Teddyblog

We have opened a new Teddyblog at www.bengtsson.net/svante where short messages will be posted about Teddy. It will probably be mostly in Swedish so for those who don't speak it you'll have to learn it :-)

We are back home!

We filmed this on our way to the airport in Saigon. It gives an idea about the amounts of scooters they have in Vietnam.

Another long haul flight completed and we are happy to be on Swedish territory! We had a nice welcome at Landvetter Airport where my brother Erik, my niece Tora, pappa Jan and Ulrika came to pick us up. Tora gave Theodor an umbrella as a welcome home present and he will need it.

Now it feels really good to be home and we are trying to get organised. Teddy who just had got used to the Vietnamese time is now having a hard time again. Tonight its my turn to stay up with him when he wakes up.

We want to thank everybody who has read our blog and thanks for the comments, especially you David Brim and mum!

Its funny how you start thinking in blogterms as the day passes. You almost look for things to happen or make them happen in order to have something to write. I got a haircut on the street in Nha Trang in order to write about it but I forgot to take a picture so I forgot. I haven't decided yet if I am going to continue write in this blog. I'll probably make a couple of posts with some technical data about Theodor when he makes some exciting progress. I will also put together a short film of movie clips that we have taken on the trip and put it on the blog. We just need some time to go through thousands of photos and movies that we have taken on this exciting trip. See you soon!

We are on our way home but first paying toll

Right now we are sitting at Bangkok International Airport. We got up early in Nha Trang to see the devastation caused by the typhoon. There was none. The typhoon missed us by a few kilometres and there was a feeling of disappointment in our eyes... :-)

During our 10 hours drive to Ho Chi Minh or Saigon as they say in the south we have two things to report.

When you pay your road toll you have to make two stops. First you stop to pay and pick up a ticket. See picture 1.

Then you have to stop and leave the ticket to another person 30 meters ahead. Why this inefficient system? The reason for it is that the first person cannot steal the money because the second person gets the ticket and counts the receipts.

We also witnessed a tragic accident where a truck hit a moped. They covered the dead body with a carpet and lit some scents and candles. Apparently there are around 1000 accidents with mopeds a day in Vietnam.

Luckily we made it to Saigon and are now on our way home. We arrive in Gothenburg tomorrow at 12:05.

Please pick us up!

In the eye of a Typhoon!

Vietnam

Today we were supposed to fly home via Hanoi and Paris. But we can't. The typhoon that hit the Phillipines a few days ago is now on its way here. We are not allowed to leave the hotel and all flights from Nha Trang are cancelled. Its actually quite exciting since we have a great view over the ocean from our hotel room.

The next flight to Paris from Hanoi is on Thursday but its fully booked so now we have to change our tickets and go by car to Ho Chi Minh and fly from there tomorrow. The drive is approximately 10 hours and we need to leave very early tomorrow morning.

We left a lot of luggage including Teddys car seat in Hanoi that we were supposed to pick up before leaving but thanks to Rasmus and Mona its already sorted out. They send our things to the Danish Consulate in Ho Chi Minh where we pick it up tomorrow.

Perfect - we get go see the countryside by car, a typhoon, visit Ho Chi Minh and all of it for free since we are fully covered by our travel insurance :-)

We'll update the blog with pictures if we see something exciting.

Censored

We ARE censored

Since we arrived to Nha Trang I have been trying to log in to our blog but without success. I thought it had to do with my computer but realised soon after visiting an internet café (where I had the same problem) that it was something else. After spending some time searching Google I saw that I am not alone having this problem. One source claims that 9 out of 10 internet providers in Vietnam censor pages like Blogger. Well, my brother is now helping me finding a way to get around it. See http://bengtsson.net/?p=948

A typhoon who today killed around 150 people in the Phillipines is on its way here. Our first thought was "oh no we are not going to get a sun tan" instead of feeling sorry for the poor Phillipinos.

Thank you broder David for posting to our blog.

Spoiled little brat

Theodor just arrived at the world famous Geysir on Iceland but he couldn't care less and hid in the IKEA bag

We have realised that Theodor Nilo Bengtsson is a spoiled little child who won't go on more trips abroad with us. We have many examples of when he falls asleep right when we get to the main attraction. Not even Disneyland seemed to have caught his interest. Here we show you some more examples:


Theodor met Mickey Mouse on Disneyland. Every kids dream but Teddy just looked away.


Theodor in Whistler where dad tried to show him the slopes.

It's an investment though to bring your toddler around the world when they are really young. You only pay 10 percent of the flight ticket for an infant and they usually stay for free in the hotels. Insurance, food and attractions are inexpensive for minors. When they become older and start to demand Sea World and and Disney World vacations you can just tell them that they already have been there and that they shouldn't complain...

Leaving Mona, Rasmus and August in Hanoi for Nha Trang

We have now left Mona, Rasmus, August and their lovely staff in Hanoi. Last night, Huyen, their excellent chef had prepared a fantastic crayfish dinner for us. The best prepared crab we have ever eaten! Thank you so much Vaupels for taking care of us. Maybe we will come and move in with you :-)


Today we took an early morning flight to Nha Trang in the southeastern Vietnam. Here we will spend five days on the beach before going back home. As you can see our view from the hotel room isn't that bad :-)