March 11th - Downgrading and the Group

We spent the morning by the Oriental pool after gorging ourselves on the all-you-can-eat-buffet. American style!! One...more...bacon. We decided to check our email (gotta stay wired) which is accompanied by a complimentary cup of coffee and a panna cotta. This is a nice touch because I hate checking my fantasy hockey stats back home without a pudding-like dessert.

After checking out we hailed a cab to shuttle us to the Viengtai Hotel for a rendezvous with our Intrepid group. Our cabby was trying from the get-go to explain to us a potential problem with our journey. This resulted in a fair amount of miscommunication, leaving us feeling foolish in our assumption that he might know English. Apparently, he was concerned that the hotel was on a one-way street and he wouldn't be able to pull us up front. Nothing would stop this pro however, and he dropped us at the door as we gave him a healthy bonus on top of the agreed upon fare.

After dropping our bags we took to the streets. We were located in the backpackers district and thusly surrounded by 20-year-old hippies. Our hotel was a significant downgrade (it would turn out to be the crummiest of the entire trip) but they had a mini-bar with $.60 beers. After gulping down some Singhas we met the folks with whom we'd spend the next 8 days. Ma, a 22 year-old computer science major from Japan. She was shy and kind of nerdy but would tear up the dance floor later in the trip. Akko, a 36 year-old woman, also from Japan, is an engineer working on complex cell phone technology. Neither understood English very well and we were disappointed to later learn that a Japanese translator had to bail at the last minute. Our guide Bom was affable and fun and reminded Karen exactly of her friend Wook. Managing up to 4 of these trips a month, I admired his work and his outlook on life. His trainee was named Wasa. She was familiar, funny and a good foil for Bom. We would later be joined by a 7th, Jun, the 40-something photographer from Japan. He was raised on the upper west-side and lives in Yokohama. Our most frequent companion, his unceasing drive to photograph everything was nothing short of exhausting to witness.