Today - 24 March:
Today we went on another full day trek. This time, we opted to not follow the prescribed itinerary, instead we followed the suggestions from our guide. We went for a short drive down the mountain to start the trek.
We went to 3 different villages and it took us 5 1/2 hours to walk to them. We went to Lao Chai, Tavan and Xangtachai.
At the start of the trek we were followed by 3 Black Hmong women trying to sell us something. They spoke a little English and had standard questions I think they have picked up over the years:
What's your name, where are you from, how old are you, how many children do you have and is that your husband/wife.
We thought we could shake them quickly by telling them that we didn't want to buy anything, but nothing seemed to work. They decided that they wanted to follow us the entire way to all of the villages. And they did. One of them had a one-month old baby in a sling on her back and breast-fed her along the way. She did have an umbrella that she opened occasionally to protect her and the baby from the sun.
As we continued our walk we picked up another woman trying to sell us something and after we said no a couple of times, she just tagged along for the trek.
Now mind you, when we say trek, we really mean a hike up narrow, rocky paths through the mountains to get to the villages.
The final leg of our trek took us through the bamboo forest. It was very lush and provided us with some shade as it was sunny and quite warm.
When we reached the final village and took a couple of minutes to sit, the women took that moment to really try to sell us something. But Mike & Karel came up with a good idea to pay each of them a small amount and let us take their pictures. It took a bit of convincing, but they did it and once they were paid, they no longer followed us.
We think the trek was over 10 miles and none of it was in a straight line. The villages we visited this day were more modern with having shops and guest houses. The buildings were built with concrete and bricks and had electricity.
Tomorrow we get up early for a final trek that will include some more hiking and a couple more minority villages. After lunch we will be shown a special market and then we will take a short boat ride on one of the local rivers. We will then be taken to Lao Cai where we will be able to take a shower and change to get ready for another over night train ride back to Hanoi.
We will post again when we reach Hoi An on Sunday as we don't expect to have internet access on the train and subsequent overnight Junk ride through Halong Bay.
Until then,
Deb & Karel
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Hanoi & Sa Pa
Yesterday - 22 March:
Last evening we went to the Seasons of Hanoi restaurant. This restaurant was in a colonial villa and the food was good.
On our own!! The four of us spent the entire day walking around the Old District and French Quarter parts of Hanoi. We got turned around and lost a couple of times down narrow and crowded streets, but Mike and Karel got us back to our hotel without a problem.
We walked past the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum again and continued through the French Quarter to West Lake. We also walked past some of the other sites that we had visited the day before, so we were really able to get a good grasp of the city.
There are a couple of big lakes in Hanoi that were a good rest for us away from the hustle and bustle and continuous stream of traffic on the streets and street markets.
After a quick meal at the hotel again, we got ready for our 8:30p train departure. The train was a narrow gauge railroad and we were unable to get any pictures. We will try on the return.
This was quite an adventure. This was an overnight train ride that felt right out of a cold was movie. It was dark and rainy the entire time and luckily we each had a cabin to ourselves while others had to share 4 to a cabin.
Today - 23 March:
We arrived in Lao Cai at 4:30a in the morning and it was still dark and rainy! We met up with our new guide and driver and proceeded to Sa Pa - a one hour drive up the mountains. It was quite foggy at the mid-level elevation and the driver seemed to have problems with the windshield wiper blades.
We arrived a bit too early to be able to get to our room so we walked around the center of town looking for a place to have breakfast. The restaurant we wanted to go to didn't open until 7:00a so we walked around the market and watched the different tribal women start setting up for the day.
After a yummy breakfast of croissants and coffee we went back to the hotel to see if we could take a shower. Yippee!! Our rooms were ready! We got cleaned up and headed out for our "easy half day trek" to Matra and Taphin.
Matra is one of the nearby minority Black Hmong villages that does not have electricity - even today! We walked through the rice paddies and beautiful mountain scenery. We had a picnic lunch in the middle of a field that looked out on the valley. As we were eating we seemed to be sitting near a walking path for the local people and they would stop and watch us. We now knew how they felt to have tourists staring at them!!
