Singapore - By Brian

We spent two days in Singapore before visiting Borneo, and two days after coming back. We visited the Botanical Gardens and the National Orchid Garden, which is absolutely amazing. They have 1000 species of orchids and another 2000 hybrids. We also visited the bird park which is bird overload! Saw the shoebill we didn't see in Uganda. Later that night we went to the night safari at the Singapore Zoo. It's basically a zoo, but for nocturnal animals; very cool. And we ate some more good food.

Big thanks to James and Kari for hosting us in Singapore. And to Ronny and Anie for helping us with logistics.

Silly photo a the night safari

World's highest man-made waterfall. It's in one of the aviaries at the bird park.

I have a buddy. He just hopped on as I was walking through an aviary.

Guess where.

One of the many, many spots at the orchid garden.

Hybrid developed at the National Orchid Garden.

HUGE!

This is what $40 USD in drinks looks like. The Singapore Sling was invented at the Long Bar at the Raffles hotel in, you guessed it, Singapore. Had to do it. Got a bunch of free peanuts and live music out of the deal. So it wasn't as painful.

South Vietnam (Hue, Hoi An, Siagon) - By Brian

After Hanoi, we spent a couple of days in Hue. We spent a day riding around on the back of motorbikes touring the beautiful countryside and seeing some of the great sites around the area. Two of these that were really cool were the tomb of emperor Tu Duc. There are several tombs around Hue, but this one is suppose to be the biggest and grandest. It was completed before his death in 1883 and must be at least 100 acres. There are some 50 buildings, a couple lakes, streams, gardens, you name it. A bit lavish.

For those of you that are my age, or really hip older folks, have you ever looked at the Rage Against the Machine album cover with the man on fire and wondered if it was real? It was, and we visited the monastery were that monk lived prior to driving to Saigon on June 11, 1963. They have the car that he drove to Saigon that day. There is also a large tomb were he is buried. His name was Thich Quang Duc and he was protesting the government's repression of Buddhists.

We then made our way to Hoi An for three days of wondering around and eating some of the best food I've ever had. Hoi An is a great town, but we really didn't do a whole lot. We just relaxed and ate. And were very happy with that.

Then on to Saigon. We made the obligatory stop at the War Remembrance Museum. To say it's a bit one sided would be an understatement. The entire first floor was all about all the awful things the US did during the war (I am not saying we didn't do bad things, but we weren't the only ones). It's really so bad that it discredits the information. Nevertheless, it was interesting to see it from a different perspective. Later that night we had a great conversation with a local woman that works for the UN Development Program in Saigon. Just sitting on the sidewalk on plastic chairs drinking beer and talking world policy, stereotypes, etc. That was the best part of the visit to Saigon.

No idea who these kids were. They came into the store in Hoi An and asked to take a picture with us. It wasn't a challenge to the kid that came and talked to us, I asked. Only thing I can think is that they though we were famous. It was pretty strange.

Sticky rice vendor. Not too bad, not the best.

Leafy dragon, Saigon.

War Remembrance Museum

Pho. Beef flavored broth with noodles and beef. Real tasty.

Thought this sign in the War Museum was a bit out of place.

Hoi An

Hoi An

Thich Quang Duc's car. Over the car and in the windshield you can see the famous photo.

Thich Quang Duc's tomb

Crossing a bridge in Hue on the back of a motorbike. A few seconds after this, when I wasn't looking ahead, but behind, my driver locked 'em up and I ended up munching his hair. All was good.

Tu Duc's tomb

Tu Duc's tomb

Tu Duc's tomb

Herding ducks to market.

North Vietnam (Hanoi and Halong Bay) - By Brian

When we elected to extend our trip in Nepal, we also decided to visit Vietnam, which wasn't on our original itinerary. Marisa had visited Vietnam when she traveled SE Asia back in 2001, but I had never been there and it's always been high on my list of places to visit. We planned to spend 10 days there, and work our way from Hanoi in the north down to Saigon in the south.

We arrived in Hanoi on a Lao Airways plane from Luang Prabang. After sorting our way through immigration, grabbing our bags and getting some dong (yup, that's what they call their money) from the ATM we hopped in a taxi with another couple and a single woman. When we arrived at our destination I had concluded that we'd owe 120,000 dong (17,800 dong to the dollar) and I grabbed three "50,000" dong bills. When we started handing our driver the money he realized my error in grabbing three 500,000 dong bills and snapped them up. I didn't realize this till later. My fault, but I was still pretty POed he made off with about $80.

