WISH YOU ALL A SAFE AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

High recommendations for traveling to Vietnam. For the most part we didn’t encounter too many problems. Since Vietnam is a communist country, I had a preconceived notion that our travel experience would be similar to Russia and China i.e. communication difficulties, constantly putting up a fight with the locals… Not the case with Vietnam, I was surprised at the amount of English speakers out there and the Vietnamese treated us well, granted we did have some setbacks but nothing really major.
What I loved about Vietnam - there were actually long moments of peace and quiet! We could actually sit on the deck of our Halong Bay boat, watch the sun set and enjoy the sound of the sea. Also, sitting on Phu Quoc’s beach and observing the slow fishing boats pass by and again enjoying the sounds of the sea. Can you believe this former war torn country a peaceful haven? Vietnam is definitely on the radar for a return visit.
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We landed in Bangkok today and we noticed the most crazy thing. There is a golf course between Bangkok’s airport two runways!! What’s also crazy, cars and golf carts are allowed to cross the tarmac! After waiting for a plane to land or take off a gate lifts up allowing the vehicles to pass through.
We’ll try to take a better photo when we depart Bangkok.

See Time Magazine Article

Our arrival in Nha Trang was greeted with rain, not much to do in this beach town if Mother Nature is not happy. On the upside we did find an excellent noodle shop in town - finally a tasty bowl of Pho without a ton of MSG. We only spent a day and a half in Nha Trang then headed off to the central highland town of Dalat.
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Dalat feels a bit like the Bay area. A particular section of town reminds me of S.F.’s Presidio district - tall pine trees everywhere. Lots of narrow hilly streets in town and surprisingly many alpine looking/inspired houses.
Dalat is ideal for hiking but lately Vietnamese food and my stomach haven’t been ideal companions. I suspect the raw veggies on the spring rolls have been making me sick. They’re so delicious but I must lay off them. So while I stayed in our hotel room to nurse my tummy Yvonne ventured off on a hike, unfortunately in the pouring rain - mother nature struck again.
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After an 8 hour bus ride from Dalat we arrived in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly known but still commonly referred to as Saigon). Saigon’s streets, just like Hanoi’s, is littered with motorscooters - crossing the street is quite challenging.
Saigon is much larger in scale than Hanoi. Extremely wide boulevards and massive colonial structures. For example Saigon’s central post office is similar in scale to L.A.’s Union Station lobby. (If you’re not an Angeleno use your imagination and think big - by the way for you foreigners out there we’re referred to as Angelenos not L.A.er’s). Saigon to me is quite an impressive looking city, Yvonne however finds it’s too Frenchy looking.
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We only spent one night in Saigon (intending to come back our last week in Vietnam) and took a flight out to the Southern Island of Phu Quoc. So now we’re on a small quiet island enjoying our beachfront bungalow - very clean and reasonably priced. We were intending to head back to Saigon tomorrow but we will spend another couple of days in Phu Quoc. We couldn’t resist the lure of cheap lodging on the beach - it’s quieter and cheaper than Thailand out here.
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Regarding bird flu. As a precaution the entire country is not eating poultry. All the restaurants are not serving chicken or duck. No poultry to be found at any of the local markets. Vietnam seems to be abstaining from eating our feathered friends.

The most amazing cooking school ever! Can’t beat the location and atmosphere. It’s basically a restaurant run by Hai Scout Cafe in Hoi An, but it’s located along the river and can only be accessed by boat. The class room is an open covered space right on the water. The pictures will explain in a lot less space. We were given class demonstrations and then we were all off to our own little cooking station. As Eddy said we even made our own rice paper for the fresh spring rolls. Can’t wait to do at home. I will post the recipes with the photos in a short while, so keep posted. Then we were all served our food at the patio style restuarant overlooking the river.

The class began with a complimentary drink of choice at Hai Scout Cafe. Then a tour of the local market, seeing the spices, veggies and fish. Then we were shuttled to the cooking school and back by boat. In between was the herb garden tour at the school and lots of cooking and eating. Well worth the USD 13 per person.

Link to recipes and photos soon to come…

Vietnam is very accomodating to the budget traveler. There are plenty of cheap and clean guesthouses all over the country. The food is excellent, we’ve been eating quite well for a few bucks, however we’ve yet to have a descent bowl of pho out here! We thought Thailand was cheap and affordable, Vietnam is ridiculously cheap. We eat like royalty for $10 and that’s including our booze.
The Vietnamese, for the most part are pretty friendly, but they are a bit impatient i.e… antsy waiters/waitresses rushing us to place our order (even though it will take forever to get our food or drinks)…better get on the bus fast or the driver will leave you behind. Also, the Vietnamese men are such smartasses, they can be pretty hilarious but if you’re not in a mood for comedy their dry humor can get tiring.

Anyway, here’s a summary of a few places we have visited in Vietnam.

Hanoi - A pedestrian’s nightmare, so many motorscooters in your path! Crossing the street is like playing the old video game Frogger - cross, step, wait, avoid and pray. Beautiful architecture - French colonial facades, high ceiling interior spaces, large courtyards. Tall trees that line up along Hanoi’s sidewalks. Great bars, restaurants and cafes to hang out and live the Bohemian lifestyle. Many cities we couldn’t wait to leave behind, Hanoi we wished for a longer stay. Definitely my favorite city on this long journey - Yvonne agrees as well.

Halong Bay - Having learned our lesson from the Yangtze River, we nixed the budget boating option and splurged for a better boat to Halong Bay. The boat did not disappoint - very clean junk (you know the Chinese kind), quiet passengers (yes!) and excellent food - 3 meals all inclusive and reasonably priced. What’s considered luxury in Vietnam is actually cheaper than a budget Chinese cruiser (we didn’t even get food for the Yangtze and we were charged to sit on deck).
Located in the Gulf of Tonkin, Halong Bay has over 3,000 giant rock formations (more like islands) jutting out of the sea. Fantastic scenery, Antartica has it’s icebergs, Halong Bay has it’s giant rock formations.

Hue - Situated near the former Vietnam War demilitarized zone. The city of Hue was not that impressive but outside of Hue is a beautiful countryside of rice patties and forest.
We took a visit to the nearby Vinh Moc tunnels that were dug out by Vietnamese civilians during the war. We also visited the former U.S. Base - Khe Sanh, which is located right on the former DMZ. Khe Sanh is actually quite beautiful (a hillside landscape of dense jungle) considering the surrounding areas were constantly Nepalmed and sprayed with Agent Orange during the war. After deforestation the trees and plants have grown nicely out here.

We’re currently in Hoi An, a quiant town with again these charming colonial buildings. Hoi An’s Old Town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which basically means the buildings are well kept and preserved. While in Hoi An we took a Vietnamese cooking class, we can now make the rice paper for spring rolls - yummers!
Anyway Hoi An is quite nice but we’re a little bored out here. Not much else to do unless you’re a shopaholic - Hoi An is known for custom tailored shops. Since shopping is not our number one agenda, the next time we visit Hoi An (in the near future) we’ll bring an empty suitcase. (Yvonne did get a custom made Vietnamese outfit, cheap and tailored in only 3 hours).

We’re off to Nha Trang tomorrow, a beach area known for it’s windsurfing and Scuba diving. However, there’s been alot of rain out here so we’re crossing our fingers for good weather.

Until next time.