Picking Up Passports and Our Weekend Adventure

We had a 2:00 p.m. appointment to pick up the girls’ Vietnamese passports to be immediately followed by a trip to the SOS clinic for their doctor’s appointments. We had to have the passports before we could go to the clinic.

We arrived at 1:45 and waited until 2:00 when lunch was over. Soon Hein (our new guide from the agency) went up and asked about the passports. They said yes they had it. “It” Hein asked. Yes they had one passport done. They saw that the birth date and all the identifying information was the same (except the names which is only 2 letters difference in the entire name) and just made one not thinking there could be twins. Hein convinced them to make the other passport while we waited. About 2:45, Hein took all of us over to the SOS clinic and Hein convinced them to see both girls even though we had only one passport. The clinic was great and took them both in for their scheduled appointments. P and Hein then dashed back to the immigration office to wait for the new passport. One gentleman kept going up to the desk and asking about his passport. Hein told P the clerk was getting upset and the more he asked, the longer he would have to wait. Sure enough, about 3:30 a clerk came running up to the desk with a shiny new, green Vietnamese passport in her hand. It was open and she was blowing on the ink to get it to dry. It was our second passport. As soon as the desk clerk got it, she asked P and Hein to come up and sign for the new passport. The impatient gentleman was still waiting and asking about his documents. I wonder how long he waited.

P and Hein sprinted back to the SOS clinic in time for P to sit through and help get Sophie examined. The clinic was great and the girls took P’s absence pretty well. Hein would pick up the health reports for us on Monday. The doctor told us they were in excellent health, although just a little under weight.

We just love Hein he is a soft spoken man who knows the adoption process like the back of his hand. He understands most all of our English and speaks better English than I do Vietnamese. He is defiantly a plus for this agency.

On Saturday, we had arranged to go to Ha Long Bay, which is on the coast north of Hanoi. We got up early to leave by 8:00. It was a 3 hour bus ride to the coast. On the way up we stopped at a store/work shop for handicapped individuals. The hand-stitched embroidered paintings and made beautiful silk clothing. After our break, we finished the ride to Ha Long Bay. We had lunch at a tourist restaurant. Sophie had had enough of traveling and was not a happy camper in the restaurant. We were seated in a large room with about 8 other tables. Another missed meal for P. After lunch, we checked into a 3 star hotel to rest before we took a tour of one of the islands in the bay. P said the 3 star rating was awarded by the Baghdad Gazette. The rooms were nice, with one peculiar feature. In the bedroom P and I shared with the girls, the wall separating us from another room did not go completely to the exterior wall. When you pulled our curtain back, you could see about a 4 inch gap, and the curtain in the other room. We later learned (through sound and smell) the room on the other side of our wall was the other room’s bathroom. As our neighbors were going through their evening and morning bathroom rituals, all we could do was laugh. What a story! We would not believe it unless we saw it.

After our nap, we went to the island that is the convention center and high end beach area. It had a dolphin show, a laser light show and beautiful beaches and gardens. Since it was after season (we did not know this) the laser show and dolphin shows were closed. We did get to walk on the beach and around the gardens. It was a little overcast and foggy, so it was too cold to get into the water, at least for us. We did see some Russian tourists in the water though. After the tour, we went back to the same restaurant for supper. I guess in response to Sophie’s hard morning, we had a private dining room.

On Sunday, we started the day with a cruise of Ha Long Bay. We arrived at the dock and saw cruise boats 3 deep at the pier. We boarded one and followed our tour guide as he crawled from the first boat to the second boat back. The girls were not excited about the climbing over the ship rails and hung on for dear life. Once we settled into our boat, the girls sat at the table with P. It took a good 15 minutes of pushing and maneuvering to get out of the pack of boats at the dock. It was like Hanoi traffic with fewer rules of the road. After we were under way the girls had a great time watching the hawks hunting for fish and the other boats. Our first stop was an island with a large cave. When we thought cave, we though cool temperature. Not this cave. The girls needed to be carried. They both wanted to be carried by P. He got his work out that day! By the time we finished the cave, he was exhausted and ready to sit on the boat with the girls. After the cave, we went to the floating houses of the fishermen in the Bay. They catch fish, squid, clams, shrimp, etc. and put them in live wells on their floating house boats. All you do is pick out what you want and they give it to you live. We did not buy anything special. For lunch on the boat, we had clams, shrimp, hard shell crab, fish (yes, the whole fish, head and all) rice and fruit for desert. The girls ate well, and snacked a lot as well.

After the cruise, it was back on the bus for the drive back to Hanoi. On the way back we again stopped at a workshop/store run to support people with handicaps. Sophie and Lily both were very tired and fell asleep in the van. We hoped they would sleep, but as soon as we stopped they were awake and Sophie was not happy. P ended up sitting with the girls while I shopped. He was helped by a number of store employees who came to play with the babies. Eventually, Sophie calmed down and drank some juice. After we were again under way, the girls finished their naps. We arrived at our hotel at about 4:00 p.m. It was an interesting weekend.