That flower lets me remind of, my flower...Welcome Back to Viet Nam

Oh, English translations in Viet Nam, how I have missed thee!!!! The nice little ditty in the title "That flower lets me remind of, my flower" was painted on some restaurant rice bowls. Apparently, the porcelain factory didn't have the budget to get a real translator, but instead had to make due with Google Translator.

But getting back to the point. I'M BACK IN VIET NAM! And really happy about it. Although Cambodia was great, Viet Nam is, without a doubt, about 4 million times better. Sorry Cambodia. But we have been so busy since getting back. We have constantly been exploring Ha Noi, trekking in the Cuc Phuong National Park Forest, overnighting in ethnic minority villages, being head-butted by cows, looking at floating villages and being tourists. Let me tell you, enjoying life is exhausting!!

Here are a few of the memorable moments from the last week and a half:

1. Street food in Ha Noi is amazing. And you get to sit at little baby plastic tables. You know the kind...the ones you used at your childhood tea parties where every stuffed animal got their own chair. Yea, but they use them for real here, its awesome.

2. Monkey (actually Delacour Langurs) watching on a boat.

3. Spot-lighting for animals at Cuc Phuong National Park. At first, we were only finding lots of lizards and insects (aka BORING animals. well actually the chameleons were pretty sweet). So I took matters into my own hands. Basically, I called upon my powers with the mammal gods. Jana and I clasped hands and chanted to the mammal gods, and whaddya know? Right as we were done chanting, our guide spotted a giant flying squirrel. To be 100% honest, I did ask the mammal gods to give us a bat, but whatever. Bat, squirrel...both rodents, right? Same, same...but different. Moral of the story, I do have some kind of pull with the mammal gods.

4. Julia got head-butted by a cow at the ethnic minority village. She is just having really bad luck when it comes to keeping her legs healthy lately. But no worries, she was not injured, just got a long, blue bruise.

5. Ha Long Bay, Ha Long Bay, Ha Long Bay. Cassie's birthday. Swimming in Ha Long Bay!!! Ha Long Bay!

Muong ethnic minority village on the edge of Cuc Phuong National Park. 

Interesting rock formations in the cave we visited.

They must have had a lighting professional come in and do the lay-out. It was pretty cool seeing all of the stalagmites and stalactites lit up.

Floating fishing village in Ha Long Bay. The houses are within a cove of limestone mountains. 

Sunset on Ha Long Bay as we arrive back to port.

Blurry picture of a 1,000 year-old tree at Cuc Phuong National Park.

Row, Row, Row Your Boat

After two weeks in Cambodia, I am sitting in the airport (our plane is obviously delayed) waiting for my return to Vietnam. As I sit here, super, super excited to go back to Vietnam, I have to tell you all the amazing things we did in the last week of Cambodia. It was really hectic, hot, sun-burny, and FANTASTIC. We saw a ton of stuff that most tourists only dream about seeing. 

We spent two days in floating villages on the Tonle Sap trying to understand the conflicts of the fishing lots there. Basically, private owners have possession of much of the main fishing parts of the lake and the families in the floating villages are subsistence farmers, meaning they have to pay for entry. This causes problems, because many hardly make enough money to support their families, and the only way they make money is through fishing. However, while we were in the floating village, I re-scraped my already scraped knee, making it look nasty, nasty, nasty. But, luckily, we just happened to be visiting the local Khmer medicine man. I asked if he could help me with my knee and he agreed if I sent him a picture. He started by lighting an incense for me, then he got some lotus balm and began rubbing it on my knee while saying some prayers. All of sudden, out of no where, he started spitting Betel Nut onto my leg. He repeated this process three times in all. Although it shocked me, that betel nut worked MAGIC. My re-scraped knee healed up within a week, faster than any of my other scraped knees have ever healed. 

We also took a four-day river excursion down the Mekong River. The stretch of the river that we traveled is actually pretty dangerous, so it is very difficult for tourists to find someone who will take them on these stretches of the river. On this trip, we saw a really cool waterfall (see below), Mekong River Dolphins, and a cultural exchange. The cultural exchange was the most fun I have had in so long. There was dinner, and we sang, and there was a band from Phnom Penh and the whole village (or so it seemed, at least 200 people) turned up to watch the traditional Cambodian dancing that was being performed. Oh, I think they also came to see the goofy white people make fools of themselves. We learned how to do some Cambodian dances, which consisted of just doing very simple steps around a round table (dancing for some was really touch and go at first, especially for the poor injured Julia, who had 3 stitches put into her knee the night before). I picked it up pretty quickly, and soon added my own American flair to it. I felt sooo popular that night. I got so many compliments on my dancing AND it was probably the first dance EVER that I have ever been to where I was asked to dance during every song. I may have also had a boyfriend, one of the river guards always asked me to dance. Look at me go, belle of the ball!

