Mum's the Word - Chengdu, China

Find myself in China and unable to update what you're reading. That's right, the expression cops are out in force and I'm prohibited from accessing this website. So, my sister in Italy has been summoned to be a proxy for me. I'm sending her the info and she is posting it. So in a way, this is even more dynamic given all the miles that my ramblings are traveling. Grazie Mille Caridad!

The last couple of days in Vietnam were a mix of the same and some pleasant surprises. After eating the first thing on this trip that my stomach didn't appreciate none-too-much (a bowl of beef pho...me thinks the beef and a refrigerator never met along the way to my stomach), I ate really well at the same restaurant. I was told to go there by someone at the hotel and it was so good, I ended up going for both lunch and dinner there. The menu was extensive and the quality of the food was outstanding. I'm not all that used to drinking my beer with ice, but it's either that or enjoy it like the Brits do. The last day hopped on the back of a motorbike and got a better sense of Hanoi, not just the old quarter where the hotel was. Again, just a crazy town in so many ways. My last night was spent huddled under the awning of a a storefront avoiding the pouring rain with a bunch of locals and tourists and enjoying my last few bia hois.

The next day I got up and went out to the airport to await my immigration fate. I decided that loading my passport with a wad of dong in anticipation of my being punished for the expired visa was not a good tactic. I figured I'd just play dumb and pretend that I didn't know about it. Good call. The guy took a little longer than usual to surmise the situation, but in the end, without even uttering an unitelligible syllable, he stamped me right out of Vietnam and that was it. All that stress for nothing. A couple of hours later I was in China on a layover at (yet another) stunning airport in Guangzhou. It was huge! I deplaned at gate 121 and walked into a gorgeous facility. The entire downstairs was a nothing but restaurants and shops. I flew China Southern for both legs of the trip here and was very pleased by the service. For example, I was not charged for having the audacity to you know, pack a suitcase and was offered a meal on both flights for free. Staggering, I know. On the second flight, I was the only western face on the aircraft, but all the announcements were done in English as well, so I kind of felt like it was all for me.

So, China! Chengdu is a huge city of over 10 million. There are new buildings going up everywhere and this is the food capital of the country, arguably, of course. It is the capital of the Sichuan region which is known for some of the spiciest food on the planet. I have to say that I almost welcome the chaotic traffic here compared to in Vietnam, perverse as that may sound. It's simple: Here the overwhelming majority of traffic is cars and there isn't the constant din of horns blaring every second of the commute. It's not exactly relaxing, but a very nice change of pace. Spent the morning today walking quite a bit and taking in some very impressive temples. At one, there were hordes and hordes of tourists, most of which looked nothing like me! In fact, I counted more planes taking off from the nearby airport than any of my peeps! In front of a particularly picturesque temple, a dad tried to get his (I'm guessing) 5 or 6-year-old kid to pose with me for a picture, but the kid would have none of it. It was very funny. He kept looking at me out of the corner of his eye, but couldn't get himself to work up the courage to get too close. Good stuff. Amazingly, surrounding the temples is a series of well-manicured streets with shops and food that is like a cross between Universal Studio's Citywalk and Downtown Disney. I almost choked on my green tea as I turned a corner and bumped into a Dairy Queen. Who would've thunk you could get a Blizzard in a place where it's almost impossible to find someone who speaks English? Gotta love corporate America, boy! USA! USA! USA!

Oh and a weather update...it is NICE here. It is normally supposed to be infernally hot, but it has been raining lately and even though it hasn't rained since I've been here, it has been blissfully very mild! Just ending on a positive note!

Haven't put my digestive system through the challenge of the fiery food yet, but what I have eaten has been (not surprisingly) very good. Things are not as cheap here as in Vietnam, which is not to say they are expensive, but I definitely got spoiled over the past two weeks. Staying at a funky youth hostel. I know, I know. I am not the eldest tourist there, however! It's an old factory building that was rennovated by some artists. They brought in unfinished wood, metal and along with industrial cement and some cool artwork, it's a very unique place. It's along the lines of what I want to do in my retirement in Mexico, maybe. Tomorrow, it's off to see the pandas! I normally wouldn't be fawning over the bears, but apparently, this is a must-do thing whilst here. And come to think of it, I don't think I've actually ever seen one in person so me and Ling Ling have a date!

