DESK WARMING!!!!

Grr!!! I should be singing school out for the summer but instead I'm singing to the tune of desk warming. Desk warming is where native English teachers have to come to school and sit at their desks for eight hours (YES EIGHT HOURS!!!). At public schools there are around 4-6 weeks vacation in the summer and 6-8 weeks vacation in the winter for the students. During these vacations, teachers have summer and winter camps, but they do not run the entire vacation period. So when there is not a camp we the teachers have to sit at our desks for EIGHT HOURS! There is only so much T.V. and Internet surfing one can do.

Trip Summary

Here is a run-on describing our vacation:

Landed in Malaysia, boy it's hot and humid; love it! much better than the Korean cold; found the airport bus, only 8RM; arrived at Reggae Guest House 2, small room but not bad; Batu Cave's!!! Batu Cave's!!!, jump on bus; oh look at the giant gold statue; walk up a huge set of steps; just missed Thaipusam; beautiful offerings; Latanya watch out for the monkeys; super cheap and delicious lunch; check out the Petronas Towers; man I thought they would be bigger, still big though; still humid; let's check out the city; ooh there's a national Mosque; Latanya, "I gotta where what?", a burqa; but you look beautiful; it's sooo clean, they must have to sweep every day; Malaysia is so multi-cultural; Malay food is delish; flight to Cambodia, we have no idea what to expect; flying, the country side looks so nice and peaceful; picked up on a tuk tuk; check in; straight to the temples of Angkor; AMAZING!!! wow this place is so huge; you mean we can climb on, in and around the temples, sweet; no thank you we don't want any water, tuk tuk or postcards; did she say 30 postcards for a dollar; man I am tired from all that walking and we had a ride; let's rest; time for Khmer food; oh this is a great surprise, we will have to come back here tomorrow night; time to see the town; you mean that's it, we saw it all; back to eat some more Khmer food, still great and cheap; no postcards or guide books thank you; OK I will buy you dinner, wait who are all your friends? sorry too many friends; tuk tuk back to hotel; it's time for a bus ride; these roads are really narrow; I don't think this one and a half lane highway is made for buses, tuk tuks, cars, motorbikes, bicycles, cows, and pedestrians all at once; I feel like my knee is in my lung; the country side is very poor; simple houses; those cows look too skinny; the land looks too brown, I guess that's the remnants of years of war and the dry season combined; six hours later arrived in Phnom Penh; hustle and bustle; hire a tuk tuk to the killing fields; hey he has an American flag on his tuk tuk, oh, it's upside down; that could mean a number of things, but more than likely it's in protest; so we are from Canada; killing fields, ridiculous; Pol Pot, genocide, crazy; look at all those skulls; how depressing; back to the city; look at these palaces, do you remember the country side; city life her is fast; so many motorbikes; bus to Vietnam; border crossing, we beat all the buses behind us; wow, immigration was easy; back on the bus; six hours of a bus ride we are in Ho Chi Minh formally Saigon; and I thought there were a lot of motorbikes in PP, this place has it beat; reunification palace, well this is an interesting take on the war; War Remnants Museum, war is horrific; why in the hell was the U.S. in Vietnam, oh that's why; it's a bit different from our history books; did that really happen; let's walk around the neighborhood; man the weather is so perfect, warm but not too humid, Cambodia was much dryer; let's have some Pho, mmm this is good; no, Latanya don't drink that, it has ice! oops; time to fly to Hoi An; hey this guy keeps shaking his legs next to me; oh I think he has never flown before; he's like 30; wow it is his first flight along with 20 other Vietnamese on their feet to look out the window in amazement; arrive in Da Nang let's take a metered taxi to Hoi An; bad idea with the meter; check in and go get a suit made; let's shop around; boy Latanya is in heaven, custom tailoring everywhere; the town is so quaint; got our order for suits, shoes, dresses, shirts, skirts and blazer; let's try some more Vietnamese food, mmm it's so good; wait, 20 cent beer!!! oh yeah! time for a fitting and another fitting and yet another one; hey we look great in these clothes; strolling on the streets of Hoi An is so relaxing; power outage; what about your blazer; good you got your blazer, barely; time to fly to Hanoi; brr; more motorbikes; how do we cross the street, just like Frogger; to Halong Bay; wow this is truly an amazing sight; it sure is cold though, I thought we left the winter; back to Hanoi; walking around the city is a difficult task; time to check out Ho Chi Minh himself; he looks like he is sleeping; wow look at his neck, cool; that was interesting; let's check out the palace and the surrounding grounds; everyone is setting up for Tet, the Vietnamese new year; time to fly to Singapore; this place is too expensive already; this place is so clean, why? because you get a caning for graffiti, ouch; Singapore Sling, it feels like my wallets been slung from my hands; chili crab, it's OK, too much for what you get on the street corner; this pillow does smell like mold; let's just sleep in the lobby, OK; time to fly to Thailand, yeah!!! ooh Thailand is even more beautiful than I remembered it; oooh the heat feels good on the skin; Phuket town, is this it; let's go to the beach; wait how much for the ride? you said 40 Baht not 400, oh well; this beach is crowded but the water is nice; this is a great fusion, Green Curry Pizza, championship; ferry to Koh Lanta, one transfer and five hours later, where is our free tuk tuk transfer? this is our hotel? wow it's perfect, on the beach; the beach is so secluded; Thai cooking class; learned a lot; we just made that; mmm I missed great Thai food; that was easy we can do that at home; thanks for the private lesson; back to the beach; eat; beach; what do you mean you don't sell alcohol from 2pm to 5pm? drink and eat; sleep; eat; beach; eat; beach; eat and drink; beach; sleep; walk; watch out for the dogs Latanya; eat; beach; eat; beach; eat; drink; wait, ooh free T-shirts! wait, what about our free T-shirts? Snake blood and scorpion juice!!! yuck, not too tasty; sleep; walk; beach and eat; ferry to Ao Nang; that beach looks crappy, maybe it's better at midday; check in; this hotel is nice; Sun is very helpful; oh my, look at all those bugs, let's move tables, good idea; long tail to Railay; I could get used to this; watch out for the monkeys Latanya; I swear I don't see any fish, trust me; ahh, look at all those fish; they are only babies; getting a little sunburned now, but I don't want to get out; Latanya, to snorkel, your head has to be in the water, nice try though; long tail back to Ao Nang; hey man, stop hitting me with that hammock, gosh; let's get some good Thai food; the Massaman Restaurant is the best; 80% spicy please; the next day 100% please, perfect; time to go back to Phuket Town; time for another Green Curry Pizza and another to go; this hotel is not too bad, except the mosquitoes and that cockroach the size of California; Super Bowl time at the Roxy Bar; mmm Bloody Marys; Chad stop talking; did Bill just go throw-up? yeah; touchdown!! game over; good times guys, take care; time for another pizza and one to go; flight back to KL; one more look at the Petronas Towers; I still thought they would be bigger; flight back to Korea.

