TravelStream™ news feed for member dee2000x on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/dee2000x en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Sun, 16 Mar 2008 04:53:35 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dee2000x/1/1205696460/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dee2000x/1/1205696460/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dee2000x/1/1205696460/tpod.html Sun, 16 Mar 2008 04:53:35 -0400 Vietnam and Cambodia - adventure no.1

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Phnom Penh, Cambodia

This is our last day in Phnom Penh, we are just about to leave for the airport now. Yesterday we spent the day shopping and hanging around the place - really easy to do in Phnom Penh there are so many cafes and nice places for food. We had a really nice dinner at a Khmer restaurant down by the river and then we went for a few drinks, and on to Heart of Darkness, which is a popular nightclub in PP. Well it was mad in there Solenn got propositioned by a total sex pest and then he turned his attention to me, and it's saying a lot for his proficiency at pestering that he was able to really annoy the both of us at the same time. He was terrible he would not go away and I was losing my cool at this stage which had absolutely NO effect. Me: get your hands off me, do NOT touch me. Sex pest: I really like you too. Sooo we relocated to a different part of the club and besides that incident it was fun. Today we went to the Royal Palace and the Silver Pagoda. It closes between 11 and 2 so of course we rocked up at 11 (a bit bleary eyed) only to be told it was closed :(. But just as well really as Cait and I were 'únsuitably attired' so we went off and had lunch and bought some fabulous tourist t shirts for $2 to cover ourselves up and went back at two. I can't put up pics on this computer but I'll put them up later.Off to the airport now to head to Hong Kong. More shopping! Woo hoo!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dee2000x/1/1205531340/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dee2000x/1/1205531340/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dee2000x/1/1205531340/tpod.html Fri, 14 Mar 2008 07:21:15 -0400 Vietnam and Cambodia - adventure no.1

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Phnom Penh, Cambodia

We left Siam Reap yesterday and got the bus back to Phnom Penh. Sugar, our tuk tuk driver had told us he booked us the best seats on the bus, so there we were right up the front underneath the telly playing very loud Cambodian pop videos! The front of the bus was infested with mozzies, the driver kept leaving the door open so they were all coming in to the cooler air so we entertained ourselves killing them for a few hours. We also had a birds eye view of the road which in this situation was NOT GOOD. We made it back to PP in about 2 hours less than it took to drive to Siam Reap because the driver was a speed demon! We drove most of the way on the wrong side of the road - after a few very close shaves I just read my book and refused to look out the window. But it was great to get there early. At one of our toilet stops, there were some ladies selling fried insects (cockroaches I think), I took a picture but declined her offer of a free sample (I was scared, they were BIG).Our hotel in Phnom Penh is really nice. There is a hairdryer! I look normal again! Last night we went down to the riverfront area and had pizza and chips (I know I know but I am sick of rice) and went for a drink in the Foreign Correspondents Club - really nice place but full of greenflies. You wouldn't mind but there were loads of lizards all over the walls, but they were obviously the fat lazy variety of lizard. Today we went to the killing fields and the genocide museum. Very very sad. I'm glad I went but I'm not going to put up the pictures. On the way back our tuk tuk driver was trying to get us to book him for tomorrow, but haven't planned our days in advance so we said no. Obviously business is slow because he then asked us if we want to buy marijuana! well. do we LOOK like we want to buy marijuana? we thought we looked respectable but we are obviously looking a bit frayed around the edges!To cheer ourselves up we went to the Russian market - a huge market that sells absolutely everything. lots of brand names for cheap that "leak" into the market and bootleg cds and dvds. This is the first hotel we have stayed in that has an actual bar so we're off to the bar now for some refreshments after such a hard day...
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dee2000x/1/1205360160/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dee2000x/1/1205360160/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dee2000x/1/1205360160/tpod.html Wed, 12 Mar 2008 07:39:20 -0400 Vietnam and Cambodia - adventure no.1

