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We took a public bus to the Cambodia border yesterday morning. We arrived in Phnom Penh (pronounced ‘panom pen’ ‘p’ as in ‘pup’ and then ‘pen’) in the afternoon. As soon as we crossed the border, the poverty of Cambodia versus Vietnam was very apparent. There are beggars everywhere. After arriving, we went to a [...]

We toured the Cu Chi Tunnels this morning. What a cool place! It was really amazing to see the tunnels and museum. The Vietcong were really creative. I can’t believe that people lived down then, for years. The VC were really determined. After seeing the tunnels, it makes you realize that we (the Americans) had [...]

We arrived in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) yesterday. HCMC seems to just be an “official” name in southern Vietnam. Ever since we went through the DMZ area, it’s been referred to as Saigon. So Saigon it is! It’s heading into rainy season here, so we did a cyclo tour of the city, through the [...]

Although I’ve been laughed at lately for this, there’s a reason I usually pack my bag the night before I have to leave early. Yesterday morning, it came in handy. I didn’t wake up to my alarm, and since I don’t have a roomie, I just kept sleeping! (I know, what a pain to have [...]

Today we took a motorbike tour of the Hue countryside. We drove through little villages, past rivers and rice paddies, saw conical hats being made, incense making, and stopped at a nunnery for lunch. A vegetarian lunch I might add. After lunch we cruised on the perfume river (it sounds fun, but was actually the [...]

We arrived in Hue this morning. After checking in and showering, I headed out to find some lunch. I did a little wandering around and then decided it was way too hot to be outside. In the afternoon, we took a tour of the Citadel. It was really impressive. Hue is just south of the [...]

I woke up at 5:15 this morning. I went up to the top deck, but the sun was already up! The sky was still pretty cool though. It was nice to have some morning quiet, since I haven’t been able to find that in Hanoi. After breakfast, the boat headed back to the docks. We [...]

Boat trip! This morning we headed north to Ha Long Bay for an overnight trip in the bay on a junk. The drive went quick because of the scenery. I love driving through a new country and staring at all the new sights of the countryside, local farmers, rice paddies, and a dead cow on [...]

After a good night’s sleep, I can appreciate the entrepreneurial humor of the Vietnamese I met yesterday. To them, all westerners are rich and have money to waste.
Since I’m staying in the Old District, I did a lot of walking this morning. The streets are so busy here. Motorcycles and bicycles and pedestrians are everywhere, [...]

Since I had a really early flight to Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), I ended up sleeping in the Singapore airport last night. Which means I spent the night curled up in an uncomfortable chair at the coffee shop, trying to sleep. After my flight arrived in HCMC, I walked to the domestic terminal, and [...]