Pandanus Phan Thiet

... thing she had me do was strip to my boxers and lay, face-down on the table. She then covered my midsection with a towel and then reached underneath and snapped off my boxers and flung them across the room before I could register what was going on. All I could think was "Oh God, I don't want one of those kinds of massage!" Then for the next hour, I felt like I was in the ring with Tyson. Needless to say I was unprepared for the kind of deep-tissue massage that I received. After we ...

We finally manage, by some miracle, to get to the post office and send a parcel home before having to catch the bus at 8am to go to Mui Ne. Arriving in Mui Ne at lunchtime we get off the bus to the usual hassle of getting a lift and choosing a hotel. Eventually we catch a moto and see a few hotels up and down the 'strip' (that stretches over 6km) before getting one for 12USD, the most we've paid so far ...

... behind us as it would have been to dangerous. As we headed down the initial dirt road for the main highway a huge bolt of lighning struck not more than half a mile away, and basically scared the **** out me. Needless to say I was pretty pleased when we arrived back at our hotel about 30 minutes later in one piece and not made into pieces of toast. I still think we are going to get out of here tomorrow, but the trip we made was definately worth the 8 bucks we paid.

... to go round the corner. Language was a problem so we were trying to explain we wanted to sleep but he was having none of it, just kept sending us round the corner. There we found a further 3, with another 1 across the huge main road. The first one wanted 250,000 VND (£10) for a large, quite nice, room with a balcony, but we said it was too much and he wouldn't budge. So we popped next door, yes they had a room and it was 50,000 VND (£2), 'quick ...

... that it was going to cost me 300,000 Dong to fix...i got them down to 200,000 and i had no choice but to pay even though i knew i was being scammed. (if i hadnt paid, the bike wouldnt have been fixed and it would have been stuck there) I hadnt seen them cut out the piece and so i had no proof! So I payed, and they put the bike back together, flicked a fuel switch, which i assume must have been all they really needed to do in the first place, and the bike magically ...

... after dinner. We had already purchased our tickets from Brothers Café for $5 each and knew that would be picked up at 13:00 the next day. Our room was very comfortable and we didn't have to check out until noon, so we stayed in our room until the last moments that we were allowed to. After having a final lunch at Lam-tong (delicious vegetable spring rolls for 20,000 dong), we waited outside of our hotel for the bus to come and pick us up. It turned up ...

... Laos is famous for having this all the time, with hostels and hotels having notices such as "hot water and electricity only from 0800-1200 and 1600-midnight" and even then its cagey. That'll be a fun few weeks there, so don't hold your breath for a blog update! Anyway, Vietnam, finding it hard to spend money, even the night before last at dinner I ordered for Sam a vodka and lemonade... got lost in translation as a ...

... evenly on the surface yours sliding down and on the sledge itself then you grind to a stop almost straight away. Some of the bigger dunes were fun but its very tiring and gets old pretty quick. Funnier was to watch a bunch of americans trying to get some speed up down the dunes without being buried. Sunset happened whilst driving back as we were hungry and i was gonna try some of the freshest seafood in Vietnam. That and we both ...

... reminded Mom of the "lizard fishing" that is done nearby. Than lan nui (Mountain lizards) are caught for their prized chicken-like meat. We turn back around to head back to Phan Thiet, driving by the school Mom attended as a youngster. Dinner Then it was time for dinner. We ate along the riverfront of the fishing harbor. Oh my, what an experience! This would complete an amazing trifecta of meals with new unique ...

... definitely a worthy stop-off point. Present was an equipped bride and a string of women who watched her having her photograph taken. Reminded me of the Chinese who love to have this done at every beauty spot! Gradually making our way back for lunch, we drove around the isolated lanes linking teh coast from the inland and at times, I could have sworn we were in pure countryside and not anywhere near a pretty beach. How quickly the scenery changed between country ...