Updates! Da Lat, Nha trang, Hanoi, oh my.

Yes, faithful readers...it has been a while. But, that isn't because anything bad happened - Moms and Aunts, take a deep breath! We have just been having a lot of fun, and not having a lot of wireless internet. (We need the wireless internet to sync our photos, so that is why those are a week or so behind.)

We are still in Vietnam - currently in the North, in Hanoi. We are really liking Vietnam a lot. The cities are CRAZY, the mountains and beaches are beautiful, and for the most part - the people are cool too. The one hassle that does start to wear on you after a few weeks is the constant pestering of people trying to sell you stuff - mainly bike rides and sightseeing tours. If you are white, you are a target. That is the general rule.

Hanoi is a crazy city with tiny windy streets in the old city, where you have people in pointy straw hats, walking around trying to sell you anything from pineapples, to phrasebooks, to motorcycle rides. I don't know how they squat on the street so low, for so long. Many families just squat the sidewalks, cooking and eating and feeding their children.

We thought crossing the street was a challenge in Saigon - we had no idea! It's insane here. Tomorrow, we are taking a boat tour for a few days, into the beautiful islands and caves of Ha Long Bay. We are on a junk boat the first day - seeing caves and islands. Then, we sleep on the boat...and the second day, we kayak all day, and then stay at a resort on Cat Ba Island. Doing a tour like this is really the only way to see Ha long Bay - so I hope the tour we chose turns out to be a good one. They are a million places selling basically the same thing for vastly different prices. It's hard to figure out when you are being scammed or not, but the one we chose was recommended to me by a traveler I met in Nha Trang, and he said it was good.

Updates...
Da Lat
The motorcycle tour with our Easy Rider guide, Dung (when he pronounces it, it's much better), was personally a real highlight for my time in Asia. I was on the back of the guide's motorbike and Tucker held his own on his own bike! Dung toured us all around amazing green mountains, scary winding roads, and into some really cool spots including a silk factory where we saw the process from start (worm) to finish (scarf). Much to my surprise, I really enjoyed being on a motorcycle! It was so fun and I felt totally safe...even though it rained a lot of the time. Also, it was cool to chat with the guide as we rode...he told me about his family, religion, politics, real estate...all sorts of stuff that you can't really get reading from a book. We took a hike down this somewhat scary and extremely muddy and slippery rock path down to the bottom of the "Elephant waterfalls." Dung actually got injured and couldn't finish the hike with us, but Matt and I tried to go as far as we could, until we were locked in by surrounding water. It was pretty cool - but I was really sore the next day! (Shock shock) After the hike, we walked around a Temple, where there were all these Vietnamese woman sharing lunch together, and I assume also praying together. On top of the mountain, there was this HUUUUUGE Buddha...pictures to come.

The next day, we took a taxi to Langbiang Mountain for some hiking. To be fair, I was sore from the day before and didn't get TOO far up the mountain, but Tucker had some cool experiences that I'm sure he'll fill us in on later.

After Da lat, Tucker and I split up for a few days - we each did our own beach thing. He went to Mui Ne, and I went to Nha Trang.

Nha Trang
Nha Trang is a little town mainly popular for it's beautiful water and beach. There are a bunch of little restaurants and hotels in the area, as well as the usual tourist shops and tailors. I thought traveling alone would be a little scary - but on the contrary, it was really fun. Also, i was hardly alone! It is so easy to meet other travelers. So, the first few days, I hung out with my "Irish boyfriend" and the next two days, my "Israeli boyfriend." If only it were this easy in the U.S. :)

It was sooo amazing to just relax for a few days and literally, just sit on the beach, read, and recharge. I did not want to leave! The beach was beautiful and the water was so warm. Also, they had a brewery there (Lousiane Brewery) that had the best beer I've tried since I got to Asia. I stayed in a nice hotel, treated myself to an amazing spa massage - and even got a dress custom made for myself! Everything is so cheap so treating yourself is so much easier to do! Tailors are everywhere and it's quite common for tourists to get clothes made.

