Thoughts on Vietnam

There really isn't much to tell today. We had an inside day. Last night did not quite go as well. Dylan went to bed last night at 7:00, he was up at 8, 9, 10, 11. Finally around 11:30 he went to sleep. He woke up like clockwork at 5:00. He was fussy all day. He also had a temp all day long. We went to breakfast, we were the only ones there. I had a note from the tourist desk to come by at 8:30. After a phone call home, I went to see what was available. We decided on a day trip to the beach. It looks like it is going to be fun. We will leave tomorrow at 7:30. It is about a 2 ½ hour drive. We have an English tour guide, air conditioned bus (car), all meals paid for, and will see some interesting stuff. It only cost $34 a person! We are all very excited about it. Today, we pretty much stayed in the room. Dylan has been fussy and cranky. I think it is his teeth. I took about a 30 minute nap. He took a 20 min one, a 30 min one, and a 1 hour nap. We were packed up to go to dinner at KFC, but he was really hot. His fever was back. Instead of chancing it and risking having a bad day tomorrow, we just stayed in and had take-out. Mark went to a place called Bourdon Street Grill. I had what I think was a cheeseburger! Didn’t really taste like hamburger, but I am not going to ask any questions. Hopefully, we will all sleep well tonight. Even though this is the 3rd night in a row there has been a wedding in the hotel and we can hear the LOUD music from the 9th floor and the "great" karoke! So I will leave you with my thoughts on Vietnam.

Kim's Thoughts on Vietnam!!!

This country is pretty amazing. I can’t really think of anywhere to compare it to. There are a ton of people, I think someone said about 7 million people in HCMC (they still call it Saigon). But even though there are all these people, it still has a relaxed atmosphere. It is kind of like a small town feel, but set in a big city. There are times you will see guys just kicking back, relaxing, laying on their motorbikes just watching people pass buy.

Everyone here drives a scooter. You didn’t see many cars. There were a few buses and some big construction type trucks, but mostly scooters! And they are EVERYWHERE! It is amazing how they drive around.

You can see up to 4 people on 1 scooter. We also see them carrying some of the most interesting things. We actually saw a guy carrying a china cabinet! I also don’t know how they don’t crash into each other. I guess they don’t really go very fast, but there are so many. It can be quite overwhelming. The real “life or death” game is trying to cross the street. You just have to walk out in the street and they will go around you…sort of. It is pretty wild.

The kids in the city love to say “Hello” and will laugh and giggle when we say it back, or even try to say “chow” (their word for hello) All the people have been friendly and love to wave and smile. We definitely stand out! It is not like home where you see all kinds of races, it is Vietnamese and us “white” folk! Thomas told us that most of the people wear long sleeves, hats, and masks, because they don’t want to be any darker! Total opposite of Americans! On of the men in our group, Joey, is very tall and bald. When we were driving to Can Tho City, people would see him on the bus and they would point and laugh. He was starting to wonder what was going on. We thought, maybe it was the bald head. When we stopped to pay a toll, there were some men on the side of the road. They were pointing and smiling. Joey waved to them, and then they started rubbing their heads! Then we knew, they liked his bald head. It is very funny.

It is sweltering hot here! It reminds me of East Texas in July or August. It is extremely humid. But it is not so bad that you can’t stand it. Don’t get me wrong, we sweat a lot and need a shower three times a day, but it is bearable. The sun comes up very early here, at 5:30. So the heat of the day hits around 11:00 or so. The sun is strong, and I feel like my WHITE skin is melting. I started wearing my hat today, my scalp is sunburned. I have lathered myself with sunscreen at least twice a day, but I think it is still getting through (even with 70 proof!). Not much air conditioning around, but our hotel room has it, the bus had it and occasionally a restaurant will have it. I totally gave up on my hair. It is just wet all day anyway from the sweat. So don’t expect me to look good in any pictures. Doesn’t really matter, you don’t want to see me anyway!!!! There is someone more important.

The money is crazy! It is 16,000 dong for $1. So sometimes we are not sure if we are over paying them or not. Not that it matters that much, it would be like maybe a $1 or $2. It is pretty crazy to carry around 1 million dong! I am surprised at the number of people that speak English. They seem to enjoy using their English, because they will strike up a conversation with us. Many ask us where we are from. Not that they know where Oklahoma is, we tell them it is in the middle of America.

Check in tomorrow for some great beach pictures!