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The next leg of our train journey down the coast of Vietnam was from Danang to Nha Trang, the beach resort/party town of the bunch. This time, we were trying out a 6 berth hard sleeper cabin, which we had chosen so that we could all bunk in together, rather than because we liked the sound of hard beds! We'd used an independent travel agency (Vietnam Impressive - which they actually were) to book train tickets this time, with much more success. On their suggestion, we bought the sixth bed for our inflatable mascot "Stewie" to save being placed with a random.
The train was, as ever, delayed and we played cards in the waiting room to pass the time, only to look up and find a bunch of vietnamese teenagers hovering over us. Apparently western tourists playing an unknown card-game was too interesting to even pretend to ignore. We gave up playing in the end, as none of us could concentrate on our rummy strategies, and because we were too fascinated in return at the motley crew of Vietnamese locals turning up for our Saturday night train. Everyone here seems to carry innumerable cardboard boxes with them when they
travel, as well as enormous suitcases and a massive picnic. After the usual mayhem once the train arrived, we boarded the train and squashed into the carriage only to find a vietnamese farmer taking a kip in one of our berths. After a confusing exchange of words between him and Mark, both of whom had no idea what the other one was saying, we ended up inside our compartment having shut the guy out! There was no lock on the door though, so we had to fashion our own using a travel washing line. Onwards to Nha Trang...
Much of our time in Nha Trang was spent on the beach, as it lived up to its reputation of being a stunning stretch of sand and we had some glorious weather to boot. During the day, the haze built up on the horizon and brought mist onto the mainland, so by 4pm it was quite humid and time to head to a local bar. One morning, we decided to venture out to the Long Son Pagoda, where there is a giant white buddha set up high on the hill. Even at 8:30 in the morning it was roasting and took
us a while to climb up the steps. It was worth it though, as the seated buddha was really impressive, and the pagoda was really pretty too.
Nha Trang itself was quite touristy, and very different from picturesque Hoi An. There were lots of big chain hotels and the corresponding bars and restaurants to go with them, but not much in the way of atmosphere. We were really pleased though, as in amongst all the pizzerias and western cafes we found a great restaurant called Lanterns, which does a lot to support the local community as well as serving great Vietnamese food. We tried the local speciality of pork in a claypot and marinaded beef which we cooked ourselves on a BBQ at the table - this was very hot work but the food was so good that we went back on our second night for more!
On our last train journey south we had our best cabin so far, although that's not saying much as the trains were more of an experience than a preferred means of transport! Along the way, we were asked by an official looking guy to give our sixth ticket to him. Fortunately,
we had read the rules in advance and gave him a stern "No", as they apparently try to sell the tickets on and we could have ended up with a random person coming to share our cabin with us (which wasn't ideal, as we had all our luggage piled up on the spare bed).
When we pulled into Ho Chi Minh City (or Saigon, as we were corrected by the train guard) we found the taxi system a bit of a challenge. After walking around for good 10 minutes looking for the right 'man with a clipboard' who could put us on the waiting list, we found a driver who wanted to go "off the meter" for 100,000 Dong. We had to insist that he put the meter on several times before he told Mark to take off his seat belt (?!) and we pulled out. The metered fare actually came to 50,000 Dong, so we felt like proper travel gurus with our £1.50 saving (that's about 3 beers)!!
Saigon has noticably more western chains than anywhere else we have visited in Vietnam. Christine was relieved to find a Starbucks just moments away from our guesthouse, so it
was time for us to get an unsweetened and condensed-milk free caffiene-kick! We were staying down a back alley, so found ourselves in the midst of the local community - families were sat out in the street chatting away over plates of noodles, and there were all sorts of food stalls on either side as you walked away from the main road. This was the most hostel-like accommodation so far, which was a shame for Jo, Rob and Christine who were on holiday (and somehow ended up with the dud bunk bed room)! To make up for this, we went for cocktails on the rooftop garden of The Rex hotel that evening, which was lovely and provided a much-needed dollop of luxury. On the walk back, the park opposite our guesthouse was alive with local children playing "keep-ups" with shuttle-cocks and a large group performing Tai Chi.
From Saigon we arranged a trip to the fascinating Cu Chi tunnels, which were used by the Viet Cong for living in and fighting from during the Vietnam war. It was a couple of hours drive away and full of tourists who seemed weirdly keen on the gun range part of the
trip. After watching a video about the building of the tunnels (which are 200km long in total, and were built over the course of 20 years), we saw an original tunnel entrance and had the chance to try and climb down inside. Mark and Christine climbed in, but with limited space for manoeverability it was a tight fit. Rob attempted to get in, but was stuck at his waist - not sure he quite has the build of your average Viet Cong! After seeing some gruesome traps that were set to catch American soldiers, and some of the other more morbid sides to guerilla warfare, we crawled through the tourist tunnel, which was widened to allow us to fit through on our hands and knees. It was still absolutely tiny though and not for the claustrophobic or faint-hearted at all. On a lighter note, we had planned ahead and grabbed some pizza slices from the ABC Bakery in Saigon to take with us for lunch (while everyone else was trying out shooting AK47s - which for some bizarre reason was part of the trip), much to the envy of our fellow tourists who kept asking us where we managed to
get them from. We'd definitely recommend a trip out to Cu Chi, but it's probably worth paying a bit more for a smaller group size and more focus on the history rather than the 'fun' bits.
