Good Morning Vietnam

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So after the gong show border crossing just before Ha Tien, we get back on the motto's and are suppose to be driven to the bus stop, about 5 minutes down the road, the lead motto pulls over a minibus, and it (happens) to be going to Rach Gia where we need to be to catch a ferry over to Phu Quoc Island. We board the minibus and are charged $5. Most of us pay straight away as this whole event has been confusing. Azahara, a little more on the ball than us was skeptical about the whole thing, and rightfully so. She felt that $5 was too much, but like sheep we had already placed all our bags on the minivan thinking we were lucky to get a bus so quickly and had paid, so she had little bargaining power to remain on the road. Reluctantly she gets on the bus, pays the $5 and no sooner she points out that the sign, right in plain sight of us all said “30,000 dong” the equivalent of $2. This would anger anyone, not so much that an extra $3 is a lot, but out of principle that we had been lied to, and taken advantage of strictly because we were tourist, and had just arrived. I know we were stupid, but hey that’s also not the point. One advantage on our side is that we had the whole bus to ourselves, but the driver continues to stop and pull over to pick up other locals on the way, we refuse to let any sit in our (already paid for) extra seats. Azahara makes a point on letting everyone that gets on know that they had charged us more than double and that is why we will not co-operate, most just laughed and continued talking to each other and giggling. What a mess. OK so my first 2 hours in Vietnam were a complete mess and our first impressions of Vietnam is looking bleak. We all hated the country so far.

We arrive in Rach Gia only to find out that there are no more ferries until the next day. We send two of the group out looking for cheap accommodations while the other 5 sit and watch the bags. This method works well as a couple people go looking for a room, and not having to take their big bags, have better negotiation power, as they are not tired, hot, and sweaty. Also more ground can be covered. After a while Azahara and Tegan return and have found clean and affordable accommodations. We check in and go out for some dinner and cool down from the heated day.

The following day we catch the ferry over to Phu Quoc Island, with the help from our guesthouse. Ok so not all Vietnamese are bad. We’re all getting a better impression on the country with the start of a new day. Of course our minivan driver on the island tries to take us to a few expensive places, but eventually leads us to an affordable spot right on the main beach. Igor and I share a room, Anton and Azahara share, and the three girls share a room. It ended up working out perfectly, the daily cost for the rooms was about $5 each, and you could hit the ocean with a rock from your balcony. The beach was clean, and the place we were at served food, beer, and whatever else you needed. We all relaxed for the rest of the day, and planned out next few days.

The first full day on the island we rented 4 motto's and drove around, (ok we got lost for a bit), we went to some remote beaches, drove across most of the island, and saw a lot of nice scenery. Igor ended up getting a flat tire, but that wasn’t hard to get fixed. We went for a swim on a beach where a local guy creepily took pictures of the girls in their bikinis. I thought it was funny, but he also wasn’t taking pictures of me. It was also funny that he didn’t even try to hide it. On the way back, I didn’t get to see it but I heard Chelsea wiped the motto out with Shannon on the back. Sounded like they were going slow, but I still thought it was funny.

The following day we returned the bikes and booked a boat trip for the day. The trip consisted of fishing in the morning, in which the captain and a cook fried the fish up as we caught them, a lunch, and then the rest of the afternoon snorkeling. On the way to the boat in the morning we inquired about the cost of beers on the boat, they were 20,000 dong each!! Not happening, we got the driver to stop at a village on the way, and I hopped out and bought 48 beers, a cooler, and some ice for $200,000 dong, this added to the bottle of sweet rice wine we already brought in our bag. Not a bad deal. Another guy on our trip followed suit, and he also bought 24 beers. Needless to say it was bottomless beers all day. It ended up being the 7 of us, the one guy that also bought beers (in his 50’s) and two flight stewardesses from Porto Rica. I’m ashamed to say that Anton and I were the only two who didn’t catch any fish, and for as often and as much as I love fishing, I found this devastating.

