Travel Quotes

Mark Twain said, “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.”

“Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends.” Maya Angelou

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....................."One day your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it is worth watching." Unknown..................


I would like to welcome new readers to my travel blog. If you are reading this for the first time, then I suggest you first read my introduction which I wrote last November when I started this. It explains why I am writing this and it gives you a little about my background. And most importantly it explains about my list and how it works. To go to that post, click on the following link - http://havelistwilltravel.blogspot.com/2011/11/have-list-will-travel-introduction.html



Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos
 March/April 2017

"One of the great joys of life is riding a scooter through Vietnam, to be part of this mysterious, thrilling, beautiful choreography. Thousands upon thousands of people — families, friends, lovers — each an individual story glimpsed for a second or two in passing, sliding alongside, pouring like a torrent through the city. A flowing, gorgeous thing."
Anthony Boudain


Thursday, 16 March
We beat the chickens up this morning in order to catch our flight.  That does not sound very good.  I don’t want to be accused of poultry abuse but we did have to get up at 4:30 AM.  That was an early start for what turned into a very long day. Our flight from San Diego to San Francisco was a short one, only about 1 hour 45 minutes.  We arrived at about 8:45 AM.  We were supposed to catch our flight to Tokyo at 12:00 PM but when we looked up the departure information the flight had been changed to 12:30. 
George enjoying a glass of
champagne and a chocolate
in business class


We did not mind the delay too much as we were in the Business Class lounge where the seats were comfortable and they had a variety of snacks to munch on to help us pass the time. We went to the departure area at the appointed time and the time again had been changed to 1:00 PM.  No problem, that is just a little while later but we started to worry about our connecting flight to Ho Chi Minh City.  We finally got on the plane and it started to pull out to take off when the pilot announced that there was an engine light that they were going to have to call the ground crew to check it out.  We sat there and sat there then they announced that we were being returned to the terminal and they were going to replace the plane and crew.  They said that we would most likely be reboarding within an hour.  
Laura and I headed back to the Business Class Lounge to see if the agents there could rebook our flight to Ho Chi Minh City because there was no chance now of getting there in time for our scheduled flight.  The agent that helped us was Marva Block who was the ex-wife of Laura’s first boss at Block Travel.  She was very helpful, she got us rescheduled on a flight leaving Saturday morning and gave us a pass to the First Class Lounge (which had better food) to use or $40 in food vouchers in the airport restaurants.

Our flight now has been scheduled to start boarding at 5:00 PM which turned into 6:00 PM.  When we finally boarded, turned left and found our sleeping pods.
When we took off we were over 6 hours behind schedule.  It was a long flight; we were entertained by two young children who alternated between screams and shouting or the ever popular crying their hearts out.  This insured that neither of us got any sleep to speak of during the flight.  We arrived at about 9:30 PM Tokyo time.  We had to claim our baggage, go through customs and immigrations and then were loaded on a bus to take us to a hotel that the airline had booked for all the passengers who missed their flights.  We got to our room about 11:00 PM and went to bed.

Saturday 18 March
In case you are checking, we lost a day by crossing the International Date Line.  So Friday did not really happen for us.  We awoke refreshed after about 7 hours sleep.  We had to catch a 7 AM bus to the airport so when we saw the line for the hotel breakfast we opted to go to the airport a little earlier than planned and get breakfast there.  Check in at Vietnam Airlines was a breeze because they had just opened.  The down side was that security did not open until 7:30 and the restaurants did not open until 8:00.  We finally did find a place to get breakfast- Laura had pancakes smothered in whipped cream and chocolate sauce and sliced bananas.  I chose the less exotic pancake breakfast with bacon and scrambled eggs.  It was good but the scrambled eggs had a weird texture like they had been run through a blender.

War Remembrance Museum
We boarded our flight to Ho Chi Minh City at 9:00 AM and were soon on our way.  It was a little over 6 hour flight so we stayed occupied watching movies for the majority of the flight.  The flight was uneventful.  We landed at Ton Son Nhat Airport at about 2:00 PM local time.  We claimed baggage, went through customs and immigrations and then went out into the crowd to look for the company representative who was picking us up.  We soon located him and he took us off to load our luggage in the Toyota SUV that Mr. Seven was driving.  Long, our guide said that he would take us on a City Tour before taking us to our hotel.  He took us to the War Museum which displayed all the terrible things that the US did to the nice peaceful Vietnamese people during 17 years of war.  We also visited the exterior of the Opera House and the large Catholic Church called Notre Dame. We went inside the Central Post Office and a Buddhist temple. Long explained a lot about the various shrines in the temple.  When we came out we found that our driver was in an argument with a local policeman about parking halfway on the sidewalk.  We ended up sitting there for about 20 minutes until everything got straightened out.  We think the driver is getting a ticket which was better than having the SUV impounded and towed.
Ho Chi Minh statue
at end of walking mall
We finally told him that we had enough touring and could they take us to the hotel.  We are staying at the Hotel Majestic Saigon which is right on the Saigon River.  Very nice, elegant hotel originally built in 1925.  We were pleased with the room that they assigned us.  It is on the 6th floor and faced the Saigon River so we had a pretty good view.  We asked the hotel where would be a good place for dinner.  It was suggested that we go to the Lemon Grass restaurant which was just several blocks away off the walking mall.  We had reservations for 8PM.  We wandered up the mall watching the people and looking in the shops along the way.

Dinner was very good.  We had a fixed price sampler plate that included a spring roll, steamed clams, 3 rolls containing beef, seafood and pork, beef Pho (soup).  It also included a banana fritter and a scoop of vanilla ice cream for dessert.  This dinner including drinks came to 1,300,385 VND or about $45 US.
We returned to our hotel fairly soon after dinner stopping briefly to watch the kids play in the mall.  Bedtime was early, Laura dropped off by 11 PM and I followed shortly thereafter.

Sunday, 19 March  Good Morning, Vietnam
We awoke at 6:30 AM and went up to the dining area which was an outside patio looking out onto the river.  It was a buffet style breakfast with a varied selection.  Tomorrow, I think I will go with the omelet for a change of pace.  We started early this morning because Long was meeting us at 8 AM to take us to the Presidential Palace and then down to the Mekong river to visit the floating markets and some other stuff.

Students celebrating their graduation
The Presidential Palace was interesting although it is now only used for receptions and a few high level meetings.  There were a great number of students who were touring as well as Vietnamese adults.  It was more enjoyable than the War Memorial Museum we toured yesterday.  As to the Vietnam War, it was highlighted when a South Vietnam Air Force pilot flew under the radar and bombed the palace as a prelude to the North Vietnamese Army attacking Saigon at the end of the war.  They also had two Russian tanks that drove through the gates in front of the palace to officially capture it.
As we were getting ready to get into our SUV for the trip down to the Mekong River, Laura saw a photographer getting a group of students ready for a picture so Laura took some of her own shots.  The young ladies are wearing the traditional Ao Di while the young men have a sort of hipster look going on for them. 
Floating markets on the Mekong

It was a two hour drive from Ho Chi Minh City to the area where we got on the boats to visit the floating markets.  That turned out to be a bit of a rip off as the floating markets are busy from 4 AM to 9 AM and then there is not much going on because they are the wholesale markets where the people come to purchase for resale.  We did see several boats loaded with watermelons, sugar cane and pineapples.
We also pulled into shore and visited several shops, watched them make rice paper which is used for wrapping of spring rolls.  We watched them make coconut candy, puffed rice cakes and then popped rice.  We were also given a sample of rice wine which was like drinking vodka.  They even had some with snakes pickled in it.  We passed on trying that.
Making rice candy

We also stopped to listen to several Vietnamese folk songs and to have a cup of tea and some fruit.  We also visited an establishment that had beehives and was selling honey and royal jelly.
We then took the long ride back to Ho Chi Minh City and to our hotel.  We had an hour or so to relax and then we wandered out to find a place to eat and to watch the activities on the walking mall.  After dinner on our way back to the hotel I met my new best friend, Max, an 8th grade student who walked and talked with us for about 15 minutes.  He spoke very good English and was proud that he received A’s in school for his English.  He liked the chance to practice on an American because he complained that in school some of the words were not pronounced the same as we use them. 