Same, Same...But Different - Hanoi, Vietnam

The title above is in reference to a saying that's found on T-shirts all over South East Asia. I'm not really sure what it means or why it is so popular, but the locals tend to use it a whole lot. It's appropriate to mention it given the particulars of this city.

While I won't go so far as to say that things are more hectic here than in HCMC, I'll definitely admit that it's in the same ballpark. I'm staying in the old quarter which is only enhancing my perspective on things. For one thing, there are no signal lights. Well, there actually are signal lights, they just don't work. The streets are very narrow and there is a constant parade of all manner of people getting around in all manner of ways. The traffic signals would only congest everything, so they just don't function. So in some ways, crossing the street here is even more hair-raising than in HCMC. The old quarter itself is rough around the edges, to say the least. I can certainly see why people think this area is charming and all, I had just hoped it would've been a little more placid.

The ride to the hotel took almost as long as the flight from Hue. Traffic moved about as fast as a funeral procession. I've seen a few things since I arrived yesterday morning, but really, my plan is just to walk around a lot and take in the city. I'm not a museum person all in all. There is the Ho Chi Minh tomb where you can actually see the guy's body. But really, that just doesn't do a darned thing for me so I think I'll skip that. Last night after eating a great bowl of noodles in a fish, crab and pork broth for just over $1, I walked down to the corner on the same street as the hotel and sat on a tiny little stool and enjoyed the 3,000-dong bia hoi...the fresh beer, which is even cheaper than in Hoi An. It's a lot of fun just to hang out down there with locals and foreigners, literally on a street corner and enjoying the evening.

It's very humid at the moment, though not so hot. I'm going to hang here at the hotel ($22/nite) and relax a bit before I venture out for more scenery. By the way, I am in the country illegaly as of 12:01 this morning. I've tlked to a bunch of people about my expired visa and they all say the same thing: Don't worry. You'll be fine. No problem. Etc... I guess in two days I'll find out for sure. Oh yeahh...

Yesterday I searched for an internet cafe that had Skype and a camera so that I could chat (and see) my family in Italy. Found a place and was told by the youngish guy running the place that it would cost 5,000 dong per hour, about .30. Great. When I returned a while later, the guy was gone and an older guy was there instead. He said the rate was 15,000 dong/hour. Under a dollar, but 3 times what I had been told earlier. I somehow managed to communicate to him that I was told something far less and he went along with it, albeit none too thrilled about it. When the time came to pay, the little monitor on the screen said 2,000 dong. He demanded 3,000. The difference is a pittance, but it is symbolic of the all-too-frequent gouging of the foreinger that goes on here. I encountered it (unbeknownst to me at the time) from the moment I stepped foot in this country and am still being victimized by it. Perhaps 'victim' is too strong a word, but this isn't about money. It's the principle of the thing. In Hoi An when I rented a bike for example, I was told 15,000 dong even though the woman before me had been told 10,000. When I pointed this out, the renter gave me the 10,000 price. Yet the next day when I went back to the same woman, she again tried to get 15,000 out of me. I guess this is the price (literally) of being a foreigner here. It is a shame because I'm obviously not wired to think that this is a fair practice, whatever justification the folks here may have for doing business this way. Hate to round out my two weeks here this way, but hopefully as I've blogged, I've pointed out the good, the bad and in this case, the ugly. It's the kind of thing that people tend to think about when they decide to return.

