Good morning, VIET NAM!

We have not looked forward to a vacation more so than this one - our 3 week honeymoon in Viet Nam. The weather in northen Europe could not have been worse when we left. Near freezing temperatures but still raining. Horrible!

We were dreading a bit the 13 hour flight. We tried to get sleeping pills but the good ones require an Rx, and lo and behold both of the doctors at our clinic decided to go on vacation the week before we left (ah the Dutch), so we settled on some herbal melatonin for me and expired Tylenol PM for Matt. Needless to say, Matt slept but I did not. Instead I sweated it out (very hot in that plane!) in the middle aisle between sleeping Matt at the window and a very plump Dutch man blocking my aisle. Just when I thought I would start screaming and convulsing with claustrophobia, the man got up to walk around, so I took that opportunity to do the same. A neat little trick that Air France played on us was to not tell us that we had a stopover in Bangkok. Funny guys.

When we arrived in Ho Chi Minh City, the heat, humidity and activity were a shock to our systems - a very welcome one. The city was buzzing with motorbikes, more motorbikes that you could ever imagine. Everyone wears helmets, and most wear face masks to protect against the exhaust, and many women wear gloves (my theory is to prevent brown hands).

We had booked a 2 night spa package at a beautiful hotel (the Caravelle) and enjoyed our included massages that night, which were great after a very cramped trip. Afterwards we had cocktails on the gorgeous rooftop terrace and picked a restaurant for dinner. There were many to choose from, HCMC is a culinary mecca!

The next day we slept in late and then headed out to check out the city. We got fleeced by some cyclos (the guys that ride you on their bicycle) who showed us around some pagodas and then demanded 4x the amount we had agreed on. I was much angrier about it then Matt, who said the price was still kind of reasonable. They finally dropped us by the War Remnants Museum, a very disturbing museum with photos and facts about the atrocities of the Vietnam War (which interestingly enough is called the American war here). They also had a replica of the tiger cages that the French built in Con Dao to keep prisoners - as many as 14 in one during the hot season, a number you can't even imagine when you look into one of these.

Afterwards we lunched on Bahn Xeo, a dish we have become avid fans of. Bahn Xeo is a shrimp, pork and egg pancake that you wrap in either a lettuce leaf or rice paper and dip in a spicy sauce. Delish!

We ate very well in HCMC, but the feast had to end (temporarily) on Saturday, when we boarded our flight to Con Dao, a set of islands off the southeastern coast of Viet Nam. The landscape here was gorgeous - tall mountains, sandy beaches, blue-green waters. But there was nothing to do there but sit on the beach and read. The first night we decided against having dinner at the resort restaurant and instead go to the only restaurant in town mentioned in our tour book. However the hotel manager saved us, and told us that place was no good and to go somewhere else. We found the place he had recommended instead and after some charades with the waitress found out they were booked b/c of a big group that was coming. So we wandered around, listening to the creepy sounds of the Voice of Vietnam blaring over the loudspeakers in town, and decided that the only place that didn't look sketchy was the hotel restaurant, so we went back. The food was surprisingly delicious though, so we didn't mind eating here for the next 3 nights!

After the quiet of Con Dao, by the time Tuesday rolled around we were pretty excited to head back to the vivaciousness of Saigon!