Sleeping Bhudda

Of all of the likenesses of Buddha that we've seen in the past few years (which is too many according to Cody), this was one of the biggest. Reclining at the top of a mountain, this 161 foot sleeping Buddha was solid stone/concrete.

With a peaceful, smiling face, this Buddha lies on his right side with his head resting in the palm of his right hand. The reclining Buddha represents the historical Buddha at his death. It is said that the Buddha knew death was approaching, so he asked his disciples to prepare a couch for him in a grove.

The White Sands

For some mysterious geo-morphological reason, the sand in this beach community didn't have much of a relationship with the water. Note how the beach-front homes and the road are between the surf and the sand. We rented toboggans from some local kids and proceeded to ingest, inhale, and saturate ourselves in sand.

A Chinese jeep we rented. At first we wanted the roof to come off, but after a few minutes of +35 degrees at 80km an hour, we were thankful for the protection.

The weight of the sand forced fresh water up to the surface; this is not salt water.

Mui Ne, Vietnam

Mui Ne is a small fishing village in Vietnam. We stayed there for about a week. Great food, sunny and hot, and we swam in the ocean everyday.

Vietnam Fashion

Vietnam--Cu Chi Tunnels

We went on a tour of the Viet Cong stronghold in southern Vietnam. I thought I understood the Vietnam conflict, but it is/was quite complicated. Example: when you meet people, and you want to have more than a surface level conversation, you first have to establish (a) are they pro-American, or not (b) do they prefer to call the city Saigon or the (forced upon) name Ho Chi Minh City (after the 1970's "liberator"), (c) and, are they OK with the communist government, or not?

The guy that took us on a tour of this site was a diplomatic blend of all of the above (there were a lot of Americans in our group).
This little hatch on the jungle floor was/is an opening of a 220km network of tunnels that the Viet Cong used to hide in from the Americans and the Communists.

Kyla, showing more courage than me.

These passages led to multi-floor hospitals, bedrooms, ammo stores, kitchens, and living quarters.

Wikipedia asserts that "the role of the tunnel systems should not be underestimated in its importance to the Viet Cong in resisting American operations and protracting the war, eventually culminating in an American withdrawal."

I had a serious anxiety attack going in this tunnel, but Edna and the kids thought it was fun (the lights weren't on).

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

We are heading out in a day to Vietnam. Everyone is excited that school is done and we are going for another adventure. How lucky are we!! I just had a root canal, Dave got food poisoning and Kyla is getting a cold but we will be ready by Friday morning. Now they are predicting snow and the fog here has grounded a lot of planes but we hope and pray all goes well and we will celebrate Christmas and New Year's in Vietnam. Wishing you all a Great Christmas and a Happy New Year. Missing you all and looking forward to seeing everyone in the summer.

Happy Holidays, everyone

Greetings. We've been having trouble making posts lately, so here's a short one from Kyla. We'll be off the grid for the next few weeks, enjoying the sun and surf in Vietnam. Have a great holiday season, everyone; we'll "talk" again in 2010!

Here's a rendition of Jingle Bells corrupted by Kyla and her friends:

Dashing through the snow
On a pair of broken skis

Over the hills we go
Crashing into trees

The snow is turning red
I think I'm almost dead

I woke in the hospital
With stitches in my head

Ohhh...Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells...

(You'd expect that from Cody, but Kyla?)