Hoi An

We made it to Hoi An, an historic shipping community now a tourist/beach town. It is in the middle of Vietnam on the east coast. We have seen the leadup to Tet (Chinese New Year), and on Tet Eve, the fireworks were seen throughout the city. We took some walks, and yesterday we had a pool day. Today might be a beach day. We will see. Here are some pics.

Ringing in the Year of the Fire Horse

Kerry found her Irish Bar

We love our place!!

Our place in Hoi An is the best Hadana Resort . It is a resort/hotel which is great. We did our walk about a couple of days ago and have since spent a day in the cabana by the pool and got a massage. and road bikes to the beach, on the road which Kerry wasn't very pleased about and spent the day. We rode back through the rice paddies and that was a lot more chill. We might go back on Saturday by bike. So not much to post about. 

Soursop for me and Fig for Kerry

No photos from the ride, we couldn't peel our hands off the handlebars for that. 

Then the nice ride through the rice paddies. 

I don't even know what is happening here.

 Ha Long Bay

We took a trip to Ha Long Bay and did realize we were going to be part of the demonstration booth at the State Fair. We were told we were going to stop for a rest stop about 30 minutes into the 3-hour trip to the cruise ship dock, and suddenly... 

We were watching a demonstration on silk and how they make it and bamboo fibers. Such a bait and switch. I read what was happening right away and went to the restroom and went outside to wait for everyone when our tour guide came out and told me Kerry was looking for me and he also told Kerry I was looking for her and then swoop, we were part of it. Here are some highlights. 

Well, we made it to Ha Long Bay. We got on the boat with little problem and were able to just make out the karsts through the fog. Ha Long Bay is famous for its limestone karst landscape. These are steep, dramatic rock towers that rise straight out of the water. Some look like giant teeth, others like rounded jungle-covered pillars. Luckily, the fog cleared up the next day, and it was beautiful.

There are roughly 1,600 limestone islands and islets scattered across the bay. Many are uninhabited. The dense vegetation on top makes them look soft from a distance, but up close they’re sharp, vertical limestone cliffs. They are formed by erosion from the rising sea and the (acid) rain over millions of years. I guess the acid rain over the last few years. 

Well, we got off the boat in a little town and got to bike ride through, well, paradise. It was truly magical with the butterflies.

We arrived at the town where we were biking.

We were plied with some snake wine. Think dead minnow shots, only      with          a            snake . 

And then a little spa treatment. Think live piranhas...

Just listen to the shade Kerry is throwing at me.

I eventually could leave my feet in there for about 20 seconds at a time, but the tickle factor was the first time in many, many, many years that I felt the uncontrollable laughter from being tickled. Now I was fortunate that I could just lift my feet to make it stop, but wow...

We lovingly called our ship the Battle Cruiser.

This is what it was supposed to look like. They were in the middle of painting, I am guessing.

This was our crew that we got to know on the ship. 

Nice hot tub on the top deck. 

We headed back from Ha Long Bay in a private transfer to Hoi An. Which surprisingly is very similar to Hanoi, and we keep forgetting where we are. We are checked into an amazing resort and will be here for about 9 nights. Time to do some laundry, get a massage, and do some exploring. 

 The Museum of Ethnology

This was a nice museum that was focused on the many, many different ethnic minority groups in Vietnam and many of the other countries in SE Asia.

It was set up a bit like Old World Wisconsin. The inside had a section, it seemed, for every ethnic group represented, and the outside had buildings and areas set up like the different villages you would find in the extreme rural areas of SE Asia. The only picture I took of the inside was a picture of the different guitars. Go figure.

The outside was much more interesting. 

It was essentially a massive photo shoot for the women of Vietnam once again. When people claim that the pictures didn’t capture the essence of the event, this is also true. At every turn, there were photo shoots. They were everywhere, but they also quickly moved out of the way if asked. It was quite a phenomenon.

The rest of the place was fascinating. Climbing into the houses on stilts and hoping that my 200-pound frame wouldn’t crash through the bamboo floors was exhilarating. 

Did I mention the handles on the stairs? 

This is a funeral/tomb area celebrating the the cycle of life.

Falling through this floor would be quite the morning wake-up. No fun stair knobs at the top of this one, though. What you don't know is that I had to wait quite a while for the photo shoot to end so that it was a clean picture. 

Thang Long Water Puppet Show

We left here in an Uber (Grab) an hour before the show, and what was a 15-minute ride to the museum turned into an hour-long ride back. We arrived 2 minutes after the start of the show and made it just as the intro music had begun. 

Basically, what happens is that there are about 6 or 7 skits that are performed by wooden puppets in a pool of water. There is a band on the side providing theme music and some vocal actors providing the dialogue. Here is a short example. 

I mean really, it was an hour of our time, two if you account for the travel, but totally worth it. So fun to watch and to see the different instruments being played and well just kind of campy fun. 

The puppet masters taking a bow.

The Food Tour

On the way back to the hotel to get ready for the food tour, we came across a person burning fake money in the street. This was happening all over the city. This is the first chance I had to get a video.

The belief is that the spirit world runs parallel to ours. Burning paper items “sends” them to ancestors or wandering spirits in the afterlife. If ancestors are comfortable and cared for, they look out for the living. If spirits are ignored, they may cause bad luck. 

What gets burned: Fake money (for prosperity), paper clothes, shoes, houses, phones, motorbikes, even paper iPhones and passports. The offerings are often burned outside homes, shops, temples, or on the sidewalk.

The 1st and 15th are thought to be moments when the veil between worlds is thinner. People make offerings to reset luck, ask for smooth business, health, and protection. Businesses are especially serious about this because bad luck = bad cash flow. 

Our food tour was great. We met some other travelers and had some beef noodle soup (not Pho), Bahn MI (a sandwich on a baguette), a spring roll (pictured below, as is our guide), some fish something that was neither of our favorites, some Egg Chocolate (Delicious), and finished up with some ice cream. I was too busy eating and chit chatting to take too many pictures. 

 Museum of Fine Arts

We are considering ourselves pretty fortunate because today was the first day of rain (possibly acid rain) since Hong Kong, which was a mere month ago. (Wow, only a month?? Feels like it has been forever.) We trudged through the rain and very light traffic to the museum. The museum was organized chronologically and was a gem. We thought that it was well thought out, organized (except for where to start), and just really well done. 

Looking at our hotels in Siem Reap. We picked a hotel and went out for our first Korean meal of the trip. This is what travel is all about. We arrived at the table with food on it and later found out that these are the sides for whatever we order. 

I ordered what essentially was a beef short rib soup, and Kerry had a Bibimbap, which luckily Joel walked me through before we left home. 

And then they came out with the egg soufflé, which was also complimentary!

It was tons of food and very nice service. At times we were really fish out of water, which is what travel is all about.  

I woke up this morning to the NFL jingle in my mind. As I write this, the Seahawks are up 3. Another rainy day here, but maybe not all day.