DAY 6
We woke up, feeling better still a bit timid about Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), but willing to give it a chance. We only walked a few feet down the road when a man with a bike carriage (Cyclo) approached us. We decided to go with him. He would take us to all the major places and bring us back for a good price.The first thing to know about Vietnam is that the traffic is INSANE! Three lanes will quickly become 5. Probably 75% of the traffic is motorbikes. 4-Way stops, become 4-Way goes, everyone uses their horn, not in a rude way but as a “FYI, Im HERE!”, And the likelihood of getting killed is 99.2% (**percentages not exact**) The first place we went to was the War Remnants Museum. They were about to close for lunch so we only had about 20 min; therefore, we didn’t have to pay to get it! We then went to see some major sights around the city. Later that evening, we took a taxi to the bus station. We had to wait for about an hour in the heat, stuffed in a little mini-van until we left the station. This 15 seater (including front seats) was filled with 21 people. We made it to Vinh Long late that evening. We walked a ways and found a huge store where we were instantly celebrities. Every child ran to us and sometimes followed us around, saying “Hello!”. We found something to eat and then our hotel. By that time we were exhausted! We went right to sleep.
Day 7
We went and got breakfast at a local river café, which consisted of French bread and fried eggs to dip the bread in and of course our usual, coffee. We went to the info place and booked a ‘home stay’ for the evening and then a boat tour around the Mekong Delta. The boat trip was nice. The water was brown and yet people were bathing, washing clothes and dishes, and swimming in it (maybe why it was brown in the first place – haha). Our tour stopped at a Pop-Rice factory where they showed us how they made pop-rice (similar to rice cakes or rice crispy treats). We were also taken down a narrow river way by this rowboat, steered by an old woman. We got to our Home Stay (guest house) in the early evening. We borrowed some bikes and road around town. (dirt roads, dirt sidewalks, etc) Many children, and adults, that saw us riding would say, “Hello” to us. That evening they served us dinner. We made our own rice paper rolls and had a few other things. It was very tasty. We stayed in a bungalow over the water.
Day 8
In the morning we were picked up by motorbike taxi’s and taken to the bus station. Most of the day was spent on the bus. We needed to get to Rach Gia because the next morning we were to ride the speedboat ferry to Phu Quoc. We got off at the bus station and found a place to eat. The woman spoke some French but little English. After looking at the map and where we were, we realized we did not get off at the right station. After chatting with the locals, they showed us which bus to take to get to the city center. Luckily, it was only about 20min away. We got to where we wanted to be and checked into our hotel. We explored a bit, ate some dinner and called it a night.
Day 9
We woke up to a knocking on our door. We had been told there were no more tickets for the early boat to Phu Quoc so we were going to have to take the afternoon boat. The owner informed us that there was a couple that wanted to switch tickets. They wanted the later one. So, we quickly got ready and barely caught the boat! We arrived in Phu Quoc, a large island off the coast of Vietnam. We took a bus to the main part of the island, found an internet café, booked a hotel, then explored a bit. An overfriendly motorbike taxi driver kept trying to give us EVERY bit of information he knew. After seeing him about 4 different times, we agreed to rent motorbikes from him the following day. He gave us a very good price for the whole day (something we had already planned on doing). We walked a good ways down the coast trying to find a public entrance to the beach (mostly resort and such). We finally asked a guard at a resort “beach?” he pointed us through the resort… so we went. The beach was beautiful. We had lunch at a beach café, swam in the ocean, and had a little spa treatment for EXTREMELY cheap. That night we went to the night market and shopped around and ate dinner. We met a French-man who lives on the island and owns a restaurant at the night market. We agreed to come back the next night to eat at his place.
Day 10
We met up with our taxi friend who gave us our motorbike. After a few practice runs, we were off to explore more of the island. We traveled around the southern coast. We saw a pearl museum and ended up at a beautiful beach. We stayed at the beach for a good part of the day then headed back to our hotel. Erika went for another massage while Thayne swam a bit more. That night we met our French-friend and a few other foreigners living on the island for dinner and chatter. We went to bed early because we had to be up early to catch our bus. Tomorrow would be filled with travel (heading to Cambodia)
