Motorcycle Diaries

 So something amazing has happened: We finally rented a motorbike! As the primary means of transportation for 85% of people in Southeast Asia, you know we had to have a go. This means we are so free now! Here is the story:

We arrived in Nha Trang after a thoroughly unrestful overnight bus, checked into our hotel, and proceeded to sleep until 11:30, the latest we have slept since we have gotten to SEA. Nha Trang is a bustling beach town where the shopping comes directly to YOU in the form of sunglasses, photocopied books, cigarettes, exotic fruits, candy, holographic posters and sandwich hawkers. The Easy Riders will chase you down the street trying to sell you a tour. Still, it is full of life, fast paced, and fun.

As we strolled down the beach we saw a strange sight: 2 British soldiers in full redcoats and breeches, laughing and talking idly on the beach. We went up to them and realized they were travelers like us, and we learned that they had had these British Redcoat uniforms made for them in Hoi An. Andy and Oshin, from England, and Henrietta from Norway soon became our fast friends. We met them for drinks that night and decided to have a day together the next day, maybe go to Vinpearl land, the nearby amusement park.

The next day we set off on our adventure. On our way to meet "The Redcoats" as we decided to call them, we met Johnny, an incredibly friendly and cheerful Vietnamese man who speaks incredibly good English. We invited him along and the course of our lives was changed forever. He convinced us to rent motorbikes, only $7 per day. Travis bravely stepped up and took the handlebars, and Andy, Henrietta, Johnny, Travis and I were on our way to a spectacular day on 3 motorbikes. After only a few minutes, Travis was driving like he owned it (safely of course).

Johnny led us to some incredible Cham ruins, 3 temples that towered majestically over the city. These ruins looked like they were straight out of The Jungle Book, complete with Shiva-riding-elephant statues. Despite the fact that we were right in the middle of the city, the whole place had a mystical, exotic feel that made me want to eat chapatis with channa masala immediatley. As we strolled around we lazily washed our eyes over beautiful gardens with buddha statues, fountains, and exotic flowers. We stepped into the main temple and were greeted with a hollow drone, thick, sweet incense smoke, and an altar to some goddess overflowing with fruits and flowers. We looked up and the celing receded unfathomably far into blue black smoke.

We hopped back onto the bikes and followed Johnny through the city to an incredible pagoda. The sounds of children's joy filled the air, as there was a school nearby. The temple its self was stunning, adorned with dragons and golden emperors. We found bonsai trees and flowered vines around every corner. Up and up the steps behind the temple behind, unsure of what was there, but reassured by Johnny that it was worth the climb. We came upon a huge white reclining Buddha, obviously on the verge of enlightenment. On we climbed, dodging touts trying to sell us fans and toys at every step, and out of the forest emerged a huge sitting buddha! It must have been around 70 feet (20 meters) tall. It had been built during the American war to try to bring peace. We stood in front of it for a moment, sending our wishes for peace out into the universe.

Our stomachs were grumbling and we took a crazy back route to get back to the city. We rode through back streets where children cried "Hello!" to us as we passed as though we were famous, and sometimes we had to avoid cows in the road. We came to a river and we drove across a wooden bridge that was barely wide enough for 2 bikes to pass each other, and the railing was only a peice of rope. Travis navigated like a champ, and I exhaled my breath I had been holding as we rolled onto dry land again.  We found an amazing vegetarian restaurant and munched out on some noodle-tofu soup as we watched it begin to pour down rain. As luck would have it, the rain stopped just as we were finishing our meal. We went over to the nearby market and bought some tasty fruits to snack on, and took them to the beach, where we lazed on chairs with carrot juice, bananas, grapes, and star apples.

Johnny left us then to go to work, Henrietta to take a nap, poor tired girl, and Travis, Andi and I had an hour before we had to give the motorbikes back, and so we decided to explore. We rode down the beach feeling free and happy. We passed a closed amusement park, many, many topiaries and palm trees, and came to a shipping yard, as well as the cable car to Vinpearl Land (which we did not end up going to) and rode through a very swanky apartment complex. There was a guard there but he wasn't doing a very good job since he let us in!

