Coming home to New York City was bittersweet for both of us. Since I had never even been out of the country before February 2008 I was a little anxious to get back home after so long to visit family and see Phish in all honesty. It was nice to be back in NYC. Rachel's brother Matt lives in Manhattan so we stayed with him at the time. He took us to alot of the hot spots in the city. We went to one of the cities best pizza joints the first night we were there. Griminaldi's. Real New York City pie is famous for being big slices and for it's fresh mozzarella used on the pizza. It was really good. The next day we met up with our friend Duke from S.K. and first ate pizza again at Lombardi's, then went to Brooklyn and checked out his almamatar, Pratt University. It's a famous art college where the likes of Robert Redford and other's all graduated. Debbie Does Dallas was filmed here (illegally). As expected the area was decked out with art installations.
Our purpose in Brooklyn that day was to see a free David Byrne concert in Prospect Park, Brooklyn. I'd seen David Byrne of Talking Heads fame once before and remember being a fantastic concert. We were really impressed with Brooklyn. It was a surreal day, people hanging out having a good time in the park. I think both Rachel and I wouldn't mind settling down in Brooklyn one of these days. The concert was cool. His performance wasn't quite as good as the previous time I saw him but it was still incredible. The band revisited Talking Heads classics, Crosseyed and Painless, Life During Wartime, among others. It was just an awesome experience.
All three of us stayed at a hotel in Manhattan that night in Times Square. We got slices of pizza at a 24 hour pizza shop. We decided to check out the Metropolitan Museum of Art to look at an exhibit by Francis Bacon. Bacon's paintings were haunting. We looked at the exhibit with two of Duke's friends. The paintings were visceral that's for sure. I had never been to the museum and was captivated by the historical paintings ranging from Van Gogh, Monet, Chagall. The museum was fantastic but it didn't stack up to the Chicago Museum of Art, nothing does. :)
Our trip was coming to an end. We ate at a great burger joint in Manhattan and then spent the rest of the night with Matt and his girlfriend. Our time in New York City was over and Rachel and I had to say goodbye for a month. All in all it was an amazing trip.
Zack]]> Sun, 07 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.blogabond.com/TripView.aspx?tripID=5475 http://www.blogabond.com/CommentView.aspx?commentID=129048 0 40.71417 -74.00639
Isaac and Carina, our gracious hosts

This is another island that people rave about when talking about Thailand. It's famous for hosting the full moon party and being an island where anything goes. As we've found It came at a price. Let's just say police corruption run's rampant on the island (and in Thailand in general) It's a perfectly safe place to visit. We found the bargain of the century our third night on the island nabbing a bungelow for around $15 a night right on the ocean. The pool at the resort was one of the best parts. It looked like the pool of a palatial estate.
One of the days on the island we rented a motorbike and cruised around. We had a nice time until a car tried to pull out in front of us and I tapped the brakes aware that we were in gravel and even though I only nudged the brakes the bike fell. Luckily it was only going about 5 mph. I jumped off the bike before it fell and tried to prop it up. Rachel was not so lucky. The bike fell on her, thankfully the only damage was a small scratch on her leg. The bike had some minor cosmetic damage that we were told by a westerner that witnessed the scene was going to cost 100's of dollars. A new acquaintance told us that our best bet would be taking the bike to a honda shop and try to switch out the parts. We did this the next day and paid about $15 dollars that would have cost us at least a hundred at the shop. Still we ended up paying the shop about $90. Which was a rip-off but what can you do when they have your passport.
The night before we left the island we had an amazing meal at a restaurant we decided to check out. It wasn't thai food but they had an incredible eggplant tapas, with garlic bread and real fried potato wedges. Definately, the best meal on the island we had.
We booked a flight on air asia from Surat Thani to Bangkok. I remember getting a tuk-tuk after the bus dropped us off in the town and then the guy trying to drop us off on the side of the road because he didn't charge us enough money, what an asshole. So, we yelled at him and made him take us to the airport then caught our flight that took us to Bangkok.
Zack

