A new begining with a new life.

At the turn of the year I lived a simple life with neither children nor pets. At work and with friends who had either, all they seemed to discuss was one amusing anecdote after another involving those extensions of their family. Could I possibly be less interested in your dog having an accident on the carpet or perhaps your child getting their first tooth? A funny thing happened on Valentine’s day of this year, my life was enriched by a puppy. Maybe enriched is too limiting of a term, how about driven crazy while sick with worry yet wholeheartedly emotionally connected. This blog which used to be interesting anecdotes of my travels around the world encompassing almost 600,000 miles has shrunk to a dramatically smaller circle of only a few dozen miles. While there is no lack of blogs out there that tell stories of pets and children somehow people seem interested in my stories so perhaps I can regale you with one or two (or vastly more knowing my verbose nature).

So rather than starting at the very beginning (far too normal for the likes of me), perhaps the more recent and we can recount over chai tea early beginnings at a later time. However an introduction is of course in order. I would like to introduce you to Dodger, not as in the Brooklyn and now LA Dodgers but rather the Artful Dodger from Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens. What better name for a rescue dog than one of the most famous aid-de-camp of orphans the industrious and yet amusing Dodger?

On Tuesday morning Dodger woke up as usual at the wonderfully late 5am hour happy to be a puppy and thinking simply of food and maybe a bathroom break. Sadly today was not to be like every other day in the past 4 and half months of his life, today he had to go to the vet for a ‘routine’ surgery. Thus, no food in the morning (something that did not go over well with the lord of the manner) and an early start out of the house en-route to the vet. Upon arriving, instead of the usual turning over of the pup to the surgical tech, they actually had me walk him all the way to the back and put him in the cage personally. Great so the last image my dog is going to have of me is to put him in a cage in a back room smelling of sour stale air, with tufts of fur in every corner occasionally wafting through the air, forever lit with impersonal florescent bulbs and well used and chewed metal mesh cages. Dodger cheerfully goes into the cage knowing that I would never put him anywhere he would not like for why would I ever do that to him, but when the door closed with me on the other side his face turned from confusion to fear in a blink of an eye. That was the image burned into my mind as I walked out.

Any of you who have ever had a dog, or frankly any dog that needed to be ‘fixed’ will know this is a minor procedure and I am making far too much of this experience but it was to be the first time leaving my boy to go fully-under and operated on. By the way, why do we insist on using the term ‘fix’, as if something was wrong with him to begin with. Memories of Orson Wells’ 1984 novel speaking of people having to get permission to procreate and the implications of such come to mind as if that was the natural order of things. But I digress.

10 hours, 600 minutes, 3,600 seconds before I could pick him up. The orderly brings him out and while his tail wags ever so slightly you can see he is still dazed (and maybe a bit hurt by the betrayal?). He gingerly walks to the car where he occasionally whimpers evoking sympathy and concern at every turn. I am not supposed to feed him for a while to ensure he does not throw it right back in my face and yet he has not eaten for 24 hours. I struggle with that once a year and I don’t even go in for surgery. So I cave and start to give him treats, and then a half meal and then the remainder of the meal. A common theme to be seen is the firm belief that my dog is smarter than I. He can observe and read signals that I do not even know I am sending and use them against me. In this case, he knows I will cave every time he whimpers, so he uses it to his full advantage. He got all the TLC he could stand, not mention toys, treats, being carried up and down stairs; everything short of a spa day.

Next time he has to go in for surgery I think I need to prepare myself more than I need to prepare him.

