THAILAND AND VIETNAM REVISITED IN 2008

Despite a frantic arrival in Bangkok (the ATM didn't dispense Thai baht though I notified CapitalOne of my travel plans and I couldn't find Rosalind or the driver Kamon sent for me) it took just a night's sleep to get with it. In the morning we headed to the floating market where Ban bartered for our brunch while we floated along peacefully.  The food was prepared in the vender's boat, and handed to us to eat on ours.  Well, I enjoyed it, not Rosalind. She starved a little longer.

It was my third trip to the Grand Palace and each of the buildings appeared even more opulent then I remembered. I wonder who the aspiring Thai dancer who is out of costume is? 

After seeing a few of the major sites in Bangkok and checking out every jewelry store we could find that was open, we flew to Chang Mai. Here we are with Kom and his beautiful, charming wife, Noi on top of a mountain that overlooks the city. Further up is a temple where Kom and Noi taught us a bit about the Buddist religion, helped us give alms and taught us how to get our fortune by shaking a lot of numbered sticks in a canister until one fell out. When one did fall out, we checked the number and then found the corresponding piece of paper with its written fortune.   That's when Rosalind pulled off a miracle.   She wanted a lower number so she tried again.    Would you believe that on her second try, she got the same number?   What are the odds of that?  

When Kom said he would take care of us in Thailand, he wasn't kidding.  He arranged everything: what we saw, where we ate in Bangkok and what we hoped to see once we came up north - the elephants, the hill tribes, the market in Burma, and his jeweler friend.   His biggest challenge was finding us a place to have lunch once we reached Lampang.   It felt as if we stopped at a dozen places before we settled on one.    He planned that we stay overnight in Lampang to get an early start to Burma in the morning. We almost thwarted it because we left our passports at the hotel.   In short order Kom fixed what was almost a calamity and asked his brother to drive us - a three hour round trip - to get them.    Without a complaint, he did.   When we got back there was a five course meal waiting at Noi's mom's home.

Here Noi's mother is showing us the morning market.

After a bittersweet goodbye to our new "family" we headed to Burma.     This temple looked like a winter wonderland from the road.

Our last full day in Chang Mai found us at an orchid farm, laying down with tigers,

sitting alongside long neck people, shopping (one of us bought a gorgeous silk runner) and  

enjoying a fantastic final evening.    We were in town during the annual celebration of man's life stream - water - and got to enjoy native music, dancing and food, while throngs of people heated large white paper bags, hoping that the hot air inside would make them fly into the night sky along with their wishes.

After a morning running around looking for our final purchases, we were off to Vietnam and a rendezvous with my sister and Liza.  I couldn't wait.  It was too dark to see the rice fields I remembered seeing as I left the airport on my first trip, but I hoped to see them as we headed for Ha Long Bay.  In the morning, I sat straining for a glimpse of what I remembered and couldn't find it.  It was clear to me by the time we sailed on the junk boat (it was not junk), that the pace of people and the look of Vietnam had changed.  

My memory of three hour rides that never stopped because the trucks, cars, motorbikes and bicycles weaved in and around one another in anticipation of the others unhurried pace and position was shattered by horrendous traffic jams and honking horns.  The patchwork of glistening rice fields worked by people who arrived by bike were replaced by factories, housing developments and construction. The solitude of quiet motion on Ha Long Bay became an orderly procession of tourist boats.   The variety of sensuous foods I looked forward to became set menus featuring shrimp, shrimp and more shrimp until we swore we'd never eat a shrimp again.    

Not everything was a disappointment.  The Citadel in Hue, the historic wall fortified complex of buildings that housed the royal government on the east side of the Perfume River was partially restored and attractively landscaped.

We visited the My Son ruins of the Champa civilization.  Clearly rain gear was necessary but the detailed stonework, the structures that endured though built with no mortor (a skill unduplicated in modern history) made the trip worthwhile.  Happily the American bombs on display never exploded or there would be no My Son.  

The town of Hoian was charming and colorful, though the artists shops lining the streets seem to have been replaced by tailor shops.   

I was glad to see that despite development, Hoian is still defined by the Japanese Bridge.

Did I say it poured?   Rain ruined our stay at the Palm Gardens Resort, where we had a spectacular seaside cottage.   We hoped Nha Trang would be better.   Our arrival was marked by a few minutes of sun, some nice scenery from the airport, and this sight when we stopped for lunch.

