Sapa - Clean Air, Hiking, and Beautiful People

Beautiful Views

The moment we stepped out of the van in Sapa we knew that we’d love it.  The cool, clean air and evergreen covered peaks filled our souls with the respite we needed from the hustle and bustle of the city.  

Train to Sapa

Although the town of Sapa is much larger than I expected, it can be walked in less than a day and still holds the charm of small town. Unfortunately for me, the streets are mainly lined with hawkers selling their wears.  Yet, the sellers don the traditional dress of their native tribes making them appear beautiful, but no less pushy.

Walking through Hmong Village

We booked our stay in Sapa through a tour company in Hanoi, and I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed the ease at which it provided our travel. As soon as we arrived, we were treated to a buffet breakfast that left a bit to be desired, but filled our bellies well enough.  After breakfast, we were whisked away by our tour guide, May, for our first excursion.

Beautiful Faces

She led us through the streets and out of Sapa. Our destination was Cat Cat village an ethnic village that is completely devoted to tourism now.  Their doesn’t seem to be anything that remains of the village that was home to the Hmong rice growers that occupied it.  All that remains are souvenir shops and a staged cultural dance.  The setting, however, couldn’t be more beautiful. 

The Rains Stop!

Cat Cat Falls

The community gathering hall is at the confluence of three creeks creating one of the most beautiful settings that I have seen. 

After visiting the village, we looped back around through the caribou strewn rice terraces back to Sapa.  From there we were led to our lunch, and subsequently dinner spot, Café Michelle.  We were treated to a nice lunch of lemon grass chicken, sesame pork, cucumber salad, and spring rolls.  After lunch, we were taken to The Sapa Lodge, our house for the evening and where May left us for the rest of the day.  We couldn’t have been happier with the location and quality of the room.  The room overlooked the valley and was spotless.

Our wonderful guide, May

May and Rosemary enjoying the view

On day 2, May picked us up after 9 and we headed out for our homestay.  All throughout breakfast it had been raining cats and dogs, and I was a little worried that we would be trudging through rain the whole day.  We left our hotel umbrellas in hand and ponchos on, and walked through a substantial rain for a bout ½ an hour, just until we reached the valleys edge.  Then the clouds began to lift and it turned into a spectacular day. 

Beauty

The Sapa valley in June is filled with green rice terraces.  The rice plants are not quite in bloom, but they provide vibrant shades of green that blanket the hillside.  Our walk zig-zagged through down the mountain side, passing rice paddies, small streams, a hydro-power plant, and much more. 

Rice Terraces

We stopped for short lunch at a tourist spot that sat right above a pig pen.  The smell that emanated from the pig pen tainted my whole lunch, but left a lasting memory and reminded me that I was still in Asia.  As we ate, the restaurant began to fill with other hikers, mainly Caucasians, and with each new group the local sellers would gather around the them hounding them for a dollar. 

While we ate, two young boys were playing in the river below.  They were jumping, splashing and laughing about.  Then one boy picked up his fishing rod and began to fish.  Aside from the swimsuit, his underwear, and the color of the water, chocolate milk, that scene could play out n just about any river town in the world.  Boys will be boys no matter how rich or poor they may be.

Hemp

May led us through a couple villages and we stopped in her house to gather some clothes.  I was surprised to see how impoverished her family appears to be.  Her brother and two friends were sleeping on the dirt floor, there was a meager wooden table with 4 squatting stools around it next to them, and in the loft above was the family’s yearly supply of rice. 

Arriving at our homestay in the late afternoon, we were both happy to see that it was an actual homestay and not a hotel, dubbed homestay.  The women that we stayed with had one child, a young boy, and they spoke almost no English.  Their living quarters consisted of a large open-air room on the bottom floor and we stay upstairs where there must have been 20 cots strewn about on the floor.  Luckily, it was just us and another couple staying up there, so we had the run of the place.  

