Sunday December 28 - From Saigon to Tra Vinh

Map of Tra Vinh Province. We are staying in Tra Vinh Town.

Dinner our first night in Tra Vinh. We don't have to think - someone orders for us - everything family style. It is so nice to be taken care of!

Out on the street before dinner.

Looking down to the atrium area of our hotel.

Warren in our room.

TH getting us checked in. The hotel takes our passports. We get our keys. TH makes sure we all have rooms and schedules our wake up calls. It is very easy for the team. I don't know how TH does it though!

Teresa, Dallas Thuy, Huong, our driver, Thuy Chicago, Tam (with GCSF) in the hotel lobby waiting to get checked in.

Our home for the next 3 days.

On our way again.

Thinking about running through the rain to the bathroom.

What a down pour!

Cutting the sticky rice ball into pieces.

One of our drivers. They are all really a part of the team. Very helpful and friendly.

Everyone taking pictures of the fish.

Thuy and our fish.

The restaurant is on the river so we can watch the boats - lots of traffic.

Sticky rice balls - fried in very hot oil. They are sort of sweet to taste. The balls get cut into pieces with a pair of scissors. We stopped for lunch at this outdoor restaurant. Then it rained! Really rained! At least we won't get cold - it is really hot here.

The helmet law is new in Vietnam - fall of 2008. Helmets are required for adults on motorcycles. Not for children. Not for regular bikes. I can't tell that it is enforced at all. Many people wear masks to avoid breathing the polluted air and dust.

You can buy just about anything from street or bike vendors.

People carry everything on their motor bike or regular bike. Amazing feats of balance!

Rad (from Global Community Service Foundation) amazed that we are actually leaving at 1100 as planned.

Volunteers. What a nice group of people. From many different places. We have people from Australia, Washington State, Texas, Minnesota, California, Washington DC, Vietnam and, of course, Chicago. For some this is their first Humanitarian trip. Other volunteers have done this before, either with another group or with Journey for Children. We have dentists, dental assistants, dental hygienists, teachers, engineers, nurses, computer consultants, medical students - and more. And everyone is here for one reason: To help the people of Vietnam. Many of the Vietnamese volunteers were born in Vietnam but are now US citizens. The ones from Australia are Vietnamese by heritage but were born and raised in Australia - so have an Australian accent. But they also speak Vietnamese.

On the bus with some of our stuff, ready for the 11:00 AM departure.

Loading supplies on the bus.

Getting ready to travel to Tra Vinh for work. It is about a 5 hour drive from Saigon to Tra Vinh.

Colleen and Thuy Dallas (there are two Thuys - so Thuy Dallas and Thuy Chicago.

Fruit.

Meat in the market - liver, heart on the right and tongue at the top of the picture.

Fresh fish in the market.

One of the entrances to the market .

Since 2003, Vietnam has replaced its cotton banknotes with plastic polymer banknotes.

The đồng is the currency of Vietnam since May 3, 1978. The current exchange rate is 17,000 d to one US dollar. That means that I need a calculator to figure out how much things really cost!

A street vendor.

So we decided to walk around for an hour and headed directly for the mall. Crossing the street, however, is a challenge.

TH standing at the entrance to the Lavender Hotel

There is a big indoor market that takes up a whole block. I was able to shop!

Colleen, Jeff and Warren at breakfast.

The balcony of the hotel restaurant.

Views from the hotel 8th floor.

Sunday December 28 we met for breakfast in a lovely room on the 8th floor of the Lavender Hotel. The food was quite good and included fried eggs, salted duck eggs, rice porridge, stir fried rice, teriyaki chicken, cheese, yoghurt, juice, milk and coffee. There is also a nice view of Ho Chi Minh City from the restaurant. A quick trip to the market and then off on the bus to Tra Vinh. Crossing the street is interesting and I can't imagine ever driving here. There do not seem to be many rules. Or if there are rules about driving, people don't follow them. Lots of horn honking - but not in anger - sort of to say 'watch out, here I come'. Sort of like we call our 'on your left' when biking or running.

Our hotel in Tra Vinh town is the Thanh Tra Hotel at 1 Pham Thai road, Tra Vinh town, Tra Vinh province, Vietnam. The cost in USD for a double room is $25/night. That includes breakfast.