Groughing The Vare

Well, folks, it's been a frightening day here in overcast Ha Noi (that's how the cool kids write it). Oh, not like that- we're pros at crossing the street by now. No, frightening like we spent about 4 hours thinking we'd lost all 900 photos we'd taken in the last two weeks.

We were making a valiant effort to upload some photos for you all to see- but the computers in the hotels here are all jacked up with no USB ports. We finally found one in the Prince Hotel, our current home away from home. We plugged the camera in, turned it on, and both felt a significant electrical shock- but thought nothing of it. The photo upload was unsuccessful- but when we turned the camera on an hour later, it wouldn't take pictures, and there were NONE on the memory card! Ack! Frightening, see?

Many trips back and forth across the city and many hours in an electronics shop later, we had our pictures back. It was a harrowing adventure, to be sure.

Anyway, enough of that- there are too many other juicy tidbits for you all- it's been almost a week since we last updated you! We left you in Hoi An- we did indeed get a nice stack of clothing tailored, some of us more than others, as well as some sweet sneakers. The sneaks were especially fun because we got to choose the color and material of each and every single component of the shoes- Arli was a little more reserved and sensible about her choices, while my shoes look like the Crayola box threw up on them. Of course, no photos to share with you because a) the USB thing and B) we shipped the whole damn lot SEAMAIL as soon as we got it- it won't be in our hot little hands for 3 to 4 months. Whoops. We do have a drawing of the shoes to share with you as soon as we figure our the photo thing.

After Hoi An, we embarked on the worst overnight train ride of the century up to Ha Noi. Well, maybe that is an exaggeration- there was some beautiful scenery between Danang and Hue, with excellent coastal cliffs and crashing ocean surf. The subsequent 12 hours were spent in a gross seat with the scent of durian lingering in the air, and someone's bare feet (complete with black toenails) propped up on my armrest. But we were experiencing culture!!! Right!! ;) Anyway, we ate a few yummy things, played a few rounds of poker, and had some scintillating conversation en route. So not all was lost, not even when we were dumped in Ha Noi at 6 AM sans hotel room.

We straggled along, and managed to find a nice little French-colonial-style place that was especially susceptible to Arli's expert bargaining skills. After a nap and showers, we set out to explore Ha Noi. It's a much prettier city than Saigon, with cuter streets lined with trees. The area we are staying in, the Old Quarter, is divided up, block by block, into various trades- clothing, tinwork, bamboo things, things made of cloth, hardwear, and other areas that we really can't figure out WHAT they do. Pretty cute.

We spent two days milling around Ha Noi, taking in Ho Chi Minh's old homes, a water puppetry show, a gay bar, and lots of weird street food. Then it was off to Halong Bay, a UNESCO World Heritage site with amazing karst cliffs popping up out of the ocean. Think those ancient Chinese scrolls you've seen in museums.

Halong Bay was BEAUTIFUL. I could not stop taking pictures- we will surely have to do some weeding out later. We spent the night on a junk boat in the bay, surrounded by these gigantic limestone cliffs- I can't even explain it. Being on the boat overnight was nice- we spent a good chunk of time lounging on chairs on the top deck, just watching. We kayaked around a little on the first day, and visited a cave, which was neat- the cave was pretty developed though, and you could see where most of the stalactites and stalagmites had been broken off as souvenirs. Everywhere i looked though, I saw some dark little tunnel leading off to who knows where, and it was all I could do to not go crawling down them...

Not much else to note of our few days in Halong Bay, without photos to emphasize. Arli went swimming a few times, despite the less-than-satisfactory temps, and trash bags floating in the water (all trash is swept into the water- sad). Once off the back of the boat (post gigantic jellyfish sighting!!), and once at the beach on Cat Ba island. She's a brave girl.

So anyhow, yesterday we headed back into Ha Noi for a few more days. We bummed around yesterday, finding a new hotel and drinking bia hoi (translation- fresh beer- brewed daily, available on street corners throughout the city for about 25 cents a glass). I spent some time poking through jeans shops, trying to find a great deal on some new Diesels or G-Stars. They sell 'em for $25 here- do you know what I pay for those in the States?!?!

Today we saw one of the coolest things we've seen the whole time we've been here: HO CHI MINH'S PRESERVED DEAD BODY. OMFG. It was REALLY HIM!! He was SO CUTE- his little hands were folded on top of his little black outfit, and his cute little beard was all nicely groomed. He was embalmed by the same dude who did Lenin- we can get you his digits if you want. Anyway, lots of rules and guards and stuff over there at his mausoleum- no hats, no talking, no breathing, no cameras. I really wanted a photo of him, but it was not to be. Very, very cool.

Anyhow- after visiting with Uncle Ho, we had to deal with the camera sitch, so not much else went on today, except that Arli ate a (fried) maggot on purpose. She said it tasted "earthy" and she did not like it. Now it's evening, it's raining (mysteriously it seems to be also raining in the hotel lobby where we are sitting), we are tired, and we're going to Laos tomorrow at 5 PM. Whoopee!!

We still miss you all- we've been having some homesick pangs this last week (well, I have been at least) resulting in some tears and consumption of more than my fair share of western-style fast food. But it's all good- home will come soon, and until then, the world is my home, eh? Be well, do good work, and keep in touch. Love!