Day 4....

After 3 days in Ho Chi Minh, we were on our way to Hoi An, an ancient town outside of Da Nang. Suzanne from Allambie met us at the breakfast buffet at our hotel to say goodbye and we departed saying "see you later..." and not goodbye. I think both of us, especially Kim, have this desire to come back in the near further to spend more time with the children of Allambie and be more involved in the orphanages.

We packed our bags and got into a taxi to take us to the airport. First question... the international airport, the taxi driver asked? Kim and I assumed but really had no clue. This taxi driver was probably the first time we had a serious language and communication barrier. So we were frustrated to say the least. It was about a 30 minute drive to the airport. Traffic was horrendous. Kim and I just were in awe of how many people were in the streets... where were they going? What were they doing? People don't work jobs like we do in america and other first world countries so it's always so busy during the day. Just fascinating. 

The taxi driver dropped us off in front of the airport, demanding 1,000,000 dong. The meter read 134,000... so either he had a language barrier or we got played. I didn't have enough money. This was the first moment kim and I panicked. I had to go to the ATM and I told her to get out of the car with the bags so he couldn't drive off. We clearly were paying way too much for the taxi ($50) but it didn't matter at this point. People here expect payment up front. Everything costs money. Kim and I have even ridden a water buffalo on the beach and when we were done the man kindly said, "money?"  To go to the doctor/hospital, you have to pay up front to receive service. How scary in a medical emergency for these people to need to pay, as poor as they are, in order to get help...

So... we paid and we're safely at the airport... 

The day was full of travel. We got to the Ho Chi Minh airport and went to the domestic airline terminal. It was cool bc this was our equivalent to flying to Baltimore fro CT. Many, many more tourists or "white people" around. We deducted that Hoi An was that much more of a tourist destination based on the families we saw. Many Australians, British, and very little Americans. Our flight was slightly delayed but we found others on our flight and stuck together so we all knew what we were doing. One thing culturally we noticed is the pushing and shoving. Kim is getting extra frustrated. No lines, and if there are, the Korean people (lots of tourists) just push in front. It too, is interesting to watch. Makes you wonder why and how this can be acceptable. But how important to understand about other cultures and why they behave the way that they do. 

Kim and I got on the plane after riding a bus through the tarmac and getting on from there. Kind of fun to do so! We waited another hour before take off and we were on our way... ir was only about a 1 hour flight to Da Nang... when we arrived, it was flawless. Grabbed our baggage, found our driver from the resort we would stay at next and we were on our way to Hoi An, a little fishing town right outside of Da Nang. 

The drive was incredible... we drove along the beach to our left and villagers to our right. The poverty here is still so rampant. When I looked out my window to the left, we passed tens of resorts, some private and some with some bigger name hotel names like Sheridan and Crowne... on the other side of the street, were the real, authentic people of Da Nang and Hoi An (the resorts spanned the entire 30 min drive). People were cooking and cleaning dishes on the ground, many local, small restaurants, homes with 1 room (no doors so you could see in)... garbage everywhere. But a happy people. I'll say it again, they live simply and family values are so strong here. They don't know what they don't have and they truly want to see others happy which is probably why the industry here is so reliant on gifts/souvenirs and food. Everyone eats. All the time. It costs about $1 (20,000 dong) to feed one person all day... 

Kim and I arrived at hotel and were awe. The next few hours, before bedtime, were spent walking around, admiring the unbeleivable view of the islands, and getting our excursion situated for the next day. We were happy to be in a place where we wouldn't have to move for 5 days so we could focus on our observations of the culture and soak in the beautiful sun. 

Thank you for following us :) Pics will come later when I add them. It has been troublesome trying to do this on our wifi from the hotel. But we hope you can imagine what we are experiencing here!