The afternoon went amazing, the sun was out all day, and everyone on the boat was getting along extremely well, we were diving and doing flips off the roof of the boat, and snorkeling around some of the nicest islands I have seen, all of which had no-one or very few people living on them. On one deserted beach we stopped at had a rope swing, and I was pushing Shannon on it as high as I could get her to go when it suddenly gave way, she toppled over to the side, and slammed into the sand, everyone who was watching let out a gasp, my heart hit the bottom of my stomach, and then she busted out into laughter, whew, everything was ok. We then got a few guy together and a few girls and tried to make a human pyramid in a few feet of water. The closest we got was three guys on the bottom and two girls on the top, the final girl on the very top was more than our drunken state would allow. We finished the boat trip off with a trip to one last beach by van, where Chelsea made poi of a scrap piece of rope and two pop cans filled with sand, and entertained us for a bit.

Later that night we all met up at our place on the beach and had a big buffet style seafood dinner. We partied for a bit, and I remember skinny dipping at one point during the night. I believe this started as a truth or dare thing? The following day we nursed our hangovers, sun burns, and caught a plane over to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City).

We arrived in Ho Chi Minh City and found a place to stay using the tried and true method explained before, except this time it took a while before the designated people found decent accommodations, but they pulled through. The only down side was that Igor (a very big man) and I had to share a queen sized bed. Worse things have happened. Later that night Igor and I found a night club of stunning proportions, it had two distinct areas playing different music. It was like being royalty walking into that place, bouncers would open the doors for you, there was no cover charge, and the place had been done up very nice. We didn’t stay long but it was very nice.

The next day we did the walking tour of the city and saw some historical buildings, the War Remnants Museum, and the Central Market. Ho Chi Minh City is much more modern than I remember Cambodia, and way cleaner. There are nicer cars on the roads, and the whole place seems to have less poverty, at least where we went. There were also way more motto's on the road, and even the thought of driving there was scary. Because of time restraints we didn’t end up seeing the Cu Chi Tunnels, but rather caught a night train over to Nha Trang.

The night trains in Vietnam are an excellent way to travel; we got on at 11:00pm, and arrived in Nha Trang at 6:00am. We booked the first class sleeper bunks, and they are very comfortable. Unfortunately we ended up partying most of the way and didn’t fall asleep until 3:00am, but we did meet another Canadian Tony from Winnipeg, when he came over to our cabin to ask us to keep it down. The girls had went to the bar cart further up the train and met some local Vietnamese business men, who got them to try duck foetus, and got them to drink a bunch more beers. Mean while Igor, Anton, Azahara and I were in our cabin playing videos, looking at pictures, and drinking some beers. The train is much better than the bus because you can get up and walk around when you want, or go in between the carts and have a smoke if you like. Also the privacy you get from having you own cabin is nice to.

When we arrived in Nha Trang needless to say we were all pretty tired and just wanted to check into a room and go back to sleep. Some confusion amongst our driver and where we thought were, landed us far away from all the accommodations we wanted. And the splitting up and looking for a room didn’t work quite as well. Eventually we got another taxi to the beach area and checked into rooms, tired and hungry. Tony the Canadian from the night train, who didn’t get any sleep because of us, joined us at the hotel, making our group 8 strong. Guess if you can’t beat them join them.

We spent a few days in Nha Trang, the first, the day of our arrival was uneventful, and we just bummed around, but the next day Igor, Anton, Tony and I headed to an island resort called Vinpearl. It’s basically a huge water park, amusement rides, shows, and shopping. The resort is right off a beach so you can combine the water park with swimming in the actual ocean. To get there you can take a cable car that spans 3km, over the ocean to the nearest island. That was pretty cool, and made for some interesting pictures of the harbour and surrounding area.

Once at the resort we find the place is all but deserted, it looks as though it should hold 50,000 people, but maybe 1,500 were there. We had all the waterslides to ourselves, no line-ups, and no hassles. Anton was the most eager and kept us going on slide after slide. We took a break for a bit and headed to the beach, which in my travels had the best sand so far. I usually laugh at people when they compare one beach to the next, but this was noticeably better. The sand was so white and soft it best compared to flour. We lied on the beach for a short while, hit a couple more slides, and headed off to the amusement park area.

