Day 6: Hoi An

Today I had my final breakfast with Sarah at our favorite breakfast place, then headed to the airport to go to Danang, which is about 30 minute drive from Hoi An. Got to see the Marble Mountain, which are 5 marble outcrops that were once islands. Then headed to China Beach where the Americans soldiers use to go for rest and relaxation. It's a quiet beach with white sand and blue waters. Then headed to Hoi An. Hoi An was an international trading post.

Day 5: Nha Trang...

Today I met Sarah and Paul for breakfast at our local hangout for some yummy yummy crepes. Then we headed to volunteer helping kids learn english. The little school room is in the back of a bar and the woman that started the bar and the school is a Vietnames/Canadian girl who came to Nha Trang and never left, she was compelled to help the street kids of Nha Trang. She wanted to avoid having these kids become pedfile kids and give them some type of education to better their lives. Some of the kids have to help their parents sell postcards for the day, so if they sell enough postcards they are allow to come to the little school to learn english. These kids live for the moment as they do not know what tomorrow will bring. Made me realize living for the moment is very important as you never know what tomorrow will bring, whether it is a sudden illness you may get, death in the family, or a change in your family structure.....If the kids don't help their parents sell enough postcards they cannot pay the rent. The kids were really excited to see us and there was gentleman that was 31, who was trying to learn english. We spent two hours with the kids and what joy it was to spend time with these kids and help them to learn english. Made me really appreciate what I have in life compared to what these kids have. When we were finished we were of course propositioned to buy postcards which we did as they kids did a great job that day learning english and we were hoping that they would be coming back again.

After the morning of teaching english I headed for the beach for some rest and relaxation. I then treated my self to a day at the spa, got a facial and a massage for $35 total! How nice it is to splurge on yourself here in Vietnam. Then they gave me some Vietnamese tea, which I must say is quite robust compared to any of the other teas I have ever tasted before.

That night I had my final dinner with Sarah and Karina ( a Swedish girl I met at the beach that day). I had a nice dinner of crab and tried some BBB beer, was a bit lighter than Saigon beer, which I prefered.

Day 4: Nha Trang...

Today I took a boat cruise 0n the China Sea. It was quite nice the boat tour was $6 and was all day and lunch was included. The boat tour was fun it was a group of about 20 and I met a group from the Bay area they were of Vietnamese descent.

Then headed to have dinner with Sarah and Paul. The restaurant that we went to wanted us to pay for the wet towels they provided, they use that as napkins. I tried the Vietnamese curry, which was quite good, it reminded me of the Thai curry dishes. They usually give you a little bowl of salt and pepper with a lime on the side to put on your dish. The other difference is from the French influence they have dishes that have rice crepes.

Day 3: Nha Trang...

Today I got up way to early and took a flight to Nha Trang which is a beach resort area on the China Sea. It has beautiful blue/green water with mountains on both sides. I would have to say it is one of the most beautiful beaches I have been to. I enjoyed more than the beaches in Thailand. It is not as tourist as Thailand. When I arrived at the hotel I met Sarah, a Brit, we decided to go grab some lunch. I ordered the pancakes, what I got were crepes, cut up and garlice noodles. The were quite good. I then headed for the beach for nice relaxing day. People are aggressive in trying to sell you things, but I don't think they are nearly as aggressive as the people were in Bali.

That night had dinner with Sarah and Paul (an Aussie) at a seafood BBQ place. The prices here are extremely cheap. Hotel rooms you can get for ~ $15 and meals generally less than $5, you can't beat the prices. I am beginning to like Vietnam more than Thailand. It's not as touristy as Thailand.

Day 2: Saigon...

Well today I got off to a early start as I headed to the Cu Chi tunners. It's about 30km outside of Saigon. The tunnels were used by the Viet Cong as their secret underground in South Vietnam. When Vietnam was split into two countries. North Vietnam was communist and South Vietnam was not. The Viet Cong were part of North Vietnam and that was their secret underground. The tunnels were really fascinating as they had three levels underground and these people would literally live in the tunnels for months. They even had a tunnel that led to the river. I got a chance to go in the tunnels on the first level and had to literally crawl on my hands and knees and it was quite clostrophoic, I can't imagine someone living there for a long period of time.

I then headed off to the 'War Museum' and saw photos of all the people affected by 'agent orange' during the Vietnam War, which was a sad sight. There were Vietnamese men, woman, and children affected by the downpour of 'agent orange' on the Vietnamese war. The men and woman who were affected some of them gave birth to deformed children. It was truly truly a sad sight to see, which makes you wonder if some of the tactics the American use on war are really the right tactics to use.

It's a country that has seen it's level of turmoil. The people have generally been friendly and helpful, but there is a sense of determination in the people, probably from all the turmoil they have had to face. That night I headed to and had some pho (traditional Vietnamese soup) and Vietnamese pancake, which consisted of fried shrimp and some beef in a a fried rice looking crepe.

Day 1: Good Morning Vietnam....Saigon

This morning I arrived in 'Saigon', aka the 'beep beep city' as there are hundreds of motorbikes everywhere. Crossing the street is quite a challenge and you have to pray that the motorbikes do not catch you off guard and accidentially hit you. In terms of modernization I would say it's between Thailand and Cambodia. In comparison to other parts of South East Asia I have not spotted a 7/11 yet, but did see a KFC. Just like other parts of South East Asia I did see people wearing masks to avoid pollution. Some woman even wear mask that cover their neck as well, I have been told they do this to avoid getting to much color. Luckily when I was on the plane I met another fellow Bay Area and her friend and we headed to the Renunification Palace ( built in 1966 as South Vietnams Presidential Palace, it was towards this building that the first communist tanks in Saigon rushed on the morning of April 30 1975 the day Saigon surrendered) and the Jade Pagoda. Vietnam has more of the Chinese influence than what I have seen of the rest of the South East Asian countries I have been to. I have found the people to be generally friendly here. Since Vietnam was colonized by the French I did see the remants of French articheture. That night had the Saigon Red beer which was quite good. They have Green as well.