Adventures with Charlie & Jackie

As I write it is Feb. 10th, and we arrived home from this amazing trip yesterday, without a hitch! While traveling, I was posting by using my phone, which made the post time consuming. Even though we are home now, I wanted to add this one last post, as this day close to the end of our trip was just remarkable! Many thanks to those of you who followed along with us, and I regret we couldn’t make more personal remarks back to you as a result of this format.

On Saturday, Feb. 7th, we drove from Siem Reap, Cambodia, to a large lake called Tonle Sap Lake. This is the largest freshwater lake in SE Asai, and is a geographical wonder. We learned en route that the river feeding into this lake CHANGES CURRENT DIRECTION twice yearly as the water flows from high mountains to the north during the rainy season. We were there during the dry season so the river was at its lowest, and many of the floating homes were docked near the shore. The families all depend on their fishermen for support. Everything is floating in this area, including shops, churches and even schools. First, we visited a local family in their floating home.

Wednesday, Feb 4th, we flew from Vietnam to Siem Reap,, Cambodia. Thursday we visited one of the 20,000 “Killing Fields” sites in this country, and learned a little about the Khmer Rouge. this site happened to be at a Buddhist monastery, so we had a chat and a blessing from a monk.
Friday was Angkor Wat visit, plus another temple called Ta Prohm. We had lunch at the home of a local family , where we learned about chewing the betel nut.

Sunday, Feb 1, we flew from Dalat to Ho Chi Minh City, still known also as Saigon. The city now has 14 million people.

Monday we had a boat cruise and a sampan ride in the Mekong Delta.

Friday, Jan 30th found us driving from the coast inland and upward to the lovely city of Dalat at about 5,000 ft. We had dinner at the home of a local family and learned more about their way of life.

the next day we drove into the countryside to learn about Weasel Coffee! Yes, it is a real thing! Look it up!

after tasting and purchasing some weasel coffee, we went to visit a village of the indigenous Montagnard people, where we happened on a wedding !

a local woman at her backstrape loom. She’s dressed for the wedding!

Yesterday, Jan 28th, we flew from Da Nang to Nha Trang, another beautiful beach area. Today, we went by scooter to a nearby village for lunch in a local home. Just a couple of months ago, the village had been totally flooded, and damage was obvious. Amazingly resilient people!

We drove on Thursday, Jan 22, a few hours from Hanoi to reach Ha Long Bay.

The “Secret Ha Long” was our hotel for one night., as we cruised around the bay. Magical scenery!

at night we anchored in the bay, surrounded by other cruise ships.

Some cuties on the way back from the bay.

OMG! Enough said!

v

Last night we headed to the home of a local water puppet master. This extraordinary man makes all his puppets and performs locally, nationally, and even internationally! His home was filled with his puppets. He and his wife sit in the water to manage the puppets, behind the water pond. After some tea they gave us a performance on the third floor of their home.

Today, we took a five minute ferry across the Nhu Nguyet River to the town of Tho Ha. After stopping by the local market, we went to the home of the chief of the town, and learned how to make rice paper from his wife and daughter.

The chief told us about his time in the North Vietnamese Army fighting along the Ho Chi Minh trail, and his family life for several generations in the village.