Ninh Binh, Hue, Hoi An, Nhn Trang

Where to even begin. Haven't had internet for a while. When I left off I was about to get on the night train. It was a good 11 hour journey in a "soft chair". There were 3 other options" Soft Sleeper - 4 bunks in a cabin, Hard Sleeper - 6 bunks in the same sized cabin, and Hard Chair - a wooden bench. The night went by quickly as Tristan and I wondered the train with our Vietnamese phrasebook in hand until around 11:00pm. We were the only non-Vietnamese on the train. It was great! We had a few local brews and chatted with loads of people. All so warm and wecloming. In every train car people would offer us food and ask us to sit with them. As the night grew late people started spreading out cardboard and straw mats on the floor for a nights sleep as the floor was way more comfortable than the wooden benches. It was a bit of a rough nights sleep but by 7am we needed to get off. They don't actually announce what stop you are at so it is a bit of a crap-shoot really.

Hoe
When we exited the train we chose a taxi driver to take us to the hotel. I noticed a little black box with a red light on top resting on the meter. I jokingly said, "hey look guys, he has the 'I'm going to completely rob you on the fare light on.'" Hahaha I couldn't help but watch my foolish joke come to fruition right before my eyes. The meter jumped up and down in completely random amounts. I said something to the guy and he of course told me it was fine. Luckily we weren't going too far. I was just glad we didn't have one of the meters rigged to the car horn. Apparently these go up a chunk of cash every time the driver honks, and this driver was very horn happy.

Hoe was a quaint little town with an old citadel from some historic dynasty. I of course can give you no more details than that as the heat and humidity prevented me from really enjoying any of it. Feeling a bit under the weather I decided to stay in the hotel while Gabrielle and Tristan took their moto out of town to beach. I just wanted to lie down and rest. Unfortunately the lock on our door broke and I had to wait 4 1/2 hours for a guy to come and fix it. So much for a nap!

We headed out of Hue to Hoi An on a bus the next afternoon. It was a 4 hour ride. It wouldn't have been so bad if I didn't have to go pee the whole time and our driver kept refusing to stop. When we did finally arrive we got a hotel, rented motos, and wen to see some Cham ruins. They were pretty impressive by Vietnameese standards. We saw where the emporer lived with his 105 wives and a few hundred concubines...what a life. He apparently was quite short, only about 4 1/2 feet tall. As a result, all of the statues around were quite short as to not make him feel too insecure. He never had any children, which frankly seems inpossible considering the size of his harem. We saw his tomb, equally small, but then found out he wasn't actually burried there for fear that grave robbers would steal his treasure.

The next day we went on a boat to go to Cham Island. We snorkeled along the way and had lunch on a deserted beach. Sounds lovely doesn't it, now add torrential downpour to the mix and you have a pretty crappy day. We did make the bes of it though and had a good time. I even got to row in a basket boat. Pretty crazy. That night we took a cooking class. It was good fun, about 12 people in total. We of course were always the first ones to jump up and volunteer regardless of how many people had their hands up. They were mostly French though so it was ok. Gabrielle made lemongrass grilled tuna, Tristan made soringrolls, and I made a squid salad. Delicious!

The next morning Gabrielle and I got up early to take a lantern making class. (see pictures below). I then got this craly idea that I should but the wooden insides so I could have my students make them. Not the small ones, they would be too hard to make, the big ones. They packed 30 into a box for me and then told me it would cost $100 to ship them home. I decided to just carry it instead. Whitey, as my box is affectionately named, is really no fun to have on a trip. He doesn't walk anywhere, he must be carried. I already have 2 backpacks to carry so he really is a pain. Luckily he doesn't demand a plance ticket so he rides in the baggage compartment. Anyway, we decided to do a bit of shopping before heading to the beach. We ended up haveing clothing made for us. An Italian wool tailored suit $70. Gabrielles silk dresses $25. Amazing. They made a total of 2 suits, 2 wool coats, 1 dress and 3 pairs of linen pants in under 4 hours! They all fit so well that we decided to get more. I mean really, what would it cost to have a tailor make you a pair of pants back home. The most amazing thing was that my pants were made from a photo in a clothing catalogue. We did eventually end up on the beach and ate some crabs for lunch.

So now it was Wednesday and time to head to Nah Trang. A notably busier town with a population of 300,000. We got a room and rented motos for the 3 days that we will be here. We headed north out of town to find some secluded beaches. We rode mostly on a winding coastal road for the first hour. Then onto the highway. By the time we got to the beach it began to rain and we left about an hour later to avoid driving back in the dark. This didn't quite work out as the rain slowed us down. The details of the skidding, buses flying directly at us and what not I will leave out as to prevent my parents from worrying. Truely a crzy adventure. The worst part of all was when the pelting down rain (do you have any idea how much it stings to be hit with raindrops at 65 km/h?) stopped we didn't even notice because we were still getting hit with something, bugs! The size of quarters. In the eye, face, arms, everywhere! I even had a couple in my nose when I blew. We all would have preffered the rain I think.

Now it is Thursday. This marks the end of 5 weeks. Seems like forever. 2 1/2 to go!

Til' next time,
e
Eric
Mr. Paci
Paci
Mr. President
or whatever it is you call me when I'm not there

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