So flew here yesterday, plane delayed, then pick up guy got puncture – all very entertaining. It’s quite built up and fairly noisy, but much less than Saigom. I had dinner and a foot massage and then went to bed. The food here by te way is great. Fresh ingredients, lovely spices – just fab.

Today I decided I would hit the beach. Got there at about 11am. Lay in the sun, bathed in the South China Sea (how exotic does that sound?!) for about 3 hours and then headed back as I was being wrapped in hot clingfilm later in the afternoon. In those 3 hours, I got burnt. Don’t tell my Mum. Patchily burnt. I had factor 30 on and everything – but there you are. I am going on a snorkelling trip tomorrow so intend to be VERY CAREFUL INDEED!

What’s that? Oh you want to hear more about being wrapped in hot clingfilm? Well, it was a first…..

Nha Trang is ok – but there is a sort of undercurrent to it (not talking about the sea). I’m even more on my guard here than in Saigon. I shall enjoy it, but won’t be sorry to get to Hoi An which I think it’s much slower and quieter and has a lot more culture going on. You won’t be surprised to hear that I preferred the Caravelle to the ‘Paradise’ bar earlier where I had a gin and tonic to the strains of “Don’t want no short-dicked men’. Well quite.

Tuesday, 31st August
We arrived in Nha Trang yesterday but not early enough for me to be bothered to write about it. We checked into the Blue Sky, another great value place. We seem to have our hotel routine down now. Our tips:
1. Identify on the map where you want to stay. Don’t deviate.
2. Every person who hassles you; get a flyer.
3. Listen to the quoted price and offer at least $2 less.
4. Say you will look, NEVER take your bag upstairs.
5. Have a cost in your head you won’t go over.

Nha Trang is our first beach town this trip (ignoring the Cat Ba Island 10 minutes in a sardine can sea). It has everything you would expect in a beach town; restaurants, bars, a health spa. Actually it doesn’t have a British-style pier with impossible claw teddy bear games. It doesn’t have rock. I take it back it has everything you would expect in a n0n-sh*t beach town. We half worried the place might be a party town, in Asia that means your skull vibrating so hard your teeth fall out. So far seems perfectly chilled.

The beach at Nha Trang is less white than my Coca-Cola stained teeth but it is clean and there aren’t any stones. The sand is hotter than the core of the Earth but not as orange. The water is clear and flat as a witch’s car tyre. That was until the afternoon when all of a sudden it took the murky shade of milky urine.

With the 2 Kiwis we hired sun loungers for about a quid for the whole day and got a few beers in to assist what could have been a difficult day lying down. Quickly it was obvious that for a whole minutes peace you would have sold your left b*ll*ck. Vendors left, right, centre. Books they made themselves, Armani sunglasses and cheap unbranded food on tap. Doesn’t matter that I am reading a book through my sunglasses covered in crisp crumbs with chocolate round my mouth.

These f**kers are persistent.

Sometimes it’s funny. One of them kept saying “don’t be cheap Charlie”. Another “she give you happy ending”. Nothing winds them up like sarcasm or ridiculous haggling – “all the sand you can carry”. Wasting their time is more fun.

It was quite funny how they all cover themselves up. You could be mistaken for thinking this was Tehran. Two eyes trying to flog you sunglasses. It was the same in South America – like having a tan reduced your social status. Spending all day on the beach chopping pineapple for 10p a fruit has already done that. From my Western perspective anyway. I could be sat out here til I shrivelled and died and still not be dark enough to reprint Catcher in the Rye.

In the afternoon we went to a place in town where you barbecue your own food. #7 up for me – crocodile! Ironically it was not snappy in cooking.

Wednesday, 1st September
Being on the coast we had to get signed up for some snorkelling. Again we steered clear of the party boat trip, still haven’t replaced those fillings. Now I managed to forget to take notes today so will have to do this from memory:

1. The range of fishes was incredible – standard cast of Finding Nemo (who wouldn’t give an autograph) including the colourful extras who didn’t make the Director’s Cut. There were sea cucumbers who made me feel very inadequate.
2. At one point under the sea I looked over at Hayley. I saw more than I bargained for. A whole boob! Best snorkelling ever.
3. At the second snorkel site no-one got out the boat. I thought I would, just to p*ss anyone off who might have wanted to go home. 25m out from the side and I couldn’t work out what was on the sea floor. Some sort of rope maybe? Nope. No. F**king snakes! Tons of ‘em. And massive.
4. I got abused once more for not jumping off the top of the boat. By a German I have never met.

