Halong Bay

The 5 International Lurkers have finally been reunited in Halong Bay.
We've spent the last few days kayaking, sunbathing, motorbiking, monkey feeding, cave exploring, biking, swimming, shell and rock finding, and feasting...of course.

Our first night in Halong Bay we were welcomed by rats on a boat we were forced to sleep on. The next few days were much better. We stayed on Monkey Island, our own private beach for two nights and spent the days kayaking around the area to nearby beaches and floating villages.
We are currently on Cat Ba Island and have done some extreme motorbiking and exploring. Today we ended up in a valley surrounded by cliffs and scattered with cows.

The days have been filled with adventures and delicious snacks. It is amazing to think that we have been in Vietnam for about three weeks.

Tomorrow we head north to Sapa, our last stop in Vietnam before flying into Laos.
We will be toasting to the 505 and friends for the New Year. Happy 2011!!

Suspicious drinks with dried lizards and snakes

In the valley


On Monkey Island


Feeding the Monkeys


Monkey Island


The Monkeys!


View from hike on Monkey Island


Kevin catching some rays


On the beach


Chillaxing


Halong Bay


The boys on the boat


On the boat in Halong Bay

Hoi An

Greetings from Hoi An! We've been in this beautiful little ancient town for 5 days now, our first night was the full moon festival where they turned off all the city lights, closed the main roads and set hundreds of floating candles in the canals. It was a beautiful celebration and reminded us of home and the farolito walk.

The next day we went to the beach; our first swim in the refreshing Vietnamese waters! 

We have been cramming our days with cooking classes, country side bike rides, seafood feasting, custom clothes shopping, peanut butter snacking, and ruin exploring. Here are some photos:

Woman on the river in Hoi An

Man on the river in Hoi An

Downtown Hoi An

My Son Ruin

At the market

Petting the chicks

Enjoying our home cooked meal

Maddie planting chrysanthemums

84 yr. old farmer

Near by farming village

My Son ruins

We will spend our Christmas flying back north to Hanoi to meet up with Kevin and Malcolm. Feasting yet again on a delicious noodle dinner and then heading out to Halong Bay for a grand boat adventure.

Missing everyone back home! Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, thinking about you all lots!
Happy Farolito walking!

Linen Update: Maddie has finally succumbed to the infamous Linen Bug, having a pair custom made in Hue. But her Linen count is no match for Maura and Ellies. Ellie has now branched out into the silk and patterned categories while Maura has also obtained silk and genie/gypsy-like custom made ones.

Custom made matching pants.

Lookin' gypsy-esque in front of the hostel!

Random Photos

Ho Chi minh's Mausoleum in Hanoi

Maura getting her shoes fixed on the street in Hanoi

Hue Citadel

Cruisin' for a Bruisin' in Hue

Eleanormous Lowriding- gypsy style

All the Hway to Hue!

Greetings Lurkers,

After a 14 hour train ride down the coast, we made it to Hue- a small city on the Perfume River.
Yesterday was great; we rented bikes from the family that owns the restaurant where we ate lunch. We cruised around on our lowrider fixies, then explored the Hue Imperial Citadel and went on some errands.

Today was even better- the weather was perfect. We rented bikes again and rode to the main local market which is a maze of tarp covered stalls with everything you can think of. In the market, we drank some strange icy yogurt drinks served in plastic bags tied with rubber bands.

Then we explored some neighborhoods on the outskirts of town, riding on dirt roads that followed the river. We passed by dog, roosters, cows, and little kids yelling "Hello! Hello!". It was good to see a less touristy residential area where people were going about their day to day business. After our neighborhood expedition, we rode out of town to the Thien Mu Pagoda- a monastery built on top of a hill that overlooks the Perfume River and hills of graves and shrines. On our way out, we were fortunate enough to watch some of the Buddhists practice their daily prayers in the main pagoda.

And tonight, after feasting on an amazing spring roll and noodle dinner, we were able to cheer on the national soccer team in a game against Malaysia. Go Vietnam!

Tomorrow, we're heading further south to Hoi An.

we are trying to post pictures for all you fans...we are having technical difficulty.

Eeee, Hanoi!

Viet Nam = great success!
We all really like Hanoi so far. Our backpackers hostel is awesome, filled with lots of seasoned travelers, good location, free food and a funky rooftop bar. The locals are friendly and spend a lot of their time sitting on street corners eating suspicious looking food.
We have walked around the old quarter, admired the fresh water lake and done some top bargaining at little shops. Today we went to the Temple of Literature, the first university in Viet Nam and tomorrow we plan to go see Ho Chi Minh's body.
The weather has been humid and a bit rainy.
Pho is a popular noodle dish that we have eaten multiple times in the past few days. Best $2 meal we've gotten so far.
Maura has finally gotten her fix of Vietnamese coffee with condensed milk.
Ellie has found her calling with other backpackers who share a similar love for linens.
And Maddie ate three dinners last night!

