It was off bright and early (6 a.m.) to beautiful Sam Son beach. Here we all are on the bus enjoying the scenery.
We got to Sam Son parish and were greeted by the parish priest. After putting our stuff in rooms, getting some fruit and water on the way, we head form the rectory to the beach. Ah, the anticipation.
Mike and Van look forward to that first dip in the surf.
Sam Son seems is mainly populated by Vietnamese tourists, so we were the only foreigners there. We walked down the street enjoying the warmth and scenery.
I'm sorry that there are no pictures of us in the water (we were there for 1 1/2 hours), but the camera is not waterproof. However, we did get a group picture at the pavilion after swimming. We are a handsome bunch.
This is the view from the pavilion toward the beach. There sand is very clean and the beach is almost flat, so we got to go out a bit before it got deep. The swells were fun and sometimes the waves got 4' before they broke. A Frisbee and lots of laughter made for a fun morning.
Afterwards we went back to the rectory, showered, changed, and then had a huge seafood lunch that included squid, crab,and shrimp, all very inexpensive here. Big thanks to the parish for putting us up for the day.
Then it was on to shopping, every boy's dream. Carlo, Tino, and Michael enjoy the many soouvenirs available for their families.
Here are live crabs, all tied up so that they don't move too far.
Life is always more fun with kem (ice cream) and we definitely like to have more fun.
[Spoiler Alert]
Michael bought a little ceramic turtle from this family's stall and we took a picture of him with their three children.
Tino was fascinated by the snakes in the liquor bottles. We all wondered what it might taste like.
Finally, Adam thought the same things. The prices ranged from $10-50, depending on the size of the cobra, tarantula, or even if the bottle contained both. At the end of the afternoon, we took the leisurely two hour ride back to Phat Diem. It was a long day and everyone was tired, but that didn't stop us from playing soccer and staying up until 9:45 p.m. (yes, that is late for us now...go figure).
