Places that scare you

Confess your hidden faults.
Approach what you find repulsive.
Help those you think you cannot help.
Anything you are attached to, let it go.
Go to places that scare you.

-words from Pema Chodron, an American Buddhist nun, that really resonate with me as I travel.

So, I made it to Hanoi in one piece and am loving this chilly, northern weather. Hanoi is a vibrant, dynamic city with a historical heart. It reminds me a lot of some of NYC's outer boroughs or maybe the east village.  The pho (noodle soup) is amazing plus the good things of French colonialism that remained ain't too bad neither, e.g. baguettes and coffee!  I have made a new travel friend, David Duong, a Vietnamese American, who takes me places that I definitely would not go otherwise. Yesterday, we went to a commune(aka village) outside of a permitted tourist zone. We had to have special permission from the Communist Party and were greeted with lunch with the local police and many shots of traditional rice whiskey, a part of any welcome feast. I got to eat pig intestine, bbq water buffalo, chicken liver soup, bamboo salad, sour melon, and much more. Vietnam is by far my favorite country in SE Asia thus far! Tomorrow, I am heading up into the northern mountains around SaPa on the Chinese border to climb the highest peak in SE Asia, Mt. Fansipan.