Our Final Days in Vietnam

Our trip is nearly over. We arrived in Hanoi late in the evening, and looking out of the the van window riding in from the airport, we thought Hanoi was an ugly city. Were we ever wrong.

This is a vibrant city with a lot of old colonial architecture. Yes, the roads are terrible, but the city center is very interesting.

We stayed at the Sofitel Metropole Hanoi. This is one of the best hotels we've stayed at anywhere in the world. It was built back in the French colonial days and restored in the 1990s. During the early 20th century, this was supposedly the best hotel east of Suez. I can believe it.

Of course, the weather didn't disappoint us. We left the heat behind in Hue, but the humidity was touching 100 percent. I took the lens cap off my camera and the lens fogged up in about 2 nanoseconds. Just standing outside for a moment you felt wet even though it wasn't raining. That's Hanoi in March for you. Only a two shower a day town.

Our last day's tour activities began with everyone jumping into their own cyclo and being peddled thru the city streets. One of our group, Ken the Aussie, decided to give his driver a rest and try navigating the streets of Hanoi himself. As long as you head in a straight line, it's not too diffcult. Making a turn when a bus is in the oncoming lane seems to require some experience. Sitting in the passenger seat when the hulk of a bus is heading at you can be a bit of a stressful moment.

We visited Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum and saw the man (embalmed of course). Ho looked a lot better than Mao did when we saw him in Beijing. The lines to view Ho Chi Minh are quite long, but they are efficient at moving people along. We even saw a group of Vietnamese war veterans (former Viet Cong army) that were given preferential treatment to get in.

Next door to the mausoleum is Ho Chi Minh's stilt house residence and the presidential palace (an old colonial building). It's interesting to hear about his life and how he led Vietnam to independence. He lived for many years outside of Vietnam, including time in the U.S., France, U.K., Soviet Union, and Netherlands, before returning to Vietnam to lead the war for independence from colonial rule.

At the end of any tour, we usually find ourselves a little shy of cash. This trip was no exception. Yet we needed money to do last minute shopping and to give a tip to our guides. Fortunately, the Vietnamese are into ATM machines as much as we are in the U.S. They are on every street corner. One member of our group aptly named them "Dong Machines" since they spit out Dong, the Vietnamese currency. We joked with each other about how we needed to go to the Dong machine and withdraw a couple of million Dong.

The final night of our tour we had dinner catered by the hotel at a pagoda in Hanoi. It was goodbye to all our new friends and to our tour guides. The meal was Vietnamese - the best we had experienced the entire trip - and for entertainment there was a Vietnamese "jazz band." This guy played the two string instrument with the proficiency of Eric Clapton.

Then we all said our goodbyes to each other. One couple was heading off to Hong Kong and Guangzhou. Another couple was heading back to Maryland the next morning. Our "class clown", the single guy from Minneapolis with a fondness for Heineken, had a three stop flight home. The Aussies were heading back to their "station" in New South Wales. The couple from Denver was heading down to HCMC and then on to Cambodia. And the remaining six of us were going on a day trip to Halong Bay before heading out.

The toughest goodbyes were to our guides. We left Tam on our last day in Hue. He was heading home to Danang and his recently born twin boys. We also left our cadre of drivers in Hue as they were driving the vans back south. Viet was heading back to Saigon before leading a tour of war orphans next week. And Marco was headed back to Arezzo, Italy for a few days before going to Sicily to plan a future B&R trip.

Six of us went with Viet to visit Halong Bay for a day. Halong Bay is about a three hour drive each way from Hanoi. First you pass mile after mile of rice fields. Then you pass "Black City", a coal strip mining area where all the buildings, roads, vehicles, and even the people look like they are covered with black coal dust. Virtually the entire way we travelled on the same Vietnamese roads we've enjoyed for two weeks - trucks belching diesel exhaust fumes, pavement barely wide enough to pass another vehicle, no shoulders, hoards of motorbikes, and occasional potholes deep enough to swallow a Mini Cooper.

Then suddenly Halong Bay appears. Another UNESCO World Heritage Site, Halong Bay is a wonder. Thousands of small limestone islands rising out of the water. A miracle of nature. It's the marine version of Stone Forest Park outside Kunming, China.

We had hired a junk for the day and the crew took us out to explore the cave on one of the islands, sail around, and serve us another Vietnamese lunch. Once again, the usual fare we've come to know and love - spring rolls, soup, sauteed morning glory leaves, rice, noodles, fruit. This time we had an additional item - a grilled fish in a Vietnamese onion and tomato sauce. After the three hour ride back to Hanoi, we were exhausted. We had a snack in our room, packed, and got some sleep before "travel day."

