C 'Est Si Bon...Simone Simone!

Nha Trang a beautiful beach city. The hotel that we were taken to, Vien Dong, was pretty nice considering. I don't really complain if I have warm water. Most places don't have curtains for your shower and most are just a hose shower in the bathroom no designated place for a shower. Each bathroom has a drain on the ground so all the water that is sprayed everywhere doesn't build up. Yeah so anyways, Nha Trang. The hotel has a pool, and is about a 5 minute walk to the beach. Our arrival was quite early 6:30ish, many of my group ate at the hotel or went back to bed, instead I took a stroll along the empty streets. Many shops I learned will still be closed because Tet, or Chinese New Year which is celebrated for days...lucky them. After finding nothing to eat, and no shops to look at and many many offers for "motobike?" I took one up on their offer. I went to Po Nagar Cam Towers, built between the 7th and 12th centuries by the Cai River. I was there early enough in the morning so it wasn't crazy busy and I also got to see a performance with dragons and some monkey character. I don't know the story line obviously but it was fun to watch, then I went Long Son Pagoda which is decorated with mosaic dragons ad covered with glass and ceramic tile. It was along a hillside which had the reclining buddah (smaller version of the one in Bangkok), and a sitting buddah.
When I got back to my hotel it was still so early in the morning, I walked with Paul, and Jacob (the Aussie family) along the beach for a while. The sand was fine but the water wasn't quite as warm as Sihanoukville in Cambodia. I wasn't going to go for a swim, and the waves crashed so close to the shore it didn't look too inviting.
I ended up renting scooter again with Paul and his son. We road along the ocean road with was so fantastic, the view was amazing. So I have to tell you that it took a minute for me to get used to the semi automatic bike. I loved riding with all the locals breaking all the traffic laws, running red lights, and riding the wrong way on the street was my favorite. All the locals do it so you just kinda go with the flow or you might disrupt the organized chaos :). We rode for hours stopped at a fishing village, all the boats were anchored because the holiday and everyone of them was painted blue and red. If you have a unique idea, it is soon copied by every other person-like the boats. We also road through smaller roads with rice fields and village roads.
The next day was my scuba diving day! I was so excited yet really nervous, you see it had been over a year since my last dive and I don't remember anything...kind of important, right?! But to my relief after being picked up and taken to the boat (Paul, Jacob, and Jared came along on my trip as well but they were going to snorkel instead) I saw that it was only me and one other diver...and even better I was the only girl. I get all kinds of attention you see because I'm a white AMERICAN girl, with blue eyes (can't imagine if I was a blonde?!) There was an American bloke that refreshed me on everything, and the rest of the crew got all my gear ready and suited me up.
I had two dives: I kinda freaked out when I first jumped into the water on the first one. And it actually only went downhill from there. Sad eh?. I remember little but the pain I experienced. My ears wouldn't equalize, and to top it off my sinuses kicked in. Yeah boy I thought migrained hurt well this was incredible pain, shooting, piercing, sharp pain all along my forehead, behind and under my eyes. I couldn't think or focus on seeing anything. It would come and go, at one point I turned my head to clear my ears again and looking back my guide had vanished. Visibility is about a meter today. Rule of thumb if you get separated from your partner you wait one minute and then do the usual routine to surface. Well not only did I not have a watch but my depth gauge didn't work, both are key when you dive. When I eventually surfaced the crew was freaking out running back and forth on the top deck looking for me. I signalled my okay and made my way to the boat, my guide was so worried and sorry. I wasn't sure about another dive, I laid out on the deck for over an hour and then went for it. I had a different guide, and we went incredibly slow down. This dive was beautiful, I saw loads of cool fish, I really like the scorpian fish (dangerous suckers), and cool water slugs or snails that were brilliant in color.

Okay so this is getting a little on the long side. I laid out on the deck after the dive, and then once again at the pools edge for a little while. I burnt myself to a crisp, the sunblock I purchased from home must not really be sunblock. We had another overnight trainride. I wandered the street by the station since Dive Turtle had provided us with a late lunch I wasn't hungry but really wanted passionfruit juice and ice cream which I couldn't find until I went up to the3rd floor of a Book Cafe. Marvelous little trendy place. Both my wishes came true. Now for the finale...the train. We all expected a similar train experience. Boy were we surprised. First thing we got on, the sheets were used and disheveled on the bed, and the blanket was strewn about. It was filthy and no TV. I was excited to watch another movie so this was to my dismay. The train guy eventually brought us "clean sheets" that when I opened them had little black hairs all over them. Thank you mother for my sleeper sheet!!

