Vietnam

---

---

We travelled to Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) in Vietnam from Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The journey was stress free, we had a TV on our bus, huge leather seats and the border crossing was really quick and easy....We had to get off the bus, have our bags scanned and passports checked, before getting back on the bus again and being driving all the way to the centre of HCMC, where our hostel was convieniently and entirely coincidentally about 50metres away!

HCMC makes Bangkok look sleepy! There are over 15million motorbikes and they all seemed to be on the road with us! There are traffic lights but no one seems to abide by them...even if there is a red light and a green man, you still need to rush across the road whilst motorbikes weave in and out of you! Our hostel was down an alley just off the backpacker strip. Our room was vey basic (there was no window!) and the bathroom was tiny!! but the staff were so welcoming (free drinks, maps, advice, internet etc.) and the location was so ideal that we didn't mind!

Whilst in HCMC we visited the Independence Palace; where the President used to work and live, and where the Vietnam war ended when soldiers drove through the palace gates in tanks as a demonstration of their anger towards the war. We also visited the War Remnance museum which was very interesting and eye opening. There was a photography exhibition which showed photographs of victims of massacres the US forces inflicted upon Vietnamese civillians; there were photos of dead bodies, burns victims, children with gunshot wounds...There were also photographs of victims of Agent Orange. Agent Orange was a chemical the US air force sprayed all over Vietnam during the war. It is the most dangerous toxin known to mankind. It caused and continues to cause premature deaths and major deformities such as blindess, loss of limbs, siamese twins..it is passed on genetically. We saw photographs of deformed foetus' in jars; as well as photos of babies, children and adults all with horrific side effects of the toxin. After a while we couldn't look anymore because it was too upsetting.

The following day we took a day tour to the Cu Chi tunnels where we had a guide called 'Mr Bean' who fought in the war himself. Mr Bean is half Vietnamese, half Phillipeno who was born in the early 50's. He spent time in America and came to fight for the US Navy in the 1970-1975 Vietnam war. He had a very interesting, unimaginable and inspiring life story which included him being a PoW, his fioncee being killed by Vietnamese soldiers and his refusal to leave Vietnam when the war was over.

Whilst at the tunnels we saw replica traps, guns, a shooting range, sniper holes (I just about fit in one!) as well as the tunnels themselves. The tunnels were very well made and highly thought out...there were three levels of tunnel, including kitchens, offices, bedrooms and a hospital. The kitchen bunker was ventillated via another tunnel, so if the enemy saw the smoke and bombed that area it would only hit the smoke tunnel and not the kitchen bunker.

After a few days in HCMC we travelled to Mui Ne-a beach town about 5-6hours North. We bought an open bus ticket which allows us to travel the length of the country on a hop on hop off basis, for a fee of about 35Gbpounds each.

Mui Ne was very small and quiet…our hotel was situated at the far end of the strip. Our room overlooked the ocean and we had a little private seating area. We spent a few days in Mui Ne chilling….cycling (will cycling, me sitting on the back!), relaxing by the pool, walking on the beach…one evening we went to a pub quiz and won! There were a few bars and restaurants in Mui Ne but they all seemed to be closed or empty! After a few days we headed to Nha Trang-another beach town which is meant to be more lively!

Our hostel in Nha Trang had a roof-top pool and was centrally located, close to the beach, shops, bars and restaurants. Apart from the fact we had to swap rooms three times…(giant cockroach, leaking air con unit, broken door etc..) it was fine! We explored the town and relaxed by the pool.

We spent a day at Vin Pearl, which is an island just off Nha Trang beach. There is a water park, aquarium, resturants, a beach, amusement arcades etc. We took the longest cable car over water in the world to get there. We had such a fun day; the park was deserted!

After Nha Trang we took a 14 hour bus up North to Hoi An. (It was meant to take 8hours or so, but we got stuck in traffic!!) It was worth the journey…. Hoi An is so beautiful! The old town itself reminds me of France; there are colourful buildings, restaurants with gardens and lots of cyclists. Hoi An is famous for it’s Tailors….there are literally thousands! At least every other shop is a tailors! We researched a bit and asked around for advice before choosing a tailors for Will to get a suit made at. We were given mini laptops to research what we wanted, before Will got to choose styles, colours, materials etc to create the perfect custom made suit! Over the course of 5 days Will had three fittings. The suit looks SO nice, and cost only 100 pounds for the jacket, trousers, waistcoat and a tie!!

