Day 13 - Good Bye Vietnam

On my way to China, then to JFK and home. Looking forward especially to see my hubby, family and friends. Thanks for following my travels.

Day 12 - Goodbye to my travel companions

Everyone except me is leaving for home today. We had a great experience here in Vietnam. See you at Home Improvement. Rick and Diane Carson, Lanette Duggan, and Jim and Melinda Gall.

Day 11 - Mekong Delta

Mekong River

It was a long ride by van out to the Mekong Delta from Ho Chi Minh City today. It's very warm and the humidity is worse than Houston on a bad day in the summer. We had 5 down pours that lasted maybe 10 minutes each during the day.

Roadside rest stop

Along the roadside were hundreds of "rest" stops were the locals grab a bit to eat and rest in hammocks that are lined up in rows right next to the tables and sometimes there were just rows and rows of hammocks. That

Checking it out

was amazing.

I didn't realize the vast amount of agricultural and handicraft production that comes from the Mekong Delta, yet the people live in the poorest conditions along the Mekong River.  If there are more attractive areas, we didn't see them. Such a stark contrast from Ho Chi Minh City, which is like NYC transformed with scooters.

Life on the Mekong

View from my hotel room in Ho Chi Minh

But we had a very interesting day learning about life on the river. We took a bike ride along a path through one of the local villages and stopped to learn how they make rice paper waffles and weave baskets. I got to drive my own motorcycle by myself. The first time I started it I nearly ran over people because I was in the wrong gear. It made me anxious, and it made the Vietnamese pretty nervous, but I was OK after that. I checked out one of those hammocks at the basket weaver's shop. A boat took us over to an island where we jumped in a sampan and our rower glided us along one of the Mekong's tributaries. At one of the large shops we got to see their production of coconut candy, traditional rice paper, popped rice, and sweet rice bars. The production was all by hand - no machine production - and each person produces thousands of these foods every day. It's like stepping back 200 years.  

Making rice waffles

Basket making

Elephant fish for lunch - It was good

Sampan ride up the Mekong river

Grind coconut here to make candy

Packaging coconut candy

Making rice paper

Packaging sweet rice bars

Popping rice like popcorn

Day 10 - Saigon, now Ho Chi Minh City

Secret entrance/exit to the tunnels below.
This was a live demonstration!

After about a 1 hour flight from Hoi An City to Ho Chi Minh City, the first thing we wanted was lunch. We stopped to have traditional Vietnamese Pho noodle soup, which was actually very good, before heading immediately for the Cu Chi tunnels, about 2 hours from the airport. The Viet Cong dug these tunnels to protect themselves initially from the French air and ground sweeps, then from the Americans during the Vietnam war.

 It's interesting how history is shaped by each persons perspective. Many Vietnamese refer to the war as "the American war" and refer to the land as "occupied by the Americans" because of Vietnam's history of colonization and their fight for independence.

Me coming through one of the tunnels
into an underground room. You can
get an idea how small these tunnels were.
Small enough for Vietnamese; too small
for Americans

A former VC was one of our tour guide at the tunnels. He lost his right arm during the war.He told us 2000-3000 VC (men, women, and children) lived in the tunnels at any one time during the war. They were farmers during the day and at night they worked at digging the tunnels and setting up land mines and traps for the American soldiers. He said 90% of the people in Cu Chi were VC who lived in the tunnels. He lived in the tunnels for 12 years. We saw the weapons the VC used against the U.S. and the ways they out-smarted and trapped their enemy. I got to crawl through the very small tunnels underground to see how they lived and survived.

Recovered, unexploded cluster
bombs. Notice how the bombs
inside the tubes glow under
the flash of the camera!

 It was a very somber experience that stirred up a lot of emotion in all of us. It helped me understand much more clearly the emotion behind the anti-war protests of the Vietnam War era. Neither the north nor the south wanted the Americans in Vietnam. I also wrestled with the realization that my step-mom and her family were from Cu Chi and that my father was a civilian working in Vietnam during that time with a private construction company under contract with the U.S. government. I try to imagine what it was like.

IN HONOR OF ALL OUR VETERANS, HAPPY VETERANS DAY!

The VC even had an emergency
medical room set up underground

Day 9 - Hoi An City

We learned calligraphy from a small shop owner in town this morning, something I've never thought of doing. I learned there is no right or wrong way to do calligraphy, but your writing must show emotion and expression with a flow of thick, medium, and thin lines. You have to be calm to do calligraphy well. It does make you more peaceful and would be a great activity to do with some of our elderly clients.

Calligraphy lesson

This one was done by the teacher

My personal best

Our guide showed us around Hoi An. It's a beautiful, vibrant city with lots of shops, colorful lanterns, and scooters everywhere. Shopping is all done by negotiation.

My Vespa driver, and our guide,
 let me pose as if I was the driver

In the evening we took a street food tour on Vespas, the scooters. Don't worry; the food was safe for Americans to eat. That was soooo much fun as our Vespa drivers wove their way through the streets and alleyways of Hoi An. It's a great way to see the city. The drivers took us to the Thu Bon River, which runs through Hoi An. We took a sampan down the river where we lit candles and made a wish as we placed the candles in the water. There were hundreds of brightly colored candles lighting up the water and colorful lanterns everywhere. It was magical!

