Another old building

Just a quick update for now:  we have successfully transitioned from India to Greece, which is quite a difference.  I just can't describe India.  I won't.  No, I can't.  I don't know.  Anyway, we walked around the Acropolis last night, and are headed out for a one-day island hopping cruise tomorrow.  Now I'm about to look for opera tickets so I'll check in later all!

Hello everyone, just a quick update because my time's running out on this computer.  We have enjoyed the truly unique country of India, with the super-friendly people (sometimes so friendly you think to yourself it's creepy) and the delicious food that's hard to forget.  Most of all, we enjoyed the Taj Mahal.  That Emperor had commitment! 22 years, 20,000 people, massive tons of marble and precious stones to boot - all to spend somber time remembering his beautiful late wife...

Tomorrow we're on a day trip from Agra to see Fatehpur Sikri, then more relaxing at the hotel and back to New Delhi the day after for sightseeing and a day trip to Jaipur.  I'll keep you posted! 

Top 5 Reasons to Love Vietnam by Dara

1. Traveling by Boat-

Vietnam is a long narrow country filled with rivers where many of the locals and the tourist enjoy travel by boat. You can have a young, beautiful Vietnamese woman row you in a rowboat. You can do it Miami Vice style in a fast boat along the Saigon River. You can ride a motorboat to watch the buying and selling of fruits and vegetables at the floating market on the Mekong River and of course you can sail through the beautiful, emerald green waters of Ha Long Bay.

2. Pho-

A steaming hot bowl of noodles, spices and meat floating in a tasty broth. I love that they give you a fork, a spoon and chopsticks to eat pho with. First, use your spoon to slurp up some broth and finely chopped scallions. Then use your chopsticks to add add some fresh bean sprouts and minty leaves that come with the pho on a separate plate. Then scoop up some rice noodles and lean beef with your chopsticks. Mmmmm mmm.

3. Motorbike Traffic-

There are over 20 million motorbikes in Vietnam and about two stoplights. I mean I was born in raised in New York City but I'm getting heart palpitations trying to cross the street here. Yet I greatly admire the multi-tasking ability of the Vietnamese motorbike drivers and riders. One guy is texting on a cell phone. Another is picking his nose. One is petting the Chihuahua riding on the handlebars. One is loosely holding a baby, all while honking madly and weaving in and out of congested, downtown Ho Chi Minh City traffic.

4. Water Puppet Theater-

The art of traditional Vietnamese Water Puppetry is over 1000 years old. In step with traditional Vietnamese village life, the series of vignettes that make up the puppet show all take place in the water. Skilled puppeteers standing behind a bamboo screen in waist high water skillfully recreate a village boat race, the planting and harvesting of rice fields, a fishing expedition, children playing in the lake and the legend of a Vietnamese King sailing on his way back from fighting the Chinese during the Ming Dynasty. According to the legend a sacred turtle jumped out of the lake, took the King's sword in his mouth and disappeared back into the lake to signify the ushering in of a peaceful era in Vietnamese history. The water puppets are so cute and joyful. The musical accompaniment was absolutely divine. It was a real treat for a fan of puppetry.

5. Nha Trang Beach-

Nha Trang Beach, located on the South Central coast of Vietnam, has clear, just-the-right-temperature water, plenty of local flavor and fresh seafood vendors who will cook you up a plateful of tasty crab, lobster tails, scallops and tiger prawns right on the beach (and then pull your hair and try to sell you cigarettes while you're trying to eat). It's a great mixture of French Riviera style with a Coney Island vibe complete with a Ferris Wheel and plenty of Vietnamese families frolicking in the waters or playing volleyball in the sand.

Honorable Mention-

Eating Lychee, Dragonfruit, Passionfruit, Mangosteen and other crazy-looking, tasty fruits that we don't know the names of.

What do you love about Vietnam?

Top 5 Reasons to Love Japan by Dara Ross

I Am Desperately in Love With Japan










1. Fabric Town and Craft Shopping-
There are so many awesome places to buy craft supplies and get inspiration in Tokyo. It is a crafter's paradise. For more of crafty shopping in Japan visit my crafty blog bayanjargal.com.

2. Kyoto-
Geishas, a 10-course Japanese tasting menu at Giro Giro, ethereal temples, traditional architecture, fried eel, octopus on a stick and a Manga museum.

3. Akihabara/Electric Town-
The flashing lights. Wires and cables sold by the meter. A whole district just for techies full of the latest computers, cameras, cell phones and peripherals 'til your heart's content. Just imagine if B and H photo were on steroids and not just one block but a whole town, open everyday, super late and with lots of places to eat in the midst of a USB cable and iPhone 4 shopping frenzy. I mean, there was a whole aisle of Swavorski crystal stickers to decorate your cellphone. I picked up a cool camera strap for my camera and a thing that will turn your iPhone into a necklace. It has a dock connector at the end of it and it comes in a bunch of cool colors. I saw a few Japanese people ON THE SUBWAY with an iPhone 4 hanging around their necks. Just hanging there. Like a piece of jewelry.

4. Miyajima Island-
This beautiful island is located about an hour from the city of Hiroshima. You can take a ferry to the island. There is a beautiful, orange gate in the water. It looks like it is floating.

Also on the island is a cool museum. We saw an excellent exhibit about the life and the work of the beloved Japanese film director Akira Kurosawa.


