lost in translation

after a short uncomfortable night flight from Ho chi Minh to Tokyo, i approached passport control and looked up at the trains to the city, some random blog noted that it takes 1:50 hours... what? i dont have this much time, it must be wrong. i pass passport control and find a train that takes 36 minutes! whoohoo and it leaves right away... in minutes i enjoy the green country side with the tiniest wooded hill.

some how i confused Oshiado station and shiodome station and i get the right instructions for the wrong place. i leave the fast train and get on the metro then realize my error, unfortunately , i realized it on a small station and have to wait a bit for the return train. after returning to the bigger station, then walking to the next station to get on a different line.. there are around 15 metro lines in this city, i find the ticket machine, select my station and go to place the ticket in, it doesn't work.. i ask the counter guy, and he tells me i must by a ticket on this machine. with no time to fight the system, i buy another ticket and reach my station within minutes and impressed by all the commercials within the train.

from shiodome station i walk to hamariku gardens- pay the fee and for the next hour walk around the green garden with  stunted trees and also cherry trees, very few of them, this is late in season, see the small lake, small bridge, the artists that color in this quiet place. walk the peony garden and after an hour board the water taxi towards asakusa. the water way is mostly tall buildings, not a single pagoda in sight, i am following a frommer guide, the guide says a concrete view but that this is the ancient way of coming in to the city, so i decided to follow along. i am a bit cold. due to a suit case mayham, i don't have anything with me other then short pants and a T, and an umbrella, which does nothing for the cold. after 45 minutes on the ship, i disembark and finally get to use my umbrella as light rain of big drops begins. this is a temple area, it has several temple buildings and lots of market type booths full of humans. the booths sell various Japanese souvenirs and food. the problem with the food is that i dont understand what it is, local signs, i see people eat strange looking stuff but decide not to risk it, after visiting the temple i spot a potato booth and decide that a potato is safe, which it appears to be but not filling, after more market wondering, i spot a line for a falafel looking thing, i ask and it has beef and curry, i risk it, its ok . i walk around the market for an hour or so, enjoy the masses then hop on the train to another area- of ueno where i have my fast train return ticket at 15:00. it is now around 13:00 and i walk to a large shrine then walk by some gardens, see the little swan paddle boats, bird feeders and an area of pagodas , shrines, temples , a zoo and several museums/ this is a very green area locals and tourists alike are walking the streets and enjoying the sights.

just infront of the national muesum, i get my trademark shot, enjoy dark choclate self serve ice cream and pass by a large whale, that was left here by tzunamy waves. 

it is now 14:20 and i hurry to the station, and get there by 14:35, then i see that this is the wrong station, a passer by tells me that my station is 1 k away. at this point after days of walking i am slightly limping , my feet are killing me, but no time, i run\ walk to ueno station and make it in time, place my ticket and it doesnt work. once again i talk to the guy, and he tells me that this is JR ueno (japan railways) and there is another ueno station for the fast skyliner train .... ahhh.. i rush out again and rush a bit more and reach my station, now the ticket fits , and i enter the train at 14:56... 4 minutes, i could have purchased something.... 

and japan makes 59- a bit short- i will be back one day to complete the tour but sometimes half a day is all you get.

i enjoyed the ride back and at the airport, eat the meal that i wanted on the original japan layover which was sold out then board the flight.

oh the horror, on the way over i had personal screens and watched 6 movies, now- no screens,,,, no!!!  without screen the time passes slowly but i do see into the woods and some movie with bill murry. i leave japan at 17:50 and land at 15:30 of the same day!!!

lucky, i find an earlier flight back instead of waiting 6 hours in chicago, land and see mattanchuck who comes to my arms then leads me to the much more interesting escalator, up down 4 times...

good to be home, but i am exhausted.. 

the answer to the riddle is Ron Thal- lead guitarist of Guns and roses, but not the original one.... the sign lied... well live and let die...

see you on the next trip

 

Tokyo photos

https://plus.google.com/photos/104769303678729727539/albums/6140958428189886145?authkey=CMXRx-2ghcyYCg

City of lions photos

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on a guy, chicken rice and trees

after landing and taking the train into town, i reached my hostel, put the luggage in the room and took the metro to the marina. the city has a nice marina with hotels and business district and you can walk around it. lots of sea type chair our next to the marina and couple occupy everyone. the marina is mostly dark and during the walk i see couples hiding away in various dark corners enjoying the warm humid evening. 

i walk around and saw the symbol of the town a merlion - a lion with  mermaid body. btw, this is Singapore... i walked some more and passed the nice Victoria hall, city hall , war memorial and was impressed by the size of this city and its bustling night life. i watched the new Marina bay sands hotel and casino, the 3 towers with a ship for a roof!  from this place they have water and light show with lasers that light the entire marina, an impressive display.  after 3 hours of walking around which included a shwarma dinner , with the wrong kind of bread, i returned to the hostel for the night.

early morning i got up and was late for the Saturday weekly trip. lucky they were too. i grabbed a couple nutella sandwiches and join the hostel crew for a trip in the city. we took the bus to the start and this trip passes in the green corridor of the city, a large and narrow park , and you go everywhere on bridges within the canopy and see the town from all angles. I also saw some nearby islands. which are indonesia!!! a new place is within my sight, literally, not like S palin.  well next trip perhaps, lets not get too greedy. we were 4 guests and 5 hostel staffers, they do a trip every week and share SIngapore (lion city) history.after 2 hours of walking we stopped for lunch. the specialty of this place is chicken rice, rice cooks in oils that give it chicken taste. this mea comes with... chicken  and chicken broth soup. i liked it. for desert they ordered for us a treat of sorts. it is shaved ice with everything and i do mean everything. some of the ice is fruit flavored, the red and the green were good, but on top they had sweet corn in some sauce, black beans at the bottom and a bit more stuff. i like corn and sweet ice, but it doesn't work together. after this interesting yet i will never try it again desert, i left the guides who refused a tip!!!! and went to discover little india. this city has 3 ethnic areas, china town, little india and little malawi. i toured the hood for an hours, stopping at the temple which is actively in use, many locals were praying or meditating inside. from there i took the metro to marina bay gardens. these are new garden with a nice river , interesting vegetation, sculpture and some very unique items. the super grove tree are 7 or 8 huge trees out of metal and they let the vegetation and vines cover it to look like a real tree, and you can use an elevator and go up these huge pillars to the top and view the city. a most interesting design, but it was expensive to go up. they also had a rain forest and a flower dome that required a fee and i passed, little time. but next to it was a show. i heard music playing and came by to watch, a guitarist was playing and lots of cameras were pointing at him. i didn't know the guy, but so many cameras for a no one, no way. i saw the sign and took out my camera. at the end of a 45 minute free show where this dude joked with the crown, sang songs of his and his band and also any song the crowd asked for. if he didn't know the song, he joked and waved it off. i am not sharing the name, till AMit sees the photo- this is a quiz for one, no one of you will know the guy by his face, but most of you know who he is.

