Case in point:

1) Last summer I’d planned on going to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom near SF. Sadly, they closed for the season the week I’d arrived in town.

2) The coasters weren’t running when Jody and I went to Tokyo Dome (LaQua) in February. Same when we went to Dam Sen Park in Saigon.

3) I was rained out of Happy Valley Shanghai twice. Well, I could have gone, but the coasters weren’t running.

4) Nagashima Spaland, outside of Nagoya, was going to cost me about 150$ after train tickets. I did manage to find a bus tour for about 70, but I had to book it 3 days in advance, and the one day I could have gone it was raining. So much for the “Cedar Point of Japan”.

5) I looked into the Osaka area parks mentioned on one of the roller coaster sites. 4 had closed down, and the others only had 1 or 2 coasters, and they were they kiddie/spinny/wildmouse kind.

*Sigh*. I’m really hoping I make it to Fuji-Q tomorrow.

(I’m lazy and don’t feel like hyper linking. Check out rcdb.com or coastergallery.com for pics)

We then discovered that because of the Vietnamese holiday, the trains we wanted to take were all sold out. We managed to get tickets on a train that was leaving in an hour, that was getting in around 5am. Since the alternative was finding a place to stay in Hanoi and taking a later day train, we opted for the early-arriving train. When we got to our destination we were still asleep, the train people had to wake us up and kick us off the train. It was about 5:30, still dark out. We got on a bus that drove up to the village of Sapa, about an hour and half away. We waited in the station’s parking lot until the bus was over-full with passengers and their bags, and off we went.

Sadly, the deal we got on a hotel room in Ca Bat would not repeat itself. While the day we arrived wasn’t a holiday and we could have a room for 10$, the next day would cost us 60$. After looking at a few places, we managed to negotiate a deal with a place that was kind of a hostel, kind of a guest house. We could have a quad room for 15$ each, but we were willing to share, and if more people joined us in our room the price would drop to 10$ each.

We walked around the city some. The local women, dressed in their traditional clothing, would follow us down the street, trying to sell us things. After a while, I started to walk from one side of the street to the other, around parked cars, just to see if they’d continue. And they did. One pair of women followed us from the “centre” of town to our guesthouse, a good 10 minute walk away, and stayed there for a good 15 minutes. They would ask us where we were from. I would say Japan and they’d back off somewhat.

Can you tell I was starting to get tired of the “where you from?” routine?

We walked to Cat Cat village just outside Sapa. The walk down is very touristy and had a lot of women selling clothes and trinkets. We passed by a waterfall and tried to find the path along the river that led towards another village but couldn’t find it. We walked over to the next village over, Sin Chai. Must less touristy and the locals seemed very curious about us. Some people were trying to invite us into their homes to smoke opium, but we declined. Jody was trying to find the path that led up Mount Fansipan, Vietnam’s highest mountain, but was unsuccessful.

The next day was grey and rainy. Jody had his own agenda for the day so I ended up chilling out at the guesthouse. I did take a walk around the markets and the town’s main square. There were so many tourists and colourfully dressed locals. The festival would be going on for a few more days, but we had our next destination ahead – China!

(We were in Sapa April 29-30)

I turned around and told him to watch his fucking mouth. He immediately got defensive. Then I said, in Hebrew “What, do you think other people here don’t understand Hebrew?” He mumbled something and went back to his friends. A few minutes later he came back and mumbled an apology. I had a few choice words that I was ready to say (like he’s only sorry I could understand what he said), but I figured a youth hostel wasn’t the best place for that. I thanked him, then turned away. He asked me, in Hebrew, where I learned the language. In school, when I was younger, I answered him, also in Hebrew.

Srsly, don’t say shitty things about other people in any language. You never know who’s listening.

We found a place pretty quickly along the main road. Many places were offering room in the 8-15$ range, some with dazzling views. Our room was on the 5th floor with an ocean view. There was no elevator, no A/C, but Cat Ba wasn’t as hot as southern Vietnam, and sometimes the hot water didn’t work. But seriously, for 6$ a night (3 each), it was hard to complain.

The next 2 days we climbed. I managed to climb most of a 6b (about 5.10b) and finished a few 6a’s. The one climb I lead was late in the day, and by the time I was done it was dark and I shaking so bad I couldn’t even make my anchor. Fortunately Jody was able to climb up and clean the rock quickly. For lunch both days the people who lived just below the crag made us this HUGE delicious meal. It was hard to get up and climb afterwards, so we’d spend some quality time in the hammocks nearby before heading back out.