We found the history of Vietnam very interesting but difficult to untangle, as it is still so recent. It seems like everyone has been involved in the fighting here, with some devastating and lasting effects. In an effort to get some clarity, we visted the War Museum in Saigon on the way back from Cu chi. The museum houses a few American helicopters and planes but the majority of exhibits consist of photos of the war and of its impact on locals and foreign soldiers. Excrutiating detail is provided using very graphic images, including the effects of Agent Orange and phospherous bombs. We found the museum to be a bit heavy on propaganda, so we left still feeling pretty confused about what happened and why, but also pretty depressed. It's an important place to visit though, as we all felt that the Vietnam war is one we don't know enough about.
While in the area, we walked past Saigon's other key sights
- the Reunification Palace, Notre Dame Cathedral and the old Post Office. Like Hanoi, Saigon is a mix of French architecture and more modern additions. In the evening, we ventured out for the best Indian curry in the city on backpacker street. The street was full of people sitting out on little plastic chairs, drinking beer and eating street food, which was also reminiscent of Hanoi.
As we were now in the south of Vietnam, we took a tour from Saigon into the Mekong Delta region in a private boat. On the top deck were five reclining chairs and below a family of six lived and prepared us a delicious lunch, while the dad steered. We stopped at a coconut plantation on the way, where they were making coconut candy - it turns out this is made a bit like fudge, although sadly it doesn't taste anywhere near as nice! Our guide also offered around a shot of Snake Wine, which is basically snakes marinaded in a weak whisky. Only Rob and Mark were brave (or stupid) enough to agree to try this...down the hatch!
Next up on the agenda was a trip on sampan boats through some
of the canals which branch off the Upper Mekong. These canals are man made and are designed to help control flooding and to provide both irrigation and a form of transport. The sun was baking, so we were each offered a conical hat to provide some shade. This did help, until Rob lost his in a gust of wind and the guide had to paddle back to retrieve it! We went past local women carrying out their day to day chores on the banks of the canal - doing their laundry, preparing vegetables for dinner - as well as children playing in the water. We stopped off at a fruit farm, set amongst the mangroves, where we tried a range of lovely tropical fruits. Some we recognised but others, like the Jack Fruit, we were keen to taste. Fortunately there wasn't any durian on the platter! We then set off for a walk across the lush island and back to our main boat.
We were staying the night in a Homestay near Can Tho, so after motoring to this city we were transferred to a smaller boat for the cruise along the canals to our accommodation.
The amount of
water hyacinth in the waterways was incredible, and the boats all had to manoevre around it, to prevent it from tangling in the propeller. The homestay was a farm situated next to the canal and the Vietnamese family living there prepared us local dishes, including catfish hotpot, and showed us how to made fried spring rolls and vietnamese pancakes. Our night was spent in a purpose built extension, which seemed to be made from wicker and so provided a lot of entertainment - you could hear everything through the walls, from Mark and Hazel's incredibly loud ceiling fan, to the cockerels which woke us up at dawn the next day. We slept under mosquito nets, which we were thankful for given the number of flying bugs around. They obviously did a great job though, as no one had any more bites the following day.
After breakfast we hopped into a small boat and cruised around the local canals before popping out at Cai Rang floating market - the largest floating market in the Mekong Delta. Here, farmers from the fertile islands of the delta congregate to sell fruit and vegetables from their boats. In order to be able to
tell what someone has on sale, you look at the bamboo pole attached to the front of their boat, where a pineapple, a yam or a watermelon will be hanging. We stopped off at a pineapple stall so that we could climb up on their bigger boat for a view of the many stalls. They also prepared delicious fresh pineapple for us - they have this impressive knack of slicing a diagonal pattern into the flesh of the fruit so that all the spines are neatly removed.
After a drive back to Saigon past rice paddies and water buffalo, we paid to go up the Bitexco tower, which has an observation deck on the 50th floor. This provided amazing views of the thunderstorm that was rolling in across the city and also of all the lights coming on for the night. It wouldn't hurt them to clean the windows every so often though! We were feeling a bit Vietnamese food-ed out, so we went to a nearby wine bar for a drink before splashing out on a delicious steak dinner at El Gaucho, an Argentinian restaurant. The restaurant was so popular on a Friday night that we had to
take a table outside under a massive parasol.
Saturday was sadly Christine, Jo and Rob's last day in Vietnam , so we took it easy before their night flight to London. The girls went for mani-pedis (a massive milestone for Joanna, who it turns out is insanely ticklish on her feet), whilst the boys went out for coffee. After lunch in a cafe near our guesthouse, Hazel learned the hard way why you should never take your eyes off the road (even when you are walking 'safely' in the gutters and are a few feet away from oncoming traffic). She got hit in the face by what we think was a load of plastic guttering attached across the back of a moped, and ended up knocked off her feet and with a black eye where her sunglasses were smashed against her face. Not the best look, but at least replacement sunglasses should be cheap and easy to come by! It demonstrated how incredibly friendly and keen to help most locals are though, as a huge group gathered round offering everything from toilet roll, to water, to directions to the nearest chemist. Fortunately we weren't far from the guesthouse, where
the receptionist provided us with a big tray of ice, and Mark and Jo could get to work with the now infamous first aid kit!
Here's hoping for some wider pavements in Cambodia...
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Christine
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Excellent blog entry and photo selection! Wish I was continuing on in the travelling adventures.....I would even suffer another overnight train :) xxx