Berry's SEAJ trip Day 10: Phong Nha Cave day (6/15/15)

Woke up and attended the daily hostel meeting where they discuss the attractions of Phong Nha area. After the discussion, they have people raise their hands with what they want to do, you group together, and then make your plans.

Panorama view from hostel balcony. Paradise awaits!

View from the back of the hostel. Berry loves being in nature.

Side view from the hostel balcony out my room's back door. Berry wanted to know every inch of the hostel.

Beds at the hostel. Our room was the jaguar room so our comforters were jaguar print. Forget what the other rooms were but wonder what theirs looked like. 

Walked down to the boat pier to go explore the name sake cave (phong nha cave) and Berry wanted a picture of the official sign so he had proof of his visit.

The boats awaiting the day's trips. Which one you want Berry?

Excellent idea on their part as it mediates the socialization process of staying in hostels. Our group (which was a multinational group of amazing people – Eric and me (USA), Stephanie and Julia (Germany), Tom (Australia) and Andrew (Ireland) were the core group, while today we had another Tom (UK) with us) heads out to the dock to get the boat (350kD for the 2 cave trip regardless of if you have 2 or 14 people on it) and then we head to the caves. First is Phong Nha cave, we boat into it a ways, come back near the entrance and the boat lets us off to walk around.

Small village on the water. Cant be too bad walking out your front door and that is your sight. 

Beautiful day to be out on the water

On the boat ride, out to the cave and come across some people's houses/villages. This one had a prominent church on display.

We started approaching the cave and we see many boats hanging out at the waiting spot for their groups to return.

We will follow this guy into the dark abyss of the Phong Nha cave. 

View of the cave as we enter via the boat.

Little panorama of the different sights/colors in the cave. Was pretty.

Berry wanted a picture of the 2 of us once we disembarked from the boat.

Berry striking a pose on the sands of the cave.

Berry was really getting into the different rock formations in the cave. This was also about the time where I was being asked to be in random people's pictures. I know I am a goofy looking gringo but I didnt think I was that goofy looking.

Berry was seeing the light. I told him that it was time to go towards the light indeed.

Berry enjoyed the natural cascade formed in the cave. Those were pools of water that would overflow to the ones below

Berry is glad he is getting to escape the darkness. What he doesnt know is we are about to climb the hill to go right back into the darkness. 

As we walk around and take pictures, I had a guy ask me to take a picture, so I of course said yes. Turns out he wanted me to be in the picture with his friend and then with him. Why everyone is so fascinated with taking pictures with white people over there I do not understand but it is what it is. After we finish this cave we hike up the mountain to the Diem Son cave which was nice cause no one else was in there. These caves were also enjoyable cause they were 10-15 degrees cooler than outside.

Berry wanted to take a break on the way up so I took his picture with the amazing surroundings.

Panorama of the park from our view point as we make our way to the next cave.

We finally made it to the next cave up the hill. Lets get in there and check it out. Berry doesnt want to go back in but he doesnt have a choice.

Berry sees the stairs and starts to get excited to see what lies beneath. 

Berry was just enjoying the silence of the cave. We were the only people in this cave for most of our trip which was pretty surreal being in a vast open space and having no external noise.

Staring through the rock window at more rock formations. Berry wanted to squeeze through there but I could not so we stayed on this side.

Made it to the end of the walk way (if you do the over night trip, you go to this point then you go off the path back into the cave's recesses). It was nice and cool and quiet back there so we all sat down, took our back packs off, and let the cool air refresh us. Berry was all for that break.

We have to walk back up there? Well time to start the climb I guess.

The rains caught us as we were coming down from the cave on the hill. One of the great things about being up on a mountain is you can see how the clouds/weather moves over the land. 

A local set of livestock getting some water from the river. 

Back of our boat. This boat is a hybrid (motor and oars). Fancy!

After the caves our group heads back to the hostel and grabs some food down the street before going for a swim in the hostel's pool. That was incredibly relaxing to just float around and swim and cool off. After that we grab dinner and some beers while listening to more live music and just chatting with each other.

Berry's SEAJ trip Day 9: Helping some local children (6/14/15)

Ate breakfast and hung out in the hostel until the bus comes to take us to the orphanage. These hostels are associated with a local non-profit called Take Time where they take travelers in Hue that want to go visit a local orphanage to play with the kids. I tag along and we get to the Doc Sun orphanage.

Berry is excited to get in there and play.

