Elephant-astic!

This time I thought i'd post a few more pictures and a little less writing .... hope you enjoy!

look who's fitting right into the culture

Coffee beans ... the plantation was in full bloom

future coffee connoisseurs??

Now for our BIG adventure ...

"I'm going for a ride on THAT?!?!"

meandering through the Jun Village - a traditional minority settlement along the shore of the lake

"Ummm Dad ...  just wondering ....... can this big fella swim???"

Max was willing to share his cookies with his new friend

Stella and I named this one Ellie ... she really communicated with us and responded to us!  Seemed like such a sweet, gentle soul.

After the rides, we stopped for a lunch break.  Our vietnamese meal was AMAZING!!!  We were served about 8 different dishes to share between the 4 of us and each one was incredibly delicious!  

Max kicking it back with our guide Mui

the kids checking to see if the elephants were still outside

And den, we explored to willage

hellooooo ladies!!!

Holy #*%@ !!

♫ Beautiful girls, all over the world ...

3 little piggies stayed home

And den.... we traveled to Dray Sap waterfalls

walking across a suspension bridge (very sturdy & very well built in case you're wondering :)

Since it was dry season, we only saw about 1/4 of the falls.  Imagine what it would look like in the rainy season!?!!

And den, we made some friends while playing around a sprinkler

And den, we saw this ...

seriously ... who needs a truck??!!!  WOW!!  I wonder if he's en route to get his kids from school?!

From Buon Ma Thout, we flew to Ho Chi Minh city (formerly known as Saigon).  It was either the 50 minute flight or the 12 hour bus ride.  The flight cost under $100 for all 4 of us so we didn't even hesitate!

We've spent the last 4 days in HCMC and are keen to leave this massive city (approx. 8 million people).  It is so unbelievably hot here (38 degrees in our taxi today) and the humidity doesn't help at all!  It makes it hard to believe we once complained about the cooler temperatures!  HCMC is not so much a city as a small province stretching from the South China Sea almost to the Cambodian border.    Like Hanoi, motorbikes throng the streets creating a buzzing, almost dizzying atmosphere.  HCMC has it all - from the finest hotels to the cheapest guesthouses, classiest restaurants or the most humble street stalls, designer boutiques to crowded markets.   We're staying in the backpacker district and have had fun exploring some sights and once again, we found a waterpark that the kids absolutely loved ... so refreshing!

Tomorrow we leave on a four day tour of the Mekong Delta - a region many have proclaimed as the highlight of their trips to Vietnam.  We are really looking forward to exploring it for ourselves.  

Good Night!

Oh, and don't be shy .... leave us a comment ... we'd love to hear from you!!

On the road again . . . and again

I last left you in Mui Ne - a wonderfully relaxing place to wile away a few days.  While it was hard to drag ourselves from the pool, we did spend a couple of mornings exploring the sights as the afternoons became ridiculously hot!

exploring a fishing village

our bungalow

GOOD morning Vietnam!

There were 2 different sand dune sites around this town known as the "red" and "white" dunes.  For a moment, while you are standing at the top or in the middle of these dunes, it feels as though you have been transported to someplace like the Sahara desert as you look out on an endless expanse of sand!

2 hotties

At the white dunes we succumbed to the tourist stereotype and rented quads because it was blazing hot out and the thought of hiking up the dunes did not impress the kids as much as riding around them.  And to be honest, we didn't waste much time making that decision - it looked too fun to pass up!

zoom zoom

The "Fairy Spring" was another interesting adventure.  It's basically a shallow stream that runs through the sand dunes and interesting rock formations.  It was a beautiful and peaceful trek - the whole time (about 2 miles) wading, splashing, and jumping in the cool water and its deliciously goopy sand.  It was surprisingly super soft on the feet!

After 4 days in Mui Ne, we hired a car (and driver) to take us to Dalat, a city in the central highlands of Vietnam.  This 150 km journey took us 4 hours as we drove on what I would best describe as a goat trail.  Our driver honked before each bend in the road as it was pretty much a single lane for a few hours of twisting and winding our way up the mountains.  Not for the faint of heart!!!  We were particularly excited to visit Dalat because we were meeting up with our friends Eric and Julie from Vancouver.  Back in the Fall, we discovered that we would both be touring Southeast Asia around the same time and so I looked at their itinerary and picked this day and place for us to connect.  How surreal and wonderful it is to see familiar faces and to spend a day and share a few meals together with friends in a foreign country.  We had fun exploring some of the sites around Dalat and packed a lot into our 36 ish hours together.  Dalat is a beautiful city spread out over a number of fairly steep hills.  This popular honeymoon destination for the Vietnamese overlooks a small lake and is dotted with beautifully landscaped gardens and french colonial villas.

We spent the morning at Truc Lam Pagoda and Zen Monastery overlooking another lake.   To get there, we took a 2.3 km ride over the forest in a cable car.  The grounds of this pagoda and monastery were breathtaking.  In fact, I was so taken with the gardens and buildings that I didn't take many pictures.  The highlight of our visit here was when we were invited into the monks' dining hall to share a cup of tea and some treats.  Max's curiosity got the best of him when he heard the monks chanting and so he walked up to the hall only to be greeted by the most welcoming, warm monk named Tinh Dam that invited us ALL in.  As we sipped tea we talked about life in the monastery and about this monk's life.  The kids were so completely distracted by the candies, nuts and cookies in front of them that they ignored the green tea poured for them.  We tried to encourage them to have a sip to respect this monks kind gesture towards them but Max just wasn't keen.  Understanding exactly where our three year old was coming from, the monk gently and poignantly uttered .... "Let him be free."

1 monk, 2 monkies

After lunch,  we visited Datanla Falls and enjoyed a great bobsled ride down to the waterfalls.  We had so much fun, we went down a second time!  After this excursion we stopped in at Crazy House - designed by a local architect with some eccentricity to burn, the house is, well crazy!!! Each room has a different theme, staircases, ladders, walkways and tunnels lead in, around and through many of them.

feeling right at home ...

The day concluded with a delicious supper in honor of Eric's birthday followed by cake back at the hotel. What a great day!

good friends, good times!

 This morning we traveled by bus from Dalat to a town called Buon Ma Thout.  We are now very close to the Cambodian border - still in the central highlands - and in a region that supposedly grows the best coffee in Vietnam.  Tomorrow, we will tour a coffee plantation, go to some waterfalls and ... are you ready for this? ... ride elephants along Lak Lake.  Max and Stella are so excited for the big day ahead but I wonder what their reaction will be when they come face to ankle with the gentle beasts?!!!

The kids are such celebrities over here!  It actually slows us down some, all the people wanting to touch, pat, squeeze, embrace them and take their picture.  They seem to enjoy it for the most part but at times, they get a little annoyed and run for the cover of our legs.  Stella and Max continue to travel well and certainly better than we ever expected.  Just today, after another long, harrowing bus ride (200 km that took 6 hours should give you some idea of the journey), Stella remarked, "Hey, we're here!  Now we're back in business!"  We had a good laugh and realized our kids are becoming pros at this.

A few days ago, Stella was a bit under the weather.  She had a slight temperature and was really tired and not her usual self.  We wondered if it was the heat and were relieved that she bounced back quickly.  The rest of us are healthy physically but emotionally saddened by the news of my dear friend Dave's passing.  Dave Milum has been a longtime friend of mine and has been battling cancer for a few years.   He lost his fight on Valentine's Day.  It really sucks to be so far away from home at a time like this.

Miss you all!

Not Missing the Snow!

Planned to stay three nights in Nha Trang.  Three became four . . . four became six ☺ I think the weather more than anything impressed us.  Finally, we had some sun and hot weather to enjoy and no shortage of things to do as a family!!

