A few more pics from Bangkok

We are trying to catch up with our blog and have a few more treasures from Bangkok to post.

Nuestra continuacion de Bangkok.

Watching the sunset from the rooftop of our hotel./La puesta de sol desde nuestro hotel.

View of the river from the rooftop restaurant./Vista de el rio desde el restaurante en nuestro hotel.

And the view south.

The Jim Thompson house.

Taking a tuk-tuk (a three wheeled taxi)./Amy en el tuk-tuk (es una motocicleta de tres llantas usada como taxi).

River taxi. Los monjes tienen un lugar reservado.

Siam Square, a major shopping district in downtown Bangkok.

Fish and turtles for sale in Chinatown./Peces, tortugas y algo mas en venta en Chinatown.

Whipping up some Pad Thai on the street./Nuestra cena (noten a Amy esperando por su platillo sentada en la mesa de hasta atras).

A Buddhist festival in Chinatown.

Our first night in Bangkok we arrived from the airport to find a huge Buddhist festival going on on the Chinatown streets all around our hotel. To our delight the festival involved eating all sorts of delicious treats and we ate dinner there two of our four nights in Bangkok. The first evening as we were staring hungrily at a noodle stall a kind lady ushered us to a table and helped us order..

Kind woman: White noodles or yellow?

Omar: One white, one yellow

Kind woman: Spicy or not spicy?

Omar: One spicy, one not spicy.

...and we were off on our SE Asia street food adventure. The evening ended with a little kid selling Omar "Thai Sweet." Here is Amy giving it a try :)

Sapa II

We didn't go back to Sapa, but we never finished posting our pictures of Sapa. Omar took some great ones of Sapa town (popular destination for Vietnamese and foreign tourists), our hike and the market and the very persistent sellers of beautiful handicrafts from the region.

Este es la continuacion de nuestro viaje en Sapa.

Black H'mong women selling in the market.

Red Dzao women at the market.

The women selling various handicrafts following Amy (pink shirt) as we head off on our trek.

Estas mujeres tratando de venderle algo a Amy.

On the trek -- you can just see Amy, still followed by some women who hope to sell her local handicrafts.

Despues de veinte minutos las mismas mujeres queriendole venderle Amy.

Boat Trip on Halong Bay

We took a fabulous two day/one night boat trip on Halong Bay. We left from the Cat Ba harbour at 8am, toured Lan Ha and Halong Bays, went kayaking and swimming and had lunch cooked on the boat. We had two stops--at a huge cave on one of the islands and the second on Monkey Island (no monkeys, some pretty trees and a nice beach). The first day we were with a family and another couple, but we dropped them off in the evening. Later our captain caught a fish (from a fish farm) and his wife cooked up a delicious dinner and then kayaked back to a floating house/boat leaving us the boat anchored in a bay. A wily tour operator had sold us the trip, showing us a little cabin where we would sleep. The actual boat we were on had no cabin instead they set up a bed on the floor for us. Since it was a beautiful full moon night we moved outside and slept on the deck. The trickster didn't get the best of Amy and Omar--it was so cool to have the boat to ourselves and sleep under the stars. The next day we went kayaking through a cave (this was so cool, but unfortunately we don't have a picture) navigating around stalactites to a bay on the other side of the cave. We finished the day with more swimming, more touring of fishing villages--all on boats in the bays-- and then we were dropped off back at the harbour.

Tomamos un viaje en barco de dos dios y una noche. Salimos del puerto de Cat Ba a las 8am, recorrimos Lan Ha y Halong Bays, hicimos kayaking y nadamos, tu vimos almuerzo en el barco. Tuvimos dos paradas--una caverna en una de las islas y la segunda en la isla de los monos. Primer dia estuvimos con una familia y una pareja pero los dejamos en la tarde. Nuestro capitan pesco nuestra cena y sus esposa cocino. La persona que nos vendio el tour nos prometio un barco con alcoba. Pero resulto que nos dio un barco como "el tiki tiki" con no recamara. El capitan nos preparo una cama en el piso pero nosostros duermimos en la parte de arriba, resulto que pasamos una nochecon la luna llena y las estrellas. Cuando nos quejamos el capitan nos regalo todos las bebidas y nos cocino una super cena, asi que todo salio mejor de lo planeado.
Leaving Cat Ba harbour. /Sarpando del puerto de Cat Ba.

