We went to Vietnam on Aug. 13 for five days, and had an incredible time. Vietnam is very welcoming of foreigners, even if the motor scooter culture is slightly terrifying. Seriously, there are so many scooters buzzing around that I had a dream I was driving one on the first night.
Our first day started out ominously, but things turned up. It was raining and we couldn't find a travel agency because the one we planned on going to didn't exist anymore. Once we found Saigon Tourist, we were all set.
It rained almost every day for at least a couple hours around dinner time. It was little more than an annoyance, but that adds to the stress a bit when you're just trying to tour around.
In Ho Chi Minh City, we stayed in the district with a lot of shops, restaurants and hotels. As far as HCMC goes, we didn't leave our district very much. We didn't have a ton of time there, and we really had everything we needed right there.
On our second day, we went to the Cu Chi Tunnels. It's an area of Vietnam that has proud people who held off the "crazy devil" Americans as they tried to push north. They did so by making elaborate, excruciating traps and popping out of tiny tunnels in various locations to mow down troops.
While the day-long American hate fest was a bit uncomfortable, it was a really interesting experience to hear history from the other side.
On our third day, we took a great trip to the Mekong Delta. The guide on our car ride spoke English really well, and we had a great conversation about the country. When we arrived, we switched off to a local tour guide. She took us on a variety of boat rides to the various islands.
While there, we rode on a horse cart, went to some local villages, saw a bee apiary and ate some awesome honey. The day wasn't even close to over then. We also saw some traditional Vietnamese singers, are a lot of fruit, saw them make coconut candy and were served a traditional meal of fried fish, meat and fruit.
The jungle was just beautiful, and it was interesting to see how a lot of these people live their lives. They really do depend a lot on tourism, but would probably just go on the same without it.
We spent Wednesday and Thursday on the east coast at a beautiful resort. The ride was about 5 hours each way with traffic that appeared to have no rules. We really went through some incredibly poor areas, though they were rich in propaganda.
The resort was awesome. It's right on the beach, and only a ten-minute drive from a natural phenomenon. It's a red sand desert that is sitting right next to the beach. It's stunning to see.
At the resort, we just relaxed and took it all in. There was the beach, a pool, great food and cheap drinks. There's nothing wrong with any of that. It was a perfect end to a wonderful honeymoon.
Even though the plane ride back was quite bumpy, we really had an unforgettable vacation. It lived up to anything I could've imagined as a honeymoon.
We have so much more to do now that we're back. Back to work!
Check out my pictures here.
And check out Jeong Mi's pictures here.
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