Hank, our porch cat

What you get for 15 bucks a night

I can't believe that we didn't write about Railay. We just didn't have anytime since we stayed their for eight days lounging around the pool and eating at our restaurant, and watching movies on HBO. Railay was the closest thing we did that would be considered a normal vacation. The atmosphere here is great. It's not really an island but a peninsula that you can only reach by boat. It might as well be an island. Were close to the island where James Bond filmed Man with the Golden Gun. We ended up meeting some real characters while on Railay. Our new friend Peter who was an enigma in Thailand. He was an American living off the generosity of the Thai people. Not having any money left, he stayed in the bungalow's for free drank for free. Supposedly he had some sort of arrangement with the owners that he would pay them at a date......tbd. One night we had left some pineapple juice outside which he proceeded to drink and slept on our porch.
The highlights of Railay almost a year later was the snorkeling expedition we went on with a family visiting Thailand. Ever since snorkeling on Ko Phi Phi a week earlier I wanted to try again. We saw a lot of nemo looking fish on our slightly underwater adventure. During the trip we went a couple that biked from Austria to Thailand. They were then leaving the next day to go from Alaska to the tip of Argentina. I think I remember them saying it took 6 months just to get through China alone.
Another great day on Railay included a hike we took up the side of a rocky hill. I think we both wore sandals and the hike turned treacherous when we tried to reach the lagoon on the other side. We smartly decided our lives were not worth the risk of us busting our heads open on the rocks at the top of a cliff. We made it down safely and went to another part of a beach that we hadn't seen yet before. It was beautiful and it lacked any commercial businesses and the hustle that the other beaches proliferated. We would definately come back to Railay if we had the chance.

]]> Wed, 20 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.blogabond.com/TripView.aspx?tripID=5475 http://www.blogabond.com/CommentView.aspx?commentID=68599 0 8.01793 98.83305

Here we are in beautiful Ko Phi Phi. We've inadvertently arrived in the midst of raining season, but fortunately we only had one rainy day. We're staying in a bungalow tucked into the jungle by the beach. A cat, who we named Boots, has been frequenting our porch, begging for food. Yesterday we went island hopping and snorkeling. It's unreal! We made friends with a British girl named Ellie who's traveling solo. I never want to leave!

Rachel

The pictures really speak for themselves in Luang Prabang. After being in Asia for over a year alot of the temples blend together. Luang Prabang in Laos will re-invigorate the spirit to go temple diving.
Before I delve into our time in Luang Prabang, half of the adventure was getting there. From Chang Mai we took a two day boat trip along the Mekong Delta sauntering on a tourist boat throughout lush green valleys with subtle hills on either side of the river.
Once we reached the town we were exhausted and in need of some decent shelter. We found a place on the main drag. The whole town is quaint and charming. Best of all, the town is home to thousands of Monks that live in the wats. Many of the townspeople of Luang Prabang are devout Buddhists and wake up before sunrise to give Alms to the Monks. They give food, drink and flowers to the monks. The monks have to eat the most food in the morning since they are not allowed to eat after noon.
There are two highlights in Luang Prabang that were must sees. One morning we were there we went to a temple overlooking the city. We were lucky that we took the opposite way to reach the top of the temples. One thing that was kind of funny was that the statues were spray painted we guess because of lack of funds.
We kept hearing about a gorgeous waterfall about 45 minutes out of the city. They turned out to be some of the most beautiful waterfalls you could ever hope to see. The water was crystal clear since the basin of the falls was limestone. We hiked to the top of the small mountain and basked in the pools of water overlooking a stunning valley. Another great part of the day turned out to be visiting a bear sanctuary that was at the base of the waterfalls. The bears are taken from poachers looking to extract their stomach bile for medicinal purposes. Now there is no need for this because of advances in medicine. The bear fund tries to educate local people to try to eliminate the poaching of the bears on the black market.
When we left Luang Prabang, we hired a driver whose truck broke down on the way to the airport. We had to walk the rest of the way to the airport. We knew it wasn't a good situation since I had to pust the truck to even get it started. ]]> Sat, 09 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.blogabond.com/TripView.aspx?tripID=5475 http://www.blogabond.com/CommentView.aspx?commentID=62923 0 19.8855556 102.1347222

Since coming to Asia I've been reading and hearing about how amazing Chiang Mai is and I'm relieved to say that this city mostly lives up to the hype. After taking the first flight of our trip from Bangkok to Chiang Mai, we arrived in the midst of the bustling weekly Sunday handicraft market. We checked into a cute guest house with a garden in an inner courtyard. It was a lot cuter until we discovered we we had company in our room-- a giant cockroach on the wall to the side of our bed! Fortunately for me, Zack was brave and captured the critter in a pizza box and took it away.

Our time in Chiang Mai was spent walking around town, eating delicious Thai food, and riding bikes. We were both surprised to find that Chiang Mai was not very bike friendly. To add to the confusion, Thais drive on the left side of the road. It was all worth it as we discovered a handful of ancient, ornately decorated Wats and temples throughout the city.