Dinner will be in the castle, sir

As mentioned previously I am in France for three days for a sit down meeting between three major companies to discuss a joint engineering and marketing plan. The location is a corporate training center for one of those partners. It is located approximately 30 minutes outside of France in a small town few have heard of, thank goodness for GPS in the taxis. Now many companies have corporate training centers which encompass a hotel rooms, meeting rooms and of course team building supplies but there was something different here. We approach a massive solid steel gate in the taxi that has just a small name of the villa (no company logos etc) and a small intercom button. The taxi driver runs up and hits the button explaining who we are for a couple of minutes before the massive 20 foot tall gates begin to electronically open. We drive no more than around one turn in the tree lined street before meeting with huge cement barricades next to a guard house. Now it is my turn to show ID before the cement barriers recede down and we are finally able to drive up. The tree lined street is breathtaking but not as amazing as seeing the sight of a huge castle over the horizon. When I check in at a very modern looking building the receptionist informs me that my meal for the night can be taken in the castle where I will meet my co-workers for the week, I will be staying in Villa 2. Yes indeed they have separate villas, my name tag is actually also a wafer thin RFID tag that not only lets me into all buildings simply by proximity but also lets me into my room also just by proximity.

I quickly throw my belongings into the room and decide to walk around the grounds. It is the start of winter so it is about 50 degrees and quite a bit of rain, but at the moment a brief reprieve from the rain. The grounds have immaculately cared for gravel paths, almost as if the very rocks have been smoothed by hand. I was struck by how absolutely barren the grounds are without any staff ever being seen. The castle we had seen looming in the distance was around the corner and was as spectacular up close as it was from a distance. During dinner I found out it was designed by the same architect who made the Eiffel Tower but was completely rebuilt recently down to the wire frame that runs throughout. What has been preserved is an elaborate tunnel system below all the buildings including the Villas and the castle for all the workers to move around unseen by us on the surface. Even the shipping dock is located underground so as not to disturb the tranquility. I have to hand it to them they seem to have thought of everything.

It is now 3am and I think I need to try to head back to sleep, more on this place soon.

A return to confusion

It has been quite some time since I wrote and alas it is not due to lack of excitement in life. The roller coaster that we all whimsically call life continues with twists and turns. Amazing how I seem to always get introspective when on a plane at some massive height, must be the low air pressure that makes me light headed. Be that as it may, a few random ruminations to add to a page which has been lonely for new prattle.

It never ceases to amaze me how much of work seeps into our lives and begins to define who we are, or is it the reverse. There is never a dull moment where I work, between the sheer speed that we all work and the unfortunate games that are seemingly continuously played. These games are far from the cowboys and Indians played in the backyards and alleys. The stakes are higher and people play so much smarter. They can lie to your face and buy you lunch all while trying to figure out how to undermine your projects. Frankly it is exhausting watching and trying to figure out how to ensure that one can survive. I think there were recent Dilbert comics illustrating this. How key people will join teams, offer to help, do nothing thereby causing the demise of said project which of course makes key leader look both ineffectual and stupid. What is absolutely ridiculous is if we paid half as much time and energy on our key work there is no end to what I think we could accomplish for our firm. Frankly the more this has been happening the more this just drags me down. Don’t get me wrong, I know the game and unfortunately I think I can see it coming down the road, but man do I hate having to play it. Normally management is designed to minimize this as much as possible, but when they are playing their own, well things just tend to get out of control, which is exactly where we are now. I can’t even count the number of meetings or even days when I am driving home trying to figure out what the hell we are doing. I love the job, but hate the games.

With that said other things in life have caught me blindsided and have captivated me. I went through a bit of a phase a short while ago catching up with former high school and college friends, finding out where they have gone and what they have done with their lives. One such friend has become more than a friend. I have been reluctant to mention anything for fear of jinxing a wonderful thing, but she (yes relatives, although living in San Francisco still into women) ties me in knots whenever her name gets mentioned. If it hasn’t been for her keeping me sane I am not sure how I would have been able to balance all that has been going on in every other aspect of life. So just a quick thank you to her, and frankly how did I get so lucky?

Speaking of life changing events (ok not life changing, no one is even getting close to married – yikes m-word!!), I was thinking more of housing. Although I have had a great ride in San Francisco, and really I do enjoy living there, for a while I have wanted to own my own place. Five years of renting plain white apartments has just about run its course and now is time for a change. Why not look in San Francisco? Three reasons. One, the commute requiring a wake-up alarm every morning at 4:15 is getting a bit old. Two, there is no way I could afford more than a brown box on a street corner, maybe not even a brown box. Three, there is no safe parking in this bloody city! So yes I am thinking of moving a bit farther south, closer to work and back into suburbia. I love having hundreds of restaurants, two Starbucks, Jamba Juice and of course a massive grocery store all within feet of my front door. Not to mention one of the largest parks in the city, a huge shopping district and arguably one of the most amazing cities in the country. Can you see even here I have a hard time convincing myself to get out of the city. As many people have said, once you leave the city one can never go back. Maybe once I start perusing the real estate market it will solidify in my head, and lets face it I am the last in my group of friends from either high school or college who has not bought a place yet. I feel almost left behind (this is an entire subject for another flight).