Thursday, 2nd September
Happy Vietnam day. Happy everyone gets a day off and goes to the beach and then that beach miraculously gets covered in sh*t within about ten minutes. Time for us to find sun loungers that cost £1.50 not £1. What does 50p get you?

“No peddling!” Sweet. A lady on a bike was dragged away by the scruff of her neck and shot in the head.

Oh, not that peddling. Still, dried up the sunglasses and fake Quavers a treat. A 100 yr. old woman sat right next to the sign. Her hat blew into the area but she was too scared to get it. We’d paid for men in cowboy hats to police the border. There isn’t much more to say when the main characters on the beach aren’t allowed anywhere near you.

Later in the afternoon the first rain in 3 days hit. It would seem the longer the dry spell the worse the storm. The Vietnamese were like meerkats; the dark and ominous clouds hadn’t even got out of bed by the time they were straight-backed and sniffing the air and tasting it for signs of impending doom. The beach emptied quicker than the NYSE when the bomb alarm sounds. Under our lounger we held out for all of five seconds before darting under the nearby bar roof. We watched as the horizon disappeared in a cloud burst. Finally a chance for fair-skinned Sam to uncover himself.

My ADHD saw me go out to the sea in the rain (which was warm), but then come back in when I swam within 2 feet of a giant turd. Have I said this before? Savages!!!

Friday, 3rd September
With our last day in Nha Trang we decided on a trip to the Thap Ba Hot Spring Centre. All in for a fiver each. We caught a taxi to the outskirts of town into the hills to where all the Vietnamese hang out. Apparently.

The place was ram-o and a class divide was obvious. Our fiver put us firmly at the top of the ladder. Up to where the private mud baths were. 4 in a wooden tub filled with silky mud, good for the skin apparently. I dipped my head under and came out aged 15. After a relaxing half-hour we washed it all off and the wrinkles returned. Second puberty in one burst of water. Took about four hours to clean it all out of the crevices; dangerous in the heat when mud hardens like dental resin.

We followed the floating arrows down our first class perch into the thermal bath. 40 degrees doesn’t sound like much, but when you’re pinker than a homosexual packet of bacon from several days in the sun it STINGS!!! SH*T!!! Literally unbearable for more than a few minutes. Let’s move to the next part of this relaxing and skin soothing day…

…into the blasting mineral shower. Pelted with water out of holes so small that it pierced the skin. Hmmm, fiver was it?

And so the treatment ended, now to relax by the pool in the blistering heat. Doesn’t get better than…no…no, that little Vietnamese fella just flobbed in the pool. From the side. Regular floor just doesn’t have that splashing sound.

That’s it. The Vietnamese and I are well and truly over. I don’t hate them, I’m just sick of them. Partially it’s the quantity; rarely can you find yourself a little bit of quiet space. Multiply quantity by percentage of sellers of cheap cr*p per 1,000 inhabitants and the ears burn through overuse. Sprinkle in aggression. Add the pushing, the dogged resistance to queuing politely and the best of all…the spitting. Nothing like the chilled out Laotians or happy-go-lucky Thais.

Right. Latest rant over.

The tourists, mostly from the United Kingdom, Australia, the United States and Canada, visited scenic and relic sites as well as enjoying special dishes and shopping in the locality.

On the afternoon of the same day, the cruise liner left Nha Trang Bay and sailed to Thailand.

Statistics from Khanh Hoa tourism sector show that in the first three months of this year, Nha Trang Bay welcomed 13,000 arrivals on 12 international cruise liners.
(Source: VNA)

Anyway going back to Joff’s hair situation, he decided to visit a barber on the street for a trim. Well this guy could work in a field where precision is the key. Joff looked a little concerned that he was in fact in the middle of the street and that the electronic shaving device ran out after the first couple of minutes, luckily the guy had a manual shaver that he whipped out and used instead. It probably took him about 45 minutes and for someone who is normally extremely laid back I have never seen Joff so tense. It may have been something to do with the cut throat razor being used whilst in conversation with a guy behind the barber or perhaps just this public arena for the execution. Anyway after a haircut and beard shave Joff was no longer a hairy traveling but Joff again!

