Hanoi

(when one finds oneself with reliably fast internet, one jumps at the chance to upload a million photos! hence, the rapid-fire blog posts!)

Juliet has been visiting since Tuesday. She spent 3 lovely days in Vientiane with me- I had to work but she entertained herself with local buses, strong coffee, every temple she could find, making Japanese friends and discovering new fountains in Vientiane so as to make my "meet me at the fountain in town" idea a very very bad one. After work we ate delicious food, got massages (um, ouch!), went to the herbal sauna and walked around the night market. But, since I have taken photos of everything there is to see in Vientiane twice already, I didn't take many photos of those days. And, if I didn't take a picture of it and post it on facebook, it didn't happen, right? I will say that a highlight was drinking jujube daiquiris at Makphet. I didn't think they were that delicious but now I know what a jujube is which is ideal since I have been calling Juliet that for years.

And then, on Friday night, we were off to Vietnam!

Juliet has some Vietnamese family friends who were kind enough keep us very well-fed and show us around the city. And I loved it! The weather was cool and lovely. The food was amazing. The sights were old and Asian. It was all of the things I love :)

Me and the mean streets of Hanoi
When one's boyfriend is an Andrew Zimmern fan, one must purchase Cat Hai fish sauce and bring it back to Boston, via (in chronological order) Hanoi, Halong Bay, Hue, Bangkok, Vientiane, Bangkok again, Tokyo, Chicago, Boston. This bottle of fish sauce will be quite a globe-trotter (if it makes it).
Pho Ga, chicken soup for breakfast
Crabby lady, not only because she is about get run over by a motorbike but also because she is carrying crabs through the streets of Hanoi on a justice-scales type basket thing-a-ma-bob

First stop on our tourist trail: The Temple of Literature, first constructed in 1070, it is dedicated to Confucius, sages and scholars and was also the home to the Imperial Academy, Vietnam's first national university.

Inside the Temple of Literature
Cranes and turtles are signs of luck and longevity and we sure do wish them both on Juliet!
flowers
the grounds

names of graduates were carved on these tablets

and now, dear and faithful readers, I must depart for bed. Though the draw of high speed wifi calls to me, after our packed day of sightseeing, sleep calls more. ..... but there is more Hanoi where this came from so stay tuned :)

As time winds down...

I have only a few short weeks left in Vientiane, the City of Sandalwood.

Last Saturday, I had the most perfect Vientiane Day. Lao iced coffee, shopping, Wat Si Saket, manicure, more shopping, foot massage, sunset, dinner. It was indulgent.

Wat Si Saket was built in 1818 and was one of the only temples that was not destroyed when the Siam armies invaded in 1827. Its cloistered walls hold over 2000 ceramic and silver buddhas.

flowers at Wat Si Saket
Buddhas inside of Wat Si Saket
many many Buddhas
so many buddhas.
Wat Si Saket
That Dam, the Black Stupa, is the largest stupa in teh city. Many Lao believe a seven headed naga, river snake, lives inside who was the protector of the city. Legend has it that the stupa was once gold but when the naga failed to protect the city from the 1827 Siam invasion, the Lao people stopped taking care of the stupa and let it go black.
flowers near That Dam
Sometimes the sunset over the Mekong is so lovely

The sunset was particularly nice this evening

The lovely people you meet

One of my favorite places about traveling to a new place is the wonderful people that you meet!

My Lao class has been a lovely source of friends and companions for figuring out the market, going for dinners, and chatting about expat life.
Ossi and Karen, my lovely Austrian friends, are serious about learning Lao!
Me, Cecilia (the only Argentine in Vientiane, who speaks English with a Kerry Irish accent!), Ossi and our delicious BBQ dinner
This is the only cooking I have done in Laos :)
Cecilia, Ossi, Karin and our food!

Reflections

Travel changes you.

There is no way around it. New cultures, new sights, new environments, new food, new people. It isn't really any different than any new experience but living abroad for an extended person of time- whatever that may be- magnifies the emotions and speeds up the process of discovery. I love to travel. But more than that, I love to live. When I go to a new place, I want to find a favorite coffee shop, see the same shopkeepers until we wave as I pass by and visit enough sights of everyday life that I feel like I have some feeling about the spirit of the place. That is hard to figure out on a one week vacation.

