Cambodia

We have spent a couple of days in Pnomh Penh...very different to Vietnam, heaps more expensive but still not NZ expensive....found a cool place to stay, with a pool. Went for a walk around the city and ran into a guy from Waiheke Island, used to own the Earth Sea cafe....Ken Walker says Hi Mum and Dad! Too funny...beautiful food here, yummy Khmer curries so once again Im in heaven...

Mekong Delta...

So we decided that we wanted to visit the Mekong Delta and enter Cambodia this way. We decided to join a small group on a tour that was a 2 day trip andborder crossing! What better way to visit the Mekong River than to be on it! We spent the first day looking a rice paper, coconut candy and floating markets! Was good fun and lots of fresh air intermingled with bus trips! Amazing again the filth, the rubbish, the chaos...so different for us at home...incredible to see how some beautiful people struggle everyday, fishing when theres no fish etc but a great thing to see, the Mekong is the rice bowl of Vietnam....also the most densly populated area...heres some photos!

Saigon Baby!

Wicked cool city....ready for the big smoke again after some chill out time...we have seen Starbucks, McDs, KFC....its all go and feels normal! Again off the bus, 5 hours, big bus, much better aside from major traffic this time! Nevermind, as long as we arrive we are happy! So we find a cool little mini hotel to stay in, get some laundry sorted and go find dumplings! Some chinese presence here so was an easy task...Saigon or Ho Chi Minh City is big. The progress of Vietnam is most evident here, big sky scrapers, flash cars, industry...we love it!

Mui Ne....little slice of paradise!

We arrived in the rain after one of the dodgiest, bumpiest, stinkiest bus rides ever. The trip took about 7 hours....bad roads, pot holes and a full mini bus...

ni bus! Good times! We stumbled upon a place called Joes Cafe...some nice cheesy bread, a cold beer and some Wifi....everywhere has Wifi here....literally.....even the buses! Makes us shudder when we cant even get a decent connection at home....anyway I digress...back to Joes, so we are sitting under the tarp roof contemplating life and looking for somewhere to put our heads for a couple of nights....backpackers next dorr is very back packery....Steve goes and chats to a lovely american guys at the bar who turns out to be Joe....hooks us up a little beach cabanna for 2 nights and we dont even have to move! Pretty cool....so we spend a couple of days relaxing in Mui Ne, a bit of sunshine, a bit of rain and some cool cats along the way! We headed into town to book more tickets to Cambodia after deciding we should do it....more fun bus trips ahead!

In LOVE with Dalat

It was after a rocky start in Dalat we spent a few very cool chilled out days with some new friends. We spent heaps of time on a scooter, got lost, had adventures and heading into the hills. The temperature was beautiful and mountainous...how we imagined Vietnam. We didnt do any tours but just researched and found things...was so much fun. Made some lovely new friends too...we decided to stay an extra day here also and were able to change bus tickets to Mui Ne...too easy! Its such a crazy place you start to expect everything to be a little difficult but being so small all the tourists like us are all doing the same thing...very cool...

Up in the mountains of Dalat

Wow, this place is really cool. in all senses of the word...had a pretty shocking first night hotel experience but moved on first thing the next day! the temperature here is glorious, a cool, wet 25 degrees! We have moved into the city part now, exploring markets, people watching...funny how much attention we get with the tattoos on us! Some horror, some disdain but mostly appreciation! Dalat is famous for milk and cheese...not to mention coffee beans, weasel coffee (the civet coffee known as Kopi Luwaks poorer cousin!), tea leaves and marijuana? Beautiful place, elevation approximately 3000ft above sea level...it is scooter time. This was a place where alot of the french came to have holidays to escape the heatheat so lots of french influence here...I will attach some photos of the Crazy House too....some people are mad but we loved it! Planning some craziness of our own soon in Lummy...ha ha ha

The Magical Mr Phong!

By chance we met an old man today called Mr Phong. He was sitting outside a restaurant and we walked past...I said to Steve I wanted to go back because he had such a kind face. Turns out he works at the retaurant free of charge every night of the week hoping to invite and meet tourists like us to take to his village and show around. We were a little sceptical at first but his kindness and his comment book won us over and we spent a wonderful morning with him learning all about the war, the history of Viet Nam, the reunification of the South and North, his own personal experiences from prison, culture, family, religions, communism, capitalism...so much was shared with us on this day and we truly believe that Mr Phong was sent to help us understand a little more about Viet Nam and the way this crazy country works! We went through his village for a walk, after looking through the house he was born in, met more of his extended family, saw people with tortoises for food, people making snake wine, Mr Phongs family temple...followed by a beautiful lunch of rice (homegrown), winter melon, shrimps, vegetables and a vegetable that is eaten everywhere and everyday called morning glory! A wonderfully satisfying day....