Asia - Vietnam to Mongolia - Eight Week

Asia - Vietnam to Mongolia - Eight Week

We had an 8 course meal at 7:00, followed by lecture re: area and asleep by 9. 

Day 55 2.25 Sunday the islands of the Bay of Tonkin 

Great sleep and rushed to breakfast at 7:30 and then a lecture..1900+ limestone islands with straight up-down sides with rough vegetation, and some have baboons. There is a  3.5 meter tide and we are about 1.5 meters deep. Kayaking in the morning for 1.5 hours thru the nearby islands and in small caves. This is the area the US claimed the north shot at the ship, the incident that allowed the Tonkin Bay Resolution and the official start of the Vietnam war. We got underway and had time to read and nap. We went ashore for a beach bar-b-q and a climb thru a cave, leaving us in need of a nap. Dinner was another multi course dinner with every type of meat, noodles, and rice represented. After reading we died in bed. 

Day 56 2.26 Monday back to Hanoi  

Up at 6:30 and breakfast at 7 as the boat pulled anchor and headed for HaLong by about 1:30. We  toured the floating fishing community and passed thru a pearl farm. We watched the seeding of a clam and how they load the clams on frames and keep them underwater for several years. Lunch was at 11 and then prep for deboating. Overcast, cool, and rainy for the last three days. All our clothes are dirty and smelly so they shall be washed tomorrow. Picked up at the dock at 1:30 for the van trip back to Hanoi with a shopping break at 2. We passed a huge Foxconn factory 20 miles from Hanoi. We arrived at May De Ville hotel at 5:30 and organized for the next section of our journey by 7. Dinner at the hotel instead of roaming the street and this gave us time to relax tonite. We found out today that the manager of the tour company (Hien) saw our interview at the festival on television. This boat and kayak experience really demonstrated how much strength, mobility, and agility I’ve lost over the last several years and 2ndary to prosthesis. It was still a good time even if limiting.

Day 57 2.27 Tuesday last day in Vietnam

 The countryside.... up at 6 for exercises and breakfast. Picked up at 8 by  Dui Thi Phuong (girl) and Trinh Nam Tien (guy) to walk thru Chem temple for an extended description of the dragon figure. Then across the road on the dike for the Red River into the village of Dong Ngac to a private home where Marnie got a bike and I had a ride on a moto driven by a young lady. It was a scary ride as we went down narrow streets, made tight turns and were hassled by other traffic... necessary to close my eyes again. Our guide was a gadget guy and used a small voice amplifier and communication phones when riding. We toured the village and went to the market and to a Buddhist temple in the central village. We discussed the contributions of monks to parishioners with devout Buddhists- they had no better answers for the lack of a social mission and outreach than the monks  in Wat K. Next we went to the community center where community elders used to manage the issues of the village, now done by the communist party. We then went back to the home and made spring rolls. When they were cooked  we had a very good lunch made by my moto driver and her aunt (it was at her aunts home). We discussed inheritance procedures where a son inherits but not daughters. After lunch we went to observe tofu being made using soy beans from Canada. The ladies fermented the bean sauce and then compressed the results into 1/2 kilo squares, making 100 kilos per day ( probably the equivalent to one hrs production in the US). We then went  to our car and to the flower growing area - to Lien Mac and Dong Ngac village. The first activity was to visit with a man who demonstrated tree grafting for us. We then mounted bikes and a moto for an extended ride through commercial flower and vegetable fields- beautiful, prolific, lush, and healthy, being worked by hundreds of workers in thousands of fields-mums, roses, daisys, Lillys, orchids, etc., and on the road we saw huge batches of the fresh cut flowers packed on the back of motos on the way to the market. We watched the harvesting of leeks by a couple  whose small 3 row field will take 3 days to harvest, after which they will sell in the market. We reloaded in the car to met and pay Mx. Hien the balance of our bill: $180. She was not what we expected at all...such a warm and hugging person... with kids/family and a good foil. We made suggestions 1. Increase fee and don’t mention cost of credit card usage 2. Have the guide eat with tourists, 3. Give tourists the opportunity to sit in the front seat of the tour car. We then got a ride back to our hotel and looked for a jacket. Then to our room to read and finally to the restaurant for dinner. 

Day 58 2.28 Wednesday on our way to Mongolia 

Up at 6 as Marnie was exercising and as I was ruminating about packing.  Packed and off to breakfast and reading at 7. Got GSC eval forms by email but went swimming in a current pool instead of working thereupon. The water was cold but refreshing and I could not advance with my best stroke against the artificial current in the pool. Back in the room Marnie and I worked on our evaluation forms for GSC. I’m trying to get a picture from Tien of my motorbike trip yesterday. Worked diligently for 2.5 hours. It has been overcast for nearly a week. We left the May De Ville Hotel in Hanoi Olde Towne just after 12:00, took off from Hanoi at 3:30 and arrived in Bangkok at 6:00 as planned. Here we learned we must wait nearly 3 hours until the Mongolian Air desk opened so we could get boarding passes, which required us to check into Thailand, stand in line for an hour to get the boarding passes, then check out of Thailand and sit for another 3 hours before loading and taking off -and go thru security in each direction! Luckily I was pushed in a wheelchair to expedite the process by a young guy with a 2 1/2 inch long finger nail. Ate a bite and sat for 3 hours...loaded, exhausted. 

