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  • For the next two days we are doing a tour of Ha Long Bay, so here we are aboard our

  • ship. Our lovely home at sea. So we're going to give you a tour of the place.

  • Lounging on the deck. How are you enjoying the view? Ah, they're okay.

  • So we've been doing lots of activities while we've been at Ha Long Bay. There has been

  • kayaking and exploring caves and this morning we are spending a bit of time at a private

  • beach.

  • Okay, so Sam you are revisiting Ha Long Bay for the second time, yes? Indeed, I am. Okay,

  • so tell us what has been your favorite part this time around and how has it changed? Well,

  • it actually hasn't changed too much. This tour is quite similar to the one I did before.

  • Previously, I did a three day tour. This time we're doing only two days. Two days I think

  • is plenty. We've done a lot of different fun activities. I've just enjoyed being on the

  • boat with all of the gorgeous scenery and the karst mountains.

  • Well, this has been my first time to Ha Long Bay so obviously what has impressed the most

  • has been the scenery because it just looks out of this world. It is unlike anything I've

  • ever seen before. I've really enjoyed just hanging out on the top deck reading a book,

  • checking out the views and also the food aboard has been really nice.

  • And next we're going to show you our room on the boat.

  • Hello. Cabin fever. Okay, we've been here maybe half an hour and it is already messy.

  • I blame it on this person. No, this person.

  • Here we are just biking through the streets of Hoi An.

  • Here we have our little ticket for sightseeing around Hoi An. The way it works is that you

  • pay six dollars and you get a ticket that grants you access into five different historic

  • sites around town and you just show up at the entrance. They snip off one of these little

  • tabs and you're good to go.

  • Here we are at the Japanese covered bridge. It was built in 1593. Construction on this

  • bridge began on the year of the monkey and finished on the year of the dog and for that

  • reason one side of the bridge is guarded by a monkey and the other by a dog.

  • Here we are at the most popular pedestrian bridge in town.

  • I'm standing here at a small square and this is where a lot of fabulous performances take

  • place - especially at night time.

  • We are at Quang Dong Assembly hall. It's a place of worship for the Cantonese community.

  • Up next we are visiting the Assembly Hall of the Fujian Chinese. This place now acts

  • as a temple to the Goddess Tian Hao who is from the Fujian province in China.

  • Today we are doing something that I've been wanting to do ever since we got to Hoi An

  • and that is shopping.

  • There are said to be over two hundred different tailors just in Hoi An alone.

  • This is a city where you come to have your clothes custom made. You can get dresses,

  • shirts, suits, shoes, pursues made and they can copy the latest designs. You just have

  • to show them the magazine with what you want and they'll recreate it for you.

  • Shopping for clothes - especially dresses - is not my realm of expertise.

  • We're going shopping.

  • Having fun changing over there. I'm having trouble getting into my dress.

  • Oh, it looks nice. Do you like it? It feels like the right size.

  • This is dress number two. How do you like this one? It's got flowers. It is nice. I

  • can do a little smaller. Maybe a little smaller in the back.

  • It's a good size for you. Do you like it? I do. Yes, you like all three of them?

  • We are staying here two more days. Two more days? What are we having done right now? I'm

  • getting my dresses made, so that they fit me properly.

  • Where are you going now? After here, we go to Hanoi. It is very far away.

  • So we are just waiting here for Audrey's dresses to get some minor alterations done on them.

  • Were they too big or too small? They were a little too big on me but I am so excited

  • for them to be ready.

  • I'm quite pleased with my purchases. I ended up getting three dresses and I probably could

  • have gotten more because the lady just kept pushing me to try this one, try that one.

  • She really wanted you to get that forth dress. Oh yeah, but we had to cut it off at three.

  • Overall, we paid eighteen dollars per dress plus a slight discount and that included alterations

  • and everything.

  • So a little tip for anyone who is think of going shopping in Hoi An. I would say just

  • walk around the different streets and see what the shops have to offer. See what kinds

  • of styles you like and then go into a store and don't be afraid to bargain a little and

  • ask for different patterns and different fabrics. They can make anything you want.

  • Today we are biking out to Tra Que which is a little village. We're going for a special

  • organic meal at a restaurant that grows its own vegetables and herbs.

  • Oh, wow! Can you hear the sound of the water.

  • This is Sam on the Waterwheel. You're a natural. If this isn't fun I don't know what is. You

  • should move out here and take up farming.

  • So this place is amazing. It's like a little organic oasis where they just grow different

  • herbs and vegetables. Everyone is farming and it is so peaceful and quiet and it is

  • beautiful. Look at all of the flowers around this.

  • We have a very special drink here. It is called the water wheel drink. It's made with lemon

  • basil seed and ginger. Let's take a sip of that. It tastes very healthy. In a good way

  • or a bad way? In a pretty good way. Okay.

  • Tra Que is a small farming community village located two kilometers northeast of the Ancient

  • Hoi An town area.

  • We just came here for dinner but if you decide to visit this village you can also work with

  • the farmers for the day, you can take a rice paper making class or you can take a cooking

  • class.

  • If you've been following along with our recent food videos you probably have noticed we've

  • been having these pancakes a lot and they are delicious. I have to say that the presentation

  • of these ones down here looks the best.

