Travels, Bicycling, Thoughts and Images
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Walking tour of Saigon — cooking lesson — and head to the airport! The War Remnant Museum was probably the site of the most anti-American propaganda we saw — my sense is that most Vietnamese recognize it as purely propaganda.
North of Saigon — Cu Chi Tunnels. Interesting ride – very anti-US preserved tunnel complex/museum.
A beautiful day bicycling through the Delta starting at the town of Tan An. Rice, Dragon Fruit, and great food.
An early morning in Hoi An and then a flight to Saigon. Relaxed at Hotel.
A day of cycling along Thu Bon River, herb gardens, Hoi An market, and a cooking lesson — we learned to make rice flour wrappers!
A day of Buddhist shrines, a massive cemetery, driving over a major mountain pass to DaNang, a quick ride in DaNang to an area known for marble carvings, and then a drive to Hoi An.
A beautiful cycling day – exploring Hue. Visited a small village market, came across a wedding celebration, visited a Buddhist Monastery, visited Forbidden City (under reconstruction, but quite amazing), finished the day at a Professors House where he spoke to us of feng shui, Buddhist respect for ancestors, his family fed us specially cooked dishes local to the area, and he shared his fame and travels as part of his work on preserving historical sites throughout Vietnam. His wife’s ancestors were royalty.
Started bicycling portion of the trip. We rode to King’s tomb — impressive. Gorgeous views. We visited an orphanage run by Buddhist Nuns — Chloe brought them chocolate coins, I brought them AlphaGraphics pens! Ended up at a gorgeous resort – the pool felt great! Very nice, traditional meal. Every meal, lunch or dinner, seems to have seven courses.
Started the day at Ho Chi Min’s Tomb. Then went to see Confucian University/Shrine, John McCain’s memorial – took a pedicab/rickshaw ride, saw the street scenes and traffic from the middle of the road, and ended up the day at the world-famous water puppet show.
A few pics from our first day in Vietnam. After a 20 hour flight – all is a bit hazy!
Especially liked trying the fertilized duck egg — little chick inside. Tastes like chicken! Best with hot sauce.
The market was fun — more dried mushrooms than I have ever seen. Bags of them were as tall as Chloe.
The traffic is a trip. No rules or regulations are followed. It is essentially a free-for-all. Millions (literally) of scooters.