The highlight of Chiang Mai to me was the private vegetarian cooking class we took. Zack and I arrived at 9am to the restaurant. Our teacher was a kind, talkative young Thai woman with excellent English. First we learned how to roast sesame seeds and cashews in a wok. After that we took a trip to the local produce market to buy the food that we would later cook. We learned a lot about Thai veggies, including Thai eggplant, which is green and circular. We learned that no Thai dish is complete without chili peppers. When we came back to the kitchen we learned the proper way to chop Thai veggies. Next, it was time for a marathon cooking session where we learned how to make TEN different dishes. It was intense, but well worth it. Zack and I each had our own burner with a wok and it was a fun competition to see who could remember what to do and who could make the better dish. Usually, the teacher had us make different variations of the same dish (for example, adding coconut milk to one soup but not the other). By 1:00 we had finished and it was time to feast. There was wayyyyy too much to eat, so we had the food bagged up, literally.

Rachel]]> Sun, 03 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.blogabond.com/TripView.aspx?tripID=5475 http://www.blogabond.com/CommentView.aspx?commentID=61088 0 18.7902778 98.9816667 There is a lot of bad press out about Bangkok being a seedy town and it is, especially around the foreigner areas, but overall I thought it was more scenic than expected.
After arriving by a combination of taxi and train from Siem Reap we had a taxi take us to Kao San road (not sure if I spelled it right) and got a hotel.
We ended up getting some mediocre Thai food at a tourist restaurant on the strip and then turned in to watch some bad movies on our tv.
In the morning we headed out to the central post office to mail some souvenirs and gifts back home. We decided to take a river taxi since it was close by the river. This was the way to go, we ended up seeing alot of great Buddhist sites from the river.
For lunch we ate at a place recommended by Lonely Planet since it was closeby the post office at Naaz restaurant which had some decent Indian food.
We wanted to back to the area of our Hotel by the river since it was so scenic. We stopped off at the Royal Palace complex and went to a Buddhist temple called Wat Pho. Here was the most massive indoor Buddha I have seen in over a year in Asia. It was a reclining Buddha that was close to 30 ft high and probably over 50 yards in length. Rachel took a couple of great pictures.

Zack]]> Fri, 01 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.blogabond.com/TripView.aspx?tripID=5475 http://www.blogabond.com/CommentView.aspx?commentID=60594 0 13.75 100.5166667
Angkor Thom

Zack]]> Sat, 25 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.blogabond.com/TripView.aspx?tripID=5475 http://www.blogabond.com/CommentView.aspx?commentID=59614 0 13.3949633804641 103.875732421875
A big gecko visited our bungalow

Sihanokville, view from our bungalow

We made it on a bus from Phnom Penh to Sihoukville and found Sean and Kia! Zack and I are staying in an awesome beach bungalow. It has a little private front porch with two chairs, a table, and a hammock! It's fun seeing old friends from Korea here at the beach in Cambodia. We went and had lunch together then went swimming for about an hour.

Sean is building partnerships with orphanages. The idea is for TEFL International teachers in training to do their volunteer work at orphanages. The problem is with the orphanages. A lot of them aren't hurting for money and already have paid teachers. When volunteers come in, they fire the paid teachers and someone loses a job. So, Sean is really trying to avoid that. He's going and checking out the places.

We loved being beach bums here for a few days!

Rachel]]> Wed, 22 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.blogabond.com/TripView.aspx?tripID=5475 http://www.blogabond.com/CommentView.aspx?commentID=58656 0 10.6336149916561 103.524169921875 I guess we've been in Cambodia for a week now. We spent the first night and two following days, exploring the ""pearl of Asia" as the city was known before the Khmer Rouge revolution that started on April 17, 1975. We actually missed this horrifying anniversary by only one day arriving on the 18th.
The first night that we got to the city we tried to check out the Riverfront and around the Royal Palace area. We were famished after the river trek, so we ate a pizza, then had a drink at the foreign corresspondents club, tragically immortalized in the movie the Killing Fields.
The next morning we wanted to switch to a hotel closer to the city center. The place our tuk-tuk driver recommended, the Her Royal Highness hotel, was a bit dodgy,but was nice because of the short distance to the Royal Palace.
After we got settled, we took off in the morning to find a city without basic sanitation services. Trash was littered everywhere and worst of all, composting on the sidewalks. At first we weren't that impressed, but once we reached the Royal Palace we couldn't get over how majestic the palace was. Best of all, there were huge cumulonimbus clouds over the palace, making it look like a piece from the game, Candyland.
Unfortunately, the palace takes a ciesta from 11:30-2 so we just missed going into the Royal palace. We got something to eat and went to an internet cafe down the street to pass the time.
Traditional Khmer architecture differentiates itself from other Southeast Asian architecture with ornate spires and a unique decoration that looks like a stick and juts from the corners of the buildings. The weather started clouding up but the weather held. There were stone monuments were almost as impressive as the palace itself.

