The perfect vehicle

Before coming to Vietnam I already thought the bicycle was the perfect form of transportation. Suitable for all ages:





Now I am more convinced of this then ever. Bikes are a great way to meet people and chat with them:





They can carry much more of a load then most people think. Especially when the terrain is flat.









And no form of transport can match the sociability aspects of bikes. As you pedal along you see a friend. You can either ride along with them:



Or have them hop on:



Excuse the poor framing on some of these shots, most were taken by me while riding a bike. All the urban bike riding we do at home sure comes in handy when trying to negotiate a sea of bikes and scooters, and the occasional car or bus, one handed while taking photos. (You didn't read that Dad!)



That's why you mostly see the back of Rich in these photos. If he sees me riding one handed while taking photos he get a bit nervous. So I lurk behind him and take pics, and occasionally make him stop when we see something scenic.






Getting out on a bike is not only a great way to meet people and see things off the beaten track, but we've had some of our best food when out biking. You get tired and hungry and try places that you would never see otherwise. Or wouldn't be brave enough to try. And you realize that people are just people, and most are friendly and nice.

vietnam

As much as Rich and I don't like organized trips while traveling, we signed up for a Junk Boat trip on Ha Long bay. It is one of those "must dos" that most of the tourists to Vietnam take part in. We arrived at the cafe in Hanoi where the mini van would leave from, worrying about our fellow tour groupies - would we like them? Would they be lame? and immediately meet a lovely couple from Australia and thought, oh good, people we get along with. All of us were thrilled...up until the point we got put into different vans because they were doing two nights on a boat and we were one night on a boat and one in a hotel. Oh well. It was a brief, very brief friendship.

The dock at Ha Long City is littered with boats. The boats are double and quadruple parked. In order to get onto our boat we had climb across three other boats.



At this point I'm wondering what type of tourist hell we've agreed to for two nights and three days, but the reality was quite nice. Although there were dozens and dozens of boats, once we headed out into the bay, with its thousand or so islands, and the boats thinned out, the magic of Ha Long Bay appeared.



We spent one day kayaking which is a great way to really appreciate the enormity of the rocks jutting up out of the water. The water is clear and cool and there are lagoons totally enclosed by the rocks except at low tide when you can kayak through to the inner lagoon.



After lunch on the kayaking day we paddled to the floating village.





The village has 1,000 people and probably 3,000 dogs and a few pissed off cats. On the plus side of being a cat on a floating village - lots of fish. The negatives? Surrounded by water and dogs.



The village used to have over 20,000 people, but they lived a subsistence life, catching fish and burning wood from the islands. The government realized that the area was being damaged by the way of life and switched people to an aqua culture life. Now, the villagers farm dogfish and grouper in pens created from plastic drums lashed together with 3x4s. The dogs run along the boards like teenage gymnasts on the balance beam, and skitter to a stop at the edge to bark ferociously at the kayaks. We were waiting for a dog to jump in and swim after us, or to leap on the kayak but none did. I was in the rear of our double kayak and had control of the rudder so I kept us about six feet from the dogs, figuring they couldn't jump that far.

What started out seeming to be a group tourist trip from hell ended up being very nice.



There are more photos on the flickr site, just click on one of the photos to go the whole set on line.

Beach cottage in a box

After a total of about two weeks on the Islands of Thailand I feel confident in my ability to offer a product which will allow the masses to recreate that "beach cottage" feeling we got so effortlessly in our Bungalow on Koh Phi Phi.

Beach cottage in a box contents:

Three stands of fishing line strung with random shells and bits of coral to hang from the eaves.
Five to six geckos who will appear at eye level anywhere in your cottage at any time.



One bottle of salt water to spray on your curtains, your sheets, your clothing, and your spouse for that salty island breeze feeling.
Two bottles of sand to sprinkle in your bed and on your floor.




One powerful heater to re-create the feel of the relentless mid day sun beating down on your bungalow.
One tiny air conditioner to try and combat the fierce heat.

Take a look at the YouTube video of Rich on the beach to get the true feeling of the beach.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GoeghcVfL8





Next: Vietnam.