Dalat

 

Arrived dead in the night again!

Unless you are an extremely patient person and has a butt of steel(literally). Do not take the hard seater of the trains in vietnam!!. By hard seat, they are REALLY hard!! like Wood hard! Even though the price is really cheap, its just not worth it.

14hours later, at 10pm. Arrive at nha trang to connect to dalat. The last bus for the day had left and i will have to catch the bus the next morning. During long endurance on the train, i promise myself to lie down comfortably on a nice clean bed after a hot shower. This is also where i paid the most a night of lodging.

Most expensive lodging award! Nha trang Prince hotel!

Nice hotel with air con, glass toilet, mini fridge and clean bed. All for just 10 USD. (actually i found out the next morning that i overpaid. But WHO CARES!! I needed it!

Plus i saved quite a bit staying with ivy the last week.

My once and only stay in a hotel in my 7 months. Most expensive lodging award USD10!

Wow clean glass toilet!

 

Beautiful beaches

1 bus ride up to dalat. 6 hours later. Back to familiar grounds.

 

A little coal, a wire mesh and some stools. All that you need to be an entrepreneur.

 

Weird looking but tasty snack

My agenda for coming back is to attend my friend Hoa’s wedding.

 

The wedding couple!

A typical wedding dinner in vietnam would have about 5-7 dishes. Surprisingly the customs is somewhat similar to that in Singapore as well. :D

Hao looked really pretty and happy on this day. Her family including her parents, sister and brothers were there.

Even though it was held in a 4 star hotel in dalat. The food however was average. even Uyen said so.There were about 15 tables in total.

 

Uyen(i first met her and Hoa together while eating beef lungs at a motorcycle vendor) and her friend on her right

 

Hoa’s Sister(R)

 

Looks very much like a Singapore style wedding

6 course Menu. LOOK at the 2nd last item.

STEWED PORK TONGUE

 

Actually the wedding is very similar to what we experience in SG

TADA! Pork tongue! EWW

I had planned to leave the next day but was convinced by my friends there to stay another day. I had travelled 500km all the way back here and would take another 500km to head to my next destination. In total that would be more than 20 singapore length!!

 

Long distance bus again. –_-"

i was told i would reach my destination hoi an at 5am.

at 3.30am. I saw a familiar sight. DANANG 15km away. it means i overshot again!

Arrive in Danang dead in the night again. Same time, same situation!!

Bus sign.

Bus service hour: 5hour to 16hour

Frequency: 20 mins

Fare: 3000Dong/short trip?

             7000Dong/full trip?

Nope nobody teach me how to read :D

So i started walking, walking 2 hours till i reach the river bank and watch ladies shake booties.

 

Waited till people start coming out for exercise

Her food looked pretty good and even though i had a breakfast appointment with Ivy and Kat later, i couldn't resist not getting any

Chicken with glutinous rice

Called and woke ivy and Kat up for breakfast.

and i am a bumpy rust decorated bus ride towards hoi an!

Vietnam is great!

Check out at Cambodia! My new wallpaper, Halong Bay!

Yes finally i am into vietnam and now 1.5months later, i am glad to say i am still there! Because i display my current location on msn messenger, people have been asking me "Why are you still in vietnam?", "When are you going somewhere else?", "Vietnam so nice?"

More than 3 months on the road, i feel like my purpose had shifted tremendously. For the first leg of thailand, laos and cambodia i had a plan, a very rough one, but a plan nonetheless. More or less, i sticked pretty much to it. I knew where i wanted to go, what to see, how long i am staying, how to get there and how to get to my next destination. The moment i am done with those sights, i moved on.

Of these 4 countries, i was actually more excited about vietnam. I dont know why, maybe it was the conical hat or the sleek and slim ao dai(traditional vietnames dress) or all the Pho that i can have. It was my 2nd time here, the first being a week holiday to HCMC with my parents being shuttled around in tour buses. I knew there is much more to this country. 1.5months down, i realised it is VERY much more! My first Pho in vietnam
With her smile, i couldnt resist but by a watermelon from her the 2nd time i walked past In vietnam, guesthouses are almost a non existance. Instead hotels of varying quality are what you get.3 hours ferry to Phu Quoc Island. 100,000vnd($9)
Mostly locals take this. Tourists take the 250,000vnd 1 hour speed boat.
Hungry pack of Xe Om(moto taxi, remember this word as it will appear many times in other posts) waiting the ferry

The Xe om were so hungry they were fighting off each other. One even stalked me for 1km. Riding a few paces behind me, stopping when i stop and even when i went into a shop to hide, he followed. When i approach another Xe om, they even got into a heated argument. It was until i told him to get lost that he went away. Being one of the few foreigners on board(there is just another western family), i am the perfect sheep to fleece. They are even more expensive than taxis in singapore!

By the time i shake the guy off, i was too far off from town. I needed to get 13km to the main town on the island and tried to hitch hike. Without a helmet, nobody wants to risk taking me.

Fortunately the western family who took a mini van picked me up and i got a free ride into town! Fresh spring rolls! Mmm Ngon! (Mmm Delicious!)
Beach with kids
Sunset view
Dont drown in the 15cm deep water!!
Local sweets popular with the kids

Of course i went to queue up and get one. Being the tall guy(the rest were kids), it felt kinda awkward. HAHA! One young lady with her sister started to talk to me in Viet. After telling her i dont understand, she asked "You like Sweets?" I nodded and she bought me one! Cocounut candy with biscuit

If you frequent vietnam or familiar with the vietnam eating culture, you would know what is Nuoc Mam. Fish sauce to the common traveler, is one important bottle of seasoning to the vietnamese. They have it with almost everything rice, noodles, meat and vegetables. Like curry in india, kimchi in korea and sushi in japan, it has an acquired taste that takes some time to get used to. Fish sauce distilation factory
The smell there is so strong i had to get out after 5minutes
Fish sauce in Phu Quoc is very famous
Thanks to its fleet of fishing boats
I rented a motorcycle and went to do some exploring
Shell collector?
The world is huge!
Saw a wedding and decided to follow them :D
Cheese!!
Happy couple
Ice cream by the beach
And i have the beach all to myself
Phu Quoc is famous for their beaches so i went to another beach
Nice stretch of clean water

Audrey is going to be excited to hear this.

I WENT DIVING FOR THE FIRST TIME!

It started off like this, i wanted to do some water activities in Phu Quoc and snorkling was my intended activity. After chatting with the guys at the dive shop, they actually persuaded me to do diving instead by giving me a big discount and throwing in the snorkling gears as well. So instead of US$20 for snorkling, i paid a discounted US$40 for 1 dive with a dive master and snorkling for the 2nd stop. Included is transportation, boat, lunch, fruits and coffee on board.The only picture i took of the passing boat. Was too sick to take more

The ride there was super super shaky. I had sea sick 5mins after getting on board. During the dive and snorkling was fine. But i had to miss the sumptuous seafood lunch and kept puking. To make myself feel better, i opted to sit on the deck instead of indoors.

Amazingly i fell asleep and ended up with a very dark tan! HAHA 2 weeks later, i am peeling like a snake.