The pulse of Vietnam - Saigon!



Sorry for the delay in posting our Vietnam blog! We're a little behind, so we'll start with Saigon!



Enjoying the cafe culture...

In short we love it here and will definitely come back again in the future. Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City to the officials) is a city to behold. From the moment we arrvied, we felt comfortable and knew that we would love it. It is like the NYC of SE Asia. There is an undeniable pulse to the city and I'm pretty sure that like New York, Saigon never sleeps!



Typical Saigon traffic...

 The traffic and number of motorbikes on the street is like nothing we've ever experienced before. A sea of humanity swirling around you... Crossing the street requires nerves of steel. You literally step out into the traffic and walk at a consistent pace as the traffic swerves around you. You only have trouble if you stop (because you're terrified), or run (because you can't wait to get off the road), or if a bus is approaching as they do not deviate for pedestrians. Even the sidewalk is dangerous as motorbikes frequently use these as additonal traffic lanes.

We would recommend staying in the old (backpacker) part of town. You could spend days at a sidewalk restaurant just people watching. There are a lot of persistant hawkers (often young children), trying to sell you everything under the sun - mostly sunglasses, and books (that have been photocopied and glued together). Persistant but not rude, just trying to make a living! We were well looked after at our small hotel (Beautiful Saigon II). Once again super friendly, warm staff that can't do enough to help you.

Highlights of Saigon would be:



Shaved head, face and more...

1. Aaron's $5 haircut at a dodgy salon. This included hair cut, face shaving, head, back and neck massage, face mask, and ear cleaning (that was a surprise to Aaron, especially because the guy couldn't speak English and Aaron didn't know what he was doing).
2. Pho! Need I say more. A staple of the Vietnamese diet. It's cheap and delicious and sold on nearly every street corner. Yum...

3. Crossing the street - an experience like no other...
 

Phone lines - Saigon style!



4. The people - once again the best part of the trip. Vietnamese people are extremely resilient. With a history of conflict you would think that the people would be war weary and resentful. We have seen only optimism and harmony. They seem to be overwhelming happy with their lot in life, maybe due to the importance that they place on family above all else. Each home, no matter how small of flimsy, has a little shrine with incense burning in honour of their ancestors.



5. Trying to understand how the telecommunications could possibly work. The lines are everywhere and seem to have no organization whatsoever.

  

The President's war room in the bunker of the palace

Isaac: I loved the hotel where we stayed because the people were great and the food was delicious. I couldn't understand why people talked about Saigon as being bad and having thieves everywhere. I didn't experience anything like that. The staff at the hotel played hacki-sack with me in the laneway. There were some weird experiences, including crossing the road. It was jammed full of cars whizzing around at highspeed, and you couldn't stop in the middle of the road or else you would be hit. It's funny how my mom was worried about crossing 20th st in Calgary on the way to school. That seems like a quiet country road in comparison! We had our best ice cream of the trip and we also had some great Vietnamese food including Pho. We went to a number of museums and learned about the history of Vietnam. I learned that Vietnam has been invaded by many countries including China (multiple times) and France. The Vietnam war (American war) was just one of many wars. Even today China is taking control of some of Vietnam's islands (there are hundreds of them).  



One of the 2 tanks that ended the war!



The reunification palace was the coolest place that we went to. We got to go down into the secret bunker that they used to hide in during air raids. The bunker could withstand a 2 tonne bomb. We also got to see the tank that broke through the front gate of the palace to end the war in 1975 (outside the war museum).







Ready for a visit from the tooth fairy!



Ella: When we flew over Saigon I noticed that it was a huge city. The buildings seemed as though they were stacked on top of each other. The night that we arrived we went to a Pho restaurant. We got the last table in the restaurant (which was on the street) and other people had to line up and wait. I can see why because it was probably the best Pho in the world! Compared to Thai food, Vietnamese food is milder. I like it more! In the few days that we spent in Saigon we visited a couple of museums. We learned that Vietnam is used to wars and destruction. They have had to rebuild the country many times. Despite this the people are the exact opposite of sad and gloomy. If that had happened to me even just once, I'd feel terrible. We also went to an Art Museum that showed amazing paintings, carvings, sculptures and even some ancient artifacts that they seem to have stolen from Cambodia. Probably during a war!! The most important thing that happened to me in Saigon was that I lost a tooth and I got 50,000 dong from the tooth fairy!!!



Treats for everyone...



