Easy Riding the Central Highlands

After our day adventure with the Dalat Easy-Riders, I decided to do a three day motorbike tour on my own from Dalat to Nha Trang with my guide, Mui. My first day began by taking a short cable car ride above Dalat city and to see a traditional Vietnamese temple and meditation center. This city sprawls out into fields full of vegetables and as we headed into the countryside, the hills became covered with coffee trees. Our next stop was a short stop at a small mushroom farm. These are the mushrooms that you can buy dried and when you add them to hot water they plump back up. They are grown in plastic bags and the bags are filled with a combination of lime powder and manure with a splint of bamboo in the center of the bag. The bags are strung up under a tarp and shaded from the sun. Not how I expected mushrooms to be grown at all! Next we carried on until we came to a small village where the K'Ho people live. The K'Ho are an ethnic minority group in the area and are originally from Polynesia. They are also a Matriarchal society. We sat and chatted with them for a short while. They were all very sweet and shy, yet very curious about me. Good thing Mui was there to translate our conversation! We also stopped at small family run businesses where they were making rice wine, and raising silk worms. We stopped through one more village of the M'Nong Ga people. Here they live in government built houses which are built in front or beside their traditional huts. The huts have three doors, one entrance door, one back door that they throw their garbage out of, and one door that is either open (if they have unmarried daughters available) or closed (if all of their daughters have been married off). Inside the center of the hut is a fire pit and above the fire pit is a small storage unit where they put all of their food for smoking. Even though they have gov't built houses they still use their huts to keep their culture alive. We stopped for the night at a small town near Lak Lake. For dinner we went to a family run restaurant who made catfish soup with homemade rice noodles. The husband and wife who owned the restaurant had three little girls that pulled up stools to watch me eat my soup. They had never seen a Westerner eat Vietnamese soup before. The evening ended up to be quite entertaining as the husband, with his most operatic voice, sang me the Vietnamese anthem, and a few other songs, and his youngest daughter sang me a song as well that had hand motions and everything! They made me feel very welcome in their little restaurant. When I got back to my hotel it must have been about 9:30, but I was so tired that I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

My second day in the Central Highlands started out with a visit in the village of the M'Nong Lam community. There are many rice fields that surround the area. Here the people live in long wood houses built on stilts. At night their cattle and animals sleep under the houses and when the body heat from the animals rise, it keeps the houses warm at night. Our next stop was at a brick making factory. Many Many buildings in Vietnam and actually all over Asia are built with brick. This particular brick factory was run by three families who apparently had quite a large contract and were pumping out bricks like crazy. After lunch we stopped to visit with an old veteran couple who had both served forty years in the Vietcong Army. The old man had received many medals which he was very proud of, and had met Ho Chi Minh twice in his life. They call Ho Chi Minh Uncle Ho. Mui and I chatted with the old man while his wife did funny foot shuffling exercises in their little patio area. They were very nice people and the old woman gave me many many hugs as I was leaving, I had no idea what she was saying. They seemed very happy and content despite having seen so much violence in their life. Mui also took me to see three waterfalls that day. Dray Nu was the largest of the three, and during the wet season can span 700 meters across. Men sat fishing at the top of the waterfall. Not sure how they were able to sit right on the edge like that and not get washed away! We stopped for the night in a small town and Mui took me for a goat dinner... goat cooked in three different ways. I also tried blood pudding. GROSS!

The final day of my tour started out with a traditional Vietnamese breakfast of Two bowls, one was a beef soup and the other was a noodle dish. Definitely a hearty way to start the day. We set off and stopped at a Peppercorn farm, a blacksmith shop, and wood sculpture place. As we drove towards Nha Trang city, the tall hills (which they call mountains) began to part and the South China Sea became visible. Mui dropped me off at the hotel that Megan and Arainn checked into and then we said our goodbyes. It was a really awesome trip that gave me a little taste of what Vietnam is really like outside the big city tourist centers.

B

So many clothes...so many shoes...how to choose...when to stop?!?