We then continued to the Red Dao village of Taphin. These ladies are a bit more aggressive in selling their tapestries and purses. They have been known to follow tourists the entire day if you give them any hint that you would purchase something from them. A couple of them started to follow us toward the end of our trek and thought I was a bit crabby! (Me?!)
The trek took a total of 5 hours and was very nice. The weather was not too hot nor too sunny and it was DRY!! It was at the lower elevations that it was rainy and foggy. We are about 5000 feet above sea level.
The hotel is a very nice resort. There is a pool in which I think we might try that tomorrow after our "full day" excursion.
We are now going to check out the restaurant and bar as we don't want to venture out too far today since we did not get a good night's sleep on the train.
Until tomorrow ~
Deb & Karel
Last evening we went to the Seasons of Hanoi restaurant. This restaurant was in a colonial villa and the food was good.
On our own!! The four of us spent the entire day walking around the Old District and French Quarter parts of Hanoi. We got turned around and lost a couple of times down narrow and crowded streets, but Mike and Karel got us back to our hotel without a problem.
We walked past the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum again and continued through the French Quarter to West Lake. We also walked past some of the other sites that we had visited the day before, so we were really able to get a good grasp of the city.
There are a couple of big lakes in Hanoi that were a good rest for us away from the hustle and bustle and continuous stream of traffic on the streets and street markets.
After a quick meal at the hotel again, we got ready for our 8:30p train departure. The train was a narrow gauge railroad and we were unable to get any pictures. We will try on the return.
This was quite an adventure. This was an overnight train ride that felt right out of a cold was movie. It was dark and rainy the entire time and luckily we each had a cabin to ourselves while others had to share 4 to a cabin.
Today - 23 March:
We arrived in Lao Cai at 4:30a in the morning and it was still dark and rainy! We met up with our new guide and driver and proceeded to Sa Pa - a one hour drive up the mountains. It was quite foggy at the mid-level elevation and the driver seemed to have problems with the windshield wiper blades.
We arrived a bit too early to be able to get to our room so we walked around the center of town looking for a place to have breakfast. The restaurant we wanted to go to didn't open until 7:00a so we walked around the market and watched the different tribal women start setting up for the day.
After a yummy breakfast of croissants and coffee we went back to the hotel to see if we could take a shower. Yippee!! Our rooms were ready! We got cleaned up and headed out for our "easy half day trek" to Matra and Taphin.
Matra is one of the nearby minority Black Hmong villages that does not have electricity - even today! We walked through the rice paddies and beautiful mountain scenery. We had a picnic lunch in the middle of a field that looked out on the valley. As we were eating we seemed to be sitting near a walking path for the local people and they would stop and watch us. We now knew how they felt to have tourists staring at them!!
We then continued to the Red Dao village of Taphin. These ladies are a bit more aggressive in selling their tapestries and purses. They have been known to follow tourists the entire day if you give them any hint that you would purchase something from them. A couple of them started to follow us toward the end of our trek and thought I was a bit crabby! (Me?!)
The trek took a total of 5 hours and was very nice. The weather was not too hot nor too sunny and it was DRY!! It was at the lower elevations that it was rainy and foggy. We are about 5000 feet above sea level.
The hotel is a very nice resort. There is a pool in which I think we might try that tomorrow after our "full day" excursion.
We are now going to check out the restaurant and bar as we don't want to venture out too far today since we did not get a good night's sleep on the train.
Until tomorrow ~
Deb & Karel
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Hanoi - Vietnam
Yesterday - 20 March
We arrived in Hanoi yesterday afternoon. After getting situated into our hotel, we went for a little walk around the hotel. Nearly everyone in the city rides a motorcycle/scooter! There was a constant stream of bikes across the roads had the pedestrians taking their lives in their hands when they attempt to cross a street.
The way to get across is to slowly start walking into the stream and letting them flow around you. Do not run and do not panic. If you are with a group walk side by side crossing slowly and you will be successful each time.
Today - 21 March
Today we started out at 8:30a to stand in line for Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum. We stood in line in a light drizzle for about an hour waiting to walk past him in his tomb which took all of 5 minutes to view. The Vietnamese are very serious about Uncle Ho. There is a lot of French architecture around the square where the mausoleum is situated.
We then took a tour through the gardens and saw the 2 houses that he lived in and the cars that he drove. He is the 'father' of the nation as he helped bring the people their independence from the French.
