Final stretch

Yikes, how many days has it been since I've blogged? And how can I possibly describe everything during that time? Especially in the 15 minutes I have until we go pick up our purchases at the tailor?

Well, I can't, silly, so here's the greatest hits version of the past few days.

We spent two and a half days in Hanoi, arranging the next few stages of our journey. Handspan Adventure Travel is a bit of a misnomer, since there wasn't much adventurous about our three-day trip to Halong Bay. Stunning, yes. Sublime, right-o. Beautiful, peaceful, luxurious, don't-want-to-leave-don't-make-me! -- yes indeedy. One night we slept on a reproduction of a Chinese junk called "Dragon's Pearl" on crisp white sheets; the next night, we took a couple boats to our own private beach on one of the limestone karsts (like islands, but rockier and smaller) that litter Halong Bay and slept in bamboo huts with thatched roofs. There was even hot water for showers.

We kayaked for a few hours on the second day and I just can't tell you how it was, because all the words fall short. We paddled once under a wall of rock into a protected cove within a karst, and the only sounds were us breathing and the croaking of an irascible crow annoyed at our intrusion. We had lunch on a deserted little beach where one of our fellow travelers placed a starfish on my hand, and I could see the little translucent tentacles poking out, exploring the environs -- my hand. We dropped the starfish back into the water, and two of them landed upside down. You could practically see them thinking, "Oh god, I hate it when that happens," before slowly and acrobatically flipping themselves over.

And I hate it when time runs away and I haven't even begun to write anything that we saw or did. Okay, in the next 5 minutes, the 5-Minute Greatest Hits Version -- the Eliptical Album.

1. Halong Bay -- Wendy came up to the beach, commenting to me and Heather, a South African woman: "I think those sea cucumbers might have something in their skin that's a natural protectant. The skin on my hands feels a little funny." Heather replies: "Well, that's what happens when you fondle sea cucumbers!" (Sea cucumbers are soft and slug-like until you touch them, when they stiffen up and shoot a protective juice out one end. Yeah, I know.)

2. Overnight train -- Rocked to sleep by the movement of the car, I slept for, like, 15 hours. Wait, maybe that was the Dramamine I took because it was so bumpy. Huh.

3. Hoi An -- lovely, charming town named a UNESCO World Heritage Site a few years back, ensuring that the French colonial buildings, the Japanese covered bridge, the Chinese assembly halls, and the languid pace of the place will stick around for a while. Also home to over 200 tailors who will whip up suits, jeans, duvet covers, dogbeds and pretty much anything else you desire for a couple dollars over the cost of the material. I thought I'd get maybe three pairs of pants. In a few minutes I'm going to pick up the fourth, fifth, and sixth pairs, plus a suit, from the hardworking seamstress at Linh Huy. Who also made Wendy a fabulous duvet cover. And pillows. And a dog bed.

4. Today -- Wow, can it get any better? We got up early to see My Son, the Vietnamese version of Ankor Wat (built by the Champa civilization, which existed from about the 4th to the 13 century). We managed to get there before the tour groups, and the early morning mist in the mountains gave the ruins, rising out of the jungle, an eerie feel. (While there, we bumped into a German man and Austrian woman who'd been on our boat in Halong Bay, and recommended our seamstress -- there's a definite route everyone follows here.) Back in town, we rented scooters and, after an initial hesitancy on my part, scooted around town in the rain and had a fanTAStic time. We were trying to find a beach, but ended up riding through lush rice paddies, taking pictures of naughty water buffalo, and being stared and laughed at by passersby.

Ack. Time to go. Tomorrow we leave for Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City, where we'll wander around for a couple hours before catching our plane back to Bangkok, where it all began three weeks ago. As Wendy put it, we have only a few hours in Bangkok -- just enough time for a massage. Then, the day after tomorrow, we fly to Hong Kong, where we also spend one night, before heading back to Seoul. Til then, amigos.