So on a short note Sihanoukville and the Ream National Park. It was really gorgeous. The lot of us wanted to try to make a loop trip but as the trail narrowed, became more rocky, and eventually became what is was meant to be, a hiking trail, with huge rock boulders making rock faces on the trail we headed back.
The next day and a half are a bit of a blur for reasons I refrain from talking about. But the next best thing Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC). It took us all morning into the afternoon to get there. I went with a few of the group on an orientation tour the area of which our hotel sat. Then I headed off on my own briefly. I happened upon the tourist streets, with D &G, Lacoste, Versace, and the likes. The streets were all decorated with lights, flowers, signs, and one of the streets was actually closed off and decorated with a variety of flower arrangements, figures, and landscaping in celebration of Chinese New Year. Which I will say was absolutely insane. I swore that I would never ever go to New York City for New Year's because it was crazy, I therefore decided to celebrate Chinese New Year in HCMC, which was chaotic. Motorbikes all over the sidewalks, people crammed literally into the streets, smells of all sorts coming from street vendors. The most interesting is the dried squid; it hangs there until you purchase it and then they reheat is over a small BBQ or fire. I forgot to mention that we crammed 11 people into the taxi van to get the main streets of chaos. None of us stayed by the river to watch the fireworks but made our way back to the hotel eventually and kicked off the new years with the hotel staff, cheap wine (of course you know me I didn't have any), kareoke, and watching the fireworks from the hotel roof top.
The next day I took a 1/2 day trip to the ChuChi Tunnels, the Viet Com or VC in S. Vietnam, right outside HCMC, dug a network and almost a 100 kilometers of tunnels. It was amazing! We crawled through a tunnel, man it was a killer work out for my quads. I was slightly offended about the "documentary" of the Vietnam War, just propaganda about how horrible the Americans were killing babies, children, and women. I walked out only to talk to our guide who thought it would have been better to have the country accept communism. Ridiculous. Okay so the better part of the day, I got a motorbike driver, middle aged man 59, to take me around the town the rest of the afternoon when we got back. He loves America, and Americans, and music. We had a good time together, by the end of the day he was singing Beatles to me. I visited the War Remnants Museum which I got a real depiction of the Vietnam War, it was really tragic and horrible and the aftermath something undescribable. I wasn't born in that era so I didn't know much about it. I also hit a few other sights, and then took my driver out for ice cream at a place called Fanny. He was so excited and overjoyed. When he was driving me back to my hotel he told me he would remember this day for a long time. He really wanted to take me to his home to meet his family, and I would have except for the train I had to catch at 6pm.

Overnight train ride. I was quite impressed with the train itself. It was clean, and also had a flat screen TV in each room, 4 bunks to a room. I watched Quantum of Solace, yes I do have some movies that are still out in the theaters. I slept like a charm which isn't saying much because if I'm really tired I can sleep in a room with trampling elephants.

Righty-O. I have yet to write about todays adventures from Nha Trang, a beach city. Cold water for sure but beautiful, and another sun burn despite the application of sunscreen.

I don't quite remember where I left off but I am now in Cambodia but leaving in the early AM. I love Cambodia. It has many splendors and beautiful beaches. The people are friendly, the weather is amazing. Well it is plenty warm and no rain so I'd say it is really nice.
After I was in Bangkok for 1 action packed day I crossed the border over to Cambodia. My group took private bus to the border which we walked through, and caught another private bus to Siem Reap, which means in 'Siam defeated"or something along those lines. I think I already talked about Angkor Wat so I will jump ahead to Phenom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. We arrived in the late evening about 7 or so on the first day so that left us one day to see everything I wanted. I shared a tuk tuk with Jules and Scott for the day. We went with the Australian family,and Marco to the Killing Fields, Choeng Duk (I am probably butchering the spelling so I"ll have to fix that later). It was a sad event to see where the massive killings took place when Pol Pot tried to reform the government, and force all the people to labor in the fields. There is still bone fragment laying around, massive holes in the ground but not nearly enough to place 100 bodies, as was done, in them. There is a memorial that is built up in the very center that contains 800 skulls of a few of the victims. As I walked through the area children's voices could be heard from the school nearby.
From there we actually went to the Russian market. I bought some scarves, a shirt, and some movies that are still out in the theatre...and I got Twilight which I was so excited about. Hopefully they work, but I guess for a $1.5 it wouldn't be that much of a loss. I had to bargain hard. I enjoy doing it actually, although at times I still feel like I am getting really ripped off.

I few items that I have to note before continuing any further with my excursion for the day:
The preferred currency is the US dollar. I went to an Australian ATM, to get American Dollars in Cambodia. I thought that was bizarre. So a little home away from home.
They have road side gasoline stations that a cambodian will either crank the gasoline from the barrel or they store them in glass or plastic liter bottles.
Most of the drivers are riding scooters, and the shoulder is generally the place for them if there is a shoulder.
There are so many handicap people missing limbs, faces burnt off...we joked around that maybe they were making there own bombs and they blew up instead of being a victim to the missing landmines all over the country.

Okay so from there we headed to Tuel Sleng or what many people call S21 which is basically the prison where Khmer government tortured people. I didn't know very much so parts of the museum described the events leading up to and post Pol Pot's ruling. I walked around from a Wat to another market, and to the Royal Palace. It was a hot day and by the time we were through it was about 5ish.