We headed to the beach where we sat for a little while and then headed out to check out the BBQ restaurant as recommended in the Lonely Planet. On walking up to the restaurant it dawned on us that due to the million or so mopeds outside the joint it may be a locals place. On closer inspection there were hundreds of locals crammed into what appeared to be a basketball enclosure from a high rise council estate, even down to the bars. It was a pretty amazing experience and delicious food as well. You order your meat and fish and they bring you a little BBQ to cook the food on. You can imagine that Joff was quite literally in his element! The food was ridiculously cheap and we couldn’t finish it all. The highlight I suppose was the fact that one of my furry friends put in an appearance towards the end of the meal and ran round the roof of the restaurant, well it was more like a shed really. We both joked about the fact that if you ran out of meat you could always coax the rat down and pop that on the BBQ, it was the size of a small dog!

The next day we spent on the beach and after going in for a swim where we were stood in about 2foot of water i was taken out by a huge wave, so much so that it swept me under and I was no where to be seen apparently, mental note, do not go swimming in the sea at Nha Trang. JOFF – I was considering doing my baywatch impression but thought that due to the depth oif the water I may mess up my new haircut on the seabed.

Caro – The next couple of days were rainy and we decided to book the bus to Mui Ne where we are now and then we spent a day sightseeing in the rain which wasn’t a lot of fun. The only amusing part when we got to the Pagoda where you can climb up to see a big Buddah was when there was a lady trying to rip us off with some postcards and she said “she wery beautiful, he like Buddah, good for long life” well I couldn’t control my laughter! The only reason why they think I’m wery beautiful is because I still have bright white glow in the dark skin which they still touch as I try to walk down any street! Anyway the next day we headed to the sailing club as it was raining again.

It was our intention to go for a walk but due to the rain we read our books, watched the world go by, ate late lunch then decided it was time for a drink. After several drinks I ventured onto the Dancefloor. Now for a western woman in the western world this is practically unheard of in Vietnam I am safe in the knowledge that the western men who are old enough to be my Dad, if not older are only interested in the Vietnamese ladies! Joff joined me on the dancefloor before long, a sure sign that he was enjoying the jamjars of vodka tonic! We thoroughly enjoyed our impromptu intro to the Nha Trang nightlife and loved the fact that it was full of western people, eastern people, locals and bizarrely enough families. One lady looked quite upset when security told her that she couldn’t take her baby onto the dancefloor!!!!!

On showing us to the to the most expensive bungalow they had, albeit with an amazing view the haggling started again. It has become increasingly clear why Caroline works in marketing. In Vietnam you should never accept the first price and agree a fair price. That’s just the way it is and what is expected. Caroline on seeing something she likes asks how much it is and then turns to me advising that she really likes it and as such our point of bargaining power is null and void! Still $50 a night including all your meals is not too bad!!

The paradise experience was actually great fun although we found it slightly cult-ish having collective meals and being served by dumb folk. Literally! The guy who runs the place is 84 and employs the “handicapped” as we were informed in a rather “un PC” manner by a Swiss lady. The old french guy seemingly has it sorted as he seemed to have a family and a number of cult members who seemed to be at his beck and call! He advised us that Tea, coffee, water and he was free! I nearly killed myself laughing but I think Caroline felt a little uncomfortable! Seeing as he confirmed with me that she was in fact married, whilst giving her the eye looking her up and down. During the next couple of days we walked on the beach, swam in the sea and generally relaxed although meal times were always interesting and the mix of so many different nationalities gave us good reason to laugh at both their and our ignorance! We enjoyed paradise but it certainly reminded us of something like a cross between the Moonies and the film the Beach just without the Pot! We caught a taxi to Nha Trang which was pretty uneventful with beautiful scenery and not too many near death experiences!

