Blogs from Ba Ria - Vung Tau, Southeast, Vietnam, Asia - page 4

Thankyou for the comments, its good to hear from home, the kids are now thinking about Kiama, their friends, surfing and I guess familiarity, although coming back to Saigon felt very familiar, compared to when we first arrived back in December. We are just back from a great Indian meal (a fav from our visit there in Dec). So I thought I would give you all a run down on our eating adventures (especially for those who feel they may not survive here!). Nearly every place we have eaten in all 3 countries serve spring rolls and fried rice. A great staple for those times when more familiar food is desired. KFC didnt offer either of thse choices however when we went there last night (much to my horror!!!). I went up the road later on ... read more

Hello! (Xin chao!) Another great journey to add to our collection. I'd like to add that jason made the decision to visit Vung Tau, this decison turned out to be a catostrophic one which we have decided is due to when he was cursed by a one armed man in Phnom Penh. He was cursed because he gave some money to a burnt man and a one legged man but didn't give any money to the one armed man so he became really evil shouting at him, we think, cursing a spell that any decision jason would make would be a bad one and that he constantly bangs his head!!!! needless to say we quickly made our espcape from him in our Tuk Tuk! So with Jason's decision made we booked our journey (with a few ... read more

Hey everybody! Hope all is going well in the US. Yesterday, we took an express boat to Vung Tau- a resort town about an hour and a half from Saigon. It was BEAUTIFUL! I guess I didn't realize how crazy, crowded and loud Saigon was until I got to Vung Tau- totally different atmosphere. It was calm, relaxed and very laid back. The beach was pretty crowded with lots of families- oddly enough, I didn't see many tourists. The plan was to rent bicycles and ride them around town and to the beach, however when we got to the rental location- which was filled with nealy 100 bikes or so, we were disappointed to find out there weren't enough "good" bikes (i.e. ones with working brakes and inflated tires) for all of us to have ... read more

Dear Blog, Woke up feeling so excited. I have been dreaming of visiting Vietnam for so many years that I couldn't believe that I was actually going to see it in the flesh. Me and Rachel used to while away many an uneventful night at the Radders pretending to be american commandos whilst cooking up fish and chips for the punters. Ah my mis spent (read sad) youth! Anyway, after a lovely lie in I caught the bus to the airport and endured a terrifying journey through the traffic. I have since come to understand that it is customary to drive like a lunatic in Asia, but at the time it was safer just to shut my eyes. After that the rest of the journey was fine. Checked in with no problems and the flight ... read more

6 days of Japanese translating had been as much as I could endure. I said goodbye to Yusuke as he left on his Mekong Delta trip and I departed for the Southern coast of Vung Tau, aboard a local mini bus. In Japan, honking your horn is polite. Ie, thank you for letting me in the lane, thank you for backing up to let me through the small alleyway etc. However, in Vietnam the horn is used as a battle cry. Up and down each and every road, the one commonality is the sound of perpetual honking. “I’m coming! You better get out of my way!!!” “Hey! Watch it! I’m driving here!” (and those are my polite interpretations!) You would think that a 3 hour bus trip wouldn’t be that painful, after all, I’ve ridden across ... read more