Good evening blog followers:) The BAM train is currently in Hoi An, a town (or clothes shop) about halfway up the Vietnam coast. There are tailors everywhere here and you can have anything made....ANYTHING. Shoes, coats, dresses, shirts...whatever you fancy. Its pretty fun, but also overwhelming looking through catalogues and choosing fabrics....but its super cheap so we shouldn't complain too much.

Our day tour in Dalat (about a week ago) with Easyriders was great. We got to see a different side of Vietnam, meet some local people who weren't trying to sell you anything and have some really delicious food. Breanna enjoyed it so much she decided to head off on a three day tour with her guide Mui through the Vietnamese jungles (the details of her trip will be in a separate blog). So for a few days BAM was separated but we all met up again in Nha Trang with everybody safe and sound. Not to be out done Megan and Arainn rented a moto, grabbed a map and spent a day exploring the hills of Dalat. The best spot was definitely Datanla Waterfall which had a sweet little roller coaster that went from the parking lot to the falls. Pretty random but tons of fun. We also rode the new cable car that overlooks the city (finding that was an adventure in itself), rode a relic of a train out to a local pagoda and peddled the loudest, rustiest swan we could find on the lake. The bus to Nha Trang was also an adventure since we are pretty sure our driver was an aspiring nascar driver. Not exactly the best method of getting a full size bus down a twisting-one lane wide mountain road, but we made it to Nha Trang in one piece.

Nha Trang is a beach town with more bars and restaurants than you can imagine and on our first night there we (Arainn and Megan...Breanna hadn't arrived yet) visited a few of the local favorites. Why Not? Bar and the Sailing Club. Both had really great music and we met loads of fun fellow travellers to hang out with for the night. The next day consisted of a lot of sleeping and moving hotels (because we suspected ours was stealing from people) and miraculously Breanna was able to locate Arainn and Megan on the beach when she finally made it into town. We spent two more days in Nha Trang both of which were pretty rainy and grey (so we didnt get our much hoped for beach time) but they were still fun. We went on a boat tour around a few of the local islands on which we were granted an unexpected rock show by the boats crew after a fantastic lunch. To make things even more involved they forced someone from every country to get up and sing a song by an artist from their country. Of the Canadians Arainn was the lucky one forced up to stand and listen as the singer sang a song by the Bangles....are they even Canadian?? Needless to say she had no idea what the lyrics were so the crowd had to settle for a little jig reminiscent of Ashley Simpsons appearance on SNL rather than any vocals. On our last day in Nha Trang we visited the local mud baths and mineral hot springs which was extremely relaxing and really hot:)

We took a 12 hour night bus to Hoi An from Nha Trang (not the most enjoyable of rides) arriving at 6 in the morning we stumbled into the hotel they dropped us at, accepted the room and went to sleep. Turns out it is a really nice hotel and there's a POOL!!! it tastes a bit funky but its still nice to take a dip. As explained above Hoi An is the land of tailors and we spent our first two days picking out clothes from magazines, being measured and refitted...they are super quick at making stuff and the quality is pretty decent. Today we finally were able to explore the town and local market during the day. We walked in and shortly there after were harrassed by some women into having mani's and pedi's and then massages and hair threading....ahhhh run we must escape. They can talk you into anything. In general tho the people here have been extremely nice. We also fit in a short boat tour up the river in a boat driven by the most ancient woman in the world.

Tomorrow we are taking a tour to My Son (the local ruins) before we grab an afternoon bus to our next destination Hue.

Ta Ta for now.

BAM

Good Morning Vietnam!

