We spent the next day doing absolutely nothing... again! Eden Bar (below) was one of our favorite places for dinner.
At this point we were missing the dogs a lot. We saw this puppy on the beach. He was digging up crabs (white thing on right side of picture) and chasing them around the beach. We were thrilled to see that puppies act the same everywhere!
In case you hadn't gotten a grasp for how remote this island was...
A few days later we headed back to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). We stayed overnight and then caught a very early flight to make the trip back home. This is an example of the lovely traffic in Saigon and Hanoi. It is CRAZY.
FAQ:
Q: How did you cross the street?
A: We usually tried to walk next to a local but, if not... you just have to walk at a constant pace and they will swerve around you.
Q: How long did it take to get there?
A: About 28 hours total. We flew from KC to Chicago to Hong Kong to Saigon. It was quite an interesting flight path. We actually flew over the North Pole and saw some amazing views of Siberia. Ambien was our friend.
Q: Was it hot?
A: It was about 95+ degrees in the South (very humid) and about 75 degrees in the North
Q: Was it difficult to understand people/ did they understand you?
A: The only place we had difficulty was in taxis but, we just wrote down where we wanted to go and we got everywhere just fine. We took more guided tours than we normally would but, we were on a tight schedule and we were unsure of the language barrier.
Q: What is the currency?
A: The Dong (no joke). The exchange rate at the time was about 17,000 dong to the dollar. It is a little disturbing to take 2 million dong out of the ATM but, that is just over $100 dollars.
Q: Was the food good?
A: We had some great meals and some average meals*. We really prefer more flavor in our food (like Thai) but, Vietnamese food in general is a bit on the bland side. Breakfast was sometimes difficult... they eat Pho for breakfast everywhere. (*note: don't eat airport food)
Q: What were the domestic planes like?
A: We flew Vietnam Airlines for all of our domestic flights. The planes between Hanoi and Saigon were 747s that were nicer than our United flight to Vietnam. We took a small prop plane to the island.
Q: Did you ever feel unsafe?
A: Nope, they loved us. Especially Stacy's hair and pale skin. They all cover themselves from head to toe (including gloves) so that their skin stays fair. You always seem to want what you can't have!
I think that is about it. We had an amazing trip and would highly recommend it for any of the more adventurous travelers out there!
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