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After a grueling, 29+-hour, Saigon to Beijing to Dulles Airport (DC), 8,000+mile-trip, I finally made it safely home (to Winchester, VA) yesterday about 5PM.
I hope that you all have enjoyed my blog updates. Thank you all for following and commenting on my travel blog!

Good-Bye Vietnam

I begin my 24+ hour return to the US at 3AM - about 4.5 hours from now. I treated the Phamily to a farewell dinner this evening. I also realized that I had not yet posted what I thought was a good pic of purple-yellow lotus - my favorite flower in Vietnam!

Classical Vietnamese Music on the Perfume River

Last night was our last night in Hue. We spent part of the evening on a Dragon Boat listening to classical Vietnamese music, lighting boat candles/making wishes/& releasing them on the Perfume River.
We go back to Saigon early this evening.

Hue Pagoda & Kings' Tombs

We spent the day touring Hue sights other than the citadel, purple palace and forbidden city.
Top pic of us in front of the famous Hue pagoda (built in 1845 - built by an emperor to honor his mother). Other 2 pics are of us in front of Vietnam emperor tombs. The emperors built the tombs as palaces away from the purple palace and used them extensively as such until their deaths at which time they were secretly buried in these palaces/tombs (with their concubines and many of their court's official who were executed and entombed with him).

Perfume River - Hue

These are views of the Perfume River from my hotel room balcony .

Hue

I am treating Linh, Thuy (Linh's mother), and Linh's grandmother to a 3-day/2night trip to Hue (see https://www.vietnamonline.com/destination/hue.html). We flew here from Saigon (400 air miles north) today (Saturday) and will fly back to Saigon on Monday.

The last time I was in Hue was 9+ years ago - during my 1st return trip to Vietnam in 2008. Linh and her grandmother have never been to Hue before. We are staying at a nice hotel next to the Perfume River (see http://www.centuryriversidehue.com/index.php?cat_id=0).

Top pic = us having our first dinner in Hue.

Center pic = us at Hue Citadel 

Bottom pic = us at main gate to the forbidden city 

Sent from my iPhone

Uber versus Grab

Uber has come to Vietnam - about 1 year ago! Difference is that Uber in Vietnam are motorbikes not cars. Grab is Uber's only competitor and are also motorbikes.
Uber and Grab are only found in major cities. The taxi companies hate them because their cost is 80% less than cabs! Also, like US Uber, you have to call them and they tell you what the cost is before they pick you up (normally in less than 10 after you call them) - but, unlike Uber, you pay the driver.
Top pic is Linh paying my Uber driver after I took it to a restaurant where we met for lunch.

Ben Tre, Mekong Delta 1

Linh, her brother (Long) and 2 of Linh's girlfriends and I did a day trip to the Ben Tre area of the Mekong Delta. We started the day with a 6:30AM, 2.5 hour drive from Saigon to Ben Tre where we spent the day doing touristy stuff. The large delta barges are still elaborately decorated with spirits to prevent the boats from harm. We also tried hot tea with honey, pollen, royal bee jelly and lime juice for which Ben Tre is renowned.

Ben Tre, Mekong Delta 2

Lunch was great including these tasty dishes!

Ben Tre, Mekong Delta 3

We tried many forms of transportation while in the delta - including pony carts and sampans!

Hard Rock Cafe HCMC

We arrived back in Saigon yesterday. Tonight, Linh and I took her brother (Long = 17 years old) to dinner and the HCMC Hard Rock Cafe. The Hard Rock had 2 so-so bands. It was a lot of fun - we all enjoyed it very much.
Tomorrow Linh and I are going for a day-trip to the Mekong Delta - so - look for blog updates.

Ky Co

Linh, Vinh, me and 10 of Vinh's relatives spent the day at Ky Co (see - https://www.tripadvisor.co.za/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g608528-d10001241-i215636044-Ky_Co_Beach-Quy_Nhon_Binh_Dinh_Province.html<-- scroll thru pics) = a small island near Quy Nhon. This island has just begun being developed. That is me, Vinh and 2 of his relatives having coffee overlooking one of several great beaches on Ky Co.

Sent from my iPhone

Long Day 1

Today ended with a seafood feast with 11 members of the Phamily = crab hotspot, barbecue shrimp on skewers, shrimps rolled with mushrooms rolled in rice angel hair & deep fried.

Long Day 2

Today started early in the morning with Linh, Vinh, me and our driver having breakfast: me = Banh Mi (fresh toasted baguette with egg & heavy seasonings) and; Linh/Vinh/driver = Vietnamese breakfast soup. We then picked-up 2 more relatives for a 1+ hour drive to Vinh's home village where his family members prepared a huge lunch. Then a brief visit to Vinh's deceased parents house where incense and food stuffs were offered at the family's ancesters' alter. Then a 1.5+ hour drive back to Quy Nhon.

Quy Nhon

This morning Linh, Vinh (Linh's father) and I flew to Quy Nhon (located on the South China Sea - see http://wikitravel.org/en/Quy_Nhon). Linh and her father consider Quy Nhon as their home village and they have many relatives here. We will be here until Thursday when we will return to Saigon.

Vinh's family owns several restaurants in Quy Nhon we will be feasting at many of them during our visit here. 

It was very hot here today - so there were very few people on the beach. After dinner tonight, we had coffee on the beach - in the background that is the moon reflecting off the South China Sea. Very nice, scenic and cool during the evening hours!

Sent from my iPhone

Birthday Dinner

Linh and her mother made a great seafood b-day dinner for me! Linh also made a mango cheesecake for me!

Birthday Dinner

Linh and her mother made a great seafood dinner for my birthday. Linh also made a terrific mango cheesecake for me.
Btw - I will no longer celebrate my birthday bc I am getting too old.

Back to Vietnam

After a 24+ hour trip (via IAD and Beijing), I arrived back in Vietnam about 3AM yesterday (Friday). Linh is also here via Pittsburg and Tokyo. We will both be here until the end of July. It has been more than 1.5 years since we were last here.
It is great to be back here. I am staying at the same hotel that I have been going to for the last 9 years (see http://www.thewhitehotel.com.vn/).It is nice to be back to my old hood. Although there have been many changes, it remains very familiar and comfortable to me. The street vendor (her name is Nay) where I have gotten my daily Caphe Sua da's for 5+ years is still at her same location - she still has the US$2 bill (Vietnamese consider them to be good luck) that I gave to her 4+ years ago. Yesterday, I took her to lunch (see above pic) at my favorite restaurant near my hotel - a very "fancy place" to her and she had never eaten there (and her vendor location is across the street from the restaurant).

Linh and I will be traveling a lot during this trip - so look for my travel blog updates!