In Da Nang

In Da Nang

We're in Mrs. Turtle's homeland. We visited her mother's old house, and there were two women there who remembered Mrs. Turtle's mom and aunt and uncle. We didn't know exactly where it was, but the women pointed out exactly which unit it was. In the intervening years they've added a second floor and divided the house into two units, but I gather that it hasn't changed hands more than a couple of times. There was a well outside, although I'm not sure why. When we arrived the church was holding Saturday evening mass outside because it is too hot to have the service inside.

I've been told that I have a Da Nang accent in Vietnamese, and I have noticed that people here in Da Nang are much easier to understand than other people in Vietnam.

We're popping Pepto pills constantly, and have been mostly free of upset stomachs. We've had some pretty interesting food, especially in Cambodia. Mrs. turtle was too scared, but I tried:

• A grasshopper - Very good, probably because of the sauce. You have to take off the head, wings, and arms first, and bite it off of the back legs, which you also don't eat.
  
• A silkworm - Not great, but not bad. The inside looked and felt like cheese.
  
• Some sort of beetle - You chew these up, then swallow the juice and spit out the rest. This was gross, so I only chewed it once and spit everything out. The head and wings were removed first.
  

Angkor Wat was awesome. There are tons of really cool temples in the surrounding region, which are also really cool. The last thing we saw in Cambodia was a floating village. When the water level changes with the monsoon they move the village so they're always in about 4 feet of water.

Next we're joining a tour of central Vietnam and Ha Long Bay. Should be fun.