Hué, Vietnam

Our train from Ninh Binh to Hué.

Matt deciding what to do.

Hué's iconic citadel.

Inner walls and moat of the citadel.

Much of the citadel was destroyed during the Tet offensive in 1968. Some buildings remain and some are being restored.

Some sort of shelter within the citadel.

Thien Mu Pagoda, the tallest in Vietnam.

The car that the Buddhist monk, Thich Quang Duc was riding in Saigon before setting himself on fire. As seen in this pulitzer-prize winning photo. And the cover of Rage Against The Machine's album.

Our dragon boat.

Bree sips sugarcane juice on the side of the road.

Children actually reading in the bookstore.

If you know Matt, you know how excited he was when he saw this.

Assorted vegetarian versions of Vietnamese dishes for lunch.

We boarded the train in Ninh Binh, bound for Hué. Soft sleeper was unavailable so we went with hard sleeper, which is six berths per compartment as opposed to four. It would have been fine but the guy who had the bottom bunk (where people are supposed to sit during the day) decided he wanted to lay down for most of the journey. So that meant that our only option was to lay down in our upper bunks.  So the trip was mostly uncomfortable, but we've done worse. By around 6pm we arrived in Hué (pronounced hway).

Hué was the capitol city of the Nguyen dynasty until the end of WWII. It was also the site of one of the bloodiest battles of the Vietnam War, which eventually left about 80% of the city destroyed. If you've ever seen Full Metal Jacket, the battle of Hué is where most of the fighting in that film takes place.

With the exception of the crumbled remains of most of the buildings within the citadel walls, you don't really get any sense if that turbulent history now. Hué is a major tourist stop but we never really felt overrun with tourists. And even the more touristy restaurants and bars have a good deal of locals mixing the crowd up.

We really liked Hué. It was easily walkable, had a laid-back vibe, and had really good food. The culinary history in Hué included several lords that were very picky eaters. And because of the strong Buddhist contingent, there are a lot of restaurants that are vegetarian or have vegetarian options.

As we left, I mentally put Hué on the list of places I'd like to spend more time in.

- Matt

Hanoi, Vietnam

Rush hour in Hanoi.

Even in modern Hanoi you can still see plenty of old Vietnam.

And some strange, new Vietnam.

Vegetarian pho, Vietnamese pancakes, and lots of spring rolls.

Traffic lets up at night.

A hat merchant in the market.

Self-portrait in a mirror in Hanoi Railway Station.

A chow guards his duck friends. 

This guy has his finger on the pulse of what America is all about.

Turtle tower and some of Hanoi's old quarter at night.

Hanoi immediately hit us with that exciting otherness we have come to expect arriving in a new place. It's kind of similar and recognizable, but different enough to keep us on our toes. The biggest surprise? People really do walk down the street wearing those conical hats!

We had arrived early we immediately set out to wander the streets. Once we finally got a handle on the traffic patterns we could relax and enjoy the bustle of every different type of commerce transacting simultaneously. As we wound down the small lanes of the old quarter, we walked past temporary, makeshift food stalls that have probably operated in the same place for decades. We found a delicious vegetarian place (since most of the street food stalls are meat or more meat) and then a local bar to enjoy some Bia Ha Noi (Hanoi Beer).

We were a little frustrated that we would only have a couple days in town, and that we had to spend part of one day in a cafe that had wifi booking our next week. It's hard to be unorganized with time constraints! I have more respect for the two week tourists who actually manage to fit in all the sights. I'm exhausted thinking about it.

- Bree

Luang Prabang, Laos

Our first sunset on the Mekong. 

The bamboo bridge across the river, which is probably closed or washed out in rainy season. 

Fried river weed, like seaweed only better.

Lao fondue / barbecue / hotpot. 

The stakes are high at Laotian restaurants.

The old royal palace, now a museum.

The bamboo bridge by day. 

A Mekong cat.

Young monks going for a swim in the hot afternoon. 

An asiatic black bear, also taking in a dip in the hot afternoon.

Matt's just one of the bears (this picture's for Isaac).

Kuang Si Waterfall.

