Destination: Hanoi – Accommodations: Sunway Hotel

This morning after breakfast we drove to the ancient village of Duong Lam, the first Vietnamese village to be declared a national relic. The settlement is known for its wooden homes, some of which are over 400 years old.

We walked through the village, stopping at a temple along the way. The construction date of the Mia Pagoda, also known as Sung Nghiem Tu, remains unknown. In 1692 a concubine in the court of Lord Trinh Trang, Ngo Thi Ngoc Dieu found the shrine deserted and ruined, so she raised the money from her family for the restoration. 400 years have passed and the pagoda has been renovated many times, but the scale and the ancient architecture are kept almost intact. Mia temple is home to a collection of 287 ancient statues, the largest of any pagoda in Vietnam. 

There were large earthenware crocks of fermented soy beans fermenting in the sun and we also saw noodles hanging to dry on racks outside.

We walked through the village seeing all the fruit and goods for sale until we came to one of the homes and we were welcomed by the owner to enjoy their hospitality. Mrs. Duong Thi Lan owns the traditional wooden house and it is considered one of the most famous and well-preserved ancient homes in the area. 

We met the grandma, a spry 86 year old and she and her family welcomed us with green tea. We sat for a while and chatted.

The home was built in 1674 and we had to step over about a foot high wall to enter into the living area. The wall was high because the original grandfather, back nine generations ago, was highly educated and was very revered in the village. I guess he was a kind of superintendent of the school system at the time, and so he was able to have the highest wall to step over to enter his home, making his status the highest in the village.

We noticed that the grandmother had very black teeth. She eats betel nuts with slaked lime leaves and the combination acts as a stimulant. It is highly carcinogenic. That being said, the grandma has been chewing the nut since she was 8. Years ago, having black teeth was a sign of beauty in a woman.

We enjoyed helping to make part of our lunch…spring rolls. I have made spring rolls before so I was pretty adept at rolling them. After we made the rolls, we sat down to eat them after they had been deep fried. Many other dishes were also served. We especially enjoyed Che Lam a Vietnamese nutty ginger sticky rice bar. Everything was delicious. I must say…we haven’t had a bad meal since we began this trip in Thailand weeks ago. All the dishes have been amazing!

We said goodbye to our hosts and got back to the hotel in time to embark on our optional tour – Hanoi’s Local Life and Food Adventure! What a great tour!!

We were picked up at the hotel in a classic Russian army UAZ jeep by a driver (who was in the military and used to drive these jeeps) and a guide named Nam who rode with us as well, and off we went, merging into the crazy traffic for the adventure.

Our first stop was Cafe Giang for an egg coffee. This family-run café is perhaps the most famous of all coffee shops in the city. Open since 1946, it has been renowned for creating the egg coffee. Raw egg yolks in coffee sounds awful, but Mr. Nguyen Van Giang’s concoction made it surprisingly delicious resembling a frothy cup of liquefied tiramisu. Mr. Giang invented this delight years ago when milk was very scarce. People wanted milk in their coffee and Mr. Giang came up with the idea of creating a rich foam by beating an egg yolk with sugar and condensed milk, and then pouring it over coffee. The drink was originally served in a bowl of hot water to keep it warm, a method still used today. It sounds crazy but people loved it and so did we. It was delicious.

We then visited a section of the city where people live in apartments that are small and rather squalid. We climbed to the second floor and stood in the hall. A mouse scampered by and spiders were all over the place. The apartments share a bathroom… except for one apartment that had its own bathroom/kitchen across the hall from the living area. We were invited in to meet the 86 year old gentleman who lived there and who was a like a grandfather to Nam. His apartment was clean…but small. His bed was in the middle of the room and there was another room next to it that we didn’t enter. Thanh told us that room was actually illegal. The man had added the room, but it was not approved by the housing commission. At 86, I don’t think he cared. He was a vibrant man who had served in the military.

After spending some time with the gentleman, we left the apartment and walked through town, sampling some fruit along the way. And then, we arrived at the Train Station.

Located in the heart of the city’s Old Quarter, the Train Street attracts thousands of visitors each year. We were offered a drink…most of us chose beer, and we imbibed while waiting for the train to come by. As the time for the train to pass was imminent, we were told to keep our knees sideways, not to stand, and just remain seated. They put our beer caps on the tracks and then we sat and waited. After awhile, we were told the train was approaching and we had our cameras ready. OMG! What a thrill. The train passed literally inches from us and none of us expected it to be so close. It was scary, but a really fun experience! We searched for our beer caps and we found one of the Tiger ones, the brand we had been drinking, and we kept it as a souvenir.

Then we had dinner at a local restaurant, eating outside like all the locals. Nam showed us how to open the small pillow shaped pho noodles (not sure what they were made of) with our chop sticks and fill them with some of the meat and vegetables on the table. Then you soaked the filled square in a sweet/sour sauce and popped it in your mouth. Really tasty. All the food was stellar and we enjoyed every morsel.

The food tour was a lot if fun. From riding in the army jeep through the insane traffic, to wandering the local streets, meeting an amazing 86 year old, to the thrill of the train passing us by within inches, to the finale of a delicious dinner…what a night!!

The entire day was wonderful. Tomorrow we travel to Sapa for two nights.

On the way to Duong Lam Village. You can see the smog hanging over Hanoi

Visiting Mia pagoda

Jars of fermented soy beans

Noodles hanging to dry

Shrine at the pagoda. The food is placed in the morning to honor the ancestor whose ashes are buried there and then the food is picked up in the afternoon and usually it is given to the poor.

These “clothes” are made of paper and are put with the corpse so that when the body is cremated, they will have clothing to bring with them to the afterlife. Paper money, and items that the dead person loved, all made of paper, also goes with them.

The family in Duong Lam village

We made spring rolls

Tofu

Potatoes

Another dish for lunch.

Embarking on our food tour

Egg coffee. Delicious!

Navigating the traffic in the jeep. Yikes!!

