Hue, Vietnam

Well the shopping didn't end in Hoi An! We got into Hue in the evening after a short 5 hour bus ride. We checked into our hostel and went out for a Vietnamese dinner. The food here is delicious. There specialities are noodle soups including pho, Bon cha, Bon Bo and many others. While we were at dinner we kept staring down the shop across the street. With everything so cheap and made to fit you we just couldn't help ourselves and we ended up shopping after dinner. I got 2 pair of pants and a dress. I literally probably couldn't fit a pencil in my pack right now it's so full. The next morning we had to be up at 5:30am to head out for our DMZ trip. On this trip we visited the former border of Vietnam separating North and South, one of the battlefields where a lot of the fighting took place, more tunnels that Vietnamese soldiers lived in and a cemetery of fallen soldiers. At the battlefield it was an eerie feeling walking on the ground that a major war occurred. It also disgusted me that there were men there selling medals and such from fallen soldiers that they have found over time. Our tour guide gave us many facts about the places we visited and the war but her English was a little difficult to understand so don't ask me for details. This tour was 12 hours in total most of it spent on a bus. When I flew to Seoul for the first time I remember thinking a 12 hour flight felt like an eternity but after this trip and the countless 12-16 hour bus rides I feel like the flight home will fly by! Anyways, back to Hue. The next morning we just hung out at our hostel for awhile. Our hostel had a great lobby where there was always a good deal of backpackers hanging around which allows you to meet a lot of people. Later in the afternoon we rented bicycles and rode to the Citadel. This was the housing for royalty and many religious buildings. It was destroyed during the war but they have been working to rebuild it. It's sad to go to all these major places and hear about what all the war destroyed . After riding and walking for a few hours it was time to go back and shower to get ready for our 15 hour train ride. Lychelle was taking the bus so she had to leave earlier than us but Molly and I just couldn't do another sleeper bus so we opted for the sleeper train. After Lychelle left Molly wanted to go for one last quick bike ride as the city was very beautiful. I stayed bak for a shower. After her being gone for 45 minutes I started getting worried as we were supposed to be leaving in 20 min. She finally shows up and has both of her hands scrapped up and her knee as well. She was riding by the river and a motorbike cut her off which caused her to fall. A sweet Vietnamese family doctored her up before she headed home. Luckily she was ok and we could continue onto the train station. When we arrived at the train station we wanted to eat our sandwiches before we boarded the train so we sat on a bench just minding our own business eating. All the sudden this guy walks up to us and sets his infant on Molly's lap. She has a sandwich in one hand and tries to refuse but this family does not speak English and they just want some humor and photo opps. I guess. They then would not take the child back from her even with her trying to hand him to them. There was a huge crowd around us all taking pictures and after 15 minutes Molly was finally able to give the child back. It was so strange but also hilarious. Our train then arrived so it was time to board and head for Hanoi. We were told the sleeper trains were like riding in luxury so we were excited to get a nice night sleep and wake up in our next city. Well we walked into our cabin which had two sets of bunk beds. There were two guys above us. The beds werent the most comfortable but this was soon to be the least of our worries. We played some cards and then decided to do some reading before bed. We then saw a bug on the floor. This was the start of our issues. In total we killed 20 bugs in our small cabin. I then went to the bathroom which had standing water on the floor which sloshed with each jerk of the train. As we were trying to go to sleep to make it go by faster the staff of the train keep peekig in our cabins looking for he guys in our cabin who had been one for a good hour. One finally comes back in and the staff comes in less than a min later yelling at him. Of course we have no clue what they are saying or what happened but hen he was escorted out and the other guy never showed back up. Our "luxurious" train ride turned into a nightmare from the second we arrived at the train station and we were very anxious to get to Hanoi (mostly just to get off the train). We will only be spending one night in Hanoi before we head to Halong Bay on a 3 day 2 night cruise. I don't know about the wifi situation in Halong Bay so I will try my best to update but I can't make any promises.

