This morning, we drove up to Candi Dasa (about an hour north of Sanur) so Diane could dive and I could hang out at the resort by the pool and ocean. The sun was out and the drive up was very pretty…so lush. It’s funny seeing people walking their pigs on leashes and their herds of ducks, while all the stray dogs run wild. Never in America! We passed rice paddy terraces, which I am obsessed with and think I was a rice farmer in a previous life. Diane was the only one diving today, so on the drive up it [View Full Entry]

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This morning I was supposed to get up early with Diane and tag along on her dive trip to Tulamben, but I just couldn’t motivate so I decided to stay behind. I hung out at the pool, went to the beach, drank Pina Coladas and you guessed it…SHOPPED! I bought two fantastic leather bags I just had to have. And Diane had another great dive day, so we were both happy! She dove the U.S.S. Liberty which was originally torpedoed by the Japanese in WWII and then a volcano erupted in the 80s and pushed it on in and down. She [View Full Entry]

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We awoke this morning to some light drizzle which turned into a massive downpour. This changed Diane’s dive plans, as she was headed to Manta Point in search of more Mantas. Since they canceled the trip, we decided to hire a driver to take us to Ubud. For only $35US, he drove us around all day. (Luckily, the rain stopped after an hour and the sun came out!) Our first stop was a silver store (we bought more jewels…and yes Kara, more beads!). We then headed over to a local wood carving store where they actually carve all the pieces right [View Full Entry]

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The morning of February 28th, we headed over on a speed boat to Gili Trawagan. Gili Trawangan is the largest of Lombok's Gili Islands and is the only one to rise significantly above sea level. The ride over was beautiful and took about two hours. There are no motorized vehicles on the island, which was a nice break from Vietnam! The main means of transportation are bicycles and cidomo (a small horse/donkey drawn carriage). When we arrived, we checked into our beach bungalow…quite romantic! ;) ha. It was too cute and the best part was the outdoor bathroom…toilet, shower and sin [View Full Entry]

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Travel day. Back to our favorite place on earth…the airport. We said bye to Ho Chi Minh City in the morning and hello AGAIN to Singapore! We were already booked for the 4:40 pm flight to Bali, but we were going to TRY to go stand-by on the 1 pm. We knew this was going to be a feat…landing at noon from HCMC, getting our bags, going through customs and taking the airtram to another terminal. And while we tried, we failed…by NINE minutes. Boo. On the upside, if you are to be stuck in any airport in the entire world [View Full Entry]

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Today it ended up just being me cruising the Mekong Delta, as Diane still wasn’t feeling too well and couldn’t imagine a 2 hour bus drive and several boat rides with a stomach ache. So I left her in the room and went on the tour. We drove along the provincial roads down on the Southern region through rice paddy fields, pineapple plantations, orchards and small hamlets. Once we arrived to My Tho, we boarded a boat over to Unicorn Island which was a small, remote island with local people going about their business. We also went over to Ben Tre [View Full Entry]

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After being on the go, go, go and the stronger humidity in Ho Chi Minh City slowing us down, today we just went out to breakfast (no more noodles or loafs of bread --- the Vietnamese idea of ‘continental breakfast’…we had PANCAKES!). After breakfast, we hung around our hotel and rested up for the afternoon shopping at Benh Tanh Market. Holy crapola…was there some shopping to do! We got to the market about an hour before closing which worked to our advantage, as whatever they do not sell they have to pack up and cart off via motorbike! So Diane and [View Full Entry]

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We finally got moving for the day and realized we were both thirsty and starving, as we had skipped dinner the night before (imagine that!?). So we asked the front desk to show us where we can get some breakfast. Well, like in Hanoi…hand-drawn maps of HCMC don’t work. Or we are just really stupid. Anyway, we ended up going in the complete opposite direction and were getting hotter, grumpier and starved by the minute. Finally we see a sign on the 3rd floor of a building: “Coffee, Free WiFi, Ice Cream and Fast Food”. We’re in! I go up the [View Full Entry]

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For our last day in Hanoi, we figured we’d first hit the Dong Xuan Market and then wander the streets. Well, the market…very like the streets of Hanoi, is extremely chaotic and we were not too impressed with their goods. This really is a “locals” market which was interesting to see, but not to buy from. They have it all…rows and rows of silks/fabrics, toiletries, shoes, and every type of dry fish imaginable. Smells delicious! Once we were done stepping all over the shop keepers, we went outside and were talked into taking a city tour in another one of those [View Full Entry]

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We were moving pretty slow this morning and didn’t hit the streets until around noon. We strolled around Hoan Kiem Lake ("Lake of the Restored Sword"), which is in the historical center of Hanoi. It was very dreary out, with a constant mist. Since we know it could have been REALLY hot, we were actually quite fine with the overcast weather (79 degrees). However, all the locals thought of this as VERY cold and were all wearing their winter coats! It was nuts. The cloudy sky made the lake, the Huc bridge and the Tortoise Tower in the center of the [View Full Entry]

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