Scooter Gang Hits Hue...

Hue, Vietnam

June 14, 2007
N 16°28.114
E 107°35.480

We arrived at the tour boats around 8:15AM. The majority of the organized tours left promptly at 8:00 AM. At first we were a little worried we wouldn’t get to cruise the picturesque Perfume River, but Marc was able to negotiate a private tour for the five of us on a smaller, privately owned boat. Like Marc says, there’s always someone willing to help you in this country… all you have to do is ask; actually you don’t even need to ask most of the time.

Our private tour pushed off around 8:30 AM and headed up the river towards the Royal Tombs. Our first stop of the day was the colorful Thien Mu Pagoda which was very controversial during the mid 1960’s. In protest of the persecution of Buddhism by South Vietnam's Ngô Đình Dim administration Thich Quang Duc, a monk from the Pagoda, drove to Saigon, sat down in the middle of a busy intersection, doused himself with gasoline and lit a match, engulfing himself in flames. Today the Pagoda houses a memorial of sorts for the monk— the actual car he traveled to Saigon in resides in the temple.

After we departed from the Pagoda we continued our trip up the river. Our next stop lead us to a little dirt path at the edge of the river where a group of locals waited to take tourists to see the tombs. The kicker here is the only form of transportation they had were motor-scooters! We all looked at each other and figured what the Hell… lets go!

Each of us nervously climbed onto the back of a motorbike. The same kind Elise used to retrieve her bag just a day ago—the same scooters I just admitted to being terrified of riding. I swallowed my fear and jumped on the back and held on as we took off down country dirt roads. We were surrounded by rice patties, coconut trees, water buffalo and even little calves just wandering around, not even noticing the honking scooters as we zipped by. Initially, when I jumped on the bike, I thought I had lost my mind, but as we dashed through one remote village after another along the Vietnam countryside I realized I was seeing something special.

As Elise said, we were like a nerdy motorcycle gang zipping through the back roads of Vietnam in search of the Royal tombs. We arrived at a site, checked it out and hopped back on our bikes tearing off to the next site. Collectively we agreed that riding the scooter was at least half of the fun, knowing we wouldn’t have seen a third of the sites if we were crammed on a boat with an organized tour group.

The tombs were incredible, very intricate, yet classy. They weren’t dressed in garish gold-leaf like you see in several Asian countries; instead they were bejeweled in glass, marble, stone and maybe a few jewels. As we slowly walked through the 102F heat at each of the tombs we talked a little about the great experiences so far in Vietnam.

We have only been here for one week, but we have had several amazing experiences so far. We are really happy to share the experiences as a group, as a family.

A Big, Big Day in Hue...

Hue, Vietnam

June 13, 2007
N 16°28.114
E 107°35.480

The train pulled into the station in Hue a little before 9:00 AM. The plan was to walk from the train station directly to one of the recommended hotels in Lonely Planet. Elise did an excellent job scouting out the place on the internet and we all felt it would work perfectly.

The walk from the train station was about a mile in the blistering heat. Hue was supposed to be 10 degrees Fahrenheit cooler than Hanoi, but as we staggered down the street dripping in sweat I didn’t notice the difference. Maybe, just maybe, Hue had a little less humidity, so instead of 80% it is around 70%--maybe!

All of us checked into the little hotel, took cool showers, and headed out to explore the town. Hue was heavily damaged during the Vietnam War and was one of the only cities to be held by the North Vietnamese Army for more than a few days. The city lost at least 200,000 people during the bombings, the majority of them civilians. The history of the city was one of the draws for us.

We were able to make it down to the Perfume River and found a small patch of shade to protect us from the heat; Marc confirmed the temperature officially reached 100F. That was enough… the best place to be was inside our cool rooms with some water and air conditioning.

When we reached our hotel we discovered the market on the other side of the river closed at 5:00 PM. If we didn’t make it to the market today, we probably wouldn’t have a chance since we planned on taking a day long boat tour the following morning. Elise and I decided we could brave the heat and didn’t want to miss out on any deals, plus we heard good stories about Hue’s market.

The market resembled many of the .99 cent stores lining the streets of Chinatown in San Francisco. It appeared the majority of the goods were surplus items that ended up at this market to find a buyer. Each stall was piled as high as possible with hair accessories, plastic bowls, chopsticks, baskets, or whatever the stall was selling. If a particular stall was selling tin boxes, then every stall around it also sold tin boxes. Therefore, as soon as one person in the market knew what you were looking for, it quickly trickled back to everyone else until all of a sudden everyone had the perfect item for just for you!

Elise and I were looking for headbands to keep our hair out of our face, but along the way we were shown plenty of other items including, my personal favorite, girls underwear. The pink underwear decorated with super heros, kittens, etc. that looked like they might fit around one of my thighs, but the lady was making a hard sell. She may have made a sale if she didn’t start telling me “we have big, big for you” Thanks, I said… you just lost that sale for sure. Well, I guess there wasn’t really a chance in hell anyway.

