rhkkmk

karen is quite sick this AM and all night too... she craves some toast and coke..

she feels her problem is from the mango drink yesterday... it contained ground ice/yogurt in the blender prep... usually a no for us... otherwise we ate all the same things...

rhkkmk

let me dedicate this entry to the streets...

horns are the rule, the only rule... the constant noise is almost too much, from 5AM to 11PM.... constant beeping..

THERE ARE NO ROAD RULES AS FAR AS I CAN SEE... vehicles do as they want... zoom forward to get any advantage... cut corners...ignor traffic lights... no police in evidence anyplace.... drive down the wrong side of the road... inch forward in a crunch... don't look left or right... complete chaos, but some how it all works...

crossing the street.... just walk forward being totally aware of your surroundings... look in the direction of the oncoming traffic... walk slowly... no dashing or quick movements... the traffic will avoid you... all works very well.. helps to be from boston... don't have panic on your face... be confident... i love it!!!

LAleslie

Saigon the same. Only Cairo is worse.

And whenever crossing the street in Vietnam, whatever you do, DON'T STOP! Interrupts the flow of the dance, nobody knows what to do. I prefer crossing with little old ladies and small children.

CFW

Sorry to hear Karen was sick. Other than that, sounds like you're having a great trip. Great report as usual. I'm taking notes...

rhkkmk

CFW--- make sure to eat at LY Club and Little Hanoi and Quan an ngon, and koto... all are fab...

we love the cyclo rides but rob may find itn hard on his back... negioate price before ride---50,000 for 1 hour is a good rate---don't know if this is a morning rate..

temple of literature was only soso... but koto and craft link are right across the street...

we still find Tan My shop at 66 hang gai to be one of the best in town---same as 10 years ago===clothing, table cloths, and general mdse...

20,000 dong to the dollar roughly... many prices are quoted in us dollars and you have to ask for the dn price---shops and restaurants....

WE HAVE BEEN VERY PLEASED WITH THE GIA BOA GRAND HOTEL...the location could not be better for ius at 1.5 blocks from the lake, in the old town area... shops and restaurants nearby... fabulous friendly english speaking staff... clean and comfortable... good simple breakfast with choices.... fabulous bread!!!

hotel car to the airport $15... can't beat that for a 1 hour ride...

K ate 1/2 piece of toast and drank some coke and took cipro, which stayed down this time and she is now sleeping... she can sleep for 2 more hours...

dgunbug

Sorry to hear that Karen is under the weather. We loved the street traffic and the challenge of crossing. I'm just curious how this compares to India and China street crossings.

rhkkmk

i don't remember china being that difficult, but i would not trust the chinese mentality to deal with avoiding me...

india is india.... we had less problems there...

OFF TO HUE

Smeagol

Sorry to hear Karen is sick, hope she feels better soon.

kmkrnn

so far coke and dry toast is staying put.As luck would have it out flight is delayed by to hours..There goes our 1/2 day of sight seeing. At least the airline got in touch with Tien(our guide) and she know we will be late. Looking forward to Hue and the villa Hue.

rhkkmk

we can't complain, we rarely ever encounter delays..

they offer lunch at the bleak restaurants... all tables taken, so they gave us 2 rolls and 2 waters... sitting people were having hot food... truth be told, we had already gone to the other sm restaurant.. i had a pho--cup in stryo bowl that you add hot water to---quite good actually and spicy... k had coke.. i tried a roll and it was salty and foul, so i took it back and left it on their counter..

i have now had a european cookie covered with chocolate from ritter sport--they have them at trader joes at home, ....so i am all set till dinner... i bought k another coke and some tea cookies... she seems quit good now...

gailmo

Karen,
Sorry to hear you are not feeling well. It is a big bummer to be traveling and not feeling well--as I know from first hand experience.

My hubby and I were at the Old Quarter today and had a wonderful lunch at Green Tangerine. I love that place. But we have added the restaurants you mentioned to our "must try" list while we still are in Hanoi.

We both hope the rain stays away in Hue and that you enjoy the Villa Hue and Tien. Tell her we send our love!

Hanuman

Hope Karen is better now. Stop feeding her street food Bob!

DonTopaz

VN traffic habits seem very familiar to me, as a bostonian

bookchick

Oh dear. Karen, feel better soon, and baby yourself as much as possible.

This is bringing back many memories of classmates from the linguistics program who ate halo-halos.

BC

Kristina

Bob- Sorry to hear Karen is not well. Before I got to that point in your tale, I was thinking of mentioning something about the Banana Flower Salad and now I must.

When I was in Siem Reap we saw banana flower salad on a number of menus. Lori told us she no longer eats it because she believes it has made her sick more than once. Then, independently of her, I was having a discussion with another woman who lives in SR while there who said the exact same thing! I'm wondering if there is something about banana flowers that <i>some</i> people just cannot digest?
Has Karen eaten them before without problem?

Looking forward to hearing what you think of Villa Hue. We stayed there last year and liked it.

Kathie

I'm glad Karen knows what to do and has some meds for being ill. It's no fun, but fortunately, she's on the mend. Those kinds of juice drinks can be a problem in many places - unfortunately, as they look/smell/taste so good.

Kristina, I eat Banana Flower Salad in Bangkok regularly without problems. But I would naturally be more cautious in Siem Reap... my concern is how the flowers are washed before preparation.

rhkkmk

karen is much better tonight... she ate some risotto tonight..

after 7 hours at the airport our flts were finally cancelled... we returned to the gia boa, the sister hotel of where we stayed before...

expect to skip hue all together and to fly to danang on sunday, and then resume our schedule...

tired

shelleyk

Cancelled flights certainly add another layer of stress to foreign travel. Fortunately, you and Karen are experienced travellers and know how to roll with the punches. Sorry to hear about the cancelled flight, but happy to hear that Karen is feeling better.

DonTopaz

(the following has nothing whatsoever to do w/Bob & Karen's trip.)

shellyk: 4 weeks too late, I just remembered a possibly irrelevant piece of info. Please tell Jim that the semi-redneck bar in Naples (ME, for you quidnuncs who are reading this) where Eddie C. got into some unspecified amt of hot water for playing Hatikvah on the piano was named <b>Morton's Pavilion</b>.

Smeagol

Bob why was your flight cancelled?