Imperial Hue

On the road again... this time by overnight train to Hue ("who-ay"), about halfway down Vietnam. It's right beneath the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) from the Vietnam War, in fact.


(Stocked up on water - I'm ready!)

The train was fine, as we shared our bunk-room with a nice young couple from Holland. The primary drawback was the severe lack of food onboard, which, when combined with a multi-hour delay, made for one hungry morning!

On our first real morning in Hue, we rented bikes for a song and pedaled over the bridge to the Imperial Palace. Hue used to be the seat of Imperial power in the 19th century.

The bikes were brand-new, and it was great to have a little breeze as we traveled!

The Citadel of the Imperial Palace. (Blackened by bombs in the Vietnam war.)

Inside the Palace, China's influence on Vietnam was readily apparent, from the water features and dragons...

...to paper lanterns and symbols of happiness.

The architecture was great, as was the almost complete lack of crowds.

Though this hallway looked more Italian than anything else, at least to my inexpert eyes.

Good Morning Vietnam!

It was absolutely bucketing in Hanoi - even the motos ceased their honking for a (short) time.

Karen and I sought refuge in a miniscule passageway between two buildings. Mom, you may recognize your umbrella. ;)

Eventually the rain let up enough for us to make it to breakfast. We had our usual yogurt-fruit-muesli (backpacker staple fare, and why don't more people eat muesli in the US??), but this time it was deconstructed (See below). And unusually delicious! Sorry for another food post, but it was so lovely!

Sights of Hanoi

Most of our time in Hanoi was spent wandering its labyrinthine streets and alleys, getting a sense for the rhythms of Vietnamese city life. Below are a bunch of pictures of some of the things we found in our wandering.

Somewhat surprisingly, forzen yogurt is nowhere to be found in Hanoi. Instead, this mush-jellied fruits -and-ice concoction is on every other street corner. You point to which bowls you want added to the cup, and then plop down on one of the tiny plastic stools to enjoy it and watch passers-by.

Night market on Fridays and Saturdays. LOTS of clothes and plastic shoes. Few "Fat Farang" sizes. :)

The old quarter of Hanoi is situation around a smallish lake, which makes navigating the streets easier. At one end is a cool Chinese temple:

Just outside the temple is a globe statue with Vietnam highlighted in red. Look closely though - it's not exactly to scale!

To escape the heat (Hanoi is the hottest city in Southest Asia, not an easy feat!), we ducked into an air-conditioned cafe. I ordered an apple-carrot-ginger smoothie -- delicious!

The cafe was on the fifth floor, with great views...

...especially of Hanoi's relentless traffic, devoid of lights or even lanes. Everyone just goes, threading a path amongst the flow of other motorbikes and a smattering of cars. Honks are strategic here, used to let others know you're there, rather than a way of expressing road rage as they are back home.

Ho Chi Minh

We are now in Hanoi, and yesterday we visited the tomb/monument of Ho Chi Minh. Not sure where these soldiers were going, but they had a very distinctive coordinated arm-swing. Fortunately or unfortunately, the tomb itself was closed by the time we arrived, so we weren’t able to see “Uncle Ho’s” actual body.

 

 

 

Thai Fighting

 

At a café in Chiang Mai, we met Peter Pan the Polish man. (Yes.) We shared the brownie that we both thought looked delicious (and it was), and as we chatted it emerged that he was in Thailand as a professional Muay Thai fighter.
Muay Thai is a particularly violent form of boxing that emphasizes elbow and knee strikes rather than punches, which are considered the weakest type of strike. It is hugely popular in Thailand. You can tell when a boxing match is going on because all of the usually-insistent taxi touts are clustered around the TV instead.

Anyway, we told Peter Pan that we were thinking about taking a Muay Thai class. Apparently, our bonding over the brownie was enough for Peter Pan to offer to take us to his training gym for a 2-hour private training session for both of us with some of the teachers at the gym. When we arrived, we were taken for a run, then led through the basic movements. Punch combinations, throwing elbows, and high spinning kicks.

Once my teacher was satisfied, we moved into the ring, where we spent a good 45 minutes of almost non-stop training, kicking, kneeing, and punching the bags my teacher held. Every so often, we were allowed to gasp over to the side of the ring to the water station, which consisted of a young Thai guy handing you a pink plastic ladle of ice-cold water from the barrel next to him. For good measure, we did 20 more minutes of push-ups and footwork/jumping training.

 

It was the most I had sweat since my last volleyball season! (The black workout clothes in the photo help to obscure this, but they are in fact soaked.) It felt great.

That night, we treated ourselves to foot massages, and spoke with the massage ladies about the upcoming Thai election.

I'm on a boat! (Or, rather, I was)

After three weeks in Thailand, we left on a "slowboat" to Laos (rhymes with "ow", no "s" sound). On the way to the border, we passed the White Temple, a rich Thai artist’s attempt to bring contemporary art together with the ancient religion of Buddhism in the hope of attracting a younger generation.

It was intricate, and it reminded me of "The Gates of Hell" Rodin sculpture, a strange connection considering Buddhism has no hell.

From Make Me One With Everything

From Make Me One With Everything

From Make Me One With Everything

The boat ride itself lasted two full days, stopping at a little roadside village for the night,Pak Beng, which clearly exists for a single reason: to service the needs of overnighting slowboaters. Accordingly, it had guestrooms and restaurants galore, all offering the same selection of fried rice, fruit shakes, and western food. One tuk-tuk driver we met in Luang Prabang described it thus: "Pak Beng, the place of no joy." Sounds about right.

Anyway.

The boat was big...

From Make Me One With Everything

...but packed!

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It also had incredible views for the entire trip. For example:

From Make Me One With Everything

From Make Me One With Everything

Occasionally we would stop at tiny riverside towns where local Laos people would hop on or off.

From Make Me One With Everything

Overall, the trip certainly took longer than a flight but was much cheaper and more beautiful. Granted, we were lucky with the weather. Had it poured nonstop, as it did for weeks on end in June, I might be singing a different tune.

Doi Suthep

In the jungled hills high above Chiang Mai (definitely my favorite city so far), is Doi Suthep, a giant gold and white temple filled with chanting, pacing monks in saffron robes, quiet gardens and sweeping views of the city below.

From Make Me One With Everything

From Make Me One With Everything

We visited just before sunset, so the sun made the central solid-gold spire glow against the clouds. We knelt behind the white-robed nuns with shaved heads and listened to the monks chant solemnly.

From Make Me One With Everything

From Make Me One With Everything

When they filed out, we kept exploring, and came upon a temple/room with a older monk who blessed Karen and me (or so it appeared!) and tied a braided bracelet on our wrists.

From Make Me One With Everything