Nha Trang - the beach capital of Vietnam was a big touristy center.  Hugging the shoreline for several kilometers is a full fledged international resort complete with high rise hotels, souvenir shops and restaurants.  This part of town could be anywhere in the world and yet, just venture a couple blocks off "the strip",  you'll see a bustling Vietnamese city.  We stayed a couple of blocks away from the beach in a hotel that served the best breakfast we have had on our travels so far.  It was AMAZING and hard to believe that it was included in our $35/night 'family' room (3 beds).  Breakfast was served at their rooftop restaurant and each morning, depending on where you sat, you looked out at the beautiful mountains or ocean . . .  definitely not hard to take!

before

after

One of the big attractions in Nha Trang, especially for families, is Vinpearl Land.  Some say it's Vietnam's version of Disneyland but I think that might be a stretch.  It had fun fair rides, an awesome aquarium and a huge waterpark.  To get to the island you must take either a ferry or tram - the world's longest over-the-sea cable car.

that's me in the front!!

Jeff just told Max that these teeth were from a REAL shark...!

The island was impressive - it was beautiful, clean and had lots of fun things to do throughout its huge expanse.  Stella and Max, well to be honest, we ALL  particularly loved the waterpark.  It had over 20 thrilling rides and an incredible kiddie play area complete with a half dozen mini slides.

the kids zone

wave pool

there goes Stella ... our little daredevil!

the lazy river - took about 45 min to float around the whole park and through a cave

our little mermaid having the time of her life!

We had so much fun there we went back a second day!  Some of these waterslides were 3 or 4 stories tall and would you believe that Stella went with me on the ones you could slide down in a 2 person tube?!!!  And maybe even more impressively, Max and Stella both climbed to the top of the family slide with us where we hopped into a raft and slid down an enormous slide all together.  Had the kids really absorbed how high they were I'm sure they would have returned down the stairs!  We didn't give them a chance to really think about what they were doing and once they were in the raft, they were hooting and squeeling and having tonnes of fun.  We went on this ride 3 times!!

a glimpse of the family raft ride

Another highlight from Nha Trang was our trip to Thap Ba Hot Spring.  We weren't sure what we were getting into as our taxi drove us through a maze of dodgy back roads and then pulled up to a parking lot full of buses and tourists.  To our surprise, the park was huge and set up in such a way, that it didn't feel busy at all.  The unique aspect of this Hot Spring was that they had therapeutic mud baths for people to soak in!  There were tubs of all shapes and sizes to soak in - we chose a small one for our family of 4. 

"seriously... I'm not going to get in trouble for playing in this mud?!!?"

Stella was a bit hesitant as she watched the guy fill up our tub with mud but once she stepped into the warm, goopy bath she was a believer!  She and Max were having a great time covering Jeff's hair with mud and painting each others faces.

After a 20 minute soak, we rinsed off and were led to a private mineral bath to enjoy for 45 minutes.  They brought us fresh fruit and came to give us each a foot massage .... it was heavenly!   Before we left, we also swam in the two warm, full-sized swimming pools.

When we weren't at the beach or Vinpearl Land or the mud baths, you could find us at a place called the Lousianne Brew House.  It was a restaurant right on the beach front that rented lounge chairs for $1.  You could sit on one by the beach or lay by their nice pool and order drinks or food as you desired.

Yesterday, we left Nha Trang and took a 4 hour bus ride to Mui Ne - a quiet little beach town in comparison to Nha Trang.  It's a little more rustic, laid back, and has a more untouched kinda feel to it.   As I sit and write this blog from the hammock on the porch of our bungalow, all I can hear is the sound of the surf and the distant hum of air conditioners. To my right is a pool overlooking the ocean and I am surrounded by a lovely garden complete with tropical flowers, shrubs and palm trees.   We REALLY like it here☺ In the next few days, we will explore the fishing village, sand dunes and "fairy spring".

The pool is calling me ... I really should stop ignoring it and give it the attention it deserves! xoxo