Hello Everyone,

This is going to be my last post from Vietnam, because we leave tomorrow. I have mixed feelings about leaving because Vietnam has become really familiar to me. I hope I'm not shy around all of my friends when I get back to New York, but even if I am shy I'm really excited about seeing everyone again.

As you know, I've been traveling with my family the past few weeks. We went to Hanoi, Bangkok, and the island of Penang in Malaysia. It was a really neat trip. Sneetch liked it too!

In Hanoi we got to see these really neat water puppets. The puppeteers are behind the screen and they maneuver the puppets with bamboo poles that go under the water.

In Bangkok I got to see all kinds of temples that aren't like anything in Vietnam. They are really big and covered in gold and in colored glass. They call them "wats."

On Penang we went to a butterfly farm, which had over 300 different kinds of butterflies as well as creepy things like snakes and scorpions. It was fun.

Mostly, though, we hung around our hotel. I learned how to swim without my arm floaties, and I went swimming in the ocean (arm floaties on!), and I went out on a jet ski twice, once with my mom and once with my dad.
I hope everyone still recognizes me when I get home. I can't believe I'll be home on Monday!

I love you all and can't wait to see you again.

Love, your friend,

Hudson

Well, it's time for me to say goodbye to Can Tho. We are leaving tomorrow for Saigon, then will travel for almost three weeks before we finally go home to New York. We're going to go to Hanoi, Thailand, and Malaysia.

My dad asked me what I would miss about Can Tho and what I would be glad to get back to. Here they are: I'll miss the water park, riding on the ferris wheel, my friends (Linh, Ha, and Nalie), riding my bicycle at my dad's campus, and avocado milkshakes (called "sinh to bo" here).

Here's what I'll be glad to get back to: nice American food, my friends (all of them), cooler weather, my own bedroom, and walking along the Erie Canal.

(Mark writing here): Hudson will also miss the countless hours spent lounging in Anne's and my air-conditioned bedroom, cuddling under the covers with Lily, watching cartoons. . .


p.s. Hudson will continue to post on our travels, so please don't tune out just yet. . .