Since we left Siem Reap it has been a beach-a-thon. We started in Sihanoukville, Cambodia. The place is being developed by Russians but it would be hard to notice. The beach we went to (also the most popular) was called Serendipity. We thought it was crappy. There were tons of run down bars/restaurants that completely took away from the beaches appeal and the people selling stuff come by the heards and refuse to leave you alone. I can't say we did much other than beach, go to the casino, get our visas organized for Vietnam and ship some stuff home. Cambodia itself is a nice country. I don't know if it merits spending a long time travelling there compared to Thailand or Vietnam but Angkor Wat is worth the trip and the people are super friendly. There is also an excellent wine selection at almost every convenient store and restaurant with most on the cheap. Laura was in heaven!
From Sihanoukville it was an 18hour bus ride that felt like hell to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). The border was smoother than anticipated. One of the bus guys took all of our documents and did it all for us to speed up the process. We made it but I ended up with a busted neck that kept me in bed for a day and our spirits were all a little damaged from the trip. We told Kristen that $60 (the cost of flying) sounded quite similar to $16 (the cost of the bus) when you say it fast enough. You can see that didn't work.
Busy is an understatement to describe the traffic in Saigon. We found our hotel Red Sun, had a bite to eat and a nap before venturing to the War Remnants Museum, the market and around. The war museum was really neat to see because it was from the Vietnamese perspective. The market was not that great compared to the others we have seen. I think the biggest attraction is watching how many motorcycles there are and how hard it is to cross the street. The advice we were given was don't run across, just walk and the bikes will go around you. Sounds much easier in theory. 
From Saigon it was back to the beach. We took a 5hr bus ride to Mui Ne which was very nice and clean. Our two nights turned into four nights at Austria-Vietnam House. An excellent find on the beach with rooms/dorms where we met a great New Zealand couple who we hung out with a whole bunch. With them we did a day trip to the 'Fairy Stream', a very picturesque hike along a river to a waterfall that was not as spectacular as the walk itself. From there we drove to these amazing sand dunes where we attempted to toboggan but found jumping off the peaks much easier. One afternoon we splashed around in the water on body boards and played some beach volleyball. Most nights we went out to Joe's for live music and beers or the ladies cut a rug at Wax's. But the main highlight to this area are the burgers at Joe's cafe. I am salivating just thinking about it. It's one of those 'Worth the trip to Mui Ne' kind of burgers. 
From there we bused to Nha Trang, a more popular developed beach area. The beach was super clean and there are a lot of hotels, restaurants and shopping. We were recommended a place to stay and a place to eat by the New Zealanders and they were bang on. We stayed in Thang Bom hotel on a back street which was in a good location. From there we went to a restaurant called Texas BBQ. 5Hour smoked, homemade BBQ sauce, all imported from the US from an ex-pat with the hots for Kristen, which was ok because he bought me a beer for some reason and not Kristen.
The next day was a lot of fun. We went to the beach and rented a Hobie catamaran. It was pretty windy and like usual the renters are a bit sceptical asking me about my experience etc. It was a blast. We got soaked and ripped around the bay and the wind kept getting stronger and stronger which made it more and more fun. I sailed upwind for an hour and a half and we covered the same distance on the way back downwind in 15 minutes. Just before getting back to shore my grand finally manoeuvre was to jib around to line up with the beach. However, just as I did that there was a gust of wind and a wave that put the nose of the boat so far under water that it reached the mast. The girls let out a scream and got jolted a bit but we came out laughing and smiling. I haven't had that much fun sailing in years. The next day we went back to the beach so I could give kiteboarding a go. It is fun but technical and needs quite a bit of training.
Today I am writing while cruising north on a train in our sleeper cabin which if you asked Laura it is more like a creepy cabin, but it beats sitting on a bus. We are on our way to Hoi An for a few days.
Mui Ne
The Burger
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