Our traditional clothes

I wanted to post a photo of us in our traditional clothes. They are so beautiful and very comfortable. We also have some beautiful shoes that appear to be inlaid with mother of pearl and the girls got the hats. It is amazing that the lady took measurements from us there in her shop and then made the complete outfit from those measurements. The stitch work is perfect. Makes me want to get out my sewing machine again. It's been too long since I had it out.


We are still all a little jetlagged, but today is the first day I made it through the day without a nap, so maybe tomorrow I'll feel back to normal.

Home

Two days ago we got off our airplane. The first thing we did was go to The Corner Pub. It was very yummy, but we still needed food for the next day. We went to the grocery store and got all of our favorite foods.
The next morning Mary Kathryn and I slept in until 1:00 pm. That was the day we were supposed to shop for Dad's birthday present, because his birthday was the next day. It ended up that we had gotten him one in Vietnam. It is a charcoal picture of two birds sitting on a tree. He also got a silk shirt from the Nguyens. He loved both of his presents! :)

Cao Lanh Photos

Much more rested now and I have downloaded the photos. The girls are still asleep (despite Bin's best efforts outside our door :) but will be getting up soon to shower and finish packing for the long trip home. We are going to spend the day in Ho Chi Minh today doing some shopping and seeing the city and our flight is at midnight. Hopefully we'll be so tired that we'll be able to sleep on the plane. The first flight is to Tokyo and we'll arrive there at 7:30 in the morning. The long flight is from Tokyo to Dallas. It's around 15 hours long. We'll be back in Nashville at 3:00 on Monday, and Dad, be warned, we'll be going straight from the airport to City Limits. The girls have a hankering for some American food and I think it will come before even sleep. See you all soon!

Cao Lanh

Yesterday we got up early and got on the road. We headed to Western Vietnam and Cao Lanh. This is where many of Mr. Nguyen's business partners are located. We went to meet them and visit their area of the country. It was a 5-6 hour drive, but we did make a couple of stops on the way. One stop was at the Metro, which is a huge store that reminded me of a Sam's Club. You had to have a card to get in and only so many people can go in with the one with the card. Once again, they made an exception of that rule and let all eight of us go in together. They also have a height restriction (which Sarah Beth just made it over) to keep children out. As we were getting ready to go in, they stopped me and Tram and said something. Mr. Nguyen then took our purses. I thought he was going to take them to the car, but he came back holding them out and they had been sealed in a bag. Evidently they have a huge problem with shoplifting there. That store had everthing. We visited the candy aisle and the pastries, got some of their Vinamilk (which Sarah Beth is going to miss soooo much), and I got some chopsticks for us to take home. On the way in I had seen a coffee shop that looked sort of like a Starbucks and got excited. After we were finished shopping, Tram and I went back to the coffee shop and sure enough, white mocha was on the menu. I ordered one, but it just wasn't a Starbucks :(

We got back on the road and made it to the hotel around 5:00. Dinner was at 5:30 so we really didn't have very much time to rest. We were back in the car and headed to the office campus (for lack of a better word). They had set up a feast for us. They said it was five courses, but Tram and I counted at least seven and that was before they brought out the fruit for dessert. That is one thing about Vietnamese food, they feed you a lot. I don't know when I've ever eaten so much food. I have stayed full the whole time.

One sad thing on the way there yesterday, we saw an accident that I feel certain was a fatality. A motorbike go tied up with a truck. I saw it up ahead and had the girls turn their head. They don't have many accidents, but when they do, there's usually a fatality because of the motorbikes and bicycles going up against vehicles.

This morning we got up early again and met them downstairs for breakfast and then headed to an area where we went by boat to an area where you can do some birdwatching and there was a huge tower to climb and you could see over everything. This is the "countryside," and I decided if we got lost there, we'd never be found. It was so remote. The boat ride was peaceful. There was a woman in the back of each boat that did the paddling. There was another paddle if you wanted to help, but we seemed to get it going sideways when we "helped." The girls wanted me to paddle because I made us go fast and they were racing with Bao.

