VIENTIANE, VANG VIENG, LUANG PRABANG / LAO PDR:
"What are the children looking for?," I ventured to our hardly-English-speaking guide, as we passed several kids in scuba masks holding large forks. Silence. Repeat. Silence. Find thesaurus, mental shift F7. Rephrase. Answer: "Seafood". Ethically, would it be wise for me to mention that the Mekong is a river? Move on. We are canoeing, from Vang Vieng, on expensive, exclusive canoe trip. Just the two of us, whilst other tourists follow in huge groups (ok, they did pay less than half what we did, but we have a guide all to our selves - more reason to make the most of his knowledge). "How about showing us an emergency roly-poly?" You know, the one where you flip back out of the water still attached to the canoe in the event of capsizing. "I no." know? no? it was NO. Water up the nose, not very pleasant, etc etc... Under intense persuasion, good old Dian, that was his name, did eventually try it. Unfortunately, the result was nostrils full of river and a canoe floating down on its own. We came ashore to see a cave. A pet monkey leapt at me and clung to my leg until deafened by a high-pitched squeal. Then we went down a cave clutching candles, wading at first, then swimming, then slipping on mud. Dian diligently burnt the walls as we moved forwards through the labyrinth. Too many turnings, too little candles, I freaked out. We exited. To round of the day nicely, we capsized completely on our last rapids, loosing 4 bottles of water, one sandal, two paddles: success. Back on land, I got a fever and lots of arm and back pains - was Cristian paddling at all? What were those claims about needing to sit at the back of the canoe? Since, we moved to Luang Prabang, a truly charming little place, to recover for a week.

Completely covered in gold, Vientiane Stupas are amazing.

One of our meditation moments in Vientiane.

Sticky rice spread on the pavement to get dry in Luang Prabang.

Could we rent one of this please? Avis?

Almost anything can be found on the sidewalk this days.

SAPA / VIETNAM:
I had enough of that. Olivia took me by suprise to a travel agency with Andy and Vikie were she forced me to agree to a 2 day trekking tour. Can you believe this? 2 days walking in the middle of the tropical forest, up and down mountains on goat paths. I thought I would have collapsed. But luckly I survived and so did the rest of the group. We had the opportunity to meet with many different tribes that populate the region and got invited into their traditional houses. A lot of exchanges of curious looks from both sides. A true jump in the past and a great experience. I have to thank Olivia for convincing me to do it, I loved it. Today we both cannot walk but feel very relaxed. Check the shots.

Dian and his group.

Spot Nina and Tina.

REdhead people a lovely tribe near Sapa.

Redhead people checking out a weird foreigner.

A realistic puppy knows his fate.

Our new friend.

A friend of a friend, I forgot his name.

16 October: XENYA SPECIAL / VIETNAM:
This is a special birthday message to Xenya Scanlon! Since you all so much liked my newly-found video skills, practiced mainly with Cristian and the python, I have concoted another one of my gems. Fortunately for you all, it does not include any swear words. Should any or all of you see Xenya - check http://www.cgiardini.com/friends2.htm to see the picture of her - give her a hug, a kiss, a squeeze, all three, as she is turning 25! Ahh, a quarter of a century, time to think back, to iron out the wrinkles, to buy that first bottle of hair colour, book a massage and ponder. Most of you know the feeling, so sympathise and give the girl what she deserves.
Xenya, have the greatest of days and a fantastic weekend celebrating.
Kisses and bows, handshakes and nods
Olivia and Cristian
Happy Birthday Clip Hanoi

HOI AN & HUE / VIETNAM:
Sorry. This is going to be a bad one. I have just got off the night bus after several sleepless nights and am in great need of coffee/sleep/food. It is a shame really since material collected since the last posting include a lovely rat story - not miny mouse, but huge fury, fussy - it did not like our delicious coconut sweets - rabies-carrying monster that appeared in our room and refused to leave for 3 days and 3 nights until we gave up and moved along the corridor. Vivid images of C swinging a wooden club around the furniture still keep me awake at night. Other topics of interest include getting locked out of our hotel room bathroom with full bladders, C throwing up all night - not to worry, self inflicted - and then today, to round off the bus ride from Hue, I saw a lady selling squawking chickens from a big basket, put one in a plastic carrier bag for a client... Borderline hallucination as we tried to find a decent hotel whilst being followed by large numbers of men pushing business cards at us. Thankfully, Youth Hotel is grand, the name is for me, the tiny Vietnamese receptionist is for Cristian - I love Italy, especially football, and Paolo Maldini is gorgeous. We took the room without even checking it.


