HUE, VIETNAM

Our guide told us about himself.
When he was 44 years old his mother said, "It is time that you get married."  He said "I don't want to."  She slapped him and said he must.  He said OK.
She arranged a marriage for him.  He was very glad to find that his bride had light skin. 
For a girl to have a light face is very important here.  All the women wear face masks to keep them from getting sun tan.
If a woman has a dark face no one will marry her, we are told.
And respect for mother is also important.
We visited the Forbidden City where the king lived
(there was a king until 1945).  Every morning he walked to his mother's quarters, 1/2 mile to pay his respect to her.
"Mama how did you sleep??
"Mama, what can I do for you today?"     Bowing in respect
 

ADDTION TO LAST POSTING

An addition to the last entry:

After we "dined" on board,  Bob and I were ready for a nap.
(The boat was "powered" by a man and his wife (or I think it was his wife was,   they spoke no English.)

Oh good,  she is taking out a tatami mat for us to lay on the floor and nap .   Not my favorite mattress but when in Rome....
She is opening up a storage bin..... good it will be softer, she'll get a futon. 
No, she takes out kimonos to sell us!!! and lays THEM on the mat.  "No I don't want to buy"
Then out come book marks,  "No"
Note cards,  "No"     We are a captive potential customer.
Everything is quite nice but we do not want to buy.
Bob, being the softie that he is, chooses a few items.
When she sees that we will not buy anything else she tells the man to speed up the boat, time to get rid of us.
Now the money.......Vietnam dongs.....
$$25.00 = 500,000. dongs

Picture this:
  Bob begins to bargain with her.
He had just changed some money at the hotel so his pockets were full.  He has some $$ in 2 pockets and many dongs in 2 other pockets.  Neither speak the same language.  Both are trying to figure it out and make change.

We parted, new friends.....It was a fun trip...then the nap at the hotel.

Earlier when Bob got the money at the hotel I was asked by the receptionist to put clips on the many piles of dongs to
keep them straight.  Each pile contained 10 bills, each bill was worth 100,000 dongs.      To give you some idea, a coke costs 30,000. dongs
*************************************************

We are now in Hanoi.  We have had 3 different guides in the different cities.  Each one has said to us, "Vietnam is very safe. But it is a good idea to keep your passport and money in the safe at the hotel.  Not a good idea to carry them around."

AFTERNOON CRUISE ALONG THE PERFUME RIVER

We took a 3 hour luxury cruise in  one of these

Another luxury cruise vessel similar to ours

" I  don't have to worry about the anchor"

Along the river                                                       

Seen along the way

We visited this site

Our boat took us here

Whatever you say is fine with me

A surprise banquet on board

HUE

Most of the day spent with guide and driver. Drove to Hue.
Lunch arranged by guide.  After lunch we left the restaurant to get back into the car.
"No, you now take cyclo"      What??

Two bicycle chairs.  Pedalers are scrubby looking, teeth missing   

We were pedaled thru the city  in the midst of heavy traffic (motor scooters, cars, other cyclos) along wide boulevards.  About 20 minutes. No sign of our guide or anything familiar.
 I kind of know where Bob is but can't make contact or
         see   him.
                                            Should I be scared?  
              NO     THIS IS FUN
  Stopped at the   FORBIDDEN CITY .   Ah, Bob is here too.

Where  is our guide??  Pedlars saying "Tip, tip"
What do we do now?? We do not have our passports or anything.  Everything is in our car.  What if this is a "set- up"?
      Too many movies and mystery books come to mind
                      Ridiculous      Really?
After about 10 minutes our guide appears, apologetic .....
There is preparation for a festival and the street is closed.

Experienced the Forbidden City with the guide.
   Huge, impressive and interesting.  A UNESCO site

Hot and tired we cut the tour short at 3:30 and went to the hotel.  The guide registered for us while we sat in a beautiful cool lounge and had a "welcome drink" .

It is now a morning later and I am on our large private patio.
Bob made coffee in our room and we sit here looking at the Perfume River.  No schedule.  Birds chirping.
What will this day bring???? 

