2 day tour of the Mekong Delta. This included boat rides on the delta, visiting a coconut candy factory, a rice noodle factory, honey tea (there was a little bee farm at one of the stops), and an early morning floating market (aka a market on the water, goods all sold on boats).
Day trip to the Cu Chi tunnels, which has a really interesting history from the war. I always have a hard time digesting places with very sad and/or violent histories that have become places for tourists to throng to and take pictures, but its been really cool to hear all of the war history from this side of things. It was an interesting day.
It also included a stop in Tay Ninh to see a cao dai temple during a service. This is also the town where a close family friend lived while he was here during the war (Hi Billy! I took pictures for you!) so that was really cool for me. And the temple was beautiful. One of many I will see on this trip.
More exploring Saigon, including the market, drinks on the 52nd floor of the tallest building in the city, practicing my Vietnamese (I've got "thank you," "hello," and "1-2-3" down), and spending lovely time with Danit and her friends.
I had 2 thanksgiving meals. One was Sunday afternoon with a friend from college who I haven't spoken to in ages, but she lives in HCMC and we reconnected here. Small world! Danit and I went to the feast she was hosting, ate tons of food, and met lots of cool people. The 2nd meal was on Thanksgiving evening at the home of the consulate general to the US here in Vietnam. Danit has some swanky connections here! As it was also hannukah, we made and brought latkes, which were a huge hit! Also, turkey and latke sandwiches may need to happen every year.
The first night of hannukah we actually went to the chabad house and likely met every Jew in the area.
Then it was a weekend in Singapore! Holy moly, what a place...a world away from Saigon. So efficient, expensive, clean, regulated, developed...fancy. Danit and I met up with her friend Jocelynn and the 3 of us wandered around, had drinks on the water, regularly avoided tropical rainstorms, mastered the subway system, walked through the botanical gardens, and ate yummy food. We also accidentally ordered $30 drinks at the bar at the top of the Marina Bay Sands (fannnncy hotel with a view overlooking Singapore). Oops. We took lots of pictures and had many laughs to make it worth it. It was a lovely vacation within my vacation.
Fun facts about Singapore: You have to pay close to $100,000 to apply for a drivers license if you want to buy a car. You read that number right. And no, that doesn't include the cost of the car. Also, gum can only be purchased at a pharmacy--apparently something to do with reducing littering. And finally, drug crimes are punishable by death. Just FYI.
I sadly hugged Danit goodbye in our hostel this morning and am now back in Vietnam. Saigon and my nearby explorations have all been in the south, so from Singapore I flew into Hanoi, which is the capital, up north. There are a few places up north I want to check out after exploring Hanoi, then ill start working my way down the country back south. The plan is to meet Danit and a group of her friends in Siem Riep for New Years (where Angkor Wat is located), so if all goes to plan I have just about a month left in Vietnam before crossing into Cambodia.
Also I have somehow already managed to lose my iPhone (yes, in less than a week, please don't even comment on this). All this really means for y'all is that I no longer have whatsapp. I still have my itouch (Aunt Kathy and Uncle Ronnie saved me on that one!) so when I have wifi I still have Skype, email, Internet access, (and iMessage/FaceTime if you have an iPhone). Ill probably buy a cheap Vietnamese phone, so ill share the number once I do that. I'm also still expecting my phone to turn up in my bag or Danits apartment, but so far no luck.
Other than that minor setback, I'm happy, healthy, and on the move!
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