  • So these here are the best country pancakes we've had. What I really like about them is

  • that they are not as oily or greasy as the other ones. They have a little bit of a fluffier

  • texture.

  • So this lovely presented dish is called three friends and there are three friends right

  • in my hand. We have shrimp, pork and vegetables wrapped around. Pop that in your mouth. Friendly?

  • I've got some good pals in my mouth.

  • These tres amigos are almost too pretty to eat.

  • Thank you. Easy.

  • So here we have our colorful papaya salad and I didn't realize it was going to be this

  • big. I started to think we ordered way too much food. Are you kidding me? With me here?

  • Too much food? I'll take care of that.

  • Well to sum up this meal I can honestly say this is the best dinner I've had since I've

  • been in Vietnam. I absolutely loved the dishes. You could just taste the freshness in every

  • single dish we had. The prices were really affordable. The portions were generous and

  • it was cooked really healthy. Nothing was greasy or too oily. It was just absolute delight

  • to come here and eat.

  • I definitely agree. I think the long bike ride out here was definitely worth it and

  • it is nice eating in such a quiet and peaceful setting just being surrounded by the farm.

  • So we highly recommend it if you're in Hoi An.

  • Hello! We are on a little raft and just cruising down the Mekong Delta.

  • I'm loving the conical hat.

  • How do you like your hat? I need a hat of my own. We should be wearing this back in

  • Canada. What is wrong with people?

  • There is a little traffic jam over here.

  • Hello. Tip Tip?

  • We're doing a three day tour of the Mekong Delta and this is day number one and we just

  • started off by sampling some tea with honey and few little snacks. Now we're doing a little

  • paddle boat adventure down the Mekong.

  • Today we're in Saigon one of the most hectic and chaotic cities in SE Asia and we're going

  • to show you the main attractions.

  • The best souvenir to take back home - weasel coffee. That is coffee that has been pooped

  • out of a weasel in case you were wondering.

  • It looks a little bit like an O'Henry bar.

  • There is a lot of exotic things you can buy in Vietnam. Nothing more so than snake wine.

  • We also have some very cool chocolates over here in the shape of conical hats or you can

  • get your own durian chocolate.

  • Our first stop today is the War Remnants Museum in Saigon. This museum chronicles the war

  • from the perspective of the North side.

  • We just finished visiting the War Remnants Museum and inside it is divided into several

  • different galleries. I would say that the most impacting gallery is the one that focuses

  • on the results of Agent Orange. Agent Orange was a defoliant used to get rid of the leaves

  • in the jungle, so that it would make warfare easier but the thing is that the toxins effected

  • people decades later, so someone who had been exposed to the toxins when they were twelve

  • years old when they had children at twenty five most of those kids were born with deformities.

  • Thousands of people in Vietnam are effected by this.

  • We're here at Thien Hau temple dedicated to the Goddess of the Sea. Many years ago this

  • is where people would have come to pray for protection for a long sea journey.

  • Over here they are burning the used incense.

  • So the spiral coils that you see burning up there are actually incense sticks and they

  • burn for three months, so if a family wants to have good luck they come to the temple

  • they write their name and date of birth on a little ribbon that is attached to the incense

  • stick and it just burns there for a few months and you're lucky the whole time.

  • Next up it is time to go shopping at the Binh Tay Market. Let's go see what we can find.

  • The market is a bustling hive of activity and you can buy just about anything here.

  • I wait for you.

  • We have some very forceful saleswomen over here. One lady grabbed onto my arm and was

  • pulling and she would not leg go of me because I wouldn't buy a silk scarf.

  • We are now visiting the Reunification Palace. This used to be the Presidential Palace for

  • South Vietnam and it is stuck in a time warp. It has been left to look exactly the way it

  • did when the North stormed through on April, 1975.

  • This is the Notre Dame Cathedral in Saigon and it is a very easy landmark to notice because

  • it is made out of red brick.

  • And if you happen to be here at the right time you can even join Mass.

  • Our last stop of the day we are visiting the General Post Office in Saigon and normally

  • a post office wouldn't be a main attraction but this one was designed by Gustav Eiffel,

  • the same guy who built the Eiffel Tower.

  • The old phone booths have been turned into ATM machine stations.

  • Although it is a main tourist attraction it still does function as a post office.

  • And that concludes our grand tour of Saigon and we hope you enjoyed it.

  • Well, our time in Saigon is over and we're now taking a train to Nha Trang for some beach

  • time. Yes. And that is going to make one of us very happy. Who would that be? Oh yeah,

  • I just love the beaches. You'll get lots more freckles. I do. I need more. I don't have

  • enough.

  • We have been eating local foods the whole time we have been here. Check that out. That

  • is so Vietnamese. What is that? I think they may call that pizza. Iced cafe?

  • I've got my favorite treat here - Vietnamese iced coffee. I paid 15,000 Dong for that which

  • is about seventy five cents. Is it ever good. It is made with condensed milk and it has

  • copious amounts of sugar. Take a big sip.

  • Better than an Iced Cap from Tim Hortons back home. Okay, aside from the ice cap I think