SCOOTER CITY SAIGON

WHY WE ARE TOO CHICKEN TO CROSS THE ROAD

CONTRASTS

The tallest building in Saigon
Bitexco Financial Center

68 floors, 
860 ft. high 
Helicopter pad on 60th floor 


***************************************************

 

Typical in Hoi An

ANCIENT TEMLES "MY SON"

Guide took us to the Ancient Temples in the mountains, in the jungle very near the Laos border.  AMAZING.  Dating from the 11th century.

During the war these sacred Hindu temples were bombed.  We saw the craters, the ruins and 2 unexploded bombs in one temple.  I was embarrassed.  War is hell.

 We walked the Ho Chi Minh Trail.  I imagined what it was like in the jungle for soldiers.  Hot, humid, scary.

DID I PUT THESE IN ALREADY???

We  (me and my much more advanced GEEK) are still having trouble with adding the pictures to the blog.  So bear with us as we make mistakes like sometimes adding a picture twice,     sometimes not at all       and often are not timely with the pictures..   

The good news is that our relationship continues to grow and prosper.

About Kuala Lumpur

 

We were surprised at the large number of hi-rises in 

Kuala Lumpur, interesting, good architecture.  Made me aware of my ignorance and arrogance.                                       ONE OF THE VALUES OF TRAVEL                

In Chinatown    Bob is drawing a stick with a number on it.  Then go to a drawer with that number, pick out a paper with your fortune.  I don't remember his, but mine was to the effect                                         "Nothing will come easy to you.  Work harder"

So I started by taming a dragon

PETRONAS TOWERS IN KL

Hoi An Gided Tour

The marble for these magnificent sculptures comes from the mountain near by. The sculptures were made in the workshops here.

 We went to a silk- making facility.   Here are the silk worms - the start of it all. 

t

BOB'S OBSERVATIONS

                                    SAIGON

“Scooter’s City”: in Saigon, Vietnam (a.k.a. Ho Chi Minh City) the motor scooter reigns supreme* and the pedestrian is an endangered species. There are no chickens left in Saigon, having attempted to cross the road, their genre has been decimated.

The hordes of two-wheelers come in waves of hundreds, sometimes, even thousands it seems and the roads are wide and there is a paucity of traffic signals. One way to get across will be to rent the back half of the seat of a Taxi-Scooter (if you can't lick them - join them).

The choreography is incredible. There seems to be an uncanny para-psychological comprehension or pre-consciousness of the movements of nearby vehicles.

Petty crime is rampant in the form of pick pocketing and purse snatching, further contributing to the dis-attraction of Saigon as a tourist destination.

The Park Hyatt Hotel and its “Square One” restaurant and beautiful swimming pool were our refuge in this lawless, hot and unfriendly environment.

Our positive attitude carried us through. We considered ourselves observers and “made lemonade” as the saying goes.

*5 million scooters, motorbikes or motorcycles.
                                   
                                     HOI AN

The city of Tailors: Hoi An is a small city several hundred miles North of Saigon (near Denang, news of which you may remember from our “police action” several decades ago).
The curriculum in the secondary schools features tailoring and apparel design courses.?????????????
  Several hundred little shops where you can have a dress,         suits, slacks, shirts or other apparel custom made overnight.

We are expecting delivery of our new outfits several hours from now. Hopefully, these will be clothes we will enjoy wearing when we see you next (rather than demanding up as souvenirs of our trip). 

We are enjoying temperate weather now that we have moved several hundred miles North.

HELLO VIET NAM

SATURDAY MARCH 24       

Alarm went off at 5:30.  Plane to SAIGON

Guide picked us up at airport and took us to the old part of town.

VERY CROWDED  HOT   HUMID

Thousands of motor scooters crowded on the streets, driving fast and crazy,
inches apart.  At a park, hundreds of motor scooters parked, looked like a river of motor scooters. Couples, and couples with a kid, on most motor bikes.  On a few, one person with huge packages tied on.

