Then there was one...almost

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Multiple Good-byes
Brit & Hannah to Nha Trang
Now my turn to go.

I can't believe that the day has come that I will be leaving Tam Ky to continue my adventures. Brit and Hannah were supposed to catch the train around 9AM this morning. We all headed to the train station to send those two off. Then we find out that the train is delayed until 11. Karen headed back home but Sarah and I stayed at the station even though it was pretty uneventful. Just say this, I helped Brit knit a few rows of her scarf and that was about as exciting as it got! Then we found out that the train was further delayed until NOON so Mr. Hoa and Mrs. Hanh brought us back home so that they could also pick up some food to bring back to Hannah and Brit. Sarah and I decided to go back for one more goodbye..sort of reminded me of the three goodbye "rule" that Jody has. haha

So eventually the call to wait for the train comes and we all head out to the platform area to help with the luggage and stuff…four huge backpacks! So we all board the train to help hoist the backpacks onto the luggage racks and say our goodbyes and stuff. Thank goodness I said one good bye already because I only had time to give a quick hug to each of them before the train guy started to get mad at us. Then when I went to the door to exit the train I realized why he was getting his shorts all tied up into a know...the train was in motion and I had to jump off of the train! LOL

Our last night in Tam Ky was supposed to be spent together hanging out at the street corner and then who knows what. But literally three minutes after sending yesterday's blog Lanh from the Vocational Training Centre and Sarah show up at the internet cafe and tell me that the director of the VTC wanted to take us all out for coffee. Hmm, I remember Phuong mentioning something about that but she never told us when and where! Anyway, the six of us manage to somehow meet up in front of the internet cafe and we wait for a taxi to pick us up. So it was 5 of us squished into the back seat of the car. It sort of felt like "how many volunteers can you fit into a clown car??" I'm guessing we were at the cafe for over an hour. It was kinda weird since we don't know any Vietnamese and they barely know any English. Lanh was our "interpreter" so to speak but her English is very limited. Then when we made it back to the house Mr. Binh says to me and Claire that "one, two" and then motions with his foot (to me looking like he was stepping on the accelerator.) What?? Then as I am heading up the stairs it dawns on me that there are two football players waiting for us! Bandym and Yalvanni were waiting over an hour for us. I felt really bad but nobody really knew they’d be stopping by. Oh well. We engaged in some idle chit chat before they headed off. Then before we knew it, the evening had passed by...

I'll be heading off for Da Nang in just over an hour to catch a train that will depart for Ha Noi this evening. Exciting but sad to know that I'll be saying one more "good bye" to Karen..

I've finished up my packing and boy are my packs stuffed! My "daypack" is about 1/2 the size of my big pack..crazy!

More to report from Ha Noi...

Love,
Bonz

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Photos

Our last breakfast together.
Claire, Bridget, Karen, Sarah, Bonnie, Mr. Hoa, Mrs. Hanh and the new cook (still don't recall her name!)

Waiting on the platform.
Patiently waiting for Hannah and Bridget's train to Nha Trang to arrive.

Comments

[anonymous]

email address
Hello ..now that I got your attention......Karen here..thought I'd email you adn you didnt give me your email address ..shall i just post stuff here....Hmmmm ..maybe not...... Speak soon karen - Karen

[quynhtien]

hey
I know you.. I have come to guest house in tam ky to meet you. I want to practice English.. So when will you come back Tam Ky?

[Bon Bon on the Go Go]

It's been ages!
I can't believe it's been two years since I was in Tam Ky! I'd love to make it back to Vietnam but at this time it doesn't look like I'll travel outside of North America for at least a couple of years! Oh well.