We stopped off at a market to see a friend of Jim's from his prior years here. There was just about anything you can imagine. It was a produce market, a meat market, a pasta and rice market. There were individual stalls, very small with souvenir trinkets from chopstix, to pottery to textiles, to oriental dolls, to magnets. I found the most beautiful blue and white pottery, but it was our first stop and I didn't want to haul it around. I took the woman's card and promised to return to purchase and wonderful bowl, 4 square plates and some tea/coffee cups. I will have to return on Tuesday, before we leave, because I kept my promise.
It was interesting to see all the foods. There were entire chickens, ducks, all plucked and ready to cook. No refridgeration, just laying out on the tables. There were cuts of meat/beef that you could have chopped up as you like. Beautiful fruits and vegetables. They cook pumpkin vines in garlic and stir fry it. It is wonderful. Similar to spinach or broccolini. The fruit is very juicy. The mango and pineapple are to die for!
We then left the market and headed for the open streets. Again, this weekend is the 2nd most important holiday to the Vietnamese people: the Unification of Vietnam. 30 April 1975 is when Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City) fell to the control of the communist government of the North. People are celebrating with hoards of shoppers, tourists, more motorbikes; if you can believe that. Anyway, we shopped, found some beautiful silk tablerunners: 3/35$. I just had to buy them in such vivid colors. Also, more jewelry with oriental symbol among mother of pearl earrings. Also, bookmarks for my co-workers back home, silk eyeglass case, lacquered boxes, lacquered coasters in a box, mother of pearl bracelets. Hmmmm, what else. I still need to get the pottery. The prices are unbelievable.
Many vendors which are the poor population selling t-shirts, fruits, produce, books, lighters, just about anything. The problem is they sometimes don't want to take "no" for an answer and will follow you down the street. I did post a picture of Vicky buying from one of the vendors...
We then thought after all the walking, how about a foot massage? Sounds great right? Well, we went to a place that Vicky knew and the sign said "foot massage: $6.00 US". Sounds great. Well, we sat down, and they began the massage. They then had us go upstairs, where we got a head, neck, shoulder and back massage (through our clothes). We thought, hmmm, must be an added bonus since 3 of us entered their establishment. After the massage the price was $13.00, which surprised us, but we were there for an hour, so why not. But, they wanted a $2.00 tip as well...It's not the cost, it is just that we felt taken. We just paid and got the heck out of there and headed home. Oh well, every tourist has a scam to tell, right?
We then went out to dinner with the entire group at the "City View Cafe" about 5 stories up with a view to die for, of the center, near Hoan Kiem Lake. We were outside on the terrace and just watched all the crazy traffic from a birds eye view. Cars, pedestrians, bikes, motorbikes, going every which way. No lanes, no traffic lights, some near misses as we watched. We had a wonderful dinner provided for by Dr. Allender. The crowds were getting thicker, so thought we'd make our way back to the hotel. We got through the crowd and Dr. Allender realized his i-phone was not in his pocket. He said he felt someone watching him as we were walking through the crowd and thinks they took it out of his pocket. Quite a damper to the day. We headed back to the hotel, because we leave in the morning for Ha Long Bay. Dr. Allender went back to the restaurant just in case, it fell out of his pocket. I hope to blog good news later.
Time for bed. Early day tomorrow for our overnight. Will miss blogging tomorrow, but hope to post pics for the last time Monday night of our trip to the Bay.
Night all and will be coming home soon. I miss Marysville and my husband terribly!
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