Summer in Vietnam

[marty mopar]

classic stuck in mud up to the axles maybe for 40 years or more

It is rare to see vehicles looking like this here...most are modern
and well kept.

Ford Rangers are common...have seen one GM vehicle since May 15
and ZERO Mopars

and billions of motorbikes...not motorcycles ..... motorbikes

 

[marty mopar]

The post office is 132 years old and is a working PO but has a huge crowd of tourists there daily. The French built it and it is
really a great place to visit. We walked there. An hour and a half. There are writing tables and people send letters from there
so, it is postmarked from HCMC. The building is really spectacular.
BBQ breakfast: We have eaten at this spot in the market in the Pham Ngu Lao district where we stay for about 15 years. They
always remember us as we eat there every morning when we stay there. We asked the owner (the woman in the pic) how long
she and her husband and another woman who helps have been there: 40 years and open everyday. We buy fresh tofu around the corner
and add it to the meal.



https://photos.google.com/u/1/share/AF1QipN3jY2PeeVV5JSpCjF6G1Pt9e8Mi-z2i6Lmcd3yWQD0i7DdlSQnhTABS2lDj7Zupw?hl=en&key=OVRrOENHeUxDaDNvSENQZnJsUVZBTWs1M29KVjVB

 

[cuda hunter]

What are the arm coverings on the first picture lady on the left?

 

[marty mopar]

For the sun ....they are thin and stretchy

That is my wife's niece. she is 31 and has never had a boyfriend.

Sometimes they get to the point where they just give up on men as lots
of them drink too much, get in fights and are in many ways worthless....not all
of them but they get wary.....

My wife is in the middle and her sister on the right...her sister was married for a short time to some
raging ******* after waiting 45 years to find a man she picks a dickweed. We were here 5 years ago.
Word was from her family that her husband wanted to kill myself and my wife. Rather strange as the dipshit
had never even met us. No love for him as he acted the part and was batshit. They were contemplating
killing him and I said I was in on it...Why not? Easy to whack someone and bury him in the mountains and
nobody is going to look or find the turd. Too bad as I could have added accomplice to a murder on my resume.
Hell you never know if McDonald's might be hiring and I could see how that would fly on the job application.


I asked for a picture of him just in case he was lurking nearby. Got the picture, then we went to the sister's
house in the village. He was off cutting some cardamom but when I entered the house there was a big-*** knife
in the kitchen and I put it on the floor against the wall just in case Captain Dipshit showed up. He did not and
eventually she rid herself of the idiot.

pics of house here: her sister is the one on the left in the first few pics and she is now 53 years old...house got sold after
the 2 split up.

We visit May's sister Ying's house near Sapa Vietnam 9-2018

 

[cuda hunter]

I see the fields behind all the houses that are terraced and growing something on each steppe.
Who owns those fields? The house that is nearest each field? Or are those bigger land owners that grow food on the steppes?
What is the temperature there? I can't tell as it seems to wet in all the pictures. 80's?

 

[marty mopar]

60-70s for the temps the terraces are rice and the locals who have their houses next to them own them.

 

[marty mopar]

We are in Dalat in the central highlands...pine trees and cool weather. here is this week in F

Been visiting our old places from past visits (starting in 2003 for me). A bunch of them (the soymilk shop, the ice cream shop in the market and a restaurant in the market)
the owners recognized us and were happy to see us back here after a 5-year absence.

The soymilk shop and others like them are only open at night. The one we frequent closes off a side street and only allows motorbikes and they all park at one
end of the street. Lots of tables and stools are brought out and you can drink in the small shop too. You can get your drink without sugar if you want.
Down on the main street near the market vendors set up huge vats of soymilk on gas stoves and gobs of pastries to choose from. Only in Dalat do you
see soymilk being sold. Lots of flavors and you can mix them if you want. Absolutely great taste and perfect on a cool evening.

Took a walk around the lake one day and it must have been a 5-mile roundtrip. The girls were worn out from it but it was easy as it was flat and had a nice sidewalk.
The lake is brown, and some anglers were there but who knows what kind of fish they are catching if any. Or if you can eat them without blowing chunks for 3 days.
Got 2 rooms at an old hotel where we always stay at. Huge rooms with a tall ceiling., I took some pics of some of the larger rooms that have 4 gigantic beds in a room for
insane parties and huge families. Still just one bathroom though. 1st day here the place was all ours but the last 2 days the floor has been loaded with a bunch of
inconsiderate assholes...nothing new but these dicks start making a racket at 3 AM. Their doors are open, and they have 3 or 4 rooms and just yell and make as much
noise as they can. So far can not figure out a way to **** with them without get killed.

