TravelStream™ news feed for member quendra on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/quendra en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Tue, 16 Dec 2008 21:41:43 -0500 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/quendra/2/1226721360/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/quendra/2/1226721360/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/quendra/2/1226721360/tpod.html Tue, 16 Dec 2008 21:41:43 -0500 To Vietnam and Cambodia - A journey to see the world from a different point of view. To go to a place where my father fought long ago and see the people and the land as it is today.

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Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Tonight, our first night on our first full day in HCMC, we ventured out of the hotel to find dinner on our own. And by "ventured" I mean, the hotel got us a cab and we told the driver where we wanted to go - the restaurant Tien, our guide for the day had recommended. When we arrived we managed to get a table, albeit in the middle of a walk way that had random gusts of wind and the smell of grilling that covered every inch of us and our clothes. A dinner that had Katherine doing her best not to fall asleep, me hopped up on caffeine but so tired from not really sleeping the past few days that my friend caffeine barely made a dent, and the rest all in a fog of jet lag and fatigue after running all over the city all day. It was after this dinner that Jen and I, not quite tired but not technically awake thought we'd go out for "just one drink" to a club inappropriately named "Appocolypse Now" not far from our hotel. Despite the temptation of our hotel and our beds, we left our hotel and walked down the street. Passing people hanging out on their motorbikes and a few guys playing chess (?) on the sidewalk next to their bikes, we walked down a few blocks in search of the club. We passed a place called The Alibi and thought of home, then we passed an Irish bar as well as one that was in the shape of a giant barrel (an old western bar of course), before we passed by a store that had a little sign inside, "Foot massages. 90 minutes for $15 U.S."We stopped. We rubbed our eyes. We looked at each other - 90 minutes for 15 dollars, really? While we were discussing the possibilities a young woman came out to draw us into the lobby. "Here's the thing," Jen said, "We're very tired. Can we get 30 minute foot massages?" "Oh yes," she said nodding. "That will be...nine U.S. dollars." Not even bothering to figure out how the cost remained higher than it should have been, we nodded in agreement and moved slowly towards the light in the lobby. While we sat there, one of the women ran out to get two beers for us while the other smiled and nodded as we sat there, two tired foreigners unable to believe our luck. When she returned and we each had a beer in hand, she motioned to us to follow her up the circular staircase. First one flight. Then another. And then another. Stopping on the third level of the store (and by "store" I mean "massage parlor"), she waved us into a locker room of sorts and pulled out two t-shirts and two pairs of plaid shorts. "Put these on," she said, "and lock your stuff in the locker, then come out." She left and Jen and I looked at each other. We were in a foreign country and were being told to change into one-size-fits-Vietnamese clothing on the third level of a massage place at 9:30 at night. For a foot massage.We tried to ask why we needed to change all of our clothes for a foot massage and ended up compromising. So we changed into the shorts and left the shirts, stuffing everything else into the locker with a hope that it'd still all be there when we returned. Seeing that we'd changed our clothes, the woman waved us to follow her up another two flights. At the top, she opened a door to a dimly lit room. Inside there were two women in matching uniforms. Each pulled Jen and I into the large leather chairs and placed our feet into the warm bowls of water that had flower petals floating in them. Looking once more at each other and with a quick shake of both of our heads, I smiled as we both leaned back into the chair and hoped for the best. Of course the shortest woman ever was to work on me. Unable to reach my face while standing on the ground, she climbed onto the arm of the chair to carefully place strips of cuccumber across my face. Looking over at Jen, she was receiving the same treatment. Until she paused her girl so she could take a picture of me with the cuccumber strips all over my face. Fantastic. The rest of the massage was a blur. Jen told me later that she was afraid that she'd fall asleep and I'd leave her there on the fifth floor of this place. It turned out that we were better negotiators than we originally thought since the entire thing lasted for 60 minutes and not just 30. That's right, a 60 minute foot massage for only nine U.S. dollars. While it wasn't the club, it turned out to be the better option. As we were leaving the massage room, Jen motioned the two women closer to me for a picture. At first they hung back suddenly shy but then in silent agreement, they both ran over to me and the little one who had giggled her way through working on my feet and legs that were easily almost as long as she is, wrapped her arm around me laughing for the picture. After Jen took it, she gave me a hug then ran over and hugged Jen as we walked back down the stairs to get our belongings (and pants). We paid our $9 and tip and walked slowly back to the hotel. Relaxed and finally tired, we discussed how happy they probably were that we were who we are instead of gross old men. The next morning will be the start of our bike ride/adventure trip around the Mekong Delta in the southern part of Vietnam. The massage helped get us started in the right direction. And a massage that ends with pictures has got to be one of the best kind. 
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/quendra/2/1228059180/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/quendra/2/1228059180/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/quendra/2/1228059180/tpod.html Tue, 16 Dec 2008 15:17:01 -0500 To Vietnam and Cambodia - A journey to see the world from a different point of view. To go to a place where my father fought long ago and see the people and the land as it is today.

