Day 2 - Night time in Can Tho

After our adventurous day, he headed to Can Tho where we would be spending the night. The drive from Ben Tre to Can Tho was about 3 hours, longer than I would have liked, but what can you do.

We arrived at our hotel, checked in, and went to our room. This great sign/memo was waiting for us on the table...Got to love nature.


This hotel was favorite throughout the trip and they were kind enough to surprise us with a dinner after our long day. It was quite nice and just what we/I needed after our day.
Here is our hotel in the morning...what a great place. Too bad we didn't have more time to enjoy that pool

Day 2 - Ben Tre

Day 2 or May 1, we checked out of the hotel and headed to Ben Tre where we would spend most of the day on a boat seeing/learning about the local culture on the Mekong River.

To start the day, we headed over to Chinatown, but right before we arrived, we were stopped by the cops. Our driver looked for some papers and then got out of the car to speak with the cop. He comes back, pretends to look for more papers and takes some money out to put in a pamphlet and heads back. A few more minutes pass and he comes back again, picks up more money and then goes back. During this time, Mike and I are completely quiet and our guide is not saying a word. After about 15 minutes and however much the payoff was, we finally left. More on this story later...

Chinatown was ok and then we headed to Ben Tre. Once there we got on a boat with our guide, Trong and a local guide as well, don't remember her name. We headed down the Mekong and saw very interesting things. This is the ferry to get from one side to the other!


We made a few stops along the way: at a brick kiln, so that was neat. They literally make them from clay and these are drying in the sun before they go into the fire and get that red brick color.


Next at a local coconut farm/business - they worked fast at getting the coconuts out. We also picked up some really good dried coconut candy here!


Floating down the river! It really was pretty, at least this leg of it.


Next stop, was the candy shop (think of the song now), literally. Here they made more coconut candy, but by melting it and adding nuts or chocolate or ginger and wrapping it up. We saw them make and wrap the candy and I told Mike it looked like a drug scene from a movie with the quickness of their wrapping...Good candy as we bought some!


Finally it was time for lunch....We took a local car to another small river, where we proceeded to get on a small boat and row to our lunch location. We arrived at a local house that prepares the meal for tourists. We were able to try local cuisine such as:
deep fried elephant ear fish(big fish in the middle) and fresh water prawns, as well as fresh and fried spring rolls. It was a decent lunch...too much food though


Now for the last part of our day, we were suppose to ride a bike to a house where the owner is an antique collecter. I have not been on a bike in like 15 years, so I was a bit wobbly to start with. Then I realize we have to bike down a very narrow path that we share with speeding motor bikes going in the same or opposite direction. At this point, I am still trying to get my barings and have to stop/move to edge of the path to let other bikes and motor bikes go past me. Alongside the path was either shrubs, forest, or a very dirty looking creek. I'm trekking along as best as possible and flipping out at the same, which finally leads me to slightly fall off into the brush. Thankfully I caught myself and didn't fall completely off, but did have the handle bars come into my legs. Finally we end up on a street and I am sailing on the bike until we get back to the small, narrow path. SOOO, the bike ride that should have taken 20 minutes, probably took 60 minutes b/c of me.
This is the house we went to...Antique collector, Mike, Amanda, Local guide


Here is what 1 of my bruises looked like the next morning...Believe me, this looks good compared to a day later, when it was dark purple and black


So after seeing this house, we had to get back to where we started. Our guide called the owner, who graciously came and took me back on his motor bike. I must say, I definitely enjoyed the bike ride in the forest, a whole lot more when I was not on the bike. Good thing I wasn't on the bike b/c I probably would have freaked again when we had to ride the bike out into traffic and through a round-a-bout....Mike was a pro and good for him. His comment later was "Amanda, I was so scared of you riding that bike and what would happen." ..... 2 bruises and laughing about it for the rest of our lives whenever we think about it!!!

So after our day, we found out we had a new driver to take us to the next city and hotel. When we asked the guide, he said "at the airport, papers in the trash, so now he has to go get papers." What we concluded from this is that they must have been cleaning their car at the airport prior to our arrival and he just happened to throw out the registration papers and was stopped there. When stopped again, he must have had a notice or flag on his record about it, so was forced to take care of it.