Alas my flight to France has almost arrived, it is time once again to stow all electronic devices and brace for another day. Thank you for allowing yet another rant on my random ruminations. Do yourself a favor and don’t play the game for a day or two, it will make you feel better.

It would not be SF without the political parade. Check out all the costumes at http://mdstein.dynalias.com 

A massive part of the street was closed off as part of the crime scene. 

An intimidating sight, this was before they started to run to incidents. 

Halloween in the city

To try and describe tonight would be like trying to explain a three hour thriller. It is mixed with humor, surprise, fear and I am sorry to say sadness.

The day actually started quite early, around 11am with 12 foot fences being erected around one of the main 24 hour grocery stores for the lower part of the city. Apparently last year unruly customers were so bad they destroyed most of the liquor aisle among other areas of the store and thus the decision was made to close the entire store. Thus the police were using the opportunity to turn that parking lot into a holding and staging area. We are starting with good intentions and strong planning.

My night did not begin until around 8 when I decided to head over and start watching the festivities. Sure enough hundreds of police officers were in the parking lot having a final catered meal before the festivities truly got started. Getting into the main area required entrance through a security area that was looking predominately through bags, but a fairly cursory look. No pat downs for most people. Keep in mind the festivities closes a approximately 12 blocks of 6 lane roads. A single emergency lane was cordoned off using police fencing for easy transportation of officers and medical equipment to all areas of the event. I give you this information to try and paint a picture for what is to come.

Saturday before Halloween has a much less extreme version of Halloween day that is limited predominately for local San Francisco residents. It encompasses Castro street and is a great party with virtually everyone there to have a good time. Although small incidents do happen it is a safe fun filled event with people from all walks of life all dressed up and sharing a fun holiday. The day of Halloween is very different. We get literally hundreds of thousands of people from east bay and south bay many of which I am sorry to say do not come for just a good time. But I get ahead of myself. Around 8pm it is just starting to fill up with several families walking the area with small children. Some of the costumes are just amazing, thankfully I brought my camera and will be posting several of these pictures. As the evening progress the crowd thickens noticeably to the point where it gets a bit difficult to maneuver around, but still not terrible.

On a side note, until you have been in massive crowds of hundreds of thousands of people you can not truly understand what crowd behavior is like. It is amazing witnessing the ebbs and flowing of human waves of people. Little holes will open up and then just as quickly close as the vacuum is filled by more people. A fascinating scene in human behavior.

Unfortunately along with revelers in full costumes also comes thousands of gang members or gangster like people. This is the one time of year where they not only can come in full black but they can all wear masks over their faces and get away with it. These guys yell all types of lascivious words to the girls in skimpy outfits and usually take quite a few liberties feeling behinds and groping chests as well. Regardless of if the girls are with other guys, unless those guys are other large gangster looking individuals most are hesitant to really push back since none of these men run alone. I am sorry to say but this is not only common but in many cases expected. Many of the women arriving are at this point wearing nothing more than lingerie from Fredericks of Hollywood, but public nudity doesn’t seem to phase them. In fact there are some women who are baring their cheat (painted of course) all in the name of a costume. Up to now nothing is different than previous years.

A remarkable thing did happen early in the evening with a random girl coming up to me and saying my name. I did not recognize her but she is the daughter of a man who lives in my old apartment complex, in fact his daughter and I used to hang out at the pool for several summers together. Lucky she recognized me for there is no way I would have recognized her. We caught up for a little while and then she ran off with her other friends.