This will do - Beds at the homestay

We were served a delicious 4 course dinner again, and then May brought out some rice wine, and her brother and brother’s friend joined us.  This was one of the highlights of my stay in Sapa.  Sitting around with May’s family, including her sister Bam, brother Tu, and his friend drinking “happy water” and trying to carry on a conversation in very limited English.  For the first time, I felt like I was interacting with the Vietnamese.

Rosemary's a hit...again!

Enjoying some "Happy Water" with Tu and his friend

 

Our hike out began in a rainy downpour, but again the rain subsided, and we were provided a stunning walk out of the valley.  Along our way, we walked past a huge waterfall that was overflowing from the night’s rain.  Interestingly enough, as we approached and left the falls the water receded and cleared up substantially.   We arrived back in Sapa at about 2pm and spent the next few hours drinking coffee and wandering the city. 


Our Sapa stay was definitely a highlight of the trip thus far.  The beauty of the mountains, valley, and people will be etched in my mind forever.

Unnamed waterfall

Beautiful Hmong women

Working under the umbrella

Shadow poses in Sapa Square

  

Ha Long Bay

Beautiful Sunset

Our Ship - Imperial

 
Day 1

After a one day delay (boat malfunction so they say), we finally made it to Ha Long Bay.  The natural beauty is not overstated.  There are limestone karsts jutting out of the water all around us creating thousands of islets and islands.  Unfortunately, the beauty of the bay is a bit tainted by the “tour” experience.  I’m currently sitting on our balcony aboard the ship, and aside from the gorgeous outcroppings all I see are other tour boats (hundreds of them).  So far, the tour consisted of a 4+ hour van ride, 10 minute small boat ride to our big boat, 20 minute big boat ride into the bay, small boat ride to a disgusting cave, small boat ride to an even grosser beach, small boat ride to a 30 minute kayaking spot, and back to our big boat for dinner.  We haven’t moved!  And we're surrounded by other ships all lit up and full of people!  What’s the point of sleeping on a boat if your view is other boats and the city in the distance.  Not exactly what I imagined when I signed up for a Ha Long Bay Cruise :(  

The cattle move through the cave.

Day 2 we are to board another small boat that’s supposed to take us to our private bungalow beach.  We’ll see what that actually means. I feel a bit bad for complaining because we are in a beautiful place and very few people get experience what I’m experiencing, but I guess I’m greedy.

The food was amazing!

Day 2 and 3

The sun sets as I sit to write this and as our flight heads West to our next destination, Luang Prabang, Laos, and it is with a bit of sadness that we bid farewell to the beautiful country of Vietnam. 

Fishing Village

Our Vietnam tour ended in a fantastic fashion as the second half of our Halong Bay tour was pretty spectacular.  After a quick breakfast and stop at a pearl farm, we changed boats and joined a slew of other folks as we were whisked away to our Bungalow for our second night’s stay.  The ride was beautiful, as we meandered through the various karst outcroppings, each with its own shape and character.  The turquoise waters carried us past floating fishing villages, caves, secluded beaches and towering islets to our destination.  

We made it through the rough seas!

The seas became a bit rough as we entered a bit of open water, and Rosemary was not very happy about, but it only lasted about 45 minutes before we were back cruising in the protected bay.  

Pearl Farm

Our Beach Resort

  









The arrival to our destination was not disappointing.  The set of bungalows were positioned right on the water and we had an unobstructed view of the one of the Seven Wonders of the World.  We spent the day playing in the sand, eating, and napping, and couldn’t have been more content. 

Yeah! Drip Castles

Our final day in Vietnam was spent traveling, but it was a beautiful travel.  We took three boats and ate two meals before we reached the dock in Halong Bay.  Then, we loaded onto a mini-bus for our journey back to Hanoi.  We unloaded a bit before Hanoi to catch a taxi that carried us to the airport, wherein we boarded the plane exiting Vietnam 28 days after we entered. 