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Hanoi, Vietnam

After a half day relaxing and getting what could be considered the world's...oddest massages we jumped onto a very crowded ferry boat and headed back to the bus. A few hours later, we were in Hanoi and having dinner at Tamerind, our favorite restaurant in Hanoi (i.e. the only restaurant we know in Hanoi since the HandSpan office is inside of it). When we were full of good vegetarian food we caught a cab that drove us exactly 1.5 blocks then the driver pointed to the very busy street where the street fair/market was going on and pulled our luggage from the cab. This left us walking through the excessively crowded streets with booths set up in the middle of it and people walking on either side as we lugged our stuff  a few blocks in search of our hotel. But we found it and all is good. We have this one last night and all day tomorrow. This means that our bags are packed (mostly) and we get a short tour of Hanoi in the morning, play in the the afternoon, eat a last good dinner of Vietnamese food before most of us (all of us) happily say good by to white rice and spring rolls as we've all had more of both than we've had in our lifetimes. Oh, and then we gather our luggage and head to the airport. We'll be home soon. And unlike the few people we've met who were either on their way to Thailand or just returned from a 24 hour bus ride through Laos to get out of Thailand, we have tickets on our flights and if all goes well will be home soon. 24 hours to go. And we're ready to make the most of it in that time, traveling with great people.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/quendra/2/1228168800/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/quendra/2/1228168800/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/quendra/2/1228168800/tpod.html Mon, 01 Dec 2008 23:57:05 -0500 To Vietnam and Cambodia - A journey to see the world from a different point of view. To go to a place where my father fought long ago and see the people and the land as it is today.

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Incheon, Korea Rep.

For the past almost three weeks, the five of us have moved and traveled as almost a symbiotic unit. Now, after traveling through remote (and not so remote) parts of the world, we have gone our semi-separate ways. Most of us will meet again in Southern California while Katherine makes her way back east to her dogs she has been missing (and who have also been missing her, I'm sure). Vicki and I had nine long hours to spend in the airport in Korea. It'd be great if we could leave the airport and see a little of the country but since a visa is required, the ultra modern airport and deluxe airport lounge it is - thanks of course to Vicki who got us into the lounge in the first place. I'm sure this will be more exciting once I've had more sleep but since there were two crying/screaming babies on the plane our sleep was limited to only an hour or so. Luckily though the lounge has a rest area where we were able to each have slightly private area and a relatively uncomfortable reclining chair to sleep on. Even the few hours of sleep was welcomed. I'm craving coffee and I've noticed that the closer we get to going home, the longer my short list of things I take for granted becomes. I can't wait for little things - hot water, not having to use bottled water to brush my teeth, fresh salads, ice (without having to ask if it's from mineral water or from the tap), clean western toilets, and so on. Not to mention friends and family who have traveled the trip with us - thank you for your comments and emails. Although I will miss (and already do) the group think, planned trip/experiences and of course the constant company of fun, intelligent and entertaining women.On a side note, we went for Pho yesterday after our half-day tour of Hanoi (which included the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum (not opened on Mondays), the houses he lived in and the first university in Vietnam (ironically named "National University" that was founded in the 1100's). Our tour happened to be given to us by the same fun guide, Anh who we had in HaLong Bay (surprise!). So after spending several days with us and ending up dancing on the bus with us/for us on the way back, he somehow ended up with us again. And while Anh had recommended the Pho "restaurant" after taking us to his favorite coffee shop for "the best" coffee (which was really very good), we still looked questioningly at each other as we sat down at the not particularly clean table with used limes and napkins littering the floor. Anh had said the place was famous for it's Pho and we trusted him. The waiter laughed at us when we ordered (by holding up our fingers, we want this many) and reached into the bowl of rice noodles that were sitting out, plunking them into the boiling water. When the four bowls were delivered we looked at each other again before diving in. It was fantastic. And the best part is that all of it combined was 80,000 dong, or about a dollar a piece. Finally! We have eaten from a street kitchen in Vietnam and lived to tell the tale. But now we are going our separate ways to our individual houses and lives. Already I'm impatient to see the pictures and experience the trip again. It has been absolutely amazing to get away and have all of these experiences, and it will also be great to get back.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/quendra/2/1227960000/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/quendra/2/1227960000/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/quendra/2/1227960000/tpod.html Mon, 01 Dec 2008 01:40:10 -0500 To Vietnam and Cambodia - A journey to see the world from a different point of view. To go to a place where my father fought long ago and see the people and the land as it is today.

