The Suicide Walk

Crossing the street in Vietnam is a feat in its own. Cars, motorbikes, and bicycles zoom past you. The rule of the thumb is the bigger vehicle is responsible. For example, if a car and a motorbike get in an accident, no matter what, it’s the car’s fault. If a bicycle and a motorbike get in an accident, it’s the motorbike’s fault, and so on. So, as a pedestrian, even if you cross the street when it’s a green light for the cars, it is never your fault. I don’t suggest it, but if you shut your eyes and walked at a constant rate, you will most likely get across the street safely.

Most all cars stop at red lights, but only some motorbikes and bicycles. Instead, they honk their horn and proceed through the intersection as if it were a green light. The intersections look like schools of fish intersecting, each fish swerves a different way and somehow they all continue on their journey without hitting one another.

On the highway, the direction on the lanes don’t mean much. Some cars drive half way in two different lanes, sometimes you’re on the left side of the road (this is a right-side-driving country), and most of the time you’re grabbing the oh-shit-bar and hoping for the best. It is like the roads that have a center lane with a green arrow or a red X depending on which direction is the busiest during rush hour. Though, here there are no signs and both directions assume the center lane is their lane.

 

 

To Hue we go!

Person 1: To Hue (pronounced “way”)?

Person 2: No, no, only one way! We go to Hue!

Person 1: Yes, to Hue.

Person 2: No way!! We find other way to Hue.

Yes, yes as sad as it may be, this conversation did occur. Hue, pronounced “way” was the border between the old North and South Viet Nam. The first night we were in the city, we stumbled upon a roof-top restaurant. At the Moonlight Hotel, we ate a delicious meal with the best view in town! We not only overlooked the city, but also the Perfume River.

On day two, we took the time to discover the Forbidden City!

 

 

A lot of the Forbidden City had to be renovated/put back together after the war. So it was pretty rare to find original walls, tile work, and roofs.

On our walk home we found a hole-in-the-wall salon. They gave us full body massages, including walking on our backs, for only $6 each. Before it was my turn I needed to use the lady’s room. One of the workers was so enthusiastic about taking me she stopped massaging my mom mid-stoke and grabbed my hand. To find a restroom we had to go across the street to the preschool. I’ve never seen a local be so careful crossing the street. She was more careful than I would have been on my own! I guess she figured she didn’t want to kill a paying customer! The owner of the preschool, an older gentleman, was very inviting, and he showed me (and the masseuse still holding my hand) upstairs to the bathroom. Thankfully the masseuse didn’t feel obligate to escort me all the way to the toilet. Not to my surprise, there was no toilet paper so I did the 1-2 shake. As we descended the stairs, the older gentleman was running up the stairs holding a roll of toilet paper saying “wait, wait”. I explained I had already gone, and we laughed it off. I don’t know if it was my blonde hair or what, but I’ve never had people so excited to help me to the lady’s room. It was quite the experience!

Tomorrow we leave bright and early for Hoi An!

               

Halong Bay: One of Vietnam's Most Beautiful Sites!

We hopped on a bus from Hanoi to Halong Bay. In less than 3.5 hours we were on a boat headed to one of the most beautiful sites I’ve ever seen. Halong Bay was filled with moss covered cliffs.

 

 

 

 

We started the adventure with a small hike through a cave. For millions of years water and wind wore at the yellowstone to form house-sized caves. The caves started at water level, and the waves smoothed the interior walls. Then, as time continued, the cave rose above the water level and stalagmites and stalactites formed. Now, the caves have smooth ceilings and ruff walls.

 

Next on our itinerary was kayaking! We paddled around from island to island. After another hike and a short splash in the water we headed back on the boat. Though, the goofy British boys wouldn’t hop on the boat until they all split a jellyfish they found beached on shore. Ewww! They throw it back with a disgusted face and in a swallow it was gone!

On the boat we learned how to make the “labor-intensive”, Vietnamese spring rolls. We sat at large tables and ate family-style with many dishes passed around. Our meals consisted of BBQ chicken, fried fish, fried potatoes, fried chicken, fried spring rolls, salads, rice, noodles, and the traditional new year’s cake. Boy, do they love their fried foods!

The rest of our evening was spent playing drink games and sneaking beers on the boat. At night, women will row next to your boat trying to sell drinks and food. The boat crew does not want you to buy from these women because they will not get commission. Well, money talks and the women’s beer was half the price!

 

The next day we took a tour through an oyster farm and learned how pearls are made. By noon, we were back on the bus heading to Hanoi!

