Trip to Beach and Bangkok

On the train heading south along the coast of Vietnam. This leg of our journey by train to Saigon was 25 hours long. The total voyage was 32 hours.We shared the cabin with an Australian couple for the first part, then a Vietnamese couple for the second half. The last leg of the ride from Nha Trang to Saigon was 6.5 hours in a cabin with 6 berths, 3 bunks on each wall. Interesting experience! 4 other Vietnamese people and us.

Train bathroom.

Scenes from our bungalow on Doc Let beach.

The round boats are actually large baskets.

Wouldn't you be happy if you were staying at Paradise?

Inside Paradise.

Ted Snorkeling at Paradise.

Not a bad place to celebrate Christmas. This is the view at night from our huge bungalow.

Day time view from our bungalow.

Ok, here we are in Bangkok, Thailand. The people greet each other by holding their hands together. So, I guess Ronald McDonald needs to do the same to be culturally sensitive. All the American restaurants like Burger King, Pizza Hut etc. are in Bangkok. We have not seen a McDonalds in Hanoi.

Inside an empty temple in Bangkok.

Stained glass window in a temple in Bangkok.

Buddhist monks and Nestle Ice Cream.

In Bangkok.

We took a short boat ride in Bangkok at dusk.

Fancy Bangkok airport!

Trip to Central Coast

Doing some fishing in the morning.

In Hoi An.

Ruins at My Son.

Train tracks/bridge south of Hue on the central coast. We were off the train and on a bus at this point but Lisa and I will be back on the train and on these tracks along the coast for a 25.5 hour train ride beginning on 12/22/10.

Lisa at the bunkers at the Hi Van pass that separated the north from the south during the war. A few bullet holes in the back there. I actually found a half bullet shell on the ground here. Kind of weird.

Central coast south of Hue.

The actual car.

We did not stay here, but a great name.

This was a real surprise! Yes, there still are elephants in Vietnam.

The citadel in Hue.

Arriving in Hue after a 13 hour train ride from Hanoi.

Walking across the street at 7:45am

Makes crossing a polluted street much more pleasant.
Notice in the video that we almost make it across to the other curb, when two girls on one bike sneak past us going, of course, the wrong way.

The Gym and Lisa's Birthday

We had a little celebration and pizza and two cakes after their last exam and the end of the semester.

Lisa's birthday cake!

Locker room in the gym we go to.

Nice showers, glass doors and glass tiles.

The pool at the gym. Missing pictures of the main floor with all the treadmills, etc. and the jacuzzi, steam room, sauna etc. It is really nice and we are often the only people there, sometimes there are 10 people total.

More pictures of Ha Long Bay and a few of Hanoi

So, this is a picture taken from our balcony in August. Then below you'll see a zoomed in photo of the same area and another zoomed out like this one. Notice: 1. The air quality change. 2. The height of the two tallest buildings. They are now over 70 stories high. They will be the highest in the country.

So it has not rained in over 4 weeks and as you can clearly see (Ha!) the dust and air pollutants are nicely packaged in Hanoi. This is often called a "dust dome" and it literally covers the city. If it would rain, much of the suspended dust would be grabbed by the water and brought to the ground. Our balcony is covered with a fine dust and open shops have a fine dust on all their products. Breathing is not the most pleasurable activity.

This is the new building that is being constructed quickly before our eyes. We catch the public bus in the morning under those trees in the middle of the picture.

Jumping in Ha Long Bay. The air here was nice and so was the water!

Lisa at the floating fish market. You walk around on a grid pattern of planks looking into netted areas below with live fish. Pick the one you want and they scoop it out with a net.

Standing at a floating fish market.

Trip to Sapa in the mountains near China

water storage tank

a day at the market.

Quick! Find the green umbrella handle.

Indigo dyed fabrics and pillow cases.

A cool orchid.

Technology from the 1800s is still alive and well!

Lisa and somebody with long sticks in a basket backpack.

A terrraced rice paddy after being harvested.

Walking with a giant wok.

At a market we went to. Spot the dinner choices, duck, chicken and two types of dog.