The two weeks of vacation from the vacation has come to an end. My mom flew in from Oregon and treated me to accommodations well beyond the comfort of recent haunts. We spent a week in Hoi An, a beach town along the central coast known for the zillion market stalls offering tailor made clothes. Our home-stay was set back from town-peaceful and covered in orchids. The loaner bikes were the best way to get around and we filled most days meandering through rice paddies in the surrounding fishing villages and exploring nearby beaches. On one of our late afternoon excursions we were invited in to a local home for dinner. We ate fish, rice and squash over simple conversation errr sign language (of sorts). All we had with us to show thanks were two smiles and a five piece pack of berry flavored Extra.
We returned to Hanoi and made a mad dash to fit in a two day junk cruise (Chinese sailboat) around Halong Bay. The area is a Unesco World Heritage Site and considered one of the seven "natural wonders." The dramatic landscape leaves no question why. There are some 3,000 towering monoliths clustered around the jade green waters of the bay - the skeletal remains of ancient bedrock. Our boat stopped off at set of impressively sized limestone caverns with incredible formations mottled from the erosive force of dripping water. Baffling. The characteristic mist that hangs around this time of year made for a truly ethereal landscape. Rowboats paddled us through a floating fishing village situated in a remote corner of the bay where the cultivated pearl industry seems to be thriving. We cruised past several floating shacks with attached satellite dishes. I don't thinks it's possible for me to be surprised by the places I find cable any longer. I turned 27 on the boat- yet again I had the great fortune to be in an amazing place and celebrate with a few of my favorite people. Hoi An had a variety of very unique cakes, so we poked candles into five inches of frosting whipped into ducks and water buffalo (accented with genuine silk leaves) a few days early. I just couldn't resist that kind of edible theatricality.
On our last day in the city I took a pre-dawn walk around the lake. It was a circus of exercisers. The inner path was a nucleus of enthusiastic early risers gesticulating wildly, bending joints Tin Man style, slapping (circulation?), and jazzercising like fiends. Runners and power walkers orbited in an endless string. The jem of the bunch was the ancient looking couple playing a ruckus game of badminton with the all the might their four feet and some shrunken change could muster as they have probably enjoyed every morning since the beginning of time.
Later the same evening we hopped an overnight train to Sapa, traveling in the comfort of an incredibly slim deluxe sleeper stuffed with bike boxes and luggage. We had the bikes set up by sunrise and stopped for some roadside pho before slogging the 35k up to town. The ascent was particularly challenging after more than two weeks off the bike, but was eased a bit by the clouds that hung around and kept things cool until the last 5k. Sapa turned out to be a cool town. We've been exploring the villages and sites for just under a week and plan to head toward the Laos border at sunrise tomorrow.

The Whole World Loves Tea and Cookies

The train ride to Bangalore was seamless. The city was unlike any other- very western, very cosmopolitan, and very clean. We stayed in the commercial sector of town along MG Rd, a close replica of Time Square, complete with the glitzy billboards, wall to wall shopping, and a sea of dueling black and yellow tuk-tuks. We spent the two days we had in the city picking up bike boxes and haphazardly perusing the sights. We made our way to the Bull Temple, the Karnatakan modern art museum and found refuge in a couple of inner city parks and gardens. Saying goodbye to India was bitter sweet. The DIY India-by-bike adventure was a pretty marvelous way to start a year of travel, but there were times I found India to be pretty brutal and I was itching to see and experience someplace new. I also felt shackled by the strangely oppressive lack of independence ( I imposed on myself, admittedly). I just didn't feel safe on my own most places and couldn't get around independently without being followed or asked the standard set of invasive questions. Usually if I lied and said I was married I was eventually left alone, or the charade ended a bit quicker. I made up for my lack of appreciation for Indian men with my hefty appreciation for Indian food. The lighter southern fare was particularly awesome, so for a last time I enjoyed a farewell meal of the oh-so-commonly consumed masala dosa and sticky sweet chai before stuffing two bike boxes in a reluctant TaTa minivan and flying south to Vietnam.

