Blogs from District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, Southeast, Vietnam, Asia - page 31

Hi again, we just got back to Ho Chi Minh City from 2 days on the Mekong (with an overnight 'homestay' that is really sort of a Vietnamese bed and breakfast). Internet connectivity was unavailable down there and also at our hotel tonight so I'll try to post more with photos tomorrow when we have a chance (at an internet cafe right now). The Mekong was a really pleasant surprise and the kids both actually ate the local food (elephant ear fish and spring-rolls we made ourselves at the table) but we have all burnt out on riding the buses to see the sights (about 4.5 hours return today). Also, the weather at the beach (and here in the city as well) calls for rain the next few days so we have decided to punt on ... read more

After a bunch of hemming and hawing we decided it made more sense to head north to Hanoi and visit Hao Long bay and leave the Anghor Wat return for another trip. We're hopping a plane there today and we'll be bookending it with a day in Hanoi on either end of 3 days and two nights on Hao Long bay, one on a boat (made to look like an old chinese junk) and one in a hotel on 'Monkey Island'. Probably we'll post here again from Hanoi but I doubt we'll have internet on the boat. Another interesting factoid; Lots of young people are working in the shops and restaurants around the tourist areas. Carolyn and I talked to a few of them at length and it seems they are making only around 50 cents ... read more

Having a quite day today as we set the stage for the next segment of our trip. We have delayed the departure to the Mekong until tomorrow so that we could plan ahead for a change. Right now the kids are finishing up a homework session (about 90+ min of work each) while Carolyn just went out to talk to a travel agent. Once the kids are done, they and I will probably head over to the war museum (aka Museum of American War Crimes) and maybe take in the reunification palace. Carolyn's attendance will depend on what gets booked at the agency. After the Mekong, the main options are; 1. Boat to Pnom Penh and then on to Siam Reap to visit Angkhor Wat again 2. Plane to Hanoi and then overnight on a Junk ... read more

Just a collection of photos from previous days when I could not upload anything ... read more

Hi again, looks like the blog will be less pretty than we hoped. Can't upload pics from the phone (on wifi) and the internet cafe doesn't let you plug anything in either (fear of viruses). Hopefully we'll get some pictures in at later sites. We arrived last night at the hotel around midnight (~2pm Boston time IIRC) and surprisingly everyone did manage to get to sleep pretty quickly. This morning we scouted out the local area we are in which is the main backpacker tourist district. We found a new hotel for tomorrow night (same price but much nicer one block over) and then walked down to the Ben Tranh market for a bit of window shopping. After that we spent a bit of time trying to organize the next few days. After that we walked ... read more