travel time!

First stop Buon Ma Thuot. Land of coffee, and farms and hill tribes.
I learnt to roll spring rolls, and deep fry them.
Rode a motorbike.... after my clumsy efforts in the driveway (but, to be fair, it IS pretty hard for anyone to ride a motor well in that tiny space!) it was unanimously decided that we should go to a big empty park where the likelihood of someone dying was significantly less. I didn't do too bad, but it is much harder with someone on the back!

I got invited to join a new family and become daughter number 6. But only after I ask my parents permission to join a second family.

The next day featured a trip to the local museum. It was interesting. A whole section was dedicated to proving that a couple of groups of islands should belong to Vietnam, not China. Apparently China is trying to claim that the islands being to them, because between the islands and Vietnam is a whole lot of oil. So Vietnam has gathered any proof possible, like letters to kings discussing trade and Chinese atlases.

tripping out to some waterfalls, they were nice enough reminds me how perfectly lucky we are in north queensland. Before we left, I asked if I should grab some swimmers, Chung explained that it is much, much to dangerous to swim. So I am picturing something like the crystal cascades, masses of water, and undercurrents.

It's a fairly big waterfall, and a nice big, slow pool of water. I started questioning why exactly this is so very dangerous? Apparently the dangerous was actually just because Vietnamese people as a whole tend to not be able to swim. At all.

I don't understand how, they all live next to the ocean, or in the mountains with rivers and lakes.

The waterfall was nice enough, but way nicer was a walk up a deserted looking path to a beautiful calm river, with crystal clean water and people snail collecting for a lunch time bbq.

The next day we met up again to go to a traditional village, Chung was very excited to take me to this village to see how people live traditionally. Half way there (it was an hour's ride away) I started thinking.... I don't really feel super great. annnnndddd projectile vomit. After getting rid of breakfast I felt quite good, and they were so excited to show me the village, that we kept on going.

Once we arrived.... I started feeling less great again. especially after taking one look at the "village" which was like some sort of theme park. but instead of rides, or anything interesting..... shops, all selling the exact same scarfs, wooden nick nacks, ice cream cones and various other anything they can attempt to hock to tourists.

The main attraction was bamboo walkways that you pay for access to. They were actually quite nice, and for $2 to a westerner ok to walk along the bridges under giant trees and over a wide river that cools down the air a little. These bridges led to a island with a stage and singing, I think there was some sort of traditional dancing, a restaurant and some elephant rides.
I choose to just find somewhere reasonably quiet and lie down while the others enjoyed lunch. This lie down was interrupted by a group of teenagers coming over to take their photo with me. After a lie down I managed to vomit some more, and then get back to the hotel on the back of the bike to lie down and have a rest!