Or afternoon rather. We arrived in Vietnam on Feb 20 on a bright sunny afternoon maybe about 2 or 3ish, but just a quick recap of the time between our last blog till now. We spent about five days in Siem Reap(this little town had some coloniale style buildings and a bit of French flare), where we spent a large chunk of our time seeing the Angkor Temples. Our first full day in Siem Reap was Megan's Birthday so we celebrated by going for an hour back massage, lounging at the Blue Pumpkin cafe, and eating a delicious Cambodian BBQ dinner which got us all limbered up and ready for going to see the temples the next day. The ruins were really incredible and the architecture of the temples is quite complex. We bought a three day pass which was definitely needed in order to see everything! Since the temples are located out of the city and in the jungle we decided to bike the first day and watch the sunset at the Pre Rup Temple. As we were riding back towards town the sky was a vibrant pink/red that made the trees look like they were on fire. On the second day we tuktuk'd about 30+ Km out to the famous Tomb Raider Temple, our driver was really nice and took us where ever we wanted including a buffet dinner in the evening where there was traditional Apsara dancing! The third day we decided to bike again, this time leaving early in the morning to watch the sunrise over Angkor Wat. Unfortunately it had rained during the night and the sky was grey in the morning. No sun in the sky anywhere! By the end of our three day Angkor excursion we were pretty templed out. So we made our way back to Phnom Pehn for two days to get our Vietnam Visas which almost brings us up to date!

Our first stop in Vietnam was Saigon. To describe this city, it is a city of motorbikes, tall narrow buildings, for some reason Italian cuisine, and art studios full of reproduction paintings of famous artists. This was also where we first tasted Vietnamese coffee. Probably the most delicious coffee EVER! When we first arrived we headed towards an alley full of guesthouses where we were ushered here and there to a few different places. We decided to stay at Ti Ti guesthouse which had a litter of 10 day old puppies, and free internet which was the selling feature. Our room was located five floors up some really narrow steep stairs. We met up with Kait (from home) and went to see the Independence Palace, the Remenants War Museum and then in the evening we watched Slumdog Millionaire in a local cafe. Great movie by the way. The following day we went to see the Cu Chi tunnels which were used during the Vietnam War. Our visit in Saigon was a short one and soon we were off to Mui Ne, a little fishing town. For those who have money to burn in Mui Ne, you will find them Kite or wind surfing off of the beach. For humble travellers like ourselves, we spent a lot of time chilling at Joe's Cafe. We also did a half day tour to see the sand dunes and the Red Canyon. We left Mui Ne this morning on a tiny bus where there wasn't enough leg room and drove up and up a steep road full of massive pot holes. There were large green valleys and some wild fires. We arrived in the hilly town of Da Lat around noon and made some arrangements for a day motorcycle tour with Easy-Riders to see Elephant Waterfall, a Silk making factory, a wine making factory, Bamboo Village and some other countryside farms which is our plan for tomorrow!

BAM

Cambodia

Sooooo we've been up to quite a bit since we last blogged...haven't used the internet much in the last week or so. To catch you all up we left Koh Tao on Feb 3rd (maybe) and travelled 28 hours by boat and bus and bus and personel car to Sihanoukville Cambodia. Crossed the border at Koh Kong and had no problems. We arrived pretty late in S'ville so stayed at Chiva's Shack. Its name describes exactly what it is, but we had met and travelled with a German girl who had stayed there before so it worked for the night. The next day we had breakfast on the beach and got a big Cambodian welcome from about 8-10 ladies trying to sell bracelets, fruit, massages and any other product or service you might need. Once in Cambodia this form of hospitality DOES NOT STOP:) We met up with Arainn's dad in S'ville which was a nice surprise and after changing to a slightly more comfortable hotel hung out on the beach for a few days. One of the days we rented scooters and road out to Ream National Park, where they have a "waterfall". Its a river that flows down hill...there arn't many mountains in Cambodia. We took a boat tour out to a few islands where we were able to snorkle and chill out on some really nice beaches...however they don't compare to the beaches of Thailand.

After S'ville we caught a bus to Phnom Pehn (PP) where we stayed at Arainn's dad's apartment. He was able to show us around and take us to some places tourists don't usually go including Oudong Mountain. There is a huge pagoda there with 100 monks and 300 donchi (nuns or people in service of the monks) all learning meditation. We gave an offering to a few monks and they gave us a blessing....twice because during their first attempt they were laughing pretty hard...shy about having 3 western girls in front of them is what we were told. It was pretty cool. We also went to S-21 or Toul Slang which is the prison in PP where hundreds of people were tortured for information during the reign of the Khmer Rouge and then the killing fields where they were taken to be "destroyed". The numbers vary but its estimated that up to 3 million people were killed over about 4 years.

