Ho Chi Minh


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Asia » Vietnam » Mekong River Delta » Can Tho
March 18th 2009
Published: March 18th 2009
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Mom and I arrived safe and sound in Ho Chi Minh City after a very long 30 hour transit. The plane ride between Chicago and Seoul (14 hours) was suprisingly not as bad as we had expected! When we arrived at the Seoul airport we learned how to make small traditional Korean screens using rice paper and rice glue. It was really interesting and definately helped to pass the time before we jumped on to our final flight to HCM! It was definately an interesting ride from the airport to the hotel. The road rules are as follows "small yields to big... or else!". So, our ride involved a tremendous amount of honking and numerous close calls with several motorbikes. Mom held on tight to the door handle!

Amy met mom and I at our hotel entrance. We were all very excited to see each other. Despite our fatigue, we managed to shower and head out for a drink on the street from one of the vendors. I have to admit, that it was amazing to see Amy after six long months, but hitting the pillow was pretty good too after our long day.

Sunday we toured HCM. We visited a beautiful Pagoda and had our first meal in Vietnam (delicious). We tried to cross the Saigon River to get to a nicer restaurant however, we found ourselves in a pretty seedy area and narrowly missed getting hit by a couple of scooters! Once we got over the bridge and saw the construction we decided to turn back and try another time.

The next day we left on a tour of the Mekong Delta. It was amazing. We all really enjoyed the two days. The first day we walked through a local village. Most of the villagers have never seen tourist (or rarely see tourist) so they were pointing, yelling hello, laughing and the kids were chasing us). We then jumped on a boat to cross the Mekong. We ate a traditional Vietnamese lunch (elephant fish spring rolls, pho, shrimp) on one of the islands where we all had the pleasure of holding python. None of us were brave enought to hold its head. We then got to head out on a Sampan down a small creek to our homestay. We all got to wear a traditional Vietnamese straw hat during our journey. Once we got to the homestay, we unloaded our luggage, drank some tea then headed out on a bike ride. The bikes were quite old and rusty but still worked. They had a basket on the front which made the ride a little difficult! So difficult in fact that mom was not able to make one of the turns and ended up head first in to a concrete post. Poor mom - but she is fine. Only her pride was injured. We continued to tour the village then headed back to the homestead for dinner. We went to bed pretty early but did not manage to get a very good sleep. The rooms were seperated by a very thin cotton sheet so we woken up by someone's snoring at about 11PM. In the morning we got back on the boat and visited Cai Be market. This is a huge floating market off the Mekon. It was really quite impressive. People sell pineapple, sugar cane, turnip, squash (which they call pumpkin), from their boat. We also headed out to a home to see how rice paper and coconut candy are made. Poor mom lost her filling while eating a coconut candy! I tell you, she is having really bad luck so far on this trip. So, our friendly tour guide made an appointment for her by cellphone (can you believe it, they have cellphone coverage everywhere) in HCM. When we finally at 5PM made it back to our hotel we had still not eaten lunch and had not showered in two days but we were determined to get our souvenirs sent home. So, we found a quick bite to eat and made the long trek to the post office amid the chaos that is very common in HCM.

Today we left bright and early for Phu Quoc island. Finally, peace. No honking horns! We spent the day laying on the beach and I have the most embarassing burn ever to prove it! Hopefully I will get another burn tomorrow so that this one will go away!


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The concrete postThe concrete post
The concrete post

This is mom after she hit her head on the concrete post.


18th March 2009

Great to hear from you!!!
Glad to hear you both arrived safely to your destination, half way around the world. I called your Mom on March 13, thinking you were leaving that EVENING but talked to your Dad instead. Sounds like you are having a typical adventure over there, except for the FACE PLANT into a cement post and losing a filling....hahahahahaha! I can JUST SEE YOUR MOM'S REACTION! Jessica and Brendan arrive this evening FINALLY after 3 1/2 years in Korea.....it will be soooooo good to have them back home once again, to begin their next chapter in life. STAY SAFE!!! Say hi to Amy and your Mom.....can't wait to hear more. Sharron
18th March 2009

Nice to hear from you
Was fit to be tied for a while not hearing from you. Glad you are enjoying your time. Sorry for you Arlene, of all place to lose a filling. Hopefully that got sorted out? Things are fine on the home front. Matter of fract I think Alex is spending more time here than usual, so the company is great. I am realizing that I do take things for granted when mom is home. Because I do miss my girls. Pretty surprising that I would admit that but that is probably part of growing old. Weather is just fabulous here. Think it was about 16 today. robins are back which is a sure sign of Spring. Alex and I take turns at supper, so it helps. Dishwasher is filled every night. Weve done a couple of laundry washes with no real catastrophy wich is a plus. Bottom line, contrary to popular beleifs, we are surviving rather well despite everything. Have not seen much of an impact on the freezer however, which is unfortunate. Signing off for now. Love you a whole lot. Dad

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