Well that was our vacation!!! Only three more weeks in Korea and then on to our next adventure.

Thailand Part IV

Back in Phuket town. We were familiar with the area by now. We had another couple Green Curry Pizzas and chilled on our patio. Later that night we had a visitor. The visitor was quite unexpected. Thus far we have had really good luck with accommodations (except Singapore). As we were watching TV there he was, moving up the curtain, looking straight at us. It was the largest cockroach I have ever seen!!! It was the size of Latanya's head! Normally Latanya might be brave enough to kill a bug and if I had to I would have. But this was an impossible feat. We asked the front desk to take care of it. There was no way that I would try and tackle that mutant of a bug. The small little Thai woman was equally shocked at the size. She did not hesitate and swept it out with a broom and pan. She apologized and that was that. By now it was time to get some shut eye. We had to get up at 5AM to see the Super Bowl.
Most people who know me, know that the Super Bowl is like my favorite day in the world. It is my holiday. There was a bar opened up all night for the occasion. It was called Roxy Bar and the owner was Nuno from Turkey. He just got into American football so he had to host a party at his bar. For $8.00 I had all you can drink Bloody Marys. Talk about championship!!! Latanya stuck with beer and the drinks that were bought for her. There were about twenty of us total. About half were just travelers and the other half were local foreigners. There was Chad from Alaska that kept talking Latanya's ear off, cool guy though. And there was Bill who would buy us a drink every quarter along with the rest of the bar. Keep in mind most of these people have been up and drinking since the night before. It was a classic atmosphere and we had a great time watching a great game. I had no preference to either team so the outcome was just fine. After several hours of Bloody Marys, Red Bull and Vodkas and Beer, Latanya and I were ready to get another Green Curry Pizza for lunch. We made sure to pace ourselves on drinks. We had a flight to catch. We got back to the hotel and checked out. It was time to say goodbye to Thailand. Thailand is honestly our favorite place. We will definitely be back and we can't wait.

