Some of my friends thought I should start a blog about our travels, so here it is
Posts related to our time in Vietnam
After our wonderful trip people asked: what was your favorite thing?
It’s an impossible, but popular question. I can’t narrow it down to one thing for the whole trip, but I will do it for each city.
Continue reading “Final Thoughts On Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand & Vietnam”
Our flight wasn’t leaving until after midnight, so we had a full day and night to spend in Saigon before the long flights home. We decided the last day would be spent with a little sight seeing, some pampering, shopping, and finishing up with another motorbike tour.
We had to see if our custom stuff was done first, so we went to the tailor’s place to see if our stuff was ready. Unfortunately Sal’s wasn’t there yet so he’d have to go back later. Mine was there, so I went to try it on. I got into the little room and could barely fit the dress over my hips. I was like, “what the…how much did I actually eat at that beer tasting?!?” Then I noticed the sleeves were missing, too. Finally I figured out he had accidentally given me the sample size and not my fitted dress. We all got a good chuckle out of that one. The actual dress fit great and I loved it. Sal’s still wasn’t ready and he’d have to go back later and get his. I was slightly worried he wouldn’t get his in time, but it all worked out in the end.
We strolled a bit and checked out the Post Office.
We got up early and walked over to the park where there was supposed to be a bird cafe (a cafe where people bring their birds to practice singing). Unfortunately we weren’t up early enough, and there really weren’t all that many birds! We did see a bunch of people exercising in various ways, though:
Continue reading “Motorbiking And Beer Tasting (Saigon Day Two)”
We were back in Saigon for a few nights and this was the last stop of our amazing holiday, so it was a bit bittersweet. We took it easy for most of the day. We went to the tailor to try on our custom-made clothing. I had a dress and Sal had a shirt and a sports coat. I tried the dress on and thought it was just OK; I didn’t really notice it being any better than something I’d buy off the rack. The tailor saw it and saw where it needed to be taken in. He used pins and chalk and I have to say it did look better afterward, even with just the pins. Fitted is very nice!
I woke up and still had a sore throat and cough. I decided to take some medicine that day and either I was naturally getting better, or it worked. Shew! We had both slept better. I decided I would wait and take a shower at the hotel, because I did not feel like wrestling again with the handheld shower. Spray to the face is not a fun way to wake up.
We only had time for breakfast and then said our goodbyes to the boat staff. They all had big smiles for us and it was a bit bittersweet. There was something really special about boating through the canals, waving to workers and locals. I will never forget the smiling, friendly people there. The “hellos” that first night just made the whole Mekong Delta part of the trip extra special, and is something I won’t ever forget. The “fuck you” took a little bit away from it, but ya know…teenagers. Jerks.
Continue reading “Totally Jinxed Myself (Mekong Delta -> Saigon Travel Day)”
First, another apology. I really don’t know why it’s taken me so long to finish the blog for this trip. I think I just never wanted it to end! It was sad coming home and frankly the whole thing felt like a dream. A good one, but sort of surreal. I wonder if that’s how the people who travel for a year feel? Anyway, I am getting the occasional comment from various people (OK, mostly my mom) asking if I am going to finish this trip blog. I think I just needed to start planning a new trip before I could finish this one. Or something. Anyway, I apologize to those people (mom) who have stopped by and found I’d not updated. Here ya go!
I got up after what felt like maybe two hours of sleep. You can’t sleep late on a boat due to noise and movement. Also roosters. I was coughing a decent amount so decided to try a hot shower. There was a handheld showerhead and a regular overhead. When I pulled the button to try to get the overhead to work, it unfortunately triggered the handheld. I say unfortunately because the handheld was aimed directly at my face. Nice. It was like a clown’s flower times a gazillion. Sal thought it was reaaaal funny when I reenacted it later on.
We got up early and had a quick, tasty, breakfast at the hotel. The fruit there was amazing, especially the dragon fruit, which I think is my new favorite. Deliciousness. We went back to the room and figured out what we needed to take for the next two nights on our boat with Mango Cruises, and everything else would be stored at the hotel since we were ending the trip there. My cold/cough was getting worse, which was bad timing, but at least I didn’t have a sore throat anymore.
Continue reading “Hello Pt. 2 (Saigon -> Mekong Delta Transfer Day)”
We woke up and one of the first things Sal said was, “I think I’m going to have to go to the dentist in Saigon.” YIKES. Do you remember when I pointed out two Da Lat dental offices to him, but it wasn’t bothering him that much? Well, it had apparently gotten worse, poor guy. So I emailed the Saigon hotel and asked for help finding a dentist and Sal researched our travel insurance coverage. We then to our last communal breakfast at Dreams Hotel. I really liked the setup of a communal breakfast for the most part; it’s only slightly awkward if it’s two of you at a table with everyone else who knows each other. Mrs. Dung from the hotel had set up the taxi transfer for us and the driver was early, which I liked. Sal was running a tiny bit slowly, so of course I was getting slightly nervous. I really like to get to the airport early rather than stress about getting there on time. As usual, though, my stress was for naught because we got there in plenty of time and even had time for a coffee/diet coke. We again had to be bussed to the plane and we were jam packed in there. It was worse than the subway, I swear. And these normally kind and generous Vietnamese people really shove themselves in front of you in these situations. They don’t seem to follow the normal queue rules, which must drive the British crazy when they visit.
Continue reading “Good Grief We’re Back In It (Da Lat -> Saigon Transfer Day)”
Sometimes when things end up going wrong, or sideways, it all works out for the best. I really saw that in Vietnam. If our first tour operator hadn’t been a bit flaky, and instead we ended up with going with him, it would have been uncomfortable and probably not very enjoyable as I wasn’t feeling good that day. Instead, the wonderful lady at the hotel set up a private tour for us that was cheaper, and probably done by my favorite guide in Vietnam up to that point: Paul.
This post is going to be extremely short, because all we did was walk around, eat, and drink. That’s it. Sometimes that’s all you need to have a good day, frankly.
Neeners Travels 