Vietnam was beautiful, but i can't prove it....

Gangs
Originally uploaded by mtstaffa.

Well im back, and im alive. (that sentence becomes more relevant later). We (a friend from Canada) and I went to Kuala Lumpur for 2 days and that was great. Really clean city and beautiful buildings. We almost got scammed by the taxi driver into town who *against our will* gave us a 90 min tour of the city and then tried to charge us. Well, i almost exploded, demanded to talk to his manager (we "chatted" a few times in the course of 90 mins) and we ended up getting a "discount" on the taxi ride.

Then Vietnam. Wow. That sums it up. Good wow or bad wow, im not sure yet. Ho Chi Min (Saigon to everyone there) was insane. It truly is a third world country. Shacks for houses, rubbish in the streets and rivers. I took pictures of this. But then there were beautiful communist "offices". These were massive. The whole communist thing was everywhere. The hammer/sicle logo was everywhere. I took pictures of this. We saw a communist police force pull over a truck. Their pull over routine was a bit unique. Imagine a truck with 6 green uniformed commies in the back bed with large bats speeding down the road blowing whistles until they come up to another truck and the 6 of them lean over (not in any form of safety harness mind you) and proceeded to beat on the cab of the truck until it started. I took pictures of this.

We then went to the War Museum (formally know as the US Atrocities Museum...but they changed the name a few years ago). That was insane. I took pictures there. We also went to the Viet Cong tunnels, that was really interesting. Yes, they were small. The entrance to the tunnels were the size of a school notebook. Really, but the entrance we went in was widened for "westerners" to get in. It was amazing the Americans could not find the tunnels with the large Gift Shop adjacent to the tunnels. We also got to fire some guns on a range. That was fun. Dad you would be proud. I shot a M1. My friend took pictures of me shooting.

Then the main part of the trip, we went to Mui Ne to sit and do nothing. Mission accomplished. In the span of 5 days, we probably didnt walk more than 500 yards. Our room opened to the sandy beach (we payed the extra $1 for this). The weather was great. Food was dirt cheap. (i avoided chicken Mom). Here is what i had one night for dinner: (oh and i took pictures of the food)

Steak and Rice
Cheeseburger and Fries
3 beers

Total bill: $5

Then we went back to Ho Chi Min to fly home. That night we went to a restuarant no more than 100 yards from my apartment. I got tired and went home before my friend. It is at this moment i become (hopefully temporarily) a dumbass. As i am walking into my hotel "relieved" of my camera containing 294 pictures of my 10 day vacation. I did not take a picture of this incident. I can only imagine it was by the people in this picture. (that i did not take)