"Hard core" traveling

Yesterday I spent my last day in Vietnam (until Nov.) in Ho Chi Minh City. I took the overnight bus from Nha Trang last night and I actually slept the entire way. We left at 9:00 p.m. and I was so tired from the day that I crashed soon after we left the station and only woke up once or twice until 6:00 a.m. when we reached HCMC. I was warned that the sleeping buses were not very comfortable and I should take a train with a sleeping berth instead. The train was 380,000 dong, or about $20, compared to 170,000 or about $8.50 for the sleeping bus and the bus dropped me off in the middle of town whereas the train station was not nearly as convenient. I was really happy with my choice because the hotel I'm staying at with my friend Rebecca was only 1 km. from where the bus dropped off. Easy choice. After my trip from Tam Ky to Nha Trang, I was really grateful for a comfortable journey.

Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) is really fun and quite easy to "do" quickly. Rebecca and I visited the zoo and botanical gardens, Notre Dame Cathedral (modeled on the original) and French Colonial style post office, got some laundry done and ate at a really nice restaurant called Quan An Ngon recommended by both one of my friends (Jerry) and a volunteer (Benat). The post office is beautiful and has lots of old phone booths with names of various cities around the world and one labeled "California" as well. I guess California now qualifies as a city. I laughed at the translation for "postal life insurance". I guess if you are afraid your package is going to die before it reaches its destination, then you can purchase life insurance for it! I don't like zoos but the only thing that really bothered me here was some very small cages for the monkeys and an elephant tied to a post so he couldn't move. He kept stamping his feet with boredom. I did enjoy watching the orangutan, who was wringing out a washcloth and washing himself with it, and the goats and sheep. There was a new-born baby goat with his umbilical cord still attached. The otters were also really cute; they actually reminded me a lot of my cats!

Last night we went to the Water Puppets show, which was a lot of fun but I quickly realized how tired I was when I couldn't keep my eyes open for the show. I got the gist of it and enjoyed what I did see, but found it just impossible to stay awake. We also went to the night market near our hotel

In Nha Trang, I went scuba diving for the first time, which was a blast. At first I was a little nervous because they go over quite a few instructions at first, but once I was in the water it all started to make sense. I had a lot of trouble "clearing" my mask but once I figured out that I need to tip my head back, press on the top of the mask with two fingers and blow out through my nose, it was okay. The mask gets foggy pretty quickly, so you have to allow some water in and then tip it back and blow out to get the water out. It's tricky. Vietnam is not known as an amazing place for diving, but it was still such a wonderful feeling to get up close and personal with fish I'd only seen in aquariums. I saw a moray eel, held a starfish and saw the most amazing sea creatures. I did two dives, one at about 5 meters for 45 minutes and the second at 12 meters for about 50 minutes. It was quite the high. Breathing with the oxygen was actually a lot easier than I expected and I felt really safe with the guide. I was lucky, because I was the only one doing the "discover scuba diving" course, I had my own guide. He was great to work with. I hope to get certified either with SSI or a PADI course sometime on this trip so I can continue diving. I can certainly understand the thrill now!

Sunday, I went on the "four islands" tour. It was $6 and included swimming, snorkeling, an all day boat ride, lunch, fruit, a "floating pineapple bar" and more. It was SO touristy but a blast. The lunch was pretty decent for the price, we went to an aquarium (not great, but not horrible), and I met a great group of people: Lisa and Anne from Holland, Kate and Matt from Australia and Darren from England traveling with Sabina from Wales. We had a wonderful time swimming together, watching the "Nha Trang Boy Band" made up of tour guides and staff from two of the boats, and attempting to snorkel. I don't think I've laughed so much in a long time.

Today I'm heading to Chiang Mai via Bangkok for several days of trekking, exploring and having fun. I'll keep the updates and photos coming.

Before I forget, the Vietnamese have an interesting way of kissing friends. They show affection not by kissing on the cheeks but by sniffing. They give you a "sniff" on both sides of your face and often say "I love you". It's wonderful how many people have said "I love you" to me (platonically) here. I feel like I've made so many great new friends. Now, time for Thailand!

The water puppets performance!

Outside the Water Puppets theater.