Still early in the evening around 11pm some popping noises were heard close by in the crowd. Most people didn’t think much of them as they sounded honestly like firecrackers in the unbelievable roar of the crowd and techno music. 5 officers stationed nearby took off at a run a few minutes later toward the noise but still nothing terrible unusual. Then a massive crash and all the safety barricades the police had setup came crashing down, not from the public but as literally several hundred police came pouring into the crowd at a full run. Now those of you who may not have had the experience of attending large rallies protected by police in full riot protection outfits, these officers do not run. They stay together, form walls and move slowly and with purpose. When these officers, many of whom are SWAT or ESU (Emergency Services) run best to stay out of the way. Then the waves of humanity start to push away from the affected scene not more than a few hundred feet away. Soon dozens of police bikes and soon fire trucks and ambulances start flying down the street. People are pushed to the sides of the street where they just hang out. In the confusion unfortunately some people decide to start taking advantage of the situation and start to more problems. I choose to wear a priest outfit every year for a couple of reasons, one it is easy to move around in and eaasy to manage but the second is it comes with a frock that goes from head to tail and makes pick pocketing near impossible. The amazing thing I felt no less than a dozen hands checking each area of my pants trying to gain access to pockets while the masses were at its most dense.

Soon word spreads that the event is officially shut down early and for everyone to get out as fast as possible. A feeling of panic is still thick in the crowd and the ones that are suffering the most are the kids from out of town. Many of these middle and high school kids can be heard on their cell phones crying and talking to parents trying to figure out the best way to just get out of there. A few of us locals start to help the kids pointing them to closest public transportation or exits just to get them out of the area. Eventually I work my way to the exit and take shelter at one of the medic bases, identifying myself and talking to a couple of the local medics. It turns out there were 7 shootings, 2 stabbings, 1 person thrown through a plate glass window and that was just in that thirty minute window. Several times a large phalanx of over 50 police bikes took off at full speed lights and sirens blaring to incidents in the perimeter of the event. I hazard to guess what those were all about.

All told, what should have been a fairly quiet fun filled event turned into a nightmare for many people and unfortunately something that will have consequences for events in the future. As for now they are just now turning off the sirens so it is time for me to finally get to bed.

Hope everyone else is safe and had a good Halloween

Overreacting?

Overreaction

 

I have to relate a humorous story to everyone.  This past weekend I volunteered at one of the best races in my opinion, the Nike’s Women’s Marathon.  This is an incredibly emotional race for the runners, many of whom are either survivors or running in memory of a loved one they have lost to Leukemia or Lymphoma.   We treated women at the mile 9 marker who were hurting in both knees, or who rolled an ankle and yet continued and shockingly finished the marathon.  That takes enormous mental fortitude and I have no shortage of respect for them.

 

But this story relates to a different aspect, it would be for the volunteers.  I volunteer with the Red Cross to provide medical support for major events like this throughout the Bay Area.  In the city specifically many residents do not have cars and at 3am when we begin to assemble there is not a ton of mass transit.  I was asked by the Red Cross employees if I could pick up a single person initially and bring them with me, considering they were only 3 blocks away.  No problem.  Two days before the race they ask if I can pick up a second person on the opposite end of town, they know it’s far but they are desperate.  Ok, again no problem.  Then the day before a third person about halfway between the two.  Finally ok.  I send an email to all three and let them know approximate times.  Now apparently in the flurry of emails something got confused and I picked up three but there was apparently a fourth request that got mixed in.  It exasperated the problem when I swapped a phone number and an address of two people.  Unfortunately instead of apparently 4 people, only three were picked up.  A simply mistake, these things happen.  Below is an exact copy of the email I received late, I will leave it to you to decide if he overreacted (keeping in mind we are all volunteers here).

 

 

-----Original Message-----

From: Jeff.Webster@SFSailing.com [mailto:Jeff.Webster@att.net]

Sent: Sunday, October 22, 2006 9:19 AM

To: XXXX

Cc: Matthew Stein

 

Subject: FW: RE: Nike

This guy said he'd be only a minute or two late, twenty minutes later, I called and he was still in the Haight. First I think that is really rude to not be on time, 2nd if I had known he wasn't man enough to do the job right I would not have accepted his offer.