Thailand Part III

When we arrived in Ao Nang it was the afternoon and the beach did not look too nice. The tide was low and it seemed more crowded from Lanta. Our hotel was further up the road from the beach and was nice. We really enjoyed our time there. The owner, Sun was so nice. It was great talking to him. We were able to learn about what it takes to own and run a hotel. His family owns it and he runs it. The place had only been open for nine months. He said there was lots to do. Ideally Latanya and I would love to own a small hotel of our own in Thailand. That would be a dream. You never know. We pretty much chilled out for the night.
The next day we took a long tail boat to Railay. The Ao Nang beach looked much better in the morning and was already busy when we left. Railay is part of the mainland too however because of the drastic steep cliffs the beach can only be accessed by boat. The beach was pretty crowded but the water was amazing. I borrowed a snorkeling mask from our hotel and looked around for a bit. I could honestly swim all day and all night. The water felt so great. If only the California Pacific felt this good. After a day at the beach we went back to Ao Nang and went to a reggae bar. They had a live band who played a lot of familiar cover songs. It was a great atmosphere. We made friends with their promoter. He had long dreads and was super friendly. We hadn't really done a night out on the trip so this was a nice change.
The next day Latanya did a spa and I just chilled on the beach. It was great to be relaxing. Our trip was coming to an end. That night we went back to a restaurant we ate at the day before. They had the most amazing dry spicy curry. The day before I had it at 80% spicy and that night I went for the full 100% and it was so good. Any more spice might have killed me. Not only was the food great but it was also cheap. We ate there for breakfast the next day too. After breakfast it was time to head back to Phuket for the night.

Thailand Part II

In order to get to the island of Koh Lanta from Phuket we needed to take a ferry. The boat we took was about an hour and a half to Railay beach where we had to change boats on the sea. Both boats came together and we made the transfer. The next boat took over two hours and landed us at the harbor on Lanta. We were told that we had a free transfer to our hotel but all we could see were annoying taxi drivers charging ridiculous rates. Luckily a nice woman offered her help and arranged a free ride to our hotel. The island of Lanta is quite large with several beaches running along the west coast. Our beach was further to the south about three fourths of the way down the island. Our hotel was small. The grounds consisted of only nine rooms. The room was nice enough but the view was amazing. The hotel was right on the beach. For the next five days we were to be beach bums. We ate beach side nearly every day and night.
We took a cooking class at Lanta Thai cookery school and made some amazing Thai dishes. We learned how to make Green Curry and it's curry paste. We also made Tom Yam soup, Panang Curry and Phad Thai. Our teacher was such a great chef. We took the morning class and because of this we were the only students and had a private session. It was great just to talk to our teacher one on one. We learned about how he got into cooking and about his family. He taught us a lot about Thai food and culture. Everything we made was made fresh and grown on site. Even the coconut milk was made from the trees right outside. Because we made four dishes each there was no way we could eat it all. We took it to go and saved it for lunch and dinner. We were really surprised how easy it was. We can't wait to experiment when we go home.
Most other days were spent in the water and on the beach. We would wake up have our complimentary breakfast, omelette, toast, jam, fruit, tea and juice. After that we would take a dip. Then we would lounge under our umbrella. After that repeat several times until our afternoon nap. Our beach was often quite empty looking. Most other hotels were as small as ours. We felt isolated from the world. The only western anything was a 7/11 about a 15 minute walk away. The island of Lanta was much to our liking, seclusion and relaxation. At dinner time we would try a new restuarant.
The last night we ate on some axe pillows on the beach. The waiter told us after dinner to grab a free shirt at the bar. We were excited, a free shirt. We wondered what the shirt could possibly say. Perhaps it said Koh Lanta or maybe our beach or perhaps the restaurant's name. When we finished our meal and drinks we walked up to the bar in antticipaton of these free shirts to discover they were not free shirts afterall. Instead we were offered free shots. Big difference. We were laughing so hard because we were seriously discussing these free shirts for the past twenty minutes. We each had a different shot. Latanya had a shot of scorpion and spider juice. Which was a tequilla tasting liquor. There were about three scorpions maranating in the bottle. One of which was huge. I had a snake blood shot, which was a rice wine with snake blood mixed in it. It tasted like cough syrup with tequilla and Jagermeister. It was not tasty but surely an experience. The next day we were going back on the ferry to Ao Nang.