We had heard and read that Vietnam, but Hanoi in particular, has many scams. Clearly we had found out the hard way. This, however, would be a valuable lesson. The next morning we took a cyclo (a cycle rickshaw where you ride in front of the driver) to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. After negotiating a good price, which involved walking away several times, our driver tried to have us get out and "walk just one minute over there". We weren't falling for it. He got a bit closer and tried it again. I said great, but I am not paying till I am there. So I walked around the corner to find out the Mausoleum was about 4 blocks away. Back in the cyclo, our driver tried to explain by saying he thought we said "mu-see-um, not ma-soo-lee-um". OK, buddy! Finally we got there.

That evening we had dinner at a restaurant called Highway 4. It's in all the guide books, has 4 locations, nice menus, etc. When we asked for our bill we were presented with a handwritten bill. This isn't that strange, but then I noticed the prices were off. They were all inflated. Our seemingly friendly waiters had padded the bill. When we called them out on it they miraculously presented a printed bill with the right prices. Amazing! They also had tried this on the table next to us. So within about 30 hours we had three scams pulled on us. Great intro.

At this point you are likely thinking "jeez, I am never going to Vietnam"; think again partner. These three instances aside, we had a brilliant time in Vietnam. I was quite bummed to be leaving after 10 days, will definitely go back, and would highly recommend it to anyone that wants to visit SE Asia.

On to the goods bits...

First off, the food. It's amazing. While we were in Hanoi we enjoyed the single best food item of the trip: roll your own fresh summer rolls with hot caramelized beef, noodles, fresh mint, cilantro, basil, pineapple and a spicy fish sauce. Could have eaten about a hundred of these. Good thing you had to do some work to eat them versus just stuffing your face.

On a side note, just in case you are heading out for some Asian food, fresh rolls are Vietnamese, not Thai. You can't find fresh rolls in Thailand, so you shouldn't expect them in a Thai restaurant at home. Spring rolls are always fried, summer rolls are always fresh.

Also had dinner at a school were they teach poor youth from Vietnam how to cook and serve in restaurants. All the food is prepared and served by students. I had a fantastic duck in tamarind sauce here. Yum! More on the food in futures posts.

As I mentioned we visited Ho Chi Minh; well preserved and resting a la Lenin in his very communist looking Mausoleum. The funny part about this is that he wanted to be cremated and have his ashes spread about the country. To visit HCM you have to cue for about 45 min, go through security, and then quietly walk past his body resting in a glass box inside a huge granite room. Now, you might think this sounds strange. Well, it is, but I have to say I thought it was pretty cool. Don't know why, just did.

We also visited the HCM museum were they point out many highlights from HCM's life. Not surprisingly the perspective is a bit one sided and fails to mention several key things. Like, when and why did his name change to HCM? Or how did he die?

After two days in Hanoi we headed up to Halong Bay for an overnight cruise on a boat. Halong Bay is a large area of the sea that is dotted with 1,969 limestone islands. It's a pretty spectacular place even if we didn't have the best weather. We did a little sea kayaking and visited a huge cave on one of the islands.

We then made our way back to Hanoi, spent the following day strolling around the city and the jumped an overnight train to Hue.

Ho Chi Minh mausoleum where "The glorious leader" rests in peace

Water puppet show in Hanoi with traditional musicians; this is a famous art form in Vietnam and well worth a look (even for me)

Viewpoint overlooking Halong Bay - we didn't exactly have sunny weather

A typical "junk" boat; ours was very similar to this

Views inside the "Amazing Cave" in Halong Bay; for perspective, note the two people in the right side of the picture

The cave was ENORMOUS

Just outside the cave

Traffic in Hanoi includes bicycles, motorbikes carrying families, and cars...when you cross the street you just keep a constant speed and hope nobody hits you

Chaing Mai Songkron - by Brian

We had heard from several sources that if you are in Thailand during Songkron, around mid April, you should try to make it to Chiang Mai, in the north. Songkron celebrates Thai New Year. It also happens to occur around the beginning of the monsoon season. And it's wicked hot; generally around 95-100 and dripping wet humid. So, what better way to celebrate the New Year and coming monsoon than with a water fight. Now we are not just talking about a few squirt guns and a couple of random hoses. No, we're talking all out, no holds barred water fight. And everyone participates. I mean everyone, tens of thousands.