Next we went to the Museum of Ethnology. This was very interesting in that it showed the different tribes that make up the Vietnamese people. It is a hands-on museum where we could walk into stick or mud houses and see how the people live even today.
We also got to see a performance of the ancient Vietnamese art of water puppetry. It is wooden puppets remotely controlled under water through the use of bamboo sticks by people hidden behind a curtain in the center of the water.
We then had lunch at a nice restaurant called Koto that is a non-profit restaurant that helps street and disadvantaged youth. The food was very good and the wait staff were friendly.
Today, Karel became a millionaire for the first time in his life. The Vietnamese dong is valued at 18,000 to $1.00 USD. So he took about $100 from the ATM and received 2,000,000 VDN!!!
After lunch we went to the infamous Hoa Lu prison (known as the 'Hanoi Hilton') which is now a small museum. As with all prison of war locations, you can imagine some of the conditions and facilities were not optimal.
We then took a walk through some of the Old Quarter streets which are aptly named for the items that they sell on these streets, such as luggage street, paper street, sunglasses street and shoes street. We then walked through the wholesale market where you could buy just about anything you could imagine - mostly fakes and knock offs of the real thing!!
And now a cold beer is calling us!! We are going to meet up with Mike and Nina and decide where to go for dinner.
Tomorrow, we are on our own and will do a bit more exploring of the city. In the evening we board the overnight train for the next part of our adventure.
TTFN,
Deb & Karel
We arrived in Hanoi yesterday afternoon. After getting situated into our hotel, we went for a little walk around the hotel. Nearly everyone in the city rides a motorcycle/scooter! There was a constant stream of bikes across the roads had the pedestrians taking their lives in their hands when they attempt to cross a street.
The way to get across is to slowly start walking into the stream and letting them flow around you. Do not run and do not panic. If you are with a group walk side by side crossing slowly and you will be successful each time.
Today - 21 March
Today we started out at 8:30a to stand in line for Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum. We stood in line in a light drizzle for about an hour waiting to walk past him in his tomb which took all of 5 minutes to view. The Vietnamese are very serious about Uncle Ho. There is a lot of French architecture around the square where the mausoleum is situated.
We then took a tour through the gardens and saw the 2 houses that he lived in and the cars that he drove. He is the 'father' of the nation as he helped bring the people their independence from the French.
Next we went to the Museum of Ethnology. This was very interesting in that it showed the different tribes that make up the Vietnamese people. It is a hands-on museum where we could walk into stick or mud houses and see how the people live even today.
We also got to see a performance of the ancient Vietnamese art of water puppetry. It is wooden puppets remotely controlled under water through the use of bamboo sticks by people hidden behind a curtain in the center of the water.
We then had lunch at a nice restaurant called Koto that is a non-profit restaurant that helps street and disadvantaged youth. The food was very good and the wait staff were friendly.
Today, Karel became a millionaire for the first time in his life. The Vietnamese dong is valued at 18,000 to $1.00 USD. So he took about $100 from the ATM and received 2,000,000 VDN!!!
After lunch we went to the infamous Hoa Lu prison (known as the 'Hanoi Hilton') which is now a small museum. As with all prison of war locations, you can imagine some of the conditions and facilities were not optimal.
We then took a walk through some of the Old Quarter streets which are aptly named for the items that they sell on these streets, such as luggage street, paper street, sunglasses street and shoes street. We then walked through the wholesale market where you could buy just about anything you could imagine - mostly fakes and knock offs of the real thing!!
And now a cold beer is calling us!! We are going to meet up with Mike and Nina and decide where to go for dinner.
Tomorrow, we are on our own and will do a bit more exploring of the city. In the evening we board the overnight train for the next part of our adventure.
TTFN,
Deb & Karel
Friday, March 19, 2010
Hong Kong Intro!
Yesterday - 18 March:
Wow! What a nice city! We walked to one of the piers and walked around the shops to kill time before our massage. We needed to ease our 'airplane' body feeling! We then walked back to the hotel and each had a massage. Wonderful!
We then took a taxi to catch the Victoria Peak Tram - acutally a funicular railway. We took the tram up to Victoria Peak for a view of the whole of Hong Kong. Unfortunately, the weather was quite hazy so we couldn't see that much. We then took a walk around the Peak which was quite nice. The haze was more at the ground level and not at the higher level. We had lunch at the top and then took the tram back down the mountain.
