Just spent 26 days in Vietnam. The amount of awesome stuff in that time is unreal, and I should have/could have written many blogs about it all. But, because of all the awesome stuff we were constantly doing… I didn’t have time to blog! So, in an effort to make at least a few hours of the next 35+ hours of travel productive, I will now attempt to write one mega blog for Vietnam…

Let me start by saying this… I have mixed feeling about all of my fun times here in this post-war country. 36 years has not been long enough to right the wrongs, because no time will ever right them and no time will ever even explain them… and here I am having the time of my life on the very land and with the very people that “my people” (if there needs to be that such separation between humans) destroyed. Heaps of disabled and deformed adults walk the streets, thousands of children still born with devastating ailments from all the agent orange basically imprinted on their genes, old tanks, bomb shells, and other weapons of war scattered around the country, and of course the memories left in the minds of those who survived it, who still have no idea why it happened. I could go on for ages about how this has made me feel… visiting the museums, watching the documentaries, reading the books, being in the places… all while sledding down sand dunes, scuba diving, abseiling down waterfalls, laying on the beach, cycling, shopping, kayaking, water sports, sightseeing, partying… and the list goes on!!! What kept me alive and well though were the smiling faces of dozens of Vietnamese people who smiled at me upon finding out that I was American… I will never know why they liked me so much… hell, most Americans are not that friendly to middle eastern visitors to the US!!! In the end I learned to love Vietnam for everything it is today, and despise war more than I ever did before (the latter I did not think possible!)

Time to move on to a few highlights, the good and the bad;

• Ho Chi Minh City- cyclo tour of the city, acclimating to the absolutely crazy traffic, shedding some tears at the War Remnants Museum, our first delicious bowl of pho, a day at the water park, a day in Chu Chi learning about the ChuChi guerrilla army and walking in their underground tunnel city, traditional Vietnamese water puppet show, spoiling ourselves in a $10/person hotel, making our way all over like the locals do- literally 1/10 the price of the stupid tour agencies (2 hour bus ride for 30 cents baby, can't beat that!)

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• Mui Ne- Sand dunes, sand dunes, sand dunes... BREATH TAKING!

• Dalat- cold temps, allergies, local red wine, lots of fresh Vietnamese tea, avacado shakes, a few games of scrabble, CANYONING (trekking through a canyon, abseiling down the waterfalls), tandem bike, pho everyday, all day cycling through the mountains to our next destination on the coast.

Nha Trang- scuba diving x4- once down to 37 meters and getting nitrogen narcosis down there, lounging on the boat eating fresh asian fruits, delaying our departure, delaying our departure again, day on deserted and chilled out Long Beach with our scuba friends, fresh beer from a gas jug, Ice Bar, dancing the night away in the hottest room ever, too much western food, shitty (but free) dorm room that left us scarred and itchy!

Hoi An- designing our own custom clothes and shoes, biking along the old timey streets covered with native lanterns, visiting unesco world heritage site Cham ruins, running out of fuel in the middle of a 4-6 lane bridge on our motor bike, the hottest "sauna" dorm room yet,

• Hanoi- pleasant surprise of a wonderful documentary film festival about Vietnam, Museum of Ethnology, Hanoi Backpaackers Hostel, 3 day 2 night Halong Bay tour (aka- booze cruise, one night on a boat, one night on a private castaway island), actually standing up and riding on my first go at wake boarding, rock climbing, kayaking around the unbelievable limestone rocks in Halong bay, making it through the cave to the hidden lagoon with 40+ other semi-drunk friends, sleeping under the stars on the beach, wonderful street food, saying goodbye to an awesome friend and travel partner :(, and ending an epic 5 months with a bang!