Thailand Part I

The all nighter wasn't too bad. I managed to get a few minutes of sleep here and there. Our journey to Thailand was much anticipated: we were really eager to get back to cheaper living. Singapore was a little too rich for our blood. In Phuket we took a bus to Phuket Town. Phuket town has a little charm in it's older buildings but it wasn't anything special. We were using the town as a starting point for flying into Thailand. When checked in we immediately wanted to go to sleep however we could not go into our room until two. It was still 11 am at this point so we went for an early lunch. We wanted to dive right into the Thai food so we to a local restaurant recommended in our guide book. On display were about 15 dishes with their names in Thai. Latanya asked the waiter for the spicy dishes with 4 dishes to choose from she chose a chicken dish. We were so excited to try an exotic Thai meal. The food was tasty it had the right amount of spice and coconut milk.  We washed it down with a  Singha beer. So excited about trying food that we picked at random, Latanya asked what the name of this exotic dish was. The waiter responded, chicken curry not exactly an exotic  dish in Thailand. Boy were we happy to be back in Thailand. The weather was quite warn and felt so good. It was easy to forget about the Korean winter. 
At two we went to our room and didn't leave until the next morning. We only had one more night in Phuket so we wanted to see a beach. We took an overpriced taxi to Patong beach and chilled out for the day. The beach was nice but overly crowded with tons of Europeans sunbathing. The water was magnificent. Later that night we had green curry pizza which was to die for and walked through the Phuket town night market. The next day we were to take a ferry to Koh Lanta to get some real beach living. 

Singapore...Singapore

We awoke bright and early to catch another early flight. Enjoyed a hearty complimentary breakfast of omelettes, bacon,  sausage, fried rice, spring rolls, dumplings washed down with water, tea, coffee, and apple juice. Checked out of the hotel and headed to the airport via the Asian Ruby Hotel van. It's amazing how a $12 taxi ride can get you to the airport in 45 minutes. By now we have the airport check-in routine down or so we thought.  At different counters we both got stopped by immigration, the officers wanted to take an extra look at our passports. They said my picture did not look like me and they questioned the authencity of Dan's passport. With the line growing behind us and 5 minutes of nervously waiting for clearance we were cleared. The flight was about 4 hours long and not fully booked so there was enough room for us to strech out and get comfortable. 
Landed in Singapore, hopped on a bus, onto a train into the city, and walked about 10 minutes from the stop to our hostel. We saved money by booking two beds in a 16 bunk bed room. Checked in and headed into the city we were able to see a lot of Singapore's main sites: the Opera house, Singapore river, the Marina Sands hotel, Singapore flyer, etc.  Singapore is a clean, multicultural, modern, expensive, and heavily regulated city. There were two main things we wanted to do drink (Singapore sling) and eat (chilli crab).
First stop was the Raffles Hotel Long Bar the home of the Singapore Sling. The signature drink was created by Ngiam Tong Boon a bartendar at the Raffles Hotel in 1915. The Raffles Hotel is an upscale establishment that charges $20 per drink. After budgeting for the last few weeks we decided to splurge a little. The drinks were delicious and came with complimentary salted peanuts that you can throw the shells on the floor when finished eating. So I figured the $20 would be going to something useful like the clean up crew. 
Next on our list was the search for chilli crab. Chilli crab is a famous dish in town. We first saw them on Top Chef at a hawker center (a open center food court where inexpensive food is sold, the food is safe and inspected by health inspectors) and we were so excited to try them. The first center we tried had no chilli crab I asked an employee in the train station if he had any recommendations. He was extremely helpful and called around to get information for us and recommended a seafood restaurant. We took the train to the restaurant and ran into a talkative older man who told us there were hawker centers in the area. He also told us how Singapore maintained its orderly societey. He said, Singapore is a multicultural city that is extremely clean and it's maintained by the government enforcing heavy fines, jail time, caining, and public embarrassment for offenders. While he was telling us this story I almost passed out from hunger pains. We parted ways and looked for the seafood restaurant which turned out to be too expensive and kept looking for a hawker center. Finally we spotted a center that sold chilli crab.
In a big fish tank live crabs moved around as the owner picked out a 2 lb 3 oz crab for us to eat and disappered into the kitchen. A few minutes later he returned with a big plate of chilli crab and shrimp fried rice. All the build up I had to eat the chilli crab and it was just OK. I know Dan really enjoyed it. I was expecting a spicy fiery chilli crab but the taste was more sweet and tangy. The meal was overpriced $31 for eating on the street corner in plastic chairs with no table cloth or napkins. Slightly disappointed yet full we hopped on the train and headed towards a touristy area. We walked through many different cultural districts of Singapore trying to avoid going back to our 16 room bunk bed room.
The envitable can only be postponed for so long I tried doing multiple things on the Internet to pass time till I felt tired. Finally, I mentally prepared myself to go bed I turned on the light in the room to find my bed and woke some people up. Sorry but I didn't get the bunk bed room memo. I laid on the top bunk for 5 seconds just enough time to smell the moldy sheets that was long enough for me to pull an all nighter. The main hall of the hostel has a big couch Dan is asleep and I'm writing on the blog 2 more hours to go.                                                     

