Blog Holiday

The blog Gretchen2dot0 is taking a holiday. Check back for new posts in a couple of weeks!

Saigon

Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) was the last stop on my southeast Asian adventure. It is a HUGE city that makes Hanoi look small by compare. There is a lot to do in terms of shopping and nightlife, and I only had time to barely sample it.

We ate lunch at Pho 2000, Bill Clinton's favorite restaurant when he is in town, and we shopped the Ben Thanh market. Bargains galore! Then, it was time for some sightseeing.

Here is a statue of Uncle Ho near a former French government building. The statue came after the French left.

We saw the old post office, still in operation. It has maps of Indochina under the French regime which have been preserved as murals.

No visit to Saigon is complete without a trip to the War Remnants Museum, formerly the War Crimes Museum. It is a rather disturbing place. Unfortunately, the balance in how the war is reported is not exactly evident. But humbling all the same.

I saw the Hotel Majestic, where my dad stayed when he covered the Vietnam/American War as a journalist.

The last day, we had our farewell dinner. It was sad to say goodbye to everyone, especially our great guide Mr. Loc. There was also a confession at dinner regarding some hijinks with Nigel's camera. Who would have thought...

All in all, Vietnam and my trip were amazing. I'm at home now after a fairly eventful 30+ hour journey, which included an elderly Chinese man dropping his pants on a flight after some confustion over a seat belt, and a Filipino woman undergoing a panic attack and having to be restrained by 6 flight attendants. Air travel is very overrated :).

July 4 in Nha Trang, Vietnam

The cycling part of my Vietnam trip came to an end this week as we arrived in Nha Trang. We cycled 100k the last day, and even though it was not the hardest terrain on the tour (18k of straight downhill!) it felt like a real accomplishment. The great staff at World Expeditions/Buffalo Tours put on a celebration for us as we arrived in town. Above, you can see me with Mr. Chung, our coach and mechanic on the left, and Mr. Loc, our guide on the right. Mr. Chung is 53 years old and he is one of the top cyclists in Vietnam!

On July 4, we spent the day on the beach in Nha Trang, and took a boat tour around the bay.

Later, some of the girls went for a ride on a banana boat and we did not get thrown off!

I had to go all over town to find sparklers so I could celebrate with my new Australian friends. I finally found them at a wedding cake store. I think everyone liked them.

The next and last post of the trip will be on Saigon, as I am headed home soon.

Happy Fourth of July all!

What Goes up Must Come Down: Biking in Vietnam, Part 2 (Hai)

A couple of people commented that I had gone hard core on the wilderness adventure, when I decided to come on this trip. I now realize, they were not kidding.

The last several days, I have learned how people live in a very poor country in a very real way. I’ve seen some beautiful scenery and historic sites, and I have gained an appreciation for how wonderful and friendly people can be. I’ve been saddened by some of the living conditions, the trash by the side of the road and the prospects for educating some of the folks in the villages we have seen. I had a cathartic experience biking through a rubber plantation in the middle of a driving rainstorm, and feeling like anything was possible if I could do that. Last but not least, I have discovered a definite preference for western indoor plumbing.

Less the plumbing aspect, here are a few scenes from the my first full week on the bike trip, starting from where we last left off in Hue.

We saw the scent of the Mai Lai massacre in March, 1968. Here is the memorial statue to the ~2000 men, women and children who died. This was a horrible tragedy. The only shame about the place is it's too bad it paints such a one-sided view of the war. I think it would be even more impactful on those Americans visiting if it were a bit less biased.

There are rice paddies everywhere, and you can even walk in them.

Even though it is the year of the pig, pork is still popular...these guys are off to farms to be raised.

We came to a part of road that was being redone, our truck and bus got stuck and had to be towed out via bulldozer. Very exciting!

The kids are we meet are adorable. Here are some hanging out on a tractor on Sunday morning.Our tour company seems to like Communist hotels, we've stayed in several. Here is a prime example from Buon Me Thuot.

Here is a Montagnard (hill tribe) hut. These guys do not have cable, but about half the ones we saw had satellite dishes attached.

Joylene is my cycling buddy. She is from Melbourne, Australia. We like to stay in the back with our pro cyclist mechanic, Mr. Chung.