Hanoi

7th Well I got out of the airport in Hanoi which was really easy. Customs was nothing. “Do you have anything to declare?” “No.” Pass through. I wanted to make a wise crack about making a declaration but I bit my tongue. That kind of stuff doesn’t go over very well. Getting my bag from the carrousel took longer. My bag does not move very fast. Some people had backpacks the size of a school bag. The couple I asked is staying three weeks. Next came the taxi. I hear the stories of getting ripped off and I find out they are true. The taxi driver told me the cost would be $14US and then after a long drive he pulled over at an ATM and said I needed to pay for a ticket. He wanted a lot of money for it. I told him no and he got really mad. He told me he was going to go back to the airport if I didn’t pay him. In the end I paid him $20 and had to get another taxi for four dollars. It was all screwy. Finally I did get to the hotel, and a nice one it is too. I got my room and went up to repack my bag into just one. That was not easy.
Since I was the first person to arrive at the motel I decided to go out and see the quite city. I found by accident the Museum/Temple of Literature. It was awesome. It was forever old, 1000+ years, having been a focus of education since its inception. It was a grouping of temples which you entered one by one by walking through the previous temple. A line of temples each more spectacular than the one before. Making ever more spectacular temples was a feat hard to accomplish. Such a long time has been hard on the structures so there was much restoration going on. During certain times in Vietnam’s history temples have fallen harshly into disrepair. After all this time the temples still had places of reverence for the people that come to pay homage. People from all over S.E.A. come as tourists yet the number of people in the temple was small. In a city of turbulent movement and a cacophony of sounds, it was utterly peaceful. I loved the gardens. No part of Phoenix, even our best gardens, comes even close to the greenery.
I found that turtles represent longevity and now I want one.
Facebook is not    accessible using a Vietnam IP which is where I was going to post my pictures so I guess I am going to have to learn to use Picaso or some photo dump. Even with a nice camera I can’t take pictures of any quality.
We had a wonderful dinner tonight. They give you a washcloth in a plastic, sealed bag that has been refrigerated. I was amazed at the cost of such an elaborate, fulfilling, and very tasty meal. This dinner had beef but I will go beyond the normal. That time has come. After we left the nice and neat restaurant we sat on the side of the road with our tour guide (pronounced like zoon) and sampled the local cuisine. I had snails which you had to pull out of the shell. I had fertilized bird eggs that you took the top of the egg shell off and poured into your mouth. I had dried fish with a HOT sauce. Of course to top it all off it came with many shots of rice vodka. I think I will be drinking across Vietnam.
Some of our tour mates have not arrived. This is the end of most of their holidays but all of them have been going for a while on their own. One has been going for eight months and will be another three weeks. My roommate for the trip has been up in China and has worked his way down to here. His name is Sam, a 22 year old Oxford graduate, is here. He is a good guy.
8th Today in Saigon we visited the Ho Chi Min complex an mausoleum. The lines were forever long. After we got through that line we entered another queue that was longer. We had to walk by the pickled father of Vietnam. We were actually pushed along so that we would not stop or slow the progress in the line around his body. 
Our next stop was the Hoa Lo Prison (Hanoi Hilton). We learned of the use of this prison by the French and saw some pretty awful things involved during the time the French were in Vietnam. The uses of torture, execution, and general conditions of imprisonment were shown. Then they told of the residence of U.S. soldiers. It was a story about the soldiers’ great care during a time of economic disparity. I like history and it was an interesting place to go but it made me somewhat mad.
Next we broke off from the main group and four of us went to the Vietnam History Museum. We got lost a great many times trying to find it even with a map and were glad for the aircon when we finally got there. It was an awesome museum with English subtitles on everything. Vietnam and S.E.A. area has a long and rich history. America is just a blip in history.
Afterwards we went to a Café with aircon, almost frozen washcloths, and cheese cake. It was not crumb crust but an actual cake like bottom. I was good but New York cannot be beaten.
That night before and as the sunset we took a Cyclo tour. We saw a lot of Hanoi in a slow and relaxing manner.
We went to a water puppet show. It was cool. There was a story, songs, and a musical ensemble.
We ended with dinner and a walking tour back to the hotel arriving late into the night. I was a big day and I was so tired.

Van Mieu Quoc Tu Giam

Bangkok Airport

Getting there

Well I made it through check in only 15 minutes after the counter opened. Had to stand in line for an hour and a half to be third but what else did I have to do. I looked for Altoids for a while but could not find any. Everything here is a lot more expensive than Phoenix. \


The many people in the terminal go around like ants with a purpose in a land of mystery. Everyone seems like they know what they are doing but not necessarily how to do it.

