Motorbiking Northern Thailand

It's been a while since our last post....
We arrived to Chiang Mai via another overnight train. Not bad, but not the greatest night's sleep. Reminiscent of our Malaysia train ride long ago (loud and not the smoothest). We have grown a little bit weary of the typical tourist activities (i.e. eating banana pancakes, guided treks, minibus rides), so we decided to strike out on our own. We rented two motorbikes, and began a seven day loop tour of northwestern Thailand.

The first day took us 134 km (one of the longer days of riding), into a small town called Pai. Pai is becoming somewhat of a hippie-ex-pat mecca. Loads of farang here. We stayed a bit outside of town in a place that had a pool. Yes, we are suckers for that little luxury once in a while. It is so hot everywhere we go now. March and April are the worst months for heat, and it is proving to be accurate. Hot and dry. Even riding on the bikes, you sometimes can barely get relief.

We didn't linger in Pai, and moved on the next day to a very small village called Mae La Na. The scenery on the way was pretty, but we realize how much prettier it could be in a wetter climate. This time of year, not only is it the hottest, but it is when all the field burning takes place. Air quality is not the best which can burn the eyes and provide haze-covered views. Nevertheless it is fun riding. At least until we hit this long stretch of downhill, curvy, loose dirt, where I think I saw a turtle pass me I was going so slowly. You can see that stretch of road behind Keith here:

The inhabitants of Mae La Na are from the minority group called the Shan. There was one lady in town who ran a small guesthouse, and while we were prepared for some pretty rustic accommodations, we were surprised to find a lovely, modern bungalow to stay in. Meals were taken at the restaurant owned by the same lady (who also owns the only gas station in town...gas barrell would be a more appropriate term). We got there pretty early in the day, so we set out on the local roads trying to find a smaller Black Lahu village. We never did find it, but I got some good motorbiking practice on the backroads.

Here I am in full concentration willing the bike up the hill, hoping not to fall or stall because this truckful of Thais behind me would surely get a kick out of that...
The one saving grace in this climate is that at night the temperature truly drops. You even want to pull a blanket over your shoulders. So we slept well, said our goodbyes in the morning, and pushed on to our next destination of Mae Hong Son, about 60 km away.

A look at a small village from a distance that we rode into on our way out of Mae La Na:


It was a nice leisurely ride, and we arrived into town at about 2:00. This area of Thailand has many minority villages, with the one that is most commonly visited by tourists being the "long-necked" Karen people. The women of this hilltribe traditionally wear those heavy coil rings around their neck...giving the impression of a longer neck. (In fact, the coils are compressing their ribs/shoulders down). We had read in our travel bible (Lonely Planet) that the closest Karen village had sleeping accommodation available in the form of a homestay. We liked the idea of actually staying within the village for an extended period of time rather than traipsing in, staring, taking photos and leaving right away. So we pushed on from Mae Hong Son towards the village of Ban Nai Soi. Arriving in the town we quickly realized our book was less than accurate. First of all the town itself of Ban Nai Soi, is just another regualar Thai village, not the Karen village. Secondly as we asked around about the homestay, we quickly realized no such thing existed. "No, sorry, we do not have. Go to Mae Hong Son". We passed the house several times of two very giggly girls as we walked around the town trying to find a place to stay, and as we were leaving, they came running after us, and said, "You can stay here. It is OK". They spoke very little English (and... um, yeah, our Thai has not progressed beyond hello and thank you), and after several minutes of charades we felt comfortable we understood each other (that we would be sleeping in their house), and agreed to stay. We almost backed out, feeling we were really imposing, but by that time it was more awkward to leave than to stay.