We finally found headbands that might due the trick, looked for a few more small items and got out of the market before someone else tried to sell us more stuff we didn’t need. We made our way back across the bridge to the hotel… it was now our turn to cool off and rehydrate in our rooms.

Other notes: It's really a lot of fun traveling as a family. Since family is such a big part of the Vietnamese culture, we've received a lot of comments as to how nice it is to see us together. And of course, having a group helps us barter a little more when it comes to certain items such as tours.

My Baby Takes the Night Train...

Hanoi, Vietnam

June 12, 2007
N 21°01.811
E 105°51.082

We had tickets for the night train from Hanoi to Hue that departed at 7:00 PM, making it our last morning in Hanoi. Since the weather dipped to a balmy 95F we decided to head over to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. There were certain restrictions to get into the mausoleum including pants for the men, skirts for the women and shirts—no tank tops, making the trip impossible on the 105F days.

We arrived at the crypt just after 9:00AM where the line already stretched out for at least half a mile. A blue tarp stretched over the entire line providing a little protection from the harsh sun. After checking our bags and going through security, we lined up two by two and marched under the blue tarp to see Uncle Ho’s well preserved body.

There were guards every 20 meters, glaring, hushing and keeping everyone in two single file lines that constantly moved about 15 meters every minute. After about thirty minutes we walked into a dimly lit and frigid air-conditioned room holding Ho Chi Minh; the great hero of Vietnam. He looked very peaceful, under the golden lights illuminating his smooth skin, almost like he was taking a nap. He was enclosed in what appeared to be a bullet-proof glass case, four very stern looking armed guards at each corner. Our time with Uncle Ho was very short since the line kept moving and we weren’t allowed to stop.

After our time with Ho Chi Minh we figured we would attempt the full communist hero sweep and headed to the Lenin Monument, only a short distance from the Mausoleum. We cooled off in the park, under the scornful eye of Mr. Lenin, and enjoyed some local passion fruit. Feeling like we knew Hanoi and were more than ready to move onto a new city, but we still had several hours before our train left town.

After wandering around for a few more hours we decided the Bia Hoi beer garden was again calling our names. Sitting in miniature plastic chairs, enjoying 10 cent cool beers, can get you hungry so I asked the lady pumping the keg where we could get a sandwich. She looked at me like I was speaking a foreign language, so Elise pulled out the Lonely Planet and we did our best to say the words—we got our point across and the lady pointed to a stand a half block down the street. I quickly got up and headed down there.

After some negotiations we settled on a price for the five sandwiches, 50,000 dong (roughly $3). The meat sizzled on the coal barbeque, killing any bacteria that could possibly be on there. She heated the bread, cut it open, and slid the meat from two of the skewers in between the bread topping it off with soy and chili sauces.

Finally completing my mission, I headed back to the gang anxiously waiting for their first real Banh Mi sandwich. Since it was time to catch the train we paid our tab and headed back to the Hanoi Queen Hotel munching on our sandwiches as we walked.

Arriving at the hotel we started to gather our gear from the massive pile of luggage in the lobby. It was at this point Elise realized her backpack was missing, no longer in the mountain of packs. We looked everywhere, but the bag was nowhere to be found. One of the guys at the hotel grabbed Elise and started running towards a group who just left the hotel. Teddy headed out the door to help. They searched the luggage in the taxi, no luck.

The group that owns the Hanoi Queen Hotel owns a total of six hotels and when one fills up they send people to one of the others. We hoped one of the groups going to another hotel grabbed the bag, not someone going to the airport or train station.

A few minutes later, one of the guys grabbed me and told me to come with him. I motioned to Elise to go outside and I followed. He could only take one of us on his motor scooter. Elise went, thank goodness since I am very afraid of motorcycles—they quickly zipped away. Yet another one of the guys grabbed me to head to a hotel two doors down.

We burst through the door of the hotel and headed for the stairs. The guy, really more of a kid, told me to hurry. I ran up the stairs after him as fast as possible. He stopped at a door on the fourth floor, knocked on the door and waited. A lady opened the door, speaking Vietnamese, but the kid went right by her. I waited at the door until he yelled at me to hurry and look. I came in, looked at their bags—nope, not what we are looking for. We ran out of that room and up another flight of stairs. When the kid knocked on the door of this room, a German lady, fresh out of the shower, answered the door. The kid didn’t care and stormed right by her. Nope, no luck.

I flew down the stairs as fast as possible with the kid yelling at me the entire time, “faster, quick, quick…” When we got to the bottom, he crossed the lobby and headed up another set of stairs. I stayed behind him as we climbed two more flights. I was sweating profusely at this point, my head pounded, ready to burst. We exploded through the door of our target room, only to find an empty room. Defeated, we headed back down the stairs and to the Hanoi Queen.

