Greetings from Cambodia

I never thought I'd write such a thing, but we are in Cambodia.  Our trip here was simple and it is really lovely here.  Our hotel is tropical and lush with traditional Cambodian architecture.  Our room is like a little treehouse overlooking a long lazy river style swimming pool which I can't wait to hit a little later today.  We arrived in time for dinner last night.  We took a tuk tuk (this is a scooter with an open air cart behind it in which to carry passengers) into town for $3 and were very surprised to find a bustling town that reminded us quite a lot of Duval Street in Key West - lots of bars and restaurants and tourists.  There are several places where you can get a fish massage and we watched a couple try it out.  You sit on a bench over a large tank, put your feet in, and the little fish eat the dead skin off your feet!  Doesn't seem like a very good idea to me.  Since we were so hungry we first stopped at a place called the Red Piano Bar for a drink and some pomme frites.  Then we found a bbq place for some steak and potatos.  There is a place called Blue Pumpkin where we had the best ice cream in the world.  We had our tuk tuk ride back and hit the sack. 

Our new guide - don't know how to spell it but it's something like Suen - is our age.  He had 12 brothers and sisters but now only knows where 4 of them are after the Khmer Rouge events in the 70s.  His English is very good and he is very charming.  He and the driver, Ret, pick us up in 30 minutes to take us to see Angkor Wat complex.  I can't wait!! 

The people here greet you by putting their hands in prayer position in front of their chest and bowing a little bit.  I didn't know what to do in response, so I've just started doing the same...

Acoustic Hotel California

We woke to a rainy morning in Hoi An.  We have only 5 more hours here before we go see Marble Mountain and the Cham Museum and then board our plane to Siem Reap, Cambodia. 

Our final visit to Hoi An was bittersweet.  We packaged up all our gifts and souvenirs and brought them to the tailor shop.  We visited with Lian (one of the tailor sisters) until the post office came to us on a scooter.  She inspected all our items, prepared a complete packing slip, and packaged it all up for us and zipped away with the box on the back of her scooter.  $175 and four weeks later our box should arrive in Chicago.  We said farewell to Lian and I can legitimately say that I'll miss her.  Our next stop was the Marble Wine Bar where we felt a bit like Norm walking into Cheers the way we were greeted.  We were sorry to tell them that they shouldn't expect us to show up again tomorrow, but we still enjoyed another round of Oyster Bay Sauvignon Blanc and some salted Spanish peanuts.

A recent guest at the Victoria Hoi An had written about the Secret Garden restaurant in the hotel guest book.  We figured it wouldn't hurt to give it a try!  We got a 7:30 reservation and found out why it's called the "Secret" Garden as we searched it out down some tiny dark alleyway.  Our waiter was quite the the commedian and we were treated to live guitar music - including Hotel California - TWICE!

Since everything on the menu was about $1, we ordered a lot - Hoi An's famous White Rose dumplings, garlic toasts, 5 colors salad, spicy shrimp, grilled beef rolls, and green bean (yup, green bean) ice cream that was very very surprisingly good. 

The exchange rate for Vietnamese Dong is 21,000 to $1.  So, we are used to paying millions of Dong for stuff.  Now we change to dividing by 4,040 as Jim's research shows that it's 4,040 Cambodian Riel to a U.S. dollar.  We may need to go get millions more Dong to get out of the country.  However, it is fun to see your ATM receipt with your bank balance - makes you feel so rich seeing all those zeros......  

Rinse and Repeat

We had a day today much like yesterday.  After a Pho breakfast for Kara and eggs for Jim, we went poolside.  Most of the morning was spent reading, swimming, sunning, and snoozing.  We took some more photos of this beautiful resort.  My goal for the morning - see how slowly I can walk from place to place.  Yes, it is a state of extreme relaxation which I hope to tap into once we get back to our crazy working lives.

After a while we needed lunch so we borrowed some bicycles from the resort and went up the road to the next resort - Golden Sands - for a lovely lunch.  All this activity made us tired so we came back for more resting.  Is that the laziest day ever, or what?

Last night we paid a third visit to our gals at the tailor shop - sisters who seem to look forward to our visits now - waiting on the sidewalk to wave us in and give us each a cold Bier Larue.  Tonight we visit them again as they've offered to ship all the souvenirs and gifts we've purchased along with our new clothes.  I'm sure we'll have another nice visit with lots of questions about each others lives.

