Updates

---

Well, I followed up the sandwich with an all you can eat pizza place for dinner and a big ice cream sunday the next day. I also decided to book a flight out of Ho Chi Minh City for the 17th going back directly to Bangkok. This means I won't get to see Cambodia except for Angkor Wat but I think I didn't really have enough time to see as much as I would have liked anyway so I'll leave it for next time.
I am currently in Hue which is much quieter and much hotter than Hanoi. I am still being hounded by people wanting to give me a ride on their motorbike for an insane fee but it's not as bad.
I've had a few conversations with people about their impressions of Vietnam and I'm finding many people are feeling the same as me about the frustrations of this country. Prices are often set highter here than in other countries in south east asia yet the quality and convenience of service is much lower. They actually charge you as much for a coke in many places here as they do at home. they actually charge so much that today we actually bargained for a can of coke. vietnam is a constant sales pitch. I took a boat tour today down the river to see tombs that are near Hue. Within a minute of getting on the boat I'm given a menu... lunch is included but would I like to also have one of these things with my lunch. Within another five minutes, a basket had been pulled out full of clothing for sale. The woman took the clothing around and waved it in front of each passenger's face to make sure no one missed this opportunity to buy something.
It's disappointing because I'd heard such good things about Vietnam and was really expecting to like it a lot more than I do. I'm hoping that spending just over a week away from big cities will improve my impression but from other people's comments, it's not likely.
Anyway, despite my disappointment, Vietnam is still pretty interesting and as long as it's sunny, i manage to keep pretty happy.
Just to update on the travel plans then... I'm working my way down to Ho Chi Minh City and flying to Bangkok on the 17th. I'll take care of some travel arrangements from there before heading south for a relaxing week on a beach somewhere. Then I'm meeting my family for three weeks, travelling in Thailand and to Angkor Wat with them and on May 15th I'm heading back to China for the last part of my trip. On the 25th I'm flying back to Vancouver.
Time as gone by pretty quickly so far and now that the rest of my trip is all planned out it feels like I'm getting near the end although really it's closer to the middle still. Plenty of thigns to do and see still....

---