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Cat Ba, Vietnam

An island in the middle of Halong Bay is a great place to finally stop. And relax. Thanksgiving night we took the train from Sapa to Hanoi and arrived around 4:30am. From there we took a taxi to the tour company office and waited inside until the restaurant/actual tour office opened. Any day that starts at 4:30am, you know is bound to be a good day. Luckily the food at the Tamerind restaurant that houses the Handspan tour office is a really good vegetarian restaurant so that was a plus that made waiting there until 8am when we were finally able to get everything straightened out, gather our luggage from the storage closet (that had a sign on the door warning people to remove all food and perfume from the packs because of rats, hence the name "rat bags" for our larger luggage), and jump on the bus for the 3.5 hour ride from Hanoi to Halong Bay. Once we got through the cluster of junk boats dropping people off and picking people up, and settled on our junk boat we ate a lunch that involved almost every type of FRESH seafood you can imagine. Crab, prawns, clams, squid, and a big fat fish. Some of that may have been mixed with our seafood dinner but you get the idea. After lunch was one of my favorite parts of the day. Having been reunited with our rat bags, we were able to change our clothes and shower. When we went to Sapa, we packed for three days of hiking and cold weather. At night we basically layered almost everything we had in our bags (new purchases of local crafts made to thank the super-troopers who helped us across the rice paddies and up and down the mountains not included), and then we had to dress for the train both ways. Given the ten minute warning from the time they woke us up to the time they shut off all electricity on the train on our way to Sapa, we were taking no chances and slept in our clothes on the train so we could wake up and jump off. Which explains why a hot shower (taken in the typical bathroom that has a shower head in it so you can do everything in the same space) and a new change of clothes may possibly have been my favorite part of yesterday. The change of clothes and shower meant we were ready to join the rest of the people on the boat for a trip over to be paddled around a small floating village. This one seemed almost luxurious compared to the poverty filled floating village we saw in Cambodia. But being paddled around was cool, especially after a few of us tried it and realized it was more difficult than it first appeared. We returned to the junk boat just as the sun was setting so after the required kodak moments we went inside and played Yahtzee, drank some wine and mourned the loss of Vicki's camera. After almost three weeks of traveling, Vicki's camera fell into the bay as she was leaning over to give her paddling person a tip. A moment of silence please. Vicki had been taking pictures a lot of time when none of the rest of us were - on the narrow rice paddy paths, as we crossed the scary bamboo bridges that went over big rocks and rushing water (I know! I can't believe we did it either!), on the motorbikes with our luggage, and overall generously trying to take pictures that she knew we'd all appreciate later. She and Jen have been fabulous at capturing the essence of our trip. At least all of us have been taking pictures but last night after dinner we found ourselves looking at the cameras and talking about the pictures that only Vicki had.This morning though, this morning was a different kind of morning. Well after our relatively early breakfast and our quick packing up to change boats, we were given a short lesson on how to paddle a kayak and helped into kayaks. There was one couple who were with the five of us and we kayaked around amongst the many limestone islands. Our guide, Anh said there was one island that had monkeys on it but we didn't get to see any which I found highly disappointing, for about a minute when I turned my head and was struck once again by the beauty of the land and sea around me - and the fact that our group were the only people in the area (except for a few fishermen who paddled by). We returned after kayaking for almost two hours surprisingly hungry which was convenient since they served us lunch almost immediately upon our return. We were supposed to go out kayaking again after lunch but Anh only managed to convince the couple to go while the rest of us took advantage of our first real rest since Cambodia. And Cambodia feels like it was forever ago so the rest was perfect. Until Jen and Vicki started to get too hot on the roof of the boat so the next thing we knew, they are cannonballing off the side of the boat and swimming to the island beach that wasn't far away. It only took one call back to me once they reached the beach and I followed - how many times can one say that they swam in Halong Bay? It wasn't as cold as I had thought originally and the swim felt great. The island's small beach was covered with shells and rocks so after a very little while (and the appearance of a very large scary waspy-bee-hummingbird sized thing) we quickly left and swam back to the boat. Which pretty much takes us to now. Where we had the latter part of this afternoon (around sunset) to shower (yeah hot showers not taken over/next to a toilet!) and relax. We just finished dinner and our crazy days have truly led to early nights. It's now 9pm and I am alone in the hotel lobby as the others have head to bed already, or at least in that direction. I can hear the very small waves crashing outside and our room overlooks the pool and the resort's private beach. 60 minute massages are $12 and are part of the plan for the morning. I wish we had an extra day at the resort after all our running from place to place it would be nice to just truly finish relaxing before we return. Of course the flip side of that is tomorrow we are here in the morning and then we head back to Hanoi for our last night in Vietnam. We have a half day tour of Hanoi, a few free hours and then we head to the airport. We've seen a lot of the country and every part we've seen has been unbelievably unique from the day before. The older British man sitting on the computer next to me (who just told me to stop showing off by typing so fast and so much) asked if we went to Cambodia to see the temples that were made starting in the 1100's. Yes we did and it was incredibly amazing. I can talk about it because I was there, I touched the rocks that formed the temples.The images from all of these places, the food we've ate, the smells we've smelled (including ourselves after the three day hiking trip), and the people we've met are all combined in my brain. Hopefully as we start to think about them and return home to our daily lives, they will sort themselves out. Right now it is all a big blur that just leaves me smiling. I think if I say one more thing is "fantastic", "amazing", or "unbelievable" I may have to ban these words from my vocabulary but what else can you say when every day there's constantly a new surprise, a new adventure and a new thing to try that you never thought you'd try before. And the thing about traveling with friends is that they push each other to do more, to be more and to climb through dark tunnels (hypothetically speaking) which may scare you to no end (still hypothetically speaking) because you know they did it and there's no chance in the world that you'd be left behind. There's still two days left and I'm not ending it early. It's just the ability to relax and take it all in, to savor it and appreciate it while we're still here is something that I won't be able to do again. XOXO.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/quendra/2/1227780480/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/quendra/2/1227780480/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/quendra/2/1227780480/tpod.html Sat, 29 Nov 2008 09:30:04 -0500 To Vietnam and Cambodia - A journey to see the world from a different point of view. To go to a place where my father fought long ago and see the people and the land as it is today.

