  Hmmmm, wonder what that would be?

Now we begin our long journey home, which Hung figures will take about taking about 3 hours.  We settle in, graze a little from our snack bags and watch the world – and the little Vietnamese ladies on bikes laden with huge bags of something - pass us by.  After a bit, Hung has the driver stop at a roadside restaurant.  He explains that both he and the driver (turns out their are friends) are originally from this area and they want to stop to get a special local Hue food – cassava covered pork, shrimp and spices that are steamed in a banana leaf.  Hung is gone for a while, but comes back with only candy (which he shares). Don’t know what the deal was, but the two of them get into some long winded discussion and end up stopping at another restaurant a few minutes up the road. This time Hung is successful and he gets back in the car with a big bag of this special treat which is obviously going home to their families.  He also pulls out a small package of the banana leaf wrapped treats for us too.  How sweet!  We dig right in (even though he says it is stinky, so he opens a window so as not to smell up the car – oops!) – and it is weirdly delicious. The texture is totally weird, this rubbery sort of gel that has coalesced over the pork and the shrimp, almost cementing it into the gel.  Don’t know, but it is mighty tasty!  We end up sharing 1 and saving the other 1 for a later snack.

Further along, we retrace our steps through the mountains and then past Ca Long and up onto the long entry ramp to the new Hai Van tunnel.  Opened in 2005, it is the longest tunnel in SE Asia at 6km and cuts the commute from Hue to Da Nang by an hour or more.  Interestingly enough, the tunnel is for automobiles only.  Currently it is only one two lane tunnel tube, with traffic flowing both ways.  For this reason, scooters and motorcycles are not allowed.  There are little “bus” stations at each end of the tunnel where scooter drivers wait for a truck upon which to load their scooter and then a bus to take them through the tunnel.  They are currently building another tunnel tube, and once complete, each tunnel will carry traffic in one direction, which will allow scooters and motorcycles to drive through the tunnel. 

We are treated to a great view over Da Nang city as we exit the tunnel and make our way down the mountain to sea level, passing the unpopulated bay area, then taking a detour through empty streets, past a huge empty lot where little street food type restaurants are setting up tables and chairs, then into the more busy city district so Hung can take us by this “guy’s” coffee shop – “you must know him,” he says.  He keeps saying a name, but we I can’t understand him, so we just go along, until we see what he is taking about:  it is a placed called Trump Coffee!  Peals of laughter from the front seat, as we giggle and guffaw in the back as well. Such a comedian Hung is turning out to be.

On the other side of the road, we pass a Buddhist temple with an absolutely monstrous Buddha statue and a gorgeous 11 or 12 storey pagoda – a much more interesting sight for us!  And of course, as always, the scooters and the people flowing around us keep our attention throughout the drive.  There is this one family who just fascinates us, a mom, a dad and 2 kids.  The dad is driving and the mom looks like she is barely even holding on, half sitting on the back of the scooter with a kid in her arms.  I try to get some pictures, but nothing works right, which bums me out.  Then, 5 minutes later, here they are again, just as we are crossing the bridge over the Song Cau river.  Perfect shot!  Yes!  And still amazing how she stays on that scooter. 

We’re getting close to Hoi An now, and the traffic is picking up – both automotive and pedestrian.  OMG!  We can not believe the sheer number of people out on the streets.  Hoi An is jam packed, I don’t know how anyone is even walking on the sidewalks it is so busy and crazy.  We had already sort of decided to stay at the hotel for dinner tonight, something we hardly ever do, but let me tell you – we are so glad that we drove through town on the way back because it totally made the decision to stay at the hotel easy.  No way we are going out into that melee.  Ugh.

Hung dropped us off in the lobby, with a fond farewell, he has been absolutely fantastic and we’re ever so glad he “traded” for us on our Hue tour!  While he collects his receipts (or payments or whatever he does with reception), we head to our rooms to freshen up a bit, then go to The Temple for a light dinner.  They’ve got fantastic food here both at the Red Bean (the traditional restaurant that is always within the top 5 restaurants here and in Hanoi) and The Temple restaurant (which is the Elegance Hotel Group’s newest restaurant without as many reviews).  We’ve never been disappointed and tonight is no different.  We snack on a shared appetizer of seared scallops, Ed has broccoli and camembert cheese soup, while I splurge on goat cheese mushroom ravioli.  A perfectly light meal to finish off a very long and fruitful day.  Once again we, head to our balcony to finish off our evening in the cooling night air.

Glad we drove thru town on way home, it was super crazy! Made our decision to stay at hotel for dinner easy.

2/13–Hue–The Citadel and lunch

It is a full day tour today – starting out at 7:30, we barely have time for breakfast – well, not really, we have plenty of time, and we meet Hung in the lobby right on schedule.  The drive to Hue is about 3 hours each way, so we are handed snack bags on the way out, complete with fruit, pastries and water for our long drive north to the once capital of the Nguyen dynasty, and the location of the epic Vietnam war battle that essential signaled the end of the American war here.

Out on the road, with Hung, and a new driver, we head back through Da Nang on our way up the coast to Hue.  Once again, Hung quizzes us on what he tells us, and figure out he likes us because we are interested in the history of the country, not just shopping and massages!  He makes a few comments along the way that leads us to believe he “traded” for us because he talk about the important things in his country, not just be a glorified concierge delivering his charges to shopping malls and spas. As we drive, Hung gives us the nickel tour of Da Nang, pointing out the American helicopter fields used during the war, and then moving on to explain to us the sacred and lucky numbers for Vietnamese:  5 is a sacred number (for the 5 elements: fire, water, wood, metal and earth), 7 is a lucky number, as well as 9 which is the 5 elements plus 4.  Why?  I don’t remember, but there is a definite reason for each number’s relevance.