We get a big thermos full of hot water downstairs and have a teapot in the rooms. We wash out clothes in a big plastic tub and put our stuff up on the roof to dry.

Hot Soy Milk: Dalat, Vietnam August 14, 2023

The Lake in Dalat, Vietnam 8-14-2023

Dalat, Vietnam: Market (includes the Ice Cream Shop) 8-14-2023

 

[marty mopar]

We had breakfast at the Veggie Restaurant, packed our stuff for the flight to Danang tomorrow and to Hoi An by taxi.
I had to try hot chocolate at this place that had only chocolate and hot chocolate. It was really good! Chocolate in
Vietnam is rare. Of course, we wandered the night market and got some pics of what the vendors had outside on the street.
Fresh fruit, soy milk, sticky rice and dried fruit. We went to the soymilk place we have been going to every night. It was raining and the bottom
floor was packed as nobody wanted to be outside. They had an upper floor and we managed to squeeze in there and get our
final fix of soymilk.

1st pic: street vendor with her BBQ going
2nd pic: the lady that runs the hotel gave us 3 fruits and a knife. The looked like mango but nope something else we have
never seen. Peeled them and were pretty tasty but somewhat hard.


Last Day In Dalat, Vietnam 8-18-2023

 

[DocMcNeedy]

I love the colorful fruit and how they are perfectly stacked so neatly in the open market shelves.

 

[marty mopar]

The markets in 3rd world countries especially Vietnam and México (although I've been to others)
are awesome and nobody has a permit from the health department.

 

[marty mopar]

Hoi An pics:


Com Ga (Chicken Rice) is a traditional dish served in this city. Thick rice noodles, Chicken and loads of other stuff is in it. Mostly found at night.
Awesome! The 2 girls from Japan spent all of their meal staring at phones, then eating followed by another phone staring contest. 90% of the
population looks at their phones even if you hit them on the head with a shovel or run them over with your motorbike.

Hoi An, Vietnam: Eating Com Ga (Chicken Rice) 8-18-2023

Hoi An has a large river running through it and an ocean really close. Lots of boats in the river and lots of fish at the market. It has a silk shop
with an old, huge and electrical mechanical loom. And it works but it is loud.

Hoi An, Vietnam: Morning Market, Silk Shop 8-19-2023


It is quiet in the morning and a good time to take pictures without a billion tourists in your face and it is still cool.
We have been eating at a street vendor that carries her kitchen with her and her food is really tasty.


Hoi An, Vietnam 8-20-2023 Early in the AM: Old Town, Breakfast on the street, Market Madness

The boat yard

Every year we go way across the river to visit the boat yard. This year no new ones under construction but loads of them needing wood
repair. We walked for over an hour and a half. Hot as all hell and a new and very narrow bridge to cross with nothing but motorbikes coming
very close. We stopped for drinks and next to the place was a rack of gasoline in glass bottles sealed with some plastic wrapped on the tops...95 octane.
Dangerous...duh! Someone could have plowed into it, and it was 5 feet from where we were sitting. Laws in the USA overblown? Well, it is the
opposite here.
At least 3 huge bandsaws and boats all over were being worked on. The logs are floated down the river to the place and then cut.
All the saws are on rails, so they are easy to move. They were bending a long piece of wood using a fire, a vice and some tie-downs at the ends.
We took a boat taxi back. More of the endless propaganda plastered everywhere.

Hoi An, Vietnam 8-21-2023: The Boat Yard

 

[patrick66]

In all my time in the USAF, I never made it to the Far East at all. The closest I ever got to there was Hawai'i. Did the whole Middle East silliness, plus nearly all of western Europe and Scandinavia. Add to that, much of Central America and parts of South America.

Vietnam actually looks like a cool, fun place to be in 2023.

 

[patrick66]

OK OK it is junk but have no idea what is is

Year Model????

Soviet-era Jeep-style vehicle called a UAZ-469.

