It's about 5:00 PM on Sunday in Vung Tau, Vietnam and our ten day stay is drawing to a close. Tomorrow morning we'll take a ferry back to Ho Chi Minh City. It's about an hour and a half trip. We'll be in Saigon for one evening and then on Tuesday, 2/21 we fly to Hanoi. Just want to briefly recap our time in Vung Tau.
First and foremost, the Vietnamese people are wonderful. Even though most don't speak English, we've still been able to communicate using hand signals, facial expressions, sign language, drawing pictures, and if that fails, we of course just talk louder. I believe because of us (what's this us, kemosabe?), many Vietnamese think most Americans are hard of hearing.
Regarding Cindy? She's a rock star here. A number of times at the beach and on the street, well dressed ladies have approached her, camera in hand, asking if they could have a picture taken with her. They were all smiles and laughing. Some wanted to touch her "silver" hair. We thought, that must be it. Not many people here have gray hair so it's uncommon. In any event, she loved it! Lady Gaga Mosca!
We also rented a motorbike for a day. I could write pages about this. When I went to rent it, Cindy told me to get the insurance. The guy spoke no English so after we both concluded that I wanted to rent a bike, he took my $6.00 for the day, gave me the key, and sent me on my way. Didn't ask for a license, a passport-- nothing. We never got to discussing insurance.
Next we're on the street in a town of 450,000 people with no traffic laws--no stop lights or stop signs, people going in all directions with you and against you, on the road, on the sidewalk and everyone with their hands on their horns---bikes, cars, trucks, buses, To say I was scared shitless says nothing. I think I filled my pants within three blocks of renting the motorbike. Good thing the bike had storage under the seat for helmets and underpants! Most of the time on the motorbike was not spent looking at the scenery but with watching my life flash before my eyes.
The food here has almost always been fantastic. We've found only one exception to the rule, the Haven Lounge which we visited last night.
Cindy's review: The graciousness of the people make it difficult to write a bad word even about a restaurant that is horrible. However, be warned--do not go to the Haven Lounge on Tran Phu to eat. Have a drink, if you would like to see a spectacular view of the South China Sea but do not eat there. In the space of an hour, we saw four rats and a dog poop on the floor. Granted, it's a walled outdoor terrace setting but really? The dog, cute though he was, apparently belongs there and is free to come up to your table and sit longingly waiting for a tidbit.
The wine was okay, the Long Island Iced Tea, an unusual version but drinkable. The seafood fried spring rolls must have been the frozen food version and the charcuterie on a cutting board was peculiar-- very tiny pieces of cheese (actually quite good), two pieces of sausage cut into halves, capers, gherkins, pickled onions, tiny bits of ham. As we sat nibbling, a "squirrel" ran across the floor, oh, but he had a very long skinny tail. Not a squirrel. During the course of our nibbling three more skinny tailed "squirrels" ran by and for a bit more entertainment the cute little dog went over to the adjoining section of the bar and took a dump. Yum! Not a place, I'd go back to but how do you give a place a minus one star when the people who served you were so lovely? You don't want them to lose their jobs. This place was designed to serve foreigners, especially Australians. Perhaps it is even owned by an Australian. Who knows? At any rate I cannot recommend this spot, view or no view.
Cindy has found a way to stick with Weight Watchers but I don't think it's program approved.
That's it for now. Will write from Hanoi with additional adventures. Later--
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