Visited an old  Buddhist Temple.  Area dirty, people sitting on the ground eating, stalls selling candles, flowers etc.  We are sweating.  Guide difficult to understand spouting dates of history.  Next, a crowded hot, still air, market where people hustled us. 
“Good prices mister”, “Try on madam”. 
One high rise building of interest.
                                                   NOT MY IDEA OF A GOOD TIME. 
                                     BOB’S SHIRT IS TOTALLY WET DOWN THE BACK.
We cut the tour short, went to the Park Hyatt Hotel, went swimming in the outdoor pool,
had a beer and a  nap .
Walked into the dinning room.  WOW   It was romantic and contemporary with a kitchen open to view, showing talented, immaculate chefs creating appetizing looking dishes.
And the food was unusual and delicious.  They even had good gin and  vodka.   

SUNDAY
Wake-up call at 6:30 AM
Guide took us to the airport and helped us until security check.  Made it easy.
He is getting to speak much better English.

DANANG
COOL     Guide met us.  Peaceful pace. Sanity. Countryside.
Drove to Life Heritage Resort on the river in Hoi An. 
All pleasant.

Starting with Singapore we do not drink water
or brush our teeth with water from the tap.  No one does.  It is not safe.
One needs to boil the drinking water. 
Seems strange - so advanced in so many ways but water.

King's New Palace Kuala Lumpur

The king is for ceremonies.  This is a gated property with two military soldiers on horses in alcoves on each side of the gate.

The prime minister and the legislature run the the government.  The prime minister is elected every 4  years.  He    chooses the date of the election during the election year.  Currently he is not telling when this year the election will take place 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kuala Lumpur pictures

About the batiks:
                 They were fun to create.
 Langkawi specializes in creating them and using them on very fine materials, silk and cotton and then making
clothes, tablecloths, bolts of material etc.  Some are very beautiful.
They can be pictures or prints.
I really fell in love with mine.  The teacher framed them.

So ..... they really do not fit into our apartment in Chicago.

Which of our friends or family should we give them to as a present?
 We spent a lot of time discussing it.
And choosing not to burden any of you, we left them there.

FORGOT TO TELL

Syl at 5 AM outside casita writing blog

  

 Bob and Syl each created a batik masterpiece 

The masterpieces.  (Also we found this chair interesting.)  

  

We celebrated and drank to your health.  Anyone who honors us by reading this blog

I forgot to tell about our experience in Langkawi

KUALA LUMPUR PICTURES

Pictures from Kuala Lumpur
After diner walk    

KUALA LUMPUR

KUALA LUMPUR    March 23

To get here we took our 6th airplane since leaving Astor Street.    Bob had prepared 6 x 9 inch  bright iridescent sticky labels to put on each of our 4 ship-thru suitcases for each flight: the destination airport codes and “priority handling” was printed on each one.  They usually come out first and are easy to spot. 

The Westin upgraded us to a large suite, the finest in this luxury hotel.
We have a dining alcove with surrounding windows, fully equipped kitchen alcove, 2 office spaces, LARGE  living room, bedroom and bathroom.
The breakfast buffet is so large that there is a map showing where each type of food (Indian, Chinese, Western, smoothies, Malaysian, etc) can be found. 

This city amazes us.  In some areas it feels like New York -
Lights   Action   Energy   High class stores   Crowds  Hotels  Restaurants
Night life   Office buildings  Tall buildings

Last night when we walked back to our Hotel after dinner we passed a different  kind of very busy area - all in the street - food cooking, crowded
tables, bright signs,  bombarding  color, noise, movement, smells, bumping.

Today we  will hire a guide. 

3:00 PM      Good guide, good driver .....Bob took lots of pictures .
We are surprised by the large number of tall buildings, good architecture.
The Petronas Twin Towers are positioned by Feng Shuei to face an important  bank.  
Good highways. 
We saw Muslim temples.  Since today is Friday it is the holiday of the week.  Major prayer time.  Only men can go into the mosque to pray on Friday. At a large mosque there were so many cars and motor cycles
that the police allow extra parking on the street.

Went into a Buddhist  temple.  So beautifully ornate.  Much park land and rain forrest in the city. 
A huge bird sanctuary covered by a huge net.

Weather is HOT AND HUMID.  Came back and took a needed nap.

