Heading back to the USA

December 30

The long road home.  26 hours from Hanoi to Hiram.  Our first flight left Hanoi at 11 pm on December 30, bound for Seoul, South Korea.

My last celebratory Fanta in Hanoi:

 We arrived in the early morning in Seoul, having not slept very much on the plane.  With a long layover in Seoul, 5 of the 6 of us could take some time and grab some sleep:

The Delta flight that traveled 13 hours to Detroit:

Back in the USA -- Detroit aiport:

Clearing customs with twelve checked bags and twelve carry-ons was a challenge, but we managed to do it in under an hour and make our connection to Cleveland.  And after being met in the airport in Cleveland by Pete and his family, Bob and Sara brought us home to Hiram:

The last few days

December 29

With our departure back to the States getting closer and closer, the kids wanted to try and hit the driving range across the street one last time.  Even Trang, who was spending the night with Ellie, wanted to come with us.

I really wanted to go up to the top of Lotte Tower before we left and have a beer in their rooftop cafe, but the pollution and the cold temperatures scared me away.  I had to settle for our last full night by going on top of Star Tower and having a beer up there.  The pollution did clear off enough to get a great view of Landmark Tower.

Our final morning in Hanoi, I walked down to get some bread and admire the morning market one last time:

I will miss having banh mi trung for breakfast:

All packed up and ready to go -- twelve checked bags...

The silk village

December 29

On one of our last days in Hanoi, Sac took us to Ha Dong, the silk village near Hanoi filled with shops selling silk products.  We even got to wander in one of the places that made the silk and even see a decanter of wine with silkworms in it (didn't try it though).

Most "villages" around Hanoi are small towns of 5,000 - 20,000 residents that specialize in one specific product.  We've been to pottery village, a place that makes rice noodles, and now a silk village.  Fascinating way to do business.  Makes a lot of sense to have everyone together rather than having to drive all over the place to comparison shop.  I picked up a beautiful blue silk necktie for $8, and I am now kicking myself for not getting more of them.

The machines use punch cards to make the designs in the silk:

Silk pajamas -- another thing I regret not getting there:

Some silkworms that were doing their thing right in the factory:

This is the wine decanter with the silkworms in it.  I was not brave enough to try it:

Afterwards we stopped for some snacks in the village -- bun cha and some chocolate pastry: