Since we last wrote, we have travelled the coast of Vietnam and have now landed ourselves in Laos. The internet in these parts of the world is painfully slow...hence the non-blogging but I'll catch you all up on Vietnam and will add photos and Lao updates later. None-the-less, we are very much enjoying our travels and loved the responses to the last blog (people will do anything to see their name plastered over cyber space :). Don't worry, your moment of fame is coming soon.
We enjoyed a pleasant and restful train ride from Saigon to the small town of Hoi An where we spent our time doddling around the quaint town, drinking fresh beer (bia hoi) for 15 cents per glass and getting new wardrobes specially tailored for us! I had my wedding dress made, so it's official, there will be a wedding in the future.
A few days later we flew up to busy Hanoi..a beautiful city, really, with many parks and lakes so long as you can handle the chaotic traffic! We enjoyed a cultural evening where we stumbled upon a traditional dance contest...many groups of dancers in a variety of different outfits, with props such a large fans, flowers, umbrellas, jugs, etc, all telling a story with their routines. We then watched the famed water puppets, a nice little performance set in a small theater, the stage a pool of water with a pagoda-esque backdrop where the puppeteers would hide.
A three day excursion to Halong Bay was our next destination, aboard a junk boat. A junk boat is a large wooden boat with red or orange sails (somewhat pirate-esque), the top deck with recliners for sunbathing and sightseeing, the next level down for dining and the lower level housed about 10 rooms for sleeping. Off we went with the hundreds of other junk boats in to the bay of limestone soldiers. I felt like part of a herd of cattle as we went from one "attraction" to the next...the first and only organized tour we have and will do. At no point did I know what the plan for the day, or even the hour was...so I put on my "mai pen rai (no worries)" face and let it all unfold. And it unfolded quite nicely. We went on a little "trek", I would describe it as a small jaunt through the jungle, went through a cave, did some swimming, kayaking, and just hung out on the boat with our fellow boat mates (all of whom were quite pleasant).
We then returned to Hanoi for a few nights before we flew off to Laos. Here we are in Laos, in Luang Prabang after having spent a few days in a little backpacker town called Vang Vieng and a luxurious night in a 4 star hotel (Novotel) in Vientianne. More on Laos later.

I'll leave you with the Best and Worst of Vietnam...

Best mode of transport: tie between junk boat and sleeper train
Worst mode of transport: tie between the cyclo in Saigon that tried to rip us off and walking anywhere amid the traffic

Best sales pitch: you from....., go back to ......, want to buy a book?
Worst sales pitch: want to buy a belt? this one 120,000. we shake our heads and begin to walk away. ok, 20,000. still we shake our heads. vendor responds with a loud disgruntled shout.

Best dressed: claire and jij after many hours with a tailor in Hoi An.
Worst dressed: tie between large westerners wearing fisherman pants and pointy hats and the canadian on our boat in speedos.

Best deal: 30 beers for $3
Worst deal: sausages snuck onto your plate

Least fingers: 8 finger McGee from Connecticut who would say "counting to 5 takes 2 hands!"...a close second our boat tour guide Su, who had 9

Best food in Vietnam: masala dosa (Indian!)
Worst food in Vietnam: vietnamese food, especially fish sausages you didn't order snuck onto your plate.

Best entertainment: water puppets
Worst entertainment: crossing the street (now I know how frogger feels)

Best comment to Jij from local: you look like Vietnam
Best reply: so do you!