We would have plenty of time to catch the look of people going about their business because once again, though we were seaside, it rained intermittently throughout our stay.

I loved seeing the kids go to school by bike and especially the elegance of the high school girls in their white AO DAIS erect on their bikes with their black ponytails hanging down their back.  I hoped to take tons of pictures of them to capture the magic, but whether it was the weather or progress, I never did see large groups of high school girls going back and forth from school.   

On one walk, when I saw soldiers guarding a hotel, I remembered that for all the friendliness of the Vietnamese, we were in still a Communist country.  I couldn't stop looking at what was going on, fearful of being taken for a spy. Then I realized we were seeing a "take" of a motion picture.  That afternoon would have been the highlight of our Nha Trang stay if not for our stopping at a temple on the way out of town and finding ourselves in the midst of a Campa festival where young men and women delighted in a coed "Pass the Egg on the Spoon" relay.   Lucky for them, the egg was hardboiled!   Not every couple was as successful as this one.

The drive to Dalat was the saving grace of the trip for me.  It was beautiful.  Sorry, I have no pictures.  The long and winding rode into the mountains did not lend itself to stops.  In Dalat there were things to see: the Thai influenced ornate Buddhist Pagoda, the tribal village, the Crazy House, the King's art deco Summer Palace, the park with its trails and cable car, the waterfall, the French villas, the hillside farm land around it.   Happily, there was also availability of good French food, so Rosalind was especially thrilled.  

Our last day with Susan and Liza was in Saigon and found us headed to the Mekong Delta.  After a river crossing, we arrived on an island, saw sugar cane candy made, had a fruit tasting, and paddled through canals until we found our way back to the river.  

The van ride back was fun as we tried to catch scenes of the road.  This shot I call the ducks last meal . . . a blue T-shirt.

A trip to Saigon would not be complete without going to the Chu Chi Tunnels. Fortunately, a daring cyclist, who crossed in front of our van lived to tell the tale.   In minutes he was carted to the hospital.   Check out the ambulance he left in.

In Chu Chi, I once again marveled at the creative spirit and teamwork that enabled the VC to prevail over the USA's technological superiority.   Why, oh why didn't Rumsfeld remember the lesson?   This is how they escaped unseen.

Anyone flipping this grass covered trap, fell below, impalled. 

It helped that the people were small.

Saigon was more of everything than I remember.   It was not unwelcome.   Our upgrade at the Sheraton provided us with complimentary high tea at 3:00 and hor dourve's and drinks at 5:30.  It was cool to see how the Sheraton became Saigon's equivalent of Macy's with its Christmas windows, music, decorations and attractions.   Even more cool was getting to see my Canadian friend, Val Drake on our last evening in town.    

Did I love this trip?   Well, no.   I planned a private tour in a country I loved with people I wanted to be with but things were wrong.   The company I worked with, ASIA KING was hugely disappointing.   Though the tour was priced for hi-season, we were there during rainy season.   During the planning, it would have been appropriate to share that information with us yet, not once was there a suggestion that I reconsider the five days planned in our itinerary for stays at beach resorts.    Unfortunately, eagerness to answer questions during the pre-trip did not translate into good advice, quality control or the flexibility one would expect on a private tour.   Our meals, though at different restaurants, were set and too much the same.   We had to fight for the right to order from the menu.    And, when we opted out of staying at a hotel with a moldy lobby in Nha Trang, we were refused a refund of anykind though we paid for three days in advance.   Almost all our guides acted like transfer agents rather than guides who wanted to educate us about their country - past and present.   The final downer was when our Nha Trang guide said it was too dangerous to go snorkeling (because of rain and sewage run-off) and suggested canceling our tour to the islands where we were to snorkel, visit a fishing village, see an aquarium and some caves and have lunch.   We were flexible.   We agreed that it made more sense to go when the weather improved, but when we asked, "What can we do today?" our guide looked at us blankly, told us there was nothing to do, and took the day off, leaving us believing that we would go on the island excursion the following day.   It seemed weird when, the next morning, instead of getting started, he put me on the phone with ASIA KING.   At the time, I thought a hotel refund was in store for us.   Imagine my surprise when I was told that if we wanted to go to the islands, we'd have to pay for our guide, the driver, the van, the excursion boat, the aquarium, and the lunch we never had - again - because the company paid for it the day before.