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Published: March 19th 2006
You must be this tall to enter this ride.
Young entrepeneurs lead sand dune rides, Mui Ne.Long time no blog. Sorry, if you were upset. No problem if you weren't, and you're welcome if you were sick of all this self indulgent dribble. Speaking of self indulgent, (tangential thought) the other day we wrote a scathing email to CNN who showed a piece about how a woman in NYC is suing a hotel for 20 million USD b/c she got bites from bed bugs. She had "emotional distress" and "now hotels are no fun". After yelling at the TV (Jon's favorite pasttime) we decided to act on it. I will not include the text of the email but the phrase "self-indulgent litigious buffoon" was the center piece. Also a quick thank you for all the great responses to the last entry. Either we inadvertantly guilted you or the last entry was exceptional. Either way, thanks. Okay back to the entry.
We are now in Vietnam and having a nice time of it. We booked a tour which essentially means we have our transit and accomodation taken care of and then are primarily free. A rather large relief after three months of being unsure where we'll sleep next. At least we know who we will wake up next
Phu Quoc Beach Chairs
Jon didn't see this until the last day but just knowing it existed helped the healing process to. A way to differentiate us from many of the people we meet.
Vietnam can be summed up with this blog's title. Firstly "money grubbing". Asia has a reputation of being filled with touts and people trying to rip you off. No where is this more obvious than Vietnam. While many people are honestly trying to make an honest living, you get the sense that you are always getting the "whiteman price" or are annoyed when the perfect English spoken when you order food or check-in mysteriously disappears upon the first hint of dissatisfaction or dispute over price. Funny how that happens. On the upside, we aren't really talking about a lot of money and, given the relative poverty of the world, who can blame them.
Cultural guffaws and misunderstandings are commonplace when traveling. There have been so many that it is impossible to relate them all, but I will try. Just kidding. Here is a recent one that we had to laugh at, sort-of. While having dinner the other nite in Dalat (beautiful central mountain town) the waitress asked Aneta if she was pregnant. She isn't, nor does she look it. Turns out that in Vietnam the tunic shirt
that is all the travel-wear rage is actually local maternity wear. Oooops. So that shirt is on hiatus until we get out of Vietnam. Goes to show, you never can tell.
Finally, GI distress. Another strange thing about traveling is that everyone seems to think that sharing their intestinal troubles with complete strangers is, well, okay and even expected. As an earlier email had relayed, we have been well for over 3 months. UNTIL! We arrived in Vietnam and immediately headed to Phu Quoc. Beautiful, secluded island, famous for white sand, black pepper, and fish sauce (so stinky it's banned from carry-on to Vietnam Airlines). Day 2 we both awake to very bad "issues". The good news is that if you have to choose a place to be sick in Asia, this is it. Gaze out from bed and look at the blue water. Helpful fellow traveler (nurse from Austria) with a box of meds and the bourgeous (sp?) fantasy of outdoor attached bathroom made the whole experience quite manageable. All is well now. But we obviously spoke too soon with the earlier entry.
We continue to head north stopping along the way for fresh blue crabs pulled
South China Sea-breeze
Boat trips out of Nha Trang involve a floating bar. Safety equipment included. from the South China Sea and scallops at $1 per kilo. Buses, trains, planes, and occasionally the back of a motorscooter carry us closer to home. Quick update for those of you in US of A. NYC during the last weekend in April, ATL in first week of May, and then it looks like we'll schedule the wrap party for this whole adventure in the Big Easy for Jazzfest. See you there!
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Dana
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Local Celebs
Hello local celebrities...Iam not at all surprised that others want pics with you...how is it possible that you can look fresh as a daisy just about anywhere. Very impressive Aneta. Trev wants to know if Jon has shaved since you left? Iam still cracking up over the SuperDong. BTW...that was a great entry...very well written and to the point. Very entertaining ...thank you!! MIss you both tons.