The limestone pools descending from the waterfall. 

Taking a swim in the hot afternoon. 

Leaving Luang Prabang. 

We cheated a little bit and flew from Chiang Mai to Luang Prabang, Laos. The decision was either several buses that would take two days, or a 45 minute flight that only cost a little over $100 each. 

The whole center of the town of Luang Prabang is a UNESCO World Heritage site (our 21st). It was the capital city of the Luang Prabang (or Chiang Thong) kingdom, and is situated at the confluence of the mighty Mekong and Nam Khan rivers.  

On our first night we did a loop around the city and ended up at a restaurant across a bamboo foot bridge on the Nam Khan river. We ordered the Lao appetizer plate and 'Lao fondue' to share. It essentially mixes elements of Chinese Hot Pot and barbecue. By the end, and after several Beerlao, we were both full and glad we had a decent walk home to work off the meal a little. 

The following couple of days were spent walking around the town of Luang Prabang, enjoying the architecture, the local restaurants, the handicraft night market and the laid back vibe. And more Beerlao.

We took a trip out to the Kuang Si waterfalls. Just at the entrance to the waterfalls there is the Bear Rescue Center run by Free The Bears association. They've rescued 31 bears in Laos to date (and many others throughout SE Asia). Traditional medicine still uses bear bile and gall bladder. So poaching/capturing the bears is still a problem. The sun and moon bears (or Asiatic Black Bear) are super cool. We sat and watched them for nearly an hour as they wandered around, played in the water and slept in funny positions. 

The falls were really awesome. I did some fun time lapse and we took a swim in one of the aqua-marine pools of water. Which in the 90+ degree weather was quick refreshing.

- Matt

Chengdu, China, part 1

People's Park in Chengdu, on a typical Tuesday afternoon.

One of several men writing in water on the paving stones and then letting the words dry away to nothing. 

Some of the fun rides in the kid's area.

Bree subjects herself to the tuning fork portion of the ear cleaning procedure.

Main temple at the Ai Dao Nunnery.

Entrance to Wenshu Monastery. 

Statue in Wenshu Monastery. 

Any dish in Sichuan that is red means that it will be spicy. And non-red dishes tend to be spicy as well. Basically everything is spicy, but delicious.

Coco, our new buddy at the hostel. Bree learned that he responds to Mandarin commands. 

We took the first couple of days in Chengdu to just explore the city. The cool kids call it either CD or the Du.  We walked to People's Park, a beautifully laid out park. There is a canal with row boats gliding through it. Foliage well maintained but not overly so. All the things you'd expect in a big city park anywhere in the world. It was like central park, in that it is a park, but that is where the similarities ended. There were several troupes of older performers singing and dancing, rivaling for your attention by having the loudest sound system. There was a large line-dancing group where random people would approach and just join in, all knowing the dance. There were old men writing poetry in water on the stone pathways. All of this was strange to me, but what really stood out was one particular moment. 

We entered an outdoor tea house where people sat enjoying tea... while men carrying a collection of long metal tools went about cleaning the patrons' ears. Bree had no sooner sat down when a man dug in, scraping away. What really made the moment surreal was when, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed (yet another) group of Chinese teenagers approaching, asking to take a picture with me. I'm in a park surrounded by dozens of people with their heads tilted while ear cleaners scrape away waxy buildup, and I'm the thing that you want to take a picture of?!

Don't get me wrong, I love it. This sums up a big part of the excitement of travel to me. Things that are seemingly mundane and normal here are bizarre, exciting and foreign to us. And our presence is bizarre, exciting and foreign to those here.

Later that night we found a restaurant that was recommended as both being vegetarian and typical Sichuan food. Sichuan food has a reputation for being spicy. It did not disappoint! The food was great and the burn faded from our lips not too much later.

The next day we headed to Wenshu Monastery and Ai Dao Nunnery. Again eating a very spicy lunch at a vegetarian restaurant in the monastery. We later cooled the fire in our mouths at the hostel with a few of the <1$ but 3.3% alcohol 40s of Snow beer (China's answer to Budweiser).

- Matt