After our tailor shop visit we again stopped in on the Marble Wine Bar for a glass of white and then to Mango Rooms for dinner.  I had a delicious menu item - Fish Called Phish which was delicious red snapper in a mango sauce.  Jim had shrimp wrapped in beef which was also quite excellent.  For some unknown reason we were exhausted after dinner - opting for a taxi back in advance of the 9:30 shuttle bus.

I sure hope we do better tonight; our last night in Hoi An.  We have plans to go to Secret Garden for dinner.  Tomorrow we are met by Phoung at 1:30 to take us to see the Marble Mountains, Cham Museum, and then to the airport for our short flight to Siem Reap, Cambodia.

We fully expect to find a computer to use from there and will post more adventures ASAP.

What color for your toes, Mister?

It has been the most relaxing day so far.  Jim had to drag me out of bed and force me to grudgingly get up for breakfast.  His lure - the promise of spa treatments.  The man knows me well.

We took the shuttle into town last night for the first fitting of our new shirts.  I've had four work shirts made and Jim six.  My shirts fit fine and just need a couple of tiny adjustments.  The gals at the tailor shop are disgusted with Jim as they firmly believe his shirts should be more form than function.  After quite a lot of discussion they have agreed to make his shirts a bit roomier so that he can drive the car without an incredible hulk type breakout.  The tailor even came by to have a look. 

After visiting the gals, we made our way for our requisite visit to the Marble Wine Bar for a bottle of Oyster Bay Sauvignon Blanc.  They now know to bring a little dish of salted spanish peanuts when we arrive.  Jim was feeling a bit weary of Vietnamese food last night so we chose to disappoint the Wine Bar lady by going elsewhere for dinner.  We knew the Cargo Club had some western type dishes so we talked them into giving us a table.  We had a greek salad, margarita pizza, and chicken parmesan.  It all had a little flavor of Vietnam, but provided us with a little home food comfort.

I think I may have been a little too excited about our day off today - I drank too much wine and don't really remember the trip back to our resort.  Clearly Jim took good care of me as I woke safe and sound in our lovely room this morning with full view of the South China Sea and husband/wife teams fishing in round bamboo basket boats.

After our breakfast this morning we visited the spa for an hour-long foot massage and pedicure.  Jim was being a good sport about the foot treatment - particularly when his technician asked him what color he'd like for his toenails.

Afterwards we spent several hours poolside - having lunch at the poolside bar.  We had a nice long walk down the beach and looked at the eclectic mix of tourists - all nationalities, shapes, sizes, and swimming costumes.  What a laugh.

I wish I could report more exciting activities today, but we were glad to read our books and relax the day away.  We're back on the shuttle in 30 minutes for our second fitting at the tailor shop, a bit of shopping for gifts, a visit to the wine bar, and dinner at Mango Rooms.

Tomorrow we do a Lauren style loop-da-loop and do it all over again.

Ooh La La!

Well, we've had another incredible day.  We met Phoung at 8:30 - he was in our lobby with 3 creaky but very nice cruiser bikes waiting.  With a healthy layer of sunscreen, hats and sunglasses we set off this morning into the countryside.  We passed by fish ponds, rice patties, herb and vegetable gardens, small villages, through the old Hoi An market, and along the river for a lovely 2 hour ride.  We made a few stops just to take in the scene - watching water buffalo graze on old rice "hay", fishing boats along the river, and the hard working villagers tending to their crops or collecting river weed to use as fertilizer. 

We made a quick stop at a little pottery village and, after a great deal of pressure from a very charming 4 generations of the pottery family, we purchased some items (including a whistle shaped as a kitten that the little girl was proud to have made) and off we went.  As we passed through villages, people stopped to smile and wave to us and children called out hello hello hello from windows and front porches. 

A word about Phoung.  He is a very kind and gentle 55 year old man who learned English from American G.I.'s during the war.  He frequently visited the homes of the G.I.'s to watch Bonanza, Batman, etc. and was treated to M&M's.  He is a retired school teacher.  He pays close attention to me and doesn't seem to notice Jim at all.  Jim has been doing some grumbling about that. 

