We have arrived in Cambodia on the water, but we had to park along another river due to the Water Festival and Moon Festival known in Cambodian as Bon Om Touk. Water Festival How exciting to be here during the annual water festival! This marks the change of direction of the water flow of yhe river. Tonle Sap lake swells during the rainy season, and then the local...
International Christian Fellowship in Phnom Penh was a small congregation of less than 25 with visitors from China, Ireland, Australia, Phillipines, USA, and England. Next week they will have a potluck lunch on the rooftop. They are also planning a Men’s Breakfast and a Woman’s Breakfast. The minister has an Anglican background and is from Australia. We...
Châu Đốc in Southwest Vietnam is a border city with Cambodia. Phi told us that it has excellent feng shui. Three rivers merge here. Châu Đốc is draped along the banks of the Hau Giang River. We saw Sam Mountain in the background. Significant Chinese, Cham, and Khmer communities live here. The total population is about 160,000. Primary occupations include farming...
We are docked at Binh Long. I started the day with Tai Chi. It really showed me that I need to work on my balance. At the end of each movement, we stood still for one minute. That was the hardest part. We boarded a Sampan and went down the river. Many floating fish farms appear along the riverbank. There are 6,000 fish per 3,500 cubic feet. Legend says that a man...
We are traveling with Avalon Waterways on the Avalon Saigon which is the smallest, narrowest, shortest cruise ship on the Mekong so it can travel the furthest. This ship can go under low bridges. Our journey will be 400 miles. The Avalon Saigon travels at 10 miles per hour and the captain uses radar, GPS, binoculars and experience to navigate the ship. Of these...
We are returning to the Cu Chi tunnels. We didn’t realize that they were still within the city limits of Ho Chi Minh City as we must drive two hours to get there. The boundaries were enlarged greatly after 1975. This is District 24. Our bus took us to a different entrance than before so we saw and did other things. We walked through tunnels. You know what they...
Khahn is our Avalon Cruise director. Our group consists of 22 guests from Canada, USA, England, New Zealand and Australia. He has been working with tour groups for 23 years and the last seven with Avalon. It is his first and only job. He loves what he does. He was born in Saigon a few months before end of war. He lives six miles from the city center, and it is a 45...
We leave Vung Tau with our bags and lunches packed and say goodbye to our lizard friend. We have learned to coexist. We arrive back in Saigon and check in to a modern hotel called The Reverie Saigon which some say is the best hotel in the entire country of Vietnam. The Reverie Saigon is in the Times Square building and is about four years old. Within the 39 floors...
We arrived early at the Protestant Church of Vietnam – Binh Gia Associations. We did not anticipate that the service would be in English but praise music transcends language and the Word of God can be followed. We started to sit down near the middle back, but an older woman ushered us to the front perhaps to be near the fans. There were at least eight fans in...
Today we walked to the Høn Bá island where there is a Buddhist temple which is only accessible during low tide. The views here are interesting and the breeze is so welcome! The path was very rocky and unstable as the stones with barnacles shift with the tide. Here I am high-stepping back to the mainland. It is so hot. I am constantly sticky and feel like a walking...