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Published: October 25th 2006
hi again. i feel like i just wrote a blog but that was actually weeks ago! the time goes by so fast here. we just realized we have 1 month to go and got so sad that the trip is almost over!
From Hong Kong we flew into Ho Chi Minh city...or Saigon. We ended up staying for 6 days, there was so much to do but at the same time it was really chill. We took a 2 day tour on the Mekong Delta River. Because it left so early in the morning, we forgot to get our passports back from the hostel when we left....in Vietnam they always keep your passport for some reason. and they somehow forgot to give them back! luckily after the tour we were going back to Saigon and we able to get them. It was the best time to learn the lesson....never leave your passport with reception again! We've met other people who have left the city and had to go back to get theirs. We also went on a tour of the Cu Chi tunnels, which are the underground tunnels (k i guess all tunnels are underground!), that were used during the
Don't shoot!
A sniper whole used by the Vietcong that our tour guide dared someone to fit into!war to kick the US's ass. The Vietnamese lived in them and had small holes to pop out of to shoot at the American soldiers. Then they'd duck back in and the Americans never knew where the shots came from . Plus the tunnels were so small, since the Vietnamese were tiny, that the Americans couldn't even fit in them if they tried. They actually made them bigger for tourists to walk, or crouch, through them. The guy dared people to try and fit in the sniper whole, saying you americans can't fit with your fat asses!! I waited till he left to try, just incase he was right....he was wrong!! boo ya!!! We ran into 2 guys that we had met once in Korea, so random. so we hung with them at night. there were tons of tourists there. we met other girls who were on vacation from teaching in korea who knew some of the same people we did in korea.
It's amazing how easy it is to find out what there is to do here. Hostels offer every tour and there are companies everywhere. Who needs a Lonely Planet?!!
Our next stop was Nha Trang,
My first AK-47
The guy had to hold me up so that I wouldn't fly back after shooting the gun. which has this permanent weird smell to it!! we can't figure it out, it's kinda like insence/flowers/mold!!! and the entire city smells like it, no matter where you go!! we heard so many stories of people getting their bags ripped right off them as they were crossing the street in Nha Trang, so we spent the 1 day we allowed ourselves to stay there holding onto our stuff for dear life! luckily all that got stolen from us were Marissa's sandals, which was a little odd. we took a boat trip there tht was cool. the guide sang to us with the crew playing drums and guitar and he made me dance with him.
On our long ass bus ride out of there on our way to Hoi An, we met an Aussie named Kelly and a Scottish guy named Stuart. They ended up traveling with us for about a week through the rest of Vietnam. it was great to have more than just the two of us for once, it spiced up the conversations!! Hoi An was great. Couldn't tell you what sightseeing there is to do there, but I recommend a whole bunch of tailor shops!! to
Inside the cuchi tunnel
Those things are small....we had to crawl through them...I don't know how the soldiers did it. sum it up, we got some clothes made! The streets are filled with tailor shops and it takes anywhere from 1 hour to 24 to get clothes made, depending on how many you order. since we were 3 girls ordering at once, it took the whole 24! i even had leather boots made, for $40! how crazy is that, they fit me perfectly! along with some dresses, skirts, jackets, tops....we loved Hoi An!
Next stop was Hue, a cute little town, we again didn't do much in! we were too tired form the shopping! so we went to a beach, where we were the only tourists, it was such a nice change. And this adorable little girl came up to me and i of course thought she was trying to sell me something. it turned out she just wanted to draw pictures with me in the sand. she even scoured the beach for sea shells to use as eyes! i gave her all the candy i had!
Hue was great for partying. We found this bar that was open till as late as we stayed (yet another reason to relax during the day). The DJ became our best friend,
Floating bar
That's what the guide called it...it was styrofoam with plastic cups of wine! he let us choose our own music and the second we stopped dancing he came up to us and asked us if it was cuz we did't like the music he was playing.