Farewell Viet Nam!  You have been very good to us and we thank you for your natural beauty, friendly people and vibrant cities.

Hoi An Holiday

We’ve spent the last four nights in Hoi An and we will leave tomorrow.  This spot has become a vacation from our vacation.  Getting here wasn’t the easiest of tasks, as we took a late flight into Da Nang Airport wherein we had to purchase another visa because they issued us the wrong type on our initial entry.  After about 1.5 hours waiting for the new single entry visa, we took an expensive taxi to our hotel, DaNang BayHotel, and finally got to bed at around 11pm.  We were all extremely exhausted, and poor Rosemary was beside herself.    

Luckily, the following day we were able to sleep in, and after a short walk along the beach of Da Nang bay we headed to our place, Moon Home stay, in Hoi An.  I wish we would have spent a bit more time in DaNang as the city and beaches seemed to have a lot to offer.

  Last night as we were eating dinner in old town Hoi An, I felt as if I was in a small-town European café.  The colonial buildings, music, table arrangement, plant life, and view, all reminded me of one of many European river cities.  And yet, there I was in Vietnam eating delicious fried wantons and a green mango salad.  This is the interesting thing about Hoi An, it can be hard to tell you’re in Vietnam (aside from the food choices) when you’re meandering the streets.  The crowds that jam the streets are of a variety of ethnicities with a majority of Caucasians, the streets are lined with vendors that could be found in any tourist town, the buildings have a French Colonial flare, and the cafes are abundant.

  Hoi An is the old trading capital of Vietnam.  As such, it was influenced by many different cultures, mainly the Chinese and Japanese early on, but later by the Portuguese and French.  The city was used as a gateway to Southeast Asia’s interior and became a cultural hub of the region.  It was abandoned as the river silted up not allowing large boats to pass, and Da Nang took over. However, the charm of the narrow streets and colonial architecture remains, and the new business of choice is preying on tourists.   

The old town of Hoi An is about 15 minutes from the beach making it an ideal vacation spot.  You can spend the day lounging around the beach and the evening meandering the streets in old town.  We had the use of bikes during our stay at Moon’s and these proved to be invaluable.  We never once had to get in a taxi, or take a tuk-tuk, or walk farther than we’d like. 
 
Actually, one of our highlights of the stay was getting lost in the rice fields on our way to the beach.  We tried to take some small canal roads that traversed the rice paddies, but came to a dead end. An unassuming farmer decided to guide us to the beach, stopping for a photo shoot with his caribou, and traveling through the gardens along the way.  Hoi An by bike is definitely the way to go, and if you have the chance get lost.   

  One of the things this town is known for is the abundance of tailors that reside here.  This is not overstated.  To be honest, I don’t know how they all stay in business as there is a tailor in every other store.  We came with idea of getting some clothes made, and were successful, however the experience hasn’t been the best.  We made a cardinal mistake and ended up purchasing a trial outfit from the first tailor we went into.  I wasn’t even going to go into the shop, and I walked out with a new $30 pair of pants.  The shop name was Van Thu and the worker who helped me was not very nice and she was very pushy.  I wasn’t terribly happy with the result of pants and I asked to have them adjusted and she reluctantly did so once, but would not do it again.  Luckily, we only bought the one pair of pants and a dress (that my wife was completely happy with).   
 

After that experience, we decided just to have clothes made at our home stay with Ms. Moon.  She was a much more rewarding person to work with.  Never once did I feel like I was getting sold on something that I didn’t want.  Also, she made alterations on my pants quickly and without hesitation.  She even altered my original pants from the other shop for free.  My wife had a dress and a couple of shirts made that she was very pleased with.  I would recommend Ms. Moon very highly.  

 

We came to love Hoi An, not for the touristy downtown or the beautiful coast, but for the places in between.  The rice paddies, vegetable gardens, and local markets make Hoi An a excellent place to take a rest.