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Siam Reap, Cambodia

Last night we went to a really cool bar called the dead fish tower inn, where they have crocodiles in a pool! Mental. They have a section on the menu called scary food. We didn't eat there! I think i have a touch of heatstroke today so this will be short and sweet. This morning we went to Bentey Sreai which is a bit far out but our trusty tuk tuk made it and it was worth the trip. The temple is made from a pink coloured stone and it has the most beautiful carved stone. It was really packed though so we looked around and on the way back to Angkor we went to the Landmines Museum. It was sad but it's good to see that people are trying to help the people who have been affected by them. Then we had lunch and went to Angkor Wat. We had been psyching ourselves up for the climb to the top up the really narrow stairs, but we found out the top level was closed. Well when we got there the second level was closed too so absolutely no bravery or climbing was required! Just as well as it was roasting. Angkor Wat is so huge, you just can't comprehend it from the photographs, it is like cathedrals on top of cathedrals on top of cathedrals. It is an amazing place. I can't even describe it. By the end of it I was fit to faint with the heat so we went back to the hotel. There are loads of little children asking you to buy things and I swear they go to some sales training place where they all learn how to ANNOY you into buying things by wearing you down so you will buy something to make them go away. They all know the capital of Ireland and the name of the Taoiseach and the population of Ireland. They would make super salespeople in another life but today I was feeling fairly murderous towards them.There's loads of monkeys and baby monkeys running around the jungle around Angkor Wat but I only got a picture of one up near the temple who seems to have a taste for Coca Cola.I can't figure out what's going on with my lighters, they kept exploding on me in Saigon, once in my bag walking down the road (I thought I was shot) and once in my pocket in a shop (it scared a few people) and now today the lighter I had in my bag has no gas in it, it looks like a bit of it popped off. I tried to explain it to a man in a shop in Saigon but he thought I was mental so I just bought matches. Something to do with the heat but why is it only happening to me?
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dee2000x/1/1205234280/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dee2000x/1/1205234280/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dee2000x/1/1205234280/tpod.html Tue, 11 Mar 2008 07:30:49 -0400 Vietnam and Cambodia - adventure no.1

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Siam Reap, Cambodia

Siam Reap is lovely, the hotel is lovely, the people are lovely. It's just what we needed after our few days of travelling and boats and dodgy tours and hotels. Last night we went out for cocktails and dinner and really relaxed. The today we got up early and went to some of the tombs. We have hired a tuk tuk which is like a little carriage towed by a moto and our driver is called Sukry but his nickname is Sugar and he is lovely.We went to Prah Thom which is where some of Tomb Raider was made. It is totally overgrown by trees that they can't remove or it will all crumble and it's really beautiful. We were lucky we got there early because it got really packed after a while. Then we stopped at another temple which was a bit daunting beacuse it was a pyramid type on with loads of really steep steps (you had to climb using your hands). Ao we thought we'd give it a go, get in a bit of practice for Angkor Wat. It was so scary! I got up to the second level but the girls wouldn't come so I didn't want to go any further in case I got stuch and I had noone with me (I know, the bravery). Also when I realised I had to climb back down it kind of coloured my decision (down was worse).Then we went to Angkor Thom which was an ancient city with palaces and temples. One of the temples has loads of heads carved into towers. The place was so amazing we walked all over it for hours. It was frustrating though beacuse I just can't capture it properly on the camera, pictures do not do it justice. We got brave and climbed up a seriously high temple....need to be ready for Angkor Wat tomorrow, I can't come all this way and chicken out! Went back to the hotel and had a much needed swim in the lovely pool...bliss.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dee2000x/1/1205274420/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dee2000x/1/1205274420/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dee2000x/1/1205274420/tpod.html Tue, 11 Mar 2008 07:17:47 -0400 Vietnam and Cambodia - adventure no.1

