To Vietnam and Back: I'm Back

So sorry for not writing sooner. Lots going on around here, just busy settling into our Hotel back in Hanoi and now its paperwork time, not so much fun!! I'll continue on from where I left off

December 1st, was our 1st free day to just enjoy the Pool and the Beach, we spent alot of time outside and just hung out. It was so nice not to have to rush but just to enjoy the day, we didnt really do alot. The resort really is like our own private getaway. I have yet to see anybody except for our 3 families. That night we all went out for a typical Vietnamese Dinner.
The next morning, Dec. 2nd, we had to wake up early again. I am looking forward to just 1 day when we can just sleep in and not rush to have to be somewhere. Today we are leaving back to Hanoi, our flight was at 10:50am and we needed to be at the airport an hour early, which meant we had to have one last walk on the beach, collect some sand to take home and a few more shells as memories of our time in Dong Hoi, it really is a beautiful place, have breakfast and pack up the last of our things. Alot to do with 2 children, especially when one is a little person you really dont know that well and she is still not sure of us. Not much to do and see in Dong Hoi, but what more can you want when you have a white sandy beach and a roaring ocean right outside your front door. I'm trying to enjoy every minute of it because I'm sure we wont be visiting another 5 star resort with a beautiful beachside anytime soon.
After our breakfast, we packed up the last few of our things and had our bags brought to the front for check-out and called a taxi. Shae-Lee, Cliff and Jayda spent the last few minutes feeding the fish in the pond out in the back while I spent the time rearranging our bags and making sure we had our passports a thousand times over . Ask everyone we are with exactly how paranoid I have become of losing those little books after the last fiasco.
Our Taxi arrived and the ride into the airport was uneventful, we drove through town and took a few pictures along the way. It was so hot in the taxi, but I'm not complaining because I knew that the warm weather we were enjoying was going to be pretty shortlived and that we would be arriving into rainy Hanoi with a temperture of 13. So not looking forward to that again, especially since I really didnt bring proper clothing and shoes to wear for any of us. Our flight was good, really good, Shae-Lee really wanted me to sit beside her on the plane which I gladly accepted, I was kind of concerned about the flight since Jayda has been crying hard whenever we got into a taxi so I wasnt quite sure how she would take the plane ride and I thought Cliff could hang out with Jayda on the plane if that was going to be the case LOL. We got in and found our seats, she started to cry, our plane is small, so I told the young couple in front of us that were also travelling, that they may have a crying child sitting behind them for the entire flight and if necessary I would buy them a bottle of wine, LOL, but thank goodness, it wasnt necessary as Jayda quickly calmed down and slept the entire flight!!! Yay for all of us!!!
Our flight was 1.5 hours long, we collected our bags in Hanoi and quickly picked up some Hot Dogs for the taxi ride home. Actually I had planned to only get 1 hot dog for Shae-Lee but I mistakenly put Hot Sauce (It was in a Ketchup Bottle) on her Hot dog so I had to get her another.
We got in our Taxi, the driver was facing the wrong direction of the area that we had to drive so typical Vietnamese driving, he drove down a street (actually it was the beginning of a bridge or highway) going against fast oncoming traffic so he could find a side street to turn around. He now realized he didnt know where our Hotel was so he jumped out to ask the other drivers and was able to find someone that knew where we needed to go so we had to all pile out of our Taxi, move all our bags into the other drivers car so he could take us to our Hotel. Our ride home was pretty good, still no crying from Jayda getting into the Taxi, which was awesome, I was starting to worry this would be an ongoing issue, but it seems she is over whatever was troubling her. Mary and her little girl Loc (her and Jayda were best friends where they lived) were sitting in the front seat. Loc is such a sweet and easy going girl, considering our little girls have only known us for 2 days, they have adjusted fairly well. Finally the 30 minute drive to our Hotel was over, we made it safely, with only one little hiccup, poor Loc wasnt feeling very good and threw up all over her mom in the front seat, but it was pretty contained all over her and didnt get on the Taxi seats which I'm sure the driver was pretty happy about. The driver was so sweet and helpful, they really do love children here and everyone is always so helpful.
The rest of the day was spent just taking it easy, Jayda slept some more, Shae-Lee and I went out for a walk to look at some shops (the walks and shopping are not peaceful here, we spend the entire time dodging cars, scooters and bikes, I am not kidding, it is a absolute mad house on the narrow little streets, everyone honking there horns, Pedestrians just get in the way and we defintely do not have the right of way, there is no right of way here, its every, person, car, bike and scooter fending for themselves when your on the streets.
After we got back, we met up with Loc and Mary and found the most amazing restaurant called the Gecko. I can tell you now, I will probably be there every night for dinner. Food I recognize, that we would find at , home, and the the meals are not made Vietnamese style. Dont get me wrong, I think the food can be wonderful here, but they often do there own spin on Canadian food which isnt always appealing, and considering they really dont follow Food safe guidelines, I'm not always comfortable eating what is offered. After dinner, instead of walking we decided to take a Rickshaw home, we had a blast. Shae-Lee loved it and I was glad to finally see a smile on her face. Finding a meal she enjoyed, and riding a Rickshaw was probably a huge highlight of her trip (of course besides getting her sister and enjoying the beach), it hasnt been the easiest for her over her, but she was finally a happy little girl. She loves her sister, but she has told me that her sister really is "alot of Trouble" and more work than she expected" LOL. The next day was spent doing very little. I had a 9:00 am appt to apply for a Vietnamese Passport for Jayda so the two of us went while Cliff and Shae-Lee wandered around the streets waiting for me to return. The rest of the day was a pretty quiet day. Jayda had her nap while Cliff stayed behind , while Shae-Lee and I took a short trip to the Zoo. Normally the Zoo has alot of childrens activities, but it was very quiet as it was a school day and the weather wasnt great so we just wandered around and looked at the animals, lots of big birds, elephant, lots of monkeys, and a few others animals. I'm sure PETA would have alot to say about the state of this Zoo, but this is Vietnam and there standards of what is acceptable is obviously very different. The rest of the day past way too quickly, Shae-Lee and Cliff were leaving tonight and I was so sad to see them go. We went for a quick dinner and than they had to leave around 9:00 pm for the airport. Of course it was a tearful good-bye, but it was the best decision to have her go back home.
Bye for now, I will write more later, I think we will just head out for a bit and do a little bit of wandering to see what else we can discover, were also going to meet up with Mary and Loc and head downtown to a Grocery store and I am also going to see if I can find a phonecard. We havent been able to make any phonecalls out and it would be nice to have the option