Vietnam (southern)

Phil, Bernice and I spent the longest part of our trip in Vietnam. We took the ferry along the Mekong river, and ended up at Chau Doc, Vietnam. We stay in Vietnam for one night, and catch the earliest bus out to Can Tho the next morning, at 5am (yes, we like to get up before dawn a lot on this trip :P).

Chau Doc was actually very nice. The part we stayed in was very bustling and there was tonnes of great food. We just ate at one food stall after another. Dinner was some really yummy rice noodles, and then came dessert (coconut milk and ice), then more dinner : the Viet subs - actually tasted really similar to the ones in T.O, some Pho - also tasted similar to the one my aunt makes, and more dessert!

I was actually quite happy, because most of the stuff I have had before, whether in T.O. or at my aunts house, and I am proud to say that they are very authentic tasting :)

Our hostel here is not as nice as the one in Siem Reap, well, I guess this is what we get for 7USD a night for 3 people. There were some bed bugs, so I tried to sleep as covered as I could... and Bernice said there was a lot of mosquitoes in the bathroom... but she scared them all away and it was quite safe by the time my shower came along! The little joys of traveling!

We leave at 5AM, the next morning on a Cycloe! Oo... those must be the most sketchiest thing I have ridden on. It's basically like bicycle with a seating attached to it with wheels, and all three of us, and our bags barely fit on it.

The ride there was actually quite an experience in itself! There isn't really a public transit system there, so the entire way by bus, the people would be trying to get more riders waiting along the road, and pick them up and drop them off, kind of like a transit system. Needless to say, it took us almost an additional 2 hours to get to Can Tho.

After arriving in Can Tho, we try to find where we can get a tour for the floating markets. We arrive in the city center and are very much lost as to where to head to next. As we ask for directions, we bump into a guy who happens to be the owner of family run guest house. He looks at our Lonely Planet guide map, shows us where he is in the guide, and offers a tour for us.

We all hop on the back of a motor bike -- there were no cabs around, and motorbikes was the only choice of transportation at that moment. I was so scared! I mean, this is dangerous! But, we didnt really have a choice. I later learn very quickly during my trip that this was how people in Southern Vietnam get around!

I believe in Canada, we call this suicide. Seriously.
We actually miss the busy time of the floating market, since we didn't get out onto the river until almost 9 - 9 30. The best time to see the market is around 7 am - 9 am, since most of the sellers want to avoid the heat. But, we still got to observe some the floating market, and it was definitely something interesting.

There would be boat loads of pineapples, or another fruit, and these people would live on these small boats! We later get scammed at a lunch place they took us to! Must be careful with these tours! But, the lunch was nice none the less, and it was definitely a cool experience having lunch in a boat floating peacefully along the Mekong River.
After Can Tho, we catch a bus to Ho Chi Minh city. We didn't spend much time at HCM at all, just took a public bus from one bus station to another (there is a seperate bus station for buses going to and fro from the south, and northern Vietnam).

Luckily, we catch the last bus from HCM to Nah Trang, the beaches of south central Vietnam along the eastern coast. It is a 11 hour bus ride, but since it was a night bus, we actually got there in 8 hours, and are kind of stuck at the bus terminal at 3 30 am!

Nothing like a nice bowl of Pho and some strong coffee at 3 30 am to keep us awake until we embark on our walk into the beaches and market area of Nah Trang. I must say that the mosquitoes were really bad for me in Vietnam.

They especially liked to feast on my left ankle! Even if my entire calf is exposed (wearing capris) they still only go for the ankles! GRrrrr..

We roam around looking for a room. It's interesting the networks of people in places like Cambodia and Vietnam. Everyone seems to be connected to each other.

For instance, the guy that brought you on the motorbike will bring you to a guesthouse of someone he knows, and the owner of the guest house might bring you to a restaurant of his friends... and so on.

We find a room for 13USD a night, with AC, satellite tv, hot water, own bathroom, everything that we could hope for! :) We settle down and then head out to the beaches like bunch of idiotic westerners only to be burned by the hot hot sun. Oo... my SPF 30 sunscreen failed me so miserably!
The next day, despite the amount of pain we are all in, we take a diving trip out to the coral reefs. Phil and Bernice are certified divers, but I am not, so I have to do down with a guide. None the less, it was a really cool experience!

It was so beautiful, I really only imagined such beauty existed in movies and books. I was honestly blown away by the beauty of the coral reefs. I felt like I was the Little Mermaid. I had never seen such clear waters, been so close to different fishes, touched so many marine plants.
It was just a really amazing experience, and made me want to learn more about it, and also preserve it. Its really amazing how you can watch things on tv (discovery channel, movies, etc), and think you have an idea of what something is, but when you come face to face with it, you are speechless, and realize that you really actually had no idea at all.

Ok, ok. Enough babbling about diving... but yea, it was the most amazing part of my trip!
We spend 3 days in Nah Trang, and it was actually really nice to relax and be in one place for a few days. The seafood there was amazing! We went to a pretty nice seafood place, and altogether it was 20USD. There were a lot shakes in Vietnam also. :) The bread here was also really good! Really fresh! I like Vietnamese foods!

After Nah Trang, it was time for Phil and Bernice to head up north to Hoi An, Hue, and eventually Ha Noi.

It was time for me to head back south to HCM to meet up with some of my relatives! 3 of my relatives are from North America, and just so happened to be visiting relatives here.

My grandma's sister has kids here, and we stayed with them :). They were really nice, and made sure that we had good food all the time! :D

It's getting late now, and I need to get up somewhat early tomorrow to do laundry, so I will end this post here and continue it another time!

This trip has been really fun, and I love visiting new places. The people I encounter on my trips continually amaze me. They show me, through overcoming their hardships, that the human spirit truly is stronger than anything that happens to it! (forgot where that quote came from...)