Days 129-131 Friday-Sunday Punta Fuego, Philippines March 18-21

Let's just get it out of the way...Tania and I are the luckiest people in the world.  We are lucky to have the family and friends that we do, lucky to have had the greatest wedding in the world, lucky to be on this trip, and lucky to have found the perfect love with each other.  We admit this, and could never describe how truly fortunate we feel every day of our lives.

Now that that's out there, we'll tell you about our time in Punto Fuego.

After saying goodbye to the Child Fund team in Taal, Hubert and another team member drove us to Annie's sister's, Jenny's, house at Punta Fuego, which is a private coastal town west of Manila.  Jenny is one of the sweetest women in the world, and her house was equally beautiful.  We spent the weekend lounging by the pool, chatting over meals with her other sister and husband, the Colombos, taking the boat out to remote corners of the area for some swimming in the crystal clear water and snorkeling through the exotic marine life, including some giant clams that were opened to expose a transluscent blue inner shell, and just enjoying this incredible corner of the world with some incredible people.

 Sunset on the golf course above Jenny's house in Punto Fuego.

The view from Jenny's house in Punto Fuego.

We could not have imagined a better way to relax after the week we had in Taal.  And on top of that, we couldn't imagine a better way to wrap-up our 5 month journey through this region.  It gave us a chance to reflect on everything we had seen and done, and to prepare for what was about to come when we return back to the US.  Would we be changed people when we got back?  How much would we miss being on the road, experiencing something new and different every day?  What did we miss the most about the US, and what would we do/see/eat during the first few days back?  These were just some of the things that we pondered in the waning days of our trip.  There were no clear or easy answers to any of them, so we decided to relax and simply enjoy the home, setting, and meals that our immensely gracious and generous hosts were providing for us in Punto Fuego.  We could answer the questions when we got back to the US, or maybe during our 22 hours of travel we had ahead of us on Tuesday morning.

 Captain Tony driving our boat around different snorkeling areas.

Tania with the ladies at dinner.

Thank you Jenny, Annie, Tony, and Colombos.  Your homes and lives in Punto Fuego are amazing, and we appreciate you taking us in like you did more than you know.

Days 109-110 Saturday-Sunday February 27-28 Ha Long Bay, Vietnam

Oops, forgot to post the entry from our time in Ha Long Bay before showing the video, so here's a little catch up...


Sadly, we had to check out of our heavenly room on the club floor of the Sofitel Metropol in Hanoi.  Yet as the entire time has been with my parents, we were okay with that because we knew there were more luxurious accommodations waiting for us in Ha Long Bay.  After a 4 hour drive, we came upon the coast filled with limestone karst formations jutting out of the ground, similar to what we saw in Yangshuo and the northern Vietnamese coast, but this time, the hills thwarted out of the water, not the ground.  This area is known as one of the most beautiful landscapes in all of Asia, and it didn't disappoint us.

We boarded our boat, the Ha Long Jasmine, and were escorted to our private suites which Anna Marie said were the only two on the boat.  Whether that's true or not, it was amazing to stay in such an incredible room on such a small boat.  Too bad we were only going to be on the boat for one night.

After the captain welcomed us and explained all of the obligatory safety procedures, Tony, Tania, and I jumped on a mini boat which took us to the Hang Sung Sot caves.  After a 10 minute hike which paled in comparison to our climb to the Phong Nha caves, we entered a huge system of wide open caves which were lit with neon lights, just like we had seen in other caves across Vietnam.  I slid my body through a "short cut" (aka a tight opening off the beaten path that no one is stupid enough to try and get through), Tony took-in life-like formations amongst the stalactites/mites (one rock looked just like a giant tortoise, on which people threw money for good luck), and Tania took several attempts at her "Happiness is what we all want" portion of our Vietnam video.  It was an exhilarating site trip to set foot on one of the thousands of formations that fill this famous bay.

Inside the Hang Sung Sot Caves

Some people also took a mini boat trip into another part of the bay, but the Palumbos opted to relax on the big boat and catch up on some sleep.  When dinner rolled around, we enjoyed a delicious buffet meal before the captain stood next to our table, asked the room to quiet down for a minute, and proceeded to sing a famous Vietnamese wedding song for Tania and me.  We couldn't help but shed a tear as he delicately voiced the chorus "It's okay to spend the rest of your life with me."  It was an incredible gesture that reminded us why we were on this trip in the first place.  The captain then gave us a delicious piece of cake which we shared with our table and those sitting around us, which included a very funny and gregarious couple from Ireland (Sandy and his wife).

