vietnam

We didn’t get a chance to go in the citadel. Jesse was the only one who was psyched about it and it was a scorcher that day. Right before we were going to get tickets to enter, Lennon got stung or bit by something on his ankle- so that was the end of the line for us. He was crying uncontrollably. As soon as we told him that we would not be going into the citadel- he made a miraculously quick recovery!

This was so fun. There was just enough algae on the rocks- it helped to keep you moving. Once you slid into the large pool of water, the current from the waterfall was pretty strong so you had to swim hard to get to the side. The area was called Elephant something. I thought there would be elephants hanging out in the water, but there was just a big rock that someone stuck an elephant trunk on. That was good enough for us!

This was so fun!!!!! We did it over and over and over again!!!

We got to see how conical hats are made. They are put around a ‘skeleton’ (wire frame) of a conical hat. The dried leaves are ironed using a hot stone and steam from a clay pot. The leaves are then wrapped around and around the wire framing. Voila- you have a hat! These remind me of images from Vietnam that I saw when I was younger of people working in the rice paddies. The real life images are the same today.