A lot of people are coming up to me to ask how to do something or where something is, I don’t know. How to get the internet, where is this gate, what time is it (there are big clocks everywhere), and all other types of questions. We have every age from stroller to walker. Volleyball teams, school/university trips, and entire extended families. It is very loud. You almost don’t notice it after a while. Then you go into the elevator or the bathroom and it is quiet, deafeningly quiet. Peaceful.

I just passed though security and it went as fast as in Phoenix. No problems at all. Quick as could be. It is real quiet at the gate. Not many people but I fight is next and it is still an hour and a half away. I guess I didn’t need such an early flight from Phoenix. If this gets me a good seat in the plane everything else is worth it. Our society is technology assimilated. If the person is awake, they are on a computer, cell phone, iPod, or some similar electronic device. Only one person is reading and the little kids can’t seem to do any one thing for too long at a time. At a quarter to ten in an airport people are tired and they show it. There are a few ladies with religious habits (on the head).

I have arrived in Bangkok. It was a good trip for the most part. I had a window seat and a nice guy, Randy Ross, sitting next to me. The problem was that he was large and snored. He runs a technology consultant company and divides this time between Los Angeles and Thailand where he also lives. Must be nice. He lives on the beach and does his work by internet. The people on Thai Airlines are extremely nice and helpful. I spent most of my time sleeping.

Going from my arrival gate to my departure gate was like walking Town and Country four times back and forth. This place is huge and you have to walk a long ways for transfers. My ticket said I only had 65 minutes from landing to departing but even after all the walking I had at least that amount of time waiting at the gate.

Thai (at least the way I say it) – Thank You : Kup Kun Kap; Hello/Good : Bye Sa Wa Dee; Where is ____ : ____ You Neye; Toilet : Hung Nam; How much : Tao Reye

This should be great but I think my bag is to big/heavy.

-Vietnam doesn't allow Facebook, usually
I got scammed. About that later.

LAX

In LAX now and I have a six hour layover. It wouldn’t be so bad if the ticket counter was open to take my bag but it is not. So I want to sit in the line, or what could be considered a proto-line, so I can get a good seat. I don’t want to sit just using up my battery while trying to make a “How to Speak Vietnamese” power point. What to do? I know I will need dinner at some point. I can have grain. I know in NYC trying to take El Air, I left and came back four hours before departure time to the line and ended up, after inspection, being one of the last three on the airplane. That sucked having everyone look at you knowing you were the reason they were still on the ground.


I lost two inches around the waste and now with the money pouch, it looks like I gained. I forgot the Altoids. No birds in LAX. Hot ladies.

The Start

Well I am at terminal 4, Southwest airlines, Gate D5 waiting for my 3:45 pm 157 flight to LAX. My trip has gone interesting so far. Super Shuttle arrived 40 minutes early and I didn’t get to do all the things I needed to do before I left. I didn’t empty my frig or throw away the trash. I didn’t put them on the “to do” list because I didn’t think I would dare forget them. Good going, right. Next I forgot to take my neck pillow and probably something else (or more). I know I have the essentials. As I was told by Anne at school, I would be leaving things everywhere I go across the countries.


I just tore apart my carry-on, taking everything out to find my camera cord to transfer pictures to the computer. It was under the bag that holds the water bottle. Boy oh boy.

There is a bird in the airport terminal. Just hopping around. No, there are five. No cares in the world; they don’t seem to be bothered by the people either. Maybe they are waiting for their boarding pass.

I talked to a nice man who was in Phoenix for his mothers 86th birthday for about half an hour on the subject of travelling, where we have gone and the such. Then I was asked what I was going to do after I am all done with my travels and I told him, “Now that I am all done with my travels I am going to go to Disneyland.” He laughed with a belly roll.

My boarding pass is A27, I guess that is good.

One day left

It is less than 24 hours until I am off and my vacation starts. I think all the things I have left to do are in the house. I don’t think the house is getting the cleaning I wanted to give it though. Oh well. Side note - In two months I lost two pounds, two inches around the waist, and 4% body fat while adding width and tone around all muscle areas. I am very happy about that.

Now this bag better behave and get packed. I can be mean. I do have a blender.

:(

It doesn't fit. I have tried and tried and it doesn't fit in my backpack. The weight is not a problem. That is saying the weight limit the airline gives me is no problem. I am under that amount. The weight recommendation that the travel people give is half that of the airlines. There is no way I would meet their number. If it was a suitcase then it would work. As stupid as it may sound, I better have to walk a lot with this bag or else I will not be happy that I could have brought a suitcase. Was a "suitcase" actually for suits at one point? I really don't know what to do except unpack yet again and try some other way. I have run out of ways and hopefully a night's sleep will give me a different perspective, hopefully. Good night.