Nha Trang is a bit like the Ibiza of Vietnam or the Cote d’Azur certainly, we found a bargainous hotel online one road back from the beach, with a sea view, which actually had a lift, we had come up in the world. We dumped our bags and headed out to explore

They included the Minerva with 200 crew and 400 tourists from the US, the Princess Daphne with 200 crew and 300 passengers from Australia and the Europe, and the Nautica with 360 crew and 700 tourists from the US. The visitors visited famous tourist sites in Nha Trang, including Thap Ba, Hon Chong, and enjoyed tours of countryside as well as local cuisines.

Earlier on February 5, nearly 1,800 foreign tourists from the Artermis Cruise Ship visited Nha Trang City.

Nha Trang received four international cruise ships with nearly 4,000 foreign tourists on the first days of Lunar New Year.

The Khanh Hoa Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism welcomed 96,000 visitors from February 3-7, 15% more than the same period last year.

(Source: VOV)

Vietravel said visitors booking domestic and outbound tours during Tet increased 40% over last year. Notably, its office on 190 Pasteur, in HCMC welcomed a record 2,300 people on the second day of Tet.

The nation’s leading Saigontourist offered 130 tours for 10,000 visitors, including overseas Vietnamese returning home to enjoy the Tet holiday. It also received over 9,000 foreigners on cruises. The number of Saigontourist visitors increased nearly 20% over last year’s period.

Meanwhile, the number of tourists to Hue over the holiday increased sharply, reaching about 50,000, some 20,000 more than last year.

From the first to third day of Tet, Hanoi welcomed over 1,000 visitors through its Noi Bai International Airport, most of them from European countries and overseas Vietnamese.

Other well-known cites such as Danang, Nha Trang, Binh Thuan, Ba Ria-Vung Tau, and Quang Ninh are expected to attract a large number of domestic tourists for the many traditional festivals held in the spring.

(Source: VOV)

The the snorkeling gear comes back to haunt us. The receptionist guy asked me to return the snorkeling gear to them… I guess it wasn’t a gift after all! I made up a story that we lent the 2 pairs of snorkeling gear to a friend of ours who lost it. He wanted us to pay 140,000 dong for the 2 pairs. I clearly explained to him that we were clean customers, we paid our dues in full, we did not cause any problems, we liked the hotel and the staff, and that we have a ton of friends (like 15) coming to Nha Trang soon and we will be telling all of them to stay at Hien Mai Hotel. He told the wife owner and she said that she will reduce the payment to 100,000 dong. I continued to explain that business relationships are important. I recommend people to the hotel, bring in traffic and business for them, and they have to take good care of these clients… and sometimes rules can be bent. He called the husband owner, who was fond of us, and after 30 second hung up the phone. We didn’t have to pay for losing the gear! Got us out of that one too! Let’s just say that I didn’t ask the receptionist and the owner to take a picture with us before leaving soonafter.

Outside waiting for us were our 2 easy riders: english-speaking men who drive you on their motorbike to sites, giving you insight about the locations.
The plan was to have the easy riders take us on the 5 hour drive to Da Lat by motorbike, stopping at various places on the way.

I won’t discuss how much we paid for these easy riders, but we basically got financially raped by them. To be fair, we did book these easy riders on our first day upon arrival to Vietnam when we were doing all our bookings to organize our trip, so it was a traveling ROOKIE mistake. By the time we realized we were ripped off, it was already too late… lesson learned. FURTHERMORE, to our luck (sarcasm), it was raining this morning… raining hard. So we had to get on these motorbikes with crappy rain jackets that the easy riders gave us to use. Belonging to the easyrider, my rain gear reinforced to me that I am much taller than the average Asian… the rain pants were way short as were the arms of the rain jacket.

Jumping on the motorbike, we rode. My shoes were getting soaking wet, as were my socks. After my shoes were drenched we stopped so that I could change into my flops.

Going out of the tourist part of Nha Trang (right on the coast with the beaches) and entering the outskirts of the city, I really enjoyed observing the city behind my raindrop-filled face cover of my helmet. Contrary to the beautiful beach area, the rest of Nha Trang was not in such great shape. The homes were all in terrible condition, many rooves just metal sheets. Riding further out of Nha Trang we started seeing a lot of homes that grew agriculture in their backyards. Besides for getting soaking wet, I tried to enjoy this as much as possible… plus, being on the back of a motorbike is always fun!

