the perils of travel

Stuart noticed them first and thought they were roasted pigs, but on closer (not too close) inspection he realized they were the infamous dogs. You know, the ones that the Vietnamese eat and that everyone warns you about before coming here. The market had several booths selling them, often chopped in half through the belly with the guts removed. There were plenty of animals in other states of dismemberment and it was test of strength for us all to walk through there without making faces or even many comments from the kids.


We also had our first horrific taxi ride and I have learned the importance of keeping a city map with you at all times. We'd taken the taxi to Trang's home for dinner, but the kids were (quite literally) falling asleep at the table and we needed to go back to the hotel. The taxi was called, but it took forever for them to arrive, so another taxi was called. Finally, one arrived and I climbed in with Audrey sleeping on my lap and Stuart beside me. The ride went well and I began to recognize the area as we passed the theater, then St. Joseph's Cathedral and we were within blocks of the hotel, but then he turned left and I thought perhaps he was going around the block or something, but I was soon to be proven wrong. Instead he kept driving and I had to stop him and tell him, via gestures, that the target location was behind us. The roads are not square blocks here, so changing direction isn't very easy and he got himself all turned around. He kept referring back to the business card (with a small map of the hotel area) that I'd handed him after the initial wrong turn, but he didn't seem to have any idea where he really was. I dug out my little map and searched the map for the streets we kept turning on and finally I found the road (Hang Ba) and told him to head straight. Problem was, we were now heading straight in the wrong direction. So, again, we try to turn around, but it's not so easy. Finally, I find us on the map again and start giving driving directions to the hotel. Luckily he followed my pointing finger until we reach Hang Manh and being a one-way, he couldn't turn down the street. Instead he turned around and drove backward up the street. Yeah, in reverse. What should have been a 20-minute ride had turned into an hour.

After a long day and climbing those 89 steps up, yet again, we fell into bed and I actually slept for a miraculous eight hours. -insert angelic choir here- A good beginning for a Happy New Year!