A Journey to Well Known Places

In Hoi An Marc got 2 suites made at Yaly’s. They look great, defiantly worth the extra cost. I got a dress made that I hated and didn’t bother to pick up, but Marc and I did pick up some winter coats for Portland winters. Marc, being a life-long Texan, will really need it. Having lived in Texas the last 5 years, I will need it too. I freeze now if it gets below 70 degrees. My advice on Hoi An - know what you want before you go looking around. Also, you always get what you pay for. A $30 suite is a $30 suite. Vietnam is not a particularly fashionable nation, as I have learned, buy they will make you a copy of anything you want.

We took a miserable bus ride to Nha Trang from Hoi An. We were the last on the bus, got the back seats that didn’t recline, and spent the next 12 hours in utter discomfort. I slept on the guy next to me for a while, who was really quite nice about being drooled on, while Marc didn’t sleep at all. Again, the usually Asian bus experience applies. People puking, vehicles honking, terrible. We got off, found a hotel, went to napping. Nha Trang was less than memorable other than the glorious lobster dinner Marc and I shared on the beach. You just pick out your lobster and they put it on a little grill set up right on the sand. Glorious! We got pick-pocketed by we think 6 women in a group, sucks, but we were drunk and should have known better. Happens. The beach here was not great so we took off for Paradise Resort at Doc Let beach for a week. Spent the whole time doing nothing on a beautiful, relatively isolated beach where the water was fantastically clean. And we got fed 3 times a day. You only had to put up with a crazy old Russian with whom I actaully got into a bit of a tiff with. All was forgiven by the next day. We swam around in the ocean at night and experenced bioilluminesence. You can see stars in the sky and the sea. Amazing.

Back to Nha Trang and on to Dalat. Mountain town, pretty, cheesy. That’s pretty coma cheesy. Not pretty cheesy but it’s that too. Vietnamese come here to honeymoon and Marc and I were repeatedly asked if we had plans to wed there. Have I mentioned that? The first thing anyone asks us is OK, where are you from, how old are you, and then are you married. Of course we are not. Then they ask us when the wedding is. We have started saying “not today.” They look at both of us and ask how old we are again. Sometimes we even get “next time you bring baby.” Or “I hope you to marry soon.” Hmm. I am a bit appreciative of the bluntness of these comments, but it can be a little unsettling - at least at first. I have grown used to being asked personal questions in the first 2 minutes of meeting.

So from DaLat to Muine. Again, puking on the bus. This time bags get handed up the bus and are thrown out of the door. Muine is a resort town, beaches are very nice, meals are expensive. At this point Marc and I ready to get out. Two days later we head to Saigon. We are staying in district 1 and are planning a trip on the Mekong and into Cambodia. Saigon is huge with so many people. I actually really like it - more than any other city in Vietnam. Yesterday we walked a couple of miles outside the backpacker district and into the Chinese one. We stopped at a beer place where we were the only westerners as far as the eye could see. Many people joined us and wanted us to try whatever was on their plate. One thing we have learned is to never say no to food or a toast, which there were many. We have not really had the chance to stray far from the tourist trail as we bought a very cheap open bus ticket, and I would not recommend it. Our time is wrapping here and we are anxious to get on to Cambodia.

Tops of Vietnam:
Sapa’s minority villages
Halong Bay - don’t miss it
Hue Imperial Palace and pancakes
Paradise Beach Resort
Drinking on the cheap in Saigon

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