In the amusement park area, we went on the big roller coaster, which wasn’t that great, but hey why not, it’s all included and there are no line-ups. Afterwards we took in the bumper cars, which was completely bizarre, the locals all drove around and tried their best NOT to hit each other, they actually where all driving in the same direction around and around. This is better than they drive on the streets? When it was our turn, I was out for blood, no mercy, I head in the opposite direction, Vietnamese swerving out of my way, until I line up one for a head on, he closes his eyes and we collide, “sorry sorry” he cries. I’m completely astonished, but hey this is bumper cars, I keep up my antics, and collide a few times with Anton, and the others. The Vietnamese are looking at us like we’re crazy. Very weird. Afterwards we watched one of those 4D movies where the whole floor moves, it was cool, but I had never heard the locals scream so much, even the older ones, where realistically scared when the floor would drop. From my past experiences I knew that the Asians are prone to motion sickness, I’ve been on enough boats, trains, planes, and busses to witness this high percent of the time. After the 4D ride had finished, the staff come out with buckets, and cleaned up after the sickened riders. That’s funny, I’m glad I sat in between Igor and Anton.

Later in the evening we watched a monkey show, where they would ride bikes, lift weights, do tricks ect, almost a little sad actually. Then we headed to the laser, fountain show in a huge amphitheater, and watched the water much like you would see in Vegas. That concluded the guy’s day out, and we headed back to town.

The next day, the guys and I saw a couple of sites around town, the big Buddha, sleeping buddha, ect, then all 8 of us decided to try out some mud baths that had been recommended by Ben, the guy I had traveled with previously from Leeds, England. The mud baths were actually really cool, I never thought getting in a huge bathtub and having it pumped full of mud would be so relaxing. You start out by taking a 10 minute mineral water shower, and then hop into the mud bath for about 20 minutes. You pour this mud all over yourself completely immersing yourself in it. Afterwards you bake in the sun for 10 minutes and let the mud harden onto your body. This is followed by another mineral shower, and then a mineral massage, where dozens of jets shoot water in all directions while you stand in this hallway type area. (It’s like being in a human carwash). Lastly we all soak in a hot spring fed private tub for another 30 minutes. I supposedly really good for your skin, but I wouldn’t know about those kinds of details, it was just fun to do something different.

That night Azahara and Anton were departing the group and heading to Hanoi so we all went out for a last supper at a local eatery, where you BBQ your own dishes. It was sad to see them off as they were well liked amongst the group, and were very pleasant to have around. Igor and I woke at 2:00am to take them to the train station. Anton left me his Vietnamese cone hat, which I wore for the next few days until forgetting it in Hoi An. (Sorry Anton).

The following day Tony and Igor left on trains so we had another meal for them, and because the girls and I were not on the ball enough, our train was booked and we had to wait until the following day until we could head off to Hoi An. Igor was almost finished his trip, so he was headed back to Bangkok to catch his flight, and Tony left to see more of Vietnam then was headed for Korea. Igor was very motivated to see all the sites, so after he left; there was a noticeable decline in how much we got done in each day. Our group of 8 quickly was reduced to three girls and myself. Travel is easier in smaller groups as decisions can be made faster and it’s easier to get four to agree than eight.

When we finally did get our night train to Hoi An it was a completely different experience than the first train we took. First off in the first train there were only four bunks per room, and we expected to have privacy, however there were 6 bunks in the room this time. No problem, no-one was in the two top bunks at the beginning of our trip. Then about an hour into the trip two Vietnamese men joined our cabin. This would normally be OK; however they were complete creeps, and just starred at the girls the whole time, talking to each other in Vietnamese and laughing. Being a guy I didn’t have anything to worry about, but they made the girls feel really uncomfortable, and rightfully so, even I was aware that they where starring creepily. Also being on the top bunk they had control of the light, and decided to leave them on all night. What a shit show!

