Good Morning Vietnam

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Wow, I guess it has been almost 2 weeks since we last blogged, but we've done so much it just doesn't seem possible!!!

So we were in Siem Reap mid July- maybe until July 15th and then headed back to Phnom Penh via a town called Battambang. Phnom Penh is pretty much a requisite stop en route to anywhere else in the country since all buses pass through there.

Battambang is a small town and actually, not a whole lot to do there so we just stayed for one night. Our first night there we went to an acrabatic/theatre performance at a local school for theatre arts. There was also an art exhibit. The kids are so talented, it's incredible. We enjoyed the experience immensely.

The next morning we took a ride...not on the reading railroad, but on the bamboo train. I want you to close your eyes and picture a bamboo train in your mind.

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now open.

what we took does not in any way shape or form resemble what you are thinking of.

Basically, it is a makeshift "railcar" powered by a lawnmower engine. They assemble it on as-need basis placing a bamboo platform on top of the wheels. It also goes surprisingly fast. Helmets should be required.

So now fastforward a few days. Finally. The ocean! We are in beautiful Kep (Southern Cambodia) for a few days of R&R. Really quiet beach town (especially in the low season).

And, if you haven't already guessed from the title of this post we are in Vietnam.

Spent a few days in Ho Chi Minh City (Siagon). And tried as we might to like the city, we got off to a rough start and weren't really able to turn it around. After several delays on the bus (flat tire x 2) we arrive in Ho Chi Minh around midnight with no idea where we are. We get a taxi to take us to our hotel - and hearing about taxi scams in the city make sure the meter is on - after maybe 10 blocks we arrive at our hotel and the meter reads 250,000 dong (17 US). WHAT?? It should have been no more than $2. So we start arguing with the taxi driver, however we have no leverage because he has our bags in the trunk. So we ended up having to pay him $15 to get our bags back - what a rip off. Also, the hotel we wanted to stay at was closed for the night (I had to wake up the girl and ask if we could see a room...she said no.) And so we are left standing on a dark deserted street wondering what we should do now.... Around the corner a block or so we find a hotel that is open and check in. Soft Beds. Yay!! Nicest room we've had so far on our trip - real luxury. There is another story about a 'friendly' man we met on the street with possible Mafia connects but we'll save that one for later. Highlights from Ho Chi Minh include the War Remnants Museum, Independence Palace, and the Cu Chi tunnels (at the tunnels we got the chance to crawl around a little bit of this gigantic (yet slim-fitting) underground tunnel system that the Vietcong used to survive and fight against the Americans during the war.

From Saigon we headed north via bus to Mui Ne, a quiet coastal resort town with a beautiful beach and awesome surf. Definitely got beat up by a few waves. For $12 USD we ended up at this great resort that had bungalows, a swimming pool, and was right on the beach. Pretty awesome. Mui Ne is also famous for their red and white sand dunes so one afternoon we hired a moto and spent a few hours checking those out (and attempting to toboggan down them on magic carpets... very hot sand). The sand sledding sounds cooler and more x-treme than it actually is. Only once I managed to get down the sand dune going at a reasonable speed. It was a beautiful ride along the coast the whole way - great views.

After a few days in Mui Ne we came further north to Nha Trang. This is probably the busiest beach town in the country, with a great coast, lots of good restaurants (and happy hours) and scenery. Unlike Mui Ne, here there is a protected bay with loads of islands and mountains a little further inland. One day here we went on a "party boat" trip that we had heard was really fun and basically consisting of lots of tourists drinking on a boat while visiting a couple islands and snorkeling, swimming, etc. Well, there were lots of tourists. However they were overwhelmingly of the Vietnamese variety, and many came with little children (some also with the children's grandpas). There were 7 other western tourists on the boat (of about 45) and we still had a pretty good time (there was also institutionalized segregation on the boat - there was a lone Russian guy sitting with the Vietnamese and they made him move to the front of the boat where the rest of us were sitting). Yesterday we rented a bike again (along with a british couple we met) and took a 2 hour drive up the coast to this beautiful beach that we had heard about. White sand that you could walk out 100 feet into and very clear water. It was cloudy and a little rainy, but it was still a good trip. To keep things going today we decided last night to go scuba diving. It was my (Andrew) first time going and I was very happy I went. We didn't dive too deep - maybe 5 to 7 meters - and the visibility wasn't too bad, with coral and brightly coloured fish to see.

So, tonight we are taking a night train to Hoi An to take in some sights and get some cheap custom clothing made. Suits, Jackets, dresses etc. They will even make shoes!

Sorry for lack of photos. Hopefully next time. Hope all are well!

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