 

after a most enjoyable show where i sang along and got a great selfie with him i made my way back to the hostel after a burger late lunch, took a de-soaking shower since it is so hot and humid here and then walked 10 minutes to the train station where i was soaked once more.

i am now at the airport, boarding soon, returning to Nam for 2 hours then moving on to Tokyo

and Singapore happily makes 58

btw- the malai prince found this island after a storm and found many cats, his advisers thought they were lions (but they were just cats) and since this was a fisherman village, then=y needed a sea theme, so the lion mermaid was born

on stairs, steak and a shower hose.

originally , I was scheduled to leave Cambodia on the 18th and Shay as well. then the following occurred, Moti and mom moved their flight to the morning of the 17th and shay in retaliation also changed his flight to the same time, leaving me for a day + in Cambodia solo. that is usually ok, but we assess that we have a good coverage of the sites already and day 3 would be an over kill.

now the debate begun, what to do with a day of travel, go where...? Laos, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, china are all within my booking finger tips. Thailand as well, to spend another day with the family was a front runner but the internal debates with a new destination won after a coupe of decision less hour as we had our last meal together in an Italian place with great lasagna.

we woke up a little bit after four am, packed and got on a tuk tuk to ANgkor Vat , THE temple, to watch the sunrise, even at 5 am the coldest tie of day , i am starting to sweat. tourist swarm on the place looking for the ideal sunrise shot, but since they all morning flights, we didn't wait for the sun and walked in. this temple as a single unit is by far the grandest, and the most complete, it has large grounds of grass, outer walls and 5 towers. inside the long corridors you will find massive carving of ancient battles with elephant ridden bowman.  the site is impressive, but some how not as pretty as some of the less known ones, perhaps it is the tourist swarm, or perhaps since several areas are off limits and i cant explore or maybe since this is day two, but this site was not my favorite, thought i did take my share of photos, respect for the world wonder candidate after all.

then it was time to go, for them, while i stayed for a few more hours.

the next temple was on a hill with a tiring climb followed by many stairs.  temple from which Angkor vat itself peaks from the jungle canopy. at this pyramid, i noticed a sweet spot for my trade mark photo and now the question is who will take the shot. a handful of tourist  nearby and i am approached by a Chinese girl wanting me to take her shot (standard view shot) and then i get my legs in the air photo, and for the next 2 hours we walk the temples together. she is a Chinese teacher in Laos, a destination i will not be heading to today.

the next temple is the most impressive in my opinion. , the site Bayon. behind large walls. this is the largest grounds area with several temples inside, usually there is one in every site, this one has several. the first, bayon itself is a Buddha frenzy place. there are 48 towers, each one has a Buddha carved on every corner, as you walk up and down in this place, Buddha is always smiling at you. after this impressive ruin where we tried to find shots with ore and ore Buddha's in them we exited and move to the next temple that should be known as hell on stairs.

these ancient Cambodians, build high pyramids, with narrow and steep stairs, in over a 100 degree weather. crazy nation. we climb up and down, resting a little now and again in the breeze and taking photos of symmetric corridors, unique carving and jungle views. it is not even 9 am and i finished 2 liters of water. at another temple we light the incense and pay the 1$ fee to ensure that Buddha listens. then walk on a long terrace with countless carved elephants.

at this point we go our separate ways and i continue tempelling, pass a coupe more then reach the last of today. i need to find the name, but this is a temple claimed by nature. huge ficus trees are growing from within the stone, in some areas they just break through and some they engulf the stone in a more impressive manner. i take lots and lots of shots before heading out.

at lunch time, i say good bye to Cambodia with a not so great Cambodian steak, but with a banana shake and a pine apple shake, so cool and yummi. then i head to the airport.

at this point after being soaked through the bone with sweat and i sticky and not qualified for plane travel, but there is no hotel here, lucky the Cambodian have a hose in the shower used for number two and i use it for a refreshing shower. the cleaning lady outside keeps banging on the cell door, since the device is not meant for showers and water goes everywhere. now much refreshed i am waiting in the lounge boarding in 45 minutes...

and Cambodia makes 57.. + world wonder candidate check.

Cambodia photos

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on short and talci

yesterday we took the bikes and rode into town, stopping for emergency souvenirs, then moving on at 1 SpM  that's store per minute. i decided to go alone to see stuff and found a couple of more unseen communal places and learned how to distinguish between pure silk and the kind they sell and has a 100% silk label on it but it is not. if you cannot trust a label, what can you trust. well you burn it, silk smells like hair and leaves only dark residue.  what i dint ask is how i can burn a scarf when offered one by the vendors. and also, how does she know how burnt hair smells like?

after a few shopping productive minutes , we all met and boarded the small boat for a river cruise. the slow moving boat took us on the river and some side canals, we got close to a fishing boat and had an offer to learn how to throw the fishing nets,  it didn't seem as an attractive proposition. the enjoyable ride in the nice breeze , passed fishing from boat, fisherman walking the river looking for shells and nice scenic views. when we got off we had an hour of shopping/ returning to the hotel and i used it to obtain my trade mark photo.

we ate lunch at the hotel and got on the shuttle to da nang, and a few waiting hours later we got on a propeller plane to  cambodia.  and Vietnam becomes country # 56, a beautiful country and very friendly people.

from the air, Cambodia , looks like  borderline jungle, forested areas next to fields. the airport from 1st glance looks like a Cambodian temple. we fill the arrival card, departure card, custom deceleration and a health deceleration. 4 forms to enter passport number and all details. i say that i am coughing in the health declaration and wonder what they will do, but the guy doesn't even look at the form. we pay the visa and get in, rent a tok tuk and reach the hotel in 30 minutes.

we leave for dinner and notice that this is a holiday, the Khmer new year!  what a perfect times. hoards and hoards of locals are filling the center. after a good dinner at a local fancy bbq place, we join the hoards. 

the fun thing here is the usage of talc powder. they buy large bottles of the powder and fill you with it, then put it on their hand and rub on your face. they also shoot you with water guns. after a few minutes i was left alone to go in to the denser sections, since the rest prefer dry land over fun wetness. i was hit with so much talc powder and had my face rubbed, but its fun, since they all scream happy new year at you and laugh with joy. they love when tourists join the fun and i was definitively participating. 

after an hour of crowding, i went back for a de-talcing shower and night night.