All in all, it was an incredible day. We got to some interesting places with the help of our new friend, Johnny. It's so amazing and special to have one of the locals show you around, and only hope for friendship and some English practice in return. We will always have Johnny close to our heart, that kind and wonderful man!

From a Sailor to the Tailor

Yo dogs and doggetts. We've been rockin' it fresh 'n pretty down the coast of 'Nam, experiencing the exquisite architecture of French colonial towns and the magnificent water-side vistas throughout our enduring  adventures. Also lots of shopping; it couldn't be avoided.

After departing Hanoi, with super-narrow buildings towering over rivers of motorbikes, we headed to the idyllic life of Cat Ba Island, situated in the middle of the beautiful and distinct Halong Bay of North Vietnam. We arrived in the rain and so it remained the following day, giving us time to read (on this trip already I've read a book about North Korea, The Electric Koolaid Acid Tests, The Beach, Jane Goodall's In the Shadow of Man, Dice Man, and a book about the Vietnam War), explore the local market (delicious buffet of veggies, rice & tofu for $1), where a couple of Vietnamese brothers jovially forced increasing increments of rice whisky upon me (which leads us to the next activity), *cough* pedicures *cough*, and book our tour to MONKEY ISLAND.

Yes. There were monkeys. Oh, you wouldn't believe how we fed them tiny mangos. And let me tell you, those cheeky monkeys KNEW the farang (tourists) meant lunchtime; as soon as Sarah reached in her bag, verily, she had monkeys charging at her! It was a beautiful beach, covered in shells, with the lush jungle threatening invasion just beyond the white sand. Too cold for swimming though.

We then hopped back up on the top deck of our sweet cruiser with our fine French compadres, Ivan and Cedric, who were so happy to have found someone they could speak French to in a land where the common language is always English. We tried to just sit back and relax on the calm green waters, but were frequently forced from our seats to take a more thorough gander at the incredible vistas that surrounded us. It's like a bizarre mountain region, with steep cliffs covered in lush leaves, suddenly experienced a biblical flood, yielding the deep green waters of Halong Bay on all sides. All the while we passed fishing boats casting big weighted nets and floating fishing villages, little shacks on the water complete with dogs.

When we finally reached terra firma again (I don't know how Kyle Fitz stays on the open water for months on end), we entered a massive cave---a cavern of EPIC PROPORTIONS. It really was the most spectacular cave formations I've seen in all my yonks (blew Shepherdstown WV's Crystal Grottoes out of the water, and this cave was even on the water, being on a little island). They had all these gnarly columns and trippy warping textures on the walls, all lit up in technicolor lights to truly dazzling effect.

Then we kayaked through the clear green waters, under an archway, into a secluded sunny lagoon. Lovely.

Hoi An, in Central Vietnam, sings a bit of a different tune from the quiet simple vistas of Cat Ba Island. The town itself is a beautiful unique gem of culture, with the French colonial architecture dominating the scene, despite the yearly floodings that sometimes reach the ceiling of the first floors, but haven't fully pushed out the magnificent old Vietnamese architecture, with notable influences from China and Japan. Ornate carvings adorn temple roofs and mother-of-pearl shines from intricate woodwork in the preserved homes of 17th Century rich traders.


But the most obvious feature of Hoi An is the shopping. Tailors have taken over nearly every storefront in the mustard-colored colonial French district, leaving only a few buildings for shoe-stores, souvenir shops, and overpriced restaurants (but we always ate in the locals market until we found an even better all vegetarian restaurant down some shady alley). So we figured, when in Hoi An, do as the shoppers do. Oh we got some mighty fine clothes custom made to our outlandish tastes and particular to our divine curves. I'm currently wearing giraffe-printed pants in a style I couldn't even describe to you, suffice it to say they're swishy. Sarah got a dress that would blow your mind. And Vietnamese silk made to conform to your every contour is incredibly comfortable and shines so radiantly that Vietnamese women shout after us in the street about how beautiful we are (probably not because they want us to buy their clothes too).