2nd Day

The 2nd day took a turn for the worse since any part of a trip to Phnom Penh now makes a stop to the Killing Fields and S-21, a prison that could be compared to Auschwitz in the amount of mass killings that happened at the prison.
We made it to the Killing Fields which was a couple of km out of town. We ended up getting an English speaking guide to show us around. The first sight, is a monument with a glass area to show skulls of victims killed on the site. Next, we walked around the mass graves and were shown sugar cane plants that the Khmer Rouge used to decapitate their victims.
S-21 prison, was similarly gruesome. It was originally used as a high-school. The classrooms were converted into prison cells. The Khmer Rouge would execute prisoners, simply to make room for the new ones. Part of the museum was dedicated to first hand experiences told by Cambodians. Here people talked about reasons they joined the Khmer Rouge. It was interesting to read that some Cambodians didn't feel that the individual soldiers should be punished for the genocide.
Right now a trial is taken place to punish as many as 5 former Khmer Rouge low level leaders are being judged. We didn't really talk to anyone about the killings. I got the feeling that they wanted to move on from the past. We both tried broaching the subject with our tour guide at the Killing Fields but he seemed aloof and did not want to go into details. It could have been that his English was not very advanced.
The next day we took off and went to Sihoukville on the Southern Coast of Thailand. More to come.

Zack
]]> Sat, 18 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.blogabond.com/TripView.aspx?tripID=5475 http://www.blogabond.com/CommentView.aspx?commentID=57971 0 11.55 104.9166667
Cao Dai Temple northwest of Saigon

The next morning we promptly checked out and moved into a lovely little hotel down a quiet street, strategically positioned next to several vegetarian restaurants (Zack loves fake meat) and a Mexican restaurant. We walked the street and visited the Reunification Palace, the palace that would have been the "White House" Presidential house had the south Vietnamese won the war. We got a thorough tour from an "English speaking guide" (She had a script memorized, but could not answer simple additional questions). We saw the banquet halls, bedrooms, a movie theater, the kitchen, and even the bomb shelter where the president's drab bedroom was located. A 19 year old Vietnamese girl came up to me and asked to practice her English. She looked like she was 14. Women tend to look really young here. We walked back to our hotel from the palace, and discovered that Saigon has some lovely parks with big old trees. Propaganda billboards are also abundant.

We booked a tour for 7 dollars through our hotel to see the Cu Chi tunnels, used by the Viet Cong, early the next morning. The tour was to leave at 7am and return around 2pm. After the tunnels, we were going to visit the War Museum in Saigon. Unfortunately, there was a mix up and we ended up on the WRONG tour in the morning. This tour visited not only the Cu Chi tunnels, but first a Cao Dai "church/temple/mosque," a weird fusion of religions. Somehow this strange religion has 2 million followers. The outside of their church is decorated with what looks like the pyramid eye from the back of a one dollar US bill. Victor Hugo is considered one of the three main saints of this religion. Very strange. The church service, which we observed 30 minutes of, was followed by another long bus ride, lunch, and another long bus ride. We were relieved when we finally arrived at the Cu Chi tunnels.

