week thirteen
sunshine coast is living up to its name.. it couldn't be more beautiful and breezy on the central east coast of australia.
Nov 26th.
day trip to a cuc phuong national park. a leg-numbing 45km moto ride takes us to the park with beautiful views of the rural landscape and agriculture. the attraction to the park was a primate rescue centre which houses displaced or orphaned langurs and gibbons. we weren't allowed to linger too long, but it as mezmorizing to watch the amazing creatures swing skillfully through the air back and forth in their cages.
from the park we moved on to the ancient vietnam capitol from around 1000 years ago named hoa lu. the area had many industrious children who gave us impromtu tours through the ruins despite speaking little english.
Nov 27th.
slept in till 6:35am but had to catch a bus to halong city which we were assured would leave no later than 7am. arriving by moto with minutes to spare but had a surprisingly difficult to explain that we did not in fact want to go to hanoi.
in halong bay, without a map.. we bump into a guesthouse owner who hooks us up with a room and an immediate boat tour of the bay which is reknowned for its rock formations. $35US not only gets both passage on a 6 hour voyage, but as we later discovered, charters the entire 40 seat boat just for the two of us.
we forgot books and cards, so the ride gave danielle and i a chance to catch up on a few of the finer details in each others' lives. the bay was spectacular and it was dark when we finally returned to land to wander around town.
Nov 28th.
on to hanoi via a bumpy back-of-the-bus ride that takes us into rush hour in the city. a couple of motos get us to our seedy hostel and a we take a walk to get to know our area of town.
Nov 29th.
an extensive search for more tailored goods yeilds nothing, and instead we find a $10 bottle of bacardi that was tempting enough to purchase. hanoi is a smaller copy of ho chi minh city in its wild moto traffic and intricate back alleys packed with action.
Nov 30th.
visited the temple of literature dedicated to confucianism, one of the first universities in vietnam. the ho chi minh museum turned out to be one of the most interesting of all southeast asia. the elaborate display style and symbolism used were very impressive... an unexpected treat.
Dec 1st.
headed to a free-trade craft store. danielle buys an interesting piece for over 1million dong and we pick up a few other trinkets.
caught a performance of water puppetry which was intensely interesting at the beginning, but i lost the ability to keep my eyes open at some point.
we browse a lively street market but nothing catches my eye -- we head back to the guesthouse to tap the rum.
Dec 2nd.
******** ******.
it takes 3 hours of wandering around the streets in bangkok before settling in a cheap room, and one of very few available. it's musty and uncomfortable, but it does the job for the night. of course on the first night back in thailand i went straight back into the pad thai and devoured it at an inhuman speed.
Nov 26th.
day trip to a cuc phuong national park. a leg-numbing 45km moto ride takes us to the park with beautiful views of the rural landscape and agriculture. the attraction to the park was a primate rescue centre which houses displaced or orphaned langurs and gibbons. we weren't allowed to linger too long, but it as mezmorizing to watch the amazing creatures swing skillfully through the air back and forth in their cages.
from the park we moved on to the ancient vietnam capitol from around 1000 years ago named hoa lu. the area had many industrious children who gave us impromtu tours through the ruins despite speaking little english.
Nov 27th.
slept in till 6:35am but had to catch a bus to halong city which we were assured would leave no later than 7am. arriving by moto with minutes to spare but had a surprisingly difficult to explain that we did not in fact want to go to hanoi.
in halong bay, without a map.. we bump into a guesthouse owner who hooks us up with a room and an immediate boat tour of the bay which is reknowned for its rock formations. $35US not only gets both passage on a 6 hour voyage, but as we later discovered, charters the entire 40 seat boat just for the two of us.
we forgot books and cards, so the ride gave danielle and i a chance to catch up on a few of the finer details in each others' lives. the bay was spectacular and it was dark when we finally returned to land to wander around town.
Nov 28th.
on to hanoi via a bumpy back-of-the-bus ride that takes us into rush hour in the city. a couple of motos get us to our seedy hostel and a we take a walk to get to know our area of town.
Nov 29th.
an extensive search for more tailored goods yeilds nothing, and instead we find a $10 bottle of bacardi that was tempting enough to purchase. hanoi is a smaller copy of ho chi minh city in its wild moto traffic and intricate back alleys packed with action.
Nov 30th.
visited the temple of literature dedicated to confucianism, one of the first universities in vietnam. the ho chi minh museum turned out to be one of the most interesting of all southeast asia. the elaborate display style and symbolism used were very impressive... an unexpected treat.
Dec 1st.
headed to a free-trade craft store. danielle buys an interesting piece for over 1million dong and we pick up a few other trinkets.
caught a performance of water puppetry which was intensely interesting at the beginning, but i lost the ability to keep my eyes open at some point.
we browse a lively street market but nothing catches my eye -- we head back to the guesthouse to tap the rum.
Dec 2nd.
******** ******.
it takes 3 hours of wandering around the streets in bangkok before settling in a cheap room, and one of very few available. it's musty and uncomfortable, but it does the job for the night. of course on the first night back in thailand i went straight back into the pad thai and devoured it at an inhuman speed.
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10:41 PM
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