Wednesday, June 11, 2008

The adventure continues down and up the coast...

While based in Ho Chi Minh City, we headed down to the Me Kong Delta for a day. Although touristy, it was really nice to be in a slightly more rural part of the country. We ate tropical fruit, tasted honey, and rode bikes through the villages. We also opted out of the busride back and took a speedboat instead. A brilliant idea! Beautiful vistas! Wind against my face! Cold beers! All perfect, until the beers took their toll and we realized the ride was 3 hours long with no bathroom... eek!

We also spend a day at the Cu Chi tunnels, a system of underground rooms the Viet Cong used when fighting the Americans. Very interesting...

We had a day of sartorial madness in Hoi An, a shopper's dream. Seemingly endless streets filled with tailors ready to make ANYTHING you want. I spent $200, but got 5 dresses, 2 shirts, a pair of pants, and a coat. Geesh. Did NOT leave room in my bag for that, but I'm ready for my first week of business casual at Bain, that's for sure!

Now we are inland in a town called Hue. Once again, very different. The people seem almost surprised to see tourists, even though this is on the tourist trek. Some Vietnamese tourists ask to have their pictures taken with us, which reminds me of Africa, where that is very common. The main attraction is a citadel, again a part of imperial and colonial history. It's very beautiful and imposing. We spent the day trekking the city, taking lots of pictures. It's definitely an architectual sight.

Short time here, tomorrow we head up to Hanoi where we plan to spend a few days before heading to Ha Long Bay. Very excited to see another Vietnamese city!

1 comment:

Mariel said...

Wow, I would LOVE to be there with you... all of these adventures sound amazing. I can't wait until you post some pics!