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Sapa, Vietnam

It's Thanksgiving today and we just celebrated by eating a mountain of french fries and pizza (a hamburger for me) in this small mountain town near China. The past few days have been absolutely amazing as we have walked/hiked over things (up and down mountains, across narrow paths between rice paddies and narrow (i.e. scary) bamboo bridges - some with railings and some... without. The women here are unbelievable as several followed us as we carried our packs, quickly putting a hand out anytime they saw us start to slip or if the steps were slippery and/or far apart. The first day the woman helping me had a baby on her back (that's right) and the second day, my super-trooper woman was missing several teeth was probably well over the age of my parents (which is really really old) and she held my hand a good part of the trek. I'd like to think that she was just being friendly and liked holding my hand, but with three days of clothes in my pack and slippery footing, combined with my natural lack of agility, she definitely was a huge help. Our guide was fantastic and was a tiny little thing also dressed in the native clothing of her tribe. She literally hopped across the countryside that she grew up in. At least she was wearing tennis shoes and not the rainboots or the plastic Candies type sandles that the other women wore...Of course when we got to the villages, including the town of Sapa, the most popular cry was, "Will you buy from me? Why you no buy from me. You buy from her but not from me..." The sound of it echoed across the mountainside and everywhere we went you could see women and young girls standing outside the stores waiting for us to go back out. At one point, Jen - the village whisperer had about 15 women surrounding her as she talked to them and made them all laugh. At another point we were at the first Homestay and one of the women came back by to sell us more stuff and she had three girls with us who we had seen earlier throughout the day. We were playing Yahtzee and they were fascinated by it. I asked the woman if she wanted to roll the dice for me but she refused since she thought we were gambling. After a little bit of explaining, she settled into one of the chairs with the girls behind her and watched us play for quite a while. We taught them to put their arms in the air and yell "Yahtzee" any time we happened to roll one. After a while the woman remembered she had a job to do and there were a few other tourists in the village so she left but the girls remained. The oldest of the three picked the game up quickly and while she was just watching, she added the dice (and our cards with our total points) faster than any of us. Here these girls were in this very remote village almost on the Chinese border, speaking English to us and learning our games. It's sad to think what their culture and the village will be like in 10 years but for now it remains only lightly touched by the outside world. There will be more later but right now we have a bus and then a train to catch to get to Hanoi where we catch another bus to get to the boat in Holong Bay for some kayaking. Yeah vacations!Happy Thankgiving to all!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/quendra/2/1227494640/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/quendra/2/1227494640/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/quendra/2/1227494640/tpod.html Sun, 23 Nov 2008 21:55:03 -0500 To Vietnam and Cambodia - A journey to see the world from a different point of view. To go to a place where my father fought long ago and see the people and the land as it is today.