next morning, after great banana bread at breakfast, we got on a tuk tuk and drove to the temples. there is a short route including the famous Angkor vat and the long one. since every cambodian is going to the temple, the 1st hour was filled with traffic, but when we reach the long route, no more traffic and very few tourist. we did seven or eight temples, if you ask other people on this trip the opinion will differ, but from my perspective, each of these temples is amazing. they are in similar style, some small some large, with may carvings of Buddha, Vishnu and many other gods. temple guardians in the form of elephant, tigers and soldiers. these temples are filled with symmetrical gates, from one end you can see the other end, really interesting. and many of the towers contains a shrine in the middle  and the roofs have holes, at the right time of day sun light comes in hit the shrine, i didn't find the right one that opens the temple of doom, but i will keep on looking. huge ficus trees are reclaiming this jungle area and in some places they grow from within these abandoned temples and large roots break the stone.

local vendors, kids mostly are also here selling stuff, but not as many as in Vietnam

i take lots and lots of photos  and enjoy this super hot day. we stop for lunch and keep tempelling then return to the hotel which is where i am now.

soon we will meet for dinner and re join the crowd since new khmer year celebration end tonight.

tomorrow we do the short route with Angkor vat itself.

 

 

on the dragon city

i am sitting here by the pool at the start of our last day in vietnam. 

yesterday was by far the best day of the trip. after breakfast, we were picked up and supposed to go to cooking class. on the way (5 minutes) we had  change of heart. the reason was the weather. we didnt see the sun for over a week and had unusual amounts of rain, and now was a glorious summer's day. spend it sitting inside seems sinful. we cancelled the class and walked around the beautiful old quarter of Hoi an. we each went our separate ways since this area is a market area and we have our own pace and interests. I focused more on the relics and pagodas. 

at the point of splitting, our tour guide much depressed by our rapid changes, tried to tell us where to go, but i was anxious to get going, almost missing a huge pagoda right behind me. inside of these temples, there are colorful paintings of wartime and animals, lots and lots of dragons and small water pools. there buildings are not as grand as their Europeans counterparts, but there is greater attention to detail.

i pass by the Japanese covered bridge and visit a house from 234 years ago and get the tour from one of the residents, the find a communal place. it is a temple of sorts, for meetings really but there is no one else but me, despite a city filled with tourists. it is real peaceful and quiet inside only when i leave i get a request for a ticket.we got 5 tickets each and this quarter has about 10-15 of these old houses, communal places and pagodas. i walk the entire quarter, pass the borders of the new town with its many pubs and dance bar and take many photos of dragons, so many of them, this town was made for me. i return to the old town passing another beautifully decorated bridge and watch the large nets lowered to the water, then pulled back by a fisherman with a wheel sort of lever and finds nothing in the net. but i think this was a tourist demo, lots of cameras behind it while i survey it from the nearby bridge. i walk the market with its many souvenir shops and the "looka looka here" calls of vendors. the streets are filled with lanterns and occasionally a bird cage would replace one of the lanterns, pretty and sad. i finally found a piece worth getting for my self and i explore another pagoda inside, this one is Chinese in origin but the styles are similar, water , dragon animals, serenity.

this is one of my favorite aspects of trips, the discovery. walking with the guide can fill me with history, but a feeling of a place i get only by exploring.

after 2+ hours of wandering we met up for lunch, fish and chips for me then returned to the hotel. this  hot day we should not waste. we split again and Mom and I take bikes and go cycle in the villages. we ride the suburbs that are a mixture of old and new, new villa next to old houses. most houses have something or other growing, these people are what eco supporters try to do, they are self sustaining, instead of green lawns they have crops growing, the roads narrow quickly as we reach more village type dwelling, but also in each house something grows. these houses are by the lagoons and many have fishing boats in their back yards and we see some of them casting of nets or growing shrimp. we pass by several houses that doubles as a mini market and get water. they all invite us inside for whatever merchandise they sell, and we kindly decline. the ride continues through the village with rice fields, water buffaloes and the continuous combination of old and new. we leave the village and cross the bridge and reach the beach.

most of the beach area are sacs on top sacs, this is a flood area and most of the beach is not for swimming, since behind the sacs are long pointy bamboo spikes to hold the sacks in place. there are some areas where swimming is allowed. we leave the beach and continue along the coastal road that has no coastal view , then turn back towards town and tour another village area, before return to the main areas of mopad mayhem. we slowly did 19k in 3 hours of regular city bike.

we got back and the room is locked with no key in the front desk, i lug myself to get the front desk to ask house keeping to open the door and take a shower.

later we walked back to the old quarter that looks amazing at night as well. since we skipped the cooking class, the restaurant offered a set menu dinner instead, very nice of them. we looked at the menu and figured we will have to get more food as well, this seemed experimental food. but it all changes soon. i try some shrimp spring roll and white rose (shrimp in rice paper looking thing in fish sauce, then there is chicken in peanut sauce,  good rice and other dishes i care less for, seafood in a mango and papaya salad, eggplant dish and other things.

we didn't need to get more food after all,.. stuffed, we walked the quarter a bit more then walked the 1.5 k back to the hotel. a glorious day.

now it is breakfast time, last day in Nam awaits..

photos from bac ma national park and the road to da dang

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photos from hue

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cat cat village and red zao village photos near Sa Pa

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on leeches and lanterns

no phones were lost today.

we left Hue in the morning, of a cloudy day and drove south oh high way one. highway one sounds good, but this is a very slow moving road with lots of road work and speed limits, of 50k/hr. after an hour we reached the entrance of bak ma national park. we then drove up for 40 minutes, a cloudy day at the bottom, quickly became foggy on top as nice mountain views became solid gray.

we hike to the top of the hill, the path was a decent one, this mountain used to be a heli base and observation, but now one of the peaks has a Buddhist temple. we reached the top and took some pictures of the fog. a very large bell is found there as well, you have to ring in 9 and and say your wishes and so i did. after every bang the bell shakes and resonates in an impressive manner.

we walked back and saw the largest earth worm i have ever seen, probably 10 times larger then usual, it was like a snake. we walk the kilometer or so back to the car.

after a stop at the happy room.. we began the 2nd hike to to top of a water fall 300 meters high and from there 700 stairs awaits down then up. we tucked our pants into the socks since leeches can be found here. i had ankle high sock, not ideal for pants tucking and kept examining my pants tuckness often. the rain became stronger and stronger as we continued walking. we passed some vietcong tunnels and tried to spot nest od wall nesting birds. we passed interesting buddha statues then the guide spots a leech on his sock. its about 2-3 cm long, like a worm but crouched, like it walks on both ends and not like a caterpillar. its a fast moving thing. i check my pants and terrified to find one on my show as well, in a couple of minutes i find 2 more, trying to sneak in through my shoe, we shu them away with sticks and leave this vampiric nest. we reached the water fall and had to cross the river to get to a viewing point. at this point moti slipped and got another booboo. this was after 30-40 minutes walks in non step rain and leach inested waters so we decided to avoid the stairs and head back to the car. we we arrived we began a de-leechification process. when i took my pants of 2 more leaches jumped out hungrily trying to find a blood vessel. the guide had several in his shoes and mom had a couple as well. 