That is the trip update as of now. More to come soon...

PS Remember to vote! Even if you are in one of those "my vote doesn't matter" states... your vote DOES matter. We are trying desperately to figure out how to vote now that we are abroad and it's harder than you would think. I believe this election to be a life-marking event as I'm sure many of you do as well. It is a little hard to be missing it.

Happy Birthday Steve and Happy almost birthday Matty Z and Patrick French!

Top Ten Reasons I know I've Been Traveling for a While

Top Ten Reasons I know I've been traveling for a while:

10. Before going to brush my teeth, I instinctively look for a bottle of water. (Man, I miss tap water.)

9. Beeping now has new meaning to me. It is not rude - it's a safety precaution. If you are on a motor bike, and people don't beep - it's very hard to hear that someone is trying to pass you! Beep for safety's sake!

8. I am lost without a bottle of Purell on me at all times. More so than chapstick!

7. I'm used to not having a clue what anyone around me is saying.

6. $4 sounds like a A LOT to pay for a beer.

5. I crave noodle soups for breakfast.

4. I drink my tea sans milk.

3. List of things to buy when I get home: 1.) rice cooker 2.) Electric water boiler.

2. Also: 3.) a motorcycle or scooter.

1. I kinda sorta want a Vietnamese baby. (Seriously, though, these kids are so cute. Can I have one?)

Goodnight Saigon

We have been in Vietnam since Monday (and right now, it is Thursday evening). So far - so good! Our first stop was Ho Chi Minh City, which we have learned the locals still call Saigon. To be honest, I thought it would be too crazy for me - and that I wouldn't enjoy it. But, I was totally wrong. Saigon is so interesting... it is it's own beast. I almost can't even explain it. It is crazy but so simple at the same time. It has a certain rhythm to it. The little stores and shops - at least in the backpacker area where we stayed - were so run down and so close the the street. It seems like one monsoon would make the roofs come crashing in! The kids play barefoot on the sidewalk. People have little "restaurants" on the sidewalks and in the streets. Basically, a woman squats on the ground, cooking on little grills - meats and huge vats of rice etc. Then, they set up tiny little plastic stools in the street - smaller than what nursery school kids sit on - and people just sit in the street at eat at the "restaurants."
Its so different from what we know.
Also - we didn't see ONE chain restaurant...no Starbucks. No McDonalds. That was nice.

The motorcycles are EVERYWHERE! It is not uncommon to see families of 3 or 4 on these motorcycles - including little babies! Seriously, I had heard crossing the street in Vietnam was a challenge - but in fact, it's an Olympic sport. Basically, you just have to GO- just charge through...and not worry about the fact that 3 taxis and 20 motorcycles are coming straight for you. You just have to trust that they will drive around you. There is NO such thing as pedestrian right of way! In fact, if they see people - they just beep. Beep beep beep! The horn means something totally different here than it does in the USA. Passing someone on the highway? beep beep! See someone walking on the side of the road as you are driving? Beep beep!

I can't believe that over 3 1/2 weeks have passed by. I am having so much fun - but the whole trip is flying by way too quickly. I think it is perfect that we started out somewhere expensive (Japan) and now are in the cheap areas. Hanging out in Vietnam is SO affordable. We eat lunch for around $3. Beers are around $1. A HUGE bottle of water (1.5 liters) is usually around $0.30. The largest bill they have here is 100,000 dong which is equal to about $6. We are millionaires! One night, we decided to go all out to a fancy restaurant. We had three main courses, beers, tea, dessert...the whole thing was $26. Total. Amazing.

One day, we took a ($10) day trip into the Mekong Delta. We had a tour guide who took us on numerous boat rides, to candy factories, a honey making and bee-keeping farm, on a horse drawn buggy (if you can call it that), through little villages... it was really neat. As always, we met some really interesting people traveling - this time from Japan, Germany, Seattle, and Taiwan.

