Da Lat...

So, unfortunately I have very little to report as well as a distinct lack of new photos to post. We left Saigon on sunday (saturday for you) and took a "sleeper bus" to the city of Da Lat which boasts some french colonial architecture as well as some well-landscaped parks, cathedrals and an area that is supposed to be beautiful called "The Valley of Love" with a park and lake that you can ride horses around. I have been looking forward to Da Lat since we arrived in Vietnam partly because of these attractions but mostly because it maintains cooler temperatures than many other areas in Vietnam due to its' location in the mountains.
We are on day three here and most of what we have seen has been the inside of our hotel room as well as some very lame movies. The weather has been pretty intense/awful, worse even then in Phu Quoc. There is a typhoon that is expected to hit Hoi An which is just north of Da Lat and on the coast, tonight, and apparently the weather that we are experiencing here is as a result of that typhoon. The weather's bad enough but Ray also has a cold...he doesn't want to admit it but he's asleep at 1:15pm after taking cold medicine and eating noodle-free, brothy soup...hmmm?
At any rate, I don't expect that we will end up seeing much of Da Lat. I am using this down time to catch up on reading for school and to just relax...if the weather were nice I would venture out on my own but it hardly seems worth getting the few articles of clothing that I have soaking wet.
We are heading to Nha Trang, another beach town in the morning, and hopefully the weather will begin to lighten up so we can explore and take more pictures.
Wish us luck!

Goodbye Phu Quoc

We are departing from our little island paradise tomorrow (saturday) morning and I have to admit that I am quite ready to go despite my rave reviews. The weather has been nothing short of wild with torrential rains and fast winds that shake our little bungalow like a leaf. I am not really complaining, I actually love the weather, but I am beginning to miss the sunshine and the ability to comfortably stroll about. We are taking a plane this time, no death-defying bus or boat rides, although I am a terrible flyer so I am not sure what's worse, but it's only a 1 hour flight so hopefully I can remain calm.

I will miss our little bungalow and the restaurants where no matter what we ordered it was delicious (except for one order of bbq squid w/guts intact and even that had a delicious marinade). We have been adopted by a little island dog that we have named Xin Chau which just means "hello" but our Vietnamese vocabulary is still pretty limited and what we do know I feel fairly certain we are demolishing in our pronunciation. Pretty much everyone laughs when we attempt words or phrases, but it's alright, at least we're funny.

So now it's off to Ho Chi Minh City once again, for at least a night and then on to Dalat, a little mountain town that is supposedly much cooler and very charming. If we decide to skip Dalat in favor of more ocean then we will head to Nha Trang and hopefully we can catch some rays there and do a little snorkeling. Either way I will keep you posted!

Island Life

I have to admit that it’s hard for me to resist the urge to keep pinching myself. I can hardly believe this is real. I am on a remote island in Vietnam, with coconut palms, white sand beaches clear blue water, and a bungalow set just feet from the ocean which cost us a whopping $15. The weather is the only potential draw back with occasional monsoon rains and wind, but the deep sleep that this kind of weather induces just makes it feel like part of the unbelievable package.
The awful part was what it took us to get here. We took a bus that would probably comfortably seat 10 from Chau Doc to Rach Gia. It was a 3 ½ hour bus ride and the driver managed to cram 21 of us in there. About half way there we blew a tire (maybe from all of the weight?) and we all had to get off while they changed it, which they did with an amazing swiftness (perhaps because it’s happened before?). Once in Rach Gia we were ripped off by some motor bike drivers who charged us probably 3x the going rate for a 5-7km (3-5m) ride to the port where we were then loaded like sardines onto a giant water bus/speeding, bouncing, flying death trap of a boat that took us to the island in just over 2 ½ hours. I had a bad feeling about that ride when the lady behind me lost all of her noodles (literally) before we had even left port. Either way we made it to Phu Quoc Island with sound body and lunch intact where we fiercely haggled our way into a bus ride around Duong Dong (the most populated part of the island) to find our bungalow of choice.
Right now I am sitting in a lounge chair on the front porch of our little home-for-the-moment, facing the ocean, drinking iced coffee and composing this blog. As amazing as this spot is, we are actually planning to move to a bungalow a little further up the beach this afternoon where we will have hot water, an outdoor shower, AC and Wi-Fi for $5 more (unless we can haggle our way into a cheaper price, which is quite likely).