now leech free, we drove south out of the park, we passed a couple of mountain passes with nice views of the sea , lagoons, fields and mountains. we passed in a small town for lunch and learned the local way to harvest oysters, they use old moped tiers and the oysters cling into them. then the pull the tiers up and use the Oysters shell, once ground as cement.

this drive now is long and slow, more road work and speed limits, we seem to be driving all day, we passed the nice city of da neng with very pretty beaches and finaly reach hoi an.

once we passed the mountain passes, the rain stopped and its nice and warm out.

we walk towards the old quarter. Da nang is a new city but hoi an is old, the old quarter is closed for car traffic and it full of restaurant shops and night life. the streets are lit by colorful  Chinese style lamps and it looks unique and interesting.

we stop at a western style restaurant and enjoy a good meal then walk the 2 k back to the hotel

tomorrow should be sunny, the 1st sunny day for us in over a week!!! we have a cooking class  and then cycling through the villages, should be nice

cheers from lantern city for Hoi an.

on Jenga and monk hair.

today while i was sitting at the airport writing about losing my phone, i had not noticed that the phone was not on my person. after heading for breakfast and reaching for it, i noticed the theft! lucky the thief was Moti, rescuing it from being neglected on a table, this phone is doomed.

we landed to a pouring rain at Hue, central Vietnam. the guide, tu, said that it will be only 2 days of rain, just the time that we are here, great..

Hue is the old capital city of Vietnam, and it's citadel is a Unesco site. we walked the grounds for 2 hours, seeing the royal court, temples, library and many side building. the main royal dwelling was bombed and no longer exists and parts of the amazing buildings we saw were restorations. after the walk where the photos will do more justice, we drove to the local market then split and i went to the Pagoda from 1601 and walked the quiet grounds with several pagodas and monks buildings. they have a large bell calling for prayer every day at 3:30 am for 4-5 am medication, crazy sleepless monks. the monks are bold headed, symbol that you gave yourself to Buddha, but the novices, are mostly shaved, but have some hair left as a symbol of link to greater society, at 18 they get to choose.

we returned to the market and enjoy the smell of fish, and other lovely odors then we headed for the hotel to dry up and rest. i tried to swim in the pool, but the water is cold. 

in the evening we went to a sports bar, Le's gardens to watch the soccer match. the food here was similar to other places in Nam, but somehow not as good, more oily, less healthy. but the music was great and the game was on, Chelsea were not winning, at the time... in almost the same level of interest a group of Aussies are playing jenga in the next table, they play for a while and the skill level is impressive, by the time we leave, their game is still on.

we return to the hotel when i watch Chelsea win :(  and so far.. man U wins, which is the important game for me and the reason i looked for a sports bar in the 1st place.

a quiet day ends, i still have lots of castle photos to load, tomorrow we drive south towards hoi an and hike at a national park, the evening had great rain less weather, hope tomorrow is rain free, 

cheers from Hue where the score is 2:1...:)

on 2 cats and local greetings

I am sitting here at ..the airport, cant always be sitting in an amazing place.

2 days ago we woke on comfy beds , dragged ourselves out for breakfast with better appearing food that it actually tasted. the better the hotel the more average the food i think, but there is always bread and butter where the fried rice is not great. the day is foggy and colder then yesterday. we headed out and again found a local guide to take us to cat cat village, also a Hamond tribe village, but closer to sapa, we started the steep way down on the road, passing many shops and more villages with the usual greeting of "buy from me..." "shopping" and "come back, buy from me later". it also started raining heaver and heavier and in one of the shops we realized that our water proof gear is no proof of being dry.

North face is made in Vietnam and their gear is everywhere here and cheap. we all got fancy gore-text weather gear or as Moti calls it "Gatkes" then the rain stopped. 

we began walking the steps of the village, passing local houses, seeing how they live and work. they make the begs they sell right there in front of us. the many stairs lead to a pretty waterfall and then the rain continues, so the gear is not wasted. we continue to walk the interesting village and the rain gets stronger, we stop at one shop and try to wait the heavy rain out and watch one of the store owners which sells cheap souvenirs playing poker on her iPhone.

we kept walking in the rain and came to the end of the village, now we had a choice, taxi or walk up steep 3+k . we split, Moti and I made the stupid choice to walk up in the drenching rain. an hour plus later we reached the hotel , and now finally the sky clears and we manage to get nice shots of the mountain range .a little while post shower later we ate some fried noodles in the same place we had dinner the  night before. it is the afternoon now and not much to do, so we went napping or movie clip editing then headed for dinner. Pho was good tonight.

as we limped out of the restaurant we noticed a foot massage across the street to red dao people salt bath. i wanted to sleep but i joined the massage effort. this massage is on big chairs, we sit, and they soak our fit in warm water with unknown oils and herbs and then get on the chair and sit behind us in the chair and begin rubbing my temples. this is a foot massage mind you. many minutes of head massage, neck and back massage, then they wipe of feet and begin leg massage. we all sit side by side and the atmosphere is very jovial. we are laughing from this experience and so do they. both me and shai have a guy, Libi a female and Moti's is an unknown, a tiny frail thing, even by Vietnam standards. it is a girl of 18 after all, smaller then my 11 year old niece. when the massages starts working on my calf muscles and notices my flinching, he shows it to the other therapist and they start laughing. he work a lot of my right more trouble calf muscle and then a bit less on the left.

during the treatment a coupe of drunk touring stumble in, the locals try to get rid of them, but give in at least. our therapist all seem embarrassed by it and look apologetic. Vietnam is a very sincere nation. after this 45 minute enjoyable experience, we pay the 5$ fee and tip and limp less up the road to the hotel.

the next morning was still foggy, we checked out then haggled with a cab driver, he wanted 500, 000 dong to take us to Tafin village. after long negotiations we settled for 25$ much to the happiness of the driver (25$=500,000 dong). the very slow road takes us next to several villages, there is still fog, but this area is lower, and we can see a bit further. this is village of the red zao people, they wear a very distinguishable red sort of hat. or the woman anyway. the man wear nothing distinct. as we reach the village, the local swarm on the taxi even before it stops with the usual greetings, but soon they see that we are not buying...after buying to much in the previous days and only one of them lingers as we walk from this village to the next. we pass rice fields and watch the locals hard at work. we see a couple of villages, which are more of what a village was in my mind. lots of fields, simple houses, lots of chickens, pigs, ducks scattered around all with their young ones. the locals are less clingy here, this is a slightly more remote village. there is little rain today, but it is colder.

