What We Did (Map) > What We Did (24)
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Spa Day at La Maison de l'Apothiquaire Spa - District 3, Saigon
Okay, this was seriously the most amazing spa day I have ever had, mainly because I had never experienced the bliss of 4 hours of back to back spa treatments. The French style mansion was a beautiful place to have it all done. From the massage, to the facial, to the leg/arm massage, and the mani/pedi, plus ending with a "spa" meal, I thought I was in heaven And of course, Jason was loving every second as well. The best part was the grand total for both of us was around $150 US total (we all know in many places in SF you barely get a full 60 minute massage for that price!)
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All Day Cyclo Ride Around Town - Saigon
This rickshaw looking thingy is a major way that people get around (more looked like tourists at this point). Although we had negotiated what we thought the fare would be earlier in the day, somehow we ended up paying WAY more then what we were supposed to, but we didn't want to make a big deal. PLUS, our two guys did cycle us around town all day long in the boiling heat. Okay, lets just fave it, we're suckers!!!!
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Cho Ben Thanh Market - Saigon
We wandered this this marketplace, which has absolutely everything you could imagine from every type of food (alive or not), to deoderant, to zip lock bags, to purses and tools. Enjoyed a wonderful $4 lunch here as well.
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Emerald Jade Pagoda - Saigon
This was more something our driver thought we should do (I think so he could mingle with his friends outside). It was interesting that there seemed to be people sleeping in many nooks and cranies of the place.
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War Remnants Museum - Saigon
This was an incredibly powerful experience, and a very shameful one as an American. The museum, although nothing fancy and even somewhat hobbled together, is a remarkable account of the travesty of the Vietnam War or the "American War" as it's refered to by people here. There are some very graphic and horriffic images that are difficult to look at, but certainly an important perspective to take in. The amount of damage our country inflicted on Vietnam is sickening, and it's so scary to think we're currently repeating heinous acts again in Iraq on so many innocent people - that's my little soap-box on that! The museum is definitely worthwhile visiting!
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Scooter Ride around Saigon
What better way to end a night of drinking then hopping on the back of a "Honda" and getting a tour of the town!?!?
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Day trip To the Mekong Delta
Saigon Tourist day trip took us through a full day trip up to the Mekong Delta. After a three-hour drive, a boat took us to the Cai Be floating market, which was pretty much broken up by the time we got there. One of the highlights was checking out a local candy factory, then off to Binh Hoa Phuoc Islet where the maze of shady creeks were quite beautiful. The local music peformance was pretty un-inspiring, however the elephant ear fish Vietnamese lunch was great. -
Veggin' in Phan Thiet
Well, we didn't even leave our beautiful Victoria Phan Thiet resort for the 48 hours we were there. It was some much needed lounging that we took advantage of - AND, we didn't even have much access to the internet, so we really had to chill out!
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Scuba Diving in Nha Trang with Rainbow Divers
This area is known for the beautiful reefs and sea-life, which we were lucky enough to get to view. We hadn't been diving since Hawaii on Dec. 2006, and now we're re-energized about getting under the water as much as possible, after enoying our 2 dives in the area.
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Spa Afternoon at the Sunrise Resort
What better way to follow up a spectacular morning of scuba diving, and go to the spa to relax in the afternoon. Jason got a mani/pedi, and I got my hair straightened for just $45. At home it usually costs upward of $500 for the thermal straightening, so we figured we were actually saving money there!
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Day trip to Doc Let Beach (50 km North of Nha Trang)
We walked along this desolate beach for a while. We thought it was very strange that there was practically no one on this gorgeous stetch of sand. Best part of the afternoon, besides the amazing scenery, is when we met Song who convinced us to eat some of her fresh seafood. She picked out shrimp, mussels and clams for us, and I think this is some of the best seafood we've ever eaten with no doubt the greatest view!
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Vinpearl Land Excursion including Cable Car Ride
I must admit that I practially had a melt down on the cable car ride over to the island. Since this is the longest cable car in the world, and it was just newly opened a couple months ago, I just didn't trust the thing. We got to Vinpearl, a supposed amusement park, to find we were literally the only people there. It was a very eerie afternoon walking around the empty park in 100 degree weather. Needless to say, I convinced Jason we should take a speed boat back to Nha Trang to avoid having to get in the cable car again.
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Walking Around Hoi An
This was the first town we actually felt safe walking the streets, since there were so few scooters on the road. In fact, cars aren't permitted in this old town, and scooters can only operate at certain times - it made exploring the town so much fun. As you can see, there was a great French Colonial style of architecture throughout the place.
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Red Bridge Cooking School in Hoi An
This cooking class included a trip to the marketplace to learn about some of the local foods, a boat ride down the river to get to the cooking school facility, lots of cooking demonstrations by the head chef, and a little bit of experimenting on our own. The best part of course it getting to eat all the yummy concoctions (even though once you sit down you don't really know whose food you get!) Oh yeah, also love the cut throat competition against Jason to see whose food turns out better.
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Pool time at the Life Resort - Hoi An
We spent a lot of time lounging in and around the pool, which was beautiful.
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Afternoon on Cua Dai Beach - Hoi An
I was eating a banana pancake in this picture, which is probably one of the best things we've ever eaten. Bonus was the restaurant brought it out to us on the beach. We also layed out and swam in the ocean here and loved every second of it.
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Walked around Hoan Kiem Lake - Hanoi
This was a pleasant park in the center of town with a lake, and also within easy walking distance from anywhere in the Old Quarter. It's the locals' favorite leisure spot, and a great place to watch early-morning tai chi or sit and read in the afternoon. We enjoyed a cup of Vietnamese coffee at a cafe overlooking the lake. We also ate lunch at Bobby Chinh Restaurant, which is across the street from the lake area.
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Old Quarter Exploration - Hanoi
The Old Quarter has tons of shops and local restaurants. It was extremely difficult to manuever through this area, as the sidewalks are covered with goods and people's motorbikes. We did however enjoy looking at the classic French Colonial architecture throughout this area.
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Thang Long Water Puppet Show - Hanoi
Traditional art form re-enacting the scenes and life around the rice fields. The puppeteers both male and female stand waist-deep in water to manipulate puppets making them move about and even dance on the surface of the water. The water serves not only to hide the puppeteers and strings of the puppets but also to create a trembling stage full of reflection, while providing natural amplification for singing puppeteers accompanied by percussion music and fire crackers. This was a neat way to experience Vietnamese musical and performace culture.
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Shopping Spree at Disabled Goods Factory - Hanoi to Halong
This stop off on the drive to Halong was where Jason and I finally gave in to our buying urges. We thought first off what better way then support this community that employs disabled people. AND, secondly we love so much of the art and goods in this country, especially the lacquerware. We shipped a large box of goodies home, which we'll be excited to open up 8 months from now when we return.
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Sailing Halong Bay
The stunning scenery of the over 3000 limestone mountains was incredible. Enjoyed our 3 days/2 nights aboard the Annam exploring the area.
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Surprise Sung Sot cave exploration - Halong Bay
This cave was absolutely amazing. It was the largest cave I've ever been in, and had some of the coolest rock formations!
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Sea-kayaking in the grottoes and inlets of Halong Bay
Most of the time we were kayaking, we were the only people around. This is a definite when exploring the nooks and crannies of Halong, since the bigger boats can't reach these gems.