Phnom Penh

After just a few hours in Cambodia’s capitol, we were certain that a two-night stay would be plenty.  But as we were heading to the airport on our way out, we turned to each other and said, “One more night would’ve been nice.”  That feeling of "let's get out of here, and that's wow that's cool" pretty much sums up our Phnom Penh, and Cambodia as a whole experience.

Anna and I tried to figure out what it was about Phnom Penh that we didn’t quite jive with, and this is what we came up with.  First, it was really touristy.  Phnom Penh was the first place we’d been where we felt like we were just another person on the tourist track.  Second, the people weren’t as friendly.  I think a lot of this has to do with the touristy nature of the city, but there seemed to be more to it.  It felt like we were just viewed as a source of money to the locals and not much more.  Part of this has to do with the bargaining that you have to do for everything.  In HCMC, we took metered taxis almost every where, therefore there was little need for bargaining.  When you’re forced to bargain for everything, I constantly feel like I’m either being taken advantage of or I feel guilty for not paying enough.  These negative feelings end up taking away from the enjoyment of travel.  Third, lack of parks.  Although we really enjoyed walking through the parks in the evening, they didn’t quite compare to the huge parks in Vietnam.  Greenspace is such an important part of our life and is so vital for our enjoyment.

After disembarking the BlueCruiser, our overpriced transportation from Chau Doc, we found an internet café for a hotel.   We stayed at a very nice boutique hotel, H Hotel, which was located just blocks from the RoyalPalace and equipped with a swimming pool, large room, and comfortable shower.  After grabbing a quick bite to eat, we just strolled through the streets of Phnom Penh. 


We witnessed one of the ills of a tourist laden city.  As we were sitting at our lunch/dinner spot, there was an altercation between two intoxicated travelers or expats.  It looked like a father-son combo.  Some choice words were said and then the older gentleman hopped in a tuk-tuk and left.  After about 15 minutes and a long discussion, the younger gentleman proceeded to yell some explicative, kick a chair, and sprint down the street like a super hero.  It was a truly embarrassing moment for all those involved.  That’s what happens when you offer $2 pitchers of beer.


The main attraction in Phnom Penh, asided from the prison and killing fields, is the Royal  palace and Silver Pagoda.  

The most enjoyable part of Phnom Penh was strolling through the various parks at sundown.  The parks were filled with locals (I think) dancing, eating, drinking, playing with the huge pigeon population, and just enjoying the cooled temperatures.  It was during these times that the magic of this capitol city showed itself.  Aside from these evenings and the historical sites, Phnom Penh left a lot to be desired.

Chau Doc - We love you!

This was such a pleasant surprise to both of us, that we ended up staying an extra night.  Chau Doc has a captivating charm that is hard to describe.  Originally, we headed here mainly to catch a boat to Phnom Penh, but were immediately drawn-in by the energy of the city.  We didn’t have a place to stay in Chau Doc upon arrival so we had our driver drop us off at an internet cafe.  After a couple of milk coffees we found a nice, but basic hotel called Hai Chau.  The hotel was situated just a short walk from the central market, riverfront, and the town square.

The highlight of our stay had to have been our trip to Tra Su Bird Sanctuary.  Despite doing a terrible job of negotiating a taxi price (it cost $30 return), the sanctuary was just what our nature loving souls needed.  The sanctuary tour includes both fast and row boat tours of the area.  Sitting in the dugout being rowed through Cajeput Tree forest in lilly filled waters, and being greeted by birds in every direction fulfilled my visions of the Mekong waterways. 

We saw a variety of birds, highlighted by huge flocks of storks soaring just overhead from the view deck.  I mustn’t forget to mention the lovely lunch that we enjoyed with a Vietnamese couple that invited us to join them.  The lunch consisted of fish soup, rice noodles, and barbequed field mouse…that’s right mouse.  Everything was quite tasty per usual, and the mouse tasted a lot like chicken, but harder to eat.  A trip to Chau Doc would not be complete without visiting this little bit of paradise.


