Blogs from Rach Gia, Kien Giang, Mekong River Delta, Vietnam, Asia

I am getting ready for my second Habitat trip of 2012. It is Oct 24th and so I have about 16 more days until I leave for Singapore via Hong Kong.I plan to go early via Singapore and then take the train through Malaysia, Thailand and Laos before flying the last part from Ventiane to Ho Chi Min City.Team this time is 14 with 12 from Canada and 2 from Germany. Long trip to get to Asia. Left Saltspring on Saturday Nov 10 at 0630 with Ryan. ( he is off to Hawaii). I finally arrived in Singapore at Backpackers Hostel at 0030 Monday.The cab ride was about $20 SGD. BPH has a few things to be modest about but price is ok for Singapore.I slept a bit then had shower-back in the land of showers ... read more

Monday- apparently you should "BOOK A TOUR" to and through the Mekon (from Saigon). Colette and i took this as merely tourist centres wanting us to indeed "book a tour". So we hunted down the local buses, squeezed ourselves into a small minivan filled with Vietnamese and about 5 hours later arrived in Cho Thou (? i am SO rubbish with remembering names). When we got there we got harassed by 'motorbike/ taxi/ etc" and we booked into a random hotel with a HUGE room, and a very proud owner who kept saying that he is "in the Lonely Planet". It was a tough day on the coach (well- i was in and out of sleep for most of it and trying to read my book my torch light). The day ended with some nice ... read more

I last left you in the madness that is Saigon. My last day there, I spent not knowing if it was my last day there or if I would stay for a few more. Laurenne and I decided to walk around the city and see some of the sights and eat some of the food (ofcourse!). We had some breakfast at our hotel and then wandered down to the river. Instead of finding the river, we encountered a ton of construction that once was part of the river. We then realized we were very near to an icecream shop that lonely planet claimed had the best icecream in Saigon. Even though we weren't hungry, we had to check it out. And its name is "Fanny" and how can you pass up an icecream shop with that ... read more

Greetings Fellow Bioinformaticians, I am writing to you from the Peoples Committee for the Accurate reportage of Travel and Ice Skating here in the depths of Communist Party HQ in Saigon. Today's blog will be about our ill-fated attempt to reach the supposed Island paradise of Phu Quoc. What follows is a tale in the tradition of National Lampoons Vacation and Speed (mostly National Lampoons). Saigon: January 4th 2007. A meeting at a cafe in a darkened Hemway takes place between two Swiss and two Australians Ueli: You must come, you simply must, we can't complete our mission we two only (slams fist on table takes a bite from an imported block of Swiss cheese) Dominator: Ueli's right, we need your expertise and your sexy times skills. We just can't carry on without you. Please you ... read more