HenryT

We finally hit the last overnight stop of the world tour: Byron Bay, New South Wales, Australia. If any place had an immediate magical feel to it, this place did. We touched down in Brisbane a little after 10pm, did the slow crawl through immigration and customs (these guys were the nit-pickyest, yet*) and finally got into our rental car shortly after midnight. Then we hit the wrong side of the road for a two drive to Byron Bay. We got there in plenty of time, but spent another 45 minutes trying to find the beach house, which we finally did after 3 am. After catching up with Rob and Jolanda for about an hour, we went to sleep. The next morning (or close to afternoon) we went to the beach and had our breath taken ... read more

Another leg of the trip comes to a close. We are in Nihn Binh. For tourists, it is mostly known as a stopping point to some of Vietnam's natural attractions, which we did over the last two days. We are heading to Hanoi to catch our flight in about 12 hours. This has been an eventful two weeks and we have much to process. Henry... read more

Well I liked HaLong Bay (dragon bay). I thought it was fun because we got to jump off the boat and we met alot of new people who were really nice. When we went to Sapa, we went on two hikes and the second one was the best because it was all muddy and when you're about to slip it was fun. We saw someone slip, she got her pants really dirty. Well it was a nice hotel in Sapa and we met lots of people who had blue hands because there is a plant that you boil for ten days and then it gets indigo and then some people bite on the plant and it makes their teeth a little bit blue but after ten days it's black. In Hanoi, we bought alot of things ... read more

Nam's Return Asia » Vietnam » Tuyen Quang By HenryT July 27th 2007 Henry DunbarWe just retuned from two days in Tuyen Quang where we visited Nam's orphanage and the village where he lived until he was three. This was surprising in that we weren't sure the orphanage was still running (it is and has expanded to include a resident senior center) or that we'd be able to get any information about his early life. We found out a lot more than we had expected. I'll let the pictures tell the story here. Henry ... read more

We spent our first day here touring the usual Hanoi sites. The most interesting was probably Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum, where the revolutionary leader has been preserved since is death in 1969. (sorry, no pictures allowed) The irony is that he specifcally said that he wanted his resting place to be modest and without fuss. I now has a huge building and courtyards, with a changing of the guard ceremony, the whole works. The line to view his body streches for blocks most days, but moves along. We had to wait about half an hour. After that, the day was filled with temples and pagodas galore. The shopping is also quite an experience as most stuff is as cheap as anywhere else we've been. We need to be disciplined though because our luggage was already ... read more

k so Hanoi i think is awesome cus everything is soo cheap. i've bought alot of things already. the food isnt bad either. but thai food was the best. i wish we stayed in Thailand longer. And yes Donna, there are pretty women here in Vietnam. I didnt expect it though. :) because in the travel guide book showed different pictures. We leave in a train tonite up to the mountains. we have to sleep in a train. o god. oh yeah we had to take trains in Sri Lanka and i hated it.but after we go to Hi Long Bay, i think thats how you spell it. It would be nice to come home right now, but the trip is just a little bit more than half over. It would be funny to be homesick ... read more

We arrvied safe-and-sound from Sri Lanka. Posting just to let everyone know all is well and we are all in good health. This was just an overnight in transit. We did introduce the kids to Thai street food, which is amazingly good. Next up Vietnam.... read more