Visiting one of the apartments

A mouse scampered by in the hallway.

The center board is how the motorbikes get up to the upper floors.

The kitchen and bath across from the man’s apartment. He owns the apartment and the kitchen and bath are for his use only. Everyone else on the floor shares two other kitchen/baths.

The 86 year old man in his apartment. He had served in the military.

Stopping to admire the fruit and to enjoy Lychees, a fruit extensively grown in southern China, Taiwan, and North Vietnam.

You peel the red outer layer halfway down the fruit and then squeeze the white lychee into your mouth. There is an inedible pit inside that you spit out, after you enjoy the white fleshy sweet lychee.

Waiting for the train

The train passed by so close! I took a video and it really was something to behold, with the train horn blowing and the metal cars of the train inches away. Whew!

The Ho Chi Minh mausoleum at night.

Memorial honoring John McCain. The monument is located on the bank of True Bach Lake, marking the spot where he was shot down, captured, and taken prisoner on October 26, 1967. it has become a site of reflection for the Vietnam-US reconciliation.

Where we enjoyed dinner.

Delicious food. Some of the dishes were Cơm Cháy Hải Sản, spring rolls, fried corn, Nước Chấm (a dipping sauce), deep fried Pho noodles that are like little pillows and you fill them with stir fried beef and veggies and soak them in the dipping sauce. Everything was delicious. There were a lot more dishes served that I don’t know the names of. The pho pillows are on the left of the photo.

The pho noodle pillow soaking in the sauce. Next to it…fried corn.

Destination: Hanoi – Accommodations: SunWay Hotel

This morning after breakfast, we set out to visit the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum where the remains of Vietnam’s former President resides. Our guide said that Ho Chi Minh wanted to be cremated and his ashes spread over the countryside, but the people wanted to be able to revere him. Russia was contacted to determine how to preserve Ho Chi Minh’s body, since the Vietnam mausoleum was inspired by Lenin’s mausoleum in Moscow.

The embalmed body of President Ho Chi Minh is preserved in the central hall of the mausoleum, which is protected by a military honor guard. The body lies in a glass case with dim lighting. Soldiers were all around and on the approach to the mausoleum, and inside the mausoleum as well, we were prohibited from taking pictures, carrying knapsacks, and we could not bring in water bottles.

After viewing the body, we visited the stilt house where he lived. He preferred this humble abode to the palace. Ho Chi Minh never married, but the story goes that he was in love with a woman called Lily. However, that story has never been substantiated, and yet everyday, lilies are placed in the stilt house in her honor.

We then visited the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology where we learned about Vietnam’s ethnic groups. The inside museum has a vast collection of over 15,000 artifacts, including traditional clothing, household tools, musical instruments, and religious objects, representing Vietnam’s 54 ethnic groups. The outdoor Ethnic House Display is an open-air exhibition which has life-size replicas of traditional houses, meticulously constructed to ensure authenticity. It was a very interesting tour.

We had lunch at a restaurant called Five Spice and the food was excellent.

Thanh then took us to visit his grandma whom he is very close with. She served us tea and talked a little about her life during the war. I was able to talk a little with her via my translation app and I told her she had a very nice grandson. She smiled and agreed.

We then went to visit the Hoa Lo Prison. Hoa Lo was originally used by the French colonists for political prisoners and later was used by North Vietnam for U.S. prisoners of war during the Vietnam War. During this later period, it was known to American POWs as the “Hanoi Hilton”. The actual prison was demolished in the ‘90’s and only the gatehouse wall stands today which is part of a museum.

We toured the museum, but only the American side was open as the Vietnamese side was under construction. The museum is very biased…pictures and descriptions on the wall would lead people to believe that the U.S. prisoners were treated royally. The pictures show them smiling, playing basketball, enjoying reading letters from home, and just having fun passing the time. No mention of the brutality that took place, the starvation, the beatings, etc. that the U.S. prisoners had to endure. The Vietnamese released healthy and clean POW’s on the day they were finally sent home, not mentioning that days before their release, when they were half starved and filthy, they were bathed, their hair cut, and they were spruced up to look well cared for.

We came back to the hotel and then went to eat in a restaurant Thanh liked. There was no pho soup on the menu, so we left. Walking to the restaurant and making our way back was treacherous. In Saigon, when the cars and motorcycles see you are crossing the street… they slow down and stop. Not so here. The cars seem to speed up and they don’t let you cross. I almost got hit by a motorcycle as he zipped into an alleyway. I literally had to jump out of the way.

The smog has been hanging around the city since we arrived. Hanoi is moving ahead with a phased plan to restrict and eventually ban many fossil-fuel vehicles, especially motorbikes, in the city’s core. Eventually, they want everything to be electric, hoping that change will lessen and perhaps eliminate the pollution and smog.

The government just recently banned sidewalk venders selling food on the street. They say they block the way for pedestrians, which is pretty funny since the motorcycles park on the sidewalks and leave little room to pass by. Many times, you have to walk in the street…and risk getting run over. Fun times! 🙄

Ho Chi Minh mausoleum

Little kids on a field trip to visit the Ho Chi Minh museum, etc. . We did not go to the museum.

Ho Chi Minh’s private car

The President Ho Chi Minh’s palace

His private home on stilts. The house is a “special national relic” representing the modesty of the leader as he chose this modest home over the lavish Presidential Palace. 

Another room in the house

Soldiers marching at the mausoleum area

Women and girls all over the grounds were dressed up to have their pictures taken for the Tet celebration. They put the photos on social media and also they share with their family. This is happening all over Vietnam. The pictures are staged at important sites.

Trees are brought in for the Tet celebration to make everything festive looking and then afterwards, they are transplanted back into the ground.

At the Museum of Ethonology – one of the authentic homes

The following sculptures of wood were in front of the large tomb house. These statues of men and women are shown showing off their “secret parts”.
Oh my!

