lynn in love with vietnam: day 7 Nha Trang and Vin Pearl Land

um, yeah, VinPearl totally rocks my face off.

I love this place! It's hard to imagine such a place exists in Vietnam. It's definitely a 5 star resort experience in the most unlikely of places. It's located on an island off of Nha Trang, and we have to take a cable car or a speedboat to the resort. The island has a beautiful beach with soft sand, clear clean beaches and the green island peaks for its background. The weather has been mild here making exploring the place so pleasant. Besides the wonderful AC'ed buildings, one of the best part of this place is the Orchid Restuarant. We were so lucky to come at a time when there is a promotion and we are able to eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner for free! Oh my, at each meal, there is a BUFFET, a smorgashboard of yummy Vietnamese food that is all you can eat. Seriously, friends, I am STUFFING my face as we speak!

On Day 7, we had a wonderfully busy day both in the resort and in Nha Trang. First we visited the onsite Aquariam, which was fun and full of Asian fishies. They had all sorts of sharks, rays, and turtles. We then took TJ to the kid's waterpark, which in my opinion, rivaled Hurricane Harbor in Dallas. After stuffing our faces at lunch, we took a little outing into Nha Trang.

We visited this famous crop of rocks that lay in the water. I remember seeing several of my dad's family pictures in the old days on these rocks, and we made some family pictures of our own. (except without Tam-boy, miss ya!). I loved skipping around these large ancient rocks.

To round out our day, we visited a nearby natural spring to take a mudbath! How fun was this! The springs had a large facility that is full of tubs that they will fill with mud full of minerals. You literally bathe in it. You let it dry on your skin from the sun, and then wash it off. Seriously, it leaves your skin feeling silky smooth! They also let you soak in some natural spring water, but it was looking a little less than clean if you know what I mean, so we skipped that part!

Sorry for the pics ahead, I meant these blog entries to be a photographic account of the beauty of Vietnam. However, as much as I love Vin Pearl, it is not what we can call authentic. So you are stuck with a bunch of personal pics of my family and I!

on the tram that we have to take everywhere in the resort

if you are wondering about the haziness of these pics, its from the condensations on my lens from all the humidity!

the aquarium

mmm... crab

a pretty blue iguana I found walking to the waterpark

At the waterpark!

my parents are so cute

in Nha Trang, at the rocks

boys jumping off the treacherous rocks into the ocean

At the springs, spot that murkey green water anyone?

the mud seemed gross at first

but, we quickly acclimated!

mud wrestling?

lynn in love with vietnam: day 5 & 6 Bana & Nha Trang

Hi Dears... we lost internet for a day, but now we're in Nha Trang!

Before we left Hoi An, we visited the Ba Na mountain yesterday. We took the cable car ride to the top of the mountain... apparently this cable car hold the world record for longest and highest cable system! We were so happy to find the air at the peak of mountain to be cool and the view of the lush mountain and coastline to be be beautiful. The green forest was lovely. At the peak, they have also made a Buddhist temple complete with a very large white Buddha statue that can be seen from miles and miles away. When we returned to Hoi An, we were greeted by rain, a very welcome friend in that sweltering city.

This morning, we went back to the airport to come to Nha Trang. This coastal city was the home of my grandmother! We were taken to the Vinpearl, our resort for the next 4 days. Guys, this is like the Disneyland of Vietnam. Not only does it have a gorgeous beach, and multiple pools, it also boasts an amusement park, waterpark, aquarium, and shopping mall!

going up the cable car

the awesome view from the top

Day 6 going to Nha Trang

yes! that IS a lady getting her toenails clipped while selling us fruits!

on the way to Vinpearl!

lynn in love with vietnam: day 5 Hoi An

yay! Almost caught up on my blogging!



Today we visited the Cham Islands. This is a lush and green group of islands of the shore of Hoi an. We took a fun little speedboat trip to the islands. It was sweltering at the little fishing village, but we were able to take a dip in the cool blue ocean. The color of the Vietnamese water is a peacock blue and it's beautiful.

little boys swim naked here

two-fer silly sister picture

lynn in love with vietnam: day 4 Hoi An

Hello Dears! Hopefully I can catch up on my daily blogging of our awesome trip!

Day 4 was a busy day in hot, hot, HOT Hoi An. Hoi An is a lovely interesting international port, meaning it has influences from many other countries, mostly France, Japan, and China. We starting out with breakfast by the river. The Hoi An River feeds from the ocean and is only 6 km long. We drove into the city to explore. You can tell right away that this place is a vacation stop for both the Vietnamese and neighboring countries, mainly Australians. It's teeming with tourists who are all after their most famous service: custom made clothes.

Hoi An is known for their silk and skilled tailors. I was a little dubious about the quality of both the fabric and skill at first, but was amazed at their craftmanship! It was hard to pick which store to visit, but our tour guide, An Loc, advised us to go to Yaly. Yaly first showed us how they made their silk from silkworms. They then shuffled us upstairs into a hot, musty showroom, where we can browse through catalogs from clothes or design our own. We then pick out fabrics from bolts that surrounded the room. I was a little scared by the bizarre designs they had on display, so I ended up designing a simple little Anthropologiesque little shift dress with a flowered collar, and a blue vintage looking wool coat. A mere FIVE hours later, I came back for a fitting. Oh my, how I loved my pieces! The craftmanship was impeccable, and I now had two unique pieces that was custom made for me at a fraction of the cost in less than 24 hours, no less! I decided to also have a spring jacket made in pink Thai silk. My only regret, was that I didn't have more pieces made! Next trip I guess!

We walked through the rest of the "old town" that was rich with history. I forgot my camera at this point, so don't have many pictures of the town, but imagine French appearing buildings and narrow streets, except with Japanese and Chinese houses interspersed and Vietnamese motorbikes trying to run you over. It was quite quiant. As the dusk came, the other thing that Hoi An is known for came to life. The streets were filled with lanterns glowing colorfully against the purple sky. If you come to Vietnam, I would recommend Hoi An, absolutely, yes!

yes! those are water buffalos laying in the shade.

silkworms!they spin a cocoon of yellow silk
they then seperate the cocoons into threads!
i'm pretending to weave... it looks just like that scene in Wanted (horrible movie, i know)

we took a little break midday for a massage at our spa Zen! I think everyday, I'll post a silly picture of my sister and I!



ok, so alot of you have asked me to post picture of the food we're eating. Sorry guys, I'm not much of a food photographer, but I thought I'd indulge you a couple....

here is one of the crabs I found wandering all over our river...

...and this is what I had for dinner. cheers!