getting lucky in Veitnam

okay, so I feel like I need to make amends after my previously totally lame blog entry
sadly I try to compose witty things in my head previous to actually writing them down so that these things are way boring for anyone who bothers to read them

alright, so I remembered some funny/weird things from my road trip in the highlands:
we were eating pumpkin soup and I said "in Canada we make pie out of pumpkins" response from my Vietnamese motorcycle driver: "men NEVER cook in Vietnam" .... huh?

at one place we stayed I was asking this German guy where the restaurant was and he pointed it out, I went to go down the stairs and they went kinda weird, but I thought it was just cuz there was a board there and he laughs and says "don't go that way." I didn't realise until the next day in the light that it was cuz the stairs were made of wet cement. I'm a doofus.

once we stopped to stretch our legs and get refreshments and use the toilet and I decided I'd drink some more water before I peed, then go right before we left. big mistake. HUGE mistake. I've never met a toilet I didn't know how to use, wait, let me rephrase that, I've never seen a place that's meant for "business" that I didn't have ANY idea how to do my "business" in. I've seen branches propped accross a hole, I've gone in the bushes, there are many ways I've done it. I've never walked into a room with no door that has what looks like big clay pots upside down in it and been expected to go there. One had a lid on it, I lifted the lid and there was NO OPENING. I didn't want to go because I worried they'd think I was an idiot for peeing on their pots, or go on the floor or go outside in plain view of people.
so I held it for AGES until I could go under a bridge on the side of the road. the end.

the funniest was at the end of the trip I had my photo taken with my driver and he said I should get it printed out huge and put it in the tourist office in Canada with a sign that says "go to vietnam, get lucky"
oh, did I not mention his name was Lucky? well it was, but that does not make it any less hilarious, he must have wondered why I laughed for a good 5 minutes when he said it.

okay, so is that a better summing up of my tour of the highlands? thought so!

so in Nha Trang I went diving and the visibility was so bad my dive buddies got lost both times and had to surface. I was not impressed cuz the first time it cut our dive majorly short. It was just nice to be under water again, so I think I'll end my trip in SE Asia by doing some diving in clearer waters.

yesterday I rented a bike (I seriously have cycled more in Asia than in my entire life) and braved the insane Vietnam traffic to head out to the hot springs. they weren't that far away but I did get lost a couple of times which made the ride a whole lot longer. then I soaked in some mud, solo cuz the dude tried to make me get in with 2 couples I didn't know which woulda redefined the term 'supes awks.' Imagine me, hanging out at a spa with couples fooling around in the same tub as me, GROSS. anyways, I also got to go in this thing that resembled a car wash, then soak in a tub filled with mineral water.

today I went on a boat trip, which woulda been more fun if it hadn't been cold, cloudy and rainy, it was like being in Vancouver. At least some of the people on the boat were cool, at first they all seemed like dudders (and some I was totally right about) but it was fun in the end. the guide was badgering me about travelling alone, saying I'd be so bored and highlighting everyting wrong with it, the women in Vietnam seem to have more difficulty understanding why I'd do it, cuz this is like the 5th time it's happened. they all need to just get over it. it's fun, I swear man, I never have to ask anyone what they want to do, it's all about me and I love it. me being selfish=good times.

and now I'm waiting for my night bus to Hoi An. After Myanmar I swore I'd never take another one but I had a momentary lapse in judgement so I've packed my head lamp and Zen and the Art of Motorcyle Maintenance in my day pack. wish me luck.

much love
Alexis

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