johnmjosethposts

[johnmjosethposts]

Day 10th | August 14 - Back to Chicago!

[johnmjosethposts]

Feb 26  Hong Kong to HOME!

But first...Retail Therapy: The contrast between stores occupying the Elements mall in the lower levels of the ICC Building and those along the streets of Mong Kok is humongous!  In the first, ultra high-end retailers (and the occasional mid-level merchant) line walkways clad in white marble.  No one seems to be shopping in the Chanel, Dior, or Vacheron Constantin stores, although several are repeated elsewhere in the mall.

Mong Kok is literally packed with people. Lots of young Chinese queue up at sidewalk food stalls for snacks while shoppers fill the stores selling clothing, cosmetics, jewelry, and electronics. The apartments that rise 10 or more stories above the streets are crowded together and have that distinctive look of decay and mold I’ve seen in other Asian cities.

​It’s entirely possible that I’ve missed them, but no where in Hong Kong have I seen stores featuring super-premium Chinese products. Almost certainly a safe bet: I conclude that the Chinese who can afford ‘em covet the status conveyed by Graff, Rolex, and Hermes. I’d like to be the first guy to develop a made-in-China wristwatch that Chinese high rollers are willing to pay $20,000 for.

Back to Sunday: Up before 7 am.  Last night’s rains have partially cleared the skies--we even spot some blue to the east. The harbor in front of us is full of boats, barges, ships, and ferries. It’s fun watching them criss cross one another, leaving wakes as the marine equivalent of contrails.

We have breakfast in the Ritz’s 102nd floor restaurant; both the view and the food are excellent. We even get to continue the  theme started yesterday: shrimp, pork, barbecue beef, and veggie dim sum in bamboo steamers are fresh and almost as good as what we had at Dim Dim Sum Mong Kok.  I check out and pay the tab for Friday’s festivities--just over $300 which seems reasonable for the wonderful time we had (and my Saturday morning headache).

We’re expecting a bellman at 8:45, but when no one shows, we grab our bags and head downstairs: an elevator from floor 115 to 103, then another elevator from floor 103 to 9. From there it’s three escalators down to the Cathay Pacific counter.  It takes no more than 20 minutes to cover this distance, check in and drop off luggage, and purchase our 90 HKD tickets to the airport.

By 9:10, we’re on the the express train to the airport, arriving there at 9:35.  Impressive, even amazing--from hotel room to airport in 45 minutes.  Security and immigration are a breeze and it’s not long before I’m seated in the Cathay Pacific lounge enjoying a cup of coffee while Susan looks for things to purchase with our last Hong Kong currency.  Like everywhere else in HK, the airport’s packed with shops labeled Chanel, Dior, Vacheron Constantin, Burberry, Tory Burch, etc. All are out of our price range!

Our Boeing 777-300ER lifts off at 12:10 pm. We’re in bulkhead seats in the premier economy section which means plenty of legroom Several movies--notably Denial-- and 13 hours later and we’re landing at O’Hare. We whiz through immigration, although an apple I’d left in my briefcase is detected by a dog. There’s not much of a consequence--all our luggage has to be x-rayed as we exit the baggage claim area.

Each day of the last three weeks was full of adventure and new experiences--it’s been a fantastic trip!

[johnmjosethposts]

Feb 25  Hong Kong

Moving slooowly...last night’s festivities, along with the 12,650 steps we walked yesterday extracted a price. That, and our 115th floor room is cool and dark, thanks to the excellent air con and automated curtains. The views of Hong Kong Island improve as the fog lifts and the clouds recede.

We head downstairs to the MTR station that’s in the basement of the International Commerce Center. Two escalators later, we find ourselves in the enormous underground Elements mall populated by the same high end retailers we’ve seen elsewhere. In search of coffee, we end up having a 1:30 lunch (very average) at one of the mall’s many restaurants. I’ll say this for the mall--the bathrooms are spotless due to their full-time attendants. It’s also the only place I’ve seen a Bentley SUV.  Expensive cars roam the streets of Hong Kong!

One happy discovery--the Airport Express leaves from the vicinity of the same MTR station and we can even check in and drop off our baggage at the adjacent Cathay Pacific counter.

We’re on our way to Mong Kok to visit the Ladies Street Market and do some last minute souvenir shopping. As we’ve discovered, the walk from the Orange Line to the Red Line is a 15 minute hike--and indoors--and the crowds are impressive, although the our trains aren’t particularly full.

We arrive in Mong Kok and exit via the Argyle Street stairs. The area’s alive with people--lots of Westerners in the Ladies Market and Chinese everywhere else. The shopping’s not bad--lots of knockoffs and inexpensive souvenirs--and the bargaining is fun. It’s not hard to get 30 to 40% off asking or even 50% using the tried-and-true Walkaway Method.

I’m ready to call it a day, but to her credit, Susan insists on finding a place serving dim sum. The small and crowded Dim Dim Sum Mong Kok at 112 Tung Choi St is nearby and the dim sum is remarkable. We try everything from the Piggy Custard Buns to delectable morsels stuffed with shrimp, pork, barbecue beef, and vegetables. We top it off with fried cheese balls served with kimchi. All this and a Coke Zero runs 155 HKD/$20 US. There are lots of other interesting restaurants in the area, but we’re stuffed.

We cab it back to the hotel in under 10 minutes. It’s a great night to stay in and savor the view!

[johnmjosethposts]

Feb 24  Hong Kong

Slept like a rock! Up at 9:15, shower, pack, checkout and turn our luggage over to the bellman for temporary storage.

We head to the MTR station a few minutes before 11 to make our 11:30 tour and lunch date with Kevin Sproule. Kevin, a great young guy who worked at McMaster-Carr for six years, is now married, the father of a 15-month-old son, and employed by Google in Hong Kong. Kevin’s part of a team working on Google’s new phone, the Pixel. It’s terrific to see him and catch up!

