TravelStream™ news feed for member moonrise on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/moonrise en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Thu, 06 Aug 2009 06:42:27 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/moonrise/9/1235737560/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/moonrise/9/1235737560/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/moonrise/9/1235737560/tpod.html Thu, 06 Aug 2009 06:42:27 -0400 Our big asia adventure

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Jaipur, Rajasthan, India

we arrived in Jaipur by train near midnight, utterly exhausted after our very full day of sightseeing in Agra (and our less than full night's sleep the night before at the train station). when the place we had picked from lonely planet was full we decided to crash at the next reasonable place we could find, and reassess in the morning. it was a little pricey so after a good night's sleep we moved on to a lovely little place called the Cocoon something or other, where we had a yummy breakfast before heading out to explore Rajastan. Jaipur is at the edge of the desert, and Gordon was really excited about the prospect of seeing camels and possibly peacocks. as we made our way (via one wrong bus and one correct one) to Amber (pronounced Amer) fort, about 10km outside of the city, we did see some work camels and a couple of elephants. the day was blazing hot sun as always, but the stark brilliance of the dry brown landscape made it seem especially so. this was the closest either of us had got to being in a "real" desert, and it made everything seem a bit more vivid and epic.

at the fort we decided to hire a tour guide (which we had skipped at Agra Fort the day before) and it was a great decision. we learned lots about this impressive residence of the royal family and its inhabitants: the only men allowed to overnight in the palace complex other than the emperor, were eunuchs; in fact, the Queen was not allowed to leave, and was only allowed to see out of the palace through a small window in marble lattice; this seems fairly selfish of the emperor, since he actually had several wives, (some emperors had only a few, some as many as 12) who would organize themselves and the daily life of the palace cooperatively, usually lead by the first queen. the rooms were beautifully decorated with marble carvings, mirror and jewel inlays, and paintings incredibly preserved after over 400 years! we were very impressed by the cooling system that many of the rooms had, with small streams of water flowing through them and down lovely marble waterfalls on the walls. the water would be scented with jasmine or rose essential oils to create a lovely cool floral mist.

the last stop on our tour was the passageways which the emperor would have used to move secretly from the fort to the town, which was once the capital of this area before it was moved to Jaipur in the 18th century. after pointing out some bats and telling us a couple of fairly mundane bits of information, a security guard surprised us by asking for a large tip. we declined and later thought he probably was more of an entrepreneur than a real security guard.

outside the fort, Gordon could not resist the temptation of the snake charmers.

we also upped our bravery a bit here and ate at several street vendors, and were rewarded with some of the most amazing samosas, chutneys and spinach pakora we'll probably ever eat. and accompanying our Rajistani thali dinner we had the tastiest drink possibly of the whole trip: masala lime juice, which is fresh lime juice, sugar, salt, water and masala spices (including pepper i think) - it was thick and sharp and sweet and refreshing, fit for royalty.

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Amritsar, Punjab, India

three nights sleeping within the magic of the Golden Temple complex, the most holy place in the Sikh religion. although mostly packed with Sikhs on pilgrimage, there is a dorm reserved specifically for westerners, complete with a water filtration unit to refill water bottles (yay!). despite the fact that the mere colour of our skin is a beacon inviting stares and putting us somewhere between everyone's best friend and a circus freak, it is a really lovely place to be. the atmosphere is somewhere between a giant family campout and deep mystical trance.

we have really been enjoyed sharing tasty veg meals of dal, simple curry, chapati, pickle at dinner, and the sweetest kheer i've ever encountered in the 24hr community kitchen, that feeds 50,000 each day. at the door you are handed a plate, spoon and bowl, then just sit down on the rows of mats and hold your plate high as dal is slopped and chapatis are thrown. Sikhs, Hindus, Muslims and any other pilgrims, travellers or those on their own journey - it doesn't matter who you are, all are welcome. a tour of the kitchen revealed incredibly enourmous vats of dal simmering away over huge gas burners, pots so big fully grown men disappear within when doing the dishes, and a chapati machine that makes 15,000 chapatis per hour! Gordon has mastered his turban wrap (headcovering is mandatory), and was even invited to help pass out chapatis at dinner last night.

and all of this -- food, accommodation, spiritual experience -- is by donation only, a welcome change.

from here we plan to sight-hop down to Agra tomorrow for the Taj Mahal, then to Jaipur to see a desert fort, and then, south to Goa!

