Who would have ever guessed that some day we'd be celebrating Pesach in Tokyo, Japan at the local JCC?!?!  I certainly could have never imagined this happening in all places of the world.  This was a completely amazing experience - sharing a seder with over 200 people from around the globe in such a foreign country!

One of the most mind boggling things was reading from a Haggadah that contained not only English and Hebrew, but also Japanese.  Just imagine the Four Questions in this totally foreign language!  Not only that, but the seder was conducted in all three languages -  so cool!  The Rabbi, Henri Noach, was a really neat character as well.  Born in France, raised in New York, lived in Jerusalem for 20 years, and just over 4 years ago took on the congregation in Japan because, in his words, he was looking for an "interesting experience."  It was fun talking to him and learning about his life and how he ended up in Tokyo.

The coolest thing by far was sharing this experience with Jewish people from all over the world - Dan to my left was a college kid from London studying abroad for the year in Japan, while Alley across from us was a twenty-something on holiday with her family from Manhattan, and Jack and his wife Hiroko and their adorable two-year-old Mandy had moved here to Japan a couple years ago from Hawaii.

Sharing this evening with so many differnt people made the experience quite special, although it certainly could never take the place of being with family.  I must say, though, that the food was fabulous and made up for some of the home-sickness we were feeling -- from the delicious and sweet Charoset, to a light and flaky gefillte fish, and most importanly the classic matzah ball soup.  Although this certainly could never hold a candle to my mom's spread or cooking, it did the job!

I think this whole experience has turned Jason on to a new concept of "celebrating Jewish holidays around the world".  Hey, if he's willing to take me to a foreign country every time a Jewish holiday rolls around, I'm in!

Passover will always have a unique meaning to us both after experiencing it half way around the globe in Tokyo with 200 fellow Jews!  At this point I can't wait until the next holiday rolls around so we can celebrate it in another foreign culture to get a different perspective on Jewish tradition in different parts of the world.

After 36 hours of rejuventating ourselves in our hotel room after week upon week of constant going, we decided to venture out to Chidori-ga-fuchi National Garden for the afternoon.  The sun was shining, and we knew this would be a beautiful time to view the cherry blossoms in the park.  The plan was also to find the moat by the Imperial Palace that we could rent row boats from, and view the cherry blossoms from the water.

Now, I know I've mentioned it before, but I don't think I've quite driven in the point about how important the Cherry Blossoms are to Japanese people.  The cherry blossom (sakura) is Japan's unofficial national flower. It has been celebrated for many centuries and takes a very prominent position in Japanese culture.

There are many dozens of different cherry tree varieties in Japan, most of which bloom for just a couple of days in spring. The Japanese celebrate this time of the year with hanami (cherry blossom viewing) parties under the blooming trees. These couple of days each year are integral to people's lives, planning many aspects of their day around being able to view the blossoms.

So, we arrived to the garden to literally mobs of people, all taking in the beautiful site of the sakura in full bloom.  The mass of people was the first thing we noticed.  The next thing that caught our attention were the big, black rain clouds hovering in the distance, which had colored the sky a dark grey.  We decided that the clouds looked far enough away, and that we'd take the walk around the moat through the cherry blossoms to rent a row boat.  Lets just say, not the smartest idea.

It truly was magnificent walking through the cherry blossoms, which began to fall all over the ground as the winds picked up - they really looked like snow flakes blanketing the ground.  This was a remarkable site.  Both Jason and I experienced a very surreal sensation being in this place surrounded by the cherry blossoms, as the beauty and feeling in the air was something we had never experienced.  I think at that moment I began to understand why so many Japanese people go crazy over these special blossoms that they can only experience a couple days each year.

That feeling though unfortunately only lasted a short time, since the rain drops slowly began to fall.  At this point we had already walked too far around the garden, that there was no turning back. 

Lets just say we got drenched and even had to, sadly, use the local Tony Roma's as a respite to get out of the rain for a bit.  We're both fighting off the chills right now after spending way too much time in the cold, freezing rain, with no raincoat, no umbrella, and only our fleeces which absorbed the water like a sponge.

I will say we were quite lucky to catch a glimpse of the snowy cherry blossoms, however that certainly seems to have come at a price.

