Fall break from Quarry Bay School was last week. Our trip to Vietnam began in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon). We arrived on a Saturday night in the dark surrounded by swarms of motobikes with multiple passengers on each one (some in high heels, some with infants cradled in the parents arms, some with bundles precariously perched on the back). There seemed to be no traffic rules to follow so I was thankful to be taken to the hotel by a local Vietnamese driver. We explored the Ben Thanh Night Market in District 1, which was a frightening short walk when we had to cross streets unaided by lights. The market was full of vendors wanting us to give over the US dollar or all our Vietnamese Dong. We loved the experience, but even at night it was so hot I was drenched.
We attended Catholic Mass in English at the Notre Dame Cathedral (built in 18th century) on Sunday. Another sweltering experience after arriving by a hired pair of cyclo drivers from the hotel. The motorbikes, cars, buses, bicycles, and cyclos all share the roads and sidewalks and again no one seemed to get hurt! Ho Chi Minh has a population of 8 million people and 5 million motorbikes, according to our literature.
Next stop after a five hour van ride with our somewhat English speaking guide was Phan Thiet City to the Victoria Beach Resort. The ride was absolutely great in that we saw alot of the city outskirts and much country life. It was beautiful, but lots of extremely hard living conditions. There was quite a bit of passing of vehicles, even a couple of times we passed a truck and another vehicle passing the truck at the same time--sort of a triple wide pass where we entered the shoulder of the opposite side while avoiding all motobikes and animals. I could not believe it was happening and I've been known to pass a bit when it might be best to wait.
Next stop after a five hour van ride with our somewhat English speaking guide was Phan Thiet City to the Victoria Beach Resort. The ride was absolutely great in that we saw alot of the city outskirts and much country life. It was beautiful, but lots of extremely hard living conditions. There was quite a bit of passing of vehicles, even a couple of times we passed a truck and another vehicle passing the truck at the same time--sort of a triple wide pass where we entered the shoulder of the opposite side while avoiding all motobikes and animals. I could not believe it was happening and I've been known to pass a bit when it might be best to wait.
The cows graze all over the place. We saw baskets of baby pigs, lots of green banana loads, and many small kids riding their bikes without helmets. Every other home had a stand out front selling cold water and drinks. They often times had multiple hammocks set up under shade with plastic tables and chairs for travelers to rest.
The Victoria Resort was beautiful. The flowers and gardens so spectacular. We did ocean swimming, boogie boarding, kayaking, tennis, horseback riding and visiting of the spa. The kids really enjoyed their daily milkshake!
One day we hired a tour guide to visit Mui Ne and see the sand dunes. He was a local who arrived in an army green jeep speaking not a word of English. The white dunes and red dunes were beautiful and soft. Prior to arriving there the jeep broke down and our guide left us behind while he walked to get someone to help out. He arrived on the back of a motorbike with a can of water to cool it down and off we went. The Vietnamese children earn cash from tourists by escorting them and carrying their slides at the sand dunes. We parted with lots of Vietnamese dong since Sam took 10 slides and Kate took 8 slides. At one point our driver exited the jeep to put spikes on his tires for the short ride in the sand. Kate wanted to know why he would put "spices" on the tires. We kidded her all week about her question.
We ate quite a bit of Vietnamese pho (noodle soup) which the kids liked very plain (no spices, just chicken w/noodles). The tropical fruit was great too--mango, dragon fruit, pineapple, watermelon, jack fruit, tiny bananas.
One night we took the kids to a spa. Sam had an aloe vera facial and kids massage. Kate had her nails done in addition to the massage. Both Ron and Sam had haircuts and the barber arrived after a few moments with his ancient clippers and his motorbike. It cost about 30 USD. Haircuts were 4 USD. I had foot reflexology and it was so strong it was hurting!! We had a large roll of Vietnamese Dong because one US dollar was equal to 16,500 dong. So dinner was averaging about 350,000-400,000 dong each night with a couple drinks. I had a several 100,000 dong bills to spend. It cost 9,000 dong to send a postcard to the US--several are flooding the streets in 15202 zipcode.
Fishing is big business here every day. We saw all live seafood in the markets and at night for BBQ. Our last evening we had a great meal with our Swedish friends and their family (they stayed in Mui Ne nearby) and when they brought the whole steamed grouper to the table it was impressive. We kept trying to order white wine and the staff kept bringing red, so finally once it was open we figured out they had no white wine at all. The Vietnamese coffee is very good as well so we enjoyed that all week. I just shipped some home to the US so if you know my parents or the Ramos family ask to have a cup!
I would like to explore more here if time and money will allow.
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