Posted by Amanda Our last SAS trip was to the Mekong Delta. I was bus leading for this one and parents were along for the ride as the parent trip through SAS has been with us for all of Vietnam. They hit Thailand before we arrived in Vietnam. There were three buses for 84 people. By the last day in port with an early morning trip, you can pretty much count on a number of people to bail out either because they are hung over, still drunk, or just want to get in mo...

Posted by Amanda We had a nice breakfast in the hotel. Finally I got the pho I had been wanting. I had read that a lot of people eat it for breakfast and so they do. The chicken was all white meat and good. If I'd had more time, I would have dressed it up a bit more. I also had some very thick coffee with sweetened condensed milk in it. I wish we could put sweetened condensed milk in more things. Our first stop on our Hanoi tour was the first university in Viet...

Posted by Amanda When you are sleeping in a long house with open windows and a bamboo slatted floor you hear everything. The dogs barking, the motorbikes screaching to avoid bicycles, and the general talking of the neighbors woke Noah and I. Plus, the hard floor wasn't great on my hips. We got ready and ate breakfast before everyone got up. Getting ready is pretty easy when there is no hot water and you sleep in your clothes. It basically means putting a clean s...

Posted by Amanda We are all squared away in our mosquito netted floor mats in the Ma Chau Village. We got up early of course because this is an SAS trip to catch a plane to Hanoi. We then got on a bus to Ma Chau. I guess our guide had different expectations regarding the time it takes to get to Ma Chau and our ability to stay awake after leaving the ship at 4:15am. The bus ride was not as long as projected at about 3-4 hours. We did stop at a little stand that h...

Posted by Amanda Both Noah and I were in funks this morning that were just feeding off of each other. Luckily, Ho Chi Minh City worked some magic to lift the mood. From the beginning, I've been thinking we're too SAS programmed for Vietnam. Since my mother decided not to come visit us here, we added a few things here then added a few things there. The next thing we know, we're totally booked up. Today was the city orientation. Well, first we had to give everyon...