Haloranch

  Grant was just too small for the life jacket. And his hat indicated he wasn't taking this seriously at all. We reminded him about Costa, but he didn't care.

Grant slept round the clock last night.   Right after dinner, he conked out and didn’t stir again ‘til this morning.   He even sleept through the time change which gave him an extra hour.   So this morning he was very keen to start exploring the ship.   The first place he headed was the Casino and he couldn’t be talked away from it, at least until he heard there was a grand piano nearby.    So he decided to entertain the crowd with a lively rendition of Boogie   Woogie Ragtime Blues. In other news, it's windy and rainy in Venice and has been for a few days.  As a result, there's flooding in St. Mark's Square and they have put up elevated walkways for the tourists.  So, since we've seen Venice before in nicer weather,  we decided to spend the day on the ship and just relax.

A tree appears to grow from the top of the temple This is the back of that tree.  Aren't the roots amazing? One of the  Bayon faces at the entry gate to the temples.

There are some great things about this convention. There are also some bad things.  Mostly, logistics. I understand it's hard to move 35,000 people around the city, and it's even harder to do so without tempers flaring. Last night, we waited 50 minutes for a shuttle bus to take us to our hotel route bus.  We should have been waiting in a single line like at the bank, or airport.  Instead, we were in 7 thick, ragged line and as one group was let through the exit doors, that line shortened and newcomers filled it it and consequently got out before some of us who had been waiting a long time. The university students had a hard time going nose to nose with aggresive, older Rotarians, who should have known better than to browbeat young kids into submission.  The kids held their own, but they should have had at least one adult to add some authority. And the Rotarians should have behaved better.  The whole event should have been organized better, ...

A stupa in the background, with Naga, a 7-headed cobra, in the front.  There's a clock in the grass in between the two. The Cambodian dancers, who are very reminiscent of Thai dancers. I love, love, love their hands.

The Royal Palace in Phnom Penh.  The king was not in residence on this day, but was visiting his 93 year old father in China. A Stupa, which is an elaborate place of rest for your remains.  This one would have been for a king. Inside what used to be the elephant house when the kings still used elephants for travel and war. Dancers at a dinner show The female dancers are beautifl and have exquisitely expressive hands.  I couldn't take my eyes off the hands, which are hypnotic with their graceful movements and arched fingers.

Angkor Wat is quite beautiful and even though we got there at 7:00 a.m., it was soon blistering hot. Still, there are many inside areas where we were shaded and cool. Our guide Lyping is excellent at giving us the stories behind the elaborate carvings inside, some of which stretch for 100 feet.  We also dressed appropriately, long pants and shoulders covered, in order to enter the top level of the temple and we saw some tourists refused entry because of their dress. There should be signs in town letting people know what is expected. But even without signs, common sense should prevail After all, would you enter your own church in shorts and a tube top?  Halleluljah!  Got to upload one photo but it took a long time so I'll have to wait to do the rest.

An entry to the tunnel, but of course there were no handy stairs back then The kitchen area.  our guide Mr. Young is taking out some manioc, which was heated in the fire.  Tasted bland, but with the addition of some dukkah (finely chopped nuts and spices) it was okay. Wow!  I only saw one jackfruit on a tree yesterday.  Looks like they grow in huge clumps.

A diagram showing the 3 levels of tunnels used by the Viet Cong to hide in during the Vietnam war. "The openings were made to Vietnamese size.  American soldiers, big like water buffalo, could not get in," explained the guide.  this young woman was able to fit, but no one else in the group was slender enough to make it.  Even if the hips went it, a Western man's shoulders would be too wide.  Like water buffalo, LOL. One of the traps to catch unwary soldiers - sharpened bamboo spikes, often tipped with something to cause infection.  Their aim wasn't to kill the soldier since a wounded soldier would require the aid of two companions to carry him out, thus disabling 3 soldiers.

One of several brick making kilns we saw on the river.  The green stuff floating in the water is water hyacinths.  there are lots and lots of them and sadly, they aren't edible or the people would have an endless supply of vegetables. It's hard to see but the river is behind Hans. We're having lunch at the Mekong Lodge, a resort on one of the islands.  It was another fabulous lunch, as you can see below. There's a jackfruit growing on the tree behind Hans - it's yellowish and just to the right of his glasses, but there are some green leaves in front of it.  better photo below. This is fried river fish.  Isn't that an interesting way to present it?  The 14 year old waitress showed us how to pull the meat down either side away from the spine.  Very easy and quite taste.  We had circles of rice paper that first had to be moistened to be made pliable, then you add a little fish, a slice of cucumber, tomato, mint leaves and a few white n...