Then it was back to the hotel and to prepare for our departure for Hue in the morning.

Monday 20 March
We awoke again at 6:30 AM to get ready for breakfast and to pack for our departure for Hue.  We did not have as good a nights sleep as we had the night before.  The cough that has been hanging on since last week when we had colds; came back with a vengence.  Fortunately our bark is worse than our bite.  We had breakfast at the hotel.  The omelet was alright just a little more soupy than I would have liked it.  We collected our bags and caught a taxi back to the airport.  This time it was a domestic flight so there was not many delays.  No TSA pre-screening here.  We had to take off belts, remove shoes, take laptops and e-readers out for inspection.  The interesting thing was that Laura’s artificial knee did not set off the metal detector.  She missed not being patted down all over like usual.  Our flight departed at 11 AM and as we took off, I thought of all differences from my first trip to Vietnam.  So if you don’t mind, I am going to talk about my first visit to then Saigon.

 When I came here in April of 1971, it was on a large Military Airlift Command flight.  It was a commercial airlines plane but all the passengers for the most part were young men.  We landed in Ton Son Nhat.  The difference from now was the number of US warplanes and helicopters on the ground.  Large groups of soldiers lining up to board planes or to load onto helicopters.  There were jeeps with machine guns patrolling the edges of the airport.  Checkpoints with sandbags, razor wire and chainlink fences were a common sight.  The 7 of us who came over as part of a Navy team were loaded onto a bus with our seabags to be delivered to the Navy’s temporary quarters.  We were a sight in our summer white uniforms compared to all the Army in their green utilities.  Of course, people who had been in country could always tell who were the newbies because of how the new uniforms looked.  We got to the old hotel which had been converted into our temporary quarters.  There were bunkers on the corners, razor wire on the walls and chain link fence over all the windows to prevent RPG’s from getting into the building so they would explode outside.  My first experience with the Vietnamese people was when we had to walk about 2 blocks down the street to where they had set up the dining facility.  I was jumped by one of a half dozen street children.  He snatched my wrist watch and I snatched him.  So he dropped the watch and kicked it into the street where it was run over by a 2 ½ ton truck.  My first purchase in Vietnam was for a Seiko watch with a non-expandable wrist band.  I remember the heat, no air conditioners in the building; just lots of bunkbeds with no sheets or pillows.  The next day we were issued our greens and drew our weapons.  The following day, we flew to Danang on a C-130 Cargo plane with 4 rows of nylon mesh seats. 
That is enough memories for now.  Our flight today was much more comfortable.  Laura had said we were flying to Hue but when we landed we were in Phu Bai which had been the base for the 101st Airborne.  We then took a taxi to the Pilgrimage Village.  The trip from Phu Bai to Hue was north along Highway 1.  It was much different than what I remembered from 45 years ago.  It is now a 4 lane divided highway and there are businesses and homes all along the road.  I did spot several bunkers that were at bridges as we drove north.

We arrived at the resort about 1 PM; they offered us a cup of ginger tea which was very good but very strong.  They then told us that we had been upgraded from the deluxe room to a villa but since they were overbooked starting Wednesday would we consider moving to their sister resort in Hoi Ann.  Since the purpose was to spend some time in Hue, we refused their offer.  Our villa was not going to be ready until 2 PM so we wandered through the several small shops on the property and then returned to the reception area to wait.
The resort is a large one and our suite is almost in the back far corner of it.  The room is nice so we unpacked and rested for a while before going to meet a taxi at 4:40 PM to take us to a hotel in Hue where we would be met by a guide to take us on a cyclo tour of a selection of local restaurants. 

George on a cyclo
Our guide met us at the appointed time and we headed out to the first restaurant.  What we found was that the restaurants were in name only.  Several of the places that we stopped to taste the local food were nothing more than a couple of tables on the edge of the street with the kitchen right next to it.  The food we tasted was interesting at best.  Most of it required the use of chop sticks which was entertaining for the local residents. 
We will see in the next few days if this adventure has any unforeseen problems; stomach wise.
One of the dishes
on our street food tour

We ended the evening with coffee at a shop of the walls of the Citadel.  While Laura is not a coffee drinker she had a ginger tea.  The Vietnamese coffee was good but a little stronger than what I am used to drinking.  We then took a taxi back to the resort and called it an evening.
Tuesday, March 21
We had a rough night or should I say a rough early morning.  The chickens that we beat up when we were leaving Chula Vista called their cousins here in Hue and they serenaded us from 3:30 AM until after 7:30 AM.  When we went to the reception desk to meet with our tour guide, they asked how our night was.  Laura told them about the chickens and they said that they would move us to another room when we got back from our tour.

Seven Step Pagoda
Our tour today was a boat ride on the Perfume River to the Seven Step Pagoda and the Thien Mu Pagoda. then a car ride to Minhn Mang tomb.  It turned out to be a three hour tour.  We boarded the boats not far from where we met the tour guide with the cyclo drivers for the dinner tour last night.  We boarded the smaller boat and took the 45 minute ride up the river.  This trip turned into an enforced shopping experience with the family of the boat pilot offering everything she had for sale to a captive audience.  If she did not have the correct size, no problem, they would just pull up alongside one of the other boats and they would check to see if they had the correct size.
When we arrived at the Thien Mu Pagoda, I was surprised about the size of the grounds.  When I went there 45 years ago, only the front portion was open to the public whereas now there was much more to see.                      

On the grounds of the Minh Mang Tomb
After our tour of the Pagoda, we were picked up by another driver and taken to Minh Mang’s tomb.  Minh Mang was the 4th Emperor of Vietnam.  When he died, it took three years before his tomb was completed.  The tomb covers about 7 acres of ground with the Perfume River flowing through parts of it.  No one knows exactly where he is buried as his court officials killed themselves to show their loyalty to their emperor.
After we finished our walking tour, we loaded back into the car to go back to our hotel.  We were hot and tired.  The humidity takes a toll on you.  When we got back, they were ready for us to change rooms.  The rooms are almost identical and now we are closer to the Reception area and the restaurant for breakfast.  So we are pleased.  We have exchanged the chickens crowing for frogs croaking.  At least the frogs are quieter.  After we rested for a while, which included Laura going for a swim in the pool, we asked the Reception to call us a taxi to take us down town so we could explore for a while prior to going to dinner at the La Jardin de la Carambole restaurant near the Citadel.  We walked around for a little bit, weaving our way around all the motorcycles parked on the sidewalk.  When we stopped to cross the street, we were accosted by a young man who was attempting to drum up some tour business.  We told him we had gone to all the places that he was talking about.  He asked where we were going and we told him we were just wandering around.  He said he would take us to an area where there were many shops and bars for only $1.00 US.  Laura said OK and next thing we were being loaded onto the back of two motorcycles and off we went.