Kevin gives us a grand tour.  Google’s Hong Kong team works all kinds of crazy hours--Kevin had a 12:30 am call today--and has some pretty cool digs: spaces for meditation and/or napping, a coffee bar complete with barista, a massage room (by appointment), and a wonderful cafeteria where Kevin treat us to a delicious lunch of pork, noodles, and dumplings.

Kevin points us in the direction of Victoria Peak. We hope back on the MTR to Central, then stroll the few blocks uphill to the tram station. We don’t have long to wait--the trams are running every 8 minutes--and in short order we’re at the top, the Peak Tower. Well, not quite at the top. First we have to navigate eight floors of shopping--yes, 8--before gaining access to the observation deck. Even though it’s cloudy and misty, the views are wonderful.

On our way back down, we stop for cocktails at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. While not normally a place I would frequent, Susan spots two bar stools on a large window with a gorgeous view of the city and bay.

By a quarter past 4, we’re back at the Star Ferry terminal for the hop to Kowloon.

Rather than go straight back to the Langham to claim our luggage, we stop at the Hullett House for cocktails at the Mariner’s Pub. Originally built in 1881, the Hullett House was headquarters for Hong Kong’s Royal Marine Police. It’s been beautifully restored as a boutique hotel.  The shopping center beside it is home to the only store exclusively retailing  Patek Philippe watches  I’ve ever seen.

Susan has a very exotic dragon fruit cocktail, garnished with a wedge of the fruit, and I imbibe an excellent locally-brewed imperial IPA, the 8% 1842 Island from Young Master Ales.

By now, it’s 5:30 and time to make our move to the RItz-Carlton. We arrive by cab and are whisked to the 103rd floor reception area. I check in while Susan heads to the Ozone Bar on the 118th floor. The views of Hong Kong Island are spectacular--the skyscrapers on the opposite shore look like the world’s tallest amusement arcade. We strike up conversations with several Americans who are also at the bar for the sights. It’s a mite chilly as a portion of the ceiling is open to the sky.

Not that I make a habit of photographing restrooms, but the men’s marble-clad washroom has an unbelievable view, too!

Dinner at Cafe 103 is an absolute feast! It’s an over-the-top buffet featuring just about everything imaginable: lobsters, oysters, spring rolls, sushi, sliders, noodles, etc. Our cute waiter--a 19-year-old Chinese intern who attends a hotel school in Switzerland--never lets our glasses run dry of an excellent cabernet franc. I’m not sure what time we stop eating and drinking, but I’m ready to pop. Diet starts Sunday!

[johnmjosethposts]

Feb 23  Hong Kong

Up before Susan and downstairs for coffee and journaling. Susan joins me at 10:15 and we leave the hotel to search for breakfast. We stroll to the area near the night market and find open seats in a busy restaurant. After bowls of congee/rice porridge--one with fish, the other with pork--and a cup of coffee from a nearby convenience store--we return to the hotel.

$2 HKD/each gets us a ride on the Star Ferry from the Tsim Sha Tsui pier across the bay to the Central Pier on Hong Kong Island. We disembark and walk along an elevated pedway that parallels Man Yui Street until we run into Lan Kwai Fong, the center of a lively bar and dining area in the Central District.

We stop for lunch at Ayuthaiya, a Thai restaurant at 35 Hollywood Road. Susan orders a spring roll and I opt for an excellent green curry with squid. A Tsing Tao draft beer for me and a chardonnay for Susan complete the meal.

One of the restaurant’s staff recommends a stop at PMQ, a collection of very cool galleries and shops housed in a building constructed in 1951 as the Police Married Quarters for married junior police officers. Susan treats me to a very cool wooden hand with articulated fingers.

Her generosity is rewarded a few minutes later when we encounter the Savvy Traveler himself, Rudy Maxa. Rudy’s in Hong Kong with a film crew and a Japanese restraurateur from DC taping a series on Hong Kong.

It’s nearly 4 pm, so we elect to head back to Kowloon, this time by Hong Kong’s MTR. For $21 HKD for two tickets, we catch the Tsuen Wan Line--HK’s Red Line--from Central Station to the Tsim Sha Tsui station near our hotel. The walk from where we purchase tickets to where we board an extremely packed car is many times longer than the ride itself.

We pick up wine, two bottles of an excellent IPA from a new brewery, and snacks at a well-stocked market near the MTR stop, then wander back to the hotel.

Dinner’s a quick bite at Itacho Sushi around the corner from our hotel.  We didn’t put a lot into the decision: it was either sushi or the LED-bedazzled Hing Fat restaurant across Ashley Road.

It was a 14,036-step day!

[johnmjosethposts]

Feb 22  Hanoi to Hong Kong

Following breakfast and a sidewalk farewell from the staff of the Essence Palace, we depart for Hanoi’s Noi Bai International Airport.  Busy rush hour traffic extends the drive to 45 minutes, but we’ve given ourselves plenty of time to make our 10:50 flight.

We bid Hoang “Tạm biệt” (and tip him ~2.7 million dong/$120) and head through security and immigration.  The fast moving lines give us plenty of time for cappuccinos at a coffee shop near our departure gate.

Our Cathay Draogon Airbus A321 is wheels up at 11:05 am and lands at 1:25 pm local, or12:25 Hanoi time.  We claim our bags, buy a HK sim card for $88 HKD/$11 and two railway tickets to Kowloon station for $150 HKD/$19. By 2:30 we’re standing on the platform waiting for the next train.

We don’t wait long. The train from the airport into Hong Kong is modern, clean, air conditioned, quiet, and fast–we arrive at Kowloon station at 3:10. Blue Line–take note! En route, we get a glimpse of a remarkably large number of very tall apartment buildings and lots of construction cranes. This part of the world–Saigon, Hanoi, now Hong Kong–is booming!

