Day ??? -- Saigon

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We planned on sleeping in this morning, but the early phone call from Salem-Keizer did not make that possible. Instead, when Thu knocked on our door at 8:30 wanting to know if we’d join her and Peter on the roof of the hotel, we were ready to go. Again, Bac Phuc was chomping at the bit to leave ahead of schedule, worriedly calling our rooms at 8:50 to wonder why we weren’t in the lobby yet (even though the agreement was to meet at 9:00 - this obsession with running early has turned into a standing joke now J).

We went to a famous pho restaurant for breakfast, which claimed to be open 24 hours. It was opened by someone who had returned from the states and they had a lot more on offer than just pho - including something that looked a lot like pizza and something that looked like spaghetti. We had pho or other traditional soups and enjoyed our meal even though our waitress was not the brightest. When Peter and then I tried to order food using Vietnamese words, she looked at us as if we were aliens. We get that a lot - people don’t expect us to use any Vietnamese words, so they don’t know how to respond. Most of the time I get the “that woman has two heads!” stare - I originally worried that I mispronouncing things, but Thu assured me it was just because people were unused to hearing a white person speak even a simple Vietnamese phrase.

After pho we took a taxi on some errands, including a trip to Asiana Airlines. I didn’t realize this, but you have to actually go to a specific Asiana office and check in with them at least three days before your return flight to the US, otherwise your ticket doesn’t work. I don’t understand why, I just know it happens. The bummer about Asiana is that they will not set seats until you get to the airport, which means even if a group purchased tickets together there is no guarantee that everyone will sit together. It’s weird.

Our main plan for the day was shopping. We spent multiple hours going to the market shopping for various things. Thu and I bought material for ao dais for ourselves, and Thu bought material for her mom and grandma. I’m told that the material for an ao dai costs over $100 in the states, but we were finding it for $12-15. A great deal!

One of the most fascinating purchases of the day was shoes. Lots of shoes. We walked down a shoe section, looking at the shoes by various venders. I wasn’t really looking much because Thu’s feet usually required the largest size they carried and her feet at 3-4 sizes smaller than mine. Peter’s canny eye looking for a gift for his sister found the exception to the tiny-shoes-only rule. A vendor was able to take wooden soles, drill a hole, attach a thong strap, and make a pair of sandals. Thu and I each had four pair made - some for ourselves, some for gifts. It was really cool being able to watch this woman create shoes!

After shopping we returned to the hotel to gather our things and get a taxi back to Dong Hai (the village where we’re staying). Someone should’ve taken a picture of us in the taxi - it was fairly small, although technically it fit seven passengers. We folded a seat down to make room for all the bags. Thu sat on the folded seat in the back and I sat next to her, carrying more bags on my lap. Somehow we made it safely back, although that was not really thanks to the driver. The man inched across the highway seemingly scared of everything that moved, so it took forever to return.

Once we got back, Thu and I went to a seamstress down the road and left our ao dai material and measurements so that she could make them for us. We probably won’t have them by the time we return home, but at least they’ll be started. After ao dais, Thu and I met some people at the café, then Thu, Peter, and I went and ate hot pot at a place down the road (Matthew was at the house, sleeping off a headache). Thu and I weren’t hungry and Peter just wanted pho, but they brought out hot pot for three so we ate. It was a fine end to a long day.

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Photos

Rooftop garden in Saigon
I decided that if I built a house over here it would have a rooftop garden. So pretty!