Our motorcycle friends

We looked around the area for a little bit when it started to rain.   We crossed the street to a coffee shop.  I had a Café Latte and Laura had a Bailey’s Cream Frappuccino.  It continued to rain so we decided to take a taxi over to the restaurant and if we could not get seated early, we would have a drink in the bar.          
Getting seated was not a problem and our dinner was very good.  The picture shows me with one of the local beers and our main course which was chicken that had been flattened, stir fried in vegetables which included some bamboo stalks which were a little too woody for my taste.  It also had the Vietnamese red peppers which are very hot.  We pushed them off to the side.  It did infuse the meal with a spicy taste but there was also an aftertaste of ginger. 

It was still raining so we had a wet ride back to the hotel by taxi.  We were dry inside the taxi but it was sloppy outside. 
We turned in fairly early because the humidity had sapped our strength.

Wednesday 22 March
We slept in a bit this morning because we had nothing scheduled for today.  We had a late breakfast and then Laura went to the pool to swim for a while.  I stayed in the room reading or checking out the Facebook entries. 

Laura came back from the pool and announced that she had scheduled us for another 3 hour tour.  This one was of two separate garden houses.  At 2 PM, we reported to the reception area to meet the driver and we headed out.  It turned out the first house we were heading towards was in the area of the Seven Step Pagoda.  The house and gardens are the property of Camille Huyen and her husband, Truong Dinh Ngo.  Camille was a resident of Hue and left in 1972.  Her husband was living in France and Germany.  They moved to Switzerland where he was a Swiss banker.
A section of the private home and garden


They returned to Hue about a year ago and started building the gardens and the house.  We had a lovely visit.  The gardens were peaceful and looked out onto the Perfume River.  Our hosts were gracious and very pleasant to talk with about their home, family and even the Vietnam War.  The home also serves dinners, has poem readings and has concerts of classical music.  Camille is an accomplished artist and also designed much of the home.
Our hostess Camille at her house


When we first arrived they served us a cool papaya drink and then later we had a cup of green tea and a sweet of a white bean in a coconut sauce.  It was very good.  We left to visit the second home.  We were disappointed in it.  The gentleman who met us was very gruff and seemed only interested in getting our admission fee of 40,000 VND.  The garden turned out to be mostly a yard filled with trees.  We spent about 10 minutes and then left.  We returned to the resort to prepare for dinner. 
We went down to the lower bar and ordered our drinks.  Since it was “Happy Hour”; it was buy one drink and get the other free.  I ordered a gin and tonic and was informed that Gin was one drink and the tonic was another.  So I ordered a Mojito and Laura ordered the local beer – Huda.  While we were there we kept hearing what we thought was a dog barking but were told that it was a frog.

We went up to the restaurant and ordered our dinners.  It was a good meal and very convenient to where we were staying.  Laura ordered the special Beef Pho.  She has Pho quite often at home, but found this to be quite different.  There was no soup in it.  It was noodles – 2 different kinds, lots of beef slices, and lots of veggies.  It even had 3 crispy egg rolls on top and peanuts, but no soup.  It was quite good, but just different than what she was used to.
On the way back to our room, we passed one of the pools and saw the frogs swimming and I think having a little froggy sex.  They were about the size of our hand so it was not a small frog.

We soon turned in as we have to be up, packed and ready to meet our driver at 9 AM.  Tomorrow we are driving to Danang and then on to Hoi An.  I have driven the road many times during my year here in Hue so I am interested in seeing how much it has changed.
Thursday, 23 March

Heading for the Hai Van Pass
Today we were picked up at the hotel at 9 AM by a very nice young man who spoke very little English; so much for having an English speaking driver.  We headed south towards Danang.  It was very confusing as the roads had changed since I was here.  Now we were driving through tunnels into the mountains instead of following the shoreline.  Going up the Hai Van pass, now there were concrete barriers on the downhill side of the road so it made it very difficult to see what was below.  Before starting up into the pass, I was able to spot a little village on the coast that I always enjoyed seeing because it was so picturesque.  When we got to the top of the pass, we stopped for a few minutes to take pictures but I don’t think they will turn out so good because of all the clouds flowing through the pass.  We did see the remains of the old French fortifications. 
I told Laura about being stopped there with a convoy of US Army trucks because of an ambush on the other side of the mountain.  We sat there for about 20 minutes until 2 Cobra helicopters came through and took care of business. 

Danang has really grown just like Hue and every other place that I have visited.  We drove past China Beach.  Laura did get out to take a picture of a statue of Buddha that was across the bay from us.  It may have been the statue that I would pass when I was leaving Danang to return to Hue when I came down to pick up our pay checks at the Naval Support Activity. 
Pagoda on Marble Mountain
We also drove to Marble Mountain which was right next to where the Naval Support Activity had been located.  We were allowed to visit a marble shop where they had hundreds of statues from which to choose.  It would have cost a pretty penny to have one of those shipped home.

We were also allowed to take an elevator up to a Pagoda on Marble Mountain which the Vietnamese call Water Mountain.  We then climbed up marble steps to see a cave and then rested with a cold coke because we were getting overheated. 
We then drove to Hoi An to the Ha An Hotel.  It is a small hotel but is very pleasant.  They even offered us the use of free bicycles which with the traffic around here would have been suicidal.  After waiting an hour to get into our room, we freshened up.  Laura went to the pool and I went to the shower.  A bit later, we walked out into the town, wandering past the shops and into the city market.  It was an adventure between everyone trying to sell you something, the cyclos, motorcycles and just the other people walking around trying to run into you.

Hoi An Market
After about an hour and a half, we started back in the general direction of our hotel.  We saw a nice little bar that we stopped at for a beer.  When we left there we found a nice looking restaurant called the “Bee’s Knees”.  They had a special offer – if you bought a dinner there they would give you a free local beer in a frozen mug.  Well, we couldn’t beat that.  Laura ordered a Banana Flower salad and for the main course she had Calamari with 5 spice sauce and rice.  I had Beef with cashew nuts stir-fried with veggies and some white rice.  It was an excellent meal.  The total on the meal was 375,000 VND or about $18.  Can’t beat the prices here.  As we were finishing, a young German couple came in for their dinner.  Laura engaged them in a lively political discussion until it was time for us to leave.  We returned to the hotel to turn in for the night.  We will have a little time tomorrow to explore more of the town before we are picked up to go back to Danang to catch our flight.
Friday, 24 March