we take the taxi back to town while Moti debates the driver on the distance. the supposed 15k is only 10.5k but now the driver suddenly does not understand English.

during lunch power went out in the area, and there was some concern on is the chicken being kept in a cooler or not in this state, but no one to ask. they cook on gas , so no issues and i add my steam rice in to the Pho soup and the result is a very filling bowl.we walk this lovely town a bit more, occasionally dodging the usual greetings. when ever we say no more money or no more room they start to giggle. these people know how to nag in a very friendly way. in every village our shopaholic purchased something.

the hotel offers a spa with a pool and showers you can use post check out since most travelers take the shower-less night train. i take my phone with me to the shower for safe keeping and place it on some hooks. the change and head out , reach for my phone and i cant find it. i go back and ransack my locker, my back, i look in the shower, toilet and it is no where. i inform the locals and they are all worried, the call manager and security and we all rummage together, they bring flash lights and search underneath the lockers, in and out of the air conditioner,  this search takes about 20-30 minutes. these people are very concerned of my property. there was one other tourist with us and we assume he grabbed it. in the end the phone is found on the hooks in the shower, which you don't see when you open the door, the hooks are behind. i thank the crew and forget to tip.

on the way out there is a sand volley ball court and for some reason a goat is tide in one end pooping on the sand court, how random

we take the van back to lao cai, and wait an hour, get some dinner before the night train. Mom gives us the tickets while she and moti go first to the train. when we get theere and show the ticket, he says its not good. we have the vouchers, but the little stub ticket was kept with them.

i stay by the guard while shay goes cabin by cabin search, he says he almost went to the end and found nothing. he goes back and forth and we start texting them to bring the tickets, 10 minutes pass and the train will leave soon. then something crazy blond and waving a ticket comes. they were 12 train carts away, shai didn't search the whole train. they finally realized they had the tickets and came to get us. we got in the cabin after the non  English speaking search our cabin for hiding passengers. tired, i slept most of the night on the rocking train and now after an hour taxi ride with a BO driver that beeped all the way to chase away the mopeds took us to the airport. on the way we passed by Ho chi Minh tomb, passed several nice gardens and the big lage with many locals doing tai chi and enjoyed this nice town for a short while.

now at the airport, flight is a little over an hour away, new destination, Hue

a little mountain clip on our hike

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbkV267Dvf8

Photos from Sa Pa

https://plus.google.com/photos/104769303678729727539/albums/6135233906719096545?authkey=CJ7KrLGf7ZOeaA

ha long bay photos

https://plus.google.com/photos/104769303678729727539/albums/6135728751906375073?authkey=CLrks8X57-ngTA

on a boobo and slippers

we left of at the end of the kayaking , but that was not the end, another full lunch awaited us on this never feed-ending vessel... overstuffed we disembarked and began the drive to Ha Noi.  an under four hour ride lasted over five with the horrible capital city traffic. on the one one our group female members had to use the facilities . we looked at the guide book and in perfect Vietnamese we aked where is the bath room. the driver looked at us like we came from laos.  after several attempts we asked him to call his boss (the boss knows English) and then moti made a psh... sound and then the driver got it. he pointed ahead and did not stop. a few minutes later, a possible nice looking rest stop appears and Mom almost beheaded the driver, urging him to stop, he still pointed ahead and 10 seconds later pulled in to the scheduled stopping point, an impressive sweat shop/ tourist trap with everything super over priced. soon we were on our way with less pressure and made it to the office at 4:30. we paid the agent company and now we had to wait for the night train. Moti volunteered to luggage sit and the rest of us hopped a cab down town. we walked the small market streets of ha noi. the market here is un remarkable , and it started raining slightly and we didn't stay long. we passed by the little lake in the center of the city and saw the pagoda in the center of the lake.  we took a taxi back to the train station. it dropped us off on the other side and we debated if we were in the right station or not, since it looked different from this side, but eventually we found the pass to a waiting Moty. we split off for dinner. i stopped at a local joint and got some Pho with chicken then walked a round a bit and refueled with a chicken burger before boarding the train. we got some more water and snacks and soon tried to pack 4 people and 5 suite cases in to the small cabin. in the end everything fit just barely and we got ready for the night.the beds are just enough for my height, barely. i was on the top bunk and after a bit of reading i tried to sleep with the rocking back and forth motion of the train.i think i managed to sleep about 5-6 hours, before movement woke me and i couldn't fall a sleep again, and soon it was time to leave the train. we took a car from Cao lai station to Sa pa -30-40 K away up the mountain. this is a foggy day, but the driver still passes other cars like crazy. we reach our hotel, the rooms are not ready  but we take a great shower at the hotel spa and get ready for a hiking day. we go the the market, dodge some local places then one of the local tribes woman starts tagging a long with us. we semi get rid of her when we stop for breakfast at one hotel, but she lurks outside. after breakfast she is still there and we end up taking her as a guide. with prediction for a muddy day, both I and Mom buy shoes and we convince shai that the hike is mostly down hill and easy. and soon it begins, we walk down the village and soon they leave the main road and take smaller trails these tribes use to harvest the rice patties. these are small , narrow , steep and somewhat slippery roads. our guide brought in 2 more tribes woman, all in traditional wear. they are in flip flops , skipping on these slopes as it is flat even ground and us clumsy people slowly walk it and trying not to slip.

Moti thought he had good shoes, but with no traction he soon slides down and gets a booboo on his hand. while worries of tetanus comes to mind, the 2 younger tribes woman begin helping him descend. they use their feet as stairs to help, very resilient people. the walk is slow but very pretty as we walk next to local farm houses, in and across the rice terraces, lots of ducks , chickens, pigs with piglets. the far view is hidden in the fog, so we don't have the impressive panoramic view we want to see.

the road is mostly down for an hour and a half, then there is a 20+ minutes of straight up hill, followed by more downhill. it is chilly here. not what you'd expect in Vietnam.

after 3 hours we get to the river area and reach the real villages, there are more local tribes here, working the field, herding the buffaloes, and mostly selling arts and crafts. after hour 4 we reach the village of the younger Moti carriers ladies and we stop for lunch of fried rice and chicken and a swarm of "buy from me" bees.  a girl of maybe six , comes to us with a face you cant say no to, wanting us to buy bracelets from her, and more woman come with very similar wares. since we had the ladies help us on the way, it is expected of us to buy only from them, this is how we repay their services, buy paying to much for items we don't need, but they were helpful , so it feels right. i bought stuff as well and way over paid... again.