In the meantime, Elise raced through the Hanoi streets on the back of the scooter, running red lights and narrowly avoiding accidents from every direction. They went to the first hotel, ran through the door without saying a word to anyone there, and ran to the stack of bags stored under the stairwell. No luck.

As quickly as they came in, they left, back on the scooter and through the streets of Hanoi to another hotel. Same thing… break through the doors, but this time sitting towards the front of the pile, was Elise’s pack. She grabbed it, they left, jumped back on the scooter and flew back to the Hanoi Queen.

The four of us stood anxiously in the lobby, not sure what to do about our train if we can’t find the bag. Moments later we saw Elise zip up on the back of the scooter with a big smile on her face and a thumbs-up. Whew… things turned out for the best!

The rest of us grabbed our gear and we quickly made our way down the alley to the waiting taxi. We would make our overnight train after all. Two minutes after we arrived at the train station thunder clouds burst open and rain started coming down in buckets. We boarded the train, got in our sleeping compartment and prepared for our 13 hour journey to Hue.

Happy to be out of Hanoi, we will see what tomorrow brings…

A Perfect Day, Ha Long Bay...

Ha Long Bay, Vietnam

June 10 & 11, 2007
N 20°51.372
E 107°04.991

After a tasty bowl of Pho for breakfast, the five of us boarded an air conditioned minivan for HaLong Bay. Everyone seemed happy… we were off to see something we all heard was very impressive, we were getting out of Hanoi for a night, and most importantly, thunderstorms during the evening cooled the morning skies and the weather was bearable.

Weaving our way out of Hanoi, our very skilled driver did an excellent job of closely avoiding accidents with scooters, bicycles and pedestrians, but we did have a few extremely close calls as semi-trucks clogged the streets trying to make full u-turns on the two lane highway.

We arrived safely in Ha Long Bay and quickly boarded our lodging for the night—a brand new, beautiful junk boat. Elise was partnered in a room on the boat with Sara, an American currently living in Seoul, Korea; the two already got acquainted on the bus and hit-it-off like they had been friends for years. I am not sure why they refer to the boat as a junk boat, the wood work was perfectly polished and the rooms were immaculate.

Shortly after arriving on the boat, the crew fed us a fabulous lunch of shrimp, calamari, rice, cucumber salad and some kind of pork. We were amazed at the quality of service up to this point, not really sure what to expect from the tour on the bay. Between bites we would pause and stare out the window and snap a few pictures; islands and other junks passing by, provided an unimaginable backdrop. The bay is scattered with over 2000 small islands protruding through the calm water, each covered with lush, green vegetation; a perfect contrast to dark blue water. The weather was slightly overcast after the overnight thunderstorms, but this supplied much needed shelter from the brilliant sun.

Relaxing on the sundeck on the top of the boat, our heads were on a swivel, checking out the sites, as we cruised to our first landing at Surprise Caves. The massive caves looked man-made with perfect curves and contours on the ceilings and walls. The work of art evolved over thousands of years by crashing waves and subterranean rivers… all very natural—with Ha Long Bay winning a Geologic award in 2000.

After the caves we cruised to a small floating village located in a quiet cove where we jumped in kayaks to paddle around the bay at our own pace. We glided our way through caves in the islands and into little alcoves. As Marc and I floated in the kayak, occasionally bickering back and forth as to who was pulling the kayak to the right, we stopped to absorb the surreal surroundings. We were amazed we were actually sitting in the middle of a Ha Long Bay in Vietnam, no one else around except a few locals catching their dinner, occasionally glancing in our direction. We really felt a long way from home.

After returning our kayaks, the junk headed to the middle of a cove and dropped anchor, our final stop and where we would sleep for the night. We were given permission to swim in the Bay, even jump off the top of the junk boat. I think Bob was the first one in the water, quickly jumping from the second story—Elise quickly followed. As Marc was taking pictures of the sunset I took the opportunity to jump, almost chickening out before tightly closing my eyes and going for it. The water, although refreshing, still felt more like a bath than swimming in the middle of the bay. I swam around for a few minutes with Elise and Bob before Marc, and Teddy finally joined us.

After dinner the entire family (including Sara, who became an official member of the family) lounged around on the sun deck sipping wine, enjoying the serene surroundings without honking scooters and taking in the perfect weather. The evening air felt like a summer night along the Sacramento River, hot enough for a summer dress or a pair of shorts and a tank top, but not like the previous nights in Hanoi where there was no relief in site.

Overall, the tour to HaLong Bay far exceeded our expectations from all perspectives—natural beauty, sites, people, the boat and the food. As we headed to bed, I remembered something our tour guide told us during the day, “If you don’t see Ha Long Bay, you don’t see Vietnam.” I now understand what he meant...

The Entire Hot Sticky Family...

Hanoi, Vietnam

June 9, 2007
N 21°01.811
E 105°51.082

We headed out to dinner with Bob and Teddy after the sun went down in hopes the temperature dipped at least a few degrees. We had a little time to burn before meeting Elise who was flying into Hanoi around 6:00 PM; however, we weren’t sure she would find our place since the name, as well as the address, “mysteriously” changed since we booked on hostelworld.com.

