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Asia » Vietnam » Southeast » Ho Chi Minh City March 31st 2006

Alarm was set for 7AM, but Felicia woke up early, so we got up. Had breakfast at the hotel (included) then headed out to do HCMC in a day. First stop was the Reunification Palace. We had an English speaking guide and ended up touring the facility with another American. Then on to the War Remnants Museum, which had a lot of history about the war, including information about the lasting effects of Agent Orange (replete with pickled malformed fetuses in jars). Had lunch at Bunto, “Where Everything is Bun.” Bun is a Vietnamese noodle bowl; it has raw veggies on the bottom, vermicelli rice noodles in the middle, grilled meat on top, and you put a nice sauce over everything. Stopped to see the General Post Office, which is a grand old building, and walked ... read more
Dining Room
Cabinet Meeting Room
Uncle Ho

Asia » Vietnam » Red River Delta » Hanoi March 31st 2006

We got an early bus to Vientiane. The bus was quite boring but we did take the opportunity to hang the camera out the wiondow to dry it out which did the trick. Bonus! The bus stopped at the airport first and we made the split decision to try and hop on a plane to Vietnam. When we got there we were told that todays flight was full, but we could go on standby and wait. So we did. We managed to haggle the price of the airfare down $11! We have become masters of haggling. Everything has a price. We got really lucky and got 2 seats on the flight on standby. Off to Vietnam. We were a little sceptical about the state of the aircraft but the flight was nothing to worry about at ... read more
Hanoi 2
Hanoi 3

Asia » Vietnam » Red River Delta » Hanoi March 31st 2006

In my first two days in Vietnam I enjoyed the company of the Vietnamese Police on two occasions. First, the bus ride from hell was just that... *the bus had air conditioning but opted not to turn it on *the bus was not overbooked but because there were boxes on all of *the seats there were people sitting in the aisle all night it took two hours to get through Vietnamese immigration *The rear wheel blew and had to be replaced first to a spare and then to a new one (two seperate stops) *25+ hours in to the ride we get stopped by the police and the bus is taken apart and the boxes searched at which time it is discovered that there were live snakes being smuggled on board. We also saw some turtle ... read more
Halong Bay 2

Asia » Vietnam » South Central Coast » Quảng Nam » Hoi An March 31st 2006

Phuc (pronounced "fup") is 13 years old. He is smart as a whip and speaks english well,"what’s up love?" I believe were his first words to me. Phuc supports his family of 7 by working both days and nights on the streets selling postcards from a plastic bag. Mom, Dad, 1 brother, 2 sisters and grandmom all live on the boat, which consists of a few rotting bamboo mats for a roof to help cover from the rain. Today I met Phuc's cousin, Bich. Bich is 22 with an 18 month old daughter. She is from another village outside of Hoi An and came here for work when the father left the baby. She has borrowed a boat to live on, but has nothing. And when I mean nothing, I mean nothing. She works 7AM to ... read more
We see you!
Kitchen
Karen & Bich

Asia » Vietnam » South Central Coast » Khanh Hoa » Nha Trang March 31st 2006

Stepping off the bus in Nha Trang was like stepping into an oven. We left the cooler weather behind in the highlands and back on the coast things are salty and sweaty once again. Luckily for us we found a sweet room - it's nice and big with a balcony overlooking the road so we can people watch in the evenings, and all the smells from the nearby restaurants waft up and entice us out to dinner. It's great. Being unable to dive (Corb has asthma), we've mainly been relaxing here in Nha Trang which has been a nice change from being so busy lately. Luckily for us the food is fantastic with cheap eats on the street and delicious fresh seafood available almost everywhere. Today we explored a bit, starting at the Cathedral which was ... read more

Asia » Vietnam » South Central Coast » Quảng Nam » Hoi An March 30th 2006

Thank you for all of your mesages! They have made me feel much better! We are in Hoi An now and we are enjoying ourselves! Will get in touch soon with longer entry! Sara, great to hear from you! I was just thinking about you the other day! Glad to know your babies are fine! Not so good about going to work hey? Grandad is still unwell but thanks for all of your get well soon wishes! Obrigada Bruno mas estou bem de dinheiro. Thanks all the same! :) RoOj xxx... read more

Asia » Vietnam » Mekong River Delta March 29th 2006

Got up early, checked out of My My and walked to Sinh Café to get the bus for the Mekong Delta. First stop was Cai Be. Then we stopped to see coconut candy making. Next, rice paper (spring roll wrapper) making. Then popped rice making. Back in the boat, but the tide was low (on top of being dry season), so the boat started to hit the bottom. First everyone had to move to the front of the boat, but when that didn’t help, everyone had to get out. We walked a couple kilometers along the canal to the place we had lunch. After lunch, we saw a traditional Vietnamese music performance (basically, the family that owned the restaurant played and sang for us). Got the ferry to Can Tho (biggest city in the Mekong Delta) ... read more
Coconut Candy
Rice Paper
Making Rice Paper

Asia » Vietnam » Central Highlands » Lam Dong » Da Lat March 29th 2006

Finally some cooler weather! In Da Lat we even had to drag out the jumpers as we wandered past the lake and mini Eiffel Tower in the evening. Lonely Planet described Da Lat as very kitsch and they weren't kidding. We hired motorcycle guides and zoomed our way around the city and beyond, seeing all sorts of tacky sights and stunning vistas in between. There was one awesome pagoda (the Linh Phouc I think) where giant dragon sculptures were made from pieces of beer bottles and decorated with mosaics of broken crockery. The views from the top weren't too shabby there eithere. The strawberry shakes and lollies were great (so much better and more addictive that the coconut lollies), as were the vegetarian noodles from the friendly guy at the market. Sadly the over-the-top tacky, the ... read more

Asia » Vietnam » Red River Delta » Hanoi March 28th 2006

Hello all!! we are currently in the hustle and bustle of Hanoi, vietnam. But before I begin telling you lot about the joys of this place, i must go back some 7 days and describe the hardest thing that my body has ever been through, which occured back in borneo, when we climbed south east asia's tallest peak, mt kinabalu. To get straight to the point, it was by far the toughest thing, physically, mentally, and emotionally, difficult thing we have ever attempted! we started the climbed with our guide at just after 0930, and 5 minutes into the ascent it started to rain. Lucky for us the rain did not ease until we reached the lodge, some 6km, 5 hours later. Only then did it decide to stop. The climb was initially an enjoyable one, ... read more
The start of the climb!
Half way up......
2/3 rds of the way.....

Asia » Vietnam » Southeast » Ho Chi Minh City March 28th 2006

Just a quick update guys A couple of nights ago I was burgled. In my own house whilst I was there. They took my laptop, my money but more importantly my digital camera. Lisa from university is over here for two weeks and we have already been to Phu Quoc and Can Tho in the Mekong and all of those beautiful picture shave now been taken away from me. I'm not a happy bunny at the moment as my grandad is also in hospital and from the news that get filtered down to me he isn't doing so good :( Anyway sorry for lack of inspiration today... hope everyone is ok and i miss you all like crazy!! Rooj xx... read more




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