And this is what happens after those “secret parts” meet. 🫢

And I believe the face on this woman shows her reaction when those secret parts meet up too often. I think she’s saying…” All these kids are driving me crazy!!” 😂

Inside the museum

Another exhibit in the museum. (Notice the background figures.)🙈

Lunch. Each course was delicious.

The soup was so good

Visiting Thanh’s grandma. This is the shrine… a place to pray to his ancestors. The pictures are of Thanh’s great grandparents. Almost all homes have similar shrines to honor the ancestors.

Thanh and his grandma

At the prison. Sadly, this photo and the following photos seem to portray the US prisoners having the time of their lives.

Somehow, I don’t think the prisoners were playing basketball to pass the time, or shooting the breeze with each other.

All of our group with the school kids

All of us at the grandma’s home

The grandma’s home decorated for Tet.

Every store has been decorating for Tet.

Our dinner at the hotel. Delicious pho.

Destination: Hanoi, Vietnam – Accommodation: Sunway Hotel Hanoi

This morning after breakfast we boarded our bus for the journey to the airport to fly to Hanoi. Everything went very smoothly as it was a domestic flight, so no need to go through customs or immigration.

We had a really nice lunch on the plane and after landing, we retrieved our luggage and met our new guide Thanh.

When we walked out to the bus we noticed the smog that was surrounding the area. We might consider wearing a mask while here. We checked into our hotel and got settled a bit and then Thanh arranged for us all to take rickshaws through Hanoi’s Old Quarter. The Old Quarter’s history can be traced back some 1,000 years when artisan workshops joined into guilds to safeguard their trade secrets. The guilds have disappeared, but the craftsmen here have held onto the tradition of grouping their shops by specialty on each street. We passed the fashion area, the shoe area, the fabric area, the medical herb area, the lock area. Yes…they actually have many stores along one street that just sell all kinds of locks.

Based on the rickshaw ride…I have two words to describe Hanoi: Crazy town!!! We thought the traffic and motorbikes in Saigon were bad, but they were nothing compared to Hanoi. It was a free-for-all but the difference being – in Hanoi, everyone blows their HORNS!!!!!!!

As we went through the streets, cars and motorcycles came at us at full force and barely slowed to let each rickshaw pass. You wanted to close your eyes and pray they wouldn’t slam into you. And couple that craziness with the fact the city is getting ready for Tet – the lunar new year – it was chaotic for sure.

After the rickshaw tour, we had the Welcome Dinner and it was absolutely delicious. Then we went back to the hotel to get a good nights sleep.

I have to say though, the people here are not very friendly. We topped the rickshaw driver and he didn’t smile but just grunted. No one seems to be smiling or happy. Maybe the smog makes people depressed. Time will tell.

I took these pics from the bus yesterday This is the traffic that we faced when we were on the motorbikes. And believe me, once that light changes, it’s free-for-all

And this is exactly how close we were to cars and other bikes on our food tour. Everyone edging to get ahead.

Eating breakfast and waving to me when he saw me on the bus.

Touring Hanoi by rickshaw

Decorations are being put up everywhere for Tet celebration

Lots of red for sale so people can decorate their homes

People everywhere and the motorcycles come very close to the rickshaws

People buy these orchids to give to family as gifts or to decorate their own homes during the lunar New Year celebration. It’s like Christmas. People go to visit family and enjoy food together, telling stories, and wishing each other luck for the new year.

The menu for our dinner

Duck spring rolls

Mango salad

Vegetables

Chicken. I didn’t take a pic of the fish, but it was delicious.

Dessert

The herbal medicine street

There was smog hanging over the city.

Destination: Ho Chi Minh City – Accommodations: Huong Sen Hotel Saigon

This morning after breakfast, we boarded our bus for the trek to see the Cu Chi Tunnels, a 125 mile long underground maze where thousands of fighters and villagers hid and fought during the Vietnam war. The South Vietnamese Communists, or Viet Cong, built this vast network of tunnels in and around the district of Cu Chi. The tunnels include mess halls, meeting rooms, small factories, and vast ammunition stores. The tunnels were used as a base for operations for the Tet offensive in 1968.

For the Viet Cong, life in the tunnels was difficult. Air, food, and water were scarce, and the tunnels were infested with ants, venomous centipedes, snakes, scorpions, spiders, and rodents. Most of the time, soldiers would spend the day in the tunnels working or resting and would come out only at night to scavenge for supplies, tend their crops, or fight the enemy.  When they cooked in the tunnels, they arranged a venting system so that the cooking smoke would come out in a small area far away from where they were actually cooking. They would usually cook in the early morning so the steam that came out would blend in with the morning fog. Sickness was a big problem in the tunnels, especially malaria.

We had the opportunity to enter into the tunnels and duck walk to the next entrance/exit since the tunnels are, in some places, only three feet high. Allan went into one and turned around because it was too low for him to continue. I opted out.

After touring the tunnels, we had lunch prepared by a lady whose family lived through the war. She served our lunch and then spoke to us about the war. She said the GI ‘s were always kind to her family and they felt safe with them. Her father was a Viet Cong and died when he was 30 leaving his wife and five children. The lady said that she had to quit school to help her mom with the chores.

They wound be notified if there was going to be a bombing, and then they would run to the shelters about 2 miles away, bringing with them tapioca for the kids to eat. The babies who were too young to eat the tapioca drank sugar water.

It was very emotional realizing what the GI’s had to endure while searching for the Viet Cong. It was an awful time in history and GI’s are still suffering from the effects of agent orange and PTSD.

On the way back to the hotel, James sang and played the guitar with harmonica accompaniment – Blowin’ In the Wind.

“Yes, and how many deaths will it take ’til he knows
That too many people have died? The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind. The answer is blowin’ in the wind.”

A poignant song to end the afternoon.

We had the farewell dinner tonight since we are flying to Hanoi tomorrow and Are will no longer be our guide. Are was perhaps the best guide we have ever had, and we will miss his smile and his many kindnesses.