The experience of riding down the Li River almost completely made some of our negative thoughts of China disappear. We could never have come close to imagining how breathtaking the views and scenery would be during this journey down the river.

Taking a boat down the Li River is quite a popular way for people to get from Guilin to Yangshuo. We had a sense that the “boat ride” would most likely be a giant vessel packed with tons of Chinese tourists, and that it might not be the most enjoyable and peaceful way to take the sites in (cigarette smoking, squatting, and spitting isn’t our idea of relaxing yet all too common to Chinese culture). Thus, we did a little investigation and discovered we could take a private speed boat down the river for just $12 more – also, we could bring our luggage with us and spend a couple nights in Yangshuo! We were in.

WOW, Jason and I were in total awe of the beauty of our surroundings as we flew down the river in our private boat manned by our very gracious captain. The large limestone karsts surrounded us almost the whole stretch of the river – for an entire 3 hours we got to view the splendor of the mountains. The day happened to be quite foggy, which created quite a magical feel in the landscape around us. Not even New Zealand could rival this beauty

Not only were the views of the mountains and river stunning, but passing by all of the fisherman on their tiny little bamboo rafts was quite a site to take in. It truly felt like we were in some sort of mystical story, since the images felt so surreal. Even our “bathroom break” was an awesome experience. Our eager to please captain pulled onto the embankment of the river, where we jumped off the front of the boat into yet some more amazing countryside. The backdrop of our pit stop was an open plain where a herd of cows were grazing. We also met a local farmer who wanted to share his birds with us (in other words charge us to take a picture with them), which was actually quite cool as you can see in the video.

We certainly have a new appreciation of China and some of the beauty it has to offer after getting out of the big cities and spending some time in the rural areas. Click here to see all of the amazing pictures!

Are two things that Jason and I love! Well, for Jason, more eating and not so much art... Who would have thought that the remote region of Yangshuo, China would be the place we’d be able to explore these passions! We heard from several people that taking a cooking class in Yangshuo was a must, so we signed up for the Cloud 9 cooking school, located right around the corner from our Paradise Hotel.

This was the full fledged cultural experience of Chinese cooking, beginning with our somewhat traumatic trip to the local farmer’s market to buy the fresh ingredients for our dishes. Let’s just say this farmer’s market wasn’t exactly what we were used to at the trendy and shi-shi farmer’s market at the ferry plaza in SF Embarcadero.

The experience started off just fine, typical fruits and vegetables lined up everywhere (not the cleanest of environments, but okay). Then we got to the live animal section – chickens, rabbits and pigeons – this I could handle. Slowly things were getting a little stranger – frogs, snakes, snails, turtles, all alive of course. It was weird, but manageable.

Okay, next thing I know our cooking teacher is asking us if we want to continue to the next section of the market, since things were about to get a little more gruesome. Sure, why not – when in China, do as the Chinese do, right?! I’d heard about dogs being eaten in several Asian countries, but to actually walk into the section and see dogs strung up was a little hard. Worst part is, there were caged live dogs awaiting their fate of being someone’s dinner that night – it was a disturbing picture. The pig bladder, heart, brains, lamb penis, and rats were also a lot to handle. Let’s just say we’ve been eating vegetarian in this country since that experience (minus the very clean chicken we prepared ourselves in the class)!!

All these gruesome images aside, the cooking class was fabulous. Our open air kitchen looking out onto the Yangshuo mountains was breathtaking. We chose three dishes to cook – braised eggplant, meat dumplings (chicken and beef!!) and Gung Bao (Kung Pao as we call it) chicken. Of all things, I never thought I’d be grateful to China for getting Jason in the kitchen and cooking for the first time EVER. I think we may have the up and coming JaSAN Can Cook!!! Check out his moves on the video clip.

So, from cooking in the morning to arriving at the Hotel of Modern Art (HOMA) in the afternoon, we felt like things were shaping up in our China experience. This remote hotel located between Guilin and Yangshuo that just opened in 2006 was certainly a unique place to spend some time. The ultra sheik and contemporary retreat is located on 1300 acres of land. In their words this place is “an open air art museum intercommunicating with natural environment".

