Travel planning

Back in my room I spent hours trying to put together the rest of the trip. What to do, see etc. I need to go to Dong Hoi and get up to Phong Nha-Ke Bang national park and do some guided trekking. There's lots of caves and jungle here. I'm tempted to do the two day trek where I sleep in a cave but I can't fit it in. I'm going to use Oxalis guide service for the Tu Lan one day excursion--check it here:
http://oxalis.com.vn/tour/tu-lan-1-day-experience/
But the logistics is complicated. I put together some rooms in the area since most places are full.
I figured out the train system and how to get a ticket online. The viet website is nice but it wouldn't take my credit card. I googled stuff and found out about Bao Lao. They get me my ticket for a small fee, and they take my card. Hope it works. The train leaves from Da Nang at 1030 tomorrow, arrives in Dong Hoi at 1700.

I went ahead and bought a plane ticket from Dong Hoi to Hanoi for the 13th. $79. Cheap.
I haven't made any plans for Hanoi yet, but I have some hip pocket plans on returning to the States. I don't think I'll be able to fit Guam in this trip. I'd just rather spend any extra time I have here in Vietnam since I'm here anyway. I'd like to get away from the touristy areas more so we'll see. I'm looking forward to the train ride and seeing the countryside go by. It will travel through some battlegrounds on the way to Dong Hoi, including passing through the old DMZ. Everything is rebuilt and recovered so they're just places on a map now. But it will be good to see them nonetheless.

Yum.

Finally got some good viet food from the list. I saw a couple rats on the patio running to and fro, but the food was tasty! $11.50 including the Coke, and that's high end!

Bike ride down an alley

This is cool. Lots of people have their 'front porch' on the alleys. You don't see many scooters on them.
Click to view video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVsQvIrNsBM


AJ

Hoi An alleyway

There are a lot of tiny stores where they sell goodies. My typical buys are Coke Zero, Oreos, and potato chips. Weird flavored chips tho: instead of barbecue or sour cream, they have beef, shrimp, and fish 'flavor.' I usually just get the plain salt flavor. Vietnamese Diet Coke ("Coke Light") has almost no flavor, and Diet Pepsi had even less. I don't know why or how it's made different. But Coke Zero is great. Hard to find tho. Most people drink Coke there I think.
This old lady ran one store. She was nice but didn't speak any english. She taught me to carry a pen and paper to write down prices of things so there isn't any confusion. I gave her an Oreo.

Bike ride

I had to stop and do this panoramic. A young girl was practicing the piano in her tiny house.

Click to view video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-1FAFZDab4


AJ

New Year celebration.

The cars don't seem to care. These kind of things were going on all around town.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7ExkDTbtNQ


AJ

Super Bowl Monday!

8 Feb 2016

(It's a day ahead here) Went to the Pub in town. It's run by an American and an Aussie. It's called 3 Dragons. A bunch of tvs with the game on starting at 6:30 AM. They have a nice theater room too. Lots of people there for the game.

Architecture

More pics of the old buildings. Some are over 100 years old.