what day is it today?

There is no sense of time or days here and I LOVE it!!! If we didn't have to give notice when we wanted to leave for our next bus ride, we would certainly lose ourselves in the craziness of this all.

Randy and I woke up at 5:45 this morning and took motorbike "taxis" to Sinh Cafe to hop on the bus to our first destination on our open tour: Mui Ne. This place is supposed to be one of the most beautiful beaches in VN, and while it's overcast and sprinkling at the moment, it is quite amazing. Moreso, it's been great to leave the hustle and bustle (smog, cigarette smoke, litter) of the big city, and give my bro and his fiance some time to breathe before my parents arrive in about two weeks. We have been so insanely fortunate to have our own translator and locals in Duyen and Derek, and we didn't quite make the connection that we would be on our own as we make our way up to Ha Long Bay and other northern destinations. Have no fear, we are super psyched. This place is funny too, all the menus are translated with German descriptions, not English. We seem to be the only US folks here, surrounded by Euros smoking their cigs looking miserable despite pretty nice temperatures (compared to HCMC!).

Oh yea, don't let me forget that we went to the rock wall in HCMC where Derek climbs and got to get a little climbing in. They have those typical Entreprise walls and holds, but they were probably about 10m (check me out, I've gone metric!) which exhausted me, but it wasn't my fitness that kept me down...it was the HEAT, omg. I never climbed in that kind of heat, and I actually climbed sans tshirt (don't worry, I had a sports bra on) I also met an older couple from Seattle who were climbers (they have a house in Squamish!!). It's always comforting to get a little climber-talk in, as it has been a while :)

Anyway, Randy and I are going to go sit under an umbrella and drink some fancy drinks. Then we're going to a pub to watch Sunday(?)/Monday(?) night football. Apparently the Steelers are playing the Ravens and they are playing it here...I don't watch football in the US, and it feels pretty wrong to immerse ourselves in the only American outlet they have here, but whatever, it's a pretty touristy town. Hell, we're listening to Bob Marley and Bob Marley only in the beachside bar.

Pics will follow maybe later today or tomorrow morning. Got a couple shots of some of the food we've eaten today (not nearly as amazing nor as authentic as the food we were able to sample in HCMC but I'm just nerdy enough to want to take pics of everything).