Today - 19 March:
Today we went to the other pier and took the ferry over to Kowloon. It was still hazy so we couldn't get any good pictures of the harbor and skyline.
We went into the Hong Kong Museum of Art and then walked alon the Avenue of the Stars. This is a walkway along the water that pays tribute to the Chinese stars of the silver screen. There was a 2 meter tall statue of Bruce Lee along with a couple of Bruce Lee souvenir shops.
We then took a walking tour along Nathan Street with many more Rolex shops than 7-Eleven shops and that says quite a bit because there is a 7-Eleven on just about every corner!!
We then had lunch at the Peninsula Hotel - one of the oldest hotels in Hong Kong. It was very nice.
We then took the public subway to the northern part of the city and walked around the Flower Market. We then took a wrong turn looking for the Goldfish Market and ended up in a huge open air market. I kept looking under dishes and in clothes to see if they were "Made in China". It was all written in Chinese so I couldn't really tell.
We are now waiting for Mike & Nina to arrive so that we can go for dinner.
Tomorrow we are off to Vietnam!
Ciao,
Deb & Karel
Wow! What a nice city! We walked to one of the piers and walked around the shops to kill time before our massage. We needed to ease our 'airplane' body feeling! We then walked back to the hotel and each had a massage. Wonderful!
We then took a taxi to catch the Victoria Peak Tram - acutally a funicular railway. We took the tram up to Victoria Peak for a view of the whole of Hong Kong. Unfortunately, the weather was quite hazy so we couldn't see that much. We then took a walk around the Peak which was quite nice. The haze was more at the ground level and not at the higher level. We had lunch at the top and then took the tram back down the mountain.
Today - 19 March:
Today we went to the other pier and took the ferry over to Kowloon. It was still hazy so we couldn't get any good pictures of the harbor and skyline.
We went into the Hong Kong Museum of Art and then walked alon the Avenue of the Stars. This is a walkway along the water that pays tribute to the Chinese stars of the silver screen. There was a 2 meter tall statue of Bruce Lee along with a couple of Bruce Lee souvenir shops.
We then took a walking tour along Nathan Street with many more Rolex shops than 7-Eleven shops and that says quite a bit because there is a 7-Eleven on just about every corner!!
We then had lunch at the Peninsula Hotel - one of the oldest hotels in Hong Kong. It was very nice.
We then took the public subway to the northern part of the city and walked around the Flower Market. We then took a wrong turn looking for the Goldfish Market and ended up in a huge open air market. I kept looking under dishes and in clothes to see if they were "Made in China". It was all written in Chinese so I couldn't really tell.
We are now waiting for Mike & Nina to arrive so that we can go for dinner.
Tomorrow we are off to Vietnam!
Ciao,
Deb & Karel
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Hong Kong Safe & Sound!
We made it after 15 hours of flying!!
We got to see the North Pole from the plane. It was not what I expected. I guess I expected a view with some small hills or something. It was very flat and did look like we were looking at the top of a beach ball! Karel took a picture from the window. We'll see how it turns out.
Today, we are going to do a little exploring to get our bearings. The hotel is very nice and we had a light dinner in their terrace restaurant.
Deb & Karel
We got to see the North Pole from the plane. It was not what I expected. I guess I expected a view with some small hills or something. It was very flat and did look like we were looking at the top of a beach ball! Karel took a picture from the window. We'll see how it turns out.
Today, we are going to do a little exploring to get our bearings. The hotel is very nice and we had a light dinner in their terrace restaurant.
Deb & Karel
Monday, March 15, 2010
The Adventure Begins!
Hello Friends & Family,
We are at it again. We are off on another adventure. This time we are visiting Hong Kong and Vietnam.
We depart tomorrow - March 16th for Hong Kong. We will update this blog when we are in Hong Kong!!
Hugs,
Deb & Karel
We are at it again. We are off on another adventure. This time we are visiting Hong Kong and Vietnam.
We depart tomorrow - March 16th for Hong Kong. We will update this blog when we are in Hong Kong!!
Hugs,
Deb & Karel
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