'Hue' to Go Idiot - Hue, Vietnam

It's pretty amazing in that my desire to be witty in my last post, I closed with that mention of the word 'guey' in Spanish. In case you don't know, that word can mean many things. Mostly it's used between good friends as a way to say a little spicier version of 'dude'. But it's also used as a minor insult when someone has done something stupid. For example, booking a hotel room for only one night when it should've been two. So my little play on words turned out ot be somewhat prophetic as I spent the first moments of my arrival here searching for another hotel because the one where I spent last night is full tonight. Done, and with a pool, no less. By the way, the first one ($35- yikes!) was easily the best one yet. A huge king-size bed and for the first time on this trip, I actually slept the entire night without being awakened by a rooster, a moped horn or any number of the other possibilities. Nice place...each room has a DVD player and downstairs there's an impressive library of pirated DVD's to use for free. Oh and on the map they hand out, there is a little section entitled Tips for Travelers that has a a hilarious list of suggestions for crossing the road. The best part is where it tells you not to panic if you should get stuck and above all, do not go back! Ironically, crossing the street in Hue is child's play compared to HCMC! Seriously...or maybe it's like with the chopsticks, you just get used to it.

So the train yesterday was thankfully my last in this country. It was less than three hours, but a pretty miserable experience despite passing by some incredible scenery along the coast. Sadly, this particular train should've been the best one of all. The first 20 minutes we just sat in the train waiting to get going and without A/C. Remember the scene in Schindler's List where the poor souls are on the train and Schindler pitties them by hosing down the train with water? Granted, not remotely the same thing, but that's the first thing that came to mind. And even after we got going and the A/C came on, it wasn't anywhere near as meat-locker like as the buses tend to be here. At some point I noticed that there were a set of bare feet inches from the back of my head. Lovely. I had to try to explain to the woman that really, lovely though you may think your feet to be, they really shouldn't be propped up anywhere near that close to a stranger's head. Didn't do a whole lot of good. I was thrilled to walk out of the station and on to yet another dude's motorbike for a 20,000 dong ride to the hotel.

The food continues to be very good, however. Ate a French restaurant last night and had roast duck and a Hue specialty. Can't remember the name, but they were almost like little tamales: gelatinous rice with bits of shrimp steamed in banana leaves and dipped in fish sauce. Yum! Had a mango tart for dessert. And wached it all down with a Huda beer- a local beer. I don't just try the local food! I also partake of the potent potables.

This morning I headed across the Perfume River to the citadel and the forbidden city within it. Very impressive stuff. Not as big as the one in Beijing, but nicer in many ways. Saw some very elegant old buildings and relics and tried to keep cool. It is repugnantly hot and humid, which is why I am in here only sweating a little as compared to buckets were I to be outdoors instead. I'm going to head out to some dude's tomb in a little bit and catch the susnset there. The ladies I ate with last night insisted that I must go there as it's quite the photogenic place. We'll see.

Tomorrow I will complete the Vietnamese travel trifecta by flying to Hanoi (buses and trains were the other two). I'll be there for three nights (yes, I double checked the reservation confirmation, by the way) before (expired visa willing) I'll head over to China.

Guacamole in Vietnam - Hoi An, Vietnam

It's hard to say how exactly I found myself making guacamole last night, but sure enough, not only did it go down, but it was one of those great things that can happen when one travels. It all started two nights ago...
I ate dinner at a place called Mango Mango. The chef is a guy from California and it's one of those fusion places that would be uber-trendy in West L.A. It did not disappoint. I had a great bowl of bun, Vietnamese vermicelli with all kinds of greens, herbs and pork of course. Along with a funky eggplant and pumpkin tempura thing and a couple of beers, it came in under $10. What I ate would easily have pulled down $35 back home. I wandered around a bit afterward and as is often the case with 'pretty' food, found myself a little peckish a bit later.