Since we have been in city after city on this trip - we have been looking forward to getting back to nature. This morning we hopped on a quick flight north to Da Lat. The ride from the airport to the hotel was absolutely breathtaking. Talk about LUSH green trees, fields, and mountains. this is where most of the delicious Vietnamese coffee comes from as well. Amazing. We were so happy - this was exactly what we needed. Or so we thought. Unfortunately - we aren't as remote as we thought we would be. We took this amazing ride through the green areas in the middle of nowhere - then went over the top of one mountain - and suddenly this city appears! It was like Brigadoon!

Our hotel is in this city. It's disappointing, but apparently - there isn't really anywhere to stay that isn't in the city of Da Lat. So...tomorrow - I'm facing my fears and going on a guided MOTORCYCLE tour around the mountains and to go hike, see waterfalls etc. I will not be driving the motorcycle. We have hired one of the famous "Easy Riders" to tour us around. I'm nervous but quite excited. This is one of those once in a life-time experiences that I felt I had to do. Right? Right.

So far my favorite thing about Vietnam has been the people. They have been warm and wonderful. We stayed at a place called the Saigon Mini Hotel - and the staff couldn't have been more wonderful. I would recommend anyone to stay there.

I am at the point where I have been away from home for so long, that I start thinking about anything that I will change when I get back. "When I get back to real life, i'm going to eat better." "When I get back to real life, I am going to take a class or two." It is true, though, that traveling has made me want to learn again. Maybe I'll take an adult ed class or something.

One difficult experience i had in Vietnam was my exploration of the War Remnants Museum. I went by myself. And, yes I knew it wouldn't be pleasant. And this might sound extreme - but I felt like I was the daughter of a Nazi...walking around a Holocaust museum. The exhibits were horrifying. America sounded like the worst place - with the worst people - in the world... I couldn't even look at a lot of the stuff on Agent Orange etc. I started to enjoy the exhibit more, however, in the exhibits about worldwide opposition to the Vietnam War. It showed protesters in Australia with "USA out of Vietnam NOW" posters. And, European countries with similar displays. I kept looking for the Americans...where is our voice? Where are our protesters? Finally, i found it - a section where you saw the brave men and women who protested the war. Photos of people burning draft cards; an article about a fighter pilot who refused to fly etc etc. I finally felt ok.

My favorite part of the museum was an exhibit all about the photographers recording the war, who lost their lives while doing so. Their photography was amazing and so much more special knowing their personal stories.

We will hopefully post pictures of all of this soon. Tucker's camera is facing some serious technical difficulties but we are making do with mine for the time being.

More updates to come. Wish me luck on my motorcycle!? omg.

More on Shanghai...and a taste of Hong Kong nightlife!

Hello readers!

I find out every day more and more people who have been keeping up with our travels on our blog – so thanks!

We safely arrived in Hong Kong on Thursday afternoon, after the train ride from hell. It was a 20 hour train from Shanghai and I won’t get into details, but it was awful. Also, I ate something bad on the train – and ended up with a stomach bug for 24 hours. Luckily, we are staying with my friend Rachel “Patch” Adams in HK, so I had a comfortable place to be very, very ill. And, I am now recovered! Phew.

The rest of our trip in Shanghai was much better than that first day. If you take a trip there, I would recommend staying away from the touristy areas like the walk from People’s Square to The Bund. That is where we experienced all the craziness and people trying to scam us…everywhere else we went was just fine. We really loved the French Concession area and Taikang Lu area (which is a cute little maze of artsy shops and streets and restaurants where we bought cool communist propaganda stuff.) Also, on that Monday night, we at an amazing restaurant! “Lost Heaven” is the name of the place. It was in the French Concession and was probably our best meal yet on the entire trip so far! The food was from the Yunnan province and was very fresh- and the spices they used were so different than what we are used to. Although I stuck to TsingDao - the Chinese beer – this was the night Matt got patriotic and switched to Bud.

