Our last day in Veitnam

Deirdre and I are heading to Luang Prabang in Laos tomorrow and are very excited for the next chapter of our adventure.  I imagine it will be tough to get any posts up, so I may not update this until we get to Thailand around the 19/20th of Feb.

Vietnam has been amazing. We have met so many lovely people, eaten 1000's of spring rolls (and loved every one of them), and had some unusual experiences. Here are a few examples:

- A little boy threw chewed up food on Deirdre on the flight from Hanoi to Danang and no one seemed to think this was odd

- I was given counterfeit money OUT OF THE ATM today.  I tried to flog it on a few vendors and no one went for it.  Oh well, it will make for an interesting bookmark. * update. I went to the bank and they actually gave me my money back!!  wow

- In the middle of breakfast a woman pulled her son's pants down and started cleaning his weenie with a Qtip.  I was in the middle of pouring a cup of coffee and made a terrible mess.

- At the airport we ordered noodles that were 30,000 dong ($1.50) on the menu, but when we got the bill the lady said the ones WE ordered were 50,000.  haha, we weren't going to fight over a few bucks.

-While in the middle of Halong Bay, women in small boats were selling beer through the lower floor bedroom windows of the larger sleeper boats (the beer is painfully expensive on the sleeper boats).  A few German friends we made bought a ton.

I could go on and on ...

I had the final fitting for my suit today.  It is so nice and even has my initials embroidered on the inside pocket. I feel so pimpin'.  I also had two suits made for my buddy Markophone. They were amazed at our measurements.  Let's just say the words "Happy Buddha" were used numerous times.

Here are a few pics from the last few days:

I was trying to contain myself after the lady busted out the ruler

Deirdre and  A Dong Silk worker shooting the breeze

The Japanese covered bridge in Hoi An.  Built in the late 1500's by the Japanese community of Hoi An in order to link them with the Chinese quarters across the stream.

Locals flogging a wide variety of noodles at the market in Hoi An

The infamous China Beach where American soldiers stationed all over the country would be sent for some R&R before returning to combat.

A woman working the fields in front of a rural house

Ok seriously, I know it's new years and I know it's the year of the cat, but man, this thing is awful!

Keep in mind this sucker is 10 feet tall and can be seen for miles

Take care everyone.

CF