Vietnam and into Cambodia!

Vietnam was a country on the top of our list, and we've just finished an amazing month in the country. We started in the north, landing in Hanoi. There are some sights to see there, but mostly it's all about the food (the number one attraction is probably seeing Ho Chi Minh himself, preserved at the mausoleum-- sadly, he was in Russia at the time we were there). Mostly we spent our days wondering around the streets and eating from as many restaurants recommended by lonely planet as possible. The food was good, there's a lot more diversity -- but in general the stuff they offer at home is just as good. After about a week or so of hanging out in Hanoi and enjoying the Old Quarter, we headed south to the town if Ninh Binh. One thing we didn't realize before we arrived was how huge the country was. Originally we had planned to go into Northern Vietnam as it looks incredibly beautiful, but found out it would involve at least 6 hours on a bus and a lot more time than we had anticipated to really explore and do it justice. Thus, we decided to just head south to Ninh Binh (skipping even famed Halong Bay). In the end Ninh Binh was a beautiful alternative, think Halong Bay on a river instead of the ocean. We took a 2 hour boat ride through the canyons there, surrounded by green limestone karats, and weaving in and our of numerous caves. You really had to be aware of your surroundings, or else your head would have been pegged by one of the many stalactites. It was really beautiful and one of the most special experiences of the trip. From Ninh Binh we hesitantly jumped on our first overnight bus down to the town of Hue. We'd heard lots of horror stories about these buses - crazy, drugged drivers crashing, luggage stolen, being packed in like sardines, being dropped off in the middle of nowhere, etc. Our ride was surprisingly nice! Much better than any Greyhound, that's for sure. You have your own little seat/capsule that leans back and lots of leg room to sleep. With the aircon and wifi, it makes for a comfy ride. We arrived in Hue about 12 hours later, were happy to find our bags, and went on our way. The town of Hue didn't really have too much to offer. The big draw is the Citadel, which houses a lot of the old buildings from the ancient ruling class. Up until recently it was pretty neglected, not taken care of, until they realized they could fix it up and tourists would pay to enter. We did a lot of just ranting bicycles there and exploring. Our guesthouse, Hue Boutique Hotel, was amazing though and the ladies really went out of their way, especially considering our $7/night room. From there we headed to Hoi An, many peoples favorite area if Vietnam. The town has an old feel, similar to Hanoi's Old Quarter. This is the picturesque town you often see, complete with old streets filled with red lanterns. We had a mission there, as Paul was intent on gettibg a custom suit made. The whole process was quite interesting, you pick out your fabric, your lining, buttons -- everything! It really is crazy to see how quickly they can put together the shell of your suit, sane day in some cases. After a bad start -- a tailor who didn't really listen nor seem to really understand a modern slim fit -- he ended up ditching the first suit and getting a refund. Each fitting seemed like such a fight to try and get them to understand what he wanted. He'd done a lot of research into tailors and reviews before arriving, but once he had already started the process we were walking by a shop whose samples really impressed up --- long story short the first suit was a bust, but he ended up with two amazing suits from the tailor we just happened to pass by, Oche. Each fitting went so smoothly, and they were so critical of their own work-- but stopping until it was perfect. If anyone wants a custom suit, I'd highly recommend them as you can send in your measurements and work with them online. We spent a total if 6 days in Hoi An, dealing with the suits, enjoying the town and eating lots of banh mi. The first day we went to a spot that we loved, and later found our it was the same banh mi place Anthony Boursin visited -- so refreshing to see a place touched by that show that is still doing quality food without inflating their prices! I've never been so close to thinking I've found the best of something I the world as I was with that banh mi -- we ate there everyday (sometimes multiple times) and never got sick of it! Close to Hoi An we visited the Marble Mountains. Very cool place -- I was drawn to it as lonely planet described one cave there which descends down into the earth, complete with creepy lighting and decor -- reminiscent of a Hieronymous Bosch painting - his depiction of hell in 'The Garden if Earthly Delights' had always fascinated me. I couldn't resist stepping into it in real life-- it was absurd and creepy and awesome. The Marble Mountains offer lots of spots and caves to explore -- one being a hold place, you descend down a flight of stairs down into the cave, and find yourself in a huge open space, being guarded by a huge stone Buddha at one end. To me, it was an amazing spot, with a very special feel. I wasn't expecting it and it made me realize how funny it is that some places are so hyped for whatever reason -- and then there's places like this which don't really seem to be talked about at all, but can easily be just as amazing. 