Thursday, June 17, 2004
Subject: Day 11
Greetings from
Saigon. We left our hotel in Dalat this morning at 8:00 and visited the
Truc Lam Meditation Temple at Tuyen Lam Lake. What a beautiful
place! I took some pictures but I know they won't do justice to the
beauty. Flower gardens and trees and the most gorgeous lake I've ever
seen! I didn't go in the Temple as I wasn't dressed "solemnly"
as the sign indicated (no shorts allowed).
We got back on
the bus and headed for Tam Chau Restaurant - about 2 hours away. The food
was good - the appetizer was fried calamari and french fries. They were
great and we were quite a sight eating french fries with chop sticks!!
After lunch we shopped in the Tea and Coffee Shop. The tea and coffee
from this region is very popular. I got talked into buying some candy
with coconut, peanuts and durian. Durian is called "stinky
fruit" and is quite a delicacy but I'm sorry, it's disgusting! I
couldn't get it out of my mouth fast enough!
We arrived back at the Bong Sen Hotel in Ho Chi Minh City at about 6 pm and had the evening to ourselves. I headed out with Amy and we walked around and shopped (yes! more shopping!). Then we stopped at Annie's Pizza - I really needed some Western food. It was pretty good! Then we headed back to the hotel.
It's very safe to walk around, even at night. We didn't stray too far from the hotel, mostly because we had to remember our way back. Remember, every sign is in Vietnamese. It's not like in Mexico where even if you don't speak Spanish you can figure out some of the signs.
Tomorrow is the last day of the Expedition so I'll be saying goodbye to many of my new friends. I don't leave here until Sunday morning and already have a pretty full schedule planned. It will be exciting to explore more of the city and I think I'll even be taking a day trip somewhere south of HCMC.
Hope all is well with all of you. Thank you for all your encouraging emails!
Love,
Kathy
Dragon Topiaries
