Ater Hanoi we headed to Hoi An which was give or take about about a 17 hours. Hoi An is a small city that is largely directed towards tourist with a french influence. The town is literally full of 200 tailor shops, and I would be lying if I said that we didn't take full advantage of that! Who can pass up tailored dress pants for $14? Not us that is for sure. We did however manage to leave with room still in our bags. Other than the shopping it rained for a majority of out time there. To say it rained is actually an understatement! The town is divided by the Thu Bon river and by the time we left the river had worked its way up about two block into the town. The locals didn't seem to be too bothered by it, as they all took out there long boats from storage and used it as a money making opportunity by hauling tourist around the streets by boats! I guess whatever works...
After Hoi An we had a little change of plans and headed to Nah Trang where we opted to live dorm style for a few days. This ended up being one of the best things we have done as we met 4 of the coolest people traveling through Vietnam. Our first day consisted of going to a "Hot Springs" with two of our roommate; Reece from Australia and Ryan from Oregan. We took a mud bath and got a real good laugh out of the older Russian ladies who seemed to be regulars. We then cleaned off by going through three different pools, all of which were about 100 degrees. We now know where they keep all the hot water in Southeast Asia! That night we went to the Sailing club where we had the honor of witnessing some of the popular dance moves of the older crowd. Needless to say we spent a majority of the night trying to perfect their moves as well as rolling on the floor laughing! All around a great time, and probably one of the best nights we have had so far!
The following day we took a day boat tour to visit the islands surrounding Nah Trang. In theory this would have been an awesome day but we got trapped in a mansoon. However, despite our initial feelings the day turned out to be a lot of fun. We went with the four people that we were staying with; Reece, Ryan, Charlotte, and Gavin. The tour consisted of dancing to a "boy band" on the tables. Shannon couldn't even stand up so you can imagine the amount of space we had while dancing. We also went snorkeling, swimming around a makeshift floating bar, to an aquarium, and hung out on the beach at another island!
After Nah Trang we got on a day bus and headed to Dalat, which is known as the Honeymoon spot of Vietnam. Luckily our new friend Ryan decided to tag along so Meghan and I didn't look like lovers as we visited places such as the "Valley of Love!" We only had one full day in Dalat so we decided to take a day tour around the town. We went to a waterfall were we got to ride on a "roller coaster" both ways instead of walking, went on a sky rail, along with some other events.
Our final stop in Vietnam is Ho Chi Minh or Saigon. We went to the Cu Chi tunnels near Siagon. It was fascinating to see all the tunnels and war propaganda, but I can't even fathom how horrifying it must have been to have been apart of all of it. We just spent the day going through the tunnels and looking at how all the traps were engineered. It really is hard for us to grasp that this was all a reality for thousands of American soldiers. 
Here are a few pictures to give you a taste of the crazy lifestyles that make up Hanoi and Saigon!
1 comment:
nice trip!!!
Post a Comment