I marked a few restaurants from Lonely Planet on a map to carry with us, but when we found a corner restaurant packed with locals, we didn’t go any further. The “restaurant” was outside on the sidewalk with rows of plastic tables and chairs typical in kindergarten classrooms. The “kitchen,” also outside, was in plain site ensuring there was nothing to hide.

We sat down with our knees in our chests, ordered some “Tiger” beers, and scanned through the menu. We settled with a vermicelli noodle dish, chicken wings, and a beef dish. The tender beef, mixed with green onions and greens, had a nice little kick to it thanks to the spicy red chili peppers.

The waitresses buzzed from table to table bringing out tons of food and beer while some of the men tried to cool the crowd down with a water mister that seemed to only add humidity to the already vapor filled air. All the while, a long line for the “restaurant” formed on the street as locals headed out for a Friday night meal, probably trying to cool off.

After dinner we stopped by our hostel to see if there was any sign of Elise. Since we didn’t see her, we sent another email with some additional information regarding our place, including the owner’s phone number, and headed to a local bar for one final beer before calling it a night. We could only hope Elise would check her email.

We returned a short time later to learn Elise called; I checked my email and found a recent email from her. We were happy to hear she arrived safely in Hanoi after leaving Sydney shortly after us. Unfortunately, we did not connect with Elise that evening, but had to wait until the following morning.

Everyone decided to head out early this morning to see the sights before the heat became unbearable. I don’t think it mattered what time we headed out—as we stepped out the door, the heat and humidity quickly engulfed us and we knew it would be another scorcher. The streets were empty compared to yesterday, but we weren’t sure if it was due to the fact that it was Saturday, the heat, or a little of both. All we knew was that beer was definitely in our future...

It's Hot...it Even Smells Hot!

Hanoi, Vietnam

June 8, 2007
N 21°01.811
E 105°51.082

We’re back in the Northern Hemisphere where it is summer and the days are longer, so when we awoke to sunlight streaming in our window we thought for sure it was around 9:00 AM. We were wrong—it was only 7:00 AM. Since we traveled from Sydney, where’s it’s late fall, and three hours ahead of Vietnam we were slightly out of whack.

We opened the blinds to see what our neighborhood looked like in the daytime. As I stood looking out the window a small waft of air came through the window frame. I turned to Marc and said…“It just smells hot out there.”

We got dressed and headed out just in time to catch Bob and Teddy making their way down the stairwell. We all had the same mission: Coffee. We felt a slight breeze as we stepped into the moist morning air of Hanoi. We were encouraged. Maybe it won’t be as hot as we think.

We found a café on the third floor of a building just across from Hoan Kiem Lake. We had a perfect view of the lake and sea of mopeds as they zipped through the busy morning streets. The strong coffee quickly woke us up and ignited our desire to start exploring the city.

After wandering around the lake for awhile we decided to follow the Lonely Planet walking tour of Hanoi. The tour led us down alleys of Hanoi we would have never found regardless of how much we walked. Each street and alley had a different purpose in terms of the goods being offered. Some streets were dedicated to tin boxes, woks, or mirrors, while other alleys were devoted to shoes, jewelry, herbs, or even leather and PVC.

As we casually meandered down the alleys we constantly did our best to avoid the scooters and their incessant beeeeeep, beep, beeeeping! They were everywhere—in the streets, on the sidewalks, in front of doorways—everywhere. Plus, it appears the traffic rules, including the lights, don’t apply to scooters. We tried crossing at one of the rare crosswalks when the little flashing green man told us to; however, the swarm of scooters was so thick we didn’t even make an attempt. Then, since hundreds of scooters are parked on the sidewalks, the pedestrians must walk in the streets, only adding to the confusion, congestion and cacophony of beeping and honking.

Half way through our walking tour, right around lunch time, we stopped at a café near the tin and mirror shops for a light snack and to re-hydrate. The temperature was around 95F in the shade with about 80% humidity—re-hydration was essential at this point.

After our break the street vendors were out in force, becoming more aggressive as the afternoon progressed. Many women selling fruit ambled through the traffic carrying their produce with a contraption resembling an old fashioned scale—it was a long piece of bamboo with a basket hanging from each end. The women balanced the bamboo on one shoulder with equal amounts of fruits in each basket. On a few occasions, after politely refusing the fruit, the women would put the bamboo on my shoulder, quickly place their straw hat on my head and encourage Marc to take a picture. They were so fast with this maneuver it caught me off guard the first time, but now that I know their trick I won’t let it happen again. (Sorry, I discouraged Marc from taking the picture.)

The heat continued to increase throughout the day and our hope for a “not too hot” day was officially dismissed when the temperature peaked at over 100F in the shade at 5:00 PM. It was a perfect time to duck into one of the local watering holes for a cold draught and reminisce about the good ol’ days of Torres del Paine.

