We’re on on way to Mui Ne, famed for its sand dunes! We hope to go sliding today on the dunes and have a swim in the sea. We’ll be staying at a resort just for one night and then will be on our way to Saigon.
We are all starting to crave various things to eat back home – especially Brendan who has had a limited diet. I miss popcorn the most. Ryan misses Subway and Brendan misses the Ruby Inn. Joe is missing steak (too risky to eat in Asia) and crispy bacon. In Saigon we hope to get our hands on some English books and magazines and maybe take in a movie. A small taste of home will go a long way at this time for us as sometimes life in Asia is overwhelming at times… for example, one time I was walking down the street in Taiwan and saw two women sitting at the side of the road just beginning to eat their lunch from Styrofoam containers. One of the women was holding a small bag of goldfish in water. She put down her lunch and opened the bag of goldfish. She then poured water out of the bag onto her lunch!!! I know that the Asians love their fish sauce but for goodness sake!!! I nearly gagged! Although this was the image that disturbed me the most, there have been others that have certainly made an impression.
A few days ago there was a huge scandal here in Vietnam – the goat penis meat was tainted!! Asians are know for eating every part of anything that walks or swims. Walking through the markets can be a gut-wrenching experience. We have now gotten used to seeing all these bits (duck hearts, eels, snakes, frogs stuffed with mystery meats, etc.) but none of us have gotten use to the foul smelling meats, dried fish, fish sauces, etc.
Another things that we struggle with is the propensity for the Vietnamese to pick their noses. In fact, many men grow their pinky finger nail to use it expressly for that purpose. I don’t have a problem with this, but I do have a problem when this activity becomes a public event. For example, when we met our new guide we were thrilled to learn that he supervises the other guides in Vietnam. He told us how he expects all his guides to dress professionally and be well-groomed. “When you are working, you are working,” he said. I knew at this point that we likely had Vietnam’s best – bilingual, takes pride in appearance, knowledgeable… the consummate professional. Not ten minutes later he started into his nose. Not with one finger, but two – one in each nostril… deep! He managed to extract a good-sized ribbon of mucus before wiping it (on his newspaper? the seat? his clothes? I don’t want to know). He then took out a small pocket-mirror and examined his efforts! I thought about calling him on it right away but I didn’t want things to get off on the wrong foot as he was to be our guide for the next ten days. Instead, I waited until the next day when he began to indulge and immediately handed him a pack of Kleenex when he reached for his nose. There has been no nose-picking since – thank goodness!
Yesterday at our breakfast buffet a Vietnamese woman extracted some masticated food from her mouth and deposited it on a plate with two serving utensil!. As I am losing my patience I pointed at it, contorted my face into a look of disgust and shook my finger at her. Another time a woman sneezed without covering his mouth right into a soup station at the buffet. Neither of the servers behind reacted in any way whatsoever! Yet another time we had finished a beautiful dinner and took Brendan to the kitchen to thank them for keeping him safe. There were the two cooks squatted on turned over pails cutting their toenails! At one restaurant in Sapa a Vietnamese woman from reception took me down to the kitchen to where they conduct cooking classes. A young, barefoot boy (likely the dishwasher) was up squatting on the cooking counter.
Bathrooms can be quite a challenge. We’ve all learned how to squat and we all bring toilet paper with us whenever we go. The hose and bucket method is, of course, most common. I have no problem with that. What I find difficult, however, is going into restaurants where there is no soap in the bathroom. In very upscale restaurants you’ll often find toilet paper, yet no soap (and if they’re not providing it for the customers I think that you can assume that they are not using it themselves).
En route to Mui Ne, we stopped to sand sled on the prehistoric dunes along the China Sea in Southern Vietnam. A form of charity, the children rent to the tourists plastic super sliders on which you are free to sled down. Well needless to say, it was underwhelming with the plastic in contact with the 35-degree sand. Even on pure verticals, there was so much friction, it was harder to stay on the sled than to slide down. The boys took to leaping down the dunes.
We are all starting to crave various things to eat back home – especially Brendan who has had a limited diet. I miss popcorn the most. Ryan misses Subway and Brendan misses the Ruby Inn. Joe is missing steak (too risky to eat in Asia) and crispy bacon. In Saigon we hope to get our hands on some English books and magazines and maybe take in a movie. A small taste of home will go a long way at this time for us as sometimes life in Asia is overwhelming at times… for example, one time I was walking down the street in Taiwan and saw two women sitting at the side of the road just beginning to eat their lunch from Styrofoam containers. One of the women was holding a small bag of goldfish in water. She put down her lunch and opened the bag of goldfish. She then poured water out of the bag onto her lunch!!! I know that the Asians love their fish sauce but for goodness sake!!! I nearly gagged! Although this was the image that disturbed me the most, there have been others that have certainly made an impression.