After the boat ride it was time again to eat -- what else? There was a cute little girl that was the daughter of one of the executives and she was the same age as Sarah Beth and they sat together at lunch. Her name was Ngi. There were also a couple of little boys that entertained us. Finally some of the spotlight off my girls. They seem to be a magnet in Vietnam. Everyone is attracked to them and particularly with Sarah Beth being young, they all want to touch her and have their picture made with them. When we were in large areas with a lot of people, Mrs. Nguyen felt it would be best if we didn't allow others to take a picture with her, but today she did have her picture made with the ladies that served us a snack (what else, more food) when we got back to the hotel after lunch. The girls have a favorite fruit that I'm going to have to try to find when we get back home. They ordered them two plates of it at the hotel because they kept eating it knowing this would be the last day they have to eat it.

We ate so many different things that we had never tasted before -- snails, bird (not chicken), but we drew the line on the eggs that had baby chickens partially formed. This is some kind of delicacy, but my allergy to eggs came in very handy and the girls smiled and said no, drawing the line there.

It's late and I'm too tired (and lazy) to go across the room to get the card reader and camera, so no photos tonight. Hopefully I'll have time tomorrow morning. We leave tomorrow to head to Ho Chi Minh for the day and then catch our flight at midnight. It will be another long day, but maybe we'll be so exhausted we'll be able to sleep some on the flights. We have 27 hours from the beginning of our flights until we land in Nashville! Can that be right? Maybe I need to redo the math after a good night's sleep.

Traditional Clothes

Today -- well, actually yesterday now since it's past midnight -- we spent another relaxing morning and after lunch we had a treat. We went to a fabric store and picked out fabric and then went to a tailor to have traditional clothes made. They took many measurements to fit them precisely. They will probably not be ready to bring back home with us, but Tram and Nikki will be back in a couple of weeks and we can get them then.



After that we visited Mr. Nguyen's family, his older brother and three sisters. At the last sister's home, there was a karaoke room and we all had a lot of fun. We didn't get back home and ready to eat dinner until after 9:00. We are going to make another road trip tomorrow, this time to the west part of the country. We will be spending one night, so we may be away from email for a couple of days.

Spring Rolls

Yesterday we spent the day relaxing and resting up from our trip. We ate, took naps, ate again, napped again, ate some more. That's how it goes around here. I have never been so full in my life. In the afternoon Tram's aunt came over to teach us how to make Spring Rolls. That is a favorite of the girls. They have tasted Spring Rolls from the south to the middle of Vietnam and declared Tram's aunt's the best. We wrote down the ingredients but like any good cook, she didn't measure anything so we had to guess how much we'll need of each thing. It may take a few practice runs, but I believe we'll be able to make some pretty decent Spring Rolls back in Tennessee.

We spend a lot of the day being entertained by Bin. He is too cute for words. It's been a while since we had a little one in the house, and he can get around. He has learned a few English words and melts our hearts everytime he talks to us.

Photos are here!

Here are the long-awaited photos. It took me quite a bit of time to get them downloaded, divide them out by areas of Vietnam, resize for the blog and then the internet has been out all day. Didn't know if I was going to get them uploaded, but here they are. Go to the Menck Picasa Album over to the right to view them. Enjoy!

Hue III

This morning we got to sleep in! Of course, that meant I got the girls up at 7:30 so we could be downstairs for breakfast by 8:00. We had breakfast in the hotel again and Mary Kathryn was sad that this was the last time she would get to have some of their chocolate filled pastries. There were not many on the tray today, so she only had two.

The driver picked us up at 9:15 and we headed to the palace and tomb of the fourth emperor of the Nugyen Dynasty. There were moats around it with lotus and fish and it was very serene. The emporer liked to write poetry and we saw his favorite location to get inspired.