Hoi An Vendor
Friday morning was an easy going time; we ate breakfast, packed our bags and checked out of our room so they could get an early start cleaning it for the next guest.  Our guide/driver was not coming until 2 PM to pick us up to take us to the Danang Airport.  The hotel let us store our bags while we went out to walk around the town once again.  We turned down several different streets but each were pretty much the same.  One of the shops that we visited had a free thought for the day.  Laura chose one – it said “Always believe that something wonderful is about to happen.”  We thought that was a pretty good thought for the day.  We stopped at a café because we were getting hot and thirsty.  Laura had a Pepsi and I thought I would try an Iced Vietnamese White Coffee.  The coffee was very strong, almost a syrup with a layer of condensed milk on the bottom of the glass and one large ice cube. 
We returned to the hotel with about 2 hours to kill waiting for the driver.  Laura took a swim in the hotel pool and I sat in a sling chair in the shade by the pool reading. 
Dragon Bridge in Danang

The trip to the Danang Airport was not really exciting.  There was lots of construction of hotels, restaurants and such throughout the city.
Our flight to Siem Reap was delayed about an hour so we had a bit longer to wait around the airport departure lounge.  Any longer and I think I would have developed terminal waffle butt from sitting on the metal seats in the lounge.  The flight was about an hour and went very smoothly.  When we landed, we processed fairly quickly.  When we got to the Customs station, the alert, hardworking government employee was engrossed in his cell phone.  I stood there for a while and then said “Good Evening”.  He looked up, grabbed our papers and off we went.  Our hotel had sent a car to pick us up so it was just a matter of finding someone in the crowd with a Le Meridien Hotel about 8 PM.  We took our bags up to the room and then headed down to the buffet for dinner since we had not eaten much since breakfast.  Dinner was aright but certainly did not measure up to other meals we have had on this trip.

After dinner, we were sorting out our belongings and got ready for bed. 
Saturday, 25 March

Breakfast was a buffet provided by the hotel.  There was a good selection but again nothing really that stood out.  Although Laura was impressed with the bacon she found.  As many of you know, she is a connoisseur of bacon.  It has to be just so or she can’t eat it.
We had scheduled a Tuk-Tuk to take us to the Angkor Temple complex at 9AM.  A Tuk-Tuk is a motorcycle pulling a small covered trailer with seats for 2-4 people.  Our driver took us to purchase our tickets to gain access to the temples.  A one day ticket is $37 per person.  It was interesting that when they printed the ticket it had our picture on it to insure that only you could use that ticket. 
Ta Prohm Wat

The first area that we stopped at was Ta Prohm.  The driver dropped us off and said he would meet us when we came out.  We went into the temple area and climbed around looking all over.  It was very hot and humid so we thought we would move on so we walked out of the temple area.  We looked and looked and could not find our driver.  We then found out that were two gate – one on the west and one on the east.  The problem was we had been dropped off at the west gate so we were one the wrong side of the complex.  We were both overheated, Laura was beet red and dripping sweat.  One of the security guards and a vendor offered for $5 each to take us on their motorcycles to the other side.  We took them up on the offer.  The motorcycle ride was nice because the breeze helped cool us off and when we got to the other side; our driver was there and had iced cold water for us to drink. 
We continued our tour visiting the Elephant Terrace and Angkor Thom.  China, India, Germany and the US were all mentioned as countries that were helping to restore the temple complex.   Still there are a lot of piles of stone. 
Us in our tuk-tuk


We returned to the hotel about 12 to cool off and because Laura wants to visit Angkor Wat at sunset the driver will return at 4PM to pick us up again.
The Tuk-Tuk driver picked us up at 4 PM and took us to the Angkor Wat temple site.  It is the largest of the temples in the area.  It was quite a bit warmer this afternoon than it had been earlier, so we found that we had to stop and rest quite often.  We kept up our fluid intake because we did not need to succumb to heat exhaustion.  The monks who built this place really wanted to get close to the heavens because there were certainly enough stairs to climb.  The good thing was that the stone steps had for the most part been replaced with 2” by 12” plank steps which while they were steep; they were nothing like the original stone steps. 

Angkor Wat
The temple site was packed with people.  It was difficult to take a picture without having a crowd in the picture but Laura did a good job taking pictures with no people or just a few people in the background.  One of the first things we saw when we entered the grounds were a group of monkeys.  They did not bother us and we didn’t bother them much.
We climbed up to the next to the last level.  We chose not to climb to the top as we were getting pretty tired by this time.  We watched a Buddhist monk sell blessings to some of the visitors.

AngkorWat at sunset
This site was interesting but it did not have the feel that visiting Pompeii, the Coliseum in Rome or even the castles in Ireland and Scotland gave me.  I don’t understand why, they are all ancient sites.  Perhaps, it is a cultural bias; I will have to ponder on that.
We stayed until sunset, it was not a real exciting one but you have to take your chances on that.  We found the Tuk-Tuk driver with no problem and he returned us to the hotel.  We were hot, sweaty and not too excited to go out to dinner; so we showered and called room service for dinner.  We are now happily tucked away for the night, fed, our thirst quenched and are listening to music being performed in the patio below our rooms.  Cambodian music, I think is an acquired taste. It has a beat but you can’t dance to it and it might be compared to a cat being skinned.

I think I will take another flight of fancy and talk about how things are different and how some things are just the same.  One of the many things that I remember being the same was the trash fires on the streets in Hue and Danang.  Trash and leaves all swept up and then set on fire.  The burning leaves made the air smoky and at times made your eyes water.  The sidewalks were covered with motorcycles, sometimes in order to pass them, you had to walk into the street.  There were many more motorcycles and fewer bikes on the road than in 1971/72.  Highway 1 that ran from the DMZ to Saigon, was a two lane road, it is now a 4 lane divided highway.  The route I took to go to Danang is completely different as they have dug tunnels through some of the lower mountains.  Garbage is still a problem, trash is thrown everywhere.  Plastic products float in any of the waterways that we crossed.  The rice fields, fish farms and corn fields all looked the same.  It was a very pastoral setting seeing them.  When I flew from Danang to Hue, I remember seeing numerous perfectly round lakes spread out across the landscape.  I commented to one of the flight crew about them and he informed me that those were bomb craters left over from earlier bombing runs.  I wonder if we had flown this time, if they would still be there as a reminder of the war.  Speaking of bombing, I can remember sitting in the hotel in Danang listening to the Arc-light bombing raids in the mountains north of Danang.  It sounded like a distant thunder storm.  We are in Cambodia now; I was never here so I have nothing to compare the past with the present.  They may be 5-10 years ahead of Vietnam in the development of their tourist trade.  Street vendors around the world are almost all the same.  We were invited for many “free looks” today.
It is now 9:30 PM, the cat skinning has stopped so I think I will call it a night and head off to bed.

Sunday, 26 March
Today’s adventure was a car ride to see the Reclining Buddha on top of Kulen Mountain and the Banteay Srei temple.  Our driver was Mr. Kak Sokheng who was the driver who picked us up at the airport 2 days ago.  

Posing below the steps up to the
Reclining Buddha
We started off from the hotel at 9AM with stops at a ticket office to buy passes for the Kulen Mountain tour and then to the Angkor Ticket office to purchase another pair of tickets so we could go to the temple.  If we had known that we were going to visit another temple we would have purchased multiple day passes.  But the original plan had been to go to some floating villages but when we asked about it, we were informed that it was dry season and the villages really weren’t floating now.
This morning it is 91 degrees with +90% humidity.  This afternoon the temperature was between 97 and 99 degrees.  It really took the starch out of you.

