The last day in Vietnam was anticlimatic. We visited a plush hotel with our friends and luxury can be had here if you want. But we had a wonderful hotel room with a balcony, as can be seen in the photos, for $15 a night. We also had fun eating our dinner at a Bun Mam, an outside restaurant that is set up on the street every night. Awnings are put up on metal poles, tables & plastic chairs are set out and the fresh fish tanks are wheeled to the curb. They get very busy & are very cheap.

Suddenly, about 9 PM the streets erupted with banging pots, loud yelling and people waving Vietnamese flags. The Vietnamese soccor team had won their game over their arch rivals, Thailand. We stepped back against the storefront at first, worried that things might get out of control, but everyone was just excited. We walked back to our hotel and we heard the revelry continue late into the night. Our trip comes to an end and we will miss our warm friends. Maybe someday soon we can go back.

Back to Ho Chi Minh City for a few days before heading home. The hustle and bustle of the city are quite a change from the countryside. Heavy smog is in the air and noisy motorcycles fill every street. Many of the women wear masks over their faces. There is alot of building and repairs going on. Vietnam is trying to improve it's economy through trade and tourism. You can see how much growth there has been by looking up at the electrical wires along the streets. It would make any electrician in the USA cringe.

The majority of the people seem to be under 30 years old. There must have been a baby boom after the war ended. I wanted to go shopping, so I stood on the corner for a minute and waited for one of the many motorcyclists to pull up and offer me a ride. After showing him where I wanted to go on my map and negotiating a price, I put on his extra helmet and climbed on the back. We weaved in and out of traffic, but I arrived safely. We saw only two motor accidents the whole time we were there, which is surprising considering the way everyone drives. I repeated the process to get back to my hotel. It was an exhillarating experience.

We arrive in the coastal town of Nha Trang which is a popular tourist area. We hear many foreign accents, Russian, French, German and Australian. Vietnam is a popular destination from Australia since it is the closest to Vietnam. In the morning we took a boat to their version of Seaworld - cement sea animals and a huge cement ship that houses an aquarium and gift shop. And the fish and eels really are that big. After Amy's hat blew into the lagoon, our guide's nephew insisted on climbing down to get it. Alot of bravery for a $2 hat.

After lunch we went to the famous mud baths. Everyone got sticky in the mud, including me after I took everyone's photo. The minerals in the mud are supposed to rejuvenate to the skin. Does Mike look younger? The best part was the swimming pool that was naturally heated by the hot springs. We splashed in the pool with our friends for a long time and visited with some of the tourists. One couple was from San Francisco and was traveling for 5 months through southeast Asia.

As we leave Dalat we take a shortcut over the mountains to the coast. The road was mostly a dirt path and our driver kept stopping to ask if we were going the correct way. We passed thatched and woven houses and wild boar seemed to roam freely throughout the area. Did you notice the satellite dish on one of the woven houses?

As we came down in elevation we began to see fields of bushes and every house was drying large tarps of tea? coffee? We kept guessing until we stopped at a tea shop that that was selling the local tea - lotus tea and the specialty, artichoke tea that is supposed to have medicinal properties. We also saw some kind of cactus type orchards that had weird red fruit. It looked like white watermelon when cut open and it was very sweet.

We finally saw the typical rice paddies and women working in them that one expects in Vietnam. Soon we reached the ocean & stopped for lunch. The beach was beautiful, the water warm and the breeze cool. It was a perfect setting and I would have loved to stay there for days

We visited a botanical garden near Dalat. It was built only four years ago. The government seems to be building and improving so as to attract western tourists. We saw more foreigners in Dalat than anywhere else so far on our trip.

We dressed up in the traditional clothing of the hill people of Vietnam. With the niece and nephew of our guide we made quite a "family". Although we were all laughing at ourselves, when it comes time to take photos the kids wouldn't smile. I'm glad Mike doesn't really have to hunt eagles for food because we would starve.