Australia Wrap-Up

Australia Wrap-Up

Summary

We knew we didn’t plan enough time in Australia—only two weeks for a country nearly as large as the United States, but we figured Australia is a country we can go back to at any point of our lives and explore thoroughly. We weren’t even going to try to cram too much stuff into the two weeks; instead we focused on Sydney and a quick trip up North to see the Great Barrier Reef.

Our experience in Sydney was different than any of our other locations to date. We were able to connect with Elise (Marc’s step-sister) and her two friends that live in Sydney. From the moment we arrived we saw the city from the locals’ perspective instead of the tourist. Don’t worry we did scout out several of the tourist spots to make sure we didn’t miss anything during our time in Sydney.

It didn’t take long to fall in love with a city that feels a lot like our own city, San Francisco. The water views, the Harbor Bridge and the runners enjoying the great weather and waterfront paths made me feel right at home after being gone for a few months.

We probably won’t pack our bags and move to Sydney (even though I wouldn’t mind), but we will plan another vacation in the near future.

Our quick trip to the Great Barrier Reef was incredible. We stayed in Port Douglas which is a small fishing village that is growing quickly. Four-Mile beach is walking distance from most hotels in the area and the food in the town was tasty. Also, the tour boat departs directly from Port Douglas taking tourists out to snorkel or dive the reef. If you snorkel, make sure you get on a boat that specializes in snorkeling.

Overall, we weren’t sure what to expect during our short time in Australia, but the time spent exceeded expectations. Part of this was due to hanging with the locals (Milo and Beno), but mostly it was the pure beauty of the country—at least the tiny piece we saw.

Top Sites in Australia

1. Great Barrier Reef—Port Douglas, Queensland is doing everything possible to preserve the reef. You can’t always fight Mother Nature, but I guess we can fight Global Climate Change. We did notice damage to the coral from a typhoon over the winter. I am glad we saw the reef now instead of during our next trip. Who knows, maybe we will see it then too.
2. Sydney Botanical Gardens—we walked through the Botanical Gardens at least three times and followed a different path each time. On each trip we saw something we hadn’t seen on the previous trips. The Gardens border the harbor providing wonderful views out to the water and is a perfect spot for a picnic. I can’t forget the thousands of fruit bats that live in the trees. They sleep during the day, hanging upside down, and then explore the city from dusk to dawn. They’re very creepy yet fun to watch knowing they won’t harm you.
3. Manly—the town of Manly has the best of both worlds—the Sydney Harbor and the Tasman Sea. A short ferry ride from the ferry terminal gets you away from the hustle and bustle of Sydney and into nature. The Sydney Harbor National Park, located in Manly, several walking trails provide spectacular views of the harbor and the Tasman Sea. This is a great place to come and relax on the beach and dip your toes into the Tasman Sea.
4. Sydney Opera House—almost everyone has seen the Opera House in pictures, but to see it up close and personal is amazing. The sun illuminates the copper colored roof at certain parts of the day making it a perfect photo opportunity. Also, head over the Sydney Harbor Bridge near dusk, look across the harbor and capture the Sydney skyline with the silhouetted Opera House.
5. Harbor Bridge—take a walk across the bridge to experience the city views. It’s possible to walk on the ridge of the bridge for a $100 or so, but the free tour, similar to the Golden Gate, is plenty unless you are a thrill-seeker looking for a rush.

Top Meals in Australia (in chronological order of visit)

1. Bill’s—Darlinghurst, New South Wales. Bill is a renowned chef frequently featured in Bon Appetite and Gourmet Magazines. Many people consider Bill’s Restaurant a must-do when in Sydney. We felt the food was good, but nothing memorable. The night we were there the restaurant was fairly empty. I am afraid a recent remodel (and subsequent price hikes) drove away a lot of the local regulars.
2. Port O’Call Restaurant—Port Douglas, Queensland. This restaurant is connected to a clean backpacker hotel. The restaurant attracts more locals than those actually staying in the lodge. There is a nightly special that varies from Kangaroo tenderloins to Beef Salad. They have a stir fry of the day too. The hamburger is descent, but tastes like a riesel (Australian version of the meat ball). The prices are as reasonable as they can get in Port Douglas.

Note: Sydney is a very expensive city especially when the US Dollar is so weak. This prevented us from trying a lot of the great food Sydney is known for.

Best Lodging

Note: These are places we personally stayed. All prices are estimates at the time of our visit and are displayed in USD.

1. Sydney Travelodge—this is a great location at a fantastic price. It is located a block from Hyde Park and within walking distance of the business district. Shop around a little on the internet to get the best price. (Approximately: $80 USD)
2. Sydney Marriott. If you want to splurge, this is the place to go. The rooms overlook Hyde Park on one side and the city to Bonsi Junction on the other. The rooftop pool is a great place to take a dip on a warm day. (Approximately: $200 USD)

Miscellaneous Items

If you plan on being in Sydney for seven days, purchase the weekly transportation pass. It is good on all trains, buses and ferries. If you plan on seeing sights such as Manly or the Olympic Stadium, get the green pass so you don’t have to pay extra for these rides. If you plan on staying within the City Center, then the red pass is enough for you. The pass will definitely save you time and money.

