talking to brick walls...

sooooo, here I am, alone for the first time of the trip...yup, 11days by-my-self! Scary huh? Well, not to you Corina, you don't count. So any of you who have even known me for a day probably don't think I'll have any problem, seeing as how I'm quite capable of entertaining my self with Mr. Brick over there! haha...well, yes, I am! But it is still weird and I just wanted to share it with you guys. Scene: getting a mani/pedi...asking some random, fellow mani/pedi "getter" where they are staying...."oh", I say, "you are staying near the beach, well how are the beach bars, and, well, I don't know you, but can I meet you and your friends later for drinks maybe??" Ha! Awkwardly, they say sure but add that "they are not quite sure where they will be, so I'm sure I'll run into them somewhere". OKAY, duly noted...mission aborted, tonight I drink alone:) I laugh at myself though, because while I am usually quite damn good at making friends, I managed to fail miserably this time. However, don't fret my pets, Frankie will strike again:)

Well, attempt to anyways!!!

border crossing...

hey guys!! Just wanted to let everyone know that we are now in CAMBODIA...via a walking border crossing and a 2hour bumpy ride on the back of a motobike:) Yesterday, Austin and I set out to test the waters of the recently opened border crossing b/w Vietnam and Cambodia...hoping that since our Vietnam visas were currently expired that this border would offer Cambodian visas like we read about...GUESS WHAT?? Much against our usual luck, it did:) And off we set via our feet on a dirt road with little kiosk looking guard stands...no checking of luggage, no machines to pass them and ourselves through...no worry about customs...just an inflated fee and a few biting ants and WE'RE HERE!! Well almost...we did have to hire motobikes from Vietnam($7pax for over 2hours) to our destination. The scenery was breathtaking, stilt houses high above the rice fields, foreground for lush mountains behind...locals lounging about in the shade(it was lunch time), and cows meandering to find a resting place! If I hadn't feared a lunch of mud and bugs, my mouth would have stayed wide open with the hugest grin in awe of the beauty beyond.

we are currently cooped up at a wonderful guesthouse in a town that is only known for its seafood...and boy is it some kind of good!!! Brings me back to home(the real la kids!)!! The town we are in is Kep...a sleepy little town, but wonderfully relaxing!! Used to be a mecca for the French elite in 1908, but sadly, the Khmer Rouge destroyed it:( And now, all that remains of way back when are burned out villas...but use your imagination and you can surely see all their beauty. But now, its becoming more popular and the view from where I'm sitting is spectacular...even though it is a bit rainy at the moment:(

curious? www.keplodge.com
*pics here are a view from the room, and view from pool & restaurant

up to date...

aside from the devastating events of photo eating viruses, we are having a BAAALAAAST....as you might have suspected:) We are in Vietnam right now! Yes, Goodmorning to you too! So far we have explored Hanoi, Halong Bay via Junk, a super rainy rainforest, Hue, the DMZ, Hoi An, the highlands...and now since none of those names mean much to you....a run down!

• Hanoi: fantasmically refreshing after having enough of China:) We wandered through the Old Quarter, the French Quarter, Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum(preserved body and all), found deliciously refreshing sugar cane drinks, and ate and ate and ate...


• Halong Bay: we boarding our Junk(sailing boat) and set off into the unknown! We did a 3 day 2 night trip in the bay...kayaked around, sunbathed, Austin trekked. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halong_bay


• Ninh Bihn: small town with beautiful sites to see around....including a boat ride along a river that is formed between the karsts...the ride goes through 3 caves, a skooter ride through the country side, a view from heaven...atop a limestone karst, and even a jungle trek that both of us went on...and we stayed with the locals 1 night


• Hue: former capital. citadel and all...even a citadel within a citadel within a citadel. we liked it here, we rented skooters and just drove and drove and drove, until Frankie tried to hop onto a sidewalk to park and pressed the gas instead of the brake:) heeeheeee clumsy. but before f crashed, we drove out to the tombs of Tu Duc, which are set within a lush landscape and dilapitated stone temples...very beautiful! we also ate and ate and ate...even an imperial feast one night(wait till you see these pics) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hue,_Vietnam


• Hoi An: beautiful city by the river. with tons of tailors...if anyone wants a beautiful custom made $80 suit, silk lining and all, go here! f skipped a's trip to the beach inorder to indulge in a little girl time shopping:) Austin took a snorkeling trip and saw tons of squid...but nothing compares to Indo! We also did a cooking class here! Very intertaining, but we did it, made Vietnamese pancakes(very taco-like), rice paper, spring rolls...and everything turned out delicious!! So to tell you about our favorite dish so far...Bahn Xeo...a thin rice batter pancake filled with shrimp, sometimes beef/pork, and bean sprouts; served fresh veggies(lettuce, mint, vietnamese basil, cilantro) and rice paper....take the rice paper in hand, put the pancake open faced on the paper, fill it with veggies, roll it up and dip it!!! YUMMY! we also saw My Son....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Son and did a trip through the DMZ ...including the


• we then went to a little town not really worth mentioning xcept for the food we ate and the bus ride described earlier


• Dalat: now we are posted up in Dalat in the highlands of Vietnam! Tired of the hot weather and craving some rigorous adventure, we will set up shop here for a few days for Rapelling through waterfalls and bikeriding through jungles and farms:) Enjoying it so far...and guess what?? THERE'S TONS OF WINE HERE....Dalat wine is widely available all throughout Vietnam, and now...we are right smack dab in the center of all the gloriousness:)

okay...thats enough for now....we know all you really want are pics and don't really read these;)

tooter mcgrooder...

ever taken a mini van with 25 other people, capacity for only 14...driver honking all of the 11 hours you are on the bus, bags falling on your head, smokers puffing away, passengers silently getting carsick?? No?? Well maybe you've been on a bus with a maniac driver who takes blind curves at unbelievable speeds on a one lane road in a country that doesn't have or doesn't abide by traffic laws...except for one: I'm big, you are small...MOVE. No?? Surely you've been jammed next to someone you don't know nodding off to sleep on your shoulder while crabs attempt to feast on your little toesies?? hahha...guess not, except for maybe you, Corina:) This is the image that should pop into your heads when we say "bus ride"! Aaaaah...what a journey...literally:)

this is what its all about!!!

it finally happened...

yes sir! that's right....every traveler's worstest NIGHTMARE ever....dah duh duh...LOSING PHOTOS! So a Vietnamese PC(of course) decided to dump a virus on our flash drive and our memory card:) hahahah...yeah I can laugh about it now, because **it happens right?? and what can I honestly do about it now??? NADDA! So, folks, won't be any pics for a little while...sorry! But don't worry, we have a new card and I'll be snapping away soon, I mean, you really won't even know you are missing anything! Right??

P.S...the pics you'll see with these posts are yanked off gettyimages b/c of the camera issue at the moment, so no, they aren't our own...for now.