vietnam and laos
 

Well, we're on the plane. We'll be in saigon in about 20 hours or so. I hope I survive.

Hey! Have a great trip and I look forward to following along. The plane trip is a killer--it's like you're never going to get there.

You will. You'll be fine on the way over. The trip home - well, you'll be glad you went and that will soften it a bit.

Have a wonderful, wonderful time.

Can't wait to hear all your impressions and more about what your son is doing (I know it is teaching, but I like the details).

I'm sure you will have a wonderful time. Do tell us all about it!

Heck,i hope your fellow passengers survive. They don't know what they are in for with santamonica along for the ride!

Looking forward to following along.

The survival will come into play as you try to cross the streets in Hanoi and HCMC. Have a great time.

He said he was flying through Beijing. That would put his most likely flight over the western edge of Hudson Bay right now. Too bad it's dark. He could see the polar bears waving at him.

This is not much of a trip report.

Hello everybody. We are in Singapore. We got to Beijing late so waited for midnight flight to Singapore and then on to Saigon. Beijing airport is a lonely place late at night with much passing through security, misdirection, rushing, waiting, goings hither and yon on little trains and finally getting tickets rewritten and finding the right gate and watching more bad movies in China Air. But now, soon we'll be boarding a plane to Saigon and life will begin again. Drew Barrymore is not a very good actress.

Were you in economy class?

We'very arrived! Despite being tired from the trip here, which was econony class and lasted longer than the Paris peace accords, we have already jumped in the hotel pool (hotel romana, conveniently located) had lunch with DS and one of his roommates, and crossed several streets.

The are many, many motor scooters here. A river of motor scooters. You feel like Moses crossing the street.

We stay in Saigon for three nights, then fly off to Luang Prabang in Laos for six nights, Hanoi for a night, An Bang Beach (near Hoi An) for four nights, then back to Saigon for a couple nights, then home.

The itinerary could have benefited from some tweaks here and there, but it is what it is.

Suggestions and a nap before dinner are welcome.

I don't believe Moses ever visited Vietnam. I suggest a bike ride.

You're brave -- crossing the streets when jet lagged. Our stratgey for street crossing was to attach ourselves to some VN women and follow in their jet stream so to speak.
Love Luang Prabang despite it being on the touristy side. Why Hanoi for just a night? Have a great time!

Alas! Just one day in Hanoi? We spent a week and had no trouble filling it.

Enjoy!

We are in Vietnam at themoment and are looking forward to reading about your experiences.

Good luck with the traffic! Her are a few pointers I sent to some friends joining us in Saigon next month,

1. The Vietnamese drive on the right, or the left, or on the sidewalk, wherever the mood and traffics may take them.
2. Walk with purpose as though you own the road and have not a care in the world And they will find there way around you
3. Look constantly around engaging the eyes of the drivers around you - always nice to see those who are attempting to kill you
4. Never hesitate or deviate from your chosen path or stop under any circumstances - it will cause chaos
5. Flashing of lights or sounding of horns means "I am coming through regardless of what you do"
6. If you see a bus or truck coming towards you run like hell - they will not stop.
7. It is ok to ride motorbikes on sidewalks and compulsory to parks bikes on them across so as to force pedestrians into the street
8. Texting and/or smoking whilst riding a motorbike is considered the norm and much safer than when walking as you might trip over a tourist

Enjoy your time in Vietnam.

"6. If you see a bus or truck coming towards you run like hell - they will not stop."

That's the one I learned in Beijing. I think they really would run over someone. At least in Canada there would be skid marks to measure as part of the investigation.

Great tips, crellston! I always looked upon crossing the streets as my adrenaline rush…a bit of excitment throughout the day.

Saigon is Thunderdome. And I'm Mad Max in a cab, watching hundreds of motor scooters, inches away, competing fiercely with us for advantage in a race to the Reunification Palace, Notre Dame Cathedral, the Rex Hotel, and the War Relics Museum. Scooter drivers are intensely focused but their passengers, little kids especially, will look over and smile at us in the cab.

Thunderdome with a smile.

Its been forty years since an NVA tank drove through the gates of what's now the Reunification Palace and ended the war. The five o'clock follies, US military press briefings at the Rex Hotel, had ended several years earlier. The War Relics Museum presents a sad history of the war, written by the winners.

We've been to two of the restaurants our good friends Brad and Angolie went to when they were here: Cuc gach quan and
Quan nong.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restauran...Minh_City.html

Quan Nuong http://tripadvisor.com/1813651?m=19907

Both places were fun, the first more refined, the second a lively rooftop diy barbecue. We took DS and his fellow English teacher roomies to the barbecue and then to a very good jazz bar. I bought the t-shirt.

