12 hours in Hanoi

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Hi everyone, Sharon and Rob here,
It's Wednesday morning and we arrived to Hanoi late last night. We had a short and unexpected stopover in Vientiane, Laos last night as a transfer to Hanoi. It was the first time I've checked in for a flight not recognizing the name of the city on my boarding pass! Rob worked out where Vientiane was by checking out a map of Laos in a book store at the airport 😊

We all enjoyed breakfast together a moment ago, and Kathy, Kevin, and Tina are on their way to the airport (made for a short overnight in Hanoi) flying to Danang for a couple days of relaxation. We've had such an amazing trip together and have had the pleasure of sharing stories and reflection on the trip over the past few days, we've experienced so many contrasts over the past 2 wks.

Rob and I are spending the day in Hanoi and are off to Halong Bay tomorrow for 2 days. We'll stay on a junk boat tomorrow night, which should be a treat. Can't wait to kayak in Halong Bay - check out the boat: http://halongbay-vietnam.com/jewel_of_the_bay.htm

We'll spend our last night back in Hanoi and fly back to Sydney on Saturday.

Kathy, Kevin, and Tina - have a fantastic time in Danang and can't wait to hear about your time there on the blog and when we return home! Thanks for an amazing trip...Sharon and Rob

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Photos

Angkor Wat at sunrise
Early morning at Angkor Wat. We noticed afterward that our camera was on top of an ant pile :)

Tomb Raider
You can see how the jungle has taken control of this temple, the site of the movie Tomb Raider...Rob ready for action.

The Bayon
This temple was amazing - faces on every spire.

Cambodian fast food
Robert was moved by the girl asking for money to buy food. To make sure she was fed, he bought her some local delicacy's - fried spiders and crickets. Gives perspective, doesn't it.

Fried crickets
These are caught using plastic sheets hung vertically with a plastic lined pool of water underneath. They fly into the sheets at night and fall into the water and drown. Many are exported to Vietnam where they are retailed at 4 for $1. 25 tons caught in one night in 2005. Come and get it!

Fried Arachnids with special sauce?
You can't go passed these. Our driver says they taste good and better than the crickets. The girl is eating one in the picture ($0.125 each). Kathy would rather eat dog than one of these spiders. Can be arranged in Vietnam :).

Spider in the bag.
Gross!

Comments

[Kat]

Hey sister-
Hello! Sorry I missed your calls this past weekend! It was great to hear your voice on voice mail anyhow. We have been enjoying the travel blog. The boys are rather impressed with the pictures of local delicacies. Noah's exact comments were, "cool" and "niiiccceee". No doubt he will try to eat a spider this summer now that he has seen a girl do it. :) Safe travels home. K.

[David]

Awesome
I am so pleased you guys have all taken as much as you can from this whole trip and it has moved you in "same same, but different" ways to the ways in which it did for me after my first trip. Safe trips home and see/talk to you all soon. - David

[Dan, Carolyn, Jordann]

Awesome Trip!!!
Looks like you guys have had a awesome and spiritual trip. Makes you look at life with a completely different view. Hope you have a safe trip home.