I headed back to the open eating/drinking area where I ate the night before. Had an incredible beef fried wonton thing that was nothing like any wonton I've ever known. Got to talking to the woman who served it to me. Somehow got on the subject of my profession and the next thing you know, she's showing me a notebook where someone had written out a few phrases in Spanish to use with the tourists. I made sure all the accents were where they were supposed to be and then started talking about , surprise, surprise...food. Somehow got on the topic of avocadoes which are plentiful here and used quite a bit in the cuisine, much to my surprise. One of the most popular ways to use it is in a shake, apparently. It's blended with ice, milk and sugar and is supposed to be delicious. I made a face when she explained. I told her that in my experience, avocadoes are used in savory recipes, not sweet ones, as in guacamole. Then she made a face. Whoah. I told her that if she had not liked guacamole, it was only because whoever made it for her could not have done it right. This went back and forth for a little bit and in the end I told her that I would make it for her the next day.

So yesterday morning I headed to the central market and rounded up all the ingredients. I was very worried about the chilis because the ones I would normally use were nowhere to be found. I picked a couple of green ones that most resembled a serrano and hoped for the best. Tonight I returned to the scene of the crime and when she and her husband (the owner) saw me approaching with a couple of bags in my hand, I think they were pleasantly surprised, to say the least. First I had to eat, however. I had another bowl of the cau loa noodles and ordered a special eggplant dish that took forever to prepare, but was worth it. It was tangy, smoky, sweet, sour all at once. Amazing. Then, in a scene that no self-respecting health department would approve of, I was given a knife, a bowl and a cutting board. And where I finished my meal a few minutes earlier, I started to put it together.

She took notes while hubby used my video camera to capture the scene. Everyone seated around us obviously took notice and within a few minutes, everyone was watching the spectacle. Good stuff. When it was finally done, I tasted it and was pleasantly surprised (and more than a little relieved) that it was actually pretty good! The whole staff approached to try it. Some really liked it. Others made the face I make when confronted by squash. But then a bunch of other customers also dove in. People from Australia, Belgium and the best was a guy from Chile who happened to be a chef and gave me a big thumbs up and said it was damned good. Not sure how any other event on this trip will top how much fun all of that was.

Other than the above, yesterday was a nice day off. Folks here at the hotel had remarked how nice the beach nearby was. Yeahh, yeahh, yeahh. People tend to exaggerate their beaches, but I decided that yesterday I would just do nothing, in essence. I had not had a day like that since the trip began. So I rented a bike (.75) and pedallaed the 5 km. to the sand. Wow. I was pleasantly surprised! The beach really was very nice! Super-soft sand, clean, warm water, no waves...just very relaxing. Chilled under a palapa thing on a lounger at an eatery and just took it easy. Oh and ate a plate of spring rolls and grilled shrimp that were very, very good. It goes without saying that it was very, very cheap, no?

Today I'm back on the train for only three hours and I head north for Hue. I think I will like it if for no other reason than Hue, almost, almost sounds like one of my favorite Spanish words: guey (with the umlat over the u) which is kind of like way in English. I realize that this is as moronic a thing as I could admit to, but there it is.

Back to Normal - Hoi An, Vietnam

The one day in Quy Ngon gave me a repreive from 'folks that look (even slightly) like me' which was nice in that I got a sense of the real Vietnam. It was also nice because I didn't get attacked by touts every few seconds trying to sell me everything I could possibly need or not. Hoi An could not be any more different than the place I left yesterday. Before that, another transportation anecdote, however.

I took a taxi from my hotel to the train station yesterday. It started out OK with my driver driving in the style most favored by the Vietnamese, namely as a homicidal maniac. About a third of the way there, I think he realized that if he maintained the pace, he wouldn't be able to charge me what all his buddies are nailing all the tourists for, so he slowed down to an embarassingly slow pace. For my benefit, he (ironically) buckled up so I would think that he was slowing down because cops were looming or something. Old ladies on mopeds were whizzing by us. I tried my best to indicate that I didn't appreciate his tactic, but to no avail. The ride ended up costing 140,000 dong or not-quite $9. Seriously, it was one of the more expensive things I've bought here. The hotel room was only $15, for goodness sake! I scoured my guidebook frantically trying to figure out how to say something along the lines of you disgraceful son of a flea-ridden dog, but strangely, it was nowhere to be found.

