I think she must be a cat because apparently I killed her several times. (haha) I'm so used to walking everywhere, and at a good pace, that we wiped her out the first day.
To be fair, she arrived at 9am, and the best way to conquer jet lag is to stay up until bedtime in your new timezone on that first day. We started by walking off to rent bicycles.
We stopped for Vietnamese iced coffee on the way.
We took her to Ancient Town Hoi An for "bucket drinks" - one of my favorites. It's a large cocktail in a bucket!
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The next day was rainy too, but not so heavy, and there were occasional breaks in the rain, so we actually walked out to get coffee. I guess, cabin fever?
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| Even the lotus pond here is flooded! |
The next day was drippy but okay, so we took a cab across town so she could order tailored clothes from my lady (Hoi An is tailoring capital of the world), and then we walked a ways to do some Christmas shopping. Stopped for coconut coffee.
We decided that we would go to Marble Mountain the following day, rain or shine. It was a bit drippy in the morning when we went, but the rain only began in earnest after we got in the car to head home.
Marble Mountain has Marble stores where you can watch the sculptors, and the biggest mountain has shrines and pagodas both on top and within the mountain itself. It's pretty cool.
After Marble Mountain, I signed us up for a cooking class the following day. THAT was awesome. We made 4 delicious dishes, and the chef took pictures and videos so we can both repeat it later. He even told my sister some changes she can make to be able to do it in the States!
For her final day in Vietnam, I had booked us a room - a studio apartment really - at the place Brett and I had lived in Da Nang. Her flight left at 10am the next morning, so we wanted as short a drive as possible.
It was Saturday night, so after hot stone massages, we went off to watch the Dragon Bridge show. Even though it rained, the dragon did his fire-breathing act... And then Vietnam won the soccer tournament they were in. It was a HUGE deal!
Huge.
We couldn't get a ride, so ended up walking back to the room. My poor sister.
I kept killing her by walking.
I hope she slept on the plane. She told me she slept for 15 hours after she got home!
Now you know why I've been so quiet lately. I'll get back into routine soon! I hope you all enjoy whatever holiday plans you have.
Wow! All listed out like that, I guess she did get to do a lot. It just felt like we sat around all week.
ReplyDeleteI think it was good that, after the first day, all our events were short. Just a few hours each, no all-day treks!
DeleteShe got her exercise for the year ;)
ReplyDeleteHA! Just in time for the year to end!
DeleteI definitely learned not to assume guests are interested in the same things we are!
I'm surprised she got worn out from the walking after all that coffee. Isn't Vietnamese coffee pretty strong?
ReplyDeleteAlso the cooking class and parade both look like so much fun. I'm not surprised those were enough to get her out of the house.
Worn out more in the "muscle sore" way. She's not used to all that walking.
DeleteFunny thing - that's not a parade! It was just traffic mobbed with patriotism after the football win! I see that it looked like a parade, though. A lot of flags flying. A lot of cheering.
It sounds awesome there!!!! I would let you kill me with walking as long as you kept me full of that iced coffee :)
ReplyDeleteOh, it's so good. Vietnamese coffee, even just black, has a unique flavor. Come visit anytime!
ReplyDelete