Vacation in Vietnam

I think at first we were a little uncomfortable with "just" being tourists, but here in Vietnam we've really started to enjoy it. And it's so easy and affordable to do it here too. We purchased an "Open Tour" bus ticket all the way from Hue to Ho Chi Minh City, with stops in Hoi An, Nha Trang and Mui Ne. These are air-conditioned buses that in contrast to our Laos-Vietnam bus, actually have aisles down the middle where no one is sitting, and store lugguage in underneath bins instead of just piled up around the back seats--what luxury!! But the great thing is they pick you up at your hotel and drop you off at their offices right in the center of town--no dealing with bus stations a few kilometers out of town. And all we have to do is confirm our seats the day before we want to travel.

We found a good, cheap place to stay in Hue (for $5) and after that bus ride, the shower felt SO good! That afternoon we walked around the citadel area and then had fun watching Vietnamese families flying kites in front of the main gate. The next day we joined all the other tourists to do a dragon boat ride down the Perfume river. The boat stopped at a few temples and three different tombs from the old emperors. At one stop, we skipped the tomb and ended up having coffee and talking with an 84 year old Vietnamese woman. She was full of stories to tell--she had experienced both Chinese and French rule, and had also worked for the Americans during the War.

On our way to Hoi An, a few hours south of Hue, the bus stopped at Marble Mountain and though we didn't know what to expect, we bought the ticket to check out the cave there. It turned out to be pretty impressive, but creepy too. It would make a great spot for a haunted house kind of attraction. On the way out we noticed the hand statues reaching up out of the ground--maybe plans for the haunted cave are already underway.

In Hoi An the bus stopped at a partner hotel first the way it always does. At first the $12 rate seemed out of our price range, but they convinced us to at least take a look at the room while the bus waited for us. The room was beautiful, much nicer than we were used to, with air con and even satellite TV. After seeing the pool, and being told we could have the room for $10 including breakfast, we were sold. Within 10 minutes we were out by the pool sipping banana shakes and waiting for our lunch to arrive...not bad!

I'll have to do the quick version for the rest of our time here, as we're just about ready to go: in Hoi An we enjoyed our luxury hotel, had a bunch of clothes made for us (it's the thing to do there--the town is full of tailors), went to the beach and ate really good seafood. Next was Nha Trang--more beach, more good seafood, and a touristy but fun boat ride to the surrounding islands that included some beautiful snorkeling, a Vietnamese boy band singing La Bamba, and a floating bar serving wine in little plastic cups. Then Mui Ne--