There are around 200 very interesting art installations and sculptures scattered throughout the landscape designed by over 140 artists from around the world – they all interact with the environment in quite a special way. The only way to describe the surreal experience of being there is like imagining being Alice in Wonderland. Jason and I had so much fun frolicking around this compound on our “hogs”, as Jason referred to our dinky little bikes. From playing in the park, to pondering the meaning of the pieces and installations (more Joy than Jason, who was more interested in the slide and playground), we certainly enjoyed our time at HOMA. We even got upgraded to this really cool room (b/c there was absolutely no one staying at the hotel), which was fun. I guess all it took for China to grow on us is a little bit of cooking and a cool, contemporary art hotel!!

Thank goodness for this wonderful town of Hangzhou to lift our spirits and moods about China – this has been a definite positive note to end on. After battling some sort of stomach ailment for the second time while being in China, I was ready for something/anything to be nice and easy here. Heavenly Hangzhou located just a 2 hour train ride from Shanghai fit just the bill.

This lakeside town, surrounded by sprawling mountains is gorgeous, and actually considered by many to be the ultimate paradise of China. I can certainly see why people flock to this area to find respite in the beauty and serenity of the lake and mountains. We too discovered this area to be a lovely get away from the chaotic hustle and bustle of most everywhere else we had experienced in the country.

Our first day here we rented bikes and rode around the entire perimeter of the lake, taking time to absorb all the sites. Even the drivers in this area seem to be a little more laid back, making the maneuvering of a bike along the like-side somewhat manageable, yet definitely scary at times.

We climbed, actually took an escalator and elevator to the top of Leifeng Pagoda, which looks out onto the entire West Lake of Hangzhou. What an amazing view! Our next stop were these little motor boats we noticed along the water, which we rented for a short bit and motored around the lake on. A stop at the local market led to Jason buying a leather belt, and our discovery of Dairy Queen in China – the green tea, chocolate chunk blizzard was delicious.

It’s sad to admit, but after my last really difficult episode of stomach “issues”, we’ve been sticking to as much “familiar” food as possible (aka – staying away from Chinese). I must say you never know what you’re going to get in the local dishes here – even if they specify one thing, there usually seems to be some sort of weird, unrecognizable something in the dish that is just too weird to eat. I never thought I’d be so grateful to Pizza Hut for some good meals lately!

Beyond the scenery here, and the easy access to Pizza Hut, the town is filled with “cute” boutique-like shops that seem to carry stuff other then junk. I think this is the only time I’ve used the word cute to describe anything in China, so that says a lot about how we’re feeling about this place.

We are off to Hong Kong tomorrow, which although technically part of China, we hear is worlds apart. For us, that is very good news!!!

We have a new favorite city . . .that is of course still after our first love San Francisco.  That being said, one of the major things we loved so much about Hong Kong was how much it reminded us of SF.  So many cute pockets of restaurants and bars, a beautiful bay, very friendly people (that was of course magnified after how cold people were to us in Mainland China), great shopping and not an overwhelmingly huge city. 

Even the sporadic down pours didn't get us down about Hong Kong, like it did in other places (Shanghai for example).  We just mounted up in our parkas, and hit the streets rain or shine.  The public transporation in this city is incrediblly efficient, easy and cheap.  Between taking the trams, subways, ferries and taxis, we got everywhere in ease.  This is actually the one thing that by far exceeds SF, since we all know that muni and BART aren't the most efficient and fast ways to get to all parts of the city.  Our favorite mode of transport in the city by far were our own two feet, where we got some pretty cool urban hiking in.

It was espeically nice how international this city was, with people speaking all different languages around us.  English seems to be the primary language people communicate in (of course Cantonese as well, however everyone speaks English).  So, we had no problem intermingling with the locals for the first time in months, which was really nice!

We even managed to muster up a couple fun nights out on the town - the bars and restaurants in this city are incredible, especially the ones we discovered in an area called SOHO (very Marina-like as one friend described it).  AND, one of our favorite things we did was to meet up with Kath and Jake, who we had met on the Great Wall of China earlier in our travels.  Hong Kong is their home now, and we had great fun throwing back some drinks and talking to the wee hours of the night!

