Home - via Hue, Bangkok and Tokyo

How nice to be home after the last few days being so full. Friday morning Duc, one of the Vietnamese staffers, took us to the amazing market in Dong Ha.  It was great to have a local along to explain everything and also get the discount they're given.  Such a busy place!  While I enjoyed all the faces and exotic things for sale, it was quite difficult to see animals in cages, fish still squirming, and all kinds of fowl squawking and flapping their wings.  Also a bit uncomfortable to be grabbed and have people yelling , "You! You!" at you to buy their goods or give them money.

Then off to Hue, a lovely town (that has an airport) on the Perfume River.  Still a French influence, and easy to see that in its day it was quite the place.  We visited the citadel, the royal compound that we bombed.

We had an early flight Saturday to Hanoi, so we could get back to Bangkok.  After being cold and damp in Vietnam, it was nice to be in Bangkok and feel that 90 degree heat again.  We managed to figure out how to take the new local train to downtown, transfer (twice!) to the Skytrain and find our destination, the Jim Thompson House.  Rumor has it he was a CIA agent and one of the first Americans to be a big silk importer, and he mysteriously disappeared in the 60s.  Only trouble was, we ended up going to one of the stores, not the lovely house that is open for tours.  But we laughed and agreed that it's the journey.... and we saw a bit of Bangkok and got out of the hotel for a while.

Our long trip home had a layover in Tokyo, and fortunately we made it through without any delays. Our hearts go out to the Japanese in this very very difficult, tragic time.

So thanks for coming along with me - I've got a photo album posted on my Facebook page and will get a slideshow up soon, let me know if you want the link.

Take care!