We arrived in Chaing Mai one day before Songkron was suppose to begin. Figured we'd rent a motorbike and head out to the botanical gardens outside the city. On the way there we found out some folks (i.e., kids) like to get an early start on the festivities. By the time we made it to the gardens we were soaked. Kids of all ages stand by the side of the road and chuck buckets of water at each victim that drives by. And who can blame them. If I had a free pass to hurl water at people driving down my street when I was 10, damn right I would have.

The following three days we joined the party, as there was no way to go outside the hotel without getting nailed with water. The first day we rented a tuk-tuk (see pic below) and drove around tossing ice water on people. Ya, you read that right...ice water. We had a 30 gallon garbage bin fill of water and a big block of ice. Let me tell you the look of shock you get from people when you toss freezing cold water on them is priceless. My favorite moment was when I hopped out of the tuk-tuk and snuck up behind an 8 (or so) year old boy, dumping a bucket of ice water down his back. The look on his face was fantastic!

Day 2 and 3 was more of the same with a few beers and a site or two tossed in.

If you ever have the chance to visit Thailand during Songkron, do it. They celebrate all over the country but Chaing Mai is the epicenter. I guarantee you will love it.

Typical scene. People just take over the streets. Folks drive around in trucks with waterfighters in the back. Chaos.

These three kids waited outside the restaurant we ate lunch at. They pounced on any and all. I got into an all out battle with them when we finished lunch. Not sure who won...

And some even wear costumes.

There is a parade. Yeah!

Marisa in the tuk-tuk, leaning on the bucket of ice water. We filled that thing up 4 times in a couple hours.

Nepal Part 3 - Gokyo Trek - By Brian

Going into our RTW trip we had discussed what we were going to do in Nepal several times. We both thought the idea of trekking to Everest base camp sounded really good. But, each time we talked about it we thought it would be too expensive and take too much time. Well after arriving in Nepal and finishing our trek in the Annapura region we started talking about Everest again. We had learned, contrary to prior wisdom, that you don't need a guide to trek in Nepal. You don't need tents and you don't need porters. And frankly, you really don't even need a map.

So we now knew that we could afford the trek to Everest, but we didn't want to cut out any future part of our trip such that we could make it back home on time. At the same time we were thinking it would be nice to spend some more time in SE Asia. After a couple of days of deliberation while visiting temples in and around Kathmandu we pulled the trigger and blew off the old itinerary. Now all we needed to do was...push out our departure from Kathmandu, buy plane tickets to Lukla (the start of the trek), get our Nepal visas extended, pick-up some down coats (we sent ours home after Kili), and hope our parents are keen to keep the critters for another month! Easy.

Oh, and I should mention that we elected not to trek to Everest base camp. There are two treks that get you views of Everest and the surrounding mountains: Everest base camp and Gokyo. The former is more well known, and had we not been in Nepal and talked to many guides on our Annapurna trek, that would have been the one we'd have done. The problem with base camp is there is no view of Everest. Basically you go there to say you have been there, unless you actually have a desire to see it. There is, however, a great view point above base camp called Kala Patthar. This peak offers the best views of Everest, but not much else. Gokyo, on the other hand, is a small village nestled on the shore of a lake one valley to the west of base camp. There is a view point called Gokyo Ri high above the village that offers a great view of Everest, but also offers a 360 degree panoramic of the Himalaya and four 8000 meter peaks. Every guide we talked to said Gokyo was the better trek. So, that's what we elected to do.

Our trek started with an early morning flight to Lukla, a 7 day hike from Gokyo. Lukla is a small village that has the only airport in the Everest region. It's a 7 day hike to Lukla from the nearest road. Since it's at 2800 meters the weather can be fickle. As such flights get canceled all the time, and we had heard that not a single flight went out the prior day. So, as we waited in the packed terminal we were hoping for the best. While we were waiting we met an Australian couple that would figure prominently into the rest of our trek. Finally we got the call and headed out to the tarmac to board the 18 seat prop plane.

Now, just because we're on the plane doesn't mean we are going to get to Lukla. The planes often leave from Kathmandu only to be waved off when they get to Lukla; the weather there can change dramatically during the course of the 30 min flight. For those of you that might have landed in complete fog at your local international airport, I can assure you, you want 100% visibility when you come into Lukla.

