Wow...Done.

I'm sorry for the lack of Vietnam pictures so far. As I mentioned, we went pretty fast and I never got a chance to upload photos. To make up for it, here is a boatload of pictures, starting in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon), the old southern capital.

I snapped this from the bus real quick--notice the swastikas going up the pillar on the right side of the frame.

Remember, before Hitler warped it for his own evil purposes, the swastika was just a Buddhist/Hindu symbol meaning "well-being." The Thai word for hello, "sawasdee," is derived from the swastika. It's even frequently put on wedding invitations in the Eastern world. I think that's just the touch your invitations were missing, Becky and Sarah.

If I'm a bird, I'm not going anywhere near these powerlines:

Some delicious Pho, a traditional Vietnamese noodle dish with vegetables, steak, and an egg.

Aaron overpacked a bit, but what he lacked in packing discipline, he made up for with hustle and determination.

Vietnam's beloved Communist revolutionary, Ho Chi Minh:

He successfully led the resistance to end decades of French rule in Vietnam, becoming the first president of the independent republic of North Vietnam in 1954. He later created the National Liberation Front, nicknamed the Viet Cong, to fight the US-backed South Vietnamese government. He died in 1969 and his body STILL lies in state in the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum (see much further below).

Below are a few pictures from a museum that in 1975 was called The House for Displaying War Crimes of American Imperialism and the Puppet Government of South Vietnam. It was later changed to The Museum of American War Crimes, and then finally became The War Remnants Museum as relations between our countries mellowed.

Deformed victims exposed to Agent Orange, a defoliant the US dropped all over Vietnam:

A room showing supposed international support for Vietnam against the Americans during the war.

We later got a ride to the Cu Chi Tunnels, which was a famous tunnel network used by the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War (called the American War by everyone outside the US, by the way). This was one of the tactics the US Army didn't expect and had an almost impossible time defeating. The VC and local villagers lived in the tunnels for weeks to months at a time.

One of the many booby traps that proved deadly to some of the 60,000 US deaths.

They were selling real US soldiers' dog tags at the souvenir shop for $5 apiece. I wondered if these guys were alive and if their families would want these.

Heading north along the coast...

Some fresh grilled lobster in Nha Trang for $8. It was my first time eating lobster, and I gotta say it was pretty good.

In Hoi An, almost halfway up Vietnam. This old lady was one of many selling playing cards, water, and other misc. crap. She looks like one of the top ten sweetest grandmas in the world.

Aaron and I got some cheap, high quality, tailored dress shirts and jackets made at one of the 200 tailor shops in Hoi An. They can make just about anything you want. I got 5 tailored dress shirts and a sports coat for $110.

Hue, Vietnam.

After two weeks, we finally arrived at our final destination, Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam. It had a much quieter vibe than Saigon. I'd heard the North Vietnamese weren't as friendly as the South, but I didn't see a huge difference. We had a terrible hotel experience our first night where the manager shut off our internet and air conditioning because we didn't book our boat tour through them. That was the only example of hostility I encountered.

There are no tuk-tuks in Vietnam, only motos that you hop on the back of. My driver and I decided to switch hats for fun. He was cool.

Where the locals get their hair cut...

Where I got my hair cut...

In Hanoi they have the amazing tradition of brewing their own beer at every corner. It's called Bia Hoi, it has no preservatives, and it tastes great. Oh, and it's TWELVE CENTS/PINT!!! $10 would get you 83 BEERS!!! A week here and your beer belly will quadruple in size.

Seems like a barbershop, but is actually a dentist office. If you're scared of going to the dentist in America, imagine going to this guy.

The Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. Thousands wait in line every day to glimpse his body for about one minute total. No cameras are allowed, and you can't put your hands in your pockets. It was creepy in there.

Look how nice our POWs were treated, according to the Hoa Lo Prison Museum, known to Americans as the "Hanoi Hilton." They could play ping pong, smoke, drink tea, and were even given toothbrushes! Another display case showed nice winter sweaters they were given. Guess our POWs were mistaken when they talked about all that violent torture stuff.

During our stay in Hanoi, we took a two day, one night boat ride through the amazing islands of Halong Bay (about 3 hours east of Hanoi). There are just under 2000 of these gigantic rock outcroppings in the bay. It's a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and it's beautiful. These pictures don't do it justice.

My future vacation home:

A fishing village.

Can you imagine living out there? One girl on our boat saw a family hold a whimpering dog down and slit its throat. It's true--dog is NOT man's best friend in Vietnam.

I don't have time to describe our seedy boat ride around the bay, but I'll just say we ended up jumping 25 feet off the top of the boat while it was moving to protest them not letting us swim. They turned the boat around and got us, but they were pissed.

That concludes Vietnam. Here's my last night in Bangkok:

My plane from Hanoi to Bangkok arrived a few hours before Aaron and Emily's, so I was in charge of finding us a place to stay. Nice to see the King again.

We had decided to go for a nice place with a pool in the huge backpacker explosion that is Khao San Rd. It's not exactly an authentic Thai experience, but we'd been there, done that and were just looking for some fun.

Shortly after arriving at the hotel, I heard my name called. Another guy named Kevin and his friends from England, who we had hung out with in Saigon two weeks earlier, were checking in at the same place! It's such a small world. We all had a great dinner and told stories from the last two weeks. We went up north through Vietnam, while they had gone west through Cambodia. It's just crazy that we all arrived in the same place at the same time.

I even ran into a lady who sold me a wooden frog souvenir my first week in Thailand. She tried to sell me on one again, not recognizing me of course, so I showed her a picture of herself and said I already had one. She laughed, thought about it for a moment, then shook my hand and said "Thank you."

After dinner, Aaron, Emily, and I went to the nicest mall in Bangkok, Siam Paragon, and saw "Transformers." The British crew wasn't quite as excited about it, so we said our goodbyes and parted ways for the last time. After the movie, the three of us went to a fun bar with live music and had some Chang Beer on draught. I was feeling a bit melancholy to be leaving, especially sitting around all the partying backpackers, many of whom were just beginning their trips I'm sure.

That brings me to the present where, with just five hours until departure, I am blogging for the last time. Despite the sadness I feel in leaving this amazing place, my poor mosquito-bitten feet, complete with a broken sandal, are definitely ready to walk me onto that plane.

Thanks for following along with me on my trip. I really appreciated all the comments. I'm signing out...goodnight from Bangkok.