Goodbye Vietnam..For Now

Well, here we are waiting in Taipei for our connection. The painting behind Bill, seemed very fitting, given the fact that he carried a cute pink bag. I was concerned that he would be hit on by some studs. He finally put the bag away. Whew ! What a savage ! In the next few day's, I will try to wrap up this wonderful experience into as few words as possible. Stay Tuned !

Taipei Airport..is there a Starbuck's here ?

Here is the gang that saw us off at the Saigon Airport. Some hugs and some tears,and we were off to Taipei. Oh, buy the way, we were upgraded to first class on the first leg. The ladies are preparing me to go out and harvest some rice for lunch.

Bill with our favorite hotel crew. They took great care of us!

One day left..Do I have to go home?

Today is Thursday and we return home Friday afternoon. We plan to join the family this evening for a going away party. I really hate to see this end. It has been without a doubt, the most exciting two weeks I have ever had. I will come back in a heartbeat. I plan to download the pictures from Bill's camera and will post a number of his shots. Chao

Winding Down

Is this living large or what! Great buffet at The Caravelle Hotel. More info below.

Assorted snails and clams that they steam or grill for you.

I have never seen a buffet like this in my life! Here is a whole lamb. The buffet also offered sashimi, sushi, four different types of clams and snails, oysters raw and baked, three different crabs, the largest shrimp I have ever seen, rack of lamb, baked tenderloin, Peking Duck, 25 different salads, and a great assortment of deserts. Our second to the last night in paradise, so we decided to splurge and have dinner at The Caravelle Hotel, which is one of the five star hotels in downtown Saigon.

The four of us stopped by the huge market again, to wheel and deal on various things. Rolex's sell for $24.

After another home cooked lunch at Ha's house, the three sisters and a few of the kids kick back and talk or take a nap. Their dinner table folds up and is moved away to make room. The boys sleep here on the floor at night.

Assorted Shot's

A few day's ago, I took the chance and was a passenger on one of these.

Back at Hoan's house. Remember, he is selling his beautiful home for $25,000

Here I am at the Internet Cafe when I could not get a signal from the hotel.

Oanh taking Khane to school. Most Asain's cover themself's from head to toe so as not to get dark. It's amazing how fast we got red at the beach on Sunday.

Here the selection from the roadside stand. See the eggs on the left? They are duck eggs that have been harvested just prior to hatching. In other words, the embryo. Had to try one..tasted good, looked bad. Sitting out on the street waiting for baked clams . That's Dat on the left.

Huge market with everything you can imagine from clothes, to fresh Squid.

Laid Back Monday

Slept in, posted the beach photo's, lunch at Ha's, a little shopping downtown. This is the first day that I can say, did not surpass the previous day. On the next post, I will send some misc. shot's of such things as sitting on a busy thoroughfare eating some of the best clams I have ever eaten from a little portable eatery. I will caption each shot as before. Also, Bill and I plan to combine his pictures with mine and create a CD of the complete trip.

Let's Go Surfin Now

A little something to eat and drink,then the trip home.Check out these three year twins. It's their first time at the ocean and it was a riot watching them. They are destined to be Sumo Wrestlers

The rowdy folks next to us singing and having fun.

Bathing beauty

Uyen, says that she can't swim , so I guess she is going to get a lesson.

Setting up camp and getting the kid's in their suits.

What a nice facility. The beach looked like it is three miles long and packed with family's.

Gathering at Ha's house at 6:00 AM for our two hour drive to Vung Tau which is on the southern coast. We hired a minibus to take 23 of the family for a picnic and frolic in the waves.

Comments

I have been remiss in not telling you about the part of the country we were in to see grandma and the Pagodas. We traveled northwest about 100km (three hours),through a province called, Tay Ninh. Grandma's province is called Tan Chau. I thought life in Mexico was laid back, but this even more so. They work hard and know how to have fun. Everything is so incredibly inexpensive here. We travel across town to Tam's each day by Taxi...$4.00. Dinner for four and a private kareoke room $29.00. Tam's uncle Hoan want's to build a house closer to the beach and is selling his home for $25,000. This is the home we went to for Sunday brunch. Another misc. item. I got my first ride on a moter bike in this unbelievable caos and it was a blast. Today is Sat. and we plan to chill out. On Sunday, the whole family will go to the beach which is southeast of Saigon. More pic's to follow.

Pagodas and Temples

To reach this Pagoda, we took a fiveteen minute gondola ride up a steep mountain. One of my favorites.

Prayer sevices are going on at all times.

The huge round ball at the end of the hall is an EYE. Kind of spooky.

One of the most famous temples in Vietnam. We are standing to the right. Only men can enter at the right and women only in the center.

