the bustling streets of the Old Quarter in HaNoi. This is now a backpacker haven.

This was a view from one of the restaurants we ate in. Exotic huh?

Here I am making Spring Rolls. It is actually pretty easy.

In our cooking class we made Mackerel wrapped in banana leaf, spring rolls, and calamari salad. It was all very delicious. I really enjoyed Vietnamese food.

A silk lantern shop.

Vietnam by night is enchanting. Brightly colored silk lanterns line the streets, caressing the unique European architecture.

The center city of Vietnam is an old port city called Hoi An. It is now a tourist haven. The street vendors speak English and you can pay in USD. This is a very fun town to stay a few days in. We rented bicycles, swam at the beach, took a cooking class. . .

I am not sure that I want to eat here!

Because Vietnam used to be under French control, french bread is sold for about ten cents on street corners. It is quite tasty and not what I am used to in Asia.

This picture is in the Old Quarter of the capitol of Vietnam. Does anyone out there know the name of the capitol? No, it is not Saigon. The capitol of Vietnam is Ha Noi. The architecture of this city is French with an Asian twist. Quite fun.

I woke up a little before sunrise and was able to experience God's creation shouting for joy. It was beautiful and so peaceful. Praise Him for His wonder.

On board our Junk. The flag of Vietnam could be found flying everywhere we turned (on land and sea).

For summer vacation this year I went to Vietnam. It was mucho fun! Our first stop of the trip was Halong Bay. Here we sailed around in a Junk, ate good sea food, kayayed, and swam in the Gulf of Tonkin. A great adventure that I heartily recommend. Sleeping on the sea is quite peaceful.

Fragrant Aroma

The smell of incense is thick in the air tonight and candles can be seen burning on street corners. Today this country celebrates Ghost Festival. This is the day when Ghosts come to haunt those who have offended them, so people burn incense and offer food to these Ghosts in hopes to please them. Such vanity. I asked a girl today who these ghosts are. She told me that everything that dies has a ghost. So they burn this incense, but how can you possibly please the ghost of everything that has ever died?
I hate the smell of incense, but it has become part of daily smells. People in my apartment set out incense on the stairwell. Whenever I walk by I am so tempted to "accidentally" knock it off the edge. Doesn't G hate that smell more than I do? But instead I should take the incense stands and that horrid scent as a daily reminder to me. I am supposed to be incense. My life is meant to be a fragrant aroma and my praises are supposed to rise like incense. Does the scent of my life bother non-believers? Am I as faithful in daily and continually shouting praises out to G as my neighbors are in sending out a nauseating aroma to their dead ancestors? Certainly my G is so much more deserving than live family members, let alone dead ones.
So join me on this daily journey to be a fragrant aroma to the Most High G. Let us praise Him, let us honor Him, let us bring Him glory by giving Him our lives.
"But thanks be to G who always leads us in triumph in Chr J, and who manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in EVERY place. For we are a fragrance of Chr to G among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing." 2 Corinthians 2:14-15

My sisters came to visit so I played tour guide and translator for a week. At first Hannah just made mean faces, but she soon started to have fun. I have forgotten that this place can be a little shocking when you first arrive.

This is a fun walkway in the Medicine Garden. The Chinese Herbal Medicine Gardens here are the second largest in the world. They were pretty, but I had no idea what anything was because all of the writing was in Chinese. I tried to make my best educated guess, but Hannah and Kristen didn't buy it.

A picture of Hannah in the Medicine garden.

The Chinese Medicine Botanical gardens had three bridges. Barrels (no longer in operation), chain and boards, and stumps. Kristen and Hannah were too chicken to cross the chain bridge so I got a picture of them while they waited stubbornly on the other side. I thought it was fun, the bridge bounced with every step.

This is just a view of the Great Wall. We went up to that top point and then found that we actually kept going up. It made for an easy trip back though.

Climbing onto the wall was the scariest part of climbling the wall. I will add however that the tiles on the walkway of the wall were very slippery so both of my sisters ended up doing some slip'nslide. (For those who do not know, this is my older sister Kristen).

We went to an unrestored section of the Great Wall. Little did we know, but past the second watch tower, the wall was off limits to tourists. One thing you learn about China though is that nothing is really off limits. We paid the gate guard less than three dollars a piece and were free to trek the wall. Since we decided to go to an unrestored area, there were very few tourists and so we pretty much had the wall to ourselves. We did meet two girls from the UK who paid the toll with us and ended up hitching a ride back with us.

I wanted to climb onto the top of the watchtower, but the ledge was a little too narrow for that to be safe. I did not come to China to fall off the Great Wall and break my neck.

That wall stretches on forever. I am way impressed by those ancient builders.

This is in a watchtower on the great wall. Yes this is the one that we got to somewhat illegally.

Downtown Beijing hosts a Tex-Mex Grill! It was tasty stuff. I had a chicken taco with sour cream and guacamole (that is an extra special treat), fruit salad, and a Cherry 7-up. A taste of home in the Big Country.

735days, 4hours, 42minutes, and 15 seconds until the 2008 Summer Olympics. I would say that China is a little obsessed with hosting the olympics. This sign is in front of the National museum and across from Tian'An Men.

This is Tian'An Men Square. Not much more to say about that, there weren't any protests going on.

This is a church (catholic I think) in downtown Beijing. I thought it was beautiful and unique considering the area.