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Hoi An, Vietnam

Hoi An has proven to be a retailing frenzy. First it was the custom tailored clothing (suits, pajamas, shirts and a dress - depending on who you are in our group), and then it was the art work from the many galleries that line the streets. Amazing paintings, lanterns, and silk are everywhere you look in the small town. It is filled with tourists and yet the locals are still smiling. Probably because of the tourists but you never know. One of the main streets is flooded from all the rain they've had lately. We seem to be on the tail end of a storm which is good that we were in Cambodia when it was hitting Vietnam but that hasn't stopped the rain in Hoi An. Yesterday we took a van up (with a driver) to My Son, ancient ruins that were created between the seventh and 12th centuries. Much of it is rubble while some still stand. Apparently some of it was destroyed by American B-52 bombers when the VC hid out there. I guess something about it being an ancient temple made them think that it would keep the U.S. from going after them. All's fair in love and war I suppose. The rain came on quick, fast and hard and then it disappeared just as quickly. it was like that all day long. Torrential downpoor, possibility of sun. Torrential downpoor, possibility of sun. It definitely added to the feel of the day. After the walk through the ruins which took longer than it sounded and were very cool but sadly, paled in comparison to what we've seen in Cambodia at Ankor Wat, we went into town for a fitting of our clothes. I tried to wipe the mud off my feet and look remotely pulled together as I stepped out of the dressing room in my new suit. Several people surrounded me at once pulling, and adjusting and pinning to create the perfect fit. Hoi An is the town where time escapes you. As it did us several times throughout the day. Which day? Who knows - we can barely keep them straight. And I think that may be one of my favorite things about vacation. The blurring of time and place. I do know that today we're heading to China Beach and to see Marble Mountains before flying up to Hanoi and taking a train to Sapa for almost three days of hiking. Can't wait, even though we're nearing the home stretch. Hello to everyone and if I dont' get back on in the next few days - Happy Thanksgiving.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/quendra/2/1227493560/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/quendra/2/1227493560/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/quendra/2/1227493560/tpod.html Sun, 23 Nov 2008 21:43:45 -0500 To Vietnam and Cambodia - A journey to see the world from a different point of view. To go to a place where my father fought long ago and see the people and the land as it is today.