A ten minute cab ride to The Langham Hotel is $6. Theodore in reception checks us in, and confirms availability at the hotel should we elect to stay for two more nights. He also commits to making reservations for us at T’ang Court, the hotel’s Michelin three-star restaurant.

Our room on the 6th floor is pleasant and well-appointed, but the view is of a very unattractive building across a city street. I book a room with a view of Victoria Harbor for Friday and Saturday nights at the Ritz-Carlton.

We cool our heels for a bit (wonderful cashews at the hotel’s Palm Court lobby bar), then strike out for the Temple Street Night Market, the last remaining night market in Hong Kong and an easy 20 minute walk from the hotel. Susan’s read that it’s the place to go for food and we’re (or I am…) getting hungry.

The night market’s lively–lots of people and sidewalk restaurants, although the touristy merchandise is identical to what we’ve seen everywhere. We find a restaurant at the corner of Woo Sung and Saigon Streets and order a couple of Hong Kong specialties: fresh crab with chili, garlic, and black beans and steamed fish. When I say “fresh”, I mean fresh: the restaurant’s proprietor lets the fish flop around the sidewalk in front of us before taking it to the kitchen.

Although we’ve become accustomed to remarkable meals for $20 to $30, the $130 tab for this meal and experience–thank you, Susan–is worth every penny.

We stroll back to the hotel, stopping to catch an excellent doubles badminton match at a nearby pocket park. Our hotel is adjacent very high end retail stores. Hermes, Bulgari, Gucci, Prada, Dior, Chanel, Louis Vuitton and more all have enormous stores along Canton Road.

Once in room 608, we rent The Deer Hunter (Robert De Niro, Chris Walken, Meryl Streep)  on Amazon. Maybe not the best choice…

Lights out after midnight!

[johnmjosethposts]

Feb 21  Hanoi

Following breakfast at the hotel, we meet Hoang in the lobby, then cab to the nearby Cho Dòng Xuàn wholesale market. It’s packed with vendors selling great gobs of made-in-China merchandise. This is only speculation, but I’ll wager that 80%+ of the goods we see in the countless souvenir shops are imported from the neighbor to the north. We even manage to find pal Nancy Hearon a hysterical gift in partial payment for all the work she’s doing to complete the sale of my Halsted condo. Thank you Nancy!

We continue our walk through the busy streets of Hanoi’s Old Quarter. Everything imaginable is being sold from small storefronts, sidewalk stands, and the tops of bicycles. Turtle soup, anyone?

Since our itinerary pegs this morning as the “Hanoi Street Food Tour”, we make a 10:30 stop at the Hoa Zeo fruit shop for a snack of mango, jack fruit, water melon, and mango. From there, it’s a 10:50 stop at Nem Chua Ran, 36 Tam Thuong, for stir-fried fermented pork sausage with a bean root chaser.

Hoang says that unlike Saigon, there are very few all night restaurants in Hanoi. According to Hoang, the people in Hanoi work much harder than their Saigon cousins and as a result, go to bed early.

It’s another food encounter at 11:30, this time for shrimp and chicken steamed spring rolls at Thanh Van, 14 Hang Ga.

Less we go hungry, we order up egg coffees at noon at Cafe Giang. The impossibly delicious drinks--mine’s hot, Susan’s is cold--are thick and sweet.

We stagger back to the hotel and make plans to reconnect with Hoang at 2:00 to continue our tour.

The afternoon’s a bit of a sightseeing whirlwind:

Stop 1:  The Temple of Literature, founded in 1070 by Emperor Ly Thanh Tong, and dedicated to Confucius. Inside are the Well of Heavenly Clarity, a low-slung pagoda and statues of Confucius and his disciples. The complex honors Vietnam’s finest scholars and men of literary accomplishment. It is the site of Vietnam’s first university, established here in 1076, when entrance was only granted to those of noble birth.

Stop 2:  The Ho Chi Minh Complex   Within the complex are Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum, Ho Chi Minh’s simple stilt house and the French-built Presidential Palace, the Ho Chi Minh Museum and the One Pillar Pagoda. We catch a changing of the white uniformed guards.

Stop 3: The Trấn Quốc Pagoda  One of the oldest pagodas in Vietnam, Tran Quoc Pagoda is on the eastern shore of Ho Tay lake.

Stop 4: After a 90-minute break, the 6:30 performance at the Lotus Water Puppet Theater.  According to Wikipedia, Water puppetry (Vietnamese: Múa rối nước, lit. "Making puppets dance on water") is a tradition that dates back as far as the 11th century when it originated in the villages of the Red River Delta area of northern Vietnam. Today's Vietnamese water puppetry is a unique variation on the ancient Asian puppet tradition.

We wander back to the hotel and grab an absolutely sensational dinner at the nearby Quán Vi Saigon.  Razor clams, snails in lemongrass, barbecue prawns, morning glory greens, and beverages set us back 650,000 dong/$28.50. Wow!

[johnmjosethposts]

Feb 20 Ha Long Bay to Hanoi

Having slept very soundly—the door to our balcony was open all night—I wake a few minutes before 7:00. A quick shower, upstairs for a cup of coffee, then aboard a tender en route to a spelunking expedition. The two-chambered cave is interesting enough, but we’re thankful that we arrived a few minutes ahead of hordes of tourists from the other boats anchored.

We’re back aboard by 8:15. Breakfast is at 9:15 and we’re told that we’ll arrive back at our departure point by 11. 