We then headed to the palace and tomb of Khai Dinh, Kien Trung Palace. To say it was ornate is an understatement. He loved jewels and had them inlaid in the palace walls. It was so intricate and beautiful. His tomb took 11 years to construct.

This seemed to be he hottest day since we’ve been here. I’m not sure of the temperature, but it was hard to get cooled off. Lunch was next at an outdoor restaurant, but they put us in the back and had some fans pointed on us. They brought out cool towels for us to wipe our hands and faces and that helped us cool off quickly too.

After lunch we went to an art gallery. They had many of the hand sewn pictures. There were some framed where you could see the back as well and the back of them are almost as beautiful as the front. There are no extra threads and you cannot easily see the knots. I loved the ones of older Vietnamese men. It was amazing how they could show their wrinkles and put shadows by changing the color of the thread. They were all very beautiful.

From there we headed to the airport. We got there with plenty of time this go round and it wasn’t a panicked rush. I’m not sure how the tour guides do it, but they walk straight up to the front of the line and get us right through. It makes me feel bad because everyone else is in line and we just walk on by. I would hate to think they are thinking those Americans think they’re so good. I asked Tram about it, how the guides always went to the front of the line, and she thought they might pay money to be able to do that. I know on the morning we were late the guide went up to the counter and the girls said no. He bypassed her and went to an office and talked to an official to get us on that flight. There was a lot of "loud" discussion and I think they held it just for us. Not sure what he had to do to make that happen.

This is the end of our tour around Vietnam and the rest of our time will be spent at their house. We had a short flight from Hue to Ho Chi Minh City and then a van to take us to their house. We arrived around 8:00 and took showers and played with Bin. We then ate around 9:00 -- fried chicken and a fried rice that was prepared with a particular fruit that made it have a pink tint. It was delicious.We all fell into bed last night, exhausted but happy from our trip.

Today is the day I learn to make Spring Rolls, which will please all four girls. I will also spend time downloading the camera and organizing photos. They will be forthcoming soon.

Hue II

Yesterday we started out at 7:00 breakfast in the hotel. There are a fair amount of tourists in this area, so they have the traditional Vietnamese breakfast items but also an assortment of foods for everyone. They have an egg station, but they are not familiar with scrambled eggs. Tram had to go with the girls to explain to the chef what it was they were wanting.

This day was going to be a long day of driving. We were traveling five hours to get where we were going. We made two stops on the way. The first stop was a Catholic Cathedral that was over 200 years old. It is said that Mary appeared there during the war when people were taking refuge at the church. The cathedral is little more than a façade as the back part of it was hit by bombs during the war. A little ways away there was a statue of Mary and there was a group praying around it. From the tempo of the prayers it sounded like they were doing the rosary.

The next stop was the bridge that divides North and South Vietnam. There is a new bridge for vehicles but we got out of the van and walked across the old bridge. On the South end there is a beautiful statue of a lady and child and coconut leaves. On the North end there is a large Vietnamese flag on a stone pedestal. Ownership of the bridge is even divided in half. We were told that during the war a gentleman from the South would go over every night and bomb the North's flagpole and that the next day the North would put it back up again.

We got back on the road and made our way to the Phong Nha Cave. I have run out of adjectives to describe the beauty. We traveled by boat to the cave and all the way to the back. We then made our way on foot back to the mouth of the cave. A photographer went with us and took many pictures throughout the cave because it was so dark our cameras wouldn’t work in it. I will have to wait until I get home to scan in some of the photos to share of the cave. We then had a boat ride back to the village.

Of all the driving we’ve done – well actually, we’ve had a driver the whole time – we had not seen any accidents until yesterday. On the long trip to the cave we saw two motorcycles that had run into each other and then a truck loaded with wheelbarrows that had overturned. We also had one instance where we almost had a wreck, but our driver did an excellent job. I was dozing a little and felt him hit the brakes and looked up and there was a girl on a motorbike sideways in the road right in front of us. Our driver was able to get the van stopped and everyone went on their way as if nothing had ever happened. Did I mention that I will never ever, ever drive in Vietnam?

