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Flower's
Asia Trip 2004
2004
Photos
Vietnam
2004 Photos Click here
Thailand
2004 Photos click here
Nepal
2004 Photos click here
On
February 3rd of 2004 Flower will return to Asia with John an
old friend. We will travel to Bangkok Thailand and then rest
for a few days before going to Vietnam for 3 weeks. We will
start in Hanoi and travel overland south to Ho Chi Minh City.
Then return back to Bangkok. From there John will return home
and Flower will fly to Kathmandu Nepal. A week later Stacy
will join Flower in Nepal. We will return to Bangkok before
returning home to Cleveland on April 9th.
Here is
the messages John and I posted while in Asia. Photos at bottom
of page
Well John and I made it to
Thailand. Total it was a 24 hour flight. We booked our ticket
to Vietnam. Tomorrow at noon we will fly to Hanoi and work our
way down south. I did see my friend Jay Bumm and he took us
out for a night on the town. Yesterday he left Bangkok for
Phuket a magic show he was hired to do. Today was a long day.
It has been raining on and off all day. We went to the
National Museum, Royal Palace, What Pho and the weekend
market. It is now 10pm and I am tired. I still need to pack
and get ready for Vietnam. I will cut this short but I am not
sure how the computers will be in Vietnam. This maybe the last
update till I'm back in Bangkok. Having a good time. I am
sorry about the photos I am not sure how to flip them.
Good
Morning Vietnam!!!!
John and I took a flight to Hanoi which is the Capital city of
Vietnam. I is one of the best cities in South East Asia. It is
a very peaceful city. We are staying in the old Quarter were
all the backpackers hang out. There are many hotels and cafes.
The French were here many years ago and they thought them how
to bake! The breads and cakes are wonderful. The first day in
Hanoi we checked into the hotel around 4pm and walked around
the lake. On the flight we met Dennis from Chicago and Zoe
from England. We had dinner and called it an early night. Day
2 John and I spent walking around the city which is one of the
things I enjoy most. You get to see the people and how they
live and work. We walked thru a large market where you can
find everything. Then we headed to the river. the amount of
bikes and motorcycles is crazy. There are cross walks but you
would stand all day waiting to cross so you just start walking
and they just drive around you. That night we went to the
water puppet theater. It was good but I enjoyed the music the
most. I think that is why we got a free tape of the band when
we picked up the tickets. Day 3 we got Bikes!! John and I
rented 2 bikes for the day which cost a dollar each. What a
fun time. Our first stop was to see Ho Chi Minh. We knew the
time to see him were only in the morning so we just made the
last viewing. The Mausoleum and the HCM Museum were in the
same area so we hit both. The Museum was very nice but they
were closing so we were rushed thru. Then back on the bike to
deal with all the traffic. We headed north to the West Lake
where we found a small Chineese temple where a head monk was
speaking and we sat for some time. At 6pm we all met back at
the hotel for dinner. We also hooked up with 2 other girls
from England one of which was having her birthday. I had to
make balloons and the staff went crazy.
Vietnam's Ha Long Bay &
Cac Ba Island in the North East
Sorry about the photos and text
being out of order. The CDs of Hanoi are back in the hotel. So
your last day in Hanoi before going to Ha Long Bay and Cat Ba
(Photos Above) The group of us went out for a night on the
town. It started with coffe at a great cafe' (The apple tart
was to die for) then to the New Centry Disco. We closed the
place out and our group was cut short. The two girls from
England went back but we met 2 Vietnamise guys who live in
England and have family here in Hanoi. So now we were 8 of us.
We all went to an all night Karaoke Bar. Being the Clown that
I am I almost lost my voice by the end of the night. It was
5:30am when we got back to the hotel. At 7am the bus picked us
up from the ride to Ha Long Bay. This was a package tour of 3
days and 2 nights for $28 for which all meals, tickets, boat,
bus, 15Km trek and hotel were all covered. It started
with a 3 hour bus ride (slept) and a 4 hour boat ride (tried
top sleep but the view was too nice). The boat ride was nice
and we had a stop at some caves which were very nice. The only
bad / cheese part was all the colored lights they up inside to
light it up. I thought the bay was bueatful from the boat only
to find out days later we only saw very little. There are over
3000 small islands like the ones in the photos. It was alot
like Guilin is sothern China but with water all around. We got
to Cat Ba Island around 5pm had dinner. Dennis and I
walked the small strip of shops. John went to sleep. The next
day was a 15Km Trek. It was ruff at the start. There were time
it was rock climbing and not hiking. There was about 12 of us
and a guide. We went all the way to the top of one of the
peaks and the view... See Photos above. The next part of the
trek was down the hill and thru a small village. Then they
saved the best for last which was an hour plus small boat thru
all the islands. WOW!!!! Most of the photos above were of
theis part. We made it back to the hotel around 6pm and
skipped the free dinner which wasn't very good the night
before. That night I had grilled shrimp and a banana pancake.
