Today is going to be our last full day in Phan Thiet. Thao told us this morning that the paperwork for the children’s passports is progressing and that she’ll have the necessary documents sometime tomorrow (Thursday) afternoon, after which we can return to Ho Chi Minh City and start our processing with the US authorities. We all linger a bit longer after breakfast, discussing the next steps in our journey to get our babies back home. Once we have their passports, we are essentially done with the Vietnamese government and all that remains is to get approval from the US government to take the babies back to the US. This is basically a two-step process, starting with an interview with the Citizens Immigration Services officer from the Department of Homeland Security in Ho Chi Minh City. Once that is complete and approval granted, we will need to travel to Hanoi to get the babies’ visas from the US Embassy.

Of course, for us, the process is different for two reasons. First, we aren’t going back to the US immediately and, thus, don’t necessarily need a US visa at this time. We have already talked with the Consular Officer at the US Embassy in Ankara and she has confirmed that she has all the required approvals to issue Alyssa’s visa in Turkey. But, the other side of that coin, is that we will need a Turkish visa for Alyssa for her to gain entry to Turkey, and, for that, we need to go to the Turkish Embassy in Hanoi. So, at this time, we’re planning on doing all of our processing in Vietnam. The US Embassy in Hanoi recommended this approach, suggesting that in case there was something that need to be corrected with our Vietnamese documents, it would be much easier done in Vietnam than from Turkey.

Since we only had a day remaining in Phan Thiet, we decided to take a little family trip into the town one last time. Previously, we had always gone as a group with the other families and this would give us a chance to stroll around the city as we desired. So, shortly after noon we climbed into the van and set off for the center of Phan Thiet, which was only a few miles away. When we got out of the van in the main business district, we quickly realized that what had been a warm, but breezy day at the resort, had been transformed into a hot, sweltering day once we were away from the coast and the cooling effect of the wind. But, we continued on, eager to explore and see new sights.

The business area isn’t exactly an open market, but it felt like it at times. The streets were narrow, packed with small shops. Since it was mid-afternoon, business was slow and most of the shopkeepers were sitting in front of their stores, idling away the time. We, of course, generated great interest, both because we were clearly western and, probably even more, because we were potential big buyers. Interestingly enough, we soon realized that everyone was drawn to us for another reason — Alyssa. People, especially women, were coming up to us and saying “Vietnam” and pointing to Alyssa. They were clearly aware that she had been born in Vietnam and were communicating that to us. Since we don’t know any Vietnamese at all, we couldn’t respond and just kept walking through the market. But, this continued and soon people were also referring to Jessie with the same query “Vietnam.” It started to become somewhat disconcerting as we didn’t want to draw a crowd so we began to think about leaving.

Then we happened to get close to the fishmonger section and that solidified our decision to depart. While we never actually saw any fish shops, the smell of fish in combination with the heat was overwhelming. Our stomachs started to get quesy so we quickened our pace and hurried back to the main street we had come from where it was more open and the air was fresher. We made one short stop in a shoe store to buy Jessie a pair of flip-flops and then called it a day. So much for a quiet stroll through the market place.

We got back in the van, which was an air conditioned respite from the heat, and made everyone feel better. Since we had promised Jessie that we would stop at a local park, we made our way there. I took her to play while Grandma Patsy and Nancy stayed in the coolness of the van. We had driven past this particular park a few days ago in the evening and it had been lively and full of children. Now it was almost deserted and all of its small carnival rides were closed. But, there was a playground and some coin operated mechanical rides that Jessie wanted to play on. We did that for a while and I took advantage of the time to take a few pictures of the local surroudings. My favorite picture is below, showing four Vietnamese gentlemen resting on a park bench. Also, here’s Jessie having fun and objecting to her father taking her picture.

We returned back to the resort in the late afternoon, rested for a while and then had an early dinner. Tomorrow was going to be a busy day, packing and then making the four hour trip back to Ho Chi Minh City.

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