Today was a great day. I got plenty of sleep and enjoyed drinking and dining last night with the relatives. I was picked up at the Hue airport by van where I was met by all my aunts and uncles. It was an amazing experience to meet all of them. Today I spent the day with two of my cousins (Su and Thi). We visited the Citadel, Chua Linh Mu Pagoda and Lang Tu Duc tomb. It was an exhausting day of walking around but each site I saw was magnificent each with its own sense of history. Not only did I see these historical monuments I also got to meet my grandparents for the first time (mother’s side). I also got to see the burial sites of my other grandparents in Hue. Meeting my grandmother and grandfather was astounding. They were really happy to see me and said I looked like my father. I was really glad to have met them for the first time. They looked so happy to see me. Next time I’ll brush up on my Vietnamese so I can communicate better with them.

While in Hue I booked a tour of Hanoi and Halong Bay for 3 days with my cousin Su. Overall cost for the both of us was about $300. It wasn’t so bad considering this covers lodging and flight to and from the airport. I haven’t spent much money yet so this is a good splurge to start with. I’m looking forward to the trip north.

The evening was quite interesting. I went out for drinks with yet another cousin (Tien) and her friends (Van and Han). I had a feeling they were trying to set me up with their friend Han. She turned out to be really cute and smart. Her English was really well considering the fact that she said her English wasn’t. I asked her if she would like to show me around the city the following day. I thought she was cute but nothing happened. The 3 of them kept gossiping in Vietnamese and after awhile I told them I could understand what they were saying. After that they weren’t so talkative It was fun hanging out with them.