Overall thoughts

Well it's been a couple of weeks since we got back and everything is back to normal. We've had time to decompress and to gather our thoughts. Being away from Vietnam again gives us a chance to really reflect...

We went to a lot of cities, learned about many cultures and experienced wonderful things. What are some of the favorite things? Visiting family in Nha Trang and Saigon, drinking soybean drink on the street, eating rau muong (water spinach)... and countless many other things.

What would we do different? Spend more time in each city... at least 2-3 days more in each city. The next time we go back I'd like to visit some of these places again and just wander.

What have I gained from this trip? Here are some things that I can think of offhand:

- I have gained confidence in my spoken Vietnamese. I know that I can communicate well enough to get what I want and to understand what people are saying around me. I know that I need to improve my reading/writing before my next trip back bccause it will make me a better prepared traveler.

- I got the chance to meet many members of my family that I have only heard about.
This strengthens the family bond that we have and connects me back to my roots. We've actually called over to Vietnam numerous times since we got back to the states.

- I understand where some of my personality traits and thinking processes come from. I feel that being flexible and being able to cope with things is a part of all Vietnamese people. Being able to see the good things in the bad, being able to adapt to ever-changing conditions. Not giving up and finding a way to get what you want. I see these traits in the people that we met throughout the trip.

- I've learned to appreciate historic things more. People know me to be a tech guy who is always looking at the latest and greatest... but being in a country with so much history made me look at the ancient and appreciate it. Seeing ruins that have lasted thousands of years is just amazing.

- The sea is huge and beautiful. The last time that I've seen it was when I was 4 and leaving Vietnam.

- Lastly, I've realized that I'm a simple person. Tina called me a "country-bumpkin" because I like some of the simple foods and the countryside more than the city :). There's nothing wrong with being a bumpkin... ah yes, how sweet it sounds.

Hrm, I should write my blog entries out before I just sit and type. Well it's late so off to bed! I'll try to write about swallow's nest tomorrow and get some pictures up of that.

We're alive and new photos

Well we're back home safe and sound. We both are sick, we both have some sort of a cold. On top of that, coming back to 30 degree weather sucks.

I've uploaded more photos. There is one more set that I haven't sorted out yet but everything is up there for the final few cities. You should see lots of traffic shots from Saigon.

I'll write up more thoughts when I wake up from my next nap :)

Narita Airport

Well we're sitting here in Tokyo, looks like our flight is delayed till 5:45pm instead of the 4:10pm. They were having maintenance problems and are changing out planes.

That's about all the fun that we have for updates.

More photos are up

Yay, I'm finally uploading. Hopefully I'll have photos through all of Vietnam up today. I want to get in some of the traffic photos of Saigon. Click on the photo on the right for updates!

Bangkok Again

Well we're in Bangkok... and we have great net access. So I'll do some photo uploads. We fly out at 6am so we check out 3am.

Photos, costs, and traffic

Yes I know, I'm behind on photos. I'm sorting them right now... I'll get them posted soon.

So tired, we've been on a whirlwind tour of places. I want to get photos up of Nha Trang and the family... and also family in Saigon.

Well we went on a shopping spree today. Lotsa toys and lotsa clothes. It's still hard to think about conversions.

Here are some sample costs:

$1 USD = 16,050 dong (VND)

- 2 km taxi ride: 15,000 dong
- 1 steamed bun (banh bao): 10,000 dong
- 3 bowls of pho and 3 drinks in a restaurant: 60,000 dong
- 10 course meal, 16 beers, 12 pops for 10 people: 100,000 dong
- t-shirts in the shopping area: 30,000 dong
- bottle of pop or beer anywhere: 15,000 dong or $1US
- A Honda Civic: $60-70,000 USD because of the taxes

Vietnam is like Vegas. There's a cab everywhere, you can't cross the street, and in the big cities, there are lights everywhere. There are between 6-7 million people living in Saigon. The city is amazingly packed... wait, not even packed, it's SUPER packed. Since everyone rides around in a motorcycle, scooter, moped, or bike... you get more people on the road at once then you would in cars! I've got photos that would make you sick. During rush hours... 6-9 am and 3-7 pm, you can't cross the street. From 9-10 pm the trucks start rolling through, this brings on more traffic. I can't wait to get these photos up...

Well time for bed, I'll write more. As I said, I'll put up pictures and even after we get back, we'll keep posting till you see a post that says, "That's it!". It's the best way to share the photos with everyone.

Long-awaited update

Well it's been a while since we've been able to get a decent connection. I hope to be able to upload tons of photos at some point, guess I'll have to spend some time sorting them.

We went through Nha Trang and saw the family. Man that is great... we had the 80th birthday for my aunt and visited the old family home. There's too much to write about but I'll be sure to write more and more when I get a chance.

Now we're in Da Lat. What a cool town. It's in the mountains about a mile up from where we were. It's terrific,, the views are wonderful. The weather is dry and cool... well a nice 60 degrees or so.

Just got back to the hotel, had some fresh soybean drink on the street, nice and boiling hot! Whoa!

Talk to you all later, time to work on photos.

Haircut

Hey! I got a haircut in Hoi An! Mohahah! It rocks, no more great clips for me, barbers only.

Cost me 50,000 dong so about $3 USD. He cut my hair, shaved the hairline with a straightedge razor, and gave me a shave with a straightedge as well. Then I got a head massage with a machine... and back too. Wow, great service!

Pictures to come!

Charles