After buying an entrance ticket for about 5 dollars a person, we were shuffled into a covered wooden pavilion to watch a vide before seeing the tunnels. They had us watch an "educational" video. The television screen was completely too small for an audience of 50 people, so it was a bit difficult to see, but it was quite easy to hear, "The Americans, from thousands of miles away, came and stuck their foot in here....This young girl received an honor for killing 3 Americans..." I'm not a big fan of America, but this was a bit uncomfortable. After the video, we were shuffled along past down a path in the woods. We stopped an looked at life sized models of the Viet Cong, sitting in their hammocks, scarf around their neck. Our tour guide revealed a hidden door entrance to a tunnel buried beneath a pile of leaves, invisible. We saw fantastically elaborate booby traps, designed to kill the enemy, America. We passed US tank, severely damaged from having gone over a bomb. Five Americans were gunned down as they exited the flaming vehicle. Some tourists then proceeded to climb onto the tank for smiling pictures. It was all a big circus. Next, we were paraded to an area where for a little over a dollar tourists can choose from a variety of guns, machine guns and AK47s included, to go shoot. Zack and I doubted the safety of these things, so we stood a safe distance away from the booming sound of gun fire. Finally, it was time for us to crawl down into the portion of the Cu Chi tunnel that our tour guide referred to as "king sized." About 100 meters had been doubled in size to accommodate the growing throngs of tourists. We went down into the tunnel. Zack had to crawl on hands and knees, but I was able to crouch. 30 meters were enough for us. It was terribly claustrophobic!

Next day, we went to the Vietnamese History Museum which is located next to the botanical garden and zoo. As soon as we got into the museum, torrential rain began to beat down from the sky. The storm was so bad that the museum shut down the power, so there was no light to see the exhibit! The museum houses a pretty creepy looking mummy of a woman, hair still attached. Next we check out the botanical gardens and zoo, which turned out to be pretty sad.

The following morning we set out through Vietnam's famed travel bus company, the Sinh Cafe, toward the mighty Mekong river delta. Here we spent a day going around on a boat. We stayed a night close to the border and then set out on our boat ride over the Vietnamese border into Cambodia.

Rachel]]> Tue, 14 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.blogabond.com/TripView.aspx?tripID=5475 http://www.blogabond.com/CommentView.aspx?commentID=56950 0 10.75 106.6666667
Swinging bridge, sagging to one sideAgain our bus ride was a bit of an adventure. When we got to the bus stop at the Hahn Cafe in Nha Trang, we were told that the bus was delayed because of a problem with the clutch. A fellow passenger with car experience told us that they were really having problems with the brakes after monitoring their work. Not what you want to hear when the bus is heading into the mountain highlands. The ride went off without a hitch besides there being no air-conditioning for the 7 hour journey.
We took it easy that night and ended up booking a 16 km trek with a local travel company for Sunday. The next day we decided to rent a motorbike and cruise the surroundings.
Da lat is situated in the mountains in the southwest part of the country. The French used the city for a vacation get-away up until their departure in the early 60's. The result was the towns architecture is filled with chalets. The area is beautiful, reminiscent of the Appalachian mountains. Best of all, the temperature hovers between 15-24 degrees celsius all year round, so no one needs air conditioning.
After we got the motobike, we started to cruise around and went into a local tourist trap called the Camly waterfalls. This place was so terrible it was great. It had weird statues of elephants and one of a man making love to a tiger. When we got to the bottom of the "waterfall," we came across a man selling 3 shots with a bow and arrow. I couldn't resist. There was even a prize if you hit the bullseye all three times. Unfortunately, I failed to win the grand prize; a sketchy looking bottle of Da lat's own strawberry wine that no one in thier right mind would even consider drinking. After Rachel and I both tried our luck, the man talked us into playing a game involving a freaky clown mask and a pole. The idea was to put on the mask, making you unable to see and then walking about 15 ft. to try to hit an in-ground pole with a stick. The guide said Rachel came closer to hitting it but I disagree. Plus, she cheated by counting out the paces it took to reach the pole without her mask on. Cheater!
Then we went looking for this architectual wonder called the crazy house, but instead found a cemetery overlooking a valley. The cemetery was the most interesting one either of us had ever seen. Vietnamese have an unusual superstition of washing the family member's skeleton 3 years after the person has been buried. According to our guide from Halong Bay, it's best for the family members to do this morbid act but they sometimes hire people to complete the task for them. Since they have to wash the bones, the Vietnamese bury the persons body in an above-ground tomb. Another interesting thing about the cemetary was that both Christians and Buddhists are buried beside each other, so you see both the Buddhist and Christian symbols intermingled in the cemetery.
Next, we went in search of a cable car that traversed 2.3 km over a mountain. I was a bit scared so Rachel tormented me the entire time. We were able to see all of Da Lat from the scenic point.
Today, it was time for the hike that we signed up for the first day we arrived. Our day started by being awakened by a rooster that is lodging right outside of our hotel. The last two days we've been awoken close to 5:30 in the morning with a cock-a-doodle-doo.
An suv picked us up and drove us to a pine forest outside of the city with our two guides. They were both quite friendly though their English wasn't the greatest.
We embarked on the trek at 9 am. The trek led us through coffee plantations and over two suspension bridges that crossed over a muddy river. When we got to the second bridge we found that it was broken. One side of this treachorous looking bridge was hanging down towards the river. We only had two options, to turn back or cross it. We chose the latter. While I was walking across this bridge you would see in an Indiana Jones movie, one of the planks broke. I deftly scrambled to the next plank before I could plunge into the river 20 ft. below.
The next part led us up a big hill overlooking the valley. Before we reached the top, we noticed that smoke was nearby. Our guide told us that locals start forest fires just for fun and that's all it was. Another custom in the forest was for locals to burn and scar the trees so they can extract the sap from them for glue, make-up, and gunpowder. It was sad to see that a good portion of the trees in the forest had been burned at their trunks.
Right after the we passed the fire, we saw a local carrying an object strangely behind his back. As we passed we saw that it was an AK-47. Just up the way his friend was coming along with a machete. The guide told us that they were illegaly poaching animals in the forest. Great, now all we had to be worried about were poachers mistaking us for the wildlife. It didn't help that Rachel was wearing her deer antlers.
Just up the way the guides layed out our lunch. All of my favorites were spread out on the tarp for us, peanut butter, bananas, tomatoes, and cucumbers. It was really interesting talking to the guides. One of them was an English major in college and had a fair grasp of the language. This was the first chance we had to really dig for information from a fairly reliable source. He opened up a little bit about politics and Vietnamese history. After we had our fill, we kept along the path and kept on trekking.
This led to more amazing views and coffee plantations. After some more uphill hiking, we found ourselves in a small minority village where about 100 villagers resided according to our guide. We didn't see many of them though. They must of been out poaching for wildlife. We were pretty tired by this time and kept pushing on to the end of the journey.
We are now resting in an internet cafe down the street from our hotel. There are torrential downpours outside so who knows how long we're going to be pent up here. One things for sure, we'll be waking up early tomorrow. Happy Easter.

