My college roommate, Connie, told me about her trip to Vietnam and how magical it was to see the older women come together every morning at sunrise around Hoan Kiem Lake in Han Noi. She visited with her husband, Jeff who worked extensively in Asia and knew it well. The women did Tai Chi and danced and chanted to music. In fact the whole town was alive with folks running and stretching and dancing in groups. That is how we ended up here on this three week journey. Connie wanted someone to join her and these ladies.

Connie was the more academic one in our relationship, super smart, high energy, a whole lot of fun plus she was in marching band. She planned the entire itinerary and just told me what tickets and hotels to book. She and her husband are very detailed which is helpful in travel partners. They showed up at my house and Arlo took us to the airport at 3.15am. We went to Newark, on to Tokyo, and then to Han Noi. About 33 hours of travel. Upon arrival at the Golden Silk Hotel, we downed a beer and a shot of bourbon with pretzels and chocolate and off to bed for 5 hours.

We made it to the sunrise tai chi, had amazing food at our hotel and then went to the Note Cafe for egg coffee. I will be making this at home…a frothy coffee with egg yolks blended in…vanilla and sugar. Soooo good. The entire cafe is covered in heart sticky notes in which you write blessings. We wrote our blessings.

Jet lag was real, but we didn’t waste anytime. We took off across the city. Han Noi is a hive of motorbikes. A few cars and buses, but mostly motorbikes carrying whole families, building supplies, crates of chickens, huge trees, even very large paintings. In order to cross the street, you simply “walk with purpose” into the traffic. The hive just moves around you. I never saw even a slight bump or accident. It did feel harrowing, but I got used to it.

First stop was the Vietnam Military History Museum. It was very eye opening to see how Vietnam has been resisting outsiders since 214 BC. Most recently from French colonists and of course American imperialism. They have a willpower and determination that no one can defeat. I wish my Dad were here to discuss this with.

We found a Tet festival happening next door. Tet is the Vietnamese New Year and is one of the biggest events of the year. It’s when folks go home to see their relatives, cook special foods, worship their ancestors and forget the troubles of the past year.

Next we walked to the Hoa Loa Prison. Showed terrible conditions when the French held political prisoners there and then later Vietnamese held American POW’s. Nicknamed “Hanoi Hilton”. John McCain was one of them. It was interesting that they had many photos of happy Americans playing basketball and checkers while imprisoned. Somehow, I question the conditions for the US soldiers.

Off to the silk area of town where Connie bought cute tailored silk pajamas. I hit my wall and went to bed at 4pm 😂.

Next day was Ha Long Bay. A beautiful area with 1969 islands and caves. Took a boat trip around to see and hiked up a mountain.

Timtam was our energetic young guide and the highlight was when he convinced the boatload of people from all over the world to go to the top deck and have a dance party. As someone that constantly works on dance parties, I was super impressed. Timtam would ask each country for their favorite song. We would all join in dancing. I blanked and said “ Dancing Queen” for the Americans. But it got people up. We had a blast dancing with all those people on top of that cold deck.

Then it was time to fly to Vientiane, Laos. An overnight in the capital, we watched the full moon from the rooftop of VIP Boutique Hotel. They had the longest night market that seemed to go for miles. Tiana Thurber would have been impressed. (she runs Night Market at The Plant).

Jeff arranged our 3 hour bus ride to Vang Vieng, a small town of mountains, caves and a river.

The bus was pretty packed. I sat next to the driver and kept having to assist him in wiping the windshield off so he could see. We were happily heading along when we all of a sudden we stopped due to a massive fuel leak. The driver had two other employees on board and they all started pulling the engine apart and going underneath the bus. Most of the passengers got off to wait. Two of the staff motioned for us to stay there, and they walked off down the highway holding a part of the engine. English was not so good, so we didn’t really know what was happening.

We talked to a russian couple, made friends with a native Laosian woman and older english dude, and made up stories about the rest of the passengers.

A very dirty man walked by picking up aluminum cans and wished us well, seemingly so happy and content. It started to rain a little. It smelled terribly of diesel fuel. We thought of hitchhiking but no one seemed interested in pulling over.

Finally, the two men triumphantly returned holding a soldered piece of pipe and climbed under the bus again. They tried and tried, but it kept leaking.

They motioned for us to get back in the bus and the driver just gunned it, even with the leaking fuel. We got about ten minutes down the road and it just sputtered to a stop. Out again and then the driver started flagging cars down. Two people at a time were getting put into cars with their luggage.

We were not sure if we would ever get to our hotel.

Then….another bus miraculously showed up and took the remainder to Vang Vieng! Whew!

Grateful for this trip, grateful to not be sleeping on the side of the road, privileged to get to see this part of the world, these beautiful people, this culture. Wow!

Until next time…signing off.