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Published: April 7th 2009
First off, I must apologize for taking so long to get another blog post up. We’ve been busy and the website we blog on has had numerous problems in the past couple of weeks. It just so happens that I'm writing this first half of this blog for a second time now - something happened when I was composing the most beautiful blog entry to date, and not only did the auto-save not save anything, but when I clicked on the save icon at the bottom, the computer froze and that was it, GONE!
For the first time since we left Hawaii we have seen RAIN! I'm not talking about just a little rain shower, it was a magnificent downpour that reduced the visibility to a minimum on the windscreen of the mini bus that was taking us to Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC). This trip, again, like most travel days, started early as we got up with the sun. First it was boat, then mini bus. It was relatively uneventful other than the fact that when we stopped for lunch there was absolutely no English menu to be seen. Because we hadn't had much breakfast, this was a moment when
Cu Chi Tunnels
...only Aaron was brave enough!we needed friendly English translations the most! We made some attempts at using the Lonely Planet book to translate, but were unsuccessful and so our day was fueled by Ritz crackers and Lipton Iced Tea. We arrived in HCMC a little before dark, and proceeded to make our way to the backpacker’s district. We were in search of our pal Bryan, as he landed in HCMC a day earlier and had a hotel room booked for us. It turned out his cell phone doesn't work in Vietnam and our Facebook messages never had all the information in them to find each other. So Kate and I, with no option of meeting up with him that night, did what we had to: checked into Chau Long Hotel on Minihotel Alley, and hit up the Allez Boo pub for some 2 for 1 drink specials. A couple B-52's, DC-10's and Saigon beers later, it was nighttime nap time and we would resume our search for Bryan in the morning.
First thing the next morning we checked Facebook and there it all was: all the info we needed to find Bryan was sent about half an hour after the last time we
Tyler at Cu Chi
...Tyler was much more hesitant! checked Facebook the previous evening. We marched over the Yellow Hotel, and there he was. It was an alright establishment, but, sorry to say Bryan, it had a grungy feeling to it, and the room was tiny. We convinced him to check out and we found a big room for the 3 of us, plus German Dan who would also find his way to HCMC late that morning. The 3 of us were eating some breaky, when from across the street we spotted Kate's cousin Aaron with his 5 friends, who we were also waiting for. After they checked into their hotel it was time to do touristy things with the large tourist group we now made up. We started at the Reunification Palace which is where the US and Vietnamese troops stormed the gates to overthrow the Viet Cong. After that we headed to the War Remnants Museum where there were, what else, but war remnants. I didn’t know you could strap guns and missiles to a Cessna, but there, displayed in the middle of the courtyard among fighter jets was a grey Cessna ready for battle! Later that night the 9 of us headed for supper at a
Down the rabbit hole...
Dan and Aaron hesitate before heading underground roadside soup (pho) stand and then crossed the street to wash it all down at the Go2 Bar. What a great reunion!
Good morning Vietnam, as we were up early to go on another tourist adventure to the Cu Chi Tunnels. These tunnels were fantastic! They demonstrated what it would have been like to have fought in the war 30-40 years ago. We were told that there were thousands of kilometers of tunnels all over southern Vietnam with trap doors, booby traps, sleeping quarters, blacksmith shops, underwater exit ways and kitchens. Anything you could imagine, they had down there. During our 4 hour bus ride (2 hours each way) our tour guide, who spoke great English, told us of the troubles of finding a good job in Vietnam. He completed his studies to be a teacher, but has still not managed to find a job and is paying the bills by being a tour guide. He said that some of his post secondary classmates are now cyclo drivers in town because it’s the only work they can find.
No trip in southern Vietnam would be complete without a boat trip in the Mekong Delta. The 4 of us
We made it!
The light at the end of the tunnel...is Tyler! (Bryan, Dan, Kate and I) experienced a whole variety of different ways of living as local Vietnamese people. We learned how they make coconut candy and went to a honey farm, a floating fish farm, listened to traditional music and got to ride tiny boats in narrow canals through palm forests. Aaron and company were in another group, so that morning was the last we saw of them as they were off on their own adventures. That evening, after our tour, we ate the most amazing 4 cheese pasta we’ve had since we landed in Asia at Bi Saigon Restaurant and topped rest of the evening off with some movies on our hotel TV.
