Steve and I left for Vietnam on the red-eye flight Wednesday night/Thursday early morning. We arrived in Hong Kong at 6:45 a.m. Friday morning and pressed on to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) a couple of hours later. Robert, the founder of Giving It Back To Kids (GIBTK), met us at the airport, and we were on our way to a WHOLE new adventure.
It's funny because we feel fairly well-traveled, but that's just within our group of friends. In reality, we have barely scratched the surface of what is out there to experience: cool cultures that we know so little about, beautiful and amazing landscapes, and beautiful and amazing people, too. Arriving in Asia is like being on another planet. That's especially true of Vietnam. According to others we have met, Vietnam has been in a bit of a time warp and is about 50 years behind other non-third world countries. A new friend on our "team" here is from Korea, and Vietnam is a world apart even for her. For us, it's new sounds, an incredibly difficult language to pronounce (correctly!!), new tastes and smells, but we're diving in.
When we arrived, Robert took us on a quick walking tour of the downtown Saigon area. We went on the roof of the REX Hotel where the press stayed and where the US military generals, etc. were able to view distant battles and strategize during the Vietnam War, which is called the American War here. We saw other government buildings as well and did some quick shopping. Robert often treats his guests/team members to a "foot massage," especially because it's so "helpful after a long flight." He didn't leave us so much in the dark that we didn't know we were in for an experience, but we didn't know it would be THAT crazy.
The "foot" massage is really a full-body-torture-rub-the-same-spot-til-you-freak-out-chiropractice-pain-massage. Steve even got a bonus leg waxing. He swears that his leg hair got rubbed off in parts. It is seriously a knuckle grinding, full impact kind of thing. I can't believe these little Vietnamese girls have the strength to do it for an hour. Anyhow, I literally broke out in "pain sweats," but Steve and I would look over at each other and start laughing, too because we couldn't believe how crazy this was. We did feel great when we left, but we're not quite sure if you feel so great because they just rubbed all of your knots away and "reflexologied" you into wellness, or if you're body is just so glad to not be in pain anymore that you think you're feeling good :)
Later that night we met and had dinner with some of the kids from "Grace House." It is an orphanage run by GIBTK. The kids range in age from five to seventeen, and they are truly great kids. They were all so sweet, well-behaved, and fun. Now that we've been here for three days, we are seeing that much of what we do here is simply show these kids love. Steve has such a gift to work with kids. He brought his cards and has been mesmerizing kids across Vietnam with his card tricks and other fun "tricks" since we got here. They love it, and he does too.
Since we'd been awake for over 24 hours, we crashed pretty hard that night. We slept from probably 10:30 to 5:00 a.m. which is pretty good for that big of a jump (Vietnam is 15 hours ahead of CA). We were able to video chat with the kids and my parents that morning, which was fantastic (except to hear that my Grandpa is not doing well. Please keep him in your prayers). We love that we are able to see the kids for a short visit. It is unbelievable to be on the other side of the world, and have a live video conversation with your children for free. Technology is amazing!!
After breakfast that morning, Robert took us to the market and back for a little bit more souvenir shopping since this would be our last chance to hit the streets of Ho Chi Minh City during the day. The food market is unbelievable. We were out by about 7:45, and the vendors were all ready to go. Their meat selection is extensive not so much because they have a huge variety of animals, but they have a huge variety of animal parts. We saw brains, feet, ears, skin, stomach, liver, kidney, intestines, other glands... Really, while it's gross, it's also admirable that they use EVERY part of the animal that they kill. The seafood area is crazy, too. They don't have refrigeration, so they keep much of their catch alive in aerated bins: crabs of all types, lobster, shrimp, fish of so many varieties, eels. They did have things that were already dead or chopped up. We loved it because it's just amazing to see how different people live. They have fruit, too, that we've never seen before. Gorgeous, exotic, and some of it delicious!!