It was about 5:00 at this time and instead of standing in their outdoor-kitchen area and staring and smiling at each other, we walked out to the school yard where we shot a few baskets with some young boys. I quickly got pulled away by one of the girls from the house and was given a tour of the city, and Keith entered into a volleyball game. Soon we were called "home" for dinner, and were served a wonderful, authentic (aka spicy!) meal. Conversation consisted mostly of Keith and I sticking our head in the only small, pathetic phrase book that we have trying to learn some Thai words. I think we said "arroy!" 20 times (means delicious) because we couldn't say anything else. The rest of the evening was spent being shown how they catch a locust-like bug for eating, and sitting around the living room looking at photos on their computer. They set us up in their living room on a nice set of pads, and we slept great, only being awoken by the plethera of roosters crowing.

Here I am with the family and some of their friends who came and went throughout the evening. Hands down, staying with this family has been one of the highlights of our trip.

Keith at breakfast:

Which brings us to this morning. We were again treated to a nice meal, and then continued up the road to visit the elusive Karen village. We are currently very close to the Burma border, and this particular village is a refugee camp. These people fled from Burma about 10 years ago and have since been confined to the borders of this small village, as it is too dangerous to return to Burma and they are unable to gain citizenship in Thailand. We always feel a bit strange about walking into these villages, but we made it less awkward by sitting down with two young adults and talking with them for a while. They recognize that life is better and safer for them here, but at the same time you can see how they yearn for freedom and get tired of being "on display" for the tourists day in and day out. We've been reading a bit about Burma lately, but actually meeting some of the people affected by the harsh rule of the Burmese government has really helped put it in perspective.

We spent the rest of today poking around Mae Hong Son. We went out this evening and tried to find a festival that was happening in a nearby village, but alas, the forks in the road never took us the right way and the answer to all of our inquiries as to the whereabouts of the village was always, "yes" and a smile. Gotta love the communication barrier (and the lack of Roman characters on the street signs).

We will head south another 60km tomorrow, stopping overnight in Kuam Yuam. We are loving being on our own two wheels!

Back In Bangkok

We survived probably the worst bus journey of our travels so far! What an assault on the senses! Cambodia is a very, very poor country. One of the reflections of thi poverty is the conditon of the roads. They are miserable. After being promised an air-conditioned bus and after being shown a picture of a lovely, sparkly clean, brand new mini-bus we loaded onto this thing (looking my best at about the 1/3 of the way mark):


Keith and I were breakfasting while waiting for the bus, so we were last to get on, and thus had the worst seats (a little welding would go a long way on this bus). Then we hit the road that was paved for only about 15 km. After that it was dirt, dust, rock, potholes....in other words, bumpy, bumpy, bumpy. Mom - be very, very glad you were not with us for this part of the journey. I was in the back row, wedged between some very friendly Japanese travelers whose only fault was that they WOULDN'T KEEP THE WINDOW OPEN. Being last on the bus, Keith and I got the fold-out-in-the-middle seats. What that meant for Keith is that he had no back to his seat...oh, it was there, it was just in a permanent reclining position. What that meant for me was that I really didn't have a back to my seat and so the luggage stacked behind me had no where to fall except on my head with the strike of each pothole. My Japanese friends and I finally got the bags stacked to our satisfaction, only to have the driver demand one be removed so that he could see out the back (don't know why he cared with how dusty it was!).

Here is Keith in his tiny little seat trying not to impose too much on his neighbors (you can just barely make out his crooked, leaning seat back):

And so it went. Keith spent half the ride on the floor leaning on my knees (the other half on his seat). I spent the whole time watching a bus full of miserable people trying to get comfortable, dust dripping (does dust drip?) from the once functional A/C vents, and watching the lucky ones with window seats try to decide if they should leave their window open for air, or closed to keep out the dust....("for the love of God, just leave it open, I'm dying here!" - or so I screamed in silence). I wish I had a dollar/baht/riel/dong for every time someone opened or closed their window.

Five hours later we were at the border where we crossed over to Thailand and felt as if we'd entered a 1st world country. The roads are beautiful here! And we got onto a fully air conditioned minibus for a 3 hour speed ride into Bangkok. What we sacrifice by crossing the border is the lovely baguettes we got used to for breakfast...now it is back to Wonder bread. What a difference a border can make. Kind of strange really.

