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Hello!
We flew from Hanoi to Danang and then got our hotel taxi to Hoi An-took about 1.5 hrs-really nice flight. It's so cheap here so we decided to forego the sleeping bus and took the quicker option. Was very glad when I heard after that you are not allowed use the toilet on the bus and it's a 14 or 15 hour journey to Hoi An plus the seats/beds are very tight( really made for the smaller Asians).
Hoi An is such a lovely place-a far cry from the madness and business of Hanoi. The people are very friendly but I have to say that they usually do want you to buy something or visit their shop. I lost count of the amount of times we were asked "Where you from?, you have Euro coin for me as I collect coins?Happy hour-3 for 2!". you just have to keep saying thank you and not let yourself get annoyed as they're only trying to make a living. (and maybe sit upstairs in restaurants where you can't be reached).
Hoi An is well known for it's hundreds of tailors and of course, we went mad getting clothes custom made-it's
so addictive! Have to say, Yaly's is the place to go-it is much more pricey than the others but it is completely professional and you get what you ask for. The girls there know what they're doing. Pearse got a few suits made for work and they're fab. I would definitely recommend Julia in the original Yalys (there are two) for girls as she knew exactly what I wanted and could sketch it for me. We'll definitely be back in a few years again. We felt sorry for some of the other tailors and got an odd thing made there but were disappointed-they have limited fabrics and the finish isn't great but they are much cheaper.
Hoi An is a lovely place to walk or cycle around. It was very hot so we availed of the bikes which were free in our hotel to go in and out of town. We also cycled to the beach (about 5km) -really nice cycle and beach as the roads are pretty flat. It's so ironic to see us white girls lying out trying to tan and the Vietnamese girls covering up as much as possible to be as white as possible. White
is beautiful over here and the girls working on the beach wear long trousers and sweatshirts, socks in their flip flops, hats, even woollen gloves and face masks-all in sweltering 30 something degrees.
As our trip is coming close to it's end, we treated ourselves to a day in the Victoria Resort near the beach-it was $10 each (the cost of 4/5 dinners here) to use all the facilities for the day and well worth it-fabulous pool and pool area. Our hotel "Phuoc An", was lovely -really friendly, helpful staff and pretty nice rooms. There are lovely restaurants there too-some quite western and expensive-almost too expensive when you learn that the staff only get paid about $100 per month. We ate a lot in cafe 42-reasonable, fab food and lovely owners.
Overall, loved Hoi An. After 7days, we took the bus to Hue, where we caught a flight to Ho Chi Minh City (Known as Saigon before the war).
Saigon is quite different to Hanoi. They're definitely not as conservative in the South. It's more "Western"-lots of late bars and "girlie" bars. In Hanoi, everywhere had to close at 11pm on a normal night. The streets are
a lot wider and there are a lot more traffic lights and some normality to the way people drive, but still SO MANY motorbikes! The first thing I noticed was that the people seem to have much more confidence and are very easy with tourists.
The war remnant museum was an eye-opener-they have U.S bombs on display, tanks and U.S. aircraft. The photographic exhibition on the effects of the war is incredibly disturbing. There are pictures of U.S. soldiers posing holding the mutilated heads of the Vietnamese communist soldiers and such like-awful! It also includes photos of the innocent people affected (burnt or born disfigured) by the napalm/angel orange
chemicals used during the war.
We took 2 super day trips while in Saigon. The first was a trip to the Cu Chi tunnels. Here, during the war the Viet Cong (Communist soldiers) hid in the jungle area but when the U.S. bombed here to "fish out" the Viet Cong, the VC went underground and built a huge netwok of tunnels including kitchens, sleeping areas etc. The entrances were tiny and camouflaged. It was incredible! Pearse and his mum and dad walked (crawled) through the tunnels. They're still really
small though they have been widened for tourists.
The second trip was a boat trip on the Mekong River. We visited some of the islands, sampled the local made candy, dried fruits etc, had a very nice lunch, cycled around the island, chilled out in hammocks, listened to some traditional singing and were rowed down a tributary on a smaller boat. It was really beautiful! Our lovely guide was full of information-she told us how the North and South don't really get on well as they're so different; how the average wage is a mere $100 per month; how they live in huge extended families (uncles, aunts, cousins all live together); and are incredibly superstitious when picking dates for wedding, burials etc. I wondered how the Sth East Asian girls all seem to have perfect, straight hair in these v hot & humid conditions and seemingly they get their hair chemically straightened all the time. There seems to be so much pressure on girls there-having perfect hair, no smoking, no drinking, being slim and as "white" as possible. Here, where to be white is to be beautiful, they really have to work hard when the temperature never drops below
the early 20s (some put bleaching agents on their skin). I wouldn't fancy that!!
Overall, Vietnam was one of our top countries!!!
Next stop-Phnom Penh, capital of Cambodia.
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