Central Highlands Motorbike Trip

Mui Ne

Was so happy to find a nice little guest house right on the beach at Mui Ne, what a beautiful place! The beach is about 11km long lined with coconut trees and lovely warm water. I stayed at Saigon Cafe Guest house good room with shower for $9 only few meters from bed into ocean in the mornings. I bumped into a nice girl Martina on the beach, I originally met her on a bus in Laos, she recommended a guide Mr Water who does sunrise tours to the massive sand dunes out of town and offered to introduce me later that evening. I met another couple of friendly travelers Vathson and sybilla who invited me to a seafood BBQ later on as well. Spent the afternoon relaxing on the beach and watched a beautiful sunset. Later walked up the beach to Mr Water's house, instantly liked him, so friendly and generous I arranged day trip for the next day with pick up 5am in the morning. Went to seafood BBQ with Vathson and Sybilla who I met earlier had one of the best meals! fresh cooked Scallops, prawns and fish with a delicious seafood rice soup was such a great meal and the guys were so friendly and had so much great travel advise to share. My day trip was great, the massive white sand dunes were really breath taking, watched the sun rise over the dunes, slide down a massive slope on a piece or plastic board, very fun! also visited some red dunes, the fairy springs - a river carving its way through the sand dunes with beautiful coloured sands exposed. I saw how they dry anchovies on the road side to use in making fish sauce (tasted a couple) and visited a fish sauce factory tasting fresh fish sauce out of a barrel (yum!!!). We also had a quick walk around the fish markets which were amazing! every kind of seafood imaginable and so cheap!! We picked out a big spotted eel which Mr Water offered to cook me for lunch. Was dropped back at my hotel had a swim and shower then walked up to Mr Water's place for a fantastic lunch on the beach we shared a big bottle of rice wine infused with honey and grilled banana had a few swims and shared some laughs. His family are so lovely, his wife kept bringing out fruit drinks and fresh fruit all afternoon. I had mentioned I liked mussels while we were at the markets so when I left that evening Mr Water invited me back for lunch (fresh BBQ mussels) the next day. Lunch the next day turned into an entire day full of BBQ seafood, fresh fish, mussels, clams and other shellfish, I spent about $6 all day. Later on a lovely Vietnamese family arrived for dinner and asked me to join them for some Scallops and a couple of beers. They were such a funny family, we managed to communicate using my very little Vietnamese and their much better English they refused to take any money from me. On the way back to my room a bunch of young guys called out hello! and waved me over to sit in their circle for a few more shots of rice wine and a laugh. Had such a nice day eating and drinking with local Vietnamese people, I found them so friendly and giving I felt very lucky to have had that experience. I arranged for a 3 day motorbike trip with Mr Water around the central highlands leaving in the morning, luckily I felt fine in the morning.

Drinks With Vietnamese Guys, Mussels, Mr Water and His Wife, Fish Drying for Fish Sauce, Eating Eel with Mr Water, Fish Sauce Farm, Sundried Fish, Sand dunes, BBQ Seafood, Mui Ne Beach, Fairy Springs, Sunset on Main Beach.

Ho Chi Minh City

What an incredible place! There are millions of people in this city, maybe 10 no one seems sure of the actual numbers, but they all seem to own a moto. The traffic is amazing to watch, the way people weave through streets, around pedestrians and other vehicles is marvelous. The city has some beautiful architecture, the opera house and the central post office especially beautiful. I really enjoyed my few days in the city, it was great having Beth's place to stay, it was so comfortable and homely. I did a day trip out to Tay Ninh a Cao dai temple a couple of hours out of town, the temple was beautiful the walls were adorned with brightly coloured sculptures and paintings. The temple is the headquarters of the Cao Dai religion, this is a combination of religions including Buddhism, Christianity and Confucianism. We were fortunate enough to arrive during a prayer ceremony so the temple was filled with people in traditional dress and musicians playing beautiful music. On the way to the temple our guide was telling us that there used to be a lot of physically and mentally disabled people begging in the streets, the government thought this was bad for tourism so they moved them all out of the city he wasn't sure where to. These days they provide them with work in factories. We stopped at a factory where people with disability were making art, they were sticking pieces of broken egg shell onto big ceramic urns or wooden boards making beautiful designs and then painting them. I wasn't quite sure how I felt about the place, I guess its good the people are off the streets and have work, the conditions weren't bad but they were still locked away in a factory. We also visited the the Chu Chi tunnels, built during the Vietnam war forming tunnels a massive underground network spanning more than 200 Km. I climbed into a very small section of original tunnel, so small I only just fit inside. We also walked through an 18m section of tunnel which had been widened for foreigners, still quite a squeeze in sections and a little claustrophobic. I got back to town quite late, I bought an open bus ticket which allows me to hop on and off all the up to Hanoi, I remember the french guys I met in Koh Tao had recommended buying one only and only $40 so good saving. I booked a ticket to Mui Ne for the following day about 4 hour trip north on the coast.




Traffic in Ho Chi Minh, Prayer Ceremony in Tay Ninh, The divine Eye - Representation of God, Egg Shell Art, Being a Tourist In Chu Chu Tunnels, Delicious Vietnamese Coffee!!!

Can Tho

Hello Friends, been a while between posts! Have been busy, busy with no time to write. Im really well, really getting into traveling and having a blast! Had about 3 days in Can Tho down in the Mekong delta, I had a nice hotel with a hot shower and a big double bed so I decided to stay a few days and relax. I did a day trip to the floating markets, It was so nice I had my own little wooden boat and guide who. We started at 5am and slowly motored up the Can Tho river into the most beautiful sunrise arriving at the Cai Rang markets about 30mins later. The markets were great the river was buzzing with small wooden boats stacked with vegetables and families going about their daily shopping, a little coffee boat pulled up and made me the most delicious fresh Vietnamese coffee. We motored fufther up the river to Phong Dien markets, they were smaller than I expected I think many people were still away on holidays for Tet, it was still a very exciting experience. We then wove our way along some small canals past many basic little houses got a little peak into the lives of the people of Vietnam. The rest of my time in Can Tho was not so good as I started to get sick with the flu again, I decided to get dosed up on medication and get rid of it for good this time. I also had hot cups done on my back as I read that they help to get poisons out of your body, was a strange experience a little painful at times, most of you have probably seen before but they heat little glass cups with a flame then put on your back, this creates a vacuum and sucks the skin. Next stop was Ho Chi Minh city where I was staying with Jordan's sister Beth for a few days.

Sunrise on The Can Tho River, Coffee Boat, Pineapples, Potatoes, Traveling Down Canal, Cupping.