LANGKAWI BEACH EXPERIENCE

MARCH 21      EQUINOX     LANGKAWI    5  AM

Sitting on veranda of our “Beach Front Villa”  (Fancy name for a minimal concrete box)
in a complex of  many such boxes.

 MARCH 19    When we arrived, the room was HOT.  No windows but there is a  sliding front door which  looks out to the ocean       No screens
       Got the air conditioning and fan going  .....
                               too hot     or too cold
                  “Better to drink water from bottle than tap.
                              We  charge for bottles.” 
                                           Sign:    BEWARE OF JELLYFISH  Went swimming in the ocean.....    too warm
                     “Let’s try the pool”   
                                Dinner   only one other table occupied.
                              
                Oh, oh .......first MISTAKE.. of this trip    ?? 
What are we doing here????
                            
 *********************
MARCH 20     I love it here!!!!!!!    Low key .. few people ... lot’s of privacy    got the temp adjusted

!!!!!!!!!  A   SYLVIA    BEACH  !!!!!!...............  Long............... clean, ..............firm (cars can drive on it)
  
Figured out how to use the wi fi at the bar looking out to the ocean
 ....The Fragnipagni (this resort) has a net in the ocean to keep the jelly fish out of this area

Overcast weather  One hour of impressive torrential rain and wind  ( Bob stood out and enjoyed it )
Since I lost all our sunscreen we welcomed this weather.

Hired a driver to explore the island.  A marina with a plethora of sail boats.  Wild monkeys and water buffalo. 
Rice growing    A main street with a myriad of tiny shops all selling the same stuff  ..............   but not selling.
Little outdoor mini restaurants  (food stalls ?) 

What do the Masada in Israel and the cable car and impressive bridge in Langkawi have in common????
Both are closed one day a year .........when Babbins come to experience them.

Dinner at Casa del Mar, an up-scale resort.  I had tried to book it in January but they were full.

Fantasy experience. 
     All the tables on the beach, very separate from each other.         Dramatic sunset.                                               
                        Lights from lanterns on each table  
                               flaming lanterns on poles               
Waves sounding on the shoreline..  Martinis and fine food.  We ordered Lankawi Sampler.
No desert for us, thank you .....                  
                                 oh   oh
  Anniversary Cake with our name on it

Walked thru town one mile to our casita.  Nice day

Pictures catching up Singaqpore

Marina Sands,  us on top at the corner

having a cool drink and marveling at the building and the view

The lovely couple who own this fine restaurant.  Alex is the chef and he provided us with the surprise desert. 

        Overeating ?????    Us???????

A FINE RESTAURANT FIND IN SINGAPORE

JUST RETURNED FROM A DELIGHTFUL, DELICIOUS DINNER AT CASA TARTUFO.

The food was creative and nicely presented. The owner, Alex Calabro, was charmingly attentive, suggesting specials that were really special. At one point he apologized for the crying of his 4 month old son who was in a back room.  We hadn't noticed until he mentioned it.  Soon a lovely young woman came by to ask how everything was.  As it turns out, she is Alex's wife and the baby is theirs.  Before you know it, we all became friends.
At desert time Alex brought a candle-lit dessert for us to celebrate our anniversary.  Alex is from Sicily and often consults with mother about recipes.  He is very particular about the quality and freshness of his ingredients.   The restaurant has just been nominated for "Best New Restaurant of the Year".

Earlier in the day a guide and driver
      Taught us some history including a stop at a museum
Showed us the Raffles Hotel (rooms $800 - $8000) and Raffles Landing
                       (Raffles was a founder of Singapore in 1819.)
Walked us through the Chinese district and the Indian district  
                      Took us into a Buddhist Temple and a Hindu Temple
Walked with us at the marina.  There we saw small old shack-like
   spaces that used to be warehouses and are now shops and restaurants.
    Behind them stand the tall modern buildings of many different shapes.
    Our guide told us that the unusual shapes are the result of Feng Shui requirements.
     Before a proposed building gets a permit it is reviewed by a Feng Shui consultant.
        