Before we went to the airport to fly to Da Nang, we went by the orphanage in Saigon that Robert's daughter was from. Apparently, this orphanage has made leaps and bounds of improvement since his daughter was there ten years ago. The administrator changed since that time, and life for those kids changed in such a positive way. This orphanage is a government-sponsored one, but GIBTK contributes there in different ways, including that they've hired two physicial therapists to work at the orphanage with the kids who suffer from cerebral palsy and other conditions that put them in need. This orphanage was surprising clean and non-smelly. The kids all looked clean, weren't crying or screaming bloody murder, and had dry diapers. It was seriously amazing. I don't know if the babies, for example, are just so used to not being held much that they don't think of crying as a way of communicating that you want to be held, but that's what it seemed like. We held and loved on babies that were infants (and likely being adopted soon); then we moved to another area with toddlers. Those kids loved being held, and cried when we had to put them back in the crib and leave. It's great to hold them and get them giggling, and it's TERRIBLE to put them down and walk away. This orphanage also had a significant group of kids with severe issues/handicaps... a whole room with children with hydrocephalus. It's truly heartbreaking. I could feel sobs about to break out, but I really just sucked it up and put a happy smile on my face and a twinkle in my eye and rubbed their arms and talked to them sweetly. I figured that they were probably used to being looked at by people with sad faces or tears in their eyes, and I wanted them to smile and laugh (if they could and some of them could) and feel looked at for the amazing little beings that they are.
Our flight to DaNang was quick and easy... getting through security with Steve wearing his Leatherman was stressful, but it all worked out, and we boarded the plane with a few minutes to spare :) In DaNang, we checked into Sandy Beach Resort, which is a lovely place. Steve and I had reserved a "beach villa" not knowing exactly what that meant, and we were happy to find that we truly have a little villa (two bathrooms even!) right on China Beach. We love it. We're not spending much time here, but we still love it ;).
We headed over to Hoi Ahn, an ancient city near DaNang, that evening. It is truly a beautiful place. It has buildings that date back to the 15th century, cobblestone streets, and delicious dining options. It reminded us a bit of a combination between Old Cabo and Pirates of the Caribbean. We had a lovely meal followed by a quick scan of the cool shops, most of which are shops with silk and other fabrics that make custom clothing. We took a quick little tour of the silk making process, which is fascinating, and headed back to get some sleep.
Today was filled, too, of course, but I'll write about it later. It's getting late again :)
Ooh, one weird thing... Facebook is blocked in Vietnam. The government doesn't want to allow it. We had no idea that a website could be blocked to a country. It makes me wonder if they block certain political or religious sites, too....
Here are some pics to check out.
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| "Light" traffic in Ho Chi Minh City. There is an amazing number of motorbikes. Apparently, up until a couple of years ago, there were virtually no cars at all. |
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| Snake wine... Bleck!! |
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| This pic does NOT do justice to the driving situation here. They seriously just go... There are often no stoplights at all, and when there is one..."Red is a suggestion." :) Crossing the street is an art. |
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| Steve and Steph in front of The People's Committee Building |
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| A motorbike transporting ice. They transport everything on these things. We even saw a guy driving with another guy on the back holding a ladder straight up in the air. |
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| One of my new favorite fruits: mangosteen |
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| Yummy! |
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| Last year a law enforced helmets for adults, but not for kids. Children right in front and on the back of these things like it's no big deal. |
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| Check out this wiring (This one's for you, Mark :) )!! |
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| Grace House kids LOVED getting the goodies that Havi and Ellery made for them. |
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| Steph and Robert walking through the market |
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| Steph with some eels... That's supposed to be an eel face ;) We watched a lady skinning them right there! |
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| A plethora of body parts |
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| SHOES!! |
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| Steve and a sweetie at the first orphanage we visited |
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| These precious babies were just SO happy to be held and talked to. They melted our hearts. |
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| Seriously adorable! You really do want to scoop them up and take them home. |
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| Arriving at the DaNang airport. We were greeted by the kids from Hai Chao- an orphanage for DaNang "street kids." |
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| DaNang is much mellower than HCM, but is on its way to becoming a serious tourist destination with massive beach resorts going in down the strip. |
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| In front of our villa at Sandy Beach Resort on China Beach |
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| The traditional Stewart "jump shot" |
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| Strolling the streets of Hoi Ahn |
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| Some of our "team" headed to dinner |
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| An example of one of MANY shops in Hoi Ahn that create custom clothing. Steve is having two shirts made and I am getting a dress... to be delivered to our hotel on Tuesday ;) |
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| The silk "factory" Baby silk worms |
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| The cocoons. They drop 80% of them into boiling water which removes the natural glue substance that holds the strands of silk together (and kills the moth inside of course). The other 20% are allowed to emerge and lay their eggs. |
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| Silk on the loom |
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| Some of their dyed silk |
wow Steph! What an amazing adventure you are having!
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