A Balinese wedding and tooth filing ceremony

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 21:25:14 -0400

We actually returned from Gili Trawangan a day earlier than planned to attend the wedding of Wayan’s cousin, which was our last opportunity to experience traditional Balinese life - and what an experience it was.

We arrived at 8am decked out in our sarongs for the tooth filing ceremony which is required before marriage in order to remove one’s aggressive tendencies represented by the sharp incisors. We couldn’t get close enough to get a good look, but the participants later told us it wasn’t painful. To the Balinese this ritual is just as important as the wedding itself. The two ceremonies are combined to save the family the cost of hosting two events since the entire village attends (no need for invitations or RSVPs I guess).

The wedding consisted of many ceremonies and rituals we couldn’t come close to understanding, all taking place within the groom’s family compound and temple - which was decorated in colorful Balinese splendor and enveloped in incense. An older very-high priestess arrived at one point (from ‘very far away’ we were told, maybe 30 minutes drive), to conduct a ritual involving hair cutting and more incense. We stayed until 3pm, and heard from Wayan that the festivities continued well into the night. To us, alcohol and bad music were conspicuous by their absence (the Balinese rarely drink so they won’t get confused). So that explains it...

The only other Westerner attending the wedding was our new friend Robert, a well-known designer now residing in Bali. He invited us to visit the house he is renting, which may be the most beautiful home we have ever seen...

Gili Trawangan - a coral dream in the Indian Ocean

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 09:47:37 -0400

Something that has been somewhat lacking in our Asian adventure
is the beach. Well we made up for that with six glorious days on Gili Trawangan - a tiny coral island off the coast of Lombok in the Indian Ocean. It's an idyllic paradise ringed by crystal-clear water in various fluorescent shades of blue, green, and turquoise. Gili T is so small you can walk the circumference (on a sandy road - no pavement, cars or motorbikes!) in less than two hours. Or you can travel via cidomo (horse cart) and hang on for dear life, depending on the age and mood of the horse.

We splurged and stayed at Balikana - a deluxe ‘retreat’ on the quiet north side at $80 per night - which included a fresh water shower (salt water is standard) and AC, which wasn't really necessary but a nice treat. From our beach you could miraculously experience both sunset and sunrise, each with a backdrop of different volcanoes on the horizon - one from Bali and one from Lombok! Not really sure how to describe how visually staggering that is. The tides were extremely dramatic (due to the full moon), with low tide revealing an alluring world (including black sea cucumbers, our Japanese friends would have been psyched). The beach was also filled with pieces of coral in every imaginable size and shape, our favorite being the blue. The weather was close to perfect every day, sunny blue skies in the mid-80s, low humidity, and relatively few mosquitoes!

Right in front of Balikana is one of the best coral reefs on the Gilis where all the snorkeling boats visit each day. The underwater view was incredible - scores of colorful fish with a background of deep blue, purple, green, pink and yellow coral. We swam up close to several large sea turtles and saw colorful giant clams at least a foot long that opened and closed in front of us, and incredible indigo blue star fish. The water was absolutely the clearest we’ve ever been in.

Gili T is known as the ‘party island’ of Lombok’s three ‘Gilis’ which means that near the ‘harbor’ there is an awesome reggae band that plays every night with a singer that might just be the reincarnation of Bob Marley, or you can dance to techno music all night with the young Euros and Aussies at one of the open air bars, or plan your visit around one of the monthly full moon parties. Twice we went into ‘central’ and dined at one of a dozen or so restaurants, where we feasted on gorgeous turquoise and green lobsters which tasted as good as they looked. Oh Gili T - our new favorite island paradise!

Endless adventures in Bali

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 08:11:33 -0400

Ten days in Bali, ten more chances to experience magic, ten more reasons we’re glad to be alive. Luckily we have pictures, because at times even I’m at a loss for words (we’ll almost). Highlights...

★ Walking 20 minutes through scenic rice fields to an isolated organic farming co-op restaurant, where else can you find that?
★ So many charming small hotel pools, free to use for the afternoon when you buy lunch
★ Dozens of daily dance performances to choose from, complete with ornate costumes and intrigue
★ Seeing some seriously rare birds
★ Visiting Pura Besakih the ‘mother temple’ of Bali and having the rare experience (for a westerner) of a private meditation ceremony (on the slope of Gunung Agung, an active volcano)
★ Stopping by Pura Goa Lawah, the holy bat cave temple, just long enough to get a few pix
★ Watching Melissa swim at a former rajah’s water palace, Tirta Gangga
★ Having the good fortune of joining an ‘international inter-tribal’ drum circle

The Pura Tirta Empul cleansing ceremony and Ketut Liyer

Mon, 2 Jun 2008 09:51:39 -0400

Wow, what a day. Dewa brought us to the Pura (temple) Tirta Empul for a cleansing ceremony. The temple is built around a spring that dates to 986 AD, and features a pool with a variety of spouts, each providing a different benefit (youth, forgiveness, health, etc.). First Dewa placed an offering (a small palm-leaf box precisely filled with flowers and rice) on top of each spout to ask the gods for permission for the ceremony. Then we entered the chilly pool in our sarongs and submersed ourselves 3 times under each spout. At the end we felt surprisingly renewed, but maybe it was just the ice-cold spring water. It was certainly enlightening.