It wasn't all tourism and shopping though, we also shopped around for a tour to some ancient Cham ruins. A collection of ancient temples that were used from the 4th-13th century---a right long time, I do say. Some of the ruins were just that: ruined, piles of rubble on the ground (largely due to the U.S. heavily bombing the sacred site in 1968, which destroyed half of the structures). Many, though, remain immaculate, their intricate carvings belying their Hindu influence (Hindu ruins in Vietnam, who'd've thought it?). Actually Vietnam has been trading with lands as far away as the Mediterranean since the 2nd Century, accounting for the strange amalgamation of Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, and more traditional S.E. Asian animism.

We're still here in Central 'Nam, kicking it cultural-style, but clenching our toes for the thought of the beautiful beaches down south. If only it would stop raining. Thanks a lot global climate change, bringing unending rain to Vietnam in the dry season.

Love from a land where Americans once received a lot of hate (now hate finished),

Ahoy Hanoi!

Too true, "Laos finished." Anytime someone is out of an item, like papaya at a restaurante, they'll simply say, "Papaya finished," in a blunt way that terminates all possibility of compromising on whether or not they happen to be hiding any papaya. The "finished" phenomenon has followed us throughout all of South East Asia.

And it's particularly sad when, as previously alluded to, it's applied to papaya, as there are few delights in this vast and varied world so radiantly pure and good as green papaya salad ("som tam"). The only problem is that they tend to mix it with fish, squid, and/or shrimp sauce (on unripe papaya, mind you), sometimes even despite our protests. This phenomenon has been particular to Laos, where in small cities, much to our dismay, even the mixed vegetables or fried tofu comes with meat of one sort or another.

Fun fact: in Eastern Laos they eat dogs for fun! Fact. And we shuddered to see a dog's leg on a table, even after our friend Edward verily saw a decapitated dog-head, despite being only intellectually aware that pigs can be as smart and trainable and as good of pets as dogs.

Suffice it to say we are happy to be in the sunny state of Vietnam, where the tofu is abundant and even formed into a variety of imitation meat including pork, beef, fish, and shrimp! But unfortunately this state, by which I hope it is understood in the sense of nation-state, is actually in a perpetual state of cold drizzle; during the Spring, capital city, Hanoi, is anyway. But despite, it is a marvelous city and we've made good use of our  mere 2 days here.

Walking out of the most expensive hostel we've stayed at since we left the equally rainy/dreary NYC, at a  whopping US$12/night, we were hassled by a conical-hat wearing woman carrying a big basket to buy her  doughnuts, which we did. In the company of our previously mentioned companions, we then ate instant  noodles w/ veggies and thought it blew half the food we had in Laos out of their shallow waters (being a  riverwise landlocked nation) and hopped on the back of a couple of motorbikes to speed through the alarmingly busy streets of Hanoi en route to the Museum of Ethnology.

These roads bare some elucidation. They were CRAZY! I mean, motorcycles swarming by like admittedly  gargantuan fruit-flies, swerving in and out of intersections with no lights. Major intersections that DO have actual red-lights are generally ignored, as a few of the stopped bikes ease their way through the roar of the
cross-traffic ("Life's too short to wait for a red light," "And getting shorter!").

Bicycle with 800 fish traps on it. Amazing Asia!

The Museum of Ethnology provided us with the great insight that Vietnam is far more ethnically complex than we can ever hope to grasp. There are dozens of Hilltribe groups living traditional lives in the mountains throughout the country and indeed the entire region. We visited several Hilltribe villages in Northern Thailand and also Northern Laos, including the Ka-ren, Lahu, Lisu, and Hmong ( the latter being very important in the U.S. secret war in Laos as guerrilla warriors hired by the CIA). There are 6 major language families throughout S.E.Asia and dozens of dialects throughout Vietnam alone. We're a bit conflicted as to wanting to see their traditional lifestyles---their textiles, instruments, farming practices, distinct architecture, and crazy baskets---while not destroying that culture with our presence and providing them with currency to participate in the mainstream consumer markets. But time makes fools of us all, so I'll figure we'll meet 'em while we can.

