2nd Full Day in Saigon

Today was our second and final full day in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City).  I decided to post a few pictures, however uninteresting.  Five years ago I didn't post one picture on the blog because I couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong.  I have something to prove to myself. I must say that the picture taking effort to date has been somewhat lacking.  It probably has to do with my energy level in coming to grips with traveling 11 time zones away.

The first two pictures show us in Saigon.  The first is our family waiting for the bus to take us back to the hotel.  We made a fairly short trip into the city today as we didn't want to overdo it with Helen (she's feeling well now, we think).  The second shows Grandma A and the kids at the Reunification Palace.  This is the former home of the South Vietnamese president which is an iconic Saigon site, as it is the place where the US/Vietnam war ended.  (Perhaps you remember the video of the tank crashing through the iron gate).

The third and fourth pictures are taken from the observation deck of the building that Barbie talked about in the previous post. 

The last two pictures show where we have been suffering for the last two days.  It is really a nice place, and very comfortable.  We travel tomorrow to Mui Ne beach which is about a five hour bus trip away from here.  We will will continue our difficult lifestyle at a beach resort there.  It should be very nice, but I am really looking forward to spending some time after that in Julia's hometown of Ben Tre, in the Mekong Delta of southern Vietnam. 

Highlights from today include:

• Helen feeling better!
• Another perfect day for swimming at the hotel pool (90+ and quite humid here...and the sun feels super hot).
• I met with a person who is going to help us coordinate aid to the care center in which Julia spent the first 15 months of her life (if you are interested to help...just let me know).  By the way, this meeting was right next to where I bought a pacifier for Julia late on the night we adopted her (that story should be listed on a post from 23 November 2007).
• I think we are fairly well adjusted to the new time.
• It is good to spend time in Vietnam with our friends.  They are great friends, adventurous travelers, and people with whom we share a special bond, at least partially due to our interwoven family stories.

It is about 10pm local time here and I am the only one awake (that's kind of the way that it normally works in Minnesota).  Now that we have more fully adjusted our bodies to the time change, hopefully our days will be more loaded with stories to share.  I was hoping a little bit when I took a taxi back to the hotel tonight by myself (it is about 20-30 minutes drive from the city center) that the driver might pretend to know where he was going, but really not and then end up driving for a long time before taking me to the wrong place.  However, he drove straight to the hotel.  Oh well...

Take care,
Doug