Our next-table neighbors from NYC are Joe Kanon and his wife Robin Straus. Joe’s a well-known author: Leaving Berlin, Istanbul Passage, The Prodigal Spy, and The Good German. The last was made into the 2006 movie of the same name with George Clooney, Cate Blanchett, and Tobey Maguire. Joe doesn’t mention a word of this, it’s Robin who blows his cover. A charming couple, they’re celebrating their 40th anniversary today.

We belly up to the breakfast buffet, settle our bar bill, and board the tender for the short hop to shore. Hoang meets us as we disembark and moments later, we’re in the car and headed west toward Hanoi.

We make two stops--the first for a bit of shopping (silk pj’s and robe for Susan), the second for lunch. 

As we enter Hanoi, the bridge we cross the Red River parallels the Long Biên Bridge, built from 1899-1902 and bombed repeatedly--and rebuilt each time--during the Vietnam War.

We arrive back at the Essence Palace Hotel at 4:30 and make plans to meet Hoang for dinner at 7 pm. Jack Kanon has recommended a place he and Robin enjoyed--Quan An Ngon--and we cab it there. The place is jammed, so we head to its sister establishment at 25T2, Hoang Dao Thuy, a ten minute cab ride away.  Apart from beverages, we ask Huong to do the ordering. The meal’s excellent--spring rolls two ways, morning glory, Vietnamese pancakes, a beef dish, soup with pork sausage, and papaya salad with shrimp. It’s not our first million dong meal of the trip, but certainly one of the best!

We have Hoang drop us along Hoàn Kiếm Lake. It’s Monday evening at 9 pm and the place is humming with activity: pedestrians, salsa dancing, exercise classes, and hordes of selfie-stick wielding photographers. Vibrant!

We get back to the hotel at 9:30 and elect to turn in. It’s been a fun day, but we’re done.

[johnmjosethposts]

Feb 19  Hanoi to Hạ Long Bay

A reflection: We’ve spent the last week off the beaten path, driving and walking through rural areas, admiring the remarkable terraced mountains, and meeting the locals. There are lots of ethnic minority groups in the north (a total of 54 in the country); each has a unique language and distinctive clothing but all seem to live together in great harmony. The farms here remind me of Peru: terraced fields perched on the side of steep mountain slopes. Where the mountains are too steep to build terraces, the farmers plant corn and grasses on nearly vertical surfaces. They also farm every inch of arable soil: a few square inches of dirt on a rocky hillside will be planted with some kind of edible plant. Most striking is the beauty of the people—shy at first, but quick to return a smile or wave. Through Thao, we’ve been able to interact with Vietnamese in their homes, in restaurants, and in the markets. These will be our most enduring memories.

The Fanixpan Express pulls into Hanoi station at 4:45. Susan’s slept soundly since shortly after Lao Cai and while I can’t make the same claim, I’ve no complaints.

Dang Minh Hoang—call me “Jack”—meets us on the platform and accompanies us the short distance to the Cosiano Hotel, room 406, where we shower and have breakfast. It gives me a chance to update my blog with the Feb 18 posting.

We leave the hotel at 7:30 and stop at 9:30 for coffee and a potty break at the Dai Viêt chotski superstore. It’s the Wall Drug of the Red River Delta—buses disgorge tourists who dive for souvenirs in the large and very well-stocked store. The coffee’s great at 30,000 dong per generous cup—I have two.

Our route to Ha Long is choked with traffic, the scenery’s not nearly as attractive as elsewhere—the northern mountains have made snobs of us—and the 180 km takes a full four hours to travel.

We arrive at 11:45 at the reception area for the Victory Star, the cruise boat that will be our home for the next 21 hours.

By 12:45, we’ve donned life preservers and are in a tender on our way to the Victory Star, a 32 cabin vessel. Once aboard, we’re greeted with cold towels and fruit juice, which we rev up with some potent rice wine purchased at a minimart prior to our departure.

Lunch is at 1:15 and good, but compared to how we’ve been eating, decidedly westernized. Each party—there might be 50 of us—is seated at a table featuring their nation’s flag. There’s one or two other American couples. Alas, there are no rice wine toasts. We’re already missing Thao, Tai, and Ha Giang province.

To offset this, we’re cruising through the spectacular karsts of Ha Long Bay. I’ve seen photos of them, but nothing compares to the real things on this beautiful, cloudless afternoon. 

We pass on the excursion to a fishing village—the flotilla of tourist-laden tenders gives us a sense of what we’d see—and cool our heels on the upper deck.

From our cabin’s balcony (Susan’s getting a massage), I admire a breathtaking sunset. The last sliver of orange sun disappears behind the distant islands at 5:45.

Dinner’s at 7:30. Good, not great, but we make conversations with the couples beside us. One is from Manhattan, the other from New Zealand. A common aversion to Donald Trump binds us all. Similar to other conversations we’ve had this trip, the Kiwis are very conscious of American politics. Me? I couldn’t name the New Zealand prime minister to save my life.

We’d hoped for some stargazing, but the clouds/mist have moved in and only a few of the brightest stars are visible. No worries, it’s bedtime.

[johnmjosethposts]

Feb 18  Bắc Hà to Lào Cai to Hanoi

A momentary misplacement of Susan’s passport--discovered on the window ledge--delays breakfast, but soon enough we’ve consumed more great pho--bracketed by cups of Vietnamese coffee. We hop in the car and head to the market at Can Cao, 20 km north of Bac Ha.

The drive to the market is spectacular. We pass lots of Flower Mhong walking to the fields--many are already hard at work--or on their way to the market with the women in their Sunday (or Saturday) best.

The Can Cau market is held on Saturday (a larger market is held on Sundays in Bac Ha) and by the time we arrive at 9:30, it’s hopping. Flower Mhong, primarily women, have set up their displays on the ground and low platforms. The range of goods is astonishing: vegetables and fruits of every description, herbal medicine ingredients, cellphones, farm implements, and for the “White Mhong” tourists, plenty of souvenirs.