Vietnam- Part III

Before heading to the Da Nang airport we arranged a ride with our hotel. At this point Vietnam has been great. The only downside to the country is that they do try to ripoff tourists. Even our hotels. For example the hotel tried to charge us $15 to the airport according to the South East Asia on a budget book we knew the cost would be cheaper finally settling on $10. The same thing happened in Hanoi. The hotel started at $20 we bargained them down to $12. A warning before traveling is to know what services cost so you have an idea of what you should pay. Luckily we researched and did not lose out on a lot of money.
We arrived in Hanoi and were shocked by how cold it was in the low 60s. After speaking with many locals they said this was the coldest it has ever been but it was funny to see them dressed up in hats, scarfs, and gloves. We took a mini shuttle bus into the city due to traffic it took almost 2 hours. The driver also tried to scam us from a ridiculous $6 to $2 dollars each. Motor bikes were all over the road. We could not decided which city was worse Ho Chi Minh or Hanoi.  
We walked to our hotel from the shuttle drop off point. It only took about 15 minutes or so. Our hotel was in the middle of the Old Quarter. The quarter consisted of small streets with lots of action. There were motorbikes wizing past you left and right, while rickshaw drivers hollered at you..."ride..ride", and the locals squatted at curbside resturants watching passers going by. Hanoi was a rather large city with a few good sights to see. The main attraction for us was the Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum. Ho Chi Minh's body is persereved in a floral wodden carriage covered by a glass case. Just like Lenin and Mao, anyone can visit just no talking or pictures. Security was obviously pretty tight.  I have alreay seen Lenin I knew what to expect but Latanya did not. It was an eerie experience, the body of Ho Chin Minh was well preserved with an extremely pale face looking like he was in a deep sleep. Next door to mausoleum was Ho Chin Minh house on stilts, where he lived and worked from 1958 to 1969.    
The other must see was a day trip to Ha Long Bay. The bay is famous for it's dramatic natural wonder. It consists of around 1600 islands. All of which are absolutely beautiful. The islands had dramatic cliffs and caves. We took a four hour tour by boat. The weather was quite overcast however as we went out to the bay we were able to see perfectly. We visited a floating village and went into a couple of caves. The day trip was great. The sheer sight of Ha Long Bay made us just fall in love with Vietnam even more. 
While in Hanoi we definitely only needed the two full days we had there. We were getting a little tired of the fast paced streets. They take a lot out of you. Our next stop is a short trip to Singapore.

Vietnam- Part II

Our trip to the airport was an early one, a short flight but long enough for a nap.  The flight left at 6:45am arriving in Da Nang, Vietnam around 8. Our destination was Hoi An ultimately we decided to take a metered taxi into the city...bad idea. It cost about 17 dollars for a 30 minute ride...lol. At home that's a great deal but in Vietnam thats a whole lot of money. The drive to the hotel was alongside a developing beach side community fit with casinos, condos, a Greg Norman golf course, and several 5 star beach hotels.
We arrived at our hotel and checked in right away. The hotel was a brand new boutique hotel about a 10 minute walk from the city center. The boutique hotels in South East Asia are a great deal they are the median between hostels and hotels. Also they have all the bells and whistles of the pricey hotels including free breakfast for $15-$20/ per person.
One of the big reasons for coming to Hoi An was to get some tailoring. The ancient little town is known for great tailoring for cheap. Our first stop was to take a look at some recommended shops and get some quotes. After about three hours of looking and inquiring we decided on the first shop we went into called A Dong Silk. We felt their qualitity and customer service were a perfect match for our needs. It would have been easy to settle for a taloired suit for under $50 however you get what you pay for. I ended up getting two suits and a tie for $170. Latanya got three suits with pants and skirts as well as two shirts for $400. Latanya also got some custom made sandals, the sales person traced her foot on a piece of notebook paper and in 24 hours she had three pairs of sandals.
The next couple of days were spent doing about four fittings and a lot of strolling around. The small town of Hoi An was quaint and rustic. It was really charming. The people were very friendly and welcoming.
We had some amazing food like, Cha Mia, Banh Bao, Banh Vac, Hoanh and Cao Lau. All the food we have had in Vietnam has been just great. So after all our fittings and adjustments our suits were finished the day before we left. All together five suits and two shirts took a total of two nights and two days. Our shop did such a fantastic job. We definately would recommed them. Like I said before you can easily find a cheaper place but for the piece of mind, the quality and the service was impecable. We have added a bag each along with our backpacks now. Well our next stop is Honoi. It will be our last destination in Vietnam. 