Floating houses with fish pools around them./Casas floatantes a la mitad del mar.

Festejando los quince anios de Paola en la isla de los monos.

Amy in the cave.

Watching the sunset.

El capitan y Omar.

The captain catching our dinner. These nets are full of fish, set up in pools around a floating house.

El capitan pescando nuestra cena en una de las casas flotantes en medio del mar.

El anochecer desde nuestro barco.

Watching the sunrise from our boat./El amanecer desde nuestro barco.

Cat Ba Island

One of our favorite adventures so far was renting a motorbike for the day ($4) to cruise Cat Ba Island. It was a beautiful day, the island has quiet and good roads and we drove along the coast and through the national park passing small villages, mango groves and fishing piers.

Una de nuestras adventuras favoritas hasta el momento fue rentar una motoneta por un dia (40 pesos) para recorrer la Isla de Cat Ba. La Isla de Cat Ba es bonita y sus calles son muy tranquilas, manejamos a lo largo de la costa. Recorriendo villas y muelles de pesca.

Amy taking photos from the passenger seat./Amy tomando fotos desde la parte de atras.

Fiestejando el cumpleanios de Kate./Celebrating Kate's 30th birthday!

We stopped at a market for fresh fruit, bread and cheese and had a picnic on one of the beaches.

We did a short hike up one of the peaks in the national park. Here's Omar climbing what the sign board called the "adventurous route."

Hicimos un poco de montania en el parque natural.

The view from the summit./La vista desde la punta.

Cat Ba Island, Vietnam

Cat Ba Island was our base for exploring Halong Bay. Cat Ba is mostly a jungle/national park with a few beaches and a strip of hotels and restaurants near the main harbour. The views are amazing--limestone karsts (look that one up in your earth science book)- the hill like structures jutting up from the gorgeous green water throughout the bay and covered in jungle all over the island. We relaxed in the town and on the beach, took a tour of the island on a rented motorbike and went on a two day-one night boat tour of the bay which included kayaking, swimming, eating fresh fresh seafood and the highlight--sleeping under the full moon on the deck our boat. (Lots of photos coming!)

Llegamos al la isla de Cat Ba via ferry, en la que utilazamos como nuestra base para explorar Halong Bay. Cat Ba tiene diferentes playas, selvas, hoteles y restaurantes. Las vistas son muy bonitas. Esta area es demasiada calmada y las aguas son muy bonitas. Hicimos kayaking, nadamos, exploramos cavernas en el mar, pasamos la noche en un barco y comimos pescados frescos. (Mas fotos vienen despues.)
The view of the harbour from the window of our hotel room.
Vista del puerto desde la ventana de nuestro hotel.

Omar in window of our room with the harbour behind him.

Cat Ba town and harbour.

The main hotel strip on Cat Ba Island.

Watching the sunset from our balcony.

La puesta del sol desde nuestro balcon.

Sapa, Vietnam

It's been a while since we posted pictures--busy with adventures, but also internet and picture problems everywhere. We've been in Vietnam for almost two weeks and spent time in Hanoi, Sapa and Halong Bay. We haven't finished posting pictures from Bangkok and a lot of pics of Hanoi and Sapa are being held hostage on Omar's memory card (the computer won't let us see them). Here is a preview, please check back for more!

Ha pasado un tiempo desde que subimos fotos---hemos estado algo ocupados con nuestras adventuras, ademas con algunos problemas de internet y fotografias. Hemos estado en Vietnam por casi dos semanas, pasando tiempo en Hanoi, Sapa y Halong Bay. No hemos terminado de subir las fotos de Bangkok. Y muchas fotos de Hanoi y Sapa han sido secuestradas en la camera de Omar (las computadoras no pueden leer la memoria). Aqui esta unas fotos preliminares, por favor chequen despues para mas.

We took a hiking tour through some "hill tribe" villages in Sapa. It was a beautiful day's walk through rice paddies, over a few hills and through villages of the Dzao and H'mong people. Omar is in the center of the picture, our guide and some other folks are walking in front of us.

Aqui estamos por un recorrido por alguna de las villas en Sapa.

Vista de los campos de arroz.

Omar chatting with our guide./Nuestro guia y Omar.