Hoi An at night is so pretty-there are hundreds of lanterns lighting up the streets and there is a river running through the middle where there are candle lanterns floating around little boats. We were there for the full moon festival where there are lots of people selling lanterns which are lit and then you lower them into the river whilst making a wish.

Whilst in Hoi An we went to the night market, cycled to the beach, got some clothes made at the local cloth market (Will had 2 shirts custom made for $10 each and I designed a dress which was then made in a day)…We ate some good food at some local restaurants…(we went to the same restaurant twice, the second time just for drinks which was just as well because we saw a huge rat running across the restaurant towards the kitchen!!) On our final evening we went to a small restaurant which was family run; there was a big barrel of local homemade beer on the veranda where they got your 15p beer from! The food was AMAZING!! We had crispy wontons (a bit like nachos-so good), spring rolls, fried rice, local wine, local beer…! We wished we had found the restaurant earlier in our trip so that we could go again!

After Hoi An we travelled a little further north to Hue. Hue was very small and sleepy. We walked around the town visiting markets, eating out and looking at local shops. The next day we hired a moped out to travel a bit further. We aimed to go to some royal tombs but when we arrived they were so touristy, busy and expensive…so we decided to go somewhere less travelled…on the advice of a local lady who owned a little shack selling drinks, we drove down a quiet dirt track to a monestry. There was a big pond at the entrance and the building itself was beautiful. It was so remote-there were trees and beautiful flowers surrounding it and all you could hear was the birds singing and the monks chanting and praying.

We took another long over night bus trip to Hanoi-the capital of Vietnam. Hanoi is busy and full of street vendors and motorbikes. We stayed in the old town which was close to a cathedral and lake. We explored the city by foot, it felt quite small in relation to Saigon but the small alley ways made it almost impossible to know where you were going! We went to the cathedral and prison museum.

We went to Bia Hoi (beer corner) where there are lots of tiny plastic stools and tables on the pavements. You are served beer from a huge barrel for 15p a pint. The local homemade beer has to be drunk almost immediately after it has been brewed so it is common for locals to make some and then sell it to tourists and locals to make some quick, easy money. One evening we had our stools grabbed from underneath us and our tables quickly moved into the nearby houses; the lights were then switched off whilst the police walked by. We were left standing there confused with a glass of beer in our hands! When the police left, the tables returned as though nothing had happened! It turned out the ‘bar’ we had been drinking in was infact someone’s house!

We took a bus to Halong City for a night. Halong City was like a ghost town…there were no tourists whatsoever, and barely any locals walking the streets. There were a handfull of restaurants, many of which were closed! We ate lunch at a local café, the food was delicious and so cheap, we went back for dinner! We went on a day trip around Halong bay.

Halong bay was magical! The thousands of limestone rock formations surrounded our boat wherever we went. Everywhere you looked the horizon was covered in tiny islands. From afar it looked as though there was a solid wall, but when you got closer you realised there were just thousands of rocks everywhere. The weather wasn’t great but it made it so mysterious and interesting! The rocks would appear in front of our eyes.

We saw some floating villages which were amazing. Some of the people who lived there had never been on land before! They were totally self sufficient-there was a school, a fishing station, and little boats so they could travel in between the floating huts.

Our boat only had 4 other people on it. It was so peaceful and quiet. We stopped off at a cave and a fishing station. The fishing station was a floating decking area with a walking area and lots of sections for different types of fish. Our boat driver chose a fish to buy…the fisherman then caught the fish and beat it in the head until it died! He then popped it into a plastic bag and took his fee. The boat driver then cooked it up whilst we spent an hour on a small island with a beautiful look out point. From the look out point we could see a 360degree view of the rock formations. We took lots of photos!

After Halong bay we headed back to Hanoi for a few days before flying to Singapore.

---

Photos

HCMC
some of the 15million motorbikes

Mui Ne
Our little terrace at Hotel Nathalie

Nha Trang
Vin Pearl cable car

Hoi An
One of the many lantern shops

Pho Bo
beef noodle soup..Will's favourite Vietnamese dish

Bia Hoi
'beer corner'-Hanoi

Halong Bay
one of the floating villages