Since I wrote last, I have racked up an additional 1,000 km on my motorbike. More than half of that was on trips to Kat’s village and to the beach of Mui Ne near Phan Thiet, which is 200 Km east of Ho Chi Minh City.

Mui Ne is great- very relaxing and quiet. The beach itself is not the most beautiful in the world, but I prefer it to Nha Trang because there you are constantly hassled by vendors. We got a nice little bungalow with a view of the ocean. We had three full days there and I could have easily stayed another two or three days just chilling out. Our next beach destination will probably be the island of Phu Quoc, although we are also considering going to Siem Reap to visit Angkor Wat. Both are just over an hour away by plane.

I had my first motorbike wreck on the way to Phan Tiet. This boy on a bicycle came out onto the highway without even looking and I just couldn’t swerve in time to avoid him. He was unscathed- not even a scratch! I was dazed and shocked afterwards, but luckily our injuries were minor. Kat bruised her knee and I scraped up my forearm. It was painful, but it could have been a lot worse. The bike sustained minor scratches and a bent mirror, but otherwise nothing serious.

Before we went to the beach we had two days of bureaucratic hell as we started to do the paperwork for getting married. Getting the affidavit of single status at the U.S. consulate was relatively simple, but getting them to accept the Australian translation of my birth certificate was a bit trickier. I got really frustrated with the whole thing, but in the end we got most of it done before we left and Kat wrapped up my end of the paperwork this past Monday. Now she needs to go to her village and do all the paperwork needed from her end before we can go for our medical and psychiatric tests. Simple.

I started my new job this week, so I’m back to the dreaded 40-hour workweek. My schedule will be flexible enough to allow me to go home for lunch and a siesta though, which is nice.