Quick Update!

Turns out our internet hotspot didn't work at all in Cambodia, but we are back online and bursting with things to share!  For now, though, three things:

1.  They use U.S. currency in Cambodia, but they will reject your bills if they are too worn, or discolored, or torn.  Check your bills before you leave home.  Also, the ATM's dispense $50's, which can be hard to change (although they will do it for you on the ship).  We brought 200 $1 bills from home and were very glad we did!

2.  Thanks to our miracle-working AMA Waterways tour manager, the Japan Rail passes are safely in hand!  Hooray!!

3.  You will be visiting schools and villages and it will be nice to have something to give to the children.  They sell pencils on the ship but charge $4 for a box of 12.  Bring your own school supplies, stickers, or other trinkets.  One lady brought little rubber "super balls" which were a huge hit!  Also, they desperately need paper, even paper that has been used on one side, for school.

More later.  This is the best trip ever.

Ever.

Day two: Ha Long Bay

We were up bright and early Wednesday morning and set out for Ha Long Bay, several hours' drive from Hanoi.  More later, but for now I have the following helpful hints about this excursion:

1.  Wear good walking shoes.  On the first afternoon at Ha Long Bay, you will stop at an island in the middle of the bay with something like 400 steep stone steps leading to a pagoda at the top with an amazing view!  On the second morning you will visit an amazing cavern with beautiful rock formations and more steep stone steps.  You will need good footwear for these outings!

2.  Although you will be encouraged to pack light, bring a complete change of clothes if you plan on climbing the 400-step mountain.  I promise, you will get sweaty and it's no fun to have to wear damp clothes all evening and stinky clothes the next day.  (Ladies, you'll probably want to bring a change of undergarments, too!)

3.  Don't worry too much about the baggage weight limits or even the number of bags for the flight from Hanoi to Siem Reap.  The weight limits appear to be like the lines painted on the roads -- suggestions more than hard-and-fast rules!

4.  When you leave Ha Long Bay you will have an opportunity to re-pack your bags if you wish when you stop for lunch between Ha Long Bay and the Hanoi airport for the flight to Siem Reap.  If you leave your carry-on in the baggage compartment under the bus, it will be treated as checked luggage and you won't see it again until you get to Cambodia.  This happened to me, and although it was surprising it wasn't really a problem.  Just know that if you want your carry-on with you on the plane, make sure you have it with you on the bus after lunch.

5.  Ha Long Bay is amazing.  We didn't really know what to expect and weren't all that excited about the overnight on the junk, but it was... amazing!!

This is the life!  The view from the sun deck!

It was a dark and rainy night...

... when we finally landed in Hanoi!   Our flight seemed to be less than half full so we breezed through customs and were on our way in no time.

Helpful hints:

1.  We got our visas on arrival from MyVietnamVisa.com.  They emailed our arrival letters back within a few days and there was no problem with them at the airport.

2.  We didn't realize we would need passport photos for the Vietnam visas.  It was no problem because we were able to pay $2.00 U.S. per person to get them taken at the Hanoi airport, but if you like to be prepared, bring extra passport photos for Vietnam entry.  (Although we paid $15 for two photos at our local post office for photos for the Cambodian visas, so I guess we ended up saving money doing it this way!)

3.  You will need cash to pay for your visas -- $25 U.S. per person for single entry, and $50 per person for multiple entry.

4.  The actual visa is a sticker that goes inside your passport.  I guess we were expecting it to be a separate document because we were a little confused when they handed back our passports and waved us over to the customs people.  Don't be confused when that happens to you: Yes, you are done.  The visa is in your passport.

After we were through customs (total about 20 minutes), we picked up our bags and met our nice young driver, whom we retained through NoiBaiTaxi.com online.  He was right where we expected him to be, holding a sign with our names on it.  He led us out into the rainy night and left us on the curb while he went to get the car.

We only had time to look around and observe that the weather in Hanoi was exactly the same as the weather we'd left in Los Angeles before our driver was back with his just-big-enough-for-us-and-our-bags car!

This isn't really it... the car we drove in was of similar size but was a little sedan rather than a hatchback.  Our two big bags filled the trunk and our two carry-ons rode shotgun!  The back seat was completely filled up by... us!

And what a ride!  Dark, wet, rainy, and FAST!  Don't let the lines on the road cramp your style... at most, they are suggestions!  Our driver made good use of the horn and the high-beams when it came to, uh, urging slower-moving vehicles out of his way!  It. was. awesome.

Also awesome was when we approached a very large, very beautiful building that was covered in little white lights for Christmas, and it turned out to be our hotel!!  (Turns out we just missed the lighting ceremony by a couple of days!)  The Hotel Sofitel Legend Metropole is old-world drop-dead gorgeous, with service and amenities to match!  We were particularly pleased when the charming young man at the front desk informed us that we would be staying in the newer part of the hotel, and personally escorted us to the check-in desk in the new wing, regaling us with tidbits about the hotel and its history along the way.

After that buildup, the room did not disappoint:

Room 287.  Gotta love it!  And how cool is the panorama function on Gary's camera?

So. Fab.

Gorgeous!  And would you like a closer look at the Christmas lights outside the window?  Here you go:

Can you see Santa and his reindeer flying over the pool?  And check out that banana tree in the foreground!

 Having settled in a bit, the first order of business is to dive into the welcome folder from AMA Waterways, featuring a map of Hanoi, helpful hints, and the all-important schedule for tomorrow!  Yay!!

I was hoping there'd be something like this waiting for us, and I wasn't disappointed!

Contents of the folder.

Oh boy oh boy!  Tomorrow it begins!

Things we wish we had known sooner

1.  Wells Fargo Bank requires one to use a new and different 4-digit PIN if one wishes to withdraw money from one's checking account at ATMs in Asia.  Such new and different PIN is available only from a Wells Fargo branch.  During business hours.  Which is of very little help given that we are leaving at 8 a.m. on Monday and it is now 3 p.m. on Sunday.

This would have been an extraordinarily helpful thing for somebody at Wells Fargo to have mentioned earlier.  Maybe on one of the two trips to the branch I made last week, in connection with ordering JAPANESE CURRENCY for my TRIP TO JAPAN.  Grrr.

2.  Item 1, above, is wrong.  One does NOT have to go into a branch to change one's PIN.  One can do it automatically on the phone.

This would have been an extraordinarily helpful thing for the first Wells Fargo customer service lady to have known.  Grrr.

3.  Oops!  Nope!  Item 2, above, is wrong.  When we tried to change the PIN per the second Wells Fargo customer service guy's directions, the automatic system hung up on us.  Twice.  And then a third customer service lady told us that the second customer service guy was wrong.  Grrr.

And...

Heh.

So the lesson here is this:  If you have had your bank account for a long time, like we have, and have a five-digit PIN for your debit card, like we do, go into your bank in advance of your international trip and have the PIN changed to four digits.

You're welcome!