Meeting Ketut LiYer - medicine man

OK, I have to admit that a big reason why John and I are in Ubud, Bali is because I was inspired by the book
Eat, Pray, Love. The author meets a medicine man, Ketut Liyer, who predicts she will return to Bali to spend time with him - so of course she does. He ultimately helps her find her path to enlightenment, or something like that. I’m here to report that he is real, and thrilled that we were actually able to find him.

When we first walked into Ketut’s “compound” and I saw him on the porch with his Balinese customers I was flooded with a variety of emotions - excitement, joy, nervousness, etc. So when it was our turn, imagine my shock when Ketut brought out his signed copy of Eat, Pray, Love and asked me to read the part that describes him and translate what he did not understand. Words cannot express the feeling of reading a passage from a best-selling book to one of the characters who magically came to life before me. But Ketut has such a calming presence that I soon felt like I was reading to a friend, albeit an imaginary friend.

For anyone who read the book, he is exactly as described. He has very few teeth, loves to joke and laugh, has a bit of an ego, and an obvious curiosity about the world although he never leaves his porch.

When he was satisfied with the reading, he looked closely at each of our ears, eyes, nose, chin, mouth, back of the neck and feet and deemed both John and I very good, very healthy, very strong. Since he is “a little psychic” he can see that John and I are a very good match. Our palms show that we will be married once and have 2 children (hmmm...?). Ketut also advised me to follow my heart to find a new career and revealed that I have a very deep “art” line - perhaps I should be published! John is very, very honest (he repeated this several times) and the deep “moon line” on his forehead reveals that he descended from the royal caste, so people listen to him. Ketut was particularly taken by John as you can see from his body language above.

We asked Ketut where he saw us living in the future and he said we need to stay in NYC for success (you can see he may be biased based on his t-shirt!). After trying to sell us a “magic” painting for $250 because his grandchildren are going to medical school, examining the photo we took with him, and telling us to stay in touch, he saw us off with “see you later, alligator”. Some may say it was a waste of $40, but how often do you have the opportunity to get to know an 8th generation Balinese medicine man and meet a real life character from a book you love at the same time?

The Penestanan temple procession

Sun, 1 Jun 2008 09:20:07 -0400

The local temple’s 11-day celebration came to an end on Sunday with an epic procession of just about everyone in the village, highlighting all the festivities that had just taken place.

We were told the procession might start about 1-2pm, so we decided to show up around 4 - which was a good thing since it started close to 5pm. Everybody had their role in the parade, but the big excitement was created by the large “Ogga Ogga” floats, intended to scare bad spirits away from the temple. If we understood correctly, this may be the biggest celebration the Penestanan villagers will have in their lifetimes, coming every 50 years or so, so needless to say the procession was a very big deal. We were psyched to have witnessed it.

Trekking in a place called Munduk

Wed, 28 May 2008 20:15:40 -0400

Our friend Dewa suggested we spend a night in Munduk, about 3 hours north of Ubud, for some mountain-jungle-rice field trekking. Sounded like a good idea to us, especially since Dewa knows a great guide named Putu and a panoramic-view hotel for only 250,000 rupiah/night (about $27).

The drive to Munduk is stunning, passing rice fields and 3 lakes. The first trek with Putu was about 3 hours and featured 2 waterfalls. The next morning entailed strenuous hiking up and down many hills for 4.5 hours but it was just spectacular -- passing an unreal selection of exotic fruits and plants along the way -- from vanilla beans, coffee and cocoa - to wild poinsettia, clove trees, nutmeg, papaya and on and on. A particular highlight was visiting the Big Banyan Tree at the top of the mountain - a 300-year-old monster that is now a temple, of course. We even climbed around inside.

The trip also included a sunset over the northern coast and a great night of stargazing (even better since there was a power failure) with probably more stars then we’ve ever seen. There’s something surreal about seeing the Big Dipper upside down and easily spotting the Southern Cross.

We might need a few more weeks (or years) in Bali

Tue, 27 May 2008 19:17:04 -0400

We just love it here. Rice terraces, temples, dance performances, delicious food, fun shopping and amazing people. I think you could spend a few years here and not even break a sweat. The almost 3 weeks we’ve been here feels like one really long day, its hard to explain, but it is surely unlike any other 3 weeks I’ve known...