6 days and 2 suits later, we left Hoi An and headed to Nha Trang, a beach/party town seemingly overrun by Russians. Apparently it's a vacation spot for them. It ended up that we would be here for my birthday, and we ended up hitting up the hot springs to celebrate. I've always wanted to try a mud bath and it was awesome. Luckily, being low season we had a little mud pool by ourselves to soak in. From there we moved on to an aromatherapy mineral bath, nice and relaxing to wash off all the renaming mud that we had let harden on us. We spent the whole day relaxing there, enjoying the mineral pool (it was at the mist perfect warm temperature to relax you, but not get you too hot) and enjoying drinks and snacks poolside -- sometimes the luxury you can get away with in Asia for such a little cost in insane! We had plans for dinner, but that spot ended up being closed -- instead we found a small Armenian cafe with lots on interesting little dishes to try, tapas style. I'm general, Vietnam feels very European lots of the time, which really makes it a special place and sets it apart from other countries in SE Asia. From there we headed to Dalat, Paul was looking forward to it the whole trip -- as it's a mountain town, in a totally different climate known for its cold temperatures. Indeed, we arrived early in the morning and it was cold and raining. We settled into one of the first pho places we passed on the way to our guesthouse and enjoyed a delicious, steaming bowl. After that we sat and had some coffee enjoying the cold weather and the rain coming down. Dalat has an awesome night market to explore, and just a nice feel in general. Very European once again. It was a nice place just to pass time. We ended up doing one hike to the highest peak there, Langbiang mountain. It is crazy as it starts off hiking through a nice pine forest, crisp atmosphere, just like at home --- then in transitions quickly into jungle and rainforest, with vines and mud and rain coming down on you. Really two different hikes -- you kind of have the nice, relaxing hike through the pine forest, and then move into more extreme, mud covered hiking. Both are fun, but I kind of miss my pine and redwood forests! Our next stop was Mui Ne, another beach town known for it's surfing and sand dunes. Unfortunately it wasn't quite surf season, so we embraced the sans dunes -- I got to sled down them which is something I've always wanted to do. Playing in the sAnd, running up and down the hills, and being totally encrusted really makes you feel like a little kid. Not to mention the dunes are incredibly beautiful, just another amazing landscape the country has to offer. Our last stop in Vietnam was Ho Chi Minh City/Saigon. Once again, one of our main focuses was food, Hcmc being known as one of the great eating cities of the world. The other highlight there was visiting the War Remnants Museum and seeing the devastating effects of the Vietnam (what they call the American) War. There is not much to say other than feeling frustrated and disappointed by your own government. The whole month I felt some guilt as an American in Vietnam -- many times we would tell people we were from Canada. War has many sides, people always make mistakes --- but the fact that this war went on so long, 17 yrs., seems really unacceptable. Many parts of the museum displayed the many American weapons utilized, and yet the Vietnamese were still able to be victorious, thanks to their ingenious underground tunnels and fighting techniques. It wax a nice end to our time in the country to really understand what had gone on there. From HCMC we headed to Cambodia by bus. The land crossing was stressful as it was our first one and we didn't know what to expect. Pretty much it included a lot of trusting your non English speaking/semi sketchy bus driver, giving him your passport and a lit of money for your visa and hoping everything went how it needed to go with no explanation from him as to what was going on. It was a lot of waiting in rooms, hoping you'd see your passport/bus again. I was stressed out, Paul's take was that everyone else had done the same thing so potentially we could revolt. All in all it went smoothly, we may have been overcharged $5, but I can live with that! Now we are in Phnom Penh. Cambodia is another country, similar to Indonesia, that I have no expectations of - I just don't know what to expect. I'm still confused by the food, it seems to be a mix if everything so far --- but the people are incredibly friendly and nice. It is amazing, especially once you factor the horrendous events of their not too distant past in. Today we visited the Killing Fields, and learned more about the Khmer Rouge genocide and everything that took place under Pol Pot. Walking around there, you still see bone fragments and clothing shreds on the ground, the depressions from the mass graves are still very present. It is heartbreaking, and really feels unbelievable that this all happened not too long ago. Yesterday, we met a friendly local, Song Hai, and ended up spending the day with him and his friend, a fellow Californian, Aron. At one point Song Hai (a former monk turned tuk-tuk driver) started telling us about some of the hardships in his family, all with a smile and laugh. Aron quickly added -- the thing about Cambodians us they will all always laugh and smile at you, but most if them have a really sad story. He also reminded us of the fact that 50% of the population is under 25, thanks to the Khmer Rouge. It really is quite amazing to see how the people have chosen to move on from such a dark past. They ate incredibly friendly, which can be seen in the amazing day we spent with Song Hai -- this was our second day in the country and we've never been welcomed in by the locals so fast. We took the tuk-tuk out to catch some Cambodian boxing, followed by beers and food with our new friends. I still have no idea what our time in Cambodia will bring, but after these three days I'm looking forward to it!