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Chau Doc, Vietnam

On Saturday set off from HCMC on a two day tour of the Mekong Delta that was to end up in Phnom Penh. It started off great, we went down to My Tho on a nice bus. Then we had to get a very small boat to the islands in the delta. If the passengers weren't evenly balanced, the boat would go VERY low down in the water on one side, needless to say I was a nervous wreck for a while. We cruised up some lovely canals and the scenery was amazing, loads of coconut trees. We stopped off on some of the islands and saw the way the villagers make coconut candy (yum). I was so relieved we weren't on a rowing boat, they are tiny! Not to be....sure the next leg of the trip involved transferring to a ROWING BOAT. Well it took all my strength to get into the boat without a meltdown (I was a bit hysterical but it wasn't just me there was general hysteria going on) and then when Solenn went to get in the boat nearly toppled over. Lots of screeching. Of course we had heavy bags and the boat was barely floating above water.. it was actually lovely in the end although I was frozen with fear all the way and my hand was like a claw gripping onto the side of the boat! On one of the islands there was a python so we were all set to take turns holding him, being so brave and everything and Solenn went first - but then some other guy jumps in and picks up the snake and started tying him into knots thinking he was hilarious (the poor snake) and nobody wanted to touch the snake after than in case he was angry, so that was the end of that!After a lovely day at the islands we were supposed to transfer to a luxury air conditioned coach (according to the intinerary) to go up to the border with Cambodia. Hmm. The guide said: who is going to cambodia? We put up our hands. Guide: You take local bus. Us: Em no we don't. Guide: Yes yes I show you. Us : What? you can't leave us here (car park in the middle of nowhere). Eventually he decided to wait with us which is just as well because we didn't even know where we were supposed to be going or staying because we thought we were on a GUIDED TOUR! Anyway our bus eventually arrives and it's a mini van and it's full. Packed with people and their worldly possessions. So they very kindly cleared a space for us and only let us sit in those seats (you sit you sit). No air conditioning all the windows wide open the filth and the rain flying in on top of us! Cait summed up the situation when she said the airconditioning was a bit overwhelming. So we had to make the traditional five or six stops for toilet, food, shopping, whatever. But instead of the usual tourist places we were stopping at real vietnamese places which was great because the tourist places are all the same and people are hassling you to buy things but not great as me and Cait had shorts and vests on (not done) and no-one had a word of english and we didn't know what anything was! The people on the bus were priding themselves on looking after us and made sure we knew where to go to the loo and when the bus was leaving. Now for some reason we thought we would be on the bus for two or three hours, but time was marching on and we were still not there. But there were three lovely old men sitting in fron of us and they took care of us and bought us vietnamese sweets (yuk but we had to eat them really) and water and corn on the cob at various intervals to make sure we didn't expire. So about 6 or seven hours later we arrive at the place Chau Doc and thank god a girl from the hotel meets us at the bus. BUT of course there has been some mix up and they have no rooms for us (which was ok because there were quite a few cockroaches crawling around the place and I went to the toilet there and it was the worst yet). So after a bit of panicking and fratic phone calls the girl dragged us down an alleyway to some lady's house who had rooms and it was spotless, which was great because we were terrified after seeing the filth of the other place. Had some really nice street food for dinner , one of the best meals we have had since we got here. The best bit was when the guide came to collect us in the morning she was giving out about how bad the mix up was and Cait said it turned out ok in the end and she said not really beacuse where we stayed was much more expensive than the hotel. hahaha.Down to the docks we went to get on our boat and what do you know it's another tiny thing and we have to climb down a hill to go on a little wooden pier with our 400 bags. We had another cruise on the Mekong taking in some floating fish farms and a muslim village and mosque on the way and then we go the Cambodian border so we had to get off to get our visas. More huffing and puffing dragging the bags up muddy banks and then back down again to get a different boat..the whole luxury tour concept had totally gone out the window at this stage, but I met an Australian guy at our hotel yesterday and the same thing happened to him so I didn't feel too bad. When we got to Cambodia we were supposed to be getting a luxury air conditioned coach hahahahahaha. A mini van and in all fairness the driver was a genius he packed us all in with the luggage (behind his head he couldn't see out the back window at all). We stayed in Phnom Penh for the night, guesthouse was fine, had some amazing food and one of the waiters fell in love with Solenn (well we think that's what happened he kept giggling at her but we had no way of communicating). Got a nice airconditioned bus to Siam Reap. Not as many stops as the Vietnamese buses but the same kind of places. At one, a little girl had a stall selling what looked like snails but turned out to be tiny cockles. Sitting out in the sun all day. Everyone was buying them and eating them. We didn't chance it. Hotel in Siam Reap is really nice and it has a swimming pool which is just as well because it's about 40 degrees.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dee2000x/1/1204949400/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dee2000x/1/1204949400/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dee2000x/1/1204949400/tpod.html Fri, 07 Mar 2008 11:19:13 -0500 Vietnam and Cambodia - adventure no.1

