After leaving behind the more or less average beach town of Nha Trang, I continued north to the shopper's paradise of Hoi An City which is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This is where everyone (but me apparently) comes to buy custom made clothing. There are over 200 tailor shops in town that can turn out a perfect copy of the latest Armani suit or dress measured and fitted exactly for you....sometimes as fast as overnight! And the prices are dirt cheap. Since...

Although I haven't been able to verify it yet, I heard Nha Trang will be home to the Miss World Competion later this year...so I'm way too early to enjoy the scenery. However, the city itself is quite pleasant and coming back to warmer weather is good enough for me...although it's still not that warm yet! I was able to do some snorkeling in the South China Sea and explore around town on a scooter. Oddly, I have nothing noteworthy to report from this place or any ...

It's cold and raining here and the warm clothes are out. However, before arriving in the central highland town of Dalat, I passed through a small beach town called Mui Ne, so some photos are from there. The Vietnamese language is proving to be quite difficult. For example, depending what tone you use, the word ma can mean ghost, tomb, mother, but/which, horse, or rice seedling. How all that's possible I'll never know. My problems are much more basic. While on a...

Vietnam. It's strange to be here. Everything I ever learned about this place came from movies like Rambo, Apocolypse Now, Full Metal Jacket, and even Forrest Gump! It almost feels forbidden to be here for an American...until you see just how many tourists have flooded into this country. It's almost ridiculous. And compared to the days of The American War, things are quite peaceful and calm, except for the traffic. Ho Chi Minh City...or Saigon ...is absolute traff...