Good Morning Vietnam!

We've been in Vietnam for 4 days. We crossed the border from Cambodia on a bus. It was the easiest border crossing in the world. The whole time being on the bus, I had lines from 'Good Morning Vietnam' stuck in my head. 'Oh my god its Hanoi Hannah! Oh wee oh...Ho Chi Minh. Follow the Ho Chi Minh trail, follow the Ho Chi Minh trail.'

We spent 2 days in Ho Chi Minh City, which is beautiful. I loved the feel of it there. The architecture is beautiful. There are more scooters than cars and it is insane. The first day we walked around the central city area. Our group has grown to 8 people and it is getting on my nerves. Its hard to make plans and I feel like I am waiting all the time. So after about an hour of wandering with a large group, Denise, Romi, Leesa and I went off on our own.

We went to the War Remnants Museum, which is all about the Vietnam War. Its pretty horrific. I was certainly happy to not be American while I was going through. Mostly the information about chemicals, the use of Agent Orange and napalm made me almost nauseous. There were lots of photos of Vietnamese people who had been born with deformities and then stories of American and Australian GIs and the problems a lot of them had during the years after the war. Anyway, I'm really glad I saw it and I am really happy to be Canadian.

When we were leaving the museum, we ran into 2 girls that we were friends with in Seoul. Total coincidence. It was so great to see them so we hooked up for drinks that night. They have been to all the places we are going so it was good to hear their stories and get some info.

Yesterday, Romi and I went to the Blind Institute in HCMC and got massages for $2.50. It was very strange. There was a lot of slapping and too much head scratching. The lady who was doing my massage left for a while. Whatever, it relaxed me.

Then last night we caught a sleeper bus to where we are now, Nha Trong. Its a beach town with lots of tourists. The bus ride was 11 hours and was surprisingly comfortable. Our group is still 8 people, but I have stopped waiting around and now go off and do my own thing. We got into the town this morning at 6.30. We got to our hotel and had some morning beers. Good attitude Denise!

Just an update from Nepal, one of the guides that we were hiking with on the trek was named Santosh. He was a guide from another company that was with our friends Hannah and Stewart. I just got a message that he was on the plane that crashed in Lukla last week. He was only 20.