There’s a water buffalo sale taking place at a field below the market and there a literally hundreds of buffalo for sale. Thao said that a big buffalo will fetch between $800 and $1000.

There’s also a dining area where the raw ingredients are being served up to men who love coming to the market, as Thao puts it, “To eat meat and drink corn liquor until they pass out.” The female Mhong are there to shop and visit with one another while the young women are beautifully attired in order to attract the attention of young men. 

We hit the souvenir stalls and pick up Flower Mhong outfits for CJ and FInley. If we thought CJ was hysterical in last year’s costume from Rajhastan, wait ‘til his parents see them in these getups.

We leave the market at 11 and head back to Bac Ha. We take a quick tour of the early 20th century Hoang A Tuong Palace. Thao said that this particular “King of the Mhong” and his heirs, closely allied with France, occupied it until they were expelled by the Viet Minh.

We return to Bac Ha for lunch at the marketplace. A group of very friendly Mhong farmers strike up a conversation with us. It’s just after noon and they’ve been hitting the rice wine pretty hard but are exceptionally good-natured. One young man of 30, a father of 3 (big families are common among Mhong) said he converted to Christianity from animism after his wife miscarried five times and the shaman was bankrupting him. Yeeb Xeem Yaj (in Mhong) or Giang Seo Dinh (in Vietnamese) now worships Xeu Su (pronounced Zee Zoo). Yep, that’s Jesus.

Of course, this conversation is accompanied by a number of toasts of rice wine. I’m offered a local delicacy--rooster testicle--which I accept. Think “soft boiled egg.” After treating the men to a bowl of pork, we bid our farewells, but not before I snap a classic portrait at the request of a Mhong farmer. Gosh, these people are sweet.

It’s 1 pm, we’re on Hwy 70 enroute to Lao Cai, and I’ve got a great buzz going. The windows are down, the temperature’s perfect, and we’re loving Vietnam.

On our way through Lao Cai, we stop for a photo at the Vietnam/Chinese border.

We’ve got a room at the Thein Hai Hotel to use until the train for Hanoi leaves from the adjacent train station. We bid farewell to Tai, tip hiim $100, and walk across the street to the Terminus Cafe for refreshments and to say goodbye to Thao. He’s off on a local bus to Sapa to pick up his daughter, then return to his village. A wonderful guide, host, and very funny guy, we tip his $200. Note: the average monthly salary in Vietnam is $150 - $200.

The hotel is willing to do our laundry in the three hours we’ve got before we depart. This comes off without a hitch and costs a grand total of $12. While this is happening, we stroll through a local market and catch a light dinner back at the Terminus Cafe.

[johnmjosethposts]

Feb 17  Hoàng Su Phì to Bắc Hà

Having slept like rocks, we enjoy breakfast with strong coffee in the Pan Hou Lodge’s dining room. We’re running a little late, so departure’s at 8:30. We exit the lodge’s grounds via footbridge and quickly leave the valley and begin climbing into the mountains.

Countless hairpin turns provide exhilarating views of the terraced mountainsides where people are hard at work.  The sides of the road we’re on is populated by water buffalo, chickens, goats, ducks, potbelly pigs, and people. The number of motorbikes is significantly less and four wheel vehicles are few and far between.

We exit our car and begin hiking through the farm fields, giving way at one point to a small herd of buffalo (see video below). In an hour or so, at 10:15, we encounter Mrs. Sinh, a 72-year-old betel-chewing great grandmother who is working outside the family home.

Guide Thao’s packing school supplies, a few kick balls, and lollipops and hands Mrs. Sinh a handful of gifts for the children of the home. That gesture earns us an invitation inside where we meet Mrs. Sinh’s son and two of his male friends.  We drink tea, take a tour of the home, and it’s not long before a chilled bottle of rice wine is brought out and the toasts begin.

Our hosts are delightful--Thao may use them for trekking homestays--and we part like old friends.

We pick up the trail and it’s only a few minutes before we're encountering groups of children returning from school. They’re very shy--made more so by the presence of an enormous foreigner--but a pen, crayon, and a lollipop get a smile out of almost all of them.

It doesn’t take long before our school supplies are gone and we’re out of lollipops.

Not for dog lovers or the fainthearted: A woman is perched on top of a large stone in the middle of a stream. As we approach, we see that she’s skinning a dog. Thịt chó (dog meat) is widely consumed in Vietnam, signs for restaurants serving it are commonplace. According to one website, An estimated five million dogs are eaten in Vietnam every year and 2.5 million in the Korean Peninsula, while activists believe 70 per cent of those are stolen pets. I get the sense that in the country, dogs are no more pets than the free-range chickens or potbelly pigs we see everywhere, and they’re certainly not as valuable as water buffalo.

We link back up with Tai and the car at noon and continue our very mountainous drive. We pass dozens of waterfalls and even though this is the dry season, many have enough water in them to give us a sense of how spectacular they must be when it’s wet.

From Bản Luốc to Vinh Quang (a distance of 12 km), we travel on what in the States would be a sidewalk. It’s an 8′ wide stretch of concrete with practically no shoulders, and a steep drop of 1500 feet on either side.  Much of our driving over the last four days has been done between 1200 and 1500 meters above sea level which doesn’t seem that high. What adds the drama is the sheer steepness of the mountains (and the fact that the Vietnamese have found a way to farm on them!). We’re very grateful for Tai’s careful driving.

After lunch we follow the Green RIver to Cốc Pài and stop for photos of Flower Mhong and Nùng women selling their produce along the road through town.

At 4:10 pm, we leave Hà Giang province and enter Lào Cai province. By 4:45, we’re in Bắc Hà and checked into the Ngan Nga Hotel (I can only pronounce “hotel”).