 Sunset on the majestic Ha Long Bay

After dinner, Tony and Anna Marie taught Tania and me how to play bridge, which if you know how to play, you know that teaching it is harder than most anything on this planet.  Think teaching someone how to drive a stick, speak a new language, and hitting a baseball, all combined, and you have the complexity of trying to teach someone how to play bridge.  After a few practice rounds we played for real, and with some help, were able to grasp the general rules and strategies of the game.  Now that we have that down, we can play all the time when we're in Phoenix.  YAY!

 Our home for a day, the Ha Long Jasmine

The morning was uneventful before we docked and jumped back in our van to drive to the Hanoi airport.  On the way we stopped at some shopping centers which supposedly are filled with hand-made crafts from locals, but we were skeptical when we saw many of the same goods sold elsewhere in Vietnam and China.  They did have some decent stuff, though, so we took advantage of this final opportunity to buy gifts for people back home.

Then we were off back to Saigon so the old people could spend one last night at the Saigon Park Hyatt before flying back to the US at 4am, and so the youngins could spend two last days in Saigon with Steve and Lisa before taking off for Malaysia.

All in all, we couldn't deny the beauty of Ha Long Bay, but the hippie side of us couldn't help but notice the incredible amount of gas and trash blanketing the top layer of the water.  Since the bay is such a popular tourist attraction, the locals have populated the water with more boats than we could count, which obviously is going to soil the water beyond any natural condition.  All we could think of is that our friend Lauren Horner (Hey LB!) needed to open a Waterkeeper office here and clean this place up before it's completely ruined.

Any way, no more tangents.  We loved it up here, and if you can, try to spend a few days taking-in the awe inspiring views of Ha Long Bay.  Just try and do it with as little impact on the environment as possible.

Days 102-104 Saturday-Monday February 20-22 Vinh Long & Can Tho, Vietnam

40 years ago, one week after my parents got married, my father Tony left to fight in the Vietnam War.  He spent 16 months defending our country in a conflict that many people vehemently opposed.  He left his new wife and fought nonetheless, because that was what was asked of him, and because he couldn’t neglect his duty.

He was primarily stationed in Vinh Long, a small town off of the Mekong River, in the heart of the Mekong Delta.  It was a tiny town of a few thousand people centered around a large church located a few hundred yards away from the main city circle.  40 years later, that church and city circle were all that my dad recognized.  Other than those two landmarks, the entire city had exploded, for a lack of a better word.  There are now many thousands (just over a million people in the Vinh Long province) of people living in the city, and the city edges extend much further into the Vietnamese countryside than it did the last time he was here.

 In a way this was good, because Tony could see that these people had moved on, grown, persevered in the eyes of a horrific war.  In a way it was a reality check because it showed that life can thrive inside the evil communist society we had fought so hard against for so long.  This wasn’t the cold, hard streets of Moscow that we’ve come to imagine, but instead these people were happy maintaining old traditions like rice farming and grasping modern living with its cell phones and techno music.  No matter what we thought, though, this was not the city my dad remembered, and that provided a good dose of closure on that chapter of his life.

Reminiscing on the banks of the Mekong River.

This being the Mekong Delta, we had to cross several water ways via ferry before we arrived at our hotel in Can Tho.   Here we were able to relax while recovering from what was an emotional yet rewarding day.

The following day we chartered a private long boat to take us through the floating market.  Literally, vendors and buyers congregate on one stretch of the river to buy and sell locally grown produce.  It’s a wonder that we had never seen this type of market before, but it works perfectly for these people, and should work for any water-based community.

Kids selling soda to passing tourists while their parents sell produce to other locals.

The boat then took us through some local canals and stopped at the bank of a rice factory.  Here we were greeted by a man who sported the world’s greatest lucky hair, and were shown the grounds by his associate.  Before this stop, we never knew that rice is grown with a husk, and is processed to remove this husk and sort it by its proper classification.  And for those of you who don’t know there are more types of rice than white and brown, you’re in for a surprise.  Wow.  That’s the type of info you pick up while touring through the world’s largest rice exporter.

The world's greatest lucky hair.

 A bridge over one of the Can Tho canals.

 

Having our full of river-based exploration, it was time to get back to Saigon before flying out to Cambodia.  We were sad to be leaving Mr. Un so soon, especially his octave-shattering laugh, but we had seen everything in this region that we had hoped, especially Tony, so we were ready to move onto the ancient lands of Angkor Wat.

Phong Nha Caves

We drove 4 hours north of Hue to explore the Phong Nha caves.  One was only accessible by water, and the other after a treacherous hike.  He's a glimpse of our boat ride just before entering the water cave.  Pretty cool.

Boating into the Phong Nha Cave from Craig Palumbo on Vimeo.

Overnight ferry from Koh Tao to Surat Thani

The video should speak for itself.  Keep in mind that we were on the 2nd floor, and the same deal was happening downstairs.  Don't worry, at no point did we not feel safe.  It just made for a very interesting ride over to the mainland.