Our Vietnamese friend who we met on FWM, An,
making a wish before putting her lantern in the river

Day 8 - Hoi An City

Tuan, our guide in Ha Long Bay, seeing us off at the airport.
He was a great guide. Even I feel tall!

We flew a short trip from Hanoi to Da Nang where a new guide met us at the airport and took us by van to Hoi An City. Our hotel, La Siesta, is beautiful and within walking distance to the old city, with architectural influence from the Chinese and Japanese, and plenty of shopping and restaurants. It was so nice of An, who was one of our hosts and translators on the Free Wheelchair Mission, to meet us at dinner time and show us around. She lives in Hoi An. She brought us to a tailor who makes custom clothes for you and delivers them to your hotel within 1 day, made with very fine silk cloth and at an unbelievable low price! We ALL had a great time picking out something to be made. The ladies got beautiful Ao Dai's and tops made and the guys got custom fit sports coats. An Ao Dai is the traditional long silk tunic worn over silk pants. I have never had custom made clothes - it's amazing how much difference a perfect fit makes! I'm spoiled now.

Day 7 - Ha Long Bay

Six of us left early this morning for the northern coast of Vietnam, Ha Long Bay. The mission trip is over for us and now we are visiting other parts of Vietnam. My first impression of Ha Long Bay - Awesomely beautiful! Imagine over 2000 little mountainous islands jutting up from the waters of the Gulf of Tonkin. I understand this is where the Americans first bombed North Vietnam.

Ha Long Bay from top of Ti Top Island

 

The junk

We stayed overnight on a junk that took us out to Cua Van, one of the floating fishing villages, where we took a ride in a sampan. It's amazing to see how they live in the village. We saw some of the villagers rowing sampans with their feet. The rowing motion is very different than we are accustomed to. 

Cua Van floating fishing village

At night we had a cooking class and learned to make Vietnamese  spring rolls. They were really good. I have the recipe and will plan to make some for appetizers the my next social gathering. 

Here I am doing Tai Chi on the top of the junk. The food was outstanding. Definitely needed this early morning exercise.

Tai Chi the next morning

Day 6 – Huu Lung and Chi Lang

Today we went to Huu Lung district, about 1 ½ hours from Lang Son, and then to Chi Lang District. We assembled wheelchairs again for group distribution in the morning and in the afternoon. We also visited some homes that had previously been given wheelchairs. We do one or two home revisit every day to see how the recipients are doing. I really enjoyed our revisit with a 15 year old boy today. He was nervous at first but really warmed up as he talked, and he had that playful smile of a boy who likes to play. Even though he is in a wheelchair he plays hard with his friends and has fun. We gave him a football, a small bounce ball and a Frisbee. Jim, one of the guys in our group, showed him how to throw the football. His face lit up as he engaged each of us in throwing the football. It was great to see how happy he was. He took us up the road a little way to show us the suspension foot bridge near his house. He gets everywhere in his wheelchair and he uses it so much and plays so hard that he’s practically worn it out in just 10 months. They told us it’s the fifth wheelchair he’s had. I loved to see him play and enjoy his childhood like young boys should. He stopped going to school after 5^th grade because school was tough for him. He didn’t go to school until he was 9 and it’s hard for him to catch up. But he says he wants to go back because he wants to learn information technology.

Day 5 - China Border and Van Lang

We had a more relaxed day today. We spent the morning traveling to the China border and looking around there and we delivered more wheelchairs in the Van Lang district. I had a better food day, too. Today I spent more time assembling wheelchairs and I talked with several recipients and their families. We had fun playing 2 truths and a lie in the van on the way home. It's a very interesting and fun group of people. But I can't tell you about them because "what's said in Vietnam stays in Vietnam!" We had a lot of laughs! Our Vietnamese interpreters are great, too.

Me sitting on the China side

Me and the Vietnamese interpreters sitting on the Vietnam side

Me standing at the border

Day 4 - Bac Son and Van Quan

Day 4

Today was a long day. We started at 7:15 a.m. and traveled over 2 hours to get to Bac Son district for 2 home deliveries of wheelchairs. The home visits were so interesting. We delivered a wheelchair to Thuc, who had a stroke and is paralyzed on her left side. Thuc is 74. She spends most of her time in bed. Her husband, Mgan, has to physically carry her to the bathroom. It is getting difficult for him as he is aging and his back is hurting. Thuc and Mgan live in a small one room cement home on the edge of the road. Thuc is able to look out a grated, open air window next to her bed. Besides the window there is just an open doorway to let in light. Thuc and Mgan welcome us all into their house. One of us help Thuc to sit up in bed as she tells us (through our wonderful interpreter An) her story. Tears well up in her eyes as she talks about how grateful she is and how the wheelchair will make it so much easier for her husband to care for her. It was interesting and intriguing to learn that Mgan was a decorated officer for the opposite side during the Vietnam war. His recognition awards were proudly displayed over his bed, opposite Thuc's bed. The Vietnam war is one of the reasons I titled this blog series "Time Heals". Forty-five years ago we fought as bitter enemies. Time has helped us all heal and work instead on helping those in need and welcoming us into their homes. Who would have thought 45-50 years ago that we would be sharing these kinds of experiences! At the second recipient's home I assisted in assembling a wheelchair. In the afternoon we did a mass distribution with a lot of ceremony at the wheelchair distribution center.