The trip to the mountain took about an hour.  When we got there we found that there was about 400 yards of stairs to get to the main area and then another set of stairs up to the Buddha. 
 
Sweet Noodles
As we walked back towards the area where the car was parked, we once again ran the gauntlet of vendors wanting to sell us something/anything for only $1.  Laura saw this pot with green things and asked what they were.  We learned that they were a sweet noodle.  A little ways later, we found a woman selling small clams about the side of your thumb. 

Kulen Mountain Waterfall

After we left the top of Kulen Mountain, we stopped along the river to view some Hindu carvings from the 9th Century in the riverbed.  There were quite a few people visiting the site from India.  Our next stop was to go to the waterfalls and Laura planned on taking a dip to cool off.  We walked to the upper falls which were about 15 feet high.  The area was jammed with people.  We learned that the path to the lower falls was very steep and included a series of stairs.  Because of the large number of people, the heat and humidity, and the difficulty of not only getting down but getting back up, we decided to pass on the falls and swimming.  Mr. Sokheng offered to go to the bottom and take some pictures for Laura.  That was nice of him, we sat on a rock and watched all the other people struggle up the stairs.  About 10 minutes later, he had returned and as a reward we asked him to join us for lunch. 

Lunch was good.  We had a Cambodian soup with chicken in it that was pretty tasty.  The chicken was tough and they chopped the bone and all into the soup.  Laura fed the chicken pieces to the cat that was hanging around the restaurant. 
After lunch while we were walking up to the car, we heard a motorcycle coming up behind us.  All of a sudden it crashed into the side of the trail and the young lady who was riding as a passenger had her leg trapped under the motorcycle.  People rushed over to help and we could hear her crying.  It was sad but nothing that we could do to help. 
Banteay Srei Templ

Our next stop was at the Banteay Srei Temple.  It is advertised as the most finely carved temple in Cambodia.  It is also different in that much of it is carved in pink sandstone.  We agreed that the carvings were much more detailed and in much better condition than the other sites we have visited.

The nice thing about this temple was that there were no major stairs to climb.  Everything was on the same level. 
After our visit, we returned to the hotel.  Laura headed for the pool for the refreshing swim that she had planned to take earlier.  Shortly later she returned because of lightning and thunder that was occurring.  It was strong enough that the lights went out in the hotel for about 10 seconds.  We were safe and sound in our hotel room.  We had dinner at the hotel’s buffet, once again it was not the most exciting meal but it was convenient.  We have returned to the room to start repacking for our departure tomorrow.

Monday, 27 March
If it could go wrong, it seemed like it occurred today.  The hotel had told us that the flight was at 8:45 AM, when we got to the airport we found that the driver had dropped us off at the wrong terminal.  We pushed the cart with our luggage down the street until we found the domestic terminal.  We found that the flight we wanted was not leaving at 8:45, it was going to leave at 11:35.  So we found a place to sit and waited.  Finally at 10:30 they opened the gate for check in.  We went up to check in only to find that our tickets had been voided by Vietnam Airlines.  The gate crew was trying to contact them to get it straightened out but when it was 11:15, we went up to the window to ask what we could do.  We ended up purchasing another set of tickets and got on the flight with minutes to spare.  Laura was concerned about if our luggage would make the flight.  When we landed in Sihanouk Ville, our luggage was off loaded with the rest, so we were relieved.  We went out to the front of the terminal to find our driver who was to take us to the hotel, nobody holding a sign for us.  Shortly there were no passengers at the airport, they had all been picked up and gone their respective way.  Laura went into the terminal and found a taxi company and asked if they could call the company that was supposed to pick us up and see what was happening.  He tried but there was no answer.  So he offered to take us to the hotel for $20 and to come pick us up 3 days later and bring us back to the airport.

Sokha Beach Hotel
We got to the hotel after a short ride and found that we had been upgraded to an Ocean View room vice the Lake View room which was a distance off from everything.  We were pleased with the room.  It was in the main complex and had a view of not only the ocean but the hotel pool.
It was still early but we were hungry so we went down to the pool and had beers and something to eat.   Laura took a dip in the pool to cool off.  We called it and early day and headed back to the room to sort out our clothes and rest.

Tuesday, 28 March
It is a beautiful day.  We arose early and went to breakfast.  Laura had an appointment at the Spa to have a massage.  She returned limp as a noodle.  She said when she first laid down the attendant push on her back in three places and each time there was a loud snap as her spine when back into place.  She said it was the best massage she has had in her life.

Sokha Beach
During her massage time, I stayed in the air conditioned room reading my tablet and checking out Facebook. 
When Laura returned we donned our bathing suits and walked down and took a pair of lounge chairs on the beach under shade structures.  On our way to the beach, Laura was attacked by a dragon.  We sat out for a couple of hours and then returned to the pool area.  Laura swam for a while and I returned to the room.

For dinner we took a ride up to the other end of the resort to the Deck Restaurant.  I had an Aussie steak while Laura had a pasta and seafood plate.  Both were quite nice but the best part of the meal was the location.  We were just feet away from the beach and the surf line.  We watched the sun set into the west.  Again not one of the best sunsets but it was nice.  After dinner we walked back to the hotel and stopped at the bar, ordered martinis and listened to a female singer and 2 man backup band.  It was a pleasant way to end the day.  While we were sitting there, we started to hear thunder and lightning off in the distance.  Soon the lightning was happening right over head.  We went up to our room and sat on the balcony watching the light show until we started to get hit with large rain drops.
Dragon at Sokha Beach Resort

Wednesday, 29 March



Sihanoukville Market
Today after breakfast we took the hotel shuttle into the area of the main market of Sihanouk Ville.  We wandered around for a while looking at all the stalls and what they had to offer.  If we thought it was hot outside in the sunlight, it was hotter in the market because there was very little air circulating.  There were stalls cooking food which added to the heat.  We saw many seamstresses busy on their sewing machines.  We also saw many more beggars in the market than we had seen during our entire trip.
It was sad but it brought to light that the resorts are like Disneyland while outside their fences real life is a struggle.  After the market, we walked back up the street to the area where the shuttle bus dropped us off.  We had some time so we stopped at a bakery/coffee shop for a cold drink.  The shop was right across the street from a school that was letting out.  Traffic was amazing.  Laura was impressed by the 5 on a motorcycle.
Father picking up his 4 kids from school


Dinner at Mick & Craig's with a friend
When we returned to the resort, Laura headed down to the pool and I stayed in the room reading my book in air-conditioned luxury.   For dinner, we caught the resort shuttle back into town and had them drop us off at the Golden Lion Traffic Circle.  Laura had wanted to go eat at Mick & Craig’s Restaurant & Guest House.  The dinner was crazy cheap, draft beer was $.75 a mug and I was able to obtain my first beer mug to add to my collection.  Laura had Dory for dinner so I guess she will never find Nemo.  I had just generic fish and chips so I will not have the guilt to deal with.  Laura also got her puppy fix. 
We came back to the resort on a Tuk-Tuk, sat in the bar for a bedtime cocktail listening to the singer once again.  Life is good. 