 Lily: The things I liked most about Saigon were: the delicious ice cream, the museums, the pho and the people! The lady at the hotel took me to visit her sister - she was very nice and gave me lots of candy. The traffic was crazy. There must have been 7,000 motorbikes at the front of every traffic light because they squish their way to the front of the line. Crossing the road was sort of hard. It's not at all like crossing the road in Canada. They could use some crossing patrollers like my brother!! I don't think he would handle it that well because noone listens to the rules. But maybe there are no rules to begin with...

Next stop Nha Trang (via overnight train), then Hoi An....


Reunification Palace - Saigon



Myanmar - the land of contrasts!

Late at night at the internet cafe

OK, so we were wrong about the internet in Myanmar. There are internet cafes popping up everywhere! Seemingly cheap at less than $1 US/hr. However given the fact that the internet was so slow and took almost 1 hour just to log in to gmail, an attempt at a blog update was futile. Maybe it was just us? The monks at every other computer seemed to be having no problems skyping and surfing the net...

Monks waiting in line for their 2nd of only 2 meals of the day.

Most memorable question of the trip (so far):
Picture yourself on a nice walk with your family crossing a lovely old teak bridge. Now put that bridge over the filthiest, rankest, toxic waste-dump of a lake (with a fluorescent green film over the top). You too can experience this in Mandalay... Luckily after telling the kids: don't look down, don't breathe and for god's sake (or Buddha's) don't fall in, we all made it over safely. Having survived the ordeal, we were faced with the question of the trip so far (from Lily): "Would you rather drink some of that water or die". Answer: "If I drink some of that water, I will die".

On the one hand there is the filth and squalor of the big cities. Something that can take down even the most intrepid of travellers. Then you get out of town and into the countryside and you understand what people are talking about. Myanmar is a beautiful place full of the most amazing people. On this trip, I have come to realize that it's the people that you meet along the way (from all over the world)  that make the journey memorable. The kids (and Aaron and I) are definitely learning from the school of life here: we have more than we need, a smile is worth a thousand words and don't judge a book by it's cover. Everyone in Burma (without exception) had a smile for us. Often a red, betel nut stained, toothless one, but a smile none the less.

Here is Aaron to fill you in a little bit on our trip to Myanmar...

On the street in front of the Beauty Land II

I had no idea what to expect as we arrived in Myanmar. The sum total of my knowledge came from discussions with Rob and Leisha Laird and Lawson and Daniel Eberhard. After 10 days in Myanmar the best description might be that its like the medieval times crashed into the late 1940's. Aside from the very recent introduction of cheap scooters and cars from China, there is little evidence that the country has progressed from when British rule ended in 1948. Even in Yangon, the country's capital and largest city, in areas you can still have a street occupied by scooters, cars, single speed bicycles, trishaws and horse and cart. In more rural areas an ox and cart is still a widely used form of transportation as well. Socially the country is a largely a religious, agrarian society with Buddhism dominating all aspects of daily life. Apparently of the 60 million people here, 2 million are monks.
To say that our arrival in Yangon was a shock is more than an understatement. Having been softened by the beach lifestyle in Thailand, our arrival in Yangon at the "Beautyland II" hotel bought us quickly back to earth. Imagine Robert DeNiro's living quarters in the movie Taxi and that will give you a basic idea of this place. At no point was is wise to look at the sheets and you had to forget the damp feeling of the mattress. Once again we told the kids (and ourselves) that this was "all part of the adventure"! The kids were great and overlooked the decrepit stairwells, filthy hallways and damp mattresses, and simply noted that the beds were soft... I think they actually accepted things more easily that Danno or I!

Isaac in Mandalay

Aaron giving the rickshaw driver a ride in Mandalay

After a day long tour of the city we decided to head north to Mandalay. The overnight bus ride was very good and when we got to our hotel we wished we had statey on the bus. It was worse than Beauty Land. Luckily we spent very little time there and spent the next two days touring the city and the surrounding towns. These were wonderful places that time has forgotton. We saw gold leaf being made by hand, bronze casting that used mud for the molds and grantite carving shops in which all of the work was done by hand. These were at once very interesting and hard to accept. The difficulty of the work and the horrible working conditions were very sobering. Once again however, in all of these places the smiles were never ending regardless of the heat and working conditions. In a tapestry making shop the girls were invited to help and the same happened in a granite carving factory where they were able to help polish the statues.

Tiny sailboat on the majestic Ayerwaddy

After these two days we caught a day long boat trip down the huge Ayerwaddy river to get to Bagan. This place has been described as the new Angor Wat and it is hard to fathom. Buddist temples (Pagodas) and their smaller versions (Stupas) stretch for miles. Many are nearly 2,000 years old and are in remarkably good shape. While I have not been to Angor Wat I think the two places are actually quite different in feel largely becasue Bagan is semi arid and Angor Wat is in the jungle. In any event we had a wonderful day biking through the ruins.

Biking through the Bagan ruins

What was also very evident after we left the cities is that the rural people currently have a much better life than the city people. While there is little hope of any wealth whatsoever, the air is clean and so are the surrounding areas. Life is very slow here and is measured in growing seasons.

Stunning view from bus en route to Inle Lake

For our last stop we to and 8 hour bus ride from Bagan to Inle Lake and certainly we had saved the best for last. The bus ride took us from the dryness of Bagan, up through a rain forest to the top of the mountains that even had pine trees. Finally we decended to a great plain that was the most fertile place I have seen. The rice paddys stretched out like the wheat fields of Alberta.

Paddling 'Inle Lake' style

Our first day in Inle Lake was spent visiting the market, which was the best we had seen during our trip, cycling through the cane and rice fields and hiking to view points. This was the best day we had had in Myanmar and I would highly recommend Inle to anyone who visits. We did not spend enough time here at all. The following day we took a boat onto the lake and saw the leg paddling fishermen, the massive floating gardens (kilometers of tomatoes being grown on seaweed beds floating on the lake) and a village that existed entirely on the lake. This included shops, factories and schools all of which were accessable by boat only. It was a wonderful place that was unbelievably quiet.

So... Myanmar was amazing, good and bad. Everyone should travel there just to experience the people. The countryis just starting its move from a military dictatorship to a demoracy and I hope that the people there have a smooth transition.
We are just on a 1 day stop in Bangkok and off to Vietnam later in the day. Last night Isaac and I went to a Thai boxing match and it was crazy. The place was loud, packed, poorly lit and there were bookies shouting everywhere. The crowd was facinating to watch and the fights were exceptional. Those are some very, very tough little (105-135 lbs) men.
That's all for now. We understand that the internet is solid everywhere in Vietnam so expect more regular postings.

Baby in Bagan wearing traditional 'Thanaka'

Ella: Lets just say the first 2 hotels and cities were very dodgy. Open sewer holes everywhere. We had to walk with a flashlight at night so that we didn't fall into one. If you fell in you'd be in for a horrible surprise!!! Once we left the big cities we went to a very calm place called Bagan. It was really hot and like a desert - thanks goodness we had a pool at the hotel! Bagan has old style temples everywhere. You can't walk for even 1 minute without a stupa (a small temple) in sight. We travelled from Bagan to Inle Lake by bus. We went so high in the mountains that there were pine trees and it felt a little bit like Canada. Inle Lake was beautiful. We ate delicious pancakes smothered with chocolate (better than Uncle Paul's - sorry Uncle Paul!!) We went on a huge bike ride to a floating garden and climbed up to a monastery on top of a mountain. The view was amazing of farmland and Inle Lake. It was fun but on our way down we got caught in a monsoon. We were soaked! The people in Burma are very friendly. Everyone wants to say hello and ask "Where are you from"? When you answer "I'm from Canada", they would all say "Oh beautiful, but very cold"!

Girls grinding their own Thanaka paste

Lily: Mingalabar means hello in Burmese. We said that to everyone which made people happy. The people in Myanmar were always smiling at us and wanted us to be in their photos. One of the things that I found the most interesting is that everywhere you go there is a big jug of water but only 1 cup. So everyone drinks from the same cup. We would never do that in Canada! Also, a lot of people smoke inside hotels and restaurants, I didn't really like that. I loved the stupas in Bagan because they were so old, and not shiny. I loved riding in a horse and cart around the ruins. 2 really great things about Inle Lake were the pancakes and the people dressed up as an elephant dancing in the street. I also loved wearing Thanaka. We were given a big jar to put on our faces. The Burmese people think it makes you look very beautiful and were very surprised and happy that we wore it. We even got to try grinding our own, on a stone. It is made from wood (kind of like Sandalwood).

At the pub (Inle Lake)

So here we are back in Bangkok after an eye opener of a trip to Myanmar. The kids were very excited to return to the lovely guesthouse for a night before we head to Vietnam (Saigon) this afternoon. We've heard varying reports from fellow travellers about their experiences in Vietnam, but we are very excited to go there and see for ourselves!
We'll write again soon xxx

Hello Thai Islands

Thong Nai Pan Noi - it doesn't get much better than this!



Chumporn at 3am - waiting for the ferry...

It really is absolutely beautiful here. Spectacular scenery, great weather, and very relaxing. Thank goodness after the journey to get here. A 15 hour marathon. One phrase that the kids will probably never want to hear again: "It's all part of the adventure"! This generally means that you're in some horrible situation - such as sleeping at a ferry terminal at 3am or suffering from extreme seasickness on a rickety old ferry whilst fearing for your life!!

Notes for further Thai adventures: take the train or preferably fly. Cheap, cheap, cheap air travel in Thailand (notably Nok Air and Air Asia). Also a high speed catamaran is way better than the ferry - the kids would agree with this! We had a very, very rough ride over to Koh Phangan from the mainland. Luckily it is like paradise here and the kids don't hate us any more...

Island life has taken hold of us. We've found ourselves wasting hours staring out at the beautiful sea. Getting to the internet cafe to post a blog has taken us 3 days (it's only a 5 minute walk into town from our little bungalow by the beach)!

The highlight of the trip for the kids by far has been the 'elephant trekking' through the jungle (even better than the fish pedicures)! From what we understand the elephants were rescued from Bangkok, and seem to be living a very peaceful existance here.



Ella's Thai Elephant Massage



Ella: It was a long trip on the boat, and I thought that the boat would be good and maybe only 5% of the people would make it through without throwing up. It turns out that the boat was completely horrible and 95% of the people threw up. By the time that we got off, everyone was feeling seasick! But as soon as I saw the beach at our hotel I immediately felt better. The beach has pure white sand, clear turquoise water and is surrounded by mountains, the jungle and 2 lovely bays. Thank goodness the trip was worth it. Over the last few days we've played at the beach for at least 5 hours each day, and spent some time exploring the town. The town feels a lot like Mexico. The absolute best part of the trip so far is the elephant trekking. It was so cool. We got to ride on the elephants neck. I loved the elephants because they are big, gentle giants - with really rough and bristly skin! Have you ever had a Thai elephant massage? I have! Love Ella!



Riding high - elephant trunk style!



Lily: The bus and ferry were not that good. The ferry made me feel so sick! As soon as I got off I started to feel better. We have met some really nice people here. Some of their names are Jasmine and Soh. The island is really nice, especially the water. It's not cold or hot, it's just right! Although I have been pinched twice by a crab. It doesn't really hurt that much. The thing that I love about the salt water is that I can float really easily on my back. It's lots of fun. Last night I saw some fire dancers. It looked like they would get burned but they didn't because they moved the fire so quickly. I got to ride on an elephant's neck. The elephant picked me up with its trunk and also gave me a massage with its trunk. I wasn't scared at all, except when we went really close to the edge of the cliff and I though that we might fall off as the elephant reached out it's trunk for food. After our ride we fed bananas to them. They like them pretty green! love lilyxxx

Jumping for joy!

Isaac: It was pretty rough getting here. The reason I say that is because we had the worst seasickness ever! The boat we went in didn't seem to be too sea worthy, although we made it anyway. The horrible boat ride was worth it beacuse now we are relaxing on our own little beach. Thong Nai Pan Noi (North Eastern Kohn Phanang) is amazing. It has everything from great restaurants to really nice beaches. We have seen lots of little tropical fish swimming around in the water. I have spent hours snorkelling around the rocks to search for fish and crabs. The highlight of my trip has been elephant trekking. We got to ride on the elephants neck. We also got to feed them. They love bananas, and grab them out of your hand with their trunk. One of the elephants picked me up with it's trunk. I was excited and a little nervous when it did that. Loving the food here. The fresh seafood is amazing. We can watch the fishing boats catching our dinner from our beach. Bye for now - Isaac.



Aaron says hello to you all...



We love reading your comments. The blog is a great way to stay in touch with everyone so please keep commenting...We're off to Burma in a couple of days from now (if we don't miss our flight). Not sure that we'll have a chance to post from there. If not we'll post an update on our way through Bangkok en route to Vietnam!

Happy travellers!

Goodbye Bangkok (for now)...

Well our time in Bangkok has come to an end we've had an amazing time. It's very hot and humid... There was a massive storm yesterday afternoon with monsoon rains and the loudest thunder we've ever heard.

The kids are having the time of their lives: cooking classes, soap making classes, etching classes and playing with the resident bunny rabbits! A little sanity in the madness of Bangkok. Outside the B&B we've seen buddhas and temples galore, been on crazy tuk tuk rides, boated through the Bankok canals and yesterday the kids had 'fish pedicures' where little fish nibble the dead skin off your feet. Gross!!!

For anyone heading to Bangkok here are a few tips:
1. Get Nancy Chandler's Map of Bangkok (thanks Rob and Leisha for this tip). Great map.
2. Use the river taxis as much as possible. Only 15 baht - and this gets you out of the crazy traffic.
3. Take a canal tour - great way to see how people live.
4. Eat food from the street vendors. We have every day with no repurcussions!
5. Long pants and shoulder coverings are a must for the temples!
6. Don't trust tuk tuk drivers when they offer 'cheap' tours. Agree on price before you go anywhere.

We're heading down to Southern Thailand tonight. Overnight bus trip then 2 ferries to the island of Koh Phangan. Looking forward to some beach time.

Lily: I really liked Bangkok. I bet it's going to be my favourite place, but I don't know. We went to a night market, rode on lots of ferries, and went to climb a big tall temple. I even had a try at Thai boxing. Inside of one big temple called Wat Po there was a big gold buddha laying down. I wasn't even as tall as one foot! In the temple our shoulders and knees had to be covered. We also went in 3 tuk tuks and one of them was a crazy driver. He went around cars really fast in the wrong direction. Mommy was very scared! Daddy's tuk tuk driver had to go to the police station because he got caught going the wrong way up a one way street because he was trying to avoid a traffic jam. Our hotel has a sandpit, a swing, a massage room, an activity room and a rooftop patio with 17 bunnies. I got to go in their cage and feed them. I also got to help fix an injured bunny. Everyday we did some cool stuff, like make soap, make stamps and do a cooking class. We made pasta from scratch. It tasted like the yummiest thing I've ever had. The staff here are really nice. I spent a lot of time with them. Their names were a little different like Sai, Fon and Bow. They treated us like family. I'm sad that we have to leave but we'll hopefully come back again soon.

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Ella: Bangkok is probably going to be my favorite of all the cities. It was so cool how the buddhas were so humungous. The temples were so big and one of the ones that we climbed was probably 1,000 times taller than me. We climbed up some stone stairs that were as steep as the ladder we use to hang the Mexican Flag on the cabin. It was scary and if you looked down your tummy would feel weird!! The favourite thing that I did was a fish pedicure at a market and it tickled so much when they went in between your toes and on the bottom of your feet. Afterwards my feet felt so smooth it was amazing. The food at our hotel was really yummy. I loved it. I ate pancakes and salad for breakfast. I can't even say how delicious the smoothies were. I loved riding on the tuk tuks (it's kind of like a car with only 3 wheels, no walls, 1 seat at the front and 5 people can jam into the back row - which is designed for 3 people). We had the craziest tuk tuk driver that nearly hit 3 people, 2 cars, 1 bus and another tuk tuk. Mama looked as though she was going to have a heart attack!! Krap Kun Ka Bangkok! This means 'Thank you Bangkok'.

Isaac: I really loved Bangkok. It had everything! Our hotel was amazing - it's not like anything I've ever stayed in before. On the outside it looked very rickety, but inside it was a very nice place to stay. The staff were very helpful and easy going. They taught us how to cook some different types of food, how to do etching (I made my own stamp to keep) and how to make soap. Bangkok is less modern than Guangzhou but I think I liked it more. I loved that when we went to the river there were millions of fish, and we could feed them bread, and they went crazy trying to get it. The best thing that I did in Bangkok was the fish pedicure. This is where you put your feet in some water full of sucker fish and they eat all of your dead skin - it felt really ticklish, but my feet felt really good at the end. I loved eating the Pad Thai from  the street vendors. If anyone is coming to Bangkok I would recommend staying at Phranakorn Nornlen. It has lots of transportation close by (ferry, tuk tuk etc). The staff are amazing and the food is delicious.

Paradise in Bangkok

Our arrival in Bangkok was a shock to everyone. Though Guangzhou was packed, it had an order about it. Bangkok knows only chaos. That is until you step into Phranakorn Nornlen phranakorn-nornlen.com This is like returning to the '50's. It's hard to describe but when you're inside you can believe that Bangkok is gone.

