Hong Kong

Havent posted in a while, been pretty busy.

Landed in Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City around 9pm, went to our hostel that was run by a sweet old lady who was an English teacher for 40 years. Went out and got some great food and a facial haha, next day we went to the Cu Chi Tunnels which is an underground tunnel network that helped the Viet Cong bring supplies to Saigon to fight the southern government and the US troops... very interesting day listening to the guides tell us about all the hidden traps they had set up to kill American soldiers. Kristen and I shot some M-60 machine guns, and an AK-47. Next day we rented a motorbike and joined the swarms of prople on the roads around the city, got totally lost and had a few close calls but made it back safely. Next day we went on a one day excursion to the Mekong Delta which was a trip, hung out with some Viet/Canadiens who stumped us on the capital of Canada (Ottawa) then told us that we had to go to Macau because it's sooo fun.

That night we got home and went on the internet to find that flights to Hong Kong were going to cost us between $250-300... after searching the wide web for a bit I found an airline called VIVA-macau that was going to cost $150. Naturaly we booked it, headed out at 7am the next morning, hopped on a free bus to the Venetian hotel (Macau is Las Vegas of Asia, so there is a Venetian, Hard Rock, Wynn, MGM Grand) we booked an amazing room at the Hard Rock Hotel Macau with the money we saved on the plane tickets, and went and saw a Cirque du Soleil show at the Venetian. Went gambling, threw five 7's in a row and won a hundred dollars, then played blackjack and lost it all, then won it all back the next day so Macau was a good investment. Got sick yesterday form my dinner the night before, hopped on a ferry to Hong Kong where we checked into our hostel/prison cell on the 13th floor of a suspicios building and slept from 8pm until 9am this morning. Currently sitting on top of the highest mountain in Hong Kong looking down onto the densest group of sky scrapers I've ever seen.

47 days in, 14 left... still rocking.

- Josh

The American War

After all, that's what they call it here. However their thoughts on the war are much different than our thoughts on the war. We hear stories of terror and bloodshed and of all the soldiers lost fighting against the NVA, and the subject is hardly ever talked about here. I had doubts when we first arrived at the airport of how we'd be received...Smith and I being some of the most American looking Americans I know, but I've found the Vietnamese to be some of the greatest people we've met so far. The majority of the country is under the age of 35, and the war is just a history lesson to them, something that is taught, not experienced. Please believe me when I say you know nothing about this country. We've been here 4 days and are just beginning to grasp the culture and lifestyle of these fascinating people.

Yesterday morning Smith and I got up early and hopped in a van headed for Ha Long bay. It's a three hour ride to the coast and some of the most amazing islands I've ever seen. A kid from Singapore asked where I was from, and if Northeastern had any relation to Northwestern (no matter how far I go people get that wrong) I tell him he speaks great English, and he tells me English is their first language in Singapore. I feel like an idiot, but I learned something. Did you know that the money in Australia is waterproof? (makes sense living on a big island i guess)We boarded a 3 story Chinese Junk and headed out into what looked like ominous islands from Pirates of the Carribean. Pretty awesome, then we head into a huge cave, then kayaked for a bit.

We went for a swim, and Smith got me to jump off the top of the boat, about 3 stories. Jumping isn't my thing, but that's his job...making me do things. We have a great dinner then Karaoke begins. Our tour guide Tom (who was born 3 days before Smith, making them both Rats in the Vietnamese zodiac, and is reason enough for multiple shots of rice wine) starts us off with a beautiful rendition of The Rolling Stone's "Paint it Black." He basically screamed in broken English as loud as he could into a microphone with reverb that couldn't be turned off. Smith and I followed with some Green Day, YMCA, Backstreet Boys, and then I did Born in the USA.

After Stan the French guy sang Britney Spears, Smith stole some beers, and we headed to the top deck for some bonding. Little did we know that the entire crew was up there getting wasted off of a jug of rice wine and eating strips of dried squid with chili sauce. We were well received, and over the course of an hour drank enough rice wine to kill a small animal.

We were woken up by a cute Vietnamese girl who was probably wondering why our windows were open and we were butt naked, but we smiled and told her not to worry. I wore a white sheet up to breakfast, and got a few funny looks from the crew. Smith made it up a half hour later, then proceeded to sunburn his entire front by falling asleep in the sun for 2 hours.

We're back in Ha Noi now getting ready for the weekly BBQ at the Hostel, and we leave tomorrow morning for 5 days of intensive exploration on our greatly upgraded hogs. We've gotten ourselves a tour guide, and we're headed up to the Northeast part of the country near the China border. This is the part of Vietnam where dogs and cats become their bread and butter, and even the rice runs out on occasion. This is the last you'll hear from us for a few days, but I'm sure we'll make it home alive...

Keep on keepin' on,
Zoz (closest they can get to Josh in Vietnam)

Good Morning Vietnam!!

So we made it last night, a great flight with both of us having and entire row to ourselves. We spent most of the flight both completely tangled in our Vietnam guidebooks. This is the country that I am most excited about. We head out of a surprisingly simple customs, when compared to Thailand. Our Hostel Pick-up was there to meet us and after a quick change of some money, 2 million dong = 120 dollars....what a conversion right...

We jump in the bag of what looks like a civic that was left in the dryer too long, a bit small. The roads here are horrendous, random piles of bricks laying in the middle of the road, which is owned by motorbikes. Hundreds of them, no street lights and absolutely no rhyme of reason about who goes when, the bigger car really wins if you are bigger you don't need to stop at intersections. The trick to crossing the road when on foot, walk slow, make eye contact and they will go around you. The first time we did this, i panicked and ran. were good now. We crashed early last night to get a go at it early this morning. Eggs and bread for breakfast with some instant coffee that is actually quite good.
One of the pair of Aussies that runs this joint was really helpful with us this morning and we are heading to Halong bay tomorrow and up to the northern part of the country for a bike tour, then back here to Hanoi and down to ho Chi Min City, HCMC, then hopefully to Cambodia and on to Bangkok for our flight to Morocco, all in two weeks? that's the plan anyway .... I am sure it will change at least three times more, Bangkok in two weeks or bust