Onward to the Mekong Delta & Can Tho

01 April 06

Don & I have fallen SO in love with Vietnam, we know this is HOME...we have decided to MOVE here...can someone send my boys & mom here to 0401 Duong Nguyen Que, Saigon VN???
Ah ha...gotcha...April Fool's...we do love it here, but doubt we'll be finding residence here too soon.


I am in the hotel lobby of SAIGON CAN THO hotel living like royalty after our ONE night's stay at the "traditional house" on Binh Hoa Phuoc Island off the Mekong Delta River (2nd largest river in the world as it starts in Tibet, China!)

Rustic, remote & raw would be my descriptions for this ancient old grounds with stunning living room, like you would see in a Chinese palace or similar...there were several rooms with cots in them and we each had our own MOSQUITO net for our own privacy and enjoyment...ahhhh. After a delicious, homemade meal we walked to the local market with the natives live and they seem to welcome our "celebritory" status as American foreigners. They smiled and waved to us and loved having their picture taken, got some great candid shots of the SPIRIT of Vietnam already just in the people alone...

Picture this, showering in a room as big as the handicap stalls that we know with your toilet & rack for clothes & towel with just enough room for you to stand still and clean up...the sinks were out side the restroom area & while I managed to survive that & get some relief from the intense humidity & heat, I was sweating again within 5 mins. of getting dressed again...no joke. At least it was "clean sweat" and not "dirty sweat" from all day...ha.

Retiring to bed was another interesting event with climbing under the net and talking with Thia, Amy & Don before realizing this was REALLY where we were going to sleep...As I turned on the flashlight to do "name that animal" with my fingers, I found a June Bug INSIDE my net and a couple on top on the outside as well. I freaked out, I thought I had so meticulously calculated my way in without any flying friends joining me in the net. I got the tour guide, Tran, to get the bug out and was hard to settle down. I was happy to have had "rice wine" & a tylenol pm hrs. before bed, but anxiously awaiting for it to kick in!!!

I was ready like a lightening bolt to get out of there and take our row boat out of the Mekong Delta area, then the bus & ferry toward Can Tho where we visited another active orphanage. The toddlers were PRECIOUS, so sweet, happy to see us, lit up with our goodies & candy to give...GREAT PHOTOS there! They sang VN songs & recited ABC's to us too, showing off their musical talents!

LOVE the shopping in Can Tho & Saigon, you know I'm all about a good deal and negotiating the best price...I AM a TRUE Vietnamese. If it's 100,000 dongs, I want it for 50,000 and usually we meet somewhere in the middle otherwise I have to walk away...then seconds later I hear, "ma'dam, ma'dam...what you pay?" and we do the calculator numbers game until she wants to sell it bad enough and I want to get it by then too...

Time to get dressed & head back to SAIGON, where we will spend our last 24 hrs. before traveling another 24 hrs. to the US. Thank you for sharing in our journey, many stories & photos to come...I am blessed beyond words for these travels.

All my love & thanks to my boys & mom for supporting us through this...cannot wait to see, hug & kiss you again...SOON! God bless you all!

Signing off, Ms. Saigon