Turtles are symbols of luck in Viet Nam...unless you are a turtle...

Good Morning, Vietnam! - Robin Williams

OK, so anyone who is a betting man knew that we’d have to use that one. Cheap shot, I know.

Meanwhile, it isn’t really morning yet. But with jet lag and time zone changes, I have been awake off and on since midnight. Need to be up at 4A to catch our flight to Hue so 3:30A seems as good a time as any to blog as we eat our complimentary dragon fruit (very cool, like sweet jicama with teeny black seeds), green bananas and green oranges.

Just wanted to catch up on yesterday. It’s a bit of a fog but here are the highpoints to finish the day.

Walked around. Sweated like pigs. Marveled at the teeny tiny tables and stools that everyone sits on at the local eateries. Really like little step stools or pre-school furniture. If Michael even attempted to sit on one, well, he’d never get up again and we’d just have to use him as a planter. He’d look disproportionally immense rather like Will Ferrell in the movie, Elf.

Huge wedding going on here last night. Why on a Thursday?, I wonder. But the reception was set up on the courtyard right under our supposedly quiet, away-from-the-street standard room. So we complained (what with our 4AM wake-up call) and got a bigger room on the other side. The wedding party was in bright yellow with red trims…the guys’ suits were reminiscent of the Beatles and made of shiny silk material. And more than one woman other than the bride was wearing a long, formal white dress. Hmmmmm?

Unfortunately, it was raining cats and dogs so we ate on the sidewalk outside the hotel to watch traffic go by (plastic poncho clad vespa drivers all over the place) and saw some unlucky guests who arrived that way entering the hotel with the sides and legs of their fancy attire all wet. Boo hoo.

Slept well when we slept and really looking forward to getting on with the trip.

Do you know the way to San Jose?

So we're in line going back through security in transit in Hong Kong. An Indian family of four is just ahead of us in line and I notice the the father is toting a cloth briefcase provided by the drug company, Bayer, at some AVMA Conference or another. So Michael asks him if he's a veterinarian (After all, I am carrying a very nice Hill's Pet Food sponsored backpack that I 'won' at an AVMA booth a couple of years ago.) No he's not, he explains in his Indian accent, a friend of his gave it to him. He lives in Davis....California...OK. What are those odds?
Then after we took our showers and had our coffee, we were in line to board our final flight and start chatting with the guy behind us who would appear to be from Southeast Asia. Michael asks if he lives in Hong Kong. Nope, traveling on business. He lives in Orange Country, CALIFORNIA....breeds and trains police dogs....was just in Germany buying some new dogs! OK.
And then, we get to Ho Chi Minh City. We go through Immigration and are on the escalator coming down into Baggage Claim and the woman behind us, clearly Vietnamese, speaking with a Vietnamese accent, asks if we are here on business or holiday. Holiday. Where do you live? We live in the Caribbean but used to live in California. Really? She has a house in NEWPORT BEACH, CA.
So, who's gonna do that statistical calculation? What are the odds that three randomly chosen people in Hong Kong and Ho Chi Minh City all live in California?
Anyway, here and exhausted. Got to the Continental Hotel which was the location for a book clled the Quiet American (that I would be reading right now except it's not on Kindle). Pretty dated place but in the middle of the 'touristy' part of the city. Went to the Jade Emperor Pagoda (Michael will post some photos later) and then walked a circuit of the buildings to see in this area. Now fighting to stay awake (Michael gave up a little while ago) because if we both fall asleep there's no telling when we manage to wake up againnnnnnnnnnnnnnn

Back to the Future

35 hours down 3.5 to go.
That International Date Line crossing is always a little bit weird. There you are traveling backwards and backwards and backwards with the time getting earlier and earlier and earlier and then WHAM! you shoot forward into tomorrow. So now it's Thanksgiving here but not yet where people actually celebrate Thanksgiving.
Meanwhile, sitting here in the Cathay Pacific First Class Lounge in Hong Kong. Have about 30 minutes before our final leg to Ho Chi Minh City so took a quick shower....bless these lounges (how many times do I say that every trip?), a cup of coffee and then we'll be off.
For future reference I may need to start taking drugs to sleep. Slept only fitfully and probably less than 3 hours straight from JFK to Vancouver and then only an hour at a stretch for maybe 4 hours total spaced out during the 14 hours to Hong Kong. Michael reminded me that the last time we flew to Hong Kong was from LAX 10 years ago on our way to China and that was coach and he was the age I am now so he's thinking we should start preserving our frequent flier miles and start flying coach again. HA! We'll see how he feels once the rummy-ness wears off.
But it was lovely (after hours or what seemed like days of darkness) to see the sun rise from the other side of the Pacific Ocean as we came into Hong Kong this morning. Stunning.

Sometimes you have to wonder

Why did we ever declare our independence?
We landed in JFK at terminal 8 and bopped in to the Admirals Club Lounge to find out where to go for our Cathay Pacific One World Alliance flight to Hong Kong. Terminal 7. But Michael had some emails on his laptop he needed to send so we stayed where we were to use the internet not knowing what we'd find in T7. Drank some iced tea. Passed on the carrot sticks. Recharged some batteries and then headed over.
Now we are in the British Airways (also One World partners) Terraces Lounge (note not EVEN the First Class Lounge) with the full, self-serve bar, the drinks, the sandwiches, the cookies and candies, and the cushy chairs. What were we thinking? Oh, and the water fountain in the middle. The British know how to do it right!
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'To infinity...and beyond!' - Buzz Lightyear

Well, the pool is clean, the laundry is in the process, the fridge is cleaned out and apparently the ferries are running to St Martin (there was some concern about high seas shutting down the ports). Sonya and Bob are on their way to take care of the poor kitties who always think they want in the luggage when we are packing but really did not inherit their parents penchant for travel.
We'll head to SXM this afternoon to spend the night in anticipation of our first (of five flights) starting at 9AM tomorrow morning followed by about 28 hours on planes and 9 hours in airports.
Everybody keeps saying how small the world has become, but you are not going to be able to prove it by me!
We'll catch you later from the other side of the world.

Sometimes we forget

We travel so much and marvel at the foreign and the exotic
and then we forget to look out our own windows.
Sunrise in Anguilla today.