Into the bag

Well it is packing time. I first laid it all down on the floor. I cleared the floor first. I packet it once and it didn't work at all. I took it all apart and started from the beginning. The second time worked a lot better. I got almost everything in the pack. It wasn't exactly organized but it was on the right track. Then I realized I didn't pack any shirts. None. Well now I am unpacking again. Let's see what happens this time. I do have a check list.

Packing it up

So now it is time to pack. Usually when I go on a trip, I pack the night before. South East Asia and Israel are different. One month takes a little more time to pack successfully. I have everything on my floor, spread out like the pieces to a puzzle. This puzzle must fit in my pack and airline dimensions. I think the 44 pounds will be easy but the combined inches will be hard. Actually I have no idea what all this stuff weighs. I am packing this in a weird way that is probably not very efficient but hopefully it works. Using a backpack is for specific trips and I really don’t know if this will be a trip of that type. I hope that a backpack is a need (must) and not a recommendation because it has come down to the time where I no longer have a choice. I am actually getting concerned and actually troubled about this.


Well everything is checked off on my list, big list, except for maybe printing off my family pictures and finding Arizona quarters. I only have three and would like fifteen. I am debating whether to get a $100 in quarters and see what I can find then return them to the change machine. I would like to also get something regional for a gift to take but I haven’t found anything that isn’t expensive.

I have asked some people what they would like me to bring back for them and hopefully I will remember some of them. Granma had the greatest request, “You back safely.” I think I will bring everyone back a little Buddha, especially Kimmy. About 60 hours left.

Success is

There are some things success is not.

It’s not fame.

It’s not money or power.

Success is waking up in the morning so excited about what you have to do that you literally fly out the door. It’s getting to Work with people you love.

Success is connecting with the World and making people feel. It’s finding a way to bind together people who have nothing in common but a dream.

It’s falling asleep at night knowing you did the best job you could.

Success is joy and freedom and friendship.

And success is

Love.

I am almost there

School is out. No more students for eight weeks. I cannot believe it is almost here. I can now say it is less than a week until my departure. It is blowing my mind. I think I have everything I need to go. I am not sure I am ready but I am going and will have the best time. It will be a ton of fun. How else do you put it? I can read all about what is available to see, recommendations of the best parts of S.E.A. travel, and previous travelers’ comments but what I experience will be all me. My experiences will be individual to me no matter what I get the chance to do while I am there. It is a dream come true. I am also going to be getting away from the 100 degree plus temperatures here but am going to a different type of hot, humidity. My last “do to” before I go is figure out how to use my camera. I am not doing very well at this task. Point and click does not mean good pictures.

Realization

My prophetic realization is that I have a lot to do with my house before I go. I haven't really payed attention to it lately. I have been mostly obsessed with all things school. Tomorrow I check out for the summer but I seem to have a lot to do in order to be able to get out, checklists and all that. Then there are all those things you have to do before you leave your house for a prolonged period of time. And lastly, clean up. I need a maid.
P.S. I have my passport back with my Vietnam Visa.

Well...

No Visa, No Passport, No Shuttle, No Money, No Refunds, No Altoids
This is looking worse and worse. Even though I know I will get on the airplane, I may not be allowed in once I get there. This is the ether in between. I really don't know what to think. Last week of school.

New Beginning

I just erased my trip from my calendar. I actually felt bad doing it. There was a lot of work done but now it is just eraser dust. Then I entered a new trip. It is not as concrete but it is a new trip. My new trip has reversed its path. I am now going to Vietnam, Cambodia, then Thailand. Unfortunately Laos it out of the picture. I guess I will just have to admire it from the plane. I better get a window seat. I now leave my house at noon on Saturday the 5th. I now come back in the morning of the 6th (July) instead of the evening. The only problem with that is I get into LAX on the night of the 5th. I have an incredibly long layover for LAX, 8 hours. I could drive home before the plane left LAX. I still have to get a visa and contact a lot of people to get confirmations. Do I have a Super Shuttle reservation yet? I have to go get some Vietnamese money before I go. I also need Arizona quarters and Altoids. Hopefully this Saturday. Here I go.

