Helen's home in the Highlands

I have no idea what this flower is, but it's growing in the garden of Helen's family home together with these flowering cactus with the early morning dew still on them.



Last night I boarded a bus in HCMC with Helen and her sisters, Emma and Ann, (their 'English' names) for the overnight trip to their home in Dak Nong Province, in the Central Highlands. This bus was furnished with reclining seat units for sleeping. I can only describe them as something like you might get in the business class air travel, I think, (never having travelled business class myself.) So although one can't lie flat, at least one can stretch out under the thin blanket, with a pillow provided, and relax.




I soon realised that my western dimensions might make sleeping a little cramped because as soon as my body relaxed it started a slow slide so that I ended up with my legs bent up and had to continually shift myself upwards. Mark wouldn't stand a chance of fitting into the limited space! From the lurching and bouncing of the bus, I can only presume that the Ho Chi Minh Road is in a bad state of repair, even though much money has, apparently, been spent on improvements!!! Anyway, I did, surprisingly, sleep solidly (almost) from about 2.00am to 6.00am when the girls woke me as we were arriving. It was a cold, grey morning... well the girls felt cold, but I was glad of the unaccustomed coolness!

The girls had been teaching me a few choice phrases, so I was able to greet their parents in Vietnamese and was complimented on my accent, which makes me happy! Helen's father is most interesting and we had a long discussion on religion and spirituality, which gave the girls a great opportunity to practise their English skills. He's self educated, throufgh books and the internet, with an inquiring mind, and is quite a philosopher, teaching his lovely family to think for themselves.

After breakfast of fried eggs with bread and the pastries and cakes they brought with them, (so different to any we have in the UK... they look good, but... must be the flour,) they insisted I join them in an hour or so of Karaoke (everyone here loves Karaoke!) and dusted off a few old favourites; Imagine, Que Sera... that's going back a bit.



Right now, after a nap and good lunch of fish caught yesterday in the local stream with vegetables and rice, I'm sitting in the parents' bedroom, which they insist on giving to me for my stay, with use of his computer. What more could I ask for ? I didn't realise that her father would be online here, or I'd have brought my camera lead to download some of the many pics we've been taking! However, now I'm home again, here are some of them.

This house is quite spacious, built of planks of wood with ill-fitting doors, windows with plain wooden shutters (no glass) and polished concrete floors; very rudimentary by western standards but perfectly adequate for this climate. It was built by the father when he married over 30 years ago next to his family home and so they have a small community here of extended family, which seems to be the normal way here. This is one Uncle's home with coffee beans drying all over the front yard

Only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun, so everyone else is relaxing, talking or watching TV. Helen will take me out later to show me the village.

This is Emma picking Cacao, which they grow in their garden. Below is an impressive Xmas grotto, which abound here in the predominately Catholic town.