i'm gonna go chant now...
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Koh Rong Saloem, Cambodia

we decided that as awesome as the jungle camp sounded as an experience, what we really were craving was a super chilled out beach experience, so we opted for lazy beach bungalows. the most eventful part of the boat ride was when they floated our luggage out to the boat (that was moored just offshore) in a big cooler, and we swam out after it to climb on board. the next 2 hours were smooth sailing (thankfully - no seasickness!), so smooth that the young Cambodian driving it looked like he might fall asleep at any moment, like his crew mate already was. our first views of the island were not disappointing - lush forested hills sloping down to meet the turquoise sea, and a golden stretch of sand that we were heading towards.

now, the website offered "a long stretch of squeaky clean sand set in a beautiful bay surrounded by tropical jungle" and perhaps i should be fair: the sand may have been clean, it was just the garbage that was dirty. i guess there are probably fewer and fewer beaches in the world where garbage doesn't wash up with the tide and sea shells - perhaps humans had better clean up their act or start getting used to a new idea of what beautiful is (one that includes styrofoam bits and plastic bags?)

but apart from this, it really was a little slice of paradise. our wooden bungalow had 2 big double beds and lots of shelves for storage, and its own en suite - would have fit 4 easily but with 2 it was luxury. the windows were just squares in the walls with wooden panels that slid closed if it was threatening rain, but it made for perfectly unobstructed views of the ocean that was just 15 metres from our porch, and the mosquito nets protected us from any undesirables at night. our most exciting moment came when our big resident gecko jumped from a roof rafter ONTO our mosquito net to try to catch a moth, while we were inside playing cards! our porch had 2 hammocks, so we could both read, relax and enjoy the spectacular scenery. it was also really wonderful to be able to walk out to the ocean without having to go through anyone else's space. the common area/restaurant had plenty of comfy chairs and hammocks too, fairly tasty food, lots of games to play, and great views of the sunset each night.

on our second night, one of the English owners had a party for his sister, who had been visiting but was leaving the following day. we were treated to a really tasty spread of bbq'ed fish and chicken, salads, vegetable curry and a very unique Khmer dish that i cannot remember the name of, but roughly translates into "minced pork egg fish cheese" (i saw this on a menu later and i think it must be the same thing) - it reminded gordon a bit of haggis and really did have a cheesy sort of taste, although our hosts assured us there was no cheese in it, only fish, egg and pork...?! that night we stayed up later than usual chatting with Damien and Sara, a lovely couple from London, and even went for a late night swim to show them the bioluminescent plankton - this time with snorkel masks! it wasn't as intense as at Otres beach, but it was still magical.

we ventured out on a mission through the jungle to other side of the island, where we heard there was a beautiful stretch of white sand beach. we were thwarted the first attempt by a fairly wide stream that i was reluctant to wade through until we double checked this was the right way and was safe to wade through (it was, we did), but in the end it wasn't The Beach either, so we headed back to our pretty good one and enjoyed the jungle time - we saw some really big, beautiful tropical birds that we think might have been a type of hornbill. we also went snorkelling one morning and saw some more parrot fish, cleaner fish, a big boxfish, and many other beautiful fish.

other than that, we mostly lazed about, played scrabble and cards, read, swam, watched the amazing skies and relaxed! we ended up staying an extra day and were really sad to say goodbye.


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Chennai (Madras), Tamil Nadu, India

Is there a Rick Shaw any where, he must be my double...

Here are some of our most and least favourite parts of India that didn't make it into our other blog entries.


Will miss...

Food!

As many vegetarian restaurants as non-veg if not more, and it's all tasty

Masala chai - the cheapest street vendors always seemed to have the best

Lassis - pineapple, orange, mango, chocolate, cardamon or just sweetened with sugar, they were tasty!

The Golden Temple - a welcoming haven of non-judgment, inclusion, 24 hour hypnotic chanting, tabla and sitar music, and free tasty food (still, Lisa thinks it could have been bigger.)

Everything being so cheap

Really really friendly and helpful authority figures. Whenever we did not know what to do, even the most mundane questions, we would just find the highest authority in the area (station masters at train and bus stations, security guards and police with big guns, and the wonderfully named "tourist police") and they would always go out of their way to help us. It started in Calcutta, where a very keen to help police officer with a very large rifle escorted us for about 20 minutes as he tried to track down the platform of our train for us. And in Chennai the night we left, Lisa realized we hadn't posted our last India postcards yet, and asked the station master if there was a post box nearby, and he happily led her to the mailbox with a smile the whole time. Or the security guard who helped her order and properly eat her kulfi ice cream.

