OK, never thought this would happen

    I grew up in the Washington, DC suburbs, and being 72 now, my teenage years were witness to the thickest parts and the wind-up of the war in Viet Nam, a great tragedy for all involved on both sides of the conflict.

    So, it was more than a little weird on a quiet evening in December when Paula looked up from her iPad and announced, "Hey, here's a bicycle trip from Saigon to Hanoi that sounds like fun!"  Excuse me?!  "And there are two open slots remaining!"

    And so during the last week in February we found ourselves on the 30-hour flight to Ho Chi Minh City/Saigon, where we met up with the rest of the folks on trip.  That included Son Nguyen, the 46-year-old very-experienced and fun local guide  

and fourteen other people, two of whom were from the US, along with three other Vietnamese guides and drivers.  

 

      If you check, this timing coincided with the onset of the Iran war/"excursion"/"mistake"/whatever, and two other people never made it to Viet Nam because of the resulting difficulties with air travel.  The rest of the party included people from the UK, France and Canada.

     And it was a truly great experience.   

     Why see any place on a bicycle?  In our opinion, it's the premier way to learn about that place.  By definition, you're going slowly (and slower every trip, it seems), on back roads, pedaling through small towns and villages, seeing and smelling things (and I do mean both) up close.

 

    Of course we saw the big stuff.  Paula and I took the somber tour of the "Hanoi Hilton," and crawled through tunnels used by guerrillas, and visited Da Nang and Hue and other places whose names you've heard.  

  

 

     But we also stopped for lunch at people's homes along the way whom Son had come to know, and tiny cafes in little towns whose names I couldn't pronounce and you'll never hear of.    

 

 

    We cycled through bright green rice paddies and past small and large Buddhist shrines.

     We answered back "Hello!" at least a thousand times to kids who came running out when we passed.  I gave "low fives" more times than I can count, slapping little boys' hands to their great delight as we rode past.  

  

    We had the cultural experience of covering some of the miles between Saigon and Hanoi on a non-tourist overnight train.  This meant bunking up with two other folks for the night in a small cabin.  

     I might not have slept that well, but it was a lot of laughs, especially from down the passageway where the three 50-something English ladies and the others were having a great time playing cards.

 

     We arrived at Han Ong, Van Phong Bay (aka Whale Island) late one night by boat,

 

and in the morning found ourselves in a nature preserve for a day and another night.  OK, it was nice to not be on a bike seat for a day, but it was also beautiful.  We later learned that the floating structures in nearby bays were oyster and lobster farms, whose products may have later ended up at Wegman's back in Raleigh.  

 

    If you look at your shirt or dress tag, you may discover that it was made in Viet Nam, along with a lot of other things.  Walking around a historic town one day, Paula saw a shoe shop and found a pair of sandals she liked, but to her disappointment they were too narrow.  The young lady proprietor said, "No problem!  I make you a pair today!" and so she did, delivering them to the nearby hotel where we were staying for the night.  Paula says they are the best-fitting and highest quality sandals she's ever owned.

     We attended several branches of the Church on Sundays, (don't worry, not in those great-looking bike clothes) and learned that there are 50-some LDS missionaries serving in Viet Nam, with headquarters in Hanoi.  Luckily, there was good translation.

    Having done a number of bike trips in the past, we have found that folks self-select who sign up, and this was no exception.  They were, to a person, good-natured and adventurous and didn't whine about the sometimes-basic bathroom facilities along the way.  Usually.  

 

 

      Look, I have no idea why karaoke is huge in Viet Nam, or why it seemed so hilarious in the middle of the night on a boat in Halong Bay (see below), but it did.

     The war is, of course, a giant occurrence in the remembered past of the country.  

 

    Over three million Vietnamese perished and much of the country was destroyed and/or contaminated.  However, we were treated kindly by everyone, and as honored guests in their homes.  

    Anything bad?  OK, when we hit an ATM and walked away with bills worth THREE MILLION Vietnames "dong," we were really only putting about $114 in our pocket.  Luckily, that went a long way, but maybe they could drop a bunch of zeroes.

 

    Anything else?  Some heat?  Some wind?  A few hills?  C'mon, you're on a bicycle.  Anyway, when conditions were tough, we'd stop, the small bus would magically appear and the crew would present a tray of slices of dragon fruit or watermelon and glasses of some lemon drink that might have contained cocaine, as I couldn't seem to get enough of it.  That and coconut-containing crackers that I need to get the license to import to the US.

 

   Food?  We took a cooking class in a small city one night, so I take personal blame for that evening, but the rest was great.  

    Vietnamese are slender by inheritance, but they also walk a lot and have an generally healthy diet with lots of vegetables and fish, not unexpected for a country with over 2,100 miles of coastline.

 

    Yeah, but isn't it a Communist country?  OK, sort of.  That may represent the official structure, and people did mention frustration with how it's run in many ways, but meanwhile, capitalism rules.  New infrastructure and buildings were everywhere, and an entrepreneurial spirit was very evident.  VinFast, maker of many of the electric cars in that country is building a multi-billion factory in North Carolina.  North Carolina?!

    Our next-to-the-last night on the tour was spent on a very-nice-but-not-overly-fancy boat with just our gang, in Halong Bay near the Chinese border.  Famous for its 2,000+ 'karst' limestone islands, it was simply breathtaking.

  

     That last picture looks peaceful, no?  I had to step out on the deck for a minute because of the karaoke going on inside.  However, I think most of the other boats were enjoying the same thing.  Sheesh. 

 

The icing on the cake (and by the way, I got one on my 72nd birthday on another day on the road, thanks to Son), 

 

was spending our final evening as a group at Son's house in Hanoi, where his wife and mother-in-law cooked us the best meal of the entire trip.

