A few more daysIn Vietnam

I lied. I said my next blog would be in Cambodia. Not yet. In Saigon yet, but for probably only one more day...I rode a sleeper bus 11 hours from Nha Trang to get here. The sleeper bus travels at night, so I left at 8:30 pm and arrived in SGN about 7 am. The seats recline and are fairly comfortable. You have to take off your shoes to get on the bus. The bus did look very new. I must have slept better than I thought because I don't remember a lot. The bus was not full which is unusual for VN. This is the high tourist season in VN too. You see lots of Koreans and Japanese tourists, some Philippians' too, plus Australians and Europeans.

Before I left Nha Trang, I went with Dung's brother in law for a hike to see some waterfalls. This took a while on the motobike to get there as the road was unimproved. There was a small admission price and the trail started off easy enough. But as we walked on, the trail got less defined, and more like blazing our own trail. Then, we got to a very rocky area, more like small boulders or large rocks. It here that it got interesting. To see the waterfalls, you have to physically climb over/through the large rocks. There were red arrows painted on the rocks to show you the best path. There were some vendors-women- who decided that I needed help in climbing over these rocks, so they literally led me by the hand as we navigated through the rock trail. These women were very agile and like mountain goats on a side of a cliff, constantly assuring me that I could do this. As we forged on, the path got more difficult, and then it started to rain. I was already ringing wet from sweat, and now with the rain, I felt that I had less traction for scaling this rocky boulders. And if I was to twisted an ankle, who would medivac me to saftey? These 80 lbs women? Hardly, even though they possessed remarkable talent. I went as far as I could but not all the way. I had to turn back. Going back wasn't any easier. I did pay my guides well for they much needed help. It was quite a workout.

In Vietnam, when you eat at the restaurant, you often just throw any trash on the floor. Later, they sweep the floor, collecting and putting it in the street. Then, late at night, the trash collector comes. But before the trash is collected, the recycler comes. This is a poor man or woman, who looks through all the trash, looking for plastic, cardboard, metal, or glass. These are people who are very poor, and don't really have a job, just do this to eke out an existence. Once in a while, they find a treasure.

During the day, in all the major cities of VN, you have people who ride through the streets on their bikes, selling their stuff. This can be food, to household items like dusters. Of course there are others who walk around selling tourist items, like sunglasses, books, hammocks, etc... Some of these people probably walk all day and never make a sale. There are some shoeshine boys too, but I am generally not approached by them because I am wearing sandals.

I will sign off for now. I am will go to Cambodia tomorrow or Wed. Today is Tues...Hope everyone is well. Enjoyed talking with my brother David on Skype today...