Good Morning Vietnam

We apologize to have left everyone on such a sad note with our last post, but cheer up we are back! We want to stress how Cambodia exceeded our expectations. The people were super-friendly, the hostels and food were cheap, and the sights were plentiful. The only thing we can bad mouth are the pot -holed filled roads (especially when you are drinking coffee, OUCH!!). As you have already figured, we are currently in Vietnam.

Since we already got our visas it was a breeze crossing the border. We arrived Ho Chi Minh City aka Saigon that afternoon. It is located in the southern hemisphere of the country. The first thing we noticed entering 'Nam was the improved infrastructure and the sprawling highrises. The Vietnamese are very business oriented $$$. We rested our heads on the backpacker saavy roads of Pham Ngu Lao and took in the scenery. If you don't have your head on a swivel you will get run over by a motorbike. If there are any traffic rules, no one is following them. If you are a passive driver or pedestrian you can consider yourself road kill.

The crazed streets of Pham Ngu Lao

There are three seasons in SE Asia: hot, hotter, and hottest. Sometimes when you are in a congested city inhaling exhaust fumes, sweating your face off; all you need is an oasis. We found that escape in the form of a water park. We braved the traffic on a motorbike and made our way to Dam Sen WaterPark. At $5.50, it was a steal of a deal and despite the crazy weekend crowd, the lines to the slides were manageable, the wave pool was not! They even have a separate sun deck for foreigners so we could soak up the sun in peace and quiet.

Welcome to Dam Sen!

That's what I call Vietnamese soup....

We made a decision at the beginning of this 3 country escapade that if we were gonna make it to Malaysia in time we could only do half of Vietnam. That meant we couldn't visit the capital city of Hanoi in the north. Fortunately the unusually cold climate of Hanoi made missing it a little more bearable. We also wanted to see a water puppet show which that city is famous for. We were pumped to find the Golden Dragon Water Puppet Theater in the heart of Ho Chi Minh. While the show was entirely in Vietnamese it made both Michelle and I laugh. It was only 50 minutes but worth the price of admission.

Let the show begin

My new gf

View of the stage

A small snippette of the show

We were getting stir crazy for being away from the beach so we booked a night sleeping bus to the city of Nha Trang. This beach is located on the central coast and is breathtaking. The beach line extends miles in each direction and the loiterers are few and far between. In the next few years, Nha Trang will continue to grow. Luxury resorts are popping up around every corner.

Nighty Night ZzZZZz

The beach was lined with these towering apartments and condos



View of the Ba Ponagar Temple from the bridge

This sky cable is longest in the world and is the main entry into the local amusement park, VinPeal!

I wanted to make Valentine's Day special for the both Michelle and I. I took her to the Thap Ba Hot Springs where we had a relaxing spa day. We experienced a mud bath, cleansed in a mineral tub, and relaxed in a heated pool. We left with skin as smooth as a baby's bottom. We finished the night at an Indian restaurant... Free popadoms with mango and green chutney! I got my work cut out for me next year!

A rose and Oreos, the way to Michelle's heart :)

Thap Ba Hot Springs on Valentine's Day

Us enjoying the mud bath



Michelle enjoying her mineral shower



Both Michelle and I are becoming professional beach bums. We are spending the afternoon on the beach and we are heading north again to Hoi An on another overnight sleeper bus. ZzZzZz