Now to go thru the 2000+ pictures and edit out the best. It may take a week or two to make a DVD covering the trip. We saw so much and did so many things. Vietnam and Cambodia are fascinating countries.

Now we need to figure out where to go on our next expedition.

Hot Time in Hue

I realize this blog is now out of chronological order, but we wanted to add a few posts about the last days of the trip.

Hue was unbelievably hot. I know we've been complaining about the weather since the beginning of the trip, but Hue was the worst. The temperature hit 105 degrees with 95% humidity. Even Viet, one of our Vietnamese guides, came up to us and said it was "damn hot."

The Pilgrimage Resort in Hue was another hidden gem. The staff needs to improve their English language skills and a few more of the common areas need air conditioning, but the pool was a god-send. With the temperature over 100 degrees, we have no idea how they get the water in the pool chilled to about 80. It felt great.

The first day in Hue we got on the bikes again and really saw the countryside. It was a good thing that Jordan brought along his biking yamulke (see photo). It kept his balding head from getting tan racing stripes due to the sun burning his scalp thru the bike helmet.

We started outside of town and pedalled back towards town, ending at the famous Thien Mu Pagoda. It's a tall octagonal tower and supposedly the icon of Hue. We had a lunch cruise on the Perfume River and then visited the stunning Minh Mang tomb (another Vietnamese emperor) that has been restored by donations from American Express.

For dinner, we had a most unusual and fascinating experience. We ate at the house of a descendent of one of the mandarins of the Vietnamese emperor's court. His house was a traditional Hue garden residence, consisting of multiple wooden buildings. Our host had painstakingly restored the house over a five year period by locating old antiques, screens, wood panels, bricks, etc. at salvage yards and from destroyed homes. He personally rebuilt the house. It was a real treat to see this house and eat dinner there.

Hue was a major battle area during the Tet offensive and the city suffered a lot of damage. The Viet Cong actually occupied the city for 28 days before the U.S. retook it.

The second day in Hue was our last bicycle ride and one of the best. We pedalled about 30 km across the countryside, making unplanned stops at a school, a bakery, a small village, and a family reunion. In the village, Caren had her palm read by an old woman fortune teller. (She said that Caren will live to a very old age.) The ride culminated with a section thru the old citadel of Hue, through the city streets and ended at our hotel.

In the afternoon, we toured the old imperial city of Hue before flying off to Hanoi, the capitol.

Internet Service in a Developing Country

We haven't updated the blog in a while because internet access anywhere but Saigon or Hanoi is spotty and unreliable. And in Hanoi, we have been so busy, we didn't have the time to get on the computer.

We're about to leave Hanoi (at the airport right now). Connecting in Taipei and should be back in LA about noon on Friday.

We'll update the blog with a complete travel diary, including pictures, when we get home.

All in all, this is a fascinating country that most Americans really don't understand. There is a lot of history other than the American War, and even that piece of their history is complicated to understand due to propaganda we were fed by our government and media during the 60s and 70s.

Vietnam is still very poor. The infrastructure is appalling - poor roads, poorer bridges, mostly agricultural society, but a growing market-based economy with a socialist government that gives the country needed stability.

The bicycling tour was a great way to see the country and meet the people. We'll definitely do one of these tours with B&R again. And the other people in our group were great.

Got to run and catch our flight.

Sights, Sounds, Smells, Tastes

Today we left Hoi An and drove thru Danang along a long "promenade" on the beachfront. We're certain that within 10 years, Donald Trump or his Vietnamese counterpart will turn the entire area into a Miami Beach-like resort area.

We then drove thru a brand new 5 km long tunnel in the mountains (financed by Japan), until we reached the start of our cycling tour for the day.

For our biking trip of the day, we started with 13 km around a large freshwater estuary with rice fields and fish farms. There were a couple of sizeable hills that got the old ticker pumping pretty hard. In this heat and humidity, it also caused the sweat to start pouring off every part of our bodies.

The B&R team gave each of us a custom "Tour de Vietnam" biking jersey. You should see this group of crazy Americans (and two Aussies) pedaling down the paths in this remote area with the children yelling "hello" to this strange looking group.