Aside from this birding mission, we just enjoyed strolling through town, eating a local eateries, walking the waterfront, and drinking coffee in the town square.  There are a number of other foreign travelers in Chau Doc because it is an entry/exit point for Cambodian travel, but the town still held its authenticity.  A beautiful place to stay.

The Amusement Park version of Can Tho

Day 2 of our Mekong Tour consisted of a 3 hour bus ride to the Can Tho region of the Mekong.  Half the fun of this stretch was the journey to our hotel.  It began with Rosemary falling off a bench and landing on our head as we ate a delicious lunch of barbequed pork and rice.  The fall scared us half to death and I was extremely happy to see a lack of blood.  We were treated to a less comfortable, non-air conditioned, more dilapidated and more local version of our previous bus for this stretch.  The flat tire that we garnered within the first 20 minutes seemed to be an omen of bad things to come.  However, following the lychee treats given to us at the café that we were stopped next to, and the fixing of the flat, the rest of the trip was uneventful.  Rosemary slept the whole way and we were able to enjoy the countryside, albeit a bit sweaty.   

We arrived at the My Than "Homestay" just before dinner and were a little shocked by our accommodation.  When we booked our homestay, we were expecting a home, or at least a boutique hotel similar to Mango House.  However, a touristy amusement park resort is what we found.  It turned out to be a really good experience, as we were able to get a glimpse into how the Vietnamese vacation, and we were the only white folks around.  The tourist village included a small zoo, some rides, riverfront access, "The Ancient House", a pool, and at least 3 restaurants.  We actually enjoyed our stay and Rosemary enjoyed the pool, it just wasn't what we were expecting.


Our reason for going to My Tho was the famed floating market.  So, we hired a boat from the hotel to take us in the morning.  The hotel suggested we leave at 8:00, and we arrived at the market at about 8:15, and were a little disappointed at what we saw.  The pictures we had seen showed a river filled with produce laden boats all doing business with each other.  The market that we saw was pretty sparse with only a few boats still trading.   An iced coffee and the cruise down the river were really the highlights of this trip. 

I'm sure Can Tho and the Cai Rang floating market have much more to offer than what we experienced.  Unfortunately, we chose not to spend the time seeing what else it had to offer.  Lucky for us, a quaint little city awaited.

Intro to the Mekong - Ben Tre

The beautiful Mekong

We took a spacious air-con express bus for the 1.5 hour trip to Ben Tre.  It was, as we would soon find out, luxury travel.  The bus company also had a driver take us directly to the entrance toad to our hotel at no extra cost.  From there we were picked up by moto to transport us the last 700 meters.  Riding a moto with our backpacks on and holding Rosemary made us feel like locals, not to mention it was quite the workout.

Our hotel, The Mango House, was dubbed a home state, but it was more of a hotel than anything.  Set amongst a beautifully manicured garden and abutting the Mekong it provided a perfect venue for our introduction to the Mekong experience.  We arrived at about noon and they had cold towels and drinks waiting for us which were a heaven sent.  After a quick and tasty lunch, we booked a private tour of the delta...what an experience!

Although the tour was quite pricey, $48 /person, it was exactly what we wanted plus some.  We hopped on one of Mango's cruise ships with our guide, Ut, and headed up river for about 20 minutes until we reached our first stop, a coconut processing "factory."  I say factory, but it consisted of about 10 workers, each doing a different job in the processing process.  The process goes something like this: 1) Remove the coconut husk and fiber.  This is used for making various products form rope to _____ 2) Crack the coconut shell.  The shell is charred and sold to local pharmaceutical companies.  3)  Skin the meat. 4) Cut the meat.  The meat is used for making jam, candy, and other products.  Each step is completed by one or two individuals and every part of the coconut is used.  It is a pretty fascinating process.  They process about 2,000 coconuts a day and the workers make between $5 and $12 depending on there job.