And I feel so lucky to have friends and family who support my crazy notions. When I told Matt jokingly that I wanted to go to Laos, he immediately said, "Go for it!" There are not a lot of boyfriends that would encourage their girlfriend to travel to the other side of the globe. When I told my Dad of my plans, and after getting over the initial shock, he said, "Great! Then we will visit you!" My friends have also been equally supportive- after I complained about not being able to find post-it notes here, Caroline sent me some from Japan. I win the prize for having had the most people visit in a six month time period, for sure- Dan & Kana were here in August, Lacie was here in September, Juliet will be here in 2 weeks and my Dad and Cindy will be here in 3 weeks. I have also relied on the support of friends and family who have sent me emails, facebook messages, and gchats. All of this makes me realize how lucky I am to have the people that I have in my life. And it also makes it that much easier to go back home. I cannot wait to meet Jane and Zach's new baby, greet Kerry & Blake, Elizabeth & Brad and Louise & John as newly wedded couples, see Shannon and David's new condo, get back to Sextet reunions, NYUDC with Leah and Louise, Indian buffet with Matty P. Leaving a place has always been bittersweet for me- I have always been excited to go home and also sad to leave. Sometimes is different this time though. My experience in Laos has been challenging, inspiring and I have learned so much. But this time, I cannot wait to get back to the people that encouraged me and supported me. I miss them too much. They are the most important part of life. Travel changes you.

And I miss Dunkin.

Hong Maenha Su Su!

This week has been a festival week in Lao PDR!

From the Vientiane Times:
The festival draws people to the river and brings the town alive, but it also has a deeper significance and is a tradition that goes back hundreds of years. October 12 marks Ork Phan Sa, which is the end of the wet season and more significantly the end of Buddhist Lent.

On this day, people from all walks of life gather at their local temples to pray, give offerings, make merit, and take part in candlelit processions in the evening.

Hundreds of colourful banana leaf boats decorated with flowers, incense and candles are set adrift on the Mekong, to pay homage to the river spirit which gives life to the many thousands of people who live along its banks. The boats also symbolise the vanquishing of bad luck, bad deeds and disease, and mark a fresh start to the rest of the year.

The following day, on October 13, thousands of people flock to the river. It is a day to eat, drink and be merry. People look forward to the races for weeks beforehand, and the race crews have been training since long before that. The races are far from a picnic, and the crews have to be fit and well prepared. Teams come from all over Laos to take part in what is the most prestigious race in the country. This year more than 25 boats will compete.

On Wednesday night, I went down to the river with some coworkers to enjoy some Lao BBQ and watch the boats floating on the river.

Festival by the river.... with Santa and Doraemon

Boat

Lao BBQ with coworkers

DeliciousFatty pork, lean pork, offal, morning glory and cabbage

Fireworks

Me in front of the river at night

It is a bit of a free for all- people lighting off fireworks every which way and slogging through the mud and crowds to get to the river to put their boat in the water.

You can buy anything you could ever want

Ferris wheel

Carnival games

I joined a dragonboat racing team here in Vientiane. Most people that I tell this to think it is really hilarious and really random and I agree. But it has been a wonderful activity to participate in for the last two months. We met twice a week to practice. In the end, we did not win but we tried hard!

The Story of our boat, Hong Maenha, and our team:
http://laovoices.com/2011/10/12/preparing-for-vientianes-boat-race/
(I am the one in the green tshirt- because I did not yet have a blue team tshirt- and yellow lifejacket- because after my kayaking experience, I am afraid of drowning- near the back on the righthand side of the boat!)

630am breakfast! Gearing up for the race!

Hoards of people

To prove that I was there! With an iced coffee in hand.... some things never change!

Racing Day

Neck in neck!

It was a tiring day!

They told us that after the race we would eat a cow. But since the word for meal or rice in Lao is khao (pronounced "cow"), I did not realize that they would actually be roasting Bessie on the side of the road.

Where's Lacie? I want to go home!

Sometimes things do not always go as planned.