The 3rd day wasn’t good. I was still kinda shaky from the day before. In addition to the lead climbing I’d manage to damage the motorbike we rented, which wasn’t doing anything good for my self esteem. Jody didn’t wake up in the happiest of moods either. Plus it was cold and rainy. We took a walk to the nearby beaches, which were tranquil and deserted. I was really hoping to go swimming in the ocean with Jody, clearly that wasn’t going to happen. Jody then left for the crag for the roast goat they were having, and I stayed in our room, feeling tired and needing a break.

The next day greeted us with more cold and rain. We had opted to take a boat ride out around the islands, so it worked out nicely for a non-climbing day. We had 2 other couples with us. We did some kayaking around the coves and islands when the rain didn’t keep us hiding in the boat. For dinner that night the 6 of us headed to the Green Mango, one of the best (and most expensive) restaurants in town. The food was very, very good. There was a resident kitten that came up to visit us a few times

Our final full day was sunny. Andy and Krystal weren’t feeling up to climbing, so it was just the 2 of us. Many of the other climbers in town had gone deep water soloing, but I wasn’t interested. We ended up being the only people at the crag that day. I did another lead climb and felt a lot better about my leading abilities. Note to self – only lead very easy routes to get my confidence up. There’s no point in trying to lead a 5.9 if all I’m going to do afterwards is feel shitty that I didn’t make it up.

As much as we didn’t want to leave, after 5 full days we were heading back to Hanoi to catch a train to out final Vietnamese destination, Sapa.

(We were in Cat Ba April 22-28)

How do I feel?

Right now I’m sad. It’s funny, 2 weeks ago I was really excited to come home, now I’m wishing I’d spend my time more effectively the last 2 weeks. Or done things differently. I’ve been looking at the photos of Vietnam and wondering why I didn’t just leave China when I was feeling like it was enough. Gone to Korea or Indonesia or Nepal, or even back to Thailand or Vietnam? Now I can’t really change my plans, and who knows when I’m coming back to this area?

Got to see Jody for 1 day while he was between legs of his journey (the Lhasa-Kathmandu bike trip and the Trans-Siberian Railway trip). It made me happy to see him but at the same time I know it’s going to be a while until we get to spend a lot of time together again.

Sigh. Maybe I’ll change my ferry to a flight so I can get to Japan a day or 2 earlier.

(An afterthought – I think my sugars are low. I’ve not had much to eat today)

(written June 23rd, somewhere between Beijing and Shanghai)

We couldn’t actually get a room for a while. Our train arrived around 6, before any guesthouses were able to take people. So we got some Pho and hung out around one area that said they had cheap (6$) rooms, but not yet. After a few hours of waiting we were getting different stories from different places as to when the cheap rooms would be ready (it was always “in an hour”), so we finally said fuck it and chose the place with the best price/location/not an absolute dump ratio.

We set out to explore Hanoi. We were staying in the French quarter, which has all these narrow twisty streets. In a way it reminded me of Paris, but not quite. We noticed quickly that there seemed to be streets that only sold one thing, such as the street that only sold toys, the one that sells herbal medicines, fabric, bamboo, electronic, etc. And of course, there are motos everywhere. At this point, we were able to navigate the moto traffic and cross streets with (too much) fear of getting hit.

We went to visit Ho Chi Mihn’s mausoleum, but sadly we missed the viewing time. We walked around looking for a lake that had a downed B52, but ended up being directed to the B52 museum, which was closed. There was lots of stuff just outside the museum, so it wasn’t a total loss. We then made our way to the Temple of Literature. For lunch went to KOTO, a restaurant dedicated to training former street youth for work in high end restaurants and hotels. We then headed north-east to Hoan Kiem Lake and walked around there, having some ice cream along the way, We topped off the afternoon with watching the water puppets show. That was really cool. The “floor” is actually a metre-deep pool of water. The puppeteers are behind a screen and scenery at the back of the stage, the puppets are controlled by underwater cables and rods. The puppets “enter” and “exit” by 2 top-hinged flaps (like a cat door) at the back of the stage.

The next morning we got up early and went to see Uncle Ho, that’s what they call Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam. We waited in a long line and went through multiple security and bag checks. No cameras are allowed in the mausoleum. Ho Chi Minh’s body is embalmed in a glass sarcophagus, and it’s really creepy to see. You’re ushered in and out really quickly, so you really only get a glimpse of him. Then we headed to the Hoa Lo Prison, which had been known as the “Hanoi Hilton”. It was a prison originally established by the French in the late 1800′s. Years later, many American POW’s were imprisoned here during the Vietnam war, including Sen. John McCain. There was an old guillotine For the rest of the day, we just wandered around, mostly in the Old Quarter. So many interesting alleys. I could have spend another just exploring them, but we were eager to get to our next destination, Cat Ba Island.

