January 27, 2015.  I ate lunch yesterday at a hole in the wall place that didn't even have a sign.  The guide took us there for the baguette sandwiches.  The sandwich was great but the big thing was that Anthony Bourdain had eaten there.  His picture was on the wall.

A young woman was waiting for her food there and she was wearing the mask that everyone wears here for the motorbike fumes and air pollution but hers was light blue with Minnie Mouse embroidered on one side.  I tried to get a picture.  I hope it turns out.

After happy hour around the pool, five of us went to dinner at The Morning Glory restaurant.  Phil Arnold recommended the crispy pork with red rice risotto and it was the best food I've had on the trip.  Other than the baguette.

Stella was off to the cooking class this morning so I went back to old town to do a little shopping.  And we discovered that the toilet in our room wasn't working today.  Vietnam is like Europe in that you are not supposed to flush paper ever.  All hotel rooms have a covered wastebasket for your used paper.  Except this hotel.  Which we took as a sign that it could be flushed here.  Apparently we were wrong.  I told them at the front desk and they weren't the least bit surprised.  A "tech" was going to fix it and it was when I came back from shopping.

I got what I think was a great deal on jade bracelets today.  Beverly wanted one so I've been looking at them.  Near Hanoi, they wanted $1000 US.  That wasn't happening.  I found almost identical ones for $40 US.  I bought 3 because I'm not sure if we have the same size wrists since they are bangles.  Now she has a choice.   😊  They have red jade here.  I've never seen that before.  It's pretty but in my mind jade is supposed to be green.

Nice to have a free day to relax from the hectic schedule we've had.

Tomorrow, we fly from DaNang to Saigon.  All the local people still call it that although it was changed to Ho Chi Minh City.  The first Harley Davidson dealer in Vietnam is there.  It looks like it's way away from where we'll be staying.  Otherwise, I was going to look for shirts there.  We've seen some pickups here, but not many.   Most are Ford Rangers with 4 doors and a locking cover on the bed.  A Honda or two and a Toyota, but Ford is predominant.  I think they build them here.  Honda has a large presence here with motorbikes.  Motorbikes are affordable at $1000-$1500 each, but it has to be cash.

In Saigon, we are going to an hour performance of something that kind of sounds like cirque de soleil.  And we will be going to the Mekong Delta for a night at a "home stay" which seems to be like a bed and breakfast.  I think the delta is going to be fascinating.  We will do a boat ride and see the floating market.