A few days ago there was a huge scandal here in Vietnam – the goat penis meat was tainted!! Asians are know for eating every part of anything that walks or swims. Walking through the markets can be a gut-wrenching experience. We have now gotten used to seeing all these bits (duck hearts, eels, snakes, frogs stuffed with mystery meats, etc.) but none of us have gotten use to the foul smelling meats, dried fish, fish sauces, etc.
Another things that we struggle with is the propensity for the Vietnamese to pick their noses. In fact, many men grow their pinky finger nail to use it expressly for that purpose. I don’t have a problem with this, but I do have a problem when this activity becomes a public event. For example, when we met our new guide we were thrilled to learn that he supervises the other guides in Vietnam. He told us how he expects all his guides to dress professionally and be well-groomed. “When you are working, you are working,” he said. I knew at this point that we likely had Vietnam’s best – bilingual, takes pride in appearance, knowledgeable… the consummate professional. Not ten minutes later he started into his nose. Not with one finger, but two – one in each nostril… deep! He managed to extract a good-sized ribbon of mucus before wiping it (on his newspaper? the seat? his clothes? I don’t want to know). He then took out a small pocket-mirror and examined his efforts! I thought about calling him on it right away but I didn’t want things to get off on the wrong foot as he was to be our guide for the next ten days. Instead, I waited until the next day when he began to indulge and immediately handed him a pack of Kleenex when he reached for his nose. There has been no nose-picking since – thank goodness!
Yesterday at our breakfast buffet a Vietnamese woman extracted some masticated food from her mouth and deposited it on a plate with two serving utensil!. As I am losing my patience I pointed at it, contorted my face into a look of disgust and shook my finger at her. Another time a woman sneezed without covering his mouth right into a soup station at the buffet. Neither of the servers behind reacted in any way whatsoever! Yet another time we had finished a beautiful dinner and took Brendan to the kitchen to thank them for keeping him safe. There were the two cooks squatted on turned over pails cutting their toenails! At one restaurant in Sapa a Vietnamese woman from reception took me down to the kitchen to where they conduct cooking classes. A young, barefoot boy (likely the dishwasher) was up squatting on the cooking counter.
Bathrooms can be quite a challenge. We’ve all learned how to squat and we all bring toilet paper with us whenever we go. The hose and bucket method is, of course, most common. I have no problem with that. What I find difficult, however, is going into restaurants where there is no soap in the bathroom. In very upscale restaurants you’ll often find toilet paper, yet no soap (and if they’re not providing it for the customers I think that you can assume that they are not using it themselves).
En route to Mui Ne, we stopped to sand sled on the prehistoric dunes along the China Sea in Southern Vietnam. A form of charity, the children rent to the tourists plastic super sliders on which you are free to sled down. Well needless to say, it was underwhelming with the plastic in contact with the 35-degree sand. Even on pure verticals, there was so much friction, it was harder to stay on the sled than to slide down. The boys took to leaping down the dunes.
Just as we arrived at our terrific resort, the Seashore, the heavens opened. We have been fortunate to miss much of the rain in Vietnam. Both Saigon and Hanoi have been flooded while we have been travelling between them. Interestingly, just a few meters out to sea, the weather is clear. Hmm.
Deb went for a walk on the beach while the boys and I played pool. They are really getting good! We all jumped into the pool until, a half-an-hour later, lightening and thunder made us seek refuge.
We ate dinner at another resort that had an English-speaking chef (from South Africa). It was like night and day! The resort was called the Sailing Club. It was fantastic and Brendan-safe. We would be so much happier in Vietnam if we could find more French- or English-speaking restaurants. Remarkably, we have been staying at nice 4-star resorts and these 2 languages are not prevalent.
We ate dinner at another resort that had an English-speaking chef (from South Africa). It was like night and day! The resort was called the Sailing Club. It was fantastic and Brendan-safe. We would be so much happier in Vietnam if we could find more French- or English-speaking restaurants. Remarkably, we have been staying at nice 4-star resorts and these 2 languages are not prevalent.
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