The next day was just the return trip which was spent talking
to all of our friend we made along the way. Tommow (2-14) John
and I will fly to Hue which is in the center of Vietnam. We
are running short on time so we got a cheep flight but will go
overland from there. We are not sure if we are going to do the
train or bus. It will be nice to see the county side but for
what I have seen so far it all rice patties.
These are
photso of Hoi An. A wonderful and peaceful place. The first 3
photos are form an Orphanage where I made balloons. I was too
busy making all the balloons for the kids and I had one of the
women in the first photo take video. Sorry there are not that
many photos. The kids were happy!
2/7/04
Hey
all,
having an absolute wonderful time. Once you get away from
tourist areas, the Thai people rate with the Welsh and the
Kiwi's in terms of how nice they are. Ron/Flower's friend Jay
Bum took us to this out of the way bar and every Thai there
had to dance with me. Cheap Whiskey. Good time.
Bangkok is kind of like the East 'lite' It's very westernized
and tourist accessible.
Saw the Royal Palace and the Reclining Buddha today. Amazing.
What Pho (re.Baddha) was a very relaxing place.
Ron will post some pictures tonight . Go to
www.FlowerClown.com and click on the link.
Leave for Vietnam tommorrow. It's a different world. Wish me
luck.
mcjohn
2/13/04
Hanoi
is not what one would expect. The people are generally
friendly and polite. If one can deal wiht the constant
heckling and coniving. The city is relatively clean and
compared to bangkok, fairly relaxing. If you ever want to buy
postcards, just come top Vietnam. Gov't funded kids peddle
them on the road all day long.
Visited old Uncle Ho's tomb. That bloke was a party animal.
Like the time he dressed up like Santa Clause and went running
through town giving all the people straw hats; what a kidder.
So after playin in a barnyard with a bunch of chickens, we
went to Halong bay. It's incrediably beautiful. It's a bay
that has Rocky Crags that hoot up out of it. The 3 hour ferry
ride to the island was amazing. For about an hour then it was,
um less than amazing. In fact it was incrediably redundant.
but bueatiful. Yes that's it, beautiful. Lot's of rocks and
boat people.
So on CatBa island in the bay, we went for a 12 km trek over
rocky terrain. I decided my back wasn't up for it, so I hired
4 beutiful young lady boys to carry me as a palinquin. It is
extra cool when one realizes that the 5,000 Dong I payed them
a peice is the equivalent of 33 cents. They worked their
little yellow tails off schlepping my chubby Irish ass.
On the ferry back from the island, we got to see real
communism in action. Apprently, cops are like Mexico here, an
entrapenuerial experience. They pulled the boat over and
ticketed it for having too many people on it. All us
'westerners recieved good old fashioned cavity searches. My
guy was nice and gentle. Ron's guy was really rough. he has
decided to give up clowning because the latex gloves the
officer wore remind him too much of balloons. I hope him and I
find nice jobs when we return. Of course, if I don't return I
can always stay her for 2.50 cents a night in a hotel. Wow the
cost of living is rediculous in these countries. highway
robbery when I have to pay 15 dollars a week for a bed and a
hot shower.
Went to a discothe here in Hanoi. Amazing how they had more
workers there than guests. had a blast though. Took these two
welsh girls and all the locals shoved drinks in me trying to
get me to introduce them. Apparently the youth drink of choice
here is congac. Ever table had three bottles on it.
Gauranteeing myself a good hangover. It was extra special when
these two vietnamese that are now livign in London had took us
t oan after hours Karaoke joint. Ah, Old Hanoi was a rockin
town that night I can tell you!
On to Hue tommorrow. That's the old imperial City.
Tom Be-It
mcjohn
I
will be up-dating my travels on a geocities web page located
here.
 
Other
Trips..... Click Here
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