(We were in Hanoi April 20-21)

I’m now about 8 weeks behind in my blog, and 9-10 weeks behind in my photos. I’m hoping I’ll soon be about 6 weeks behind in each. Well, actually I’d like to not be behind at all, but that might take a while. I plan on taking it easy for a while and staying in the same place. I’ve been in Harbin for 5 days, which wasn’t originally the plan but it’s been a nice change from city hopping.

Meanwhile, enjoy the photos!

After several minutes of walking up and down the same street, and ending getting a ride with the a moto taxi, I arrived at the guesthouse. Almost immediately after I arrive Jody suggested we buy our overnight train tickets to Hanoi. After thinking about it for a few minutes I agreed. So we walked to the train station, which was a nice enough walk along the river. On the way back there was a bunch of teenagers who were having an end-of-term party and gave us a balloon I was going to release it off the side of the bridge, but I dropped it off the riverbank path and it popped before going anywhere useful.

One thing I’ve yet to mention about Vietnam is the testimonials book. The restaurant owner from Hoi An had a book of all these people who’d come to his village and said what a wonderful place it was. Many motorcycle tour operators have these too, testimonials from people who’d taken one or several-day tours with individual drivers. One particular cafe in Hue, the aptly-named Cafe on Thu Wheels, takes it one step further, the entire place is covered with testimonials, on the walls, ceilings, etc. We took a tour with them as many of Hue’s landmarks are far from each other. We saw a covered Chinese bridge way out in the countryside and a museum of farm tools, then headed through farmland. On the way we passed a river full of ducks). We also saw an old WWII bunker used in Vietnam war and King Tu Duc’s mausoleum which had some really nice grounds around it. After that we rode to Thien Mu pagoda, a symbol of Hue. The car driven by Thích Quảng Đức, who burned himself to death in his car in Saigon to protest of the repressive government, also remains here. Finally, we saw the Citadel in the heart of Hue, which was mostly destroyed during WWII. It was pretty neat to walk around it, even if much of it was being reconstructed.

Other than that…not much. Hue was a nice city to visit, but not the kind of place I’d want to spend a lot of time in. Fortunately, the next stop was Hanoi, which was my favourite city in Vietnam.

(I was in Hue April 17-19)

I’m in Harbin, and it’s not quite as awesome as I hoped

This makes me sad.

I come home in a bit more than 3 weeks, and right now, I’m really looking forward to it.

The cab let us off somewhere in the middle of Hoi An, at the edge of the pedestrian-only section. Fortunately half a block up the road was an internet cafe with a phone. We contacted our travel mates and it turned out we were staying pretty close to each other. We walked to our respective guesthouse and said “bye for now, maybe I’ll see you later” to each other. I got settled in the room, cleaned up and waited for Jody to come by.

Jody came in, sunburned from his morning at the beach and we compared notes about our trip up. I told him about the kids playing Look A Foreigner! with me, and he told me about the girl he’d shared a compartment with, who’d been to India and now wanted to dye her blond hair brown. He also said he was ready to move on to Hue the next day. I told him I probably wouldn’t be, since I’d just gotten to town and knew I’d want to spend at least 2 days in Hoi An. I was still tired from my long train ride, so I relaxed and walked around for the rest of the afternoon, while Jody took the bike he rented and rode off to one of he nearby island-villages. That evening we had a great meal near the water and had “fresh beer”, one of the cheapest in the world, at 5000 dong (about 30 cents) a glass. The owner of the restaurant was trying to get us to come out to his village the next day, but we declined. We wandered more around the city, looking at the tailor shops. Hoi An is *the* place to go in Vietnam to get clothes made. Since the shorts I’d brought on the trip were getting ratty and too big (I was going to toss them at the end of the trip in any case), I poked my head in a few places.

The next day after choosing a place to get pants (1 pair zip off cargos and 1 pair capris with a dragon on the leg), I rented a bicycle and rode to the beach. The first one I went to, An Bang was beautiful and nearly deserted. However, I’d forgotten to bring my bathing suit and had all my valuables on me, so after a while I got back on my bike, stopped off at the guesthouse and rode to the much busier Cua Dai beach. Funny enough, I ran into Libby there, along with her friend and some people they’d met. I spent the rest of the day and most of the evening with them.

For my last day in Hoi An I wandered around the streets of the old town. The entire old town area is considered a historical site, and within this are over 20 museums and landmarks. Jody and I had stopped by a few the day before, and I saw a couple more the next day.

Next up – Hue

(I was in Hoi An April 15-17)