Sunrises

I could exist off the sunrises here in Vietnam.  I'm a morning person, so I get to see them, and having the sunrise as a backdrop for the boats on the river is very scenic.

A few other people were up as they were catching a quick bite to eat before heading out to trips like: Cambodia, the Mekong Delta and service projects.

 

Nancy and I wanted to get an early start seeing more of the city--specifically what goes on in the parks in the morning.  On this morning (Sunday) we found what looked to be a scout jamboree, although it could have been a young communist rally.  The uniforms were almost identical to our scout uniforms.  They seemed to mix the girls and the boys in the older groups.  Here, we watched them raise a flag and sing.

 Other activities included badminton--you can buy badminton rackets everywhere but not golf clubs-- and a cool concert with some hybrid music of traditional instruments plus modern keyboard and electric bass.
Around the park were athletic fields where kids were playing soccer and basketball.  This park is actually used and is not just for scenery although there was scenery enough and young couples courting.

I was also able to get a few more photos of people on motorbikes carrying interesting stuff (I'm collecting these). 

Look carefully in the background of this one to see two guys transporting a ladder.  I hope they don't go under any low hanging electric wires.

 Or a load of sugarcane.

Then we sought out Vietnam coffee and shopped for some gifts.  We found a cool shop where they make all of their stuff.  They make some bags from re-cycled heavy plastic packing bags.  We struck up a conversation with the proprietor, and he had been to the U.S. and has a daughter in Florida. His first trip to the U.S.(just called America) was to visit Dallas after the assasination of JFK.

Lunch was at a small restaurant recommended in one of the guidebooks.  It was started by a former street person who learned English and has since hired street kids to teach them English and how to work in the service industry.  It was not your typical inexpensive Vietnam restaurant, but we did have a superb multi-course lunch served by a charming teenage boy  who was willing to spend time with us and teach us some Vietnamese phrases. 

Then we headed back to the ship to recuperate from the 95 degree heat and 95 percent humidity.
Nancy needed the rest because she was headed back in to get one of the famous Vietnamese massages--total body.  The pedicure included removing callouses from her feet. A bunch of the ship folks had already done this, and they start at your scalp and go down, using thumbs, elbows and arms.  They even massaged the palms of her hands and walked on her lower back. (Total cost $56 US for a couple of hours ) She said she slept the best she has in months.

While she was doing the massage, I joined my friend, Mike Ellerbrock, who is a professor from Virginia Tech, and we continued our Virginia-Virginia Tech banter.  (Hey Mike, I found a guide book your Tech students might like--it's got little words and lots of pictures).   After dinner, Mike and I walked around, and I heard someone yell "Hey Warner" from the motorbikes waiting at a light. Yep, there were some of our kids on the back of a couple of bikes. Then we rode the shuttle back to the ship.  Some of the kids were waiting at the shuttle with loaded duffel bags.  They had found an in-expensive place to have their laundry done.  I'm constantly amazed at what the kids are able to do in the ports.  When we got back to the ship, we were behind a group of kids who were returning from Cambodia.  One of them said his experience was second only to his trip to the Coliseum in Rome--pretty high praise.  The dining room crew had saved dinner for them.  The highlight of my day was having a couple of kids introduce themselves and tell me that their parents were enjoying my blog.  It's my pleasure.