Hue, Vietnam

The night bus from Da Lat took a pit stop here for the toilet and a bite to eat. It's in the middle of nowhere but it felt so beautiful here with the moist cool air and the mountains. If you look on top, the bus doubles as a Fedex delivery truck. You can feel this weight begging the bus to fall over on all the sharp turns. Better than the stories I heard of pigs getting loaded into the luggage space in the bottom I suppose. 

When I  asked around the backpacking community at Hue Backpackers I heard of the citadel, many tombs, and some temples. I didn't hear any reviews that were a must see. I decided I would skip all of these purely tourist activities. Living on the road you find that you don't want to do this kind of stuff every day.

Instead:

I went for a beautiful run through the parks along the Perfume river.

I rode the bike around the citadel and  all of the backroads saying hi and getting sneak peaks into the lives of all of the locals.

I made friends with a server at one or the restaurants and she took some friends and I to play football with the locals. They were really good. I was not.

The last day I got a motorbike with a big group and we went to a paradice beach bar with good food, cheap beers, and lots of beach toys including beach vollyball!

On the way up north we crossed the 17th parallel and stopped at the Vinh Moc Tunnels. about 600 people lived in these tunnels to hide from the bombs that were being dropped during the war. a network of trenches were made to connect many other networks of tunnels. The Vinh Moc tunnels housed only civilians. Families of 6 would stay in rooms only a couple of square meters big. The deepest part of the tunnels are 23 meters underground. Climbing throughout the tunnels makes you feel like an ant. The walls of the cave are simply dirt, no supporting stones or wood. 

(Behind me, a room for a family of 4-6 people)

The next stop is Phong Nha to explore some of the most beautiful caves in the world. 

Da Lat, Vietnam

Arriving at the bus stop I decided to splurge when a motorbike driver offered me a ride to Family Hostel for 1.50usd instead of walking the 2 kilometers. I immediately felt the beauty of this small city in the mountains as we drove around the giant lake that centers Da Lat.

It was family meal time when I arrived. More than 20 guests sat around massive pots full of food on the floor. The smell of homemade food cooked by Mama and the rumble of travelers sharing stories overwhelmed my senses as Mama slapped a bowl and some chopsticks in my hand and said hello! Followed by a bunch of vietnamese. The two girls that worked there joked and played and I settled into the atmosphere.

 

(making  friends and drinking a local hot drink made from taro)

(Mama and I)

Canyoning!

Consisted of a full day of repelling down cliffs and waterfalls, sliding down waterfalls, jumping 11 meters into the water, and beautiful hiking ghrough the jungle and river.

Hiking to the top of Lang Biang

We got stopped by the locals to help them drink a giant jug of rice whine that they had already made it half way through. We almost didn't leave but we decided we would never make it to the top if we kept drinking.

 

 

 

Day trip to the elephant waterfall!

I got a flat tire right in front of a mechanic. It took them 5 minutes to patch it up and only 1USD. The waterfall was beautiful with lots of fun climbing at the bottom.

Rock climbing! Although I was sick all day I still had a ton of fun climbing the cliffs along the river.

The crazy house was worth checking out. A giant house with a wacky design that would only be seen in Wonderland.

Bicycle up was my favorite cafe here where I would eat, drink smithies or coffee, and write regularly

(Vietnamese sandwhiches for 10,000 dong/50 cents mmm)

Da Lat has many activities and a very nice atmosphere. Everyone returns your smiles and there are no beggars or hagglers to harass you. The night market is huge and you can find lots of different foods and goods. The night scene is pretty small with most places closing by 11pm.

 

After spending 10 days in Da Lat I'm off on the night bus to Hue!

Saigon, Vietnam

I spent a few days in Saigon:

playing a 6hour explore Saigon game with the university group "talking with the tourists"

(here is my awesome team)

doing a day tour of the Mekong Delta

(fruit store on the Mekong)

(making popped rice by mixing with hot black sand from Mekong River)

(Making rice paper)

and making new friends

Vietnam

Enea visits for 1 week

Waiting for Enea (friend from NYC) at the Ho Chi Minh airport. I picked him up on a semiautomatic motorbike to give him instant immersion into the driving culture. 

Enea booked us a 5 star hotel for the first two nights. Below is just the living room. There was also two giant bedrooms, a unecessarily large kitchen, two bathrooms, a balcony, and...

 7 closets!

He fell asleep during the AO Show at the Operah House. Really cool acrobatics all done with the engineering of some kind of bamboo. 

The night scene on Bui Bien Street. I'm not sure why cars even try to drive through this street. I definitely don't understand why people try to drink in chairs that overflow into the street and when the cops come everyone has to stand up with their drink while the shop owners stack all the plastic stools. I guess for the crazy experience.

Riding bicycles in Ho Chi Minh :) Madness compared to NYC

Enea's first night bus from Mui Ne to Hoi An (17 hours)

I followed Enea around as he got fitted for various things such as a leather bag and shoes. Here he is getting measured by Ms. Lu for some nice shirts and jacket.

Behind the scenes!

Hoi An, Beautiful at night along the river

Lady selling chickens and ducks

Back in Ho Chi Minh getting sushi at Ichiban, rated number one on Trip Advisor and glad to say they deserve it.

The Bitexco Financial Tower

Farewell Enea

Thanks for visiting!