Although the train left at a little after 9:00 am, the only 'seat' was a soft-sleeper bed in a sleeping compartment. Normally, you only get a sleeping compartment bed for a train that departs in the evening and runs all night. That was all there was so I had to take it. I shared the compartment with three Vietnamese men right around my age, more or less. I chilled out on my bottom bunk bed listening to my iPod and reading. At some point I dozed off and was awakened by one of the dudes who had sat next to me the way one would sit on the bed of say, a sick kid or something. I mean his butt was right up against my waist. He and his buddies were about to eat lunch and the little table that sticks out of the side of the compartment was (inconveniently for me) right next to where I lay. I tried to make it clear that I was having some space-issues. Rather than sit on his friend's bed, he only moved closer. Great. Again, my guidebook didn't have the phrase sorry, but I'd really rather you not get chicken parts all over my sheet please. I finally made him understand that he needed to sit somewhere else, but then I relented, good guy that I am. I moved my sheet out of his way and allowed him to sit there, but I got out of his way and sat upright for a while as they ate lunch. To their credit, they offered me some chicken and rice, but I declined. By the way, this train was only marginally better than the hard-sleeper and certainly only a little cleaner. The bathroom was also an improvement in that there appeared to be soap and a few squares of tissue on a roll.

Upon arrival in Danang, I hopped on the back of a motorcycle and some guy at the station brought me to Hoi An. On the way here passed by China Beach and the ruins of the U.S. Military base. The beach is quite nice and is slowly being developed in a Cancun-like manner, so not so sure if that's a good thing. So, finally Hoi An. The old part of the city is a Unesco World Heritage site, so it's very picturesque and crawling with tourists and touts. This is a great place to shop for any number of things. There are over 500 tailors in town! They can make a suit in a day for next to nothing, apparently. I walked all over town this morning taking pictures and ignoring the cries of "Hello!", "Hey you!" and "Motorbike!" by getting lost in my iPod. It kind of stinks to have to go that route, but I have to keep my sanity. I'd rather not hear them than have to say NO every nine seconds. I remind me of some of those iPod kids that walk around school between classes in their own little worlds. The difference is that no one is hounding them and it's 9 minutes between classes, not three hours of tout inundation. So, my strategy may be ugly, but I've got to keep my head above water.

My hotel ($25/nite) is kind of a splurge for me. It has a very refreshing pool (!), free internet access (that's why this is so long) and breakfast included. By the way, the meal pictured was part of my lunch. Pictured is something called white rose, which is like a wonton thing that was delicious and a fresh beer. There is a kind of beer here that is like cidra in Spain, I suppose. It's meant to be consumed within a few days of being brewed and is very low in alcohol so you can have lots and lots of it. It costs 4,000 dong/glass which is like (I am not kidding) 23 cents or so. Two glasses of that, the white rose thing plus a bowl of amazing noodles made only in this town and served with pork slices, pork cracklings, basil, mint and a tangy sauce came to 43,000 dong: about $2.50. Money isn't everything, but seriously, as a traveler, it is an important consideration and I have to say that it certainly makes having decided to come here appear to be a good move.

Time for a nap before heading out again. Oh yeahh, haven't whined about the weather lately. It is bloody hot. It's approaching Kyoto-hot, which is why I am indoors wating out the worst part of the day before I head out again in search of more good eats and fresh bia!

Hard Sleeper - Quy Nhon, Vietnam

Managing to sleep in the sleeping compartment of a train basically comes down to who you have to share it with. My first choice for the trip here had been a soft sleeper, but it was sold out. The soft sleeper has four people in the compartment and an actual cushion of some kind. The only option was the hard sleeper. It has six people in the compartment and pretty much a sheet over a hard bench. Not much choice so I paid my $26 and left HCMC last night at 7:00. I spent my last day walking around a lot and dodging mopeds basically. Actually, I also went to the War Remembrance Musuem which displays in harrowing detail, all the horrible things my country did to this country during the war. Though it may be obviously biased (though it would be impossible to present a museum of this type in either country and not have it be biased one way or the other) it once again highlights the lunacy of war, period. The most chilling thing is seeing what politicians and the great thinkers of the day (usually not the same people, by the way) had to say about America's role. It's chilling because many of the sentiments expressed over 40 years ago are eerily similar to what's being said now. We just don't get it.