06:00 came early (as it always does) but this time not for us. Not long after the alarm clock went off, Dan and Bryan were out the door to endure a 12 hour bus ride to Siem Reap, Cambodia. It was really nice to see those guys again, and we had a lot of fun in those 3 days together. Kate and I did a little bit of shopping, changed hotels (back to the smaller and more affordable Chau Long) and picked up our passports
Ka-boom!
Have you bought your tickets to the Cu Chi Gun Show yet?? from the travel agency that had organized visa extensions for us. Kate was sad to learn that the Charles & Keith shoe store she had been eyeing up for the past few days had none of the shoes she liked in her size. Poor girl. We also picked up Lonely Planet travel books for Hong Kong because we figured since we have to pass it on the way home, we might as well stop in and check it out.
The next day was our day to leave HCMC, and yes, another 6 am wake up call, but we were pretty excited to make our way to Dalat and spend a few days in a cooler climate. Dalat is at an elevation of nearly 1500 meters and is covered mostly with pine trees. There are a few palm trees, however, that grow beside the pines which shocked me because I thought that only happens in the Mackay’s backyard!
During our first full day in Dalat, we went on an organized city tour to many different locations. First we headed to the Dopplemyer Konstruked gondola (cable car) that took us overtop a forest and into a valley with a huge
lake, and a relatively new pagoda. Then it was off to the Datanla Waterfall, where we got to ride a two-person rollercoaster/bobsleigh to the bottom! VTV (Vietnam TV) was there filming what looked like a sad version of Amazing Race, but we learned later that one of the actors who was present for the shoot is very famous in Vietnam. Next we visited the Dragon Pagoda which was all sparkly and covered in thousands of broken beer bottles to resemble the scales on the dragon. I shot a bow and arrow at the Valley of Love, which was a corny place where the French used to hang out and go on dates and whatnot. The last king of ‘Nam had a vacation house in Dalat which was also a stop on our tour. The last stop was at “Crazy House” which is exactly that, a crazy house. Every room is themed; there are funny stairways, and hallways everywhere. I don’t think there was one conventionally shaped window in the entire place. It was a long, but fun and interesting day.
Early the next morning on our way for some morning food, we met Khien, a motorbike tour guide, and
scheduled a countryside motorbike trip for the following day. We took a little train (and by little, I mean, the trains here are only about half the size of the trains in Canada) into the town of Trai Mat were we went for a beer and a coffee and played some cards before heading back up the line to Dalat. That night, on our way to dinner, we walked into a little trouble, or, I should say, Kate walked into a little trouble...literally. While showing me locations on our Lonely Planet map she stepped into a large hole in the middle of the sidewalk. In her defense, there aren’t usually unmarked holes in side walks that we are used to. In the hole there was a metal pipe that did a quick surgical procedure to the right side of her right ankle. Luckily for us, this all happened right out front of a post office…oh, and the post office had a doctors office in the back of it! Very convenient. Four sutures, about an hour in time and $50 USD later, and Kate was piggy backed as far as I could manage until we hailed a cab and made out
way back to the hotel. You may wonder how the foreign doctor’s office may have been, well, we were pleasantly surprised, and everything was as clean and sterile as it needed to be. (Kate: For the record, my version of this event is much different; it was my first time getting stitches and when you get your 'first stitches ever' in a country like Vietnam, it's a little scary. Nothing about the experience was 'pleasant' for me. I'll tell you all about it when we get home, but for the sake of saving time and space, I'll leave it at what Ty wrote.)
I had to leave Kate today (she insisted I go on without her) for the motorcycle trip we had booked the day before - no motorbike rides for girls with mangled ankles! I was up early, and after fetching a take-out breakfast for Kate, I headed out to the Dalat backcountry with Khien. First stop on the list of this day’s activities was a pagoda with a dragon that took nearly two years to build. It was about 250 feet long and was built with amazing detail. We proceeded next to a greenhouse to learn about
Dalat’s “blooming economy,” stopped at a coffee plantation, and then for a coffee break. The winding road that linked all these places together is a very scenic and a thrill to drive on a motorbike. After coffee, Khien led the way to a rice wine facility that also had a mushroom farm, a silk factory and an enormous waterfall called “Elephant Waterfall.” The short story behind the Elephant Waterfall is that, a boy and a girl from opposing tribes fell in love. They were murdered by his father. There are two mountains that are the tallest peaks in the central highlands named after them. When the local elephants witnessed the murder of the lovers they all cried and made the river and some of the elephants jumped off the cliff in despair and are now the big rocks you see today at the bottom of Elephant Waterfall. What a great story! After visiting another pagoda and a very experimental traditional lunch (that I actually quite enjoyed) we made our way back to Dalat through an amazing rain storm. The roads in some places were flooded but driving through all of it was a blast! I returned to the hotel with
Sampling honey wine
...at least I think it was honey wine... get-well flowers in hand for Kate, and embarked on another of my many lonely take-out food pilgrimages so I could feed myself and my starving girlfriend.