We also went to the Vietnam Fine Arts Museum, which provided great perspective into the progression of the  great Vietnamese society over the last 1500 years. Much influenced by India and China, in fact, Vietnam has been regularly trading with lands as far off as the Mediterranean for almost 2000 years. As a result, they had some incredible Hindu/Buddha images from the 17th Century: immaculate meditating figures sitting on ornate dragons or lotus flowers with many faces and innumerable arms splayed out behind them in various "Buddhistic" gestures.

The water puppets show---a modern souped-up version of a Vietnamese folk-tradition---was incredible: puppeteers waist-deep in water stand behind bamboo screens, controlling elaborate, beautifully painted
marionettes with underwater sticks and strings. There were fighting water buffalo, riverwise courtship, tilling suggested fields and sowing same-same seeds, and a dramatic horse race that culminated in an explosive pyrotechnics show of spark-spitting horses jumping through a ring of fire. Also flying dragons! And all the while the band plays on, interesting idiosyncratic instruments particular to Vietnam in an epic flowing soundtrack to the proceedings.

Hope you're livin' large and having fun in the good ol' U.S. of A (or wherever you are :) 

Laos Finished!

So we have now departed the fine fine country of Laos. But there is still more to tell in this tale, so let me begin:

We left the depraved yet brilliant town of Vang Vieng for less stomped-upon grounds of Phonsavan. An ugly but interesting town in Northeast Laos, Phonsavan is the jumping off point for the egnimatic Plain of Jars. We decided we needed to rest for a day from Vang Vieng before venturing on, so we spent some time walking around the town, visiting a Buddhist graveyard up on a hill. The gravestones were little stupas and there was a 2001-esque oblisqe in honor of some soldiers.

Later that evening we discovered something wonderful: a carnival had sprung up in Phonsavan in honor of Women's Day! We smashed into some Lao people, including a few other couples and some young girls on the bumper cars, causing mayhem and destruction. Sarah continued the madness by playing with dozens of little children on a giant moonbounce. So much fun to be had for only a few dollars.

The next day we took a tour to the Plain of Jars. This is a place where there are hundreds of enormous stone jars laying in a field. No one knows how they got there or who made them. The jars weigh thousands of kilos and stranger still, the rock comes from a mountain 20 kilometers away.

There are several theories: the first one is the local people's theory that the jars are for storing Lao lao, or rice whisky, thier drink of choice. This seems unlikely as the jars are so huge and there are so many of them. Also they have no lids. Many scientists think that it is a gravesite, that the jars are used as as holders for the ash. Our favorite theory is this: a society of giants had a party and left thier cups behind. It really must be seen to understood, this place is hard to describe.

This area of Laos was one of the most heavily bombed places in history during the Vietnam War. The Patet Lao, the communist force in Laos, was helping the Viet Cong during the war, so the US dropped millions of bombs on Laos secretly. This is still a problem as many of these devices still lurk unexploded, waiting for a child or farmer to step on them. It's quite sad what our country has done.

After we left Phonsavan, we went to the last place on our 3.5 week Laos itinerery, Sam Neua. This was partially to break up the overland journey to Hanoi and partially to see the incredible caves that the Patet Lao lived in for 9 years during the Vietnam war (which they call the American War). We were guided through the caves with a very professional audio tour as well as a human guide.  They are amazing, with many different rooms, a hospital, a school and an entertainment area. The caves could house up to 18,000 soldiers, and thier families. Everyone had to hide from the fighterplanes during the day and do all of thir farming and chores at night. It was a tough life.

On our tour we made friends with an Australian couple, Elissa and Alex, as well as a funny Frenchman named Edward, who reminds me just a little of Uncle Dave. We ended up on the bus to Hanoi on the locals bus the next day, a very hectic journey with lots of honking, loud Vietnamese people, and at least one baby pig somewhere in the bus. Hello Vietnam! Quite a change from the laid back pace of Laos, and we're so pumped!