More From Central Vietman

Harvesting Coconut's. After, we drank the fresh milk.

Kevin working on the farm? NOT! These are roots that the family sustained themself's on for over a year.

This is Hoan & Thoa's little girl, Danie

Up Country Comments

For those of you that have been following this, you know that I have had issues with a consistent signal on the net and have had a number of times that my post is knocked off when we loose the signal. We traveled north to the Tan Chau Province which is about 100km from Saigon. The driver we hired charged us a whopping $80 to transport 11 people, stay with us the whole day, and return us to Saigon. The following post's will consist of our visit to some Pagodas (Buddhist Temples), that are near where grandma lives.

"Goin Up Country" Steve Miller Band 1973

Road trip to the lake on the family limo. Am I lovin this or what!

Anyone need to use the restroom?

After lunch, some of the women process cashew nuts from the number of trees on grandma's land. They sell them to the local markets. We had a chance to roast some right there..Wow

The men at one end of the table and the women at the other. Not unlike what happen's at home. Gas stove? Forget it! Our meal was cooked using a very aromatic wood.

Arrived at grandma's house to find the family prepping a meal for over sixteen people.

To Grandmother's House We Go

Wednesday, we hired a driver to take ten of us north to have lunch with grandma and other family members. The van is on the right and this is the road that leads to her house.

Day Five And Still Alive

Here is a shot of the street / alley that Ha's family lives on. There are thousands of alley's like this around Saigon. People roll their moter bikes into their homes at night.

Dinner cruise on the Saigon River. More fantastic food and weather.

Bill enjoying a cup of Vietnamese coffee. Way to strong for me. I'm a decaf drinker and the people don't even know what decaf is. Believe it or not, this is a little cafe that is directly next door to Ha's home were we are eating lunch every day. Today's lunch was chicken curry, veggies, and fried rice. mmmmmmmm

Today is a lay back, relax, and get ready for the road trip to meet grandmother. We have contracted for a driver to take us out into the countryside. Ha and Hong will be joining us as well. We leave at 6:30AM and return quite late in the day, the post and pictures will follow.

Pictures, cont.

Always cover your mouth when picking your teeth !

The Rex Hotel Garden Balcony. Check out the giant snails in the center.

Uyen and her friend, Linh. The three of us had dinner at this wonderful Fish House. The fish was as good as any I have had. But get this, the bill came to $29.00 for the three of us ! The same meal at Anthony's would be over $150.

More Pictures - I hope

Eating my rice like I know what I'm doing.

Three brother's in law. On left - Ha Center - Huong Right - Hoan

Sunday brunch at Bill's sister in law's home . Her husband, Hoan, built the home himself.

Can it get any better than this ?

chao vietnam den moi nguoi va chuc mot ngay tot lanh.

I am writing this post from one of the many Internet Cafe's, since the service at our hotel is still very poor. Sunday found us at Bill's sister in law's home for Sunday brunch. Vietnamese crepes, (omelets wrapped with exotic leaves), spring rolls, and shimp fried rice. Later in the evening, we went to the Rex Hotel for stuffed giant snails other exotic snacks. Today is Monday and once again, lunch at Ha's house. There is no question that I have been accepted into the family. As most of you already know, I use the word "unbelievable" a lot. Well,I have broken all records already. This is truly unbelievable getting to experience a country like this the way we are. We have alot more pics to up load and will do so as soon asI get a strong signal.

Later this week we travel north to visit Tam's grandmother. We also will visit a famous Buddahst Temple the sits atop a mountain. We also plan to go to the beach this week and sometime this week, Bill andI will be looking for property to build a winter home lol. Stay tuned.

Good Morning Vietnam !

Well, I finaly have a good and fast connection and am able to up-load some pictures. For some reason, this blog places every new post at the top so what you see is the most recent. The best way to follow this is to scroll down to the end and work your way up. Had lunch at the relatives again this afternoon what great food !

Lot's of pic's

Bill with Tam and Uyen after singing.

Tam and Uyen singing Karaoke in our private room. Wow, what great acoustics's and sound system

Men gather to play a Chinese/ Vietnamese board game. This pic is taken from inside the relatives house.

French Guillotine, (in what was part of the Saigon prison. That's Tam on the right.

We visited the War Museum. Lot's of pictures and relics, mostly leaning to the commie way of thinking.

The power went out as is usually does, so Uyen kept me cool with a fan. Notice the motor bike that is behind her. The bike is parked in their neighbor across the eight foot wide alley.

This shot is at our first meal. We are pigging out big time!












This is the kitchen that Bill's brother and sister in law live. Nine people live in this house. Bill', bro in law is on the right and sister in law in the middle. We have

already had three great home cooked meals there.

Above are a few of the gang that are treating us like kings.