When I pictured our trip to Vietnam this is hardly what I had in mind, now that I know what this place is like, I am going to have a hard time wanting to leave, I could easily spend the remaining 3 weeks here living the island life, but I guess, in the name of adventure, I can settle for 5 days.

Mekong Delta

Finally! This blog has been very hard to access for some reason.

The last couple of days have been pretty adventure-packed. We left Saigon after 3 days and boarded a bus to explore the Mekong Delta via boat where we saw floating markets, explored some factories, and had a delicious lunch on a small island, followed by a short bike ride around the little village. We then took another bus from the city of Vinh Long to the town of Chau Doc where we stayed overnight on a floating hotel and then today we explored a fish farm and another small village via boat. We were taken back to the city of Chau Doc and then driven to a temple honoring Mr. Ho Chi Minh (the guide called him Mr.) and King (also Mr.) Ngyen. Our last stop was a buddhist pagoda. We had to walk up several flights of stairs to get to the pagoda but the view from the top was breath-taking, or maybe I was just out of breath. We are currently in a hotel in Chau Doc and will be leaving tomorrow to travel roughly 6 hours to get to the island of Phu Quoc where we plan to stay for at least a few days.
Ray is staring over my shoulder right now, offering "helpful" running commentary on what I am writing, stressin' me out!
At any rate, so far I love Vietnam. People have been very gracious and the food has been mostly delicious. It is definitely hot and humid, but not unbearably so. I feel good here, bedtime is early as is wake-up time, and despite the copious quantity of motorized vehicles blowing off exhaust, I feel healthy. I am looking forward to more exploration and hope to have pictures of the ocean to post very soon.

Saigon

We're in Saigon. We've been here for less than 12 hours and are doing fine, although I feel pretty out of it, probably due to lack of sleep/jet lag. I don't have much to say yet. It's busy and hot, full of smells, delicious and disgusting alike. I am fascinated and occasionally overwhelmed, but my sense of self is still strong and I feel fairly grounded despite being totally out of my realm of comfort and knowing.

And we're off!

I'm packed and ready. The printer is beside me steadily cranking out the research articles that I will need to read, dissect and cite for my first APA paper as a graduate student. I will be researching and writing said paper whilst hurtling through the air at a frighteningly high speed for 18-20 hours. This is how I will begin my Vietnam vacation...at the same time that I am beginning my graduate career. Actually, once the paper is done I am mostly free and clear for a couple of weeks and I hope to fully take in all of the sights, sounds, and experiences in Vietnam.
I am having a hard time finding excitement within myself knowing that there are so many hours of travel and work ahead, but I would imagine that excitement will work its way in once that plane touches down.
We have hotel reservations for a few nights so at least we know where we're going right away, which is somewhat comforting, other than that we are open to most anything.
I should be in touch soon!

The Adventure Begins...in 4 days.

I thought I should put something up here since I have already given out the address and some of you might be checking it out already.
We are leaving for Vietnam on wednesday, September 16th and will be spending a month basically aimlessly wandering around the country. We fly into Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) after some un-godly number of travel hours, I'm thinking 20 or so, and we are planning to stay there for a couple of days. After that, the tentative plan is to head south for the Mekong Delta and then take a ride on a fast boat to an island with beautiful white sand beaches and sea snakes (definitely a deterrent for swimming). From there, I think we will start trucking north, most likely via train.
Of course all of that is subject to change...but for now that is the initial general outline.
I do not think that I have quite processed the fact that I am going to Vietnam in 4 days, I don't think that it will really hit me until I board that plane...or maybe not even then, it might have to land there before I'll believe it.
I will keep you all posted as much as possible and try to upload pictures regularly. I would also love to hear what is going on back home, so feel free to share your stories with me as well.

-Heather