'Nam highlights

Vietnam baffles me. 

A "communist" country, it's also a place where locals will gladly alleviate you of your dong (the local currency)...or dollars, or euros, or anything else, in exchange for whatever they have on offer (which is everything).  It's not uncommon to be initially quoted a price 5 or 6 times the appropriate amount, only to bargain a little, walk away, and finally get a fair deal.    

The traffic is the craziest I've seen since my trip to India, except unlike in Delhi, here the steady stream of motorbikes (with a few bicycles and a few cars mixed in) flows like a choreographed dance full of near-misses and complicated groupwork in close quarters at breakneck speeds.  I'm astonished to only have seen one minor accident, from which the two involved parties walked away unscathed.

And here's a visual contradiction:

Yes, that is exactly what it looks like.  A farmer, with his water buffalo, plowing the rice fields...talking on his cell phone.  

Vietnam.  Go figure. 

Dad and I have had a fantastic trip so far.  Highlights have included: 

- Visiting the Cu Chi tunnels outside Saigon.  The Viet Cong built an extensive network of tunnels connecting their underground bunkers outside of Saigon.  With the weapons flooding in from the Ho Chi Minh Trail and Viet Cong embedded all over South Vietnam, it's hard to imagine how the U.S. ever felt that this was a war they could "win."  That's another story.

- Riding on the back of xe om - motorbike taxis - everywhere!  Motorbikes abound in Vietnam, and in the cities you'll see more of them whizzing by than all other forms of transport combined.  Legally, drivers and "passengers" have to wear helmets here, so when you see a guy smoking a cigarette, sitting on his motorbike by the side of the road, with two helmets slung over the handlebars, you start bargaining. 

- Joining locals in prayer/listening to a teaching of a Buddhist monk on the occasion of the full moon ceremony.  Beautiful music emerged from a combination of nonstop chanting, bell ringing, hollow-gourd playing and other percussive sounds, all changing time signature and wafting over me with the smell incense...

Can you spot the sweaty foreigner?

- Dinner with a lively and lovely group of expats in Hanoi...was introduced by the illustrious Felicia to her high school friend Jimmy, who kindly invited me and dad to tag along for the evening's activities!  Enjoyed delicious food and delicious conversation.

- Visiting "Uncle Ho," better known as Ho Chi Minh, in his embalmed state in his mausoleum.  What a trip!  Literally thousands of visitors, the vast majority of whom were Vietnamese, lined up and waited for hours only to be ushered through the viewing room in a matter of moments.  Our guide said there were more visitors today than he had ever seen in his life (the combined effect of it being a weekend, and the kickoff of summer holidays for Vietnamese schoolkids). Official rules inside the mausoleum: No cameras.  No hats. Long pants. No sunglasses. No hands in pockets. No hands behind back. No talking.  Unofficial rules while waiting in line for the mausoleum: Do not keep your place in line. Cut ahead of the people in front of you at every opportunity.  Push/prod/graze the person in front of you until they look around giving you the opportunity to overtake them.   

Requisite jumping photo outside HCM's mausoleum

Tomorrow we had to Halong Bay for what promises to be a scenic farewell before dad heads back to New York.  

Thanks everyone for your comments!  It makes me feel so great to know that there's actually someone out there reading this thing.  And to that end, I am going to try to make my posts more frequent (though perhaps a little shorter to facilitate said frequency).

Until then, sending love from Vietnam.

Julia