The ride really began to get interesting when we stopped in a way far suburb before reaching the hill tribes. We visited a front yard where they were making very unique designs of handmade furniture from Mahogany wood. Because we were so wet and full of dirt from the rain and dirt road, we couldn’t take out our camera for any photos.

Highlight of the day: Stopping at the hill tribe of the Raclay people. With their own culture and their own language (but they also speak Vietnamese) and darker skin than the average Vietnamese person, the Raclay people are very poor but welcoming. Now we decided to take out our camera despite the wet and mud. One of our easy riders is a friend of the Raclay people. When we got to the tribe there was some music and decorations as 2 Raclay people will be getting married tomorrow! Most homes made out of bamboo, cloth, metal, or concrete; they have a well with buckets to get the water; 6 people per room; small fires for warmth and to cook; dogs, chickens, pigs walking all over the place; tons of children running around with no shoes, no sweaters, just playing and yelling; very small young children walking around naked; eat dog, cat, snake meat. This is not a tribe that the average tourist gets to stop at and see. We had the connections through our easy rider!

The children brought huge smiles to our faces. Although you can see the poverty of the Raclay people so clearly, the kids were all so kind-hearted, happy, and playful! We took some photos with the kids and they were FASCINATED by our camera. They were shy and all smiling as they looked at the pictures of them in the camera.

Visiting this tribe was when my day really turned around. I was delighted to learn that the government does in fact help these tribes. They build them some concrete homes as opposed to the bamboo ones they make, in addition to improving their school systems and hospitals.

The scenic view of hills and greenery was breathtaking despite the lack of sunshine in the city. It had stopped raining as we headed up the mountain and we had the chance to take a few pictures with a great view (a bit cloudy). However, the higher up the mountain we went, the colder and the rainier it got. Wearing a pair of flipflops, and a t-shirt and shorts covered by the short rain gear, I was FREEZINGGGG. Fingers numb, shivering, tons and tons of fog, and soonafter one broken flip flop . But looking back at this, it was all part of the experience.

After finally getting over the top of the mountain, we were heading back downhill again. We stopped in the Gahal village…. nothing like the Raclay tribe’s poverty, so was not as intense. We also checked out a large cemetary, a largeee flower greenhouse (Chinese new year is coming up and everyone needs their flowers!), and a 1925 steam railway in Dalat. I learned that the Vietnamese visit the graves once a year and in order to commemorate the deaths of their loved ones, they repaint the gravestones, which is why the cemetary looked so new.

Da Lat is a very hilly city, which gives it a unique look, and is rather wealthy compared to the Vietnamese cities with so many brand new homes! Acc the easy rider, the wealth comes from the increased tourism in the city and its agricultural production (wine, coffee, fruits, vegetables). There are regulations in the city that the buildings cannot be more than a few stories high, in order to keep the french look of the city.

As usual, we came to Da Lat with no reservations. The Peace Hotel, recommeded by the lonely planet had a decent room available for $5 per person… first place we went to that had mosquito nets on the beds.

We walked over to the Crazy House, which is just an accomodation that is built to look like a big huge tree, both from the interior and the exterior! Apparently they charge for tours of this crazy house and we didn’t really want to pay for it, so I went to the front and acted as though I was considering staying there for the night (it costs b/w $30-60 per night depending on the room). The man took us into the crazy house and showed us the rooms, while we were taking this opportunity to look around and see the architecture… the room were actually very nice and had a creative layout. Then as we were leaving the clerk starting asking me to leave a deposit for the room because we had to go get our bags from the easy riders who were waiting at the restaraunt that we ate at” (wink wink). He continuously asked for a small deposit even though I told him we would only be gone for 5 minutes. When he went to grab something from his office, i just left the crazy house. Wow, its not just the house that crazy, the people there are crazy too! Outcome: We got free entry to the crazy house.