Sax N Art Jazz Club http://tripadvisor.com/2435381?m=19907

This morning maybe we'll go on a city tour on the backs of scooters driven by lady tour guides wearing traditional Vietnamese dresses. I'm worried about how to hold on to my tour guide and DW is feeling a little queasy from our wild night last night so I'm not sure what we'll do.

Tomorrow we fly to Luang Prabang.

The ladies in dresses tour was sold out so ds#1 took ds#2 and me for rides on his scooter. I know you're thinking why travel half way around the world to ride a motel scooter but I must say it was a lot of fun.

Lamentably, DW has digestive issues typical of visitors to vietnam so she has been in the room all day except for a swim this morning.

The big event today was massages for the young adults and me at a reputable massage place, according to ds#1. It was a great massage. However, my sons reported solicitation of services not part of a normal therapeutic massage. Sadly, I was not solicited. Not that I would have accepted, but it would have been nice to have been asked. After all, I'm not dead yet.

Then ds#1 took me on a scooter all over saigon to look for an empty tennis court. We were able to play at courts next to the national palace. Maybe this was a fancy country club once. We had a barefoot ball boy who was better than us, I could tell, by the way he picked the ball up from the court (double bounce with the racquet). Expats, like ds#1, have barefoot ball boys who play tennis better than they do.

Then at dusk we rode the scooter back to the hotel. Terrifying and beautiful ride at night with the Mad Max crowd. Tonight we'll eat a simple meal in the room where DW is recovering nicely, although slowly.

That was our day half way around the world.

The ladies in dresses tour was sold out so ds#1 took ds#2 and me for rides on his scooter. I know you're thinking why travel half way around the world to ride a motel scooter but I must say it was a lot of fun.

Lamentably, DW has digestive issues typical of visitors to vietnam so she has been in the room all day except for a swim this morning.

The big event today was massages for the young adults and me at a reputable massage place, according to ds#1. It was a great massage. However, my sons reported solicitation of services not part of a normal therapeutic massage. Sadly, I was not solicited. Not that I would have accepted, but it would have been nice to have been asked. After all, I'm not dead yet.

Then ds#1 took me on a scooter all over saigon to look for an empty tennis court. We were able to play at courts next to the national palace. Maybe this was a fancy country club once. We had a barefoot ball boy who was better than us, I could tell, by the way he picked the ball up from the court (double bounce with the racquet). Expats, like ds#1, have barefoot ball boys who play tennis better than they do.

Then at dusk we rode the scooter back to the hotel. Terrifying and beautiful ride at night with the Mad Max crowd. Tonight we'll eat a simple meal in the room where DW is recovering nicely, although slowly.

That was our day half way around the world.

Talk about turning a happy ending into a sad ending. My condolences.

Enjoying your report! I do hope DW is feeling better soon!

<<Sadly, I was not solicited. Not that I would have accepted, but it would have been nice to have been asked. After all, I'm not dead yet.>>

Indignation followed by regret -- I so relate! As an older (not old!) female, I no longer get those whistles and stares on the street. I want to get indignant - but they're not bothering me anymore.

Sounds like you're having a very fun time in VN. What's the weather like? Did you play tennis in the heat? Hope DW is able to join in the fun soon.

progol -- "As an older (not old!) female, I no longer get those whistles and stares on the street. I want to get indignant - but they're not bothering me anymore." well stated!

I hope dw is feeling better soon.

The scooters, the tennis, and the massage experiences all sound great!

Dear Santamonica,

So nice to be reading your report. Although I'm sorry to hear your wife is not feeling well. A little pepto bismol every day is very good for traveler's diarrhea. I used it in Bangladesh and was the only without without "issues" that trip.

Keep it coming!

Good luck and have a great time.

THanks for all your comments and suggestions. We are in Luang Prabang now. DW is all better but I was sick last night and spent today in bed whilst the rest of the family spent the day missing me at a beautiful waterfall. We went to a restaurant with great food and music by Stephenie grappelli and then the night market and now I'm back in bed. It's very nice to be in bed but why go half way around the world to be in bed? Tomorrow maybe we'll ride some elephants, or shoot them, I'm not sure what the plan is. DW just mentioned caves.

Oh no! Sorry you are now not feeling well. Hope that ends soon. We really enjoyed Tamarind Restaurant in LP. Try the granitas that they served. Another good meal was at Tamnak Lao.

Maybe you will ride elephants in a cave? Then you could touch the roof.

Hope tomorrow you are both back in the saddle. On elephants.

Hello everybody!
The best time to visit Viet Nam is this season when there are no rain and it is also not too hot as usual. You can start your trip in the North and travel to the South to explore the whole country. In february, there is a very big and important festival in Viet Nam. You can enjoy a wonderful trip as well as special experience in this lovely country.