After the 13 km, we reached a ferry dock and got on a decrepit old junk for a ride across the bay. The hull of the junk was partially made out of old American aircraft wings salvaged after the war. After the ferry ride, we did another 12 km to reach our lunch location. We gathered for a lunch prepared by a Vietnamese woman in her house located in a small village alongside some rice fields. I guess they call it a restaurant, but it would be hard pressed to get a A or B rating in Los Angeles. We devoured a lunch of spring rolls, soup made out of a local gourd, shrimp, rice, and our daily appearance of sauteed morning glory leaves. They are at almost every lunch. Dessert was lotus seeds in sugar syrup. We're actually getting used to this stuff and look forward to it every day. Fortunately, our guides also keep us supplied with M&Ms and Snickers bars.

Then we pressed on thru a bunch of happy, screaming children for another 7 km. We passed ancient ancestry homes, small businesses, schools, and cemeteries. It seems like every village has the same shops - the Honda motorbike repairman, lumber yard, pool hall, small "convenience" store, tailor, restaurant, gravestone seller, and sometimes a Catholic church. Look out for the day Walmart arrives in Vietnam - it will put all these folks out of business, even the church.

On to Hue, the old imperial city of Vietnam, and more to follow.

Getting Back on the Information Superhighway

It's been difficult the past few days to get on the internet to update the blog. It seems that Blogger was a blocked website when we were in Nha Trang. Now in Hoi An, it is tough to get onto the internet terminal because a large group of German tourists are hogging it.

We got to Hoi An by plane from Cam Ranh. After leaving the Evanson Hideaway, we drove thru Nha Trang which has become a popular beach resort. This entire area has been designated as a tourist zone. The Vietnamese plan to expand the airport at Cam Ranh (the former U.S. Air Force base) and land international flights here. There is a new Sofitel resort (including a golf course) being built and there are miles of undeveloped beach. This is a sunny and dry area. Our guides say the climate in this area is similar to the Mediterranean coast. I think they are right except the temperature here always seems to be scorching.

After landing in Danang, we had lunch at a popular pho restaurant. In the U.S., everyone pronounces it F-OH. The correct Vietnamese pronounciation is F-UH, with the accent on the end of the word. The entire Vietnamese language is made up of one syllable words. Westerners here often combine mono-syllable words to make words they can pronounce easily. Even Vietnam is really supposed to be two words, Viet and Nam.

Yes, we actually do some bicycle riding on this trip. After lunch, we were off on the bikes for a ride in the countryside and the approaches to Hoi An. Here's our group going thru a typical small Vietnamese village.










Believe it or not, Hoi An is the warmest city yet (other than Cambodia of course which wins the world championship). Hard to believe that it gets hotter every day as we are heading north (away from the equator).

The Life Resort here in Hoi An is right on the river. You find yourself driving along the street crowded with all kinds of shops, and then, voila, here's this quiet, luxurious hotel tucked away like an oasis.

We went to the market in Hoi An yesterday - a total zoo of fish, chickens, pigs, vegetables, fruit, and all kinds of chotchkees.

Jordan had a new tuxedo made by a local tailor - very sharp. In about 24 hours (including two fittings), they made him a tuxedo, sport coat, shirt, vest, and tie. They must have a workroom operating 24 hours a day for this tailor shop.

We went to a cooking school one morning here in Hoi An. Miss Vy taught us how to make two kinds of Vietnamese spring rolls, mango salad with beef, tumeric spiced grilled fish in banana leaf, and various Vietnamese dipping sauces. Then we ate our creations for lunch. Very yummy.


Today we are off to Hue and we have a 36 km ride along the way. Hopefully, the weather will get a bit cooler. Vietnam is definitely a 3-shower-a-day country. More to come when we get to Hue. With more pictures hopefully.

We are at a very exclusive beach resort near Nha Trang and we have a slow internet connection. So no pictures for a few days. UPDATE: Added pictures below.

Yesterday we did a 48 km (29 mile) ride - the first 10 km was thru rolling terrain (mostly farmland), then we had a 23 km downhill descent (they called it an escarpment, but we call it a cliff) with a number of hairpin turns. We descended 1000 m (that's 3000 feet for you Americans) to a coastal plain for the remainder of the ride. Then we had a great lunch at a "hole in the wall" Vietnamese restaurant in the middle of nowhere.


This resort is ultra luxurious. The Evason Hideaway at Ana Mandara Resort. It is a Six Senses Spa. The resort is located on an isolated peninsula and can only be reached by boat. There are no roads. Everyone has their own bungalow just steps from the beach. We each have our own butler (our's is named Thai) and each bungalow has its own pool. Our shower in the bungalow is outdoors. We get around the resort on these small bicycles. Caren thinks these are the same bicycles as the Japanese Army used to invade Singapore.