A unique tea cosy.  the tiny teapot sits inside a coconut, which has a lid.  It stays nice and hot until it's time to drink the tea.  We stopped and had delicious Jasmine tea and coconut candy on one of the islands. This mama hen has some tiny little chicks, but you have to look closely to see them. Hans and Mr. Young having tea in the oldest house in the Mekong Delta.  It was owned by a wealthy Chinese family and now is a tea house where we had tiny finger bananas, jackfruit, pineapple and mango.  Unfortunately, Hans' stomach couldn't tolerate all the fruit and he had a miserable drive back to Saigon with frequent stops in some primitive bathrooms.

This lady is using the rice husks as fuel to heat the aluminum pan in front of her.  She's making transparent rice paper which is used to make spring rolls. Here you can see one of the finished rice sheets, which she'll dape over the basket on the left.  You can see the previous one hanging there.  Later they're transferred to a large, flat basket and put in the sun to dry. Another well loved rice product.  Rice alcohol!  Hans is enjoying a free sample and behind him is the still where they make it.  The finished product drips through the blue funnel, into a bottle and down your throat. Here they're puffing the rice.  The black stuff in the bottom of the pan is sand, which has been 'cooked' until it's black and very hot.  The entire rice kernel, still in its husk, goes in here.  As it comes into contact with the hot black sand, it pops like popcorn and turns into the puffy white product you see.  Then it's poured i...

The floating market in the Mekong Delta The bamboo poles show what the boat is selling.  It's an easy form of advertising.  If you want bananas, you go to the boat that has a clump of bananas attached to the pole. This is the prow of our boat.  There were just the two of us, our guide and the boat driver who took us around the islands and through some of the canals in the Mekong Delta.

There are vendors close to the elephants and you can buy a bunch of bananas to feed them.  The elephants have been trained to take the bunch from you, daintily eat one banana and then after you've left, give the bunch back to the vendor to sell to the next tourist.

"Do they have snakes here?" I asked. "Maybe in the rice paddies, but if so, not for long.  If there are snakes, the family is eating well.  During the time of Chinese rule, 2 million vietnamese people starved.  During that time, they discovered that almost everything is edible. Apparently it tastes like chicken.  Thin, ropelike chicken.

"What are all those hammocks doing there?" I asked our guide, Mr. Young. "The roadside cafes all have them.  People like to relax when they have their coffee." He didn't explain how you could drink your coffee lying down, but in any case, I noticed that many of the hammocks were fastened to saplings.  I don't think the Westerners could lie in them without their butts touching the ground.  Or bending the poor saplings.

"They are preparing the soil for the next crop," said Mr. Young, pointing to the bare land waiting to be seeded with rice. "Looks like they're already ready for the next crop," whispered Hans, glancing at the cemetery that lay just beside the rice paddy.

I think I'm going to like it here. We worried that it would be hotter and more humid as we headed further south but the city feels good.  Yes, it's pretty hot but nothing like the heat we experienced in Hue!  Our first day of sightseeing is behind us, now we're showered and relaxing until the cool of the evening when we'll head to the market to see what we can see.

Does anyone know what that word is:  indefectible? We toured the war museum which is quite inflammatory against the Americans.  We toured the war museum in Ottawa and I don't recall it showing so many pictures of atrocities being committed against the allied forces. We also saw the Reunification Palace, which is now used mostly for conventions and such.  A lovely building with some beautiful meeting rooms.

Our appetizers, garnished with an exotic pineapple bird which was hollowed out and had a small candle lighting it up from the inside. Vegetable soup served in a coconut.  Very original, and you don't have to wash the bowl, you can just chuck it. Inside this thin crepe was shrimp and pork fried rice.  The little chicken on top is made from 2 eggs. We had a plate of grilled sea bass, garnished with this little fisherman who had a small fish carved from carrot at the end of his fishing pole.

It's just an hour's flight from Hue to Saigon and we were both delighted when we arrived to discover that it's not as humid here as it was in Hanoi and Hue.  In fact, it's only about 35 here today and I can't believe I'm saying this, but it doesn't feel bad.  The lower humidity makes all the difference in the world.  It's still really hot but I no longer want to die. Driving along the main road in downtown Saigon (Ho  Chi Minh city).  8 million people here, and all of them have scooters. The inside of the Notre  Dame Cathedral in Saigon, built in 1880 by the French when they ruled Vietnam. Notre Dame Cathedral, with a statue of the Virgin Mary who had an irreverant bird perched on her head. Notre Dame Cathedral The historic post office.  Looks a lot like an old fashioned train station inside, with a beautiful barrel ceiling.  Also built in 1880 by the French. An ATM in the post office.  Each ATM is in its own ...