Do you believe in cyclones?

Monday, Nov. 10 -- A full-blown, life-threatening cyclone has hit Hanoi, killing 40 and bringing out the military to serve as rescuers. It's now moved offshore, over the China Sea, and the locals assure us the weather is highly unusual, assuaging my guilt over choosing the wrong time of year to visit. We had a good soaking yesterday in Hoi An, but the timing was fortuitous since we were headed to our cooking class. We started off in the market, where everything imaginable is for sale. You want soy sauce, fish sauce, oyster sauce, fruits, vegetables, fish from either the sea or the Thu Bon River, every kind of meat, snails, spices? This is the place to visit. The concept of refrigeration is non-existent, which makes the meat and seafood a little fishy, as it were, but I guess they eat it quickly. Although the market was covered, much of the covering was made up of tarps and I was asked a couple of times to use my umbrella to empty them, as we did when it rained in Yosemite this year. That was about the only thing the umbrellas were good for; we were all soaked.

Cooking school at the Blue Dragon Cafe was great fun. We made spring rolls, stuffed fish — turbot in this case — and barbequed beef, chicken, pork or tofu. I have all the recipes if anyone's interested, but they all involved lots of mincing, chopping, garlic, chilis, lemongrass, scallions and tons of oil. We got to cook and eat our efforts and everything was delish. All profits from the class go to educating street children. We also sampled cao lau, the local specialty, and rice pancakes at Mr. Rin, a street cafe. Unbelievably tasty. We're drinking a lot of mango shakes and beer to try to beat the heat.

Hoi An is an old French city that has been fairly well preserved and currently exists for the benefit of tourists. You can't move without someone yelling, "Madame" and thrusting some kind of goods at you. The vendors are extremely aggressive and your politesse vanishes as the day wears on. They often don't take no for an answer. The afternoon was spent with return visits to the tailor (there are 320 in town) and each order requires three fittings. Measurements are sent off to local factories by motorbike (what else?) and the orders are quickly filled. The owner of the place several visitors patronized works from 8 am - 10 pm daily. Beyond the tailors, the shops here specialize in silk (scarves and purses), lanterns, lacquerware, art and jewelry.

Our walking tour today began at the Tran Family chapel, a private home open to the public. As we went in, the guide gave us a little bowl of candied coconut and told us about the place her ancestors lived. It was built 300 years ago, is a mix of Chinese, Japanese and Vietnamese architecture and has an altar in the entry. There's a four-inch threshold you step over to enter that room, and as you step you have to look down, forcing you to bow your head before the altar. It contains maybe 30 tall narrow boxes, each honoring an ancestor. The boxes for husbands and wives are identical, those for a single woman are marked by a rose or lotus carving, and those for a single man are marked by a Chinese symbol. Each holds biographical information and an object, like an earring, that reflects the ancestor. Antique coins dug up on the property represent the yin and yang. If you have a question or a wish, you throw two coins in a bowl, like dice. If one of each comes up, you get your wish or the answer to your question is yes. (Karen won on the third try). If identical sides come up, you lose. I lost on the third try (you only get three) and was told to come back in three months. I wish.

We also visited the Quan Cong temple, honoring a legendary Chinese warrior. He, his mandarins and two horses are depicted in elaborately decorated papier mache. We also visited one of many assembly halls, again containing several altars, all elaborately decorated with red lacquer and gold leaf.

We all kicked in a few bucks for a local orphanage that our guide Sonja likes. She gives the money to a local who gets better prices and buys rice, noodles, milk and other staples. Apparently, our group popped for quite a bit and we were able to provide lots and lots of stuff for the orphans. Our tour company leans towards the philanthropic and environmental. They don't ask you or expect you to do anything, but we were all happy to contribute. The poverty here is extreme, and it felt like so little.

We return to Da Nang shortly for a flight to Saigon. I think we're there two nights.

My apologies for the length of these entries. The blog has turned into a kind of diary for Karen and me to remember the trip. . . Also, Patrick, our resident tech expert, seems to think I might be able to upload some pix. As soon as he and are at a computer together, we'll try.