We stop at a marble factory outside the Marble mountain, which is interesting for the massive marble Buddha carvings and other little statues.  We aren’t really interested in buying anything, and the carvers aren’t here today, so we don’t get a demonstration – but that’s ok, Hung says – they don’t mind if we don’t buy anything.  Good, because, we aren’t!  But we do get a great view of the marble mountain with it’s 2 temples/pagodas perched on the side of the cliffs.  Hung tells us there are 5 mountains surrounding Da Nang, all symbolizing the elements:  metal, fire, wood, metal and earth.  The route doesn’t take us to any good view points of the mountains, just through the over developed area around the beaches of Da Nang. But we do get to cross the Dragon bridge, which has been realistically designed to look like a dragon, then we drive along the bay (that is surprisingly undeveloped – there must be something wrong over here) and up into the mountainous topography that leads us to Hue. 

There are 2 ways to get to Hue, the coastal road, which is more scenic, and the tunnel which was just complete a few years ago and cuts off hours of travel up and down the coast. We are taking eh scenic route on the way to Hue so we can see the coast and the beautiful beaches and bays, eschewing the tunnel until our return at the end of the day. We stop at a scenic point overlooking a lovely white beach and the bay where Hung plays photographer once again, placing us in the best position for the prettiest picture.

Our next stop is atop the crest of the mountain ridge, Doung Cuu Nan, or Hai Phon (peak where you can see the clouds) where there is an amazing overlook (thus the name Hai Phon) down into Da Nang bay and the remains of bunkers set into the hillside for protection.  After our brief stop, we continue down the mountain to  the sweet little enclave of Lang Co (pelican beach) so named because pelicans would come here to hunt and eat the fish.  Now, it is fisherman who ply the shallow waters searching for fish, and more often clams.  We stop at a lovely little restaurant with 2nd floor seating overlooking the little bay where we can watch the fisherman dig for clams and against a backdrop of lush green mountains rising up from the bay.  It is a lovely rest stop for the middle of our trip, and we luxuriate in the scenery on the balcony while sipping excellent coffee and taking pictures of fishermen and the incredible panoramic view of the lake (brackish bay) cradled at the bottom of the mountain ridges.

Back in the car, we make our way further inland, heading north toward Hue.  With an hour and a half more to go, we spend the time alternately looking out the window at the rice paddies and coastal sites flashing past us, and listening to Hung explain everything from history to the naming of different cities after dragons. For instance, Ha long (as in Halong bay) is landing dragon, Za long is the royal dragon and Ca long is a flying dragon. 

Finally, we reach the city of  Hue, of which we have been fascinated for ages, simply because of the Tet offensive battle and the way this particular battle shaped the Vietnam war. We’ve read a ton of material, including Hue 1968: The turning point of the Vietnam War – which gave us a wartime perspective on the city. But Hung gives us so much more.  While we are focusing solely on the foibles of the US offensive – this city has so much more history to offer, that we are slightly embarrassed to be focusing so much on the war influence. Not that it wasn't drastic, the city was all but destroyed, but Hung doesn't dwell on it. Instead he focuses on the cultural and historical influence of the Citadel and the Imperial city, giving us so much more history and meaningful information than simply the the sight of the penultimate American war battle.

Approaching the city, Hung explains that this was the Imperial capital city of Vietnam for about 150 years, until 1945 and the August Revolution, when Ho Chi Minh declared Vietnam’s independence, moving the capital to Hanoi, and setting the stage for the epic battle that was to come. In the meantime, the Imperial city of Hue still stood, in all it’s glory, within the Citadel walls along the banks of the Perfume River.  The city itself is built within a series of walls, the first, most outer walls, are the Citadel moat walls with the impressive black fortress guarding the royal entrance.  Inside the Citadel, the second set of walls surrounds the Imperial city, and then the final set of walls enclose the Forbidden city where only the royals were allowed to enter. We stand outside the Imperial wall Meridien gate, while listening as Hung explains the 3 separate doorways, the one on the left (now the International visitor entrance) was for the public, the one on the left for servants and the much larger middle door with locked golden gates was for the Royal family, in particular the Emperor, who would ride into the city on his Elephant (and thus the larger size of the door/gate).  We also get a lesson on the Vietnam flag, as we gaze at the fortress behind us, its flags hung high – the colors of the flags are all symbolic: Yellow is for the skin, Red for blood and a star with 5 points for the castes of Vietnam.  Never knew that before.  Great tour guide information. 

Hung walks us through the beautiful red and gold Meridien gates, into a large courtyard with flowers and two lakes (cement ponds really) filled with Koi. We enter the Than Hoa Palace to walk into the interior of the Imperial city, ending up on a slightly barren courtyard (where a stage is being set up for some sort of event), lined with buildings that were ostensibly used for royal duties, but are now restroom facilities and souvenir shops.  Facing the back of the courtyard is an old blackened wall, adorned with with dragons and carvings, and a little open gate area, through which we walk into the Forbidden City.  Here, we find ourselves in the middle of lush green lawns, crisscrossed by paths that lead to an assortment of buildings here.  There are red lacquer porticos adorned with all sorts of beautiful artwork, contrasted by blackened stone walls surrounding the perimeters.  A gorgeous “reading pavilion” (i.e., library) still exists with shelves upon shelves of books, and beautifully upholstered chairs adorned win the royal red and gold colors.  There is also a lake and pagoda in the middle of green gardens, where the royal ladies once held court.  All in all it is a beautiful enclave – and one can only imagine how it must have looked years ago, before all the “aggression.”