Now, we must say good bye to Hong Kong, but will certainly be back.  We're about to have a real change in scenery, culture and climate, as we depart for Vietnam in about 2 hours.  The current temperature is 93 degrees!  Jason's trying to prepare for the intensity of the heat and humidity,

The area of the Mekong Delta is a hub of activity centered around river-life. Located 3 hours from Saigon, it’s a popular stop on the “tourist” trail, so thought we’d check it out and see what it was all about.

We opted for the Saigon Tourist day tour for this one, which ended up being quite an endeavor. You just never know what you’re going to get with these day trips, namely the people you’ll be spending in this case upwards of 12 hours with.

Our initial impression when the bus arrived to pick us up from our hotel was that we made a bad decision when Jason noted a half dozen children running up and down the aisles of the bus. Strike one! Strike two was the fact that the only two seats left (mine on top of the wheel well with no leg room) weren’t next to each other, so we’d be spending the next 3 hour drive without each other’s company (you’d think after almost 4 months of traveling together we’d be okay apart for a bus ride, but sadly we’re just not sick of each other yet.) Within 15 minutes of our drive, the beautiful sunny skies clouded over and rain began pouring from the sky – strike three! Hopefully things would get better from here.

I specifically chose this day tour because they advertised taking us to experience the floating market, which is supposed to be quite a site to see. Unfortunately, our tour got a bit of a late start so by the time we got to the delta, loaded our long boat and arrived to the market, there was almost no activity left on the river. That was a bummer to miss!

BUT, once informed our next stop along the river would be a candy factory, we all perked up, especially Jason. We got to watch them make lots of different treaty-cakes including popped rice bars, ginger and coconut candy, and sweetened rice paper. The smells in the air at this place were divine, and luckily they fed us samples of all the candy, with some nice tea to wash it all down. This was especially a score since usually on these things they try and give you the hard sell to buy all the goods, but this was more about sharing it with us freely.

Back on the boat after waiting out a down pour, our next jaunt was an hour and a half boat cruise through the waterways of the delta that eventually led us to a local music show. I’ll let you be the judge of the “performance”—not exactly like seeing Zero 7 at the Fillmore!!!

One thing that I forgot to mention, which was giving Jason a coronary throughout the whole boat trip, was “Marlborough man” sitting directly in front of us chain smoking cigarettes the entire trip. I have never seen Jason almost blow a gasket like this – he was so annoyed and frustrated at how inconsiderate this guy was. I think we know who “the one in the group” was this day.

The one thing that really didn’t disappoint, though much later then we had anticipated it would be served, was lunch. Although it most certainly wasn’t at a “local’s house” as advertised in the brochure, it was in a beautiful, lush, tropical setting behind a restaurant. We indulged in a 5 course Vietnamese meal, beginning with the Mekong specialty of elephant ear fish wrapped in rice paper – it was delicious!

By the time we got through with lunch and back to the bus it was already 4:30pm, and we had a 3 hour ride to look forward to. Although the day had shaped up into a pretty decent tour, ending on the note of a bus full of completely wired children going nuts on the 3 hour ride home soured things a bit. Thank god we have so much video though to remind us of the more enjoyable aspects of the day!

Although trying to find just the right place to stay in each destination we visit can be a bit of a struggle, this time it was easy; on the recommendation of our friends Margot and Charlie who were in Vietnam last year, they told us we MUST stay at Victoria Resort and Spa.  Okay, they are permanently on our AWESOME list.

This resort was beautiful - located on 14 hectares of lush, tropical land, pressed up against the ocean and beach, we were in heaven.  Our beach front bungalow was just perfect, with a direct view of the ocean, an outdoor rain-shower, and a lovely froncolny (how Jason refers to front balconies).  The landscape of the entire property were wonderfully manicured with lots of pretty flowers growing everywhere, as well the pools were expansive and refreshing.

Our 48 hours here was all about pools, beach, food, and naps.  The internet connection was terrible and only available in the poolside bar, so we were forced to put our computers aside and just completely relax (a well needed break from these machines that seem to control us at times!)

