11/13/2017 - 11/14/2017 - The Trip Home

The start of the day was to be up checked out of the hotel and ready for an 8:00am tour - Highlights of Hanoi. 

The flight was 18 hours later...                                                             

The Japan Airlines from Hanoi to Tokyo left at 00:25. We have about a 5 hour layover in Tokyo then off for the longest leg to DFW.   For being in “coach” seats, we had 2 together with no other sears beside us. This happened for all of the long flights of the trip.  

11/13/2017 - Tour of Hanoi

Today we were lucky to get “Lucky”.   The hidden meaning here with what seems a play on words is that “Lucky” was our tour guide on our short tour around the city. Lucky had an abundance of good information he shared to give us our newfound insight on Hanoi. 

Our first stop was the Temple of Confucius. It is dedicated to Confucius, sages and scholars. It was built in 1070 A. D.  
The turtle and the crane represent Yin and Yang - turtle represents long life and crane represents the sky. In Vietnamese culture, the turtle and crane together symbolize enduring power and longevity.  There are two, standing together, representing a healthy long life of happiness.
Confucius in the temple

From here, we went to have some “poison ivy” tea (as described by Lucky) at a local tea house.  Yes, we’re still alive and have no side effects😜.  Lucky explained  there are only 3 types of tea: black tea, green tea and oolong tea. Black tea (Lipton!)is oxidized and can sit all day with no deterioration. Green tea is to be drank within a minute after pouring as it will become bitter the longer the tea steeps.  This explains the small cups.
He explained the water to steep green tea  should be heated to approximately 175 -185 degrees and black tea should be boiling water. The process of making hot tea is very interesting and entails much more information. We recommend going into a tea sight to read more about the “real” making of tea or perhaps purchasing a book to enjoy this ancient custom.
With the history of planting tea for over 2000 years, Vietnam is one of the largest and oldest tea-producing countries in the world. Although the history of Vietnamese tea has not been well recorded as that of the Chinese or Japanese, tea drinking occupies an essential role in Vietnamese culture.

These are roots of the ivy creating the ceiling of the outdoor tea area.

From the tea house we went to the “Hanoi Hilton”, the prison. In reality, the name itself is Norrh Vietnamese propaganda. It was their intention (and not unsuccessful) to make it appear the prisoners were treated well. Pictures they released had prisoners smiling and seemingly happy. The real story is quite different.
In the museum, we saw prisoners in shackles in small, concrete rooms.  They could not lie down because of the shackles. When needing to use the “toilet”, they  had to relieve themselves right there. Many skin infections were encountered. The men and women were kept in separate quarters.
Even if no physical harm occurred (which was rare), having to exist in this environment was torture enough. The walls were all painted black or gray to mentally abuse the prisoners, causing severe depression. In the winter time, it was brutally cold, and the prisoners wore only garments resembling loin cloths.
John McCain revisited the prison in 2000 and clarified many questions about his imprisonment. It was definitely not a “Hilton” experience. Many prisoners attempted to take their lives (yes, including John McCain).

11/11/2017 - Headed to Hanoi

Today, with the visa issue corrected, we we’re allowed to board the Thai Airways plane and ultimately head to Hanoi. 




By the end of the day we’ve made it to the Skylark Hotel in Hanoi.

It’s been a long travel day - By the time we got to our hotel, it was about 14 hours with layover in Bangkok.

The first thing we’re wrestling with is the Vietnamese Dong (currency). To start, a glass of wine is 123,000 Dong 😳.  Oh my gosh we say - but in reality that’s only $5.42... not bad.😄

The room at the Skylark Hotel is nice and clean - always a plus to get started in a new location.

11/08/2017 - Chiang Mai - Golden Triangle

Today we sat on our arses for a long time. The drive northeast to Chiang Rai was about 3 hours with an additional hour or so to the Myanmar/Laos/Thailand border intersection. 


First stop was at a Hot Springs along the way. A short time there and, other than seeing quite a large number of people bathing their feet in the hot springs, we witnessed a lady cooking eggs, right in the Spring, to sell.

From Hot Springs we headed to Wat Rong Kuhn, better known to foreigners as the White Temple. It is a contemporary, unconventional, privately-owned art exhibit in the style of a Buddhist temple in Chiang Rai Province, Thailand.



By the end of the 20th century, the original Wat Rong Khun was in a bad state of repair. Funds were not available for renovation. Chalermchai Kositpipat, a local artist from Chiang Rai, decided to completely rebuild the temple and fund the project with his own money. To date, Chalermchai has spent $1.2 million of his own money on the project. The artist intends for the area adjacent to the temple to be a center of learning and meditation and for people to gain benefit from the Buddhist teachings. Kositpipat considers the temple to be an offering to Lord Buddha and believes the project will give him immortal life.

Before crossing the bridge of the “Cycle of Rebirth”, one cannot help but get chills gazing upon the hundreds of sculpted hands reaching up from “Hell”, symbolizing the way to happiness through overcoming cravings.

A very cool thing is the dangling ornaments completely covering the ceiling of the entrance canopy. It is a custom to make a good luck wish for those whose names are written on the shiny, decorative ornament.  Our wish ornament here...

The ceiling covered with ornaments...

Heading northwest from the White a temple in Xhiang Rai, our next destination was the Golden Triangle.

The Golden Triangle  is one of Asia's two main opium-producing areas. It is an area of approximately 950,000 square kilometres (367,000 sq mi) that overlaps the mountains of three countries of Southeast Asia: Myanmar, Laos and Thailand.

Today we took a long neck boat ride down the Mekong River to the shore of Laos...