Of course Hung is filling our heads with history and facts that we will never remember – but he is so passionate for his work, and honestly, we find it fascinating while he expounds.  If only I could record all his great oratories to remember later.  But, that is not to be, as we are just trying to listen and be in the moment, instead of stressing about the details.   

Passing through the Forbidden city, we exit at the back end of the fortress walls, and head out into the “regular” city for lunch.  Our driver picks us up moments after we emerge, and takes us over to the Y Thao Garden, our luncheon location.  We are seated in a lovely little room with other tour participants (definitely not a local joint!), but the menu looks good, and the food is plentiful. We have a set menu of spring rolls (“decorated on the formed peacock” – and they do come out skewered to the back of a peacock made out of a pineapple and carrot – quite inventive), vegetable soup, Hue specialty pancake (a huge fried rice cake stuffed with vegetables and meat – a little too much even for me), mixed fig salad (it tasted more like chicken, but had a great peanut topping and a very good taste – who knows what it really was), fried fish with lemongrass (teeny patty of ok tasting fish), mixed steamed lotus rice (it’s rice) and dessert of fruit and green bean cake formed fruit.  

Everything was extremely good, although the pancake was a bit much. But the dessert got us.  The fruit was fine, what’s not to like about fruit?  But the bean cake come out as a what appeared to be a plastic berry attached to wire in Styrofoam.  What part of that can you eat? (And, damn you Goggle for not letting us post a picture, because you can’t even visualize this without a photo!)  We poked and prodded every thing in the little vase, before finally deciding it was all inedible and just a pretty table setting.  Until the waitress came by and told us we could eat the “fruit” or “berries” attached to the Styrofoam and wire “stems.”  Yeah right! Ed was brave enough to take a bite, but it tastes like wall paper paste formed into a berry – maybe a Vietnamese delicacy, but we’re not buying it.  Hey, the rest of the meal was great – let’s not ruin it with a pasty bean-berry dessert.

2/12–My Son

It is a beautiful day for our excursion to My Son today.  We have our breakfast at the restaurant near our room which serves continental as well as Asian (the Red Bean restaurant only serves Asian) – and what a spread they have.  You name it, everything from traditional eggs to sushi.  There is enough here to feed you for the entire day, if not week!  We pick and choose our way through fortifying proteins, enjoying the peace and quiet of the early morning pool (by mid-afternoon, once the Chinese appear, that peace and quiet is all but a memory). While we aren’t on an “organized” tour as we were in India, we are still looked after.  As we are sitting at breakfast, one of the front desk managers comes over to ask us how we are, how our sleep was and if we are ready for our My Son tour today, which leaves at 8:30.  They know everything! It is like they have a tracker attached to us so they can find us any time of day or night. (I actually think they got the time wrong on the tour and came to find us, thinking we would miss it, because it was originally scheduled for 8:00 but the desk manager changed it to 8:30 yesterday when we were reviewing our itinerary!)

Anyway, we finished our breakfast and headed down to the lobby to meet our guide Hung (whose name means hero), who was already there and waiting, re-enforcing the fact that we think they messed up on the timing.  After the pleasantries and another quick itinerary overview, we are handed snack packs (they think of everything) and off we go with our driver, Yung (whose name means courage – which is apt if you are driving on these roads!), expertly navigating the hour or so drive to My Son.  Along the way Hung gives us history lessons and talks about a million different things I’ll never remember.  He is so personable and intelligent, and so happy to talk about Vietnam and its history, that it makes for a very pleasant trip.  Along the way, we also pass a monstrous “parade” of concrete trucks – seriously, maybe 100 or more trucks of all shapes and sizes, all owned by the Le Van Sa company, which Hung tells us is a huge local company here.  He says they are going to a carnival (I think, sometimes I do have a little bit of trouble understanding him), and that today is a good day to work.  So maybe it is a festival, celebrating something in the New Year.  Whatever, it is crazy the number of trucks that keep coming toward us, heading in the direction of Hoi An. Think it was probably a really good day to be out of the town with all that heavy equipment rumbling through. 

On to the history:  My Son, which means beautiful (My) mountain (Son), is a Champa (or Chiem Than in Vietnamese) holy site with Hindu temples and royal burial grounds constructed beginning in the 4th century and used until the 14th century. It is considered one of the most important Hindu temple complexes and one of the longest inhabited in the SE Asia region.  Sadly, the temples are mostly in ruins now, with the passing of time, and of course the American bombing during the war (this particular area was destroyed by carpet bombing that occurred in just one single week).  But, they have been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, so protections are given to the area and restoration is being done on some of the major temples through a partnership with India (of all places – sort of karmic that we were just there).

We arrive in the car park, then take a little motorized golf cart type shuttle up into the hills for our first glimpse of My Son.  Hung tells us we have a choice in how we can tour My Son, the easy tourist way, or the harder local way. We of course choose the harder way, and are led onto a path that veers off from the main “easier for tourists” paved route, looping through the valley between tall grass and sparse tree cover.  We are essentially touring “backwards” through the complex, thus avoiding the vast majority of other tourists.  Good plan Hung!

Our first stop is the K group (all the temple areas are lettered and numbered), a small sanctuary from the 11th century believed to be dedicated to Brahmi, a goddess incarnation of the Brahma, God of creation.  It is little more than a couple of sections of walls where Hung points out different restoration attempts from the 1930s when the French began research and conservation of the temples. He talks about construction techniques, and how to replicate the red brick clay used as mortar for the bricks. As we continue to make our way further into the complex, we begin to see the bomb craters left from the 1969 bombings, still so readily visible today and a stark reminder of what military bravado that lacks a true understanding of an adversary will get you in the long-run….a senseless effort with no winners in final analysis. But I digress….