Day 59 3.1 Thursday  arrive Mongolia  

We loaded at midnite in Bangkok and took off for a 6+ hr flight to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Very poor sleep and much butt pain, tho Marnie slept better. We landed by 7:30 in snow and -28 degree temperatures, losing 120 degrees overnite. Our guide, Odka (vodka without the “V”), and driver picked us up at the airport and  we immediately felt cold; by the time we got to Zaya Guest House in the central city at 9:00 we were frozen. The guest house is very nice inside and an old Soviet  built building on the outside. We has  time to get settled then were picked up at 10:30 to go to the “black market” (just the name, not the type) for a Mongolian winter coat for me. Not finding any and having to get to our  host family for lunch, we went to their ger village in the suburb area to the 100 square meter property given the family by the State gov’t. On the plot they had built a ger and a small house. The lady volunteered to host/prepare our  lunch and was paid by the tour company. The house was home to great grandma and the children’ grandparents. The center-located charcoal heated stove/smoky ger with TV housed the daughter who worked for the tour company and her husband with their 2 yr old girl and 3 yr old boy. The home had a shared well and outside toilet, but had a washer, microwave, frig, and cook top. The post-Lunar New Year menu was presented for us - Cakes, cookies,  yak butter, milk-salt tea, veggie soup, mutton, dried curds, milk vodka, cucumbers, greeting tobacco sniffing, and meat dumplings - all traditional Mongolian foods and presentation. We played with the children and talked with the retired grandparents (power plant repairman & shop assistant) and the kids’ mom. Retirement in Mongolia is dependent on  one’s job, the harder the job the earlier the retirement, so grandfather retired at 55. The grandparents care for their grandchildren during the day so their daughter can work. Her husband was a civil engineer. We then went to an inside market (2nd largest) and I tried on several traditional outside jackets/coats. I settled on a $40 traditional short heavily lined jacket. Against Odka’s better judgement I bought a ger trimming  material for a tie sash and bought a hanging used to upgrade the decoration of the interior of a ger for $6. Then we got Marnie toothpaste, as TSA confiscated hers coming out of Thailand loading for Mongolia. We were dropped off at our hostel at 4 to rest (but we actually wrote and read) before dinner at 7. Dinner, included on our tour, was 4 courses with chicken filet and we paid to have our driver included. (We will eat at this restaurant chain of 10 very nice restaurants many nights while here.) Home by 9 to finish the day after being up 36 hours.

Day 60 3.2 Friday Ulaanbaatar schools

-6 degrees F this am/-21 C ....Breakfast and exercise before 9:00 pickup to go to two schools which specialize in education of the disabled. On the way we purchased several bags of treats for the students. At the school we spent time with the Director, who had started teaching there 21 yrs ago, to learn the history; the school has been around since 1967 for mentally disabled/ physically challenged. Teachers’ spec ed teacher certification was only instituted 3 years ago. We toured many classrooms from academic topics to sewing, shop, crafts, agronomy, speech/language, PT and OT, and  daycare for autistic children. The seventh grade had cultural and social class. Showers and haircuts were provided for underprivileged. The two neatest experiences; 1. I touched or high fived, or fist bumped with every kid (even paralyzed) in every room and they were very responsive to touch, 2.  In the day care room we had the greatest demonstration of autism we’ve ever seen- I offered to high 5 with one boy who began to approach me with his hand cocked and ready, when he got 4 feet hand to hand he backed up before touching, I kept my hand up and he reapproached, getting 3 feet hand to hand and backed up, I kept my hand up and he reapproached, getting 2.5 feet hand to hand, again 2 feet...then he retired to his desk. This was the best/cleanest/purest/simplest demonstration of the autistic dilemma or behavior we ever experienced. $20 contribution to the school. 

From there we went to the University of UlaanBaatar to meet with Economics professor Erdenechuluun “chuck” Tumur for discussion of economic conditions in Mongolia. He is working on a Ph.D and has taught since ‘97...his generation of Econ teachers were the first to understand and teach capital economics, unlike the communist economy practice in Mongolia before 1990. His family was herders with 10 camels (a large number for a herder family and they were basically work tractors), 500 sheep and 100s of cashmere goats, and some cattle with no fences and can’t buy land. They get contracts from towns (like our counties) to graze and live on the communal govt land. Tradition and longevity had a big part in who could contract for the land...”we could not get enough migrating acres (or buy any acreage) to farm in Mongolia”. Crop farmers can buy land. He spends his summers with his 3 boys working the family animals as they move the animals to graze and then move their ger on the contracted  area. GDP 5 years ago was 17%, then down to 1.7% for awhile, and now up to 3%. Mining contribution 30%, agriculture 15%, tourism 10% of GDP. The competition between mining and agriculture is growing over land use issues. The dairy industry is small, and crossed beef herds are developing and expanding. Agriculture is moving from subsistence to profit agriculture. Severe weather several years ago caused the loss of 10 million animals from the 60 million overall herd numbers. The govt has reversed the diminishing number of Bactrian camels with where they were moving toward extinction. We discussed agr micro loans with 6 month loans at 2.5%  interest for agriculture-like buying and selling animals on short term. He  teaches micro economics, basic Econ, regional and agriculture Econ. Then we went to eat a big lunch and later a dinner (again we asked the driver to join us)...all meals are included in our tour package. 