In any case, I would highly recommend Lost Heaven to anyone going to Shanghai.

One night in Shanghai, we went out with some of our friends from the ferry (see picture above). Kevin lives in Shanghai and took us to some really cool clubs which, even on a Tues. night, were pretty bumpin'. Yes, I said bumpin.

Since we have been in Hong Kong, we haven’t done too much (since I was really sick), but Patch and her friend Andy did show us around the bars in Central and took us to a great Peking Duck restaurant. Hong Kong is off the hook as far as nightlife goes. I have never seen so many cool bars all in a row! It was crazier than New Orleans – I’m telling you. It’s strange though, because the area they mainly hang out in is all ex-pats so you see very few Chinese people. That is definitely a change from everywhere else we have visited in Asia. Granted, we probably need to get out of the “Central” area and see a bit more of this city. Hopefully, we will do that today.

Of what I have seen so far, Hong Kong is a very, very cool city – a very clean city – and most people speak English. It is quite different from our other China experiences. We did expect the difference – but not this great of a difference!

Tomorrow, Patch has rented a junk boat for her birthday. About 15 of her friends will all be onboard and it will be a little food and booze cruise going around to 3 different beaches! The weather here has been great…so I’m really looking forward to it!

After that, we are off to Vietnam… we haven’t planned that leg of our trip AT ALL so we have a lot of work to do today.

- Miss you all -

PS Our RSS reader is only displaying some of our photo albums in the right nav. If you'd like to see all the photos, you can just go to: http://picasaweb.google.com/matt.d.tucker/

Toto, we're not in Japan anymore

In comedy, we often reinforce stereotypes...such as, blonds are dumb, Jews are cheap...or, of course - all Asians are the same. Well, fear not my Asian friends - you will NEVER hear us say that ever, ever again. Thus far, our experiences in China vs. Japan have been polar opposites.

First off, let me start on how we got here: The Osaka-Shanghai 2 day ferry! Ya know what? It was way better than we thought it would be. This, however, has nothing to do with the ferry really - and everything to do with the awesome travelers we befriended while on board. When we were first getting onto the ferry, we experienced the first difference between the Chinese and the Japanese... the Japanese patiently line up and wait for everything. Everything! The escalator, the subway...anything. There is always a perfectly patient LINE. While waiting to get on the boat to China, however, there was a lot of pushing, cutting, and just general disregard for other people trying to get on the boat around us. Once we got on the boat, #2 difference - help and hospitality. Tucker and I were split up immediately and put in different rooms - he in first class and me in standard. We paid the same amount and should have been in the same room but no one explained or offered to help or anything. It just 'was.'

In any case, the trip began. The views from the ship were beautiful. We were soon wondering what the HECK we were going to do to kill 48 hours on a boat. There was only so many rounds of Rummy 500 that we could play. Sooner or later, we met other travelers and had people to eat dinner and do karaoke with! The Karaoke was a blast. It was so different from how it is in the States. People REALLY appreciate good Karaoke singing. The "audience" claps in the middle of the song - like they are at a rock concert. I felt like a star! :)

The Karaoke ended at 10:30pm - and we didn't know what was left to do! A girl (from NJ!) said "go outside! The sky is beautiful and someone is playing guitar!" Soon enough, we were up on the deck of the boat - staring at one of the most star-filled, clear, and beautiful skies I have seen in a long time. The guitar playing continued and in a moment, you had people from the US, China, UK, Australia, Ireland, Poland etc all belting out the same Radiohead songs... It was such an awesome moment. You realize how simple things can be...and how music seriously unifies us all. It was truly amazing. (Videos of Karaoke are in the Traveling to Shanghai album.)

