10/24 - 10/30 vietnam

Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) is less than an hour by plane from Phnom Penh but light years ahead. Much more modern and much larger, it flourishes, even amidst the guise of a “communist” country. Regardless, we did get a taste of the communism at the airport during the visa process—yikes! Good preparation for China I tell him.

I love Vietnam and am so glad to have a chance to share it with Clint. The people are a marvel—so industrious (pushy even), yet so tiny. I feel like a giant among them. And the South is so different from the North. Whereas Ho Chi Minh City feels somewhat modern, Hanoi (the capital in the North) seems like a large village that is bursting at the seams.

In Ho Chi Minh City, we mostly took in the Vietnam War sites, including the War Remnants Museum (basically propaganda, but photos and memorabilia are must see), and the Cu Chi Tunnels (a vast network of eerie tunnels used by the Viet Cong to transfer supplies and to make surprise attacks on American soldiers). And we were even able to squeeze in a bit of bowling! (Clint won, but only by 9 pins - I think it's because we gathered a little bit of a crowd, which he played to.)


After Ho Chi Minh City, we made our way up to Hanoi and loved it. In Hanoi we saw a water puppet performance (very unique), Ho Chi Minh’s mausoleum, roamed the streets, visited many markets, and chanced our lives aboard one of the many scooters that cruise through town. We were even able to catch the end of game 4 of the World Series in the early morning—GO SOX! We also had an overnight "junk" trip in Ha Long Bay where limestone formations jut out of the water everywhere —a magnificent site.

Vietnamese wiring. Nice.
Bowling time
Vietnam's war remnants "museum"
Shopping - look at all the ceramics (if only we weren't traveling for another month...)

Yes, those are weird fish, eels, and toads
And here is the tank that contained them. You sit down, point, and they serve it up to you. We're thinking maybe this will catch on in the States...
Our guide showing us how the Viet Cong would come out of the Cu Chi Tunnels, and Clint braving the creepy-ness of it to do likewise

Bottles of rice wine with pickled cobras and scorpions inside - a bona-fide cure-all. Hmm.
Internet cafe, where I am the only one not playing some bizarre internet game
Street side tasties
Clint lounging in Ha Long Bay, reading a Nat'l Geographic (notice the sideburns!)
The junk in front of us

Ha Long Bay at sunset
An amazing cave named "The Amazing Cave". Amazing.
Panoramic view
Clint doing one of his many jumps off the roof of our junk into the Yellow Sea. Good work, husband.

Water puppets. Apparently you have to train for years before you can control these things.
I don't know if you can see this, but they are dumping these odd sea creatures into the mortar and pestle thing where they are smashing it all into a paste. The purpose? Not sure, but we almost ralphed.

Classic Vietnam. Clint thinks this could be the cover of next year's Lonely Planet. Right.

Scooter MANIA!
Dried (and very pungent) shrimp
Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum. (Ho Chi Minh was founder of communist Vietnam, and very much revered as hero no. 1 by the people) (though in his pictures he looks a lot like the Colonel - yes, as in the KFC Colonel, with his "wee beady eyes" as Clint kept saying)
Apparently the preferred method of transporting anything from point A to B for Vietnamese women.

Yes, Clint the drummer. He says I have to write that I made him do it. I did.
Our last "taxi" (yes, after taking this picture, Clint got on the back and the three of us weaved in and out of the madness).