TheOdom4 : Viet Nam

We are getting ready to board the KTX, a high speed train from Daegu to Seoul. We had to fly out of Seoul to avoid a 6 hour layover here.

The ladies room in Seoul has this Etiquette Bell. If you are making any *ahem* *noises* while you are in the ladies room, press the button and the Etiquette Bell makes loud flushing noise. Think of all the embarrasment you are saved.

The elusive "Triple Matchy-Matchy", finally off the bucket list!

We arrived in Ha Noi late, late at night, and when we woke up the city was blanketed in this beautiful, gauzy fog... it was so nice to be in 99% humidity. We took a walk around the streets to see the city before we had to get back to the airport.

Behind the kids is a buddhist village.

The outside of the shrine.

My favorite color of building. Not only that, look at the electric wires above their heads!

Viet Nam is a scooter and bicycle haven. There are only a few cars and they are mainly taxis. Every one rides a bike or a scooter, and not only that, they use them to carry EVERYTHING! We saw scooters carrying trees, a huge 48inch tube television, a refrigerator, and the most people on one scooter? Five.

Our hotel was south of DaNang city on Non Nuoc Beach. Non Nuoc means the mountain and the sea. For the first few days it was cool and overcast, which was perfect for us to spend the entire afternoon digging in the sand.

The only word to describe Da Nang is chaos. There are people everywhere, and in between the people are scooters and bikes, taxis, tour buses, it is just chaos. When you cross the street you are advised not to run. If you run, you will surely be hit by a scooter. To cross you have to walk, very slowly, and let the vehicles zoom and zip around you. It is VERY hard to do this across four lanes of traffic, but it works.

At this point I would like to say a big "THANK YOU" to Harold Bell, the man who created the phrase "Give a Hoot, Don't Pollute", which taught an entire generation, mine, not to litter, even a little bit. People in Viet Nam have obviously never heard of Woodsy the Owl. There is litter and trash everywhere. It really adds to the feeling of chaos. So, for the people of Viet Nam, here is a gentle reminder:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZB7gSQRIuM

We are inside a huge shopping area, R-man is trying to hold his breath because he doesn't like the smell. Grocery shopping here takes on a whole 'nother level of being in touch with your food. There are entire animal carcasses just lying on the floor so you can really see where your food comes from. The fish aisle has the most incredible smell...

The following day we took a bus to Hai An, a quaint little town. We couldn't find the camera charger so I only took a few pictures that day. Luckily we found one that worked, so I was snap happy for the rest of the vacation.

These temples are everywhere. While we were in Vietnam it was Tet, which is like Lunar New Year. Every place was decked out with lanterns, flowers, incense, and signs that said Chuc Mung Nam Moi, Happy New Year!

We picked the absolute worst day to go on a tour of ancient Hue- it was cold and rainy, but we made the best of it. Of course we were expecting Florida weather and so packed shorts and tank tops- wrong again! I had to tell Gary that he couldn't make his "freezing" face in every picture, but he tried! Behind us is the Citadel which was constructed in 1804 and was an imperial city for the emperor.

The entrance to the Forbidden Purple City with a picture of Ho Chi Minh watching down. Chuc Mung Nam Moi!

I just love this broze tiger-dragon.

A long hallway connecting rooms of the Imperial Enclosure.

The poor kids are SO cold, and I keep forcing them to pose for pictures... they'll appreciate it later ;)

Part of the moat around the Citadel. Let me pause here and brag about the camera that we received at the "Prominent Parent Dinner" (see post from October). This camera has a screen on the front, and when you set the timer you can see yourself in the screen. As the picture is about to snap it counts down 3...2....1... and then takes your picture! So thank you again, Prominent Parent!

A tiger-dragon on the roof gable.

Hmmm, let's see, original, seaweed, or indonesian satay????

The last entrance into the Purple City.

So we get back in the car and think we are going to lunch, (we decided to pass on the seaweed pringles) and instead wind up here- Thien Mu Pagoda. This place was so beautiful- it was built in 1601 and still houses monks and students who come to pray.

The entrance to the inner courtyard.

Even the monks ride bikes.

OK, back in the car. We have to be getting something to eat now, right? We drive down this dirt road, through the jungle, I am starting to get scared, I mean, this is Viet NAM! It is still drizzling, we are getting light headed from hunger... then we pass a restaurant loaded with tour buses. This HAS to be the place. Nope!

Instead we go to Khai Dinh, a monument and the final resting place of the Emperor Khai Dinh.

These stone guards watch the monument.

This place was truly amazing and surreal. Just to get here on these muddy rutted roads in the middle of the jungle, and then to come out here. It was awesome. Sadly, there were no hot dog stands.

The outside of the monument that holds the remains of the emperor.

You can see the bronze sculpture of the emperor, and underneath is him.

A worship hall with chants written in chinese.

Back on the road... now we must be going to eat. By the way, this is a highway- the main road that connects Hue with Da Nang.

Drat!

We finally give up on eating lunch and buy some vietnamese style twinkies... only they are nothing like twinkies. It doesn't matter, the kids still eat five each, with some water. OK, and going back to the littering thing, I offered the man who lives here behind the store one of the non-twinkie twinkies as he was watching the driver change the tire. He accepted one and then dropped the wrapper in his front yard. It was his yard, in front of his restaurant, but he didn't give a hoot!

Across from our "restaurant" there are beautiful rice fields and then the ocean.

This is the beginning of a tunnel that is just shy of 7 kilometers long. Amazing.

Finally a sunny day, time to go shell collecting. And yes, we did find shells.

Back in Hoi An, this time with a full camera battery!

A georgeous temple, in all my favorite colors.

One of the many, many shrines I took pictures of. I have about 500 photos of this trip, so if you want to see more, just let me know! :)

Who would have guessed you could be walking down the street in Viet Nam and meet a guy from Texas who just happens to make Nachos... serendipity....

Lily wanted the shrimp, all they had was king prawns, so she went with the cheeseburger.

If you like pina coladas,
Getting caught in the rain...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVdhZwK7cS8

Outside of yet another shrine, posing for yet another picture... we have the best kids.

These big red coils are incense. They burn from the bottom up and make so much smoke. If I ever smell incense again it will take me back to right here.

Just a short walk from our hotel was the Marble Mountains. We thought it would be fun to take a stroll up and see what was going on up there. The entrance fee was $0.85 for the grown-ups, kids are free.

This is only the beginning.

This area is hindu and buddhist sanctuaries. There are all kinds of statues and because it was Tet, hundreds of people paying homage to the gods and to their ancestors.

These structures are carved right out of the mountainside.

Behind this statue of the buddah is another reclining buddah.

Again, carved right out of the mountainside. The little lady in the picture was yelling at me to stand in just the right spot, to crouch down, to hold the camera this way... finally I just waved her into the picture so she would stop yelling at me.

A buddhist pagoda.

Love the fat laughing buddha.

This statue is so amazing. The fog is from the burning incense.

Finally at the top. The city of Danang is in the background. Phew. The steps were narrow and STEEP!

Last day there we spent on the beach and in the pool. When we got to the airport the nice lady behind the desk told us our flight had been cancelled, but they would let us stay in the Hospitality Lounge until the next available flight, four hours later.... do you know they give away free alcohol in the hospitality lounge? Yup, they do! And food, desserts, drinks... we didn't mind that much after all.