Sunday, December 16, 2012

Nha Trang and Vin Pearl...

Welcome to Nha Trang! 
Its mostly known for its beach, which is why we came!
Here, let me show you around!
Having our morning coffee with friends. Let the copious amount of coffee-consumption continue! 


A frangipani! My absolute favourite flower!! 


In Vietnam, they don't like you to take showers in the toilet. Now you know! 


We found a beautiful old church. 



 

And onto the beach! 

     

I know you have been waiting on baited breath for my next jumping picture! No more waiting friends! 


Not too shabby eh?


Then yesterday we took a gondola ride over to Vin Pearl Island. Its a resort island, filled with mostly russians! We were so thrilled to play for the day! We doused ourselves in sunscreen and proceeded to run around like children in disneyland! It was perfect! 
The gondola is the longest one over the sea! Neat!





I asked "How excited are you?" and this was his response. 


Yeah, I mastered the back flip. (I wont mention the 5 times I landed on my head...)


It looked fun so Andrew had to give it a go! 


We took the "Alpine Coaster" up to the top of the mountain! Then, on the way down, you get to control your speed with a little brake! It was awesome! Turns out, Im a bit in love with speed! 


What a beautiful view!!!


There was an aquarium on the island too! It was a touch dangerous in there, but we managed to escape alive! 


Seahorse! I want one as a pet! They are so cute! 


A conveyer than took you through the underwater part. Fancy! 


Then onto the waterslides! We ran around and tried ALL the slides, then went back later with the camera to catch some moments. We had such a blast going down all the slides! My favourite was this one:


There goes Andrew!




I did skip this one (it looked like a wedgy factory!) but Andrew went down both a few times.


Andrew had a random korean guy as his partner for this one. I thought it was so cute how the guy smiled at the camera! 


They also had a beautiful beach! The sand was white, the water blue and the sun bright! 




We went on the merry-go-round. I choose the giraffe because it made me think of my dear friend Angela. 


Andrew chose the manliest one there was, a tiger! 


Then I found another friend, a cat, eating a fish! Adorable! 


We watched the sunset. Look at that masterpiece! Im so glad we serve a creative God who shows us His artist side in the sky! 


We then went to the arcade (with bumber cars and 4D movies! Yes, this place had EVERYTHING!) and did some bull riding! 


I think she must have put me on a lower setting, because I managed to stay on for the whole ride! Or its these strong leg muscles I have! Probably the muscles! 


We debated using this as our christmas card. I veto-ed it! 


On the way back to the mainland, we saw that they had the posts decorated with lights, they look like little eiffle towers! Which made me think of Michelle. 


We had such a wonderful day. We ran around like kids and laughed so hard. It was exactly what we needed! 

Friday, December 14, 2012

Hoi An!

Our next leg of the journey was from Hanoi to Hoi An (Yes, its confusing when the names are so similar!) 
While we were on the train (about 14 hours, through the night) I caught up on journaling. The trip went fast and we both had a decent nights sleep!
I attempted to draw some of the "things" I miss from Canada. I started with Dom and Sandi, then quickly turned to just writing the things I miss! Drawing is not my expertise! 


Our berth. There were 6 of us in there, but at 3am, the other 4 got off! So we had the place to ourselves for the remainder of the trip. What a blessing! 


The views down the coast of Vietnam. Beautiful!




We shared a taxi with a dutch couple into Ha Noi (The train only goes to Danang) and were quickly charmed by this adorable town! 




We bought some rambutan to eat while we strolled around. They are a delicious fruit, the texture of lychee but the taste of grapes. 



We rented a bike to go to the beach.


 The rice paddies are so beautiful! 




Not too shabby eh?



I have been drinking copious amounts of coffee. I have always loved vietnamese coffee, which my dear friend Merida and I often indulged in! When a large cup of iced coffee costs 40 cents, its an indulgence we can afford! It is so strong though, I am not able to drink it too close to bedtime (as in, anytime after 3pm!) Yes, its that strong! 

Side-note: Merida and her husband Jarred (who happens to be like a brother to me!) welcomed their baby girl into the world today! We are so ecstatic and cant wait to meet this precious baby when we get home! Its so hard to miss these moments! 


We found an amazing little resturaunt right next door to our hostel. The food was amazing and so cheap! We ate there 4 times in 2 days! The chicken curry was out. of. this. world!


And just a friendly reminder: Age is just a number! :)


A friend of ours got a shave here and boy, they dont skimp! They shaved his forehead, cheeks and even his EYELIDS! Yes! It was so funny, especially since hes not a hairy guy! 


In Hoi An, they specialize in making customize clothing and shoes! I didnt get anything made, but I sure wish I did! 


We hired a boat to take us out on the river for an hour ($5 for 4 people for 1 hour. Awesome!) 



We watched some fishermen cast their nets into the water, which was pretty neat! 


I love love love this picture! Its hard to see the net, but the sky is just amazing! 


So that sums up Hoi An! We love the laid-back pace of Vietnam and the scenery is beautiful! More to come soon...