Vietnam 2007

Houses are tall skinny models in day glo outfits, they stretch ten stories high and crowd each other, crammed into any available space.  The bright blues, pinks, and limes are usually only painted onto the front face of the structures - the sides of the homes remain stark cement.  You can peer into the hallway to see the extended families cooking pho (pronounced "fur") or speaking loudly in sharp stacatto shrills (the only way I've heard this language).  Getting to your room on the "fourth" floor may entail grunting up nine stories worth of stairs with your pack.

Sapa is a fairytale land of hilltribe folk and mountains that look carved out of rice paddies.  The farms stretch over the valleys in layers interrupted by brooks.  People live simply, growing corn or rice and dying their clothing with natural indigo.  They dress in multiple layers of garments, richly embroidered with diamond patterns.  Some women shave their heads under a large red hat, and since these ladies might reach one's shoulders - are a funny sight disappearing over the horizon following the tourists with their wares of silver and weaving, like garden gnomes come to life.

The town of Hoi An is made up of beautiful old chinese merchant homes, with carved teak pillars and central courtyards.  These structures house the merchants of today - now selling stone carvings or tailoring expertise.  Many have become restaurants, where a cooking class may dip into regional specialties of shrimp paste in rice paper or fish cooked in banana leaves.  The tailors can make anything you can dream, and often in under 24hours.