2008 Blogs

Early morning excursion

04/15/2009

The other evening Kim, the tour guide who accompanied Deb and me on our travels, knocked on my door.  What a surprise!  He was back in Nha Trang with another group and had brought me some fruit from Dalat.  What a sweet person.  I chatted a bit with him and Phi Jimmy, our driver, and mentioned that I would love to see what the countryside looks like north of Nha Trang.  As a result, he was at the University gate this morning at 5:30, ready to take me north before his day's tour began at 8:00!  It was a beautiful time for a drive and the driver willingly stopped so I could take pictures, for example, of the sunrise.

We headed north through a steep mountain pass, then drove through the countryside where I saw farmers tilling the soil.  The wife and other family members follow behind the plow scattering the seed.  By the way, this is not a water buffalo.  Kim teases me because every time I see a big brown animal like this I ask, "Is that a water buffalo?"  The only time I have seen real water buffalo is on the journey from Dalat to Nha Trang.

 

Next to this field were ponds previously used to raise fish or shrimp until they got a disease and had to be destroyed.  Now, he says, the ponds are being converted to salt production because there is a good market for salt.  I wish I knew how that processs works.

After seeing many beautiful views along the way, we turned around at the pier where you can take a boat to Monkey Island and returned to Nha Trang.  The driver was hungry for some breakfast and asked if he could introduce me to his favorite food, Bun Bo Hue.  It is not the same as pho because the noodles are different.  When I saw that the men's bowls contained a square of congealed hog blood, I commented that they could have mine, but evidently they left it out of my bowl, perhaps because I was the only westerner eating at this local outdoor eatery, or because I am female.

My next adventured today was when one of the teachers from the college took me shopping to buy an outfit.  As it turns out, there is not a wide selection for a person of my size (even though I have lost a little weight since being here).  I dutifully tried to cram my body into the garments she chose, and the seamstress assured us that she could let out the seams and the favored item would be perfect.  I could see that the clothing in this shop is all made with extra seam allowance for that purpose.  They don't have sizes like we are used to--if you see something you like and it fits, it is your size.  I'll let you know Friday if the seamstress was able to work some magic!