 

My phone never rang, sorry to all (like the effected runners and you Emily and Adrienne who put time and effort into careful organizing) because this person is too weak to know how to tell time. This person obviously has a real manhood problem.

 

--

Jeff.Webster@SFSailing.com

(415) 922-6969

KC9DPP

Buy (RED)

 

Anyone want to sail down a river in the rain? Oh we do!

The weather is absolutely gorgeous upon landing in saigon, where are all the storms the news was talking of?  Surely they must have been exagerating.  In that case why don't we book a two day trip down the Makong river and get the most out of our trip here.  Ignore the fact we haven't slept a full night sleep in several days and I have managed to catch a common cold in the middle of this humid and hot environment.  One more adventure, let's go for it!

We book the tour around 3pm and by 6pm when we go out for dinner it is absolutely pouring.  Thunder and lightening abound.  A hasty decision is made to eat inside the hotel.  But the nexy day appears to have seen the last of the bad weather and is sunny and bright.  We embark on a four hour car ride with the most politically charged tour guide we have run across yet.  We are not sure if we can believe all of his conspiracy theories but apparently he spent four years in a political reeducation camp in his twenties since je decided to go AWOL from the army.  Suffice to say he yielded many interesting stories of corruption inside the government, some of which might actually be true.

We just arrive at the boat dock and we see a huge front coming in, sure enough about ten feet from the dock the skies let loose and don't stop the entire day.  From motorized boat, to rowboat, mini-bus and even ferry we were on all kinds of fun transportation today. 

The highlight of the day?  While on a fifteen minute ferry ride I received a marriage proposal from an adorable 22 year old local girl.  Not surprisingly westerners are fairly prized catches so even a bloke like me should be able to get a date.  Alas I turned her down to get back into our mini-bus and over to the hotel.

Otherwise the day with small excursions to the shore to visit a brick factory, a cocunut candy factory and finally rice cake factory.  Truly sanitary conditions (umm sure) and yet ISO 9001 certified, go figure. 

At this point it is absolutely storming at the hotel so just chilling to see what we are going to do tomorrow.

Take care

There is a bit of rain over here

Our trip was going quite well until there came a little bit of rain.  Well maybe more than a bit, a typhoon landed upon both the philipines and vietnam killing over 200 in philipines and well over 100 here in vietnam.  Thankfully up north in Sapa we were relatively immune to the storm with very little rain hitting us, however with its impending arrival up north there was a large push of people to get into the overnight trains down south.  Now if you have never felt like a refugee I highly recommend the experience.  Several hundred travelers cram into a small train terminal trying to board the overnight train to Hanoi.  Keep in mind the door to the trains is chained shut but this does not stop locals from pushing their way to the front only to encounter an obstacle of a chain and a police officer.  This does not stop then from rattling the door and screaming at the police officer, to no avail.  Almost two hours we wait in 90 degree heat with people continuing to push from behind until finally they open the doors and it was as if Noah's ark's doors opened.  A veritable stampede of people, keep in mind all berths are preassigned.  Thankfully our coach conductor is a tough 100 year old cranky officer who is incredibly strict keeping poachers away from our berths and literally locks us in the room to protect our berths.  Even more feelings of safety arises when we observe the conductor placing padlocks on all the outside doors right before leaving, let's hope no accidents ever hit this train station.

We are so exhausted at this point we collapse and sleep the entire ride back down south only to be woken up by rattling at the door at the crazy hour of 5:30.  Now here is the question what do we do for the remainder of our trip with this typhoon in the middle of the country.  Unfortunately we had to cancel our flight to Hua since that airport is completely closed, so alas we had to spend the day shopping.  A terrible tragedy that we endured with grace and ponosh.

During shopping we were at a random stall negotiating for some pictures when a very drunk male grabbed my father and started screaming in his face.  Three police officers were within 5ft and did absolutely nothing.  Finally one of the other shop owners came and moved the drunk away.  It certainly caught us off guard.  The rest of the day passed without incident with some great shopping and one lovely massage for myself. 