Ha Noi is a world change for sure. I can't help but notice the parallels to my recent surroundings though. One of my very favorite similarities or "universals" as I've begun to call them is the manner in which the elderly generation walk about like time capsules. They very literally dress, talk, and act as if the crazy developed world has not exploded into a market based frenzy all around them. Here in Vietnam this takes the shape of 80lb, 4 foot tall women sporting outfits resembling sets of silk pajamas with conical hats (in a sea of blue jeans and high heels) roaming the streets with superhuman loads of snacks/fruit/flowers/plucked lifeless chickens across their shoulders. Sadly, it seems that wealth is leading to "sameness" (homogeneity, but "sameness" sounds as dull as it is). Cities look the same, everyone is dressed in the same brands, and the crowds flock to the same familiar Pizza Hut, KFC (I'm pretty baffled by that one) and designer coffee outlets on every corner. It's not all bad, but surely surprising. Seeing the older generation hang on to familiarity and a few nuggets of tradition inside Ha Noi's swirl of cosmopolitan fury really is a sight for sore eyes.

Wayanad was relaxing and surprisingly unpeopled. Our hotel in Kalpetta was centrally located, so we were able to take day trips and explore the sights by bike on quiet back roads. The first stop was Soojipara falls where we were joined by a very lively group of Indian tourists splashing and showering en mass. We scrambled up Chembra peak (about 7,000 ft) and enjoyed the summit and 360 views without company. Our last excursion to Keralad Lake took us through small villages, coffee, banana, and rubber plantations. The lake itself was more of a giant pond covered in gorgeous purple lotus. Trash cans are relatively non-existent in public places anywhere in India (that I have visited) so there's an unfortunate amount of litter strewn around any place a tourist might visit- the lake was no exception.
We made our way to Mysore by bus, descending out of the Western Ghats to the base of the Chamundi Hills. The Mysore Palace is the major draw here and it did not disappoint. The synchronistic influences of English, Indian, and Mogul styles result in Indo-Saracenic architecture. The palace is incredibly decadent and draws from the best of its inspirations. No photography is allowed indoors, which is particularly disappointing because it was the only palace I've seen so far with good lighting! I'll attempt to post a few of the photos I took of the grounds next chance I get. I'm off to Bangalore on a morning train tomorrow...

The North Coast to Karnataka

Over the last couple of weeks we have made our way along the west coast of Kerala and Karnataka, passing through Calicutt, Kannur, and Bekel. Kannur, with its long and unpopulated beaches, turned out to be a great spot. The accommodations were considerably more posh and expensive along the coast and we have been "stuck" paying for nicer resort type places a few times. We ended up at a resort on Kappad beach, 20k from Calicutt, after an unsuccessful search for a room. Callicut felt inhospitable and was a way bigger city than expected, so the splurge felt well worth it. After a half day of living the good life we headed for Kannur and then on to Bekel, a smaller, mostly Muslim town that promised plenty private beach to explore. We arrived in Bekel in time to observe one of the biggest holidays of the year, Milad un Nabi, celebrating the birth of Muhammad. There were endless parades of boys marching in the streets, donning the green and white of the Muslim flag. Everything around Bekel was green- the buildings were wrapped in green flagging, every mosque was green, and our entire hotel down to the trash can in our room was green. We were stopped on the street several times and offered celebratory sweets. I ended up trying a tasty mystery concoction-a thick green drink made with milk, rice, pista, and lots of cardamon. I rarely saw Muslim women on the street in Bekel, but those who were out wore a hijab or were fully covered in a black veil. The religious diversity in Kerala (and surrounding area) is remarkable. We'll pass Hindu temples, Synagogues, Christian churches and mosques in a stretch of a few hours. The churches here are way more... enthusiastic! compared to any I've seen in the states. The distinctly Indian use of bright colors and deafeningly loud music really spice up a cathedral.

Before heading north, we found a cluster of cottages along the beach in Kannur and made a point to stop for a few nights on our way back through. The grounds were meticulously manicured and the atmosphere was markedly relaxed with hammocks swinging from every palm. I was reluctant to leave, but excited to head to the hills of Karnataka. After a long day of climbing we've arrived in the Wayanad district, known for its coffee and banana plantations as well as a large wildlife preserve. The preserve itself is closed for the month for animal census (common this time of year), but there is plenty to see and explore along the perimeter. We're still following relatively busy national and state highway, but have managed to meander off the beaten track through smaller towns and villages. As has been characteristic of the south, the people of Wayanad are all smiles and are extremely hospitable. We hopped around for a few days, but have found another nice resting place at the Kannur Ayurvedic Hospital (misnomer) in Kalpetta. We will continue to Mysore and on to our departure point at Bangalore, however it looks as though we will have to take a bus on the last stretch since Dave's bike seat snapped off (a few times) and is getting increasingly difficult to jerry-rig. Luckily there's a new seat on the way and a short break from biking for a few weeks in Vietnam.