AFTERNOON CRUISE ALONG THE PERFUME RIVER

We took a 3 hour luxury cruise in  one of these

Another luxury cruise vessel similar to ours

" I  don't have to worry about the anchor"

Along the river                                                       

Seen along the way

We visited this site

Our boat took us here

Whatever you say is fine with me

A surprise banquet on board

HUE

Most of the day spent with guide and driver. Drove to Hue.
Lunch arranged by guide.  After lunch we left the restaurant to get back into the car.
"No, you now take cyclo"      What??

Two bicycle chairs.  Pedalers are scrubby looking, teeth missing   

We were pedaled thru the city  in the midst of heavy traffic (motor scooters, cars, other cyclos) along wide boulevards.  About 20 minutes. No sign of our guide or anything familiar.
 I kind of know where Bob is but can't make contact or
         see   him.
                                            Should I be scared?  
              NO     THIS IS FUN
  Stopped at the   FORBIDDEN CITY .   Ah, Bob is here too.

Where  is our guide??  Pedlars saying "Tip, tip"
What do we do now?? We do not have our passports or anything.  Everything is in our car.  What if this is a "set- up"?
      Too many movies and mystery books come to mind
                      Ridiculous      Really?
After about 10 minutes our guide appears, apologetic .....
There is preparation for a festival and the street is closed.

Experienced the Forbidden City with the guide.
   Huge, impressive and interesting.  A UNESCO site

Hot and tired we cut the tour short at 3:30 and went to the hotel.  The guide registered for us while we sat in a beautiful cool lounge and had a "welcome drink" .

It is now a morning later and I am on our large private patio.
Bob made coffee in our room and we sit here looking at the Perfume River.  No schedule.  Birds chirping.
What will this day bring???? 

SCOOTER CITY SAIGON

WHY WE ARE TOO CHICKEN TO CROSS THE ROAD

CONTRASTS

The tallest building in Saigon
Bitexco Financial Center

68 floors, 
860 ft. high 
Helicopter pad on 60th floor 


***************************************************

 

Typical in Hoi An

ANCIENT TEMLES "MY SON"

Guide took us to the Ancient Temples in the mountains, in the jungle very near the Laos border.  AMAZING.  Dating from the 11th century.

During the war these sacred Hindu temples were bombed.  We saw the craters, the ruins and 2 unexploded bombs in one temple.  I was embarrassed.  War is hell.

 We walked the Ho Chi Minh Trail.  I imagined what it was like in the jungle for soldiers.  Hot, humid, scary.

DID I PUT THESE IN ALREADY???

We  (me and my much more advanced GEEK) are still having trouble with adding the pictures to the blog.  So bear with us as we make mistakes like sometimes adding a picture twice,     sometimes not at all       and often are not timely with the pictures..   

The good news is that our relationship continues to grow and prosper.

About Kuala Lumpur

 

We were surprised at the large number of hi-rises in 

Kuala Lumpur, interesting, good architecture.  Made me aware of my ignorance and arrogance.                                       ONE OF THE VALUES OF TRAVEL                

In Chinatown    Bob is drawing a stick with a number on it.  Then go to a drawer with that number, pick out a paper with your fortune.  I don't remember his, but mine was to the effect                                         "Nothing will come easy to you.  Work harder"

So I started by taming a dragon