From the stellar seafood beach bar-b-q, to the incredibly friendly and personable staff, and the amazing pools, we did not want to leave this place.  The only reason we didn't extend our time here was the lack of reliable communication (internet access), which puts a damper in Jason trying to run his company.

Sad to say, we never even left the property of Victoria Resort to explore the surrounding area.  We feel okay about that, considering we've seen lots and lots of places over the past 4 months.  If you ever just happen to be in Vietnam (I mean who isn't), and are looking for a perfect, romantic getaway you have got to check out this place. 

You know how they say that women who give birth experience “labor amnesia” (blocking out just how painful the process was), well I think we experienced the same but opposite affect with “scuba divers amnesia”, forgetting just how AMAZING it was to be in the depths of the ocean. We were on such a high after our two dives in Nha Trang, we can’t believe we hadn’t been doing more diving all along.

The only other time we had ever been scuba diving was when we went through our certification course in Maui this past December. Now, when you get certified the process leading up to a dive is actually really long and a lot of hard work, having to set up your own gear, schlep it from the beach to the ocean, wash down everything at the end, plus study all the information so you can pass the test at the end. I think all that kind of turned us off to the whole diving process.

BUT, once your certified and especially if you do a boat dive with a reputable company, there’s very little work in the whole build up process to getting out in the water – they do it all for you. Basically, all you have to do is put on your gear with their assistance, waddles over to the ledge of the boat, jump off the plank, and the rest is pure enjoyment. We’re so down with the boat diving!

Rainbow Divers were a great choice to go out on the water with, and our particular dive master, Viet had eyes like a Hawk, pointing out things we would have never seen on our own (everyone told us to request the Vietnamese guys, b/c they have super vision for pinpointing stuff).

The definite viewing highlights were first and foremost Jason in a wetsuit – I mean come on, how much cuter is that. Then of course the amazingly colorful and vibrant coral reefs, the two enormous jelly fish we saw hovering around us, the moray eel bearing it’s open mouth at us, and a couple lion fish. Of course there were lots of tropical fish and a couple large schools of fish, which are always neat to see.

We’re definitely looking forward to doing some diving once we get to the Maldives, as we hear that there is some of the best dive sites in the world.  Thanks to Nha Trang for reviving our interest in exploring the world under water.

Even though everyone always tells you to approach any situation without having expectations, well, we all know that’s hard to do. So, let’s just say we were expecting the chance to do lots of great Vietnamese cooking at the Red Bridge Cooking School, seeing as we got countless recommendations that this was the place to go (friends, hotel, wikitravel all talked highly of it).

First off, we were informed we’d be picked up at 8 am and taken to the meeting point, even though we had argued we could easily take ourselves there on our own. So we’re waiting and waiting and no-one comes. The hotel had to call to remind them to get us– two frantic girls arrived and we jumped on the back of their scooters and pedaled real fast to the Cafe. Jason and I sauntered into the Café with all 20 other people in the class there waiting. Oops! (Guess we were “those people” in the group today)

We’ve come to learn that many times a cooking class begins with a trip through the local market to peruse the local goods and maybe even try a thing or two (in this case we got to try mangosteen, which are quite a delicacy of a soft, white fleshy fruit). Even with splitting into two groups of ten, trying to maneuver through the busy marketplaces in a group that size is just a nightmare. We struggled to keep up with our guide -- at one point Jason got stuck behind a wheelbarrow full of dirt which put us way behind, but we managed to catch up.

Nothing too special about this market– you’re run of the mill fair of ladies squatting close by their goods, their bare feet precariously close to touching their delicacies, lots of fresh seafood and fresh vegetables and fruits all over, and of course many smells I’d rather not recount. This place was very tame compared to our experience in a Chinese market, thank goodness for that.

Next thing we know we’re boarding a boat to cruise down the river to where the school is located. A beautiful 30 minute ride and we were there. The cooking facilities were gorgeous, located right along the bank s of the Hoi An river with an open air eating area and kitchen. A fresh herb garden covered most of the 2 acre property in the back, and it was just a perfect place to relax and cook.