If your itinerary includes a trip to the Great Barrier Reef and you plan to snorkel, save yourself a little money by going on a boat that specializes in snorkeling. The dive boats cater to divers, making the price for snorklers a little more than necessary.

Travel Day Turns to Scooter Madness...

Hanoi, Vietnam

June 7, 2007
N 21°01.811
E 105°51.082

The rain started coming down in Sydney as soon as we arrived at the airport. Somehow we had perfect weather the entire time we were in Australia, in Sydney and Cairns, until we departed. Lightening shut-down the airport for 45 minutes before our flight, we thought something was trying to tell us to stay, but the storm moved through and our flight went off without a hitch.

As our plane was in the air, headed towards Bangkok, for our nine hour flight, we had plenty of time to reflect on our trip thus far. The trip has been pretty easy up until this point, but we are able to mix into our surroundings—blend in with the crowds in the larger cities.

In South America we blended in with the locals a little more, only standing out when Marc continued to repeat “No Gracias” when the real answer was far different. Also, we were able to read the language and communicate on a daily basis with the locals. Some of the tourist cities are just that, tourist cities, so of course people assumed we were tourists.

The tide will turn in Southeast Asia where we stand out physically, and at the same time we don’t speak any of the language except for “hello”, “chicken”, “beef”, “soup” and “sandwich”. At least we won’t go hungry.

We expect the next few months to be challenging, but that’s what makes it fun. It’s rewarding when you’re able to figure-out how different societies, cultures and cities function; everything from public-transit, banking, telecommunications, food, etiquette, and of course hygiene.

It was dark when we landed in Vietnam. After getting through customs we were happy to find a taxi driver holding a sign with our names on it. Perfect… a free ride to the city and hopefully to our hotel. The traffic during the evening commute into Hanoi was exciting to say the least.

Scooters, carrying 2-3 people, outnumbered cars by at least 5 to 1. There were swarms of scooters swerving in and out of traffic, attempting to keep left and stay out of the way of honking cars. It was controlled chaos. Cars were straddling two lanes to get by the motor bikes. As the road narrowed to two lanes, headlights coming straight at us had to dodge the bikes and the head-on traffic. Scooters were using the shoulder to go around, against and across the stream of traffic. All the while women walked along the street with surgical masks or bandanas and light blue uniforms, it looked like they just finished their shift at the local clothing factory, barely noticing the honking horns and near collisions.

As we got closer to the city the swarm of scooters became denser. Teenagers were cruising on their mopeds, only slowing to talk with each other, laughing, and of course using their cell phones. There were 2-3 teenagers on each bike, girls and boys—none wearing helmets. Talk about a parent’s worst nightmare. Taxis and cars relied on their horns, seemingly herding the scooters out of their way.

Pedestrians were an afterthought and appeared to be on the bottom of the traffic food-chain. Without stop signs or crosswalks people dashed across the streets as scooters and cars nipped at their ankles. It was like a river… flowing through the streets, everyone working together, no anger or road-rage, just simple acceptance of the seeming chaos.

We will see how controlled the madness really is as we head out exploring tomorrow. The experience is always different when you have the protection of metal all around you—it will be different as pedestrians!

Good-Bye to the Ozzies...

Sydney, Australia

June 6, 2007
S 33°51.438
E 151°12.910

Today was our last day in Sydney and we tried to make the best of it. For the first time on our trip we’re leaving a place when we aren’t ready. We knew we wouldn’t have enough time in Australia, but figured it’s one of those countries you can come to and enjoy regardless of age.

We hit some of the places we’ve come to enjoy over the past few weeks including the little pub that makes breakfast sandwiches with bacon, egg and tomato. After our tasty sandwich, we visited the Sydney museum which has some excellent exhibits on the native Australian people, the Aborigines, and a National Geographic photo display of the Australian countryside. We lost ourselves in the history and truly enjoyed our time.

After the museum we took a final walk through the Botanical Gardens, down by the Sydney Opera House and then headed to Darling Harbor. The sun was shining during our walk, but the weather was a little cooler than it has been during our time here.

We made our way back to our posh room at the Marriott (thanks to some gift cards we had) to pack-up before our final evening in Sydney. We’re heading out with the gang—Elise, Ben and Myles—for our final dinner and of course a few drinks.

We definitely have fond memories of Sydney and Australia as a whole. We don’t know when we’ll be back; however, we do believe another trip to Australia is in our future. There are plenty of sites to see and a lot of land ripe for exploring.

Finding Nemo...

