charlesbreland.com

my butt over the borderline. that's a song paraphrase used to relay two things. number one, i'm crossing into cambodia, number two there is no concept of queing in this region, so u're always being pushed along or pushed past. crossing the border is a hilariously "soup nazi" experience. i just kept my head down, proferred the required documents with two hands and shuffled along. right now i'm "on the border"….i've passed through vietnam border, but not yet through the cambodian one. fingers crossed. i can tell u this, u never feel confident that u're actually gonna make it onto your plane, bus or border. u feel like u'll probably make it, but u're never as confident as u'd like to be. : )

it is 9 o’clock in vietnam, do u know where ur children are? if either the c-man or i were ur children, then the correct answer would be danang airport. yesterday, we took a trip to hoi ann. charming old city that is a unesco heritage site. they make any type of purse or clothing your little heart could desire. cool laid back town that actually has “quiet hours” at lunch and at night when they won’t let people drive their motobikes in town….sweet! also, a neat food place where i tried their specialty (cao lau) and had another ban xeo. i’d say those two far outdistance “still covered in its skin and not deheaded deep fried sea monster” for my favorite vietnamese dishes. this was the only place we have been so far that actually had a pretty high number of tourists. no americans but lots of white faces. that made it feel a little like epcot, but b/c of its interesting blend of colonial architectural styles, its good food, relative quietude and peacefullness, i’m gonna give it two thumbs up.

that morning we climbed the marble mountain (which unlike candy mountain is a real place) and saw some neat carvings and pagodas. we also saw about a gazillion people selling things made of marble – from $2 figurines to 500 lb buddhas. it was amazing how much marble they had.

oh, and if i forgot to mention, tuesday was spent on my khe beach, home of really interesting round fishing boats and sudden drenching thunderstorms. i did get to watch a fisherman repair his crab trap, which was made of fishing line woven around a wooden frame. we ate a few times (in danang) at a neat place called “bread of life” that is run by a couple from missouri. their staff is almost entirly deaf and they do sign language training along with helping them develop jobs skills. neat stuff.

today we visited hue. it’s an old imperial city two hours north of danang. gorgeous drive up there and the emperors walled city and tombs were really impressive. one tomb was probably 80 acres and featured pine trees. if i lived in hue, i would probably picnic there with my family.

so we cabbed back to the hotel and then headed to the airport. somehow i managed to get very sweaty over the course of the day today. i feel sticky and grumpy, and i just found out my flight is delayed and i think the baby behind me have have made a number two. ready to get to saigon, sleep and then depart for cambodia and then on to the usa. i am a little curious how i will be getting to pnom penh, but i guess that can wait til tomorrow. oh good! the kid has shoes that squeak like a chew toy when he walks. well, he definitely needs to walk it off.

i’ll just provide brief commentary on these. one thought before i get started. this is the only place i have been where people have american catch phrases, “american-isms” if you will, that they use. for example “same same” instead of “the same”, many people will say “my friend” or “i am sorry” as a stock phrase in any sentence. we actually had a super friendly moto driver (the leader of the pack as it were) who was, interestingly enough, the great “i am”. e.g. “i am pick you up. i am go to market, my friend. my friend i am say this this this this. my friend i am go to eat with family same same.” as you may notice “i am” referenced both himself and a 3rd party person. hence, he is the great “i am”. : )

ok, here’s a guy with his bicycle cart. he carried our luggage from one hotel to the next in the mekong region.

here’s the woman making my “veitnamese hot pocket” (the banana in rice concoction that i really liked)

here’s the daughter of the woman who sent someone to get me coffee in a bag.

kid on a boat in the floating market.

this is the family that let us aboard their boat (and that was getting their stuff ready to sell and also had two chickens a tv and a giant fish on the boat – and a really nice console btw)

i forget the name of this fruit the woman is bringing, but lil and i had some in costa rica (ok, we had one….jr’s gf ate all the rest). the flavor is highly unusual – as is the look – but it tastes awesome.

if j lo had a vietnamese baby, i think it would look like this girl

this dude rocked. he lives in a house next to where we launched our boat.

another woman cooking hot pockets.

this kid thinks i’m number 1. i think he’s savvy.

two kids in a tree (not snipers : )

little girl doing some homework on a scooter.

two friends at the market in the mekong region (the non-floating one)

i don’t think this little girl trusted me.

i’m not sure, but this girl may be a hippie – or a vulcan.

random monument.

people doing landscaping work. they always work in teams.

fisherman on a boat.

current record for people on a moped is 5. we’re hoping to see 6, but i don’t want to dream too big. we have also seen a cargo of live poultry (in one instance iced to keep them calm), building materials, refrigerators….lots of stuff.

me eating my hot pocket – someone better figure out what’s odd with this picture.

some smiling women in the market.

woman near the market.

all right, that’s enough for now. i think today, it’s on to hoi an, which has a really neat old architectural style blending chinese, french, japanese and other influences. also, we’ll be passing by the marble mountains. sweet!