that's an excellent idea

Yes. I would be delighted to join your "mini tour-bikini. money by 4 seat car". So glad you provide this service at such a good price.

Photogenic Mui Ne

Heading north, we stopped for a couple of nights in Mui Ne, one of Vietnam's most popular beach towns. From there we rented a motorcycle and headed 50km along the coast...


...past a fishing village...



...through the desert...



...through some cows...


...and to the White Sand Dunes.





This was one of the most photogenic landscapes we've seen.

oh my

...what large saddlebags you have.

the mekong delta

Having followed the Mekong river through Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia, our last stop along the Mekong was its' delta in Vietnam. Leaving Ho Chi Minh City (where I realized I really am a city person) we took a bus to Ben Tre (town on the Mekong delta). From our guesthouse we took a motorcycle tour with five other Canadians/Americans and the owner of our guesthouse to various "points of interest" along the delta.


Hopping from island to island on bridges and by ferry we made our way to one of the region's many floating markets

Unlike the famous floating market outside of Bangkok, produce is sold from much larger boats in wholesale like quantities. Boats sell everything from coconuts to "popped rice".

Refreshingly no souvenirs.

Many of the boats also serve as transport and accommodation. We saw many of the locals hanging out (pun not intended) in hammocks and laundry hung out to dry. All the boats also had eyes painted on the front to scare off mythical sea monsters.



In the afternoon we took boats along smaller canals near our guesthouse. Stopping at various "tourist attractions" ("tourist traps") we saw a honey farm/snake zoo/fruit plantation all rolled into one and visited an island dedicated to a monk who consumed only coconut. I found this interesting tidbit on him (a little cultish...think coconut flavored kool-aid).

I have to admit we skipped a few of the "attractions" and stayed on the boat so Ari could have one last chance at catching a giant Mekong catfish. With squid and worms as bait we held our breath...

...sadly we're still holding...but at least it made for a great photo op!

round II

cake KO

a pho-filling experience

Our first Pho experience in Vietnam. (Click for correct pronunciation)

Love at first taste.

breaking news

we still have lots of posts to catch up on but to keep you updated - we're in Hoi An, Vietnam right now and we're going on a week-long motorcycle trip! We'll be heading south down the coast (yes, back tracking a little) and then west where we'll be meeting our awesome travel buddies Fran and Fil, and heading back north along the Ho Chi Minh Trail.

War Remnants Museum

We are having some difficulty describing the museum that documents "The American War" so we'll quote the Lonely Planet: "Documenting the atrocities of war, the War Remnants Museum is unique, brutal and an essential stop. On display are retired artillery pieces, a model of the tiger cages used to house VC prisoners, and an array of photographs of the victims of war - those who suffered torture as well as those who were born with birth defects caused by the use of defoliants. The exhibits are labeled in Vietnamese, English and Chinese, but are rather propagandist in tone."

Here are a few photos from the museum...

US airplane

US airplane

US helicopter

Experimental weapon filled with nails

Agent orange birth defect

The museum is full of photos and chronicles the events of the war and many of the subsequent effects of war.

Vegetarians: look away

Dead sea turtles always ruin Janet's day..


Some Vietnamese food ingredients:

Just walk across

We arrived in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) excited but not really knowing what to expect. Many other backpackers didn't like Vietnam much, finding it too much of a hassle: too many people, too many touts, and we'd heard a few times that the people here aren't so friendly. I don't know what they were smoking.. We're loving it! The food is incredible, the Vietnamese coffee is the best is Asia, the people are friendly, and the beer is good. The only disappointing thing is that the language is so freakin hard to pronounce (for me).

Vietnamese drip coffee

When we first arrived, 35 years after the brutal and pointless American war (as they call it), I wondered how much resentment the people might have for Americans. While looking for accommodation, a tout asked where I'm from. "American? Ohhhhhhhh.....", he said, making me a little uncomfortable as he drew it out, "My brother lives in California!"