Zack
]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.blogabond.com/TripView.aspx?tripID=5475 http://www.blogabond.com/CommentView.aspx?commentID=56056 0 11.9333333 108.4166667 Trang. We did have to tell a 13 year old salesperson no less than 24 times (I counted) to leave us alone. When we woke up on our sleeper bus we saw the sun rising over the sea in Nha-Trang. Fortunately, there were alot of decent budget hotels (our hotel boasted a 1 star rating) just down the street from where our bus dropped us off. We settled in and after breakfast got an early start at the beach.
The setting was beautiful besides a vinpearl sign in the island across from the beach, ala Hollywood. The waves were heavy duty. We managed to wade out of harms way and enjoyed the beach for about an hour before the morning showers started.
After the rain we came back to the beach to soak up some more sun. The beach was filled with you guessed it, vendors. Women in masks and long sleeved clothing served up everything from massages to sTrange vietnamese chips packed with msg. A family happened to be next to us that ate up everything that these people were selling. The woman bought chips, bracelets, massages, you name it. After we had enough swimming we got back on shore to find no less than 4 vendors hovering around their chairs and umbrellas. It was Christmas time for the hawkers.
All in all the beach was a lot of fun. We needed to relax after the 12 hour bus ride. We headed off to lunch to find a tex-mex restaurant lonely planet recommended only to be thwarted by an inaccurate map. After we ate, we ended up taking a long nap and awoke to find it pitch black outside.
We stumbled off to find a micro-brewery that was recommended. The beer was the best we've had since coming to Asia. This place had their stuff together. Both the red ale and the Belgium wit-bier were top notch.
Those are the highlights of our day in Nha-Trang. Keep reading to hear our Dalat experience. Parents be warned.....

