Tôi tích con voi (I like elephant)

Aaron promised me before we started this trip that we would travel exclusively by elephant. While not entirely true, after three weeks on the coast we set out to make good on this promise heading into the less touristed south-central highlands. Many different tour providers attempted to discourage us from going alone but we found cheap bus tickets and couldn't resist. Turns out it wasn't nearly as difficult as they made it seem.

After four hours on a "local bus" we arrived in the unassuming town of Buon Ma Thout where we found the only decent hotel and the only travel agency. Having made arrangements we set out the next day with our lovely guide Tuan.


Together we made our way to Yok Don National Park near the small village of Ban Don. In the park we found a bridge.


We knew we were close when we spotted this evidence...


And finally we found the elephant!


We promptly hopped on and we have this video to prove it.



After de-elephanting we were introduced to our new friend Stuart. Aaron being ever formal managed a proper handshake. He was very excited.



We thanked Stuart for the ride and sadly said goodbye.


And because we assume your love of elephants is as insatiable as ours we have included this *BONUS* footage of another very hungry elephant we encountered later that day.

Hoi An Post Typhoon Post

Even before leaving for Vietnam we heard reports that the country was devastated by a typhoon. Upon arriving in Hanoi we met other travelers that had been evacuated from the south central coast and shared stories with us about the effects of the storm. It wasn't until we made it to Hoi An that we saw the damage first hand. For those that don't know, and we didn't really either, a typhoon is a strong "tropical cyclone" formed in the Northwest Pacific Ocean west of the dateline (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typhoon).

While on a casual bike ride outside the touristy part of town we found people cleaning up and getting back to life as usual.








And though seeing the bikes covered in mud made Aaron very sad we were happy to see the storm had not caused as much damage as we might have imagined.

Which Hue To The Mall?

After a relaxing stay in Halong Bay we hopped a bus down the coast and ended up in Hue (pronounced "way"). Hue was once the former Imperial City, home to generations of emperors, many pagodas and various temples. And while we did visit these sacred places, instead we bring you the Hue mall.


There were no tourists at the mall but we did see an impressive selection of rice cookers.


We also found the local supply of dope bicycles worthy of Oakland, California. (just in case you are not familiar with how they roll in Oak Town check this out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geIsWq5xOSE )


All this shopping made us hungry so we made a trip to the food court. As it turns out mall food is universally bad but they did have cold beer and working internet.

Halong Bay

With the noise and exhaust getting to us we left Hanoi for Halong Bay. These pictures speak for themselves.

Next up, we had to learn how to cross the street (some of you may have seen this already on Fb). First, it is best not to look both ways. The preferred method is to take a deep breath and begin walking slowly into the oncoming stream of motorbikes. This takes a bit of faith at first but after a while we became quite pro, even having locals follow us across the street.

Where you from?

Welcome to internet blog. I know we said we wouldn't do this but we couldn't help ourselves. There are just too many funny and strange things we wanted to tell you about. Furthermore, we do not intend this blog to be a comprehensive account of our travels, rather a collection of entertaining moments along the way.

Starting in Hanoi we found the locals to be quite fitness oriented. Mary spotted this lady doing her morning routine around Hoan Kiem Lake in the center of tourist district.