The food is incredibly fresh. Lots of seafood, vegetables, and fruit. The resort has its own organic vegetable garden. This patch of SE Asia is trying to be environmentally friendly. However they are spraying and fogging for mozzies every minute of the day and night.

This AM we did a spa treatment together - first a green tea and sea salt scrub. Jordan looked really great covered with green tea leaves and salt. It was a new experience for him. He was officially pronounced Kosher after the treatment. It was followed by a Swedish massage. Very relaxing and cleansing not to mention a bit on the painful side. It is hard to believe these tiny Vietnamese women can hurt you so much with their pressure. (Sherry - they make you wear the little spa panties)

This afternoon we went fishing on the South China Sea. Believe it or not, our little group of three and two crew, caught eight fish. Caren won the prize for the biggest and the smallest fish. Her small catch was about 1.5 inches. We all had a good laugh. The Vietnamese fish with dynamite, but not on this expedition. We hear it is very effective.

More to follow in a day or two as we're on to Danang and Hoi An on Friday.

Singing in the Rain

Our bicycle trip for today was rained out. So we went on a walking tour around Dalat in the pouring rain, getting totally soaked in the process. It's only water, so it can't hurt.




What we're really upset about is that our one chance to play golf on this trip was also cancelled because of the rain. Do you think we can find a local here in Vietnam who wants to bargain for a dozen Titleist NXT golf balls that we brought in our luggage from the U.S.? If we're persistent, perhaps we can start at $24 and haggle to get 30,000 Dong out of it (that's about US$2).

Dalat is called the City of Eternal Spring and the Alps of Vietnam. It bears a bit of a resemblance to both titles. We walked around the huge market in central Dalat. Avocados, artichokes, berries of all kinds, noodles, rice, and things we wouldn't even think of eating at home were all for sale.







We also visited a local elementary school. The kids flocked to see us and try to talk their English. It was a LOT better than our Vietnamese. Schools here appear to be much better than in Cambodia. It is compulsory up to age 11, they all wear uniforms, and they are clean. This country is rapidly moving to the status of a developed nation.

The Dalat Palace hotel is right out of the 1920s. We had a marvelous French dinner in the restaurant. A few things about this place could stand to be upgraded a bit. For instance, here is the latest in French telecommunications.

Jordan had to take a "French" shower. Check out the modern plumbing in this place. Oh well, we hear that the next hotel we're staying at is going to be sensational.

On To Dalat

On Monday, we met the rest of our group in HCMC and departed for Dalat in the Southern Highlands. We are now 15 in number, plus two Vietnamese guides (Viet and Tam) and Marco.

HCMC (aka Saigon by all the locals) was a great place.

Alan - we saw the Hotel Majestic, the Hotel Continental, the Rex Hotel, and the old Presidential Palace. Pictures to follow when we return home. We couldn't find your old apartment though.

In Dalat, we are staying at the Sofitel Dalat Palace. It was built in the 1920s by the French when they designed this city as a health resort destination. It was a financial disaster for years, but remained open throughout the 1930s, 40s, and 50s. Business picked up in the 1960s when they advertised to American servicemen in Saigon to come here for short R&R trips. It was in a sorry state until the early 90s when Larry Hillblom, one of the founders of DHL, invested $44M into renovating the place.

It is quite a bit "over the top" with old, garish French paintings, and ancient French plumbing. It's an interesting and luxurious change of pace from the usual modern Asian hotels, but I doubt anyone would spend the money to renovate a hotel like this today. The rooms are large and could easily be apartments. Very high ceilings, old chandeliers, dark wooden furniture, and wood floors with heavy Oriental carpets. We expect Napoleon to show up at dinner.

If you don't know the story, Larry Hillblom was quite eccentric. He died in a mysterious plane crash in the Pacific in 1995, but no body was ever found. He was living on Saipan at the time and was a well known womanizer. He supposedly fathered dozens of children all over Micronesia and Southeast Asia. There are numerous paternity suits against his estate. If you are interested in the sordid details, Google him.

We did a 28 km bike ride yesterday thru the hills around Dalat. The first half was OK, it was mostly downhill switchbacks with several uphill climbs. The second half was then retracing our path UPHILL. Caren did about 60% of the ride and Jordan did about 80%. A few "Lance Armstrongs" completed the trip. Our attitude is "we're paying for this trip and we can decide when we want to ride and when we choose to take one of the vans."