Oh yes maybe I should elaborate on this experience.  I asked at the front desk for a reasonable place to get a massage.  He looks at me with raised eyebrows and asked just for me or with my family.  When I answer just for me he gives me a knowing look until I finally get clear just looking for normal massage.  I don't think he believes me but directs me to a local place.  For the low low fee of $10 (compared to around $60 in states) I get a very interesting 75 minute Vietnamese massage.  The most memorable was the butt massage, yes we are talking kneeded, shaken and rotated.  It took all my self control not to laugh.  All of those who aredying to ask not even a question of anything naught ever arose, but I did feel great afterwards.

The next day a freakishly early flight to saigon and decision time based on weather now that we had to change our itinerary.    

A crazy adventure into the wild outdoors

Although one might feel that the trip to the perfume pagoda was an intrepid traveler's dream (see previous entry) that was nothing compared to what we had in store next.

It began with a nice calm day of traversing through Hanoi to see local sites.  Begining with the museum of ethnicities on the outskirts of town.  Remarkable that Vietnam is actually comprised of 54 different and distinct etnicities.  This museum was dedicated to showing and preserving some of the traditions that are rapidly disintegrating in major cities or as ethnicities slowly get wiped out through inter-marriage etc.  One tribe believed that women are the sources of all pain and thus if someone was to get sick the priest would perform a ritual where they would have enlarged phallic symbols tied around their waist (for all women are of course afraid of phallics) and chase the women around the hall.  It was quite interesting to actual watch on tvs throughout the museum the actual ceremonys.  I wonder how many ceremonies we will never get to see of our native american's since many have long since lost critical mass to continue their deepest traditions.

The back of the museum actually held replicas of some of the different ethnicity's huts and homes so that one could truly experience what they must live like.  I thoght this was as close as we would get...I was wrong.

After the museum and a much needed to bit to eat we stopped by the main pagoda in the city.  Although not incredibly well maintained it is still the spiritual center of the city and even in a brief amount of time we were there we saw several people from as you as mid twenties to fifties making offerings to budhah with distinct wishes.  Still very much an active part of many of their lives.

The rest of the afternoon passed a blur of walking around street vendors, some ice cream in a coffee shop, watching all the schools letting out and the kid streaming out to an army of waiting relatives on their scooters.  But precisely at 830pm the care free aspect of day rapidly changed into serious focus.

A chaotic series of events preceded our boardingof our overnight express to Sapa.  Our tour companu had some 'miss communications' but with minutes to spare we were safely stowed on our hard sleeper cabin.  What does this mean?  On any type of transportation paticularly trains there is multiple classes of service, due to popular demand the only bunks we could get for this 10 hour train ride were in the back of the train in a cabin with 6 bunks (3 high).  Each bunch contains the thinnest of pads, think sheet rather than pad and a blanket.  Even more exciting we apparently took the bunks in the crew quarter for twice throught the evening a cell phone would ring and a couple of staff members would wake up, remove themselves from the bunks and are quickly replaced by two others who promptly fall sleep. 

I do not think between the shuddering of the train and curves through the mountains any of us got a ton of sleep, however around 5:30 when the sun rose the sites see through the train were quite impressive.  Jumping off the train at 7am, we quickly hopped a mini- bus which took us through the mountains for an hour and a half long drive before arriving at Sapa.  Now Sapa is one of the closest cities to China frm Vietnem.  It is in the middle of the mountains and still farmed by many of those same ethnic minorities we saw in the museum.  The next three days we would be interacting and walking among these groups as we see how they survive in these rugged turreins.

Just keep walking!

Upon arriving in Sapa we have a nice hot breakfast in our hotel where we will not be staying until two night hence (to be explained later).  First this breakfast bears mentioning.  They had hot fresh banana pancakes with either pur honey or rich chocolate poured on top.  After lots of fried rice and noodles for breakfast, pancakes were heavenly.  By the way highly recommend trying pancakes with honey if you ever get the chance.  A quick shower was then very much in the plans and then repacking from large suitcases to smaller overnight bags we will carry. 