Now we are in Siem Reap and will be visiting Angkor Wat and celebrating Megan's birthday.

Tata for now.

BAM

An underwater week in Koh Tao

About a week ago we stopped in Koh Tao, we were just going to spend a day and almost a whole week later we are still here! We met an Aussie on the ferry over to the island who was planning on doing his Open Water PADI at Ban's Diving Resort which sounded like such a good idea that Arainn and Breanna decided to do theirs too! The course was short with four dives, two a day in different locations off the coast of Koh Tao. Really amazing corals and fish... blow fish, eels, butterfly fish, nemo. During Arainn and Breanna's course, Megan did some fun dives with another dive company down the street, Phoenix Divers. This company was also offering an ocean clean-up free dive which the three of us decided to do. SO MUCH FUN! The clean-up dive was like a hunt to find all the garbage that had been dumped in the ocean. Which brings us to just yesterday when the three of us decided to stay on Koh Tao for a couple more days to do our Advanced Open Water PADI. Yesterday was the first day of our Advanced and we did three dives, a deep water where we dive down to 30m, a navigation dive where we have to use a compass and computer to navigate through the water and monitor our time underwater, and a night dive which was really neat. At night we use torches to see. There were sting rays, a hermit crab and a whole lot of sleeping fish! During our night dive we turned off our torches and swam in the dark. oooh spooky! Actually it was super cool because all of the plankton glows in the dark and as you swim its all around you and you can see everyone in the water! Today is our last full day in Koh Tao, we will be finishing off our course with two dives, a fish identification, and a multi-level dive and then a party to celebrate! Tomorrow we are planning to make our way back to Bangkok and then take a bus to Cambodia woo hoo! And the adventure continues...

BAM

Pool Pool Pool Pool Pool Pool Party Party Party!!!

Or so say the signs all over Koh Pha Ngan. We've been here about 4 days, 3 nights, one of our longer stays thus far. On the night we arrived there was a pool party at the resort we are staying at, Coral Bungalows. It was so much fun!!! It's pretty crazy here. During the day it's like a ghost town... there is hardly anyone out walking around.. But at night the place comes to life. The parties don't really get going until around 11 and they go all night! Our first two nights we were out till around 5 am I think.. The second night we were here there was a black moon party which we had planned to attend but we ended up hanging out with some people we had met at the pool party. We played some poker down at their bungalows and then went out to some of the bars along the beach in Haad Rin. Last night was a bit more of a chilled out night, we went back to our new friends bungalows down on the beach. Everyone was pretty exhausted from the previous party nights so we didn't go out anywhere but we were still out until 2am!!! Played some more poker and jenga too!! :p Arainn got some pretty awesome hands and won one of the poker games, Megan also won one the previous night. We've had a lot of fun here on Koh Pha Ngan but we're thinking it's time to head out and move on to out next destination. We're still not really sure where that is going to be though.. most likely Ko Tao and the back to Bangkok.. Toodles

Attack of the killer jelly fish!!!!

So we have survived the death hike. Wasn't actually that bad...but it was really good that we did it the day before to find out how long it was. We stayed on Rantee Beach for two nights in a sweet little bungalow with a very hard matress. Our daily activities consisted of lounging in the shade, playing volleyball on the sandy beach and star gazing in the evenings. The people that ran the place where we stayed were so nice and it is definitly somewhere to return to someday.

On our last morning, Megan and Arainn went snorkling and saw some amazing fish and other underwater creatures. Many of the fish seem to be as interested in you as you are in them and they circle you so it is easy to take great pics with Arainn's SUPER AWESOME camera:) Until they attack you of course....swimming along minding our own business (and chasing little fishes) Megan was viciously wacked by a passing, and seemingly invisible jelly fish. We imediately booked it to shore to check the damage. Although she had a good sized welt on her forearm, a red streak on her calf and some general numbness we determined she is going to live....

Back on the busy side of Koh Phi Phi we are just awaiting our ferry back to Krabi, from which we are catching a bus and boat to Koh Phan Nagn. Black moon party on Sunday!!!

BAM