Last Day in Hue

Today we fly back to the United States.  It has been a lot of fun here in Vietnam, but it will be good to be home.

We visited a family the produces a lot of banh beo.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bánh_bèo  They turn out a few thousand a day.  That dutch oven looking thing is what they use to steam the trays.

The finished product.  They deliver the product to local markets.

This is the mill they use to grind the rice.

Matt introduces tequila shooters to the boys.  Hue will never be the same.

Some street food outside our hotel.  These places setup early in the morning and are gone by 9:00 or 10:00.  No trace left, not even a napkin.

 

And lastly, the one thing Hue needs more of, ice cream.

Last Few Posts

We are leaving tomorrow.  We haven't had much to post about just spending time with family, and both of us have colds.  Here are some pictures that didn't make it into the other posts.

An assortment of reptile wine.

A close up.  Good for stamina, or so they say.  You have to have stamina just to drink it.

Riding the honda around Lang Co lagoon.

Helen is so cool she rides side saddle.

Coastal mountains.  One of these peaks is 1600 meters high!

Dragon Boat Birthday

Today we hired a Dragon boat and celebrated Mom's 80th birthday on the Perfume river.

Dragon boats are a tourist attraction, but the big ones are also a great place to have a party.

Loading the boat.

Big man made lotus flowers.

Heading up river, we will pass under the Trang Tien bridge.  This is a famous landmark in Vietnam.

Most of the river traffic is sampans loaded with sand rock or gravel.  Cement is the main building material in Hue and all of the admixture comes from dredging the river bottom.

A large rock dredging operation. As in large rocks, not sand or gravel.

Back to the party.  We sang Happy Birthday, the kids of course were the most enthusiastic. 

Before lunch Helen did a fan dance.  Just kidding, it was hot today even moving on the river.

Mountains and forest/jungle looking up river.

Is that a sampan or a submarine?  Not much of a margin for error, as in, a big wake could swamp that thing.

Riverside jungle.

Back to the bridge.

Elephant Brook

Yesterday we left Lang Co.  The US families decided the kids would like Elephant Brook, and since that is near Lang Co, they picked us up along the way.  Elephant Brook is like the Oak Creek of Hue.

On the lower part of the brook we found some water buffalo.

Walking to the brook.

Any flower print works as camouflage in the jungle.

Helen temps fate on the scary bridge.

The Great White Water Buffalo blinds local Vietnamese.

A brief rain.

Where the brook comes from.

Down Stream.

Lang Co

Lang Co is beautiful, but not much cooler than Hue, as the heat is back.

We are here.
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Undeveloped beach as far as the eye can see.

Killer grilled clams.  Usually we save the food for another forum, but damn these were good.  Fresh and alive then grilled to perfection with onions a bit of oil and peanuts on top.

Our dining companion.  It is not unusual to see a lizard around here, but this guy has an exceptionally long tail.

Hue Skyline

We are in Lang Co, but we don't have a lot of pictures yet.  Here are some shots of the Hue skyline for now.  Click on pictures to enlarge

And Mom's roof top garden in the rain.

Reunion Lunch then to the Beach and the Tolet

Last night a storm moved in and the heat broke at last.  Which is great because we had a family lunch at Mom's house and all 6 sisters were in the same place for the first time in 27 years!

After lunch Helen suggested we go to see the beach she and her sisters left from when they escaped.

But first the monkey.  This poor thing is chained to a tree down the street from Helen's Mom's house.

Here is a car monkey called Emily.

Thu An beach where Helen and her sisters escaped from Veitnam.

The hawker kids swarm.

Helen in paradise.

Helen, Brandon and Trang.  Helen discovers her white pants are see through when wet.

And after your drinks run through, you may need to use the TOLET.

Here is where the arrow points.  Just a cement floor with a bit of privacy.

After the beach excursion, everyone but Trang was too tired to eat.  So we took her to a popular sea food restaurant near the hotel.