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)...

China Beach, Danang

China beach was the most American place we could find to celebrate the 4th of July. There were no hamburgers though and fireworks have been outlawed since 1995. Apparently they had had enough with things that go boom in the night. Still, we thought of Uncle Sam and Uncle Ho as buddies and you have to admit that if you took off the stove pipe hat, there is a similarity. What do you think? Uncle Sam, Uncle Ho and Colonel Sanders... separated at birth?

I cant believe we're hanging out on the famous China Beach where the US troops relaxed during the Vietnam War. A starving, unemployed 15-year old Vietnamese kid with a BIG smile sat down next to us. He was skinny and shivering as he came out of the water (even though it was a warm 80 degrees). No body fat. Being so sweet, he tried to speak English, but had a hard time carrying on a conversation. He did better when he used our Vietnamese phrase book. He asked the vendor for a cigarette and he lit it immediately. Then he fumbled around in his pockets "looking" for money. He didn't have any. We gave the vendor 2,000 Dong for his cigarettes ($.14). We shared our rice cake with him and he told us that his family were farmers and very poor. When we got up to leave, he asked us for money to buy a noodle. Paul said, "No." The boy asked, "Why? You're rich. From America." Paul didn't know what to say because the boy was right, so he gave him 5,000 dong (28 cents) for dinner and told him, "Buy food. No beer or cigarettes. Promise?" The boy was grateful, thanked us, and we rushed to meet our friend Maurice. As we walked away tears filled my eyes. He was so skinny and looked malnourished. If we didnt already have dinner plans, we would have taken this hungry teenager to an "all-you-can-eat" buffet with us. Usually we never give kids money, but this was different. It was July 4th and we were thankful that there is peace here in Vietnam.

The 5 Marble Mountains (pictured above) have ancient Buddhas carved into the natural caves. The one in the picture is Tang Chon Dong and Eileen is sitting under a female Buddha at Linh Ong Pagoda. During the Vietnam War, one of the chambers in the caverns was used by the VC as a hospital and the masonry gate has bullet holes in it. The village creates amazing marble sculptures for sale too! One of the Vietnamese vendors told Eileen that she looks Vietnamese wearing her hat, long sleeves and skirt, and an umbrella in the 90 degree heat. What do you think?

Terrific Tailors in Hoi An

Tailors are everywhere you turn in Hoi An. You can bring in a picture of anything and they will custom make it for you within 24 hours! Mr. Bu at "Chic", a fussy, Vietnamese guy with a queer eye for detail took great care of us and we would highly recommend him. He made Paul's suits 9 years ago and they are holding up just fine! It was an adventure trying to track him down at the market. Not surprisingly, we were lied to at "Ly Ly Tailors" who told us Mr. Bu was on vacation in Saigon and wouldn't be back for a couple weeks, so we should buy from them today. Lying Ly Ly'ers that Lie, I say... After walking around the clothing market for a while, a few sweet Vietnamese girls whispered, "Hey! Come here! We know where Mr. Bu is. He moved his shop." They gave us his new address. Mr.Bu was fantastic - check out our fashion show (above).

"Vietnam is a country of food, a country of skinny people obsessed with eating," stated Andrew Pham (Vietnamese author). We have loved the food here more than anywhere else on our trip and decided to take a cooking class (pictured below) at Red Bridge! Most of our time in Hoi An was spent in French cafes (Cargo Room was the best and Tam Tam is a close 2nd).

The beach in Hoi An was nice and forms the southern end of the 20 mile stretch of China Beach. We met our Aussie friends, Chris and Belinda, at Swiss Belhotel for a swim!

Paul learned how to make a bamboo circle boat and then to naviagte one! There are floods every year in Hoi An and every home has a circle boat (pictured below) so they can leave their home when necessary. The basket weave of the boat is sealed with a mixture of cow dung and oil.

Hoi An has charm and history in Old Town with several 2-story, Chinese/French-style old buildings that are now cafes, guesthouses, bars, tailors, and souvenir shops. The carpentry village we visited on Kim Bong Island is responsible for most of the building and restoration of the 17th century architecture in Old Town. Tam Tam Cafe (below right) Hoi An is Eileen's favorite town in Vietnam!