Building blind

You have a house to construct which is good. You are happy about it. You are given a set amount of time to build it and that amount of time is adequate. You can afford to build it and you have the needed time to get the materials, blueprints and permits. There is no problem. Then one day you realize that only the finishing touches are needed to have the house done. Everything in life is good. You go back the next day and the house has been leveled. Someone even put up a fence around the site so that no one could enter. After much needed mental and even physical grief, you begin again. Although you still have the same due date there is now a greatly reduced construction time. In the previous build the idea of measure twice and cut once was always adhered to but there is no time for such things this time, and no blueprints. The bank has their eye out now too. They always like to see things fail. The construction must be fast, by the seat of your pants, but we all know that is when things go wrong. The house will be built, there is no other choice. The outcome unfortunately will be an unknown.

Things they are a changin'

Something is happening just not sure what. There is a horizon though.

Mad

This is my journal so I will write in it. I am so incredibly upset. No, I am fucking pissed. I just got a call from the travel company telling me that they were going to cancel the trip. No, they said they cancelled the trip. I can get my money back but that is not what I want. I want to go to SEA. This was my one chance to get there. I didn’t think it would ever happen and it did. Now the carpet is being harshly yanked out from under me at the last moment. I am so mad. I have tickets bought and it is past time to get a full refund. I have spent a lot of money on this trip, too much. I rejected two summer jobs for this trip. I sacrificed the ability to buy the new laptop that I wanted. This is something huge to me. This is not a, “Well, I will go next year” type thing. It is a now or never. I am crushed, severely and totally crushed.


I know there are people out there that are probably happy about this but to hell with them, this is mine.

I am to hell mad. I don’t care about the one day we are in Bangkok. We don’t have to go to the demonstrations, it is a big city. The area of all the commotion is not even near any of the places on our itinerary. We don’t even spend that long in Thailand. Damn it all.

I am going to do something to be there. I can’t let this slip out of my hands. I will do what I have to do.
(12:30 PM)

Humorous

I just realized that my Tour Code is "Sext" :)

It is in my hands

Excited? Not even close. Excited is the top of the Sears Tower and I am on Mount Everest. It is all really happening. I got my travel package today in the mail. I almost went crazy trying to get it open. It includes all the in-country travel tickets, reservations, confirmed itinerary, and all other documentation needed for the trip. I have in my hands the trip. It is all there.


I was given some great advise which I think about for all my trips. Don’t look like a tourist. My clothes are all used so that will help. Now I am going to start wearing all the stuff as an outfit I would wear there, including the money/document belt.

Everyone keeps hearing about what is happening in Bangkok and warns me. They tell me how worried they are. People should realize by now that I don’t get worried. We are not going to be near that area, it is a very big city. I do want to go and see the demonstrations though. Experience not tourist. I will see how it goes, I am not stupid.

As it is...

Now there is only three weeks left before I go. Excitement is not a word that is left in my vocabulary. I am way beyond that. Although at the moment I am bogged down with school related tasks. I always hate May. Too many people want something from you and they all want it right now. Grade this paper and this paper, none of which you administered as part of your subject area, then make sure they show that you and the school were successful. All of this is accomplished with a couple of papers. Yeah right. Teach to the test even though you don’t know or have any control over what is on that test. Also you must teach to the individual, duh, yet those tests grade to the general population, not the individual. The end of the year load kills me. I am glad that I get to go on this vacation and wouldn’t mind staying. Yep, it is May.


Well, Super Shuttle is picking me up at 3:30pm on the 4th to begin my trip. Scheduled and ready to go. I don’t have a scheduled return shuttle trip though. Debating whether I need one or not. All the travel is ready and I am willing and able. My only quandaries are about connections. That is the one weak point.

I am going to put it out to people to start thinking about what they want me to look into getting them while I am there. I will not make any promises but I will try. Space will be at a premium as is money. As for me I want from each country a Coca-Cola can, a stone and dirt, a statuette, and a huge Buddha. I am flexible about it though.

I will not let political anything in Bangkok hinder me in any way.

I Continue On

Well I forgot to post my weekly journal entry. I started this journal early so that I would get use to doing it. Then maybe I would have a record that I could look back on later in life. I tried it when I went to Israel but it didn’t work. I hope it does this time. But if wishes were fishes.

I finished my clothes shopping with two pairs of pants and a pair of shorts. They all have large pockets, some with zippers. I already have all the other clothing I need so I am good.
Following a suggestion, I am starting to collect pictures of family and friends for the trip to both to show off (nieces and nephews) and to reference (all the rest).
The disturbing part of my thoughts rest on health. My health now not then. Everyone is getting sick at school. If I get sick before I go and don’t kick it I will be so pissed (and sick). They say you get sick when you are there. I don’t want to go there already sick. This totally sucks.