Some of the friends we met on the boat are Americans now living in China. THANK GOD we met them because they took us to lunch and to buy our train tickets when we first arrived in Shanghai. Their Mandarin really came in handy. (Also, they were hi-larious.) It is definitely much harder here to get around without speaking the language - AND the language is much harder to pick up or "fake."

It is Monday evening, and we just got back to our hostel after our first day exploring Shanghai. If I'm being completely honest - it wasn't the greatest sight-seeing experience I've ever had. First off, I'm feeling paranoid here. I mean... communism in general makes me paranoid! Second, our friends had warned us of tourist scams - and they were spot on. Person after person tried to scam us with the same offers over and over again. (Where are you from? Are you a student? We are travelers too! Want to go to this tea ceremony with us?) I felt very uncomfortable and was very glad I had Tucker there with me for safety!

Besides paranoia about scams, and pushing away people trying to sell us things - I am a tad paranoid about what we can consume here! Don't drink the water; check the bottled water to make sure it hasn't been tampered. Don't eat dairy because babies are dying. Don't eat fruits and veggies because they are washed in the water! Don't eat food from stalls. Ahhh!

Also, its just really dirty here. And it's not just in comparison to Japan. I mean, you can see and FEEL the pollution in the air. Also, you can be in the nicest area - and suddenly a terrible smell just hits and its so off-putting you have to cover your face with your shirt. People push. People spit. A LOT. There is a lot of smoking and spitting. Its definitely different from the past two weeks. :)

That being said, I don't want it to sound like things are terrible. We did have a good time today. Although I'm so skeptical about trusting ANYONE because of our experiences, we did meet one helpful man - so that was nice. Also, we walked around and took a bunch of photos, and had a lot of laughs. We went to the Yuayuan Gardens - and it was full of plants and rocks and temples. The signs throughout called the rock formations "Rockery." We had lots of laughs at making a mockery of the rockery...not gonna lie.

By Popular Demand...Monkeys!

During the day of exploration Rachel wrote about in her post below, I hiked to the top of a mountain and checked out some sweet monkeys!

From Kyoto

This is the cool little buddhist lamp / arch thingy at the start of the monkey path. Note to self: learn something...anything about buddhism.

From Kyoto

The path wound it's way up a little mountain. It was a beautiful, sunny day in Kyoto and the way the trees filtered the light made the hike simply sublime. Note to self: refrain from using the word "sublime" in the future.

From Kyoto

Ooo...monkey trash barrel...I must be getting close.

From Kyoto

Ok, right about here is when I started getting worried that a monkey was gonna jump out of a tree onto me head and take a big dump.

From Kyoto

Oh, I guess if children are unafraid of these guys, I'll be fine.

From Kyoto

Made it! This monkey is like way into photo ops. Notice that I'm keeping my distance at this point. I don't trust these guys. They look kinda funny.

From Kyoto

You could see all of Kyoto from up here. Oh yeah, and a bunch of damn dirty apes.

From Kyoto

These guys look like they're just chillin in the shade but I can tell that they are really thinking about how delicious I look.

From Kyoto

OK, so little tip when taking pictures of baby monkeys. Don't. Stay away from the babies. I spent a good five minutes right up in this guys grill snapping pictures until his mommy came out of nowhere and made a very aggressive demonstration with her rather large teeth about a foot from my face.

From Kyoto

It was at about this point that I decided to take my leave of Monkey Town. Granted I did hang around for another 2 or 3 minutes just so they didn't think I was a total pussy.

From Kyoto

Nothing to do with monkeys. I just like the picture.

OK kids...more updates later. We just got off a boat and are now in CHINA! We have a lot to fill you in on, dear reader. Stay tuned.

Kyoto catch up and US politics!

