Bali Baby!

Hey hey hey...

Can't even be sure where we left off last. Somewhere mid Vietnam...

We spent our last 4 days in Vietnam between very relaxed resort/party beach town Nha Trang and absolutely hectic Ho Chi Mihn. Highlights were: spa day, the meal we splurged on for $10 and still haven't stopped talking about, amazing fresh rolls, and the Vietnam war site tour.

Lowlights were: rats near our hostel (I've grown a deep fear), my fair skinned travel partners burning to a crisp, accidenty staying on the street filled with "cafe's" which were really brothels, and the shooting rang that someone for some reason thought was appropriate for the war tour.

All in all we massively fell in love with Vietnam. A perfect balance of culture shock/few tourists and yet lots to do and general feelings of safety and friendliness.

We now have made it to Bali for some very new exciting things. Brigid and Kath spent the last 2 days surfing in the Nusa islands while I met Tara in Kuta (my friend joining us for the Bali portion of our trip). We all have now reunited in Ubud. Very cool small city which most of Eat Pray Love was filmed in. The people here are possibly the friendliest yet! This town is what I'm calling Yogaville because its extremely cultural with many temples and vegan/organic/hip folks just chillin out doing yoga. We caught a famous Balinese dance show tonight, which ended with a man walking on fire.....

Next up is Gili Islands...where they say snorkeling and scuba diving is the best in the world (known for sea turtles). We're all ready to lay on a beach for a week!!

Lots of love. Hugs

Sar

1 country to go...

Gooooooood morning (from) Vietnam!

....actually it's not morning here at all but we've seen that phrase everywhere we've been here as per Robin Williams movie on the Vietnam war.

We're really enjoying our rather hectic journey through this country. Hanoi was a little nutty-I never was able to cross the street without screaming for dear life. LOTS of good shopping- very artistic things, however a bit more expensive than anywhere else we've visited yet. Brigid and I could be hired by Lonely Planet to report on fresh rolls since we've ordered them at every single restaurant. And yet- we still haven't found ANY that taste like the ones from Viet Thai! We're not giving up though.

The scenery here is lovely (as I sit looking out the train window). Very green and...flat! Maybe I am shaping up to be a prairie girl at heart. Poor McNutt caught the killer bug Leach and I have endured, with a side of fever, just before we were off to Halong Bay. Kathryn and I took a day trip on a fancy pants boat (strangely, called a "junk boat") and got to kayak and hike through a few tunnels. Super stunning limestone rocks.

The people are very friendly here, especially the women. We have just left from an old small town named Hoi Ann, definitely a highlight for all of us. We splurged a bit on a hotel that cost $20 each per night and were treated like absolute royalty. The women running the hotel hugged us numerous times and always called us by name. The breakfasts were amazing- Kathryn got her favorite cheese and I doubled my weight in banana/mango/pineapple pancakes. The town was very traditional Vietnamese and had dress/suit shops everywhere. We spent our day biking along the river and getting fitted for our custom made dresses, pants, and blazers! Brigid finished her day with a cooking class while Kathryn and I took in the very authentic Vietnamese experience of lining up for the premiere of Twilight. The subtitles made it cultural enough.

Off we head to Nha Trang, beach town of Vietnam and a sneak peak of what Bali will be like (a lot of sun and siestas). We're in peak rain time for this area of Vietnam so I'm willing to bet our beach day will be spent at the spa...either way, no complaints.

Hugs and kisses to my mamma & puppies...and anyone who wants them.

Sar

Ps- we're serious celebrities here. Especially my blonde/red headed travel companions. Every day someone either asks for a picture or just starts taking pictures of us. They like to touch our arms or faces too- really strange. It's somewhat less than comfortable when 5 people stare at you for a 10 hour train trip...but we just laugh back.