Vicki & Andy the long-legged British travel guinea pigs with whom we have shared many Asia moments since Tanah Rata, Malaysia - by the pool in our hotel in Hoi An.

Inside the Citadel in Hue.

A little reminder of the country we are in.

Hoi An from the boat.

Silk lanterns.

A role model for facial hair.

Bet you cannot recognise those two.

Keeping an eye out for fish.

My new trade.

HO CHI MINH CITY (SAIGON), MEKONG DELTA, VIETNAM:
Crossing the border into Vietnam was like being in film. Menacing-eyed officials clad in green uniforms with the yellow star checked us out and spent what seemed like an eternity looking at C's unglued passport before letting us in. The minute we got back on the bus we knew we had changed countries. The wooden stilt houses were replaced by concrete blocks, the road lacked pot-holes, the people were no longer riding buffaloes. In contrast to Phenom Penh, Saigon is packed with buildings and there are no unpaved streets. Smiles are rarer and you hear the raindrops more than the laughter. Still, Vietnam looks promising. After getting caught in the monsoon several times, we picked an ok day to visit the Cu Chi tunnels, where the Viet Congs hid and fought during the war. Scary stuff. Thankfully our guide elaborated a theory on the size of Western bottoms and their role in the conflict to lighten the atmosphere. He even talked more than Cristian (a first).
The Mekong delta trip was comparable to the Fraser Island tour as we were shown the toilets on every possible occasion - maybe because our bladders were over-stimulated by excessive amounts of tea?

Paddling down the Thames (aka Mekong Delta).

People live down there.

Saigon post office by Eiffel, with Uncle Ho in the background.

School parade in Reunification Park, Saigon.

Riffles at Cu Chi tunnels.

Getting into the tunnels.

Cobra and scorpion firewater.

C smilling before the python tried to kiss him - check the video link below.
Cristian and the terrible python (246Kb WindowsMediaPlayer) VideoClip
The candy machine used for wrapping (301Kb WindowsMediaPlayer) VideoClip

SIANOUKVILLE, PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA:
Tutti qui ci parlavano delle belle spiagge di Sianoukville e cosi gli intrepidi viaggiatori sono partiti alla scoperta. Che abbiamo trovato? Pensate un po'cosa ... Rimini. E beh si , spiagge lunghissime, acqua da adriatico e tante, tante sdraie e ombrelloni. Improvvisamente anche la costiera italiana sembrava tropicale. Oppure la costiera cambogiana mancava solo delll'urlo Cocco Bello per sembrare quella italiana. Ma qui il cocco te lo tirano dietro, anzi se non ci stai attento ti cade direttamente in testa. Dopo la trasgressiva avventura sulle spiagge riminesi, dopo cenette a base di zuppa di squalo nei localini del centro (vedi foto) siamo tornati nella capitale P.P. (evito di riscriverne il nome che mi sbaglio sempre). Finalmente la bella notizia, la ONU aiutera' la Cambogia a giudicare i Khmer Rouge, un gruppo di assasini saliti al comando dal 70 al 75 e poi sconfitti dal vietnam che sono ancora vivi e impuniti. Abbiamo visitato la prigione dell'epoca ed e' stato uno spettacolo macabro ma educativo. Ci sono pure tanti campi di sterminio dove quasi 2,000,000 di persone sono state torturate e uccise. Le persone sui 50 hanno vissuto questa epoca. E incredibile quanta vogli di vivere e di rinascere abbiano adesso, tanta anche la voglia di giustizia, peccato che sembra ancora lontana a causa della corruzione. Cambogia un paese anche politicamente molto interessante. P.S. Gli squali non si mangiano, sono in seria via di estinzione e avremmo voglia di mettere a friggere tutti i cuochi cinesi della Indocina che li cucinano, ma pure i cuochi non si mangiano.

I ragni si quelli si mangiano, fritti in Cambogia.

Voila. Chi viene a cena stasera. Lo squalo 3 e nel menu del giorno.

Spiagge di palme e sabbia bianca ... o meglio la costa romagnola.

Il museo Nazionale di P.P. in stile buddista.

Un singolare mezzo di trasporto nella trafficata capitale.

Le celle della S21 prigione dei Khmer Rouge.