More Singapore pictures and hot experiences

March 18
Yesterday we roamed around by ourselves.
                   IT IS HOT HERE
Walked in the shade and underground as much as possible.  Underground there is a whole clean city of shops and restaurants along wide  pleasant corridors   AIR CONDITIONED.
A cold drink on the open air terrace, 57th floor
of Marina Sands Hotel in the large shopping mall.  Looked at the infinity swimming pool up there.       Pictures of that to follow.

Went to an Art Gallery and saw originals done by Picasso, Dali, Renoir, Matisse and others. Works different than we have seen before.
On to the modern art museum.  Interesting exhibits.
Tired out, we tried in vain to get a taxi.
 
 Found the subway, figured how to buy tickets and make the necessary transfer.  Very crowded.  None of the young people offered us their seats. (That would not have happened in the UAE)
                                   Voila, we made it to the proper stop in a mall.
Now to get a taxi to the hotel. Too tired and hot to walk.  Found the long cue and waited like all the other people til our turn to get into the next taxi.
                      
                              Congratulated ourselves.  Successful adventure in a foreign city.
                                                          But tomorrow we will hire a guide

Singapore Esplanade Theaters

CELEBRATING IN ABU DHABI

THE  ANNIVERSARY  BED

SURPRISE

SHEIKH ZAYED GRAND MOSQUE

At the big mosque in Abu Dhabi we befriended a nice woman who allowed us to take her picture.
However, she insisted in covering her face.  She was beautiful!!

ABU DHABI TO SINGAPORE

ABU DHABI  MARCH 16    written en route to Singapore  -  8 hour flight
       while in taxi TALKED TO DENNE IN LAKE TAHOE,  sounded like she was in the
                 next  room. 
                 She was in Thursday and we were in Friday all at the same time

Going back to yesterday:

Hotel Hilton in Abu Dhabi    When we arrived yesterday at reception we were given welcoming COLD wet cloths.
(In Abu Daubi, at the Haboot Grand it was a fruit drink.)

All service people here are very attentive in a friendly way.  The hotel has  7  restaurants,  (since we left home I have been hungry only one time for a few minutes).
Walking under a short, clean, well decorated tunnel, the hotel has private beach front.
There are 3 swimming pools and 2 restaurants and a few bars there.

No schedule today.
Breakfast at beautiful enticing buffet.
Swim. ......
Taxi around Abu Dhabi for Bob to take pictures of the AMAZING tall buildings.
Dinner at the beachfront ...    delicious Arabic food ...
                                                   romantic setting...lanterns,,reflections

This section of the trip blows my mind.......in many ways ....
Women’s bank, women’s taxis driven by women
I saw a photo of Abu Dhabi in 1968    A lot of sand and some shacks
                           
OIL        EXPLOSION OF DEVELOPMENT

Now    DEVELOPMENT  CONTINUES    so fast.   so modern   so extensive 
                   so luxurious     the buildings spare no cost

Since the economy slump some developments have stopped in Dubai       
            *************************************************
 MARCH16
ALL DAY TRAVELING
Plane ride SEEMED easy ......moved clock 4 hours ahead............

SINGAPORE ......Shangri La Hotel .....11 PM
We were not tired so we had a drink and listened to a fine singer, pianist drummer and bass player combo.  
 

ADDITION TO DUBAI POST

I think it was March 12, well one of the Dubai days....

Guide and driver picked us up early and we drove out of town....  Desert, flat with scrub little greens here and there.    Not what I had envisioned, but the wide open spaces were refreshing, and quiet.
Good roads.  Car alerted the driver when he exceeded the speed limit which was a temptation.
                       (Taxis seem to have this warning too .....are all cars equipped this way????)

Guide explained that there are a lot of circumstances for ...... FINES:  

Speeding,     if stopped,  checked for drinking and if found, big consequences    could be JAIL

Train   (METRO  behavior ...............   chewing gum or sleeping

Further along beautiful mountains.     Cutting them for concrete     aluminum
Along the wadis   (streams)    date trees b
Lunch and a  SWIM IN THE INDIAN OCEAN  Felt Fabulous!!!!!

