Thanh Hoa and Cuc Phong Nat'l Park.

Thanh has many relatives in this area and he considered it a necessary custom to a least visit briefly with his aunts and uncles when he comes back from Saigon. So he would take me to their homes, and we would stay for about 30 minutes. I think it is a nice custom and very respectfully tradition. He also brings them some fruit or food as a gift. They all seem to enjoy his visit, and his foreign guest. Ha!! One aunt, who has nine children, none of which live in the area now, lives in an old house near his parents. When we arrived, she was in the garden. To get to the garden, you have to use a concrete boat-yes, concrete. You use a long pole to push your way across the water . The garden is a small island. This is quite hard work for an older woman, but she smiles the whole time. Her husband lives in a another city with their son, but I am not sure why. One of her son's is in prison for drugs and so she is helping to raise her grandchild. I don't really see any obvious evidence of drugs, but Thanh says it has affected some members of his extended family and his classmates. A worldwide problem.

Another aunt lived close by, so we left to see her too. When we got close to the house, these dogs began yapping at us. Well, dogs are common in this area. They roam free but are generally quite laid back, and if they do bark, they do it at a distance. For this reason, I didn't pay to much attention to them as we came to the house. As they sounded more serious, and I looked down I could see one dog was definitely aggressive. I remember seeing his teeth, then the sudden pain. I knew he had nailed me, but luckily only once. We stopped. Everyone came out, and the dog retreated. My wound was a puncture wound, no blood, but it hurt. The aunt felt bad and so did Thanh. She found some salve and it did discolor, but I thought it would be ok. I was glad it was not a stray dog. At least they could test the dog if necessary for rabies. Not the most pleasant thought. After a few days, it healed up.

On anther day, we rode the motobike to Thanh Hoa. I wanted to visit a priest who I helped with English in Portland but now he has gone back to VN. I was about 130 KM from Thanh's house, so over 3 hours, but on the back roads. On the way, the rain was off and on, so sometimes we had to stop to put on our ponchos, or take them off. The countryside is gorgeous. You see the rice fields, the workers in their conical hats, toiling away by hand in the field. Some have the water buffalos, and animal who is made for this kind of work, because they stand calmly for hours, yet capable of pulling heavy loads. And there were some beautiful lotus flowers dotting the water areas. Some corn fields too, but mostly rice. Father Tu was very happy to see me. He said he had not used his Eng. in two years, so had forgotten a lot. His parish is next to the sea, so we walked on the beach for a while. Of course, somehow, the nearby children discovered that I was there, and before I knew it, their were about 50 young people following us on the beach. I tried to have a few words of converstion with them, but all they could do was parrot back what I said. It still amazes me how thrilled they are to see a "white" person. And I mean any white person. Father also took me to another fishing village, that typified the look and smell of a poor fishing community. The weather would not cooperate and so it rained the whole time, which limited our choices. Later, we went back to the parish, where I had a great dinner. The seafood-crab, squid, shrimp-plus the beef was a meal fit for a king. I stayed the night here in a nice guest room. Late at night, there were thousands of frogs littering the outside porch area. Harmless, but noisy.

Another day, we rode to Cuc Phong Nat'l park and stayed overnight in a bungaloo. This was a nice experience too. The park is really a tropical rain forrest. We hiked one trail to see a 1000 year old tree, high on the mountain. Along the way, the constant buzz in the trees was very loud. I am not sure what it was as I really didnt' see any animals, except for a few monkeys. There were lots of beautiful butterflies and insects. I saw one huge black spider-I mean HUGE!! And the web was unreal too. There are stories of tigers here but I think many they had died off. The bungaloo sleeping was more like a hostel, with a common bathroom. The mosquitos were fierce that night so I was thankful for my DEET and net. VN does have quite a few nat'l parks, so they are some people are trying to protect and preserve their habitat and other living things. I am glad for that.

This computer doesn't have a spell checker so I am sure their are some typos. Ha!! Don't be too critical. Until the I write again.......have a good day....