Pics from around town.

Sarah is pointing out how to get from work (top finger) to our house (bottom finger).  The trip takes about twelve minutes by motorbike.

The Round Restaurant turned into a Round Hotel.

Still, nobody ever stays there, so we think it's vaguely governmental.

The Vietnamese Bicycle Waltz.

In this case, there is a REASON for grandma to be sitting on the back luggage rack.  Two kids wedged onto the seat.

Vietnamese often ride on the back for no reason at all.

Sunday afternoons we still often end up at Tommy's Bar.  We are bona-fide Regulars.

Out in front of Tommy's a traveling saleswoman tries to get the attention of tourists.

This is a table with four assemblies of cafe sua da (coffee milk ice).  The silver thing holds coffee grounds, the white stuff in the glass is incredibly sweetened condensed milk.

The ice glasses are where you pour the coffee/milk once it's brewed and mixed.  The smaller yellowish glasses are full of tra da (iced tea), which comes complimentary and obligatory.

You order four coffees, You end up with twelve glasses.

At the left edge of this picture you can see the street sign that reads BA CU street.

It so happens that ba cu means "three penises."  Yep.  Sarah has a Vietnamese coworker who lives here, but she refuses to say her address out loud.

The Hammer & Sickle are still prevalent on government signs.  In this case, it marks the entrance to a neighborhood.

Vietnamese construction typically uses these wooden poles to hold up the plywood concrete forms.  So long as the sticks are all uniform in length, it works.  Almost evey building is built of brick walls covered in a thin layer of cement. 

A xe om guy taking his relax.  Xe om means "motorbike taxi."

Above him, the street sign means Alley #180 on Ba Cu street.

In the middle of town, the Catholic church.

The big nativity billboard is only up for Christmas time.

Good Morning Vietnam is a chain of Italian restaurants.  I think there are five of them in the country.  The food is pretty good, but we have a much better Italian option in town -- Pizza David.

The statue of Tran Quoc Tran is one of the easiest landmarks to find in town.  I have no idea what significance Tran Quoc Tran plays in Vietnamese history. But judging by the size and style of the statue, I would guess that he majorly kicked the Chinese Aggressor's ass, some time in the last 900 years.