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A typical city block
In Ho Chi Minh City/Saigon, all the houses are tall, narrow, and colorful. Since arriving in Vietnam, I have barely had a spare moment to myself. So even though I left Kate behind in Phnom Penh (moment of silence), I've made some awesome new friends and caught up with some new-old ones 😊 Every night in my journal - well, once a week for every night - I write down a short, two line summary of what happened that day so that I'd have at least something to jog the memory on the big details. Rather than entertain you with another verbose, ponderous essay, I thought you'd get a kick out of seeing these dailies. So here goes, from when I entered Vietnam.
5/19: The split - Kate off to BKK -> China. I off to Vietnam, Chau Doc via lovely Mekong cruise. Felt sick from sun so stayed in. Booked 3 day tour.
5/20: Day 1: 6;30am breakfast, ugh. Off to weaving village, mosque, then fish farm. Incense making stop along way to Can Tho. Free afternoon there, quite a bustling town. Feeling better, less fever.
5/21: Day 2: EPIC DAY! Markets galroe - live fish being gutted, wholesale market with marker poles hanging fruit, smaller fruit market. Rice
Becky on Vietnam
This rockscaping represents Vietnam, its neighbors, and the mighty Mekong which flows through them all. noodle making. Terrifying motorbike ride into My Tho . Nice stroll with Helen & Pam , the mystery coffee incident
, fabulous dinner where we met a local , hilarious coffee bar with no english menu and a birthday party .
5/22: Day 3: Big boat day, with lots of food. Pretty canals in Ben Tre/My Tho. Horrible singing . Met neat Australian couple . Pretty but too many people to be inspired. Hung out Reflections on Palm Trees
Along the way to the beach (Cao Dai) at in Hoi An. at Eden Bar in Saigon with Phuong .
5/23: Raf & I play tag all day. Helen, Pam, & I visit the War Remnants museum, see wedding gown models photographing at the National Theater, get lost trying to find an awesome Chinese temple. Finally see Raf - yay!
5/24: Pam & Helen leave 😞 Raf & I hang out all day just talking.
5/25: Rainy day. We scrap plans to do anything and just stay indoors. Do some travel planning, swap stories, and go shopping in the afternoon. Bowling at night with Raf's Hanoi crew.
5/26: We actually tour today. Went to post office, town hall, cathedral, department store, zoo & gardens. Lotsa fun with monkeys, elephants. Squeezed two into one cyclo. Watched movie (Breach). Incredible lightning storm
5/27: Leave everyone in HCMC. Very sad. Will miss them all. Fly to Danang to skip 48h on a bus, sweet! Adventure trying to get to Hoi An - taxi tries to cheat
Hotel d'Ville and Uncle Ho
Probably the most quintessential photo of Vietnam - the Town Hall, where the reunification government met (and today's still meets), framed nicely behind Ho Chi Minh, the brainpower behind all the reforms post-war. me three different ways! Managed to bargain for the bus fare too. Go me! Much window shopping in Hoi An.
5/28: Decide to have Ao dai made. Great breakfast in pastisserie. Incredible bike ride to the gorgeous beach. WOW. Played with a group of 14 yr old girls - hard to communicate but v. rewarding.
5/29: Feeling sick so abort plans
. Wander town between fittings. Lots of cute stuff to see, it's like Luang Prabang in Laos. The island is very different from the mainland . AMAZING meal at Cafe Des Amis. Must learn recipe!
5/30: Tour My Son - much like Wat Phu. Amazing brickwork and carving. Didn't learn much about the Champa kingdom, oh well. Arrive Hue - bus journey GORGEOUS. nice walk along river in the evening.
So that's a week of travel. Tonight I am going out to celebrate Buddha's birthday with my new Canadian friends from today's tour of Hue's temples. I keep busy, eh? 😊
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