Vung Tau

 OK, this is what I know everyone is interested in. . . the classic beach scene.  We made it to Vung Tau, which was 3+ hrs from HCMC by minibus for 120,000VND ($6.25).  The road was bumpy from construction and a child threw up from motion sickness; the minibus is NOT recommended when mostly locals use it.  

  Once we got to our hotel via taxi from the bus station we were doing much better.  So far we have been using online bookings for our rooms and provided transportation to get from A to B.  This was the first time we had arrived in an area without knowing where we were staying or even for how long.  We told a tuk-tuk driver that we wanted a taxi to the Back Beach area (longer stretch of beach) and he proceeded to get into the taxi with us to see if we would go to a place he would get commission.  Luckily the taxi driver was not in on the commission plan and we were able to pay him the metered fare.  The "chauffeur" wasn't to eager to let us walk away from his choice in hotels, but he didn't fight us too hard.  We ended up finding a place for 250,000 VND/night ($15) for a double bed with a/c, TV, and across the street from the beach.  This sounded great until we were introduced to communist rationing and rolling power outages.  The woman working behind the reception desk didn't seem too shocked when we were surprised to be woken up to the sun coming in through our windows and no a/c the next morning.  We later figured out that the rivers were running pretty dry from the drought and the hydroelectric plant comes in second after rice irrigation; everywhere in our budget and below was without power or only had generators for the lights.  The power would return sometime after 7pm but before 11pm.   

Our hotel was just to the left of the tall, bluish building.

  Beyond the power outages, the location was fine for relaxing.  This town is popular with the locals because it is so close the HCMC.  For the most part, we were the majority of the foreigners we saw.  We saw a few oil rig workers in restaurants and we met a Australian teacher on holiday, but it was most just us and Vietnamese.  Now the price of the room did double for the one weekend night we were there, but that was fine because the room rates were posted in the lobby and we didn't feel like we were being ripped off by being foreign.  

  The water wasn't too clear, but it was warm and not very dirty.  It was also inhabited by locals who wear their street clothes when swimming.  Also, for 20,000VND ($1.20) we were able to rent a lounge chair for the day.

The chair guardian was moving the seats closer for low tide with a cig lit 

The last three pictures are of the Front Beach.  There was a tiny beach near a sea wall and port, but all the non-Vietnamese restaurants and bars were located there.  It was only about 60,000VND ($3) to get there by taxi from our hotel.  

HCMC or Siagon: Same same, not different

  Renee and I flew into Ho Chi Minh City from Siem Reap, which took a little over one hour from takeoff to landing. We flew Cambodia Angkor Air, which seemed safe enough and they gave us a sandwich box for our effort. We flew to HCMC on June 20, instead of taking a bus or boat because we wanted to meet a friend in Vietnam and the $220 seemed like a good idea at the time.

Brother Nam, Renee, Brother Hi

  We were lucky enough to stay with one of Renee's friends from college who was visiting family in Vietnam.  Therefore, we got to stay rent free with an in-house tour guide.  The kicker: 5am mass because it was in a seminary.  The brothers were very friendly and more than kind to us as we tried to learn their daily schedule so that we wouldn't interfere with them while we were on a vacation.  The head priest was our friend's great uncle and he tried to be as joking as possible whenever he could.  On an interesting note, he was also anti-communist and was more than happy to share his misgivings about the Party with us and any other visitors to the compound.

Extended family with us

  Beyond the brothers, we were also able to spend a fair amount of time with Renee's friend's closer, non-ordained family members.  He has several aunts and uncles that were also very friendly and more than happy to entertain us with a dinner or sight seeing trip.

  Those 3 days spent in HCMC were some of the cheapest days we have had so far.  Not only was room covered, board was provided if we asked or were invited to a dinner.  Now, we did try to pay for what we could, and were always refused.  So we bought breakfast one day, beer another, or side dishes for a meal whenever we could/were permitted to.

HCMC: The Sights

For the most part we were being shuffled between family members, meals, and a few sights.  The few sights we did get to see were enhanced with some family members tagging along as guides.  We only really saw the War Remnants Museum (not just American atrocities) and the old presidential palace because it started to rain and we grew tired of seeing everything though the Party's eyes.  

The War Remnants Museum was very interesting because I didn't really know what was going to be there and had only assumed it was going to be just anti-American.  

Next we walked over to the Presidential Palace that is not a reunification museum because the southern part no longer has its president.  

  Some other sights we say from the outsider were the cathedral and old opera house.  The rain was starting to really poor and after the first two sights, we had an idea for how the others would look.  

Good morning Vietnam

So we are safely in 'Nam, but Internet has been spotty at best. I'll have Cambodia and Vietnam -so-far pictures up soon.