At groups E & F, we see how the temples fell – either through the aging process, earthquakes or the bombings, not quite sure – but the buildings are in rubble, with bricks strewn about the area (looking very much like the earthquake damage in Nepal).  In and amidst the falling bricks, you can still pick out Gods and animal carvings and statuary peeking out from the ruins of the now crumbling temples.  There are also large pillars laying on the ground, next to their bases – some female (round) and some male (square) that have some cultural significance that is lost on me, but that Hung likes to talk about, male, female, etc.  There is a story associated with every temple – from a god of goddess to what it was used for before being abandoned in the 15th century when the Champa lost their territory to the Viet.  It’s all pretty amazing, but information overload for me.  I’m just happy to wander around in the overcast morning, looking at these amazing structures nestled here between two mountain ranges.

Along the way, Hung will quiz us about things he has told us, and delight when we answer correctly.  He’s such a hoot.  We stop at Group A to watch some traditional dancers accompanied by musicians with a crumbling temple as a back drop, then press onward through overgrown fields that match the overgrown ruins rising up from the earth.  The idea that some of these structures, ruins or not, were built 1500 years ago is mind-boggling.  And that so much has survived is even more astonishing. Some of the carvings are so detailed and clear, you wouldn’t believe they are centuries old.  Hung is happy to wander around with us, pointing out different carvings for us to photograph, and playing photographer himself, posing us in a bunch of different areas to get just the best shot.  He also delights in telling us how the Champa worshipped the Linga here, a symbol of Shiva, which looks like a penis.  He actually just delights in saying the word penis, I think, because he says it over and over again.  See, a total hoot this guy is!

We arrive at the outermost edges of the complex where peaceful and quiet descends, offering us an abundance of time, alone, to enjoy the beautiful views of crumbling temples juxtaposed against vibrant green trees and mist covered rolling hills in the distance.  The only sounds are the birds and Hung’s voice explaining what we are seeing.  When we turn to head back to the main temple area, the peace and quiet evaporate (sort of like at the La Siesta pool in the afternoons!) as we run smack dab into hordes of tourists milling about the main B, C & D temple area.  Yikes!  Nonetheless, Hung deftly maneuvers us around most of the people for good looks at the store house, towering stories above us and the carvings that surround it.  He also guides us into a little museum set up inside one of the temples, which houses some beautiful examples of carved stone taken from the site.  Many of the statues have been taken away to other country’s museums, but fortunately the conservation efforts have saved quite a few carvings to house here on the grounds.

We continue our circuit through the other temple structures, with Hung providing his overview and photographer services.  It’s crazy crowded though, which sort of takes away from the history a bit.  We have timed our touring though, so that we can watch another Apsara dance, this time in the main auditorium by the golf cart station.  This dance exhibition is far more intricate and much longer than the first (so long in fact, the video we have has to be edited quite a bit before we can load it up to YouTube!).  But it is nice to sit here (in the front row, because that is where Hung has put our chairs!) and watch the beautiful dance (and dancers) go through their routines. 

After the performance, we hit the restrooms and wait with the crowds for a golf cart to shuttle us back to the car.  Hung of course commandeers one for us, and another tour guide he knows along with her charges, so we jump to the head of the line.  Our return trip to Hoi An will be by boat, so we say goodbye to Yung as he drops us off, and we follow Hung who buys us some water and also a rice paper crunching snack (which is so totally good, I want to find more!!) for us to munch on as we walk down the dirt road to get to our boat, idling in the river.

We have our own private boat, with an adorable boat driver who offers us chocolate cookies as we board, which we decline because we have our awesome rice paper crispy snack right now.  But, what is it with all these food offerings? It is so nice, and later, after reading a great book about a Vietnamese-American who goes back to find his roots, we learn that it is Vietnamese custom to offer guests something to eat and normally drink whenever they visit you, but it isn’t something we’ve experienced before.

On the boat, Hung again acts as our photographer, then also asks if we want to make a special visit to a 400 year old pottery village.  Well, heck, he said the right word:  pottery!  We all know I’m all about visiting a pottery village.  He gives us an additional price – for the boat driver, and for admission – to which we agree and our driver veers off to the north bank of the river heading for the village. Hung has told us that we can take a tour from our hotel, but that it is more expensive to do it that way, this is a bargain, and it is easier because we are right here. As it turns out, the village is maybe a 5 minute ride from the hotel – and as it turns out it is sort of hokey.  There are tons and tons of pottery stores and little “factories” so to speak, all making pottery in the old ways – which means taking the red clay, forming it, letting it dry in the sun, then putting it in the kiln for final fire.  But really, all the stuff that are on the shelves look like the mass produced pottery you can find everywhere – they are definitely made from molds, not hand thrown or hand worked.  The highlight though is definitely when we stop at a potters store and she shows us how she throws jars and tops. The first interesting thing is that she uses a huge slab of clay, and takes the jar off the top of the slab, leaving enough left on the wheel for 2 or 3 more jars.  She doesn’t use individual pieces of clay for each piece.  And the second interesting thing is that she is not using and electric wheel, but a manual wheel pushed by her husband’s foot while he stands above her.  It is truly amazing that they used to create pottery this way (and truly amazing in terms of exercise too!). And I use the past tense, because Hung is talking to the woman while we watch, and then after she stops, and while I don’t understand the language, she shows him underneath the wheel where there is definitely an electric motor there – obviously to be used when the tourists aren’t watching.  But no matter, the demonstration was still fascinating, and I could watch her throw those jars all day long, she was so good, and fast and efficient.

