March 13, 2008

Well, guess this will be my last blog message. We arrived back in Bangkok on Monday, March 10 to the sweltering heat. I sit here with the sweat just poring off my brow and down my back. No, I’m not really looking forward to coming home to the rain either. However that’s better than the snow Ottawa just received. The picture is of our brother-in-law having just finished shoveling.

The other bad news was Oliver broke his elbow last Friday – playing on thebed and fell off. He’s handling it pretty well right now but if this heat keeps up I’m not sure how well he’ll be. Gone had to go up to his village so Jenn’s not having much fun coping on her own……….

Spent today finishing up shopping for food items to bring home. Have to run out to the store tomorrow to pick up just a couple more things. Met Jenn and boys at the train and went into Siam Paragon to see a movie – 10,000 BC. Not a great movie but at least it was in a cool place. We also did dinner and then home. That was out last hurray seeing as how Jenn won’t be home till 9:00 PM tomorrow.

Well, our last week in Mui Ne was every bit as wonderful as we had hoped and expected. It was hot, but sitting on the beach with the wind blowing you’d hardly even notice. We stayed at Bamboo Village Resort and it was a lovely spot. Our room was a nice size and we even had a bit of a view of the sea from our balcony. There was a lovely spa that a visited a few times and even got Tom to go once for a “hot stones” back massage. That was a really different but enjoyable experience. My favorite is still a foot massage though……Our days were virtually the same – get up early, head down to the beach and get our chairs. We actually were only able to get chairs under an umbrella once and that was because I got up and put towels on the chairs at 6:00AM. Most of the tourists there are Russian and as was noted in the guest sign in book on numerous occasions – these tourists usually sent one person to put towels on all the umbrella chairs at 6:00AM and then didn’t show up to sit there till about 10:00. I was so cross about it. We usually walked for about an hour and then had breakfast – beautiful buffet that included mini chocolate croissants and loads of fresh fruit!! Then we’d read, talk, watch the kite boarders and walk some more. It was interesting walking up and down the beaches and noticing how much beach erosion has gone on in two years. The place we stayed at 2 years ago was about 3K north of where we stayed this time and it has absolutely no beach now. The area where all the kiteboarding and watersports was done from has very little water front. It was fine where we were but makes you wonder what will happen in another couple of years. The area has really built up with Resorts one after another all along the beach and more watersport areas and then restaurants and shops on the other side of the road. It was amazing to watch the kiteboarding. The mornings were quiet, but in the afternoon the winds came up and then all the boarders came out. I often wondered how they didn’t crash into each other or into people on the beach. Of course there were a lot of novices out there and it seemed like they could only go one way cause there wa always a parade of them walking back along the sand clutching their kites in their arms. The beach was an interesting place to sit and people watch. Friends we made on the cruise were staying at Novotel Ocean Dunes and Golf Course in Phan Thiet (15K away) so we met up with them on the Thursday. We took a taxi to their place first and spent the day there and then around 5:00 they came back to Mui Ne with us and we wandered abit and then had supper at an excellent Italian place. Both locations had their good and bad points. They enjoyed the golf course but said if you were a serious golfer they thought it would be considered too easy. They liked the fact that we had so many good eating places to choose from. I tried to make a goal of eating these huge tiger prawns everyday. They were so fresh and so good and soooo cheap. Cashews are grown in Vietnam so I made a point of helping out the economy by consuming more than my share. And I musn’t forget the spring rolls - the deep fried variety – that was usually lunch along with a beer. There were a number of day trips you could take but we decided all we wanted to do was take it easy and consume more food and drink – haha. But all good things must come to an end. We left on the 9^th and spent one more evening in Ho Chi Minh and that’s always an event. I can’t imagine another city quite as insane with traffic and noise. Within 10 minutes of walking the streets my eyes were stinging and watering. Crossing the streets was even more of an adventure now that there are even more cars and motorbikes. It was amazing to watch youngsters doing it……We flew out at 6:30 so were able to view the city at night from above. It is a huge place.

Welcome back to Glen & Lois from the Middle East. Can’t wait to hear about your adventures and see all your pics. And also to Jo & Gid from their cruise. Will be so nice to see everyone and hear all the news. So, 1 more sleep and we’ll be sleeping in our own bed. What a pleasant thought!! And, wondering what on earth to eat because we won’t have access to all the wonderful fresh fruit and veggies. Anyway, it’s been another wonderful journey. As hard as it will be to leave Jennifer, Gone, Oliver and Nicky it will be nice to see Steve, Jenn and Isabelle and the rest of you too.