The dinner was nice and we all shared our favorite moments of the trip. Allan shared that he thought Are was the most wonderful guide we’ve ever had in our 14 OAT trips. He also shared that seeing Angkor Wat was the highlight of the trip for him.

I shared that standing in awe…and then fear … when we visited the tarantula lady and watched as she searched for tarantula holes, was unforgettable for me. Especially when I walked carefully to avoid any hidden tarantula holes upon hearing the lady AND members of our group call out…”Oh…there’s a hole”… “Oh wait there’s another hole” “oh look…that’s a big hole.” YIKES!!!!

And getting up early to feed the monks during the alms ceremony was very moving for me – made more meaningful by the monks walking for peace across the United States that is happening now. For that quiet time in the early morning, I reflected about the need for peace in the world, peace for my country, peace for my family, peace for those on the trip with us, and peace for myself. 

During dessert, I was asked by popular demand to tell some more jokes, and i regaled the group with my parrot joke, the broccoli joke, and the grasshopper joke. Everyone loved them and laughed heartily. They said I’m a great joke teller and should do stand up. (Again…I’ll be here all week folks!!)

We said goodbye to two couples in our group who were not going on the post trip and of course, a tearful farewell to Are.

Allan and I went with another couple to a hotel rooftop bar for a glass of wine, and then it was back to our hotel and off to bed.

Tomorrow we fly to Hanoi.

Using egg shells to make beautiful pictures.

An unusual craft, but a beautiful one.

At the Cu Chi Tunnels. Leftover ammunition from the war

This looks like a termite nest but it is a ventilation system for one of the underground tunnels. GI’s would send dogs to sniff out the Viet Cong but the Viet Cong were clever. They would kill a GI and then put his scent from his clothing around the mound to fool the dogs.

The ladies dressed in black to look like farmers, but they were Viet Cong. The problem was, no one could tell who was to be trusted and who wasn’t.

One of the many entries to the underground tunnel system

Coming out of the tunnel

The guide showed us this trick. First the Viet Cong would lift the wood cover and start the descent to the tunnel.

Then he would cover the wooden top with leaves.

Then the leaf laden wooden top would be held overhead as the soldier descended to the tunnel

Now the entry door is totally hidden.

And the soldier can come out another exit to avoid being caught.

The sleeping hammock could also be used for a body bag if necessary.

The wide bamboo shoots were used for ventilation in the tunnels

A bomb fell here and made a crater. The Viet Cong were clever. After a bomb hit, they would then hide in that area since they figured a bomb wouldn’t hit the same place twice.

They wore sandals that they fashioned the opposite way – the toe portion to the back – so when they walked, it looked like they were walking in the opposite direction so the GI’s wouldn’t know what direction they really went.

We had a snack of tapioca that was a staple for the people during the war.

Traps that the Viet Cong set

If a GI stepped on this, he would fall into bamboo sharpened spikes. A horrible way to either be maimed or to die.

The lady who prepared our lunch and then shared her story during the Vietnam war.

Allan in one of the tunnels

Monday, FEBRUARY 2

Ho Chi Minh City • Visit Independence Palace • Saigon street food adventure tour

Destination: Ho Chi Minh City – Accommodations: Huong Sen Hotel Saigon

Every day, Are has given us a question to answer, based on what we had learned the day before, and the first one to raise their hand to answer the question, gets a prize. Once you’ve won a prize, you can’t participate anymore. Allan won a prize a few days ago, but I have yet to win. I asked Are…”How about if I tell a joke tomorrow morning on the bus and if everyone claps and laughs, I’ll get a prize?” We fist bumped and he said that would be great. (I had already told him my broccoli joke and he couldn’t stop laughing. Literally! So I guess he figured I was a good bet for a stand up comedian.)

So this morning when we boarded the bus, I told my cowboy joke. Everyone loved it and said I should be a stand up comedian. LOL!! (I’ll be here all week folks!). And…tomorrow I get my prize!

After my comedy routine, we departed for a city tour. Our first stop was the Central Post Office. The building is quite beautiful with a magnificent ceiling. Then we toured the Independence Palace which was the home and workplace of the former president of the Republic of Vietnam and the site of the Fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975. That was the day that the Vietnam War ended when a liberation army of South Vietnam (Viet Cong) tanks crashed through its gates. The Viet Cong wanted to overturn the government, but instead, Vietnam became a unified nation after the war. The Viet Cong lived among the people in the south, and their neighbors didn’t even know it. They usually wanted to remain anonymous until they saw how the war would end because if people knew of their real intent, they would be hated.  

We toured the main building of the Palace, seeing various state rooms, reception halls, offices, private residences, etc. Then James took us downstairs to the bunker tunnel under the palace. This is where communications and operations took place during the war. The bunkers looked exactly like they did in the 60’s and 70’s… rotary phones, radios, and maps that showed where the fighting was centered, etc. It was the place where the President and senior staff would go during fierce bombing to be safe.

We left the palace and walked single file through a market…which was crazy town…with vendors selling fruit, vegetables, meats, fish, etc. and motorcycles whizzing by. It was a free-for-all and we had to be constantly on the lookout for the motorcycles. At the end of the alley, we wound up at a secret bunker used during the Vietnam War. It was a house on Nguyen Dinh Chieu Street, which was purchased in 1966 and converted into a hidden weapons cache and commando shelter, by a man named Tran Van Lai. He was a member of the Saigon Special Forces and he worked undercover as a wealthy contractor for the South Vietnam government to avoid suspicion of being the Viet Cong sympathizer that he really was. He used his trucks to transport weapons and Viet Cong commandos to targets, including the US Embassy and the Independence Palace on the night of the 1968 Tet Offensive.

Lai claimed to be digging a septic tank but instead, he was building this bunker. There was a trapdoor on the tile floor with a little ring and when you pulled the ring, the tile floor lifted up to expose a stairway to the downstairs. It was very hard to detect.

