Adventures in Vietnam

April 10, 2007
At 7:30 AM, we all loaded onto the van and headed north of the Ocean Star Resort.

We came to a place where a boat was being pulled in with the catch of the day and Mrs. Hanh asked the driver to pull over. I think she heard my sharp intake of breath, which usually signals a photo opportunity that I am missing. Of course, the entire country is a photo op waiting to happen.

We got out and climbed down to the beach, and K discovered wonderful sea shells.

We went over and examined the fish that had been caught that morning, took a few pictures, and then our entire party set to collecting sea shells for K. 4 CHSFS staffers, M, K and me (with very limited help from Miss M) combed the short beach and found wonderful shells. The colors are so different from those you find back home. The driver and staff probably thought we were nuts, but they cheerfully waded into the water and hunted for the very best shells for K. When we had collected a pile that was too big for us to carry, someone produced a bag and we took our treasures back to the bus. The driver wasn’t too thrilled to see the shells coming, but no one goes against Mrs. Hanh (or as we lovingly refer to her, the Admiral.)

We continued north and came to the fishing village. You round a bend and there before you is a bay with hundreds and hundreds of brightly colored fishing boats.

The van pulled over and we walked down to the beach, where fishermen and women were examining the catch and haggling over the prices. Children immediately came up to us with trays of things to sell. Woman came up and Mrs. Hanh started talking with them. She either knows everyone in Vietnam, or has that typical Vietnamese ease of talking to people she doesn’t know.

K was oblivious to all of this, she saw that there were more cool shells and set to work collecting those with two staffer’s always one step behind her. They are almost like a Secret Service detail for her, they never let her go too far away before one or both of them are with her.

I was busy snapping photos, everywhere you looked there were wonderful photos to be taken. I had my photos, K had her shells, Miss M had her bottle (which she kept dropping in the sand) and M had her wish for the day, which was to help create memories of Vietnam and especially her province for K. It was a great morning. But we weren’t done. M literally dragged me off the beach.