We wander about, looking at the different pottery, but there isn’t a thing there that I couldn’t try to make or buy in a souvenir shop.  I do see some great wind chimes made of ceramic conical hats – but these are definitely mass produced, and if I take another pottery class, then I’m making them myself!  We do stop at one shop and buy some chopsticks that catch our eye – they look like wood (they aren’t, they are plastic) and are super heavy – and cheap!  The lady there gives us tamarind candy to snack on as we leave.  There we go with the food again, although she was probably trying to sell us some candy too. LOL.  When we go to pay for our “entrance” fee, we get a bonus – little  pottery whistles  in the form of each of our birth year signs.  I’m the oxen – which starts Hung off on a tangent about what it means for me to be an ox – and Ed is a tiger.  No arguments there!  Hung insists we blow on them, but that’s not happening – not without a very good Purell washing first (he doesn’t know us well enough yet), so he plops them in these cute little bags (another bonus) and we circle back to the boat, passing a small temple with a fig tree in the courtyard that had a carved stone elephant in an alcove created by the roots of the tree.  It is a little shrine in the tree, representing the Champa-Vietnamese cultural integration from the 8th and 9th century here in Hoi An. 

Back on the boat, it doesn’t take us but a few minutes to glide our way back to the banks of the river near our hotel. Our exit from the boat is a little rocky – literally, as the rock Ed climbs out on shifts and almost tumbles him in the water – but we both make it safely, and dryly, ashore and follow Hung along the river road and through a hard packed lot to arrive right across the street from the front door.  Along the way, he informs us that he will also be taking us to Hue tomorrow.  He says he has traded for us – huh, we wondered what was going on with the long involved telephone conversation he was having on the boat, guess now we know.  That works for us – he is a great guide, very knowledgeable and very humorous, we’re happy to send another day with him.

He deposits us in the lobby, wishing us a good rest of the afternoon and telling us we’ll see him in the morning.  And with that, we have the whole afternoon to ourselves.  We decide that it is time to just chill out, and we do just that. Hanging out in the room and on the balcony, then hitting the gym for an afternoon work out.  We go downstairs to The Temple restaurant for their 2 for 1 happy hour special, sitting in the cool queen size swing (its like a huge swinging mattress with a little breakfast in bed table atop it) off to the side of the pool, so we can avoid most of the noise and Chinese revelry over there.

Tonight we are using our included set course menu credits for dinner at the Red Bean, so we don’t have to go anywhere or do anything special – just freshen up and walk around the gardens to the restaurant.  We are seated outside on the patio, which has cooled off quite nicely and sit back to enjoy our Asian set meal (we had hoped to each have a different set menu, but that’s not how this works, so after some discussion with the waitress, we settle on Asian).  The food is excellent, a nice fresh spring roll to start, then soup that Ed can have all to himself and a sautéed chicken and vegetable dish.  Yummy and just the right amount. The waitress comes back to take our plates and tells us they would like to serve us dessert on the house because of the confusion with the menu – which again is lovely and completely unnecessary, but that is just the way these guys operate – which is one of the reasons we love them.  We thank her profusely, but decline the offer of sweets this late in the evening and repair to our balcony to spend the rest of the evening just hanging about relaxing in general.

2/10-11–Off to Hoi An

We nap, fitfully, but at least we get a little sleep in before the alarm rudely awakes us at 5pm.  Up, showered, packed and out the door – our flight is at 10:35 and we want to leave with plenty of time to spare.  Luckily we are always antsy, because the Uber has issues finding the hotel – there is something wrong with the app – because the last couple of times we have used it, the location never shows up correctly. Fortunately, the concierge/valet guys outside the hotel come to the rescue, calling our driver and telling him where to come for the pick up.  Touts aside?  Everyone else here is so helpful and friendly and lovely – you can see why people come here to retire.

The Uber finally arrives and instead of putting our luggage in the trunk, he hauls it up on the rooftop.  Really?  Oh jeez!  The hotel guy and I just look at each other.  Oh well, what are you going to do?  We hope in the car and keep our fingers crossed the bags stay on the roof rack.  Which, fortunately they do, even though I hear them shifting a couple of times which gives me a little case of agita!  But, in the end, we and the bags make it to the airport in one piece.  We check in – with hours to spare – and head directly to the lounge for snacks and drinks.  And “monkey” beer!  Called Bira – it’s Indian with the cutest monkey on the label.  It’s adorable, and Ed says the beer isn’t all that bad either. 

A couple of hours later and we are on our flight, being fed and served and then trying to sleep at least a couple of hours before we hit the Hanoi airport for our 3 hour layover.  Another lounge, coffee, snacks, then a quick flight to Danang where we have to re-fill out forms for our visa (which had already been filled out and processed by Luke, our wonderful manager in Hanoi – but you know – you don’t argue with the passport control guys!).  Once the paperwork is handled, the fees paid, we are quickly through passport control, luggage claim and out into the waiting area looking for our ride.  The La Siesta van driver is right there with our name held high, and we proceed without delay to the van for the 30 minute ride to Hoi An. 

The driver doesn’t speak much English, but that’s ok, we’re happy to hang out in the back and watch Danang go by, the scenery changing to more rural farm lands, and then to Farang central as we get closer to Hoi An.  Once at the hotel, we are greeted, given our welcome drinks and walked through all the tours we have booked and the credits we have to spend at the hotel (ok, it’s a “resort,” but we so totally hate to refer to it as such…it is so not us…usually! But we love this hotel group, and when we were in Hanoi last year, we mentioned we were thinking of coming here to the desk manager, who then gave us his card and told us to contact him with our information, and he would organize the whole thing. And he did!  So, how could you turn an offer like that down?).  It’s almost like step-down care! After all the attention and organization we’ve had from Bhanu, this feels like a nice bridge to being completely on our own (not that we’ve ever had a problem with that, but after so many weeks of being pampered, well, it’s nice to have a modicum of structure!

