Phee Phi Phu Quoc

Things that made me sad on Phu Quoc island: cloudy water seasoned with sea lice, dead coral, and garbage everywhere. While scuba diving, Mark and Deets were able to descend to depths that had not been totally inundated with plastic bottles, wrappers, lost fishing nets, or water logged styrofoam. They emerged happy from the ocean, whereas Margo and I (my friends too) were disheartened by the swill on and below the surface. Only on our last of four snorkeling ventures, we did get to see healthy coral, anenome, and tropical fish. I sunburned my butt cheeks where I missed the sunscreen, which was pretty lame, and there was one restaurant (I'm looking at you: Intercontinental Hotel Sea Shack) that took over 4 hours to complete our lunch. A few more than me waddled home with chafed heinies. Also lame.

All that complaining aside, there was plenty of joy too. Things that made me very happy on Phu Quoc island: sunsets over the warm ocean; Buddhist pagodas; waterslides; crab hotpot; playing charades; and floating on the Quakken (as Deets named it) in our Airbnb pool with our friends. We ate fabulous croissants at a legitimate French bakery, cooked homemade dinners, and enjoyed slow afternoons with naps. Taxi drivers were kind, plus we had seatbelts on every ride. We could drink beer on tap at the grocery store and at the water park, which is only accessible by a 25-minute cable car ride to Thom Island. This island also has a wooden roller coaster, a viewing tower, private beaches, and a European style town that developers hope to fill with vacationers. On the day we went, the crowd was minimal so we rode the Zeus Thunderbolt Waterslide many, many times and screamed until we were hoarse.

Valuable lessons were learned. Mark and Deets learned how to scuba dive and got certified. Margo tried scuba and completed two dives, but didn't love it (like me). And I learned that I should always test unlabeled containers first. I thought I put sugar into my morning oatmeal, but instead I seasoned it with fish scales. Worst part of it all was how I thought it tasted oddly salty, fishy, and bitter - but continued to eat it anyway. I was laughed at so much.  More so later too, when I broke the pepper grinder not once, but twice, dumping the entirety of the container's peppercorns onto my plate. Some lessons are harder learned for a 42 year old. Ha ha.

I know this is on his schlinkshots blog, but I just love it.

private poolside. (and suprisingly affordable!)

I tried to order the one-person crab hotpot.
It probably could have served 6, but I ate it all.

The (hopefully) up and coming European town
from the cable car. Big Ben in the distance.

Fishing boats at rest.

The cable car is 7.8km long, plays
music and tells stories along the way.

Taking it in at the pearl farm.

Break time while we trod through his workspace.

Conch galore.

Carving that involves a lot of high pressure water spray, drills, and chisels.

china.

Tall Buddha. This pagoda had lady Buddhas,
happy, mad, poor, rich Buddhas, etc.

Wearing borrowed skirts to pay our respect for Buddha
and his/her/their followers.

My people. My safe space. 
credit: my love.

Millions of teeny fishes baking in the sun.

Deets in his natural surroundings.

Ho Chi Minh + Bestie!

Goodbye long underwear weather, hello booty shorts weather! Ok, it was more like "hello sensible shorts, I don't need to be sweating AND have a wedgie" weather in Ho Chi Minh. So far, we had gone from -20F wind chill in Seoul, to 40F in Cat Ba, to 50Fs in Hanoi, and now to 90F + 90% humidity. Prior to leaving Hanoi, Mark had the foresight to leave our winter gear at the hotel to pick up while transiting home to Tashkent, thank goodness. Still, the weather not unlike hot mop water, hit us on the tarmac and didn't leave for the rest of the trip. I would no longer worry about cold weather hives and chilblains, but sunburns, chafing, and heat rash instead. Moisture be damned because my bestie, my ride or die, my sister from another mister, and her amazing hubby would be joining us.

The younger, crazier sister to Hanoi and twice the size, Ho Chi Minh City catches people's attention by its Londonesque skyscrapers, Frenchy buildings and churches, and LA rooftop bar vibes. It's loud, vibrant, stuffed with museums (of which we saw zero), and where market vendors lean in hard with their sales pitches. Like Hanoi, there's counterfeit and authentic everything to buy. Obviously I had to get a Messi jersey for 4 bucks. We walked everywhere, to Notre Dame, the famous post office, countless parks, breweries and coffee joints. Collectively, we drank 29 coconuts over the course of three days and 22 of them were probably mine. We celebrated Christmas Eve with the hotel staff who organized a  rooftop boozy AF happy hour, playing of course - George Michael's "Last Christmas" on repeat. The Holiday cheer was real big and Georgie was star of the show in every single bathroom, bar, elevator, market, restaurant. I wouldn't be surprised if they blasted yee ol' carols in the libraries and during vespers. The whole dang country played holiday music and you couldn't escape it. Except on the Saigon River where you couldn't do anything. See photo below. NO music; no stepping on grass or picking flowers; no talking to ghosts and/or electrical outlets; no Kung Fu on the toilet or trash can; no playing baseball with a giant Gameboy.