From the cocounut factory, we took a tuk-tuk through country backroads barely big enough to contain our vehicle to our next destination which was a brick making factory.  This was truly an impressive process.  The clay and glaze is shipped in and pressed through a machine that forms the bricks.  The bricks are cand cut then stacked outside to dry for week. After drying outside, they are stacked inside the large kiln that needs to be fired for 3-4 weeks, and then cooled for 5-6 days before retrieved.  They use rice hulls or cocount shells to fire the kiln.  The ash from the rice husk is then sold to local farmers to be used as fertilizer, and if cocunut shells are used the charred shell is used in pharmaceuticals.  Amazing how resourceful and wasteless this process appears.  

After leaving the brick factory, we jumped back on our boat where fresh fruit and cocunt water were awaiting us.  After another relaxing boat ride, our next stop was to take another tuk-tuk to a rice noodle factory.  At this factory about 5 people turned rice into the vermicelli noodle that is ever so popular in this region.  Again, this process is labor intensive with very little mechanization.  The rice noodles are sold directly to consumers.  Ut told us that their production has been cut in half because of large manufacturers undercutting their price. I realize that this is part of the capitalist system, but it's hard to believe that a lower price is best for the community in this regard.  

From the rice noodle factory, we were taken by tuk-tuk again to a little canal-side picnic area for some more fresh fruit, tea, delicious coconut candy, and a chat with our guide.  We were rowed away from our snack spot down a meandering canal by two lovely women in their 60s.  This was one of the highlights of the tour.  Just relaxing in the narrows while viewing the life along the Mekong was an outstanding experience.

After returning to Mango House via our large cruiser, we walked down the road to tour a locals home and view her rice paper making process.  This little side trip allowed us to peer into the lives of the people of Delta.

One personal highlight was a short bike trip to fetch some diapers.  Riding down the small country road on a rickety cruiser brought a smile to my face.  It's a feeling that I'd like to recreate as many times as possible.   


We couldn’t have been happier (maybe if it was a little cheaper) with our introduction to the Mekong River Delta.  Our guide was friendly, the sites were thought provoking, and the travel was meditative. 

Sai Gon a beautiful place to begin

Day 1 of our tour of southeast Asia has been wonderful.  Our flight left Ninoy Aquino on time at 6:50 landing in Ho Chi Minh City at 8:30.  After securing a visa and making it through customs we were at our hotel, Sabah Saigon Boutique Hotel, by 9:45.  We were a little disappointed that our room wasn't ready, because we all could have used a little rest, especially Rosemary.  But we used the lack of a room as an opportunity to start our exploration early.

First on the list...food.  We walked down the street and found a hole-in-the-wall restaurant, ordered some spring rolls, thai stir fried noodles with shrimp, coconut water, and a mango shake, all of which were pretty delicious especially considering our final bill was less than $10.  The Thai Stir Fry was full of shrimp some of which were too much for this guy to handle.

With full bellies and eager legs we started walking.  Our aim was the Independence Palace (Reunification Palace), unfortunately our path was anything but direct.  After asking directions, by that I mean pointing to a map, four times we finally started in the righ direction.  We stumbled upon a gem of Saigon, Cong Vien Van Hoa Park.  We read about the park before our arrival, and we were hoping to make it there, but it wasn't a "must see".  It is now.  Not only did it provide reflief from the debilitating heat, it allowed Rosemary to run around at the amazing playground.

The Reunification Palace left a lot to be desired.  It is an impressive compound, but it there is little that highlights it's historical significance.  We spent some time touring the grounds, but ended up heading back to our hotel after a short while.
                                 