Following the 1968 Tet Offensive, the house was attacked under suspicion of harboring commandos. We saw the bullet holes in the gates at the front door. It eventually fell into US hands, but the secret bunker beneath remained undiscovered. According to a site online, the “ hidden space once stored over 350kg of TNT and C4 explosives, 15 AK rifles, 3,000 rounds of ammunition, handguns, B40 rocket launchers, grenades, and more”. He was a spy who tried to help the Viet Cong, but he was thwarted. After 1968, his activities were exposed, and the South Vietnamese government issued a $2 million bounty for his capture. He was later arrested and endured torture in prison. For the South Vietnamese government, Tran Van Lai was a “bad guy” who attacked their leadership and infrastructure. For the Communist side, he was a “good guy” and was awarded the title “Hero of the People’s Armed Forces” by the Vietnamese communist government in 2015. It was an unbelievable story.

James told us as we went to lunch that he has been denied a visa to the US twice and now he has to wait two years before he can try again. He doesn’t know why he’s always denied, but he thinks it’s because he is not married as of yet. He goes to university and this is why he does not have to go into the army. Service is mandatory in Vietnam for men between the ages of 18 to 27, but it can be put off if attending school.

We arrived at our lunch place and enjoyed Pho soup. It was authentic and delicious. Pho is pronounced with an upward lilt at the end of the word.

In the evening, we took the optional tour that OAT offered… touring Saigon on motorcycles and sampling food along the way. What a fabulous tour!

We climbed aboard motorcycles behind our drivers and off we went as the drivers navigated the crazy traffic. It was a little scary at first because the traffic doesn’t stop. When my driver made a turn, he cut right in front of many, many cars and motorcycles going the other way and i just hoped for the best. Many times we were within an inch or less next to other bikes and cars.

Our first stop was to enjoy a banh mi which was a sandwich filled with meat and veggies. Delicious!
Then we were back on the bikes and we rode to a restaurant and had clams, fish, noodles, prawns, scallops, and beer. What a feast, but I could hardly eat since the banh mi really filled me up.

Then back on the bikes to enjoy dessert of either ice cream or flan. I opted for the chocolate ice cream and it was very rich and so good!

Then it was back on the bikes for the half hour ride back to the hotel. Saigon is beautiful at night. The lights are lit all over like Times Square and everyone is out in the streets. We went over the newly built Ba Son Bridge – all lit up in pink, and looking across the river from the bridge was beautiful.

My driver and I hugged each other when we arrived back to the hotel and he wished me safe travels. I wished him a happy lunar new year. It was a wonderful experience cruising through the streets (at times we were doing 30 mph) on such a beautiful night. I’m so glad we took the tour.

We went with friends over to the Hilton Hotel and had a nightcap on the 40th floor. The view was incredible and a party boat went by and set off fire works. Perfect end to a perfect day!

Saigon from the rooftop bar at our hotel

Everyone is getting ready for the Tet celebration and hanging red lanterns all around

The post office

Independence Palace. President Nixon was here for a meeting with the President of South Vietnam.

Meeting room in the Palace

The bunker under the palace

The equipment frozen in time

The radio room

The market

The motorcycles zooming by. This one slowed down to let us pass.

This plank of wood hid the guns etc. at the bunker in the house at the end of the market.

They hid weapons in these bamboo mats by putting the weapons in and covering the mat with manure. No one would dare open the mat to look inside, because this was how the dead bodies of people who were poor were taken for burial. The smell of the manure gave the impression a dead body was really inside.

The mat with weapons inside

The trap door

James showing how to go down to the bunker. Allan and I did not go down.

My Pho soup. I had chicken and Allan had beef.

The fruit up at the top left is Star Apple. It’s creamy and sweet.

The cherry blossoms are blooming.

Going off on the motorcycles for the food tour.

The streets of Saigon. The apartments on the bottom are more expensive than the ones at the very top.

This ramp is what they use to push the motorcycles up to the upper apartment floors. Not easy.

Below… first stop on the food tour – Banh Mi sandwich

Scallops

Clams

Fried noodles with seafood, and prawns on a stick

My excellent driver

I took this from the bike. We were weaving in and out of this traffic. Yikes!!

Allan had a female driver.

Beautiful evening in Saigon at the Hilton hotel sky bar.

Fireworks in the river from the party boat. Perfect end to a perfect day!

Destination: Ho Chi Minh City – Accommodations: Huong Sen Hotel Saigon

After breakfast we boarded our bus for another Learning and Discovery day and on the way, James told us a little bit about life in Vietnam.

Key agricultural exports are rice and coffee and actually, Vietnam is very famous for its coffee. Fruit is beginning to become a major export as well.

Vietnam is a religiously diverse country where the majority of the population practices a blend of folk religions, ancestral worship, and Confucianism/Taoism. Vietnam is often labeled as having “no religion” in surveys, despite active practice of Buddhism. Buddhism is the largest organized group followed by Catholicism.

The Socialist Republic of Vietnam is an authoritarian state ruled by a single party, the Communist Party of Vietnam and James said you are either a communist or you’re not. The President of Vietnam has no power. The Communist Party of Vietnam has absolute power. The General Secretary directs national policy and the Prime Minister heads the executive government and economic management. The President just acts as the head of state.

It is compulsory for children at attend school from K through 12th grade and it is free. After they graduate, if they go to college, they have to pay the tuition themselves.

The average pay in Saigon is about $447 a month and he said you can easily feed a family for about $20 a week. There are tall apartment buildings all over Saigon because there isn’t much land to build out so they build up. A home in the wealthy section of town would cost about 2 million for a small house. However, you don’t own the house.  In Vietnam, land is collectively owned, so homeowners are technically purchasing “land use rights” and that would be for 99 years.