Port Douglas/Great Barrier Reef, Australia

June 4, 2007

S 16°29.234

E 145°28.099

It was 5:00AM when I suddenly sat-up in bed, frightened. I checked my surroundings and realized I was in a safe place and Marc was sleeping soundly next to me. I was dreaming… dreaming we had been left at the Great Barrier Reef. We were floating all alone in the Tasman Sea… the large catamaran had left us… all the other snorkelers and SCUBA divers were gone. It was silent, just the two of us floating in the middle of the sea… no landmarks, just overcast, dark gray, sky and water. I have to thank my Mom for reminding me about the movie, based on a true story, where two American divers were left and never found at the Great Barrier Reef. I never fell back asleep.

The Silver Sonic is a medium sized catamaran that transports roughly 150 divers and snorkelers out to the edge of the Great Barrier Reef every day. We opted to take the “smaller” catamaran since it makes three stops along the reef. As opposed to a tour that transports nearly 300 people and only makes a single stop at a very commercial deck along the reef.

At our first stop we quickly jumped off the boat into the 70F degree water fully outfitted with snorkel, fins and mask. Floating just a meter above of a massive underground jungle of coral in every shape, size and color we did our best to not touch the living organism for two reasons—to make sure we don’t harm or damage it and to protect ourselves from the jagged sharp edges.

As we drifted above the lime green, purple, orange, and pink coral we stayed as still as possible to observe the thousands of fish peeking out from behind the safety of the coral. The fish swam through the labyrinth of coral shaped like jacks, mushrooms, ferns and out-of-control weeds sprouting from the bottom of the ocean floor.

The views were surreal… remember the submarine voyage at Disneyland and then multiply it thousand times. We felt like voyeurs, looking through our small windows, spotting all kinds of sea life including parrot fish, blue seastars, giant clams large enough to swallow a person and numerous other fish of every size and color. We saw schools of small, blue fish floating near the top while there was a school of tan fish feasting off of the coral below us.

There were moments where there appeared to be nothing within our view, however when we remained still and focused on a single point it was astonishing to see all types of life moving in front of us; beautifully camouflaged among the natural surroundings.

We swam around the reef for approximately forty minutes before we started to get a little chilly. We swam back to the boat, knowing we still had two more stops, and plenty of time to explore. After the crew did a complete passenger count, making sure not to leave anyone, we made our way to the next site.

The second site was the highlight of the afternoon. The sun was shinning, providing additional light to show off the colors of the reef. The crew of the boat did a fish feeding before we jumped into the water, attracting a bunch of hungry reef sharks looking for a free snack. Luckily, the sharks didn’t hang around for too long, and we hopped into the water.

As we explored the second site we found a large group of clown fish, adults and babies, hiding comfortably within the tentacles of their favorite anemone. All of the Nemos, with their orange, black and white bodies, looked like they were straight out of the movie “Finding Nemo.” Luckily, we didn’t see any mean sharks come and try to hurt them—not even the reef sharks.

We left the clown fish and continued to take in the sights from the underwater jungle. We saw several eels lounging around the deeper parts of the sea, dozens of different anemones, providing protection to the fish from predators. One of the anemones, long, slender and black looked like a bouquet of feathers trying to tickle the fish swimming by.

When we arrived at the third site the snorkel leader announced she was conducting a small tour. Spending almost every day out at the reef, she was able to dive down to the sandy floor below the coral and bring back samples to the surface for us to see up-close. For example, a mushroom anemone with thin, straw colored tentacles and a piece of coral with a slick, prickly surface which protects it from ultraviolet rays.

We could definitely see there had been damage to the coral from hundreds of thousands of visitors a year and the intense storms that have swept through the area over the past few years. Australia is doing everything possible to ensure the reef is preserved for future generations by educating tourists and charging a $5 reef tax for every passenger—putting the money back into the reef. Hopefully their efforts pay off and we can visit Port Douglas and the Great Barrier Reef in another 15-20 years!

Overall, the day was everything we imagined, the colors were beautiful, not as vibrant as we expected, but there was a rainbow of color underwater between the coral, anemones, fish and other sea life. Our imagination is probably a little tainted since the only examples of the reef we’ve seen have been in National Geographic and Finding Nemo. However, this was definitely the best snorkeling we have ever done.

Tips: There are a few things we learned during and after our trip that we may do differently next time. The catamaran we took, Silver Sonic, caters mostly to divers and charges a little more. Look for a snorkelers only boat like Wavelength where guided snorkel tours are included in the price. Wavelength was one of the first snorkel boats in Port Douglas and has access to 22 sites, whereas Silver Sonic only has access to five sites.

Make sure you spend the $5 to rent a stinger suit. The suit not only protects you from jellyfish, which are very rare, but it provides an extra layer of warmth allowing you more time in the water. We didn’t think the suit was necessary; however, since you are spending three hours in the water it gets a little chilly.

And of course, if you have any questions just ask a local like the friendly bartender Dazzle from Port O’Call Café who provided these tips free of charge.

She's Only Happy in the Sun...