After a nap, and some much needed refueling, we headed back out.  Our destination was Me Linh Square and the Saigon River watefront.  The river is impressive and a number of barges floated by as we walked along.  From there, we walked up the newly completed Nguyen Hue Street towards the People's Committee Building.   The city really came to life as we approached the beautiful building.  The sun was setting, the skyscrapers were being lit up,  and the glutony of people crowded around.  There's a nice statue of "Uncle Ho" at the end of the promenade just before the People's Committee Building. 

We finished our first day with dinner at Nha Hong Ngon not far from where we were.  I wasn't very impressed with what we ordered  (vietnamese pancakes, spinach stir fried), but the atmosphere was excellent and the menu is extensive.

Day 2 was spent enjoying the spiritual side of Ho Chi Minh.  We started off at Giac Lam pagoda (120,000 dong taxi).  There wasn't much to see in the 7 story stupa, but the pagoda was filled with relics, altars and intricate carvings.  We were also lucky enough to witness some traditional singing/chanting, and Rosemary received a blessing from one of the monks.  This was our first experience with a Buddhist pagoda and the spiritual presence was easily felt.  It was very much like entering one of the many renaissance churches in Europe, but with much less pomp and flare.   

From Giac Lam, we went to Cholon, the chinatown of HCMC.

After Rosemary's epic 4 hour nap, we walked across the street for a little dinner.  We planned on splitting a meal, but didn't communicate this well enough and ended up each getting a plate of grilled pork, rice, fried egg and tofu.  The meal was pretty good and our iced coffees were absolutely delicious.  Total bill for this was 130, 000 vnd.  After dinner, we took a taxi down to the Ben Than Market to see how it looked in the evening.  It was filled with locals and tourists alike shopping at the many outdoor stalls.  Each stall had an aggressive salesperson coveting your dollars and we were persuaded to buy a souvenir t-shirt for Rosemary and some 3-D cards for shipping.  The real souvenir was the energy that was emanating from the market.  We decided to walk home, and enjoyed the stroll through the park.  We stopped to play at the park playground, and Rosemary mixed it up with all the local children.  In the park, people were using the exercise equipment, enjoying dance classes, chatting in benches, and playing some crazy foot-ball game.

Day 3 began with tour of the Ben Than Market.  I was a bit overwhelmed with the amount of crap being sold there.  It really wasn't crap, but I just hate seeing all of that stuff for sale.  There's really nothing to do, but buy something or get harassed for not buying something.  Not to mention, I was in a full sweat carrying Rosemary on my back.  The coffee, dried fruit/nut, and dried shrimp sellers were the most impressive.  But you could get anything the heart desires at that market from a hand-tailored suit to a cheap souvenir doll.  It is a must see, but the highlight of my time was sitting down and enjoying a shake.

From the market, we headed to the War Remnants Museum, previously known as the war crimes museum.  Talk about a dose of reality.  I was reminded of how horrible war is and how many innocent lives are affected by it.  The museum focused mainly on the US atrocities committed in Viet Nam beginning with its support of the French during their colonization of the country.  It may be the first museum that I've been to that is so anti-American.  I really don't know what the justification for our involvement in the war was, and it is hard to imagine a cause that justified the atrocities committed.











We left the museum, had a wonderful lunch, consisting of a Bahn Mi and pineapple fried rice (with two iced milk coffees of course), and made our way to the Jade Pagoda.  The massive statues at the pagoda are imposing and impressive, while the wood carved panels depicting the 10 halls of hell are awe-inspiring.  The detail and intricacy of these panels is beyond compare.  What strikes me most about the pagodas I've visited, especially this one, is how active they are.  Each pagoda has been filled with worshippers and others just milling about.  They are homes to a vibrant and diverse community of people.




We decided to splurge a bit on our last night and a had a drink and some appetizer at the Chill bar on the 26th floor of the AB Tower.  Spectacular view of the never ending city and some tasty drinks to boot.

This is how must of us felt at the end of each day.  HCMC (Saigon) was much bigger and better than we had imagined.