Catching Up

After a night of strange dreams about an injured bunny, we awoke at 4:30 a.m. and left for the airport at 5:15 for a 7:50 flight. Our itinerary claims that after checking into our hotel in Hanoi (Maison D'Hanoi Hanova hotel "the rests of the day will be at your leisure").

Here are some factors that tinge our upcoming experiences today:
this is our first visit to a communist country; we both have some feelings (definitely not soothing or cozy) about entering Vietnam; we know the traffic is crazy, we speak not a word of Vietnamese, we hope all goes smoothly.

This is what actually happens:
Roger gets us to the airport an hour and a half before our flight, despite huge traffic delays.
He puts us out in front of a door that had we walked straight would have gotten us to the correct ticket counter...we turn left and walk half the airport before we get someone to point us in the right direction.
We stand in a long line that moves fairly quickly...still plenty of time.

At the ticket counter we give over our reservation papers and passports. After minutes of studying our papers, the agent says, "You need visa for Vietnam." We have visas. Pam pulls out her important papers folder. No visas. We scramble through her back pack. No visas. Back through impt. Papers folder. Pam and I are in a panic. "I have the visas. I don't know where they are. I don't know, what to do," she looks imploringly at the agent. "Must have," he replies. We look at one another. "Ahh, here," says the agent. "Visas behind ticket papers." Tickets are issued, bags tagged and we rush off toward security.

We arrive at our gate as the plane is boarding. When we land we follow other non Vietnamese people to customs and visa processing. We stand in line. A military guy takes our passports and visa papers and sends us into another line. "My god," we say to one another. "He has our passports." Twenty minutes and $50 later we have our passports back and NOW we can go through customs. Thankfully we find our duffles right away and are soon in the care of Duc (pronounced Dick) and we are off for downtown Hanoi.

It is raining maybe 8 hours a day Duc tells us. There is mud everywhere. Most folks are on motorcycles. Very muddy. Cars, trucks, motorcycles, and sometimes oxen dart in and out of each others paths. I think of a podcast I heard. Thich Naht Hahn (Vietnamese monk) is speaking about life issuing from garbage and mud. "The lotus," he explains in accented English, "must have mutt to grow. Without mutt, there can be no lotus." Lots of mutt here, I think to myself.

At the hotel, Duc gives us directions to a coffee shop for lunch and to the lake at the center of town. Before he leaves he says, "When you are crossing the street, just move into the traffic slowly and keep walking. Don't stop. Whatever you do, don't turn back. You can look at the eyes of the drivers to see who will hit you..." Then he laughs. "Remember walk deliberate. Keep moving. You will be fine." Then he is gone.

Three amazing facts:
1. It is me, BB who finds the coffee shop and gets us oriented and going in the right direction.
2. The coffee and food is delicious,
3. We cross streets small and major. Pam tries to stop on our first try. I grab her jacket and say, "No stopping. Keep moving." A motorcycle--two people aboard--swerves, and cuts around in back of us. Horns honk, and we are safely on the other side. As the Texans say, "Thank you, Jesus!"

On our walk around the lake (lots of mutt)...we see at least five couples all decked out in wedding garb. One bride is getting her face done. Most are posing for Pictures both serious and hilariously happy. On the far side of the lake I join a gang of teenagers peering into the murky green water. I see small bubbles. A girl and boy keep snapping pictures with their phones. I see nothing. "BIG tur-tell," the girl tells me. I stick with the kids until I too see the big turtle push his face above the water. "See? See?" the girl says to me. "BIG tur-tell!" we both laugh.

On the way back to the hotel, we get a little lost. A man helps us by counting on his fingers how many blocks back we missed our turn (3). Now we are home. Pam was thoughtful enough to download the iPad direction bible on her iPad. She shows me the section on uploading pictures. We have pictures now. Check out Catching Up #2...it's all pictures. To see them better, just click on a pic to make it larger. Tomorrow, a visit with Ho Chi Min, and all day tour of the city with Duc.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Hanoi

On the Ground

The flight from Tokyo to Bangkok was much longer than we thought--about 6 hours, more than 3,000 miles. We were so happy to get through customs, be met by our guide York, and get shuttled through the night to our hotel. From the 20th floor overlooking the river, we were enchanted by the city lights, but soon collapsed into oblivion, stretched out full length in beds.

Our first day wisely scheduled by Pam, a day of recovery. Breakfast at the hotel is an eclectic blend of East and West--omelets, pancakes, yogurt, fruit, sushi, dim sum, and a vast assortment of noodles and "add ins" for soup. We wander the hotel checking out pool, surrounds, and river traffic before boarding a river shuttle to the nearest express boat dock. A ticket buys us the privilege of cruising the Chao Phraya river all day...getting off and on as we choose. One of our stops is to check out the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, famous for the Author's Lounge...every bit as elegant as the Ritz in Paris.

We arrive back at our hotel just in time for our two hour, traditional herbal massage. I couldn't wait. Pam and I got to be in a room together where we stretched out on separate mattresses on the floor. All of those kinks and stresses soon to be released. My masseuse knelt at my feet, and as she pinched and pushed her way up the back of my right leg, I knew this was to be like no massage my tender hide had ever experienced. Here is my mind's recollection: eiee, ouch, yowie, umps, yuh, I didn't know my leg bent that way...owww, (Roll over, please)...ahh, she's standing on me, pushing me with her feet, owww, (I peak over at Pam who seems perfectly content). Now the sounds of something boiling. The man in the next area over answers his phone for the 6th time, and mutters "Harder, Harder.". I think, "Are you crazy?". Hot herbs are daubed up my back. "Ahhh," I think until the scrubbing starts...at the end, I smell lovely and feel invigorated. With a bow and a smile, our masseuses invite us to come back tomorrow. Oppps, we're touring with York tomorrow.