After our orientation, we get a tour of the facilities and then shown to our room, which is huge and equipped with everything you could ever need, included a lovely balcony overlooking the pool. Perfect.  Once the luggage comes, we settle in, organize ourselves, get our laundry situated (we get 10 pieces free/day) and decide to head out into town in search of an ATM.  One of the wonderful things about the La Siesta is that it is located at the edge of the town – literally.  We are a good 10 minute walk to the beginning of the tourist district which makes the location a great retreat.  We navigate the narrow sidewalks, crowded by shops encroaching onto the pavement and motorcycle parking to find an ATM nestled in a crook on the side of the road.  Cashed up – we then decide to find a place for a drink on the way back to the hotel. We find the perfect spot a few doors up – where the sign says they have fresh beer (bia hoi), but they really don’t (no one has that any longer – it is a thing of the past, sadly).  The girl is so sweet though, and they have other beer and wine, so what the heck, we’ll take a break. 

Beverages finished, we start the trek back to La Siesta, only to be stopped a few blocks later by a French lady who says she is developing tourist activity here in Hoi An.  Her opening salvo, “We speak English. We don’t bite.”  Uh huh.  She and her partner, a guy from the Netherlands, lasso us talking about developing tourism, yada yada yada.  We talk to them about living in Hoi An and visiting different places in SE Asia, and its all pretty innocent, until they give us these scratch off fliers.  Ed wins a hat, and I win one of 3 grand prizes (oh! really!):  an iPhone, $250 cash or a 7 night stay at the resort they are hawking.  We tell them we are not their demographic. They don’t listen. We tell them we are not going to buy a time-share, they say they aren’t a time-share operation.  Doesn't matter what we say, they have an answer. But they also want us to come with them right this minute to their visitor center to certify our prizes.  Uh, no.  We are onto that game, and no. Not coming.  Plus, honestly, we do have a tour this evening and we are pushing our timeline in terms of the meeting time.  Eventually, after much haggling, they decide to give us our “winning” cards, with the promise that we will contact them and come to the visitor center.  They admonish us not to scratch off the code until we are there with them, or they will not get their commission. Yeah. Right.  We didn’t live in Hilton Head for nothing! 

Finally, we disengage from the sales pressure and make our way back to the hotel to chill a bit before our street food tour.  Of course, in the meantime, we thoroughly research this organization with whom the “not time-share” people work, and find they are basically selling resort time (time-share but with a different name).  There tons and tons of negative reviews – about how you pay for time but then can’t ever reserve what you want, or it costs extra, etc.  We knew it wasn’t for us anyway, so now we are even more vindicated.  I bet Ed that if we scratched off our “code” it would only give us 7 days at the resort – because, really, what else would they possibly give you? Not the money or a phone – way too expensive – and sure enough, guess what we won?  7 days at their resort.  God!  I think I’d rather deal with the touts in India. At least they are working for themselves and not some huge corporation.  Argh.

On our way back to the hotel, we stop at the little convenience store next door for beer and wine provisions. There is a great selection of wine, at reasonable prices, so I know I can keep stocked up easily.  As we are paying, the girl gives us a bag of chips to take along with us.  How sweet!  Beer, wine and snacks for later.

So, after a rushed shower and change of clothing, we are off to our street food tour.  We meet our guide, Tom, in the lobby and reconnoiter about our evening.  No dietary restrictions, no special requests or needs.  Ok, that’s out of the way. Now, do we walk or drive into town? Drive!  We’ve already done the walk – why repeat it? We pile into a car and head into town, arriving at our first stop, the White Rose, a famous dumpling restaurant in Hoi An. There is a story here, one I definitely don’t remember, but something about a French man who came here and loved the city so much (and the dumplings) that he help restore and preserve it to its former glory.  I don’t know, but there is a picture on the wall commemorating him – and one day Google will help me figure out the whole story – but it’s not going to be today!

So – anyway, we are at the White Rose and we are treated to a tour of the kitchen to see how the girls (and they are all girls) shape the dumplings, stuff them, and then how they are cooked in the back in huge pots.  Returning to our table, we are served a huge platter of these delectable pork stuffed dumplings with fried shallots on top (oh, we are so doing that when we get home).  Yummy!  I’m stuffed already, and we’re just beginning.

And beginning, we are.  We follow Tom out of the restaurant as he struts his way down the street (he is so cute, and so full of himself) to our next stop – some alleyway for Cao Lau – the traditional Hoi An dish. But since we’ve had Cao Lau before, Tom has decided to order us something different, some combination of bean sprouts, noodles and rice.  No clue what it is, but it’s really good – and we stuff our faces while chatting about Tom’s life, his wife, what he wants to do, just shooting the breeze.

Next up is a Pho place, with an excellent portion of noodles, pork and savory broth.  Its in a little alleyway where all the chefs are eating. Hey – if they chefs are here, we’re all in! I  was stuffed before – forget it now!  Ed is in heaven though, because this is right up his alley – Pho is his go to dish – he can eat it every day, all day long!  Next, we meander down streets, looking into to different places – I’m thoroughly lost, my sense of direction gone hay wire since we first left the White Rose.  I sort of know where the “old city” of Hoi An is, but where we are now? Not a clue (later, I’ll figure out we’re just a block or two above the old town, but for now, the mystery adds to the fun of the evening!). 

After Pho, we wander down the streets looking here and there.  Tom wants to take us to the famous Banh Mi place where Anthony Bourdain (please don’t let me cry) ate. But alas, they have “run out of bread.”  Yep, big pre-printed sign out front says no more bread, no more banh mi.  Bummer!  Tom tells us to remember where this is, so we can come back later, and I duly note it by taking pictures of the signs so we can remember where we are. 