Any chance of obtaining a Vietnamese license plate for my collection?

 

[marty mopar]

license no

a hooker with a red dress yes

 

[marty mopar]

Hoi An, Vietnam 8-21-2023 Market, Noodle soup on the sidewalk, Museum of Ethnic Minorities

This is the 2nd time we went to the Museum in the last 5 years and this time the man responsible for all of it
was there. Got to talk to him and swapped stories about Sapa. Super nice man and he has a collection of photos
and handmade traditional clothes of all the 54 minorities in Vietnam. Really a great museum.

https://photos.google.com/u/1/share/AF1QipNfeNRgbais8xnwe-j35UW82VOjxxX6miHGCsx6yRHrMd47mlOChUFo5ifUTB6XCQ?key=OVZDYmNBZmctSjh2TmJqaUNyaGtNUklCWTA0UmhB



2 cafes we have eaten at. The 1st one is on the street next to the river, and we have hit it 3 nights in a row. Insanely noisy when busy.
Great food. Plus BBQ on charcoal. The other one once with nothing but fruit drinks for sale and fruit.

https://photos.google.com/u/1/share/AF1QipMviFcfJVPpqFueOCKir1aI29jcruX7Tbi9CJB-tCLMCZbzCeNqSnxApEJEFWmP4g?key=bzZfcHZSeDlMMy1qeGk1cHVjRGZQR3c0Q05jQnRB


https://photos.google.com/u/1/share/AF1QipMyvDMtWnQO_LuMcujyVIEfD3ng23eMFlk6B8NB9JtB1yG-0e0JIDryhUlR5t38Zw?hl=en&key=ekRHZVBNSXh2dTBITWhIbDN3NjV4TEM0M190NGZ3

Hoi An, Vietnam 8-21-2023 Market, Noodle soup on the sidewalk 11 new items added to shared album photos.google.com

 

[marty mopar]

Going Away Party 9-11-2023 Sapa, Vietnam

The party:

As we are leaving Thursday to return to the USA, we had a party for the family and friends.
We figured on 40 showing up and it was close to that or more. Brothers, sisters and all their kids, etc.
May and I went shopping for tofu, bamboo, veggies, etc., in the morning. Ly (the owner of the hotel) went off
to buy pork and chickens via her motorbike. May and I were on foot and made 2 trips.
I started the BBQ at 2:30 and cooked some of the chicken and pork, some small chiles and the bell peppers.
The hotel has a large gas fired burner next to the hotel in a small room and that was used along with the
stove in the kitchen. Dinner was at 6 PM and by the time the food was finished we had a good crowd. Great food
and we opened the bottle of wine I had found a few weeks ago near the trash pile outside the hotel. It was
still sealed and it was just fine too!
Everyone helped set the tables and afterward cleaning all the dishes, the floor and putting all the leftovers
away. That took an hour. We had 3 rooms for the ones who stayed over ready. You can see the snooze pictures.
May was in there and they slept till about 8 this morning. I had our room to myself. One of them invited us all for
breakfast at the noodle place just down the street. So no leftovers this morning.


Going Away Party 9-11-2023 Sapa, Vietnam

The 1st picture is the pile of 6 rice bags that we sent to Hanoi full of Hmong materials we bought here. This is the 1st time we
could not send anything by sea as in the past with the Vietnam Post Office. 211 kilos total = 464 pounds. Pao who is May's cousin
knew of a place in Hanoi that could get it to the USA via air. We got it ready and he came by the hotel and had a van pick it up and
he went it to Hanoi (7 hours each way) and got it paid for and packed up. With the round trip for him and the freight it was about
2,000.00 dollars. Probably about 4 times more than if it could have gone by sea.

The dinner had 4 tables that had 8 people crammed into a small space and the tables were overflowing with food. Others sat at
a table near the TV area. Loads of groups stay here and do the same thing so Ly and her husband are all set up for large gatherings.
Ly is in the red shirt and her husband is in the background...both Ly and May spent time cleaning the squash leaves off the vines.

The sleep champions of the DOZE BOWL are here::

After the Going Away Party: Sleep Over and the Morning After 9-12-2023 Sapa, Vietnam

After the Going Away Party: Sleep Over and the Morning After 9-12-2023 Sapa, Vietnam 19 new items added to shared album photos.google.com