Dinner at 7:30 downstairs is wonderful--fish with green bananas, fried spring rolls, potbelly pork with pickled rapeseed greens, I lose track...  That and a two bottles of rice wine downed with countless toasts--”Chúc sức khoẻ!” (To your health).

To our last night in the northern mountains, Chúc sức khoẻ!

[johnmjosethposts]

Feb 16   Yên Minh to Hoàng Su Phì

It’s an early morning as we meet at 7 am for breakfast. The pho with chicken is excellent so we take a peek at the kitchen to see the source of this deliciousness. Large pots of broth are boiling atop wood fires while bacon cures in the smoke. 

We cruise the local market. Everywhere the fruits and vegetables are incredible and if you’re looking for fresh meat--hog or dog--nothing is fresher than what’s being butchered. It’s funny to think about all the hoopla in the States about farm to table. Here, the distance is no more than a 15 to 20 minute walk.

By 8:30 we’ve entered what the road side sign states is “Frontier Area” and Thao says we’re no more than three miles from China. China invaded Vietnam for three weeks in 1979 following Vietnam’s invasion of Cambodia in 1978 and Thao says the fighting was very fierce in this area and continued until the mid-Eighties despite the official cessation of hostilities.

In this region of Ha Giang province, the principal means of transportation is walking, often with heavy loads of firewood, manure, and grasses for feeding animals. The mountainous terrain makes this all the more impressive to us. There are the ubiquitous motorbikes and plenty of big trucks, many of which are made in China: Dongfeng and the China National Heavy Duty Truck Group, CNHTC. Automobiles are few and far between.

Thao takes us to the Lungtam Linen Cooperative where we purchase locally-crafted products: a table runner and pillows. The big sale--maybe 50 bucks--creates quite a stir. The shopkeepers insist on dressing Susan in a Blue Hmong outfit, complete with jewelry and rattan backpack!

At 10:45 we stop to climb up a long set of stairs to a point from which we view the Fairy Bosom. We follow it with cups of Vietnamese coffee then hop back on the road. We’re following the Mien River which will eventually join the Lo River.

Lunch is at noon. Thao and Tai take over the chopping block and wok of a restaurant in Vi Xuyen; Thao prepares the most amazing tomato, garlic, and onion dipping sauce that goes perfectly with springs of mint and ..... rolled in lettuce.  The highlight of the meal is most definitely the potbelly pork. It’s tastes like the very best of beef and pork - incredible!

We cross into Há Giang city at 1:30 where we meet up with the Lô River.  It’s the provincial capital with a population of 70,000 plus.

The rest of the afternoon, like the preceding days, is up and down mountains draped in terraces and foliage--the scenery’s breathtaking. We average no more than 20-25 mph as Tai negotiates switchbacks, oncoming trucks and buses, and road construction. We see lots of Red Dao, particularly in the higher elevations of our drive. 

Our destination for the day is the Pan Hou Village in Thong Nguyen, 20 km or so from Hoàng Su Phì. It’s an ecolodge Exo Travel has arranged for us. We enter via footbridge and immediately reserve 30 minute herbal baths @$15/each followed by 45 minute massages @$15/each. Thao joins us for a beer, then heads back into town for the night.

Following our baths and rubs, we head to the dining cabin for an excellent meal sans rice wine toasts. There’s only one other couple here so “quiet” definitely describes this ecolodge. One cool thing: the hot water for our  showers comes from a hot spring.

[johnmjosethposts]

Feb 15   Meo Vac to Yen Minh

Back to last night’s restaurant for a bowl of pho, then across the street for cups of intense Vietnamese coffee. We visit the next door general store and purchase crayons, pens, notebooks, combs, lollipops, and balls to hand out to children in the communities we’ll be visiting today.

At a few minutes past 10 am, we stop near the Thôn Mã Pì Lèng summit and hike 20 minutes to a nearby Blue Hmong village. We get a first hand view of the “extreme farming” practiced by the Hmong. Tiny plots of earth are scratched out among the rocky outcroppings. Crops are planted in these plots, perhaps no more than two to three plants.

It doesn’t take long until the village’s children know we’re in town and are coming to us for treats. The children are adorable. They’re shy, cleanliness isn’t a big concern (water’s very precious), and most of them have runny noses.  One young boy in traditional black dress demonstrates his top spinning skills. I videoed him but inadvertently deleted the clip--dang!

We lunch in Dong Van: tripe with star fruit, pork, rapeseed greens, and tofu. After a coffee stop, we hike through the town’s Old Quarter, then linger for some great photo ops before meeting back up with Tai and the car.

At 2:30 we visit the Vuong Palace. From www.vietnam.com: 

Built in 1914, the palace survived 2 major wars: the French War and the American War. As such, Vuong Palace is also treated as a symbol of the past glory of the H’mong people. In fact, the palace was also called Vua Meo in honor of the king of the H’mong ethnic people. The Vuong family was led by Vuong Chinh Duc. He ruled from 1865-1947 in an empire stretching as far as from the province’s Dong Van Plateau to Meo Vac Town. The massive production and cross-border trade of opium back then made him the richest and most powerful man in the area. And to protect his reign, that’s when he built the Vuong Palace. The mansion was designed with Chinese architecture and interior and surrounded by 700 century-old trees to keep it hidden and protected from enemies.

It’s a gorgeous drive down to Yen Minh. We arrive at 4:30 and check into our hotel, the Hotel Thào Nguyén.  Dinner’s at 7, so it’s nice to have some downtime.

My pants need mending--the back pockets are coming undone--so we locate a seamstress close to our hotel who makes the necessary repairs for 50 cents, which I round up to 20,000 dong/0.88 USD. As we’re waiting, a cute-as-a-button 12 year old girl approaches us and engages us in very good English. Ing is in 6th grade, likes history and English, and watches American television.  We stop back by a few minutes later to present Ing with a deck of Chicago-themed playing cards. She’s thrilled and very gracious.