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Hoi An, Vietnam

A word about the food we've found. When we started our trip, several people had told me about how good the street food is. On one hand we haven't encountered much street food outside of HCMC but where we have we didn't jump for it. It probably has to do with the complete and utter lack of desire to get sick while we have so many treks and trips to do when we're here. By far the craziest looking thing we have eaten while we were here was on our first day on the Mekong Delta - they  took us to this island where we were presented with the largest, freshest prawns (twist off the head and pull the tail, split the middle - I'm still not used to that process), which was followed by an Elephant Ear Fish. The EEF was on a stand so that it looked like it was swimming instead of laying flat on a plate. It had been fried so that the scales were now cone shaped and stuck out all over the sides of the fish. The woman serving us dug into the sides of the fish to get the meat and then served it to us in fresh spring rolls. Mine had some of the cone scales in it which I was not okay with and tried to discreetly (because I'm so good at being discreet) pull them out before eating. This was the day that we biked through the mud and ended up at the guest house on another island where we were presented with fried springrolls that looked like larger Triskets. The rice covering was in a criss-cross shape around the outside of it. It is amazing the number of ways that are possible to combine fish/shrimp, pork and rice or noodles. Just last night we had the white rose dumplings that are unique to Hoi An and they were amazing - with their wide noodle wrapping, and their shrimp and pork on the inside. And I don't even really like pork. In Can Tho, we stopped at a restaurant and sat outside watching people fish in the river. There Katherine taunted until we gave in and ordered the snake just to try it. The waiter informed us that the curry was better than the spring rolls but we got both to try it. The curry was good. I ate one spring roll and one bite of snake curry before I realized I couldn't turn off the vision of snakes in my head to chew any more. But the others (i.e. Jen and Marie) are way more adventurous on that front. Even Vicki wins at being adventurous. I'd like to say I didn't like the duck curry we had last night but really (while it wasn't great), I once again couldn't turn off the image of the duck as I tried to chew. One bite is enough, isn't it? Overall though the food has been good. We've spring rolled our way around the country and yesterday's afternoon snack (aka lunch) of pizza, fries, a hamburger, and a ham sandwich (depending on which one of us you were), was a very welcome break from rice, noodles and fish sauce. The funny thing was that the Cambodian food was awesome. It was by far my favorite and I think most of everyone elses. Not just because we were only at the hotel, but the other restaurants we went to as well - the Thai influence with the curries were amazing. The local favorite is called Amok and basically anything can run with it. Fish Amok, Chicken Amok, Pork Amok. Served inside a coconut, the curry and vegetables inside were a very good combination of flavors and spice. The eggs in the hotel this morning were also good. As was the fresh fruit that has been everywhere. It will be interesting to see what food we'll find on our hike the next few days. Who knows. As long as it's not dog, we'll be okay. I'm not up for that much adventure.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/quendra/2/1227406440/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/quendra/2/1227406440/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/quendra/2/1227406440/tpod.html Sat, 22 Nov 2008 21:38:41 -0500 To Vietnam and Cambodia - A journey to see the world from a different point of view. To go to a place where my father fought long ago and see the people and the land as it is today.

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Hoi An, Vietnam

We arrived back in Vietnam two days ago (was it really two days ago?), later in the afternoon. By the time we checked into our hotel it was dark so we wandered a short ways (in a cab) to a nearby restaurant for dinner. We were the only people at the large restaurant but we enjoyed our food inspite of the soundtrack from Miss Saigon blaring over the outside courtyard where we sat. We were also waited on by an over-eager to please young woman who poured us teaspoons of wine as a refill each time a glass was empty. On our way out we decided we wanted a picture so we pulled our tiny waitress into the picture as well as the "driver" who we actually kept calling "Driver" only to find out he was the overall Manager. Oops. At least he was laughing about it. Yesterday brought breakfast at the hotel and then thanks to Jen and Marie's determination we ended up in a cooking class. The cab took us into town but we weren't really sure about where we were supposed to go. The driver kept saying we needed to go to the "high school" and that he couldn't drive any further since there are no cars allowed in the middle of Hoi An. That's when we realized that as helpful as the hotel staff try to be, they only provide half the information - so they are only halfway helpful which is a problem when you're getting dropped off blocks away from where you should be at that same moment in time. Luckily the cab driver wrote on the map and at the same time, a young guy offered to walk us there (for a small fee of course) but that seemed to work and away we went. At the "high school" which is actually not a high school, nor is it pronounced "high school" instead it's a cafe where we were greeted by the Vietnamese chef - a short high energy joke cracking, self proclaimed "toy boy" who had a strong Australian accent. He gathered our tour of nine together and we headed to the van. We were seven Americans and a German couple. Everyone turned out to be very fun and it made for a great day. The first stop turned out to be an organic farm where they grow herbs and other foods as kind of a sharecropping kind of arrangement. The old couple who we bought herbs from joked with us through our chef and then took us inside the house? cafe? to serve us tea. This seems to be the land of ginger so I got a special tea that was ginger-free and therefore guarenteed not to kill me. Nothing shouts fun like the need to take an emergency trip to the hospital in a third world country - so now that I know, I'm on the lookout for it. There was also this older woman who had clearly lost her mind a while ago and she kept trying to tell Jen something important but no one knew what it was but Jen did try a few times. Leaving we walked along a riverside path where we saw a dog in a cage on the back of a motorbike. Our chef explained very matter of factly that it was going to be traded, perhaps for a rice-cooker or something else useful that the family needs. And yes, it would be traded so that who ever ends up with it can eat it. The next stop was the Hoi An market where we were still early enough to see all of the buckets of live fish, to see the chicken, pig and cow parts being hacked up and displayed, as well as all of the fabulously colorful vegetables and fruits (which didn't smell the same way as the butcher area did, thankfully). At the market, chef bought different food (catfish that was still moving in the plastic bag much to our...delight), rice noodles and more vegetables so we could have food to make at the cooking class. And our last stop was the restaurant itself. Next to the river, the location was gorgeous with palm trees and an overhang to keep us from the rain that kept pouring down from the sky. It was a great background of sound though on the hot, humid day as rain landed in the river and on the ground outside of our protected area. A word about the food (see, Lisa, I just haven't had time to talk about it). The food we made in the cooking class may have been some of the best we've had since the beginning of the trip. While we all loved the curries and Amok in Cambodia, the Vietnamese food, while good hasn't been staggeringly good (although the Pho has often been tasty as have the spring rolls). The food that was cooked so fresh by ourselves and the chef and that transformed right in front of our eyes - that tasted amazing. We ate our four things like it was thanksgiving, from the giant bowl of Pho (rice noodle soup - with rice noodles made by our very own hands), to the lemongrass grilled shrimp (wrapped in a banana leaf before grilling), to the green papaya, mango salad with chicken that was served in a banana flower leaf, to the clay pot prepared catfish (not as thrilled with this one). And all of it was topped off with a few beers (la Tigre) and fresh fruit. It was a feast that ended with a boat ride along the river into town.More later though - I'm late to meet the others for today's activities! 
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/quendra/2/1227052020/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/quendra/2/1227052020/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/quendra/2/1227052020/tpod.html Thu, 20 Nov 2008 05:07:20 -0500 To Vietnam and Cambodia - A journey to see the world from a different point of view. To go to a place where my father fought long ago and see the people and the land as it is today.

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Phnom Penh, Cambodia

The motorbike ride in the morning was fantastic. I think all of us (okay maybe not all of us) wanted it to go on for longer. It did help that it was still early and traffic was light. Each driver grabbed a piece of luggage, stuffed it between his legs and then pulled one of us onto the back of the bike. My driver made me hold still while he strapped the helmet on and away we went. Once I got the hang of it, I managed to pull out my camera (look mom, no hands!) and start taking pictures of the others on their bikes. Vicky took pictures the entire time which makes it for a fun adventure. And then, all too soon it our harrowing ride (not really) was over and we were at the docks for our ferry - which proved to be surprisingly small, especially once it was filled with tourists from England and Germany. It may have been a slightly more pleasant four-hour ride if the German man had showered or washed his clothes sometime in the past week but really, who needs to wash? The guide on the boat with us helped make the crossing into Cambodia extremely easy and as we stepped back onto the ferry with a new stamp in our passports, we were ready to go! Of course the entire ferry ride took almost five hours so we had a while before we really could go. Once we stepped off the ferry and locked our luggage up in the ferry company's office, we managed somehow to shake the crowd of taxi drivers and tuk-tuk drivers and settled down for lunch. The sign said the "Green Vespa" which sounds like it could be a fantastic welcome to Cambodian food. In fact I remembered seeing it in the guidebook so we walked in sat down - and proceeded to order British food since we had found ourselves in a British Pub. The good news is that it was a nice break from various types of fish and noodle bowls - although somehow I still ordered fish and chips which wasn't a complete departure. The happiest though was Katherine, who settled into a cottage pie and for the first time since we started our trip - she had a meal she could enjoy. I think she is the one who is the happiest with Cambodian food. From the restaurant, we only had a few hours before our flight so we decided that since we were here we should be good global citizens and see the Killing Fields, rather than regret it later in life. The cab driver told us about the government and life in Cambodia as we first drove past the impressive Silver Palace, the French area and many government buildings. Then we drove through the poorer parts where more of the people live. The disparity between the wealthy and the poor in this country is wide. When we arrived at the Killing Fields, we picked up a guide who started describing the grounds to us. In front of the memorial filled with 17 levels of victim's skulls and clothes, he described how they were killed. From under the canopy of trees, he talked about how bones continue to be found. Pointing down there were a few teeth, clothing and splintered bones sticking out from under the dirt. "It rained here last night - there's always more bones that appear when it rains. Not everything has been excavated." His eyes were surprisingly emotionless as he explained what happened to his people - and the cruel acts that were committed by the same people. On the way to the airport, our driver told us how the country is filled with people who have no family because so many were seperated during that time. It was a very hard thing to go through but in a different way than the war museum. The war museum in Vietnam had been emotionally difficult because of the conflict of being American and seeing it through the eyes of photographers from around the world in the country where it happened. We had a big part of it. The Killing Fields was just horrific in that there was no real reason - only human nature at its worst.Brushing that off we were early to get to the airport and couldn't check in so we found ourselves sitting in the cafe/ Dairy Queen playing Yahtzee and waiting for turns to use the Internet. The flight itself to Siem Reap was short and happily uneventful. Siem Reap is our resting point for the next few days. We're all excited to see the legendary temples of Angkor Watt as well as just a day to relax and play for the first time in days. Oh, and not getting on a bicycle will be nice too (even though that part of the trip was fantastic if I may say so myself). :-) That's it for now - until next time, enjoy!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/quendra/2/1227142320/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/quendra/2/1227142320/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/quendra/2/1227142320/tpod.html Thu, 20 Nov 2008 04:45:31 -0500 To Vietnam and Cambodia - A journey to see the world from a different point of view. To go to a place where my father fought long ago and see the people and the land as it is today.

