Rain, rain go away...

Hi everyone! It's been a crazy past week... I've been on and off of night trains, in and out of rain, and up and down the coast of Vietnam. We took a night train from Saigon to Nha Trang.n The night train was amazing! We all had bedding (which is apparently rare), and personal lights, and even a mini tv in the room. I slept like a baby. Nha Trang is a small-ish city with amazing beaches... (or so we have been told). We didn't have the chance to really experience what Nha Trang had to offer, because we were stuck in one, continuous torrential downpour! You wouldn't believe the amount of rain they got in just two days! I was sitting in a cafe having dinner with Sarah, and the rain started... 5 minutes later the entire street was flooded to the point that the sidewalk was flooded with 5 inches of water. There was no way that we could get back to our hotel without going for a nice little swim, so we waited for a break in the clouds, and sprinted our way back when we got the chance.

The food in vietnam is fantastic! Especially the baguettes... it's all I eat. I'm starting to think that's a real good idea too, because 5 or 6 of the people in our group came down with a horrible stomach flu... not pretty. A few other people had bad stomach issues too, but nothing to that extent. So I think the baguettes are safe... excellent!

We took a night train out of Nha Trang... and this time we weren't so lucky. I think that train came straight from the depths of hades. It was so disgusting! One girl in the group refused to touch anything, and got dubbed the name "princess". But I couldn't blame her. I tried to bundle up in my sleep sheet and pass the night sleeping... but we couldn't figure out how to turn out the lights in our cabin... so we spent the entire night blocking light from our eyes. Needless to say, we were pretty exausted by the time we reached Hoi An the next morning. We got there at 6am... so we had the whole day to kill. Most people were able to get a nap in, but I wandered around town with Nancy. It was so nice to be up that early and see everyone opening shop and getting ready for the day. The people in Hoi An are wonderful! They definitely know how to spot a tourist, too... they know exactly what to say... "You very beautiful! Buy something from my shop?" Hahaha. But I've found them to be really helpful... if I'm looking for anything, or even appear to be lost, multiple people will pull their mopeds over and ask me if they can help.

Hoi An is a really quaint town, with a ton of character and old world charm. Each building has a different architectural style and color. It's nice to be in a smaller city, where you don't have to dodge traffic to cross the street. There's still the occassional horn or crazy moped driver, but it's so much more peaceful here than in Saigon. We took a walking tour of the old city yesterday afternoon, and we were able to see all of the Chinese influence in their architecture and art. There is a beautiful bridge here, called the Japanese bridge, that crosses over a little river that runs through town. The riverfront is also really cute... there are a ton of little shops and cafes that line it, and make for the perfect tourist destination.

This morning we got up at 5:30am and took a bike ride to the early morning fish market. It was unbelieveable! Honestly, things that I have never seen before, and probably won't ever see again. And they eat them. They had toads, alive, crammed in all sorts of netted bags... and a man was cutting them open right there. All sorts of fish and sea creatures flopping everywhere. And thousands of people. The people just push their way around, trying to get to where they need to go. They carry fish on the head, trown over their shoulder, under their arms, on the back of mopeds, on carts... it's everywhere. At one point I stepped ankle-deep in a murky puddle of who-knows-what... and there was definitely a fish head floating in it. There is a girl in my group who lives in Australia, Catherine, but her family is Vietnamese. I followed her through the market and she was telling me all about the fish, eggs that still had birds inside (which apparently are delicious according to her), and all sorts of interesting looking fruits. It was nice to learn from her!

After the leaving the fish market, we went on a bike ride around the country side and along the river... it was absolutely gorgeous! There were palm trees and vegitation everywhere. We rode along a quite side-road, where villagers were just starting to wake up and make breakfast. It looked so peaceful. Then, before we could see it coming, the rain started dumping! We sped back on our bikes as fast as we could back to the hotel to seek shelter from the rain. Hopefully it clearns up by this afternoon! Out of all the places we've been so far, I'd have to say Hoi An is my favorite, or one of them. The people are wonderful and the town is great... I'm glad that we have a couple more days here. After this... we're on to Hue! Apparently there has been horrible flooding further north, especially in Hanoi... so I'm hoping that will clear up and we'll be able to get out and see what northern Vietnam has to offer! Cross your fingers. I'm always thinking of you all, and wishing that you could be here to see this with me. I hope you are all well!