WC079 – 3/11/2023 – Good bye Vietnam

The city beyond the uncompleted bridge (financing lost during covid) is lost in the grey smog..

Noon Report:

  • Yep

This was our last morning in port so there was no programming.
We really had nothing to do aside from blogging so we slept late, exercised, breakfasted (We celebrated with waffles at Mamsen’s.) and at 12:30 I’m still here in the Explorer’s Lounge while Cheryl has retreated to the pool deck to read in the warmth there.

I’ve just finished the Day 77 and 78 offerings (Now it’s ready for Cheryl to proof and add to them.) and feeling a bit peckish, I think I’ll go see if my wife wants to think about lunch.

After lunch we retreated to our stateroom to continue our blogging (Cheryl) and studying for an upcoming Zoom meeting (Randy) until the 4:30 Port Talk on Koh Samui, Thailand.

The 6:30 lecture was Thailand, Uniquely Thai (since one of the islands off Thailand is our next port) We’ll report on Thailand later.

Following dinner and a rousing round of Brain Busters (6/18) there was another great Russell Lee lecture. This one on ABBA included a musical analysis of their most famous world-wide hit “Fernando”, explaining why it is such an earworm.

The lecture was followed by dancing on the pool deck to the ABBA catalog.

We retreated to the stateroom to finish up outstanding BLOGS and rest up for another exciting and busy sea day.

So that’s that. Another country successfully visited, another culture far richer and a history much more complex than we could have imagined. You begin to understand why travel is so vitally important.

So is sleep. So I guess we will.
Nite all, R

Cheryl’s Factoids:

  • Since Vietnam is such a long country, it runs the gamut of climates – from cold and snowy in the North to tropical in the South. Vietnam’s economy was not doing well until the Fall of the Soviet Union when the Vietnamese decided the Soviet model of economic theory didn’t work and switched over to a “market” economy and welcomed in foreign investors. They now have a booming economy (and is third highest country for trash and pollution – China is first). I was astonished at all the skyscrapers, neon lights, and bustle of the city.

1 Comment

  1. That’s the first principle. Exciting and terrifying in implications. The more you learn about a culture the more interesting it becomes.

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