Hoi An, Vietnam

Molly and Tyler had to leave our group in Nha Trang since they only had a week so this just left my twinsie, Molly, and me to finish up Vietnam with the final two weeks. It is fun and fine with just the two of us, but then we met a friend from Holland in Nha Trang that is doing the same route as us but by herself so we scooped her us and had her join our duo. Our friend Lychelle left one night before us headed for Hoi An since we just couldn't leave Nha Trang so we decided we would just meet at the hotel. When Molly and I arrived in Hoi An we had 5 hours until we could check in so we left to explore the city. After countless bus rides it has really taken a toll on our bodies so we decided we deserved massages. After that we rented bicycles and rode to the city center where the market, shops and other tourist attractions were. We saw most of the temples, old houses, and bridges, which were the main attractions but we kept finding ourselves distracted by the shopping. Hoi An is known for their tailoring. Of course once we got started we couldn't stop. I got two dresses, one skirt, one pair of sandals and one pair of leather boots all made just for me. Although this sounds great my backpack is filling sooooo quick even after sending a package home. The next morning Molly, Lychelle, and another friend we met in Nha Trang Sander, and I headed out on motorbikes to visit Myson, which are temples dating back to the 18th century. Of course I still don't trust myself driving motorbikes, especially with their driving and lack of traffic laws so I jumped on the back of Sander's bike for the ride. Myson was about an hour ride outside the city and a beautiful ride at that. It was so nice to be out of the city and see mountains, and rice paddies for miles. Myson was beautiful but I feel like I have just been so spoiled after visiting Angkor Wat that no temple can compare. After 2 nights and 3 days in Hoi An it was time to hit the road again for Hue but not after a little more shopping. After spending way too much money we jumped on the bus headed for Hue. The picture below is to show that I'm a millionaire in Vietnam. This has been quite the adjustment with their currency considering 20,000 dong is $1.00 u.s., so pretty much everyone is a millionaire but hey it sounds and looks cool!

Nha Trang, Vietnam

When we arrived in Nha Trang we found the place that we had booked and grabbed a bit to eat to plan out our stay here.  The first day we walked along the beach to Hon Chong Rocks.  With a geologist in our group this was a must see.  It was one large rock being held up by two other larger rocks.  It made it like a doorway that you could walk through.  We of course climbed on a bunch of the rocks that jet out into the ocean.  Some of these rocks were supposed to resemble things such as a giant hand print in the rock and a rock shaped like a seal.  After our rock tour it was time to get down and dirty.  We went to Thap Ba Hot Spring Center. We enjoyed soaking in the mud although it was a little smelly.  We then waited awhile to allow the mud to dry before washing it off.  We then sat in a mineral hot tub for awhile and enjoyed swimming and frolicking in the waterfalls.  It was a relaxing day at the spa after a day full of walking on the beach.  The next morning we had signed up for a rafting trip.  We were told these would be class 2-3 rapids since it is dry season.  We also were shown a picture of white water rafting before booking.  When we got there we find out we would be "rafting" in inflatable kayaks.  There were like 2 small rapids but other than that we just floated down the river with minimal paddling because the currents pull was sufficient. We stopped along the river and ate a delicious meal.  They grilled us up chicken, beef and pork along with wonderful spring rolls we made ourselves.  All in all the day was not what we were anticipating but it was fun nonetheless.  That night we hung out at our hostel and met some awesome new friends and some old friends we met earlier in our trip.  We decided to go to the water/amusement park Vinpearl together the next day.  You have to take a cable car to get to Vinpearl and it is actually the longest cable car over water in the world.  This allowed for some awesome photo opps as well.  Vinpearl was AMAZING.  There were tons of water slides, a wave pool, many rides/roller coasters, an aquarium, arcade games, bumper cars, and 4-D movie room.  All this for just a small fee of $22.  After our group of 13 hung out all day having a ball at the park we decided to go on the party boat the following day together.  There were some other people on the boat that were not really there to party, but we didn't let them slow us down.  We went to 2 different islands and were able to snorkel at one and ride on a banana boat at the next.  We also had a phenomenal lunch on the boat as well.  We also had the privilege of witnessing the boat staff perform as a Vietnamese Boy Band.  It was hilarious and provided us with great entertainment.  As we were getting back our friends were planning to meet up for dinner at a BBQ restaurant we fell in love with here.  This made me sad because Molly and I were supposed to be getting on a sleeper bus headed for Hoi An at 6:00pm so we would miss dinner.  We decided we just couldn't part from our friends just yet and luckily we have a pretty flexible schedule to allow for another night.  Molly then put on quite the act at the ticket office saying that I had food poisoning and we could not get on the bus because I was still ill.  Luckily it worked so it allowed us to hang out with our friends for one more night.  Molly should win an Oscar for her performance.  Now we are sitting around at the hostel after most of our friends have left waiting for our sleeper bus to come get us this evening.  After 12 hours on the sleeper bus we will be in Hoi An! Nha Trang has by far been my favorite place so far so it saddens me to leave but I am also excited about our next stops.