Hope this finds you well. Take heart in the fact that we are probably just as cold here in Hanoi as you are in America (if that's where you are). Love and warmth to you!

Jungleventures in Luang Nam Tha, Laos

Still quite enjoying ourselves in the balmy land of Laos. We are currently in Vang Vieng, about 4 hours north of the capital of Laos, Vientiene.

We had another exciting encounter with nature and rural villagers up in Luang Nam Tha. We arrived there not really knowing what to do, and quickly realized trekking was the hot shizazz in town. After some deliberation, we signed up for the 3 day/2night experience with Phone (pronounced Pun), a mischievous and fun Lao tour guide.


After a breakfast of fried noodles & tofu we began our journey. As companions we had our Lao guide Phone (who spoke fine English), our porters Toe-Lee and Ning-Yan, who were from a Hmong village, Adeeja, a Dutch girl, and Kusa, a quiet but interesting Japanese man. Walking on hills is not really my forte, so after a few hours of uphill hiking, I was happy to stop for a lunch of sticky rice and salads. Traditional Lao table manners dictate that one shall eat by scooping the salad up with the rice with the hands, and placing it in the mouth. Not sure what exactly we were eating, but it sure was tasty.

We moved on into the jungle. It was thick old growth forest and sometimes we were crawling through tunnels in the vines. A few times we passed over a shallow stream where we splashed ourselves to cool off. The last part of the first day was sliding/walking down an incredibly steep grade thick with towering bamboo. It was a little scary but also very exciting!

We arrived at the hunter camp and took a refreshing swim in the stream nearby, mostly to clean off the thick layer of sweat and dirt that had accumulated throughout the day. We had dinner and stayed up talking and looking at the stars, with good company and Lao lao, or rice whisky, the cost of which was included in our tour. The sounds of the jungle reverberated through our dreams.

The next day was probably the best one. We hiked through gorgeous jungle the whole way, seeing flowers, strange plants, and huge spiders. Sometimes we had to climb through twisted vines as big as my forearm to get through. Up, down, up down, through the rolling junglous mountains we marched.

We arrived late in the afternoon to one of the most incredible places I have ever been. Our first sight of the Hmong village was through the branches of some lovely trees covered in pink flowers. Puppies, piglets and naked babies all played together in the fading light. Some children were building a tiny fire so we sat down with them and took photos. After we had taken a photo of them we would turn the camera around and let them see their image on the display screen. It was just about the funniest thing they had ever seen, and they laughed and laughed.

After dinner they sent the village chief to talk to us. We were able to ask him questions about tribal life, and he could ask us. He told us about the marital system of the Hmong. Around 1/2 of the people marry within the village, and 1/2 to other Hmong villages. A dowry was essential, usually in the form of Lao currency, kip. Arranged marriages were not uncommon. He also told us that fighting in the village is nearly nonexistent. We gave him a children's book, some coloring supplies, and some candy as a gift for the village children.

Later that night we heard a strange noise, like a very sustained drumbeat. "What is it Pun?"  we asked. Apparently a village member had been possessed by evil spirits and a shaman had been called to remove them. We were invited to see. By the time we got there, the spirits were gone, but the shaman was doing a cleansing/thanking ritual involving rhythmic shaking of bells and some very strange singing/chanting. It was so incredible to see such a genuine cultural ceremony.

This trek we went on was hard sometimes, but really made me feel accomplished to have finished it. The next day we spent doing nothing much in Luang Nam Tha. Such an incredible place. Laos is an incredible country. The people are so friendly and the landscape is gorgeous.

Today we are in Vang Vieng, recovering from a crazy afternoon of tubing yesterday. You rent a tube and float down the river, and along the way there are all of these little bars, giving away whisky shots and snacks and selling little pails full of mixed drinks. There are also some pretty extreme rope swings and waterslides to go off of! It's a crazy party, and a very popular place with the young wild ones of Southeast Asia.