Well sort of……my body feels fine but my mind is kind of "lagging"(well, maybe it’s nothing new…), so give a me a couple of days to regroup, and in the meantime enjoy a few more posts from FOYs(Friends of Yoso). And here is a short run down of a few places we’ve been(click on any photo to enlarge)….
Starting in Hanoi, with the endless stream of thousands of motorbikes, and crowded sidewalks…it seems like controlled chaos:
And the cramped markets stocked with every sort of item imaginable
Yet, you’re still able to carve out moments of inner peace and tranquility along Hoan Kiem Lake…
Or maybe even coax a smile out of a little girl patiently waiting for a wedding to start
Or just admire the view…
To the village of Le Mat, and a date with a snake….
It was delicious……
To picturesque Halong Bay
Limestone karsts rising out of the ocean…
Perhaps a little "over-touristed", but on overcast days…it’s easy to imagine, perhaps The Land That Time Forgot, or maybe Pirates of the Caribbean?
To the wonderful vistas of Sapa, and a "little" 14 kilometer hike through Matra and Ta Phin villages
And the short hike to Cat Cat Village, with a view that I think even the locals never get tired of….
On to Bac Ha, and colorful Can Cau Market, where we broke bread(actually pigged on pork) with the locals, and had shots of the local moonshine with Giay(Nhang) men. The Flower Hmong added bright splashes of color…..
After a night of more "hootch", poured into used plastic water bottles from plastic Jerry Cans
The huge Sunday Market in Bac Ha is almost overwhelming…..
Flying into Siem Reap, where the only thing warmer than the 100 degree temp, and 80 percent humidity, are the people….
In Siem Reap, smiles are just around the corner…especially from the children
And while we enjoyed sunrise at Angkor Wat
It was the somewhat mysterious Angkor Thom,
the Bayon,
and other ruins that kept our interest.
The floating village we visited on Tonle Sap Lake, was a study in perserverence and adaptation.
And we wrapped it all up in chaotic Phnom Penh…..looking at each other, we said in unison; "isn’t this where we started?"
Wait! Sorry, this is food blog, right? I guess I’m not sure how much "slice of life" stuff I’ll be able to post on……we have dozens of nice little stories, and it wasn’t all "wine and roses", but that just added to the color and sense of adventure…….
So, we did visit many, many markets
And have no fear, there were some interesting meals.
And some pretty darn good street food…
So hang in there while "this piggy goes to market"….
Here’s one of my favorite photos of the trip, I wish Da Boyz could do this!
Beyond the food, the theme on this trip was quite evident….it was about the people, and on that note, we’d like to dedicate this post to the larger than life(how many times have we called him that?) person all the OC food bloggers know as "Beach" who helped us plan our trip, it would not have been as enjoyable, nor as successful without his help, knowledge, generousity, and plain hard work on our behalf. We owe you big time!
Also, mucho Thanks go out to Cathy who held down the fort, and made sure that those mmm-yoso gears kept ‘a runnin!