Author: magrilless

We have closed the loop! Hong Kong again! But, boy, a very different experience this time around.

It started the day before our flight, when we woke up to the news our flight out of Vietnam had been cancelled. Annoyed, we looked to reschedule to another Sunday flight, but there was nothing available. Further annoyed, we conceded to leave that evening, a day early. Our Hong Kong hotel was fully booked too, so we found a last minute room with enough beds for us just to sleep. Kind of like our overnight train, but fewer announcements and jostling.

Then we got to Hong Kong and realized what had happened. A typhoon was blowing in, the city had issued stay at home orders, and all transportation had been suspended for Sunday. Walking to our hotel through the city streets was wild! Totally deserted. No pedestrians. No traffic except for occasional ambulances. All shops and restaurants closed and shuttered. There was a spit of rain (when we happened to be out) and some little gusts of wind (although signs of more severe weather in terms of blown over items and fallen tree limbs). I guess in a city with such a large population, you have to be pretty cautious?

But we were very happy to have a place to store our bags for a moment. And a sheltered place to hang out. Lots of folks were hanging around the lobby, presumably with nowhere to go. But we made our way into the attached mall and saw a showing of Elio. Then popped up to our suite on the 16th floor and watched the storm roll around the skyscrapers and hills of Hong Kong!

We scrounged dinner from the hotel lobby snack bar. After searching the mall for anything besides Outback (which closed 7 minutes before we arrived) or KFC. The line was crazy! Again, our 16th floor windows were a lovely place to watch clouds roll by and city lights blink on. It was certainly a unique way to experience Hong Kong!

Our last day in Asia we spent in typical fashion: wandering. We bought umbrellas for the continuing rain. Had a lovely and yummy vegetarian dim sum lunch. Took the Star ferry across the water one more time. And happened upon a book fair slash snack extravaganza. It was a reminder of population density and differing personal space expectations. Our spacious suite never felt so good!

And now we are on our plane. Heading for San Francisco and then Denver and then home again home again, jiggety jig. Except it’s actually going to be the longest day of our lives. Literally. Time travel is in effect, since we leave Hong Kong at 11AM and arrive the same day at 9AM, only 13 hours later. Crazy!

This has been a super wild trip! Different than anything else we’ve done. But also exactly the same, since we did it together. The Collins Super Famlily strikes again!

Which I say because we’re a little disappointed to leave. Not only is it our last stop in Vietnam, and we genuinely loved it here. The food, the friendly people, the price, the landscape. But I also don’t think we did this city the justice it deserves.

For a number of reasons.

Probably mostly because it’s the end of our trip and we’re a little fatigued. We’ve done food tours, temple tours, water parks, museums. We’ve seen the current blockbuster movies we’re interested in. We’ve shopped at lots of markets and rubbed elbows with lots of other tourists at the big must-dos. And we’ve been going pretty hard at all those things! (Because even seeing a movie requires arranging transportation and navigating ticket sales in a different language and determining what the snacks actually are in their packaging and if they’re worth the price and finding seats without offending the system of which you’re not really sure you’re getting right. And then you get to see the movie, but you still have to figure out if you’re supposed to throw away your own trash and get home afterwards.)

Also, it’s July in Vietnam. Which means hot. And humid. (It’s been steadily above 90 degrees here, and it doesn’t cool off at night much either!) And that means we tire pretty quickly when out and about. Air conditioned breaks for coffees and meals and teas and attractions are key. But July also means school holiday here. So there are lots of other travelers, foreigners and Vietnamese, doing the same things we’re aiming to do also. How much do we love crowds? You know.

But Da Nang is awesome! Not only a city in its own right with museums and novelties and a big white marble Lady Buddha standing over the city (like an Asian Rio). A river for kayaking and cruising with dramatic architectural bridges. But also close to mountains with amusement parks and hot springs and trails (and monkeys).