Thursday, 30 March
After a hearty breakfast, we went back to our room to pack up everything.  We arranged for a driver to take us to the airport at 11 AM.  We got to the airport with no problems but when we got to the check-in counter, it looked like we were in trouble again.  Laura explained everything and gave them a telephone number of the gentleman who was supposed to get everything in order for us.  They asked us to step out of line and about 10 minutes later to our great relief, we were given our boarding passes.  Tomorrow when we go to the airport to fly to Laos, the gentleman is supposed to have money to refund to us for the tickets that we had to purchase.

The hotel sent a driver but he was late, he got there just as we were loading into a taxi that we had paid for.  He got our money refunded and took us to the hotel – Memoire D’Angkor.  It is a pretty nice hotel, not as fancy as some that we have stayed in but it is certainly no Motel 6.
After we got unpacked, we ventured out to the Old Market.  We wandered through
Sien Reap's lively night area
the narrow aisles for a bit.
  Laura bought a couple pairs of loose pants that are popular here and a carryon bag.  Afterwards we wandered down a street along the river to find the restaurant that the hotel had recommended.   The name of the restaurant was Chanrey Tree Restaurant and it served Cambodian and Khmer food.   We shared  a starter dish of crispy squid and prawns.   Laura had a chicken dish and I had beef skewers.  We were pleased with the quality of both our dinners.

After dinner, we walked back towards the Old Market, and then turned up Pub Street which was wall to wall bars.
Fried Tarantula anyone?
 We saw a cart advertising fried ice cream so we stopped to see what they could do.  It turned out that the ice cream was not fried but it was made like Cold Stone does their ice cream and then they rolled sections up and put it in a paper cup.  While it did not live up to being fried it was very good ice cream.  Afterwards we crossed the street to go to the Night Market.  On our way we saw a cart selling fried tarantulas, scorpions, crickets and snakes.  We passed on the opportunity to taste test them.

After spending a little while in the Night Market, we hailed a Tuk Tuk driver to take us back to our hotel.  We got the grand tour as our driver took us to the wrong hotel.  After showing him the tourist map with the hotel’s name posted on it, he said he knew where that hotel was also. 
We returned to our room and started to get ready for bed when Laura spotted a large bug on the ceiling.  I was dispatched to the reception desk to get assistance in ridding the room of the unwanted guest.  They were very nice and a few minutes later, we were certified bug free.

Friday, 31 March
We arose this morning and went down to have breakfast.  The staff at the front desk told us that since we had an afternoon flight, we could stay in the room until 2 PM instead of clearing out at 12PM.  We thanked them and then went on a walk up the street in the direction of the City Market.  When we went there yesterday, we rode in a Tuk Tuk so we did not have much of a chance to see the shops along the way.  After about a half mile we decided that the shops were not that interesting and it was hot, so we crossed the street and started walking back to the hotel.  We had almost gotten back when the Tuk Tuk driver from yesterday spotted Laura and said for only $5, he would take us on a city tour.  What the hell, it was only $5 so we agreed.  We climbed aboard his Tuk Tuk and off we went.  We saw quite a bit but it was at 25 mph from the middle of the road.   After about 30 minutes he dropped us off in front of our hotel.   
      
We lounged in the room; Laura booked another massage to kill the time until check out.  At 2:30, they drove us to the airport, we had directions to see a gentleman from Vietnam Airlines as he was going to straighten out our problem with the booking and reimburse us for the tickets that we were forced to buy.  He sent us to see a man from Cambodian Air and he refunded our money. 

We went to Vietnam Airline to check in for our flight to Laos and the clerk said, “There is a problem, please step to the side.”  We thought “Oh, crud.  We are on the Cambodian No Fly List.”  It turned out that they just wanted to do was make sure that we got our refund but it took ten minutes of telephone calls before an airline official showed up to clear us. 
The flight to Laos was uneventful.  The plane was about 2/3rds full so we were able to slip over and have a seat between us.  When we got to the Luang Prabang airport, the driver from the hotel was there to pick us up in an old Mercedes sedan.  We arrived at the hotel, were we received the customary welcoming drink and were taken to our room.  It is located above the dining area and reception desk.  It is all wooden with cute little steamer trunks turned into a chest of drawers and a bedside table.  It appears that we may have an uninvited guest sharing the room with us.  As we were sorting things out we kept hearing loud chirps which sounded like a gecko.  If it is a gecko, that is no problem because if you have geckos, you don’t have bugs. 
Luang Prabang Temple

After unpacking, we wandered out to explore the Night Market which was about a ten minute walk from the hotel.  We saw many interesting shops, met a dog named George, and visited a temple before we finally came to the Night Market.  Laura also made friends with a black cat on the temple wall that promptly jumped off the wall, grabbed a gecko and had a late dinner.
The night market is interesting and very large.  It is filled with things for tourists to purchase.  We saw so very beautiful things but could not figure how we could get them back home without having them damaged.                  

Our friend - George
On the way back to the hotel, we stopped in the Novelty Cafe when we saw George once again.  We had a cold drink – Laura had a mojito and I had an iced café latte.  They also served us fried mushrooms as a snack.  They were black and crispy like a potato chip. 
Saturday, 1 April

After breakfast, we were picked up by a guide for a half day tour of the city.  We were loaded onto an electric cart which zipped down the road.  Our guide pointed out the different types of architecture that was present here.  Some of the buildings were old French Provincial style, some were old Laos buildings with woven bamboo walls  and some more were Laos style but they used more modern materials such as cement instead of buffalo skins to cover the walls.  We walked through a morning market where the locals were buying their fresh meats, vegetables and fruits for the day.  We saw taste treats such as chicken feet, duck heads with bill intact, several different insects and larva along with buffalo skin which was boiled to make a soup.
Morning Market
At the temple Laura bought 2 birds
which she freed.
We also visited the main temple in Luang Prabang.  Since in the olden times this had been the capital city there had been over 65 temples but now there were only 32.  This temple was the one that the king came to worship at during the Lao New Year.  So the monks were busy painting the buildings and the trim work.  We learned that the small Buddha statues in the temple were from the temples that had closed.  Laura bought a small bamboo cage with 2 birds, which she let fly free.  This is suppose to guarantee that her spirit will be free in the next life.  She just wanted the birds to be free.
We stopped at the home of a 65 year old Hmong man who explained about the culture of the hill people and showed us how they made their flutes.  He also played the flute and a violin like instrument.  We also saw the bamboo toll bridge to the other side of the river.  It has to be rebuilt each year because the high water during the rainy season washes it away.  Our guide took us back down to where the Mekong and the Nam Khan Rivers meet.  We stopped at a riverside café for a light lunch and something to drink.  I was able to obtain my second beer glass so I am a happy camper.

We returned to the hotel and rested awhile and then ventured out once again.  The plan was to sit in a riverside café having a drink and watch the sunset.  The weather did not cooperate.  It was too overcast for a sunset.  But it did decide to rain for about 40 minutes.  We didn’t get soaked as we took shelter during the worst of it but we were certainly damp.  We found a restaurant that looked like it was acceptable to eat at.  Laura had a chicken satay and I had chicken sweet and sour fried rice.   After dinner we walked down to the Night Market but because of the rain, many of the sellers had not set up shop so we returned to the hotel to prepare for tomorrows adventure with the elephants.