After we left the border we headed north into the mountains of Vietnam to the city of Dalat. Here it was much cooler, about 50-60 degrees with a strong wind. Most people were wearing coats and hats here. This area was controlled by the French for over 100 years so the buildings show a strong french influence. We met a very interesting old woman selling food on the street. She wanted to speak to us because we were foreigners and she spoke pretty good English. The first thing she said to us was "I single but I happy". She explained that she was an English teacher to the soldiers during the war. She had tried to escape 3 times, but was caught each time.

We went to a historical village that had women doing the traditional "thread painting" of Vietnam. This embrodered art is very widespread and the "paintings" can be very intricate. Our guide's sister went to school for a year to learn how to do it. Besides wall hangings this can be done on garments as you can see in the photos.

We are now traveling north. We stopped for lunch at an outdoor restaurant that had a beautiful garden and small menagerie in the back. You can see some of the animals here. After our lunch of "pho", noodle soup with vegetables and meat that is eaten for three meals a day, we visit a large temple. Our guide's family bought food to take into the temple as part of their worship. You can see people burning incense and fake paper money in a large cauldron.

We then drove up a small mountain from which you can see both Cambodia and Vietnam. Before heading down and continuing our journey, we snacked on some of the roast pig that was served for the meal yesterday. I was surprised to see the whole pig carcass come out of the back of the minivan we were riding in. I don't know how all 17 people plus our luggage and pig fit in that van, but everyone took it in stride. I never heard a complaint or "are we there yet?" from adults or children.

The final part of our visit in the Mekong Delta was visit to our guide's mother. The family had walled in a one acre garden for her memorial and brought to the gravesite food, flowers and incense. The area was full of fruit trees and flowers.

We traveled on the local transportation, motorcycles. On the main roads are hundreds of them. It seems the whole country moves on them. Families up to 4 on one, vegetables and large sacks of rice on another, mattresses, plates of glass, anything you can think of. And they weave in and out amidst the cars or buses that move tourists. We traveled, though, on a narrow path through the jungle that weaved in and out of the trees. If left alone we would have never found our way back.

Staying with New Friends

We were delighted to have a personal tour and stay in the home of our guide's sister. We were up early to walk to the market in town and then in the afternoon we were treated to a feast. They had a whole roast pig and the shrimp were the size of lobsters. All day long we were given coconuts to drink. The juice is very popular there. Just slice the top off, insert a straw and when you're done, throw the empty in a pile on the ground.

The night before we stopped at a "meat market". A fresh cow is butchered each day and the customer can custom choose his cut of meat, providing someone hasn't got there before him. As you can see, everything is eaten, from the head to the tail. But one thing I missed was any dairy products. Cows are raised for meat, not milked. I saw no milk, cheese, butter or yogurt at any of the meals. The closest thing we had was soy milk.

As we continue our journey we see a variety of houses intermixed, some no more than shacks and others 2 or 3 stories with beautiful tile floors and balconies. The difference, I'm told, is money sent to the families in Vietnam from relatives in other countries. Our guide has helped build four houses for his sisters. Everything is built out of red bricks & stucco applied over them. The have stainless steel railings that won't rust and beautiful tile floors. The most unusual thing is the wide front doors. As you drive past you can see people inside eating or watching TV.

My report wouldn't be complete without telling you about Asian toilets. All places away from the city as well as the homes we stayed had them. No need for seat papers as only your feet touched the ceramic ridges as one squatted. Not too bad once one got used to them. Next to the toilet was a large bucket & water spout. When you are done, you scoop water into the toilet to flush it. No toilet paper, but fortunately I brought many travel wipes in my purse.

Mekong Delta - Vietnam

We're back from Vietnam and what an adventure. And what a major job to go through all my photos. I decided to divide the project up by areas so the first installment will be the Mekong Delta area.

The area is very lush and green. It reminds me of the Sacramento Delta as we pass over many waterways. There are many boats, but they look very different from what we're used to. All the boats are made of wood with eyes painted on the front.