The Temples of Angkor

After a slow 6 hour bus ride from Phnom Penh, we landed in Siem Reap, a town known almost exclusively for the large stone temples that sit in the surrounding coutryside. The afternoon we got into town we headed straight for a sunset viewing, along with about 500 other tourists... that was a bit disappointing. Sunset was OK, but it was just a sunset on a hill...we were expecting some dramatic sunset over a temple. The next day, we hired bicyles and headed out on a 30 km loop ride that took us to many of the more famous temples.

Some of these temples are almost fully restored, such as Angkor Wat and Ankor Thom, while others have been left to the jungle. It is a nice contrast. Angkor Thom, built in the late 12th century, was our first stop and is the largest complex, covering over 3km^2. It is known for hundreds of large faces carved into the towers. (37 towers, each with four faces facing the points on a compass):

A close up with one of the smiling faces (not a word about the hair, Em requests..)

How many faces can you see?


Next was several smaller, athough still huge, temples that are not as restored. Larger silk-cotton trees grow from the ruins and in some cases, support the walls and entryways, making for great scenery:



After seeing the temples on our loop, we headed back to town, the last 12 km stretch. It was hot.....about 95 degs, but felt hotter. A cold shower felt nice. The next day we hired a tuk-tuk and went to temples a little further out. After a trip back to town for lunch and a shower we headed out for a late afternoon and sunset viewing of the most famous, Angkor Wat. Almost fully restored, Angkor Wat gives some glimpse into how the temple might have looked in its heydays:

Em caught a great shot at dusk on our way back:

Overall, the temples we very,very impressive. It hard to imagine the modern world creating something as lasting and as decorated.

Mekong to Phnom Penh

We have completed our three day bus and boat trip from Saigon to Phnom Penh and have successfully landed in Cambodia, our Vietnam trip completed. Along the way we saw a floating market, where vendors display their wares selling by skewering a sample on a long bamboo pole and flying it like a flag from the front of the boat. Potatoes, tomatoes, watermelon, coconut, mangos were all sacrificed in the effort of marketing. What else did we see: A coconut candy workshop, an alligator farm, a fish farm, a minority village, a traditional music show, a fruit plantation, miles and miles of Mekong, and hours on a bus. We have the pictures to prove it and someday you'll see them, all of them. We'll make ya. It was very nice. Really.

Today in Phnom Penh we hired a tuk-tuk, not the same as the ones in Thailand, but a motorcyle pulling a two-wheeled trailer, and saw the major attractions of the city. The infamous S-21 and the killing fields were first. Not very uplifting, emotionally. S-21 was horrific. Em and I have been reading a bit about the Khmer Rouge, but nothing prepares you for seeing the real rooms and torture beds....and pictures, thousands of pictures. The pictures become skulls at the display at the killing fields. It was a horrible time. Not much more can be said.

As for Phnom Penh, it is dirtier and poorer that what we have seen elsewhere in Southeast Asia. The are more children begging and more amputees. Both hard sites to see. Today at breakfast two small boys came begging at the table. They looked to be brothers, one maybe 5 and the other 7. In general Em and I don't give....we can't. Once you start you can never draw the line on who to give to or when to stop. (It's a general rule and we've broken it on occasion). My breakfast had just been delivered so I gave them each half my bread. They were asking more for money, but eagerly took the bread.

Em had another small girl walking with us at the killing fields. She wanted money and spoke very good english. Em asked her why she wasn't in school. She replied in a rehearsed manner that she does go to school, but that school didn't start until 1:00 pm and lasted until 6:00 pm. Em glanced at her watch and saw that it was 1:15 pm. Em said, "You know it 1:15, you're late. You better get going." The girl knew she was had. She fell behind and left us alone.

Here's some pics for your viewing pleasure:

These are the houses that line the banks of the Mekong in the more populated areas.


This is the floating market. In the background you can see all the skewered veggies.


Our Tuk-Tuk ran out of gas, so the paying passengers got some exercise.



