Vietnam has been good to me so far. I love it. I could almost say that it has been my favorite country so far, but I can’t bring myself to say that because there have been great things about every country I have visited. They have all been amazing in different ways. For example, Thailand has a variety of things I enjoyed, including the amazingly beautiful Thai islands where I learned how to dive and got to experience the Full Moon Party; along with northern Thailand where I got to see the lovely Pai and hang out with elephants! Not to mention the food in Thailand…Phenomenal! Laos was just spectacular. Laos didn’t have a lot of materialistic things to offer because it is such a poor country, but the beauty and the landscapes made up for that. The lack of money made the country better, I think. It made me appreciate my surroundings and allowed me to soak it all in. Cambodia was a very educational and fun country. Learning about the genocide really made me open my eyes to the pain and suffering that this country went through and it made me appreciate the my own life and the country I was raised in. The temples in Ankgor Wat were a fascinating site to see as well.
Then we get to Vietnam, my last country on this crazy journey. Vietnam so far has been nothing but positive vibes. The people here are lovely, including the locals and other backpackers. All of the hostels I’ve stayed in have been very nice and comfortable. When in Ho Chi Minh City, or Saigon, in southern Vietnam, I went to the see the underground tunnels that were used by the Viet Cong in the Vietnam War. They were very interesting. Some of them went on for 250 kilometers, which is 155 miles long. I walked through one tunnel that they actually made bigger for tourists to go through and I could only make it 50 meters or 164 feet before having to take an exit out of there. I didn’t think I was claustrophobic until I did this. I can’t imagine those soldiers crawling through these tiny tunnels for miles, afraid to come to the surface in the chance that American soldiers would be waiting at the top just to throw a grenade into the tunnel, sending them to their death. There was a shooting range along the trail we were following so I got to shoot an AK 47 rifle! Only myself and the other American girl were excited about shooting guns in our group. Haha! I wanted to shoot a machine gun too, but I thought the ten rounds you get would go way to fast. After the tunnels we also went to the Vietnam War Museum. This was so intense for me, being an American. Since it was from their point of view, it made America out to be this evil country. It was very sad to see that. I didn’t realize how many other countries were against us invading Vietnam. There was so much propaganda against the war and getting America out of Vietnam. It was quite informative, but very overwhelming for me. The pictures on the walls were very graphic and some were even quite inspiring.
After Ho Chi Minh, we traveled to Mui Ne. This town was very beachy. Expensive, fancy resorts were everywhere! I used my time here to have a break and relax for a couple days. We did do a jeep tour one day while here and that was definitely an experience. The jeep was supposed to take us to this Fairy Springs with a waterfall, then to a floating fishing boat community, red sand dunes, and white sand dunes. The jeep ride to the first stop, the Fairy Springs, was insane. I literally thought we were going to kill a pedestrian or someone on a scooter. Our driver was flying down the road then slamming on his breaks if we came up to a scooter or a person walking. The driving in Southeast Asia is always a little crazy, but this was extreme. We thought the driver knew what he was doing so we were all laughing, while jamming out to this weird Asian techno music. When we finally arrived to the Fairy Springs he parked and told us to meet him back there in 40 minutes. We did our thing and walked through the springs, where I got to ride an ostrich that I immediately regretted doing because I’m pretty sure they blind all the ostriches just so tourists can ride them. It’s a guess, but I’m pretty sure it’s true. Then we got to see the waterfall, which was small, but pretty. We made our way back and when we got to the jeep our driver was passed out in the driver seat with his feet propped up on the dash. We didn’t really think much of it until he wasn’t waking up after tickling his feet, shaking him, and yelling in his face. Finally some other local Vietnamese guys saw what was going on and came over to also try to wake him up. After about 10 minutes he was still not waking up. Everyone was shaking him and shouting at him to wake up. When he finally did, he stumbled out onto the sidewalk. We all realized that this guy is wasted, and we were very thankful nothing happened on our way there. One of the other Vietnamese guys offered to drive us and we accepted. As we were pulling out the original driver runs over and pulls the guy out of the driver seat and hopped back in behind the wheel. We all immediately began shouting, “NO, NO, NO!” in unison and then we all proceeded to pile out of the jeep as fast as we could. After much debate and refusing to get back into that jeep, the other Vietnamese guys offered to call a different company to take us to our other destinations at no charge. We all agreed and another guy came and took us to the other places with no problems. The white sand dunes were amazing! I had never witnessed anything like it. We rented quad bikes here and had an absolute blast riding them up and down the steep sand hills! I got stuck in the sand at one point when no one else was around to help me, and had to get off the bike and pull it out by myself! The red sand dunes were very pretty as well. We watched the sunset here and it was beautiful. The fishing boat community was also a site to see. I have posted pictures on Facebook.
After Mui Ne I split off from my group and traveled to Da Lat by myself. The hostel I stayed at here was called Mr. Peace’s hostel and it was the best hostel I have stayed at yet! I was greeted with a big hug and a kiss on the cheek by Mr. Peace himself. He is a small Vietnamese man with a big personality. We had family dinners every night where they cooked for us and we all sat at the same table for our meal, while Mr. Peace would sing the titanic song, “My Heart Will Go On” in his best voice possible. It was hilarious! His wife’s name was Strawberry and they had the cutest little girl, Lauren. I fell in love with that little girl. I also did a canyoning tour while I was here, which is what Da Lat is most famous for. It was such a good experience. It was a lot of tough trekking, and climbing rocks without a harness, and abseiling. We abseiled down a waterfall which was just incredible! Again, look at my tagged pictures on Facebook. The trekking was actually quite tough. I was in a group with 7 other guys, so I did my best not to slow everyone down, ha!
After Da Lat, I met back up with my group I’ve been traveling with in Hoi An. Hoi An was also very nice and on the coast, although it rained almost every day. Here is the tailor capital of Southeast Asia. Every other shop was a tailor where you can have clothes made. Most guys will get high quality suits here made for around $100, which is so cheap compared to back home! I had so much fun looking at all my options of stuff I could have made just for me! I ended up buying quite a lot of stuff. I had to buy another bag to fit everything. I go three dresses, a romper, two pairs of dress pants, two plaid long sleeve shirts, and two pairs of boots. Yeah, I went all out, but the price I got this stuff for was so worth it. I could spend so much money in those stores! I rented a bicycle everyday while I was here and loved it. It was so easy to get around by a bike in that city. One day a group of us rented scooters and rode to what they call Marble Mountain. This is a group of mountains that are hollow and cave-like. We went inside one of the mountains and there were so many creepy looking carvings and statues inside, all made of limestone or marble, which is what the mountains are made of. It seemed very religious, and had a lot of devil-like creatures. Pictures to come later. They don’t really tell you about the history of the mountain though. We all meant to look it up when we got back, but haven’t yet. I’ll let you know later.
We have now arrived to Northern Vietnam to Hanoi, after spending 5 hours in the airport because our flight got delayed. Hanoi is okay so far. Our hostel is huge with 18 bed dorms. Usually there is about 6 to 10 beds in a dorm.
Well that’s what I have been up to in Vietnam. Only 6 days left until I am on a flight home. Since I go home so soon, I don’t have any motivation to go explore. It feels like now I am just waiting to go home. It is the strangest feeling. I am excited, anxious, and sad at the same time. I want to go home and see my family and friends for a while, then leave again to explore another part of the world. Europe maybe?...........
