From gloomy to long awaited SUNSHINE!

A 15 hour bus ride later from Noi An to Nha Trang (beach capital of Vietnam) and there was still NO sun.  It was definitely a whole lot warmer here but still misty rain, so much for swimming and sun bathing at the beach capital.  So how did we keep busy on a rainy day?  Went to a photography museum, saw a BIG Buddha, meditated to a prayer, and crammed into a small taxi with our new friend Phillipe from Switzerland, who we actually met at Cat Ba Island and have seen at almost every city we stopped at after that.


Not much to write home about here so I made a list of some "did you knows" about Vietnam.

*Most public bathrooms are squatters, there is a place for each foot and a ceramic type bowl where you do your business and it drains off - who knows where - far from sanitary or comfortable for that matter, BUT if you went to college (girls) you learned how to pop a squat - except for here you actually have somewhere to aim and the smell is far worse than the random alley you pick while bar hopping or finding your way back to the dorms.

*Usually you have to pay 10 cents, there is NO toliet paper and sometimes no sink for you to wash your hands.

*Bottled water only, about 30 cents for 1.5 liters if you bargain them down.

*Most places facebook is prohibited.

*They LOVE karaoke here.

*This internet cafe asks you to take your shoes off before you enter.

I will add on more to this list as I go.

HERE IS THE SUNSHINE PART!!!! ----- we are currently in Mui Ne - another beach town that is far more beachy than the last town.  It's FINALLY SUNNY here - woooohoooooo!!!!  It's warm, it's sunny, the feel good hormones are kicking in and we are happy!  Last night Rachel and I ate and drank coconuts on the street.  I was so excited! It was my first coconut with real coconut juice and then we ate the inside out with a spoon...sooo filling and hydrating.  Later on, we met some French guys and went to a bar on the beach where I ended up pretty much falling asleep on the bean bag chair because I was exhausted from our past two long hauls.  I'm NOT complaining...it was perfect being on the beach, drinking a beer and watching some guy play with fire.  We had to call it an early night because there were no blankets for us to actually sleep on the beach, otherwise I would have bc our hostel is not the best, but we have air conditioning!

Today we walked through a red stream and saw red sand.  We walked up to a waterfall and ran into some school children who wanted to talk to us in english, super cute!  On the way back we snuck into a resort and took a dip in their pool and layed on their pool chairs.  The ocean was RIGHT there also. Rachel and I decided to take a cab back to the hostel and before we got in we agreed that it would cost 10,000 dong (50 cents) when we got out he pointed to the meter and said it was 56,000. NOT what we agreed on (we didn't even negotiate a meter!) so we started arguing and he got some guy to translate, who barely spoke english, and we ended up giving him the 56,000 because I guess in the end arguing over 50 cents or about $3 was not worth it, because it was still cheaper than ANY cab ride in America (although I could buy lunch with that money and probably include a beer).

Today is a rest day and we plan on going out later.  Tomorrow it's another bus ride to Saigon.

Here's a link to my pics, right now this computer won't let me load any new ones, but I will soon!

http://annabanana26.shutterfly.com/pictures/5

Everywhere I go, I see the same...people!

The other night in Hue, Rachel and I lost Brian and Jenny at the market so we decided to sit down in the middle of the street on these tiny chairs by these tiny tables and had a beer with the locals.  Nobody spoke english, but we definitely knew that they were laughing AT us.  Maybe it was because our knees were ABOVE the little tables we were sitting at or maybe it was because we barely fit our left buttcheeks on the chairs everyone was sitting on - regardless they were amused and we stopped caring after we started drinking.  One of the men was pretty friendly and let us look at his sweet war zippo...we wanted to talk to them and ask them questions but the hand gesturing didn't get us very far.

Later on while roaming the streets we found Brian and Jenny at an Indian restaurant.  We joined them and split a chicken curry dish with naan.  We went to a couple bars, had a few drinks, played some pool and met some people from Vancover.  On our walk back we were accompained by a bat and a rat - which left us screaming and running thru the alley back to our hostel.  The next day we went to the "forbidden purple city" where the emperors used to live.  It was misty raining outside but I thought it to be refreshing and a sort of enhancer to the colors of nature - if you will :). 