There was tons more stuff that we did, but unfortunately, I don't think you want to read about 32000 pages of my stories. But tune in next time for stories from Northern Vietnam.

He may think its creepy (but secretly he loves it), but I thought you would like to see more of Erik's fashion sense. Now you all know what I have to live with. But to be fair, we all got the orange hats and I wore mine everyday on the boat.

The hike to one of the Mekong waterfalls.

The floating village on the Tonle Sap where we stayed for one night. 

The Khmer medicine man worked some magic on my twice scraped knee. But for real, it healed up within a week. Lets see western medicine do that.

The medicine man in front of his shrine to his ancestors. When he heals his patients, he lights incense and waits for his ancestor to come and whisper the treatments in his ear. 

A close up of the Mekong waterfall. It was really moving fast since the rainfall had significantly increased in the last week. In the dry season, apparently the water is calm enough to swim and the waterfall only has trickles of water coming down. That wasn't the case this time. 

Helloo Ladyy. You want a...

Tuk Tuk, ice cream, fish massage, ice cold water, book, bracelet, postcard, flute and the list only goes on.

You may be saying, "What the heck is she talking about?" Well, in Cambodia, I (and every other tourist lady... I am not that special) am known as lady. And everyone wants to sell something to the rich Westerner, so I am constantly being yelled at. "Hello Lady, you want fish massage. Only $2. Free Beer." For this reason, at first I didn't like Cambodia. I constantly wanted to shout, "No! No! No! Obviously I don't want your tuk tuk!" Also, I didn't like it because I was no longer a special feature or attraction. Parents don't point you out to their children here, unless they want them to come and try to sell me something. So I don't feel as special. But it has been growing on me since that time. Unfortunately, it still isn't any Vietnam.

When we left Vietnam, we took an approximately 6 hour boat ride from a border town to Phnom Penh. We had to stop at the Vietnamese immigration center and check ourselves out of Vietnam. Then we had to stop about 5 minutes later to check ourselves into Cambodia. We got the sweetest Visa for Cambodia.

We spent 3 days in Phnom Penh, where we explored the downtown area, the Royal Palace, the Silver Pagoda and obviously some of the clubs. It was the first time I had been clubbing in southeast Asia. It was interesting. Our tuk tuk driver took us to a "last resort" club/disco (We were at one club, but we wanted to try somewhere else. So the tuk tuk driver took us to a pub in the backpacking area, which was closed. Then he took us to the other better disco/club, but that was also closed for some event). It was a huge building with lots of lights. Eric got patted down and was not allowed to bring his camera in. Man! But when we got there, the music was great. Everyone was dancing. We thought, "Oh, just one quick drink and then dancing." Well, about 5 minutes in, the dance floor clears and the live music begins. It was not what we were expecting, nor what we really wanted to be truthful. The Cambodians have different taste in live music apparently, because it was super corny, but we still enjoyed it. We were the only foreign people there, so obviously we enjoyed it.

We then took a 6- or 7-hour boat ride up to Siem Riep. I decided it would be a good idea to sit outside most of the time. I also thought it would be fine if I forgot to apply sunscreen. Guess what? It wasn't fine. I came off that boat looking like a lobster that had just been boiled. Oh goodness, but it has already pretty much disappeared, thank goodness. But then, I fell and scraped my knee. Always something.

Today, we also went to visit the Temple of Doom, Angkor Thom, and Angkor Wat. Amazing, amazing, amazing. But at the Temple of Doom, Sean and I were off exploring. About 15 or 20 minutes into our adventure, we realized that no one else was really where we were. Turns out we were exploring in the "Danger Zone" of the Temple of Doom. And it was dangerous, Sean totally broke his ankle. Well, he didn't break it, but close. He stepped on it wrong and it "hurt." He of course blamed it on me. Then at Angkor Thom, I was exploring on my own and heard Alex and Sean talking. Sean got stung by a scorpion. He also blamed that on me and my "gossip" gods.  I thought it was hilarious either way and served him right. Why? Because he kept saying that those things were going to happen to me. But then, I guess I got it served right back when I fell and scraped my knee.

