Vietnam

Vietnam. A cacophony of the senses. Old Town Hanoi, our first stop, is a maze of alleys all filled with food vendors, tiny $10 hotels, knock-off stores, and motorbikes, motorbikes, motorbikes. Gas powered two-wheeled vehicles moving every which way, everyone in a peripheral vision flow state, somehow avoiding the inevitable crash (most of the time) due to everyone using their horns all the time. It makes one wonder what it was like when it was only bicycles. It must have been very quiet.

From Hanoi, we visited the World Heritage Site of Halong Bay. Thousands of limestone cliff faced islands off the northern coast. Like everywhere we went in Vietnam - in fact all of asia - a clear day is one filled with a fog-like haze. The sun and stars are nowhere to be found. Nonetheless, our overnight ride on a Junk Boat entertains: kayaking, cave walking, and odd boat mates, all make this a worthy venture.

Then we meet our friends Melany and Duncan Berry and head to Thich Nhat Han's Root Temple (aka a nunnery and monastery) near Hue in the central part of the country. For 5 days we are their guests. Dharma talks, singing, meditating, silent meals, helping build a rickety robe rack, walking meditation fill our days. The nuns want to keep Skye - she is their size; taught a great english class (the highlight being a rousing round of 'twinkle twinkle little star'); and impressed them with her badminton skills. The mutual adoration between Skye and the nuns is heartwarming. Skye is very clear that as of today she's not becoming a buddhist nun. Just in case you were wondering. They sleep on desk tops, wake up at 4:30am for morning meditation and eat all vegetarian meals in silence.

Now we're in Bhutan after a week in Mysore, India. Tomorrow we head to the far east of this small country.