Blogs from Vietnam, Asia - page 69
Another daughter-Hien
Arrived in Saigon after Steven terrified a little boy on the plane, you know how scary that beard is. But he gave the little guy a spider ring and all was well. Quick cab ride to our hotel Red Sun and another warm greeting by the girls. Our alley looked the same and it felt like coming back home. This is by far the least luxurious place we stay but we it is all about the people. En and Hien, our girls that run the hotel, treat me yes, like their mother. And their English is almost fluent now. Three years ago it was a struggle to understand them-now they even know the slang. Hugs and kisses all around (En got me on the lips), we dropped the backpacks off and down the street to eat. ... read more
We decided to spend a few nights in a quiet beach resort called Mui Ne before going to the busier resort of Nha Trang where all the night life is! Mui Ne was literally beautiful! It was so quiet it was unbelievable. This did bother me a little bit when it came to night life however when it came to the beach it was heaven! Like our own personal island! The first night we stayed at this cheap hostel as we arrived really late and it was just easy(and cheap)! However, we decided to splash out a little bit the next day by staying in one of the hostels actually on the beach! It was a whole $10 each (i know outrageous!!!lol). It was worth every penny! We stayed in these bungalow rooms in the grounds, ... read more
Festival 2011
You know how we thought our room was so great?? Tristans new quote " We are not staying in another guesthouse unless the bed sheet fits the bed." For 5 nights now we have struggled with sharing the top sheet as they've put a double sheet on a queen size bed. Turning it the other way doesn't help because Tristans feet stick out. So it was a toss and turny night with a creaky bed. Tris woke up and went out to get the bikes ready to go. He went to the shop to get a mirror put on his bike. Again he was treated like a King and offered drinks (which he thinks was originally the man's), and a seat. The guy asked for Tris to write down his name and Vietnamese phone #. He ... read more
Kirsty + AK47 = fun fun
my repeated confirmation of pick up this morning have fallen on deaf ears. reception call at 8.45am to say the bus is here to pick me up, yet they had told me the trip starts at 2pm? they apologised profusely. i was ready in 5 mins, but no brekkie. bussed out to Cu Chi with a good brief history on the way. watched a wee video on how the tunnels were built - with a wicker basket and a trowel, and lots of elbow grease. its pretty amazing - 200kms of tunnel. there were 3 stories of tunnels from as little as 3 metres to 10 m deep. the original crawl spaces were tiny, big enough only for a vietnamese and not a normal sized westerner. I have a photo of the trapdoor entrance which is ... read more
Windmills
We slept in a little later than we wanted too. The day started off with another flat tire on my bike. Tris walked it over to the shop and we got a new tire put on. Instead of leaving Mui Ne bright and early, we got out at noon. We had breakfast at a lovely vegetarian healthy breakfast place, packed up our stuff and hit the road. We saw the white sand dunes from afar. We didn't go far enough yesterday. We pulled over 40 km's in for a quick drink and bum break. Everyone in the restaurant stared at us as if they've never seen a whitie before. On our way we drove right into a huge rain cloud. It started pouring so much that we had to pull over. WIth not many choices we ... read more
Just over 4 weeks to go and we cant wait.....1 week training at Mu ay Thai Boxing Camp in Phuket then 3 weeks in Vietnam traveling up the coast line.... read more
Pink Devil
Sorry for the delay in blogs. I have been quite busy lately and/or too tired to do any writing, but i plan to make up for that in the coming days. Here are the latest blog entires. The more resent ones will be posted as soon as they are done. Thank you all for your patience. Day 3 Our last day in Laos was not boring. Even though we had a plane early in the afternoon, we still managed to have a great time. We went up early in the morning and ate a nice breakfast. After this, our rented scooters arrived and we set forth on a great journey. A journey to the waterfalls of Kuang Si, located some 25k away from Luang Prabang. Off we went in thrilling speed on our very chic and ... read more
Proud of my rice paper
Our second day in Vietnam was starkly better than the first, and oh so welcome! We woke up to a sunny day in Hoi An, rented bicycles and went about our day enjoying the city, which is recognized as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. It used to be an international trading port so it has a really unique style with a mix of Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese and European architecture. After touring the Old Town, bargaining for a few t-shirts, getting tailor made sandals (there are over 200 tailors in this small city), we enjoyed delicious coconuts then headed to the beach for the afternoon. There was a bakery that sold to-die-for pastries that touched just the right spot… pure bliss! Two bites in and I had already forgotten about the crab stinking journey that had ... read more
Giant Seated Buddha - Nha Trang
After our relaxing week in Hoi An we decided to pick up the pace a bit and get back to some travelling, so we hopped on a night bus to Nha Trang. Now, the bus in China was a touch on the cramped size for someone of my size, but this was worse. And not only that, but the roads were worse too. At least twice during the night I woke up whilst airborne! Still, it was cheap. Nha Trang is the most recognisable resort town in Vietnam. By that I mean that to all intents and purposes it is indistinguishable form the coastal resorts of Spain or Greece. Unfortunately the weather was against us, and we didn't spend much time on the beach. Instead, we hired a couple of bicycles and went off to explore ... read more
good evening actually, I arrived into Vietnam around 20:00ish. the plane was cold, so had cardy on. It was pissing down outside, but 26deg and a bit humid. i jump into bus and its freezing and need a jacket. then to terminal where its just right. i fill out a convoluted form and pay $25 to get landing visa. the airport is deserted - am I the only one on an adventure here? when i get to the luggage carousel, my bags have been taken off and are sitting by their lonesome and theres no one in sight. though lonely planet says that it should cost $USD6 to get into town, i get quoted $14 first and when i protest vehemently, he "discounts" to $12, i flag it, and go down to the sasco counter where ... read more