Tomorrow, we are leaving for a floating village, where we will do a homestay. We are constantly on the run, and I am exhausted, hence the above post, which isn't so clever. I am way too tired to think of anything that might actually entertain you. But please read next time anyway!!!!

Me and a demon at the entrance of Angkor Thom. I might marry it, but I hear demons don't listen very well. 

Eric looks like a warrior, or perhaps a bushwhacker in this photo. Bandanna and hat. Only way to soak up all the sweat apparently. 

Angkor Wat. Pretty sweet staircase up to the highest (accessible) part of the temple. 

Vietnamese Pagoda. It was in the border town that we stayed in for one night before heading to Phnom Penh.

Red like a lobster!!! Hair like a zombie. Oh my, thank goodness everything can be tamed after a while.

Temple of doom!!!You may recognize it from some movies...guess which ones!

Got Alluvial Sediment?

Before I get into the really awesome excursion that we got back from on Monday, I must admit something very hard to all of you. I AM HOMESICK. But it's really not what it sounds like. I'm not actually homesick; I love Vietnam. But it is lacking in a few things...

I MISS MY:

1) Clothes - Leopard print shirts, leggings, over-sized sweaters, can you hear me? I miss you!

2) Make-up - I now realize more than ever what you do for me every time I put you on. How can I live without you!?

3) Hair products - Although it is soo humid here, my locks are dying for some moisturizing products. And mousse, where has the volume gone!?

4) Car - Your air conditioning was just so great. And you run all by yourself once I put gas in. Please teach my bike to do that!

Ok, I know what you're thinking. What about my family and friends? Here's what I have to say....my family and friends have phones and email. My clothes, make-up, hair products and car do not. I had to go cold turkey, and baby, it ain't easy. But no worries, Vietnam is definitely making up for these things everyday...except today.

Of course today I got a flat tire. Ugh, how annoying. So I had to call my hostmom, and I rode on the back of her motorbike, holding onto my bike as it rolled along-side the motorbike. This looks a lot easier than it is by the way. It almost got away from me a couple of times. And then when I went to go pay the man who was fixing it, I didn't have enough money. Well, I had enough money, but not enough small change. So I jipped him and I feel so bad. I'm going back as soon as I have the money and giving it to him with interest. But he was kind of crotchity, so maybe doing this good deed and being rewarded for it will be good for him.

Now, on to Can Gio. We were definitely supposed to learn things at Can Gio, but honestly I don't really know what! All I really learned was how they restored the mangrove forest after the war and now there is a debate about whether it should have human influences or go au natural. I voted for au natural, because that's how I've been going latey and its really been doing wonders. Anway, I also learned how to walk/crawl in waste-deep mud and have mud fights. So much fun! Please see below for some visual representations. I also learned that three-star resorts are incredibly cheap here (about $15 a night) and salt-water swimming pools mean you don't have to do anything to swim. Just lay somewhat still and your head stays above. 

Monkeys! Monkeys also were a big part of the trip. When we were having our mud fight on the mud flat, three monkeys were about 50 feet away munching on some crabs and fruit. I liked these monkeys, because they kept their distance. We also went to a tourist attraction called Monkey Island, which was actually kind of scary. There were wild monkeys just roaming around and some "domestic" monkeys in a cage for us to see. First of all, the wild monkeys really need to learn some manners. There was so much monkey sex, monkey fights and monkey scary, scary stares to last me a life time. We had to walk around with a security guard with a sling-shot to protect us from them. And baby monkeys are the ugliest animals ever! They just cling to their mothers with naked heads and big scary eyes. I don't like them. 

Well, that's all for now. Friday we are taking off for Cambodia for 2 weeks. I will try and keep you all updated on some of the fun things we do there!

Who needs a spa when a mangrove forest has plenty of mud for a bath? Alluvial sediment!

A muddy, muddy group pic. From left: Erik, me(!), Jana, Cassie, Sean, Julia, Dr. Be (who will be participating in a beer drinking contest with Sean and I), and Alex

Washing up in the river. We thought we would just pull a boat for the heck of it too.

Devil Monkeys!