Vietnam

After our breakfast, we set out on our first full day in Hamoi.   KOTO (Know One Teach One) Cooking School was started by an Australian who wanted to help kids living on the streets find something more than a park bench and selling post cards.   His solution was a cooking school that helps kids 16-22 find a skilled job with the restaurants and hotels in Vietnam as well as many of the surrounding countries including Australia.   The two year program provides housing and all their basic needs.   To pay for the school, part of the money comes from the KOTO Restaurant and Cooking School where tourists can some and learn to make native dishes which are then enjoyed afterwards in their dining room.   To start our class we broke into two groups to explore a nearby food market to see where they buy many of their ingredients.   Fruits, vegetables, rice, fresh meats such as pork, chicken, and beef are sold at stalls in the market along with a large selection o...

I won't bore you with our journey other than saying it takes awhile to get some place outside your comfort zone.  We flew from Dallas to Tokyo to Hanoi in about a day.  Fortunately, I can sleep almost anywhere and did.  The coronavirus was of enough concern that the flight attendants all wore masks and the passengers were a mixed bag of brave and cautious. Sunday morning were awoke to overcast sky and cooler temperatures.  Our hotel,  Hotel de L'Opera  is located near Ho Hoan Kiern Lake and also some very nice shopping.  After a long leisurely breakfast, a group of us decided to had to another lake and park a little further from the hotel.  It served as a good orientation walk and gave us a good overview of the city. The first thing we noticed was the large number of scooters (vespas and small motorcycles) filling the streets (and sidewalks and alleyways) that saw the traffic signals as suggestions sometimes followed and often times not....

Despite health scares in Asia (Corona virus in China), we're on our way to Vietnam.  I've wanted to visit there for a very long time because the country is supposed to be absolutely gorgeous.  We again going with  Liza Politi and Ari Espy  and our beloved photographer  Ira Block .  We're all packed and ready to head out, so follow along if this country has ever interested you. Tammie