one lady kept nagging at us to buy the exact same stuff we just bought from the others. but she is from the other tribes, and we don't want to offend our guides. all this occurs during lunch, they stuff the bags and bracelets in your face. 3 for a dollar, 3 for a dollar, non stop. you'd think if you buy something it would stop? after giving in and buying the bracelets, the lady moves on to other members of the group, with the same price requests. next time we need to buy vendor repellent.

other woman, said they are from the same tribe as our main guide which is in the next village and we should buy from them when we get there. we were marked for payment. we kept moving from this village to the next and these marking woman as our entourage. ensuring we don't buy from others waiting for our business. beside this entourage, the road passed through the village and it is interesting to see how they live, but they are also very obviously poor. still there are more cars here, they have cell phones, we think it gets better. as soon as we reach their village, my entourage announces that now i will buy. they don't ask if i want to they assume i would. Shai, densest attract the same attention, they must also see the sucker tattoo on my forehead. i get a little puzzle gift for mattanchuck and also buy something from my stalker. the walk itself was around 5 hours long and in the end we took the ride back to down, 

after a nice long shower i napped for an hour, then we went for dinner. i had more fried rice and potato soup , and now making the updates and soon sleep will kick in

a cold but a very enjoyable day had passed, my muscles are aching, tomorrow the weather will remain cold, but i hope not as foggy as more hiking is expected. 

good night from Sa Pa

on a wonder and the Philippians

I am sitting here in front of ha long bay – one of the trips highlight.

Earlier this morning we woke up around 4 and headed for the airport. Our taxi was a no show. The concierge got a cab off the street and told us he would pay him half the usual hotel overpriced fair due to the delay. The guy could have paid the driver less and say nothing, but these people are very service oriented and honest. The problem with this saving is that it increases my feeling of being screwed since I find I just paid 6 times the fair coming in to the city… silly tourist mistake, but I was jet legged…

 

Well, at the airport, I got a chance to modify my flight back and stay another half day in Cambodia, instead of another day in ho chi minh. After successful ticket modification I went to security. I asked a guard if I can bring water in and he said no, so I drank it outside and then he started talking with me, where I am from and so forth. Our next destination of hai phong is his home town and for some reason he just bumped me passed the security line- perhaps 50 people waiting, nice of him, but not sure if this is what the people in line thought. With short time to go, I wanted to get a Vietnamese sandwich, with omelet. Not available yet, and neither is chicken, so I ordered Pho soup with noodles. Boarding was in minutes so I was trying to eat the hot dish fast. So I grabbed the spoon and started eating where a couple of local ladies instructed me to use the chop sticks. These work for the noodles but not for the soup itself. They then moved my water bottle to better see my barbarian eating habits. I finished the noodles and missed the soup part, shame it was good, but the flight was leaving. 2 hr + later we landed in Hai Phong. From moment one this area seems nicer then Ho chi minh, less crowded, greener and quieter. We now drove for 2 hours till the bay, seeing lots of pretty green fields. The rice fields shade of green is spectacular.  On the way we begin to see very steep and rugged hills, very interesting shapes in between many rivers, till the bay appeared which is filled with these types of hills. We now wait for the cruise to begin.

Yesterday's breakfast was great, but today since we left early we got a doggy bag. I don't think a doggy bag is something you want in this country where dogs are eaten… but the disappointment was finding 2 pieces of bread with a slice of cheese and ham- from a kitchen that can do so much..  lunch will be offered on the ship, I am starving.

 

Next section is written the next morning

I am sitting here on the deck of the oriental sails (which is the company name, not the ships name – I don't know what the ship's name is) the skies are gray thanks to a typhoon in the Philippians. You cant trust that country to hold its storms inside!   so the sky is not in the condition to produce amazing photos. Still ha long bay is a world wonder of nature. In the selection that occurs few years back of world wonders of nature, this place was selected. World wonder, check.

The bay waters are some shade of dark green and from it, erupt 1900 island bluffs very close to one another and the side is very impressive. Our ship, one of possibly 1900 tourist ships is sailing in between the beautiful bluffs . There is not much visible wild life, I saw a couple of eagles or something similar far away the rest are craws and sea food.

Yesterday after the long starvation, we boarded the ship and were given a cold napkin to chill and a glass of juice, which had a good taste, and familiar but not quite. I thought it was the jack fruit and asked and was told it is mango. I was surprised since I don't like mango in any form. Till now anyways, so I drank another. We got very nice rooms with a huge window overlooking the waters and a large window in the shower as well. I took photos of the room to document everything.

Lunch , came next. Impressive. The style here is of quality numerous small dishes. Beginning with some salad of strange noodles and carrots in a strange a bit spicy sauce, the a sequence of tofu plate (not for me) chicken, beef, squid salad, fish, crab cakes served in their shell, rice and ending with water melon and pineapple.

Stopping for morning tai chi…

Back, after this excellent lunch of small dishes, we disembarked and headed for the cave. This is a large stalagmite stalactites cave in one of the larger bluffs, there are likely plenty of caves in this bluffs, but this is the largest known. we hike up the stairs and enter the caves with the usual shapes and every once in a while we here, that is a face, that is Buddha, this is a dragon, whatever the imaging brings to life, the cave hike itself is about 20 minutes with a few minutes of stairs before and at the exit, nice views of the bay. We took the tender back to the ship, changed for bathing suits and headed for titof island. Titof is a cosmonaut that visited ho chi minh and got an island named after him, not a bad deal. This island has a viewing pagoda on top of the hill and to get to it you have to endure 420 steep steps. 10 minutes latest I was catching my breath and the breath taking views. After a careful descend, I dove into south china sea (I think this is the sea here), cool waters and very suiting post the hike up and down. Today is much cooler compared to yesterday, thanks to typhoon Phil. On two swimming excursion is saw a couple of fish both large and slivery plain looking one and no more. On the exit from the cave, we saw tiny squid looking things, possibly they were squids. There are many ships in this bay of local fisherman come to sell their wares to the ships and to us tourists, these are rowing boats, each acts as a little Kiosk. They move from ship to ship and I don't know where they camp for the night, there is no village nearby, perhaps they dorm in the little boat or on the bluffs, poor life in a world wonder.

After the swim and a nice shower with bluff views it was cooking class time. The crew demonstrates how to make viet spring rolls and let us assist in making them, learn how to roll. After that dinner time.

Lunch was great, dinner was spectacular. Again with the same style of many small dishes one at a time, so you get to give each the attention it deserves and take photos.

