The Feeling I've been waiting for

I LOVE VIETNAM. From Hanoi where we ate delicious food and stayed in a gorgeous hotel, we drove to Halong Bay about a three hour drive. We then spent 2 days cruising on a beautiful boat around Halong Bay. It was unbelievable and pretty indescribeable. After seeing Halong Bay on the Amazing Race I knew if was somewhere I wanted to visit. We cruised around the "islands", walked through a magnificent cave, and hiked 435 stairs to the top of one of the islands. There are 1959 islands, but really they are just giant rock formations in the bay. We saw about 30 of the different islands when we kayaked in the afternoon. Aside from the soreness in my arms, this has been my favorite part of the trip so far. The food on the boat was unbelievable and the scenery was breathtaking. I was kind of sad when we had to leave the boat!!

We then headed back to Hanoi to get ready for our overnight train to Hue. Karis, the tour leader, who is my BFF on the trip warned us about the conditions on the train. We were all a little nervous since the other overnight train we took was actually really nice. Thank god it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be and even more importantly, thank god my stomach was feeling okay on the train, cause that would have been a nightmare. Although the cabins were decent enough, the bathrooms had A LOT to be desired. I shared a cabin with Joanna, Karis, and Jon. Karis had her laptop so we watched In Bruges, a very weird, disturbing movie... then we slept and woke up in Hue.

Hue was even better than Hanoi and Halong Bay. The hotel was RIDICULOUSLY nice. After showering off the filth from the train, our entire group spent the first morning riding through the countryside and the city on hired motor bikes. As we cruised through the rice patties and had little kids chasing us and waving screaming HELLO HELLO, I kinda had a tear in my eye!! This was the feeling I had been looking for. This was the experience I wanted. We visited a pagoda and a tomb place in the afternoon and all went for a nice dinner. Joanna, my roommate and I were so exhausted that we went to bed at 8:30. We had a great night sleep. I woke up the next morning not feeling so great, but I powered through it. We visited the Citadel which is similar to the Forbidden City in China. Needless to say it was as hot as it was when I went to the Forbidden and just about as uninteresting, so I bought an iced tea and sat in the shade while the group toured around.

Next we were off to Hoi An.... We drove 3 hours through a drive that I think is similar to the A1 in California, windy through the hills overlooking the ocean. It was a beautiful drive, but my stomache was in knots. We stopped off in a little beach town for lunch and dipped in the ocean then finally arrived in Hue. The group went for an early dinner, but my stomach was still icky so I went to the local bakery and bought some bread and a brownie and watched some TV. Whne the group got back from dinner all the girls came to my room and we all watched the OSCARS!!! They were being rebroadcasted commercial free in Vietnam!! We laughed, we cried, SO MUCH FUN lol. I also talked to Lynn and Sadie on the phone which was a nice treat.

Today, my day started off in a fantastic fashion. My phone rang and it was Liaht, Amy, and Melissa all together. Made me so happy to hear their voices!! Wish you girls were here with me!! Joanna and I rented bicycles and rode to the beach where we spent the entire day with a big group of people. Who knew that Vietnam ahd such amazing beaches!! The weather and the water were perfect. I am feeling great today too which of course makes for a great day! We are off to shop in the market where you can get any kind of clothing custom made for $20. I may get a winter coat LOL. It'll probably cost way more to ship home than it costs to get made.

Miss you all and love you... more from mynext stop Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City