So back to my train. The conditions reminded me of my first couchette experience in 1992 from Berlin to Prague. This was only three years after the wall came down and the train was an old Russian job with burlap for sheets. I kid you nyet. But back to last night...I was fortunate in that the inhabitants of my compartment weren't a bunch of drunk backpacking teens, loud families or (as in one trip in France) a particularly amorous couple. That was awkward. They were pretty quiet folks who let me get some sleep. All seven of them. There was a baby. A first for me. Cute kid and all, though not so much when he awakened with a blood-curdling cry to indicate hunger, I suppose. Oh and there was an eighth guest who made himself at home on my bench and over my arm and over my pillow, but I don't count cockroaches as official passengers. Also a first, but fitting, given the condition of the train. On the off chance that you just finished eating, I won't go into the aesthetic wonder that was the bathroom. Let's just say that after my first visit there, I willed my insides to wait until arrival before having to go again.

This is my third trip to Asia and something happened today that has never happened. I swear, I spent the entire day here and saw less than a dozen western-looking faces. I don't have a problem with it, but it was odd. I mean, I didn't just finger the index section of my travel guide and pick a place. Granted, it is known for not being so well-known, but I wasn't expecting this. So, the unusual physical attributes that I bring to the town have granted me celebrity status almost. Mostly, it's the little kids that trip all over each other saying "Hello", "Where you from?" and "What's your name?" At one point today, I was spotted by a mom who was walking with her two young boys. The kids hadn't seen me so she said something to them along the lines of, "Hey...a white guy!" and they instantly greeted me very enthusiastically. On the way home from dinner a little bit ago, I was surrounded by a bunch of little kids saying hello and wanting to shake hands and all. It was hilarious and I am very cool about playing along. I wish some of the grown ups wouldn't stare quite so much, but it'll soon be over.

Tomorrow I get back on the train for about 5 hours and head to Hoi An where I will be for three nights. It's supposed to be a very laid back town that somehow managed to avoid being obliterated during the war, so I look forward to that. Also, Bourdain says the food in the market is amazing. So that's a plus. By the way, my hotel here is $15/nite and is huge. It has A/C, cable TV, a balcony, a fridge and is immaculate. The people there speak next t0 no English, but couldn't be nicer. And the no English has been par for the course here. Breakfast was an adventure. I picked what looked like the nicest place in town and got a menu. Luckily I recognized 'Pho', so I picked one of the Pho options and hoped for the best. It was very good and with my coffee (a sweet, super strong Cuban-like variety) I was out the door for under $3. Well, I am surrounded by kids playing video games and it's getting loud, so I'm out of here. By the way, I had to go back and edit this because the space bar basically doesn' t work. But as I sit here and watch kids treat the keyboard like a pinata as they play their very violent, bloody games, it's no wonder.

Plan to wake up very early for some pictures of the fishermen doing their thing in the bay.