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Well once again we had bad luck with our bus. What should have been 6 hours turned into an 8 hour ride due to a blow out and traffic, but we successfully crossed the border into Vietnam. We got in to Ho Chi Minh at about 11:00pm so we went to a hostel Molly read about immediately. Luckily the Vietnam Inn Saigon had a dorm room available for us. This was our first dorm room on our trip and it definitely has its ups a downs. You meet awesome people but your also in bunk beds in a large room so you have 10 other people in your room going to bed at different times and waking up at different times. It was not a good sound night of sleep but a bed to sleep in none the less. The next morning we ate breakfast on the rooftop restaurant of our hostel which was quite the view. We then headed out to start our day. We first went to the Reunification Palace. It was built in the late 60's and housed the president of South Vietnam. The palace was taken over by Ho Chi Minh & company and the palace was left as is inside. The next stop was the war memorial museum. The name alone says what it was but does not even scratch the surface of explaining how depressing this museum was. There was a lot of war memorabilia and photos. Let's just say this was the first time(but not the last time) I have felt guilty/ saddened to be from America. It made me want to throw on a Canada shirt and just pretend I'm Canadian. There were many brutal pictures from the war, agent orange victims and many anti- American signs and articles. The next morning we went to the Cu Chi tunnels. These underground tunnels were used by the Viet Kong guerrillas as hiding spots during combat. We climbed through the tunnels, looked at all the boobie traps used to kill the American soldiers and even got to shoot a gun. I've never shot a gun before and was a little nervous but it was so fun. I shot an AK-47 and let's just say I'm not very good. All in all Ho Chi Minh was an awesome city with great night life and a lot of history. After another 2 days of sombering sights we were ready for some beaches. We booked another sleeper bus for our next 10 hour bus ride to Nha Trang.

Phnom Penh

We are finishing up Cambodia in the capital city, Phnom Penh. We are eager to get to Vietnam so we only stayed one night. Two days and one night was plenty for the city. The first day we went to S-21 Genocide Prison which was used in the late 70's to hold Khmer (Cambodian) citizens who we captured by the Khmer Rouge for mass termination. The S-21 Prison was a torture facility, with brutal living conditions, that held citizens before they were trucked to Choeung Ek, now known as the 'Killing Fields'. Historians say that over a million innocent Khmer people were slaughtered before the Khmer Rouge was overthrown in 1979. The next day we went and visited the killing fields where there were mass graves, countless skulls and many torture weapons on display. We had a free audio headset tour that explained each area of the fields which was very helpful. This was a very devastating time in Cambodia's history and left each of us in a somber state after witnessing both these place. We tried to end our stay on a less depressing note by visiting the National Museum which held many ancient artifact including pieces of Angkor Temples, Statues of the Hindu gods and you guessed it more Buddhas. It was all set up around a beautiful garden area. Now we will head to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam!