Shrimp cocktail, sweet cucumber!  mussels, spring rolls, fish, chicken, colorabi and carrot salad, squid salad, all beautifully served, wait for the photos, better than the average chef quality of display. This was truly an incredible dinner.

Later they had options for karaoke, dancing or squid fishing, I thought I would squid fish but instead in went dreaming till dawn.

 

At six am I went on top for morning blogging, followed by a muscle relaxing tai chi on deck  with these wonderful views, and now it is time to go… kayaking awaits.

 

Breakfast was simpler but also nicely served, with slices of pineapple, bananas, sliced oranges, butter and jam, and the most perfect toast, white bread, not singed at all, and purely crispy, I don't know how they did it. A plate of healthy bacon and great eggs also arrived. This chef is awesome.

We started kayaking soon after, we thought we were heading for a cave that monkeys live inside. We took bananas with us. This cave turned out to be a tunnel under the bluff and in the other side was an inner cove, a little harbor surrounded by the bluffs. The perfect hideaway, we sail around this harbor looking for monkeys and found none. We did see some crabs, a and birds, but we did hear birds all the time, hidden away in the tall rugged pointy edged bluffs. The shores were filled with some sort of shell aligning the walls, occasionally there were people making monkey sounds, but the monkeys stayed away.

We left the tunnel mouth and went to a tiny beach where a hawk\ falcon or similar, sorry I am a racist, can't tell them apart. Was battling a group of craws for food, the hawk kept lunging and trying to snag the craws, a most amazing sight, and me with m water video less camera , missed capturing it all but my memory.

Now , after a shower, check out soon as we sail back to the main harbor, today we have a long ride to ha noy, followed by 2-3 hours in the capital and then a night train heading for Sa Pa

Signing off from Ha long bay.

on doggy bag and a water bottle

I am sitting here in front of ha long bay – one of the trips highlight.

Earlier this morning we woke up around 4 and headed for the airport. Our taxi was a no show. The concierge got a cab off the street and told us he would pay him half the usual hotel overpriced fair due to the delay. The guy could have paid the driver less and say nothing, but these people are very service oriented and honest. The problem with this saving is that it increases my feeling of being screwed since I find I just paid 6 times the fair coming in to the city… silly tourist mistake, but I was jet legged…

 

Well, at the airport, I got a chance to modify my flight back and stay another half day in Cambodia, instead of another day in ho chi minh. After successful ticket modification I went to security. I asked a guard if I can bring water in and he said no, so I drank it outside and then he started talking with me, where I am from and so forth. Our next destination of hai phong is his home town and for some reason he just bumped me passed the security line- perhaps 50 people waiting, nice of him, but not sure if this is what the people in line thought. With short time to go, I wanted to get a Vietnamese sandwich, with omelet. Not available yet, and neither is chicken, so I ordered Pho soup with noodles. Boarding was in minutes so I was trying to eat the hot dish fast. So I grabbed the spoon and started eating where a couple of local ladies instructed me to use the chop sticks. These work for the noodles but not for the soup itself. They then moved my water bottle to better see my barbarian eating habits. I finished the noodles and missed the soup part, shame it was good, but the flight was leaving. 2 hr + later we landed in Hai Phong. From moment one this area seems nicer then Ho chi minh, less crowded, greener and quieter. We now drove for 2 hours till the bay, seeing lots of pretty green fields. The rice fields shade of green is spectacular.  On the way we begin to see very steep and rugged hills, very interesting shapes in between many rivers, till the bay appeared which is filled with these types of hills. We now wait for the cruise to begin.

Yesterday's breakfast was great, but today since we left early we got a doggy bag. I don't think a doggy bag is something you want in this country where dogs are eaten… but the disappointment was finding 2 pieces of bread with a slice of cheese and ham- from a kitchen that can do so much..  lunch will be offered on the ship, I am starving.

Vietnam day 1 phtots

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2015-04-06

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Good night vietnam

we had one more outing today, we got a recommendation for a Vietnamese BBQ place. this place was 30 minutes away walking, we are tiered to we took a cab , it got there 2 minutes later...

The menu had the following animals: wild boar, deer,goat and Bacon, bacon is also an animal. the menu also had frog, eel and squid. not my kind of dishes. lucky they also had beef and i got roasted beef with lemongrass and chilly. this place is the kind where you cook it yourself, there is a hotplate in the center, i begin cooking the meet, shay has a similar beef dish and moti decides to get tiger shrimp. these shrimp come on a stick and soon we notice something strange, the shrimps are moving... very unique experience as Moti roasts them on the grill. this live event is troubling to some of our group but they survive with a squid salad which was not moving at all though tout the meal. when time to break the shrimp's seal, Moti had difficulties, so a waitress kept watch and every time one of these tigers was ready, she came over to help de-shell it.

my beef needed no help.. but they gave me a soy sauce with peppers. i ate it and almost at the last bite, i bit one of the peppers. OMG so hot, i drained my watermelon juice but it still took 15 minutes for my tongue to cool.

the waiters kept helping moti with advice on when the shrimp are ready and more help de-shelling them till finally this slow meal was over. we got some pineapple and watermelon then left the place and walked back to the hotel (8 minutes, no more) and stopping for yummy straticella ice cream.

the night market is open now, but i am exhausted - less then 10 hours of sleep in 3 days.

good night from Vietnam... i promise tomorrow to have a better title 

good evening vietnam

after shutting down the lap top this morning it was time for breakfast.

the watermelon juice was so delicious. i took a hard boiled egg, then saw the omelet station with many selections of vegetables. i only chose chilly sauce and the egg lady gave me strange faces for this miserable selection, but it turned out real good. i tried 2 types of noodles with soy sauce, 2 kinds of rice, dim sum with something yellow inside and then some more watermelon juice which was still delicious. we all enjoyed breakfast and then it was time to hit the road. but instead of going to town we booked on the spot a tour to gu chi tunnels.  

the ride is only 50k, but takes an hour and a half through crazy Vietnam traffic. toun the guide explains about life in Vietnam and says little when asked about the ruling party. we see various government building and a military academy on the way, and most of the way is urban. towards the end , green is starting to show, with various fields, much nicer view.

we reach the tunnel and the guide takes us through a forested area where the humidity is super high and the heat weighs on us. we start the tour by seeing a very nasty traps that the VC used to wound Americans.  this entire tunnel complex of 250 kilometers is an underground city that fought and survived the Vietnam war with countless dead on both sides. these traps were interesting, in short don't walk on anything,you could easily impale your foot, body or face against something sharp, in a very creative way. we went into some of the tunnels taking tourist type photos and in some areas crawling to the other side. in the mid way point they had a gun range to sample the various weapons used at the time. the whole Forrest is filled with tunnels, ventilation tubes, sample of the weapons used, tool used and method used to survive.a very interesting tour. we rode back then stopped for lunch ad Pho 2000. a place visited by Clinton at they year 2000. i tried beef with noodles and vermicelli. and i don't really know what it is and it was good after removing all the access onion. i tried jack fruit shake- it is a new fruit for me, texture like mango or papaya, but better tasting than mango which i don't like.

