We left off in Da Lat... The plan was to go to Hoi An on the coast. We took a four hour bus ride down out of the hills to Nha Trang, a big resort town on the coast of Vietnam where the Miss Universe competition was recently held. We got in around 12 and checked in for an overnight sleeper bus ride to Hoi An. We had about 7 hours till departure, so we opted to take a dip in the ocean and relax on the beach. During lunch, Mike's eye starting itching. He took out his contacts and switched [View Full Entry]

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Ok...this entry is dedicated to my mom - Some food photos of the many interesting and tasty things that we have been putting into our stomachs....mostly from food stalls/carts. MS [View Full Entry]

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Our next destination led us to the nearby beach resort of Mui Ne, aka Fish Sauce City. Mui Ne is a 4 hour bus ride from HoChiMinh City and known for it's fish sauce factories and large tatooine-style sand dunes. It is also quite a popular spot for city locals to take a weekend beach getaway. For us, it would be our first visit back to a beach outside of Thailand. As expected, the Mui Ne beaches were not nearly as good as the islands in Thailand, but it was quite enjoyable to get back to the beach life and away [View Full Entry]

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After spending a week in Ho Chi Minh City getting aquainted with the beautiful city, we embarked on a 3 day, 2 night trip through the colorful Mekong Delta. We booked this trip through a tour agency as it's the easiest and cheapest way to do so. Day 1 started us off in a small boat with about 10 other backpackers - we traveled 3 hours to Mytho, the gateway city to the massive delta. At Mytho we got off and got in these small hand-rowing wooden boats which took us into the heart of the delta...small orchard islets and rural [View Full Entry]

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We found these names to be interchangeable, as we see both written everywhere. The bus ride from Phnom Penh was pretty painless, and it of course dropped us right in the middle of the land of backpackers in district 1. I sat with an iced coffee in air con, watching the bags, while Mike followed a friendly lady to look at some rooms. We got a very clean fan room with hot water for $8 a night...not bad (we upgraded to a/c after the mekong tour). Our hotel is behind the main street through a maze of alleys, and its really [View Full Entry]

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Before we begin this entry, I think we both feel that we gave Cambodia a bit of brush off, spending only two and half weeks there. Hopefully we can revisit later in the trip... It was a six hour bus ride into Phnom Penh. The city is big, bustling, and simultaneously growing and crumbling. With chaotic markets and badminton playing kids alongside relics of the recent kmer rouge past, it was a lot to take in. Some bits and pieces: -Mike played basketball at the Olympic stadium a few evenings where he enjoyed meeting locals (playing in flip flops) and trying [View Full Entry]

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Continuing our adventure through the temples....we proceeded to the outlying regions on Friday. Hinda drove us about 50 km north of Angkor Wat on flat paved roads through farmlands and small towns...beautiful countryside scenery, until we reached Banteay Srei, aka the Citadel of the Women--as recent as 1993 it was mined by the Khmer Rouge. It's a small temple known for it's intricate carvings and dedication to women. We then drove another 15 km on flat dusty roads through more remote farmlands to a site called Kbal Spean, aka - River of 1000 lingas. Here we got off and took a [View Full Entry]

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After a day of rest in Siem Reap, we set out for Angkor Wat at 8:30 Monday morning in the back of Mr. Hinda's tuk-tuk. We decided to buy 7 day passes so that we could take our time exploring and sitting. Its been extremely hot (the digital reading on my cheap alarm clock says it is 90.5 degrees in our room), and it feels great to sit in the tuk-tuk with the wind in our faces. Armed with water, cameras, and flip-flops, we start our tour of Angkor. The area is incredibly large, with more temples than you can imagine, [View Full Entry]

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After a week of rest and reading in Bangkok, we headed out towards Cambodia. A five hour bus ride from Bangkok to the border on a so-so bus, we were planning on getting our visas at the border, as we had heard many people do. Along the way, we first sat on the bus in bkk while the bus guy told everyone he could get their visas faster and for 1200 baht because he is "under the table". Not surprisingly, there were several takers on the bus who handed over their passports. We decided to hold out, as this was about [View Full Entry]

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Back to the chaos of Bangkok, but this time knowing more what to expect, and finding it much more enjoyable. We arrived at six in the morning on the overnight bus from Surat Thani. After quite a bit of searching around and a stop for breakfast, we found a small guesthouse across a canal from the crazy Khao San Road. We have mostly been reading, checking internet and eating, taking in the city around us. We decided to check out the weekend market, Chatuchak Market, which didn't disappoint. We didn't explore every corner, as it was huge, and everything from furniture [View Full Entry]

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