     Because of our travel schedule, we spent a couple of days exploring Hanoi before getting on the looonnnngggg plane ride home.  I'll bet you didn't know that water puppets are a millenia-old traditional art form in Viet Nam, did you?  Now you do.

    Ooof!  That was a long entry, and for that I apologize.  I hope you can feel our enthusiasm and respect for what turned out to be a kind, bustling country with good people, which we hope can continue upward. 

Dave & Paula 

OK, Something must really be wrong

    You probably haven't noticed, but I've tried to keep this blog apolitical, recognizing that I would offend SOMEBODY by taking 'sides,' whatever side I took.  

    However,  there have been too many dumb things happen lately to keep my peace.  Our beloved nation has alienated our allies, encouraged folks we shouldn't be encouraging, handed many of our strengths to others, and more than anything, shown cruelty not in keeping with who we think we are and who we should be.

    It takes a lot for generally peaceful old people to get riled up, but a lot has been happening that Paula and I don't like.  Because of this, we've written to our legislative leaders more in the past year than in our whole lives.  We've donated to more causes that seem to share our dismay, subscribed to podcasts I'd never heard of and generally tried to push back in peaceful ways.  

   Those of you of our (ancient) demographic will well remember the protests of the 1960's and 70's.  While I believed that many decisions of our leaders at that time were troublesome, I didn't take part, and the protesters were generally considered to be radical hippy-types.

    But now, sheesh!  We've been so disappointed with our leaders that WE, generally peaceful and well-behaved old people, have made signs, called friends and gone to - GASP! - demonstrations!

 

    That was at the "No Kings" rally yesterday, Raleigh, North Carolina version. 

    Last week, Paula attended the Annual Convention of 'MWEG,' or Mormon Women for Ethical Government.  This is a nationwide, growing group of women, founded in 2017, not affiliated with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints or either political party who believe that political behavior should reflect principles of integrity, focusing on ethical government, rather than partisan stances.  And no, there were no break-out sessions on how to make a Molotov cocktail, she says.     

    We will continue to be radical septuagenarians, believing that 'you gotta do something,' trying to support kindness and intelligent wielding of the powers of our nation.  

     Like I said, something must be really wrong to get these two to a demonstration.

Dave & Paula

The Worth of Friends (and maybe a little ice cream...)

    A number of years ago, Paula discovered a reasonably priced, aging house on a beautiful beach on an otherwise very expensive island, smack dab in front one of the best places we've ever found for kiteboarding.  I would tell you where it is, but then you might rent it on "our" week and that would be the end of our friendship.  Or I'd have to have you rubbed out, or whatever.  

    So, for the last eight years (minus the icky one with the pandemic thing), we've dragged along friends and have had a great time in XXXXXXXXXX (location redacted).  And don't ask me why everyone ended up with red helmets.  I was first!

 

    Paula was born on the 5th of February, so the trip is always scheduled to include that.  The timing is nice also because it's something to look forward to during the dark days of January, and by the time we get back and recover, it's not too long until Spring (in North Carolina that is, sorry about you guys up north).

    So who are these guys in red hats?  Look for the skinny legs, and that's me on the right.  Next to me is our great buddy Winston, who interviewed for medical school the same day as me in August 1976, and so I've known him longer than Paula, and don't do the 'age' math thing.

    Then comes my brother Mark, an expert kiteboarder along with Winston, and always looking for fun stuff.  He's a thoroughly kind and generous guy and pushes me, and it's usually even in the right direction.  Usually...

    OK, and the guy with the weird-colored legs?  My bro Mark was an orthopaedic surgeon, and that guy (Harold by name) was one of the anesthesiologists that he worked with.  Unfortunately, Harold is also the repository of a huge and awful collection of dad jokes, and would apparently pop up at the head of the operating table during procedures and torture the room with them.

     For the ten days, we enjoy the water and the wind,

and each other's company.  There are birthdays to celebrate

 

and kites to be fixed

and walks to be walked

and heads to be measured

(excuse me - what?!)

    In the past thirty or so years, it has become clear that along with proper diet, exercise, control of blood pressure, blah, blah, blah, social interaction not only makes life richer, but can actually extend it.  

    As an example, drawing on data from more than 2,100 participants in the long-running Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) project, researchers discovered that adults with higher cumulative social advantage—meaning long-standing, robust relationships with family and friends and in religious and community groups—had biological markers showing slower cellular aging and reduced levels of chronic inflammation as compared to their less-connected peers. 

    An analysis of 148 studies found that people with strong social bonds had a 50% greater chance of survival than those with poor social relationships. Harvard’s 80-year Study of Adult Development came to the same conclusion:  “Loneliness kills. It’s as powerful as smoking or alcoholism.”  A documentary in 2023 called "Join or Die" draws upon these findings to encourage participation in social interactions with others.

    And those are a few of the findings that I quoted to Paula while defending my utter need for that new, really cool kite.  "It'll make me live longer if I kite with my friends!"

 

     Pausing, she considered how long she really wants me around, and added that into the equation of whether or not I get the new kite.

    Of course, all of this begs the question of the health consequences of some of the activities during these 'social interactions.'  Like not sticking too tightly to some of those old, stuffy 'dietary guidelines.'

 

    Don't bother counting.  It averaged out to over a gallon of ice cream per person.  Does that negate the effects of the 'social interaction' thing?

    In addition, we have been known to get together and do things that could be classified as stupid.  Like, maybe, kiting at night.  Yeah, but it was a full moon! 

 

'   Or some other fun (dumb) stuff.

 

      So, I dunno, maybe it all evens out in the end.  Meanwhile, get together with your friends and have some fun!  I, uh, mean some important, meaningful, purposeful social interactions.  Yeah, that's what I meant. 

 

Dave