The birthpacle of Ho Chi Minh

   During our trip north some of the hotels were more memorable than others.  At Dong Hoi we had a great room with a comfortable bed and a bar in the lobby.  At Vinh Bernie and I had to talk about it for a while before we could remember it clearly.  The hotel there was very good at "eye wash" (make it look good)  the room was not worth writing home about and the bed took a half a pint of whiskey to make it bearable....other than that it was great.
   After our stay at Vinh we traveled to the village where Ho Chi Minh was born.  Everything is lovingly taken care of by the villagers there.  I got one of the green helmets men like to wear in the north and Bernie bought a wide brimmed hat.

   The loom that Ho's mother made hammocks on is there as well as the house and other buildings.  As a young boy Ho accompanied his father to Hue.  His father had to take the test to be a mandarin in the Nguyen administration.

   I left out the part about the Phong Nha cave and the 583 steps to get to the entrance.  The part they didn't tell us was if we choose to explore the cave we had to walk 583 steps down into it and repeat the up and down stuff to get back to the van.  Glad I have been keeping up with my walking.  Oh by the way there is a restaurant at the end of the paradox in paradise.  Not to be confused with the Restaurant at the End of the Universe.

   This was just before our climb up and down and in and out of Phong Nha cave.  When I saw the sign I could not resist.

                                                                     Getting ready.

                                                                        Workin' it.

                                                                        Rest stop.

                                    We had to get a shot of us down in the cave to prove we did it.

                                                We thought this looked like a turkey vulture.

                                          We decided this must be the home of the cave gnomes.

      ...and now it's Miller time....well Export 333, which is not bad, and is available at Beers of the World in   Rochester NY.

                                                                    Back down the hill.

                                                                     Ahhhh our ride.

   On my next entry I will include pictures of our stop at Ha Long bay.  I did not see you there.  It is just as well, it was a cloudy rainy day.  Ha Long bay is beautiful regardless of the weather.  Well you know what they say......next vacation visit beautiful Viet Nam.
Chao tam biet
Jim