Train rides around the Island and our flight home

Train travel is luxurious in Taiwan. Starting from the northwest of Taiwan in Taijung traveling southwest were coastal plains and rice patties. The typhoon caused roads to be closed so we couldn't go to Mt. Ali to view the sunrise. Instead we hopped on another train to Kaohsiung where we took a romantic walk along Love River at night (above). Also, we hit some balls at the batting cages. Baseball is the national sport of Taiwan. For weddings, women wear orange, lime green, and red wedding dresses? I liked the pink ones above.

Next we took the train south to the tip of the island passing Kenting Beach (above) and then north up the east coast to Hua Lien. The scenery was lush with green trees covering the hills and several waterfalls. Hiking in Toroko Gorge National Park outside of Hua Lin had amazing scenery.

The aboriginal Taroko tradition was at 7 years old everyone had to be tatooed on their forehead for identification. At 14 years old a young man was tatooed on his chin after his first successful headhunting. The Taroko Gorge was formed by calcerous rock heated at high pressure causing it to metamorphose into marble. The Liwu River carved it way through the gorge forming the valleys. There were rock slides everyday and an earthquake rumbled at 3am when we were there! Check out the damage below..

We flew home on August 4th from Taipei to San Francisco to LAX where Paul's brother, John, picked us up. Our first meal back on US soil was a burrito and quesadilla. Then we went straight to the beach in sunny OC! It's good to back!

Taipei, Taiwan

There are 2.8 million people in Taipei. The 101 (pictured above) was the tallest building in the world in 2004 at 504 meters. It has the world's fastest elevator at 1,010 per minute. My ears popped going up! It also has the world's largest wind damper (pictured below right) with a diameter of 5.5 meters and weighs 660 tons!

Strolling through the city, all the Taiwanese people are friendly and go out of their way to help you. They all have a huge smile. It's a more modern and wealthy Asian city than the ones we've been traveling in the past 5 months. Taipei feels like a mix between Japanese and Chinese (ex: Oolong Chinese tea and Japanese Teppan Restaurants). We did some sightseeing including the National Palace Museum (above left) and Democracy Hall (above right).

The Asian markets always bring surprises and this time, the hello kitty fish balls made me open my mouth in wonder. Also, the woman selling her fresh squid and sardines in the front of the women's clothes shop was strange. I don't know about you, but I don't like the smell of fish when I am shopping for a cute outfit. Ewwww...

Our hosts for the first few nights in Taipei, Angel and Torah, were fantastic! We couch-surfed at their apartment in Beitou and went to the hot springs (above). On Sat. night we all went shopping at the Shilin Night Market and dancing at Club Plush. Here's a shout out to Steve Lynch, the club manager, who was a friend of a guy we met in Thailand. Thank you for getting us in free, giving us VIP treatment and a free round of drinks for 4 (yes, Paul worked the "McNeil Deal" all the way across the world in Taiwan)!

Phun in the Philippines

     

  
In making our way from Hanoi to Taipei for our flight home, we found that the easiest and cheapest flight option was through Manila. So we spent a week in the Philippines. Named after some king in Spain, this nation of 7,106 islands is pretty homogeneous.  The jeepney (pictured above left) is a famous mode of transport, as well as the tricycle (pictured above right).  Manila is not as bad as everyone says and Malate has great live music, and of course karaoke!  Maurice, Paul's friend, met us in Manila and we traveled to an island together (pictured below left).

  

  

We stayed in Puerto Galera, on Mindoro Island. Our hosts Monica and Lars (in sunset photo above) are friends of Maurice and run a beach camp for street children from Manila called Stairway Foundation. Their work affects the lives of hundreds of kids daily. We stayed 5 days and had some time with a bunch of 10-year-olds fresh out of adult jails (because there is no other place for them). We did an impromptu yoga lesson and ate meals with them. Their stories are heartbreaking but, at Stairways they are just normal kids in school and going to the beach everyday.  On the way back in to Manila we saw hundreds of street kids (there are 1.5m homeless kids in a total population of 86 million) and thought of the great work that Lars and Monica are doing and how lucky those kids are.

  

Some Phun Phacts:

Largest Export: Humans, 10 million living abroad and sending money home

Most Corrupt Government in Asia (as of last week)

Most musical nation on earth with singing and dancing everywhere

 

On the way back from the island to Manila, we visited the active Ta'al volcano (pictured above).  It's massive!  The rim is 30km with a lake in the middle.