Yes that os right we are about to spend the next two days backpacking through the mountains getting very close to the land.  With backpacks and hiking boots ready we set off with our guide on our 17 km hike into the mountains. 

Without going through all the hills and streams of our journey I will simply relate the highlights from the 6 hour hike (keep in mind we are on vacation).  Along the road we were constantly approached by children and old women in native dress all trying to sell small homemade trinkets, bracelots or bags to these strange and wealthy hikers.  The kids all speak very good English asking about where we are from, our families and for me if I was married, in fact everyone is very interested how old everyone is.  I did not think much of this from the older kids until we ran across a white worker in the fields drenched in sweat and beating rice stalks to separate the rice.  Asking our guide if this tourist was just experiencing local life, we find out he was a tourist three months ago, ended up meeting a local girl whom he married and has worked in the fields ever since.  Note to self, I am now married with many kids at home, I am not equiped to work in fields out here.

Interestingly enough their houses or huts in the middle of fields on the side of the mountain usually have some type of generator for basic lighting, and oh yeah satellite tv.  Yes you read right they like to know what is going on and thus watch CNN, BBC and don't forget HBO and MTV.  This area is full of surprises.  A roof made of mud or in some cases just a tarp with satellite television.

Our climb was relatively easy in that there was no real rock climbing but we were all drenched in sweat, red in the face and exhuasted by the time we got to our homestay around 3:30.  What this is is an opportunity to sleep with the natives in a native style house.  Oh yes, not only do we get to take pictures of the homes on the trek or in the museum we now get to experience it first hand.  We join with 2 Korean girls, 1 Japanese girl, 3 Polish trekers and oursleves inside one fairly decent size hut.  This hut has two stories, all tourists on the second floor please.  Each bed consisted on a pad, two small throw pillows and an incredibly heavy but soft blanket all covered by a mosquito netting.  Each 'bed' was right next to each other 5 to a side all surrounding a central opening from the first floor.  It was very cozy and remarkably comfortable.

It did not take us more than a few minutes to change from our dusty clothes into swimsuits and jump straight into the river a short way away.  Ok maybe jump is not quite accurate, we gingerely waded in considering it was about the temperature of ice water in a restaurant.  (yes mom you get credit for going all the way in, crazy as it was to the rest of us). 

We soon join the rest of the groups out in the front yard around small card tables relating experiences and past trips in a mixture of languages.  Thankfully almost everyone spoke decent english since unlike all others it is the only language my family speaks (darn us arrogant americans) :-).  Soon the cold beers appear and is later followed by shots of 'heavy water' otherwise known as a very rough and burning form of sake.  Suffice to say a few hours later none of us were feeling any pain from the hike.  A highlight was being able to see stars in the night sky without the light pollution from cities.

A reasonable hike back to civilization

Considering the late hour of our revelry the night before we were up at the break of dawn, could it possibly have anything to do with babies waking up and crying below our floor?  While waiting for our tour guides to make us breakfast we entertained ourselves teaching each other local games raning from. Drawn dot game from the Koreans to a crazy card game from the Polish.  I would like to admit at this point I lost everytime in the strategic dot game but won a few times at the card game (lucky in cards, unlucky in love?).  We were so wrapped up in our card game when breakfast came we continued for another 20 minutes until someone finally won, then we pounced on our pancakes and pears. 

Before we know it we are thanking the father of the family and pushing on for another 12 km through the jungle.  Yes this time we begin to leave the rice patties and enter into the bamboo forest and other areas with deeper foliage.  At one point our guide stops us suddenly (always difficult when in the middle of jumping rocks in a huge mud puddle) and starts clapping loudly.  Apparently very large snake in front of us, as my family would say, oh guuuud!  We survived happily. 

Over waterfalls and through streams, into another locals home to see how they live (a huge paradox between mud hut with indoor fire cooking with stereo and television) and finally to a resting place where we can have lunch.  Who do we end up meeting, but our friends from last night.  It takes us no more than 5 minutes of greetings before out comes the playing cards and it is on!

