Bob, as we say in Texas, "honey, hush your mouth".

And as Kristina said, the food makes it all okay. I'm resting up for another culinary adventure tonight. We have high hopes of finding some weasel coffee.

In case anyone needs it, here's another example of why Tong is a class act:

Last night in Saigon, I was feeling so ill that I had to leave our final dinner with the lovely Lori (offwego) and my husband early and go back to the hotel.
This morning, I was still feeling so sick to my stomach I decided I should cancel the tour we had scheduled with Tong for tomorrow. Our plan had been to do the fishing village with her and I could not see spending the day in the car and a boat, and eating that special seafood lunch given how I felt.

I sent her a very apologetic email and offered to compensate her in any way she felt fair.
When we arrived at the hotel late this evening, there was a beautiful bouquet of flowers waiting in the room from her, with a card saying "I hope you feel better." She also replied to the email, saying only she hoped I felt better and liked the flowers.

What a sweet lady. I feel so bad about canceling on her. I know we'll see her another time though.

Kristina
Hope you are feeling better. Just another reason why Tong is so appreciated by so many!
Carol

Think how happy she is to have a dang day off! :)

Sorry you're still feeling woozy. When you got on the plane did you happen to pick up the paper and read the big front page article about the "bacteria infected goat penises" infecting all the meat supply in HCMC? Nice.

I've been slamming oregano oil since I got back.

any street food involved???

Wow, Lori...there's always a first for everything, I guess.

Sorry I'm missing out on all the fun--Kristina, hope you're feeling better!

If you are still feeling ill once you get to Bangkok, remember that Bumrungrad offers excellent care.

No Bob, just goat penises. ;-)

I have been having "digestive issues" the entire trip. It's never been debilitating, just mostly inconvenient. This is really nothing new. I tend to have "issues" when I travel, even in Europe.
However, our last night in HCMC, I got really queasy at dinner. It could have been the spices in the lamb skewers (we were having Lebanese food) which triggered it. We slept late yesterday and today and are taking it easy.

We've eaten in plenty of "nice" places (incl hotels) and yes, eaten in local restaurants and street food as well.
Please keep your "tsk tsks" to a minimum.
David has eaten everything I have (including cleaning up what I could not finish) and he has not gotten sick at all.

Lori-we did not see that article. Should we be concerned?

I will testify that all three of us ate the same meals, and we all reacted differently, Kristina, not so good, me so-so, Mr. Kristina, no problems....Did we have fun? Hell yes. Should we be concerned? Hell no.

Bacteria is bacteria; where it came from ($300 a might hotel happy hour, our own fingers, goat penises) is really moot.

Get better K. Truck on.

Thanks Lori. I think a lot does depend on the individual. I am feeling better.

Just woke up in Bangkok. Confused about the day, thought we'd missed flight. Ooops. We leave tomorrow. :-(

Found a new market yesterday. NO tourists, no "souviners", just locals, clothes, and cooked-to-order food stalls. Good Pad See Ew (40 baht for a plate and a coke). Yum...
Went to MBK too and ate there in the new "international" food hall. Not bad.

Went to Koh Kred on the last day. Interesting trip; did it on our own completely as opposed to tour or "tourist boat".
Oh yeah, and those extra 150 baht ATM charges are in full effect now in Bangkok, at least at the ones we used.

Home now. Exhausted.
Looong trip back including delayed flights and me breaking the LCD screen on my DSLR camera on the plane from Tokyo to SFO. Waaaaahhhh.
But very happy to be home with cats and garden. Back to work tomorrow and hope to start on the trip report soon.

Kritina, Lori & Mr. Kristina;
Mom so sorry she missed the goat penis scare. Although, just thinking about a goat penis is enuf of a scare, doncha think?
Glad you home--can't wait to see pictures!

Glad you made it back safely. Thanks for letting us follow along on your trip,I really enjoyed the ride. Can't wait for the full report and welcome home!

Aloha!

<Just thinking about a goat penis is enuf of a scare>

Word.

why were you handling goat penises? no silverware?

Sigh. Bob, don't you know you use chopsticks in Vietnam?

Jet lag is a bitch. I am french-fried. Woke up at 3:30 am today. Went to work and was fine until about noon when suddenly I felt like I'd been hit by a truck.
No energy to come up with trip report title so it might be a couple of days...
I'll take suggestions for title as long as it doesn't involve goat <i>anything</i>.

Take it easy and recover from your jet lag. We await your report and more food photos!

kristina,

Love your website and the pix.

Sorry to hear that you have tummy issues. I take probiotics for at least a month before I travel as per the recommendation of my nutritionist. I eat yogurt regularly but I figure an extra layer of protection can't hurt.

I take the following:

http://www.invitehealth.com/browse.cfm/4,133.html

I have recommended to friends and it worked for them. This particular brand needs to be refrigerated. I don't know how it works with mail order but there are many others out there. Get a name brand.

Hope this is helpful.

Ginger tea is actually great for upset stomach. You can also get pickle young ginger or just chew young ginger (young is less hot than regular ginger ), that will take care of the queasiness. I used to carry ginger juice with me when I fly. It helps with motion sickness.

take the cure....not sure what it is however