We are heading south on Thursday to enjoy the beaches of Hue and the ruins and architecture of Hoi An. Once Malcolm and Kevin meet up in Hanoi we will join them back north and head to Ha Long Bay for an overnight boat extravaganza! (we'll keep you posted).

Sending our love out to the 505, 303 and all you other international lurkers!

Adios Hong Kong!

Greetings from the lobby of Kevin's apartment building.
Kevin left this morning for Tokyo and Malcolm has been in Bangkok for a few days now.
So it's just us guera lurkers here in Hong Kong. On Sunday, we're flying to Hanoi, Vietnam where we'll hopefully meet back up with the boys by Christmas.
Our last few days in Hong Kong have been pretty low key. We went to a few museums, a poetry reading, and were treated to a nice buffet dinner by Kevin's dad. Tomorrow, we're planning on going back to Lamma Island for the night.

Thanks to all of you Santa Feans, Aussies, Frenchies, 303ers, East Coasters, West Coasters, family and friends for following us so far. From here out, we'll have limited computer access but we'll try our hardest to keep the lurking updates coming!

LINEN PANT UPDATE: Ellie's pants are so versatile, quick-drying, and fashionable... Maddie wants a pair of her own! Maura has yet to sport her linens.

WEATHER UPDATE: Cloudy with a chance of Dumplings!

Evidence of True Lurking

Late Night Lurking

Multi-Level Lurking with
Malcolm showin' some skin!

Deal Deal Deal

Ode to Deal

5 cards, 3 actions.

Property or money? It's all or nothing!

Dark Blue set! Oh No!

Deal Break, deal break, deal break!

It's Ellie's birthday, but Maura's broke.

Kevin gives Maddie the stink eye.

She's just one "Mong Kok" away from winning...

Oh but the glorious Deal Breaker from Kevin's hand!

Maddie nervously looks through her hand... Is there a Just Say No card?

Will anyone save her?

Maura peers from below and Ellie hoards mysterious dollar bills.

And with a Tzkszah! and a stink eye back to Kevin,

Maddie plays her Just Say No to win the game of DEAL!

This is how we pass the time in Kevin's apartment here in Hong Kong- with the glorious card game of Monopoly Deal. Kevin introduced this game to us on our very first night here and we are now addicted! 

Tai O

The sweet smell welcomes me in.
Iced coffee with ice cream as a special treat for the long trek back to the mainland.

Murky waters and silted shores, the fragile wooden boats rock back and forth,
A visual lullaby.

Soulful music warms me inside
I think of home.
Mixed emotions- excitement, sadness, sex, adventure.

Perfect doll shoes on painted white bodies as my feet turn red and callused

The river way creates the streets and the stilted houses become my new home.

-poem by Maura

De La Stylo

On Friday night we went to see the Gorillaz with De La Soul. We took the bus to AsiaWorld Expo, a huge venue filled with food stands and beer gardens. Our original seats were on the far left side of the stage but with some luck and good timing we were able to walk past three sections of security guards and right up to front of the crowd. Our view was perfect!
There was a huge variety of musicians accompanying the Gorillaz: a trumpet section from Chicago, the National Syrian Arabic Orchestra, Bobby Womack, and two guitarists from The Clash!
Prime highlight was when they preformed the song Hong Kong...in Hong Kong!

The next night at 4 am we turned down an alley way and on sitting at a hookah bar were all the band members from the night before and De La Soul! We got to talk with them for a while and practiced some intense lurking. It made our night. 

One of the Guitarists from The Clash, Paul Simonon!

Plug Three from De La Soul, Maseo  and Rose (the "get the cool shoeshine girl")

Lamma Island Adventure

Yesterday we took a ferry to Lamma, a small fishing island with two tiny villages, some beaches, and good hiking and views. We hiked for 45 minutes then went off the path to a secret abandoned beach that Malcolm and Kevin found last week. We spent the afternoon swimming, reading, writing, and eating dragonfruit on our own little beach! It was great to get away from the city and masses of people.

Malcolm with Dragonfruit Eyes

Hike Down to Our Secret Beach

After dinner in one of the towns, we hopped on a ferry back to Kowloon. Little did we know it was the Rainbow Touring Ferry, complete with psychedelic lighting, themed music, complimentary tea, and a stop in the middle of Victoria Harbour for the nightly Symphony of Lights (a cheesy laser show with Christmas lights and green lasers flashing from every skyscraper). The boat was filled with old tourists who had payed a lot of money to snap shots of the show and somehow we were able to get on board with them. The SS Rainbow eventually docked at Kowloon, giving us a free ride home (plus drinks).

Confused aboard the SS Rainbow

Linen Update: Ellie's stayin' nice and breezy in her beige linens, despite the heat!

Weather Update: Bluish skies! ! ! Didn't think that was possible here in Hong Smog Kong.