Uncy Ho!

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Greetings Fellow Ornithologists,

Well as I sit and compose this latest barometric reportage from the Saigon Central Peoples Committee for the Accurate Reportage of Weather, I do so with a tinge of sadness. It is our final day living on the streets of the former capital of Viet Nam. Our 20 day diplomatic mission to bring about the end of Socialism has failed so now we are going to the Mekong Delta town of My Tho to find the rare species of butterfly known Unicornus Thylacenius. My Tho is about 75km South West of Saigon and we are tossing up whether to travel there by bus (1.5 hours) or by cargo ferry (6 hours). I'll let you all know what we decide.
Once there we shall meet up with our good friends from Canberra Van, Kieu and Loan. My Tho is Kieu and Loan's home town and will be returning to visit family. More on our trip there later.

Over the last few days we have done relatively little as Saartje has been struck down with a life threatening case of dandruff and has been basically bed bound. But I am happy to report that she is feeling much better and is back on her feet today.

There were brief adventures to be had however. Our very dear friend Trang organised for us to meet her cousin Hien (a very young 17 year old) and take us cruising around the city on the back of their motor bikes. Now I know that Hien is a boy, but he is not a very big boy...he probably comes up to my chest, so it looks slightly ridiculous with him driving my hulking frame around Saigon; in fact I am sure it looks quite ridiculous even and it is a great source of amusement for the locals! Sarah was ok on the back with Trang, that was much more apropos. Anyway to see these two young cousins together is something really special. So playful, so full of joy, so tender and so much fun.
Hien is a confident and very savvy young dude with exceptional English skills; he loves fast cars, pretty young girls and has a clear vision on what he wants to do with his life. That young chap is going places.
So anyway the two of them sprung a surprise on us and took us to Dam Sen water park! They didn't know that we had already been and we didn't tell them either as they were so excited. But it really didn't matter as we saw a different side of the park in all its vastness. We were able to witness the utter fun that flowed through Trang and Hien when we took them on the Dodgem Cars and nailed the hell out of them. It was a wonderful day.
After Dam Sen they took us to an exceptional restaurant where they ordered all the food for us. Holy rockin' Roo Poo. Zoinks there was some lovely food consumed that night. The standout dish by miles however were the snails. Undeniably unbelievable! A culinary delight. Just after the main course was brought out Sarah's dandruff started acting up and she had to bid a hasty farewell and return to camp for the evening. She was bitterly disappointed at missing the food and even more disappointed at disappointing our disappointed hosts. So she resolved to make good to the pair by taking them out to dinner again tonight and after that showing them the savagery and the gluttonous disgrace that is the Blue Gecko.

Last night two of the ladies that work at the Guest House we are staying at (both of whom are extremely adorable and ridiculously generous) whipped Saartje and I up a wonderful repast of crab, fish, pork, salad, vegetables and rice. It was SENSATIONAL food. They refused to let us help in anyway. They wouldn’t let us clear the table, do the dishes or even offer money for the food which would have cost them quite a penny. As it stands they earn a mere $70 dollars a month. The generosity of the people over here NEVER ceases to amaze me.

We are planning on buying a camera and hopefully that will occur today so you all may have something too look at. But why would you need it with my brilliant words to inspire and fire up your puny and tiny imaginations?

So it is with a sad heart that we say goodbye to Saigon (for the time being at least) and even sadder still to be saying goodbye to some genuinely beautiful people with genuinely beautiful souls.

Fine and sunny, with a high pressure system over the South China Sea creating a quick and ruthless end to the Ashes for the English.

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Comments

[Veness]

Oh how the Lord thus spoke verily - barometric boner! Archangel Boon says: "come to the mountain, well okay it's actually a hill, and charge on Ponting's boys, "Ponting pounds Poms perfectly purchased pewter"! Team - don't go getin' malaria, aight?