Our adventure highlights include
★ whitewater rafting through a stunning jungle-river gorge
★ a day trip to Seminyak - a beach with awesome pounding waves and hip restaurants and bars
★ realizing we’re kinda afraid of the local monkeys (Balinese macaques), who are used to being feed by people and thus very aggressive (they sometimes jump on people, take their sunglasses, even bite them with their giant FANGS). I had this delusion that I was going to become some kind of monkey whisperer - oh well - they are cool to look at though...
★ seeing the luscious rice terrace scenery at Jatiluwih, and the historic ocean temples at Tanah Lot
★ Melissa having the 2nd largest butterfly in the world (and endangered of course) on her hand

Cock fighting on a Friday morning

Thu, 22 May 2008 21:38:01 -0400

So as she’s cleaning one morning, Wayan nonchalantly mentions, “Oh John, there’s cock fighting at the temple today if you want to see. You should go right now...” So of course we went.

Cock fighting in Bali is illegal except at the temple during special celebrations that occur every 210 days. Kinda like bingo or 50/50 at a Catholic church in way. Anyway, before you get too upset thinking this is barbaric, know that the owner of the winning cock gets to cook and eat the losing cock. And from what we’ve seen the cocks have a rather grand existence before the fighting, freely roaming near the rice fields - much better than their cousins on some industrial chicken plant in Arkansas, that’s for sure.

So here’s the scene, we pay our entrance fee and enter a small arena that looks like something outta Mad Max, a bamboo Thunderdome. Melissa is one of 2 women amid maybe 300 men. The owners of the cocks sit in a circle and agree which cocks will fight. Then some cock official attaches a blade to one foot, the size and angle determined by the size of the cock - for a fair fight. Next comes the furious and loud betting, with odds changing on the fly - some bets reaching a month’s salary or more. It was very confusing so I was not able to bet, this time. The fight itself lasts all of 15 seconds, after a fury of flying feathers and screeching, one good slash with the blade and its all over. Insane to say the least. See videos! and photos below.

The betting The fight

So much to do at the temple...

Wed, 21 May 2008 03:56:00 -0400

Our housekeeper and new friend Wayan has been at the temple everyday from morning to night - so much to do for the big 11-day celebration to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the temple (we think that is the reason for the celebration - we never get a straight story). Giant sculptures have been erected from food and flowers, thousands of baskets have been woven from palm leaves and filled with flowers, food, incense and even cigarettes! Hundreds of palm lanterns have been hung on lamp posts throughout the village. Pigs and other animals have been slaughtered, decorated and laid out as offerings. Teenagers have practiced centuries-old dances while their mothers have tended to their elaborate costumes and makeup. There is a loud speaker that broadcasts to the village throughout the day announcing what else is needed. So much to do and you can feel the excitement in the air!

Pictures follow of the very special ceremony Wayan insisted we attend, with everyone from the village - wearing the required sarong, sash and headdress. It was one of the more unique experiences of my life, to say the least...

... Paradise found in Bali

Tue, 20 May 2008 03:54:53 -0400

We’ve been fortunate to have visited some pretty beautiful tropical places... Costa Rica, St John, Virgin Gorda, Tulum, Hawaii - but Bali is in a different league altogether - and we haven’t even made it to the beach yet!

We’re staying just outside Ubud, the cultural capital of Bali in the central mountain region of the island. It’s surrounded by rice-farming villages filled with artisans - and breathtaking scenery in all directions. Our bungalow is in the village of Penestanan, set amid rice fields within a family compound. You can only reach it via narrow paths through the fields, so it’s a 5 minute walk from the nearest place a car can reach. This was a little freaky when we arrived at 9pm in the dark, but now we love it. We’re awoken each day at about 6am by a cacophony of birds including really loud roosters (see cock fighting post), which would be very annoying if we weren’t waking up in such a wondrous place.

In our first week, we’ve already decided that the Balinese are the nicest, friendliest people on earth. Seriously. They’re completely family and community oriented, love Bali and their culture and are genuinely happy to share their lives with foreigners. They practice a twist of Hinduism called Hindu Dharma, which involves leaving offerings just about everywhere several times a day - tiny palm-leaf baskets filled with flowers, rice and incense. A funny thing about the Balinese is that they all have the same names - you’re named according to your birth order - Wayan is 1, Made 2 etc. After the 4th kid, the names repeat, and are the same for boys and girls. We’ve been invited to a wedding of people we’ve never met (our housekeeper/friend Wayan’s cousin, I think her name is Wayan as well) - of course we’re going but I’ll need to wear a sarong (see temple post for pix).

We’ve spent our days walking through rice fields and stopping along the way at fabulous hotel pools (for a $1 fee), eating delicious food in stunning open-air settings (a great dinner can be had for $8, $45 if you go to a fancy western-owned place), shopping for beautiful crafts (carvings, paintings, batik to name a few), and absorbing the local flavor. We had a great time at a Kecak (monkey) Dance. It told the ancient tale of good versus evil and involved a monkey army - 100 or so topless guys in sarongs chanting and singing. It was just incredible. At the end, they lit a bunch of coconut husks on fire and some dude ran through them a few times, barefoot of course.

We love it here, it’s just Balicious...