Korea

From PI we headed to Korea, our only planned detour from Southeast Asia. Arriving in Korea felt like such a luxury compared to Southeast Asia! The streets were clean, no trash to be seen, very little trash. Our first night we got in late and returned right to the jjimjilbang scene - naked Koreans again! Not to mention amazing spa facilities, the perfect stop to refresh and rest after a plane ride. The next day we had plans to meet Paul's brother, Michael, joining us from his own travels in Portugal. We headed to Itaewon for some craft beer, another luxury of Korea, and missed him due to his newly discovered punctuality and our still running on 'island time'. The next day we finally met up, did some exploring, checked out the amazing Gwangjang Market (stalls and stalls of delicious, made from scratch Korean food as far as you can see) and proceeded to eat and rink a bunch of Korean specialities for a few days until the real adventure started and we met the rest of Paul's family Gangnam, I was lucky to be able to accompany them on their Woo family tour of Korea, thanks to Paul's grandma. I had heard stories of their previous tour in Korea, but still wasn't quite prepared for everything that was to come. We met me at the COEX hotel, one of the fanciest hotels I've ever been in (much less stayed in) and everything continued from there. In addition to the posh places we stayed at (most recently Paul and I were staying in less than immaculate windowless cement boxes in PI) I had to get used to the schedule of the tour, which Paul assured me was a packed one. After our first day of luxury in Gangnam we were to get up (by 6, I believe) enjoy the amazing hotel brunch buffet and catch a flight to out first destination, Jeju Island, Korea's own little Hawaii. From Jeju the tour really started, we were whisked to coastal views, treks, museums, green tea and tangerine farms, acrobatic circuses (remember that Simpsons episode where Homer, I think, rides a motorcycle in a 360 loop in a metal ball at the fair? -- picture that with 5 Koreans simultaneously) and even a teddy bear museum. Just in case you wanted to see a lifesize Obama teddy bear ... We were led by our trusty tour guide, Hans, through all this. I appreciated his way of talking down everything we were about to see right before we saw it ("I've seen the circus once, once is enough" / "You have 45 minutes here, you really only need 10" in addition to the way all his stories seems to revolve around toilets. I also enjoyed how he needed to answer everything being the tour guide, when obviously he has no idea. "What are those, Hans?" -"Buildings". / "What is that dragon holding?" -"Um, a dragon ball." From Jeju, we caught a flight to Busan, Koreas second largest city. We had a good exploration of the local fish market, I had a local make fun of me for being scared of their huge tarantula-esque (in my eyes) crabs and then we had some free time to explore while Paul and Michael indulged me and accompanied me to a dog cafe I spotted. Hans had randomly mentioned these and I knew I had to find one. All over Korea are dog cafes, where you can bring your dog, or just go to play with the dogs they have there. We walked up the stairs, heard the dogs barking, opened the door to the stench of urine, ordered our beers, sat down and were immediately surrounded by dogs. They are on your table and climbing into the booth next to you, wagging tails and trying to lick your face. It's all super absurd, and it was way more intense dog wise than I was expecting. One of those 'only in Asia' experiences for sure. We made the most of the weirdness and enjoyed our time there, savored our beers, and made sure not to touch any of the complimentary snacks they out out for you in an open basket .... Definitely felt like not eating anything there was the right call. From Busan it was a whirlwind, hard even to remember all the towns we made our way through, but I believe we went from there to Daegu, Gyeonju (sp?) and Seorak-san mountain. There were lots of views, museums, beautiful mountain temples to see along the way. Seorak-san park was definitely a highlight, it was nice to get to hike a little and experience all of the amazing nature we'd been seeing. Korea is amazingly green and mountainous, and the nature is really respected and treasured. We hiked up to a temple in the mountain, one of the monks was singing and he had one of the most beautiful, soothing voices I've ever heard. It was amazing to be up in that beautiful area and just enjoy listening to his voice. From there, the tour made its way back to Seoul. We had a free day to shop and see family, then went on a city tour of Seoul. We had a new guide, who was so tightly wound it was hilarious. At one stop Paul went in for a bathroom break (he can't be rushed during those times) and I though the guide was going to burst a blood vessel while waiting for him ... I'm still not sure what his rush was, all I know is he ran a tight ship on his tour. The last day of the tour with the family, we went up to the DMZ, to get a glimpse into North Korea. Once you get to the actual border the atmosphere really changes, it feels way more tense and strained than I was expecting. North Korean soldiers are everywhere, never responding to you, but looking as serious as they can. Tourists take photos with them and they stand still and the whole scene is quite absurd, everyone is playing their part and it feels like stepping into a movie scene or something. You are able to go into the 'blue house' on the border, in the middle of it is the long table where meetings take place, and once you pass that you can officially say you are in North Korea. Very interesting place, and really very few places like it in the entire world. It was bittersweet saying goodbye to the family, the tour was an amazing experience. I felt so lucky to not only have seen all tithings we saw, but to be included in the family vacation so warmly. It really was nice to have that a few months into our trip. After the tour we spent another week or so in Seoul with Michael, just exploring the city -- it's huge and there's so many distinct little neighborhoods .... We even had a legit Korean clubbing experience with Paul's cousins. It didnt end until 5am rolled around in a karaoke bar, as it should. After our week in Seoul we parted ways with Michael and made our way to jeonju, about 2 or so hours directly south of Seoul. We were going there as we were attending a meditation retreat in the area (more in that later) and wanted to use the opportunity to explore another Korean town. Jeonju ended up being one of our favorite places we visited. Our first day there we were looking at a map trying to find a restaurant, a local asked us if we needed help, and he needed up having lunch with us. And joining us for an informal half day tour of the city. Jeonju has an amazing 'tradition hanok village' full of history and museums and a bunch of Koreans really stoked about being Korean. There are young people all around who rent the traditional cloths and wear them all day, the whole place has a lively energy -- it feels a bit like Disneyland, just without e rides if that makes any sense. Jeonju is also known for its magkeolli, a traditional Korean rice wine, which I really like but Paul doesn't care for. We ventured into a bar one big after a nice dinner for a drink or two, and found it packed with Koreans, some very inebriated. We sat down, the waiter gave us a second to look at the menu and be confused and then just asked if we wanted magkeolli. We said yes, and the night began. He comes back with a huge pot full of the stuff, a teapot bigger than my head, with a little plate of veggies to have with it. We were both surprised/delighted by the size of the pot. We thought the veggies were strange drinking food, but went with it, a couple minutes later the waiter returns with 20 or so small dishes he begins piling onto every spare inch of our table. Mind you, we had already eaten and these dishes were intense. Snails and worms intense, along with a bunch of to her things we had no clue about. We went with it the best we could, took in the scene, and quickly coined that place the 'magkeolli dungeon'. The next day out clothes still reeked of fish and all the weird stuff that gets consumed in that place. From here, we totally switched gears. We had signed up to take part in a 10 day silent meditation, in the Vipassana style. Paul had been thinking of doing this for a while, and was keen on the idea of doing it in his homeland. I was open to it, interested more than anything, and thought it would be a great thing to do pretty much exactly halfway into out trip- perhaps open our eyes and the way we experience all these places were visiting. It was an intense 10 days, but went faster then I thought. Each day being with a wake up bell at 4:30 am, which is to be followed by 2 hours of meditation. The day continues on like this, with some breaks for melas and free time. Out of the 17 hour day ending at 9:30 I calculated that 10 of those hours are to be spend meditating. Very intense, but you are guided and have different things to work on each day. Everything builds on itself, it's very interesting -- you have nightly discourses which touch in the meditation itself as well as the philosophy, and I quite appreciated what a scientific approach these talks seemed to have --- not entirely just a touchy feely feeling the positive vibes sort of meditation. It's an experience hard to describe, and though it was hard I'd recommend it to anyone interested. I knew every little about it going in, which I recommend. Definitely a sort of once in a lifetime week. From jeonju we headed back to seoul, after the meditation ended we had about three free days before we were to fly to Vietnam. The first day back into the real world was quite strange, you notice so much and I really felt like an outsider observing the rest of the population around me. I remember I had such a hard time using the atm that first day out, it seemed so foreign! We spent our last days in Seoul, got to meet up with Michael again, went out drinking with some of the people from the meditation ( somewhat funny as drinking is a no no to a serious Vipassana meditator) and had an amazing dinner with Paul's uncle. It was a great end to our adventure in Korea. We did so much, and I know I haven't been able to pay it all justice, but it was an amazing time. .... With this ,I'm caught up with my blogging as best as I can do -- we are currently enjoying Vietnam and it's absolutely beautiful. You will hopefully hear about it all soon enough!!!