Our excitement had mounted at this point and we were ready to jump in the kitchen and begin cooking. Unfortunately, this was really set up more as a school classroom, where we sat in seats, watched as the head chef who was freakin hilarious prepared dishes, while we mainly just observed. We got our chance to “cook” a couple things like chop an eggplant and put it in boiling water, and ladle some pre-made rice mixture to make a fresh rice paper. All and all, there wasn’t a lot of cooking we did ourselves – mainly we just pushed around prearranged and pre-chopped ingredients into the appropriate places, which wasn’t that exciting. BUT, we did learn some great cooking advice from our chef like “no cook with MSG, or you die!”

None of that really mattered since we know that the true enjoyment of the day came from me and Jason competing to see whose dishes came out better. I’ll just put it out there and say Jason should certainly not quit his day job. You can check out the cut throat competition and be the judge of who the real “Top Chef” was!

Our favorite part of the day ended eating our delicious concoctions (of course we weren’t really sure whose food we actually got once we sat down) with the wonderful company of Damon and Marie, a couple we sat with. Jason and I both agreed that had we not had such a great hands-on experience at Cloud 9 cooking school in China, we probably would have thought this was top notch – but, we just didn’t get down and dirty like we would have liked to in this cooking class. Still, it was an enjoyable day that most importantly ended with good food and good company.

This town is what Jason and I would consider to be a quintessential perfect place to spend some time. In fact, we fell for this area so much we’re trying to convince my family who take an annual “family trip” to make this the next destination. We ourselves loved it to the point of extending our time here by two nights, and we could have easily tacked on more.

Where to begin with wonderful Hoi An? It all started with arriving to the beautiful Life Resort, located just a 5 minute walk from the central marketplace and old town. The grounds of the resort were spectacular, right on the banks of the Hoi An River. The spacious rooms, outside open air library, and gorgeous pool all made this a very comfortable retreat.

Immediately we set out to explore the town, and the first thing we noticed was how few vehicles were on the road – not near the congestion and onslaught of scooters we had experienced anywhere else, which actually made it possible to walk around without fearing for your life. This was automatic bonus points!

The town has a thriving artist colony so there are tons of unusual works of art you can check out and of course purchase. This is also the place to get yourself a new wardrobe, with over 400 tailors in the city that in two days can whip up a new outfit for you. Unfortunately, we didn’t indulge in this treat, but someday we’ll be back for our new custom-made getups.

The amount of character and personality this town has is difficult to describe. It has maintained a historical quality with its blend of Japanese and Chinese architecture; as well it also has a French colonial feel to many of the buildings. The winding small streets and alleyways are filled with wonderful local restaurants, most of which offer cooking classes, tons of shops to peruse, and most importantly lots of friendly people who just want to say hi. Unlike many other cities that have become built up and over run, this town has no high rise buildings, as well lacks the often times tacky bright neon lights that can take away from the natural beauty and authenticity of a place.

This town is so special that it also has its own food specialty called a “white rose” that it’s known for – it’s a type of shrimp dumpling made from translucent white dough bunched up to look like a rose that is absolutely delicious. We definitely had our fare share of the white rose.

Hoi An is a great place to share a wonderful meal with newfound friends, as we did with Marie and Damon.  We feasted on a 5 course meal at Brother's Cafe overlooking the Hoi An River.  Although the food was way over-priced and just okay, the company was superb, and setting beautiful. 

So, not only to you have a beautiful river that cuts through the area, a quaint town to wander, eat and shop around, tons of things to do (we ourselves did the Red Bridge School Cooking Class one day), BUT you also have a beach located about a 5 minute drive away. We spent one day lounging on Cua Dai Beach, eating some fresh seafood, swimming in the water, and watching the sun go down - that was a perfect day.

There truly is nothing not to love about this unique town of Hoi An, except for the time it comes to leave it. We will certainly return someday to this special place!

Halong Bay is one of those “must do’s” if you ever visit Vietnam – everyone we met who had been to this country put this at the top their list. Halong Bay is made up of over 3000 small barren limestone islands, that dot the horizon and appear to go on forever. The best way to see this Unesco World Heritage protected area is sailing aboard a “junk boat”. Not the classiest of names for the boats used to sail the region, but they certainly are not “junky”.