Running out of steam in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)

Sun, 11 May 2008 09:22:20 -0400

Well, it was bound to happen - leaving the idyll Jungle Beach and returning to motorbikes and hawkers. Six weeks in, we kinda crashed. Not really interested in sights, thinking of Bali, and really looking forward to finally unpacking our suitcases...

We spent two days walking around, trying to get a vibe of Vietnam’s biggest city. Still had to deal with motorbike madness, but much more spread out than Ha Noi. Oh and our hotel was a 6-story walk-up, ugh. I was having some plumbing issues, so we had to cancel our day trip to the Mekong Delta, and the tunnels trip didn’t work out either. We did make it to the market, the Reunification palace, the post office, cathedral and the roof bar of the Rex Hotel.

The highlight for us was probably Windows, a super-groovy coffee club. It was like a South Beach club but all the young hip Saigoners drank intense coffee drinks (that we are still jonesing for) instead of cocktails. They had a great DJ, a waterfall, orange umbrellas outside and cool Eames chairs inside - the whole nine yards. We liked it so much we went twice.

Jungle Beach

Wed, 7 May 2008 05:00:14 -0400

With more coastline than California, and miles of deserted, pristine beaches you think it would be easy to find a place to stay at the beach in Vietnam - right? Not so for us. The problems is that the few areas that are developed are over-crowded. Or you pay Western prices for a Western experience - sprawling resort, fancy restaurants, etc. Enter Jungle Beach...

We drove about 2 hours from the party beach town of Nha Trang to sleep under mosquito netting in bamboo huts with blankets as doors, eat communally with other adventure travelers from around the world, and share bathrooms with cold showers. Not for everyone but we loved it!! And a bargain for $37 per night including all meals. A bonus was seeing the endangered Langur monkeys with their long while tails from a telescope in the driveway.

The soft white sand stretched for miles and we shared it only with a few local fisherman. The South China Sea water was calm, clear, shallow and incredibly warm. Sunrise and sunset were the highlights of the day, and the time between meals were filled with swimming and lounging with a fat novel. At night we sat on the beach and tried to identify “upside down” constellations while the three house dogs kept us company (they took a liking to us and slept under our beds too!). A thunderstorm was entertainment on the last night - we watched the lightning on the horizon from our bed. Ahh, Jungle Beach...

Hot, hot, hot days in charming Hoi An

Sat, 3 May 2008 03:16:32 -0400

Left Hue for a 4-hour drive to Hoi An - a 16th century trading port with China and Japan and now a World Heritage site for its preserved Old Town. We drove through the scenic Hai Van pass, a major US Army mountain base during the war, and snapped a picture of China Beach along the way. The gorgeous beaches in this area are virtually empty but giant resorts are under construction so go now!

Hoi An was even hotter than Hue, but we learned to deal thanks to our hotel’s small swimming pool and afternoon naps in the AC. And we were motivated to get out because the food was the best we had in Vietnam. Specialities included crunchy shrimp wontons with a sweet and sour tomato-onion topping, Cau Lau - a spicy noodle soup that can only be made in Hoi An with water from the Bale Well, and fabulous BBQ sate that you roll up in lettuce with herbs and dip into spicy peanut sauce. Delicious!

Hoi An is also famous for its tailor shops, so Melissa had a great dress, silk top and clamdiggers with embroidery made to order. I went with an outrageous shirt made of silk brocade, a linen shirt with dragon embroidery and we both got a pair of action pants with zip off legs. All perfectly tailored to fit us for $108! We spent a day at the beach lounging on free chairs provided by the many cheap seafood restaurants lining the beach, took a fun boat ride - then returned to the beach at night to find a sea of lanterns on mats as local women scurried about selling food and beer. Magical! Another fantastic destination, a close second to Sa Pa as our favorite.

Hue - a royal treat

Thu, 1 May 2008 09:14:19 -0400

Had a fabulous 2 days in Hue (pronounced h-way) a former imperial city on the central coast - the food was great but the weather was hot, 93+ degrees and very humid hot.

To deal with the weather, we visited the Citadel and the Forbidden Purple City at 730am via cyclo. The sites were impressive, considering the assaults from the French then the Americans. The architecture was inspired by China’s Forbidden City, but the colors were much cooler and many buildings were decorated with intricate mosaic work - made of broken plates and glasses - reminded us of the stuff you see in the East Village.

The cyclo tour continued to the market followed by a 1030am lunch at a quasi-street food restaurant run by a deaf guy. Next door is a knock-off restaurant with the same menu, the same name minus one letter, and run by a rival deaf guy. In Vietnam, similar businesses tend to cluster, sometimes a dozen selling the exact same thing.

Visited two famous emperors’ tombs and almost passed out from the heat, then took a dragon boat on the Perfume River back to the city. Hue has this cool bridge that is illuminated at and changes colors every minute, which we loved. Liked Hue very much, wish we had more time there...

