Tuk Tuk?

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From Hoi An we traveled to Nha Trang where i spent my birthday. Nha Trang is known locally as Mini Moscow with the large population of Russian Tourists. My birthday was spent relaxing on the beach and taking advantge of the free beer hour at the hostel which is named I-home. As we had been drinking since about mid-day I didn't last too long when we went out for the evening and i was in bed about 10:30. After a day of the 4 us being really hungover the next point of call was Da Lat, a pretty town town in inland vietnam. We stopped at Dalat Family Home stay ( admittedly I cocked up the booking and we turned up in wrong place) which is a hostel ran by a crazy lady known as Mama.
Dalat family homestay is like no other hostel i have been to. Firstly the beds are large and communal, with no separate space to sleep. I slept on large mattress with 2 other germans. Fortunately it was a large mattress which meant we had a bit of space.

Secondly, all meals are communal and you are encouraged to peel/ prepare the food for everyone to eat. Mamma made everyone dance to the macerina whilst dancing. Strange place Da-lat.

In Da-lat we spent the day canyoning. I abseiled down waterfalls and jumped off cliffs. I struggled with the 11 meter jump as you need to jump outwards to avoid smashing yourself of a rock. The adrenaline junkies did this without question but i was close so running and slipping off as my brain saw the drop and i instinctively stopped.

Before the bus to Mui Ne, I decided it was time for a haircut and went to the local barbers. In the queue I noticed that for every client the barber would put on a head torch and cleaned out peoples ears of wax with really pointy and sharp implements. This happened to me when I had my hair cut and I was surprised by the huge glob of earwax that came out. If anyone has ever watched shrek- you could have lit a candle with it. The barber gave me a wet shave which was loads better then the torture endured in Bali.

In Mui ne we took a trip to some sand dunes and walked along the fairy stream where a guy from our hostel rode a very unhealthy looking ostrich around a paddock for about 10 mins costing him 20 quid. Later on we watched the sun set on the dunes and feasted upon crocodile, ostrich and frog at a local restaurant where they bring out a charcoal grill and they let you cook it yourself.

From Mui Ne we caught the bus to Ho Chi Min or Saigon as it is known. I spent two nights in Saigon before heading to the island of Phu Quok. We went to the war reminants museum which displayed articles and pictures of the Vietnamese War with america. One gallery was particularly moving, the gallery showed the affects of the herbicide Agent orange which was used to destroy crops and mangroves. These chemicals were teratogenic causing deformalities in newborn infants. Myself and an Israeli guy called Nir went around Saigon by night and we went up for a drink at the bar in the tallest building in saigon. The view was amazing, but we watched a small vietnamese girl be forcefed too much tequila by her ( we presume ) date. Subsequently she proceeded to vomit into two wineglasses before being forcefully removed by bar security.

The next day we flew to the island of Phu Quoc. It was halloween when we arrived and the partying was in full swing. I had only been at a bar for 3 mins before someone showered me in UV face paint. During our stay in phu quock we visited the most amazing beach i have been to yet, white sands and a turquoise calm sea. We got back to the hostel, had an amzing burger and then headed to bed, charging my mobile phone in my bedroom as I slept. When I woke up it had gone leaving me phoneless 😞 The following day to cheer me up we caught a boat around the island, snorkeled and fished and then caught the boat over to mainland vietnam and then into:



CAAMBODIA!

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