We arrived in Dalat at 6:00am, and caught a minibus over to Hoi An about 30 minutes away. The minibus was hilarious and even had a book full of positive reviews from other tourist. I’ve seen these books alot at tour booking agencies ect, but never in a minibus. We booked into a room in Hoi An, and proceeded to see the city. Within our first few hours we were in the Tailors. The girls all got dresses, and coats and suits made, while I got a costume for Halloween made. I’m sure the ladies at the Taylor shop thought I was crazy when I showed them a picture of “Where’s Waldo” and asked them to make me blue pants, a red stripped shirt and a tuke.

While in Hoi An we also did a walking tour of the old city which is very nice. It was a day of walking and shopping, and I sent a parcel home full of X-mas gifts. I tried to get my brother some snake wine, complete with a viper and scorpion inside the bottle, but the post office wouldn’t allow me to send it. (Sorry man). You’ll end up getting one of the souvenirs I meant to buy for myself. The old city area has a bunch of Temples, museums, and some historical buildings, and is worth a day of exploring. I would recommend buying the 75,000 dong ticket as most sights you can see well enough from the road, and if there is one of particular interest, you can buy an individual ticket for it.

We all picked up our made clothing, I bought a pair of round black rimmed glasses to complete my costume and we headed by bus over to Hue. We were told the ride would only be two hours and it ended up being four, no surprise. I just don’t get why the lady we booked the bus ticket with would lie so blatantly, we were going there regardless. Along the way we drove mostly along the coast, and got to see some nice villages and mountains. My favourite part was this amazing tunnel that goes straight through a mountain. The tunnel is 6km long and was quite a construction feet, which I hadn’t expected to see in Vietnam. There was no problem booking a room in Hue as the bus dropped us off right outside a backpacker alley full of accommodations.

That night we headed out to eat and check out some nightlife. We headed over to a place called Brown Eyes as they had advertising all over the place. The drinks there were quite a bit more than we wanted to spend so that was very short lived. We decided to head back to our hotel and have an early night. Just as we’re getting back we notice some fire trucks (looked like they were from the 30’s) and a bunch of commotion right in front of our alley. The police and other firefighter weren’t allowing anyone close and the four us all hoped that it wasn’t our hotel. There was about ten other hotels all jammed down this little backstreet and we couldn’t tell which one was on fire. The firefighters didn’t inspire much confidence as we watched 5 of them try and hook up the hoses, all getting blasted by the water like you would when trying to attach a water hose while the waters running. No-one’s aloud down the alley, and as I had mentioned we didn’t know if it was our hotel. That’s when I remember a conversation we had just before leaving, Shannon, Chelsea, and Tegan said there were just going to bring a little money, and leave their wallets in the hotel. They said that way it would be easier to stay on budget, and also no worries about losing it. I usually (95%) have my wallet with me; however this time I too thought this to be a good idea. So were all joking about losing all of our stuff, (an anxious joking) and then we all count how much money we have, 150,000dong. $20US at best. Chelsea mentions, at least Trent has his wallet, (because I was going to bring it) NOPE. No means of getting more money should our place be the one burning down. So naturally being low on cash, stranded out of our hotel, and out of options, we settle into a road side cafe for a few beers. We decided if it wasn’t our hotel a few beers was still in order, and if it was our hotel, we would need to move to the Tequila’s. It turns out that all was fine, and that it was another hotel two down from ours. No-one was hurt and it just burned the top floor.

The next morning I awake to pounding rain, battering down hard on the city, this had been going for most of the night. I put on my hiking boots, jean and walk down stairs to get some breakfast. To my surprise the whole first floor of our hotel, and around the lobby are under a couple of inches of water. Whaaaat? OK new plan, I go back upstairs, change into shorts and flip flops, and head back out. The rain is still pounding down on the city, and after I make it to the door of our hotel, I see that all the streets are completely flooded. Water is flowing into most businesses, some of the lucky ones, with a step or two up, were becoming dangerously close to flooding. I step out into the street, and the waters risen up past my knees. There are business men with hiked up trousers trying to go to work. I look down the alley to the main road and notice the street actually goes downwards. In this case 2+2= deeper water the farther I got from my hotel. What was I going to do? I didn’t like the idea of wading through filthy flood water, cockroaches, and rats swimming about. To be honest, I’m already in it, but going any deeper isn’t an option at this point. I manage to get a few doors down and into a breakfast cafe. Amazingly its open and the four of us order a meal. The cafe is called Thu’s on Wheels, and the lady that runs it also organizes tours. But this isn’t happening today. Over breakfast we decided that it would be impossible to leave as getting a bus or cab was unlikely judging by the depth of the water. So we were stranded in a little back alley, the same one we couldn’t get in the night before because of fire, how fitting, another strange coincidence is that two of us are water signs, and the other two fire, ok maybe not really.

