14. THE FINAL CHAPTER

SAIGON SEEMS LIKE A DREAM TO US NOW; One month ago we landed in Saigon or Ho Chi Minh City, whatever you want to call it. We have had so many adventures, travelled so many kilos (as some locals say) on so many modes of transport, met so many people, friends old and new, and strangers to, found so many bargains and been ripped off so many times, written so many blogs, slept in so many 1, 2 and 3 star hotel beds, had so many 3 piece suits made, eaten so many delicious meals, been soaked in so much rain, crossed so many motorbike infested roads, walked in so much mud, been accosted by so many "you buy one from me" vendors, carried so much on our backs, taken so many photographs, had so many interesting conversations, discarded so many empty plastic water bottles, been given so many irrelevant answers and dodgy directions, and had such a good time.

Saigon seems like a dream to us now, it literally feels as though we have been traveling for many months. How did Marco Polo do it??? Anyway, we are back in old Ho Chi Min. Our last night. We are ready to come home. Just one last chance to catch up with some old friends from our congregation 15 years ago. They have moved to serve where the need is great indeed.

Such a nice opportunity to be with Ho, Shirley, and Tuyet. Hi to Amy who could not make it to lunch.

The last Vietnamese lunch.  Superb!

 

WHY DID I CARRY THE BIBLE TEACH BOOK ALL OVER SOUTHEAST ASIA?; On our flight from Vietnam to Malaysia we had such an interesting conversation with a lady from China. Looking forward to keeping in touch over the net... "Ah... That's why I carried that little book all that way..."

THE MALAYSIA STOPOVER... OR, THE FULL BOX OF BUDGIES... OR, NO TRIP TO ASIA IS COMPLETE WITHOUT SEEING OUR OLD FRIENDS, THE TAYLOR'S; At Kuala Lumpur airport we get a 3 month visa stamp for a 4.5 hour stopover. We meet up with Garry and Cathryn at Starbucks, they have driven 40 minutes from Seranban just to see little old us. So nice to catch up and share experiences. They are having a "tickety-boo" time in the ministry, not to mention life in general... Just a little plug for "moving to serve where the need is great", Malaysia, truly asia.


Our final flight is scheduled for 11:40pm (that's pm, not am). So after a conversation, a drink and a snack, we go to the checking counter. "Your flight has been canceled, it is rescheduled to 5:20 am." "WHAT, why?". "Operational requirements". "Where will we sleep?"... "You can sleep in the departure lounge". No plush hotel stay with budget Air Asia. I guess you get what you pay for. But, the "lounge", a chilly, noisy place with chairs too uncomfortable to even to sit on, let alone sleep on. Not to mention the 200+ other disgruntled passengers who, we learned the next morning, almost started a riot. But we were spared that fate, Garry and Cathryn just made us come back to their home. Thank you so much for the hospitality and getting us back to the airport at 4am... You should have seen the leery lot who had to slum it in the "lounge" when we waltzed in feeling pretty good in the morning under the circumstances.

The Coffee break that turned into an overnight stay

Our hosts with the most, Cathryn and Garry in their natural environment 

Our comfortable bed, at least for 3 hours, didn't we sleep here in 2009?

Boarding 

OUR VERY OWN FIVE STAR HOTEL; We have had a wounderful time scooting about Vietnam and Cambodia. We have accomplished everything Alexandra squeezed into our itinerary and so much more. THANK YOU ALEXANDRA FOR YOUR EXCELLENT PREPARATION AND ORGANIZING. YOUR AUSTRIAN-NESS IS MUCH APPRECIATED. WHERE WOULD I BE WITHOUT YOU? LOVE YOU. One thing we always relearn when we travel, we are so spoiled to live at Bethel. Sooooo good to be home.

Room 438

Thanx for following us. Sorry for prattling on.

Love-you-bye

Lloydnalex