Our last stop was Hanoi...after another 16 hour bus ride. We didn't spend much time there because we chose instead to take a 2 day boat ride through the Halong Bay area, after hearing it was gorgeous. And it was, the only problem was we weren't allowed off the boat. All we wanted to do was swim because it was so hot sitting on the roof of the boat, but apparently it wasn't safe anywhere until 7:00 at night at which point it was too dark to see whether or not there were sharks, so i opted not to. We did get to swim for about 20 minutes the next day, so i made the most of the time and jumped right off the roof of the boat (don't worry i let about 4 guys try it before me!) We got back to Hanoi in the afternoon and left the next morning (since our visas expired), so all we really had time to do was ship
Hoi An
Getting made to measure clothes, jackets and boots in 1 day! home our tailor made clothes. We did spend one last fun night with our new friends before we parted ways though. On to the next!
There were times when people laughed at us for looking for subway restaurants and i just met someone else who said some of the places she's been don't have any western restaurants so she eats at them whenever she can...so now i don't feel bad about enjoying from time to time them rather than the local food. we do eat it, just not every meal...it gets so repetitive. Since we've been in Vietnam, we've seen 1 KFC and no mcdonald's. So I guess our western food days are coming to an end for a while. They do have western food in restaurants everywhere, but it's never the same. We get so excited to have a pizza and then find out there's no tomato sauce on it! i guess that's what you would expect in Asia! the thing that most surprised us was that the food seems really similar in every country. Of course every country has the dishes they're known for, but then everything else is the same. I've seen sweet and sour chicken
Partying in Hue
I love the background everywhere....which is great cuz that means there's always something I like! As long as we're not eating dog!
k, stuff about Vietnam that's different from everywhere else so far.....
-Entire families ride together on motorbikes. we've seen up to 5 people on 1 bike! and they're not even as big as motorcycles. Damn, skinny asians! We also see girls riding side saddle style on the back of bikes....not dangerous at all!! The majority of people here have bikes, so there are always tons on the streets, and I've seen maybe 5 helmets. But worse than that, people actually ride the bikes with their kids without them wearing helmets. We've seen a lot of women on the backs of the bikes, holding their babies, some younger than 1 year old. It drives me crazy.
-Road rules: buses come first, then cars. So everyone else must move out of their way. Then motorbikes, then bicycles. I don't think pedestrians aren't even on the list. Maybe they figured since the roads are for vehicles, people shouldn't even be a part of road rules! Cars drive down the street and honk to tell the bikes to get out of their way. and
I took over
I still had to pay even though I taxied myself! every time any vehicle approaches an intersection, they honk a couple times and then drive right through it. Breaking isn't actually necessary if you honk! Crossing the street is even worse than in China because there aren't traffic lights....anywhere. I think there was one in Ho Chi Minh, but right turns are still allowed, which raises the stakes. So there are constantly people driving, and they'll just try to go around you if you're on the street. They don't actually realize that they can just stop for you. But that would mean putting their foot down so their bike doesn't fall over. It's a tough one!
-We heard lots of stories of girls getting their bags ripped right off them by a biker when they were crossing the street, so we were extra careful with ours and luckily had no troubles. But it's crazy how they can just do that and there's no way for you to chase after them, even if you could figure out which guy did it.
-the people (women mostly) have no qualms about choosing begging as their profession. And worse than that, they get their kids into it as soon as they can walk. well i guess it's not exactly begging when they're selling you something, but when it's gum they're selling, it's pretty close. 2 year olds were selling me gum and their mothers were in back of them pointing to their stomachs and giving me this pathetic look saying 'if you don't buy that gum my family won't eat today'. and nine year-olds sell cigarettes. i guess they don't hear much of 'you can be whatever you want.'
I'm sure there's more, but this blog is long enough! Pictures take too long to put on this blog, so I sent out the kodak link again. Enjoy!
Trish
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karol epstein
non-member comment
missing you
Quite the trip you are having! I wish I could be with you! Cannot wait to see all the clothes you bought. I have been told how cheap they are tio have them made,and so original.Good for you for taking adventage! We are all trying to get back to some normality here after our so difficult week.How many people loved your nanny!!!!What a send off she had. To be missed terribly by all of us!!!! HOpe ouy are okey, Love you, Aunty KarolMiss you!!!!