Sa Pa and the ‘ethnic minority people’

Sat, 26 Apr 2008 04:07:01 -0400

We returned to Ha Noi for a night after the Halong Bay
cruise, then took the overnight train to Sa Pa - a former French trading outpost in the northern mountains near the Chinese border. The train was spartan to say the least - and we even splurged for a private cabin for two.

Day 1 - Arrived in the rain at 530am and drove up the mountain to our hotel. We eventually settled in, and thought our mountain view room was a bust - as we were literally in the clouds. But after lunch the weather improved (the room’s view was worth the cash), and stayed pretty good for the rest of our stay. Trekked a few hours roundtrip to the Cat Cat village and got drunk on the scenery. Also got up-close-and-personal with some water buffalo - which are giant but very docile.

Day 2 - Sa Pa is surrounded by villages of ethnic minorities who dress in traditional outfits. The women seem to do most of the work - farming and raising the kids while trying to sell embroidered goods to the tourists. We were told the men were off hunting monkeys, hmm.

After a drive through immense scenery with our guide Huen, we trekked down a steep and slippery slope for 2 miles to the Ban Ho village of the Tay people. We were followed by two tiny women attempting to make a sale. We declined but they followed us anyway - a good thing since after a few falls Melissa eventually grabbed onto their outstretched hands to keep from sliding off the mountain! Once we got down safely we made the purchase and friends we will never forget.

We had a lovely day hiking through the rice paddies in the village until our guide shrieked when Melissa stepped over a giant rattle snake! However, we persisted, crossing a wild river on a rickety bamboo bridge, visiting a hot spring, and dropping in on a local family in their bamboo house, who sat around smoking tobacco from a bamboo bong and served us tea in some pretty grimy cups which we were too polite to refuse.

Day 3 - When you are offered a ride in a rusted out Russian army jeep through scenic yet treacherous mountains, you don’t refuse. We were expecting a low key day of driving to the highest pass in the area and visiting a waterfall, but in Vietnam it’s always an adventure!

The pass was fogged out, the waterfall spectacular, but the highlight of the day was the humor of the bumpy ride with our non-English speaking driver. While stopped due to construction, ahead of us appeared a heard of about 30 water buffalo. Nobody seemed to notice as they were herded around the bull dozers and waiting traffic.

Later that afternoon we watched the charming yet persistent hawkers interact with tourists in town and then climbed a peak above the town through a lovely park. It was Reunification Day, the 33rd anniversary of the end of the war and corresponding fall of Saigon. Celebrations were taking place in the town square which was lively with Vietnamese as well as foreign tourists.

Day 4 - After a 3 hour drive through even more spectacular mountain scenery we arrived at the Can Cau market of the colorful Flower Hmong. Impossible to describe - check out the pictures.

The rest of the day was spent walking around the rural area. We learned how incredibly labor intensive rice cultivation is for only $30 for 4-5 months work! Pineapple farming is not much better - the small pineapples they grow can be purchased for $.06 USD. As in many countries, kids are attracted to the cities, but this causes other problems such as unemployment and food shortages.

After a walk along a river that separates Vietnam from China, we showered and dined in a small hotel across the from the train station before our overnight trip back to Hanoi.

Cruising Halong Bay

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 10:59:22 -0400

One legend has it that Halong Bay was formed by dragons spitting fire at marauding pirates, which created the beautiful limestone karsts. The bay is a UNESCO National Heritage site, a runner-up for the new Seven Wonders of the World (www.sevenwonders.com). The spectacular scenery is similar to the Li River area in China but much larger and seemingly endless. While the weather did not fully cooperate, we enjoyed our 2 night voyage aboard the Santa Maria Cruiser.

We were fortunate that among the 6 other couples onboard, we met some cool people and now have friends in Sydney (Jen + Dirk) and Seattle (Adam + Renee). Michael you will be happy to know that we introduced everyone to the dice game Bones one night after dinner as we sat on the top deck under an almost full moon, a great night.

A highlight of the trip was kayaking through a few pretty tight caves en route to a hidden cove. Our 90 pound guide Olive was intent on speed kayaking however, and we felt like we were on the Amazing Race (and lost) as my kayaking skills were sorely lacking. We also visited some large caves within the karsts and spent time on a lovely beach. We’ll let the pictures do the rest of the talking about this mythical place...

Navigating the wonderful insanity of Hanoi

Sun, 20 Apr 2008 11:23:28 -0400

Alright, here’s the scene. Image the most confusing part of the West Village, somewhere near Bedford and Barrow. Now magnify this by 10 trillion. Add thousands of motorbikes, half of them blowing their horns, throw in some cars, bicycles, cyclo drivers offering rides, and women carrying sticks across their shoulders with hanging baskets filled with produce. Traffic signals and stop signs are merely a suggestion. Now fill the sidewalks with parked motorbikes and “restaurants” where the locals sit on 12-inch plastic stools while the cooks squat and assemble strange-looking meats into dinner. Add 90 degree heat with a healthy dose of humidity, throw in lots of dust, construction, and some dogs and you have the Old Quarter of Hanoi, circa 2008.