Kyoto was interesting. I wish we had more time there – 3 days was definitely not enough. But, at least we got a taste. The regular city itself is nothing special, but once you get into any of the old streets and areas – you finally see the architecture that you picture in your head when you think “Japan.” It’s beautiful. My favorite street was Poncho-cho dori. It is a teeny old street right along the water – with just restaurant after restaurant. Really pretty. We took a lot of photos and you can see them through the Kyoto link on the right!

Tucker and I split up on Wed. and did our own city tours. He went to see monkeys! I went to the Silver Temple (Ginka ku) and walked around the beautiful gardens. See pic. They had maybe 15 different types/colors of moss. The grounds were SO beautiful and well kept. I walked around…and I had my music on…I was almost moved to tears. It was amazing. After that, I did a little shopping in GION ( got myself a pretty purse and belt!) and then headed to an Onsen to soak in a natural hot spring.

We went out both nights in Kyoto with our friend, Eva, from Germany – who we had originally met at our hostel in Fuji – then met up with again in Kyoto! One of the bars we went to was a super funky cave-like place with a live DJ, and a woman painting a huge canvas while the music played. It was very indie.. Very cool. :)

We are currently in Osaka – which is nothing to write home about. Unless you like to write home about a city like Springfield. We actually had booked a place online for Osaka – which looked ok on the internet. We got there, checked into our room , – and 20 minutes later, we had checked out! Although we would have only been staying there for the night – it was disgusting and the more we sat there, the more we realized we wouldn’t be able to handle it. It was a Japanese style hotel – tatami floors, no beds…but it was DIRTY and gross. We didn’t want to touch the floor – much less the blankets or pillows.
Now, we are at a swank place downtown. Seriously – it’s the nicest hotel ever! We decided we just couldn’t live in filth the night before we were going to live on a boat for 2 days! We figured we’d splurge.

I am starting to get excited for the next leg of the trip: China! My fears are 1. The people not being as nice and helpful as they are here and 2. The language is tough! As I write this, Tucker is sitting next to me trying to talk in the “tonal” language of Mandarin. It is hi-larious! Apparently, 1 word can have 20 different meanings depending on the TONE! We have been spoiled by Japanese – its way easy compared to other Asian languages!

As always, rachel’s random thoughts…
- (Thanks to Ayako), we learned that you never pour your own sake – you always must have a friend pour it for you.

- As much as we are far away from home, we have been reading the paper and catching up on the political and economic situation regularly. In fact, being here – where the economy is also affected…and being surrounded by people from all over the world – I feel almost MORE informed than I would at home. We watched most of the debate last week on the internet. We want to watch the Palin/Biden debate but we don’t know if we will get it on the boat or not. We shall see.

- Palin REALLY got schooled in that Couric interview, EH!? She looked terribly unprepared. I thought it was hysterical.

- Tucker and I often ask other travelers their thoughts on America and – more so – on Americans. ( I didn't want to get spotted eating McDonalds for fear that people would think, that is "what all Americans do!") One girl we spoke to (from Germany) was surprised to hear that many of us (MOST of us - sorry Dad!) don’t support Bush. Granted, she was young and perhaps not up to date on all things political, but she said that she always assumed USA and Bush go hand in hand. We had to explain Blue states and Red states…and that we didn’t um…technically vote for him.

Hey Asgard crew! We did Karaoke in Japan! It was very different from our usual Wed. nights – but we went out with 9 people from all over the world, sang our hearts out, and had so much fun! So, even though I wasn’t there on Wed. in Cambridge, I was representing in Fuji! In this picture, Tuck and I show Japan JUST how to rock out the Justin Timberlake. Can you say, bring sexy back? Yea, that's right. We did just that.

Quick note: Please be careful about what you write in the “comments” area while we are in China! I don’t know how regulated things get…so I figure,better safe than sorry! I don’t want us to lose internet access… or have to trade in Tucker to the authorities. I mean, I don’t want to travel alone while he takes the heat for YOUR comments thank-you-very-much. ;)

Shana Tova and Happy New year everyone!
Love Raero