So, with this disappointment, we have to find another venue to eat – because of course we need more food – ha! Not!  But Tom finds another little alleyway, replete with trash under our feet and a dirty table (Oh, Bhanu would be having hissy-fits over this one!) for us to try one more Vietnamese specialty – some soup type dish with spicy chili or some such condiment floating in the broth.  I’m never quite sure exactly what it is, but it tastes great, and we’ve got bread to dip in the broth.  That makes life livable, so all is good!  We started out at 4:30, it’s now 6:45 and we are done. You just can’t eat that amount of food in 2 hours and not be laid out for the rest of the night. Not for us Farangs, that is, maybe the Vietnamese can do it – but we’re toast!  Tom, bless his heart, asks if we want ice cream.  Heck no!  We want to crash on our balcony overlooking the pool with a beer and a wine and then fall into a slumber stupor.  It’s been a long, long day.  Sorry to disappoint you Tom!

But, Tom takes it all in stride, finding us a taxi to take us back to La Siesta, then adroitly dropping us off in the lobby while collecting his tour commission from the front desk. Altogether, a lovely way to spend a first evening in Hoi An, when we are still a little whipped from the tour and the overnight flights.

We repair to our balcony, where happily, the noisy Chinese have finished their pool hijinks for the evening and we spend a lovely few minutes in the warm fresh air, before crashing in our fantastically soft and comfortable bed.  We will be all rested and ready for our tour tomorrow of My Son!

2/10–Delhi–Humayan’s Tomb and the Sikh Temple

We are striking out on our own today!  After breakfast we meet Maggi & Richard in the lobby and make our way to the metro to get into New Delhi. We are staying out at the airport, so the metro makes much more sense than trying to get an Uber to take us anywhere – we can be in town in about 15 minutes vs. the hour it took us last time. Bhanu (who is at that time, on a train headed back to Jaipur) has briefed us on the metro and where to get off to go to the 2 sites we want to visit.  So, faithfully following his instructions, we walk to the metro, buy our tickets and head to the Shivaji Stadium metro station (which he pronounced so differently that I had to look it up on the map a couple of times before I realized what he actually said!).

All goes according to plan, and we are whisked into town without delay.  Alighting the metro station, we think about getting an Uber, but there are a bunch of Tuk Tuks at the station, so we begin to negotiate with them. One guy just won’t budge and is asking too much, we offer a fair price (far more than an Uber would cost!), and he won’t take it, he also tries to tell us the Humayan Tomb isn’t open until around 11, so he will have to take us on another tour – uh, no, it’s open from dawn to dusk, so thanks anyway.  We walk away.  Another guy comes running after us and tells us he will take us for our proffered price. Ok, we’ll hop right into the little 3 person max Tuk Tuk – yes, we are 4!  Richard gets the shotgun seat this morning, sharing the little seat with the driver so he sees up close and personal all the shucks and jives the driver takes getting around massive traffic circles and jockeying through other Tuk Tuk queues.  He does get us to the tomb without incident though, so all is well.

Paying our “tourist” fee (cash only), we enter into the 66 acre gardens that hold the tomb complex.  The main tomb was built by Humayan’s widow who wanted to memorialize her husband in a grand fashion.  Yet another predecessor of the Taj Mahal, this tomb was built on a plinth and is the first structure to use the red sandstone in this massive manner.  The architecture and the gardens are also the first use of Persian influence seen in India, and much more extravagant than previous Mughal rulers’ resting places.  The sheer enormity of the place is really astonishing. The entryway provides a long view to the main tomb, with gates accessing other minor tombs (such as the widow who commissioned the entire project and other royalty) off to the side.  Again, the architecture is astounding – the red sandstone used in almost a mosaic fashion against white marble slabs makes for a beautiful contrast in colors and designs.  And the sheer scope of the tomb is just hard to believe. All these structures are just massive.  The manpower necessary to build structures this large and ornate in the 1500’s must have just been enormous.  It is a beautiful morning to be strolling through the grounds and it is not quite so busy yet that we can’t take our time and absorb the enormity of the buildings, the tombs and the surrounding gardens.

Climbing the steep stairs to the tomb, we get our close up view of the designs and sturdy construction.  Outside on the plinth we can see out to the Yamuna river and another Sikh temple in the distance.  Inside the tomb, the Emperor's tomb is in the exact center of the building, with rooms branching off the center at angles, all containing tombs of the Emperor’s children and grandchildren, related to Shah Jahan of Taj Mahal fame. Gorgeous.

One of the fascinating features of the property is the Barber’s tomb.  It is the only tomb wihtin the main tomb gardens (all other tombs sit outside gates to the main garden area) and obviously holds a place of importance. There is a little plaque that isn’t very informative, outside the tomb, so the only thing we can figure is that the royal barber was a trusted servant, since he held a knife to the Emperor’s neck every day.  Sort of makes sense!  This tomb sits up on a raised platform as well, and once we climb the stairs and enter, there is a guard there giving a tour to some other tourists. We wander around, looking at the 2 sarcophagi inside the tomb (the barber and his wife), when the guard comes back and gives us the run down.  He gives us tons of details, which I can’t remember now, and of course at the end, wants payment.  We just thank him and walk away, because we’re actually inured to this behavior now – and well – heck – we didn’t ask for the tour.

