Vinh, and Uncle Ho's birth house

We headed down to the next big city on AH1 (the main highway that runs from north to south), Vinh. In Vinh we met up with a couchsurfer named Hien. Hien showed us around the town, took us for good eats, and to the birthplace of Ho Chi Minh. She also helped us find a cheap hotel where no one really spoke english but, ironically, the owner spoke russian and so does Kaja so the language in conversations would sometimes go vietnamese > russian > english.

Our first Banh Xeo, different in each province. It's a crepe like pancake filled with veggies and sometimes shrimp and/or pork. Mixed in your bowl with a peanut sauce and fresh veggies and herbs.

The peoples Sqaure in Vinh with a very lit up statue of Uncle Ho.

Kem (ice cream) for desert. Of course I get the flamboyant blue drink.

At a coffee shop. was very cool as there were some youngsters (early 20's) playing vietnamese folky music on guitars and singing. I have no idea what I'm sucking on here.

adam and kaja at the coffee shop. Adam's face is silly on purpose, Kaja's... maybe not so much. :) (and yes, if she finds I posted this, I'm dead)

Hien, in the middle, was our lovely tour guide. She took us with her friends to Ho Chi Minh's birthhouse. This was at a museum nearby.

riding with my first passenger.

peace

having fun with the local authorities.

Uncle Ho's birth house. Reconstructed, of course.

god bless the internet

Today I had the privilege of videochatting with my family who were all down in DC to celebrate my nephew Eli's 1st birthday. My niece is a madhouse of noise and energy but just look how adorable she is. And my nephew is actually looking cute as well. Not sure where they get these genes, but we'll take them!

It was a year ago this time that I was also in DC to celebrate Eli's birth. It just occurred to me that it's been a year since I've last seen my brother and his fam in person. Time flies when you're traveling I guess. Or maybe the internet makes it all seem so close as the emails, calls, photos and videochats have us all so connected into one another's lives that we can go longer with out actually seeing each other and still feel like we have.

Anyways, it's 12:30am and I'm dead tired and starting to fade. Happy Birthday to my birthday boy nephew and I hope his adorable sister doesn't get too jealous of all his attention this weekend.

Tam Coc and Hoa Lu

Tam Coc and Hoa Lu are towns in the Ninh Binh provence of Vietnam, like 2 hours south of Hanoi. Hoa Lu was a former capital city in the 10th century and Tam Coc is known for it's limestone Karst topography (much like Guilin, China). We spent about 3 days here as I was having severe troubles with my Minsk. Eventually we got it sort of running, enough to go more south. Lucky for us we stayed at a lovely hotel, Chez Loan that was predominately french guest and an owner who spoke vietnamese and french but little english. We still had a lovely time, despite the language problems.

Entrance to the Bich Dong pagoda in Tam Coc.

roots of a tree going up a wall.

take notice, tourists.

'nuff said :)

dragon statue.

going up a cave in the Bich Dong Pagoda complex

altar in the cave.

resting in the cave.

view from the top of the hill, looking out.

Kaja and myself on the hill.

Adam and Kaja at the top of the pagoda hill.

Karst landscapes.

more karst hills. I'm really not doing it justice, the area was beautiful

boat tours going out to see the caves. notice how the boat is being paddled... by feet rowing. pretty impressive.

cemetery neat tam coc. Vietnamese people do cemeteries well.

Adam and Kaja in the front as we get off our bikes to explore.

usual causes of traffic. cows, goats, horses and the likes.

local temple

small drum and bell tower in the local temple.

Outside the King Dinh Tien Hoang Temple. Hoa Lu people built this temple to worship King Dinh Tien Hoang. Born into a peasant family, he became the leader of a revolt against twelve feudal lords. He unified the country and founded the first centralized feudal dynasty in Vietnam

King Dinh Tien Hoang Temple

The cadillac of trees.

I got into a yelling altercation.

There was a tv crew for something and I just ran with it, as usual.

A little temple shrine of sorts in the hill near the King Dinh Tien Hoang Temple,

view from the top

with a black and white filter. hardly a difference.

local speciality dish of goat wrapped with herbs, veggies, and fruit in a rice paper. yeah, pretty freaking good

Hanoi living

Alright, I'm back after a long hiatus. Expect photos and stories to be flowing in.

This first set is from our time in Hanoi. We ended up spending a little more time than expected as we bought some Minsk motorbikes and had to deal with a mass amount of work on them. But eventually all got sorted and we started to head south. I will say I've never loved Hanoi, however I did like it more this time. I still prefer the south for weather and way of living, but the city did grow on me a bit.

First (of many) banh mi in Vietnam.

We went out to try some cooking schools student training lunches. They take troubled or poor kids and give them training in cooking and then send them to work at hotels or restaurants. great concept, food not so great .

motorbike learning. adam goes for a spin.

and then Kaya goes for a ride.

I'm a little slower to learn. Also a bit bigger.

but I get going.

this bike is a little smaller than mine, so I don't think I look as huge on my minsk.

Hanoi pho bo (beef soup). I prefer the southern variety but this is still good stuff.

reminding the north how US rolls.

bun cha.... grilled pork and spring rolls over rice noodles with mixed greens and herbs.

the bun cha... so tasty.

we have a toast to our bikes and spray them with champagne as is Polish tradition.

getting some of much work done on our bikes before heading south.

Inside theTemple of Literature

A mini banyan type tree. maybe it's a bonzai banayn?

The main place of worship at the Temple of Literature.

delay in posts.

So I know I've been in Vietnam for a few weeks and haven't really posted too much. Partly because I'm traveling by bike so can't really take pictures while driving. Also, I'm sort of in a funk of taking pictures. Luckily my travel mates, Adam and Kaja, have been taking some pictures, so i plan to pilfer from them. hehe. I'll try to get something up sooner or later.

To sum up most of my time here so far I think I could say cold and wet. When I was here in summer of 2007 it was hot and humid. Now winter 2011 it's always raining, always grey and there's always a chill in the air or cold wind blowing through. We're waiting to get more south as south is where it should be warmer. I remember sitting on the beach in Hoi An and loving life. I haven't seen sun in so many days (is it perma-pollution or just nasty weather) but am hoping Hoi An is like how I remember it, sunny!

Tonight, we got caught in a nasty rain storm. We tried to make it from Dong Hoi to Hue but had to stop in Dong Ha for the night because the rain was too much. Driving in Vietnam is like nothing you can imagine. I was mere cm's away from being hit by a truck who was passing another truck. I was driving in the motorcycle lane (in the states this is the breakdown lane) and he came that close to me from the other side of the road. This is common here. There is no defensive driving, just offensive (pun intended). But it's also invigorating, and it's great having a bike to get around and not cramped buses. Granted my bike has a different problem everyday (something I hope to fix in Hue) it's still nice.

signing off from Dong Ha (and hoping to be in Hue for tet)

love to y'all