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Happy New Year friends and family!!! We can hardly believe it is 2010 and we are already over 2.5 months into our trip. We are actually feeling a bit of a crunch to get travelling a bit faster so that we can see all that we want to. Got to enjoy a full moon New Years on the beach drinking beer, a memorable way to ring in 2010 I think!!!
Currently we are in Nha Trang, finally found the hot weather and nice beaches. We have spent many days lounging on the beach and reading. It is a bit of a 'resort' town, which for us means a bit too busy, we are looking for something a bit more chill but we will take what we get for the time being!!! Vietnam has been fun. We started up north in Sapa, beautiful scenery and lovely weather. Hanoi was our first introduction to the crazy Vietnam cities, FULL of motorbikes. We were lucky enough to arrive at 5:30 am off the night train and see the Old Quarter go from a deserted, tranquil place to one bustling with life! All of a sudden, shop doors open, ladies in their pyjamas are selling tea and pho noodle soup, motorbikes are flying down the streets and everyone is going about their day. It was overwhelming yet so fun!!! Vietnam is so neat as everything is on street level, literally!! You don't think twice about sitting on stools that look like they are for toddlers and eating at tables that are 2 feet off the ground... a night out in Hanoi consists of going to the street corners and drinking draft beer (bai hoi) for 25 cents with the locals (mostly old men!!). Steve and I learnt quickly that to cross a street that has motorbikes flying down it with NO breaks in traffic meant simply stepping off the curb... once you do you are committed to crossing. You think that you are going to get hit but you just walk at a steady pace and somehow they avoid you and you make it to the other side alive. Rules are you cannot run or stop, that would create an accident! We actually saw a motorbike accident in Nimh Binh, a guy was laying there, cut up as there was blood on the ground (we couldn't help as I had no gloves) and all the locals just gather around. No one knows and first aid. We waited for about 15 minutes until an ambulance finally showed up and they took him away. I cringed at how they 'assessed' the situation, just turned him over, no thought to head or neck injuries. Shook us up a bit as we realized that you really have no hope if you are in an accident. Steve chatted with a guy on the bus who said that in Vietnam, 1000 people die every month from traffic accidents, and those are only the ones they know about. Crazy.
Spent Christmas in Hoi An, a shoppers paradise!!! It is a beautiful old city full of great cheap food stalls and lovely cafes. There is also a tailor or shoe maker every second store!!! At first Steve and I resisted but then we asked a local restaurant owner where a good tailor was and, well, quite a few hundred dollars later we were shipping things home!!!! We are VERY happy with our purchases, Steve got a whole new wardrobe and we both got outfits for Kel and Brents WEDDING!!! Who was I kidding when i thought I could resist getting things made???!!!! Christmas was quite fun as the locals decorate with Christmas trees and have carols playing in restaurants and they dress up the little kids in Santa outfits!!! It was quite a sight when we were enjoying a Christmas Eve meal of Indian food watching motorbikes fly past with Vietnamese dressed up like Santa!!! The weather was decent so we biked to the beach and lazed some of the days away.
Seafood... I think Steve has died and gone to heaven. In Quy Nhon we found the cheapest and BEST seafood. We turned up at a beachside Vietnamese restaurant and ordered a fish hot pot (sort of like making your own batch of soup at your table) accompanied by, what else, beer and ice cubes (yup, only way to keep it cool!). After that, we had clams (a plate of about 40) that were individually fried with butter, onion and had cheese on top. Hello best thing EVER!!! And only for about $3. SERIOUSLY!!! The next day we found shrimps, squid, more fish. It was lovely. Now, we thought that Nha Trang would have great prices for seafood and it is not quite the same but we did find something REALLY GOOD... lobster on the beach. There are ladies who cart pails of lobster, crab, shrimp, etc. and then cook it over coals when you order. And we are talking big-ass lobster, no tiny things. They weigh about 1.5-2kg. And you get a fresh lobster for around $6-8, if you barter as well as Steve!!! You sit on a tarp overlooking the ocean and dive into a plateful of lobster and shrimp while drinking an ice cold beer, yup, we were thankful for that everyday!!!
Tonight we head to Saigon by night bus (which also means that we will NOT be getting a good sleep) where we will see a city with 1 billion plus motorbikes on the road... yikes!!!
Steve and I enjoyed getting to chat with friends and family over Christmas and New Years, thank goodness for Skype!!! Even though we are having a great time we always think of you guys, different situations or experiences always makes us say "this person would love this" or "I wish this person were here". Thanks for writing to us and keeping us in the loop, we love that SOOOOOOOOOOO much!!!! Love you all and will update again soon!!
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