"No more yankee my wankee! The Donger need food!"

Just in case you were wondering, this is what 2 million Dong looks like. Here's a close up "Uncle Ho" followed by a potrait and live version of me in 70 years.

I've made my way down the coast to Nha Trang in central Vietnam. Since my last post, we left Hue (once the capital) after 3 days and drizzly weather. It was low key as Christian (the guy that I have been traveling with since Hanoi) was under the weather during all of our time there. He went to the local hospital in order to rule out malaria (diagnosed with your run of the mill flu later) and let me just say that depending where you are in Asia, it's wise to do everything possible to avoid getting sick. Here's a picture of our toilet in our hotel in Hue followed by a picture of the hospital's "amenities".

We did a boat tour on the Perfume River which brought us by a number of kings tombs and pagodas.

Toured the Citadel which is Vietnam's version of the forbidden city and then jumped on the bus for a 5 hour bus ride to Hoi An (skipped the DMZ as I couldn't be bothered to walk around the tunnels/fields all day in the rain).

Hoi An is a lovely city (you were absolutely right Mizay) oozing with charm in a cozy and intimate colonial setting by the river (beach is 4KM away). Shopping is on the agenda for most and many come to get tailored made clothes/shoes. Christian got a suit and 3 shirts made for $85. For anyone looking to get clothes made, I would highly recommend Hoi An versus Thailand or Hong Kong per say, as the prices are right and accommodation at a 4 star hotel with all of the modern amenities will run you as little as $25 per night. Since Erin wasn't with me, I just took in the sights and will wait to come back with her in the future to go on our shopping spree.

We rented motorbikes for 2 days and visited the cham ruins of My Son

as well as rode up the coast to China Beach. This is supposedly the place where American soldiers were helicoptered into for some R & R during the war. We had the entire beach to ourselves (minus some military "life guards" and occassional fishermen) and even had sun (thank goodness as it had been almost a week since seeing a full day of sun).

The surf was mush otherwise insert photo of me ripping down a double overhead barrel here.

Stayed the night at Hoa's place who is a local legend in the area and then rode back the next afternoon before heading for Nha Trang on another painful overnight bus. The rain has been with us all day today so we are going to leave tomorrow (no sense in staying in a beach town when the weather sucks) and will head inland for the hills to Dalat. We'll try to get some proper mountain biking in as well as a tour with the Easy Riders. Stay tuned.

Vietnam has been absolutely wonderful! For me, regardless of the country that I am in, it's the people that make it tic. The scenery can be gorgeous, but if the people aren't friendly.... For instance, walking home from dinner the other night, Christian and I were invited off the street and into a house where we were promptly offered rice wine (this stuff was strong - after our host poured some into a small tea cup, he put some in his lighter just prior to using it to light his smoke:) We sang and clapped to "some" song as the host strummed his guitar and filled our cups numerous times. This would never happen at home (I know that I wouldn't feel comfortable inviting 2 guys off the street and into my house:(

Everything for the most part has been going my way. It sucks not having Erin but she is doing something much more important AND Vietnam will be here for us next time. Actually, our plan from the Philippines is to fly back to Saigon when we'll do the south together before heading into Cambodia.

FMP

Here are some of the many colorful faces and scenes found all over Vietnam.

Happy Gobble Gobble Day!

I don't have much to be thankful for so I plan on doing the following. Since it is 11/24 here, I'll tempt fate by downing a huge bowl of bird flu infested pho. Should I survive to see 11/25, I will do the same tomorrow being that it is Turkey day back home. If all goes well, I'll blog back stating that I am so thankful to be alive!

COME ON! (which literally translates into "ThankYou" in Vietnamese - although spelled differently). I have everything to be thankful for. For starters, I am in the old capital of Hue (pronounced who-a) in Central Vietnam and was able to speak to Erin this evening. Most of the internet cafes in China had headsets with microphones hooked up to the computers so Erin and I were able to speak live to each other via google talk once we split in Nanning. Since crossing the border however, I have not been as lucky. We basically have been reduced to cross each other's paths in cyber space via "old fashioned" email. After wandering around town this afternoon, I saw this cafe which had the headset and hoped to find Erin on line. Not only was I able to talk to her but her sister Shay was there and then my sister Jenn got online in Northern California so I talked to her and my mom too. Oh happy day! Always great to hear from home. Much different than the last time we traveled in 1996. So much so that my family doesn't even feel as if we have been gone for 4 months as we communicate via email often. Aahhh...the joys of modern technology. Speaking of which, the engineering of the rice fields in Sapa (just left there)is pretty awesome if you ask me.

And here is a photo of a house that was built with a slight elevation so that they could put these beer bottles in between the concrete slab and the base of the house so that sunlight captured by the bottles is then transferred inside.)

Back to other good news - Erin's mother Cindy is making progress. Here is the report from my father in-law Chris:
"Today, Cindy got some positive action with her case. One of the Doctors took the lead to be assertive about her care. Wednesday morning Cindy was taken to have an MRI to determine once and for all if she has gall-stones. He said in 80% of cases of pancreatitis the gall bladder is the cause. Long story short - They found stones in her gall bladder and have treated the pancreas by implanting a stint (plastic tube) to allow the pancreatic fluid to drain into the intestine and the hope is that it will also drain the cyst and the infection that is there.Long term recovery is 12-18 months, gall bladder removal sometime in that period.She is encouraged by the support and prayers she knows are going for her.Thanks, Chris and Cindy Jensen."

Please keep her in your thoughts and I am sending my well wishes to her and all of you for a safe and happy holiday.

Other things I am thankful for - Nice rooms in a hotel for $4-Phat fresh meals for under $3-Internet time for .40 cents per hour-Beer for .75 cents (tall bottles and less for draught) and finally,I am thankful that I still snicker everytime someone says Dong - Thanks Mark:)

From Hanoi, I went via overnight train on a hard sleeper to Sapa. In the northwest of Vietnam, it is known for it's ethnic minorities and trekking.

I did a 2 day trek through the rice fields and valley and spent the night in the small village of Ban Ho. The weather was not the best but at least it didn't rain. The family that we stayed with was very nice and the dinner that evening was ridiculously gluttonous. It was nice to get the heart pumping again and the contrast in cultures is always eye opening. It's a hard life that most of these villagers lead (compared to our standards) but yet they still have the ability to smile and laugh each and every day. Here are some of the kids and my accomodations for the night with a view from the balcony.

When we got back on the second day, we booked our train tickets for the night train back to Hanoi. It left at 9PM and got us into Hanoi at 5AM. The rest of that day was spent looking for breakfast at 7AM (another killer bowl of pho on the side of the road for 5000 Dong or 33 cents),

window shopping for Erin, taking in the sights

and playing "Look for the woman with the cone shaped hat".

All of this was in an effort to kill time before we jumped on the night bus to Hue. It left at 7PM last night and got in this morning 12 hours later. I can't do this shit any more. I look around and all the backpackers are in there early 20's! They get up all bright eyed and bushy tailed while I look for my teeth and try to work the kinks out of my lower back after 4 hours of sleep.

It was a down day today as it was raining but I plan on touring the DMZ fields tomorrow and the Old Citadel the day after before heading on to Hoi An.

Save some turkey for me!

FMP