S-21. One of the mass detention rooms. The numbers on the walls are haunting and I think signify rows, not numbers of people, because they kept way more than 16 people in this room.

Daily Life in Vietnam

Some things I wanted to jot down regarding Vietnam in general:

The Food:
For the most part, the food here is pretty mild (that is if you stay away from flattened dried squid, dog, snake wine, snake, or any of the other multitude of gooey concoctions that you see on the street - we just haven't been very brave I am afraid...). The standby for everybody is pho - (noodle soup). It was indeed the very best in Hanoi, but is everywhere, and is what the locals eat for breakfast (and lunch and dinner...). Rice of course is the other staple and can be found in so many forms, you usually don't even know that what you are eating is rice! Spring rolls are the final item that is on every single menu. We have eaten our fair share of them, but have grown weary of how fried they are. Just yesterday, here in Saigon, we found some wonderful rolls that were "raw" (i.e. fresh and not fried) - delicious. We just got done eating another handful for lunch today. The other fun thing worth mentioning is trying out all the desserts. We continue to have a sweet tooth after dinner, and while the Vietnamese don't focus as much on dessert as we Americans do, they do have plenty of bakeries with interesting delights that we are not shy to try. In fact it has become somewhat of a ritual for us (okay, so it's mostly me) to find the best bakery in each town and sample its wares. Mostly bready, rolly things, the best of which come with a coconut-y filling. The best dessert yet, was yesterday (dad you will appreciate this one) - sticky rice all beaten to hell and mixed with corn, then warm coconut milk poured over the top - heavenly!

The Coffee:
In short it is really good. Strong enough to take the enamel off your teeth, and with a hint of a chocolate taste. To make it drinkable for us, we always request cafe sua (white coffee). This means you get about a half-inch of sweetened, condensed milk in your cup. Rich and meant for sipping. (And so very healthy). It is also served in a unique way. It brews right at your table. You receive a cup with a small, individual filter system balancing on top of it, and have to wait patiently with your mouth watering as it brews its jet black potion. Yum.

The Traffic:
I know we already addressed the honking, but did we mention how it is to cross the street here? Yes there are some traffic lights, and some crosswalks, but they are rarely used or obeyed. What you are faced with the majority of the time is an onslaught of neverending traffic coming at you in both directions. If you were to wait patiently for everyone to stop for you because you are standing on a painted crosswalk, you may as well wait until 2 in the morning to cross. You just have to step out and go, making eye contact with everyone coming at you. It was a bit unnerving at first, and you really have to fight the urge to quicken your step...running will surely get you hit. It is a remarkable thing really, you just meander slowly, weaving your way in and around bikes and cars with them doing the same, and you repeatedly get to the other side alive. Amazing!

The Massage:
We had an authentic Vietnamese massage yesterday at the institute of the blind, and sorry to say, did not find it too rejuvenating. It was a very 'surface' massage, with very little deep muscle/tissue manipulating. And a whole lot of pounding. They rub their hands over your skin (sometimes squeezing the skin and sometimes getting to the muscle, but not often enough) for a while, then follow it up with an equal amount of time pounding (in really a nice sounding rhythm) with their fists, then with their open palms. It doesn't hurt, and I'm sure it's helping the circulation, but I don't know if we'll go back for a second one.

That's it for now. We visited the Cu Chi tunnels today. Such and amazing network of tunnels that the Vietcong used in their combat. We saw some of the traps they used to catch Americans and South Vietnamese troops off guard (most of which involved very sharp bamboo spears), and got to crawl through a 100 m section of the tunnels. Amazing to think they lived and fought in such small spaces. We were sweating profusely after our short little crawl...I can't imagine spending weeks down there. We also were treated to another extremely one-sided video. The propaganda continues to liken the US presence in the war to genocide and uses terms like "American Killer Hero" (for a brave Vietcong soldier), and implying that the US intentionally used Agent Orange to wipe out civilians and villages. No question we did some wrongs over here, (war is HELL) but it's hard to hear the one-sidedness of it, and we are young - what do returning Vets feel when they come here?

