It's like coming home

Somehow, returning to Bangkok was a little like coming home. The sights and sounds are familiar and of course seeing Bonnye and Greg is wonderful. This is the part of our trip where we kick back and catch up with family.

On Friday they both went to work and we visited Wat Arun, the Amulet Market, and the National Museum- places we missed on our last trip. We do not exactly understand the Thai custom of collecting, wearing , and trading in these small amulets but it appears to be very serious business. Men with jewelers eyepieces closely examining and then placing the amulets in tiny plastic cases. The engravings do not appear to be particularly religious.

Wat Arun- named after the Indian god of dawn, Aruna, is said to be where King Taskin was inspired to move the Capitol of Siam to Bangkok from Ayutthaya. Quite spectacular, the structures are intricately carved and also encrusted with designs some of which are made with pieces of broken Chinese porcelain. The stupas( spires) are up to 82 meters tall. We went up about 1/2 way on really steep steps but the it got a bit uncomfortable ( yeah, heights and Joy)

We got to the National Museum only an hour before closing but did see a great history exhibit that was an excellent precursor to our historical sites visit next week.

You know you are with the younger set when you set out for dinner at 8 PM and follow up with a visit to the bar and close it . We went to the area where All the ex- patriots in Bangkok hang out and what a happening place. Note the VW bus converted into a street side bar. Oh and the sign with directions to the restroom hanging in Cheap Charlie's ( the bar)

Saturday we had a low key day of shopping a visiting. Joy and Bonnye picked some new glasses - a great deal in Bangkok and we went to the shopping district to look for a suitcase for Bonnye who leaves for Singapore in business on Sunday. We want to an awesome bar for drinks and fantastic apps and visited the night away.

Student Guide, Ho Chi Minh, and Enhnology

Our last day in Viet Nam and we packed In a lot of fun. Our hotel arranged a student guide for the morning. Student guides are English students at the university who want to practice English, so they provide free guide services. Our guide was very fluent and quite charming. We visited the Ho Chi Minh Museum and Mausoleum and it was really interesting. Uncle Ho is pretty much regarded as the George Washington of Vietnam. In many ways it is true because his mission was to gain independence and unification of the country. One thousand years under the Chinese, 100 under the French, and then the "American" War. Next we visited the Museum of Literature and the first university in Vietnam (founded in 1075). Traditionally the students believe that if they pray to Confucius they will do well in exams.( Our student didn't think so, but her mother asks her to pray anyways- mothers! They never change.)
Our student had to leave us to go to class, so she wrote down the name of a locals' fish restaurant where we had a fabulous meal. We didn't have to read the menu because they only make one dish. It was delicious and we were the only westerners there.
We went to the museum of ethnology which is in the suburbs. It took us 3 different cabs, a group of giggly school girls and a nice man on the street to finally find our way there, but it was worth it. The museum has authentic houses from about 7 of the ethnic minorities represented in Vietnam as well as an indoor museum. The ethnic homes were disassembled and reconstructed on site by the people themselves. Some photos show two of the homes, an iron forge and two tombs. Note that one of the tombs is surrounded by symbols of fertility( pregnant ladies) and fertility ( you figure it out).
Off to Bangkok and Greg and Bonnye tomorrow .

An Amazing Journey To The Perfume Pagoda

A very popular and important pilgramage for the Vietnamese is to visit the Perfume Pagoda. Now that the rice crop has been planted, many people have time to visit this shrine. The festival is actually 3 months long in its entirety. To reach it takes two hours by bus from Hanoi followed by a ride for 1 1/4 hours on one of 5000 (!) boats rowed mostly by women. These women demonstrate amazing strength rowing small metal boats with up to 30 people crowded into rowboats that ride right at water level. Rather than oarlocks, the oars are simple tied to a wooden stick. After the boat ride, we had lunch in one of may enormous restaurants on the site and then then took a cable car up a very steep mountain, went up and down countless uneven steps and descended into a huge cavern to find the shrine. Many people were worshiping, so we only took pictures from a distance. We walked down and the path was covered and lined with vendor after vendor.

People seemed to combine this spiritual event with a carnival-like celebration. There were restaurants and vendors lining the river front and entire path up the mountain. These folks sold prayer offerings, CDs of the pagoda, ancestor offerings (things a departed ancestor might be missing in the afterlife), and other things adults and children holiday might enjoy such as candy, speciality foods, t shirts or even plastic dolls that celebrate the importance of male children.
It was a memorable experience to see so many coming this long, and for many,expensive , journey to visit this Pagoda.

We meet our match on the streets of Hanoi.

This post is a bit backwards beginning with our death defying walk to dinner. After two weeks of surviving crossing the road, this evening we almost bought the farm! This first picture show the guys who wait for the red light,just before they go right AND left on red. Whew!!!! We went to a sort of street food food court where you order off a menu but the food is made at multiple stands within the restaurant. To eat this egg pancake you take a slice and roll in the rice paper with mint, basil, lettuce and cooked greens and dip it Ina sauce. Oh yeah, uh huh,
Saturday we spent the day at An Bang beach in Hoi An ( Someone forgot the camera) and then Sunday after one more trip to Ancient Town we flew to Hanoi.
Today we wandered around the old quarter, which is tiny, narrow streets selling everything you can imagine from knock off Gap clothes to incredibly beautiful embroidered silk pictures that sell for $4000 American. Check out the Buddha shrine on top of a house. Yes, those are stairs with a movie on them- weird to walk up- ok coming down.
We went to the Women's Museum which was large and a very interesting look a the roles of women in the past and present in Vietnam. women have been fierce gorilla fighters through centuries of war and several Vietnamese societies are very matriarchal.
We took a walk around Haon Kiem Lake near our hotel and visited a beautiful pagoda there and staggered home for a quick rest before our death defying walk to dinner.
Hanoi is a busy, crazy city that keeps a tourist on her toes.
By the way, the Vietnamese men compete with one another as to who can own the birds with the most beautiful song. The birds are for sale lots of places and they do sing beautifully!

"Yummy" may mean more than you think

Today we went on a 41/2 hour foodies tour of Hoi An. Fantastic and lots of fun. Run by an ex-pat from Australia, this tour started at 7:30 AM with a market tour and proceeded to introduce us to Forty different Vietnamese foods. We followed him around town tasting the full spectrum from street foods to a special type of Hoi An noodle that uses water from a specific well and is cooked and sun dried 3 times before it is used ( photo of some drying).
These pictures tell only part of the story but should be in order. They include:
Saluting chickens and really fresh fish in the market
A lady cooking pancakes
The thick, jet black soup sold by a lady who also sells gasoline by the soda bottle full. (Black sesame soup)
The beautiful lady who makes a baguette speciality -remember that the French occupied for 100 years
The restaurant that was like a garage bay where we had the best pho ever(beef noodle soup with veggies)
The sample plate of spring rolls, wontons, and dumplings called white rose. We had these at the tasting room where we finished off the tour with about 10 restaurant type foods.
The variety of foods we tasted was incredible and the tastings were small enough that at the end of the tour we were full but not overstuffed.
We spent the afternoon chillin out an An Bang beach. an Bang is absolutely on the list for tomorrow as well.
What does "yummy" mean in Vietnamese you ask?? It means Horny.
Guess who still kept saying " this is so so yummy,"