Hue

Hue, known as the Imperial City, was quite...Imperial.  Great city to learn some super ancient history. Also, a great city for night life. The employees of various bars roam the streets and walk you to their bar. They literally fight over you. One convincing girl encouraged us to go to her bar, Brown Eyes. She walked us all the way there (to ensure we didn't change our minds of course). But as Angela and Lynn walked hand-in-hand like the little love birds they are, the girl grabbed my elbow and escorted me personally to her bar. We flirted the whole way there - they sure know how to make someone feel special!

Hoi An - Where all your clothes fit just right

I'm getting super lazy with my blog posts. :x

We left Da Lat in quite a hurry. We wanted to make it to Hoi An's Full Moon Lantern Festival. Phuc helped us arrange a sleeper bus to Hoi An, a first for us.  Instead of chairs, sleeper buses have lines of bunk beds. While it was probably better than sitting up for ten hours, it was quite a bumpy ride.  Hoi An is a gorgeous city. We stayed in Old Town to be close to the Full Moon Festival, which was quite a delightful experience. The food in Hoi An was pretty top notch, as well. So were the drinks...the many free drinks you get for entering an establishment. It was mostly rice wine, but it also included this pleasant beverage in a baby's bottle. If you ever decide to visit Hoi An, I would also recommend staying at least a few days. We were able to get some nice clothes tailored at extremely reasonable prices.

Cutest little munchkin selling lanterns

Right before I let my lantern drip into the water.

Lanterns floating in the water.

Lanterns lanterns lanterns!

Lanterns lanterns lanterns!

Yummy Cao Lao place

Yummy Cao lao spot!

Delicious street Che

Free shots!

Free shots!

Free shots!

View from our hotel

Free baby bottle shots!

Dalat - My Future Home and the One Where I Found Out I Ate Rat

Let me start off by saying, I LOVE DALAT. I am going to move here! It's in the mountains, so the weather is cooler and it's so hilly! There are a lot of hiking opportunities and a beautiful lake in the middle of the city. We became good friends with Phuc, our tour guide from the Mekong, and he met us up in Dalat to show us around.

And, by the way, Phuc let me know the "bird" he fed us while we were touring the Mekong Delta was actually rat. Lovely. Though, it did taste pretty good. Couldn't be mad for long.

Mui Ne and the One Where Angela Runs Over My Leg With An ATV

Our first destination out on our own without family or a tour guide is Mui Ne, a small beach/resort town a few hours north of Vung Tao.

Mui Ne is Little Russia. Truly. 98% of the tourists had to be Russian. Everything was advertised in Russian, from drink promotions to the menus to booking companies. Sometimes, there was no Vietnamese or English at all!  I wouldn't have any idea what an establishment was until I peered through the window!

Mui Ne is also where our traveler's health teetered between feeling fantastically awesome and horrifically bedridden.  Is it so much to ask to poop like a normal person?!

In Mui Ne, Angela and I took a half day tour to hike Fairy Springs (a slightly above average hike through a creek next to a canyon), watch fisherman at a fishing village, watch the sunset over red sand dunes and rode ATVs over white sand dunes.