Gooooodbye Halong Bay!

 

The More, the Merrier!

Wow, can the Vietnamese fit any more on a moped! I’ve seen as many as four people on a single scooter! There are ten times more scooters than cars. Only the very wealthy have cars. Instead, parked mopeds line the sidewalks and the streets are filled with their honks. The driving is very chaotic with everyone is going every which way. No one uses turn signals, but EVERYONE uses the warning honk. I believe there are less accidents than you would suspect due to the slow speeds. No one goes faster than 35 mph in the city. Bicycles can easily keep up with traffic. From the airport to our hotel, we never went above 50 mph.

Crossing the street is quite a triumph. It is easiest to cross in a group. The walkers must stay close together and continue across at a constant pace. If you don’t make any sudden moves, the scooters will honk and go around you. Locals make it look easy which is very far from the truth.

The houses are often times very small here with stores in the front and homes in the back. After shops close, the families use the shopping area as a dining room or living room. They tend to keep the store doors open to get fresh air and people watch.

Many street venders have plastic table and chairs on the sidewalk. This child sized furniture means you are squatting to eat your food. This along with the mopeds and potholes make walking on the sidewalk a crazy maze!

Happy New Year's from Vietnam!

Yesterday the streets were bustling as people were buying flowers and gifts on their way to relatives’ houses. Chuc Mung Nam Moi!!! (Happy New Year!)

Today the streets were dead as everyone was inside celebrating Tet (Thanksgiving/Christmas/New Year’s/4th of July). Restaurants and shops are closed. Transportation is limited. On New Year’s Day, we were lucky enough to find the Temple of Literature and the Hoa Lo Prison open. The Temple of Literature contains multiple shrines with the main two shrines for Confucius and Chu Van An, a famous Vietnamese teacher. Shrub animals, trees, and stone turtle statues filled the courtyards.

The Hoa Lo Prison was originally built by the French for uncooperative Vietnamese during the French colonization. The only known escapes were through the underground sewer system. Later, the North Vietnamese used the prison for South Vietnamese and Americans. This is where the nickname “The Hanoi Hilton” was coined. Most of the American prisoners were pilots including John McCain.

Later, us girls went out for afternoon tea. We bought pineapple with red chili spices and freshly peeled water chestnuts from street venders. Both were delicious! Suzie tried a Vietnamese coffee. This consisted of a miniature drip coffee device. The black coffee dripped into a cup with condensed milk sitting on the bottom. The drink is a very sweet with a syrup consistence. I would defiantly get it again for an after dinner sweet!

Tomorrow we are taking a tour to Halong Bay. Ta ta for now!

Bangkok, the city of Toyota

As of now, I’m sitting in my hotel with no electricity. That means, no lights, no hot water, and no internet. As I stand here questioned, everyone goes on with life like nothing happened. Later, we found out that there was a fire close by and the electricity was shut off to the whole building. As we drove to the airport we saw the devastating site. A seen I hope to not see again.

Aside from the fire, so far things have been great! We got in to Bangkok around midnight so as soon as our head hit the pillow, we were out! It was actually nice to have a day flight because when it was night time in Thailand all we could do is surrender to sleep! Which meant wahooo! No jetlag!

We spent our first day aboard scrambling through the train system on our way to the Myanmar Embassy. After a few hours of frantically filling out forms, waiting in line, asking questions, and making sure we have enough cash, we walked out with visas until April!

 

The rest of the day was filled with coffee shops and a visit to a small monastery. A monk was kind enough to show us around the temple as long as we took our shoes off. As night approached, somehow we got sucked in to the biggest tourist market of all, Asiatique! We hopped out of there as quickly as we got there.

Dinner at the Shangri La Hotel was extravagant and delicious! I’ve never had service wait on me to such an extent! They did everything from put the napkin in your lap to wipe your ass..orted silverware! It was a beautiful way to celebrate my Dad’s birthday!

 

The only cars and trucks I've seen are Toyotas which makes since because Japan is so close. I can't wait until we take tuk tuk, the local taxis which look like motorized rickshaws!

Off to Vietnam! We'll see you in a couple of weeks Thailand!

 

WE MADE ITT!

After at 24 hour flight, we finally made it to Bangkok. We flew United Airlines expect for the leg from Seattle to Tokyo when we flew ANA. I’ve never been treated so well on a flight than on the ANA! The attendants LOVED Suzie and I! We were offered beer and wine left and right. We didn’t have to lift a finger for anything! The connection with our parents in Tokyo went as smooth as possible and then we were off to Bangkok!