We found a guesthouse in a maze of alleys near the touristy area. Despite the guesthouses, the alleys were full of culture. Old men sit around with no shirts, women sell phở (Vietnamese noodle soup) from small carts, a pile of Durian for sale, little kids running around, motorcycles squeezing through, and constant barrage of sounds, mostly a mix of motorcycles and Vietnamese.

The city is bustling. It's a great city, full of colors and people, and teaming with life. Janet and I both agreed that it reminds us of a less developed Hong Kong, just take away HKs high-rises and turn each car in HK into 40 or 50 motorcycles. A few days here and we started rethinking our plans to leave Vietnam in three weeks.

Crossing the street is an adventure. We'd heard from multiple people in our travels that there are so many motorcycles that there is never a chance to cross the street. Just walk across and they'll miss you, we were told. We were a little skeptical, but insane as it sounds, that really is how to cross the street in Saigon. Just do it reallly slowly, or stick to a local, and the traffic flows around you like a stream flowing around a rock. It's quite an experience.

I just crossed this street

Parking area

Taking a moto (motorbike taxi) - that's Janet on the right.

"I'm size 8."

rotisserie veal

they assured us we weren't eating dog.

the cambodian track suit

perhaps this is a fad similar to the once popular suede track suit?
Maybe we're being culturally insensitive but Ari and I have debated long and hard about whether these are actually pajamas.

Tuol Sleng and The Killing Fields

Our next stop was Phnom Penh (capital of Cambodia). With our waning interest in gold-plated monuments, structures, statues, and/or objects we stuck to the more serious side of PP and took a day tour to Tuol Sleng Museum and The Killing Fields. Not being much of a history buff I won't go into much detail but essentially the country was taken over by the Khmer Rouge.The regime's primary aim was to create a "peasant-dominated agrarian cooperative". In order to restructure society they went on a rampage and began killing off the educated. This apparently was extremely loosely defined and even wearing glasses could constitute as educated. (I guess there's something in glasses making you look smarter) . On April 17 1975 the KR began evacuating Phnom Penh (and all urban centers throughout the country) and everyone was forced to march to the countryside and work in labor camps.

During this time they set up prisons - the most notorious of which was Tuol Sleng or "S-21". Once a high school, the four three-storey buildings on the grounds imprisoned 17000 people during the KR's three-year reign.

All the prisoners (men, women and children who were accused of, among other ludicrous accusations, of being CIA-KGB spies) were systematically photographed before their imprisonment and their photos now fill the hallways of S21.



All except 7 prisoners were executed.

The 14 graves of the last people believed to be killed at S21 by the Khmer Rouge before the Vietnamese liberated Phnom Penh in 1979.

Some of the prisoners at S-21 died from torture while others died from extremely harsh conditions. However many were shipped off to Choeung Ek - now known as The Killing Fields. The fields are littered with mass graves (most of which have been left unexcavated) and during the rainy season clothing, bones, and bone fragments are still unearthed by the rain.

Reports suggest that over 100 people were killed there everyday. In an attempt to save bullets, people were bludgeoned to death in the mass graves then covered with chemicals (to kill remaining survivors and hide the smell of decomposition from surrounding neighbours) and then buried.

Young children were swung by the ankles and hit against a designated tree (that still stands on the grounds today). All the while, loud music was played from large speakers to drown out the screams of the prisoners.


A monument/tower filled with 8000 skulls, bones and clothes found from the mass graves on site was erected to honor the dead.

It's estimated that over 2,000,000 people died during the three years of Khmer Rouge reign. Today most of the top leaders of the Khmer Rouge are on trial for crimes against humanity and committing war crimes. Almost thirty years later and only one leader has been convicted - sentenced to 35 years in prison (which he is appealing). Other leaders have yet to be put on trial and they all deny knowledge of the existence of reeducation camps, prisons and/or of the country wide genocide.