Zack]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.blogabond.com/TripView.aspx?tripID=5475 http://www.blogabond.com/CommentView.aspx?commentID=56055 0 12.25 109.1833333 We have a lot of updating to do on the blog tonight. This was the first time that we have been on a computer in the last week or so that has been even capable of updating a blog....It seems that the farther south we travel in Nam' the worse the internet connections get.
Hue was what you would call uneventful. It had a particular charm to it. It was a laid back city, outside of the touts harassing us, but all in all it was a place to skip over.
After a grueling 14 hour bus ride from Hanoi to Hue we shleped off the bus into the early morning air only to be surrounded by some crazy "businessmen" looking to corral us into their hotels. These people were some of the most desperate, insane, people we had come across. They wouldn't take "no, thank you" for an answer. After trying to avoid them unsuccessfully, we ducked into a hotel and settled in.
Hue is touted as a tourist attraction for their citadel, which is an enclosure around an emperor's palace. The city also boasts Vietnam's largest flag. The palace was occupied by royalty through the 1950's, but is nonetheless in disrepair. After visiting so many incredible temples on this trip like the Forbidden City, Hue's Forbidden Purple City was underwhelming. The highlight could have been the renovated tennis court that the emperor used during his tenure at the palace. Why the curators rebuilt the tennis court rather than focusing on the palace which is in disrepair confused me and Rachel.
Hungry after a long trip we found an Indian restaurant for our next meal and liked it so much that we ate there for both lunch and dinner. Mmmm vegetable curry.
After a rest we went down to the riverfront to see what nightlife Hue had to offer. We both agreed that the vibe at night along the riverfront was the highlight of our day in Hue. A bridge that connected the two parts of the city was lit brightly with an ever-changing array of colors. Lots of the city's locals were seen drinking beers and sipping fruit shakes by the river. On to Hoi An!]]> Sat, 04 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.blogabond.com/TripView.aspx?tripID=5475 http://www.blogabond.com/CommentView.aspx?commentID=56049 0 16.4666667 107.6

In Hanoi, for the bargain price of 48 dollars, we each purchased what's called an open bus ticket to Saigon with four stops along the way-- Hue, Hoi An, Nha-Trang, and Dalat. With an open ticket you can get off the bus at any of these cities and stay for as long as you'd like. When you want to continue on, you just call the local office a day ahead of time to confirm. These buses are supposed to be more luxurious than public transportation. Supposed to be. From Hanoi to Hue can only be described as a ride from hell. This was a 14 hour overnight journey on an old smelly sleeper bus--a bus with beds, not chairs. We were crammed into the very back with 3 other people. First the air conditioning was freezing but then it became terribly hot. The driver seemed to have a death wish, passing in the oncoming traffic lane, swirving, and honking needlessly. Needless to say, we were both pretty pleased when we saw the prestine condition of the next bus we got on to take us from Hue to Hoi An. It was new and clean and the air conditioning worked properly. Hurray!

Hoi An is a little town only 5km from the beach. The downtown is built up around a little river and its narrow cobble stone streets are decked with cute little shops. Hoi An is famous for two things-- custom tailored clothing and local food. We delighted in both of these luxuries. I had a pair of linen pants and shorts made and Zack had a pair of pants and a button up shirt made. We picked out the design, color, material, and had our bodies measured around noon. Our clothes were ready to pick up at 6pm. We hit the town in our new clothes to taste the food. The fried wanton dish was delicious! (Sorry, Duke, I know you are sick of us writing about how delicious the food is in every entry). We are also really enjoying all the fruity shakes. I love mango!

Tragedy struck our next day in Hoi An. We planned a day trip 50km west to the My Son (pronounced Mee Sun) temple ruins. A minivan picked us up at our hotel at 8am and then stopped to pick up about 8 other tourists. Before leaving town, we pulled up next to a large bus filled with tourists. A man came off the bus over to our van and introduced himself as our tour guide. Those of us in the minivan would rendevous with the rest of the people on the bus at the My Son ruins. Immediately, the bus took off speeding ahead of us. As we drove down the two lane back country road, we were both engrossed in our books. Since being in China, we'd grown used to the crazy traffic. Tons of motorbikes, bicycles, and a handful of cars and buses fill the streets in a crazy dance of death, buses passing in the oncoming lane of traffic. We were bound to see the scene of an accident at some point. This was the day. As our van slowed, I looked up from my book and gasped to see that the bus with our guide and fellow tourists had stopped after hitting a woman on a motorbike. She was sprawled out in the middle of the rode, arms and legs in awkward postions, dead. It was a terrible sight. There were two kids in the van with us, about 12 or 13 years old. Our minivan stopped and the driver got out and went over to the accident to see if there was anything he could do. It was too late. Two women were dead and another person was taken to the hospital. This definitely put a damper on the day, but we still saw the ruins. The ruins, though built by the same civilization as Cambodia's Angkor Wat, were not overly impressive. Sadly, a chunk of them were destroyed in a bombing during the Vietnam War. Forgoing the roads, we took a leisurely boat ride down a river back to Hoi An.

Our last day in Hoi An we rented bicycles and rode to the beach. It was much nicer than either of us had imagined. We layed on some benches and sipped some drinks before heading back to town to catch our next to Nha Trang.