On the way back to the entrance, we walk through the far side of the gardens with incredible views of the main tomb.  We watch as a horde of workers hand clean and scrub the water ways that lead all through the gardens, and finally hit the main pathway, happy we got here early because it is starting to get really busy.  As we make our way through the last gate, a huge group of school children head our way and when they see us, they break out in a chorus of hello’s, namaste’s, hi’s, and just generally screaming, shouting and waving at us.  And this continues on our walk out of the gardens, as there are hundreds of school children all lined up waiting to go into the tombs, and all are waving and greeting us as we walk by.  Heartstrings pulled.

Now comes the Tuk Tuk negotiation.  In the parking lot we find a couple of Tuk Tuk drivers and Ed begins the negotiations.  We finally all agree on a price, and we hop into another 3 person Tuk Tuk, Ed taking the shotgun seat this time.  Maggi, Richard and I are in the back, taking selfies and generally just sort of whooping it up.  The drive is trying to convince Ed that we need to go on a tour, or a trip to the Emporium (that darn Emporium just won’t go away), Maggi is jokingly saying, “well, if you find a little place…” while I’m trying to strangle her – all the while we are careening through the streets of Delhi, narrowly missing cars, buses and other Tuk Tuks as we make our way back to to Bangla Sahib and the Gurudwara Sikh temple.

We arrive unscathed, and navigate our way inside the temple.  We’re not sure where to go or what to do, if there is a fee or not, so we just sort of wander through the lanes leading to the temple and follow the tourist information signs.  We finally stumble upon the shoe depository, leaving our shoes in a big basket with the admonition not to forget our token number (which is printed quite clearly on the token they give us, so I’m a little confused as to why there are so many signs with the warnings), then finding the stairs to the temple proper.  Maggi and I have our scarves wrapped about our heads, and Ed uses one of my extra scarves to fashion a turban on his while Richard uses my handkerchief to cover the top of his head.  We wash our feet in the little water trough at the bottom of the stairs, then carefully climb the marble stairs (holding on to the hand rails to avoid slipping) to get to the plaza outside the temple entrance. There we find a basket full of cloth to use as a makeshift head covering, which Richard dives into, finding a snazzy red and gold flecked scarf to use instead of my dinky handkerchief.  We are ready to go. 

The plaza outside the entrance is covered in carpet, and people who are hanging about, either relaxing or sharing snacks and meals.  It’s a really interesting atmosphere, almost park like, but with carpet, not grass.  We meander about, watching people pay for something, but we decided we didn’t have to pay to go inside – which turned out to be the right move.  We freely walking inside (where no photos are allowed) to see people praying and making offerings to the care takers in the middle of the temple.  It seems like there is some special ceremony going on, but maybe it is just the normal Sunday afternoon offerings that we are witnessing.  Outside once again, we arrive at the holy pond – the Sarovar - which is what I had wanted to visit on our first day in Delhi when we were following the “tout.”  It is all that I had hoped for, this gorgeous glistening pool of clean, clear water – with our adorable turbaned boys standing in the forefront.  (If there is any way to upload a picture here I will do it – Google and Livewriter be damned!!!)

Meandering back to the shoe drop, we stop for a few photos on the plaza outside the temple, then navigate back down the stair case to our shoes.  Upon leaving, we pass a portico where people are beginning to line up to gain entry into a room there. Later (Google is our friend), we find out that this is where the daily free vegetarian lunch is served.  The Gurudwara temple serves over 10,000 lunches daily – to anyone and everyone. This follows along with the basic Sikh tenet that everyone is equal (the Sikh sect actually broke away from Hinduism in  Punjab in the 15th century due to the caste system), and it may also flow from the creation of this temple, which followed a huge outbreak of cholera and small pox. At the time, the 8th guru went out into the community and spread holy water from the Sarovar, curing the masses.  The temple was built in this guru’s honor. 

Walking out toward the main road, we exit through filigreed marble gates and soon find ourselves in the hustle and bustle of Delhi, heading to Connaught Place.  We pass the metro station, looking quite different than this morning, bustling with people going to and for, past the “famous” monkey temple (not so famous, and not so interesting), navigate our way through a makeshift market before the tunnel we use to cross under the main intersection, arriving at Lord of the Drinks!  Hey, if you find something you like….

It is fairly early, so we are the first customers, but no matter, we are treated royally and seated in a back corner of the restaurant in a cozy booth for 4.  Our waiter is adorable and ends up telling us his life story, about his wife, his honeymoon, you name it!  In the meantime, we do manage to order drinks and food.  Ed and Richard get the tikka masala chicken sandwich (I think that was what it was – but whatever it was called, it was not what they expected – white bread with chopped chicken in some sort of sauce/marinade), Maggi got the veggie burger and proclaimed it excellent, I got the mushroom and cheese rolls which were described as “stuffed with Philadelphia and wild mushroom.”  Yeah, gotta have that Philadelphia!  They were actually really good, sort of like a fried eggroll with mushrooms and cheese inside (I’m not vouching for the Philadelphia here…it was cheese…that’s all I’m saying!).

We had a wonderful time, eating, drinking, talking, quizzing the waiter, it was all lovely – and then the sweet waiter brought us all little desserts – some sort of really super sweet and delectable fried round thing on a spoon.  It was the perfect ending for a perfect last day together here in India.

We’re perfectly comfortable here now, walking back through the tunnel under the intersection, through the make-shift market and on down to the metro station.  We hop the train, and make it back to the Aerocity station and our hotel without incident.  But now it is time to say goodbye – which is never easy under any circumstances, and today even more so after our incredible adventure through India and Nepal. We have had the most wonderful time, and it just doesn’t right that Maggi and Richard aren’t continuing on our journey together.  So, we hug and kiss and try not to shed a tear or two as we all wish each other safe travels and the promise of seeing each other again soon. 

Up the elevator we go, to our separate rooms to try to nap a bit before our late night flights to home countries or other far flung destinations.