Lunch stop Sa Huynh- 5.5 hrs

Only 108km more at 108pm

Tomorrow- big plans but storm coming?

We plan to leave early to try to get as far as Quy Nhon which is 183 miles (294 km). Piers thinks 6 hrs- I hope he is right. Fun dinner tonight in Cua Dai. Another nice Australian couple.

Perfect Fit

My handsome son tries the new shirts

Wrap and Roll and Cava- 2 great Restaurant owned Swedes

We stopped by the great place we ate late night called "Wrap and Roll" to say thank you to Lars Jonason and his Vietnamese wife as they had been so nice last night. It was really crazy in old town and all motorized traffic was banned for the Full Moon Festival which is the 14th day of each lunar month. Piers could not eat anything but we had taken a cab with me into town ($2.50) to see the lanterns come out. There are restaurants along both sides of the Thu Bon River. We crossed the famous lantern bridge and kept walking until the first place where here were no hawkers trying to get us to come in. The food was delicious (I was the only one eating) and the owner's wife brought Piers some special oil which she had him rub on his stomach which he said was hot. They also made him boiling hot ginger tea. Today they were not open when we went by so no photos of the restaurant patio which is charming. He recommended his friends place CAVA as Piers thought he might be able to handle some western food. Another charming place/ delicious Chili Mojito. Cool chopsticks holders too.

Hoi An tailors

There are an estimated 300-500 tailors in Hoi An. We had Piers measured for a few dress shirts for school at 230pm and we are to return at 8pm. Next time I come here it will be with a big empty suitcase. If we were not on a motorbike, I could do some serious clothes shopping. Sue at "The Ocean" was great helping as there were lots of fabric choices.

View from hotel roof deck

Thanks to Miss Tu for booking a nice hotel for us in Hoi An. I carelessly left my bathing suit at Elephant Springs so while Piers was trying to sleep off hIs tummy bug, I borrowed a bike from the hotel and went in search for a new bathing suit.

An Bang Beach

Just a short 3km from Cua Dai (also charming) is this beautiful beach where we went after a late breakfast.

Danang and china beach

Hai van pass

Hoi An- I will definitely return

So far all of Vietnam is amazing but Hoi An is perfect. How we ended up here for the full moon festival is karma. Piers is amazing (sorry again to be the proud motorcycle mama) but he was not feeling well yesterday when we awoke but did not say anything. We were on and off the bike all day, including the Hai Van pass (a switchback road up and over the mountain) and I could see him face grimacing in the rear view mirror. If you have not seen the tv show Top Gear , please google it and look for the episode about Vietnam and you will see the mountain pass we went over. They also end in Halong Bay where Piers was working.

Quite a day- Hue to Hoi An

830am depart, fuel fill up and we headed out of town. 2x2. After 1.5 hours we stopped at a fishing village (about 80km north of Danang The boats go out at 4am- I have no idea when they returned but our guide said all the women take the fish into town to sell and the guys remain to clean nets etc. Back to the road for another hour on the bike to reach Suoi Voi (Elephant Springs). The joy of the guide is that we most likely would not have ever found it without him. We had read about it in the lonely planet guide we are using, but despite the fact the book says it is well marked - it is not. We were the only westerners there. It I REALLY hard to describe the place so I won't try very hard. A small waterfall WAY off the main road with swimming holes of smooth rocks, surrounded by bamboo platforms covered with rattan mats in which you relax. A picture is worth 1000 words.

Departing the google hotel

See sign above my head. A guide will take us up over the mountains through the pass to Hoi An. More later ?