Rachel]]> Sun, 05 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.blogabond.com/TripView.aspx?tripID=5475 http://www.blogabond.com/CommentView.aspx?commentID=55348 0 15.5 108.2833333

Indians trying to sell their goods to Zack

Indians near Sapa

Indian: You buy from me?
Me: No thanks.
Indian: Why not?
Me: (Tries to avoid her)
Indian: Why not?
Me: I don't have any money.
Indian: If you have no money how you get to Vietnam? I'll take you to ATM, You think I'm stupid, Never forever we be friends. Liar liar pants on fire!!

We really admired her spunk but still didn't support her abrasive selling style.
After we had lunch we started towards one of the villages. Once we began to descend down the mountain the fog began to lift and we feasted our eyes on some stunning vistas. As far as the eye could see were mountains with terraced rice patties. In some of the rice patties water had flooded the areas which gave off beautiful reflections while glancing down.
I have to say that the tribal people were much more friendly as we passed down the mountains. Most didn't even ask us if we wanted to buy something. All of the female indians wore traditional indian garments. They are black with vibrant colors in a reocurring pattern. We're not sure if the reason that they wear these outfits is because of a desire to keep their traditions intact or if it's because of the tourism boom.
After a 5km walk down a mountain we opted to have a couple of the villagers drive us to town on the back of their motorbikes for just a little money.
Today we decided to get a motorbike to cover larger distances. It was so much fun driving throughout the countryside. We toured one of the traditional villages called Cat Cat. Water buffalo were walking all around us, along with boars and chickens everywhere. After the village, we retraced our steps and took the same path as yesterday determined to make it farther. Again, just as yesterday, once we descended, we started to get great views of the valley. Part of the road was a little treacherous but we managed to drive through the base of a small waterfall unscathed. I think we're going to stick around for another couple of days here before heading south. We love it here!
Zack]]> Tue, 31 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.blogabond.com/TripView.aspx?tripID=5475 http://www.blogabond.com/CommentView.aspx?commentID=54495 0 22.4833333 103.95
Hoan Kiem Lake

Britney Spears and the Virgin Mary together on a funeral plaque?

Fruit vendor

Careful-- she'll put that on your shouldars when you least expect it

Zack]]> Mon, 30 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.blogabond.com/TripView.aspx?tripID=5475 http://www.blogabond.com/CommentView.aspx?commentID=54317 0 21.0333333 105.85
Market Just a quick note to tell everyone that we arrived in Vietnam last Monday (March 23), crossing over the Chinese/Vietnamese border by land via a border crossing called "Friendship Pass." We spent several days walking the streets of Hanoi's Old French Quarter. Vietnam has a totally different feel than China. Some of the most noticeable differences are the French architecture and the traffic. The narrow streets are packed with motorbikes, bicycles, pedestrians and a handful of cars. You're forced to walk on the crowded streets because the sidewalks have become the parking lots for motorbikes and a place for stores to sell their merchandise. There is a lovely lake called Hoan Kiem Lake just south of the Old Quarter. The lake is surrounded by a nice park with old trees. There's a little temple in the middle of the lake that you can walk across a bridge to get to. One night we went to see Hanoi's famous Water Puppets show. We weren't overly impressed, but it was only a 2 dollar ticket.

Thick power lines all over

This past weekend we went to the beautiful Halong Bay located in the Gulf of Tonken. Here we cruised around on a small boat with about 15 other tourists, soaking in the beauty of the green islands that cover the bay. We went inside a cave, kayaked, biked, and hiked. The first night we stayed on the boat. When we were lying on top of the boat star-gazing, we saw a shooting star! The next night we stayed on a bungalow on a teeny tiny island. There were only a few other foreigners and a couple workers there, so we were pretty isolated.

Now we're back in Hanoi planning to leave for Sapa by train tonight. We leave here at 9:55pm and arrive tomorrow at 5am. Sapa is famous for its mountain scenery and variety of hill tribe indigenous people.
Rachel
]]> Sun, 29 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.blogabond.com/TripView.aspx?tripID=5475 http://www.blogabond.com/CommentView.aspx?commentID=54212 0 21.0333333 105.85
Bike ride view

Hot air balloon

Zack ]]> Sun, 22 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.blogabond.com/TripView.aspx?tripID=5475 http://www.blogabond.com/CommentView.aspx?commentID=52596 0 24.7833333 110.5