It was the 100th anniversary of his birth. There were hand-drawn and colored storyboards, film posters and costumes from his films on display. My favorite things were the kimonos from "Ran" and Kurosawa's paints and paintbrushes. He liked to draw and paint and color. The comprehensive exhibit reminded me a bit of the Tim Burton exhibit at MOMA.

There were also many tasty things to eat on the island including fresh oysters, grilled octopus and spongy, sweet cakes shaped like leaves that were filled with black bean paste or custard. Miyajima Island was a great place to spend the afternoon; I'm just not sure about all of the deer running around trying to bite your T-shirt and steal your food though.

5. Bento box-
a box full of just a bite or two of yummy Japanese goodness. Even the ones that we bought at the 7-11 were amazing. A sushi rice roll, a piece of shrimp tempura, a few noodles, some seaweed, a piece of fried chicken, a fish ball, a slice of Japanese radish, a half of a pickled egg. Nibble, nibble, nibble.

Honorable Mention-
JR Railpass and JR Yamanote Line: Having an unlimited rail pass that got you ushered through the subway gates with a smile was really cool. I also have to give it up to the JR Yamanote subway loop that stops at Harajuki, Electric town and fabric town, everywhere that I wanted to go on one, easy to navigate line.

What do you love about Japan?

Goodnight, Vietnam. Sleep well.

I'm going to save comment on the Cu Chi Tunnels for the time being.  Let's pick it up in Hanoi.  So due to bad weather conditions, technical problems, or a combination thereof, our flight was delayed about four hours.  Lucky for us, we had already booked a hotel pickup in Hanoi.  To our relief, there was a guy waiting for us ready to take us to our hotel.  Of course, he put us in the cab and then told us to "three minutes wait".  Three turned into about fifteen, but soon we were safely on the road.  We arrived at the Little Hanoi Hotel around 3 A.M., and needless to say we slept in that day.  Our hotel was located in the Old Quarter, and we enjoyed the relative (emphasis intended) calm of traffic in comparison to Saigon.  That means you only have to deal with crossing between 50 motorbikes at the same time, compared to 100!  We splurged on an air-conditioned Thai restaurant instead of street food.  After an afternoon of exploring the city, we were off to HaLong Bay.    It is a nice grouping of islands, such as the two facing each other called "Fighting Cock Islands".  After a smelly minivan ride from Hanoi to Ha Long City, we boarded the bus with a huge Danish family and a Vietnamese-American family.  The Danish people liked to play handclapping games and the Vietnamese-Americans mostly chilled on the lower deck.  Good views, good swimming, nice caves, some great meals, some lousy karaoke, a mixed review on the boat quarters (squeak, squeak!).  Check it out if you're in the area instead of another night in a Vietnamese city.  Because of poor traffic conditions, we made it back to Hanoi just in the nick of time to catch the water puppet show - they've been doing it for A THOUSAND YEARS!  Since then, nothing but beach at Nha Trang.  Tomorrow, Delhi! Rupeeeeeeessss! (I don't have a million).

Snakes in a bottle

Our group of six from Vy's guest house connected with the rest of the gringo train about 7:30 this morning.  We departed through the hectic and motorcycle-dense Ho Chi Minh City.  As our tour guide pointed out, Vietnamese is a tonal language and people drive motorcycles because they are much cheaper.  Women drive them, families of three and even three with a baby can be found on one, I saw someone texting obliviously while sitting behind the driver on one.  And don't even get me started on crossing the streets - it's quite a bit worse than San Salvador.  We mostly stayed on this block tonight!

Anyway, back to this morning.  On the road to the Mekong Delta - a coffee break with some delicious espresso to break up the trip, then we arrived and boarded the motorboat and began coasting down the Mekong River.  One of the first sights was the floating market, where a variety of foods and other goods are sold.  Rush hour had passed - vendors mostly chilling out as we passed by.  We continued on and toured some local industries such as coconut candy and poprice (yep, just like it sounds).  Oh, and snake wine - slightly fruity for skunkwater.  These businesses really know how to bring out the flavors in foods.  Back to the boat and onward to lunch, passing countless boats and beautiful scenery along the way.  Besides our standard included lunch fare of pork, rice, and beans, we split a fried "elephant ear fish" with a nice couple from Malaysia on their suggestion.  It was good and, again, enhanced by the ricepaper taco-type deal that they showed us how to create.  After a nap in the hammock and a gaze at the tour guide's python, we were ready to get on a rowboat commanded by a crew of women.  Dara sported a hat - yes, the kind you are thinking of.  All in all, we weren't ready to get back on the bus after a great ride along the river.  I'll remember that forever.  Tomorrow, Cu Chi...

Cy Gone

We are in the urban center of country #2, the loud and vibrant city once known as Sai Gon.  Motorbikes abound!  This afternoon we landed in Ho Chi Minh City and found not a phone in the airport, but luckily found a cab who didn't try to jack up the price and a host at our guest house who is very generous and accomodating! Moreover, since we've got here, we've noticed the sharp difference between here and Japan moneywise.  Most prices are negotiable, but far less than Japan.  Tonight we had a much better dinner than we had our last two nights in Japan, costing about 1/10th the price!  (Beef pho, which was delish).  The evening was taken up by buying plane tickets for domestic  trips here and booking a trip to the Mekong Delta tomorrow.  Saturday we may visit the Cu Chi tunnels, which saw quite a bit of activity in the early seventies...

Talk to you soon.