We finally arrived at our first destination. We stopped at a coffee shop to savor the taste of freshly brewed Vietnamese coffee. We each had our own mini French press of Robusta coffee and we could either drink the coffee black or add condensed milk, which I did. I poured my coffee over ice and it was delicious! Allan drank his black and strong and loved it! Then we all got into hammocks to enjoy our coffee. It was relaxing and so much fun. Vietnam is the second-largest coffee producer in the world after Brazil and the most popular way to consume the bold, local brew is iced with sweetened condensed milk. I agree!

We then went into My Tho, the gateway to the Mekong, where we boarded a motorized wooden rice barge. We saw life on the Mekong River – fishing vessels, barges, san pans, and houses on stilts.

After a leisurely cruise, we boarded a sam pan and cruised through Vam Xep, a natural canal through a canopy of mangroves.

We stopped to visit a farmer who grows pomelo fruit and gac fruit. Pomelo is a large citrus fruit that is native to Southeast Asia. He gave us a taste of the fruit which is similar to a grapefruit, but much milder and less acidic. We dipped it in chili salt. So delicious!! He also grows gac fruit which is inedible but is used instead for food coloring. Since his fruit is organic, he uses garlic, chili, and alcohol mixed together to spray his fruit to prevent bugs. We also tried rice paper with sesame seeds and coconut milk. It’s a snack the kids enjoy…and we loved it so much, we all bought some to snack on later.

We bid goodbye to the farmer and stopped for lunch. At first I was not thrilled when I saw a whole fish on the table, but a lady came over and filleted the fish and wrapped it in rice paper with vegetables to make spring rolls. They were delicious, but poor Allan did get a bone. (Yuck!). Then prawns came to the table and the lady prepared those for us followed by a type of pancake that was filled with vegetables and shrimp. We also had a rice cracker filled with shrimp and veggies. The lunch was very different from what we’ve had before and really a treat. Then we went to where they make coconut candy. We sampled candy all over the store and watched as the people wrapped the candy in paper to sell. A man split open a coconut for us and we enjoyed tasting it.

We boarded our ship for the return cruise to get back to our bus to return to the hotel. It was a busy day and a day filled with new discoveries. So much fun!!

We went on a quick orientation walk when we returned to the hotel, had dinner with friends at a Vietnamese restaurant, and then enjoyed drinks with friends at the roof top bar.

What a fabulous day!!! Tomorrow should be interesting as Vietnam is getting ready to celebrate Tet… the lunar new year. There might be red flowers strewn in the river!

View from rooftop restaurant where we have breakfast

enjoying robusto coffee

On the cruise

They served this fruit on the cruise. Tasty.

the pomelo fruit.

Gac fruit

In the sampan

Bought the snack all the kids snack on

I think this is water coconut. You just eat the jelly inside. Not much taste.

The fish for lunch. Yowser!

She made it into a spring roll

Shrimp

The pancake. Filled with veggies and shrimp

Eating the coconut

Making the candies

Another part of our lunch.

Destination: Ho Chi Minh City – Accommodations: Huong Sen Hotel Saigon

This morning after breakfast, we took an optional tour to Banteay Srei one of the oldest and best-preserved temple sites in Cambodia. Built in AD 967, Banteay Srei means “Citadel of Women,” and is recognized as a tribute to female beauty.

Banteay Srei is mostly built of pink sandstone which was a medium that lent itself to carving the elaborate wall decorations which are beautiful and still in very good condition. The carvings were so intricate they almost looked three dimensional. The buildings themselves are miniature in scale and we had to duck way down to get through some of the doorways.

After we toured the temple, we met with a woman who makes sugar. We watched as she boiled the sap from the lotus flower and then she gave us a taste. It was very tasty. Then, we watched other ladies make rice noodles. First they soaked the rice in water for many hours. Then, they put the rice with a little water into a stone bowl and pulverized it until the rice starch came out. You can see in the photos the wooden contraption that they used for that process.. The rice starch is molded into a ball and pushed through a sieve with holes into boiling water Someone has to sit on one end of a long board to get enough power to push the rice through the small holes of the sieve. After the noodles cooked for a bit, they scooped the noodles out, drained them, and put them in a bowl with fish sauce for us to enjoy.

They get up at 5 am and work for about four hours to make about 100 lbs of noodles that they use for their own use and for sale. They also take large orders from people who are having celebrations and sometimes they could be making 400 lbs of noodles in a morning The ladies are hard working and the noodles were really good.

We went for another Cambodian lunch and then it was off to tour the Angkor National Museum where we were able to see the museum’s comprehensive collection of relics from many of the temples that we had already visited. It was nice to be able to see the relics up close and appreciate the workmanship.

We left around 3 pm for our flight to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). The flight was only an hour and we breezed through immigration both upon leaving Cambodia and arriving in Vietnam. Our visas were perfect. We had a company prepare our visas for the countries we visited that required them, and everything went through without a hitch. Apparently Vietnam is very strict with the immigration process.

We met our new local guide James and we drove through the streets of Saigon to our hotel. Saigon is a happening city and even at 9:30 at night, the streets and sidewalks were filled with people. Everything is lit up and it looks like a beautiful city.

Our room at the hotel is spacious and it was good to get into bed for a good night’s sleep. Tomorrow is a busy day.

The intricate carvings at the temple

Making the sugar syrup from the lotus flower

We had a taste. Delicious!

Draining the rice mixture to get the rice starch

Allan working the machine to drain the rice mixture

Forming into a ball to push through the sieve

Pushing the mixture through the sieve into boiling water

Someone sits on the left side of the boards to push the rice down through the sieve.

Scooping the rice from the boiling water

We each had a bowl of noodles with fish sauce. Tasty. Nothing like enjoying fresh rice noodles hot off the “press”. (No pun intended!😂)

Pictures below are from the museum

Notice the intricate carvings

The hotel had this waiting for us in our room.

we

Destination: Siem Reap – Accommodations: Angkor Paradise Hotel

This morning after breakfast we left early to explore Angkor Wat. Angkor Wat is a historically Hindu turned Buddhist temple and is the largest religious complex in the world. Angkor Wat was commissioned by the Khmer King Suryavarman II In the early 12th century. It has remained a place of Buddhist worship for centuries. It was built as the state temple for the Khmer Empire and dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu, rather than a king, which was uncommon for the era. It is a national symbol of Cambodia and appears on the Cambodian national flag. The structure combines Hinduism with Buddhism, making it a uniquely blended heritage site. 