Your mission, whether or not you choose to accept it, is simply crossing the street. After a few minutes of disbelief, you realize the only option is just to wade out into this crazy symphony and let the traffic flow around you, which it does, and miraculously you make it to the other side, unscathed. Whew. Now you just need to repeat this feat every 5 minutes or so while walking single file and trying to simultaneously read a map in Vietnamese. And always be prepared to convert 16,000 Dong to 1 USD. Ah Hanoi. Unfortunately, our pictures don’t come close to illustrating this unique urban chaos, as it took everything we had just to avoid getting killed, so trying to capture the best moments wasn’t really an option. But Melissa was at her Magellan-esque best and did a fabulous job navigating us through this maze, and we had an amazing adventure.

Click play button (triangle) to see for yourself

We immediately noticed that everyone in Hanoi is young, we heard 70% under 30. While the remnants of the French empire is very visible, from the architecture to the baguettes, wine and cheese. Lots of French tourists as well, and Aussies, very few Americans. Of course it feels odd to be in traveling in Vietnam since our American impressions of the country are so attached to the war. We did visit the Hoa Lo “Hanoi Hilton” prison where McCain and others were held. Although we went seeking American history, the museum’s main function is to commemorate the thousands of Vietnamese nationalists who were held (and killed) for fighting for independence from the French. The preserved cruelty was evident and difficult to witness, but it’s an undeniable part of the Vietnamese history which deserves not to be forgotten. We fully appreciate how fortunate we are to be doing what we’re doing.

So far, we are finding our neighborhood Vietnamese food in NYC better than Hanoi but we haven’t hit the “foodie” part of the country yet. Pictures follow, including the more mellow and fancy French Quarter and Melissa eating crickets, listed on the menu of this cool bar Highway 4 as “probably the best bar snack in the world, probably”. Melissa says delicious, like salty shrimp.

The best city in the world?

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 20:02:47 -0400

Wow, Hong Kong. Had a great time in Shanghai, but Hong Kong is even more amazing. We immediately felt the difference after leaving mainland China. HK is like NY + SF x London = Asia.

We started with a cable car ride to Launtau Island to visit the Po Lin monastery and the world’s largest sitting Buddha. Then lunch in the old fishing village of Tai O and our introduction to mantis prawns, which we bought live then took to a very modest restaurant for cooking and eating. We sat at a large table with locals who first laughed at us, then tried to show us how to eat the delicious mantis prawn. Spent 20 minutes talking to Wilfred Chow, who shared his wisdom in a wonderfully classic Chinese way...

Took a ferry to Hong Kong Island and experienced the world’s largest escalator. There is an amazing system of walkways that connect a lot of the skyscrapers, which then lead to a series of escalators that take you to the mid-levels (since HK is very steep). You can exit and go to the side streets with restaurants and shops, ingenious.

Oh and the transit system is awesome, clean and quick with digital screens that tell you when the next train is coming. And you can use a reloadable Octopus card that also works at stores, buses and ferries.

Had a fun time at a crazy night market, eating bigger mantis prawns (now called affluent prawns) on plastic stools on the street.

Our hotel was in the Tsim Sha Tsui neighboorhood of Kowloon, which faces Hong Kong Island. We stayed at the YCMA hotel, which is right next to the Peninsula for 1/10th the price. Had a awesome harbor view room, and enjoyed the 8pm Symphony of Lights show -- every night for 13 minutes the major skyline buildings put on a coordinated light and laser show that is simply amazing. You can even get simulcast music on the radio, this city rocks.

Took the tram to Victoria Peak for the highest view in town, but the earliest typhoon of the season since 1949 was closing in so it was crazy windy and overcast, still fun though. Ended our China adventure by trekking to an out-of-the-way food market restaurant visited by Anthony Bourdain on his cool travel food show, where we ate the largest mantis prawns in town right from the tank.

Said farewell to Drew and Amy, and our China adventure came to a close. I could go on, but we’re off to the airport enroute to Hanoi, Vietnam...

Now that’s a cool backpacker town

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 11:40:45 -0400

Our Li River trip ended at Yangshou, a small town of backpackers, tourists and farmers. An interesting mix, and maybe the most visually spectacular place I’ve ever visited. The tourist aspect did wear on us a bit, as the main drag is called West Street and filled with cheap shopping. The hawkers were everywhere and very persistent, but the mountains were always there and always everything your eyes could handle. And at night, the area felt like an East Village party and we did enjoy several tequila shots so all was good. Maybe be the highlight of the China adventure...

The Li River is all that

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 11:24:54 -0400

In planning this China trip, I was most excited for the 4 hour Li River trip. And you know what, it did live up to my expectations. Just scenic ridiculousness, we loved it. Not sure what else to say, except come here someday if you can...

