Con Dao Birthday Weekend

Last Saturday was Nikki's birthday!! We headed to the nearby Con Dao Islands for the long weekend to celebrate with seven of our friends. Our buddy Liz and I took it one step further, planning a surprise "Hawaiian Style" theme party on Saturday night – I'm talking fake leis, grass skirts, and umbrella drinks – we even got obnoxious orange t-shirts made to commemorate the event (I know, I know, exactly the kind of thing Nikki loves), which were deployed right off the bat at the airport. Though the hotel was a little "funky" (e.g. Liz and Sam had one of their beds reallocated to another room in the middle of the night), we had a fantastic time swimming, relaxing on the beach, and touring the tiny town. We made sure to have at least one meal at the swank Six Senses Resort, which reflected our newly acquired Global Elite status, if not our bank accounts. Our friends Huong and David made sure that things ran smoothly the whole trip (thank goodness!) and all our friends provided exceptional entertainment – I might die of laughter if I hear one more story from Joe… We got a little diving in, while our buddies Janell, Archana, and Liz snorkeled – plenty to see, though apparently the same beautiful full moonrises we were enjoying also meant poor visibility (we still saw some awesome nudibranchs). We even made time for a tour of the island's many prisons (seems there's a dark side to most vacation spots here!), which were used by both the French and Americans during the first and second Indochina wars, and are home to the notorious "tiger cages."  Yikes. The whole weekend was a total blast and I think Nikki even enjoyed her birthday (a few presents sprinkled here and there, as well as not fewer than four bouquets of flowers at home might have helped that!). Here are some more pics from the trip: https://picasaweb.google.com/evanwfox/ConDaoBirthday#

We are still going strong in terms of regional travel with some more fun trips on tap – Hoi An, Philippines, Laos, and China all coming up soon – woot! Stay tuned!