It is impressive the spirit of these kids considering the living conditions; they are not bad but they are not great either. It is essentially one giant house/compound where everyone helps out and takes care of younger kids. Kinda impressive. The kids are very happy and behave themselves rather well. The school room they have there had geometry or some physics on the board, which made me happy to know that these kids were getting an education (which is why I wound up donating money twice to them – once after this visit and again at the end of my time in Vietnam, more on that later). The kids, like everyone else I had come across thus far, were amazed at my hydration kit. I brought it as it made since to not die of heat exhaustion. But to them they just see a hose and me drinking and are wondering what the hell I am doing and what is this thing I am drinking from. So they play with it a little bit and the nuns make them stop, so I do not let them the rest of the time I am there. We head out after visiting all the kids, and get back to the hostel.

Berry had fun with the kids. It is now time to depart.

I head to the ATM to get some money, and on the way back, a guy selling sunglasses asks me if I want a pair and I say no (I am wearing my hat and sunglasses mind you). He follows me trying to make the sale for the next 50-60m. I stop, turn to him and while pointing at my glasses say “I already have glasses.” He pauses and says “Oh!” and walks off. I was just thinking why is that necessary? Why don't these people leave me alone after I say no? Ruins an otherwise beautiful country. Eventually my bus to Phong Nha gets in and I get to my hostel (Easy Tiger) around 9pm to check in. After that, I head down to the lobby for a beer and to enjoy the live music. I then head up and shower and talk to one of my roommates for a bit before heading to bed.

Berry's SEAJ trip Day 8: Being a bum in Hue (6/13/15)

After the long, grueling day yesterday, I took it easy today. I had breakfast and then walked to the citadel which was where the emperor stayed when Hue was the capital of Vietnam before it moved to Hanoi.

View of the Citadel (Imperial City) from the outside as I was walking towards the entrance gate. Berry is excited to see some of the history inside.

Berry just finds these war machines wherever he goes. Yes those are fighter jets in the back. 

Keeping the Berry at bay. Good job Citadel Moat.

The Citadel has many of these fortresses built into the walls. It was meant to protect the country's leader at one point in time so makes sense.

Map of the Citadel grounds. Berry is studying for the test later.

Berry making his way around the moat to get into the Citadel grounds. Beautiful building.

The welcome bridge into the grounds of the Citadel. Berry cant hold back his excitement.

Lots of lilly pads in the moat as we head in. 

We finally got onto the grounds and the amount of space this guy had to live in is monstrous. It definitely is a complex.

Berry appreciating the beautiful interior of the buildings. Gorgeous red and gold with photos of the area both past and present. 

Courtyard between the buildings.

Berry loved the windows/doors of these buildings. 

Loved this lantern's colors. 

Berry just looking at the pictures of the place in various times of history.

One of the pictures looking at the grounds during a monsoon rain. I found this picture really cool.

Beautiful piece of artwork in the buildings. 

Berry loves gazebos and we found one. 

Berry photobombed my picture of the alter? Dragons gold and stone alike. 

Some of their shrubs were animal shaped. Berry made friends with the turtle shrub.

Berry looking back at the gazebo, turtle shrub, and golden dragon. Winning!

The quad looking back towards the flag on the fort we were at earlier.

Started exploring the outskirts of the grounds and found this pretty wall. Berry liked it a lot.

Willow tree on the grounds. Berry enjoying a day of exploration.

I had to convince Berry not to jump in the moat. 

Berry crossing the bridge on his lonesome. 

Berry found another awesome gate to walk through.

One of the streets in the complex. Empty! I cant imagine it was like this when occupied.

Berry wanted to take a break from walking around and enjoy the beautiful day.

Berry then found a stairway down into the moat. Was a struggle keeping him out of there but the view was nice.

Even within the complex, there are moats separating the different buildings. Must make our way around to get there.

Shrine on the way to the theater. Small but pretty.

Wall of the theater area. Berry wanted to go meet the shrub snake (left of picture) but we had to go in to explore the building. 

Imperial Theater where they would put on performances for the emperor and still put on performances (I was not around in time to see one). But the paintings were beautiful and the downstairs had artifacts from the hall's history and the different outfits people would wear for performances. 

Berry wanted one final picture as we were leaving out of a different gate than the one we entered. 

Berry and I hanging out inside one of the entrances to the citadel grounds. I am essentially a young indiana jones. 

A large compound of buildings and historical exhibits (covering up to the 1950s), so I walk around a bit and check it out before heading back to the hostel. Love these old Asian architecture buildings. On my walk back to the hostel, I cannot find any street carts to eat so I just grab a late lunch at the hostel. I then hung out with some travelers who are figuring out their time in Hue and we talk about our journeys thus far. After hanging around the hostel and relaxing that afternoon, I head out to get dinner. I walk around the city a bit before heading into an Indian restaurant and just had lots of great food and a mango lassi. After dinner I went back to the hostel for a beer and wound up meeting Thinh who was a brand rep for Huda beer, a local beer partnered with Carlsberg. We chat about our countries, beer, and other topics before I headed to bed.

Indian dinner in Vietnam? Was delicious.