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Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

This will be short and sweet, I have to go to bed early because we are travelling to the Mekong Delta tomorrow at 8 o'clock and I need to pack etc. We are going on a boat and I just found out today that we will be rowing through the jungle, hmmm I actually didn't know that when we signed up for it. Anyway....Ho Chi Minh City is gorgeous, the area we are in is really lively esp at night and it has a great buzz about it. We have been wandering around the old French area of the city which is really pretty. We went to the war museum (really horrible and sad) but otherwise we have not been up to much, I was a bit traumatised after roughing it for a few days in a row so we had lunch in the Continental Hotel (from the Quiet American) yesterday and found lovely restaurants today. The one we just had dinner in, they bring you the food raw and you cook it on this grill that is in the middle of the table. Of course I had taken a bite out of my (raw) squid before I copped on but I managed to cook quite well I think. Went to the water puppets too which was fun. Have to put up the pics now so no time for more....Next time I update will prob be from Phnom Penh bye bye Vietnam. Sob.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dee2000x/1/1204847820/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dee2000x/1/1204847820/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dee2000x/1/1204847820/tpod.html Thu, 06 Mar 2008 07:09:52 -0500 Vietnam and Cambodia - adventure no.1

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Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Well Ho Chi Minh City did not get off to a good start. When we booked the night bus from Dalat, the travel agent in Nha Trang told us that it got to HCMC in the morning. So no need for a hotel, we would sleep on the bus. First of all, the bus...it was a local bus not a tourist bus so not only were we the only westerners on the bus we were the only women. We caused quite a stir! the poor man who was sitting beside me was more afraid of me than I was of him I think. Ugh the bus was horrible, icky plastic seats and horrible nylon blankets. The bus people were very nice and looked after us well and made sure we were "comfortable' but eeew. And we had slept in the hut the night before and the novelty had worn off the whole roughing it thing for me. So it was either freezing or roasting the whole time and so uncomfortable. And we stopped about four times. Then just when I was getting to sleep, the boy is down telling us we are at our stop! at 3am! two hours early! Off we went into the hotel, waking up the poor bell boys in reception who looked at us as if we were crazy. "No room, no room". Well we just looked at them. They had to say it again. and again. So we left our bags there and went off for a stroll around HCMC at 3am. It looked like everything was closed up but we found a bar and had a drink and weighed up our options. We were in what's called the "backpacker ghetto" in the Lonely planet but all the hotels were closed except for some little man who was trying to get us to go down an alley for rooms. No thanks! We decided we would just wake up the people at the first accommodation we came to, so we did and we got a room for $25 which is nothing. It was DISGUSTING! but we were so tired we didn't care and just crashed out. The poor girl in reception in the morning could not understand why were weren't staying another night....
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dee2000x/1/1204801020/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dee2000x/1/1204801020/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dee2000x/1/1204801020/tpod.html Thu, 06 Mar 2008 06:56:07 -0500 Vietnam and Cambodia - adventure no.1

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Buon Ma Thot, Vietnam

3 March: Sooooo we decided that the beach was boring and I was afraid of getting sunburned so we booked a trip to the central highlands but Solenn went to Mui Ne to sunbathe! We went for cocktails at sunset (6pm!) and then out for dinner and more cocktails at the sail club. The sail club seemed kind of upmarket during the day....hmm. Normally Vietnamese girls are very modest and don't really wear makeup or revealing clothes. We suddenly realised there were quite a few girls in lycra minis and really high heels plastered in makeup pouting around the place. And being removed by security! Yes the place was a magnet for ladies of the night. So we were about to finish up our drinks and leg it when our nice Germans appeared. We stayed for another drink and a chat with them and then we meandered back to the hotel as we had to get up at the crack of dawn again. We saw two more rats, one of which was a giant beach rat again so we were fairly glad to see the back of Nha Trang. Little did we know the exotic delights that awaited us in the highlands!4 March: My birthday! Driver and guide (Hai and Tinh) collected us at the hotel, we had a lovely big air con car. Which was just as well because we drove for hundreds of km. First stop a brick factory, there are loads of them the people make bricks from mud. Then we went to a coffee plantation where we saw green tea and virgin flowers (Tinh got into hysterical giggles telling us about the virgin flower that closes up when a man touches it. This theme was to continue for the whole trip). I saw a monkey in a tree which was very exciting until Tinh told me it was probably a pet. Next stop an ethnic minority village, which was kind of like a reservation with all tourist shops, very strange. the people live in "long houses" which are on stilts. They are all one room. Tinh went to great lengths to explain the whole family sleeps in the one room, three generations. And he asked his friend who is a minority person how he "goes to visit his wife" with all the people in the house. I won't go into the details (He did. He told us this story about 5 times.)Anyhoo the ethnic people make special wine from rice called Jar Wine and also a special potion from mushrooms and herbs to giver strength to men (you can guess what kind of strength by this stage, right?). More giggles. We went on the crazy suspension bridge which is like the one that breaks in Indiana Jones. Scary stuff. Then we went for a ride on elephants! I was so excited but of course when the time came I was petrified but I made myself do it - you had to climb onto this high platform and climb into a basket on the top of the elephant. I was muttering away to myself the whole time and I had the white knuckles gripping onto the basket. We got to the end of the village and I was so relieved, great we can turn back now, but oh no off we went down a big bank towards the river. The old basket was feeling a bit unstable at this stage and I was getting a bit panicky - off we went into the river! I never brought my camera because we got tinh to take pics of us on the elephants so he had them but I am so sorry because once I got over the fear and started breathing again it was amazing and so beautiful. Caroline's elephant decided he was hungry and started eating trees and climbing up the (very steep) river bank. I would have been screaming (I was pretty much whimpering the whole time anyway) but she was very calm indeed. Like the Queen of Sheba myself and Cait thought. Our elephant went off doing his own thing as well and the driver gave him a few whacks with a stick which was fairly horrible I thought. And when we were going past local people the driver was saying things to them and they were laughing - I swear it was something like "this stupid western woman is petrified up on the elephant what a fool" I'd say they are still having a good old laugh about me. My legs were shaking for about an hour afterwards from the fear!Off we went to our long house which is at the Virgin Falls (more giggles). They are not very big waterfalls but very pretty. The old long house was just a cabin on stilts and we slept on the floor under mozzie nets. It was right beside a pool with two crocodiles (enclosed TG). The crocodile situation had Cait a bit freaked and she had a bit of a scream when a huge stick insect thingy landed at our table at dinner and had a good old stare at us! The bathroom was in another building which meant there was a bit of walking around in the dark. went for dinner about 7 thinking we would just go to bed after as there is nothing else to do there....so we thought. Tinh had brought a bottle of Jar Wine from the ethnic village for my birthday so we had a little party with the wine (more like poitin it was rotten), us and all the staff. You had to drink the wine in shots so you couldn't taste it. we poured some vodka into it - it did not improve. Rocket fuel. We all piled into the car and went inot the village to do karaoke. NOthing in the village but they still had a state of the art Karaoke place. Everyone had a great time and then back to the hut because we had to go trekking in the morning. Well apparently Caitriona and Caroline heard a noise in the night and were petrified it was some kind of wild animal but I never heard a thing thanks to the Jar Wine. I paid for it the next day. We went to Draysap waterfalls which are really beautiful. And then we spent the rest of the day driving through the highlands (up and down mountains) which was gorgeous but not ideal to be stuck in the back of a car all day with the old dodgy tummy. Caroline's mother is sick so she had to organise to go home which was very stressful for her as we were up in the mountains and the phones don't work half the time, but she sorted it out. Tinh regaled us with more hilarious stories about the sleeping habits of vietnamese married couples (seriously). They dropped us in Dalat where were got a night bus to Ho Chi Minh City. It was supposed to arrive at 5am. It arrived at 3am. We had a little bit of problem in that we had nowhere to go....I'll put up the photos tomorrow my camera just died again.
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Nha Trang, Vietnam

