Friday, 20 February 2026: in our house in Celestun

Diego came to our house yesterday.  He’ll come back with engineers soon. 

Ishmael, glass and mirror guy from Merida came today.  He’ll finish our bathroom mirrors, shower doors and glass for light fixtures in our bathrooms.

Denise Leach taught us that we need to allow ourselves one day for each time zone.  That means we will get 13 days. We are getting the house back in order, taking lots of naps, keeping up with the Olympics and the shit show in Washington.  “Prince” Andrew was arrested so I guess the UK has their own shit show right about now.  

Wednesday, 18 February 2026: back to Celestun

We spent two nights in Merida to decompress.  We went to La Negrita to see Jesus.  He’s got a new album out so it will be fun to check that out later. 

 

I had real coffee.  Oxxo has divine coffee!  

Since we are waking up in the middle of the night, we had time for grocery shopping at Soriana before we met Diego for breakfast.  He’s going to do some solar and AC work for us and we needed to get those wheels turning.  

Sam's was our next and final stop before we got our Uber back to Celestun, to our dogs and Abraham.

Popcorn and cheese for dinner… yes, it was culinary feast.

Monday, 16 February 2026: arrival back in Merida

Our first leg was Saigon to Tokyo.  The second was Tokyo to Houston.  We had a seat in between us on both of these long flights.  Now that was fortunate.  We had a forever layover in Houston waiting for our flight to Merida.  I thought about getting a hotel room for several hours but it was just too much.  Instead, we met Jennifer.  She too was on her way to Merida. She thought she’d will the prize for longest travel time since she’d started her day in Iowa.  But, then she met us.  We won that prize.  

Take off on last flight was delayed more than an hour because they had too much fuel on the plane.  A totally avoidable situation.  Our very last flight.  

My suitcase was destroyed on last flight and I’d even checked it at the gate.  Yes, one of my brand new suitcases.  Grrr.  At least my underwear wasn’t falling out on the carousel.  

After finding the United office where I initiated my damage claim, we had a quick snack of “welcome home” guacamole.  We jumped in our taxi to head to the Zar Hotel.  We figured it was about 38 hours door to door.  We fell into bed and into a coma like sleep… at least until we woke up.

Sunday, 15 February 2026: today is go

We’d arranged for late checkout at 2pm but since our flight wasn’t until 11:05 pm, we had time, oh yes, we had time for one more massage.  Actually, Justin got a hair cut so we both took time to get our hair washed too.  What a treat!  

We enjoyed Indian food for our last meal in Saigon — yummy!

On to the airport and the final leg begins.  

90 days in South East Asia

4 countries

5 languages

5 currencies

3667 miles total

1761 overland

1906 miles by air

24 hotels

A bounty of stories

Thousands of photographs

Unlimited smiles

Lifetime of memories      

Saturday , 14 February 2026: Happy Valentines Day from Ho Chi Minh City

 

Yesterday, after breakfast we were on our way to Ben Than market.  And it was stinking hot.  We drank in a bit more culture and a few more treasures to take home and even one more suitcase.  Back at the hotel it was nap time; the heat just zaps it out of you.  I finally caught Justin's cold... aargh...

I woke up before Justin this morning and as I followed my morning ritual of checking the news, the NYT recipe of the day and scrabble with Kim and Joan, I thought, this is may be my favorite part of the day.  After Justin woke up and we were hanging in bed together having a second and third cup of coffee, I thought maybe this is my favorite part of the day.  Later in the afternoon when we were atop the Landmark 81 building enjoying cocktails at sunset, I again thought this is my favorite part of the day.  What a perfect Valentine’s Day!

     

Thursday, 12 February 2026: DeNang to Saigon

 Today is go.  We finished packing and enjoyed breakfast before 10am massages.  Our driver came at 11:45 to drive us to the airport in De Nang. We were early and I’d much prefer that to being late.  It was a new experience for me to be told that we were too early to check in however.  Yes, it was more than three hours.  At first she said we were too early, then she said our flight would be delayed for three hours.  Three hours!  Wait.  We can’t check in because we are too early but then, the flight will be delayed three hours!?!?  There has to be an earlier flight I ask.  Well, we needed to go wait in another line and yes, eventually they did get us on another flight that left earlier than our original flight.  Yes, today it paid off to get to the airport way too early.

Easy cab ride to our hotel, Harmony Saigon Hotel and Spa.  Checked in and out to explore.  We can unpack later.  All in all, it was a pretty easy travel day.

Everywhere, everyone is getting ready for Tet and the new Year. Flowers everywhere. It really is beautiful. We will be leaving right before the official celebration but already many places are closed and people are traveling to get home to be with their families.  We had looked forward to visiting our favorite vegetarian restaurant one more time but I’m glad they are allowing the workers to enjoy their holiday.  

Justin and I like the vibe of Saigon so much more than Hanoi. It’s funny how cities have their own personality. 

                                              

Wednesday, 11 February 2026: last full day in An Bang beach

The last week has been the perfect wind-down for our trip.  We wanted 10-12 or 17 days in one spot like we did when we were in Wales or in Croatia but we had too much ground to cover this trip.  But here, in A Bang beach, we were able to settle in and just hang.  We spent our days being lazy, walking along the beach, eating delicious oysters, getting massages, taking naps and playing with the puppies at Serena restaurant.  We hung out on the lounge chairs at our hotel, we watched the kite surfers and we both nursed a cold or bronchitis or some funk.  

 Today was the day we’d planned to go to Cham Island for three nights. Unfortunately, the weather was not cooperating— the boats were not running. Instead, we moved to our next hotel on An Bang beach. We’d planned to come back to Sea’Lavie Resort after the island anyway so we are just here early. 

        

Meanwhile, back in the real world, -17' in Green Bay.  No thank you!  

Justin got a preliminary summons for jury duty.  J D Vance was booed at Olympics.  We watched the Super Bowl. I’ve spent most of my adult life watching the Super Bowl on a Monday morning. This year I followed that pattern. I did have to chuckle when Trump said he didn’t want to go to the game because it was too far.  Ha… he didn’t want to get booed like Vance did.  

The monks arrived in DC.  Mary is in Germany for NAEP assessment again.