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Published: December 17th 2008
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On our way snorkelling in Nha Trang
pretty scenery above and below the water Wow... almost the end of my time in Vietnam, and SE Asia in general... it's been really awesome, crazy, and a mavelous experience.
So, I'm whiling away time til my night bus to HCMC, and figured this could take a fair bit of time to write, so here goes....
After Tram Chim (rice) wine'd, dine'd, and fete'd us, we took a series of forms of public transportation back to Can Tho... first a motorbike about 40 km to where we could catch the first of 2 local buses home. It was very crowded, noisy, and interesting. There is a hawker in most of the local buses who stands in the open door shouting "Can Tho" or whatever city is the bus' destination, even when the bus is moving, which it is, almost all the time. It hardly even stops for people getting on or off the bus, unless they're old ladies or have lots of luggage, or both. At one point, our first bus pulled over to the side of the road, and the driver and hawker proceeded to kick two guys out of the front seat and put it on TOP of the bus. I wish I had
a picture. The bus then picked up an old lady who had at least ten really large baskets of produce, which took the place of the seat, and the men had to sit on stools in the aisle. That is common in other public buses we took- people sitting in aisles and everywhre else on the bus.
We got back to Can Tho safely, and worked like mad for a few days, trying to get our ISP papers together so we could meet two of our friends on the lovely beaches of Nha Trang. We also managed to fit in a very nice Thanksgiving dinner at our house, with me, Sara, and three of our Vietnamese friends- Tien, Duy, and Angela. Angela made the most amazing apple pie I've ever had. She arrived at our house with a portable toaster oven on her lap, and all the ingredients! We made casava mashed potatoes (we couldn't find our regular potato lady), greenbeans, corn on the cob, and stirfried snap peas, mushrooms, and tofu. And Tang to drink! It was quite a feast!!
Then Sara and I dashed off to Nha Trang, taking a bus from HCMC. The beaches were
Apple pie and Angela!
our amazing Thanksgiving dessert!!! the best apple pie I've ever had, probably really pretty, but the waves were much too big to really play in... So we all went snorkelling and saw the Vietnamese coral reefs, which were pretty, but sort of cloudy, and not too healthy, I think. But I liked it because it was my first time snorkelling, and I was with my friends, which makes anything more fun. We also sampled the night life there, and ate some really fake Mexican food (made me miss TexMex a lot!). Another night we ate Indian, which was really good! It's a pretty touristy town, but a nice break from the paper writing...
I barely finished my paper and powerpoint in time for the presentation, but I got it done, of course. All of our presentations lasted exactly 30 minutes, which is how long they were supposed to be, so I hope I can replicate that exactness in future presentations at school.
Anyway, after that, we revisited all our old haunts and said goodbye to all our friends... We went to Xe Loi club one last time (taking Tien, who'd never been clubbing before), along with Duy, Angela, Uyen, and a bunch of us. We ate at the first vegetarian
Mama Dog
the Phu Quoc Ridgeback mama dog who lived with her two little furry black puppies at our house. Who knew there were other ridgebacks besides the rhodesian? place where we'd eaten at the beginning of our stay in Can Tho, and went back to Guest House Number 2, and the Orphanage where we had spent the MidAutumn Festival... we gave them our bikes, clothes, and other miscellaneous useful items.
Then, as a group, we went to Vung Tau- our last trip together! It was nice, actually playing in the :fun-sized" waves, since the sand was flat and shallow, and the water warm enough. Vung Tau is also famous for its huge Jesus statue on top of a hill, so we climbed up the hill, and then up to Jesus' shoulders, where we had a nice view and made a number of jokes....
The last day and a half we had in HCMC, coming full circle again. We stayed in our first hotel there, and ate broken rice again, went to the same market... We also had dinner at our academic director's house, which was really nice! we met his wife, and daughter, and parents in law, so that was fun. Then, we took Tien to her first movie in a theatre! and saw High School Musical III. I'd never seen the earlier ones, but it
splash!
diving into the water from the top of the boat... (I was just the photographer) and I didn't do the best job lol wasn't too bad. We laughed a lot at some of the really ridiculous parts. Then we went back to our hotel and just talked and watched youtube videos late into the night. It was a nice last evening, all eight of us together.
And today, I just gone done with a two day one night trek around Dalat, with Sara. It was really beautiful, and we met lots of nice people on the way! The mountains are part jungle-y and part pine forest. The lake, Lake Tuyen Lam, was only made 25 years ago, when the dammed the stream.... we camped on an island there, after having climbed Elephant Mountain, and today, we climbed Pinhat mtn, with an elevation of 1770m. It was a bit steep, but the views were gorgeous!!! Dalat is at 1500 m.
We also went to the "flower garden" ie botanical garden here, which was a bit dull, as this is the off season, but still nice. They had a lot of bonsai trees, and some orchids, and lots of other flowers. I'm sure it's much nicer in the tourist season. We also went to the market, which wasn't too interesting, though they are
Xe Loi
our last night in Can Tho. livin' it up! famous here for their coffee, strawberries, and other fruits. We met some other Americans, and lots of Australians and Europeans, and spent time with them, having coffee, and wandering aroun the city at night. It was cool. And the temperature there is definitely chilly! I'm obviously not ready for cold weather when I get home.... ah well. That's what I get, for having six months of summer!
Anyway, that sums it up in brief, and I'll add pictures probably when I'm in the US again. Yay!!!
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