On our way to the Dam Market in Dalat, we stopped in a big hotel to get directions/ I needed to use the restroom. Entering the hotel, the the ballrooms as well as the swimming pool in the lobby were all set up for some big event… I soon learned it was for a wedding. In the restroom I met the father of the bride who is from Texas (of Vietnamese heritage). We enjoyed a conversation as we walked to the lobby and he introduced me to his Vietnamese sister and the to-be in-laws who are from Hong Kong. As we were conversing, I learned that his daughter and his to-be son-in-law live in Orange County, California… and then all of a sudden the bride and groom walk out of the elevator, the bride in her wedding gown and the groom in his tux. The father introduced me to them and we had a nice laugh about how I am from California as well. Plus, the groom is originally from HK and I’ll be studying there for the semester. Their minds seemed to be occupied by something else… they were late for their photoshoot. I made my exit from the hotel. I was surprised that they didn’t invite me to the wedding by the end of our convo… its okay, I didn’t have any appropriate clothing anyways

We finally found the Dam Market and when we saw a bowl of food that one of the locals was eating on the street (yumm), we decided to try our first street food in Asia. Side Note: The food didn’t look dirty or anything. I got a bowl of delicious noodles with chicken and soup, there was a lot of lettuce and other greens in it. For dessert, we always like our dessert, we thought it would be interesting to try as many new things as we could, especially since it was so cheap. We tried around 4 fruits (I tried my best to find out the names from the locals, but NO ONE knew the names in English, so I just took pics of them instead), some dried fruits (i.e, dried mango with sugar and chili, dried mango, dried rose, dried strawberry, dried kiwi, and dried olives), a semi-dried sweet potato slice, sweet potato chips, an amazing mini sticky rice cake desset, and a verry stick rice with coconut filling wrapped in bamboo leaves.

To be honest I was freaking out at first. We had to set up gross sheets on our beds (if you even want to call them beds), our room was avelyn, myself, and 4 other locals who were pretty nice, it was dog-sweat-hot in the cabin, and I was constantly thinking that everyone was out to steal my stuff… even my shoes (I didnt want to leave them on the floor!).

I don’t know why I was in this mode of thought bc in the end, everyone seemed pretty nice. Anyways, I locked my bag up and slept with my fanny pack tied around my had so tight it was basically cutting off my circulation (have my life in there). Inserted my headphones into my ears and slept like a baby as soon as the train departed, but I did wake up multiple times to make sure my bag was still there and that nothing was taken out of my fanny pack while I was asleep. After 6 hours we arrived in Nha Trang.

Taxi dropped us off at Hien Mai Hotel! BEAUTIFULLLL for $10 per person per night. Luckily the owners were awake at 5:30 am to let us in and they weren’t all booked up! The hostel was just built 1 month ago acc the warm welcoming owners, who didn’t speak much english. We made the choice to stay at a NICE hostel this time around bc this is our “beach day,” but more importantly, we want to be comfortable walking on the floor without slippers haha

I got lost around the city on an early morning walk until avelyn and I decided to head out to breakfast. Choosing to sit outdoors, we ate at a nice restaraunt joint (NAME) where we were served Ginseng iced tea instead of typical water. View of the palm trees and greenery in front of the beach. I got an omlette with a baguette, 1 tomato, 2 cucumbers, 2 small pieces of lettuce…. formed a very strange sandwich! But, I got a delicious drink with it (i am more of a sucker for smoothie-like drinks than I am for fresh cut fruits!)… a passion with yogurt drink.

First thing after, I went for a 15 minute jet ski ride, I couldn’t resist. It may have been $17 out of my budget (yes, I got ripped off), but I had a great time as its been a while since the last time I did it. It was rather funny how I was given NO explanations of anything (i.e., what area of the waters I am not allowed to jet ski on)

The rest of “beach day” was complete and total relaxation. Relaxed on the sand, got wet in the warm South China Sea water, gazed into the view of the sea and mountains, spoke with some other foreigners.

Lunch was the highlight of the day!! There was a woman sitting in the sand in front of us with a few pots filled with FRESH seafood (a fisherman was periodically bringing more lobster, shrimp, snail, scallops, crab that he had just caught), cooking it on some type of stove she formed. She cooked us some tasty lobster, shrimp, snail, and scallop, set up a tarp for us on the sand where the water was almost reaching our feet, and we ate our seafood lunch in the fantastic view (me, with a Tiger beer in hand). It was a great view aside from the occasional locals blocking it to try and sell us something over and over again. Overall, the seafood was great, the scenery was fantastic, and the way we were served was memorable… all for only $7!

