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Thi lan- Now I know that you write your surname before your given name, after speaking with your co-worker in Saigon- sorry I have been adressing you incorrectly.
I hope that you and Ms. Huong each have a pen- as that is how I had planned to give you them.
We wished we had more time to stay in Saigon- as we never we able to venture out to see anything but the hotel and the airport. We were @ The Legend Hotel- as you know-which we really loved. The trip from the airport was right in the middle of friday after work traffic- so it was a bit harrowing to say the least.And that is why we arrived late to the hotel-very tired, and Ms. Huong had come and left- and then returned-I am sorry for her inconvenience,she was a joy to speak with, very kind- and well versed in English.
Phu Quoc- which was just great- and the hotel even though unfinished- was just wonderful. Both Vienamese and Phillipine staff were excellent- and took very good care of us. They upgraded our room to a bi-level suite. It was peaceful and serence there- only 8-10 guests at any time. The pool and beach are clean and there is a pond full of lotus growing when you walk on a bridge to the beach from the pool.All landscaping( flowers, bushes etc. are flowering in that extreme heat- and there are beautiful koi ponds with pink lily pads etc. The woodwork is spectacular- inside and out of the 9 buildings that are completed. I expect you will have no trouble selling this property to others when it is up to its proposed 5 star standard, and finished.
We enjoed the fishing/snorkellling trip( Phu Quoc "Explorer"- Mr. Vung- owner) to the An Thoi islands,I had planned to do from reading the website I depend upon for information on places we plan to go www.tripadvisor.com. I sent along a review of the hotel- and it has been published. My Id on that site is DB/ole.I would like to write a review on your agency as well- would that be OK?Your service was excellent, other people should know.
We made some hopefully lasting friendships with the staff especially Christy Gonzalez- the manager @ long beach Ancient Village.
I have a request- do you know of a Vietnamese website that sells the lacquerware I was able to quickly pick up in the International side of the Saigon airport when we were returning to Bangkok? We had very little time ,and I just bought a few pieces(3),beautiful gold and green colors-and now I am sorry that I didn't purchase a few more to give my friends as souvenirs. . Also- I understand there are very nice linens- hand made in the HCMC area- like table cloths- but they only had a few- and they looked so lovely.The name of the duty free shop is Sasco.
We came home with over 750,00 dong in cash. We were unable to exchange the money( which we were not told- actually we were told that in Bangkok we could exchange the dong- but they would not take it)So- another idea is: if you know of a shop in HCMC I could trust and contact via internet to purchase the lacquerware with that cash?I would be very appreciative if you could supply that information.
Hope you and Ms. Huong are well. I will await a response to my questions, at your convenience.
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... We really had a wonderful time in Vietnam and we do appreciate the work and efforts you have made to put the program and activities together.