The internet appears to be working, so I'll do a little update. We spent our last day in Hoi An running around getting alterations to our outfits. In and out to the sweatshop (you would want to have seen it, we didn't want to take pictures in case they got offended but there were people sleeping there and everything!). We met our nice German friends from the DMZ tour (not the ones from the boat karaoke) who took great pleasure in telling us that they got a hotel for $10 after we told them ours cost $30. Some man took them from the bus and brough them to his hotel and offered them a room for $20 but they wanted to see the cheaper ones so he showed them one in the basement (at this stage I am trying not to wrinkle my nose up and look disgusted) and they got it for $10. they were boasting delightedly. I don't think they were short of a bob or two either they were kitted out top to toe in North Face Hiking gear (it's roasting BTW). I like having the hotel arranged beforehand and they collect you from the bus and carry your bags and stuff....each to their own I bought an extra bag. It was the two new pairs of shoes that did it. Anyway we went off on the night bus to Nha Trang which seemed like a good idea at the time...It was like a dorm with wheels! There were three rows of bunks and there wasn't a lot of choice when we got on so me and Cait hopped into two upstairs ones in the middle. For about a second before we realised that there didn't seem to be anything much stopping you falling out which meant that I wouldn't sleep a wink, ruining the whole point of the sleeper bus. So we got the last 2 downstairs ones. There was a reason no-one was in them of course. They were at the back over the wheels slanted up at a 45 degree angle so we were basically sitting up. On the wheels. And the engine. The driver was flying along into every pothole (there were a lot). Solenn and I had got beer to ease the pain of the journey but I was afraid to drink it because of the toilet situation, the one on the bus was broken so the driver stopped at rest stations every few hours. Lets just say I went to the first one and didn't drink a drop after that from the fear I would have to go again. We arrived at 6.30 am and there was nobody there from the hotel to pick us up so we got a taxi and sure god love them the staff were still asleep on the floor in the reception when we got there (this is normal).So we have spent the last two days in Nha Trang which is a beach resort the same as every other beach resort in the world. Spent all day yesterday and this morning on the beach but I am petrified of getting sunburned (esp after the bum burning incident in Ios 2004) so I am not getting much of a tan. But I am so happy to be hanging around in shorts and bikinis. The beach is a bit mental, people are trying to sell you stuff all day, which can be very annoying. But I have it figured out. I just bought something small off most of them and then they become your friend and come over for chats and don't annoy you. So now I have loads of friends at the beach and I know all theior life stories. They get very offended by people telling them to go away and being rude, it actually costs nothing to be nice. You can also buy lobster and crab on the beach, you pick it out from iced water and the people steam it for you. I took a picture but I have no idea how you would eat it. with chopsticks? anyway today a rat ran past me on the beach and I was half asleep because I was sunbathing and I thought "aaah look at the squirrel/kitty/cute furry animal" and then I saw its tail - a rat! It was huge! Ew. I won't be eating anything on that beach. Went to a vientamese seafood restaurant last night, where we ordered a seafood hotpot. They brought out what looked like a giant bowl of soup on a burner with NO seafood in it. we were confused. about five minutes later a plate of flowers and leaves arrived. we were more confused. eventually a waiter came over and explained in vietnamese and sign lnaguage that they will bring the fish and we throw in the flowers and stuff and then we cook it at the table! It was great, except for the flames from the pot were flickering worryingly towards caroline and cait's faces...It's been pretty uneventful here and we are all relaxed out. Except for one of the cleaning ladies has taken a shine to me and keeps rubbing my arms and kissing my hands. I think she wants me to marry her son or something she keeps asking me "nice vietnam boy for you?" Or else she is some kind of pimp and she thinks I look desperate. The language barrier is an issue so I just smile and nod.We were supposed to be going to another beach in Mui Ne tomorrow but instead we are going on an adventure into the highlands with wildlife and jungles and stuff (Solenn wants to go to Mui Ne so we are meeting her in Saigon). We are staying overnight in some cabin or someone's house (not sure about the details really) so I am very excited about that. And we will get to see elephants!
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Nha Trang, Vietnam

I'm really annoyed because I already typed this up and it disappeared and I'm hungry. and it all disappeared again, for the second time. Basically night bus was crap but spent day on the beach soaking up rays so feel better. I'll try to put up some pics and fill this out properly later. Oh yes and phone has stopped working again.
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