Of all of the boats we’ve been on while on this trip, this is the first time we’ve been issued life jackets. Take note of the menacing ad on the back for life insurance😳

There’s a giant Buddha on a treasure ship on the bank of the Mekong River

We did get off of the Long Neck boat on the shore of Laos. Somewhat uneventful as it was just a group of vendors trying to sell goods. After about 40 minutes there, we headed for the long drive back to Chiang Mai.u

11/07/2017 - Free Days in Chiang Mai

Free days in Chiang Mai... There were many shopping opportunities, but what was the most fun for us was hanging out and chatting with some of the locals. The Thai people are some of the friendliest people we’ve ever met.

Our ritual-more or less...

Thai breakfast ... Thai lunch... and wine and dessert at Hard Rock for “supper”!  We literally had every dessert on the menu- plus repeats!!

A visit to the Hard Rock Cafe - Chiang Mai.          

This is Mint                                                             

“P” greeted us with a smile every visit to Hardrock 

Here we are with “P” and Eve.   

We kept our dinners light so that we could enjoy “light” desserts!...😉 Did we really eat that?😳



Paw Paew - Waitress at Hard Rock Chiang Mai

Eric - Waiter at Hard Rock Chiang Mai. Eric was always 🕺 

Aiw (eeew) - Waitress at Hard Rock Chiang Mai

Yo - Waiter at Hard Rock Chiang Mai

Dew - Waiter at Hard Rock Chiang Mai

Kind of a nice change - Tips are included in the meal charge so waitresses and waiters aren’t competing for their tips from specific tables. We had several people help us and had good conversation with all.  They’re our own Hard Rock Chiang Mai fan club who welcomed us with smiles and hugs...and lots of useful information.              

Po (poe) - She and her husband, Noi, are wonderful street vendors who had a rare collection of clothing she made herself.  She had a great pair of traditional Thai pants on that she literally took off for us so FK could have them. She’s been making and selling her clothes for more than 20 years. Noi also makes jewelry.                    

Aree - Night market vendor who makes bracelets. What an experience to watch her create her art right there at the night market.                

Even upon trying to depart Chiang Mai on the 9th, the Bangkok Airways staff was exceptionally kind. While we were just 20 minutes from boarding, 2 people came to us to usher us back out of security because of a problem with our Vietnam visa. Although we were temporarily denied entry into Vietnam and therefore not able to get on the plane, the staff was quite pleasant and friendly. Though we didn’t get to depart as expected, we felt luck would be with us shortly.

A little extra time in Chiang Mai...

Walking around town we met John, an artist who has a small studio displaying his wonderful artwork. He has 44 family members in several countries: England, Australia, U.S. and Thailand. He has lived in Long Island and currently has a daughter in Hawaii. He lives upstairs from his studio which resembles a cave filled with his art.... Very cool place.            

This is Mee...night market vendor who loves handwork and makes something handcrafted called a “lucky ball”.  Mee told us it took a year to teach herself this ancient Japanese craft. Initially, she made these lucky balls for fun. After she had created 10, she started selling them. It’s going so well now she  has several people helping her make many sorts of hints for the market

This is  Ado...Although Aldo’s  goods are generally not hand made by her, she does make a water bottle holder with strap we just couldn’t resist. Whenever we travel we always need water, and this is the perfect holder to carry our water with us.  😄

We have another story about one of the desk clerks at the hotel (all, by the way, were quite pleasant and helpful). A particular one, was Toast (he said his name is like breakfast😜).  He spent a long time helping us find an after hours passport photo place to correct the issue with our Vietnam visa application. Awwww....  we didn’t get a photo of Toast😩

What great free days...

Now, we’re off to Hanoi in Vietnam  🇻🇳

11/06/2017 - Baanchang Elephant Park

What a blast for a day today!   Get ready for a lot of photos...

Historically, elephants in Thailand are considered to be very important culturally. There are many elephant’s references to art works, literature and national emblems.  Thailand’s official flag was a white elephant in the middle of the scarlet background.

First stop, the “poo paper factory”. Yes you heard it right. That’s “poo” as in elephant waste. Ironically, we now know first hand that there’s not really a smell.  Baskets of poo...
In our hands on experience, we took poo and put it in a bath of water. This breaks it down and helps separate the heavier particles like sand and dirt, from the lighter grasses.
After the slushy material it taken off of the tip of the bath, it’s put into a machine that slowly makes it into smoothie consistency.
The smoothie consistency material is then out on a screen in a frame in a quite thin layer then the screen is laid out to dry for bout a day.
Once the material is dry on the screen, it is then Peeled off of the screen and... walh! It’s paper!
We then took star shapes, elephant shapes and heart shapes to glue into bookmarks made from the poo paper. Artsy craftsy with elephant poo😜

We saw beads that were made from poo paper


In the end, let’s face it...  it’s also fun to say “poo paper” 😜

Now, we’re off to take care of the elephants.

Baanchang Elephant Park is dedicated to providing elephants with the highest quality-of-life possible. All funds for running the park are from visitors : meaning all funds go towards making their elephants lives as pleasant as possible and taking care of retiring elephants and rescuing new elephants.
We had an incredible hands-on experience, participating in taking care of the elephants.



Quite gentle animals...







One of the trainers With his elephant         
Our tour guide, Dang, who was quite knowledgeable about the elephants. 


They love sugar kane                                 


We’re having a blast!                                  
After feeding and hanging out with the elephants. It was bath time. 






Yup...  We got pretty wet too





We ended the day with a group photo then headed back to the hotel to get necessarily cleaned up. 😄