There was a lot of walking and climbing of steps in very hot weather as we toured the massive complex. There were 3 levels to navigate, some without handrails, but for the most part, we did okay. I opted out of touring the third level as the stairs were extremely steep and the height was something I knew I could never do. The surfaces to walk on were at times unpaved and uneven and there were a lot of stairs to climb every time you turned around it seemed. Angkor Wat is surrounded by a moat 570 feet wide and it was beautiful to walk around the grounds and see the trees and the fish in the moat.

The photos below will show you how amazing this place was to visit.

After visiting Angkor Wat, we had another delicious Cambodian lunch and then it was off to visit an incredible place with…. rats!!

We visited APOPO’s Landmine Rats – also known as HeroRATs – where we learned how they train African Giant Pouched Rats to detect landmines and unexploded ordnance in Cambodia, playing a vital role in clearing these dangers.

We were able to watch a rat in action as he went about tracking down a “land mine” that was really just TNT. The rats are trained to sniff out the TNT in the bombs and when they find one, they scratch the surface. Then the bomb detonator group can come in and blow it up.

Rats are light enough that they don’t set off the bombs and they can clear a much larger area of farmland than a human using a metal detector. The rats are much more accurate in scouting out the bombs since metal detectors will pick up anything metal and not necessarily a bomb.

Cambodia is one of the most land mine affected countries in the world, but APOPO has worked for many years clearing the bombs so farmers can go back to tilling their land without worrying about hitting a bomb.

We all got a chance to hold one of the rats. My little guy cuddled right into my arms and promptly fell asleep. I started rocking him, but then I had to turn him over to the next person who wanted a chance to hold him. I was the only one he fell asleep on. Too funny!

Then we toured the final destination of the day…Bayon Temple. The Bayon is a beautifully decorated Buddhist temple built in the late 12th century. The temple is best known for its many towers adorned with smiling stone faces carved on all sides. The Bayon also features extensive bas-reliefs depicting historical events, religious themes, and scenes of everyday life in the Khmer Empire. It was amazing to see the carvings and how they portrayed everyday life in that society.

We were all pretty tired after a very full day, but we ended the day back at Angkor Wat to see the temple at sunset. We all had some soda (UNESCO Doesn’t allow alcohol on the premises) and we toasted the temples that we saw, our new friendships, and safe travels for the future. We also had crocodile, water buffalo, and snake jerky which was pretty tasty.

We went back to the hotel and had drinks with our friends and a light dinner and then it was to bed since we will be up very early in the morning.

Starting our tour of Angkor Wat

Allan bravely climbed to the third level, but he said coming down was a bit scary, so I’m glad I opted out.

At APOPO

My little guy fell asleep in my arms. After having four kids and six grandkids, I guess I still have the touch.

At Bayon Temple. The bas-relief depiction of everyday life was amazing. Some parts, however, have been restored

Angkor Wat at sunset

Destination: Siem Reap – Accommodations: Angkor Paradise Hotel

After breakfast, we boarded our bus for the first learning and discovery of the day, and on the way Nin told us about the villagers in Tachet Village, in the provence of Siem Reap, the first village we visited.

He said that medical care is free for children from the age of birth to age 15, sponsored by Japan.

The question arose concerning insurance and banking. The villagers do not buy car or home insurance because they don’t trust the insurance companies with their money. Most disagreements, say after a car accident, are solved by the parties involved. The police come and file a report, but if it is agreed that whoever was at fault will pay for the damage, the police do not get involved any further. More affluent people can hire a lawyer if they decide to sue, but once the parties involved agree to settle on their own, no one else gets involved.

Times are changing and people now are opening bank accounts rather than the old fashioned way of stuffing their money in bamboo poles and hiding them under their beds.

We arrived at the first village – Tachet. There, we climbed onto buffalo carts for a bumpy ride through the village. I climbed into the cart first and sat cross-legged and Allan sat behind me back to back and we definitely got the feel of how the local families get around.

We rode through the village…Some homes were gorgeous and one had a Lexus in the driveway, while other homes were barely standing. Are said that depending on income, if the homeowner is in tourism or another better paying job, they have more opportunity to build a beautiful home. It was interesting to see how the people live.

Then we traveled to a floating village in Chong Khneas, on lake Tonle Sap, where we took a boat ride through the canals with floating homes. There are over 1,000 families living in the floating homes and have been living there for generations. Their livelihood depends on fishing, farming, and trading goods with other villages. The lake is considered one of the most productive fishing zones globally, supplying over 75% of Cambodia’s annual freshwater fish catch and nearly 60% of the country’s food.

The water level in the lake rises and falls dramatically with the change from the dry season to the wet. The movable houses in the floating villages can be relocated when the water levels rise too high and they use boats to tow their homes to the larger part of the lake.

The people get up at 2 am to set the traps to catch fish in the lake and they return about 5 am with their catch. They usually can bring in 200 lbs of fish a day. The catch is cleaned and they keep some for themselves and they sell the rest. There are about 50 varieties of fish in the lake, which is a fresh water lake. The people fish for shrimp, catfish, eel, and carp. A few years ago, unsavory companies would come in and bomb fish and take most of the fish that the villagers were depending on. However, UNESCO got involved and the practice has stopped for the most part.

After we passed by the homes, we had the opportunity to go into one of the floating homes and meet the family and ask questions about their lives. The family we visited had a grandmother (78), a man (the son of the grandmother), his wife, and three children. They all sleep in one room of the house and they put mosquito nets up at night. The house was very organized with a space for all of their daily needs. They get fresh water to wash their clothes, etc. from the well in front of their home.