A glimpse of the Longji Rice Terraces through the clouds

Sun, 13 Apr 2008 10:59:04 -0400

Took a crazy flight to Guillin in the south of China. Crazy in that a solid 1/3 of our fellow travelers had to be on their first flight ever, oh-ing and ah-ing at every moment, talking so loud I couldn’t even hear my iPod at full volume, crazy in that the pilot flew through mad turbulence and landed with a few hard bumps, but we made it and were greeted by Carol our hippie-ish guide.

The ride to the hotel in Guillin almost immediately provided sights of the famed limestone peaks (karsts) that make the region famous, and dominate many famous Chinese paintings.

The next day we drove to see the scenic rice terrace villages of the Zhuang and Yao minority peoples, but were thwarted by rain and no visibility. We still got a glimpse of the beauty, and had a completely enjoyable time walking up the trails through these villages. I’ve never been so cold and damp, yet so happy. The wonders of travel...

Bring it on!

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 23:04:54 -0400

Despite all of our skepticism about the potentially strange and possibly inedible food we might be served in China, even the pickiest of eaters were left satisfyingly full at each meal. Most of the food resembles the Chinese food we have at home, but it is so much more varied and many times more delicious! We have been too hungry to stop and take pictures before we devour whatever is placed in front of us, but I will give you the highlights:

Vegetables - always a delicious variety of sometimes unidentifiable greens flavored with garlic at each meal - bok choy, long beans, scallion-y greens with some broccoli thrown in. Lotus root usually flavored with lemon has been another common treat.

Pork, pork, pork! Favorite preparations include spicy, crunchy panko-covered ribs, pork shank braised with scallions, ginger and bok choy, pork belly pieces flavored with an intense, slightly sweet, soy-like sauce, and thin strips of pork cooked in a “hot pot” filled with spicy oil.

Fish - highlights include perfectly fried, tiny little fish that took patience to eat but was worth the work, squirrel fish that was deboned, splayed into bite-sized pieces, battered, deep fried and covered with sweet and sour sauce (pictured below) and other yummy white fish with various sauces. We have not really had any stand-out shrimp which is surprising. The biggest treat by far was a delicate salty soup with a whole abalone. Abalone can best be described as a cross between a clam and a scallop with a wonderful texture. And we got to keep the beautiful shells!

Duck - although the duck banquet we attended in Beijing was a let down, we have had delicious deep fried duck in other places. They fry it so intensely that the fat burns off and the meat falls off the bone.

Noodles - similar to home but the texture is more delicate, yum!

Dumplings - ahh, the dumplings. These are always served at the end of meals when we are full but we make the effort to finish them! They usually have pork, sometimes veggies like cabbage. We did attend a “dumpling banquet” where we were served about 40 different types from pork, crab, beef, shrimp and some stranger things like walnut. Many of the dumplings were molded into the shape of the fillings.

Soup - the Chinese always have a soup at the end of a meal, but we have stopped ordering this as it’s usually not a big standout and goes untouched.

Rice - the Chinese people do not eat rice with their meals unless they are still hungry at the end. It is a staple of poor people. Even the fried rice is very plain.

Pancakes - we’ve had some amazing dishes with small, tortilla-like pancakes that usually come with spicy, bamboo shoot-like fillings.

Desert - watermelon, pineapple and oranges.

Most of our meals have been ordered with the help of our guides. But even without them, we have managed to order delicious meals using our translation dictionaries and the gallant effort of our friendly wait staff or others in the restaurant.

I’m sure we are leaving things out as the food has been a wonderful adventure unto itself. We leave each meal satisfied with a “Hun hao!” (very good!) to the attentive wait staff and many Shia shias (thank yous)!

A charming 24 hours

Thu, 10 Apr 2008 23:13:06 -0400

We left Shanghai with heavy hearts, having said goodbye to Meri and Sean for a few months.

Arrived in Suzhou via a 35 minute bullet train (at 125+ MHP) with small expectations, and were rewarded with beautiful gardens and a 1,500-year-old canal system (longer than the Erie Canal!). After convincing our lovely guide Summer that a silk factory tour was not in our future, we took a very memorable boat ride along said canal, which was lined with very old residences occupied with seniors doing laundry and playing cards.

At night we returned to the street along the canal, against Summer’s advice (since absolutely no one else was Western) and were rewarded with a spectacular dinner of squirrel fish and pork belly, amid a red lantern-lined street that defied beauty. Some local guys helped us order, since the servers knew absolutely no English. Yet another experience of the charming Chinese. Throughout this adventure the Chinese have been completely warm and friendly. Really. The biggest surprise for me, along with the amazing food...

East meets west, old meets new

Tue, 8 Apr 2008 03:16:07 -0400

Arriving in Shanghai was a welcome return to the world we know. It was a giant city (5 times Los Angeles we were told), but the downtown area was easy to navigate, and they have a great subway. Taxis again were numerous and cheap. Oh and many people speak English. We also heard that 96 million Chinese visit Shanghai each year, so we weren’t the only visitors.