We all decide to get a ton of provisions, and hunker down in the hole till the water drops. It’s still pouring rain, but we are assured that if, I repeat “if” the rain stops that the water will do down in a few hours. We send Shannon and Tegan out into the deep waters, and Chelsea and I wait in the hotel. There isn’t much going on as there was no power. The girls get back with enough food for the day, and we sit around listening to our music for a bit. Then the girls started making paper boats, they got duck tape and a bunch of cardboard and are making then real nice and artistic like. I watch for awhile before getting the motivation to do something. I grab a bunch of water balloons and blow up 6 of them, attaching them to a piece of cardboard. OK so my boat looked like crap, but it was going to float for sure. Later on we raced our boats down the flooding alley, drawing all sorts of attention from locals, and kids. Were all sloshing around cheering on our boats, and manage to get them all the way back down to Thu’s cafe. We talked with her for a bit, ordered a couple of beers, and ended up giving the boats to her kids. They loved them and continued to play with them for a bit. The other boats, made of paper disintegrate within the hour, but the balloon boat survives, one kid is holding it in protection from getting it stolen by the other kids. I slosh back to our hotel, and get 30 more balloons for the kids to make their own. We spent an hour blowing up balloons for the kids, and made our way back to the hotel. The rain was just drizzling now, with the odd burst of downpour, but the water was slowly retreating. It would still be a couple of hours, if it stopped to be able to walk anywhere. Luck was on our side and by 6:00pm that night the rain had slowed enough to allow most of the water to drain. I made it to the end of our street, and it was only a foot deep there now, better than the three earlier.

That evening we are sitting in Thu’s cafe and she asks that if the water goes down enough over night if we would like to do a motorbike tour of the city, taking in some temples, old war bunkers, and the old cathedral. Sure if the rain stops. Later we run into an English couple we had met in a bar in Nha Trang, Ben and Dawn, who we convince to join us on the motto tour the next day.

The next day turned out bright and sunny with the occasional light shower, so we all signed up for the motto tour at Thu's on Wheels. It was the same price if you had a driver take you around or if you self drove your own motto, so I opted to drive myself, as I love mottoing around towns, and country side. Shannon, Tegan, and Chelsea opted to be driven, and Ben and Dawn got their own bike as well. Our first stop was at the Thien Mu Pagoda, which was home to a monk who publicly burned himself to death in 1963 to protest the policies of President Ngo Dihn Diem. Afterwards we headed to the Bao Quoc Pagoda, and watched the monks in their daily rituals praying and chanting in front of a large Buddha. That pagoda also had some tombs and a forest type setting. We then headed to a local market and we watched how incense where made, and I was offered a try. (I won't be changing careers). After a quick lunch break we stopped at the Tomb of Tu Duc, which was really nice, I had several temple buildings, a tomb, and a lake with a small island in the middle. The area around the Tomb was majestic and had a peaceful atmosphere, with gardens, lush trees, and several monuments and stone carvings. We then headed over to an old US combat base on a hillside, and got to see some old bunkers, remnants of ditches dug throughout the hillside and a view over half the valley. That concluded our motto tour, but we asked to be dropped off at the Citadel. The citadel is basically a 6 meter wall, 2.5km around and includes gardens, ceremonial buildings, government building, and also houses the Forbidden Purple City which used to be home to the emperor. After we finished we headed back to our guest house and booked a night train further up the coast to Hanoi. This time we were sure to get a four bed cabin.

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Photos

Hat Tien
First stop in Vietnam

Phu Quoc Island
Motto adventur to find deserted beaches.

Wheres Waldo?
Wally or Charlie will also do, but it is waldo.

Hue still flooded
Life carries on.