Sapa, Hue, Hoi An, Saigon and More!

  Hue, Vietnam
Saturday, July 29, 2006

It's been awhile but in between finals and all of our excursions we really haven't had much time. I have some exciting news to share however, I have been accepted to go to Brazil in October through Washington Council of International Trade with Washington senators, Seattle city council members, and local business people. I've been waiting to hear from them this entire trip and it was a blessing to hear from them the last night of my academic program when I was working on my last undergraduate final. I'm very very thankful.


Group picture at the last dinner of the wonderful people that I've been spending the past six weeks with. I already missed them and I feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to be in their company. Some of the best people I've ever met.

We've parted ways with the group from the University of Washington, Stephanie and I were the only ones left and we took that opportunity to go to the Perfume Pagoda.


This town has changed because of tourism but it still charmed me.


Could there be any more hats?


The boat ride to Perfume Pagoda was about 60 minutes but it was so beautiful. We were surrounded by water, mountains, lotus gardens, graves, fishermen, shrimpers, gardeners, banana trees, forests. It was absolutely breathtaking.






Rowing is extremely hard work. After the ride back our rower was absolutely exhausted.


These little girls really remind me of when I was little. I really had this haircut when I was eight!






This is the lady that escorted us down the river to the Perfume Pagoda from the town. She makes about a dollar a day, with tip about three dollars a day. She supports three children. This was her first time rowing in a few months. When not rowing she makes about $1.30/day gathering wood from the mountains or working in the rice fields.

The academic portion of my trip has ended, Stephanie's mom came from Germany so I moved to a hotel down the streets and and met up with a few friends from the states.

Mimi, Me, My and Tennille to backpack down to the south!

I will post more later this week. For now we are going to a jazz club in Ha Noi!