recharged, we walked around the city passing several buildings of the french occupation. an impressive post office building, the Notres dame cathedral, the city theater and a few colonial hotel. 

in the morning before the tour we tried to cross a big road and somehow made it alive to the middle square, if you wait for anything to stop you will die from hit stroke. the mopeds five way to you if you just walk. but cars and buses don't care, move it or be hit. by the after noon we are experts and walking with complete disregard for the traffic. we take photos of the inconceivable numbers of bikes in this city.from the walk we take a cab to the Chinese quarter and quickly go through one of its market, then walks for close to an hour passing several Pagodas. mostly closed ,but the biggest one was opened and i got some nice photos.

next to the pagoda was a school and next to it was a huge like of bikes, this its the local idea of school pick up, all by bikes. it was an impressive site. while filming the hoard of 2 wheels. the pagoda keeper told us to beware of purse snatchers, which come in a moped as well, but with this traffic, i don't know where they would go. we take a cab back and now with school out, the horrible traffic doubles and you cannot believe how many bikes can cross one intersection on a single green light segment which lasts half way through the next red light. completely ignore traffic rules.

we got back to the center and walked in the small but very crowded market just as it is beginning to close and i felt very special. lots of T shirts just for me, souvenirs just for me and many vendors that have exactly what i am looking for. i got nothing.

then it was shower time, so much sweat today.... soon dinner and bed time, tomorrow we fly to phai hong

good evening Vietnam

good morning Vietnam

I am sitting here in lea lai park across from my hotel , waiting for the rest of my jet legged party to wake up and begin discovering ho chi minh city, a.k.a Saigon.

Woke up early as usual, so I decided to check out this little park. Put on short pants and a T shirt, and stepped outside, just like I do at home (yea right, I wish). I had to cross a street filled with buses and moped, but the chaos of traffic seems orderly.  HCMC at first glance seems like Tel Aviv, lots of low level building with shops upfront a midst new built high rises.

The Vietnamese at first glance are industrious, this park on a Monday morning is filled with people working out in outdoor gym facilities and doing various other starches and perhaps tai chi or something similar. Lots of walkers and joggers and people playing badminton. This park has lots of grass and lots of trees oh a kind I don't see up north. Need to find out which trees these are. In the main squares there are lots of small palm trees as well. I took some photon of this lovely nature island surrounded by a sea of mopeds.

The sky is blue with very few clouds and it is getting nice and warm. The travel section here was not without issues as expected…

2 days ago, Alla woke me up after checking her email and getting a notice that my plane has maintenance issues, flight delayed and that meant missing my connection. After a quick check with United, I got a different flight there, and I had less than 40 minutes to leave the house. Rush rush rush, lucky I packed before, but I did forget my Vietnam book..

I left a slightly snowy Cleveland, got my new tickets and lucky they had non middle sit, that would have been a night mare. 1^st leg to Denver, 4 hours in which I finished a book I had been slowly reading for over a month. This is one of the aspects of travel I like, being able to read in quiet. Book one over (sacrificial rooster in free translation), I need to unload it somewhere. And moved to book 2. Naked swimming, a murder mystery type book. Enjoyed a Cleveland airport breakfast and quick cantina lunch in Denver, then began the long flight to Tokyo. We flew along the Rockies, into Canada, with Lovely Mountains and lakes view till the ocean took over. This is my 1^st time flying over the pacific and I think I have finally flew around the world, if you combine previous trips. This plane was new and comfy (the cle-Den was not) these new seats that also recline the bottom part are nice and the windows don't have a screen to hide the sun, but a dimmer. I don't know how its done, but you can dim the window itself. And the best thing, lots of new movies. I am out of shape as far as movies goes and this was a great catch up session. The mocking jay was a good opener. Wild hinted me to go explore, the hobbit was ok, and night at the museum was fun. I saw another which I don't recall + 2 chapters of girls,

A fogy landing in Tokyo made me almost miss a seemingly beautiful country. In the little time I had between the clouds I saw a very green country, a nice river with rice fields and lots and lots of cherry trees in full bloom. Love at 1^st sight. But at this point I am just using Tokyo as a hub. I deplaned and walked the airport with its many duty free stores and everywhere has lines. The airport was warm and I gladly exchanged some money and purchased some water. There Tokyo bar has several sub restaurants inside and I sample the goods. As I was waiting some items were sold out. The shrimp with don, was the one I had in mind. The shrimp tempura with noodles, the small shrimp tempura with noodles, and a few other dish that are all a combination of shrimp tempura and rice or noodles. So I left the place, walked back and forth, skipped Shushi place with a 15 min waiting period then returned to the Tokyo bar , where is found a hot Shrimp tempura with rice still available, then I saw a mini shrimp tempura with rice and noodles… don't ask me how some was sold out and some was not, it didn't make sense to me, and the Shrimp were very good. Not the panko covering crap they sell here. The rice was the sushi sticky kind and even the chicken broth that surrounded the somewhat tasteless sobo noodles was good and refreshing. In the bath room, I saw a new thing, they had sits for babies to hang on while you do your business. Very useful, never seen that before.

After a while the last 6 hour flight to Vietnam began. I found a back sit with 2 seat unused and tried my best to sleep, putting my bodies in positions not known to experience yoga people. In both Japan and in here I seem to be taller than most, not used to that.

At the airport, while waiting for the visa, a Vietnamese American kept arguing with the border police about his entry visa in very loud voices. Apparently, he entered the country a while ago without a photo and now was required to provide one (and pay for it) this argument was in Vietnamese. But after minutes of arguing, he talks to me as a fellow American and complains. What does he expect me to do? To say "hey buddy, we are Americans, therefore we should come in without a passport photo. If not we will bring the American army and conquer your country and …. "all I wanted was not to be mixed in with an argument with the local police. At some point the border cop talks to me as well, saying if I follow the process and filled the form, I say yes, and he says, see this guy doesn't want to follow the process. Hey people, leave me out of this…

A few minutes later I get my visa, leave the guy still arguing and get my bag. Soon I am in a taxi not sure if I am ripped off or not and enjoy the ride to HCMC. I arrive close to midnight, very tiered, take a shower and go to sleep in a comfy bed

 

Well it's time to go back to the hotel have breakfast and go exploring

 

Good morning Vietnam.