I really wanted to shoot guns like Ben had suggested but I'd already spent more than I wanted to in Camobodia and it was late in the afternoon. I would cost 10 to get to the place and another 40 to shoot one magazine on a AK 47 so I had to pass but apparently they have shooting in Phuket as well. I'll have to try it there if it is within my budget at the end of the trip.

The following morning we left for Sihanoukville, a beach town which is where I got incredibly burnt on my arms and quads but not from laying out on the beach mind you. One day was sitting around with my fellow group, I got my leg hairs threaded which hurt like the dickens. I apparently have really thick leg hairs as well because it took my girl at least twice as long as my friend. She joked around with me that I had millions of hairs, and was kind of upset with me that she spent so much time. I am not Asian so I do have a lot of hair but I guess I have more than a usual westerner as well. Sad story for it. It felt like being bit by fire ants with each hair follicle that was pulled. The other day, I rented a scooter with 2 couples, and drove to Ream National Park. It was really beautiful, and the beach we ended swimming at was deserted except for us on the beach....

To be continued

So I promised to make some posts about my trip. I am in Siem Reap, Cambodia right now. I just had an amazing dinner of cashew chicken, and topped it off with passion fruit sorbet. Tomorrow I head into Ankgor Wat.
Yesterday was my first full day I spent it in Bangkok. I am not spending very much time there at all in the beginning or end of my trip so i wanted to make my time worthwhile. I had a whirl wind of a day and I attribute that to good fortune. it all began early in the morning. i wasn't sure how to get to where i wanted to go because i got into the hotel at 11pm, the women at the desk weren't very helpful. they charged me 330 Baht for a 5 minute phone call, when i learned that YES I COULD make a collect call for 50 Baht. I wasn't very happy about that. I'll explain that later.
i wanted to take a long boat tour of the canals, Bangkok was once that Venice of the East. a man approached me in the hotel lobby when i was looking at a poster of different activities. i bargained with the man, probably still got ripped off but I got him down half the price. He took me to the river, i was the only one on the long boat with my driver. it was peaceful and quiet. Homes back to all the canals and people living there get around by water taxi. it was nice to be out when it wasn't crowded.
Afterwards started walking to Wat Pho (Wat means temple), I didn't really know where I was going but I wasn't to worried, it can be fun to wander the streets. Sometimes I discover the best things by wandering. As I walked by the State Defence and Grand Palace. i was once again approached by a man. He pointed out all the many things that i needed to see that day, and told me the last couple days have been a Buddhist Holiday and the goverments have a deal with the tuk tuk drivers to pay for all their gas. I asked him to hail a driver for me. I had a driver for3 hrs, that was going to take me everywhere for 60 Baht (<$2). I saw many Wats...the lucky Buddah, the standing Buddah. The best part of my day was my stop at the inport export. The women there declared that i was too beautiful to walk around by myself and since this was the last day of their noncomercial sale they would have a worker drive me around the rest of the day. And the best part was the offer was for free. I had a Thai woman, Jum, who i talked with the rest of the day as I visited temples, the parliament, Jim Thompson's ( the famous amerian who got the silk industry up and going post WWII), and I treated her to lunch by Wat Pho. She dropped me off at my hotel. I got a photo with her. I sure felt like things were looking good for me. I ran into the hotel, rechecked in to the newer part (which was so much nicer), then ran out again for a quick massage before meeting my GAP group for the first time.
My group consists of couples, father/son tri0, 4 beautiful Norwegian girls, a German middle aged man, and I.
I wanted to hit a Thai fight at the stadium. i was all ready to go but needed to pull out more cash to pay for the fight. I tried 3 ATM's and all didn't work. i realized after the first what I had done wrong, the one thing i forgot was to call my card companies and let them know I was leaving. Instead ofgoing to see a fight, i fought to get a hold of my card company, which the ladies (such an asian thing) kept telling me i couldn't make a collect call but had to pay per minute, then the next morning they changed their story. I was upset and frustrated. i went to bed at 930pm, no cool fighting for. With such a quick trip and few days in Bangkok I don't have a lot of time.
Day2 Was spent on a bus, walking across the border to the Kingdom of Cambodia. The border guard as he was looking over my visa took 3 times as long to get it processed, in disgust he told me that i couldn't write so i think I need to practice a little bit on my legibility. :)
That is all in a nut shell. i hope you enjoy.

One of the biggest differences between here and india is the hockers, they aren't nearly as bad here. Thank heavens!!! I love the food!

A group of us really wanted to go ice skating one weekend but it was sold out so we planned another trip, and planned on getting there early enough to get tickets before they were sold out. We had a marvelous time ice skating on the rink close to the sculpture gardens downtown, even though the whole original group wasn't there. A few of our members bailed on us last minute...figures. :)