Colour, and beauty in the most unexpected places (like the stray dogs that were suddenly red and blue after Holi, the colour festival)

The temple dogs gaily howling away to the solemn sounds of the gong at the Thai Monastery in Bodh Gaya

Bizarre english everywhere: from menus to massive billboards. At one restaurant we couldn't resist trying a paneer dish described as "paneer cheese in three highly gravy" (I cannot remember the Hindi name which is too bad because it was actually really tasty!), phonetic spellings of the same word three different ways on the same page

Random acts of kindness: the guy next to us on the train insisted on paying for all of our chai and snacks from Mumbai to Goa; the man who, when we decided to try pan (a mixture of sweets, spices, date jam and betel nut which is a stimulant similar to tobacco), the pan walla gave us it for free; the station manager at the train station in Goa who let us back in to the locked station after they had swept so we could sleep there, for free.

Bargaining in the last month once we got good at it, when you buy something and the vendor hears what you paid for the last thing you bought and looks like someone just shot their dog, yet they love it.


Probably won't miss...

Spitting!!! disgusting red juices everywhere.

Bread pakora that looks like samosas (BIG disappointment - why would anyone want to eat battered, deep fried slices of white bread?)

Public urination, and other excretions

Being ill, a lot (I wonder if there is a correlation...)

Mean monkeys that steal our underwear from the washing line

When it feels like almost everyone is trying to scam us or rip us off

The messed up social structure and feeling powerless to help beggars, especially children

Giant flying cockroaches that seem intelligent

Blatant lying when it is clearly obvious to both you and the person that they are lying to you. Like, when Gordon was trying to exchange a shirt for one that was the right size, but the only one had a big faded spot on the back, and the guy kept telling him he was confused, it was perfect.


Love it and hate it...

Sacred cows, goats, piglings, monkeys, chickens roaming freely in the streets, eating garbage and looking somewhat poorly

No toilet paper - and it's kind of gross and kind of annoying but then you realize, if 1 billion Indians start using toilet paper, the last of the world's forests are pretty much done for... maybe we could all find a better alternative. Any suggestions?

Never knowing what you will see around the next corner

Hello rickshaw! We certainly were called a lot of things in India, by whatever the people in the street want from us or want to sell us, but our favourites were "Hello chapati!" from an old beggar woman in Jaipur, and the ubiquitous "Hello one pen!" from every child we saw in Kerala.

Asking for a room at a "hotel" and getting a weird look, because apparently "hotel" in India generally means restaurant. Driving around Pathancot for an hour with Swapn trying to buy a bottle of wine as a gift for the wedding, hitting at least 6 "English wine shops" that sell only whiskey before giving up and buying chocolates instead. And being looked at like a crazy person for asking for a pen in a "stationary" store that seemed to mostly sell baked goods and cleaning products.
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Mumbai (Bombay), Maharashtra, India

After landing lisa and I walked to collect my backpack, which had thankfully made it from NYC, then headed out to discover Mumbai, formerly known as Bombay. The first thing that struck me was how hectic the place and unclean everything was.

Once in a taxi, it was the driving that shocked me, a sea of tuc-tucs, tiny old taxis, enormous old trucks and buses jostled for positions, regardless of size or speed, if they can get the vehicle in a space they'll put it there, all the while I was having a white knuckle ride. Lanes mean nothing, two lane can fit a huge truck, a taxi, and two tuc-tucs all side by side and bumper to bumper in front and behind closer than most people would be comfortable parking. With horns blowing all the time to let other drivers know where they are, like a kind of sonar. It's actually considered impolite to not blow your horn, as blowing your horn lets people know your there, this is shown on the back of all the brightly decorated trucks and taxis by the phrase "horn ok please".

On the highway over passes the shanty towns came into view, some times reaching as far as the eye can see. Sometimes the small shacks but up to stylish glass showrooms with brand new Mercedes sitting out side. Mumbai was amazing me but the shock of it all was already making me want to leave. When we arrived at our hotel, we were glad to be greeted by our friend, Ashu, who then took us for a much needed beer at his favorite bar near our hotel.
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Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

After Lisa and I departed from a cold and snowing New York, leaving behind our winter clothes, we flew across the Atlantic Ocean followed by Europe through the night, then the sun rose casting shadows across the sand dunes of Saudi Arabia. Soon we began our decent to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, with views of white houses and temples and the largest, most extravagant palace I had ever seen.

