Flying to Vietnam with the family tomorrow

[Bodhisattva]

After our early lunch we went to the Da Nang Railway Station for a five-hour ride (train plus taxi) to Tam Quan, a small rural coastal town where Lan's grandparents and mom lived. We got our own cabin (two bunk beds) so we could stretch out and enjoy the ride through the countryside.



Snack time!






Traditional Vietnam:







We arrived at our stop at Ga Bong Son, but we still had to take a taxi to the even smaller town (not worthy of its own train station) of Tam Quan. Our hotel was right on the ocean.



Lily befriended the resident guard-cat:



We were reunited with my MIL. She traveled up from Saigon to visit family and friends here while we worked our way from north to central VN over the previous couple of weeks. We went to the cemetery where Lan's grandparents are buried.

 

[Bazza]

Those Bonsai are incredible!

When I was teaching horticulture, the other teacher in our department, a retired Army Colonel who also had a Hort degree from Georgia Tech, had an old Army buddy come in as guest speaker when we taught Bonsai. His name was Thomas Zane. He lived in Japan for a number of years and was quite educated on the subject. He also started every presentation off the same way.

Bonsai is pronounced "Bone-Sigh".

 

[Bodhisattva]

We spent a few days in Tam Quan to visit with Lan's relatives on her Mom's side of the family - various aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, and nephews. Being a rural, coastal town, most of these relatives are either farmers or fishermen.







WTH kind of chicken/dinosaur/alien is this?







The next morning, a walk along the beach at our hotel:



Random weirdness:



... on the drive to the airport for the flight back to Saigon.

 

[Bodhisattva]

Transporation is Vietnam is pretty sketchy. Every in-country flight we took was delayed by hours.

Circling back to the beginning of this thread, my wife is very well respected among her peers. Even after all this time, we were constantly visited by her friends and classmates from the neighborhood. To try to organize this a little, Lan announced at the beginning of the trip that once we made our way back to Saigon, she would host what essentially would be a class reunion. She would pick up the tab for everything. That was scheduled for the evening. But, since our flight was delayed, we were late to our own party.



As we were taken upstairs to one of the banquet rooms, I told Lily to hang back with me. We let Lan and her Mom enter to room ahead of us. The room erupted when Lan's classmates saw Lan and her Mom. Lily was happily shocked to see everyone's reaction. A lifetime of kindness and charity was recognized. Even a couple of Lan's former high school teachers attended. It was beautiful to witness. Lily and I just sat at the other end of the table and soaked it all in.








At the end of the dinner, after lots of laughter and tears and nostalgia, Lan had one final gift to give her friends. As I've discussed before, Lan is doing everything she can think of to try to make this corner of the world a better place. She found another cause she can support and help out by going around a government that will steal everything it can. She told her friends that she found two orphanages - one Buddhist, one Catholic - that are in need of assistance for food, educational materials, building renovations, etc. Lan announced that she would make a 500,000,000 VND (about $20,000) donation in her friends' names to these two orphanages. Awesome, baby! You're doing good!

 

[Padreruf]

Wow...her/your family ought to tell this story in some form...very inspirational.

 

[Bodhisattva]

Thank you, Padre. Lan is leading this charge; I'm just along for the ride. She always asks me if it's ok to take on another charitable cause. My response is always, "Of course, baby. You don't need my permission." Her family was so abused in her youth that now that she has the means, she is determined to try to help as many people as she can. The biggest obstacle is always the government, unfortunately.

 

[Bodhisattva]

We had a couple of days left in Vietnam, so we spent our time wandering and sightseeing in Saigon.

First stop was the Vinh Ngiem Pagoda:













Unfortunately, the pagoda appears to be a secret Nazi lair.

 

[Bodhisattva]

Next, we went to the iconic Ben Thanh market, which is several covered square blocks of stalls where you can get just about anything. The main entrance with the clock tower was used as a model for large Vietnamese shopping mall in the Seven Corners area of Northern Virginia, a short drive from where we used to live.



For a late lunch, we got the heads up on a spot that was very well received. It was hot and humid, of course, so we were in need of a place to take a break indoors.










When I die I want to be buried face down in plates of this food. OMG, so good!

 

[Bodhisattva]

Our last day in Saigon. We went to market where Lan and her family - while her father was in the communist re-education camp - sold clothes for a subsistence living. Still a rough place to be, especially for children.











We passed on the food here. Just seemed like a reasonable conclusion.

Back out wandering the streets. I'm not sure if this place is legit. Something seems a little off.




Hmmm .....



Note to self: check on franchising opportunities.

 

[Bodhisattva]

So, Lan and I were on our own for lunch. Grandma was with her old friends, and Lily was cruising around on a scooter with her new friends.

Our final meal was at a restaurant that has an interesting story. The woman who started the restaurant was a teenager of Chinese/Vietnamese decent, who fled from Vietnam to Cambodia during the war. She got a job at a restaurant in Cambodia and learned to cook and mixed the flavors of all three cuisines. Returning after the end of the war in 1975, she opened this restaurant to support her surviving parents and siblings. Again, food here is so delicious. Hong Phat recently received the Bob Gourmand Award from the Michelin Guide. The second generation of the family recently took over.

















And four banh bao to go:



And all that gluttony only cost a little over $30.



Delicious, cheap food with a good story behind it. I love these people!

 

[Bazza]

Happy Birthday @Bodhisattva !

 

[Bazza]

Again @Bodhisattva - THANK YOU so much for bringing us into this amazing culture and society! Your photos are amazing and the accompanying descriptions and narratives really make this so interesting.

Another dumb question, if you don't mind. How much is English language spoken by the population over there, if at all?

And how about Lan's family - much English spoken or not?

Not trying to be nosey - just trying to understand more....TIA!

 

[Bodhisattva]

Sorry for the delayed response @Bazza. Busy week and I was out of town for a few days.

Again @Bodhisattva - THANK YOU so much for bringing us into this amazing culture and society! Your photos are amazing and the accompanying descriptions and narratives really make this so interesting.

Thank you. I am very happy you enjoy them. It was fun to re-live the experience as I put these posts together.

Another dumb question, if you don't mind. How much is English language spoken by the population over there, if at all?

Generally, not much. But, in places like the sit-down restaurants and the boutique hotels that have a corporate structure, interaction with tourists and ex-pats is common. So, for example, the hotel in Hanoi had young people working there who had degrees in hospitality or hotel management and were very fluent in English. But most of the time I could only manage rudimentary communication with (for example) a vendor at a market. That wasn't much of a problem since it's a simple transaction. But if the conversation was any more involved than that, I had to rely on Lan's translation skills.

And how about Lan's family - much English spoken or not?

Lan's Mom, who lives with us, doesn't speak English. Lan's two sisters and brother live back in Virgina. One of her sisters and her brother are fluent in English.

Not trying to be nosey - just trying to understand more....TIA!

No problem, my friend. Feel free to ask me anything.