Vietnam October, 2009 Throughout October, Ryan, Ollie and I traveled Vietnam from nose to tail. In the North, we saw clouds reflected in the rice terrace pools outside Sa Pa and watched the moon rise over the spines of “dragons” sleeping in Ha Long Bay. Hanoi’s old merchants’ quarters burst at the seams in early… Continue reading Nam Việt
Category: Asia
Hill Tribes
SaPa – Lao Chai – Ta Van – Giang Ta Chai – SaPa , North Vietnam October 7 – 9 “Lovely jubley!” The cockney slang for “awesome” came from neither of the two good- looking Brits sitting across from me. Like mine, their surprised faces broke into enormous grins as they watched 23 year-old Thom,… Continue reading Hill Tribes
Beasts of the Bay
Ha Long Bay, Vietnam October 5 – 7 In North Vietnam, legend tells of a family of dragons that, many years ago, descended upon the country to protect her people from the legions of invading Chinese and Mongolians. The dragons spit enormous pearls upon the earth, demolishing the enemy and sparing the peace-loving Vietnamese people.… Continue reading Beasts of the Bay
River Town
Yangshuo, Guangxi Province, China September 20 – 24 Reflecting on the past month spent in China, I am preparing to put pen to paper but am suddenly compelled to give up my seat to a family of water buffalo passing by the river’s edge. Ryan and I jump up in unison, a squealing, lunging Oliver… Continue reading River Town
The Good Earth
Zhongdian, Yunnan Province, China Without hesitating to shake the granite out of our shoes, we had hopped a local bus from Qiatou and the vistas of Tiger Leaping Gorge to press on north to the very brink of the Yunnan and the frontier it shared with the Tibetan plateau. Zhongdian, or “Shangri-La” as the local… Continue reading The Good Earth
Tiger Leaping aka ‘Face Plant’ Gorge
Good evening from Yangshuo, Guangxi Province, China. This is actually Ryan as Emily just went across the street to get some snacks and to check out the activities at the massage parlors that line our street. Yes, our hotel is situated within the “red light” district, but we are only paying 60 RMB… Continue reading Tiger Leaping aka ‘Face Plant’ Gorge
True Grit
Shanghai, China Every morning I woke up in Shanghai, I could taste the city between my teeth. Every night, clouds of dust and pulverized concrete would rise all the way to our room on the ninth floor of the Broadway Mansions Hotel, and by one in the afternoon, Ryan was rubbing his eyes and we… Continue reading True Grit
Almost Famous
Beijing August 26-31 Passing through the infrared body temperature sensors at the airport, I glanced back at Ryan with an enormous, loopy grin. The State Department emails I had been receiving for weeks that warned of potential quarantine in frightening Chinese sick houses, families separated, children shown no mercy; had melted away. We were in… Continue reading Almost Famous