Dinner at a nearby restaurant is astounding: pork, beef, and pigeon with at least three sides. We chase it with beer and rice wine toasts...and then the restaurant’s owner shows up with his own special brew. Needless to say, it’s time for more toasts!

Extreme hillside harvesting!

[johnmjosethposts]

Feb 14   Ba Be to Meo Vac

We’re moving slowly but after a bit of breakfast--crepes and bananas--and goodbyes we’re off at 8 am. At 9:00 we leave Highway 3 and begin our ascent into the mountains. At 10 we enter Cao Bang province as Thap points out the appearance of pine trees.

We stop for coffee at 10:45 and have our first encounter with a member of the Hmong ethnic group. She’s chewing betel which explains the discolored teeth.

We also get treated to a look at some herbal medicines featuring rice wine infused with snakes, scorpions, and lizards. Thao says they’re intended to increase male virility but thank you, no, I’ll stick with what I have.

We stop for a delicious lunch, no surprise there, and are joined by a busload of fresh Vietnamese army recruits on their way to basic training. Clad in brand new uniforms, they’ve got that wide-eyed, “What have I got myself into?” look.

We pull alongside a group of houses and Thao guides us to one occupied by members of the Red Dao (pronounced Zao) ethnic group.  Our hosts are a charming elderly gentleman and his affable son. Their home is occupied by four generations of the same family. They show us around, toast us with three shots of rice wine, and pose for a photo. Thao’s never met them, or stopped in this particular village, but you’d think we were long lost relations.

We stop at 2:30 to say “hello” - or its equivalent - to a great grandmother, grandmother, and baby who are San Chi. The GGM--all 4′6″ of her--is smoking buffalo meat to make jerky. She’s suffering from arthritis, so we give her a handful of Aleve and our best wishes that they’ll give her some relief. 

It’s a long driving day, but the mountain scenery is beautiful. Farmers make use of every square inch of arable land: terraces drape the hillsides for rice farming where it’s warm enough while corn is grown on slopes that appear almost vertical. Everywhere women are working. Where are the men? One gets the sense that they’re sitting around smoking, drinking tea and/or rice wine.

We arrive in Meo Vac at 5:45 and check into the Hoa Cuong Hotel in the middle of town. After showers, we walk to a nearby restaurant for another evening of eating and toasting. Thao makes friends with everyone in the restaurant and we’re joined by a couple of gents, a Vietnamese and a Chinese.  The fried spring rolls are wonderful, there’s more delicious rapeseed leaves, and while the chicken may be a bit on the raw side, when dipped into a hot sauce and paired with mint leaves, it’s tasty. As with the night before, there are numerous shots of rice wine consumed with the mandatory, “Chúc súc khóe!”

[johnmjosethposts]

Feb 13  Hanoi to Ba Be

Guide Trinh DInh Thao (pronounced Tao) and driver Nguyen Tai meet us in the lobby of the hotel at 7:30.  They’ve parked 15 minutes away so we get a chance to stroll through Hanoi’s Monday morning rush hour. It’s every bit as daunting as Saigon’s.

It takes awhile to reach the outskirts of Hanoi, but soon enough the highway we’re on is lined on either side with rice fields. Most aren’t at the lush stage that we saw in the south, but are filled with farmers preparing the beds and planting seedlings.

Thao explains that the seedlings are grown under the plastic “greenhouses” that we see scattered around the fields. When the rice has matured to a point where it can be planted, the seedlings are then planted one by one in the flooded paddies.  It’s a bit staggering that there’s virtually no automation. There are plenty of mechanized tillers to replace water buffalo, but all the planting is done by hand.

Above-ground graves dot the fields.  Burials are a two-step multi-year process: the dead are buried in elaborate ceremonies. Three years after death, the body is dug up, exhumed and the bones, after a process of bleaching, are moved to a smaller casket and buried once more in the same location. In the meantime, the soul of the departed is keeping a watchful eye on the fields.

We drive by a gigantic Samsung factory in Thai Nguyen. Countless buses and motorbikes give a sense of the number of employees, although Thao says many were laid off after production of the Galaxy 7 was halted.

At 10:15, we stop for coffee at a shop owned by a gentleman who served in the army in 1972. He’s also a school teacher, and collector of antique oil lamps and teapots. Two cups of delicious, hand-crafted Vietnamese coffee--very strong with condensed milk--is 50,000 dong. He’s got several adult children, but one son is particularly successful. Junior’s got 1-2-3-4: 1 wife, 2 children, 3 stories (home), and 4 tires (a car).

At 1:00, we make another stop, this time for remarkable sticky rice cooked and served in a bamboo tube.  The shop owner’s daughter gives us a darling demonstration of her jump roping skills.

A half-hour later we’re in the Ba Be district, our destination for the day, and stop for lunch at the Hai Huyen Restaurant: bacon and pork sausage, beef, pumpkin soup, bamboo shoots, rice, and prawn paste. It’s all delicious!

At 2:30 we arrive at Ba Be National Park. We head to the Lake, hop aboard a boat and take the a very pleasant two-hour tour, stopping at one point to visit the Fairy Pond.  The scenery’s magnificent, pristine. The highlight is a flock of egrets (video below) that take flight as our boat approaches.

We’re staying at Mr. Toan’s Homestay. A bit rustic, but the family’s hospitality offsets the accommodations.

Dinner is a riotous affair: guests, guides, and family gather around a large table laden with food and toast one another endlessly! “Chúc súc khóe” - To your health - and it’s bottoms up. Fortunately, the glasses are small shot glasses filled only partially with homemade rice wine, but the number of shots begins to take its toll on the Westerners. Needless to say, we sleep well.