Z

Apologies - Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

I take back everything I ever said or thought. Heck, it was less than a week ago that I pronounced the traffic scene in Phnom Penh to be the worst I'd ever seen. So I offer apologies to that city as well as Mexico City, Beijing, Rome and even Cairo- never been, but I've heard stories. For mine eyes have seen things the past 24 hours that defy belief. I had heard that it had to be seen to be believed and lo and behold, it is true. Were it only the major intersections, it would be one thing. But it's everywhere. On every street corner and seemingly at all hours of the day and night. The thing that put HCMC way over all the other cities is the unfathomable number of mopeds on the street. The roundabouts are clearly the most entertaining spectacle. To be in a taxi and watch as the almost ballet-like dance that takes place between all the different vehicles and pedestrians is just a whole lot of fun. It takes a little nerve to cross the street here for the uninitated, but I found that it's best to be cautiously aggressive. In other words, you can't appear to be timid or you'll get creamed. The traffic is like a dog- it smells fear, so best to take it on respectfully and emerge unscathed. Another disturbing thing here is the random nature of adherence to traffic laws, assuming there are some. Yes, there are traffic signals and all, but just cause the little guy is flashing walk on the sign means next to nothing. I think prisoners in Guantanamo have more rights than pedestrians here. And if you think the sidewalk is safe, think again. All the mopeds have to park there and more than a few drivers go ahead and drive on the sidewalks as well. But what really shocks the uninitiated is the number of toddlers and little kids that either ride in front of mom or dad, or standing between the seat and the handle bars. Yes, most are wearing helmets and many have the mask over their nose and mouth. As if the real threat here to life and limb is what you are inhalling. And despite all of the above, I've only seen a couple of near-misses. Somehow, this all works.

Despite the chaos that characterizes the street, I have to admit that I like it here much more than I thought I would. Were it not for the (not-quite-as-obnoxious-as-in-Phnom Penh) touts that hassle the poor tourist, it would be perfect. It has the energy of NYC or Mexico City, for example. The area where I am staying is very lively with many, many foreigners. There are great places to eat, get coffee, relax and take in the neverending parade on the street. My hotel room ($20/nite) is unique in several ways: it's on the fifth floor (and there is no lift) and the bathroom actually has a partition for the shower. Up to now, every bathroom in every hotel I've stayed in has not. So when using the shower, you have to get all the crap you don't want to get wet out of the bathroom. A huge pain and not being used to it, I'd tend to forget to remove the toilet paper. Not pleased about that. The decor is something out of I'm not sure what. Woke up this morning, looked out my window and noticed a guy walk on to his balcony, walk over to the rail and relieve himself on the roof next door. He obviously didn't see me. It's not like I wanted to see that, but I guess our timing couldn't have been worse. Along those lines, in both countries, men tend to do their business pretty much anywhere. Driving a while and need to pee? No problem. Pull over, stand next to the car, turn your back (a little modesty, I guess) and go. The little kids, on the other hand, have no such inclinations, modesty-wise. You see them just about everywhere doing their business. Mom or dad standing right there too. Different...to say the least.

Yesterday's adventure in obtaining the various things I needed for the rest of the Vietnam leg of the trip did not exactly go swimmingly. I did get my plane ticket and my train tickets though I had to stay an extra night here because tonight's train out of here was sold out. And I had two different travel agents tell me not to worry about my expired visa situation. I was told to slip the equivalent of about $10 in my passport where the visa is and that it would be OK. I'm a little uneasy about this, since I am one of the most anal-retentive people I know when it comes to stuff like this. The problem is that in order to extend the visa, the agency would need to have my passport for at least 4 days and that's no good, since I won't be anywhere the rest of my time here for more than three. So I'm a little nervous about it, but have been assured that it's OK since apparently 5 is the magic number of days that will get one tossed into the slammer. We'll see...

Just had lunch with the Lunch Lady! On Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations program awhile back, he visited this woman who sets up her street stalls everyday and sells the best bowls of soup in town. This isn't the first time I have followed up a Bourdain hotspot and it has to be noted, the man isn't kidding. The soup really was incredibly delicious. To be honest, not completely sure what was in it, but I'm pretty sure it was a pork broth. It also had a shrimp, a quail's egg, noodles, all kinds of sauces, sprouts, cilantro, basil, other herbs I couldn't identify and a slice of some kind of liver. I tried the liver slice because I really wanted to like it, but me and liver just don't get along. Never have and I suspect, never will. Oh yeahh, the huge bowl of soup and two spring rolls came to 19,000 dong...or about $1.05 or so. Insane.

The rain is letting up so I'm out of here. Tomorrow night I am in a sleeping compartment of a train headed for Quy Nhon. Hopefully, the 11 hours I spend in there will be nice and boring.

Z