Tomorrow we take off on a 3-day guided trip to the Mekong Delta, which terminates in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Our time in Vietnam is quickly coming to a close....

Cruisin Through to Saigon

OK, the city has offically been renamed Ho Chi Minh City, but most people (here in the south anyway) still call it Saigon, so I will too. Yes, we are here already. We didn't stay long in Mui Ne deciding to push on through to the big city. It is similar to Bangkok in a lot of ways (similar populations....6 million or so), but feels less grimy.

Our ride into Mui Ne from Dalat was not exactly 'downhill all the way' as the guide book and the brochures sell it. Doing the one day option, we were driven about 60 km from Dalat towards Mui Ne, then dropped off on a much less traveled highway that was to take us the way down. It started out great, with a nice coast downhill, then we got hit with the hill. For the next hour, we ground down the gears and sweated our way to the top of a pass. It was beautiful though: Jungle scenery and sounds and a road almost virtually to ourselves. Finally we hit the top, took a quick rehydration break, then got to coast. For the next two hours or so it was up and down riding, but mostly down, with a short stop in a minority village. Then a very long, spectacular ride down to our lunch spot. Stunning scenery and a fun winding road. From here, things got a little harder. It was flat the rest of the way, but for the first 20km the air was extremely still, the road dusty and it was HOT. Then we hit the coastal winds, and were treated to a lovely headwind for the next and last 20 km (we rode about 90 km in total), and it was still HOT. We enjoyed the trip thoroughly and were glad we did it, but by the end we were wiped out...mostly by the heat, but my legs were a bit tired as well from that persistent wind. We booked with a company called Groovy Gecko and promised them a mention here. They did a great job, and come highly recommended by us (since we know this website is read by untold masses...). Our guide was fun, informative, and let us set the pace, the equipment was top of the line, and lunch was deeelicious! (Our guide gave me the "Groovy Gecko" shirt right off his back as a gift) Thanks guys!



So then we were in Mui Ne. In short, Coos Bay + Utah + tropical heat = Mui Ne. Mui Ne is famous for its sand dunes and its wind and kitesurfing. Mui Ne sits in a bay, so no big ocean waves, but from about noon on, perfect windsurfing and kitesurfing weather. The area is surrounded by sand dunes, most of them white, but some of them red. We never successfully found the "official" white sand dunes, but the parts we did see, looked strikingly familiar. Some of the red sand around here is truly beautiful, and the streams carve out some quite impressive canyons. Have a look for yourself.

Fairy Stream at Sunset:


Fairy Stream Canyon:


Mui Ne is a huge fishing village. There are so many boats and nets going out on the water everyday, it is a wonder there are any fish or shrimp left out there at all. Overfishing has got to be a problem. The tourists don't stay in the town though. North of town is a 10 km stretch of road that follows the beach that is nothing but hotels and restaurants, with new ones going up every day. Right next to our place, they were in process of chopping down all the palm trees, making way for the next set of bungalows. A nice enough area, but because it is so spread out, it is hard to explore and doesn't have a central feel. So two days of relaxing at our place (which was right on the beach, as they all are) and we were ready to move on.

Red Dunes:


Now we are in Saigon, and will probably be here one more day. Did some sightseeing today taking in the Reunification Palace and the War Remembrance Museum. The palace was the former home of the South Vietnamese president before the north took control of the country, serving the same function as the White House. Now it is mostly a tourist destination, but is still used for receiving VIP's. The museum was a bit one-sided, but nevertheless, did depict how devastating the war was for both sides. It has a great collection of vivid and graphic photographs shot mostly by journalists on the 'American' side. A very moving display.

F5 Fighter at the War Museum.

Cooler Temps in Dalat??

After breezing through the beach town of Nha Trang, we are now in the Central Highlands of Vietnam in a town called Dalat, where they say it has a climate of 'eternal spring'. It sure has felt like summer to us these last few days. Hot, hot, hot. Or Hot Yai, as my dad would say! Not humid though, just a nice dry heat, like the warmest Oregon summer days.