Hue

Well, today we went to the city of Hue so we could visit the palace of the King of the Nguyen Dynasty. Hue used to be the capital of Vietnam. The palace was the first thing we did that day. To get there, we had to drive up a mountain on a road that Tram was really nervous about. She said it had a high fatality rate. We made it there safely, and the views of water and rice fields were stunning. When we got to the palace, we explored the throne room and learned about the last King of Vietnam. Sarah Beth, Tram, Nikki, and Mrs. Nguyen got to dress up in traditional clothes as a Queen, King, and two princesses. I promise, we will put lots of pictures of them on the blog as soon as we get back to the Nguyens' house. After visiting the palace, we went to a Buddhist temple, and then lunch. After lunch, we visited a market that was selling those traditional hats that I love so much; me and Sarah Beth each bought one! After relaxing at the hotel and having dinner, we went to a boat on a river in Vietnam that passed under a bridge that continuously changes colors. While we were on the boat, 4 women performed traditional Vietnamese music while being accompanied by various instruments, many of which I did not recognize. During intermission, we were all given paper lotuses with lit candles in them, and placed them on the water while making a wish. The river looked beautiful, covered with our little lanterns. After the show, we went to the hotel and fell asleep instantly; we are running on very little sleep!

Da Nang Part II

Sarah Beth did a great job of describing our day. I just wanted to add the name of the hotel if anyone wanted to check it out online. It is the Green Plaza Hotel. It is the most beautiful hotel. The place we ate and shopped last night was in Hoi An. The box Mary Kathryn got was from a shop where they carved marble. They had artisans actually working as we watched. The carvings were amazing. Her box has an intricately carved rose on the top and is just beautiful. She used the money Uncle Kurt and Aunt Julie gave her for her birthday to purchase it.

The old house that Sarah Beth talked about was called the Ancient House and was over 200 years old. The lady that walked us around it was the eighth generation in her family to live there. They had beautiful silk tableclothes that they made right there, they had many paintings, and they also had some wood carved items. The craftsmanship is very impressive.

When Sarah Beth said the water mountain was hard to climb, she wasn't kidding. There's no way to accurately describe it, so I'm hoping when I upload my photos you'll be able to see. It was straight up, but the view at the top was breathtaking. Well worth the climb. It was also the hottest I had been since we got here.

At the bottom of the mountain there was a cave and in the very back of it was a temple. It was so serene in there and really beautiful. There were some "holes" in the ceiling of the cave and they let some sunlight shine through. We asked how the holes got there, and were told "we" did it with bombs. Oops. They looked on the bright side of it, though, and said it made it very beautiful.

I'm in the lobby of the hotel blogging because that's where have access in the hotel and the guide has come in for our next trip out so I've got to get myself upstairs and get the girls. More later!

Da Nang

When we woke up, we packed everything and went to breakfast. For breakfast, we had all sorts of American food, but I also got fried rice. I was surprised to see watermelon, because in Vietnam, they count that as a dessert! The tour guide said we should get on the bus to the airport at 6:15, but we got on the bus at about 6:45. We got to the airport at about 7:15, which was exactly when our boarding time ended. Luckily for us, our flight was running late and we got on the plane as it was leaving.

When we landed, we went straight for the next attraction. It was a 108 stair climb to the top of a mountain. This mountain stood for water. It went along with 4 other mountains that stood for the 4 other elements. When we got to the top, there were Buddhist temples. We got to see how people worship with incense. Then we climbed on uneven rocks to the VERY top of the mountain and saw the ocean. The way down was harder, because the rocks were very slippery. We made it down though, and went shopping! Mary Kathryn got a black box with a rose carved on it, made of marble. There was this one worker that was pushy! She heard Mary Kathryn was in the year of the chicken, and kept showing her this one chicken! MK tried to explain she hated birds, but she would not listen. We shortly left, and prepared to go to lunch.