More hiking afterwards (you think tiring to read about it, try being a soft American), but finally at long last our road where we are met by a jeep to take us finally to our hotel.  Looking back from the top of a ridge we can see the distances we hiked and one can not help but be impressed with the distances we can move when motivated for it never seems as long when you are on the trail.  I guess this is why everyone tells you to stand back and look at big picture?

Finally back at hotel now where we each happily collapsed in our beds after a much needed hot shower!  Until next time.

It is not the destination, rather the journey

Today's mission: perfume pagoda.  After challenges with previous day's experiences of simply hiring a taxi driver for the day, we instead decided it would be prudent to actually book a tour for our next adventure.  Thus picking a random tour company late last night we book a tour to take us upon our journey or shall we call it an adventure?

We begin our exciting adventure at precisely 7:30 when our van picks us up at our front door.  We then spend the next hour picking up the other 12 site seerers from their respective hotels.  At which time we learn our plans for the day.  2 hour drive, then a boat ride followed by a light hike.  Uh-huh.

The two hour drive is quite pleasant moving rapidly out of the city into the countryside.  It is harvest season for rice, thus the fields are alive with locals tending to their crops.  Apparently it is quite difficult to open the husks to release the rice and thus they purposfully lay out harvests on the road for vehicles to drive over and well literally do the 'heavy lifting'.  Then they lay the grains out also on the roads to dry where dogs and occasional cows will wander through in their inquisitive  ways.  Then it is bagged up and sent to your table, yum! 

We arrive to the small port city where we are greeted by dozens of tiny metal boats, small flat canoes to be honest.  They are approximately 3ft wide and maybe 20ft long.  Four people get in (2 by 2) and sit on a small stool approximately 4 inches off the ground.  We then push off and our motor is a nice old woman who rows rowboat style except facing forward.  We sail like this for over an hour a scant few inches from the water.  Picture yourself squarring for an hour straight.  Of course it is the rainy season and indeed it does rain quite hard in the boat, for those that did not bring panchos or umbrellas kids appear as if by magic in smaller boats offering to sell anything to stay dry.  Yet for the length of the boat ride we are moving along some of the most exquisite and pristine scenery.  Lush fields boarded on both side by tall green mountains covered in bamboo and other indigenous greens.  Breathtaking, even when the very wet butt does fall asleep. 

We arrive about an hour later set for our nice leisurely climb.  We are set for a 2600 step climb to the actual pagoda, maybe not so leaisurely.  We could take a cable car but where is the adventure in that?  So hike we do.  Over an hour and half through the same pristine jungle climbing very roughly cut steps sometimes nothing more than piles of stones.  Of course it is raining causing the stones to be more than a bit slippery.  Seeing no other tourists along the road and requiring the boat did certainly remind one of an indiana jones movie. 

Finallty at long last and with everyone absolutely out of breath we reach the much talked about pagoda.  Many of our fellow travelers attempted the hike in sandals and one woman exclaimed on the hike that her thong was killing her.  That caused some eyebrows to be raised until she clarified that she was referring to sandals.  Oops, would have been fun to offer assistance to other possible meaning.  Regardless we made it to this infamous pagoda in pouring rain and just before we are set to enter they hold us back.  Apparently they are shooting a movie and we have to wait until scene ends.  Finally after huddling under umbrellas we descend into what turns out to be a huge cave that has some spectacular rock formations and a tiny little holy shrine complete with neon lights (no joke).  The movie we had to wait for was actually just a single singer who was mouthing the words while hugging a cold damp wall and attempting to be sexy.  Clearly this was a remarkable journey and not necessarily destination. 

By unanimous decision the water soaked group chose to return via cable car instead of hikeing.  Just 8 minutes later we emerge slightly steamed at the base of the mountain.  A lunch in a school cafeteria style rounded out the site.

Continuation of previous entry

I got cut off from previous entry, sorry.

Lunch finished out our site seeing adventure which was followed by a very very long hour long boat ride, and two and a half hour drive home. But safe and sound we did arrive.

  It looks like tomorrow night we will take a 10 hour train ride to the farthest tip of vietnam (closest to china and mongolia).  It is doubtful I will have email access so probably no updates until monday.  Enjoy your weekend.