Finally, a shorter bus day! It was actually a lovely drive from Hoi An to Hue. Along the way we passed through Danag (a super modern looking city, thanks to it being completely destroyed during the war!) and had some very scenic views through a mountain pass. I can't believe how many mountains there are in Vietnam! We also saw "marble mountain" which is one of 5 mountains made of marble. That one has a pagoda on it and is not mined, but the other 4 are (and are thus shrinking...). We visited one of many marble factories/stores and I was [View Full Entry]

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I'm currently staring at the pile of stuff I bought on my bed, and trying to figure out how I'll transport it around Vietnam, and also get it on the plane back home. Hm...this may take all evening. Sunday- Had another lovely supper, thanks to lonely planet! This time pasta at a restaurant with an Italian chef. May try Vietnamese again next time, now that I'm properly fed. After supper we found a shop with the most beautiful silk bedding- like sheets, pillow covers, and comforters. Wish I had room to bring one of those home! We also went to a [View Full Entry]

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Saturday: Yet another looong bus drive, from Dalat to Nha Trang, a beachside resort. So lots of hotels, restaurants, beaches and touristy stuff! We left the mountains, which made for some scenic views. Stopped at a temple that looked like a mini angkor wat. More than any country I've been to so far, people are really trying to rip us off by shortchanging us. So far, I much prefer the Cambodian people! Oh, I did go to my most adventerous toilet yet- a squat toilet with walls made up of sticks and a tarp, on the side of a mountain! So [View Full Entry]

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Thursday: A long, long bus day! We went about 300 km in EIGHT HOURS. Ahhh. The traffic wasn't bad, and no other bus has been this slow! Makes me wonder if there's something going on, or something wrong with the bus! Cause that's like...30 km/hr. The whole trip including stops was supposed to be 8 hours, but it was more like 10. Uneventful day with lots of gross food. I want some Pho No 1! Winnipeg Vietnamese food is way better than the stuff here. We stopped at a hill tribe village (chicken village) to see the big chicken statue (not [View Full Entry]

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Hello from Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City! I'm well on my way for my last portion of my trip, the three week long tour of Vietnam! We've spent the last few days exploring Saigon and the Mekong Delta. Monday: Another city tour on cyclos. These cyclo drivers were much less friendly than the Cambodian ones! Saw all the sites, not super interesting but fun to drive around on cyclos. Went to the war museum which told the story of the American war from the side of the northern communists. Quite interesting! No mention of the south Vietnamese resistance to becoming communist. It [View Full Entry]

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Tuesday: 2nd day in Siem Reap. Got up at 4:30 AM to watch the sun rise over Angkor Wat. Not exactly the most amazing thing I've ever seen, but I'm not too into sunrises (saw too many over them working overnight!). There were tons of people there too, so it's a pretty popular way to start the day. It was pitch black when we got there (no lights, and also no safety railings on the bridge you had to walk across to get there!). All my pictures turned out crap too, because I can't find any night settings on my camera. [View Full Entry]

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Well I spent 30 minutes typing a huge entry and it got deleted. So I reufse to retype it now, so all you get is pictures. Oh, and go here http://www.beat-richner.ch/ Sorry, blame travelblog! [View Full Entry]

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Photo post! Enjoy. [View Full Entry]

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NOt typing on the greatest keyboard, so excuse the mistakes! I"m in Siem REap right now- the LAs VEgas of Cambodia! SEriously. When you think of Cambodia do you think of trendy bars and restaurants, free wifi in all the cafes and a million tourists? Well thats what it is like here! GOing back... Friday night got back from the airport and MArg had plans for the evening, so I had the apartment to myself and pretended I lived in Bangkok, haha. Perhaps BRent can be convinced into letting me lead alife of leisure and taking a job at MArg's school... [View Full Entry]

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Edited: Somehow I added the same pics as the previous entry to this entry, but the new ones are just further down the page, after the older pics. Make sure you take a look because there's cute monkeys and fish in them! So today was my big boat trip to the Phi Phi Islands (after you say their name you must then say "that's where the movie 'The Beach' was filled with Leonardo Dicaprio!"). The tour company is owned by an Australian couples, and the wife Jenny was with us, along with her son. There were also Thai guides on the [View Full Entry]

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