My own adventure this afternoon

After lunch today ( begun but not posted so a few days old- from Hue) I decided to take myself to the hospital. Piers and victor walked me there and they went back for a nap. I had not mentioned anything to Piers previously that I was not feeling well but I decided I probably couldn't go much further without a dr. On the flight over to Tokyo I thought I was having an extra severe round of hot flashes, but then realized it was a fever. Next I noticed I had blood in my urine (sorry to use that graphic word ) and I felt bloated. Then severe lower back pain. I used my pain meds from my elbow surgery which I never took to make it through the first few days, but knew that was not a solution. I walked into the emergency room and asked to see a dr. The guy said "I'm a dr what is the problem". I described the symptoms and he took me to a bed and asked me to lie down- the sheet was dirty so I did not. He got the idea and called someone over with a fresh sheet. He prodded by stomach, back etc and said they would do an ultrasound. A few minutes later a woman came over and asked if I had a friend here. I said my son was at our hotel. Next questions- do you have money? She must not have seen the small bag I had. I replies yes and was taken out of the ward to accounting. It seemed to take forever for them to look up how much each thing cost that the dr had ordered but eventually I was presented a bill of 1,330,000 dong ($63.33) which I paid. I was then taken in short order for an x-ray, an ultra sound, blood work and a urine specimen. Back to my cot and waited for 45 min. So- high cell count- possible UTI (but don't have normal other symptoms), bladder or kidney infection. Got 3 Rx's- I have no idea what they are but I am taking them and ready feel better- probably due to placebo effect of knowing I am going to get better as I doubt if I would feel effect of medication yet. Next free time I have with wifi, I will google drug names. Conclusion- amazing medical care for someone with cash. There were others in the emergency room that looked sick or even almost dead (motorcycle accidents I assume), but did not seem to have the quick service I had for $63. How much would all of this cost in the good old USA under Obamacare?

Yesterday into today

After lunch we walked all around Hanoi old quarter, visited some of Piers's friends and eventually back to the hotel to collect our things and cab to the train. We had purchased baguette, ham, cheese and water for dinner. Eventually we found track 4, cabin5, berth 24 and 25. Each cabin has 3 beds stacked 3 high to a side. We were both on the bottom. Piers met an out going Australian, Victor Watt, while I went to check out what facilities were on the train. We had a young Vietnamese couple with a 2 week out baby join our compartment. They had no English but we could see the wife was in pain. We offered drugs but they declined and ended up getting off the train after an hour. Victor ended up moving to our compartment after a discussion with the conductor who wanted 100,000 to allow him RO move! He is 2 months into a 6 month south east Asia tour. Lots of good stories and photos from his recent adventures. The train has 4 classes of service- soft mattress, hard mattress, soft seat and hard seat. It would be a long way in a seat (see photo).

We made it through the night- I can promise you no photos of me until i get some sleep. We are so on the go. Beautiful sunrise.

View of the city from atop of Elegance Diamond

With our beautiful hostess Tu

Cool idea because it is so hot

We are having an ice tea at the fanciest hotel in Hanoi, the Sofitel metropole. It is such a cool idea that by each cocktail table there are coat racks so business people can take their suit jackets off. With 100% humidity it is de rigeuer to be literally dripping all the time

14.5 hours Hanoi to Hue- arrival 10am

A big surprise- the bike was on the train. We had been told it would arrive in 2 days. Piers had planned to ask when we arrived to determine 2 days from when, but as we were looking for someone to ask, we saw a bike in a crate at the end of the platform. I love how they wrote Piers name on the bike- PITCGOTURLT. Two men uncreated it (last we saw it was being swathed in cardboard so the crate was a surprise) and then reassembled the handle bars and other bits they had taken off. Our new friend Victor went out and bought some petrol in a water bottle and we secured everything to the bike using our new saddle bags. We had decided on the "Google" hotel and off we rode to see if they had a room. 15 min and $25 later we had a big room for 3. Victor seems to have joined our adventure. First impressions of Hue is that it is clean and spacious and beautiful. Having only had a baguette sandwich to eat in the last 22 hours , I was feeling dizzy and got the guys to go for an early lunch. Delicious grilled pork and noodles. Victor on bread and water as he says his stomach is off. The toilets in the train were as expected so none of us had much to drink during the journey and are all a bit dehydrated. Everyone around is trying to offer us their services as a tour guide.