Vietnam
Halong Bay
It has been more than a week since I last blogged and since I didn’t have a chance to blog our long, final day in Vietnam, wanna pretend I made this entry last week? With a red-eye flight leaving the country, it probably wasn’t the greatest idea for us to wake up before dawn Wednesday […]
Sightseeing in Hanoi
Vietnam does not do daylight savings time so the midnight flight was moved earlier during the change so it continues to arrive in Seoul at the same time each morning. That extra hour makes this layover in Seoul before the flight to Chicago seven hours. With the benefit of free WiFi, I get to blog […]
A non-blog entry?
Can I blog something without calling it a blog entry? It is late here in Hanoi after lots of non-emotional things today. I did get a souvenir that I’m sure will break before it reaches Ohio. This is an abbreviated blog entry because tomorrow we rise at 5am for a day trip to Halong Bay. […]
The Last Goodbye
The goodbye three days ago with Hoi and Ri was unexpected. While we were driving in downtown Danang Friday afternoon, as Hoi was gently fanning Marissa with a hotel brochure the alleviate some the humidity she wasn’t used to, the van driver abruptly pulled over to the side of the road. Our guide announced that […]
The Áo Dài
I’ve been carrying a little book around with me and jotting notes for all the things I might want to blog about. Since today (Sunday) is a rest day for us at the resort hotel, it is a good day to catch you up on a few things. I mentioned to our Danang guide earlier […]
Last of the Danang siteseeing
We are dialing it back a notch as we finish our time in Danang. Chris was asked by our organizer months ago what she want to see in each city. With a little bit of research Chris requested to see the big Catholic church downtown and the Han Market in Danang, but we were open […]
The big brother
This our last weekday in Danang and with some things not open on the weekend, we had many places to visit today. Our prearranged itinerary has been thrown out the window and we started prioritizing over breakfast. Marissa’s brother Ri slept on his overnight 12-hour bus ride to Danang and had taken a taxi from […]
The Heart of the Vacation
We have relocated to Danang and plan to be here for several days. With a change in cities came a change in the tour translator/driver combo. A bit of background: Mid last year, we wrote Marissa’s birthmother, Hoi, and told her we were planning to visit during Christmas break. But due to one life’s vicissitudes, […]
Communism and Capitalism
Today was our only full day in Ho Chi Minh City. In the morning we went to Cu Chi, northwest of the city, and visited the tunnels that Viet Cong guerrillas used during the French occupation and the Vietnam war. It started with a grainy propaganda film from the seventies explaining how farmers were noble […]
Point of Reference Adjustment
People were being met at the arrival gate in Seoul just like you could in the states years ago. Although we had to go through security again when transferring to the last leg of the flight, we didn’t have to take off our shoes. The airport was immaculate. While cleaning up after a snack, an […]