Port Douglas, Australia

June 2, 2007
S 16°29.234
E 145°28.099

After a full week in the same city it was time to move onto a new adventure. We enjoyed all seven nights, not just waking up in the same place, but Sydney overall is a gorgeous city; a must see for any traveler. Of course big, beautiful cities come with a big price; however, Sydney is worth blowing the budget for a few days.

Since it was our last Friday night in Sydney, we had a late night for us and rolled into our hotel lobby around midnight after drinks with Ben, Myles and Elise (aka Turtle). The original plan was to have dinner and maybe a beer or two. However, after three beers at their apartment, another round at a nearby pub in Surry Hills, yet another schooner along our path looking for food, and one more round at a swanky underground wine bar, we finally gave up on the idea of food and called it a night. Thank goodness Myles and Ben had to work on Saturday morning or we may have been grabbing a cab to the airport straight from the pubs since our flight was at 7:00 AM.

We tracked the weather in Cairns since our arrival in Sydney and it had been raining nearly every day. Expecting to arrive to warm showers and high humidity; we arrived to high humidity and sun breaks—perfect. When we walked out of the airport, with the mountainous rainforest in the distance, the weather reminded us of Hawaii and Fiji.

As we headed north, with the water to our right and rainforests to our left, we kept our eyes peeled for some of the creatures Australia is known for—crocodiles and kangaroos. We did spot a kangaroo in the middle of a horse pasture, but no luck on the crocodile—I think I am fine with that!

Port Douglas is about an hour from the airport and a hot-spot for celebrities and vacationing Ozzies. In fact, an open audition for 18-40 year-old men was taking place in town for a Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg movie. I told Marc to give it a shot since he came in right under the maximum age. He decided to keep his hidden acting talent under wraps for awhile longer; we’d rather die than live in LA or Hollywood anyway.

Acting career behind us, we took a short stroll down to Four Mile Beach. Unfortunately, due to strange weather conditions (i.e. Global Warming), stinging jellyfish, which are normally not a problem this time of the year, were still lingering along the shoreline. This made it unsafe to swim outside of a safety net strategically placed along part of the beach. The stingers, or jellyfish, in this part of the world shoot venom into their victims and are taken very seriously—we adhered to all of the warnings.

The weather was a perfect 27C (84F) and the water in the Tasman was 23C (76F). We relaxed on the beach, soaked up the sun, dipped our feet in the Tasman and read our latest books. It was a perfect way to spend our first day in Port Douglas and a good way to work on a base-tan before cooking ourselves in the Vietnam sun next week.

Just an Easy Day...

Sydney, Australia

June 1, 2007
S 33°51.438
E 151°12.910

Our trip back to the Vietnamese Consulate to pick up our passports and visas wasn’t nearly as exciting as our trip there. Since we now knew how to get to the consulate the whole trip took maybe one hour; leaving the rest of the afternoon to explore a different part of Sydney.

A large map hanging in the hotel lobby showed a big park just north of Darling Harbor. We decided to wander across the city and check it out since all of the parks have been impressive.

First, we opted to make a quick detour to the Sydney Seafood Market, and take in the views of the ANZAC bridge up close. We couldn’t pass up the opportunity to sample several fresh slices of salmon and tuna sashimi (for only $5 USD) before heading to Wentworth Park.

The park ended up being more of a playing field for soccer and rugby then a public garden. Slightly disappointed, we headed back to Darling Harbor to grab a beer, relax in the sun, and write out a few postcards.

We’re still very impressed with Sydney but we’re now looking forward to our trip to the Great Barrier Reef tomorrow.

A Ferry to Manly...

Sydney, Australia

May 30, 2007
S 33°51.438
E 151°12.910

Today our destination on the ferry was Manly. We originally planned a beach day with Elise, but the weather forecast predicted rain in our perfectly, sunny city. We still decided to go to Manly and leave the beach towels at home.

After we jumped off the ferry we grabbed a map at the information center. We quickly reviewed the map and decided to take the Manley Scenic Walk along the harbor, hugging the coastline, and through the Sydney Harbor National Park. Yes, a National Park right in the harbor. We had to check it out!

We wrapped our way along the cove with the water to our left until we arrived at the trailhead of the Park. We started hiking down a single track path, dense brush on both sides. The scrub brush was dry, like it was ready for the first rains of winter that still haven’t arrived.

After zigzagging our way up the path for about 4 KM we found a perfect lookout providing a fabulous view of the Tasman Sea, the lighthouse we visited yesterday, and the small town of Manly. Knowing we were up against the ferry schedule we decided to make our way back to the Manly beach where Elise was brave enough to soak her feet in the chilly waters of the Tasman.

I thought to myself (minus Ecuador) we’ve had the opportunity to touch a lot of cold water over the last few months. I guess the warm water will come soon enough… in just a few days we’ll be in Cairns to see the Great Barrier Reef. In the meantime, we’ll continue to enjoy every minute of Sydney and take a few more ferry rides here and there.