GOOD MORNING VIETNAM

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Travel Nightmare

After a full days traveling and sending a blog that was self replicating (sorry about that) we finally arrived in Ho Chi Minh City aka Saigon. Unfortunately our baggage wanted a days shopping in Hong Kong so decided to check itself onto a later flight and meet up with us later. As we were tired and annoyed not to have any luggage we headed straight from our hotel to the local Chabad House in order that Steve could cheer himself up with a meat fix. Even though exhaustion was setting in there were a few necessities required ie a change of clothes, so Jan headed into full shopping mode walking through the market bartering with all of the stall holders...just for fun, although Steve was convinced the baggage would follow and only let her buy 1 top as the hotel provided toiletries.

Motorbike Diaries

The first thing we noticed about walking through the streets of Saigon (yes they really do call it that still) was the noise and pure volume of little motor bikes. They are everywhere sometimes with whole families on them at a time! Whenever they seem to do any type of maneuver they toot their horns. This can get really annoying and we want to stop them and shout that the only thing that should be tooting is their bums!

We decided for our first morning to go and visit some pagodas and then museums in the city and the best way to do this was to hire a couple of the motorbike taxis. So taking our lives in their hands and crossing everything from our fingers to our eyes we took a motorbike tour of the city. Although scary at first we soon learned to relax. After about 3 Buddhist pagodas we headed to a most unusual attraction listed in the Lonely Planet - a park where locals go to, where the entrance is guarded by creatures made out of plates, bowls, spoons and anything else found on the dinner table. Finally we headed to the War Remnants Museum, showing the worst atrocities of the war.

No Happy Endings

On the way back to town we were walking to the central market when we saw a crowd of identically dressed Vietnamese women in Brown polka dot dresses. Taking a closer look we realised it was a barbers shop, and as Steve needed a haircut we asked the price and was told it was equivalent to 1GBP. Thinking that we were about to be ripped off we decided to enter anyway. Upon sitting down a bevy of good looking women surrounded Steve to apply a cold cloth to his face, back of neck and had his arms cleaned ,was then offered a drink which Jan happily accepted and as the stylist was busy the woman proceeded to while away the time by giving him a head and shoulder massage. When he was having his haircut the lady moved onto give Jan a massage as she was feeling left out. Meanwhile another couple had arrived and he went to have his 'hair washed' around the back and was gone for a good 20 minutes, needless to say his wife was not pleased, as she was not sure where he had been, but the saying is that he had a Happy Ending to the hairwash! Steve turned down his offer of a Happy Ending by refusing to have a 'hair wash and shave'!

Mekong Delta

We woke up early the next morning to take an overnight trip to the Mekong Delta. We spent a lot of the first day on several buses and boats but had several stops, including to see the making of coconut sweets, honey tea and inlaid lacquer works. Later on we went exotic fruit tasting as well as suffering through traditional Vietnamese music. Our evening was spent in a small town on the delta, giving us a chance to compare the larger Saigon to its country cousin.

The next day we went early to the local floating market. Unlike in Thailand where it is very touristy this is actually for the locals, although they do get regular tourists visiting. After spending about 2 hours on the delta we went to see how rice noodles were made by local families. They work really hard to make very little.

Sleeper Bus

After returning from the Delta we took a sleeper bus to Nha Trang. This bus is normal sized, but instead of seats that recline there are 6' beds on two levels - a row by either window and one in the middle with an aisle on either side. It is extremely bizarre to look at but surprisingly comfy which was good as we would be using this method to get all the way to Hanoi.

Nha Trang

Having a surprisingly good nights sleep we found a hotel and booked to go on that mornings one day island tour. During this trip we visited 4 different islands where we either snorkeled, swam or just played beach volleyball. The highlight was undoubtedly just after lunch when 3 of the crew formed a band and played for us whilst we sunbathed. This was then followed by 'Happy Hour' where they had a floating bar and all of the cheap red wine that you could drink. This bar involved one of the crew sitting in a life ring in the sea with several bottles and pineapple with us sitting in other life rings holding onto him or other drinkers generally relaxing in the sea.

The following morning we headed to the beach for a few hours before heading to the local market to buy the extra bag that we would need for all of the things we were seeing and wanting to buy. After honing our negotiation skills further we headed to the main Pagoda of the town in the shadows of the GIANT seating Bhudda. As we were tired we headed back by motor bike taxi before an early dinner and another sleeper bus to Hoi An.

Hoi An

Upon arriving in the town we took the easy option and settled for the first seemingly nice hotel we came across. Big mistake we should have insisted on going into the town centre as the hotel was a long way out. Once there we booked a tour to My Son the remains of 13th Century temples which were bombed during the Vietnam War. Once the tour finished in the afternoon we decided to look for a new hotel for the following night and then headed to the shops!

Lets just say Jan enjoyed herself, and made one shop owner very happy! Although she is still looking for more things to buy!!! She says she has been good for 4 1/2 months, I say hold on another 3 weeks!

We walked back to our hotel and realised just how far it was not only from the centre of town but the edge of the old city. When checking in the manageress stated that if it was longer than 5 minutes walk then we would not have to pay. Even with his long legs Stephen could only do it in 7 from the edge of the old town, so we decided to challenge her claim. Lets just say she was not happy and proceeded to tell us to leave her hotel, when we asked if we could call another one she told us there was a power cut. Upon reaching our room 30 seconds later the fan, lights and TV all worked - funny power cut! we could not reach an agreement with her, so paying for the tour she booked we left and struggled with our bags into the centre of town in 30 degree plus heat and found fresh accommodation in close proximity to the shops.

Unfortunately for Jan the shops close early, and by the time we had finished dinner they were shutting - crocodile tears from Stephen!

Today we are going on a Vietnamese Cooking Course before no doubt shopping some more and then catching a bus tomorrow to Hue and then onto Hanoi.

So long for now

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