good morning vietnam

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although time was mostly spent in the south of vietnam, great intro to the country. We crossed the border into vietnam through cambodia, most efficient border crossing yet! or i guess finally... everything seems efficient after cambodia. we arrived in ho chi minh city, also known as Saigon, and made our way to the backpacker core... a street similar to khoa san road in bangkok, minus the vendors and fried cockroaches 😊 ho chi minh is a wicked city and fairly easy to navigate.... we headed to the Vietnam War Remnants Museum the first day. OR as we learned it used to be called "The human rights violations and war crimes atrocities American and French forces committed in Vietnam Museum". Pretty gruesome images of the children and adults affected during and after the war due to Agent Orange... i think i saw a few beggars on the streets who are still impacted from the war. Pretty wild to actually see the effects of the war...

rest of our time in saigon was spent dodging motorcycles and exploring... there are millions of "motos" throughout vietnam and its just one of those things you have to see it to believe it! your first couple of hours in the city you are so overwhelmed that you spend so much time just waiting for a break in the traffic. you soon learn it never comes... we actually had the help of a few seniors in crossing... they didn't speak a word of english, but almost took our hands and weaved us through the traffic! you figure they might hit the tourists... but elders? haha.

from ho chi minh we took an overnight sleeper bus to the town of Nha Trang, which is a beach town. The buses are always a gamble here... and i lost. haha... although they have these great "beds", they are not meant for anyone over the height of 5'5". i didnt end up sleeping that night, but it was well worth it for the $12 it cost and lack of traffic... and sleeping on the beach is never a bad option! the surf was too intense to go swimming, but awesome to be back on the beach! even if was a little too cold... we partied a few nights with other backpackers and stumbled (literally!?) upon a great club that was full of locals and tourists combined... fun to be out and see how they locals dance and party! and thankfully the bar was not full of the old western men looking for young brides lol

also in Nha Trang a few of us went to the Mud Bath that was posted all over the town... we were expecting something at the base of one of the mountains... but when we arrived it was a full out spa! haha... the girls loved it, the guys were a little akward. kinda strange bathing in mud, but its all an experience...

from this point we were planning on heading north up the coast for another week, but after hearing stories from other backpackers and the local paper announcing two little girls died because it was so cold, we opted to fly directly to japan... so another 10 hour bus ride back to ho chi minh, then overnight flight to tokyo!

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Photos

vietnamese street food
finally found the delicious noodles on a street in vietnam... unfortunately the vendor was on a bike and was never to be seen again

did you say moto?
only a sneak peak of the motos... i considered taking a photo crossing the round-about, but realized the locals enjoy scaring tourists haha

Nha Trang
backpacker spot in nha trang... great hangover cure

ben thanh market
i attempted to buy some shoes... the ladies all laughed when they saw my feet haha... no shoes for this girl!

Comments

[Sarah]

Hey Jenna! I absolutely love hearing about your adventures!! You're really making me want to get on a plane and come join you.. especially since I just walked home from school in a snow storm! haha Anyways, Darren tells me you'll be home in a few weeks... its crazy how fast it goes by eh?! Enjoy the rest of your trip and I'll be seeing you soon! xoxox

[heather]

haha you must seem like a giant in asia...