Our guides are wonderful. Tam always seems to show up at your side when you're riding, asking how you're doing and offering encouragement. He gave our group a great "chalk talk" standup presentation on the history of Vietnam. I doubt most Americans could give such a detailed talk about the history of the U.S.

Dalat is one of the few areas in Vietnam where they produce wine. The grapes are grown in the coastal plain we head down to tomorrow and then crushed, aged, and bottled in Dalat. Frankly, it doesn't taste too good. They import a good selection of Aussie and NZ wine. Marco insists on ordering Italian or French wine for our dinners. We'll have to educate him as the trip moves on.

This AM it is raining, so our ride is postponed to the afternoon. We had hoped to play golf at the Dalat Golf Club, but it appears as though that idea will be scuttled. I carried a dozen golf balls over here and they will go unused.

So...we are taking a walking tour around Dalat in the rain and see if the weather clears later on. According to the Vietnamese, the sun is coming back tomorrow. More to follow.

Last Morning in HCMC

Caren now knows what freedom feels like. Who would have thought we'd feel like we were going home to HCMC when we were on the flight out of Siem Reap. Caren was sweating when she went thru immigration at HCMC airport (for the 12th time). The immigration agents know her by her first name by now.

We suspect that our tour guide "schmeared" the airport manager in Siem Reap to expedite Caren's Vietnamese visa and get us out of the country. I wonder if they teach that in tour guide training?

So what does she do for her first meal back in HCMC? We go to a sushi restaurant with our tour guide and she sucks down a couple of Ba Ba Ba's. That's the local Vietnam beer in the south. Like Corona is to SoCal.





Then for breakfast she eats this appetizing looking plate of Asian delicacies. Meanwhile Jordan is munching on his croissants (very good ones by the way because as we said before, the French taught these folks how to bake bread).

But you have to eat them early or they become sponges in this humidity.
We're off to Dalat in about 90 minutes and immediately head off for a bicycle ride. Hopefully, we can keep Caren from being "blackballed" from future tours by B&R. If the tour had a daily newsletter, Caren would dominate the front page every day with all her escapades.

We'll be staying at the Sofitel Dalat Palace. A real story to tell about this hotel, but we'll save it for the blog posting when we get there.

Angkor Wat - first impressions

Due to technical difficulties involved with Caren's visa for reentry into Vietnam, we aren't able to download any pictures. The hardware (my SD card reader) is on the plane to HCMC. So...pictures will follow when we meet up with our luggage somewhere and edit this blog at a later time.

UPDATE: See below about our exit (finally) from Cambodia and here are a few pics of the temples.

This A.M. (before the visa problems and before most of the Korean and Japanese tourists crowded the place), we visited Angkor Wat (the biggie). It is huge, but not the oldest or most ornate. It is known because of its size and architecture. Basically, it is the Versailles Palace of the Khmer empire from back in the 1300s. It is the largest religious temple in the world. There is a mixture of Buddhist and Hindu influence throughout the temple since traders from India came thru here on their way to China back in the old days. And Buddhists came here from China and what is now Burma and Thailand.

















We climbed to the highest levels of the temple on a 70 degree staircase in 100 degree heat. (I'm panting just writing this.) The steps are about 6 inches wide. Actually, going up wasn't too hard. Climbing down was the challenging part - not because of the stairs, but because of the lines of Korean and Japanese tourists pushing their way forward to get down.

A family of tourists from Phnom Penh was very excited to take Jordan's picture. They see very few Americans and even fewer bald ones. They thought it was real funny to take a group photo with Jordan.

If we don't resolve Caren's visa problem, we could become friendly with a lot of Cambodians as we'll have to apply for legal resident status. We hope you all enjoy visiting us in our new vacation home here in Cambodia should that come to pass.

Most Americans think that Angkor Wat is the only temple here. That is far from correct. There are dozens of temples throughout the area and various foreign countries are working to restore and preserve them. This entire area is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

During the Cambodia-Vietnam war and the American War, it was agreed to by all sides that this area was to be protected from bombing and destruction. Therefore, various armies stationed themselves in the temples for protection.

One thing we didn't get to do is visit Tonle Sap, the largest lake in Southeast Asia. It is only about 20 kilometers from Siem Reap. There are dozens of floating villages on the lake. One couple from our group went there very early this A.M. We'd visited the floating villages in Myanmar, so we decided to sleep in.

