Vietnam

In Japan, as well as China, we had been going non stop every day. In Vietnam, I just wanted to find a quiet little town to relax in. I bought a Lonely Planet from here on the ship, and found my destination. Nha Trang: one of Vietnam's most beautiful coastal towns, surrounded by jungle, white sand, beaches, clear water and various islands. Perfect. I bought my airplane ticket for the second day after port.
We ported in Ho Chi Minh City, otherwise known as Saigon, Vietnam. The city was crazy. Unlike anything I had ever seen. Few vehicles, but hundreds and hundreds of motorcycles everywhere, passing through every nik and cranny available to them to get around eachother. Some of the international students and I walked to a little Pho restaurant, which was in one of the girl's 1000 Places to See Before you Die book. It was quite tasty, and for two American dollars, I had beef noodle soup (Pho) and two sodas. We then walked the city a little bit until we split because some of the girls wanted to go shopping. Ryan, my friend and I, hopped on the back of one of these little motorcycles, and cruised around town, until we found a nice message parlor. We paid fifty cents for the ride and entered the message place. We bathed our feet in hot water, had seaweed placed on our face, as well as flowers over our eyes, and got the most amazing foot rub ever. I don't think my grandpa Gary would have left. They then messaged our legs, arms, hands, backs, and ended with a head message (no, no happy ending for all you perverts who are thinking that). All for 12 USD.
The next day I rode a little motorcycle to the airport for my flight to Nha Trang. they loaded us on the bus, and took us to our plane, at least I think it was a plane. We then had to go back to the main terminal because the plane had been having technical difficulties (I could tell by just looking at it). About twenty minutes they loaded us on, and we took off. About half way through the forty five minute flight, we turned around back to Saigon, more problems. We were grounded in Saigon for another two hours due to monsoon type rains. Finally, around 4:30 we arrived in paradise. I met some Aussies along the way and hung out with them the first night. The next day, I met a Vietnamese ''free rider.'' Free Riders are motorcycle drivers who take tourists all throughout Vietnam via motorcycle. I didn't have that much time, so I opted for the day tour. First, we visited a very old Buddhist temple, as well as a huge white Buddha, about forty feet tall. We then drove about five kilometers up the coast, where we caught a boat to Monkey Island. We arrived on the island, to find about five humans, selling a few items, but more importantly, thousands and thousands of monkeys. I bought some seeds from a woman, and the monkeys all came running towards me. Their little fingers would pull my hands open and take the seeds. Smart little guys. After Monkey Island, we went on about a two hour hike into the jungle, where we came to a waterfall, and jumped off some cliffs into the water hole, it was awesome. Later that day, I got a six dollar/one hour message and ate some Pho for a dollar. That night, I met a group of Vietnamese while eating some Lobster from a street vendor. I hung out with them that night as well as the following night. They were so friendly and very nice. I learned the girls in Vietnam are extremely good at pool, as I got my ass kicked three times after talking my pool game up. I returned to Ho Chi Minh the fourth day, leaving my newly found friends behind. The flight back was a little more comforting. I did some shopping in Saigon the last day we were there and got some gifts.
Vietnam was great, I loved it. Not only was it incredibly affordable, but the people genuine and kind. I didn't see or feel any anti-american sentimism the whole time. What we did to them was horrible, and we should have never been there in the first place. The best thing about it though, was unlike China and Japan, I didn't see one McDonalds! I would really love to return to Vietnam some day, and I recommend it highly.