Sihanouk Ville, Cambodia

Well what was supposed to be a 10 hour sleeper bus turned into a 6 hour sleeper bus, then sit around for an hour waiting for a different bus (which wasn't a sleeper), then sit in traffic, then break down, then sit an hour while they fix it. All in all it ended up taking 16 hours. Once we got there we told the tuk-tuk driver we wanted to go to Mic and Craig's, which was a hostel we found in our guide book. The driver then informed us that it had burnt down 1 day prior. I guess it's good we didn't arrive 1 day earlier. Once we found a new place we hit Serendipity Beach for a bit. It was a very dirty beach with so much trash and washed up flip flops on the beach but it was a beach none the less. The next day we decided to change up the scenery and go to the "nicer" beach, Oches Beach. On this beach we also found random odd and ends on the shoreline including a lot of rope, clothes and syringes. Aside from the trash and washed up things it was a nicer beach. A little less crowded and a little more secluded. To help you get a gauge of how hot it is here the beach seriously feels like bath water. We sweat constantly and then the water doesn't even cool you off. The next day we went on yet another booze cruise. It set sail at 1:00 and we got back at 6:00 for dinner served by the restaurant that hosted the cruise. This morning we got up and ready to head to our next destination, Phnom Penh. Now we are in a minivan which is said to be a 4 hour journey but after our last experience I never can be sure. It is a very nice minivan though with comfy seats, air conditioning that works and wifi. I can't believe today marks that we only have 3 weeks left of our travels. It has flown by but has been the best time of my life.

Siem Reap, Cambodia

Well what was supposed to be a 12 bus ride turned into 18 hours traveling with border crossing, multiple stops and bus switchings. We finally arrived in Siem Reap at 2:30am. Luckily there were tuk-tuk drivers waiting at the bus station to take us to a nearby hotel that had 24 hour reception. It turned out to be a nice hotel with a pool so we decided we would spend all our time here at Temple Villa. After sleeping in, day one was just a relaxing day. We ran a few errands, checked out the town and sat by the pool. The next morning would be our first day of our three day ticket to Angkor Wat so as excited as we were we wanted to get there at sunrise to take in some pretty spectacular views. The first day we did what is known as the outer loop of the Angkor temples. It consisted of 5 temples. After living in a predominantly Buddhist country for year and now traveling in other Buddhist countries I thought I had seen my fair share of temples but boy was I wrong. These temples were built in the 1200's. Of course they have done some conservation to the buildings but they all still looked ancient and majestic. After exploring 5 temples and getting up at 4:30 it was time for a nap! We then went to dinner and shopping through the night market. The night markets are always my favorite with locals selling their hand crafted things or other typical souvenirs. The next day we slept in a bit hoping to catch the sunset at the temples. We explored 5 more temples in the central area of the temple grounds. At one of our stops as we were walking back to our tuk- tuk our driver was flagging us down. As we got closer we noticed that there were 2 monkeys on the backseat of our tuk- tuk. They had stolen my water bottle opened it and were drinking it. There were many monkeys in the area and many babies so although I was robbed by the monkeys they did allow for some great pictures and videos. With the temperature being in the 90's and my water stolen all we could take was a few hours before we needed to leave. Our tuk-tuk driver suggested we go see the floating village so we headed out for Tonle Sap. It is the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia. It is dry season now so the lake is only 1-2 meters deep right now but in wet season it can rise to 10-11 meters. There are about 3,000 people that live in the floating village. The housing is free as you are living on a boat with no running water. These people make their living by fishing. They are also in charge of the upkeep of their houses such as replacing bamboo and keeping it afloat. There are also floating restaurants, convenient stores, a basketball court, and a school in the village. The school houses 122 orphan children who's parents have been killed in storms or tsunamis while fishing. At the convenient store we bought the school a large bag of rice that is said to feed the children for 3 days. We then got to go play with the children. It was so much fun learning their games and seeing the smiles on their faces. The next morning was our last day at the temples and we had saved the best for last...Angkor Wat. This temple is the largest in the world and I known to have beautiful sunrise views. We of course had to see this so that meant another 4:30 am wake up for us. Waking up early was well worth it as we watched the sunrise over the temple. Words can not explain the beauty but it was simply spectacular. We then did a bit more exploring through other temples until we could no longer take the heat. We then ate lunch and packed up our belongings as we will soon be heading out to Sihanouk, a beach town on the Southern coast of Cambodia. Happy Easter to everyone from Siem Reap! At midnight tonight I will be getting on yet another 12 hour bus ride. This one will fortunately be a sleeper bus again.