During the rainy season (which lasts for 5-6 months), the flow of the Mekong River is so large that the delta south of Saigon acts like a cork in a bottle. The Mekong River flow backs up into the river from Cambodia and fills Tonle Sap. The lake grows in size by 300%-400% and rises 10 meters or more in depth. Hence the floating villages, otherwise people would have to relocate every change of season.

UPDATE: We made it out of Cambodia! Caren got her "Get Out of Cambodia for Not So Free" card and we got on the plane back to HCMC. She won't have to spend the night in a refugee camp. Back to the comfort of the Caravelle Hotel and the tumultuous motorbike traffic of HCMC.



Ahhhh...out of Cambodia and back to Vietnam. Maybe it's cooler in HCMC. I doubt it.

Stranded in Cambodia

Once again we have an experience that rivals something out of "I Love Lucy". We are still in Siem Reap, Cambodia while the rest of our group has flown over the Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam for the next leg of the trip.

It seems that Caren's visa for reentry into Vietnam is no good. The Viet Cong (they now run the country) screwed up her visa for the second time when we first arrived in HCMC. When they reissued the original visa they didn't give her a visa for multiple entries, even though we've now paid for it twice. The first visa was screwed up by the consulate in San Francisco that failed to sign her visa or issue the correct form. So while the Cambodians and the Viet Cong resolve the problem we are waiting back at the hotel (very nice by the way) while they fly her passport to Phnom Penh (the capital of Cambodia) to the VN consulate. Hopefully they will issue her yet another new visa, fly it back to Siem Reap, and we'll get on a flight this evening. Our tour guide Marco and the local guides here have the logistics under control, but who knows about the Commies.

Otherwise, we stay at the Raffles Grand Hotel d'Angkor another night. Actually, that's not so bad as this is a very comfortable place with great food. We have no clean clothes with us, since our luggage is on the plane to HCMC, but that shouldn't be a problem. We can go to a night market and pick up an entire wardrobe for $5 and change (after some tough bargaining as they can only do here in Cambodia).

Jordan bought a book about the temples yesterday from a street vendor. The vendor started at $28 and Jordan started at $5. amazon.com sells it for $22. The sale was finally consummated at $7. And yes, all the pages were in the book and it was in English.

Caren gave our local guide, Fin, a Sudoku puzzle and gave him the basic instructions on the game. I don't think we'll see him again if he starts to get hooked and I suspect he may become addicted within the week.

French Chef in Siem Reap

Saturday night we had a fabulous tasting dinner at a new hotel here in Siem Reap, the Hotel de la Paix. Very modern architecture and very chic-chic.

The crazy French chef has been there since the hotel opened seven months ago. He tries to adapt Khmer recipes to modern ingredients and tastes. We had an appetizer with minced snake meat (tastes like beef jerky), fish with red ant sauce, beef curry, a soup with lemongrass, etc. I wonder where he gets the red ants for the sauce. Probably has some Cambodian sous chef run outside to pick them off the ground. There are a LOT of them here. Along with mozzies and an occasional snake.

We took the latest in Cambodian public transportation to the restaurant - a motor trailer or Cambodian tuk-tuk. It is a motorbike pulling a small people trailer. They are all over the place and mostly employed by Westerners.


Got to go to bed now so Caren can rest her bruised ribs and we can prepare for Angkor Wat in the AM after breakfast. We've got to beat the rush of Korean and Japanese tourists.

Dateline: Siem Reap, Cambodia

We have been here for 2 days now and have bicycled both days. Yesterday we did about 10 miles and today we did about 12 miles. It is incredibly hot and humid - a three shower a day place. Bicycling actually cools us off - if you were walking and in the sun, you would plotz.


At the end of our first ride, we wound up at this temple at sunset. The guides set up a small picnic atop the temple, with champagne, beer, and snacks. It was a great finish to the day.


The temples are amazing. We've taken a lot of photos and are having a great time. Our group here in Cambodia is only six of us, plus our guide, Marco, and our local guide, Fin. We pick up nine more people tomorrow for the Vietnam part of the tour.


There is also Chan Ra, the brother of the manager of the local tour company that B&R has to contract with. Chan Ra is a real character who is into wagering on cockfights.

Fin speaks impeccable English that he learned in school here in Siem Reap. He had a benefactor from Brooklyn of all places that he met several years ago and paid for him to go to school. He has a degree in computer science, but can't get a good job here in Cambodia in that field. Being a tour guide is a good job and allows him to earn enough to support his wife and child.

Marco was born and raised in the U.S., but has spent a lot of time in Italy. He is our guide throughout the entire tour and he is a lot of fun. We needle him about his tattoo (a pun) and his need to get a real job. He has a Masters degree in Italian.