The last stop on our bike trip was at the home of a family who has grown herbs, vegetables, and flowers for 300 years in this area.  Whenever you visit a shop, home, spa, etc. here you are always offered a beverage - tea or tamarind juice or some other mystery item.  Jim and I wouldn't dream of refusing, but the welcome beverage we were offered today left quite a lot to be desired.  We did our best to just gulp it down and get it over with.  The old man in the family talked to us (with Phoung translating) about their daily life and work then gave us rice hats and gardening smocks for a tour of the gardens.  Phoung didn't know the English words for many of the plants, but we were able to piece together several different kinds of basil, mint, lemon balm, lettuce, etc.  It was really lovely.  Marching out into the garden after a little while was Chef Tu.  Chef Tu brought us to another "house" to teach us to make several dishes out on the back patio.  We made spring rolls - fresh and fried and BBQ fish in banana leaf.  We even created a lovely centerpiece for our table.  We enjoyed the fruits of our "labors" with a couple of cold Tiger beers and were talked into buying a few kitchen items from Chef Tu. 

After bidding farewell to our hosts, we set off on the bikes again for a 15 minute ride back into Old Hoi An town where we dropped the bikes off at a shop.  The shop keeper yelled a "Good Bye" as we walked away toward the river.  We have gotten pretty familiar with the town by now.  When we got to the river, Phoung negotiated with a few boat drivers for a ride back to our hotel.  The boats are wooden with elaborate paint and eyeballs painted on the front - to scare away any large fish that might swim up and tip the boat over.  The eyes must have worked because we arrived safely back our hotel about 40 minutes later.  Sunburned, sweaty, and happy we cleaned up and had a little rest. 

We're catching the shuttle back to Old Hoi An town in about 45 minutes.  We'll go back to the tailor for the first fitting of our new shirts.  Then we plan to have an easy dinner in town - perhaps at the Marble Wine Bar where we've gone for a quick drink the past few nights.  Last night the woman running the wine bar told us that we were going to eat there tonight, so who are we to argue.

The next two days are on our own.  We have some spa treatments booked for tomorrow morning, but who knows what kind of trouble we're going to get into.  The beach is 40 kilometers long - we may spend all day on it - walking along the powdery sand listening to the waves crash.

Spoiled Rotten!

Totally unacceptable, this pampering... Kara let me have a turn at the blog today. What a day - custom clothes made in a little shop in Hoi An (probably cheap, ordinarily, but I told her I want "the best damn shirts she's ever made"), lounging about the pool, massages and wine and now heading downtown for dinner at what I heard referred to this morning as "the best restaurant in Vietnam".  The folks at the hotel are quite concerned because we are going to miss the "dancing show" - the multi-colored paper lanterns are strung about the pool, the surf is roaring in and the staff is getting antsy.  Thankfully, we remain unaffected by the goings on in the world, but check in with BBC occasionally to see the happenings.   Hoi An is a lovely little town. It is mostly deprived of the endless motorbike traffic you find elsewhere so crossing the street can be done fairly mindlessly, and popping in to shops to see the local handicraft, art and knick knacks, crap of an endless variety, cobras bottled in whiskey, etc never seems to grow tiresome.  The louts are mostly held in check here as well, so bothersomes and apologies and no thank-you's are few.  The weather has turned warm and we truly feel like we're on vacation now - it's exactly what we'd hoped for.  The hotel is beautiful and the website doesn't do it justice.  The people are wonderful and everything is top-notch.  There is a series of stone canals running through the property through which Koi swim endlessly, and the pool is just a step up from the beach and 30 feet from the surf. Our very private suite is in another 30 feet and looks out over all. Dragon flies flirt about in the daytime and geckos climb the walls, inside and out.
Tomorrow we ride into the countryside to purchase food from a local market.  We'll take it to someone's home and they'll teach us to cook a few authentic Vietnamese dishes.  We've mastered the spring roll already, so I suspect the White Rose and something with Hoi An noodles will be part of the program.  Kara only hopes they'll teach her how to make Pho - which she intends to eat every day for the rest of her life.  We'll see.....

OK and holding

It is a lovely Saturday morning in Hoi An.  We've had facials and are now about to board the shuttle to the old Hoi An town.  We're going to have some clothes made, have a lovely lunch, then come back to the resort for massages.  Sort of a day off from touring today - no guides - just the two of us having a great day. 

We continue to be concerned about what's happening in Japan and see that the tsunami has impacted California.  We're glad we've been able to report to our family/freinds that we are OK so nobody worries about us.