What better way to start the day than a roll in the mud! Two miles out of town we found the Thap Ba Hot Spring Center where we donned our bathing suits and jumped into a four-person bath full of warm steaming mud. The boys poured buckets all over their heads and then got dad into the act. We played in the muck for an hour! While there we ran into Lisa, a Swiss woman that we met while watching Wimbledon in Sapa. She had met some other women from Europe and was having a great time. I joined them in the mineral bath while the boys went to the swimming pools and listened to stories of their adventures.
We made our way afterwards to see the studio of Vietnam’s most prominent photographer, Long Thanh. He is famous for his stunning black-and-white portraits of Vietnamese people going about their daily life. We couldn’t believe our luck when we found him there. We toured his gallery and asked him about his award-winning photographs. When I told them that the boys had never seen a darkroom, he took us into the back and explained the developing process. As we thanked him and bid him good-bye he closed up his shop. Our timing had been impeccable.
After another futile attempt at finding Brendan some books (yes, he has gone through the last ones that I found him!), we decided to relax (imagine!). Ryan, Brendan, and I watched the Titanic while Joe slept. It was the first time that the boys had seen the movie and they found it spellbinding. I loved seeing it again, too, and couldn’t help crying once again when Jack dies. It’s a classic!
Looks like some more tennis this evening and resting before our big day tomorrow. We’ll be up at the crack of dawn to do a boat ride through the islands in the morning and we’ll be touring around the sights of Nha Trang for the rest of the day.
We made our way afterwards to see the studio of Vietnam’s most prominent photographer, Long Thanh. He is famous for his stunning black-and-white portraits of Vietnamese people going about their daily life. We couldn’t believe our luck when we found him there. We toured his gallery and asked him about his award-winning photographs. When I told them that the boys had never seen a darkroom, he took us into the back and explained the developing process. As we thanked him and bid him good-bye he closed up his shop. Our timing had been impeccable.
After another futile attempt at finding Brendan some books (yes, he has gone through the last ones that I found him!), we decided to relax (imagine!). Ryan, Brendan, and I watched the Titanic while Joe slept. It was the first time that the boys had seen the movie and they found it spellbinding. I loved seeing it again, too, and couldn’t help crying once again when Jack dies. It’s a classic!
Looks like some more tennis this evening and resting before our big day tomorrow. We’ll be up at the crack of dawn to do a boat ride through the islands in the morning and we’ll be touring around the sights of Nha Trang for the rest of the day.
FUNNY, INTERESTING & COOL - Deb, Joey, Brendan & Ryan...Thanks for the latest few days posting. I thouroughly enjoyed your mud slides through the tunnel and over the ancient bridge. Especially enjoyed the photos of Deb in the mud bath - Go Girl!
ReplyDeleteRyan, I had to share your soccor footage with Mats. You ended up with the ball! Lovely. Nice dancing with your Mom too.
Joey you look good in mud too. OMG what a blast. Ya, that RESORT was all about the beach I guess, not service or services!
Brendan, are you eating beetles? Yuck! Glad you're enjoying some great BBQ too. How's the new book?
Karen mentioned she got your phone message. She thought you'd indicated you were coming home early...Apparently, she did misunderstand. I hope to catch you on SKYPE again soon. Ellen's coming today to hang out -believe me, it will be in the pool. I can't even get cool in the house at this 95 summer heat.
Wrote a short story on our trip to VANCOUVER. Maybe I'll email it to you for preview. That may be some good reading. TAKE CARE, PLEASE, Love, Judie & Mats & the Cats, turtles, etc.