Danang to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

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We're just finishing up our last leg of Vietnam, and we're definitely sad to leave but excited to be entering Cambodia and starting a new adventure.


DANANG-
Shannon and I arrived in Danang from Hoi An mid October. We were so excited to see a gorgeous beach that stretched on for miles. What was shocking was how the beach was so deserted. The first day we arrived, we hit the beach around 4pm, had a couple of cervesas and enjoyed the last couple hours of sun....by ourselves! We stayed at a little hotel down an alley, a 2 minute walk to the beach. On the second day, we took a motorbike taxi to China Beach. It is the most incredible white sand I have ever seen, and the stunning Marble Mountains were in the background. Shan and I baked in the sun that day, got a brutal streaky tan thanks to our sunscreen, and really relaxed. There wasn't too much to do in Danang, it was really a ghost town, surprisingly. We walked around the city at night and went out for dinner. We did attempt to give Shan dreadlocks, because we decided to be like bohemians and really embrace the travelling look....but they fell out by the next morning...so much for that!


NHA TRANG-
So far my favourite place we have visited in Nha Trang. We took an overnight bus to Nha Trang which wasn't nearly as painful as the first one. Shan and I being the experts realized that it was better to sit up on the top at the back because it's less likely we'll smash our heads (like what happened on overnight bus numero uno). Although an overnight bus sounds painless and pleasant, it really involves the driver weaving in and out of traffic, driving on the wrong side of the road, constanting laying on their horns, and hitting bumps at full blast...but seriously you learn to sleep through it. On our bus we met a couple of guys, Ty and Devon from Saskatchewan, our first Canadian friends. Shan and I stayed at a hotel called the "Phu Quy 2"...really pronounced Fu*k You Too by the tourists. It was great, a bargain for 10$ a night for a room. The hotel had a terrace that overlooked the entire city and you could see the ocean one way and mountain tops the other way. The terrace had some hammocks and chairs, so Shan and I spent a couple of afternoons and evenings up there.

Nha Trang was really a liver killer. Since it's really touristy the streets are lined with every kind of restaurant imaginable...from Mexican, Italian, American, to local cuisine. And there are 4 million bars on every corner. Walking to dinner you are constantly hounded to check out the menu, take a seat, and workers from the bars hand out flyers advertising the never ending Happy Hours. And did we ever indulge in the Happy Hours...Nha Trang introduced us to buckets, which basically look like jam jars filled with a concoction of booze and mix. It definitely was the craze. Every night we hit up the town and partied at all of the bars, like the Why Not Bar, Red Apple, Zippo, and the Sailing Club. Shan and I are becoming pool playing proteges....by the time we're home we should be pros. The Why Not Bar turned into a club at 1am, so everyone partied there until it closed at 4 or so.

Our staple had become baguettes with Laughing Cow cheese. Shan and I didn't realize how much we loved it, until we couldn't find it in a few locations. It is our new after bar Elgin Street Diner...Locals have their little carts set up at every corner, and for 10 000 dong, you get a great after-bar snack.

The beach in Nha Trang was also amazing. The waves were insanely huge, but they were fun to swim in and there was a nice breeze off the ocean. The beach was packed and we met tons of fellow travellers here. Shan and I would rent chairs and umbrellas at the Sailing Club everyday for 25 000 dong....which is about 1.75$ We have definitely gotten used to the currency here pricing everything in the thousands. About 15000 dong to the dollar. So you can imagine that dinner between four people with drinks can be about 500 000 dong! Cheap beer here is between 10 000 and 15 000 dongs (so 75 cents to a dollar a drink)....20 000 seems like robbery. One day a couple of locals were cooking fresh seafood on the beach...so for about 5$ Shan and I had a feast of lobster, crab, shrimp, oysters- absolutely delicious!

The one thing that was hard to get used to was all of the huslers on the beach. Just as you would be in the middle of your book, or half asleep, someone would come up to you and try to sell you literally anything- and they were so persistent, at the start you would just buy something to send them on their way (except that would attact others, so it was a neverending cycle). They sold anything from jewellery, paintings, postcards, candies, fruits, weird styrofoam like food, sunglasses, books- it seriously got out of control. It got to the point where you would fake sleep, turn the tables and try to sell something to them, or pretend you only knew Spanish. It was actually hillarious how much you would be harrassed and pressured. Of course we did realize that most of these people are working for their families to put food on the table, so we were of course reasonable. While you were eating dinner, they would come into the restaurant with stacks of books, postcards, even FOOD and insist that you buy something. At then end the only thing you could do was laugh at the rediculousness.

We met 3 British boys and went on a one day boat cruise with them. Our boat was full of tourists from all over the world. The tour guide made everyone from every country stand up and sing a song from their homeland. He literally called everyone on the list, and knew all of the country's songs....he got to the end and didn't call Canada. Our friends wouldn't let the guide forget us...but not surprisingly, he didn't know one song from Canada! So Shan and I bravely sang our National Anthem. The boat visited three islands, and we had an opportunity to go snokelling. It was great, we saw some coral and different colorful fish. We ate lunch on the boat with all of the tourists- a delicious assortment of seafood and Vietnamese cuisine. After lunch we visited a floating village where the fishermen caught a range of fish- some looked like sharks. They had floating barrels lined up around all of the underwater cages, so you could walk through them and check out all of the fish. After lunch, there was a floating swim up bar, where we all floating in tubes and drank some funky wine mixture. We also visited an acquarium and saw crazy fish, eels and sharks.