Once landed, the airport with its circular dome topped buildings and towers with bridges and tunnels connecting it all, plus the airplanes and their equipment, against the desert land scape, I felt as though I'd landed in the set of a Star Wars movie.

Inside the small terminal, the design seemed just as alien, with a feeling like entering a cuttle fishes shell with its amazing dome like structure seamlessly flowing from walls through ceiling and down to the ground in the centre of the room, with vivid green, blue and white patterns transitioning all the way through.

The people too, where a spectacle, many men and women in their Arabian attire, and intense sparkling gold jewelery everywhere. Now our sandals which were so out of place in JFK didn't seem so silly. After removing the little warm clothes we had brought with us, and a little walk through the building to appreciate the design and the people, it was time to check in for the next leg of our journey, to Mumbai, India.
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Kunming, Yunnan Province, China

and no, I'm not just saying that to encourage would be censors to continue allowing me to view our blog!

the difference was noticeable before we even entered the country - getting our medical check to make sure we aren't bringing swine flu into the country, the border physician pointed a laser at my forehead; it beeped, good to go. much more sterile than the thermometer the vietnamese official had shoved in my ear a week and a half ago, after it had been in who knows how many other passenger's ears!

during our bus trip through Yunnan province from the border, we got our first feel for the paradox of china, seeing beautiful lush jungle-covered mountains and valleys, huge factories, massive brand new housing developments that looked like ghost towns, and agricultural persistence that will plant corn along the side of the mountain road or potatoes in any tiny patch of suitable land amid the bush, and terraced rice fields everywhere. arriving in Kunming we were very pleasantly surprised by how nice a city it is. after Hanoi I was pretty citied out but I was so glad I followed gordon's enthusiasm to spend a day checking it out. the streets are wide and clean, the buildings are modern with some pretty innovative architecture, the food is tasty and the people are so so friendly and nice. things just seem better planned and organized here, and we feel very welcome. we sampled some fresh soy milk out of a funky automatic soy milk maker (it can also make a black rice milk) at a huge multi-level department/grocery store, and wandered around the streets bank spotting: there is the China Agricultural Bank, the China Postal Services Bank, the China Bank of Communications, the China Construction Bank, the China Merchants Bank, and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China. We walked around Green Lake park and had cucumber juice and a lemon-strawberry float in a glass solarium with ING-direct towels covering the couch seats. As night fell we watched as numerous groups of women of all ages and the occasional man in a business suit joined together for dance lessons all around the park. There was a great feeling of community, with people playing cards or majong on the streets drinking tea, and people out and about enjoying life everywhere.

one category in which i must say that china is not winning points is toilets. i have been in some of the grossest toilets i could imagine since getting here, places that you would not even categorize as a toilet (ie a concrete gutter, sometimes if you're lucky with knee high walls separating the "stalls") were it not for the smell. it is horrific, nuf said.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/moonrise/9/1244606460/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/moonrise/9/1244606460/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/moonrise/9/1244606460/tpod.html Mon, 22 Jun 2009 05:17:20 -0400 Our big asia adventure

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Huế, Thừa Thiên-Huế, Vietnam

I'll begin this entry with a warning to all those who might be tempted by the romance of taking a train all the way up the coast of Vietnam from Saigon to Hanoi: Vietnamese trains are old, unpleasant, overpriced, dirty, infested, and filled with extremely unfriendly unhelpful staff. as much as Gordon and I love the train as a mode of transportation, sadly, you would be better taking the bus.

Our Vietnam train experience started well enough, with a helpful, English speaking attendant at the Saigon station selling us tickets for the 2 legs of the journey we had planned out. For the first leg, a night train from Saigon to Hue, we even splurged and purchased 2nd class soft sleeper berths, which online had looked quite nice. Well, it turned out to be not quite the luxury we'd hoped, and definitely not worth the extra money. Though supposedly one of the newer, "better" trains, it was very old and filthy. And although there were only 4 berths per compartment rather than the 6 in hard sleeper class, when we arrived we were greeted by approximately 15 Vietnamese adults and children crowded in the compartment and spilling out into the hall. Thankfully the number whittled down to 2 adults and 2 children by the time the train actually left (the rest were family seeing the kids off, I think) but for the next 18hours we had the feeling at times that we were travelling in the daycare carriage. The 2 little girls were pretty cute and witnessing their father(?)'s lack of will to control them (he mostly sat in the aisle down the hall staring out the window) was somewhat amusing (man is he going to be in trouble when their mother sees the gum in the younger one's hair), it wasn't quite the peaceful train experience I'd envisioned.

The one part that definitely didn't disappoint was the stretch between Danang and Hue, which I had read from various sources is packed with 4 hours of spectacular scenery. The train winds along the coastline, with views of mountains, blue sea, rock formations and caves. It was really lovely, but we probably could have paid much less for non-AC and actually been able to see it properly rather than through the filthy tinted windows.

This was our first train since we left India (though we wanted to train in Thailand, the schedule never worked out) and all I can say is, I miss India trains!! Though perhaps not much cleaner, at least they were cheap, and there was always an abundance of tasty hot food (and of course chai) coming down the aisles and outside on the platforms (we quickly grew tired of eating packaged icheban-style soup) and had a much friendlier feel. The Vietnamese train staff are even worse than Air Canada flight attendants. I understand them not speaking english, but does that mean that they should ignore me and walk away as though I were invisible while I try to mime or mispronounce my way through questions about how we can get food? It was bizarre. And it says something when you finally find the restaurant car and it is filled with noisy train staff drinking beer... at 11am.

I recently read the book "Over the Moat" by James Sullivan, which was mostly set in Hue - a true story of the author (an American) meeting and falling in love with a Vietnamese woman from Hue while he was on a bike trip up the length of Vietnam. So I was quite excited to see the place I had been reading about. It is a pretty city with a cool walled old city and citadel surrounded by (yes) a moat, but I think it has grown a lot in the 15 years since the story was set. One fun new addition was the disco suspension bridge, we didn't get a photo but the whole bridge had a bright led glow that changed colours from blue to purple to green - it was pretty spiffy. We rented bikes and biked out to the Thien Mu Pagoda (where the monk who lit himself on fire in protest of the Vietnamese war was from) and then caught a short but very scenic dragon boat cruise up the Perfume River to the Tomb of Tu Duc. Finding the tomb was a bit of a challenge but we got to bike through a large graveyard, so different from western style tombstones, the tombs look a little like thrones sticking out of the hill. On the way back we stopped at another pagoda, a zen buddhist monastery that was surrounded by beautiful big trees.

And then the train adventures continued. The trip to Hanoi turned out to be more than we'd bargained for in a number of ways: more delays, more trains, and way way more cockroaches. About halfway through the journey the train stopped and we were all told to get off (in Vietnamese). We managed to figure out that we were going to take a bus somewhere - it turned out to the next station down the line. Apparently a cargo train had suffered a minor derailment. When we finally got on our new train, it turned out to already be full of passengers, but not paying ones. Many many cockroaches. For the final 6 hours we mostly played "kill the cockroach with the water bottle" and cards. Yup, next time I'm taking the bus!
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Koh Phangan, Thailand

While Lisa and I went on our trip to the Malaysian border, Lydia, Cat and Nathan had spent a few days relaxing in a lovely bay on Ko Phangan. Hearing there stories of Haad Yuan, which can only be reached by boat, has wonderful soft sand, crystal clear water and laid back atmosphere had us hook line and sinker. Once we had our fill of scuba diving and it's rising tab we left the hot, shallow coral filled bays of Chalok Ban Kao in favour of the more secluded Haad Yuan.

A two our ferry ride from Ko Tao got us to Thongsala on Ko Phanang then a 15 minute mini van ride across the island to Haad Rin. A 10 minute dingy ride from there brought us to the palm lined beach in a bay between lush jungle covered hills, thus it can only be reached by boat. We got a hut on stilts some way up the hill side nestled among the trees with a wonderful view of the bay. The next morning we were woken by an orange sun rising above the horizon and shimmering a path across the sea, it was breath taking. After breakfast we went for a dip, for the first time in a long time without our wet suites. The sand was soft and fine, the sheltered bay only had the slightest waves, the water was warm but still refreshing and clear enough to see our toes perfectly even when neck deep. It looked and felt wonderful.

