Krabi, Thailand

Two days ago we landed in Krabi, Thailand which is on the southwestern coast of the Andaman Sea. It is a true tourist resort trap with all the infrastructure one could
ever ask for and much much more luxury than you every really need to live a happy life. We knew that we'd be going into something like this, but felt it a good way of aclimatising to the western world again and just relaxing a couple of days before heading home for good.

The weather has been perfect and the first day we simply relaxed by the pool and strolled along the beach, packed with sunburnt tourists! :) It was nice not having to think about our next travel steps and enjoy doing nothing.

Today I went climbing in the Raylay Beach areas. The rock was amazing and so was the scenery. Highlight was a 6b, which I didn't lead, unfortunately. Anja enjoyed another day by the pool, going through her daily 2h excercise routine and swimming 1km!

We are happy and healthy as can be and are just VERY, VERY excited to fly home the day after tomorrow. The lenght of our trip has been perfect, not too short, not too long (of course it's a matter of knowing ahead of time) - but all in all we just feel blessed to have been able to see so many wonderful corners of this beautiful earth, with all the different cultures, their food, their daily life, and the animals so diverse, abundant and precious! We hope that we can share this experience with all of you in person sometime in the near future.

SWITZERLAND, HERE WE COME...

My Lai

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Hoi An II

Tomorrow we continue on to Son My where the infamous My Lai massacre took place. I'm am sure it will be a sombering experience. Then we travel on to Ho Chi Min City (formerly Saigon) where the weather is expected to be a little better.

We have decided to divert to the southwestern coast of Thailand for the last 4 days of our journey to catch some sun and rest before heading home via Bangkok on the December 23.

Hoi An I

We arrived in Hoi An by bus yesterday. This town is know for its clothes making industry. Of course we didn't hesitate and ordered two brand new, custom fit business suits, a silk dress, and a bunch of silk and cotton shirts for an incredible $200.00. The measurements were done yesterday and today we got our first fitting. Can't beat that! Now all we have to do is get the items back home in one piece! Its unfortunate that we are travelling through these central provinces during the beginning of the monsoon season. This prevents us from enjoying much of the outdoor activities we love so much. It is literally pouring cats and dogs 24x7.

Hue

We spent the last two days in Hue in central Vietnam visiting the famous Nguyen Dynasty masoleums and a copy of the forbiden city know as the citadel. Each of the emperors created a tomb for himself along the Perfume River. Some of architecture pomp is quite impressive, however it does appear that the Vietnamese are not taking very good care of their historical buildings. Many of them are suffering from deterioration through the elements and human damage. This is unfortunate, especially since they are charging plenty of money for entrace fees... I guess some corrupt government official is getting the good end of the deal (Note: the common "blame it on the government" excuse).

Perfume Pagoda / Ha Long Bay

On Tuesday we booked a tour to go see the Perfume Pagoda, a Buddhist prayer house, on top of the Perfume Mountain 70 km southwest of Hanoi. In order to get there, you must take a row boat up the Yen Vi river. The drive out to this location was half the fun. It gave us a glimpse of what everyday life in the countryside of Vietnam is really like. The pagoda itself is a cave on top of the mountain, with shrines for the three different Buddhist flavors practiced in Vietnam. The Kitchen Pagoda at the bottom was just as spectacular and our guide, Tuyen, did a fantastic job explaining the historical and spiritual context of the place.

Yesterday was mostly a day of rest, partly due to a stomach-ache I developed by eating Pizza of all things. Teaches me right, never eat western food in a Asian country. However, after a good week of rice and vegetables and vegetables and rice for breakfast, lunch and dinner I was craving a little variety. I guess I'll stick to rice and vegetables for the remaining 2 weeks of our travels (TWO WEEKS?!?!?! - Didn't we just leave the US yesterday??!?). We still managed to see Ho Chi Min, the national revolutionist hero, at the mausoleum as well as his living quarters during his presidency.

Today, feeling much better, we visited touristy Ha Long Bay. We experienced the manufacturing side of Vietnam to the east of Hanoi toward China. The trip there and back was well organized with plenty of planned stops at various shopping opportunities. Nevertheless, the landscapes and caves in the ocean bay, which we visited by means of a Junk, were breathtaking.

We are looking forward to heading south to Hue tomorrow. The weather has been unseasonably cold for Hanoi - nothing in comparison to Minnesota of course.

Sa Pa

After taking the night train from Hanoi to Sa Pa, in a luxurious soft-sleeper, we arrived in Lao Cai around 5:45. From there we took a minibus up into the northern mountains to a quite touristy town of Sa Pa. It's a bustling city set in the rice fields among minority tribes of the H'mong, Dao and others.

Our guide Gom, a 17 year old woman from the Black H'mong tribe, took us on a small hike to Cat Cat, a couple of huts in the valley, where we visited a family living off the land, eating rice for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. They also process the hemp plant (no, we did not smoke any off it :) to make clothes and dye them with the indigo plant into a magnificent dark purple.

The afternoon was spent visiting the busy market of Sa Pa, buying beautiful silk scarves and other materials for unbelievably low prices. We had to keep ourselves from stocking up on too much, since the main trek was still ahead of us.

Today, we are hiking approximately 14 km to the minority village of Tan Van where we will stay with a family for the night. From there it's back to Lao Cai, via some other villages where we catch the night train back to Hanoi.