Three days and two nights aboard the Annam Junk Boat was the absolute perfect way to see the area. Since some of the smaller inlets and grottos can only be accessed aboard a kayak, we opted for the “sea-kayaking package” where any chance possible we were able to jump on the kayak and explore the vicinity.

From the moment we arrived to Annam Junk, we weren’t disappointed. First off, we were informed that there would only be 4 of us on the sail, which considering the boat typically carries 12 passengers was pretty sweet. For the mere four of us passengers, there was a crew of 7– not too shabby! Next, we got introduced to our suite room that had windows on two sides and yielded amazing views, as well a normal sized bathroom (which on a boat is pretty unusual). There was a lot more room to maneuver around then when we sailed the Whitsundays aboard the Pacific Sunrise.

Our first lunch was an 8 course meal of varying seafood’s including whole crabs, steamed fish, grilled calamari, and clams. Unfortunately, this first lunch was the best meal served, and the food slowly degenerated into some pretty unappetizing dishes (good thing food was not the primary focus on this sailing trip).

We jumped in right away this first afternoon to sailing to Hang Luon Cave and kayaking around this serene grotto. One of the most spectacular parts was being in these gorgeous areas with very few people around. It was just us, and the Italians (Roberto and Jackimo --the other two on our boat) kayaking this area. You could hear every bird chirp and every cricket humm in the complete solitude of this area. This was a very special place to be, and for a while Jason and I just sat there floating on the kayak lost in our thoughts absorbing all the beauty around us.

A hike straight up to a scenic look-out yielded some of the most amazing views of Halong Bay that late afternoon, and was a perfect place to watch the sun begin to set. We sat on the beach for a bit, and then it was time again to set sail into the sunset and have dinner.

Dinner and the entire evening festivities this first night could be a whole post of its own, so I’ll give the abridged version of the fun we had (and let the video clip speak for itself). I will say it involved a couple bottles of wine, two bottles of booze, some karaoke spearheaded by our fearless leader Mike, a major dance party with the whole crew (all men – I was the only female on the boat), and one of the crew members getting so drop down drunk he had to be carried down to his room. It was amazing being able to bond with some of locals – even though we didn’t speak the same language, we were able to have so much fun together.

The next morning we were all hurting a little, but that didn’t keep us from waking up nice and early and exploring the Surprise Sung Sot cave. This cave was incredible – it was absolutely humongous, with incredibly interesting formations, most of which Mike had pretty interesting descriptions of.

We said good-bye to our Italian friend’s who would be heading back home that day, and we boarded our own private boat to explore the bay and do a lot more sea kayaking. This time we really were the only people in some of the grottoes we paddled into, which was too beautiful to even put words to. The water was so clear you could look straight through and see the coral sparkling below the surface, as well little fish swimming around. Jason even jumped in and took a dip in the secluded grotto.

From sailing through the floating fishing community, to checking out the little local floating museum, and even laying out and swimming on a secluded beach, we certainly had a full day. We crashed by 9 pm that evening, barely able to sit through dinner we were so exhausted.

Now, we’re about to dock at the port and say farewell to Halong Bay. The exquisite visions of the towering karst limestone islands, the beautiful secluded grottoes and inlets, and the complete serenity of being in the Bay will never leave us though (and this is yet another place we’re already making plans to return to again!)

We had heard very mixed things from many travelers about their experience in Hanoi, so we came into this town with some pre-conceived notions. However, we immediately were able to judge for ourselves upon driving into the city and getting a flare for the gorgeous French Colonial architecture and frenetic energy of the town, that we’d like it here.

The first thing we noted, was similar to Saigon the motor-scooter traffic was insane. I think probably because we have become somewhat desensitized to just how intense the crazy flow of traffic is, we took to crossing the street through the constant sea of motor-scooters as a challenge rather than a chore. Jason actually seemed to be trying to find reasons to traverse to the other side, just to have that feeling of accomplishment that he did it – I wasn’t quite on board with his enthusiasm there.

One thing that drove us crazy about this town was in the old quarter it was near impossible to walk around -- the sidewalks were absolutely covered with either parked motor scooters, goods that were for sale, or little restaurant plastic tables and chairs. So, basically you had to pretty much walk in the street in this area, praying and hoping that you wouldn’t get hit. I was definitely not a fan of this, and even Jason wanted out on this little challenge.

Hanoi has some great restaurants, which we definitely took advantage of. Emperor is a well known institution in the city when it comes to good Vietnamese food, and was a great place to spend an evening drinking some wine, playing some darts with the bar tender (before it got crowded), and then eating a really nice, bona fide Vietnamese meal. Everything about the place seemed pretty authentic, minus the $100 price tag – a family of 8 could probably feed themselves for a month on that kind of money in this country.

One thing we found and are now hooked on, which we can’t believe it took us to the last couple days we were in Vietnam to discover, was the Vietnamese coffee. The small cups of concentrated coffee, topped off with condensed milk are really to die for. The flavor is so intense, and the sweetness of the condensed milk complements it perfectly.

Lunch at Bobby Chinn one afternoon was probably one of the best meals on our entire trip. It was so good we actually made a reservation to come back that same evening for dinner after the Water Puppet Show. We ended up deciding on another joint, but still the food in this town is A+.

Now you’re probably asking yourselves, did she say water puppet show – what’s that? This is definitely one of the most popular things to do in Hanoi, and no doubt the epitome of touristy, but well worth checking out this cultural performance. The traditional Water puppets are world famous puppets, made of wood, and which dance on the water conducted by puppeteers who are wading in the waist high water from behind a curtain. This is definitely something unique to this country.

Although not more than a couple of days is needed to check out Hanoi, it’s definitely worth a visit to experience the diversity of food, culture and attempts at crossing the street it has to offer.

You’d think that the capital city of a country would be a hub for activity and excitement and interesting sites, but sad to say Vientiane really didn’t have too much to offer. Thank goodness we only had one and a half days in this town, since really that was more than enough time to see it all.

The main venues to check out within the town are the temples – we dutifully explored Pha That Luang, the national symbol and most important religious site in Laos. Like many of the temples we’ve visited throughout Asia it was quite opulent and beautiful, covered in gold paint that reflected in the sunlight.

Another “must see” in town is the Patuxai (Victory Gate), a take off of the Paris Arc de Triumphe. Apparently it was constructed from concrete donated by the US that was supposed to be used for the new airport. We climbed to the top, strangely discovering on the middle floor lots of t-shirt vendors.

Our meals in this town were very sub-par compared to our excellent dining experiences in Luang Prabang. The restaurants didn’t have near the cozy ambience like they did in Luang PRabang, nor was the food remotely as fresh and fragrant and tasty as in the small town. No doubt, if we were to come back to this beautiful country, I think we’d bypass Vientiane, and head straight up to Vien Viang, which we hear is supposed to be quite amazing, then on over to Luang Prabang.

You have to be nuts to come to Cambodia in May. It’s hot. Sadly it did not stop the hordes of tourists from descending en masse onto the ancient temples regardless. At 100 degrees and 100% humidity you’re best off pretending you’re at a beautiful spa sitting in the sauna. Although, maybe Jason wouldn’t have had a “heat temper tantrum” if we were in one.

We opted for a private tour, which was probably the way to go. For $30 you get not just a car and driver but a separate English speaking guide. Add that to the $40/pp for the 3-day pass and you’re in temple nirvana for a mere $70. Unfortunately our guide Tea was a bit overly knowledgeable, ranting on and on about ever little “Bas Relief” depiction in the place. I kept waiting to hear “Bueller…. Bueller…” while I was dozing off.

Things got much better when Tea released us on our own to climb to the top of the central Angkor tower. I understand why he let us go solo on this part, since it was a straight up vertical climb of stairs. Getting up was no problem – the hard part was getting down. The “easy” way down using a railing had a line of about 200 people, and Jason and I had no patience for that. We decided we’d face our fears and eventually built up enough courage do descend the North West side as you can see in the video clip.

We thought a sunset over one of the temple complexes would be a great way to end the day. However, we got more of a hike up a mountain, and then had to jockey for room on the temple to watch the sunset go over the horizon. So, basically we were just sitting on the temple watching a sunset – cool in some ways, but not what we were looking for. The best part was Jason making friends with a monk – hmm, maybe that’s his real calling in life.