The next morning we were to set off, back to Vientiane. I hate buses with an unreasonable passion so I suggested that we do the kayaking trip from Vang Vieng back to Vientiane in lieu of the four hour busride with the other 20 somethings. Brilliant plan: bus ride for an hour, 3 hours of kayaking with lunch and another bus ride for an hour! We wake up on Tuesday morning and off we go! We set off with two Lao guides and two Austrian tourists in a large tuk tuk (not a mini-bus as described). The journey is bumpy and longer than an hour (as described) but the unofficial nickname of Lao PDR is Lao Please Don’t Rush for good reason. Everything is pretty “bo pen nyang” or “no worries” so we jump in our two person kayaks, Lacie and me in one, guides in one and Austrians in one, and head down the river. We had read on the trip description that there were some rapids that we would be going down but I have kayaked in places where there are “rapids” before and usually they consist of a few bumps, you scream when you get splashed with water and you are on your merry way. As we approach the first set of rapids, the guides turn back to each of us and tell us to secure our glasses in the pouches on the kayak. After losing my glasses while sailing when I was 12, I always wear those dorky croakie glasses strings so I figured that I was ok (please note, Dad, I do listen to you now!). We try to follow where the guides are but within seconds, Lacie and I have capsized our boat and we are in the water. The current is very strong and the waves are stronger and I get pulled under and am unable to surface myself for a sufficient amount of time that 1) I think I am drowning, 2) I think Lacie is drowning because I can feel someone thrashing next to me, 3) I am annoyed that I have survived the crazies at Vang Vieng and am now going to die kayaking with a guide, who, by the way, doesn’t seem to be concerned that I am drowning. Every time I surface and get a half breath of air, I also get a half breath of water and get pushed back under. I have no concept of how long I was underwater but it was long enough to have the sensation that I was drowning, a sensation that I have never felt before, and that I was not going to be able to swim strong enough to get out of the current. Finally, I did pop out of the current and ended up next to the Austrian boys’ capsized boat, which I clung to as I started screaming hysterically, over and over, “Where is Lacie? Where is Lacie?” Finally, the boys, who were also clinging to the boat, told me that she was with the guides down the river. Then, I, of course, started screaming, “I want to go home! I want to go home!” You never quite know how you will react when you are in a situation that you perceive as an emergency but I am glad that my first reaction was “Where is my friend?” I will say, however, those croakie glass strings are genius because, through my tumble through the rapids, my glasses stayed on my face. At that point we were in the middle of nowhere and could not go home. Lacie and I split up and got on kayaks with the guides who helped us traverse the rest of the rapids. The rest of the day would have been quite lovely, had I not been so hysterical- a delicious picnic lunch next to the river and some more kayaking- and with the added fact that I no longer trusted these guides who didn't seem to think that it was a big deal at all that three of their four charges (one Austrian guy didn't seem to go under the water at all) had felt like they were going to imminently die. We then stopped and got picked up by tuk-tuk (again, not a mini-bus) that drove us the THREE hours back to Vientiane (a trip that was described as one hour in the brochure). Lots of bumps, lots of pot holes, a hard bench and at one point we had a critical mass of 12 people, 20 bags of coal, 6 bags of rice, and a duck in an area that would have been comfortable for 6 people. But the scenery on the way home, through villages and rice patty fields, was beautiful and, honestly, at that point a few bumps in the road didn’t seem so bad.

Soaked, tired, annoyed, but trying to smile.

The river that tried to kill me- looks so innocent, doesn't it?

stopover for lunch
it took a lot for me to want to get back in these things after lunch

I didn't realize at this point that we would be joined by eight other passengers
(with our group of four), bags of rice and a duck.
You can see the bags of coal already neatly placed at the front of the tuk tuk.

But if you could get over the fact that our hour long journey turned into three,
it really was a lovely ride!

As an aside, I do feel safe in Lao almost all of the time. The tour company that we went on the tour with said that the guides were trained in CPR and rescue techniques. They probably were. I am not sure that there was really anything they could have done to "save us" once we went in the water. I wish that they had warned us that there was a near 100% chance that we would capsize but I also wish that I had asked more specific questions about the safety training of the guides and the size of the rapids. I assumed that because they did not specifically tell me that novice kayakers might have trouble with the rapids, the rapids would be manageable. This was an incorrect assumption and an important lesson. I would think about going on an outdoor "adventure-y" tour again but I would ask more questions and not make any assumptions about the safety standards that I would expect in the US.

Vang Vieng

Lacie, my lovely friend that I met in Tokyo but who now lives in Baltimore, came to visit this week. She arrived midday Friday and after a short delay when I waited for her at the international arrivals terminal when she was really at the domestic arrivals terminal (yes, ok fine, I should have checked the flight info before I left the office), we were on our way! I showed her around the exciting sights of Vientiane- That Luang Golden Stupa and Patuxai Victory Gate. We ate at my favorite places- noodles at Kop Kap and dinner at Khop Chai Deux- and then we experienced all of the night life that Vientiane had to offer- Galaxy Bar for a 90s pop cover band and then about 10 minutes of Vientiane’s late night club at Don Chan Palace- before tuk-tuking it home.

Saturday was a day for shopping- at Talat Sao morning market and the textile shops that dot the city- it was a relaxing way to spend the day before I had my dragonboat racing practice. Yes, that is right- I have joined a dragonboat racing team and we practice twice a week, and now also on Saturdays. I am really bad at it but it is a lot of fun and having a friend watching from the sidelines meant that I got some photos! The rains came in on Saturday afternoon, rains that would last until Sunday overnight, so we just puttered around my apartment on Saturday night.

On Sunday, we were off on a bus to Vang Vieng, the notorious riverside party town. Vang Vieng is a beautiful place of nature set idyllically on the Nam Song River with karst mountains in the background but it has become overrun with 20-something backpackers who use it as a place for excessive partying. We did the Vang Vieng experience- the tubing, the painting, the bucket, the swing- without craziness. It was fun and no one got hurt- win win.

Lacie and That Luang

Lacie and Me inside That Luang

90s cover band

Me and Lacie

Dragonboat racing on the Mekong River

I am on the one of the right in the purple life vest not paddling :)

Vang Vieng, stopping off for a beverage!

lots of tubes

tubing down the river (Dad, it is not standing water!)

tuktuk to the starting pointLacie jumps off the platform!

And then she flies!