[johnmjosethposts]

Feb 12  Hoi An to Hanoi

Up at 7:30 having slept well. Downstairs for coffee and blogging/correspondence, then breakfast with Susan at 8:45.

The darling hotel staff lines up curbside to bid us farewell as we depart for Danang at 9:35. A stop for gas--18,450 dong/liter = $3.20 USD/gallon--and we’re on our way.

Tragedy strikes. A few minutes later, on the outskirts of Hoi An, an elderly gentleman--I’d guess in his early 80s--on a bicycle makes an abrupt left turn into our path. Driver Hoi swerves, brakes, and honks to no avail as we strike the man. He flies over the hood of the car and strikes the windshield with his head. Almost immediately, Hoi exclaims, “He dies.”

The gravely injured man is sprawled in front of the car. He’s unconscious, barely breathing, and blood is oozing from his right ear and nose.

A crowd quickly gathers and a cab is flagged down. The old man is loaded into the back seat, presumably bound for the hospital. The only policeman on the scene--it’s roughly 20 minutes since the collision--is casually directing traffic around the car which remains parked in the middle of the road. We never see any emergency vehicles in the 40 minutes or so that we’re there--notta one.

We’re told that the man’s family is gathering on the opposite shoulder. Undoubtedly, the accident occurred near the old man’s home.  Our driver remains calm, but is obviously very shaken by the accident. We assure him several times that it wasn’t his fault and I give him a written statement saying so.

It feels wrong to leave the scene of an accident, but we’re assured that there’s nothing more for us to do and it’s okay to take a replacement car to the airport.

We get to the airport at 11:00 and by 11:25 are in our seats on VN170. It’s an hour flight: we leave at 11:54 and land at 12:54.

Hoang (pronounced Wong) meets us as we exit the baggage claim area. He’s a personable fellow who works part time as a tour guide and full-time as a university lecturer on tourism.

We arrive at the Essence Palace Hotel in Hanoi’s Old Quarter at 2:30, check in, then head out to see a few sights and grab a bite of lunch. Lunch consists of spring rolls, dumplings, and noodles with beef (and a Tiger beer) for 110,000 dong/$5.

Fortified, we join the throngs of Vietnamese enjoying the spectacular afternoon along Hoàn Kiếm Lake.  Kids are everywhere--dancing to a four-piece orchestra, driving the most remarkable electric toy cars, playing games. We walk the circumference of the lake, then stop at Cafe Thuỷ Tạ for refreshments and a wonderful view of the lake.

Dinner is a French-Vietnamese fusion experience at the nearby Green Tangerine Restaurant. A bottle of Sancerre accompanies Crab Mille Feuille, Ca Qua (a local fish) Passion, and Green Tangerine Fish (sea bass). We went for the big leagues on this one--the tab’s 2,609,000/$115. Consumed in the restaurant’s very elegant second floor dining room, the meal’s worth every penny!

We receive this email from the hotel manager. As much as I want to believe his “small injury” comment, I know it’s not true.

[johnmjosethposts]

Feb 11  Hoi An

The day gets off to a very relaxed start. It’s a good excuse to share some random observations about Vietnam:

I dig the way the Vietnamese drive. Sure, stop signs, signal lights, and lane direction have little or no meaning for the average motorbiker, but the resulting chaos is surprisingly chill. Like schools of fish, everyone travels at roughly the same speed; changes in direction are done very gently. I haven’t heard any yelling or seen a single argument.  Crossing traffic as a pedestrian requires mindfulness and more than a bit of courage, but practice makes perfect.

The Vietnamese we’ve met are to a person polite, friendly, and helpful. Because we’re in heavily-touristed areas, most speak some English and calculators are commonly employed to facilitate sales.

For $45, the hotel provides a car and driver for the one hour drive to My Son, a religious and intellectual center established in the late 4th century by the kingdom of Champa. We depart at 1 pm and arrive at 2:00. By the time we buy tickets and grab a bite of lunch, it’s 2:45.

The setting is spectacular--a lush jungle valley overlooked by Cat’s Tooth Mountain. The monuments are divided into 10 groups, we visit about half of them. The buildings that have survived the centuries and the bombing during the Vietnam War--the Viet Cong used My Son as a base--remind me of some of the temples in Bagan, Myanmar. While their condition is very poor by comparison, the masonry construction seems remarkably similar. 

We note a number of craters from the Vietnam War days. The one below is now a pleasant pool with a table and benches beside it.

We meet our driver at 4 pm for the drive back to Hoi An. Our driver treats us to a medley of Abba’s greatest hits, something we didn’t expect!

We head back into Old Hoi An for a bite and some shopping. If we thought it was busy last night, the crowds this evening are far greater.  Buses line the streets around the old town and sightseers pack the footbridge that leads into the historical section.  Susan finds a quiet bar up a flight of stairs a half-block off the main drag, it’s perfect for appetizers and drinks: a passion fruit cocktail for Susan, a Tiger beer for me.

We return to the Thang Loi Gallery at 92 Phan Châu Trinh. The shop sells beautiful embroidered art and Susan purchases a still life of a lotus leaf completely rendered in silk thread. She’d been thinking about a painting, but the uniqueness of this piece will make it a very special reminder of Hoi An. I buy a baseball cap: 180,000 dong quickly becomes 90,000 dong.

We celebrate her purchase with cocktails at Q Bar, then head back to the hotel. A few drops of rain sends the throngs of people into a near panic as they bolt for any available cover. We’re not sure what the big deal is but as the intensity of the rain increases, we duck into a bar. In minutes, it’s raining buckets, affirming the wisdom of the locals!

LIghts out at 10:30 pm. Tomorrow we travel to Hanoi.