Alright for those who don't know this yet- don't freak out. One night, Ty- one of the Canadians, and I decided on a whim to get peirced. Oh so Canadian of us. Ty went first so if he passed out, I wouldn't go. Shan was front and center recording everything. Ty peirced his eyebrow, pretty much without flinching. I was up next- I opted for my nose. And I went through with it! It was super crazy, I closed my eyes the whole time, and for those with heavy stomachs, Shan had the full length video. Don't worry it was safe...and it's barely noticable!

One of the craziest things that happeneds in Nha Trang is at sunrise. So when all of the loaded tourists make their way to their hotels, that's when the locals start their day. The ocean is literally filled with locals bathing and swimming. The boardwalk which is lined with benches and playstructed in overpopulated with people exercising. The entire city is up exercising, stretching, doing aerobics, and some are dressed in matching outfits performing routines- everywhere you look people are doing arm swings, leg kicks- the fittest city on earth.

Shan and I were sad the leave Nha Trang but there is only so much our livers could handle.

MUI NE-
From Nha Trang, the 2 Canadian boys, and Shan and I took a bus to the wind-surfer town of Mui Ne. Noodle, this would be your dream. Everywhere you look, long haired, sporty shaded surfers roam around. We stayed at a hotel called Wax, which is a kitesurfing school/hotel right on the beach. They had little bungalow rooms for 10$ a night (no aircon, which I have someone kind of managed to live without). It has a tiki-type bar right on the beach, and a great pool. Kite surfing is what this town is known for- basically surfing while holding a kite, and using it to steer you around the water. The first day we arrived, there were surfers in every direction, but the wind died for a few days so Shan and I never did attempt to kitesurf.

On the second day, Shan and I along with the Canadians rented motorbikes and headed for the famous red and white sand dunes. Shan and I shared a bike- what an experience. It was a 4 speed and you kicked down with your left to change gears..we always started in second. It was a little scary, but we practiced our leaning into turns and u-turns and eventually didn't have to overturn onto the sidewalks. When we got to the red dunes, we met local school kids and rented toboggans from them to sled down the dunes. It was amazing, the kids knew exactly how to get the most speed, and sent us flying down the hills. The dunes were incredible, it looked like a dessert with the ocean in the background.

One night, the four Canadians went out for dinner at a local restaurant. Shannon and I split a snapper, head and all intact. It was absolutely delicious. Mid meal, it actually began to torrential rain. It was out of control, the power went out and the street looked like a raging river. People were stalling their cars and motorbikes in the middle of the road. It was great eating dinner though watching all of the chaos outside.

Mui Ne also had a great night life. The bar at our hotel always had hip music at night, and had a beach fire and fire dancers. One night we went out to a bar called Pogo that was hosting a dress-up party, but what ended up happening was everyone got covered in paint. We were up til dawn partying the night away covered head to toe in paint. The green guy in the photos is a German that we nicknamed the Incredible Hulk. Some people will appreciate the next story- the next day the Hulk swam to try to wash off all of the paint. He swam out so far that he reach some fishing boats full of Vietnamese fishermen. Exhausted, he grabbed on the side of the boat, but the Vietnamese were so freaked out by this sea monster that they started whacking him and pushing him off of the boat...so the Hulk jus swam away. Priceless.

We met some other Brits- Nev and Rogy, crazy funny boys, and they introduced us to football. We watched a match one night, and it actually was pretty intense. We saw Chelsea lose their first game at home in 4 and a half years...the game really made me miss the Sens. Don't think we will be catching a game until next season.

We enjoyed the town, it had a great beach and lots of nice restaurants. But we really got sick of the washed up surfers. Everyone seems a little burnt out here, and it was time for some more culture.

HO CHI MINH-
Finally we arrived in the old capital of Vietnam...aka Saigon. The population here is 8.4 million...and in the city there are 5 million motorbikes! I thought that Hanoi was bad, this was absolute chaos. Literally you just drive wherever you want, in whichever direction and dodge people left/right/and center. The city is the usual chaos that any big city we've visited has. Ho Chi Mihn is alot cleaner though, and more modern. We had our first vanilla latte today at a wannabee Starbucks (Noodle their Venti was like our Tall).

Today we visited the Cu Chi Tunnels which were built by the Vietnamese during the war. The tunnels are hidden amongst the grass and brush and you enter it by letting yourself into the tiny hole in the ground by putting your hands above your head then easying yourself down . The tunnels are so intricate, it is actually facinating to imagine that another world was built completely underground with different levels and rooms. It it so small that you can only crawl through it. It was pitch black and you couldn't see your hand infront of your face. The ground was wet, muddy, with rotten leaves. There were 4 in the group that attempted the first tunnel (including me), but we turned around when one of the men saw a couple of bats with his videocamera. I crawled so fast to get out of there! We also saw an American tank that was captured, and made our way through other tunnels where you just needed to bent over. It was a very sombering experience. The photos do not do it justice. We also saw traps that the Vietnamese used to kill the enemies. There were seasaws in the ground that moved when you stepped on them, and below the person would fall into nails. They had a whole display of various creations made of wood and nails used to kill the enemy.

So in a nutshell that has been our last two weeks in Vietnam. It has been an incredible first month, we have tons of memories, made incredible friends, and visited amazing locations. We are taking a bus to Cambodia tomorrow and will arrive in Phnom Penh. It make take a bit for the photos to come up, but within a few days, more will follow.

I miss everyone so much and think of you guys all the time...so many times I say OMG that reminds me so much of so and so, and OMG so and so would love that! Anyways, miss y'all tons, soooo sooo sorry to hear about the snow..... Happy Halloween! XOXOOX

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