Luang Probang is a UNESCO World Heritage city.  And of all the places we have been on this trip, it is probably the cleanest.  They make an effort to have trash picked up and places swept.  Yes, there are sometimes holes in the sidewalk, but they are working on fixing those things.  They recognize that tourism is good for them; it provides jobs and makes them more prosperous.  And they realize that if things are kept nice looking and clean, they are more apt to appeal to tourists.  It is a pretty city.
Sunday, 2 April

Laura beat the chickens up this morning and went up to the main street above our hotel to watch the parade of monks getting their rice from the local citizens.  She was nice and let me sleep in.
The monks would stop at each person and receive a little bit of rice from each and then continue on to the next person.  We learned that the monks eat twice a day – breakfast and a big lunch.  After that they only drink water until the next morning. 
The early morning parade of monks through the streets of Luang Prabang.


After our breakfast, we were picked up by a guide in a van and taken to the Elephant Camp which was about 30 minutes out of town.  The Elephant Village is home to 12 adult females and two infants.  We learned the language of the mahouts so we could communicate with the elephants while we were riding them.  It was a little exciting sitting up on the elephant’s neck right behind her ears.  It was difficult to keep your balance; I kept expecting to fall off at any time.  We rode them down a trail to the river and then they waded down river several hundred yards to a rocky island.  We crossed the island and then went back into the water again to get back to the shore.  You can see how deep the river was by the high water marks on the elephants.
George and Laura on the elephants
They took us upriver on a boat to visit the baby elephant nursery.  The babies were 4 and 5 years old.

We saw some little farms on the way to the babies.  Laura got to feed them some bananas which they really enjoyed.  We watched a local farmer and his wife plant corn in the flood plain of the river.
They then took us back to the camp for a buffet lunch and to change our clothes because we had to give the elephants a bath after they had taken us for a ride.  Now that was a trip.  The elephants got wet but so did we. 
Elephant and George having a bath


After the elephants bath we were taken back to the camp and given an opportunity to relax at the swimming pool.  It had a shower so we were able to rinse off the elephant odor and the river water.
They then brought us back to our respective hotels.  We took another shower and got dressed up to go out to dinner.  We walked down the street to the area were the Mekong and the Nam Khan River join and had a very nice dinner in a riverside restaurant.  They gave us a ride to the Night Market, so we walked through it and then stopped for dessert at the Novelty Café and to say goodbye to George, the dog.          

Monday, 3 April
Today is our last day in Laos.  After breakfast we checked out of the hotel but they were willing to store our bags until they take us to the airport around 4:30 PM.  We had booked a boat trip up the Mekong River to the Pak Ou Cave which is home to 4000 statues of Buddha.  We also got to stop at a village that makes Lao Whiskey and had lunch on a floating restaurant across the river from the caves.  The entire trip took about 5 hours so it was a great way to spend the day.
                   
Our boat trip up the Mekong
Our boat could carry maybe 20-30 people but we were the only people on board for this trip.   When we stopped at the whiskey village, you can see the great sanitary practices around the still in the center photo.  They produced 3 different types of whiskey.  The purple on the top shelf was 15% and was very nice.  They had a creamish color one that was pretty good and they also had a 55% clear one that was pretty rough.  You can also see that they had pickled snakes, scorpions and other critters in different bottles.  I have drunk Habu Sake in Okinawa but I had to pass on these.  We passed through part of the village which was wall to wall vendors asking you to purchase their products.  We also stopped at the local temple to take some photos.  We had 30 minutes to wander and it seemed that it went by very quickly but that could have been the whiskey effect.  I think it was good marketing to give the tourists booze and then send them off to shop.  It loosens the inhibitions. 
Rice Whiskey with scorpions included


We had been told that there were two caves.  The upper cave was a pretty steep climb while the lower cave which had more statues in it was an easier climb.  I guess those estimates were based on young people because while the upper cave was a long climb, the lower cave was not an easy climb. 
Pak Ou Caves
One mile along the Mekong looks pretty much like any other mile but we did see people fishing, digging for clams, mining sand and loading onto their boats, and just general village life along the 10th longest river in the world.

We did arrive in Hanoi with no difficulties.  A driver was there to pick us up and deliver us to the La Siesta Trendy which is located in the Old Town Hanoi.  We were checked in rapidly, given our welcoming drink and a plate of dried apricots.  We dumped our bags in the room and dashed to the hotel restaurant because they stop taking orders at 10:45 PM and it was after 10, and we did not feel like going out into the town to get our dinner.  After a very good dinner, we returned to the room and crashed. 
Tuesday, 4 April

Ho Chi Minh's Tomb
We were not able to sleep in this morning.  We had a half day tour of the city with a pick up time of 9:00 AM.  Our guide and driver were the same people who met us at the airport.  The first place our guide took us to was Ho Chi Minh’s tomb, we also were allowed to view the exterior of the Presidential Palace before going to see the home that Ho Chi Minh first lived in when we became President of North Vietnam in 1945 and then the home that they built for him where he lived for 11 years until his death in 1969.  It was very busy there because of all the school children who were on a school excursion.    
    
We were then taken for a driving tour of the Old French Quarter to see the examples of French Colonial Architecture.   We also stopped at an old temple where the sons of the Mandarins came to be tested to see if they qualified to be the leaders of the people.  The tests were given every three years.               

While we were there we learned that the Vietnamese honor 4 animals – the Phoenix, the tortoise, the lion and the dragon.
Pineapple vendor in Old Hanoi
After the driving tour, our guide took us on a walking tour of the Old Town.  Our guide was very driven, there was no time to shopping, get walking.  She would turn around and we were lagging behind because we saw something or Laura was taking a photo of something that caught her attention.                 

After the tour, we were brought back to our hotel and we went up to rest our feet.  After a couple of hours, Laura felt rested enough to venture out on our own.  So armed with a hotel map, we headed out; blithe spirits bound for adventure.  After a short time, we were hopelessly lost.  One of Laura’s goals was to go visit the lake in the center of the Old Town.  A nice man on a Pedi cab said he could take us there for 20,000 VND.  When we got there he demanded 350,000 VND.  So we learned not to trust Pedi cab drivers.  We walked around the lake, visited a temple on a little island in the lake.  Afterwards we went to a hotel to ask them to call us a reliable cab to take us back to the hotel.           
Sword Lake in Old Hanoi
      
We had to hurry to get back to the hotel because we were scheduled for a street food tour at 7PM.  It was another walking tour and our feet had just about had it.     
George passed on the chickens foot
          


I can’t remember what the first taste treat was, I passed on the boiled chicken’s foot, the dumplings with shrimp, pork and beef, and the papaya salad with dried beef were all good.  The tour took us to 7 different shops.  We sat with the locals and enjoyed a taste of some dish as we travelled along.  We also stopped twice to have a beer.  We had a Hanoi beer and then a special beer that is brewed daily and anything not drank that day is thrown out.  It is only good for one day.  We got back to the hotel late and went to bed because we had get up and check out of the hotel by 7 AM in the morning. 
Street Food Tour

Wednesday, 5 April
Morning came early, we packed up and took our bags down to be stored because we were coming back the next day.  Our ride to the airport was on time and we were dropped off without any problems.  When we went to check in for our flight on the seaplane to Ha Long Bay, they told us that we had been switched to the second flight which was leaving 10 minutes later.  That did not seem to be a problem.