Of which we did actually very little. I know, I know. But. So many people! So much sun! But we did our own thing. Maggie went fabric shopping. Bill got new glasses. Tessa got her nails done again. We drank a lot of coffee. (Once with a lot of dogs.) We dodged scooters while popping into French bakeries and played Hearts over vegan pho and banh mi. We bought bao from a cart on the street and watched someone set fire to their garden (purposefully) from our apartment windows.

And of course, for most people, including us, the main attraction: the ocean. A beautiful, long, patrolled, clean, hopping, sweeping beach. We rented shaded loungers for less than $2 for the whole day. Drank coconut water straight out of the husk. Built sandcastles with a donated kit. Jumped in gentle waves. Caught a few fish with our bare hands (they were quite wee). Watched parasailers and banana boaters go all out (and calculated both the price per minute and the motion sickness probability of each, then rejected the experiences for ourselves). And rosied ourselves up quite a bit, despite the sunscreen.

We always like to leave something undone. So we have a reason to come back. And Da Nang (and Vietnam in general) certainly fits that description! We are sad to leave this country, actually. There is so much here. And we feel that fabulous adventures would await us anew. So tạm biệt, for now, Vietnam. See you next time!

What to say about the Ninh Binh region of Vietnam? There are so many words we could use. Chief among them: magical.

Also humid. Beautiful. Peaceful. Hot. Friendly. Full. Affordable. Fun. And like most places we’ve visited this summer, sweaty. (We keep saying, “I’ve never been sweatier in my life!” And then we do the next thing, go to the next place. And we say it all over again.)

So what exactly makes this place so special? The leafy limestone karst pinnacles that jut out of rice and lotus fields and lime green rivers like fingers coming out of pudding. Which is a weird image, but, gosh, it’s breathtaking! And it’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site. So more people than us agree. (And have certainly described it with more grace.)

Part of the appeal for us might have been the juxtaposition of noisy, busy Hanoi and the rural quiet of roosters crowing and cicadas humming and goats wandering. Our accommodations had bicycles to borrow, too, and we could pedal those old jinky machines down our dirt road to all our sightseeing destinations.

Like a river boat cruise. Half a day in the middle of peaks and temples and water and jungle plants and ducks and frogs. And caves. Caves that are actually tunnels. Through those peaks, to the other side, to more peaks, more caves, more temples. A watery labyrinth where the untrained eye can only detect dead ends. Where the only sound was birds and insects and the rhythmic slap of our guide’s paddles in the water. Where pagodas tower above (with no conceivable path to them) and riverside temples hide in shadows below. And we duck our heads away from stalactites and point at the biggest dragonflies we’ve ever seen and sweat under our umbrellas while our rowing lady isn’t even breathing hard.

It was fabulous. So fabulous we considered going back again our second and final day, to do another route.

But we decided to diversify. Pedal the other direction. Trust Google maps to take us to Hang Mua. Twin pinnacles that have stairs carved into their backs, and a dragon spine along its back. Well, the map took us within spitting distance. Right to the back door. Right through several people’s gardens and rice fields to a locked gate. (Good thing we’ve had some mountain biking practice at home!) We watched folks taking pictures in the lotus fields below the trail, beginning the ascent up to the summit shrines, and we turned our bikes around to try again.

So we started out sweaty, which might be some of our excuse for the state of us by the time we reached the top. It was also in the 90s. With 100% humidity (maybe 125% this time). And although we tried to count each stone step, we lost count on account of going so slow! So I can only tell you what the website says, which is over 500. The view from the top was beautiful. Rice and river and pudding fingers and boats on one side. Lotus fields stretching to town on the other. But that dark rock, man, it absorbs the heat, and gives it back generously. Look at the colors of our shirts! Ha!

The lotus fields were very picturesque and had a whisper of a breeze, thank goodness. But the highlight was certainly the bike ride to and fro. As we were tooted at by passing vehicles, politely announcing their presence, and as we slalomed through the hopping-est restaurant full of locals ever, and as children yelled “helloooo!” from their front stoops.