Mike and I really don't know, but very typical Vietnamese thing to happen. what can you do? Here we are on the boat earlier in the day, prior to the bike accident

Night 1 in Saigon

After a very busy day, Mike and I decided it was time for massages. Our guide new of a great place and took us there. Then we said bye until the next morning. After massages, we headed to the night market to meet up with some friends, Rob and Yoko, who were also vacationing in Vietman. Some how in the midst of the craziness, we were able to find them. And then we all went on the search for our dinner restaurant, PHO 2000, PHO for the president. After about 30 minutes of wondering around, assuming we were going in the right direction, we finally had to ask someone. Turns out we were right next to it to begin with. Inside the restaurant...So this place is famous b/c Bill Clinton ate here. There's a picture of him on the wall with the whole staff. Rob and Yoko getting ready for dinner FINALLY, the PHO arrived and it was sooooo good. hmmm yummy in my tummy.

After dinner, we decided to hang out a bit more in the night market. We found an "outside" bar, which was really an outside restaurant that cooked/served food right there....it was interesting. Mike and I were surprised to see so many Communist flags everywhere especially since we didn't think that it was still very much a Communist country. Turns out that day, April 30, was there Independence day and a big celebration weekend. In honor of the event, we got to see a fireworks display...

We finally headed back to the hotel around 10:30/11ish and I could not believe how many motor bikes were every where. We had been warned about the the bikes and that they don't follow any driving rules. They freaked me out as it's unbelievable. Anywho, I took this video on our way back...Check it out....AND yes, there were that many and were on the sidewalk...CRAZINESS

Cu-Chi Tunnels & Saigon

Yes, you are reading correctly, "Cu-chi" tunnels...This is the city name and local area where tunnels were built underground for people and the military to live in during the Vietnam war. It's crazy how intricate these tunnels were. While at the site, we are also able to see various hiding places, air holes, and death traps that were hidden quite well.
First off, here we are, separately hiding in one of their hiding/look out places

I am standing up straight...image how small it was.

Image stepping and falling into this trap...OUCH


One of the coolest things here, was that we were able to shoot one of the old guns that were left over....GUESS which one we picked.

YUP, the one on the end...the M60

Yes that is me shooting a very large gun AND no that is not a smile, but an EEK


Finally we came upon the tunnels. The tunnels are really narrow and confining. Apparently they had to make them slightly bigger because/according to our guide "fat Americans." Well then...

The tunnels had 3 different levels, one at 3m deep, 5m deep, and then 10m deep. This one we are in is only 3m deep, as we aren't allowed to go any deeper into the ground. As you can see it is small. This particular tunnel was 100m long and super hot inside. Not sure how these people were able to live here.


After the Cu Chi tunnels, we headed back to the city to have lunch and then see the sites of Saigon. We had a great lunch, with way too much food, but it was delicious.


Next we headed to the fancy King/government building. Here we are at the top.


Along the way we saw their cathedral. Inside the building was amazing and it is suppose to resemble another cathedral. We also made a stop at the post office, where you are able to call anywhere in the world and post your postcards.

Crazy couple of weeks

Hope everyone is doing well. Mike and I are doing well and keeping busy. It's been a fast couple of weeks, but we have managed to get through them.

Over Easter weekend we hosted a couples baby shower, which turned out great. That same afternoon I had to catch a flight home for my grandma's funeral, which was Monday/Tuesday after Easter. Grandma looked peaceful and that's all that matters.

So after 3 days in the states, I had to fly back to Tokyo to ensure that I made it for our next flight. Mike and I left on the last Friday of April for our golden week vacation to Vietnam and Cambodia. This had been planned for months, so I had to make it back. Needless to say, I was quite tired after all the traveling.

Mike and I had a great vacation and saw all kinds of great things. The best part of the trip was the end, when we saw Angkor Wat, the surrounding area, and many temples. It was absolutely amazing to see these treasures and to see that all the carving in the stone is still visible. The worst part of our trip was that on our last day, Mike got sick from the food and I followed hours later. By the time we landed in Tokyo, early Sunday morning, we both were feeling so bad. We spent the day recovering and all of this past week recovering. Don't think we will be eating Cambodian food ever again.

So I will post about each day of our trip and some pictures from each day. At the end, there will be the complete set of all the pictures. I recommend going through the Cambodian ones, as they are amazing. Here's a little treat:
The floating village: eating fresh pineapple and drinking beer!


Sunset on top of a mountain, 1st day at Angkor Wat


Sunrise on our last day at Angkor Wat