By now we had completed our Dalat tourist sightings...or, I had anyway... so we spent a quiet day with Kate’s foot elevated while watching movies and feasted on pizza, quesadillas, salad, fried rice with vegetables, and chocolate pie. I figured those would be appropriate comfort foods for my wounded comrade.
On March 10th we took the bus to Nha Trang from Dalat, which was intense. It was the bumpiest road we have encountered since our journey has begun, with an insane mountain trail that wound us out of the Vietnam Mountains towards the China Sea. Upon arrival in Nha Trang we promptly rented a motorbike so we could get Kate around town and had a nice long dinner at a Banana Split Café (Banana Split Café is a chain in Nha Trang).
Another day of lounging around was in store for Kate and I was we spent almost the whole day at a beachside day resort named La Louisiane. Kate rested her foot as we drank some of their house beers,
and snacked the day away. We also caught up on some of our reading while we lay in some very comfy beach chairs we had rented for the day for a very affordable $2. For dinner we ate at The Spot and met two older gentlemen, Bobby and Wolson, that were clearly inebriated. They insisted we sit with them awhile and filled us full of all sorts of funny stories, some of which made no sense at all, and Wolson couldn’t even say Vietnamese properly. He kept referring to them as Viet-ma-nees, and each time Kate and I had to stifle a laugh.
Our last day in Nha Trang had been planned out; we were going to cross a piece ocean on a Poma gondola, then check out the hot springs and go to the spa. Well, that all changed once we got to the gondola station. There, we met a very nice couple from Kamloops who explained to us what was on the other side. Turns out this cable car takes us to a whole other place of fun. It’s called VinPearl Land! For $20 you had full access to this amusement park that includes the gondola ride,
roller coasters, other thrill rides, a huge water park with a wave pool and amazing slides, an aquarium, an arcade and luxurious beach set up among other things. Well, let me tell you, there went our trip to the spa. VinPearl Land took over the rest of our day. I know I had a lot of fun, but it was a little bit of a bummer because Kate’s foot kept her from doing a lot of the real fun rides, and she had to keep it dry and rested. We spent many hours there before we had to get back to our hotel for a late check-out, eat some supper, and get on the night bus for the 10 hour journey to Hoi An.
Well, this is the end of this post that has taken me nearly a week to complete. By now we’re already in Laos; Kate is writing another blog segment right beside me about Hoi An and the rest of 'Nam. However, there seems to be a problem with blog site we’ve been using, so this post was posted as soon as it was able. Sorry to everyone for how long it’s been since the last
Dalat City Tour - sight #1
Gondola ride with our guide and the lovely Celia post! Keep reading, please respond, because we love hearing about things at home and anything else you'd like to tell us about!
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momcin
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you two can write a book!
You've captivated my senses and attention Ty! Do old people like dad and I do the backpacking, South East Asia trekking too? I can see your renewed excitement to get back in the 172, strap on a few missiles and guns and your good to go! As I continue to read, I can only think of the blessing your budding literary skills (thanks Kate!) and your love of history has contributed to a well rounded adventure. I really appreciate the time you have taken to share so much information on the blogs! They will have lots of shoe stores in Hong Kong Kate! Do you think Brian would have enjoyed the challenge of finishing the Crazy House? Don't you wish all the stories you read at South Kelowna were like the Elephant story Ty? I could comment on every picture and every paragraph, so enticing! Poolside at Louisiane, so inviting; the tunnels, so unnerving - maybe even the gondola ride across the water, but with VinPearl land at the other side, I'd do it! Kate's ankle, ouch! But what a blessing a doctor's office was right there and ONLY $50. (I do look forward to hearing your side of the story though Kate) Anyway, gotta run, we are off to travel the highways and byways to beautiful Alberta and will view our travels in a whole new light looking for Elephant Stories, Three Musketeers, Coconut Candy and Honey wine. Hmmm, maybe dad and I should start a blog? We had some pretty exciting stuff happening in Dallas, Texas last week and skookum hockey at Planet Ice in PoCo! lol