Forgoing our dinner reservations down river, we eat at our hotel and fall gratefully into bed, to be awakened by a wonderful fireworks display one bridge down. A truly amazing night.

Friday morning. York, our guide, picks us up for our day's outing. Roger, our driver does a great job navigating the early morning rush hour. Our first visit is to the Grand Palace - the Kingdom’s most important site - there we visit several halls, including that of the Emerald Buddha (Wat Phra Keo). Amazing statue who gets a change of clothes from season to season. Clothes changing is done by the King. Buddha is due for a change in two weeks, and because the King is in his mid-80's, and unable to climb safely up to the Buddha, he has asked his son to do the honors thismyear. Next, our tour takes us to Wat Po, home of the enormous Reclining Buddha. He is gargantuan. While there we donate $ (bhat) and receive a
cup full of 108 coins. Pam did the honors of walking alongside 108 pots to deposit one coin in each bucket--giving her credit for 108 virtues (I don't have nearly that many--probably why she did this). The 108 virtues are pictured on the bottoms of the feet of the reclining Buddha. We walk the grounds of Thailand's first university...the school of massage, and I begin to understand what happened to me yesterday. Run first by monks (whom women may not touch or be touched by) the method of teaching/learning is through books, traditional pictures frescoed on walls, and sculptures that are found throughout the grounds. Diagrams of pressure points can be found for both humans and devils...to assist in healthful living for the former, and to understand how to kill the latter. Thai massage is taught and practiced here.

Lunch is at a local restaurant. After lunch, we board a Long Tail Boat (Local Style) to spend the next several hours exploring the old canals of the Thonburi Side of Bangkok where an older and more gracious lifestyle still prevails. Our last stop is to visit Wat Arun, "The Temple of the Dawn--supposedly so named because travelers and merchants traveling to Bangkok often arrived at dawn, and recognized where they were because of the Temple. Rama the third built the four temples here because he loved his brothers and didn't want to have one of them killed. It was the custom that in the royal family, first-born son was the next in line to become king, second son was a warrior held in reserve in case #1 didn' live, #3 son became a monk, and #4 was killed so he didn't cause trouble. Rama III loved all his brothers, kept them all alive and built the Temple of the Dawn to honor them. The local story goes that the shards of pottery decorating its 79 meters tall spire came from a nearby shipwreck 100 Years ago. We return to our hotel in late afternoon and totally collapse...sleeping for maybe 3--3.5 hours. Walking around in the heat and humidity really takes it out of you...especially when you are trying to memorize thousands of years of Thai history, with side-stories about the Hindu pantheon to boot.

We are sorry not to be able to label pics, but we can't. As it turns out, I can't even upload pictures, so you will just have to use your imaginations for now...grrrr, and good-night!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Bangkok

Leaving Home

Tonight we're snugged in at the Ramada Inn at the airport. Lucy was very happy to be delivered to her sitter, the wind is blowing, and just before we left Little Valley, a huge bull elk was grazing on our leach field. Just downslope a little doe was nibbling grass. The sky was blue and all of that seemed like a good omen. We are off to dinner, then to bed. We are ready!
Bonnie & Pam






- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Denver, CO

Saturday With The Raptors

This was the last step in learning how to upload pictures from my camera to the iPad, and posting them to the blog. What better way to do this than an outing with friends Lyn, Joe, and Pam. We took a driving tour to see raptors in Boulder County. It was great fun and we learned a lot. Our first sighting was of a bald eagle. As we watched him from across a reservoir he took off from the post where he was perched, flew out over the water, wheeled in the air, dropped, and flew off with a fish. Amazing. All in all we saw: a red fox, several bald eagles, including a pair just sitting on the ground in a field, several great blue herons and their nesting tree, many red tailed hawks, two American kestrels, prairie dogs everywhere, and a pair of coyotes hunting. Here is a sample of our pictures.




















- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Boulder County, CO

Friday: Figuring Out How To Post Pictures

Posting from an iPad isn't as easy as I thought. I've spent the day figuring out how to add pictures. I think I've got it now.
If you wonder what Vietnam and Cambodia look like...here is a map. It helped me and now I sort of know where we are going and where one thing is in relation to another.

Location:Estes Park, United States

This is the PLACE

OK All...
Thank you so much for your comments.  Apparently to leave a comment here you have to have a Google account or some other as listed in the drop down.  If you don't have one of those accounts, just drop an email if you want to comment.  I think we'll go with this when we leave for Vietnam.  Have a great day.

Lucy says, "What the heck?  These varmints actually live down here?  No wonder they would come out in any kind of weather.  Jeesh!

A Travel Place

So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Adieu!

By the end of May we will lose access to our MobileMe account with Apple.  I cannot access our regular blog when we are traveling so I am looking for a blog site where we can post short updates about our travels in Vietnam.  If this works our for us and for those of you who follow what we post, we will move to this blog spot officially.  For the time being--This Is (as they say), a TEST.  I am sending you the link to this site and need some feedback on your own ease in accessing and reading it.  Let me know what you think, and whether you'd like news of our Vietnam travels.  Thanks for helping out.  BB