Well, we’re three days away from departure and as usual will leave with mixed emotions. On the one hand, we can hardly wait for the warmth of hearth and home, family and friends over the holidays; on the other, we will feel a pleasant kind melancholy as the jets begin to whine. This has been […]
Ira and I were in Khon Kaen on T’giving and dined with a couple of our friends and fellow Americans who teach at our old school. We ate well and counted all our blessings — at the top of that list is our wonderful family. Except for the airport closures in Bangkok which caused us […]
Ira and I are fine but we are now stuck in Laos. We couldn’t get any flights out of Thailand for weeks and the flights from Khon Kaen only go to Bangkok anyway which is obviously no good. So, we came back up to Vientiane by bus to try to get to Vietnam. The flights […]
We took a trip to Hoi An, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoi_An), for our fortieth anniversary. Noah may have considered Hoi An as a site for his ark, such were the deluges we experienced. But, getting wet was no real bother, because there was lots to see and do. Getting wet at its best? Well, there’s a great story […]
If you’ve ever have the desire to stand agog on a street corner, literally agog, come to Ho Chi Minh City and witness the motorbike traffic. For a sample, view: Bikes on Street Corner Then, venture across the street. The first time, you cross with the same faith and fear as with your first parachute […]
We are lucky to be here in Vietnam as older travelers. By custom, the Vietnamese honor people older than themselves, even those, such as our presenile selves, who are proceeding blissfully into the future. They are known also for overwhelming hospitality. We have experienced these expressions in spades and so have felt honored and welcomed […]
On Sunday, Dr. Nho and his family, picked us up for a “broken rice” breakfast. Breakfast was in a run-down-looking, open-air, pavilion-like, restaurant that you couldn’t find without knowing it was there. But, we swayed and bumped across construction ruts out near the harbor and entered a packed parking lot. The restaurant seems to be […]
While you were stirring around this morning to go vote, it was last night for us. We were reminiscing about our long string of new, exciting, and improbable experiences here in Vietnam. I almost feel guilty about having such fun and great good fortune in general. Last weekend’s events are an example, as will be […]
We have now been in Vietnam, in Ho Chi Minh City aka Saigon, for almost exactly one week. Our impressions are currently mixed as we compare Vietnam with Thailand. We have been trying to decide how to count — or discount — the familiarity quotient that we have developed with Thailand and the Thai language […]