One Month

At three o'clock one month from today I will be leaving my house and be gone for a month. I think this will be the longest month and the next will be the shortest. Friday will be four weeks so here I go.

Just keeping up

Everything is going well. I picked up the camera and once I have read some of the instruction book I am going to do a "how long will the batteries last" test. At the same time I will do a "how many pictures can I take" test. This will give me an idea of the number of batteries and amount of storage I will need for my trip. Five weeks.

Ready and Waiting

Thanks to my sister, the Vietnamese government, and soon to be Wal-Mart, I am just about ready to leave. My sister, the shopper she is, helped me get together some of the last few things on my list. She found me a nice travel guide book (don't mind the acetone) and an extremely small umbrella (I think it is from a cocktail) among other things. The Vietnamese government sent me back my Passport with a visa to come visit. I have to admit sending my Passport away was a little nerve-racking. More so was the day UPS returned it and left it partly under my door mat. Real safe. Wal-Mart has my camera in route to me. So a little pants shopping and getting some Thai money then I am off. Oh wait, 950 hours to go.
So how do I fill those hours? I have spent so much time surfing the net for information to use for my trip and have so many bookmarks of web pages that I like, it has made me overwhelm myself. Then there is teaching. May is a hard month for teaching. It is the most stressful and students start shutting down. What will make it even harder now is that I want to close up shop.
If I go crazy don't worry, I have a frequent flyer's pass so I know the way. I think I have crazy listed as my permanent address. Anyway, five more pre-trip entries and then I am gone. Hope I continue with this journal once I have started the journey.

Ouch

Ok, it really didn't hurt but I got my vaccines today. I also got my malaria tablet prescription. One more, big step.

Also in Vietnam

Side Note - I just saw Bear Grylls in Vietnam. His trip and mine are a little different though. He stayed for a shorter period of time and went a little deeper into the country. Ok, so our trips are a lot different. Take a look.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZXput1RSRo
 and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQ7xHXpgT94&feature=related

Seven Weeks

Not much to say, the mind is still crazy but there is less to do.

I am off to the doctor’s office Monday for some meds but still have nothing on vaccines. I am going to ask him about a convenient place to go because I am not finding one. Some of the vaccines are expensive. I am also waiting on my Visa from Vietnam. I had to send my passport off to get the visa, scary.
I just ordered a camera from Wal-Mart online. It looks nice and wasn’t expensive. It was less because it was red. The last one I bought was for Israel and that was five years ago. I don’t take picture unless it is on a trip and so I am pretty bad at it. Hope I do better this time.
I can't speed up time so I guess I will just have to impatiently wait. Later.

I Post Therefore I Am

Point of thought – People say, “Do it today for you may not have tomorrow.” I have many regrets in my life but this is something I am sure of, so I am going. Of the things in life that I want, this is one that I can define, hold up, and say “This is my desire.”

I have decided to make a post a weekend until I leave for me and anyone watching, mostly me. I am keeping it to one so I can get in the groove of writing a journal and only one so that it is not complete drabble and doesn't consume me.
Still no vaccines or doctor’s visit but I have bought all my tickets for everything. Also, of my list of 67 things to get for the trip, I only have 21 left. That is my post for the week.
P.S. If you see this and know someone that would like to know about what is happening, tell them. Forget the grapevine thing. Comments are welcome.

Getting Ready

Well I am getting ready for the trip even though it is still two months away. With the help of past visitors to Southeast Asia (SEA), I have made a list of things to bring. Now is the time to get those things. Everything from Visas to malaria tablets to tissue. I can't leave out the loads of hand sanitizer either. My next big stops are to the doctor's office and the vaccine clinic. Great, shots. I can deal.
I also have started to tell people face to face about the trip so they don't have to hear it from the grape vine. I think that is better.
I have to admit I am going crazy though. All my thoughts are going toward the trip and the trip alone. When I went to Israel I was in my second year of teaching (stress), inbetween jobs/schools (stress), and had been planning that trip for years. Now the situation is completely different. I am on the edge of going crazy, luckly I know the way.

To give you an idea of where this is all happening.

from Nasa

the regions

Here is where it all begins

So this is the end of March and the beginning of planning for my trip to Indochina. I made a list of things I wanted to do before I was old and I have two left. This trip is one of them. The extreme difference between here, Arizona, and the Thailand area is what I want to experience. To get the full experience I am going to go on a month long trip through Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, and Viet Nam. This is for me learn and enjoy. It makes me happy. I leave Phoenix June 4th and come back July 6th. I know I have things to do before I go but the waiting for two months will drive me crazy. Talk later.