We're staying at the Apsara, next to the Tamarind. We'll go to the Tamarind for Christmas dinner.

Today, after my day half way around the world in bed, I got up early, bought some sticky rice and crackers from a street vendor, and sat on the sidewalk waiting for the monks to file by, which they did shortly, collecting people's alms of sticky rice and crackers and moving along quickly. I ran out of rice and crackers in the middle of the monks so the ones at the end of the line got nothing from me. This may result in bad karma.

Yesterday, the rest of my family had a wonderful time at a waterfall (kuang si falls) where they went swimming. The pictures look incredible, although they said the water was really cold. I hope I can get to a waterfall. A makeup waterfall.

Today we took a two hour boat ride to Pak Ou caves. Upper and lower caves filled with Buddhas. The upper is quite a bit upper but worth the climb.

The boats here are not like boats in the usa. Boats in Asia are long and skinny for some reason. Like that mural of a Japanese boat in the middle monstrous waves. We stopped at a village and bought some scarves and table runners.

I have to do some serious christmas shopping tomorrow for DW and the children which will be difficult because there are no Chicos and Targets here.

Elephants soon.

Glad you are feeling better. Too bad you missed the waterfalls. We were there in late Janaury and it wasnt terribly cold. Loved the Apsara. Really liked their omelet at breakfast. I think I had it everyday we were there. No Chicos or Target…I'm shocked! have fun

Yes, in your honor this morning I had the omelet. Quite tasty. Tonight, Xmas Eve, we have dinner at the Apsara, tomorrow at the Tamarind.

Today DW got a two hour massage, Ds#2 got sick, and DS#1 and I rented semiautomatic motorbikes and drove to another nearby waterfall (tad sae waterfall).

Driving a semiautomatic motorbike, or scooter, means you're cool but there are way cooler people all around you using a clutch. Still, driving a motorbike in Laos is one of the cooler things I've done.

There were elephants at the waterfall. And zip lines. No elephants on zip lines.

We shopped. Morning market, afternoon market, early evening market. We're ready.

I hope all fodorites, even the ones who aren't reading my trip report, have a merry christmas.

Happy holidays, SM! So glad you're better and enjoying your travels! Hope that DS2 feels better soon and DS#1 stays well!

Like yestravel, we loved the Apsara (and stayed there, thanks to her TR!). Our favorite dinner was at Apsara, followed closely by the one at Tamarind, so glad that you're having both.

I've become obsessed over scarves since traveling to this region, and my favorite scarves were bought in LP. There are some wonderful places to buy them in the shops and in the workshops that are across the river (see yestravel's report or mine for a better idea where these are located) that are worth going to, not just in the night market. I recently went to a flea market here in NYC where someone was selling some stunning silk scarves and discovered he bought them in Luang Prabang. I wish I bought more.....

Enjoy the rest of your trip and happy holidays to you!

Sounds like a great trip so far, santamonica! Hope DS2 recovers soon and that no one has any more troubles with illness!

We are in Bangkok now and will be leaving Monday for LP and will be staying at the Apsara too!

Hope you enjoy the rest of your trip - I will be reading along!

Merry Christmas to santamonica and family!

Hope you are all feeling better today.

It's terribly gloomy here so be glad you are off on motorbikes seeing waterfalls. And far from Chicos and Targets.

Regards to the Florida1s too!

Yesterday was christmas. Thanks for all your good wishes, and those of you visiting here have much to look forward to. I love grammar.

We're all healthy. Our elephant tour yesterday turned out to be the same place ds1 and I motorbiked to the day before. The elephants had nice brown eyes and wrinkly skin. Just like us.

Dinner at the Tamarind was very nice although ds2 almost passed out from eating a chili pepper. You've got to watch what you eat while you're eating it. The barbecued Buffalo was excellent.

This morning DW and I saw the monks file past for alms, had our last omelet, and left early
for the airport.

I bought a small journal at the airport for writing mindful meditation lecture notes. At my age I don't need a big journal.

We're in hanoi now at the serene hotel which is on a street too small for cars. We didn't think we'd go to Hanoi but a flight was canceled, so we are here for half a day. I know you itinerary-ites are upset with our poor planning, as you should be.

Soon we will have some pho, see a lake, and a museum or two. Then on to hoi an and the rest of our lives.

This could easily win a "What I Did on my Christmas Vacation" contest.

Oddly, the Temple of Literature has very few books. But it's a cool place with pagoda like buildings and pools and plenty of Buddhas.

We got lost coming back. Everything looks the same. But it's all very exciting. Pedicabs cost more than taxis.

Now I gotta give the phone to ds1 so he can post his picture to facebook, where he also hopes to win the Christmas vacation report contest.