We went to the top of the hill to see the Soviet-Mongolia memorial to their partnership in the invasion of Mongolia by Japan in the ‘30s and the invasion of Russia during W2II. At the top I met a large class of junior high students who gave high fives and were anxious for a picture ..

Then we toured the 2nd largest  Cashmere factory with 800 workers in the afternoon. We were able to see the knitting operation/ machines, the assembling areas with women on specialized machines, and the marketing area. The cleaning, spinning, and dying area was closed as they had a glut of finished threads that needed to be used up before spinning more. They had sophisticated and complex machinery that you would not expect in a developing country. 

Over dinner we discussed many interesting Mongolian topics. $7.50 dinner for the driver and last nite $11. 70% of Mongolia’s population is below 40 yrs of age / 60% under 28 years old. We  have been astounded by the number of Priuss on the streets here, estimate at least 40% of the cars. Many of them are used vehicles brought in from Japan to get a reduced value for the market here. The cars are right hand drive and right lane driving. Ulaan Baatar (took over from Beijing before the Olympics) is the most polluted city in the world partly because it sit in a valley at 4300 feet among 4 mountains and there is a terrific inversion in the cold weather from the winds passing over the top of the range. The pollution is so bad the coniferous green trees are black and stay that way until spring rains. The flag we were looking at outside appears black when it is really light blue and red, waiting for spring rains. In addition, the city has 4 coal burning power plants and is building a 5th - they used to be outside the city but when the 1/4 million population city expanded to 1/2 of the country’s 3.5 million citizens they overgrew the plants. Finally, back to our hotel in an exhausted state. Ulaan Baatar is a clean and well organized and best looking city we’ve been in this trip, except for the pollution and a constant traffic jam.

Day 61 3.3 Saturday to the eagle hunting festival

-21C at 8am...allowed to sleep late. The shoulder strap on my daypack was repaired yesterday with the help of the Zaya’s guest house (“charming and budget guest house, fully renovated”) owner who lived in the US for 11 years and went to UT and is a dual American citizen. We live on the 3rd floor of a decrepit Soviet style building in a back dead-end street in a beautifully decorated facility with twin beds, a shared bath, 3rd floor with good  security, breakfast included. We will rent the room even on the 6 days we are away so we don’t have to repack and store our piles of summer, winter and “smart” clothes. Marnie is tired of standup toilets and I’m tired of not being allowed to flush TP. At noon we left for lunch and then to the orphanage in the ger district a few miles out of “UB”, as the kids call it. We had a group picture and ate pizza in the skills center bakery (a new facility recently completed with a spa room and sewing room). We then were given a tour of the several buildings spread around the large 3 acre plot on a hill side by a 14 year old with excellent English, taking part in a school opera and on the debate competition team. The 47 kids live in small age groups in different buildings and have an activity center with a music room with traditional  instruments, a yoga/rest room, a mongol library, a foreign languages library, a computer room and a tv/movie room. The area has a dozen gers used for volunteer housing in the summer and a part time doctor as part of the staff. We then talked with the director for 1.5 hrs about her 25 year history and the school and it’s condition/needs, and the allied guest house in UB, small  orphan. Group in UB, and orphans who have grown up or attend a university tho still attached here - fascinating discussion. Back to UB for dinner (we get several course lunch and dinners included) and bed by 9:00.

Supersize double Snickers for $1

-6 degrees at 8 PM

HIEN REPORT...TRIP ADVISOR ....

FOOTPRINT... is the way to go...

We had a 21 day tour with Footprint

Our itinerary was detailed and timely, designed with our input and preferences, but flexible as needed...We never expected they could meet all the obligations and do so on time.....they did, every day and every time...it was amazing as detailed and complicated as our tour was to be able to sample so many of the wonders of Vietnam.

Thorough, from the Mekong, around/in Ho Chi Minh City, Nha Trang, Hoi An and the Tet Lunar New Year Holiday, Hue, Hanoi, SaPa area, Ha Long and the Bay, and more of Hanoi. 

... each day with a different guide and different driver or means of transportation... 3 overnite train rides, several boat trips, overnites on the Ha Long Bay boat, and excellent hotel accommodations...sometimes for short periods to allow for being refreshed and catching sleep between events.

...excellent food and dining facilities where our plan included meals (always special and focused on our learning about Vietnamese food and habits). 

The cost was very reasonable for the detail of our trip, the quality of our guides, the care of our housing, and the vastness of our itinerary.

As a result of our experience with Footprint we think we now have an understanding of life and the culture in Vietnam.

Dr. E. Rick and Marnie Beebe

8906 Royal Oaks Drive

Verona , WI 53593

rmbeebe@gmail.com

608/497-1123