Halong Bay and Cat Ba Island, Vietnam

The "Junk" boat cruise to the island was fabulous (pictured above) as we passed caves and floating villages. Inside the caves were stalagtites and stalagmites (pictured below) that have been there for over 1,000 years.

Hiking in Cat Ba Island National Park was fantastic and we sweated more than we ever have in our entire lives! The 3,000 islands were surrounding us. After the strenuous hike, we got magnificent massages on the beach for $4. Incredible!

Eileen's 31st Birthday in Hanoi

Paul is the best husband ever and organized a fun birthday weekend for me that was full of surprises! On Friday he gave me flowers and went to Bodha Spa for a manicure, pedicure, and foot massage. Saterday night started with a romantic cyclo ride to Le Place (a French Restaurant) and then to the circus! What a surprise... from bears driving moto's (above), monkeys riding bikes, trapeze acrobats, contortionists, women twirling in the air on roller skates, elephants, clowns, and included 2 hours of amazing acts!

Then we went pub crawling in the Old Quarter to Bia Hoi street cafes serving homemade brew until they closed at midnight. Everyone sang happy birthday in the streets at midnight. Another cyclo, Mr.Suan, took us to a barge bar on the river and waited for us until 3am when we finished dancing!

On Sunday, we went shopping, had facials, and full body massages. He gave me gifts and treated us to a special 6-course dinner at Hoa Sua, a restaurant that trains street kids how to work, live, and be successful citizens in their community. The caviar with arugala salad and strawberry dressing was fabulous. What a wonderful birthday! Check out the circus videos below of the twirling rollerskate girls and then my favorite, the men acrobats...

Cafe Culture in Hanoi

The cafe culture is fantastic in Hanoi! We have a traditiona cafe sua da (ice milk coffee) each morning and watch the world go by around Hoan Kiem Lake. It's great to have time to write in our journals and have conversations about life. In Hanoi, you have to visit the man Ho Chi , his embalmed corpse looks like it belongs in a Maddam Tousseau Wax Museum, and is near the Presidential Palace (above right). Ho Chi lived in the more simple House on Stilts (above left) and stayed true to his vision. We did a little sight-seeing, but Hanoi is a great place to do nothing. Pictured below are the One Pillar Pagoda (below left); Vietnamese coffee (bottom left); Paul salutes Ho Chi (below right); and our favorite Cafe 44 (bottom right).

Visiting the War Museum and Hoa Lo Prison, where John McCain lived for 5 1/2 years, were depressing (pictured below).

This is a video of the maddness at an intersection in Hanoi where it's difficult to cross the street. Eileen has to hold Paul's hand or she'd never make it!

The water puppet theatre performance was cultural and enjoyable. Listen to the Vietnamese traditional music and singing as you watch the "Fairy Dance" puppets!

In Asia, people wake up early and do their exercises in the morning! Watch them play badmitton, do thai chi, meditate, do yoga, sword ladies group, walk, fan ladies group, stretch, and more...

Ho Chi Minh Trail, Hue

The DMZ tour was long, but I learned a lot about the Vietnam War. On Highway 9, the picture (top left) is of the HO Chi Minh Trail and (top right) is of Rockpile Mountain (US Troops Based here with only helicopter access). The hills were green, but many of the 20-foot high trees were destroyed by agent orange. At Khe Sanh, US Base, I viewed old planes and bunkers (pictured above). Bikes were used on the Ho Chi Minh Trail to transport supplies (pictured below).

On Highway 1, we crossed the Hien Long Bridge over the Ben Hai River which divided North and South Vietnam from 1965-1973. I saw where the US troops put motion sensors and button bombs to kill the North Vietnamese along this border. It seemed so peaceful today driving through farms, rice patties, and cow pastures. Visiting the longest and largest Vinh Moc Tunnels was amazing and you got a taste of how the 300 Vietnamese lived underground for over 6 years (1966 - 1972). I walked in the dark narrow tunnels hunched over (because they're so low) smelling the dirt. 17 babies were born here and there was only 1 toilet for women only, men had to go outside. Speaking of which, you were only allowed out of the tunnel once per week for a half hour or so... unbelievable! When you heard airplanes, you ran into the trenches and to the bomb shelter or tunnel as fast as you could (pictured below). Vietnamese are strong people!

On a brighter side, it's my birthday month, so we splurged tonight! A wonderful 7-course dinner inside the Citadel included dishes representative of the Hue royal court. Check out the spring rolls decorated on the pineapple peacock for starters (left) and steamed rice in lotus flower (right)...