As I type this, we are currently in Hoi An.  It's warmer here, but still no sun.  This is the city where people come to get their clothes made.  Last night we walked around the city..where the power went out a few times and the street was pitch black...not so safe for a place where they warn you to watch your belongings.
We ate Cat Lau...noodles, salad, sauce, and pork...delicious but left me hungry..so I ate a chicken sandwich...shaved chicken pieces...on a baguette...lettuce...sauces...it was yummy!  Then we went to a bar where we saw the same Danish kids we met at Cat Ba Island.  We also saw some French people we passed by at Cat Ba as well.  The bar was playing sweet American music and we ordered pitchers of alcohol...4 pitchers...one for each of us - it was happy hour!  Played some cards..and met some new cool people from Toronto and Ft. Lauderdale (originally Chicago).  They gave us the scoop on what NOT to eat in Laos and where to find the "good stuff" in Thailand.

Today Rachel and I rented bikes and went up to the beach.  We ran into the kids from Vancover!  We also stopped a bunch of school children and asked them to perform a dance for us.  They were sooo excited, and their energy really picked up my spirits...considering there is no SUN here.  I practiced my Vietnamese and they practiced their english.  They were about 15 years old.

Sidenote: Remember when in school they used to tell you that you couldn't wear certain shirts because they were offensive, I remember this kid wore a shirt that said "mean people suck" and he got sent home.  Well this girl I met today was wearing a shirt that said "I get frisky when I drink whisky" hahahahahhahahhahaha!!

It was karaoke day at the market...they were dancing and singing and I think celebrating a birthday.  So we stood around and watched...I wanted to dance with them, but I'm so GINORMOUS compared to them, they'd probably just laugh.  Rachel and I got pedicures and they charged extra for nail polish...speaking of ginormous...the bucket that I was supposed to put my feet in, barely fit my toes!  I ordered a dress to be made, I have a follow up appointment tomorrow for a fitting and then at 6pm we take the bus to the next city!  Getting closer and closer to hotness and sunshine!

Adventure...lands!

Welcome to Vietnam!  So far Vietnam has been on adventure after another.  Lets start off at my lay over in Tokyo where I had 3 hours to play with their awesome automated toilets.  One press of a button and an electronic badeau pops out and sprays you with warm water for as long as you please.  I for one, thought that if it was accompanied by a squirt of soap - it would have been the ultimate experience.  Still this is more exciting than the typical US toliet.
--> As I write this (I wrote in my journal first) we are on a 9 hour overnight bus to Hue, Vietnam from Nanh Binh.  This bus is nothing like I've ever experienced before.  There are no seats in this bus, just reclining beds.  Three rows with about 6 or 7 beds per row, with 2 levels...pretty crowded, but surprisingly comfy.

Anyway, so I met Rachel in Hanoi, Vietnam where it took me another hour to get my visa and my backpack and I thought Rachel was going to leave me there.  But thankfully she didn't and we were off in a cab to our hostel where I met Brian and Jenny. First day in Hanoi, I was in awe of the culture - work, eat pho, go back to work.  Hanoi was crazy busy with people going places on their motorbikes and funny facemasks to keep them warm and I assume to lessen the inhalation of pollution.

We made our way to an island east of Hanoi - Cat Ba Island.  Speaking of adventures, just getting out there had to take 2 buses, a boat, and another bus.  Mind you the roads are bumpy, windy and loud with constant beeping from everyone to let everyone else know your coming behind them, to the left of them, to the right of them, in front of them, or even above their head!

Finally we make it to Cat Ba where we rented motorbikes and cruised around the island.  I went rock climbing for the first time and when I cam down I couldn't stop shaking from the adrenaline rush.

We learned very quickly that there is the "good pho" and the "instant ramen noodle soup pho" and before we eat we now make sure it's the "good pho" with rice noodles.

During our 3 day stay at Cat Ba we checked out a cool hospital cave that they actually used during the war!  We went to the national park and hiked up a hill with a beautiful view and clean crisp air.  It was super high but totally worth it!  Rachel and I ventured out to "Monkey Island" where there were supposed to be endangered monkeys but we didn't see any :(.  It was a 2 hour boat ride but it was worth it to see the cool rock formations that we passed on the way there and back.

After Cat Ba Island we went to Ninh Binh and checked out some cool caves on a 2 hour boat trip where we ended up rowing 2/3's of the time in and out of caves, which was sooo beautiful!  We also climbed up a LOT of stairs to the top of a pagoda with another beautiful view.  Even though the weather is far from paradise...cloudy, misty, low 50s, Vietnam is definitely beautiful.


-->It's 6am on this bus and we are "almost" at Nue - and the adventures continue....