A Holiday to some… and not to others

Uncle Ho

Trying to get around today is a bit of a problem. The main drive by the ocean and the road one block off are totally blocked by police barricades. It is a holiday today. Not the sort that I would celebrate……. Not many here, but to the younger people less than 40 years, it is a normal holiday and part of life. Today is the day that the north took control of Nha Trang. To the powers that be, it is a very important holiday. There are flags with the star and cycle on every light post and every building including ours. I do not think we had much choice in the matter. It is April 2. On April 1st . I had discovered the closed roads were filled with marching soldiers, kids really, all armed with AK-47’s and what looked like m-16’s. I also noticed something a bit odd, all of the darker skinned people were wearing the darkest uniforms, and the

Marching

 lighter skinned ones were wearing blue. I have no idea if there is any significance to it, just something I noticed is all. There were floats being built everywhere, most of them depicting Ho Chi Minh and the star and cycle. You will forgive me If I did not get a lot of photo’s to share with you. I did however, get some of the youngsters parading around the streets. Oh yea……  and a shot of their transport. Remember I wrote about an old bus that I took to Dalat back in the 90’s? Well they are alive and well serving the military. Today there is the big parade to be followed by fireworks over the

More marching

ocean at 10 pm. I do not know if I will make it that late, also, the traffic after will be a nightmare, so I doubt that I will get photo’s to share. 

I now understand the significance of the name of Nha Trang’s main thoroughfare. 2/4 street…. It is named after this day. Lich has the day off today. As a student he is required to march in the parade with his classmates. It is all a part of the why the learning process works here. I have talked with some of the younger people here about politics and the way things are. I try not to debate them much as they are aware of the world more than their parents, but still toe the line when it comes to what opinions should be expressed openly. But for the most part, they ignore the system as many of us do, and try to get on with daily life. If somebody wants to offer a day off

Still marching

 work or school for any holiday, the people will take it.

I wrote last week that somebody went to a lot of trouble to steal a bicycle from the hotel Well…… now I have a real tempter for them. Today I went out and purchased 2 bicycles, one for me and one for the hotel as a rental and for the employees to use. I decided not to wait and get it now, as I have decided it is time to get back into shape and lose a few of those pounds that I gained since coming here. That means no more beer (ouch). I am faced with a real problem though. There are no diet drinks except Coke and Pepsi. Unfortunately, I am not a big fan or either of these. So what is left… water of course, the iced coffee is excellent, but sweetened with high calorie cream. Iced tea or (tra da) is probably my only option. I will however, search for something. I may need to make a trip back to Saigon just to find some kind of

All armed to the teeth

diet drink I like, and I really do not want to go to Saigon. Hey!! How about mailing me some of those one use crystal lite packets that I can add to a bottle of water….. Hmmmm? Anyway…. That means I am going to piss off some people around me by not eating certain things. I will from time to time, break my diet if I am entertaining guests, so if you are planning to visit…. Fear not… I will join you for a cool one. 

I see that Drifter has arrived in Vietnam by a post he did on Trip Advisor. Most of you will recognize the name from the contributions he has made in the comment section. I expect he will drop by for a visit sometime this month. I will be looking forward to it and maybe I will be able to talk him into writing to all of you. He has his own blog at www.vnfrom.blogspot.com

Come and steal me!!

I have been getting enquiries as to what I am, what I do, and where I have been in Vietnam. The purpose of this blog was not to get too personal, however, I think it is time I spoken a bit about it so you know where the author of these posts is coming from. That will come tomorrow….

No!! Steal me, I am prettier

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One thought on “A Holiday to some… and not to others

  1. You commented on how Christmas was celebrated there and also the western New Year. Could you comment on how Holy Week- Good Friday Easter Sunday, etc..- is recognized there.

    On the lighter side. Just drink plain old water(maybe bottled).
    Waiting on baited breath to hear about
    THE author of this blog.
    P.S. Hopeing for the best for the bikes.

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