Hanoi, Vietnam – February 29, 2000 We checked out of our individual rooms and into two dayrooms – the men in one and the women in the other. I had the hotel breakfast, gritting my teeth and dealing with the daily bread and jam. Our morning excursion was a cyclo ride to the Ho Chi [...]
Hanoi, Vietnam – February 28, 2000 At 7:30, I met the group for breakfast. I wasn’t feeling unusually social – I just didn’t want the group to get the impression I was being my usual aloof self and I was already skipping the day’s activities. The group was off to view hilltribes in small villages [...]
Hanoi, Vietnam – February 26, 2000 Breakfast at the Viet My was included, but unfortunately consisted of a baguette, jam, and a very greasy fried egg. This wasn’t so bad on the first day. Repetition is always my problem with food. I started the Wendy-tip envelope rolling – it’s a curse of being American that [...]
February 24, 2000 The morning started off badly. “All Tevas stink,” was the uniform, across-the-board statement agreed upon by several members of our group. Mine don’t, I thought, and dug a little further. It turned out that the individuals that were complaining had purchased leather Tevas. I could barely stop myself from pointing out that [...]
Vientiane, Laos – February 22, 2000 I joined Wolfie, Tom and Wendy for a hotel breakfast and before we knew it, an obnoxious American had inserted himself into our conversation. He lived locally and his wife was Indonesian. He was originally from Ohio but moved to Canada in 1975. After he left, Tom pointed out [...]
Vientiane, Laos – February 21, 2000 The Intrepid trip notes say: “There are serious concerns about the operations of Lao Aviation with regard to its safety standards and maintenance regime…you are advised by the Australian Embassy to limit travel…to essential travel only.” I re-read the notes as we sat in the Luang Prabang Airport, waiting [...]
Luang Prabang, Laos – February 20, 2000 The group went for a three and a half hour walk. I opted out, I think wisely, and instead spend the morning catching up on my e-mail and shopping. I ran into Rebecca, whose recent travel sickness had kept her from the morning trek. She told me that [...]
Luang Prabang, Laos – February 19, 2000 At 4am, the drums started. The cymbals started about twenty seconds later. For the three days leading up to every month’s full moon, the Buddhist monks beat a giant drum at 4am and 4pm. Our guesthouse was located right across the road from a wat, or temple, and [...]
Luang Prabang, Laos – February 18, 2000 I had my final banana pancake lesson this morning. For weeks, I’ve been lulled into purchasing banana pancakes for breakfast. Every guesthouse in Southeast Asia features them and so far every banana pancake I’ve had has been disgusting. Some are deep-fried but most are raw. All are unsatisfying. [...]
Huay Xai, Laos – February 17, 2000 From Chiang Khong, Thailand, we could hear the national anthem of Laos being distantly played in the early morning. We crossed the Mekong River to the small town of Huay Xai and suddenly we were in Laos. Laos is a landlocked country. Geographically, its size matches Great Britain. [...]
