Travel Enriches and Exercise Brings Further Rewards

Enjoyed a tour of Vietnam in late September to early October starting in Ho Chi Minh City (aka Saigon) and ending in Hanoi.  Wonderful service and coordination on my SOLO touring set up by a Hanoi based travel agency.  I was met and shuttled to my hotels everywhere and the land arrangements and hotels were great!  Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi are just crazy in terms of the swarming motorbikes (and cars too) with pretty ugly air pollution, but the <strong>weather</strong> was good during my whole 11 days and the smaller cities (Hue and Hoi An) were really great to walk around and enjoy, especially Hoi An.  Absoluely amazing hotels at unthinkable prices when I checked on the internet, all could be reserved for under $30/night with superb buffet breakfasts included!.  My total land arrangements including airport shuttle service, ALL land details and local tours (guided tours at every stop), 2 air flights connecting in country stops, and an overnight cruise on Ha Long Bay with all meals and a kayak excursion and cave exploration the next morning, would have been only $899 in shared double occupancy, but I paid a single supplement of another $400....still very, very reasonable IMHO.

My next travel is my annual several days in Honolulu in early December.  I am a Finish Line Volunteer at the Honolulu Marathon on the second Sunday in December, after helping here in Sacramento at the 15 mile aid station of the California International Marathon.

Footnote:  As a more or less "sidelined" marathon runner myself (over 130 official marathon finishes), I am back to 35-50 miles a week of slogging these days myself.  I don't ever expect to do another marathon, but remain delusionally hopeful that I MIGHT get back to around a 30 minute 5k and sub 70 minute 10k in the next year or so.  On both artificial knees and a repaired pelvis from getting hit by a careless driver while on a beautiful Sunday morning walk 20 months ago, I have been enjoying my painfree morning workouts of 4-8 miles for the last several months.