When it came time to board, they informed us that the plane needed to get fueled and it would be 15 minutes delay.  No problem, it is always better to fly in a plane with a full tank of fuel.  We boarded and then taxied out to the runway.  When we got to the runway, the front left tire went flat.  Now that is a problem.  We sat on the runway for about an hour while the aviation company and the airport tried to figure out what they were going to do.  Finally they had us get off the plane and they bussed us back to the airport.  They were going to tow the plane back and change the tire.
Our seaplane being towed

They were very sorry for the inconvience and arranged for us to go into the Business Class Lounge where there was some snacks and drinks which we could eat if we wished.  Now the flight that had been scheduled for 9 AM was going to leave at 1 PM.  That is a problem, the ship we were meeting pulled out of port at 12 PM.  The company told us there would be a speedboat to take us out to the ship.    The story continues to get worse, when we finally were told we could go board the plane.  They drove us out to the plane but the company had decided to fly the plane that had it’s flat tire fixed at 12 PM but now needed to be refueled.  So they turned us around and sent us back to the airport.  We did finally get out but it was one little thing after another and people were getting angry.
One of the reasons we wanted to take the plane other than the fact that it was a 3-4 hour drive by car; was that we would see Ha Long Bay from the air.  Mother Nature was not cooperating with us.  It has been grey and overcast for the past 4 days.  The temperture here is in the mid 60’s to mid 70’s and we are not fighting the humidity like we did down south or in Cambodia.                          
Flying over Halong Bay
When we landed the speed boat was waiting for us.  They loaded us all in and took off after the cruise ships. They found one of the other passengers ship first and off they went.  Ours was the next ship and we were the next to get off.

Our ship
The ship was one of the Paradise Luxury crafts.  It was very nice inside.  The cabins were well done as well as the main lounge where we had our meals.  The exterior of the ship could have used a coat of white paint.  Because we had missed sailing, we had also missed lunch but the ship had saved us something to eat.  We had 25 minutes to eat before we had the first tour.  We were going to visit the Cua Van Floating Village in a bamboo boat.  The population of the village was about 700 people.  There are few children other than babies as the children were on the mainland with relatives so they could go to school.

Cua Van Floating Village
               
We returned to the ship for happy hour on the sundeck and to watch a cooking demonstration on how to make Spring Rolls.  After that we were to dress for dinner, in outfits provided by the cruise.   After dinner we each had a free half hour massage, which was given to us to make up for all the problems we had getting to the boat.         
George in his dinner dress
        


Thursday, 6 April
The local 7-11
We woke up and Laura heard a noise outside our cabin window.  She opened the curtains and the local 7-11 had rowed up next to the boat and was trying to sell her wares.  We went up for coffee and pastries before going on an excursion to the Sung Sot Cave.  The cave was very pretty but there was one little detail.  There were 150 steps to get to the entrance of the cave, 200 steps to exit the cave and a bunch of steps inside the cave.  They told us that there were 700 plus steps in all.  It was difficult to make the climb up to the cave without stopping to catch our breath.  We lagged behind the group but the tour guide kept coming back to check on us.  We would catch up when they stopped for an explanation or photographs but then they would surge ahead.                 

We returned to the ship for breakfast and to settle up our bills prior to the ship’s return to port.  We were met at the Tuan Chau Marina by a driver and driven to Hanoi with only one stop at an Arts and Crafts Center for the Disabled.  The driver had his lunch and we wandered around and finally purchased an ice cream bar.
Surprise Caves in Halong Bay
We arrived back at the La Siesta Trendy and were greeted like returning family.  They had upgraded our room for our final stay.  We ventured out into the neighborhood trying to locate a beer mug for a local Vietnamese beer.  We did not have any luck but we were able to find our hotel again with minimal difficulty.  The streets run every which way which really makes it interesting for individuals who do not know the area.  I know from our taxi rides that some of the streets are one way, not that it matters to the people on motorcycles; so to get to some where you might have to weave back and forth. 

We had dinner in the hotel and talked with a couple from Carlsbad who had just arrived.  Then it was back to the room to pack and to bed.
Friday, 7 April

After breakfast, Laura went down to the front desk to see if they could call the airlines to see if we could get on an earlier flight.  The way it is scheduled now, we have 40 minutes in Japan to change planes for LA.  It could get interesting. 
The concerns that we had this morning did not manifest themselves as problems.  We were picked up and taken to the Hanoi International Airport and we boarded our plane and departed as scheduled.  We landed in Tokyo and while we only had a short time to get from the gate where our plane dropped us to the gate we were departing from; we made it with time to spare.  For the flights home, we were in Economy but the airlines put us first in seats while they were not Business Class, they still had more room than the Economy seats.  The flight from Tokyo to Los Angeles was not too full so while we were in Economy, we did not have anyone sitting next to us.  We arrived in LA and were expedited through customs and immigration so we could catch our flight to San Diego.  Laura switched seats with a woman who wanted to sit in an aisle seat which was my seat but had a window seat, in doing so; Laura got to sit next to me and we again had a seat empty between us.  So the flights home went well.  Our baggage all arrived and nothing was broken inside.

Kim and James picked us up at the San Diego Airport and took us home where we were greeted by a very happy schnauzer.  It was hard to tell who was the happiest – Baxter or Laura.
So the trip is over, but I want to share some other thoughts on what was different from 45 years ago.

I wrote earlier about the traffic.  There were many more cars than in 1971.  I saw fewer bicycles and many more motorcycles.  The motorcycles are all small 90 – 150cc.  I did see one Harley.  We were told that there were 35 motorcycles for every automobile registered.  People’s attire had changed.  Many of the people wore western style clothing.  The traditional Ao-Di was not as prevalent, and when it was worn it was fancier than the plain ivory colored silk with the black pants.  Men wore a suit and tie if it were for business otherwise it was slacks and a polo shirt; sometimes jeans and a tee shirt for the younger men.  The people were friendly.  School aged children often spoke with us to practice their English language skills.  Construction of hotels, resorts and all the support business for the tourist trade is booming.  Some things were unchanged.  General sanitation is lacking.  Trash is dumped on the street waiting for someone to come pick it up.  There were lots of plastic bags and containers along the roads. With the exception of one pedi cab driver, no one took advantage of us.  We were warned about taxi companies that were not reliable and in Laos we told to keep a close eye on the money exchange as tourists were often short changed.  It was interesting dealing with the money.  In 1971, the only money we had was MPC – military payment certificate because the government did not want the US dollars going onto the Vietnamese black market.  During our trip the Vietnamese Dong was $1 US to 22,675 VND.  So getting a bill for over 1,000,000 VND was exciting it meant that you spent $44.10 for dinner.  In Cambodia they took the US money but in Laos the exchange rate for $1 US to 8.190 kip. The hotel in Sihanoukville thought it was in Los Angeles when it came to charging for our laundry.  They charged $5 to wash a pair of jeans but in Hanoi we were charged $1.20 for 2 pair of jeans.
 I wonder if in 45 years, American veterans will go to Afghanistan or Iraq to see what has changed since they were there last.

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