Happy New Year! Highlight today was Goian Cooking School. We start with a visit to the market to learn about Vietnamese veggies/fruits and pick up ingredients. We each are issued an apron, chopping board, and knife. The chef soon has us chopping and dicing telling jokes and critiquing our technique (we all need more practice). […]

New Year’s Eve here in Hoi An, a 4-hour dive from Hue through mountains and along the sea. Lots of water buffalo and rice paddies. We stop at China Beach, famous recreational spot for US soldiers on leave during the war. The sand is golden and clean, the surf boiling with breakers – a surfer’s […]

Overnight train from Hanoi to Hue – very dirty and a long night. We all buy silk sleeping bags so our clothes and bodies are protected from the sleeper bedding. Locals try to take over the sleepers without paying. We have to evict 4 huge shopping bags from our carriage to fit our luggage in. […]

Visiting Hanoi today. We see Ho Chi Minh’s body lying in state since his death in 1969. He worked tirelessly for the people and wished simple cremation, so it was sad to see his body preserved and on display. We also see the museum. An older male American (of course) adopts our group and follows […]

Returned to Hanoi and its craziness after the peace of Halong Bay. Went to the world famous Thang Long water puppet show. It was interesting, quaint, and corny all at the same time. On the side of the water pool stage were musicians and singers. The puppeteers stand waist deep in water behind a screen […]

Made it to Hanoi – flight was just fine. Our first impression is the traffic is crazy! So many motorbikes, so many crazy drivers – so many people in general. Laos was so much less developed and had far less people. This morning we drove to Halong Bay for a cruise. It is very popular […]

In the caves of Vang Vieng we see evidence of bombing as the Locals sought refuge there. Work continues on finding and removing the 30% of bombs that still remain. It is warm and humid here in Vientiane.  On the way here we drive through rubber forests. We visit local temples and religious sites and […]

Hope you all have a Merry Christmas

Took a day trip to visit four caves.  The first was well lit with pathways and formations. One was a water cave where you entered on a tube via rope.  We didn’t go in but it was a fabulous wander through the jungle countryside to get there. The third cave was a challenge – we […]

A slow drive through the mountains of Laos. Rural villages everywhere and rice paddies. The average person here eats 20 kg of rice a month! We are already tired of it! It is new years here for the Hmong tribe. At the villages we see young men and women in traditional dress tossing balls back […]