Last day with Mum

Of course it was very sad to say goodbye to my mum today after spending two such lovely weeks with her. We had a happy last day though, starting with a morning run and then spent in town doing some souvenir shopping and coffee drinking. A notable experience of the day was taking a stroll through the wet market at Cho Ben Tanh, where we witnessed the grisly spectacle of live frogs being decapitated with a sharp pair of scissors, operated by a woman in wellies who was lightly splattered with blood.

During our shopping trip Mum occasionally expressed her feelings of guilt ("we should be probably going round a museum or something"), but I told her to relax and enjoy herself. And it was a very nice day. It began to spit with rain as we made our way home and rolls of thunder followed. Like the weather, my mood turned bleak as the time for Mum to leave drew closer. We took a stroll around the neighbourhood in the minutes we had left before a taxi arrived to take her to the airport. We chatted about little things and Mum told me not to be sad as it won't be long before I'm coming home too. I'm not sure how I feel. With six and a half weeks ahead- most of which will be on my own as Jessica will be in America- it is not a huge amount of time but feels long enough yet to be a bit daunting to me. I know that there is a lot of work for me to be keeping myself occupied with and that the more I get done, the more rewarding it will feel when it's time to go home at the end of May. I'll just have to keep my spirits up and make the most of the last of my time in Vietnam and all the positive things that come with being here.

Second breakfast at Highlands Coffee

Lunch stop

Final coffee stop in the afternoon

A parting photo with Thuy

...And with Jessica