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Siem Reap, Cambodia

It's been a few days I know but there has been a steady line for the Internet and well, I felt like jumping in the pool yesterday morning rather than writing at the computer. Crazy, I know. We safely arrived in Siem Reap - which means there are more updates missing in between. Like the arrival into Cambodia and the flight up to Siem Reap. Only now we're staying at an amazing hotel/spa which is like a little caccoon of relaxation in the middle of slight zaniness outside. Yesterday (after a morning of pool time and massages), Vicki, Jen and I went on a tuk-tuk over to see a silk farm and then a long distance to see the floating village. The other two stayed at the hotel and relaxed some more.The silk farm was surprisingly interesting (for a little while anyways). It is a free trade cultural center where they still use very antiquated ways to get the silk from the worms and then spin it into silk thread and using natural products (resin, leaves, etc.) to dye it different colors. They used old bicycle wheels on the machines to spin it into thread - all of it was done by hand. Then they dyed the threads with different patterns, wrapped them around chop sticks and then, keeping the chopsticks in order put it all on a loom to create patterned materials. All done completely by hand.  Next came the long drive on the tuk-tuk to the floating village. Along the way we passed a ton of houses that lined the river, all on stilts. As we neared, we had our tuk-tuk driver stop so we could buy beer from a woman who laughed and joked with us even though she didn't speak any English beyond "Hello". When we arrived at the end of the road, we stepped onto a rickety old cut-out boat that had holes in the floor and the chairs were old rattan chairs with life vests for seat cushions. Once settled on our flotation devices (which we did not need to wear although Vicky did try), we took off to go see the floating river. It was late and the other boats were all starting to come back in but we still kept going which turned out fine (just a little dark on the way back). The other tourists on the boats coming in were clearly jealous of the bottle of beer we each held in our hands as we enjoyed the ride out. The floating village had a school that at night kept the orphans there so they would have a place to live and could still learn and go to school. There was a floating basketball court (a la Amazing Race, this season) and many of the boats that they lived on had televisions that were run off of generators for limited night time entertainment. When we got to the end of the village and were staring out at a huge fresh water lake, our guide told us a little about the children in the school and asked if we wanted to buy books and pencils for the kids. He said he had grown up in the floating village as an orphan, his family having been killed (Killing Fields), etc. While we knew we were clearly being worked, it did feel good to buy the books and pencils and the boat took us to the school where we gave them to the teachers and took pictures with the kids who all had no family and slept at the school each night. Yes, it could have been a racket but even if it iwas, the people in the village were clearly very poor and it is easier to believe that the world can be just that simple - books and pencils bought for kids are meant for those in need. And now we have to run to get to the awe-inspiring temples of Angkor Watt (think Tomb Raider).
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