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Beautiful!! The ocean... how I have missed you
Entry 35 of 38 | show all | print this entry |
Vietnam is a love-hate relationship. There are some aspects that are absolutely amazing such as the scenery, and other parts such as dealing with the people that want your money that causes unwanted stress in your life. There are some great people here, however there are many people that are just out to get you and your belongings if they can snatch them. Sometimes it really gets on my nerves with everyone constantly asking if I want something. I just want to enjoy the culture and my surroundings. I find that sometimes I have no time to take things in and thoroughly enjoy myself.
Vietnamese food is good, however I have found that the best food in Asia that I have tasted to date has been from North Thailand and North Laos. The flavours in the foods were intense but delicious. I really do miss the street vendors from Thailand, especially the Pad Thai, and the sticky rice in Laos is yummy. In South Laos and Cambodia, the food wasn't that great, kind of tasted like an Americanized version. In Vietnam I'm finding that the food is good, however I feel like it is nothing special, meaning that I could make or order it from home. I think that I'm just accustomed to eating a variety of ethnic foods living close to Toronto, which is still the most multi-cultural city that I have seen.
From Saigon I headed up to Dalat, its the most beautiful city that I have seen in Asia. You are surrounded by mountains, farmland and lush forests with pine trees. Its the city of eternal spring with average day time temperatures of 24'C and nights can cool down to 15'C. There are lots of vegetables and fruits that are grown in Dalat due to the low temperatures that are virtually impossible to find elsewhere is Asia such as pumpkins, peaches, passion fruit and strawberries. Two nights of heaven, it was wonderful not to be dripping in sweat. Putting a pair of pants and a sweater on, what a foreign thought. We (I travelled with Emma and Debbie, 2 girls from England for a week from Saigon up to Hue, it was so much fun having some girl time) did a one day motorcycle tour (Easy Riders) around Dalat and the surrounding countryside, an amazing way to see the area. I had never ridden a motorcycle prior to Asia, but I quite like the feeling of being on the back of a bike. I think that it would be fun to learn how to drive one, but in a place where there is no traffic. The Vietanmese are the worst drivers that I have ever seen, quickly swearving right and left avoiding traffic, and constantly using their horn. In their own right they somehow seem to manage to drive, however I've heard of horror stories about people being in the hospital trying to recover from a variety of accidents.
I headed to the coast to Nha Trang, my first sight of the ocean in weeks. The coastline was spectacular, I kept thinking to myself 'I can't believe that I'm in Vietnam'. I did two dives, each one hour in length, they were both good dives with lots of coral and a variety of fish. I thoroughly enjoy the sensation of being underwater, it feels like you are in another world. Further up the coast I visited Hoi An and Hue, I wasn't too fussed about these two cities, just more cities. I had two 'fun' overnight bus rides up the coast, I love dinner breaks at 1am, I always feel hungry at that hour! I'm getting lots of pictures with the Vietnamese in their conical hats, there are postcard photo opportunities everywhere, a lot of the older women wear the hats.
I just arrived in Hanoi today, I'm super excited for North Vietnam, so many things to do, so I'll be in touch soon :)
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| 35. | Beautiful!! The ocean... how I have missed you - Hue, Vietnam May 15, 2005 |
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