Thuc and me

Thuc's homefront

Thuc in her new chair

Assembling a wheelchair

How they live

Thuc and Mgan

Day 3 - Leisure

We had some time in the afternoon to see some sights near Lang Son. We went to this magnificent, huge cave which is a shrine where the buddhists worship because it is so peaceful and quiet. It really is beautiful.

A shrine in the cave

The depths of the cave 

Beautiful lights

Day 3 - Bee

Bee was our second recipient in Cao Loc. She was so excited and happy she just wanted to get out and play she said. She held on to me and didn't want to let me go. I had forgotten to take off my jewelry. She was admiring my necklace and my engagement and wedding rings that were on my finger. She kept turning the rings around on my finger. The families always offer to share tea with us, but we try to be careful not to drink it because the water and living environments are not very clean. At Bee's house they also offered us bottled water, or so we thought. It turned out to be rice wine that they had aged for 3 months. I discreetly emptied mine onto the ground. Here is a picture of Bee in her new wheelchair with her family.

Bee and her family helping her out of bed

Bee, her son, daughter in law, daughter, and husband 

Day 3 Cao Loc

I am a day behind in writing. It was a long day yesterday and I couldn't keep my eyes open long enough to write. Let me go back to yesterday to catch up.

We split into 2 groups today. One group went to Loc Binh district and my group went to Cao Loc district to deliver wheelchairs to recipient's home. The locations were close to Lang Son, where we are staying. Here is a picture of our hotel and our FWM group:

Vi's Boutique Hotel

Our FWM Team

Our first wheelchair recipient was Cao. Cao is 61 years old. He is a farmer. All of the people we have met are farmers. Their crops are mostly rice, but also some vegetables. In 2002, Cao fell over backward while he was
tending his rice fields and suffered a serious injury to his spinal cord. Doctors tried to help him with medicines but he didn't get better. After leaving the hospital he has spent most of his time in bed. His wife, Chien, needs to help him bathe and take care of him in general. When Cao got a little stronger he was able to use a cane sometimes but he is afraid of falling down because he is not that strong and the his environment is difficult to navigate.

Cao and Chien live with Chien's mother. Cao and Chien both dropped out of school in the 6th grade to raise and support their family. They have 6 children and 7 grandchildren, 5 from Cao's side and 2 from Chien's side, who live nearby. We learned that in Vietnam grandchildren are from the grandfather's side of the family when they are children of the grandparent's sons and they are from the grandmother's side of the family when they are children of the grandparent's daughters. Cao looks forward to being able to visit his children and grandchildren now.

Cao is also looking forward to visiting his friends and attending monthly party meetings in his hamlet. Prior to his injury he attended political party meetings every month. Cao applied for a wheelchair 2 years ago as it became increasingly difficult for his wife to care for him. He has not been able to get around to do these simple things that he used to enjoy. He expressed his gratitude and joy to regain some mobility without fear of falling down. He says with a smile. "Now I will be able to sunbathe."

Me with Cao and Chien

Cao, Chien, Chien's Mother, and their oldest daugher

The rice field by their house

Day 2 Lang Son

The remainder of our mission group arrived today, 14 of us in total. After gathering everyone from the airport, our bus set out for Lang Son, about 2 hours north of Hanoi. Lang Son province is where we will be distributing the wheelchairs. We stopped along the way for lunch at a roadside Vietnamese eating establishment. (Sorry I didn't get the name of the place or pictures) The hosts were very gracious. The food will take some getting used to. Tu and Van tutored me in basic Vietnamese words en route. Van says she will be quizzing me tomorrow. I think I have about a 7 word vocabulary now: hello, goodbye, please, thank you, yes, no, and no problem. Van is going to be disappointed. She must have tried to teach me at least 20 words, but vocabulary just doesn't stick like it did when I was younger!

We settled in at Vi's Boutique Hotel in Lang Son. Lots of members of our group brought toiletries, clothes, toys, candy, nail polish, and other donations to give out to the families we meet and for FWM to distribute to other places they serve in Vietnam. The president of ASVHO, which is an association for the poor, handicapped, and orphaned in Vietnam, held a special dinner for us in honor of Free Wheelchair Mission and Giving it Back to Kids to take us for the generous contributions to those in need in Lang Son province. Many toasts with Sake were made. I'm not sure how well the folks who just arrived today from the U.S. weathered those toasts and the food adventures, but so far so good. Here is a picture of Georgia Kloos, our leader from FWM, being honored with flowers from An, the president of ASVHO, and her staff, and a picture of the food spread at each table.

Georgia w/Vietnamese Hosts

Honorary Dinner - family style

Tomorrow we will be assembling and delivering our first wheelchairs to homes in Loc Binh and Cao Loc. I can't wait to tell you their stories in pictures and words!