The most fun for me (the kids were rather embarrassed, for me? Of me?) was coming across the Hozo Music Festival downtown, where they had a flash mob dance off. Judges rated groups of complete strangers running into the middle to dance matching choreography. Obviously, I had to join. The energy and mix of people and talent was life affirming and I found I could mimic the choreography fairly well, or at least I thought so. 

Having been extricated from the crowd after several rounds, we walked past gobs of instant ramen, cold coffee, selfie stations, and music stages. It was raucously loud though, so we retreated to Pasteur Brewing for dinner for a more quiet scene. Of course, our beer and coconut waters vibrated on that rooftop when some band dropped the beat. Ah well. When in Ho Chi Minh...

Mariamman Hindu Temple

Christmas Eve Love with my two best girls.

Acting silly

More silliness. Credit: Mark

Dance off, Hozo Music Festival.

Meat prep down below.

Just NO.

Ben Thanh Market crowds.
credit: Mark

Ho Chi Minh Post Office.

 

Waiting for the right shot.

Dodo Pizza! Who knew?!
(This Russia based pizza chain is everywhere in Tashkent)

Loud music.

One more dance off shot.

Transiting Hanoi

Based on what I had read about drivers in Vietnam, it was hard to believe that the road from Cat Ba to Hanoi would be so tranquil and smooth. Only after entering the city did the melee of pedestrians, rickshaws, motorbikes, and vehicles hit hard with noise and congestion. Green, yellow, and red all mean go in a city where trash, people, and commerce fill the streets and sidewalks. It's the capital that is late-to-rise but parties all night in the distinguished, classy older sister kind of way. Despite the brain rattling city noise, Hanoi is incredibly vibrant and easy to navigate. We started eating and basically didn't stop except to drink mega smooth coffee drinks. We shopped for counterfeit Patagonia and North Face goods, as well as locally made products. We bargained a little but gave up easily, preferring to people watch instead. There were tourists of all shapes and sizes, many of whom were conducting adorable photo shoots involving gladiolas. Local artists sketched caricatures, Venmo accepting vendors sold snacks out of taped up styrofoam boxes full of dry ice, and uniformed officers in hammer and sickle service caps patrolled the alleys. The color and personality was everywhere. I can see why so many people love traveling here.

Vietnam's first emperor.

Hoan Kiem Lake on one side.

Divine egg coffee break.

Cashew fruit and motorcycles.

9:15am commuter train
cruising down Hanoi Train Street.

Naps and beers.

St. Joseph's Cathedral

Coffee and cats at Hanoi Coffee Station.

Grocery run.

Fruit bodega.

DHL will deliver anything. Towing pink propane tanks.

Margarine based cook-it-yourself meat platter.

Hoan Kiem Lake on the other side.

Ha Long Bay - Land of the Descending Dragon

Ha Long Bay had long been part of my dream vacation to Vietnam and I was determined to see it, even though my visa with its incorrect name tried to say otherwise. While I spent four days pounding the pavement in Seoul, Mark and the kids headed to Ha Long Bay, embarking on a multi-day boat trip that included sea kayaking, swimming, hiking, biking, fish pedicures, and squid fishing. All the things one does.

They visited floating villages and fish farms at the same time I found myself silent panicking, trying to find a random photo studio that the internet had produced. I already mentioned that Seoul has everything, but what I didn't mention was that while is true, you really gotta work for some things. I found the studio eventually in an alley, up six flights of broken, dark, stairs. There was no sign on the gray painted metal door which was cracked open just wide enough that I could see a man's silhouette against four panoramic computer screens. Initial creep factor was at 88% but I got what I needed and the photographer could not have been nicer.

Anyway, back to Vietnam. Ha Long Bay is famous for super tall limestone and karst formations that were in existence before water came and flooded the region, something like 500 million years ago. The deep turquoise water is warm and extra salty from the all the rock towers. There are 1,969 islands rich with hidden biodiversity of land, air, and sea animals. The UNESCO site no matter how you look at it is just... dreamy.

At first I thought I would miss out on it altogether since I'd be catching up with them on the tail end. But Mark rearranged plans even though he and the kids had had their fill. They were sore from kayaking, damp and chilled from the rain, and tired of the tour guide's history lessons. After a day of flying, driving, ferrying, and driving some more, I made my way from Seoul to Hanoi to Cat Ba Island and reunited with my family. Mark, Deets, and Margo enthusiastically participated in the same activities for my benefit, which made the experience so... extra. I got to share a beer with Mark on a sandbar, watching the kids collect seashells. Kayaking alongside the massive cliffs with Margo was even better than I could have imagined. I recognized the spot where Kong: Skull Island was filmed, acknowledging Deets' affinity for that movie and wondered how they managed to get such a big gorilla there in the first place.

😍😍😍

Pretending to think this was as exciting I thought it was.

So. Dang. Excited.

Fish farm. No safety rails.
I was terrified I'd fall in and get eaten by carp.
Apparently, one of the farm's guard dogs had recently fallen in.
He didn't make it.

credit: Mark
Ha Long Bay hike and scheming
how to take over the world.

 credit: Mark
Margo and I kayaking.

 credit: Mark

credit: Mark

Hacky sack on Cat Ba Island

First view of the bay from our hotel