Author: Charles Dittmeier

Trip to the UK—#6

My nephew Caleb Reed is marrying in England this week so I flew there to be part of the family celebrating. Here are the events of the different days.

Sunday, 4 August — Travel to Vietnam and then the UK

Monday, 5 August — First day in the UK

Tuesday, 6 August (morning) — Touring the city of London

Tuesday, 6 August (afternoon) — Touring the city of London

Wednesday, 7 August — Travel to Manchester

Thursday, 8 August — Travel to Lancaster

Trip to the UK—#5

My nephew Caleb Reed is marrying in England this week so I flew there to be part of the family celebrating. Here are the events of the different days.

Sunday, 4 August — Travel to Vietnam and then the UK

Monday, 5 August — First day in the UK

Tuesday, 6 August (morning) — Touring the city of London

Tuesday, 6 August (afternoon) — Touring the city of London

Wednesday, 7 August — Travel to Manchester

Sunday, 4 August 2019

Travel to Ho Chi Minh City and then to London.

Sunday morning was just a usual Sunday. Here, on the way to mass at St. Joseph Church, I found workmen renewing a permanent display that features the royal family. I believe the Queen Mother’s photos were there last week, and since they are now removed, it probably means that another of the royal family is having a birthday or special day to remember.
I’ve mentioned before, when you see a woman on a motorcycle with a towel or wrapped in a towel, you can be sure she is holding an infant or toddler, and if you look closely, you can see a small sandaled foot sticking out from under the lower left edge of the pink towel. This family was near the airport as I was riding there.
This worker is open one of the cargo compartments on an Airbus 320 in Phnom Penh that was preparing for a departure shortly before ours.
Our plane to Ho Chi Minh City was a much smaller 64-seat propjet. Here we are deplaning at the Tan Son Nhat airiport in Ho Chi Minh City.
This is one of the best sights I have seen in an airport in many years. Tan Son Nhat airport has discontinued the constant announcements of departures and missing passengers that plague most airports. Now they only announce gate changes. Other airports, take notice!

I arrived a Tan Son Nhat at 6:00 PM but didn’t leave till 1:00 AM the next morning. Luckily the time passed quickly as I ate some pastries I brought with me and caught up on some work and then read more of Les Miserables.

From Ho Chi Minh City….

It’s Sunday night at 11:06 PM and I’m in the airport in Ho Chi Minh City waiting for a flight to London. I’m going to England to attend my nephew’s wedding. It’s a 45-minute flight from Phnom Penh to Ho Chi Minh City (the former Saigon) but I had a seven-hour layover before getting the flight to London’s Heathrow. It wasn’t too bad although I am disappointed I didn’t get a chance to post a full page of photos here from this first part of the trip.

This is the Immigration Department office near the airport in Phnom Penh. I spent a couple hours there on Friday trying to get one of our St. Vincent de Paul Society clients out of the country with a new visa. It’s a long and complicated mess he’s got himself into.

Insulting the nation….

This is the kind of silliness the people of Cambodia must put up with. Their government regularly, frequently, arrests–and jails–people for innocuous Facebook posts. It is not unlikely that some of the offensive posts are actually true, but true or not, the government officials are so sensitive and thin-skinned that a bit of criticism or negative comment draws the thought police. It’s an insult to the people of Cambodia….

Location, Location, Location

In the US supermarkets put impulse purchases on display near the lines where people wait to check out. Because they see the items and they’re convenient, a purchase is more likely. Here in Cambodia there are all sorts of products available on the streets in the hope that people passing by will see the product–the vegetables in this photo–and decide to take some home for dinner. This little “market” is even more strategically placed because the gate on the right is for a garment factory and lots of young women workers will pour in and out of the gate during the day and will be reminded they need to get something for the evening meal.