Published on
December 24, 2007 in
Travel.
We spent Xmas Eve in Hoi An. It was wonderful to be in a smallish, quiet town without hideous Christmas music blaring everywhere. We did encounter a few Santas though!
This kid was really excited that we asked him for a photo.
A white Santa
We had a quiet dinner at a restaurant near the waterfront (including a “white rose,” one of Hoi An’s specialties), and then dessert at the Cargo Club, which we loved. The place is geared toward Western tourists, but it’s owned and run by locals. They serve gorgeous pastries and homemade ice creams in exotic flavors like lemongrass (we tried this, and it was awesome — I can’t wait to try making it when we get home). The front page of their menu tells their story, which concludes with a request that visitors be patient with them — they want to provide great service and hospitality, but they’re still learning.
Published on
December 20, 2007 in
Travel.
Five hundred years ago, many of the streets in Hanoi’s Old Quarter were named according to the goods that were sold here. Many of the streets have retained their names, although only a few of them still specialize in their original craft. Here are a few examples from the Rough Guide:
| Street Name |
Meaning |
Modern Specialty |
| Hang Dau |
Oil |
Shoes |
| Hang Ma |
Paper votive objects |
Paper goods |
| Hang Quat |
Ceremonial fans |
Religious accessories |
Our second Hanoi hotel is located on Hang Ga. Maybe it’s just a coincidence, but Hang Ga and the streets that surround it have lots of street stalls selling yummy pho ga (noodle soup with chicken, which is generally a bit harder to find than pho bo, the beef variety). You can get a large bowl for around 10,000 VND (about 60 cents).
Published on
December 12, 2007 in
Travel.
From the NYT travel section’s list of 53 Places to Go in 2008, via my Mom:
Vietnam and Cambodia are so 2007.
Good thing we’ll make it there before the year is up!
(Although this article contradicts itself: it claims that Vietnam is “so 2007,” then lists it later as one of the 53 places to go in 2008 – number 48. And I have no clue why the author is citing new golf courses as the reason to visit Vietnam. What? He also recommends Detroit and Kuwait City as vacation destinations, so go figure.)
Published on
December 9, 2007 in
Travel.
We’re still trying to keep things flexible, but here’s the tentative itinerary:
- Arrive in Hanoi on December 16, explore the city for a couple of days
- Halong Bay cruise, then back to Hanoi
- Fly down to the central coast: visit Hue, Hoi An, My Son (how much time we spend in this area may depend on weather)
- A beach somewhere: either in the central coast area or, weather permitting, down to Nha Trang (fingers crossed on this one – I’ve heard Nha Trang is gorgeous, as are the nearby islands)
- Ho Chi Minh City, maybe for New Year’s Eve (?), then fly to Siem Reap, Cambodia
- A few days in Cambodia at Angkor Wat and other nearby ruins as time allows
- Fly back to Ho Chi Minh City, and get a bus or other transport to one of the towns in the Mekong Delta
- Mekong Delta boat tour, perhaps a homestay
- Back to Ho Chi Minh City for however many days we have left, then fly back to Seattle on January 6
This might be too much to do in 3 weeks; if so, we’ll cut things as necessary. We haven’t booked any of the intermediate flights (including the flight to Cambodia) — according to everything I’ve read, it’s cheaper and easier to book over there.
We leave late Friday night — I’m so excited!
Published on
December 8, 2007 in
Travel.
Back in May, I wrote that Kenny and I had intended to keep our itinerary for our Guatemala/Belize trip somewhat flexible — and then we ended up booking hotels for almost every night of the trip a few weeks before we left. We’re doing better at being spontaneous for Vietnam and Cambodia. We leave in less than a week, and so far we’ve reserved two things:
- Our first hotel (in Hanoi).
- A two-day cruise on Halong Bay. Ordinarily I’d wait to book tours, but everyone on the TripAdvisor Vietnam Forum raved about this particular boat and urged that it was necessary to book in advance.
In fact, I’m not even sure where we’ll be headed after Halong Bay. I have a loose itinerary sketched out, but we want to keep quite a bit of flexibility in it so that we can reroute based on weather. There are a few places we’d like to visit in the central coast, but November-December is apparently the rainy season there, which could jeopardize our beach time. We’ll try to do as Paul intended and follow the sun.
Published on
December 5, 2007 in
Geek.
A few things on my mind today:
- Why, when viewing the website for any retail store, is it always so hard to find the “Store Locator” link?
- How is it that, after 7 years in office surrounded by fully literate people, our illustrious president still hasn’t learned to pronounce the word “nuclear”? (he made a speech in Nebraska this morning, part of which I heard on NPR)
- Why am I completely exhausted today even though I went to bed at 10pm last night?
Published on
December 2, 2007 in
Geek.
“I hate UPS. I hate so many things.”
So said my disgruntled husband today, upon seeing the following status for his package on UPS.com:
Your package has experienced an exception.
Awesome. I couldn’t write better error text if I tried.
The package he’s tracking on UPS is his birth certificate, that he ordered a few weeks ago when we thought we needed to apply for new passports. So much for expedited 3-5 day service. We would be completely freaking out at this point if our passports hadn’t been found.
(The title of this post is a quote from Fracktail, for those who haven’t been fortunate enough to experience Super Paper Mario).