And each afternoon we got to return to our bnb. A marching line of bungalows under a cliff. A cold blue pool which looked out at a little valley. A lantern-lit restaurant for dinner which meant we only had to walk across the one-lane dirt road in the evenings. We met a variety of lovely traveling people, like we were at a hostel for like-minded folks. We took bike jaunts up the way to pet puppies and watch ducks swim and accept gifts of bananas and papayas from people’s yards.

If we had known, we would have spent a full week here. Especially considering the cost was less than $200 for everything we did and saw and ate and slept in. But like so many places, we now just have a reason to come back!

And so we are on our way again. To our last destination in Vietnam. But we are adventuring to our next adventure, by taking an overnight train! We have a private sleeper car, which I’ve been promised is purple, and which will carry us through the night to Da Nang, back to the ocean, to city comforts and amenities again. Okay! Let’s go!

Here we are, in Vietnam! We flew in late (okay, we arrived at 9:00) to the second largest city in the country (we see a theme…). Our last new country of this trip!

There are always lists of “must-do” things when you visit a place. Museums, tours, monuments. Historical sites. Famous restaurants. And we do some of those. Like train street. Where you pay $2 for a beer (at the store, you can get 5 for the same price) and sit under the florescent signs and lanterns and flags. And an hour later, a train passes with not much more than a foot clearance on either side. Your hair gets whooshed, your toes curl under, and your heart speeds up. We did pay the tourist price for drinks and have a local snap a picture of us on the tracks. And we happened to sit down only minutes before a train (45 minutes late according to the schedule) barreled past. It was thrilling and silly and we’re glad we listened to the “must” for that one.

We also hit some sites like the Temple of Literature. It’s an ancient university, basically, where Confucius built a shrine to his parents and where centuries of students have taken examinations (in little bamboo huts to prevent cheating). If you’re one of the select few to pass (some years, only one person did), you get your name carved in stone and mounted on the back of a turtle statue. It’s a beautiful place. But our experience there was mostly memorable due to the thunderstorm that rolled in. Close. Super close. Like not even be able to count to one between lightning and thunder. So we hunkered down in a corner to do the Collins thing and sketch our surroundings. Which turned us into a tourist attraction ourselves. Within minutes, the entire Angolan national football team and various other families were squatting around us, looming over us, alternately whispering and exclaiming about us, with cameras clicking and videos rolling. It was…intimidating. But memorable! (And crazily, we saw the Angolans across the street at a different time in a different place, and they recognized us! Ha!)

We also took a few tours. Of the Old Quarter, where we learned some cultural facts (like why Vietnamese eat everything, even dogs and all the internal organs and congealed blood–millions of people died in a famine and people ate whatever they could to keep themselves alive, and then habits persisted) and historical facts (like the language is written with Latin-based characters because of the French colonialists). And a tour of street food vendors where we tried food we never would have been brave enough to do on our own (like oysters and green mango sushi and bahn xeo–the best). And multiple Grab rides, which I think basically amount to traffic tours (seeing golden retrievers crouched on scooters and trying to figure out right-of-way at a signless and lightless intersection and dodging cart-pushing grannies crossing straight across and that one time our driver waited for us smack dab in the middle of a four-way intersection).

But then we ignored most everything else. We took advantage of a big city. Went to game cafes and gaming cafes. Walked around a lake on the weekend when vehicles are banned. Replaced items that have become damaged on our travels and indulged in a nail salon. Went to a water park where we were the only non-Asian people and saw a few movies with sometimes no one else in the theater.

Travel is an adventure and there’s millions of things to see everywhere! And sometimes to see those millions of things in the next place, you need to chill out someplace else first. So that’s what Hanoi was for us. It was walking and fresh beer and crossing the street fearlessly and eating lots of things that begin with banh (which simply means cake) and learning to use Vietnamese dong. And learning to ignore car horns (they never stop) and lane markers (they are rarely considered) and even direction of travel (you can use opposing traffic as a merge lane, no problem!). And now getting to the train station (no plane!) to head south a few hours. For more adventures!