Vietnam Part I

We akwoke the same way as we did the prevous day. Quickly grabbed breakfast and then waited for our transport to the bus. However this time was a little different. The transport was 30 minutes late. Not knowing when our bus is coming or even where to catch the bus we were quite frustrated at this point. Latanya asked the reception lady to call the company twice but her response was they were coming. But when? After a few more minutes passed she called again and the same answer, but when? A taxi arrived I asked if a taxi was picking us up and she said no. Latanya asked the taxi driver but he did not speak English very well and shook his head. We waited some more, and so did the taxi driver. He called his boss and the receptionist called the company. We were about 20 mintutes from departure and extremely nervous. Not wanting to miss the bus we headed for the taxi which turned out to be the transportation we were waiting for.  The driver frantically drove us to a group of buses. 
We tried to get on the first bus but the driver said no, it's not our bus and points to the bus behind his. We try to get on the second bus but this driver points to the first bus. In complete frustation we head back to the first bus, the driver points to a random bus ticket office. However there are several offices, which one? He just points again. So we start showing our tickets to everyone and they all say no. Finally one lady says yes tells us to get on the first bus. We tell her that the driver said no. We try again and again he countines to say no. Not taking No for an answer we go back to the lady and she says yes that's the one. Finally she talks to the driver and we are able to get on the bus! 
Once on the bus we realize that it's rather nice and full of mosquitoes. It's practically identical to the airport bus we take in Korea. We departed on time and headed out of the busy city. We tried to take a nap here and there to catch up on some sleep but due to the poor road conditions and constant honking we were unsuccessful. It was about a 3 hour drive to the border. Just before the border was a mini Vegas we almost forgot where we were. All the passagers had to get off the bus to go through Cambodian immigration to exit the country. We got back on just to cross the border and then back off to go through the Vietnam immigration to enter their country. We were one of the first buses to pass through so the whole process took around 20 to 30 minutes. After we finished several buses started to pull in. What great timing!
As we drove to Ho Chi Min city we noticed the country side was a little different than in Cambodia. Vietnam appeared to be less rural, with less huts, and more concrete structures. It probably took another hour and half to get to the city. Once we made it into the city limits it took another 40 minutes to get to where we were going. We were looking at the chaos of the city. We thought Phnom Pehn was congested, but HCMC was far worse. Unlike Cambodia Vietnam does not have tuk tuks, instead they have taxis. The amount of motor bikes were astounding. The streets were just filled from curb to curb of erratic drivers. As we continued to drive through the city Latanya was reading a street sign and I quickly asked her to repeat it. She did and I said this is our street. Sweet we could just get out here. The driver had been letting off passengers throughout the city, no problem right? Well he said no. What? NO? No, you open this door now, that's our street. No. We were so mad. Finally after argueing for 3 blocks he let us out into frogger like traffic of motor bikes. Once safely to the curb we walked back to our street and found our hotel easily. Our hotel was the best yet too bad we couldn't stay longer. 
We checked in and then hit the sites quickly. We saw the reunification palace, a giant pagoda, and the war reminants museum. All were educational but educational in the sense that you can see how a government can control what is learned in history. It was all very anti-American. We already knew that it would be. 
After walking around some more we had some delicious Pho and the strongest Vietnamese coffee that was great with the first sip but the after taste was extremely bitter. Afterwards, we headed back to our hotel. We planned not to spend too much time in the big cities like Phnom Pehn and HCMC because we wanted to spend time else where. The next day we were off yet again. This time we were flying to Da Nang, Vietnam to go to Hoi An.