Nha Trang was fine, we just didn't find much reason to linger there. It is more of a tourist/beach mecca, with new highrise hotels going up constantly (the development happening in Vietnam is amazing). The beach was very nice, but the waves were too strong to swim in. The weather while we were there was cooler than we had expected (after traveling south so far from Hoi An we expected much hotter weather). We could have gone diving, but also elected not to, as we didn't read great things about the diving (too much dynamite fishing in the past), and it's hard to beat the Similians.

A look at Nha Trang beach:


So off to this French-established mountain town of Dalat. It is nice enough here, but not at all what we were expecting. I was anticipating lush, green, mountainous hillsides, cool temps, and a small, quaint town. It is in fact a much bigger town than we were expecting, very dry, and surrounded by pine forests. There are lots of hillsides, and now instead of rice like in Sapa, they are farmed with all sorts of yummy vegetables. They grow it all here, and the favorable climate allows them to do it year round. We've been eating lots of fresh tomatoes, beans, broccoli, cauliflower, onions, cabbage, strawberries(!) and sweet-but-not-to-sweet potatoes. And artichoke tea! (Really good!) (Updated from a earlier blog mistake saying avocado tea....oops!)

The other thing that has been nice is that Dalat is a hugely popular tourist destination for locals, and while it's popular with the foreigners, not as many make it up here sticking more to the coastal route. The result is that we don't see too many other foreign tourists (which sometimes is nice), and there is way less touting, and we can walk through the huge central market virtually unnoticed! It's also a nicer interaction with the locals. Not so much hard selling, and lots more genuine smiles and attempts at conversation.

We found a great hotel, with the biggest room ever. You could get lost in there! It's in an older building/home, has two double beds, a small couch with table and chairs, refrigerator, a small balcony overlooking the street, and the cutest family that runs the place. All for our cheapest price yet at 100,000 dong. The only downside is that it overlooks the street, and those horns and loud radios go late and start early, so earplugs have been a must.

I just love this picture. This is looking out from the hallway of our hotel.


The cult favorite thing to do here is to hire and 'Easy Rider' and go explore the Central Highlands. The Easy Riders are a group of middle aged men who take tourists on personalized tours on the back of their motorcycles. They have become hugely popular, and people often end up 'adopting' their guide for their entire trip through Vietnam. More commonly, however, they are used to do 2-4 day trips around this area, usually up to the Ho Chi Minh trail. We have debated for the last three days on whether to splurge on this or not (it is quite spendy), and have finally opted out of it. Partly because of money, and partly because we're happy with the amount of the highlands we've been able to do on our own.

So what did we do? The first full day, as usual, we just got to know the town, partly walking and partly on mountain bikes (yes, real mountain bikes!). It gave us a bit of a wake-up call as this town is hilly, and the legs got a-burnin! One of our stops was at the Crazy House. A famous Vietnamese architect designed this kind of wacky, Alice in Wonderland style guesthouse. Her message I think had something to do with conserving the natural resources of the area.....
Here's me in what was probably called the bird room:


There is a big lake in the center of Dalat. As we were riding our mountain bikes around it, we got treated to a nice show.


The next day we went on a guided trek through the pine forests, in and out of coffee and vegetable plantations and up and down many hills. It was a great (and exhausting) hike. We were with a group of 6 very fit and very motivated to 'get back and have a beer' Canadians, so the pace was brisk. And it was hot. But the scenery was nice and it was interesting to see the crops growing and the controlled burns burning.

Part of the hike involved crossing over two rather precarious suspension bridges. The planks of wood that you step on have seen better days and when you reach the center of the bridge it starts twisting and turning in all kinds of fun directions! One of the Canadians was very scared of heights, and not at all pleased. You can almost see the concentration in my stance...


Here we are at the first and highest summit of the hike. The guides said we were one of the fastest groups to get up that hill. I believe it the way my head and lungs and heart were pounding by the time we got up there!
See the river way down there? That's the one we crossed.