This is a VERY poor country. We passed a lot of small villages while bicycling (on the unpaved roads) and saw how the people live. We are very fortunate to live in the U.S. We stopped at one house where the family had a small conglomerate - a large pig pen, a rice whisky still, a corn mill, a water buffalo, a bamboo fence making business, and some farm land. We just dropped in on this family - unplanned. They are considered well off for this area.

A number of people bicycle into Siem Reap from the countryside every day to work construction jobs. They are good paying jobs and they don't have to speak English. There are a lot of new hotels being built here. The largest number of tourists come from Korea, followed by the Japanese, and then the Americans. They expect the number of tourists per year to grow to over 2 million from less than one million in 2004. You should visit here before it is overrun and destroyed by tourism.

Our hotel, the Raffles Grand Hotel d'Angkor is in old British colonial style. All the food ingredients have to all be imported though. The staff is very friendly and all speak wonderful English (much better than our Cambodian).

Caren had a little accident bicycling today. We were going over a wooden bridge and she hit a loose board with the front wheel of her bike. She fell over (not into the water) and got a few scratches. She also pulled a muscle in her rib cage and got covered with dirt (this place is extremely dusty). She got right back up on her bicycle and "nutted it up."

We are visiting more temples here in the Angkor area later today and tomorrow morning. Tonight we are having a traditional Khmer dinner at the Hotel de la Paix with snake meat, red ant sauce, and other local delicacies.

Then it's back to Ho Chi Minh City for one more night and on to Dalat to start the rest of the trip. Stay tuned for more excitement.

Stark Contrasts

We've arrived in Siem Reap, Cambodia. This place looks like it is a very underdeveloped nation, but it is on Dubya's list of democracies. Here, they refer to it as a transitional democracy - meaning that they have an elected Prime Minister, but he suspends civil liberties and imprisons his opposition on occasion. The economy is very poor. Meanwhile, back in Vietnam (the communist country), they are building a brand new airport terminal, the shops we visited yesterday were like stores in the U.S., everyone speaks English, and the place is modern and clean. However, VN is not on Dubya's checklist of democracies.

We're off to visit some of the temples at Angkor this AM and will have our first bicycle ride later this afternoon.

The hotel we're in is one of the Raffles Group properties. Very colonial, very British, very lovely (a British word). They are building a lot of hotels on "the strip" here in Siem Reap. The most tourists come from Korea, followed by Japan, and then the U.S.

More to follow later on today or tomorrow (with pictures).

The American Legacy - Good and Bad

Bill Clinton is a hero here in HCMC. They sell his book on every street corner (counterfeit versions I suspect). They love him for normalizing relations and lifting economic sanctions in 1994. It has significantly improved everyone's standard of living. Then he visited here in late 2000 (stayed at the hotel we're in) and was treated like a rock star. Of course there is no mention of Dubya here, he is a non-entity.

This is a communist country in politics only. Everywhere you look, people are working and it is a capitalistic business society. You can buy everything and anything here, except Nike shoes. Nike has an enormous plant outside of town, but they have tight security. Everything is made for export only, so they can control counterfeit production and sales. Erin - you would be very pleased to know that any kind of multi-split heating unit is available here, they are sold all over the place. Do you need us to pick up any spare parts?

Last week, Intel announced they are going to build a new plant here (beating out China) and Vietnam is trying hard to get into the WTO.

On the bad side, we went to a number of historic places yesterday that reminded us of the American War (that's what they call it here) and its devastation. We first went to the Cu Chi Tunnels. There were over 250 km of them and they were several stories deep in places. 16,000 Vietnamese lived in them for over 7 years, inflitrating the South Vietnamese and US Military. They even were underneath the large U.S. military base outside of town. We entered the tunnels, (pictures to be posted later), Claustrophobic is an understatement. Even a jockey would not be able to survive in there. It was hot, humid and flithy. The U.S. eventually bombed the area to obliteration, and it cost many lives on both sides for years trying to fight the insurgency. But the low-tech Viet Cong approach won out.

We also went to the War Remnants Museum. It is the Vietnamese version of the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC. Many gruesome photos, reminding everyone of the loss of life and cruelty by all sides in the war. It has a definite Vietnamese slant to it though through the use of many pictures taken by Western journalists. Former Senator Bob Kerrey is considered a major war criminal, however Senator John Kerry is considered a hero because he denounced the war when he returned to the U.S..

