We made it back to Saigon from Cambodia with no trouble at all (once again on a practically empty flight - I don‘t get why more people don‘t go to Cambodia close to monsoon season. What’s a little rain and oppressive heat?). It was actually greatly pleasing to arrive someplace for once with which we were marginally familiar (like, I won’t get lost this time walking around the block - yes, that really did happen last time we were here). We had our last pho of the trip and picked up a few other souvenir type things since our luggage is still underweight (but barely - I have .8 of a kilo left only, but I’m filling it out if it kills me). And imagine our utter joy when we arrived at our hotel and there ... read more

Saigon, baby. Officially Ho Chi Minh City, but absolutely no one here refers to it as such. It’s all Saigon and it’s freakin’ hot. How hot you ask? Hot enough to turn us both into sweaty messes within minutes of hitting the outdoors - let me correct that …the hallway (which is not air-conditioned in our hotel). Quite the sight to behold. As a result of the crazy heat and humidity the flat iron (as predicted) is now completely useless. Curses, I hate not lookin’ good : ( Our only consolation is that the locals are finding our inability to withstand the heat hilarious and we’re happy to entertain (“Very hot!”). We’ve had shop owners point fans at us when we go in and it seems everyone wants to sell us a fan or cold water. ... read more

(Note from Lyla - Today's blog entry is brought to you by T as I am otherwise occupied, ahem, okay really just luxuriating by the pool). Good morning Vietnam!!! That was for you bro! Before I begin I must say…It’s a bag and not a purse!!!! In Hanoi, we had a tour visiting the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum (and viewed Ho Chi Minh’s body), the Ethnology Museum, the Temple of Literature, a cyclo tour of the Old Quarter and a water puppet show. My favourite parts were hands down seeing a dead guy and the cyclo tour. In all seriousness it was a humbling experience to walk by such a great man in Vietnam’s history and reunification. Ho Chi Minh even refused to live in the presidential palace and chose to lead his country from a ... read more

On our way out of Kunming we had extra time so we decided to hit the local flower market. The only catch - to get to it you have to pass through a coffee and candy factory. Ah well, so be it. Boy were we in for a wild ride…there were hundreds of other tourists and the shop floor was so stacked with product that only a single narrow path was left to make your way through the sea of goods for sale. The hundreds of us were pushed through like cattle at a pace so quick it prohibited browsing of any kind. Through the maze, sales people on megaphones were describing all the products (we think, the announcements were only in Mandarin so we had no idea what they were selling). All was not lost, ... read more

The food, the food, the food…where to begin? Since I’ve got a fairly adventurous gullet, I’m up to try almost anything (and have) once as long as its grossness factor doesn’t go above eight. The scale (created in collaboration with the many good friends who I’ve made try stuff first) goes from 1 (not gross at all, but has the illusion of unpleasantness, like snake soup) to 10 (so revolting in appearance, odour or concept that I won’t even try it). These latter delicacies might include duck foetus or anything that is still alive when you bite into it. Of course there are those foods that look tasty but turn out to be frightfully bad, like a raw olive (which I made Shasta try first anyway, brave girl that she is. It may well be what ... read more