Sunday, May 31, 2009

Saigon


Jessica is the Guest writer this Post!

Traveling is all about getting dirty, sweaty and hands on....

But as is often the case with backpacking, you tend to sacrifice and lose track of personal style, add in that trucker tan and funky smell...

I think its time for a night out! Dom agrees so we head for the tailors...Make sure you request a sample of fabric before payment and test it. I almost got ripped off twice in one transaction. Synthetics will melt and smell like paper, silk burns and smells like sulfur (kind of)


A quick shave and were off to the french bistro's dotting Saigon's waterfront

The Green silk dress Dom bought for me that has sadly had a fate of being rolled up in the bottom of my bag ever since. In place of an iron, an easy fix is to run the hot water in the shower and hang your garment and PRESTO you're good to go...travel tip #326

Our drop off point. Ho Chi Minh City(formerly Saigon)City Hall and Opera house. Across from it Louis Vuitton. We knew we had arrived in the right spot to do what we came out to do...SPEND SOME MONEY!

Doms vegetarian steak! Done a delicious medium rare. The asparagus was equivalent to taste bud heaven. Funny what you miss when you don't have it.

Oddly enough it tasted like cotton candy, and worse it had chunks of stuff in it....yeah, Doms idea

Out for fancy cocktails and fancy lounges in fancy dresses...scored an old New Zealand favorite, Feijoa vodka...mmmmm

Just a little touch up...maybe it's maybelline

Scrubs up kind of nice, huh?

Anything close to real coffee is miraculous. Sozo is a great cafe around the corner from where we are staying aimed at hiring and helping the disabled and poor. They help train these young people to give them an opportunity to earn a skill, from serving, to cooking to manning the cash. It had originally started out with one women baking cookies road side and now has two locations.

That's right high roller....10.000 dong. The equivalent of about 66 cents, or a can of pop.

Speaks for itself.

Talk about photo op!!! AND not only did we have this once, but it decided to grace us with our presence the following day too. Two days, four rainbows. Now that's a pay off to a rainy day that forced us from the beach. Mother Nature, we're not mad anymore.

Reunification building in Ho Chi Minh, the official spot where the North conquered the South back in 1975.

A real tank like the one that crashed the gates to claim it's victory over the South.

One of many rooms inside of Reunification Palace. The "document room" Looks like Gustav Klimt designed this place.

The ol listening stations.

Soviet Era bulky static generator.

One of many rooms inside of Reunification Palace. Dom obviously didn't read the "Do Not Touch" sign.

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Vietnam

2 hours after getting our visa's in Vientiane, Laos we decided to jet over to Hanoi and proceed south down the coast....with a stop in Halong bay!

Tanks used in the war parked off a small side street in Hue.


we found these stashes of plastic moulds out back near the Nyugens estate that was Align Centerapparently being refurbished.....last time I checked plastic and spray paint wasn't a part of restoring history! Busted!


taken inside the Citadel of Hue in the infamous Purple City.


A quick hour hike up the national park on Cat Ba island reveals some stunning views.


The travel books are all knockoffs here. 5 dollars its is. They photocopy the entire book and slap on a shinny cover. You can't tell the difference until you open it up.


Typical land/rock formation stretching through Laos and into Vietnam. This one is in Ha Long bay.


The cave looked cool enough without a Disney Epcot Center light show going on.


Lenin still rules down here.


Unlce Ho's Mausoleum in Hanoi. First president. Poor guy asked to be cremated. Instead they embalmed him and built this beast right next door to his house on stilts.


And now for some fun road soda sports... Throwing yourself off a platform.


There is nothing to do in Vang Vieng(Laos) except to get a beer and go tubing down the river. At each 200m interval there is a bar you swim up to for a Beerlao. The enterprising locals have thought up new ways to keep the tourist at their bar... enter the death swing. mind the razor sharp rocks below and you'll be fine.


Oooh...I can tell its gonna be a bad landing.


Pretty sure I wet myself before I hit the water on this ride!


The worst part is you get to choose when to let go...


See it or not Jessica is actually in this picture....sadly two weeks previous, a girl broke her neck and died going off this slide. Mind you, a day of drinking, munching shrooms and the brilliant idea of going down head first were probably all contributing factors.


going the safe route, bottoms down, nose plugged, living on a prayer!