Haad Yuan's selection of cuisine was just as pleasing, with a small selection of hotel restaurants and bars providing the sort of food I had always hoped and dreamed of from Thailand. My favorite places to dine, the Bamboo Hut and Eden, were perched on huge granite rocks on the side of the bay. The Bamboo Hut was a lot more than a hut, it's wood and bamboo construction on stilts, different levels of decks stretching out across the rocks, a choice of conventional table and chairs or low table and cushions on the floor, and a open panoramic view of the bay. i had my first taste of Thai pumpkin here in a salad that has got to be the best I've eaten, Eden had an even more, if possible, relaxed atmosphere with staff, Peter and Kong, that know everybody's name that walks through the door, who effortlessly make your experience as pleasant as can be. The food and drink was excellent, and the knowledgeable staff were glad to spend time to talk about the food and adjust it to taste. The Massaman curry, made from freshly cracked coconuts from the trees round the back, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, peanut and other tasty things, has got to be the best dish I've had since I began travelling.

One evening while Lisa and I where enjoying a drink and watching the sunset at Eden, there was a commotion in the bar and the staff all went rushing out. It turned out that they were going to meet a small boat at the rocks the bar was built on, which form a perfect little dock, this was the beer delivery! Seeing the guys throwing the boxes of beer of the little boat then being passed up the rocks by human chain added to the island feel and put in perspective why beer was more expensive here.

Ever since we left Haad Yuan, Lisa and I have been scheming up ways to get back, preferably for a few months rather than a few days, so fingers crossed maybe one day we'll be back!

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Hanoi, Ha Ná»™i, Vietnam

that was definitely our first impression of hanoi and the opinion remains (though today we did find some great, 6m wide sidewalks along the road near Ho Chi Mihn's mausoleum - they should spread those around more evenly i think). even when there is a sidewalk it is packed with scooters just like the road - some parked, some ripping past us. gordon and i stayed in the old quarter, where i hardly ever knew where i was due to a chaotic non-grid system and lack of time or space to get your bearings, but it did have its benefits - like the tasty fresh fruit salad in a glass with coconut milk and sweetened condensed milk vendor on one corner, or the spectacle of roosters, fresh veg, and general chaotic life teeming everywhere. the city is loud and polluted (did i mention the scooters?!) but there are a few beautiful lakes dotting the urbanness of it all and the buildings are old and crumbly and beautiful (where they aren't new), in the same style as Saigon: very very skinny and tall, sometimes shooting wildly into the sky multiple stories above any neighbours. i really love it.

one day we took a cyclo to see Tian Quoc pagoda, the oldest pagoda in hanoi. it is on a little peninsula that overlooks the largest lake in the city, and there were people in swan shaped paddleboats dotting the sunset-gleaming water. we also visited the Temple of Literature, one of the oldest universities in Vietnam - it was started in the 11th century to educate Confucian scholars - it was really interesting to see how education was worshipped in such a similar fashion to other religions we have encountered - the altar and statue of Confucius looked just like a Buddha icon - perhaps appropriate since neither ever claimed to be other than human (at least Buddha didn't, i am not sure about Confucius, though i'm pretty sure he was a man!) - i think i'll have to do a 'religions we have encountered' post at some point so i'll leave it at that for now.

we also went to see the water puppet theatre, which was lots of fun, with beautiful vietnamese folk music and lots of splashing - my favourite were the fire breathing dragon puppets, and when the dancing pair of phoenix hatched a baby phoenix.

i think i'd still say i liked Saigon better - it felt less chaotic and more welcoming, a bit more polished and user friendly, though still with a new site down every alley. its funny how it seems we often end up spending more time in places we like less and are forced to rush though places we love (or at least leave earlier than we'd like) - though we didn't plan it, its been 5 days here in hanoi - only had 2 in saigon, and more than we had at any of our favourite beaches, but such is travelling on a weird sporatic schedule i guess! makes you find the parts you do like hidden beneath the traffic though.

part of the reason we stayed so long was we were trying to figure out what to do next. after briefly entertaining a dream vision of island hopping in the phillipines we are back to the original plan of southern china, and will be doing it on our own again, despite that we are both starting to feel a bit travelled out - tours were all too expensive or too booked or too long. this evening we are off on a sleeper bus (apparantly you can actually lie down) to the chinese border, so tomorrow morning we will hopefully be safely over our last big border! can't believe we only have 3 weeks left - we fly from Hong Kong to London on July 1.

(some cool things we have eaten recently: raw peanuts, che (a sweet fruity drink with various bean-corn-coconut based bits, think bubble tea but much tastier in my opinion), fried rice-dough cubes that we totally thought were hashbrowns until we started to eat them, and bia hoi, fresh, dirt cheap locally brewed draught beer that you buy from little stalls, that we discovered you can get to go in your own water bottle.)
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