They live on rice and fish primarily and occasionally they can buy fruit and vegetables from the boats that come to their door selling produce, but it’s expensive so they don’t buy those things often.

The grandmother said that during the Khmer Rouge regime, the floating house they were living in was burned and when they were finally able to return, they had to rebuild it. They have been living in this floating house for over 40 years. The grandmother’s husband died four years ago so her son and his family have moved in to help take care of her.

The people in the floating homes can seek medical care 24/7 just a few minutes away and for anything serious, the hospital is about 40 minutes away.

They work very hard every day, the children attend school, and for fun, the family likes to meet with their neighbors for a beer or to share some food, and to dance.

Covid didn’t affect the village as they remained isolated during that time. They all have been vaccinated.

It was a wonderful experience and so interesting to be able to speak with these hardworking and humble folks.

Afterwards, we drove to a restaurant and had an excellent lunch of traditional Cambodian food and finally…I had my appetite back. The food was so tasty… Especially the soup. And Are and Nin arranged for me to have bananas with the fruit dessert that was served. So sweet.

We relaxed a bit back at the hotel and then we started out again for our afternoon discoveries at Ta Prohm temple. The temple was founded by the Khmer King Javavarman VII as a Buddhist monastery and center of learning dedicated to his mother. The temple’s records state that the site was home to more than 12,500 people (including 18 high priests and 615 dancers), with an additional 80,000 inhabitants in the surrounding villages working to provide services and supplies.

The temple was built without mortar and was abandoned for many years. During that time, trees took root in the loosened stones. The trees growing out of the ruins and the jungle that surrounds it makes it a very popular place to visit. It has been on the UNESCO World Heritage list since 1992.

There were many levels and steps that we navigated to see the entire temple grounds. Interestingly, The Lara Croft: Tomb Raider movie was filmed at the temple and we saw the rock that Angelina Jolie stood on to film one of the scenes. A Hollywood moment!!

After touring the grounds, we went back to the hotel and met friends for a pizza dinner and then it was to bed. It was a very busy day and an amazing and informative one.

The buffalos

It was a lot of fun

Passing each other on the road

Residents motoring along

A house along the way

On our river boat ride

A floating house getting a delivery of food

The floating houses. The residents will tow their homes to the large lake when the water rises. The pic below shows the lake where the homes will be situated until they can return to the canal.

The floating house that we visited

Cooking pots and pans

This room is where the family sleeps

The kitchen

Grandma and her son. The grandma paints the pictures

Our lunch

Delicious soup

The menu

The next set of photos are of the temple

You can see how the tree has invaded the stone work

It’s amazing how the roots have taken hold.

Nin standing exactly where Angelina Jolie stood in the movie

Destination: Siem Reap – Accommodations: Angkor Paradise Hotel

I was behind a little bit in posting because I want feeling great, so make sure you read Monday’s post that I posted yesterday.

Also, if you notice, I haven’t mentioned about how the Khmer Rouge regime affected our two local guides and their families. This was done intentionally since my blog is in the public domain.

I woke up and was feeling a bit better and was able to eat some cereal and a banana. A few of the folks on our trip have been plagued with intestinal issues, so I guess I picked it up as well. I wanted to try to eat because it was going to be a long bus ride
to Siem Reap. We have a new local guide named Nin who will be with us and Are until we fly to Vietnam in a few days.

Even though the drive was long, we made many stops along the way. The first stop was to pick up some lotus pods from a countryside stand. The pods are the seed heads of the lotus flower. These pods develop after the lotus flower has bloomed and shed its petals. They are very delicious and we ate them right out of the lotus and then we tried some that had been roasted. They make a delicious snack. We also had roasted cashews.

Our next stop was a little bit more dicey. We visited a local woman who hunts for tarantulas, cooks them, and sells them at her village’s market. YIKES!

We all got off the bus and walked with the lady through the forest in search of tarantula holes (I know…double YIKES!!!) and after finding one, we watched as the lady coaxed the tarantula out and then she took out its venom. She said she has gotten stung by tarantulas and she uses garlic on the sting which lessens the swelling and the pain. (I’ll have to take her word for that.)

And then things got really crazy! The lady put garlic, Knorr’s chicken flavoring, and some oil in a hot pan and sautéed a number of tarantulas, crickets, and grasshoppers. Then we all were invited to taste. My stomach was still not doing that great and the thought of eating a tarantula was not on my bucket list. But Allan merrily crunched his way through all of the insects and so far has lived to tell the tale.

The lady made a brew of rice wine with scorpions, tarantulas, fruit and tarantula and scorpion venom. Lovely!!! Allan drank a glass and I had a sip. It actually tasted pretty good. She said people drink it to get rid of back pain from working in the rice paddies.

We had lunch at a local restaurant and it was way too much food. I ate a little, but my appetite still isn’t up to par.

Our next stop was Kampong Kdei Bridge. Built around 1,400 years ago, the structure holds its title as one of the world’s longest corbeled arch bridges. It is one of the few Khmer empire era bridges to have survived to today. The bridge is made of laterite and decorated at one end with a carved image of Asura and the other end has the image of Deva.

We arrived in Siem Reap late and had dinner at the hotel. The hotel is gorgeous. The woodwork has old world charm and the reception desk and lobby are stunning. Dinner was delicious, but again, I wasn’t very hungry. Tomorrow will be another busy day.

When we returned to our room, Are and Nin arranged for a huge plate of bananas to be delivered for me, knowing that last night it was all I wanted to eat. They are really so thoughtful and the best tour guides!

The lotus pods

You peel the green outer layer off and eat the white part inside

Bucket with live tarantulas that have had the venom removed

Nin had some of the tarantulas roam his shirt

The tarantula is coming out of the hole after the lady dug around to coax it out. This is how she gets the tarantulas to sell.

Removing the venom

The wine with the venom in it

The insects being deep fried

Eating the tarantula

Kampong Kdei Bridge

Part of the hotel lobby

Enjoying dinner together