Dining at the guest house

Lily falling to the river lights above her

When the kids saw the entrance to the guest house, down a dingy Bangkok alley they were sure that we had gone crazy. I think I agreed with them for a while until we went through the gates. This is the ultimate don't judge a book by it's cover experience. Since they have been inside they have had their best meals of the trip, best smoothie of their lives, pineapple juice to die for topped off with bedrooms that have been hand painted with murals.

Isaac and Ella looking at the fish

Ella has decided that it's not likely that we'll find better accomodation during the rest of the trip.

Guangzhou, China

First I should apologize for the tardiness of this installment of our blog. Though I have been known to have some powers of persuasion in the past, it seems that I could not convince the Chinese government to allow us access to a blog website. In fact even googling the word "blog" was not possible. As it was, this was the only thing that reminded us that we were in a communist country. Without encountering this restriction you would never know.

Now about our time in Guangzhou...

Canton Tower

My expectations of this city were that it would be, as Michael says, "all chicken's feet and cheap electronics" mixed with an incredible mass of people. It should be noted that GZ is approximately 13 million people. When we first arrived we were greeted with the most modern train system I have ever seen and had we understood where we were staying a little better, we could have gone from the airport to about a block from our hotel. Once we got off the train, one stop short, we found ourselves amongst the largest most modern buildings I have ever seen. Oddly there were no people though. We ultimately found a lady that understood a couple of words of English - enough to realize that we were lost- and she kindly walked us to within a block of our hotel. Shockingly it was hard to find, located as it was, on the 13th floor of an unnamed apartment building. Had it not been for her we would still be wandering arond GZ looking for a place to stay.

Shopping Underground at a Metro Station

Over the following few days we found that though GZ is very modern and unpopulated in the new area (you cannot imagine the scope of the housing projects that are going on now - think of literally fencing off Mission and tearing everything down and starting over) the older part is an amazing collection of sales districts that are packed with people shopping and eating. We visited a 25000 square meter electronics market that was one of many dozens in the area. Other markets we saw included a jade market, a lighting market and a shoe market all of which were multiple square city blocks composed of tiny merchants located in a maze of shops shouting and clapping to attract your attention.

Isaac playing hacky-sac in People's Park

While visiting all of these places it was instantly clear that GZ is not a tourist destination. Over the 5 days we only saw about 10 other caucasions and a couple of africans. Quite often the kids would cause a traffic jam of people simply hoping to see them. They were asked many times to be photographed as well. This was all done in a very polite way though and without exception people were very kind to the kids. They had ladies in a noodle shop teach them how to use chopsticks, men in a park play badminton and hacky-sac with them and Ella and Lily were even given inpromtu traditional dancing lessons by a lady who was dancing in a park. On the topic of children we found that there is great sadness caused by the 1 child policy and many older people would ask us if all 3 kids were ours. When we said yes it was all smiles clapping and thumbs up. Though it was clear that they were upset by the situaton imposed on them , they were genuinely happy for us and there never seemed to be a hint of jealousy.

Sports Stadium on Pearl River

Overall we had a great start to our trip and GZ certainly exceeded our expectations. The modern buildings were were mindblowing, the people were at times verging on Figian nice and the older parts were a delightful mass of humanity. If you ever visit I would highly recommend visiting the People's Park on the weekend. This is a mini Central Park that has Chinese opera in place of rap artists and people practicing Ti Chi in place of break dancing. There are all sorts of people doing all sorts of things that you have likely never seen.

Kid's thoughts on Guangzhou:

Ella dancng in People's Park

Ella - "I loved it there. The people were so friendly. It was amazing at night when all of the buildings were lit up with colorful lights. It was so warm every day, even when we had monsoon rains. My favorite part of our visit to Guangzhou was the 'People's Park' where I danced with a lady, played badminton, listened to music, watched tai chi and played hackisack with a badminton birdie hackisack. I didn't like the food there very much - it was very spicy!!!"

Lily the Wimp!

 Lily - "I love Guangzhou. It was so hot there. The people were so nice but they stared at us because we looked different. Someone even touched my hair! My favorite part was when we got to go into the rainbow tower (Canton Tower). We went on the 'bubble tram', I was scared and hunched on the ground in a ball. After a while, when I wasn't such a wimp, I looked down over the edge. We were so high that the clouds were passing below us."

View from 'Bubble Tram' on top of Canton Tower

Departure

A sad day for everyone! Although Ella managed to hold it together...