Bangkok to Rio

For another break from Hanoi, we went on a day trip to the Perfume Pagoda, the holiest site in Vietnam for Buddhists. It's a bit complicated to get there -- you take a bus to a river, a rowboat up the river, a cable car up a mountain, and a long staircase down into a cave, at the deepest corner of which lies a Buddhist shrine.

The boatride:

Our boatman was tired, so Jesse offered to row for a bit:

The most impressive thing about the Pagoda was not the shrine itself, but the surroundings.

If you've seen photos of Vietnam, they're probably of Halong Bay. Either that, or women in the field with round straw hats. We'd seen plenty of the latter, so decided it was time to book a trip on a boat to check out the famed limestone karsts and caves of Halong Bay.

The boat trip was fantastic - the highlight of our travels thus far. The first day, we visited Surprising Cave. The most surprising thing was how much one rock resembled... well, the guide called it a "gun," but a more accurate description would be... well, this is a family blog, so let's just call it "equipment." Standing at attention. Unfortunately we didn't document the thing. Here's a photo of a less anatomically-correct stalagmite:

The scenery in Halong Bay is gorgeous, and, according to our guide, resembles all kinds of animals. Apparently our imaginations aren't as good as his. This is either fighting or loving chickens - you decide:

Here's some photos of the scenery, to give you an idea of what we were looking at in between penis jokes and whatnot:

The first night of the trip, we got to sleep on the boat, anchored in a lagoon. Here's the view from our cabin:

We went kayaking, hiking and swimming.

Sadly, after three days we had to return to the madness that is Hanoi.

To get from Hoi An to Hanoi, we woke up at 4 am, and endured 16 hours of tiredness, sore butts and loud karaoke (yes, on the train), with only peanuts for snacks. A highlight, however, was watching American movies dubbed with only one woman doing the voice-overs for every character, and with the original dialogue still audible in the background. Apparently there wasn't room in the budget for male voice talent. Somehow, Clint Eastwood just didn't have the same effect with a woman's voice... maybe if they had found a 60-year-old lifelong smoker...

The views, however, kept us going. A couple highlights, taken from the train:

After the beaches of Nha Trang, we headed to Hoi An, which was a major trading center around the year 0, and then again from 1400-1800 or so. Or I may be totally off on the years. Whenever they traded stuff there, today it's cute and quaint and filled with tourists. We wandered around old buildings, sat by the river, and took a cooking class.

Here are some photos taken around town:

This is a photo of an Assembly Hall, where the Chinese community in the town got together to talk business and religion:

And Jesse looking out from one of the old houses (in one family for generations upon generations):

For a whopping $15, we stayed in the nicest hotel of the trip so far. The view from our room:

After the noise and chaos of Bangkok, Phnom Penh and Saigon, it was nice to get to Nha Trang, Vietnam's most popular beach town but still a sleepy, laid-back place.

We spent an entire day lounging on the beach, interrupted only for a very tasty lunch:

This lady hangs around on the beach with a pot full of incredibly fresh (i.e. still alive) lobster, crab, prawns, and other unidentifiable bivalves, molluscs and crustaceans. You point to what you want, she weighs it, then cooks it up on a little charcoal grill.

All it needs is a simple dipping sauce -- a paste of salt, ground pepper, and lime juice. A little messy but really freaking good.

More banh xeo on the street -- the mini version this time, kind of like a Vietnamese taco:

The thing to do for tourists in Nha Trang is a boat trip to some of the many islands dotting the bay. The boat trip organizers have clearly watched too many MTV Spring Break specials -- in addition to snorkeling, a visit to a beach, and a walk around an aquarium/aquaculture farm on one of the islands, the trip includes beer, a floating bar where everyone bobs next to the boat in inner tubes drinking horrible wine, and a live performance where the boats crew picks up instruments and sings horribly out-of-tune renditions of hits such as Auld Lang Syne and Proud Mary.

Despite the tour company's better efforts, our group remained relatively laid-back and sober, and we had a great time cruising around the South China Sea.

And one final Nha Trang photo: