vacation – Page 12 – Destination NOW

Touring Africa via the movies

To me, travel consists of three almost equally delightful phases:

Phase One – anticipation and preparation
Phase Two – the trip itself
Phase Three – recollection – reliving the experiences through photos and the memories imbedded in my brain.

Right now I am deeply into Phase One, learning as much as I can about the countries we will be visiting, and how best to prepare for the trip itself.

OAT, like Road Scholar, sends an excellent package of preliminary materials. These include what you need to know about the climate, what to pack, visa requirements, necessary immunizations, currencies used in each country, plus a list of books and movies for us Phase One enthusiasts.

Not surprisingly, the movie list included Born Free, Out of Africa, Gorillas in the Mist, the African Queen, Hotel Rwanda, many of which I had already seen. One title I had never encountered was The First Grader, produced by National Geographic Entertainment. It tells the story of Maruge, a former Mau Mau warrior who went to school for the first time at the age of 84. Even though we aren’t going to Kenya, it still is about Africa, and the movie intrigued me, so I borrowed the DVD from the local library.

What a wonderful movie! It is actually two stories. The first tells of Maruge’s determination to take advantage of Kenya’s offer of free education for all, and the obstacles he had to surmount to achieve his goal. The second, through flashbacks, chronicles the Mau Mau uprising in the early 1950’s and the British brutality during that period of colonialism.

I’m so glad I got the DVD because it includes “bonus features”: a short documentary starring the real Maruge and Teacher Jane, interviews with the director, and a peek behind the scenes while the movie was being made. I enjoyed these bonus features as much as the movie, and after watching them, I appreciated the movie even more, because as indicated by the interviews and documentary, the movie didn’t embellish or invent — it just told Maruge’s story.

The movie was shot on location in Kenya, using an actual village school. Only one main character, Teacher Jane, is British. The rest are Kenyans–some are actors, but the children are all the students at that school, and the “movie” villagers are actual villagers. The kids are truly amazing! They had never seen TV or movies before, so they were just going about their normal activities, doing what the “teacher” (the director) told them to do. One sweet little girl was instructed to go over to Maruge to ask him if he was okay. When he responded, she said “when I grow up, I am going to be a doctor so I can make you feel better”. The director wisely kept this unscripted exchange, but because they spoke in their native language, he added English subtitles. Uplifting? Definitely.

How I could have possibly missed the 2010 movie Invictus is beyond me. It was nominated for multiple awards, was directed by Clint Eastwood and starred Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon. But I did. Again, my local library came to the rescue. This was another thoroughly enjoyable movie and for the other 10 people on the planet that also missed it–here’s what it’s about: Nelson Mandela recognizes the healing power of rugby. The Springboks, South Africa’s team, represented apartheid to the black majority and when Mandela came to power they argued that the name and the team colors should be changed. Mandela not only persuaded his countrymen to retain both, but he also actively supported the team in the 1995 world cup competition. This is another uplifting movie about the triumph of the human spirit, and the healing nature of forgiveness.

Movies that didn’t make the list, and at least in MY opinion should have are the two The Gods Must Be Crazy movies. Filmed in Botswana and South Africa, they tell the story of Bushmen encountering the oddities of the modern world. Sweet, funny and thoroughly entertaining, it is also available on HBO.

As you may have suspected, I have a weakness for uplifting, feel good movies!

Geography Lesson

Geography was never a favorite subject of mine. Memorizing capitals and products was excruciatingly mind numbing. At the time, knowing where to plop countries on a mimeographed map didn’t appear to be knowledge I’d ever find useful. Back when I considered a one hour trip to Boston a thrilling excursion, it was hard to imagine that I would ever be lucky enough to set foot any place outside of the continental USA.

I’ll admit that I wasn’t disappointed when Sister Pauline explained that there was no point in studying the geography of Africa, because everything was changing. How sad that statement is one of the few things I remember from my geography studies!

Fast forward a half a century. I will soon be filling that gaping hole in my knowledge of the world with a trip to that continent I didn’t have to learn about in elementary school. Well, only the southern part of Africa. But you gotta start somewhere.

This will be the first trip that Mike and I take with Overseas Adventure Travel (OAT). Although we have had wonderful experiences with Road Scholar, and RS has a similar trip, we decided to go with OAT for the following reasons:

If you pay the full amount in cash a year in advance, you get a 10% discount (and I SO love a bargain)!
If you take another trip with them within the next 12 months, you get a 5% credit.
They have an amazing website, with very informative reviews and an incredibly helpful forum in which travelers share information and helpful hints.
They offer options: you can do only the trip, or you can add pre and/or post trip excursions.
There is a maximum of 16 participants

Mike and I figured if we were going to shell out the money for airfare, and subject our bodies to a total of 30 hours (round trip) in the air, we might as well stay a while, so we are doing the pre and then visiting Cape Town on our own. Who knows if we will ever be able to get back to this part of the globe?

We start in Johannesburg, then fly to Karongwe Game Reserve for the pre-trip. Four days later, we return to Johannesburg for the main trip, going first to two camps in Botswana, then one in Zambia, one in Zimbabwe, ending with a few days in Victoria Falls, before we fly back to Johannesburg. At that point, Mike and I will leave the tour and fly to Cape Town for a few days on our own, before returning to Johannesburg for a flight home. All told, we will be gone for 26 days.

Oat created this very helpful map, with the trip extensions in the insert.

While on safari, we will be staying in tents in the national parks. WiFi will therefore be limited to the few times we are in cities. (So, sisters and cousins, when you don’t see a post, it will not be because I have met with foul play…it will just mean I am still off the grid).

We will be flying in very small planes, which limits both the weight and the type of luggage allowed. One duffel bag each, without an internal frame, weighing no more than 44 pounds, plus one carry on. Here’s a visual of my duffel bag, supplied by OAT, and my new (larger) back pack. Previous travelers had experienced problems with the duffel splitting open (I told you the forum was helpful), but fortunately that appears to be old news. Nevertheless, I’m packing some duct tape…just in case.

Years of business travel trained me to travel light, but we will be visiting a school, so once I assemble the minimum amount of clothing and supplies needed, I’ll be cramming books, pencils, crayons and other odds and ends into the remaining space up to the weight limit.

Next post will be about pre-trip readings.

Geologic Wonders

A photo just doesn’t do the Te Puia bubbling mud pools justice. I was mesmerized, watching them pop up and flatten down. If there were such things as witches’ cauldrons, I imagine they would look exactly like this.

But the real show was the Pohutu Geyser.

Hmmm, that wasn’t all that special…but wait…

It’s getting better…
Our guide, Albert, took this photo of Mike.

Mike’s quite a distance from the geyser, so it gives you an idea of the size of the water column. But there is more to come.
NOW you’re talking!

Speaking of Albert, here he is with our Maori guide.

While I was busy photographing Albert, Mike was surrounded by a crowd of Asian women. Just like in Thailand, but this time only one wanted to be photographed with him, so I wasn’t fast enough to capture the scene. Mike was only to happy to explain to me that his new friend told him he was very handsome…
But back to the tour. After viewing the geological wonders, we visited the woodworking school.

This one is my favorite.

Blowing Off Steam

I didn’t think that anything could come close to being as glorious as yesterday’s experience in the Waitomo Caves. I was wrong. The Waimangu Valley Geothermal Site was equally magnificent, but in a very different way. This valley is the only geothermal system on the planet that was created by a volcano–the Tarawera eruption of 1886.

The result was Lake Rotomohana. Our group was divided in two, with half cruising the lake first while the other half hiked, and then we switched. Our boat was the only one on the lake that morning, and with only 18 passengers, it was easy to get an unobstructed view of all the geothermal phenomenon. Before the volcano erupted, what is now Patiti Island was part of a small hill. It became a lava plug, cooled, and is now home to cormorants.
The steam vents fascinated me, so I kept snapping away.

The hike gave us the opportunity to get close to craters and geysers.
The lake water is acidic. It looks like it is boiling because of the gases (carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulphide) bubbling up to the surface.
Here is our smiling guide Chas, holding a silver fern, one of New Zealand’s symbols. Do you think he usually carries a Winnie the Pooh back pack in front? Something to look for in future installments.
More bubbles, then time to head back for lunch.

Pretty amazing, right?
Once again, our guides came up with a great lunch venue. The Princess Gate Hotel has it all: an owner that welcomed us with a brief history of the hotel, fantastic food, wonderful ambiance, and a location close to the most beautiful section of Rotorua.

After lunch, we had time to stroll through the gardens, and ogle the beautiful buildings.

Amazing Auckland, Road Scholar Day One

The Road Scholar portion of our journey began on Tuesday, October 29, with a walking tour of downtown Auckland. This city has lots of interesting architecture, much of it newly constructed, so that it is earthquake-proof.

The sky tower is visible from just about everywhere in Auckland, but during our stroll we managed to catch someone jumping from the tower. See that little black speck in the lower right hand corner? That’s him, and yes, it IS an approved activity. The Kiwi are very big on bungee jumping. And no, I had absolutely no desire to “give it a go”, as they say down here.

We ended our walk at the Art Museum, which has a wonderful gallery of Maori portraits. We weren’t allowed to take photos there, but this postcard gives you an idea of what a tattooed face looks like.

As one might expect, the facial swelling from face carving is fairly severe. the guide showed us a large funnel, which functioned as a feeding tube while the facial wounds healed.

I as quite captivated by the flower sculpture hanging from the ceiling in the entryway. The petals move!

Auckland has a number of incredibly beautiful parks. The museum is next to one–Albert Park has this interesting entryway, and we did a quick walk by after our excellent lunch at the museum cafe.

Our hotel has two things going for it: a great location near the harbor, and a spectacular view from the restaurant on the 13th floor.

I told told you you could see the sky tower from everywhere!

We had just enough time for a brief walk around the waterfront before joining our group for dinner. This picture is for our former host, Norman, to show him that we actually DID see some tall ships!

New Zealand is an amazing country with many things the USA could learn from, but their wifi isn’t one of them. It is very limited, and blogging is a challenge. So, uploads are being done on the fly, and proof reading is a luxury to be reserved for better connections and more time. Typos will become a regular feature!

Kiwi Hospitality

Lonely Planet has proclaimed that Auckland is one of the ten best places in the world to visit in 2014. Although I concur with their choice, I would have moved Auckland to the number one spot. But then, Mike and I had something Lonely Planet didn’t– New Zealand’s best tour guides, Norman and Davina, which definitely influenced my rating.

It’s hard to believe that we spent only four days with these very gracious hosts, because we saw and did so much. It was all wonderful: breathtaking scenery, with beautiful beaches, but what made it extra special was the time we spent with their wonderful family, which gave us the opportunity to experience Kiwi culture and daily life.

This post is my way of saying thank you to Davina and Norman for a fantastic visit. I can’t capture ALL of the high points of our time together–there were just too many, so I’m limiting myself to 10 memories. Here they are, not in any particular order.

1. One Tree Hill

The Auckland area has more than 50 extinct volcanoes. This is a relatively young crater, a mere 500 years old.

2. The “Bach”
According to Wikipedia, the term originated from “bachelor pad”, but it has now come to mean a New Zealand summer home for family vacations. We stayed at our hosts’ family bach.

New Zealanders welcome drop ins, (or at least Davina, Norman and their friends do. I really shouldn’t generalize that ALL New Zealanders are like them, because they are rather special). Anyway, we got to see yet another bach, in Whitianga, right on the beach, when we popped in to visit their friends.

3. Whangamata
No only did we visit this lovely seaside resort, we also leaner how to pronounce its name. The Maori way sounds like this: Fong-ahh-mat-AHHH.

I’ve never used a public toilet that had piped in music and recorded instructions for locking the door, including a warning that you had best be done within 10 minutes. I thought it might be a New Zealand thing, but no–so far, it has only been a Whangamata experience.

4. Farmers’ Markets
Had I known that I could get a haircut by the side of the road, I wouldn’t have been in such a rush to get a trim before we left.

Farmer's market,on the way to Whangamata — Farmer’s market,on the way to Whangamata

5. New Chums Beach
I don’t know if this is the most beautiful beach in New Zealand, because EVERY beach I’ve seen so far has been rather wonderful. I think we just TOLD ourselves that it was the most beautiful because we had to walk over rocks and through rain forest growth for about 30 minutes to get to it.

It DID have a rather nice swinging rope, though.

6. Saturday Night at “The Club”
In the USA, we don’t have anything quite like a New Zealand club. Take a casino, a restaurant, a pool hall, a sports bar, a cocktail lounge, a dance hall– mix it all together, but make it family friendly and voila, you’ve got yourself a New Zealand club. Best of all, members of one club can use any other club. Sounds good, doesn’t it?

7. Lost Spring Thermal Pools, Whitianga
No photos for this one. We sat in a natural hot spring surrounded by lush foliage and beautiful flowers. You’ll just have to take my word that it was quite glorious.

8. Waihi Picnic
We were only in Waihi a short time. Just long enough for us to have a great picnic lunch atop a hill, check out the gold mining operation, and for me to buy a Kiwi cap.

9. Karangahake Gorge
A bike path runs through this area. Biker chicks, take note!

New Zealand - Clean and green — New Zealand – Clean and green

10. Family, Friendship, Fun
Spending time with Norman and Davina’s family made our time before the start of our Road Scholar trip extra special.
I had a chance to see how “socialized medicine” works, when I accompanied Davina to Taylor’s visit to the dentist. The offices are located on school property, and there is no charge for the visit. Brig, clean offices, a short wait, at no cost. What’s not to like.

This is the "walking school bus" — This is the “walking school bus”

So what do you think…Auckland #1 spot?

New Zealand

Time to hit the road again! For years, Mike and I have wanted to visit New Zealand, but we knew that a twenty hour plane ride could only be justified by a loooong stay. So, visiting that wonderful corner of the world had to wait until my retirement. Although I had been able to get away for three weeks while working, SIX weeks didn’t seem do-able.

Mike and I were so lucky to meet Davina and Norman on a river cruise in 2008. Our fellow cruisers were were almost evenly divided into thirds, from the USA, Canada and Australia, with Davina and Norman being the sole Kiwis. It was during a presidential election year, which made dinner discussions VERY interesting.

I’m amazed at how well informed other citizens of Planet Earth are! Makes me want to listen to the BBC more frequently, so I don’t embarrass myself with my ignorance of events outside our borders. Of course, Ted Cruz has done a good job of making me embarrassed by what has happened INSIDE our borders!

And yes, there actually IS a reason for that digression. Mike and I will be staying with Davina and Norman in Auckland for several days before our Road Scholar trip commences. I’m excited about spending time with them again, and have been blown away by their gracious hospitality. Davina offered to pick us up at the airport at the ungodly hour of 6 AM! And she has planned several days of sightseeing for us.

Getting maps into WordPress is a multi step process, easier done from my computer than iPad, so I figured I’d get it completed before we head to the airport.
First a map of the ground we will be covering during our Road Scholar trip.

At the end of that trip, Mike heads back to the USA and I start a three week project with Global Volunteers in the Cook Islands. So, where ARE the Cook Islands, you ask?

Because I will be crossing the date line, I’ll be arriving before I leave. Given that I have always been calendar challenged, this will not be a problem for me.

If you look at a map of the world, the Cook Islands show up as fifteen tiny dots, so here’s a close up of “my” island.

I’ll be staying in Rarotonga, the largest of the islands, which has a population of around 9,000. That’s about twice as many people as my home town.

I found this description of Rarotonga on the internet:
“The island is one of the most beautiful in the South Pacific making it popular with around 90,000 visitors each year. The volcanic peaks and white sandy beaches with overhanging palm trees, inside a coral reef make Rarotonga a paradise island.”
Pretty tough duty, wouldn’t you say?

So, over the coming weeks, Mike and I will be hanging out in gloriously beautiful places, and I will be doing my best to capture all that fantastic beauty for your viewing pleasure. Who knows…maybe a contest down the road?

Come on along! And feel free to comment, so I stay connected with everyone!

Off to The Grand Canyon

Colin Fletcher called the Grand Canyon a “huge natural museum of the earth’s history”. Okay, so I didn’t know who Colin Fletcher was either, until I signed us up for this Road Scholar trip. Now that I am a retiree (excuse me, “lifestyle manager”), I have time to actually READ the suggested background materials.

Colin Fletcher wrote “The Man who Walked Through Time: The Story of the First Trip Afoot Through The Grand Canyon”. Given that the canyon was inhabited by Native Americans for about 10,000 years before the first Europeans arrived, it isn’t hard to imagine that one or two of them might have sauntered from one end of the canyon to the other before he did, but then again, THEY never published their adventures and thoughts. I shouldn’t be too hard on Mr. Fletcher, though. After all, his book was written in the early 1900’s; half a century later, when I was in school, we still were being taught that Columbus “discovered” America, as if it were completely devoid of human inhabitants when he arrived.

So, now that I’ve gotten beyond the title, what did I learn from his book? Other than that I would never, ever even CONSIDER hiking through the canyon, I learned that you can tell the age of the rocks from their colors. I created this little chart so I’d know what I was looking at when we get there, starting from the rim and moving on down to the bottom:

Rock	Color	Thickness	Age
Limestone	White	400 feet	225 million years
Sandstone	Pale brown	350 feet	250 million years
Shale and Sandstone	Red	1,000 feet	275 million years
“The Esplanade”, Limestone	Blue gray, stained red	800 feet	450 million years
Bright Angel Shale	Layered greenish gray and purple	600 feet	475 million years
“Tonto Platform”Tapeats Sandstone	Brown	225 feet	500 million years
Schists	Dark gray with granite	Depth is unknown	Almost 2 billion years

Okay, so I have no concept of what 400 feet (or any of the other number of feet, for that matter) looks like–but when I get there, and take photos, and post them, well, then we’ll ALL know. And we’ll also know how long those bloody rocks have been plopped there.

I do better with visuals. So here’s a picture of where we will be for the week, starting and ending in Phoenix.

This trip will have an added element of adventure. The original plan was that this trip would be my father’s day present to my dad. He and Mike were going to room together, and I would be rooming with my “childhood” friend, Augusta. My dad’s knee became uncooperative, causing him to have to cancel out. Well, I notified Road Scholar and told them to change my roommate to Mike. I then learned that doing so would mean that Augusta might be assigned a female roommate, which wasn’t quite what she’d had in mind. So, Mike being an all around wonderful guy, decided to ‘take one for the team’ and agreed he’d be the solo traveler. No, that doesn’t mean HE gets the female roommate. He will only be matched up if there is another solo male traveler. The adventure part? We won’t know how this will shake out till we arrive tomorrow night.

Just think of the possibilities… Mike’s assigned roommate is a Sean Connery look alike, who gazes upon the lovely Augusta and is immediately smitten, causing us to swap roommates faster than your average college freshman. Beautiful sunsets, the canyon as a backdrop..could this be a made for TV movie, or what? Lifetime channel, perhaps?

More likely, Mike will be roommate-less. Hmmm. Maybe we shouldn’t mention that we’ve been married for 37 years. That way, if I am spotted doing the “walk of shame” out of his room some morning, it might liven up breakfast discussions.

So, which part of the blog did YOU find more interesting– rock colors and ages or the possibility of “seniors gone wild”?

Home Town Hero

Every town should have its very own super hero. Henry Huttleston Rogers was Fairhaven’s. If you’ve never heard of him, that’s an indication that you don’t live in Fairhaven and you probably took I-195 from Providence to Cape Cod, instead of the more scenic Route 6. Sure, I-195 will get you to the beach faster, but what you miss is a chance to see the impact one of Standard Oil’s “robber barons” can have on a sweet little town.

Henry Huttleston Rogers Memorial on Huttleston Avenue

After you clear the bridge from New Bedford, the highway’s name changes to Huttleston Avenue, and if you look to your left, you’ll see one of the many reasons the town has chosen to honor its home town hero.

The gorgeous Elizabethan stone structure, completed in 1906, is actually Fairhaven High School, Henry Huttleston Rogers’ last gift to the town before his death in 1909. I have never been inside–I attended a regional high school–but my sister Sue (the source of all my inside information) tells me the school has marble floors, wood paneling, and carved gargoyles in the auditorium. The adolescent version of me probably wouldn’t have noticed these grand architectural features anyway. I would have been too busy hoping one of the other auditorium “creatures” would ask me out after the assembly ended.

I DID pass many afternoons during my teen years as a volunteer at Our Lady’s Haven.

Completed in 1905, the building was originally known as the Tabitha Inn. Designed to resemble a Shakespearian era Inn, it was described as the grandest hotel outside of New York and Boston. Samuel Clements, better known as Mark Twain, was one of its frequent guests. It became a home for “the elderly and infirm” after it was purchased by the Catholic Diocese in 1944.

I stopped in to say hello and to take a look around the lobby. Back in my day, it was run by the Carmelite nuns, but today only one nun remains. Lovely Sr. Eileen from Ireland is now running the show, making sure Fairhaven’s senior citizens receive tender loving care.

Next to the Tabitha Inn is a red brick schoolhouse, another gift from Rogers. The school’s last class graduated this year, and the building is now closed, so all future students will be studying in a more modern building.

Rogers Elementary School, closed in 2013

From June through September, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, the Fairhaven office of tourism offers 90 minute guided tours, starting at 10 AM from the town hall — and yes, Rogers donated that too. Click on this link for more information about the tour and the town.

I wasn’t crass enough to photograph the interior of Our Lady’s Haven, (not everyone enjoys getting their image blasted into cyberspace) but the interior architecture of the town hall is very similar…so you get the idea of how lovely both places are.

Town Hall Interior--grand staircase, with arches and carved wooden railings — Town Hall Interior–grand staircase, with arches and carved wooden railings

My very special childhood place is across the street from the town hall. The Millicent Library was built in 1890 as a memorial to one of Rogers’ daughter’s, who was 17 when she died.

I don’t think this is a statue of Millicent. Pretty racy for a small town in the 1900’s, wouldn’t you say?

My summer days were spent in the children’s reading room, where I discovered that “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” was only the first in an entire series L Frank Baum wrote about the magical land of Oz. Those books kept the 9 year old me entertained for an entire summer!

As I was leaving the library, one of the friendly residents (did I mention that Fairhaven people are VERY friendly?) asked whether I had noticed Dante atop the library. I never had before–but here he is, for your viewing pleasure.

So, who was Henry Huttleston Rogers–and how did he amass such a huge fortune? Rogers got his start in Pennsylvania, where, in 1861, he and a partner started a small business refining oil. By 1885, he had joined with John D Rockefeller, eventually becoming one of the three key men of Standard Oil. Known as “the Brains of Standard Oil Trust” and “Hell Hound Rogers”, he was a captain of industry.

He was also a generous man who befriended Booker T Washington and paid for Helen Keller’s Radcliffe education.

The “giving” tradition continued with Rogers’ granddaughter, (official name when she died: Mary Millicent Abigail Rogers von Salm-Hoogstraeten de Peralta-Ramos Balcom, but she went by Millicent Rogers–and who can blame her?) who founded the Millicent Rogers museum in Taos, New Mexico to house native American art. The daughter of Rogers’ only son, she was quite a fascinating character–but that’s a subject for another time.

Visitors to Fairhaven should stop at Margaret’s or Elizabeth’s for a great meal. The restaurants are side by side, near the waterfront. If you are lucky, you might get lovely Kristen for your server, and Kevin may be your chef!

The Citadel

As befitting the one time capital of Vietnam, Hue has a citadel, complete with a couple of moats, cannons and majestic gates with names like Gate of Everlasting Happiness.

If this isn't the Gate of Everlasting Happiness, it SHOULD be. — If this isn’t the Gate of Everlasting Happiness, it SHOULD be.

Gate detail. The Vietnamese are descendants of dragons and fairies — Gate detail. According to legend, the Vietnamese are descendants of dragons and fairies

We’ve all seen cannons, so you don’t need to see the whole thing, but I’ll bet you’ve never seen cannons as fancy as the ones at Hue.

The Vietnamese are incredible craftsmen. This is one of the "four seasons" guns. — The Vietnamese are incredible craftsmen. This is one of the “four seasons” guns.

The emperor lived in the Forbidden Purple City with his wives, concubines, daughters, young sons and female servants. If any male, other than the emperor, (or one of the eunuchs) attempted to enter the Purple City, he was put to death. I was quite excited about wandering thru the forbidden city, but unfortunately it was flattened during the Tet offensive or America’s response. Nothing remains of the emperor’s residence.

You'll just have to use your imagination to conjure up the Forbidden City. Here is where it stood. — You’ll just have to use your imagination to conjure up the Forbidden City. Here is where it stood.

These galleries of Hue’s citadel have been restored and give you an idea of the glorious days of old.

Our tour guide had gone to college in Hue, so he was full of great restaurant and bar restaurants. Instead Mike and I opted to have a wonderful dinner on the rooftop restaurant of our hotel, enjoying the perfect weather and the beautiful view.

The view of the Perfume River from our room

Speaking of our room, I’m not sure why the Mercure Hotel thinks showering is a spectator sport. Both of the Mercure Hotels had a “viewing” option. See what I mean?

This might have been a good idea 30 years ago... — This might have been a good idea 30 years ago…

One more day of our private tour, a day in Hanoi, then I’ll be telling you all about my Global Volunteers experience.

And now, the moment you’ve been waiting for–the answers to the last contest’s questions
1. We visited Halong Bay on this trip. Although Angkor Wat IS indeed a wonder of the world, it is man made, not a natural wonder.
2. Early in the morning, in Luang Prabang, the monks beg for their food.
3. The best way to tour Hanoi’s old quarter is a matter of opinion. Both Cyclo and on foot are correct, and yes, Lis, this was a trick question!
4. This question was specially for Kristy because of her fondness for the dong. The answer is Vietnam.
5. I lost my glasses once, but was able to retrieve them, because I remembered where I had left them–but Mike and his hat have parted ways for good.
6. The GI’s called the beach at DaNang “China Beach” because of all the porcelain they found there.

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