TUESDAY, MAR 16TH--NHA TRANG

“GOOD MORNING VIETNAM” Remember that quote from the Robin Williams movie? This morning we docked in Nha Trang, Vietnam, which in the central part of the country. As I said the huge US air base of Cam Ranh Bay was located here during the war but is now their international airport. This area of Vietnam is truly beautiful, especially the 5 mile long beach right next to the city. We had a perfect day here weather wise as was bright sunshine all day and lower 80’s with low humidity. We boarded the bus at 8:30 this morning for our 4 hour “Rural Life” tour. We drove to the outskirts of the city to visit a kindergarten. I don’t know who enjoyed who most, the cute little kids or us. Passengers had brought the little candies that are placed on our bed every night by our stewardesses and gave them to the anxious children. They loved to pose for our photos of them. Their precious smiles warmed everyone’s hearts. I took another 160 photos today but not sure when I will have time to upload them. You will see what I am talking about for yourselves then. Next stop was at a local market place where the people shop every morning for fresh meat, fish, vegetables, and fruit for that day’s use. I took several pictures of this very interesting and bustling place. Right across the street was a pharmacy so we enlisted the help of our guide to buy some Z Packs of antibiotics. Rebecca paid $70 for 1 Z Pack on the ship and here we got 20 packs for $11. After leaving the market we stopped to see some women weaving floor mats and place mats. We bought 4 hand made place mats for $8. There was also an elementary school here and we got to observe them in class and also in court yard exercising and playing “ring around the rosie”. Once again the kids loved their foreign visitors and our cameras. Next we visited a colorful temple (I’m about templed out). Back to the bus for a ride to the countryside where we stopped in a little village with, yes another temple! We saw some rice paddies that were about 2 weeks from harvest and some that were ready to be harvested. Here they use a machine to harvest the rice. We saw some farmers preparing the ground for planting and they also had brought some water buffalos for us to see. We then got to see a typical farmer’s house. In the center of the front room was a place to worship and a bed was on each side of that. I had to walk around to the back to get pictures of the very small kitchen (not sure if they wanted me to do that). In front of the house was a woman making incense sticks. We walked further into the village to see a woman making “rice paper”. Not to write on but used to wrap veggies or seafood in before eating. Guess you would say a Vietnamese taco of sorts. She used the husks from the rice grains as fuel to cook with as it burns slowly with lower heat that wood. They use all of the rice they harvest. The stems as animal food, husks as fuel, and rice grain for human consumption. A farmer can get 3 harvests of rice each year off his land. 60% he sells, 10% he keeps for seed to plant, and 30% for his own family’s use. A typical farmer has an income of from $8000 to $10000 a year and the government gets 15% of that. After harvesting they have to spread the rice on a flat surface for 2 days so the sun can dry it. The women are constantly stirring the rice so it can dry faster. Some farmers also grow vegetables to eat and sell barter in the markets. Next stop was at a restaurant of sorts where we sipped cocoanut water from a cold cocoanut. I trekked down a street on my own during this time and had a conversation with a nice lady named, Heeb. I enjoyed joking with her and trying to get her to pose for a photo. Finally she consented. Prior to this I came upon a very young couple and the boy wanted me to take a picture of his girlfriend. She finally agreed. Almost everyone I take pictures of wants to see the picture. Now we headed back to the ship. You will notice that the women motobikers are almost totally covered: long pants, long sleeved shirts, gloves, hat, mask. Our tour guide said they do it to protect themselves from the sun. The men do not care. So we were back at 12:30 and at 1:00p I boarded a bus to the pedicab place. Rebecca did not want to go so I gave her ticket to Norman, a friend. The pictures I took describes what this experience was like. It was a lot of fun but I was worried that my legs were getting fried from the sun. As you can see there was a little canopy over my head. They peddled us all over Nha Trang for an hour. We ended up at a market place where we were to be for 45 minutes but the tour guide helped me negotiate a $5 cab ride back to the ship. Good price as it was 15 minute ride. Glad I came back early as I tried on the shirts I bought from the pier side stands were way too small. I bought L sizes but needed XXL in their size. Paid $6 for Ralph Lauren polo shirts and $3 each for embroidered T-shirts. Our “stuff” is growing and growing so hoping we have space in suitcases to get it back home. I was very impressed with Nha Trang and our tours here. Tomorrow we will be in Saigon but they choose to call it Ho Chi Minh City after the war. OOPS! It is time for another “block party” so have to go have a glass of wine with our hallway neighbors. May not have time to do blog posts until after we leave Saigon and will be there next two days.