For lunch we had everything laid out on the table, and we just took what we wanted, and it was VERY good.

Then we went to our hotel. It was AMAZING! Our room had a double bed and a single bed. We had a kitchen with a bar and stools. We also had a living room with 4 chairs and a round table in between. We had a fancy umbrella stand taller than Mom, and a big chandelier. The bathroom had a stylish round sink, and soothing colors. When we were unpacking, a worker came in and broght us some fresh fruit. This was one of those hotels that you want to live in!

After we got settled in, we went to another attraction. It was a house that was 200 years old! We learned that it had a hole in the ground on the 2nd floor so that if there was a flood, the family could pass things up from the first floor.Then, we went shopping! I got a small purse/wallet that is red with gold flowers on it. We looked, but nothing else caught our eye. At that time we were all very hungry. We went to another restaurant with a good view and a nice breeze.

After we ate dinner, we were all very tired, so we went back to the hotel for the night.

By: Sarah Beth

Nha Trang Bay

We have made it to Danang City and have internet access so I'm going to post about our day yesterday in Nha Trang. Yesterday morning at 5:00 a.m. the driver came and picked us up for the trip to the Ho Chi Minh airport. It was Mary Kathryn, Sarah Beth, Mr. and Mrs. Nguyen, Tram, Nikki, Bao, and me. Little Bin stayed home with his nanny for this trip. On the way to the airport we stopped for breakfast at an outdoor resort that was very nice. There we were met by Mrs. Nguyen's youngest sister Op and she made the trip with us.

After breakfast we loaded back up and headed to the airport. We had a short hop to Nha Trang airport. As soon as the girls got their electronics out and "made their nest" it was time to put them back up to prepare for landing.

At the airport we were met by another tour operator. We immediately headed to lunch and then the hotel to check in. We dropped off our things and headed back out to see the sights. We went on a boat that ferried us over to Monkey Island. I have forgotten my drive to be able to download pictures back at the Nguyens' house so it will be a few days until I can add photos, but you have to check back and see them. The monkeys are actually tame and used to all the people. Bao even fed them from his hand. They had a show where the monkeys rode bikes and did other tricks. Usually people spend hours on the island swimming and sunning but we headed on back over because a storm was coming up.

Next we visited Cham Ponagar Tower. It was built in the 11th century and had many shrines. We left our shoes at the door and got to go in. Our tour guide described all of the symbolism of the temple. He then took us by the open market where the Nguyens purchased some of their favorite regional specialties.

For dinner we went to a nice restaurant that had a room upstairs reserved for us. It had a large round table and a lazy Susan that is almost the size of the whole table. All the foods are brought in and place on the lazy Susan and you dish out foods into a bowl to eat from. We all have been using the chopsticks, but sometimes in frustration will put them down for a fork.

We have tasted so many new foods and found many that we really like. Mary Kathryn has made Mrs. Nguyen promise to teach me how to make Spring Rolls. She loves them -- any flavor, doesn't matter what meat is in them -- fish, shrimp, beef, pork -- she loves them. Yesterday I tried squid prepared four different ways! I must say I liked the fried squid the best. I went back for seconds on that one.

One thing that I have learned while here is that I will never, ever, ever try to drive in Vietnam. They do have lines down the road, but those are merely a suggestion. They drive all over the road. And the cars have to share the road with hundreds of motorbikes. They all go different directions, there are no turn signals at the stop lights so they just "muscle" their way through to make a turn. We met an American couple today that said their most excitement they've had for their trip is they crossed the road in Ho Chi Minh. Nope, me, I'll stick to the van.

Last night we spend the night in the Yasaka Saigon Nhatrang Premier Beach Resort Hotel and Spa. The room was very nice and the view was spectacular. Mary Kathryn decided that she wants to honeymoon there. We turned in early because we had to be ready to leave at 6:15 the next morning. We didn't know what was ahead of us -- just that we were to be in the lobby at 6:15 -- so we got back to the room after dinner, took showers, and went to bed.