Time for a MUDBATH at the Thap Ba Hotspring for $9. After wrinsing ourselves in mineral water, we spent 15 minutes bathing in a fullout mudbath, and then sunbathed for about 20 minutes until the mud became hard on our bodies (this is the part that led to a HUGEEE sunburn on my back… the only part I couldn’t reach to put sunscreen on ). Ended with a HOT mineral bath, waterfall, and swimming pools. I told you we were relaxing! On the plus side, my skin felt almost like a baby afterwards.

Hungry once again, we shopped around at the different restaraunts for dinner and found one called Andy’s Chopsticks, which attracted us with its cooking station in the front. A very old-style, but classy restaraunt, I ordered the Chicken in Clay Pot (Vietnamese dish), steamed rice, and fresh lemon juice for $4.50. An amusing dinner with a group of 4 drunk westerners sitting beside us, we really enjoyed the restaraunt and the atmosphere… even Andy was a standup, nice guy.

Too full for dessert, we wait out until about 9:30 to find a bar to drink at. It’s the first time we’re going to a bar in Asia (I know its pathetic, but we were jetlag the first 2 days in Saigon unfortunately). As we were en route to Why Not Bar, we passed a happening bar in front Backpacker House Hostel called RedApple Bar, which was lively and filled with several westerners. We jumped in and tried the local beer for $1 called Larue…. not much better than Boreale, but we still ordered a 2nd one. I beat avelyn in a game of pool and then we enjoyed a long, FUNNY, hilariousss converstaion with 2 others tourists from Scotland…. wow, what a funny night with them, even though I left rather early!

Back at the beautiful hotel, time to sleep, party boat tour tomorrow.
Again, sorry that I can’t upload the pics until I’m back in Hong Kong.

Time for BED!!

Today we had lunch at the Green Apple, a restaurant situated between the two buildings of Son & Daughter and owned by rival Backpackers House. They also have a bar, the Red Apple, and that gets pretty darn busy at night.

We started walking to Ponagar, Buddhist temples in the city, when “Eddie Murphy” stopped by to say hello. He offered to take us somewhere on his bike (as is very common) and we ended up going with him for 50,000 for the two of us. I was on his brother’s bike and Ronald went on the back of Eddie’s. The guy actually sort of looked like Eddie Murphy…I wonder who sired him with that name.

Anyways, we paid 15,000 to get in and Eddie & brother were going to wait for us and then take us back to where they found us for another 50 thou. We walked up and it was small and sort of boring, but pretty I guess. Really it was a lot like My Son except here there were Buddhas inside and they were active temples. After we were done, they carted us back to where they found us and when we got off
smaller temples
these were on top of the hill and the men and women were repainting the red scaffoldingwe asked about Vinpearl, an island just off the coast. You have to take a cable car there (the world’s longest over water) and there’s a resort and water park and rides I believe. He said they could take us tomorrow morning to the cable car entrance, so we agreed and then he showed us some tours he had. Turns out he has an easy rider company. We told him we’d meet him at 6 to talk more about the tour and decide over drinks and dinner at the Louisiane Brewhouse, a microbrewery/resort. They give tours at 15:00 every day, but we were too late. He took us there (for free) and agreed (because of Ronald’s savviness) to take us tomorrow for free as well…

The Louisiane Brewhouse had a pool for free and also went out to the beach. If you wanted a fancy chair with cushions you have to pay 30,000. We got a tasting tray for 80,000 and then for the following drank mostly their seasonal Red Ale. Nice. They have three sizes: 330mL – 30,000, 600mL – 60,000, 1L – 90,000. We drank the mediums and then switched to the smalls after. We also had
a lil show
some ribs and a chicken salad that wasn’t the best.

Turns out we weren’t really watching the time and Eddie showed up beside our table. We decided to take the tour to Da Lat that takes 3 days and 2 nights. It is $60 per person, per day, but since we didn’t want to do the elephant riding, he dropped it down to $55. He gave us his passport to keep and to give back to him on Saturday to show us he is legit and we gave him a deposit of 2 million. So tomorrow they’ll take us to the cable car and then Saturday they’ll pick us up at 8:30 to start our trip!