We took off, with a clear view out the front of the plane (no cockpit door on this sucker). We cruised along for about 20 min before the mountains started coming up on both sides of the plane. As we flew through the valley up to Lukla we started to get bumped around a bit. Then bumped around a lot. Finally we started to descend. Out the front of the front of the plane I could see the runway...a short strip of tarmac running up hill from about a thousand foot cliff. To say this landing leaves little room of error is a huge understatement. As we came in it looked as though we were going to smash right into the ground. Then just before the runway filled up the whole front window the pilot brought up the nose, cut the power and plopped that tin can down. We rolled uphill to the small loading area at the end of the runway and hopped out of the plane. After we gathered our bags we set off down the trail.

As I mentioned, Lukla is about a 7 day hike from the closest road. Therefore, everything in the town and everything beyond was brought in by human or yak. And I mean everything: food, beer, TVs, beds, dishes, lumber, toilets, etc. It's really pretty amazing, but that's how these people have lived for hundreds of years. And when I say these people, I am speaking of the Sherpa people, who are native to the Everest region. When you hear the term Sherpa used to refer to a porter, it's a lot like the how all cotton swaps or face tissue are called Q-tips or Kleenex.

As we set off down the trail I elected to play the roll of porter. Marisa had hurt her ankle on the Annapurna trek and it was better she didn't carry any weight. We had put all our gear in my backpack and I didn't think it was all that heavy. Plus we'd save $10 per day versus hiring a porter. Mostly though I thought I was tough enough. Nope.

After two days of hiking with all our gear and a stomach bug I picked up in Kathmandu, I finally pulled the plug and we hired a porter for the rest of the trip. That left me with only the stomach bug to deal with. Thankfully we ran into the Australian couple again and they fixed up me and Marisa (who had somehow contracted the bug too) with some Cipro. Lifesavers! In addition to dealing us dope, Adam and Keira followed us (or we followed them) for the next six days. We had a great time with them. So much so that their guide seemed to adopt us as his step clients.

Each day on the trail kept bringing new and more fantastic views. And each day brought cooler temps. During the day it could be quite warm if the sun was out, or it could be raining, foggy, snowing or anything in between...we had it all. At night, the temps were always below freezing; and the higher we went the colder it got. The only bummer about the cold was the lack of heat. There was no heat in the bedrooms, halls, bathrooms, etc. There was, however, heat in the lodge dining room(s) at night. This heat came compliments of yak shit. Since much of the area is above tree line, yaks save the day, or night as it were.

After seven days of hiking we finally made it to our destination, Gokyo. Gokyo is positioned on a large lake surrounded by towering jagged snow covered peaks. The following morning we got up at 5am to hike the final 600 meters up to Gokyo Ri. At 5360 meters (17,585 feet) Gokyo Ri isn't as high as Kilimanjaro, but it's a hell of a lot steeper. After a couple of hours laboring up to the top, despite the clouds threatening to shut out the view, we made the summit and were greeted with spectacular views in every direction. We stayed up there for about an hour and the views kept getting better. When we left we had perfect views of all four 8000 meter peaks, the massive glacier down below and everything in between. Epic in every way.

Sadly we had to come down from Gokyo and make our way back down to Lukla over the next three days. Everything went to plan, including our flight which took off on time. The flight out of Lukla was even better than the flight in. After unloading and reloading the plane in about 10 min the pilots taxied out to the top of the runway/hill. They powered the props all the way up and then let off the brakes. The plane rolled down the hill and just before the runway dropped off the cliff you take flight. So cool!

We arrived back in Kathmandu and managed to change our flight to Bangkok such that we were on a lovely Thai Airways plane only a few hours later. After 10 days of being cold we were thrilled by the prospect of the heat in Thailand.

Marisa boarding the plane for Lukla

Yaks on parade

Looking down on Namche Bazaar

Part way up Gokyo Ri

On top of Gokyo Ri, Marisa with Cho Oyu (8201 meters) behind her

The big dog, Everest (8848 meters), Lhotse (8516 meters) is in the back to the right, Nupste (7879 meters) in front to the right

Savoring the moment

2009 Xmas card?

Adam, Keira, Marisa and Brian

Ngozumpa Glacier is the large gray band in the middle, this is the largest glacier in Nepal

The village of Gokyo from Gokyo Ri

Mountain cottage next to the stream (between Machemba and Dole)

Keira and Adam going down endless staircases with their guide, Binod, and porter. These staircases are also what we refer to as the "Nepali mountain switchback".

A teashop stop along the trail

Yaks supplying Everest base camp expeditions