Vietnam!!!!!!!

After our plane landed, we got our baggage and went to meet Tram and Nikki's family. Outside, there was a HUGE crowd of people waiting for friends and family. Every single one of them stared at us "like we had bathing suits on the outside of our clothes" (to quote Sarah Beth.) Several of Tram's aunts were there to greet us along with her parents and Bao, her 2nd youngest brother. We got in her family's car and drove out of Ho Chi Minh city toward the village where Tram lives. Mrs. Nguyen gave us our first taste of Vietnamese food: bread containing pate! It was delicious. Tram's family also gave us flowers, which embarrassed Tram.
Our first day in Vietnam was mostly spent trying new foods, and trying to correct jet lag. We took soooo many naps! Today though, the Nguyens showed us around their village. Just driving through the countryside was amazing! We met Tram's grandmother and aunt, and many cousins. Vietnamese hospitality is really abundant. All of the relatives we met served us delicious food, and when we were about to explode, they would offer us more! (My personal favorite is spring rolls, which are totally different than the ones I've had!) Next, we went to the Nguyens' garden to look at the fruits we had been eating. I'll put pictures of the fruits and countryside on the blog shortly, as soon as I figure out how. Sarah Beth's favorite plant was a small fern-looking plant. It looked normal; but when Mr. Nguyen touched it with his hand, it shrank and shriveled! They call it "shy plant!" Also, on the trip, me and Sarah Beth counted the number of traditional hats we saw out the window. Traditonal hats are circular and pointed on top. I plan to buy one as a souvenir! Tomorrow we are leaving for a five-day trip where we see a lot of the most famous sights of Vietnam. We may or may not be able to blog, but we will if we can!!!

P. S. Our final hat count for the day was 34!

Flights

On June 22nd, we drove to the airport, and hopped on our first flight to Dallas, Texas. It was only one and a half hours, so it was over before we knew it. When we got to Texas, it was like Tennessee, except it was browner with less trees. We prepared ourselves for the next flight and hopped on our next flight to Tokyo. It was a red eye flight that lasted fourteen hours! We all were sitting in the middle row with two other people. One was a old Vietnamese lady, and the other was her son. The old lady fell asleep against Mom on her shoulder. Also when Mom put her chair back, this guy kicked it and said," PUT UP!" We got off and we could not believe we were in a different country. The airport was so cool! I loved the bathroom. It was awesome because it had special toilets. One had music that you could play to help you "go". Another one was like a dip in the floor. You squatted over it! No one used it, but we all loved it. My favorite part was the magazine rack with magazines in Japanese at the gift shop.. After I got a magazine, we went and sat down in our gate. All of the Japanese people were looking at us like we were wearing bathing suits on the outsides of our clothes. I felt like rock star! We met a nice Vietnamese man that was going to be on our flight and he was describing Ho Chi Minh City to us. We wanted more souvenirs, so we went to a gift shop. There I got a key chain with a wooden doll on it and Mary Kathryn got a bookmark. Finally, it was time for our flight. This flight to Ho Chi Minh was about six hours long. Just like the flight to Tokyo, there were TVs in the backs of the chairs. On the flight to Ho Chi Minh, I was watching a live feed from below the plane. When we flew into Ho Chi Minh, the flight attendents had turned on the birds eye view camera and we could see Ho chi Minh. It was amazing! It was just like I had amagined Tokyo at night like. There were flashing lights everywhere, and the whole city was lit up. We landed and could not believe we were in Vietnam! It was very exciting and we could not wait to explore Vietnam.

Packing

My mom, Mary Kathryn, and I have almost finished packing. All we need to do is go shopping for some last minute supplies and put it all in the suitcase! We are all very excited, but the dog, Zach, can tell something is wrong. He is pacing around the house with his ears down. He hates it when my mom leaves!

Welcome

This is the blog Mary Kathryn and I set up this afternoon to inform friends and family about our trip to Vietnam. We leave in three days, so we set up this blog just in time!