The most interesting aspect was the combination of the super-modern skyscrapers, and old Shanghai - with laundry hanging along the street, old men pulling hand carts, construction scaffolding made of steel and bamboo. There was so much really cool modern architecture that it made us feel NYC was boring and dated. Construction was constant as the city seems to growing by the minute. You can feel old giving way to new, as giant buildings take over neighborhoods. Unfortunately the famed night lights were not illuminated due to flooding caused by the melting winter snow in the south. That did little to dampen our enthusiasm as we had a fabulous 3 days.

We took a break from Chinese food and ate at a local expat Irish pub, and ending up paying more there than we had in the previous few days - western prices are no fun! Other highlights included visiting the lovely Yuyuan Garden followed by a visit to a ‘local families apartment’ - which was a bizarre experience. The three room apartment was modest but we were told that there were many community activities and services available. We also went to an awesome “Cirque Du Soleil” acrobat show and ate more awesome food.

Pilgrimage

Sun, 6 Apr 2008 22:39:24 -0400

We visited Mt Taishan mostly because we thought the cable car ride would be fun. It was, but the experience was so much more than that, one of the highlights of the trip so far.

You can either take the cable car, or walk up thousands of steep steps. Many choose to walk as part of a religious pilgrimage, as Mt Taishan is the center for Daoism. This involves burning giant sticks of incense and other bundles of offerings at various temples (and even one dedicated inferno building). The sites were amazing and we even got to ring an ancient temple bell. The red band I am wearing brings good fortune to my family for me getting to the top of the mountain, so here’s to you Perruccis!

...Qufu not quite ready for new yorkers

Sat, 5 Apr 2008 22:20:35 -0400

We had a fun day in Qufu, the center for all things Confucius - temple, mansion and cemetery + forest. The hotel was run down, the restaurant at lunch was dicey, but we had a great experience at the Confucius sites and did our best to deplete the local supply of cheap pijyo.

We stayed in the Old City, which had some cute stores, but we couldn’t really shop because the ATMs were all down and we ran out of cash (no credit cards). There were few restaurants and no bars, so we enjoyed a night playing games in the hotel. As our guide James Bond told us, Qufu is not ready for you...

Send a love letter to the epa!

Fri, 4 Apr 2008 21:48:05 -0400

OMG, the insanity. We flew into Jinan, an industrial city and had a completely surreal drive into the city, then to our hotel. It was something words or pictures just can not describe. We were shocked, and a little terrified. The next day we drove for 2 hours through this grayness and got real appreciative for the clean wonder of the USA. It made us feel uneasy thinking about the price these people are paying for the cheap crap people buy at Walmart, but at the same time it is immensely improving their economic lives and they do feel tremendous pride on becoming modernized. Progress is tricky, I guess. The industrial revolution part 2, globalization style.

There was fun in Jinan, as the locals starred at us like celebrities as we walked around with our crazy guide James Bond (the guides all give themselves western names). We saw no other westerners for over 24 hours, and the local teens asked to take pictures with us. At the hotel we had an exquisite private banquet, including abalone soup, for around $20/person!

An incredible two weeks

Wed, 2 Apr 2008 21:10:32 -0400

As I write this, we just completed our first 2 weeks and it has been just incredible. China has been a wonderful adventure, full of amazing sights, delicious food and endless fun. The only thing missing has been free time to update this blog, so here come a few quick entries...

We had a very good experience with our overnight train from Beijing to Xi’an - many pijyos (beers) and some nasty Chinese liquor (Erguotou) surely helped...

Really enjoyed Xi’an, described to us as a small city of around 6 million people. It felt very manageable after the insane scale of Beijing. The air quality was bad, and I did have some trouble breathing at times, which was freaky.

Highlights included the Wild Goose Pagoda, ancient city wall and of course the Terra Cotta Warriors, which lived up to their hype as an unmatched archeological site.

Now that’s a biiiiiiiiiiiiiig city

Sun, 30 Mar 2008 01:49:44 -0400

Alright, Beijing is huge. Really, really huge. For 6 New Yorkers who’ve done a good amount of traveling, we were thrown for a loop. Everything was at least a 45 minute taxi ride from the hotel, there was not much walking around, but taxis were very inexpensive. In our 4 days there we were never able to really get our bearings, map reading was effectively useless.

We did enjoy the sights though, and a had a nice guide named Newman. Delicious food, the pollution was not bad at all, and we actually had clear blue sky for 2 days. The people were also a lot friendlier than we expected, although we did kinda of feel like we were being watched on a few occasions. Some photo highlights follow, more pictures to be posted if we ever get a break in the action...

45 days and counting...

Tue, 12 Feb 2008 20:58:09 -0500

We’ll here we go. We just quit our jobs for a year off, to travel and get ready for the 2nd half of our lives. It will be interesting to see where we end up a year from now. I’m optimistic that some kind of dramatic change will take place. We’ll see...

First up is China, Vietnam and Bali from March 29 to June 26

We’ll be home for 3 weeks or so on June 26

Then off on a 10,000-mile Northern American road trip
in our beloved Subaru...