Christmas is Coming...The Holiday Sequel

Well, you are witnessing a true Christmas miracle: two Sondermann travel blog updates posted within 3.5 weeks of each other. Here is the sequel to the November 26th update: South East Asia: The Good, The Rad and The Ugly.  

In the last update we covered Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Cambodia. This SE Asia snapshot will cover Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippines.

Vietnam

The Good: Củ Chi Tunnels (near Ho Chi Min City). During the Vietnam War, Viet Cong troops created a brilliant network of tunnels and booby traps that caused their enemies, mostly Americans, an enormous amount of grief (to put it lightly). It was fascinating and chilling to crawl through these tunnels, while gaining perspective on just how miserable it must have been for both sides to fight in the war. 

*Anyone that fought in the 2002 Huber Christmas snowball fight should know that Shane took many notes for the next epic winter battle.

The Rad: Hội An. The tailoring capital of South East Asia. You pick the style and the fabric and a tailor will whip you up just about

anything that you set your heart on: shirts, suits, dresses and coats. All for the price of a pair of shoelaces.

My super-fabulous sister-in-law Jenn Huber gave me the heads up about this magical wonderland. I started my preparations several months prior to our visit which included collecting clothing pics from magazines and fashion websites. I also built a comprehensive budget to manage the expectations of the most patient man that I 

know. How patient you ask? Over 80 lbs of clothing are on a boat headed for Vancouver right now.

The Ugly: The War Remnants Museum in Hanoi. Another reminder of how efficient and cruel humans can be at eliminating each other. If the pictures of combat casualties don’t turn your stomach, certainly the jars of disfigured, deceased infants will (displayed to show the horrendous affects of Agent Orange).


Thailand

The Good: Having lived out of each others’ back pockets for the past year, we decided to dapple in some solo traveling for two weeks. Shane filled his time trekking near the North Vietnamese town of Sapa with our Estonian friends Kadi and Kristjan.

From Vietnam he headed to Chiang Mai, in Northern Thailand, where he spent a week trekking, white water rafting, elephant riding, watching Muay Thai boxing, and learning to cook like a Thai chef.

My itinerary was a little less involved than Shane's.  I registered for a 10-day meditation retreat at the International Dhamma Hermitage of Wat Suan Mokkh, a famous Buddhist monastery in Southern Thailand. This retreat follows a strict routine that includes a 4 AM wake-up call (a giant bell), eating two vegetarian meals a day with no dinner, and meditating for at least six hours.

Oh...did I mention that this was a silent retreat? No talking to anyone (including yourself) for 10 days. While many of the retreat participants floundered under these rules, I surprised myself by keeping it zipped for the duration of the retreat. I know, it’s just sooooo hard to believe.

The Ugly: When Shane and I met up again in Koh Samui we had similar stories about our solo sleeping conditions. Shane spent several, near-frigid nights in Northern Thailand clinging to a thin wool blanket on an equally thin mat on the floor. 

My bed at the retreat was situated in a tiny cinder block ‘cell’ with a 6-inch slab of concrete and an 1/8 inch straw mat for extra comfort. The bedding was a thin wool blanket and wooden (yes wooden) pillow. 

The only thing that I cared about though was my mosquito net. And it wasn’t to protect me from the mosquitoes...

I'd love to read a realtor's sales description for this room

The really ugly: Arachnophobia vs. Suan Mokkh. The grounds of the retreat centre were swallowed up overnight as record rainfalls flooded most of Thailand. The frogs thought it was terrific but the Huntsmen spiders decided it was time for dry ground.  That dry ground happened to be in our cold, concrete rooms.  For ten days arachnids, the size of lapdogs, moved from room to room terrorizing the women of Dorm Building 1. 

To make matters worse, Buddhists don’t believe in killing anything and this includes spiders. Their only solution was to “send the spiders loving kindness”.  I would have preferred to send the spiders my wooden pillow. 


The Rad: Oh we love our friends Etienne and Sylvie. Firstly, because they are just wonderful/kind/superb human beings and secondly because they gave us a pass to stay at a five-star hotel in Koh Samui for one week at a rate of $12/night. It’s a bit of a long story but the short of it is that we went from staying in rooms fit for convicts to lounging in luxury, enjoying beautiful views of the island, a huge flat screen tv and a massive jacuzzi tub.



Not a bad view for twelve bucks a night



The Philippines:
The Final Leg of our SE Asia Travels

The Good: This is an easy one - Shane's relatives.  Wonderful hosts, wonderful people.  We spent our time getting to know the family, learning about the Philippines...and explaining why we had not yet 'populated' the family tree.

Sure your mother told you that you were special -
but did she ever make you a welcome banner?

The Rad: Lulu's Jungle House.  Now before you start thinking of a Swiss Family Robinson-style house, think again.  This is Shane's mom's dream home with 2 dining rooms, 3 living rooms and 7 bedrooms (with plans for additional 5 more).  

Bonding with Shane's Mom (and her chicken)

More of 'the rad': Our visit to the spectacular beaches of Boracay.  The beaches and sunsets were the best that we've seen on our entire world tour.

We swam until the stars replaced the sun

The Ugly:  Well, just when I thought that I'd have nothing to write about for 'the ugly' I contracted pink eye.  We spent time with Lulu's neighbors that were visiting from France.  I followed proper French protocol with a cheek to cheek reception and got more than I'd bargained for.  No, I didn't take a photo of my condition.  Just picture a really white girl with a really red eye.


One Other Ugly:  Having nearly recovered from my traumatic encounter with the Huntsmen spiders in Thailand I thought it was prudent to ask Lulu if she had any spiders in her home.  Her reply was "no". Look what we found in our room... 

I'm not an Arachnologist but this looks like a spider to me.

Well, that's it for this travel update.  With South East Asia behind us we are carrying on with our adventures in Australia. Our plans include visiting our good friends in Melbourne and completing an overland trip through the Southern part of Australia.

As always we hope this blog update finds you happy, healthy and enjoying life.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

Shane & Colleen