And a look at one of the many vegetable gardens we passed along the way. Cabbage or lettuce in the foreground, and I think persimmon trees in the background.


Today we did our usual venturing out on motorbikes and exploring the back roads (this must get boring to read about us doing the same thing in every town we go to....). We were able to get real close to some of the vegetable fields and gave a couple hitchiking boys a ride home from school. The houses here are more frequently made of wood rather than the concrete that we are used to seeing. On the way home today we got caught in a bit of a rainstorm and had to wait it out in a friendly man's house/gas station/tire repair shop. The rain sure did bring a drop in the temperature, however, and now I can say that yes, we are in the cooler climates of Dalat.
Here are some images from our ride today:
A typical home.


A small lake we found at the end of a dirt road. Boys were swimming naked behind us, and the sun was putting on a show with her rays splitting through the clouds. And a little bit of map studying while we're here:


Tomorrow we do another guided trip. This time on mountain bikes all the way to the coast and our next destination of Mui Ne. One of those downhill-all-the-way kind of rides. We've had real exercise 2 of the last 3 days, so we thought downhill was appropriate (wouldn't want to rush into this fitness thing...).

Foreigner Hardships

Just a few examples of some of the more frustrating things we have to deal with in Vietna, that I thought would be fun to share. The theme being: Demands for More Money, Just Because we're Travelers.

Situation 1:
After somewhat splurging on our hotel in Hoi An, we wanted to save a bit of money and take the local bus up to Danang (where the train station is), rather than spend the $10 USD for a taxi. We researched it ahead of time, and found that the rate for a one way fare to Danang is 7,000 dong (about 50 cents). So we show up the next morning and the lady on the bus says, 30,000 dong per person. We say, 'no way, we know it's only 7,000, but we'll give you 10,000 each). She laughs, and says, OK, 20,000 each. That's the price. We argue some more and walk away steaming, but she clearly doesn't care and won't let us on the bus unless we pay the higher price. She even says outright, 'Vietnamese, 10,000, foreigner, 20,000'. I try to ask her why, and suddenly her English gets very poor. I know we're not talking about a lot of money here, but sometimes the principle of the matter is more frustrating than the money lost. It is also amazing how nice she suddenly became after we paid and borded the bus.

Situation 2:
Today we are in Nha Trang, and with sore backs and shoulders from our 10 hour train ride yesterday, we decided to get a massage. We walked into a nice, professional shop and were pleasantly surprised with the reasonable rates. We requested a Swedish massage as neither of us were in the mood to get walked on, or get our hips pulled out of their sockets. The massage was fine. A bit mechanical, and somewhat rushed, but you get what you pay for, right? The thing that got us, was that as we finished they made us fill out a receipt for their tip (we had already paid the base rate at the front desk). Tipping is not the norm here, and since it was a less than spectacular massage, we weren't even going to tip. Then when we offer 25,000 dong each, they have the nerve to tell us that it is not enough, and everyone else gives them 50,000! We stuck to the 25,000 and left.

Situation 3:
Driving motorbikes to Danang from Hoi An, on a road that is under complete construction. A large group of small boys spies us and comes rushing towards us yelling, 'Hello, hello, hello!". We're on a dirt trail basically, and are forced to stop as they are surrounding us. We think it's cute, and of course assume they just want to talk to us and maybe ask for a coin (since that's what they all do). But when they started repeatedly turning off our motorbikes and demanding, money, and hitting Keith, it wasn't so funny anymore. They were small, so the hits, were more like pats, but again, the principle. It took some loud voices on our part to finally get them to leave without running them over.

Trying not to be too negative here, there are of course nice things that happen too, it's just that you find yourself remembering the bad more clearly. For example: genuine smiles, waves and pats on the back or arm from random adults, the kind gentleman that led us to the train station, or the cute woman on the train who clearly wanted so badly to talk to us, but didn't try because of language, and instead just kept borrowing our books and maps and smiling at us.