Next up, Ninh Binh!

Gosh, what to say about our time in Siem Reap, Cambodia? Wow. We loved it here!

Siem Reap is a charming little city. Plenty to do and eat and drink and see. Sidewalks. Cheap tuktuks on every corner. Friendly dogs on every block. And a smile to match every one we gave.

Our visit didn’t necessarily begin promisingly when our Airbnb flooded overnight. The toilet ran aaaaaall night while we slept. And we woke early our first morning to 3 inches of water underfoot. But we found a “boutique hotel” with a slamming last-minute deal on a room with laundry and kitchenette and 2 bathrooms. So we ended up in town with air conditioning and a swimming pool and a concierge to connect us with a local driver. Perfect!

We went to a pottery studio one day. Where we tried our hands at throwing on a kick wheel. It was hard (moreso for some of us than others) to concentrate on both keeping a rhythm with a leg as well as pay attention to the clay between hands! But we produced a few pieces ourselves and felt good supporting a business that employs disabled persons and underprivileged women.

We went to a traditional Khmer restaurant where they had to search for a menu in English. When we asked for “no meat” items, they showed us the entrees containing frogs. We sat on a raised platform, on low mats, with intermittent breaks in hammocks right there at our table. And very much enjoyed our seafood soup (served in a donut-shaped crock over a flame), fried rice, and spring rolls. We don’t think we ended up with any frog.

We learned about rats that are trained to sniff out landmines. (They are too light to trigger explosions.) And spent a morning playing games at a board game cafe owned by a couples Brits. And spent an evening at an arcade playing family Mario Cart and singing along to Blink 182 songs. Oh! And we played mini golf in a downpour. The course was the owner’s yard, under his stilted house. His wife and kids and father hung out at the “cafe” tables (around a refrigerator stocked with drinks in cans) doing homework and using their phones and eating lunch with their pet parakeet. And we found at least 3 different kinds of frogs along the 14 holes.

And the temples. The reason most people come to Siem Reap. The reason we did, mostly.

Most famously there is Angkor Wat. The largest religious complex in the world (according to the national museum). So famous its silhouette is on Cambodia’s flag. It is familiar to everyone, even if you don’t know it, because it has become the stereotypical “jungle temple” we all picture. We went there first, knowing its import. It is indeed large, when you take into account the outer walls, the bridge over the moat, the inner walls with their bas relief carvings, the secondary buildings, the shrines, the main temple. All restored to its original cohesive Hindu/Buddhist beauty. Immense and impressive!

But Angkor Wat is far from the only site in the area. There are many many others, in various states of restoration or decay, from various centuries of history, embodying different religious ideals and mythologies. Each one we visited had its own unique feel (or vibe, as the kids might say).

And visiting when we did, the rainy off season, we often, unbelievably, had places all to ourselves. And we were allowed to touch almost anything! Go nearly anywhere! Eat a picnic lunch sitting on the steps of the innermost temple!

It was fascinating and humbling and awe-some and provocative and fun! And sweaty, oh so sweaty. The sun, the humidity, the stairs. Soooo sweaty.

Oh! And did I mention the wildlife? Pigs wandering through parking lots and monkeys opening water bottles at shrines and spiders in doorways and cows in city streets. And butterflies eeeeeeverywhere.

And although the temples were our main motivation for coming here, and were certainly absolutely spectacular to experience, they weren’t the whole reason we liked Cambodia so much. It is a mixture of modernity and tradition. Creature comforts and hardcore jungle living. Mostly kind-hearted people who are quick to smile and always willing to help and unassuming and genuine. We will miss Cambodia! And we certainly left plenty to do upon a return!