For lunch we had a Banh Mi - a Vietnamese unique sandwich. Made on a baquette, it's like a hoagie with all kinds of VN stuff in it. Sliced pork or ham, a slice of pate', veggies, and chili sauce. We can't figure out how they are able to keep the rolls crispy in this heat and humidity. I think they must replenish the supply every hour.


There are a zillion motorbikes and very few cars. Everyone has a motorbike - they call them all "Honda" even if they are of other manufacturers. Talk about successful brand recognition!

Crossing the street is an Olympic event. No one pays attention to traffic lights, if there are any. You don't wait for a break in traffic, you just start walking slowly across the street and look straight ahead. The motorbikes just avoid you. One Chinese man last night was applauded when he crossed the busy street in front of our hotel at the height of "rush hour." We shook his hand in congratulations.

Every evening, families jump on their motorbike (all 3, 4, or even 5 of them on one bike) and go cruising the streets. It's their form of entertainment and beating the heat.

The "French" have left a lasting legacy here on three counts.

1. They taught the Vietnamese how to bake the best bread and pasteries in all of Southeast Asia.
2. They made strong drip coffee the national beverage, the best I have ever had, hot and cold.
3. Dien Bien Phu - Never, ever count on the French for any military support .
   

Hello Vietnam!

We arrived in HCMC and it's HOT and HUMID.

Everyone here loves their Uncle Ho. We may actually see him (embalmed version) when we get to Hanoi in about 2 weeks.

Our hotel is gorgeous and right in the heart of the city. It's across the street from the Opera House and just down the block from the former American CIA HQ. We hit the big market this afternoon. I actually think the big markets in Yangon and Bangkok were a lot bigger and better.

Tomorrow our guide Minh is taking us on an all day tour - outside the city in the AM and then a walking tour in the PM.

A note for Alan Wilson - they are all asking about you here... They want to know where their 16' tall buddha is.

A LOT of of people speak English and they all take American dollars or credit cards. Great for Caren. We went to a handicrafts store today and I was waiting for her to buy some huge vase for me to schlep. Fortunately, she settled for some small lacquerware boxes.

A note for Lorraine - the "fufufnicks" are beyond belief here - 15,000+ Dong to the U.S. dollar. I have a VN coin I got in change that is probably worth about 1/3 of a penny.

Caren almost didn't make it into the country. She got held up in Immigration at the airport because the VN consulate in San Francisco (where we got our visas) didn't sign her visa. I went on to baggage claim without her as she sorted things out with the communist bureacracy. $10 later and 30 minutes of paperwork, she got thru immigration and met me. Caren claims that I bought her visa on sale at Walmart - of course she blaims it on me.

Hooked on Sudoku

We've arrived in Taipei and are awaiting our flight to HCMC. Caren got hooked on Sudoku puzzles on the flight from LAX to Taipei. Look out now.

Next stop Vietnam.

44 pounds per person?

That's our baggage weight limit for the internal flights within Vietnam. I guess that means I'll be lugging a carry-on bag weighing 50 pounds onto the planes and stuffing it in the overhead bin. I can't wait for Caren to purchase some "little" item for our house the first day of the trip and have me schlep it all over SE Asia. Like the headboard-sized wood carving of elephants I carried all over Myanmar or the huge area rug we bought on sale in Hong Kong. Or perhaps I can just buy another seat for it?

From the time we leave LAX on Sunday night until we touch down in Ho Chi Minh City (with a change of planes in Taipei) it will be nearly 20 hours. Thank goodness I sprung for business class tix this trip. Got a great deal by buying the tix back in November of last year. There had better be some good movies to watch onboard.

Most evenings, the Bradley International Terminal at LAX is an absolute zoo. You've got a zillion flights heading out to Asia, flights to Europe, Australia and New Zealand, and a smattering of flights to Central and South America.

You see people hauling these monstrous cardboard boxes to the check-in counters. I didn't know stores sold luggage that looked like that. Do you ever wonder what's in some of those boxes?

Why do people check-in huge boxes of clothes to take to their relatives back in the Phillipines when the clothing is probably manufactured there in the first place? Or why does the diminutive Chinese couple heading to Hong Kong have two suitcases bigger than both of them? Then there is always the stylish looking young woman (or man) who only has a small 20" rollerboard and is travelling to Australia for two weeks. Talk about travelling light. I guess she/he will just buy anything they need wherever they are headed to. Go figure.

Maps of Where We Are Going

Follow along.... You can also check it out on Google Maps: Vietnam from satellite

Or on Microsoft Virtual Earth: SE Asia satellite map