On to another city along the coast... Furairah .......
    Fast development, growing into another megalopolis.
       Oil refineries and shipping.
On the way back the desert was the way I expected, Dunes and sand. 
 BUT lots of electric wires  crisscrossing into many patterns delivering the needed power into the brightly lighted sparkling city.  Once in the cities all wires are underground.

MAKING ARRANGEMENTS

Vehicle for a "Desert Adventure" arranged by Travel Agent.

BOB - "I was promised a Hummer"

HENCH - "You'll love his rendition of  "Desert Song"
                      
                   

ABU DHABI

MARCH 14
Just got back from dinner.  Our bed was covered with red rose petals and towels sculpted into a heart or 2 love doves depended in how you looked at it. Earlier, wine, fruit, petite fours and candy were delivered.
Hotel people  are so happy to help us celebrate our anniversary trip!!!!

This morning in Dubai our guide picked us up at 9:00 for the trip to Abu Dhabi.
Ferarri World was our first stop.
Another unbelievable!!  ( Many times on this trip I feel like I am on a different planet)
A huge amusement park complex community built around a Formula One, 5 kilometer race track .  All VERY Modern and well designed.     
             FUTURISTIC    
We stopped at one of the hotels and were toured around.  From the lavish hotel swimming pool lounge you can look straight down onto the track.      Pictures  to follow.

Onward to a Modern technological center which is part of a developing eco friendly village: 
MASDAR THE GLOBAL CENTER OF FUTURE ENERGY
We drove in a completely automated (including steering system car) 
Everything utilized here is developed here.
Solar energy is well utilized.
Our guide seems to have a lot of networking skills and arranged this tour for us.
 Arriving in Abu Dhabi, went to see the Emirate Grand Palace Hotel and the historic village (contrasts), dismissed our guides and fell into the Hilton Hotel.    

DUBAI

MARCH 13   
The Metro trip was terrific, very modern, clean and pleasant.  We entered the front car and Bob was asked to leave - only women in this car.  People are helpful and create seats for elders.

Attire for women is fascinating. Some in modern dress, some in traditional black with different amounts of head/face  showing. Today I saw a woman dressed in the traditional style with  only her face showing,  New York type make-up,  who was carrying a briefcase and had the air of a business executive.  Later I saw a young couple who seemed to be engaged in a romantic conversation, like flirting, and her face was totally veiled, no facial expression was visible. Our guide tells us that women are highly regarded and respected.

Lunch on the 122 floor of the Burj Kalifa.
We entered the property and walked up the beautifully manicured garden street to the gate. No one else was walking.  A few limos passed us.  When we announced that we had lunch reservations we were graciously greeted and we entered.  We were probably the only "walk-ins" ever!!  We continued the walk to the entrance to the Armani Hotel.
                                ..................OVERWHELMING ELEGANCE ...............

The lunch:  360 degree view of Dubai  (clean floor to ceiling windows)
                   Atmosphere, atmosphere, atmosphere....And that's the name of the restaurant
                           Well spaced tables.....flowers
                               Each food presentation was a work of art
                                 All delicious
                                      Friendly servers
                                           We did not overeat    (The $$$$  kept us somewhat sane)

People from many countries are in Dubai.  Our guide is from India, the driver too.  They talk to people we encounter who are from Burma, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Russia, Philippines, Malaysia.
At breakfast we hear Eastern European, Chinese, Japanese, Swedish.  Haven't encountered French or Spanish. Have bumped into a few Americans.

Our hotel has comped us dinners.  At the end of the day we are glad to enjoy their fine food and beautiful grounds and not have to make any more decisions.  










 

Learn in another language, a lot of squribles

This not easy!! ........ The writing the blog.
Living the trip is easy and fun. Getting the mechanics of passwords, wireless and other geekee stuff could be a challenge on a marriage but we are doing fine.  Bob is now contributing entering the pictures and both of us are learning.  He is more courageous.

Today we are going to have lunch on the 166th floor of
Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world.  We will take the
"Metra" system to get there.

Burj al Arab hotel - entry restricted to paying guests - lunch for two $700, We skipped the experience.

The biggest fish tank in the world - about 20' high and 125' long.  Almost invisible joints in the tremendous window.  
               WOW!