Vietnam....the end of Southeast Asia

---

Spent about 4-5 days in HCMC with mum and dad, stayed in the backpacker area which is about 20 minutes from the airport, and should only be about 30,000D on moto. really interesting area, but full of tourists. There is an awesome night market there for food and all the normal knock-off items for fairly cheap! Us three stayed in a fairly nice hostel for about 18$ USD a night for the three of us, which was about average pricing. After mum and dad left, I went on a two day one night Mekong Delta tour, unfortunetly my camera was getting repaired and dont have any pictures, but beautiful area! Then after finding out that it was a two day trip on a bus to get up north and about 60$ it made more sense to fly, so got an early morning flight and in 1.5 hr I was trying to find the bus station in Hanoi. Got the bus out to Ha Phong, which is the third largest city in vietman but only saw a couple of tourists at most. Fairly laid back town with about a days worth of interesting things to see, but amazing back alley food! The caught the fast boat to Cat Ba, a small island in the middle of the Ha Long Bay islands. about 2 hrs through amazing peaked mountains. There are tons of hostels on the water front of the sleepy little town, all with amazing views of the floating villages ans fairly clean for 6$ USD. There are three main beaches on the island and the two are only accessable by boardwalks around the mountains. but the main reason to go here is to book a Ha Long bay tour. I went on a one day tour, and it was well worth it! Its difficult to get off of Car Ba, and can only do it a few times in the morning. Caught a sleeper from Ha Phong down to Detrang, a daunghting 18 hrs....and seeing quite a few large bugs all tucked away in the seats. Had to catch another bus from there to Hoi An, but Hoi An is amazing! It has got to be one of the best places in Vietnam, the town is known for making custon fit clothing, so got a few things made for just a portion of what they are at home. It takes a couple of days to get them fitted and finished but the town kept me busy. Not overly excited but caught another bus from Hoi An to Delat.......just a mear 20 hr bus ride... Delat is a cute little city back in the middle of no where in the mountains, the city centers around an awesome market! First time to see avacados and strawberries! Took a minivan from Delat to Mu nei, has got to be the worst road I have ever been on! What should have taken 2 hours took us 5 1/2 going max speed 30 mph, and that was going down hill! Mu nei is a little beach side town lining the warm water! Lots of fresh seafood resturants, and some big resorts, but was able to get a little room back a bit for 4$ a night. Just look for Room for Rent, will be cheaper! The dunes are the main attraction here! They arnt as big as the pictures make it seem, but was still super fun sand sledding! After a couple of beach days it was back to HCMC to fly out! Cant believe that I'm already done with South East Asia! Im really going to miss it! but my time here was amazing!!

---